Selene's POV
Ian is always composed and never speaks about what he's thinking. I have known him since we were 5 years old. He always loves reading books—fantasy, novels, comics, history books, and more. For a long time, all I knew was that he didn't care about any girl. At least that's all I thought.
But when he said those words, I remembered something he had told me in the past. "When a person asks you 'The moon is beautiful, isn't it?' that means they are confessing their love." He had said that to me long ago.
As I heard him saying those words, nothing came out from my lips. I pushed my tongue back down my throat, unable to respond.
'His eyes… were they always this beautiful?' The deep black color of his eyes brightened under the moonlight, his mid-long hair that passed through his eyebrows down to his eyes swaying as the wind gently waved.
The moment of silence gave me time to carefully hold his cheek as my lips slowly touched his. The cold night embraced the two lovers under the beautiful celestial moon.
Ian's POV
As I went back home, my brain never stopped distracting me, replaying that moment. 'What was that?' I rubbed my head with both hands, shaking my hair. 'What was that?' I repeated the same question to myself.
To distract myself, I turned my attention to the weird book. I took the book I had bought from the old bookstore, still wondering how to open it, flipping it from back to front. 'What's this?' There was an orange button that had appeared on the top header of its covered leather.
'It wasn't here when I first saw this.' I pressed the button; surprisingly, the book unlocked. 'Shit! Hahahaha!' I jumped up, celebrating my success in opening the book. 'Oh God, you never know how happy I am.' I talked to it as if it were listening to me. I carefully opened the book, my eyes wide with excitement, and then—
'What? What's this? Nothing?' I turned the book page by page. My face changed as my bewildered mind was unable to process. 'All the pages are blank!?' I stood up carrying the book, still looking for anything inside the empty book I had bought.
Confusion filled my head. I threw the book back onto my bed. 'That's it. Thank you. I will return you tomorrow.' As I continued my rant, there was a sudden earthquake—or so I thought.
My tense body moved by instinct, and I hid under my table. As I covered my head, I carefully checked my surroundings. The whole room was shaking. It was weird that my aunt never noticed the earthquake. If an earthquake was this strong, she should already be shouting my name from her room.
Yet it seemed like she didn't know what was happening. I quickly stood up to run to her room to check on her. As soon as I stood up, I saw the book glowing, shining like a powerful LED headlight of a car.
I was stunned, wondering what was happening. And then suddenly, my eyes became blurred and I felt dizzy. I felt like I had lost all my energy, and the last thing I remembered was my body floating in midair.
I tried my best to move, but I was losing consciousness. I felt warmth all over my body.
And then, a few moments later—
'What's this? It's so dark…' Suddenly, I was in a place where all I could see was darkness. I couldn't feel anything. 'Where am I?' I tried to check my surroundings, but when I tried to move, it seemed I was wrapped up by something.
I heard some voices, seemingly talking to each other.
A woman's voice said something: "Look at him, William. He really looks like you!" A deep voice of a man responded: "Of course, honey, he's our first baby boy."
"He is so quiet. I've never seen a baby that didn't cry when they first came into this world," said an old woman's voice.
'What? I'm not a baby!' Nothing came to my mind but one question. 'What the hell happened? Am I a baby?!'
It took me a few minutes to calm down.
Composing my emotions, I carefully assessed my situation. Thankfully, I understood their language. That was enough for now.
Not long after, my eyesight finally began getting better and better. My infant eyes adjusted to the light, and I was able to see colors and figures. Scanning my surroundings, I noticed the whole place.
I saw an old wooden ceiling and some kind of bottles that looked like lab experiments with different liquids. This room was not a hospital; it was more like we were in a witch's house. The eerie vibes influenced the aesthetic of the whole room.
I could only see three or five candles lighting the room; because of this, my eyesight was limited.
I tried to focus my vision on one person seemingly carrying me—the old woman with long grayed hair that passed down to her shoulders, a pointy nose, and a sharp chin. Her glasses were thick enough to be a windshield. Her slow, husky voice really irritated my eardrums. The old woman carrying me was really scary. She wasn't even wearing a doctor's coat. I was starting to think I'd been summoned by some kind of witch cult.
But when she passed me to someone, the woman took me gently. I could feel her warm body as she carefully carried me.
She was beautiful. Her long dark hair made a perfect match with her scarlet irises. Her pale eyelids looked like she had cried a lot, yet her skin was clear enough for me to think she was a beauty queen. The perfect shape of her face was truly gorgeous. I noticed her blushing cheeks; I could feel her joy. She smiled at me so genuinely as she slowly touched my infant hands.
"I will name you Nathan. Nathan Xavier."
The woman gave me the name Nathan—not bad. I think she's my mother in this world. And that guy?
He looked manly. His deep voice really gave me chills, yet his face looked so happy. I couldn't deny that he was a good-looking man with a beautifully shaped jaw covered in a trimmed beard, short dark brown hair that passed his ears. He looked like an idiot when he acted, though. I think he is my father.
An hour later, I was starting to get used to my baby body. As they continued to speak to each other—the man, no, my father in this world—his name was William Xavier, and the woman who had been carrying me this whole time was named Aurelia Xavier. It looked like I was their firstborn. I felt bad for them that I was not what they thought I was.
I still didn't know what had happened. All I remembered was being in my room and there being an earthquake. I didn't know if I died. If so, then maybe when people die, they get reincarnated in some unknown world. A lot had happened today, and I felt really tired. Hopefully, I would get a really good life this time.
Letting out a sigh, I accepted the fact that I was just born.