want to read ahead or want to support you can join my patr-eon and u will be able to read ahead by 15 chapters
patreon.com/Elsapataky
-----------
"That thing wasn't a person, Vin!" Xenovia shouted, as she stood up and rounded on Vin.
Xenovia continued to step closer to Vin, as the boy took steps backwards in order to maintain his distance.
"That thing was a monster that feasted on over ten different innocent people! Do you really feel sad that you killed something like that?"
"..."
"Well?!"
"Yes! Fucking- Are you kidding me, Xenovia! Killing someone whose killed people is still murder! What don't you understand?!"
Vin stepped backwards, and ended up bumping his back into the wall of the lodge, nevertheless, Xenovia continued to advance forward.
"What don't I understand?! What don't you understand, Vin?! It's the job of an exorcist to kill things like these so that humanity can live in peace! You can't have feelings of reservation like this towards the enemy! That's a great way to get yourself killed!"
"Yeah, well guess fucking what?! I never wanted any of this!" Vin waved his arms out, "Do you really know what it felt like to have my entire fucking life ripped away from me, my family?! Do you?! Or wait, maybe you can't, because your so fucking brainwashed by this shit, that you're convinced that this is the only life you can possibly live."
Xenovia began to grind her teeth, her fist clenching, "I never wanted this either, Vin! But I had a gift that no one else had, just like you. We have an obligation to do something to help others, because we truly can! We're here to become exorcists for the good of humanity!"
Vin chuckled bitterly, "Please, how about we stop calling it by the fancy title, huh? You think we're training to be 'exorcists'; but in reality, your adoptive mommy is training us to be human weapons. Is that the life you want to lead? Or are you still going to give me that shit about it being your sacred 'duty' to become an exorcist?"
Vin scoffed, "Why'd you choose to sign your life away, Xenovia? Was it because it was the first time anyone ever paid attention to you? Was it because Griselda was the first person to ever give you even a semblance of a home?"
"SHUT UP!" Xenovia screamed, grabbing Vin by the neck with one hand and slammed him against the wall.
"DON'T ACT LIKE YOU FUCKING KNOW ME!" Xenovia cocked back, and threw a punch with her free hand, which landed just shy of Vin's bloodstained head, crumpling the solid wood wall into a crater with ease.
"I want you two to separate right now," Both parties looked over to see Griselda standing before them, her smile not present at all, and her tone like ice, "...I won't ask again. Separate."
Xenovia looked between Vin and her mentor, and eventually relinquished her grip over Vin's throat, causing the boy to fall down to the ground, wheezing while clutching his throat.
Xenovia stepped forward, "Griselda, he-"
"I heard everything, Xenovia," Griselda's tone showed that there was no room for debate, "Now go back to the bus with the others; you aren't to speak or sit with Vin until I say so."
"Y-yes Griselda," Xenovia bowed slightly, before running off in the direction of the bus, leaving only Vin and Griselda at the lodge.
"I deeply apologize Vin, I should have known sooner that Xenovia was ill-fit to handle a matter this delicate. I sent her because I thought you two were close enough to talk this out properly," Griselda apologized, watching her ward fade into the background.
"However," Griselda's gaze turned to Vin, "I do believe we need to have a discussion."
"...Sure, what the hell," Vin replied, "Can't go worse than the last one."
"... Some of your statements weren't necessarily incorrect."
"What?"
"Yes… Listen, if I had a choice, I would make sure that each and every one of you could walk out of this life whenever you wanted to. This isn't the life that anyone deserves. As for Xenovia… If it could grant her the opportunity to live a normal life, then I would take the ability to wield Durandal from her in a heartbeat."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because you and Xenovia aren't so different in that regard. You, Vin, are hungering for the life that you left behind… and Xenovia wanted that same life for as long as I've known her, despite her attempts to hide it from me."
"She feels like she's indebted to me, Vin. She thinks that I gave her a home when nobody else would. But, I took her in because the church mandated it so, not because I necessarily wanted it to be that way, although I did learn to love her over time…"
Griselda looked on wistfully, "She was a young thing when the church discovered she could wield Durandal… No more than six or seven… far too young to be thrust into that life. But regardless, I wanted to make sure that such a girl could at least survive the world out there, so I trained her every day. I… I never had the heart to tell her why she was originally taken in. She's figured it out by now, of course, but those feelings still remain."
Vin sat there, stunned, "So she's torn between wanting to-"
"-Fulfill the wishes of the church in order to make me proud, and the impossible desire to have a normal life? Yes."
Vin looked up at the sky, "...I've been such an ass."
Griselda chuckled, "Possibly, although your thoughts are equally as valid. The church, and by extension, myself, have placed you in a very difficult position, Vin. I understand your hesitancy to end a life, and it's a remarkable strength to have. Holding value in all life is what we need in a world like this. And I understand if you feel like you're being forced to compromise on those morals for the sake of doing a job you've never wanted to do. If anything, I'll try and put you in a position in the future where you never have to do something like that again, alright?"
-----------
want to read ahead or want to support you can join my patr-eon and u will be able to read ahead by 15 chapters
patreon.com/Elsapataky