Ren woke slowly to the sound of water. It seemed to drip from the ceiling and then fall somewhere near his ear. Each drop echoed against the stone louder than it should have been, like the entire room was vibrating with it. But as he opened his eyes more fully, he could see no trace of water anywhere, no puddles. Only the sound of rain far beyond the enclosure.
He attempted to move, but his muscles didn't listen. His entire body felt foreign, as if someone else's pain was unfolding in front of him. As his senses slowly returned, blood began to pulse faster beneath his skin, concentrating somewhere in the center of his chest.
He looked around.
The floor beneath him was cold, cracked in several places. Faint circular symbols were carved in stone where his hand rested. They looked old, like someone had placed them there hundreds of years before any of this. But Ren didn't have the strength to question it. He was more concerned with what they seemed to be filled with. Blood maybe.
He tried to sit up.
As he did, pain came immediately through his side. Broken ribs, no doubt. His hand went to his chest instinctively, and the moment he touched it, his fingers came away soaked with blood. He must have been stabbed. The realization came with him seeing more of his blood spilled on the floor around him. It was dark in places, and it almost looked like someone had painted with it.
Half an hour ago, or so he guessed, he hadn't even realized he was bleeding. The adrenaline must've hidden it, but now the cold in his arms and legs was unmistakable.
He'd been in situations like this before, but maybe the environment had done more to help back then.
He leaned on one arm, dizzy. His breathing spiked, and his ears kept ringing annoyingly loud.
Suddenly, he sensed movement. Someone or something stood on the stone ledge, on the other side of the arch.
As his vision focused, he could see a cat. His head was still foggy, but he recognized the same feline shape from before losing consciousness. The same silky black fur that looked too clean for where they were, ears tipped forward in perfect symmetry.
It kept staring at him unnaturally. Most animals would be cautious, fearful of strangers, but not this one. Maybe it was the blood that kept it calm.
"I'm losing it," Ren whispered. "I'm hallucinating cats now..."
'No.' The word arrived spoken directly into the center of his mind. There was no echo like all the other sounds in that room.
"What..." Ren went, startled by whatever intrusion that was.
'You're not hallucinating yet. But you will soon.' The voice was feminine, cold in a way, detached. 'You are dying,' the voice continued in the same tone.
The cat was still there, still staring at him with that same statuesque stillness. It hadn't moved once.
Ren started shivering. It was the bleeding taking its toll.
"Who…?"
'Questions waste time.'
He tried to get up, but fell back down soon afterwards. The strength was gone. His body had given too much already, and all that was left was the pain.
'I could put you back together.' There was almost a macabre amusement in the voice as it spoke. 'I could take away the pain. But I need something in return.'
Ren frowned, annoyed that even his hallucinations reflected the world's cruelty. "A hallucination offering a deal. Great..."
'You're about to die, do you really think it's the right time for you to be picky?'
He shut his eyes, trying to get past the dizziness. "If you're real, then help me."
'I don't help, but I can bargain.' The words cut sharply, uncaring of his circumstance. 'A pact marked by blood is what I ask.'
Ren tried to reply, but nothing came out of his throat. He didn't know what that meant. He didn't even care. He just knew that staying there, alone and injured, meant dying.
The cat rose from where it stood and approached slowly.
'Three things I ask of you. Say yes, and I will keep you breathing.'
"Who… are you?"
The eyes glowed through shadows and rays of light alike.
'I am Kagami.' She paused, like reliving history through a name. 'I was a powerful witch once, but now I am bound. Sealed like a forgotten curse.'
Ren's lips were dry.
"Wait," he gasped. "Three things?..."
'Three.' Kagami sat again, tail coiling neatly beside her. 'One: bring me a body. It will be a symbol of what was stolen from me.'
Her gaze remained fixed, but her eyes were predatory.
'Two: bring me a soul. One that chooses so willingly.'
Ren blinked. "A soul?"
'You'll know it when you see it.'
She didn't elaborate, and Ren was too out of it to push further.
'Three: tell me my true name. If you find it.'
He tried to process all of that and push further away the fog in his mind. "I don't even know what you are. Why would I..."
'You're out of time. You just have to decide. Now.'
Ren looked down at the blood spreading. His thoughts were starting to slip away, so with the last of his strength, he whispered: "I don't have a choice..."
'You do. You're just out of time.'
He looked at her. She at him.
"…Fine." The word came out ragged. "I'll do it."
And then suddenly, everything went silent. Even the rain, which had been constant in the background, faded into nothing, like that one room had been displaced somewhere else entirely. The symbols on the stones moved slightly from where they had been carved.
Kagami was in her feline form, but as she walked closer, light cast shadows of her on the walls that looked different. Taller. More human. But still as elegant.
She stopped at his side. 'This will hurt.'
Her claw came out slowly, and with a single motion, she cut through. Deep and certain. Blood covered Ren's chest entirely as he felt everything was being carved out of him. He arched involuntarily, clawing the floor and gasping in pain.
A voice came through, a whispered one, speaking words in dialects Ren didn't recognize. Beneath him, new symbols formed into the stone, lines drawn in mystic patterns. He then saw bright red light coming out of them, engulfing stone and flesh alike, until nothing but his thoughts remained.
The pact was sealed.