Bath

An indiscernible amount of time passed. Fang woke up and felt as though he was submerged in a warm liquid from the neck down. The taste of something sweet was for whatever reason in his mouth. He was laying on something squishy as well, like small balloons. His face was hot, caused by the steam of the liquid kissing his face as it rose into the air.

Fang adjusted his torso and sat up straight in the liquid feeling confused and tired. He took a look to his sides and found himself in a wooden tub filled with hot and soapy water.

"You're finally up again," Salika whispered in Fang's ear.

Fang's face turned bright red upon hearing her voice. He let out a short screech and instinctively jumped, landing back in the water and causing a huge splash.

"Oops," said Salika.

Fang quickly got back up after having fallen back down and looked behind him to where the voice came from. His eyes became wide, and his jaw dropped slightly.

In front of him was what appeared to be a naked Salika with only her head and shoulders sticking out of the soapy water. There was a large opening in the sky above her because of the now missing tree that was going ballistic just before Fang got knocked out. Salika's normally squinty purple eyes became even more squinted as she smiled like the devil at Fang.

"How was your rest, my dear servant-"

"Why the hell are we in a tub bathing together?!" Fang shouted in the air.

He quickly got up and tried leaving the tub. His jet-black hair was completely soaked and covered his dark eyes. As he was getting out, Salika put her hand over her mouth; holding in her laughter.

"You might want to cover that with something..."

Fang looked down at himself and quickly fell back into the tub, creating a large splash. He sunk himself in the water where he would be completely covered by soapsuds. He found himself now on the other side of the tub from Salika, but looked away from her embarrassed.

"Explain, now," Fang demanded, his voice now low and quiet.

"I believe the situation speaks for itself, so no thank you," Salika replied. She continued to enjoy her bath; her long white hair almost completely submerged in the water as she leaned back inside the tub.

"So, it's alright for me to say that you stripped me naked, put me in the same tub as you, made me lay back against your body, and quite possibly did other unimaginable things to me!?" Fang shouted.

"If that's how you want to interpret it, then yes," Salika responded. "You want to come back to my side of the tub now?"

She lightly splashed the water in front of her, signaling for Fang to come over.

Fang looked at Salika as if she had gone mad. Albeit, he already knew she had a few loose screws behind her pretty face.

"Your loss," Salika said. "Also, show some respect. I didn't do 'unimaginable things' to you. I simply cleaned every inch of your body, fed you, and washed your hair, so you should really be thanking me!"

Fang lifted his arm out of the water and found that his skin was no longer different patches of colors that came from being dirty. Some scars remained on him, but his light beige skin was finally back to normal and clean.

"It was so so so so hard to clean you," Salika said, exaggerating her words. "Your body kept moving on its own for some reason and your foot even hit my face!"

Fang's eyes suddenly widened in horror after suddenly realizing what she had said just before. "Cleaned every inch of my body?" He thought to himself.

"Hey, Salika..."

"What is it," she responded.

"When you said you cleaned every inch of my body, did that also include my..."

"Maybe, maybe not," she blurted. "I had to do what I had to do, I couldn't leave my servant a mess."

Fang's face turned red and his head drooped. It was like his soul really did leave his body this time.

The two sat silently in the water together. Fang couldn't stop but think about all the embarrassing things that have happened recently upon encountering Salika. From her taking his saliva into her mouth, to taking a bath together. She was practically taking advantage of his vulnerability whenever she had the chance.

It became awkwardly silent between the two. "How about you tell me about yourself, my amazing servant," Salika said, breaking the ice between them. She looked at Fang, just to find him still looking down and acting as though he was dead on the inside. "Snap out of it!"

"Ah, sorry about that, I was just wondering what I did wrong that made the gods think I deserve this," Fang said sarcastically.

"Oh, quit being a baby!" Salika complained, leaning forward towards Fang. "You'll get used to it, but in the meantime, Tell me about yourself! What do you enjoy?"

Fang slowly looked up from the water to see Salika's happy face which greatly contrasted from his. She had completely ignored his feelings and was more interested in his personality.

"She's so insistent," he thought.

Fang took into thought Salika's question but was left stumped. For most of his life, he was only trying to survive and didn't worry about things like hobbies, building relationships, or trying things people might generally like. After all, he was a Cerulean—a bottom-tier race that was discriminated against by everyone. His opportunities were minimal.

"Food, I guess?" Fang said, unsure. "I enjoy food...?

"What kind of food?" Salika asked, curious.

"Food that makes me stay alive, I guess?"

Fang began to feel some discomfort from Salika. He wasn't used to being asked such personal questions, let alone questions from someone who was genuinely interested in him. It was all too strange and made him feel anxious.

"Come on, you have to be more specific than that!" Salika said. She leaned her body forward again, causing her to get up from the water and almost expose her chest. She grabbed Fang's right hand from under the water and held it.

Fang flinched at Salika's sudden actions but then froze in shock. His heart started pounding intensely as though it was going to leap out of his chest and into the water.

"Me personally, I really like fried bukris fruit," Salika said excitedly. "It's a round and juicy green fruit that's coated in a batter made out of lanana. It's then fried to perfection in tree oils, where it becomes a golden-brown color!"

Fang slowly nodded as she explained what her favorite food was. The unfamiliar words like 'lanana' and 'bukris fruit' left him more confused if anything.

"So, I'll ask again," Salika said, tightening her grip on Fang's hand. "What's your favorite food?"

The thought of a favorite food... Fang tried thinking hard about a favorite food, almost causing his brain to overheat. He then remembered yesterday, and the thing he ate when he woke up the first time.

"L-langris beetle...?" He said nervously. "I like eating langris beetles…"

During Fang's imprisonment, Langris beetles often found their way into his cage and were a good source of calories for him. He only learned the name of the beetle when a group of civilians walked past one day as he was eating one, in which they stated the name of it, and of course made fun of him.

Salika paused and tilted her head as though Fang said something strange.

"Langris beetles?" She said. "Those are poisonous no matter how you cook them. Anyone would become paralyzed for days if they ate one..."

A surprised look appeared on Fang's face. He opened his mouth slightly, surprised at the new knowledge, and tried averting his eyes from Salika's. "Is that so..."

"My servant must be strong to handle eating a Langris beetle!" Salika said jokingly, splashing the water. "How about I let you ask a question about me now?"

She let go of Fang's hand and got up, moving back toward her end of the tub. Fang looked away and forced shut his eyes as she almost exposed herself once again.

After a moment of thinking, Fang finally came up with a question to ask Salika.

"Do you usually scream in your sleep?"

"Scream in my sleep?" Salika questioned. "What do you mean?"

"How do I put this..." Fang said to himself. "It was before you woke up and scared me. You woke up before then and shouted something. I think you said something along the lines of 'I'll kill you, why won't you just leave already.'"

Salika averted her eyes, looking away to her left awkwardly. Her smile disappeared for a moment, before quickly reappearing as she looked back at Fang.

"Ah, I'm sorry you had to see me like that, yelling nonsense in my sleep!" She said, burying her face in her hands. "It's nothing, I just have nightmares sometimes y'know? Everyone has them..."

"Oh, alright then," Fang said, nodding his head. He felt something strange from Salika but couldn't figure out or identify what the exact feeling was. "Did I say something wrong?" He wondered.

A short, awkward silence brewed in the air, most likely caused by the question that was just asked. Fang cleared his throat, trying to break the tension he created.

"Ah, one more thing if you don't mind me asking..." Fang said cautiously.

"Ask away," Salika said. She had completely recovered from the question mentioned before but was no longer smiling.

Fang let out a short breath, glad that he didn't accidentally step past an unknown boundary.

"What did I do exactly to that village from yesterday?"

"Like what you did that caused them to put you in that steel cage?" Salika asked.

"Yeah, you told me yesterday you'd tell me if I reminded you. I thought now might be a good time..."

Fang had heard before that he did terrible things to the village from people who came to take their anger out on him while he was in his cage. No specific details were ever given to him and left him to wonder for months. It wasn't until Salika brought it up again the other day that he realized he could get an answer once and for all.

Salika put her index finger on her chin hesitating but finally opted to tell him.

"People died because of you. That's all I'm willing to say for now."

A crushing feeling. "What...?"

It was as though time stopped for Fang. Porch had said something familiar, but he dismissed it as false information. Salika, who had the trust of Fang, confirmed it now.

The thought of killing people triggered a memory deep within him involving the death of his mother. It sunk his heart and made his stomach turn.

"Give me a second..." Fang said.

He quickly sprang out of the tub, completely ignoring the fact that he was still naked, and sprinted behind a thick bush.

"Hey!" Salika shouted. "Cover yourself before leaving!"

Fragmented memories of being splashed with blood from when he was still a young boy appeared in his head. The sinister grins of large men with their swords drawn surrounding his mother appeared as well. These memories didn't seem to line up with his previous memories of his mom. They seemed so different to the point where they seemed fake, but they also felt like a revelation. They had to be true.

"Is this how you died, mother?!" Fang whispered to himself.

Salika watched as Fang bent over behind the bush. He began gagging and shortly after began puking out the berries fed to him when he was unconscious.

"I thought mother was kidnapped... Do my memories from back then deceive me...?"

"It didn't have to end this way—if you had been a good son your mother wouldn't have died a meaningless death," said a raspy voice.

Fang looked around but found no one.

"For you to live after what you did to your mother... Do you have no shame whatsoever?" Said a female voice.

"Who said that...?" Fang whispered to himself. His eyes were watering from all the puking.

"Maybe you should just kill yourself," said a high-pitched voice. "Reuniting with your mother. That wouldn't sound too bad, would it? Or perhaps it would... Maybe she despises you for letting her get killed."

Fang frantically looked left and right, searching for who said those things. The voices began overlapping one another, taunting him.

"You've tried killing yourself before, correct?" said a child-like voice. "How many times has it been now... Somewhere in the hundreds range? No, most definitely not. It's been seven years, what a long period of time..."

Fang's eyes grew large. "How do they know?" He thought.

A motherly voice spoke up. "We've always been here, living in your mind. You always forget who we are, but we never forget you. After every transformation, after every massacre. We'll always find a way to get back to you, no matter how long it takes."

"Hey, speaking of suicide, I think the exact number of times he's tried to kill himself is somewhere in the thousands!" A man's voice said.

"Who are you all..." Fang muttered, his voice trembling.

"One thousand three hundred and sixty-two times! That's the exact number!" Shouted a deep voice. For whatever reason, this one was significantly louder than the rest. "Each attempt ended with the same result. You'd wake up and find yourself drowning in your blood, still alive. Or, you'd wake up half-buried in the ground after falling from a great height, and of course, still be alive and well!"

"Stop... Don't talk to me... You don't know how hard I've been trying..."

He remembered. Suicide was a prevalent thought to Fang. After the death of his mother, he didn't know what else to live for.

"Clearly you aren't trying hard enough!" Shouted an erotic voice. "Keep trying and trying... You'll eventually get what you've always wanted. Freedom!"

The voices in Fang's head became more and more unbearable as they shouted over each other, driving him madder. His nose began to suddenly bleed. He opened his mouth, ready to shout at the invisible voices.

"Stop... Don't talk to me... You don't know how hard it's been... The things I've gone through..." Fang muttered.

Suddenly, the sound of bushes rustling was heard.

"Are you okay my dear Fang?" Salika asked, standing behind Fang with a worried look. She was holding her blouse and skirt to cover her naked body. She had a gut feeling beforehand that he would somehow react a certain way toward hearing this news.

"I knew it was a good idea not to tell you the full details. Look at you, throwing up all the food I fed you."

Fang slowly turned his hunched body to Salika. He lifted his head to look her in the face.

The bleeding from his nose was going into his mouth and dripping onto the ground. His legs became weak, causing him to fall against Salika's body.

"Oh my, you really aren't okay!" Salika said as she caught Fang with one hand.

"Don't tell me the rest..." Fang spoke. The voices in his head were still speaking to him, but they grew quieter as if going off into the distance.

Finally, the voices were gone. He was about to pass out again. Before he did, he was left with a question.

"What happened to you, mother?"