-----

Axitl received the tender and motherly hug of Gwendolyn, as she grew all red.

​​

"W-Wha… Wha…" she muttered, feeling and dizzy and strange.

Warmth…

She felt such a comforting warmth.

The only time she felt it was when Frank hugged her… but now, this warmth was different yet familiar to it.

Gwendolyn's tender and delicate hands hugged her back and caressed her head.

Her lips kissed her forehead as no one else had done.

And her eyes were filled with gratitude and acceptance.

She was being recognized… and accepted.

"We know what you did for us. And I know that… what people make you up to be is false. Frank told us everything.. right?" asked Gwendolyn.

"Indeed. Sorry… But I wanted them to know the truth," said Frank with an apologetic smile.

"The… truth?" Axitl didn't understand it completely and was feeling all dizzy by the hug and warmth.

"The truth about what you did for us, goddess-sama, for all of… the world," said Cathyl.

"Yeah! You created the dungeons to help the world, right? You drained all the evil miasma…" said Asterion.

"And then, you used yourself as the vessel for all the evil within this world…" said Hilvera.

"And that's why you grew so big and strong… but that was because you were draining this energy that the Demon King was born from… Isn't it?" asked Annabelle.

"You pretty much saved many lives by making the birth of the new Demon King take longer… And the Dungeons are also a place where people all around the world sustain themselves, isn't it?" asked Kamei.

"Although they bring many challenges… monsters help us get to feed, and they also bring all kinds of materials that were essential for our daily lives," said Vheslia.

"That's… Did I do that?" asked Axitl. She was unaware of how much she had done, and due to the stigma of her being hated and being seen as a monster, she thought that what she did was simply for her own selfish goals… but she was now given a different perspective of what she truly did.

Her crimson eyes began to shine brightly.

She didn't understand what was going on with her emotions but… something was coming out of her eyes.

Without realizing it, she began to cry.

"I-Is that so? I don't… think I helped you that much… I did it just for my own good… Don't say… such things… to me…" she muttered.

Then, she felt another hug.

This warmth was… Frank.

"What are you talking about? You deserve all of this recognition. I know that you did pretty terrible things as well. But… that's that. It's in the past. I don't like to hold grudges, and I already know that you're a good person deep down, Axitl... So why don't you simply accept it? You're a good person," said Frank, his voice resonated through Axitl's ears as she began to cry even more.

"Sniff… D-Don't say… that…" she muttered.

Everyone else walked towards her, as they hugged her.

"A-All of you are crazy! Y-You're hugging… the chaos goddess, you know… Sniff…"

"It's fine! Isn't that what you wanted anyway?" chuckled Frank.

"Eeeeh? D-Don't… sniff…" muttered Axitl.

"Now that you have come down to greet us, we also wanted to give you our gratitude… Alright?" said Gwendolyn.

"This feeling… it's so weird…" sighed Axitl.

"We are just hugging you. We knew that this is something you lacked a lot, so we are making up for it," said Frank.

Axitl quickly freed herself from the hug of everyone as she walked away and averted her gaze.

"I-I don't need your hugs… I am fine…" she said.

"Axitl, why do you believe that you're bad? Everyone here thinks that you are one of the persons that had perhaps saved this world already… Although what you did to me did anger us. I recovered from that already, and now that I have forgiven us… there's no point in getting angry with you…" said Frank.

"That's… Do you really forgive me?" asked Axitl, she never remembered Frank actually telling her that.

"Ah… I never told you, didn't I? …Yeah, I forgive you, Axitl," said Frank with a firm smile, while nodding. His golden eyes were shining brighter than ever before, and he seemed to be overflowing with resolve.

With such a bright conviction, how could she even not believe him?

Frank was being as honest as he could now.

Axitl kept glancing at the floor, as her fists clenched.

She began to remember her life up to this point, like an endless turmoil of warped memories.

Her childhood, trapped inside the moon as she feared to go down and destroy everything with her presence, as she glanced to the world in desolation.

No one through all the old times ever guessed that there was such a lonely girl watching over them from the moon, every day, and every night…

Sitting there, her crimson eyes seemed already dried of tears.

Her heart grew hollow and empty, completely alone within the void of space.

Coldness is all she knew.

And nothing else than that.

But by watching over to the world, she felt some amusement… a bit of entertainment…

She even felt… not completely alone anymore.

As long as she could be watching over these tiny people from very far away… she didn't seem completely alone.

She generated a love for the world like no other god.

The world of Terra was all she watched, all the time.

And due to this love, is that she worked so hard to create dungeons and save them from the demon king.

Because when she saw it destroying all life like that so many times… every single time, her tears would drop from the moon over the atmosphere of Terra.

She couldn't bear to see them die any longer…

But due to many circumstances, she never believed herself to have done something good…

But now, she was being thanked for it, and someone she had wronged was accepting her now with open arms.

Deep within her heart, a new light was blossoming.

She slowly glanced at Frank and everyone else… as she began to cry once more.

"R-Really?" she asked.

For a moment, Frank felt something.

A strange illusory projection of Axitl's past resonated through his very soul, as he saw the Axitl of the old times.

So small and delicate, and alone… so… so alone.

"Yeah, really," he said, as he walked towards her and extended his hand once more.

Axitl glanced at the had while thinking a bit.

But after a bit, she moved her hand to Frank's hand.

And grasped it.

"Eh?"

Frank quickly grasped her hand and threw her towards him, hugging her once more.

"Ah… Frank…" she muttered.

"Everything is alright now. We will get through things together. And we will save the world together. I promise you…" he said.

"Frank…" Axitl glanced at Frank's shining yellow eyes, filled with a transcendental charm, resolve, and just… something that drawn her to him.

There was something with this man, something that made him so incredibly… special.

He was guiding her with every word, and Axitl accepted his words, as she nodded.

She realized that Frank loved this world just as much as her…

But he was a complete outsider… why was he so decided?

Was he an idiot?

Maybe…

Although sometimes, goodhearted people are often called idiots as well.

"Yeah… We'll get through this… Together," said Axitl, while nodding, as more tears began to come out of her crimson eyes.

-----