John Blake closed his eyes and breathed his last. It was a mercy, really. He'd lost everyone and everything he ever cared about. The physical pain of his passing was inconsequential next to the regret of his failures, knowing he'd lost and the terrible fate that had befallen every woman pledged to his service. John felt his heart stop beating and waited for whatever came next.
There was a timeless moment of stillness, like floating in space but without the light of the stars. And then John gasped, coming sharply, violently, vibrantly back to life.
John blinked open his eyes, wondering what the ever living fuck had just happened. He felt weak as a newborn, his limbs tired and aching and barely able to move. He looked up and blinked. "Grandma?" he said, or at least he tried. Even his tongue and mouth felt uncooperative, so all that came out was "Gaa?"
Eva Blake, looking quite a bit younger than John remembered last seeing her, grinned down at him. "Hello, little one."
John idly wondered if this was Heaven. Don, his grandfather, appeared at his wife's shoulder. He grinned down at John as well. John blinked and yawned, feeling so unbearably exhausted. But he fought through the lethargy. "Waa?" he groaned, trying to ask where they were.
"He's a cute one," Don said with a grin, though there was a flash of sadness in his eyes. "What should we call him?"
Eva hummed to herself, reaching down to pick John up. And that's when John became aware of a rather disconcerting fact. Either he was a whole lot smaller, or his Grandma was a giant, because he felt her pick up his whole body in her two hands. She cradled him and looked down at him thoughtfully. "How about John?" she asked. "He looks like a John."
"John it is," Don nodded. "John Blake. Welcome to the family, baby boy."
John decided that it would be best to just go to sleep and closed his eyes.
John woke up again what felt like only a few hours later, utterly starving. He tried to call for help, but he still felt inexplicably tired, and his body didn't seem to want to do what he told it to do. All that came out was a loud wail. He called out again, and a plump woman in a nurse's uniform with a cheerful pink cardigan thrown over it came over. "Hungry?" she asked with a knowing grin.
John tried to nod.
She blinked. "Huh. That's weird. But then, you're a bit of a weird one." Shaking her head, the nurse disappeared. She came back a few minutes later with a bottle filled with some white liquid, probably formula. She picked John up and he was reminded of his new apparently tiny body. She held him in a practiced grip and offered him the teat of the bottle.
Just that desperate for food he was willing to embrace the insanity, John began to suckle. He swallowed down the sweet beverage until there was none left, his stomach going from feeling like it was ready to crawl out of his body to hunt its own food to utterly bursting at the seams. He stopped when he started to suck nothing but air.
"Healthy appetite," the nurse said with approval. She went to set the empty bottle on a nearby table and then, supporting his head, held him over her shoulder and began to firmly pat his back. John burped almost against his will, easing some of the pressure on his belly. The nurse set him back in his plastic cradle. "Well, get some rest, baby Blake." She turned and walked away, leaving John feeling full, already sleepy again, and very bemused.
John took stock of his body and surroundings. He was swaddled in a blue blanket, and the sensation around his crotch and butt confirmed that he was wearing a diaper. He was apparently roughly a foot tall and less than ten pounds in weight. A bottle of milk had been enough to fill him to the brim. And he'd been repeatedly referred to as if he was an infant. And he could pick up the snores and mewls of other babies in the nursery he seemed to be residing in.
John sighed.
Well… this was unexpected.
The next few days passed quickly, given that John seemed only able to stay awake for less than an hour at a time. He was woken up by his body's own responses more than he got to just naturally come out of sleep. The first time he soiled himself had been utterly embarrassing, even though intellectually he knew that he couldn't really help it. His diaper had been changed by a different nurse, he'd been wrapped back up, and sent back to his cradle to fall back asleep. Grandma and Grandpa visited twice more, cradling him and saying sweet nothings to him while they talked to each other with just looks as only a loving couple could. In the little time John had to just lie there and think, he pondered his predicament.
Either your life flashing before your eyes was anything but a 'flash', or he was somehow, for some unknown reason, back in the body of a baby with the mind of an adult. He managed to catch a glimpse of the chronometer on the nursery wall, and it was indeed the week he'd been born back in the year 2739. He didn't know how or why, but he'd been given a second chance. He could relive his life, with vastly different results.
He was determined not to waste it.
Finally, the day came when his grandparents got to take him out of the hospital. Clutched to Eva's breast protectively, John watched and listened as well as he could. He was staying awake longer and longer, but his infant form's energy reserves were pathetic. Just the act of living was enough to use up almost all he had. He could only hope he'd grow a whole lot stronger very fast. Don and Eva took him through Olympus Station to a transport to their home planet. John fell asleep shortly after takeoff, unable to stay awake any longer. He woke up hungry and wet, and tried to alert his grandparents to the problem. Eva took him to the bathroom and changed him before taking him back to her seat, pulling a bottle of formula out of a baby bag. John suckled on the still-warm liquid and made eye contact with his grandmother. She seemed to like it when he stared into her eyes while feeding.
"I can't believe Jess did this, just abandoned this little boy," Don sighed to himself, watching the sweet scene.
"We don't know what happened to her on her mission, Don. We don't know what John's father, whoever he is, did to her. She'll come back and explain herself someday," Eva said confidently.
John felt his heart drop, knowing that would probably never happen… unless he intervened.
John fell asleep shortly afterward, waking up again to find they were already at his family's home. He glanced around his grandparent's room as his Grandpa and Grandma set up a bassinet next to their bed. To him, it had been decades since he'd been in this house. He savored the feeling of homecoming.
"Oh, John's awake!" Eva noticed. She came to pick him up from where he'd been laid in a mini-cradle of pillows and checked on his diaper. "He doesn't need changing, he's not hungry… I think he's just awake!"
"Huh. Took 3 months before Jess was at that point, if I recall," Don blinked.
Eva frowned and reached up to trace John's ears. He felt her fingers follow the elongated point where on a Terran there would be a soft curve. "Well, he's not entirely human, Don, remember that."
"Saw that when I changed him the first time. He'll be stared at in the locker room, I'll tell ya that much," Don chuckled, though his eyes were troubled.
John licked his lips. Using all his focus, trying to compensate for the fact he had no teeth, he tried to speak. "Gramma," he forced out, looking right into Eva's eyes.
Eva looked in danger of dropping him in shock. Her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped. "Did you just hear that?!" she demanded of her husband.
Don nodded shakily, looking at John in amazement. "Yes, dear, I did."
John turned his head to look at his grandfather. "Grampa," he said, maintaining eye contact.
"I heard that too," Don said in a daze.
"John? You know who we are? You can understand us?" Eva asked, her eyes raking his face. She seemed to be in a state of disbelief, but she still held him protectively.
"Yes," John said, and he even managed a little nod.
Don abandoned the bassinet to come behind Eva, wrapping her in a hug from behind even as she cradled John. This put their faces side by side, so John could look at both at the same time. "How is this possible?" Don asked, probably rhetorically.
John struggled to think of a one-word answer that would cover his future memories. Finally, with a great deal of effort, John managed to cobble together "Re-in-kaw-na-shun."
"What was that?" Eva asked, tilting her head.
"John, did you mean 'reincarnation'?" Don asked.
John nodded, then yawned. "Sowwy. Tie-uhd," he said. Talking was proving to be very energy-intensive for his tiny body.
"Um, that's okay, John. Just go to sleep. We can… continue this when you wake up," Eva said, sounding like she was convinced this was a dream.
John frowned though. There was something he had to say first. "Ma… luv… you. Da… psy-kik. He… fohce her… to leave."
Don took a deep, shuddering breath. "Thank you for telling us that, John. Now take a nap. We can see this is hard on you. We can talk more later."
John gave a hum of acknowledgment and passed out right there in his grandma's arms.
John woke up to the uncomfortable sensation of having crapped his diaper. "Gramma!" he called as loud as he dared.
Eva came into view a minute later, reaching down to pick John up. "I'm here, John. What's wrong?"
"Die-puh," John said, blushing at his own incontinence.
Eva managed a brief chuckle. "I can't imagine what this must be like for you, John, but that's normal for babies. We'll all get used to… whatever this is."
She took him to a changing table, cleaning him up, powdering his bum, and putting on a fresh diaper. When she came back from dumping the dirty one, she picked John up and carried him down to the living room. Don was waiting on the couch, and Eva took a seat next to him. "You okay, John?" Don asked in concern.
John nodded.
Don blew out a breath. "Okay… well, little guy, we've obviously got a lot of questions for you. But you can't really talk like this. So we'll try to keep this simple, yes or no questions. Now, you said 'reincarnation' earlier. Do you mean you… remember past lives?" Don seemed unable to believe the words were even coming out his mouth.
John shook his head. "Just… mine," he managed to say.
"So, what, you died and woke up as a baby with all your memories?" Eva asked in confusion.
John nodded energetically. That was exactly it.
"How? Why?" Don wondered.
"Dunno," John confessed honestly. "Maybe… cause… psy-kik?"
"And that's another thing. You're psychic, John?" Eva asked, very curious now that she was wrapping her mind around the reality of the situation.
John frowned, trying to think of how to convey what he needed to say. "Spee-shies… yes. Me… not yet."
"Your father's species is psychic, and you were as an adult, but right now you're not? I'm guessing it happens at some point when you grow up?" Eva said down to him.
"Yes!" John said. Wow, his grandma was one smart cookie.
Don shook his head. "This is insane."
"Insane or not, it's happening, Donnie. John's clearly not a regular baby. Assuming he's not lying to us, he's an adult trapped in a baby's body. Speaking of, how old were you when you, er, died, John?" Eva asked.
John held up his hands. He curled his fingers to show '4' with his right hand and '1' with his left.
"41?" Eva checked to confirm. "That's awful young."
"Murdered," John said with a weak shrug.
Don and Eva froze. "Murdered?! By who?" Don demanded, sounding like he'd go out and hunt down whoever it was once John told him.
John sighed. He ordered his thoughts and tried to condense his intended message into the fewest, smallest words. "Da… spee-shies… evil. Me… go… to… woh. Die… when… I… lose."
Eva took a shuddering breath. "You died in a war, John?"
John nodded. "Try… to… save… League. I… fail."
"The whole Galactic League was in danger?" Don asked in shock. "John, just what is your father?"
John sighed. It was too big a word. "Type?" he asked, wriggling his fingers.
Eva, grasping his meaning, handed him to Don and went to grab a holo-reader. She pulled up a note-taking app and offered the screen to John. "Here, John."
John, forcing his weak arm to move, slowly typed out 'Progenitor' before resting his arm on his belly. It was just sad how easily he was getting tired, to hell with the fact that he was barely a week old.
"Progenitor," Don read out when John was finished. "That's what you and your dad are, Progenitors?"
John nodded.
"I've never heard of them," Eva admitted.
John shook his head. "Rare. Less… than… fifty… in… whole… gal-ek-see." John yawned. Damn it, he was ready to sleep again.
Eva shook her head and put the holo-reader aside. "Sorry, John. We're being impatient, but you're still just a baby, in body at least. If you need to rest, just rest. We'll get the whole story eventually."
John gave a small grin and allowed himself to succumb to slumber.
Over the next few months, John managed to haltingly explain the whole situation to his grandparents. How John was a Progenitor, a member of the most powerful race in the Milky Way. How Progenitors all led Thrall empires dotted around the galaxy. How every Progenitor had god-like psychic powers, the most technologically advanced fleets of any civilization, and were all locked in a constant state of war. He even, with a strong dash of humiliation at talking sex with his grandparents, explained how Progenitors could enslave women if they drank their semen.
"So, John, let me just get this straight," Don said one day at the dinner table. John was already in a booster seat, having focused what time he wasn't talking on exercising to get some damn strength back. "Your dad, Rahn'hagon, crash-landed on Arcadia 10 thousand years ago."
"Yep," John nodded.
"He waited there, all alone, until your mother's ship landed on Arcadia," Don continued.
"Yep," John confirmed.
"He… enthralled her, got her pregnant, and arranged for her to be found by her crew just so they could take her back to Terran space where you'd be born," Don laid out.
"Hm-hmm," John hummed.
"And his master plan was that you'd grow up, enslave the Maliri, who are one of these 'Thrall' races, and go out to kill every other Progenitor in the galaxy?" Don asked in disbelief.
"Exactly," John said, his newest tooth helping with his articulation.
"That's the most ass-backwards thing I've ever heard," Don snorted.
"Language," Eva scolded lightly, eating a forkful of rice.
John sighed. "Dad's biggest fear is dying and becoming just another Fallen Progenitor, a demon enslaved in the Astral by Xar'aziuth. If he had a spine, he would have just stolen the Cora and gone to claim the Maliri himself. Instead, he used Mom as an incubator to make me, his tool to go out and wipe out every threat to him while he stayed safe on Arcadia. Mom was just the messenger, really, to drop me off where I'd be able to reach the Maliri."
"Coward," Don growled. He had a very low opinion of the alien man who'd essentially kidnapped and raped his daughter.
"No arguments here," John shrugged. "But we can't change the past… before this point, at least," John chuckled, well aware that his personal past was blown to smithereens by his unasked-for time travel.
"So, John, what's the plan?" Eva asked.
John glanced down at his onesie with a cartoon character on the front. "Well, grow up, for one. I won't even be able to activate my powers until I hit puberty, and like hell I'm going to freeze myself forever as a 12 or 13 year old. I'll wait to make my first Matriarch when I'm at least 18."
"What about all the women from your first life?" Eva asked. She'd proven very open-minded to the idea that her grandson was destined to become master of a harem. Don vacillated between thinking the whole thing was ridiculous and making dirty jokes congratulating John on winning the genetic lottery.
John sighed. "The fact of the matter is that most of them aren't even born yet. And we simply can't afford for me to wait all the time until I'm 40 just so I can activate myself with Alyssa. I'll do my best to recruit them all again in this life, but I'll be starting my Progenitor career a whole lot earlier, with different women."
"Fair enough," Eva nodded. "You have a general idea of what you want to do once you're older, though?"
John nodded. "Claiming the Maliri is the obvious priority. Not only will I need their fleets and assets to protect the Galactic League, but I can potentially save millions of women from torture and death by becoming their King and ending the endless scheming and backstabbing."
"My grandson is going to be the Maliri King. This hurts my head," Don groaned.
"Once I've claimed all 19 Noble House Matriarchs, I'll get us on a war footing. We have until Larn'kelnar shows up before another Progenitor discovers this corner of space. We need to hit the ground running," John mused, his eyes distant as he thought about the grand scope of the ordeal ahead of him, getting the Galactic League prepared for the Progenitor War.
Eva reached out to run her hand through John's hair. "You have time, dear. Like you said, you won't even activate until you're at least 18. You can afford to relax and enjoy a second childhood."
John grinned. "True, true."
John grew and developed, naturally much faster than your average baby. He potty trained himself before he was a year old. Don was busy most days with running the family restaurant, Eva having taken a long-term maternity leave to look after John. Not that John needed much looking after, but his size was a problem and it was handy to have someone who could reach things and work the appliances. By the time he was 18 months, Eva decided to return to work, bringing John with her. John's days from then on were usually spent in a corner of the kitchen, entertaining himself on a holo-reader. Some of the cooks and waiters found it disturbing that a toddler was so self-aware and cognizant, but Don and Eva waved it all off as John's 'unknown' alien heritage and the workers learned to adapt.
By the time John turned 5, he was almost glad to start going to school. He loved his grandparents, and he socialized with the restaurant workers, but he was undeniably getting a bit lonely. It would be good to 'act his age' and make friends with his peers. His first day of kindergarten, John attentively listened to the teacher's instructions and did the icebreakers and innocent games meant to help the kids make friends and learn basic education. When it was coloring time, John took his sheet of paper and some colored pencils and started to draw. He was so focused on his task, that he jumped when the teacher laid a hand on his shoulder.
"John, you're very good!" she complimented, hiding her shock that a 5 year old could be so artistically skilled. Most of the other kids were just scribbling with crayon or making stick figures. John's sketch was almost photorealistic.
"Thank you, Ms. Aldrin," John acknowledged.
"Who is she? A girl you know?" the teacher asked, regarding the very beautiful, young blonde girl with bewitching cerulean eyes.
"Her name's Alyssa," John said. "When I grow up, I'm going to marry her," he said in utmost seriousness.
Ms. Aldrin chuckled, assuming she was a waitress at his family's restaurant he had a crush on. "Well, coloring time's over. But you can take this home with you to show your grandparents!"
John nodded and held onto his sketch tightly until Eva came to pick him up. He showed her the sketch, and she got a knowing look. "Which one is this?"
"This is Alyssa Marant, my first Matriarch," John told his grandma.
"She's quite pretty," Eva complimented.
John nodded with a loving grin. "Yeah. And I didn't even have to do much to enhance her. She was my soulmate… I miss her."
"Of course you do," Eva said, kissing his hair. "And you'll meet her again, I'm sure of it. She just won't be the first anymore."
"I know," John sighed.
The next day, John drew a sketch of Calara Fernandez. After that it was Dana, aka 'Sparks'. John spent the first few weeks of kindergarten drawing each of his future Wards, the women he'd agreed to marry in his first life. Ms. Aldrin was amazed at his talent, as well as his imagination once he started drawing alien and 'fantasy' women. John's art project aside, kindergarten was fun. He got to hang out with other kids, make friends. Sure, his maturity and intelligence level was lightyears beyond them, but they were still fascinating, unique little people.
One day, a girl named Zoe Neiman walked up to John and kissed his cheek. "There! You're my boyfriend now!"
John grinned. "Okay, Zoe, I'll be your boyfriend."
"You're a good drawer! Can you draw me?" Zoe asked, her eyes bright with the glee and wonder of a child.
John happily made a sketch of Zoe's face. He let her keep it, and she loudly went to show it off to all her friends. John had the vague suspicion he'd just been used, but it was all in good fun. Little did he know how his future relationship with Zoe Neiman would turn out.
The year of kindergarten passed quickly, and during summer vacation John asked Don if he could sign up for any local martial arts or kendo classes. Don happily tracked down and enrolled John in both, and John started to get some healthy exercise as well as martial training into his routine. His 'natural talent' was praised by his senseis, and John progressed to being top of the class in his age group by the start of the school year.
Once he entered first grade, John's 'prodigy' status was soon noticed and remarked upon. It wasn't long before the principal of the school called his grandparents and asked if John would be willing to take an IQ test and knowledge assessment. Don and Eva had reservations, but John agreed. To his own surprise, he scored well within the 'genius' range on the IQ test. It was the knowledge assessment that shocked the test takers. John scored in the 'high school' or 'college' range in almost every subject. When asked how, John shrugged. "I read a lot," he told the educational advisor. It wasn't even a lie. John had to pass the time he wasn't in class somehow.
There was talk of John being enrolled in an advanced or accelerated program, but John point-blank refused. "I won't have friends in a grown-up class," John explained to the principal. Deciding to split the difference, John and the school worked out a deal where he would stay enrolled in the K-12 program, and take part-time university courses on the side. John focused on Business, Political Science, and Galactic Relations. All the subjects necessary to be a good king.
Zoe Neiman, who was in John's first grade class as well, approached him at lunch one day. "John?"
"Yes, Zoe?" John asked, looking up from his homemade meal.
"Why are your ears pointy?" she asked innocently.
John shrugged. "My Mom was Terran. My dad was… something else. I must get them from him."
"You don't live with your Mommy and Daddy?" she asked in shock.
"My mom worked for the Terran Federation. She was part of a research crew. She went out on a mission, and must have met my dad. When she came back to Terran space, she was pregnant with me. She had me, and then she ran away, leaving me behind. I live with my Grandma and Grandpa," John explained.
Zoe, out of nowhere, leaned in to hug him. "I'm sorry, John," she said sincerely.
John felt his heart warm. "Thanks, Zoe."
She pulled back. "I like you, John. Are we still boyfriend and girlfriend?"
John chuckled. This time it was him that leaned in to kiss her cheek. "If you want us to be."
"I do!" she said exuberantly.
John nodded, and decided to see where this thing with Zoe would go.
Between school, his college courses, his athletics, helping out in the family restaurant, and social events with his friends, John had a very busy schedule. Time started to fly by. Zoe became his best friend. He had many playdates with her, at both her house and his own. Zoe introduced John as her boyfriend to anyone who asked. Zoe's parents joked with John's grandparents that they'd be in-laws one day, the way the kids were joined at the hip. One day, Don pulled John aside. "John… are you courting that little girl?"
John shook his head immediately. "No, of course not. We're way too young. She's just my friend. But if we're still together once we become adults, and she'll have me once she knows everything about me… why not, right?"
Don gave a nod. "Good point. Well, hope it all works out, son."
By middle school, John had an undergraduate degree. The university had worked with him to create his own major, 'Executive Studies'. John proudly framed the certificate on his wall, and then launched right back into studying for a new degree. This time it was Military Science. He had plenty of practical experience with warfare, but he was interested in an academic perspective.
On John's 15th birthday, Zoe took him aside from the party in his family's restaurant. "What is it, Zoe?" John asked. He regarded the girl who was his oldest friend in this life. Her straight black hair fell to her shoulders, and she had gorgeous chocolate eyes. She was a respectable 30C and not done growing, and she'd enrolled in John's martial arts class out of shared interest, so she had an athletic figure. She was maturing into a real heartbreaker.
"John, you know how I call you my boyfriend?" Zoe asked, biting her lip with nervousness.
"Yes, what about it?" John asked.
"Well, we're getting old enough for that word to actually mean something. I was wondering… if you'd like to really be my boyfriend?" Zoe asked hopefully.
John grinned. Zoe was right, they were getting old enough. He'd be willing to give dating her a try. But she deserved to know who she was dating. "I'd love that, Zoe. But there's some things you should know about me first. I've… kept a few secrets from you."
"What secrets? We tell each other everything!" Zoe protested.
"I only didn't tell you because I didn't think you'd believe me," John said in his defense.
"Try me," Zoe challenged.
"Okay. This is my second time living life as John Blake. And I remember all 41 years of my first life, have since the day I was born in this second life. In my head, I'm really 56," John said.
Zoe blinked. "... Okay, I see why you didn't want to tell me that. But I believe you, John. So, what, you time traveled?"
"I'm not sure what happened," John admitted. "All I know is I died, and I woke up as a baby remembering everything. That's how I've always seemed so smart. It's not that I'm a prodigy or anything, I just had a big headstart on everyone else our age."
"That explains so much, actually," Zoe mused. Her eyes got a teasing glint. "So, you're really a middle-aged man? Maybe we shouldn't date, then, wouldn't that be statutory?"
John chuckled. "Well, even if we do date, we won't have sex until we're both 18. That's non-negotiable."
"Prude," Zoe accused, pouting.
"Just being responsible," John countered.
"Any more secrets, Blake?" Zoe asked.
John reached up to touch his ear. "I know what I am. And you should know what I am too, and all the strings attached to being with one of my kind."
Zoe focused on his face. "I'm listening, John."