Aslan questioned. He could feel his own body, but it felt very weak, almost as if he had walked for hours on end for days without stopping. This was accompanied by a feeling of strangeness enveloping his body, nearly as if he had awakened from a long coma. Before he could assess the situation, he was picked up by the man he had first seen after opening his eyes. The man raised him with both arms, holding his small frame. And then the realization quickly came to him: his body had completely turned into that of a baby! Just as the voices had foretold when he was adrift in the abyss.

  The realization made him despair.

  The man spoke with such excitement, "Finally, my child, you have come to me! I have waited for so long." His smile was almost blinding, filled with nothing but pure joy.

  Aslan quickly tried looking around, trying to assess the foreign environment he was in. And then his gaze landed on something extraordinaryHe thought, barely able to comprehend the scene unfolding before him.

  said the woman. Her voice was beautiful, and her face even more captivating. The man and the woman seemed perfect together; they were both stunningly beautiful.

  Aslan concluded after assessing the situation.

  sounds came from the door leading into the room. The man quickly gave Aslan back to his mother before answering the door. It was another man wearing eyeglasses while holding a couple of things that looked like a file containing documents. The man spoke with Aslan's dad about something that sounded serious, and he looked quite dissatisfied while talking.

  "Oh, Chancellor Orvill, what brings you here today?" asked the woman.

  explained the man with the glasses, named Orvill.

  The realization stunned Aslan.

  " asked the man.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Aslan was still dumbfounded and in complete disbelief.

  said Chancellor Orvill.

  said the man.

  the Empress screamed. She looked so terrifying, and the two men instantly shut their mouths. Both of their faces looked terrified, and the Emperor even looked pale.

  ,thought Aslan.

  asked the emperor, approaching her slowly. He was clearly still in a state of terror. I think he's afraid of her hitting him, Aslan thought to himself.

  the emperor said, giving a look of approval.

  But Aslan was stunned. Hearing the name was like a blade to him, a reminder of the suffering from his past life, the burning hatred he had for life. Aslan's thoughts were in ruins as every piece of bad memory replayed in his mind, all the suffering, all the things he had to experience before. The emotion became too great to bear, perhaps because of the limited mental capacity of a baby, so he began to cry.

  Aslan's cries were heard loudly in the room; even the people outside heard it.

  the emperor exclaimed, still as excited as ever.

  the empress said while trying to soothe Aslan's cries.

  Yet Aslan didn't stop crying. How could he? He had just thought he could finally rest and then was forced to live again. The servants outside even came into the room to check on their newly born prince, some trying to soothe him, yet to no avail; all of them failed. The emperor tried making funny faces; he even forced the chancellor to do the same, but the crying did not subside. Instead, it became louder.

  The emperor, clearly concerned, called the imperial physician, yet no issues were found.

  said the imperial physician.

  But then the empress had a magnificent idea. She gave the prince to the emperor to hold and then came in front of the prince. She raised her hand, and suddenly a gush of wind came from the palm of her hand. She raised her hand again, and from her hand a light came out, almost resembling fireflies during the night sky. The light flew around Aslan almost as if it were a living being; it flew and fell like snowflakes amidst the winter.

  Aslan's cries then stopped. What is this? How can the empress make all of this happen? Scientifically, it's not even possible. Is this some magic trick? Wait, can this place I've been born in not be Earth? Is this place another dimension or something? This is just like a fairytale! Aslan thought while watching the light slowly disappear into thin air.

  said the empress.