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DATE:5th of June, the 70th year after the Coronation
LOCATION: Concord Metropolis
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I wope up on a surgery table where father was dissecting my intestines.
"We're feeling very original today, aren't we."
He responded by giving me a powerful sludge to the cheek.
As I stood there being tortured, I thought about what the hell my life had become. On one hand I unknowingly or better said indirectly did the fantasies of the apprentice of the man I killed, then I use this damned ability much more and that is even besides how I was almost raped/killed. And there is this father of mine, giving me a scary grin as if it mattered. Does he think I still care about his abuse? All those years later?
If I were to take what ...She... Said for granted then it would yeah yes but I'm not so sure. It's not like I steal quiver away when I see him.
I don't Dodge when he hits and I don't clench my teeth from the pain. I have become accustomed to physical pain more so than the one induced by my degrading mental state from the drugs. So then why am I still here?
Still seeing his ugly mug?
"To not let go" Does she mean the memories? Is it because I cannot see him anymore that I see him in this form? The nightmares did start after we were separated.
But I don't think I want to see him again.
This man deserves to rott in hell, so then why does he get to punish me? Is this supposed to be my hell? Come on now God, you have the whole of eternity to punish me. Getting at me even in this finance time I have on Earth is against the rules right?
Some say that this technically being inside my mind I could manipulate the area but in all my attempts I failed. Even if this is my mind and I am lucid the master that decides the rules is an observer. I understood long ago that it wasn't my father. I think he barely even is conscious. I wonder how he sees me that he still hurts me without a second thought after all these years.
If he were back then he would have gotten bored in a week at most. I must be looking like a monster right now.
I know there is an observer because I sometimes see them. Not a figure or a person. Usually just eyes looking from the distance. They disappear after I see them, sort of a way to trick me into thinking if they really where they are. But I know they are. They have been sloppy. Too many times to just pass it up as coincidence.
Wait, I still have my abilities from the drugs in here? That is something I never tried, mostly because I seemingly get here at random and coordinating that with taking drugs beforehand is a pain, but I got to sleep early tonight. The super cocaine is still in my veins!
Except.... That wouldn't really help. What can I do with slowed time when I am tied to a table. Just like me, my father can regenerate in this place. What I need is this supplement from Maxwell's. With that I may actually be able to break this cycle.
The more You know.
Father was currently pulling out my intestines.
"Do you ever think about how lonely we are here?"
I received another fist to my cheek, but I wasn't done.
"You terrible man, coming to see me all those years. Aren't you ashamed?" He took a surgical scalpel and cut my tongue while I gaggled on my blood. But I wouldn't die, no matter how much I bled. I didn't even lose conscience. He went on for hours, untisturbed, not even tired, as if this was all a game to him. I pity my father and how he is manipulated.
Then I woke up.
I opened my eyes and I was back in the dorm room. I was mentally exhausted from the drugs and my hands were tired. I could feel something warm in my right hand. Glancing to the right, Alice was holding it? Locking eyes, I could see her face was crimson.
"Ah, I... Saw you had a nightmare! So.... I.... Thought I should support you-" She let go of my hand and raised her arms.
"Sorry, I must seem very clingy."
"Ehh..." I put a hand to my forehead. One of my temple's veins were pulsating. No wonder, yesterday I used both substances.
"So, Did you manage to read the letter?"
Her attention piqued, Alice beamed once again with energy.
"Yes, I am halfway done." In a single night? What is she made of?
"The message is quite eerie to be honest... Something about eternal life." Are the Zilliams litches or what?
"Are you sure this came from the Dean's desk?"
"Yes, I took it myself from a secret compartment."
" Then.... I don't know... What will we do?" She was really worried. About her own life? I don't think so.
" What can we do? Isn't it our responsibility to uncover this?"
"Yes, you are right!"
She then glanced at her phone and got reminded of a certain matter.
"Oh yeah, you are supposed to be in class."
"Yeah, but firstly I am going to the Dean to report what happened with the villain yesterday."
"Yes, that is a good idea!"
" Can you... Let me alone to get dressed?"
" Of course. I am going to finish the translation in the meantime. See you in your break!"
I didn't go to the Dean. Instead I called John, the Doctor. He was horrified to hear how I was almost killed and said he will come tonight to see the crime scene with me.
Haaah. When will Yonezu come back?
Mondays I had two classes with an hour break after the first two. Alice found me on the hallway, staring in the distance. I was starting to tweak from all those drugs.
" So I managed to finish translating the letter. Look!" Shouldn't you be more silent with such a sensitive issue? I wonder if the Dean has secret cameras. I would think so, but if not why hadn't she come directly to me? Does she want to punish me and is making a plan?
The delicate girl handed me an A4 paper with her own translation on it.
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I am finished with my project. If complete, I will reach a new level of existence and this will allow me to guide the new world once again.
My pursuit of longevity is not one born out of malice, but the fact that I can't allow anyone else to take my place, for they do not have my wisdom. Greed fills the human heart, and I fear this academy shall have a fate like all others.
A few years of life from the students, as compensation for my service, I think it is a proper payment.
New me, open the laboratory downstairs to finish the project. It must be done after my new form of life. The key is in -----------.
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"Is this really what he said?" It feels... Generic?
"Well, the Cordian royal writing Sistem that the old Dean used has been lost to time. Not even the current viscount family knows how to read it. I approximately translated what words had references kept so there could be another message we lost between these phrases...
The regional politics always confused me. The Cordon viscount ran away from Concord because he didn't like peasants or something like that. At some point two hundred years ago, about the same period as the academy's founding, the viscount family all died off mysteriously. Back then Concord was a free state, so the current ruler sent his brother to be in charge of Cordon, so it was basically annexed. About a hundred years ago Concord was conquered by the united Kingdom, by the father of the current king. He executed the count of Concord for his supposed " resistance". Funnily enough their dinasty lived on in their old rival's home, Cordon. All the development in Concord happened after this conquest or better said thirty years later after the coronation of the current king. I saw him on tv yesterday at the opening of some museum and he looks even younger than me. How he didn't age in 70 years of rule is out of my comprehension. Ten years with strict skincare, I can believe I am still human, but three generation for other humans and not a day older? I am not sure the royal family even is human. Long ears, they may be elves? But they don't live quite that long....
In any case, I went on a tangent, the point is that I am not surprised the current Viscount doesn't know this ancient language.
I looked back at Alice and asked her if she had any idea of this lab, but her memory was utterly ineffective. It didn't make sense at all. How did Zilliam's new body not find the key with all these generations to spare? Could it be that their memory is not reincarnated? But then why bother even searching for it if the reincarnation was a success? The Zilliam family controlled this school for centuries.
We parted ways and I got back to the classroom.
I was so bored I started dictating an article directly from the internet. Then I asked the to do an open book study on what I taught them.
I opened the desk and found a pack of cigarettes and a lighter that I confiscated from Silvia's group a week prior. I was surprised they they didn't take it back when I didn't even bother to report it to the Dean.
Guess it is mine then. I put them both in my pocket and left the class. They wouldn't care if I went for a smoke right?
I got to the closest window on the corridor and lit on of them. They were very weak.
I finished one and smoked a couple of more. I still had about twenty minutes for the class when I get called out.
"What are you smoking there Willy~?" It was a soft voice.
I look to my left and I see Sacha. She was the Academy's Councilor, but also taught some courses in Psychology and Philosophy for the twelvth grade. I think she was in her early thirties? A refugee that got sent to this Academy due to her ability. I am not sure what exactly it is as I was told it was a confidential matter. Anyway, I like her much more than Alice. She has a very thoughtful sense of conversation. She is much smarter than me, and especially much more informed about topics like politics and history. Was she too busy to do Yonezu's work?
"I don't really smoke, just felt like it now." It was true. I am used to much stronger stuff.
"Then give me one too. What are these? Mabo?" Mabo was a big Tabacco company operating in the southern desert. Concord is their main trading partner so they are quite cheap.
"Yup. Sure are." The red headed councilor took a cigarette out of "my" now half empty pack and gestured to light it for her. Sasha was a heavy smoker, but she didn't reek of them. A care for hygiene was clear. I liked that about her.
"So, how's been going Will? I hear you go to sleep quite late these days."
"I'm fine, I just had so things I needed to deal with."
"You're free to come to my office anytime, especially if you have Bad dreams." Wait. What was this about?
" How do you know about..."
" I can recognize suffering when I see it. I... Won't force you or anything, but you are always welcomed if you want to talk about it."
" Yeah....thanks." This wasn't good. How much did she know about my dreams? What else did she know? Was it from her ability-
" Well, see ya'. You better get to class William~" with a pat on my shoulder she continued down the corridor, cigarette in hand. After finishing mine I went back to class.
I need to talk with Sasha some time in the future to confirm what she knows. If all else fails she needs to disappear. No amount of similarity is worth risking my life. Wait, similar?
I remember her saying in the past that we were similar. What exactly did she mean by that?
I went out of the classroom the second the bell rang. I had to meet John.
He was waiting for me in his car in front of the Campus entrance. Big Bertha was back, and now repaired from that explosion.
John was really surprised to heard I killed someone and not to mention a dangerous villain. He didn't quite understand how it happened.
I then showed him the apartment and explained once again the scene in front of the bed where I killed the Vampire. The plan was that he would call the police and explain what happened under his hero persona, saying that one of his hero colleagues had been the one to do it, but didn't want to get involved.
I hoped it work and let him do his thing as I returned to the dorms to look around the library with Alice. I was sure the door wasn't here as it was illogical considering this is where I found the key. I am not sure what kind of lock would even fit such a strangely shaped key.
My head hurt very much. Half from all of Alice's constant talking and half from the drugs. Was I getting withdrawal syndrome from the caffeine? I should email the professor to send me more in case I nee- wow, this was the addiction in me talking. Why would I need more doses? For security? I need to take them before I actually need them so this is an entirely offensive ability. I need to take a break from all this.
It didn't feel right to go to Sasha right away so instead I seated myself on a bench outside the dorms and tried to take a nap while Alice was still looking at books in the library.
It got quite late, but Alice still didn't return. I debated wether to go to bed or find her, but when I got on my feet I could feel my consciousness slipping. But I wasn't falling asleep.it was as if my body was rotating constantly, and from my eyes it really was, but getting down to touch the ground revealed this phenomenon was entirely mental.
Around me were lights, moving in the distance.
Was I under the effect of some ability? No, the drugs were at fault. This was a hallucination from the lack of sleep and withdrawal. I was lucid enough to be aware of it.
But what can I do?
I heard singing in the distance. It was the voice of a woman, a very serene melody. The lights were going in it's direction.
I wanted to follow them, but it was hard to maintain balance even with my eyes closed. But I had to persist. Following that song didn't feel dangerous, but it wasn't like with the Vampire. My true senses weren't numbed. I could feel the melody as if it's notes were a physical veil, enveloping me with their calm atmosphere. I grabbed them, and prompted my unfeeling body to reach their point of origin.
The notes continued up until the flower garden. I saw a figure of light in the distance, much bigger than the dots. As I got closer it turned into the body of a woman and the other figments of luminosity surrounded hee like an audience.
Her form defined by a tight, sleek white dress that clings to her delicate frame, accentuates her ethereal beauty. The dress, though form-fitting, seems to shimmer like liquid light, as though it is made of pure energy rather than fabric. Her hair is cut short, barely grazing her chin, with strands that catch and reflect the soft glow of her radiant presence. The short, sharp lines of her hairstyle add a modern, almost defiant contrast to her otherworldly nature. Her eyes shine with an inner luminescence, both warm and mysterious, drawing those who see her into a peaceful yet intense gaze. She moves with graceful fluidity, her glowing figure both striking and serene, embodying the essence of light in every motion. The air around her seems to hum with a quiet, tranquil energy, making her both mesmerizing and slightly untouchable.
She looked... Similar to the math teacher? But her deflated form, not the paranoid one she is in these days. She looks just like the photos I was showed to prove she wasn't born ugly.
"The Hauted of Baku approaches me. What is thy wish in seeking me, wretched creature?" Her words echoed into my mind. They were heard, but no spoken.
"So pompous, yet you're not even the first ghost I see. What is your relationship with Linda, Matilda... Pamela? I don't remember her name."
Her hue darkened and so did her melodic tone.
"You... Know me?"
What is that supposed to mean? The fat bitch was this woman? Nah, couldn't be.
"What is this you say about Baku? A dream eater? Who is it?"
"Do not bother me with your curses, fiend. You should know all those answers" Naah. I was very angry. I went to the ghost and tried to give it a slap, but my hand obviously went through. She looked at me dumbfounded.
"You look like you are in pain. How is it that your body became that hulking monstrosity and yet you criticize me?"
"I was attacked fiend! But not by a criminal like you. My soul and body were displaced by... By...."
"And you don't even know? Nevermind, I don't care. You say I came here by myself, yet I found this place because of your melody."
"For all these years my music rang deaf, creature. If it wasn't for the gardener's efforts in taking care of his flowers I would have whittled myself..."
"So how about I destroy all of these flowers if you don't tell me about these nightmares you wench! You are just like the fat pig your moving corpse has become, wasting my time with pandering."
"You.... Insult me so much.... G-get out." Huh? "I said Get out!" And with a blink I was back in the normal garden. It was dark.
A proud man would swell upon seeing such a beauty, thinking it his fate to untangle hers.
A foolish man would get lost in her beauty and help her out of love.
A keen man would have played her for information like a snake.
But I was a vengeful man and wanted to kill her.
Or is it not a mercy? Not to see your decaying corpse cosplaying as a human anymore, All the while you lose your mind, singing alone in a garden? What is one more curse to add to my collection?
I was looking at those flowers ready to tear them, But my hands shivered. I thought I pitted her and gave this ghost a second chance, but that wasn't the case and by the dorms Chrome door I knew.
I was a wrathful man.
What torture, what punishment is greater than just letting her suffer on like this undisturbed by anybody?
She's a princess but I'm not her prince. And even still, who is has his mind so on the bring that he blurs the line between life and death?
Who else will ever see her? Nobody.
And it is just what she deserves.
To be alone.
She is already in hell. Just like me.
That night I slept well. But I was so cold.