The Chrono-icle

What happened? I died in that alleyway. Am I still conscious?

Cori: Huh? Where am I?

I was in a small library. Where is this place? What is this place? How did I get here? The library was mostly made of wood, it seemed to be in poor condition, vines grew on the walls and lights were shown through the ceiling, books of all sizes were either on the shelves or on the floor, some of the books were taller than me. There were even bookshelves on the ceiling, yet the books didn't fall.

Cori: What the hell? This place makes almost no sense... This must be the afterlife, right? So this is heaven? I really did die didn't I.

I notice a girl standing in front of a large book near a window. She wore a brown dress with a white apron, she seemed to be a librarian, but the moment she turned to look at me, she disappeared into a thin mist, the particles trailing outside the window. The window outside seemed to show a city of some sort, but whenever I got close, the light would get extremely bright and would blind me from looking outside. This place clearly doesn't abide by normal logic.

Cori: Heh... Im alive... I think, what is this giant book doing here anyway?

My attention shifts to the large book the girl from earlier was standing across, a large clock was engraved on the front cover of the book, there wasn't even a title to it. I decided to check the other books around, but they were all full of weird symbols and weird texts that were indicepherable. I decide to look for anyone else around.

Cori: Hello??? Anyone there? 

My voice echoes across the library, there seemed to be absolutely no one except me, it was starting to get lonely.

Cori: Man... This place creeps me out, I shouldn't explore too much yet, I don't really know this place yet.

A hooded figure suddenly walks up to me from behind the shelf, it clearly wasn't human. It startled me a bit, but he didn't move any closer. It extended its hand and pointed to the large book in front of me. The figure said nothing, I didn't dare to ask or get close to the thing. I get up slowly and start inching backwards. I could feel a cold aura around the hooded figure; it was just standing there, pointing at the book, but its presence alone was enough to give someone a heart attack. I couldn't move my mouth, but my legs still worked. I accidentally bumped into the large book with a clock engraved in it.

Cori: Oops...

Suddenly, the entire place started to collapse. I don't know what caused it, but the figure that was previously pointing at the book lowered his hand and bowed. The library started fading to dust as the bright light around me got intense. What was happening? The light started burning...

Cori: Gah!!! Ouch!!! Make it stop!!!

My skin felt like it was being torn off.

Cori: What is going on???

I suddenly came to my situation. I was starting up at the sky, the sun was shining down on me, and I was sweating.

Cori: Guh... Huh? Did I just get reincarnated?

I get up, I was on top of a trash pile, inside an alleyway. Why did this all feel so familiar?

Cori: Huh? This feels familiar, I feel like the witch will appear any second now.

This was definitely familiar, the alleyway led to a busy street full of people. I decided to wait for the witch to appear.

Cori: Man, this is taking a while. The sun is also shining directly into this allyway, which isn't making this any better...

The sun was directly above the allyway, and suddenly, a knight walked past me out the allyway. Something about this knight seemed so familiar. He pays no mind to me as he exits the allyway.

Cori: Wait a minute... That is definitely Regel! I remember his appearance.

I rush out the alley just in time to see him save a child from a carriage. The same exact events played out, it was as if I was repeating the day I died on. Regel takes his leave from the crowd, which was showering him in praise, I could only watch as he leaves my sight.

Cori: There has to be another way to meet that elf, there isn't really any other option. If the events play out the same, the elf should be at the stall around noon. I could try to convince her not to kill me.

I decided to go to the stall and wait out until noon, it would be boring, but it was the only thing that I could do for now to get things done.

Cori: There isn't much point in goofing around in the city for long, the conditions are just to find the elf, not befriend her, I will just stop by.

I walk for a while. I was exhausted by the time I reach the stall where the elf was supposed to be. How weak are my legs? These legs aren't really as heroic as I expected them to be since, by the time I arrived, it was almost noon.

Cori: Huff... Huff... The elf should come any time soon...

I decide to sit on the stool in the stall. I walked a long time, so I thought I deserved some rest. I wait a couple of hours, no elf in sight. It was starting to turn nighttime; I was also getting drowsy, why wasn't the elf coming?

Cori: Man, it has been so long... I'm starting to get sleepy.

I started to doze off, the slums were eerily silent. I was about to fall asleep when I saw a glowing light in the distance, it was decently far away, it was down the road toward where the wealth district of the city was, it didn't seem to get closer.

Cori: What the hell? Is that a lantern? Who has business in the middle of the night?

For some reason, the air smelled heavier than normal, every inch of my body wanted to run away from the mysterious light, but it seemed to draw me in like a moth to a flame, I felt compelled to reach it. 

Cori: It seems so... pretty. I want to get closer... to it.

I was starting to feel dizzy, as if I were being mind controlled. This mysterious light was clearly not normal. Now that I was a couple of meters away from it, I realized it was not a lantern but something supernatural. I snapped out of the hypnotic trance.

Cori: It seems to be drawing me closer for some reason, I should back away and pretend I saw nothing.

I step back from the mysterious light. I try hard to resist the temptation of moving toward it. I manage to get to a point where the effect of the light wasn't as prominent. I try to break into a run away from the light, but it still wouldn't let me run or turn away from the light. It seems to be draining my energy.

Cori: What is this? There is no way something this dangerous exists in the city, right?

I didn't think things like this were normal in the city, but considering I was in the slums, it could be a different story. The light seemed to get more powerful, more bright, it makes my legs so weak, I fall to my knees. I couldn't get up, I couldn't move, what was going on? I desperately tried to get my legs to move, but it was no use. Should I try calling for help?

Cori: Someone! Help! 

My call was unanswered, and to my horror, the light began moving toward me. As it got closer, I could make out the silhouette of a man, he was holding a sword. I couldn't make out his face, but he was approaching at an alarming rate.