The Stronghold 3: Mikachi

You Can't Escape Nightmares

"Oh look, the little demon," a familiar voice sneered. "Come back so soon?"

I scrambled to my feet and looked around me. I felt nothing but fear despite being in an empty hall. The ghosts of dancers and feasters and party-goers waltzed, ate and chatted around me but when I reached out they vanished like sunlight into shadow. 

"It's almost as if you like this world," the voice said again. "The one where you didn't lie to everyone about your past, and your name, your upbringing, your powers and even your relationships."

"Leave me alone," I called out, my voice cracking as tears threatened to spill.

"But you keep coming back to me, little Benny," the voice said innocently. The corners of the hall were in darkness but were slowly being illuminated, shadows creeping across the floor until they covered one specific place like a black spotlight.

"It isn't my fault you want to go back to the past," the voice hissed as the shadows made a living being. A being that looked like me, sounded like me but wasn't me. Their eyes were dark green and their hair was white, their eyebrows thicker and their back more hunched. 

"Leave me alone," I repeated, taking a step away from the being.

"You can't leave here," the being said. It wasn't human, I knew that. It was a demon, the worst demon of its kind. It was the demon that controlled all and created new demons just for the fun of it before abandoning them to die out on the mountain. 

"I control you, or have you forgotten?" the being said lightly. "Being away for so long isn't good for you, Benny."

"Don't call me that," I said, my voice shaking as I gave the order. The being just laughed; a cold, harsh sound that resonated around the hall and made even the cheerful, partying ghosts stop and shiver.

"But you're my little demon and I own you," the being said coldly, eyes still twinkling with cruel mirth. "I named you, I raised you, I taught you. Until you ran off, that is."

"You made me kill people," I said, my voice thick and heavy with suppressed emotion. "You made me wipe my friend's minds just so that I could stay safe."

"But did you really want people knowing that you're orphaned? That you had a romantic relationship with the young prince Loki? That you were a trained murderer by age seven? That you never once had any shred of humanity unless love was involved?" The being's eyes were as cold as ice, his gaze sharper than steel as he seemed to look directly into my soul. "You have to keep those things hidden to stay alive, Benny. You faked everything for the people that have now forgotten you. Isn't it a shame how the world treats us? You got given so many powers and had so much promise yet you threw it all away and went with it to the trash heap." The smile returned but didn't reach the being's eyes. "These nightmares are your punishment, boy. You have to see what you gave up."

There was a delicate cough from behind me and I turned around to see a happier, healthier, smiling version of me with baby blue eyes stood a few feet away. They were wearing a smart tuxedo and their hair was styled into an immaculate quiff, the sides shaved slightly. They had their arm around the waist of someone who was faded out of view but the love in their eyes - in my eyes - was unmistakable. They seemed to glow with joy, rays of brilliance shining from them. One palm shone a different colour and that hand was outstretched to me, a look of curiosity on the person's face. I reached out with a trembling hand of my own and our fingers brushed. It was a burning sensation on my behalf and the other me inhaled sharply, the gasp silent. The light in their fingers had died and blackened. Their eyes went darker and darker until they lowered their hand and balled it into a fist at its side. 

"You could have been so much," the being said, replacing the vision. "But you chose to run away and be human. How pitiful. You were a prince, my dear Benny, and yet you left it behind."