Meanwhile, at the other end of the glass, Port'hov's brows furrowed deeply. Floating in front of him was a small hologram, which was monitoring the heartbeats of all ten 'subjects'.
Eeeeeepppp!!!
"Failures… all ten of them." He muttered, as he stared at the flat red line stretched across the holographic screen.
Bang!
"Damn it!" He shouted, banging his fists against the arm of the chair.
**
'Where am I…?' Alex thought, looking around in confusion.
Everything around him was pitch black, and he could neither see anything, nor feel anything.
The darkness had no end, neither was there a door or exit… just an endless void of darkness.
The last thing he remembered was being in agonising pain… and the face of Port'hov, who made who go through all of that.
'That bastard…' Alex mumbled inwardly.
He wasn't feeling any pain, and at the same time, he couldn't feel his body. Even when he looked down at his body, all he could see was the same darkness.
There were no hands or feet on him. He was just like a spirit, floating around in the endless darkness.
'So how the hell did I end up here? Is this hell? Am I dead…?' Since he didn't have a body, he couldn't speak. All he could do was think, and even that wasn't helping very much.
'Dead… am I really d—'
Growl!
Suddenly, a loud growl echoed in the air, and something slowly emerged from the darkness.
'What the hell… is that?' Alex mumbled inwardly, staring in confusion at the creature standing in front of him.
It stood at about four meters tall, with thick blood-red fur and pitch black stripes running all across its body.
Two sharp fangs were jutting out of its mouth, and its more presence sent chills down Alex's spine.
'W-what… a red tiger? I thought tigers were extinct…' He thought. Besides, he had never heard about or seen a blood red tiger before.
Roarr!!
The giant striped creature suddenly released a loud roar, sending out a powerful tremor which violently shook the surroundings.
Even though he didn't have a body, Alex still felt the insane amount of power emanating from that roar.
'So much power… all in a roar.' Alex thought, feeling a strange tremble deep within himself.
Despite the Tiger's menacing physique and the powerful aura emanating from its body, for some reason, Alex felt no fear.
If anything, he was only curious. Curious to find out more about this creature.
'But I can't just remain here, I have to get back! I need—' His thoughts were immediately cut short, as the huge red tiger lunged at him.
It opened its mouth wide, revealing the set of sharp, deadly fangs nested within them.
Alex couldn't even react, as the striped creature closed him on him within a split second.
It opened its jaws even wider, before clamping it down upon him, 'swallowing' him whole.
'This really isn't how I imagined death.' He thought, just before his vision went dark again.
***
'What is this… I feel like am slowly drowning…' Alex thought, finding himself sinking into a strange, yet familiar emptiness.
"Alex…" He suddenly heard a soft voice call his name, however, the voice fizzled out almost immediately.
'That voice… why does it seem so familiar…?' He thought, wracking his brain in confusion.
Even his thoughts and memories were scrambled, making his thought process a lot slower.
"Alex." The voice called once more, this time a little clearer.
'I want to remember… why—'
"Alex!!" The name suddenly called again, this time a lot louder.
"Hah!" Alex gasped in shock, his senses immediately turning back to him.
The first thing that came to his sight was a large plate, which was filled with a large piece of meat, soaked elegantly within soup.
'Huh…?' What the hell?' Alex thought, his gaze slowly drifting to the forked spoon held elegantly in his hands.
There was another dish sitting beside the soup, which contained a spiral vegetable with soft white dots sprinkled on top.
'What is all this..?' Alex thought, still feeling confused about what was going on.
He couldn't remember the last time he saw such good food in front of him, however, that wasn't what was on his mind.
His hands were a lot smaller than he remembered, with smooth clear skin… and no scars.
The food… the setting… the sight of it all filled him up with an ominous feeling, and he didn't feel the tiniest bit good about it.
"Come on Alex, what the hell are you thinking so much about?" The same voice said, and he slowly turned his head towards who spoke.
It was a beautiful young girl with long black hair, which had short streaks of blonde all around it.
She looked to be about five years of age, and she had an annoyed pout on her face as she stared at Alex.
'N-no… no… this can't be…' Alex thought, staring at the girl in shock.
"Sorry Quira, I was just thinking about something. It's not important… so don't worry." He heard himself say, flashing a light smile at the girl.
'Why is this happening…?' Alex thought, his mind slowly crumbling as he stared at the girl's wide innocent eyes.
'Why am I back in the past?!' He thought, however, all he was met with was silence.
The reason that voice sounded so familiar, was because it belonged to his little sister… the one he couldn't save.
'Quira…' Alex thought, flashes of all that happened rapidly replaying in his mind, filling him with sorrow.
"Hmph… ohh really..?" She said, taking a spoonful of soup in her mouth. "Don't worry, I'll forgive you. Only because you apologised."
"Yea—"
"That's it you two, you shouldn't talk while eating." A deep voice reverberated across the dining and the two kids immediately focused back on the food in front of them.
The one who spoke was a tall man with deep black hair and pitch black eyes. He had a light black beard which ran down the sides of his face, greatly complementing his charm.
'D-dad…' Alex thought, his gaze drifting to the man sitting across him on the dining.
He could clearly remember the events of this day. He didn't understand how, but somehow, he had gone back eighteen years in time.
At this time he was still seven years old, eagerly anticipating for day of the Royal Zet awakening… which would be taking place a few days from now.
***
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