The Pain of a Fairy-tale Princess

"You… shut up. You don't know me. You don't even know why I do this… a man like you can't understand me" Struggling to hide her pained expression, she averted her gaze and bit her lips. She puffed out her cheeks to throw out a few short breaths as her blood drips down to the strings that held her up in the air.

"True enough but we do know things. It says here that your M.O. is that you find a guy, be a creep to him for a few days or weeks, then kill him thereafter. The cycle repeats until you've reached enough victims to increase my workload." I cracked my knuckles and tilted my head before I walked up to her and poke her cheek again to get her attention. "It's like you're falling in love all over and over again. Is it that feeling? That uncomfortable feeling of your chest tightening as if your dead heart has started to beat all over again?

"N-no..."

"But as soon as that feelings fade, you began to doubt them and then comes the flashbacks after flashbacks until you know it. Your thirst for revenge comes in and they're dead." She bowed her head, letting her black hair flow over her face and cover most of her chest. I clicked my tongue in silence as soon as I got the urge to at least see her expression so pushed some of her hair at the back of her ear. My forehead popped a vein after I saw her eyes swollen with tears so I cleared my throat and said, "So here I am, hanging you like a plastic pineapple decoration on a new years eve just because you have a constant need to feel loved."

"A prince charming is that one who's fated to come at my rescue and save me from my hell" She spoke in a soft tone as he gazed through the holes of my mask. "Are you perhaps my… Never mind that, do I look beautiful?"

"I guess anything works for you. But to be honest, I'll probably like you if you were a bit older like my wife. But for now wake up, that's not you talking, dumbass." I broke her intimate gaze with a quick slap and I gave her another one to drag her normal self out. Even without limbs, she can still struggle and distance her face from mine. Some people will find this trait adorable as it is but being the sole reason on why her limbs are gone and why she's suspended in the air like a smoked ham, all I could do now was try not to laugh. "You seem like a smart, hard-working and sweet girl but when it comes into men, why do you throw everything out and rely on flaunting your body?"

"Look at you talk, you're even scared to show your face. You're probably an asshole who died a virgin. You won't understand." She paused for a moment to take a deep breath through her nose and followed, "You don't know what it's like to live with a gaping hole in your chest. I wanted to be noticed, I wanted to be doted on, I want my hands to be held by a hot man with abs and it's so hard for me because… because I'm-"

"Ugly? Where did you learn that? Books? Magazines? TV? Why the hell are you comparing yourself to others given that you're already ugly? Do you really like to suffer that much?" I averted her eyes to let out a sigh. "This is why I don't let my daughter watch too much TV. You're actually the best example of what I don't want her to become."

"I wanted to be the damsel in distress wherein the hero would just come in and take me. You don't know the effort I went through to be beautiful. I went on a diet, I made an effort to learn makeup, lucky bracelets, I arranged my house according to feng shui and even resorted to palm reading so that I could just get a man!"

"Divinations and lucky bracelets weren't convenient enough to tell you to stop comparing yourself with others but..." I scoffed and smiled, rubbing my chin in between my fingers. Her eyes widened and it's just the perfect thing to make me show my teeth. "Damn, and somehow you felt that your charms and palm reading told you to go drinking with five other men..."

"How did you?" She pulled back her head and looked through me with doubt.

"I mean, your a six at the scale of ten, but you would look just cute enough to those guys who'd probably take anything as long as they can stick their dicks into it."

"Stop" She bowed to cover her eyes but I can see the anger welling up through her lips.

"You acted as if you're too drunk to go home so you could fish for a white-knight to take you home and the best part of this speculation of mine…" I whispered to her with a grating tone while she twitched and continued to glue her eyes on the floor. She remained there, with her eyes straight and her pupils unmoved, her hair black hair drew down like a thick heavy curtain. She looked like she wanted to cover her ears but the only thing that she could do is wait. "The five merry knights took you home and that's where you died"

"Stop… please no more" She begged with her broken voice. "It's true but nothing will change if you say it now… so please s-"

"They took turns with a smile on their faces and you just remained there spreading your legs like a frog, waiting for someone no, begging for someone be the hero and tell them to stop. But instead, one guy panicked and he bludgeoned you with a stick." I shook my shoulders and chuckled while she remained there gnawing her teeth as tears fell down her cheeks.

"Shut up! You don't know the feeling of being passed around and around in search of true love." She opened her mouth wide and shouted. "You don't know how hard it is to believe in a prince charming after being hurt, cheated and used so much. You don't know how much I have craved for others' warmth and even now… even now…"

I dropped both of my arms and kept my head straight as I watched her catch her breath.

She lowered her head to let her tears drop on the floor. After a moment, she raised her chin towards me and whispered,

"That same craving had killed me and even now… I still crave the same feeling and there's nothing that I could do but to repeat that whole whoring process all over again." The pain in her eyes gleamed as she raised her head towards the sky to bite her lips until it bleeds. "I've lived my life telling myself to enjoy and learn from the stops of my journey and every time I fall down, I convinced myself to get back up and keep looking…"

"You can only call something a journey if you have a direction or a clear goal on where you want to go, you dumbass. You were lost and you wandered around aimlessly and focused on who you wanted to be with instead of where you want to be." I gave her a pat on her shoulder and spoke with a smile on my face saying, "I'm a man too but are we really that great that you'd waste your life trying to seduce a guy instead of working on some real goals? You were a hard worker and you could have done something better, I really hope that my daughter doesn't grow up to be like you"

"I'm already dead. Nothing will change but I'm still haunted by this hunger… Why are you doing this to me... you could have killed me from the very start… what would you gain by doing this?" She pleaded.

"Entertainment and also because antagonizing you is only the fun privilege I get." I stepped back, crossed my arms and gave her a nod. "Besides, I'm not gonna be the hero that you want so I'll be a villain instead. Also, a part of me wants to lecture you?"

"A villain… are you really that dumb? Is there any point in lecturing me now? News flash old man. I'm already dead!" She tugged the strings that suspended her and tried to swing her body towards me. "Nothing will change… that's why... That's why If I were to be stuck in here I'd rather forget everything."

"That's why I'll be taking that everything. See, a hero would come, save you and nurse you but a villain will do what needs to be done out of entertainment. I don't have the littlest care in you and what happens to you so I'll do what I need to do. I'll shred every memory that you have until the only thing that you know is your name and I'll leave you alone because it's fun." I raised both of my hands towards her with a willful smile as I thanked the mask knowing that she can't see this pathetic face that I'm making. "Well then, I'm tired and this is my last job for the week… so, wanna die?"

"You're speaking like I'd get a second life or something… will I be reincarnated or something?"

"Nah...I was just wondering if I wasted my life working in an office instead of offering some counseling…" She looked at me with a hopeful smile so titled my head and cupped my chin as I tried to pull something cool out of my ass. "Also I don't know if you guys get one but if you do, If you get to live again in this world full of tryhard snow whites and cinderellas, go and be like Princess Fiona."

"What? What do you m-"

"Ah shit, you didn't get it" I turned around in panic and snapped my fingers. My strings enveloped her like a cocoon in a second and crushed her like a blender. She herself disappeared and what's left is a grounded luminescent flesh on the floor.

"Oh wow, that was quick. I didn't even get a look at her." Albert said as he walked out of the corner together with some of my teammates. "Did that really incapacitate one of you?"

"Yes, she's pretty strong too, we still have a few time left before that raid. Let's head back and chill, I'll treat you with a shake as thanks" I said to Albert as I wondered at the back of my head if he overheard our conversation.

"Hah! We don't pay for our food so don't get my hopes up." Albert replied as he looked at the rest of our team. He then lowered his head and looked at me straight in the eye with a mocking demeanor saying, "Well, Let's just head back and chill… Fiona."

"Well…" The others began to laugh so I wore a smile to shrug it off while I ushered the others to head back. We were about to disappear into the dark when I turned to Albert and said, "Shut up or I'll use your body to draw a dick in this neighborhood."