The Exciser stops me.

". . .Freedom is a responsibility." I eventually heard from behind. "You can't be trusted to be free, that's what makes you inhuman. If your freedom costs everyone else', then you can't be allowed it."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Exciser." I chuckled. "What a fucking name that is. Exciser, something that cuts out the bad flesh. Might as well call yourselves Church Knives, and save people the confusion."

"You have power." She insisted, ignoring my barb. " In the words of the Goddess, those with power have the responsibility to use that power responsibly; they must take care and safeguard the weak. Power is dangerous, and so those with it must be watched carefully, and be tempered with order, justice, law, and faith. Without the virtues of the Goddess, the powerful invariably fall prey to corruption."

"Have you ever spoken your own words?" I asked, genuinely curious. "Have you ever made a choice of your own, without hiding behind the words some fucking Goddess?"

"I have power, also." She glared back. "I have chosen to pair that with responsibility."

I was the son of a merchant, I had been raised on words; our weapons were the scale, the pen, and the thought. I readied my tongue, and spoke words I knew would cut deep. "Right. Tell me, between the two of us which can't be trusted with freedom? Me, who has never taken a life and has twice chosen, of my own will, to spare another? Or you, who in that time has bloodied her blade and spared a life only because someone else told you that it's right?"

"It was just a goblin." She raised her sole defense, without realizing that it was paper shield.

"And I'm just a demon, but even I can see the blood on your hands." I shrugged. "But, what have I ever done that revokes my 'responsibility' of freedom."

She opened her mouth, and for a moment I thought she had something to say. For a moment, she thought she did too. She closed her mouth, an admission, and I kept my peace. The words sank deeper, the silence stretching, until the Exciser shook her head and turned away. "Wait here."

"Yes, master." I gave an exaggerated bow.

"I'm going to get you something to eat." She cursed under her breath, something unflattering about my father and a goat, and looked over her shoulder. "And my name is Alva. If you must call me anything, call me that."