Two years have passed since I was born and yet, most of my questions remain unanswered.
At least now, I understand a few things.
My name is Osiris at least that's what my father wanted to name me. My mother had other ideas and wanted to name me Teddy but luckily for me they didn't go through with that name.
I was born in a small village, somewhere near the edge of the Asura Kingdom.
The houses here are old, built from dark wood and rough stone, their roofs covered in uneven layers of snow. Thin trails of smoke rise from chimneys, disappearing into the pale winter sky. The air always smells faintly of wood.
I think I also understand why everything felt so familiar when I was born.
It's because this might not be my first life.
I'm not completely sure, but sometimes certain thoughts feel too natural as if I already had them long ago.
I've also learned who the people around me are.
The really big one with red hair and eyes like mine is called a father.
I like him very much.
He helps me whenever I need it. When I fall, he picks me up without hesitation, his hands warm and steady. When I don't understand something, he kneels down and explains it slowly, even when he looks tired.
Being near him makes me feel happy.
The other one, with red hair and slightly yellowish eyes, is called a brother.
His name is Piggy.
Apparently, his father is also my father. I still think that's kind of amazing.
Piggy is strange but kind.
Sometimes he sounds annoyed, sometimes careless but he never leaves when I need help. Even now, he stays beside me in the cold instead of going back inside just too help.
Then there is my mother.
I don't see her as often anymore.
She used to always be in the house, always near but that changed about a year ago.
Now she leaves often.
Father told me it's because of something called a "job."
Because of that, I started to dislike this thing called a job.
I don't really understand what it is but I know it takes her energy away.
Today, I'm outside with Piggy.
The cold air bites sharply against my skin, stinging my cheeks and nose. Every breath I take turns into a small white cloud that quickly disappears into the air. Snow crunches under my feet, and the ground feels uneven beneath my small steps.
Piggy is teaching me the alphabet.
Since we don't have paper, he writes letters in the snow using a stick. The lines are rough and shaky, and sometimes the snow collapses when he presses too hard.
"This is so boring!" I shout, my voice echoing faintly between the nearby houses.
Piggy doesn't even look at me.
Instead, he taps the snow with the stick.
"Write it again."
Now I'm stuck writing the same sentence over and over.
My fingers feel stiff as I grip the stick. At first, they hurt but after a while, I can barely feel them at all. The cold seeps into my hands, into my arms, making every movement slower than the last.
When I hesitate, Piggy finally speaks.
"Mom said if you don't learn the alphabet by tonight, you won't be allowed to go outside for the rest of winter."
Normally, that sounds like something a mother wouldn't say to a two year old child.
But my mother once told me
"Osiris you are a special child."
I still don't know what that means.
Being inside the house is worse than doing this.
There's nothing to do inside.
One time I even tried counting my own hair.
So I keep writing.
Even when my hands tremble.
Even when my fingers feel numb.
Even when I want to stop.
Piggy watches me quietly.
Whenever I make a mistake, he reaches over and redraws the letter, pressing the stick into the snow with more force than necessary.
"No, like this," he mutters.
At one point, he brushes snow off my sleeve with a quick, almost annoyed motion.
"Don't mess it up," he says but he doesn't step away.
When I finally finish, all my strength leaves me at once.
The stick slips from my fingers, and I drop down into the snow. The cold immediately seeps through my clothes, but I'm too tired to care.
My chest rises and falls quickly as I try to catch my breath.
"Piggy" I ask, my voice weak, "why do I need to learn the alphabet?"
He shrugs, looking away toward the distant trees at the edge of the village, their branches heavy with snow.
"I think it's for reading," he says, though he doesn't sound very sure.
"What is reading?" I ask immediately.
Piggy lets out a long sigh, his breath visible in the cold air.
"I don't know. Ask father. Why are you asking me like I'm supposed to know?" he replies, his voice irritated.
Still, he glances back at me just for a moment.
After a while, he looks up at the sky, which is slowly turning darker as the sun disappears behind the mountains.
"Let's go inside," he says. "I'm starting to feel cold."
I look down at the letters in the snow.
So many shapes.
So many meanings
That I'm only just beginning to understand.
Inside the house, the air feels warmer, filled with the faint crackling of firewood burning somewhere deeper within. The wooden floor creaks softly under our steps.
We walk to our room at the end of the corridor.
Piggy stretches his arms slightly, then looks at me.
"Rest a bit before mother and father come home," he says.
I nod and climb onto my small but cozy bed. The blanket feels rough, but warm, and my body relaxes almost instantly.
Piggy turns away, but not before pulling the blanket a little higher over me.
The moment the blanket hit my body I fell asleep.
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I'm sorry if you found the chapter boring but I think it was necessary to set the tone and to introduce the characters a little more.
But don't expect action in the first few chapter with a few chapter I mean probably first 30 chapters there will probably only be 3 or 4 fights but they will be really important for later.