Embers in the Dark

The Cleansing

Song is, "The Last of Their Kind" by Peter Gundry.

There was crippling pain everywhere in Arthur's body when he started waking up.  He tried to speak but the pain wouldn't let him.  He wanted to move but he didn't even have the strength to open his eyes.

"...be alright, Doc?" he heard Lilly ask.

"Yes," a Dutch sounding man replied.  "His regrowth is slow in this place, but it is still very quick for a human."

Arthur felt someone touch his chest.  "Oh Arthur, I'm so sorry..." Lilly sniffled.

"Mmm..." Arthur mumbled.  "Lillian..."

"Is he waking up?" Lugh asked.

"I believe so," someone replied.

Arthur attempted to open his eyes once more and was successful, but just barely.  His vision was blurry but he could make out that Lilly was standing over him.

"Arthur?" she asked with concern.  "How do you feel?"

"Like my whole body was torn apart," he groaned in reply.

"Sounds about right," the Dutch man said.  "I did give you something for the pain."

Arthur tried to sit up but couldn't.  Instead he let out a loud growl and flinched.  "What happened to me?"

"Um..." Lilly began but stopped.  "Rose ate you while you were in your...griffin...vessel...thing," she squeaked out meekly.

"Oh."  Arthur lifted his head but Lilly pushed it back down. 

"No, ya dunna wantah look at what I...what Rose did tah ya," she corrected.

"Why?" Arthur croaked weakly as he closed his eyes.

"Your body was almost mangled beyond recognition.  Right now your body is healing itself," the doctor said.  "You lost half of your face, an eyeball, some teeth, your limbs were shattered, your torso was almost torn in half, and your innards were-"

"That is enough, Abraham!" Lilly shouted.  "Do not upset me husband!"

A loud boom sounded outside, then another and Lilly scowled.  "Great," she grumbled before Arthur heard the rattling of chains.  "I'll be back."

Footsteps clapped away and Arthur struggled to get up.  "I want to see what happened to me," he argued.

Lugh came into his field of sight and pushed him down gently.  "Save yer strength, Sasanach."

"Are you sure you want to see what you look like?" Arthur heard Brigid ask.

"Yes," Arthur said with his eyes open.  "Are we in a hospital?" he asked as he looked up at the white ceiling.

"Of sorts," Abraham replied.  "I have had to make due with limited resources, but Lilly delivers them to me post haste when I ask her to."

Brigid came to Arthur's other side with a mirror.  "Now don't panic, Arthur.  You're going to have scars but I can heal those for you."

Arthur nodded and Brigid held the mirror over him.  When he looked at his reflection, he took a few shaky breaths.  His face was almost unrecognizable.  He had a white eye but surprisingly he could still see out of it.  The whole left side of his face was bone and muscle and a lot of his hair was missing.  He watched as skin began to form over his face and his white eye slowly started getting its blue and green iris back.

"What about the rest of me?" he asked, trying to lift his arms. 

His right arm was just bits and chunks of flesh, bone protruding through the skin.  His left arm was missing a few fingers, however.