" Oh kid, you wake up."
Suddenly Evan heard a voice from behind, making his body tense.
He hurriedly turned around towards the source of the voice. An old man with white hair in his 70s was smiling at him.
After hesitating for a while,
" Who are you? And where am I? "
He asked cautiously.
Old Man, who just called for him, remained quiet for a few seconds and then replied.
"Relax, kid, I am not going to eat you up. "
" ..."
Feeling the stare of the child, the old man faked a cough.
" Ahem, I saw you by the ruins, fainted. So I took you to my little home. I am very well your savior, Kid."
Hearing this, Evan understood his situation, so he let his guard down a bit.
" Thanks, Gramps."
" My name is Hades; don't call me Gramp."
He continued after pausing for a while.
" By the way, what were you doing in the ruins?"
Hades was very curious about what this little fellow had to do in such a dangerous place.
If I hadn't noticed and helped him, he might have been eaten by the beasts.
He thought.
" Ruin?"
" I am talking about the city, you know those ruins."
But the next words of Evan created another trouble for him.
" Sorry, gr... Mr. Hades, I couldn't remember anything."
" ... Nothing?"
Evan, who just got transmigrated into this body, doesn't have any memories of the previous owner. So when he explained more about the situation, he straight up said that he had forgotten everything except his name. Of course, he would not reveal that he had taken over the body of this child.
'Now this a problem.'
The old man starts wondering just how he should deal with this. He didn't have any kids nor taken care of any.
It's good that he is already ten years old, maybe he can take care of himself.
" So kid, how about you stay here until you fully recover."
" Recover?"
Evan, who was startled when he found himself in an unfamiliar location, remembered that he was feeling pain when he just transmigrated into this body. He thought that the previous owner of this body must have gone through some unexpected incident for his body to be in that state.
' Now that I think about it I am not feeling that bone-chilling pain.'
He started moving his arms in order to confirm it.
' I can still feel the pain if I move my body though.'
Thinking that he still needed time to move his body around, Old Man's last words felt like God sent and he agreed to stay until he recovered.
" Mr. Hades, I want to ask why you are helping me."
Although Old Man didn't look like a person with bad intentions. Evan wanted to know why he was helping him.
" I just do what I want to do."
Hearing this, he just nodded and went quiet.
Since Old Man didn't want to tell him the reason, Evan couldn't do anything about it.
So why worry about something that you could not do anything about?
Moreover, if this old man had not decided to help him, he might have died with all these injuries. Evan pondered after seeing bandages all around his body.
' Well, I have already died once.'
Earth
Shaking his head, Evan focused on the present, casting away unnecessary thoughts.
"Okay, kid, rest now. I have to go out for a while."
" Hmm."
Saying that Hades exited the room and closed the door behind him, he stayed there for a while and smiled.
He had been living in this small house away from the settlements for many years. So, it was very long ago that he had seen such a small boy, and it was in the ruins as well.
It was really a different feeling.
Arriving in the small lobby of the house, Hades stared at a certain photo frame and thought
' I wonder how our child would have been.'
With an unreadable look, he exits the house, his destination unknown.
***
Back in the room when Old Man left, Evan had a clear look around the room.
The room was not very large, there was one double bed where he was lying, a cupboard, a laptop on the table, and what attracted his attention the most, a large shelf with a load of books.
He really wanted to read them and know more about the world he was in.
But realized that he couldn't move his body much, and did not want to search things of a stranger. He decided to wait till Old Man returned and ask him to hand some over.
' Damn, why didn't I notice them earlier. I could have asked him just now.'
He wanted to read!
But seeing that he could do that tomorrow, he decided to rest.
' Hope I don't get that nightmare again.'
***
At midnight, the door opened, and Hades entered his house.
There were beads of sweat on his forehead.
" What a busy night."
He had gone to complete some unfinished business.
' Let's check on the kid.'
Hades didn't show it in front of Evan, but he cared a lot about him. His action of picking him up from the ruins and taking care of him clearly shows it.
Upon entering the room, he saw Evan trembling and clenching his fists with all his might.
There were beads of sweat all over his body.
Placing his old hand on the head of the kid, he thought.
' He's again at it today.'
Ever since he had picked Evan, he had been noticing him trembling whenever he fell asleep.
' Just what is he dreaming about.'
Not knowing about it, and seeing that the trembling has stabilized. He moved to the lobby, having last looked at Evan's face.
' Sleep well.'
In the lobby, Hades set the sofa for himself to sleep there.
" Looks like I am going to be sleeping here for next month."
***
*Hades' Illustration*