A Fairy Out of Her Tale - Dear Diary - 71. Scene 71

I don’t feel any different. What have you done to me, demon?

YOUR BLOOD NOW TIES YOU TO THE DIARY. WHATEVER I WRITE IN HERE, YOU MUST OBEY.

Is that all? You’ll mind-control me via a book?

YES. EAT AN APPLE. BURN YOUR HAND ON THE STOVE. DRAW A GENITAL ON YOUR FOREHEAD.

The only apple I had was rotten.

At least you didn’t specify which hand, so I can still write with the non-burned hand.

And you didn’t specify the genital either, so the vulva can pass for a third-eye.

I hate you.

YES, THAT IS WHAT I WAS GOING FOR. WELL DONE.

Can you do your part of the deal now? Or are you going to make me burn my other hand first?

THERE IS NO NEED FOR THAT. AS AMUSING AS IT IS TO HURT YOU, IT IS EVEN MORE AMUSING WHEN YOU CAN EXPRESS YOUR PAIN PROPERLY

YOUR FAMILY HAS BEEN TAKEN TO SKULL ISLAND. THEY BELONG TO ME AND HAVE BEEN PUT UNDER MY MIND CONTROL SPELL. THEY ARE PART OF MY ARMY NOW

Are you bringing Jurandir back?

MY PROMISE WAS THAT YOU WOULD KNOW WHERE YOUR FAMILY IS. NOTHING WAS SAID ABOUT RETURNING THEM

Of course. I expected as much. That means I’ll have to go there personally, or tell others about it.

YOU WILL NOT

YOU ARE HEREBY FORBIDDEN TO MENTION YOU FAMILY’S LOCATION TO ANYONE. YOU ARE ALSO FORBIDDEN TO THINK ABOUT RESCUING YOUR FAMILY. EVERY TIME YOU DO SO MUCH AS THINK OF A RESCUE PLAN, YOU WILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES

So you gave me all the information I need while making sure I can’t use any of it. You’re smart, I’ll give you that.

But if my part of the deal is only about reading orders in the diary, all I have to do is not open it. Then I’ll still be free.

YOU THINK THIS WILL BE EASY

HAVE YOU NOT FORGOTTEN HOW IT HAS BEEN IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU TO STAY AWAY FOR LONG? YOU FELL UNDER THE DIARY’S SPELL THE MOMENT YOU WROTE YOUR FIRST WORD IN IT. YOU WILL COME BACK TO ME ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.

Not today!

~*~

31 October 1979

I hate you. I spent the whole day with a horrible headache. I even vomited my lunch. And somehow I already know this is my body's way of forcing me to open the diary. The headache only stopped once I touched it.

WELCOME TO YOUR NEW LIFE

So what now? Are you going to keep giving me random orders? Will you micro-manage my life and take some weird pleasure in controlling everything about me, down to my bowel movements?

YOU MISTAKE ME FOR AN EASILY AMUSED TEENAGER. I HAVE MUCH GRANDER PLANS FOR YOU.

Should I feel relieved or worried?

I WILL LEAVE THIS UP TO YOU TO DECIDE

I AM NICE ENOUGH TO STILL ALLOW YOU SOME FREE WILL

YOU WILL LEAD ME TO OTHER POTENTIAL TARGETS. MY ORIGINAL PLAN WAS TO TAKE WHOEVER WROTE ON THE DIARY, BUT YOU'RE TOO WEAK ON YOUR OWN

I WANT YOUR PREVIOUS ROOMMATES. SCHEDULE A MEETING WITH THEM. DO NOT TELL THEM WHAT THIS IS REALLY ABOUT. TAKE THE DIARY WITH YOU SO I CAN APPEAR IN PERSON TO PICK THEM UP

NOW

~*~

1 November 1979

I hate you.

I couldn't cope with the headache on top of everything else.

I won't say it was nice meeting you yesterday. Though at least now I can put a face to the words that will haunt me forever. Are you going to punish me if I say you're ugly even for demon standards? Are you going to shock me like you did when I thought of Jurandir last night? (and now again as I wrote this?) What if I say you're not really that intimidating up close?

THEN I KNOW YOU ARE LYING

YOU SOILED YOURSELF YESTERDAY AS I TOOK YOUR ROOMMATES AWAY

YOU FEAR ME, FAIRY, AND YOUR ATTEMPT TO PRETEND OTHERWISE ENTERTAINS ME GREATLY

Good to know I'm your new toy.

MY NEW FAVOURITE TOY

I hate my life.

IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE FROM HERE

~*~

4 November 1979

I hate you.

But see, I survived days without looking at your ugly handwriting.

ENJOY THE LITTLE VICTORIES OF LIFE. IT'S ALL YOU WILL EVER GOING TO GET

AS PUNISHMENT FOR THINKING YOU CAN OUTSMART ME, YOU ARE HEREBY ORDERED TO RETURN TO PINDAIBA. YOU WILL SPEND THE REST OF YOUR LIFE THERE

No! You can't do this!

I CAN AND I DID

PACK YOUR THINGS AND GO. TELL YOUR FAMILY YOU REGRET EVER TURNING YOUR BACK ON THEM

AND ONCE YOU'RE THERE, YOU'LL START TO POINT ME TOWARDS OTHER FAIRIES WORTH TAKING. IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY, YOUR FRIEND THE HIGH PRIESTESS WAS QUITE POWERFUL...

No! I won't do it! Even if you kill me with shocks!

YOUR FIGHT AGAINST THE INEVITABLE WILL GREATLY AMUSE ME

BY ALL MEANS CONTINUE

This isn't over!

~*~

5 November 1979

I hate you.

But I am currently chained to my bed. I threw the key away, so you can't make me get myself out of here. My whole body hurts because I'm not doing what you told me to do, and I know sooner or later I'm bound to starve to death. But that means I won't have to obey you anymore, and I'll be free to join my Mother Deity.

AS IF YOU COULD ASCEND TO WHATEVER AFTERLIFE YOU BELIEVE THERE IS AFTER YOU GAVE YOUR LIFE TO ME

Exactly. I gave you my life. Therefore, whatever happens once I'm dead doesn't concern you anymore.

YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DIE BEFORE YOU REACH PINDAIBA

And how exactly are you going to enforce this? I can't get myself out of here. I'll be dead in a few days whether you like it or not.

YOU FORGET I AM ABLE TO APPEAR NEXT TO YOU ANY TIME I WISH

I COULD BLAST THE CHAINS OFF OF YOU AND TAKE YOU TO PINDAIBA MYSELF IF I WANTED TO

This is me throwing the diary out of the window.

~*~

6 November 1979

I hate you.

I KNOW THAT

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO NO LONGER BE STRAPPED TO A BED?

ARE YOU NOT GRATEFUL FOR MY TIMELY RESCUE? I EVEN PUT YOUR COMPULSION TO GO TO PINDAIBA ON HOLD FOR THE TIME BEING

Not when your reason for doing so was because you had something else in mind. I'm sure whatever it is will be even worse.

CONGRATULATIONS, YOU FINALLY UNDERSTANDS HOW THIS WORKS

EVERY TIME YOU CHALLENGE ME, YOU WILL BE PUNISHED. YOUR PUNISHMENTS WILL GET WORSE EVERY TIME

AND NOT ALL OF THEM WILL INVOLVE PHYSICAL PAIN

NOW GO ON AND ENJOY THE REST OF YOUR DAY. COME BACK WHEN YOU REALISE WHAT I HAVE DONE

~*~

1 December 1979

I hate you.

You are a sick bastard.

You took away my compulsion to look at the diary for so long I thought I had dreamt everything. My life was almost back to what I remembered it being before this whole mess.

Only to then get a phone call from my parents begging me to return to Pindaiba because they're really sick and I'm the only child they have left.

It was you, wasn't it?

OF COURSE

YOUR PARENTS ARE WELL AND TRULY SICK

THEY WILL DIE SOON

IF ONLY THEY HAD KNOWN THE LITTLE STREAM RUNNING UNDER THEIR HOUSE HAD BEEN MYSTERIOUSLY CONTAMINATED THEY MIGHT HAVE HAD A CHANCE. BUT NOW THEY HAVE BEEN DRINKING THE POISONOUS WATER FOR ALMOST A MONTH. THERE IS LITTLE ANYONE CAN DO OTHER THAN COMFORT THEM IN THEIR FINAL DAYS

HOW BAD WOULD IT BE IF THEIR ONLY CHILD REFUSED TO SEE THEM IN THEIR DEATHBED?

YOU WOULD HAVE TO SELL YOUR SOUL TO IGNORE THEIR LAST WISH...

OH, WAIT!

YOU ALREADY HAVE!

YOU ARE HEARTLESS MONSTER. I GUESS YOU DESERVE IT

No! You are the heartless monster! Don't dare think you can manipulate me that easily!

That said, I can't avoid going back now. It's your fault my parents have no one else with them. You took my siblings.

I'll go see my parents. You won that battle, but don't think you won the war. I'll find a way to fight you.

I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU TRY

~*~

15 December 1979

I hate you.

You killed my parents.

NO, YOU DID

YOU WERE THE ONE WHO TRIED TO OUTSMART ME AND DISOBEY MY ORDERS, REMEMBER?

IF YOU HAD GONE TO PINDAIBA WHEN I ORDERED YOU TO, THEY WOULD STILL BE ALIVE

I'm not going to let that talk get to me. You used that argument to make me feel guilty about Jurandir. I've learned my lesson since.

You poisoned their water. You killed them.

I'll kill you one day. I don't care if I lose my wings for it. You deserve to die the most painful death imaginable. You'll pay for all the deaths and suffering you caused.

LOOK AT YOU, THINKING LIKE A DEMON ALREADY!

I'M ALMOST RECONSIDERING MY DECISION TO NOT BRING YOU HERE. IF YOU CONTINUE TO ACT LIKE THIS, I WON'T EVEN NEED TO PUT A MIND-CONTROL SPELL ON YOU!

Does it take a demon to kill a demon? Because if that's what I need to become in order to destroy you, then that's what I'll do!

CAREFUL WITH WHAT YOU WISH FOR, BOY

I would entertain you for longer, but I have more important things to do.

You won't hear from me again. Not until we meet in person and I destroy you.

I DOUBT IT

YOU CANNOT ESCAPE ME

We'll see.

~*~

19 July 1994

It's been 14.5 years and I still hate you.

TELL ME HOW YOU EVADED ME FOR SO LONG

I see your orders still work.

Nelma. I told her everything about the diary, and what you made me do through it. I knew better than to mention my plans to you then, because obviously you would order me to give it up. I personally think I did a great job distracting you back then.

Nelma is the High Priestess, and as such she has access to some of our Mother Deity's power. She placed a seal on the diary so that your magic would be locked away and I wouldn't be compelled to open it and see your orders.

We tried to get rid of the diary, but I guess there was enough magic left on in it that it was still capable of returning to me no matter what I did. So we hid it. I didn't even see this diary for the last 14 years.

YOUR PLAN WAS FLAWED

Yes. Nelma did warn me that the seal would eventually weaken. We knew this would happen eventually.

But we didn't expect the diary to suddenly appear among Nessa's things. Was this your doing?

MAYBE

WHO IS NESSA?

My daughter. Well, Jurandir's daughter. The last time I wrote about her she was still called Neo. She settled on a name and gender when she was five. She is turning 16 today. And this diary was among her pile of gifts. Was it you?

I MAY HAVE DONE SOMETHING OF THE SORT

IT IS THE 16TH ANNIVERSARY OF OUR MEETING. A SPECIAL OCCASION LIKE THIS MUST BE CELEBRATED

Were you intending to get to me or to Nessa? The moment I touched the diary to remove it from her things, I felt Nelma's seal break.

What do you want from us now?

RIGHT NOW I WANT YOU TO TELL ME WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN DOING IN THE LAST 14 YEARS

THEN I WILL DECIDE THE SEVERITY OF YOUR PUNISHMENT

Nelma and I got married. We fell in love after she helped me get rid of you. I became Nessa's new father. Nelma and I had a child six years ago. He's a boy with a uterus who chose the name Oraci.

Since falling in love with Nelma and her family, I have given up my dream of getting to know the world. I am happy in PIndaiba with a family I love, and in a sense this is because of you. I still want to kill you, though. Don't get me wrong. There isn't a day when I don't think about what you did to Jurandir. Is he even still alive?

YES

You gave me a straight answer? What's the miracle?

THAT IS MY ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF YOUR DECEPTION SKILLS. YOU ARE SMARTER THAN I ORIGINALLY TOOK YOU FOR

YOUR FAMILY IS ALIVE. JURANDIR IS ONE OF MY MOST PRISED SERVANTS. HE GAVE THREE CHILDREN TO MY ARMY, THOUGH ONE OF THEM IS PROVING TO BE AS MUCH OF A PAIN IN THE HORNS AS YOU

Thank you for the compliment.

THIS IS NOT SOMETHING TO BE HAPPY ABOUT. THE LITTLE GIRL WILL BE DEAD SOON. THE ONLY REASON SHE BECAME A PROBLEM IN THE FIRST PLACE WAS BECAUSE ONE OF MY OWN BETRAYED ME

Demons backstabbing demons? What's new in that?

YOU JOKE NOW

THE ONLY REASON I BOTHER TELLING YOU ANY OF THIS IS BECAUSE I AM ABOUT TO MAKE YOU SUFFER MORE THAN YOU EVER DID IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE

MY OWN SON BETRAYED ME. A BOY WHO HAD BEEN NOTHING BUT TROUBLE FROM THE START. HE BEFRIENDED THE LITTLE FAIRY REBEL, TOOK HER OUT OF MY MIND CONTROL. THOSE CHILDREN TRIED TO START A REBELLION AGAINST ME

YOU KNOW WHAT I DID?

No, and I don't think I want to.

MY PLAN WAS TO KILL MY SON. HE DESERVED TO BE EXECUTED FOR HIS CRIMES

I WANTED TO KILL THE GIRL IN FRONT OF HIM, THEN TAKE HIS HORNS, AND THEN CUT OFF HIS HEAD SO I COULD HAVE IT DECORATING MY THRONE ROOM.

That's gross.

IT'S PRIME DECORATION MATERIAL IF YOU ASK ME

Each to their own.

MY SON RAN AWAY. JUST LIKE YOU DID

I TOOK HIS HORNS, BUT HE STILL MANAGED TO RUN AWAY

THE GIRL DID NOT, THOUGH. SHE WILL BE MY PRISONER UNTIL I CATCH THE LITTLE RUNAWAY. THEN I WILL KILL THEM BOTH

SLOWLY AND PAINFULLY

AND BLOODLY

That's... a great display of sadism and cruelty from you, but I don't understand what it has to do with me.

I JUST THOUGHT YOU COULD RELATE TO RUNAWAYS

AND TO THE PUNISHMENTS I GIVE THEM

Are you going to kill me slowly and painfully and bloodly then?

NO

I WILL JUST MAKE YOU SUFFER UNTIL YOU LOSE YOUR MIND

THEN WILL KILL YOU SLOWLY AND PAINFULLY AND BLOODLY

BRING ME YOUR DAUGHTER. I WANT THIS NESSA YOU SPEAK OF. I AM SURE HER FATHER WILL BE PLEASED TO SEE HER

AND HE WILL BE PARTICULARLY PLEASED TO SEE HER DIE SLOWLY AND PAINFULLY AND BLOODLY NEXT TO HIS OTHER REBEL DAUGHTER

No! You can't make me do this!

YES, I CAN. WE WENT OVER THAT 14 YEARS AGO

I WANT YOUR DAUGHTER. OR IS THAT JURANDIR'S DAUGHTER?

I WILL KILL HER

AND YOU WILL WATCH

AND YOU ARE FORBIDDEN TO MENTION ANY PART OF THIS CONVERSATION TO ANYONE ELSE. IF YOUR HIGH PRIESTESS WIFE TRIES TO HELP YOU GET RID OF ME AGAIN, I WILL APPEAR IN PERSON TO PUNISH HER

DO YOU UNDERSTAND?

I hate you.

ANSWER MY QUESTION

WILL YOU BRING NESSA TO ME?

Yes.

HOW MUCH DID IT HURT TO WRITE THAT?

Please kill me.

NO

YOU WILL LIVE TO SEE YOUR DAUGHTER'S DEATH

AND THEN I WILL KILL YOUR WIFE

AND THEN YOUR SON

AND YOU WILL BE THE ONE WHO WILL MAKE THEIR HEADS INTO ROOM DECORATIONS

You're sick!

YOU WERE THE ONE WHO RAN AWAY FROM ME

IF YOU HAD NOT TRIED TO FIGHT OUR CONTRACT, I WOULD ONLY TAKE OVER YOUR FAMILY, BUT THEY WOULD HAVE STAYED ALIVE

YOU WILL CAUSE THEIR DEATHS

JUST LIKE WITH YOUR PARENTS

YOU HAVE A LOT OF BLOOD IN YOUR HANDS FOR A FAIRY

I will not give up! I'll find a way to fight your orders!

HAVE I MENTIONED THAT AFTER I MAKE YOU CUT OUT THE HEADS OF YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS AND TURN THEM INTO TROPHIES I WILL MAKE YOU FIGHT TO THE DEATH AGAINST JURANDIR?

THE ONE WHO SURVIVES WILL BE REWARDED BY GETTING KILLED BY ME WITH AS LITTLE PAIN AS POSSIBLE

THOUGH IF I SUSPECT EITHER OF YOU IS TRYING TO DIE ON PURPOSE TO HELP THE OTHER, I WILL FEED YOU TO THE HOWLWULFS AND WATCH YOU BE DISMEMBERED BY MY DEAR PUPPIES

HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT?

If I throw up on the diary does it break the spell?

NO

AT MOST IT MAKES IT EASIER FOR ME TO MAKE YOU POOP YOUR PANTS

I'll be sick somewhere else then.

COME BACK WHEN YOU ARE DONE

I HAVE TO TELL YOU MY NEW IDEAS ABOUT MAKING YOU EAT THE REST OF THE BODIES OF YOUR FAMILY TOO

I WAS NOT JOKING WHEN I SAID YOU WOULD PAY FOR THE LAST 14 YEARS OF WAITING, SEE?

I ALWAYS FOLLOW THROUGH WITH MY PROMISES

~*~

20 July 1994

I hate you.

I refuse to follow your orders. I don't care what's going to happen to me. I will not allow you to take Nessa and Nelma and Oraci.

And I'll close the diary before you can give me another order.

YOU THINK YOU ARE RUNNING AWAY

BUT YOU ARE RUNNING STRAIGHT INTO MY ARMS

~*~

1 January 1995

I hate you.

Mother Deity's blessing has protected me for the last half year. My prayers to their compassion were answered.

I was close to being freed from you. Until the diary appeared in Nessa's things again.

I knew what was going to happen as soon as I touched it. But I did it anyway because I will never let you have my family!

YOU FOUGHT BRAVELY. MORE THAN ANYONE I HAVE EVER KNOWN

YOUR REWARD WILL BE A PERSONAL VISIT

YOU WILL NOT RUN AWAY

I WILL TAKE OVER YOUR MIND

AND YOU WILL WATCH FROM INSIDE YOUR OWN HEAD AS I TAKE WHAT IS MINE

What do you me------

YOU ARE MINE, MORUMPI JACARANDA

AND NOW SO IS YOUR FAMILY