Lilia's Tale: Freyja's Endeavor

Chapter 56: Confrontation

The pain would not stop. My mind was blanking, my consciousness wavering, and my body collapsin. My wings felt bloated and expanding, pushing back on my clothes. And it was only intensifying with each second.

I desperately fought, pushing my already broken mind long past its limits, to not fall. I saw what happened when I did, and I would not stand to suffer through it again. It went so far I could even feel my own magic run wild and uncontrolled inside of m.

After what felt like an unacceptably long time, the pains suddenly stopped. As if given life, my mind came back to me, together with my senses. Where my senses of hearing, touch and smell worked perfectly fine, my vision was blurry.

The grass below me had a red tint, and a pool of liquid had started to form. I coughed at that moment, the unmistakable taste of blood filling my mouth. I wiped my eyes as I could and sat up.

My vision turned an even deeper red as I felt a liquid fall down my eyes, nose and mouth. It was too thick and warm to be sweat, tears, snot or drool. Had I been bleeding from all orifices? Was this really that bad?

I looked around, managing to recognise Jor, Koko-sensei and the guard around me. I tried speaking but only coughed up more blood as a result.

"Lilia-sama, just...what happened?" Jor asked in my head.

"I don't know. Either way, I'm glad I managed to not fall down in front of this."

Koko-sensei and the guard were rushing for some reason. I hadn't listened so I didn't know what they yelled at one another. I just let them do as they wished, laying down on my back to rest while waiting for them.

"Lilia-sama," Jor said after a short moment of silence. "I believe both Fenrir and Cassandra are on their way here."

"Oh yeah, I haven't seen Cassandra today. So she went to see Fenrir."

Eventually, the two behemoths landed nearby. I felt weirdly sensitive to their magic, clearly feeling it and recognising it. My first thought was that it reminded me of Alice, who would have such sensitivity, making me sad that she disappeared.

"Lilia-chan, what happened to you?" Cassandra asked.

I coughed again trying to speak, but pushed myself to actually talk.

"I don't know, but it sure hurt as hell!"

"What happened to your magic?" Fenrir asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Previously, you had limited and...somewhat incomplete magic. As if you were sealed away. Now, it feels much more complete. It is much more like the previous Jotunheim's magic."

"Well," I replied after the initial shock of what he mentioned, "I wish I could know myself. Whatever just happened really hurt."

"...May I see your wings?" he asked after a short silence.

"I don't think she is allowed to show her wings publicly," Cassandra mentioned.

"I care not for her restrictions. Show me your wings."

"You see, I'd have to undress, which I can't do, and I can barely move right now anyways. My body isn't responding to me."

"May I ask why you wish to see her wings so desperately, dear Fenrir?" Jor asked.

"Ultimately, she is still a dragon. A dragon's internal magicules all flow through their wings, making it the center of their magic circuits. Yet something about them feels off, as if they suddenly became many times more dense, yet similarly uncontrolled."