25

Chapter 25

Flange Orphanage, City: Three Prongs Fork, Republic of Shantu, Continent: Barat, Year 2022, Planet: Grimoire

Pain.

Extreme cold.

Dizziness.

Inability breathe.

Who am I? Where did I come from? What am I supposed to do in this situation? The soul in the tiny body finally managed to open its eyes. The horror of the entity within the body, all that could be seen was shades of red, gray, and then black as he fell into a daze of incomprehension.

Noise assaulted his ears.

Screams of agony. Oddly familiar slicing noises.

Shouts of terror splintered the previously serene quiet.

"Not the babies!"

"Please don't touch them!"

"...AHHHHH!!!"

Deadly terrifying silence replaced the noise.

An unpleasant stench rose to defile the air.

Death and the resultant expulsion of bodies that couldn't contain anything from within.

Were the killers gone yet? He waited with bated breath, trying to fight against the limitations placed on his body. Rank deadly intent stung him into silence as shrill mental alarms warned him against the sound of any kind. No, he definitely wasn't alone yet. Damnation, who were these persistent bastards?

"Where are the brats?"

"Are you sure they're even worth finding now?"

"There's nothing to gain in letting them live."

"We cannot remain here."

"Someone will surely have heard the noise."

"Pah, this was a waste of time."

"The brats are gone."

"Fine, burn everything."

Smoke filled the air.

Curses rang into the brief silence.

"Dammit, what the hell is this."

"Well, if the smoke inhalation doesn't kill the brats, the freezing sleet will."

Footsteps crunched away.

Now, only the icy air shimmered around the smoky spirals as the remainder of the cruel massacre took place.

To an adult mind, being trapped in an infant's body was complete torture. Not only that but he no longer remembered who and what he was originally. Where am I? What happened to my body? How did I wind up in this situation?

Even as the questions filled his mind, his body was pierced with screaming pain. It wasn't the physical sensation of fire encroaching on him. No, fragments of memories began shattering his ability to focus. At last, despite his attempts to remain silent, he began screaming from sheer agony.

What was scarier? It was only him screaming. There was no other sound indicating whether he solely remained or not. Again, a question struck his mind.

Why am I the only one left alive? So, he'd gone through this before? Unbelievably bad luck once more. This was what life cycle number...never mind I don't even want to know how many times this has been. That would only give him an even worse headache than what caused him to continuously scream. Well, here's hoping there'll be someone passing by...

Time passed, and the air began freezing around him. A few times he heard faint mewling noises. Huh, so there were others. He kept them encouraged with his volume. Eventually, though the faint sounds gradually ceased. That frightened him. He didn't want to be left alone in this strange world.

Exhaustion strained his body and lungs. It was painful to even breathe now. Still, he wasn't able to stop. Some instinct made him continue screaming.

At long last, strange crunching noises approached his location. He blinked blearily.

An angular face scarred, and pale appeared in his vision. Slanted black and gray orbs stared at him in horrified shock. At last, he was retrieved. Despite the fact the fact that he was severely dehydrated and unable to make any more noise, he was able to make out what was said.

Had he been caught between two corpses? The dragons might've been his parents? That made no sense whatsoever to him. Nonetheless, he continued listening to everything around him. Otherwise, he doubted he'd make head or tail of what was going on.

Eventually, he was placed in a box with three other babies. They all warmed around him immediately and for the first time in hours, he was no longer painfully chilled to the bone.

However, the solace didn't last long. After he and his siblings were placed in a relatively warm area, the stranger disappeared again. More voices were heard in the distance.

Evidently, some kind of criminal investigation was now in full swing and likely to take hours. That meant that nothing would be done about their conditions.

What an aggravating situation. Nonetheless, he was finally able to relax and that allowed him to fall into a light doze.

Gradually, more voices came closer to the carriage. The first stranger who'd found them touched their cheeks gently. However, the gentleness was soon replaced with agitation. He'd just discovered they were extremely sick.

Well, given the current harsh conditions, the entity was of the mind to wonder how he and the other babies survived to this point. He hadn't sensed anything nearby that acted as protective guardian spirits...unless those creatures that encircled the humans with the wings were the dragon guardian and sacrificed its life? The soul thought about it and found it didn't work as a theory, practical or otherwise. No, that didn't fit the circumstances either. Suddenly another theory occurred to him that made scarily more sense than anything else.

There was no reason for that to happen unless in another area with similar circumstances and a choice of saving one over another was made. So, we were saved through an ultimate sacrifice but someone else died? Wow, that would've just been plain ridiculous. Inwardly he shuddered at the magnitude of what occurred. I just hope that the one who died knew what he/she/it was doing this time.

That pessimistic thought came from realistic experience. Come to think of it, wasn't that how he'd wound up in such a state? He'd made a stupid choice of thinking he was noble when it was a mere betrayal that caused his death in a different time and world altogether. Ha, as though that mattered anymore. Now, survival was a necessity if he wanted to make a new start. Huh, he? Not she or neutral? Well, this would make for an interesting change of choices and lifestyle. For once, this would actually concur with his preference for life in general. Satisfaction reigned over all other emotions despite the physical discomfort he suffered from currently. Hah, yes, this time life would go as chosen, one way or another, no matter what challenges came to knock him sideways.