"Exactly… that's exactly what I mean. Erase them from everything. Everyone… and if they refuse, guess what we do?"

There was a long pause before I could crack open my lips again. "Kill them?"

"No~ of course not~!" She suddenly announced in a more cheerful tone before wrapping her arm around the back of my neck. "We eradicate them. Each and every one of them…."

"You're horrible… you're all horrible people."

"Oh, I don't want to hear that from you… Empress of the Ice Plane. Tyrannical Ruler of Ice Monsters. The Ice Empress who tortured our sweet little sister… your mother, until she nearly broke… so, don't speak of horrible beings when you're the very definition of it… kid."

My head slowly turned to the woman with my eyes widened and my face as pale as a ghost attempting to snatch away my soul.

"H-How…?" I stuttered as I thought I had left my past behind, but somehow this woman knew of everything, so only one thought came to mind. "Did my mother tell you?"

"Kid, it's obvious from your soul. It's stained in blood… and every leader in Tolf is aware of it. Some have forgiven you after seeing how genuine you are, but some play it off and secretly despise you for obvious reasons,"

"I-I swear I've changed," I attempted to glare at the woman to show my determination, but I could barely even lift my head as she placed her hand atop my head.

"Guess what I've decided on. How I've decided to judge you…." The woman lightly smiled as her chilling breath seemingly welcomed me to the underworld.

I couldn't even open my mouth any longer as my entire existence was lying on and resting on the scythe of this woman.

I felt death quickly approach me, but unlike before, I was ultimately out of control of everything surrounding me, causing me to just bow my head even further, almost praying that she wouldn't kill me.

"I don't really want to forgive you, but killing you is something out of the question. Lucy would immediately find out, and she'd go on a rampage for the rest of her goddamn life… of course, your other mother would be doing the same… maybe even worse," She let out a long sigh, and as she ungrasped my head and shoulders, walking away, I dropped to my knees.

A stream of warm liquid wet the ground beneath me, and as I heaved with heavy breaths, I attempted to stand up, only to be forced back down by the glaring eyes of my aunt above me.

"What a shame… how I would've loved to play with my little niece… but she's just a monster stained with blood… I'm surprised your mother didn't kill you straight out of the womb,"

"Is there… anyway I can earn your forgiveness?" I asked, yet the answer seemed evident from the surrounding situation.

"Stop this silly little trip and help your mother,"

"But she ordered that I go on this trip-"

"Does it look like I care?" The woman in front of me muttered in a voice so cold that the ground beneath her feet nearly froze. "Not only do you have a sacred shard threatening the existence of our world, but you're also a goddamn pussy. If you were my child, I would've killed you out of embarrassment," My aunt glared before walking forward and grabbing me by the arm.

She was too quick for me to react as she tossed me off of the wall, and I began to plummet toward the grassy section of open land below.

I fumbled to activate a skill, but just before my head was squashed into mush, my aunt caught me just before my embarrassing and shameful death.

Slowly, she set me down and then walked a few meters away, tossing me a sword made from dark flames.

She herself wielded twin daggers made from the same flames, and as they slowly raised towards her face, the sharp ends poking her cheeks, her mouth opened, and she spoke at me in a gruesome tone. "Pick it up, kid."

Out of fear, I quickly grabbed it and just barely blocked the swift attack that came slashing at me like a flash of light.

Before I knew it, my aunt had appeared behind me and glared down at my shivering body, which slowly encapsulated the dark sword in my own white flames.

"That was a warm-up—one percent of my speed. If you can just barely block it, I doubt you'll live to ever help your mother. Dying as a tainted little girl who thought she could really change what she had done."

"I CAN!" I shouted up at the woman, but her cold and unwavering eyes caused me to scurry back and then hop up onto my feet.

My knees shook violently, and my legs wobbled with so much force that they began to dig up the dirt beneath my feet.

"You have no idea how mad I am… that Lucy would let a thing like you live. She wouldn't haven't have had to go through such a thing if I was there… but in the end, I'm about as powerless to fate as you are," the woman muttered, a single tear dripping down her cheek before dashing towards me, ripping a cut straight through the side of my torso.

"Huff… huff… huff… huff…"

As I glanced down at the blood spilling from my side, I touched it to feel if it was real since the attack was so quick I didn't even see her.

"Ten-percent…. You want to know why I know you haven't changed?"

"W-Why?"

"You have yet to come out and say that you were such a horrible person in your past life. You didn't even own up to your mistakes, and now you just want to change? Can you get any more selfish than that," My aunt maliciously chuckled before disappearing yet again, but this time, I felt a slash cut the side of my neck.

No…

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