Mega blech. It's been so long since I've written that it's hard for me to get back into the groove. Sorry for the short chapter. I'm still trying to get my stories back on track.

Personal Damnation

When groggy eyes opened up, Isaac wasn't sure where he was going to be at this time. His mind had been in a strange whirl of… need. There was no other way to describe it. His throat had ached, and his mouth had made a desert look fertile. Vaguely, he remembered the Mermaid Heel girls frantically darting around him, but he couldn't remember why.

Frowning at his apparently terrible memory, Isaac mussed one side of his dark head. He was getting ready to pull the covers off his body until catching sight of something to his left.

Dark purple hair was splayed across a pillow to the left of him. Isaac quirked a short grin at the intense expression Kagura had on her sleeping face. Her brows were drawn inwards, and her pouty mouth was pursed. She would have looked ready to start a war had she not been clutching the pillow tight in her arms.

Isaac moved, but Kagura's hand shot out in sleep. "Isaac," she muttered in sleep. Her fingers tightened on his forearm, and the motion caused locks of hair to fall in her face.

There was something so innocent in the way she said his name, almost like a prayer. Isaac had no clue what he was doing when he leaned towards her face. His large hand laid flat against the side of her head. He only meant to brush her hair away from her face, yet he found his lips parting.

Her lips had parted on her sleepy word. They were full, pink lips. A sudden image of her pressing that supple flesh against his crossed his mind in a flash. He was about to force himself away from her when he caught her tongue sweep across the rim of her upper lip.

By the angels, she looked flawless in the golden light filtering through the sheer curtains. So beautiful that his mind blanked.

It wasn't until the bedroom door came crashing down that Kagura head-butted him. Isaac recoiled at the same time Kagura hissed a curse. Both of their hands were locked on their foreheads as a voice cried out, "Good morning, Fiore! Today is a beautiful day. Cloudless skies on a sunny day with a thirty percent chance of Isaac getting laid! Better wear your raincoats today, ladies. It's gonna be a wet one!"

"Catori! Shut up! Isaac's an amnesiac. You're going to ruin your once in a lifetime chance at him not seeing you as a pervert!" another voice chimed in.

When Isaac could pull his hands away from his face, he blinked at what should have been identical twins. One had an entire side of her head shaved off, and the other had hers curling down one side of her face. The one with the tank top saying, "Pansexual Pirates get all the Booty" was the one who'd knocked the door down.

"Oh, please. We don't want to scare the poor boy later. Best to let him see the real me now before he falls for me."

The one with curly hair opened her mouth to say something, but Kagura's loud throat clearing shut them both up. "You're here about the spell, correct?" her sharp voice asked. Gone was the whimper that had drawn Isaac close. Back was the firm voice he was used to.

Isaac was so busy admiring her sudden change in attitude that he didn't realize what the girls were talking about.

"Yes, I'm Winry and this is my twin, Catori. Isaac, do you recognize us?"

"Recognize…" He broke his eyes from Kagura to study the new intruders. He'd never before seen a girl with half her head shaved, and he knew he'd recognize the quiet demeanor of the one named Winry. Their contrasts were so stark that they were unforgettable.

Giving them a frown, he grumbled, "No. I can't remember anything."

"Not Familiar Amnesia then," Winry muttered. She took a step closer to the bed. When she reached a hand towards his face, she asked, "May I?"

He nodded.

With a determined expression on her porcelain pale face, Winry put both of her slim palms on either side of Isaac's face. Her eyes flashed crimson for one single moment before she jerked her head backwards. "It's worse than I thought."

"Worse than you thought," Kagura repeated, her voice grim. "What do you mean?"

"Do you know about Isaac's special case?" Kagura nodded, but Isaac just gave her a confused look.

"Well, the spell is bound both internally and externally. One spell is placed on his conscience from the inside and another from the outside. They're dependent on each other, weak without the counterpart, but together…" She shook her head. "I'd have to go inside of him to break the spell myself. That is if I can even find where they sealed the real Isaac."

Kagura rose from the bed and took a spot beside Winry. "But you're saying there's a chance."

"A slim one, but I'm not certain I'm strong enough to break it. We're not fighting Zeref's minions or a human. We're fighting a real demon, a fallen angel borne of a true god. I don't think…"

"That's your problem," Catori broke in. "You need to quit thinking."

Winry's purple locks went flying as she shook her head. "This isn't any kind of exorcism Catori. It's the exorcism. Isaac's the Child of Impure Blood, the forsaken one. I don't want to do it without Urian. Urian's his brother's keeper."

Catori opened her mouth, but Kagura cut her off again. "Will it harm him?"

"If I mess up, the amnesia could become permanent, or I could set off the release on his inner beast. I'm just a human. Humans aren't allowed to meddle in the affairs of supreme beings. It's blasphemy."

Kagura lips formed a scowl, but she didn't say anything. She grabbed her sword before heading to the door. It looked as if she was about to leave the room until she called Araña, Risley, and Millianna into the room.

Millianna bound Isaac's wrists and ankles to the bed at the same time that Araña locked the door with her web. Tightening her grip on her sword, Kagura stated, "Do it."

"What?" Isaac and Winry breathed out at the same time.

"Do it. Adamine needs her cousin back, and Lancet needs their king before they realize something's wrong. The country is in a fragile state right now. Economically, politically. They need Isaac back." She was braced with her hand on the sword, and her lips were in the most firm of lines. She was waiting for whatever Winry was about to do to happen.

"But—"

"It's what we came here to do Winry. Adamine already paid us. We can't betray her by not trying. The country depends on him. Kindred Spirit depends on him." She snorted. "Adamine's too dumb to rule, and Urian's too racist. Isaac's the best king we've got right now."

Winry laid her hands down on the comforter as she glared towards the bed. Catori was right. Princess Adamine had been raised in the woodlands of Lancet. She was more animal than human, and her innocence would cause her to make poor decisions in the country. As for Prince Urian, he'd been raised by the god Loki and tormented by humans. His hatred of Normans knew no bounds. He had a hard time even talking to people who couldn't use magic.

Worrying her bottom lip, Winry looked up towards Isaac. Oddly, he looked eager to try this out. She knew the man enough to know that Isaac would want himself back, no matter what it took.

Isaac was too proud to be sated with his current state. If he could fight his amnesia, he would. Isaac never hid from himself.

With his arms bound overhead, Isaac flashed her an innocent smile. The expression was so pure and loving, the kind of smiles that Adamine knew how to give.

With a gulp, Winry stood up. "Alright. I'll do it." She turned to her sister. "You'll hold my body?"

Catori tossed her a thumbs up.

"Then I guess I have no choice." Crossing the short space between them, Winry leaned down to Isaac's face. His eyes held a question. "Keep them open," she breathed. Her sweet breath spilled across his face before he felt Winry's forehead come into contact with his. Her eyes flashed crimson.

Then, she fell to the floor.

Isaac was lost. A swirling world of grey was around him, but he didn't know how to get out of it. All around him, he could hear voices. He knew he was interacting with other people, but it wasn't him. Something else was interacting, someone else.

With both hands running through his hair, Isaac wandered around in this place. He could see nothing. He could feel nothing. As he put one foot in front of the other, he wasn't sure whether he was even moving at all. This amnesia was like being awake in his own coffin.

For days, he'd been locked inside of himself. His real spirit, his real soul, was locked up tight, and Isaac had never felt more powerless. It was driving himself crazy.

He could scream, but his voice made no sound. He could touch his skin, but he couldn't feel it.

Some cultures said hell was burning in a pit of sulfur. They were wrong. This was hell. Being stuck inside of his own head was damnation in itself.

Wandering aimlessly, Isaac watched his conscious mind swirl around him. Flashes of visions would come to him occasionally. He could see Kagura, knew that he had flown with her. He had seen Hisui, knew that he had visited her. But he couldn't interact with them.

Another part of his mind, or another being entirely, was doing that.

Was it the demon bred in his foul blood? He didn't know, but he didn't think so.

No, this new version of him was nice, dimwitted, but nice. He had yet to do anything to the other girls as they'd cooed at him and petted him. He was like their precious pet that they fed and tried to make sure stayed healthy.

It was degrading. Yet comforting.

At the very least, Isaac hadn't had to defend himself. He didn't trust this new spirit guiding his body to keep him alive. He also didn't like the direction it was taking towards the swordsman named Kagura.

The interactions they had weren't natural because Isaac wasn't natural. This soft brained pilot in his body was directing his heart towards a place kings weren't supposed to own. He was to be courting Hisui, forming a union that could help with the civil rights issue in his kingdom.

Isaac had no time to spend in the arms of any other women. His country needed the alliance, and Isaac's job was to run the country. Affection was a useless feeling for a politician.

Moving his body, Isaac sat down. He was floating in an abyss as his legs stretched out in front of him. There was no gravity to pull him down, and there was no gravity to pull him up. It wasn't even hot or cold in here. It was just darkness.

All around him, he could hear the voices of the women around him.

"She's looking for him?" Kagura asked, her stern voice always so commanding and strong.

"Yeah, it could take hours or days. Hope y'all weren't all that interested in going to the pageant."

"Lancet needs their king."

Yes, Lancet needed their king. Isaac let out what should have been a sigh yet it made no sound. If only Isaac didn't have to be king. If only there was someone he could trust with the crown, but there wasn't. This was his job, and when an image of Kagura flew through his mind's eye, his upper lip curled.

His soft brained operator liked the woman. Hell, even Isaac liked the woman.

She was stern. She was smart. She was sexy as hell. Even with that white bow in her hair that gave her a pair of rabbit ears.

It was a shame that Hisui held none of that stone cold resolve. There was nothing sexier than a woman who could defend herself. Adamine was like that. Isaac's assassin, Katja, was like that.

Hisui was always guarded by her knight, and Isaac had a suspicion or two about that. If Hisui did marry him, she would no longer be guarded by Arcadios. She would have Felix or Sven as a bodyguard.

Felix would baby her. Sven would be bored playing babysitter.

He and Hisui didn't fit, but there'd been worse marriages. He could hate her, or she could be ugly. Or he could be ugly. She could have been a ditz, and he could have been a bastard.

The situation wasn't all that dreadful.

Isaac relaxed as best as he could in the abyss as he pondered the various scenarios that could have happened with them. It wasn't like there was much else to do in his personal jail cell other than think.

It wasn't until what felt like hours had passed that Isaac heard a voice call out his name.