[ WP ] [ TT ] Cursed to never die , you still end up being chopped to pieces yet remain alive . And must now find a way to get yourself put back together .

As the sound of birds nearby pierces my ears and I start to wake up, I realize two things: first, that I have a hell of a sore throat; second, that I ca n't move. I open my eyes and realize I ca n't breathe. Well, that's not right- I can breathe, but I do n't feel the air in my mouth. Then last night comes flooding back to me. 
 
 *That bitch. * I remember finally finding her again, after all this time. She had won last time too, strung me up in a cellar and burned the place down around me. I remember her laughing despite the bullets in her lungs, her face flush with joy as she swung the cleaver at me. 
 
 *Three in a row. I'll have to plan something special for the next time. Oh well, nothing for it but to pull myself together. * I reach out with my mind, trying to find the rest of me. I discover that my rival has been more thorough than usual. 
 
 *Oi, bird! Get away from that hand. I'll have you know it's got an owner! * I flex the hand and the bird flies off, startled. As the hand begins to crawl towards its arm, draped over a root nearby, I begin to hum `` The Addams Family''. Or I would, except my head is up here in this tree and my torso is... Oh, there it is, under that big rock. 
 
 After several hours of agonizingly slow progress and two mishaps- in hindsight, I should have noticed my arm was on backwards far sooner- I finally have myself mostly rebuilt. I watch my body totter about as I willed towards the tree my head was in. Climbing a tree is hard enough when you can see where your hands are going. As I set my head on my shoulders and felt that all too familiar itching as the tissues knit together, I sit down to take a breather. 
 
 I hear paper crumple in my pocket, and find a note, written in an elegant hand I'd seen many times before. 
 
 `` This was fun, even though we both know how futile it is. Let's try to make the next round a little more civilized, shall we? I'm going to visit our friends in Albion- I hear that they've preserved the circle well. After that, perhaps I'll visit the Franks' capital, to see what they call art these days. To our eternal good health!'' 
 
 I fold the note back up and return it to my pocket. My clothes are torn and bloodied, I have no money in my pockets, and she's halfway across the world by now. 
 
 *Game on, princess. I'll see you in Paris. *
