Confronting Airi, and learning more about Margaret's actions

"Wake up! Wake up, dammit!" I heard a womanly voice call while kicking the couch.

"H-huh?" I woke up from a shock, Margaret having kicked the couch.

"Airi isn't here!" Margaret declared, trying but failing to hide her nervousness.

I jolted up after hearing that. "W-what? W-where is she?"

She shook her head. "I don't know yet, but I'm going to find her. I will need you to bring her back, though."

"Why?"

She paused for a second. "I can't go outside with this body." Margaret sighed under her breath. "I wasn't planning on using this body now… I'm going to scry on her to find her location."

"O-okay." I looked at her, determined. "I'll bring her back, I promise."

She smiled. "Good. Wait here.” She then rushed upstairs.

"Airi…" I closed my eyes and held my skirt tightly. "Where are you? Did you flee because of me?" I was getting really worried about her... "Please, be safe…"

I quickly put the boots back on and, after a few more minutes, Margaret came back, looking perplexed.

"Airi is at your friend Sophie's house." She drclared, sitting next to me.

"W-what?" I didn’t expect that at all.

"I don't understand, she keeps acting as if you were still controlling her." Margaret said, as confused as I was.

"Why would she do that?"

"I don't know."

I got up, adjusting my clothes quickly, and looked at her. "Okay, I'm going there. I'm borrowing your car."

I didn't know what was happening with Airi, but I needed to talk to her. I needed to know the truth.

"Thank you, Ben."

I quickly drove towards Sophie's house, using Risa’s knowledge to drive the car. I still had time before she had to leave for school, and hoped to catch up with them. I arrived when Airi and Sophie were about to leave. I parked near and hastily walked to join them.

"Airi!" I shouted to grab their attention.

Airi turned to face me, raising her eyebrow. "Who are you?"

I crossed my arms and glared at her. "You know who I am. What are you doing acting like nothing happened?"

At my comment, Airi smirked, observing the body I was inhabiting. "So, you decided to possess a bimbo now, Ben?"

"B-Ben?" Sophie apparently didn't know that I wasn't possessing Airi anymore. I forgot to warn her, after all.

Airi snickered, her hand covering her mouth. "Oh, right. I forgot to mention that little detail, didn't I? He's not controlling me anymore.”

"You should still be asleep. How are you awake?" I asked her, trying to keep my cool.

She shrugged. "For some reason, Mother's spell never had any effect on me to begin with. When I noticed that, I just faked falling asleep, and decided to pay a visit to Sophie after you both left."

"S-spell?" Sophie was utterly confused by the situation.

"I'll explain later, Sophie." I said, glancing at her, before pleading to Airi. "Airi. I can't apologize enough for having possessed you. But, please… Come with me... Margaret is worried."

She stared at me seriously, a hand on her hip. "I was planning to go see her after school. We have things to settle. But I can miss school for that. It doesn't matter anymore, anyway." Airi gestured to the car. "Lead the way."

I let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Airi…" I glanced back at Sophie, to reassure her. "I'll contact you once everything is settled, Sophie. Okay?"

She confusedly nodded. "O-okay..."

Airi joined me in the car, and we went on our way to her house. She seemed to inspect the interior, sniffing around. "W-why does it smell like blood?"

I forgot that Margaret carried her injured body in this car. There was still some blood on the front passenger's seat.

"M-Margaret got... injured... during our trip..."

"What?" Airi was surprised, even if I didn't know if it was because she was worried for her mother.

"Don't worry, she's safe, but..."

"But what?" She asked, her tone cold.

"It's better if she explains it herself. But, to sum it up, we faced a demon, in that castle."

Airi was stunned. "A demon?"

I smiled. "Yes. And your mother fought it valiantly. She was so cool."

After hearing that, Airi stayed silent until we arrived. We walked in, Airi eager to confront her mother.

"Moth-" When she noticed a presumed stranger sitting on the couch, her expression changed. "Who are you?"

Margaret braced herself, ready to face Airi. “It's me, your mother..."

"W-what? How?" Airi was obviously lost.

"It's a long story…" Margaret replied, approaching Airi. “Are you alright, honey?"

Airi clenched her fists hard, her eyes full of bitterness. "Am I alright? No. I want to know what happened with Father!"

Margaret and I stopped, staring at Airi.

"When Ben was controlling me, I didn't realise, but now that I can think for myself, I know that you had something to do with his ****! And don't even try to use your magic on me! It won't work!" She screamed, defiantly standing in front of her mother. Tears formed in her eyes.

"W-what?" Margaret was surprised.

It made Airi laugh bitterly. "Your spell didn't have any effect on me, last night.” As Margaret stayed silent, Airi kept pressuring her. "Answer me! Did you or did you not kill him?!"

After taking a deep breath, Margaret replied. "I... I did..."

I had a hard time believing what I heard. She killed her husband? Why? I was shocked.

Despite the tears, Airi grinned. "I knew it! Did it have something to do with you being a witch?"

Margaret looked down and started to cry. "I never wanted to kill him… I never truly loved him, but I liked him enough to marry him… It was mostly to help boost my fame as an actress and earn more money for my research, but I enjoyed spending time with him… He wasn't that much of a religious zealot, back then… One day, he learnt that I was a witch... and was going to contact the Church…" Margaret stared at Airi, her eyes filled with regrets. “If he had succeeded, there's no doubt that Witch Hunters would have been dispatched... and would have tried to killed you."

The revelation shocked Airi, who just stood motionless. "What do you mean?"

"Witch Hunters are barbaric humans whose sole purpose is to exterminate all witches and wizards. Even if you were still a kid back then, they wouldn't have cared." Margaret explained, her fists clenched hard as well. "And between his life and yours, yours was far more important to me. When I gave birth to you, I swore to never make the same mistake I did in the past, and be the best mother I could be."

Airi didn’t seem to understand. "H-huh?"

"You are more important than anything else, for me." Margaret knelt in front of Airi. “I only wished for your safety and happiness… I'm sorry, Airi..."

After a moment of silence, Airi spoke quietly. "You think apologizing is enough after having lied to me all this time?"

"No, of course it's not enough… No matter how many times I apologize, it will never be enough… If you want me gone from your life, I'd understand…” Margaret got back up and took Airi’s hand in hers. “But, please... Let me teach you how to use your magic before I go… I want you to be safe… You have the potential to be the strongest witch of this era… You being able to resist my spell is proof that you inherited my abilities and can even surpass me..."

"And what will you do after that?" Airi asked.

Margaret stared into the distance. "’Margaret Belle’ will die, and I will leave you alone. I will always be there for you if you need me, though..."

"Airi…" I started, but stopped when Airi glared at me.

Her tears were still flowing, her makeup was completely ruined. "Ben… I've been nothing but a toy for you..."

"That's not true…" I denied. "You know full well that I always felt remorseful for having possessed you… I never wanted to become a parasitic monster **** to steal someone's life to survive!" I talked back to Airi, frustration building up inside me. “That's why I went through the pain of the mind sink to allow you to enjoy life, still! And don't tell me you didn't enjoy any of it! Because that'd be a lie! I've been you, I know how you felt during these times! We were one! I know that we loved the karaoke party we did with Sophie and Sarah! We loved watching Mirth with Sophie in this room! We loved feeling genuinely liked by people!"

Airi was momentarily stunned by my outburst, looking at me surprised. And so was Margaret.

I took a deep breath and calmed down. "I know I shouldn't have the right to say this, but… I want to be your friend… I want to help you..."

Airi weakly snickered. "You want to help me? That's a good one..."

"I am serious, Airi…" I said more softly. “I want to atone for what I did to you..."

Airi turned to face Margaret again, crossing her arms. "I accept your conditions, Mother… But I don't want to see you again after that."

Margaret sighed. "Alright…" She then looked at me. "Ben..."

"What is it?"

"Come with me, I need to talk to you." She said.

I nodded. "Okay…"

"I'll be back in a bit, Airi." She then spoke, before going upstairs.