Life Of A Nobody - as a Villain

Chapter 407: Guilt and Gods

"Are you an idiot?" Rio said as he pushed Amy by her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. Amy stood frozen, her small frame trembling under pressure.

"B_brother, that_."

"That what, Amy?" Rio cut her off, "Do you have any idea what could have happened if Erza or I weren't here? You could have been kidnapped, killed, or worse. Do you know what that would have done to our family?"

Amy's lip quivered, and she looked down, her hands fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. "I know," she whispered, the words barely escaping her throat. "But… I knew you'd save me. You always do." she said, looking up at him with confidence.

Her response seemed to remind Rio of something he thought he had long forgotten.

He let go of her shoulders and stepped back, as he turned around, his hands ran through his face to his head, as if doing that would calm him a little. He placed his hand on his knees as he felt the long lost feeling of panic setting in his heart, before turning around and looking in her eyes.

"Look Amy, I'm not some hero from the fiction you read. And you're not a character in a book. This is the real world. Out here, when you're in trouble, there's no prince in shining armor riding in to save you. If you can't protect yourself, you get killed. End of story." He said, fighting back tears as her young face seemed to merge with that of Ria's back on earth.

Amy looked up at him, her face flushed with guilt and tears seeing him choke up. "I… I'm sorry."

Rio shook his head, his voice softer now but no less stern. "Why did you even leave the estate huh? How did mother let you out of her sight?"

"She didn't, I sneaked away. I _ I just wanted to be like you" Amy looked down and answered. She could already expect his angry reaction, and that's what happened.

"Well, then you clearly failed. Cause I'm not naive enough to trust some strangers words and follow him into deep forests. Nor am I the type to ditch my security and risk my life." Rio said in anger, his loud tone attracting the eyes of guards and soldiers all over the place.

Amy's face was streaked with tears now, and her voice cracked as she tried to defend herself. "I thought he was my friend!"

"Friend? Is that why you gave him your armor, and sacrificed your mana making barriers to protect him, and not yourself?"

"No, that mana _ that's when I teleported to save.."

"The fuck?" Rio cursed as he grabbed his forehead, "You teleported in front of him to help him block that sword? Are you out of your mind?"

"I _ uh."

"God Amy, there's a limit to childishness. Grow up."

"But I am a child. So stop shouting at me." Amy said in anger as she wiped her tears and looked at him with her puffy red eyes.

"Shouting_ after what you did, you deserve a slap and not a shout." Rio said, not even the least affected by her cute emotions.

"You…" Amy was surprised to hear that as it was the first time her brother ever said about punishing her. But before she could say something Rio's words cut her off.

"We are not like your regular children, Ames. We don't get to play around in fairs, or roam on the streets, or dance and sing like nobodies on a stage - we are nobles. Being born into families like ours we get a lot, but we loose that.. We have expectations, responsibilities, an image, a respect_ that we need to maintain at all times.

Something that all would've been tarnished today if we were a step too late."

"Stop preaching me. You're not father." Amy said in anger, her tiny hands clenched in fists over his lecture.

Rio laughed bitterly, a sound void of any humor. "Father? Father would be furious if he knew what happened here today. But more than that, he'd be disappointed. Disappointed that his precious pearl could be so careless."

"You,__ what about you, you go out all the time? Remember how many times you asked me to cover the maids so you can sneak away." Amy said, pointing a finger at him with trembling hands.

"I can go out cause I can protect myself. Unlike you.."

Tears flowed freely from Amy's eyes seeing his mocking look, "I'm not weak, brother…"

Rio's laugh turned cold. "Do I need to spell it out for you? Just look around, Amy, some low level assassins and an idiot who's only power lies in his lies, _ and you couldn't even handle a single one of them."

"I don't like killing."

"Well if you can't kill, then don't try to be a hero to someone and jump into battle. Run away."

"That…"

"Tell me why didn't you run, I have given you an artifact to escape last time I remember, I'm sure mother and father would have given a lot too. So why didn't you leave?" Rio asked a question as he sat on his knees in front of her.

"... I didn't bring them."

"Hahaha you didn't bring them." The answer was so unexpected that he didn't even know how to react except laugh at her, "You left your life saving artifacts at home. For what? To meet that guy? So he doesn't realize you're a fancy noble and not some patrol guard is that it?"

"It's not like that…I just wanted a friend." Amy's voice was small, fragile, like a child's.

Rio shook his head, his anger turning into exhaustion. "Friend, friend, friend _ your friend nearly sliced a sword through your head and plunged a knife in your heart. What part of that don't you understand?"

(Sics and sobs)

"Acting like a savior who can't even save himself."

Amy, unable to hold back anymore, stomped her foot. All that sadness, fear, and guilt, turning into anger for her to vent.."Don't mock me, Rio. I was just doing what father would've wanted—protecting someone."

Rio's expression softened, he held her face and replied. "Father would want you to stay alive, Amy. I want you to stay alive."

"And what would you have done? If it was Bernhardt or Dahlia, or even Lisa, would you leave them behind? To die?" Amy asked, naming all his best friends she could remember, as she slapped his hand away.

Rio's face darkened. "Maybe I would."

"Then that makes you a selfish, bad guy," Amy muttered, her voice barely above a whisper, but the words still reached Rio.

"Selfish? If I was selfish I wouldn't kill that man for you knowing it'll ruin the perfect relationship I built with my primordial."

"What? I_ I didn't know." Amy's eyes showed surprise as she remembered her brother's condition during the fight. "Brother, I really didn't know."

"Yeah, well, you not knowing, doesn't change a thing, does it? And now I gotta go into a dungeon with a curse on my hand and two goddesses in a bad mood. What's the worst that could happen right?".

Rio said and turned around as he saw Artemis coming there.

Sensing the tension between the siblings , Artemis didn't say anything, she just bent down and wiped Amy's tears with a soft cloth, before kissing her on the forehead and picking her up from the ground. Holding Amy close to her chest, as if to protect her from the world.

"Don't ever take your anger out on her," She said coldly to Rio, thinking he was stressed over the attack on his classmates. And since aware of his safety, without saying anything else, she just left.

"...." Rio was left alone, thinking if he went a bit overboard on his sister? Or how he'll have to apologise when he sees her next time at the academy. When a message from Gauri stopped his thoughts.

[You're a fool.]

Rio's eyes narrowed. "What did you say?"

[That you're a fool if you think you're protecting her.] Gauri spoke, her voice echoing in his mind. [Your overprotective nature had blinded her true potential. She could've found a dozen ways to survive and fight today too, but she didn't cause she believed her foolish brother would come up like always and save her.]

[You being there, acting like this, it'll never give her the reason to grow. She'll never unlock her true element and control chaos if you're smooth-lining every path she walks in life.]

"She could've died today. And all you did was just watch from your skies? So don't try to lecture me." Rio snapped at her. "And don't think for a second that I don't know what you want. You don't care about her. You never did."

[She is my chosen, my avatar. I care more than you'll ever know.]

"Ohh yeah?" Rio sneered and said mockingly, "And if something happened to her today, how long will you wait, before choosing a new avatar?"

[....]

Seeing her silence, Rio just sneered at this hypocrisy, before adding - "Don't ever think that we want the same thing, or that we're on the same team. Cause we're not. You want her strong, I want her safe."

[As I said, a fool.]

.. Rio ignored Gauri's words and turned his head away, his eyes falling on to the mark of Nyx on his hands..

"Are you happy now?" He asked without context.

[....]

"Come on, you think I can't tell the difference between a clone and a real body?"

[..]

"You wanted him safe, and that's why with your curses, you bought him enough time to run away." Rio said as he walked over to the man's corpse and kicked it away.

[I just helped my daughter.] Nyx's voice echoed softly in his ears.

"Yeah, well, then tell her that if she wants to live peacefully, then don't mess with my family ever again. Or I'd be very glad to tell my father about who actually gave the order to kill his precious daughter." Rio threatened Apate and finished it with a cold smile, "Trust me, he'll have a fun time slaughtering her puppets."

[Apate sneers at your threats, saying mother's protection is making you arrogant.]

Her presence made Rio's smile widen, turning colder even, as he looked at the sky and started speaking. "36th street, Sone restaurant, third floor, corner room with the flower-patterned window." Rio spoke each word of his surprising Apate to the core, "That's where your followers always gather, don't they?"

[You…]

"Purple house, 12th street, the meat shop at the back of Power's casino… Haven central park, the cave behind the waterfall, Damascus borders the shallow mountain, Harendale Crone family….Shall I go on?"

[You dare threaten me?]

Rio's eyes gleamed dangerously. "It won't take me longer than a few seconds to tell all these locations to my father, and within hours, all your followers will be rotting in cells so dark they'll forget what sunlight looks like."

"Now do you want to be a goddess who wants to spend the next century just watching your promised followers trapped in dark cells, getting tortured, or will you just give me your word to never come after my family, and friends ever again."

[You'll regret this.] Apate threatened him, showing her pressure on his shoulders, yet Rio just pulled out a token with his family insignia and everything disappeared instantly.

"I've had a very very bad day today. And your attitude is only making it worse. So just give me your word, or I'll show you exactly why your mother chose me." Rio said coldly.

Seeing his actions without any hesitation, and her mother's attitude where she didn't interfere at all, Apate gave in momentarily. [...My followers won't come after you, or anyone around you.]

"Good," Rio nodded his head, feeling satisfied. "Now, how about a blessing of lies for my troubles?"

[Don't push your luck, mortal.] Apate refused.

"I'm not asking for free. Give me your blessing, and I won't hunt down your avatar for what he did to Amy." Rio spoke and looked in a certain direction, dark mana flaring at his fingertips, as a thin thread became visible to naked eyes, "We both know he's not that far yet." Rio said, as his threads started turning poisonous the further they travelled.

Apate hesitated for a moment, but after thinking of all that she had invested in her avatar, she finally gave in.

[Apate grants you the blessing of believable lies.]

[Skill effect - Makes your opponent more susceptible to believe in your lies.]

After suffering a loss, and hearing threats from a mortal, Apate left the place. Going back to shift all the locations of her temples and followers. And to find, how exactly this guy knew all about them.

[You made her angry. That's not a good move.] Nyx said, once they were alone.

"Humph, I didn't see you step in to interfere, so I assume I was still in the safe zone." Rio replied confidently. Though Nyx was a doting mother, and Apate was petty, - he was far too important a piece to sacrifice just for pleasing her daughter's tantrum.

[Manipulating a God, and manipulating your sister - why didn't I know you could do that?] Nyx said with a smile.

"Amy needs to know there are consequences to actions, to our mistakes. Me lying about you being angry for a while because of her, is just enough to scare her for now."

[You're making her feel guilty for something that never happened.]

"Well, what's the alternative, I do nothing, say nothing. And she never learns."

[...]

"If a little guilt now can save her a lifetime of misery, and teach her to never repeat such foolishness, then I'm okay with it." Rio said and jumped into the ship waiting to take him back at academy.

If only he knew the little guilt he gave his sister, won't just last for a few days, but for two whole years and maybe her whole life _as he got trapped in the dungeon days after.

And with his fate in the dark, all she ever wondered was that if Nyx wasn't angry with him, would she have saved him? Would he have been back home safely, if she didn't call him selfish, and told him to save his friends?

… .. The answer she'll never know.