Awakening

Part 14

Chapter 14: A New Life

"I need to re-integrate into society... and not piss anything or anyone off in the process." I muttered to myself, as I walked back towards the husk of my old house, catching glares from neighbors. I began to notice the intricacies of the surrounding species. Barely anyone was truly human. There was almost always some mixed blood within the family tree.

A low growl sounded behind me; an unfamiliar one. I sighed and kept walking, finally coming to complete terms with my final death. No resurrecting. The cold embrace of the dirt around me as I'm buried. The creature hit me in the back and snarled.

"If you're going to kill me, look me in the eyes." I said, not fighting back.

The creature flipped me with a claw, and I felt my flesh ripped to the bone. 3 large snapping maws were all I could see.

"Well, hi there Cerberus." I said, my wings unfurling out of habit. The middle jaw opened wide, and then a roar echoed through the streets. Cerberus paused and sniffed the air, before getting bowled over by a yellow streak. A loud boom resonated overhead and a flash of orangish white light blinded and disoriented me. As I came back to my senses, Leo was aggressively pulling me away from something. Something dark black and crimson red... blood.

"W-What the hell, Leo?" I asked, looking at my hands. "C-claws? Why're my hands red?"

Leo let out a deep growl and dropped my shirt, torn and bloody. My skin, now covered in dark bruises and deep claw marks, seemed to be thicker, almost armored.

"What happened there?" Leo growled, looking me up and down.

"I-I don't know. A loud bang and bright light is all I remember... and Cerberus."

"I knocked him over, and you just lost it. You stood up and shredded him, by the time I got you off him, there was nothing left... of him or you."

"What do you mean?" I asked, becoming woozy.

"You wouldn't respond to your name, you just kept swinging and ripping. You're eyes were black and red. You seemed to have lost everything. Why are you topside, anyway?"

"I... I lost everything."

"Oh..."

"Yea- I- I don't feel too-" I said, before my vision went dark. I heard muffled footsteps and a scared roar.

I found myself running through a hall, doors either side of me. My head pounding, I sat down next to a door and panted heavily. The door swung open and I fell backwards into the abyss of my memories. My mother's glaring face as she scolded me for breaking something trivial, I believe a plate. My brother's hearty laugh as I told raunchy jokes and played video games with him. And my father, a mountain of a man, picking me up with the delicacy of a flower and speaking to me. The words didn't reach my ears as I fell through the floor, back into the hallway.

"You couldn't save them either, yet you keep fighting." Crimson's voice taunted.

"Axel's hurt?" A mysterious voice echoed.

"Oh look, another person for you to let down or get killed." Crimson's voice taunted, jarringly loud compared to the soft femine echo of the mysterious voice.

"SHUT UP!" I yelled into the empty void of my mind, the sound echoing once before being cut off by brain pounding laughter.

"And here's the Axel that killed me!" Crimson's voice was now manic, almost like he'd lost the shreds of his mind.

"Here... he... give him... feel better." The voice came in and out of my mind, sounding more scared by the second.

"Ya know, maybe I should've-" Crimson's voice suddenly cut off with a loud gargling noise. Even though I wasn't physically there, the stench of blood floated about. The hall went dark, then became a dim white.