Descent of a God

Ignorance is bliss

I couldn't tell how much time had pa.s.sed, but by the fact that I felt mild pangs of hunger in my stomach, it seemed like I had been talking for several hours.

"King Grey..." my father mumbled, running his fingers through his hair as he leaned back in his chair.

"So the fighting, your talent in magic—"

"Yeah, the ki system in my old world worked similarly to certain aspects of mana in this world," I finished for him. "And as for the fighting... you get the idea."

"Then ever since you were born, you were able to understand what we were saying? You remember everything?" my father asked, letting out a deep sigh.

I simply nodded in response.

"Hehe..." my mother chuckled.

My father and I both turned our gaze to her. To our surprise, my mother started laughing. My father wrapped his arm around her, but she just glanced at us delusionally.

"I-I get it. This is all a joke, right? Hehe... Oh, my son. Art, you almost got us there, right Rey?" she said, smiling. However, neither of us responded and her smile faded, her eyes searched for any cues that would confirm her belief. When she couldn't, she grabbed my hand as she stared at me with a look of desperation.

"This is a joke... right? Arthur Leywin, tell me this is a joke. You can't really be... some former king that died and was transported into the mind of my unborn child, right? RIGHT?"

"I... don't know exactly what happened, but I'm not joking," I replied, unable to look her in the eyes.

"No... No, no, no. This... No, this isn't happening. Rey, don't tell me you believe all of this? Our son is sick; something must've happened to him while he was gone — no, something definitely happened. Rey, say something! Say that our son is sick!" My mother grabbed onto my father's arm, pulling on his sleeve as tears started rolling down her pale face.

"Honey..." Wrapping his arm around her shoulder, my father held my mother close to his chest. He looked up at me and motioned me to leave the two of them alone.

Jude seemed to have a blank expression on his face, as if he somehow knew about this as well. I wanted to hug my mother, tell her that I was still her son, but I couldn't muster up the courage to do either. Opening the tent, I walked out without saying anything, leaving my parents alone.

Elder Rinia, Windsom and my sister all looked at me as I walked towards them, but the look on my face probably stopped them from asking anything. Even my pouting sister held her tongue as I sat down next to her and the slumbering Sylvie in front of the fire.

Time passed slowly, with my mind feeling like it was trying to swim through a particularly viscous syrup. Was telling them the right decision? What did they think of me now? Did they still think of me as their son, or would they inevitably grow distant...

Noises blended together incoherently and everything besides the fire that I was staring at grew out of focus. Yet, my head immediately snapped back when the sound of the tent flap opening reached me.

My father came out of the tent, suddenly looking a lot older than before. I had expected my mother to come out right after, but my father shook his head.

"Ellie, can you stay with your mother inside the tent?" he asked, motioning for me to follow him.

"Here you go. Feel better, you poop." My sister stuck her tongue out as she carefully handed me my bond. I couldn't help but feel a smile tug back on my lips as I watched her skip towards the tent.

Placing Sylvie atop my head, I followed my father into the tunnel Windsom and I had arrived through. I concentrated on the sounds of our echoing footsteps until my father finally decided to speak.