"Ugh, my head… What kind of magic was that?" Groaning, I came to from that forceful sleep I introduced to; I tried to rub my head, though I wasn't able to as something was binding me. 'Tsk, I'm going to receive so much backlash from Gramps.'
Already imagining the lectures I'd be forced to sit through when I returned home, I opened my eyes, staring at the circular ceiling before looking around, eying the weird cylinder structure I was stuck inside.
'The Hell? Where the hell am I?' Tilting my head in confusion, I glanced at the weird, spider-web-like strings hoisting and binding my limbs. However, as I looked at my limbs, I realized something very weird, well, actually a few things.
My usual brown skin was white, and my large, muscular limbs were small and feeble. "Um, what's happening?" As I spoke, my eyes widened, and my deep, powerful voice didn't sound out; instead, it was a weak, high-pitched, feminine voice.
"What the hell is happening!? Did someone transfer my soul to a girl's body!? I don't want to go through puberty for a third time!" Shouting, I fought back, trying to break the strings hoisting high in the air, yet my weak, feeble strength could barely stretch the strings, let alone snap them.
After several minutes of pointless struggle, I finally gave up and decided to wait for something, which took a while, an hour or more.
"Subject 903 is ready." "Vitals normal… Begin procedure?" "Proceed. Begin at 10%." Listening to those robotic, slightly static voices, I looked around, trying to search for them, only for a stinging sensation starting from my limbs to circulate through my body.
"I-It's like an intense, full-body massage." The sensation wasn't painful, but it wasn't good; it was in between. "How are her vitals?" "Vitals are steady. Subject 903 is handling it nicely." "Raise to 25%." "Understood."
"Oi, where the hell am I!? Can't you bastards hear me!?" Shouting to the people performing experiments on me, they ignored me while the sensation promptly spiked, entering the painful territory. "F-Fuck, this hurts! H-Hey! Where are Lucy and Cana!? I swear if you're experimenting on them, I'll slaughter every person here!"
Suppressing my grunts of pain, I flexed and shouted, yet I received nothing but silence.
Time passed like this for who knows how long; I'd occasionally hear their voices, speaking to themselves, treating me like a research object. However, after hours, the sensation finally stopped, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
"F-Fucking goodness!!" As I gasped, my vision blurred black; the next thing I knew, I was now within a cell.
"W-What the?" As the phantom pain lingered, I rose to my feet, grabbing the bars as I looked around; I wasn't the only person imprisoned. I saw numerous other children locked away in cells; hell, there was even some within the same cell as me.
'Tsk, fucking bastards. I'll bite their fucking jugular out.' Grinding my teeth, I squeezed the bars before approaching one of the children. "Hey, can you hear me? You know what I'm saying?" The little boy just stared at me, no, it was more like he stared through me, as if I wasn't even there in the first place.
Frowning, I tried speaking to every other child in the cell, but the results were the same: rather than ignoring me, they seemed to think I didn't even exist. "The hell is happening?" Rubbing my head, I plopped down, sitting beside a broken piece of dirty glass, which I used to look at my reflection.
I was young, with short black hair and an adorable face, one that I wouldn't ever bring myself to say no to. 'I look familiar.' Just as those thoughts flashed through my mind, I felt a deep drowsiness, and before I knew it, my vision blurred and I was back in the cylinder structure.
"Oi, bastards!" "Subject 903 has shown no adverse effects." "Good. do 30%." "Fuckers, I'll kill-Argh!"
Hours, days, and weeks.
That was the life I experienced in this weird state. I'd be tortured for hours on end, then I'd spend it in the cell, only for it to repeat itself the very next day. It was torture day in and day out; let alone the children, even I, someone who would claim pain as their best friend, was finding this torture physically and mentally draining.
After months of this, my vision blurred once more, but this time, instead of reappearing inside that all-too-familiar cell, I was outside, walking through the snow, approaching a house.
When I arrived, I opened the door and peered inside, then stopped to look at the three people. 'Wait, I'd know that stripper anyway, that's Gray!' Shocked to see a young Gray, I looked at the other kid, who looked like Lyon, and the adult, the woman playing with them, chasing them around the house, only one person came to mind.
'Is that Gray's Master? Ur right?' I stood and watched, unable to enter. After some time, my vision blurred once more, and I was back in the cylinder structure.
"Subject 903 has shown remarkable adaptation." "Good. Go full throttle. 100%." "Ugh, fuck m–ARGHHH!!"
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Ultear POV
"What happened? I-I thought I used the spell on Cooper. D-Did it not work?" Muttering softly, I opened my eyes, rubbing my head, only to freeze as I stared at my small, brown arm. "What the heck?" I widened my eyes at my childish voice, not only that, but as I looked at my body, I quickly realized I was now a child.
"What did that spell do!?" Looking at my hands with sharp nails, I rubbed my head, glancing at my short, white hair, only to end up falling from the tree branch I was standing on. Hitting the ground, groaning in pain, I slowly sat up.
"W-Where am I?" Brushing my clothes off, I looked around, observing the forest I was now in. "The heck?" Cursing under my breath, I glanced at the sky, eyeing the position of the sun before heading north.
As I trekked through the forest, pushing through bushes and other vegetation, I encountered a wolf; scoffing, I raised my hand, intending to kill it, only to realize I had no magic.
'Shit.' Cursing, I turned around, running away, only for the wolf to bite down on my shoulder, causing me to scream. "Arghhh!" Next thing I knew, my vision blurred, and I was now sitting before the dead wolf, but my body ached and hurt.
"W-What's happening?" Other than the pain from my injuries, I received no response. Again, my vision blurred, and this time I was standing before a large, multicolored snake. "F-Fuck, give me a moment!"
Once again, I tried to run, but the snake bit my body, injecting poison into me, making me numb; as it constricted my body, snapping a few of my ribs, my vision blurred once more. I was lying atop the snake, which was now dead.
Groaning, I weakly rose to my feet, stumbling across the ground as I shuffled through the forest, only to come across a river; collapsing to my knees, I looked at my reflection, staring at my white hair, red, vertical slit eyes, and cute face. However, I'd be foolish not to realize who this was. "W-Why am I young Cooper?"
My question was answered by vision blurring for the third time.
For months, I was surviving in the forest, suffering wounds every day, just trying my damndest to survive; there was no one to rely on, no help, just me, myself, and I. A five or six-year-old child trying to survive in the cruel forest, fighting eagles, lizards, wolves, snakes, gorillas, bears, boars, and spiders.
It would be one battle after the next, barely any time to rest in between, and my injuries wouldn't have even fully healed by then. Every day was a desperate battle for survival.
Having just finished a fight with a bear, which left me with a broken leg and a deep lash on my arm, my vision blurred once more; now, I was walking out of the forest, approaching a burned-down and destroyed village.
"What's this?" Muttering softly, I looked around, observing the village; things looked to be abandoned for a long time, with nothing but skeletons littering the ground.
'Is this Cooper's previous home?' I walked around, found a spot, and spent the day carving a large hole with my hands, using it as a collective grave as I placed every skeleton inside, then filled it with dirt.
Afterwards, I used a stone and created a makeshift gravestone; I then left, returning to the forest. "Why am I returning to the forest?" My words fell on deaf ears as I continued into the forest.
Once back in the forest, the months of constant desperation fights continued, leaving them entirely mentally drained from the constant pain and fighting.
"W-When will this hell end!?