Hell

—Huh? What is this? What's going on? Where am I? And why can't I move? Am I pinned down? What's wrong with my body?

Jon was starting to panic. His condition had suddenly gotten much worse, he couldn't move his body at all, not even to lift his hand, and had to exert a lot of effort just to do so. Cold sweat began to coat his panicked body.

—A dream. Am I dreaming?

He wondered, but everything felt so real and he didn't wake up from his sleep like a normal person would when they realized they were dreaming.

—It's colder here. Am I dead?

Jon became even more anxious. His brain tried to process everything that had just happened to him. In his last memory, he was sitting by a wall in a very bright place. But now he was lying on a bed in a fairly dark room, like a bedroom that wasn't his.

Jon tried to stand up, even though it hurt and was heavy. Eventually, he managed to stand and hobble over to the window to open the curtains. Light flooded into the room and he saw a mirror nearby. Jon was shocked when he saw his own reflection in the mirror. He touched his head and face slowly.

—Who is he? No, who am I?

Jon couldn't believe what he was seeing. His usually tall body that looked down on others now felt much lower, not even reaching half of his usual height. He had become a small, very thin child with pale white skin, long whitish yellow hair, and red eyes. Jon's mind was racing and he felt like he was in a nightmare.

—What happened to me? How could I change like this?

Jon was very surprised by his drastic change. He couldn't understand why this could happen to him. Jon didn't believe it at first, but after he moved his hands and legs, stuck out his tongue, and twisted his body, the reflection in the mirror really followed every movement of his.

—This... is me?!

Jon was both shocked and mesmerized by his own face suddenly becoming slightly more handsome, and even the wound he had disappeared. After that, Jon carefully checked himself. At first, Jon thought he was inside the body of a little girl. But after checking again, he was relieved to still have his "little friend" down there indicating that Jon was a man.

However, Jon was surprised to see his reflection looking very skinny. Jon wanted to make sure and took off his clothes. Jon's body was indeed small and skinny to the point where you could see the shape of his rib bones.

"What is this?!! Ten years ago, my body was not this small and skinny. Is this normal for a little child?!!"

Shortly after, someone opened the door carrying a basin of water, and accidentally spilled it after seeing Jon standing upright facing the mirror. It was a beautiful woman with long tied hair.

"Merlin?" the woman called.

"Ha..?" Jon asked confused.

The woman suddenly cried and hugged Jon instantly. For some reason, Jon also shed a tear.

"Huh? What's wrong with me? Who is she? Why do I feel so sad? Do I know her?"

Tears that Jon had never shed in his life, except when he was a baby, flowed uncontrollably. Jon didn't understand, but deep in his heart, he felt very familiar with the woman.

That tear was the proof.

Unconsciously, Jon followed his instincts and hugged the woman tightly. After that, the woman held Jon's hand and told him to follow her.

"Can you walk on your own?" the woman asked Jon, and Jon answered by simply nodding.

Although in reality, Jon's body still felt weak and very heavy to walk, Jon forced himself to walk on his own.

At first, Jon felt strange about what the woman said because the language she used was very different from what Jon was used to in his life. However, for some reason, Jon understood and empathized very well.

Jon walked with his hand tightly held by the woman. Although his body was still weak, Jon tried to remain strong and keep walking. They both left the room, went down the stairs, and went to the yard. In front of the yard, with a distance of twenty-five meters, there was a quite large but not too big field.

On the other hand, Jon saw a very large field, but for some reason, he didn't see any plants or crops in the field. As far as the eye could see, it was just barren and dry land. And in the middle of the area, there was a man who was plowing the land with a hoe.

"Darling!" the woman shouted to someone working in the field.

The man looked at the woman standing next to Jon, and he stopped his activity.

"Darling! Merlin! Merlin is awake!"

The man left his hoe behind and ran towards Jon and the woman next to him. Upon arrival, the man immediately hugged Jon while crying with emotion.

Jon, once again, didn't understand the situation, but for some reason, he felt very nostalgic about the two of them. Jon knew the real name of the child who was currently near him, which was Merlin. And those two people were his parents.

The three of them entered the house and sat together at the dining table. With just boiled potatoes and water to eat, they looked very grateful and very happy. Once again, Jon didn't understand, but he was also happy, a strange and unfamiliar feeling for him.

"Who are they? Why am I so emotional? I don't know them. What kind of dream is this? How can I taste these boiled potatoes? How can I taste the water that just entered my throat? Isn't this a dream? Someone please wake me up."

He couldn't do anything about the situation that was happening to him. After eating, Jon returned to his room and tried to sleep, hoping that when he opened his eyes, he would wake up from his dream and return to reality on Earth.

But when tomorrow came, Jon was still awake in the same room, in the same condition, and he was still in the body of a little child. Jon still thought positively, maybe his dream wasn't over yet.

Suddenly, Jon realized, what kind of dream could he consciously have if he was dreaming? Usually, when someone realizes they are dreaming, they will wake up.

Dreams may be able to do things as freely as Jon is experiencing now, such as eating, drinking, sleeping, and waking up as he pleases.

—But is this real? Have I mastered the world of dreams?

Jon held every part of his body and tried to hurt himself by pinching and slapping himself as hard as possible.

"Hmmh!!!"

—I can feel it, this is real.

Jon opened his bedroom window and the wind from outside entered the room passing through his body. Jon thought about jumping out of his second floor room. He stood at the edge of the balcony.

—If I die, what will happen? Will I wake up? Or...will I really die? But wait! I know I'm stupid, damn it...what was I just thinking? Besides, how could I die just by jumping from the second floor? However, this small body...ah forget it.

Jon abandoned his intention, closed his window tightly, and looked back at the mirror. Jon still couldn't believe and accept the reality he was experiencing. Everything felt very real, and Jon couldn't deny it.

—Isn't this what I want? Don't I want to leave my life behind? Don't I want to live among strangers who don't know me at all? Did God hear my wish? But what I asked for was a peaceful life with my old body, not living as someone else. And also...this body, it's truly terrible, more terrible than the name 'Jon'. Damn it, how long will it take for me to get my body back?

Jon was slightly motivated, and accepted everything he was experiencing with an open mind. This life is the life he has always wanted. There is no one who knows him, no one who is afraid of him, no one who challenges him to fight, no one who asks him to fight for them, no annoying calls coming out of the mouths of people who claim to be his friends or subordinates.

The next day, Jon tried to find out a little information about himself, his family, and where he was. He started by asking some questions to his parents at the breakfast table before they started their activities.

Jon stood up from his chair and looked at his parents, Merlin, but suddenly he felt nervous.

"Uh..."

—What should I say? What language should I speak? And what should I call them? Uncle? Aunt? Dad? Mom? Papa? Mama? Mother? Father?!! Umi? Abi?!!! Damn it!! Why now? And also... it doesn't mean I have trouble socializing! It's just strange. Why should I call someone who is completely a stranger to me father or mother? Damn it! Why now?!!

Jon was unsure of what he was going to ask and what language he was going to use. He stood for quite a long time until the feeling of awkwardness began to invade his mind.

"What's wrong, Merlin? Are you hungry? Ahh... Are you hungry? Since birth, you've always liked to eat a lot, even when your mother breastfed you, you were so greedy that I didn't get any," said Merlin's father.

"What do you mean, dear?" Merlin's mother asked her husband about his slightly strange question.

"Ah... nothing, you misheard," answered Merlin's father.

"Merlin, forgive me. We haven't got any more results since that day on the field. But, don't worry, your father won't give up! I will keep trying my best! They call me the god of farmers, I can't give up, Merlin! I'll work even harder. You wait here with your mother, I'm going."

"Mom?" Jon asked his mother.

"Hmm? Are you okay, dear?" his mother asked.

"To be honest, I don't know anything. You could say I have amnesia. I don't remember anything before I woke up. Maybe it's a bit strange to you, but could you tell me who I am, who you all are, where I am, and what happened to me before? Why do you seem so emotional, when I just woke up from sleep, right?" Jon asked.

His mother was a little surprised when her four-year-old son asked a question that was unlikely to come from a child his age. However, she was already used to her son since his birth until a tragedy that happened a year ago. Her son's rapid development made her normalize everything related to her child.

"Hmm, you're Merlin Yvkiasha, my child and my husband's child. I'm Nina Yvkiasha, and your father is Ajzel Yvkiasha. We are farmers and live in a remote village called Railis, a village of farmers ... in the past, and we are in the Merlin kingdom. You just woke up from a long sleep, but slowly and surely you will remember everything. And why are we so emotional? Of course, because you are our beloved child. No parent is not sad when their child is sick. We love you very much, that's what happened, Merlin."

Jon was very surprised. Both of them could understand what Jon said. Somehow Jon could speak their language fluently and understand what they were saying.

—Strange, am I that smart? And also...long sleep? Did this child just wake up from a coma? No wonder his body feels very weak. I remember what happened to me when I lost consciousness for three days. Did this child experience the same thing? I guess our fate is the same. Sorry, now I'm controlling your body.

Day after day, Jon went through his routine in that place.

Everything he did every day was exactly the same and there was nothing different. Jon felt very bored and frustrated. His life as a little child wasn't as beautiful as he imagined. So bored, for a moment Jon wanted to go back to his original world. However, Jon realized there was no way to go back.

What made Jon feel very bored and disappointed was the condition of the village that was too deserted to be called a village. As far as the eye could see, only the three of them lived in the village. Jon did not see any other life in the village, not even for animals.

Jon began to suspect that the village was too quiet for the size of a village, and too big if the village was their family's private land. Jon really wanted to leave the village and find out any information about his current place of residence. At least he hoped to see one other living creature besides his parents.

Jon once thought that he might already be dead, and now he was in hell. Maybe this was hell, although he was not physically tortured, Jon felt mentally tortured. Jon couldn't take it anymore, he decided to leave the village as soon as possible.