The chilled air rubbed itself painfully across my almost nude figure, yet my lack of proper attire was the farthest thing from my mind.
Like air bubbles from the deep, jumbled memories slowly rose up to the top in an attempt to make sense of exactly what was going on around me.
Hadn’t I’d been on a taxi heading home? I could clearly remember my excitement on finally returning home to reunite with my family. I was told the trip didn’t have had any detours so how exactly had I ended up in this Scyfi looking theme park?
Looming buildings that shone in fluorescent lights with an eye-pleasing metallic sheen arched into each other like rings, creating an architectural style he’d never beheld before. All the while cylinder pods streaked by high overhead, sending out a soft buzzing into the night.
The crisp wind then once again made itself known as though annoyed that I had the audacity to go shirtless before it.
Well, it wasn't like I had any clue where my clothes had gone either.
Merciless before my bare body the draft only picked up further, forcing me to turn away from the cold before it dug any deeper into my flesh.
Leaving me face to face with the first person I’d ever thought actually looked even more stunning than my own mother.
Though something felt off.
How come she was so damn tall? She looked like she had a solid 40cm on me which was insane considering I was nearing 180cm at a little over 16 years old.
Wait a sec… She wasn't just taller… she was bigger as well!! What the fuck was going on!!!!!
It was then that I got an answer which only gave me more questions. My body… It was small? No, that wasn't completely right! It was the body of my 10-year-old self!
Like a carousel the world around me began to spin rapidly, the colors of the night swirling into a drug like luminous amalgam.
Legs of jelly barely held me up as the hidden brutality in my heart I thought I had finally smothered after months of therapy rose to helped me mutter in a guttural tone unfit for a child.
“Where am I?”
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Ferdina Ezeka
One Hour later*
Back at Ezeka’s office, wrapped up in her coat, the child stared intensely at Ezeka behind her desk, the dark glow in his eye’s unable to hide the fear and worry as effectively as he wished. Her previous line of work had forced her to become familiar with the expressions of others and this child was still too young to even attempt at concealing his emotions from her.
The remains of the scroll floated gently above him imitating the motions of a falling leaf constantly being blown around by the wind, completely carefree about the situation it had created.
At first, the child was stubbornly refusing her gestures and attempts at extremely limited English, once he found out she couldn't quickly answer him.
Ultimately, she yielded on attempting to get him to follow her peacefully and cast a small charm that would prevent him from shouting if he started making a fuss. As for physically moving him, he’d be powerless against a normal adult let alone an expert of her capabilities, even in her suppressed state. But the strangest thing happened when she cast her mute spell.
It didn't work on him.
No, Ezeka thought, the spell worked fine although part of the spell's effects simply disappeared into the child without a single clue as to where it went. In the end, she had to cast it five times before its effects fully applied to him.
Though in that time he’d been yelling in resistance trying to get away from her and then seeing how that wasn't working changed his tactics to biting her arm. Sadly for him, all his little teeth did was tickle her skin.
Wrapping him up in her coat since all he seemed to be wearing was a strange pair of shorts, she swiftly left the scene before any ruffians or worse officers showed up to investigate.
It hurt her to see a child like this especially when what she was doing wasn’t far from a simple kidnapping.
Now here she was in her office, trying to rack her brain off with the limited amounts of English she had learned throughout her long life.
It wasn’t as though she hadn’t tried. English unlike Latin was a closely guarded secret by the Scholars of the Void. Having such a once widespread and old language under their control they were able to monopolize work for almost anything remotely related to the Prime era, although that was barely the simplest of things you could do with the language.
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It also wasn’t surprising that they had a way to enforce their rules through the use of a multitude of Eclipse Grade Relic’s that were tasked with keeping track of individuals who knew even a single word in the language.
Ezeka shivered internally, even at the height of her power before her current conditions she was barely considered worthy enough to be left alive after learning a few words.
Now here was a child who was obviously fluent in the language that could get you killed just for knowing how to say hello.
If she didn’t quickly teach him how to speak Kelden, this current era’s largest spoken language, his every word would ping of a signal that would eventually reach one of the Scholars Relic.
They’d eventually find him and he’d either be forced to join the Scholars or simply killed. Both things she couldn't allow now that the child was under her protection.
This time sighing outwardly as to confer her thoughts to the boy Ezeka once again tried communicating with him.
“WHO IS?” Likely butchering the pronunciation Ezeka used her limited knowledge to try and ask the boy who he was, or at least his name.
Smart enough to realize he wasn't going to be able to find someone else, and all he had to work with was Ezeka he made a greater attempt at trying to communicate with her.
“^$*#@$ &$ $^%#$*&% ISAAC.” The boy spoke slowly yet his words were unintelligible to her. Thankfully he was smart enough to point at himself during the last word.
“ISAAC,” Ezeka confirmed his name by pointing at him, receiving a nod of agreement from Isaac.
From there on she asked him all sorts of questions with the limitations she was under. Essentially using the same twelve words in different ways with pauses and motions to try and convey meaning.
Following her example, Isaac did the same though it was just as hard for him. An hour later everything she learned from the boy could be counted on three fingers.
His name. The fact that he had no idea where he was. And lastly that he wanted to find his family. Luckily for them, Home and Family were two of the words Ezeka had managed to learn, along with Lost.
“Well, at least I know your name, you wild little runt.” Ezeka began to slouch in her chair, the elegance she normally held before the world was nowhere to be seen as the stress of the comets event, as well as the scrolls summoning of a boy who only spoke English, weighed down on her thoughts.
Life was going to get extremely hectic in a few weeks and she didn't have nearly as much time as she wanted to make her preparations to leave the planet. She had a responsibility to the children so until they got adopted she had to tend to them and make sure they grew properly.
Luckily for her though she at least had the ability and money to send them all to an academy when they turned 14 because they had all ignited. There they would be trained in the basic ways of origin and become certified Protogium once they graduated.
But she still had to deal with Liza, Leonard, and now Isaac before her. Liza and Leonard having Donum seeds this far out in the boonies meant they would be exploited for the rest of their lives because of their lowly background.
As for Isaac, she was pretty sure whatever the scroll still wanted from her wasn't over as its remaining piece still fluttered lightly over Isaac's head.
Positives, negatives, decisions, choices. So much planning to do, so little time.
At least Jecci was there for her she thought. Her little orphan who grew up into a stunningly talented woman. The day she told Ezeka she wanted to work for her without even pay still brought tears to Ezeka's eyes. To her, Jecci was her real daughter regardless of blood.
Now Ezeka wasn't the only one deep in thought at the moment, as Isaacs own mind was churning through his wild thoughts.
She might have technically kidnapped him, but from what Isaac could tell, likely no one else would have been able to understand him nearly as much as this lady did.
Sharp enough to understand, that Ezeka was being bothered by her thoughts the dark expression on Isaac’s eyes began to shift as he looked up at the ceiling facing scrunching up in emotional pain before shaking his head and opening his eye’s once again.
The swirling storm was gone as the turbulent stormcloud grey became a tranquil cerulean sky.
Ezeka’s own chocolate eye’s went wide with shock as she witnesses the boy’s demeanor and very Iris change colors before her. Her idea's and plans on how to move from today on taking a seat on the back burner as her full attention fell on the boy who was summoned.
In the current era, origin made virtually anything possible with enough time, resources, and skill. But for a child whom she couldn't even detect the faintest traces of Origin from, he was proving to be a ridiculous anomaly.
Just what the hell had she gotten herself into this time she wondered.
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Isaac
After I finally managed to calm my unstable mind by sending a prayer to my mom, the itch of insanity receded to the back of my mind where it became weak enough to ignore.
Boy, was I a walking mess. I couldn't help but laugh viciously at myself. All those promises to myself and my mom of turning a leaf and yet there I was already opening up to the thoughts I’d been trying to suppress.
Sitting across from me at her plain oakwood desk the gorgeous redhead Ferdina who couldn't have been a day over 25 was staring at me as though I was some sort of freak. Granted she was likely hitting the mark considering close to crazy I was on the mental stability scale.
But I will say this, finding out that your body had regressed to that of a 10-year-old would likely have hit anyone hard. Not that I was defending myself. Others might have simply lost it in fear, me, on the other hand? My mind was already used to being a little crazy.
A strong yawn broke the silence and the woman's strong gaze on me. It wasn't until it was over though that I notice the yawn was my own.
Exhaustion gripped my mind now that I had cleared it. The short two hours I’d been with Ferdina had drained me, and the lack of knowledge on exactly where the fuck I was made the crazy bits of my brain throb a little but I’d deal with it in the morning.
The room was growing dimmer and Ferdina had noticed me drifting off.
A look of worry flashed on her face before she stood up, her slender figure, one numerous woman would never achieve regardless of their hard work quickly reached his side. Her movements full of grace, she picked me up and held me tightly between her arms.
I guess I was the frail princess, and Ferdina the charming prince. Maybe she’d even give me a kiss he imagined. He’d certainly wouldn't be opposed to such a belle doing so. Though that was likely impossible as her eye’s held nothing but tenderness to them. A tenderness he remembered seeing only in his mother's eyes as she warmed him with her motherly love.
Who knew his kidnapper could emit such warm emotions with her actions alone.
Finally, he felt his body placed gently on a bed. Its multitude of pillows and covers encapsulating him in a comfortable wrap leaving him so snug he only had time for one thought before the darkness of his subconscious took him.
‘I really do hope she lets me sleep in. Heaven probably couldn't compare to this comfort.’