Butterfly of Death and Rebirth - Rushia/(You)

Once more you awaken, not so much roused from slumber as you were painfully torn back to the waking world. It's as though every synapse in your brain is screaming in unison, all your other senses are smothered under a roiling ocean of pain. But then, suddenly, it stops. As the pain vanishes your reeling mind begins to piece together your surroundings, parts of your brain which mere minutes ago were completely overtaken now start to build a picture of where you are. Your sense of smell is the first to return - the stench of various chemical compounds and catalytic agents all too familiar to you by now. You feel cold metal on your back, it seems you are lying on some kind of table. Sound begins to filter through your previously deafened ears: the sound of rushing air, the thrumming of machinery and the hum of halogen lights. Finally you gather the courage to open your eyes and are momentarily blinded. Searing white light filters through to your half-lidded eyes and you hastily close them again.

The sensations of the world around you stand in stark contrast to the state of your own body. You feel sluggish, a numbness has taken hold of your extremities. You attempt to rise to a seated position but find the effort overwhelming and resolve instead to try and roll onto your side. Your body stubbornly refuses to listen to you, but you keep trying and eventually manage to succeed at turning over.
Too vigorously it seems, as you roll of the table entirely and land on the cold floor below. The table is sent on its side and the clattering of medical instruments on the ground alerts someone to your presence. A quiet, cold voice echoes from the dark hallway that leads out of the room you are in.

"Awake already?"

Your blood freezes in your veins, your sluggish mind suddenly roused into panic as your memories begin to return. You feel your heartbeat grow in intensity as a figure slowly enters your field of view. Your worst fears are confirmed as the lights above illuminate the figure of a young girl with green hair and red eyes. You try to rise to your feet but with the numbness of your body obstructing proper coordinated movement you only manage to get on one knee before you slip and flop on the ground once more.

"Now now there's no need for that. Here. Let me help you"

Though the girl is downright tiny next to you, her strength is unreal as she heaves you back onto the table.

"You remember me, don't you? I know you'd never forget Rushia!"

You simply stare at her weakly, a grimace of despair reflecting in her eyes.

"It must be painful. It must be hard... but this is the only way! I'm only doing this for your sake!"
A lie. One you stopped believing in who knows how long ago.

"Ever since that accident, I've tried so many things to bring you back but none of them have truly succeeded. The soul and body are bound and your damaged soul cannot keep your body functioning properly, it keeps drifting to the other side"

How many times has this happened already? How many times have you gone through the same painful awakening followed by an inevitable slide back into the other side? You'd think you'd get used to it after a while, but the torment of being drawn back to the world of the living by force only seems to get worse and worse.

"But you know... I finally did it. I found a way."

Your mind stops for a moment. What did she just say?

"I realized that instead of trying to continue to bind your broken soul to a broken body... why not just bind it to a fresh one?"
You barely manage to process her words before an awful realization makes itself known. You raise a hand over your face and looking back at you is not your hand, but a patchwork thing. Patches of skin connected with sutures, clearly from different sources. You run your hands over the rest of your body and find such sutures everywhere until you reach your neck.

Thick metal staples arranged in a circle where your neck connects to your torso.

"It's perfect! instead of trying to bind your soul to your old body, I simply made a new one from fresh parts!"

You try to scream but out of your mouth comes only a hoarse whisper that is quickly silenced by the girl covering your lips with hers. The kiss is desperate and needy and does not end until you almost feel yourself running out of breath.

"Welcome back, dear" says Rushia and she lets out a mischievous giggle.

"Now don't worry, I'll go get some clothes for you and we can get you back home where you belong."

As Rushia walks away you are seized with terror at your situation, made into a patchwork monstrosity. How many people did she kill for all these body parts!? How many innocent people died because of this madness!?

You thrash violently trying to get off the table and succeed in knocking yourself to the ground once more. Your mind races trying to find a way out of this situation, when you notice a scalpel lying on the ground. A dark thought rises to the forefront of your mind... for a moment you consider doing the one thing the old you would never have even thought about. If you killed her right here and now that would put a stop to everything.

You stare at the medical implement for what seems like an eternity before ultimately dropping the scalpel.
Despite everything, you still love her. Tears fill your eyes as you wonder why everything got this bad. You were happy together once, every day with her seemed like a dream, but now all that is left is the nightmare you are presently stuck in... Unless...
You grab the scalpel once more, resolve fills your heart. Perhaps this will make her understand, maybe if you do this you can open her eyes.

You stab yourself in the chest, the first hit impacting a rib. Your numb body barely registers the pain and you keep stabbing yourself, over and over again. You don't know how many wounds you've inflicted on yourself by the time your vision begins to dim. The last thing on your mind before darkness takes you is her, a vision from happier times. Rushia smiling.

Once more you awaken. Something is wrong. This isn't like what usually happens, you feel no pain or discomfort instead you feel... warm. You feel someone embracing you in a hug. No no no no no please. You open your eyes and realize your being held by Rushia. As she lets you go, you look at her face and see her smiling. Rushia's smile doesn't seem to reach her eyes.

"Why did you do such a silly thing? Were you just confused? At any rate, you don't need to think about anything anymore, I'm here~"
Your confusion only becomes more pronounced. What's going on? How are you back here? You seem to have died and brought back but where's the usual pain?

Rushia seems to notice your confusion and says:

"It wasn't just that new body of yours that I bound your soul to. I bound it to my own soul as well. This was the missing link, the true solution. With our two souls bound together neither of us will die as long as the other is still alive. Now... we can truly be together forever..."

Listening to her explain, you are filled with unfathomable despair. Your tense limbs go limp as you lose all energy to resist anymore. There's no way out anymore, you're stuck in this undead form forever and all that awaits you is an eternity with Rushia.

"I love you", Rushia says as she pulls you into a kiss once more. You don't struggle as your mind lets go of the wheel. 'You' are already dead, all that's left in your mind is her, the love of your life.

Just Rushia.