[25.5] The Great Demon AKA the Great Tattle-Tale

Zephyr sprinted with all his might.

He knew exactly where to go.

Felix strolled down the path on the Academy grounds, humming to himself. In one hand he twirled a keyring around that held several different shapes of keys on it. He raised a hand as soon as he saw Zephyr, "Oh! Hello Zephyr! I got the keys to the top of the roof to paint the sunset. Do you want to- Wait. Where's Reika?"

Zephyr stormed past him, throwing dust all over Felix who stood there with a confused smile.

Felix let out a sigh, "Nevermind… I will just go by myself."

Zephyr ran into the main Academy's building and threw open the door to the Headmaster's office. The Headmaster raised his head unhurriedly, but before he could open his mouth, Zephyr shouted, "REIKA'S IN TROUBLE!"

He stood up abruptly, "What happened this time?! Who took her!?"

Zephyr gasped for air, "N-No one! She's just-"

"She's dead?!"

"No! She's doing-"

"Doing what!?!"

Zephyr frowned, "Oi. Stop interrupting."

The Headmaster paused, "...Sorry."

"Ah! It doesn't matter! I can't explain here! Just follow me!"

Before he could run off, the Headmaster picked him up by the scruff and held him, "Just tell me where she is so we can get there faster."

Zephyr pouted, "But I hate teleporting…"

He ignored Zephyr's whining and quickly teleported to the location Zephyr pointed out. Once they arrived, a burst of mana flowed out.

The Headmaster tossed Zephyr aside and pushed the door open, "Reika!"

…

I staggered back as my head throbbed.

The book never said that it would hurt this much.

I fell to my knees and heard the shout of the Headmaster behind me. I slowly turned to him with bloodshot eyes as blood slowly dropped from my nose. I forced on a smile, "I-I did it… I brought my Mummy back."

His eyes widened in horror as he looked behind me to see a bloody and ominous magic circle. The burnt corpse turned to ash while the body belonging to the woman in red lay motionless on the ground.

The Headmaster spoke slowly, "Reika… What did you do?"

I slowly crawled to the body and ran my hands through her hair with a low chuckle, "This time I didn't hesitate."

He grabbed my hand and pulled me up, "You did this!? You took that woman's life!?!"

I frowned, "Does it matter?"

He suddenly shouted, "Of course it matters! You took a life!"

I stared at him silently before pulling my hand out of his grip. I glared at him, "But the life I took belonged to a terrible person. She tried to kill Cyrus! She beat me up and kidnapped me! She would have done much worse if we let her live!"

He shook his head slowly, "A life is a life no matter what they've done. If one person decides they have the power to decide the fate of others, then only chaos will follow."

I shouted back, "You wanted to kill her too! So what's the difference!?"

"I only spoke that out of anger. I wouldn't have killed her. I would have just made her wish for death."

I scoffed, "You're a liar. You would have killed her if you had a chance."

"Even if I were to do that, it would be different. You are only a child." He let out a sigh, "And I don't want you to dirty your hands."

I laughed with a twisted smile, "My hands are already dirtied."

He went to say something, but was interrupted by a small groan coming from behind me. I turned my head to see the body on the ground beside me twitching and moving.

A soft smile curved my eyes, "Mummy."

His eyes moved over to my mother and stepped towards her, "I have to reverse this before you get into trouble."

I stepped in front of my mother with my wand drawn. I let out a growl, "If you hurt her, I will kill you! I won't let anyone take her from me again!"

His eyes widened in a pained shock, "Reika…"

I felt slight hesitation at his reaction but steeled myself.

I clenched my jaw, "My mummy was a good person. She only ever tried to help people. Even when I said hateful and horrible things to her, she still showed me love. How come she had to die but that terrible woman who killed others gets to live!? It's not fair!"

The Headmaster spoke in a low voice, "That's how life is."

My eyes twitched, "So if you were told that you had to keep the person who killed your parents alive versus someone innocent, you would!?"

His voice was colder than I'd ever heard, "You don't know what you're talking about."

I felt a shiver crawl up my spine from fear, but I still stood firm.

His eyes softened, "Don't you understand I'm doing this to protect you?"

My mother slowly sat up and rubbed her head, "Ugh.."

I rushed to her side, "Mummy!"

Her eyes fluttered open and looked at me with the gentle eyes that I recognized. She reached out to touch my cheek, "My darling Rei of sun…"

My eyes watered, "It is you…"

She sat up and embraced me gently, rubbing my back to comfort me.

Her eyes turned to the Headmaster who was staring at her with conflicting emotions. She released me and stood up to face him.

She bowed, "Thank you for protecting and loving my daughter even when she makes it difficult... And I agree with your judgment."

The Headmaster was taken aback, "What?"

She spoke slowly, "I shouldn't be allowed to exist if it will endanger Reika's life. I tried to stop her from resurrecting me, but it was in vain."

Her eyes glanced at Zephyr who was standing by the door trying to be as small as possible. He flinched and forced a smile at her, "I tried."

She let out a sigh and walked over to the Headmaster, "I understand why you want to revoke the spell and I won't run away. You can go ahead and return me to the dead."

I cried out, "Mummy! You can't!"

The Headmaster stared at her as if he didn't believe her, "You… You won't run?"

She ignored my cry and smiled, "I died naturally and without resentments. Only my desire to protect Reika kept me in this world to begin with. How could I endanger her future now by wanting to be alive?"

He frowned, "Don't you want to live?"

She shrugged, "Of course I do, but not at the cost of Reika's life."