Disclaimer: The characters used in this story are not my own, I make no claims of ownership!
Renascentia
2: Rebirth
I fell to the cold ground limply before my Mistress, hardly able to keep up my projected form.
"Xellos?" Her calm voice drifted out to me from the darkness.
"I'm sorry, my Lady, Lina Inverse...did not approve of my attack on the dragon maiden...." I managed, coughing up the dark, black blood that stained the ground around me.
"So I saw." She replied, and I could tell by her tone that she was not happy. Not at all.
"I will, of course, return to finish the assignment once--"
"No, I do not think that will be necessary." That worried me, and I lifted my head to look up at her.
"My Lady...?"
"I saw your encounter with the chimera, as well." She said, "It is unfortunate that I have lost my greatest general and servant to a mortal."
"I...I beg your pardon?" I sputtered, my dignity momentarily forgotten in my complete disbelief at the accusation.
"A simple, unimportant, worthless mortal, and yet you could not take his life. I cannot allow even that hesitation. I will not allow such betrayal. It is a shame, but even you can be replaced." The words had hardly escaped her lips before I felt it, the sudden immense burst of power that ripped through me. I felt again as though I was being torn apart, but it was a thousand times worse. The chaotic energy spread through my projected form, and it became easier to keep it up, until I wasn't even trying to. But the pain...at first it was sweet, painful bliss, the pleasure that accompanied it filling me. After a few moments, however, the pleasure faded entirely, leaving a pain I had never experienced before. I had never been in such pure agony, and I could feel that my throat was raw from screaming. I could not hear my own screams, though, for instead a loud, horrible pounding sound filled my ears. It was rhythmic, pulsing, and so unfamiliar to me that I almost didn't notice the fact that I was feeling fear. True terror, which only served to confuse me. The pounding lessened a bit, but I could still hear it; feel it throbbing within my body. My body? I felt so...solid. I could feel everything, the cold of the air; the roughness of the ground, the trembling of my own form. The pain had stopped, and I was simply lying on my back, shaking violently, my body still convulsing.
"What...what..." I tried to ask what had happened to me, but the words weren't coming. I felt so frustrated, so angry, so horribly afraid, and I hated these strange feelings. They weren't right--I should never feel this way. I squinted in the darkness, trying to make out Juuou-sama's face, but I couldn't even see in the dark anymore.
"I couldn't just kill you, dear, you have betrayed me in the most disgusting of ways. To disobey me for a mortal, I am almost ashamed." Her voice sounded different, it hurt my ears. It was horrible sounding, so unlike the smooth, purring, dangerous voice I had always known.
"I..." I tried again, but finally just gave up and waited for her to continue with her explanation, which she did.
"I decided to punish you in a much worse way, my poor child. I have cursed you with death, but it will be a slow, lonely, terrible one." She went on, "I have made you mortal. You are a human now."
The words did not reach me at first. I couldn't comprehend them, couldn't quite understand what she had said. When they sank in, I took a long moment to stare blankly ahead in disbelief. Mortal. Human. She had made me...human? How the hell was she able to do that? But how could I not believe her? My sense of touch was heightened, and my other senses had dulled considerably. I felt so many new emotions that I couldn't understand, and that horrible pounding sound...
My heartbeat?
"Impossible..." I choked, pressing the palm of my hand to my chest. There was the pulsing of my heartbeat--something I certainly did not remember having.
"Do not question my power." She told me, and I could vaguely hear the clicking of heels. Was she leaving? She would allow me to lay here, stranded? The wolves would no doubt tear me apart the first chance they got. I tried to sit up, but suddenly I felt my body start to tingle strangely. The darkness of my former Mistress' lair faded from sight, and I came to find myself lying on a soft bed, the scent of pine wood and crisp air replacing the stench of my own blood, and exhaustion overrode panic. My body ached, I couldn't even imagine trying to move at the time. Before I could fight it, my eyelids had fallen shut, and I fell into a deep, dreamless slumber.