1 The Forgotten Past

It's midday and the courtyard of the Cornell estate in Devon county was buzzing with activity. Servants going around running their chores, children happily playing under the sun as the ladies enjoyed their afternoon tea. The snow has thawed, and signs of life started to return to the land. The trees, plants and the fields are beginning to turn green signaling the arrival of the spring season.

Sitting under a grand yew tree, seven-year-old Lars Cornell was quietly reading a book.

Lars was the youngest in his family, having six older brothers. His mother had died while giving birth to him, resulting in his awkward relationship with his siblings. His father, who was also the youngest child of the current clan head, Lar's grandfather, had to work very hard to improve the family's living conditions and standing within the clan.

When Lars was still a baby, his grandfather had died in a mysterious accident. As his grandfather held the position of the clan head, upon his demise the estates of the clan were divided up by his children. Each of Lars's six uncles inherited a sizable portion of wealth and land while Lars's father was bullied into inheriting a smaller estate that also housed the clan library. Although many felt that this would become a cause for grievance in the family, Lars and his siblings benefited from growing up near the influence of books that learned members in the clan would study when they visited the library.

Even though they had the same parents, Lars was a little different when he is compared to his elder brothers. Lars was quiet and soft spoken, while his elder brothers were rowdy. Lars had a lean build while most of his elder brothers are all brawny. Although everyone in the family received the same type of education, when it comes to the field of knowledge, Lars was on par with his second brother Keith, with both being a cut above the rest. However, between the seven of them, he was the only one to inherit their mother's brown eyes, all his other siblings had inherited their father's deep blue eyes.

If Lars had been a normal seven-year-old, being estranged with five out of six of his brothers as well as getting very little love from his overworked father meant that he would have been carrying a lot of emotional baggage for someone of his age.

Lars was anything but normal; he was able to retain bits and pieces of his memories from his past life. These tiny bits were enough to guide him in this life. The pieces he recalled included his love for books, a green butterfly, a heartbreaking regret as well as a person dressed in red.

Lars understood the importance of gaining knowledge as that would then become the key that he would use to open more doors of opportunity in the future.

Hence, his love for books and thirst for knowledge could be observed by many from young. Being the family bookworm, it's no surprise that Lars has a very good memory and a high aptitude for studying. Having a bit of recollection from his past life also meant that he was a lot more mature in how he reacted to events around him when compared to other youths at his age.

The tutors tasked to teach him were astounded at the pace in which Lars progressed, recognizing his hard work and intelligence.

Although he was hardworking, he was rarely interested in physical strength or material gains. Preferring to immerse himself in his own imagination that was built off his voracious appetite for books. It was through all that reading that he learnt about his other gifts.

Since his birth, Lars has always been able to discern the auras of the people around him. His father is constantly exuding a bright lemon-yellow aura, while the brother he is closest to, Keith,

has a bright royal blue aura. He also recalls the black aura around his mother at his time of birth.

Lars could also occasionally see balls of light around the house hold. He also had a friend called Alfred that he would always chat with. Alfred was an albino owl who always liked to be near Lars.

As he is usually left to his own devices, Lars made it a habit to read to Alfred so that they would both not feel lonely as they had each other for company.

As he had completed his lessons for the week, Lars decided to spend some time outdoors for a change, thus reading his book under the yew tree.

He was currently immersed in a book about astral projections when he felt a slight migraine in his head.

"Our wisdom flows so sweet. Taste and see."

The migraine left Lars light headed. He shook his head and tried to get his bearings and saw himself asleep under the yew tree, the book covering a part of his face.

"What just happened… "

Lars raised his hand and saw his own aura for the first time, it was a plain white aura.

"Could it be, that this is how an out of body experience feels like?"

Lowering his hand, a green butterfly caught his attention. A strong urge to follow the butterfly grew within Lars and without much thought, he started to follow the butterfly.

He was led to an unfamiliar place, a small shop house in the middle of nowhere. Lars saw the butterfly flew into the shophouse through a slightly open door. Lars stepped into the small shophouse and he saw that the butterfly had landed on the finger of a young boy that was around his age.

His snow-white hair matched his marble like skin. The young boy turned slowly and both youths made eye contact. A flicker of understanding appeared in the pair of deep red eyes as the marble skinned youth looked at Lars.

Looking at Lars's stunned expression, a friendly smile appeared on his face and he said.

"You are here at last."