Chapter 1:

Four years later…

“Class dismissed,” the teacher said as students started standing up. “Remember, page 420 in the textbook.”

“Hey, Tobias, let’s go,” some ‘friends’ grinned at me and beckoned for me to follow. “Hurry up or we’re gonna leave you behind.”

“Okay,” I grinned, laughing and catching up behind them.

Listening to their crappy jokes, I laughed, though it was all a front.

“Hi Tobias,” A few girls giggled as I walked past them.

I smiled a bit and waved back. I didn’t know their names, though everyone knew mine. By just being good looking, you can go far in this world. Exterior is what matters in the public, so I put on the front.

Junior year of high school, nothing had changed. Shitty house, shitty school, shitty family. What’s the point? I packed my bags and walked to the bathroom. The front I put on at school was just to mask everything at home. I didn’t actually care for any of the people here. In fact, I despised them. They had everything I didn’t.

A loud cracking sound came from down the hall, and I whipped my head around to look. At the end of the hallway, blocking the exit doors, was a boy with a shotgun.

“Well, shit,” I thought to myself.

It took a second for everything to sink in with the rest of the students before someone let out an ear-piercing scream. Everyone around me was sent into pandemonium. I watched as the boy let shells loose, blasting down the people near him. It seemed my ‘friends’ had ditched me, running the other way. I turned and started sprinting down the hallway. I couldn’t die yet, not today at least. I hadn’t gotten my vengeance on my father. I can’t go out without paying him back for all he’s done to me.

I felt a burning sensation in my calf and I tumbled to the floor. Blood leaked through a gash in the back of my left calf. I groaned and tried to stand. It wasn’t my time, not yet. I felt another shot rip past me, though still clipping my arm. Falling back down hard on the waxed, tile floor. I watched my blood begin pooling around me. Hearing footsteps walking up behind me, all I could do was close my eyes.

“Fuck you, God,” was the last thing I thought to myself, as I heard the gun click behind my head. “Is this really how it is. I was never able to get vengeance?”

The last feeling I had was anger, burning anger, though I was never able to act on it. Was I dead? I thought being dead meant nothingness, though it seemed as if I were still conscious. Confused, I somehow realized my eyes were closed. Opening them, I noticed I had been transported. I was no longer at school, instead, I was in a never-ending white world. No sky, no floor, no edges.

“Welcome,” A deep, voice said from behind me. “You must be, Tobias.”

Turning, I looked behind me at a man in a crisp black suit and blue tie. His feet were propped up on top of a light brown, wooden desk. The man had two ram horns protruding and curling from either side of his head above his ears. In his hands was a newspaper, though I couldn’t read the foreign language.

“Who are you?” I asked as he neatly folded the newspaper and placed it back on his desk.

“I’m Lucifer,” he sighed. “Though some also call me Beelzebub, the Devil, Satan… You get the point.”

“Why am I here,” I asked, getting upset. “After all this, I was sent to hell?”

Lucifer laughed and took his feet down from the desk and straightened himself in his seat.

“No, no, of course not,” he said. “I plucked you from your path, to give you a second chance.”

“A second chance?”

“Yes, I admired your rage and decided you deserved one.”

I laughed inside, overjoyed, “So, when do we start?”

“An eager one, are you?” Lucifer grinned as a red pentagram of light appeared under me. “We start now,”

As the light glowed brighter, it began to consume my body. A burning, painful, sensation flowed through my body as the light touched it. I grimaced, clenching my teeth hard.

“Don’t falter now!” Lucifer laughed, “Oh, and also if you need me just say, ‘Lucifer, wake up!’ Alright?”

I heard him, but I wasn’t in any state to react. As the red light fully consumed me, my vision went dark. A few seconds later, I opened my eyes, blinking fiercely to adjust to the bright orange light above me. It seemed like someone was holding me, though I could only slightly move my body. I seemed to be chained down by a green blanket that was wrapped around me.

“Welcome to the world, Atch,” A soft, woman’s voice said from behind me, though I couldn’t turn my head to see who it was.

Looking around some more, I came to a quick realization, I was a baby. So, I guess my name is Atch. Is this what Lucifer meant when he said I’d get another chance? Interesting, this is the world where I would be able to take out my undying anger.

Five years later…

The blinds flew open, “Get up, Atch, you start kindergarten today!”

My new mother was looming above me in her white, sleeping robes. She had flowy, wavy, light brown hair that parted in the middle. She had a pretty face, with nice body features, and pretty yellow eyes. I looked exactly the same as I did back on Earth, though instead, I had the same yellow eyes as she did. I’d say they made me look more handsome than back home. My new father called from the other room, signaling breakfast was ready.

“Come on, get up,” Mother ushered, helping me out of my soft sheets and wooden bed.

It seemed like the setting of this world was back in the medieval times, though they still seemed more technologically advanced with stoves and proper restrooms. Our family was much better than the one back home, which was strange. I wanted to hate my new family, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Not once have they wronged me, they were... per se, the perfect family. Also unlike my old family, I now lived in middle-class, an amazing upgrade for me. Our cottage-house was two stories, one bottom floor which consisted of the living room, dining room, and guest room. While the upstairs was my room, my parents' room, and their study.

I looked in the mirror, I really did look like the five-year-old version of me. Medium cut, swoopy brown hair, parted to the left side of my face. Glaring eyes, though they had gone from a black to a yellow. My small, maroon, and white school uniform rested nicely along my small body. Atop the white dress shirt was a cute, maroon, wool vest with an emblem on my heart. The emblem was a black salamander with a white lotus behind it.

“Atch!” I heard Mother yell from downstairs.

“Oh shit,” I murmured, then yelled back down. “Coming!”

I was pretty good at concealing the fact that I was a sixteen-year-old boy in my old life. Both of my parents were oblivious. Now, I finally had my first chance to leave the home and make my mark on the outside world. However, I guess I would have to start with my kindergarten class. I’m gonna take everything from those who get in my way. Everything.

An hour later, after eating breakfast, I arrived at the kindergarten with my mother. We walked through the front gates and through the school grounds, passing by other young children with their parents. A large, brick building was towering over the school courtyard. We walked up to the building and inside. Upon entering the main hall, we walked up to the front desk. The kindergarten I would be going to went all the way through 6th grade. It was a medium-sized private school, called Lotus. I wasn’t sure how my parents could afford to send me to a school this large, but I wasn’t complaining. Then again, it didn’t matter much as I already knew everything that would be in the curriculum.

“I’m here to drop off my son, Atch,” Mother said, letting go of my hand and grabbing a form off the counter.

“Okay,” The front desk lady said, quickly punching letters into a computer.“Leaf?”

“Yes, Atch Leaf,” Mother said, still writing in the form.

“Leaf, huh?” I thought to myself. “Interesting last name to say the least.”

Mother handed back the form and bent down to me.

“Be good, Atch, I love you,” She said softly. “Have a nice day at school, okay?”

“Okay,” I replied, though I couldn’t get the words ‘I love you too’ out of my mouth.

They were stuck in my throat. I don’t think I’d actually ever said those words in my past life. Goes to show how bad it was.

Mother walked away, leaving me behind with the desk lady.

The lady peered over the desk and said, “Join that group of children over there, they’re your new friends!”

I turned left and noticed a group of children, standing around a nice-looking old lady. I walked over to the group and stood around, examining the group. So far, there were at least two obvious cliques. One boy clique and one girl clique, each consisted of three or four kids. Already cliquing at this age, is it just a normal, human thing to do? The rest of the kids were seemingly in no clique, and with no friends.

“Okay class, follow me,” The old lady smiled as we followed her back out of the main hall and onto the courtyard.

Walking along the right side of the hall, we turned around the side and onto a cobblestone path that led past a few more, brick school buildings. Past the few buildings was another cobblestone path that led through a small forest, filled with giant, looming, redwood trees. Walking through, I could smell the fresh scent of newly laid out wood chips, which lined the ground around us. A few squirrels shot by, running up and around a nearby tree. At the end of the path led onto a small, old, wooden bridge that arched over a small gulley. Passing by, we went to the second part of campus, for us kids grades 3 and lower.

This part of campus was a large, woodchip, playground with two giant play structures, a few swingsets, a small tunnel, and a large stone road that wormed its way around the entire area. Across the playground, furthest from the bridge, were the four buildings, each two stories tall. Our teacher led us over to the building furthest to the left and we situated ourselves on the top floor. There were two classrooms per building, one on the top, and one on the bottom. Entering the classroom, I was able to get a good look at the surroundings. The wall furthest from the door was just a large window, making a great view of the outside trees and the playground. Each wooden desk was fashioned with a chair, all of which pointed to the front of the class at the teacher’s desk. Behind the teacher’s desk was a large blackboard, nearly covering the whole wall.

“Welcome to class K-2,” the teacher smiled as we all filed into seats. “I’ll be your homeroom teacher, Mrs Zoldyck, though you can call me Mrs Z.”

“Hi Mrs Z!” Everyone in the class said. I followed suit.

“Before snack time, we’ll be doing some ice-breakers with everyone,” Mrs Z smiled. “Let’s go around the room saying our names and our favorite color.”

I sat in the far back left corner right next to the window, so I would most likely be last. While students started saying their names and going around, I sat and listened, waiting to hear from the few notable kids I thought stood out. After a bit, one of the clique girls stood up. She had long, curly, bright, blonde hair and cute blue eyes.

“Hi, I’m Abigail, or Abby for short,” she smiled to the class. “My favorite color is… green!”

Abby, huh. I don’t think she’s the leader of her group, or at least she doesn’t seem like the type who would be. She was pretty cute though, would most likely become a very pretty girl by the time she hit high school.

Next to Abby was her friend, another one from the girl clique. She had a cute face with a small patch of freckles on her nose. She also had striking, greyish blue eyes and light wavy brown, almost blonde in some places, hair.

“Hey everyone, I’m Amber,” The girl said, smiling confidently. “My favorite color is blue.”

Amber was most likely the leader of her group. She had the confidence and was just as cute as Abby. The last girl in their clique was another blonde girl, though she had a colder gaze than Abby, and seemed tired. Her hair, unlike Abby’s, was medium length and straight.

“Hello, I’m Diana,” The girl said monotonously. “My favorite color is black.”

Like your soul, I scoffed to myself internally, before realizing the irony in my thought. Wait a second, does Lucifer know her?

“Lucifer, wake up,” I whispered to myself, inaudible to the people around me.

I felt my eyes roll back and my vision went white, before I appeared back in the white world. Lucifer was sitting at his desk, looking at a new Apple laptop.

“Well, what’s the problem?” he asked, looking up at me. “It’s been five years, huh.”

“Hey, Lucifer,” I nodded at him. “I just have one question for you.”

“Well, little five year old you is looking pretty cute, huh?” He chuckled, slapping his knees.

“The girl in my class, Diana, does she have any relation to you?” I asked sternly.

“Who? Diana?” He asked, looking at his computer once more. “No, that’s just how that girl acts. It has nothing to do with me.”

“Okay, that’s all,” I said as the pentagram appeared below me.

“Come and visit again soon!” Lucifer chuckled, waving goodbye.

With a blinding white flash, I was back in my chair at school, it seemed the icebreakers were moving along quickly, getting through nearly half of the twenty-five students. Much to my luck, I hadn’t missed the boy’s clique side. The first boy stood up, flinging his long, wavy blonde hair to the side. He had a small face, with brown eyes.

“I’m Jordan,” he grinned confidently. “Favorite color… uh, brown.”

Jordan didn’t look like he was the ring leader, more of the ring leader’s best friend. The next boy stood up, he had red, ginger hair with purple eyes. His hair was slicked back, and he had a menacing aura around him when he stood. He wasn’t amazingly good looking, though he was definitely the ring leader of his clique.

“I’m Alexander, vote me for class leader,” he surveyed the room as if he were a predator looking for prey. “Hope to become friends with you all.”

He sat down.

“Alexander, what’s your favorite color?” Mrs Z asked. “I believe you forgot.”

“Oh right,” he stood up once more. “Red, I guess.”

The next boy who stood was slightly overweight, though pretty tall. He had short, buzzed green hair and pale green eyes on tan skin.

“Hey, I’m Kenny, my favorite color is purple,” He sighed and sat down.

After a minute or two of other kids going, it was my turn. I stood up and started.

“I’m Atch,” I looked around the room, Alexander and his friends were rudely uninterested. “My favorite color is, white.”

I sat back down. So, they weren’t listening, were they? I guess I would have to teach them a quick lesson during snack-break. Better to assert my dominance earlier. A few minutes later, Mrs Z looked up at the clock before speaking.

“Okay everyone, snack time! You may eat your snacks from home at the tables outside. I’ll call you all back in an hour.”

“Oh shit, a snack?” I thought to myself. “Goddammit, mother didn’t pack me one.”

Grumpily, I walked outside with the rest of the kids. Instead of filing into tables to eat, I went and sat down on the curb of the little road nearby, built for little horses you could pedal. Looking around, I watched some of the other classes exit their buildings and sit down at their classes’ tables.

A few moments later, I heard footsteps from behind me and a boy sat down next to me. He was from my class, one of the other kids out of the two small cliques which were already growing. The boy had thick, light brown, spiked up hair to the left of his slim face. His greenish-brown eyes shown through his browline glasses.

“Hey, did you forget your snack?” the boy asked, pushing up his cool, black, browline glasses.

“Oh, uh, yeah,” I chuckled a bit. “My mom forgot to pack me one.”

“Oh well, you can have some of mine,” he said, fishing through his bag and pulling out a bag of carrots. “I’m Rich by the way.”

“I’m Atch,” I said, graciously taking the bag of carrots from him. “So, are you friends with those guys back there?”

I pointed my thumb back at Alexander and his friends. They were now hanging out with a few new kids at their table.

“No, he seems kind of mean,” Rich said, looking backward.

Accidently, we caught eyes with some of their new members, and they quickly turned around to tell Alexander something. I looked back at Rich and he looked back at me. I grinned maniacally on the inside, though kept my composure on the outside. Though these children were only at the age of 5 or 6, it seemed like they were much more advanced than what met the eye. Maybe it was in this alternate world, that children were much smarter at a younger age. It almost seemed to me like these children were as smart as I was, even though I was technically 21 at this point. Anyhow, we had to be ready for a fight. No hard feelings, but it would be a show of dominance for nearly the rest of the year.

I turned my head back to Rich, “You ready to fight?”

“So that’s what this has come to…” he sighed. “I guess so, though I’ve never fought before.”

“Don’t worry, just hit them before they hit you,” I replied, throwing a few more carrots into my mouth and standing up.

Eyeing Alexander, I walked with Rich across the yard, heading to the play structure farthest from any classrooms or other students. It was a large, green structure with a few monkey bars, slides, and ropes to climb. There were two stories to the structure, with one closed-off room inside with the floor lined with a suitable amount of wood chips. We walked inside the large, fifteen by twenty-foot bottom floor. There was only one small window, letting in some light, and small holes which lined the wooden walls.

“So, Rich,” I said, walking to one of the corners of the room, furthest from the door. “What do you do for fun?”

“Study to be a knight, mostly,” Rich replied. “My dad is a knight, so he teaches me swordsmanship.”

“Wait, this is a world of knights?” I thought to myself, surprised.

During my new, sheltered life as the only child of a carpenter and home-maker, I never knew much about how the outside world worked.

“So, what do you do?” Rich asked, following me to the corner.

“I, I don’t know,” I said, honestly.

“Wait, you do know this is one of the top Knight Schools, right?” Rich laughed. “If you aren’t careful, you’ll be expelled. The bottom ten kids in each class are dropped from the school.”

“Seriously?” I grinned, laughing. “A challenge… Just what I like.”

“Good to hear,” Rich smiled, pushing up his glasses and turning toward the entrance. “Time to prove yourself then.”

Footsteps along small, soft, wood chips gradually came closer, until a few shadows entered through the door. Alexander and his whole posse walked to the other side of the room. There was a short pause of silence as everyone eyed each other down. Alexander’s new recruits stood patiently outside the doorway, ready to watch a beatdown. However, they thought Rich and I would be the ones on the receiving end.

“I don’t like the way you were looking at me,” Alexander said, cracking his knuckles. “Get ready for a pummeling.”

With the last crack of his knuckles, a small flame flickered off his hand. He grinned at my surprise as he punched his palm, another few small flames shooting from his fist.

“Pretty advanced,” Rich gulped. “He’s only six and he can use tier 1 fire magic.”

“Magic too?” I thought to myself, grinning even more inside. “I think I like this world.”

“Get em, boys!” Alexander yelled as Kenny and Jordan rushed forward at us.

I watched as they bounded toward us. I had been in many fights in my past life, more than I could count. This shouldn’t even make me break a sweat.

Kenny met Rich and they began to fight, wildly throwing fists. As Jordan was about to reach me, he reeled back his right fist, easily readable. As his hand soared through the air, I turned my body to the left and pulled his fist to the floor with my left hand. His momentum redirected down as I pushed him to the floor by the back of the neck with my right hand. He stumbled and face planted into the wall near me with a grunt. Before he could recuperate, I side kicked down at the back of his right knee. His knee collapsed and he fell to a kneel. Before he could even attempt to stand up, I quickly let out a hard round kick to his left side, sending him sprawling to the floor.

I could already feel the difference in strength from back in my previous life. Being five years old was no easy feat, though when fighting other five-year-olds… It wasn’t all that bad.

Jordan rolled to his side, crying and clutching his left kidney area. Turning my head back to Alexander, I was too late. He was already on top of me, fist reeled back. I had no time to react as his fist connected with my jaw. I fell to the floor, my vision spinning before me. I tried to right myself, though he ax-kicked me in the back and I collapsed back to the floor. I watched as Rich was tackled roughly to the floor by Kenny. My world went dark as Jordan stomped the back of my head.

Upon waking up, I was sitting next to Rich, sitting with my back to the wall. We were still in the room. My body ached slightly, though my mind felt mostly clear. Rich’s glasses were luckily unbroken, though his nose was bleeding, and his cheek was swelling up slightly. I wasn’t sure how badly damaged my face was, though I didn’t think it would be that bad. My back would most likely be worse off.

Alexander was standing in front of us, and he started to speak.

“So, since you guys lost,” he started, crossing his arms. “You guys have to do Kenny’s, Jordan’s, and my homework for the rest of the year. You know what happens if you don’t.”

He punched his palm and a few flames came out. He grinned, then turned away and exited. Kenny followed with Jordan close behind. The rest of the new kids followed them. We watched as they left, silent, before Rich spoke up.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” he grit his teeth hard and stood up. “Now we’ll be at the bottom of the food chain. Everyone will be aiming toward us.”

“Is that so?” I sighed, still in anger and disbelief that I lost a fight. “Well, then we’ll just have to climb back up to the top. Right?”

Rich laughed, giving me his hand and helping me up. “Yea, we got this.”

The lunch whistle sounded for afar, and we both rushed out of the play structure back to class.