2 Awakening

Gerald awoke, very abruptly, gasping for air.

"Wha…"

Instantly two things became very apparent to him;

He was soaking wet

There was a shadowy figure standing over him!

His adrenaline kicked in and forced his groggy mind into high gear. His eyes struggling to adjust to the flickering torchlight.

'Wait, torchlight?'

How his mind seemed to instantly categorize the illumination was odd. Why was he so confident it was torchlight? Normally if he'd awoken to such flicking he'd assume it was caused by a candle or perhaps his house burning, why would the thought of it being torchlight of all things cross his mind? Too bad he couldn't see the source of the light as the shadowy figure was standing in front of it...!!!

Gerald's attention instantly returned to the shadowy figure standing over him, jaring him into a completely different and much more urgent train of thought.

'An unknown person was standing over me whilst I slept! DANGER!!!'

His mind screamed and sent another shot of adrenaline into his body, instinct forcing his arms into the motion of throwing the cumbersome bedding off him then quickly retracting them back to form some kind of measly defense.

His eyes finally began to adjust enough to analyze his adversary. Grey hair set on top the assailants head and fell down to frame his shadowed face, dark eyes, a straight nose, and finally the salt and pepper mustache all stood out to him. Somehow the combination of features seemed familiar... very familiar...Why?

Gerald's gaze continued down, searching for a weapon. The man was holding something. The panic and adrenaline flooding his system kept Gerald's thoughts moving at lightspeed. His mind ten steps ahead of his eyes.

'If he has a dagger or small axe I can shield myself with one of the thick pillows but if its a mace he wields it would be best to roll out th... Wait a mace? What the hell is wrong with me? Why do these unrealistic thoughts keep popping up during this do-or-die moment? Obviously the most favored weapon of any killer would be a gun. I mean that's what.... killed me? That doesn't seem righ…'

His train of thought was once again derailed as shadowed figure loudly exclaimed

"MY LORD!!!"

The words seemed to carry both shock and joy in equal measure but what Gerald found most odd was even this man's voice sounded very familiar. A name popped into his head.

".... Goodman?"

Gerald's eyes snapped back up to the mans face

"My lord, it's so good you're awake I was very worried…"

The man was still talking but Gerald's attention was on stuck on the first two words "My lord". That's the second time he'd said them. Gerald's panic was replaced by deep confusion.

'But why does that sound so odd? I mean that is the proper way for my servant to address me after all… but when did I get a servant?'

Goodman made a dramatic gesture of dropping to his knees, the bucket he was holding falling with him.

"....Please forgive me my lord, even though I've explained my reasoning I know it means nothing and does not change the fact that my actions are irredeemable. But given your father's d..."

Gerald once again zoned out the frantic ramblings of… "Goodman" His minded still struggled to piece together information and answer the question he'd had since he'd abruptly awoken moments ago.

'What the hell was going on?'

Gerald swung his legs off the bed and stared at Goodman's kneeling form. His foot touched a little puddle of water, reminding him that he was soaking wet. Things finally started to click, he was wet because Goodman threw a bucket of water on him while he slept, Goodman was his loyal servant and he need not fear him. Why Goodman threw the water didn't concern Gerald at the moment but provided a good excuse for him to get some much needed alone time to figure things out.

"GOODMAN OUT NOW!!!"

Goodman flinched and fell back on his ass.

"M...My lord, Please understan.."

"NOW!!!"

Gerald repeated pointing at the door. Left with no other choice Goodman scurried away.

Sighing with relief, Gerald whipped off his wet shirt and tossed it across the room, then slumped back.

Looking down at his now uncovered torso he was shocked by what he saw. His body was skinnier and more toned than he remembered yet not completely foreign to him. No, He remembers looking like this, only that was years ago…

'How can my body suddenly look years younger? And more importantly, where am I?

Gerald thoroughly examined the room for the first time since his rude awakening. He was sitting on a king sized bed, centered in a large room, to his left was a window covered by thick drapes, near that sat a heavily padded chair and small bookshelf, across the room was a wardrobe, and freestanding vanity mirror that had apparently caught the wet garment he'd tossed. Lastly he noticed the torches that hung on the stonewalls, only the one closest to the door, on his far right, was lit.

Memories of this place came flooding in further confusing him as they intertwined with a very different set of recent memories. The juxtaposition of the two sets was shocking yet somehow he knew they were both real.

He crossed his legs and began to meditate, knowing the thing he needed most right now was to sort out the turmoil in his mind.

Sometime later his eyes snapped open. It appeared quite a lot of time has passed since the formally wet bed sheets were almost completely dry now.

'So I'm now in the body of a Noble living in medieval times huh. No way to confirm if the location is Europe or not, the kingdom of Picayune sounds unfamiliar. But then again I was far from a historian in my past life, hell I can't even tell if I'm still on Earth or not. Suddenly being transported back in time or to a completely different world both sound equally… impossible. To top it off this worlds Gerald is poor and on the verge of losing everything.'

'From one shitty situation to another.' he sighed.

'Well this is my life now, the second chance I was looking for, and I intend to keep my vow. I intend to own this world!'