The Stubborn Light of a Dying Flame [Isekai - LitRPG]

Rayna turned the jar of tomato sauce over to examine its contents.

Tomato puree…garlic…olive oil…

"Are you even listening to me?" Emma crossed her arms, a half-teasing smile on her face.

Rayna didn't even look up. "There's a new game you want to try and you're planning on dragging me along too." She put the sauce back on the shelf and went for a cheaper brand instead. "I'm down. There's a desktop version, right? I don't have the money to upgrade my potato phone right now."

"It's… not on mobile," Emma said.

Rayna grabbed a couple packages of pasta and put them in her cart. "Don't tell me it's console."

Emma grabbed a box of cookies and tossed it into Rayna's cart.

Rayna lifted an eyebrow. "I'm not paying for those."

"Everything's on me today," Emma said, angling Rayna's cart toward the meat section of the grocery store. "You can crash at my place, and I'll show you the trailers for the new game."

"You're being awfully cryptic about all this," Rayna said suspiciously. "This is a video game, right? You're not signing me up for some variety game show or something?"

"It's a video game," Emma assured her. "It's just… cutting edge…"

Rayna didn't like the sound of that, but she knew she wasn't getting any more details until they were back to Emma's place.

"If you're paying for the food I'm grabbing salmon."

"Brain chip?!" Rayna exclaimed, gawking at Emma. "Are you insane?"

"It's perfectly safe!" Emma insisted. "They did all of the beta testing and human trials already. The FDA gave it the go ahead and they're opening it to the public next week."

"No. Not happening. Not in a million years!" Rayna's anxiety was rising at just the thought of brain surgery.

"It's a really easy procedure," Lilly said from across the room.

She sat at the dining room table, presumably doing homework. Rayna hadn't realized she was actually paying attention to their conversation.

"Half of the kpop groups got early access to it as part of a brand deal or something," Lilly continued. "They said it's fifteen minutes in and out. They don't even put you to sleep."

"Lilly, not helping!" Emma hissed.

"Agreed." Rayna was ready to puke at the idea of being awake for brain surgery. She knew they did that sometimes when they needed to make sure that the surgery wasn't affecting a musician's ability to play or something, but Rayna would rather jump in front of a truck than let someone cut into her brain.

All right, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but it still wasn't happening.

"Teacher! Teacher! Look what I have!" Kyorin proudly held up a printout detailing her new Ember Online profile.

Rayna frowned. "Don't you have to be sixteen to make an account?"

"The law different," Kyorin said. "Thirteen with mom and dad say yes."

Had the law changed when Rayna wasn't looking? She ran a quick internet search and found that Kyorin was right. Anyone thirteen and over could get an account with parental permission. The age limit in the US was still eighteen, but Rayna had no doubt that people were finding ways around it over there.

Rayna smiled at Kyorin. "Congratulations on your new character. Did you get help making it?"

Kyorin paused for a moment to try to translate the sentence in her head before nodding. "My Oppa—brother—help me make character. I'm a… M-A-G-E, how to pronounce?"

"Mage," Rayna read aloud. "It's a person who can use magic."

Kyorin nodded. "Right, I'm that."

She left to go tell her friends that she had made an account, leaving Rayna at her desk.

Rayna was quickly becoming the only person she knew that hadn't signed up for the surgery.

She was sticking to her guns. Until they came out with a version of the game that worked with AR glasses or a desktop application, Rayna would gladly miss out.

Three more students came to show her their profiles over the course of the day, and Rayna had genuine smiles for them as she helped them pronounce different words on their sheets and told them what the words meant.

The cutest part was that Rayna knew there was a Korean version of the game; her students had specifically printed the English version of their Character Sheets so Rayna would be able to read what it was they were showing her.

Teaching English was exhausting, but this was the kind of thing that made everything worth it.

Rayna looked up from her desk, frowning at her empty classroom. When did it get so late?

Something about the room seemed off… was it the lighting?

Rayna left the papers she was grading on her desk and walked over to the light switch. She flicked the lights on and off a few times.

A light blue glow emanated from the back of her classroom.

Rayna left the lights off and cautiously approached the glow. She grabbed a heavy dictionary on the way, holding it up like a baseball bat.

A chair in the back was emitting a blue light from the seat. Rayna didn't remember buying a glow-in-the-dark chair…

She checked the side of the chair to see whose seat it was.

Silka Emberan.

Silka… Did Rayna have a Silka in her class? It seemed like a name she would remember. Maybe it was one of her students' English names…

"What are you doing with the light off?" someone asked in Korean.

Rayna's gaze snapped to the door as her co-worker Lee Sunhwa turned on the lights.

"Do you have any glow-in-the-dark chairs in your classroom?" Rayna asked in Korean.

Sunhwa shook her head. "Do they make those?"

Rayna looked back at the seat. "Apparently. I—" She cut off, her cheeks turning bright red.

The chair wasn't glowing. There was a phone on the seat. Rayna put the dictionary down on the desk and picked up the phone. A picture of one of her students was set as the lock screen. She glanced at the chair and the name said 'Kwan Sukyung'. This name, she did recognize.

Rayna turned back to Sunhwa with an awkward smile. "Sukyung left his cell phone, it seems."

Sunhwa glanced at the dictionary.

"I thought I saw a mouse," Rayna explained.

Sunhwa shuddered. "There better not be mice in here! The traps are awful."

Rayna returned to her desk to finish grading her students' writing assignments.

"They have it in English?!" Rayna snatched the novel off the shelf, turning it over to check the price.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

She'd been trying to get this particular book for weeks, but it was nearly fifty bucks to have it shipped to her, since the publishers didn't sell directly to Korea. Finding it in a used bookstore like this was like finding a nugget of gold in a box of chocolates.

"Sweet! I call dibs on reading it after you," Emma said.

"I might be a while," Rayna warned. "We've got midterms coming up and I have about a hundred papers to grade."

"Well in that case, maybe I can read it first," Emma said mischievously.

"Not a chance!" Rayna said, hugging the book close to her chest. "You'll spoil the whole thing before I read the first page."

Emma poked Rayna in the shoulder. "Please! I read the whole thing weeks ago. I just wanted to read it on paper."

"Oh." Rayna had almost forgotten that E-books were a thing. She didn't have an E-reader and her phone screen was too small to be worth the effort. "Well, then sure, you can read it first. Just know that I'm taking it back the minute I'm free, whether you're finished with it or not. The fact that you've read it before means I can do so without feeling guilty."

Emma grinned. "I'd expect nothing less. Come on, if we don't go soon, we're going to miss the matinée showing, and I don't think either of us want to pay full price for a movie ticket in this economy."

Emma headed to the cashier, a stack of books in hand.

Rayna moved to follow but froze as the cashier came into view.

The reptilian woman stood eight feet tall, the claws on the end of her hands curled into talons.

"Are you coming or not?" Emma called as she handed the books over to the scaly woman.

The woman took the books and started scanning them in as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

Rayna took a step back. Should she run? What about Emma? Why was no one else seeing this?

"You really need to get over your fear of people!" Emma said as if Rayna was just being shy. She grabbed Rayna's arm and pulled her into line, putting her book on the counter.

"Wait, I was going to pay—"

Emma cut her off with a wave of her hand. "This one's on me. Call it an early birthday present." She handed the book back to Rayna, passing her debit card to the 'cashier'.

Somehow, the title of Rayna's book had changed.

A History of the First Peoples of Ember: Everything We Know.

The author was marked as the Historical Society of Azanel…

"Would you like a bag?" the cashier asked in Korean.

Rayna looked up to find that the reptilian woman had vanished, replaced by a plain Korean woman holding a paper bag.

"Rayna, a little help here?" Emma whispered.

"Oh, no. We don't need a bag," Rayna responded in Korean. She glanced back at the book to find it had morphed back into the novel she was trying to buy.

What—?

The sterile smell of too many cleaning chemicals assaulted Rayna's nose. She looked around the hospital hallway, her brows knitting in confusion. Wasn't she just at the mall with Emma? How had she—?

Rayna paused. How was she back on Earth?

The events of the last month hit Rayna like a freight train, and she backed against the wall, crouching and holding her head.

Was she dreaming?

"Are you okay?"

Rayna looked up to find Emma's mom standing over her.

Rayna wiped her cheeks, surprised to find them wet. Why was she crying?

"Why don't you come back inside," Emma's mom said. "There's some food and you'll regret it if you don't say a proper goodbye."

Goodbye?

Suddenly, Rayna was standing next to Emma's mom, staring down at Lilly, Emma's little sister.

Lilly wiped her cheeks and stood up, mutely letting herself be led back into the other room.

Rayna followed them into the funeral. The atmosphere was reserved and quiet, mainly owing to the fact that there weren't many people there. Rayna saw a few of her coworkers and her boss, as well as Emma's grandparents and a few relatives.

Rayna had already realized whose funeral it was before she saw her picture on the mantel.

Tears streamed down Lilly's face. "I—I'm sorry," she whispered, the words somehow reaching Rayna's ears even though Lilly's lips were barely moving. "Please don't hate me. I didn't know."

Didn't know what?

Somehow, the fact that Rayna was dead was far less frustrating than her inability to follow the current situation. Everything felt jumbled and out of order.

Maybe it was because she wasn't really dead. She still had a life on Ember, unless she was a ghost, and it was Ember that was the dream…

Rayna shook her head. She may be creative, but even she couldn't have dreamed up the insanity that was the System.

"Oh, and if Emma is where you—" Lilly swallowed another sob. "If Emma is where you are, please tell her I love her. I should have been at that opening with her."

Rayna's heart sank. She had taken Lilly's spot at the opening.

Lilly was blaming herself for Rayna's death.

"It's not your fault," Rayna tried to tell her. "You couldn't have prevented this any more than anyone could have predicted it."

Lilly looked up, and for a moment, Rayna thought she could see her. But a second later, Emma's grandmother walked through Rayna to hug Lilly.

"Emma's still out there somewhere, little bean," the old woman said. "Don't worry, they'll find her."

Lilly hugged her grandmother back, sobbing into her shoulder.

Rayna left them alone, feeling like she was intruding on a private moment. Even if it was at her own funeral, it felt weird.

She moved back into the main hall, where she was drawn to Emma's uncle, who was watching the news on his phone. Maybe there was some news of where the Chosen had gone.

Not that the people of Earth would have any way of guessing the real destination, but it would be nice to know what they were thinking.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem like the news report was related to the Chosen at all.

"A new pandemic is sweeping the world," the newscaster said. "But this time, humans aren't in the hot seat; they're caught in the crossfire. An outbreak of what researchers are calling a mutated strain of the rabies virus has affected animals all over the world. From house cats to mountain lions, the virus has turned its victims aggressive and hostile toward any creature that passes their way. Government officials are cautioning the general public not to go near infected animals, and if they spot an animal displaying heightened aggression or anxiety, to call local animal control and retreat indoors.

"While the virus seems to have no discernible effects on humans that are bitten by the infected animals, there have already been a staggering number of deaths due to the excessive violence of the attacks. Could this strange new outbreak be related to last week's disappearances? Or are we looking at an entirely new threat? Only time will tell."

"You have to stop them," someone said behind Rayna.

She spun around, coming face to face with herself—her Lerian self.

The funeral disappeared, leaving Rayna and her doppelganger standing in an empty white world.

"Stop what?" Rayna asked.

"The Corvi," Lerian-Rayna said.

A shadowy figure appeared next to Lerian-Rayna, its snarling yellow teeth, the only visible feature in its otherwise smoky visage.

Rayna took a step back and the figure vanished. "What the hell was that?"

"That's just one of their forms," Lerian-Rayna said. "Corvi are shapeshifters. The unstoppable plague and the antithesis to creation."

"All right, that gave me absolutely nothing to go on," Rayna said.

Lerian-Rayna shook her head. "We don't have time for a full explanation. You've lingered on the first plateau too long already. That's why I stepped in to help you along.

"Now listen closely. You're about to change; not a big change, but it will probably be uncomfortable at first. Each change comes with a new power. You have to master these powers in order. They build on each other. Everyone is going to tell you to take your time; to build slow, but you can't. We don't have time for that.

"We've waited a long time for you; longer than any of us thought we would."

"Change? Powers? Waiting? What are you talking about?" Rayna was sure there were answers somewhere in Lerian-Rayna's explanation, but all she was hearing was a list of vague instructions.

"Look for Enathar Emberan, the last crown prince of a forgotten era. He will be able to guide you, but don't trust him completely. A Corvi whispers in his ear. He believed its lies and he works against the best interests of the System, though he knows it not."

"Then why don't you tell him?" Rayna asked, even more confused than before.

"Because as it stands, the prince's actions serve as a good distraction. The more the Corvi focuses on its own plans, the less it will notice ours.

"We won't be able to speak for a while. Do you have any questions before you go?"

"Who are you?" Rayna asked. She had so many more questions, but that was one that she thought she might actually get an answer to.

Lerian-Rayna smiled. "My name is Silka," she said. "I hope to see you again soon."

Silka's form turned to dust, blowing away in the wind.

"Wait!" Rayna shouted. "You haven't told me how to get out of here."

"Just breathe," Silka's voice whispered in Rayna's ear. "Feel your new body. Find your way back to it. Once you do, you will wake up."

Rayna's heart started to race. That didn't make any sense. How was she supposed to find her way back to her body if she was stuck in the white world?

"Breathe," Silka repeated.

Phira appeared in front of Rayna, sitting on the ground and demonstrating the breathing technique as she had in the cave.

"In for four," she said in Silka's voice. "Out for five. What is peace?"

Rayna closed her eyes, breathing in and out. She pictured her time in the grocery store with Emma; the feeling she got when her students proudly displayed their new profiles; she saw Emma happily handing over the novel she had just bought for Rayna.

A heartbeat thudded in Rayna's ears, but it wasn't in her chest. She turned, seeing a blue pulsing light in the distance.

Rayna started walking, then jogging, then running. She ran toward her own beating heart as it thudded louder and louder in her ears. It reached a thundering crescendo that drowned out all other thoughts.

The noise stopped and Rayna opened her eyes.

* * *

"Rayna's a seer too?" Cremble asked, sitting cross-legged by the pond.

The massive willow towering above them stood dormant, nothing but a ghost of friends long passed. Asteria had a mind of its own, and it did things like this: drum up the past to obscure the future.

In all things, there must be balance.

The System takeover had given them a brief respite from their daily toils trying to stop the Corvi from expanding its reach.

"Not exactly," Silka said, looking down at her own face in the pond. "Fragments of my power were left behind when she took my body. It will never be a true future sight, but in times of heightened emotion, it may help her to avoid disaster."

Cremble was silent for a long time. Then quietly, he said, "Will this plan really work?"

Silka didn't answer.

Cremble shook his head. "I know you came up with it, and I do trust you, my daughter. But it has been six thousand years. We never expected to wait this long."

Silka shook her head. "I'm not your daughter. Not really."

"I know, I know," Cremble said with a small smile. "Reincarnation and all that. But you are my daughter. Each life, you start anew, that is how it is meant to be, is it not?"

"Start anew," Silka mused aloud. How wondrous that would be? To have one's memories stripped away; to live your next life free of the past.

She had never been so lucky.

"The goddess has plans for us all," Silka said. "You cannot ignore the call, no matter how you may wish it. It is for the good of all."

Cremble shook his head, his smile disappearing. "With how long we waited; with how much destruction we caused—" He closed his eyes. "Everyone we know is dead. What was the point?"

"Balance," Silka said, her voice unwavering. "If the balance is broken, everything falls into chaos. It is not just for Ember, but of the many worlds connected to her through those invisible strands. Without Ember, there is nothing."

Cremble sighed. "We keep marching on?"

"Until there is nowhere left to go," Silka said. "And the goddess will reveal our next path."