1. The End of the Beginning
928 Words
"Haha... It's finally over... The suffering... The torment that this world had to offer... is now f-finally... over..."
Blood trickled down Argus's mouth as he smiled. He was lying on the rough terrain, as he bathed in his blood.
With all the blood gushing out of his wound, he grew weaker and weaker. But he was content. He was content because he knew that now, after his death, nothing would bother him anymore. The cruel world he was raised in, would no longer trouble him.
He was finally at peace...
As his eyes started closing, he accepted death with open arms.
His vision blurred, and he could finally feel his soul leaving his body. He could finally feel the long lost happiness, he was eagerly yearning for. He was free.
However, the Gods had a different plan in mind.
Slowly, his vision began to grow clearer and clearer, till the point where his eyelids popped back open.
"Wh-What just happened?"
Confused, Argus looked at his surroundings to gather information. As he looked up at the bright sky, his eyes constricted due to the excess light.
After placing his left hand over his light blue eyes, he spoke, "Ugh... Why is the sun still bright?"
And then, right at that moment, he caught sight of his slender hand.
"What?! Why the heck is my hand so tiny?"
Startled by one more fact he just realised, he questioned, "... W-Why is my voice similar to that of a ch...child?"
Questions were poring through his mind all at once. He couldn't understand what was happening. But he knew one thing for sure; this wasn't the world he was born in.
"Wh-Where am I? H-How am I still alive?"
Even after observing his surroundings, he couldn't find an answer to these two questions.
Shortly after, he turned his head as he heard the sound of flowing water.
As he looked towards the source of the sound, he saw a river, with clean water swiftly flowing through it.
'How can a river have such clean water flowing through it?! This makes no sense!', is what he thought.
He walked towards the river, with the intention of looking at his reflection, since he couldn't see any human nearby, nor could he sense the presence of animals or monsters.
As he looked into the crystal-clear water, he saw the reflection of a blonde haired youngster, who looked as handsome as a prince. His blue eyes were as beautiful as diamonds. His hair was divided into fine strands, which moved ever so slightly in the cool breeze that passed by. The clothes he wore were in no way, elegant. In fact, they were quite the opposite. His brown robe like attire, looked like rags which were just about to tear apart.
After looking at his reflection, Argus wondered, 'Could I have reincarnated in the body of a teenager? And if I did, why so? Was it because I was the last to die?'
Keeping his thoughts aside, Argus decided to inspect the location further. He stared at the empty huts which were situated near the river.
And to his surprise, there were a few people in the huts. But they were all young children, who were tucked in their beds.
'What kind of village is this? Could this be some sort of orphanage?', Argus wondered.
"Hmm... I should explore this world more..."
Argus stepped away from the village, and headed towards the abundant, green forest. After a few steps, he heard the voice of a female from his right side, "Argus! Don't wander off to far!"
After a momentary pause, he heard the same voice again, "And come back soon for lunch!"
'Wait. Did someone just call me by my name?!'
He rushed back to the same point he started from, and yelled, "Who?! Who called me?!"
Before he could notice, a woman snuck behind him, and hit his head with a closed hand fan.
"Gotchyu!", the woman spoke.
As he turned around, he noticed a fair lady, who had a beautiful pink robe like dress on, which only glorified her pink cheeks further. Her eyes were light brown, and her black hair that moved ever so slightly in the breeze made her look like a deity.
At that moment, Argus wondered, 'Who could she be? H-How could I not sense her presence?'
But his question was soon answered as the woman grabbed Argus by his ear and dragged him inside the hut, "You just never listen Argus! I told you to stay in the hut while I was out!"
'Oh god, this really pains. How could she do that to my child-like body?!'
Argus spoke, "Ow! Ow! I get it! I get it! I'll stay in the hut from now on! I swear!"
A tear was about to make its way to the ground, but Argus quickly sniffled the tear back in while he was being dragged.
'And here I thought she looked like deity... She's a demon! A demon I say!'
The woman picked Argus up and put him on the bed.
After touching her warm hands on his cheeks, Argus noticed the woman's attitude change as she spoke, "Look Argus, I know that you want to protect the other children while I go away, but if something would happen to you... *sob* I woshld neber forgibe myselb ib that habbened... *sob*"
After looking at the woman's face, Argus wondered, 'Huh?! How could a woman that beautiful, make a face that ugly?'
The woman's chin was wrinkled as she sobbed and sniffed with a frown on her face.
'But keeping all jokes aside, could this woman be this boy's mother? I wonder... It's already weird enough, for this body to have the same name as mine... I wonder if the system has anything to do with this...'
- Writer
