I definitely heard Ashe right then.
Although I heard 'Ashe' come out of her mouth, since she had been speaking in another language I can't be sure. Normally, I wouldn't heart the name of a game character I play as come out of foreigner's mouth like that randomly.
However, the moment she had said 'Ashe' a thought passed through my mind as to why she was so familiar to me.
Isn't this woman....Aileen Daemon!?
Aileen Luminaire Daemon. As one might have guessed, this is the name of the actual mother of Ashe Daemon, my favorite character.
Having only seen anime-style illustrations of her, I, at first, had trouble recognizing this woman as Aileen. However, from her choice of clothes, her hairstyle, her eye color, everything about her matches my image on what if Aileen was made to look like a real person would look like.
But wait! If she is Aileen Daemon, wouldn't that make the baby's true identity I am currently residing in be the real Ashe Daemon!?
Even though I had concluded that I had reincarnated just merely a few moments ago, is it still possible for a person to just reincarnate as a character of a game they had played in their previous lives so easily?
Wait! Okay, I should just calm down.
Due to the unexpected realizations, my state of mind is currently going haywire.
I need to cool down. *Breath in**Breathe out* (Right now I don't have a body so It is all in my mind though)
Pheeew….okay! Let's start from the beginning from what I know.
First off, my last memory during my previous life was the time I was riding the train back to my hotel I stayed in, along with the other members of the [Vers Warriors].
It seems that on the way there had been an accident. The others that were with me...they too were caught up in the mess….
Did they die just like me? And if so, did they also reincarnate?
Nah, it's not possible for me to know right now. I have to refocus.
The second memory I have right after the accident, I had first woken up in a place of complete darkness. The body I had for 23 years as Aaron was no more and was replaced by a spherical white ball of light.
While I was there I had also met a 'mysterious voice'.
Was that the afterlife? Or was it one of those so-called 'spaces' between life and death I keep reading about in webnovels? And was that voice, a 'God'? Too bad. I'll probably never find out about it ever.
The third thing I remember was I had answered a question posed by the 'mysterious voice' and my spherical body was then was split into two. Or almost.
What is this state that I am in? Why is it that I am only capable of controlling one half and not the other? And why was I forced to reincarnate into a body of a baby boy, but only my other half seems to be in control of the body.
In my efforts in finding about what I can do, it seems that I am capable of peering into the memories and senses of my other half, but nothing else. I am unable to share my own senses or communicate with my half in any way. The longer I keep looking at my half, the more it seems to remind me of all books I have read describing such things as 'souls'. Seems convenient, so I decided to refer to my state as a 'soul' from now on.
The fourth thing I had discovered is that the true identity of the baby boy my soul currently resides in could be 'Ashe' from the words of the young women I believe to be the mother.
An another possibility passed through my mind that this little baby is in fact the younger self of Ashe Daemon and the young women would be Aileen Luminaire Daemon, his mother. However, as always, I have no proof.
If this is true, it would mean that I, Aaron, had miraculously reincarnated into the world of Vestronia: Dreamless Story. And to top it all off, I had also been reincarnated as my 'Main', Ashe Daemon.
And if I was able to reincarnate into my character Ashe, isn't there a possibility that the other members of the [Vers Warriors]m who probably died with me, were also reincarnated too!?
…..let's just stop there. As of now, I have no way of finding out if that is possible. I don't even have proof I truly am in the body of Ashe Daemon let alone make guesses about the others.
Having gathered my thoughts, I pondered on my next move.
What I need to do now is to confirm. Not only whether I am reincarnated into Ashe Daemon's body, but also whether this is truly the world of VDS.
If it is true, there is something I want to do.
While it might be impossible now, who is it say that I can't start to influence my other soul half later?
With new determination, I look back towards the floating screen at the young women (Aileen?).
Here is to new beginnings!
.
.
.
A few months have passed since my declaration.
My progress in discovering whether I am in the world of VDS: almost no progress.
In regards to my host's name, it is pretty much set that his name is in fact 'Ashe'.
The young woman I first saw continued to refer to him as such, so there is no mistake! I think….
Still, no progress on who she actually is. I mean, who would teach their full name to a child barely 1 year old? I am still barely deciphering her language as is.
That's right. Apparently, Ashe here is currently around 1 year old.
How do I know? Through the use of the special ability I have of searching through my other soul half's memories, I had discovered a total of around 360 days since his birth have passed. But more importantly, he began to say his first words!
"Mmma….ma!"
K-kawaiiiiiiii!!!! (It was so cute I reverted back to Japanese)
Did you hear that!? He said 'Mama'! Isn't he cuuute!?
…..ah!
Who am I talking to? Is the loneliness from no one being able to notice getting to me….?
…..Hah! Who cares! No one is looking anyway!
Anyways, since Ashe had become 1 year old, he has become more and more mobile.
While he has yet to independently walk on his own, his crawling range is no joke.
Thanks to that I was finally able to get my first look at what Ashe looks like!
In the room Ashe was allowed to walk around, there was a large fancy dressing mirror placed near the door.
When Ashe got curious about the mirror, I took the chance to take good look at his appearance.
Short silver-grey hair, squinty little silver-gray eyes, puffy cheeks, how ador-ahem….regal he looks!
Silver-grey hair and silver-gray eyes. They match the profile of VDS's Ashe Daemon.
Just one more proof that my hypothesis is correct.
Now I just have to wait until the day Ashe can talk and I can get more information.
When Ashe learns to speak, I too will benefit from learning.
Ahhh! How pitiful! For I , a reincarnator, to have to learn a new language from scratch…
Isn't it usual in reincarnation type stories, for the main character, to get either a language cheat or the world they now live in speaks the same language as they speak?
Well, I personally find such tropes simply unrealistic (who am I kidding, all of it is unrealistic) when reincarnating into a different world so I reap what I sow I guess.
Well, in this way, I can observe and work together with Ashe, so it is not all that bad.
It seems that the only people living in this house is both Ashe and his mother.
The father is nowhere to be seen…
The house appears to be a somewhat large loghouse with a few extra rooms but no second floor. Sometimes, Ashe would get close enough to see outside of a glass window to see a dark area outside filled with nothing but trees.
This led me to the conclusion that Ashe and his mother would live pretty simple lifestyles until I saw what seems to be a electric light fixture.
Now that I looked closer, It seems that there are many different appliances around the house that seem to be powered by some kind of energy.
Hmm…the more I see, the more I feel that I was correct in my hypothesis.
Not enough to make a final conclusion, however.
For that to happen, I need to see more. Let's go, Ashe! My answer depends on you!
While I am unfortunately limited by my current soul self, this doesn't stop me from gathering the information I need. In fact, I found out being a soul can be very useful.
A new thing I had discovered about my current soul self is I have developed an ability akin eidetic memory.
Though I say eidetic memory, it is more like being constantly in control of a video recording machine where I can use the screen to playback various instances of time which Ashe experiences with his own eyes and ears. The best part? Unlike normal memory, all experiences Ashe obtains become ingrained into his soul or in other words my soul half without loss or degradation. This means that, no matter how long, those memories will remain fresh as though he just saw them seconds before!
This way I can keep a growth record on my baby boy here!
Okay, Ashe, onii-chan here is going to take good care of our precious memories!
….it feels like I am forgetting my original objective. What was it again?
Eh! Who cares!
.
.
.
4 years have passed since then,
Ashe has since grown up to be 5 years old. When they had celebrated his 5th birthday, I couldn't help but tea-ahem feel moved about his growth.
That's right, I finally got to know his actual age. Ever since Ashe had learn to say complete sentences, Aileen had celebrated his birthday with just the two of them (with the exception of me) without fail.
"Mom. I'm hungry!"
"Okay, okay. Just sit tight, dear. I will get something to eat in a jiffy."
The peaceful voices of the mother-son duo came out lazily from the screen.
It seems like our little boy Ashe here is getting hungry. I am so glad I learned the language just so that I can-ahem, is there anything the matter? It's not like my only reason for learning their language was to feel like I became part of there family, or anything! Honest!
….this is bad. My habit of talking to an invisible audience is getting worse in the past 4 years.
Anyway!
Along with another 4 years of tracking Ashe's gro-ahem observing their conversation, I had obtained my long-desired information.
It is confirmed. This is the world of VDS. And I am reincarnated into the body of my favorite character, Ashe Daemon.
When I eav-ahem listened to their conversations, the acquiring of a new language became easier than I had thought.
This was all due to the thin connection I still have with Ashe's soul half.
Using my soul connection, I was able to assimilate with all of Ashe's memories, including language. A child's brain when learning is truly a wonder to behold. Having none of my prior knowledge and preconceptions, Ashe fully absorbed new information like a sponge every day.
Thanks to that, my ability to gather information raises itself to a higher level.
In summary, the information I have obtained from listening and observing is as follows:
1. His mother's name is Aileen Daemon.
2. They forest the had made there log home in has the name of the Merez Forest.
3. Aileen continuously goes out at regular and brings back a number beautiful black roses that seem to give a mysterious glow.
4. Aileen continuously uses a pestle and mortar to grind something regularly without pause and drinks the concoction she has made.
There is no mistaking it.
Each information matches from what I know about Ashe Daemon's unique character history.
The moment I had made that conclusion, indescribable feelings welled up inside me.
I felt joy, shock, anticipation, and …even dread.
The moment I had confirmed that I reincarnated as the Ashe that I know, I also realize the grim truth:
[Ashe is already 5 years old….not good! If it's truly VDS, It is almost time for 'that' to happen!]
As the number one most unpopular character within the Verstonia: Dreamless Story MMORPG, Ashe Daemon holds a fair share of problems that help establish his reputation as such.
One such problem appears in Ashe's personal storyline.
Out of all characters, Ashe's story is the one fill with most about pain and suffering.
In particular, his first and probably worse pain began at when he had reached 5 years old.
Death.
Yes. When Ashe reached 5, he lost the most important person in his life.