Decision Point, Part IV

Eris - no, the Burning Bride - laughed a high, cold laugh, a roaring sound that seemed to echo, rebounding, repeating...

Her presence was nearly obscured by the smoke rising from her blazing dress and veil.

"You- you're a monster!" I shouted in shock. I'd always thought Eris was a bit creepy, but this went farther than I thought she would go. Everything was planned, my moves scripted, as though I was just a puppet in another person's play.

"Am I? Am I a monster for wanting to be powerful again? Can't you remember, Misery? Can't you remember school? You dreamed of one day being the controller, being lone in command and creating chaos around you. We are alike in many ways. If I'm a monster... then you are too."

"No!" I cried out, revolted at the notion. "No. I'm not. We may be alike, but I'm not willing to go this far. At least, not anymore.

"I don't want to be in power anymore. Not now that I've seen what it can lead people to.

"And you were wrong, what you said about me not regretting what could have been - I do regret it. But that doesn't hold me back. I don't let it become a chain. I look to the future, which I know is uncertain and not set in stone. I look forward to happier days when I'm upset, when I'm sad, when I'm angry.

"That's what makes me different from you. You don't try to change what you see - you simply try to force that outcome. You are a pawn, a slave of certainty. You see anyone who tries to change what the future brings as an obstacle to climb over. That's what makes you a monster, that's what makes us different. You avoid the chains by making them. I avoid the chains by truly being free."

Eris appeared rather taken aback by this. But then, she smiled again. "Oh, but I have an ace in the hole. I think that not everything that you think is here is actually here."

That's when I noticed what was missing from the scene - what I had expected but forgotten as soon as I had spotted Eris.

"Father! Where is he? What have you done with him?!"

Eris shrugged. "Oh, I haven't done anything, other than knocking him out and leaving him at the bottom of the stairs. Don't worry about his safety - I'm sure he's woken up already. In fact, he should arrive up here right... now."

There was a clattering on the stairs behind me, and then my father, his eyes burning red, charged out and dived at the Burning Bride.