"There was no need—"
"They invaded our home, killed us, and mocked our family. These pests don't deserve to keep living after what they did; they shouldn't even be in this neighborhood." She commented, gritting her teeth as she was torturing her victim, crushing his limbs using the golden fluid.
"But he had nothing to do with that incident; this is just—" Before I could even finish my phrase, she pointed one of her floating spears at me.
"If you keep on killing humans, eventually you'll attract unwanted attention. You're lucky these people have no name and no one to mourn them, but the moment someone figures out you've turned into a demon—" No matter how much I tried to warn her, she simply didn't want to listen.
"So what am I supposed to do here? Welcome them? After they trashed my home?" She made the tip of the spear press against my throat as she screamed back at me.
She thought about my words; I could see the hint of doubt growing in her eyes, yet immediately after, she made one of her spears decapitate the man impaled behind her.
"Olivia!" As I shouted her name, she hit me using the spears, more precisely the flat side of the blade, pushing me to the ground.
"Who do you think you are to start acting that way?" All of her spears were now floating around my head as she warned me; her cold stare was only getting more detached as time passed.
Her mood swings were slowly worsening.
"I just want the best for you." I replied to her, slowly pushing the spears away using my hands.
At first she didn't let them budge, but with time she slowly melted to me.
"Sooner or later people will start asking questions, and when they realize you've become a demon, who knows what they'll do. Some of them may hunt you down, some will try to capture you for your powers, and some others will try to exploit you." I explained as I slowly got back up.
"I'm not defending that man; I just want you to understand that causing more havoc will only bring more danger to you, and I don't want that to happen." I repeated as I slowly tried to approach her.
"Is that why you abandoned us?" She asked me.
"That is not remotely the case. I never left with the intention of abandoning you. I worked all my life, risking my life to earn money for you. Why would I throw it all away?" As I was slowly approaching her, she slowly seemed to back away.
"Then why didn't you return when we needed you the most?" She asked.
I then immediately rushed towards giving her a hug. I don't know how long we stayed locked to one another, but I waited until she was comfortable enough to start crying, and even then, I kept hugging her until she was completely done crying.
"I'm sorry, I won't do it ever again." I promised to her as I caressed her head gently.
"So, what are we going to do?" She asked after we were done hugging, wiping away the tears on my shirt.
"I don't know; it's hard to mask your colors right now. I was thinking of possibly returning to the Fracture together, but that also is very risky." I mentioned.
This didn't bode well with her; I could feel it.
"Perhaps I could find another way; just give me some time, but we surely can't remain stuck in this house." I added it shortly after.
I do have some friends, but I doubt they'll be willing to help me. I just hope one of them can pick up my calls.
She didn't seem convinced, but at least she didn't directly object to the idea, so I began calling every friend I knew. Most of them didn't answer, and the few who did couldn't help me with my problem, as they didn't want to be associated with me.
Out of the many contacts, only one was willing to listen to my problem and offered to help. He was an old guy who worked as a butcher in an area where I grew up, and he was willing to offer a ride to a remote part of town.
I was set on getting back to the Fracture. To do that, we needed to move discreetly. I was already looking at the times the trains passed to see the optimal time to go.
"Why aren't you afraid of me?" Olivia asked as I was browsing through my phone.
"Why should I fear my own daughter?" I answered.
She remained quiet for the rest of the day, silently observing me.
When night came, I put lots of different dresses on her, we put the many spheres into a suitcase, I had to cover her hair under a wig, and I worked tirelessly to find a dress that wouldn't make her figure noticeable.
When we got out of the house, we walked as fast as we possibly could. I had to drag her to follow my pace; we walked through alleyways filled with all kinds of people just to avoid walking on the main streets filled with all sorts of cameras that could've exposed either of our identities.
When we reached the meeting point with Ulbert, the kind butcher, We found him standing on a metal plank, facing his car, completely still.
A few seconds later he collapsed on the ground, blood splattering everywhere as his face was missing.
"It seems you've grown desperate lately. I wonder why." A familiar deep voice said it stood behind both of us.
"Don't worry, I've got everything fixed; I've already taken care of this sticky situation." He assured us.
The presence he had was overwhelming; I had never felt so much demonic energy come out from an individual. Even breathing near such an individual was extremely hard; my body was desperately screaming at me to run away from there as fast as possible.
When I turned around, I had the displeasure of learning that the voice belonged to Kiriam.
I grabbed my daughter and pulled her as far away from him as possible as well as summoning my demonic weapon.
"Still using that thing? It's time you upgraded it… Anyway, don't worry, I'm not here to capture your daughter; I've been sent here to end you. The emperor sends his regards." He said as chains appeared floating around his body.
"Do you know him? What's happening?" My daughter asked me in confusion.
Fuck, this couldn't get any worse; I have no way of escaping that monster… What should I do? I doubt he's ever going to spare me… Fuck, if only…
"Wait, we can talk about this… for old time's sake." I tried to buy some time while my mind was working overtime to find a solution.
I tried to desperately remember something that could've been useful until I remembered a small favor I did for him in the past. Back when his ex died, I had located her partner that had murdered her so that he could at least get his revenge.
"What's there to negotiate? You put me in quite the awkward spot after the stunt you pulled. I'm just here to clean up my name and tie up any loose ends." He said, wrapping his chains around his right arm and deflecting the spears with extreme ease.
"Stand back!" Olivia shouted as she summoned the golden fluid, revealing her golden hair, but he ignored her warnings.
"It hurt when you betrayed me so suddenly, but now I can only feel pity for you. Look at what you've become, for what exactly?" He taunted me as he walked towards me.
The golden liquid rapidly coated his body and hardened but wasn't able to stop him; it shattered as he made his next step forward.
"I'm not going to ask for much." I kept trying to negotiate as I pushed away my daughter from him, hoping he wouldn't recognize the smell of a demon, especially when he was releasing so much of that demonic energy.
"And why should I listen to you?" He asked me.
"You promised me." I reminded him of a promise long gone.
"You're a man of your word; I won't ask you to spare me. I know pleading won't work on you. But at least my kid, she did nothing to deserve this. You promised me, One favor for one favor!"
"What do you mean?" Olivia asked me, confused.
Then, the realization hit her.
"No! Why are you abandoning me again? No, you can't, please!" As she was slowly growing more desperate, so were all of her attacks; they were no longer swift and precise. Her spears were now spinning around while the golden liquid was trying to push Ilay away from us.
While he was thinking of an answer to give, another figure, one much smaller than him, appeared behind us.