I didn't expect death to be so cold.
The last thing I remembered was the rain—soft, icy needles that pierced through my coat as I stepped onto the street to help a child. I pushed her out of the way, and in the blink of an eye, I was floating above my own body. Blood pooled around me. The child cried. People screamed. Then—darkness.
I was dead.Or so I thought.
When I opened my eyes again, I was no longer in Tokyo. No ambulance sirens, no city lights. Just an endless sky above me, burning gold with two suns. I gasped and sat up. The air was warmer here, laced with a sweet scent like cherry blossoms and magic.
Where was I?
"Finally awake, huh?" a voice called out.
I turned sharply. A woman stood at the edge of the field, wearing flowing robes embroidered with glowing symbols. Her long, lavender hair shimmered in the sunlight, and her eyes sparkled like amethysts.
"Who… who are you?" I asked, my voice hoarse.
"You may call me Mistress Kaelen. You were chosen," she said with a gentle smile. "Chosen by the Threads of Fate to live again—in this world of magic."
Before I could speak, memories rushed in—memories that weren't mine.
Names of spells. Maps of strange lands. Creatures with wings, claws, and flames. A world called Aetheria—ruled by kingdoms, magic academies, and dark forces threatening to rise again.
And one name echoed louder than the rest: Hoshizora Airi.
That was me now.
Mistress Kaelen explained everything. I had been reborn into Aetheria, in the body of a teenage girl who had died recently under mysterious circumstances. That girl—Airi—had a rare affinity for astral magic, a powerful and ancient branch long believed extinct. The kingdom feared such magic… and desired it.
They thought Airi was weak. Powerless.
That was their mistake.
I wasn't the old Airi anymore.
I was me, a girl from modern Japan who had faced death once and wasn't afraid to rise again. With a soul forged in two worlds and memories of both, I would survive—and thrive.
And so, I found myself in the halls of Starlight Arcane Academy, the most prestigious magic school in the western territories of Aetheria.
The castle-like academy towered high above the floating city of Lünaris. With spires reaching the clouds and staircases that shifted on their own, it looked like something out of a fairy tale—or a nightmare, depending on where you stood.
Every student here had noble blood, powerful families, or gifted talent. I had none of those—or so they thought.
"Look at her," someone whispered as I passed in the corridor. "That's the girl who failed the entrance trial last year."
"She's back again? Why bother? Her mana's barely detectable."
I kept walking, eyes forward, lips sealed.
Let them think I'm weak.
Let them believe I'm a nobody.
Because hiding my true strength was the safest way to survive.
No one could know I'd awakened ancient magic within me. No one could know I could see the mana threads in the air, manipulate them, bend them to my will. Not yet.
Not until I found out who killed the original Airi.
Not until I found out why I was chosen.
In the classroom, I sat near the window and watched students casting sparks and water jets. The professor, a tall man with golden spectacles, droned on about elemental balance.
"Airi," he said suddenly, "since you've failed this class before, perhaps you'd like to demonstrate the basic flame spell?"
Snickers echoed across the room.
I stood slowly. My fingers tingled with restrained power.
"Of course, Professor," I said with a small smile.
I raised my hand toward the training dummy.
In my mind, I wove the flame spell exactly as taught—then added just a flicker of astral twist at the end, invisible to the untrained eye.
A tiny flame flickered, danced… and then erupted into a wave of blue fire that blasted the dummy off its pedestal and scorched the far wall.
The room fell dead silent.
"A glitch," I said quickly, faking panic. "Sorry! I didn't mean to…"
The professor's eyes narrowed, and the students stared with a mixture of shock and suspicion.
That's right. Doubt me. Question me. But never guess the truth.
Not yet.
After class, I slipped away to the edge of the academy grounds, where the moon-shaped lake shimmered under the twin suns. There, I traced the runes carved on my wrist—ones only I could see. They pulsed faintly, connected to something ancient buried deep inside the Earth. Something awakening.
I was alone, but I felt watched.
And I was right.
From the shadows near the academy gates, someone stood cloaked in black, their face hidden under a hood. Watching me.
The wind carried a whisper across the lake:
"She's awakened."