The Fragile the Broken and the Brave

61. Rebirth

11.22.20

Benji's POV

His warmth caressed my body, and I allowed my mind to slow itself down from all of the insane thoughts flying throughout my head. Mikey still loves me even though I remain magicless; for some reason I find that to be one of the most important thing in my mind. I just want to live a long life with him, and I guess some of my fear was that he would hate me now that I wasn't the usual. I don't know if I could live that way; there's no way I ever could.

"I love you Benji," his voice declared distantly, and I realized that I had sunken much more into sleep than I originally thought so. I drifted off soon after he stated the words, and of course my dreams weren't peaceful at all. Can my brain just stop putting me into life and death situations please? I want at least one good night's sleep. This time I was surrounded by what looked like Minecraft VR except a lot less blocky. "Come on Quotinos, we need to get out of here. Ferindous just removed the support, this place is about to blow."

My confusion couldn't last any more as the ground began to shake, and a sigh slid past my lips. Is it weird to say that I'm tired of almost dying? No? Okay good. I started to run out of the shaft, but my dumbass legs collapsed under me. This is so not the time! The noises of the rocks crashing to the ground close behind me made my panic grow more and more, and I began to army crawl across the stone while waiting for my legs to work. I could feel the skin on my forearms and stomach beginning to tear up, but I had to keep going. After all of the pain I've felt after these dreams are over, I get the feeling that they aren't truly dreams. I think that if I die in one of these, I would pass in real life and that is the last thing in the world that I want to happen.

As soon as the muscles were able to be used once more, I stood up and sprinted out of the collapsing cave. The smell of coal dust and explosive devices passed all around me, and I felt like I was going to puke from the noxious scent. The haze of the air almost had me run straight into a wall of already fallen stones, and I started to panic. My eyes scanned the shaft for any other way out, and I was lucky enough to have an explosive nearby. While I don't like the idea, it's all that I have left. I set the dynamite near the collapsed rocks before standing back, and the sparks from the ceiling lit the fuse in front of my eyes. The explosion rocked the ceiling more than it could handle, and quite a few stones rained down on my head. However, the fallen section had been cleared, and I sprinted through the gap despite the scratches and burn mark on my arm. 

I got to the end of the stone passage with only a few seconds to spare, and I watched as the rest of the tunnel fell in my wake. I had fallen on a bit of the exposed rail, and I think that I had knocked my kneecap out of place a little bit but at least I survived. After all, that was my only goal. 

I was jarred awake with a harsh shake of my shoulders, and I jerked myself up right into Mikey's chest. His embrace warmed me, and I allowed my body to relax into him. The waking up experience is definitely much better in his arms, and I felt him beginning to bandage up the few bleeding scratches I had on my skin. "What happened to you?" he probed softly, and I felt no reason not to tell him of what I've been experiencing for the past few nights. 

"Well I've been almost killed in my sleep three times now."

"What do you mean? Benji why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I didn't want to burden anyone with knowledge that I'm already barely able to walk but am now experiencing near death every night when I close my eyes. I don't understand why, okay? There must be something seriously masochistic with my brain or something-"

"Benji, whatever this is I'm sure it's nothing too extreme. You don't seem to be too injured."

"I know I'm not but I'm so exhausted and suffering because I haven't been able to get a single good night's rest this entire time and it's taking a toll on my ability to heal. I just want to heal so I can get back to life and learning how to get my magic back!"

"Benji I'm sure that this has something important in your life. Your brain wouldn't just try to injure you without any purpose."

"I don't know what it could possibly mean for me."

"I feel like we're going to find out soon enough. I managed to get the headmaster to allow me to bring you to all of my classes today so that you don't get lonely all alone in here. You're welcome to try whatever you want to try but please don't push yourself too hard. I don't want to lose you."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Do you want to walk to breakfast yourself?"

"I would really like that," I breathed into him, and I was reminded exactly why I love him. Everyone back at the mansion was trying to keep my spirit suppressed under layers of protection, he wanted me to feel like a real person again. It's all that I've ever wanted from my stupid body since the day I was released from the medical ward. I put on my school uniform like everyone else would be doing at this time with a little bit of assistance from Mikey before stumbling into the hallway to get to breakfast, and the first thing I noticed was that the school still had all of the livelihood it had before the demon attack. The pack's mansion had lost much of the magic it had before, and the air in there was tenser than it been before. It had been like the entire place was about to bust into a flame war at any given second. 

Breakfast ran as smoothly as it possibly could, and I kind of felt as if I was on a pedestal of the people in attendance. Everyone in the school remembers how I had defeated the leader of the demons in one fell swoop, and it had even begun to spread farther than just the school. Just as I gained the respect of a lot of the people I would soon lead, my magic disappeared. How lovely the timing in my life is.

However, as I was walking to class with Mikey, I felt something I had given up hope of ever feeling again. The static came very suddenly, and I didn't even get the opportunity to mention it before the red electricity tore from my body and surrounded us in a sort of orb. Mikey's eyes widened up just like mine, and he hugged me tightly as the power drifted back into the atmosphere. I have it!