Pride

Book Four

Volume 14

Ch. 190 Pride

Pov.

-Kara-

"What the heck were you thinking?" Cana folds the laundry on the other side of the bed as I lay back, staring at the ceiling.

…

She jumps on the bed to get my attention

"I knew you were evil but I never would've guessed you'd provoke the wrath of God!" She points at my chest, her eyebrows crunched

…

"Lo, the wrath of God descendeth from the heavens, blazing 'gainst all ungodliness and the foul deeds of men, who, clad in wickedness, do bind the truth in chains of unrighteousness!"

"What?"

She frowns before plopping onto my lap.

…

"Did you say goodbye to everyone?"

"Yep!" She smiles.

"Now what?"

…

"Fiore?" She smiles

I shake my head.

"There's something I want to resolve before then…"

She tilts her head. "Resolve How?"

…

"I'm not sure yet…"

She claps happily before tossing her arms around my neck.

She locks her fingers behind my neck and smiles.

Even that was enough to put my mind at ease

I watch her lips… her eyes, the way they reflect the flickering light above us as the girls shriek and giggle in the background.

I hold her lower back as I bring her closer.

Our lips tangle into a kiss as our tongues Grace back and forth.

The room quickly echoed her cries and moans. As we fill what feels like the bottomless pit that will always stand between us

…

Months later 

…

Pride is Wrath, Wrath is Envy, Envy is Lust, Lust is Greed, Greed is Gluttony, Gluttony is Sloth, and Sloth is Death

But my Wrath… it's so dim… she's burned it all away

No matter what I do. Or how far apart we are.

The rage inside me is gone.

What is left?

…

I sit on top of the Shack I built just outside of Rome.

We've arrived.

Back to where it all began…

Should I erase it? 

Like I did Japan?

It'd be easy that way…

We can keep moving along to Fiore.

"Hya! Ha-cha!" I hear Cana and Eri in the distance.

I teleport to the trio sparing by the river.

Lia was punching a bush as Cana and Eri wrestled on the ground.

"I… w-win!" Eri Grumbles

"N-no way-." Cana groans.

Eri lets her go. Lia hurries over to Comfort Cana, talking gibberish about the flower she picked and how close Cana was to beating her.

"Apa-Apa!" Lia tugs on Eri's dress, pointing at me.

"No way papa too-strong" she pats her head.

"Eris-Scared, Eris-Scared." Cana teases

"What? No I'm not!" She blushes

"Go on! Show him what you got!" Cana shoves her

"What?! But-."

…

"Fine… show me."

…

"Okay…" she perks up

I stride back as she lunges at me

Her little fist flies by my chest.

She spins around to kick my arm.

I tap the back of her knee with my tail, breaking her balance.

She stumbles aside as Lia Claps on Cana's Lap, both of them giggling hysterically

 I cross my arms

She lunges at me again

I glide and step around her fists without any effort.

She seemed more talented than Cana when it Came to fighting

But could definitely sharpen her form.

After she gives up on trying to lay a finger on me I head for the Capital.

…

It was absolutely atrocious.

Even more so than I remember.

The depravity of the Minister has infected the kingdom like a virus.

And Esdeath…

She just sat around and let it happen.

"My Beloved." She smiles, her legs crossed.

I could sense her energy ever since we entered the continent. Except… there's a second presence inside her.

A dark sinister presence engraved into her very soul

On top of that.. she's strong… more than ever.

And Budo…

"Kara…" he glares at me.

"Tch." Not even worth a second glance .

"Had your fun, darling?"

"What the hell is this?" Don't you know how to run a kingdom?

"Dont like it?" She pouts "why'd you leave?"

"Cause I'm no dog."

"For how long did you kiss his ass? And where did you get this power?"

"It's an imperial arm. The Demon Extract."

That explained the two little Horns on her head and the leather black wings hugging her sides. 

"Sounds pathetic." I cross my arms

She grips the arm rest of her throne

I smile.

She laughs sarcastically, trying to hide her fuming rage, before they slowly become more genuine.

"I'm glad you've returned, Kara. Except you're different now."

"I'm not, just here to pay off my debt. I don't want anything to do with this Nation, if you can even call it that." I raised the Diamond Eldian Card.

"An Eldian Prince." She rubs her thighs together "you think you can put a price on that blood?" She licks her lips.

"My Blood? Is that what you want? An Heir?"

"No." She stands up. "I want you to feel the same humiliation you left me to endure."

"I want you to kneel."

"Kneel?" The very word sparks the rage buried inside me

"What humiliation? You decided on your own fate, didn't you?"

"We were supposed to rule together. But you and your pride couldn't handle just a few more years."

"A few more years? Of what, slaving?"

"Yes! It took us ten years to get to that point and you ran away! Once I got my hands on the Demon Extract the Empire was Mine, not even Budo stood in my way…"

…

I forget. Ten years is a spec in my lifespan. Ten years for her is her childhood. She spent her youth and into adulthood with me.

…

"So what? You think I give a shit what you felt?"

"No I don't." She snaps her fingers. "That's why I will give you a choice."

The doors to the side burst open. A child about the same age as Eri led by a chain stumbles into the room along with a male in his thirties with long blonde hair and a beard.

"This is my little niece." she smiles. "Let's see just how much you've changed." She waves her over

They drag the child over and shove her on her knees beside me. And they take the boy up to Esdeath, by her throne, where they held a sawblade up to his throat

"If I cannot have you. Then produce for me an heir, through my slave girl. Or kneel, and come to me." She opens her arms.

I look at the girl.

She reeked of piss and blood.

To think, this is how she'd treat her own blood…

Am I any different?

I look at the boy. His head was hanging down, he smelled familiar though I couldn't exactly tell why…

"You can walk away… with your pride, and the blood… of your only son… in your hands…" 

…

The boy lets out a blood curling cry. That echoes across the entire castle as they began sawing his throat

"Son? What son?"

The girl began sobbing to herself. Begging for Mercy under her breath.

"Please God, Please save him." She whimpers

"Who?"

She looks up at me

"Thorfinn"

…

Hearing the name belonging to the boy breaks something in my chest.

Thorfinn? That name…

I acted before I could even figure out what it was.

But Esdeath stood in my way

Our clashing fist blows us apart. I catch myself by the girl and snap into Super Saiyan

Esdeath smiles widely, her suffocating aura bursts into every corner of the kingdom the two little horns on her head curling into that of a ram as if she summoned the devil himself.

That alone freezes me in place.

If I move… I die

If I breathe… I die

If I refuse… I die

But why?

Why can't I move?

This Preseance… it's my own…

All I can think of were the girls and… Thorfinn

Where has he been all these years? Why am I seeing him now?

I look at the girl

A fight with Esdeath will last forever. He doesn't have that much time.

This girl… or my pride…

She looks up at me. Her teary eyes dragging me back home.

Eri and Lia…

Defiling her would be like defiling my own Children…

…

I slowly sink down… onto one knee…

But why? It was never an issue until now… now that I've made it one…

Trembling with rage I bow my head.

Esdeath heels click as she comes closer

The girl sets her small hands on mine

"Very good." Esdeath reaches for my head

But before she could touch me I teleported to Thorfinn.

I glare at Esdeath who doesn't bother to stop me

From there I teleport us out of the capital,

"Kara?!" Cana jumps "who's this?!" She hurries inside, pulling her hair back into a pony tail as she tells Eri to clear the table.

"He's hurt really badly, you have to help him Mrs!" The girl sobs behind Cana.

"Who is this, Kara? Where did you find him?"

I shake my head.

"Honey, go bring me a bucket of water from the well just outside." She tells the girl

"Yes ma'am!"

Eri brings a bunch of cloths as Cana already begins to close his wound with her magic.

"I'm sensing a lot of cursed energy, Kara…"

…

"Just fix him."

…

I step outside.

I stumble through the forest and into a nearby creek.

I fall on my hands and knees, my head spinning and my insides churning.

I wouldn't bow to a thousand worlds. Not even to God himself. 

Everything I've done has only ever been for myself.

So what did I gain from this?

All I've done is drag my Pride through the dirt.

I don't want to let go.

I dip my head into the water.

…

What am I without my Pride?

…

What will I become?

…

-to be continued