"It seems I may have waited too long."
Those were the last words I remembered hearing before everything faded into darkness.
For the first time in what felt like an eternity, I lost consciousness.
When I regained awareness, the first thing I noticed was a faint, rhythmic sound.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
A heartbeat?
I tried to open my eyes, but my body refused to respond. A strange warmth surrounded me, accompanied by an uncomfortable pressure that seemed to grow stronger with each passing moment.
Before I could understand what was happening, the pressure intensified. Something was pushing against me, forcing my body forward.
Panic surged through my mind. Had I returned to the void? Was this another form of torment?
I struggled desperately, but my movements were weak and uncoordinated. Then, without warning, the warmth disappeared, replaced by an unfamiliar coldness against my skin.
Air.
A blinding light pierced through my closed eyelids as unfamiliar voices erupted around me.
"Uwaaaaah!"
A piercing cry filled the room. It took me several seconds to realise that the sound was coming from me.
I tried to speak, but all that escaped my mouth were helpless cries. My arms flailed uncontrollably, and my vision was too blurry to distinguish the figures surrounding me.
Someone lifted me into the air before passing me into another person's arms.
I felt warmth against my cheek, followed by the steady rhythm of a heartbeat. A woman's gentle voice reached my ears, speaking words I couldn't understand.
Through my blurred vision, I could make out her exhausted face. Strands of dark brown hair clung to her forehead, and despite her obvious fatigue, she was smiling.
She held me close, gently stroking my head.
For a moment, I was reminded of someone from my previous life. Someone whose voice I had desperately tried to remember during my imprisonment.
Mother…
My chest tightened.
The woman holding me wasn't the mother I remembered, but her warmth was real. So was her heartbeat, her breathing, and the gentle movement of her arms.
After an immeasurable period of isolation, I was finally being held by another person.
I began crying again, though this time, it wasn't entirely out of fear.
It didn't take long for me to realise what had happened.
I had been reincarnated.
As a baby, no less.
Initially, the realisation was difficult to accept. I had died, somehow retained my consciousness, endured what felt like an eternity in an endless void, and now found myself trapped inside the body of a newborn.
Under normal circumstances, I might have been fascinated by the possibility of a second life. After all, reincarnation was something I had encountered countless times in novels and stories.
Experiencing it personally, however, was considerably less enjoyable.
I couldn't walk, speak, or even control my head properly. Every basic necessity required someone else's assistance, and I quickly discovered that being an infant involved several rather humiliating experiences.
Still, there was one thing I appreciated more than anything else.
Sleep.
I could finally sleep.
After spending an unknown amount of time unable to escape my own consciousness, the ability to simply close my eyes and drift into unconsciousness felt like an extraordinary luxury.
Unfortunately, sleep wasn't always peaceful.
There were nights when I dreamed of the void, waking in a panic as memories of the endless darkness resurfaced. Sometimes I would cry uncontrollably, unable to distinguish my nightmares from reality.
Whenever that happened, the woman who had held me after my birth would appear. She would lift me from my cradle, gently rock me, and whisper comforting words until I calmed down.
Although I couldn't understand her language, I gradually came to recognise her voice.
She was my mother.
My new mother.
And despite everything I had experienced, I found myself growing attached to her.
Over the following months, I became familiar with the rest of my family.
My father was a tall, broad-shouldered man with dark hair and a serious expression. He usually returned home wearing a long coat over a waistcoat, with a silver pocket watch hanging from his chest. Despite his intimidating appearance, he was surprisingly gentle whenever he held me.
Then there was my older sister.
She appeared to be around four years old, with dark brown hair, bright blue eyes, and an almost endless supply of energy.
Unlike my parents, who seemed content simply holding me, she treated me as though I were some fascinating new discovery.
She frequently leaned over my cradle, poked my cheeks, and attempted to entertain me with ridiculous expressions.
At first, I found her behaviour rather irritating.
However, after spending so long completely alone, I couldn't bring myself to dislike her attention.
One afternoon, she spent several minutes attempting to make me laugh. After watching her puff out her cheeks and cross her eyes repeatedly, I eventually let out a small chuckle.
Her reaction was immediate.
She rushed out of the room, shouting excitedly for our mother.
Apparently, making her younger brother laugh was an achievement worth celebrating.
I couldn't help smiling.
Perhaps having an older sister wouldn't be so bad.
By the time I approached my first birthday, I had begun understanding fragments of the language spoken around me.
It was unlike anything I remembered from Earth, but through constant exposure, I gradually learned to associate certain words with people, objects, and actions.
My name, apparently, was Lucien.
Lucien Ashford.
My father was Adrian Ashford, my mother was Marianne, and my older sister was Evelyne.
We lived in a modest two-storey house on the outskirts of Bellhaven, a relatively peaceful town situated within the Golden Continent of Aurelia.
I had learned the continent's name from conversations between my parents, although I still knew very little about the world itself.
My father worked as a railway engineer, while my mother earned additional income as a seamstress. We weren't particularly wealthy, but our family lived comfortably enough.
It reminded me of my previous life.
A stable household, loving parents, and relatively few hardships.
The difference was that I no longer considered such things meaningless.
I had learned, in the worst possible way, how precious an ordinary life could be.
Still, I couldn't help feeling curious about my new surroundings.
The world appeared remarkably similar to Earth during the early twentieth century.
Men wore tailored coats, waistcoats, polished boots, and occasionally top hats. Women dressed in long skirts, fitted jackets, decorative hats, and gloves.
The streets were lined with brick buildings, horse-drawn carriages, and unfamiliar mechanical vehicles. Railway tracks connected Bellhaven to larger cities, while factories operated beyond the residential districts.
However, certain details didn't quite fit.
For instance, our house contained lamps powered by glowing blue crystals rather than electricity.
At first, I assumed they were simply an unfamiliar form of technology.
That assumption changed one evening when I witnessed my father repairing a small mechanical device.
He had returned home carrying something resembling an oversized pocket watch. After removing its damaged components, he inserted a small blue crystal into the mechanism.
Then he raised his hand.
A faint blue light emerged from his fingers, flowing into the device like thin strands of liquid.
The mechanism immediately began operating.
I stared in disbelief.
Was that… magic?
My father noticed my expression and chuckled. Raising one finger, he produced a tiny sphere of blue light that hovered above his hand.
Evelyne clapped excitedly beside him.
I reached towards the sphere, but my father withdrew his hand before I could touch it.
There was no mistaking what I had witnessed.
Magic existed in this world.
Actual magic.
For the first time since my reincarnation, I felt genuine excitement about the possibilities awaiting me.
Over the following months, I began paying closer attention to conversations involving magic.
The energy my father manipulated was apparently called Aether, a supernatural force used in everything from household appliances to transportation and combat.
People capable of manipulating Aether were commonly referred to as mages, although their abilities varied considerably.
My father possessed relatively modest magical capabilities, primarily using Aether to operate and repair machinery.
Evelyne, on the other hand, seemed particularly fascinated by magic.
She frequently begged our father to demonstrate techniques and attempted to imitate him whenever she had the opportunity.
Most of her attempts ended in disappointment.
Until one afternoon.
I was sitting on the floor, struggling to arrange several wooden blocks into a tower, when a sharp crackling sound caught my attention.
Evelyne stood nearby with her right hand extended.
Tiny blue sparks danced between her fingers.
Before I could react, a small bolt of electricity struck the wooden floor.
Crack!
Evelyne yelped in surprise, while I fell backwards, knocking over my carefully constructed tower.
Our mother immediately rushed into the room.
After confirming that neither of us was injured, she scolded Evelyne for practising magic without supervision.
My sister looked disappointed, although I noticed her occasionally glancing at her fingers with barely concealed excitement.
I understood how she felt.
Watching someone produce lightning with their bare hands was fascinating.
Naturally, I wanted to try it myself.
Unfortunately, I had no idea where to begin.
Whenever I attempted to imitate my father or sister, nothing happened.
I couldn't even sense the mysterious energy they called Aether.
Perhaps I was simply too young.
Or perhaps I lacked the necessary talent.
Either way, I decided that I would learn eventually.
It was a strange feeling.
In my previous life, I had spent years avoiding challenges because I feared failure.
Now, I found myself genuinely looking forward to learning something difficult.
Maybe dying had changed me more than I realised.
As my understanding of the language improved, I also began discovering that this world wasn't nearly as peaceful as Bellhaven made it appear.
One evening, I overheard my parents discussing a merchant caravan that had been attacked while travelling through a nearby forest.
Several guards had been killed, and the surviving merchants claimed that a group of creatures known as Aberrants had emerged from the wilderness.
Apparently, such incidents weren't uncommon.
The forests and mountains surrounding human settlements were inhabited by dangerous monsters, some of which possessed magical abilities.
My father mentioned that an Adept had been dispatched to investigate the attack.
I didn't understand what an Adept was, but judging by his tone, it appeared to be a title associated with considerable strength.
The conversation left me with mixed feelings.
On one hand, the existence of magic and monsters made this world seem far more exciting than my previous one.
On the other hand, I had no intention of dying again.
Not after everything I had experienced.
I looked towards the window, where the distant mountains rose beyond Bellhaven's rooftops.
For the first time, I wondered what lay beyond the safety of our town.
The thought was both frightening and strangely appealing.
My first truly unusual experience occurred several months later.
It was late at night, and I was lying awake in my cradle, watching the pale blue light emitted by the crystal lamp near the doorway.
I had spent much of the evening thinking about Aether.
Despite repeatedly witnessing my father and sister manipulate it, I still couldn't understand how they managed to produce such extraordinary effects.
I raised my hand and attempted to imitate the movements I had observed.
Nothing happened.
I sighed inwardly.
Of course it wouldn't be that easy.
As I lowered my arm, however, something caught my attention.
Faint blue particles appeared to be drifting through the air.
At first, I assumed they were dust illuminated by the lamp, but their movements were strangely unnatural.
They seemed to be flowing towards me.
I blinked several times.
The particles remained.
Curious, I raised my hand again.
The particles changed direction, gathering around my fingers.
What…?
A strange sensation stirred within my chest.
It was difficult to describe.
There was no warmth, pressure, or pain.
Instead, I felt an unfamiliar emptiness, as though something deep within me had suddenly awakened.
The sensation was disturbingly familiar.
Before I could understand why, the particles accelerated.
The lamp flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then the blue particles converged around my body and vanished.
The crystal lamp immediately went dark.
My heart lurched.
The sudden darkness triggered memories I had desperately tried to suppress.
The void.
The silence.
The endless isolation.
For one terrifying moment, I could almost believe I had returned to that place.
I screamed.
My body thrashed against the blanket as panic overwhelmed me.
Footsteps sounded outside my room, and the door opened moments later.
"Lucien!"
My mother hurried towards me, lifting me into her arms.
I clung desperately to her clothing.
Her warmth and familiar heartbeat gradually pulled me back to reality.
I was home.
I wasn't alone.
The darkness couldn't hurt me here.
At least, that was what I wanted to believe.
My father entered shortly afterward, carrying another lamp.
He examined the extinguished crystal before removing it from its socket.
I noticed him frowning.
The crystal, which had previously glowed with a brilliant blue light, was now completely colourless.
He turned it over several times, clearly confused.
My mother asked him what had happened.
After a brief hesitation, he replied that the crystal was probably defective.
However, something about his expression suggested he wasn't entirely convinced.
Neither was I.
Because even after my mother carried me into her bedroom, I could still feel that strange emptiness within my chest.
Only now, it seemed different.
As though something had entered it.
Something that hadn't been there before.
That night, I dreamed of the void.
I stood once again in the endless darkness, surrounded by the same unbearable silence that had haunted me for what felt like an eternity.
However, something was different.
A faint light appeared in the distance.
Within it stood a familiar silhouette.
The entity.
I couldn't remember its appearance clearly, but I recognised its presence.
For several moments, it remained motionless, seemingly observing me.
Then it spoke.
"How extraordinary."
Its voice echoed through the darkness.
"A soul that should have vanished has begun to consume."
I tried to respond, but my body refused to move.
The entity appeared to be examining something within me.
For the first time, I sensed uncertainty in its voice.
"Impossible…"
The surrounding darkness trembled.
Then the figure slowly turned towards me.
"What have you become?"
Before I could comprehend its words, the dream ended.
I awoke to the morning sunlight streaming through my bedroom window.
For several moments, I lay motionless, recalling what I had witnessed.
The mysterious particles.
The extinguished crystal.
The familiar emptiness within my chest.
And the entity's final question.
I looked down at my small hands.
Whatever had happened that night, I was certain of one thing.
There was something unusual about me.
And I had a feeling that my second life would be anything but ordinary.