A Second Chance at Life

Darkness was all that remained.

And in that darkness, Kael whispered to himself.

"Zephy..."

"The first time we met, I thought you were just like all the others who had everything they wanted in life handed to them, Spoiled, Ungrateful... but as time went on, I saw how much you cared for others, regardless of their status and position. As time went on, I realized how special you were to me. Not just as a friend but something more. I wanted to spend every day beside you. To laugh, to fight, to start a family and grow old with you. But I guess that wasn't meant for us. Wish we had more time together. Wish I could've told you how much I loved you.

All my life... I've been fighting. For a family to adopt me. For food that would keep me alive in capital streets. For skills to become a warrior. For a seat among the strongest war-hardened men.

If there was another life after this, I would choose a quiet life. Somewhere I don't have to fight anymore."

He exhaled softly into the black, as if surrendering to sleep.

A beam of light hit his face.

His eyes flinched open.

He was slumped forward on a wooden desk—arms folded over a book with scribbled writing.

His vision was blurry at first.

He blinked and looked around.

A cramped but cozy bedroom. Posters with unfamiliar symbols. Stacks of books cluttered both the desk and shelves. And the book in front of him—

—a diary.

He looked at the page. The words… they were not of his world.

And yet... he understood them.

"Kazuki's Diary – Entry 295…"

Kael's heart began to pound.

He stumbled up, legs shaky. His arms felt thinner. His body lighter. He rushed to the mirror mounted near the desk and stared.

A stranger stared back.

Younger. Messy black hair. Wide brown eyes, overwhelmed with confusion. He touched his face—his nose, his jawline.

"This... this isn't my body."

"Where am I?"

His breath grew shallow.

Then—a voice from outside the door. A woman.

He rushed out the room to where the voice was coming from.

Found her, dancing and humming to herself, listening to a small box that sound was pouring out of.

"Kazuki? You're up already?" she said playfully. "You don't wake up early on school days let alone the weekend! That's a first!"

He froze.

A warm smile greeted him—mid-40s, kind eyes, wearing an apron.

"You're not sick, are you? You never wake up early."

His lips trembled. His chest ached.

"Mom…?"

He didn't even think.

He ran toward her and wrapped his arms tightly around her, burying his face into her shoulder. His knees weakened. His breath hitched.

She jolted, surprised. "Kazuki?! What's going on? Are you alright?"

"It's nothing… Mom…" he choked out between sobs.

"It's nothing. Just… a bad nightmare."

She hugged him back instinctively, her hand stroking his hair.

"It's alright, sweetheart. It's over now."

After a few minutes, the tight knot of emotions in Kael's chest loosened enough for him to step back. He returned to the desk in the corner of the room and sank into the chair.

"Alright… let's figure this out."

His eyes fell on the diary, still open where he'd left it. He reached out, fingers brushing the page, and began to read.

With each entry, he pieced together who Kazuki was: a quiet kid who hid behind games and books, with little to no self-confidence, saved only by his mom and his friend Hana. A kind boy with good heart who felt worthless and invisible unless he vanished inside a book or a story.

"So… I'm supposed to be this, Kazuki Hasunuma."

Fifteen years old. Shy. Shut-in.

"How is he going to save the kingdom?" said Kael while he closed the diary and leaned his forehead against his palm.

"If I'm alive here… maybe I'm not stuck forever. Maybe there's a way to reverse it after the Demon Lord is dealt with, of course."

He tapped his fingers on the wood.

"If I was this boy—floating between worlds—what would I want first?"

"Maybe…"

"A final look at home. Just to know they're okay."

"The Basin, Alvis’s Scrying Basin." He breathed half in awe, half in disbelief, the echo of hope breaking through his voice.

"He can use it to see his own world again."

He stood and grabbed a fresh sheet of paper from the desk drawer. Picking up a pen, he wrote slowly in the flowing script of Numeria:

" Hello Kazuki Hasunuma. My name is Kael and……"

He wrote the note carefully, then placed it beside Kazuki’s diary where it would be a place the boy would look at.

Kael paused.

"No one else in this world can read this—only he can."

He stood back, heart lighter already, and prepared to enjoy his new life to the fullest.

"My body is moving! How is my body moving when I'm here?!"

Alvis stepped forward, eyes bright with urgent curiosity.

"Look again," he urged. "Look deeper. Seek for signs or any information you can find.”

Kazuki took another deep breath and put his head back in the basin. He looked for his room. Once there he searched for clues. Anything that would give him information. His eyes locked to the strange letter next to his diary.

"I don't remember leaving a letter next to my diary." He thought.

He went for, and read it.

It wasn't his language, yet he could understand it.

Then he pulled his head out of the basin once more.

Damp hair plastered to his forehead, he turned to Zephyr, voice urgent:

"Does this body belong to someone named Kael?"

Gasps rose like a wave. Zephyr's face bleached. Even the knights glanced at each other in stunned disbelief.

"Kael?" she whispered. "How… how do you know that name?"

Kazuki’s eyes shone with sudden certainty.

"Because there is someone by that name, living in my body and my world, who's left a letter for me."

Silence swallowed the hall. King Alaric rose from his throne, voice low.

"Alvis… how can this be?"

The old mage's gaze was grave.

"Few truths remain of the ritual we performed. The tomes are incomplete, the origins obscure. We knew only that a soul would be summoned caring powers and taking place in a sacrificial body."

Ardent, standing steadfast as the castle's ramparts, spoke next.

"Can we reverse it? Restore Kael… and send this boy back to his home?"

Alvis, recalling the torn parchment from the demon encampment.

"If we recover the original grimoire from which that ritual page was torn from. Then yes, there may be a way."

At these words, hope of seeing their loved ones once more, glimmered in Zephyr's eyes; and in Kazuki's face. Even the stern blades of the council felt their spirits lift at the promise of reunion.

But that warmth was swiftly chilled by the pounding of boots upon the marble floor.

A breathless soldier burst into the hall, bearing news that struck like a black arrow.

"Your Majesty! Three of the Council's blades have sighted unknown ships on the western sea! They report vast fleets bearing the demon's banner, closing upon our shores.”

The soldier named his sources: Gornak Ironaxe, and the skilled scout-twins Vada and Verena Windrider, whose message—carried by bonded falcon—was now in the king's hands.

Kazuki's mind raced.

"More members of the council are out there… wait the demons are coming?!"

King Alaric's voice cut through the mounting dread.

"So, they made the first move. How long before those ships reach our coasts?”

Ardent answered grimly.

"In four days, they will reach our shores and in fourteen days after that…they will be upon the capital, Your Majesty—if they move without ceasing.”

The king turned to the soldier.

"Send a message at once to all the villages and harbor along the western border. Evacuate the people, here we can better defend them."

Ardent took one measured step forward as he bowed facing the king.

"If you permit it, Your Majesty, I will train the boy in the manners of the sword. The blade that forged Kael shall not rust in his absence."

"And I shall oversee his magical tutelage, my king." Alvis followed.

King's hand raised, granting permission, as he faced Kazuki.

"Young Hasunuma in eighteen days, you will face your first challenge as the warrior we need. Eighteen days to learn the sword, the magic, and the courage to stand against an army of demons."

He paused. The lit torches cast long shadows on the stone.

"Tomorrow at dawn, your training begins."

A thousand questions swirled in the hush that followed—but none found voice as all eyes turned outward through the high windows.

Beyond the glass, the sea lay calm… for now. Yet on the dark horizon, shapes drifted like specters upon the waves.

And in that moment, every heart in Numeria stilled with the knowledge that their fate would be decided in but eighteen days.