The Red Hand

Interlude 3 – The Returnee Forums.

One day while Hishya was visiting, she brought up an interesting idea that she and some of the other FWO survivors had.

"You guys made a private forum?" Akagi asked while drinking her coffee. Kana was still at school, and Hishya decided to pop by to say hello; she had been coming regularly, and her and Kana seemed to be getting along quite well.

"Yeah, I thought it would be nice if we could all stay connected." She smiled. "It's really hard for anyone who wasn't in FWO to understand just how it was, so it's kind of like a help group. Adjusting back to regular life has been rough, especially for the people who didn't keep their abilities." Yumi poured her some tea. "Oh, thank you." She gave an awkward smile to the priestess. The two still didn't get along, but things were a little bit better than before.

"Is it like 90% people complaining about those who kept their abilities?" Akagi asked with a chuckle.

"Eh, he he." Hishya nervously laughed. "That's part of it, but you also have a lot of people who talk about you as well." Akagi's recent actions only further incited a flame war between the survivors.

"Oh?" Akagi sat forward. "Hearing that makes me want to pop in myself. Send me a link." she gave quite a terrible grin.

"Please don't go overbored." Hishya shook her head. "I would prefer not to have to get in the middle of an all-out battle between you." Akagi had a habit of getting under other people's skin, and Hishya knew she would absolutely enjoy getting a rise out of the other players.

Hishya used her AR screen to send Akagi an invite to the private group. Once she was in, Akagi decided to drop straight into the general discussion.

BlueDog.

• Man, I can't believe it's been almost three months since we got out, gonna be weird celebrating Halloween and not seeing the pumpkin monsters.

Excelsior

• Yeah, but I'm ok with that. Those fucking things always gave me the creeps.

Akagi

• Some of my subordinates have some neat summons; maybe we've got a pumpkin or two somewhere. At the very least, we can have a truly spooky Halloween.

BlueDog

• YO! If someone is fucking with us and used the name Akagi, it's not funny man.

Hishya

• That's the real Akagi; I'm sitting with her having lunch, so I can confirm that she's very real. XD

Blackbox

• You let her in here? WHY!

Hishya

• Because she has just as much of a right as any of us. She is an FWO survivor, and that's what this group is all about...

Excelsior

• Is it just me, or does it feel like Akagi has something on Hishya that's making her act funny? Like what kind of blackmail could she possibly have on you Hishya?

Akagi

• No blackmail was needed! She just needs to suck up to me so she can spend time with my sister. ;)

Hishya

• Not funny.

Blackbox

• Yo, wait WHAT.

Excelsior

• Since when is this a thing?????

BlueDog

• Hishya sold out humanity for a girlfriend?????

Akagi

• Oh man, you guys should see her face right now; it's a combination of dying from embarrassment and pure rage.

Superbia (Replying to BlueDog) (Hishya sold out humanity for a girlfriend?????)

• Don't act like you wouldn't.

BlueDog

• No comment.

Excelsior

• So Akagi, when do you plan on taking over the world? I for one welcome our new Demon Empress.

Blackbox

• Dude be out here ready to sell out humanity at the drop of a hat..... But seriously, when you take over, where do I apply to join the demon army? XD

Akagi

• God running an entire planet sounds like hell, pass. Emperor Gustaf was miserable just dealing with one nation's administration. I don't want to even imagine running like 200.

Purple Rose

• Oh great, Akagi's in here now.

Akagi

• Don't act like you're not happy to see me. :)

Purple Rose

• Listen, just because I don't hold you responsible for Kyojaro's death anymore doesn't mean I like you or what you do.

BlueDog

• Wait, so was that whole thing with the NPCs true??? I mean I saw that priestess girl with Akagi in the game, and now she's in our world but...

Purple Rose

• Yeah, that was a big fuck up on our part. The NPCs were very much real and had feelings and thoughts of their own...... Yumi showed me that herself........

BlueDog

• Oh fuck.....

Superbia

• I always thought they seemed too smart... Akagi, how long did it take you to figure it out?

Akagi

• Took a minute, but by the end of year one, I was convinced. Once I met Yumi in Karkul, that was the end of any doubts. There was just no way an AI program could act that genuine.

Blackbox

• Oh, man..... I was so mean to that girl; I thought she was just some annoying quest-giver.

Superbia

• And just how many times did we make fun of those who thought they were real? I even called Mixu some choice words.

Akagi

• Nothing you can do about it now, and honestly, the ones that came with me don't really care; besides Yumi. Not gonna sugarcoat it; she hates you all.

BlueDog

• She's not gonna like teleport behind us and kill us out of revenge right?

Akagi

• No, she won't. At most, she'll be rude to you or yell at you. But killing like that isn't gonna happen; she's not that kind of person.

BlueDog  

• Phew.

Blackbox

• Phew.

Superbia

• Akagi, might seem like a weird question, but what are you going to do now? Taking over the world might have been a joke, but you have the power to basically do whatever you want. I can't imagine your going to sit around quietly and watch the years go by.

Purple Rose

• That's what I would like to know.

Excelsior

• Yeah, for real.

Akagi

• First, I will formally establish a clan with all my followers. I've been excised from my birth family, so I will take my own family name and induct them into it.

• Second, I will continue my work from FWO. I'm still an assassin, and that's what I want to do even in this world, but I will likely have my clan branch out into more activities.

• Third, I will travel the world. I want to see it all; it's not like I have anything holding me back. Time is no longer a factor for me, so I can enjoy myself.

• Fourth, I will help my sister. Joking about Hishya's relationship with her aside, I want to make sure she lives a happy life. She's the only family I ever had and the only person who stuck by me through the worst time in my life.

• Fifth...... There is something I might want, and I'm going to see if I can get it. It's more of a vanity project than anything else, and I'll leave it as a surprise.

Hishya

• I didn't expect you to have such concrete answers.

Excelsior

• A clan? Like a yakuza clan?

Superbia

• I'm pretty sure that many of those who survived will take issue with you killing as you did in FWO. They can't just ignore you now; since this is the real world.

Akagi

• Not a yakuza clan, more like a proper feudal clan. I never bothered to formalize things in the game, and I want to rectify that mistake. As for other players... Bring it. If you want to fight, I'll fight. I don't run from challenges; just know I won't show mercy. If you point your blade at me with the intent to kill, know that I will do the same. And I'll remind all of you, don't bring outsiders into our conflict. Because you'll regret it.

Superbia

• .......

BlueDog

• Yeah, no, I'm good.

Excelsior

• Same.

Blackbox

• Nope, not interested in dying.

Akagi continued her conversation with some of the other survivors for a while longer before logging out.

"Well, that didn't go as bad as I expected." Hishya slid down in her seat. "I was worried things would escalate into all-out war."

"There are only 99 of us that have our abilities; no matter how much the rest dislike me, I doubt they will communicate that directly to me." Now that they were in the real world, the players without their abilities were helpless if Akagi wanted to do anything to them.

"That's true, but.... can you please keep this a secret?" Hishya looked at her, and Akagi nodded.

"I have a feeling you'll be getting another client in the not-to-distant future." Hishya's voice got serious.

"Oh?" Akagi was interested. "Can you tell me more?"

"I've only got second-hand info, but I'm pretty sure one of the players who didn't keep their powers wants you to kill one that did. Something about a family dispute." Hishya sighed. Even after all this time, bad blood between players still existed, she had managed to quash such issues during their drive to escape FWO, but now that was no longer possible. "I don't know anything more specific than that, and I would rather things get resolved without bloodshed if possible."

"Well, if they come to me for help, I won't turn them away outright. But, I hope they understand just what kind of price they'll have to pay for my services." Akagi grinned.

"What will you even ask for? They can't possibly pay you, and I doubt they would have anything valuable enough to work as a substitute." Hishya shook her head. Akagi's prices were high; but reasonable for the game. But, in the real world, the cost was not something an ordinary person could ever afford.

"Hishya," Akagi leaned forward. "What do Demons usually request as payment?"

It took Hishya a moment to understand what she meant. "Don't even joke about that." Hishya sighed. "Even you can't do something like that, and what do you even do with a soul anyway? Eat it? That thought is quite unpleasant." Hishya thought such a joke was in poor taste. And the idea of a soul-eating Demon running around the world was also not very fun.

"At the moment, you are correct. I haven't the foggiest idea how to interact with, let alone take someone's soul." Akagi chuckled. "But I am a Demon; there will always be a price to pay for my help, and I'm quite flexible on what that payment will be." Akagi had a history of taking in-kind payments as well as money. If they truly wanted her help and couldn't pay, Akagi would likely require their servitude as payment.

"Yeah, remind me never to ask you for a favor. I would prefer not to owe one to a Demon." Hishya pinched the bridge her nose, which caused Akagi to let out a loud laugh.

"I don't blame you. I don't blame you at all." Akagi's laughter continued.