Cries and screams carry across the battlefield, citizens of the burning vilge around them are standing over the lifeless bodies of their loved ones. The sound of cshing steel can also be heard mixed in with the grunts of warriors. Mages mumbles words and cast incantations that cause the sky to roar and the ground to shake. In the middle of it all is The Hero fighting against the Demon Empress both bloody and worse for wear yet they still fight.

  The Hero dual wields a bde of light and a bde of shadow, he crouches a bit getting into a fighting stance and charges. A purple orb floats above the palm of the Empress, once it shines the rotting corpses of the dead come crawling from underground. A huge decomposed orc stands in his path and immediately gets cut down by a ssh of light. An army of the dead rises and surrounds The Hero. Thinking quickly he summons shadow tendrils from the ground to wrap and trap the hoard in pce. He cuts through decaying body after decaying body and it almost seems limitless. Until he finally spots the Demon Empress running away.

  She summons more of the dead but The Hero leaps high in the sky over the bodies. He crosses his bdes over his chest setting up a finishing blow to the Demon Empress. As soon as he’s ready he gets pierced all the way through from his back with a trident, blood gushes everywhere. It’s a decomposed lizardman that sms him back to ground, pinning him in pce. The putrefying hoard then surrounds The Hero creeping closer, the Demon Empress stands in front with a wicked grin on her face. She raises her hand high, filling with devastating magic, she brings her hand down to put an end to The Hero for good.

  Monte-”Wahhh” He screams as he wakes up. Not much time seems to have passed since he’s in the same position as he was when he went to sleep. His mother is still cradling him and still fast asleep.

  Goddess-”That was a pretty serious nightmare for your first day. You wanna tell me how you escaped a situation like that?”

  Monte-(You’re a Goddess, shouldn’t you know that already?)

  Goddess-”Stop pying with me and tell the story.” Any trace of amusement she had before is shot dead when her annoyance fres. Her tone of voice almost turns downright nasty. “You’re really starting to get on my bad side, Hero.”

  Monte-(Well I didn’t like your good side too much anyway) He allows himself a small chuckle before inviting the full wrath of an angry goddess upon him. (I cast a pilr of light on myself, It incinerates most things it comes into contact with and is a good S.O.S signal for my party. The only reason I survived is because I covered myself in a shadow bnket and basically did that until my mana ran out or my friends came and saved me. I don’t know which came first though.)

  Goddess-”And all of your battles were like that?”

  Monte-(Some were better than that, and some were worse than that but one thing rang true. No matter how strong or good you are, never expect to leave the battlefield unscathed.)

  The Goddess is silent almost like she’s in deep thought mulling over his words.

  Goddess-”Interesting. Well, since you’re awake now, what else do you want to talk about.?” The delightful tone in her voice is back.

  Monte-(Nothing I’m going back to sleep.)

  Goddess-”Fine I can help you with that, hehehe.” She chuckles at a joke only she knows.

  Monte slowly starts falling under and eventually succumbs to sleep. The next time he opens his eyes he’s standing in a mirror staring at his own reflection. He’s still in a baby's body but now he’s standing on his own. A pair of white shoes on his feet with overalls covering his body with a bck shirt underneath. A patch of curly hair sits atop of his head, unlike his mothers white hair, his is grey resembling a bunch of dust bunnies. The one detail that catches his attention more than anything else are his emerald green eyes, a perfect replica of his fathers.

  Neeka-”Ohhhh Monte you just look so adorable.” She squeals in delight at her son. She’s wearing a clerk uniform with a name tag clipped to the left side. “Come, we don't want to be te.” She picks him up by the armpits and sets her arm under him to carry him out the store.

  Monte-(What is going on?) He gets no answer from the goddess and has to continue his journey in silence.

  Neeka walks to the convenience store, and the automatic doors slide open for her. Inside are a couple people with the same uniforms as her. One is a young man with his name tag saying “Ashton”. An older, taller man with a bald head and silver mustache with his name tag saying “Monroe”. Lastly is an older dy with silver flowing hair with her name tag saying “Manager”.

  Ashton-”Hey Neeka, what's up little Monte?”

  Monroe-”We’re all ready.” Neeka sits him on the counter top of the cashier booth and everybody surrounds him. The Manager holds a cupcake with a lit candle in it.

  Everyone-”Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you.”

  Goddess-”Happy Birthday To You, Happy Birthday To You!” The goddess practically screams inside his head with a gleeful cheer.

  Monte is at a loss for words and not just because he can’t speak, but because he is genuinely shocked. He doesn’t remember celebrating his birthday and when he tries to think harder about it he can’t even remember his birthday at all.

  Everyone-”Happy birthday dear Monte.”

  Goddess-”Happy Birthday Stupid Name Monte!”

  Everyone & Goddess-”Happy birthday to you.”

  Neeka-”Now you have to make a wish and blow out the candle.”

  Monte doesn’t think about it for long; his wish is to feel peaceful his whole life like he does right now. He blows out the candle only for it to light back up a moment ter.

  Monte-(What the?) He looks confused so he tries again, he is met with the same result he tries over and over to the delight of everybody else. Then he gets irritated and tries to snuff the fme with his small baby hands only to get stopped by Monroe.

  Monroe-”Ok ok let's stop teasing the boy, and let's give him our presents.” He grabs a bag nearby and pulls out a remote control car. He sets the car down and hands over the remote.

  Monte takes it and moves the joystick in whatever direction, sending the car crashing into Ashton's legs. A few seconds ter he’s starting to get used to it when Manager stops him.

  Manager-”Before you cause anymore destruction little man here's my gift.” She hands him an Etch-A-Sketch.

  Monte-(What exactly is this supposed to be?) He takes it and starts turning the dials and a picture starts getting made in front of his eyes. (Oh interesting.) He gets a concentrated look on his face and by the time he’s done it’s just a board with a bunch of squiggly lines on it.

  Manager-”Give it a good shake if you want to erase it.” She does a shaking motion with her hands.

  Monte does as she says and shakes the etch-a-sketch making his work disappear, that causes him to smile big.

  Manager-”Ha safe to say which one he likes better.” She shoots a cheeky grin at Monroe.

  Ashton-”Well hold on, now it’s my turn.” From behind his back he pulls out a coloring book and some crayons. It shows a cowboy on the cover, but when he flips through its pages nothing is consistent. Pictures of pirates, knights, hunters, mercenaries etc…

  Monte finds a picture that is reminiscent of his party, everyone is there. The Archer, The Mage, The Warrior, The Bard. Everyone is there except him, but he doesn’t mind at all. His chest gets a little tight as emotions swirl in his heart. He hurriedly opens the crayon box to start filling in the pictures.

  Ashton-”Of course he likes my gift the best, it’s quiet, keeps him entertained and it’s easy to do.” He gives himself a pat on the back, literally.

  Manager-”How about you celebrate by cleaning the bathrooms.” She crosses her arms clearly upset Monte isn’t pying with her gift.

  Ashton-”That's cold Manager.” His face falls, drawing ughs from everybody else.

  Manager-”Anyways we're getting ready to open so get to your stations.”

  Neeka sets Monte down behind the counter on the floor, out of sight from the rest of the store. When Monte knows his mothers attention is not fully on him he starts conversing with the goddess.

  Monte-(What exactly happened?)

  Goddess-” It’s your birthday you are 1 year old.”

  Monte-(I mean how did it become my birthday?)

  Goddess-”I took away your self awareness.”

  Monte-(You what?!)

  Goddess-”Reeaax most people don’t even gain self awareness until around the age of 5. Besides I didn’t think you would want to spend your waking consciousness as a baby, not from the way you were crying anyway.” She mumbles that st part.

  Monte-(What if I miss out on something important, and I gotta be learning more about the world anyway.)

  Goddess-”Oh I don’t pn on letting you miss out on any key life moments. Also you might want to be on auto pilot for these first few years regardless, you’re gonna be learning the same thing anyway. I was just trying do something special for you on your birthday and you’re questioning me.” She fake pouts.

  Monte-(I refuse to believe you did this just for my sake.)

  Goddess-”I didn’t but is that stopping you from enjoying yourself right now?” Monte thinks on the question for a bit.

  Monte-(Fine, I’m going back to my coloring book.) The goddess doesn’t say another word and Monte enjoys the peaceful atmosphere inside the convenience store.

  He tries his best to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach.