To me, birth and death have always been seemingly impossible, unspeakable things. But now, I am surrounded by darkness as I sink into oblivion. How did this happen? One minute I was a simple villager, the next, a queen. How am I choking, bleeding, dying? How is the queen of the Three Worlds being defeated by something as simple as death?

I thought that I had left behind my mortality when I died that first time. Now that I am dying, I do not have much time. Heed my words and learn from my mistakes. Listen to my story and understand. I am sinking faster into oblivion as we speak, so do not dally.


The sun began to rise far above the earth, bringing sunlight to every nook and cranny down below. Meanwhile, in a village far below, a miracle was born as the sun was rising.

"One more push, Arannia, one more push. The baby's nearly here, you can even see most of its body now. You can do it, Arannia, it's just one more push." Those were the words that escaped the lips of the village midwife, Terra, right before a child was born and a woman died.

One more push indeed did the trick, heaving a child into the world of the living. Sadly, this move also catapulted the woman named Arannia into the world of the dead. A few frantic shrieks of Arannia's husband, Coryn, were heard, but then all was silent.

A shrill cry rose up into the day, confirming the fact that the newborn was a girl. Terra, the midwife, rested her callused hand on Coryn's shoulders, looking down on the newly born and the newly dead. Coryn's shoulders shook with his grief as sobs wracked his body.

"How could this happen?" Coryn choked out, looking at Terra helplessly. Terra merely shook her head.

"Our current medicine is not advanced enough to cure death in childbirth," the woman explained quietly.

"But she was a strong woman, not a weakling! How could Arannia die from something so natural?" Coryn argued, ignoring the squirming, bloody heap his newborn daughter was currently spending her first few moments of life in.

Terra sighed and picked up the newborn girl, obviously being the only one to remember her existence. She rocked the baby back and forth, cooing gently to the child.

"What will you name her?" Terra inquired gently. Coryn shook his head grievingly.

"Arannia had had the perfect name for her, she said. She said that she was going to be fine, but she wasn't fine!" Terra raised an eyebrow and held the newborn closer to the warmth of the folds of her robes. The stricken man continued his rant.

"Arannia was everything to me. She was my moon, my sun. How can I enjoy the naming of our daughter if she is not here to enjoy it with me?" Coryn halted himself and stared at the child, who had begun to cry. Terra pulled the girl closer to her in a matronly way, quieting down the child immediately.

"Even if Arannia is gone, won't you keep her daughter?" She asked. Coryn merely shook his head.

"You can keep it," he spat venomously.

"I have no use for the- THING who's life cost Arannia's own. Arannia, my poor sweet Arannia..." The stricken man then picked up his dead wife's body and stalked out of the door, carrying her towards his wagon. The door slammed shut, causing the baby to squeal and the midwife to frown.

"I shall name you Dawn, if I am to keep you as my own," Terra spoke to the baby girl. The newly named Dawn kicked her tiny legs and flailed her chubby arms about, causing the midwife to smile sadly.

"If only your mother had not died," Terra ventured.

"Perhaps then, you would not be considered an orphan." The midwife suddenly straightened up, her back stiffening.

"If you are an orphan from birth, you must be truly destined for greatness. I will teach you everything I know, Dawn, and I will hope for the best. After all, the god of our dimension, the Overworld, was an orphan from birth."

Terra then swept out of her examination room and hurried to the powder room to wash up the child. Her light gray robes spun out behind her as she dramatically exited the room with a child in her arms and a million questions swirling inside her head.

Back in the examination room, perched atop the bloody sheets of the birthing mat, the spirit of Arannia sighed and followed Terra and her daughter through the doorway. Little did the spirit know, her premature death was a single puzzle piece amongst the jumbled bits of Dawn's life.