A young man, tall in stature and dark in demeanor, walked along the deck of a cruise ship, wrapped in warm layers of clothing. It was viciously cold—so cold it made your ears burn, and your face stiff. The forecast had predicted as much.
Koryn Vael moved along the deck with a phone pressed to his ear, eventually settling near a guardrail. His conversation continued.
"Well, Koryn, are you coming over for Thanksgiving this year?" his younger sister asked expectantly.
"Is Dad gonna be there?" Koryn replied, his breath misting in the air as he shifted his weight against the rail.
She sighed. "Yeah, probably. But it's been so long—can't y'all just put your feelings aside for a day?"
"No, I don't think I can," Koryn said with a quiet chuckle.
"Come on... it's been a while since we've seen you. Mom misses you. Ace misses you."
"Yeah, right. He misses the treats I used to give him," he said, his tone sarcastic.
"No, seriously. He lays in your room all day, waiting for you to come back. And Mom could really use an extra hand in the kitchen."
Koryn pictured his dog curled up in his room. Then his mom moving around the kitchen alone. The images made him a little depressed.
"Please," she added softly.
Koryn's face twitched. That word always made it harder for him to say no. She knew it, too.
"Don't make this harder than it has to be," he said, his voice gentle but firm.
"Pleeease," she dragged out, more insistent this time.
He hesitated. He hadn't gone to Thanksgiving last year either, and he had felt guilty about it that time, too.
Koryn sighed. "Alright. I should be back in the States by then... but I'm not promising anything."
"Yes—okay, I'll let Mom know. See you later." She hung up before he could respond.
Koryn rolled his eyes, already used to how fast his sister moved through things. He slipped his phone back into his pocket and let his gaze drift out toward the water.
It was almost pitch black, the only light coming from the fixtures lining the ship. Without them, he wouldn't have been able to see anything.
He exhaled slowly, watching his breath form and disappear. Then he turned back toward the deck, idly observing the people around him.
There were all kinds, fewer than during the day, but still enough to fill the space. Some parents were being dragged along by restless children, while others had claimed chairs for themselves, having settled comfortably alone.
But Koryn's mind was elsewhere. He never would have imagined himself on a cruise in October, I mean, who even does that? He was supposed to be in a college dorm, half-warm under cheap blankets, dreading an early class the next morning.
Instead, barely a month into his second year, he had to change his plan. Depression had hit him hard, and in a moment of desperation to escape it, he filed for a leave of absence, dipped into his savings, and booked a month-long, all-inclusive cruise.
He barely gave his family time to react.
Reckless as it was, though... he couldn't deny that he'd been enjoying himself. No roommates. No responsibilities. More than enough food.
For the first time in a while, he felt something close to content.
Thanksgiving, honestly, any holiday involving his family, was complicated. He didn't hate being with them. Not really. It just felt wrong sometimes.
Mostly because of his dad.
Their relationship had always been rough, balancing on the edge of something worse. They'd nearly fought each other on more than one occasion.
They just couldn't see eye to eye. Every decision Koryn made outside of his purview was met with criticism, picked apart until there was nothing left, and he was made to feel like garbage. And it didn't help that his dad was also a raging narcissist.
Koryn had never been the type to stay quiet about it, either. He called him out openly and his dad hated it. And his dad wasn't going to leave, so Koryn distanced himself.
For a while, that meant spending most of his days and nights at his ex's house instead of his own. That was part of why he was now halfway across the world instead of anywhere near home. He didn't really have anywhere else to go.
His thoughts drifted again, wondering what he'd do for dinner, maybe heat up some of that lasagna he got from the buffet. He liked lasagna.
His thoughts were cut off by a sharp scream that made him jump involuntarily.
"What the fuck?" Koryn frowned, turning toward the source of the noise.
A crowd was gathering around a woman on the ground, screaming at them to do something to get help. She pointed frantically toward the water.
Koryn leaned his head over the rail, his eyes locking onto a figure thrashing in the dark waves below.
Without thinking, he sprinted toward the crowd. "Did anyone tell the crew?" he asked. Almost on cue, sirens began blaring, and a voice over the loudspeakers ordered people to clear the area.
The crowd stayed, though, clustered uselessly around the woman as she continued to scream.
"Someone help my daughter, please! She doesn't know how to swim!"
Koryn looked back over the rail, watching the girl struggle to keep her head above the surface. It was already freezing on deck; he couldn't even imagine how cold it was in the water.
He glanced back at the crowd. No one moved. Everyone was waiting for someone else to do something.
"Shit."
Not giving himself time to think, he kicked off his shoes, emptied his pockets, and vaulted over the rail.
The impact knocked the breath from his lungs as he plunged into the dark water. He resurfaced with a gasp and immediately began swimming toward the girl. The shock of the cold barely registered through the surge of adrenaline.
He reached her, grabbed her by the arm, and hauled her up steady above the surface.
"I got you," he said, his teeth already chattering.
Then it hit him... he hadn't grabbed a buoy.
Think.
His mind scrambled for something, anything useful. Then he remembered.
He looked at the girl clinging to him. "Hold on tighter."
Keeping himself afloat, he shifted his focus and quickly worked off his pants. In one swift motion, he pulled them free and tied the ends of the legs into a knot. Then he forced air into the waistband, inflating the fabric as much as he could.
When it wouldn't take any more air, he twisted the opening shut and positioned the girl between the legs.
A makeshift life vest.
"Hold onto this," he said, pressing the inflated fabric into her hands.
His legs were already going numb trying to stay afloat. He turned his head back toward the ship. It had stopped now, and he could just make out figures rushing along the deck, trying to lower the rescue rafts.
Thank God, he thought.
Suddenly, his right leg jerked unnaturally beneath him. A sharp pain shot through it. Something had grabbed his foot.
He had just enough time to let go of the girl before he was yanked under.
The water felt even colder now that he was fully submerged. Something was dragging him down into the depths. Koryn thrashed, kicking hard against whatever had him, but it didn't budge.
His struggling made things worse, forcing him to involuntarily swallow mouthfuls of seawater.
He was going to die.
The last thing Koryn could make out was the distant glow of the ship's lights above him, fading as he was pulled deeper into the darkness. His life was slowly fading in the silence.
And then—
A faint, ethereal voice touched his thoughts.
"I found you."
--------------------
Koryn Vael woke with a violent start.
His eyes snapped open as he bent forward, heaving, desperately trying to cough out water that should have been filling his lungs. Just moments ago, he had been drowning.
He choked, gasped, and coughed again, over and over, waiting for water to spill out.
But nothing came.
Slowly, the panic began to fade. He realized he could breathe easily. There was no resistance, and no water choking his airways.
He was breathing fresh air.
Koryn froze.
Did I die? he wondered.
He should have. The last thing he remembered was the ocean swallowing him whole. After that… there should've been nothing. Or maybe darkness. Silence. An afterlife.
But this wasn't that.
His gaze shifted, unfocused at first, then sharpening as he took in his surroundings.
Snow.
He was surrounded by it and strangely, he hadn't even noticed at first.
And then another thought followed.
He couldn't feel it. The cold.
Frowning, Koryn looked down. His hands were buried in the snow, pale against the frost. Slowly, he pulled them free, staring at them like they didn't quite belong to him.
Was that some kind of fucked-up nightmare? he thought.
But then... where the hell was he?
His thoughts spiraled, one crashing into the next. Was he dead? Stuck in some frozen version of hell? Or—
Something else?
Something like those fanfics he used to read. Reincarnation. Transmigration.
He couldn't tell.
Aside from the lack of cold, he didn't feel any different.
He exhaled slowly, watching white mist bloom in front of him before fading into nothing.
Hesitantly, Koryn lowered his head, bringing his chin closer to his chest. He closed his eyes just slightly—and, a bit embarrassed, whispered a single word.
"Status."
He opened his eyes.
Nothing.
No glowing screen. No voice. No system.
Koryn let out a quiet breath and pushed himself to his feet—
—and immediately went still.
He looked down.
And unfortunately… he was naked.