"—gan..."
'Ugh, a voice. What could it be?'
"Lo—"
'Is it referring to me?'
"Logan, wake up!"
Like someone had slammed a sledgehammer over his head, an extraordinary surge of pain radiated through his brain, prying his unconscious mind free and forcing him to wake up to reality.
There he sat on his bed, naked and unprotected. The world around him seemed to be a single blur, thoughts of previous happenings and current circumstances just barely eluding him.
"Logan, are you alright! What happened here!" the voice beckoned annoyingly, cutting through his grit teeth with her hand on his shoulder. It was his sister, Selene, her hair nicely groomed and her face powdered with her typical layer of makeup.
Suddenly, flashes of remembrance struck Logan's mind, causing his eyes and mouth to clutch with overstimulated realization.
"What's wrong?" she asked, inching closer to his face. Without having realized it, his mouth hung open like he were about to speak, but the terrible, mind-grating pangs silenced him.
"I-I, nothing. Just a horrible migraine, is all." He scratched his neck, looking to the side. Her face was just a hair away from his, which, normally, isn't that awkward, but given earlier events...
Realizing the source of his awkwardness, she clumsily backed away from him, still standing close but turning her face away. "That... that's good. I thought something might've happened to you."
With crossed shoulders, she looked around the room, staring at the nightstand laying on the floor—cut cleanly in half, and the many fragments of walling scattered all throughout every corner of the room. "But what exactly happened here? It looks like someone dropped a bomb in here or something." Then, for a second, her worry was undercut by a smidgen of amusement. "And why exactly are you naked?"
Embarrassed, Logan covered himself with both of his hands, jumping out of the bed in pursuit of some clothes to cover himself. "I—"
"It's alright, it's normal for guys your age, right?
He didn't bother responding. Instead, he put on the bath gown on the floor that he'd removed in his bout with the succubus.
'Wait, the succubus!'
Hastily, he looked to the bed where her carcass laid. With ready anticipation to keep Selene from seeing it, he rushed over with both his hands to grab the sheets.
"Are you alright?" Selene asked, watching him scrutinizingly.
He didn't have any words, for when he went to cover the bed, there wasn't anything. No body, no blood, no... 'evidence' of their interaction.
"What?" he blurted without thinking.
"What happened? Did I say something?"
Looking to all corners of the room, he shifted frantically. Under the bed, in one of the leftover drawers of his night stand, each corner of the room, even under the books rested atop the alcove next to his bed. But nothing.
"Hey, tighten up, you're going to get us caught! Or, don't tighten up. It's tight in here—just, stop moving!"
"What do you mean?" Logan asked, turned towards Selene. "And why are you whispering like that?"
"What are you talking about? I didn't say anything. Now, are you going to answer any of my questions?" After walking up to Logan, she bent over slightly to nudge him right at his nape. Logan shuddered at her touch, going stiff as a board before sitting down at his bed.
Looking at Selene who stood just as curious as before, he closed his eyes.
He could feel it—the source of power constantly tugging at his mind, reminding him of its existence. It willed for its release, banging against his insides so incessantly that Logan felt like throwing up.
With a single thought, he forced it to quell its rampage, bending it to his will. It was a great power—one that may overwhelm him and deprive him of his sanity if he let it roam free. But he would make it his own.
"Come on, you can't keep holding me out like this. Did you ruin your room yourself? Don't be afraid to tell me, I promise I'll keep this from mom." She was leaning right under his chin, looking up at him with such a strong gaze that he cowered his attention away to the nearest wall.
He couldn't exactly tell her that a succubus came and somehow awakened something within him, and for all he knows, this power may not be human. If what the woman said earlier were true, then he may very well be a spiritual being.
But still, he couldn't tell the difference between this power and those of someone with a Gift. Perhaps it was because of his increased perception gained after the awakening, but he could recall past moments when he was... assaulted by magic, sort of like a memory. The way they strung mana like a harp; the way they imprinted their will into the mana to create its distinct form. It all lingered in his mind.
Perhaps with this, he may make use of replicating someone else's magic. But that was only theory.
"I've awakened my Gift, I think," he said firmly, raising his hand up to Selene to display a tinge of his magical power. The mana rose through his finger to waver in the air like an open flame, dissipating once Logan willed it so.
Selene gasped, staring wide-eyed without uttering a single word. Then, a loud shrill. "Oh my god, you awakened? Do you know what this means, Logan?"
He nodded. "Yes. With this, our mother won't have to be burdened with my tuition anymore. You may even be able to attend school alongside—"
"Yes, yes, yes! You and I are going to be attending the same school! This is gonna be so great!" Interrupting Logan's words with a strong bear hug, she spun around him, using her arms enwrapping his chest as her hold. If it had been before the awakening, Logan might've been thrown off balance at her sudden weight, but his legs stood unwavering like steel.
Releasing a light chuckle, he grabbed Selene's hands once she winded down her spin, stopping at his back. "You and I, Selene. This is what we've been working for."
Her eyes went bright, nuzzling her chin atop his shoulder. "That's right, brother. At least, this way, I'll be able to protect you now—from Zach and his gang. Although I suppose if you awakened your Gift, you won't be needing me as much now, will you?"
"Don't be so sure, it's always great to have you around." Resting his head on her hand, Logan took in her warmth. This moment. It's all he wanted. To live in this moment forever.
"Hey, did you lose weight?"
Logan scoffed at the remark, stepping forward to the fractured mirror on top of his night stand.
Even though his bath gown had been tightly hugging his sides when he put it on just minutes ago, it now hung freely, like how a gown was supposed to be.
Wait...
Even though his reflection was obscured by the many cracks running down the mirror, the discoloration of the air was far too abundant to be ignored. There were entire streams of smoke rising from his skin, encapsulating the entire room in its white obfuscation.
"What the hell...?" He looked to his arms, watching as they begun to shrink. Stretch marks lost their darker intonation, and veins started to pop out in their stead.
He was losing weight.