Amid the darkness after death, Orion drifted weightless in a void that stretched beyond sense. There was no up, no down - just the endless hum of nothing. He couldn't feel his body, couldn't even tell if he still had one.
Time itself seemed to vanish.
One moment felt like a breath, the next like eternity.
'So this is it,' he thought, his voice echoing in the hollow emptiness of his own mind.
'No judgement. No angels. No heaven or hell. Just… nothing. Figures.'
He might've laughed if he still had lungs.
But then, far in the distance, two shapes appeared, and they seemed to draw him in somehow.
As he neared, it became clear what they were - it was two floating eyes.
They were massive, each one burning with a blinding golden radiance, their intricate pupils spinning like living galaxies. Light pulsed from them, reaching into every corner of the void.
And with that light came a voice so deep and vast that it wasn't heard; it was felt.
It spoke not in words, but in meaning. And yet, Orion understood every syllable as it reverberated through him.
When the heavens darken and the sun surrenders its crown to shadow,
The Eyes of Dominion shall awaken once more.
Born beneath the shroud of an eclipse,
The soul of two lives shall take form anew.
He shall bear the gaze that pierces all things,
And the colours of Ether shall bend before his sight.
Through his eyes, the world shall tremble and yield,
For with his awakening begins the Age of Dominion.
The words were like thunder wrapped in prophecy, each syllable rippling through the void.
Orion's first thought wasn't awe. It was irritation.
'How can sound travel in a vacuum? And what the fuck is that even supposed to mean?'
But before he could dwell on it, the golden eyes flared brighter, and their pull became even stronger. His soul twisted, compressed, then tore forward into a blinding vortex. He felt like he was being dragged through reality itself. Every shred of his being screamed as he was sucked through, until...
He could feel again?!
Warmth. Pressure. The faint rhythm of something alive.
He tried to move, but his body refused. Muscles unresponsive. Limbs numb. The air felt thick, muffled, heavy.
And then, suddenly, there was light!
He was shoved out into a world of colour and sound, his first breath ripping through tiny lungs that weren't his own.
'Oh, you've got to be kidding me.'
It didn't take long to piece together what had happened. The warmth surrounding him wasn't spiritual. It was flesh and blood. He was cradled in the arms of someone else - someone far too big.
He'd been born again.
'Reincarnation. Classic.'
The person holding him was an elderly woman with a stern face and calloused hands. Her hair was tied tightly into a bun streaked with grey, and she wore the expression of someone who'd seen far too many births to be impressed by one more.
"Healthy baby boy," she said, her voice crisp as she wiped the remaining gunk off him with a damp cloth.
"A boy?!" The woman who birthed him seemed more startled than anything.
'Why's she confused? Is it not a fifty-fifty chance here as well? Well, it's actually a fifty-one percent chance of conceiving a boy because of-' he paused. 'That doesn't fucking matter right now. Don't tell me she's going to castrate me and make me live as a pretend girl.'
Orion's thoughts were already running wild, but he had literally just been reborn, and his new mother's first reaction was shock.
He was also helpless to do anything, feeling like he was trapped in a fragile clump of flesh.
But he was relieved when the woman then let out a small, trembling laugh of joy. "A boy," she repeated under her breath, tears welling in her icy blue eyes. "His name will be Orion."
'Huh,' he thought, almost amused. 'Same name. At least that's convenient.'
The woman reached out and took him from the nurse's arms. She was breathtaking even through his newborn haze. Her skin was pale as snow, her long white hair cascading over her shoulders like silk, and her beauty carried an almost ethereal stillness.
He couldn't see colours clearly yet; everything was blurred and hazy, which was normal for newborns. But somehow, he could feel her presence.
There was something warm about her that pricked at a long-buried place inside him. Something that made his chest tighten uncomfortably.
'Don't get soft on me,' he warned himself. 'You know how that ends.'
She smiled down at him, unaware of the calculating mind behind those newborn eyes. "Welcome to the world, my little Orion."
He would've smirked if his mouth could.
'So that's my new mother. Fitting. She looks a little like my old one.'
Her name was Selene Frostborne - he would learn that soon enough - but even now, he could sense the quiet strength beneath her delicate features. She smelled of snow and something floral, her warmth seeping into him like a drug he didn't know he needed.
The nurse, whose name he caught from overheard muttering, was Marn. She frowned slightly, seeing the eerie stillness of the child in Selene's arms.
Noticing that, Orion's new mother couldn't help but be worried.
"Why's he not crying? Shouldn't he be crying?"
"It's unusual," Marn muttered after a quick check, "but he seems healthy. Perhaps he's just a calm one."
Then she pinched his arm. Hard.
The pain was sharp and instant, cutting through the fog of his mind.
'Back off, bitch!' he tried to yell.
What came out instead was a piercing newborn wail - but behind it, something else surged.
A flash. A spark.
Golden light flickered in his dark, still eyes. It was brief, but enough to make the nurse stumble backwards with a gasp, her face paling as if she'd just seen a ghost.
Orion's body went limp, exhaustion suddenly hitting him like a wave. His last conscious thought before darkness took him was simple and irritated.
'What the fuck was that?'
He passed out cold.
The older nurse scrambled to her feet, trembling, her breath ragged. Selene looked up, alarmed. "Are you alright?"
"I-I just need some air," Marn stammered, already backing away. Her younger assistant rushed over to take her place, helping Selene with the baby.
Outside, Marn staggered into a small open courtyard, her breath misting in the cold air. The sky above was unnaturally dark. It was noon, yet the sun was swallowed by shadow, a perfect black circle surrounded by a ring of light.
A total solar eclipse.
She couldn't help but find it ominous before whispering to no one, "Let's hope that child doesn't bring ruin to this family."
Her words drifted into the cold air, swallowed by the stillness.
Inside the infirmary, the newborn Orion slept soundly in his mother's arms, unaware of the celestial omen unfolding above. His small face looked calm, almost too calm.
And though his eyelids were shut, faint golden light still pulsed beneath them.