Multiple Settings ℌ𝔢𝔯𝔬𝔢𝔰 𝔒𝔣 𝔄 𝔑𝔢𝔴 𝔚𝔬𝔯𝔩𝔡 {ℑℭ}

[supermartinbros]

Riley Cathers, June 19th 2:34 p.m

Riley tapped the window as she watched cars pass by, there were six people in the car. All of them were her... Friends? Maybe. Probably just acquaintances just trying to enjoy the day. She had no idea or well... She didn't even remember who sent the text. But who cared? All that mattered was she was going somewhere away from home. Perhaps home was not even a word for it. Residence was the right word. She stuck her hand in her pocket, grabbing her phone, 3 missed calls and 24 missed messages. What the- she shook her head, trying to reduce her surprise into more of a scowl.

"You're going to get carsick." Nico told her glancing at her phone before his eyes flitted back to the window. She ignored him.

She tapped on her messages but hesitated on opening them. She threw them all into the trash. Before her attention slowly crept onto the windows again, this was boring. Rick was driving, and Su-Wei...? Well she had no clue what she was doing but she probably had something in mind for them later anyway. Her phone buzzed and she clenched her jaw. She sighed, Adelaide was at the moment somewhere in the car she wasn't too sure. There was 6 people here.

Split between 3 girls and 3 boys. So the seat arrangement was slightly messed up, she placed her elbow on the side of the car gazing at the window, 1... 2... 3... 4... 5 red cars had they just passed and all of them seemed, fast. Riley touched her dark hair, curling it in small curls. What else could she think while she was in car? School? Dad? Games? all of them sounded boring, she even forgot where they were going. But, oh well. Wait, ah- homework. Out of all the times she had to mess up she chose to say yes to go with everyone when she needed to finish homework? And sweet rot it was due tomorrow.

No use in thinking about something she couldn't do, she opened up her phone and opened one of her favorite apps. Otome games... Was it childish of her to like these kind of games? Sure, yeah it did seem childish but since she could never be a main character at least she liked to feel like one in games. The sound of the opening was loud enough for everyone in the car to hear and she immediately rushed to the mute button in her phone, she heard Nico snicker slightly. She felt heat rush to her cheeks and glared at him. Was anyone else in the car laughing? Hopefully they all thought she was playing something random.

After a while Riley completely even forgot that she was in a car, she wondered if she was smiling or not but she could tell she wasn't. Her mouth was more of a scowl.

"Is it natural for you to scowl or is your face normally like that?" Nico asked her, what the heck was this guy's problem? She furrowed her brows forming a mean smile.

"Oh? Really? Well at least it's better than being you. So- can you just please just shut up?" she grinned but it was fake, Nico snorted and returned to whatever he was doing, she sighed. Great. Now her mood was spoiled thanks to the nosy guy. She turned off her phone which was a good thing with only 13% left of the battery. She took a glance outside, and felt her stomach drop. They were going way too fast the cars passed by in a flash. "Rick... Rick...! We're going too fast! Slow down." she growled. Even if he heard her he either ignored her or just kept driving. She felt her skin palled.

What... What if they- She shook her head, "Rick. We might crash. Slow down." she said trying to keep her cool on she couldn't hear the others trapped in her thread of thoughts. She clenched her fists, "Come on!" she spat, but then suddenly she saw blinding light coming from her side, she turned her head to see her eyes wince at the lights of another car, she tried to scream but it was cut off with the sound of crashing. She felt her head bounce around and her body slammed to the other side of the car. Pain burst through her ribs and head, they pounded hard and strong, she glanced at others but her hair was in her way. She panted and began hyperventilating. She touched the back of her head something sticky and hot was there, she looked at her hand to see. Blood.

She recoiled seeing the sight she was bleeding this- she would be fine, right? Nico, Adelaide, Rick, Adam, and Su-Wei... Were they going to be ok...? She felt drowsy and dizzy slowly she closed her eyes... Just a bit... Just a bit could she sleep? Help would come in a bit, she would have to wait that was all... She would be fine... Fine...


Riley opened her eyes, the room seemed bright. Was she in a hospital? But as her eyes adjusted the forms of a blank white space formed. Was she dreaming? She looked at her clothes she was wearing a blank dress, wait- why was she wearing this? What a weird dream... She stood up, everyone was with her. Blinking she looked in front she swore there wasn't a reception desk earlier. She crouched down to shake everyone awake, "Su-Wei, Adelaide, Rick, Nico, Adam. Wake up." This is a dream... They won't wake up. She laughed sarcastically about the thought.

Nico Delos Reyes, June 19th 2:34 p.m

Nico found this experience mildly enjoyable, he wasn't used to any meetings with more than 2 people... Most of them were classmates from school and some were juniors who were friends to the seniors and such. Nico himself was already a senior in high school this was one of his last days before he went to colleague which was fine by him. He grabbed some air pods, and connected them with his phone before blasting on one of his favorite songs. He hated cars since he could get carsick very easily but listening to music always helped him. He mouthed the words. There were six people in the car at the moment... Well. He didn't remember anyone's names.

He glanced at a girl, he didn't remember her name but she was using her phone, she was going to end up carsick if she continued using the thing. He glanced at her phone for a quick moment the words came out of his mouth by instinct, "You're going to get carsick." he turned his gaze away from her phone if she listened to him she seemed to ignore Nico. The best way was to close his eyes and slowly fall asleep but everyone seemed to be doing something in the car to lose their boredom.

Slowly the sounds became to silence, only the music in his ears echoed in his blank mind... At least no one would bother him now. His eyes jolted open when a loud music was heard, the girl from earlier seemed to be flushed and trying to cut the sound off. He stifled a snicker but maybe it was loud enough for the girl to hear since she turned to glare at him. He couldn't tell if anyone else was laughing because of air pods but her phone was pretty loud.

After a few minutes the girl... Well if he didn't remember her name it was fine to call her girl. She had a scowl planted on her face. Was she always in such a bad mood?

"Is it natural for you to scowl or is your face normally like that?" he asked her, for a moment she looked quite offended but she furrowed her brows and formed a mean smile.

"Oh? Really? Well at least it's better than being you. So- can you just please just shut up?" she grinned but it didn't seem too happy. Nico snorted she seemed like a stick in the mud most likely one of those snotty high rich girls or something who think everything goes their way in the world and can just shout out anything they wish without the teacher getting mad at them. He sighed before relaxing again. When were they going to get there? Where were they even going in the first place?

Suddenly after he began dozing off there was a loud sound of screaming and yelling he opened his eyes too late. The car fell and screeched as it collided with the ground he banged his head right on the window, but after that everything was a constant flood of darkness and silence. Then slowly he heard his name being called out once... What happened to him...?

Xeppy x_Tasia_X lackingsleeq

 

[Xeppy]

Su-Wei Lingyang
Past Life
supermartinbros x_Tasia_X lackingsleeq ​

---

---

"And who do you think you are?
Runnin' 'round leaving scars
Collecting your jar of hearts
And tearing love apart

You're gonna catch a cold
From the ice inside your soul
So don't come back to me
Who do you think you are?"

A short girl named Su-Wei mouthed the words of the famous song from Christina Perri, Jar of Hearts, staring blankly at the roof of the car. Given the place she was sitting right now, only Rick Allaband would be able to see her silently mouthing to herself. Fiddling with the bag of chips inside of her small lap, she looked out the front window of the car in a pursuit to find something interesting. Mhm, that was right: Su-Wei was sitting at the very front of the car, right flat next to the driver. Should be expected, with how she always calls shotgun first whenever she goes on a trip. Given the Asian girl's personality, nobody in their group should be surprised at how hard she pushed to be sitting up front. If anyone else wanted to sit up front, she would have immediately argued with them with really bad points and refused for any of them to go anywhere until she got the seating arrangement she wanted.

That was that.

So there was Su-Wei: sitting peacefully next to the driver's seat as she mouthed things to herself. Chip after chip got placed into her mouth as she nodded her head to the silent tune in her head. Her feet with shined dress shoes were propped up on top of the glove box, moving at a similar rhythm to her head bobbing, and her body laying on the car seat was relaxed. Next to her currently moving feet was a small bag: sort of like a mini-workbag, looking at it closely enough. The contents inside of it certainly wasn't like a workbag's, however. For example, a specific, homemade sign was peeking out from the bag, having something written on it in printed text:

SU-WEI LINGYANG
SINGLE AND OPEN
503-674-3144

Anyone who had been on a car ride with Su-Wei in the past would realize that she brought this bag with the sign on every single trip, even if it was just a small one. Usually, at least once, Su-Wei would use the sign for its true purpose: to give cute girls she saw her information. She would roll down the window, poke her head out, and show the sign optimistically. She didn't know anything about them, whether they even liked girls or not, yet she still did it anyways. She still did it in the hope that one of them would call her someday.

They never did. Probably because Su-Wei is zooming by them in a car and they don't even have enough time to process and remember the phone number at the bottom. But hey! If she saw a pretty, feminine person outside in this little trip, they might just remember her number and call her this time!

Along with the sign, a packet of colorful markers, a phone, earbuds, and snacks could be found in this bag. Chips, gum, and candy were among these snacks inside, and varities of many different brands were all around. Although, weirdly, they were only brands that sold messy foods. And, suspiciously itself, Su-Wei did this on purpose. She bought only these types for one, specific reason: her clothing. Her unstained clothing. Her newly bought clothing. The gray dress pants on her were suspiciously stainless, and the usual, messily placed buttoned shirt on her was absent. An unfamiliar male cardigan and tie was found instead- again, stainless. Su-Wei didn't seem at all bothered by it, however. She seemed... relaxed for some reason.

"I hear you're asking all around
If I am anywhere to be found"

As Su-Wei mouthed another stanza from the song that she liked, she messily grabbed another handful of the powdery chips she had. She wasn't even trying to neatly eat it by this point. The orange substance came out of the bag and from the chips grabbed, covering the cardigan and tie that was on Su-Wei. The weird part about Su-Wei's actions right now, though, was that she didn't panic at all that such expensive clothing got potentially ruined. In fact, she on purposely seemed to smear it. Her intentions were clear now. If anyone was paying attention, they would know her objective and reason: these were new clothes that she didn't want. Her family got new pieces of clothing for the black-haired girl, so Su-Wei showed her appreciation by wearing it to this friend event and ruining it.

Then, as if she didn't disrespect her family's generosity and nothing happened, she turned towards Rick. The Jar of Hearts song was still stuck in her head, but the good part was that she didn't mouth the words of it anymore. She was now occupied with talking to the male next to her. "Yo, Ricky Rat." The nickname was based on the show of Mickey Mouse, although many most likely wouldn't know that if they didn't ask. In Su-Wei's head, she immediately connected 'Mickey' and 'Ricky' to rhyme, leading her to edit the name for Ricky to match him specifically. She grinned, showing that she meant no insult and harm in anything she said, as she held a singular chip in her fingers. "Catch."

She plucked the chip from her fingers into the air, trying to lead it into Ricky's mouth as a joke even though he was driving right now. You know: Su-Wei is being so cautious and safe about the matters of cars and driving. Unfortunately, the chip she threw into the air was nowhere close to landing next to him. Somehow, the chip managed to just flip up straight and bonk Su-Wei back in the head like a boomerang. A BONK came from it as a small amount of orange power covered her hair. Oh. Well, then. She blinked, empty faced at what just happened before snickering widly.

"Pfft- see, this is why, ha, I should accept that illegal height transfer surgery that I found online, hehe." She ate another chip, spraying her body with orange particles again. "'Cause if I got taller, heh, I could probably join the girls' basketball team. Then I would- haha- have better aim to throw chips around at people. Althoughhhh," She got another chip from the bag, pointing at Rick with it. If his eyes were on the road, though, he probably wouldn't fully see the gesture that she was doing. "Being short and seemingly innocent does have its advantages, I'll give you that. Hey, Adelaide! Adam!"

To make her point to Ricky, she not-so-swiftly placed her dress-shoed feet back on the floor of the car and placed the chips next to her bag. If Ricky wanted the chip bag, though, it was easily in his reach. She then started searching through this said bag, searching for one specific item only. Her eyes glimmered with what couldn't have been good intentions as she searched the messy bag further. She pushed the markers and sign aside, leaving only the snacks left for her to explore. Looking more closely into this section, there was strawberry gum, potato chips, cheese puffs, spicy gum, granola bars, cookies, and mints: all the things Su-Wei needed.

Su-Wei grabbed the cookies.

"Do you dudes want some?" Su-Wei kneeled up in her car seat and turned around to face Adelaide and Adam- a very safe position to be in- as she waved the bag of cookies around tauntingly. A grin infested onto her pale face as she moved the cookies in a hypnotic way. While it may seem that she was just teasing how she had cookies and they didn't, she actually wanted them to get it. She added... materials inside of the cookies. Special materials. Su-Wei couldn't cook for the life of her, but she didn't need to for these cookies' purpose! She just needed the cookies to look edible. She didn't need them to be edible. She called both Adelaide and Adam because, besides Rick over here, they were nice people. Adam was always willing to help, while Adelaide was cool. Perfect people to try her abomination creations. Riley scowled a lot, and Nico was really intimidating, so that's why she didn't direct the cookies at them right now. No way was she offering fake cookies to them. They were scary. "Perhaps I could give to them to you if-"

"You're going to get carsick."

Su-Wei got momentarily distracted in her professional-level convincing skills by a sudden voice coming from around her. The gray eyes belonging to Su-Wei landed on the scary, music male- fun fact: the only legal adult here!- as he was looking at Riley's phone. Oh. And she ignored him. Nice people here. Su-Wei raised her eyebrows, but quickly flashed a business grin as she went back to persuading Adam and Aileen to eat her cookies.

"Speaking of getting carsick, do you know what's the opposite of getting sick? The sensation of eating these trustable cookies made by m- ahem, by the store! The deep batter of this enamored chocolate treat will burst inside of your mouth as you get sent strait to flavor heaven. You will fly around, seeking the desire of another bite... and I have as much supply as you desire. As you chew and chew-"

Then, again, Su-Wei was interrupted from her speech as a sudden noise played from Riley's direction. The girl's head turned, a matter of annoyance shining on her face. What did it take to advertise something terrible to nice people? How much time did it take to just get others to eat a cursed, messed-up cookie? That's all Su-Wei wanted to do right now! Whatever God was shining above them right now was rightfully not on her side momentarily. Luck was certainly not in her favor for pulling jokes on others. The sixteen-year-old girl stuck out her tongue, about to complain about how she just needed peace and quiet to get her point about her cookies across... well, before she saw Riley. Before she saw the blush and glare at Nico as the boy laughed. Before Su-Wei connected how Riley put that loud noise up accidentally, and that's why she was blushing right now.

"Psh," Su-Wei let out an impish snigger when finally connecting the dots inside of her head, forgetting all about her cookies and giving a teasingly raised eyebrow towards Riley. Su-Wei didn't know if she noticed, though. She seemed more occupied with being angry at Nico. Not that Su-Wei wanted the girl to be angry at her instead or anything. Whether the girl noticed Su-Wei or not, she still let out a few laughs against the brown-haired girl before turning to Adam and Adelaide.

"Wanna know why I laughed? I laughed with joy! I laughed because of this cookie, which gave me so much happiness!"

With the song still playing at the back of her head, Su-Wei spent the next few minutes explaining in great detail the supposed greatness of the cookies in her Zip-Loc baggie. She even made-up reviews about it. She really was going all out. It seemed that the Taiwanese girl wouldn't stop explaining anything until either the boy or girl agreed to eat a cookie. If one of them did, Su-Wei's face would lighten up with a suspicious amount of satisfaction as she beamed at the person with relief. She would have reached inside her bag, giving the person a random cookie and looking at them expectantly. Both Adelaide and Adam most likely would have known how Su-Wei worked, though. They both most likely knew what she normally did to people. They both most likely knew that she never did nice things for people, and everything she did do had an imp-like reasoning behind it. It was very doubtful whether they would trust anything Su-Wei would give them or not, but if they wanted to humor her, it would certainly be appreciated. If both of them just listened to her, though, she would simply keep on monologuing.

But, whether someone took a cookie or not, something soon happened again.

"Is it natural for you to scowl or is your face usually like that?"

Su-Wei paused held back another snicker after hearing this, her face filling with a childish amusement. Dang! Well... Nico wasn't wrong. It surprised Su-Wei with how much Riley scowled in her free time. It was like she didn't have a blank resting face. It was like the fifteen-year-old girl was the opposite of the black-haired one. Riley seemed serious, distant, kind of rude if needed, while Su-Wei was a jokester, mischievous, and the times she frowned were more of a pout than a scowl. Su-Wei didn't understand how them two could be so different, but that didn't stop her from laughing at the younger girl now.

Her devilish eyes glimmered with a sudden interest when Riley looked offended- the same level of annoyance that her older sisters would always express before getting in some kind of fight. Well, wow. Su-Wei didn't expect something as good as this to happen so soon! She didn't expect an argument that Su-Wei could easily record to pop up out of nowhere! Forgetting about her prank yet again against Adelaide and Adam, she turned around once more and tossed the bag of cookies inside her mini workbag. She then took out the small, overpriced phone of hers, looking at it like it was a murder tool.

"But I have grown too strong
To ever fall back in your arms"

The song seemed to spring back up unto Su-Wei's lips as she sneakily crouched down in her car seat. She was now on a mission. A mission for further entertainment. She opened up her clear-cased, gray phone, having it show the wallpaper of an egg thrown at a brick wall. That's explainable enough on its own. Moving on. The apps all around her phone weren't grouped up at all, placed in random places that made it hard to find what she was looking for. If anyone were to look through her small phone, however, they would be able to see that not many apps were downloaded. Only social media platforms, streaming services, and video editors were found.

But that was off topic. She quickly opened up the camera app, placing it into video mode as she quietly positioned the cellular device in a place where Riley and Nico would surely not see it. Or maybe they would see it. Who knows. But, with Ricky sitting next to her, he would be able to see if he took his eyes off the road that she was obviously recording the argument in front of them. She didn't think that someone like him would try to stop her, though, if he did happen to notice. At least, she hoped he didn't. She needed to place all her attention on getting the action in this film. She couldn't deal with fun ruiners.

Speaking of fun...

A mean smile went onto Riley's face. This better be good.

"Oh? Really? Well at least it's better than being you. So- can you just please just shut up?"

A snort from Nico.

...

...

...

That was all? Really? Where was the fight? Where was the goodness? Where was everything? Su-Wei disappointedly stopped the video, slouching in her chair as an angry pout overcame her. She expected more. She expected it to go on longer. She expected them to get in some fistfight and try to become victorious. The two scariest people were just arguing! Su-Wei needed drama! She needed action! She needed bloodshed! This couldn't be posted online if it was a few seconds long and only had a few insults! It was too short! It needed more! MORE! ...well... except if Su-Wei edited the video. Maybe made a few tweaks. Added text explaining the backstory that Su-Wei would make-up to make it more interesting.

But... dang. Su-Wei always knew this girl was something, but if Su-Wei and Riley insulted people together, they could take down any evil force.

Su-Wei, having the small clip on her phone now, shoved the small device in her small bag quickly as she kneeled back up, turning around in her car seat. A grin of the devil was found on her face. "Jeez, Smiley Riley," Like the 'Rickey Rat' one, this nickname was a joke based on Riley. It was about how Riley didn't smile and mostly just scowled, hence 'Smiley Riley'. "Leave some insults for me, at least. It's, like, my whole entire brand! Buuut, you know what's also a good brand?" Adelaide and Adam would most likely know where this was headed if they were paying attention to her at all. "These amazing cookies that I totally bought at the store today!"

Riley's mood was ruined by now, but that didn't matter. Su-Wei was talking to everyone in the car. She turned around in her car seat once more, snatching the cookies and waving them around in the air again. "Watch as they elegantly lay in the bag, fresh and baked recently... from the store I bought them from! Right." She cleared her throat. "But even the great leaders of the world would want these! You know Beyoncé? The singer? She would beg to be able to get one-"

Su-Wei suddenly felt something strange. The car felt... weirder all of a sudden. Like something changed. Maybe the gas? Or the speed? She tilted her head towards Rick, clearly looking for an explanation of what had happened. Once she saw what he was doing, though, she smiled wildly. Good ol' Ricky. He may be one of the few people who knew how to truly have fun here. "Dude, what is this? Mario Kart? We need to go faster!" She plopped down in her seat, looking at the front window excitedly as she watched all the cars pass faster than usual. "There's no risk, anyways. It's not like some banana peel will come out of nowhere and get us spinning and turning."

"Rick... Rick...! We're going too fast! Slow down."

Su-Wei shot a frown at Riley as she turned around to look behind her. Why was this girl always ruining the fun? She may have been cool when she was causing drama with Nico, but she certainly wasn't right now. Just because she was in a bad mood didn't mean she had to be a fun ruiner for everyone! Su-Wei stuck her tongue out at the girl, eyebrows furrowed at her, before saying to Rick, "Don't listen to her. She doesn't know how to have a good time. We do, though! Faster!"

"Rick. We might crash. Slow down."

"We can live a little!! She's trying to be BORING! Go!"

"Come on!"

"Go, go, GO!!"

B A M !

It happened in just a few moments. The most traumatic moment of Su-Wei's sixteen-year-old life happened in just a few moments. It felt like forever, though. Right as it started, time seemed to slow down right in front of Su-Wei's eyes. Life seemed to want Su-Wei to take in every single detail right now. The black-haired girl certainly never expected it. For another car to hit this one. She never expected for Riley to be right. The first few moments of the crash were quite peaceful, actually. The supplies on the glovebox slowly started flying in the air, spreading out as if they were socially distancing themselves from each other. The markers uncapped themselves, mercifully floating through the air. As if her body was lonely from not being able to float as well, it also lifted into the air slightly. Her body lurched forward slowly, yet she was still in the air. Supposedly flying.

Like a Phoenix, if you will.

Then, as fast as the slow motion started, it stopped. The peaceful times of flying and floating were gone. Slowly, but slowly, everything became normal speed again. The yells of others seemed more on-speed, and then suddenly, everything terrifying came.

Su-Wei started screeching at the top of her lungs, shutting her eyes tight as she was moved around the car. Although the seat belt around her helped somewhat, she couldn't move at all as broken glass flew at her. Her screams overlapped with the others as the pieces of the car windows cut through her face, skin, hands: anywhere where she was vulnerable. Piercing pains of all kinds shot through her entire body, and it didn't take a doctor right now for Su-Wei to know that some of the glass was burrowing in deep inside of her body. Blood streams started flowing from where the glass shards hit, and soon enough, it would be beyond fixing.

It was like this for a few moments. Those who died instantly were lucky, as they didn't have to go through the pain of everything that came next. Su-Wei's screeches kept on going, not stopping until she knew it was all over. Until she knew that the car stopped moving. Until everything quieted down. Whether the others already died or were seeing their injuries right now, Su-Wei was silently fighting for her life herself. She opened her eyes and forced them to remain open as she gasped for air, staring at a singular point with a strange amount of concentration as she begged herself not to lose consciousness. She could feel a pool of blood coming from somewhere around her body, and she didn't even know if it was her own or someone else's. Su-Wei's breaths became more and more panicked as the reality of where they were settled in more and more. Would she... would they all...?

You know how people say that your life flashes before your eyes before you die? That the memories of happy times, sad times, family times, and everything important in your life? Well, that was a lie for Su-Wei right now. She didn't think of her past. No. She thought of something sadder. Su-Wei immediately started thinking of her future. About all the things she was missing. Of all the things she could never do now.

Graduating high school.

Her wedding day.

Signing adoption papers.

Getting her first pet.

Dying her hair.

College.

Grandkids.

Learning how to play an instrument.

Growing up with a lover.

Retiring.

Seeing a female president.

Having a happily ever after.

"No, no," Tears of grief fell down Su-Wei's face. No. No. She couldn't die. No. No. She had so much to live for- she had so much to explore and see. No. No. She still needed to make up the years she was wasting her life away as average. No. No! Why- why did she need to have this? Why did she have to die? Why couldn't she survive? "No, no, nO, NO, NO!" The life was draining out of her, yet Su-Wei still screamed for her life. She screamed in denial for her situation. She screamed for whoever listened to her. For whatever God above who would come to her aid. She still screamed fighting, and she wanted to keep on going fighting.

"PLEASE, I-I... I need..." Well. Now Su-Wei knew where the blood puddle came from. It was her own. Too many glass pieces pierced important parts of her. Su-Wei didn't even know who she was begging to. She just... she was hoping someone was listening. She was hoping someone would come save her. "I-I-I need to... need to..."

She needed to hear the sound of bacon sizzling on the stove again. She needed to hear the singing of the birds again. She needed to taste the failed cooking experiments of her siblings again. She needed to feel the terrible soap her parents bought yesterday again. She needed to see those boring art pieces in museums again. She needed to see the person she loved the most again. She needed to see the look of judgement that came from the random people she asked out again.

She needed to live. She needed to breathe. She needed to go on.

"I... need to..."

Her tightened fingers that were fighting for something loosened. Words were dying at Su-Wei's lips, and she had trouble concentrating on what she needed to say. The blood shimmered and laughed, pouring out of her body as it mocked Su-Wei for being weak. For giving up. For being like the average person. The tears sobbed as they kept on falling down her cheeks, knowing that they will never come out again. The mischievous heart of Su-Wei gave last breaths and beats as it kept on banging against her chest, wanting an escape from everything. Her desperate eyes looked around, trying to find something beautiful to look at one last time.

But it never did find anything.

And that's how Su-Wei Trinh Lingyang died. She gave up the fight for her life and in her last moments, she desperately looked for something to give her hope. She ultimately failed at that, though. She was filled with hopelessness as she thought about her "future", having the stabbing pains in her head and body as the glass shards stabbed her over and over again. Her breaths became shallow, become shorter and shorter...

"...need... to..."

...until she drew her last breath, with one last pang of pain.



DEAD
​

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...

"Su-Wei, Adelaide, Rick, Nico, Adam. Wake up."

...

...

"Mm."

The small, black-haired girl let out a small noise of discomfort, her eyes fluttering slightly in response to being called. Was it morning time already? Was it time to go to that appointment that her mom scheduled already? Mmm. She didn't want to. She didn't want to get out of bed. The unrecognizable area she was sleeping in was comfortable. She didn't seem to be in her usual bed, but she didn't want to wake up yet. As well, she didn't seem to be in her normal clothing right now, and she didn't want to change. Su-Wei felt as though she wasn't in her bed with her usual sleeping clothes, but hey! She didn't want to get up to that appointment.

Wait.

Su-Wei jerked up, opening her eyes in panic as she finally acknowledged something was wrong. She immediately looked around, squinting at the bright lights all around. Where was she? Was she kidnapped!? Or... what? What was her last memory? It was... car crash? Huh? Did she get hurt? Were her cries for help enough to get people to help her? Whatever the reason for her being here, this definitely wasn't her home, and her family definitely wasn't with her right now. As her senses heightened with adrenaline, she quickly looked for anything to catch her eye. In the state she was in, though, the only thing she picked up was that everything was white... and there was this desk. Weird. Eventually, her eye finally caught the person who voiced for them to wake them up, but... huh?

..Riley? Was that Smiley Riley? The person she recorded before they came here? Wait. WAIT. That definitely wasn't Riley. That dress that she wore... that wasn't a hospital gown. No way has Su-Wei seen Riley wear something like that before, and she doubted that Riley would ever wear that. This wasn't right. Su-Wei was sure. So... if it wasn't Riley Cathers, who was it?

"AAH! GHOST!" Coming to this conclusion rather quickly, Su-Wei scurried away from the "Riley" that she saw, pointing at it accusingly. "Nice try, shapeshifter-ghostie buddy! I KNOW for a fact that Smiley Riley wouldn't wear something like that!" She pointed at the rest of the people... er, ghosts, in the room. "BACK OFF, ghost people! I learned how to punch people recently, and I'm not afraid to do so to YOU!" You can't really punch at ghosts, Su-Wei, but sure. "TELL ME WHERE I AM! And... why do these other ghost people have those peoples' names? TELL ME! NOW!" Connect the dots, Su-Wei.​

 

[x_Tasia_X]

Adelaide​

Adelaide didn’t know many of the people in this car very well. That made her a bit nervous. But she continued to fiddle with her hands and push through it because at least she was being included in something. And no one was being mean to her. There was a smile on Adelaide’s face as she looked out the window. A hopeful one. It was troublesome because it was one of those smiles that you couldn’t push down no matter how hard you tried. She was hoping that she could pretend that this was less of a big deal to her than it was. But, it was a huge deal to her. Even if she’s hung out with friends before, it had never been this many people. What would they be doing? Adelaide was full of anxious excitement; too much to contain in a facade.

Her attention was caught by Su-Wei waving some Cookies at her and Adam. She looked between the cookies and Su-Wei. Those were not going to be normal. Not if they're from her, but Adelaide didn’t mind. Maybe they would be gross. Adelaide would give Su-Wei the reaction she wanted and Adelaide would get to see her impish friend burst into a fit of snickers. Adelaide didn’t mind being the butt of a joke if it made someone happy. She grinned and hit and took a cookie. She was about to eat it until Nico spoke and took Su-Wei’s attention. Adelaide paused, waiting to get her attention back so that her reaction to whatever was in this thing could be seen. Adelaide held off from eating when Su-Wei went on a very long monologue about the cookies. Not wanting to interrupt. Okay- here goes attempt two-

Another interruption and Adelaide was starting to get a little irritated. A few Interruptions later and it seems like Su-Wei’s attention has officially been stolen. Adelaide still gave the cookie a chance. Mostly out of curiosity- oh god what the fuck did she put in this?! Adelaide tried not to spit out the cookie and forced it down her throat.

“W-wow. Thanks.” She sputtered.

You know, that was enough social interaction for now. Adelaide resigned herself to look out the window. Even as the car grew faster and her nerves got worse, she still tried to keep a smile on her face. Adelaide’s expression seemed a little more nervous than before. But she tried to keep her attention on the window. Her window gazing didn’t last long, a scream pierced her ears. She didn’t even manage to turn her head before a great pressure threw the car off balance.

Adelaide found herself still sitting in the car. A piece of the car had fully pierced through her abdomen. She didn’t know what part of it was. She didn’t care to notice, her body was too shocked to even process the pain correctly. Her entire body felt as if it were on fire. Yet all she could manage to do was make small brief gasps that almost sounded like heaving. Her eyes were wide as she stared outside the window. If she could move, her hands would be tightened in fists.

Adelaide was seething. She knew she was going to die. You don’t just recover from something piercing straight through you. But- why now? Why now, when she had some semblance of happiness? Why couldn’t this have happened back when she had nothing to live for? The arriving numbness made it easier for Adelaide to think. She searched her eyes around the car, wanting to check on the well being of the people surrounding her. It- didn’t look good. Perhaps it was better if she died here, then. Adelaide lowered her gaze, resigning herself to death. The world had beat her down enough. She was finally giving up. She counted the seconds until she died. 454.

*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ

Someone was calling her name. Probably paramedics. Adelaide squeezed her eyes shut tighter. She didn’t want to wake up. Just let her die. Let it end, please. It took Adelaide a few minutes for her to realize that she was not in a hospital; she didn’t feel anything attached to her. So hospitable machinery or bandages around her abdomen. Her eyes slowly flutter open. Her expression was void of any panic. She just looked- tired.. She was not quite there, as shown by her lack of awareness of her surroundings. Not even Su-Wei’s yelling seemed to phase her.

Why couldn’t the world let her rest.

Xeppy
(Ignore the lack of cc I only have one for Nina)

 

[lackingsleeq]

Ricky

Ricky gripped the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles white, trying to push down his deep fear of cars caused by his little, as he liked to call it “a minor hiccup” a while back. But this so-called “hiccup” had scared him out of his wits, along with the remaining sypmtoms withdrawal, made it diffucult for him to foucus. As he thought about what fate caused him to have a limp when the doctors said he’d make a full, limp-less, recovery, he could see out of the corner of his eye Su-Wei mouthing words to some song and tried to ignore it.

He only glanced at her when she offered him the chip (just because he’d thought seen something else), but looked right back at the road. Ricky didn’t mind her calling him ‘Ricky Rat’ but it always made him feel a little guilty. Sometimes he felt he wasn’t worthy of any sort of friendship… Should I have told them about my addiction? He thought, feeling hollow. Does it count as lying to them? Well, he’d never claimed that he had no past dealings with drugs, so he didn’t have to lie. Plus, how would them not knowing hurt anyone? He was probably just being nervous.

To make himself feel better, and to annoy Adam, he sang under his breath the lyrics to a song that he knew Adam hated, and only so Adam and Su-wei could hear he sang softly, “Little baby, little boy, decapitated like an old chew toy~” Then chuckled to himself as he saw Adam’s scowl in the mirror. Good old Five Nights at Freddy’s, people made the best songs to go with them, and when it came to those people, the creator of the song he’d muttered, CG5 had always been his favorite. All this time, he had his eyes off of the road, busy with checking his phone for texts and plugging it in to the car’s radio so it could charge and he could navigate to their destination.

“Hey!” Protested Adam, taking his airpods out of their case and putting them in his ears, “Dude, eyes on the road!”

Ricky felt a prickle of annoyance, he hated being bossed around, especially by Adam. He’d spent so much time free that being told what to do felt like an insult. Ricky mouthed an insult under his breath and pushed harder down on the gas, speeding up the car slowly, but fast enough to be noticed by the passengers. Sure enough, he got the reaction he wanted (and predicted) from everyone. However, with everyone yelling at him, including the normaly peacable Adam, his head pounded and he could hardly hear them over his rushing thoughts.

When Adam’s phone hit him square in the back of his head, he jumped and slammed down on the brake with his crippled leg. With the sudden rush of pain, Adam let go of the steering wheele just at the wrong time and the car spun out of control, slamming into another car. Or maybe the car crashed into them, either way, it was fatal.

Ricky didn’t live long enough to feel any pain, as he got some seriously bad whiplash, cracking his skullopen on the steering wheel. What a nice find for the cops to come across... Mm, cranial fluid.

—:—

The next thing Ricky knew, someone had called out his name. He laughed weakly, not comprending where he was entirely. All he was aware of was that he was alive, or so he thought.

As Ricky’s mind cleared, he started to put two and two together as best as he could (so, not well at all). He came to the conclusion he was in heaven and it was an angel who’d called out his name, even before he’d opened his eyes. How odd… he thought, I’d kind of assumed I was… going… to… his thought trailed off as soon as he felt a rush of sabbling pain in his head, killing all other thoughts. Ricky groaned, and sat up, opening his eyes and blinking in the sudden light, looking like a total idiot.

Adam

Adam sat in the car, a little nervous about Ricky driving. From what he knew about Ricky, Ricky was very… adventurous. He was kind of a pushover, so if someone else wanted the window seat or to sit up front, he’d let them. At that moment, he was preoccupied with texting his Canadian uncle about his upcoming trip to Canda. He was planning on going hunting, fishing, helping his Aunt and Uncle build a shed, and whatever else he could fit into the trip. Adam always had something to look forward to, but he normally never thought about them. He was the kind of guy who always tried to live in the present, but was always mindful of the future. In fact, it was rare to see Adam on his phone.

When he was offered a cookie, he only politely shook his head, not hungry. Er- well, he was, but he was feeling a little carsike, and to be mildly pleased with the cartip required that he not throw up.

Although, trying to enjoy to the cartrip was made hard by Ricky’s driving, Su-Wei restlessness, Adelaide’s nervous vibes, and the bickering going on between Riley and Nico. He was just about to ask Adelaide how she was doing when he heard Ricky sing softly, “Little baby, little boy, decapitated like an old chew toy~” He scowled at Ricky, wondering how on earth people could enjoy anything related to crying kids being murdered by their brothers at their own birthday party. It was just gross.

He was just pulling his airpods out of his pocket so he could drown out Ricky’s singing before he noticed the dude had his eyes off the road. “Hey!” he called, popping open the case and pulling out the airpods, “Dude, eyes on the road!” He put the airpods in his ears, expecting Ricky to look back at the road. Only when Ricky did so, did Adam relax and look out the window.

But when Adam felt the car speeding up, he looked back at Ricky, eyes wide. The nerve of him! Why would he speed up when they were already boarding on speeding? Did Ricky really not learn his lesson the from crash?

Adam tried to yell at Ricky but was ignored. So instead, he tossed his phone at RIcky’s head. The next thing he knew, the side of the car had crumpled into him and he only had time to yell in surpsise before it all went black.

—:—

Adam refused to wake up when he heard someone call his name. It was probably his mom, but after that nightmare he hardly felt in the mood to go to school. The yelling was probably his friends trying to come and pick him up for school...but it was so nice here. In fact, he was so content to just keep laying down that to spite the mingling pain, Adam just wanted to drift off to sleep again.

 

[supermartinbros]

Riley Cathers, The Leak Of Time And Space

She scowled as Su-Wei woke up. Great. Another racket woke up. She sighed as Su-Wei began screaming but she stopped her sigh midway... Wait... Usually in dreams wouldn't everything move in ways she didn't plan? Such as something random happening happening now? She felt chill dance up her spine. She looked at Su-Wei for a moment her face didn't hold the scowl which always seemed to be on her face, instead there was fear in her eyes for a fluttering moment before replaced by anger.

She bared her teeth anger was seething out of her. "Shut up Su-Wei!! Oh my..." she trailed off, her hands covering her face. She felt like crying but she let anger burst through her more than sadness. She wouldn't cry. "Shapeshifter, huh? Well I'm sorry to say but I'm the real Riley Dawn Cathers. As for what I'm wearing- I don't have control." she looked at her dress.

True. She would never wear anything remotely close to this or anything like this. It was hideous. "I'll tell you where we are. We're dead." she clenched her teeth the words made bile rise up her throat, "Thanks to you enjoying the moment of the ride and Rick speeding everyone in the car probably died." she knew had said a bit much they were teenagers just pretty much kids.

A moment later she whispered, "Sorry..." it was barely a sound she didn't want to seem like a weak pitiful person she just looked away before she looked over to Adelaide she looked tired. She knew that look very well, she also knew how it felt too. But, she was both relieved and filled with sadness and anger at dying. She looked at Rick and Adam she didn't know what to say. She was only fifteen. Only fifteen. She grabbed fistful of the dress on her side and grabbed it hard to prevent her from ripping something.

She looked around everything was nothing but a blank space... Blank. Except for the reception desk and a person standing there. What? A person? She didn't know anyone else dying that day... She felt like crying or sobbing... But what was she sad about? Leaving her mom, her dad? NO. A big fat no. She wanted to fulfill her dream of being a novelist. A story writer, she wanted to wake up in her bed once more and listen to the sounds of birds singing, to the emails of her online friends... The small chatters of her pet.

She didn't even make a will yet. The brown haired girl seemed like she was on the verge of breaking down or something but she did nothing, absolutely nothing. Her face was blank. She would never return to the small apartment which only barely fit 2 people which reeked of the smell of alcohol and smoke. The small cramped room of her messy with school papers and books the smell of fresh cut grass in there. Her books... Otome games... She slowly sat on the white ground, curling up to a small ball... She didn't care if she looked like a child at that moment all she wanted was some comfort... Comfort of a mother, friend or someone... Was this truly death?

A moment passed by and the sound of footsteps got closer and she whipped her head to see a woman in her mid 20's with bright blond hair which almost seemed fake, and dark brown eyes but she got near all of them, "Are you ready?" Riley knitted her eyebrows closer, what did she mean by that? She narrowed her eyes. She didn't trust this woman, she didn't know her. She ignored her like what she did to Nico, the lady had to be some kind of oddball. "Riley Dawn Cathers, Su-Wei Trinh Lingyang, Adelaide Simone Rivera, Rick Allaband, Nico Antonio Delos Reyes, and Adam LeBlanc." the woman gave a slight bow of her head, Riley didn't notice when Nico woke up but clearly he was awake his face dark and glum he must've heard her conversation. Riley narrowed her eyes even further, "Yeah? How do you know us?" she asked in an almost accusing tone.

The woman didn't smile but she seemed calm. "I watched you guys." OK. That was one wrong sentence, Riley scrunched her nose. The woman smiled, "Come along now." Riley stood up abruptly. "How can we trust you?" she asked her, the woman looked over all of them, "I can tell all of your actions up until now or your pasts, if you would like?" Riley hesitated, perhaps she did know... "Ladies and gentleman I'm sure you have realized this but you have passed away. My name Matilda. I am your receptionist for heaven." she commented, as she walked forward waiting for the others to catch up, Riley stood for a while longer before following her, she glanced back at the others wondering if they were going to follow the strange woman who called herself Matilda.

The brown haired girl followed her until she was in front of the reception desk and Matilda was behind, she waited for the others to arrive she tried to give herself as much space from the others... She didn't want to talk to them. She grabbed her elbow and squeezed it into her body hoping that would ease something. "Ladies and Gentleman. All of you have had a very short life. Shorter than most people. We didn't plan for this in fact this was a mistake. All of you would have had healthy long lives. So as of this we have given you the opportunity to have another chance." Matilda told them, she didn't seem like those friendly people in hospitals she genuinely seemed sympathetic that they died.

Emotions bubbled inside of her, Nico looked at Matilda, "By another chance... You do mean life, correct? How would you do that? No matter how much you shouldn't change time or whatever." he asked. Matilda looked down at her desk before skipping through a few pages in a book, "Life. New life. I know some of you inside this group already had a rough life tired, sad, and angry. But this time we'll set everything right. You can't choose how your life works but you can choose your path. This is on pg. 874 The guide of souls by Roger Weldin."

"Anything else I need to clarify?" Matilda asked her dark eyes were bright but they no longer held the life they had when she was perhaps alive, Riley wondered if her own eyes were dead and hollow as well and she scowled. Now this was more like herself, scowling. She glanced at others, she couldn't understand how they felt but one thing was probably was the same they were all dead.

"Where are we?" Nico asked, Matilda wondered for a moment she didn't seem to be able to come up with an answer for a moment, Matilda seemed oblivious that everyone was waiting for her to answer the question.

"The small leak and fragment of time and space. You being here right now isn't suppose to happen, if you truly lived your life you would've either went to heaven or well..." she chuckled, Riley crossed her arms what was funny about this? She felt a sudden dislike for this woman, Matilda stopped laughing her face serious, "Or as most of you know. The place where fires are alive. I know how you feel each and everyone of you, I can make one promise for you in the next life, anything you want to be. What is that?" she asked, her eyes had a different fire now a different motivation. Something from experience... Matilda eyes were blazing and serious no longer the twinkling, calm and kind lady.

What did Riley truly want, though?

Nico Delos Reyes, The Leak Of Time And Space

The sound of screaming hit Nico like a rock and he scratched his head... He didn't experience it but he was sure another car hit the one Rick was driving, he cursed. That Rick... He exhaled clenching his fists, was he in a hospital? No... He doubted it, he looked over to see Riley telling Su-Wei to be quiet and her beginning to lose control. He swallowed bile, he was dead. DEAD. Deceased, he looked around Riley was wearing a dress, white. Which she would almost never wear. He wasn't in the mood to laugh though... He... DIED. D.E.A.D Yes, the death came for him.

He closed off his mind letting his feeling rule. He cursed again, why did he have to die when he was... Young? He clenched his hands into small fists. The black-haired boys were hollow and defeated... But he knew that he could see her again. He didn't smile but the weight off his shoulders slightly lightened which encouraged Nico, a while later a woman with bright blond hair and dark brown eyes started walking toward them, click-clop, click-clop went her shoes. She asked if they were ready and Nico immediately felt bitter anger at her.

He didn't know why he shook the feeling away, such a useless and stupid emotion, why did he feel angry at the woman. Maybe she died too... But he instantly doubted the thought her clothing looked of one from offices black, and white, one of those secretaries from the high and rich companies. Was she asking Riley? Or was she asking everyone? Her eyes were flitting to everyone around the room. Probably everyone.

As soon as she began naming everyone he felt bile rise in his throat and he turned to the woman she didn't seem one bit guilty. Suddenly Riley began asking her in an accused voice. Geez. Did that girl everyone relax? Probably not, she always had a scowl plastered on her face even when everyone seemed to have a good time. Maybe it was just her natural face. But considering that, he suddenly felt an inch of guilt. Sure, she had a bad impression but he shouldn't make fun of it. Especially when he himself didn't have a good impression either.

The conversation began with the woman and Riley, so many weird things were happening his head felt like bursting, he was never a mathematician or a braniac. When he listened to her about them dying he clenched his fists. Did God make such simple mistakes? Did he? He wanted to get a refund. If God was here why couldn't he revert time. Why? Why, why, why? But he knew that all things had a chance and a price.

Just to make sure he silently cleared his throat and asked, "By another chance... You do mean life, correct? How would you do that? No matter how much you shouldn't change time or whatever." The woman quickly responded to him, but he disliked the fact... The fact she acted so nonchalantly. "Life. New life. I know some of you inside this group already had a rough life tired, sad, and angry. But this time we'll set everything right. You can't choose how your life works but you can choose your path. This is on pg. 874 The guide of souls by Roger Weldin."

Matilda asked if they had any questions and he looked around, everywhere he saw everything was, white, white, white, space and nothingness other than the reception desk.

"Where are we?" he asked, this was something he was truly curious about. Ah, he missed home he would miss home... He would miss music... Hopefully his Mam and Pop would forgive him for being so stupid.

His answer was answered and he felt a sudden awe and desperation. SO, he couldn't get out of here... Then Matilda rambled on about the next life and such, her eyes flared they weren't literally burning but they no longer had the cheery effect they had earlier, she asked... What they want.

He almost laughed, what he wants? He already knew the answer right in his heart. His life back. Life. He wanted to live again. He looked up and his eyes were blazing.

 

[Xeppy]

Su-Wei Lingyang
Past Life
supermartinbros​

---

---

Su-Wei's alarmed eyes scanned the vicinity around her, frantically seeing where she was/who she was around. it seemed there were more than she expected. Shapeshifter ghosts surrounded every corner of the small, completely white space: an Adam one still lying one, an Adelaide one looking tired, a Nico one simply examining everything happening, and a Riley one currently scowling at her. Hah! Like Su-Wei would ever believe that these ones were even close to the real pe- wait, what? A fake, shapeshifter Riley? Scowling? But that was... that was... Su-Wei tilted her head in confusion and realization, seeing the ghost-Riley sigh soon after scowling. Sighing. Scowling. Even though all the people from the car weren't the best of friends, Su-Wei had seen Riley around enough to know her usual scowl. No way a shapeshifter could replicate this. It was too.. too... unfriendly for a shapeshifter to exactly replicate.

Su-Wei immediately started doubting herself, however, when fear came into the probably-real-Riley's eyes. Usually anger was in them, but for something like fright to pop up was suspicious. Maybe it was a ghost person after all, and they were just such a good actor that they were able to do the signature Riley scowl. Or maybe... did Su-Wei do something wrong? Was she being too outgoing again? For some reason, a lot of people thought she was intimidating when she was. Was that the same case here? Was Smiley Riley actually just sensitive and didn't like her fierceness? "Uhh... are y-"

"Shut up Su-Wei!!"

Oh. Wow. Never mind. Guess the girl was alright, then, and definitely Smiley Riley. Su-Wei blinked in surprise at the comment Riley made, blank of any facial expression while processing how to react, before cracking a smile and snickering. What? Did you really expect Su-Wei to be offended at something like that? She heard the same thing from her siblings every day. It would take more to break her. If anything, really, the comment made Su-Wei be filled with relief. The comment assured herself that this was Smiley Riley, which meant all the people here were people she at least an acquaintance with. They weren't creepy ghost people after all, like she originally suspected. It would be all right. Everything would be all right. Through Su-Wei's snickers, she responded to the Riley, ignoring the brown-haired girl covering her face with her hands. "If you wanted me to shut me up so much, you shouldn't have woken me. Your problem now, dummy!"

Even though she was still giggling, she managed to nod to Riley's next words in a way that would be recognizable. The laughing soon stopped, though, when she heard that Riley didn't have control over what she wore. She scrunched her eyebrows together in a confused expression, questioning with curiosity, "What do you..." Oh. She just needed to take in everything from her surroundings to get the answer. Smartly, she did as her inner voice said, and she realized that they were all wearing white clothing like Riley was. What was with the white fashion in this place? It gave her test rat vibes, something that should never be experienced by a human. She felt bad for the others for having to wear white clothing. Su-Wei seemed to be oblivious that she herself also had a white dress on also, keeping on listening to Smiley Riley.

...

Wait a second. Thing she said kind of made sense, but... dead? What was Riley Cathers talking about? What about being dead? Su-Wei looked around, taking in everything like it were normal before looking at Riley like she had gone loco. She wasn't making sense. How could they have died? How could they have passed on, still seeing each other now? Exactly. They weren't dead. They were probably... just in a very, very white building. Maybe a hospital. Or a mental institution. Based on Riley's imaginations, it would make sense why they would be in a mental hospital. Su-Wei seemed to have been so traumatized by the car accident/death that she simply wasn't thinking about it now. Or maybe that was just the way that stuff worked in a place like this. Who knew? The only thing Su-Wei knew was that death didn't look like this. Riley was just paranoid. She was probably always paranoid, though. That's probably why she snapped at everyone. As the girl in front of her clenched her teeth, Su-Wei opened her mouth to ask, "What are you talking about, Smiley Riley?"

"Thanks to you enjoying the moment of the ride and Rick speeding everyone in the car probably died."

And then, suddenly, Su-Wei's obliviousness went away. Her left eye twitched slightly as flashes suddenly came at her; they were quite gruesome flashes, in all honesty. None of the memories that got brought up again were anything that a sixteen-year-old teen should experience. Well... except if they played a violent media production. But that's a different story. Mental pictures moved in, one after another. Blood pooling. Glass being buried inside of her. Something scraping her whole body. The screams and cries coming over the air. The crashing sound. The peace and quiet. The way she encouraged the speeding of the car that led to their injuries. Su-Wei felt like throwing up. Her fists clenched, and if it were allowed in this fragment of space and time, her face would have whitened considerably. She bit her lip, as if trying to stop herself from bursting into tears.

It was clear that Riley crossed a line if Su-Wei was reacting like this- and the moment that she said the sentence, it should have been clear that she did cross a line. Even if Ricky was unaffected by it, Su-Wei certainly was. Riley basically called Su-Wei and Ricky murderers. That, thanks to them, everything bad happened. Su-Wei was just trying to have fun, was just trying to fix her boring life, and Riley responded to this by basically saying everything that happened were both hers and the eighteen-year-old boy's faults. She said this sentence as though Su-Wei wanted this. Like Riley was the only one with a future, and Su-Wei wasn't affected by this as well.

Su-Wei's lips started trembling, even with her biting her lip down, and she squeezed her eyes momentarily to compose herself. The "sorry" that Riley gave was unheard by Su-Wei, and even if the gray-eyed girl did hear it, she would have purposely ignored it with the assumption that Smiley Riley was lying. Even though the brown-haired girl turned away to look at others and didn't seem to be paying attention, Su-Wei still snapped back, "Oh? But I thought I was doing you a favor." Her face was void of any mischievous smile. She wasn't trying to joke around when saying these comments. She wanted Riley to get hurt. "After all, if I had a disgusting face like yours, I would want to die anyways."

She turned her back to Riley... and to everyone, admittedly. She did it a little too dramatically and quickly, yes, but she made her point across. While the others may think this was because she was mad at Riley, this action's purpose was just to hide her face, which was now streaming with tears. Yes: Su-Wei was crying. Not because she was hurt of what Riley said, no... but because she was right. Su-Wei was so stupid. What was she doing back at the car crash, leading on Rick instead of stopping him? Maybe if she went along with Riley and tried to stop the male, he would've stopped. Well... no. He definitely wouldn't have. But that wasn't the point she was making. What she was saying... Su-Wei encouraged it. Su-Wei encouraged the action that led them all to die. She encouraged a life-threatening decision, and everyone in that car had to deal with the consequences of it. It was like encouraging a serial killer to keep on killing. She shouldn't have. She shouldn't have.

But... no! No, they couldn't have died! It... it didn't make sense if they did! They were all here anyways, weren't they? All together? Since that was the case... they were probably in a hospital. In the same hospital room, apparently, but in a hospital nonetheless. That... that must be why everyone around her was wearing white clothing as well. That was right. There were no other alternative options. Death was not an option. They were alive. They were all alive. Sniffling quietly and rubbing her eyes (again, if tears were even allowed in wherever they were), she quickly tried to make herself not be sobbing with anger any longer. She wasn't supposed to be crying in the first place. She was Su-Wei! She wasn't a crybaby! She was the fierce, mischievous little teenager who didn't cry! So... since she wasn't a crier... she certainly wasn't going to keep on crying now!

After a moment of calming down, she turned around to look at her peers again, not aware that it was still quite obvious she had cried. She didn't seem too occupied with checking if she had cried, soon met with another sight. Her eye caught Riley on the floor, curled up into a small ball. She furrowed her eyebrows. Compared from just a few seconds ago, the girl looked small. She looked like she needed comfort. She looked like she needed someone to come over to her and tell her it was all right. Well... if Riley was searching for that, Su-Wei certainly wasn't going to do that. In fact, before she could stop herself, a satisfied, bitter smile curled upwards. A giddy feeling spread across her chest, and she felt like laughing just to spite the girl who was currently breaking down. She didn't really feel bitter, though. She felt more... relieved. Relieved that, even Riley, who had started yelling at her and speaking rudely, could break in a situation like this. That she could feel as terrible as Su-Wei did now. That anyone could be weak, and Su-Wei wasn't just the only one who could cry.

But then her eyes landed on another lady. Someone who definitely wasn't an acquaintance of Su-Wei, let alone a minor in general. One with bright blond hair, brown eyes, and... a beautiful face. Stunning, even, in Su-Wei's eyes. The dark look in Su-Wei's eyes started shining with admiration and awe, with the defensive position was taking becoming relaxed and friendly. What she saw... it was like... looking at a model. Sure, the woman was probably in her mid-20's... but that didn't mean that Su-Wei didn't have any rights to see how pretty she was. Lots of people in their 20s were people Su-Wei looked up to in appearance standers. It was the woman was a literal angel. If only Su-Wei knew how right she was, and this was the reason she was staring now. If only she knew.

"Uhhhh," Su-Wei forcefully got out of her stupor, croaking out a confused noise while pointing at the lady. She looked at the other people in the room, seeing who was also reacting to the stranger with her. The woman was just... standing there next to the receptionist desk. "Is nobody going to ask about the person just being ther-"

Clop, clop, clop.

SHOOT. Su-Wei whipped around to find this woman walking towards them, her face being filled with panic. What... what was this luck? The woman could move? Why was she just standing there before, then? Could the woman have understood her while she talked as well? The small Asian girl shank momentarily at the sight of the woman coming towards them, obviously not knowing what to do, before making a decision. She hastily stood up straight, trying to look as intimidating as possible as to get her personality back. If someone as fierce as Su-Wei was afraid of this person, perhaps that would show the danger of the situation they were in. Before Su-Wei could scream questions on where she was again, though, the woman quickly spoke up.

"Are you ready?"

Huh? Ready for what? For an event? Were they all going to line up to go into a torture chamber? Were they going to get medical results? Were they going to get hospital related stuff, and this person was actually a nurse/doctor? Yet again, Su-Wei sneakily shifted her eyeline to Riley, who was currently... ignoring the random woman. Su-Wei scrunched up her nose at the sight, adverting her eyesight. What was Riley's problem? They were currently in a dangerous position where they didn't know where they were and she was ignoring the only stranger in this place? And she was the one who yelled at Su-Wei for helping the car crash! Remind Su-Wei: why did she agree to come to this trip again with a girl like her here? Su-Wei usually went to outings to have fun, and this girl was the opposite of it. The only thing she did was snap at people, insult others for no reason, and then roll into a ball like she was expecting sympathy. Riley's face wasn't the only disgusting part about her.

"Riley Dawn Cathers, Su-Wei Trinh Lingyang, Adelaide Simone Rivera, Rick Allaband, Nico Antonio Delos Reyes, and Adam LeBlanc."

Su-Wei could only let out a sigh of relief at these names, relaxing slightly. This just proved they were in a hospital, then! How else would she know their names? And their middle names, of all things? Only hospital people would know that! The incorrect puzzle pieces slowly connected inside of the girl's mind as she nodded contentedly at her own analysis. Well- she was content for a little while... but then stupid Riley started speaking. Su-Wei gave her look as the brown-haired girl spoke that could be easily translated as, What is your problem? With that accusing tone of hers, she could get them ruined if they were in a place like that.

No need to think about Riley, though. Let's move on to the stranger! Su-Wei nodded at the receptionist's words, understanding and trusting them. Since they were most likely somewhere where they could be healed, it made sense that the woman was watching over them. It was to make sure if they needed anything. To make sure they didn't die on her. Although... it was a little weird when the blond-haired one suddenly mentioned saying their past and present events out loud for them. Maybe... maybe she had medical records that said these things...? Was that what she was talking about? Their past and present trips to the hospital and such? Yeah, that must be-

"Ladies and gentleman I'm sure you have realized this but you have passed away. My name Matilda. I am your receptionist for heaven.

"H-h-HUH!?"

--

And now Su-Wei was standing in front of the heaven receptionist desk. To be honest, the entire beginning of everything being connected, Su-Wei had just dozed off completely. Her eyes had a denying glaze as she finally placed pieces together. She... she remembered dying, but... she just... didn't believe it. She believed... this was all a joke. A joke. Probably. Right? But... if they did die... it would all made sense. Everything, with the outfits, car crash, and what Riley said. It would all make sense. Su-Wei didn't want to believe it was right, though. She just didn't want to believe that what Riley said was right. She didn't want to... to...

...die.

So when Matilda started droning on about something, Su-Wei stood there, lost in her own thoughts and clearly not listening well. Somehow, along the way, her hand started fiddling with the white dress she was wearing. In some way, she still didn't recognize that she was wearing the white dress. Confusing. But, in summary, she was dead to the world.

Only one sentence brunt Su-Wei back to life.

"I know how you feel each and everyone of you, I can make one promise for you in the next life, anything you want to be. What is that?"

"PROMISE?" She looked up at the woman for confirmation, suddenly filled with excitement and determination. Wheels started turning into her head, and- ironically enough- a metaphorical devil tail seemed to spawn on her in this heaven's reception. The mischief glimmered in her eyes as a grin settled on her face. it seemed that light had come into Su-Wei's heart and soul again as she felt her possibilities for promises grow.

..but the light soon diminished as she set sight on Riley. Her glimmering eyes got replaced with a hostile darkness as she thought about their little, tiny mishap earlier. Her nervous picking at her dress became a closed fist as she looked towards Matilda. "We can have any promise we want, right? Since you know how I feel, you must know how much I want this next thing. You can't take back what you said."

Her eyes were Riley during the entire time she talked. "Since she thinks me and Rick are murderers," The way she didn't say any nicknames just proved she was only speaking out of anger. "then I guess I should be a killer in the future as well. I want her burning in a volcano for eternity while I have a little tea party at the top, laughing at her as she burns away slowly. You can make that happen in our future life, right?"

If Matilda could really tell what they want and didn't want, though, she would be able to tell that Su-Wei didn't want this at all. In all honesty, Su-Wei wanted to be free. That was her greatest wish. She wanted to fly away from reality, away from the chains that grabbed at her legs, and float towards the horizon whenever she wanted. She wanted to hop away from the burdens of her life, from the burdens of self-confidence, death, work, and everything and just... escape.

But Su-Wei said the sentence about burning in volcanos instead... just to try to make Riley feel bad.​

 

[x_Tasia_X]

Adelaide paid barely any mind to the conflicts that were happening around her. She was pissed. She was pissed that she had died, and even more pissed that there was an afterlife after all. She was pissed that all of her friends died too. Whoever god was, he was a sick bastard, and he’s probably laughing at her right now. Why couldn’t she rest? The world had beat her down as much as it possibly could and then just as she was stumbling to her feet, it killed her. It wasn’t fair. Adelaide hadn’t gotten up at that point. She only just now started to move. Her expression was cold, colder than any of her friends had ever seen her. She looked miserable to be alive.

Adelaide refused to look at the others as the sound of footsteps approached. A blonde woman began speaking to them. She called each of them by their names and informed them that she had been watching them. Adelaide bit back a rude remark. She wondered what that woman thought while she was watching her life, was it entertainment to her? Adelaide could see the sympathy in the woman’s gaze. But it was easier to be angry. She needed someone to be angry at.

Adelaide’s first reaction to the offer of getting another chance at life was disgust. She didn’t want to live again, she didn’t want to go through this again. She wouldn’t just be returning to the living to fifer again? What would be the point? Adelaide crossed her arms and broke her silence for the first time since she died.

“… I don’t want my memories. We won’t have them in our new lives, right?” She sounded apprehensive and slightly desperate. Adelaide was skeptical. Worried about getting her hopes up just to have them dashed. But… maybe- living wouldn’t be so bad if she could forget. She wouldn’t fight this as long as she wouldn’t have to carry the weight on her old life with her. Adelaide wanted to run away, this was an opportunity to get away from who she was. The more Adelaide thought about this, the more appealing it became. She could be someone else, someone better. Maybe she could be happy.

The woman brought up a promise, she could promise something to Adelaide and it would happen in her next life. Was that right? Adelaide’s lips parted and a surprisingly shallow answer came out. Her only redeeming quality.

“Beauty, that’s what I want promised to me in my next life.” She blurted out. Adelaide was sure that even in a new life she would never be able to become smart, or competent, or successful. Adelaide had nothing. She was nothing, and the people around her constantly reminded her of it. But, Adelaide had beauty. Her appearance won her praise and it was the only good thing about her. It made people look at her, her spite reminded people of her existence, without it she was no different than some deserted trash on the side of the road. She would not lose it, not for anything. Eventually the people in this new world will realize that she had no value, she needed something to fall back on. This promise would ensure that she had something of value to offer this new world.

 

[lackingsleeq]

Ricky

As his eyes ajusted to the light, Rick stumbled to his feet, thoughts tumbling around his head. As soon as he put two and two together of what had happened. If an Angel had called him out and it was his fault he was dead, he’d killed himself, where would she take him. Maybe she’d say something, or maybe her facil expression would help him out a bit. He opened his eyes slightly and looked around, everything was blurred slightly blurred at first and he saw the figures of everyone.

"Shut up Su-Wei!! Oh my..."

Ricky’s first thought popped into his head and he sniggered slightly, mouthing the words, “That’s not the voice of an angel, Rick.” Not sure why he found that so funny, Rick straighted up, brushing his hair out of his eyes, wishing he’d thought to get a hairband or a haircut before he died.

“Psst, psyco. Wipe that grin off your face. You just killed us!” An annoying voice called to him as the footsteps of the owner approched him.

Ricky turned around to see the anklebiter glaring up at him. “mm? What do you mean? it wasn’t my fault that I crashed, someone hit me in the back of the head.” He smirked as Adam’s eyes widened slightly in horror. It must have been Adam’s object then, Rick thought, intresting. I didn’t think he’d ever dare.

“Are you ready?” the voice of a young woman difted over to the two teens, breaking the forming ice. Rick turned to look at her, wondering who this lady was and why she was talking to them. Was she going to take him to some kind of trial for murders so they could send him to hell?

Just like that it sank in. It WAS his fault they were dead. It WAS his fault they had no future to look forward to. And, they would never try anything new or make a stupid childhood dream come true. All becuase he choose to speed. Was this what Rick wanted his father to rember him by? A murderer for a son? Well… yes. Of course! He went out with a bang like he’d always wanted to do. He could see it now. Rick and his friends would be all over the news with interviews of their crying family and friends. And he, Rick, would be the whole reason for the groups’ fame. They should really thank him. Now they were sure to be in some kind of histroy book in a boring old lady’s house.

Rick noticed the group was leaving without him as soon as he shook himself back into the real- or fake- world. Running up to all of his victims, he didn’t bother to hide his grin. Put him in hell, make him fill out endless paperwork, teach him french, he won’t mind now. Everything was looking up for him.

The lady started talking about something boring and Rick spaced out for a while, still very pleased with his well-lived life. It was like a story, drugs, anger, and murder, and he liked it that way.

However, she did manage to catch his attention when she asked what they wanted in the next life he paused and looked over at her. Next life? HUH? As Su-wei talked about what she wanted he thought. Not about the next life, of course. About what relion was right and what was wrong. Could he meet God? Or Zeus?

“Can I… not have to care?” muttered Adam from the other side of the crowd, bearly audible.

Rick heard him and stared, why on earth would the normally loving kid not want to care? Beats me, Rick thought, scratching his chin.

 

[supermartinbros]

Riley Cathers, The Leak Of Time And Space

Riley Cather a girl who would almost never smile, a girl who wouldn't cry, seemed on the verge of tears. She wouldn't cry especially not in front of them. When Su-Wei spat venom at her she merely looked away, trying to focus on something else. Everybody had a wish. Even Adelaide had one, maybe Nico, probably Rick... Even Su-Wei... But she had no clue about Adam's she looked away she didn't want to seem weak. Correct. She did not want to be weak. She looked at Matilda her eyes felt like they were on fire, she tried her best to keep herself from crying from sobbing. "... Strong. I want to be strong in my next life." she spat at Matilda, Matilda looked at all 5 of them for a moment. It was as if she were trying to picture what they all were fit to.

Matilda quickly shuffled around her desk finding 6 pieces of paper. She splayed them across the desk and they each had their own names. Riley took a glance at others but all she could see was a blank sheet of paper with their name but when she looked at hers it was completely written out. She looked away from Su-Wei. She wouldn't put fire on fire. She took a deep glance of her paper, her name, age, date of birth, the things she liked everything was on there. But what really caught her attention was that her wish was on her paper. Her eyes widened. She looked at Matilda who seemed indifferent to everybody in that moment.

"Now, everybody. Thank you for your wishes. I handed you some paper so that you can write on, anything you want or add, add it on the paper. It's a slight note, and for your question Miss Rivera, yes, you may choose to erase all memories of that you were here, well... Actually it happens to all of you. When you get your new life, you will lose all memories temporarily at times you may remember slight pieces but unless you truly wish for it, we will not return it to you. Mr. LeBlanc, if you do not care... You will regret it. I promise you, and we still need you... For... Never mind me. Now, please fill out your forms. Any questions feel free to ask." she told them in a chirpy voice.

Riley only made a hmm sound as she looked at her paper. Everything was neat, not that she could tell everything, she skimmed through everything, "Can I have a pe-" before she could finished Matilda handed them each a pen and pencil, Gee, wow. That very freaky. She thought sarcastically. She grabbed for the pen scribbling on answers she wanted, she wrote with the pen.

I WANT TO BE STRONG. I WANT TO BE FREE. I WANT TO BE...

Those were two simple things she wished, nothing more, nothing less. She crossed her third one out, because... Because she didn't feel right with it. She looked over to Su-Wei, she sighed, the insults which had been shot at her hit her in the bullseye but she swallowed, "Look... Su-Wei. I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean it to be that way, I was just... Angry." she mumbled, "I wanted to be angry at something. So, in my next life please don't try to... uh- yeah, kill me." she told her it was quiet. She looked at Su-Wei trying to bring up a smile but the only thing that came up was more of a tiny scowl. Gosh! Could she ever smile? She thought not. "T-That includes you guys too... Sorry if I was mean or rude any of you guys." Apologizing has never been Riley's strong suite it felt different.

Whether Su-Wei would still sulk or others call out to insult her, she didn't care. She only focused back on her paper. She wished she had something to wear, something to hide herself, her face.

Matilda quickly looked over them and sighed, "Once your papers are finished please turn them in here. After that the process shall be starting very shortly, so any last words you would like to say to your friends, do it quickly." Matilda's voice reminded of Riley of a bird, a bird which wouldn't stop chirping and always had a snippy way of chirping or saying things.

Riley put her pen down and flicked her paper on there, no regrets... right? She only missed one thing to right, yeah, one thing. I want to be loved... That echoed across her mind over and over, but at the least and hopefully she wouldn't get an alcoholic-addicted mom in her next life, who didn't use verbal and maybe sometimes physical... She cringed at the thought of it, but she only kept a cool face, she walked away from Matilda, for some reason the lady had a chilly vibe whether she smiled or not, she sat on the ground, she wanted to lay down, rest, sleep, do nothing, but she still had to do something, in her paper she clearly remembered circling the maybe for memory if she wanted to remember or not. To be honest Riley didn't want or discard her memories from her past life. There were some which were too important to discard and some which were too painful which she wanted to erase from the back of her mind.

She looked over to Rick who was clearly talking to Adam, if she didn't know them any better she would've thought immediately that they were siblings. Adelaide seemed tired, Nico, well he was himself always the person who was quiet, awkward and even intimidating.

"Our... Our next life what world is it in, like ours here? Or... Don't tell me we'll be animals or something, please." Nico mumbled, Riley almost snorted, but she didn't. She didn't find it funny she found it sarcastic.

Matilda pinched her lips together, cogs turned in her mind, "Classified information." she told them, and pretty much Nico cursed something under his breath because of irritation, probably. Riley just scowled. But, she continued on, "Well... The book told me to not tell you or what life you are going to get involving yourself... But it never told anything about environment." she murmured, she looked up at the blank ceiling, "You're going to be living in a fantasy world with magic. That's it. Nothing else." she said, and Matilda's eyes turned to Adelaide, "Beauty, correct? You will have your wish granted." she chirped.

Riley sat on the ground waiting for another person to finish, apparently she turned hers in pretty quickly. Because she only took a glance. She took one last glance at Su-Wei she had no clue what the girl thought of her. But she did know that Su-Wei didn't like her. Everybody didn't like her in the end. She didn't care... But a little part of her did. She only hoped she could be the ice queen in her next life, so she had no heart and could pay no mind. So just like Su-Wei wanted her to burn, she would freeze instead.

 

[Xeppy]

Su-Wei Lingyang
Past Life​

---

---

Arms crossed, pout ensured on her face, Su-Wei refused to back down from her angry position. The last thing she wanted to do was seem weak after meanie-Riley practically yelled at her for absolutely no reason. Although, after her childish outburst about wanting Riley Cathers to burn in a volcano, she did look at all the humans (or non-humans, in Matilda's case) to find something surprising. Nobody stood up for the girl, not even the girl herself. Maybe less people here cared about the brunette than Su-Wei originally thought. Er- well. No surprise there. Who would care for somebody like her? How could Su-Wei have enough care to actually try to avoid her attitude? How could Su-Wei have a high-enough reputation of Riley to give her the nickname 'Smiley Riley'? Su-Wei shouldn't have given her a second thought in the first place. She should've just given a much more deserving nickname to a nicer person. Like Adelaide. She seemed cool enough.

Su-Wei perked up at the mention of memories, looking up at Adelaide- the girl who brought up the topic- with curiosity. That was a good question. Would they still have their memories, of all the good and bad? Su-Wei would most likely want hers with the explanation that she could compare this supposed future-life with her past-life, but... she wasn't too sure. If the angel-receptionist-person-thing was right about having their wishes come true, then Su-Wei wouldn't want her life to be as boring as it was now. If her next life was fun, adventurous, spontaneous... would she want to remember her past, repetitive life, filled with barely any happiness or goodness at all? Or would she want to see her past life so that she could be more grateful of the life she had in the future? Su-Wei would want her future self to enjoy freedom, possibilities, fun times, but it would also be nice to have the future self-move on with their life.

And then the rest of the girls started sharing what they wanted. All of the males present just kind of... stood there for some reason, but Su-Wei didn't think too much of what they were doing. Trying not to appear like she was interested too much, Su-Wei attempted to discreetly listen into what Adelaide and Riley wanted in their next lives. She mostly tried to not appear like she cared because of Riley, but she listened in nonetheless. Su-Wei thought that Adelaide's wish was interesting: beauty. Out of all the things, she wanted beauty. Why? Did she perhaps think that she did not have beauty in this life? Su-Wei thought that she was pretty just fine, obviously the prettiest out of anybody in this group right now. Why would she want a definite promise of attraction for her future?

And then Smiley-Riley for strength. Psh. Sure. Good luck with that. Su-Wei couldn't help but give an eye roll when the younger girl shared her wish, turning her head again to a wall. The only thing this fifteen-year-old-girl would be strong at would be hurting others, and she still probably wouldn't be any good at it. Maybe Riley just wanted to be strong because she was weak in this life. Su-Wei could see that. Riley didn't have any good traits, so she needed to be strong in her next life to make up for her lack of goodness. She didn't have beauty in her inside or ou- Stop. Su-Wei thought forcefully to herself, slapping herself as to wake herself from this toxicness. Now you're just being obnoxious. It's okay to wish she's in a volcano, Su-Wei, but don't need to dread on it any further. Just move on. Plus, you're both dead, heading into a new life. You probably won't even meet each other in the new life.

Su-Wei eyed Matilda as the woman grabbed pieces of paper and laid them out on her desk for all of the teenagers' disposal, quickly explaining what it was for. Watching Riley examine a piece of paper, Su-Wei grabbed her own and quickly looked over it. She didn't know what she was expecting when seeing this, but she certainly wasn't expecting this. It was like seeing a missing-report file on someone with sprinkles of stalkerness all over it. Everything was on this, even personal information she didn't want anyone to know. How did they know her weight and height, likes and dislikes, birth date, family members, even her blood type? Even she didn't keep check of that! What was weird, though, was that the wish written on this wasn't the wish she blurted out. It was the wish she had silently said inside of her head. Freedom. This place was giving her the chills.

Her face got more and more creeped out as she kept on reading along, sticking out her tongue slightly in disgust while thinking about how they obtained this information. They could probably only know most of this stuff if they were watching her 24/7, and it was terrible to imagine someone doing that to her. She always wanted a non-boring life, but not so extreme that some stalker was taking notes on her for her afterlife. She only took her eyes off of the page when Matilda offered her a pen and a pencil, looking up at the woman with surprise. The woman gave instructions on what to do with these earlier, didn't she? Su-Wei... wasn't listening very well, but she thought she picked up something about writing something on this piece of paper. Taking both the pencil and pen offered, she placed the pen aside and gripped the pencil. She never did like pens. They didn't have erasers.

Su-Wei always wanted things. Whether it be from store aisles or Santa letters she sent behind her parents' back, she spent her whole life wanting things for herself. Now that she was here, though, having the option to write down whatever she wanted for her next life, her mind was running blank. Perhaps it was the stressfulness of her actually dying running up to her, or perhaps she had enough emotional trauma to last a lifetime, but she could not think of anything. Tapping the pencil against her cheek in thought and in the rhythm of Jar of Hearts- that song that stuck in her song again, even after death- she looked up suddenly when Riley called out to her. At first, an angry frown came over her, one full of irritation, but her face soon turned surprised as Smiley-Riley's statement turned into a personal apology.

When she was done, Su-Wei didn't say anything. She just turned away, afraid anyone would see her face now. While it may have seemed like she was still angry, a small smile played across her face playfully. Who couldn't be happy, though, now that the grouchy Riley was apologizing? This was a once-in-a-lifetime thing! Er- not lifetime... more like lifetimes now, but the point was clear. Su-Wei wasn't usually happy with apologies, and everything was probably just catching up to her for her to appreciate this horrible 'sorry', but that didn't matter now. Having the usual grin back on her face, she scribbled down things in a continuous line all at once with terrible handwriting. It seemed the thing holding Su-Wei back from listing all her wishes down was the argument she just had with Riley, but now cleared up, the sound of pencil filled the leak-of-space-and-time-air around her.

I don't want Smiley-Riley to burn in a volcano anymore. Maybe just in an oven instead. Instead, I want to be mature in my body and be taller. I want to be better at doing pranks, and I want to have a more interesting life. I don't want to just be an ordinary somebody, but one of a kind. I want a more interesting and accepting family with traditions, and I want to have a fun time. I want to have new experiences every day and have everything changing.

There. She practically wrote a whole paragraph, but this was what she wanted. She wasn't sure if it would all be granted to her, but it was worth a shot. This was the least they could do for getting rid of her life, along with the five others' when it was a mistake. She looked up, only to find that Riley had already turned hers in, waiting patiently to the side as Nico/Matilda spoke about who-knows-what. Su-Wei walked over to where the papers were, lifted up Riley Cather's, and placed her own paper underneath in a childish act to make it seem like Su-Wei finished first. Smiling contentedly, she moved over to her side of the desk again, only to catch one interesting detail from Matilda.

"You're going to be living in a fantasy world with magic. That's it. Nothing else."

"Fa-fan... fan-what?" Su-Wei sputtered out, losing to her own thoughts as Matilda answered Adelaide's wish. "M-m-magic? MAGIC?" She grinned over at the group. "Dang! Be grateful that we all died! A world with magic and fantasy is way better than the world that we lived in! It was so boring, just sitting around and doing not a thing except go to school to learn absolutely nothing. But magic! Magic! Can you imagine all the stuff I could do to everyone with..."

Well. It seems like someone has cheered up. With the 'final words' that everyone may try to say, Su-Wei was happily chirping away at all the pranks and mischievous acts she could do with this supposed 'magic' that they could get. It was no wonder that Riley Cathers thought about how Su-Wei felt about her. Right now, it seemed she didn't have a care for the world or for anyone in it. All she cared about was the internal list in her head of all the potential fun she could have.​

 

[x_Tasia_X]

Adelaide was often described by people as chirpy and bright. Someone who people enjoyed being around simply because she made the people around her feel important. No trace of that Adelaide was visible here, she looked as if she were a kicked puppy. Hesitant to make any sort of move and terrified of doing something wrong. She hadn’t looked anyone in the eye since she had awoken. There was no point to her fear, really. She was already dead. And perhaps that’s why her optimistic nature was all but thrown aside here. It was never real and there was no need to pretend anymore. Her performance is over now. Yet she wouldn’t be allowed to rest. The woman slid some papers in front of her and she peered down at hers.

It was a page of information about her. It made her feel a bit nauseous knowing that she was being watched throughout her entire life. That these people probably knew every aspect of her being and the flaws that defined her. They probably knew that she was a liar as well. So why was she being presented this opportunity that she didn’t deserve, nor want?

Adelaide slowly looked up when Matilda began to speak again. Adelaide opted to watch her eyebrows instead of her eyes, even when she was being directly addressed. She was content with that answer though. Her memories should stay here, they would do her no good. Adelaide then looked back down at her paper and hovered her pen over the wish she made that had already been written down. She hesitantly added to it. First it was:

I want to be happy, but she scribbled that out. She didn’t think she deserved to be happy.

I want to make the people I love happy.

It seemed impossible, but if she truly became a different person. She could be better? Adelaide didn’t comment on the fantasy aspect of the place she would be going to, she was too stuck in her own head to care about it. She was so tired of caring. Part of her wanted to deny this opportunity. But Adelaide was never allowed to do that kind of thing. She wasn’t the kind of person to disobey. If she was told to do something she didn’t want to, she’d assume that this was just her punishment for existing. She was just glad Matilda was kind enough to confirm that at least her initial wish would be granted. Adelaide looked relieved, but her demeanor still lacked any sort of joy.

Even Su-Wei’s misguided attempt to cheer the group up didn’t seem to do Adelaide any good. It would be alright. Nina glanced at her friends cautiously as she thought. If they ever met again, she would do her best to make them happy. And if she could, she would try to not let them die. They deserved better, they were kind enough to tolerate being around her. She could make it up to them. This was a chance at redemption.

“Will we know eachother in our next lives?” Nina’s voice piped up unsurely.