21 Family Z 8

Lia staggered to her feet and wobbly walked down the empty streets. She would just go back home, see her parents who would tell her everything was alright.

She would close her eyes and the next morning, this was just a dream.

Yes, the fact that she thought this was an illusion was actually an illusion.

Lia arrived at home and instantly ran into her parents' sleepy arms. The warmth she sought filled her up.

"What's wrong?" her father was surprised, "aren't you too old?"

Lia shook her head but then started to cry. What was she supposed to do? If only she had spent more time with her family instead of chasing after Min. Why couldn't she realise how stupid she was and how her unrequited love wasn't worth it?

She nestled herself closer to her parents and fell asleep. Her parents looked at each other and then sighed. They couldn't do anything about the stubbornness of their daughter.

The next morning came and Lia refused to go to the palace.

"Did you have a fight with Min?"

Lia kept silent.

"Seriously? Really? You two? How? Why?"

Was that so surprising? Here, her mother adored Min but back in the real world she hated him yet Lia was too blind to realise she was in the wrong.

"It's nothing," but her droopy eyes revealed another story.

"It's ok, if she doesn't want to talk about it, then we should let her," her father patted her on the shoulders.

"That's why she's always like this! You spoil her too much!" her mother hit her father.

"Like what?" Lia was curious and slightly offended.

"Like-"

"Ok, enough dear," her father grinned and fed some breakfast to her mother.

Lia giggled at the sight. It really felt like she went back in time, when she was still living with her parents, carefree.

At the thought, all the choked up feelings she had thought suppressed came back welling up. Lia watched her parents bicker with a sad smile.

"Miss?" Andre placed a dessert in front of her, "Is everything alright?"

Tiredness overcame her and she just nodded.

She got up and left the mansion under the astonished gazes of her parents. She sat the whole day by the river.

The exhaustion was great, it wasn't just a lack of sleep but she was tired of everything. There was nothing that could take this exhaustion, this burden of her.

Lia couldn't help but want to live here but at the same time, she realised she wasn't happy, after all, she couldn't forget that this was only an illusion.

Watching her parents made it painfully clear that this was only a fragment of her past and she was an outsider. She didn't belong to the past anymore, she had to move on and start a path greater to her.

A future that would hold joy for her. In order to change, she needed to take actions. She needed to let go of the past and let it become a cherished memory.

With this illusion, she would really cut off all ties, and with her revenge, she would settle all grudges and start a new life.

Night came quickly and Lia dragged her body away from the calm and soothing scenery the river provided.

With a mask and a cloak covering her entire being, she stood in front of the K family's mansion. She wasn't allowed to lay a hand on the enemies but instead had to hurt her own.

Her fingers scratched the gate. Strangely, there were no guards.

She had to kill everyone the same way they died in real life. Flashbacks of the massacre appeared before her and she almost vomited. They framed her as the culprit of her family's murder and now she was really going to make it come true.

Her delicate fingers lost their strength in face of the hard surface and it took a long time to push the gate open. A spear through the head- holes, mutilation, falling flesh. She closed her eyes, it was too cruel.

Her life force seeped out of her fingertips forming a long spear and sword, each held in one of her hands.

Suddenly, a voice rang out, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

It was Andre. Lia bit her lips and the blood trickled down her chin, her neck and fell on the ground, then she raised her sword and swoosh.

His head fell off. She kept herself steady at the sight, her tears clouded her vision.

Through the mansion, she massacred the attendants and servants who have tended to her and took care of her all these years. She apologised in her heart but quickly went through as she wanted this to be over.

Finally, she arrived at the murder ground. The courtyard.

Everyone else including her parents have been alarmed and they surrounded her in the garden, where her back seemed so lonely under the bright moonlight's piercing as if it was mocking her.

"Who?" Elder K shielded Madam K and told the staff to be careful.

Lia's hands twitched and she barely held onto her weapons. A torrent of emotions bonded together and threatened to drown her. A flash of sadness pierced every organ of hers and the blood flooded out to curse her.

Curse and curse and curse her for this act of blasphemy. For this act that dared to go against heaven.

Wicked, it screamed and condemned her.

For her own future, she would have to kill her parents.

For her own future and justice, she would have to abandon everything.

"Answer!"

She never heard her father's voice this angry. It felt strange and alienated to her.

Only now did she turn around and saw them standing on the hallway platform littered by bloody corpses. All killed by her own hands.

She gripped her weapons tighter and strode over to her angry parents. She raised her spear indicating for them to come down.

Elder K also formed a weapon out of his life force. Lia bitterly endured the sight of her own and her father's weapon.

There was nothing but murderous intent.

There would've never been an instance where a situation like this would cross a child's and parent's mind. Only in the most desperate, most brutal and most haunting moments.

Die for my sake. Die for my family. Two different thoughts. Selfish and selfless. Yet also selfless and selfish.

"Goodbye," Lia whispered and in a swift movement, she caught Elder K off guard and stabbed him through the chest. Then she quickly withdrew, her sword yearning to pierce Madam K but Elder K shielded her.

Lia's eyes got more blurred, her blood trickled and trickled and trickled.

She could feel the moment her weapon cleanly tore a hole and another one in her father's body. The nauseating and repulsive shock clung onto her and her grip loosened.

Yet she ripped out the sword and used the spear to distract Elder K before her sword stabbed Madam K. The staff around them cried in injustice and attacked her.

If Lia died here, would she have a peace of mind?

No, if her parents saw her, knew it was her, what kind of heart-breaking feeling would ignite and fan the fire of hatred? Out of all people, she didn't want her parents to hate her.

The many staff were like ghosts attacking her, sadly she was used and skillfully evaded them and guided them to their ends. Then she walked towards her parents.

The servants grabbed her feet, preventing her from advancing. She fell down and saw the determination in their bruised and wounded faces.

She didn't have the heart to kick them away. So loyal. She was undeserving of them.

Instead, she crawled forwards until the servants couldn't hold on and shouted for their Masters to leave.

Elder K had a complicated look but decided to escape with Madam K. Lia formed daggers and threw them at their legs. They also fell to the ground.

She slowly approached them and breathed heavily. She was crying and her sobs were choked up in her throat. Elder K held up his weapon.

Their complicated gazes looked at her as she towered over their lying forms. She could barely stop the aching and despairing sounds from leaving her mouth.

When she raised her spear she saw Elder K lowering his sword. A faint smile appeared on his face and he embraced his wife. Madam K also understood but she couldn't face the truth, so she buried her head in her husband's chest.

Let this all be over soon. Let there be a good reason. Please. We beg you.

Lia also understood. She understood painfully clear how her fear became true.

How could she drive the spear through their heads? How could she, their daughter be so vicious and how could they be so forgiving and accepting?

How? How? How? How in the world was that fair?

Anger and sadness mixed in her heart and she swore that there will be not one day where the soothing of revenge wouldn't be coveted. She would make everyone pay everything back. Over and over again.

She looked at their peaceful faces and wanted to join them but they said nothing, they didn't acknowledge the fact they knew. It was as if they went along with their spoiled child's whim.

"I'm sorry," Lia bit her lip again and it felt like a dreadingly long time before she abruptly drove the spear through their heads.

Their blood dripped. It flowed, slowly, like a calm stream, soaking into the earth as if they wanted to become one with the world.

And when they mingled to forever leave their stains, that was when they set a broken soul free and the act of offence lulled the sinner with tremendous despair to the ground.

It was past midnight and it was an unusually quiet night and despite the chatter from people lingering around in the busy streets, earth-shattering, heart-tearing, loud wails and cries kept everyone's attention and had them listen to this sad melody carried by the wind.

A senseless, dreading despair filled them and the sadness they felt broke them. Their hearts shattered.

It was truly a sound that had everyone's ears gliding on a wave towards a bottomless pit, layered and layered with nothing but hopelessness gently whispering fake words of glimmers of light.

It brought forth a feeling that carried everyone to a faraway small place to trap them, all alone and lonely. They feared if they listened any longer, they would never be able to get out, escape this incredible pain that numbed all of their senses.

They felt painstakingly overwhelmed, so how would that person capable of enacting such desperation feel? What did they go through? What caused them to never be able to return from that trapped place?

These cries changed the mood of the night. It was now tranquil and sorrowful.

Slowly, the sounds of anguish faded and those who followed it, stopped in front of the K family's mansion.

Min was one of them and when he saw the slaughter, his heart tightened.

Lia? What happened to her? She wasn't in the palace since yesterday and now this horrible disaster kept everyone's heart on edge.

He could feel a great sense of dread overcome him.

And the sight in front of him ripped his heart out. His beloved wife held her parents in her arms and silently wept.

Then she bobbed her head up and hatefully glared at him before she started laughing. Her next words trampled his ripped out heart and scattered its corpse across oceans and lands, worlds and universes.

"I wish I could kill you too. The person I want to kill the most is you, Min."

Why? Lia, why? His words were stuck in his throat.

"I want to kill you so badly," her red eyes gave him so much hatred, it was suffocating to bear as if her fragile hands directly enveloped his throat to strangle him.

"Take her," he could only spat out those two words before Lia under his pained gaze was dragged away.

Over the course of the next few days, news spread like wildfire, the daughter of the K family, the wife of the Ghost King had killed her own family.

And with that, the once beautiful fairytale, the once much-desired dream and wonderful illusion came to an end. Who could mend all the scares left?

Lia slowly opened her eyes and tears fell. The illusion made one thing painfully clear, and that was that deep down she still held the wish that everything would be alright, that she still loved Min and that she wasn't as strong as she pretended to be.

The act of killing her own parents was etched into every fibre of her body and violently dominated her. She would never get over this. She could never.

She raised her head a bit and saw that she was in a cellar made out of stone. It was dark and cold. Her hands were in shackles, tied above her head.

At long last, she was back in the real world. What terrible price she had to pay, the Z family had to collect it all.