Shudders: Retribution

Chapter 64 - The Puppet

"They did..." The hunched-over demon moved closer to her and firmly held her shoulder to get her to settle down. "And they won't... get away... with it. None... of them will..."

         Peach glanced up at Bodhi, her many eyes drenched from her tears. "I'll kill them. I'll kill all of them! Anyone who's ever crossed the King has to die!"

"Good..." Bodhi whispered as he motioned for her to rise up, she stumbled to her feet and had a wild look in her eyes. The humans, the demons who helped them, and the lackeys who undoubtedly took the opportunity to run. They all deserved death.

         But Bodhi's hand started to point toward the forest ahead of them. The exact direction that Dolores had gone in. "First... kill the traitor..."

"D-Dolores..?" Peach stepped back as she glanced in the direction her sister left. A pit forming in her stomach. "But-"

"She... was never... loyal..." Bodhi cut her off. "To... avenge the... King, we... must kill all those... who opposed... him..."

"But she's my sister!" The female demon tried to protest. But Peach said so herself. Anyone who has crossed the King... deserves to die.

       Bodhi held up his hand and she soon stiffened up as her blood began to run cold and tighten up. It felt like her insides were crushing her and she started to struggle under his grasp. He got closer to her until the heat emanating from his body was warming the winter air on her skin. "She left... you. She left... Zankoku."

       Whatever Bodhi was doing to her seemed to be painful as she felt incredibly weak and writhed in pain. She was the last loyal scout left. If not, the last completely loyal member left. Bodhi has had his plans for what will happen upon Zankoku's death. Some he told the King who laughed at them, but one that he never told him at all. One that involved the deaths of humans. One that obtained the complete and utter loyalty of the followers that Zankoku had never achieved.

       One that'll create the kingdom that should have been. And all he needed was a puppet.

       Slowly, Bodhi used his claw to cut his palm before he grabbed Peach's head, allowing the toxic iron in his blood to travel through her skin and into her brain. Zankoku may have been able to turn humans into demons and force others to bend to his will with the holds, but he was never able to create a monster.

      When Bodhi pulled his hand back, Peach fell to the ground as her eyes rolled up into her skull and she struggled to catch her breath on the ground. The toxic iron seeped through her skin and merged into her system. It grabbed a hold of her genes and genetic makeup and will take some time to fully turn her into what Bodhi wanted.

      But for now, there was a matter to be dealt with.

"Kill her..." Bodhi ordered her. "Kill... the traitor. You will... avenge your... King."

     When Peach's pain and writhing started to settle, she slowly looked up and her eyes weren't as gold anymore.

     She looked to the trees her sister had disappeared into and started getting her feet. Tears fell down her face as she marched forward, then sprinted, and soon she disappeared into a portal while Bodhi was left to watch.

       Days turned into mouths as months turned into years.

       Peach slowly lost her sense of self. It was like night and day. Her loud and erratic way of talking started to fall into light whispers that became deeper, her fast and ecstatic movements slowed to almost a stop, and her way of thinking and free will became completely shadowed by Bodhi's control.

        But it wasn't just her personality that changed, her appearance did as well in a rather morbid way. She slowly grew from her short height into a size once held by Zankoku himself. Her bones, muscles, and tendons were forced to stretch and expand so fast that it left her legs and arms completely mishappen and disfigured looking. Blackened blood from her baths that contained the toxic iron of Bodhi built up around her limbs, giving her a bulkier look that was heavy to carry. But her face received the worst treatment.