Shadow Slave

The roof of the abandoned church had finally given up, so drops of water were falling from the ceiling here and there. There were puddles in the corners of the main hall, as well as behind the altar, but everywhere else was still relatively dry.

The Other Mordret was sitting on one of the benches, studying the stained glass windows curiously. He looked somewhat worse for wear, but mostly fine—his stylish suit was wrinkled and charred in a few places, his hair was wet and disheveled, and he smelled of gasoline and smoke, but there were no serious wounds on his body and no blood on his clothes.

Morgan came over and glanced at him darkly, then handed him a bottle of water and a triangular rice roll with tuna filling.

”Here. Eat.”

He took the offered food, looked up at her, and smiled.

“Thank you, Morgan. I am... so glad that you are alright.”

She stared at him chillingly for a few moments, then silently turned away.

Walking over to a different part of the abandoned church, she studied the psychiatrist, Dr. Saint.

The radiantly gorgeous woman was just standing near a wall, staring at her hands in a daze. A torrent of pure darkness was swirling around them like a dancing stream, forming into a black knife from time to time.

”You should eat, too.”

Morgan handed her another portion of tuna kimbap.

Saint flinched and looked away from the swirling darkness, which caused it to collapse and dissolve without a trace.

“Oh... thank you, Miss Morgan.”

She took the triangular snack hesitantly, then struggled to unwrap it.

Morgan studied her clumsy attempts with an aloof expression, then took the rice roll back and cut the plastic wrapping with a nail. It parted easily, and she offered the snack back to Saint in a moment.

”So you’ve regained some of your powers, huh?”

Saint looked at her with wide eyes. “W—what? No, I did no such thing.”

Morgan scoffed.

“Oh, really? How do you explain that stream of true darkness, then?”

The radiantly gorgeousness smiled timidly.

“That... what is there to explain? Isn’t it obvious?”

She sighed.

“I am obviously experiencing audiovisual hallucinations as a result of the psychotic break I suffered due to shock. This is textbook acute stress disorder.” ŗ𝒶ＮỌ𝔟Еȿ

Regaining some confidence, Saint nodded. ”Yes, exactly. It is a reasonable self-deception narrative, to construct a delusion of having devastating supernatural powers when experiencing the feeling of helplessness in a life-threatening situation.”

Morgan raised an eyebrow.

“Did your self-deception narrative tear a car door clean off to pull that fool over there out of the burning car, as well?”

Saint hesitated for a moment.

”Hysterical strength is a well-documented stress response explained by the sudden release of adrenaline.”

Morgan frowned, then pulled a barely recognizable lump of metal from the pocket of her hoodie.

“This revolver tends to disagree. These are not hallucinations, Doctor. You know they aren’t.”

Saint remained silent for a while, then trembled and raised her chin a little.

”So, what? Do you expect me to believe all those outlandish things Detective Sunless said? How this world is not real, and how he’s a demigod... who is also my master?”

Morgan shrugged.

“I have no idea what the Lord of Shadows told you, actually. But it was probably true.”

Saint scoffed, then pointed to Mordret. ”Then why does Mr. Mordret not share in this delusion? Is he also under a spell? No, what was it... is he also not a complete person, or has a stalwart attribute that makes him immune to mind attacks?”

Morgan looked back at the Other Mordret, then shook her head.

”No. Naturally not.”

She remained silent for a few moments. “The reason why she refuses to admit the truth is far more prosaic.”

Saint frowned.

“And what would that prosaic reason be?”

Morgan smiled darkly.

”You’re the therapist. You tell me.”

Not getting an answer, she chuckled chillingly. ”It is really very easy...”

Morgan crossed her arms and leaned on the wall, looking at the Other Mordret with a concerned expression.

”He is simply in denial.”

Saint seemed disturbed by that answer, lowering her gaze to the floor.

Morgan lingered for a few moments, then exhaled slowly.

“Well, it is not surprising, if you think about it. He has spent close to two decades in Mirage City... living a breathtaking life that he knew was an illusion. Being loved by people whom he knew were not real. He must have had to convince himself to forget the truth, at some point, in order to stay sane.”

She looked away from the other incarnation of her brother.

“But he still knows. It is obvious that he has never really forgotten from how he lives. A man such as him should have everything in the world, would be surrounded by amazing people... but actually, Mr. Mordret is a very solitary person. He has no friends, no confidants, no lovers. The only people he is close to are the members of his family, whom he couldn’t give up.”

Morgan smiled sadly.

“But who am I to judge? Gods know, I had been infatuated by an illusion of family for decades, myself.”

She remained silent for a while, then looked down and shook her head.

”Point is, he knows perfectly well that the world around him is not real. He just refuses to admit it, because admitting it would mean giving up the illusion he holds dear. The illusion of us. Speaking the truth aloud would mean rejecting the premise of his entire life. So, he denies it.”

Morgan looked at Mordret and raised her voice a little:

”Isn’t that right, dear brother?”

Mordret turned his head and glanced at her with a concerned smile.

“Sorry, I am not quite sure what you mean, Morgan. It all sounds very strange. Maybe it would be wise to return to the hospital and continue your treatment? You... you seem a little unwell.”

Morgan laughed.

”Do you see, Dr. Saint? You are experiencing hallucinations, Detective Sunless is your patient, and I am an escaped lunatic... but actually, the only person among us who could use your professional help is the one who seems sane. He’s the only one who is suffering from delusion.”

She remained silent for a while, and then sighed.

”He’s still better than the other one, I guess. What a joke...”