"Uhm... Violette," I started softly, choosing my words with care, "is it just me, or are you... from another world? A different world from this one, I mean. One called Earth, perhaps?"

"...!"

The moment I asked that question and the words left my mouth, she visibly twitched as if I had struck her with a physical blow.

Her entire body went rigid, and she looked at me with wide eyes, staring as if I had just divined her deepest secret and her most hidden truth with perfect accuracy.

"H... How did you know that?" She whispered, her voice barely audible, her earlier bravado and confidence completely vanished in the face of this unexpected revelation.

I know because I am a prophet!

"Well, it was a subtle thing, honestly," I answered her, trying to sound casual, "but you kinda speak like a... human girl from planet earth. The patterns of your speech, the phrases you use, and the cultural references you make sometimes — they all point to a specific origin. An origin outside this world."

Not to mention, her swearing sound like real swearing. Not my language-understanding skill filtering it for me.

Violette’s eyes now sparkled with an intensity I had not seen before, glittering like stars in the darkness of her dark sclera.

Then her size reduced yet again, shrinking down further until she matched my own height almost exactly.

The transformation was smooth and seamless, her massive giant form compressing and condensing into something much smaller.

Though, sadly for me, she seemed to be taller than me by a little even after shrinking, maybe an inch or two, enough to look down at me slightly when we stood face to face.

Sigh.

Will I ever grow up already?

Will I ever reach a height that does not require me to look up at everyone around me?

It is getting tiresome, always being the shorter one in every conversation. Maybe it’s why I like kids.

She stood on the stone platform, balling her fists and shaking them in front of her chest with barely contained excitement.

While pressing her lips into a thin line, as if trying to hold back an explosion of words that wanted to burst out of her all at once.

"Uh... What happened just now? Did I say something wrong?" I nervously asked, uncertain about her sudden shift in demeanor and energy.

"I... I have been waiting since forever, since the moment I arrived in this world, for another reincarnator to appear. Someone else from Earth who would understand me and my experiences!" She said happily, her voice rising with joy and relief, something that sounded like the release of a very old and heavy burden.

She continued gladly; "I always knew that one would come someday. I thought it had to be statistically inevitable given how many people die and reincarnate across the multiverse. But I began to lose hope at some point after the first few hundred years passed without any sign of another earthling arriving.

"But... but I am so glad to see you, to meet you, and know that I’m not alone here after all! But are you really an earthling?"

Actually, statistically, it is nigh-impossible for someone to reincarnate casually into a different world.

They’d have to be snuggled in; there’s no such thing as food randomly entering your stomach, except you intentionally put it there.

However, I nodded my head slowly, letting her see the confirmation in my expression before I spoke the words aloud.

"Yes. I’m Benjamin Mark, by the way. From Seattle, North America, on the western coast, near the Pacific Ocean?"

"Ah, an American? An actual American from the United States?!" She beamed even brighter, edging closer to me on the stone platform, reducing the distance between us until we were sitting almost side by side. "I used to be Maria Costa Silva, a professional NEET living in Acre, Brazil, before I died and found myself in this crazy world full of magic, monsters, and gods... who don’t know how to mind their own business. My bedroom was my entire world, and I rarely left it except to get food or use the bathroom. And now look at me — a giant serpent dragon thing!"

She went on and on, her words tumbling out in an unstoppable stream, and she could not shut up for a single breath. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Probably because she didn’t need to breathe, therefore, had no natural pause in her speech to interrupt her flow.

But... I didn’t dislike it one bit.

There was something comforting about listening to someone else from Earth ramble about their past life, about the mundane details of a world I had once known and would probably never see again.

She said she used to be really poor with her family during her time on Earth, living in conditions that most people from wealthier countries could not even imagine or comprehend.

And it reached such a severe level of deprivation and desperation that her family had planned on illegally migrating to another country, just to survive.

But Maria, even in the midst of all that poverty and hardship, always thought that she would eventually become the bread winner of her family.

The one who would lift them out of their suffering and into a better life, despite being the third born child out of five siblings, with older brothers and a sister who should take that responsibility before her.

In school, in markets, in events and gatherings and even just walking down the street, she always thought about how she would start something real someday, something meaningful and lasting.

She dreamed of becoming a singer, a renowned and celebrated vocalist whose voice would reach millions of people across the world.

And through that success she would elevate her family from the depths of poverty, and into comfort, security, and happiness.

And she was this close, too.

A man from Portugal, a talent scout or perhaps just a kind stranger with connections, heard her singing at some dirty alley, a forgotten corner of the city where she had gone to practice in private away from the judgmental ears of her neighbors.

He loved her voice, he had told her directly, and he gave her his card with his contact information written on it.

He said he would see what he would do for her, what opportunities he could open, and what doors he could unlock.