Took me much, much longer than expected, but here it is, given to you at 4 am and hopefully almost faultless.

Enjoy!

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They fell to sleep almost right away.

After an hour or so, having made sure they had fallen into a deep slumber, I began to make preparations.

Preparations, so that when they wake up, they’ll never have to dream like that again.

I gathered some Energy from the air and plugged their ears and disabled their vocal cords, making sure they wouldn’t scream and wake the other up and that, during their sleep, they are unbothered by sounds from outside.

I also set up a barrier around us to protect them from whatever may come, just to be sure. Also, I made sure to add some form of healing spell on it, since they’ll strain a couple of muscles during their oncoming tumult.

The first priority is to make sure absolutely nothing can wake them up from their sleep.

Not from the outside, nor from within the barrier.

They need to deal with their trauma right now and in one sitting.

If they do not, the nightmare will come again and again, appearing every single time they go into a deep sleep and might even haunt them during the day.

I speak from experience.

That is why the first priority is to let them face their memories without being interrupted, and their physical and mental health comes second.

Wounds can heal.

Scars disappear.

But memories may haunt you forever.

Once again, I speak from experience.

They slept closely to each, facing each other, as I sat myself down near them, watching their faces as they slept to make sure I can interfere when necessary.

Everything now prepared, there was nothing left to do but wait.

The first to react was Anna, her eyes moving restlessly behind their lids, whilst, very slowly, drops of sweat began to form on her head.

Although it was dark out and the moon was missing, I could see very clear.

Since my soul is always in contact with the Energy, I need but to think and I could see everything as if it were in broad daylight, and then some.

She began to move restlessly in her sleep and immediately, I cast a small restraint on her.

Not enough to stop the muscles from twitching, but enough to make sure she doesn’t flail her arms around wildly and wake up Damien.

After a while, Damien too began to squirm around and once again, I placed a restraint to make sure he doesn’t wake Anna.

Half an hour later, their mouths began to slightly open and close, as if they were murmuring in their asleep, although no sound came out.

I had made sure of that.

Time slowly passed and they opened their mouths wider and wider, silently screaming while every one of their muscles began to uncontrollably spasm, though still unable to move around, of course.

The healing effect of the barrier activated and I could sense the Energy seeping into their muscles, healing the minuscule ruptures before they could become serious injuries.

Sweat began to stream out of their every pore, soaking them completely and eventually, even tears, mucus and… ‘other’ fluids began to freely flow as their faces became more and more twisted in anguish.

Watching them silently reliving their terror, memories from the past came flooding in.

Dreadful memories of being burned alive; of being impaled; of being removed from every vital organ in the body; of being shot again and again; of being skinned and then slowly eaten alive; of being injected with toxins, acids, diseases, liquid metals, molten rock and many more; of being fed spikes, nails, glass shards and even explosives; of my bones being scraped for marrow; of…of…

Every single memory came flooding in, one more painful than the other in an endless stream of torment, hurting my head as I began to slowly collapse under the pressure.

Why?

Why must people torment others so?

Why do people seek to hurt others so much?

Why must I live through these things?

Why must I experience every hell imaginable?

Why can’t I have a normal life?!

Tell me why God?!

What is the meaning of all this?! What is “your ‘Grand Scheme’, your ‘unfathomable plan’, huh?! Why do I have to feel so much pain, so much torture?!”

“Why must this life be endless?! Why must I be hated?!”

“For what purpose have you created this… this… cycle?! This never-ending, forever torturing cycle?!”

“WHY CAN’T I DIE?!!!”

“DO YOU ENJOY THIS, GOD?! DO YOU ENJOY WATCHING OTHERS SUFFER SIMPLY BECAUSE YOU WISH FOR IT?!”

“TELL ME, GOD?!”

“DO YOU?!”

At some points, I began voicing my thoughts out loud, seeking answers.

Naturally, no answer came and I began to lose my mind even more as billions of years worth of pain began to overwhelm me.

The memories became more and more painful and a splitting head-ache overwhelmed me, until I lost all control.

All the Energy began converging together, forming a cyclone in the insanity that came over me.

“aHhahAHhAHHAhahahaHAHh! ThaT’S iT isN’t It! yOu just EnJoY thE sCenERY frOM Up tHerE, doN’t YoU! LAugHinG aS thOSE FoOlIsh MOrTaLs SuFfeR wHilE yOu eNJoY YoURSelf AT their ExPENsE! AhahahahHAHAHhhahhAHHA!”

The ground began to crack and the air seemed to shatter as the Energy began to run wild, controlled by nightmares of the past.

Suddenly, a man dressed in a black bulletproof armor approached me, saying something incomprehensible.

It was someone I knew from long, long ago. A shadow from an unpleasant past.

“AhhhAHhaHHahaHA! CAptAiN BREndOn, yoU’RE bAcK! C’MoN LAuGh wiTH Me!  LaUgH WiTh me like YoU OncE laugHeD aT ME! ”

A tendril of Energy came out of the ground, winding around his ankles and hoisting him up in the air while another tendril came out and stabbed him through the chest

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Suddenly, a woman in a white doctor’s coat ran past me.

“AhahHAhhaHAha! LoOk BrEndOn, dOctOr NaTaSha haS DEcidED tO jOIn us!”

Throwing the impaled Brendon to the ground I shifted my focus on doctor Natasha, sending a hook after her running figure and pulling her back.

“NoW, ThIs TimE, Let’S SeE wHAt’s InsIDE yOu! AHHhaHhahaAaAA!”

I turned her around and thrust both my hands inside her, grabbing hold of her ribcage and ripping it open, letting the insides flow freely to the ground.

“BLooD And GuTS! BlOOd AnD guTS! SAMe as mE, sO WhAT dId YoU nEEd me For?! AhHAHhhahHAHHhahhahHAHa!”

Suddenly the world seemed filled with the people I knew.

“GreAT HeRO AsRieL! HoW goOd tO seE yOu AgAin! ThE lasT tIme I SAW yoU WaS tOGetHer witH mY WiFe, wAsn’t it! AhhahhaAHaAhhAHhhahaAaAhahaA!”

I set her ablaze with Blue Fire, consuming her soul.

“MArshAL BenEDIctUs! HOW niCe of you TO jOIN US! AHahahahahaaAHHAHAHahahahHAH”i

I hung him from his own intestines, slowly chocking the life out of him.

“ProFessOr EvE! WeLcomE!”

I forced her to swallow a mixture of acids, burning her from the inside out.

“PreSidENt IvOor! LOnG tImE nO sEE!”

I cut off an arm and forced it down his throat.

“BisHOP JoHN! WelCOme! AhhaAHAHa!”

Burned at the stake.

“PatrIARcH nePoS! GlAD yoU’rE hEre! AHhAhAHAHA!”

Every bone broken.

Hundreds, no, thousands began appearing from all sides, every single one of them familiar faces and every single one of them cut down in horrifying manners.

“AhhaaAHHAhaAHHAHhaa! WhAT a SurpRiSE, Is iT my BirtHdAy today?! ahAHhhahhAHHhhhahHHAAhahAaa!”

The familiar faces seemed never ending, continuously pouring from ever side in droves, some faces even appearing multiple times without me noticing.

It felt as if a party had been thrown in my honour with all my tormentors and nightmares present.

From Beastmen to Elves, from Romans to Nevtonians, from the First Era to the last, everyone was present.

For hours I slaughtered them, returning everything they had done to me with interest until the world seemed nothing more but a red smudge in my vision, and eventually, I lost consciousness.

This isn’t the first time this happens, and I suspect it won’t be the last either.

Behind the layer of control, the thin veil that is my being, lies a broken man, haunted by nightmares and forced to go through cycle after cycle of life to painful to live, and a nightmarish sleep filled with the horrifying past.

And whenever the veil comes off and control is lost, the nightmares to horrifying to dream comes to hunt me not only in sleep, but also while awake.

Then comes the slaughter.

……….

When I came to, I saw the ruins of a city painted in blood and littered with corpses. The familiar faces of different races I once saw had now transformed into a homogeneity of unfamiliar human corpses, most of them not complete.

Looking at myself, I saw my clothes drenched in blood, my hands covered with bits of flesh and bone dust.

My body trembled and my stomach turned, throwing up three times nothing but bile and acid.

I fell to my knees, witnessing this horror before me and knowing I, once again, had lost control and committed such… atrocities.

I’m a hypocrite.

I hate those who tortured me, despise those that harm others while I myself am no better than them.

I’m not even capable of controlling my own emotions and commit such senseless slaughter.

What right do I have to blame those who torture me?

At least they had a goal in mind, be it research or misguided beliefs.

Even if it is unethical, it’s much better than the senseless slaughter I commit all too often.

What right do I have to search for happiness?

The last question made me remember them and a horrifying sense of dread overwhelmed me.

Forgetting the city, forgetting all those that died because of me, I turned my attention away from the city and towards the east.

Luckily, I still remembered the location and quickly tried to make an Energy bridge and summon a portal, almost failing in my haste.

The portal was created and I stepped through, afraid of the scene I was about to witness.

The moment I arrived, relief overwhelmed me.

The barrier was intact, the healing spell still worked and the enchantments performed on Damien and Anna were still in effect.

And best of all, I saw them sleeping peacefully, their heartbeat steady and breathing regular.

I couldn’t help but cry in relief