How to Redeem a Trashy Side Villain

"How was it in there?"

"...A little humid. And… it smelled a bit."

"Sorry about that," Tavros said as I hopped out of his mouth and landed on his palm.

I shook myself like a dog drying themselves off after playing in a pool of water. Except it wasn't water. It was saliva that came from the head of a bull.

I looked up at him. "How often do they come?"

"...Depends. Sometimes it's multiple times a year. Sometimes, once every few years. It depends on how long it takes them to develop the new thing they want to test out on me."

"...I see. By the way, I'm curious, how come they weren't able to find your bookshelf?" I asked.

He smiled. "Even if I'm trapped in this room, it doesn't mean I'm powerless. It's nothing but a simple spell. So simple that it's easy to overlook."

My questions didn't stop. I had a lot of things on my mind that developed as I was hidden inside his mouth. "How does one tolerate that level of disrespect? The way they treated you was…"

"Bell, remember this saying. Not everything is as it seems," he said as he placed me down on the ground. He began striding around the room.

Here we go with the vague sayings. Why do people do this?

He must've sensed what I was thinking because a smile flicked the corners of his mouth. "What? You think it's dishonorable of me to turn the other cheek and pretend that those demons aren't annoying little pests? Is it a shameful thing for me to leave them alive even though I can kill them?"

"...Yes?"

Tavros got down on one knee and looked at me. "The day I was trapped in the room, I had already lost all honor and dignity. There's nothing more for me to lose."

His words sort of stunned me.

I never expected a creature this powerful to have such a—

"Weak mindset?" he uttered.

Although I didn't give him a response, either verbal or physical, he took my silence as a "yes".

"Put yourself in my shoes. Try being by yourself here for so long, a bird trapped inside a cage… and see how you fare. I think most people would've long killed themselves. I'm proud to say that I'm tougher than most."

There was no arrogance in the words or the way that he said it. It was just pure facts.

I wish I could've seen this giant creature in its prime days before its pride had been slowly worn down by the passage of time. I was curious whether the confidence I was currently seeing in the minotaur had once been arrogance.

Crossing my arms, I responded, "Tough, that you are. But… aren't you still letting them walk all over you? Wouldn't you rather go out on your own terms and kill those bastards even if it causes your life to end? I'd rather die and be free than be a prisoner."

"...Am I letting them walk all over me? Is that what you see?" he asked. The questions came out of him so calmly that it threw me off slightly.

He took a seat on the ground, crossed his legs, and leaned backwards until his back rested against the wall.

"Tell me, Bell," he continued, "what exactly did you see in there? I know you were inside my mouth, but you must've seen with your other senses."

Contemplating for a second, I tried to think what he meant by the question on a deeper level, but ultimately, I responded with: "What do you mean? I saw you get hit, tested on, and treated like an—"

"Like an object? Like a farm animal?" he finished my words for me.

"That's not exactly what I was going to say, but yeah."

"Interesting. And what do you think they saw? The demons."

I had an immediate answer, but stopped myself and took an extra moment to see if I was missing anything.

I shook my head. "I'm not sure what you mean? Unless I'm missing something, I'm pretty sure what the demons saw was an idiot, a broken creature whose mind is no longer what it used to be. A trash—"

"Alright alright. That's… that's enough," Tavros coughed.

"...Sorry about that. Got a little carried away there."

"Ahum. But yes. You're not wrong. That's exactly what they saw," Tavros nodded.

There was a brief silence as it settled in that he had just admitted he looked like a fool.

He continued, "They come in, thinking that I'm nothing but a has-been. They lower their guards, speak their minds freely, discussing the outside world, and have long since stopped thinking of me as a threat. A few of them even got within the range of my arms."

"..."

"Because I let them 'walk all over me', because I play the role of the mindless monster, I'm underestimated."

"...I mean, I assumed that's what you were doing, but what's the point? Even if they underestimate you, if you have no way of getting out, they can underestimate you for eternity as you widdle away and eventually die of old age. If… you can even die from that. It's like eating shit every day at that point."

"Maybe you're right. Maybe I'm doing all of this for nothing. But, if there's a chance, even the smallest sliver of hope that there is a way for me to leave this place, me being underestimated might just be the deciding factor between freedom and captivity."

"You're essentially sacrificing your dignity in exchange for hope?"

Rubbing the back of his neck, he let out a slow breath and nodded.

"Is that a disgraceful thing to you? What I'm doing. Are you disgusted by me? Does it perhaps go against your morals?" he asked me, to which I didn't answer him immediately.

For a moment, I stood there totally still, looking at him not as this giant minotaur, not as the monstrous human-killing machine that the demons wanted him to be, but as a fellow person.

"Disgusted, I'm not sure. Do I disagree with your decision?" I shook my head.

His ears twitched slightly at my response.

"I think… it's desperate. You're desperate," I added. "But who wouldn't be if they were in your shoes. Probably someone who's suicidal."

"I'm quite the stubborn one, aren't I?" he asked as he let out this small exhale that was not quite a laugh but was close to being one.

Glancing around the room, I then looked back at him. "I still don't like it even if I agree with your decision," I admitted. "You're strong enough to crush every single one of them the moment they step in here."

"And what would that accomplish for me in the long run?" he questioned. "It would only alert the organization that sends them to bring reinforcements. I can handle quite a few of them, but only to an extent."

I responded with a blunt answer, "It would feel better."

"Momentarily."

"Yes. I'd rather momentarily go out with a bang than to suffer and wait."

"Didn't you agree with my decision?"

I shrugged. "I'm a conflicting person."

There was a moment of silence as Tavros tapped his large fingers on his knees. Then he spoke, "Bell, you value freedom highly."

"Of course I do. Who doesn't?"

"Even at the cost of your own life?"

Without hesitation, I answered, "Yes."

❖ ❖ ❖

[Rubi Agnus]

Mama brushed my hair a little too tightly.

She's usually really gentle. Like… really really gentle. But today it hurt a little bit.

I didn't say anything though because Mama hadn't said anything in a while and when Mama gets quiet like this, it means she's thinking. And when she's thinking, it's better to be good and not make her think more by being a bad girl.

So I just sat there and held my dress.

"Let's hurry up and dress," Mama said. "Your grandfather is waiting."

Grand… father?

I blinked.

"…Granda?" I asked. "I have a grandpa? What?!"

I didn't mean to raise my voice. Sorry Mama. But… what?!

Before I could ask Mama something, Ellie said, "I dream of him once." My jaw dropped. What does that mean? She dreamed of him? Does that mean he's a fake grandpa? One that only exists in the dreams?

Ellie dreamed of many things. Sometimes, they would come true such as when she told me she dreamed that Mama was going to let us eat ice cream a month ago which came true.

Sometimes, her dreams were just dreams like mine.

I had so many things that I wanted to ask my little sister. That's right. I'm the older sister. Hehehehe.

Mama looked surprised for a tiny second, then she wasn't anymore.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

Eloise nodded and started saying a bunch of stuff I didn't really understand.

Something about Father and marriage and… mixing blood?

I frowned.

That sounds gross. Yuck. Ewww!

"That's enough Ellie." Mama said quickly. Was what Ellie true? Mama's face suggests that it was. "Thank you for that quick history lesson. Let's hurry up and get dressed. Father will be home soon to join us."

Then she fixed her hair super fast. It was done in the blink of an eye.

Then, I began counting the people who were going. Father, me, Mama, and Ellie.

"...What about Big Brother Cyro?" I asked. Wasn't he also coming?

"He's… busy with something else."

Mama clearly made a face that seemed reluctant to elaborate, so I didn't ask a follow-up question.

After putting Ellie in her dress, Mama did the same for me. After that, she went back to brushing my hair.

Ow…

I didn't say anything.

I just held my dress tighter, suppressing my urge to make a sound.

I've had worse pain than this.

I began thinking about them.

Like when Big Brother Cyro stepped on my foot. Or when I fell down the stairs because I was running even though Mama told me not to. Or like that one time that Bell—

I squeezed my dress harder as I told myself not to think about it.

If I think about it, it easily shows on my face. I'm like Mama in that way. And when Mama sees me thinking about it, her face gets weird.

I don't want Mama to get wrinkles from making that face so…

"Rubi," Mama called my name.

I looked up with a smile.

She was also smiling but I could tell that she really wasn't.

"Yes, Mama?" I responded.

"We're going to meet your grandfather in a bit. Are you… excited?" she asked.

I thought about it for a second. A grandpa that exists but I've never seen or heard of before. I don't remember him ever being mentioned.

"I… I don't know," I answered. "How about Mama? Are you excited?"

Mama paused for a moment before answering, "No."

"Then I'm not excited either," I replied, crossing my arms.

Mama's brows raised for a second, then she burst out into laughter which made me also laugh.

"Don't worry about how Mama feels," she tells me, rubbing my hair. "Just treat however you'd like. If you hate him, feel free to kick him. If you like him, don't mind me."

"...Okay." Although I said that, I already told myself that I don't like him. Mama doesn't seem to like him so I'll do the same.

"Let's go," Mama said as she held out her hands. I took one while Ellie took the other. "Your father's back."

Mama's hand was warm. Very very warm. I like it.

She squeezed my hand tightly as she brought us to the car.

.

.

.

The ride was very long. I fell asleep. Mama said that we were in the car for over five hours but I don't know if that's true or not because… I was sleeping.