"Since I was finally free as an orphan, let's look at what was happening on my new world, or rather, this parallel Earth. According to the nuns, the year was 2000. Yeah, I know, classic Y2K apocalypse cliché, but here, it actually happened. Suddenly and without warning, a black dome opened in the Atlantic Ocean, covering half the world.
"The best way to describe it is that Hades got bored in the underworld, opened the gates between worlds, and unleashed every single soul in Tartarus. These souls looked like Dementors from Harry Potter but were much creepier and possessed people. Anyone possessed instantly became a Shifter: their skin turned into dry, bloody wood, their eyes were blood red with black pupils, and all their hair fell out.
"They're called Shifters because they can transform into humans. They operate by disguising themselves as our relatives and then suddenly preying on us. On top of that, the sky also split open. Angels descended, but they looked different. They had four wings, true, but you could only see their eyes beneath their cloaks; they also possessed people. The soldiers called them Watchers.
"Naturally, the humans they possessed were horrifying: their skin turned white, leathery wings—a monstrous mix of four wings—sprouted from their backs, they had no face except for one huge eye and a wide, gaping mouth, and they were also bald. They were named Cherubs. What's worse is that they also consumed people who 'believed' in them. Since they appeared grand and full of spirituality, like fake prophets, when a 'believing' human started to pray, their mouths would open wide and 'Glup,' swallowing the person whole in one go.
"The Cherubs and Shifters constantly fought each other, and humans were caught in the crossfire, their battles destroying our cities and civilization. The only safe zones were forests or areas with a lot of planted trees. That's why my orphanage monastery was located deep in the woods, protected and guarded by people carrying sophisticated laser weapons called Mystic Busters—swords, axes, rifles, bows, etc. It was like a fantasy world had materialized just to fight the encroaching Shifters and Cherubs.
"Right now, it's the year 2010, almost 2011. The remaining human population is only about 20% of the world's total, completely different from my previous Earth. All the remaining people are crammed onto the Asian continent, the only one untouched by the black dome or the white dome from the sky. On this Earth, the war between angels and demons is brutally real, manifested as Shifters and Cherubs.
"But to me, this was heaven. I'd been through worse in my past lives, and I was sure I could handle these Shifters and Cherubs. The most important thing was that my sister wasn't here. I was free. I was seven years old, and there was no way my sister could bother me now. Or so I thought.
"Ten years later, when I was seventeen, something strange started happening: moments of lost time and memory. Not big losses, just a few hours at a time, but it was frequent enough for me to notice.
"Then I started realizing: sometimes I'd lose consciousness and not know what I'd done. Like suddenly waking up under a tree when I was just in the reading room. Or suddenly wandering through a ruined city and having to run from a Cherub, when I was supposed to be relaxing in the orphanage. The strangest thing was what the nuns reported: a white-haired girl would sometimes sneak out of my room, and the nuns would get angry and scold me, thinking I was fooling around with a girl in my room.
"Finally, I decided to sit still in my room. I locked the door, pulled the curtains shut, locked the window tight, hid the key in a secret spot, and waited on the edge of the bed. After the room fell so quiet you could cut the silence with a knife, suddenly, "Huaaaaah… nym nym," a voice 'woke up' in my head.
"Hey," I said in my own head.
"Oh… wow… hello, Big Brother. How are you? Sorry I slept so long. Hey, I'm inside your body now! We're actually one, just like the marriage blessing says, 'two shall become one flesh,' hehehehe," the voice in my head chirped.
"Aaaaaaaaa… waaaaaaaaaaa… whyyyyyyyy!"
"I could only scream hysterically. My psycho yandere sister was in my head! Then she explained that her soul was inside my body. She'd been with me since birth and would sneak out without my knowledge. The girl the nuns saw was her. In other words, when she came out, my body would change… like the Hulk, but instead of a giant green monster, I'd turn into a girl. This was terrifying.
"Oh, by the way, my name is now Grey, and my sister's name, the one from my first life, is Gizelle. This is the story of my sixth life… completely stuck with my sister in one body. Ugh."
***
Grey sat rigid, clutching his messy black hair with both hands.
"Hey, Big Brother… come on in here," Gizelle urged.
"How? Don't you dare try anything funny," Grey said, suddenly dizzy.
"Just try lying down, Big Brother. You'll come in by yourself. Hurry up, I wanna see you," Gizelle pleaded.
"But I don't want to see you! I'm trying to figure out how to get you out of my body," Grey shouted in his mind.
"Aww… doesn't Big Brother miss his beloved little sister? We've been together for six lives, you know. I promise I won't kill you again. I also want to tell you everything and apologize in person," Gizelle said, her voice sounding genuinely plaintive and desperate.
Grey paused. This was the first time his sister's voice had sounded so utterly miserable and desperate. Curiosity finally overcame his common sense. He lay down and closed his eyes. Moments later,
"Big Brother… Big Brother… open your eyes," Gizelle urged.
Grey felt someone shaking him and calling his name. He slowly opened his eyes, which immediately went wide. He was lying on a bed inside a completely white room surrounded by white consoles, with two large windows that looked like eyes. Grey shot up and saw his beautiful sister. She was seventeen, with long white hair, and looked exactly like him.
The odd thing was, Gizelle was completely covered in a tight, white spandex suit that clearly defined every curve. Grey looked down at his own body—he was wearing the same suit, clearly showing his muscular physique. He stared back at Gizelle.
"H-huh… are you Gizelle?" Grey asked.
"Brugh." Without answering, Gizelle threw herself at Grey and burst into heartbroken sobs. Once she calmed down,
"You finally came in, Big Brother! I've been waiting seventeen years to tell you everything," Gizelle whispered.
"Oh… I see. (Looking around) Where is this?" Grey asked.
"You are inside your Soul Room. Your sister has been with you since birth, according to her last wish and your last wish. Now, allow me to explain what's actually going on with you and your sister."
A woman's voice echoed in the room, which looked like a robot cockpit, or more accurately, a Jaeger from Pacific Rim, only entirely white.
"Wh-who is that?" Grey asked, confused.
"My name is Machina… I am a Goddess, and now I will explain the system inside your bodies."