Re;Blade

Chapter 8 - Back

Before she opened her eyes, Tetsuko felt as if her insides were being ripped apart.

If she still had a mouth, she would have screamed in pain.

But as soon as the sensation came unbearable, it was gone.

Panting, she tried to control her breathing.

Wait... breathing...? How can I, a sword breath...?

But slowly she breathed deeper, feeling the air filling her lungs.

She smiled and couldn't help but laugh.

To her surprise, she heard a voice. Her own voice.

That made her laugh even louder, the sound too nostalgic to her ears.

I thought I could never hear my voice ever again, she thought, feeling the cold air in her nostrils.

It feels as if I haven't done this in so long...

After she grew bored of that, Tetsuko tried to open her eyes.

Again, to her surprise, she had eyes. And they opened.

The last vision she remembered had changed.

The cart was gone, and the darkening and starry sky replaced by a dark wooden ceiling.

Where am I...?

Was I sold already while I was sleeping?

She tried looking around, but her head was too heavy to turn.

Heavy...? Me...?

And then she noticed. She could feel.

She had her sense of touch.

Tetsuko could feel something hard and cold against the tip of her fingers, against her back.

With a strange feeling, she raised her left arm and realized she had a hand to raise.

She stared at it, feeling a cold punch in her gut as she turned the maned member around.

Without any reaction, she lowered the hand with only two fingers left.

That's my hand from my body... this is my body... my old body, Tetsuko told herself, trying to believe it herself.

I'm back to my own world, she reached the conclusion.

Once her mind had accepted that, she again looked around, not recognizing the place.

If I'm not a sword anymore, then where am I?

That's what I'd like to know, another voice echoed.

If Tetsuko could, she would have turned around to find that voice, but she had no strength left in the now strange and heavy body.

Calm down, there's no need to panic, the other voice said again.

Then Tetsuko realized she couldn't hear the voice with her old ears.

The voice was coming from inside her own mind.

Who are you? Tetsuko asked.

Lia is my name.

Lia...? Tetsuko couldn't forget the name. You're Fael's soul pair.

The blacksmith felt the other woman stirring inside her head.

You know him? You know Fael?

Yes, Tetsuko spoke in her heart with proud. For a brief while, he was my wielder