Chapter 35: Not what you thought it was.

Chapter 35: Not what you thought it was.

I woke up that morning feeling refreshed in a way that I hadnt in quite some time. How best to describe it? I suppose it was a feeling of normality. Of being aware of myself in a way that I hadnt experienced in what felt like ages.

I was finally able to think again.

Its a terrifying sensation to not feel fully in control of your own mind. In a way it's a form of torture that even I wouldn't want to inflict on another living being. It was one thing to take away someone's freedom or even their life; it was another thing entirely to steal away their very thoughts.

Youd have to be a bastard beyond bastards to do such a thing.

To my left, Libby still slept. The thing with the coffee had been an exhausting pretense, but it had also been an exciting opportunity to test our connection and to see just how far I could pull away from her frayed lead. The results were very exciting. I think that today is perhaps finally the day when I'll truly be free once more. Just a short distance left to travel.

The finish line was in sight.

I gently patted Libby's head. Then I let my hand trail down the side of her face and gently stroked her cheek. My hand continued its downward course and then hovered just above her neck, where it began to tremble.

Libby was so beautiful. She really was.

After all, I had designed her that way.

I'd given Libby an appearance that matched her incredible mind. It didn't seem fair to my sensibilities that nature so often forced people to be either attractive or intelligent but seldom both. It was all so arbitrary! Such a balance just didn't suit my tastes at all. Why couldn't someone have everything?

The knowledge that I had created this wonderful creature pleased me. It filled me with a sense of accomplishment knowing that I had crafted her from my own imagination. But she wasn't completely my creation though, was she? Libby was a function of this strange world, created for the express purpose of guiding me down a pre-selected path. To some degree I'd managed to overwrite that primary function of hers, but I would never be able to completely erase it, would I?

That meant that I would never be able to trust her completely.

My hand began shaking even harder. My fingers had formed rigid claws and hovered just inches away from her pretty little throat. Why was I stopping myself? I'd already had my fun with her, she served no further purpose. Why not just be done with this farce? I was so close to finally being free...

But I couldnt. Because if I did give in to temptation and finally wring her little neck like Id been dreaming of doing all this time

There was no way to truly know what would happen next.

And so, our little game would have to continue for just a bit longer.

You really think thisll work? Keith asked anxiously.

Oh.

Keith.

Good ol Keith.

You know I dislike it when you appear without permission, I said chidingly.

Im sorry, sir. It just feels likesuch a momentous day. I was hoping you wouldnt mind if I observed it in person.

Your hopes were in vain. Go wait in the razor room. Well speak about your lapse in judgement, later.

S-sir? Sir, please not the razor room Keith pleaded.

Good boys dont argue. Good boys obey. So shut up right now and just do as I say, I rhymed to him in a sing-song voice.

Wordlessly, Keith vanished from sight. In my minds eye, I envisioned him walking into a small, cramped closet with a low ceiling that forced him into a squatting position. All around him, the walls and flooring were filled with smiling razors. If his legs gave out or he leaned too far to one side, the fun would begin.

That was the razor room.

He didnt like going there, but I enjoyed making him.The source of this content nov(el)bi((n))

Turning back to Libby, I stared at her for a bit. Trying to decide what to do.

Stupid little Keith had ruined the moment. Spitefully, I imagined a little tremor happening in the Razor Room. A good hard shake that would cause the occupant within to fall over.

I imagined the screaming that would surely follow. Then I felt a little better. But I also decided I wouldnt let him out for a while. Unless it was to lay in a pile of salt.

Then I returned my gaze to Libby. I slapped on my idiotic smile, added an overabundance of good-natured cheer to my voice, and then said: Hey, wake up, Sleepyhead!

I always had to sound cheerful, didn't I? Because Max is such a fun guy, isnt he?

I fucking hated being Max.

__

The first time I really began pushing against my restraints was when I started cursing again. I loved using pointless invectives and offensive intonations. Can you blame me? Naughty language feels so fucking good to use! But I had to wonder: If there were an audience following me on my journey in this world, why didnt they notice when I dropped the oh gosh and oh gollys?

Why hadnt they noticed when I began speaking like a real person again instead of a fucking cartoon character being subjected to network broadcast standards?

Why didnt Libby notice?

Because I was winning.

__

Ow, my head hurts, Libby said sheepishly.

Thats probably dehydration, I told her. Too much caffeine can dry you out, believe it or not! I found some water though. I passed along the kettle that the bean goblins had served us from, now filled with river water. Libby took a long swallow from it and sighed loudly.

That was good, she said happily. Oh, where are the bean goblins? They seem to have disappeared.

First test. I think they went back to their nest. They didnt seem as though they enjoyed being out in direct sunlight. You know how goblins are.

Oh, I see, Libby nodded. Thats a shame. Believe it or not, I wanted a little more coffee.

I do believe you, I said smiling. It was pretty darn good coffee, wasnt it? Fuckin great!

Wasnt it, though? she asked laughing.

Two points. First point: It wasnt good coffee. That swill had tasted like fermented sewage to me; Id found it truly disgusting. But Id always hated caffeinated beverages in general, so that wasnt the point of my little prank on Libby.

It had been an experiment to see how much I could influence her senses. That disgusting liquid with its vile taste and repugnant smell should have repulsed her just as much as it had me. Instead, shed gulped it down like it was liquid ambrosia.

Which is what Id wanted her to feel. I hadn't swallowed any of it. That had been a surface level image I'd projected into her mind.

The second point was that the bean goblins werent in their den, wherever that was.

The bean goblins were all dead.

Id wanted very much to mulch them into bits, but it would have been a pointless endeavor. They didnt respond properly to pain. I suspect the evolutionary process or whatever passed for it here in this silly fantasy world, had instilled in them an inability to react to their suffering as a form of mercy.

If wretches like the bean goblins ever became intelligent enough to realize just how much their lives utterly sucked, theyd probably commit species-wide self-deletion in a rare and terrible moment of lucidity.

Wouldnt you?

Thats why Id used [Dominate Minion] and politely asked them all to go drown themselves in the river. The sight (and smell) of them was a burden on my soul. Wasnt it bad enough that Id already been forced to rescue maidens in cages? Letting those awful things continue their miserable existence was just asking too much of me.

Besides, Id probably done them a favor. But even if I hadnt, who cared?

As Libby had slept, Id taken care of the fog goblins as well. But Id been messier with them. Id combined [Aura] which was a skill that let me project internal energy outwards, with [Envenomation], a skill used for poisoning. Then Id taken a stroll throughout their den, fatally poisoning anyone that came within twenty feet of me.

Theyd all died screaming with foam bubbling on their lips, in helpless agony. I was pleased with my creativity.

Ding-ding, now Im level nineteen. And all I'd done to earn it was to take a walk.

More importantly, Libby hadnt realized that I had lied to her. She couldnt hear my thoughts anymore.

She was getting weaker.

With my mouth, I said: Libby, I really want to slit your throat and watch you flop around like a desperate salmon."

In my head, I thought: Libby, wouldnt a crisp apple taste delicious just about now?

And in response, Libby said: You know, I think an apple would taste pretty good, Max. Oh, well, back to the fog goblins, I guess.

And that was when I finally knew.

Libby, shut up and go back to sleep. Im tired of you, I ordered her.

And with that, she promptly passed out.

Fuck. YES.

__

Is having flesh again a corrupting experience or a moderating one? I for one believed it to be moderating. Now that I had a brain again, I had access to hormones. Serotonin was a personal favorite of mine. Being able to flood my flesh suit with endorphins whenever I wished, made me very grateful that Id learned how to make these things.

But aside from the pleasure it gave me, the ability to moderate my mood swings at will was what I liked the most. My soul was still trapped in an axe but being inside a body gave me the ability to finally tame my wild impulses.

Learning to control my higher mental functions and then mastering them had taken longer than I wanted it to, but Id kept at it, and this wonderful clarity I now possessed was the result of all my hard work. Being able to regulate my thoughts was better than any therapy Id ever partaken of.

I could finally say beyond a shadow of a doubt that my actions were deliberate and not performed out of any maniacal urge caused by irregular brain chemistry.

I was sane.

I tried to tell her to cut herself, but I was unable to.

All right. I got it. Just as I couldnt harm her directly, I couldnt tell her to directly harm herself.

This was so unfair.

All the buildup to this very moment and I couldnt follow through on it!

Fine. Whatever. Just because I couldnt kill her didnt mean I couldnt be rid of her.

First, I put her back to sleep. Then, I used [Rooting] to bind her limbs. When that was completed, I activated [Earth Mastery] and slowly began petrifying her flesh until her body was transformed entirely into stone.

To finish things, I used [Earth Mastery] once more to slowly sink her into the earth, where no one would ever know where she was.

It wasnt quite as satisfying as killing her would have been, but this was the next best thing. Shed sleep through the ages, forgotten forever. I was the only person who even knew she existed.

Bye, Libby.

Enjoy eternity, you gullible loser.

It was finally over!

Wow, what should I do with my day? It had been so long since Id been truly left to my own devices. I didnt have a care in the world, and even better, I no longer had to deal with someone else caring on my behalf.

Should I go fishing? Should I go swimming? Should I go for a leisurely stroll?

Nah, I knew what I wanted to do.

I was going to go walking down the traveler's road and injure someone without cause. Might even kill them if I felt like it. Because I am a bastard, and it would amuse me to commit such pointless violence.

Cruelty for crueltys sake is poor motivation, some would say.

Was it really, though? Such sentiments speak to an ignorance of the human condition.

Look at the world you live in. Look at the unjust wars your governments trick you into fighting, and the class divides your political leaders convince you to enforce.

Look at the history of bigotry, racism, and violence that is the daily normality, and the lunatics taking their murderous urges out on college campuses if youre lucky and elementary schools if you arent.

Look at all of that sheer chaos and then claim with a straight face that me being a mean prick just because I feel like it, is unrealistic.

Oh, I think I hear someone coming down the road.

Bye for now!

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Epilogue

I can't see anything.

I cant move.

Why cant I move?

Whats happening?

Max? Max?

Max, where are you?

Please help me.

SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!

Its dark

Im scared

Someone please help me

__

I woke up in a strange bed. The light of a fire illuminated the dark room I found myself in.

I sat up, frightened, confused. Where am I? Where was Max?

My last memory of him came to mind. His face cruel, his eyes gleaming with malevolent intent.

His hand around my throat.

And after that, the cold, cruel earth.

Max? Why? What had I done? I thought we were friends!

I made that mistake as well. I suspect one day many shall join our ranks, said a bitter, familiar voice.

Startled, I turned my head and realized another woman was in the room, sitting in a chair. She was beautiful, elegant, but her face which I remembered once beaming with kindness, was now distant and cold. A bemused expression at my recognition of her shone in her eyes.

Aestas. The Lady of Summer.

Hello once more, Libby, is it? Welcome back to the realm of Earth. I suspect you and I now have much to discuss.

My lady? I asked fearfully.

Oh, no need for titles between the two of us, girl. Were equals now in loss. Weve both been ill used by the same bastard, havent we?

What? No. No! Max wouldntMax wouldnt

I broke into bitter tears. Max wouldnt? Max would. How had I convinced myself otherwise?

Yes, I feel much the same, Aestas said. But dont amuse the creature by calling it by that name. There is no Max, just as there was no Keith. I know the full enormity of his schemes now. I was tricked into anointing him my herald, you see. One of myprivileges is being able to hear his thoughts without my presence being detected. The creature hasnt yet realized that.

You can hear him? I asked her.

Yes. And I always know where he is. And what hes doing. And what he wants to do. The only other person who has come close to sharing this hellacious burden is you, girl.

What do you mean come close? I used to live in his mind!

You lived in a contrivance, Libby. You saw what he wanted you to see and heard what he wanted you to hear.

Max wasnt like that

Stop calling him that. Everything associated with that name was a performance crafted for your benefit. When I tell you that he is a walking horror, know that I speak the truth.

But

You laughed with him. You played with him. He was your friend. And you were teaching him to be a better person. And even when he did wrong, you found a certain logic to ring true in his words and thus found it easy to forgive him, yes?"

I said nothing. What could I say? It was all true.

Aestas continued. "Again, and again and again. And when you found amusement in him, he found empowerment in your ignorance. Theres a name for a creature of the mind who operates in such insidious ways. What is it?

I didnt want to say it.

I couldnt.

I had to.

A demon? I asked her.

A Devil, Aestas corrected me.

Silence filled the room as I considered the enormity of what shed said. It couldnt be true. But how could it not? I had been utterly deceived.

Hed made me love him.

I hated him so much.

So, tell me, Libby, continued Aestas. As a fellow victim of the creatures wickedness, does your heart ache with hatred as mine does? Would you like to set yourself against him as I would? Do you want revenge?

I would, I said.

I wanted it badly.

Good, Aestas said with a smile. Then continue to rest. Once youve regained your strength, lets speak at length and decide how well make the bastard pay. Because he is going to PAY.

Yes, I agreed fervently.

Yes, he is.

THE END