Guilty x Creatures Ch. 71

"I'm going to be honest with you, dark elf. I don't want to have you as an enemy, nor do I have any desire to kill you. At least not at the moment. That's not to say that I can't kill you, or that I won't. Just that I don't currently want to." said Anton as he stared down at the glaring dark elf "Now that being said, you really, really need to stop giving me reasons to change my mind about that..."

Olivia stiffened as she felt the sharp pinpricks of Anton's aura concentrating around her.

"Call off your assassins, accept my offer of peace, and most importantly..." said Anton as his features began to faintly darken "Do not ever, and I mean ever, shoot me again... Do you understand me?"

Olivia's jaw tightened as her glare intensified.

"...I said. Do you understand me?" repeated Anton.

"...Fine." hissed the dark elf as she smiled wickedly "I guess I can promise that I won't shoot the poor baby again... Moot point that it is, considering the people downstairs will never let you leave this place alive..."

"They will if they want to keep themselves and their building intact." said Anton as he straightened up "I guess we'll find out soon enough how wise they can be with their decisions..."

Startled, Olivia couldn't help but to jump a bit as Anton reached over and disabled the rooms ward by tapping on her disc.

Turning away from her, Anton made his way towards the exit.

Following him with her eyes, Olivia went still as he paused at the closed door.

"...Before I go, I do want to thank you for sharing with me tonight, Olivia....I know that had to be a difficult thing to do." said Anton as he kept his back to her "And while I don't want you to take this as mere pity on my part, because it isn't... For what it's worth, I do want to apologize on behalf of my kind... I am sorry... I'm sorry for everything that happened to you..."

Taken aback, Olivia said nothing as her eyes remained fixed on the back of Anton's shoulders.

"Truly, I am sorry..." continued Anton "...Goodnight, Olivia."

Watching him as he made to leave, Olivia sat up straight in her chair.

"Wait..." she said softly.

Stopping short, Anton went still as he waited.

"...No, I refuse." said Olivia "I don't want your thanks, or your apologies... And I refuse to live in your debt... I don't want to owe you anything anymore."

"...Anymore?" said Anton "What do you mean by anymore? You don't owe me anything?"

"No, I do..." mumbled Olivia as she looked away from him "I owe you my thanks... Whether you meant to or not, you've given me a great gift... One that I didn't even know I wanted, until I saw it..."

"...What are you talking about?" questioned Anton as he tilted his head slightly back.

"...I'm talking about my daughters, and their magic." explained Olivia as her eyes seemed to go distant in memory "Seeing them, like that... Seeing them... So powerful, dangerous, and unstoppable... That was beautiful... They were beautiful... And now they won't ever be like I was. They won't be helpless. Or trapped. They can fight back, they can free themselves... They can kill if they need to... And it's all thanks to you... You did that..."

"Yes, but I didn't do it for your sake though. You don't owe me any thanks for that." said Anton.

"No, I do. Whether I like to admit it or not, I do. But I refuse to owe you anything. So here is where we stand. You keep your thanks, and your apologies, and I'll keep mine." said Olivia as she grudgingly looked back over at him "And in that way, we'll now be even..."

Anton stood still for a moment before slowly nodding his head.

"Very well, that's fair enough I suppose. Fair enough that I can agree with it at least." he said as he continued to nod his head "There is one other thing that I want to give you though. And you're going to take it, whether you want to or not."

"...Excuse me? And what is that?" asked Olivia as she tightened her eyes at him.

"My word." said Anton "You have my word, and my solemn promise, that the girls will never suffer through the same trauma that you did. And they'll never know the pain that you know... You were right when you said that they wouldn't ever be like you. They won't. I won't allow that to happen. They will never need to make the same decisions that you had to... Forced to become murderers, just to keep their sanity... No, not those girls. That will never be them. And had I known at the time, that would never have been you. You would have never even have a chance to kill those men, Olivia. Not before I did."

Olivia said nothing as she merely stared at him.

"That is my promise to you. Accept it or don't, it's yours either way..." said Anton as he opened the door and paused before leaving "...Despite everything, this was still a lovely evening, Olivia....I appreciate our conversation, and I wish you a goodnight."

With that, Anton left the room.

Alone now and sitting motionless, Olivia stared at the closed door that Anton had disappeared though for some time before the sound of a small explosion coming from somewhere below her, brought her mind back to the present, and she turned back to the table as she listened for any more commotion.

Minutes later the huli jing, who was suddenly looking quite disheveled, entered the room and gave her a fresh glass of wine. Which was courtesy of the man who had just paid their bill before leaving.

Correctly assuming that the fox girl was talking about Anton, Olivia grudgingly accepted the wine before shooing the girl away.

Placing the glass on the table, Olivia rose from her seat and gathered herself together before turning to leave. Glancing back at the glass of wine, she sighed in annoyance before quickly downing it and slamming the glass back on the table.

Her irritation clear on her face, the dark elf made her way through the building, ignoring a cordoned off section of heavily burnt walkway as she did, and stepped outside to stand beneath the porte cochere.

Putting off summoning her chauffeur for a moment, Olivia looked up at the night sky and took in the mesmerizing sight of the Life Stream swirling high above her.

As she stood there, breathing in the cool night air and gazing up at the twinkling lights, she began to go over her conversation with Anton, and this just worked to annoy her even further.

She had no idea why she had told him as much as she had, as she certainly hadn't planned to ever tell anyone about that particular aspect of her life. Such things should have been taken to the grave after all. And yet, here she was, spilling everything out to what was essentially a complete stranger, or really what was in all actuality even worse than that, an enemy. Her enemy.

Although he apparently didn't see her as such... Or at least he claimed he didn't want to...

Why did she tell him everything... Why did she tell him the truth...

Because he asked... Because he wanted to know... Because he was the first person who has ever cared enough to try and find out...

Why did she feel so comfortable while talking to him, insulting him, and even threatening him... She knew he was dangerous just from the fact that he had apparently taken out several of her assassins... And yet not once did she ever feel like she was in any actual danger while with him...

Nor did she ever sense a single drop of fear in him at all...

Who even is this man...

Glancing over to the designated portal area, Olivia began to wonder what Anton might be doing right then. He had said he was going to go home to the girls, which meant that he was probably still at the house she had bought to keep her daughters in. Meaning that the bastard was currently in her house, right now, with her things, and her daughters... Well he could keep her daughters if he wanted them so badly, and that house, really. What did she care anyway. She had already taken all of her things out of there. Well, all her things except for...

Olivia's eyes widened as her mind suddenly jumped to the vault in her room, and the items she kept hidden away in there.

"Crap." whispered the dark elf to herself as she made to walk to the portal area.

Anton was smart, or at least as far as she could tell he seemed smart. She could admit that much. And it wasn't unlikely that if given enough time that he would find her vault, and then he'd... he'd... He'd do what, exactly...

Slowing her steps, Olivia began to consider why she was so concerned with Anton finding her vault. It wasn't as though he would even know why she had those items. Though, he did know enough about her past to possibly figure out why... Still though. What would it even matter if he knew... Why did she suddenly feel the need to explain herself to him... Why did she even care if he thought less of her... He was her enemy... Right...

Coming to a stop just before the portal area, Olivia felt herself wobble a bit as she found her footing.

The wine had definitely begun to affect her, though she did still have her wits about her, at least for the most part.

She hesitated for a moment before looking down at the small clasp purse she held clutched in her hand. As she stared at it, her resolve suddenly hardened.

She had no reason to second guess herself here. This was her house after all. And she could visit her house if she wanted to. Whenever she wanted to. And no one was going to stop her. Not even him...

Right, him...

Opening her purse, Olivia quickly pulled out a small collapsible mirror that once opened would float in the air in front of her. Checking herself over real quick, she straightened her bangs a bit, dabbed at her lip gloss and adjusted her bust by bending forwards and maneuvering the top of her dress back and forth until her cleavage was once again being showcased just right.

Satisfied with the way she looked, the dark elf put her mirror away and commenced to rummage about in her purse until with a tiny cry of excitement, she pulled out a small, coin-like portal token.

Her mind now racing to try and figure out what she was going to say when she saw him, Olivia activated the portal, and after taking a deep breath, stepped through it.