An Uneasy Night (Part 1)

“Come on, David. It’s hard for me to rehearse if the person I’m acting against is a stiff as a wall.”

“Sorry, but you knew I couldn’t act when you asked me.”

“I didn’t expect you to be this bad though.”

“…Yeah. Don’t you have any tips or hints you could give me?”

“Sure. But I wanted to see a ‘bright and amazing student’ like yourself figure it out without anyone else’s help.”

“You cannot still be holding a grudge about that.”

“I can, I am, and I will continue to do so.”

“Don’t let her copy your homework one time and she never lets it go.”

“Well, serves you right for being a prat.”

“Hailey, can you help me please?”

“More polite.”

“Beautiful, wonderful and astute lady Hailey, could you please help this lowly peasant learn to act.”

“That wasn’t actually that bad, just then.”

“Hailey.”

“Okay, okay, I could tell you, but they’re tricks of the trade, you see. The sort of thing that the Elders of the Acting Guild wouldn’t want me sharing so easily and for such a low price.”

“The chocolate cake from the bakers down the road.”

“Sold! So, to be honest, I only really use one technique and it’s a bit tricky to use at first. But, with enough practice, it becomes second nature to you.”

“Sounds perfect.”

“Basically, you must live like the character in their entirety to be able to act as them.”

“…Okay?”

“…You don’t get it, do you?”

“I understand the theory at least.”

“Okay, try to think of it like this. You’re you because of the way you think, talk, how you act and all that, right?”

“Right.”

“So, it’s all about trying to apply those principals to acting to become a fictional character. Think how they think, talk how they talk, act like they do. It’s excessive, but it’s what works best for me when I’m acting.”

“Tonnes of effort for a minor role like this, don’t you think?”

“It’s still necessary to me. After all, we’re breathing life into these characters and it’s our job to make them feel real to the audience.”

“That sounds a bit scary.”

“Maybe, but, as long as you can separate yourself from the character, you’ll be fine. It’s simple when you think of it like that, right?”

***

With the castle now his, David retired to what had once been a luxurious guest bedroom in the castle.

Had the master bedroom not been damaged during the assault, David would’ve gladly taken it as his own. The room that he was in however had been largely untouched during the attack.

“Leave me,” David said to the two Machai escorting him.

The Machai bowed and promptly left, closing the doors behind them.

Once David could sense that they were far away, and that no one else was near him, he dispelled his armour and fell onto his knees, panting heavily.

He clutched his chest tightly as he almost vomited onto the clean carpet, but he swallowed it back down.

He couldn’t calm down, no matter what he did.

He couldn’t execute the calming breathing exercises he knew as his mind was all over the place.

By his order, hundreds of people had died tonight.

He acted like a monster to the best of his ability, suppressing every human emotion inside of him so he could play the role Eris wanted.

But what bothered David the most were the last words he’d uttered in the dungeon.

He’d tried using Hailey’s technique to keep himself and the Demon Emperor separate, but David was scared that he hadn’t been able to keep the two separate.

When he said he wanted the parents to suffer, it hadn’t been an act.

David wanted to hurt them, to make them suffer for what they’d done to that woman.

Worse, for a brief moment, he’d imagined what he’d do and looked forward to it.

That wasn’t me! He lowered himself closer to the ground. That was the Demon Emperor! Even if they’d deserve it, I wouldn’t do such things.

Anyone would’ve wanted them to suffer if they’d seen and heard what they’d done to that girl.

Anyone would!

David hit his head hard against the ground, weeping quietly, but it didn’t hurt.

So, he did it again and again, but felt no pain nor did it leave a bruise.

Then, an idea came into his mind.

What if this was Eris’s doing?

He slowly sat back up onto his knees and thought back to when Eris drenched him in that black mud.

She said she remade my entire body so I’d be able to handle the power she’d given me, but what if that wasn’t all she did? What if she not only gave me power, but also changed the way my body functions, maybe even the way I think?

David hadn’t felt any different after arriving in this new world with his new body, but what if that wasn’t the case?

What if Eris had fundamentally changed his mentality and his own perceptions of what felt normal to him?

That sounds like something she’d do. If she had, it’d explain why I felt that rush when I killed those goblins and why I thought of torturing Rebecca’s parents.

That has to be it.

“Even if it is, all I can do is fight it?”

Slowly, David stopped up and made his way over to a tall mirror in the room.

He stripped out of his clothes and, for the first time since he’d arrived in this world, he inspected his rebuilt body.

His hair was as black as night; his eyes were a blood red colour and their shape reminded him of Eris’s.

The strangest change, however, that he hadn’t even realised himself until now was what had happened to his body.

He had become taller and more muscular.

David had only realised it when he stood before this mirror as his family owned one that was about the same height.

There’s no way I wouldn’t have noticed this unless she’d messed with my head. I can’t feel pain like I used to either, so there’s evidence to support this theory.

However, even with those changes, David could still recognise his face and body as his own.

The faint scars on his arms and legs from when he’d hurt himself when he was a kid, the painful looking white tissue above his heart where the burglar had stabbed him, and his face, even with his new eyes, still looked like him.

There’s still a bit of me left in here.

David put his clothes back on and slipped under the bed sheets, before staring blankly at the ceiling; his body was still shaking even now.

Maybe I’ll feel better after some sleep.

Just as David closed his eyes, he felt a familiar, icy chill envelope the room.

He opened his eyes and, floating above his bed, looking down at him, were the blackened sadistic eyes of the person he hated the most.

“How are you enjoying yourself, Mr. Demon Emperor?” Eris gently asked with her usual cruel smile.

All of the anger, disgust and hatred that had been building inside of David exploded.

He roared at her, summoned his armour and weapon swung at her, but his blade never even came close to her face.

In a fraction of a second after David had started his attack, Eris had effortlessly thrown him across the room without lifting a finger. David crumpled onto the ground as his armour vanished.

He glared at her, but Eris didn’t care.

“You know, you should really find a better way of venting your anger. I’ve heard that talking to someone helps, so I graciously came here to help you calm down.”

She giggled and rested her chin in her hands, kicking her feet, almost like she was lying down on a bed.

“I’m such a nice Goddess, aren’t I?” Eris asked. Then, she grinned. “Oh, but I’ve also heard that a good way to relieve stress is to take it out on others as well.” She giggled. “If only there was someone nearby that you could take your anger out on.”

Don’t rise to the bait!

David calmed himself down and slowly stood back up, never breaking eye-contact with the Goddess.

“Oh?” She purred. “Do you have something that you want to say to me?”

“…Why are you here?”

“Hmm. I could’ve sworn that I told you the reason.”

“You didn’t tell me the real reason.”

“I did.”

David had to resist lashing out at her again, reminding himself of how it went the last time.

Don’t piss her off, or else she could hurt your family, he repeated in his mind again and again until it took a slight edge of his anger.

“It seems like you’re finally starting to believe me.”

“If I believed everything you said, then I’d be the biggest fool in the universe.”

“Oh? Is that so?”

“You didn’t think that I’d believe everything the self-proclaimed Goddess of Chaos and Strife says, did you?”

“No, but you do believe some of the things I tell you. Like your family’s fate.” She stretched out one of her hands towards him. “And yours.”

“…Yeah. But you never mentioned anything about fixing things this world!”

“Fixing?”

“Like the cave close to where I arrived filled with goblins so I could get used to spilling blood, or how a castle ruled by scum was within miles of that? It’s not hard to imagine that you arranged things like this so I could start down the dark path to becoming the Demon Emperor? How much of this did you arrange?”

“I didn’t ‘fix’ or ‘arrange’ anything in this world. The only things I did was choose where you were summoned to and drafted a list of potential generals for you. Everything else was just how this world already was before I sent you here.”

“You expect me to believe that with how things have gone so far?”

Eris lost her smile and David reflexively stepped backwards till he was pressed up against the wall.

“Are you calling me a liar?” Eris asked in a low voice.

“…N-No,” David whispered. He took a deep breath and then said, “But you can see why I’d think you set some of this up, right?”

Eris hummed softly and cocked her head to one side. “Perhaps. However, I didn’t do anything to interfere with this world nor shall I do so directly. All I will do is summon the generals you choose and the heroes when the time is right. That, and I am constantly watching this world to see whether or not you are acting in a manner befitting that of a Demon Emperor.”

“So…that means that I have been doing what you wanted so far, right?”

Eris smiled slyly. “For now. If you hadn’t, I would’ve shown myself before you long before now. Though, I must admit, I was a little surprised that you decided to let the young girl and her servants live. I let it go at the time because they are truly terrified of you and your minions, but I do wonder why you kept them alive.

“They aren’t strong, nor can they perform their tasks as well as the Machai or the undead. So, why let them live?”

I didn’t want to kill anyone else, especially not victims like them.

He kept those thoughts in his mind, not daring to say them aloud to Eris.

“Because their knowledge of this world could prove useful to me. Right now, the thing I’m lacking most is knowledge. I can gather a large army using Mania’s necromancy and Abaddon’s portals, but I don’t know enough about this world to start making plans to establish an empire. As it is, there’s already plenty of risks in taking this castle as my own, but I have to in order to start forging my domain.”

Eris hummed and leant back, resting her hands behind her head. “That does make sense. However.” She turned and grinned at him. “That’s not the real reason, is it? Or, at the very least, the only one?”

David flinched and she giggled.

“Well, it doesn’t matter.” She spun forwards in the air. “For now, I shall leave. Though, I will be visiting you again, David Athelward. Do your best to entertain me, won’t you?”

“Wait! Before you go, let me ask you one question.”

“What?”

“…Why did you pick this world? Why make me the Demon Emperor of here and not some other world? Why this world specifically?”

Eris gaze him a quizzical look. “Do I really need a reason?”

“…No, no you don’t.”

“Oh? Does that upset you? Would it make you feel better if I said I had a good reason for it, like maybe this world is so corrupt and evil that it deserves to be destroyed? Or that I hated this world?”

Eris giggled and slowly floated towards David.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I chose this world for the same reason as you,” Eris purred. “Because I think it’ll be fun to see it break.”

David glared back and she laughed.

“That’s a scary face you’re making,” she whispered. “It might work on your servants, but, to me, it looks like a small child throwing a tantrum.” She straightened up as her body slowly turned into black feathers. “Never forget your role in this world, Demon Emperor.”

Eris then vanished, leaving only black feathers behind.