Stepping forwards into the room I was instantly hit with the smell of wine and old books. Around us was several book cases with hundreds of books arranged in alphabetic order. Chairs and cubby holes were dispersed throughout the massive room with numerous nooks and crannies that could serve as personal spaces for people to use in reading or chatting. The main area itself had a cosy fireplace with a lovely couch, coffee tables adorning each side of the opulently made couch.
Sitting on said couch was a man with light blue hair, his face like that of a cliff face, hard and worn from time spent tending over a company and his family. Angular jawline met with rugged beard hair to create the image of a war-scarred man, not that he actually went to war. Beside said man was a woman that looked similar to Emma, blonde hair and ice-blue eyes staring at us as we entered. Wearing a white dress of a comfortable style she looked very youthful despite her actual age which was nearing the fifties. Emma, seeing her parents again for the first time in a while winced as she saw her mother's expression.
Twitching my eyes in minor frustration I rubbed her back and smiled, trying to cut through the emotional bullshit her mother was trying to pull. My actions seemed to have calmed Emma down too as she breathed out in relief before walking forwards, towards the opposing couch. Following her carefully I easily read the emotions of Hazel Frost, Emma's mother. She was annoyed, angered and frustrated, the source being Emma herself as I felt that Hazel wanted her to have children in the future. I felt relief at Hazel's minor worries as I could easily solve that in the future. At the same time I reached out to Winston's emotions, finding myself rebuffed a touch as some sort of magic was placed over him.
Showing now outward change of emotion or expression I flexed my mana and sent a jolt to his magical defence, piercing it in seconds as his unfiltered emotions slipped out of him. Some would call this mind rape, but I called it being a worry wart for my wife. I don't give a shit about some bozo who is supposedly my wife's father, the apparent lack of care they all hold for each other being quite obvious.
Anger, Frustration, Lust, Interest, Greed, all of them mixed into a nasty concoction that made my spine tingle in acknowledgement. All of my sins reacted at the exposure to raw emotions such as these and my expression slowly changed to one of pure disgust. Before I could cleanse the world of this disgusting mess, he spoke.
"Hmm, It is, okay, to see you daughter." In the midst of gazing at Emma he turned towards me, taking in my appearance and bearing in moments. Shock and fear soared through him as he immediately tried to block off my access to his emotions. It didn't work and he knew that. Paling in an instant he looked back to his daughter, a rather refined and dignified façade coming over his face as Emma looked between me and her 'father'.
"It's good to see you mother."
'Mother... Heh... They have lied to her this whole time...' I scowled at them as I infiltrated their minds, finding all the dirty little secrets in them. Apparently they were a part of the political class before the rest were jailed or retired. They had escaped by exploiting a staff member of the World Government, specifically a general in the Military that was hunting down rogue ideologs to arrest them. He would have to be dealt with when I got back to Atlantis.
"Yes, it has been a while, hasn't it...?"
There wasn't much cordiality in the words but I knew she saw Emma as her daughter, even if the motives were selfish and greedy. Diving deeper into Winston's mind I found all sorts of perverted thoughts and disgusting fetishes, especially one involving a certain island... Revulsion had never filled my soul as it had at this moment. Bile shifted in my stomach as my very insides churned at the idea of making an example out of this man. Unfortunately the thin veneer I had upheld vanished in an instant as Emma looked at me in deep worry, her expression one of extreme worry.
"What is wrong honey!?"
"These aren't your parents..." Winston turned hostile immediately his face turning extremely red in rage as Hazel flinched at the accusation, her body language giving away her guilt, or was it worry? Ignoring Hazel for a few moments I stood and held my hand out, the very space around the entire house freezing as everyone but mine and Emma's movements were halted. Sounds of struggle were heard but ultimately ineffective as I walked straight up to Winston, grasping his lapels and staring deep into his soul.
"What do you mean honey!? How can they not be my parents? They raised me..." My left eye twitched as I turned my head to match Emma's eyeline, my eyes matching with hers as I transferred memories and emotions to her. Tears dripped from her eyes as she saw scenes of her mother sleeping with other men, her father watching this all happen whilst he had a woman kneeling in front of him. Flashes of memory sped by her mind as she was forced to clutch at certain ones, such as the time Winston and Hazel had killed a very young woman around the age of 18, all in the name of business. But, this woman had a young child in her arms, Hazel, being a woman felt sorry for the child and kept it, Winston's emotions being very inappropriate towards the future of said child, Emma. Hatred flashed through Emma as she watched herself grow up through another's memories, Hazel protecting her from Winston's disgusting sexual desire by sacrificing others of similar ages to him.
Even I had the urge to throw up and I had seen horrors from Warhammer 40k... Emma's emotions turned into pure indifference, the emotion she was feeling triggering my own Sin of Indifference in a way that made my own personal revulsion fade as I just saw them as pieces of meat to be butchered. Another set of images flashed, Hazel's. She was laying next to the butler of the house, rubbing her fingers over his chest as he promised to protect Emma, his face resolute despite his limited power in the house. Emma blinked her eyes as she slowly began to respect the Butler more. Such images flashed many times as the Butler protected many young women and girls from Winston, declaring them as 'used' goods so that they may escape. I was still disgusted that he didn't speak up about it but that was when I saw the next part of the story.
Sitting in a hospital bed was a young girl, the Butler's young sister. With his work's pay he was able to keep her alive and away from Winston. Several threats had been made covertly to the man to keep him quiet about all of this. I was conflicted, he was on one hand a contributor to this demon but at the same time someone who was blackmailed and forced into a position where he still tried his best to save as many women as possible. Emma didn't even cry as frost slowly drained into her surroundings, her own psychic powers puncturing into the mind of her 'father', his screams radiating out into the completely still space.
"You, are a fucking monster." Her words of abject hate were utterly chilling, literally, as the entire room was freezing over. Hazel and Winston attempted to shiver but only felt the grip on them tighten. It was over for them. If Emma didn't end them, I would, they were a poison that needed to be purged and seared out. My worry was unfounded as immediately Emma created Ice Spears, stabbing through their stomachs and kidneys, slowly consuming their organs with ice, the stifled yelps and shouts of pain creating a chalk-board-scraping noise through the room.
Knowing that this wasn't exactly as happy as it was supposed to be I decided to snap the Butler here whilst ending every other staff member as they were all working with and partaking on some levels. Even the guards were infected with this... At this point in time I was Judge, Jury and Executioner... No one could stop me, not even Illyana. I had saved Hinata's clan from this shit and that was pretty bad. That was nowhere near the level of behaviour that these 'people' operated under. Snapping my fingers, I brought everyone in the room outside, including Emma's fake parents; my wife finding cathartic relief in seeing them slowly die for what they had done. Then I clapped, the entirety of space condensing around the house in a but a nano-second as where there was once a lovely mansion, a horror house and a slaughter yard there was now emptiness. Cleansed for all time.
Technically I could bring back every woman that had died or suffered but I didn't feel comfortable ripping them from their afterlife within the Realm of Souls. That was all they had in life for the most part and even then, most if they came back would have zero family. Sombreness was all I could feel at this point as I wished I had noticed sooner... Some things however, were never clear and even I had faults. I was no true god or anything. My titles and powers may be god-like to many beings but at the end of the day I am simply as flawed as every other being in existence.
|False. You are beyond Existence. Stop beating yourself up.|
'Shut the fuck up... I don't need a lecture when something like this has happened.'
|Stupidity. Humanity and other Species will always make Evil and Good decisions. One shouldn't blame themselves for the actions of others, it was their choice and ultimately those souls have gone to their paradise within the Realm of Souls.|
The logic was impeccable but somewhere deep in my soul I felt at least a tiny bit responsible for not paying as much attention to Terra.
|Care. Care for your wife. She is showing extreme amounts of sadness and depression.|
Turning to look at Emma I noticed that her 'parents' had been utterly eviscerated, her psychic powers ripping them into icy chunks as she cried her heart out. Today was supposed to be happy but it was an utter disaster for us... Breathing in deeply I moved over to her and gently hugged her, receiving some stray punches and elbows before she sunk into my embrace. She cried into my dress as the Butler watched on in confusion and sadness. His emotions were that of helplessness and disgust at himself.
'If only I had been stronger...' , 'If only I could have saved all those women and young girls...' These were the focus of his thoughts, no attempt being made by him to cloak them as he was just in hatred of himself. Closing my eyes I slowly began to hum a calming tune, my emotion domain spreading out and giving a sense of calm and love to the area.
I couldn't do much, but this was better than nothing.
'Fuck this sucks...!'
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