Chereads / Mystics PROTOTYPE: The Book of Minerva / Chapter 3 - Chapter 3: New Shadows

Chapter 3 - Chapter 3: New Shadows

Garyudōra, Ryudō-ShanGriLa, hTraé; 23 November 1 ACC (After Cosmic Convergence); R4

Somewhere safe? I'm a freaking baby!!

I managed to move my head to my left and saw another baby sleeping next to me. Am I a twin or something?

The other baby wore a red onesie and I noticed something odd, his ears, they were pointed. Did I reincarnate as an elf?

The door to the room opened and I heard the pitter patter of tiny feet come scuffing toward me.

"Tibaba, dide anecha to anicha!? Ya! Ya! Anecha eh dide!" the voice of a little boy echoed in the room. What language is that?

As I turned my head to my right, I saw him. That little boy that had come bursting into the room, bore a striking resemblance to him, Astaroth. I don't know who this boy is, but I know, he'll keep me safe.

The boy looked at me, deep in my eyes before flashing a bright smile, "Keep you safe, Nerva," he said. Wait, I could understand him… I tried to speak, but to no avail, I couldn't. Can this kid communicate with me? Is he Astaroth?

"Ki o tsukero, Myrlin, Anecha y Anicha suimin ga hitsuyōdesu," a woman's voice graced the air of the room, that kinda sounded like Japanese. At that moment, I was in complete awe at the sight before me. A woman with skin that looked like a star-filled night sky entered and picked up the small boy.

Her eyes looked like giant golden full moons and her kinky curls sat on her shoulders like bellowing storm clouds. Who or what was that woman, she lifted me out of the bed I was in and gave me the warmest smile. "Aye, Mi Chīsana Kage no Akama eh dide, huh, Mynerva?" the woman's voice matched her beauty, it was soft yet strong, as though she'd had to be a leader of some kind. It was warm though, her voice was comforting, almost like, I voice I was longing to hear.

"Rysho tyndo liðiðys? Amígar tyndo Myrlin?" she asked the little boy. He cheered and bounced around as we made our way outside.

The world I knew before this one was filled with all sorts of evil and corruption. It was a struggle to get the basics to survive, and as my new mother holds while we walked the halls of this massive house, I felt like a fish out of water. But yet, I felt at home. I felt like, this is where I was meant to be this entire time.

We stepped outside into a large courtyard, there were enormous hedges and trees with indescribable fruit growing from the branches. A man that looked like a more rugged version of Astaroth approached us as we made our way to the gazebo.

"*Twyla, nyñas amála, iñé vy'to zihiza diñé miñan sýlendi diñé nyaðam," the man said as he kissed my forehead. I wish I could understand what they're saying.

The two adults continued their conversation as another woman that looked similar to my mother came to change me. Their skin is so beautiful, that's all I could think when I saw my mother and the other maids. I didn't know where I was, but wherever I found myself, it was definitely better than my old life.

Two Years Later

It's been about two years since I've been reborn and I have a firm grasp on the language, it's called Ryubá, or Language of the Dragons. It's spoken mostly in the continent of ShanGriLa, more specifically, it's the main language spoken by the denizens of the Ryudō, or Dragon's Domain. The Ryudō hosts two nations, Garyudōra and Miryudōra, the Western and Southern Dragon Empires, respectfully.

I also have some awesome friends in my siblings that out shines my previous life. There's my younger twin brother, Monspeed, and our youngest brother Meliodas, he's only one.

Our parents are a bunch of horny rabbits, because they're having another baby soon. And then there's our eldest brother, Myrlin, the boy that looked like Astaroth. I couldn't shake the feeling that he's important or something.

But as the days pass by, I feel as though the life I had was a fever dream, another figment of my imagination. That is until something lures its ugly head and reminds me of my past.

I started having the vision of the shadowy abyss and the dragon that keeps attacking me. Honestly, had it not been for that dream, I probably would've forgotten about my past life entirely. Well, except for those last moments, I don't think even hypnotherapy would help repress that trauma.

It's difficult to manage though, since I've got this new start a second life, I have to start from square one. Like a VRMMO that is on the absolute highest difficulty the devs can imagine. If I know the answer to something I can't communicate it, because of my limited vocabulary. Not to mention that I can barely do things for myself, always having to rely on others to reach things for me, read for me, hell sometimes even making food easier to eat is a challenge.

But it's not all bad, Myrlin and I grew quite close, he and I had something similar in common. See apparently, he was a reincarnation too. He told me in English, as proof.

"I know this is going to freak you out but, I was reborn in this world three years ago. A year before you were born," my elder brother told me. It was so strange hearing him speak with an adult and mature tone.

What made it even stranger, was my response, I hadn't tried speaking English since being reborn, so when I did, and heard the maturity in my voice, in contrast to the pint sized body that produced it, one could say that I was a little more than shocked.

"Do you know Astaroth? Did he send you here too?"

He looked disappointed, "I don't know who that is, I'm sorry," he said with a long face. "From your story about him, he sounded like a badass."

I could tell he was being honest, but why did he look just like Astaroth, an even better question is why does our father look like Astaroth?

Garyudōra, Ryudō-ShanGriLa, 12 December 3; R4

After some time passed and I grew more comfortable with my new life, I found it easier to be a kid. I often would chase Speed around the house, much to the adults dismay.

Monspeed and I raced around the manor until we eventually made it to Myrlin's room, who was clearly ticked off.

We accidentally ran into him, much to his annoyance, "Explain, now!"

"We were racing, and your room was a short cut and-" Monspeed said with a quivering lip.

Myrlin looked over at me and raised an eyebrow, all I could do was shrug my shoulders.

He took a deep sigh before meeting our brother at eye level, "Let's promise no mater what, we'll never let anything come between us."

Monspeed sniffled and looked up at our brother with his giant pup dog eyes.

"Speed come on! I need you to be a big boy! We're supposed to be big bros for Meliodas and Baby Bo!"

"Big Bros!" Monspeed stiffened up and gave our brother a tough-guy nod.

"Speed you're such a crybaby!" The tension broke as we each started to giggle before Myrlin started to chase us out of his room.

Speed and I made our way outside to the courtyard where we had our show down.

The two of us stood outside, the harsh sun beaming on our brown skin. I lifted my hand in the air before pointing it at my twin brother, "Your time has come, Fiend!"

"You'll never catch me!" Monspeed chuckled before the two of us rushed at each other. But before we could even attempt to finish playing, a woman stepped in between us.

The air felt similar to how the air was back during the last moments of my previous life. This woman had quite literally stepped out of thin air. She wore a long white dress and had crimson-ash colored hair.

She turned and directed her gaze on Monspeed who was visibly frozen in place. The woman looked over shoulder at me and placed two fingers on my forehead. What's happening? Is this my end now? I was just warming up to this place-.

Two orbs of light appeared and the courtyard went dark.

I woke up in the shadowy abyss, this time however, I felt like I had more autonomy, I felt like I had more control here now, but why?

The voice echoed the space, "Mine!" It screamed.

"Hello? Who's there?" I asked.

"Mine-!" The voice stopped, "Hello?" The voice mimicked my own. When suddenly I heard trotting footsteps rushing towards. I didn't know what to do but to cover my head in fear. But when I opened my eyes, I felt a familiar presence, it was my Uncle Aether.

"Mini, are you okay," Uncle Aether asked, "I got you out of there just in time, your daddy and I need to go be cool real quick." He pat my head before I faded back to sleep.

I saw my father summon sand golems and my uncle's void winds to attack our intruder. All I could think before drifting off was how badass my uncle and father looked as they faught.

That next morning, the maids and servants of the manor had been working overtime to repair the damages left by that woman. It turned out Father and Uncle Aether stayed up all night to make sure she wouldn't return.

I wonder who that lady was. I didn't bother to ask and figured it was just some crazed shaman woman who stumbled upon our estate. The woman must have been dangerous, because Mother and Father kept talking about sending us to school soon.

I had known at some point that I was going to have to go back to school, at least this time around I have some amazing siblings that'll make the transition easier. And having magic is an added bonus as well. Funny how academics can become more interesting when students can summon the elements.

Day in and day out, Father and Mother would tell us stories of their times as adventurers and their party Golden Hourglass, it composed of my father Chronos, mother Twyla, Uncle Aether, Lady Eos, The Life Barrier, and Sir Robfynn and his many men. Together, they would carry out missions for our late grandfather, The Platinum Dragon Emperor, Samael Wyllt.

They fought human threats, cyclops, evil Beastmen, and so much more. Once father ascended and become the Demon Lord that governs Garyudōra however, their adventuring had to come to a halt. Then, as luck would have it, Uncle Aether inherited the throne of Miryudōra, so like that, the party disbanded.

But they didn't seem upset, quite the opposite, their faces were filled with love and nostalgia. I saw the light glisten in their eyes as they reminisce on the days of old.

"Kids, would you like to see something cool?" Uncle Aether teased us.

Our eyes lit up in anticipation as we waited to see what our uncle had in store for us.