I'm back guys! Jsyk my new chapter release times are Sundays at 2000 PST (8:00pm PST). I just released this one cuz I wanted to! Enjoy!

Book V: Uzuki

Chapter XLI

"And so that's what we did for month after month," Acacia continued telling us. "We robbed and swindled and pickpocketed and fought just for the hope to see our mom."

"Did you ever meet her?" Kasandra asked, obviously already sad.

Acacia shook her head before continuing. "We... found out the truth, and from that moment on, our lives were changed."

...

"I want to see her NOW!" Acacia demanded, no longer taking "no" for an answer.

Her father looked extremely angry before he stood up straight. He was much taller and more muscular than she was, and Ardanians weren't small people, he was very intimidating. Acacia was just a small child, however she was done playing this game.

"What did you say to me?" he asked in a threatening tone.

Acacia didn't waiver, she already didn't care whether she lived or died, she just wanted to see her mom. "I said, 'I. Want. To. See. Her. Right now.'"

"What makes you think I should grant you that privilege?" he glared, his rage very obvious.

"VI HASN'T EVEN MET HER! I barely even remember her... I'm not playing around anymore! I'm twelve now, I want to see her!"

Violet was standing away from him, cowering behind her older sister.

Her father was obviously pissed. "You still owe me six hundred thousand girl, you'll have to wait."

"You're telling me we've stolen four hundred thousand g from innocents and we STILL 'owe' you? You've never even fed us! I had to steal even more just to take care of Violet!" Acacia yelled back.

"Acacia, it's ok, we just need to work harder!" Violet jutted in. "I don't want to fight anymore..."

"Better listen to your sister girl," her father said.

Acacia sighed. "I didn't want to have to do this, but you left me no choice."

Acacia pulled a revolver she had stolen from under her dress and cocked it, pointing it at him.

He immediately stopped and put his hands up.

"Unlock and open the door, and move, NOW," she said, very calmly.

"You slimy ungrateful runt! You dare pull a gun on your own flesh and blood?!" he argued.

"Acacia stop!" Violet squealed.

Acacia didn't waiver. "Violet, stay behind me, and cover your ears," she turned to him. "You heard me, move."

He eventually caved in and opened the door, moving out of the way.

Acknowledging his movements, she kept her gun trained on him. "Vi, move now."

Violet, on the verge of crying, nodded and moved into the room.

"You've made a huge mistake deary," the man said.

Acacia carefully followed Violet into the room. "We'll see."

Violet and Acacia went into the room, however they were both met with horror as the room was completely empty.

"I- I don't understand... She's supposed to be here, isn't she?" Violet asked, crying for real now. "Maybe she's in the bathroom."

"No... she wasn't here to begin with...," Acacia said, already putting the pieces together.

The gun was ripped out of her hands as her father laughed. She'd let her guard down.

"And see we shall, I always knew you were too clever for your own good little missy," he taunted.

"What happened?!" Violet sobbed. "Where is she? Where is my mom?"

"I sold your mom to pay off my debts years ago, it's every man for himself out here in this shit hole," he explained.

"S-Sold her?" Acacia couldn't believe it. "So we've just been pawns this entire time?!"

"Geez, where did you become so smart? Well, now I need to tie up loose ends, don't take it personally my girl."

"I was never YOUR girl," Acacia growled.

Her dad laughed as he held her gun and directed it towards her. "I guess so, but that makes this so much easier."

Violet immediately jumped at him, throwing him off. "NO I WON'T LET YOU!"

"GET OFF!" he yelled as he pulled the trigger, hitting Violet in the leg.

She let out a yelp of pain and fell to the ground. Acacia, with extremely quick thinking that only comes with living in a tough environment, smashed a mirror to bits and firmly held a shard as she rushed him, planting the shard firmly into his chest.

He coughed out blood and went to the ground, Acacia quickly pried the gun out of his hand and held it back up to his head.

"So what now girlie? You gonna bite the hand that feeds you?" he asked.

"You never fed me, that's what makes this so much easier," she said before pulling the trigger.

...

"After that, I patched up her leg and we left Alba Cavanich, and we went to my mother's hometown in Uraya. From there, we tried to make a living, but it wasn't easy. The bills kept coming in and I didn't want to steal anymore, so when I ran into the General of the BCC, I told him my story, and he agreed to help me, but I had to leave Violet behind. I couldn't tell her where I was going or why, but only that I had too," Acacia explained. "We never found our mom, but we visited her grave. After that, I couldn't look at Violet anymore, I had failed her as a sister. I couldn't ever tell her why I really left, because I couldn't look her in the eye. It was best that I stopped being with her and send her money from afar. She was better off without me..."

"Poppi not think that true...," Poppi jumped in. "Clearly Violet not think so either."

Acacia nodded. "Years later she joined the BCC as well, moved up the ranks way faster than I ever did, she was called 'the Colonel's replacement'. She even joined the same exclusive experimental soldier program I did."

"What's this now?" Gabriel questioned.

"What Acacia mean, 'Experimental soldier program'?" Rafi added.

"I don't know," Acacia answered.

"You don't... remember?" I interrogated.

She shook her head. "No, I have no idea what I've done for the past few years, I only know that for the last few months I was tasked to get Mythra, but I can feel that there was something else, something no one will tell me."

"So that's the reason you joined us," Mythra concluded.

Acacia nodded. "When I found out you also couldn't remember things, I couldn't help but wonder if we were victims of the same disease."

"So that's why you're always drinking," Kasandra said. "You ran into a lot of unlucky situations and you don't know what to do with that..."

"And being around your sister who's constantly outperforming you isn't helping either," Sheba added.

"You ever think that's how Pyra feels?" I thought aloud.

Mythra's temper immediately flared. "Hey, how about you keep those thoughts to yourself, huh?"

I jumped back. "Sorry! I didn't mean it, really... I'm just... kind of worried about her."

"Ugh you're just as bad as all of them...," Mythra sighed.

We all fell silent as we heard a loud noise echo through the ship. We all looked behind us to see Azami passed out on the couch, we had been talking for about two hours, and it was still late.

"It is recommended that you all rest to recover for tomorrow," KOS-MOS said from the pilot's room. She was flying the ship, again.

"Yeah, let's go," I concurred.

...

Acacia went to her room and pulled out her katana again, a weapon she didn't understand, but was a huge part of her. The blade was crimson red and the handle was crimson wrapped in black. On the blade, near the tsuba was an engraving of a butterfly. Her sign, "The Crimson Butterfly", what did it mean?

She carefully held the blade in her hand as her thoughts all melted away, the very reason she didn't use the blade. Where did she go? Who did she become when she held this blade?

However she could no longer resist, she held the blade in her hand, and she opened the door to the ship that led outside. She looked outside, and with a running start, her body became engulfed in crimson red as she bolted out of the door, falling to the ground at speeds faster than what could be seen, leaving a trail of crimson light.

Readability Level: 11-12th Grade

Time Taken: 3 Hours

#FalseGods

#BookFive

#ChapterFortyOne