I was surrounded in black. In darkness. Even so I heard sound. Voices? Then the darkness pulled me back under.
I came back to the feeling of something pressing on me so I tried to move away. More voices and then more darkness. The next time I felt something I pushed at it. Tring to move it. It did for a moment and then two more came back. So I kicked at it.
Again and again. pressure, push, kick, darkness. Until I saw light. I heard voices and went to open my eyes. I cried out at the light. I heard more people. Voices layered over one another. I forced my eyes open again and saw a man holding me. His black hair shallowed up what little light was in the room. My eyes met his. Amber mixed with red. Pale red. As if a bloody blushed rose had been encased in resin. Then it was back to the darkness.
I woke up to the sound of more two people talking. I was in a crib. A baby crib. I had been reborn as a baby. I guess I should have seen that coming actually but for some reason I had not.
The man with black hair was holding another man. He was pale. He looked sick. They smiled at each other as they talked. I did not understand what they were saying. Even so I could see the love in their eyes as they looked at each other. Could I have that one day? Doubtful. Even so I was happy someone had found their person. Their love.
My stomach rumbled in hunger. I did not want to cry out. Did not want to ruin their moment. My body did it anyway. I whimpered and squirmed. I did that for a few minutes and when that did not get a response I let out a cry. The scream of a baby. I recognized it from my time on Earth.
It was not long before I felt someone lift me in their arms. I looked up at the black haired man. He cooed down at me and tried to rock me which only made me cry louder. Food. I need food!
The other man who was on the bed called out something and then this blacked haired man was moving. I found the other man holding me. How dare you just pass me off! I calmed down when I felt something slip between my lips. Milk! Food! I looked up at this other man. This man who was feeding me. His hair was a light brown with hints of red. His eyes were a soft gentle green. Black hair said something and brown hair laughed. They continued to talk while I ate. They talked while I drifted back to sleep.
It continued like that for weeks. Over those weeks I had started to pick up on the language. The brown hair man had given birth to me. Or rather a plant had. A plant that he had grown to grow me. He was able to get pregnant but he had been pregnant before and it had been too hard. His name was Everette but my brothers called him Papa.
The black hair man was the other person responsible for my birth. Zenith. He was called Dad by my brothers. Kaden and Aiden were twins. Not that you would guess that considering how different they looked. Kaden, Kade, had tan skin even at his age. Aiden, Aide, was pale like Everette. Apparently they were both Unkindled, whatever that meant. Both of them had dad's black hair but Papa's eyes.
I wasn't sure how long I had been around but one day they bundled me and the twins up before carrying me onto a carriage. The carriage was pulled by massive cats. Like some kind of leopard or tiger. Except these were pure black. All five of us sat within the carriage walls and then we were off.
If it had windows they were covered by drapes. So I was left to wonder as we traveled in silence. At least until we came to a stop. Dad stepped off first and then helped Papa down. I looked up at the building from Papa's arms. Like something that belonged in Greece the blinding featured huge pillars, yet small steps to the entrance. It was made of black marble. As passed the pillars my head tilted up to look at the roof. This part was without walls. Just the pillars to support the massive stone above us.
Inside was more of them but the large hall was encased in walls. At the far end was a statue. I felt my breath catch as I looked at the clocked figure with a crow on his shoulder. In one had he held a lantern that was glowing, in the other a scythe. For some reason I could imagine a face in the hood. Long black hair, soft features, and eerie green eyes. The God.
"Lord NightLeaf. Master NightLeaf." I heard a velvet voice call out. My head turned to the voice. Like the God this man had long black hair but it was not nearly as dark and his eyes were more of a fall green. Like leaves starting to yellow. He wore black wide legged pants that were held around his hips with black fabric and silver beads. His chest was covered by a crop top of crisscrossing fabric that left nothing to the imagination. "What brings you into the Temple?"
Temple? Oh! That explains the statue! This must be that God's place of worship.
"We brought the twins to see if they are strong enough to start training. They are three now," Dad said. He placed a large hand on both the boy's heads. They swatted at his hand and ducked away. he laughed at their antics as did the man.
"We also need to see Aurora's system," Papa said giving me a bounce. Which made me squirm in his hold. I found I hated being bounced. "How have you been Pure Ciaran?" The man's eyes widened looking at me. As if he had not noticed me at first.
"I have been well," he said moving towards the stature. His eyes lingered on me as he turned. "Let's see about the twins first and then I we can see your newest child." Kade and Aide ran to follow closely behind the man. Dad and Papa were not far behind. At least he had stopped bouncing me so I relaxed back into his hold.
At the base of the Statue was a plaque. I could not read it yet. Not that it mattered because everyone bowed to the statue as we past. We passed the statue? Why would we do that. There was a room behind it. Pure pushed the door open and waved us in. This room was much smaller but there was a small pyramid in the center of the room. It was covered in runes. Most of them looked like old Norse from Earth but not quite. It was emerald green with a black crystal ball at the top.
Kaden walked up to it and placed both of his hands on its surface. Before my eyes a light displayed more symbols. More words. I recognized a system display even if I could not read it. Pure moved over to a table and wrote on the paper there before handing it over to Dad. The Aiden did the same. Again he wrote the paper up and handed it over.
Then he came over to Papa and I. Papa handed me over to the man without a word. I did not mind since he did not seem bad. Also he held me gently. He had me so I faced away from him and moved towards the Pyramid. I waved my my hands out in front of me. As soon as I touched it the world went black.
I blinked and found the black haired God in front of me again. "So I am the first one to see you in your new life?" He smiled at my nod. "Tell me then child is there anything I can help with yet?" I tried to speak but it just came out as baby coos. I pouted. He laughed at my struggle. Just like a God. "Yes, I am a God, so that makes sense that I would act like one. Now then Just think what you need, child. I am a God. I can hear prayers. So, I can hear thought directed towards me."
I cannot read my system. Or anyone else's.
"Ah, yes! Of course. We did not consider that. As most children do not become interested in their systems until they are old enough to read. You are much older mentally so it makes sense that you would. Luckily I am just the God to come to for a problem like that," he snapped his fingers, "Enjoy your new skill child. Come see me again. I think you will be very interesting once you grow."
With that I was back in Pure's arms. Reading my System.
-Name: Aurora NightLeaf Age: 3 Months
-Race: Human
-Title: Blessed Child of XXXXX , First Daughter of Zenith and Everette NightLeaf
-Blessing: Linguist, Magical Affinity
-Conditions: None
-Bloodline: None
-Lvl: 1
>HP 15/15 >MP: 50/50
>STR: 5 >STM: 6
>INT: 10 >MAG:10
>DEX: 3 >AGI: 4
>VIT: 5
-Racial Skills: None
-Skills: Scan, Thought Acceleration, Danger Sense
-Unique Skills: Inventory, Calm Mind