Disclaimer: The characters used in this story are not my own, I make no claims of ownership!
Renascentia
3: Experiences
When I awoke it was morning and freezing. I found that I could move without experiencing any severe pain, and so I slowly sat up. My bare feet touched the floor, and I shivered, keeping one hand on the bed for balance as I stood up fully. I then realized that the rest of my body was as bare as my feet, but I found a set of clothing on the edge of the bed. A loose black shirt and pants of the same color, with soft brown boots and a dark green cloak. I dressed, grateful for the warmth, and left the room, making my way downstairs and into the main part of the Inn. The smell of sizzling, greasy breakfast and hot cider assaulted my senses, and I suddenly became aware of how hungry I was. But I had no money for food, unfortunately. I felt incredibly weak. I was missing the familiar sense of strength; of energy. I could still feel magic running through me, but it was nothing like the power I was used to.
I moved to the door and stepped outside, immediately regretting it. The wind hit me forcefully, icy air painfully nipping at any exposed skin. It went right through my clothing, chilling me to the core. I was not used to the sensation of cold, especially not this cold, and I staggered forward, my boots disappearing beneath the thick snow. I was shaking, as though the air had taken control of my body, the frozen wind a weapon against me. I could see my breath, and my fingers were starting to go numb, which I figured was not a good sign.
The sound of my heartbeat was still driving me mad, pounding so loudly in my ears, and I felt dizzy. My body had not yet recovered from the trauma it had just been through. Of course I did not know this, I was used to rapid healing, without all these strange emotions clouding the process. I stumbled a few more steps, but my legs decided to give out then, and I fell first to my knees, and from there I slumped to the ground. I shook harder, the snow soaking my clothes and skin, freezing me inside and out.
"Hey..." A hazy voice broke through my spinning thoughts, "Are you alright?"
I couldn't exactly reply, so I didn't. Something about the voice tugged at my memory, but I didn't dwell on it. I had just begun to wonder if perhaps the stranger had left when I felt myself suddenly lifted up by a strong pair of arms. I felt foolish, lying helplessly against this stranger, but there wasn't much I could do about it. I squinted, peering up at the stranger in an attempt to get a better look at him. He was fair skinned, with short dark turquoise-colored hair. That was about all I could see, and in the end I gave up, and let this man carry me off to wherever he intended to.
This turned out to be a different Inn, closer to the center of town. I found myself again in bed, though this time I was accompanied by a roaring fire, and of course my mysterious savior. I drifted in and out of consciousness for a while, until I finally managed to stay awake for more than five minutes. I slowly sat up, finding myself unable to see in the pitch darkness of the room. I was not used to being so blind--my Mazoku eyes had been quite accustomed to the dark, but my new Human eyes seemed to be very weak. I stumbled out of the bed and found that I could conjure up a simple lighting spell, which I used to help find my way towards the door.
A sudden flash of light to my left made me pause and I turned, only to be greeted with my reflection. I could not see it very well at first, and so I moved closer to the mirror until I was able to see more clearly. I looked very much like my former projected self, almost identical in fact, save that my hair was as black as the darkness around me, and though my eyes were still amethyst, the pupils were no longer slits. So, this was to be my form for the rest of my mortal lifetime. I decided that it could be much worse and returned my attention to the door. I had nearly reached it when my mysterious companion, whom I must have awoken with the lighting spell, spoke up.
"You're awake?" He sounded tired, and I felt the faintest flicker of yet another unwanted, unfamiliar emotion--guilt.
"Yes. Sorry to wake you." Had I just apologized? I seriously hoped that this would not become a habit.
"It's fine." The creak of floorboards alerted me to his movement, and a moment later I saw his form emerge from the shadows into the pool of light which spread from my hand. He looked...oddly familiar. He stared at me with a strange look. I had a difficult time reading him, as I was used to picking up on emotions rather than having to puzzle out feelings by a person's expression.
"Do I know you?" He asked suddenly.
"I'm not sure." I confessed. I had met many, many people in my time, and I certainly couldn't keep track of everyone. The fact was, he looked extremely familiar--I wished I could feel his aura, and the fact that I couldn't made me a little angry. Humans were pathetically weak, I decided with some annoyance.
"What is your name?" I asked him, thinking perhaps a name might ring a bell.
"Zelgadis." He replied. Talk about ringing a bell--it was more like beating a gong and knocking me completely off my feet. Zelgadis? But the man before me was just that--a man. He was not the stone-skinned chimera I remembered. The only explanation could be that he had found his cure--and that was the first time it struck me that maybe I had been on the Astral Plane for longer than I had first imagined...
"What's yours?" He asked. I had a horrible moment of panic then, but quickly forced it down, irritated at how easily it had overcome me. I couldn't tell him my name, not like this. As much as I hated to admit it, I was far too weak in this form to defend myself, and I was sure he would not be pleased to see him, if he even believed me. That was the other thing--my situation was beyond humiliating, and anyone finding out the truth was definitely not something I intended to let happen.
"My name?" I had always found someway out of lying--telling half-truths was my specialty, but this was a bit difficult. There was no way I could tell him any name other then my own that would not be a lie. I hadn't told a lie in hundreds of years--but I was Human now, and Humans like to say there's a first time for everything, right? "I'm Zeric."
"Zeric..." He shook his head. "No, I don't recall ever meeting any Zeric."
"Well," I shrugged, "must be a coincidence." He nodded, though his expression remained curious a moment before he passed off whatever suspicions he might have had.
"What happened to you?" He asked.
"I'm not sure..." I said again, then sighed. That would not be a sufficient answer, of course. "I was in the cold too long, I suppose." He seemed to accept this with another nod.
"You should rest until morning, at least." He told me.
"Yes...thank you." I added my gratitude, feeling compelled to for some reason, but I was really too caught up in everything to puzzle over why. I was already dizzy from standing so much, which further increased my annoyance at my accursed Human form and its horribly slow healing process.
"You look like you're about to fall over." I felt his arm as it wound around my waist to support me, and he began to lead me towards my bed. It was my first coherent experience of contact as a Human, however, and my knees nearly buckled beneath me. It was an entirely new sensation. He was strong; solid. It was a different kind of strength--not magical, but forceful all the same. The feeling of pressure against my body made my head spin. He was also warm, which was quite wonderful after all the cold I had been experiencing. Warmth. He radiated it, and it enveloped me like a blanket. It was such a comfortable feeling that I leaned in a little bit closer to him.
He helped me into bed, and I was so wrapped up in just feeling that I forgot my sense of pride and let him. He drew the blankets up around me and I pulled them close. Their warmth was nothing compared to his, but it was something, at least. It occurred to me then that Zelgadis was really a caring individual, despite the lone wanderer he often seemed to want to appear.
The weakness of my new form overcame me once again, and my thoughts were quickly drowned out by the persistent lull of sleep.