Eibon had fought an angel or two in his time. He didn’t like doing it. They were awful creatures that defied all logic. They did awful things to his nerves and when you killed them they tried to destroy your mind or something equally terrible. Still he was luckier than most people, it wasn’t a perfect defense but being dead really helped protect his mind’s integrity. He was essentially using his own corpse as a puppet, his ego and soul safely contained with magic so it provided him a bit of distance from the angel’s attack.
Still he did find himself in a strange place that he was quite sure wasn’t real. It was an instinct you developed when you found yourself in quasi-reality too often. He was in the ruin again, or something like it. Stone masonry lined the dark room, as water slowly trickled into it from the ceiling. One side of the room was flooded and it looked like his side would soon follow. Looking around he saw two hallways. Eibon was the type of person who rolled with the punches so just as easily as he had decided this wasn’t real, he had decided to walk through one of the halls.
He followed the long winding hall, dimly lit with alchemical lights built into the side of the walls, contrasting the ancient architecture with modern convenience. The lights were barely bright enough to not trip, but still he managed to find his way to the end of it where he found a crimson red door. He opened it quickly, ready for anything. Inside were two girls standing near a dimly lit table, red upholstered chairs in a matching wood stood nearby. Both the girls were familiar in different ways. One stood taller, older, than the other. Long platinum hair cascaded down her face, covering one eye, and reaching her back. She wore a long red gown, that sparkled ever so slightly in the light. Most notably, she had a set of horns growing off the sides of her head.
The younger girl was both less and more familiar, she stood shorter with dark brunette hair, and she hadn’t grown into all of her features yet, and physically she looked less like the Cece he knew, but in some ways she looked more like her than the daemonic woman in front of him
“Am I interrupting?” He asked with a hint of amusement as both women turned their heads to him. The daemonic woman gave a bit of a grin while the younger girl merely looked to her.
“A bit, but that’s alright. Cece this is Eibon, he’s a friend.” The horned woman said, while turning back to her.
“I see, hello Eibon my name is Cecilia Silva, it’s nice to meet you.” The girl said politely while giving a curtsy.
“It’s good to meet you Cecelia.” Eibon said plastering a smile over what he actually wanted to say, in case the situation needed to be handled delicately.
“It’s okay Eibon she knows she’s me.” Cece said with a sigh and a look of exasperation. Immediately Eibon’s façade fell.
“Cece, you used to be so cute! What happened!?” Eibon exclaimed. Cece wordlessly flicked him in the forehead. “Ow! Okay I deserved that.”
“I wasn’t expecting to see you here, this is only the second time I’ve killed an angel so I don’t know what’s typical.” The older Cece ignored his previous words.
“It varies depending on the angel, so this isn’t too unusual, not that I make a habit of fighting the things. I can’t say I’ve ever been in this kind of situation before though, usually I just wake up missing a few memories.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“Really? This is the second time I’ve been in this space.” She said gesturing to the archive around her. “Although it’s quite a bit different this time around.”
“How so?” Eibon asked.
“I remember more this time.” The younger Cece said solemnly. The older one flashed something that looked like pity towards the girl. It was true that this time she managed to preserve her more important memories this time around. She wasn’t exactly sure why, but it wasn’t exactly the most pressing matter. She felt bad for her younger self since her most important memories were overwhelmingly awful, but it made her a far more cooperative and efficient partner, so in the end she was grateful.
“How much did you remember last time?”
“Nothing.”
“Your boons didn’t protect any of your memories?”
“What do you think this place is?” The daemonic Cece interrupted, a sly smile on her face. Eibon looked around. He had ignored the majority of his surroundings due to the peculiarity of the situation, but upon examining it he saw that the shelves that he had so easily dismissed seemed to trail off forever. It reminded him far too much of Knowledge’s library, causing him to remember just how strange his new friend was.
“I see, then how does she get her memories back?”
“She just has to read, speaking of which, here’s the next one Cece.” The older Cece said to the younger, handing her a book.
“Thanks.” She said simply and grabbed the book. Eibon felt his heartstrings tug a little in sympathy for the poor girl. He didn’t know what she had read previously, but it couldn’t have been good. She began reading and suddenly Eibon was not where he was. He was in a beautifully furnished study, with dark blue walls.
“No I refuse, we won’t stop the treatments.” The younger Cece screamed.
Eibon immediately realized what was happening, but was powerless to leave the memory. Perhaps if he had been a mercury mage and had more control over the workings of the mind, but unfortunately he was but a simple necromancer.
“Cecelia, see reason. They aren’t working, you’re never going to be a mage, you’re just hurting yourself.” Her father said sternly.
Eibon didn’t know how he knew he was her father, but he just did. Just like he knew how upset she was right now. He waved towards the people in the room with him, but they predictably didn’t react. He was just a fly on the wall.
“It’s simply not working Cece. I’m so sorry we made you do this, but it’s time to stop.” Said her Uncle Cornelius, with a pained expression.
“Then kill me.” Cece said with a vicious glare. Both men stopped to stare at her.
“Pardon?” Said her father as her uncle’s face turned to shock.
“Silva has no need for a mundane, kill me. Come on, there’s no reason not to right?”
“You’re my daughter Cecelia, I’m not going to kill you.”
“Cece please, we’re your family we don’t want to see you like this.”
Cece glared teary eyed at the men in front of her, men who had hurt her in the name of family and now wanted to prevent her from doing the same to herself. She simply turned and walked away. She didn’t need them anyway. She would figure it all out on her own.
She charged into their medical office, the doctor was out, but that was what she wanted. She rifled through the cabinets until she found what she was looking for. She had seen the compounds being mixed hundreds of times before, she knew the procedure like the back of her hand. They varied of course depending on the test, but she was familiar enough with the process to continue it. She mixed the silver solution with the powdered horns of the lunargent rabbit and drew the solution into a syringe. She sat down in the patient’s chair, wrapped an elastic around her arm and started the silver recording tool that her family loved oh so much.
“Beginning trial infusion #356, patient is showing new willingness to proceed further!” She said with a savage grin before injecting the syringe into the vein in her left arm and pressing down on the plunger. She quickly grabbed a nearby rag and stuffed it into her mouth before the screaming began.