Quest for the Eighty-Eight Keys

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Decisions, Decisions

WARNING: MENTIONS OF TORTURE AND REFERENCES TO SEXUAL ASSAULT!

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"We should give him a chance," Rufus argued for the umpteenth, looking between Freed and Midnight as the three of them stood in the middle of the hotel room that their small group had gotten for the night.

Midnight shook his head, "there's too much of a risk. What if it's a trick? He could just be trying to get us to trust him so he could kill Lucy, and maybe the rest of us, while we sleep."

Rufus argued back, "we don't need to trust him. All we need to do is hear him out, at the very least."

Freed countered, crossing his arms over his chest, "I agree with Midnight. We don't even need him."

Rufus turned to Freed, his eyes narrowed into a glare, "don't need him? He knows his comrades well enough to know how to capture them. He also knows more than we do about Starfall."

Midnight sighed and closed his eyes as he stuffed his hands into his coat pocket. "We don't need to know anything about any of them, or a bunch of information about Starfall. We just need to collect as many keys as we can before they do, and then capture them so we can take their keys and throw them into the Magic Council's prison."

Rufus turned his gaze onto Midnight. "It would help us in convincing the Magic Council of their crimes. It'll also help with figuring out who they are and why they are doing this, for their trial. Starfall is something that the Magic Council needs to know about."

Freed was the one who responded, "We can gather information about them once we capture them, something with Starfall. We do not need Nyx."

Rufus questioned, his voice softened noticeably, "and what about Nyx? Why should he be given a serious punishment when he had a change of heart and didn't take part in the worst of their crimes? If anything, he's more of an unwilling accomplice."

Midnight groaned, opening his eyes to stare at Rufus in disbelief. "Rufus, don't tell me you're actually convinced that he's innocent in all of the."

Rufus shook his head. "Not innocent, just not as bad as Terra and Lust."

Freed questioned, "so what? Do you believe him when he said that he never wanted to do any of this? That he truly does want to help us?"

Rufus responded softly, "isn't it possible?" He then added, his voice a bit louder, "maybe it's true. I'm not saying that we should unwaveringly trust him, I just think that we should consider that he could have been genuine and hear his out."

Midnight almost yelled, "he tortured Lucy almost to death! He allowed Yukino, Sorano, and the Queen to be tortured to death! He kidnapped and tortured you-"

Rufus snapped back, "and you tried to destroy the world twice, tried to kill Lucy and her friends during both of those attempts, and tried to use Lucy as a sacrifice!"

Midnight's eyes widened and he flinched away, albeit slightly. He looked taken aback as anger continued to swim in his red eyes.

Rufus added, his voice quieter, but still stern, "you have no right to speak on his crimes when you've done worse!"

Lucy, having spent the entire argument looking through the book that Rufus had gotten from Nyx, looked up at Rufus' outburst. She jumped off of the table that she was sitting on, placing the closed book on it next to her. She raised her hands in a placating manner and spoke in a calm and stern tone, "let's calm down. We can't afford to fight."

The three men looked at her for a few moments before Rufus took a step away from Midnight, responding with a much calmer tone, "you're right, I apologize."