Settling In

23/6/969 AD 

It has been just over a month since I was introduced to my new parents, Cordelia and Harald. Life with them has been great. It is much more befitting of my body rather than the ocean life I'm so used to. I can now walk quite proficiently as well as knowing a great deal of their language. I've become a lot more skilled at handling this body on land, which I've now discovered is called "human body". I am a human! 

"Good morning, Mum!" I spoke as I rose out from my bed. 

"Good morni-" her head spun around in an instant. "Did you just say all that in one go?!" 

"Y-yes?" I answered, slightly confused. 

"This is amazing! It took you at least 2 or 3 attempts to say that, only yesterday!" Cordelia was upon me in an instant. "You're such a genius! It's only been a month and you can already speak so well!" 

"Thank you!" I smiled brightly at my "mother". 

*Knock knock* 

Cordelia moved away from me, headed for the door. She swung it open, revealing a man who was at least a head taller than herself. "I have the firewood!" the man, who was my "father", stated as he moved into the house. "Harald! You won't believe this!" Cordelia exclaimed, like an excited little child. 

"What? Won't believe what?" he exhaled loudly as he set the firewood down near the fireplace. 

"He said 'Good morning, Mum,' all in one go!" she was jumping all around him, very excitedly. 

"So, he can speak, can he?" Harald turned his gaze on me. "Speak, boy! I need to see if this is real!" 

"Um. Good morning, Dad." I blurted out, not sure what else to say. 

"What? Is 'Good morning,' all you can say? Say something else!" Harald demanded. 

"L-like what?" I answered nervously. 

"Well, I suppose that works," his voice trailed off as another, more excited voice drowned his out. 

"I know! I know! Tell us your name!" Cordelia's voice was that excited voice. 

"My name?" 

"Mhm!" Cordelia gave an excited little nod. 

'Wait! What is my name?!' I thought desperately, realising I lacked a name. As I raked my mind frantically for an answer, a single word rose up above all others. And that word was "Aslerta". 

"My name is Aslerta!" the words flooded out of my mouth before I could even realise what I was saying. 

"Aslerta?" Harald and Cordelia both said in unison. 

"What an odd name," Harald muttered. 

"Is it Welsh?" Cordelia asked curiously. 

"Welsh? What is Welsh?" I asked, eager to grow my knowledge. 

"Oh, Welsh is like a language. And Welsh is spoken in Wales," Cordelia answered. 

"Oh, I see. So, are we Welsh?" 

"No, we're English. We are close to the Welsh people though, in terms of distance," Cordelia answered knowledgably. 

"Enough with the Welsh and English talk!" Harald's voice boomed, drowning out the other voices in the room. "Now that you've shut up. Aslerta, do you remember that promise I made that first night we had you?" 

"Uh, no?" I responded; my head tilted slightly out of curiosity. 

"Well, let me remind you. I said that when you could speak, you would join me out in the fields. And, well, you seem rather proficient at speaking to me," Harald paused for a moment, before continuing "So, Aslerta, today you shall join me out in the fields for the first time!" 

"R-really?!" I asked, excited to finally do something. 

"Yes, really. Now, follow me! We've got fields to tend to!" Harald commanded as he pivoted towards the door. 

"Bye Mum! See you later!" I waved at my mother, Cordelia as I walked out the door with Harald. 

"Bye Aslerta! Come back safely!" Cordelia responded, a joyous smile lighting up her face. 

*** 

"So, Dad, what are we doing today?" I asked eagerly. 

"Well, Aslerta. First, we've got to check up on the animals. Can't let them die, can we?" Harald chuckled lightly to himself. 

"And how do we do that?" I asked, lacking all the knowledge of a farmer. 

"Well, first we've got to check the grass. If there's not enough grass, then we ought to move the animals. Then we'll have to go fetch them some more water." Harald responded, answering all my questions. "Actually, how about you go fetch some water? It'll be much quicker that way," Harald suggested. 

"Um, how?" 

"Oh, you really know nothing about anything. What were you doing before we found you?" Harald muttered, shaking his head. "Well, anyway, just go fill up a bucket with the water from the river. Keep in mind, it has to be from the river, can't be ocean water. Got it?" Harald pointed in the direction of the river. "Got it," I nodded firmly, grabbing two buckets up from the side of the house. I swiftly began marching towards the river. 

I passed by many different houses and fields full of crops and animals. There were farmers everywhere, moving their animals around, tending to their fields. It seemed like a very full lifestyle, full to the brim with work. It didn't take long until I reached the river. Our house was actually rather close to it, only a 5 or so minute walk. Standing on the riverbed, I looked out over the river in awe. My body nearly leapt right in, but thankfully my mind reinformed me of my purpose being there. It wasn't to swim; I'd have to do that in my free time. Rather, it was to fill these buckets. I stepped into the water, lowering the buckets down into the water. The water quickly filled the buckets to the brim. But what I didn't expect was for the buckets to be so heavy. "Ugh, I can't carry these buckets all the way back! They're so heavy," I exclaimed as I slowly trudged out of the water. I was already panting by the time I'd walked up the riverbed. "I can't do this!" I complained as I dropped the buckets to the floor. I stood still, breathing deeply for a little while until my ears picked up the sound of someone walking towards me. "Who's there?" I spoke in between breaths as I looked up. 

"H-hello? A-are you alright?" a voice that sounded around the same age as I spoke, only female. 

"No, I'm not alright," I growled. 

"S-so, do you want any help?" the girl asked nervously. 

"What? But you're a girl! If I can't lift these, then surely a girl can't," 

"Are you sure about that?" the girl's confidence skyrocketed as she saw something to impress the boy. She calmly walked in front of the two buckets. "Pfft, there's no way you can lift them!" 

However, to my complete and utter surprise, she grabbed a hold of each of the bucket's handles before easily lifting them up. "WHAT?! H-HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!" my jaw dropped in shock. 

"How can you not lift these? They're so light!" the girl giggled. 

"Fine, fine. I admit, you're stronger than me. For now, that is," I smirked slightly before continuing "Well now, I've got places to be. You can carry those buckets for me," 

"But what if I've got places to be too?" she countered. 

"Well, why would I care? Anyway, come along now!" I marched confidently out away from the river, quickly followed by the girl. As we exited the forest clearing in which the river lay, I turned my head around a bit to look at the girl behind me. The second my eyes focused on her, I felt my cheeks go red and my heart rate increase. 'W-what is this?! Why are my cheeks so warm?!' I thought frantically, my head stuck looking ahead so she couldn't see this. "So, I don't recall seeing you around here before. Are you new here?" she asked curiously. 

"Y-yes, I-I'm new here," I stammered nervously, my cheeks still overheating. 'Snap out of it Aslerta! Why are you so nervous all of a sudden?!' I thought to myself desperately. 

"I see. Then you wouldn't know my name, would you?" she asked, receiving a shake of my head in response. "Well, my name's Irene! Nice to meet you..." Irene paused for a second, not being able to finish her sentence. 

"Aslerta. My name's Aslerta," I murmured quietly. 

"Aslerta? That's an odd name. Where are you from?" 

"The ocean. I'm from the ocean," the more I talked to Irene, the less nervous I got. My confidence was slowly returning. 

"The ocean? You mean across the ocean?" Irene asked, unsure of what I meant. 

"No. Not across. In the ocean," I answered. 

"What do you mean in the ocean? How could you live in the ocean? Wouldn't you just drown?" questions fell out of her mouth, one after the other. 

"Yes, I suppose you would drown," I went silent as all the memories of the many millions of times I'd drowned to death in the ocean welled up within my mind. "So, are you saying you did drown?" Irene asked with great confusion. But I couldn't hear her. I was preoccupied with all the great and bad memories I'd made in the ocean. I remembered how fun it was living with Laboon, ignoring how disgusting it is to live inside of a stomach (wouldn't recommend). I remembered how amazing it was to live with those dolphins; how fun it was to race Kalewi and the rest of the adults. "Oh, what fun times they were," the edges of my eyes stung as tears welled up and poured down my cheeks. 

"What was that?" Irene asked, tearing me out of my revery. 

"Huh, oh, t-that was nothing," I stuttered as the fiery cheek syndrome took over once more. 'Why are my cheeks burning again?! And here I thought I'd already treated it. I really hope she didn't see me crying,' I thought to myself. 

"Right... So, are you going to answer my question?" Irene asked, very eager to get a response. 

"W-what? What question?" I stammered, frantically wiping away my tears. 

"Seriously? Do I have to ask it again?" she responded in an annoyed tone which received a nervous nod from me. "Fine then. What I asked you was if you drowned or not? You know, how you said you lived in the ocean?" 

"Uh, yes, I did drown. Many times, actually," I answered in a proud tone, not that that was anything to be proud of (but anything to impress Irene, I suppose). 

"Do you seriously expect me to believe that? How are you alive then?" 

"What do mean? How does anyone stay dead?" I queried, confused, since I thought everyone came back from the dead. 

"What is that supposed to mean? When you die, you die. And you say you've drowned many times, so how are you alive?!" 

"O-oh? Really? So, are you saying that, when you die, you... Can't come back?" 

"Yes! Yes, that's what I'm saying!" she exclaimed, frustrated that it took him so long to understand. 

"Well then, what if I said, I can't die?" 

"That's impossible, everyone dies! You can't just not die!" 

"Right, that's true. I can in fact die. But the thing is, whenever I die, I come back to life," I answered matter-of-factly. 

"Pfft-hahahaha," she broke into laughter upon hearing this. "How delusional can you be," she spoke in between laughter. 

"I am not delusional! It's true!" I tried to counter but this just made her laugh even harder. 

"Yeah, right!" 

It took her ages to stop laughing. I don't know how one could laugh so much at that. It wasn't even a joke. "It wasn't even that funny," I muttered as she finally shut up. 

"I suppose so," she sighed in relief as the last of her laughs escaped. 

We walked the rest of the way in silence until my eyes caught sight of a familiar person "Hey, Dad! I'm back with the water!" 

"Aslerta, where do you want me to put the buckets?" Irene whispered quietly. 

"Just leave them there," I pointed at the ground just in front of us. 

Irene gently placed the buckets down before turning around and bidding me farewell "Bye Aslerta! I hope we meet again!" 

I stared back, my cheeks going red again, "B-bye Irene!" 

I watched her walk away for a little while until I felt a large hand grip one of my shoulders. Frightened, I spun around, my eyes landing upon the culprit. It was Harald, my father. "You like her don't ya?" he whispered; a cheeky smile attached to his face. 

"L-like?! Is that why I was getting fiery cheek syndrome around her?" 

Harald tilted his head slightly, his face furrowed in confusion "Fiery cheek syndrome?" He pondered it for a second before a bright smile lit up his face "Is that what you call blushing?! You've really got some weird names, kid!" 

"S-so what do I do to stop blushing around her?" I asked awkwardly. 

"Don't worry buddy, you'll get used to her company eventually," he shot me a grin before continuing "Well now, no more mucking around. It's time for work!" 

"Luckily, their grass is all good, so we won't be having to move the animals today. Now, just wait here while I take their water over," 

*** 

The rest of the day was rather boring. After my father gave the animals their water, we baled hay for most of the day. If you're wondering, hay is created from cut up grass that is left out to dry for a few days (I got to skip that part since today my first day). After the grass dried, we raked it all together and then began the baling process. After that's complete, you have hay! Which you can feed all your animals with! 

Anyway, to end off the day, we checked up on the crop fields to make sure they were ready for next season's crops. Now, it is dusk and it's time for us to head home to eat some dinner. After a long day of hard work, a nice warm meal is just what I need! As soon as I stepped inside of the house, I was grabbed into a hug by my mother, Cordelia. "H-hello Mum," I greeted my mother as she hugged me tightly. "Ahem, Cordelia?" Harald's voice spoke as he stepped into the house. 

"Oh, right! You two must be hungry," Cordelia pulled away from the hug and swiftly prepared 3 bowls of the same soup thing we have most nights. I walked over to the table and sat down next to Cordelia, while Harald took the seat opposite her. "Here you go," Cordelia's sweet voice spoke as she handed Harald and I a bowl each. "Thank you!" Harald and I responded in sync. Practically the moment I got the bowl, I began stuffing my face with the food. I was really hungry. Back when I lived in the ocean, I never even lived long enough to get hungry or thirsty. So, I never knew that for a human or, anything, to live, they have to drink, eat and sleep. I thought dying and being reformed was just a natural way of life, but this past month living amongst the humans has taught me otherwise. Only I have the ability to be reformed. For everyone else, death is the end. Death is final. So, does that mean, eventually, after Cordelia, Harald and Irene die, I will be all alone? Are Laboon, Kalewi and the rest going to leave me too? Is this really my fate? 

I was almost tearing up at this point, but luckily, Harald came to the rescue "So, Cordelia, did Aslerta tell you about his little crush?" 

Hearing my name, I was pulled out of my thoughts "My crush? What's that supposed to mean?" 

"You kno-," before Harald could finish, Cordelia's voice exploded from beside me. 

"Really?! You like someone, Aslerta? What's her name? Is she pretty?!" Cordelia asked away like a curious toddler. 

"S-so that's what a crush is," the fiery cheek syndrome (or blushing for the weirdos) returned. 

"So, who is she?" Cordelia asked playfully. 

"Her name's Irene," I answered, nervously. 

"Irene? That's a lovely name!" Cordelia nodded in approval. 

Remembering what Irene said earlier about how death was "final", I decided to ask my parents "Is it true that when you die... Y-you can't come back?" 

Cordelia instantly shut up about Irene and looked me dead in the eyes "Why are you thinking about that, dear?" 

"W-well, I've been thinking about it and I- It's scary!" I burst into tears, my body trembling as the words left my mouth. 

"It's okay! It's okay!" Cordelia frantically tried to calm me, wrapping her arms around me. "You don't have to worry about that! You're only 9, you won't have to worry about that for a long time!" 

"B-but, I can't die!"  Cordelia seemed lost for words when she heard this. 

"What do you mean you can't die?" she asked, gently stroking the back of my head. 

"I-I can come back after I die. Death isn't final!" I stuttered as I sobbed in my mother's arms. Harald and Cordelia went silent as there was nothing they could say that wouldn't make the situation worse. 

"Y-you know how you found me on the beach, right?" calmer than before, I looked into my mother's eyes. 

"Mhm," she nodded, gently combing her fingers through my hair. 

"You probably think some boat ditched me there, don't you?" 

"Well, uh. Yes," she nodded. 

"Well, that's wrong! I came from beneath the water!" I admitted. 

"Are you sure, buddy?" Harald asked, obviously not believing one word I said. 

"You aren't a fish, Aslerta," Cordelia declared, with slight concern. 

"Why won't you two believe me?" I asked in astonishment, tearing myself out of my mother's arms. I sat back down on my seat beside Cordelia, rather grumpy. "Do you guys want to hear about my past or not?" 

Cordelia and Harald's eyes were open wide out of shock before they quietly nodded. 

"Well, you're going to have to believe me then!" 

"Fine, we believe you. We believe you lived in the ocean and that you can come back after death! Now, then, tell us about your past!" Harald growled. 

I then went on to tell them everything about my first 8 or so years of life. How I'd drowned to death continuously, for years on end. I told them about my encounter with sharks. I told them about my encounter with Kalewi and the other dolphins, I even spoke in Dolphin for them to make it more believable. And, finally, I ended it off, telling them about my journey with Laboon and how he brought me to the humans. By the end of it, Cordelia was almost crying "Oh my! How could such a young boy lead such a horrible life" 

But, Harald, on the other hand didn't seem to believe it one bit. He kept a straight face throughout the entire story. "So, do you guys believe me now? Or do you want more proof! I'm not afraid to die if that's what I must do to make you believe me!" most of this was directed at Harald who was looking at me with a frown. I stood up from my seat and stalked over to one of our chests. This chest was located just over near where Cordelia usually cooks, and it was full of cooking equipment. I grabbed a knife out of the chest and brought it to my neck. "I'll do it!" I declared confidently, pressing the knife against my neck with little force so I wouldn't cut myself. "No! Are you insane, don't kill yourself!" Cordelia exclaimed desperately, a stream of tears flowing down her face. 

"I think this is enough from you, young man!" Harald roared as he stood up from the table. 

"If you guys truly believed me, you wouldn't be worrying!" I smirked as I pressed the knife against my throat with even more force. Blood came streaming out from my neck, running along the knife before dripping onto the floor. "Bye bye!" I said playfully before slicing deeper into my neck. The knife sank deep into my neck as it exploded with blood. I choked and coughed, blood pouring from my mouth and neck. "No! Why did you have to die! You were so young!" Cordelia sank to her knees beside my corpse. It seemed even she didn't believe my story... Harald stood a few steps away, watching with a dark expression. 

My mind was sent into the dark realm of pure nothingness that is death. Everywhere I looked, all I saw was darkness. There was no ground, nor were there walls or a roof. I wonder how many others are in this ever-expanding plane of darkness. A bright beam shot down from within the darkness, flooding me with yellow light. My mind was torn out of the death realm and placed back inside my body. I felt the knife being pushed out of my neck as the skin and bone reformed around my wound. I felt all my fatigue, all my hunger and thirst being replenished. I slowly sat up with my repaired body and took a look around the house. I saw Harald, his eyes widened in complete and utter shock, I saw Cordelia who was still sobbing and hadn't even noticed I was alive again. "What?! How are you alive?! I-I saw you die!" Harald exclaimed in shock, stumbling back a few steps. 

"I already told you.  Should've listened," 

"What? Is that you Aslerta?!" Cordelia's crying calmed down as she looked up. "I-I-It's... You're alive!" she leapt onto me, wrapping her arms tightly around my small body. "Don't ever do that again! That was so scary!" 

"Now, do you two understand?" I asked. 

"Yes. We understand," Harald answered solemnly for both of them. "What a terrible curse it is that has befallen you," 

"Yes, yes, it is," I smiled, happy to have stolen their sympathy. "Well, now. After seeing and learning of such a horrific truth, you ought to be tired! So, why don't you two go to sleep now?" I asked convincingly. 

"Very true, but how about we all go to sleep?" Harald asked, pulling Cordelia, who had pretty much cried herself to sleep, off me. 

After that, Harald and Cordelia fell asleep rather quickly. It made sense, their minds must've been completely overloaded with all the information I disclosed. I, however, couldn't fall asleep. After all, I had been reborn that night, which exterminates all exhaustion from within my body. So, rather than lying in my bed, unable to sleep, I decided to get out of bed. I slowly rolled out of bed, quietly standing before I made my way to the door. I pulled the door back as slowly as I could, making as little noise as possible. Once the door was fulling open, I took a step out into the cold moonlight, quietly shutting the door behind me. "A midnight swim is exactly what I need!" I realised and began sprinting across the cool grass, towards the ocean. My little legs had gotten considerably more proficient at land swimming. I could already run faster than most adults. Thanks to that, it didn't take me long before I reached the shore. I felt the familiar feeling of sand on my feet as I ran across the sand. I ran further down the shore, until my feet hit the ice-cold water. Undeterred, I dove into the ocean, embracing the freezing water with open arms. "Ahh, I forgot how lovely the water was!" I sighed in Dolphin tongue. 

I swam elegantly through the water like a true dolphin would. I leapt out over the water, reminding me of my first time I saw the surface which I experienced this same way. "How nostalgic," I murmured in English. After a while of swimming around like there was no tomorrow, I eventually settled into a slower, calmer speed. "This is so much more relaxing than talking to those non-believers," I sighed as I floated around on my back. 

"Would I perhaps be a non-believer?" my head shot up as I heard the voice. My eyes quickly found the origin of the voice, it was a small young girl wearing a night gown. She had fair white skin, complimented by her beautiful bright blue eyes and long golden hair. It was Irene. "Oh, of course not, Irene!" I spoke, controlled by my feeling of "like" for her, even though she didn't believe me earlier today. "I know you're lying," she smiled sweetly at me as she lowered herself onto the sand. 

"But you saw me swimming earlier, didn't you? Wouldn't that make you a believer?" I tried defending myself, my face taken over by the fiery face syndrome. 

"Yes, I did see you swimming. It was beautiful. I've never seen anyone swim so fast or elegant as you," she tilted her head back slightly, her gaze lost within the moon. 

"T-thank you," I looked down nervously, trying to hide my fiery face. Trying to continue the conversation, I spoke again, "So, um. Are you even allowed to be out here this late?" 

"No." she answered bluntly. 

"Then, shouldn't you go home?!" 

"Oh? Should I? Are you even supposed to be out here?" she grinned at me as she asked the last question. My face turned even more red as I was defeated in verbal combat. Shaking my head, I admitted in defeat, "No," 

"Thought so!" she chuckled a bit. Her head was tilted sideways, as if in thought, her long, beautiful locks of blonde hair hanging down. Once she was pulled from her thoughts, she asked me a question "So, was everything you said to me earlier today... About how you've lived most your life underwater and how can come back from the dead... Is that all true?" 

My eyes widened slightly as I remembered the thing I was so upset about earlier tonight. I was eventually going to lose Irene too. Shaking my head to get rid of all the bad thoughts, I responded with a weak smile "Yes, it was all true," 

"Oh..." she looked down at her hands for a moment before lifting her head, so she was looking me in the eyes. "So, you have drowned? And, you have died?" I nodded quietly in response to her questions. Taking a deep breath, she asked another question "H-how many times h-have you... Died?" 

"Too many times to count. I used to drown to death every 15 or so minutes," I replied solemnly as I made my way out of the water. 

"I'm not sure if I should ask this. B-but, I'm really curious! What was death like?" Irene asked, both nervously and curiously. "Death is boring. Once you die, you are sent to an infinite realm of pure black. There is no movement, there is nothing. It's the pain before death that is the bad part." I answered knowledgably. 

"D-death doesn't sound nice," Irene's expression was one of fear, her eyes were on the verge of crying, her body quivering. 

"It isn't. But don't worry! I'll make sure you never have to experience death!" I placed my hand on her head as I stood over her, grinning cheerfully. Irene looked up and upon seeing my smile, her face also lightened up, her fear replaced by joy and hope. I took a step to the side and settled myself down onto the sand beside her. "Hey, Irene," I whispered nervously. 

Irene flicked her head to the side, her hair flying through the wind "Yes, Aslerta?" 

"I like you!" I spoke with a great big grin on my fiery red face. 

"Y-you l-like me?!" she exclaimed, her face also suffering from an extreme case of fiery face syndrome. "W-well, I suppose I... I like you too," she burrowed her fiery red face in her hands out of embarrassment.