Scarlet's Awakening

Sheila opened her eyes, gradually adjusting to the glaring light that passed through the glass ceiling. It took a while before the blur in her eyes was gone. As she did, the first thing she saw was rose petals, thousands of them cascading down while some of them settled on her skin.

Then, feeling the sudden pain in her head. She tried to lift her hand to ease the pain within her head but her hand didn't move. She was paralyzed.

Still puzzled as to why she couldn't move her body, a thought suddenly appeared inside Sheila's mind

'Did I get myself into a coma making my muscles like this?' She thought.

Little did she know that she was in a different body, in a different world. She was reincarnated. And the body she has been reincarnated to has been sleeping for more than 490 years, hence the paralysis.

Sheila didn't know this fact but she was not discouraged by her paralysis.

Deep inside, she was a little afraid at first. It's not every day someone wakes up in an unknown room and finds out that they were unable to move. But she realized, however, that this paralysis was only temporary.

Instead of focusing on her negative feelings, she set a goal for herself.

She's going to move her index finger and if she succeeds, she'll try to move the other parts of her body until she can move them all again.

Full of resolve, the corner of her lips rose up as she took a deep breath.

Half an hour later, Sheila eventually managed to move her entire body. She did some modern exercise routines like the peddler and horizontal running while laying down to make her progress faster. Doing those routines helped her increase her blood circulation, making her forget she even had a headache.

Pushing her upper body with her elbow, Sheila slowly sat on the cold surface of the altar, shaking off the rose petals on her body. Afterwards, she roamed her gaze around the room she's in. It was luxuriously large, with a high glass ceiling and three chandeliers hanging over her head. Looking at the walls, its intricate carvings of gold and crystals decorating the walls. The magnificent wall paintings of landscapes hanging there.

Wondering where the hell she was. Sheila already knows that this isn't a hospital ward. The space in this room is too luxurious and elegant for that.

It doesn't smell like chlorine either just like normal hospital rooms would smell like. Instead, the room smelled like a rose garden. The unlimited supply of rose petals falling constantly from above the ceiling must be the cause of it.

Sheila looked for answers in her memories that could help her understand her current situation. Not long after, she found the most recent memory she had before she woke up.

The memories started when she was on her way home, completely drained and exhausted from work after she shut the internet cafe where she had worked for three years.

She was passing through the crowded sidewalk of Makati, Metro Manila, when she saw a man crossing the road not far from where she was.

Witnessing such an event, Sheila was concerned at first. The man seemed to have some trouble crossing to the other side of the street. His footsteps were uneven, walking in a zig-zag like manner while holding his head.

Sheila thought the man was going to trip on his own foot, but thankfully, he didn't.

She looked at the traffic light, checking whether it was red or green. It was red. Then it's still safe for the man to cross the road.

She glanced back at the man and saw that his footsteps were getting slower than before. She originally meant to leave him on his own, giving other people a chance to help him instead.

She wasn't a saint! She got her own set of problems to take care of.

But Sheila saw the pain on the stranger's pale-looking face— her body just moved on its own and made its way to approach the man.

Sheila swore under her breath.

Her feet didn't stop walking until she reached the man's side.

The guy was blind to what was going on around him. He didn't notice that a short, 24-year-old woman was coming his way, housing an irritated expression

Stopping in front of him, blocking his path, Sheila was about to open her mouth to talk to the man when he suddenly fell right in her arms, unconscious before she could even say a word.