The last thing I remember was the smell of rain on the pavement. I was just a regular guy, walking home from a long day of work. I was thinking about what to watch on TV and what to eat for dinner. Just a normal, boring Tuesday.
Then, the world broke.
There was a sound like a thousand glass windows shattering at once. It wasn't a car crash. It wasn't an explosion. It felt like the air itself just... snapped.
I didn't even have time to scream. My body felt like it turned into mist. One second I was there, and the next, I was floating in a white void.
[Me]: [What... what just happened? Where am I?]
I looked down. I didn't have a body. I was just a glowing blue ball of light. I tried to move, but there was no ground. I was just drifting in a sea of nothing.
"Oh... boy. This is awkward."
The voice was huge. It sounded like thunder and music mixed together. A giant being appeared. It looked like a person made out of golden stars and swirling galaxies. It was so big I couldn't even see the top of its head.
[Me]: [Are you... God?]
God: "One of them, yes. Look, I'm going to be honest with you. I was trying to fix a glitch in a different dimension, and I accidentally dropped a bit of 'Raw Reality' on your head. You weren't supposed to die. You had like... sixty more years left."
I felt a wave of shock hit me.
[Me]: [You killed me? By accident?! I had a life! I had plans!]
God: "I know, I know! And I feel terrible about it. That's why I'm giving you a choice. I can't put you back in your old world that version of you is gone. But I can send you to a world I really like. A world of magic and demons. I believe you know it as The Owl House."
I stopped shaking.
[Me]: [The Owl House? Like the cartoon?]
God: "Exactly. I'll let you be born there as the older brother of the main character, Luz. And because I really messed up, I'll give you three wishes to make sure you survive. What do you want?"
I took a second to process everything. I was dead. I was talking to a star-giant. And I was going to a world where everything tried to eat you.
[Me]: [Okay... if I'm doing this, I need to be strong.]
Wish One: I want to be an Anodite a being made of pure magic energy.
God: "I can do that. But instead of just 'making' you one, I'll change the past. I'll make your new father in that world an Anodite who was hiding as a human. You'll inherit his power. It will be in your blood."
Wish Two: I want to be a Fast Learner. If I see magic or a skill once, I want to get the 'gist' of it. If I practice, I want to be able to do it perfectly even better than the person I saw.
Wish Three: I want a Living Grimoire. A book that records every spell I see or do so I never forget them. It should also give me info on spells from other shows and anime that fit my power level.
God: "Done. You'll start weak, and your human body will limit your energy at first. But your potential? It will be limitless. Go be a good brother, Leo."
The golden giant snapped his fingers.
FLASH!
The white void disappeared.
Gravesfield 10 Years Later
"Leo! Look! I found a weird bug!"
I opened my eyes and looked down. A little girl with short brown hair and a huge grin was holding a very angry-looking beetle in front of my face.
This was Luz. My little sister.
For ten years, I had lived this new life. I remembered my "old" life as a man, but now I was Leo Noceda. I remembered growing up here. I remembered our dad, who always had a strange, warm glow to him before he passed away.
[Leo]: [Mom thinks Dad was just a normal guy. She doesn't know why my eyes sometimes glow pink a little or why I learn things in seconds. She's just worried we're 'too weird' for this town.]
Leo: "That's a cool bug, Luz. but put it down before it bites you."
Luz: "It won't bite me! We're friends!"
The beetle bit her.
Luz: "OW! Bad friend! Bad!"
I chuckled and reached out. I tapped her finger. A tiny spark of pink light just a tiny bit flickered from my hand. The pain on her finger vanished instantly.
Luz: "Whoa... how do you always do that? You're like a magic doctor!"
Leo: "Just a trick, Luz. Come on, Mom is calling us for lunch."
I looked at the woods behind our house. I could feel something. A pull. Like a thread was tugging at my soul.
[Leo]: [The Grimoire is buzzing in my head. Something is coming.]
I followed Luz back to the house. I wasn't the man from the "old" world anymore. I was a brother. I was a protector. And soon, I was going to be a witch.