A faint shiver passed through her body.
Rem's eyelids fluttered open, heavy with the weight of forgotten centuries. The world swam into focus in front of her as she found herself lying within a coffin of crystal-clear glass, its surface cool against her body.
Above her, there was no ceiling, no sky — only an endless white void stretching in every direction, an infinite void of white.
As Rem tried to move, a sudden pain pricked her finger. She found herself holding a single red rose in her hands.
The long white gloves that covered her arms, reaching up to her elbows, offered little protection from this mysterious flower, as a bead of blood spilled out from beneath her white gloves.
Rem lifted it closer to her face, inhaling the rose's scent. She smelled a faint and familiar reminder of a memory long lost: a field of roses stretching across the horizon, scarlet waves of petals swaying under the sunlight.
This was a memory of a world she once knew, a world she once belonged to. Humanity's world. Her world.
But that world is long gone now, and here Rem finds herself alone and forgotten.
This thought struck her suddenly, like a knife to the heart. She is not supposed to be here. Not inside this coffin, and certainly not alive.
Rem pressed her palms against the glass coffin lid. It did not budge as she tried to push it open. Her chest tightened with anxiety.
She pressed harder on the lid and then, without warning, the rose in her hands burst apart, scattering into bright red ethereal petals. They floated down around her in slow spirals, glowing like embers, before vanishing as they touched her body.
The warmth of their touch lingered, though she could not understand how or more importantly, why.
Rem's breath caught in her throat.
"What… was that?"
Panic pushed her strength higher. She shoved at the coffin lid once, twice, three times, her muscles burning with effort. On the final push, the glass groaned, and the lid flew open, crashing against the endless white floor with a thud.
Rem sat upright, her chest heaving in confusion.
Her reflection caught her attention faintly on the glass. A tall woman looked back at Rem, covered in a thin white dress with fragile straps coming up over her shoulders. Long blonde hair spilled down her back in endless waves. Her eyes glowed faintly with an ageless, deep red wine color.
Rem blinked, disoriented.
"What's going on…? Where am I?"
These words felt as hollow as this endless white space.
Then a pain tore through her head. Rem held her head in her gloved hands as the agony took hold.
Visions swallowed her whole. A sea of blood stretched endlessly out in front of her, waves of crimson rising and falling with the weight of the corpses floating in them. Men. Women. Strangers. Friends. Family. All of humanity, drowning in a tide of blood.
Their faces stared blankly at her, lifeless eyes accusing her of surviving when none of them did.
Rem screamed as then the vision broke.
Rem's eyes flew open. She found herself back in the present, her body trembling as she sat upright in the coffin.
Slowly, Rem swung her legs over the edge of the coffin. Her high-heeled white shoes touched the floor, as soundless as this infinite room.
Rem stood up, unsteady on her feet, her body still getting used to moving around.
Around her, nothing but white stretched out endlessly.
Rem's voice trembled, whispering in the room:
"What am I doing here…? How did I end up here…? What is my purpose in this world?"
Rem's hand pressed against her chest. As the emptiness inside her heart felt deeper than the an endless horizon.
"Everyone I have ever met… everyone I have ever known… is gone now. Dead. Forgotten to time."
Ren lowered her head, as strands of golden hair fell across her face.
"What should I do now," Rem whispered, "As the last of my kind the last of humanity."
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