Chapter 12: The World.


“Sweetheart? I didn’t expect to see you out here so early.” Dev greeted her 58th child with a warm smile, though it slowly morphed into a concerned frown. “I heard about what happened. Are you doing okay?”

“Yeah, mom, I’m fine.” Igneous yawned as he took a seat at the central table. “Actually, I'm pretty great.”

“Really? Are you sure?”

“Yes, mom. I…honestly, i’m not doing so bad.” Igneous smiled politely at his mother. “What about you? How was your trip?”

“Uhm…sweetheart, are you sure you’re feeling okay?” The mature demoness raised a fuzzy eyebrow at her son as she sipped carefully from her cinder-root and chamomile tea. “You normally don’t bother to ask me about things like that...”

“Give him some credit. Igneous doesn’t have to be closed-off and angsty all the time.” Adonis approached the table and leaned over it, standing just a couple feet away from where Igneous was sitting. “He’s entitled to be in a bad mood now and then. But, he knows his manners. Isn’t that right, Igneous?”

“Mm. Yes, sir.” The boy nodded to his father.

“Goodness.” Dev set her teacup down and scratched behind her ears; it was evident on her face that she was pleasantly surprised by this sudden change in her son's behavior. “Well, I’m very proud of you, Igneous. I’m so glad to hear that you’re doing better! God, I was so worried when I heard about what happened, I feared that I might lose you for good…”

“Our son is far more resilient than you might think he is,” remarked Argon, a note of pride in his voice as he regarded his little shape-shifting demon son. He scratched the boy gently behind the ears as he continued. “He did a lot of the escape work on his own, and he’s the reason Argon no longer walks this plane. Were it not for him, I may very well have been killed.”
“Well, it’s certainly a relief that you two are safe…and that that slimy prick is dead.” A low growl rumbled in the demoness’s throat. “I always hated him. God, I wish I was there to see the life drain from his eyes ”

“Jesus, mom.”

“What? I’m just being honest.” Dev sighed and rested her head on her elbow. “That piece of shit had it coming. I’m really proud of you, Iggy.” She looked up at the boy with a sincere smile.

Igneous looked up at his father, who was still petting him on the head, and leaned into his enormous hand. “Thanks, mom.” With that, he stood up and stepped away from the table. “I’m gonna go, uh…take a nap, now.”

“So soon?” Dev chuckled and shook her head. “Alright, then. See you when you wake up. I love you.”

“Love you too, mom.” The little demon walked away down the hall, limping the entire way.



It had been a long and confusing week. Easily the most eventful in Iggy’s entire life. The boy had done so much in such a small amount of time, and he really did feel…different. He was free of Argon’s influence, and that liberation had empowered him to do the one thing he had always wanted to do, but for different reasons than the ones he started with. Initially he wanted to fuck his dad out of spite, but…the words he and daddy exchanged the night before made it clear that Iggy’s desires were infinitely more complex than that. He really…really loved daddy. And, the way Adonis touched him, and spoke to him…

He couldn’t help but feel that daddy felt the same way.

As twisted and cheesy as it was, he felt the butterflies drifting in his insides, and he looked up at the unfathomable shape of the Shard of God where it sat on the shelf above his bed, still stained with Argon’s blood. He would honestly never forget that moment - the exhilaration he felt when he tore apart the archdemon’s corpse with that weapon. Each time it glistened in the dark arcane light of his room, he was reminded that he was free. And, glisten it did, shimmering like a cosmic diamond amidst all the trouble and the worries that Hell had brought little Igneous, reminding the boy of how far he had come in such a short amount of time.

Shining.

Glistening.

Waiting.