Warm sunlight touched Raven's face.
For a moment, he didn't understand the sensation.
Sunlight was rare in his world.
Warmth was rarer.
Peace… didn't exist at all.
His eyes shot open.
He wasn't on rubble.
He wasn't hearing screams, explosions, alarms.
Instead—
He was lying in a soft bed with clean sheets.
A quiet wooden ceiling above him.
And outside the window… green fields, a blue sky, birds.
Raven sat up instantly, breathing hard.
This wasn't right.
His hand flew to his belt, instinct searching for a knife, a gun anything but found nothing. Only simple clothing. No armor. No scars on the arm he lifted.
His arm.
Not his arm.
The skin was too smooth.
The muscles were younger.
The hands were unscarred.
"What the—?" Raven whispered, voice softer than his own.
Footsteps. Approaching quickly.
Raven tensed, prepared to strike—
The door burst open.
"Aeron! Thank the gods, you're awake!"
A young girl brown-haired, bright-eyed rushed to him. Her relief was so real it almost stunned him. She jumped to his side and hugged him tightly.
He froze.
No one touched him like this.
No one dared to.
"Laura…" Raven muttered involuntarily the name pouring out on instinct from Aeron's memories inside the borrowed body.
Laura pulled back, hands on her hips.
"You scared me! You passed out near the shrine yesterday! Father carried you all the way home."
Raven blinked.
Yesterday?
Carried?
Home?
Then another figure entered.
Jack Smith. Aeron's father.
Broad shoulders, warm eyes, the presence of a man who still believed the world was good.
Raven had never known someone like that.
Jack placed a hand on Raven's Aeron's shoulder.
"You're safe now, son. Rest a bit more if you need."
Safe.
Raven almost laughed. The word didn't exist in his vocabulary.
He forced himself to nod stiffly. "I… will."
Laura smiled brightly. "Breakfast is ready! Fresh bread! Your favorite!"
Raven just stared.
Breakfast?
Real food?
A family calling him "son" and "brother"?
This had to be a hallucination.
A dream.
A trick.
He stood up slowly, shaky in the unfamiliar body, and followed them to the small kitchen. The warmth of the room hit him like a punch. Jack cooking, Laura chatting, the sunlight through the windows…
It was a life Raven had never experienced.
Laura placed bread in front of him. "Eat, Aeron!"
Raven hesitated, suspicious out of habit—but one bite made his entire chest ache.
It tasted… real.
It tasted like a world worth saving.
Then—
A faint echo in his mind.
Aeron's voice. Distant. Weak. Afraid.
Raven… where am I? Who are you? Please....
Raven stiffened, dropping his fork.
Laura looked up. "Aeron? Are you okay?"
Raven clenched the table, breath sharp.
This wasn't a dream.
He was in Aeron's body.
Aeron was… wherever Raven came from.
A quiet knock interrupted the moment.
Sofea stepped inside holding herbs. "Aeron? I came to check on you…"
Raven turned.
For a second, everything stopped.
Here in this peaceful world stood Sofea a gentle, kind soul.
Something inside Raven's chest shifted painfully, like a forgotten emotion waking.
He swallowed hard, forcing himself to answer.
"…I'm fine."
But inside, panic grew.
What happened to my body? Where is Aeron? Why am I here?
Sofea's smile was soft. "I'm glad. I was worried."
Raven looked away.
If he stayed here too long, he would ruin this boy's life.
If Aeron stayed in Raven's world too long… he would die.
Raven needed answers.
And he needed them fast.
Before anyone else got hurt.