Hell's chains
Reflection's Truth led Sakura around the party. If it was a demon then she would say a few words before leading Sakura away. In the cases where it was Exalted it was Sakura's job to deal with them.
This job led her to talk with a pirate who threatened to shoot her after she told him her name, A man who had modified himself so much that Sakura was unable to tell he wasn't a demon without Reflection's Truth telling her and woman who wore black claw-like gauntlets that she was somehow still able to manipulate deftly with.
Reflection's Truth told her that they were some of the eldest still living Infernal Exalted. That worried Sakura slightly as she was sure that each of them had been quite mad.
After that they moved to another section of the party where some Akuma had gathered. Sakura had been told that act of creating an Akuma robbed the person of most of who they were. That was one possiblity for why each of them looked perfectly at home in here when they were meant to be from creation. Maybe they just went native?
The two of them wandered around a bit more talking to some of the Akuma that looked more stable. It was then that Sakura fully understood something. She checked with her coadjutor to make sure.
"Green sun princes are fairly new right?"
"Yes," Her coadjutor gave a quick affirmation "5 years ago, a deal was struck that ensured 50 Exaltations could be created, 10 of each caste."
Sakura nodded before continuing to her coadjutor "Akuma are far older right? I know that the head maid is around seven hundred but I assume it goes back further."
She looked around the party before finishing "I have seen maybe fifty of them at this party. If I assume that they aren't dying in battle then that leads me to think there are Akuma not attending due to their lack of free will. Seeing how few there are here and concidering how long they live, Akuma who lack free will are in the majority correct?"
"Correct."
"It isn't an age thing then," Sakura started "I thought that as they grew older they gained more will. It can't be power either as I would think that there would be more powerful Akuma if the collection has been building for thousands of years."
"It is simply the will of the Yozis" Her coadjutor said simply "If they will a Akuma to be mindless then so shall they be."
"Then why do we Infernal Exalted have free will?" Sakura asked.
Her coadjutor shifted slightly before she answered "According to rumour, you nearly didn't. The Yozi argued about it. Those who voted for free will included The Silent Wind, The Ebon Dragon, Isidoros and Szoreny. Those who voted against were the Endless Desert, Kimbery, Malfeas and She Who Lives In Her Name. Eventually The Ebon Dragon made a speech to Malfeas that made him grudgingly agree with giving free will but it She Who Lives In Her Name is said to still argue about it to this day."
Sakura shuddered and thought about what might have happened to her in the other case. Her Head Maid had told her that the very soul of Akuma were bound so that anything could be ordered of them. All a master had to do was order one of the Akuma to do was 'be loyal to me' and then the very thought of betraying them would be impossible for the Akuma. If she had been bound like that what would she have done to Shirou and Rin? Would she simply have kidnapped Shirou and carried him to Malfeas, killing Rin when she followed?
It was not a pleasant thought.
As the party slowly drew to a close Reflection's Truth spoke to her "One last message from lord Szoreny. He wants you to return to his forest within a few days. Apparently you are ready for the next stage of your training."
Sakura was happy to hear that and so she parted with her Infernal Senpai with a smile.
She returned home and rested for the rest of the day. She lazed around the house and read a few books that were left by the previous owner. Most were not to her taste but her coadjutor said that they were classics from Malfeas.
The fact that most of the books ended with only one living named character was starting to become a theme. It seemed that the people of Malfeas loved tragedies. One of the books for example seemed a bit like Romeo and Juliet except that 'Romeo' tried to assassinate Juliet during act two and after Juliet killed him in return she proceed to woo and kill most other named characters.
She would be ready as when she woke up she would be going to Szoreny. With this part of her training complete she might finally be able to control herself better.
Within her soul she could feel the torment of Kimbery building. It had grown when she had talked to Sigereth earlier so now it was a waiting game. Could she train herself to resist it before it erupted again?
End of chapter.
A bit short but I had no real drive while writing this chapter.
