The world around me was dark, silent, and unyielding. Suddenly, a strong pressure weighed down on my mind, suffocating me, as if it were stripping away at my very soul. After a few seconds of mind-numbing pain, I calmed myself, trying to figure out where I was, but there was nothing—like a void in my memory. I remembered nothing. No names, no faces, no events to anchor me to the life I had lived.
My first instinct was panic. I desperately tried to remember even the smallest detail of who I was. But nothing.
Suddenly, a bright light engulfed the darkness, distracting me from my panic. I shot open my eyes, filling my lungs with air. As I observed my surroundings, I realized they were much warmer. Far better than the dark place I had just been in.
I was in a bed. No, not a bed—a bassinet.
'Wait… Don't tell me!' I thought.
I looked at my hands, seeing small, chubby ones, wondering if they had always been like that. Then I touched my face and felt a soft, squishy cheek.
'Shit... I'm a baby.'
A door creaked open, and I heard footsteps as a figure slowly walked toward me.
'Who's that? Maybe they're the ones who did this to me?' I wondered.
The figure was now standing over me, but I couldn't make out the face. Maybe it was because I was a baby? It didn't matter, as the figure gently picked me up.
My mind raced, thinking about all the bad things this figure might do to me. I tried to struggle, but it was meaningless.
Then, a soft voice reached my ears—it was gentle and loving.
"Kael, it seems that you're as lively as ever."
I blinked rapidly, trying to focus on the figure with such a gentle and loving voice. The outline of their face slowly appeared. It was my mother, at least, that's my guess. She had kind golden eyes with a gentle smile gracing her thin lips. Her golden skin and matching golden hair were braided down her back. She was wearing a stylish dress that hugged her figure.
"You look hungry. You're quite light," she said, slowly lifting one of her breasts.
'What are you doing? Unhand me, woman!' I tried to say, but only baby coos came out of my mouth.
I was left defeated as I 'reluctantly' sucked on my mother's breast, though I tried to resist.
Another figure walked into the room— a tall man with broad shoulders, dressed in well-worn armor. His eyes were deep—almost too intense, a shade of green that seemed to see right through you. He wore a well-kept beard that added a stern demeanor to him, but when his eyes met my mother's golden eyes, they softened instantly.
'So, I'm guessing this knight here is my father,' I wondered.
'Wait… why is he wearing medieval armor? Don't tell me I'm in the medieval era!'
Before I could fully process why this man was in armor, he spoke.
"Is he awake?" His voice was deep yet cheerful, with a hint of warmth carrying his words, not at all matching his rough appearance.
My mother nodded with a small smile, then said, "He's awake and lively, Elias. I just finished feeding him. How about you hold him?"
Elias took me from my mother, raising me to his face.
'Hey, put me back, I wasn't finished!' I complained, not at all ashamed about waking up as a baby and sucking on a woman's breast I had never met.
"Can you look after him for a bit? I need to deliver the bags of Lunafern to the shop," my mother asked in a gentle voice.
'No! Don't leave me with this barbarian!' I tried to say, but I couldn't. My father was pinching my cheek like an old woman.
"Sure, I can finally show him the workshop and teach him how to make a sword!" my father said enthusiastically.
My mother narrowed her eyes. The warm golden eyes she once had turned cold as she glared at Elias. She spoke in a gentle yet icy voice.
"If my son is anywhere near a sword before he is at least six years old, I'll turn you into charcoal," she said, as a ball of fire appeared in her hand.
'Wait a sec, is that magic?' I wondered. Even though I couldn't remember important things like my name or where I lived, I did remember that you shouldn't be able to create fire from nothing. Magic was supposed to be fiction.
A question I had been asking since I woke up in that dark place resurfaced.
'Where the hell am I?'