Mori slowly woke up to the dungeon ceiling.
His head felt incredibly heavy, just opening his eyes made him feel dizzy.
His whole body was like a rock.
He blinked a few times and moved his stiff neck to look down.
Really?
He laid his head against the cold stone again, closing his eyes.
Aura was sleeping on top of him, her body heavily pressing against his.
She slowly moved, repositioning herself.
As if she had felt something, she suddenly spoke up.
"Mori?"
He opened his eyes again; the dizziness wasn't gone, but the ceiling was, replaced with her face inches from his.
She hadn't changed much, but he expected as much from a vampire.
No. She did change.
Her eyes were now of a deep and dark purple.
He tried talking, but his throat couldn't produce any words, only letting out a growl.
She quickly got off him, stepping onto the cold floor next to his sacrificial bed.
"Are you okay?" she asked, holding his cheek, then the side of his neck.
He tried to move his arm, but it barely moved more than an inch.
"Probably because of how long it's been," she said.
She raised her hand, and her short nails grew a few centimeters.
She's still wearing the ring.
She grimaced, extending her tongue out, and proceeding to quickly cut it clean in half, the tip falling on the floor.
He watched from the corner of his eyes as she approached, blood heavily flowing out.
She held his face between her hands as she pressed her soft purple lips against his, forcing her tongue inside his mouth.
He could feel the warm liquid flow down his mouth, and as it did, he started feeling his own blood flowing through his veins, from his heart to the tip of his finger.
It felt as if he was a desert suddenly hit with a downpour.
It wasn't just delicious; it was intoxicating.
He tightly grabbed her hair, his grip firmly holding her there, pressing her lips harder against his as he started sucking the blood out of her tongue.
His other hand grabbed her back, his fingers applying pressure as he tightly pulled her body against his.
After a good minute, he slowly stopped sucking, yet she didn't try to break away.
He let go of her and pushed her away.
"Enough."
She took a step back, closed her eyes for a few seconds while frowning, and opened them again.
She pulled her tongue out of her mouth, inspecting it. It was back to normal.
Mori rested his head against the stone surface before Aura loudly gasped.
"Your... Your chest..."
Mori looked down, the gaping holes he had across his chest had black arms reaching out of it, grabbing at the surface around.
They had eldritch features; the arms had multiple joints and bent in ways that weren't human.
The number of fingers itself seemed to be chosen at random, if it had any. Some of these arms resembled tentacles more than anything else.
"Ah, they're just excited to be back."
He sat upright and looked at them while muttering.
They slowly retracted, going back inside.
Aura still displayed shock as she stepped forward and handed him a new shirt.
He took it and quickly put it on.
"Have you been down here the whole time?" he asked.
"No, only the past year."
He frowned. "How long was I gone?" he asked while getting up.
"It's been four years."
He stopped moving, his gaze momentarily absent.
He raised his hand and threw it forward, barely stopping it in time before slapping her across the face.
His visage twitched, he looked down at the floor and then at his hand next to her face, grabbing it with his other.
"Why didn't you try to dodge?"
"If you wish to hurt me..."
"Ah! No matter!" he yelled, furiously turning around.
He punched the stone surface, causing his hand to bleed.
"You will do as I say," he said, looking down. "No. I am in charge. Without me you're NOTHING."
"Mori-"
He quickly turned around and punched her, her body hitting the wall meters away.
"AH! You made me do it... Ah... Look at what you made me do... Look..."
He turned around again and started pacing around the room.
Aura was on the ground, she touched her cheek with slight disbelief before getting up again.
"Mori," she said.
"WHAT?!"
"What happened?"
His eyes darted around the room but ended on her. He started pacing faster.
"If you continue... I'll have no choice."
"What choice?"
"NOT YOU! Fuck! Isn't she annoying? YOU WANTED THIS. Okay. This is what you want? Alright."
As he was pacing in circles, things were trying to escape his body. They were getting out of his torso, one arm even grabbed his throat.
Aura took a step toward him, but he quickly stopped her.
"STAY AWAY. Against the wall."
She took a few steps back, her back now against the wall.
Mori took a few steps toward her, prompting her to close her eyes, but he quickly turned away again.
"You're forcing my hand..."
She was holding her hands tightly together.
A loud noise made her jump and shriek.
She opened her eyes to dozens of chains going through his torso and piercing the walls on the other sides;
"Mori!"
"You asked for this," he said between groans.
The chains were fairly small. They slowly detached from the walls, then wrapped around his arms and torso like he was wearing a straitjacket.
It even went up to his neck, making a turn around it.
The chains tightly held everything together, the unused extremities of it brushing against the floor.
His upper body was fully bound.
He turned around, his eyes glowing purple as he stared at her.
"You're safe," he said, breathing heavily, "For now, at least."
"You're finally back," she said.
"You're acting weird."
"A lot happened."
He turned toward the entrance.
Griswald was standing there, looking at the both of them.
"You freed him?"
"I had to," she replied.
"So, you want revenge, now?" asked Mori, turning toward him.
He stepped forward; the chains clinking against each other on the ground.
"He can't talk," said aura.
Ah, yeah. That was the last order I gave him.
Before he started walking toward the exit, he opened his profile.
[Memento Mori] [Level 1]
[Class: Cursed Sovereign]
[Cursed Path: Fateweaver 1879892/2,216,838]
[Health points: 5/5]
[Cursed Energy: 1476892/1477892]
[Magic: 10]
[Strength: 3]
[Defense: 2]
[Agility: 1]