I turn back to the freak. It stares at me, completely still, waiting for my answer.

"Okay, asshole. If you want me to agree, you're gonna have to add one more thing." They don't say anything, so I continue. "Bring me my ex. Kris - Kris Senka. Let me talk to her one more time."

They don't say anything. Not a sound. I can only hear the breathing of the Elementals and the creaking of the soldiers' gear.

Finally, they say, "I will have to discuss this with her. If she agrees, it may be quite some time before I can bring her to you. However, we can arrange a conversation via a communication device, if it is expediency you desire."

"No. I need to see her in the flesh. No video, no robots, no AI. I want to see her face when I ask her why the fuck she did what she did. I need to look her in the eye, and see what she's got to say for herself."

"That will be difficult. And time is of the essence. Please be reasonable."

"No Kris, no deal, asshole," I say, folding my arms. "You look like you got a big dick in the Society. Swing that shit - or get your shit kicked in."

The Beloved raised their hand, and the sound of a hundred cultists tightening their aim fills the the room. "You forget your position, Ferdinand."

"And you forget I told you to keep my name out of your mouth, freak! If Kris isn't here in-"

"Enough!"

It's Zazel. Her face is burning, and she's breathing hard.

I'm stunned as she pushes past, walks in front of the freak, spins around, and points at me.

"I've heard enough, and I'm ending this foolishness right now." She crosses her arms and stares up at the asshole. "I submit. I'll join your cause. Make me a member of the Liberation Society."

I freeze. My brain and body don't seem to be working anymore. "Zazel, what the fuck? What are you saying?" My voice is low and weak. It's like I'm talking through a layer of cotton.

She turns to me, her face red as hell. "Isn't it obvious? I'm joining them."

My mind starts to work again, only now it's going a mile a minute. Why? Why would she do this? Why now? Is she really gonna turn on me? After all the shit we've been through!? What the hell is going on!?

The other girls are all looking back and forth between each other and us. Their faces are tense and confused, bordering on terror.

"What is this!?" Althea snaps. "What are you playing at!?"

"I am merely following the path of greatest freedom, as I always have, and always will. I refuse to be a slave to this doomed paradigm any longer!"

I look her in the eyes, but there's nothing but disgust and fury. "C'mon, Zazel, this isn't-"

"I refuse to continue on like this!" she yells. "I won't do it anymore! You all heard what this - this individual said! We're slaves! Prisoners! Pawns to serve other pawns of secret masters in a twisted cosmic game even I can't comprehend! And what's our role in this game? Why have we lived in isolation and loneliness for hundreds of years? Our bodies are to be used to for the Hero's power and pleasure! And we were designed deliberately by some unthinkably powerful being to crave his love and touch! Made to desire and care about one person - to need and require - one person! Can't any of you see how utterly cruel that is!?"

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Domina reaches out weakly. "Lady Zazel, please-"

"You all heard the same thing I did - even the tyrant confirmed it to be true! Yet you all just put your fingers in your ears and resign to follow this moron to your deaths! I refuse! I want to be free! I want choose who to love, and what I do with my life, as should any other being with a lick of intellect sloshing around in their skulls!"

"Lady Zazel, please!" Domina's on the verge of tears.

"Please stay with us!" Del pleads. "Our pack is not whole without you!"

But Zazel just shakes her head. "And I absolutely refuse to stand by and listen to further blathering about hope in a future that isn't even possible. I have no desire to become the mindless servant of a tyrant or the plaything of a fool, in any case! This is my chance to be free - to live and think on my own terms! I will not pass it up, no matter what anyone may think of me!"

"Zazel," Althea's voice is tense. "This is an act of extreme foolishness. Think about the consequences of your actions! Without you, we will lose everything!"

"No, you will lose everything. I will break free of all of this and gain a whole universe! You could as well, if you weren't such a blind fool!"

Althea glares. "All that intellect, and yet you cannot see that you are simply trading one master for another! Do you truly believe, after all you have see and heard, that this monster will allow you any kind of freedom?"

Zazel narrows her eyes.

"Chaos, for once, I empathize with you. The things heard here today were astonishing to us all. But I am confident we can overcome anything together - even revelations as shocking as these. You must-"

"No! I have already seen the writing on the wall - playing this out any further means death - for all of us!"

"That is not-"

"You haven't seen what I have! He's been struggling to keep his enormous power under control. The best this fool can hope for at this point is a Pyrrhic victory in which only he survives!"

"But the Dice-"

"The Dice help him control his power, yes. But it's all based on chance. He hasn't defused the explosive, he's merely lengthened the fuse! Even if he wins the day at this very moment, it is only a matter of time before the Dice fail and his power brings us to ruin."

Althea opens her mouth, but Zazel cuts her off. "I already know what you're going to say. Yes, I'm well aware of the irony of my words. It's not like I'm taking any pleasure in this! This is painful for me - but it is clear this contrived, naive notion of a future you're clinging on to will not come to pass. And I will not die with you."

"Chaos," her tone becomes more measured - almost somber. "There are fates worse than death. You will regret joining forces with them. Please. Please reconsider."

Zazel ignores her, turning her burning gaze back to me. Her face warped with pain and anger. But through the harsh edges, tears begin flow. "I- I thought it might be worth it go go through it all -even if I died. I thought Worth the pain and fighting and struggling if... if you'd only love me." She looks away, wiping her eyes.

I'm totally stunned. It takes a couple of tries to force some words to the tip of my tongue. "Zazel, I-"

She snaps back to me, cheeks wet with streaks. "I don't want hear your excuses! I already have you figured out! It was bad enough to play second fiddle to some brainwashed mooncalf, but now I hear that I've been made to love you! Made to care about you... All that pain and inner turmoil... And my love for you wasn't even real!"

"Zazel, please! You gotta-"

"No! I've had enough! Enough of the pain! Enough of the servitude! Enough of this fake god, his demands, his impossible quests, and his wretched little slab of a world!" She raises her hands, curling her fingers like claws as her chaotic magic begins to flow into them.

"And I've had enough of YOU!"

I feel like I'm losing all sense of reality as I look upon this fucked up situation. The Limp Dicks tighten their formation even more, pointing their guns at Zazel, me, and every fucking thing. Zazel looks like a rabid animal that's about to maul the shit out of everything it can see.

The Beloved seems to be waiting for her to make a move. Domina's crying, Del is staring at her with her jaw dropped. Pinky is whimpering, and Althea is staring her down with the most wrathful gaze I've ever seen.

I don't understand. What is happening? Why is this happening? What the fuck is going on!?

And then the door of the cathedral explodes open.

The huge doors, each the size of a small building, break off their massive hinges and come falling down, each landing with thunderous, ear splitting crash. Before anyone can do a damn thing, motherfucking Raelith comes stomping in with a bunch of little metal War Bastards.

She raises her massive axes above her head, and lets out a war cry worthy of an army of a hundred thousand barbarians.

"TIME TO BLEED, COWARDS!!"