Author's notes: At the end of this chapter i will offer an explanation of what happens in the story. I will also delve into Gehenna/ Grace as a character(s). Reading it isnt needed, but i think it may clear some things up and offer a deeper insight into what I am trying to do by making this little arc. I hope it will make sense to you.

The next chapter  may either feature Morrigan's side of the story or go back to Roland.

Oh, and remember to rate, review and comment! havent said that in a while. . .

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"Did you really think. . . That everything would be over with something of this level?"

Asmodeus watched with utter disbelief. No matter where he looked, she was perfectly fine in every way possible, not a single cut or bruise to be found. In fact, the only sign of their battle was the fine cuts on her clothes.

He looked at her figure that was clad in azure flames, sword in hand as she looked down at him.

It was then that he understood. On a normal day the previous attack would leave her at least heavily wounded. However, he remembered how the sword fed her its power. This increased her power several fold, so much so that even an attack like that could not wound her.

He depaired, realizing that from the start she had been holding back considerably. She toyed with him. He, one of the Regional Rulers, one of the most powerful in hell, had been played with by her and not considered her opponent at all.

This realization brought him deep shame. Never had he been subject to such humiliation.

He had been foolish to not take into consideration the increase in ther powers. No, it can be said that he had taken them into consideration but had still vastly underestimated the power the sword brought her.

Suddely she vanished, only to reapear in front of him, her eyes holding a coldness that froze his soul. He had never seen such an expression on her, that anger, that hate. It was something that should be foreign to the Queen of Death and Destruction. Such emotions should have long died out in her, if they ever existed at all.

Her movements were much faster now, much swifter and precise. He found he couldnt follow them at all. Though Asmodeus was considered the weaker of the Four Rulers, he could still hold his own against them. Gehenna was always te strongest, but until now the disparity between them had never been this large. If not for that sword, he believed things would have turned out very differently.

The sword was held against his neck. He felt the overbearing aura radiating from it, felt the unbelievable sharpness of its blade. However, it somehow refused to cut him.

He thought he was dead for sure, but suddenly Gehenna frowned and instead delivered a blow to his stomache with her hand, knocking him straight down.  

He was sent hurtling towards an island that was directly below him.

During the course of the battle Gehenna had gradually moved them closer to her original target. The reason she chose to attack the meteor head on was because the island was directly below at that point.

Although the meteor had an effect that also slowed her down considerably to not let her escape she could have used raw force to break the hold over her body. And she did as such. She could have dodged, but if she did that the island, along with her target, would be destroyed.

She couldnt let that happen, not when she was so close.  So she chose to break  the ice instead. Though the wounds she recieved were life-threatening and would have crippled her for several hundred years ordinarily, she was saved thanks to the power of the sword healing her almost instantly which made it appear as if she had taken no damage at all.

She held the swod up and frowned, gazing at it deeply. Just now she had tried to cut Asmodeus' throat however. . . The sword didnt let her. It refused to kill him.

Could this be from his influence? Could the sword have absorbed his personality to a degree where it would make choices he himself would have made?

Could it be that killing Asmodeus was something that he would not do?

However, it had no trouble killing those guards . . .

Asmodeus fell inside a large cathedral-like bulding. He came hurtling through the ceiling and slammed into the ground with an amazing force, so much so that the ground made a small crator and split in several directions.

His entire body hurt. Thaat hit had been much stronger than he would have believed possible. He was sure that he had several broken bones and maybe a punctured lung.

To a demon such as he this was not life-threatening but it was the most damage he had sustained in a long time. Usually his opponents would have already admitted their defeat as the backlash of Asmodeus' powers made them experience uspeakable pain. But she seemed to only tremble slightly, the pain seeming almost negligible to her.

Due to the backlash from wounding him to this degree Asmodeus knew she must be in immense pain. Hoowever, she had not cried out once. It was something Asmodeus, even in this situation, had a grudging respect for.

He was in so much pain that moving a single finger seemed impossible, his every muscle feeling torn and burning hot like they were on fire.

As his body lay face-up he watched Gehenna through the hole his body made in the roof.  He wondered if he would die. He wondered if she would kill his family for going against her once she took whatever it was she wanted from here.

He looked at that beautiful face, wondering why a woman like that would devote her life to cause so much misery. At first, he didnt blame her for her actions. Gehenna was a force of nature, and she had no feelings for any she killed. Just as you couldnt blame a tsunami or tornado for claiming lives, he couldnt bring himself to blame her either, at first.

But as time went on, as everyone saw the darkness that truly lay in her, they understood that there was something inherently wrong with her. Gods, demons, they didnt have many qualms with killing. But the number she killed on adaily basis, actively seeking to bring death and sorrow, was something that appaled them.

Asmodeus always wondered if there was something that made her that way, or if she was simply born insane and cruel.  Perhaps it was a combination of both.

Gehenna looked down at him. Instantly she appeared in front of him . She stared into his eyes for a long time. the sword had flown out of her hands, as if not agreeing with her current actions.

But it was no big matter. She materializd another sword, holding it to Asmodeus' heart.

She knew that she could kill him. It would be so simple with him weakened as he was. She had killed countless before. But somewhere deep inside she hesitated.

Those guards earlier were replacable. However, he is one of the pillars of hell, one of those that holds hell's well-being on his shoulder. Never before has one of the higher-ranking members og hell been killed or died. If I kill him, utter chaos will spread like wildfire and countless innocents will be caught in the crossfire.

The thought came unbidden.

Foolish. Why would I think of such things?

Never before had she thogut of the consequences of her actions. Why would she now?

She inwardly argued with herself.

But I have not killed for so long. The only ones I killed tonight were only those standing in my way. Those civilians were spared. The guards may be dead, but no other. If I kill such a important figure, would not many innocents die as a result. Would the person I seek not look at me with disgust if he knew of what I  had done?

Gehenna felt the sword waver. Asmodeus saw a flash of vulnerability in her eyes, but it was gone so fast her didnt know if it was real or imagined.

I have killed so many, have had my hands dirtied so much. Letting him live would make no difference. However. .  If the sword refused to kill him, then that man would choose to give him mercy as well, right?

Mercy. . . It was never a word Gehenna had been able to comprehend before. Even when she was a young girl, killing had come natually to her. It was what she was, it defined her. As a child just ast the age of twelve, those she killed could already be counted in the hundreds. Killing, destruction, was something she did instinctively.

She never felt sympathy or pity for those she killed in the same way one would not feel anything from stomping on a bug.

Her parents, those nameless beings that gave birth to her, had tried to teach her right from wrong. They tried to "fix" her. They wanted to instill morals into the little girl who caused terror everywhere she went.

It worked, for a time. She did vaguely recall living normally like any other child.

But apparently the two people saw something in her that unnerved them. The day those two beings broke her arms and legs, wanting to kill her after coming to the conclusion she was better off dead. . . .That was when she no longer concerned herself with ideas like good or bad, right or wrong.

Those two whom she had once thought loved her, when they decide her death was something necessary, if not for her powers coming into full bloom she would have long since died.

When she killed them to make their power her own she gave up on fighting her urges and abandoned herself to follow her instincts. She never once thought of the word "mercy" .

Back then she didnt even understand things like kindness, love  or warmth. Such things were not something that was in her nature. To kill, only that was what satisfied her. And she truly did not understand why others thought that was disturbing  or wrong.

She only did what came naturally to her.

But things were different now.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

She wanted to be better. She wanted to be more than what she was.

It was a desire that she knew would not be aknowledged by others. For her to want such things, no one would be able to believe it.  They would never accept her, never accept her desire for change.

But it didnt matter. Not when she still had one who didnt care for such things. Not when she had someone who had always accepted her darker desires.

Though she didnt know why he left her, she would not give up meeting him.  

Asmodeus watched her as she went through complex expressions. She went though kindness, to indiference,  pain and finally to sadness. She shook her head and clarity once again came into her gaze.

"Get up." she commanded.

"I. . ." He couldnt.

Without speaking, she took him by his hair and dragged him.

She didnt have to go far. This was the place that she wanted to find. This building, the large dais that glowed with  a red light, was what she wanted. It was the only place closest to her that would allow her to travel to the place where he was.

Gehenna dropped Asmodeus by the dias.  He looked at her hatefully. " I dont know what you want, but none of the treasures I have are here. This is a Grand Teleportaion Array, nothing more. "

"I know. I have no interest in your treasure. I want to meet someone. The only way  I can get to where that person is, is if use this. And I didnt touch the civilians, only the guards who tried to stop me. The others are simply  in  bit of pain. As for your family, they were not willing to let me through to here. Naturally  I had to use force."  She said off-handedly

Asmodeus was shocked. He grew endlessly enraged. " Bullshit! I saw--"

"The bodies of dead solders and  a few passed out citizens. I have no need to kill those who stayed out of the way."

She looked at him. " Well, whether you believe me is up to you. Though I would like nothing more tha to kill you, I have reasons for letting you live."

As she thought earlier, thos guards were replacable but Asmodeus wasnt. She didnt want to be responsible for such chaos when she met him again either. She had enough blood on her hands already.

The large sword floated behing her, humming softly. It agreed with her choice, apparently.

She walked up the dias and took a piece of  thin jade from out of her  clothes.  As she dropped it on the dias, it turned to dust.

Asmodeus knew that was a way to set the location. This was a Teleportaton Array that he had built after parting with a onsiderable amount of money. Naturally he knew about such things.

However, the fact that she had to use this meant whoever she sought was not reachable through normal methods.

" I will let you live today, but. . .." She spoke coldly. " If you think of following me somehow, I will do much worse than injure you.  Be glad your citizens and family remain alive."

With that, her figure disappeared, swallowed by the red glow.

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Please read: Okay, so i just want to make things clear. I will explain generally what happened in the chapter, then i will go into Gehenna's character.

First, Gehenna intended to kill Asmodeus but when she discovered the sword would not cut him, she hesitated. The sword carries a part of Roland's will, and so she knew that  by it choosing to not kill him it meant that Roland wouldnt kill him either.

Since Roland would let him live, Gehenna didnt know what to do. She thought before delivering the final strike. The fact that she thought of the consequences means she understands that she is slowly becoming different from how she was originally. She also talked about the reason why she attacked the meteor head-on.

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Second:  she sent Asmodeus flying down to the building and intending to deliver the final blow using a materialized sword. But she hesitated still and began thinking of the consequences killing him would bring. She realized that thinking of consequences was not lke her usual self.

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Third: She thought of how Roland would show mercy to Asmodeus and she began to ponder over how she had never before understood what mercy really meant.

She talked about her past to show that at the very start, she never understood why killing was wrong in any way. It was something that came naturally to her, as easy as breathing. (Her parents will remain unnamed but they are obviously power beings to be able to give birth to a child like her. )

When they saw how unhinged she was, they first tried fixing her. Though that did make Gehenna, as a young girl,  more aware of her actions, they ultimately felt something inherently wrong with her and chose to kill her off.

After that, she no longer held herself back and did whatever her " instincts" told her to. As i mentioned many times, she is a walking natural disaster who honestly has no understanding of her actions being wrong.  

This was to try to show the differnce between the her of then and the current her. The past her would never think of sparing others.

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Four: She spared Asmodeus and told him that although she killed the soldiers who stood in her way, she didnt kill the civilians. They were only injured or passed out. Asmodeus didnt believe her. after replying to hm, she told him to not try any methods to follow her or else she would do worse than injure him.

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The reason she began all this was because she could not get to Roland's location via normal methods. She could only use the teleportation array in Asmodeus' Vault to get to him. Keep in mind that there are no other Teleportation arrays suitable for her needs nearby.  

Asmodeus has one because he is a collector of sorts. He would pay a lot to own a Teleportation Array that powerful.

Because they would not let her in if she asked, she knew she could only force her way through. And she has no qualms killing the guards who stood in her way, The sword she carried has no qualms with killing them either because they are not important and they are standing in their way.

Roland would kill them too because they would not listen to reason and would only try to stop him.

Though he could choose to not kill them and still get through.

But  Gehenna chose to kill as that both sates her blood lust and she has very black and white views on the matter. To her, killing any who would block her path is fine. She would not kill those who are not attacking her. At least not anymore .

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Now, on to Gehenna as a character. I went into that a bit above, but it is a bit more complex. See, the only reason Gehenna starts thinking of the consequences of her actions and chose to spare the citizens along with Asmodeus, is because she is no longer the mindless killing machine she once was. If it were the her of before meeting Roland and becoming attached to Grace's soul, then she would not think twice about killing EVERYONE there.

But now she is thinking more. She understand the difference of the her of now and the her of the past. She is now beginning to wonder whether deep down she considers herself the Grace that Roland knew or if she is  the Gehenna who kills without a thought.

If she considers herself Grace who is still being possessed by Gehenna, then she may think that she is tainted and doesn't want to meet Roland for fear of rejection. If she considers herself Gehenna then she will think she is only being influenced by Grace's soul/personality and that she doesn't  have the right to meet Roland since she is not the girl he had history with.  And she will also think it is only the remnant feelings of a girl long dead.

As you can see, her's is a very. . . complicated character for me.

Not to mention that she doesn't know of Roland's circumstances and believes he left her for some reason. She wants to meet him yet fears he will either not care about her or  left her because he thought her a burden. She wants to know the answer why he left, and that is also a motivation for her to meet him.

Considering that Roland in his past life was the person who both protected Grace from everything and accepted the fact that Gehenna dwelled within her,  "both" of them have reason to want to see him again.

He is their rock, for lack of a better word. Roland was their only support in a life where everyone deserted them.  Grace's family turned on her, and Gehenna's did the same even though she clearly showed signs of improvement despite being born with a darkness in her. Her parents were disgusted by the existence of that darkness and didn't allow her the benefit of the doubt.

After Gehenna was betrayed like that, she no longer fought her impulses and instead embraced her darker nature. She could be considered a victim as well. If they had continued to give her support, she would have turned out much differently.

And Grace had no one else to rely on after her own family tried to kill her as well. Roland became her only family, and she became dependent on him. This is why she wonders if he thought she was only a burden to him. She couldn't take care of herself and thought Roland left because he didn't want to be responsible for her anymore.

Gehenna, when they were together, experience love and warmth for the first time. This was something new to her and she, perhaps even more than Grace, came to lean on Roland for emotional support even though at the time Grace was in control. Gehenna was a passenger back then, but the feelings she experienced through Grace from Roland stuck to her.

As you can see, Roland is an important existence to them.