Chapter 7: Prince Chronos Astral

New Years Day Morning Tertius Year 369

[ Royal Palace of the Astral Empire - Aion City ]

[ Prince Chronos's Bedroom ]

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<< Curse of the Night - WITHIN CHRONOS'S NIGHTMARE >>

I found myself in a ghastly scrapyard, surrounded by the pounding raindrops that echoed against rusted metal.

A line of wretched souls stretched for miles, their feeble bodies wracked with hunger and malnutrition.

As I looked down at my wrinkled and malnourished body, a sense of horror crept over me.

I was but a ragged bag of bones

'Hang on... Why do I have long white hair?'

I wondered as I scanned my arms...

They were wrinkled and pale, the protruding bones held up perceptibly malnutritioned tents of aged, scarred skin.

An unfathomable sense of hunger took over me, and my throat felt so dry it ached to breathe.

I reached for my lips, and the sensation was like sandpaper on skin.

'What the hell is going on ?!'

'No... don't tell me... that Translucent Bitch...?!'

I pondered as I pieced together the fragments of my scattered memories.

Suddenly, a bellow reverberated from a distance,

"ARGHHH!"

It was immediately cut short by the sound of laser fire

"Another runaway, toss the lesser scum straight into the generator…"

A robotic voice echoed emotionlessly.

I looked up at the sky with my mouth open, letting the rain pellet down into my shriveled esophagus.

The agony of prolonged thirst and starvation stuck to me like a layer of scalding wax had ravaged the insides of my beat up body.

'Sooo thirsty... Fucks sake, should I just jump outta line and end this?'

Strangely, my attempt to rush out of the line failed, I had control of this body, but it seems like it had to be within certain rules and constrains.

Mindlessly, stepping forward with the crowd, moving closer and closer to my fate.

It was only a matter of minutes when an emotionless android nudged me to hurry up.

And then, I was at the edge of a cliff, below me were giant grinding gears drench in red fluid, the occasional limb or head bouncing about trying to escape the jaws of the menacing mechanical beast.

In shock, I leaned forward to throw up and caught a glimpse of a sign [ BIOMASS GENERATOR ].

'Waahhht. Thaaa. Fuccck....'

But just then, I felt a metallic kick from the back pushing me into the monster grinding machine.

The pain was indescribable as I was sucked into the gears, my body breaking and tearing apart with each passing moment.

The sound of my bones cracking and my own flesh tearing echoed in my ears as I quickly faded into oblivion.

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<< THE OUTSIDE WORLD >>

[Bedroom of Prince Chronos Astral]

"HUUHHHH!"

Chronos gasped for air as he jolted upright in his bed, his heart pounding in his chest.

He was drenched in sweat…

It took a moment for him to realize where he was.

The nightmare felt so real, so vivid, that for a moment he thought he was still trapped in that scrapyard.

*Sniff* *Sniff* *Sniff*

A scent of fresh grass mixed with sanitizer fluid wafted into his nostrils as he slowly regained his bearings.

Chronos felt soft, fluffy, and cozy clouds pressing against his skin, and for a moment he wondered if he had passed on to the afterlife.

'Am I in heaven?'

He shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs from his mind.

But as he looked around, he realized he was in a futuristic bedroom with sleek, angular lines and shimmering surfaces.

He took a deep breath, feeling the cool air filling his lungs…

The after-effects of the curse still lingered, leaving his throat parched and his body weak.

But the sight of the room, fit for royalty, invigorated him…

He was on a circular bed, lined with a neon white light. It was the centerpiece of the room, covered by sumptuous white linens that seemed to shimmer and flow with every movement.

The walls were made of an iridescent material that seemed to change colors with the light, shifting from warm shades of marblesque beige and tints of bronze.

"HAHAHA ! ROYAL FLUSH BITCHES!!!"

Chronos exclaimed, raising both his arms in triumph.

A holographic display floated along the circumference of the bed, featuring a range of functions from temperature controls to mood lighting.

All it took was a flick of a finger to adjust almost any imaginable setting to suit the user's preference.

As he marveled at his surroundings, an image of his decrepit apartment unit tried creeping into his mind, but he pushed it away.

'Look at this... It's like I'm in some sort of science fiction film!'

In front of Chronos was a large floor-to-ceiling screen with a hyper-realistic background of a peerless sunlit bed of clouds, as if he were one of the Gods on Mount Olympus.

Out of habit, Chronos quickly formed a detailed simulated grid of every detail in the room within his mind.

He took in every detail of the room, from the large sliding doors to the multitude of high-tech sci-fi looking machines.

He paused to analyze his situation and recollected the events of the previous day.

Half of his guess was right - he did die after the countdown, but he found himself reborn in a futuristic world with superpowers?

The curse was a real bummer...

But Chronos was no stranger to setbacks...

In fact, that was all he knew...

' My body! ' he thought to himself.

Chronos quickly looked down and saw the body of a 5 year-old dressed in an intricately designed suit of white with purple and silver embroidery.

'Well, this is a new look for me… I hope I don't have to go to kindergarten.'

Just then,

"Urghhh..."

Suddenly, a piercing pain bore deep into his skull, and he felt the remnants of the destructive crimson energy crackling across the surface of his brain.

A holy white light swept it away, healing him as it encased his mind.

'This damned curse… I gotta find a way to deal with this before I turn completely insane... again...'

Shaking his head, he started patting himself down.

'Phew… It's still there, I was born a guy...!'

With his hands stretched into his trousers, Chronos let out a deep breath of relief, but before he could fully relax, a sultry voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Wow aren't you a little too young for that lil bro"