Tsugi's days went by in a blur. She refused to get out of bed most days and sometimes refused to even open her eyes.
"Master Tsugi, you must get up." Aeris stood by her bedside, in her perfectly pressed outfit, with not even a single strand of hair out of place. She moved about the room and picked up clinking bottles.
Had she been drinking again?
But Tsugi had no thundering headache. She was only thankful to Aeris for her obsessive behavior of cleanliness and perfection.
‘No…she's not real. I'm just going to see her die some horrible death soon. I'm sure of it.’ She closed her eyes and pulled the blanket over her head, not wanting to wait and see the outcome of this nightmare it will become.
Bel came and sat on her bed with her, hugging her knees, huddled into a ball, crying along with Tsugi.
"Stop." Tsugi muttered, not at Bel but toward Sir Gorou. She was sure he was haunting her, never giving her a moment's peace.
"Stop what?" Bel said softly as she wiped her tears from her face.
Tsugi finally opened her eyes and looked at Bel. She was still the little eight year old girl Tsugi had met all those years ago. Bel hadn't aged a day. Now Tsugi knew for sure, she was hallucinating.
Bel should be a grown woman by now. There's no way any of this is real.
"Stop!" Tsugi screamed again, this time filled with anger and resentment. Tsugi pulled the blanket back over her head.
"Come on." Val said with excitement. "I know just what will make you feel better." She too hadn't aged a day, but she was already an adult so could she have changed much? "Come on! You will love this one. This guy enjoys beating his servants to death." She grins from ear to ear with a glint of menacing joy radiating in her blood red eyes.
‘What can hurt?’ Tsugi thought to herself. ‘It's just a hallucination anyway. Maybe it'll relieve me of this anger and frustration.’
Tsugi got out of bed but Val had already left.
She meandered through the house, working her way down to the cellar, but Val wasn't there either, just a body of another obese noble who probably had servants to scratch his testicles for him as she was sure he wouldn’t be able to reach past his belly.
She dawned the apron and pushed the platform aside. She no longer needed the step stool as she was now much taller.
‘When was the last time I stepped in this room?’
Placing the tray of tools on the side of the bed, the man was already gagged and strapped down, staring up at her with horrified eyes. She stared back at them, but she felt nothing, no remorse, nor joy. Her face was as blank as how she felt.
Picking up the scalpel she began by peeling back the skin on his fingers and toes, revealing the white tendons and red muscles underneath. The man screamed and writhed at every touch, but Tsugi continued to slice and then heal just enough to stop the bleeding.
"Oh no you don't." Tsugi sighed. "You must watch everything. So, let's make sure you never close your eyes again." She sliced off the man's eyelids before continuing. He cried and screamed, staring at the mirror hanging above his head.
"You see this?" She lifted his belly flap. "I bet you haven't seen this little peanut in a long time." She glanced up at the mirror. "Oh, you still can't see it." She shrugged. "Here, let me help you." She cut it off, testicles and all, dangling it over him as it dripped blood onto his face and eyes.
One of the testicles popped out of the incision and landed on his face, before bouncing on the table and rolled onto the floor. “Oops.” Tsugi dropped the penis and scrotum onto the man's chest and bent down to pick up the testicle. “Let’s just pop this right back in there.” She pulled open the incision and slipped the testicle back in.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“Well, I’m surprised, you are still wide awake.” Tsugi’s grin now turned into one of enjoyment like Val’s. “Even with your skin peeled off all the way up your arms and legs, your manhood and testicles now gone, I’m surprised you haven’t died from a myocardium infarction. Seeing as to how obese you are, let’s see just how strong that heart of yours is, huh?” Her face turned into what looked like someone completely different, filled with elation and joy.
She sliced his chest open and cracked his ribs with just her bare hands, pulling his ribs apart. Pushing the lungs aside, she peeled the pericardium to reveal the fatty beating heart. “Do you know how it feels when you get electrocuted?” She tilted her head to look at him. “It feels somewhat like this.” She grabbed his heart in her hands and squeezed. He tensed and the sweat beads on his forehead rolled down his face, along with tears that rolled down his temples.
“You must be one really sick bastard. I’ve never met a civilian that can survive through all of this. I mean, ‘I’ can because it’s my job, but you – you seem to be enjoying it. I can see the dilation in your pupils. Well, let's see how long you can continue to enjoy it.” Tsugi smirked an evil, unlike Tsugi smirk, and began peeling off the skin on the man's face.
“Tsugi.” The distant familiar voice froze her in place. She looked up and glanced around but she didn’t see anyone. “Tsugi.” The voice was closer and gentle.
Her expression softened and returned to the same face she would recognize, as herself. “Tsugi.” The voice continued again.
“Lugo?” Her whisper was naught but a crying plea, begging him to save her from this hell she is trapped in.
‘No! I can’t see him die too. No, it’s not him. It can’t be him.’ Tsugi shut her eyes.
“Aeris.” Lugo’s begging voice was a distant whisper like a gentle wind through the mountain grass before fading into nothingness.
She was alone in the dark again, crying in the corner of her dark damp room where she felt safe, hidden amongst the darkness, where no one will see her – where no one will find her.
“Master Tsugi.” Aeris was standing by her bedside again. “You must come back.”
“No.” Tsugi cried. “You’re not real. None of this is real – just leave me alone.”
Aeris let out a big sigh. “Come on. You need to get up.”
“No!” Tsugi croaked. “I don’t want to see anyone else die.”
“No one is going to die.”
The blanket is yanked off her and she sat up with an angry look, and red watery eyes. She was ready to retort and yell at Aeris, but – it wasn’t her.
Lugo sat in the chair, beside the bed, his hair disheveled and his stubble was overgrown and unkempt. He had dark bags under his eyes and he looked so very lost and confused, gazing at her with the most worried eyes Tsugi had ever seen.
“Lugo?” Tsugi looked at him, glancing around the familiar room. She was back in her room.
“Tsugi?” His voice was raspy.
“No.” Her breathing picked back up and she clenched her eyes shut. Lying back down, she threw the duvet back over her head. “No, this isn’t real. This isn’t real.” She chanted again and again.
“Hey, hey, hey.” Lugo said softly as if he was talking to a child. “It’s just me.”
“No it’s not. You’re not him. You’re not him.”
She heard him shuffle in the chair and take a deep sigh. After a moment, she heard him walk out of the room. Listening to his receding footsteps, she sobbed into her pillow. She could no longer tell what was real and what wasn’t anymore. Was she hallucinating her whole life? Was there ever really someone named Lugo? Or was anyone in her life real?
She heard the door creak open again and she tensed, pulling the duvet tighter over her head. The footsteps came closer and closer, and sat in the creaking chair beside her bed.
‘It must be Sir Gorou, haunting me again.’ She clenched her eyes and shuddered at the thought, waiting for an absolution, or a blow that never came.
Instead, a soft whistling melody resonated through the room, reaching her soul as they traveled through her ears. The calming music slowed her breathing and heart rate. She slowly removed the blanket and saw Lugo, neat and clean sitting before her. His eyes were closed and he looked so peaceful playing the ocarina.
When he finished, he opened his eyes and looked at her, smiling wistfully.
“Hey.” He said softly. “You feel better?”
She quickly covered her head again. “No. You’re not real, you’re not real.”
“Tsugi.” Lugo said sternly. “What can I do to show you that I’m real?”
Tsugi went quiet for a moment. “I don’t know.” She muttered. “I just know you’re not real.”
“Whether I’m real or not, wouldn’t you rather spend your time finding that out, rather than be like this forever?”
“I’d rather be like this.”
“Why?!” He had tried so hard to hide his frustration, but it slipped past him. He clenched his eyes and fists, wanting to pummel himself for losing control.
Tsugi threw off the blanket and sat straight up in bed. “Because then I don’t get to see you die over and over again!” She cried.
Lugo’s heart dropped into his stomach and his eyes now filled with shock and horror. “Well – I’m glad that you’re concerned about me.” He chuckled. “I will die one day, but not anytime soon. Besides, with how frustrating you are, I’m sure you will probably die way before me anyway.” His jest lightened the air and relaxed Tsugi’s tense shoulders a little. He leaned in and placed his elbows on his knees. “Now will you get out of bed? I have a place I want to take you to.”