In service to the Divine, do humans commit sins against their fellow man. My life was no different, and I performed my duties exceptionally.
Starting from a street orphan who was chosen by a priest to become a trainee for the Templar Order, I rose through the ranks until not even the Pope of the Church held authority over me, only the Divine. When the orders from above came, I would lead armies to slaughter-- No, enlighten those foolish enough to anger the Divine.
My very soul was bathed in the blood of the people I extinguished as Sir Callum, Hand of the Divine. For 20 years I served, but no more. Humans are just pawns on a chessboard for those deities, and when I learned the truth that the crusades never ended, because they did not desire for it to and chose to prolong it eternally…
My beliefs broke. I turned in my equipment forged by Divine smiths, including my beloved spear, Ascalon and resigned from the Order. My resignation was the first, and it marked me as a traitor in the Order's eyes.
I set out to live a peaceful life away from all the conflict, and away from my old life. Perhaps it was naive of me to think that this would be allowed after all my years of service to the Divine.
One night after building a cabin in a remote forest outside of the Order's jurisdiction I was assaulted by a group of Templars who were once my brothers in arms. Now I was pierced through the chest by the new Hand who was a trainee that I trained myself, a young man named Liam, who wielded the same spear I once did.
"Why Callum? For years you said the Divine's orders were absolute! Now all I see is a shell of the brother I fought side by side with and a traitor to our Order!" Liam asked.
It was near impossible to speak as the blood filled my throat.
Liam noticed this was the case and let out a bitter chuckle "This is the kind of irony that you found humorous once upon a time. The one who gave orders and expected obedience is unable to obey when ordered now."
I wanted to tell him everything. Our people deserved to know the truth, but would it help? The Order was the only life we knew, and obeying the Divine was our way of life. If I shattered the illusion, would it help or just lead to more deaths?
The heat in my chest was making me feel weaker, and I could tell my life was ending soon. My vision was growing darker, and I used the last of my strength to give Liam a smile and say "Keep our brothers safe Liam. You're strong enough to take my place."
My eyes closed and only darkness remained. If the stories were true, this darkness is the tunnel from the Divine Court, where my judgment would take place and decide where my soul went. Surely for my crimes I would be sent to the Abyss for eternal torment. Mortals do not know their trial, for after it takes place a tea is given to wipe traces of the Divine Realm from them. A mercy to mortals it was called, but I am sure it was to hide their secrets instead. Why should their pawns be allowed to remember their glorious home?
I stayed in this darkness for what felt like an eternity, and instead of reaching the Gates of the Abyss, what appeared to be a figure emerged from the inky blackness that surrounded me. A woman in a long silk black dress, with long black hair to match. Her eyes were silver that seemed to contain the light of the Moon itself.
Intoxicatedly beautiful was the only way I could describe her.
Quickly looking away from her eyes before they could suck me in further, I awaited my fate.
"Sir Callum. I do not agree with the judgment you have been given, for you have committed no crimes. You served us faithfully for years, and to be punished for not wanting to continue playing their game is the height of egotistical on their part" She said.
"Thank you for your kind words, but what is the point of telling me this?"
"I do not agree, therefore I am going to reward you instead. You wish to be free of this conflict, so I will send you to another world outside of our influence. The state of the world you arrive at is unknown to me, so I will not promise a peaceful life however."
"I'm tired. My whole life was survival, fighting, and getting stronger to repeat the cycle. I have heard the stories of you, Lady of the Abyss, and I know that you do not follow the standards of the other Divine, but surely this would only cause trouble for you?" I asked.
A smile appeared on her face "They are welcome to try to cause me trouble, and I will drag them into the depths of my domain to suffer a fate worse than death for an immortal. Eternal solitude with no option to end it themselves."
Fear crept into my heart. I have conversed with many Divine before, and I know that she was not being arrogant like others can be. She meant every word.
"I will send you to a land free of the Divine here, and I will allow you to remember this life so that you can lead a better one in the next. I will also leave a spark of my power on your soul as a blessing to help you grow in power to protect your ideals. You may choose to use or discard this as you wish."
"Why are you doing all of this for me?"
"My only son took a similar path to you, and tried to dismantle the Divine Game, and was sentenced to oblivion because of it. I was unable to help him, but I will help you who followed a similar road. Relight the fire in your soul and live a happy life in his stead for me. Farewell little mortal."
"Wait I have more questions to as-"
Everything vanished. Silence and yet in the distance that was growing closer was a mysterious light.
Pressure was pushing me forward, and I could loosely feel movement in my body that was different than before. I stopped struggling as it seemed to make the journey easier. After what felt like an eternity, I reached this light at the end of the tunnel.
I emerged from the tunnel and intensity assaulted my senses. The light was too bright like looking at the sun, the mixture of noises made me feel dizzy. I tried to ask the world to be quiet, and only cries emerged.
My mind slowly adjusted to the intense senses, and started to be able to make out words. "He's a healthy boy!" A woman said.
… Pardon?
So when the Lady of the Abyss said she was sending me to another world to live a new life… She meant that literally. That tunnel was my mother giving birth to me.
I did not know how to process this realization. It makes sense, but I had thought she was going to transport my body to this new world, not turn me into a baby fresh out the womb!
When I opened my eyes, all I could make out was blurry shapes that eventually sharpened into normal, and could see three people in the room. The woman carrying me is the doctor I am assuming, which makes the other two my parents.
My father looked to be in his mid 20s, around the age I was when I died. He was tall, short brown hair and piercing red eyes the color of blood. If it wasn't for the smile on his face, I would probably assume he was an enemy from the strength he exuded. "What should we name him Lenora?" He asked my mother.
Lenora, my mother appeared to be around her early 20s, but I was never good at gauging the ages of women, and know that it is dangerous territory to venture into guesswork with. Long black hair with gray eyes that looked like it could absorb the color from anything she looked at. She looked beautiful and kind and I could feel the love in her gaze when she looked at me.
"Lucian" She said to my father without looking away from me. "He has my black hair and your eyes, but he is the light in our lives now. So let's name him Lucian. What do you think, Damian?"
"Lucian Eldritch does sound like a great name. We may not be nobles, but we will spoil him all the same!"
I did not know how to process what was happening. I never knew my parents, and have no memories of them before they left me at an orphanage. Love was not a feeling I was familiar with… It feels nice though. If I get the chance, I should thank the Lady of the Abyss for sending me to a loving new family.
My mother looked tired after giving birth, understandably so. The doctor handed me to my father and told her to get some rest and she would be on hand if they needed anything and left. My mother gave me one last warm look and then fell asleep as my father gently rocked me and my infant body rejected my struggles and slowly drifted to sleep as well.
Weeks passed as I attempted to gain control over my infant body to little avail, and tried to absorb all the information I could. I learned from the stories my parents read to me that the continent we live on is called Elarion, and was home to the humans, elves, dwarves, and the fae. We live in a small coastal town in the East called Seastrand. There were also magical creatures called "mana beasts" which were a constant threat to the races that lived here.
Speaking of surprises, imagine the look on my face as I saw my father use magic to raise the earth to reinforce the flood barrier protecting the town from storms and water mana beasts. Magic was an external blessing from the Divines in my previous world and very few had access to it. It appeared to be an internal system of some sort in this world from what I can gather. It is really difficult to gather information as a baby when your babbling attempt at speaking makes the drunks look elegant.
I spent the little time I could manage awake trying to master my control of my body and speak words. Anything but "Goo Gah" babbles please! My parents noticed I liked to watch them interact with the world, and brought me with them when doing cleaning, shopping, etc and I would try to mimic them as best as I could.
This body has no fine-motor skills currently, and I wanted to accelerate the development and at least learn to crawl quickly, but my body quickly betrayed my desires and I would fall asleep mid action constantly.
When the hell do I get to move around on my own?