Chapter 1: A Second Chance in Bluebell Town
Rain poured in sheets on the bustling city streets as the man known only as Aryan lay dying on the cold pavement.
He wasn't anyone special. Not a hero, not a villain. Just a tired, overworked office worker who lived on microwave dinners, stale air, and half-finished dreams. He had no grand ambitions. He had no family to cry over his absence. In fact, when his heart stopped on that rainy night, the only thing on his mind was how he'd forgotten to water his cactus again. A tragic end for a not-so-remarkable man.
And yet, fate is a strange thing.
He closed his eyes one final time—and opened them again to the brilliant, burning sunlight of a completely different world.
---
Aryan gasped, air flooding into his lungs like he'd been drowning. The smell hit him first: warm hay, fresh wood, and… beasts? Not the kind that roamed Earth, no. There was something exotic in the air. The chirping of strange birds echoed through an open window, followed by the distant roar of what sounded suspiciously like a lion doing karaoke.
"You're finally awake, dummy!"
The voice that hit him next was shrill, playful, and very familiar—though he couldn't place why.
A small hand smacked his forehead. "You slept through breakfast again. Mama says if you keep this up, you'll turn into a sleeping beast!"
Blinking, he turned his head to see the source. A girl, no older than seven, with tangled brown hair and mischief dancing in her eyes. She looked like the kind of kid who would paint a chicken blue just to see what happens.
And for some reason, he knew—absolutely knew—that she was his little sister.
Wait. His?
His head throbbed. Memories began to collide. Aryan, the tired old man, office worker, socially awkward cactus caretaker. Then... new flashes.
A boy named Ray.
Twelve years old. Lived in Bluebell Town. Son of Elric and Mira. Brother to the chaos goblin in front of him named Lila.
It was overwhelming. His past life crumbled like an old book turning to dust, while this new life rushed forward like a wildfire. But instead of panic, a strange warmth settled in his chest.
He wasn't alone anymore.
"Ray? Are you alright?" Lila tilted her head. "You look like you saw a ghost. Or maybe Mama's stew."
Ray—Aryan—both and neither—forced a weak smile. "I'm good. Just had a weird dream."
"Was I in it?"
"You were the monster in the closet."
"Yay! Wait, hey!"
Lila chased him around the modest wooden room, their laughter filling the air until a new voice called out from below.
"You two! If you don't come down right now, your breakfast is going to feed the Timber Dog!"
They paused. Lila gasped. "Not Muffin! He bites toes!"
Ray blinked. The Timber Dog is named Muffin?
The world just kept getting stranger.
---
The house was small, but cozy. Built from pale wood, with warm lanterns strung along the walls and beast horns decorating the door frames. It had a strange charm, like a home cobbled together by love and necessity.
The dining area was barely large enough to seat the four of them. Elric, Ray's father, sat with arms crossed, muscles bulging from years of hauling crates and wrestling beasts that didn't want a bath.
"You kids oversleeping again? Lila, were you poking Ray in the brain while he slept?"
"No! Not this time."
Mira, Ray's mother, set down a steaming pot of stew on the table, her hair tied up in a messy bun, an apron streaked with flour and beast fur. She had the look of a woman who'd wrestled six problems before breakfast and was ready for more.
"Eat up before it gets cold. And don't feed any to Muffin. He got into the dried Flame Fish again. He's still farting fire."
"I liked it," Elric muttered. "Cleared my sinuses."
Ray couldn't help it. He laughed. Truly, genuinely laughed for the first time in what felt like lifetimes.
They were chaotic. Loud. Unfiltered.
And he loved it.
---
After breakfast, Ray helped out at the family shop—a small, rickety building attached to their house. The sign outside read The Little Beast Nook. It was painted in peeling blue paint, with a tiny sketch of a smiling lizard wearing a top hat.
Inside, cages and tanks lined the walls. Birds that shimmered like jewels. Rodents that could chew through metal. A rabbit with two horns and an attitude.
"No biting customers this time," Elric warned the bunny. "Or we're calling the stew pot."
It growled.
Mira, elbow-deep in grooming a slippery sky eel, called out, "Ray! Help your dad check the inventory. Lila, stop putting glitter on the salamanders!"
Ray slipped into the role like he'd done it a hundred times. Feed the Greedy Mice. Clean the Snap-Toad's tank. Calm the Flame Pup. Count how many Lumiflies were left before Mira had to do another dusk run.
"You remember the list today," Elric said, watching him with raised eyebrows.
Ray smiled. "Must be muscle memory."
"Well, keep it up, muscle man. You're going to run this place someday."
Run the place. He looked around at the shop's chipped walls, the old beast posters, the claw marks on the counter. This little business barely scraped by. Customers were few. Most rich folks went to the big city pet marts, where everything was sterile and shiny.
But this place had soul.
It had life.
---
The sun was setting, casting golden light over Bluebell Town. A small town nestled in a valley, surrounded by glowing flower fields and thick beast-infested woods.
Ray sat on the shop's rooftop, legs swinging off the edge.
His mind buzzed.
He had died.
He had lived again.
He had a family.
Not just any family. A weird, lovely, alive family.
There were no cold microwaves here. No stale air or deadlines.
Only the sound of Lila yelling about a goat eating her socks. Only the laughter of a mother fighting with a flaming eel. Only the solid presence of a father who faced life with gruff patience.
And though something deep inside him whispered that his true journey hadn't even started yet...
For the first time in either life, Ray felt truly alive.
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End of Chapter 1.