The terrible being in front of me vanishes in a burst of light. The battle has taken its toll on me and my units, and I am exhausted.
Nevertheless, I have claimed victory.
"WHAT?! How could you–" says a shocked Noel, clearly disappointed that the magnum opus of his trial units was defeated. "Oh well... Congratulations. You managed to... beat Maxwell Resurrected," he says, and sighs sadly. "I guess it's back to the drawing board for me... In the meantime, consider Maxwell Resurrected yours. It's not useful to me anymore..."
After reviving my fainted comrades, I thank Noel and leave the Summoners' Research Lab. The trial has taken many hours, and the sun is beginning to set. My units go their own ways to enjoy their evening of victory however they may, while I make my way back to our base, in dire need of some rest.
I remove my sweaty armor and return to my bedroom. As I open the door, I am shocked to see someone already there.
"Oh, if it isn't the Summoner who killed me twice..."
Standing in my room is Maxwell Resurrected– thankfully minus the incomprehensible amalgamation of golden machinery and other objects, but still the last person I'd have expected to see.
"Hey, what are you doing in my room?" I ask.
"Is it bad for me to want to meet my Summoner?" the god...dess... replies with a smile. I really can't tell how to refer to it. Its long, flowing white hair tipped with a dark bloody-looking red, its slender face and smooth skin, the lack of (I glance momentarily) any chest worth speaking of– nothing about its body is distinctly male or female. Its voice sounds female, though, so I decide on 'her' for now.
"No, of course not. Though you could've waited in the main room rather than my bedroom..."
"But it's more comfortable in here." Maxwell sits down on the bed, and gestures for me to sit next to her. I do so, a bit tentatively. "Anyway, I wanna talk to you about some things."
"Okay..." I first ask, rather predictably, what happened to her after the battle at St. Lamia.
"I died, of course." Rather blunt for a god.
"What happened afterward, though? How did you... you know..."
"Come back?" Maxwell interjects. "Well, when something like me is killed permanently, it goes to..." She pauses, thinking of what to say. "...You might call it 'limbo'. Although that's not entirely accurate, because that implies it can be described in language. Like... it doesn't exist, but it doesn't not exist either."
I take a moment to wrap my head around what the god said. I am unsuccessful.
Maxwell chuckles in amusement. "Nice and confused now? Good. You've taken your first step on the path to understanding me. Just nine billion, nine hundred and ninety-nine million, nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine left– give or take a couple thousand lightyears."
I am being messed with, I think to myself. Her voice carries the unmistakable tone of someone who has the power to do anything they want, but is so casual about their power that their mere presence reminds me of my inferiority. ...Come to think of it, this is the first time I've ever heard a voice like that. I've probably been thinking too hard.
"So what happened next?" I ask after gathering my thoughts.
"It is possible for a dead god to return, but only if someone in Grand Gaia wants it to. And lucky for me, there was a sweet little boy with some not-so-sweet ambitions who wanted to create the strongest unit ever."
"Noel, right?" Things are making a little more sense now.
"Yepsies. So he recreated me, I dunno how, and named me Maxwell Resurrected. That's first name Maxwell, last name Resurrected. So, say you decided to marry me–" (she suddenly puts an arm over my shoulder) "–people would call you Mr. Resurrected."
Even though she's obviously joking, I shiver at the thought of marrying this... incomprehensible entity. Not to mention the unexpected touch– Please don't do that... –until she draws her hand away again. The thought of it lingers in my mind... No, I think. It means nothing. She's the evil creator-god-gone-wrong who wants to destroy all humans... right?
"I just thought of something," I remark. "You were set on world destruction..."
"And you know it."
"You're evil and destructive...?"
"Totally."
"Then why didn't you... unleash your wrath upon us humans when you were resurrected?"
Maxwell yawns and pulls herself over to lie on one side of the bed, taking a moment to collect her thoughts. I look at her, and think to myself as well. Should I...? She looks at me at that moment, her normally unsettling yellow-and-black eyes carrying an almost reassuring look, as if she knew what I had been thinking. Carefully, I settle down next to her, a bit closer than I had intended. I realize this, and I try to move away, but I can't bring myself to. I had thought an eldritch horror like her would be cold to the touch, but no… she feels warm. Something stirs inside me at her touch; a strange feeling… It's comforting, although I don't quite understand. I begin to lose myself in Maxwell's warmth...
"...so I thought about what had happened, and I decided I could play the villain and fight the good guys without actually trying to hunt humans to extinction. And little Noel gave me exactly that chance when he resurrected me for his trial, so I thought I might as well go along with it."
I hadn't even noticed that Maxwell had begun answering my question until she was halfway through. I suddenly feel my cheeks burning from embarrassment. "Wh-wha–! ...Sorry, I didn't c-catch that first part..." I stammer.
"Haha, okay," Maxwell laughs, and continues: "When I first started out, I was seriously out to kill all humans. But it was only after I had spent all that time in purgatory– or rather not, 'cause time doesn't exist there– that I realized, as I had gone along, destroying the human race didn't matter to me anymore. The truth is..."
The god turns and looks me in the eyes.
"...I was having too damn much fun."
"What do you mean by that...?" I ask, a hint of nervousness in my voice.
"I mean, I loved just being evil. It felt so fulfilling, fighting against you 'good guys'. But hurting innocent others was no fun." Certainly unexpected...
"So even though you could've destroyed us all at any time... you didn't, because...?"
Maxwell's face is awfully close. I can't seem to look away from her demonic eyes. A twinge of fear flickers through me.
"Because you mean too much to me," she whispers.
My heart skips a beat.
Her lips brush against mine.
My mind turns to fire.
A few seconds pass before Maxwell and I draw apart. There is a shade of red in her cheeks. I don't know what made me do that; I shouldn't have… but it felt wonderful, and I can tell that she felt the same way...
"Maxwell... I..." She looks at me expectantly. Just say it, I tell myself. "I..."
"...dunnoifitwouldbeentirelysociallyacceptableformygirlfriendtobeoneofmyunitsnevermindaFallenGod," I interject awkwardly at the last minute, my cheeks burning up. Maxwell looks a bit disappointed at my lack of enthusiasm. "I mean, a Summoner and a Fallen God? That's like... I dunno, a cat and a dog."
"Well, you know they say opposites attract. And nobody ever said we had to flaunt it, did they?"
"Good point," I reply. "Let's just– handle this carefully, you know?"
Maxwell smiles at me, and gets up off the bed. As she opens the door, I remember something. "Wait!"
"Hm?"
"You said you liked being evil, but you didn't like hurting innocent people. Since hurting innocent people is what being evil is, that means you're not really evil, right?"
"Maaaaaaybe it does. Good night~" She winks at me and leaves without saying another word. Somehow, I have a feeling this is going to set the tone for our relationship from now on... With a smile of happiness and ironic uneasiness, I let myself fall into sleep.
Well, my hentai oneshot has turned into the start of something bigger, as always. I originally wrote this in second-person as a Reader X Character thing, since the Summoner is technically you– yes, all of you who are reading this and fantasizing about being in this situation– and so I wouldn't have to pick a name for the Summoner and thus be placed firmly in self-insert shame land. But then I realized second-person wasn't ALLOWED on this site, so I had to awkwardly change it to first-person present tense. At least I think it's kinda awkward... so I want your feedback: Should I change it to third-person for future chapters? Or is it okay in first-person, and I'm just worrying too much? Or is there something else I'm missing, or that I should change? Please review and tell me how I'm doing! (^_^;)