Last chapter, after Urdeath's defeat- his parents Endeath and Zerendeath surrendered, but Quilline shot and killed the son regardless. Even after this, Endeath and Zerendeath still let Quilline go out of fear- in which she, Quilline, and Elio headed towards their original destination, Elio's parents apartment, in order for him to see his brother one last time.

After entering inside however, unsurprisingly Elio's parents were not pleased to see him- or his companions in the slightest, and so Elio started to get forceful with the two of them to find out where Xalen is.

Elio's P.O.V.

My "Dad"- no, Richard answers my question as he gets his ass up after his stumble just now. Meanwhile I'm still covering my Mom's mouth to keep her from crying for help, and Richard says, "You already know where Xalen is if this really is somehow you, Elio. No way am I letting you get to my one last son tho-" I spring up from the ground and punch him in the face, which sends him into the corner of a wooden cabinet behind him in the entry hall, which makes the guy groan in pain and have to use the counter to hold himself up.

I look back down to my "mom", Glenda, to see if I'll have to keep covering her mouth. Thankfully it seems like she realized that resistance here will just make things worse, and is calmer now despite still looking terrified. "I've wanted to do that for years Richard, so glad I'm not scared of you two anymore. Amandeath, Quilline too if you're willing to help, keep these two quiet for me. Gonna have a talk with my brother quick." I say as I start walking past both of my helpless parents, and towards Xalen's bedroom past the main entrance... not hard to remember considering how small and depressing this apartment is, that they decided to paint all dark colors for some reason.

Either way, after I hear Amandeath mumble a "yeah" and a horrified gasp from my parents, I knock on the chipped door to Xalen's room. He doesn't respond... I knock on it again.

"Xalen? It's me, Elio. I'm coming in, ok?" I ask without hesitation, hate that I'm being like Richard and Glenda here by being intrusive but, this REALLY is for his own good. Or mine... I hope for his too though.

After not hearing a response I open the door to his dimly lit room, to see Xalen sitting up and looking terrified in his bed, and more importantly he's glaring at me at me and shaking.

"Wh-what did you DO?!" He shouts, but thankfully in a quieter tone. Kind of pissed that that's the first thing he says to me after more than a year of being away though... damn. Anyways, I reply,

"I didn't get this new body on purpose, it was-"

"I don't mean that... I don't care about soul-swapping, it's nothing new. I meant how you joined forces with- with terrorists! Seric, King Metallica, and especially Quilline are monsters- and you're working with them now? H-"

I interrupt him to try and explain, "It's not that simple."

"Shut up, and just let me talk for a bit. Do you know how awful my life has been for the past year? I can hardly even move after the... gunshot wound paralyzed me, so Mom and Dad have had to take care of me for pretty well everything. Since you know, they can't exactly afford any hundred grand robot-caretakers- or to get me cybernetics, if they would even help. And so almost every time Mom and Dad do help me, they degrade or mock me and do the bare minimum. The only times they cared for me well was when they brought that camera crew to our place and turned my condition into a TV show. I'm mad because you left me to have to deal with that alone, Elio." Xalen says which stings and makes me desperate to explain myself, but I use all my strength to hold back and just clench my fists.

He continues, "A-and you know what?! I wasn't even mad at you for a while, I was a bit envious of your freedom sure- but mainly still glad that you left this depressing place for better things. But it turns out, you didn't leave me behind for better things at all. I still love you, but man, you just wasted your second chance- and became a lowlife gangster who's useless to society. Worse than that even. So you left me alone here for nothing, and I won't ever forgive you for that." Xalen says which hurts the more I start to process it...

"I... yeah, I was in a bad place mentally when I joined my first gang. After I ran away from home I felt so alone, I was homeless- and nobody gave a shit about me as I was starving on the streets. So I joined the gang of the first leader who knew exactly how to deal with vulnerable people like me. Or how to trick people like me more like. And after that, Amandeath took me hostage and threatened to kill me if I didn't join them. Man, I'm not trying to act like what I did was fully justified- but I hope you can at least see where I was coming from. It was rough for me too out there." I say, holding back on saying "sorry" since I really do think he would've done something similar in my shoes.

"...Whatever, I said what I wanted to say. Plus you can't change what's already happened. ...So? What now? Why'd you come here to see me after all this time?" Xalen asks with a glare that pierces into my soul...

"I um... I just wanted to say I love you. Also. If Mo- if YOUR mom and Dad are that bad to you... IF you want me to, I can get rid of them for you. That'd force you to be put under the care of the Hopian Governme-"

"STOP- just stop. What the fuck happened to you, man? Your first solution to this whole mess is just to kill them? I should've known the second I overheard you say you brought those two monsters along with you here. You're not the Elio I knew anymore, not physically or mentally." Xalen says as he starts to tear up, but I can't even cry myself to show any of my emotion due to my body.

"At least I'm free now... and I want you to be free too, or to at least get you a much better life even without freedom. Call me a monster if you want, I don't care. I'm helping you whether you like it or not." I spit, as I honestly can't even think of a comeback to what he just said- so I used Metallic's logic as some inspiration there. I really have lost a lot of my morals, so I might as well own it at this point and use that fact to help the people I care about.

Xalen tries to tell me to stop as I turn around to walk out the bedroom door, and back into the main hallway to see that Quilline and Amandeath brought Richard and Glenda into the brown carpeted living room to the right of the entrance- with both of them having bandages wrapped around their mouths now as they're sitting on what I think is a new red fabric couch.

"Guess Quilline didn't have access to tape." I quickly note after trying to make sense of why they used bandages to do that.

Also- Quilline has the barrel of two pistols pointed at Richard and Glenda's foreheads as she sits in front of them on the wooden living room table with her legs crossed.

"Well, good thing it turns out my ex-parents are worse than I thought. Might've been mad otherwise." I think to myself.

"Soooo- that it Elio?" Amandeath asks as she's sitting on one of the two expensive chairs by the wall of the opposite side of the living room.

"Nah. Richard, Glenda. I'm here to give you some instructions on how you're going to treat Xalen from now on. It's pretty clear that you've been mistreating him, so you're going to get him a caretaker robot- and you're only going to talk with him when HE wants you to. Understand?" I ask as I stare at them, with Glenda having concerned eyes and Richard having angry eyes.

They don't respond though.

Quilline rips off the tape- OH. Right. Richard then takes a few deep breaths then says,

"You think we want to have to take care of Xalen so much?! We can't afford the damn things, buying one would bankrupt us. I can show you my bank account if you don't believe me. Just- just don't kill us Elio. Ok?" Richard says in probably the most respectful tone I've ever heard him say to me... guess having your life threatened makes anyone really polite, huh?

"I could bankrupt them to force them to get evicted... but then Xalen wouldn't be guaranteed to be taken care of by the Hopian Government, since he'd technically still have caretakers alive... also, not sure I fully trust the Hopian Government to take care of him either. Shit." I ponder, then scratch that thought off.

"Hey- how much do those robots cost Elio? We could proooobably afford it." Amandeath says... which I thought of but, don't like doing these people a favor like this- even if it is mainly for Xalen.

"150k Herin base for the base one I think, around 500k for the one Xalen will probably need to live comfortably last time I checked."

Quilline springs up from the table while still putting my parents at gunpoint, "Hold on. You all have made quite a lot of hefty purchases lately, like those virtual reality headsets Metallic bought as well as those communication devices we got- and now you're going to need to spend a lot of Herin to get weapons and supplies you'll need to survive when you 'leave' for your 'trip'. And well... I got Amandeath her multi-million dollar cybernetic upgrade, but that's still on your guys tab. So my point is dears, your guys Herin will probably run out shortly. And I for one don't want to waste my own Herin on a robot I won't even use, and I won't be paying for any of your supplies to go to go on your trip either." She finishes with a concerned look on her face, can't tell if it's fake or not... guessing fake knowing her.

Anyways I respond, "What? First off, who says we're gonna use our remaining like 4 million Herin on supplies?"

"We might, honestly. Black market stuff, which is what we'll need for good weapons like gas-grenades aren't cheap. And for our "trip"- we're gonna need a LOT of supplies to last for a while in Seric's boat." Amandeath says from across the room, with me just catching on that the "trip" she and Quilline was referring to is to Dalkan.

Either way, "So what- Amandeath gets a multi-million Herin upgrade, and I can't even spend a few hundred grand on myself? That sounds like BS to me." I say... need to calm down a bit, don't want to get Quilline riled up.

"Hm hm- I'd be willing to pay for it IF you did something for me though." Quilline says with a grin being on her face now... this won't be good.

"What-"

"Kill either 'Richard' or 'Glenda', and cut off the arm of the one you choose to spare. I want to see if your morals are all talk or not. You in?" Quilline asks me with a raised eyebrow as my parents start to cry. Memories flood back into my mind of he few times they WERE decent to me...

"ELIO please- you may hate us, but going as far as to kill us?! I know you aren't THAT much of a monster, Elio, please! What will Xalen think of you if did go through with this?! He would have no family left." My Dad shouts at first, but after Quilline presses the pistol into his head more he quiets down until he's just whimpering.

...

"No. I'd just be proving Xalen right if I did kill one of them. But... it's either that, or leaving Xalen here to continue to suffer. Shit... wait... that could work." I come up with another idea,

"Quilline, I have a better idea for yo-"

"Non-negotiable Coolio. Yes or n-"

"I'll stay here and help you with your future plans, that's my offer to you. You said I'm a valuable asset, right? Even if we do manage to take down the top dogs of the Hopian Army- there'll still be a ton of Officers, Sergeants, and Soldiers you'll need to take out after we leave, plus any protector robots. So having me as your ally would make that process much easier for you. You in?" I ask after Quilline teleports me right next to her and laughs.

"Wow! Look at you go little boy scout, you really are sticking to your guts. I sure wouldn't mind having you as a handy ally for my future plans. Sure, I'm in."

"Whoaaaa whoa whoa, hold up. Didn't you say that our funds would be tied together in the first place, Quilline? That was one of your main selling points when we saved you from that Magic Girl." Amandeath finally chips in as she stands up and starts walking towards Quilline.

"What- now you suddenly care now that your little hostage may get taken away from you? Beat it, you lost your chance- I never guaranteed I'd share our funds, it was just a possibility~" Quilline says smugly, and teleports

"OK ya fine, but what about that William guy- the Magic Girl's husband? He commanded us all to go on our "trip", he probably included Elio too in that." Amandeath says as she crosses her arms and seems concerned for once...

"I'd rather die than do that and waste my newfound glory, so I'm taking that chance if he really did want me to leave for some reason. I assume you'd be willing to take that chance too, Elio? He killed you once so, can't see why he'd care about you." Quilline asks me with a furrowed brow...

...

"Maybe that William guy would just force us through the portal instead of killing us, if he really did want me to go too... but he did seem most interested in Seric regardless, apparently." I think to myself which let's me make my choice.

"Yeah. Fine with that." I reply which makes Amandeath frown.

"I'll tell Metallic, he likes Elio and won't let you take him away-" Amandeath suddenly gets teleported across the room over and over,

"Don't forget who's in the position of power here A-man. The only way Metallic could hurt me is if he used the Emperor, and he said it himself- using it again would pretty well kill him. So do you really think he'd care enough to put his life in such danger to keep someone around who he met so recently? Think hard." Quilline says in a victorious tone.

"...Fuck. He won't be happy that I'm mad at you regardless though. You sure about this, Elio?" Is all Amandeath says with a sigh as I nod, which makes Quilline stop teleporting her.

I can't help but say, "Told you we shouldn't have brought her in." That thankfully only makes Quilline chuckle and doesn't irritate her.

"You WILL still need my firepower and guidance for the meantime, though- but funny point. Anywho- Elio, we've got things to do. Finish up here, please. To speed things up Richard and Glenda, I assume Elio will be back soon to make sure you two are treating Xalen properly- and the robot will be delivered soon. What a good deal for you two, huh? Though, being forced to be good can be rough I guess." Quilline says, and so I nod, walk out of the living room, and start walking back to Xalen's room.

"Least I'll still be able to see Xalen if I really do end up having to stay on the Hopian Continent..." I try to look at the bright side of my idea so that I'm not filled with regrets.

I knock on his door after I get there, but again he doesn't even reply. I knock again just to be sure, and still nothing. "I'm coming in, one last time." I say, which I guess is a lie considering I'll be visiting him more often now. Anyways, I open the door again.

"Just leave. Or kill me. One or the other." Xalen says.... sheesh. Not gonna reply to that, he must be exaggerating because he's mad.

"I know you don't like me right no-"

"I love you, but no, I don't and never will like you until you turn over a new leaf." Xalen says which- again, not gonna reply to, no point right now.

"I'm getting you a caretaker robot, with my own Herin. One of the best versions there is, not sure exactly which one that is at this point but I'll look into it and have it delivered here. I also told Richard and Glenda to leave you alone once the robot comes, unless you want them to talk with you that is. I'll come back and visit you... every once in a while, and more importantly just to make sure you're doing ok. Alright?" I ask, hoping that he'll be happier now- but he's just gritting his teeth.

"Bloodmoney. That robot is staying in it's box and getting returned. No way am I using anything bought w-"

"It's the money from my cult leader's bounty, who was a robot by the way. Meta- or I mean King Metallica finished him off. The guy was far from innocent, trust me on that." I say, not even daring to think about telling Xalen about the awful things I did with that gang.

"...Oh. Well... how can I trust you on that though?" Xalen asks as he looks down at his bedsheets.

" 'freebounties.ha', don't you remember when we got bored and used that website as kids for a bit? And it had a giant list of every claimed bounty that you can search through?" Xalen doesn't react...

"Anyways, it's run by the Hopian Army man. Look for "Restroid" on it, and even me- it'll show both of us as dead though, and most importantly part of the same gang." I say, almost forgetting that Quilline helped to fake my death with my shot up corpse.

"...OK. I... if you aren't lying... then I still don't like you, but still, thank you. I'll look into it." Xalen says which makes me sigh in relief- or at least make a sound that sounds like a sigh.

"Can you do one thing for me then, Xalen? Don't tell anyone you saw me, I'm supposed to be dead."

"No. What you're doing here for me is... generous, but no. I want you to get arrested so that you can redeem yourself." Xalen interrupts me as he looks up from his bedsheets and into my eyes again.

I reply, "High chance they'll kill me instead of arresting me, you know that right? And I'm working with Quilline here so... I can't guarantee what she'll do or won't do to make sure the secret doesn't get out. You really gonna do this to me? Kinda fucked, after what I'm doing for you." I try to guilt.trip him... but it only makes me feel shitty.

Xalen smirks a bit, "So you're threatening me now? Lovely. Get out or kill me, either way it's a win win for me. If I get questioned I WILL tell the Hopian Army about you." He finishes with venom in his voice.

"...Fine. See you later, bro." I say with a frown, as I turn around and walk out of the room. I gently shut his bedroom door, then walk back to the living room where it seems like Quilline was just having a talk with my parents.

"Ah, heyo Elio. Yeah so we already warned these two not to say a peep to anyone that we were here, and that we'd be keeping a close eye on how you're dear brother is being treated. They seem to get the point. You told Xalen that as well, right?" Quilline asks as she lowers her pistols from Richard and Glenda's heads who are just shivering in fear at this point on the couch. Then she drops the two guns back into the pouch on the side of her hip, one by one.

"...Yeah. Let's go." I lie, partially at least- then bend down and call out the name of my Blessing, "I'm the Controller". Doing that let's me locate any phones in here, and I find two- which I shut off.

I stand back up, and start heading towards the main entrance- with Quilline and Amandeath following behind me.

"Guess I should lock them in here for a bit to to make sure they don't run outside and call anyone for help in person." I think to myself after noticing that the front door has an electronic lock on it after passing through it.