original

Scarlet's Awakening

Penulis: HeySteff

Bab 1: Episode 1

A beautiful little girl was sleeping on a black altar as if she was a corpse. She didn't move and her image was frozen yet beautiful, like a live portrait stuck in time.

Slowly, she opened her eyes, and her delicate brows formed an adorable frown as her deep, midnight-black eyes adjusted to the light.

The light shining on her dainty frame came from above, passing through a roof made of colored glass, which had a picture on it. The enchanting picture of a rose with rainbow petals was so beautiful that the little girl couldn't help but stare at it for a while.

However, no matter how captivating the picture was, the light still glared straight into the little girl's eyes, and it stung. She groaned as she looked away and attempted to blink a couple of times, repeating the process because her vision was still a little blurry.

Unfortunately, after a couple of blinks the blurriness in her eyes was still there. It took a while for her to recover before the blurriness completely disappeared, and when it did, the first thing the little girl saw was rose petals, thousands of them slowly falling down to her body.

"What the..." Her confused, little voice echoed across the room as she scanned her eyes around.

Her eyebrows met in the middle of her forehead forming a frown. If someone saw her reacting like this, they'd immediately think she was lost. From the way her eyes widened in shock, and looking around the room like she was on an alien planet or something.

The little girl definitely didn't belong there.

She was lost.

There were a lot of questions swarming inside her head. First, she wanted to ask someone where she was, and how she can safely return to her apartment.

Her mind was occupied with those questions that she didn't realize she was wearing a beautiful black medieval dress, with petal sleeves and a vivid embroidery of golden rose vines all over it.

It was an elegant outfit, fit for royalty. But why she was wearing one, she didn't know.

Suddenly, pain struck the little girl's head without warning. She gasped as she tried to press her hand on the aching part but stopped when she realised...

Her hand wasn't moving!

What the-

Panic instantly rose inside her chest.

What's happening? Why is she paralyzed?!

Her mind blanked out for a moment because of the shock. She was scared, and so confused as to why she couldn't move her body.

Did I get myself into a coma resulting for my muscles to be like this? She suddenly thought.

Her name was Sheila Legazpi, and she was a 24 year old woman who died in a terrible accident. But she doesn't know that yet.

She got hit after saving an unconscious man in the middle of the street, and now she's been reincarnated in the body of a little girl who has been sleeping for more than 490 years. That's why she couldn't move her arms. The body she woke up to, slept for a very long time, hence the paralysis.

But, Sheila didn't know that... yet.

After taking a moment to herself and forced her brain to organise her thoughts, Sheila finally got herself together and forced herself to think of a solution.

Her paralysis was not permanent. She knows that fact is certain

Even though she was paralyzed, she was still able to lift her head and see if she had any missing body parts like a leg or a hand.

She doesn't know if the little girl is crippled or something. So it's better to check.

After doing a quick assessment of her body, Sheila sighed a breath of relief. Everything seems to be intact. Her nerves too. She only guessed they became stagnant because of the long period of time the body spent laying down, sleeping.

She has to get them working again.

"Right..." She muttered to herself. Everything seems to be in order... for now.

She thought of doing a little task for herself.

First, She's going to move some little parts of her body like her toes or her index finger, and if she succeeds, she'll try to move another one, and another one, until she can finally move her body.

Doing exactly what she wanted to do--- Sheila managed to move her entire body. It took her more than an hour to succeed, but it was worth it.

She did some modern exercise routines like the peddler and horizontal running while laying down to make her progress even faster. The routines helped her body increase blood circulation, and it temporarily made her forget she even had a headache a while ago.

Pushing her upper body upwards using her elbows, Sheila sat on the cold surface of the altar while shaking off the rose petals on her body with a grimace. She roamed her gaze around the room, making her observations...

From the looks of it, the room is luxuriously large, with a high glass ceiling and two gorgeous chandeliers hanging above her head. The walls had intricate carvings of gold and crystals, and there are magnificent wall paintings of landscapes hanging around as well.

Just by looking at the interior design of the room, Sheila could already tell that everything was very expensive, including the construction of this place.

And this was definitely not her apartment.

Where the hell is she?

While her thoughts wondered, Sheila already knew that the place was not a hospital ward. The atmosphere of the room was too luxurious, too elegant for it to belong to a normal patient--- obviously.

The room doesn't smell like chlorine either. Normally, hospital rooms would smell like that but not this room. It actually smells of scented candles and roses; which adds a feminine touch to the room.

Looking up, the unlimited supply of rose petals constantly falling from the ceiling must be the cause of that sweet scent. It was a relaxing smell. Her body was telling her to go back to sleep and enjoy the luxuries, but, she can't stay. She has to go back.

Sighing, Sheila looked inside her memories for answers. Answers that could possibly help her understand her current situation. Answers that can get her life back.

"Hmn." Looking inside her hazy memories, Sheila found a recent memory that she had before she woke up. It started when she was on her way home.

She was completely drained and exhausted from work after closing the internet cafe where she's been working for 3 years.

Sheila was just routinely passing through the crowded sidewalk of the city, cracking her neck from the exhaustion while she walked, when suddenly, she saw a man crossing the road not far from where she was.

Intrigued, Sheila stopped and watched the man for awhile. The man seemed to have some trouble crossing the road. His footsteps were uneven, and he was walking in a zig-zag like manner while holding his head.

Sheila thought the man was going to trip on his own foot, but he didn't. She looked at the traffic light and saw that it was red. It's still safe for him to cross the road then, she thought.

Sheila glanced at the man again. She let him go on his own since he's just a stranger. It wasn't her business to care for him, but she forgot that thought when she saw that his footsteps were getting slower than before. His face even looked paler, like he's sick or something.

Without realizing what she was doing, Sheila unconsciously took a step forward to help, but she forced herself to stop. She has to give other people a chance to help him instead. It's not her business to help this stranger.

However...

After seeing that no one came to help the man after 7 seconds, Sheila approached him and swore under her breath.

"God dammit!"

Why couldn't she stop herself? When she saw the pain on the stranger's pale- looking face— her body just involuntarily moved on its own.

A beautiful little girl lay motionless on a black altar, as if she were a corpse. Her image was frozen yet beautiful, like a live portrait stuck in time. Slowly, she opened her eyes, and her delicate brows formed an adorable frown as her deep, midnight-black eyes adjusted to the light.

The light shining on her dainty frame came from above, passing through a roof made of colored glass with a picture on it. The enchanting picture of a rose with rainbow petals was so beautiful that the little girl couldn't help but stare at it for a while.

However, no matter how captivating the picture was, the light still glared straight into the little girl's eyes, causing them to sting. She groaned as she looked away and attempted to blink a couple of times, repeating the process because her vision was still a little blurry.

Unfortunately, after a couple of blinks, the blurriness persisted. It took a while for her to recover before the blurriness completely disappeared, and when it did, the first thing the little girl saw was rose petals, thousands of them slowly falling down onto her body.

"What the..." Her confused, little voice echoed across the room as she scanned her eyes around.

Her eyebrows met in the middle of her forehead, forming a frown. If someone saw her reacting like this, they'd immediately think she was lost. From the way her eyes widened in shock and the way she looked around the room like she was on an alien planet, the little girl definitely didn't belong there.

She was lost.

There were a lot of questions swirling inside the little girl's head. First, she wanted to ask someone where she was and how she could safely return to her apartment.

Her mind was occupied with those questions, and she didn't realize she was wearing a beautiful black medieval dress with petal sleeves and a vivid embroidery of golden rose vines all over it.

It was an elegant outfit fit for royalty, but she didn't know why she was wearing it.

Suddenly, pain struck the little girl's head without warning. She gasped as she tried to press her hand on the aching part, but stopped when she realized that her hand wasn't moving!

Panic instantly rose inside her chest.

What's happening? Why was she paralyzed?

Her mind blanked out for a moment because of the shock. She was scared and confused as to why she couldn't move her body.

Did she put herself into a coma resulting in her muscles being like this? She suddenly thought.

The soul inside the little girl's body was Sheila Legazpi. She was a 24-year-old woman who died in a terrible accident. But she didn't know that yet, because at that moment, she couldn't even remember how she arrived at that place.

Sheila had been hit after saving an unconscious man in the middle of the street, and now she had been reincarnated in the body of a little girl who had been sleeping for more than 490 years. That was why she couldn't move her arms. The body she had woken up to had been asleep for a very long time, hence the paralysis.

But Sheila didn't know that... yet.