Chapter 296 – Halifax’s Heart.


    With a tense air hanging between Akagi and riel, it seemed that the discussion was going nowhere. The Goddess could not bring herself to trust the Demon Lord, and Akagi had no interest in ying nice with somebody who''d harmed her friend. Yumi was fully prepared to watch Akagi tear the Goddess apart, and part of her was hoping that Akagi would drop the routine and start bringing down the proverbial hammer. While Halifax was irate enough with her ''mother'' that she might''ve been fine with Akagi killing her right here and now. However, before things could escte further, Rebeckah''s voice pierced through the heavy air in the room as she tried to bring things back under control.


    "Lad- Ms. Hailifax." Rebeckah corrected herself. "Let me ask you a question. Do you <i>trust </i>Lady Akagi?" Her words caught the attention of riel, who held herself back from making a prematurement. "When she says that her intentions are not to destroy this world, do you believe her?" As someone who''d been raised to one day take her father''s ce as Empress, she was quite good at reading people and making quick judgments of character. However, Akagi was an enigma. Try as she might, Rebeckah couldn''t get a read on the <i>Demon''s </i>true intention, so the Princess figured that asking somebody whom <i>she </i>trusted was her best option.


    <i>{This woman... The only thing I can gleam about her is that there''s far more to her than meets the eye, and that''s not exactly useful...} </i>(Rebeckah)


    "Do I trust Akagi?" Halifax thought for a moment before answering. "That''s a good question."


    <i>{Do I?} </i>(Halifax)


    "You even have to think?!?" Akagi''s feigned being hurt. "Aren''t we besties?!? I even let you run your hands all over my body! Did our time together mean nothing to you?!?"


    Herments made Yumiugh, which she failed topletely contain. "I... Guess... That''s one way...." She was practically choking on her ownughter while Amakusa rolled her eyes.


    <i>{Kitty likes pets!} </i>(Yumi)


    "Halifax... Please don''t tell me that you... With a Demon Lord..." riel hadpletely fallen for Akagi''s bait.


    <i>{How can Lady riel not see that Akagi was deliberately choosing her words to cause a misunderstanding? I suppose even Gods can be dense...} </i>(Rebeckah)


    "Withments like that, I''m starting to question our friendship." Halifax groaned as she bonked Akagi on the head. "But as for your question, surprisingly I <i>do </i>trust this idiot. Personality problems aside, in the short time I''ve known her, she''s given me no reason to believe that she''s lying. So when she says that her goal doesn''t involve destroying this world, I''m inclined to believe her." She and Akagi had be fasts friends and neither girl fully understood the reason for their quick connection, and at this point neither cared.


    "Well, to bepletely transparent, I might destroy <i>part </i>of this world." Akagi rubbed her head as she held up one finger. "I do intend to inflict some measure of punishment on the poption, but I n to do that in a less <i>End Timesey</i> way." Sheughed.


    "I see, then Lady riel. I think we should afford her some manner of trust as well." Rebeckah''s words surprised the Goddess who was visibly displeased with the Princess''s suggestion.


    "Rebeckah, you have no idea what horrors a Demon Lord is capable of." riel shook her head. "I fought Vikes. I watched that monster kill countless innocent people, and I know full well that trusting something like <i>that </i>is out of the question!" The memories of that time still haunted her. Most Gods had managed to put it out of their minds, but riel had been shaken to her very foundation by Vike''s rampage. "I''m sorry, but I cannot put my faith in this Demon Lord. There''s too much at stake for me to take her word at face value."


    "Then does that mean that you <i>don''t</i> trust <i>me</i>?" Halifax mockinglyughed. "Or have you given up on me entirely?"


    "You... Halifax..." riel looked like she wanted to say something but swallowed it. "It''s not that I''ve given up on you. It''s just that I think your judgment has been... <i>tainted</i>, by your association with her." Akagi could tell that things were about to explode due to the Goddess''s word choice.


    <i>{No, it''s more than that... She probably feels that being at a Demon Lord''s side is where she belongs... Even if it''s subconscious... She probably feels a sense of belonging...} </i>(riel)


    "Tainted?" Halifax bit her lip, and her eyes burned with intense anger. "Was I not tainted when you forced me to ughter the Dark Elves?!?" She growled. riel''s word choice was the straw that broke the camels back and even Akagi wasn''t going to step in to stop things this time. "Was I not ''tainted'' when you forced me to be wielded in their destruction?!? Was I not tainted by the disgusting hands of Korex''s murder crazed psycho! You know, the one that YOU gave me to!"


    <i>{HOW FUCKING DARE YOU?!?} </i>(Halifax)


    "Halifax... Just please... Listen..." "riel tried to calm her down, but it was far toote.


    <i>{Here we go again...} </i>(Akagi)


    "NO! I WILL NOT CALM DOWN!" Halifax reached for her de, drawing it and pointing it at riel, which shocked Rebeckah. "You have no right to criticize me, who I associate with, or what I do! NOT AFTER WHAT YOU''VE DONE!" Halifax swung her de, but it stopped just moments before striking riel''s head. "You disgusting bitch! You have no right to call yourself a God! YOU GAVE ME TO THAT MONSTER! YOU LET HER USE ME! AND YOU DARE TO FUCKING CALL ME TAINTED!" She put all her power into her strike, but her own innate restrictions wouldn''t allow her to harm the Goddess.


    <i>{DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT!} </i>(Halifax)


    "It''s pointless." riel sighed. "You know full well that you can''t harm the one who made you. Please, stop this. We don''t need to fight."


    <i>{Halifax...} </i>(riel)


    "I know that I can''t hurt you, but I wish I could!" Halifax started to tear up as she continued to press her de toward riel. "I wish I could make you pay for what you made me do! I wish I could drive this de into your head and make you feel even a portion of the pain that I''ve felt!" Her anger exploded and nearly a millennium of hatred bubbled up to the surface.


    <i>{You deserve so much more for what you made me do! For what you did to the Spirits! For what you''ve done to so many other innocent people! You''re no God! You''re a damn monster!} </i>(Halifax)


    "Then let''s do just that." Akagi said as, in a sh, she took riel by the neck and held her off the ground.


    "Lady riel!" Rebeckah said in a panic.


    "Let... Go... Of... Me!" riel tried to channel some of her Divine power into her hand, but Akagi quickly grabbed it.


    *SNAP*


    "AH!" riel winced in pain as her wrist was snapped, which surprised her. "Pain? What?" Avatars were unable to feel pain unless the God using it allowed it, so feeling it when she otherwise shouldn''t was shocking.


    <i>{What''s with this power?!? Its as if...} </i>(riel)


    "Do you really not understand the situation you''re in?" Akagiughed as she tightened her hold on the Goddess''s neck. “I''m not like Vikes, you dense idiot. I can easily end your miserable existence right now if I wanted!" She tossed riel across the room, her back smacking against the wall.


    *COUGH* *GAG* *WHEEZE*


    "How..." riel spoke between coughs. "That''s not possible. Vikes... Vikes wasn''t..."


    <i><b>"Vikes was a mere infant..." </b></i>Akagi allowed her voice to distort again, and this time, it seemed to have an irresistible authority to it. <i><b>"While I am a fully matured Demon Lord! If youpared the two of us, I would be an order of magnitude more powerful than he ever was." </b></i>She turned back to Halifax. "So you made a wish, and it''s one that I don''t mind granting for a friend." She chuckled darkly.


    "What?" Halifax was slightly taken aback by everything that just happened. "What are you talking about?!?"


    "While I''m still not <i>100%</i> of the way to breaking the Gods'' control over you, I''m certain that I can <i>suppress</i> that annoying restraint on you." Akagi''s lips curved into a wicked smile. "So, how about it? Killing this idiotic Goddess is off the table I''m afraid, but giving her a bit of <i>damage</i> should help you blow off some steam, if nothing else." She could tell that Halifax had been bottling up much of her anger and emotions rting to riel. The two hadn''t met in person for a millennia, during which the Sword had never once managed to properly vent her frustrations or get anything resembling closure. Being called <i>tainted </i>was the final domino to fall, and the floodgates on Halifax''s heart had opened, revealing just how much she''d been holding back.


    "You... You can free me?" Halifax''s entire body went numb as she thought what that would mean.


    <i>{I... I could be...} </i>(Halifax)


    "Not yet, but I''m working on it." Akagi turned back to the staggered riel, who was struggling to stand. The <i>Demon </i>had ced a seal on her power, which prevented her from doing much beyond staring angrily at Akagi.


    <i>{Not fun being made powerless is it? How does it feel to be at the mercy of someone else?!?} </i>(Akagi)


    "You... You''re trying to steal my daughter away..." riel said angrily. "I... I won''t let you take her, monster..."


    <i>{I won''t let you use her for your own twisted schemes!} </i>(riel)


    "Steal?" Akagi scoffed at her words. "How can I ''steal'' that which never belonged to you?” She rolled her eyes. “Moreover, how can I ''steal'' that which you threw away?" Akagi''s words hit the Goddess like cold water as she realized that the <i>Demon </i>was right. By forcing Halifax to do something so heinous against her will, riel had <i>permanently</i> destroyed the trust between them and irreparably burned away their prior connection. All this time, riel had known that what she did to Halifax was wrong, and she was hoping to take this opportunity to try and patch things up. Instead, she made things <i>worse</i>, and now, as riel looked Halifax in the eyes, she saw nothing but hatred reflected back at her. The eyes that once showed warmth, trust, love, and affection had turned cold, and riel had no one to me for this change but herself.


    <i>{I... No... I...} </i>(riel)


    Seeing her mistake, the Goddess tried to apologize, but it was too little toote. "Halifax, I''m-" riel''s words paused as Halifax plunged her azure de straight into her sternum.


    <i>{Eh?} </i>(riel)


    "I don''t want to hear it." Halifax faced away from riel as she dove her de further into the Goddess, pinning her to the wall as the de went straight through her. "This isn''t going to bring back all those people you made me kill, and it changes nothing..." She continued to put pressure on her de, driving it deeper. "But I need this." Her face was covered in tears. "I <i>need</i> this..."


    <i>{I...} </i>(Halifax)


    "Ack!" riel coughed up blood onto the floor. "It''s fine..." riel smiled. "I deserve this..." She slowly wrapped her arms around Halifax, bringing her into a hug as she was pinned to the wall. "I''m so sorry... I''m so sorry, Halifax." She began to cry as well. "I''m so sorry." The two stayed like that for some time, with riel repeating her apology over and over again as Halifax cried in her arms.


    <i>{I hope this will be a good first step for her recovery... I don''t think she can ever forgive riel, nor do I think that she should, but Halifax and that idiot Goddess needed to have this heart-to-heart. Though I doubt either expected it to happen like this.} </i>(Akagi)