A.N. Part 4 of Rory's past. By the way, I've been calling the MC Rory the whole time, even though he didn't change his name to it yet. It's just for reader recognition (also I didn't notice till now). Reminder, no chapter tomorrow.
Chapter 35 - Regeneration
Rory woke up in shock and panted heavily. He looked around confused for a moment, wondering what happened.
"Hm, most interesting," Salem commented. The two were still in the same position as before, only Rory was lying on the ground. Clutching his head, Rory ignored the aching headache and looked towards Salem.
"What happened?"
Salem directed her gaze to his chest, and Rory took a moment to figure out what she was looking at. Looking down, he saw that the bone plating shaped into the number [12] had changed into [11].
"You died. Your body dissipated just like a Grimm would. However, something... interesting happened."
Rory looked at how Salem's eyes suddenly turned into that of pity. It felt strange, seeing the supposedly evil woman looking at him with sympathy.
"Your body started to reform, looking exactly like it did before your throat was ripped apart. Except... the number over your heart lowered."
Rory looked at her in shock, guessing at the implications.
"If I'm guessing correctly, every time you die you have a set amount of lives to restore yourself from."
Salem started to laugh bitterly before she spoke once more. "Congratulations, you will now experience the same curse as I do. Albeit in a more limited nature. What irony."
Rory grew silent as he wondered how this was possible. Was this... a Semblance? No! Rory didn't feel like he had Aura. Then... Magic?
"No matter," Salem concluded. "As one of my creations, you now serve me from now on. We can figure out how this is possible another day."
Rory glared at the woman and spat out, "If you think I'll work for someone like you, then you've clearly lost your mind."
Salem looked at him for a moment, before smiling. She started to walk out of the room, opening the doors to leave. Before she closed them, she looked back at him.
"As if you have a choice."