The Red Hand

Chapter 176 – The Demonic Cult.

In the audience hall of Akagi's estate sat the unusual sight of both Chloe and Yumi in seiza while Akagi stood over them, irritation clear on her face.

"Now then, this marks the second time you've had to come before me in such a manner Chloe." Akagi glared at the cat. "Should I take this to mean you've risen the flag of rebellion?"

"NEVER!" Chloe shouted. "I would never go against you, myaster!"

"Indeed, Chloe is-" Yumi went silent as Akagi stared down at her. Bonded Soul or not, Akagi was currently acting as head of the clan and would afford the Priestess no special treatment.

{She's really pissed!} (Yumi)

"Then tell me, Chloe. How should I take you contravening direct orders from me? I believe I made it clear long ago that I do not wish to be worshiped like some petty god!" Akagi's aura flared up briefly.

{I am so much more, yet you dare to compare me... No... that's not what I'm angry about. I'm angry that these fools wish to venerate me when I've done nothing to justify it. Damn these idiots and their stupidity!} (Akagi)

"We simply wished to give you the respect you deserve, myaster!" Chloe put her head against the floor as she begged for forgiveness. "I know you said you do not wish for such things, but we simply could not ignore what was in our hearts, even if that meant disobeying your commands."

"I see, so you idiots can disobey me..." Akagi sighed. "On the one hand, it's nice to see that you can think without me giving instructions and that you aren't reliant on me for everything." She slammed her foot against the floor, causing a minor quake. "However, on the other hand, you contravened a direct command from the leader of your clan, BOTH OF YOU!" Akagi glared at Yumi. "You might be my Bonded Soul, Yumi. But that doesn't mean you may disregard my decisions as head of this family, Yumi!"

{It's taking every ounce of strength not to just let these two go, but I've got discipline to maintain.} (Akagi)

"I am sorry for displeasing you, my Lord." Yumi bowed. "That was never my intention."

"Yes myaster, I am sorry." Chloe apologized.

"You two have now put me in an awkward position. You realize that, right?" Akagi sighed. "How many members of the family were involved?"

"I believe twenty-seven." Yumi answered. "They range from ninja to administrative staff."

"Are you two the only clan heads involved?" Akagi needed to know who else to punish.

{I swear of they got more involved, then I might just need to start publicly lashing these idiots!} (Akagi)

"Yes, we were the only high-ranking members involved. Please do not punish the rest of the members as we are responsible for this, myaster." Chloe said.

"Oh, don't worry, you will be punished, both of you." Akagi clicked her tongue.

{Only question is how? I don't want to harm them, so alternative punishment will be required.} (Akagi)

"Chloe." Akagi called out to the cat.

"YES!" She quickly responded.

"What am I?" Akagi asked.

"Um, myaster is my myaster." She was unsure if that was the answer that Akagi wanted.

"More than that." Akagi pushed for a different response.

"The leader of the Dumetor Clan." Chloe said.

"More than that." Akagi was getting annoyed at her failure to get it right.

"The Demon Lord?" Chloe was starting to sweat.

"Yes." Akagi's voice distorted as she shed off her human appearance as she did in the Tomogawa basement. "Both of you, look upon me." The two complied. "What do you see?"

"Darkness." Yumi answered.

"Yes, Darkness." Chloe agreed.

"Anything else?" Akagi laughed.

The two girls looked at each other.

"Warmth." (Chloe x Yumi)

"Explain." Akagi figured this was what they'd say.

"You might be the Demon Lord, but looking at you doesn't invoke fear in my heart, my Lord. Rather seeing you like that gives me a sense of comfort as if my worries had melted away." Yumi was quite frank with her response.

{Ok, so I guess I can get Yumi, but why you too Chloe?!?} (Akagi)

"I feel the same. No, it's not just me, myaster. We all feel this way!" Chloe shouted. "You are our warmth! And you provide us with stability and comfort in this chaotic world. It's... it's like the world is a storm, but you are the safe harbor for us to rest in!"

"You find comfort in my embrace?" Akagi was genuinely confused. "How? You both know full well who and what I am. How could you find a being of pure evil and malice calming?"

{Are we conveniently forgetting that I can and do kill people?} (Akagi)

"That may be true, but those traits... they are not all you are, myaster!" Chloe glared at her. "You might be the Demon Lord, you might be a being born to destroy, but within all that is someone who cares about me and every member of this family!"

"Exactly." Yumi nodded. "Even before I was bonded to you, I felt calm just by being near you. It was as if I'd found the place I was always supposed to be. You might not understand our feelings, but we truly love you, my Lord. It's why Chloe and I worked with Ms. Misha to create a formal method to revere you. I know that's not want you want, but I ask you to reconsider in light of our feelings."

"I am not a god." Akagi said. “I cannot and will not act like one, even for you all.”

"But you don't have to be for us to worship you, do you?" Yumi wasn't backing down. "There are many who worship Demons, so why can't we find faith in a Demon Lord?"

"While Demon worship is common, it is usually not benevolent and peaceful. On top of that..." Akagi sighed. "I still do not understand why you've come to view me in such a manner. What have I done to warrant such undying love? Can you be sure those feelings you have towards me are not because of the game? You were NPCs bound by the game's code and logic. How can you be sure that you were not made to feel loyalty towards me simply because of the game?"

"Does it matter?" Chloe asked. "Even if that was true, and the game made us inherently loyal to you or even altered our minds. Does it matter? These feelings in our hearts won't go away, and they're real."

"Indeed, whether they came naturally or the game had some kind of influence, I don't care." Yumi smiled. "We've all come to love you in this manner, so does it matter why? Besides, don't act like we don't have logical reasons for following you as we do. You've helped each member of this family, my Lord. You saved many of us from certain death or a life of meaninglessness. I'd say that's more than enough reason for us to follow you anywhere, even without potential influence from the game." Yumi's eyes grew sharp.

"Or are you saying that you view us as nothing more than puppets acting on programming? Is everything you've told me a lie? Do you not believe us to have free will? Do we not have the right to make our own decisions independently and of our own volition?" She'd basically backed Akagi into a corner with that argument. "Because I see this talk of mind control as nothing more than a convenient way for you to ignore the truth!" Yumi stood up. "As strange as it might seem, as illogical as you might believe it, our love, our faith in you is vast. So vast that we see you as much more than just our leader! My Lord, you might be a Demon Lord created for destruction, but for us... for us, you are so much more." She started crying. "Because... because you... you are the reason each day is worth living. You're very existence warms our hearts, calms our minds, and gives us meaning. So please... don't take that away from us... otherwise... otherwise what do we have if you won't accept us?"

Akagi stood, silently. "I never really thought about it like that. I... I suppose you might be right. Perhaps I was hiding behind the potential for brainwashing to ignore the possibility that you truly felt this way. I think... I think I did that because I was afraid."

"Afraid?" Yumi asked while wiping her eyes.

"Afraid that I wouldn't live up to your expectations. Yumi, Chloe I know nothing of being an object of such adoration. I've no experience with being someone that others find hope and meaning in. But... but if you truly wish for me to take on that role... then fine." Akagi reverted back to normal.

"I will sanction the creation of an official 'faith' in my name." Akagi gave a wry smile. Though she manged to include the air quotes around the term faith since she refused to be treated the same as some god.

"YOU WILL?!?" (Chloe x Yumi)

"However." Akagi glanced between them. "There are a few conditions. First, you are not allowed to go dragging outsiders in. So no harassing people and demanding they start worshiping me, that includes members of the family. If they say no, you drop it." She didn't want her people to cause problems for the world. "Second, no sacrifices or anything of the sort, human, animal, or otherwise."

"???" The two girls tilted their heads.

"What? We'd never do that." Yumi was confused. "That's awful!"

{What do you think we are?!? Some kind of fanatic zealots who declare holy crusades and sacrifice heathens on an alter!} (Yumi)

"I'm just covering my bases here since I don't fucking trust you idiots." Akagi shrugged. "Third, you will remove Mika from her status as an informal priest or whatever you made her and you will apologize for involving her. I don't want the girls involved in this whole thing, so leave them alone."

"What about Misha?" Chloe asked. "She has the same views as we do about you."

"I'm getting to that. Forth, Misha may stay. However, I want you to make sure she doesn't allow her relationship with your faith to overtake her life. She must keep a relatively normal life outside her faith in me. I'm partially responsible for breaking her, so I'd like to try and fix what I can here."

{I'm sure that girl would move here, abandon her family and become some kind of monk or whatever if I gave her the chance, so lets NOT do that...} (Akagi)

"Sounds good." (Yumi x Chloe)

"As for the running of the cult. Yumi, I'll place you in charge. As my Bonded Soul, you make the most sense to run something like that. I won't get involved very much, but please keep things reasonable. If things start getting out of control, I'll shut you down permanently."

{This has exhausted me, so much...} (Akagi)

"Everyone will be so happy!" Chloe squeed in happiness.

"I know! The next event is going to be so much fun!" Yumi hugged her.

*COUGH*

"Ah-hem. We're not finished here yet." Akagi's mouth contorted into a terrible smirk causing both girls to shiver. "You two still need to be punished. Heartwarming speeches do not excuse disobeying me, and thus there will be consequences for your insubordination."

"Yes..." (Yumi x Chloe)

{I'd hoped she'd forgotten.} (Yumi)

"Yumi, in addition to what I'm doing to you tonight. Your punishment will be as follows. Since I cannot keep you at a distance, because that would be a punishment for me, you must keep at my side and do whatever I tell you, no questions asked for one month. Naturally, this includes as much fluffing and snuggling as I desire. Thus you will be taken off all assignments during that time to better serve your punishment."

{THAT'S NOT A PUNISHMENT!!!!} Chloe knew that Akagi was basically just giving Yumi a pass, but there was nothing she could do and she didn't dare to voice a complaint.

"I will endeavor never to displease you again, my Lord." Yumi smiled internally knowing she was basically just let off scott-free.

"As for you Chloe, the instigator of this insubordination, as I've been told." Akagi laughed. "You will be temporarily demoted to maid for one month, with Nemino taking over your duties during this period.

"Maid?!?" Chloe was not happy about this. She sucked at chores.

{NOOO! Maryanne is so mean! I don't want to work under that evil woman! She's going to yell at me when I drop the dishes!} (Chloe)

"Yes, maid. Or do you have a problem with my decision? Please do inform me what you think is incorrect so we can make a better arrangement." Akagi's smile told her to keep her mouth shut if she knew what was good for her.

"Nope!" Chloe's tail and ears stood up straight. "It is a perfect punishment for my actions, myaster!"

"Excellent, I'm glad you think so." Akagi smiled. "Also, you will both give a formal apology to Mika for involving her."

{Grrrr. I shall pay you back, Yumi. This was your idea, after all, nya! When I brought up Misha's idea, YOU pushed for us to accept!} (Chloe)

Indeed, Chloe was merely the fall-guy for Yumi's entire operation. Since the Priestess knew full well that Akagi would find out one day, she wanted to ensure that she took minimal blame with it blew up in their face. Thus the Priestess set Chloe up as the patsy by making her take charge of the operation.

{Too bad, Chloe. Let's just call this payback for that time you made me take responsibility for that target getting away back in Richend.} (Yumi)

This was not the first, nor would it be the last time that members of the family set each other up to take Akagi's wrath. Since they knew full well just how sadistic their master could become if they earned her ire. Even Yumi was not safe, as her status as Bonded Soul would not entirely shield her from punishment if she truly angered Akagi.