What kinda sick joke is this? Her looks are almost that of a master sculptor’s handiwork—is what I’d like to say, but this part of the monster is deformed too. Countless flat, clear fragments stick out of her closed eyelids, where her eyes should be. And each shard is sharpened to a point. Touching them would make your fingers fall off. Plus, her arms are illogically long, though the size of her palms and the balance of her fingers match a little girl’s. From her shoulders to her elbows, from her elbows to her wrists, her arms are stretching longer and longer. That must be so painful. There’s a limit to how far a person should go in experimenting on children, no matter how morally bankrupt they are. There’s still no smell, but just watching this disgusting birth makes me want to puke.
“Megan,” Princess says.
“Huh? That thing is?”
Princess looks right at me from Dragon’s back and nods. “That’s…Megan.”
I don’t want to believe it, but if Princess says so, it’s gotta be true.
CRREEEEAAK…
Contorting its neck, the blue demon beast stares down on us. Did it respond to the name? More foam erupts from the surface of its body, this time gushing from thousands of closed eyes. Eyes, eyes, and more eyes sprout from its body like tumors. The eyelids open at the same time. All of them are glowering at Princess!
“UUUUWAAAAHHH!”
“What’s it doing now?!”
Mouths are submerged in the cracks of every eye. Teeth and tongues are growing inside each one, and every freakish mouth screams, “So that’s where you were, Lala Lilia!”
An arm extends towards us. A gigantic eyeball is embedded in the surface of its palm. It’s such a deep blue the pupil and the iris are indistinguishable. The eye’s whites are bloodshot and blazing with hatred.
“Don’t you come here!” I heave the glaive at it. Without straying from my mark, it pierces through the eyeball and out the backside of the hand.
“KIIIYAAAAAH!” The girl’s face contorts. The infinite number of open mouths on the body flap their lips, each speaking a different line.
“Aah, yet again. You are being protected yet again.”
“It’s always that way around you. People surround you. So many believe in you.”
“Why? Why is that? You aren’t cute. You’re nothing more than a bratty, stubborn, and annoying little girl.”
“That red hair of yours is always an unsightly mess. That face of yours is covered in freckles, it’s ungainly.”
“I’m much prettier than you.”
“I’m much, much smarter than you.”
“Yet, why is it? Why is it, Lala Lilia? Hey, hey? Something just has to be wrong with the world.”
“Why is it always you who benefits? Why is it always you who finds happiness?”
“Why? Why? Why is it?”
“Why, when I’m so unhappy? Why is it always me who loses out?”
“Ugh, shut up! Shut your traps!”
The monotone voices continue to grumble malicious statements. They’re made all the more unbearable by their charming, enchanting sound. Between every word, blue liquid spurts and gushes out. Uncomfortable smoke puffs up from my shield and Dragon’s scales when we block the fluids. But we won’t let a drop land on Princess.
Dragon’s nose creases and he growls from deep inside his throat. “Gideon, this is poison.”
“Blegh, I just had to be right, didn’t I?”
So then, these are literally poisonous words?
“Not good.”
Spinning my broken sword, I smash in the closest poison-spewing mouths I can reach. They’re surprisingly weak. But more and more appear from the foam than I can crush, overwhelming me. I can’t keep up!
“I’m the more beautiful one too.”
“Why is it? Why are you the only one who’s loved? Why are you the only one promised the Blessed Crown?
“Everyone comes to love you. Everyone hates me. It must be your fault.”
“I won’t forgive you. I’m envious. I’m jealous…”
“You make me unhappy.”
“You stole all my happiness from me.”
“If only you never existed. As long as I eliminate you, I…! I! I! I! I! I! I! I! I! I! I! I! I! I! I! I! I…”
Its malice coagulates and transforms into a pure killing desire.
“I-I-I-I-Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! aaaAAAAHH!”
Person or monster, this thing’s planning on killing Princess!
“Get on, Gideon!”
I jump onto Dragon without hesitation. I wrap my arms around Princess from behind and grab the reins wrapped around Dragon’s neck.
“Go, Spike!”
The higher he vaults, the shorter the distance he needs to run before jumping into the air. Dragon leaps from wall to wall to build up momentum and spreads his wings.
“Aaack!”
“Hang on, Princess!”
A short drop. Momentary suspension. The contents of my stomach float up-and-up as we gradually rise into the air. Dragon’s wings flap powerfully and he flies high. We’ve succeeded in our escape. His ruby wings cut through the biting cold air and soar. It’s just before dawn, and the sun is still far below the mountains. Only slight tips of light dye the clouds on the horizon, where it meets the ground. The indigo of night fades to white the lower you go. The top of the sky is still thick with darkness. It’s the half-light stage before dawn where light and darkness fight for supremacy. Normally, my visibility would be compromised as my eyes struggled to adapt, but it’s a different story now. Dragon’s vision reaches as far as the ever-distant throne room. I can see inside.
“That thing’s coming after us!”
“It should not be able to fly,” Dragon answers.
“It’s growing the ability by sproutin’ wings!”
Blue monster. An undefined, demon beast that constantly changes its shape. Its sporadic trembling and quivering back becomes even more deformed and swollen. Something is wriggling inside the round, balloon-like, stretched thin membrane. Raging winds howl past my ears, yet I can still clearly hear it—her monotone murmur.
“I won’t let you escape.”
With a viscous pop, wings made of blue bones with a tensed thin membrane the color of blood stretched over them burst through the body and spread out. Convulsing, the demon beast sprints in a quick spurt and tosses its body out the hole in the wall. For a second, it disappears from view.
“It’s coming!”