How To Survive Overwhelming Oppression

I stared at Famine’s lifeless body for a second. The black receded from his eyes, back to the usual white. I snapped myself out of the daze and turned to examine Raven’s body. Part of her skin was still enveloped by ice; the exposed parts were bruised with blood. Dead flies scattered about, some squished into an unrecognizable splatter.

Better call an ambulance…

I floated towards Raven’s bedroom on the floor above, but I was stopped short by an ache in my waist. As I looked down, I found the Gashadokuro’s jaws around my torso. Part of its skull clipped through the ceiling, and its body stretched under the floor. Mythical creatures weren’t a rare sight in the spirit plane, but they were usually docile.

It could only have attacked me because…

“I can’t have you call for help,” Famine said. He stood next to his own dead body.

Three other mythical creatures accompanied him. On his left sat a person-sized fox with nine tails; its white fur seemed to glimmer. On his right lay a brown raccoon dog wearing a straw hat; it had an enormous belly and two even bigger… round objects growing out from its crotch. Clutching Famine’s head was a humanoid figure akin to a mummy; just looking at its reddish-brown body brought to mind a putrid smell. Both the creature’s insect eyes and wings fluttered.

“She can still hold out for at least another hour,” I said. “Meanwhile, your spirit will fall asleep soon. Do you think these hired muscles of yours will keep me here?” I glared at the Gashadokuro. It responded by biting down harder. I kept a poker face, careful not to show any reaction to the pain.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep him awake.” Famine’s voice deepened as his eyes became clouded by darkness.

“You are letting a mere demon possess you now? How low can you stoop?”

“I’m not a mere demon. I’m Beelzebub, one of the rulers of Hell.”

“Then go back to ruling Hell. Let me go.”

I didn’t care who it was before me. I just needed to ask for help. Without my presence in Raven’s body, consciously maintaining the ice, it had begun to melt. The cold barrier had inflamed Raven’s cells, and the bacteria from the dead flies were invading her body. Not to mention plenty of internal bleeding and bone fractures.

Wait a second… Why can I see inside Raven’s body with quasi-omniscience?

Beelzebub’s actual form smirked. He might have noticed the change in my expression, or he might even be able to read my mind. “You sensed it too. Your connection with the girl is fading; she is dying.”

“But I won’t die with her. I’ll just take over her body.”

Famine’s eyes turned back white, and his voice returned to normal. “Whatever hurts you is good enough. You have to pay for what you did to Minoru.”

“You attacked us first!”

“Shut up! You killed him. You killed him!” Famine screeched as his body shook. I wondered whether he had heard what I said.

“Someone will find the broken house door and see Raven. They will call the emergency services. I just have to wait.” I crossed my arms to emphasize my confidence, pressing down the unease within. The situation would resolve itself; being restrained wouldn’t change anything.

“There’s no one left to help. I made sure of it. Check for yourself.”

I scanned the entire street with quasi-omniscience. The other buildings contained the corpses of their residents, all ravaged by flies. How could I not have seen this until now? The only living person remaining on the entire street was Raven, who was getting closer to death every second.

Another detail caught my eye. Famine’s dead body had no inner organs, only empty space. He probably sacrificed himself as an offering to Beelzebub as a last resort.

He had no reason to go this far; it wasn’t like I wanted to kill his boyfriend. Sacrifices like this were unnecessary. Sacrifices… My thoughts strayed in an unpleasant direction. Was I correct in killing Taisuke? Was it a better outcome to save the rich assholes? Was it a better outcome for Junk-o to die instead of Raven? Do a few decades of life really matter?

Maybe it was better for me to do nothing. Zoe’s broken voice hummed in my mind again. The deaths around the world filled my mind as usual; they began to feel inconsequential. No matter what I did, the hard-earned life would eventually perish. No matter what I do, people will still die. I had just been ignoring the deaths around me, pretending that what I did made a difference.

The truth was that nothing mattered. My actions were inconsequential. I could let Raven die here, and after a century or two, the outcome wouldn’t be any different.

“Hey, did you give up already? Fine. But I’m not done with you.” Famine’s grin widened. “Skeleton, do your thing.”

The Gashadokuro’s jaws snapped shut, severing my body in half. I didn’t bleed, but the resulting pain still carved into my soul, melting my mind as if lava were poured into my skull. I couldn’t keep it in anymore, no matter how hard I bit my lip. A scream forced its way out of me.

Once Raven died, I would be free of this torture. I couldn’t wait for that to happen. It was troublesome to deal with her volatile emotions and stubborn personality anyway. I would have a much better time having the body to myself. Alone. I didn’t need anyone with me, certainly not anyone to comment on me and my actions. These thoughts felt alien, as if stitched together, but it didn’t matter. I held onto them, treating them as truth.

Both halves of my spirit remained stuck to the Gashadokuro’s teeth like magnets. The skeleton raised its arm from under the earth and squished its index finger on my face. The pressure deformed my face. My eyes felt like they were about to pop out. My skull must have started cracking. I knew I would regenerate after, but this knowledge did nothing to ease the agony.

“That is enough!” A voice burst out. The Gashadokuro took its hand away from my face, in time for me to trace the source of the shout. The Kitsune was speaking. It bared its teeth at Famine.

“What is it?” Famine glared at the fox spirit, causing it to step backwards.

“I promised vengeance, not this sick, twisted torture.” Strands of the spirit’s fur stood up. It trembled, but maintained its stance.

“I didn’t ask you to question my decisions.”

“This isn’t honorable.”

“You’re getting annoying.” Famine waved his arm, and Beelzebub flew over the Kitsune; its withered arms stretched towards the fox.

The Bake-danuki gave out a shaky chuckle. “Everyone, can we all calm down and talk?”

I could fan the flames and get them to fight. Perhaps adding a few comments here and there would do the trick. Just to spite them for torturing me. Famine would probably win, but at least he would be within the palm of my hand for a brief moment.

What would be the best thing to say? Something to push the Kitsune off the edge. Something that could draw the Bake-danuki into the fight. Maybe even something that could turn Famine against Beelzebub.

Then, I glimpsed Raven’s dying body again. With that, the memories of the time we had spent resurfaced, from the arguments to the teasing.

I inhaled and opened my mouth, finally certain of what words to say. “Are you going to torture me? Go on!”

Famine and the monsters paused their conflict. Their gazes redirected to me. But they didn’t say anything.

“Did you hear me? Go on! Torture me! Have your fun! I’m in a hurry here. Come on. Do whatever you want with me. I can’t fight back anyway. So beat me up to your heart’s content!” I was almost shrieking towards the end. Fanning the flames of discord wouldn’t change anything, because as much as I wanted to look away from the truth, I was powerless here.

Famine’s eyes widened. His face twitched and warped. “How dare you say this! How dare you accept this! Suffer! Beg for it to stop!”

“I’m sorry that Minoru died. But I didn’t know that thing was a person.”

“It’s all your fault!”

“Maybe, but only partly.”

“No! Everything! Everything is your fault!” A stream of tears ran down Famine’s cheek. Beelzebub turned and floated towards Famine. Famine flicked his wrist at the demon. He twirled around, clutching his face, until his eyes drifted shut.

His spirit had fallen into slumber.