How could this be happening?
Mother... Father... where are you? What have they done to you?
As Athen looked around him, beyond the metal bars that kept him prisoner, he saw fire. Intense burning flames that destroyed every inch of the town and people he had grown to love over the last 15 years.
A bit in the distance, a group of strange soldiers had round up many of the townsfolk he knew.
Aubrey! Martha!
Two of the girls were people he was especially close with, his closest friends in fact. Although they were blindfolded and clearly beaten, he could easily tell them apart from everyone else in town. How couldn't he? They were the only people that truly accepted him for who he was.
Behind them was two soldiers, armed with large battle-axes. As they raised their axes above their heads, Athen knew what was to come.. but he couldn't accept it.
...
[ 15 years ago ]
Where am I?
There was nothing.. that's not quite right. Although the man couldn't sense anything, the endless void before him seemed to be filled with something that could be felt beyond the traditional five senses. It was.. grief? A slurry of all that is negative perhaps? That was the best way the man could describe it to himself.
Am I dead? I think I was walking home from work.. yeah I had just left a truly miserable shift.
Work? Right.. I had to take care of my sister so I had gotten a job.
The man seemed unable to remember any specific details about his life, in fact, he couldn't remember his own name or face, let alone his 'sister' that seemed to recall needing to care for.
As he drifted through this endless void, he tried remembering any personal details about himself, but he just couldn't. The harder he tried to remember, the more it seemed to slip away from him. But at the very least, he remembered some general concepts about the world he lived on.
He had lived on a planet called 'Earth'. It was a technologically advanced society with people across the globe connected through the Internet. He seemed to recall that just before his apparent 'death', a group of scientists from Germany had made a strange discovery. During their search for black holes to study, they had noticed a particularly large and concerning celestial body. It was similar to a black hole, in the sense that it distorted all space-time around it, to the extent that not even light could escape. If that was all then it would just be an interesting discovery, but it was large. Much too large. By their best estimations, it was at least the size of 5 galaxies.
How could such a large phenomena go unnoticed for so long? With its sheer scale, it was even visible with the naked eye. It was as if it had appeared of out thin air.
Strange.. considering the circumstances I'm in now it shouldn't be a stretch to assume that such an incident was relevant. In fact, it was already bizarre that I can remember the article with such clarity but could hardly recall a single detail about myself.
Well, it's not as if I could solve anything about it here, especially with my lack of knowledge about astronomy or most science for that matter.
Although there were many questions that he couldn't answer, it wasn't as if he could do anything about them now. He figured it would be wiser to just continue drifting until something changed, else he would just resign himself to his fate.
It wasn't until what felt like months had passed that there was finally a change in this endless void, a small white light in the far distance. The light slowly grew larger and larger until it consumed the man and his surroundings completely.
As the bright light faded, he began to hear the sounds of birds chirping, and sights of a beautiful rural town appeared before him. It was certainly much less developed than Earth, in fact, it was probably one or two hundred years behind technologically. Despite that, everyone around him seemed to be extremely happy and healthy. It was an extremely vibrant town, with greenery everywhere the eye could see and families walking around happily.
"Athen." A clear and stern voice called out to him from behind, and as the man turned around he saw a man in a very clean and lavish suit was standing a few feet in front.
I suppose I must be 'Athen', then.
"Let's go, we don't have time to dawdle."
It was then that a terrible headache assaulted the man, as a swarm of memories invaded him. Memories of the 'Athen' person he had found himself possessing the body of. Athen de Vars was the 8 year old son of a local lord, Malric de Vars. As the only son and expected heir to his father, Athen was being raised with a lot of pressure and expectations, with an especially rigorous education. Rigorous, for the standard of this world, it certainly didn't contain nearly the amount that he had learned on Earth. But Athens education contained a lot more about how to conduct himself as a noble, and was more closely related to becoming the successor and lord of this land.
It seems Athen was quite talented, not the extent of being a true 'genius' but he definitely wasn't far off.
"Hm? Is something the matter?" His father asked.
"Ah! Sorry, Father, it's nothing." Athen figured it was best to maintain his image, and not let the absurdity of his situation lead to any suspicions. So he simply continued following behind his Father as they walked back home.
It seems I've transmigrated.. I believe that would be the best word to describe what's happening. There doesn't seem to be anything interesting of note, beyond the fact that this world is definitely closer to the medieval era of Earth.
That's certainly a shame, if I was going to transmigrate it would've been nice to get magical powers or something.
At least to Athens memories and understandings, there were no signs of anything magical or supernatural. Even as a noble, albeit a lower ranked one, if there was something so esoteric he would surely have knowledge of it.
"Your mother is certainly going all out today, she's prepared quite the feast." His father said with a slight chuckle. Despite his strict appearance and demeanor, he was a very doting and loving father. Both of his parents were especially caring, and although there was a great degree of pressure for Athen to become a proper successor, it wasn't a super draining task with such supportive parents.
They had finally arrived back at their manor.
Phew.. it certainly is a large house. It would definitely cost a few million back on Earth.
As they entered the house and walked towards the dining room, Athen made note of the lack of maids or other housekeepers. According to his memories, his parents prefered a simpler life. If they had a choice, they would've lived in a house similar to the rest of the townspeople, unfortunately the other nobles and the Kings house would definitely not approve of that. They were nobles, and they needed to look the part.
In the dining room, they both immediately noticed that the table was covered in very lavish and deliciously looking meals.
It actually looks.. really good?!
Athen hadn't fully organized his new memories yet, mostly getting the general idea for where he was and who he was, so he was expecting food that would be farfetched from what he was used to. But that certainly wasn't the case, the food both smelt and looked incredible.
"How are my two handsome men doing? I've missed you both!" A beautiful young woman walked into the room, this was Athens' mother, Elena de Vars.
"I missed you too dear, thank you for the feast, it looks incredible" Malric said softly as he embraced Elena.
"Mhm! Thank you Mother!" Athen said back, doing his best to appear as a normal 8 year old child.
"Huhuhu~ of course I'd go all out today! You both went all out today helping the townspeople, so you deserve to be treated as well." She responded as he hugged Athen.
Ahhh... I was kinda nervous to deal with my doting parents but I definitely can't complain about it. I'm not sure of the details, but I don't seem to recall being cared for to such an extent in my past life.
The family then sat down and began to eat, while chatting passively and just enjoying each others presence.
Towards the end of dinner, Malric then addressed Athen with a more stern tone.
"Athen, after this go wash off and then come see me in my study."
"Yes, Father." During the course of dinner, Athen had spent most of his time organizing and going over his memories, and thus had a decent idea of what his Father wanted to discuss.
After walking upstairs and entering his room, Athen immediately collapsed on the floor.
This is all so much, I'm surprised I've been able to hold on for this long without breaking or making any blunders.
Indeed, ever since he appeared in that void he had spent all his time and willpower on staying positive and thinking about his situation, and then he appeared in the body of Athen. Even after leaving the void, he couldn't afford to slack off. He had to act in a way befitting of a noble child, all while having randomly appeared in a new world and with new memories he needed time to digest.
I suppose a bath would be a nice way to relax before meeting with Father again, besides I really don't have the energy to deal acting my part for now.