"We hope you find happiness, Rion."
Those words still echoed in Rion's mind as his soul seemed to float away. After the light of the white goddess swallowed him, he couldn't move his body. He felt as if he was floating in the air.
'What does that mean? A happiness in hell? That's crazy.'
Rion's constantly working mind slowly calmed down. Even though he was still thinking about the goddess's words, there was something that made his brain rest.
"Arion.."
The call confused him. The name mentioned was so similar to his that he thought he was the one being called. Her soft, warm voice made him feel at ease.
"Arion.."
When Rion opened his eyes, his vision was filled with a light that made him blink a few times. When he opened his eyes fully, he saw the silhouette of a white-haired woman who looked familiar.
'That goddess?'
Rion stared at her in shock before trying to focus his eyes again. The woman before him smiled softly with teary eyes as she looked at him. She looked exhausted, but her face was radiant.
The woman gently pressed her cheek against Rion's head, "Arion... Mommy's little angel."
He closed one eye, feeling amused as a few strands of the woman's hair hit his face. Rion was so distracted that he didn't realize he was being called by a different name.
'She's not the goddess I met. Who is she?'
Upon closer examination, the woman before him was different from the goddess he had met. Almost similar, but also different. Her hair color was the same, but her eye color was very different.
The woman before him had bright red eyes. While the goddess had a unique golden eye color. He remembered that there was something different in her eyes.
Rion blinked a few times when the memory of the goddess's eyes didn't come back, 'I can't remember.'
The presence of the others in the room made Rion forget his thoughts and stare at them. Two small children, about 5 years old, a boy and a girl. They stared at him in awe, as if he was a gem in the world.
The girl looked at him excitedly, "Look! Arion is awake! He opened his eyes!"
He felt the woman's head move. She reappeared in his field of vision with a gentle smile that had not faded.
"His eyes look like Mom's." The boy said as he looked at him in awe.
The girl nodded enthusiastically, "Pretty red!"
Rion frowned subtly, 'Since when are my eyes red? Are they irritated or bleeding?'
The boy commented again in a low voice, "He's so small."
'Small?' Rion blinked uncomprehendingly.
He was a 17-year-old teenager. Even though his body was thin, small was not the right word to describe him.
"A very small baby brother." The girl's continuation almost made Rion choke.
'Baby brother?'
Rion tried to look at his hand to prove it. Because of the blanket around him, he had some trouble pulling his hand out.
When he managed to pull his hand out, he looked at it blankly. Two tiny hands were what he saw. When he looked around again, he realized that he was in the arms of the white-haired woman.
'I'm a baby?'
Rion couldn't stop himself from screaming. But instead of a scream, only a small sound came out of his mouth.
Unaware of the internal conflict Rion was experiencing, the three people in front of him found the sound very funny. The white-haired woman squealed in delight as the other two small children began to make noise over it.
"I want to hold Arion!" The girl exclaimed enthusiastically.
Only then did Rion notice the names they were calling him, 'What are you calling me?'
"You won't be strong. You'll drop my little brother." The boy refused seriously. With his chubby cheeks, he looked more cute than scary.
The girl had a frown on her face, no less chubby than the other child, "He's my little brother too! I won't drop him, Brother!"
Rion blinked in surprise, 'They are siblings? Are they twins? But they don't look much alike, except for their eyes.'
The older brother had short black hair with golden eyes, while the younger sister had waist-length golden hair with the same golden eyes as her brother.
The only adult woman in the room immediately broke them up before the fight continued, "Don't fight. Arion will be frightened to see his brother and sister fighting."
"Hmph!" The two looked away from each other with annoyed voices. The woman gave them an amused look, used to their witty attitude. Not realizing that someone was still watching them in confusion.
'I still don't understand. What exactly is going on?'
Rion's mind kept working until it made him dizzy. He still remembered being dead. He should have gone to the afterlife long ago. Where he was now, he had no idea.
'Who are they?'
He had an idea who they were for him. But he didn't want to jump to conclusions. He still lacked information. And he didn't want to believe it.
At that moment, the white-haired woman looked back at him tenderly. There was such boundless love in her eyes as she looked at him that it made Rion feel claustrophobic.
"Hello Arion, this is Mom. Welcome to the family, my baby." Her voice was like a gentle breeze to Rion. Just hearing her voice made him feel comfortable.
'Mom? My mom?' Rion tried to reach out to her gently smiling face.
The excited voice of the girl distracted him, "Hello Arion! My name is Hana! I'm your big sister, so call me Sister!" She nudged her older brother to introduce himself.
"Eric. Call me Big Brother Eric or Brother." He whispered as he tried to touch Rion's hand with his fingertips.
Rion looked up at them, 'Even I have a new siblings.'
"Now that we've introduced ourselves, will Arion call me Sister now?" His new sister, Hana, asked their mother, who looked at her amusedly.
She shook her head gently, "Arion is still very young. He can't talk yet, sweetie."
Eric frowned in confusion, "Then when will he be able to speak?"
"Who knows." Her teasing made the twins whine at her in desperation.
"Mom!" She just laughed merrily as they both wore that funny pouty expression on their chubby faces.
Another silhouette appeared behind the woman who turned out to be his new mother, making Rion gasp in surprise. He had not even noticed the presence of another person in the room.
The figure looked like an adult version of his new older brother. He had a stern face, but his eyes softened as Rion looked back at him.
"Daddy is also here." His voice sounded heavy but soft in Rion's ears. He touched Rion's small hand gently, as if he was afraid his touch would hurt him.
'A father too?' Rion's eyes never left the figure who called himself Daddy. He stared at him so intensely that his eyes burned.
Hesitantly, Rion grabbed the man's large fingers with his small hand. He watched as the man's eyes widened slightly before he gave a small smile.
Now his eyes felt more stinging and wet than ever, 'Is this really happening?'
He thought about his whole life. What had he done in his previous life to deserve such a second chance?
'But why? Why are you doing this to me?' He couldn't help but wonder about the gods responsible for his life.
'If you just want to play games with me and take everything back, please don't do this to me again.'
Tears gathered in Rion's eyes. Without him realizing it, a loud cry full of sadness came out of his mouth along with the tears streaming down his cheeks.
Everyone in the room was shocked to hear him cry. The twins panicked, the father looked worried, and the mother gently rocked the baby to calm him.
"Arion is crying!" Eric looked panicked and didn't know what to do.
Hana nervously shifted the blame, "It's because Brother was too noisy." Eric glared at his younger sister who giggled nervously.
Before the two argued, their father put his hands on their shoulders, "That's enough. Arion must be sad that his brother and sister keep fighting and ignoring him."
His mother comforted him gently, "It's okay, my baby. Mommy is here."
Eric felt guilty and joined in comforting his little brother, "Big brother is here too."
Hana patted her little brother's leg gently, "Me too."
His father hugged the whole family and said softly to Rion, "It's okay, Arion. Daddy is here."
Rion couldn't stop crying, which got louder and louder.
'I don't deserve all this.'
He remembered all the bad things he had done in the past. Stealing, fighting, and even almost getting into drugs.
'But it's so warm.'
He remembered his mother's cold shoulder and his father's cruel beatings in the past. It was the complete opposite of the present.
'Is it really okay?'
He immediately remembered the white-haired goddess he had met. Her gentle smile and voice echoed in Rion's mind.
"We hope you find happiness, Rion."
In his mind, he reached for the light in front of him and hugged it tightly as it enveloped him warmly.
"It's okay, Arion. Mommy loves you." His mother kissed his forehead gently as she leaned her body against her husband.
"We love you."