"Where were we? Right. My origin story. The one the history books don't have."
I leaned against the counter, looking directly at the space above the toaster.
"I wasn't born on Earth-719. I was born on Earth-718. A variant universe."
I closed my eyes for a second, letting the smell of the cooking eggs ground me, though it paled in comparison to the spiced wine of my dream.
"When I transmigrated, I was just a squalling infant. My adult mind... it would have fried a baby's brain. So, my subconscious did something smart. It sealed away the memories of my past life. I grew up thinking I was just Aryan Spencer, born to a wealthy German family."
I plated the eggs and carried them to the small dining table. I sat down, gesturing to the empty chair opposite me. "Pull up a seat. Don't worry, I didn't poison it."
I took a bite. It needed salt. It always needed salt.
"My parents in this life... they were good people. My father ran a pharmaceutical company. But the world... the world was a place that chewed people up."
I chewed slowly, the taste of the eggs barely registering as the memories of my second childhood washed over me.
"They died when I was in my teens. A car accident. Just like my first death. I inherited the money, the pharmacy business, the big estate and a crushing sense of silence."
I put the fork down.
"That silence lasted until I was sixteen. That's when I met them."
[Flashback]
Germany, Earth 718, The 2010
The rain in Hamburg was different from the rain in Ohio. It felt like the sky was trying to wash the gray off the buildings and failing.
I was walking home. I had a driver… but I hated the isolation of the tinted windows. I preferred the open air. It made me feel alive.
I turned the corner onto a street that had seen better days. That's when I saw them.
They were huddled under the awning of a bakery that had been closed for months.
I stopped. My heart did an acrobatic flip in my chest. Even with my memories sealed, even without knowing their names or their destiny, my soul recognized them. It was like a gravitational pull.
The young man with the sharp jaw stepped in front of the girl immediately. His eyes darted around like a trapped animal. He was wearing clothes that had seen too many washes, shivering but trying to look tough.
"What do you want?" he snapped. His voice hovered between adolescence and manhood.
And behind him...
Vara Vane.
She looked up. Her green eyes were rimmed with red. She looked like she was waiting for the world to kick her again. She was clutching a worn out scarf, her knuckles white.
I stood there, a wealthy heir in a tailored coat, holding an umbrella that cost more than their clothes combined. I should have walked away. That's what people in my social circle did. We didn't look at the street rats.'
"You're cold," I said. It was a stupid thing to say. Of course they were cold.
"Go away, rich boy," the boy spat, though his teeth chattered, ruining the effect.
"I have a house," I said, the words tumbling out before I could filter them. "It's big. Too big. And it has heat. And food."
The boy narrowed his eyes. "We don't need your charity."
"Karl," the girl whispered.
It was the first time I heard her voice. She stepped out from behind him. She looked at me, really looked at me and I felt exposed. Like she could see the loneliness I carried around like a heavy backpack.
"Why?" she asked. Just one word.
I didn't know why. I didn't know that in another life, I had read about her tragedy. I didn't know the Witch Hunters were hunting them. I just knew that leaving her in the rain felt like a crime against nature.
"Because," I said, stepping forward and holding out the umbrella so it covered them, leaving me exposed to the downpour. The icy water soaked my coat instantly, but I didn't care. "Because nobody should be cold."
Karl looked at the umbrella, then at me, then at his sister. His bravado crumbled into exhaustion.
That night, they came home with me.
[Back to reality]
"Karl was a pain in the ass," I said, chuckling softly as I picked up a piece of toast. "He was so protective. He didn't trust me for six months. He thought I was grooming them or something. I had to sleep with my door locked because I was pretty sure he'd try to smother me with a pillow if I looked at Vara the wrong way."
I pointed the fork at the audience.
"That's the key context, you see. In Earth 718, the Witch Hunters hadn't found them yet. The attack on their childhood home happened, their parents died, but they slipped through the cracks. They were just... scared kids."
I smiled, a warm expression that felt foreign on my face these days.
"And they were my family."
I took a sip of orange juice.
"Living with them was... chaotic. But Vara..." My voice softened.
"She was quiet at first. She had nightmares. Screaming nightmares. The kind that wakes up the whole house."
[Flashback]
The Spencer Estate, Germany, Earth 718
It was 3:00 AM. The scream tore through the hallway, echoing off the high ceilings.
I was out of bed before I was fully awake. I ran down the hall, skidding on the polished floor in my socks. Karl was already there, banging on her door, but it was locked.
"Vara! Vara, open up!" he was shouting, panic making his voice shrill.
"Move," I said, pushing him aside. I jammed the master key into the lock and twisted it.
The door swung open.
She was thrashing on the bed, tangled in the sheets. "No! No, don't! Momma!"
She was sobbing in her sleep, tears streaming down her face.
Karl rushed to her side, shaking her shoulders. "Vara! Wake up! It's a dream!"
But she wasn't waking up. She was trapped in it.
I approached the bed slowly. My heart was breaking. I sat on the edge of the mattress.
"Vara," I said. I used the voice I'd used when I found a wounded bird in the garden once. "Vara, listen to my voice. You're safe. You are in the Spencer house. There are no Hunters here."
Vara's thrashing slowed. She gasped, her eyes frantic for a moment before they locked onto mine.
"Aryan?" she whimpered.
"I'm here," I said. I reached out and took her hand. Her fingers were ice cold. "We're both here. Karl is also here."
She sat up and threw her arms around me. It was the first time she'd initiated contact in the two years they'd lived with me. She sobbed into my chest, shaking violently.
Karl hesitated, then wrapped his arms around both of us. The three of us sat there in the dark, a tangle of limbs and trauma.
"I've got you," I whispered into her hair. "I promise, I've got you."