《How I Became the Villain》


 Chapter 1: Falling

    I was manic.


    Laughing as though there was nothing funnier to have ever existed. Watching the life drain from his eyes was the funniest thing I had ever seen.


    It. Was. So. Funny.


    But why¡­?


    Why was watching this man lying here so funny?


    Well, let''s be honest now, this is no longer a man, just a corpse. Nothing but meat with no emotion.


    Yet I laugh.


    My sides hurt.


    Yet I laugh.


    My cheeks burn.


    Yet I laugh.


    There is nothing left.


    Yet I laugh.


    Where did it all go wrong?


    _____________________________________________________________________________________


    I leaned back and fully stretched out my body as I shakily yawned.


    ¡°Tss. Ah.¡± I grabbed my calf.


    ¡°Charley horse, huh?¡± Melonie pushed a steaming cup of green tea towards me. ¡°Here, drink some. It''s a sign of dehydration.¡±


    ¡°Says who?¡± I glared, slowly pulling the tea toward myself.


    ¡°Says me. If you weren¡¯t so terrible at taking care of yourself, do you think I¡¯d have to constantly nag you like I¡¯m your mother? I¡¯m younger than you for fuck¡¯s sake!¡±


    ¡°Well, your name is dumb,¡± I muttered, sulking into my chair.


    Melonie rolled her eyes, ¡°complain all you want, but do it after you finish your assignments.¡± She turned back around, put her headphones on top of her lush red curls, and started scribbling down notes on her tablet.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    Perfect. That word best describes Melonie. She was tall and beautiful. She had gorgeous waist length red curls that bounced with every sway. She walked with confidence and flair, and there was a burning ambition in her bright blue eyes. And when she smiled, her teeth shined through her perfect smile.


    Despite her perfection, she decided, for some reason, to become friends with me¡ªa short, choppy-haired, chubby bum. I wore thick glasses, but wasn¡¯t even smart. I had mediocre grades, and even more mediocre social skills. Sometimes I wonder if she¡¯s friends with me to make herself look better in comparison.


    I shake the thought out of my head. Shut up, insecurity! Can I have just one good day?


    ¡°Yeah, yeah. I¡¯ll get right on that,¡± I sigh as I pick up my pencil and start answering practice problems.


    Midway through a problem Melonie nudges me with her elbow, ¡°ow! What¡¯s your problem? Now I lost my train of thought! I¡¯m gonna¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± She covers my mouth as a look of worry covers her face. ¡°Do you hear that?¡±


    I listen for a few seconds then shrug. ¡°Everything seems fine to me,¡± I say slowly moving her arm away from my mouth.


    ¡°It¡¯s too quiet. We¡¯re in a library, in the middle of the day, during exam season, yet there isn¡¯t even a peep.¡±


    I look around confused. She¡¯s right, everything around us is still. Everyone is frozen in place. Even the second counter on the digital clock was frozen at 12:34:00. I slowly get up from my chair and take a step towards a frozen person next to me.


    Suddenly, a circle of light opens up beneath Melonie, and her chair begins to sink into it, taking her with it. ¡°Rishi!¡± she screams, reaching out as panic sets in her eyes.


    I launch toward her, just barely catching her arm. I slam hard against the floor as I feel my ankle snap, ¡°Aaahhh!¡± I look back and see my left foot still in the same position as when I stepped away from my chair, while my ankle and the rest of my leg faced the other direction. It was almost as though my foot was stuck inside some invisible cement, preventing it from moving.


    The hole kept getting bigger, and I felt like I was going to pass out from pain, as my left foot slowly started to release from the ¡°cement¡±.


    ¡°Rishika, are you okay!¡± Melonie screamed, horrified from the snapping sound.


    ¡°I¡¯m okay, just focus on finding a way out of that hole you¡¯re in,¡± I grunted through clenched teeth.


    Melonie felt around for a bit as the hole continued to get bigger and the circular light shone brighter. Distant chanting slowly started to get louder, and started to sound more and more desperate. Most of the chanting was drowned out by the pain in my ankle and the sound of my heart thumping in my ears.


    ¡°My lord, they cannot hold on much longer!¡± someone yelled from deep within the hole.


    ¡°Hold on just a little longer!¡± a commanding voice called back.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to grab on to,¡± Melonie panted as tears started forming in her eyes.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, I got you,¡± I reassured through pained pants. As long as my foot stays¡­


    Pop.


    ¡°Ah, shi¡­¡±


    My foot popped free as we tumbled down into the hole.

 Chapter 2: The Steward

    I slowly opened my eyes as my head pounded. The bright lights shining through the stained glass blinded me.


    ¡°All bow to her holiness, Freya! The Scepter has found her, and she shall bring forth peace and prosperity. Oh noble one, we beg of thee, please bring hope to our war-torn nation!¡±


    ¡°The fuck kind of dream is this?¡± I muttered, sitting up as I rubbed my head.


    I looked up as my eyes adjusted to the scene ahead. Melonie was standing in a protective pose in front of me. All I could make out beyond Melonie was a group of kneeling uniformed mages in long shimmering blue robes as well as what looked like knights kneeling on one knee with their swords stabbed into the ground.


    ¡°Wha¡­ Tsss.¡± I tried standing up, but a searing pain shot up through my ankle. Oh, right.


    ¡°Who are you, and what is it that you want from us?¡± Melonie¡¯s shaky voice asked.


    ¡°This one is King of this humble nation of Galilith. This one is known as Payne, of the house of Doves. This one¡¯s people are nothing but humble servants of your holiness and this one would want nothing more but to do thy bidding. This one beseeches you to protect and provide my nation with prosperity in exchange,¡± the King fawned in response.


    ¡°What¡­ What do you mean? Look, you clearly have me confused with someone else. Can you please just take us back?¡± Melonie desperately pleaded.


    I tried standing up again, this time avoiding putting weight on my ankle as much as possible. Despite my best efforts, I still fell back down. Melonie noticed my struggles and quickly came to support me.


    ¡°This is no mistake your Holiness, the scepter is never wrong. You are its master, the reincarnation of our beloved goddess and holy saint, Lady Freya. I understand why you are confused, as you do not have any of your past memories, but they shall return in due time,¡± the king answered.


    After finally managing to stand up, thanks to Melonie¡¯s support, I was able to look at the King. He was standing in front of a black throne. He looked to be in his early twenties, with a black crown embellished with various precious stones resting on his short blonde hair.


    ¡°Look, I don¡¯t care about any of that. Please just let us go back. My friend really needs medical attention!¡± Melonie pleaded.


    ¡°This one is afraid there is no way back. I humbly suggest that you bring your friend to our medical mages, they can fix her up right away. You must be tired from your travels. Please follow my steward to your quarters. I¡¯ll have another servant come to take care of your friend.¡±Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    Is this man trying to split us up? Oh hell no!


    ¡°I apologize if I am speaking out of turn, Your Highness,¡± I slowly respond, ¡°but I¡¯m afraid we cannot do that. My friend and I will be staying together.¡±


    For a split second, I thought I saw a look of disgust on the king¡¯s face. It happened so fast that I wasn¡¯t even sure if I saw it correctly.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, we will be staying together,¡± Melonie chimed in.


    ¡°Very well then. Marshal, please see to it that our guests are taken to the head medic. Then send them to their quarters to rest.¡±


    A tall, slender man in a butler uniform with a veiled hat covering his entire head walked in from the door behind us. He bowed to the king, then motioned us to follow.


    ¡°Wait, before you leave, I humbly ask your names before you stay in my castle.¡±


    ¡°Melonie.¡±


    There was a subtle shift in the King¡¯s face. It was so subtle it could be easily missed. King Payne turned towards me and smiled.


    ¡°And you friend of Melonie?¡±


    A feeling of unease washed over me as my palms started to sweat. This King felt shifty, and this whole situation was messed up. I knew that I couldn¡¯t give them my real name no matter what. My eyes darted around looking for anything that could make a decent name.


    ¡°Um¡­¡±


    Banner? No. Glittery robes? No. Shit, think, think, think!!


    ¡°Is something wrong, friend of Melonie?¡±


    Friend of Melonie. Friend Melonie. Frielonie.


    ¡°Felonie! My name is Felonie!¡± I blurted without thinking.


    ¡°Melonie and Felonie, what interesting names.¡±


    I laughed awkwardly, ¡°Most people usually call me Fey, right, Melonie?¡±


    ¡°Oh, yup. Good ol¡¯ Fey!¡±


    King Payne raised an eyebrow, ¡°Marshal?¡±


    Marshal bowed, ¡°They are telling the truth, your highness.¡±


    ¡°I humbly apologize for having to ensure that you are not lying. Marshal, if you will?¡±


    Marshal bowed and motioned for us to follow him once more. As the doors to the throne room closed behind us Melonie looked at me and whispered, ¡°I always knew you were gonna become a felon, not like this though.¡±


    ¡°Haha, very funny. Just focus on helping me walk!¡±


    Pain shot through my ankle with every agonizing step. Marshal was walking slowly, but it felt as though he was sprinting miles in front of us.


    Just think about cats. Fluffy little dumb cats. Orange ones with no thoughts, no brain cells.


    I was so focused on distracting myself from the pain in my ankle that I nearly fell over when Marshal suddenly stopped in front of us.


    He turned to face us, and despite the sheer black cloth blocking the majority of his face, his emerald green eyes still managed to pierce through. It seemed as though he could see into the deepest depths of my soul.


    "It was smart of you to not share your real name. I suggest you don¡¯t ever share it.¡±


    He then turned towards Melonie, ¡°I am sorry.¡±


    The air grew heavy as it became hard to breathe. I turned towards Melonie as concern made my blood turn cold.


    ¡°Wait, why do you say that?¡± Melonie asked.


    Marshal, however, just kept on walking as though nothing had been said.

 Chapter 3: Healing Magic

    The rest of the walk was silent, aside from my heavy, pained panting. Marshal led us to a set of doors and knocked. After a few moments of silence, one of the doors creaked open, and a head with black hair slowly poked out. The air grew several degrees cooler. The entire vicinity became dimmer, and fog rolled out from the crack of the door.


    ¡°Oh, hello, Marshal. How are your ears?¡± a child-like voice answered.


    ¡°They are doing well, ma''am. I brought someone who needs your aid.¡±


    The head cocked up in interest, allowing us to better see the wooden mask under the black mess of hair. The wooden mask had small, colorful flowers painted on top of its blank expression. It seemed like a bad attempt to make this person less creepy. If anything, it only made her more unsettling.


    ¡°I see. Bring the patients in.¡± The head moved out of the way, and the door fully opened.


    In front of us stood a small child who had waist-length, thick black hair that messily covered her wooden mask and clung to her thin white robes embroidered with pink and silver flowers.


    Marshal walked in. Melonie and I shared a look of concern before slowly following behind. The room was even colder than the hall, as frost climbed up the walls and our breath turned to smoke.


    ¡°Lady Yuka may seem intimidating at first, but she will take care of you,¡± Marshal whispered.


    Intimidating? Maybe creepy¡ªshe¡¯s too small to be intimidating.


    ¡°Please, come sit here,¡± Yuka motioned to a cot covered in a silk sheet.


    I raised my eyebrows at Melonie. She shrugged in response and helped me to the bed.


    ¡°This is Melonie, and Felonie. Felonie is the one who needs assistance with her ankle,¡± Marshal explained.


    Yuka leaned down and observed my foot. I only now realized that my foot was facing the complete wrong direction! A wave of dizziness hit me, and I started to fall over.


    Melonie caught me just before my back hit the cot. ¡°You okay?¡±


    ¡°My foot is facing the wrong direction¡­ Does this look okay?¡± I responded weakly.


    "It indeed looks bad. However, this is an easy fix." Yuka wrapped her cold, snow-white hands around my ankle. Her fingers were long and dainty, and her skin felt like cotton against my swollen ankle. Her ice-cold hands provided a moment of relief for my aching ankle. ¡°I apologize, but this may hurt a bit.¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Yuka flipped my foot around with one smooth motion. An unbelievable pain radiated from my ankle. Tears and snot streamed down my face while I clenched my teeth. Melonie squeezed my arm as Yuka began chanting. Yuka¡¯s hands began to glow as my ankle started to heat up like an oven. I could feel the bones mending and the muscles fixing into place. There was a moment of agonizing, searing pain, heating up my whole body. My face flushed as I quietly panted in agony.


    As quickly as the pain came, it was gone. Yuka¡¯s hands stopped glowing, and she moved them away. I was a bit disappointed that the soothing chill from her hands was gone.


    ¡°Wha¡­ How¡¯d you do that?¡± I asked in astonishment as snot slowly rolled down my chin.


    Yuka handed me a clean rag. ¡°Oh, this little thing? It¡¯s a spell that speeds up your cells. It heals them rapidly¡ªso instead of taking a month, it takes mere seconds,¡± Yuka cheerfully explained.


    ¡°Amazing.¡±


    ¡°These are the humans summoned by our lord. The scepter has pointed to Melonie being Freya,¡± Marshal explained.


    ¡°Look, I don¡¯t know who you think I am, but I am not this Freya person!¡± Melonie huffed as Yuka circled around her, observing every inch of Melonie.


    ¡°Is it safe for me to stand?¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes dear, you may get up!¡± Yuka floated over and watched me get off the bed. My ankle looked as though it hadn¡¯t been facing the other direction just moments ago.


    ¡°This is amazing!¡± I whispered as I tested my newly fixed ankle.


    ¡°Do you not have healing magic in your world?¡± Yuka asked as her wooden face stared at me.


    ¡°We don¡¯t even have magic.¡±


    ¡°Fascinating! Then how do you humans protect yourselves?¡±


    ¡°Guns, I guess. What do you mean by ¡®you humans¡¯? Are you not human?¡± I mean, I had a feeling, but I didn¡¯t want to assume.


    ¡°Well no, I am a Snow-Forged, and our dear friend Marshal here is an elf.¡±


    ¡°Oh? What is a Snow-Forged?¡±


    ¡°I am a Snow-Forged¡­¡± Yuka responded in confusion.


    ¡°No, what is it?¡±


    ¡°It is me.¡±


    Yuka¡¯s wooden mask and I stared at each other for a moment.


    ¡°I think she wants to know how a Snow-Forged is different from a human. For example, elves have long pointy ears and are in tune with nature, but what is a Snow-Forged?¡± Melonie explained.


    ¡°Oh, you have elves in your world but not Snow-Forgeds?¡± Marshal asked.


    ¡°Nah, elves are just a common fantasy character in our world,¡± I explained.


    ¡°Fantasy¡­?¡±


    ¡°Well, we Snow-Forgeds come from the cold regions in the south. We are born from the deep emotions of those who expire in the cold. Some of us may even be created from the emotions of many different individuals. So if you come across another one of us, be cautious. Many of us are not friendly,¡± Yuka explained as she shuffled around in a cabinet.


    Melonie sat down on the cot and crossed her arms. ¡°So¡­ who is Freya?¡±