Awakening

Coming to Consciousness under the thin veil of murky water. Mathias felt as if his lungs were about to burst. As his body all but roasted within the tub of water. And if he dared to inhale in such water. He knew his insides would be boiled to the point of no return. To the point he would die.

Keeping that thought in mind. Mathias struggled to keep what little air remained in his lungs there. To keep from taking that desperate breath. Struggling he would feel himself changing within the waters. Feeling his entire essence being rewritten. It was a pain he had never felt before. One he wished would just stop. But this wasn't about comfort. It was about what he was willing to give up. In order to protect those from what goes bump in the night.

Seeing a hand reach into the water. He would feel it press against his chest firmly. Feeling it hold him down. As he felt the last of his ability to hold his breath give in. As his mouth gasped open. taking in the water of the tub. As the searing pain of the water seared his insides. As he felt himself beginning to change even internally. The pain was excruciating as he felt himself beginning to drown in the water, as he began to struggle to get out of the water. But the hand kept him held firm, as he felt his life beginning to fade from him.

His vision beginning to blur, he felt his anger beginning to rise. To rise at the fact that he was dying like this. Before he could finish his life's dream. To fulfill the promise he made several years ago. Which led him onto the path of being a vampire hunter. And now onto the path of becoming a Grimm.

Before the life could fade from his body. Mathias felt himself being torn from the water, as he began to cough it out painfully.

After a long while, Mathias finally managed to take in a massive breath of air. That felt cool within his lungs. Before glancing at the man to his right.

Ramses. The man was a Grimm, and the only one Mathias truly considered a friend.

"How are you feeling?" Ramses would ask, the words sounding like faint echos to Mathias' ears.

"What did you say?" Mathias would question hoarsely as he tried to understand the man. Forcing himself to hear, to understand.

"Don't force it Mathias. Just give it time. You'll understand me soon enough." Ramses would speak in a calm tone. Taking note of the quickening look of fear growing in his friends eyes. "Your entire being has been rewritten. Almost as if you were born a second time."

Forcing himself to take a second breath. Then a third. Mathias found himself starting to feel the world around him. In a way that he never had before. Almost as if the universe were now free to him. How odd.

He hadn't noticed anything like this in the past. But now, now that he had been awakened to it. He felt it with every inch of his body.

"How long...was I in that tub...?" Mathias would force those words out. Slowly standing from the tub, his skin feeling the cold air.

"Half the day." Ramses would respond holding a proud look on his face. "Most don't make it through the entire process."

Yeah. Those were the words he had been told weeks ago when he began preparing for this moment. Preparing to transcend his humanity. To become something more than what he was. And he had succeeded in that, he had succeeded in becoming more than just a human. In becoming a Grimm.

"Where are my clothes?" Mathias would ask scanning the room for where they once were. As he tried to place where he had left them.

"I had you new ones made, ones fitting of a Grimm." Ramses would say as a woman entered the room. Carrying a black box.

Raising a brow Mathias would watch as the woman set the box down before him. Glancing at his well muscled naked body before her. Biting her lip, at such a sight. Hurrying to excuse herself before she gave into the temptation provided by the gaze of the mans body.

Raising a brow Mathias would glance to Ramses. A look of obvious confusion on his face.

"Look into the mirror and you'll see." Ramses would say in an amused tone.

Doing so. Mathias would glance to the mirror taking note of his appearance in it. He no longer looked like the man who was approaching the ripe old age of seventy five. Instead, he looked like he was his twenty year old self once more. A sight he hadn't seen in several long years .

The only thing that remained of his long life. Were the scars that he had collected when he was mortal. From hunting the vampires he had sworn to kill.

"I'm young again." Mathias would speak in a low tone of surprise. "How?"

"One of the perks of being biologically immortal. Your body returned to the state of its prime. And for you, that was when you were the age of twenty." Ramses would explain. "Though do be aware. You now have duties above that of a vampire slayer."

Those were the terms he had to accept if he had ever wanted to become a Grimm. He had to agree to being a shepard of souls and keeper of balance. It was the only way for him to become immortal.

"I know Ramses. And I will follow through with my duties. No need for you to doubt the possibility." Mathias would say in a low tone as he got dressed in his black clothing. "But do those duties effect the guests we hold in our hall?"

"They do not. We haven't a part to play in the Angel's scorn against their race. We offered them protection, and that is what they are going to get." Ramses would say thoughtfully as he walked towards the door. "For if we don't keep our words. We are no better than the Angels themselves."