Chapter 1

Warm, brisk, hot, cold, burning, freezing. Leo could not tell what he was feeling. Who knew that getting your spine shattered by a semi-truck would make you feel complete opposites in harmony. Most would guess that you would feel nothing due to most of your nerves being destroyed along with the spine. Others might say it would feel like piercing needles as the frame of your own car bent and snapped until it turned enough to pierce you

He could not tell what his brother was feeling but it was likely the same or similar to him. Perhaps Alex was not as lucky as Leo and his nerves were still mostly intact. If that were the case then it would not be the quick and painless death that Leo had so fortunately received. It would instead be the agony of feeling your own bones break and pierce your skin, the constant stream of blood stemming from the wounds, and the rich smell of iron as you watched the life leave your body.

It was one way out of millions, millions of ways to leave this world, and a simple car crash was what did him in. A mishap behind the wheel, a miscalculation of timing, or just simple brain lag, any of them could have been the cause. However, now was not the time to worry about the cause, or to learn from a mistake as Leo had always done. Now was a time to reflect and accept what had happened and come to terms with the decisions that he had made in his life.

Leo felt accomplished at least to a degree. Following the system and the path that was mostly laid out for him. Elementary, middle, high school, college, internships, and a job working at a marketing firm. The standard path that most people around him followed even if the specifics were not the same.

His brother on the other hand took a route that he was unwilling to take, the army. Alex fought for his country and protected it as it protected him. The two of them always joked that they could run the country just the two of them. Leo handled the economy and Alex handled the military. Of course, it would take so much more than that, but it was all fun and games, while it lasted at least.

While Leo could not see anything or feel anything aside from the harmony of opposite temperatures he was sure that the car had stopped moving by now. The police surely would have been called by someone and they would find two lifeless bodies along the side of the road. Provided they have not been burned by the engine fire that would have ensued.

He knew they were both dead, but he hoped with every fiber of his being that his brother's death was just as quick and painless as his.

Screaming. Nothing but screaming was all that Leo could hear. It went on for several minutes, only until he was finally able to open his eyes and see an extremely blurry woman with what he thought was long brown hair, right in front of him. It was then that he finally realized he had been the one screaming, however, he was not alone in the screaming. He struggled to turn his head toward the other sound and saw another pale blurry outline. An outline that was moved directly beside him, also screaming. Leo had a realization when he looked down at himself and determined these outlines were his legs. Then it dawned on him, the screaming that he kept hearing was not screaming.

It was crying, just like how a newborn baby cries when they are first born. He had done the exact same. Because this was not his body, it was a newborn's. Leo's mind went into overdrive as panic filled his mind. The crying returned, however this time it was actually more like screaming than crying. Flashbacks and images ran through Leo's head, his life and time with his brother and family. The good, the bad, the beautiful, and the painful all came back to him.

"It's okay, mommy's here. I'm here for you both." Leo felt his body move while the woman talked. The embrace by his 'mother' was soothing and clearly calmed the other newborn. Physically speaking, it calmed Leo because the crying stopped, however, his mind was still racing. Still questioning why he was here, trying to determine what was going on while staring directly into his mother's eyes, still unable to properly see.

"Leo," She said to him, which put him on edge. How could she know his name? If anything made sense he would be named something aside from his name. Something must have put him here, away from his dead brother. Something supernatural pulled him away from his peaceful rest. Yet that was only one option, once again, one option out of millions. Something logical must be at play, something no human could understand. For his own sanity, he had to put this as simply a coincidence, another one in a million chance.

The woman then turned her gaze away from Leo and towards the newborn that he was beside. "Maya." A single tear traveled down the woman's face. "May Illias bless you both."

Happiness Village, what an interesting name, it gave off a much different feel compared to what life was actually like here. While mother on the other hand appeared extremely fond of the village and the people. From what Leo had gathered she was one of several fortunate farmers and had quite a hefty piece of land. She enjoyed providing what she could by selling her crops at the local market. Whatever the three of them could not store away for winter.

When Leo watched kids deliver their parents part of his mother's crop it annoyed him. While they did help to plant it considering that the farm was only recently transferred to mother, it still seemed like the people took advantage of mother's land. While she still owned it in name, it never felt like it.

From what Leo could understand there were around 800 people in the village. Plenty of faces he could remember and plenty that has never seen before. He could not tell the exact passage of time due to the lack of a calendar or clock, he was still able to understand that every year had a winter and every year had a summer. Leo could also tell that he was born around early summer because not long after his vision finally cleared on the day he arrived in this body, snow began to fall.

He was not able to participate in the preparation for winter, just like he was unable to participate in the harvesting of crops. All he and Maya could really do was sit around and play with each other, not that either of them could walk. Hell, most of Leo's time was spent thinking, because that's about all he could do considering his body needed to develop. With all of his thinking, there was one thing that Leo decided. He needed to fix this village.

The apparent lack of private property did not mind him, what caught his attention was the absolutely terrible quality of life that everyone was forced to live in. Family could barely feed themselves, and there was a severe lack of traders coming by compared to what he would have expected. It reminded him of what abandoned cities must have been like in apocalypse movies, but not to the chemical pollution and radiation extreme. Rather, nature was seemingly coming back to take over the village. Several houses had vines on them, others had grass and mold on the foundation, and the run-down paths had few stones and mainly walked over dirt.

All things considered, he was extremely spoiled from his previous life. Living in the steel jungle of Seattle gave him flat sidewalks compared to the constant bumps of the dirt path where nothing was even. Not only this but the lack of constant central air and heat was something that would take a bit to get used to.

However, while all this adjusting would have to take place, by no means would Leo forget about his previous life. The search for answers would be his goal: why was he here, who brought him here, and why him. In the meantime, he would focus on improving the quality of life here, the knowledge he had was akin to Prometheus gifting fire. He was able to spark change in humans for generations to come, Leo could only hope he would be able to impart a similar change.

Four winters had passed, four springs have come, and four years of living in a world where he was not a native. Leo was able to adjust to the village's ways of life in most areas. However, there was one area where Leo simply could not adjust.

"Why do I have to keep wearing this mom?" Leo whined. The outfit in question was a dress, a simple brown dress but a dress nonetheless. One that he would never wear under normal circumstances. Despite the reasoning, wearing a dress made everything more awkward for him, and he could not begin to feel like himself. Yet not one single boy was wearing what someone would consider clothing for males. Every single person Leo came across was wearing either a dress or some variation of it to make them look more feminine.

Mother looked down and smiled at him. "We can't have the big bad harpies coming after you now." She poked him on the nose, clearly trying to lighten the mood, "They take away boys who don't listen."

Leo felt a force hit his back and he stumbled onto the grass, "No! Don't let the harpies take Leo away!" Maya cried while holding onto her brother. The second he tried to move her off Maya's grip on him tightened, refusing to let go.

Despite the clear resistance Leo kept struggling, "Maya get off me! The harpies won't take me anywhere."

The harpies clearly would not be able to take him, it is just a simple fairy tale that parents tell their kids to keep them in line. Just like the typical monster under the bed story, or a monster hiding in your closet. No matter the place there will always be tales to keep kids in line, their imagination constantly running wild was used to keep them in check after all. Leo simply played along with the 'fear' to help keep Maya in line.

The only weird thing to Leo was that their entire religion was based around a fear of monsters, xenophobia at its finest. Illias created the world and humans. She helps to guide them through our struggles in return for prayers and devotion. Although he had yet to see anyone with revelations so maybe direct guidance was off the table. The faith seemed similar to one from back on earth, before considering the tenant of their faith, 'Thou shall not have intercourse with monsters.' This was something that had to be a joke but the number of times it was repeated made him question if it really was a joke.

"Okay you two calm it down," mother called out to Maya and Leo while she held a hand to her face to hide a laugh. "I'll keep Leo and you safe from the harpies. So why don't we all go to the farm together and plant some wheat."

The two kids voiced their compliance while Maya reluctantly got off of Leo. Despite being off the ground Maya still kept close to her twin. It was wholesome to Leo, that Maya was more worried about him than herself. It reminded him of his brother once again, how the two of them always looked out for each other. Yet here, it pained him to think about, still reminded of the past. It made paying attention to the present that much harder.

The farm always looked so large when Leo walked toward it. It was hard to determine how much land there actually was on the farm. From what he could tell there looked to be about 12 acres of land and not nearly enough people to properly work on the farm. Considering that it was essentially Mother, Leo, Maya, and the occasional children who came by to help. Leo was almost certain that they could not get the field fully planted or harvested in time.

When they arrived on the farm, mother took them to a little storage shed. Inside the shed was a variety of tools, ranging from trowels and hoes to shovels and pickaxes. This was discounting the massive iron wedge at the center of the room. It had two handles connected to a long wooden bar that extended about a meter in front. While a wheel was attached at the end of the wooden bar and braced with iron plates around the wheel. A rope that looked like it should be attached to a collar was also connected by the wheel.

Mother walked inside ushering the two children to follow her. "This is where we keep most of the tools, can you two help me carry this plow outside to the field? You just have to pull the rope." Listening to her both Leo and Maya went to grab the rope and started to direct the plow out the door while mother pushed hard on the handles.

Leo felt bad that he was not able to help out as much with the plow. his body being so physically weak was going to be a problem for maintaining the farm, especially if his mother had to do essentially all the work. He worried she might work herself to death at this rate, having to care for Maya and himself alongside constantly working on the farm.

Once the plow was put into position right outside the main field mother asked the two to follow her again, "So now we're going to see Lydia she has an ox that we can use to help us plow the field." Lydia was a good friend of mother, the two helped each other when they were recovering from their births and they grew close because of that. The lack of major family outside of their immediate households helped to draw the two closer together. In turn, Lydia essentially became our aunt.

Lydia was not far compared to what Leo expected, he was expecting to find her in another field tending to the grazing animals. Instead, they found her working on repairs at her stable next to their farm. She had short black hair and stood relatively tall. Similar to how his mother acts around him and Maya, she put on a bright smile and walked out to meet us.

"Leo, Maya, it's so good to see you two again!" She then turned her attention towards mother, "I take it you're showing them around the farm, Anna?"

Maya ran up to Lydia and hugged her leg with Leo following closely behind her, "Aunt Lydia!" she yelled enthusiastically.

"It's so good to see you again Aunt Lydia" Leo stated with a slight smile. Lydia was always kind and caring similar to his mother. Which unfortunately seemed to be the exception in the village. Most of the other villagers were fairly distant to the two families. Maybe it was because of our father's disappearance before we were born. Maybe it was our family's legacy that he knew nothing of, Leo still was trying to learn as much as he could about the people around him. However, it became decently difficult when he was constantly sheltered from any serious conversation.

Mother chuckled at the two children before turning her attention towards Lydia, "It's a bit more than showing them around the farm this time. I'm showing them the process, it's better to get them started early after all. Any help saves so much time." She gestures towards the stables, "Would we be able to borrow an ox again? I'm hoping to get some of the plowing done today."

Lydia slowly pulled Maya off of her leg while Leo let go shortly after, taking the hint. "Yea that should be no problem, let me see if I can find you a decent yoke for the plow."

The exchange continued and we eventually left with mother while she had the ox in tow. Maya always seemed sad whenever she left someone, whether it was being parted from Leo or anyone else she felt close to, it was always hard to get her away from people. This was not a bad thing necessarily, but it was not good for Leo's head to see her looking down.

When they arrived back at the farm mother started showing them how to attach the Ox to the plow. Leo was watching her intently trying to understand as much as he could. This was a field he only explored through random internet searches and he needed to know as much as he could. While Maya was watching but gazing elsewhere from time to time.

Eventually, the Ox was fully ready to pull the plow and mother positioned the blade so that it would go down the insanely long field. From Leo's height, he still was unable to see the exact end of the field but was able to see some trees off in the distance. "We have to make sure that the plow goes deep enough so the wheat grows when it's planted."

Mother handed the two of us small sacks tied together by a little rope. It had some weight to it, a lot more than Leo was expecting. When he opened the sack it was full to the brim with seeds, what he could only guess were wheat seeds.

"Now when the plow moves the dirt I want you to sprinkle the seeds in the hole, like this." Mother then reached into Maya's sack for a handful of seeds and dropped them into the hole, like she was seasoning food with salt. "Make sure not to put too many in one place."

Once she finished her little lesson she ushered the Ox to start moving. The plow dug deep into the ground and slowly forced the dirt to both sides resulting in a canal. Maya hastily reached into her bag and started to throw the seeds into the canal when space was made. Brown dots lined the dirt canal, and with each throw, Maya giggled a large smile showing on her face.

Leo simply followed, watching mother guide both the plow and the Ox. Ensuring that the Ox went straight and that the plow kept relatively the same level. He would only join in once Maya ran out of seeds, and that happened about as fast as he thought it would. When Leo started to sprinkle them in the canal he tried his hardest to make the equal but that was something his fingers would not allow him to do. His muscle memory was gone from his past life, he still had the know-how but lacked the physical ability. This was, unfortunately, becoming a common theme with many of the things that Leo tried to do.

"Mom, we're out of seeds," Leo called out, which resulted in his mother trying to stop the Ox.

"Alright then, let's go back to the shed and get som-" Mother was cut off by Maya.

"Mommy, what's that?"

Looking off towards the end of the field there were five black dots in the sky, hovering just slightly above the tree tops. It was hard to tell from this distance but they were clearly moving either towards them or away from them. Only one of which made sense considering that Leo could not recall anything passing overhead.

Leo looked over to mother only to see her eyes wide open and her hands clenched. Before Leo or Maya could react she turned around and grabbed both of their hands.

"We're going into the house now!"

"Mom, what is it?" Leo called back, his voice slightly wavering from the quick turn of events.

"Mommy?" A concerned Maya echoed.

"It's harpies." Her pace quickened at the mention, the pace threatened to start dragging Leo and Maya in the dirt before they could start to move their legs faster.

Quickly they reached the house and before Leo closed the door behind him he could see a few panicked kids running in their direction. Turning around again he saw his mother running toward a closet. Faster than they arrived in the house his mother was dashing past him with a massive longbow and quiver in her hands.

"Stay inside and do not come out until I come back, for any reason." She spoke towards us with a force that neither had heard before. "Do I make myself clear?"

We both nodded our heads, Maya was shaking while Leo hugged her attempting to calm his twin down. While he was shocked at the tone and seriousness that he had never seen before. Mother was always calm even when other families started to yell at her or disagree with her. This was a side he thought his mother did not have, yet here it was, coming out in full force to protect them.

"Are we going to be okay?" Maya spoke to Leo, a waver still present in her voice.

"Mom's going to protect us Maya, like she always has."

Maya held onto Leo tighter while he walked towards a window to watch mother. It was getting to the point where he could see the harpies more clearly while they flew towards them. They all looked slim and with similar hair color to his own, brown. Despite the brown wings and talons, they all looked surprisingly human, and they were all female.

His eyes gazed toward mother, the quiver placed on the ground with bow and arrow in hand. The way she pulled back the arrow showed an elegance that he did not expect. The wind blew her hair to the side as she nocked an arrow and pulled back the string. Leo could see the tension when he watched his mother shake slightly from the draw strength.

The second the wind died the arrow was released, and the sound of string cracking against wood was clearly heard by the two in the house. Causing Maya to flinch once again. Not even three seconds later a scream could be heard from further down the field. Leo saw a figure falling from the sky, a harpy coming down. A clear hit. He was unsure where the arrow hit but he was almost certain that harpy was never going to fly again, let alone survive the day.

Mother nocked another arrow and drew the string. She waited for the opportunity and loosed the arrow. Two arrows, two figures falling from the sky, two harpies likely not able to see another day. Despite all the fear behind the harpy kidnappings, he still felt bad for watching them die. The same as any other animal, watching them die was difficult. Even if he was the one who was in danger.

Before mother could nock the third arrow one of the harpies dove down like a pelican looking for fish. Directed at one of the village boys who was helping to clear weeds off the soil. One moment the harpy was diving, the next moment the boy was caught in her talons using her momentum to carry the boy higher and higher. The struggle was clear, the boy was fighting. Intent on making sure the harpy would not be able to fly away with him.

Yet mother stood still, preparing another arrow. The bow was drawn and aimed at the harpy who was off the ground with the boy. The harpy kept flying, eight meters, nine meters, almost ten meters above the ground before mother had fully drawn back the bow.

Now Leo was getting worried, this kid could clearly be higher than any of them could tell. Frankly, if he went any higher in the air there was almost no chance he could survive the fall. This was something Leo was sure of. Panicking, and desperate to help, Leo forced Maya off of him and sprinted towards the door. Maya's cry when Leo opened the door pained him.

"Mom, he'll die!" Leo screamed before Maya was able to pull herself together and pull him back. "He's too far in the air!"

Maya held him tighter and tried to pull him back again, "Leo come back please, don't go outside."

From the sound of Leo's voice, mother visibly flinched and struggled to recompose herself. With her focus harmed, her grip on the string began to loosen and the power held back in the bow string was released. The arrow flew through the sky soaring past the harpy holding the boy, grazing her face in the process.

The harpy's grip faltered and one talon let go of the boy. His movements kept gaining intensity, sensing a chance to break fully free from the harpy. Completely ignorant of his current situation. However, the harpy recovered similarly to his mother, quick and smooth, and eventually regained grip on the boy.

Leo was not sure how to feel when he watched the rest of the harpies fly away, with the one boy in tow. He was glad the harpy did not drop him, a kid that size should not have been able to survive a fall from there. Especially if he landed wrong. However, he could only watch in shame as the harpy flew away knowing that he was the one who hampered his mother's ability to kill the harpy.

Mother stood in the field holding her bow, simply watching the sky in the direction that the harpies came from. Several minutes had passed before she turned around and walked towards the house. Mother was not quick, her shoulders were slumped, and her head was no longer held high. It was painful to watch the child taken away, but watching his mother come back looking like she did hurt more than he expected it would.

When the door opened the atmosphere felt tense, neither of the children spoke a word. They simply sat on the floor facing toward their mother. She walked by the two of them silently, moving towards the closet where the longbow was held. When she was done she moved toward the table in the center of the room and sat down, staring directly at Leo.

"Leo what did I tell you?" mother asked solemnly.

The boy in question started to shake, it had been a very long time since he had felt this afraid of someone. He was not nearly as worried when the harpies came by compared to what he was feeling now.

"N-not to go o-outside."

"Now what did you do?"

"I-I went outside to w-warn you."

Mother slammed her hand on the table, causing the entire table to shake and both of the kids to jump to their feet.

"Markus is gone because you couldn't listen!" Mother screeched.

She stood up from her chair and walked over to her two kids. Before Leo could even respond mother was picking him up and taking him over to the chair. He could not speak, nothing he could say would change the situation. If anything, what he said could lead mother to find out that he was not the small innocent child he was supposed to be.

Mother put Leo over her knee, pulled his dress up, and smacked his rear. The pain was piercing and the only sound he made were whimpers after each hit.

"If you listened," another smack.

"The harpy would have put him down," another smack,

"Now we have to talk to the elder," after every few words, another smack

"Now the village is on alert again,"

"Now you both will be at more risk."

She raised her hand one more time before Maya started pulling on her arm. Tears in her eyes.

"Mommy, please." Maya said softly, "stop, please."

Mother looked at the look in Maya's eyes, the tears starting to form in her wide-open eyes. She could feel Maya's hands trembling against her arm, trying to pull her arm down and away from Leo.

She looked down toward Leo's, focused on his face, and saw his expression. She could see his eyebrows furrowed and his slow, deep, breathing.

Leo was trying his hardest to not cry out, to hold it in and not make more of a scene. His pride would not allow it. However, despite this, he could not stop his body from reacting, it felt much more sensitive than his previous one. The simple conditioning that kept him in shape in his previous life gave him some more pain tolerance, but it all disappeared once he arrived here, along with almost everything else.

Eventually, after watching Leo collect himself, she decided to set him down on the ground. "He needs to understand that his actions put us all at risk." Mother's eyes hardened, "The harpies know that more boys are growing up. With all of his yelling, the harpies must have heard him. If they did, they'll be around this area soon enough."

Leo brushed off his dress making it look somewhat nicer and allowing himself to feel more dignified. He could stand and move fine, however, his rear was still stinging. Mother was a lot stronger than Leo initially expected.

Once Leo was done, Maya walked up to him, grabbed his hand, and looked him in the eyes. "I won't let the harpies get you. If they want you they have to go through me and mommy!"

Leo pulled Maya into a hug and her growing brown hair fell onto his shoulders. They stood there for a good amount of time while their mother watched them. Mother was watching them but he could not tell if she was actually paying attention to them. The look on her face was stagnant, almost like she was lost in her own thoughts.

Once Maya let go, Leo went to go sit down on the bed that he and his sister shared while mother and Maya went outside to return the Ox to Lydia. He was unsure of what he should do next, those fairy tales were real. The horror stories to keep him and Maya in line were real, based on true events that happened to the village. Possibly even the whole world, he could never know unless he traveled himself.

The dress, the lack of males, both kids and adults, everything slowly started to make more sense to Leo.

He was not part of a weird culture where acting like a male was frowned upon.

He was in a part of the world where his very life was in danger for being a guy.