Hmmm? What's this strange feeling?
I coughed a few times, but my voice came out weirdly. Did my voice box break or something?
What's with this high and uncontrollable sound?
And why did the world look so murky?
It felt like I'd woken up after sleeping for a good number of years. Was I in a coma until this point?
Weird…
I took a breath, knowing the pain that'd follow.
But there was no burning sensation in my throat?
Was I cured of my illness?
YES! YES! YEAAAAAAH! OH GOD THANK YOU! I CAN FINALLY ENJOY THE ACT OF BREATHING~!
Hah… Hah… Air tastes so good~ Oh fudge my lungs hurt from breathing too much. Gotta chill.
It's not like I'll lose this chance to breath later.
Hmmm? What was going on?
"#%+x€$¥#!" Someone spoke in a language I couldn't understand, in a tone filled with emotions.
Hey, why are you hugging-
Wait, why is my body so small? And who the hell are these people? Was I kidnapped by someone?
My eyes cleared up a little bit to see two people.
A fiery looking man that was crying all over me in some kind of relief, and a similarly sobbing woman.
Why though…?
Let's take a step back. Think objectively.
Even though I'd just started this process, it was weirdly easy to get into this calm headspace.
Normally it'd take longer to control my emotions.
Whatever… That wasn't really important.
I reached my hand out to touch the giant woman cradling me in her arms, only to realise a truth.
It wasn't her who was big, but me who was small.
There's only one explanation for all these events.
I shrunk down and became a midget being held by a crazy woman and man in hospital… who both decided today was the best day to dye their hair bright red and platinum blonde respectively.
Alright. Serious talk. I was definitely reincarnated into a baby. And maybe in a different time period.
…Oh my fucking God.
Why? How…?
Know what? I'm not even going to question this whatsoever. Except there was just one curiosity.
I secretly looked down to see a peanut between my legs. Looks like I was born a man this time too.
Nice~
Although I was quite jealous of all the forgiveness girls got for being sickly, this time was different.
I… was born healthy now.
"#%+x€$¥#!"
"#%+x€$¥#!"
Looks like my sobs and cries from the sheer happiness of that fact affected my parents too.
Time to get used to this new life of mine.
…..
….
…
..
.
It didn't take long to adapt to my environment.
The only thing that took some getting used to was their language. Something I couldn't really grasp.
"Steve!" Dad pointed at me and spoke clearly.
"Sheve!" I couldn't quite get the pronunciation right the first time. Nor the many time coming after it.
Controlling this immature voice was difficult.
It was really high and didn't follow the same volume I was imagining. My words slurred like I was drunk.
But Dad seemed to find this part of me normal.
I wish this was me being 'smart' and hiding about being able to talk, but the reality was it was hard.
Words that came so easily to them was hard for me. All I could do was mimic them every day.
Babble while trying to make coherent sentences.
Which ended up me talking about nonsense.
Dad didn't judge me though. Patiently staying by my side while mom was doing the laundry outside.
There was a clothes line hung at each side of the garden. The house much prettier than my past life.
There weren't any fully painted walls or shiny ornamental pieces, but the house was large.
Each part of it built with surprising detail.
One example being the stairs.
Each step was perfectly smooth and sufficiently study. No creaking like the stairs at my old home.
It was a nice environment that helped me focus on learning how to talk and just moving in general.
I even started to learn basic things like names.
Things weren't certain about having a last name, or if this medieval world even gave people any.
What I was sure about were the first names of four people in total. The first person being myself.
My name was Steve.
A pretty common name even in my old world.
My mother was called Garcia and my father was Farhon. Which made me a bit confused inwardly.
Couldn't they give me a cooler name?!
Why they call me Mercury or Alphonse.
Instead I got such a basic name that didn't even feel like they put any effort into coming up with.
Now I wanted to hear about what they thought.
My practice of learning language was given even more devotion. Something they'd never fully grasp.
I wonder what Samantha would've felt in this place.
Since she was normal all things considered, she likely would've felt this barrier was a big setback.
Learning a new language wasn't that easy.
I myself only knew English at this point and didn't know anything about others despite watching foreign shows sometimes. I'd watch Kdramas with subtitles, but that never helped me grasp words.
The only way to truly understand words was by experiencing them yourself. Trying them all out.
Seeing the reactions people made when speaking.
Although it was a bit hard to figure out anything when they kept acting like I was the cutest kid ever.
Making faces at me and trying to get me to laugh.
It made me realise that life as a baby was really underwhelming. Making me want to grow up faster.
The best I could do over time was babbling, and…
"Steve, where are you going?" Causing my Dad some headaches by putting limbs down to crawl.
Mwahahaha! You can't catch up to me that easily!
I felt my heart filled with renewed vigour while trying to uncover all the secrets of this world.
My four wall house.
Maybe some would find running around a bit underwhelming, but they had no idea.
For someone like me, who could never move as much as I wanted to… this felt like heaven.
I felt like my body was filled with energy. Being able to go places further than my past life's sickly body.
Enough to make me feel like I had superpowers!
The power of speed, which was crawling real fast.
The power of stealth, which was not coughing.
The power of tracking, which was clear senses
Super durability, which was a mix between my self-taught way of breaking falls and not being fragile.
And much, MUCH more.
This was just the beginning of my development.
And I would see things through to the end!
But there was something missing…
A part that I'd forgotten.
Studying was good and all. It was something I loved doing after being denied it in my early years.
Because my teachers at the time had no idea what dyslexia meant, I wasn't able to stay in the same classroom as my classmates in my youth. It made me revel a little by sometimes sneaking in there.
Trying to learn the same way as everyone else.
But if I just did the same as before, would it be meaningful in this new life? What did I want here?
I didn't want to simply 'survive' this time.
I'd had enough of that in my past life trying to control my feeble body's health. Enough of all that.
Something 'fun'… There HAS to be something fun to do here, but what…? I need the answer NOW.
Best to continue what I'm doing until I found it.
"Steve~ Are you giving your father a hard time?" I was suddenly scooped off the floor by Mom.
She held me like a treasure in her arms.
"Mohn!" Sorry, I know you wanted me to call you by the title 'Mom'… but I'm bad at this right now.
Forgive me…
"Oh, you're such a cutie! You love your mommy here the most, don't you?" She smiled at me.
Her reaction threw me off.
"C-cutshe?" I couldn't say 'Cute' properly, but she clearly saw my reaction to what she spoke to me.
Even though I failed, she called me 'cute'?
Cute? Me?
"Yeah, my baby is the cutest in the world! It means you're my favourite." She rubbed her cheek on me.
It made me feel embarrassed…
My face going red from all the attention Mom Garcia was putting on me. This was too much.
Was this what parents were normally like?
"Hey, Steve likes his Dad the most. Look, we're both guys here." Farhon slipped by and whisked me out of her hands. I giggled, it was hard not to laugh when he made a joking face at me like that.
"I wonder… What were my boy's first words? Was it mommy or daddy?" Garcia pretended to forget.
It made Dad's shoulders slump.
"Now that isn't fair! You coerced my poor boy." He pretended as if I was a victim to my mother's whim.
"Steve, baby, say Momma again." Garcia came closer and wanted to show her dominance.
"You're coercing my boy again!" Dad Farhon pretended to be outraged by her shamelessness.
"Don't pretend you don't try teaching him stuff while I'm out doing work. Amazing father material of the year you are… truly…" Mom seemed to be quite in the know of what he does behind her back.
Crossing her arms in anger.
"I don't…! Come on~ I'm working a sweaty job all day and can't be at home all the time. Let me have this." I would've felt sorry for him… if it wasn't for the beard pricking my cheek straight afterward.
"Steve doesn't like that. So get off him." Mom Garcia took me away from this dangerous beard.
I mean… adult man.
"Make me." And from the look they fact each other straight after, I knew I'd be hearing 'that' again.
They smiled at each other silently for a moment.
As someone who once had a somewhat healthy relationship with a woman myself, I knew what it meant. Maybe I'm gonna have a sibling soon with all the honeymoon plus newlywed energy they had.
"Diana, can you take care of him for a while?" Mom Garcia handed me over to the only maid here.
The one that made me realise that I was fortunate enough to be born in a mid class family again.
We weren't likely nobility, but we definitely earned a bit more than your average farmer to hire her.
I wonder what Dad's job was anyway.
And why he couldn't hire someone less creepy.
"Please take your time." The always-smiling snake of a woman waved them goodbye as they left.
Seeing them off at the stairs without a problem.
It wasn't that I found her strange because of this indifference to their… really clear nightly activities.
What put me off was how she acted with me alone.
"Hmmm… You look like a baby, I've watched you long enough to see you act like a baby… but you aren't one. I'm sure of it." Diana held me up high and looked into my eyes. Making me feel scared.
I'm unsure why she felt this way about me.
And why she was telling this to my face.
I lowered my eyes when that predatory gaze looked closer at me. As if she knew what I was thinking.
"Awww…" She acted like my parents straight after saying that and brought me into her arms, then:
"You understand my words." Made me shiver by saying that with the utmost certainty she was right.
"Yeah, they don't notice it… but I can feel each and every one of your reactions. My little lab rat, be you demon or deity, you're still a baby." I couldn't speak up in front of her. Having no choice but to cower in her arms, even though all I wanted to do was run.
What did she want from me anyway?
This wasn't the first time she had shown off her suspicion, but this accuracy definitely wasn't guesswork. She definitely had some sort of proof that I wasn't 'normal', but had left me alone.
"It's too bad your Farlon's son. A pity…" She sighed.
I could feel her heartbeat calming down after saying this. That hair raising feeling vanished.
Then started seeing me like a normal child.
"Hmmm… Your haven't done anything yet, and it looks like Garcia fed you well." Diana checked my diaper and seemed to be able to tell I'd had my mother's breast milk. Seeing that I was healthy.
I'd already had enough afternoon naps to not feel tired right now. There wasn't much for her to do.
"Hey… Since you understand me, do you want to try learning something interesting with me?" Even though she spoke lightly, Diana's words made me keep up my guard. Not putting it down whatsoever.
What was she scheming…?
Did she want to reveal me in front of my parents?
"You don't have to worry about being found out about your thoughts. They already knew you weren't normal." Even though she didn't seem to be lying, I found it hard to believe what she said.
Would Garcia and Farlon really accept the real me?
Moreover, what did she want to teach me?
As if sensing my thoughts, she lifted her hand in front of me and showed me her spotless palm.
Something started happening on top of it.
My eyes opened wide in wonder when I saw how something was appearing out of nowhere within.
"Flames, hear my voice and follow my will. Let yourself be delivered. —Candle Flame!" There was a short invocation, then… a ball of embers gradually emerged as a stable fire in her hands.
'This is… No way…!' My heart started racing after having seen this happen with my own eyes.
The hobby I was set on learning was decided.
This would likely be the path in life others had, but something I'd never known. Do they call it… desire?
No, ambition.
I finally wanted to do something with my life, even if it meant forgetting about everything else.
This… will be my first step in this foreign and magical world. Far from Samantha's grave.
I hope everything goes well.