114 Happily Ever After

-Mephisto's Hell.-

The flaming red giant, Mephisto glared at the burning pillar where the little dwarf escape to. His cape fluttered violently, expressing the boiling anger inside his heart.

"Tch! They escaped," grumbled Mephisto, repressing the turmoil in his heart that was about to erupt.

He turned around and walked away. He had no more business in this place and decided to just let the matter go for the time being. Besides, sooner or later, he would get his revenge and took back what belonged to him.

Boom!

With every step he took, the thundering sound of his step got quieter and quieter, eventually, only the noise of the burning fire could be heard from where Edward escaped from earlier.

This world was scorching 24/7, but still, the attack he caused earlier was able to devastate and blow the environment even worse. Piles of rubbles could be seen everywhere along with a long gaping gash on the ground.

On this, no man's land, something that shouldn't have moved, squirmed. It was a severed arm. From the size and the shape, it seemed to belong to a woman.

As if having a mind of her own, the hand started to form greenish silk thread from the tip of each finger. It knit the body parts that have been separated or blown apart by Mephisto's attack. Slowly, but sure, her body formed a new one, but much better and much stronger.

And then, she opened her eyes.

And thus, the story started with a certain individual that would bring nothing but trouble for the landlord of this realm.

===°°°===

-Cleveland, Ohio.-

In a house outside the city, a man was seen sitting on his sofa, downcasted. His leather jacket was by his side, an indication that he was spending all the night on the road and he just got home. The sky outside was still dark but a ray of sunlight could be seen in the east.

He seemed to be murmuring something about her wife, her daughter, and a town called Silent Hill.

Suddenly, the sound of the telephone ringing broke the dim solitude in the house. He quickly got up while still holding his leather jacket, unknowingly. He hastily stepped down the stairs, the bright white colors of the wall were a quite contrast to the bleak darkness in his heart.

Once held the phone's handle in his ear, he heard the voice that he didn't expect.

"Do you have a moment to talk about our lord and savior, Jesus Christ?"

He immediately put down the phone without hesitation and cursed.

'If God really exists...' his words trailed in the air. He sounded vulnerable.

He wondered how they got his number. He reminded himself to make a formal complaint to the telephone company later.

Ding! Dong!

Now, it was the sound of the bell that brought him to his sense.

'At this time? These people are quite persistent', he thought to himself.

He prepared to lash out as he unlocked the door, but this time, he was surprised once more as he met the unexpected guest, or rather the people he wanted to see the most.

"I don't have time for—", he yelled.

"Not even for us?" replied Rose to her husband before he could finish his words.

Chris Da Silva, Rose's husband, was stunned. He thought that his mind was playing games with him. However, the little flower who suddenly hugged his waist showed him that it was nothing short of imagination. They are real. And they are home.

"Daddy!", cried Sharon, her little face sinking into her father's smelly shirt, but she didn't"t mind it as she was familiar with the man's fragrance.

"My baby... my little baby..." muttered Chris as he answered her daughter's embrace with his own.

He burst into tears as he hold his hand toward the wife he thought he would never meet again. It was a warm and wholesome moment between the three as they share their familial love. A few days might be short for some people, but for them, it felt like an eternity.

A sound of an airplane engine passed on top of their head, suspiciously close to the ground. However, Chris was too busy sharing his affection with his family to realize that. And so, the sound of the airplane engine vanished on the horizon as the family returned as a whole once more.

===°°°===

-In the morning sky on top of the United States of America.-

A little girl kept looking back at the two empty seats behind her.

"Did you miss them already?" I asked.

It was very short, but Eve took fond of Sharon's bright and encouraging personality. They even draw something together on the plane with the paper and crayon I took out from my inventory.

She was still holding the picture, and time by time, she would stare at it. Pon would snuggle on her to lift her spirit. As he was Eve's creation, they would share emotions telepathically.

"We part ways, but it wasn't a goodbye. We can still see them. We know where they live, and also their numbers. We can just make a call. How about visiting them next week?"

Eve's expression started to get brighter and brighter with each word I said to her.

"Yay! Promise?" said Eve, both of her hands were up in the air, and Pon didn't forget to imitate her as well. Yes, the fat bird was coming along.

"Of course. So, whenever you miss them, just ask me, okay?"

"Umm!" nodded Eve. But soon, her happiness turned into confusion as she asked something that was bugging her mind. "What is a 'week'?"

'Ah... That's right she needed to be taught about the world.'

As Blackbird split the thin morning cloud in two, I passed the time by answering her questions about the thing she didn't know. Most of her questions were something simple, things that she didn't need to worry about when she was still held inside the facility.

It would take another hour for us to arrive at our destination. We could've arrived much faster, but I'd rather take it slow and enjoyed the moment. I've been living too fast these days. Pushing the brake once in a while was fine, I guess. So much had happened just in almost four days.

I shook it off and looked at the notification I postponed earlier that night, back in the church.

<Congratulations! You've gained control of the fog world Silent Hill. You can summon the creatures inside it to be used as your own. Currently allowed to control: 1>

<Congratulations! You've already gained two realms in your cards to access. You've been granted an ability, Come Forth.>

<Duration: 5 minutes.>

<Cooldown: 1 hour>

A world and an ability. Combined with Limbo, I could now control two creatures from each world. I was sure in the future I could control more. If I could manifest Silent Hill's law, did it mean I could summon the fog as well? But I need to be a bit careful, I don't want to accidentally spawn something bad.

As I checked the other notification, I was reminded of the Pokémon in my inventory. I tried to summon it but a notification answered my call instead.

<Arceus: Arcy was busy. You can call me after 24 hours.>

It was neither a cooldown nor an error. Arceus simply told me that he was busy. What the hell he was doing inside my inventory!?

<Arceus: You can peek if you want.>

"Huh?"

I paused for a second, thinking about sticking my head inside my pocket. It was absurd but not impossible. I was thinking about something, but...

"No way, right?" I muttered to myself. I set the jet plane to autopilot before sticking my head inside my pocket.

It was pitch-black darkness at first. But something drew my attention. Something that shouldn't have existed in this space. It was light.

'What!?'

I was speechless... A whole new galaxy was floating inside this pitch-black world inside my inventory. I couldn't close my slacked jaw even if I wanted to. A floating AK-47 hit my head, but my mind was too numb to notice.

'This is... my inventory... right?'

===°°°===

-England, 1991.-

A little girl by the age of 11, was sitting on top of her red briefcase while reading a thick novel. Next to her briefcase, was a sleeping white owl inside of a cage. Her leg was dangling, enjoying the story that was about to end. She was so invested in the novel that she stayed up late and barely got any sleep.

Her natural red hair was sticking like a sore thumb among the people passing her left and right. And the green eyes made her even more enchanting. If it was an anime, she would have been dubbed as the main character.

She was wearing a white shirt with a black tie under a grey sweater. Her grey skirt was only a knee-length, but the high black socks and black shoes covered most of her pale legs. She also wore a dark robe belonging to her new school. That's right, she was waiting to step onto the red-colored train which she couldn't do so earlier because of the endless crowd of new students, seniors, and their parents.

Once in a while, passersby on platform 9¾ would glance and peek at her, admiring the beautiful figure of the little girl. Boys, especially, couldn't help but fall at the first sight upon noticing her.

Pak!

The sound of the closing book startled these admirers, causing them to look away and pretend to be busy with whatever they could find.

She sighed and put the book away, inside her handbag. Surprisingly, the thick book could fit inside the small handbag that was half its size. Inside the handbag, there were six more volumes of the same title. Signs of wear and tear could be seen on them, which meant she already read through them over and over.

Once the crowd disperse, she dragged her briefcase inside the compartment. She walked through each passenger car to the end, where the first year was in. Just when she stepped inside, she bumped into a bushy brown-haired girl around her age. She seemed to be looking for something, knocking one cabin after another.

The red-haired girl offered herself to help her as she hadn't found a cabin yet, knocking two birds with one stone.

"I'm sorry, we haven't introduced ourselves. I'm Hermione Granger, first year." the brown-haired little girl asked, holding her hand toward the red-haired girl to shake.

"Uhmm... My name is—"

Just as the red-haired girl was going to answer, the door of the cabin before then was opened.

"Wait a minute, you're not the food cart lady." commented the ginger boy upon seeing the girls.

Hermione complained to the ginger boy and asked about a student's missing toad, but the boys didn't even know you can have a toad as a pet.

When Hermione saw a boy with broken glasses, she invited herself in, basically, barging. The red-haired girl also joined as she seemed to be pondering something. It was as if she recognized the three students before her.

"I'm Ron Weasley," introduced the ginger boy, "and this is Harry Potter."

Though the red-haired girl was just nodding when she heard the names, Hermione was surprised upon hearing the name of the bespectacled boy while ignoring the ginger boy. She asked a bunch of questions, mainly to satiate her curiosity.

Eventually, once all question was answered, some didn't. Harry asked the red-haired girl, "Oh right, you haven't talked since earlier. I'm Harry Potter," introduced Harry one more time, thinking that he was being rude for singling her out. Although, it was Hermione's fault as she couldn't stop talking and becoming the center of attention.

All eyes centered on the red-haired girl as she started to introduce herself, while smiling as bright as she could, "My name is Alessa Gyllespie. I'm also a first-year."

Hermione was glad that she could find a female friend to talk to later. Ron was busy munching the chocolate. And Harry seemed to be smitten by Alessa's beauty and demeanor.

Thus, another story started for the poor little girl who was once unhappy with her past life. Born as the youngest daughter of a sloppy but loving muggle father and stern but caring pureblood mother. Alessa finally had a life that she could deem pleasant. Though she would be met with lots of hardships, she would learn to overcome them and triumph.

She stared toward the horizon as the red-colored train sped through mountains and lakes, toward the unknown future, toward her new home.

Will she ever find the happiness she longed for? Will she ever get all the things that she didn't have in her last life?

Well... That's another story to be told at another time.

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