Zacyr has always suffered from hallucinations. Eventually, he found many ways to separate his hallucinations from reality. Among those ways are to see if his other senses can pick up on what his eyes see. Eventually, sight became less important to him than his other senses because even though he has good eyesight, he can't rely on it.

However, he doesn't always rely on his other senses to separate reality from illusion. The one sure-fire way he knows something is real is if those around him react to it. However, he has one other recognition strategy that he often uses, normally without even knowing he IS using it. Does what he see make sense to him? For instance, if a shark was swimming through the air he'd know immediately that the shark was a hallucination because sharks can't do that. If he saw a massive beast bearing down on him-for instance, a dragon-he'd immediately recognize it as a hallucination.

So what would happen if the thing he believed to be impossible was confirmed, by his other senses, to be real?

Zacyr let out a large yawn as he waited. It was time for lunch, and while Zacyr certainly felt a lot better than he had before both Tachine and Kshtsi had insisted that Zacyr just rest to get his strength back.

While he had initially agreed, what Zacyr hadn't planned on was how goddamn long it would take for Tachine and Kshtsi to get the food. In fact . . . now that he thought about it, this was just too long. Using the position of the sun he calculated that at least an hour had gone by. Something wasn't right. Had they gotten lost in the forest again?

Soon Zacyr looked around, and he got really annoyed when he didn't find any sign of a trail. He had told them to leave a trail back to the clearing in case they got lost again! Kshtsi wasn't one to disobey like that, so the one who was probably responsible for no trail having been left would be Tachine. Ugh, why wouldn't Tachine just follow his advice for once!?

Soon Zacyr began searching around the outside of the forest. He'd do this first, and if he didn't find them then he would begin exploring the forest. He didn't even travel for ten minutes before he found something rather interesting. There was a large mansion standing near the forest!

Zacyr leaned against a nearby tree as he pondered what to do now. If there was a mansion nearby . . . then there must have been a village nearby as well! Zacyr could get more Lihalune at the village! After all, he only had one vial left, and that was with Kshtsi at the moment.

However . . . would it be worth it to get more? While the stomach cramps, light headedness and unset stomach weren't nearly as bad as they had been yesterday . . . so far there had been no change in his hallucinations. While yes, the potion wasn't supposed to work until the third day . . . he just felt like there should have been some change already.

Wait, he had to focus. While this was interesting, he still had to figure out where Kshtsi and Tachine were. Let's see . . . would they really go into a village without telling Zacyr? He guessed it was possible, but . . .

He had no warning. Out of nowhere Zacyr's head began painfully throbbing. It soon passed, but as Zacyr looked back at the Honeycomb Mansion he wondered what the hell caused . . . wait, 'Honeycomb Mansion'? He focused on the mansion again, and to his surprise he felt . . . he just, he knew it. This was Honeycomb Mansion.

Almost as if in response a single picture flashed through Zacyr's mind. It was of the mansion's front side, which he found strange since so far he had only seen the back of it. Had he been here before? Yeah! That was right, he knew this place!

A rather excited Zacyr quickly went into thought. Alright, so he had been here before. But now that he thought about it, the picture that had flashed through his mind . . . if that was from his point of view, he must have been a rather young child at that time. Yeah, that felt right. He even remembered the name of the person who owned the mansion, Lady Beena!

Another image flashed through Zacyr's mind, giving Zacyr a momentary glimpse of a tall, slender woman before the picture faded. Zacyr sighed as he leaned against a tree, still looking at the back of the mansion. So he had been here before as a young child . . . and Lady Beena may have answers about Zacyr's past that he no longer had. Perhaps . . . perhaps he could ask her?

Zacyr began to walk away from the tree and towards the mansion before he remembered Kshtsi and Tachine. What was he doing? This was not the time to go to a mansion! Kshtsi and Tachine were still around here somewhere. His first priority was to find Kshtsi and Tachine, and find what was taking them so long.

Zacyr soon put his hand up, intending to make a makeshift visor to shield himself from the sun's angry glare. But the instant that he found the hairy creature scurrying across his skin Zacyr let out a yelp. SPIDER! Zacyr immediately shook his hand, and when the spider fell to the ground Zacyr immediately crushed it with his foot, breathing heavily as he shivered. He hated spiders!

While yes they were creepy and he just didn't like them period, there was a more practical reason he hated spiders. He hallucinated about them sometimes, and unlike with most of his other hallucinations Zacyr couldn't immediately write off a spider as being fake. They were so light that he couldn't feel them crawl around on him, and they were completely silent. They had no scent either, leaving Zacyr with no way to tell the difference between a fake and a real spider. As such, he had to treat each spider he saw as real.

Fortunately he didn't hallucinate about spiders too often, but most of the time it would lead to some pretty awkward moments. Once Zacyr got his heart rate down to a tolerable level he reminded himself that he still had no idea where Kshtsi and Tachine were. If they had gone back to their camping area then they would be worried about him!

Zacyr took one step into the forest before a scream abruptly tore through his eardrums. It came from the mansion, and while it was definitely feminine it didn't sound like a woman's scream. In fact . . . he knew that scream. "TACHINE!"

He immediately, ran towards the mansion. Tachine was inside the mansion, and she needed help! Zacyr raced to the servant's entrance (being a commoner, he wasn't going to use the main door) he immediately began piecing it together. Of course Tachine would enter the mansion. Whether she admitted it or not she was a thief at heart, and a mansion was a gold mine of valuable items to steal. If she stole from Lady Beena . . . oh, they would all be in a lot of trouble. Zacyr quickly entered the mansion, and heard footsteps approaching very quickly.

In almost no time at all Tachine . . . well, to say she ran into view wouldn't do her justice. She was a blur as she ran past. No, that doesn't do it justice either. She so fast that Zacyr didn't have long enough to see if it really was her.

Not that he had that long to think about it. Apparently when Tachine ran past she decided to play catch with Zacyr, and whipped a vial in his direction. Before he could even flinch the vial slammed into his chest and shattered, drenching Zacyr's shirt in a very strong smelling liquid.

Wait . . . Zacyr sniffed the air, and paled as he realized what he had just been hit with. Lady Beena's perfume! Damn it, how was he going to explain this to Lady Beena!? "What was that for Ta . . ."

Zacyr cut off as Tachine's pursuer came into view. The huge, insect-like creature soon made a strange sound before slowly approaching Zacyr. Zacyr's mind was in complete chaos as he gawked at the creature. What the hell was this thing? It looked a lot like a bee, but far larger than any bee Zacyr had seen before. This thing towered over him, had wings that didn't really make it look like flying was easy for this creature . . . but then again, a bee shouldn't be able to fly anyways. The creature merely continued to walk towards Zacyr, the click of its heel the only sound for miles. This couldn't be happening.

Wait a second! That was it! It couldn't be real! Zacyr sighed in relief. Damn, this was the second time a hallucination almost got him! But how was he hearing sound coming from it? That clicking sound its feet . . .

The creature looked at him strangely, but Zacyr cleared his throat as he got his answer. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare. I just . . ."

Zacyr tried to think of a believable reason that he would have gawked at what he now understood was a servant. He wasn't going to tell the servant that he had - and still was - hallucinating that the servant was a giant bee monster. When the 'creature' walked towards Zacyr, he had his answer when he heard the click again. Only high heels could make that sound. "Don't you think that those boots are a bit much?"

It wasn't Lady Beena. That much Zacyr knew from the fact that she hadn't spoken yet. In fact the servant didn't reply to his question. It didn't make any noise at all as it got closer to Zacyr. For a moment his mind tried to panic. What if this really was the creature Zacyr was seeing? He immediately countered that with the simplest of explanations. The creature Zacyr was 'seeing' couldn't be real. Eventually the servant was only a few feet away from Zacyr. Still Zacyr stood tall. He wasn't going to let this hallucination get the best of him!

The servant stopped walking closer, and to Zacyr's surprise it started sniffing Zacyr. Well . . . no, this wasn't the creature Zacyr saw, he had to remember that no matter what the servant was doing, it could just be the hallucination doing it. Or maybe the servant was confused to why Zacyr smelled like a bee's favorite flower to pollinate.

"The girl you were chasing - her name's Tachine - threw the vial of perfume at me. That's why I smell like this."

The servant almost got Zacyr to sigh in relief as it backed away. That was proof enough for Zacyr that the thing in front of him was a servant after all. As such Zacyr explained how he had heard Tachine scream, and that was why he had so rudely barged into the mansion.

He was surprised when the servant didn't give any verbal response, but quickly decided the servant must have been mute. No matter, Zacyr still wanted to know the damage Tachine had done, and if he could keep Lady Beena from getting angry at them. "Look, I really am sorry. Is it possible for me to see Lady Beena? Maybe I can explain to her about Tachine?"

Zacyr smiled when the servant nodded, even though it looked quite a bit more like the 'creature' was sizing Zacyr up. Whatever, it was close enough. Zacyr waited, but the servant didn't turn around and begin to lead Zacyr through the mansion. Well, that was new. Maybe this was because it was one of the newer servants? "This is the part where you lead me to her."

Zacyr flinched as the 'creature' made eye-contact. He could almost feel the piercing glare the servant apparently was giving him. "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. Have the rules changed?"

The servant gave an unmistakable nod, which got Zacyr to sigh in relief. So it was more that the servant didn't know where Lady Beena was. "I uh, should I be taking the lead?"

The servant didn't object, so soon Zacyr was walking through the halls with the servant walking behind him. As much as Zacyr tried to tell himself that the 'creature' was actually a servant . . . he kept on turning around and eyeing the servant. Something just didn't feel right about this . . .

It didn't take long before Zacyr saw Tachine. When he called out to her she abruptly bolted away from him. Was she afraid of the servant? Zacyr could only sigh. The shit Tachine got him into . . . "At this rate, she's going to get Kshtsi and I killed."

The servant put a hand on Zacyr's shoulder. Zacyr blushed as he saw the hallucination was still going strong. It almost felt like the hand wasn't human. What was more . . . he had never had a hallucination stay so consistently, even when he wasn't looking towards it. But it was okay now. At least the servant was playing more of a part in the conversation. It helped Zacyr to be able to tell that it was a hallucination. "Thanks for the sympathy. You should have seen what she did before, got us run out of a town and demanded I set up traps in the forest. Oh, then she . . ."

Zacyr wouldn't allow himself to be 'fooled' without undeniable proof that the hallucination was in fact real. Even if his senses told him what he sees is real, he'd immediately look for a more rational explanation: in this case, that he's hallucinating a servant to be a creature. Will he realize his mistake before he is put in serious danger?

And where the hell is Kshtsi?

Update:

'Damn near shattered' was actually supposed to be 'shattered'. I don't know how that happened. Oh, well. It's fixed now, thanks for pointing it out

Update 5/3/2013

Rewritten. I'm going to continue rewriting for now (as I said in the last chapter), and I'm not sure how much of it I will rewrite.