Chapter Text
Albedo had been having the worst luck since he arrived in Inazuma. He went there for research. He was actually invited there only to arrive and have the locals not let him in the country at first. They told him that his paper work was not in order, when he knew it very much was! He had pointed on it the very dates and information they needed on it to only be told it was no good.
Finally after a day wait, he was allowed in Inazuma only to not find the place to meet up with the other alchemists. They had wished to meet in a cove to understand why the naku weed grew in such odd conditions and since it was a rare plant it was a good way to learn about it.
He reached the cove two hours late as he wandered pointlessly to not find anyone. He was quite peeved. When he went to town, he learned the alchemists had called off the whole research party and it was all pointless.
He walked slowly down the street unsure what to do now. He looked over to see a crafting table. Yes, he should of stayed at his crafting table in Mondstadt. This was a fruitless venture. What else was he to do here? Shop? He was not allowed to research anything than what that alchemist party was going to and that had been disbanded. He was only allowed in this country for two days at most. It was very strict.
He could eat. He looked to his right to see food he had never seen before. Hmmm… no. He was too tired to eat.
“20,000 onsen!” Albedo heard yelled next to his ear.
He blinked a few times to see the commotion of this man yelling about this onsen. Whatever this was, no one seemed interested. Albedo walked to him.
“Ah, sir. I see you are interested?”
“No, I am merely curious what an onsen is.”
“Yes, I suppose that would make sense.” The man with black hair and shifty eyes looked at him and grinned. “It's what you call hot springs, I believe. I’ll give you a deal. How about 15,000 mora and you can bathe in it. It's very good for your skin!”
Albedo looked flatly at the man. “I have no interest in such matters of warm water coming from the earth. I have already researched that. As for my skin, you can see I have no blemishes so I do not need whatever you claim it does.” Albedo was about to turn away when the man grabbed him by the collar.
“Please…” He gasped silently. “I need you to take a bath, please. I swear. I’ll drop it to 10,000 mora. Just… please. Please… please…”
Albedo could not believe it. This salesman was begging him to pay for this hot spring experience! What was going on? “Are you in trouble?” Albedo's teal eyes became stern and concerned.
The salesman smiled.
“Is that a yes? I can get help?” Albedo asked most seriously.
The man shook his head. “10,000 mora for the hot spring. I just need you, please. If a tourist bathes here it makes my establishment look better. Please… You don’t even have to bathe. Just walk in and stay thirty minutes to an hour and leave. I just need to look like I have customers to get customers. Everyone is scared of this place. It's not a bad place. I promise it's not.”
Albedo pursed his lips. “Why are people frightened of this place?”
The man laughed nervously. “Nothing happened here. I swear, nothing. Just children’s tales of silly happenings. No one died and nothing eerie or out of place. Just superstitious people.” His laugh seemed unnatural and eyes looked terrified. “Please…”
Albedo hummed and nodded. Why not have a nice, enjoyable, bathing in a hot spring? He had a rough day. 10,000 was not that bad of a price to get a fancy warm spa treatment.
Walking in the place it seemed old. It smelled of dust and was unkempt. This was most likely why the locals did not like this place, Albedo thought to himself. The wood beams that held the building looked as if they were slightly rotting. That was very unsafe, if Albedo was an inspector he would shut this place down just for that. He slightly shook his head. He was NOT an inspector, he reminded himself. He was to have a nice relaxing bath and then rest. Tomorrow he could go back to Mondstadt.
“This way sir!” The man said as he guided him through the next wooden door to a rock bath. Steam slowly rose off the water.
“This looks good, right? This was a good idea, right?”
Albedo did not like the way this man sounded. It was strange, but he could not put his finger on it.
“Ummm… yes. You wanted 10,000 mora?”
“Yes, yes, yes!” The man excitedly rubbed his hands together but his eyes looked around behind Albedo.
Albedo looked behind him to see what this man was looking at but… it was just the steaming water coming from the ground with rocks around it.
“You don't have to pay now! If you want try the water and pay after!!!” The man seemed to be sweating and looking behind Albedo again.
Albedo looked behind himself again, yet nothing had changed.
“Are you okay? You seem upset.”
The man smiled wide. “I’m fantastic. I’m wonderful. I’m doing so great right now! Please, Please, enjoy yourself.” He turned and walked away quickly.
Albedo was so confused. Was this man on drugs? Was he seeing something Albedo could not?
No…
Albedo shook his head. He should take off his clothes and enjoy this hot spring. He was going to be paying for it anyways, plus water looked divine even if the place around it did not.
He steadily worked his clothes off. A few times he saw the water get disturbed but when he looked nothing had disturbed it. He assumed the pressure in the earth was infrequent and with the heat possibly causing the water to behave oddly. This had to be it. Sometimes he felt watched as well, but he assumed this was because he was in a place that needed to be cleaned and he was letting his mind wander between the strange man and this dirty rotting place.
He folded his clothes neatly unsure where to put them, he supposed on top of his backpack on the ground would have to do since there was no where else to put them.
Albedo sighed loudly at this.
“What's wrong?”
Albedo looked around but saw no one.
“Who is there?” Albedo asked, but he saw no one. The room was empty. He shrugged. Now he was hallucinating voices, maybe he should eat after this. He had not eaten all day and it had been such a bad day.
“Just me.”
The Voice!!! Albedo realized he was not hallucinating. There was a voice. “Where are you? I see no one in this bath.”
There was a high pitched laugh. “I’m in the bath the next room over. What you think I’d bathe with commoners? I guess you wouldn’t know who I was.”
Albedo thought this was odd. This place looked dingy and not a place for the rich.
“I see…” Albedo said softly as he dipped a toe in. The water was very warm. Yes… this did seem like a good idea. He pulled at the small ribbon on the back of his hair and shook his head to let his hair free. He tossed the ribbon to his bag.
He gracefully went into the water groaning softly feeling the warmth relax his muscles. He closed his eyes.
“You must of had a bad day.”
Albedo cocked his head to the voice. He could not pin point it. "I did have a bad day.”
“You look like a foreigner.”
Albedo's eyes shot open and he looked around. “What do you mean?!” Albedo's voice was stern. They could see him!?!
“Your accent doesn’t sound like it's from around here. Oh! Did I say look? I meant sound.” The man laughed loudly.
“This is a public bath house. We do not have to bathe separately if you wish to speak. We could speak in the same bath.”
There was a chuckle.
Did it come from the rafters?
I
B
E
T
Y
O
U
W
O
U
L
D
L
I
K
E
T
H
A
T
Was that above Albedo!??! It sounded wrong? The voice sounded inhuman. This … this… Albedo closed his eyes and shook his head. It is the dirt and dust in the air. It is making me nervous. Possibly the spiders and their webs in the corners of the room too. The voice must of echoed oddly through the walls.
He thought back on the time he ate a giant spider. It did taste good seasoned, but it was not pleasant to kill. It did have a chilling cry when he stabbed it. He nodded. He ate spiders. They should not creep him out.
The spiders and dust were getting to him. He opened his eyes again. The room was the same. Everything was the same. He was over reacting. Just as usual there was a reason for all odd occurrences and this was just nerves.
He dunked his head under the water feeling the heat on his face in the water around him. He curled his body up while being under the water. He needed the waters to soothe his mind and body.
This whole trip was upsetting him.
It was a wasted trip.
He was disappointed.
He hoped to meet like minded people. Most did not seem to understand or call him a genius. This group of people would of seen him as an associate. He would not be seen as overly smart like usual. He would be looked upon as normal for once. They would be like him. It would be nice to be normal. He might even of met someone like himself. Someone who was artificially made… that would been nice. He would not be alone. It would have been nice. He was sure of it, but now it was canceled.
He felt a tap on his head.
Albedo unfolded his arms and lift his head up quickly out of the water. Who was tapping his head?!?
Whooosh!
He wiped a hand across his face to get the water out of his eyes, but the room was empty.
Albedo huffed.
Someone here was messing with him. How could no one be here! Someone obviously tapped the top of his head while he was under water. Was he under too long? That has been an issue in the past. Not needing to breathe has been an issue in explaining why he was so good at being under water for a long time.
“Sir, were you in here?” Albedo called out.
Silence.
“If you were, I am fine. I can hold my breath a long time. Do not worry if I hold my breath underwater and you do walk in here.” Albedo explained in the empty room hoping whoever he talked to before would hear this lie and would not tap his head like that again.
Silence.
Albedo leaned back in the stone bath. This place was quite bothersome. The whole place of Inazuma. He really could not wait to get back home. He could not wait to get back to his lab. Get back to work.
Shuffle
Shuffle
What now!? Albedo felt himself become bewildered and vexed. He saw his backpack jiggle around as he looked to the place of the noise.
His bag wiggled!!!!
A small part of him felt fearful and then he remembered he had fought worse things in his life. “It is a giant spider.” He told himself in a soft whisper as a comfort.
“It is a giant spider, I can cook up and have as a free meal.” He quietly said and he moved slightly closer to his bag ready to knock it all over and deal with what ever was moving it.
Splish Splash.
Something behind him splashed the water. He scrunched up his face and looked behind him. This place was falling apart. There had to be mold in the walls and the spores it gave out were causing hallucinogenic affects on him.
This bath was over. It was not calming. Someone was messing with him or he was tired or it was the mold or there were giant spiders here. He went through all the possibilities in his head.
He climbed out of the bath seething a bit from the slight scare he had.
Annoyance.
He audibly let out his frustration when he realized he had no towel and had to use his lab coat. Very very very against regulations! Any thing could have been rubbed on it, solvents and ingredients… yet he knew he had cleaned it a few days before and none of that was on there because the alchemy group canceled their alchemy fun.
Once dried, he got fully dressed, hanging his lab coat over his arm. He threw his back pack over his shoulders. He walked out over to the next room with the front desk. The man eyed him wildly.
“So… did you like it? I’m surprise you’re back at…all.”
Albedo looked at him blandly. “I am surprised a giant spider did not attack me as well. Worry not! I eat giant spiders.” He hummed. “10,000 mora?”
The man looked at him in fear. “No! No! It was free. You can go. Haha… you can go. Yeah! You can go! Thank you! Thank you so much… ahhh hahahahahaaa.” His eyes wildly darted around behind Albedo. Yet when Albedo looked behind him, he saw nothing.
Albedo was unsure what to say, it was definitely mold spores causing this man and himself to have odd behavior. If anything he was glad he got a free bath out of it, but he wished to be away from Inazuma. He left the indoor hot spring. Backpack on his shoulders and damp jacket he dried off on hanging off his arm.
He walked down the street the lights dimmed. Albedo's eyes hopped to the signs, but he realized most he could not understand well. They were in their native language and not common tongue. This was another obstacle he wished he thought of before he left.
He felt a harsh tug on his hand. He looked down, yet no one was there. A child perhaps tugged on his hand? He looked around himself yet saw no children. He shook his head.
Mold?
Fungus?
It was that bath house and the mold spores. He was imagining things. Once he got back to Mondstadt he would need to make sure he did not have a strange illness from that bath house. Maybe it had a fungus he had never heard of and caused hallucinations.
He proceeded forward.
Someone tugged on his arm gruffly again.
Albedo turned aggressively to whoever pulled on his arm and saw a food vendor to his right. That shop keeper was too far away to even grab his arm! Who grabbed him!?!?
Albedo was far too peeved, but even if this was his mind playing games he was hungry. He walked over to the food stall.
“What do you serve here?”
“What does it look like?” This food vendors face was not pleased to see Albedo as a customer.
Albedo eyed the food and was unsure. He was not culturally adept. He knew some of the items had rice and meat in it but he could not name the items. He would just pick one to buy. He really did not care at this point. He was too tired.
“This one..” He pointed to the ball of rice, but then his hand jolted on it’s own to point at the grill the vender was frying on.
Albedo’s exhaled in slight vexed annoyance. He eyed the grill which had chicken on it.
He did not want that. It was too filling. He would feel stuff on that and he disliked feeling that full. He pointed to the rice ball and his hand jolted back to the grill again. His hand felt pulled by a string and moved on it's own.
Another symptom of this mysterious bath house illness. Albedo deemed. “Yes, whatever you are frying and this rice ball.” Albedo spoke quietly. He knew he looked odd pointing all over and he did not wish to seem stranger still.
He put a hand in his pocket and paid promptly. He walked away with a small leaf wrapped bowl of meat and a rice ball on the side. Chopsticks laid on top, another item he did not know how to use.
He was embarrassed to come to a country so unprepared. He thought of what his master would say if she saw him so lost on what to do. He could imagine her face being stony and cold. “Albedo, you disappoint me.” That is what she would say… He was very much flawed, but he could not dwell on that. He wasted of Mora… he thought to himself. He did not even want the chicken, but his hand did. He wandered to a soft spot of grass and sat down. He took off his back pack and put it next to him. He set the large leaf bowl with meat in his lap as he grabbed the rice ball to eat it with his hands. Unsure if he was going to upset the people in this country by eating it with his hands.
He looked at the buildings nearby hoping one of them would be an inn. He was very much tired and this was not going the way he wanted at all.
He took a small bite of the rice ball not even looking. It was food. He did not care much what he was eating as long as he did not feel stuffed. There was a sweet taste to it he did enjoy. Was it cherry he wondered? He looked down and realized the chicken bowl was gone.
IT WAS GONE!
Albedo shook his head at this. “Bath house illness…” He mumbled to himself.
He swore he heard a chuckle after he said that, yet when he looked around he saw no one. He shook it off. This was not real. He must of imagined buying the bowl of chicken. He must of only bought the rice ball he’s eating now. That’s how ill he was. He really needed to get back to his lab and see what was wrong.
He stood up once finishing his rice ball and grabbed his backpack and coat. He persued the street hoping to find a place to sleep, such as an inn.
He luckily saw a sign that showed what looked like a bed. Relief washed over Albedo. He could finally sleep. He could sleep under the stars, but a bed was far nicer, far more comfortable.
He walked in, pushing the curtains aside.
“Welcome? One night?” A fine young gentleman asked him at a small desk. The inn seemed lavished for where they were in the town. Albedo hoped he had enough mora for the night and to get back to Mondstadt.
Albedo hummed.
“100,000 Mora per a night.”
Albedo expected this. He knew he did not have that much in his pocket. He swung his backpack over his shoulder and to his front. He flipped the flap of the backpack open to look for his mora pouch only to see a doll.
Odd…
He never brought a doll with him.
He never purchased a doll.
Albedo hesitated and looked at the intricate details on this Inazuma style doll.
“Sir, the 100,000 mora?” The inn keeper broke Albedo from his trance and he grabbed the pouch next to the doll and paid in full.
Once he got to the small room where he was to sleep he opened his bag again to inspect this mysterious doll. It had a few cracks on it. Albedo's fingers lightly carcasses the cracks. He could fix those by filling in with a putty. The eyes on this doll looked so real. Purple and almost flashed a lightening color at him. They did not even look like glass eyes. They looked real. The hair was chin length and black. It looked older, he wondered how old or if it was an antique. The workmanship on this was gorgeous. To see it in such a shape was a shame.
He knew he might be able to find the original owner for this, but he had not much time left in Inazuma and Klee would love to have a new toy if he could repair it. He would ask the inn keeper at the desk in the morning about it. Maybe he would know more about it.
He rubbed the cheek of the dolls face again, not realizing a small sliver of a crack protruded from there and cut his finger.
Albedo lightly gasped from this small cut. A few drops of blood fell on the dolls face and seeped into the cracks in it. He swore he saw the doll smile.
“The bath house fungus illness…” Albedo mumbled again changing what he deemed was the cause of what he was experiencing. He set the doll down gently near his bag, as he walked out of his room to the common hall bathroom to clean his wound.
Once he walked back in the room he was to sleep in, nothing had changed.
Good.
For once today, nothing odd had happened when he had a change of environment. The doll and his bag were in the same place.
He went to grab the doll again to wipe the blood off its face, yet the blood was gone. He must of wiped it before he left the room before, he told himself.
Albedo slowly removed his shirt and striped down to his under garment. He flicked off the light gadget and slept.
“You look delicious.” A chuckle awoke Albedo.
Albedo's eyes opened to the darkness.
“I want to see fear in your eyes.” He felt a finger touch his neck and slowly go down his chest.
Albedo tried to struggle. He could not move. He felt tied down.
“I know your voice. You are the same one from the bath house. That means you are a hallucination or a dream.” Albedo shut his eyes again.
A soft sigh breathed in Albedo's ear. “It's not fun to force the fear in your eyes with pain.” The voice got slightly annoyed.
“This bath house illness…” Albedo groaned.
The finger that lingered on Albedo's abdomen stopped abruptly.
“I will get you one day.” He felt a lick on the side of his neck.
Silence
Silence.
Albedo exhaled in frustration. “I am so ill…” He softly said out loud as he fell back to sleep.
-----------------
He awoke to the sunlight. He lifted his head to see everything in its place. So what he went through the night before was a night terror. He had heard of those. Unable to move or breathe. He was unsure about the breathing, he did not need to breathe normally. He breathed to seem normal and to talk. This was a flaw in him. This made him not fully human. Quite awkward and reminded him he would never be like everyone else.
He hummed contently. He would leave today to Monstadt and hopefully by the next day he would actually be in Mondstadt. He was content at this thought.
He got dressed. Quickly went to the common bathroom in the hallway and combed his hair. Then proceeded to gather his belongings and ask about the doll he found in his bag.
“Excuse me!” Albedo asked the receptionist.
The young man from the night before turned around looking at Albedo with question until he saw what was in Albedo's hands. The brown eyes widened and jaw dropped.
“That was not here all night, was it!?”
“Well, yes. I had a question about it…”
“GET OUT!” The receptionist shrieked.
Albedo looked flatly at the man. “It is merely a child's toy. I only wish to know…”
“I warn you! Throw it away and visit the temple for a blessing from the gods! Leave!! LEAVE!!!” Panic was all Albedo could see in this man. It made no sense. Maybe this bath house illness was actually an Inazuma illness. He must research it once he got home.
---------------
The travel to the Monstadt was nothing to record. The doll safely in his backpack. The ship he took was just him and a crew. He was an official, thus the travel was as smooth as possible.
Once in Liyue, he got a carriage heading to Mondstadt and fell asleep while on it.
He awoke shrouded in darkness.
This had to be a nightmare, Albedo realized.
He felt the grumble and tussle of the carriage under him. He was aware enough to know that.
“So… your name is Albedo.” The same voice he heard from the bath house said.
Albedo exhaled peeved. He still had the mysterious Inazuma illness, he deemed.
“I know how to make you fear me…” Albedo still could only see darkness around him. No figure.
One of Albedo's arms flung out in front of him with out him doing so.
Albedo felt shock at first at this and then reminded himself this was merely a dream. He could not see where he was, but knew he was in the carriage going to Mondstadt.
This was not real.
Albedo looked flatly at his arm taking note. “Night terrors and nightmares are apart if this illness. I need to remember this.”
A hiss went by his ear. “This is not a dream! I’ll prove to you this is real!”
A form shaped next to him. Humanlike, but also not. It was veiled in shadows. The face of the form leaned down to his arm and bit him.
Albedo cried out from the pain.. his eyes watered.
“WOULD A NIGHTMARE HURT LIKE THAT!?!?” the being screamed at him.
Albedo heaved saying nothing.
The face turned to him, the eyes plum colored, staring in a rage.
“Reenacting dreams in real life to make fantasy real… symptoms of mystery…Inazuma illness…” Albedo sobbed slightly from the rush of searing pain his arm gave.
The being’s form became more humanlike and looked dumbfounded. “You are the most rational and irrational human, I have ever met.” His tongue flicked out of his mouth with distaste at Albedo's analysis.
Albedo looked at him and realized this person looked very much like the doll in his bag.
Odd…
He must of shown the realization because the being became slightly excited.
“Ahhhh… finally. You realize what I am. I am the very boogeyman you fear.” The humanlike creature bit his lip in anticipation, but Albedo mumbled to himself.
“Illness makes person believe superstitious beliefs or made up ones.”
“UGHHHHH!!! YOU’RE SO FUCKING ANNOYING!” The being stood up with anger. “You will believe me when you wake up! You will! I will come back! I will get you! I will terrify you and I will devour you with satisfaction!” The being spat in Albedo's face causing his eyes to shut close.
When Albedo opened his eyes, the carriage was normal. All looked the same. He looked at his arm. There was indeed a bite mark and slight crimson dribbling from it.
Albedo hummed.
He was correct. This mystery illness was hallucinating and paranoia, possibly delusions as well. He needed to keep note. He went through his backpack and saw the doll with a huge grin.
It did not have a grin this big before. Albedo knew this was his mind being ill. He grabbed a notebook and wrote down his symptoms.
----------
The rest of the journey went as planned and finally he made it to Mondstadt. He rejoice at seeing his small home. He had much to do. He needed to do tests to see what this mystery illness was, fix up this doll for Klee after he cleaned it and sleep.
He really needed sleep.
His home was empty as he unlocked the home with a click and turned the doorknob to walk in. The home was dark and empty. He flicked on the switch to gadget that turned on the lights.
Klee was with Diona and her family while he was in Inazuma. It was far too late at night to get her now. He would get her in the morning.
He wandered to his small private lab and opened the door to it. Inside a few items to help him with experiments illuminated the room.
He flicked the light on...
Books lined the walls. Most people told him he had too many books, yet these were his only friends. The only things that understood him. He set his bag down and let his fingers wander on the spines of the books on the bookcase.
“Hello friends…” He knew it was pointless to talk to inanimate objects, but he spent more time with them than others. He could be himself with them. He did not have to pretend to breathe around them nor speak when he did not wish to. No idle chit chat when he wished for none.
They gave him answers he wanted and needed. They truly were the only friends he had. They never abandoned him or expected anything from him.
He softly sighed and looked to his desk with a mess of papers and a few petri dishes.
Yes… he needed to do that.
He opened a few drawers and pulled out a glass and a metal petri dish. He did not know which would work better in this case. Most likely the glass one, but he could not assume in this case. He pulled out cotton swabs.
He rubbed two cotton swabs on the inside of his mouth. One swab in one petri dish and the other swap in the other one.
He pondered where else he could swap. He was unsure for now. He could try else where when ideas came to him and the results came back. He sealed each dish and put them in his green glowing machine to mature the culture.
He relaxed in the seat and closed his eyes. His chest stilled. It was nice not having to breathe all the time. It was tiring to make his chest rise and fall all the time with no purpose than to imitate everyone.
His master even made him practice breathing in his sleep. She blamed him for his imperfections. Slapping him for the imperfections he did have. One imperfection she did applaud him for was his lack of his shown emotions. She said this skewed results. Human emotions were worthless according to her and he had very few he showed. She was pleased by this.
He had enough to behave normal around his peers, but few enough to have logical thoughts about all things for the most part. His speech was one thing that never could be corrected. As much as he tried, contractions were very hard for him to grasp. His mind did not like to use them. This made his speech odd and his master belittled him for this.
He knew it was for his own good. Just as when she left him. It was for his own faults and to better him.
He opened his eyes to see purple eyes and the room in shadow again. Albedo stared blandly at the being he kept encountering.
This hallucination.
“I thought you were fucking dead!” The imaginative being laughed at him. The eyes squinted in glee and there was humor to the face.
Albedo showed no feeling to the statement.
Great, Albedo thought to himself. He was being made fun of by imaginary beings.
Albedo turned his face away and looked to the papers on his desk ignoring this entity.
“HEY! I’m talking to you! I want you to know I’m feared for a reason!”
Albedo grabbed a quill and pulled out a blank paper.
The nameless form looked far more human than usual. The hair short and black. The eyes still dark purple. “Are you listening!? I’ll make your life a living hell if you don’t!!!” He threatened and looked to what Albedo was writing.
Albedo dipped his quill in the ink and scrawled as such, ‘hallucination is looking more human and less nightmarish. It also is very rude.’
“HEY! I AM NOT RUDE! I’M TERRIFYING AND I PLAN TO KILL AND DEVOUR YOU!”
Albedo still ignored him and still scribbled. ‘hallucination implies it will kill me or devour me. Is this a sign the illness is one that takes lives?’
“What the fuck?” The being looked down at what Albedo scribbled. “I’m real! Look at this!?!? LOOK AT THIS!?!?!” He flicked his wrist and Albedo's hand was a stranger to him. It felt as if strings were tied around his fingers and wrist. His hand wrote by itself.
‘The man named Albedo is the stupidest human I have ever met!’ Albedo's hand scrawled without his will.
“How’s that!?” The being grinned at Albedo.
Albedo made a loud huff sound and dropped the quill. He stood up to walk away.
“Wait wait wait!!!! What's your deal? Not scary enough?” The being spoke with bitterness. “I can be…worse…” The words lingered in the air.
Albedo kept walking away until his hair was yanked forcefully back. A Yelp came out of Albedo, he saw the face of the being now, looking rotten and decrepit. The eyes whitened and fogged. Teeth far sharper than normal. Lines covered his face as if he was aged wood and the paint as his skin was chipping.
“Would you believe if I ate livers for fun? That I make men weep at the sight of me? Children hide under their beds only to be surprised I’m next to them?!” The voice was broken and unnatural. It sounded like a old record. The voice scratching and hiccupping with each scraping sound. Airy and yet deep. It’s audio wrong. Very wrong.
Albedo's face was blank.
“Sleep walking and more night terrors while walking. New ailment.” This was all Albedo said to himself.
The rotten looking thing screamed at Albedo. It waved his hand out. Small strings appeared grabbing Albedo and flinging him against the wall, rendering him motionless.
The entity with no haste walked up to Albedo and crouched down. “The names I go by are Kunikuzushi… The puppeteer… The marionettist… I doubt you are smart enough to know what Kunikuzshi means when you don't even know you’re in danger. Kunikuzushi means destroyer of nations. You’re such a fucking idoit. Why did I think you were logical…? You’re the biggest moron I’ve met.” But the words hit Albedo half conscious self. He barely comprehended what was said.
----------------
Albedo awoke the next day on the floor. He was sore. He must of fallen asleep and sleep walked into a wall. He also had nightmares.
He nodded to himself.
This was the illness. He stood up groaning. Wishing he was not sick any more. It was quite bothersome. He eyed the kitchen. He should eat.
No.
He did not feel like it.
Should he even pick up Klee if he behaved this way?
No.
He had nothing better to do than work on that doll that was in his bag. He sluggishly wandered to his backpack and grabbed the ancient doll. It was not smiling anymore.
So that was him hallucinating it smiling before.
Albedo stared emotionless at the doll and then set it on his desk. He proceeded to sit in his chair, deciding which solvents he should use to clean it and how to fix the doll.
Maybe this would get his mind off of what was happening to him until those cultures matured.
