Past (The Testimony of a Magical Creature)

  Piano Sonata Number 6.

  She could not stop her chopping, and now she was chopping, and now she was not chopping.

  It all felt familiar. Somehow, she was apprehensive of her situation. Her ax… She felt the weight of her axe.

  She ran to the graveyard. She was at the graveyard.

  But now she did not feel the weight of her axe.

  She was on the surface, flowing. Then she felt a little bit numb. The numbness brought out the complete darkness, which overlapped with her inner desire.

  She entered the room of her parents’ bedroom without making any noise and noticed that her mother was soundly sleeping.

  Instantaneously, she came to her senses. She thought, “Is this all a dream?” Her sense of perceiving the reality of her surroundings was twisting her brain.

  She was in a twisted land of bloodthirst, and all at once, she found herself swinging the axe at her father.

  For a brief minute, she could not control her body. It was as if the axe had its own mind. That bloodthirsty axe of hers.

  She did not stop her axe, though.

  She had control of her body now, and she could stop the axe at any minute, but she did not; therefore, she continued swinging her axe.

  She was deceiving herself, as if she did not have control of her body.

  She repeatedly swung her axe and pulled it out. She swung and pulled it.

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  She was playing the mind game. She was brainwashing herself. She was able to convince herself that she was swinging her axe involuntarily—automatically.

  For her father did not move at all. She was sure that he did not feel any pain at all.

  Trapezius, triceps, flexor carpi radialis, and thenar muscles. Oh, anatomy, you are such a bitch!

  She was decapitating the head of her beloved father now.

  Trapezius, triceps, flexor carpi radialis, and thenar muscles. Oh, anatomy, you are such a bitch!

  In fact, it was not she who was decapitating, she reassured herself. She did not have a complete understanding of what she was doing. She knew, of course, that she was decapitating the head of her father. But it all felt too surreal for her simple brain: only a minute ago, she had been feeling angry and morose. But now, when she was doing the thing she had been envisioning for several days, she was feeling quite calm. It was not that difficult, and she felt peaceful.

  Had she been planning this all along?

  Present (Peach Mitani)

  Piano Sonata Number 7.

  She did not plan on murdering her parents. In a way, she thought calmly, she was possessed, and in a certain sense, the magical creature was testing the waters.

  It was all a lie of a god who wanted to own her soul, and the bitter remembrance of that sweet guardian broke and shattered her memories; therefore, she crossed her fingers and flicked her forehead.

  She loudly repeated the sacred vow of protection: “Heaven protect me and relieve me from my pain.”

  Did I really murder my parents?

  Heaven protect me and relieve me from my pain.

  Did I really murder my parents?

  Heaven protects me and relieves me from my pain.

  Did I really murder my parents?

  She had said her sacred words; she was free and serene.

  However, there was something she needed to do. She needed to find him—the prince Guyugu.

  He was her only anchor, and when Peach Mitani would tell him the truth of what happened to his cousin, who was the lawful heir to the throne, he would surely take revenge on the tenth consort.

  She resumed her thought and mumbled, “They have killed him. They had killed his cousin. I saw them coming together unavoidably, like whispering shadows, and in that shadow, they were whispering that they had killed him, and I heard them, and now my life is in danger. Moreover, if no one takes action against them, I will be brutally murdered.”

  Present (Baaalisrbra)

  Piano Sonata Number 8.

  Baaalisrba was bored. He was bored because his prey had gotten away.

  He touched the violet surface of his wine; to his surprise, it did not crumble. "Why did it not crumble, though?” he thought.

  The minister of personal affairs gently stroked his beard and tilted his head in puzzlement. There was something strange going on. How else would a dilettante like her still be alive? What was her name again? Peach Mitani, if he presumed correctly. No, he was certain that her name was Peach Mitani. He was always right in his presumptions, and he always guessed the names of human beings lower than him correctly in status.

  Furthermore, he knew that his prey was weak and utterly powerless, and as the minister of personal affairs, he had an opportunity to gather intel on Peach Mitani’s background.

  It was, of course, an unfortunate accident that she came across him that night like that. Nevertheless, he must take all the necessary precautions, for there was no time at all, and he was impatient in his desire to rule.