Chapter Text
“Laios Touden. I curse thee. Thy greatest desire shall never be granted.”
The Winged Lion’s words echo in Laios’ head as the being ceases to exist. As it does he feels himself being pulled out of the space in his soul and back into his battered monster body bit by bit. That won’t do.
Not just because that body is bleeding heavily and wracked with pain. Or because all of his eyes have been torn out and the damage to his airways and mouth means that there’s blood pooling in his lungs and suffocating him. But more because he can’t think right in that form. He was right when he assumed that the Lion would make him a beast. Being a beast wasn’t so bad, being free from worry or complex thoughts. But he’d almost eaten Chilchuck while he was devouring the Lion-hims, that was bad. He can’t save Falin without his human mind (if she can even still be saved). He’d harm his party if he stayed a beast.
Laios flows magic through his monstrous body and the pain of healing courses through the heads on the front of his body. He needs to do this before his mind slips away again. He changes the flow of his magic not stopping the healing but now tugging on one of the abilities he gave his monster. He needs to be small. Much smaller than this huge hulking form as wonderful as it was, he needs to be back to his original size. He needs thumbs and human vocal cords.
His pelt loosens and another somewhat smaller one forms under it.
Laios repeats the process, again and again. Shedding himself layer by layer as his body sinks under the waves. There’s enough air trapped in these layers of skin and the hollows where his giant lungs once were that he can keep breathing. Small, smaller, and smaller still.
He is small enough now to sit within the contents of his stomach. The stale air reeks of blood and bile. His remaining tail twitches and knocks against chewed-up pieces of the copies of his human body. Laios’ feathers plaster to his neck with blood and body fluids. His two other heads hang limply like tumors, empty of everything other than fluid. Huh, so the bird head was his primary one?
He should shed again. His head still isn't fully clear. But not here, closer to the surface. Laios grabs an intact clone of himself, dead from drowning in stomach acid, but what was important was that the clothes and armor were fine. It even had a Kensuke still strapped to its hip. He uses his talons to cut through the layers of thick hide above him and holds his breath as the space fills with seawater. It's fine, he made his monster capable of surviving and swimming in the deep.
An ash blond head breaches the surface. Greedily he takes gulps of sweet fresh air. Then he sheds again, loosing the horse head and his hooves. Once more and there goes the wolf head and some of his feathers and—dammit! Shit! He’d overshot what he was going for.
Laios paddles back to shore dragging his own corpse behind him. He leaves his body sprawled against the sand as he looks over his body in the water’s reflection. Oh no… no fangs or claws or tails. Just bare peach-colored human skin, blunt omnivore teeth, blunt useless nails. Shit. He’d wanted to keep at least a bit of his monster shape to him.
Well… no use dwelling on it. He could probably try again later for a more fitting shape when he had some free time. Granted it would probably be harder to shed bigger than shed smaller. And he’d have to work on controlling what features he wants to have because vestigial parts and floppy empty heads weren’t great. Plus he’d have to avoid changing back so far that he lost his sense of reason because his monster self couldn’t be trusted to avoid devouring the people he cares about.
The people he cares about who saw his deepest darkest desire.
Laios groans and collapses onto his rear in the sand. His party saw the wish that the Lion used to get him. Hell, they saw him eat human. Lots of human. (He almost ate Chilchuck too) Would they ever want to see him again?
His stomach turns at the thought of meeting them again. Of seeing accusation or genuine fear in their eyes. He wouldn’t be welcome anymore. He’d have to leave. Later, Laios reminded himself they had to save Falin first. He didn’t doubt that his party would help bring her back. But after that, they’d probably make him leave.
After a moment Laios realizes that he’s hungry.
That makes sense. He used a lot of magic healing his wounds and shapeshifting back to a human shape. That had to have taken a bunch of calories as well. Plus, all the meat that had been in his stomach before he transformed had been left behind and not actually digested. All but the corpse next to him.
…would it be wrong to eat something that was basically vomit? His belly rumbles incessantly as he ponders his clone. Drool drips down his chin as he thinks about it, hunger clawing painfully at his insides. Surreptitiously he looks up and down the stretch of beach, he’s quite alone. There’s no one to judge him for effectively re-eating his own vomit.
He strips the corpse, washes, and then sets out the clothes to dry. Cuts the throat of the other him with his sword and drains the blood. He starts a small fire, making it hot but not with too much smoke. Blade in hand he butchers the corpse. He buries the head, hands, and intestines under one of the trees lining the small beachside enclave he’s chosen to hole up in. There are no seasonings and foraging for something to supplement the meat felt beyond his current energy level. Plus his clothes weren’t dry yet and he didn't want to run into anyone while naked. Hopefully, Senshi will forgive him for making such an unbalanced meal.
He roasts different cuts of meat and organs over the fire impaled on sticks. Some of it he does simply consume raw. The flavor is quite different to a human tongue than it was to his wolf, eagle, and horse palates. Laios eats his fill and is surprised to find himself only feeling about forty percent full. There are only bones left and if he had a pot he’d be tempted to break them open for the marrow and make soup. But at least he doesn't feel like he’s starving anymore so there’s that.
He leaves the bones in the roots of a different tree and covers them with soil and leaf litter. Then Laios gets dressed in both his clothes and armor. Sighing, he might as well go find out where on the island he is.
……
Of course, the first person he finds is Falin’s frozen corpse.