Chapter 121: Anger Management

The wall cracked when Grace hit it.

Again.

She slid down, leaving another bloody streak to join the collection she’d been painting across the chamber. Her remaining hand scraped against stone as she tried to catch herself.

Tried and failed. Instead, she hit the ground face-first.

“Pathetic.” The Flame stood over her. “Is this really the best you can do? A goddess like you, being reduced to this?”

Grace pushed herself up. Blood dripped from… everywhere, really. Her nose. Her mouth. The stump where her arm used to be.

“I’m… just getting started.”

“You’ve been saying that for an hour.”

Had it been an hour? Felt longer. Felt like days.

Grace made it to her knees. Then, through pure stubbornness, to her feet.

The Flame circled her. Predator and prey. Except the prey kept getting back up.

“You know what I’ve realized?” The Flame’s sword dragged along the ground. Sparks flew. “You’re not even trying to fight back.”

“Hey, that’s not true. I’m giving it my all here.”

“No, you’re not. You’re enduring. There’s a difference.” She stopped directly in front of Grace. “You’re letting me hurt you. Why?”

Grace wiped blood from her eye. The good eye. The other one was swollen shut.

“I dunno. Maybe I deserve it.”

The Flame’s fire flared.

“DESERVE IT?” Her fist connected with Grace’s stomach. Grace doubled over but didn’t fall. Progress. “You think this is about what you deserve?”

Another hit. This time to the ribs. Something cracked.

“This isn’t about you! It was never about you!” The Flame grabbed her by the throat. “This is about ME. About what you DID to me!”

She threw Grace across the chamber. Grace hit the ground hard, rolled, came up on one knee.

Still standing.

Sort of.

“You filled me with your rage and walked away. Left me to burn with emotions that weren’t even mine.” The Flame’s voice cracked. “Do you know what that’s like? To hate everything and not know why?”

Grace spat blood. Her medallion was getting warm against her chest.

Really warm.

“Yeah? Well… Sorry about that.”

“Stop saying that!” Fire erupted around the Flame. The temperature spiked. “Stop pretending you care!”

She charged.

Grace tried to dodge. Too slow. The Flame’s knee caught her in the chest, lifting her off her feet.

She flew backward. Hit another wall. This time she felt something in her back give way.

[Okay. That’s probably bad.]

The medallion was burning now. Actually burning.

“Get up.” The Flame stalked toward her. “We’re not done.”

To her credit, Grace tried. Unfortunately though, her legs weren’t working right. Everything below her waist felt… wrong.

“I said GET UP!”

The medallion pulsed.

And suddenly, Grace wasn’t in the chamber anymore.

Black.

Everything was black.

Not dark. Not shadows. Just… absence.

Grace floated in nothing. No up. No down. No pain.

Well, that was nice.

[Am I dead? Again? No, probably not. Or, at least I hope not.]

She turned. Or thought she turned. Hard to tell in the void.

A figure stood before her, made of fire. Not the Flame’s controlled burn. This was wild. Chaotic.

Pure rage given form.

It smiled, which was a particularly terrible expression on something that barely had a face.

“I’m what she carries. What Eternia put inside her.” It stepped closer. “One of many.”

“Many? Many what?”

She regretted asking that almost as soon as the question was out.

The void shifted. More figures appeared. Dozens. Hundreds.

All made of fire. All radiating hatred.

[This doesn’t look good at all.]

“Every moment of anger. Every flash of rage. Every time Eternia wanted to burn the world and pushed it away instead.” The first figure spread its arms. “We’re all here. Inside her. Eating her alive.”

Grace looked at them. At these manifestations of discarded emotion.

“That’s… horrible.”

It seemed like they agreed.

Given that they immediately attacked.

All of them. Grace moved on instinct. Dodged the first strike. Ducked the second. Her body worked here. No pain. No missing arm.

Just her and a few hundred rage-made spirits.

[Okay. I think I can work with this. As long as I don’t get beat up just as badly as I did outside of here.]

She summoned her blade. It appeared instantly, glowing brighter than ever.

The first rage-thing lunged. Grace sidestepped, brought her sword up. The blade passed through it like smoke.

The creature dissolved.

[One down. Few hundred to go.]

They came in waves. They moved and attacked like rage given form. No strategy at all, just fury.

Grace danced between them. Her training with Valkyrie kicked in. Duck. Weave. Strike. Move. Each one she cut, managed to slice through, quickly dissolved into nothing.

But there were so many.

[I can’t tell what I’m supposed to do here, honestly. Is this helping? Is this making her feel better? Should I sit back and let them attack me like I did with the Flame herself? I don’t know.]

It didn’t matter, though. She had already decided she’d had enough pain for one day, so she was going to kill these things.

More came. Endless. Relentless.

Grace fought. Not because she was angry. Not because she hated them. But because they needed to go. And she was the only one who could do it.

[This is what it means to purify stuff, right? Yeah, totally. I’m releasing these things. Letting them go… somewhere. Somewhere that’s not here!]

Her blade moved faster. Each strike precise. Each cut merciful.

The rage-things didn’t scream when they died. They sighed.

Relief.

Finally, relief.

Grace lost track of time. Of numbers. There was only the dance. Strike. Move. Strike again.

Until…

Silence.

She stood alone in the void. Breathing hard despite not really having lungs here.

[Any… wow, that was tough. Any left?]

The first figure she cut down then reappeared. It was smaller now, however. Dimmer than before.

It held out its hand. In its palm, a ball of fire. But not angry fire.

Just… warm.

[What is this?]

Figuring she was meant to take this thing, Grace did. As soon as she did, it passed right through her skin and went inside her body. But… Grace didn’t feel any different.

[What did I just do?]

She got no answer. The void shattered.

Grace slammed back into her body. Into the pain. Into the chamber.

The Flame stood over her, sword raised for a killing blow.

But she hesitated.

“What… what did you do?” Her voice shook. “I feel… different.”

Grace pushed herself up with her one good arm. Everything screamed in protest.

Right. What was the appropriate answer to that question?

Well, Grace guessed…

“I set them free. All the rage that wasn’t yours.”

“That’s impossible.”

“Check for yourself.”

The Flame’s fire flickered. Dimmed. For the first time since Grace arrived, she looked… confused.

“I… I don’t understand. The anger. It’s…” She touched her chest. “Quieter.”

Grace held out her hand. With a thought, the fire she’d just been given appeared again.

“I think… I think this is yours. Your actual anger. Not Eternia’s.”

The Flame stared at it.

“Mine?”

“Yeah. Just yours. Nobody else’s.”

Slowly, carefully, the Flame reached out. Their fingers touched.

The small flame passed between them.

And the Flame gasped.

Her fire changed. Still there, but different. Controlled. Purposeful.

Hers.

“I…” Tears made of molten gold ran down her face. “I can think. For the first time in centuries, I can think clearly.”

She fell to her knees.

“What have I done? I… All those…”

Grace collapsed beside her. Everything hurt. Everything was probably broken.

But she reached out with her remaining hand.

“Hey, hey, calm down.”

[Last thing I need is for you to have a meltdown again, lady.]

“I… I did…”

“What you did, you did with someone else’s rage poisoning your mind. Stop.”

Grace wasn’t too sure she even believed that, but she’d say anything right now if it meant not putting the town in danger.

The Flame looked at her. Really looked.

“… You’re not Eternia.”

Grace’s eyes widened. Then, she smiled.

“No, I’m not. Name’s Grace.”

“Grace.” She tested the name. “Why did you let me hurt you?”

“Because you needed to. And because…” Grace shrugged. Regretted it immediately. “Someone should have done this ages ago. Helped you, I mean. Not the getting beat up part.”

The Flame laughed. Wet, broken sound.

“I cut off your arm.”

“Yeah, that sucked.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Eh. I’ll reattach it.”

They sat in silence, in a chamber full of blood and scorch marks.

“What happens now?” The Flame asked.

“Now? Now you get to decide who you want to be. Without anyone else’s emotions fucking it up.”

“I don’t know how.”

“Nobody does at first. You’ll figure it out.”

The Flame stood. Offered Grace her hand.

“Let me help you up. It’s… the least I can do.”

Grace took the hand. Let herself be pulled upright.

Swayed.

Nearly fell.

The Flame caught her.

[Quest Complete: Exhaust the Flame through combat]

[Reward: +20 Bravery]

The notification chimed in her head just as her legs gave out completely.

Worth it.

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