Awakening [GxG]

50

With Pheleraz Zoleris invoking Code 668, Trixan could not participate in Hellstorm's interrogation. However, Hellstorm stubbornly refused to answer any of Pheleraz's questions unless he spoke to Trixan in private first. Pheleraz had reluctantly agreed and so now, here was Trixan, all alone with Hellstorm.

Looking into the eyes of the man she'd known all her life, the man who was the closest thing to a father to her, she realized that this was harder than she had thought it would be. Could she really be detached from this case? So many questions puzzled her mind. How had Hellstorm survived in Bezvar? How did he escape? When did he have a daughter?

"We thought you were..." Trixan's words trailed off.

"...dead?" Hellstorm added. "There were times I wished I did. It was... it was hell."

Trixan swallowed. "If I knew you were alive all this time--"

"Bezvaros would have killed you. He's too powerful. I'm glad you didn't come after me, Trixi." Hellstorm smiled. "Are you doing all right? Those motherfuckers in Agon are not giving you a hard time, are they?"

That made Trixan smile. "They would have to try harder."

He nodded with a smirk. "I knew I chose well." 

He'd always believed in her even when no one did. This was the man who thought her everything she knew, the man who instilled in her a sense of discipline, responsibility, and family. She wished they were reuniting under different circumstances. Maybe Pheleraz was right. Talking to Hellstorm was a bad idea. 

Hellstorm sighed. "So, what's the Order's plan for me? They think I'm a demon, don't they? Even if I were a demon, which I'm not," he paused for emphasis, "how is that my fault? I ended up in Bezvar because I was doing my job as a vanquisher. Why am I the one being treated like a villain here?"

"You're not a demon?" Trixan raised a brow. "Then how do you explain your new demonic power? Why do you have a portal full of demon energy?"

"There is an explanation for that."

"Are you going to tell me?"

Hellstorm was silent for a moment. "Trixi, all you need to know is that I was tortured endlessly by Bezvaros's demons and somehow I ended up with this power."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"Bezvaros or his royal demons didn't turn you into a demon?"

"No." Hellstorm's heartbeat was calm enough to show that he was speaking the truth. Then again, he knew about Trixan's sound elema. It wouldn't be too hard for him to manipulate his bodily vibrations to appear truthful. She'd seen him do it once on a mission several years ago. "I simply acquired this power out of sheer will. It's full of demonic energy because I acquired it in Bezvar. But believe me, I am not a demon."

Hellstorm had always been honest with her. He always said that lies were born out of fear, and he feared no one so he had no reason to lie. Trixan completely trusted him. The only problem was that right now, she wasn't sure if the man sitting before him was the same Hellstorm she once knew. She wanted to believe that he could not be controlled by anyone, not even the Demon King himself. But at the same time, she had to be cautious. She couldn't let her emotions cloud her judgment. That could pose dire consequences not only for the Order but the entire world.

"Why did you meet with the Archmage?" Trixan asked.

"Well, the fucker sent me to Bezvar." He laughed mirthlessly.

"So you went there for revenge."

"If I went there for revenge, Ziegler would already be dead."

"Then why were you there?" asked Trixan. "The vanquishers who arrested you said Ziegler was in the middle of a summon when they arrived. And you tried to protect him. Who was he summoning?"