Reborn: Into a New Life - Prologue

Blinding blue light. The kiss of flames against my skin, though instead of burning my skin the flames were warm and inviting. A safe place. As the flames begin to clear from my vision, I could see that I am in an all-white room that is pristinely clean. As the chill creeps in place of those safe warm flames, I notice that my skin is bare of clothes. I can't remember anything about where I last was except that it was freezing cold, in a dark place that was had suffocating pressure all around me. I can remember my name is Serenity. I am thirty years old, and from a small town in North Carolina. I just recently discovered my husband was having an affair. After that, things just were a blur.

"Have you produced a viable soul yet?" the words reaching my ears were foreign yet somehow, I can understand them as clearly as my own thoughts. I blink the sleepy feeling from my eyes, and as I reach up to rub them, I realize how tiny my hands are. I look closer at my hand, rotating it and manipulating my small fingers. How does my hand look like a young child's?

"It looks like the soul transplant was a success," I heard as a man walked into my line of sight. He began to reach towards my arm which made my body instinctively flinch in order to get away from him. Pure terror filled me to my core as I looked into this man's bright blue eyes. A feeling that I cannot clearly explain unless one has felt it themself. I jerked back my arm and electricity literally jumped from my skin towards his outreached hand. The jolt was strong enough to send him flying backwards. He lay still on the ground for a moment appearing to be shocked in more ways than one.

Another man walked over to him from the next room and kept his golden eyes locked onto mine. He stopped next to him and chuckled. "Seems our little flower is going to be a bit harder to handle than we thought if that keeps up. The soul that was finally able to survive this body must be quite the strong one." He turned around and took a step forward. "Can you understand me, young one?"

I look him up and down. He's a strong man from the looks of him. Even in my adult body I would stand no chance against him, but something about this new small child sized body gives me the feeling that isn't the case now. Just looking at him still sends chills down my spine despite that. Intuition I think they call this. A feeling of disgust maybe? He must be a bad person to make me feel this way, as is his associate. I move my arms and legs, testing the muscles. I am not held in place so I sit up from the bed where I lay on the cold metal as I move my tongue around my mouth, the taste of salt clear on my tongue.

"I... can..." I managed to mumble as I look over my tiny body. Ribs showing through the skin, small breasts already forming. Maybe around 10-11 in age from the size of this body. "Who... are you?" The words feel strange as they roll off my tongue in this language I shouldn't know.

"Oh my, someone is inquisitive! Definitely a soul worthy of keeping around, I think. She can actually speak!" he looked down at the man who was now kneeling while the one on the floor finally gathered his bearings. "You okay Jean?" He laughed at the scowl he received.

"Do I look alright?" He glared as he stood up. "Dumb witch sent me flying across the room." He glared at me. His silver hair and bright blue eyes locked onto my own. He appears to be in his late teens or early twenties.

"Well, you look okay to me. We will begin testing her abilities as soon as she can walk, eat, drink, and talk normally." The golden eyed man focused on me once more, "We brought you here to do our bidding. I have no idea who you were or where you come from. I don't care honestly. You can and will learn what we need to take down the Golden Sun Empire. I WILL show them at last, who the more powerful kingdom is."

I stared at this man whose eyes seemingly turned red in bloodlust. That was when I began to notice a dark shadow around him. It is vague, an aura of darkness and hatred, but it surrounds his whole body. I moved myself to have my legs towards the floor over the edge of the table I was lying on and moved to get my body into a standing position which required me to jump down. This whole tiny body thing is weird and foreign. Standing up wasn't hard, but I have a feeling that this body hasn't ever had muscles used before.

"I will ask again," I managed to verbalize, "since I am here in this room completely devoid of clothing… and no knowledge of how I got here…" I stumbled over some words as I spoke slowly and deliberately, "or what on earth is up with my body… WHO ARE YOU!?" I stood up tall as my short self (especially compared to the two men in the room) and angrily. The men standing before me are shocked, while I am beyond angry at having someone ordering me around though I have no idea what is going on, why I am in this tiny body, why I have no clothes on and they are acting like this is all absolutely normal. I will not do the bidding of some rude, arrogant pieces of crap who just want to hurt others like they want either. "I heard that one," I pointed at the silver haired man named Jean, "You are the one who said that you finally got a viable soul. What the hell does that even mean? Why am I so tiny?" I crossed my arms, covering my body as much as I could and stared defiantly.

"It seems your soul, mind, AND spirits are strong." Jean said, "Claude, I think we should answer her questions. We haven't had a soul that was able to withstand the power within the clones in all these trials and now that we do, we don't want to lose its cooperation." He looked at Claude and grinned, "I did warn you that this was a possibility." His smirk got broader.

Claude seethed with anger at me bucking up at him. "Jean, if you weren't my little brother, I hope you realize that you would be dead now. However, I need as much royal blood as possible to prepare for this war." He took a step forward; fear gripped my heart and I panicked at having him come any closer…. He then froze mid-step as he was about to step forward once more and his face was that of shock. He relaxed his face as quickly as the emotion showed, "It seems we will have to answer your questions in order for you to trust that we will not harm you…" He was visibly grinding his teeth. "Fine. Tell her." He turned on heel and walked out of the room.

Jean looked visibly shook by the reaction of his brother and finally looked over at me after Claude was out of the room. "This is a curious development. It seems you are able to naturally weld the magic within that small body already, or at least that the elements are on your side. Okay, so I will tell you what the whole situation is around you." He began pacing back and forth. "Our country is the small and poverty ridden country known as Granvilla. My brother is the eldest son of the eight of us siblings and has every intention of increasing the size and might of our country. Our father is a weak king and always will be. Our generation is going to change that. About you; your body is about eleven years old. We have genetically altered a specific strain of DNA to make you powerful, quite possibly you will become the most powerful person in the world with the right training. You will be our 'little sister' for all intents and purposes. Our real little sister recently passed away. Since she was born with a weak immune system, I have worked both with science and magic in order to heal her but nothing worked. It wasn't her body that was weak, it was her spirit. She had no desire to be strong and her immune system became more compromised over time until her heart finally gave out. She would be about your age now actually. I have removed all ill effects of her unlucky draw of genetics, and I threw everything at this last body's immune system to see if it would have the possibility of the ill effects and weakness that she had, however nothing that I tried can harm your current cells in all honesty. As soon as your soul entered that body, the cells took on a life of their own… which I would NOT tell any of the others if I were in your position. You look similar to our dead sister, so having you use magic against Claude and stand up against him when she was so weak in body and mind is probably more of a shock to him than anything. With that explained I now have a question for you… what is your name, the last one your soul was called when it was in whichever realm you hail from?" He stopped pacing and looked at me.

"Serenity." I sighed, and ran my hand up to my hair which is remarkably long to find out. "May I have some clothes now?" He smiled and gestured towards the door.

"Do you think you can walk on your own since you have so much energy?" He watched with amusement in his eyes, and as far as I can figure it, he probably doesn't want a shock from touching me.

"Yeah. I will follow behind you, if you don't mind," I watched him carefully and gestured for him to go ahead. For some reason, I can tell that this man is not telling me the full truth. I will figure out what is going on. He walked me to the next room which had a heater going, meaning it's' probably cold outside. I took in everything I could about this room and all the computers and gadgets on the walls. He brought me a tiny set of undergarments and a dress followed by a small jacket. All very girly and childish. He then walked out of the room to allow me to get dressed. Annoyed. A dress. Small flats were already prepared on the floor which I stepped onto. As soon as I had the dress on, he walked back into the room.

"Okay, so we are going to go to see mother and father now to show them you. They will be ecstatic to have their daughter back... even if you have black hair now," He smiled, though it wasn't a kind smile. It was the kind of smile that is creepy as hell saying he was enjoying this twisted game. "I truly and sincerely do suggest you not say much, however I will tell them that you have asked to be called Serenity. Addie was my sister's name; she went into a coma a couple years ago. Mother and father had her here in this hospital from then until she passed away about six months later. Mother also agrees with our plans, father is just a broken man so the less you say to grab his attention at all the better." I followed behind him, where he pulled a wheelchair out. "Please have a seat, I don't want you to collapse during our meeting and we will be going to dinner so we will see how you can handle food then as well." I sat in the chair reluctantly, my body was nowhere near tired though I can tell that I am hungry.

After we got outside, I saw the snow-covered landscape around me. I shivered and a small fire appeared in front of me. Jean chuckled, "It seems the elements have truly taken a liking to you. They loved Addie too. She couldn't wield any magic but it always seemed that the elements would follow her regardless." I balled my tiny fists up, as I began to think more and more. If his sister was just immune compromised, but her body was super powerful for whatever reason it makes me wonder if those sadistic brothers did something to her. We got to a carriage where he held his hand out to help me up, but I ignored it and stood on my own as blue flames surrounded me once more making him jump back.

"In here?" I asked, and he nodded. Looking displeased at my reaction, he simply motioned for me to step into the carriage. He climbed in behind me, avoiding close proximity after the two elements defended me from his and the brother's touch. After about 20 minutes the carriage stopped and the door opened for us. Jean stepped out and stood behind the wheel chair that was brought forward already. I frowned and stepped out of the carriage keeping my eyes on him. I sighed and sat in the chair resigned. He began to wheel me towards an immense stair care. The thought crossed my mind— how is he going to get me up the stairs? —

As soon as the thought entered my mind, a warm wind whipped around me lifting me into the air and up the staircase swiftly. When I reached the top, it sat me down gently. Well, that was interesting to say the least… I thought to myself and turned to look back at the man at the bottom of the stairs who is staring with his mouth gaping wide open. I raised my eyebrows and shrugged, "Are you coming?" I asked.

He shut his mouth and ran up the stairs (sans wheelchair thank goodness). He didn't say anything as he led the way to what I assume is going to be the dining hall. We get to a grand set of doors that a servant opens for us and as we step in, wonderful smells of delicious foods enter my nose. I look around the ornate room… for a poor country, this royal family sure does live it up…

Claude stood up at the second chair by the head of the table. "At last, the whole family is together again." I look at each individual face. The head of the table had an old man in his 50s, who barely looked up as we walked in, his hair as white as fresh fallen snow. The right-hand seat must be the queen, who sits across from Claude. She smiles as she sees me walk in, "Welcome home honey." Hidden venom in her sickly-sweet voice. I started looking around the table, each young member of the family slightly different than the next and ranging in age from twenty-five or so to just a year or so older than this new body of mine. Some with dirty-blonde hair, but most with light almost white hair regardless of their age. I didn't say a word as they all looked me over.

"Her hair is different, how is anyone going to believe she is our sister with nearly black hair?" The youngest of the group asked with a sneering face. He looked over at the oldest brother before glancing back to look into my eyes. "Her eyes aren't golden, silver, or blue either!" I remained quiet, listening as these people began to bicker amongst themselves about how useful I would be to them or not. Overall, what I began to understand was that they wanted me to "form an alliance" with the other kingdom which was their pretense to start a war in the long run, that alliance would be formed by marrying me off to the other kingdom's oldest son (age twelve) which will require me to be sent with one of my siblings to live in the other kingdom and grow up with the boy. This will allow the brother who escorts me there to learn about the ins and outs of the kingdom to figure out their strengths and weaknesses to form the best plans to conquer the Golden Empire. During all the squabbling, I felt a gentle breeze by my ear and a soft whisper reached me…

"These terrible humans will be the downfall of their own kind," the voice was high pitched and angry, almost sounding as though it was speaking to itself. I glanced to the side quickly to see who had said it though when I looked, I saw nothing.

"Oh! Human! Can you hear me?!" The voice cried louder than before, a tickle on my cheek made me jump slightly and in front of me appeared from seemingly nothing a tiny floating creature that looked similar to a human, but had wings and a green tint to its skin. "You can hear me, can't you? Blink twice if you can!" I blinked twice quickly and saw the small creature 'hop' around in the air. "Yay! Finally, a pure hearted human that can hear the sprites has arrived! I have to go tell the elder! But I shouldn't leave her here in this den of lions alone!" she (I am guessing by the appearance of the sprite) began ruffling her hair and spinning around looking frustrated. I glanced up and looked the creature in the eyes which made it stop in its tracks.

"You can see me…." She hovered in one place staring in disbelief, "YOU CAN SEE ME TOO!!!" She shouted at the top of her lungs. "LINA! LINA! COME HERE!" She kept shouting for someone. I looked down at my feet as the "family" behind her continued to argue. "Don't worry human, none of these black hearted people can hear me. And don't worry, I refuse to leave you alone." She came over and sat on my shoulder and began to stroke my hair. "Poor human, in a den full of almost literally demons, don't worry though. The elder will help you, from what they are saying you will be here for two months to learn etiquette and useless things as such. We will be by your side to protect you." I stood awkwardly for long enough that I began to get wobbly on my feet before Jean finally noticed that I was still standing.

"Serenity! What are you doing, come here and sit by me and remember everything I tell you," He stood and pulled a chair out by his side, upon my sitting he went around naming the family members.

"First, of course, there is Claude: The eldest brother, fierce and dark gray blue eyes, bright blonde hair reminding me of a lion in many ways. Age twenty-three.

Second, Oliver: dirty blonde hair, silver-blue eyes, with an intense gaze. He has barely opened his mouth since I arrived. Age twenty-one.

Third, Jean: Silver hair, clear blue eyes, devious grin plastered on his face a majority of the time as he works on his different schemes. Age twenty.

Fourth, Lucas: Blonde hair, dark blue eyes, has been leaning his chin on his hands staring at me since I sat down observing me. Age nineteen.

Fifth, Theo: silver hair, blue eyes, staring off into space only chiming in to make snide remarks. Age seventeen.

Sixth, Riley: Silver hair, silver eyes, reminds me of a white fox. He has been the one with the most to say about me since I arrived (all negative). Age 15.

Seventh, Arlo: Silver hair, ice blue eyes, with a curious expression on his face as he looks at me. Age 13."

"Mother" Adeline, whom Addie (the sister who passed away) was named after.

"Father" Claude, whom the eldest son was named after as well but goes by his middle name Gregory.

After this not so brief introduction, Jean had servants bring me a variety of foods. All of which smelled great, but the moment they touched my lips I had to spit them out for how bitter they were. He settled on them bringing a mild broth soup out for me to drink and continued his discussion with his family about their grand plans.

My etiquette training begins tomorrow based on the conversation. I began to doze off after about two hours of discussion, at which Jean suggested that I be sent to my room to rest and prepare for the coming day.

A servant led me to the room in which I would be staying, and I found my way over to the bed to lay down. I sat down first, to allow my new little friend to wake up.

"So, it isn't normal for people to hear you or see you?" I asked as she woke up and I gently picked her up from my shoulder. She stretched her body and wings out and began to hover in front of me.

"Nope, you are actually the first person in this land that I have met who can hear me. And you are the first person I have heard about that can actually see us. Lina went to tell the elder about you, and since you are here in your room to rest, I will call one of the guardsmen to come watch over you as you rest so I can go give what I learned today to the elder as well."

She flew over to the window, which unlatched on its own with a gust of wind with a wave of her hand. She made a hand signal towards a nearby tree and within just a minute or so another sprite (this one dressed masculine) appeared. "Jael, please watch over Serenity as I meet with the elder. I would greatly appreciate it." The other sprite simply nodded and stood on the window sill looking out as she left with a short goodbye. He glanced backwards at me before turning his body to lean against the wall.

"Do you talk to the people you guard? Or do you just stand silently watching to focus?" I asked the tiny soldier. He looked back over at me and cocked his head to the side.

"You can really see me?" He asked, perplexed.

"Yessir. You have a dark blue uniform on with a bow and arrow set attached to your back," I told him, describing his appearance to prove my sight.

His jaw dropped and he flew into the room further. "The elder is right; you cannot stay in this dark place. They will corrupt you and your sight if you stay here too long. Now, you should get some rest. Going to the other kingdom as they want is actually the most ideal plan for you to follow. Except, your goal will be to protect that country and all the people in both." He frowned, "Such a pure soul being dragged into this mess. I apologize for the trials you will have to face in the future. May the gods bless you." HE left back to his post and I stared at my hands in my lap before I lay down.

"Thank you, good night…" I told him, before falling into a deep sleep filled with dreams of the most handsome teenage boy I have ever seen, and a city in flames.