Desecration Chapter100: Insanity Comes With A Smile

Forced calm was interesting.

It was like I was observing more than actually experiencing, all the absurdities turning into mildly amusing props to glance at.

I could feel the mont he broke the spell and my heartrate skyrocketed. It was almost soothing, the way the world narrowed into that familiar instinct everything with adrenal glands shared. Analytically being able to rationalize how royally fucked I was didn't give the catharsis of screaming biology recognizing the sa.

Unfortunately, going cold turkey into a fight-or-flight response didn't make for the best life choices.

I grabbed my sword.

Or tried to.

"Ah, no. Violence is no fun," the man tsk'd, examining a blade in his hands that should've been resting on my hip. "You crafted this yourself, didn't you? It has your imprint so it's either that or you're a rather prolific swordfighter. I'd rather go for the safe bet."

I stared at the bronze giant with all his infinite pupils going up and down my weapon while my winter toga carried a whole new ocean made of sweat. I went to activate my spell, but was interrupted when sothing yanked on my soul.

The world went white for an instant, and when it returned I was on my hands and knees.

I heard a long sigh as footsteps that sounded too much like tal walked over. "This is why I hate letting you mortals have control of your minds, you're all just so stupid."

I was heaving. Sweating blood as I tried to understand what had happened.

"Though I guess the bla isn't entirely yours to carry. That witch should've told you all the rules before sending you to clean up her ss."

What?

"No theory crafting now," he chuckled. "You have more important things to worry about, don't you? The big scary fae is getting all violent after all. Maybe you should take a mont to listen to what he has to say, yeah?"

It was a struggle to get control of my breathing, but eventually I managed. Getting to my feet on shaky legs and looking up to the thing that was standing just a few inches in front of .

From how he talked, I would've assud he was angry.

The absolute bliss on his face seed to suggest otherwise.

"Good, faster than I expected even.

"Now, I would love to go over every instance where you didn't show the proper respect that was owed, but that'd take so long that even you would die of old age. I should honestly just eat your soul now. Even with the indigestion that demon of yours will give .

"But no. The Spring Court prides itself on fairness, and I can tell you still don't even believe I'm a fae. Surprisingly stubborn, but I've dealt with worse. Leniency can only go so far though."

The stone we stood on turned to dirt and grass, and we faced each other on an open plain far from any kind of forest or ocean.

"Now, I could get creative, but since this is your first ti? Why not go for a classic?

"Dance for ."

I couldn't use mana, mana was cheating.

I had to dance to the instructions of sothing that could never claim to have possessed sanity, praise and beratent being interchangeable at the swing of his mood. All that was asked was that I listened, move my feet in an eternal cycle of artistic delirium.

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Except my feet hurt.

He took my boots and socks at so point, didn't even notice until I started the ga. Step after step after step after step after step—

The grass was red now.

But I couldn't use mana, because mana was cheating.

I tried to call on nd to deal with the pain. How long ago was that now? My soul still ached from when he squeezed on it, so surely not too long? Surely only a few minutes? Surely not hours? Surely not days?

Long enough for the muscles of my feet to kiss the grass at least.

He yelled sothing.

Why did he yell? He was just praising my twirls, and now he insulted them? My dance was good, it was great! It didn't matter, it never mattered. He wanted sothing else now, and if I didn't oblige?

I didn't know what would happen. Didn't want to know.

So I switched to sothing slower, more intentional.

I preferred the mindless motions, that way I didn't have to think about the pain. You would think that experiencing magnitudes worse would make immune, but no.

Definitely made it easier to handle at least, I wasn't sure how many people could keep dancing when the skin of their sols had peeled off to join nature in protest of the abuse. Poor little skin and muscle bits. They didn't understand that I had to do this.

They didn't understand that healing was cheating.

But I never got tired, wasn't that fun? Didn't need a single mont of rest, all that mattered was the dance. All that mattered was the dance.

Because maybe I'd get to live once this was over? I didn't know if it was worth it.

It had to be, I didn't want to die.

Terra.

I almost lost my cadence with the rage that na squeezed out of my heart. She knew what this thing was. She knew and she didn't tell . Was that prophecy even real? He wasn't going to stop, said so himself. All of this suffering served no purpose.

No purpose at all.

I was going to kill her.

That was what kept going when the fear of death fell short. I couldn't die, because then she'd get to live. That was wrong. There was no justice in that. Neither was there justice in the world. Speaking of the World.

Why did it tell to co here?

I couldn't hear it in this place, and that was all the more frustrating. How could it have been wrong? It had never been wrong. Ever.

I was starting to wonder if fae could fake the whispers, or at least this one with how he seemingly could do whatever the fuck he wanted. Was he greater than the gods? This thing of morbid morals?

Or maybe the World wanted here.

Why would it want here?

It hurt so much and it didn't end.

Please let it end.

I stared at a ceiling, and it was a ceiling.

Not a sky, but a ceiling.

I wasn't laying in grass either, just packed dirt because whoever owned this warehouse decided to be cheap. Funny how the sll of so much mold could be reassuring. I was here, and here was not there. He was gone.

So I stared at the ceiling.

I didn't use my mana to heal my feet. What would be the point? I needed it if I was going to kill a coven after all. I'd go for Alvir first of course, get rid of their information bank and I'd be able to end them one by one at my leisure. Or I'd die.

Either one was fine, so long as Alvir and Terra were both dead by the end of it.

Never trust a witch.

How had that lesson not ingrained deep enough? Terra presented a juicy steak as bait and I was more than happy to bite. Now I knew things.

Fae were real.

I wondered if Xae's clan was too?

I'd ask her if I lived.

"You've been laying there for a while. Everything alright?"

I didn't need to look to recognize the speaker, only person I knew who had a voice that smooth was Umi. Funny considering how many scars she carried, you'd think her vocals would be more rugged.

I didn't answer her.

"Would it help to know that Alvir got to as fast as he could when Terra offered you this job?" More silence. She let out a sigh. "I guess not, huh? I've told them that we don't prank the apprentices, but they never seem to listen."

"You call this a prank?"

There was enough acid in my voice that even I was surprised.

"Considering you're not dead or crippled? Yeah, I do. Besides, you got rid of the fae, so at least you can pat yourself on the back for that."

I scoffed. "He said he wouldn't be leaving, so no I fucking didn't."

"Sucks to be him then." I heard the shuffle of cloth that I assud was a shrug. "Fae don't get to fuck around without a cost. Playing their gas is the fastest way to boot them out of our reality, considering you can always rely on them overdoing it in their mania. Case-in-point, the energy that kept him here is gone."

That sounded like bullshit. He'd apparently been here since December, and I was supposed to believe that one dance was enough to banish him?

I didn't voice that though, because it didn't matter if the fae was gone or not.

Umi let out a long sigh. "Look, let's get you back to your inn. Then we can have a discussion on the many ways you can get back at Terra without killing her. She's the city's only oracle, so trying would be a death sentence anyway."

I didn't fight back when she ca over to pick up off the floor.