ALL NOVEL Rebirth in the Sands
Hala opened her eyes and blinked, momentarily disoriented. The blazing sun in the sky hitting her, making her already sun kissed skin glisten with sweat. She detested sweating.
Hala had no idea how she ended up stranded in a desert. The scorching heat pressed down on her, as relentless as the sands shifting beneath her bare feet. The confusion matched the growing irritation in her chest from sweating—how had she gone from the cool comfort of her air-conditioned room, snuggled up in her bed, to the middle of this arid wasteland? The last thing she remembered was falling asleep to the sound of her favorite anime, Tensura, playing softly in the background.
The strangest thing of all, though, was the glowing, ethereal orb floating beside her and the matching interface in front of her face. Two golden lights shimmered in the air, forming strange runes and symbols she didn’t recognize. Was she hallucinating? Her head spun, and she blinked hard, but the golden finger orb remained.
"Hmm."
The desert was unnervingly quiet, except for the faint whistle of wind that carried with it the grit of sand. Hala crouched by a shimmering mirage, though as she drew closer, she realized it wasn't a mirage at all—a small lake glistened in the sand, reflecting the light of the sun. She knelt by it, desperate for water, but instead of quenching her thirst, the sight of her own reflection startled her.
Gone were her usual honey-brown eyes. Staring back at her were two dazzling orbs—one midnight blue, the other a glowing golden yellow. Heterochromia. Her breath caught in her throat, her heart pounding. Her fingers grazed the smooth surface of the water, and the ripples distorted her reflection.
"How annoying."
She looked at the interface again, curiosity slowly overriding her slight annoyance. The words were in a language she instinctively knew—though she had never seen it before.
And the message was clear:
[System activated. You have been blessed by Nent, the Primordial Cosmic Goddess.]
"Nent?" Hala muttered, her brow furrowing. The name rang familiar, but distant—like a memory just out of reach.
The system continued to display more information, almost like an RPG game. That’s when she saw it. Her name.
Lapis D. Hala.
Her heart nearly stopped. Lapis D. Hala? That wasn’t right. She was Hala, sure, but why did the name sound like something straight out of One Piece? Why was her name styled like it belonged in a completely different universe?
As if in response to her confusion, the system flashed again, revealing one more crucial detail:
[You are now in the world of Tensura.]
The revelation struck her like a thunderbolt. She had loved the anime That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, but to be in that world? It was unreal. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could utter a word, a searing pain erupted behind her eyes. It was as though her brain was being torn apart, splintered by a migraine so intense she couldn’t breathe.
Her vision blurred, the desert around her spiraling into chaos. She collapsed to the ground, the last thing she saw before blacking out was the system flickering above her head like a dying star.
__________________________________________
When Hala woke, the pain was gone, but her mind was filled with new memories—memories that weren’t hers. Memories of a life before this one. She sat up slowly, piecing together the fragments that swirled in her mind.
She had died.
Her past life had ended with a heatstroke, fitting given her current surroundings. After her death, she had spent a hundred years in a void, drifting in a timeless space, with only one companion—a goddess. Nent, the Egyptian goddess of the sky, stars, and universe, had taken her in, a lost soul with nowhere to go.
Flashback,
In the vast, endless expanse of the cosmic void, time lost all meaning. Here, Hala had no form, at least not at first. She was a drifting consciousness, weightless and formless, tethered only to the vague awareness that she was no longer alive.
She had no words for the infinite vastness surrounding her—nothing in her previous life had prepared her for this. Floating, weightless, in what seemed like the endless heart of the universe, Hala felt small, yet strangely connected to something greater.
The void was not a place of complete darkness, as one might expect from a space between worlds. It was alive with vibrant colors, swirling nebulas of stardust, and radiant energy that twisted and pulsed around a central point—a deep, dark vortex that seemed to draw in all the light, yet gave off a presence so powerful it was impossible to ignore. This was the heart of the void, where matter, time, and space lost their meaning. It was where everything converged, and nothing existed all at once.
Hala drifted through the luminous streams of cosmic dust and energy, her mind reeling from the scale of the beauty before her. Blues, pinks, and purples spiraled around the central vortex, moving like slow, celestial whirlpools, caught in an eternal dance with the unknown. The clouds of light and energy wrapped around her like a comforting embrace, as though they were welcoming her, a lost soul, into their fold.
When she first arrived, the void had been overwhelming. It pressed down on her like a suffocating blanket of silence, vast and unknowable. Panic surged through her as she tried to orient herself in a world with no ground, no sky, and no direction. Was this the afterlife? Was this her eternity—floating in an endless abyss, neither here nor there?
But then she felt something, or rather, someone. A presence. It was soft at first, like a warm breeze brushing against her lost soul. In the stillness of the void, it stood out—gentle but immense, both comforting and awe-inspiring.
"Hala," a voice called to her, sweet and tender yet layered with the weight of the cosmos. "Do not fear."
Though the sound reverberated through the space around her, Hala somehow knew the voice had not spoken aloud. It resonated directly within her, like a melody of the stars, ancient and timeless. Slowly, as if beckoned by some invisible force, Hala's awareness coalesced, and her scattered thoughts began to take shape again.
A figure appeared before her, emerging from the fabric of the void itself. She was tall, regal, and glowing with the light of a thousand galaxies. Her eyes shimmered with deep blues and purples, swirling like nebulas, held endless knowledge. Her skin, the color of the night sky, while her flowing hair sparkled with stardust and constellations.
"I am Nent," the figure said softly, her voice like the hum of distant stars. "Goddess of the sky, the stars, the cosmos, and all that lies beyond."
Hala, still disoriented, felt a sense of calm wash over her. In the presence of Nent, the overwhelming vastness of the void seemed to fade into the background. There was no fear now, only a strange sense of peace.
"Where am I?" Hala finally asked, her voice surprisingly leveled. "What is this place?"
"This is the cosmic void," Nent explained, her voice a soothing balm against Hala's confusion. "A space between worlds, where lost souls drift before they are reborn or return to the cycle of life."
For a long time, Hala remained silent, absorbing the weight of Nent's words. Lost soul. Rebirth. The concepts felt foreign yet strangely familiar.
"So, I died." Hala stated her voice barely above a whisper. That much she knew. Her old life had ended, and somehow, she had been cast into this place of stillness and silence.
Nent smiled, the stars in her eyes twinkling softly. "You are taking this rather well, for a mortal. It is quite surprising."
And so began Hala’s time in the cosmic void—a century that passed both in the blink of an eye and as an eternity. In those early moments, Hala had no form, only consciousness. She existed as pure thought, a soul unbound by a physical body. Nent had explained that in this realm, the physical was irrelevant. They were both beings of energy, of light, floating within the expanse of the cosmos.
At first, it was disorienting. The concept of time was meaningless in the void, and Hala had no body to mark its passage. There were no days or nights, no sunrises or sunsets—only the endless stretch of space, illuminated by the distant glow of stars that flickered in and out of existence.
Nent, however, became Hala’s anchor in this strange, timeless existence. The goddess would often speak to her, teaching her about the universe and its endless mysteries. Nent would explain the creation of stars, how they were born from the swirling clouds of gas and dust, and how they burned for eons before collapsing into themselves, leaving behind black holes, supernovas, or nebulae.
Hala, fascinated, would listen as Nent described the constellations that dotted the night skies of different worlds, each with its own story, its own legend. Nent’s voice was like the comforting lull of the cosmos itself, filling the void with meaning and purpose.
In time, Hala’s own form began to take shape again, though it wasn’t the same as it had been in life. Here, in the void, her body was ethereal, shimmering like the stars. She could feel the pull of the cosmic energies around her, drawing strength from the very essence of the universe.
As her awareness grew, so did her connection with Nent. The goddess became more than just a guide; she became a companion, a constant presence that soothed Hala’s soul. They would drift together through the void, sometimes in silence, sometimes speaking for what felt like eons about the wonders of the cosmos.
Over the decades, Hala found herself falling in love with Nent—not just with her beauty, which was breathtaking, but with her depth, her wisdom, and the kindness she showed to a lost soul adrift in the universe. Nenth, in turn, seemed to cherish Hala’s company. The goddess, who had spent millennia watching over the cosmos, found a kindred spirit in the young woman, someone who shared her wonder for the stars.
Together, they danced through the void, moving between distant galaxies, observing the birth and death of worlds. Hala would gaze at nebulae, awestruck by their beauty, while Nent explained the science and magic behind them. The goddess would laugh softly whenever Hala's curiosity got the better of her, always patient, always willing to share her knowledge.
In time, their bond deepened, transcending the boundaries of teacher and student. They shared moments of intimacy, not just physical but spiritual—moments where their energies intertwined, where Hala could feel Nenth’s heartbeat resonating with the pulse of the universe itself. Nent would hold her close, their forms melding into the fabric of the cosmos, and in those moments, Hala felt as if they were one with the stars, with the very essence of creation.
But their time together was not infinite. Nent had made a deal with the supreme entity of reincarnation, and she knew that Hala could only stay in the void for one century. When the end of that time approached, Nent became quieter, her laughter tinged with sadness.
The moment of parting came all too soon.
As Hala drifted closer to the swirling center, she felt a pull—gentle at first, then stronger, as if the void was calling to her, drawing her deeper. The vortex at the center was more than a black hole. It was a nexus of possibilities, a gateway between dimensions, between worlds. It was both the end of everything and the start of something new. Nent had explained that many souls passed through here, but few had ever truly understood its significance.
"You see it now, don’t you?" Nent’s voice was soft but powerful, like the steady hum of the universe itself. She extended a hand to Hala, and as their fingers touched, Hala felt the warmth of the stars flow through her. "This place is more than a void. It is the nexus of all creation, a place where endings and beginnings converge."
Hala felt the truth of Nent’s words resonate deep within her. Here in the heart of the void, she felt something like peace. The swirling clouds of cosmic energy didn't feel chaotic. Instead, they seemed to dance in harmony with her very soul, as if she were part of their celestial symphony.
Nent led Hala deeper into the vortex, guiding her through streams of luminous energy that danced around them, trailing like rivers of light. The swirling clouds of pink, purple, and blue lit up the space around them, casting long shadows that flickered and shifted with the movement of the stars. Hala felt as though she were walking through the universe itself, touching the very essence of creation.
"Every lost soul that passes through here feels this pull," Nent said, her voice filled with an ancient wisdom.
“I cannot keep you here any longer,” Nent said softly, her voice heavy with emotion. “The laws of the universe demand that you move on.”
Hala’s heart ached at the thought of leaving Nent, of leaving this peaceful existence in the void where she had felt more alive than she ever had in her previous life. But she knew that Nent had no choice.
Before Hala left, Nent kissed her one final time, a kiss filled with the weight of the stars, the universe, and their love.
"I give you my divine protection," Nent whispered against her lips. "As well as something special I have been working on ever since you told me you liked One Piece. I hope you'll like it. It took be quite a while to perfect."
The swirling void around them seemed to respond to this act, the colors flaring brighter and the energy vibrating with anticipation. Hala could feel herself being drawn toward the center of the vortex, the point where everything would begin anew.
Nent stepped back, her eyes glowing with the light of a thousand suns. "Go, my love. Live. Thrive. And remember, I am always with you, as long as there are stars in the sky."
With that, the pull of the vortex intensified, and Hala felt herself being drawn forward into the swirling mass of light and energy. The colors intensified—pinks, blues, purples, all blending together as the void wrapped around her, cocooning her in its radiant embrace.
As the vortex closed around her, Hala’s last glimpse was of Nent, standing regal and beautiful against the backdrop of the swirling cosmos, her stardust hair flowing in the ethereal wind. And then, with one final rush of cosmic energy, Hala was pulled through the vortex, sent spiraling into a new universe, a new world.
She left the void behind—but the memory of its beauty, of Nent’s love and the endless, swirling stars, would stay with her forever.