The world returned to John not with a gentle fade-in, but with a harsh, unyielding stab of light that seared behind his eyelids. A slow, drawn-out groan escaped his lips, a sound that felt entirely too heavy for his body. His eyes were burning as if acid had been splashed across them as they tried to adapt to the brightness. Slowly, painfully he adjusted the blurry shapes coalescing into a leafy view above him. His mind taking a few moments to try and wake up along with him, beneath it though was a dull ache that seemed to throb in sync with all the of his body's protests, pain coming from every muscle down to his bones.
Soon the memories, fragmented and brutal at first began to surface: the blinding flash of battle, his hesitation and the consequences they brought, the rage and anger that flooded through him before hearing faint voices as he passed out in pain. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, letting the wave of recollection wash over his still-groggy mind and replaying everything once more to try and fill the gaps in his memory. The girls jumping into the fight. The monsters their opponents were turned into. Alice being hurt. His breath hitched as that fact properly settled in. He had to move. With a surge of adrenaline, he forced himself upright, but the action was met with an immediate, searing protest from his entire body. A gasp of pain tore from his throat as muscles screamed and joints locked in protest.
"Master! You need to rest! You aren't even supposed to be awake yet!"
Elena's voice, sharp with surprise and laced with palpable concern cut through the pain. John's head snapped towards the sound, his eyes falling upon her worried face as she rushed to his bedside. He finally registered his surroundings: he was in the greenhouse but thick bamboo was reeds acted as walls well his bed was a mix of tightly wrapped leaves over a makeshift bed, looking around he noticed he was alone here, no Alice, Ash or anyone else was present besides him and Elena.
"Where is Alice? How long was I out?" The questions burst from him, an icy edge to his tone that brooked no argument. His voice having lost its usual comforting tone, coming out as sharp and slightly frantic, cutting through the last of the fog that clouded his mind. His hand clenched tightly, white-knuckled, on the surprisingly soft weaved together blanket of vines. His concern for Alice eclipsed his own pain, forging a steely resolve in his eyes.
Elena visibly flinched at his intensity, her shoulders hunching slightly. "Alice is… okay. She was healed a lot sooner than you were, by someone else. We're not entirely sure what he did or how, but she seems… different. Alive and fully healed though. She says she's fine and we haven't pressed but the person who healed her suggested it was probably stress from the fight and worry about you so his kept her at his home to help her recover back to her old self. That merchant person though seemed really upset though, swearing up a storm and saying something we couldn't understand before storming away after seeing her" She paused, her gaze flickering towards the door. "I'll take you to her now, so you can see for yourself. As for how long… it's been five hours since you were brought in. Ash came and got everyone but seemed really tired. After rescuing you, the others seemed to take down those monsters and even captured their leader but… Master I feel unsure about them, I do appreciate that they saved you but I am upset that they didn't act sooner, that they could allow something like this to happen."
A flicker of relief, swiftly followed by a wave of annoyance and an uneasy feeling that settled in his gut. Five hours? He was about to question why he felt so sore after resting but soon realized that would be stupid, he was feeling the effects of the fight, all the blows and strain making themselves known. He started to formulate another question, but Elena continued, her voice gaining a nervous tremor.
"Oh and the merchant is currently up top, trying to sell their wares as we speak, it was what we had to agree to in order to have them help save you, unrestricted sales in our territory. They're actually part of the reason you're okay and only feeing some pain rather than having many broken bones and other injuries. They had some powerful healing potions, but… well, there was a side effect." Elena's fidgeting increased as her eyes darting away from his. Her unease was a stark contrast to the good news she had just delivered, painting a clear picture that something was wrong.
His brow furrowed as a deep frown etched itself onto his face. His entire body still ached with a deep, persistent stiffness that felt less like healing and more like some cruel cosmic prank but the overall pain he had felt when first waking up had indeed slowly began to ease and if that was the side effect it was something he honestly didn't mind if it meant being healed of broken bones and torn muscles. Or perhaps just losing his hair; he could still live with that, albeit grudgingly and would try to find a way to get it back. But knowing his luck, the universe rarely offered such simple or kind solutions. It always went for the most inconvenient, the most humiliating or the most utterly bizarre outcome for him ever since things had changed.
"What are the side effects?" he demanded, his voice low and dangerous carrying across his unease and tinted with faint fear. "Did it make me sterile? Please don't tell me it made my sword a toothpick or changed my gender. Wait, actually," he mumbled the last part almost to himself, a faint smile on his lips, "the last part wouldn't be entirely bad if I could buy something from the merchant to change back." Elena shook her head vigorously, her relief palpable at seeing he was still able to make jokes, clearly as worried and concerned as he was the old him still shorn through.
"Then, did it make my sword go from iron to rubber? Unable to get straight!" he asked, his eyes wide with genuine concern, the thought of such a specific affliction deeply unsettling on a fundamental level. Again, Elena shook her head, a small, pained smile tugging at her lips before, without another word, showed him to wait and slipped away, returning moments later with a large bowl of reflective water. Slowly he walked over, unsure about what may have happened but despite his mounting dread he found his curious growing stronger, wanting to see why she was so nervous and what side effects resulted from his healing.
All coherent thought evaporated the moment he was presented with his reflection. His mind utterly froze, then screamed a silent "error 404," entirely unable to process the image staring back at him.
The figure in the reflection held only a faint resemblance to his old self, he knew it was him but even so it felt undeniably alien. The face was cleanly shaven, his hair now cut into a short, artfully spiked look, much thinner and better proportioned than his old, rather shaggy style he had before. It somehow looked extremely fetching, almost like a professional had styled it and admittedly he did like it but it was the rest of the body that truly caused his mind to short-circuit and made him feel so uncomfortable. Where his comfortable, chubby and soft physique had once been now stood a thin and muscular form. It was far from the point of a bodybuilder but every muscle was visibly defined. His legs were toned and firm, hinting at power and a faint, almost artistic six-pack was etched into his abdomen. His pecs were solid and firm well his arms where now a pair of strong pair of corded muscles that could easily flex into impressive mounds of muscle. The man who stared back at him was a handsome, muscular and exceptionally well-toned version of himself, the kind of physique that could easily grace the cover of any heroic fantasy novel or fulfill the unspoken desires of most women and even some men. He was, objectively, perfect in a physical way.
And he absolutely hated it.
"How the fuck did this happen?!" he roared, the sheer incredulous fury vibrating through the small area. He whirled on Elen causing her to flinch and take a small step back, not used to seeing such anger in him.
Elena stammered, her gaze fixed on the floor. "Well, the merchant said your injuries were really bad, practically deadly and well me and the little ones did our best, there we still needed there potions help pull you back from the brink of death, but they can't do miracles, they needed a base to work with, they couldn't just fix your blood loss and wounds without any energy or matter, under normal circumstances they require a large amount of meat or source of energy to truly heal the amount of damage you had. But due to your… shape and size before they managed to use the accumulated fat from your body to patch you up and heal you with only minimal extra matter being needed, only a small amount of meat that was retrieved from the canteen kitchen. The process not only healed you, but also rebuilt your damaged tissue, making you… well, a lot stronger and more resistant than before. Making you better than you where." She offered a small, nervous smile, which was immediately met with a guttural growl from him, clearly having taken the comment "Better than before" as an insult, not a compliment.
His fury, cold and precise, settled over him like a shroud, as he took a deep, slow breath to get a grip over himself. "Get everyone who was in the fight together, including Ash and Alice. And tell that merchant I want words with them so they better be there as well. Have them meet in front of the house and where exactly are my clothes?" He spoke in a firm, frosty tone, each word like a chip of ice that caused Elena to shudder slightly, he didn't mean to be so cold and harsh towards her, but he felt violated, as if his core had been twisted and his soul forced into a body not his own, everything felt wrong and off. Elena simply pointed to the spot next to his bed where his cloak and a fresh set of cloths sat before slowly slipping out of the room.
"Great, now I'm fucken Evil Coop," John muttered to himself, his voice thick with self-pity and simmering rage, once he was sure he was alone, rubbing the bridge of his nose and as he tried to get used to the feeling of his own body. He slid off the bed, his new, lean frame feeling strangely alien. "I know I said I would become a villain, but I sure as hell didn't want to be skinny or fucken muscular to do it! This merchant better have something that can get me my fat back, or at least slow my metabolism to allow the ramen and whatever junk food they sell to work their magic to bulk me back up. I mean, seriously how do people like this?"
He picked up his clothes finding the fabric, once comfortably snug now hung loose and strangely empty on his new frame, the pants pooling at his ankles and having to be tied around his waist and even then, still threatening to slide right off. "I know women and even some men, like this kind of look, but it's just not me. How can a girl cuddle or use me as a pillow if there's no softness? Where's the warmth, the comforting bulk? I need to get it all back, one way or another!"
He fumbled with the belt, tightening it as much as possible but still feeling the ridiculous looseness of the pants. Luckily his trusty cloak settled over his shoulders and moulded itself to his new form, instantly making the ill-fitting pants feel more secure well even fixing his shirt. He was glad for small miracles, even as made a mental note to take some time to appraise this amazing cloak, even for an item it seemed to possess to much functionality and use to be as simple as it seemed, especially as it proved capable of absorbing other armours and integrating them into itself. The merchant, however was now at the top of that list on matters to address.