Sanity was a fickle thing.
So hard to grasp.
So easy to lose.
He tried.
He really did try.
To be normal.
To be good.
But every time, his efforts were for naught.
A little thing here.
Another thing there.
And then it was over.
He was rejected.
He was shunned.
He was hunted.
It was happening again.
He didn't mean to.
He really didn't.
They had started it.
They were the ones who attacked him!
So why was he to blame?
Why wasn't he comforted?
Why was he scorned?
His body had moved on his own.
One second, their fists on his face, the other their blood on his hands.
But it was self-defense!
Wasn't it?
Why was it his fault that he smiled?
That he had laughed as they bled?
That he enjoyed their cries?
He was the victim!
Why didn't they understand?
He just wanted to be normal.
He just wanted to be loved.
Was it his fault that he had been born?
"You are not wrong."
A voice?
Where?
He whipped his head around.
His breathing ragged.
Sweat and blood dripping down his dirt-ridden face.
But he saw nothing.
"You are not wrong."
He wasn't?
Did someone finally understand?
Tears welled in his eyes.
"Poor child, look what they have done to you. Treated like an animal."
Would someone finally accept him?
Would he finally be forgiven?
The tears fell from his eyes.
His breath accelerated.
And for the first time, he could remember he cried.
"There, there, worry not I will not abandon you. Henceforth you are mine."
But who?
Who was this saint?
Suddenly a shadow crossed his vision.
He turned and then...
He saw her.
Skin whiter than porcelain.
Eyes darker than blood.
Only one word slipped from his mouth.
"Beautiful"
"My, how flattering."
"Beautiful"
His mouth moved before he could even think.
"Beautiful"
His tone rose, his pulse quickened, his teeth clattered.
"Beautiful"
God's angel had descended upon him.
"Beautiful"
No, she was a goddess herself.
"Beautiful"
He began clawing at his face.
"Beautiful"
Uncontrollably clawing.
"Beautiful"
The blood mixed with his tears as it pooled down.
"Beautiful"
Until finally, he gasped for breath.
Then his goddess smiled at him.
And everything was right in the world.
"My, aren't you quite the flatterer. But how am I to believe you on words alone? You aren't lying to me, are you?"
He trembled.
He shook his head wildly.
Never.
"Well, then can you do something for me? To prove your sincerity."
Anything.
He was hers.
He would do anything.
"Well, then you know those villagers? Those who you called friend yet called you monster?"
His heart constricted.
He nodded.
"Kill them"
Ok.
Sanity is a fickle thing.
But he longer worried about it.
After all, she said he wasn't wrong.
He was perfectly sane.