The Red Hand

Chapter 478 – Demon Lord and Divine Blade.

"I suppose we should get back." Akagi said as she helped Halifax up, the Divine Blade having finally calmed down. "Chloe and the two idiots were freaking out on the phone. I thought they were going to stroke out."

"Ah..." Halifax froze as she recalled what she'd done to the Cat. "I... I'm sorry that I knocked Chloe out... I need to apologize to her."

{That was not cool...} (Halifax)

"You must've given her a quick knock to the back of her head. Chloe isn't one to go down that easily." Akagi sighed. "She let her guard down, thinking there was no danger, idiot. She should know that having eyes in the back of your head is mandatory."

{And this is why I always... No... No... I'm not going to start down THAT road again...} (Akagi)

"In all fairness, my actions were really unexpected..." Halifax said as they got underway, laughing nervously. “I deceived you... Sorry about that...”

"I wouldn't worry about the Cat anyway. Chloe's probably going to be more mad that she let you get away with that than anything else. So be prepared for the kitty to want a revenge match against you later." Akagi snickered, knowing exactly how her student would act.

{But still, I shall have to give her extra instruction. That she was granted my boon and still fell for such a thing... It seems I must remind her that she represents me...} (Akagi)

"Does that kitty also like pets? I'll give as many as needed." Halifax laughed.

"Nope, only I may pet that kitty." Akagi laughed as the two continued through the forest, taking it slow since Akagi wanted to talk more to Halifax and ensure that she'd fully stabilized. "But back to the main subject, let's rendezvous with those three and head for Labrys' base immediately. I don't know if he's fled back there with teleportation, but it should provide a good starting point if nothing else."

{And to think the dammed thing wasn't even that far away from the base. I'm quite curious how they managed to hide for all that time. Even in such a secluded place, its odd that they kept hidden so well for so long.} (Akagi)

"They probably wouldn't expect us to follow them there, so we might get lucky and catch them." Halifax figured that it would be easy to catch them of guard. "If nothing else, it will both end the Cult's nonsense and give us a lead on where else he could hide since I know for a fact they have other bases."

{If only I weren't an emotional idiot! I should've called Akagi like Chloe wanted, and we could've had this whole thing wrapped up by now! I'm a Gods dammed fool!} (Halifax)

"Stop." Akagi said, seeming to read Halifax's thoughts. "Beating yourself up over a decision you made is pointless. What's done is done. No use wallowing over the choice at this point. Besides, if anyone's to blame, it's me for sending you on that mission."

"It's not like you knew this would happen." Halifax couldn't accept Akagi placing the blame on herself. "You trusted me with an important job, and I went and screwed everything up. Had I just done what you asked of me, this whole thing could be ending right now."

{Oh, it will end one way or another, that's for sure. Though I'll be dammed if I don't get what I want before then, especially when the pieces are almost in all in place.} (Akagi)

"I underestimated your emotional turmoil when I sent you out on that mission, and while I didn't know at the time I sent you that Labrys and you were connected like that, it's not like I had no clue that something of the sort might be at the heart of all this." Akagi said, Halifax's eyes going wide at the Demon's words.

"Y-You... Wha..." Halifax stammered, completely caught off guard by.

"It was merely a guess, a hypothesis." Akagi continued as Halifax followed closely behind her. "When I spoke to you outside the base, my best guess was that you were built from something related to Vikes. I chose not to inform you of that theory since it might cause more trouble than it was worth. Not to mention I could've been wrong."

{Though the odds of that were low given everything I knew.} (Akagi)

"But I mean... Fair... I would've probably gone off at you had you said you thought I was built from Vikes; even partially..." Halifax agreed that such a discussion would've resulted in a massive blow up and probably a fight between them. "Though I'd come to accept that such a thing was likely too as I was tracking Labrys down. It was the only thing that made sense when you factored in Elariel not wanting me to meet Vikes. Though I just thought I was made from a fragment of Vikes' power, not well..."

"And yet despite my internal concerns, I still sent you after Labrys." Akagi interjected. "I knew full well that it might cause you some pain, and I still did it. That makes me the one ultimately at fault for this whole debacle."

"I... No, that's not right." Halfiax shook her head as they accelerated their pace through the woods. "My connection to Labrys aside, you made a decision based on what you knew to be correct. I can't fault you for hesitating to share information with me that might not only be wrong but could be unnecessarily traumatic. Think about what would've happened if you were wrong? All that pain for nothing...”"

"Would you agree if I tell you that when I was with the Dwarves, I more or less confirmed that you were Vikes' Blade?" Akagi asked as the two leaped between trees.

"H-How could you have possibly-" Halifax began to ask, but was cut off by the Demon.

"I found the place you were made." Akagi answered, her words impacting the Divine Blade like a sledge hammer to the chest. "Deep in Thin Ledhar's dungeon was a room with a Power Reactor fueled by a shardof Vike's soul."

"What?!?" Halifax yelped as the two paused on a large branch. "Hold on! Reactors aren't powered by Vikes' soul! Sure they're magi-tech far beyond what the people today can make, but they're still mortal technology! I recall well the massive turmoil their creation caused! If they had anything to do with Vikes then..." The Divine Blade paused as things started to click in her mind.

"I can't speak to other Reactors, but that

one had part of his soul." Akagi continued. "And within said Reactor was a memory of Vikes' past. A memory that showed him summoning the Demon Blade Enūma for the first time.” She paused for a moment before continuing. “I watched that memory and analyzed it, and while there was nothing one hundred percent linking Enūma to you, it wasn't hard to put two and two together."{Halifax, a strange connection to Vikes, Demon Lord power, a blade made from Vikes... And the name... If it was anything else I'd've been more surprised.} (Akagi)

"That's..." Halifax paused, shocked by this revelation.

"I was fully intending to discuss this finding with you once I'd wrapped things up in Thin Ledhar and you'd handled Labrys." Akagi sighed, understanding just how much of an asshole this made her sound. "But events overtook me and you ended up finding him before I could get a chance to speak with you... But still, had I made talking with you a priority, I could've easily had that conversation with you before then. That is what I mean by this being my fault. I chose expedience over you, and that set this whole thing up."

{And in the end I couldn't just go along with ditching Halifax and leaving her to her fate... So I basically chose the worst path all around... Yippie...} (Akagi)

"I... I guess that's true..." Halifax paused as she thought over Akagi's words.

"I view you as a friend, that is no lie, but despite that I still treated you in such a way." Akagi shook her head. "My decision not to immediately seek you out was based on the calculation that doing so would cause more trouble than it was worth and could hamper the completion of my overall objective. Lest we all forget that the reason I came to this world in the first place was to deal with the Gods."

"Why are you even telling me this? You could've easily said nothing, and I doubt I ever would've found out." Halifax asked. She was not visibly angry and, in fact, seemed more confused than anything else since it was exactly as she said. Akagi had every reason to lie and cover this information up but she was being honest which made no sense to the Divine Blade.

"Because I feel you deserve the truth." Akagi said as she looked into the canopy above. "I'm not going to stand here and beg for forgiveness, since well, that's not exactly how I operate. But I can at least tell you the truth. The truth being that despite being someone I view as a friend, I'm more than capable and willing to go behind your back like that and take an action that ended up hurting you."

{I'm an asshole, I know that. It takes a lot of work to keep that side in check, and there are plenty of times when I don't bother for one reason or another. I've lied and misled Kana and the girls several times, Mika being the prime example with her Brother. I take actions in that I know full well will hurt people, and in the end I don't always feel remorse. Even now I don't exactly regret my actions, though I suppose that might not be true given what I just did... I guess this is just who I am. Given that I'm also staging things on Earth for my benefit as well I can safely say that I am the absolute worst. It is what it is, I suppose.} (Akagi)

"So go ahead and yell at me, curse me out. Do whatever you want, even a few swings is fine." Akagi said as she prepared for whatever Halifax was going to do. "I probably deserve whatever you're going to throw at me." She expected Halifax to run her through with her blade before denouncing, though the Divine Blade's actual reaction was far from what she expected.

"Pfff..." Halifax started to laugh, covering her mouth but failing to contain it for long. "Hahahaha!"

"What?" Akagi said, startled by the Divine Blade's reaction since it was the complete opposite of her expectations. "Why are you laughing?"

"B-Because you're just..." Halifax said, struggling to speak through her laughter. "You're such an idiot!"

"Huh?!?" Akagi yelled in disbelief. "Aren't you fucking pissed?!? I basically did the same thing the Gods did to you! I tossed aside your feelings for my own plans!"

{The fuck?!? Like... Shouldn't you be angry?!? I'd prepared myself for a tongue lashing if nothing else!} (Akagi)

"Yeah... I guess you could say that." Halifax said as she calmed down a bit. "But I'd say what you did here was baby stuff in comparison to those jackasses. Not to mention that they wouldn't even have the decency to tell me to my face like this. They'd just hide it and act like it was no big deal if I ever found out later."

"I mean, sure, but I still chose not to prioritize telling you about what I found." Akagi shook her head, finding herself strangely wanting

to be admonished and not understanding why. "That caused you to have a mental breakdown! Like... I really did a bad there! Be angry!""You chose not to tell me because you weren't entirely sure what you found was the full picture, and you said you intended to discuss this with me once we met up again. You also discussed the potential risks of meeting Labrys with me before I even left, Akagi." Halifax smiled as she shook her head, which only further confounded the Demon. "Trust me when I say that compared to everything else I've dealt with in my life, this is nothing. I can handle someone being stingy with information if they think it might jeopardize the goal of literally saving the world." She said, snapping back to being serious. "Had you told me about my connection to Labyrs, it's almost certain that I would've gone off the deep end. I would've accused you of lying, freaked out, and probably attacked you. There's no telling what the consequences of all that would be, so I'd say holding off on telling me until after I'd gotten Labrys was objectively the right call. That way, any collateral damage could be mitigated. Had I held my shit together a bit better, it all would've worked out. Labrys would've been captured, and we'd've had a much calmer conversation about my origins. So I'm not mad or anything."

"You are way too forgiving." Akagi shook her head. “How on Earth can you forgive-”

"If this is the level of your quote-unquote betrayal, I'd say I'm good with that." Halifax laughed as she bumped Akagi's chest with the back of her hand. "Besides, you have no idea how refreshing it is to have someone be truthful to me for once. That honestly goes a long way since you're the first person to actually be upfront with me about your actions and not shy away from what you did. I mean, you could've gotten away with lying and I'd never have found out but here you are being completely open with me and admitting to everything. You have no clue how much I appreciate that."

"And your standards are way low because of how fucked your life has been..." Akagi sighed, understanding that Halifax was only so forgiving because the Demon was somehow less of a prick to her than the Gods had ever been.

"Listen, no matter what, all that matters to me is that when the chips were down, you chose me." Halifax said as she held out her hand for a fist bump. "You have no idea how much that means to me, Akagi." She smiled. "So, I can tolerate some of your bullshit if that means having a friend that shoots straight with me and has my back."

"You..." Akagi sighed, finding herself completely exasperated by the Divine Blade but also finding herself strangely happy with Halifax's reaction. "You're really something else, you know that?" She said as the two fist bumped. "But then again, that's why I like you." She laughed she pulled Halifax in for a hug. "I can't promise that I'll be a perfect friend, but I think I'll try a bit harder from now on, just for you."

"And since you're trying so hard, I'll lend you my full power in return." Halifax said as the two separated, goofy smiles plastered on both their faces. "Now, hows about we bring this four thousand year long saga to an end? We don't have much time before Gale and the others try and consume the people this world, and I'll be dammed if I don't put a stop to their plans before its too late.”

"With the two of us working hand in hand, they won't know what hit them!" Akagi laughed as the two continued out of the woods and rejoined Chloe and the Twins at the blasted battlefield. However, while everything was trending toward smiles a single call from base causing both the Demon and Divine Blade no shortage of consternation.

_____________________________________________________________________________

“Hey Miji, have you seen Alm anywhere?” Alice asked the young girl. She'd just arrived for a tea party with Alice, ready to play with her friends.

“No?” Miji shook her head. “I haven't seen here anywhere. She didn't answer when I knocked on her room either.”

“I see...” Alice paused, worried that she'd seemingly vanished since it'd been a few days since she'd last come to one of their tea parties.

“Is she in trouble?” Miji asked with a sad look on her face. She'd enjoyed spending time with Alm, finding her eccentricity to be amusing.

“No.” Alice shook her head before patting Miji on the head to cheer her up. “I'm just a bit worried about her. Let me go check and make sure she's okay. If she's not feeling well we need to get her to Mimi.”

“If she's sick I'll make sure to give her lots of hugs! When I get sick sister always hugs me to make me feel better!” Miji said with a warm and toothy smile that made Alice giggle.

“Just wait here for a bit and I'll go check on her. And don't go snitching any cookies before I get back!” Alice said before leaving Miji in the greenhouse and heading back into the main building, her calm demeanor masking the worry just beneath the surface.

{I have a bad feeling about this...} (Alice)