Chapter 1: A second chance

Death… everyone has thought about it at some point, hmm some even idolize it and have their phenomenon, but when it finally hits that you can take your last breath everything changes and that's when you forget why you wanted it all to end in the first place.

Huff…huff, While lying face down on his stomach almost lifeless with his eyes glancing at a very small margin, relenting his breathing at a snail's pace, kicking the dust with every breath exhaled, he steadily tries to gather his thoughts but his eyes slowly close as he reluctantly loses awareness of his surroundings and bit by bit he fumbles. W-Where… am I? He slowly starts to faint but quickly snaps back with the stench of old pipes burning his nose. "argh, damn it, why does my stomach hurt so much?" he slides his hand into his eyesight, under the gaze of the moonlight, while trying to get up he finds his hand is painted red. "What… No way, this can't be happening to me, No way this is happening to me, oh shit…" he tries to move his body but finds himself lying face down in his blood mixed with dirt, he stretches his neck like an owl with his eyes popping out after noticing a ruby dripping piece of pipe piercing through his back, he stares reluctantly with tears whelming up in his eyes and his breathing becoming heavier and faster by the second, "huff, huff, huff, aahhhhhh!" he whales out in turmoil while trying to move, making his blood pour out like a pipe being turned on and the pain much worse than before and his locket is now being drenched in his blood.

Why, why am I not dead yet, why? why! why damn it, just die. Jake keeps repeating the same thoughts in his head, then a red light emits from his locket. "I guess it's finally starting to end, but I can still feel the pain so much." He slowly closes his eyes full of tears.

"Jake Demort!" someone calls out his name.

"Who is that?." While slowly opening his eyes he is shocked to find himself in a place he has never been or seen before. "Is this heaven?" his voice echos.

"What makes you think you would go to heaven!" a feminine voice answers.

"Who are you and where am I!?" Jake yells out while looking around but there is no one to be seen.

"I am your chance at a second life." The voice said softly

Wait... what? Jake paused and thought for a moment "What do you mean by a second chance at life." Jake remarks anxiously.

"it would seem you have a more feeble mind than your predecessors."

A woman appears out of nowhere with lavishing white and black armor with a golden emblem of a dragon on the left side of her chest and long black hair gracing her back as she gets closer "I'm offering you a chance to live again, have children and live a comfortable life, so accept my offer, you have ten seconds to decide." She insisted.

She is really beautiful If I take the offer I can have another chance at life and maybe I'll marry a beautiful girl and we'll buy a big house and have two boys and two girls, that would be great but she still hasn't told me what she wants in return and why me of all people there isn't anything remotely great about me

"9,8,"

I want to take the offer but even if I do ill still die eventually, what if my death is as painful as my first, or what if it's even worse, damn I don't want to die again.

"7,6,5"

"Damn it"

"4,3"

"A second chance at life?" Jake ponders, "I can change everything"

"1"

"I accept!, okay, I accept your offer" glowing red chains burst out of Jake's locket restraining him. "Whoa! What are you doing?" the chains slowly turn into smoke.

 "The contract is complete, now you'll be reborn"

"What? Seriously that's it"

"wait, you haven't told me your name yet!" Jake smiles ecstatically while she puts some distance between them.

"My name is Elizabeth" She stops and turns around.

"Just Eliza-… Ack!" in the blink of an eye Jake is experiencing it once more as he chokes on his blood with Elizabeth's hand through his stomach.

You bitch!... no.. this is all my fault,

Just as he is about to let out a scream in pain, momentarily everything goes peaceful and dark…

why do I trust people so easily, Why?

"Wah!, Wah!, Wah!"

Huh, Wait who's baby is crying, damn can someone please shut it up? Jake finally opens his eyes and is hit by the light making him squint.

I'm alive, I can feel my heart beating, it worked!

But, where am I now? This place is different from where I was before the walls are huge, and they have a weird design, but the floor's design is kinda nice Woah! is that a sword it looks so real it has to be real, oh no what if I've been kidnapped by some gang or something this is bad I was just given a second chance at life, and I already screwed up.

I have to get out of here, where is the exit? Okay, calm down, It has to be somewhere around here, oh shit! Is that… A dragon, they have a dragon tattoo on the ceiling wait a sec I've heard about these guys on the news before all their members have tattoos of dragons on their backs and they cut off the heads of their victims, they call themselves, The Black Dragon gang I have to get out of here uhh there's the door. Jake tries to get up but fails. what I can't move my body and something feels weird oh no did they drug me I can't get up they must've drugged me.

The door screeches as it's slowly pushed open. Someone looking like a giant compared to Jake comes over with an overwhelming smile.

"----xxxxx----xxxxx." She sticks her face with his, pulling his cheeks as she talks to him in a funny voice with a cheery smile.

Who is she and what language is that?

Then a man comes over who's even more of a giant.

What's going on here was I reborn in a world of giants?

"----xxxx----, and his skin is lighter than mine." Jake suddenly understands what the man is saying.

What? He's now speaking English.

"He's still just a baby, and he has your brown eyes." The woman insists while making gestures.

"If he's not-"

"Stop it!" the woman shouts fiercely. "how can you accuse me of such a thing-"

"Wah!, Wah!"

"Now look at what you've done."

"Me? you're the one that-" the man halts his words after the woman looks at him with intensity.

What are they arguing about?

"Don't you worry little Chronos" the woman picks me up in her embrace, "I won't let anything harm you." She remarks gracefully.

Wait… no way, I wasn't reborn in a world of giants, I'm… I'm reborn, as a baby! so that must mean that they're my parents.

It's been two months since I was reborn and I've been attached to my second mom forever and I've never been outside not even once, I don't get how she can stand doing nothing but taking care of me, every day she greets me with the same enthusiastic smile it's like she's a robot and her husband is hardly ever here he just eats, leaves and comes back late at night so I know he's two-timing her and she doesn't even suspect a thing.

But, I can't really complain about much, this is the best, all I have to do is be a baby: no chores, no nagging, and no expectations of anyone, this is life at its fullest, things can be a bit boring sometimes but other than that, life's pretty great.

"Chronos!" that's the name that was given to me, apparently it's got something to do with my father, but of all the names they could've thought of why-, "Chronos! where are you? aha, what are you doing under there?" This fine lady with curly brown-tip black hair and those immense round brown eyes about to swallow me whole is my mother or well, my second mother to be exact but from what I've gathered so far her name is Veil Ringard and well, that's all I got so far, aside from the part that she's my mom and is definitely being two-timed, I know nothing about her.

Veil gently places me in a seat that was practically made for me.

The sharp sound of the knife ever so gently hitting the chopping board in a fine tune of melody relaxes me as I watch from afar, the fresh scent of greenery is dispersed in the air effortlessly, caressing the minced pieces with the knife into steaming water and she covers the pot almost fully and heads towards me with a bottle in one hand.

"Long ago, the protectors" Uhh, this story again, I've heard ten different versions of this already, "The protectors resolved conflict and set the balance" Seriously they expect me to believe a kid's story about dragons, "No one dared challenged them, protector of the North Genbu, protector of the South Suzaku, protector of the East Seiryu, and Protector of the West Byakko, but one day, they all vanished!" Bam! Veil exaggeratingly slammed the table with a serious look on her face, "But their power remained and shortly after every child that was born after the dragons vanished was born with a sigm-" Veil stopped the story snatching me like a dog and a bone while launching her hand like a gun, the door her enemy, ready and waiting in dead silence.

A crunching of footsteps steadily getting louder with every whimpering second, I abruptly began shedding tears like a newborn baby, veil's eyes went wide open as she tried to seal my lips, but the screaming door captured our attention, two lean figures entered, one sizable tall enough to touch the moon and the other one eyes as red as the sun and melanin skin turning pale at death's door, shackled like a dog with a raggy cloak.

"Phew!" Veil (Sighs) lets out a huge breath whilst easing her guard encouraging a slow smile that gently diminishes.

Yasuke laid the man down, "He needs healing quickly" he proceeded while making the man comfortable, "He's lost a lot of blood and he might have an infection."

"Why?" Veil inquires.

He halts and stares at the injured.

"Why would you bring him here?" Veil held me closer as she stepped in, "You see the chains on him! Don't you?" she yelled.

The man continues to attend him, then rises like the sun and leisurely musters as clear as crystal. "No one deserves this." He looks her unbroken in the eyes.

Veil held me tighter with the most perturbed look which was unlike her, unable to relent her gaze I couldn't help but welcome a focused stern-fixed peer at her, giving birth to an undisclosed eerie aura.

Without saying a word she stormed off up the staircase as the man looked at her she stopped and glanced at him, then peered at me with a relenting gaze. "get the bandages and prep him." She announced before making her way up.

 She looks really depressed, The corners of her mouth running downwards and her lips pouting outwards, she places me in a majestic crib with weird designs of swords and a snake-like creature, then leaves.

That guy being here must really be bothering her, she's never left without giving me a kiss.

"oops, Mommy almost forgot the most important thing" She marches in with the smile of ten angels combined and her eyes brimming with joy.

Guess I spoke too soon, trying to fight the inevitable she came in closer with an immersed yet slight peck leaving marks on my forehead, and in a soft yet dear melancholic voice, "I love you" I stared straight forward without making a sound or moving an inch.

Veil made her way down and entered the living room that reaped with dim and bright spaces and a peculiar couch not too far from the sizzling and crackling munching of wood being devoured as the house-smoked away.

The laden man rose from the dead as he ejected germs from his mouth with no gesture of keeping them to himself.

*cough* he stoically stops and surveys the area, taking glances at Yasuke sitting close to him and Veil in the distance, in the heat of silence, he quickly coerced a knife and hurled it at Veil, simultaneously grasping for Yasuke's head and crossing his hand into an x, but halts as he gazes at his hands in astonishment.

"The chains?" he baffles, "...Who took them off?"

"I did," Yasuke said softly.

Veil steps forward rapidly with the knife in her hand, "you try that again and you won't have hands to put chains on!" she exclaims with gestures.

Meanwhile, Chronos remains the same staring endlessly into his thoughts, Why did she sound so sad, that guy in chains was weird but is it that big of a deal, I mean, I can only think of a few reasons, what are the chances that he's an escaped criminal, haha, I mean there's no way right.

He sticks his feet through the tiny creases and attempts to get up, but slips and lands flat on his back, he continues attempting until he finally reaches the top with a great height from below, he tips over and lands as firm as a cat, he races on all fours, then he can spot Veil from atop the staircase.

"Who put those chains on you?" Yasuke questions softly.

"You… you brought me here into your home, with your family, ahh" he grasps his stomach, "ack… if I were you I'd left me for dead" squinting his eyes.

"If he can talk this much then he should be just fine on his own" Veil remarks

Yasuke gazed at him effortlessly without batting an eye in silence.

"sigh, The Gresham's"

"What!" Veil inquires

The Greshams, why does that sound familiar, hmm, Gresham, oh yeah, that rich family that Veil mentioned.

"You expect us to believe that you got away from the Greshams." Veil flusters

"Well, to be frank, it was the king"

 "What!, you shouldn't have brought him here!" Veil turns to Yasuke.

"Why did they place you in chains?" he asks in a calm icy tone.

"You should stop trying to act so tough in front of your wife" The man ridiculed, "If you poke your nose where it doesn't belong-", the man stops as Yasuke looks him dead in the eye.

"…It's because of my sigma"

Wait, what? Sigma? But that's just a kid's story, there's no way. Chronos ponders in hysteria, I can barely hear anything, he clenches onto the freezing guard rail, and finding his balance he inches closer to the stairs.

"They held me captive" he shutters while grabbing the marks on his hand.

"They-they made me do things"

"what do you mean by 'they'"

"The king, he's not the king, there was something else, they used me"

"Something else?" Viel questions.

"How did they use you?" asks Yasuke.

He stretches his left hand for Yasuke's face. Yasuke grasps his hand firmly.

Veil strikes her knife an inch away from his neck. "I warned you" she blasts

"It's best if I show you," he remarks

Wow, mom's pretty fast, what are they doing now?

The man touches Yasukes hand and stretches his right hand to the side, and a blinding blue light emerges.

Chronos is stunned-speechless aloft

"So that's your sigma" Yasuke mentions and Veil lowers her knife as they examine the man with short afro curls and amazing muscles, a replica of Yasuke.

No way… I've been reincarnated in a world of magic, Chronos' eyes sparkle in a flash with the brightest smile.

This is the best day of my life! He shouts inside.

"Yasuke, it looks exactly like you." Veil mentions

"…Yasuke?" the man holds his head with one hand while looking at Yasuke, "Yasuke!" his eyes open wide as he calls to Yasuke, "Yasuke it's me, Borus.

"…." Yasuke looks at him dead in the eyes, "Yeah." He says calmly.

"What!, that's all you're gonna say?" Borus exclaims

"What are they talking about now?" Chronos slowly steps down the staircase, holding each rail with every step, he gently places his right foot down as he's about to move his left, his right foot slides backward, pulling him forward, while he's quickly losing grip of the guard rail.

Oh, shit!

The rumbling tumble of banging grasps everyone's attention as all heads turn in the same direction with no words to say as their eyes slowly pop screaming out their every thought that words can't express, with one final crash the banging finally stops, ending all silence as Veil cries out.

"Chronos!!!"