"I hate you."

Serena immediately spat at me and said that when she saw me.

"Why are you even here? Is robbing me of my power, forcing me into a cult of fanatics and killing the goddess I once revered not enough for you? Do you want to see for yourself the pathetic state you put me in so badly? If so, then here I am!"

Serena threw her arms up for emphasis. She looks even thinner than when I last saw her, her hair is slightly but noticeably worse kept and she had bags under her eyes, her perfectly crafted smile nowhere to be seen, instead replaced with a scowl and a glare.

…No, I'm not here for that, nor would I ever enjoy seeing someone suffer as a result of my actions.

I opened my mouth, but Serena beat me to it, continuing on a self-pitying rant:

"Once the last priest of the great Regina-sama, goddess of vengeance and puppetry, and now a lowly zealot in a cult of perverts worshiping the dumbest goddess in existence, working several different jobs at once just to survive. I'd love to say that Regina-sama will not let her faithful be abused like this but I am neither her faithful nor can she avenge me since she's DEAD!"

Serena said that in a single breath, speaking rapidly, almost frantically, yet clearly even though her voice cracked a few times and tears spilled out of her eyes. She continued to glare at me despite everything.

Although I felt a little bad, I responded: "You fully deserve all of that, and you know it."

Serena made no response at all, keeping up her glare even as she silently accepted the truth.

I took a deep breath and said:

"Look, I actually do feel a little bad about putting you through all this even though I know you're a horrible person, so I don't really mind you venting at me, but don't pretend that you don't deserve the treatment for all the things you've done, even before the whole thing with Axel."

Serena let out a bitter laugh.

"…I know I deserve all of it, but Regina-sama doesn't. She might be a dark goddess, but she isn't evil unlike me and she isn't responsible for my actions. She didn't deserve to be robbed of her immortal life."

"I know that, I've been around Aqua long enough to know to separate a goddess from her faithful, and Regina isn't dead."

Serena's eyes, now red around the edges, narrowed.

"Don't fuck with me, that's impossible. Goddesses need faith to exist, and she doesn't have any more worshipers."

"That's not true, she still has you."

Serena scoffed, clearly not believing me.

"Discounting the fact that I signed my faith away on that damned recruitment form, why don't I have the blessing of vengeance?"

"You once told me that choosing a faith is an important and life-changing decision, didn't you? Then you should know better than to believe that a signature on a piece of paper is enough to rewrite your faith. As for your blessing, she can't give it to you because you aren't her worshiper in name even though you still worship her in all the ways that matter to her."

"How do you know this?"

"Because Regina herself told me."

Serena's eyes widened in shock before narrowing again in suspicion.

"She is really an amazing goddess, you know? She used most of her remaining power to manifest a physical form just to talk to me on the off chance that I would be willing to give you a second chance. She even apologized to me on your behalf even though she couldn't have influenced your actions in the first place."

…

"Look, here's what's going to happen: You'll officially leave the Axis cult and once again become a priest of Regina, and Regina herself will go with you under the guise of being another priest. You're going to listen to everything she says, become a proper priest and spread her name by doing philanthropic work. Just because she's a dark goddess does not mean she can only gain worshipers through brainwashing. If you get enough followers, I can even use my connections with the royalty to officially recognize your religion within Belzerg."

Serena looked a little hopeful now, but she still said warily:

"Why would I trust you? Heck, why would you trust me to be a proper priest?"

"What do you even have to lose? And I don't trust you in the slightest. But Regina put her immortal life on the line for this and I won't let that kind of sacrifice get wasted without even giving her a chance to try wrangling you into a proper priest, nor am I cruel enough to just let a goddess die knowing I could have saved her. Heck, I considered dumping you into a dungeon and leaving you to die instead back when I reset your levels, but I didn't go for it just because I couldn't stomach letting you die, you, who brainwashed half of the entire town of Axel and was planning to wipe it out entirely! If I was extending that kind of hospitality to you, then I'd definitely extend it to her."

We glared at each other in silence for a few more moments, before Serena sighed resignedly and extended her hand, which I silently shook. Then we both broke out of the handshake as if our hands were burnt.

…

"How are those two doing, Eris-sama?"

"Regina-san is having difficulty getting Serena to quit smoking, and she is still uncomfortable with Serena's swearing, but otherwise they're doing well… Things seem to be working out, but say, Kazuma-san, why did you trust Regina-san so easily? You're usually much more cautious."

"She never mentioned it, but back when I became her follower for a short amount of time, I actually got a greater split of her blessings than Serena even though Serena worshiped her for far longer, and she helped me resist Serena's attempts of undoing the puppeting which ultimately forced Serena to confront my party to try to get rid of me. Although she couldn't help but give Serena her blessings, she still tried to do good to the best of her abilities, even if it meant undermining her own follower and her own existence. She couldn't have known that I'd spare Serena, so she did that fully expecting to sacrifice herself. I owe her a little bit of trust for that at least."

A/N: I've been trying to work on some longer fics and it is NOT going well, so here is a oneshot I thought of and immediately wrote down to help me regain some motivation for writing.