Last chapter, Karia started to swallow her pride by asking Kodan and Sariel for advice on how to be a "better person". Even with her vague request, they managed to give her some helpful tips for the future- about how to deal with Seric among other things.

Her talking with the two was cut short however after Karia finally woke up, confused and in pain- as well as in shock after Seric furiously told Karia about what she caused.

Seric's P.O.V.

"Asshole, look- you broke her right when she woke up! But no, she deserves this pain- getting mad at ME after the crap she pulled. Unless... what if she doesn't believe in the Five Kings? Then I would be allowed to hate her, although I decided I don't need to follow their rules super strictly anyways... so I guess I can hate her." I think to myself as I start to feel like shit after being reminded about Habram, and after looking at how shell-shocked Karia looks. She's just sitting in front of me with her mouth wide open, crying as she stares at the ground.

But, for me- in general I think I'm... kind of stable now, or up until now I was at least. I'm not dripping out those blue flames anymore, even if my only plan is to stay with Karia for now. Habram told me to complete the trials so, my logic is that maybe, just maybe he'll make my life easier if I do that. And there's no way I'd be able to do them on my own if I ran away.

Also, I do think I may be exempt from his rules... that's what I've decided me going to "neither heaven or hell" means. I... I really don't even think it's worth it to try to save my friends from hell anymore. The more I looked through scripture using the unburnt tech and books of Marlox's, the more rigid the rules I found became. Habram doesn't forgive or forget anything it seems, so these guys might be better off living freely until their time comes.

"No- I can make this right, everyone- I promise you I will!" Karia seems to snap out of her daze as she wipes some tears and snot off of her face. I'd like to see her try... but... hearing her feel bad for once does remind me of something.

The small chance that Diosa may have came after me, even if Karia didn't drag us to him. But still, we probably could have prevented Metallic's rampage, as well as Marlox having to die- if she wasn't so stupid before.

A few minutes of crying and silence later...

Surprisingly, Karia starts to stand up- she seems calmer now. Maybe that's a bad sign considering it's been so little time... either way, I grab her shoulders and push her back down with a bit of difficulty.

"You went through a pretty intense surgery, don't get up yet. A hysterectomy Marlox- or the doctor called it, he removed an organ... he said you're pretty well stable now though, but still." I say, not wanting to get into the details in case Karia freaks out- maybe that'll be a mistake though.

"I feel fi- good, my cybernetics help with this... stuff. I need to move if I'm going to make this good- I mean right. And Marlox... so Bersia wasn't lying. We're inside of his home, right?" Karia slurs a bit less than before, as she pushes herself up to her feet way too fast after brushing my hands aside. She almost stumbles over- before she leans against the wall next to her.

"Careful. And yeah. Wait... you talked to Bersia? The one you use the spirit of?" I ask.

"Yes. Complicated so I don't want to talk about it. She told me things. But first, where are my clothes? Never mind, I see them- get out." Karia says as she waves her hand at me, which I sigh at.

"Sorry. I mean, please leave?" Karia says as I turn around and start to head out the door... that's new. Maybe she's more humble now? I keep walking.

...

...

A few minutes later, Karia walks out of the room in her old clothes. Her jean-jacket has two massive holes in it where Diosa stabbed through her chest. Her ripped jeans are the same as before though, with some dirt being on them now though. 

She takes a seat across from me on the couch I'm sitting on... her eyes open a bit wide once she looks around the rest of the living room, to see all of the holes I made in the ground with my flames. She looks back to me with a frown...

"Ok, Seric. First off, I'm sorry. I am. Going after Diosa- or that spearman, and letting King convince me to bring you with me was a bad idea. I... don't make fun of me but, I knew I was probably going to die. I wanted to, even. The reason why I went after Diosa was because I wanted to at least try to avenge my Ex-boyfriend Sariel- and it was also part of my contract with him." Karia says, which gives me a bunch of mixed emotions.

"So wait, you had to fight Diosa then? And I guess you wanted to do that sooner rather than later..." I say nervously. Was she innocent this whole time? 

"Evenshually. But I could have waited and trained a bit more, should have. And do you understand why I... I treated you bad? I didn't know if you were the monster we saw in those photos. Hell I still don't know if you are... but I trust you more now. Or, or a bit more. Is that ok?" Karia asks, sounding a bit out of it again as she starts to lay back on the couch. My eyes start to get a little teary.

"Am I getting my friend back again, one of my only friends? No... she's probably lying. She needs me to complete the trials, and probably realizes I may leave her after all the stuff she pulled."  I try to keep my expectations in check.

"Seric, is it... hot... I need water..." Karia says. I take a closer look at her out of confusion, her skin looks a bit red- I don't think she's blushing though. It looks like she's sweating too...

She slumps back a second later as her head hangs off of the couch, and so I run to get the water she asked for from the kitchen. I think she passed out.

A little while of playing doctor later...

"Oh fuck. Oh damn it, no kids either now? I... I may have wanted to be a Mom someday..." Karia says weakly with her arm draped her eyes, as she's lying on the couch properly now. I explained more to Karia about how Marlox treated her, in the hopes that telling her about it could let her recognize the symptom she just had. But no luck there...

"Oh. Well. I'm sorry." I respond to her concerns. It's not fully genuine yet but, I think I should return some of the kindness she gave me just now.

"...And Karia. Correct me if I'm wrong but, you didn't seem to apologize for the people's deaths you caused. You- you do care about them, right?" I ask, in a bit of a worried tone. Karia was never perfect but, her morals should be better off than Amandeath's... I hope.

"No breaks for me, huh? ...But seriously, I do feel pretty awful about that. I'm just decent at hiding my feelings, is all. Also- I'm not trying to be snarky but, I can't really apologize to dead people I haven't met. Anyways, BUT. King Metallica obviously went WAY fucking overboard." Karia says, but before I can interrupt her she continues,

"Kodan told me about his "Emperor" form- which I'm guessing is what he used to stop Diosa. From what I heard, King should have a ton of experience with the Emperor- even when his emotions are riled up. So it hurts to say it but, the damage King caused was... well I'm thinking it was intentional. Not just him losing control, even if that was part of it." Karia explains. Hm...

"I'll still take some of that blame, though. I never thought about how King would react to my- or our deaths, and I should've since I considered him a friend. Once we complete the trials, I'll come back to this continent to help make it a better place to make up for the dead citizens. Fuck... maybe people I even knew died because of King. I don't even want to check yet. ...Gods, I hope we can find SOME good in him when he comes back." Karia says with a frown, which... I'm honestly fairly happy with.

"King even mentioned wanting to 'avenge us' in a brilliant way before. Or something along those lines..." I think to myself, starting to question my feelings about Metallic even more now... but he's done so much for us, he still does.

I did decide that it's wrong to treat him like a monster yesterday. He forgave me for my own... apparent, crimes in a heartbeat- so I would be a hypocrite if I hated him now. But after hearing about what Karia said Kodan told her... I don't know for sure anymore.

But does that mean I should like Karia more than him, who may have caused me to become Habram's slave?

...

A little while of resting later...

My head perks up, as I can hear heavy clanging coming from outside. It's getting closer- oh no Habram help us! ...Oh, wait!

"Oh! That's Metallic- which is his new name by the way. He can maybe help take care of you." I say with a small smile, and look at Karia who looks conflicted. Yeah I get why...

Either way, I hear some talking and the front door being unlocked, which is just down the hall from the living room we're in. A second later I hear the door open, but there's no more talking.

Finally, Metallic walks into our sight. He looks at Karia and immediately frowns.

"..." I keep quiet expecting Metallic to bearhug us or something, but he doesn't move. His body looks awful- he lost an arm, and his face has a massive dent in it. Plus his "disguise" of bronze spray paint is a mess and peeling off, revealing his natural scratched silver "skin" beneath it. I want to ask what happened... but I think I should wait.

I look over to Karia, who's just staring at Metallic in return. It looks like she's waiting for him to say something too, probably to explain himself.

"What the hell is going on?"  I think... maybe he somehow knows that Marlox died? Did King really care about him THAT much though?

The silence gets interrupted by Amandeath walking into our sight from the hall. I'm still not used to her dyed black hair, and oh her glasses are off. And she has an eyepatch? "Haaah. Guessing Karia's awake then. Seric, let's go." Amandeath says as she stumbles towards me, and grabs my arm. She slowly starts leading me towards the opposite end of the hall from where the doorway is.

Metallic grabs Amandeath's shoulder as we walk by him. "Stop. Both of you... Seric and Karia, you lied to me. You took advantage of my unconditional love, of my willingness to overlook your flaws. Seric I... I'm gravely dissapointed in you. But I think I can fix you. I hope I can." Metallic says in a somber tone which starts to scare me.

"What- Metallic what are you talking about?" I ask, since Karia is keeping quiet. Looking over to her, she's trying to stand up now and looks terrified- but confident at the same time. Did she realize something?

"Karia knows. And so do you, that she stole Kodan's soul! And instead of feeling remorse for never confessing, she just looks scared of the consequences. I was going to offer you a last meal Karia, but even now you feel NOTHING! All you ever did was tell me about how "evil" Kodan was, when YOU were the one who killed him! You mocked my blissful ignorance by using his soul in front of me, over and over again..." King starts to tell Karia, constantly switching from shouting to sounding depressed.

A few blue flames start to drip out of my fingers again, this is BAD. Amandeath takes a step back and motions me to come with her- should I?!

"Spirit of Bers-" Karia tries to call out her Blessing, but gets interrupted by Metallic charging at her, in which he grabs her throat- and slams her weakened self down to the ground. His body groaned every step of the way but, it doesn't seem like he cares about that now and neither do I-

"Metallic be careful, she's really weak after the surgery! You could really hurt her!" I shout as I take a few steps to the side, to get a better view of what's happening. He's got Karia pinned beneath his legs, with his hand still wrapped around her throat. Karia's trying to pry Metallic's hand off of her neck, and is trying to flail out from beneath him with wild kicks. She looks desperate... too desperate.

"There's no way, right?" I think to myself in denial. King loves us, we've made mistakes... he would never... he would never go that far, not to us at least.

"No- oh God, he is killing her. She would be calling out her Blessing right now if she could breathe!" I think to myself as I continue to look at the scene, Karia's staring at me and gasping for air. Or is she trying to say something, calling me for help? What do I do- shit, I should he-

Amandeath pats my shoulder, "Seric- listen. I won't stop you, but before you interfere- think about this. Karia's always been reckless, even before I joined this gang I've heard. Considering how wanted we are now, we may not be able to afford Karia's bullshit anymore. Plus, you wouldn't be under her thumb anymore if we let this happen. We could say goodbye to the trials too, if you wanted." Amandeath says, which makes me pause once I take it all in...

"No, Amandeath- but... oh God." Is all I respond with, and a second later she takes her hand off of my shoulder.

"I really would be free. No more of Karia treating me poorly, she was probably lying about trusting me more... and, yeah I have to do the trials still. But I could do that with Metallic and Amandeath, they'd help me- and treat me better too..." I think to myself as Karia starts to cry, and her efforts to get free become more frantic- after she looks away from me and stares up at Metallic instead.

"You think I wished for this?! I loved you- but I need to get rid of all of the ones who hurt me, the liars. And I need to avenge Kodan, he was my everything! ...So please just close your eyes Karia, don't make this any harder than it needs to be." Metallic shouts as he tightens his grip on her throat, his voice sounded like it was cracking at the end there though.

But Karia grits her teeth and keeps on struggling regardless, her eyes are becoming bloodshot out of the stress and lack of oxygen maybe.

"Even with her cybernetics she probably doesn't have much time left... am I really going to let this happen? Quick, what consequences are there?" I think to myself in horror, as I can see Karia's face start to turn a light shade of blue. Her struggling is getting weaker too, but she still isn't giving up... I don't know if I'm more horrified at myself- or at what's happening to her.

"IF she wasn't lying before, I'll lose a friend. And- and she also saved me, I wouldn't be able to pay her back for saving me from prison if she died. And, no- she would go to hell if she died! First Marlox, am I really going to let someone else suffer for eternity-"

"I SAID TO STOP STRUGGLING DAMN IT!" Metallic screams as he leans up and drags Karia up with him- then slams her head back down onto the floor. I flinch at how loud the thud was. Finally I start running to interfere once he slams her head down a second time.

"King, stop it please!" I plead with him as I try to pull his shoulders back, but he doesn't move an inch.

"No I need more force! Boat- no, can't damage the house anymore- knife!" I think to myself, trying to think of where to cut. Got it- I fall down to my knees, raise my hand above Metallic's arm, and pretend that I'm holding a knife.

"My Best Friend!" I call out, hoping it'll make my attack stronger- and thankfully the real small white knife appears in my hand. The weight of it immediately drags my arm down right towards King's hand, and the knife slices clean through it.

I think I cut Karia's neck a little too... but, once Metallic's decapitated hand goes limp- she immediately takes a deep breath and starts to cough like crazy. Oh thank Gods- she made it.

"Don't interfere!" Metallic shouts as he spins his torso, his arm's headed right for my fac-

Metallic's P.O.V.

Seric falls over the second I swing my arm at his forehead.

I turn back to finish off Karia, but get stopped by a vile feeling inside my chest. Seric I, that was a very hard hit... did I knock him out? He did some bad things but- Seric doesn't deserve something nearly that severe!

"Pal! I'm sorry, I lost control- hold on! Amandeath, go fetch Marlox, he'll help us out!" I cry out as I spin around and bend down towards Seric- then cradle his head in my arm, after a few tries at least. Oh what a fool I am, I can already see a massive welt forming on his face!

"It'll be ok, I'll get you all the help you need." I comfort him as I brush some hair off of his eyes with my wrist. What have I done- I promised Seric that I would be a better person, that he wouldn't need to fear me- and this is how I greet him?!

"Spirit of Bersia: Electron Passover." I hear Karia whisper, but before I can spin around to hit her- she places her hands on my back, and my whole body becomes paralyzed. I fall over, damn it- right onto Seric! Karia never cared about us!

"Fucking- maniac!" Karia barely manages to shout as she continues to paralyze me, shoot- I can't let her kill me! But I still can't move an inch, my face is buried in this rooms dirty carpet...

"Karia, hands off of him. I need Metallic waaaay more than I need you." I hear Amandeath say, splendid! She must be pointing her gun at Karia, our sniper-pal will have to kill her for me I suppose. I don't even think Karia can stand yet so it should be simple to do.

However firstly, Karia takes her hands off of me. Although I don't hear Amandeath shooting her rifle. So be it, she must want me to end this. I should be ready to go in a few seconds once the last bits of electrical-shock in my hardware wares off.

"Metallic, sorry but I think ya should stop too. Seric obviously showed us that he wants Karia to live- for whatever reason. If you kill her, there's a fair chance he'll never love you again." Amandeath reminds me of Seric's betrayal... her words hurt but... is she really right?

Will I be forced to live with this monster- the one who murdered my best friend, all for the sake of Seric?  That's... too cruel.