The end of the beginning

AN : songs to listen while reading this chapter

Let the song start only after the *

Cradle to the grave ( five finger death punch)

Skillet – Undefeated

Payton Parrish – Dane

Last one standing - Gyuki nightcore

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Negary pov:

"PENNYWISE!" I half shouted half giggled

"I'VE COME TO BARGAIN!"

Time to finish this charade…

"*GASP* , Bargain? With little old me?" the clown asked , his face morphed into confusion and curiosity.

"Yes , of course, you funny clown!" I'm swimming in dangerous waters…any word could trigger him . I have half a mind to stop pretending and just tell him the terms of the contract I want us to sign…but he seemed to enjoy this play pretend.

"You want CHAOS! YOU WANT FEAR!

LET ME BE YOUR HERALD.

THE SCYTHE THAT REAPS THE UNWORTHY. THE CLOWN THAT MAKES EVEN THE DEAD DIE OF LAUGHTER! HAHAHAHHAH"

Oh my god…I'm going to be sick…I'm no longer a mere Edgelord , I am quickly becoming an EDGE KING! At least, the insane clown likes it…

"Hehehe , of course, little clown…I had the exact same ideea…"

I know , dude , I just said it first to make you believe we think alike…

"Actually, this is the reason I brought you this wonderful B̸͔͊A̴͈͛L̷̃ͅĽ̸͜Ö̶̞O̴͖͑N̵̠͂" the Clown king intonated , wildly gesticulating at the red , seemingly normal balloon .

"Everything you want Is right here , hehehehe!

Ń̵̛̗̠͕̿́̈́̈́̽̔̅͘͠͝Ǒ̸̡̹͇̠̠͙̮͙͚͎̼͉̥̦̀̓̀̑͂͜Ẁ̷̛̛̠̦̫̞̊̆̑͌͗̓̋͛͂̊̍̕ͅ ̵̡̧̬̱̻͍͇̬̪̺̻̘͋͝Ǧ̸̡̨̼̣͉̳̟͇̈́R̴̡͉͌̊̄̄̄̈̽̔̽̋̐̃͂̚Ã̷̢̡̨̩̟̩̦̭̱̰͕͈̥̟ͅB̴͔͕͎͓̦̈͆̐̅͠ͅ ̵̮̪̜̝̯͎͓̰̅̏͛̑̽̆̒̄͠Ţ̷̡̹͚͈͎́͒̀͑̑̍̈́̈́͗̄̕Ḧ̷̨̩̞̘̝̫͇̫̬̯̳͍͍̊͋͝ͅE̴̛̛͙̹͍͖̳͛͒̐̓͊̐͋͆̕͘̚͠ ̵̛̘̠̼͍͎̲̻̯́̐̀͛̕B̴̨͙̫̪̘̻̤̾̈́͝A̵̢̗̰̼̜̣̮̞̱̎͗̀̏͊̃́̌̏̈̀̈́̒͝͝L̶̨̒̂̆͆͑̿̕Ò̵͕̙ͅǪ̴̟̜̹̳̰͍̓̍N̶̳̣̹͕̅͂͆̓̇͐͘"

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His tone let me no room for arguments…

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I took a step.

.

Maybe he really isn't lying.

.

Another step.

.

But that's not something I would bet my life on…

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Yet another step closer.

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What can I do though?

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I reached out with my hand towards the balloon's string…

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… Don't worry about things you can't influence…

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I grabbed the string….

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And then everything went black

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Negary pov:

When I regained consciousness, the first thing I heard was laughter.

"HAHAHAHAHA, I WAS RIGHT!

Y̶̟͖̓́̈́e̸̛͖͗̅̃͑s̵̰̻̳͖̃̌̌̈́́͝ ̶̜̔̀̒̀̎̌,̵̧͖͖̼̫̈́Ị̷͖͇̒̿͌́̃̍̔ ̵̧̋̓w̴̻̝͉̝͑̍a̵̛̛̟̤͇͓̎̓̀s̸͚̝̞̗̰̜͔̍̽̿̚ ̴̩͈̲̻̊͂̋͗͆̊̕r̴̡͓̣̽i̵̡̩̭͙̊̃g̵̛̠̭̭͆̄̉̀͂̿h̸͓̝̯̟̝̍̍̚t̸̟͂̐̈́͂̔͛͝.̵͖̘̯̰͔̘̒

̴̲̠̳̖̹̍̋͋̎̄͘Y̴̡̯̠͙̺͚̍̚o̸͎͍͇̗̼̬̊̈́̀̀̀͑͘ư̷̥͆̋͂̿ ̶͍͊̅͊r̴̛̮͓̍̍̀́́e̵̢̠͑͂̾a̴̧̺̠̱͔̠̤͛̒̍͠ļ̷̹̼̺̠̳̓͆̈́́̍̾̚l̵̬̥͕̜͙̀y̷̢͓̆ ̸̡͈͎͈̱̍͗̾͐̍̈d̸̡̢͈̈͜͝ỏ̸̟͎̭̙͕̭̙͋̃͋̈ ̶̝̒͐̍̈̊͛̔f̴̖̦͈̾̓̄̀̂͆̏l̷̛̟͐̚͝͠o̴̗̳̥̤̰͆̔̋ä̴͚͇̤͈̺̞́t̴͖̩̠̬̬̣̆͝ ̶̡͕̜̫͒̍͜͠n̴̼̳̘̩̲̪͠ͅi̶̪̜̹̇̒̚c̶̼͐͆̾̎̉ẽ̷͇͚̱̳͍̹̎͝ͅl̸̯̺̉̂͛̃͝y̷̲̞̅̀̉̂̊͊̑

HAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH…

Ah yes , the child molester.

What a letdown…

Wait , did he kidnap me?

How cliché…

As I got more aware of my surroundings, I realized something wasn't quite right with my body…

I couldn't move my arms and legs anymore.

I could not feel my heartbeat.

I could not breathe in .

Well , given that I usually didn't do the last two, it wasn't quite that bad.

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As I inclined my head to look at my body , I am not ashamed to admit I was flabbergasted.

I… didn't have a body anymore…

I was just a head…tied with a string…floating around….

Oh

Ooooh

That's what he meant with ,,floating nicely,,

I get it now.

Heh , float nicely.

Nice.

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What's with this silence?

The clown was laughing like a maniac a few moments ago…but now he was silent.

The disturbing smile that was always plastered on his face…was gone.

And his yellow eyes…were now eerily black.

Creepy , I guess.

But why is he so serious all of a sudden?

.

Ẇ̶̖͘h̵͉̅͛y̸̲̭͋?̶̡͚̕͝

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You will have to be more specific than that , bub…

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"W̴̠͂̀H̸̡̅̒Y̵̳̠̑͝ ̶̫̭̒͂D̷̙̙́͛Ò̷̢̬ ̷̡̹͌Y̸̢̯͛͐O̴̢͓͌̕U̷̻̜̿ ̶̯̠̕N̶̟͔̎̿O̴̰̕͠ͅT̸͕̯̀͝ ̶̡͉̈́F̴͊͜Ê̷͇̳Ë̴̩́L̶̟̦̉͠ ̵̥͂F̷̪̀É̵̛̼͜A̶̱̒R̸̠̦͋͌?̷̯́̚"

.

At that question, I couldn't help but crack a smile…

"Did you perhaps misunderstand your current situation?

You . Are . My . Toy.

T̴̳͗͐Ḥ̸̖̊̊Ē̸̦͎̐R̸͓͋E̷͔̎ ̸̊͜İ̴̮̐S̶͔͊ ̶͖̗̄͠N̵͈̒̆Ö̵͈͓́ ̵̧̛̱͑E̶̫͂͌S̴͎͊̀C̸͖̤̋̔Ȃ̷̠͂ͅP̸̙̈́͊ͅĚ̶̮̤.̵̢̬̌̏

̶͖̥̈́̾T̵͙̩̈́͘H̷̖̾ͅE̵̺͂͋R̶̘͍̍E̷̙̹̓͝ ̵͓̅N̷͓̗͘Ḛ̸̛̒͜V̵̫́͘ͅE̴͓̘͠R̸̥̈́͠ͅ ̵̤͙̀̌Ẃ̵̫͠Ā̸̮S̶͇̦̅ ̷̬̫̾͘À̷͍͋Ñ̶̩̆͜Y̸̲̣̍ ̴̠̫̂̊Ë̷̳͓͊Ś̵̬͙̌C̶̺̎A̸͓͝P̷̣̔É̸̠͈.̵̡̛́

̸̹̀̏N̵̮͆͝Ö̸̺͙́́ ̵̖͔̽͑W̵̹͕͑A̵͍͝Ý̸̰͎͑ ̷͕͒T̶̢͕̈͛O̴̠͝ ̵͓̘̈͂F̶͠ͅU̶̾͐͜L̷̤̔F̶͉͕̃Ḭ̸̋̓L̴̝̫͋L̴̬̝̽ ̴̛̦̦Ÿ̸͔̤́̀O̴͚͎̚Ứ̷͈R̷̘̹̃͝ ̷̨̲̇D̶̟͊͑R̸͍̓̈́E̵̘̰̍̿A̷̘͕̓M̶̦͝S̵̬̮̾̏

̸̺̣̉N̷̘̏O̴̢̊̚ ̷̰͓̏͊W̸̞̔A̸̬͗͠Y̶̧̜̑̒ ̵̻͕̄T̴̤̅Ȯ̸̺ ̸̬̭̚Ā̷͖̜C̶̤͋̕H̴̱̣͠Ḯ̶̪E̵̠͚͠͝V̵̝͓͑̈́E̸͉̯͐̀ ̴̙̀͗Y̸̦͍͝͝O̵̥͌͌Ų̴̳̾̐R̴̥͛̋ ̴̺͝G̸̮͕̑̅Ơ̷͉A̷͉͐͐Ĺ̵̰S̶̗͂͛

̸̩̌̚Ȳ̴̯O̶͙̳̍͊Ú̴͉ ̴̻̆̈́W̷̔͜͠Ỉ̴̥L̴̥̈́̕Ļ̷̲̈̈́ ̶̼̝́Ŏ̵̙͎N̸̮̿L̷̪͓̈Y̶̥̳͂̒ ̴͈̌S̵̘̦̊Ū̴̡̦F̴̘̃F̵̩̋͘E̷̯͛͝R̶̻̞̄ ̵̪̯͂̄A̴̲͛Ń̶̟̐ ̶̼̤͋E̷̯͘N̶̡͘̚D̷̯̣̔̿L̵̛̝̙E̴͇̓S̶͖̞̃͋S̶̪̾ ̷̲̓T̷̡̍̔ͅO̷̬̊R̵̦̺̉T̶͉̪͒U̸̺͛̓R̸̟̀͑E̵̜̦̓ ̶̳̾Ủ̶͙̼̆N̵̥͂̚Ṭ̵̱̈́I̶̯̱̐L̶̥̂ ̶͎̟̈́Y̸̡̛͑O̸̅͜U̸̒͜͝R̴̨͚̐ ̴͓̈́͊S̷̞̀A̷̗̙̚N̷̠̻̆I̶͊̍ͅT̶̖̀͝Y̶͍̗̋͠ ̴̍͝ͅI̵̩̓͐S̸͖͙̈́̏ ̵̜̐̔Ş̵̫̈́T̵̞̹͛̄R̸̳̀Ȉ̶̜P̶̘̪̎͊P̶̞͆̃E̶̠̮̿̌D̴̪̯͐ ̵̛̠͙Ä̸͚́̕W̸̎͋ͅÅ̴̤͜͝Y̴̘̣͐̃ ̷̱̃,̸͍̦̎ ̷̤͍̔͆Á̵̖͍̇N̷̼̉D̴͉̘͂̅ ̴̫́Y̴̦̿́O̵̼͙̓̿Ų̴̡̈́ ̵̠̱͗̌C̸̭̽̎Ā̵̯̈́Ń̸̳͔'̵͔̋T̸̗̺͝ ̵̡͕́D̵̼͇́Ó̸̘͕̈ ̸̩̖́͠A̶͔̾̚Ǹ̷͕͖̎Y̷̧̮͑T̴̫̄̚H̶̩͌I̵̟͓̿Ṋ̷͍̊G̸̞̱̉ ̷̫͘ͅT̸͎͑Ó̸̪͜ ̶͇̇͐ͅS̷͍̍Ţ̴̀Ŏ̸͎̝́Ṕ̴̫̇ ̸̬̐T̴̩͝H̴͎̝̐A̵̯͚͝Ṯ̷̏.̴̥̖͠

Did you catch all that , or do I need to talk a bit slower , Mr Balloon?"

.

.

Hahahaha…why is this so funny?

"Hahahahaha….HAHAHAHAHAHA!

Oh my god, you really are a funny guy , you know what? I almost believed you were angry!"

This was a bluff, he most certainly seemed angry…for whatever reason.

"Ẻ̵̳̜Ñ̸̲̦O̷̞͗͠Ǘ̸͔̟̋Ğ̶̲H̵̘̮̏"

"T̴̘̃Ḛ̷̊L̶̼͌̊L̵͔͑͂ ̴̫̿M̵̫͓̋̇E̶͐͜ ̴̳̖̓̈́Ẅ̸̹́̈́H̴̟͛͜Y̴̡̢̛ ̷̻̯͒̏D̵͂͒ͅO̸͖̅ ̴̘͕͋̕Y̸̼̪̆O̶̭̦͝U̴͚͗ ̵̨̃Ṋ̶̽O̴͈̓̚ͅT̸̟͋̚ ̸̳͔͠F̸̰͜͝Ĕ̶͓Ê̵͍̂L̴̖͗̏ ̸̖͌͝À̶̺̑N̴̼̓Ỳ̶̧̫͝ ̴̞̔͘F̴̣̌Ē̶̟̋A̸̖̚Ŕ̷͇̹͂ ̵̝̚.̶̜̿

̶̨̩͌Ï̸̳̥F̶̣͆ ̷̛̤Y̸͓̫͠O̸̧̻͊Ū̶̝ ̸̧͈̊̒L̷̥͛͂ͅĨ̸̤͖È̵̞ ̵͔̖̽,̷̦́̓ ̴̣͋Y̴̢̬͐̀Ǫ̸͊̔U̴̘͆ ̵̼́̑D̵̹̙͊Ǐ̷̫͂E̷̥̓.

"Jee, why not say that in the first place…well , listen carefully, because I am about to tell you a story…

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Third person pov :

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On an island floating on the on the ocean, there was a mountain.

And a few people tried to climb this mountain.

All these people had 4 chains going through them.

One through their head.

One through their heart

One through their stomach

And one through their navel.

At the end of each chain there was a boulder, dragging the people down .

Many people fell down due to the weight…

Many people died…but there was always another one too take their place

.

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At the base of the mountain there was a lake .

There were also people around this lake.

But the lake was not a normal one .

Because those looking in the lake could see those climbing the mountain.

Some cheered them on.

Some looked away is disgust.

Some were uninterested.

And some stood up and started climbing the mountain behind them.

.

A random boy was also watching those climbing the mountain and thought….I want to climb too!

So he dragged his boulders to the mountain and started climbing.

And he fell…

So he got up , and started climbing again.

He fell again.

"Humph , this is stupid…"

He gave up , and went back to look in the lake.

But there he saw a climber who missed his step , and fell down…

The boy ran quickly to the base of the mountain and saw the broken body of the climber who fell

His mangled arms.

His missing legs.

His bleeding eyes.

But the climber was still alive.

And with a smile on his face, moreover.

"Why are you smiling?" the kid asked , confused "You are in pain , aren't you?"

"*snort* I smile because I am alive , kid. As long I am alive I haven't failed . I have learned. –

And the climber got back on the mountain, using his teeth.

The kid looked at the climber , then the the mountain. It's peak was shrouded by the clouds.

The mountain was so tall.

The boy felt insignificant…

He felt fear…

He felt the cold winds on his skin

He missed his parents who were waiting for him near the lake.

He felt hungry.

But the boy smiled…

And started climbing…

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The boy fell more times than he could count.

He broke his bones so many times , he barely felt any sensations in his limbs.

He tried many strategies.

He used the wisdom of the climbers he met and those he saw through the lake.

He even had a catchphrase now!

He found it written on a rock while climbing, probably by one of the climbers who came before.

Slowly, the boy matured.

Slowly , the boy became a man.

The man slowly learned to enjoy the climb…

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And as he fell again and again….

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His flesh was slowly stripped away.

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His his bones were ground to dust.

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He lost his sense of touch, of smell , of taste.

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He lost his hearing.

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He lost his eyesight…

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But the man kept climbing.

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And slowly, very slowly…

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New bones started to grow.

Harder than those he lost

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New flesh began to grow on the bones.

All black and scaly…inhuman…

But strong…and durable…

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And as fire began to bloom in his hollow eye sockets….

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.

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The man became a monster…

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And the monster kept climbing.

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And as the monster passed the curtain of clouds, ready to see the peak…it realized there was no peak…the mountain just stretched endlessly with no end in sight.

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And so the monster laughed…

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And kept on climbing.

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Pennywise / Madness Demon King pov:

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"Well , I'll be damned…..You are actually insane aren't you , little monster?" This was no clown…this was another beast altogether…

"Eh , it's all a matter of perspective." the mons…no, Negary said.

His makeup was gone.

His happy tone was gone as well.

But that beautiful, beautiful madness still shined through…

That could not be faked.

Or at least, no fake could trick him…

He just wanted to scare the little clown a little bit , show him who's the Big Boss around, but he didn't expect something like this…

He was even a bit annoyed at the thought that a mere SOUL wasn't afraid of him , but this soul was special…

It was trapped in a hopeless situation , and it just… didn't care.

Treating it all as a mountain to climb…

What an interesting fellow…

.

Enough dilly-dallying !

He was already late to his tea party…

The soul….Negary has proven to be a worthy investment, but only time would tell if he could really climb as far as he wanted…

"The story you told me was nice and your puppet show was passable…" more than passable, actually… nothing can beat family members killing each other…

"And as such , I have decided to keep my promise…You will float on your own from now on.

Be grateful. Not many have such an honor…"

Negary just kept smiling, but I could feel his distrust.

Not believing me at all huh?

Fair enough.

I drew a line with my pinkie through the air and opened a window to the void.

A calm stream , for my little monster balloon…

Wouldn't want him to just pop ,no ?

Hehehehe…

I grabbed his string and threw him inside the rift, but not before sticking a vip invitation to my (epic) party on his forehead.

"Don't forget to visit sometimes!"

Aaand , he's gone.

You promised me chaos , Negary.

I hope you can deliver…

The multiverse is a biiig place, after all…

…..

But why do I feel like you will turn it upside"down?

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Negary pov :

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I was floating…

After the child molester threw me in the black watery substance , everything went…hazy.

I couldn't really see anything.

I couldn't really move , my soul still stuck as a balloon of all things.

I had no doubt I could soulshift my way back to my proper form with a bit of time , but this…void…made thinking a bit difficult…

After a billion years (or a split second , for all I know) I felt myself break through a wall of some kind…and then I started accelerating…

If up until now , I felt like I was on a relaxing if confusing road trip , now I was in a formula one car which was showing me it's best impression of a railgun bullet…

I was now flying through the atmosphere of some planet , I think.

Everything was blurry , which is weird because as a soul I ,,feel,, things more than I see them , but whatever.

I couldn't control my current trajectory or speed , so I focused on bracing myself for impact , sending a wisp of soul energy around myself to soften the eventual collision…

And damn , was it a good decision because just as I finished making my improvised shell , I collided with another soul.

A weak soul , to be exact , which shattered completely from the impact.

.

.

As I took stock of my situation, I realized I , as in, my soul , was now in somebody's body.

And I just shattered that ,,somebody's" soul.

Sorry , not sorry.

It wasn't my fault anyway.

Blame the child molester.

Anyways , I started taking control of the body I was so graciously gifted.

It was weird, but I guess a flesh Mecha is weird in it's own way…

As I piloted the body to open its eyes…(because my soul perception was weakened by me being in a body) I saw the top of a baldakin bed…

This body must be quite rich , huh.

As I tried to relearn how to control a body (it's been a long time ok?) I started absorbing the remains of the soul , trying to focus on its memories instead of it's soul energy.

Needless to say , I failed spectacularly…well , you can't expect to be good at something you've never done before…

Let's keep going , shall we…

.

As I finally managed to stand up from the bed , I had a bit of info on this guy.

Apparently, he was a prince . Cool , huh?

I guess money won't be a problem for me if I mange to keep this body.

He also had two younger siblings, a boy and a girl

Well , I also had a sister in my first life so whatever…

I didn't need names right now , so I ignored them .

There was only a matter of time until these memories faded with the soul, so time was of the essence…

The previous owner was also autistic , unfortunately.

I saw the telling symptoms as I was parsing the small amount of remaining memories.

Delayed language skills.

Delayed movement skills.

Delayed cognitive or learning skills.

Hyperactive, impulsive, and/or inattentive behavior.

Everything was there .

This guy had it rough, I guess he used all his luck when he got to be first in the line of succession…

Oh , I will become a king if my father dies?

Cool , cool. I don't need the throne for anything right now , but it's good to have options…

Anyway , as I made my way to the mirror, I realized that ,,I,, was quite ugly.

Big forehead , small chin , small mouth , green eyes , pouty lips , eh , maybe 6/10.

Still , I'm clearly not done growing.

Maybe it will be better in a few years.

Or I may need to invent some steroids.

Yes , invent , because we were in magical middle ages .

Dragons existed here , so it was kind of telling.

But…why did this all seem so familiar?

Even my new face…

I feel like I have seen it somewhere before…

Oh…

And then it fucking clicked…

I just possessed Joffrey Fucking Baratheon…