In my last moments of life, I heard a beautiful symphony.
A light, delicate and beautiful sound of different strokes from a stringed instrument.
'What…is this?' I hadn't known if I had a body or if I was just pure will. I was surrounded by darkness, but it felt like the song was getting closer and closer inside this emoty void.
*Brrrrrning~*
Suddenly my darkness was replaced with pure, white space and before me was simply the most majestic figure I'd ever seen.
A thin, humanoid figure with 4 arms, stroked a harp with elegance. It's skin was as white as the void around us and the same could be said for its rob, wings and hair.
'It's simply beautiful.' I thought as I seemed to be sitting directly in front of this being.
*Brrrrringggg~*
Suddenly, I seemed to shrink at a rapid pace as my body was now smaller than the being's eye. It was as if this being was showing how insignificant I was compared to itself, but the melody it strung didn't give that vibe.
'So this is death? This is strange. I'm in a position of no return where I'm leaving everything and everyone behind. Yet there is no sadness, no anxiety, no anguish. What I feel right now is pure satisfaction.'
I bathed in the angel's melody as I felt waves upon waves of pure intent wash over whatever form of being I was at the moment.
It was surreal.
Then I heard its voice.
"You Are Suitable. The Cycle Shall Claim You."
It's voice of thunder shook the void around us as it cracked and warped. Before I could even think about what he had said or what was happening I was yanked away into an endless darkness.
….
"AHH~!!" The next time I opened my eyes, a darkskinned man with golden eyes and a head full of messy locs, was holding me over his head with a blank stare as we looked at each other.
.
.
.
'What the fuck is going on here?!' I felt my heartbeat race as I frantically moved my eyes around my surroundings.
'I actually fucking died! How am I here again? What the fuck is "The Pool"? Where the fuck am I? Who the hell is this guy? How about my sister? My mother? I've left them all behind!'
The man furrowed his eyebrows as he sensed the distress from his son.
"Don't you dare."
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!! WAAAAAAH WA WA WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" As the frustration finally caught up to me, I screamed out at the top of my lungs as tears erupted from my eyes.
At some point, I had once again passed into a world of darkness.
….
"Hey, don't just walk around all sweaty! Go take a bath!!"
"Can I grab a snack first?!"
"Eh? Go starve to death."
"That's a bit harsh, don't you think?"
Hearing a man and woman loudly bickering, I began to wake up from my sleep. As I wiped my eyes and they began to focus, a beautiful woman looked down at me.
She had lustrous, white hair and sharp, gray eyes. From what I could see she looked like a princess being held by a dark knight.
"You're up already, little Yuji~?" Her hand reached down and caressed my cheek softly.
It was quite comforting as I was yet to be able to process everything that had happened. It was just too fast.
"Such a cutie~" She lulled as I was lifted into the air and our heads rubbed.
'What should I do here? Where even is this place? I'm powerless to change things that have already happened, but seriously isn't this too much?!'
And so my life went on. As time passed, I was able to learn many things from listening to my parents talk even though, I was sure they weren't speaking any English I knew.
We were currently living in the Cam City, Sapin. We're right at the border of the Darv kingdom, but It didn't seem like there was much mixing and mingling. Regardless, I began to get more aquanted with my new family.
My first birthday came with a lively dinner for my parents, while I had a mixture of animal milk, broth, bread and other grains. Although it looked weird, it was actually good to eat.
I was able to see everything clearly and just from my supervised walks around the house, I could tell I wasn't in the modern era. Our living situation wasn't poor or anything, but it was rather simple.
A 2 bedroom house with one bathroom, a nice sized living room area with the kitchen connected. It was a little packed, but cozy at the same time.
Around this time, my mother would also be reading to me a variety of different books and we'd sit there as I also tried to copy what she was saying. Maybe, it was easier because I was used to speaking, but the connection between my mind and body was amazing.
I could feel every muscle in my body just thinking about it. My back muscles, chest, abdominal, thighs and calfs…even muscles that were extremely underdeveloped, like my lats.
I had no problem being able to pronounce words after learning about the alphabet and how the language was constructed.
By the time my second birthday rolled around, I was walking on my own and had a full set of baby teeth besides my molars.
"Ryuji, you can't jump around in the chair like that!" My mother scolded.
"We've told him enough, just let him fall once." My dad added as he brought cups to the table.
My dad, Andrew Gardner, was a bit on the tough side of parenting, but he still looked out for me.
"Alright, everything's all done now!"
My mother, Jhena Gardener, was an amazing cook!
With her mittens on, she brought over a big pot of oxtail from the stove and sat it in the center of the table.
Surrounding it was various different dishes of meat, veggies, bread and sauces. I was drooling just from the smell!
'However, I had to be sharp. The huge beast beside me could eat everything himself if he wanted to! Damn glutton!'
His eyes were already looking over what he'd grab first!
….
The years seemed to pass slowly as I was now 4. As I sat in my room, looking outside the window, I sighed to myself.
This life was so peaceful. My family made enough money to take care of us and buy practically anything they wanted.
We had food stocked up at all times, because my father was a hunter and would come back with packages of meat just about everyday.
We owned the house, so there was no form of eviction or anything. The neighbors seem nice and there isn't much noise or trouble where we live, so our safety isn't at risk at all.
This life was stress free.
I have no responsibilities, my parents show me so much love and attention that sometimes I forget I'm over 20 years old now.
It was as if this life of mine was a dream brought into reality.
Yet…I feel extremely sour on the inside.
This life is everything I wished for in my past life. Not fame, not riches, not anything, but stability. This life was the exact thing me, my sisters and my mother worked for, yet I'm the only one here enjoying it and on top of that, I'm gone, now they'll struggle more.
All the work I did in the past.
All the planning.
All the patience.
All the hope.
It was just tossed over like nothing. When I prayed for better days, I didn't think that would come at the expense of my loved ones.
It's even worse that I don't remember exactly how my death came to be. Was I shot? Ran over? Maybe a sudden stroke?
I had no clue, but over the last four years I found myself….forgetting about my past life.
Even though I have these moments where I have these types of thoughts and these bitter feelings of guilt my day still continues as though my past life never happened.
"Yuji, let's go." The low tone of my dad's voice drew my attention.
Getting down from my bed, I left out of the room and we told my mom we'd be back.
….
The Kingdom of Sapin
It was a beautiful country with advanced technology for its time. Ryuji had seen better, but the way things worked here was what fascinated him the most.
"You look so surprised to see this everytime." Andrew teased as he and Ryuji walked through the gate.
Stepping through the other side, Ryuji immediately looked above him and marveled at his surroundings.
Beautiful buildings reaching high and carved with beautiful designs. Paved roads with flower patches and neatly, trimmed bushes on the side.
The street markets and other things were also simply wondrous along with how happily everyone interacted with each other.
"We're just going to pick up some stuff from a few stores. We also need to do something about ur hair since it's growing pretty fast."
He always spoke so calmly as if nothing could ever bother him. He was also a man of few words, but didn't seem to have much on his mind.
He seemed like the most unbothered person in the kingdom.
"Let's get this done quickly." He mumbled, grabbing a cart and leading me through the shop.