Part 1: Rebirth

 As I walked closer to the village, the situation started to sink in. Some government had sent off an EMP, trying to destroy New York, killing tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands. The first blast was to shut down all defensive systems and cause panic, and that second blast… killed everyone in New York, didn't it? I couldn't help but think I was dead and had gone to hell. All the things I've done and why else turn me back into a child, other than to torment me? So many things were on my mind, so much had happened so quickly. My vision began to darken, my breathing was fast and heavy, and my chest was throbbing. Before I knew it, I was face down in the dirt. Using the little strength I had left, I looked up and noticed I was on the outskirts of the village; I was only a few hundred steps away. Placing my hand on the ground, I attempted to stand, or at least get to my knees, but I felt my body going numb. My face hit the ground hard as I heard a loud blast, and that was it. Everything went black, and I no longer had any sense, even my thoughts began to fade.

When I came to, I was staring at the ceiling; the room was dark, and a cold gust of wind sent shivers down my body. I was lying on a mat in the dirt; there was no flooring or mattress in the room. Just a single pane of glass through which the moonlight shone. This looked like a cell; had I become a prisoner here? I thought to myself for a brief moment before a figure emerged out of the shadows, which made me jump. I could not see anything aside from his bright red eyes that glowed in the shadows and a rough outline. The second our eyes met, a feeling of nothingness grew over me; nausea, dizziness, and confusion took over as I started hearing strange groans, but I couldn't tell where it was coming from. The shadowed figure realized the anguish I was in and broke eye contact, immediately ceasing all the pain I was feeling. He grunted to a figure behind me, whom I hadn't even noticed. The figure reached out its hand towards me. Instinct took over as I shut my eyes as hard as I could and began to cower in fear, but nothing happened. When I opened my eyes again, the red-eyed figure was now holding out an open book in front of me, which read:

“American, 日本語, Россия, Deutsch, 中国人”

I stared at the text in confusion, then back at the figure who had pointed at me, then at the book again. I knew the words “American” and “Deutsch”. Knowing America was self-explanatory, but I knew Deutsch because I had basic German implemented into my brain a few years ago. I swallowed hard with hesitation as I muttered out the word.

“American.”

In that moment, the red-eyed figure grinned as he pulled down a rope that erupted the room in red, white, and blue colors, with a banner reading ”Welcome Dragonic America.” It was similar to a foreigner reading about The Rising and trying to simulate it. This was a lot to take in as I looked around and noticed a group of people sitting on the opposite side of the room. Four remained sitting, but one was standing, walking towards me whilst locking their eyes on me. The man standing over me started grunting to the man and red eyes, when it suddenly hit me; these were not men at all. I frantically scanned the room to find that my assumption was true…

“I'M IN HELL, AREN’T I?” I screamed at the top of my lungs.

My outburst had shocked the figures so much that many jumped and took a step back. Surrounding me were demons, humanoid in shape, yes, but every being in the room had red, crimson eyes, thick scaly skin that ranged from dark red, blue, and brown, horns that grew out of their foreheads, and they communicated only in grunts and hisses. This all had to be a joke, a way to torture newly dammed souls to see their shocked faces when they learn the truth. Red eyes tried to get me to relax, motioning with his hands to calm down, but I had made up my mind, if I were in Hell, I would ruin their sick joke and make their lives hell, even if it was for a single moment. In that instant, I jumped to my feet and started to charge towards the single window, trying to escape. As I did so, I yelled a warrior's scream. My courageous yell, however, was cut short as I began gasping for air. The wall in front of me was gone, and I was smashed into the opposing wall. I was dizzy, my vision was blurry, and my back felt as if it were on fire. Blood started to run down my nose, as my body grew numb again. Had one of them attacked me? Destroying the wall I was running towards wouldn't make any sense; plus, how could they destroy that wall and I get sent into the opposing wall?

“You not move more. You low on magic power when find you. You yell now have little. More move can kill you.”

I was in shock, more so than before. This thing just spoke English to me, it was broken, but I could still understand, and to top it off, it was trying to calm me? How far would they go to make a fool of me with this joke? My rage began to build in me once again. I quickly noticed, however, the words this demon spoke were true; no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't move a muscle. It was a struggle to blink, and when I tried to speak, my jaw stiffened, and nothing aside from groans would come out.

“You have reborn. You are Dragonic now. Old life is no more. Now you have new life.” The demon Red Eyes had summoned before my outburst, was still talking.

Between my disbelief of dying, getting sent to Hell, and being surrounded by 7 demons, one of which tried to calm me, most of the words it spoke did not register. What did register kept repeating in my head, "forget old life. Embrace new life as Dragonic. We teach hisotry of world and clan. We teach magic."

“Rebirths happen often since end of war. We have many years teaching Rebirths. They run before finished. We talk in heads, not tongues. Teach us America. We teach you talk in heads.”

Still unable to respond to anything other than my glare, Red Eyes walked forward and touched me on the forehead. A bright orb began to grow between his horns, a size no bigger than a tennis ball. It started to approach me, and as it grew closer, so did its oddly calming warmth. I watched as the orb stopped on the tip of my nose and split into three; two had ascended to the top of my head and had disappeared beyond my view, the third orb had gone to the middle of my stomach, and I can only describe it as going into me. The warm calmness the orbs had brought disappeared as they did, only to be replaced with pai–

“AGHHHHHHHHHH” I screamed louder than I thought was possible.

I was feeling my skull reshape itself, each inch it grew or shrank had my entire body on fire. Nerves were feeling for the last time, while others were feeling for the first time. Tears were running down my face; it wasn't just my head, but my stomach felt as if it were being stabbed a thousand times a minute. My once-warrior scream had been replaced with the whimper of a dying animal. Feeling my head, I had two points sticking out opposite sides of my head, sensitive to touch, I continued in my agony. The burning in my stomach had made its way up into my chest and throat, and my body threw my head up in the air as I breathed out a blue flame. Just as quickly as it started, it had ended; I was back to normal, no pain, no exhaustion. I looked around as Red eyes gave me a devilish grin and spoke, “You are Rebirth, brother.”