Realization

'Where am I?'

After the hammer made its glorious descent, everything became dark. Not even a single sign of light peeking.

A place worse than the last. It's dark, damp, and really uncomfortable.

I couldn't see, and my body was being squished from all sides.

I touched the walls...it made a squelching sound.

'Oh dear, what's that?'

I had no clue what I was dealing with. But it felt somewhat familiar… but I haven't been to hell. So it was a mystery where I could've experienced such a familiar thing.

Before I went into a tangent deducing what this fleshy wall was, I caught sight of something.

'Light!'

How about that... there was indeed light at the end of the tunnel.

I could see it from this absolute darkness. There was now light.

There's indeed an end; I am glad to know that this is not some unending tunnel.

That would be torture. Oh right, this is hell. I need to get out of here!

On to the next layer of hell I went....

I hurried to the light, doing everything to escape the darkness.

The walls around me contracted. It didn't want to let me go; the fear of being forever trapped in darkness attacked me. My heart almost escaped from my chest.

'Come on, Lily. Come one!'

My trapped arms did their best to move, wriggling through the tight and wet place just so that I could escape this darkness.

Against exhaustion, I crawled and wriggled to escape.

The light was getting closer, it was not false hope!

'COME ON!'

I reached the light.

Finally, I got out, regained my sight… and I soon wished I hadn't.

'Hmmm? What's that? Oh, dear! NOOOO!'

Red, blue, and green silhouettes mist-like demonic giants towered over me. They have no discerning features. Their bodies flickered in and out.

They are no giants.

They arefucking devils.

Fear, pain, and the inconceivable need for me to cry mixed together, resulted in an adult crying and sobbing.

"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

I was right! I really was sent to hell.

Aside from my disbelief in religions (and that demonic sight I witnessed before I died), surely there's no reason for me to be brought here… well, I could think of some. But I didn't act on them.

I refused to believe it; alas, here I am. Surrounded by devils, to be devoured or possibly into a furniture, these sick fucks.

Though I do not know what's about to come, I can only expect the worst.

The shadowy figures of differing colors moved; they held my body, and surprisingly enough, they didn't pierce my skin—but instead with a soft and caring touch.

Then they made a big smile.

"Dalvatel!" The green smoke giant moved. Leaving behind a trail of green light.

Following the fading trail, what I saw was hope and salvation in the darkness.

From the corner of my eyes, a golden glimmer rested. Heaving up and down, the golden glimmer rested from exhaustion.

It was so bright that it could illuminate the room, yet it was not blinding.

Instead, it was calming. When its light touched me, I could feel my heart settling down.

'Angel?'

The light it projected to me was warm. I yearned for its touch. I reached out so that I could be placed in its embrace. The green shadow handed me over to this golden light, and when I got in contact with said light, I stopped crying.

It felt nice.

Calming down in its embrace that was filled with warmth, I was at peace.

* "Ilia, fartiali gardnto hintalo? Dagratial jigual selrairt."

* "Hintaling, Fay-Aine."

* "Fay-Aine? Hawla!"

I did not know what these devils were talking about. Nor could I care. I got my light, so shoo devils shoo! They can't touch me when I'm in the arms of this light.

They were talking with the golden light… but that must mean they are its companions. But as long as I was near the golden light, I was safe.

I practically latched at its soft body.

Looking at the light closely, I slowly made out the silhouette. Touching what I could get my hands on, I reached two peaks—gender ascertained.

My eyes remained veiled in a black mist, but I could tell from the touch. Though I wasn't feminine, I was also a woman, and I had a pair of above-average assets.

By grazing and pushing at these perfect pairs, I learned something, that my hands were oddly small. Or these jugs near me are just that big.

'Nah, it must be the after-effects of dying. Right? But if it is... then… surely… no, come on that's an impossibility.'

Such crazy thoughts would never come true.

I disregarded it, but then as time passed, my stomach growled from hunger, an uncontrollable cry escaped my mouth.

"Fay-Aine, yuil gatal?" a gentle voice came from the bearer of the golden light. Gently guiding my mouth to her treasure and instinctively sucking on it, the sweet taste of what could only be described as ambrosia filled my mouth.

But, I knew what it truly was, 'It's milk!'

My mind and heart started racing.

'Giants, that wet and squishy place, and now milk.' My weird eyes widened, and while still drinking my mother's milk, I finally put the dots together and understood the situation.

'I'm a fucking baby!'

The sudden realization should have been obvious, but for me, who's experiencing it, it's not so easy to swallow.

And from the back of my head, a statement rose, 'Does this mean the Buddhists and the Hindus were right? '

I asked with a tit in my mouth.

===

I didn't know there would come another time where I would be sucking another woman's breast for milk.

But here I am, onto the usual routine of my current reality.

I have become a baby.

It has been three days since I reincarnated.

I don't know where I was.

That's because of two reasons.

First would be the foreign language they spoke.

"Fay-Aine, yiktan?"

Because of my job. I am well traveled. Every spoken language has an origin. They may sound different, but they are fundamentally the same in their core. But I have no inkling what kind of words they were using.

'It might be some indigenous language I don't know about.'

…so I accepted my reality and lived with it. I'll start learning them as I grow up.

Second, and this is kind of important.I am sort of blind.

I say sort of because my sight was neither blurry nor in complete darkness.

I see the world differently; my surroundings are veiled in thick dark fog.

My eyes could pierce through the dark. Any inanimate object like the bassinet and the pacifier was visible if I try hard enough.

But people were a different matter. No matter what I did, I could not even catch a glimpse of a person's facial features.

What I saw was a set of colors.

Red, Green, Blue, Cyan, Gold, all these colors represented a different person. At first, I thought the colors meant emotions or something, but it seems like I was wrong because no matter the day, the color of each person never changes.

'I wonder, did I reincarnate as some sort of animal? I haven't watched a documentary detailing this kind of creature.'

Due to my inability to see faces, I had to memorize the voices of the people around me.

My daily routine used to be researching, excavating remnants of the past, and exploring society of a different time. But now, all I do now is eat, sleep, pee, and poo.

These activities were also beyond my control because I eat baby instincts, demand it, I sleep the moment my eyes grow tired – which happens more often than it should – and pee and poop myself without me knowing.

This lifestyle is convenient; I don't need to work, but the trade-off was my pride. I know I didn't have much pride before but having the mind of an adult woman and pooping myself is still much more depressing than eating ice cream alone during Christmas.

I also learned the depressing fact that babies don't cling to the fingers of those they like. It is an action I make when someone puts their finger on my palms. In fact, I grab everything that comes close to me.

Speaking of grabbing everything without my control, my motor control was a mess. I wave my arms like a wacky inflatable tube man.

But above all these, there's something that has haunted me for the past few days.

I like drinking milk.

Drinking the milk of my mother is something I found more pleasant than it should. I thought I'd be repulsed at the idea, but no, it felt natural to me.

They did say that the idea of "life flashing before your eyes" is a means of your brain finding a way to survive. Drinking milk must be the instinct of my body to sustain life. It tastes better than it did in the past.

'Is this why I like drinking milk from my mother's breasts?'

Speaking of my mother. I can't see her face as well.

She's always shrouded by this ethereal golden light that I cannot bypass no matter what I did.

Time went on, and I got to spend more time with my mother. From her voice, I can feel the love and care emanating. It made me smile, and the soothing golden light from her was an added bonus.

The lullabies and songs she would sing are not something I understand, the language barrier was too much for me to cross, but they made me feel calm.

But despite this fact, I can still feel the gentleness behind them. Mother's the only light in this life. When I am with her, the darkness subsides as though it is being parted.

If she's my mother, surely, she's like me, someone with these eyes, but if not – the thought brings fear to my heart as though I am being brought back in time. When I was a teenage girl, I was an outcast because of my eyes; I did not care because of Julia... but what about now?

Will she hate me because of them?

...the idea was enough to make my heart shudder.

'I need to stop thinking about these kinds of things and move forward. To do that I would first need to learn the language.'

Pouring everything that I had, many days passed, and my efforts bore fruit.

===

[One Week after Reincarnation]

I finally learned my and mother's name.

My name was Fay-Aine, but Mother always calls me Fay. I do not know if Aine was our family name, but it sounded cute.

My mother's name was Ilia.

If anyone is wondering if I know how to speak the language.

Heh, the answer is a magnificent no.

===

[Three months after Reincarnation]

'Th—this isn't real. Tell me this isn't real."

I have come to accept that this life is now my own.

I may be talentless, but I am known for accepting things faster than normal..

I have decided that I will live this life. One day, I want to reunite with Julia.

Just what kind of face would she make? How long would it take convincing her?

That I want to see.

Who knows, maybe I'll become friends with her child? I wished for that ending very much.

But… I don't think that's going to be possible.

Three months after I was born, while my mother was busy cooking, a stray cat wandered in the bedroom. It even jumped to my bassinet where it slept after testing the cushion's softness.

From its hazy figure… I saw two tails raised up.

'What in the hell is this?' I was in disbelief.

How can a cat have two tails? It was impossible.

'Ma–maybe these eyes are bugging out or something.' I refused to believe it.

Of course, all I could see was a black smoke silhouette of the stray. I clearly saw two tails. But I refused the notion.

'I need to sleep.'

The cat approached me out of curiosity. I pretended to sleep to not aggravate it, and then its tail unknowingly wandered on my dainty hands.

Grab!

I reflexively grabbed both its tails, 'Ah… it's real.'

A lot of things flowed in my mind. But when I looked up, all I saw was the cat glaring at me.

It then hissed and scratched me.

'Ow! That fucking hurt! Oh, you've done goof now motherfucker!' I raised both arms.

Summoning the strength that I had hidden within me, I sat down on my own and faced the cat. I am only three months old; I shouldn't have any strength to do this, but I was blessed with power for some reason.

It swung its claws; I dodged to the left and countered with an open palm strike to its left temple.

HISSS!

'Oh, you're angry? Come at me bitch'

I growled at the cat and hissed back; I was not afraid. As an abnormally strong baby, I sat my ground and then threw a haymaker.

BAM!

A clean hit.

The cat swayed to the side, and I could tell it was sneering!

SCRATCH!

Its claws connected to my cheeks!

The fool fell into my trap.

PAH!

My baby hands also reached its cheeks. A perfect counter from the Baby Champion!

I threw my fist high up, announcing my victory against the cat.

'I~ am the Champion, my frrrriend!' the theme song in my heart played.

The cat stood on its wobbly leg; I turned to its direction with a smug expression – as arrogant as a baby could show – I won, and the little shit didn't.

But then, I heard it whine. The triumphant theme song playing in my heart stopped.

I am celebrating a victory over a cat… how low have I fallen?

I approached the two-tailed cat and gently pet its head to comfort it from the loss it experienced.

"bcam stong… sam-dey ma… fren." I did my best to comfort it with my broken words, and miraculously it got through.

The cat licked the wound on my hands, and it would be the exact moment when I discovered that this is a different world.

[A Blood Pact has been initiated with the Two-Tail Shade Cat.]

"Ah?"

Before I knew it. A wall of text appeared before me. Accompanied by a voice.

[The System has yet to be unlocked – Timer: 147 Months/9 years and 12 months to go - Blood Pact is being established forcefully through unknown means… initiating System Override – detecting reason for override… reason: Compatibly Aged Soul… access gain… error… you have forcefully opened a part of your System… prompting lockdown…

Lock Down Failed]

[*Special entity detected; special access given; the law of the System has taken effect… you have been granted a title – Chosen Soul – you have become one of the few Chosen to partially open your System at a young age.]

[Chosen Soul (Title) Acquired] (New)

[Description: Early Access to the System]

[Fay-Aine]

Lv. 0

Age: 0

Title: Chosen Soul

Strength: ???

Speed: ???

Dexterity: ???

Vitality: ???

Senses: ???

Magic Power: ???

Magic Control: ???

Mana Regeneration: ???

Will: ???

Luck: 24 (fixed)

Free Points: ???

[Class Slot 1/???]

Class #1: [Blood Pact Tamer Lv. 1 (Temporary)]

Monsters 1/????:

Two-Tail Shade Cat (Newborn)

Ranking: Normal

Age: 0

Lineage Skills:

Dark Mist [Active] - (Common) – expulses black mist from its mouth to hide its presence and body.]

Night Prowler [Passive Skill] – (Common) – becomes stealthier when hunting at night.

I finally understood that this is no longer Earth and just for the cherry on top; mother came running to me after hearing the commotion, and upon seeing the blood, she rushed to my side.

Mother subdued the vile beast and healed my wounds with MAGIC.

Yes, not that baby shit by kissing it, saying the boo-boo would fly away, no, she healed me with the same golden light that shrouded Mother's figure.

The golden light reached the scratch on my hand!

Yeah, that's how I learned this world had Magic.

I have always wanted to learn magic. That's one of the reasons why I stuck with being an archeologist.

Hoping to uncover an undiscovered power. Or maybe a secret society. Or possibly a portal to another world.

I celebrated. But a thought appeared in my head.

A realization.

That I was no longer on earth.

And that I could no longer see Julia.

As I sat there, watching the wall of text.

Seeing one of the greatest wishes I had achieved. All I felt was… loneliness.

"I mish… Julya." I whispered underneath my breath as I started sniffling and crying.