"Here." Birgin spoke, handing Tetsuno a small bottle containing a strange red-black liquid. "Drink this."
"What is it?" Tetsuno asked, observing the bottle. It didn't exactly look safe.
"It's Phoenix blood. The most expensive thing I own, one of them anyway. It will heal your wounds within the day."
Tetsuno grimaced as he leaned up in his bed. He took the liquid from Birgin and shook it a bit, then glanced at Birgin. "Are certain I can have this?"
"Yes. And don't worry, it's not poison. What reason would I have to kill you?" Birgin said.
"True. Fine, how long will it take to heal me exactly?"
"Give or take about ten hours."
Tetsuno sighed, irritated. He wanted to go already. He felt anxious. He also had a strange desire to fight, to swing his blade, to have the taste of blood in his mouth. It was strange. Ever since he met that demon... Azazel... he felt a strange sense of wrath coiling around inside him. He felt the need to kill, to spill blood...
"Well, I'll let you rest. And the armor was harder to repair than Shayna first thought, so she is still working on it. She said it would be done before you are recovered though." The old man turned and exited the room, closing the door behind him.
As soon as Birgin was gone, Tetsuno placed his fingers about the lid of the small glass. He then squeezed and twisted, and with a soft *pop* the lid came loose and he placed on the nightstand as he wearily looked into the liquid and smelt it. It didn't really smell like blood, it had a smell like burning wood or ash. Slowly, he placed the bottle against his lid and began to tip it back. The liquid that touched his lips had a strange, thick texture, as if it had a powder mixed into it. It really had no taste that he could detect. It was like drinking water with ash or dirt mixed into it. As the liquid went down his throat, a warm feeling began to spread through his body and his wounds, though they were not healed, had a numb, fuzzy feeling to them. He then became light headed and he lay back against his pillow, placing the bottle back onto the nightstand before the soft fabric swallowed him and he drifted into sleep.
•
•
•
In his dreams, an empty abyss, with no sound other than that of his own breathing to accompany him. He felt as though he were drifting in an ocean of blackness, sinking, and drowning. Then came the soft sound of something off in the distance.. what could it be, Tetsuno wondered?
*plip*
Water?
*plip*
Yeah, it must've been water.
*plip plip*
The sound grew louder and faster.
*plip plip plip*
It reminded Tetsuno of the sound of slowly pouring out a bottle of gin, one drop at a time at first, then it came out in a thin stream.
*plip plip plip*
What was it?
*plip plip plip*
The smell of blood then invaded his senses.
*Splish*
It now was the sound of liquid pouring out rapidly. And then another sound was added to the mix.. a voice..?
*CRA-ACK*
Tetsuno's eyes flashed open, but he was not really awake. He was still in a dream, and in that dream he hung, bleeding out, from a cross while a mountain of corpses lay below him, an ocean of blood slowly risking up to meet him. The echoes of hallowed screams of agony and misery were the only sound to meet his ears.
"Blood..." came a voice, a cold hiss like metal on stone. "Blood, blood, paint this land crimson.."
Tetsuno urged his body to move, to scream, to do anything, but it refused to respond.
"All this crimson.. it is from your blade.. is it not?" The voice spoke.
The screaming intensified tenfold while the red liquid rose up past his waist.
"You... Abeza Tetsuno..." the blood kept rising until it reached his chest, where it stopped. Then, from beneath it, something began to emerge, distorting the water's surface.
"Are a sinner..." the words came out like venom, sinking deep into Tetsuno's veins.
Then a figure enshrouded in chaotic black smoke rose from the blood, crimson dripping and falling from his figure as the demon rose, pearl white eyes piercing into Tetsuno's soul.
"You are my sinner.."
The screaming then intensified even more until it was like that of a hundred banshees crying in agony at once, rupturing Tetsuno's eardrums as black talons gripped his throat.