The story of a broken being

"I'm so hungry. Can you order something for us, Eddy?" Lia asked, still laying on the bed.

"Alright." I found a pizzeria close-by, and started looking at the menu. "Are you okay with a pizza?"

"That's perfect. Do they have any with goat cheese and honey?"

"Goat cheese and honey?"

"It's something she fell in love with during her trips to France. There was a pizzeria in London that did them, too. It may sound weird, but it's absolutely delicious. She learnt how to make pizzas just so she could make her own at home, since it's very uncommon in the US." She replied with a chuckle.

"Hmm, I see. I'll check if there's a pizzeria with that on the menu around here."

After a few minutes of looking at various pizzerias, I did finally find one with goat cheese and honey pizzas on the menu, and ordered a large one for us. I was curious to try, now that she spoke about it.

Lia rose up and stretched. "Well, since she won't be back soon, let me tell you a story while we're waiting for the food."

"Hmm?" I looked at her attentively.

"It's the story of a man. Hmm... Let's call him William. William was a promising young lawyer, born and raised in an influential family in the UK. He had loving parents and an adorable but bratty younger brother. He was newly wed to a wonderful woman and they had a cute baby daughter. He was basically living a perfect life, and loved his wife and daughter deeply. He did often feel a strange mix of envy and fascination towards women for reasons he couldn't explain, something he always felt ashamed of, but otherwise seemed to have a promising life ahead of him… Until he met with a specific client, one day, who destroyed everything, cursing him and leaving him to his fate."

Lia sighed, staying silent for a moment before resuming her tale.

"At first, William tried to keep living as if nothing happened, and succeeded for a short time. But the curse was compelling him to use his new powers on someone; mainly on his beautiful wife. He resisted for some time, but, as the curse worsened, he yielded and used his powers on his wife. That moment would forever be ingrained in his memories, the incredible bliss he felt was overwhelming. A day later, though, he regained his senses and undid everything, his wife unaware of how lucky she had been at that time."

She looked away, a sad look on her face.

"Terrified by what happened, he filled the family camping-car with a generous stock of canned food and water, left all his savings to his wife, and drove far away until he found himself in a large forest, isolated from the civilized world. William lived there, the curse chilling him to the bones on a permanent basis at this point, his skin having turned sickly pale, his mind being assaulted by awful nightmares every night, but his willpower was strong. He hoped that the curse would disappear if he resisted. He didn't want to turn into a monster and do anything to the people close to him, having seen how horrific the man who cursed him was. A month and a half later, though, the curse manifested itself in a more visible way."

Lia let free the spines as she said that, her eyes seemingly devoid of emotions.

"It made surviving even harder, but he stayed strong, doing his best despite starting to go insane due to the freezing cold, the incessant nightmares, and the loneliness, praying to whatever gods existed to free him from this curse. But, after another month, an even more brutal change happened. His ghastly skin started to crumble, revealing a bluish layer underneath. William broke down, unable to stand this situation anymore, but also unable to take any drastic and permanent decision to free himself. The curse fully taking over, he left the forest and approached a remote house, sneaking around until he found the owner, a middle-aged man, taking care of a field. He yielded again, taking this man's life as his own for a time, finally feeling somewhat at peace after months of constant ****. He kept living the man's life for about three weeks before regaining some of his rationality, deciding to travel back to Watford, worried about his family."

She grit her teeth and tightly grasped the hem of her skirt. Talking about it was obviously painful for her, even if she wasn't the one who lived it. I felt shivers running down my spine as she told her 'story'.

"William couldn't be back with them again, he was a monster now. So he settled for watching over them from afar, assuming the life of a teacher living not too far from where they lived. He had this repressed desire to try to see if he could become a woman again, but refused to act on it. Things stayed this way for seven more months, William never feeling fully satisfied, until he somehow met the one who cursed him again."

Lia scoffed, disdain infusing her voice.

"He hated him for that, but he swallowed his pride and seeked his guidance, he needed to know exactly what he became and what it entailed. The man was a pompous, selfish, and cruel monster, exactly what William imagined him to be, and he swore to never become like this. He stayed with the man for about two months, learning everything he needed to know, and even being introduced to an elitist group of skinwalkers in London, until the man ditched him again, travelling somewhere in Asia. Not fitting with that group, not sharing any of their views, William decided to leave. Being near his family but unable to interact with them was hurting him more and more."

Lia looked back at me, giving me a sorrowful smile.

"His desire and curiosity to try to become a woman again also became stronger and stronger, and he took the plunge the day he wanted to leave the UK, borrowing the life of a cute flight attendant. His second time was a blur as intense as the first, he finally felt whole and fully comfortable, euphoria overtaking him. Being a woman was a rush he would never ever get tired of after this. Maybe William suffered from gender dysphoria, maybe he just had a weird fetish, he wasn't sure, but he didn't care anymore, he was now at peace. He used his new powers to travel around the world, visiting a multitude of countries in Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America, before deciding to settle in the United States, trying his best to forget about his family and to start living a new life."

She closed her eyes and sighed softly.

"There, he finally found the woman he wanted to become permanently. A smart, rich, and beautiful redhead with a rotten heart. That's how William died and got reborn as Dahlia. Dahlia absolutely loved her new life, acting on all these desires she kept to herself during her time as a human. But no matter what she did, no matter who she befriended or flirted and slept with, the constant loneliness she felt ever since she ran away from her family never really left her, because there was a part of her she wasn't allowed to share with anyone. She was condemned to play a role."

I went to hug her and spoke. "Until she met Claire and I, is that right?"

"Until she met you, yes. That idiot was still afraid of you thinking less of her if she were to tell you her past." She hugged me back gently. "But I knew you and Claire weren't like that. I kept pushing her to be truthful with you."

"I can understand how hard it must have been for her... I don't blame her for not telling me."

"She’ll be relieved to hear that when she's back. She'll need your support and love more than ever after what happened."

"I'll do everything I can to help her." I replied.

We kept hugging for a few minutes until Lia got up. "I can really see why she fell for you. You're amazing boyfriend material, or girlfriend. I should probably start calling you Yun too, huh?"

"Nowadays, I feel better being called Yun than Edward, yeah. I suppose Edward did also die when I became Yun." I said, looking away.

I didn't feel much about my original name. I didn't hate it, but it didn't fit with who I now was. I no longer was Edward. I was Seo-Yun, a beautiful Korean model.

The phone rang, signaling that our pizza was here. I went downstairs and tipped the delivery man, before bringing the pizza back to our room. It smelled really good, I had to admit.

Lia was sitting at the small table in our room, ready to eat.

"Here you go. Let's see how good it is, now." I said as I opened the box.

I took a slice and started to eat. She wasn't lying, it truly was delicious. I could totally see why she would be hooked. We each ate half of the pizza, enjoying our meal together. Lia didn't speak much, but she appeared more relaxed.

"So? What do you think?" She asked.

"Surprisingly delicious. I didn't expect honey and goat cheese to work so well together on a pizza."

"Heh, that's what I thought too before she made me eat one."

"I need to make Claire try one, once we're back. She loves sweet things."

"I'll make sure she bakes one for you two then."

We finished savouring the pizza and started to undress. We were both pretty tired after having walked so much.

"She's calming down, I think she'll be back soon." Lia said while sitting on the bed. "Now, it'll be your job to reassure her."

I gave her a warm smile. "I'll do my best."