9 Rebirth
Heat.
An overwhelming heat.
A burning sensation which makes my very soul cry out in pain.
Death.
I can feel my diary burning in my hands, it's leather cover barely shielding fragile paper pages from a fiery grave. I can only submerge it in my own blood to hope the flames will go out.
How did I get here… what did I do to deserve this?
I had just finished writing my seventh entry to my diary. I was going to rest in the pit for a while longer before enacting my plan, when the beast came charging at me.
It was undeterred by my plan. I utterly failed at stopping it.
It's crushing weight came at me full force, sharp tusks boring through my chest, impaling me against the cave walls.
In one motion I was already dead. I was a corpse running for my life.
I used as much force as I could muster to break off its tusk and ran. I ran faster than I ever have in my pitiful life.
There was no escaping that thing, but…
I couldn't accept that.
Everything's a blur. My memories aren't comprehensible. I don't know if it snapped my spine or at my lower body first.
My intestines are spilling against the rock, I can feel my soul leaving my body, and the beast is gone.
A bitter end.
Darkness.
Death.
Decay.
My soul will rot before a demon even has a chance to devour it.
Staring at the rocky cieling of hell, my dying gaze makes out the figure of some great being..
Am I hallucinating?
<Taro>
Purple words shimmer in my vision, an ancient voice emanating within my mind.
<My descendant, my last remnant. You will not die here>
Is my ancestor speaking to me? A great demon of eons past, perhaps..?
No…
I've bathed in brimstone enough times to know my blood is too muddy to have any relation to a greater demon.
So what is this I see?
A crystal slowly descends into my body, morphing it's form to encompass my chest like a binder. The agonizing heat is suddenly quenched, replaced by soothing cold.
I can feel my blood rapidly dry, but the pain doesn't go away. My bones crackle and pop, my lower body reforming out of what seems to be mana.
The crystalline binder on my chest soon envelops my whole body, becoming a casing of flexible crystal.
A burst of strength invigorates me, allowing me to stand once more.
Grabbing my Diary, I limp back into the safety of the cave, and sit down. Now in a darker, friendlier environment, I can hear the voice once more.
<My remnant… take this gift… let it empower you, drive you… I will speak again when the time is right>
That voice… I don't know who it belongs to, or why I'm hearing it. All I know is that I'm tired.
As I lie my head against the stone floors of hell, I feel the exhaustion of my life wash over me. Even strengthened I cannot move, and I finally rest.
