NOVEL WEB Chapter 12. The reward for a good deed.
Chapter 12: The reward for a good deed.
Once I reached home, I greeted my mom. She, understandably, freaked out when she saw me covered in blood. I quickly assured her I was fine, and explained to her that this was the blood of an injured person I helped, and promised her I would tell her the entire story when I got some rest.
She calmed down a bit after that but still patted me down to check for any injuries, just in case. She wasn't sure if I was lying so as not to make her worry.
When I told her I would wash my clothes, I got scolded and told to bathe and rest immediately.
I didn't want to trouble her. I always did my laundry on my own, along with more than half of the chores in the house. And I knew how hard it was to wash the blood off of clothes, as it had to be done manually first, but when I went to protest, I was scolded further, ordered to strip right then and there, and go to the bath, or there will be consequences.
I was never an unruly child. I was an adult in a kid's body my entire life, so I know how not to make a nuisance of myself, so I never had to face those 'consequences'... except once, when I threw a fit about not wanting to go to preschool on my first week because it was so boring. Let me tell you, Mom can be scary when she wants to.
I shuddered at the reminder of those dark memories. I did as ordered, leaving all my bloody clothes in a pile on the floor while staying in my underwear to preserve some modesty.
"Now go take a bath and rest, sweetie." Mom said in a gentle voice, "I can see how exhausted you are. You will tell me all about this when you wake up."
'She is right,' I thought, swaying a little, a little light-headed for some reason.
Mother caught me before I fell and was even more worried now, insisting on coming with me to wash me herself.
I objected, of course, and put my foot down when she tried to argue further. I was comfortable enough around her to be half naked, but I would die of embarrassment if I let her wash me like a baby.
I assured her I was okay and headed for the bathroom.
Entering the bathroom, I stood under the shower head and blasted my body with cold water to wake up myself a little, but that didn't seem to help at all.
I was getting progressively more tired and drained as the water rained on me.
'This is starting to get ridiculous... Yes, I put a lot of energy into waking the boy up after healing him, but I know my limits, and that was nowhere near it. Is it the psychological trauma, then? Of seeing someone severely injured for the first time with my own eyes? Did I have a weaker will than I thought I did? or..."
As my mind went over what could be happening to me, I felt my body slump down, my eyelids heavier than a mountain, and then nothing.
.
.
.
At some point, I seemed to have blacked out as I woke up, sitting on the floor, my back to the wall, as cold water rained down on me.
I tried to move, but I couldn't. I was agitated now and tried to call out to my mother. I didn't know what was happening. But just when I was about to call for her, I felt a piercing pain in my left arm, so intense, it knocked the breath out of my lungs, and I stared at my left hand, in pain and horror, as it started to... transform.
Majestic-looking red scales emerged from the flesh of my hand, starting from my fingertips and slowly going up my arm, reaching just below my elbow before stopping.
Blood seeped between those scales, painting the floor of the bathroom red, which quickly turned pink as it mixed with the water and rushed down the drain.
But it didn't stop there. Golden streaks started appearing on each one of the scales, and with each streak appearing, I felt so much pain that I started crying.
I didn't know what was happening. The gold streaks filled more and more of the scales until not a single red scale was left unmarked by a line of gold in their midst.
When the streaks of gold finished their work, the pain finally started to wane, and I took a deep, desperate gulp of air, not realizing I was not even breathing this whole time.
On the back of my hand, a golden orb emerged among the sea of red and gold scales, and I felt something lodging itself deep inside me, latching onto my very soul. I never knew I could feel my soul before this, but whatever this thing was, it was messing with it, changing it. Changing me.
Once the transformation finished, I fell from my sitting position, like a ragdoll with its string cut, and lay on the floor. I couldn't move. This transformation took too much energy out of me.
I tried shouting, calling out to my mother, calling for help, for anyone. But all that came out of my mouth was a small whimper.
'I'm going to die,' I thought to myself. This is it—my final moments in this new life. I couldn't believe it. I had such a cliche death in my last life, and now I'm going to die a shit one in this one. 'This is the worst. Why do I have to die? Just because I helped some poor sod out? Is this going to be my reward every time I help someone out?!' Rage and despair started to take over me as I felt the injustice of fate.
"Oh, Quit whining, you little baby! You are not going to die. Just give me a minute to finish integrating, and I will stop using your magic energy."