Evil Goddess System 72 Let's Talk

**Beep...Beep...Beep**

I sit in silence as the EKG machine beeps steadily. Although I would prefer to be alone right now, the surgeon from earlier seems to be thinking instead of leaving as I wish.

"So, I read the man's file. Murdered his sister and was found unconscious and beaten half to death by police. Been in a coma for going on three years." the surgeon says.

"...Why are you here? Aren't you a surgeon?"

"Oh, I'm just interested in this case. I've been in this hospital for days doing the jobs of nurses, and other doctors who either left or died in the original Camp B. Now let's see, killed his sister leaving his orphaned niece alone. What do you think happened to his niece?"

"...I don't know, probably moved on by now. Why do you have all this information?" I respond.

"Well, normally I'd just get the medical charts, but this one came with a police file attached. I originally started reading it by accident before I realized what it was."

"Hmm, now let's see, according to this, his niece, Eden Groth, tried several times to sneak into his room only to be stopped by security three times, police two times, and doctors or nurses twelve times. She is said to have blond hair, fair complexion, a height of approximately 5' 8", and two bright blue eyes."

"I only have one blue eye. Not me."

"Yeah, your other eye is behind an eye-patch, but regardless I think I can a.s.sume who this person is."

"Well… If you were right, what would you do?"

"I think the better question is what the person Eden plans to do."

"...Who knows?"

"Mm, well, I've got a busy schedule, lots of other patients, and not many doctors… That storm everyone is talking about is quite a doozy, don't you think?"

The surgeon starts to walk to the door with light footsteps. Something falls from his pocket and bounces against the floor, but he continues toward the door.

Just as he's about to leave, he stops, "I overheard some soldiers talking, the storms expected to get to the point that helicopters won't be able to fly here anymore within the next 48 hours… medical supplies and food are already low, and we'll need every bit we can get."

He leaves, and I find myself alone in a quiet room. My eyes fall onto a syringe lying on the floor, reflecting the LED lights above. Picking up the syringe, I pull up a chair and sit next to "that man," the one who stepped into my life and destroyed it. The room is silent except for the subtle sounds of breathing and the beeping of the EKG machine. My eyes begin to a.n.a.lyze the man's features: light blond hair that's a bit disheveled, handsome young face with near-perfect facial features, and a profile that leans more toward beautiful than manly. Not someone you'd expect to be a killer… but neither is Eira.

I lean back in the chair, "Y'know… I received something called essence after I came back from the tutorial. I think that means that man I stabbed died…"

Fiddling with the syringe and glancing out the window, I see two little out of place birds staring through the window.

"So I guess I am also a killer now. It's a strange feeling… a mix of guilt, uncertainty, sadness, and excitement. That last one, in particular, is the most confusing feeling of them all."

**Beep...Beep...Beep** the room returns to silence while I gather my thoughts.

"Did that man I stabbed really do anything wrong? Not particularly, he just happened to be the one that was there at that time. He's gone now, and in a matter of seconds, I went from a mostly average girl to someone who has taken a life… and this system even sorta rewarded me for it."

**Tap. Tap. Tap**

The two little birds outside tap against the window as if trying to gain my attention.

"That only made the feeling stranger… I've been with Eira for a while now, and she's killed a lot of people, but doing it myself was not as I expected. Eira rarely expressed much guilt, excluding the time she turned those people into Crawlers… why was that? Is there a difference between killing one and many? Was it the nature of the Crawlers? Or something else?"

I pop that cap off the syringe and push the plunger allowing a bit of liquid to leak from the tip.

"Will killing two people be different than one? Can your death give me closure? Or will it just make everything worse?"

I lower the syringe and push the needle into a vein on his neck, '...Oh, wait. I thought it was a vein, but maybe it's his adam's apple.'

A few attempts later, I finally think I got it into a vein, and I pause.

Suddenly, from a dark corner of the room, I hear a youthful voice causing my body to s.h.i.+ver.

"Are you trying to kill him by poking holes in him? Also, why bother getting the air bubbles out? Are you worried about double killing him?"

I remove my eye-patch and look toward the corner. On top of a metal shelf, a familiar girl lies there on her back with her head hanging off the shelf, staring at me. In her arms, she hugs a scythe that was only recently given to her by the G.o.ddess.

Eira scolds me, "You should keep a better eye on your surroundings. You didn't even notice when I came in almost an hour ago."

"...I've been in here that long?" I reply.

"Longer. I only got here an hour ago; if you don't hurry, someone might come in here."

"...Oh. Yeah." I look back at the needle and syringe. "I just need to do it."

"Yep, if you push the plunger, then he'll be gone. Just another silent body among countless others." Eira says casually.

"Just another… silent?" I say to myself.

"Mhm, silent. Are you okay with that? Never knowing, why? Instead of being here with me, perhaps, you could have had a completely different future."

"He'll probably never wake up, what's the point? And I don't care about how it changed my future; I just want my mother back."

"Well, from what you told me, that's impossible. Think about it; meanwhile, you killed someone? A soldier?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Feel strange?" Eira asks casually.

"Yeah."

Eira sits up and starts kicking her legs. For a moment the room is quiet before she starts to speak, "As a blood race, you have a natural predator's brain, but even so, killing a person comes with taboos and mixed emotions. In the past, hunting humans or intelligent races actively wasn't something the blood race would normally do. There were plenty of beasts and monsters for that, with the occasional mad race arising and causing trouble. From what I know these creatures had delicious blood as well, I hope to try it someday. Still, the past is the past, a time will come when it won't be necessary or normal again, perhaps sooner than you think, but that's then, and this is now. Remember when I told you this 'story has no heroes' back on the Moonlight?"

"Yeah, how could I ever forget that?"

"Mmm… Anyway, that was because, in real life, true heroes are a myth. The parts where the hero does unheroic things are glossed over, forgotten, downplayed, or simply not talked about. The greatest of heroes have nearly as many skeletons in their closest as the villain… well unless it's one of those villains, that's h.e.l.lbent on destroying the world just cause they feel like it. Those types of villains rarely exist in reality though. Anyhow, lots of times, the villain is only the villain because they lost while the hero won. Occasionally someone tries to be one of these 'true heroes' without burying a few skeletons in the closet, but they're nearly always taken advantage of, killed early, retire young and forgotten, or end up giving up on their ideal of being a true hero."

"I don't understand what you're getting at, Eira."

"Perhaps, I got a little off track. What I'm getting at is if you want to kill that man then go ahead, as Evil, Good, Villain, or Hero, typically those terms can be applied to any individual who has had a long-lasting and significant impact on the world. It just depends on who you're speaking to and in which era. Does that make those people's actions acceptable? Maybe, maybe not, but in the end, all these people have taken the role of 'monster' at some point… and mind you not actual real mindless monsters but in more a metaphorical sense."

Eira sighs, "I'm getting off track again… Uhm, so basically what I'm trying to get across is, if you're hesitating because you're afraid to kill someone else because that'll make you a bad person or evil or whatever, you shouldn't, but if you're hesitating because you want closure or answers, then you should stop and think."

Eira seems lost in thought for a bit before adding one more comment, "Y'know... maybe you should talk to Aponi instead..."

For a while, things return to silence.

'Why am I hesitating? Is it because I simply want to know why?'

"Hmm, maybe this will help you decide."

Eira holds out her hand revealing a familiar-looking earring. She cuts her palm and presses the earring into the blood. A pulse of red light shoots through the room, and the lights cut out. A second later, my eyes adjust, and my mind enters turmoil. The once blond man's hair has changed to white and two large wing-like plumages arc from the sides of his head. Tossing the covers off his body I can see his lower body is covered in white feathers with two wings jutting from both the back of his thighs and shoulder blades. His legs resemble that of a bird except more muscular and covered with feathers, and with human feet rather than talons.

My head begins to pound with a horrible headache. Removing the needle, I feel myself collapse to the ground.

__________________________________________

**Cough. Cough.**

"Ughhhh, did I pa.s.s out? It's dark. Where am I?" I say out loud.

Unexpectedly I hear the reply of a beautiful and elegant voice that seems only motherly.

"Hey… are you okay?"

"Who's there!?" I shout.

The voice sighs, "Here, you foolish girl." it says.

Suddenly, my vision returns as someone lifts something from my face. My eyes turn upward, and a woman in a long dress with a veil squats staring at me. Her proportions are something that most people would only dream of, and the clothes she is wearing are obviously very expensive and magically enchanted. The only real feature I can make out is her snow-white hair that runs all the way to her ankles.

'How does she maintain hair that long?!'

My own hand runs through my wet shoulder-length hair.

"There was some seaweed on your face… and what are you doing now? You almost drowned, you know?" the beautiful voice says.

"Did I? That would have been embarra.s.sing."

"Yes, it would have especially for someone of your kind."

"My kind?" I ask questionably.

"Yeah? A *******"

For a second, I'm confused, but I still feel the realization hit me, "Oh...Oh! Yeah, you're right. Hey! What's your name, so I can thank you properly?"

"Shouldn't you tell me your name first?"

I raise myself off the ground and think for a moment.

"Good point! My name is Klena. I'm going to be a Hero!"

The woman laughs, "Hero? Well, I wish you luck, but are those ******** yours, Klena? They've been attacking me, and I'm almost out of patience."

I tilt my head, thinking, "Oh! Those, yep, they're mine!"

"Do you have a soul contract with them? They wouldn't be a very good choice for such a thing."

"That's what everyone says, but I like them! Together we'll prove everyone else wrong!" I give the woman a big smile and a thumbs up.

"Well, can you unsummon them? Before I do it for you?" the woman says a bit threateningly.

"Unsummon them? Never, they can stay as long as they want."

"Then I'll just.."

"Wait! I'll do it, I'll do it." Moving to unsummon them, a sense of disconnect comes over me, "Uh, for some reason, I can't remember how to."

"Did you suffer brain damage from nearly drowning?" the woman asks sarcastically.

"Don't think so, I just can't remember right now. Anyway, they should stop attacking now that I'm awake."

"Well, it's fine either way, I guess. I don't come down very often, so I'm going to do a bit of sight-seeing."

"Down?"

The woman starts walking away, no longer interested in speaking to me.

"Wait! You still need to tell me your name!" I yell.

She stops and thinks for a moment, "Perhaps, if we meet again, I'll tell you." The woman's body turns into motes of red lights and blows away in the wind.

"...What a weird lady."

__________________________________________

Opening my eyes, I find myself lying on the hospital floor with Eira squatting near me.

Eira hands me a cup of blood, "Here you moron. You pa.s.sed out."

"Did I?" I reply.

"Yeah, I thought you should see what's under the illusion before making a decision. Anyway, he's back to the way he was before. Just take some more time to think about things, no one's going anywhere."

"Yeah. I'll do that."

Suddenly, the room door opens, and I glance back to see Congressman Miles along with Annie.

"Ah, good job, Annie. Now let's have a chat, Congressman." Eira says with a smirk.