"I am sorry! I am so sorry!" She cried, and I could feel her shaking against me. "Please, just kill me! I can't take this anymore!"
"Elfinia, no!" I exclaimed as I pulled away from her and looked into her eyes. "I would never do that to you."
"Why?! Everyone would be better off without me!" She sobbed, and I shook my head. No one deserved to go through the pain that Elfinia was in, least of all someone as strong as she was. If anyone could handle this, it was Elfinia.
"Get a hold of yourself. Sure, you acted like a witch, but what are you going to do, just run away from your problem? Is that what you do now? If you can't instantly fix something, you just look for the easiest way out?" I demanded, and Elfinia's eyes widened as she looked at me. "I am not going to kill you, Elfinia. You don't deserve that, and I am not going to let you just give up."
"Why? Why do you care?" She asked in a small voice, and I sighed as I looked away because the answer was complicated. There were so many reasons why I cared about Elfinia, but the most important one was because she had been in my life before this world, and we had spent countless years in Yaggisdral. It wasn't just my duty anymore; it was personal now.
"Because...I care about you, Elfinia." I told her finally, and she looked at me in disbelief. "I know we have had our differences, but I can't just sit by and watch you suffer like this. It hurts me to see you in pain."
"You...care about me?" She asked, and I nodded because it was true. Even though she had been a thorn in my side for centuries, I still cared about her deeply. "Why? After everything that I have done to you?"
"Because...you are important to me," I told her as I cupped her face in my hands and wiped away her tears with my thumbs. "And no matter what happens, that will never change. Stop trying to push people away and just tell them how you really feel, and stop pushing us all away."
Elfinia looked at me for a long moment before she finally nodded, and then she threw her arms around my neck and hugged me tightly. I was taken aback by her sudden display of affection, but I quickly wrapped my arms around her and hugged her back. For the first time in a long time, Elfinia finally seemed like she was warming up, then the door started to open in one of the rooms.
Instantly, Elfinia drove her knee between my legs, and I yelped as I let her go and doubled over in pain. Elfinia darted around me and disappeared down the stairs as the three other goddesses came out, as I coughed. She had caught me completely off guard, and things had been going so well! Like a goddamn deer, fleeing at the first sound of noise!
"Galio? What is wrong?" Claire asked as she came over to me, and I shook my head as I took a few deep breaths.
"Nothing just got hit in the nuts," I muttered, and then Titania snorted as she walked past me.
"Serves you right for being a pervert," Elfinia called from down the stairs, but there was no heat in her voice. In fact, she almost sounded...pleased? Maybe things were finally starting to look up for Elfinia. That didn't make my nuts feel any better.
I wanted to say that she was the one resting her head on me, but I decided that I would leave her be. A knee to my bits and parts was a small but painful sacrifice if it made Elfinia warm up to me more.
"So, how did things with the cult member go?" Goldy asked as she came out of the room with Titania, and I scowled at her.
"Would have been better if you had kept all the girls here like I asked," I grumbled as I straightened up, reaching into my pants to readjust my smash bits. "I had to leave Melly with Breya because I wanted to come to see what you all were up to."
"Yeah, sorry about that. Goldy wanted to talk with the women, so I thought that I should keep a watch on her," Titania said, and I sighed as I shook my head.
"It is fine, just next time, try to listen to me when I say to stay put," I told her, and she nodded as she looked down at the ground. "Anyways, what did you talk about?"
"Oh, just girl stuff," Goldy said with a shrug as she walked past me, and I groaned because I knew that meant that they had talked about me. "Come on, let's go downstairs so you can tell us what happened."
I followed the three goddesses downstairs and took a seat at the table that Titania and Goldy were sitting at. Claire sat down beside me after quickly grabbing some drinks from the bar, and then she handed one to me before taking a seat. It looked like she had gotten over her little outburst from earlier, which was good because I really didn't need any more drama in my life right now.
"So...what happened?" Claire asked after taking a sip of her drink, and I sighed as I leaned back in my chair. There was no point in sugarcoating it because they would find out eventually anyways.
"There is a demon in the town setting up Lethargy Traps, and they are collecting sacrifices to summon an even worse Demon Queen. Goldy, do you mind bringing Rexa, Eliza, Chili, and the rest of the women in here?" I asked, turning to the little golden goddess, and she nodded as she got up from her seat.
"Sure thing, just give me a few minutes," Goldy said before disappearing upstairs, and I turned back to the other three goddesses.
"The demon's name is Grimora, and he has been using Lethargy Traps to drain people of their energy in order to create A bomb or to use the energy for a summoning of something big. The cult has already sacrificed dozens of people to summon Girmora and other Demon Generals, but they need more power for Bellazibub to be summoned in seven days," I explained, and Titania frowned as she looked at me.
"Do you think that they will be able to summon her?" She asked, and I shook my head because I didn't know. "It all depended on how much power they could get from their sacrifices."
From what I had seen so far, though, it wouldn't be long until Bellazibub was summoned at the rate Grimora was going, so we didn't have much time. It would be best to just take care of this now before it gets any worse.
Just then, Goldy came back with all the girls, and I did a head count, but two were missing, and I groaned when I realized who it was.
"Where are Daphne and Velma? I thought everyone was supposed to be sticking together?! There is a demon on the loose!" I snapped, and Titania frowned as she looked at me.
"I told them to stay in the room, but they wouldn't listen," Goldy said with a sigh, and I wanted to facepalm because those two were nothing but trouble. "They said that they wanted to explore the town."
"Do you know where they went?" I asked, and Goldy shook her head with a worried look on her face.
"No idea...but knowing those two, they are probably getting into mischief," she muttered, and I groaned because this was not what I needed right now.
"I am going to go find them," I muttered as I got up from my seat and headed for the door, but Claire stopped me with a hand on my arm.
"Let me go with you," She said, and I paused, looking down into her large eyes. This was the first time she had asked about something like this, so I wanted to make sure that she was really up for it.
"You don't have to, Claire," I told her, but she shook her head as she looked at me with a determined look on her face.
"I want to help. I can't just sit here and do nothing when there is a demon on the loose." She told me, and I sighed because I knew that she was right. It would be better if we stuck together anyways. "Plus, those two could use some supervision."
I couldn't help but agree with her as we headed out the door into the town square in search of Daphne and Velma.
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