The two stared down one another, neither side needing to blink. Freya wasn’t foolish enough to release her aura and escalate the situation, but she was brewing up a plan to one-up her adversary. In the end, she looked away and stared at the ceiling.
“If you can guarantee that she does not break her word, I’ll agree.” She said, clearly talking to Mystra.
“I can’t guarantee such a thing I’m afraid.” Came the reply.
This caught the spirit off-guard. “What do you mean you can’t? You’re a god!” She said indignantly.
“Making an enemy of her would result in far greater chaos than if she hurts some spirits in a single world. Like you’ve said before, there are no safeguards against her destroying more worlds. Of course, I could banish her from my church, but that would hardly be anything but a formality. As long as she does not do anything to endanger the existence of all creation, she gets to do as she pleases.” Mystra explained.
Alice couldn’t help but smirk after hearing that.
“Do we have a deal?” Yuuki asked, cold and emotionless.
“Fine.” Freya conceded, but her expression remained fierce. She strode up to her successor and kicked his hand lightly. “What’d you do to him? I can feel that he’s a spirit, but his body is all… fleshy.”
“He’s a mortal currently and will remain so for the next ten minutes. Close the door when you carry him out.” Yuuki said and disappeared from the room.
“Hope we can be friends! You look cool.” Alice said, smiling before disappearing as well.
Freya cursed under her breath as she picked Ifrit up and walked over to the main door, only to find it locked. She kicked it in frustration which resulted in a chuckle echoing through the room.
“Very funny, now open it.” She said without masking her annoyance.
“Be well Freya. And please remember, I’m not your enemy and neither are they.”
No reply came as the two monarchs left the church and the door closed behind them.
--
Yuuki was in her room, screaming into a soft pillow. Alice was softly patting her back, trying to calm her down. After Yuuki had screamed her heart out, she practically deflated as she went limp on the bed.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Alice asked, trying not to pry too much.
“Not particularly, which means I probably should.” She replied, her face still buried in the pillow. She turned on her back and stared at the roof. “Alice, do you know what I did?”
“You killed a bunch of demons and spirits?”
“I commited genocide. An entire species that now does not exist except in the graveyard that is my soul.”
“How many of them would have hesitated to kill you if they had the chance to do so?”
“Good question, but we’ll never find out now, will we?” Yuuki snapped at the wolf-kin.
Alice took a second before changing the subject. “You bottled up your emotions during your meeting with the two spirits. Why?
“I didn’t want to show weakness. They’d get stupid ideas which would result in me doing things I’ll later regret.”
“Well, either that, or they’d realize that you’re not actually a monster and maybe accept peace that isn’t based on fear.”
“I am a monster.” Yuuki could barely finish the sentence before she got tackle-hugged by Alice.
“No. No you’re not. You never were and you never will be.” Her voice was shaking as she was on the verge of crying.
Yuuki had to remind herself that Alice was, in fact young, just abnormally mature for her age. She then realized just how much Alice needed for her to be a good person. She was the one who saved her, after all. She needed someone to look up to, and Yuuki was the easiest choice. Wrapping her in a hug, the kitsune's many tails acting like a sort of blanket for the both of them. They spent a few minutes in such a pose, both of them calmed down.
“You’re back. What happened back there?” Igraine opened the door because she had heard the two of them from her own room.
“We got a visit from Ifrit.” Yuuki explained. “Got some bad memories, had some verbal conflict. Now we’re tired.”
Igraine stood in quiet for a moment before she closed the door and walked over to the two of them, plopping down on the bed. She petted the top of Yuuki’s and Alice’s head affectionately which caused their ears to twitch happily. Before she could register what happened, she was pulled and flaked from both sides as she was now stuck between the two figures hugging her. She may have been intimidated by the fact that both of them had larger frames and were much stronger in general before, but not after they have shown themselves to be rather harmless when handled right. Which made her mentally compare the two of them to very large pets.
“That’s rude.” Yuuki said quietly as she was enjoying the scritches. “No, I’m not reading your mind. You have an easy to read face. Like Arthur.”
“Oh, right. How’s he been doing? Is he continuing his studies?” Igraine asked absentmindedly as she was enjoying the moment.
“He graduated by challenging the headmaster. He’s currently trying to figure out how to undo over three hundred years worth of corruption and horrible economic decisions.” Yuuki answered with closed eyes but opened them when the scratches stopped.
“Yuuki. You won’t let my son overwork himself to death, right?” She asked with a forced smile that did not reach her eyes. The way she said it would make most people worried.
“I told him to sleep more. I’ll also go back there tomorrow to give advice.” Yuuki answered, not feeling the unease in the slightest. She closed her eyes again, waiting for the petting to continue, which it did.
“Can I come with you?”
“Mmm” Yuuki gave an affirming humm.
“Be more quiet please, I want to sleep.” Alice interjected.
I see they've finally have come victim to scritches and headpats.