Ashes (Clementine X Male Reader Book 2)

Rage-Grudges

You follow Don down the stairs. "What happened?" You were expecting a problem with the gods eventually.

"I sent Brian and Ray down with the fishing team today." Don sounds annoyed. "And I left Lizzy washing clothes in the courtyard." There isn't much else she can do. "Richmond decided they wanted to take advantage of them being separated."

You step out of the admin building. They're inside the walls to your right. You're not sure why there's a group of seven around Lizzy while she's cowering on the ground, unable to defend herself. She's harmless, whether she was a god or not.

"Did you try to stop them?" You ask Don.

"I did. They ignored me." If they're ignoring Don, they're a problem. "Y/N, I know there's bad blood there, but she deserves a chance."

"I'll deal with this." You leave him behind and hurry over to them. You shove the closest person to her away. "Fuck off."

"How could you let them stay here?" One of them asks. They're angry.

"We should kill them." Another says. A lot of the Richmond group were former slaves. They know Lizzy as Hundun, and that's all they'll ever see her as.

"I'm not in the mood for this." You need her. Without her, you lose the other two gods, Brian and Ray. "Go back to what you were doing."

"You're really going to defend her?"

You wait. You won't argue with them because you're not good at it and know you'll never change their mind. It's not worth it. You don't blame them for their dislike of Lizzy, but you don't give a shit either.

"Let's all just calm down." Don joins in. "Lizzy is a part of this group, just like you."

"You were one of us, Don. You know how she treated us. You experienced it."

"That was a complicated situation. Y/N was a part of that too." Don throws you under the bus, but you get why. They're not going to turn on you.

"He avoided us, and you know it. It's not the same, Don."

"What about Brooklyn and Emma?" You ask. Cas wasn't around long enough to be included. Brooklyn and Emma were around much longer than you, and you know they did what they had to do... So did the other gods.

"That's different."

"How?" They are different, but you're not worried about that right now. "Go back to doing what you were doing. Try this again, and a cripple will be the least of your worries."

You watch them until they hesitantly disperse and leave the courtyard.

"Are you alright, Lizzy?" Don helps her stand up. Someone punched her. Her face is already bruising.

"Y/N, please." Lizzy starts pleading with you before anything else. "That wasn't my fault. I was just working, and then they attacked me." She's terrified you'll kick her out.

"That wasn't your fault. You don't need to worry." You won't be overly hard on them unless they do something. Don gave you total authority over them, so you decide whether they stay or go. "Don, will you make sure they didn't make anything worse?" You point at her legs.

"They only hit me in the face." Lizzy looks frustrated. You saw the same thing with Clementine. She's frustrated by her imperfection and inability.

You feel bad. "Don, can you fix her legs?" Maybe she could end up helping you.

"I've been thinking about it. I can't see what's happening inside, so I have to go off intuition... Do you want to hear the options?" Don asks Lizzy. She nods. "I can rebreak them. That may not work, and it'll be painful, but we can find ways to manage that. Or, an option I'm far less inclined to do, is cut them off and get prosthetics like Clementine has. Staying like you are is also an option."