《The Contract》


 Prologue: The Contract

    In an inconspicuous forest and far from people''s sight, a place where a person would not normally visit, a single boy laid down on the ground, unmoving. During the time, cold weather had hit the lands and brought incredible chill to the boy.


    The seventeen years old boy¡¯s clothes'' were dyed red in what seemed to be blood. It covered most parts of his body. Not only did the boy suffered from external wounds, he also sustained fatal injuries from his inner organs. Anybody who would accidentally see the current figure and condition of the boy would instantly know that there was no hope of living for him.


    The boy himself, knew very well about his own situation. After all, he could not even feel any pain coming from his body anymore. His death approached closer by the second.


    While taking in small gasps of air, he spoke in a very quiet voice that only him would hear.


    "Ahahaha.... I would never expect that I would die so pathetically like this. How foolish of me to have hold on to those ridiculous beliefs that my parents taught me all these years.


    "Look where it got me now. It brilliantly led me to my own demise. I will forever hate the powerless me who was incapable of doing anything; the unjust world that treated me unfairly. But out of all, I despise the principles that I earnestly followed and believed in with all my being.


    "Ah.... I want to start from ''zero'' again."


    Using his last breath to mutter his last wish, he closed his hatred-filled eyes and went through the Death''s Door.


    What followed afterwards was a dark blinding light that enveloped the very existence of the boy and erased every single trace he had in the world he held so much in contempt.


    ...........


    After a while had passed, the previous dark light shone once again; this time in a different plane. It brought together the soul of the boy who died carrying insurmountable hatred in him. The boy eyelids fluttered and he opened his eyes.


    The boy''s eyes contained deep shock and confusion stirred in his heart. He pondered in his mind, "Is this the afterlife?" What surrounded the boy was the limitless space of white that contained absolute nothingness.


    The boy who was still bewildered by the sudden change of environment was disturbed by a voice.


    "Heh~ Finally. Someone came." The voice that contained a hint of joy came from a single entity behind the boy. The entity''s appearance did not resemble anything the boy had seen before. It was just particles of black light that formed a vague outline of a person.


    "Who are you?! Where is this place?!" The nameless boy turned towards the entity and asked, his tone harsh and cold which was affected by the previous events that had befallen him and caused him his death.  Adding to that, he was brought to a foreign place. Anger was evident in his voice.


    "Whoa! Calm down will you? I brought you to this place. Let''s just say that this place belongs solely to me and it is just simply an endless space of white, yeah?" The entity replied in a playful manner, seemingly devoid of any seriousness.


    ".....Why have you brought me here and what do you want? I should have died." The boy replied, keeping the same cold demeanor and attitude as before.


    "I was thinking of chatting a little bit more but I guess I shouldn''t beat around the bush, eh? As for what I want, hmm.... I want you." The mysterious entity replied nonchalantly as the last sentence left the boy speechless for a while.


    ".....Huh?" When the boy finally replied, what came out of his mouth was only a single sound that would make people think he was retarded.


    "Haah... Like I said, I want you." ''It'' simply replied while breathing out a somewhat tired sigh.


    "....I''m not into weird black particles of light that can talk. I''m leaving." The boy was feeling incredulous and only replied curtly. He turned around and started walking away.


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    "Wait, wait, wait! Earlier, you said you wanted to start from ''zero'' did you not?! I can grant your wish so please don''t go just yet!" It was frantically calling out towards the boy and blurted out something unbelievable. Its'' plead however, was successful in stopping the boy''s footsteps and caught his attention.


    "I''m listening." A part of the boy refused to believe that such a wish can be fulfilled but another part of him hoped for it to be true so he stayed to at least listen to what the entity has to offer.


    "Phew~ Let''s strike a deal." It sighed a sigh of relief and this time, its'' tone was serious.


    "What kind of deal?" The boy, in turn, asked.


    "A deal that benefits both of us. When I said I wanted you, I wasn''t joking. Specifically, the deal is to make you start from ''zero'' which is to reincarnate and for me, to reside in your body. As you can see, I have no physical body and I''m bound to this space. However, I can escape if I make a contract with you." It explained with great vigor.


    "Basically, I get to live once again as a different person and you get to live in my body as a secondary soul. Is that correct?" The boy''s expression was as calm as the tranquil water but his heart stirred in excitement and joy upon hearing the entity''s explanation.


    "Yeah. It means that you and I will both be in the same body and be the same person. You will be the primary soul of the body while I, will be the secondary soul. Unless something happen, I wouldn''t come out and control the body. So, are you interested~?" It asked while brimming with hope that the boy would accept. No, the entity was certain that he would accept the offer.


    "Are you crazy?" The answer that came out of the boy''s mouth almost crushed all of the high hopes the entity had. It was speechless but the boy continued nonetheless. "A chance for another life.... Are you crazy? There was no need to ask since my answer is obvious."


    The entity panicked and thought that the boy refused his offer. But of course, the boy answered, "Of course I accept."


    "......PHEW~ Sheesh, I seriously thought that you would turn down my offer. Now, the contract." The entity who first worried brought out a single sheet of paper and a pen out of thin air. "This is the Contract. After you sign this, the conditions of the Contract will immediately come into effect and we both will be reincarnated into another body."


    The boy stared at the Contract that was floating right in front of him. He grabbed the paper and the pen and proceeded to read the conditions. There were only two conditions.


    The first condition: The one who made the Contract and the one who accepts it will both reincarnate in a parallel world similar as the one who accepts the Contract came from. The vessel for both parties will be the same and the ability of it will be according to the wishes of the one who will be signing the Contract.


    The first condition was exactly how the boy wished it to be while the second condition left the boy in confusion. "By the end of time, only Death awaits both parties,¡± that''s what was stated in the second condition. The boy thought that it was useless pondering something which the meaning was unknown so he left it in the depths of his mind for now and immediately signed the Contract.


    The moment the boy finished signing the contract, another dark light flashed, embracing the entire space in black. He felt as if his soul was sucked out of his being and he almost suffocated. In the midst of all that, the entity, as if already having experienced it, kept its'' calm as the light claimed both its'' and the boy''s consciousness.

 Chapter 1: Torture

    When the boy whose name was still unknown regained his consciousness, what welcomed him was the giant face of a woman in her late thirties.  Surprised, he yelled; but to add more to his shock, what came out were the cries of a newborn baby.


    "Have I become a baby?!"  -  thought the boy in his mind.


    "Well~ It seems like our reincarnation is a success. We have become a newborn baby! Now that I think about it, aren''t we currently naked right now? Nooo~." Another voice resounded in the boy''s mind. The mysterious entity.


    "........" The boy, tired with the entity''s rambling, decided that staying quiet was the best decision to make and instead, paid attention to the woman who was shedding tears of joy in front of him.


    "Congratulations, Your Highness! It''s a healthy prince!" A sound came from the left side of the boy. He looked at his left with great difficulty and found that the voice belonged to an elderly woman with graying hair. It would seem like this woman was the midwife who helped this ''Your Highness'' in giving birth to the boy.


    "Are you okay, Honey? Does it hurt anywhere?" This time, a male''s voice containing worry joined in the little conversation. The boy wasn''t able to see the face of the said person but he had a definite hunch that the person was his biological ''father''. Moreover, he was going to be a Royal from now on.


    "No, I''m fine Dear. I''m just happy that I was able to give birth to our cute son. Oh, I''m so happy!" The previous woman replied, full of joyful laughter. Indeed, she was happy to finally become a mom. In her happiness, she closely cuddled the boy; it made the boy uncomfortable. This woman was without a doubt, his ''mother''.


    "Your Highness, you should not strain yourself and get some rest. After all, you need to recover your energy." The midwife reminded the mother while looking at the scene with warm eyes.


    "Aliza is right, Honey. Let her take our son to lay down in his cradle while you recuperate your strength. You can play with him as much as you want later." The father was more worried about his wife than the newborn baby.


    "Mmn. Aliza, take good care of him, alright?" The mother handed over the boy with great care to the midwife, Aliza.


    "Certainly, Your Highness." Aliza replied. Her elderly voice was very assuring. The mother then gently closed her pair of beautiful violet eyes and went to have a peaceful sleep.


    Aliza the midwife walked out of the room with very silent footsteps in order to not disturb the mother''s rest. On the other hand, the father stayed by his wife''s side to protect her with a tired yet warm smile plastered on his face.


    Out of the room and into the hall, the boy noticed that the place was very grand; befitting for a ''Highness''. There were beautiful paintings of sceneries adorning the walls. Elegant colored curtains that were hung up on the walls also further beautified the place.


    Aliza walked across the hall and entered a room that was not far from the boy''s mother''s. The room looked simple yet cheerful; a room suitable for little kids. She put the boy inside a cradle situated in the center of the room.


    "There, there. Have a nice sleep now, Young Master." The midwife whispered some loving words and pecked a little kiss on the boy''s small cheek before walking out of the room, leaving him alone.


    "Finally, I''m alone."  The boy silently thought, not letting any baby sounds or cries to be heard by anybody except one ''person''.


    "Did you forget about me? How mean~ We even share the same body. Uweeehh~!" The entity pretended to be upset and started crying like a baby in the boy''s mind.


    "Stop those obnoxious thoughts. I''m utterly disgusted by your actions." The boy replied back in his mind.


    "Sheesh, you''re no fun~ By the way.... How should I address you as? It''s inconvenient to not know your name. Oh, my name''s Laint for your information." The entity introduced himself as Laint to the boy.


    "I''m.....no." The boy hesitated for a moment before continuing. "I don''t have a name. Feel free to call me anything you like."


    "So, you want me to name you? Hmm, I wonder what name would be good for you..."  Laint paused for a few seconds to think up a name suitable for the boy. "....How does Zeth sounds?"


    "Zeth...? What made you choose that name?" The boy asked.


    "Hehe, that is of course because the name gives off the aura of being cold and unsociable. Just like you~" Laint joked around as he gave the reason as to why he chose such a name.


    "Regardless of your useless comments, Zeth doesn''t sound like a bad name. I''ll take it." The boy whose name was now Zeth, agreed with Laint without making much of a fuss. "Ugh...Somehow, I feel so sleepy.."  His voice began trailing off as he complained.


    "Hehe, being a baby is such a pain~ I''m going to sleep now....zzzz" Laint ended up dozing off the moment Zeth mentioned about being sleepy.


    "What a useless counterpart...." Them being in their baby form, were quick to fall asleep despite just having a conversation a few moments ago. The baby-form Zeth¡¯s and Laint''s eyelids fluttered before finally shutting close, entering a deep sleep.


    "Wakey-wakey, Young Master. It''s time for your meal~" A voice belonged to a woman in her twenties resounded in the ears of Zeth, simultaneously heard by Laint who resided in the body as a second soul; waking both of them up.


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    Zeth opened his pair of sleepy violet-colored eyes and saw the young woman''s face who was staring at him like some kind of doll.


    "I know that I''m cute but I''m not some kind of doll on display, you know~ Have they never heard of a baby''s beauty sleep before? So annoying~"  Laint complained inside Zeth''s head as soon as he saw the woman''s expression.


    "....Deal with it."  Zeth replied as he knew that both of them could not change anything even if they grumbled until the world''s end.


    "Aww! So cute! Be a good boy and be patient, okay? Older sister is going to bring you to Mama for a meal, okay?" The young woman who was wearing maid''s clothing picked up Zeth''s small body carefully and brought him out of the room. It was needless to say that the experience weren''t desirable for him.


    Following the same directions that the midwife Aliza took yesterday, the young maid arrived at Zeth''s mother''s room. The Queen''s room. With Zeth in her embrace, she politely knocked on the door and asked for a permission to enter the room. "Your Highness, I have brought Young Master over. May I, a lowly servant enter?"


    "Oh? Her previous demeanor is gone. So she does know how to properly act, eh?" Laint needlessly commented.


    "Just shut up for once will you?" Zeth was already annoyed from being woken up early and being carried around in an uncomfortable embrace so he naturally couldn''t stand Laint''s irritating remarks.


    "Yes, yes~" The person in question lazily replied as he finally fell silent.


    "You may enter." The Queen''s voice resounded, allowing the maid to finally enter the room.


    With gracious footsteps that was ingrained in both of the maid''s mind and body, she continued walking until she reached the bed where the Queen was currently resting. The King who accompanied Her Highness yesterday was not in the room. It made Zeth wonder how his father looked like.


    Naturally, the maid handed Zeth over to his rightful mother as gently as possible. "How''s my baby boy? Did you have a good sleep last night?" While the Queen was cuddling and smiling from ear to ear when she held Zeth, the maid had already exited the room as to not disturb her.


    "No, I did not. You''re a terrible mother to disturb your precious son''s beauty sleep for your own playtime." Perhaps if the Queen were to hear Laint''s spiteful reply, she would cry tears of blood.


    "......" Zeth did not even bother as he was somehow getting used to Laint''s commentary.


    "You know, Chris is Mother''s first child so I''m very happy and grateful that you were born safely. Thank you for simply being born, Chris." She said with a joyful tone mixed with a bit of sorrow as she got emotional once again.


    "Chris....It must be our name given by this woman and her husband. Moreover, we are her first child despite her being middle-aged so no wonder she seems to be spoiling us¡­. By the way, Laint. You do know that you are a very horrible person do you not?"  Although Zeth had not accepted her as his mother, he was nonetheless in debt as she had given birth to him.


    ".....I''m sorry. I''m a bad person. I won''t do it again." Laint sincerely apologized in his heart but as to whether or not he would repeat the same mistake, Zeth doubted that he would be able to keep his word.


    "Today, Mother had prepared a story to tell you from a very famous children storybook just for you, Chris. But, before that¡­It¡¯s time for your meal." She brought Zeth close her chest and began undoing her front clothes.


    ¡°Uh-oh~ She¡¯s going to breastfeed us!¡± Laint commented.


    ¡°¡­..¡± Zeth just kept quiet in regards of that.


    Against Zeth¡¯s will, he was forced to have his biological mother¡¯s milk as a meal. ¡°¡­.I can¡¯t believe this.¡± He sincerely complained as he was finishing his meal.


    After a few moments, he finally had his fill and struggled to push away from his mother¡¯s breast.


    ¡°Oh my? You¡¯re finished already, Chris? You don¡¯t eat much do you.¡± His mother had a somewhat worried face as she began to dress back up. She was concerned that her son did not drink as much as she thought he would.


    ¡°Ugh¡­I have sinned¡­¡± Little did she knew, Zeth only drank enough to sustain himself because of his embarrassment.


    ¡°Chris, now that you have finished your meal, let¡¯s read a story! Mother have prepared a lot of interesting fairy tales for you. Now, listen closely. Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, there was a hero¡­¡­¡±


    "Did you hear that, Zeth? How old are we? This kind of situation can only be describe with one word. TORTURE!" Laint exhaled a long sigh as he turned a deaf''s ear towards the story. Although Zeth felt sorry for his biological mother, he couldn''t agree more with Laint''s complain.


    In the end, the Queen ended up telling a bunch of stories which both Zeth and Laint tried their hardest to ignore. As a baby, their intention span was really short and they had already drifted off to the beautiful dreamland and were sound asleep when the day had only reached the afternoon.


    The second day of their reincarnated life and they had already experienced the torture of being a baby. Their journey to adulthood would surely be riddled with holes.


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    Screw it! I tried! But I just can''t seem to fix the f*cking font! Sorry about that >.>