Fragments of Ash Vol. 3 (Urban Fantasy)

Chapter Three: Ada Reborn

Ada was completely naked, which made sense, you're not born with clothes on, however the runes she had painted in blood on her chest were now dyed into her skin. It was like a red tattoo. She had an awakening rune infused in her body.

"I'm... alive?" Ada said with a mix of glee and worry. She was smiling, but her eyes were showing signs of despair,

"Yes, your body reconstructed itself around one of the dolls after you painted that rune on your body." Said one of the priests. Ada recognised his voice, he was the person talking to her.

"Dolls? So this isn't my real body?" Ada examined herself, no, her skin was perfect, her figure was more shapely, and she could tell without even standing up that she was slightly taller,

"The figure you've adopted is based on how your soul perceives itself. Or, if we're to believe what you said, how your soul perceived itself. Your real body most likely now has the other fragments of your personality."

"Oh..." great, so Ada had a massive ego about her figure. Weird, she never even thought about her looks. Maybe the fact that her figure transformed meant something else. She wasn't sure. "So anyway, you were trying to kill me." Ada got off her alter "you'll need to apologise for that."

"N-now, please understand; you're emotionally unstable. Even if you were a real person, you're not a perfect representation of her. Your emotions are more extreme, and hence your magical abilities are unstable. Ridiculously strong. You'll need us to help you control it."

Ada could feel all mysterious ethereal energy coursing around her, she could feel it in her blood vessels, in her nerves, it was trembling all around her. And her chest area was burning with such hate and anger, it was begging to release any sort of violent, explosive spell. They were right, controlling this was going to be difficult.

"There's only one thing I need you clowns for, and that's clothes," said Ada, "I'm not letting you turn me into another one of your soulless Spell Fencers."

"If you leave us you won't have a choice," said the priest, "if past examples are anything to go by, your own personality will start to fade away after a couple of weeks. You'll forget everything."

"What? Why!?"

"To venture a guess, I'd say it's because this isn't your real body, it'd be like a form of rejection from the doll body. We underdo conditional therapy with our soldiers, we give them past lives, we make them think they're normal people. The Spell Fencers live happy lives thinking that they had a normal family life and that they joined the army out of their own free will."

Dolls? "That's disgusting."

"It's better than the alternative. Keeping them as emotionless dolls with nothing to fight for."

Ada was starting to get it, that nothing to fight for line was exactly what she needed to hear. "Blatant manipulation, giving people false reasons to fight for you."

"Well... in any case, we can use conditional therapy to keep your memories in this body. You don't have to worry about losing yourself. You don't have to worry about succumbing to an awakening."

"What did you say?" Ada had heard that term before, "what's an awakening?"

"That rune on your body. It's a copy of the runes the children of the moon are born with. Painting it on your body with some mysterious person's soul blood, whomever that might have been, seems to have infused the skill onto your new body when you were born."

"And what does it do?"

"...It gives you the option to push yourself to an ungodly limit of magical power. But I recommend against trying so. Most people who we've tried to artificially infuse with soul blood have ended up turning into disgusting creatures; the magic consumes them and turns them into-"

"-outlanders..." Ada interrupted. "That's what they are. Failed Spell Fencers, failed soldiers of awakening."

"Yes."

Ada frowned. That soul blood in her hallway of memories. It could only have been Eleanor's. Somehow Eleanor left a mark in Ada's soul. It must have been like a graduation gift to her or something. She couldn't wait to see what'd happen when she finally used her own awakening.

"S-so you won't kill us yes?"

"Just get me some clothes."

"V-very well." The priest motioned to the priestess, "Cerces! Take off those clothes!"

The woman took off her headscarf, she started to unravel her clothes; for a moment Ada was captivated by the woman's eyes, they were a shimmering green, a great contrast to her pitch black hair. She then realised what was going on.

"Stop it." Said Ada, "you don't need to humiliate her. Just give me your over garments." She said to the priest. Ada had to tear and fold the layers a tad to make them fit, but after a while the white and gold gilded outfit looked quite sharp on her.

"Thanks for the new body anyway." Ada said, "I don't need your help anymore," she clutched her chest, the rune on her body started to glow. It was time for her to test her awakening. The ground started to tremble, rays of light started to shimmer through the window and focus solely on her. Ada could feel her magic power growing exponentially. In her mind she could see every spell possible. So that was it, it gave her the ability to cast every spell instantaneously. Incredible... In a thought she sprouted massive silken wings and floated into the air. "By the way, which way is Melchiezedek?"

Everyone pointed to the east.

"Cheers." Ada flew through the window at a blinding speed. The weird dark light followed her as she zoomed through the sky.

The priest got up and looked through the window.

"This is a real problem!" he exclaimed, "everyone! Call the army! Get the Spell Fencers on this!"

"Yes my lord!" the others exclaimed,

"Amelia too. She might be the only person to be able to take this maniac down. If she loses control the entire country might end up going up in flames."

Ada flew through the sky. She felt like an angel. But she knew she was nothing more than just a lost fragment; out there was a part of her waiting to be completed. The real her, sitting, dead, alone, lost.

Hopefully Ciel was looking after her.

Please wait for me Ciel she thought I'll find you eventually!