Page 139 of Psycho Beasts

Abruptly, I was pulled away from the fight club, and I was drowning in a frozen lake.

Droplets of blood shimmered around me, suspended in the inky depth.

The numb voice was uncharacteristically panicked, and it screamed across my mind like rusty nails. You will stand up and fight!

I easily blocked out the noise.

Was the valley of the sun god an endless lake? It was cleansing and chilled, a crisp oasis of sparkling water. How interesting.

You stupid girl, you’re not allowed to walk in the valley.

Rude.

My vision was perfect, and the gold skin of my fingers glowed enchantedly in the black water.

“I can walk wherever I want,” I maturely argued with the voice inside my head as I twirled softly through the lake.

A warmth suffused through my chest. Inner peace was divine.

I pinwheeled my arms and giggled bubbles as I slowly sank through the abyss.

You ignorant fuck.

Wow. It was always so calm. Who would have thought the voice inside my head had a secret swearing problem?

“Ignorance is bliss,” I thought back with a relaxed smile.

How right I was.

In eons, I’ve never had to do this.

The numb really must not be big on swearing.

“It’s just ‘fuck,’” I replied in my head as I kept twirling. “Don’t take life too seriously. It just helps you get your point across.”

Had I always been so wise? Tranquility wrapped itself around my heart and caressed me with its sweetness.

Galaxies abound, why are the young so dumb?

I twirled faster, and twinkly bubbles enveloped me.

It seemed like a rhetorical question, so I didn’t bother to answer.

When we survive this, you are going to bow at my feet and offer me an immortality of fidelity. You will be my right hand and will complete every task I demand of you. I will carve your name into my legacy, and your blood will lead the war. You will give everything, sacrificing all you know, to kneel on the battlefield and proclaim our victory over the worlds.

I giggled and blew out bubbles. “I won’t survive this.” The surety of my demise settled around me like a soft blanket.

Death wasn’t bad.

Why had I ever been afraid?

It was living that hurt.

LISTEN! the numb screeched with all her might, and pain exploded as if she hammered rusty nails deep into my brain.

I gripped my head and writhed, the cool waters no longer calming, the inky abyss no longer a sanctuary.

YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN AS MY CHAMPION, AND YOU WILL LIVE! YOUR BIRTH, EVERYTHING YOU ARE, WAS PURPOSEFULLY CREATED TO SERVE ME! AND NOW YOU WILL RISE AND FULFILL YOUR DESTINY!

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