The sound of a flame crackled softly as both me and Khalifa sat on earthen constructs I had created with my Geotechtonic architect.

She had insisted on spending the night outside, the reason, I couldn’t understand.

So, here we were, sitting in absolute silence, as the only sound between us was the crackling flames.

"You know.." her voice suddenly broke the silence as she muttered quietly.

"Hmm?" I took my attention from the crimson skies that seemed even more ominous at night, turning towards her.

"I had him, you didn’t need to get involved.." she whispered.

"Hmm? You mean about that demon? Sure you did, I mean, you weren’t the one suggesting we retreat earlier, that was definitely my imagination."

"Bastard!!! I did that so you would be safe! I wasn’t scared of that fool!" She snapped.

"There there, don’t worry, big brother Dante is here, I’ll be sure to make all the monsters go away." I patted her head like a child..

"Get your hand off me!!" She slapped my hand away..

"Hahahaha..." I laughed, a weight I never knew I was carrying being lifted off my chest as Khalifa seemed to be regaining her cheerful self..

Another silence fell between us, but this time, it wasn’t awkward or heavy or tense, it was... comfortable.

.....

..

"Were you serious?" She suddenly asked.

I already had an idea about what she meant, but I still had to ask, "about what?"

"About what you said earlier, about becoming a merciless butcher."

I fell silent as our eyes met, gold against gold, then I answered, "Yes."

"Even if it means having the blood of countless innocents on your hands?"

"No demons are innocent, khali, they’re only waiting for the right moment, and then they’ll strike, just like the filth from earlier, all they know is to kill, steal and plunder."

"There are good souls everywhere, Dante. You shouldn’t condemn an entire race for the actions of a few."

"That’s the thing, khali, it is not a few, the entire demon race is filled with filth from the top to the bottom, and even if, hypothetically, as you say, there were good demons, I will not risk the lives of true innocents, people just trying to live with their families in peace, over such a probability."

"But isn’t that what you’re doing? Destroying families that just want to live in peace? The two cities you condemned to judgement, how many families do you think you wiped out unfairly?"

Her question made me go silent for a moment,

"Demons.... They do not deserve the right to use that word. Families, are for those who truly care, a demon is not capable of true love, true sacrifice, they’re incapable of bearing the burden of that word, so no. I do not believe I wiped out any families within these two cities, I had merely taken out future threats to the planet."

The tense and heavy silence returned.

I couldn’t help wondering what had happened to Khalifa.

The loud, and brash woman I knew seemed to have disappeared all of a sudden, and it’s all because I killed a few demons?

"What happened, D?" Her sudden question brought me out of my thoughts.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what happened to you? So much hate. So much resentment. Just what did they do to turn your heart so... cold?"

I went quiet at her sudden question.

The question dredging up memories I was trying to keep buried.

"Heh! I’d have thought Mel would have told you girls by now." I snickered, turning my attention upward as I raised my head.

"All she said was that you were hurt. Badly. But this... this seems to be more than just hurting.. Tell me, Dante, what made you go cold?" She asked once more.

I could feel her eyes focused on me, not pushing, not judging, just... concerned, present... worried.

"Heh! I wonder why you’re worried, I am fine."

"You are not fine. You just erased hundreds of thousands of lives and you haven’t even blinked at the thought, not once, you... are not fine."

"Will you let this go?"

"If you do not wish to say, I will not pry, I am merely a friend that wishes to understand even if only a fragment of the pain you’re feeling, maybe, just maybe, I can finally understand why you’re willing to throw away all humanity for a race that does not deserve such a sacrifice."

......

....

I kept quiet, eyes staring at the crimson skies, thoughts random.

I could still feel her there, present, waiting.

"Heh! You’re quite persistent today, I wonder why?"

"Because the Dante I know, the shameless pervert I know, the one I’ve come to see as an inseparable part of my day, the one I’ve come to.... Haa..."

"Come to what?"

"Never mind.. it’s like I said, I am merely a worried friend, but it seems you do not wish to talk about it, so I shall end this...."

"They killed my parents." I suddenly answered.

"Wha.. what?" She was stunned.

"Heh! These filthy creatures, they stole my family from me."

"Dante..."

"I was five, khali, I was merely a child, yet I was forced to watch my father bleed, and face off against cowardly demons that only knew how to beat a person that was down."

...

"My father, he gave his life trying to protect me and my mother, and I..."

"Dante..."

"My mother died with me in her embrace, khali, refusing to let go until I was safe.."

"I lived my life from that day on, having nightmares, nightmares of these filthy creatures taking my family away from me. Each iteration more twisted than the last, each iteration leaving me feeling weak and helpless. USELESS!!!"

"Useless... that’s how I felt every goddamn night as I woke up, mind freshly scarred from another tormenting night."

"Thirteen years, khali... thirteen god forsaken years, I endured this torture, pushing myself everyday with only one goal in mind... vengeance."

"I had told no one till this day of the horrors I was forced to witness whenever I closed my eyes to rest, only to find that I wasn’t allowed such a luxury anymore."

"And all this, was because of them.."

"They stole my family from me khali."

"They stole my peace."

"They stole my light."

"They stole my warmth."

"Now all I have left, is vengeance. I have no leverage for compassion when it comes to demons khali, It is not my place to decide if they get to live or not, for they had already made their choice the day they took my family from me."

"Thirteens years I bled and sweated and died, all for this, all for my vengeance, so if becoming a cold hearted butcher is what it will take for me to wipe this filthy race from the face of the earth? Then so be it. For it shall only be over my cold, rotting corpse, that these filth will ever get the chance to harm anyone I love, ever again."

"Never!"

"So, yes khali, I meant it. I shall become a merciless butcher until I see this filthy race be purged from the face of the earth, for only that, shall bring peace to all the lives they had stolen..

Only that... shall bring me peace."

*************

A/N: I have.... No words. Damn!

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Thanks for reading...