The Original Champion Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Awoke


Leif woke up with a massive headache and an excruciating pain around his abdominal area. And he thanked the gods that it was Ayana that came to his aid.


"Where am… I?"


He remembered being stabbed and hearing a voice in his head afterwards. 


"Leif…"


He looked to his side to find a shocked Ayana staring at him.


"Why are your eyes red?"


'Red?' 


Leif was confused but just as he was about to stand up, a chill ran down his spine.


"Leif?!" Ayana was alerted by the sudden turmoil of the spirits around him. "What did you do?!"


The spirits being unstable around him meant that there was something wrong with Leif, something that the spirits didn't like was messing with Leif.


But Leif had no clue about Ayana's worries. His entire being was focused on the chilling sensation that was running through his body.


He felt pain and cold but besides that, there was another feeling.


One that was buried deep inside his chest.


Warmth. 


Fire. 


Suddenly, he felt his heart burning.


"Aaaah!"


He screeched in pain which made Ayana panic.


"What is happening?" She asked and ran a quick check on him using her magic. But she couldn't find a thing.


Leif had never felt such a feeling before. His body was freezing while his heart felt as if it was torched. 


"Leif?!" Ayana said. "Talk to me! What is happenin—"


She widened her eyes as her scans picked up a few changes. 


Leif was in pain but during that pain, he felt multiple other things. 


Like the growth of his muscles and strengthening of his blood vessels. He felt his muscles getting tighter and his heart becoming bigger. His oxygen capacity increased and his senses multiplied.


His eyes glowed like crimson jewels and with that, he felt that he could see, hear and smell everything around him far better than before.


Ayana stared at his rapidly changing features in disbelief as her scans picked up the changes that were going inside him.


"This is… a miracle."


Ayana was in disbelief. It was not the dark magic that Esther was conjuring but it was something totally different. It felt holy yet evil, cold yet hot and pure yet corrupt.


'What is this?' Ayana wondered. 'It is not magic but it is not spiritual arts either.'


After a few minutes, the heat in his heart became bearable and the cold turned his skin to an even paler shade than before.


He felt relieved as the pain subsided but when he felt his new senses, he panicked. 


"Ayana… What happened to me?" His hands were shaking in worry but he knew that it was all somehow related to the voice that he heard.


"Did Esther do something to you?" Ayana asked. "Like casting a spell or forcing you to drink something?" 


The name Esther made him furious but he kept his anger to himself. 


"No." He answered. "She didn't."


He stared at Ayana. "Ayana… Tell me what is happening. Every bit of it."


Ayana wasn't sure if she could do that but since Leif's life got messed up because she couldn't be on time, she decided to tell him the truth.


"Can you walk?" She asked.


Leif was still in pain and the changes that were taking place within his body confused him greatly. But despite that, he knew that he could walk.


"I can."


"Good… Then follow me."


…

…


[Ayana's Library]


Ayana brought Leif to her personal library— one that even Esther has only been to once. 


Leif was baffled by all the magical books and items that were kept inside the library but neither he nor Ayana was here to talk about those books. 


"Tell me… What did the Mikaelsons do to me?"


Ayana frowned at his question. "I don't know. And I don't think Esther is responsible for your condition." She paused and corrected herself as she saw the frown on Leif's face. "Not directly at least."


"Explain."


Ayana took out a book from one of the shelves and placed it in front of Leif. Opening it, she pointed at a certain page.


"Esther changed a lot after the death of Henrik. And that change was not a good one." 


The page that she was pointing at had a picture of a man who was impaled by spears. The words that were next to the picture read 'Immortal.'


"She was forced by Mikael to dabble into the Dark Arts to make their children immortal… So, that the tragedy involving Henrik would never happen again."


Leif picked on what Ayana said. "So, she… used me as a sacrifice?"


As he said that, Ayana could feel the venom in his voice.


"Yes and no." She explained. "She didn't just create immortals… She created abominations."


Leif stared at Ayana which made her continue the explanation. "The Dark Arts involving immortality is not perfect and it is considered evil by many as it goes against the spirits. She didn't just create immortals, she created a bunch of bloodthirsty monsters that would lose their sanity when they are hungry." She pointed at Leif. "They used your blood to begin their new life as blood-suckers."


'So… It was Mikael… and Esther.' Leif gritted his teeth. 'You will pay… both of you. And Elijah, Niklaus and Rebekah… they betrayed me as well.'


"Choosing you was most certainly Mikael's idea to make his children cut ties with you." She sighed. "You all were not as subtle as you appeared, Leif. Quite a few people knew that you all met in secret."


Leif had somewhat figured that as within the years, Niklaus and Rebekah had slipped up quite a few times. 


"So, I was made the cannon fodder… a stepping stone to make them strong."


He mumbled at which Ayana reluctantly nodded.


"But…" She kept turning the pages. "There is not a single information about your situation. You took a hit to the heart but survived and even went through changes."


Leif was tempted to tell her about the voice, but decided against it… as he remembered the name of the individual that gave him the power.


'Loki…' He was uncomfortable thinking about the name. 'The God of Mischief and he said that I was his champion. Loki is not someone to involve oneself with but I already did that… So, I cannot risk telling others about him. I am not certain how it might affect them or me.'


Knowing that Loki was known for making the life of others miserable, he decided to not tell Ayana about Loki.


"Your condition is something that I will have to examine." She frowned. "It is my fault that you got entangled in all this… If only I came a bit sooner…"


Leif placed his hand over her shoulder. "You are not the one to blame Ayana, the Mikaelsons are." 


Ayana gave him a strained smile. "I promise you… I will make this right. But you will have to stay in hiding for the time being. If they come back and find you, you will be killed. We don't know what changes you have gone through so we cannot take the risk."


Leif nodded. "I agree." He tightened his fist. 'And I swear I will make them pay…'


But for that… He needed strength which couldn't be achieved in a day. 


"Ayana…" He looked around the room. "Can I read the books within here?"


Ayana was a bit reluctant as most of the books were forbidden for non-magic users. But because of the guilt she felt towards him, she agreed with his request.


"Fine, but don't hurt yourself."


Leif smiled. "Thank you."


'This place… must have some ways to gain strength.'