POV Shizuru

I saw a big shadow in front of me: tall, dark, threatening to come slowly in my direction, it was eating me all my small figure…

The atmosphere was so heavy, I could not breathe easily. It was as if as I inhaled iron, it burnt all my throat to my lungs slowly like a long and painful cancer.

There was black smoke everywhere and burning houses around. I heard a faint scream and begging moans.

No! No, please! Stop Monster!

A head stopped it plea and rolled in my direction. I gasped and stepped back. There was no issue. Fire and desolation encircled me.

Dead bodies did not stop to fall like leaves in autumn, the ground itself putrefied.

Flies already come to their gargantuan feist. I could see the emptiness in their lifeless eyes was mixed with great fear.

The blood was spreading inside the foil like an endless river, and there were so many that it could not bear the quantity, vomiting all sides. My feet were red… I will be entire swallow soon.

I felt nauseous. I wanted to expulse all I have inside me and to run away as far as possible but I could not. Unfortunately, I was invisibly chained, I was a collateral prisoner to the battlefield.

I had no idea where I was. It was chaos, worse than Hell. Did I die? Is it figure was the Death itself? Searching my soul to bring it with him in the limbo of worst nightmare? It came in front of me, without any remorse about breaking the sea of unliving bodies under its foot. The bones broke without remorse. Its weapon pierced skin and deeply the tender flesh.

Crack!

I jumped.

The sound was unbearable. Its strong pressure made me fall on my knees as if my body knew who was the strongest. My master, my executioner.

"Who are you?" I dared to ask with a coarse voice, I glared at that ominous presence, even if my voice shook by intimation, I sound like a little girl. However, I controlled the rest of my emotions. I noticed a dangerous smirk. And its weapon, a bloody katana with its fresh victims and I will be the next one to taste the blade. It was pointed in my direction, just a swing and I could not escape my tragic fate.

"Wrong question honey. I was expecting more from you." I shivered; it was not a man voice but a woman. Coarse and totally inhumane. Nevertheless, the tone sounded familiar. I could not point out why or where I recently heard it.

An explosion exposed her face and I almost had an attack heart. Long curly chestnut-haired put in a high ponytail, red bloody eyes, white skin. She wore a thin black Armor with a purple snake…No, it was impossible.

"Yes… it is possible. I can hear all your thoughts because we are one. All you think, I think too. You can't hide anything from me." She answered my hidden fears with delight. She chuckled and licked her violet lips. "I am you."

"No!" I barked. I was not able to comprehend the situation clearly. All was foggy.

"Yes. I. AM. YOU!" The butcher with my older face strongly grabbed my neck and lift me from the ground. She could do just press a bit more and I will belong to the undead world.

"I won't kill you. It would be useless. You are me. And I am you." She laughed like a devil. "I want you to see our own wonderful work. The people who dare to see us as weak and used us, step on us, see them how they finished! I punished them all! See our masterpiece!" She snarled like a madwoman, she threw me directly into the decapitated corpses. I was drowning inside them. I screamed, I moved like crazy to escape from that nightmare. I was covered with death itself. I watched my soaked ruby palms. I remembered some past words… it was with Natsuki a few days ago.

"I am a monster." I bluntly said. I could feel her cold hands holding mine. She was not afraid to touch me. I sensed the warmth from her breathe, touching my skin. I shivered.

"That's untrue! So, stop saying that bullshit!" I noticed she cursed a lot even if she should not be in front of a noble. I could help but smile. She did not discriminate against me, she never did. Such a colourful mouth and is always honest. She was so different from others as if she did not come from my world but another one. I started to trust her when I never imagined it could happen in my lonely life. I was thinking to lean and trusting someone was my only weakness. That in the end, you will be hurt and betrayed. I did not care. Not having those warm feelings tickle inside my soul was worst. I prefer to be miserable and only have her by my side, I wanted her to be completely mine and never let her go. I become selfish and I did not care.

"But I am, I am cursed, everybody hates me, they want me dead, I only bring misery. You will suffer too." I stubbornly added. I really believed my words. It was my reality as an outcast.

"You are not a monster. A monster is not about being cursed or don't look like other people. It's the way we treat another person. A monster enjoys suffering, to hurt and bring only misery. A monster doesn't feel emotion or remorse. There is no guilt, no feelings. A monster doesn't feel pain there." She put her hand on my beating heart.

"You are hurt there; you bear a lot of on your shoulders because of stupid fears. You have a marvellous soul, you are an amazing person, if some are blind to see it, I don't. I see it myself. And you are beautiful, they are simply jealous. You can surpass them and they are afraid. You could have everything so they want to step on you but they can't destroy you. They never will. I trust that. You are not a monster and you won't be one. It's what they want, and you won't obey them. You choose for yourself who you are, who you will become."

I suddenly removed my blindfold and I showed my ugliness that nobody witnessed before her. I demonstrated clearly my argument to her eyes. I was terrorized by her reaction. I looked like a demon. I noticed my eyes were not normal when I grew up, they are not coloured like others but white and lifeless. The demon took my view when I was a newborn. People thought that I could not see but I do, with my own vision. Even if I was colourblind, all was dark, I distinguished shadow, shapes. In exchange, I saw colourful emotions. Red, pink, yellow, brown, blue, dark. I just saw one colour for each person. Even if they lied to me, I saw their real disgusting face. That is why I wore this blindfold, I could not bear what I saw. It was better to be in the darkness than the ugly reality.

I opened my eyes, I felt warm. She hugged me, her colour was pink and light blue… Compassion and affection. Nobody ever showed that colour to me, never even my own parents.

"You are beautiful Shizuru-sama. I don't hate you; you are not a monster, you suffer a lot all alone, I am sorry. I am here. I will be there for you, always." I cried, all my defensive walls, she destroyed them in an instant.

My resolutions become stronger with each breath. I clenched my fists to give me strength and I faced my inner demon; I was not afraid anymore. Her prideful behaviour seemed to vanish in thin air. She pondered what was going on with me. She had all control and now, no more.

Natsuki was right. I was not a demon and I won't be one.

"Perhaps you are me, but I am not you." I spat back with a cold voice. I did not realize that I stand up and face myself without any fears. I challenged my other-self. She was having fun. As if I was a spoiled child that beg for something. She despite me. I reciprocated it.

"You are so weak and pathetic. We could do so grand thing together, we can conquer everything and annihilate what oppose us. Nobody can control and stop us. I can give you the power to take everything you wish and more. You can kill all the maids and the butlers that hate us. I can help you to torture those who dare to mock us, these nobles who talked behind our back. Our parents are dead meat. And that stupid girl, Natsuki, she will be the one I will tear apart her organs." I darkly laughed and I caught all attention of my interlocutor.

"It's you who are rather pathetic. You beg for attention." I touched a sensitive point. She growled like a beast and kicked me hard on my tummy. I gasped for air and I continued to smile.

"Truth hurt?" My evil twin grabbed my hair and punched my face.

"I won't let you order me around. I am my own master; I decide the life I want. Who are you to me to interfere? "I spat the blood on her face. She shouted and squeezed my neck.

"That Natsuki … she brainwashes you! She doesn't come from our world, she will betray you like the others, she makes you weak. Kill her! Be stronger! You need me, you won't be able to fight without me. You will die like a dog. Kill her or I will! You need me! You will call me soon!" The honey demon declared full of herself.

"Never, I will rather kill myself. I will never hurt her. Never" I retorqued. "Are you happy?" I convulsed of pain and lack of oxygen; my doppelganger was surprised by my question.

"Of course, I have everything, power, strength, territories, wealth, respect, fears."

"You are all alone with power and what? Respect? They fear you and hate you more than before. People see you as a tyrant to assassinate. You will be always defensive about everyone, your soldiers, your chief of the army. You can't rely on one person, you can't rest without being afraid to be stabbed in your back or poisoned, what a wonderful life. You died miserably. Nobody cared about you. Even a dog has someone that cares about him but you, no. "I noticed the burning on her face and body. The dark circles around her eyes, the bones that were visible.

She took her katana and stabbed me deep inside my wombs, I coughed blood.

"I won't be like you, never. Kill me other me, you won't win." I smirked and I slowly closed my eyes and I heard her terrible scream.