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The fact the he was talking more was good, it meant he was getting less fearful, or it could have meant he was getting angrier at her. The faster he talked, the faster she'd have to leave, right? At least that was the witch's flawed, scared thinking at the time.
But that fear soon turned to other topics, to the fact that he not only stalked his prey, but killed them and one because it got in the way. It was so heartless and cold that Belladonna took another step backwards. Yet he just kept talking, he just kept piling on more information. Knightly Duties included killing weak humans, slaughtering them like cattle because he was merely asked to. The little growl startled the witch and she reached out, but his words made her recoil. The true reasons were shrouded, as she was not worthy of knowing the motive, only the end result.
Which was really for the worst because it absolutely infuriated the witch.

With a click of stomped foot on tile, the witch looked up at him and leveled him with a steady, nearly angry gaze. Hurt still rolled within her, so she didn't want to get truly mad at him, but he was making it so easy.
"So you'll just throw away decency for this? You would willing kill something that is so defenseless, so weak and easily destroyed its the same as squashing a bug... Because someone told you to?" The words suddenly poured from her, thought she hadn't fully realized until now. "This is too high a price! Mort, I understand that you want to help but..." For a moment she faltered, considered just letting it go. Was killing a human really that bad?
After all, a death every once in a while was what helped put the fear back into them. A good scaring was good, yes, but once in a blue moon a death needed to occur, just so the real fear could be harvested.

And with a sudden shake of her head, Belladonna decided against that. It was wrong, no matter what. Maybe yes a human needed to die every once in a while, but not all the jack damn time! And certainly not by a student! With an angry clench of fists, the witch looked up at Mort and wondered if this was still the same boil she'd meet on the school grounds all those months ago.
"Being strong doesn't mean taking out the lowest link on the chain! Being strong means standing up for what's right, even when no one else does!" A bit of color had come into her cheeks and for whatever reason, the witch felt like a traitor for it. How could he so easily say he would kill a human when she was only a hop, skip and a jump away from being a human?
"And killing humans is what made the Hunters become what they are! Killing them will only breed more hatred and more of them! Why hasn't Medea seen that, why hasn't anyone seen that?"
Was she truly alone, in all manner of speaking?

The silence stretched out to a strange thing, confusing and heavy, something that weighed on the witch and made her think she said the wrong thing. His silence was worse because she had questioned him, but he had deemed her unworthy of a swift reply. But Belladonna held on, her fingers loosed the tiniest bit, but the moment he began to talk again, they reclenched. With an angry tilt of brow she listened to him speak, but it certainly wasn't what she wanted to hear. Each new word made her angrier and angrier until he mentioned Israfel.
With an audible gasp, Belladonna recoiled as both hands flew to cover it up. That anger flashed into sadness and she shook her head.
"I thought... I thought you said he was alright!" She suddenly sounded so broken, so fragile. For a moment she shook her head, fighting the feeling that had crawled over her bones. Perhaps the chill of the dorms had finally reached her, but the witch felt suddenly very cold.

Yet the anger wouldn't stay down for long and reared its head once more, though a small part of Belladonna sat and watched it and tried to fight it. It was wrong, and rude, and not what she wanted. But for so long she had suffered too and she wanted it to stop, at least for a little while.
For a moment she felt something clutch over her heart, some fear or some other bigger emotion, but Belladonna took a stilted breath and shook her head.
"Don't you dare act like I don't know what is being asked of you." She replied slowly, as though she couldn't speak too much with that vice on her heart. "Don't you dare try and tell me that you know best just because you're special and you got chosen for the cause. There is no such thing as courteous anymore Mort. I have seen you so broken down you wouldn't speak to me because of this jack damn quest." Somehow her voice grew stronger, more laced with that anger, but still hurting. It was all for him. "You know I am more than grateful for what you do for this school and this world and for me. But you do not act like I am the liability."

Now she really shook her head, her fists shaking with so many things.
"There is a price to great to pay and if you gamble away your life, I-I... I..." And for one brilliant moment of clarity mixed with embarrassment, Belladonna could not speak because she almost broke herself. But whatever defenses kept her from doing so only pressed onward. "I will not stand for you being a martyr." It wasn't her most eloquent speech, but it would have to do for now. She cared altogether too much to say much else without breaking down.

That weird clutch over her heart tightened, so much so that the witch almost let out a small whimper of pain. But then Mort was moving, trying to slip away from her in such a crucial moment. There was absolutely no hesitation in the witch as she whirled around and watched for a moment, sure he was only going to sit down or move his things, but no. He kept going. And had said nothing, had only ignored her and kept going.
"Don't you walk away from me!" Belladonna nearly shouted as she lunged forward to grab his arm, hoping it was enough to turn him around so he would look at her. "This is not over because you don't think I can handle this!" The grip on his arm had begun as forceful and become a strange clutch that dug her fingers into him. It was meant to be just enough to keep him there, to keep him from running but after a moment it turned desperate.
It wasn't fair that they had been through so much, but he still couldn't tell her a thing. That after all the patience Belladonna had given him, after all the hope and light and time, he still didn't trust her. He still didn't think her worthy of knowing what was going on.
And that infuriated her.

"What is wrong with you? Why do we keep having this fight? Why won't you trust me?! What do I have to do to prove myself to you?" Her fingers still clutched at him, her eyes pleading yet at once angry. It was driving her up the wall, because he wouldn't listen, no matter what she said. It was like he was refusing to even accept her. And that weird pain around her heart, the one that she couldn't explain still hurt. It hurt worse by the minute and Belladonna couldn't understand.
"What can I do?" She was still mad, her angry frown told that quite clearly. But there was something in that little tilt of eyebrow that could be swayed either way, to either patience or final fury.

So startled and high strung was the witch that she visibly jumped when he whirled around to face her, to the point she almost let out a noise. But she had been getting better at it, had learned it was easier to subdue so instead she only stared up at him and braced herself for the impact of his words. Unfortunately, she was only a small ghoul and no amount of protection would keep her safe from the blow she was delivered.
Muscles tightened at his explanation of what he'd done to the Humans, and Belladonna had to fight the anger welling inside her. Maybe she wasn't a fan of Humans, but that certainly did mean she wanted them killed. Especially in not so brutal a fashion, even more so by a student sent on some insane mission for some poorly thought out revenge scheme. But the words died on the witch's tongue, they became an exhale of air as he drew her closer.
Why couldn't have things just been easy today? Why couldn't either of them just been happy, instead content to fight and be cruel or shout with the other.

For one rather intense, brilliant moment, Belladonna almost got regrettably angry. To be told by someone, someone she was falling in love with, who she trusted her whole entire being to, that she looked just like a human... It was the most utter betrayal the witch could ever conceive. But in a flush of more words it was clarified, done and over with and all that angry seemed so paltry to what other things Mort said. Now that they had reached the most damning insult and it still wasn't the problem, Belladonna lost her will to really fight. Maybe one day, when this got worse and she couldn't handle his antics anymore, but that was a darker day that could easily be avoided.
Instead, her angry face cracked at the idea of Mort in a coffin. It was silly, really. Of course he had been in a coffin. Of course he was dead. So maybe Belladonna had never lived before this life, but she was still Halloween and to be Halloween one had to have a remnant of death within them.
Truthfully, the witch knew exactly what he meant. Mort meant The Big Sleep, the one that last forever that everyone eventually took but for the two of them was very, very far away. And because he hadn't insulted how similarly she looked to Humans, Belladonna just couldn't get angry anymore.
Instead, she gathered her remaining anger, balled it up tight and used it to fuel her words.

"Fine. I'm the problem. Its my fault you did these things and here I am, flouncing around reminding you of them. I'm sorry. If I had known you needed some space, I would have given it to you. But as it stands, I have not yet been granted the gift of reading minds. Do forgive me for that failing." The grip on her arm loosened and with a quick wrench Belladonna was gone from it. A few steps back and she was free, unhindered by anything but the weight of all these emotions. "I won't condemn the things you've done because that's something you have to deal with. But you didn't kill me and you didn't see a dead you. They were humans, and since we both resemble or were once that, its highly likely there are other who looks like us too. But guess what? We're Halloween and that means we're already dead. Death is just a stage, just a part of the cycle and its not forever. Neither of us are going to die. Not right now, not for a very long time. No matter what you think about that, we're both going to be fine."
It was strange that her words were so angry sounding when she almost meant them with kindness. All her patience had been used for the day and the witch was done.
"And if I'm such a burden to you right now, I'll leave. Take what time you need and come find me when I won't be a hindrance."

It wasn't meant as a permanent leave, or even one that suggested their relationship take some time off. It was a simple act of 'I recognize you want to be alone and I am giving you that'. With a small squeeze of hand on his arm, Belladonna looked up at him, tried very hard not to reach up on her toes to kiss him and instead turned away and this time was the one to make for the door.
It hurt quite a lot, but she steeled herself and knew he wouldn't stop her. And when that idea had sunk in, it made a fresh set of wounds that made hot tears p***k at her eyes. But still she walked on, because this was what he wanted and it wasn't her and she could not refuse him.