Where I Belong || Twin siblings new life x OC

I wasn't supposed to be here!

"I will finally be able to see my old companions over there after eighty years. Those old friends of mine have left me lonely throughout my lonely life... But no matter. That ends now!"

...

"Anyways, when can I open my eyes?"

"Their names will be...Arjen, Arien and..Aristo."

"Wait what?"

It is then that Aristo's eyelids begin to flicker and slowly open. There is a chill hand placed on top of his head. Because his eyesight is still blurry, he is only able to see the blurry figure of a tall man whose hair has a bright blonde color.

"He's patting me...?" Aristo squints through the blurry vision in an effort to see the face of the man. Why does everything appear to be so big? Why is sight so chronic?

"Wait. Am I...a baby?" It strikes him that he will never have his dream to be a lazy ghost sitting in the pits of hell. The Gods have other plans. "No way...This can't be!!!"

Aristo has reincarnated into a new life.

OoOo OoOoO oOoO

After some time getting used to his new baby body, Aristo finally accepted the fact that this was not a dream. The ornate ceiling with its intricate gold patterns above told him one thing-he was born into a life of opulence.

"Maybe being a royal isn't so bad" Thinks Ari­sto, who eyes the lavish surroundings. "At least I'll eat and drink like one."

He lets out an exasperated sigh and glances over at his siblings, Arjen and Arien, all cramped in the very same crib. "Who in their right mind puts three babies in one tiny crib?" He grumbles silently, truly fed up with not having personal space. It's illogical to him that with all this money surrounding them, they couldn't afford separate cribs for each of them.

Just about when Aristo thinks the situation couldn't get more awkward, the next day brought another turn. The emperor doesn't exactly kick them out, but Aristo overhears the maids murmuring how their mother, Rurahel, has insisted upon a different castle. After that the Delornina Castle is built. Great. Maybe this royalty thing isn't the fairy tale he thought it was.

If his old life has been hard, this one isn't shaping up to be much better. Aristo soon finds out being royalty didn't promise respect-most of all, not to illegitimate children. The moment the maids found that Rurahel is a commoner, their attitude did a whole turnaround.

"One minute they were all smiles and sweet words and now. It's like we don't even exist." Aristo thinks, soft blankets wrap around his little body, watching maids pass by, ignoring them and his siblings.

He looks sideways at Arjen and Arien, who is surprisingly calm despite the neglect. Perhaps they are simply babies who don't like to cry. Yet, Aristo has this funny feeling that there is more at play; some unsaid bond is definitely growing between them. Wordless, their connection seems to grow more, leaving him an outsider in this new family.

OoOo OoOoO oOoO

Everything in life is inevitably forced to acquiesce to the dictums of the immediate environment, and Aristo proved no exception. The triplets soon learned to talk but their speech was laced with a soft 's' lisp. Still, it was preferable to having been confined helplessly in the cramped crib silently exchanging glances. The moment the triplets turned one year old, their crib is no longer here, even when they turn two the only is in their room is a large thin mattress.

"Stwong, Awisto! Go slow!" Arien implores, her small hands grasping Aristo's as he sways to his feet. She sounds like an experienced nurse, in toddler-speak, of course. With no one around to teach them, they've had to intuit the first moves of life-talk, walk-already.

Arien has been the first to walk, though she still stumbles now and then, but for all intents and purposes, is making fantastic progress for a two-year-old. Arjen and Aristo, on the other hand, struggle to find their legs, shaky, even simply standing proves a challenge.

"Aaagh...I'm tired!" Complains Arjen, frowning as he sat on the floor with a pout. "It's a lot of work to walk on this floor!"

Aristo couldn't disagree with that. The cold, hard surface made it even more difficult to walk. They should at least have socks on to keep their feet warm. He gave Arjen a baleful look-not for his fate, but for that of his siblings who had to go through this. Little did he know, his siblings, despite their infant bodies, showed the same sense of pity toward him.

"Awjen, don't be wike that." Arien sighs, placing Aristo gently on the floor before waddling over to Arjen. "I'll hewp you. Come on, don't give up!" She smiles, trying to show her brother that all hope isn't lost, even though her own feet ache from standing for too long. It simply isn't in her character to give up.

Aristo watches them with mild detachment, thinking "Arien is so determined and here I am too old (mentally) to care." He can't help but admire her spirit as Arjen gets to his feet with her help.

Arjen wobbles a little, then turns to look at Aristo, who sits with a bored expression. Mistaking his little brother's boredom for understanding, Arjen smiles at him, wordless encouragement that he can do it too. Arien catches on and carefully guides him as he tries to take his first steps.

"Dun wush, Awjen. Focus on youw feet" She says softly, her small hands steadying him.

Meanwhile, Aristo tilts his head to the side, his brow furrowing in confusion at Arjen's smiling face "Is he bragging?". By that time, Arjen is already on his guard, his legs shaking as he mutters. "Why awe my wegs so weak?"

Though the maids don't really pay much attention to them, starving them occasionally, Aristo silently prays that this will soon not be a big bother to his siblings. Deep down, he wishes that fortune-or maybe the gods-soon gave them a better life.

OoOo OoOoO oOoO

Apparently, God doesn't care about Aristo's prayers.

Life takes a plunge for the worse when the triplets turn three years. Their mother, Rurahel, has finally lost herself in her greed, ever since the emperor stopped caring for her. She blows all the money she gets for the triplets on alcohol and jewelry while the poor children are neglected.

But that is not the worst of it, Rurahel got frustrated and that frustration boiled into rage, now she takes it out on her children, making them shake with fear.

Aristo, however, has had enough. All her screaming and throwing things around the house gets him to snap. "It's because of this reason that the Emperor never bothers looking at you." *He mutters, knowing full well how dangerous talking back to a drunken and furious mother can be.

"YOU. YOU BRAT!" Rurahel screams, her voice echoes through the halls. The maids had long run away, leaving them triplets with their furious mother.

THUD! The wine glass hit the side of Aristo's head, the force of the impact running across his skull. A beat later, the glass shatters with a shrill CRASH! Shards scatter, a thin trickle of blood runs down his temple, warm against his skin. The ringing of broken glass echoes in the room, like the sting of her fury.

"Aristo!!!"

"Ah. Geez..."