Rebirth

"Enjoy your next life. Eidolon, your system, will help you in your new world. You are now Ken Taisen, a newborn in Imeria, a world of magic."

A jumble of words roused Luke from a pit of darkness. It felt like he spent an eternity talking to something or someone, and finally, the quiet settled upon him.

What was that? My body feels heavy. Am I still dying? How long does this take?

Luke's final moments of pain and terror dissolved into an unfamiliar warmth.

He awoke not to the cold, blood-soaked floor of his home, but to the soft weight of blankets, another human's warmth, the muffled sound of voices, and an overwhelming sense of... smallness.

His eyes fluttered open, his vision swimming with the scene of a new, somewhat large environment.

This is wrong...

The voices grew clearer, a man and woman speaking in hushed tones. Their words were foreign, yet growing strangely familiar, like fragments of a dream threading together.

A woman leaned over him. At least ten times larger than Luke, the giant woman revealed a toothy smile.

Ah! A giant! She's going to eat me!

Luke tried to crawl away from the monstrously large woman smiling at him like his next meal, but his chubby limbs moved in a helpless and uncoordinated fashion.

I've been drugged? Joke's on you, giant. That probably makes me taste awful!

His hands, clumsy and tiny, flailed at the air. His legs barely responded. Panic gripped him as he realized his body was unrecognisable—helpless, infantile.

Any movement forced all of his tiny muscles to work overtime.

The giant woman, laying in the same bed, cradled him closer, her face framed by soft brown curls. She smiled, exhaustion and joy etched into her features.

"Kai," she whispered, brushing a finger across his cheek.

Kai? Is that a way to prepare humans for consumption?

A giant man came into view and stood in the doorway to the room, giving a subtle nod of approval.

"Kai, iberg delatindo!" The man looked at Luke, then back at the woman with a obnoxious grin on his face.

What's that language? It sound like some sort of incantation... Wait, is Kai my name? Would that make you my parents?

The man's broad frame filled the small space. His dark hair was unkempt, strands falling over a furrowed brow, and his pale skin carried the faint sheen of sweat.

The man wandered over to the bed, kissed the woman on the forehead, and held her with gentle affection.

Was this some bizarre afterlife? A punishment? Or... Elora...?

While Luke's thoughts swam around in his new brain, he examined the room he was reborn into.

The room had an oil lantern on the side table near the bed, it's flickering light illuminating the room. A single window at the furthest end of the bedroom proved it to be night, as no light passed through.

Killed and reborn at night. What are the odds? Probably some sort of omen.

The setting, the language, and the names felt similar to the world of the fantasy game he'd spent hours playing.

He strained to make sense of it.

Have I been transported into the game world? Is this some sort of fucked up twist of fate that some perverted god or goddess threw at me?

The woman Luke supposed was his mother, spoke to a man in the room. No matter how hard Luke strained to understand them, their words remained jumbled and broken, like a jigsaw puzzle with only half the pieces.

He tested his new body, finding it uncooperative. His limbs were weak, his coordination nonexistent. Everything felt surreal, dreamlike. But the longer he lay there, the more the truth pressed down on him: he was alive, but he definitely died.

He was... someone else, something else.

A baby.

A baby named Kai.

In a completely unfamiliar world.

The realisation that he was now the son of this average-looking couple hit him with unexpected clarity. They were far from the noble, powerful heroes he'd imagined being born to in his countless daydreams of Elora.

Not the third or seventh son of a king born with unique magical abilities like the main characters in books. Definitely not an overpowered monstrous creature, either.

At least I didn't have to experience being born. That would have been gross, what with the screaming and crying and blood and feces...

And I only woke up after the mess was cleaned up, too. Whatever it was that reincarnated me, they got their priorities right. I'll thank them if I ever meet them.

A sharp ringing filled Luke's head and his body, unused to pain, screamed and the tears flowed.

A computer-like ping sounded and light blue floating text in a video game-like UI screen appeared before Kai briefly.

[The Imerian language has been automatically translated.]

So, it is a game? Knights of Elora didn't need a language, but I guess the world does? Wait, didn't something speak to me before? I was in the middle of being reincarnated, so say it again!

The text did not return, and no voice of the divine, or whatever it was, reached him.

I guess I can't talk to it. Not the sort of A.I interface we had back in my world.

The man, presumably his father, brawny and tired, gave an awkward grin as he leaned over.

"He's strong, just like his mother," the man said.

Though Kai, or Luke, felt anything but strong with his tiny body.

I can understand him!

The man tried to grab Kai, but Kai flailes his little limbs and cried out loud.

Don't touch me, dude! You'll break this new body before I even have a chance to do anything. At least wait until I can defend myself!

Luke's mind raced. If this was Elora, he might know enough about the world to survive, maybe even thrive.

He remembered the in-depth storytelling, the kingdoms, magic systems, and politics.

If he could figure out where he was and what point in time he was transported, he could create a place for himself.

But... What if this isn't Elora? What if this brief look into the world only resembles it? I could even be in my own personal hell. Even if it is the same world, do the same principles, rules, laws, and everything else still apply?

His thoughts were interrupted by the woman cradling him closer. Her warmth was unfamiliar, her scent earthy and foreign. He wanted to resist, to pull away, but his new body betrayed him.

He was hungry.

And so he ate his fill.

Exhaustion settled in, and no amount of mental resistance could fight the creeping need to sleep.

As his eyes fluttered shut, one thought echoed in his mind:

If this is Elora, I'm going to make sure I don't waste this second chance. And if it's not... I'll figure out how to survive anyway.

The faint lull of his new parents' voices faded as he slipped into unconsciousness, leaving him to ponder the daunting possibilities of his strange rebirth and the even stranger voice that briefly spoke in his head.

No use in questioning who or what I am any further. I'm Kai, now. And I'll live like Kai should.