## Chapter 2 — Born Again
Raze had always wondered what dying would feel like.
He never imagined it would be peaceful. He never imagined it would be warm. But as lightning swallowed his world, he felt only one thing:
*Regret.*
*If I disappear like this… without achieving anything… without making anyone smile… then what was my life even for?*
That was his final thought before everything faded into blinding white.
***
When sensation returned, it came all at once—light, sound, warmth, a strange softness surrounding him. He tried to breathe, but the air felt different. Thicker. New.
He tried to speak, but—
"Aah… aaah—!"
Only a cry escaped his lips.
His eyes snapped open.
He wasn't standing. He wasn't lying in a bed. He was being *held*—small arms wrapped in blankets, pressed against the chest of a woman whose face radiated a warmth he hadn't felt since his real mother passed.
*…What?*
He tried to look around. His vision was blurry, shapes melting into each other. His limbs felt tiny, uncoordinated, useless. Panic surged through him.
*Why can't I move? Why can't I talk?*
A soft voice answered him—not his thoughts, but the soothing words of the woman holding him.
"It's alright, sweetheart. It's alright… Mama's here."
Mama.
That word hit him like a flood.
He wasn't alone in her arms. When he turned his head—slowly, clumsily—he saw another tiny baby beside him, wrapped in a similar blanket, crying just as helplessly as he was.
A girl.
Her features mirrored his—same hair, same tiny nose, a slight birthmark under her left eye. Their eyes met for a fleeting second before their cries overlapped again.
The woman laughed softly, exhausted but full of love.
"My beautiful twins… welcome to the world."
Twins.
The realization crashed into him like the lightning that killed him.
*I… I've been reborn? Reincarnated? As a baby? As a twin?!*
He wanted to scream—not from fear, but from sheer disbelief.
Then he saw the room more clearly. The architecture, the clothing, the strange symbols carved into the walls—none of it resembled Earth.
*Wait… is this… a fantasy world?*
Floating particles of light drifted near the window like fireflies. A maid walked by holding a lantern that glowed without a flame. Nothing looked modern.
It was absurd. Impossible.
Yet completely real.
A warm hand stroked his cheek. The woman—his new mother—held him as if he were the most precious thing in the world.
Her scent, her warmth… everything felt too real to deny.
*This… actually happened.*
His memories from Earth were still intact. Every regret. Every dream. Every moment with his real mother. His failures. His longing. The lightning.
All of it remained, sitting strangely inside this newborn body.
He had not just reincarnated—his *soul* and *memories* had been carried over fully.
He was Raze. And yet… he wasn't.
***
The first month passed in a haze of infant helplessness.
He hated it.
He hated not being able to move properly.
He hated not being able to speak.
He hated crying just to communicate anything at all.
But he adapted.
His new mother cared for him and his sister endlessly, never once showing irritation or fatigue. A maid with silver hair helped her, changing their clothes, feeding them, humming lullabies in a magical language Raze didn't understand at first.
But slowly—surprisingly quickly—he began to pick up the meaning of their words.
*Is it because my brain is new? Or did reincarnation give me something extra?*
By the end of the month, he understood almost half their basic conversations.
He still couldn't speak, but comprehension alone was progress.
His twin sister, meanwhile, clung to him constantly. Whenever he was picked up, she reached her tiny hands toward him. Whenever she cried, she stopped only when their mother placed them side by side.
He had never had a sibling before.
Maybe… maybe it was nice.
***
One month after their birth, the household changed.
Visitors came. Servants cleaned every corner. Decorations were hung. The atmosphere filled with excitement and formality.
It was the day of the **Naming Ceremony**.
According to their customs—one he barely understood—children were not officially recognized until the church performed the ritual and recorded their names. Until then, they were simply "the twins."
His mother dressed in elegant robes, carrying Raze in her arms, while the maid carried his sister.
Then they boarded a beautifully crafted **carriage**, drawn by white, scaled creatures that looked nothing like horses.
As the carriage rolled through the streets, Raze peeked through the window. What he saw confirmed it beyond doubt.
—Tall spires glowing with magical light.
—People wearing robes embroidered with arcane symbols.
—Floating lanterns drifting along pathways.
—Guards carrying weapons that pulsed with mana.
*This really is… a fantasy world.*
His heart beat faster—not in fear, but in a sense of destiny he had never felt before.
The carriage stopped before a massive building—white stone, golden windows, and a symbol etched upon its door: a winged cross surrounded by circular runes.
The **Church of Lumina**.
People bowed as his mother stepped out.
"Lady Arlienne! Blessed day for your twins."
His mother smiled elegantly. "Thank you. May the Light guide them well."
Raze watched, amazed.
She wasn't a normal mother.
She was *someone important*.
Someone respected.
The doors of the church opened with a low hum, light spilling out like dawn breaking.
Inside, a priest waited at the altar, holding a crystal sphere that glowed softly.
"Bring forward the children," he said with a gentle voice. "Let the Light bestow their names and futures."
Raze felt his mother's grip tighten protectively around him.
For the first time in this new life… he felt afraid.
**What would this ceremony do to him?**