"Where-where am I?"
Zero tried to open his eyes, but found that he was unable to. He shifted his body around to try loosening himself up
"What is this? It feels like I'm trapped somewhere. And how did I even end up here?"
He tried to remember what he had been doing before he ended up in this place. But all that came to mind were images of blood and fire, and fight--
"Yes! That's right! I had been fighting someone hadn't I? The memories are fuzzy in my mind, but I think it had been the primordial dragon. Yes! The primordial dragon had managed to finally track me down and engaged me in battle along with his four horsemen."
"But then if I was in battle, then where am I right now?"
Zero didn't remember ever leaving the battlefield after he had fought the primordial dragon. That must mean he had either died, or had been rescued by some other being.
The primordial dragon was a being of great strength and a large number of followers, but he realised he couldn't beat zero who had become a god after working hard for years as a mere human and defying the heavens themselves.
So he had swallowed his pride and asked for help from his four horsemen. The four who were closest in strength to the primordials, but were still lacking a lot. And together they battled against Zero.
"But what being would rescue me? I didn't have the best of relationships with all the other celestials. They all scorned me for having been human once, And hated the fact that I had surpassed them. So there is definitely no one who would try to rescue me."
"Was it some loose cultivator that happened upon me, perhaps?"
Zero couldn't think of anyone capable of driving away the primordial dragon, who was at the peak of his cultivation. There were only a handful of beings who stood side by side with the primordial dragon in terms of strength, and he was the only one out of all of them that the primordial dragon could never take down on his own.
As Zero was thinking all this, he never noticed how slow his thinking was. His eyes were becoming more droopy and he seemed to be getting sleepy, even as he kicked his leg a few times to get into a better sleeping position.
He said:
"Maybe I could close my eyes just for a second. I've been moving about so much for the past hundred years that I haven't had a good rest at all in ages. I think I deserve some rest"
And with that, Zero slept.
...
...
...
The next time Zero opened his eyes he found that it was because he was being squeezed by some unknown force
'What the bloody hell!?'
The force came at him from all angles and began pushing him downwards head-first. He struggled against the push, but it seemed that whoever was on the other side was too eager to get him out of where he was
'Let go of me you monster! I'm not ready to come out yet, I wanna sleep!'
Zero put up a strong struggle, but the squeezing just became stronger and stronger. It appeared that whoever was dragging him out was an impatient person bent on making his life hell!
'What sort of monster could be attacking me now?! I just came out of one battle with the primordial dragon, and all of a sudden, another beast wants a piece of me?! '
'Let me have some rest damn it!!'
But all his pleas fell on deaf ears as the monster drew him closer and closer to a light he could see at the edge of the darkness.
At the next second, Zero was pulled out finally from his hiding place by a hand and held aloft by his feet
'Wait a minute, why is this woman so large? What the hell is going on here?!!'
There was no response from the woman, other than a hand placing zero across someone's knee, and another hand smacking his behind
Smack!
"Ahhhh!"
'Don't touch my ass you monster!'
The words Zero wanted to shout never came out, instead, what came out was a wail of a baby!
The wet-nurse in the room took zero and handed him over to a woman laying on the bed. She had luscious black hair matted with sweat and a fair and beautiful face
"It is a baby boy my lady. The lord will be very pleased"
The woman looked down at Zero, and he almost felt his heart stop at the shock that passed through him
"Mum?"
The woman holding onto zero was the same one he had watched die so many years ago, the same person who had managed to push him out of the way of a monster and give her own life - along with so many others - so he could live.
Zero could do nothing but stare at the figure in front of him completely dumbfounded
"He's such a silent baby too. I'm sure he'll be strong and brilliant in the future"
The wet nurse kept heaping praises on zero, if only she knew the turmoil going through the head of this new born baby
"You're such a beautiful baby"
Zero felt his throat tighten up once his mother spoke. This couldn't be real. This had to be some sort of trick by the primordial dragon to get him to lower his guard!
There was no way that the woman speaking to him right now with such obvious love in her voice was his mother. There was just no way!
"You're also so quiet, just like your father"
Ba-dump!
"Dad?"
His father was alive as well? His father who had sacrificed himself first to get him and his mother to safety, was alive?
Zero let out a small sob. It was the first time he ever cried since he had lost everyone close to him.
'Please don't let this be a dream. Please all the gods out there, don't let this be a dream!'
Zero waited for the woman to say something else, but what she did next completely shocked him!
The woman brought his head closer to her and suddenly attached his mouth to her left mound
Mmh!
"He must have been hungry, he suddenly started crying now"
"Yes, he hasn't eaten anything since he woke up. So he must be hungry"
'I'm not hungry you crazy woman! Tell me more about my family!'
Zero wasn't even worried about the fact that he was probably a baby again, and as a result had lost all his cultivation and skill. He just wanted to know if the rest of his family was still alive.
He trashed and shook to get his head away from his mother, but she simply held on tighter
"Aww, he's a fighter. It seems like we have another future mage on our hands. Haiz~"
His mother sighed dramatically. There had already been three mages in the family, her husband and her two other sons. Seeing her third son also showing signs of strength proved to her that she was fated to living with people who only wanted to be strong in life
"For once I simply wished for a child that could stay home with me and help me with the household chores. Not one whose life I had to fear for every day"
"Well when you got married to me, I think it should have been obvious that all our children would be strong"
A male voice sounded from the door to the room. It was Zero's father, a tall man with a heavy build.
He walked towards the bed and knelt down beside his wife
"How are you, Lucy?"
"I am fine now that you are here, Zahir"
Lucy took zero from her chest and handed him to his father. Who rose him high above his head and towards the ceiling
'Hey hey dad!! I know I missed you and all that, but you shouldn't play with children like they're toys!'
"Honey, please don't harm our child. I still haven't forgotten what you did to our first born"
"Hehe~ That was just an accident honey"
Lucy never stopped staring at Zahir, until he finally relented and dropped Zero back to normal height.
"You never let me have any fun"
"Don't pout honey, its unbecoming of a man"
This was the normal chemistry between his parents that zero remembered. This was always how his father tried to have 'fun' with them, and how his mother always seemed to glare his father into submission
'You're so whipped dad'
Zero loved how this was all playing out. He loved how everything seemed so much like how he remembered it before. But most of all, he loved the fact that his parents were still the same as he remembered.
This meant that there was no way this was a dream. He had really traversed space and time and had returned to when he was a child! He was in the past!
'That means none of it had happened yet. The city hasn't been attacked and my parents haven't died yet. I can stop it all from happening ever again!'
Zahir gave zero back to his mother and straightened up. Before saying:
"He's such a strong boy, he hasn't even cried once since I rose him up in the air, and I know both his brothers did."
"Yes I know. The only time he cried was when he was hungry"
The parents were obviously already in love with their new son.
"I think I will choose to give him the name the oracle told us"
Lucy looked to Zahir with determination in her eyes. She was adamant to get him to agree to the name now that he had seen his son
"I don't trust that woman. She is not the sort of person I want to name my son"
Zahir would still not agree to it.
"But Zahir just listen to me. Don't you think we should heed her words? She has been the head oracle for our family for a number of generations and she has never been wrong!"
"Haiz~ But this is my son. Should we not be the one to choose his own name?"
Lucy bowed her head to Zahir and pleaded with him.
"Please, Zahir. I know this is not how his things are done in your family. But I want to believe in this"
Meanwhile, Zero was completely lost.
'What in the world are they talking about? What's so special about my name?'
Of course, his name wasn't normal. Who in the world would see 'Zero' as a normal name?
But that doesn't mean he didn't like his name. He had learned to live with it.
"Okay, Lucy. I will allow you to believe in your faith."
"We shall name our son, Zero"
And that was how the tale of Zero began all over again.