Chapter 88: Interlude Twenty-One: Scarlet - The Demon Hare’s Return

Scarlet’s gaze fixated on a black collar Relica produced from inside the bag; weird red scribbles flowed around the outer edges.

"W-What’s that for—you aren’t going to put that on me?!"

"Hmm-hehe. I haven’t decided yet!" Relica mused, running her index finger along the outer ring. "As I was saying before we were so rudely interrupted, I decided to spend the first day and a half of The Oscillation with one of my best friends in Madagascar; she’ll be the queen soon, I’m sure...but she asked me a rather prophetic question..."

Relica turned to stare at her, Scarlet doing her best to buy time for the one person she had been able to rely on since her life had blown apart. "What would happen if all the work I’d done with Adele fell apart, and...I didn’t have an answer for her, which was, mmh-hmm, embarrassing for someone like me. And look where we are!"

She gestured at her with a sigh. "Her precious daughter, the prized centerpiece of everything she had planned, was turned against her by some nineteen-year-old Korean girl... It’s mind-boggling, really!" she laughed, rubbing her forehead before wagging a finger at her.

"I’ve seen your mother do everything from toppling entire governments with a five-minute cafe conversation to ending wars by complimenting someone’s shoes; I was your mother’s greatest fan! Much of my criminal empire was built on her god-like ability to predict how people would react and where they would be decades in advance... And a college girl has blindsided her? Mmmh..."

Relica shook her head while selecting a few occult cards off the table to play with, twisting them around her fingers.

"If it was just your mother’s fault, then fair enough, hehe, we can’t always be perfect, but... I cannot get over the fact that I somehow failed to kill her. The report of her death was wrong, and I checked my records... It was corrected, heh, minutes after I confirmed it. There is something...off about Rachel. Do you see what I’m getting at, dear?"

Scarlet didn’t want to listen to a single word, but she honestly didn’t get it.

"So...Rachel’s misfortune ability won against my mom’s foresight?"

Relica tossed the cards on the table and rubbed her face, her tone becoming frustrated. "Hehe... I hoped you were at least somewhat bright to be our messianic figure, but I suppose you are only eighteen. I don’t know what I expected, to be honest. Not...this, I’m sure," she grunted, gesturing at her.

"Thanks?" Scarlet huffed, hands tightening against her arms. "I never asked to be a messianic figure. What, you think Rachel’s manipulating me like someone else—oh, I know, my mom! How can I even trust I am her daughter, huh? If she knew where all of this stuff would happen, then maybe she stole me. Think of that."

"Pfft! Sweetie, I did only a decade and a half before this conversation, not that I particularly care about that detail. No... Think!" she snarled, jabbing the side of her head.

"Wait... When did you try to kill Rachel?"

"When? I tried to kill Rachel when she was nine—an entire decade before her powers—and she escaped, seemingly messing up a critical plot point in your mother’s meticulous plan. Yet...

"Mmm-hmm-hmm. Your mother didn’t see a single variation or alteration to her plots when the cause and effect of Rachel’s survival should have been seen many times over by now, yet you’re telling me that it wasn’t until Rachel somehow slipped into your life—the core of everything—that her existence became known to our extensive world network?"

She shook her head with an angry chuckle. "No... If Rachel had the power to counter the Scarlet Hand’s eye, then she must be something... I don’t know—something rivaling or more powerful than the entity that gave Adele her knowledge, which is terrifying. What is Rachel? Because she is no human."

Scarlet wanted to bite back and say, ’No shit, Sherlock; she’s a hare,’ but held her tongue. It was a valid question after Relica had laid it out, and Scarlet wasn’t sure that Rachel knew the answer herself. It didn’t change her opinion, though.

Glaring at the nervous witch, Scarlet’s shaking hand stilled. "It doesn’t matter."

"Oh? Heh. And how can you possibly say that?"

"Because," Scarlet’s fingers tightened against her thighs, "I trust Rachel. She’s honest with me when everyone else lies. She tries...and hasn’t treated me like the monster...the monster my mother turned me into!"

Relica shivered, nodding as she studied her expanding blood spears. "That...is certainly a fair point. Do you want me to release these kids? I’m sure your fairy friend might kill me, despite their lives hanging in the balance. What are two hundred and fifty lives to those I might murder in the future?"

Scarlet’s eyes fell to the ground, guilt flooding her belly.

"Haha. I mean, I would love to see you all try. It would be fun to see how much it hurt you to see all the suffering you caused before realizing I could get away at any moment! I always have a few ways out, and the guilt of burning children alive for nothing? Haha. Wow."

"You’re more of a monster than I could ever be," Scarlet growled, her frame starting to quake again with the woman’s hungry gaze.

Relica’s smile turned reflective and melancholy as she picked up her collar again to play with it.

"You know...I can agree with that to some degree... The lengths we go to in order to fulfill the dreams of those we love can be...terrifying. I’ve learned that I would sooner murder my own children than see what I love taken away from me, and yes...that is quite a different state of mind. I cannot justify that, but I will; I am just another flawed woman blinded by love."

Perking up, she giggled and unfastened the collar before holding it out. "If you want to save these kids. I will release all of them if you only put this on of your own free will and hold one of these cards against your forehead and the other against your heart. Not one more soul will be lost; the decision is yours. I want to put your mother under my thumb. Care to stick it to her?"

Scarlet hesitantly took the cold metal, and a soft smile lifted her mouth while remembering the muzzle she’d been told to put on—a collar for a monster—but she also knew Twilight nor Veronica would ever allow themselves to be controlled; she could put her trust in that.

"Are you sure you want to do this—what will it do?"

Relica shrugged, carefully selecting two occult cards and placing them on her lap. "Mind control, among other safeguards. A powerful slave collar my friend obtained from her last quest before her Legend Quest became available. I plan to help her out after this is done; nasty piece of work, her!"

Scarlet pulled the collar around her neck; it snapped together and tightened to a slightly uncomfortable degree. Her blood didn’t attack when it was her own actions, and that was what Relica counted on; she was caging herself, and Veronica said she was in charge.

Astra hissed. "I hope you know what you’re doing, Little Fang..."

"Ack... I’ll be fine," she whispered. "Umm, what level were you again, Relica?"

The witch’s lips peeled back to show her teeth as Scarlet did as she was told and put the cards against her forehead and chest. "Level 10. Murder, empire building, divine favor, and quests will get you all sorts of Experience."

"Damn. She’s OP! Little Fang? Scarlet?!"

Scarlet’s world spun, and she fell to the side to drop into a dark abyss, thunder shaking her bones. She didn’t resist as she entered the storm, flashes of crimson electricity brightening the swirling clouds. Relica’s violet eyes filled the skies, and Scarlet laughed as they widened; if there was someone who deserved to meet a true monster, it was this woman.

The ruby lightning intensified, and just before slipping into the hurricane, the streaks struck Relica; in the next second, the witch was falling with her. She had no clue what kind of fiend was trapped within her, but she would find out.

Veronica’s dark chuckle came on the whirlwind. The girl Scarlet knew had likely died when her mother cut her in two; this was now Scarlet’s world.

The red sea, twisters, and maelstroms unveiled with blood rain pelting their skin, welcoming them into the heartless hellscape of her inner world. Scarlet braced herself for the impact. Yet, entering the crimson ocean was like falling into cotton candy; the sweet flavor filled her mouth with life—then it was gone.

Blinking, Scarlet’s blurry vision fixated on the woman kneeling across from her. Her large, purple eyes darted left and right, looking at things beyond her sight, yet her smile and voice were elated.

"The terrible truth...is beautiful. How can you reject such a...gift? You have been lied to—we all have... No. It’s impossible..."

Scrambling back, Scarlet locked in place as she followed Relica’s wide eyes to the street, looking through the walls to spot a golden cut in open space.

Rachel walked through with a grin, bathed in black fire and crackling red electricity. She wore some kind of fitted, anime-like formal uniform; it had an unmistakable military-school look, complete with a short skirt, thigh-high stockings, and square heels.

Scarlet had to blink to be sure she was seeing things right because Rachel had raven-black hair, a demon-like horn curling out from the side of her head, and a massive fantasy-like hammer slung over her shoulder.

But perhaps the strangest addition was the nervous little bunny child with a similar aura and appearance, including the demon horn, that jumped out to hide behind her.

She’s back... She won! Did Rachel become a mom?! What...the heck happened in there?

The black flames and crimson electricity dwindled and died, Rachel’s horn crumbled to dust, and her black hair returned to its stunning white hue. Her smile softened as she bent down to speak to the nervous bunny girl, no older than five or six, while fixing her matching military outfit.

Astra’s excited voice burned her ears as he spoke to Selvaria. "Oh, and don’t get your knickers in a twist; he’s gone-gone. Someone’s doing some teleport shenanigans—probably MI6, and... Hold up. Blimey! I think Rachel’s back, and rockin’ a look?! Damn, girl, got some bling!"

Maria was less than a street away; Rachel seemed to notice her as her head tilted that way and picked up the nearby discarded walkie-talkie on the street. Astra projected the lunar hare’s voice across the network, her sure tone relieving Scarlet’s tight chest.

"I said I’d come back, Scarlet."

The golden portal vanished as a surge of power hit Scarlet like a truck and made Astra choke. "Hold up, love—I just went straight from Level 5 to 8. The bloody hell?!"

"Yeah. Legend Quests are fun..." Rachel laughed. "Astra, give me an update."

///SMENote///

How about a Power Stone Goal?

Every 200 Power Stones this week = +1 Extra Chapter

We could have the normal 2 Daily Chapters... Or +2 Extra Chapters Every Day. The power is in your hands! Or should I say Stones?