On the other side, inside the very same house…
Warming dinner. Yeah, right.
Piers's eyes stayed glued on Styx across the table, her cheeks puffed out, tearing into the food like a raccoon in a trash bin.
He'd seen it thousands of times. Noted. Filed. Moved on.
Piers watched his parents over the rim of his cup.
Third time this week.
He set the cup down.
Fine. He'd been putting this off long enough.
[UNIQUE SKILL: APPRAISAL — ACTIVE]
He focused on his mother.
[XYLIA ARGOS NEOKLEOUS]
[RACE: DEMON — DAUGHTER OF THE WITCH MONARCH]
[AGE: ???]
[TITLE: MULTIMAUL]
[INNATE TALENT: DARK MANA MANIPULATION / INHERITED PHYSICAL STRENGTH]
[MASS: EARLY SHRA]
[CURRENT STATUS: WORRIED]
[HIDDEN FLAG: POLITICAL ARRANGEMENT PLANNED — SUBJECT "PIERS" — REACTION FEARED]
He read it once.
Then again.
...Demon.
He looked at her. She was cutting her food neatly, humming something soft, completely unbothered.
Daughter of the Witch Monarch.
The woman who wiped porridge off my cheek this morning.
Age unknown.
He looked back at his plate.
I've had this skill for weeks. It never occurred to me to just... use it on them.
I thought that was just... her.
That was not just her.
Styx launched a meatball across the table accidentally and kept eating.
Political arrangement. For me. She's worried about my reaction.
He glanced at Xylia.
She chose that exact moment to smile at him — warm, soft, completely innocent.
...She should be.
I'm three. I haven't figured out shoelaces.
[NULL SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[EMOTIONAL RESPONSE: UNCLASSIFIED]
[PROCESSING...]
[ERROR: NO MATCHING CATEGORY]
He picked up his spoon. Put food in his mouth. Chewed.
Though — if I had just asked, she probably would have told me.
She tells me most things.
I just never asked.
The marriage thing she was definitely never going to bring up on her own.
He set the spoon down.
okay dad next,
[RIGAS ARGOS]
[RACE: HALF-HUMAN — EX-HERO]
[AGE: UNKNOWN]
[TITLE: FROST KING]
[INNATE TALENT: DIVINE STRENGTH]
[MASS: MYOT]
[CURRENT STATUS: GUARDED]
[HIDDEN FLAG: AWARE OF PIERS' TRUE POWER. KNOWS PIERS DISSOLVED THE BARRIER. WAITING.]
He read it.
Didn't move.
...Frost King.
His father was currently refilling Styx's cup and telling her to slow down.
Ex-Hero.
Divine Strength.
He knows about the barrier.
He's been waiting.
He sat very still.
The first reveal had been a gut punch. This one was different. Quieter. The kind of cold that seeped in slowly.
He knows.
He's known.
And he's just been sitting there. Pouring tea. Grinning at everything. Letting me think I was careful.
He looked at Rigas.
Rigas looked up at that exact moment, caught his eye, and smiled — easy, unbothered, completely unreadable.
...Terrifying.
[NULL SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[THREAT ASSESSMENT: FATHER]
[PREVIOUS CLASSIFICATION: MODERATE]
[REVISED CLASSIFICATION: UNKNOWN]
[RECOMMENDATION: REASSESS IMMEDIATELY]
Piers stared too long.
Xylia noticed.
Her expression shifted — the warmth sharpening into something alert. She rose from her chair with quiet urgency and moved to him, crouching beside his seat.
"Piers, sweetie. Are you alright?"
Her voice was soft. Her eyes were not.
He could feel her aura — usually refined, contained — crack slightly at the edges. What sat beneath it was vast and old and extremely protective.
Right. Witch Monarch's daughter.
Don't forget that part.
He forced a smile. Crooked. Barely functional.
"I'm fine, Mama."
She didn't look convinced.
His brain, still processing Frost King and divine strength and he knows, grabbed the first deflection available and threw it.
"Actually." He paused. "I was thinking... maybe I could try actual food. Instead of just milk."
Silence.
Styx snorted mid-chew. A meatball fragment launched off the table.
Rigas' mouth twitched. Just slightly.
Xylia blinked — then laughed. A real one. Surprised and relieved and warm all at once.
The corner of his mouth moved. Almost.
The tension dissolved into clinking utensils and mismatched laughter.
Demon mother. Frost King father. Demon hybrid sister.
Political marriage pending.
And me.
He looked around the table.
What a family.
[NULL SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[EMOTIONAL RESPONSE: WARMTH]
[VOID CORRUPTION: 33% → 30%]
[NOTE: HOST CHOOSING FAMILY OVER CRISIS]
[CURRENT ATTACHMENTS:]
XYLIA: 42% → 44% (+2%)
RIGAS: 32% → 35% (+3%)
STYX: 38% → 39% (+1%)
….
…
..
.
In the cold breeze that snaked through the cave depths, something shifted.
A whisper.
Soft. Feminine. Almost too quiet to hear.
"Finally... my little void."
The words echoed — not loud, but sharp. Like they'd been waiting a very long time.
Somewhere deep in the dark, the cave exhaled frost.
The mist coalesced in the shadows.
Then vanished.