The Red Hand

Chapter 319 – What Would Remain?

"Well, you're looking quite nice on this fine morning." Halifax chuckled at the disheveled and slow-walking Amakusa as the Hero girl limped to her seat and poured some coffee. “I see you're a morning person.”

"Shut up..." Amakusa groaned as she slowly took a sip of the coffee that was slid over to her. "God, I feel like shit..." She'd been forced to sleep on a dog bed that Akagi'd given her after she lost a bet to the Demon last night.

{I have never been more sore and exhausted after a night's sleep...} (Amakusa)

"I told you that trying to beat Akagi in those games was pointless. Even Elariel gave up after 300 losses in a row." Halifax laughed as she took a sip of her own coffee and looked out the window. "You're lucky all she did was have her little puppy curled up at the foot of her bed. I would've thought that she'd make you do something far worse."

"God... How do dogs sleep like that?!? How does she sleep like that?!?" Amakusa groaned as her back hurt. "It felt like my spine was gonna snap, and I could barely sleep." The sleepy and sore Hero took another sip of the warm coffee. “Thank god the coffee is good...”

"Glad you like it, Akagi gave me some really nice beans. But back to your question, not having any bones and basically being a liquid probably help with those problems." Halifax commented. "Cats are normally bendy creatures, but Akagi is on a whole nother level of fluid."

{I remember one time when she squeezed under a door back at the house like some kind of terrifying creature. It gave the girls quite the scare, though it was funny as hell.} (Halifax)

"Where is she anyway?" Amakusa yawned. "The command gave out not too long ago, and when I looked the room she and the Priestess were gone..."

"I think Akagi went to bump off some Imperial Nobles." Halifax shrugged She wasn't keeping tabs on things as much as perhaps she should've been. "Apparently, the ninja made a pretty big bust on captive Spirits during the night, and she said that something like 100 were found in a mine in the former Beast Kingdom of Asheleon."

{Should I point out the irony of the demi-humans using people as slaves when they themselves have a history of being just that?} (Halifax)

"And here I thought that she wasn't interested in saving the Spirits." Amakusa yawned again. “I would've thought that she could've cared less about them based on what she said the other day.”

"Who knows, but the Nobles she's going after were pretty big players in the slave trade, and I know for a fact that they've got their fingers all over the Imperial Court." Halifax said as she took a bite out of a chocolate croissant. "Oh! This is great!" She smiled happily as she took a bite. "You need to try one when you wake up! It and the coffee combo amazingly!"

"How are you just sitting here all smiles while Akagi runs around causing chaos like this?" Amakusa had woken up slightly and asked something that had been on her mind for a while. "I 'agreed' to help her recover the Spirits and punish the Gods, but you... I know that you dedicated your life to protecting this world... I still don't understand why you're just standing back and going along with this."

{I would expect the Divine Blade who killed Vikes to at least PROTEST her violence, and yet here you are eating croissants, and drinking coffee while she bumps off Imperial Nobility and plunges the continent into chaos!} (Amakusa)

"What, do you want me to try and fight someone who can kill a God so easily?" Halifax rolled her eyes. "I'd hope you're not stupid enough to think that's even remotely doable."

"I understand that, but why are you just kicking back while she causes all this chaos?!?" Amakusa raised her voice slightly. "Unless there was a secret discussion that I don't know about you've given her zero pushback on her plans and are more than happy to sit back and watch things go to hell!"

{I risked my ass to save the people of this world! Whether my reasons for doing so were wrong or right, I gave my everything to protect Enoris from destruction, and yet here I am forced to sit on the sidelines and watch as Akagi... As she turns the hope for a better future that we had into dust...} (Amakusa)

"You're wrong if you think that I've not voiced my opposition to some of her plans." Halifax shook her head. "I've told her multiple times that if she goes too far, that I'd stand against her, as futile as that may be."

"And how the hell is assassinating government officials, threatening nations with doom, and plunging practically the entire world into chaos NOT going too far?!?" Amakusa growled. "You and I both know that she's doing this for shits and giggles! There's no legitimate reason to do any of this beyond her own desire to stick a massive middle finger at the Gods!"

{She could end things far quicker and with less blood! You and I both know this!} (Amakusa)

"And? Is any of this my problem?" Halifax gave a dismissive laugh. "What Akagi does to some stupid group of Nobles is hardly worth me even raising an eyebrow for."

{It's not as if most don't deserve death anyway, considering what most of the Aristocracy gets up to on a daily basis.} (Halifax)

"Your problem?!?" Amakusa was genuinely taken aback by her comment. "Y-You're basically like a Hero of Legend! Even after everything that went down with Elariel, you were still someone who traveled the world to help people! I've read some of the stories about you, and even after you departed from the Empire three hundred years ago, you were still all about helping people and protecting this world!"

{How could someone as noble and heroic as you just sit back and watch all this?!?} (Amakusa)

"And if I told you that I'm over being someone like that, what would you say." Halifax glared at her, not taking kindly to being judged.

"You... Just..." Amakusa stammered.

"Listen!" Halifax banged her cup onto the table, shaking it slightly. "I've been giving it my all for over four thousand fucking years. During that time, I've put out so many fires and solved so many crises that I've lost count of how much debt this world owes me!" She took a deep breath before continuing. "And do you know what I got for all that hard work and dedication? NOTHING!" Halifax's anger exploded, suprising both her and Amakusa. "I've never been one to demand praise or thanks, and I sure as hell never wanted something like a statue in my honor or for people to get on their knees and thank me for everything..." Slowly, some of her power leaked out, and her body was briefly covered in a blue and white flame-like aura. "BUT WOULD IT HAVE KILLED PEOPLE TO BE GRATEFUL?!?" She stood up, her eyes locked on a slightly trembling Amakusa. "How do you think I've felt carrying all this weight, all these expectations for so many years?!? How do you think it felt to live each day where the vast majority of people that I met treated me as a tool first and a person..." She gave a defeated laugh. "I was going to say second, but I think that would be putting my person hood a bit too high on the list for most people."

{Most fucking people wouldn't even give me the time of day, and even most of my wielders weren't the nicest to me...} (Halifax)

"But people... The stories always sang your praises!" Amakusa said while shaking slightly. "How can you claim that people weren't grateful for your work when every record names you as a key contributor in saving the world so many times?!?"

"Those records do not reflect the reality of the situation!" Halifax exclaimed. "My wielders always got the credit, the praise, the thanks, ALL OF IT!" Her aura flared again. "I was just a fucking tool given to them to save the world, and if I ever am mentioned, it's as an amazing instrument of the Gods! NOT AS A PERSON!" Amakusa thought back to the different historical accounts and realized that she was right. Historians did speak of Halifax, but if one compared how they wrote about her wielder at the time, it was clear that they saw the Sword as the lesser of the two. "So tell me, Shiroe." Halifax's lips trembled as she held back tears. "Why the hell should I give as much of a single fuck for a world that never cared about me?!?"

{Why should I care about people who saw me as a tool and not a person?!? Why should I care about a world that never respected me?!? Why should I even fucking care anymore?!?} (Halifax)

"Is that really enough of a reason to stand aside while they're killed? While their world is about to be taken over by Akagi?!?" Amakusa yelled back. “You know what she's going to do to these people! They're going to be one step removed from slaves!”

"Need I remind you that the only reason she's here is because of YOU IDIOTS!" Halifax's aura flared up again, accidentally blowing away the table between her and Amakusa. "You four are the reason that Akagi is here in the first place! YOU drove the Spirits to flee! YOU followed them to her world! And YOU IDIOTS ATTACKED HER!" Her voice was so loud that it caused the room they were in to shake, attracting the attention of those nearby.

"AND I'M SORRY FOR THAT!" Amakusa stood up and met Halifax at eye level. "I've admitted so many times that we fucked up! We were tricked, deceived, and lied to by the Gods, and the whole reason that I'm here is to try and help make things right!" She took a deep breath. Staring down a visibly angry Halifax was no easy feat, but Amakusa wasn't one to back down. "But that doesn't mean that I can sit back and watch as Akagi causes things to go to hell! The people of this world don't deserve to be subject to her whims!"

{No one does!} (Amakusa)

"No..." Halifax retracted her aura. "No Shiroe, you're wrong..." Her lips were still trembling, and it was clear that tears were only moments from flooding out. "This world, these people, they deserve to fucking die, ALL OF THEM!" She steadied herself, taking a sharp breath to calm her down, to no avail. "They cheered as the Dark Elves were slaughtered, cheered as all manners of atrocities were committed for all kinds of stupid reasons, and they cheered as the Spirits were eradicated..." She reached out and grabbed Amakusa by the scruff of her Kimono.

"Even still! Two wrongs don't make a right!" Amakusa glared back at her, no longer afraid. "Akagi killing the people of this world won't bring back the lives of those who died! It won't erase the past and it won't make things better!"

"And I know that!" Halifax tightened her grip on the Kimono. "But that doesn't mean that some kind of punishment isn't in order! The only reason that I would stand in Akagi's way is if she declared her intention to destroy this world and that's only because... because..." Tears started streaming down her face. "It's because I know that there are good people in it, and because... And because at the end of the day..." She smiled as she continued to cry. "I still love being a Hero... I still love helping people, saving the day, and making the world a better place... I can't let that part of me go, which is why I've stuck to that line in the sand... Because if I let that go... If I throw away everything..." She slowly let Amakusa go. "Then what am I besides a tool?"