Chapter 3 - New beginning

It was the middle of the night in the kingdom of Máni, and the full moon was shining down on the Fenrir clan's compound, located on the edge of a large forest.

One of the larger houses in the compound was a bustle of activity tonight. And the reason for this was a young-looking woman giving birth to her son. The woman looked beautiful and had long blond hair currently spread around her head as she lay in bed while huffing, puffing, and screaming. 

Several maids were busying around the room, caring for the woman's needs and acting as midwives. Luckily, the birth went smoothly, and soon enough, one of the midwives held a baby in the air. The baby seemed to be in good health, but they were surprised as the baby seemed very restless but refused to cry out. Regardless, they decided to pass this off as a coincidence and quickly gave him to the boy's mother.

The mother in question looked at her newborn son with a smile and said, "Hello, little one, I am your mother. I'm sorry your father can't be here with us." She said, as her smile turned sad, "I know you can't understand me right now, but please know that I'll explain your father's situation when you're older, and in the meantime, I'll do everything I can to be a good mother to you." 

As she finished her words, tears started forming in her eyes. She hugged her son a little tighter, if still carefully. Contrary to her belief, though, her son could somewhat understand her. She spoke a language that was a combination of various Scandinavian languages and old Norse. Regardless, he was too shocked to consider what she was saying, as he could only think, 'What the fuck is going on right now?! Where is Luna?!'

The boy tried to look around the room but found it hard to move, with his apparent mother hugging him tightly. The woman, who noticed her newborn child struggling in her embrace, quickly loosened her grip and apologised, "Oh, I'm sorry, dear. I guess I was hugging you too tightly."

The newborn baby was, of course, Hati. And right now, he was freaking out. Just before, he had not only felt himself dying; he also had to watch his wife die and wake up as a baby in a strange room while being swaddled in the arms of a strange woman. He felt justified in freaking out a little. It didn't take him long to calm down, though, as he felt that familiar energy he had known all his life course throughout his body. 

For a moment, he felt two things at the same time: anger at the many unknowns of his current situation and lust because a beautiful woman was hugging him. But neither of these feelings lasted more than a second as he felt his inner pride rising and forcing all other feelings aside. 

He had always had a conflicted relationship with the, frankly, unjustified pride, anger and lust he had felt all his life. But right now was one of the moments where he was thankful for his pride, as he felt all distracting thoughts and feelings being pushed aside. 

His anger about the situation, his slightly disturbing lust for his supposed mother, his confusion and even the sadness over the death of his wife were taking a back seat as he felt himself calm down and he started to think about his current situation.

'Obviously, I have no idea how I got here, what situation Luna is currently in, or even how long it has been since we died. But the fact that I am now in the body of a baby suggests that the various hippies and certain religions of the world were right, and reincarnation is a thing. 

However, that doesn't explain how I still have my memories, as I'm confident that's not normal; otherwise, this woman would assume I had an older person's mind. But since I'm here, that means that there is a possibility that Luna is still out there as well. After all, to my knowledge, Luna and I were the only people with abilities, which might have been what led to my reincarnation with my memories intact.' 

Whenever his pride took over, he always became much more logical, with his emotions being slightly suppressed. 'Either way, assuming that she is actually dead will do neither her nor me any good. Even if I didn't love her, which I do, we are still connected through our abilities, and I have had better control over them since she came into my life. 

Better to work from the assumption that she, too, has reincarnated because of her abilities and that I just have to find her, however long it takes. To do that, I need to start by figuring out where I am and how to best start searching.' As he thought about this, he started paying attention to his surroundings.

Immediately, he noticed the many women who were fussing over himself and his supposed mother as he thought, 'Their clothes are relatively normal. If you consider maid dresses normal anyway, I guess they aren't exactly midwives.' The room's decorations looked like he had found himself in some sort of recreational vacation park where you could "live as the Vikings did".

A lot of wood, animal skins and furs abound, but everything looked much cleaner than you would probably find in medieval times. Not to mention that it was nice and toasty in the room, without a modern heater or a burning fire. In fact, it seemed that there were no standard, modern appliances in the room at all.

Hati looked out one of the windows to see a regular night sky with a full moon and started thinking, 'I guess I am either somewhere far removed from modern society, or I am not on Earth anymore. The first option isn't impossible since such places do still exist, and as for the second… after everything that happened so far, being on another planet altogether seems as good as any other possibility.'

As he was thinking about this, another woman suddenly appeared in his field of vision. This one seemed more important than the others, as she wasn't wearing a maid's dress but something more expensive and personal. She was pretty but also relatively old, seeming to be nearing her sixties. 

She raised her arms, and suddenly, a green light started spreading out from them, flooding over Hati and his supposed mother, causing Hati to be shocked, 'What the hell?! Does this woman have an ability like Luna and me? Or is it something else?' At this point, he didn't feel like he could exclude any possibility, considering the crazy things that had happened to him already.

The newly appeared older woman began to speak, "It seems like both you and your baby are in good health, Lady Sif. Have you thought of a name for the boy?"

Sif looked sad for a moment as she asked the woman, "We have known each other for a long time, Aunty Lisa. Will not even you call him young master?" Lisa looked at Sif with a complicated gaze before sighing and shaking her head, "You know I can't do that, Lady Sif. Your child has been judged unworthy of the title because you refuse to reveal the identity of his father. 

The family elders would never allow someone to be a possible heir to the position of the family head without knowing their exact parentage, even if your brother is the current patriarch. He can only grow up as a regular member of the family. But there's no reason to worry too much. He is still the nephew of the patriarch, and you yourself are a powerful Ace-ranked Einherjar now. He won't be mistreated as long as he grows up strong."

Sif sighed as she thought, 'Yeah, not that telling the clan who his father is would help his position.' Then she said with a gentle smile, "I know. Thank you for your help, Aunty Lisa. And I've decided to call him Hati in honour of the moon he was born under. May he spend his life reaching ever greater heights."[1]

"No problem, Lady Sif. I will leave you alone to get acquainted with your newborn child now. If you need any help, please don't hesitate to call for me." Sif smiled as she said, "Will do."

Neither of the two women seemed to have noticed how the baby in Sif's arms was paying close attention to their conversation. Unfortunately, he couldn't understand all of it, as their language was only somewhat reminiscent of the Scandinavian languages he knew. But he still understood the gist of things. It was always easier to understand a language than to actually speak it.

As the older woman was leaving the room, Hati started thinking, 'It seems I might have some trouble growing up in this place. I wonder what she meant by 'growing stronger' though. Maybe it has something to do with that light? I always thought that Luna and I were the only ones with abilities, but if abilities like that are more widespread here, wherever here is, then maybe there is a way to make them more powerful. 

Anyway, knowing that my mother is pretty strong is a relief. That should make things easier for me in the future. Speaking of 'my mother', I suppose I will have to decide how I feel about her… I never had a good relationship with my first mother, but I fully realise that was my fault. Maybe I could do things better this time around? 

Although it will naturally depend on her as well, but from what I've seen so far, she seems likely to make a good mother. I just hope I can keep my emotions in check this time and not ruin things again. I suppose only time will tell…'