Lily Vs. Ahri

Lily plopped down next to her goddess, not sure if her goddess had seen through the fake exhaustion or not by the first thing she said.

"Our earlier conversation made me realize that despite all our time together I never asked you about where you came from. Please, tell me more about this home of yours." The fox woman asked curiously.

“Do you mean my home as in house or village, my goddess,” Lily asked.

"Both? Village mostly." Ahri clarified.

“I cannot tell you much, my goddess,” Lilly answered, “My master wanted me to stick solely to training, so I was always in my house and training hall. However I did sneak out a few times to a massage parlor, but my master didn’t like that.”

"You hardly got to leave the house?" Her goddess asked in surprise.

“Until I was deployed on my mission, my master never gave me permission to leave my house,” Lily replied.

"I don't understand how you're not angry with this woman." Ahri told her, shaking her head. "Tell me about your home then what was that like."

“Why would I be angry about that, isn’t that how it is usually, my goddess?” Lily said, “So, my house had a training room, smithing room, dining room, apothecary room, some spare rooms for sleep, and a punishment room.”

"No that's not how it usually is at all." Agri began to respond before she fully processed Lily's words. "Punishment room?" She asked, horrified as what she might hear.

“Yeah, punishment room, for when I disobeyed or messed up in training, my goddess,” Lily replied.

"And what happened in this punishment room." Her goddess asked, a morbid curiosity creeping into her voice.

“My master had a variety of punishments, including water boarding , Chinese water torture, whipping, burning wax, or leaving me trapped in a cage for a few days without food and water,” Lily said, “But that last one she only used when she caught me going to the massage parlor.”

Ahri gasped before pulling Lily into a comforting hug. "I'm so sorry." She said as she took it all in. She was perfectly aware of the questionable nature of her habit of charming people and keeping them as slaves, but it seemed that she had done Lily a favor.

“What are you sorry for, my goddess?” Lily asked.

"No one should have to live like that." Her goddess said sternly. "No wonder your power is so angry. It must have lain dormant the whole time, powerless to do anything as you were subject to this torture. It must be furious." Suddenly everything made sense. Ahri rarely saw humans as equals but they didn't deserve to suffer, certainly not like this.

“Why would it be made about me being tortured?” Lily asked, “Isn’t torture a good thing? Torture causes pain, and pain build character, there for torture build character.”

"No. That's wrong." The fox woman said certainly. "Torture is a dark and terrible thing used by the cruel and the foolish to grant themselves a sense of control." Ahri had never understood torture, not only was it a terrible thing to commit and behold it was also inefficient. Why inflict pain when granting pleasure worked so much better.

“B-but why would my master lie about that?” Lily stuttered.

"I assume she was just a sadist who wished to hurt you. Or else she sought to use it to force you to train even harder." Ahri speculated. "As for pain building character." She continues, not quite done. "Pain alone does not build character. The pain must be towards an end. When you worked to develope your control of your inner magic you experienced pain did you not. The pain of failure and the pain of exhaustion from long hours of practice. That is pain that builds character, pain that happens as you achieve something. Torture is just cruelty."

Lily sat there in silence, trying to completely process what her goddess has told her.

Ahri pulled her servant into another comforting hug. Giving her time to come to terms with it all.

“S-so, if my master training method was wrong, should I forget the other things she taught me,” Lily muttered after a while.

"Perhaps? It all depends. Your skills as a fighter are incredible. But I don't know what else she instilled in you." Ahri offered. "Take the time to think about it. I'm here for you." She added awkwardly, not super used to being so genuine with people.

“Respect those who defeat you, dedicate your entire being to those who rank higher than you, emotions will only interfere with your job,” Lily listed off some of the more important teaching that were installed in her.