Book Two – Interlude – Inside Her Mind

The void of regret and guilt was dark and cold, with nothing but the darkest black in every direction.  In the very middle of the emptiness, a single girl was drifting unconsciously. She had no body, so she couldn't speak, nor did she have a mind able to produce any kind of coherent thought.  The only thing there was a single red soul.

It was faint and weakly flickered as it was besieged by a near-infinite amount of verbal thoughts that came from the hundreds of people who have died by her hand.

Why did you kill us? 

It hurts so much! 

Mommy, I don’t want to burn.  

HELP!!! 

I had a family, you know? 

Same here. I’ll never see my daughter again.  

My son only had me. And now he’s alone.  

His son is an orphan, thanks to you.  

Thanks for killing me, I guess.  

Did you have to kill me by breaking my limbs? 

Or me by tearing my head off? 

Or my brother by burning him alive? 

Or my daughter by beating her to death? 

Or my father by burning him? 

Or my cousin by ripping his head off? 

Or me by tearing my limbs off? 

Or me by slicing my foot off? 

Did you really have to let out that wave of fire? 

Yeah, did you? That really hurt.  

All of my skin caught fire.  

I didn’t even leave any ash.  

Nor did I.  

Same here. I still feel those hellish flames burning my skin even now! 

You killed people.  

You killed innocent people.  

Even if they were guilty, they didn’t deserve to die so painfully.  

You’re nothing but a mass murderer.  

You don’t deserve to be happy.  

You robbed me of my happiness.  

Just die.  

Please die. 

Why do you get to live? 

It’s not fair!!!

Do the world a favor and die.  

You’re a Demon.  

Or maybe a devil? 

You’re evil.  

That’s right, you’re 100% evil.  

You’ve killed children! 

Children! 

Children! 

Why did you kill those children?! 

Do us all a favor and die.  

Can you just die? I hate having my strength becoming yours.  

It’s not fair. I worked hard to get this far while you did nothing! That’s my strength, not yours.  

Those skills are mine!  

I spent thirty years training and training only to die to some whore with a fancy sword.  

Hey, how many other kids did you kill today? 

How many children have you robbed from their fathers? 

What about their mothers? 

I wanna live!! 

Daddy!!! 

Mommy!!! 

See, you got grown men begging for their parents! 

Only heartless witches can do that.  

More like heartless bitches!! 

They're really the same thing.

A heartless witch bitch killed us all.  

She killed me while I was asleep.  

Same here.  

Well, I burned to death.  

Same here.  

Same here.  

Here also.  

Can’t forget about me.  

I’m pretty sure the majority of us died by burning.  

Not me. This bitch's flying swords did the trick.  

That's what got me.  

Same here. My head was split open.  

Join the club.  

I got stabbed through the heart.  

My arm got cut off.  

My legs were gone.  

I wonder what happened to my family? 

Kelly, I miss you.  

Donnie, please grow up to be stronger than your old man.  

Bailey, I hope you take good care of our son.  

Toni, your daddy loves you very much.  

Becka, I hope to see you in the Heavens Above.  

Darby, may you get revenge for foolish grandfather.  

Abu, remember to eat your vegetables.

Blu, remember that your uncle loves you.  

Amelia, please listen to your mother.

Daka, I’m sorry I can’t take you to the summer festival. 

Thelma, remember that your friend Louise loves you. I’m sorry we couldn’t go to the canyon together.  

I miss my mommy! 

Daddy, I’m scared! 

Father, I’m sorry your pathetic son had to die like this.  

Sister, I wish I could be there to see the birth of my niece or nephew. Please forgive me.  

Brother, please take care of Molly for me. Be the father I could never be.  

What would you do if your friend found out? 

Would she call you a monster? 

How about a killer 

Or a murderer 

A mass murderer? 

Murder monster? 

A killer monster? 

Does it even matter? 

She’ll still hate you.  

She’d leave you.  

She’d wish she’d never met you.  

She’d wish you died.  

In fact, why didn’t you die? 

Why do you get to enjoy living even after your heart was pierced? 

Or you lost most of your blood? 

Or having your intestines fall out? 

It’s not fair that such a monster is immortal.  

How come I’m not immortal? 

What made you so special? 

You’re not special.  

You’re just a murderer.  

A killer.  

A child killer.  

You killed children   

Why did you do such a thing? 

They didn’t need to die.  

They never even had a chance to feel the touch of a woman.  

Nor have they experienced a kiss.  

You’ve killed them before they even had a chance to really live.  

How much strength could you have possibly gained from children? 

You should die.  

You should really die.  

Can I kill you? 

Can you slit your own throat? 

What about drowning yourself? 

But you can’t.  

You can’t die.  

It’s not fair.  

In reality, it was her voice and her voice alone that cursed her. It brought her so much pain. It flooded her with grief.  In the dark mistiness of the void of regret and guilt, her soul was nearly out of strength.  And right when even the universe and all of creation were certain her soul would be flickered out of existence, it suddenly exploded into a swirling vortex of red energy.

And from the red energy came a vaguely humanoid-like figure.  With a flick of its hand, a red cage formed around the soul, protecting it from any further abuse.

The red being turned around and smiled, though no smile appeared on its face while it lovingly stroked the cage.  Servi, I will protect you, and I will help you.  Allow me to take hold of these negative emotions and energy and cage them far away from you.  Please, rest easy and be at peace.  Once I'm finished, I'll talk to you about Fisher Jin.  I think he's a man we can trust and rely on, especially after hearing his story.  I don't think you remember what happened tonight, but I do.  I'll tell it to you. So please, listen to my voice....