THAT DAY I BECAME A STAR

"Ugh…"

When I wake up, I can't see anything. Where the fuck am I? What happened? Anriette!! I think it was her. But why…

"You are finally up." Suddenly, a voice resounds in front of me. That voice, I could swear I know it.

"Hm!!" I try to speak but my mouth seems to be restricted.

That person removes whatever they have placed on my eyes and mouth and then, I see two people standing. We are inside a sort of cave, dark as it can be, with only three lighted candles on the wall. The light is so dim I can barely see the faces of the first person who is wearing a hood. Only Anriette is clearly visible.

"So, I wasn't mistaken. Anriette, where have you-" Before I can continue, I receive a knife in my leg. She threw it like a trained warrior.

I don't mind the knife but her arm…I see her arm now that she has raised it outside her coat and it doesn't look like a human's arm at all. There is a sort of curved blade on her forearm and that color, what kind of brown... What in hell?!

"What happened to you? What's with that-" This time, she throws another one at my lung. The knife buries itself between my ribs and I immediately have difficulties to breathe.

"Hey, come on, we don't want to kill him yet."

The other hooded person, a female it seems from the curves hidden under the coat, holds Anriette's hand then walks to me and removes the knife. For a moment, I get a glimpse of her hair. That shade of black. I have seen it before. I know I have but it's like my brain refuses to remember when it was.

"Uagh!!"

Suddenly, I feel pain coming from the place the woman removes the knife. Looking at it, that woman is somehow closing the wound with her finger and it hurts like hell. But how? Not only that, there is an acrid smell that fills my nose as she does.

"It hurts, right? I was wondering if the effect would be different for you but it seems our research paid off quite a lot. Thankfully, we had the perfect subject to test it on."

What the fuck is this woman talking about? She removes her finger and goes away but the pain doesn't leave. It's like somebody has put hot charcoal on me.

"I can do as I please now, right?" Anriette grabs the woman's shoulder with so much force her hood falls down, allowing me to see her hair completely. Though that's the only thing I can see now.

"Well, aren't you an impatient fellow. You can at least wait until I bring the priest to heal him, right?"

"I…I will."

"Good."

The woman leaves in the dark and then Anriette walks to me. I think it is time to bring an end to this. I don't know what happened to you but I am not in the mood to play around.

I try to unleash my aura but nothing happens. What in hell?!! No, it doesn't matter. I still have the most important one. I try to do the same with my draconic energy but nothing as well. How?!! What is happening?!

"Cissa!! What is happening?!"

"…"

"Cissa?!"

"You look surprised. You can't use your power, right?"

Anriette plants one of her claws in my thigh and once again, I feel pain. an immense amount of it.

"Ugh!!!"

"Yeah, don't worry. I won't kill you. Not yet at least. There are some things that I want to hear from you first."

"Hm!!" She digs the wound around with her claw and I feel like fainting. I try my best to move and break it but to no avail. 

"No, no, no. You don't get to remove it yet. I want to torture you just like this. at least for a couple of days." She then removes her claw and licks my blood. "And I am sure we will both enjoy it." That smile…Such an evil and dark smile. What happened to you, Anriette?

***

"UGHHH!!!"

This really freaking hurts! Each time Anriette slices or pierces me with her claws, the pain runs through my body like electricity. Is this how pain should feel?!

"M-madam, I think I should heal him."

Earlier, the hooded woman brought a priest who is chained like an animal and even had trouble walking. He also has wounds on his face. I guess he must have received a similar treatment.

"Fuuu…Already. I think he can still take a bit more."

"It's just that it would be difficult for me to heal him properly if you go further than that."

"Fufufu. I see. We wouldn't want that, right?"

Anriette approaches her face to mine and smiles, revealing dark-colored teeth that completely contrast with her unchanged face. Still, I can't let this opportunity passes, I headbutt her with everything I can give and hear a cracking sound.

She staggers a bit while backing away, then puts her hand on her nose.

"Ahah…Ahaha!! Of course, you wouldn't be broken for something like this." She looks at me and I see black blood leaking from her broken nose. Seriously what happened to you.

She glares furiously at the priest and he immediately comes to me.

"I am sorry. I just don't want to die." I know, man. You don't have to explain it to me. Though, I will probably kill you once I am free.

The guy extends his hands but nothing happened.

"M-madam, please deactivate the restrictions."

"Ah, yeah."

Anriette goes to the wall and presses something there that I can't see. Then somehow, my Angas is back. How is that…No, I don't have the time to think about this. I should try to escape now.

I release my aura then move my arm but it doesn't even flinch. What have they bound me with?

"Oh, come on. You really thought you could break those so easily. Try harder."

Mocking me, Anriette motivates me to break the chains restraining me with a smile that really distorts her face. Still, it's not like I have any other choices, I try even harder and once again, call forth my draconic power but there is nothing coming from this side.

For the five minutes or so the priest has been healing me, I have tried my best to break any of the chains restricting me but to no avail. The most irritating is Anriette laughing her stomach out like a bitch.

"Okay, now. Let us start back."

"Madam, I would need a bit of time to recover."

"I don't care. If you become useless, I will kill you."

"B-but-"

"Or maybe I can just kill you right now. I mean, we can find tons of priests out there after all."

"I-I am a high priest, you know. I don't think-"

"Right." And just like that, she slices off the priest's head with her claw. His blood covers the whole place, we included.

"Hm! Hm! Hm!"

"What is so funny?!" She pierces my shoulder completely with her claw then stirs it by moving her claw around inside the wound.

"Hm!!!!!!"

"You dare to laugh after all the suffering and deaths you have caused!! After killing my parents!! After killing everyone from Nargil!!"

She pulls out her claw then punches through the wound she just made and removes her hand, covered in my blood.

So, this what it is all about. She has learned about what I did. In the end, the truth came back as I feared. Because I was too much of a coward to tell you the truth. The way you are right now is therefore my fault.

"Don't look at me like that!"

Anriette grabs my face and starts punching me. she goes so hard at it I barely have the time to feel pain.

"Ahahah!! Yeah, this is how you should be looking!! Like the miserable piece of trash you are!!"

She punches me for at least three minutes straight. When she stops, I can't see anything anymore. I have a hard time breathing as well and all I can taste in my mouth is blood.

"My, oh my. Of course, you had to go crazy. You really can't control yourself when it comes to your lover."

"He is not my lover!!!"

It seems the other woman is back.

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I…Wait, you have killed the priest as well?"

"Yes, he was useless. Bring another one."

"Hey, they aren't mushrooms that grow whenever you water them. Making a high priest disappear was enough trouble already."

"I don't care."

"You should. Because the next time you kill one, you will be the one to go and capture the next."

"If you don't bring another one, then this guy will just die."

"We both know you don't want him to die. So stop with the threats."

"Oh, you think so?"

Suddenly, I feel pain from my stomach. Not only does the pain not stop, it even increases as it goes upwards.

"Argh!!!!!!"

"Let's see how long he can survive with an open stomach then."

"Sigh…you freaking monster."

"I am not a monster!! Don't insult me!!"

"Right."

"How dare you call me a monster when he is here!! If I am really a monster, then this guy is a calamity!"

"Okay, okay. I get it."

The other woman is getting closer then just like that time with lung, I feel the same pain overlapping with the previous one.

"Ugh!!!"

"Yeah, I know. Young master. It hurts. But you should be used to it by now."

Young master?!!! No!! No way!! There is only one person that would call me that way!! With such a tone of voice!!