Unmei Force Shattered Heroes: Shadowed Tragedy
Chapter 4: Law of Robotics.
Near the village…
The group were laying around the cabin, as Kaine and Momiji decided to spar with each other, considering that the white-haired woman was curious about Momiji's full capabilities. The two of them were clashing with each other, as Momiji used her shield and sword well to defend against Kaine's twin blades.
"You ain't too bad, you know?" Kaine remarked, as she went for a series of rapid slashes that Momiji blocked by skillful moving her shield around to block the blades. "I suppose that you make for as good of company as Nier and Emil do."
"Thank you for your compliment, but I suggest that you focus on the fight." Momiji calmly stated, as she used a shield bash to knock Kaine off-guard for a moment, as she hit her several times with her weapons, as she intentionally moved her blade to leave a few nicks on her clothing and flesh. "You shouldn't rush down your enemy like that, not all Shades are simple-minded enough to not know how to fight and harm a opponent of your style."
"Tch… Fucking hell." Kaine cursed, as she withdrew her blades, having lost the spar, while Elma moved to heal her. "Alright, I get your point, try not to focus too narrowly on killing my enemy, pay more attention of what is around me. Is that what you have to teach me with that spar?"
"That is correct, but that's just the start of it." Momiji responded back, as she sheathed her blade and shield. "Championing hatred is not something that a proper warrior does. It has the tendency to cloud one's judgement if they are too deep in their own dark emotions."
"And what do you know of it?" Kaine asked back, with a sharp tone indicating her aggression on the topic.
Momiji eyed Richard, who was smiling with Emil, as they were making magical bubbles together, as she recalled a wrathful visage on Richard's face, over his currently peaceful one.
"...A lot about it." Momiji stated. "I do not know why your heart is so filled with hatred, but you shouldn't embrace it fully. Leave a part of your heart, for the better."
"...You don't get it, it's not like that at all…" Kaine answered back. "...Thanks for the tip, but you don't know how to help me… No one does."
Before Momiji could continue the conversation, Nier appeared, as he held another letter in his hands, as Gus walked over to greet him.
"Nier… Have we got any new news about the key fragments?" Gus responded back.
"So it would seem. I have a letter from someone I know, and recently met after we left the desert." Nier explained. "He said that the weapon I have ordered to be upgraded, has been completed. He wants me to pick it up, as well as discuss a personal request for me. Since it's in the Junk Heap… I have a feeling that it might lead us to the next key fragment, the 'Law of Robotics', if I remember."
"Alright, when should we depart then?" Gus asked back.
"Right now, if possible." Nier stated.
The rest of the group immediately understood, as they grabbed theri gear, before following Nier to the Junk Heap, travelling by foot, scaling up and down a few cliffs, and onto a wooden bridge that lead them to the Junk Heap, whose environment fitted its name: as the entire area was filled with rusted metal buildings and heaps of scrapped metal parts.
They soon walked through the area, before they found a small building, and entered it, finding themselves in a small metallic room, almost similar to a customer service room, and behind a rusted service desk, was a young man with dark-red hair and black eyes, dressed in worn leather clothing.
"Hey there. Your weapon is ready to go." The man stated to Nier, before entering one of the rooms, and bringing out a refined version of the broadsword that Nier had.
"Great, thanks." Nier answered back, taking the blade.
"So that's where your weapon went." Corrin stated. "I did wonder where it could have gone after our trip into the desert."
"Yeah, had to get some upgrades in order to deal with stronger Shades later down the road." Nier responded back.
The man then looked towards the group for a moment. "...If you could excuse us, I would like to ask if I could speak with Nier alone." He asked politely.
"No worries. We won't eavesdrop on personal matters." Richard answered back, as the group left the room, as they waited for Nier to come out.
After a while, Nier left the building. "His request is for us to take out the Shade and the robot accompanying it in the mountains." He declared to the group.
"Oh. Well, I suppose that it must be a real monster to have asked us for that help, hasn't it?" Link asked, as Richard's and Sanae's expressions drooped on those words.
The group went towards the mountain factory, as they entered the building and slowly traversed, clearing room after room, filled with corridors that had working pipes inside, the sound of whirring machinery and hissing steam heard around them, as they reached a elevator, and entered it.
"Say, mind if you tell me a bit about the guy you met?" Elma asked, with genuine curositiy about the man earlier.
"Oh, that's Gideon." Nier explained. "He and Jacob live there, without any parents. That was about five years ago. His brother did most of the work of forging my weapons, and we got to know a bit about each other. Unfortunately… he lost his brother a few years ago, and that resulted in a hatred for robots in general."
"That's terrible to hear…" Elma answered with sadness in his voice.
"I suppose that this will work to both of our wishes… The Junk Heap will be safer with that Shade gone, and the rampaging robot that it was using." Nier stated, as the elevator doors opened, allowing them to advance through the lower floor of the factory.
They fought their way through stationary turrets that fired the same magical bullets as the Shades did, and various forms and shapes of robots, even using a pair of mine-carts to travel across a transport rail across one of the areas, as they used their magic and ranged weaponry to take out any stationary turrets that popped out to fire at them.
Eventually, they managed to reach the central reactor room of the factory, as they rushed around the stairs built along the edges of the circular room, cutting down robot drones in their way.
"I've never heard of a Shade living with a machine. What's that about?" Emil asked the group.
"Don't know, don't care. All that matters is that we kill them both, like I said before." Nier answered back stiffly.
They soon reached another elevator, which took them to the first floor of the factory, as there was a hole in the next room over, which seemed to have a circular hole that led to a room below.
"It seems we have found the entrance to our robot friend's hideout." Grimoire Weiss stated.
"Right, let's head down." Nier declared, walking towards the hole.
"Are you mad? We've no idea what lies below!" Grimoire Weiss exclaimed with disbelief.
"Beats going the long way around. Come on." Nier declared, as he jumped down the hole.
"You heard him, we're going down after him." Momiji stated, as she was the next to jump down without any fear or hesitation.
One by one, the group jumped down, or floated down in Emil's case, the hole, finding themsleves on a circular platform, as there was a large bipedal robot before them, with a rusted blue paint-job, steel-beam legs, protruded eyes, and a short cylindrical head, that had a platform for the child-sized Shade on top of it, and the word 'P-33' marked in yellow on its body.
"That's the robot? It seems… a little outdated." Link remarked.
"Don't underestimate it." Gus stated, as the robot turned its head towards the group with a clunking sound. "...Here it comes!"
"Look, Beepy! Over there!" The Shade on top of the head stated with a boy's voice, as they caused Kaine, and Richard's group pause.
"...Huh?" Virion remarked. "My word, that Shade is-"
Before Virion could finish, the robot slowly moved into upright standing position, with the sound of thrumming motors, as its body turned around to face the group. Suddenly, the robot's eyes flashed with yellow lights. Suddenly, its claw-like hands retracted to reveal vulcan cannons.
"INTRUDER DETECTED. SCANNING. SCANNING." The robot spoke with a mechanical male voice, stiffly raising its arms, before spinning it them around, and firing them into the ceiling in a show of intimidation. "EXTERMINATING!"
The robot then lowered its arms, and prepared for battle, as the rest of the group followed suit.
"Looks like we found them." Nier declared.
"Do it, Beepy! Beat them good!" The Shade child cheered for the robot, as it attacked the group, stomping down on the ground, and creating streams of electricity that surged towards the group across the platform.
"Look at the Shade!" Kaine exclaimed.
"That thing is commanding the robot somehow!" Grimoire Weiss noted.
"Aim for the legs! Knock it down!" Emil advised everyone.
"Easier said than done!" Sanae exclaimed back, as she managed to dodge a arm swipe from the robot by floating back a little, as the group attacked the robot, as Richard created a earth ball that slammed against its legs, with little effect, before Gus slammed his blade several times on the targeted part, doing some visible damage, before Nier followed up with a few lances across the body that shook it and the Shade riding it.
"EXTERMINATING… ING… ING… ING…" The robot spoke, as its voice glitched a few times.
"Beepy, wait! That's enough!" The Shade child cried in horror, realising how powerful the group is. "You're gonna be destroyed if you keep fighting!"
"MUST… DEFEND… MY… MISSION…" The robot declared back, before it was rocked by Kaine's rapid blows, and Momiji's rising slash, damaging it even more.
"NO! I can't live without you!" The Shade child cried in sorrow. "I don't wanna be alone again!"
"Stop… Stop please….!" Elma cried, as her hands were shaking, at the fact that her group were murdering a child, Shade it may be.
"No, damnit! That's a Shade… It's a Shade!" Kaine denied strongly, perturbed by the Shade child's words.
"Kah hah hah hah hah! Kill him! KILL HIM! Feel the hate inside you!" The male voice from Kaine declared.
The robot then began to fire magic bullets at the group, as they were dispersed by the group's own magical projectiles, before Nier landed a powerful strike that caused it to lower down.
Suddenly, pieces of metal began to rise around the platform, orbiting around it, before they hurtled towards the robot, forming makeshift metal wings, with electricity sparking among the fused pieces of metal.
"EXTERMINATING… ING… ING… ING… ING…" The robot declared again, as it rose back up
"This thing can transform!?" Nier exclaimed with disbelief. "Damnit, keep hitting it!"
The group immediately engaged the machine, as Elma backed down, too emotionally hurt to do so. The robot's wings were damaged by the attack, but they still managed to get it into the air, as it hurtled up and struck the ceiling, as debris fell towards the platform.
"Watchg for falling debris!" Grimoire Weiss warned the group.
"Look out!" Kaine shouted, as the group dodged falling metal panel and beams.
"Beepy! What are you doing?" The Shade child exclaimed at his robot's actions.
"ESCAPE… ESCAPE… ESCAPE.. ESCAPE…" The robot repeated. "GO… SEE THE WORLD-LD-LD."
"Wait! No! You can stop now! You've done enough!" The Shade child pleaded with sadness in his voice.
"MUST PROTECT… MUST FIGHT…" The robot declared, as it flew down, as it stomped the ground several times, creating a shockwave of thunder across most of the platform with each stomp, before it then flew towards the edge of the platform.
"Where do you think you're going!?" Nier exclaimed, as he fired a few magic blasts at it,although it did little effect.
The robot then swept across the platform with its body, hoping to ram the group off the platform, before it then hit the ceiling again, causing more debris to fall towards the platform.
"STOP! Beepy's my best friend in the whole world! Stop hurting him!" The Shade child shouted.
"ERROR-R-R-R-R…" The robot's voice glitched out with static in it, as it began to fall down, as it losing power, before it then exploded, with fire across the wings, as the metallic pieces blew apart, causing the robot to collapse on the ground, and knock the child Shade into the ground.
When the Shade child saw the group, he immediately backed away, creating clones of him with each leap.
"Stay away! STAY AWAY! MOM! BEEPY! HELP ME! SOMEBODY!" The Shade child screamed with pure fear, as Nier slowly cut through the multiplying clones, and then cutting down the Shade child. "AAAAAHHH!"
Nier then turned towards the robot, before he then covered his body with magic, hurtling towards it, before then jumping up and striking down the robot with a powerful falling strike, taht cut through the robot, causing it to explode, with spark and fire spitting everywhere from the critically damaged frame of the robotic being.
It then fell onto the ground, only to try to rise up with its arms, with loud creaking noises.
"MUST… DEFEND… MY… MISSION…" The robot spoke, as its voice was becoming more and more staticky, as it lost power. "MUST… DEFEND… MY… MISSIONNNNnnnnn…"
The robot then fell down, as the downed Shade child looked down towards the robot with a turn of his head.
"Beepy… I'm sorry… I'm not strong enough…" The Shade child wept weakly. "I… I wanted… to be with you… forever…"
Suddenly, the Shade child faded away in a burst of black smoke.
"KALIL… TOGETHER…" The robot spoke, as what little reserve power it had, allowed it to speak and function for a little longer. "BEEPY ALONE… BEEPY… CRY…? DOES NOT COMPUTEeee…."
Suddenly, the door to the room opened, as Gideon was seen behind, as the group turned around to see it, except for Elma, who collapsed on the ground, her eyes completely unfocused, and her breathing erratic, as she had one hand to her chest.
"You…" Grimoire Weiss stated.
Suddenly, Gideon took off in a sprint, holding a metal wrench in his hand, with a insanely livid expression on his face, heading towards the unresponsive robot.
"You stupid machine! You killed my family! You took everything from me!" Gideon screamed with unrestrained rage, as he slammed his wrench into the head of the robot, leaving heavy dents on it with each swing. "Why did you have to be here!? Why you!? WHY!?"
"Kah hah hah hah! Beautiful! What a perfect example of humanity!" The male voice from Kaine resounded again, as Elma clenched her head and ears with each swing, as her breathing staggered furthered, and her expression turned into one of increasingly more fear and sorrow.
"Hey, come on. That's enough." Nier told Gideon firmly.
"Ah ha ha ha! I did it! Now that this goddamn thing is dead. I can forage wherever I want!" Gideon cackled insanely. "Just wait, you goddamn freak! Now I can make all KINDS of powerful weapons! Just leave it to me! Leave it all to me! HAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Look, we get it, okay…? Really…?" Nier stated, although Gideon wasn't listening to him.
Richard was silent, as he walked over and picked up the stone fragment that the Shade child dropped, muttering a silent prayer for the child. As for Emil, he walked over towards the unresponsive girl.
"Elma… are you alright?" Emil asked, only to receive no response from her. "Elma… It's okay, we're safe now. That man won't hurt us anymore. Just… let me-"
Emil reached forward to touch Elma's shoulder, only for Elma to snap, as she grabbed the rod, and slammed the end of it into Emil with a disturbed cry, knocking the skeletal child back, although not harming him much physically, although mentally, he was hurt from what Elma did.
As for Elma herself, her wide eyes were filled with fear and paranoia, as the tip of her rod glowed ominously, as if she had a spell stored. Her reaction earlier drew the attention of everyone, except for Gideon who was in his own world, continuing to beat the deactivated robot.
"Elma! What's wrong-" Kaine exclaimed.
"Stay away from me!" Elma screamed with both anger and horror, as her tone surprised everyone, especially Richard. "Stay away, stay away, stay away! Don't come near me! Get that… that monster away from me!"
"Elma, calm down, please." Gus pleaded with a calm tone. "What's wrong, you look like as if-"
"Nier killed him! He killed that child!" Elma exclaimed with a delirious tone. "That child pleaded for us to stop, and he was so deathly afraid of Nier… All that robot wanted to do is to protect that child, and you murdered him in cold blood! How could you, HOW COULD YOU!"
"He was a Shade-" Nier tried to explain.
"HE WAS STILL A CHILD! ALONE AND SCARED!" Elma screamed back with anger, before her fear returned. "...You're going to kill me, aren't you… Just like the Shades who wanted to be away from you… You're going to kill me because I'm not human like you… Why is Richard helping you… You're worse than a demon, you're a true monster, Nier! You don't care for any of us!"
"Elma…" Richard remarked, as there was a torn expression on his face.
Elma then broke down into terrified sobbing, as she sprinted out of the room, as the group didn't follow after her, Richard's group worried about what she might do if she was provoked, and Nier's group, because they were too stunned to move at all.
'Goddamn it all, fuck… FUCK AND DOUBLE FUCKING HELL!' Richard internally cursed. 'Good fucking going, Richard, you just traumatised an Demon Overlord by letting Nier kill a gods-damned child who is alone and scared right in front of her! If Zeabolos is here, it's going to be my head on a literal pike, in more ways than one!'
"...Elma… What happened to make you snap like this… Even in that other world, you were still…" Corrin stated.
Nier was left speechless by what just happened. As much as he wanted to enforce the fact that the Shades were all monsters onto her, he was more worried about the fact that his actions distanced her from him, out of fear and paranoia. He let out a deep sigh.
"Let's head out… and talk about this." Nier remarked to the group with a depressed tone.
The group reluctantly did so, although Corrin and Link were giving Nier death-glares on the back of his head. Eventually, they were out of the factory.
Before Grimoire Weiss could speak, Richard fixed him a death-glare that made the sentinel grimoire feel fear, even though he was not entirely in touch with his emotions.
"Not a word, Grimoire Weiss, or you get a time-out in the void, NOT. A. WORD." Richard growled threateningly, as Grimoire Weiss wisely complied.
"What… What just happened back there?" Nier asked. "Why is she so angry and terrified of me, Richard? She didn't react like this at all back before."
"...Urgh… I suppose it's the fact that you killed a child in front of her." Richard stated back, speaking a technical truth, to avoid divulging the actual facts. "Shade equates to being non-human, and so you can see where she got her fear elevated when you cut that Shade child down."
"But still... that Shade was trying to kill us with that robot." Nier argued, as everyone in Richard's group glared at him in response, aware of the actual truth through understanding the Shade's words.
"...I don't think it's like that." Richard stated. "From what I can reason, that Shade was actually more scared of us, rather than actually hostile. I think that the robot is the one doing the actual fighting. It acted on some protection directive. 'Must protect the mission' was repeated several times, and it stated that it wanted to 'see the world'. Hell, when it was on its last legs, it mentioned 'Kalil', then about it being alone… We did know that the robot and shade was together."
Nier could only remain silent, as Richard put a hand under his chin.
"...Come to think of it, it reminds me of a story I heard about… And not a pretty one at that." Richard grimaced.
"What kind of story is that?" Kaine asked back.
"...It's the story of a young spirit boy, and his guardian god." Richard answered back. "The story begins with that spirit and his mother. They were the last remaining members of their tribe, their kin being slaughtered by countless monsters and humans. The spirit and his mother fled their village, trying to escape from their pursuer. They managed to find refuge in a small temple, where a stone guardian god slumbered within. The pursuers, a band of bloodthirsty men, who sought to slay the race for a bounty. The mother hid the child spirit in a place where they couldn't find him. In turn, she was found and slain, orphaning the young spirit. He broke down, when he realised that his mother was gone, enough to arouse the guardian god awake."
Richard then looked out. "The guardian god found the child, who was sobbing miserably. He demanded that the child leave, or else he would be cut down where he stood, as a trespasser of sacred grounds. However, the child refused. He stated, with tears from his eyes, that he has nowhere to go to. He begged and pleaded with the guardian god to let him live. Touched by the genuine misery of the spirit, and his pure intentions, the guardian god softened in expression and tone, and told him that he too is aware of the misery of having no-one to be his companion. All of his followers were long dead, and he only lived through physical manifestation. Should he be destroyed, the guardian god would be no more. He swore to the young spirit, that he would be his guardian, so long as the spirit would be his sole follower. With a divine oath, spirit and god were bonded as one pair."
"As time passed, the guardian god kept to his oath, protecting the child spirit from anything that sought it harm. However, the guardian god was incapable of understanding the meaning of collateral. His attacks decimated all those nearby, and this resulted in the death of a young human boy, who was the younger brother of another young boy, who grew up with an intense hatred for the guardian god. The spirit realised what had happened, and scolded the guardian god, who killed an innocent person. However, it was quickly forgotten in the flow of time… unlike that human boy's hatred."
"As time passed, god and spirit bonded with each other so well that the Guardian God was content with living with just the boy spirit. The boy spirit taught the god about the world around them, and both of them promised that when the time came, they would go beyond this land and see the entire world together. However, their wish would never be fulfilled… For the boy whose brother was lost… grew up to become an official. He put a bounty for anyone who could slay the guardian god who wronged him."
"Many refused to do so, knowing how powerful a guardian god is, even when they have lost most of their divinity. However, there was a powerful exorcist who caught ear of it. When he heard from rumour that there was a spirit that lived with the guardian god, he moved over to meet with that official. It turned out that the exorcist was from a clan that existed to purge evil creatures from the land. And the spirit's clan was one of them. The exorcist set on the journey to find where the god and spirit lived."
"A great battle ensued. The guardian god, realising that the exorcist intended to slay his only friend, fought with the might of mountains and crushing power over the earth. However, the exorcist was the pinnacle of his own generation, who easily overcame the guardian god and laid him low. The exorcist found the terrified spirit, who tried to flee, and purified him out of existence. Crushed with grief and despair, the god died as well, as the shell of his body remained on the mortal plane. The official, who followed the exorcist to watch the entire sequence of events, was consumed with insane glee at the death of the guardian god, so much that he used a hammer to smash the god's corpse into pebbles. And then the exorcist left, unaware that he had slain a child with hopeful dreams and a guardian god who only wanted to have someone by his side. And thus… a hopeful dream lies shattered, never to be reformed."
Nier was left awe-struck by the tale, as well as Emil, although Kaine realised the truth behind the tale, as she turned away with a conflicted expression.
"That's… a horrible ending!" Emil exclaimed with outrage.
"Not all stories and tales end in happiness and resolution, Emil." Richard declared. "Especially in reality, as you have seen many times before. This tale is meant to be a harsh allegory told by strict people to those who are dim-witted or naive, the lesson being that the world is not as idealistic as most other tales tell it, that one must understand that harm requires not any properly directed motive towards the victim to be justified."
"...How does this tale relate to that Shade and the robot?" Nier asked, knowing that he might not take this answer well.
"...I can see that the robot acted much like the guardian god in the tale… If they are mostly similar, then the Shade child…" Richard theorised.
"No, absolutely not. I refuse to believe that a Shade could possibly be anything but a monster which desires our extinction. You have seen countless pieces of proof that either they are mindless beasts, or creatures that have malicious intents towards us." Nier strongly declared.
"And yet the Shade refused to fight, instead trying to fool us to flee. It looked like it was far more scared than what any human could be of it." Richard retorted back. "That is why Elma snapped… because she has an idealistic view, that innocent lives should be spared, especially those of the children, who have little control over their fates and no sins to be judged for."
"...I… I just can't…" Nier remarked, as his stubborn view of Shades, began to crack, hearing Elma's words earlier, about calling him a true monster. "...I cannot think about it like that, Richard. Just… please don't let Elma do something reckless. We can at least agree that MOST of the Shades we have encountered are feral beasts, right?"
"...I'm not saying that you have to change your view on them, and embrace them as if they are the second coming of perfected humanity. Just… don't murder every Shade just because they exist. Think about what it is like on the other side first. At least show some sympathy for the Shades who want to live a life away from humanity, one of their own." Richard answered back, before he turned to leave. "Remember… hatred and madness will never heal a wounded heart, it only aggravates the wounds and makes them fester, and revenge is a fool's errand, if you only create more desire for revenge from those you cut down in your way."
Richard then left the area through a sukima, surprising Grimoire Weiss, Nier, Emil and Kaine, who saw this for the first time.
"Woah… did he just… teleport away?" Emil remarked.
"I cannot say for sure, his brand of magic is a far different make than the one we use." Grimoire Weiss stated. "'I can agree with his statement on revenge and hatred… It seems that he read my mind, figuratively. But the rest… Bah, I doubt he truly knows how vile Shades can get."
"I would like to ask that you don't badmouth our leader in our vicinity." Virion warned Grimoire Weiss with a glare. "I ask that you believe me when I say this: He knows the existence of beings far worse than what these Shades could be, real monsters who exist only to bring about suffering and misery in the most prolonged way possible. I doubt that you would be able to withstand their existence, if they existed here."
"Hm… I guess." Nier sighed, still thinking about what Richard and Elma said.
On the cliffside nearby the village..
Richard stepped out of the sukima, as he found that Elma was sitting on the edge of it, with her arms crossed over her knees, as her staff lied beside her. She heard Richard's footsteps approaching, although she didn't react, as she was far too deep in her own sorrow to even care.
"Hey… Elma… Look, about what happened back there… I'm sorry, I'm truly sorry that I had to let you see such a messed up scene." Richard admitted. "...Actually, screw that, I should have never taken you to this world, if I had actually put some thought into the repercussions."
Elma didn't respond back, as Richard bitterly chuckled. "Get a healer to take care of us… What an absolute joke. None of the beings here are capable of harming us that severely. And we could have used the curatives manufactured down there to restore ourselves… But like a conceited idiot, who only sees the world as a realistic game with game conventions, I brought you here as an insurance for our lives. I treated you like a damn tool, and I have to face the consequences of it." He stated with self-loathing in his voice.
Yet again, Elma didn't respond, not even a twitch from her, which made Richard sigh deeply.
"...Elma, I will say this with all the honesty that I can scrounge up in this diseased soul of mine." Richard declared firmly. "You can hate me all you like for this and everything else up to this point. I fully deserve it for putting your feelings with such little value in my eyes. I already feel bad that I had to play a liar to ensure that feelings wouldn't be hurt, but who am I kidding? I'm a failure at being empathetic at the most opportune of times. If Jexi and the others saw this… Heh… I suppose that they would look at me with such disgust and vitriol. I'm not like them… I can't act like I can do the best for everyone, and please everyone with charisma, empathy and understanding. I lost that ability a long time ago… because I'm stained human at the end of the day. I'm selfish, I'm cruel, I'm manipulative… Hell, I don't see a difference between a card-carrying villain than me right now. Heroism and villainy is figurative to each perspective… but even I know that the majority will see me as a villain."
Elma slowly raised her eyes towards Richard, as they were raw from the crying she had done, as Richard continued, with a grieved look in his eyes.
"You know, I envy everyone else in this team. At least they're fully true to themselves, even the enigmatic and manipulative ones." Richard admitted with a grim smile on his face. "At least they don't have to act in ways that they would surely hate. They have a choice in doing so, and they wisely walk away from the path that I tread… Even Yun is a better person, and he baited me by acting villain just for me to kill him. It hurts me to act like that I'm an uncaring bastard who will achieve the best outcome in my eyes through cold and cruel logic, but that's a part of me that I cannot tear away from. I'm fine with being hated, shunned, cursed, and every derogatory verb directed at me. After all of this pain that I went through… I'm so used to it that it hurts me inside when I'm given the cold-shoulder, especially when it comes at the expense of others. Seeing someone I consider a close friend, who refuses to hate me, just because they believe in the better of me, even though I hurt them so much, it has become the most painful thing I could ever feel. Physical pain doesn't last long, but emotional pain… that lingers for the end of your life, eternity in my case. So please, speak up… You can talk to me, no matter what tone you take with me, I will listen as your trusted friend."
Elma let out a few stifled sniffs, before she then turned to Richard, with her hands off her legs.
"Richard… I know that you hurt me so much with what happened… But I also know that I would have to deal with such feelings eventually." Elma answered back. "I never felt so angry at someone before, and I understand why Dear Brother coddled me so well, so that this feeling would be something I never would have to experience."
"Elma… It's okay. You can let it all out." Richard stated back with a calm tone.
"I already did. I cried and screamed for so long that I didn't know whether my eyes run dry or my throat was so broken that I couldn't even speak for so long." Elma admitted. "But after all of that, I feel much better, as if I released something from my heart. Perhaps it was better for me to find something I could be truly angry of, and let my repressed feelings flow. But that doesn't mean that I should snap like that ever again."
"Elma…" Richard remarked, with a touched expression.
"I can't forgive you for this, Richard… not now. I'm so very angry with you, but I know that you still cared for me, and that Nier is just misunderstood." Elma stated. "But eventually, I will be able to come to terms with what happened. Perhaps it's better that I accept that sometimes, being kind and selfless isn't the best for everyone. So, I'll endure all of this, so that I can help bring about everyone's happiness."
"Elma… I'm so moved to hear such things from you…" Richard stated. "But.. I can't let you go into all of this again. Until we reach the Shadowlord's Castle… You have to remain behind. It's better for you this way… The fact that we never ended up in danger, means that you won't have to put yourself in danger, both physically and mentally for us. I put my foot down… for myself mostly, and for you."
"...I understand. Just please… help Nier change for the better." Elma nodded back.
"...I promise. In fact, let's make it a pinky promise." Richard answered back, raising a pinky. "That way, it means that I have to absolutely abide it, no matter what."
Elma looked at the raised pinky for a moment, torn about what she was going to do, before she raised her own pinky, as they wrapped around each other.
"This is our pinky promise, between you and me." Richard smiled back. "If I break it, then I will cross the Sanzu River, and kowtow to the Enma a million times."
After the promise was made, they separated their fingers. "Now… do you feel much better?" Richard asked.
"...I do." Elma smiled back, as her visage was fairly heart-warming.
"Then let's head back. Our friends are waiting for us." Richard stated, as he opened a sukima for them both.
They soon entered the sukima, prepared for what is to come next.