So, I'm essentially just rewriting this series from scratch.
What to expect from this? Simple. We'll be following most of the plot but with major changes that might result in some arcs either being scrapped, changed completely, or maintained.
In either case, I'll severely improve upon the original, fixing as many mistakes as I come across while also correcting errors in storytelling, narration, and overall plot continuity.
I thought about this for quite some time and just decided to go with it. Might as well start somewhere than nowhere.
Thank you for coming here and giving this work a chance! I hope you're entertained... now...
Let's roll!
6.5K words.
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Deep underwater… so deep eternal darkness had replaced the sky, stood a marvel of human tenacity and ingenuity.
Beyond the warmth of the sun's light, a magnificent underwater city stood. Hundreds of tall skyscrapers reached for the skies, anchored to mountains and ravines that hadn't breathed a single drop of air in eras.
Colorful neon signs, underwater trains, passageways, parks, and much more. A civilization like no other prospered beyond the clutches of the dark world above ground.
A bastion of culture, science, and the vital human desire to excel against all odds when faced with adversity.
"Hm… cough!"
In the central section of the city, on the top floor of the tallest building, an old man watched the city from above with his arms behind his back.
Above the building stood a floating globe spinning silently in the dark void like a lighthouse calling for all lost in the endless waters… surrounding the globe stood a single phrase:
-No Gods or Kings, Only Man-
(Image)
His hair had already gone fully white, and his beard was around a palm long; trimmed and well-kept.
His skin looked healthy, and there weren't that many wrinkles on his face, strange considering his other physical features. One might even think he had dyed his hair to make himself look older… but his eyes told another story.
Worn and heavy… his gaze displayed his physical and mental exhaustion as he gazed at the city... deep within, there even seemed to be a tint of... disgust?
Disappointment? Anger? Helplessness… perhaps not even he himself could tell what he felt right now… only one thing was true. One thing he knew far too well.
He had failed… and now, any chance of redemption had been thrown out of the window, buried and scattered in the endless sands of the ocean…
But how come? His room was a paragon of his achievements, filled with old trophies and medals. The woodwork on his furniture was of the highest class available, the tapestry on the walls of the finest quality; impeccable, a sense of style and prestige few could topple.
This old man was without a doubt at the top of the world… Yet his expression was dull. Was he not satisfied with everything he accomplished?
What had he done to justify such self-loathing?
He closed his eyes for a moment… reminiscing about the now so distant past…
/B-Buzz!/
At that very moment, an old-style radio sitting at the edge of the room came to life on its own. Its knobs popped and turned, tuning in to the news…
"...Hello people of Rapture! The city of dreams! An excellent morning to you all! I am your speaker of the day, Lousse Rouis! The fan favorite Richard is a little ill today, so I am going to replace him for the time being."
"I hope everyone sends our loved Richard a good recovery so he may return to us as good as new in the coming days!"
"Now… going back to the news! Today is an incredible day! Today is the anniversary of the founding of Rapture! 140 years! Woah… how time flies!"
"… But! This isn't the only birthday we're having today! Does the name Antonoine Guilios ring a bell?... No?… Come on! Last chance..."
/~Music…~/
A few seconds passed under a soothing song...
"Ha! I knew you'd get it! Of course you know who he is!"
"First-generation to be born in Rapture, leading researcher in Plasmid, technological and medical development! Retired CEO of Fontaines Futuristics, and ruler of Rapture for many decades!"
"Who doesn't know him? Who doesn't love him? His influence spreads across all fields of research. Hell, even your OVEN where you cook your delicious "spribles" was his idea! Amidst many, many others…"
"We could go on and on, but that's not the goal of today's broadcast! Today he reaches an incredible 130 years! A superhuman, both in mind and in body, may he live many more years, leading Rapture towards an even brighter future!"
/Clap clap clap…/
After a round of applause echoed within the radio, "Now for the news! The election for the next ruler of Rapture after the unexpected retirement of Antonoine has reached a boiling point..."
"Turn down the radio… and the lights." The old man proclaimed as he opened his eyes
/Beep!/
Accepting his command with a muffled beep, the eastern wall suddenly opened up, revealing a small metal ball that slowly rolled out onto a metal rail and into the ground.
It opened up to reveal a slim metallic robot. It went towards the radio and pressed the turnoff button before going back into its hole and disappearing.
Soon after, the lights dimmed, casting the room into warm, weak light.
"…"
The dark now enveloped him; only his faint outline could be seen shining on the ceiling thanks to the light coming from down below the brilliant city.
"... One hundred and thirty years have passed… yet, nothing changed, the same boring life, the same… cough… fate…"
'I did not achieve it… I could not achieve it… I wanted to go out there and do so much more… but my body can't keep up anymore.'
He looked down at the city and reminisced about his life, 'It might surprise you, but this is actually my second life…'
'In my first life… the little I still remember… I was nothing but an ordinary college student, studying and studying and… studying.'
'I knew little aside from that. Though that could be my own bias. I fear that with age, my good memories have long since been replaced by my distorted sense of displeasure with that life.'
'No matter how much I tried to preserve those memories, I could not find where they were stored.'
'Some things I still remember… amidst the endless cycle of continuous study, what made me persevere wasn't my own strength but the support from those around me.'
'A good family, friends, food, a nice big home… I had more than I could ever ask for, so suffering like that was the least I could do.'
'But whatever I thought around that time was overshadowed by my grief… for all of a sudden, my life was turned upside down when my parents and sister died in an accident, leaving me alone in the world.'
'That was when I changed, taking on a goal… to be remembered, to leave a mark in the world so no one would ever forget me…'
'A stupid thought to have. I achieved nothing, and that very dream was my eventual undoing… years upon years of hard work. My mind wished for too much, and my body… gave in.'
"Death from overwork…" He mumbled faintly as his hands shook
'When I thought everything was over, I felt myself lose consciousness and cried for help… I soon woke up elsewhere… I was alive once again, but not in my own body… another's… or should I say, somehow, the memories deep within me were unlocked, allowing me to remember that which had been forgotten.'
'There was a point in my early life where I was filled with despair… another chance at life? Why even bother? I wished not to go through the pain of growing up just to live the life of a worker. I could become the one who gives the orders, but then… why bother?'
'It is no mystery and I have no shame anymore… I was depressed, there's no other way to put it… but even that… was short-lived.'
'I can still vividly remember it… the day I saw blue lightning jumping through my father's fingers, dancing on his palm as he discussed something with my mother. Unfortunately, I can no longer remember it. I once had a diary I wrote during my early childhood, but I lost it long ago…'
(Image)
'That was the day my beliefs and worldview shattered. When for the first time in a long time I had grown curious in pursuing something… of learning.'
'It was only a few months into my "awakening" that I pieced together my situation. The first thing I learned, and perhaps what made me immediately understand everything, was that I was in Rapture, the underwater city of "dreams" led by mankind… just like the games, I played many years ago.'
'I used to be interested in games and such media but never had the time to fully engage with them. My studies had always been a priority, so my knowledge of it all was scarce… Nevertheless, I knew enough to know what awaited me.'
'With no surprise, my enthusiasm waned as fast as it came as I remembered the destruction and madness the future held for this place… so I resorted to the thing I hated most. The very thing that brought me so many regrets. Studying.'
'While I hated it, I was also good at it… So I studied and studied… all in order to get access to the highest of powers that bound this world together. The so-called Plasmids and Gene Tonics.'
'I wanted to become someone able to protect that which I held dear. While at the time I had yet to process my condition and come to terms with it, the memories of the time I had as a mindless toddler were still present.'
'My family was my everything, and this city was my birthplace. I would protect both and achieve something in this life. That was my goal, my promise…'
'It didn't take long for me to realize something was wrong with me. My mind did not work the way it used to. Something had changed… I came to realize that I could memorize almost everything I read once. If once wasn't enough, then twice, thrice… had nothing surpassed four times.'
'I also had increased comprehension, allowing me to understand and realize things even my previous self had difficult seeing. For many years I wondered why that was the case… Was this a boon from reincarnating? Or was this body just that gifted? A man born with an irregular mind?'
'Such cases weren't out of the ordinary. Some people could see and do things most could not even begin to imagine… it was a novel feeling, to be the genius I once only heard of in stories or through the screen of my computer.'
'With these "powers", life became easy. Studying became… gratifying… for results were easy to achieve.'
'I was used to the hard work, of staying hours on end trying to understand a single math question only to throw it all over in anger… but what took time to come together became instantaneous to me.'
'My parents were supportive of my studies and did everything in their power to lead me down the path I wanted. So there wasn't an issue there either.'
'It was the perfect start to my life… but an issue still remained… war… the end of Rapture.'
'A civil war was going to take hold of Rapture, bringing the newborn glorious city to ruins by the hands of its own makers… but strangely enough, the war never came… the conflict never happened.'
'One by one, the reasons behind its ignition were resolved. Frank Fountaine died of a terminal illness before he could start the civil war, and Andrew Ryan somehow sobered up and fixed many of the political and social issues in Rapture, further extending the city's golden age.'
(Image)
'So before I knew it , I was left free in a place without conflicts, where the highest talents this world has ever seen gathered together beyond the heavy and controlling gaze of the governments up above. With all of that to watch over me… there was no need to hold back anymore.'
'By the time I was a mere sixteen-year-old… in the prime year of 1961, I conquered a small position at Fontaine Futuristics, one of the largest companies dealing with genetic enhancements and electronic systems in Rapture.'
'Given the time, it was no surprise work began this early. It was just how things were around here… and I wouldn't have it any other way.'
(Image)
'I was extremely proud of my achievements… Unfortunately, my parents died way too soon to see this event take place… they fell to the side effects of early versions of Plasmids, their bodies failing under heavy genetic mutations… perhaps it were those very mutations that caused my body and mind to behave like this… but who that is doubtful.'
'The time simply did not come together. It was almost as if I were living in an alternate version of what I knew… and that was when I realized that this ridiculous statement might actually be the truth. A parallel reality where ADAM was found and researched many years earlier than in the original story.'
ADAM is a volatile genetic substance that has the ability to rewrite genetic material, allowing the user to alter their body, their genetic makeup and their natural abilities without any direct limits whatsoever aside from their imagination.
ADAM does this by supporting the formation of potent stem cells that have the ability to differentiate into any cell type, including a variety of unnatural ones.
This type of cell formation, however, is also often compared to a benign form of cancer, as the chemical slowly destroys native tissue cells and replaces them with unstable stem versions… which was the lead cause of his parents' deaths…
In addition to that, ADAM is extremely addictive, as the stem cells are unstable by nature and require the user to consume more ADAM to keep the stem cells stable in order to remain sane and healthy.
Unfortunately, consuming more ADAM also leads to the creation of more stem cells which forces the user to consume even more, leading to progressively bigger doses being required to maintain stability, with every subsequent dose being bigger than the last, creating a rapidly escalating feedback loop.
Though it was possible to indulge in Plasmids without becoming dependent, ADAM's growing importance in Rapture daily life and the stimulant effect it had on the mind almost invariably led users to abuse it.
In this timeline, ADAM was discovered a few years earlier by a nameless fisherman around the Atlantic, who caught a deep-sea squid with the slug in its stomach… it was then brought ashore where mysterious men-in-black took it for safekeeping.
Only later would it be known that those men were sent by none other than Andrew Ryan who didn't want the secret of the sea slugs to be spread so easily.
The main issue, however, was that the sea slugs alone could not provide enough ADAM for marketing consumer products, but it was found that when a slug is embedded in a host's stomach, it generated twenty to thirty times the yield of usable ADAM.
This led to the creation of the Little Sisters through Fontaine's orphanage, as young girls were found to be the only viable hosts…
'Regardless of that, my parents gave me far too much in this life. So many memories, so many opportunities… yet they passed away before I could even begin my journey… I remember being immeasurably bitter, and for a long time I just wanted to… end it all.'
'I don't remember much of the time, but I somehow persevered. I pressed on and continued their work, wanting to perfect their work so others wouldn't feel like me… to achieve something truly great.'
'I wanted to make something so revolutionary my name would be remembered for the next two thousand years! As such… I pressed on with renewed interest.'
'It took me a mere five years to become the head of the research branch I worked at, and another four to become part of the decision-making of the organization.'
'I met many brilliant minds like J.S. Steinman, Julie Langford, Yi Suchong, Dr. Brigid Tenenbaum and more. Together we developed many ways to treat and cure ADAM dependency.'
'But that is something that deserves its own story…'
(Images)
'I was born in late 1945 just when Rapture was at its beginning stages... barely even a project. With both of my parents being geneticists, my path ended up starting where their footsteps ended.'
'This was a legendary timeline where everything was set on the course towards an unbelievable future where...'
Antonoine reached for his office table and sat down, pulling a small diary from within a hidden compartment.
One page at a time, he went through everything he had written in life, skipping the earliest chapters…
{
…
>In 1965, I found a way to treat dependency on ADAM properly. Until then, there had been no proper method to do so, but with this achievement, I had avenged my parents and those that died too early to witness the world that I would build. This achievement made me head of the research branch, my first real taste of power.
…
>1967, I finished the abandoned Teleportation Plasmid by reworking its base attributes, but it wasn't until years later that I shared this discovery with others, for I feared the power it contained… It needed more time to be researched before it could be shared.
…
>1969, I found a better way, together with other researchers, to harvest ADAM. Previously made by putting the slug inside a little girl in a symbiotic relationship… a gruesome process far too heavy to burden a child with, but enough to net me a position on the decision-making of the organization.
…
>In 1970, I started research on a special Plasmid, focused solely on improving the mind. I called it, Geni-Us… because it made you a genius… Anyhow, the propaganda of it was well-received later on. It became incredibly popular and sold in droves.
…
>1971, after many years working on improving its side effects and reducing the load on the body, I finally took my first Plasmid, the finished version of Geni-Us, enhancing my mental power, and further boosting my research capabilities.
From there on, using my position and influence, I began to slowly shift the direction of the company while also attaining greater influence over the city of Rapture as a whole. It would take time, but one day, all of it…
Would fall into my hands.
…
>1972, I developed a few more Plasmids, patenting them and selling them under the name of Fontaines Futuristics. One of those was the Subanautian Bubble, which allowed its users to move underwater inside a bubble of air. The basic model could resist pressures up to 400 meters.
I couldn't resist my past life's methods of capitalism… and like a good man of the modern era, divided my research into layers so stronger variants would cost more despite most of those forms being the original ones.
The wealth from such projects was sunk in the ever-continuous development of my research and my ambition. To climb upwards, I began dabbling in politics as well.
…
>1974, I finally found a safe and ethical way to produce ADAM in large quantities without using children. Using a certain species of succulent plants found on the surface.
This achievement granted me immeasurable public support. For with it, coupled with all of my past actions to assist the public in regulating their consumption and focusing on their well-being, now I was also taking steps in ensuring the future of the city.
…
>1976, I started the construction of a private lab in order to dive deep into more... secretive research, finishing it one year later.
In this year as well, using my immense wealth, I bought the majority shares of Fontaines Futuristics, becoming, once and for all, the head of this massive company, which had risen to sovereignty in the last few years.
One of many left to acquire…
…
>1985, Andrew Ryan stepped out of his position as the ruler of Rapture, and the very first democratic election was held. Without much surprise, I won the majority of the votes, thus becoming the next leader of this grandiose city!
And I had big plans…
…
>2003, I finally found a way to the direction of the mutation granted by ADAM. Not in the form of Plasmids but something else entirely… naming it Ambrosia. A liquid capable of turning one into a "God". This was only a joke on my part, since the discovery was never made public.
There was a small note below the entry… although I wasn't that far from it, one of my regrets was taking too long to make it.
I wished not for immortality, but for such a short life…
…
>2016, I found a problem with the Ambrosia project. I could gain power and lifespan, but its effects would never reach what they could've been thanks to my old age. Only extending my life by about 30-40 years.
Regardless of it all, I pressed on. More life means more time to research and eventually reach my dream. The dream of one day traveling to other worlds and having a proper adventure.
If I reached this world, then others awaited me. I would figure out this mystery, perhaps the greatest of all humankind.
…
>2016, during my 71St birthday, I drank the perfected Ambrosia, gaining immense power and control over Plasmids, some of which I might never fully comprehend even until my death.
…
>2018, I found another problem, and that is energy. I lack the energy to utilize my abilities to their fullest. So, I once again delved into my research of EVE.
EVE was but the genetic substance which powers the use of Plasmids. And like such could also be modified… I only had to figure out how.
…
>2026, I discovered the "Mutagen factor" after analyzing the Luminescent Biomass, the thing that mutated the sea slugs and allowed them to produce ADAM.
This factor allowed me to manipulate anything to produce ADAM as long as I properly set up the creature in question genetically. But once again, this discovery was kept in the dark, for now, only to be released five years later when I had done proper research on it.
…
>2036, time was running thin. Now in my 90s, I figured it was time to start my dream for good. So, I delved into the research of dimensional travel and "Tears"… Only to fail miserably due to never being able to find the Lutece Field. My guess is that this phenomenon does not exist in this parallel universe.
It was to be expected. Such research was scarce in this timeline, and it seemed to have never kicked off… maybe it was for the best. The last I wanted was for dimensional issues to spread in the city while I was growing it.
Even so, I could not remain still. I pressed on even further. There wouldn't be a mystery I wouldn't understand! Or so I used to believe…
…
>2060, amidst my normal research, I found out a strange phenomenon in my room; a box that I had never seen before appeared right where nothing used to be. After preliminary analysis, I deemed it to be a product that came from a parallel dimension.
A theory that was soon confirmed when Tears appeared around Rapture, causing chaos due to the population traveling across dimensions and timelines.
To stop this madness, I, together with many others, developed a machine capable of stabilizing space, negating the possibility of Tears forming inside Rapture for good.
With this, however, I could finally begin the work I had postponed for so long.
…
>2061, after the event known as the "Dimensional Crisis" Rapture's technological development skyrocketed because of the stolen tech and devices from other parallel realities.
This also included me, and my ventures to worlds far beyond mine… I saw lands devastate by war, versions of Rapture built in all manners of exotic places, from deep underground to beyond the skies and the deep void… not even the moon was spared, by far the craziest of all my ventures.
There was one interesting detail in all of that, and that is the fact that I never found a copy of myself in any parallel reality I went to.
Had I died or vanished into history? Was this the product of unbelievable odds so impossible that even in my endless search I had yet to come across another me?
Unfortunately, I never found the reason why.
…
>2069, after over 120 years since I came to this world. I felt as though I had lost my way. The only thing I did ever since I was a child was research and research, nothing different from my previous life, and now, all of my friends and family I made in this world are dead or dying.
I too was slowly falling down this path… There wasn't that much time left…
You could say I gained immense power, but this power came too late in this life. By the time I was strong and almighty, I had already forgotten the thrill of having lightning leap out of my hands.
…
>2070, I lost my motivation to live.
…
>2071, In order to recover my self-esteem, I traveled the world, something I did very few times when I was younger.
From the Americas to Asia, I went everywhere, seeing a world very similar to my own but so distant… making me remember and desire my long-lost friends and family. I travelled across parallel dimensions, seeing things and creations I thought absurd previously, and even the same people I had lost… but they weren't the same people.
Strangers wearing their faces… still, they reignited some of the joy I had cast aside. I added those discoveries to my research and shared some with other researchers to boost whatever project they were working on.
I started to indulge in video games, manga, books, and whatever the people of modern times entertained themselves it…
For a moment, it was as if I had returned to my first life… just like when I was small, as the son of parents whose faces I cannot remember anymore.
…
>2075, I had ridden myself out of my despair and boredom. I was happy and satisfied, but at the same time, disappointed. I reached the very top of this world, yet I felt empty.
My research on Tears never really went anywhere. I could only open a random Tear and see where it leads, but every time it will be a variation of what I already have seen.
Never once did I truly find something "new". Never once did I achieve my dream of going into another completely different world.
It was always just another Rapture. No matter the name, the essence was the same.
What was the point of rediscovering ADAM and EVE one thousand times over?
I wanted something new, something thrilling…
The fire within my mind and soul were still strong, but this body of mine was far too frail… days ago, for the first time in nearly a century, I failed to use my abilities.
Ten million recombinations later, after destructing and reconstructing my genes countless times, not even the perfect molecules within me could take it.
They were breaking down, one by one… the perfect creation, Ambrosia, had met its match.
Time.
…
>2076... Is this the end?
}
{End of the journal and only biography of "Antonoine Guilios"}
…
'I thought about everything I had done since I came to this world. It wasn't a meaningless life; much on the contrary, I helped many, and saw even more things.'
'The magical abilities were everything I had always wanted. But I always wanted more… something else… I wanted… an adventure.'
'Perhaps my soul is just flawed, cursed never to find satisfaction.'
'My romantic life was as non-existent as you would've expected. But I had some experiences. I saved many people in my adventures, and ever since I used Ambrosia, my aging became much slower, and my appearance reverted a few years even.'
'I could even control how I looked if I wanted to, despite choosing not to most of the time.'
'In the endless worlds I visited, it was just normal that my path would cross with another's... several times I tried to go for it, although I can't say I ever got far. I am not that good at romance at the end of the day.'
'Besides, I couldn't really maintain a long-lasting relationship because all the girls I ever liked were from parallel realities… the very laws of the universe did not permit our union.'
"... What am I really thinking? Romance and all that… The years passed, and I didn't even realize I got old… humph."
'Look at me, thinking like an old man!… If only this body wasn't decaying, I would've… sigh…'
Antonoine took an old photo of his parents with him from the desk. Remembering the old times, he took out his jacket and prepared for what would most likely be his final performance.
"If I am leaving this world, let me do it with a bang!" He said in a firm tone as he looked outside
/Crack…/
He pointed his hand to the side, and a wooden door materialized from the ground. Rising from the old wood as if it had been carved from it.
Opening it took the old man to the top of a small green hill. Flowers and wild sheep were everywhere.
Looking around, he felt a small tint of regret, "In the end, I never came here with you two..." He muttered as he looked at an old yet perfect wooden house on the side.
This was the place where his parents met each other, and the place where Antonoine buried their ashes many years after their deaths.
There used to be a village here, but time already wiped it out; that small house was the only thing he preserved.
"This shall be my final gift to you two. If it wasnt for you two, I wouldn't be here."
'My only family.'
"Our time was but a tenth of this long life of mine, but it was by far the most meaningful…"
He raised his right hand...
/Tremble!/
/Crack!/
The surrounding mountains trembled. The sheep ran in panic like headless chickens as the world quaked.
As the trembling got progressively stronger, the mountain broke apart into multiple giant rocks. They were cast into the skies where they remained afloat, being slowly remodeled by an invisible force as if they were clay.
Under his control, they were brought together into a large structure.
One mountain… Three mountains… Eventually, the surrounding mountains all disappeared, creating a barren ground with a misshapen object in the middle.
"Step one don… COUGH!"
Antonoine suddenly spat some blood on the ground, his face growing pale as his eyes grew murky…
"Is this too much? I am truly old…"
'Even an enhanced body such as mine would eventually meet its end if not properly cared for. It's just a shame that I was born in the first generation… if I were to be born right now...'
He shook his head, it wasn't time to dwell in the past.
"In the end I never figured out the reason why I was sent here… why I was reborn."
'What is a soul? How can consciousness persist between bodies and worlds? Am I really the same boy who died from overwork, or have his memories been copied onto me by some cosmic twist of fate?'
"To die without answers… I'm unwilling…"
/Crack!/
The deformed mass of rocks, several hundred meters tall, took a more humanoid shape under his control. It became a beautiful sculpture of two people, one man, and one girl, dancing in the grass
"Step… Two done…"
/SNAP!/
He snapped his fingers, causing the ground to rumble…
/FLASH!/
With the sudden flash green light, flowers and plants grew all around the place, transforming the once barren and misshapen ground into a beautiful paradise. Rivers changed course, and the mountains far away were rearranged, creating a valley that could only be described as a paradise.
"Huff… huff…"
Antonoine now looked malnourished and weak. But his eyes were still firm as his desire burned even stronger.
"For the final touches…"
Many smaller details were added to this sculpture. Including some carvings and the hardening of the stone and soil all around in order to make the statue last even longer.
Like his research and Rapture, this creation would outlive him for not only a generation but countless more…
/Thud…/
When everything was done, Antonoine, now looking like a bag of bones, fell onto the ground filled with flowers.
"Huff… tired…"
'So much I wanted to do… there was so much research to finish…'
Looking at the blurry skies above, he smiled, "…. good… bye."
'I wanted to say this for quite a while now… but thank you for giving me this life... I'll be resting now, I think I deserve a break.'
And just like that, he died with a smile on his face. A man known as a legend, a monster, a genius, a devil to some, a god to others. Leaving behind a legend, a myth of his immense power and knowledge. To be passed down across millennia.
This was the death of Antonoine Guilios, the man who wished to defy mortality.
…
/Thunder!/
/Shuaa…/
At the northern outskirts of huge mountains stretching far beyond the horizon. A couple, a man, and a woman walked down the streets of their village hurriedly as they sought shelter from the storm.
/Shuaaa.../
/Thunder!/
It was raining heavily, turning the ground into mud as water pooled around them. This rain was a sign showing the rainy season had come, and that it was the start of a new year.
The man was the first to break the silence, "Quite the strong rain, huh. It seems that this time the crops will be plentiful."
He sighed in relief, "… It was about time, things had been hard already with those goblins and wild beasts attacking us. Thankfully, those adventurers recently cleaned the area; otherwise we would've been in some trouble."
His partner agreed, "I heard they killed a Loup Garou nest, right?"
The man nodded, but he seemed worried, "Let's just hope no more monsters appear in these parts. I can't even think of how things will be like in the future… kids these days will have it rough."
"You know… It's already time, right?" She asked as she touched her belly
The man's energy deflated as he looked down in shame, "We tried many times before… we can only pray to the Gods for a child at this point in time."
'Even though we tried again a little while ago, I am not confident... maybe I'm the issue.'
They've been trying to have a child for over a year already, but without success. No matter what advice they took from their elders and family members, without more professional support from the central cities, maybe they'd never succeed.
But the journey there was arduous, and the cost to arrange such a meeting would be heavy. Not something a family in the countryside could spare.
/THUNDER!/
/THUD!/
All of a sudden, just as they were about to reach their destination, the heavens rumbled as a bolt of lightning was hurled across the clouds, striking the girl and causing her to fall in utter silence.
She didn't even have the time to scream.
"ARRRG?!… That one fell quite close to us, huh… are you, alright…? H-Honey?!"
He looked across her body as he tapped her face in fear. Aside from a few minor burns, she was merely unconscious.
"Did we do something to anger the Gods?!... I can think about this later, I need to bring my wife home!" He muttered nervously as he dragged her through the heavy downpour
He picked her and started running with all of his power.
It was a sign that things were about to change.
…
"Huff… huff…"
Mere eight minutes later, he cautiously placed her on the bed. And after making sure everything was fine, he bolted out of the house to gather the herbalist and priest in the area.
As for the house itself, it was a big house, having three floors, an attic and a basement, an immense garden with several types of herbs and plants in it.
Beyond the garden were several other smaller buildings, most likely a warehouse and a workshop. It had a rustic feel, the kind one might find at the very outskirts of civilization.
Many other houses were organized around roads, and other communal buildings spread around the hills. It was hard to say because of the storm, but the house seemed to be located in an open field of grass. You could say it was a valley due to the mountains circling the village on all sides in the distant horizon.
This wasn't the only village on this plain, as many others could be seen spread around to make use of the fertile ground and fresh air. But that wasn't important right now.
The man ran through the rain, slipping several times and getting his whole body covered in mud, but he kept running, for right now, he had something worth more than his life on the line.
…
Just ten minutes later, he came back with several people: a priest in blue clothes, a middle-aged man with a bag filled with herbs, and some other people, probably friends and family.
"Alright, let me, Jeorge, and Hiom take care of her. Marcus, you can go downstairs and wait for us with the others." The priest said to the man as he entered the room on the second floor
"A-Alright…" Marcus responded as he led his family and friends towards the living room.
…
About an hour later, those left to take care of her came back from upstairs.
The first one to speak was a middle-aged man. He was lean and tall, but underneath his clothes were old muscles. Despite his hair having a few white ends, he still seemed to be full of vitality.
"Tell me, Gerdo, is my Rubia alright?!" The man asked as he approached the priest in blue robes, holding his wrists tightly
At his side was a woman with the same green eyes and red hair as Rubia. Without a doubt, those two were clearly her parents.
"S-Saphos… you're clutching me too tightly…"
He let go of the man, "My apologies, your answer?"
"Ahem… She is perfectly fine, Saphos. Just some light burns." He said as he wiped his forehead of sweat, "In fact, I have some great news to share."
From the side, Hiom, the local doctor smiled. She cleared her throat and voice loudly, "She is pregnant!"
"WHAT?!"
/Gasp!/
Rubia's mother laughed, "Finally. It sure took some time, I…"
/THUD!/
Before she could finish her words, Marcus… fell on the floor.
.
.
.
Notes