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Legacy of Imagination
Peromenos: Volume 1 Chapter 2

Peromenos: Volume 1 Chapter 2

I took a deep breath, staring at the row of babies laid out before me. They were all squirming or crying in varying degrees of unhappiness, and it was clear this wasn’t going to be easy. If I was going to keep us alive—and sane—I needed to figure out how to transport all of them at once.

"Alright," I said, more to myself than to them. "One step at a time."

I hoisted Noah first, setting him upright. His tiny legs wobbled, and he plopped back onto the moss with a giggle. Of course, he thought this was a game.

"Yeah, you’d find this funny, wouldn’t you?" I muttered, adjusting his position so he was sitting upright again.

Next, I turned to Emma, who had stopped crying just long enough to glare at me with a look of pure indignation.

"Emma," I sighed, "you’re going to have to deal with this. I don’t have a stroller, a crib, or—whatever spoiled babies need."

She responded by blowing a spit bubble and promptly bursting into tears again.

Great.

Star and Cael, on the other hand, were content to cuddle together, their tiny hands gripping each other tightly. I didn’t dare separate them—not yet. Jack was staring at me like he was waiting for me to screw this up, his little brows furrowed. He wasn’t crying, which I appreciated, but his silent judgment wasn’t making things any easier.

Mera had rolled onto her stomach, clawing at the dirt like she was already trying to escape. Typical.

"Alright, listen up!" I said, clapping my hands together. The babies flinched, their wide eyes locking onto me. "We’re gonna play a fun game called ‘line up and cooperate.’ If you don’t, we all die out here. Got it?"

No response. Not that I expected one.

I started with Noah, setting him down on his feet again. "You’re first. Don’t fall."

Noah giggled, wobbling but staying upright this time. I moved to Emma next, who stubbornly refused to stand, so I ended up propping her against a tree. "Just stay there. Please."

Star and Cael were next. I gently picked them up, murmuring reassurances as I set them down side by side. They immediately latched onto each other, balancing better together than apart.

Jack let me place him without complaint, though his eyes stayed fixed on mine, as if to say, This better work.

Finally, I grabbed Mera, who, to no one’s surprise, squirmed like a fish out of water.

"Stay still!" I hissed, managing to get her upright for a grand total of three seconds before she plopped down again.

I tried to do again and again and again ang again and again and again before just sighing and gave up.

I took a step back, surveying my handiwork. Seven babies, all vaguely upright, lined up like an army of tiny, drooling soldiers.

"Good enough," I muttered.

Now came the hard part: carrying them.

I had no bag, no sling, no nothing. Just me and seven infants who couldn’t walk well there was my clothes and theirs though I rather not get the only set of clothes we got ripped to pieces in day one.

"Alright, Si Xin," I muttered under my breath, "how do you carry an entire daycare on your own?"

I turned to look at the clothing around me so picked up the only two jackets more specifically Noah and Emma's jackets they didn't like it one bit and Emma specially was crying like a waterfall. It took awhile to calm her down.

Tying it into a makeshift sling on each of my arms I started with the obvious solution: Star and Cael. I picked them up together, one under each arm. They were light enough that it wasn’t unbearable, but I already knew I’d need to switch them out soon if I wanted to keep my arms from falling off.

Next was Noah, who was small enough to ride on my shoulders. He giggled as I hoisted him up, his tiny hands grabbing fistfuls of my hair.

"Ow! Easy up there," I muttered, wincing.

That left Emma, Jack, and Mera.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Emma, as expected, refused to be carried any way but on her back. I slung her over my other shoulder using the jacket, balancing her awkwardly and quite frankly it looks utterly ridiculous. "You’d better not spit up on me," I warned her.

Jack and Mera, meanwhile, were… less cooperative. Jack, at least, didn’t fight, but he stared at me like I’d lost my mind as I tied him onto my front using the tattered remains that I just learned by the way of my oversized shirt.

Mera, on the other hand, decided that now was the perfect time to start squirming like a worm. "Mera," I growled through gritted teeth, "if you don’t stop moving, I’m leaving you here."

She stopped. Barely.

Once they were all secure—well, as secure as I could make them—I straightened up, groaning under the weight. Seven babies, and I was maybe the size of an eight-year-old.

"Okay," I said, adjusting the makeshift sling I’d tied around my torso. "We’re moving. Don’t fall. Don’t cry. Don’t… do anything, really."

Noah giggled.

With a deep breath, I started walking, every step slow and deliberate. The forest stretched endlessly ahead, and I had no idea where we were going.

But wherever it was, we were going together.

It felt like its been hours since I started walking to the point I see the sun was beginning to set, casting an orange glow over the dense canopy of trees, and I was pretty sure my legs were about to give out. Every step felt like a challenge, my shoulders aching from the combined weight of my so-called “cargo” that I call friends.

"How are you all so small and this heavy?" I muttered under my breath, glancing down at the babies strapped to me. Noah, perched on my shoulders, seemed to find my misery endlessly amusing. He giggled, tugging at my hair like it was some kind of chew toy.

"Yeah, laugh it up," I grumbled, shifting Emma, who had managed to fall asleep slung over my shoulder. Star and Cael clung to each other tightly under my arms, blissfully quiet.

After what felt like hours of trudging, I finally saw it—the edge of the forest. My heart skipped a beat at the sight of the open clearing beyond the trees.

"Finally," I breathed, relief flooding my body. "I swear, if I don’t find water and a place to rest soon, I’m gonna—"

But as I stepped closer, I froze.

The clearing wasn’t just open space. It was chaos.

On one side I that looks to be humans armed to the teeth—guns. Okay so we are not in a medieval fantasy world there's actual technology.

My eyes widened as I saw one of them raise a hand, a swirling iceball burst from his palm before hurling it at one of the creatures and the ice started to spread and engulf the towering creature.

They have powers of course, so we are in a superhero world then, what sick joke is this. It feels like a terrible bar joke

The creature—a monster that looked like it had crawled out of a nightmare—shrieked, its jagged claws swiping at the human before it crumpled to the ground. Its comrades didn’t even flinch, continuing to charge forward, their grotesque forms snarling and howling.

And then there were the what appears to be robots.

At first glance, I thought they were the monsters that look like—wolves, birds, even a massive bear—but their sleek, white metallic frames and neon blue eyes glowing eyes made it clear they were something else entirely. One of the wolf-like machines pounced on a man, it tried to bite the man only to be stopped by his arm its jaws tearing through the armor of the arm with ease.

It was a three-way war: humans versus monsters versus robots.

"What the hell is this giant clusterfu—"

I barely managed to bite my tongue before the words escaped. The last thing I needed was to draw attention to myself.

Too late.

One of the monsters, a hulking, beastly thing covered in matted fur and scales, turned its blood-red eyes toward me. I froze, my heart pounding as it sniffed the air, its head tilting slightly.

For a moment, I thought—hoped—it would ignore me.

It didn’t.

The creature roared, charging toward me with horrifying speed, its claws carving through the earth as it barreled forward.

"Okay, nope!" I yelped, spinning on my heel and bolting back into the forest.

Running with seven babies strapped to me was not ideal, but adrenaline took over, my legs pumping as fast as they could carry me. The monster’s roar echoed behind me, the sound sending shivers down my spine.

"Don’t look back, don’t look back," I muttered to myself, gripping Star and Cael tighter as I dodged branches and leaped over roots.

Noah was laughing hysterically, thinking this was some kind of thrilling ride and pulled my hair.

"OW," I screamed.

"Not helpful, Noah!" I snapped, ducking under a low-hanging branch.

The sound of heavy footsteps behind me grew louder, the creature gaining on me. My mind raced, panic threatening to overwhelm me. I couldn’t fight it—not like this. All I could do was run.

Up ahead, I spotted a fallen tree leaning against a massive boulder, creating a makeshift ramp. Without thinking, I sprinted toward it, my feet barely touching the ground as I scrambled up the trunk.

The monster roared again, lunging after me but hitting the trunk breaking it it started to climb the boulder—but it could get a good grip to follow. Its claws scraped against the boulder, and I didn’t wait to see if it would find another way up.

I jumped, landing awkwardly on the other side and nearly toppling over.

"Ow, ow, ow," I hissed, straightening up and adjusting the babies to make sure none of them were hurt. Star whimpered, her tiny face scrunching up, but I quickly hushed her, bouncing slightly on my heels. "Shh, it’s okay. We’re fine. We’re fine."

The monster’s roars faded into the distance, and I finally allowed myself to breathe. My legs trembled, threatening to give out, but I forced myself to keep moving, deeper into the forest.

Whatever was happening out there, whatever that war was—I wanted no part of it.

Well Not yet, anyway.

It was dark now the sounds of the forest at night were both eerie and oddly soothing. Crickets chirped, frogs croaked, and the occasional hoot of an owl echoed through the trees. My legs felt like they were filled with lead, each step heavier than the last. The adrenaline that had kept me moving earlier was gone, leaving me teetering on the edge of collapse.

Then, through the shadows of the trees, I saw something looking out of place a cabin.

It was small and worn, with wooden walls darkened by age and a sagging roof that looked like it had survived one too many storms. Vines crawled up its sides, and one of the windows was shattered, but to me, it was a palace.

A smile tugged at my lips, the first in what felt like hours. "Finally," I breathed, my voice barely more than a whisper.

Summoning what little strength I had left, I trudged toward the cabin, nearly stumbling as I reached the door. It creaked loudly as I pushed it open, the sound echoing through the quiet night. The interior was pitch black, but a sliver of moonlight filtered in through a cracked window, illuminating just enough to see a ladder leading to a second floor.

Looking around the cabin only to be meet with darkness, I turn to the ladder. "Safe enough," I muttered, my voice thick with exhaustion.

I adjusted the babies strapped to me, one by one, careful not to jostle them too much. Noah was still giggling softly, clearly unaware of the day’s chaos, while Emma snored softly in her sleep. The others were a mix of sleepy and grumpy, but thankfully, none of them cried.

Taking a deep breath, I approached the ladder. It didn’t look particularly sturdy, but it was better than nothing.

"Alright, everyone, hang tight," I said, more for my own sake than theirs.

I climbed slowly, my muscles protesting with every step. The ladder creaked under my weight, but it held. When I reached the top, I found a small, dusty loft with a broken small circular window and a broken roof giving it light. It was bare, save for a few cobwebs in the corners and a thin layer of dirt covering the floor, but it was enclosed, and that was enough.

Carefully, I set the babies down one by one. Star and Cael stayed curled together, their tiny hands still gripping each other tightly. Jack gave me a tired, almost approving look before closing his eyes. Mera squirmed a bit but finally settled, her breathing evening out.

Noah, of course, was the last to calm down, but even he eventually let out a yawn and slumped against my arm.

I sat there for a moment, staring at them. My friends—my ridiculous, chaotic, babified friends. They had no idea what had happened or how much danger we were in, but somehow, that was comforting. At least they weren’t carrying the same weight I was.

I gave a exhausted laugh before coughing.

With a soft sigh, I leaned back against the wall, letting my head rest against the wood. The moonlight streamed through a crack in the roof, casting a faint glow over the loft.

Looking at the moon my eyes drifted shut, the events of the day replayed in my mind—the crash, the forest, that battle, the monster. It was all too much to process, and for now, I didn’t want to.

I just wanted to sleep.

And so I did my hearts slowly started close before darkness started to overtake me.