"So, what will it be like?"
"Pretty simple stuff. I'm sure you're plenty familiar with it."
"So, I'll just be born with my past life memories?"
"Something like that. Though if you want to get technical, it would be reincarnation with memory retention. But you've spent enough time here already. Good luck—I hope you enjoy the eyes of your glorious 6 Eyes King."
Just then, I felt the dreamlike sequence end, and I groggily opened my eyes to an unfamiliar scene. I heard someone speaking, but my head hurt too much to focus on anything else. I let my eyes close, and the world faded to darkness.
"Oh my goodness, his eyes..." There was a pause. "They're beautiful," a man with ashy brown hair and blue eyes said, shifting his gaze to a woman holding another baby. "I guess since Arthur got my eyes, Merlin must have gotten your beautiful looks in his."
The man chuckled.
A woman with auburn hair and brown eyes laughed softly, her gaze meeting the man's. "Oh, Reynolds, but… Merlin? Is that going to be his name?" she asked.
Reynolds glanced between Arthur and Merlin. "It just came to me," he replied, looking back at her. "What do you think, Alice?"
"It's perfect," Alice said with a beautiful smile.
POV: Merlin
4 years have passed since I was born into this new world, and it wasn't hard to figure out which world it was especially when, at 2 years old, R-tard Arthur blow up the house. 'Though, I suppose I owe him to some extent. Because of him, I was able to figure out how elements work.'
When Arthur was in the process of awakening, I observed the flow of mana into him. It was all four elements. My working theory is that while some people are naturally more adept at certain elements, it's not impossible to use others. However, during the awakening process, all four elements must flow into the core if they don't, well… they don't awaken all 4 elements.
'Guess I can't really call it a theory since, with the Six Eyes, I literally saw it happen. Though, I'd need more test subjects for confirmation,' I thought, rubbing my chin. 'From what I can see, Alice is currently with child, so I can observe the process with Ellen, but…' I stopped rubbing my chin and scratched my head in annoyance.
"I just hope I'm still following the canon."
"Following what canon?" a voice called nearby, belonging to none other than Arthur. I sighed as he approached. "Though The real surprise isn't just that you're talking unprompted, but that you're asking for a favor," he said, stopping in front of me.
He looked at me with a complicated expression. "Should you really be outside without your blindfold? You know how Mom gets if she sees you like this."
I waved it off. "I'm going to awaken soon, and it's going to happen during our trip to Xyrus."
He eyed me with a look I couldn't quite describe, but it felt… suspicious. The silence lingered until I finally broke it. "And I want your help with it."
Arthur stayed silent, still staring at me. "It's really not that complicated. If you say you're close, then my help isn't needed." He turned and started to walk away. "I'm sure you'll be just fine," he said, giving a little wave as he walked off.
"But I still want your help, just to be safe," I called after him, watching him continue walking. "And you owe me for what you did two years ago." That made him stop in his tracks.
He rubbed his head and turned back to look at me. "It's not like I did it on purpose," he said helplessly. "How was I supposed to know there was going to be an explosion?"
"Listen, I'm not asking for anything crazy. I just need a little guidance during the process," I said, meeting his gaze. "So?"
"Okay," he replied, turning around and heading back toward the house.
That went about as well as it could have. The relationship between me and Arthur was… strained. 'Well, no point in lying to myself—it's completely strained, and it hasn't really improved, no thanks to me.' I hadn't truly adjusted to having a new family. Unlike most people in my situation, I'd had a fulfilling life before.
I looked at the wooden house I'd been living in and thought about my relationships with this family, especially with Arthur. 'I could be wrong, but I think he needed this.' From what I knew about his past life, it was the same as any typical main character's—the kind with a tragic backstory who then becomes incredibly strong. But for me, it's different. I had a good life, right up until it took a tragic turn, forcing me to grow up.
'Maybe it's the age we lost people that makes us different. He lost someone very close to him young, while my loss came much later in life.'
I thought back to the first few years here. Learning a new language was frustrating, and after a year of struggle, I was finally able to speak—but I remained distant, rarely talking to anyone. 'Alice worried so much she even called in another healer to check on me, while Reynolds insisted I'd talk eventually.'
My eyes softened as I thought about them. I leaned back against the tree, my head pressing into the trunk. Alice and Reynolds had been nothing but supportive, doing their best with me, and I'd just been brushing them off. "Maybe I'm the problem. I should try harder with them there's no point keeping my distance anymore," I murmured to myself.
And then, with Arthur, there's one more thing I've been considering—a big factor in our strained relationship. I took a deep breath and sighed, leaning back into the tree. "He knows." There was one commonality between Arthur and me from birth, we were both… different. As we grew up, an awkward tension hung between us. I felt it, though I don't know if he did. I've always had this inkling that he knows I'm the same as him.