Eternity.Sounds impressive, doesn't it? A word mortals whisper with awe — forever, infinite, divine. Let me tell you something: it's boring. Unimaginably boring.
You can only watch so many stars explode before they all start to look the same. I tried everything to spice it up — created worlds, destroyed them, played with destiny, rewrote the laws of existence because I thought it was "artistic." For a while, it was fun. Worshippers prayed, sacrifices burned, temples rose and fell. And when the last mortal vanished, I thought I'd finally have peace.
What I got was silence.Not the tranquil kind. The kind that hums in your skull like an echo that never fades.
I was alone. The other gods had long dissolved into myth, their thrones empty, their names forgotten. Just me and the void — two immortals locked in an eternal staring contest.
After a few millennia of that, even omnipotence starts to lose its charm. I could do anything, yet I wanted for nothing. I understood every law of reality except one: why mortals cherished life.
And then it happened — a flicker.A single soul burning faintly in the dark.
I reached out, curious, and brushed it with my essence.In that instant, I felt everything.
Memories flooded me — laughter by a fireside, the sting of a blade, the gentle warmth of a mother's hug. Love, grief, joy, hunger, fear. It was chaos — glorious, overwhelming chaos. For the first time, I felt alive.
Then fate tugged back.
The Rule of Balance — that which lives must die, that which dies must live again.A law I had written, back when I thought poetic irony made good metaphysics.
Congratulations, me. I'd just sentenced myself.
Light tore me apart. My divine form unraveled into golden dust, scattered across creation. The void swallowed me whole, and for the first time since creation, I experienced… nothing.
No power.No body.No sound.
Only the steady beat of something small. Fragile. Warm.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Strange. I hadn't heard that in eons.It pulsed around me — rhythmic, steady. And the world around me was soft, liquid, muffled. I couldn't see, but I could feel warmth pressing in on every side, like being wrapped in silk.
Then came the pressure.Tightening. Squeezing.And before I could piece together what was happening, the world shoved me out with all the grace of a boulder rolling downhill.
Light. Air. Cold.The first breath of my new life tore into my lungs, and I — the once-mighty creator — screamed.
A pitiful, high-pitched cry echoed across the room.I, the eternal god of creation, had just announced my arrival… like a newborn.
Hands lifted me — rough, trembling, human.Through blurry eyes I saw them: two mortals gazing down at me as though I were their entire world.
The woman's face glowed with exhaustion and joy. Her hair stuck to her temples, her smile trembling with disbelief."He's beautiful," she whispered, tears shimmering in her eyes.
The man beside her — tall, shoulders broad from labor rather than war — laughed weakly. "He's got your eyes," he said, voice cracking with pride.
I didn't understand the words yet. But I felt them.Warmth. Love. Belonging.Things I had never experienced, even as a god.
Her arms were trembling, yet gentle as she pulled me close. I felt the rhythm of her heart, faster than mine, but strong. It resonated with something deep inside me — a longing I never knew I had.
So this was what I'd been missing.Not worship. Not power.Connection.
I tried to laugh, but it came out as a squeaky hiccup. Pathetic. Dignity: zero.
Still, as her heartbeat lulled me into a strange peace, one truth crystallized in my mind:I had been reborn.A mortal.A fragile, drooling, diaper-bound mortal.
Well played, fate.Well played.
But fine — if this was my punishment, I'd endure it.After all, eternity was dull. Maybe mortality would be... fun.
And who knows? Maybe being human won't be so bad — as long as I don't have to deal with taxes.
The thought amused me, though I had no mouth capable of grinning yet. The woman cradling me smiled wider, brushing a strand of hair from her flushed cheek. "Welcome to the world, my little Auren," she whispered.
Auren.So that was my name. My human name.It had a pleasant ring to it, though a part of me — the part that once commanded galaxies — balked at being called something so… small.
Still, when she said it, warmth spread through me.Maybe small wasn't so bad.
Around me, the world pulsed with mana — faint threads of magic twisting in the air, more fragile than divine energy but undeniably alive. I could feel it even through this infant shell. It shimmered like sunlight on water, carrying whispers of life, growth, and emotion.
My divine senses itched to shape it, to twist it into something magnificent. But when I reached for that power, pain seared through me.My chest tightened, my tiny hand clenched, and a faint spark flickered — then vanished.
Pathetic.I used to weave constellations with a word. Now, I couldn't even light a candle without nearly fainting.
"Alright, alright," I thought, retreating from the attempt. "No more divine magic until I can hold my own head up."
The man — my new father, I supposed — took me gently from her arms, his grin wide and foolish in the most endearing way. "He's got a strong grip already," he said, letting my tiny fingers curl around one of his calloused ones. "He's going to be a knight for sure."
Knight?Ah, swords. Humans and their fascination with pointy sticks.
Still, something in me stirred — curiosity, maybe even excitement. If this was a world where steel and sorcery coexisted, then perhaps… perhaps I wouldn't be bored this time.
The woman giggled weakly. "Don't push him so soon, love. He just got here."
The man laughed. "Fair point."
Their laughter mingled with the crackle of a nearby hearth, the scent of herbs and smoke filling the small stone room. Through half-lidded eyes, I glimpsed wooden beams above, sunlight leaking through a small window. It wasn't divine splendor — but it was alive.
As the warmth of their voices washed over me, I felt my consciousness fading.Mortality, it seemed, came with inconvenient side effects like fatigue.
As I drifted to sleep, a final thought flickered in my mind:I don't know what this life holds — but it already feels more real than eternity ever did.
And with that, I, the god who once ruled the cosmos, fell into my first nap as a human baby.