New Beginnings

----------------------------------------

Liam Irving Rocco.

Apparently, that was now my name. The figure lauded as the infamous grim reaper was now reduced to nothing more than a wailing child. This situation was filled with so many ironies that I didn’t even bother examining them all, that would only serve to cement my bleak reality even further.

“Oh Liam, you’re awake!”

A gleeful voice echoed from above me, though I’d only been here for a short while, I’d grown accustomed to hearing that overly zealous tone. It belonged to the woman currently looking down at me, she had pastel green hair that seemed faded at the top but otherwise pronounced down at the tips, it stopped short just above her nape with two thin bangs framing her somewhat round face. A pair of deep neon green eyes were subtly peeking out from the thin enclave formed by her own hair, and although they were alluring, Julia’s most notable trait came in the form of a strange green marking centered on her forehead.

The cryptic symbol boasted a lighter shade of green than what her eyes reflected, but its thin sheen detracted nothing from the conspicuous nature of the marking itself. It took the shape of a small arrowhead, curving slightly at its tip as if poised for flight. Maybe it was because I’d already been familiar with a similar structure, but it was the first thing to catch my attention whenever her face came into focus.

“Are you hungry, Liam?” She chuckled with that question despite knowing full well she wouldn’t get a response.

Based on my current position, I could only assume that she was holding me rather close to her bulging bosom, so I couldn’t really get a good look at anything else. The only thing I could say for sure was that it was very bright, that much was obvious after seeing the shadow being cast on her face.

She smiled at me with glistening eyes, making some ridiculous sounds and faces in the process despite knowing I wouldn’t be able to communicate with her.

~GROWL~

My stomach made an unearthly sound, the issue of actually having to eat was foreign to me up until coming here, but this body wouldn’t allow me to go on without sustenance.

“Heh-Heh....right on cue little man. It’s time for your lunch.”

I knew exactly what she’d meant by that. I saw her slender hand that was still somehow five times larger than mine begin to unbutton the fastened blouse that was practically bulging from the pressure her supple skin was straining against the fabric. It was that time of the day again and despite my reluctance, I had no other choice in the matter, I needed those things for survival.

“Come on Liam, say ~ahhhh~”

My body responded to her command almost as if on reflex and in no time at all my mouth had already clamped down on the woman’s surprisingly springy skin.

“Good boy.”

Her voice sounded oddly condescending for some reason, wanting to get this over with as fast as possible, I was somehow able to get my infantile limbs to obey me for just a few seconds. Taking full advantage of that opportunity, I sank my small hands into her skin, and she let out a strange sound the moment my hands made contact.

Now this was just a matter of extracting as many nutrients from her as possible, from what I’ve learned over the last two weeks of having this body, that was what it took to make the agonizing sensation in my stomach go away.

I’d always been curious about bodies that were comprised of both flesh and bones ever since my days as a reaper, but my expectations had been a far cry from reality. These things were nothing but inconvenient, they required far too much maintenance and care that your body itself was practically forcing you to carry out by way of these nerve signals.

Rest, food, water, shelter etc....

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

All these needs had to be met in order for these mortal bodies to function properly, but I had none of those issues in my days as the grim reaper. My skeletal frame was always one hundred percent efficient even when I hadn’t consumed anything. That being said though, these bodies did come with a few fringe benefits that managed to somewhat even out the unfair trade off.

My senses were still being attuned even up to this point, but I could catch whiffs of the stagnant scents drifting through the air, I couldn’t exactly say what they were just yet seeing as I hadn’t adjusted to this new sensation as of yet but the one thing I could say for certain was that the ability to perceive my surroundings through more than just sight had given me a world of options in how I was going to approach things in the future.

Just as I was about to re-align my focus on the task at hand, a voice resonated throughout the entire room.

“Julia, aren’t you overfeeding him a little? I mean he’s just two weeks old and this is already your fifth time feeding him today.”

I saw Julia’s face contort into somewhat of a solemn frown after hearing those words. Originally it had taken me a few seconds longer to figure out the reason behind her expression's sudden change, because these senses of mine weren’t up to par just yet.

Every time they spoke, it would always take a few seconds longer for my mind to decipher the content of those words, so I always ended up on the back end of whatever conversation was currently taking place.

“Oliver, his stomach was growling just now you know.”

After a few seconds, the figure she’d been speaking to suddenly waltzed his way into my field of vision. The man known as ‘Oliver’ looked to be a few years older than Julia given the faint traces of grey popping up in his otherwise well-kept head of chestnut brown hair.

I couldn’t get a good look at his eyes because of the well-placed contraption resting on his nasal bridge. I believe the humans called them ‘glasses’, the peculiar device reflected a pristine sheen of silver light when he looked down at us, and from his stature it was blatantly obvious just how much the domineering man towered over both me and Julia.

But it never once felt intimidating. That was likely because his face was stern, but his overall features were otherwise kind.

“Let’s just be mindful of how often we’re feeding him. I know you enjoy it a lot, but you might end up spoiling him at this rate.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Julia agreed with him somewhat reluctantly, her puffed cheeks now boasting a prominent crimson color.

“Looks like you’ll have to wait until dinner to finish up Liam.” After speaking those words, she promptly plucked the tender sac of nutrients from my gaping mouth. The instant I felt the strange organ leave my lips; a burning sensation began to swelter inside my body. I wasn’t all that familiar with the frivolous concept known as ‘emotions’ but if I had to take a guess as to what I was feeling right now, this was certainly the emotion they called ‘rage’.

On reflex my delicate hands curled up into a burled fist, the damning sensation was now reaching a boiling point, and as I prepared to unleash my juvenile wrath, something completely unexpected happened. A totally different scene played out from the grotesque imagery I’d conjured in my mind.

Instead of lashing out at them, I had instead begun............crying?

The high-pitched sounds escaping my throat were so unbelievably crude that even I couldn’t believe what I was doing. My eyes squinted on their own and had even begun to leak tears. While this was a reaction I’d seen many a times after wandering spirits had learned of their own demise, it was never something I’d expected to see from myself.

I had a ways to go before I could completely gain control of this body, at times it felt like this hunk of flesh was completely disregarding my own will and acting on its own.

“Come on Liam, you’ll get the rest in just a few hours.” Julia began gently rocking me in her arms, while I could feel my own wrath subsiding, she still hadn’t gotten the job done just yet.

*CLAP*

Oliver made an obtrusive clapping sound with both hands; he stooped down to our level and flashed me a smile that was practically doused in sincerity.

“Alright Liam look here, daddy’s got something to show you.”

Extending his palm towards me, the man began chanting a few strange words that my brain couldn’t even register much less decipher. What I did manage to take note of however was the spectacle those few words had managed to produce in the next few seconds.

After his illustrious chant, a few orange sparks began to flash into existence in the space just above his palms, their tendency to flicker in and out of reality for just a brief instant reminded me of the strange sparking devices the humans in my old world used to create ‘fireworks’.

After a few seconds, the dim flashes began to spark in unison, coming together in a single spectacle that managed to produce a bristling flame in the center of his palm. The moment that orange light graced my watery eyes, the wailing sounds escaping my throat immediately came to halt.

“Heh....that caught your attention, didn’t it? Watch closely son, this is what we call magic.”