I awoke once again in that dark place. An endless void of darkness with small lights scattered around, floating in place like fireflies that were just bright enough to see. I found myself lying on my side. I propped myself up and stood. The ground felt cold like stone, but it was perfectly smooth and as black as the surrounding abyss. As I stood up, I looked down at my hands. Both of them were in the right place. So what was that just before? A dream? A hallucination? I see wrath when nobody else can, so it's possible, right?
Rather than just sitting in place like I had done the last few times, I found myself in this place, so I decided to walk. As I wandered ahead, there was almost no change. I noticed the faint lights moved as I did. They were things that were floating in space. By moving, I found that some were a lot closer than others.
This place was strange. It felt almost like a dream, but it wasn't. If I had to guess, this was inside my own head. Where wrath resided. And if I'm in here, that means he's out there, in my body. What was happening out there? Is Josephine and Yuma okay? Had I killed them? The only other times I've been in this place resulted in someone dying.
Perhaps soon, before I wake, I'll hear voices again. As I walked, I noticed one of the lights was closer than the rest and was getting closer. I was walking right towards it, so I reached out and touched it.
"Mér þykir þú nokkuð fríðr"
I heard Kona's voice echoing from all around. I spun around trying to find the source of the sound. I realised it was that light, I reached out and touched it again.
"Mér þykir þú nokkuð fríðr"
The voice repeated. I feel like I've heard this before. This was a memory. I looked at the lights that hung overhead and stretched my hand up I couldn't reach them. They were too far. As I held my hand out and looked at one light I wanted to touch, I noticed it was floating closer to me. It floated closer and into my hand.
"You're lucky I can't do it. As much as I really want to. I just fucking can't"
That was my mother's voice? When was that? When I was a baby? Why was she crying?
As I reached up towards another light, I heard the voice of Nigel.
"What the hell happened? Whose arm is that?"
It sounded more real; there was less of an echo. Was that a memory? Or was that what was happening now? I don't care, I want to know what my mother meant, I have to reach that light.
I opened my eyes, looking at the roof of my tent. I saw blurred figures moving around in the tent. One was larger, another was shorter. Then another figure entered, this one was much taller. The tallest of the three rushed past the other two and towards me. As she got closer, it was clear it was Kona, the other two were Nigel and Josephine, who also rushed over. My vision cleared, and I could see properly as I sat up in bed.
Kona had her arm around my back as she squatted next to me. Nigel stood next to her, and Josephine stood a few steps back from the foot of the bed. She looks afraid.
"What the hell happened? Is Yuma alive?"
"Yes, Yuma is alive. In fact, he and Josie were afraid you were going to die, but."
Nigel pointed towards my lower body. Confused, I pulled the bedsheets aside. I was clothed, but my shirt was stained with dried blood. Both my arms were intact, and my legs felt fine. I looked up at Nigel, confused.
Josephine turned around and, from the table, picked up a severed human arm. Holding it out towards me.
"This is his arm! It's got cut clean off! Yuma said the same thing!"
Kona stood up and moved towards Josephine aggressively.
"He clearly has two arms on his body, that's not his."
"LOOK! The freckles, the moles, they're all in the exact same spots. The skin tone is the same, everything is the exact same!"
Nigel turned to Josephine as she ranted.
"I'm not fucking crazy. I know what I saw. His arm grew back. Fucking GREW. That's not natural, that's not fucking human."
She dropped the severed arm back on the table and ran out of the tent. Kona and Nigel looked back at me as I looked down at my right arm. Running my fingers across it.
Kona squatted back down next to her, her face hovering near mine as she caught my gaze. She reached up and placed a hand on my cheek. I looked at her and simply said what I had to.
"She's right."
Both of them froze in place, Kona's hand retracted slowly, Nigel's arms unfolded as he leaned forward.
"I remember, it was cut off. My left hand as well had broken fingers. The same thing happened on the night ship. But… I… regrew my arm?"
"I don't care."
Kona blurted out as she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around me.
Nigel stepped forward and sat down next to Kona on my bed.
"I guess that means you're immortal? Josephine is right, then, wherever this is isn't natural. As soon as she came back after debriefing, she went to the chaplain. He called for an investigation by the church. Sorry to say, you won't be going anywhere for a while."
Kona moved back from the hug and turned her head to face Nigel.
"Investigation? What kind of investigation?"
"I don't know. I don't like it either, but we need to understand what happened."
Nigel moved towards the table that held the severed arm. He reached out and picked it up, turning back towards me.
"First, I want to see if they are the same."
Nigel walked towards me. Kona's hand was sitting atop my leg. I felt her hand get tighter. She had an angry look in her eye, like she was about to hit Nigel. As Nigel placed the arm on the bed next to me, I moved my right arm to match the position of the severed one. Both looked completely identical in every way. They were both the same arm.
"It looks like a match to me."
"I don't buy it!"
Kona blurted out. I placed my hand on her shoulder.
"I know this is all really weird. I'm a bit surprised by this myself."
"Not nearly as surprised as us, though. That's kind of strange, also your unparalleled strength when you're close to dying. It seems that when you are near death, strange things happen. Is there any other strange thing you could tell us?"
I thought for a moment about blurting out the truth, but I know Wrath would stop me from revealing his existence. I understand why it would cause problems for both of us. But these were two I trusted, maybe I could at least try to say it.
"There's a demon in my head."
I tensed up, and my eyes shot open wide. Shocked that I was able to say that.
"What the fuck? He didn't stop me."
I mumbled to myself. Kona leaned in, looking concerned.
"Who didn't stop you?"
I leaned back in the bed. I felt my muscles relax like I had just taken off some wet clothes that were far too heavy. It felt like I could breathe.
"My crime, we found a cave there was something in it. It possessed me and killed the other, and I was stuck with the consequence. His name is Wrath. I think he can hear and see everything I can at all times. He can also control my body a bit, like making me not say something. On the night ship, actually, the captain. I think he moved my arm to kill him. I didn't even notice what happened until he was dead. He also wiped out the Saltfort, not me. He just needs my body to stay alive."
"Are you serious? Like you're not fucking with us right now? Everything you just said was the truth?"
Nigel stepped closer as I spoke, seeming to believe the story halfway through.
"It's the truth."
"And you said his name was Wrath? Like the seven sins, wrath?"
"Yes."
Nigel suddenly let out a single loud laugh and clapped his hands. Turning around and pacing on the spot. Kona looked at me like I was deathly ill and she was concerned, but I wasn't. In fact, I was the opposite right now. I looked back at Nigel, who stopped pacing and moved towards me.
"Okay, so you found a demon in a cave, right? Like an actual, real demon. A sin. I thought they might exist. A few thousand years ago, they were a myth that got forgotten, but you're saying it's real?"
"Okay, so what if it is real? The church is coming; if they find a demon, they'll try to kill him. No?"
"Maybe not. After all, we're at war."
"I don't want to be a weapon."
The two who were arguing stopped and turned to me.
"I don't want to be seen as a rabid dog on a leash that's set upon Vilta's enemies. Even if I were forced to do it, what would happen at the end of the war? I would be disposed if. If that's what's in store for me, I would rather kill myself now."
As I spoke, I felt a tightness in the throat, a twitch in my eye. It felt like Wrath was trying to stop me, but couldn't. Of course, he would want that
Kona knelt down beside me again, putting her hand on my shoulder.
"How about this, if the church finds there really is a demon in your head. We bust you out."
Both Kona and I whipped our heads towards Nigel after he made his preposterous statement.
"I'm in."
Kona said while looking up at Nigel with a determined look in her eyes.
"We just need to wait for the church officials to test you for demonic influence. I would rather we do it ourselves, but the ritual is a closely guarded secret. So in the meantime, you'll have to stay in camp until they arrive. It should only take a week or two."
I nodded, and Nigel left. Kona stayed by my side. I was kind of worried that she would ask me a hundred different questions that I couldn't answer. But instead, she held my head with both hands and kissed me deeply. She pulled her head back, looked me in the eyes and said.
"I don't care what you are. I love you."
I can't explain it, but I started to cry when she said that. I'm happy but not happy enough to cry. I also felt sadness when she said those words. It was something I didn't understand.