Revival
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The first thing he noticed as he came to was how impossibly sore he was.

The second thing was that there was something incredibly uncomfortable on the ground poking him in the exact middle of his back, right on his spine. From this he gathered that he was lying on his back somewhere. Great.

The pain and discomfort lead to his third revelation, which sent a tingle of fear through him. He shouldn't think that pain hurt...he shouldn't not like it...and he shouldn't feel fear..

He sat up so suddenly that it made his vision swim. He groaned and put a hand to his head. It shouldn't hurt...his vision shouldn't be able to swim....

He took a deep breath and began to sort out his thoughts. His whole body was sore. What had She said...something about his punishment. He looked up. The sky above him was blue and endless, adorned with white, puffy clouds. He was in a forest, it seemed. Then he understood what she had meant by punishment. He had seeked to destroy everything and was destroyed himself. She must've realized that that was what he wanted. If that was so....then he was alive again....

A wave of bitterness went through him. He didn't want to be alive. He didn't want to be here. And most of all, he didn't want to be as he was. Yes, he had figured it out. He was in a human body right now. A - human. - How degrading.

"...how disgusting.."

He lifted one hand and flexed it experimentally. He could feel the muscles and tendons working. It was a completely new sensation and he didn't like it. He gave himself a once-over and stood. He was fully clothed, thankfully. He was wearing a tunic and slacks, with a cloak over that. They were all pitch-black with blue accents here and there. The cloak wrapped around him and had a hood, much like Zelgadis' cloak, only the fabric was stiffer and was made of a finer, more expensive material. Black boots and gloves finished off the ensemble. At least the clothes were okay.

Just then, a woman appeared there with him. She had long, blonde hair. Her bangs completely obscured her eyes from view. She had on red lipstick and was smiling wryly. She had on a black sleeveless cocktail dress and had an iron spade in the other.

What timing...

"I see you've gotten accustomed to your new human body." She said.

"No, I haven't." He said through gritted teeth.

"Well, you'll have to; you'll be spending a lot of time in there."

He glared at her, his fists clenched tight in cold fury. But he did not strike.

The Lord of Nightmares smiled at the young man. He looked to be around fifteen and wasn't bad-looking at all.

"You must be wondering what you must do to regain your true form."

"....." He remained silent.

She smiled, loving her plan. The timetable was perfectly set and she had no doubt in her mind that he would succeed. After, her will was her creations' reality.

"You'll notice that I've sealed most of your powers up. You can still teleport and feed off negative emotions, but that is all. If you want to use magic, you'll have to cast a conventional spell just like all the other humans. There is an item that is the key to the seal on you. I know that you can sense it. That is what you need to do."

She disappeared as suddenly as she appeared, leaving the irate man to himself.

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She reappeared in her "palace" on the Sea of Chaos. A man appeared behind Her.

"I see you're breaking your own rules again."

She turned to face him, "Lei Magnus, I was certain that you of all humans would be pleased by this turn of events."

The man looked taken aback, but amused nonetheless. "Who ever said anything about my being displeased? This is great!" He frowned thoughtfully, "But may I ask You a question?"

"What is it?"

"What is with this ethereal blue glow?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"LOOK AT ME! I'm GLOWING blue! And I'm positive I wasn't glowing yesterday! I look like I swallowed vast amounts of Barium or something! Look at this!" He waves one arm, leaving a blue trail a split-second behind it. "I could practically be a LAMP here."

"Lei, it's not that bright and you know it."

"...it's still disturbing! You're not nearly this mean to Ceipheed! I KNEW IT! You FAVORED the Shinzoku's side during the Kouma Wars!"

"I did not and you know it. And if it makes you feel any better, Ceipheed is glowing purple this fine day."

Lei Magnus calmed down momentarily, savoring the thought of that Shinzoku glowing purple. "But what possessed You to make us glow? I see that You're not glowing."

"You're easier to see in the dark if you glow. You're all coordinated by color; Garv is glowing orange."

Lei Magnus sighed and shook his head. "You know, most people generally use this little thing called a LAMP to light up a room..."

L-sama laughed and shook her head at him, as though he had said something ridiculous.

"Why would I have lamps if I could just make you all glow?"

Lei Magnus groaned. Sometimes life (or the lack of it) here with the mother of all things was too...strange...for his tastes.

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Here ends this installment of this work of fiction. ^.^ I decided to do the author's notes down here this time.

Thank you all for the reviews and I hope for more input for this story. I know, it's been a while since I last updated. If it makes you feel better, I'm about halfway through the next chapter of FS and am nearly done with the next chapter of this one.

Thank you for your review and ego-boosting praise, Digi-Riven. ^.^ What will Phibby's siblings think? This does indeed require much pondering. You'll just have to wait and find out.

I'm glad you like my writing so much, Deep Sea Dolphin. ^-^

And thank you, T. Tsuno for your review.

Wow, I actually addressed the reviewers. O.o don't expect that all the time.

Tell me, do you readers like it better when the Author's notes are down here? If so, I'll see if I can't just always put them at the end of the chapters.

And who do you think should have Phibrizzo's "key"? What should it be? ^^ send your suggestions in my E-MAIL and I'll see if I like any of the ideas. Of course, due credit will be given. ^^

Heck, I may even do some fanart for this story...

Any questions, suggestions, etc. regarding of my fics are to be sent to my E-mail. sherra@northernfootholds.zzn.com

..hmm..that's about it. ^.^ now please drop me a review!

..you know you want to..