Fall of The Deity

"It's really you? You still have your memories?" Carl asked me.

"That's right. I still remember our time on the beach. I remember Domin, Red, Ullr, Cody, Robby, and even Aegis, and Shiro. I remember everything." I clarified to Carl.

Wiping tears from his eyes, he came up to me and held out his fist, ready for a fist bump.

"I never got the opportunity to tell you... I'm sorry I went against your will to negotiate with Orion. And, I think you're plenty strong, and I trust your Corrupt State." He told me. I shook my head, connecting my fist with his.

"You don't have to worry anymore. I have full control now. However, I don't think we're done here yet." I said. I looked back to Illya's position and started to walk toward her.

Faith met up at my side and joined me, grabbing my hand to hold onto.

"I did my best to hold her off... and I protected Avie!" She told me. I set my hand on Faith's head.

"Good job, Faith," I said with a smile, continuing my stride forward.

We approached her body and she was lying on the ground, blood trickling out of her mouth, and her chest was barely expanding.

Faith tightly grabbed onto the end of my shirt.

"Is she going to be okay, Dad?" Faith asked me. I wasn't sure how to feel about being called 'Dad' by her... but if it was okay with her, I didn't really care that much.

"I don't want to save her... she's caused me a lot of trouble... and she killed four of my friends. What would you do, Faith?" I asked my supposed daughter.

Faith looked up, then back down at Illya.

"I would keep her alive, and punish her, just like she would punish me. But... I don't know the correct punishment to give Mom." Faith told me.

It happens that I do know what punishment to give her.

I set my hand on her chest and pushed golden strands into her body.

No, I really didn't want to save her. I kind of wanted to slit her throat while she was on the ground and let her bleed to death... but Illya did a lot for me.

She killed my friends, and as corny and annoying as it sounds, keeping her alive would mean that I had grown as a person... but most importantly, that growth that happened to me gives meaning to the people who have died for our future. Domin had made me smarter, Red made me careful, Ullr made me powerful, Cody and Robby made me feel inspired... their deaths had meaning.

Dammit, I really was going to go through with this, wasn't I?

As the golden strands pushed their way through Illya's body, her eyes slowly opened up. Instead of the red color, they were now blue, just like up at the house.

Her hair started to shift from that pure-white color into a light-brown color as well, with white roots on her scalp.

"I lost... shit..." She mumbled.

I summoned a chain with a hoop on the end and stuck it around her neck, keeping her close to me at all times so she wouldn't cause any more trouble.

"Faith decided to keep you alive. And, you have a shitload of explaining to do... in front of my friends." I said. Illya pushed her body up and I yanked her back onto the ground with the chain, causing her to groan in pain.

"I can't... walk..." She told me.

I looked back at her while keeping my head forward, and tugged again.

"Then I'll drag you," I told her.

I spent the next thirty seconds dragging Illya's limp body over to my crowd of friends, plus two random outsiders I hadn't met before.

"Go on. Explain to my friends why you killed four of us, and why you should live." I told Illya.

Illya sucked in air like she was about to cry... and then expelled it while keeping her head pointed at the ground.

I tugged on her chain again.

"I don't remember telling you that you could explain with your head toward the ground," I said to her.

"I... to defend me..." She said. She kept eye contact with everybody at a minimum and then pointed her head at the ground again.

"Defend yourself?! You started this!" Carl screamed out. I held my hand out in front of him and looked back down at Illya.

"You thought my friends were worth the trouble to kill? You killed Myth, Mitra, Drake, and Xavier, you know. Those people were my friends, hell, they were even my family. Yet, you killed them and took them from me." I clarified for Illya.

"So... kill me then." She requested.

"Kill you? No, I have something much worse planned for you." I said.

Lia, Lily, and Carl were all leaning in, waiting to hear the punishment. They were leaning in a lot more than the others... I guess they were adamant about this.

"You will join my ranks and be obedient to me. Otherwise, I'll gut you every day and make you suffer as much as possible. I let Faith decide if she wanted to keep you alive, but by no means do we have to be friends. Whatever you thought we were four hundred years ago, before you reincarnated me, is no longer relevant. If you don't like my rules, then I can kill you here and now." I explained to Illya.

"Kill me." She said again.

"You'd think being an ungrateful bitch like you currently are, you'd understand what kind of situation you're in," Carl added on again.

"You want to die that bad?" I asked Illya.

I summoned a golden saber, kicked her down onto her back, and slammed it right beside her head.

"Then why did you flinch?" I grabbed onto Illya's collar and pulled her face close to mine after I asked her.

"I shouldn't be alive after what I did. I lost my Deity Powers, and I got what I wanted. To give you your powers back. That's all I wanted to do. I'm finished with my task, so you can kill me." Illya told me again.

"No, you forgot one. You still have to help me raise Faith." I demanded from her.

"Faith isn't a normal child, she's special. She doesn't need me." Illya told me again.

"Listen you stupid bitch, I'm not asking you to stay alive, I'm telling you that you need to stay alive. However, I do owe a few people a hit or two on you for killing their friends and loved ones. Specifically, I need to let Boo kick your ass for both Mitra and Myth, and whoever wants to kick your ass for Drake and Xavier. I've humiliated you enough." I told her.

"I accept your terms. I won't leave this chain... and I'll let them beat me up..." Illya muttered.

"Good, your obedience is appreciated," I told her. I was still skeptical about why she was so willing after one explanation. She probably had something else planned behind the scenes.

I turned my head on her and let my friends gather around her, and I started to hear punches and blood fly as I took Faith away.

"Why did you let them do that to Mom?" Faith asked me.

"Illya did a terrible thing to my friends and me. I don't care how uncivilized it sounds, this is my family and I will tell them how to do things. I'm their leader, and the best way to settle our differences is like this." I explained to Faith.

"Will they kill her?" She asked me again.

"Don't they deserve that? You know, Illya did kill my friends. You said you were watching my journey, do you remember how I treated the people who killed my friends?" I asked Faith again.

"You killed them... so, why not kill Mom?" Faith asked me.

"To test their allegiance. Illya took more from them than she did from me. They were my friends, sure, but Drake and Xavier were known more by Carl and the others. She took away that life. I don't care if they kill her or not. You will be safe with me either way." I told Faith.

"You don't seem to care about Mom too much... what's wrong?" Faith asked me.

"To become the Deity of Wrath, I had to give up the hatred I held for myself, and for insignificant things like your mom," I told her.