Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tommy finally fulfilled his dream on his fifteenth birthday.

He dressed in his favorite clothes and got praised by the high priest. The high priest said he looked great and presentable to the lord. His cheeks were blushing as the priest put a corolla on his blonde hair.

This was the biggest day of his life.

Every fifteen years, a newborn child was chosen by the high priest with the divine blessing from the gods. After being chosen, Tommy was immediately separated from his biological parents and raised in a “temple” all alone. It was more or less the same as a stone tomb, Tommy always thought.

He didn't miss his parents at all. Sometimes he could spot them when he was let out for rituals. They had new children soon after he was chosen and they looked gratified at their oldest child when Tommy’s skin was being cut open by the priests. Blood scattered around the altar and covered the runes written on it. He didn't wince at the pain all. He had grown used to it in the last decade.

This was his only job in the earthly world. This was a blessing from the gods. He should be happy, and he was. At least sometimes.

He thought he enjoyed his life in the temple, although it was dark even during the brightest day and always cold. Cold food was given to him before he woke up, and he usually had to plan it carefully so that he would not starve before he could sleep again. Occasionally the priest would come to visit him and bring him books to read, mostly boring stuff about the history of the church and its commitments to the gods. But he was grateful for the opportunity for even having these.

And during the most of time, there was just silence.

Sometimes he could hear the faint laughter from the outside. Children of the same age play in the sun with their parents while he was reading the books over and over again, almost remembering every single word written in them.

It was fine, he thought, it would all end when he turned fifteen. All the loneliness would end and his skin would no longer be cut open once every few months. And people would no longer look at him as a pathetic calf, waiting to be butchered.

And it was the only thing that kept him looking forward for the next day, for the next cold food plate, for the day he was finally fifteen.

That day was sunny. The moment he walked out of the temple, he was blinded by the sunlight. He rarely felt sunlight being shined on his skin and it was so warm and nice.

Although it would be the last time he would ever feel the sunlight in his life, he enjoyed every moment of it happily.

Every member of the community showed up, including his parents, who were singing along in the crowd along with his siblings he never had the chance to meet. They looked healthy and energetic, which made Tommy’s chest start to ache.

At least they would live until they grow old, which was something Tommy was jealous of.

Everyone looked happy.

He should be happy too.

There was the only way he had for helping his community, being killed at the age of fifteen.

But he had not anticipated how he would die. He thought it would happen on the same altar that was covered with his blood over and over again. Maybe some strong priest would chop his head off? That would be quick and painless. The worst imagination he had was they would cut a large wound on his body and let him bleed out for several days, that would suck.

But at least that would end his suffering once and for all.

He was quite excited thinking about all the ways he could die.

Would they remove his limbs or some of his bones before they killed him? That would hurt a lot but at least the pain would let him know he didn't grow his body for nothing. Or would they make some more gruesome scenes?

But the reality was quite underwhelming.

After walking past the crowd of cheering people, the priests ignored the altar Tommy was sure of where the ritual would start. Instead, they just entered a cave that Tommy never saw before.

It was locked by at least five different locks and the priests had to use some force to open the rusty iron gate. It seemed like it hadn't been opened for at least a decade.

Once the gate opened, Tommy almost gagged at the terrible smell from the cave. There was only darkness inside the cave, almost like the tomb he spent all his life in.

And the darkness disappeared after a priest lit up some ancient oil lamps. Tommy immediately missed the darkness as soon as seeing what had been decorating the ground.

It was just bones. Human bones, lying on the ground. Some were quite new and others were sitting here for at least centuries.

He felt something touching his feet and almost jumped. It was a skull, with empty eye holes looking up at him.

And before he could scream, a priest pushed him onto the floor without saying anything. Tommy’s corolla was rolling on the ground until it fell flat on the cold floor.

Before Tommy could even sit up, the sound of the iron gate being slammed shut echoed in the darkness.

And there was silence again.

How long had passed?

Tommy didn't know.

His throat was sore from the first few hours of crying and his eyes were burning badly to the point he wanted to gouge them out.

He banged on the iron gate for a few hours also, immediately after the initial panic of being trapped alone with dozens of skeletons. But after his knuckles started to bleed, he decided to stop.

Why was he even bothering trying to get out? This was where he suppose to be. The cave was the place he should die, after days of dehydration and starvation he would become one of the skeletons lying on the ground.

He shouldn't be scared and he definitely shouldn't cry as much as he did.

There was no reason for him to be upset. This was his destiny and he knew it since he was born. He was a sacrifice, and he fully endorsed it until this point.

He just hoped the death was quicker. Quicker than being starved to death. It was even worse than being bled out on the altar than he imagined before because there was not a single person who could be here in the cave with him as he die.

Well, besides the remains of his ancestors who shared the same terrible fate as him.

He picked up the skull that welcomed him when he entered and thoroughly investigated it. It was almost as white as his pale skin which had been sheltered from sunlight for fifteen years. It was losing a tooth and Tommy didn't know if it was because they didn't get the chance to get rid of all their baby teeth like himself.

He stared at the black eye holes and the skull stared at him back.

“We are both losers.” He chuckled tiredly.

What should he do now? He was done crying. After a while, he just feels pathetic. He didn't want to go near the gate again as he knew it was useless.

Even worse, he started to feel thirsty. Maybe because he was crying too much and losing water.

There was no water source in sight, of course. If the church wanted to make sure their sacrifice died, why would they leave any water?

Tommy recalled once the priests forgot to bring him water for a day, and the burning feeling in his throat and the salty feeling in his mouth that lingered for a while. Guess he would just have to accept the awful feeling until he passed away. He just hoped that would not take too long.

And it indeed took a long, long time.

After getting bored talking to the skeletons for hours, he started to pave around the cave until his body collapsed to the ground again. It was much larger than he initially thought and there were huge areas where the little light he had couldn't reach. Sometimes he could hear the sounds of bats coming from the deep darkness but he never got to see one.

He tried to find at least a drop of water, but the cave was dry as fuck. Maybe if the outside started to rain then he would get some water? He remembered whenever outside started to rain the tomb he lived in leaked severely.

But if that happened, did it worth him to drink? It would just slow down the inevitable fate and made the process even harder than now.

As he was struggling with thoughts, he noticed the lamps started to die.

It's fine. He thought. He was used to the darkness of his tomb.

And the darkness lasted for a really, really long time.

He became tired but he couldn't sleep no matter how hard he tried. The burning throat was just hurting too bad and his stomach also started to ache. He knew that must be caused by haven't eaten for several days.

It was a truly awful feeling. He just wanted everything to end now.

End his suffering?

He should think of it sooner. Is there anything here that could help him die faster?

He was finally feeling a little energetic for the first time in a while. He started to feel things around him in the darkness.

He didn't remember seeing anything sharp when there was still light around, but there were a lot of bones lying around. He grabbed a heavy stick-like object that felt like a bone from someone’s leg. It was good enough.

Where should he aim at? His head?

He used all the remaining force he had left to smash the bone on his forehead.

Ouch.

It was a little dazzling but he was not dead.

Not enough.

He smashed it again. It was a bit more dazzling but nothing more. He was still conscious.

“Fuck this.”

He tried for the third time, the fourth time until he could feel something start to drip down his hair.

He's bleeding. Hey, at least that's some positive progress.

And when he tried to smash his head for the fifth time, a strange voice from the darkness startled him.

“What the hell are you doing, kid?”

A pair of beaming red eyes appeared from the darkness. Tommy immediately screamed, louder than he thought he could.

The red eyes raised a torch. It was a tall guy wearing a hog skull as a mask. He looked normal besides his long, braided pink hair, just much stronger than usual humans.

Also he had pointy black horns on his head. Nothing abnormal.

What.

“What the fuck?!” Tommy shouted again, pointing at the guy’s head. “What are you?”

“That’s the question I wanted to ask you!” The guy shouted back. “I'm a demon, of course.”

A demon? What are those?

“What the fuck is a demon?” He grabbed the leg bone he had used to hit himself as a stick, trying to protect himself from the stranger.

“I thought you should know! Aren't you part of the cult living here?” The guy said impatiently as he moved closer to Tommy.

“Why the hell should I know? What is a cult? I live in my church, not a ‘cult’!” He shouted as he moved further back until his body crashed into a wall.

“Yes, that's what I thought.” The guy scoffed as he kneeled in front of Tommy. Tommy noticed he also had a black tail with an arrow-shaped tip. “What are you then?”

“I'm the sacrifice! I'm here to die and I'm not afraid of you!” Tommy grabbed the bone closer to his chest and tried to sound tough as possible.

“A sacrifice? Why are you guys still do this?” He looked confused. “Wasn’t it a thing from hundreds of years ago? That's so barbaric.”

“What do you want to know, you de-mon! I bet you are a monster priests talked about.” He stared back at those beaming red eyes. “I'm not afraid of you! I have the blessing from the gods.”

“In Satan’s name, what the fuck.” The guy chuckled. “Hate to break it to you kids, but the gods your priests talk about are demons. Which is me, unfortunately.”

Tommy clutched his teeth and was ready to strike at any moment. He was not letting some weird creature in the cave stop him from finishing his job.

With the light from the guys’ torch, Tommy could spot a dagger hanging on the creature’s waist. That was his chance of finishing this all up.

He discarded the bone immediately and reached for the dagger. As the creature was shocked by his sudden movement, Tommy grabbed the handle and pointed the sharp blade at his chest.

And he pressed it down without any hesitation.

“What the hell are you doing!” The creature moved faster than Tommy could blink. The next moment, the dagger was being slapped away from his hand, dropping to the ground with a clear ding sound.

“You are not killing yourself in front of me. That's not our mission, alright?” The creature sighed as he picked up the dagger. “We suppose to lure you guys into killing yourselves, not like this.”

“Why are you stopping me?!” Tommy almost cried as he watched his last hope being taken away in front of him. “I...I just don't want to sit here for another few days and strave to death! It's too long and painful and dark! I hate darkness!”

The creature still kneeled in front of Tommy as he curled up, knees in front of his chest and started crying. He tried to smudge away his tears but the creature grabbed his shivering wrist.

“You are not dying here. You are coming with me.” The creature stated with no space for negotiation as he lifted Tommy and carried the human on his shoulder.

“Let me down, bitch!” Tommy struggled as hard as he could like a fish just out of water. But he was too weak to do anything and the creature was clearly as strong as a bull.

“Stop moving or you are gonna hurt yourself.” The creature said, totally didn't affect by Tommy’s struggle. “I'm taking you home.”

“No you are not! I don't want to be kidnapped into your monster’s nest or something!” Tommy pounded at the creature’s back as hard as possible.

“I'm not a monster, I'm a demon!” The creature slapped Tommy’s waist. “You are lucky I'm not Wilbur, he would strangle you if you dare to say we are monsters.”

“Who the fuck is Wilbur? Why would I care?” Tommy shouted. He could see the floor under him was moving fast as the creature started to walk. The bone piles began to fade from his sight. “Let me go! I'm warning you!”

“Warning me of what? You are going to bite me if I don't let you go?” The creature laughed. “Wilbur is the one who is going to love you once you stop calling us monsters. He always wanted a baby human to play with.”

“I'm not a toy!”

“Okay. Pet.”

“I'm not!” Tommy almost started crying again.

“It's not up to you.” The creature walked at an inhuman speed. Tommy could no longer see the iron gate anymore and they were deep into the cave.

“Let me go...” Tommy weakly argued. He started to realize the creature was not letting him down.

“Finally tired?” The creature mockingly asked. “My name is Technoblade, by the way. Stop calling me a monster.”

“That's a stupid name...” Tommy murmured. “My name is Tommy.”

“Such a fitting name for a small gremlin like you.”

“I'm not a gremlin! I'm a divine sacrifice!” Tommy immediately regretted telling Technoblade his name because he wanted to be polite.

“Hate to break to you again, kid. You are not being sacrificed for gods. Satanic sacrifice at best.” Techno said casually.

“Yes, and Satan is our God!” Tommy yelled and gave a heavy pound at his back. “How dare you say her name like that!”

“Well, at least we have one thing in common.” Techno smiled. “I can tell you Satan will not be happy if you call her divine, that's for sure.”

“Shut up you piece of shit! Let me tell you what will make her not happy: me not dying in that stupid cave!” Tommy angrily stared at the floor under, like he could burn a hole in the ground.

“How so? She wouldn't even know you if you died here. And I can tell you she's not happy with humans just sacrificing humans for her. That is just a boring way to kill.”

Tommy scoffed. “You said as you knew her.”

“Yes indeed.”

“No you are not! You big lying monster.”

Techno slapped on Tommy’s waist again. It wasn't a heavy slap but hurt a little bit. “Stop calling us monsters! That's for your good.”

Tommy hummed submissively. He didn't want to be beaten up by the demon for sure.

“Good kid.” Techno gave him a light pat. “Now if you behave well enough, maybe Philza will let you meet her.”

“Who the fuck is Philza?” Tommy asked, he could feel the initial energy he had slowly fading away. Although the position was not comfortable, he felt like he could fall asleep.

“Oh. Me and Wilbur’s dad, I guess. We are not blood-related or anything, he just acted like a dad all the time.”

“You guys have a dad? I don't even know my dad...or my mum.” Tommy said quietly, totally not jealous of the demons.

“They are dead?” The demon asked.

“No, they gave me up once I was born. For being the next sacrifice.” Tommy sighed. “I mean, I saw them some time but we never properly meet or talk once.”

“That’s a cruel cult.” Techno frowned at his answer.

“They are not cruel! They had new children and they are very healthy.” The faces of his siblings resurfaced in his mind. “They don't need me anymore.” His voice quieted down, almost unrecognizable.

“You don't miss them?” The demon still can hear him, damn it.

“I know what I did will make them happier, so yes, I don't miss them.”

“You are killing yourself to make them happier? That's just wrong.” Techno said with concerns in his voice.

Tommy suddenly felt anger again. He almost forgot what he was supposed to do because this demon was just distracting him.

“Yes, and you are stopping me from making them happy! You dickhead!”

“Alright.”

“Let me go!”

Techno just ignored the shouting of the struggling kid on his shoulder.

“I hate you! I hate you! Fuck you!” Tommy decided to pound at the buffed back of the demon again with his pathetically weak force.

“You haven't eaten anything, haven't you? I recommend you eat something first then decide to fight a demon.” The demon scoffed under his hog skull mask as he tighten his grip on Tommy’s waist.

“Fuck you! Let me go! I have things to do!” Tommy yelled as loud as a starved kid could and the sound echoed weakly in the dark, empty cavern.

“What things? Hurry up to kill yourself?” Techno rolled his eyes.

“Yes! And it is important, you fuck face!” The pounding slowed down, seemed like Tommy’s puny body strength was steeply decreasing by the second.

And after continuing yelling for a few seconds, the kid just suddenly fell asleep on the demon’s shoulder.

Or he might just pass out from days of starvation and sleep deprivation.

The moment Tommy opened his eyes he realized he was on an extremely soft texture that he never felt before. It was a bed. A very soft bed.

And there was natural sunlight in his room. Everything was covered in a soft, yellow glow.

But before he could think about where the fuck that demon has bought him, a voice interrupted him.

“Hey.”

It was another demon. Tommy immediately recognized him as he also had black pointy horns and red eyes.

The demon was much skinnier compared to Techno. He had short brown hair, which was quite messy and curly like Tommy’s hair. A pair of round glasses with a golden frame was set on his nose bridge, the kind of expensive glasses one of the high priests owned.

“Who the hell are you?” Tommy flinched back and tried to stay as far away from the demon as possible.

“Wilbur. I think Techno has mentioned me before, he said.” The demon smiled at him like he just found a small wounded bird.

“Let me go...” Tommy weakly said. His throat was still burning. He knew the demons won't let him go deep down but he didn't want to give up this easily.

“You look like shit, want some water?” Wilbur grabbed a tall glass of water from the nightstand. Tommy snatched the glass and gulped it in one session and immediately started coughing.

A warm hand started to pat his back. The demon looked at him pitifully. “Poor kid. Haven't you drunk or eaten anything for a while?”

Tommy decided to ignore him. He didn't like the voice the demon talked to him. He much preferred Techno now.

“Techno didn't say you are the quiet type. But it didn't matter, you would talk either way.” The demon said kindly, but in a dangerous tone that made Tommy’s hair on his neck raising up.

“Just leave me along…” He murmured. “Or let me go.”

“Let you go for what? Let you kill yourself?” The demon narrowed his eyes. “No. We are not letting you to do that for sure.”

“Why do you guys kidnap me? What did I do?” Tommy said quietly. The later half was more of a question for himself.

Why were these things happening to him? Must be because the gods were angry. Must be because he didn't die in time.

“Because as Techno said, I am bored and what a small human to play with. Also, it has been a while since Phil had a new kid in the house.” The demon kept the kind smile but it just made Tommy shivered more.

“I'm not your toy.” Tommy protested weakly. He felt this demon was much more dangerous than the last one, although he didn't look very strong.

“It's not up to you.” The demon started to pinch his cheek. “You don't have anywhere else to go, isn't it? You were chosen by your cult to die alone in that cave and you would definitely die painfully if Techno didn't find you.”

He's right. But that was what Tommy wanted.

“I wanted to die! It was my duty to die or the gods will not bless us anymore...” He wanted to cry again. Not only because of being kidnapped by a bunch of monsters but also because he couldn't do what he was supposed to do.

“What the fuck did those sick bastards taught you? That's just disgusting.” The demon pinched his nose in disgust. “Humans are truly sick.”

“Please let me go, Wilbur...” He could feel the tears dripping from his face. “I have to do what I suppose to do.”

“Alright, kid. Alright.” The demon held Tommy in his arm. It was surprisingly warm, much warmer than a human body. “You don't need to cry anymore. No one can hurt you here.”

“No, because you guys are stopping me from hurting myself...” Tommy felt wronged as he made a mess of Wilbur’s sweater.

“You sound ridiculous, you know that?” Wilbur chuckled. “Most humans were just begging to stay alive. That's why our job is fun. We just chop their heads off when they start begging.”

“I want my head to be chopped off!” Tommy whined. “It's not fair! I want to be dead and everyone wants me to be dead!”

A hand started to ruffle his hair. “No, I like your head to stay here. Not everyone.”

The demon’s voice became less dangerous but Tommy became more frustrated. It's better if the demons were pissed at him, then they would just kill him.

“Could you just kill me? You said it's your job?” Tommy asked hopefully.

“Hell no. You are not worth killing.” Wilbur smiled. “We kill humans who think they are better off living. There was no point in killing a human who doesn't want to live anymore.”

Tommy sighed in disappointment. Then he thought of an idea.

“Wait. Actually, I really really want to live!” Tommy raised his head to meet the demon’s red eyes. “I want to grow old, and...and have kids and stuff!”

“Oh, really?” The demon chuckled. “What do you want to do if you can live longer?”

That was a tough question. Tommy never thought about it ever because there was no point. But he had to come up with an answer or the demon would be suspicious of his will to live.

“I...I could try to catch butterflies.” He thought really hard. “I saw a butterfly once during a ritual. When they cut up my arms and waited for me to bleed out enough blood, a butterfly came up to me and laid on my wrist! It was awesome.”

He didn't notice Wilbur’s darkened expression and continued, “I saw it in the book people can catch them and make them into specimens. Then I could keep it forever.”

“They did what?”

“They make butterflies into specimens...I know it sounds bad, but the butterfly was not suffering when it dies!” Tommy explained nervously. He wasn't trying to make the demon angry, but apparently, he already was.

“No. Before that. What did they do to you?” Wilbur rolled up Tommy’s sleeves and took a sharp breath at what he saw.

His thin arm was just covered in scars. Thin and thick. Some were caused by sharp blades recently whereas others were old and faded. Some were sewn together badly like they were done in a hurry.

“Who did these to you?” Wilbur gently stroked the scars, but his voice was tense. “Tell me.”

Tommy was shivering. He didn't like other people to see these ugly marks, although they were caused by divine reasons. They were just too horrid to see, even he hated them himself.

Not counting a demon was checking them.

“The priests. They were doing it for a good cause! And only once a week.” Tommy couldn't look into the demon’s eyes, as they were almost glowing with anger. “It just looks bad. A priest told me I had a skin type that could easily leave marks...it wasn't their fault it looks ugly. It's my fault...”

“No, it's not your fault.” The demon interrupted him. “Humans are truly disgusting. After all these years they still didn't fail to amaze me.”

“But this will make the gods happy. This will make Satan happy!” Tommy weakly argued.

“How is hurting a child making her happy? Kri...Satan isn't that kind of person.” Wilbur signed as he rolled down Tommy’s sleeves. Finally not letting his scars be exposed to the air, Tommy took a deep breath.

“Do you know her? Techno said you guys know her. Can I ask is Satan truly terrifying as the priests said?” Tommy recalled the stories he read before. The overlord has the sharpest fangs and can cause a mountain to collapse just by opening her mouth.

“Yes, she is.” Wilbur ruffled his hair once more. “She is very powerful and merciless.”

“That's so sick!” Tommy shouted with sparkles in his eyes. “Could you tell her how good am I? Besides the ‘failing to die part’. I don't want her to know I failed.”

“Yes, sure...how good were you?” Wilbur asked with concern that Tommy didn't quite understand. “Did they do anything else to you?”

“Yes! My blood has been sacrificed to the altar for the past fifteen years. That's great, right?”

Wilbur just frowned upon his reply. He seemed unimpressed. Tommy had to offer more to someone who was close to the almighty lord.

“And…I had the divine mark tattooed on me since I was born. Do you want to see it?” Tommy left up his shirt in a hurry, turning his back to show the demon the black mark on his back. “Sorry it was a little blurry now, because...”

“Who the fuck did this to you!?”

The demon was furious this time.

Tommy almost flinched away in fear. He didn't like being shouted at, and that remainder him of angry priests when he did something wrong.

“I'm sorry...” He could feel tears almost dripping from his eyes once again.

The demon was silent. He just hugged Tommy in his arms again.

“I wasn't mean to scare you...” Wilbur softly said. “Tommy, did they whip you?”

“Yeah...but that was because I was misbehaved. I made the church mad.” Tommy’s shivering voice was muffled by the demon’s soft sweater. “Could you not tell the lord I misbehaved? Most of the scars came from a few years ago when I was a child...”

“But you are still a child! They whipped you when you are even younger?”

Tommy sheepily nodded. “I cried when they cut me open before. They said I would make gods angry if I cry during the rituals.”

“Well, they definitely make me angry.” Wilbur bitterly said. “I promise they won't last any longer.”

Tommy didn't quite understand what the demon meant, but he decided to nod along. He just hoped Wilbur would not be mad anymore.

“Tommy.”

“Yes?”

“I just want to make one thing very clear to you now.” The demon took a breath. “You belong to our now. You are not going back to that cult.”

“But...” Tommy tried to argue but was interrupted immediately.

“There is no ‘but’. This is final.” There was no negotiation allowed in the demon’s voice.

But that didn't mean Tommy wanted to give up. He still had his mission to complete.

“Anyway,” Wilbur grinned, “I want to get you something. Phil will be happy to buy you some new clothes and Techno are just eager to give you some toys. I told him not to buy dog toys so hopefully he will listen.”

“Then what do you want to get me?” Tommy raised his head. He was not expecting gifts from the monster, definitely not. Maybe just a little bit.

“I don't know yet. I don't know what humans like. But I know humans give their favourite pet collars as gifts.”

“I'm not a pet!” Tommy argued for the thousandth time to the demons.

“But what are you then?” Wilbur looked truly confused.

“I'm...fine. I'm over it.” Tommy didn't have the answer either. For the monsters, he was clearly the inferior species. And it was not like the church and the community treated him like other humans in the past. So pet it is.

“Alright then. I can give you a pretty collar with your name on it! That would be amazing.” The demon happily said. At least he was not angry anymore, so it was a big win for Tommy.

And after the demon kissed Tommy’s forehead, which shocked him a little bit, and told him he need more sleep and left, the room was empty again.

He still had to face his failure. He didn't die. It was unacceptable.

And if the demon knew the lord, she would be furious when she knew her sacrifice was dared to stay alive after he was fifteen.

And then what would happen? He would be punished to death, of course, but it didn't bother him much.

But the church. The community. With his parents and his siblings who he never got the chance to meet. What would happen to them?

He could be trapped with the monsters and pray to the lord for forgiveness as hard as he could, but he knew it wouldn't do anything. She was merciless, and if her demands were not fulfilled only terrible things could happen.

No matter what.

Unless?

His eyes shifted to the glass that once contained water on the nightstand.

Unless he could do this when the demons were not around him.

Without hesitation, he grabbed the glass and smashed it on the ground.

This was his best chance to end this all. Then he wouldn't have to deal with the guilty feeling in his guts and the scary monsters that kidnapped him.

He picked up one of the largest glass shards he could find.

Where should he aim this time? He knew his forehead was pretty strong now. And the glass shards seemed not sharp enough to go through his chest.

He recalled the little autonomy knowledge he had from reading those boring books. There must be some weak parts in the human body, where were they?

Ah.

Yes.

His neck! How could he be so stupid?

And now he was ready. Grabbing the glass shard with both of his hands, he aimed directly at his neck.

Alright Tommy, you could do this.

Three. He grabbed the shard as tightly as possible, ignoring the burning feeling of his palms.

Two. He took a deep breath.

One.

The moment he pressed the sharp edge into his skin, the overwhelming pain almost made him stop.

The feeling of his muscles being broken by his force. The blood sped out of the wounded skin. The air in the room almost immediately smelled like metal.

But he didn't stop.

It was for the lord. It was for the church. It was for his family he never got to meet.

It was for everything to end.

It hurts.

It hurts.

It hurts.

Tommy could feel tears dripping down his chin again. But he didn't stop.

It was almost over. He couldn't stop. The gods won't allow him to stop.

His vision became blurry. Everything was blurry. He could hear his heartbeat slowing down as the blood dripping. He thought he fell on the floor, but he wasn't sure.

Everything was becoming cold by the second. He couldn't feel his fingers anymore, then his hands, then his arms.

He finally loosed his grip on the glass shard.

The world was so bright right now. Everything was bright and soft.

And he could almost hear his family’s voice, calling him.

“Tommy!”

“My lord...Call Wilbur over, now!”

“Tommy, stay with me! Can you hear...”

It would be over soon.

Chapter Text

How long had it been?

Tommy really needed to track his time. There wasn't too much of it left for him to waste.

But he was so tired.

Did he die successfully? 

The answer was becoming clearer by the second.

He failed, again.

Or he wouldn't wake up on the same comfy bed once again.

There was a familiar figure sitting beside his bedside. Wilbur seemed tired as well, but he noticed Tommy’s tiny movement immediately. 

“Lord...Tommy?” His voice was hoarse, like Tommy’s when he was stucked in that horrible cave.

Tommy wanted to say something but he couldn’t. There was no voice coming out, almost like something physically was stopping him.

Oh. Yeah, he cut his throat open.

That should do it. Tommy almost chuckled after the realization.

And it suddenly started to hurt, like the wound was being torn open again. Even worse, Tommy started to cough.

The demon immediately reached and grabbed Tommy’s hand, which was lying on the bed powerlessly. A warm feeling slowly climbed up his arm, until it reached where it was hurting the most.

The pain decreased, just a little bit.

It was almost like the demon was healing him.

“...Wilbur?”

He turned his head with all of the energy he had left to meet the red eyes.

“Yes...I’m here, Tommy.” The demon said softly. He reached out his hand and ruffled Tommy’s hair as he did before. It was really nice. Tommy couldn't help himself but lean toward the warm hand.

“I'm sorry...I failed again...” Tommy murmured. He didn't know if Wilbur could hear him. He was just too tired to speak louder.

“I saved you. That's why you didn't succeed.” The demon smiled at him. It wasn't threatening, but Tommy knew there was a strong determination behind.

“Why?”

That was the only thing he had the energy left to ask.

“Because I...we couldn't let you die.”

It was the last thing Tommy heard before he drifted back to the dark void again. 

He didn't quite understand the meaning behind the words.

They should let him die.

The next time Tommy woke up, there was someone sitting beside his bed. It wasn't Wilbur or Techno. The stranger also got pointy black horns, but one of them was broken in half.

The demon was humming something quietly under his breath as he was folding a light blue fabric in his hands. He was wearing a silly bucket head with black and white stripes over his blonde hair, which was so salient in Tommy’s blurry vision.

He tried to nudge away from the figure as far as possible. Clearly, the demon noticed, as the humming stopped suddenly and he dropped the fabric.

“Morning.” The demon gave him a glimpse. “I suggest you stay still, or your wound will tear open again.”

Oh. Thank you for telling me this.

Tommy instantly started trying to turn his head as much as possible.

“What the fuck, mate!” The demon immediately reached out both hands to hold Tommy’s head still. “You are truly stubborn and stupid as they said.” 

Tommy glared at the demon’s dark red eyes with frustration. That's so unfair.

“Listen, little shit. I don't care about humans and certainly don't ever want to take care of one of them, but seems like Techno and Wilbur for some reason like you.” The demon said coldly like he was talking about some burden he didn't ask for. “So let's be on good terms before they got bored with their new toy and strangle you.”

“There is no need.” It still hurt for Tommy to talk but he spoke anyways.

“What did you say?” The demon lowered his head and gazed at the blue eyes threateningly. 

“I said there is no need to ‘be on good terms’, dickhead.” Tommy didn't turn his gaze elsewhere, although he might be just a little scared of those dark red eyes that sparkled with danger. “Just kill me. You said they would get bored sometime, why don't just end me sooner?”

“As what I said, I don't want my...Techno and Wilbur are to be disappointed.” The demon stepped back and sighed. “Let's just hope they lost interest in you soon after.”

“Hopefully.” Tommy bitterly replied while struggled to sit up. There was a thick layer of bandages around his neck, which was expected. It made his every movement very uncomfortable.

The demon must discarded his old blood stained clothes. It sucks because he liked the outfit when he was in the church. Now he was wearing some loose white pyjamas that should have originally belonged to someone older than him, probably one of the other demons.

“You are Philza?” Tommy remembered the guy the other two demons kept mentioning.  “Techno said you are like their dad.”

“He did?” Phil’s stiff expression melted a little after hearing that. “I did find them when they were pretty young.”

“So, you adopted them?”

“If using a human concept would make you understand it easier, then adoption it is.” Phil said as he shrugged.

“Lucky for them.” Tommy bitterly commented. “I was being reversely adopted then, I guess.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Means my parents give me up! Bitch...” Tommy tried to raised his voice but was immediately interrupted by a series of coughing. It fucking hurts.

“Stop trying to shout. You are just hurting yourself.” The demon hurried to pat Tommy’s back. Although he still kept that cold face, he was showing genuine concern in his voice for Tommy for a second.

“Why would you care?!” Tommy was definitely shouting this time. “You said you are waiting for me to die! Like my parents and everyone else...Just...Just do it then!” 

Why was he angry? Or was he just scared?

He didn’t know. 

His throat was hurting. And tears started to drip down again. He hated how he could tear up this easily. Nothing was right since the demon decided to kidnap him from doing his mission. Everything sucks.

A soft fabric was squished into his hand. It was an old-fashioned white handkerchief. Tommy blew his nose in it aggressively as the handkerchief had personally offended him. 

“So…you don’t have a parent? Who took care of you then?” The demon was slowly rubbing Tommy’s back, which soothed the urge to cough a little bit.

“The church…I guess. The priests have me food and water once a day, that’s pretty nice.” He stared at the handkerchief the demon just handed to him. Should he clean it up? Probably…

“That’s not ‘take care of you’ meant.” The demon frowned. “Who taught you how to read and write?”

“I have books I can read. But I don’t know how to write.” Tommy lowered his sight and focused on his wrist. “I couldn’t control my hands properly after a ritual. The priests said there was no point to teach me if I can’t even hold a pen well.”

There was a deep cut under the sleeve. After that, he couldn’t hold anything without shaking slightly. Even the handkerchief in his hand was light as a feather.

Phil must noticed that too. He kept silent for a few moment. 

“Well. Too bad humans are this fragile, I guess.” The demon said dryly as he shifted his sight from Tommy’s hand. “Then who played with you? Children in your cult?”

“It's not a ‘cult’, it's a church!” Tommy angrily corrected him. He didn't know what a cult mean, but it sounded like a bad word. “No one! I don't need a companion! And no one was allowed to enter the temple beside the priests anyway.” 

The demon looked at him with an emotion Tommy couldn't understand. It was like how some members in the crowd looked at him during the ritual, as he was bleeding out.

“No one took care of you.” The demon stated.

“I have books to read and food and water.” Tommy protested. “I know it sounds boring but I had fun!”

“Who stayed with you if you had a nightmare?”

“I am a big man and I never had nightmares.”

“Who took care of you if you got sick?”

“I healed up very fast! I have the blessing from the lord.”

“Who read to you before you go to bed? Who taught you how to clean up your room? Who was here when you are lonely?”

“...”

Tommy couldn’t take this bullshit anymore. It was like the demon trying to make him feel bad about himself.

“NO ONE!”

Tommy finally snapped. He struggled with the sour feeling in his eyes as he tried his best to hold back tears.

“I don't worth anyone to take care of. My family gave me up to die, so why the fuck would anyone else care about me?” His voice was cracking so bad but he couldn't care less at the moment. “What more do you want? Just kill me already...you know you want to.”

And there was silence. Only the sound of Tommy sniffing could be heard. 

“Are you happy now?” He bitterly said to the demon. Phil just looked at him, with the same expression Tommy couldn't understand. 

“I'm sorry, kid.” These were the only words the demon said after the silence.

“Fuck off.” Tommy murmured as he held his knees against his chest, looked into the far distance. “Leave me alone or just kill me.”

Instead of doing either, the demon pulled him into his arms. It wasn't a tight hug like Wilbur’s, but it was also warm.

“I won't kill you,” Phil said. “You don't deserve to die.”

“I very much deserve to. That's the only thing I need to do.” Tommy tried not to lure by the warmth and lean into the demon’s hug but he was failing. 

“You don't even have your life yet.” The demon spoke softly. “You had nothing before and it's too cruel to take your future away.”

“I don't care about the future...I don't need it...” He had thought about it before when he was in the tomb, and the answer was simple. “If I give up my life, then everybody else would have a good future. That's fair and I'm fine with it.”

“But what about yourself?”

“Thats stupid. Satan don’t like selfish people.” 

The demon chuckled. “Yes, she is. I bet she will like you.”

Tommy instanly raised up his head. “Really? She will?” 

“Yeah. She hated human who just live for themselves.” 

“Then I have to hurry up on killing myself, or she would think I’m selfish...” Tommy sighed. He really didn’t have much time left.

A finger flipped on his forehead. Tommy immediately shouted.

“What the hell!” 

“You are a dumb and stubborn child.” The demon said.

Tommy clenched tightly on the handkerchief and bit down on his lower lip. It’s a weird feeling he was having. Warm and fuzzy. Must be because he was still recovering and made everything weird.

Before he could figure it out, Phil suddenly released Tommy from his arms.

“Oh shit.”

“What?” Tommy was a little whiny about the sudden loss of warmth. 

“I have things to do and I'm just wasting time on you. Shit.” The demon started to anxiously pace around. “Ok. There is no time.”

“Just go do your things then.” Then there was no one to stop Tommy from trying harder this time.

“You think I'm stupid, kid?” Phil gave him a dirty look. “Don’t even try it.”

“Oh.” Tommy nodded disappointedly. Before he say anything else, the demon started to left him up.

“Fuck! Put me done!” Tommy instantly started to struggle. It was like the time in that cave with Techno again. Phil was definitely not at strong as Techno but still could hold him up easily. 

“No.” 

“I will bite!” 

“You can try.” 

Tommy immediately took a big strong bite on the demon’s shoulder. It was rock hard and the demon didn't even flinch a little bit.

“Ha. Pathetic human.” The demon laughed as he nudged open the bedroom door. It leads to a corridor with dark blue wallpaper. Everything was clean, just ancient. The wooden floor made a small cracking sound every time the demon took a step.

Also, there were windows. Something Tommy didn't saw a lot in his life.

It seems like the demons lived in the mountains. The landscape was quite scenic, with rolling mountains stretched far and wide. Tommy’s attention was totally grabbed by the view of clouds floating below the mountain tips that were covered by never-melting snows.

It would be nice to die there.

Not because he wanted to check them out. Just because it was a nice place to fulfill his mission. That was all. He was not being selfish.

Before he could argued with himself again, Phil nudged open another door. This time there was a wooden desk in the middle of the room, with tall shelves filled with books in the back. There was also a window here but couldn't see the mountains, which made Tommy a little disappointed.

“You stay here.” Phil lowered him down on a chair in the corner. “Until either Wilbur or Techno get back and play with you.” 

Tommy nodded. “But I don’t want to just sit here.”

“Grab a book to read then, you said you can read.” Phil said as he sat down and immediately started to write something. 

But he didn’t want to read right now. His vocabulary was also extremely limited to religious-based words. 

He wanted to see what Phil was doing.

But the moment he tried to stand up, unbearable dizziness started to hit him hard and made him collapse to the ground.

“What are you doing?” The demon raised his head. “Forget how to walk?”

“No! I...” Tommy’s head also started to hurt a little bit. “Maybe because of blood loss. It happens sometime after the rituals.” 

“Humans are so fragile.” Phil sighed as he left the desk and reached out an arm to Tommy. “My fault for forgetting how useless your kind is.”

“Thanks…” Tommy struggled as he stood up. “Can I…”

“What?”

“…Can I sit beside you?” He finally gathered all the courage to ask the silly request. “I don’t want to be left alone…”

The demon stared at him for a few second, without blinking.

“I know it’s dumb! I’m sorry…” Tommy was sure his cheeks were burning. He couldn't look up to meet Phil’s gaze. He hated how whiny he sound right now.

Instead of getting angry at him as Tommy thought, Phil didn't. 

“Just stay quiet.” Phil said indifferently as he moved the chair to the desk and gestured for Tommy to sit beside him. 

Big win.

Tommy couldn't hold back his grin as he sat down. Phil was writing something, which was boring since Tommy had a hard time understanding handwriting. It was still more entertaining than doing nothing.

“Get off my face.” The demon said coldly as he tried to shove away the curly hair in front of his face. 

Tommy decided to rest his head on the desk. It wasn't his fault he had curly hair. Out of boredom, he started to observe everything on the desk to pass time. Phil was writing on a fancy-looking letter paper, with pretty patterns around its frame. There was a pile of those on the side, fittingly sit in a shinning metal box. Phil also had pens that had a funny looking tip and required to drink from ink bottles once every few minutes. The kinds of pens people only used them to write. 

That must be great to draw things with them. But was it too old for him to doodle? 

Probably yes. But Tommy remained himself it was also too old for him to stay alive.

It was when his back started to feel sore from keeping the same position for a while, Phil seemed to finish his work and he pulled out an off-white envelope for the letter he had been writing. He had one of those wax steal stamp, which had to sit on the melted wax for a few minutes for it to cool down and seal the envelop.

As Tommy was watching the wax to slowly cool down, there was a sound came from outside the window. Tommy turned to see, but the only thing he managed to catch was a blurry white shape flew across the window.

Probably a bird.

But Phil didn’t think so.

“Lord, he is early.” Phil signed as he removed the stamp. “Listen kid. I have to leave for a while and don’t try to do any funny business.” 

“I won’t.” Tommy gave him an innocent blink.

The demon didn't buy that at all as he started to look for something in his pockets. 

“Ah. Found it.” 

It was a pair of handcuffs.

“What the hell!” Tommy immediately protested as the demon started to cuff his right wrist to the chair arm. “I promise I won't do anything!” 

The demon gave him a clear “I don't trust you” look before leaving and slammed the door shut.

That was mean.

What should he do now? Just waited for his kidnapper to get back and suffer the chill air that lingered between them again?

Or he had a better idea.

He was ambidextrous, bitch.

This guy was definitely a clean freak, with everything in their house tidy and clean. Especially on his desk.

He used his free hand to grab one of the weird-looking pens. It would be such a shame if Phil came back and everything was a mess. Phil would be furious at Tommy. Then it would be his chance to get killed.

He giggled slightly at his perfect criminal plan and thought about what he should draw. After drawing a few crooked dicks on the papers and throwing them around, which was the obvious first choice, he was bored again.

He thought about writing something. He knew he couldn’t write anything properly, but that was the point. It probably would look so bad and make the demon angry.

He took a deep breath, and focused on writing a big wiggly ‘T’ on the paper. It looked like two worms met on a crossroad. 

He stared at that for a second.

Fuck. That was ugly.

He hated himself. He hated his hands he couldn’t control properly. Stupid things. Why he was so useless? Why was that letter so stupid looking? Everything sucks.

But he didn’t want to give up yet. At least that looked like a letter.

Then he draw an circle. It was much bigger than the previous letter but it kind of looked like an ‘O’. It’s fine.

‘M’ was an extremely hard letter hard to write, and he got two of those in his name. After getting ink stains everywhere just by trying to write those stupid lines, he threw the pen on the desk. It gave him a heavy “thump” as it rolled off the desk.

Everything sucks.

This shouldn't get him this much. He didn't do this because he wanted to write his name properly. It's because he tried to get Phil to be mad at him. 

It would definitely infuriate Phil now, with doodles and ink stains everywhere. Also an extremely poorly written ‘Tom’.

Tommy clenched his fist and smashed the paper. His hand was still shaking lightly, even when he tried to punch something.

Useless thing.

Seemed like the only thing he was good at was hurting himself. Even that had failed.

Before he even had noticed, tears started to drop again. It made the letters smudged. Doesn’t matter, they were ugly anyway.

“Tommy?”

A figure with asymmetric horns stood in the door frame. Phil just opened the door and stopped when he saw the teenager. 

“What happened?” 

Tommy didn’t want to see him, especially not now. 

“Trying to destroy your workspace and you would be mad at me.” He said as he as trying to wipe tears aggressively. It got ink stains all over his face but he couldn't care less.

“Well...by drawing doodles?” Tommy watched Phil pick up some scattered papers on the ground. “You are too old for this, kid.”

“I fucking know.” Tommy sniffed lightly. “Are you angry yet? Could you kill me if you are?”

Phil didn’t seem angry. 

Rather, his expression softened a little bit as he picked up the paper with the smudged letters.

“Do you...want to learn how to write, Tommy?” Phil’s tone was genuine, not like he was trying to make fun of Tommy. But it just angered him more.

“Forget about it. It's a silly thing to do, I know...I don't worth your time.” He murmured. “Just kill me already.” 

“I could teach you if you want. Your hands were bad but weren't completely useless.” The demon said calmly, totally ignoring Tommy’s asks.

“It's useless! And you know they are useless! Stop trying to mock me!” He couldn’t stop the tears anymore. He just wanted to bury his face in his hand, without seeing Phil’s eyes that filled with emotions he couldn’t understand.

“No, Tommy, listen to me.” A warm and steady hand grabbed his waist. “It's not your fault, nothing was. They took things from you and you shouldn't be the one to pay for them.”

Tommy nodded as he sniffed. “But it's my fault I didn't die in time...”

“No. You shouldn't even die. You should at least have the chance to grow up and become greedy and cruel, like other humans.” Phil gently stroked Tommy’s hair, which reminded him a little bit of Wilbur. 

“But I don't want to grow up...if like what you said, we all become bad people in the end, why should you let me become one of them?” Tommy really tried to think hard. The demon didn't give him an answer immediately. He looked like he was considering something too.

“If that happened, it's my job to kill you.” 

After the silence, Phil gave him a warm simile. 

It was the first time Tommy saw the demon smile, he thought.

“Really? You promise...”

“I promise.” 

“Then I will become the worst person possible! I will kill a lot of bugs and stuff.”

The demon chuckled, as he ruffled Tommy’s hair.

“I’m looking forward to that.”

“So...what happened?”

Techno stood beside the sleeping human’s bedside, holding a bag filled to the top with stuffed animals.

Phil was sitting beside, half asleep with ink stains all over his shirt and hands. Somehow ink was also on his forehead.

“Nothing. Thank Kristen you are back. I can't do this anymore.”

“Your guys had fun?” Techno started dumping the content in the bag until there was a little pile of stuffed animals on the ground.

“No. I don't like humans. I told you guys multiple times.”

“Ha. And we all know you are lying.” Techno gave him a glimpse. “If you truly don't like him, you would just cuff him in here and do your work, old man.”

“He was just insufferable.” Phil sighed as he tried to get rid of ink stains on his face. It just made it worse.

“You said like it wasn't you who lost his shit when seeing the kid just cut his throat open.”

“I just don't like the smell of human blood. It's disgusting.”

“How’s getting the kid new clothes going?” Techno ignored the obvious dishonest answer Phil gave. “You are still struggling with colours?”

“I think light blue will work but I don't know if the little shit will like it or not.” 

“He will like it. I have the feeling.” Techno nodded, then walked toward the sleeping human. “What's that he's holding?”

He carefully removed the wrinkled paper from Tommy’s grip. 

It was just a paper written with his name on it, over and over again.

Chapter Text

“Is that too loose? Or too tight?”

It was a bit strangling for Tommy.

“It's too tight...Wilbur...” 

Almost hard for him to talk.

“Sorry.” The demon loosened a buckle. “Better?”

Tommy nodded. He could still feel the collar pressing on his skin, but it was just a little bit uncomfortable. Better than seeing that terrible scar anyways.

It had been a while since that incident. Tommy couldn't exactly remember how long he had stayed with the demons, but he wasn't especially eager to know. It would just increase his anxiety, thinking about how long he had abandoned his mission. He knew it was long enough for the weather to begin to warm up, and his scar started to heal.

And after he didn't need bandages anymore, Wilbur immediately gave him this. A bright red collar. Which was sitting on his neck currently. He argued for a while with Wilbur to forget about the name badge that came with the collar as the demon truly couldn't see what's the issue here. Finally, Wilbur receded as Tommy threatened to get Phil involved.

He looked back at his reflection in the mirror. 

Did he look different from when he was with the church?

He definitely gained some weight and couldn't see his ribs anymore, as Phil and Techno kept stuffing him with everything they thought a human could eat. But they were terrible at cooking, and Tommy’s favourite meal currently was Techno’s baked potatoes because it was too simple for the demon to mess it up.

The first week was especially awful. He had to tell them multiple times that he didn't want to eat raw meat and that he rather starved to death.

Also, words like “die” and “kill” became taboo in the household. Tommy knew they were doing it not to trigger Tommy, but it was just funny when hearing Techno said things like “I forced that guy to stop breathing forever and ate his soul.”

“Do you like it? I think you look great!” The demon said chirpily. He looked very proud of his fashion choice.

“I fucking hated it.” Tommy nudged the demon with his elbow. “You suck at this.” 

All of the above things didn't mean Tommy would just accept the kidnapping. He was frustrated by the fact that he started to forget his mission little by little as the days passed, and the demons were the ones to blame.

And if he kept pissing them off, maybe someday they would finally just kill him.

But the demons seemed just couldn't get it. Wilbur gave him a big hug from the side. 

“I knew you would love this!”

“Get away from me you prick!” Tommy tried to push the horns that were sticking to his face away. “Your stupid horns are poking my eyes out!” 

But the demon didn't want to let him go, and he was far too strong to be pushed away. Wilbur was definitely the most annoying one of the three. He didn't know what was personal space at all and he always got what he wanted. Right now he wanted to hug Tommy to death for sure.

He would try to hand feed Tommy if Tommy didn't utterly refuse every time. Techno wasn't lying when he said Wilbur was the one how wanted him in their house.

After all these days, Tommy still didn't know how to feel about Wilbur. On one hand, most of his actions were harmless, maybe a little overprotective. But Tommy knows that was because Wilbur saw him as a small animal that needed protection and petting.

Most of the time he just avoided Wilbur at all costs. Although Phil didn't allow him to leave the house under any circumstances, there were a lot of places to hide, especially when Techno was around. Tommy usually just stayed with Techno for as long as possible.

And right now, Tommy really wanted Techno to be around.

“Do you want me to read to you? I got some new books.” Wilbur asked with a far too sweet tone. 

“No. Don't read to me fucking histories again.” Tommy truly didn't know why a demon was so interested in human society, maybe Wilbur saw them as horror thriller novels because he loved the gruesome details.

“Pleeeease! I promise it will be fun this time and you will love it! I have a book about how a king’s head was chopped off by his people.” Wilbur said as he dragged Tommy to the door and Tommy knew trying to struggle would just make his arm hurt.

“How about you just chop my head off.” Tommy murmured as being pulled by a freakishly strong hand. 

After almost an hour of a boring history lecture, Wilbur finally noticed Tommy was half asleep on his bed. 

“You finished?” Tommy yawned and turned his head to look at the demon. Wilbur reached out his hand and ruffled Tommy’s hair. 

“Wil...” Tommy leaned toward the warmth of the demon. “Can I ask you something?” 

“Yes?”  Wilbur pinched his cheek gently, afraid he would accidentally hurt the fragile being.

“What happened to Phil’s horns?” It was the question Tommy had since he met Phil the first day. The demons had slightly different horns from each other. Techno’s had some sharp edges while Wilbur’s horns were kind of swirly. None of them looked like Phil’s, one of them was clearly broken at some point. 

“He fought with someone before and got beaten.” Wilbur said casually. “It was a long time ago. He didn't really care about it anymore.”

“What could beat up a demon? I thought you guys are invincible.” Tommy’s curiosity was raised. He couldn't think of anything that would hurt a demon.

“Oh. Just by a god.” Wilbur replied with a smile. “By your standard it was not a good god, I believe.”

“Not like Satan?”

“No, quite the opposite. But he did that for her.” The demon held his chin as he was recalling some distant memory. “He wasn't a demon before that.”

“What do you mean?” Tommy now was fully investigated in the story. It was much better than human history for sure. “So what was he?” 

“Nah. You shouldn't worry about that.” Wilbur patted his head with the same warm smile. “It was really a long time ago. I couldn't even remember every detail.” 

He was totally lying. Tommy bit hard on his lower lip. Why couldn't he just tell him the story? 

But before he could confront the demon, a voice raised from outside his room.

“Wil? Is Tommy with you? I'm back.”

It was Techno.

Tommy rushed to the door as fast as possible, ignoring Wilbur’s disappointed look on his face like his favourite toy was being taken away. 

“Techno! What did you bring me?” Tommy almost flew into Techno’s open arms. The demon caught him without any hardship. “Please tell me you have bought those building blocks! Please please please!”

“Of course.” The demon left him up easily. “You wanted those ships, right?”

Tommy aggressively nodded his head while burying his head in Techno’s shoulder, almost knocking off the demon’s mask. 

Techno was surely his favorite kidnapper. He didn’t talk a lot usually but he was very cool in Tommy’s eyes. He didn’t try to cling on him all the time and he never gave him cold looks. And he always remembered Tommy’s request whenever he was visiting human’s places. 

Also, Techno got him Henry, his favourite stuffed animal after the first time they met. After spending hours naming each one of the stuffed animals Techno gave him after they just met, Tommy had decided the cow was his favourite. He had saw cows before when he was living with the church and thought they were awesome.

Cows were gentle and strong, just like Techno.

“Alright. You want to play with them?” Techno started to walk toward his den, carrying the human in his arms. Tommy could feel Wilbur’s jealous gaze on his back as they left, but nothing mattered besides new toys.

Tommy had made a tier list in his mind already. Which one of the demons could have the highest probability of killing him? Techno was the third one on the tier list for sure, just because Tommy didn't want to piss him off and lose the privilege of getting new toys for a while. Phil would probably be in second place. He looked quite menacing but he never became actually angry with him. He always gave him cold and threatening looks, then did whatever the dumb shit Tommy wanted him to do.

Phil taught Tommy how to make insect specimens the other day. Although Tommy said he would become a bad person who murdered bugs, he was shivering so bad when Phil told him to catch a moth in their house. It ended up with Phil doing it for him and teaching him how to preserve the body. 

Overall, Wilbur would definitely be in the first place. Tommy couldn’t tell why, but Wilbur always gave him a dangerous feeling whenever they were together. 

Maybe because Wilbur was always so possessive over him? Or maybe it was…

“Do you want to go outside, Tommy?” Techno’s voice broke his thoughts. 

“What?” Tommy replied with his eyes wide open in surprise as he was carefully placing a building block on Techno’s den floor. “I’m not allowed…”

“Phil is not home today.” Techno said with a little smirk under his mask. “He won’t know it if we don’t tell him.”

That’s why Techno was the coolest one in the house.

Tommy quickly got on his feet. He didn’t know how far could he go, but everything was better than staying in this old house anyways. 

The demon and the human sneakily walked passed the corridors. Techno gestured to him where they should go silently while they tried to not alert the other demon in the house. Tommy tried his hardest to avoid making cracking sounds on the ancient wooden floor and held his breath whenever he made one. It was a hard mission.

Finally, they reached the backdoor. When Techno just started to push the door, Tommy was rushed to squeeze himself through the crack and was immediately blinded by the sunlight.

Everything felt so refreshing. The smell of grass. The warm breezes stroked his skin. Wildflowers dotted the scene. And the mountains with snowy tips stretching far away.

Techno sat beside him on the grass as Tommy was stunned by the view. 

“How’s outside feeling?” Techno stretched his arms out. “I bet it’s much better than staying in Wilbur’s den.”

“This is sick!” The human shouted. “You guys always live in here?” 

“Quiet down, kid.” Techno reminded him. “Yes, for centuries. Phil liked the view.”

Tommy surely understood why. Never in his short life, he had seen a scenic place like this. 

“Thank you, Techno.” Tommy shyly said as he sat beside the demon, carefully avoiding sitting on his tail. He wasn't very used to conveying his appreciation but he thought Techno definitely deserve one.

“Anytime.” Techno gave him a smile. “We can sneak out as much as you like. One day Phil will let you out freely for sure when you will stop trying to escape.” 

“I won't stop.” Tommy rolled his eyes. “Never.”

The demon was silent for a while. He didn't look mad at Tommy’s answer but Tommy was still a little concerned if he decided Tommy was too annoying and regretted his decision of letting him out.

“Tommy.” Finally, the demon broke the silence. “Do you want to go back?”

“Well, I...” 

Did he really want to go back?

“I don't know, I guess.”

If he went back to the church, he would definitely be executed on-site.

And he didn't know if that was what he wanted anymore.

“How so?”

“I don't want to be killed by my church anymore.” He said as he frustrated pulled out grass. “And I don't know if they were even alive. I didn't do my mission. I bet they all died because Satan was angry.”

“I can promise they are living happily and healthy.” Techno assured him. “Wil has checked.” 

“What?!” Why didn't Wilbur tell him then? “He did?”

He was even more frustrated. He didn't know if that was because apparently his worry was for nothing or if the demon did something behind his back.

“We couldn't stop him. I think you have known him better now, if Wil wanted something no one could stop him.” Techno said with a disappointing undertone toward his brother. “Phil and I wanted to stay clean with those insane people, but Wil couldn't forgive them.”

“Why is he like this?” Tommy held his knees against his chest. “I don't want him around me and especially don't want him to hurt my family.”

“He will cry if you say this to his face.” The demon chuckled slightly. “He was just...a little paranoid. He really cares about you, trust me.”

“But I don't want him to! I don't feel safe around him...” Tommy weakly argued. Wilbur gave him an instinctively dangerous feeling whenever he was around Tommy. 

“He doesn't have any bad intentions. I promise.” Techno gently patted his back, but it didn't make Tommy feel better at all. “He is just over-protective, and you will get used to it.”

“You are saying this because you are his brother! But I'm not...I’m just his pet.” Tommy nudged the collar on his neck with his finger. It was still a little too tight. 

Techno gave him a “you will understand later” look behind his skull mask. But before the demon could speak again, a dark shadow that was so humongous suddenly blocked all the sunlight they were enjoying. 

“Is Phil here today?” A roaring voice started speaking from above. Tommy almost jumped at the voice coming from the sky. And when he looked up, it was even worse.

It was a monster that was almost as big as the entire sky.

The body was made of six pairs of large wing-like objects, with a giant eye in the middle of the wings. The body was all white, with small fire sparkles in between its...eyes. There were so many eyes, maybe millions of them, covering the monster’s white body. And they were all looked at them.

Tommy felt he could pass out just by looking at this thing.

Techno clearly noticed his cheeks were being paler and paler by the second. 

“Geroge! This is a human!” He yelled to the sky. “You are scaring him!”

“Oh...sorry!” The roaring voice spoke. “Uhhhh...be not afraid, my child.”

It was surprisingly polite, but still terrifying to look at. Tommy could feel he started to collapse on the ground. 

“It's not helping! Turn to your human form!” The demon yelled again as he held Tommy in his arm. 

“Sorry! Alright!” The roaring voice said. Suddenly the shadow disappeared as the sky was no longer blocked by the monster anymore. Instead, a normal-looking guy with short black hair wearing white sweaters and pants showed up in front of the pair out of nowhere.

Normal, besides he still had one pair of wings on his back. And a bright white halo hovering over his head.

“I didn't mean to scare you, sorry I guess.” The guy spoke. It was the same voice but no longer loud enough to break Tommy’s eardrum anymore. “I'm George, by the way.”

“Tommy...” Tommy still felt a little dazzling. 

“Anyways, I'm here to give Phil his mails.” George said as he pulled several envelopes out of thin air. “Is he home?”

“No, you can leave them to me.” Techno took the mail from George. “Can you leave now? You almost make Tommy passed out.”

“It's not my fault! I didn't know there will be a human in your home.” George argued as he eyed up and down at the pale human. “And since when did Phil start to take care of humans again? I thought he stopped doing that after he decided to betray us.”

“What are you talking about?” Tommy asked in confusion. “What the fuck are you anyways?” 

“Stop swearing!” George looked personally offended. “I'm an angel, of course!”

Tommy had no idea what is an angel but he really didn't want to know after seeing that scene. 

“Phil can change, alright?” Techno replied to the angel’s previous question in a defensive tone. “And stop asking questions about my family. It's private.”

“Alright, alright. Don't need to be so aggressive! I'm just curious.” George raised his hands in the air. “And Tommy, if the demons were mistreating you, you can tell me.”

“Yes! They kidnapped me!” Tommy immediately yelled out. “Help!”

And Techno instantly shoved his hand to cover Tommy’s mouth.

“What?” George raised an eyebrow. “You guys did what?”

“He's just delusional. We saved him from a cult.” The demon said as he tried to keep Tommy stop struggling. “Phil had filled out the whole document and sent it like last month. Haven't you seen them?”

“The adoption? I thought it was for another demon.” George tilted his head and glanced at the wrestling pair. “Never in a million years would I think it was for a baby human.”

“I'm not a baby! Fuck off!” Tommy finally got rid of Techno’s hand and shouted. “They are trying to keep me from killing myself! Help...”

And he was immediately got silenced by the demon’s hand again. 

George started laughing. “That's new. I can see it now.” 

“Stop laughing! Just leave!” Techno said as Tommy started to punch his face. “And don't turn back to your original form again!”

“Well then, have fun with your new baby brother!” George waved at them before flipping his wings and disappearing into thin air. Techno finally let down his hand before Tommy started to suffocate.

“What the fuck!” Tommy cried out. “He almost rescued me!”

“Do you really want to be rescued by that thing? I mean...” Techno shrugged. “They all looked like that, I tell you. George was one of the easier ones to look at, to be honest.”

Well, that's definitely not ideal. Tommy didn't want to feel his heart almost explode again for sure.

“Is that all the angels look like?” Tommy asked. He remembered what Geroge called himself. “That’s fucking terrifying.”

“No, only the ones who didn't interact with humans a lot. Angels who worked with humans looked like George’s other form. The terrifying ones usually worked closely to...uh, the God?” Techno said as he tried to figure out his word. “The bad God in your opinion.” 

“So George is evil?” Tommy asked. George didn't look like an evil guy for sure. 

“No, he's quite opposite of that. Angels are supposed to take care of humans and guide them to a good path, I guess.” 

“That's lame...” This angel shit seemed really powerless compared to Satan. But Tommy remembered another thing the angel mentioned. “What did he mean Phil betrayed them?”

Techni fell silent for a moment. Then he spoke in a serious tone Tommy seldomly heard from the demon before.

“He was an angel, Tommy.” Techno sighed. “He betrayed God for Satan.”

Tommy was speechless. 

Then he shouted hysterically.

“That’s so fucking cool! Phil is so badass!”

“Hush, kid!” Techno reminded him again. “Yes, he's cool. But he paid for it. A lot.”

“But Phil didn't have wings like George?” Tommy asked. “Did he lose his wings?”

“He still got them, but just didn't want to show them all the time. He still used them to travel. And he can turn back to something like George if he is really pissed.”

Better never piss off Phil, then. Tommy made a mental note to remind himself. 

“No wonder Phil hates me.” Tommy bitterly said. “I bet he didn't want to do anything related to an angel ever again.”

“You think Phil hates you? Really?” Techno laughed lightheartedly. “He is just in denial, at most. It was rooted deep into his soul to love humans. That's why he was the one to do all the paperwork, instead actually going out.” 

“But henever said like me!” Tommy argued. “And he always seems indifferent about me.”

“Well then, who made you new clothes?” Techno smiled. “Who forced me into learning how to cook human food? Who spends hours a day teaching you stuff?”

“But he always said I'm an ungrateful little shit.” Tommy stated seriously. “I don't think that means any good thing.”

Techno blasted out laughter. 

“Since when did you start to care how we treated you? You just wanted us to kill you several weeks ago.”

“It's...it’s unrelated!” Tommy could feel his cheeks start to turn red by the second. “I still want you guys to kill me!”

“You are no different from Phil. I can see why he likes you so much.” Techno said softly as he patted Tommy’s shoulder. “Do you want me to kill you?”

“What!?” Tommy looked at the demon in shock. That was out of nowhere. 

“Alright, let's do that then.” Techno said without any hesitation as he started to pick the human up and carried him over his shoulder, like the day they first met.

“Wait, wait wait wait...” Tommy yelled in panic. “What the fuck? Why now?”

“You said you want to. Isn't it?” The demon said carelessly as he strode. Tommy couldn't tell where they were going, but he could tell he was not carrying him back to the house.

“I...I said I want to...” Tommy’s voice quieted down. Techno was right. He always wanted to. But he wasn't that sure anymore. Especially after Techno informed him his community lived after he left.

What was the point in killing himself then? 

And he lived...

Happily with the demons.

There was no cold food anymore. There was sunlight in his room. No one was hurting him. Wilbur and Techno kept him company almost all the time. Phil taught him how to read books that were not so boring. 

But maybe it was time to stop enjoying his life. He wasn't supposed to do that since he was chosen as the sacrifice. 

This was the life he never thought he could have. 

Should he feel bad if Techno decided to take things that don't belong to him in the first place back? He shouldn't, of course.

“Bur...Wilbur will be so upset.” Tommy said sorrowfully as he recounted his past life. “And Phil said he was gonna teach me how to write more words today.”

The demon didn't reply to him. He just kept walking.

“And I didn’t finish that ship you bought me today!” Tommy suddenly realized. “And Henry will be so lonely if I'm gone...could you at least keep him in your den after I died?”

The demon kept his silence. 

“And...and, could you tell Phil I thanked him for teaching me how to make specimens? I really gave him a hard time.”

Tommy stared at the ground that was passing his sight fast.

“And tell Wilbur he was not so terrible after all.”

He could feel his nose souring and his eyes started to tear up. He shouldn't cry about the things he was going to lose. He didn't deserve them in the first place.

But the demon kept his silence.

And as Tommy was thinking Techno was going to throw him off a cliff, he was being let down on the ground.

And a horse face was starting him from above.

“What the fuck?” 

Tommy sat up and met the demon’s red eyes. He figured out what was happening here instantly after seeing how the demon was definitely holding back laughter.

“You lied to me! You piece of shit!” He almost jumped to his feet and started punching the demon’s chest with all the force he had.

“Fuck you! Bitch!” His voice was cracking so bad. “Go eat shit!”

“Yes, yes, sure. You duplicitous little kid.” Techno laughed as he held Tommy’s fists without any trouble. 

“Tell me what the word means or I will kill you!” Tommy yelled, struggling to overcome the invincible force that was Techno’s grip.

“Do you want to ride a horse?” Instead of answering his question, Techno asked. “This is Carl by the way. He's my fourth fastest horse but I like him the most.”

The horse let off a loud breath like he was offended by the title. 

Tommy almost immediately forget why he was angry. 

“Really!?”

Carl was tall and strong. He had reddish-brown fur, but the fur around his hoofs were wihite. He also had a white stripe on his face, between his eyes.

He was really beautiful. 

Of course, Tommy agreed. 

“I never knew you have horses?” Tommy asked the demon as Techno was trying to settle the saddle on Carl. 

“Well, Phil can fly and Wilbur can just move through space with his power. I am the one who has to physically walk to destinations” Techno replied casually. “So I have horses. I rode Carl to carry you back by the way.”

Tommy had no memory of that as he passed out during that time. But Carl looked like he knew him as he kept glancing at the human and sniffing him.

“Thank you, Carl.” Tommy said to the horse genuinely. Carl seemed satisfied. 

Techno helped Tommy to step on the saddle as he sat in the back, holding the harnesses. “Where do you want to go?”

“Somewhere high!” Tommy said. He wanted to see those snowy mountains up close so bad.

Carl started running. Although Techno said it was only his fourth fastest horse, Carl was really speedy. Tommy couldn't imagine what the other three were like.

But he wasn't scared of the speed because Techno was sitting behind him. Instead, he was enjoying the winds that blew on his forehead. Sunlight was lazily shining on the grass, making everything look fuzzy and warm. Some birds were chirping above him but quickly faded away among Carl’s hoofs. 

After a while, the grass started to become patchy among the rocks. Moments later, there was almost no greenery in the sight. 

Techno pulled the harness and forced Carl to slow down. “Carl can’t carry us beyond this point. Follow me, kid.”

Tommy stepped down from the horse and looked around. The sunlight started to fade away as it was late in the afternoon. The rocks were steep, and he couldn’t tell where Techno was leading him to. It was just one boulder after another.

“Where are we going?” Tommy asked as his breath started to become shorter. 

“Somewhere high.” Techno smiled as he lent him a hand. “You will see it in a second.”

Tommy bit down inside of his cheek as he pulled himself up with Techno’s help.

And when he was almost out of his breath, they reached their destination.

It was high like Techno promised. They were on a mountain top.

Orange sunset was reflected by the river that winded through the dark green forest at the bottom, like a mirror. It was almost blinding. Every snowy peak was showered by the warm sunset, stretching far and wide. Blue mists covered everything that was too far away, making the scene look like they were in a painting. 

“Pretty good, right?” The demon held Tommy’s shoulder in his arm. “Sorry I couldn't bring you to somewhere higher. We don't have that much time.” 

“Thank you, Techno.” Tommy said as he leaned against the demon’s chest. The air was cold but the demon was warm. 

He smiled.

Chapter Text

“…”

Phil fold the newspaper he was reading in half as he glimpsed at the human sat beside him on the couch, grabbing something in his hands.

“Can you stop?”

Tommy raised his head to meet Phil’s eyes, with an innocent expression.

“I'm bored, Phil.” Tommy gave him the puppy eyes as he kept pulling on the demon’s tail.

“Go play with the other.” Phil picked up another newspaper and tried to concentrate on the articles. “I don't have time for you.”

“It's fine, I can just be here.” Tommy said as he tried to stop the arrow-shaped tip from escaping his grip. “Don’t mind me, dad.”

Tommy started calling Phil “dad” a few weeks ago. Techno suggested Tommy call Phil as dad just to see what would happen. Tommy was also just curious to know if Phil would be angry as a puny human like him dared to call him dad. 

Instead, Phil just didn't get angry at all. He kind of accepted it without any special reactions, like Tommy was always his son. 

Phil buried his head in the newspaper again as Tommy kept trying to catch the demon’s black tail that was wiggling away from him with annoyance. 

“Have you seen Wilbur today?” After a while, the demon asked as he turned another page of the newspaper. 

“Nope. Didn't see him since last night.” Tommy loosen his grip and tried to recall when was the last time he had seen the demon. “Actually, I don't think I see him a lot recently.” 

That was uncommon. Usually, Wilbur was the one who kept clinging to him whenever he was at home. But recently whenever they met in the house, Wilbur just gave him an odd smile and walked away quickly. It was almost like Wilbur was avoiding him.

“That's unusual. Did he finally lose interest in you?” Phil put down the newspaper and looked at the human. “Well. That was faster than I thought if so.”

“I wish!” Tommy said bitterly as he frowned at the comment. “Then you can just kill me.” He murmured. He didn't like the way Wilbur was avoiding spending time with him right now. Although he wasn't too fond of the clingy Wilbur, cold Wilbur was even worse.

And deep down, Tommy knew he was terrified if Wilbur truly lost interest in him. Then, no one would give him endless hugging and told him boring human stories. When he had those he found them annoying. But when they were actually absent from his life, he missed them, a lot.

“Not a chance.” Phil pulled him back to the reality. “I bet he is just busy.” 

“You are just saying this because you want me to feel better.” Tommy sticked out his tongue at the the demon. “And I still have Techno...”

A finger flipped on his forehead. 

“It fucking hurts! Stop doing this!” Tommy yelled at the demon, but Phil just pulled Tommy close to his chest. 

It was nice and warm. Tommy decided to forgive the flipping and buried his face in the warm hug.

“Did I do something wrong to Wilbur?” He asked quietly. “Phil, do you think...”

“No. You are overthinking.” Phil replied assertively. “I think he was figuring something out. He need some personal space when he was...working on himself.”

Tommy let out a little humming noise in response. He really hoped Phil was right that Wilbur was just not in the mood of hanging out.

But somehow, he had a bad feeling in his gut. 

It was like some storm was incoming, but he could do nothing besides stare at the dark clouds in the distance that was approaching him steadily.

It was another peaceful afternoon of Tommy assembling some building blocks in Techno’s den. He wasn't really paying attention to the toys as he kept glimpsing at the outside. It was dark and cloudy as it was reaching the early fall. 

Techno was reading some books by the window. He didn't seem to bother by the strange atmosphere that recently lingered in the house. Techno left to do his jobs as normal and bought back things Tommy asked him. 

“Techno?” Tommy placed another piece on the model he was building and tried to casually ask the demon. “Have you seen Wilbur a lot recently?” 

“Not really. I thought he was busy.”

“What things could take all his time?” Tommy pitched his nose bridge. “I felt like he was just avoiding me for some reasons.”

“What? You started to miss him?” The demon chuckled lightly. 

“No!” Tommy instantly denied it. Although it was kind of true. “It's just weird. That's all.”

Techno didn't respond for quite a few seconds. He looked like he was thinking hard about something and hesitated on what he should say. It was a quite rare reaction from him.

“I have a concern.” The demon finally spoke. 

“What?”

“Do you remember what I have told you before?” Techno closed the book he was reading and sighed. “About Wilbur visited your old community.”

Tommy of course remembered that. He nodded and waited for Techno to finish.

“I think he went back to them recently.” The demon continued with a concerned tone. “I don't think he did anything, but I thought it’s worth mentioning to you.”

Tommy didn't reply to the demon for a while 

He didn't like the feeling that was clutching in his gut. 

“Hey, you okay?” Techno gently asked. “You don't need to worry too much. He won't hurt you.”

“I bet.” Tommy replied coldly. “That doesn't mean he won't piss me off.”

“If I knew you will be so unhappy about that sooner, I shouldn't say anything.” The demon said regretfully. “It was my...”

“No, it's not your fault!” Tommy immediately interrupted. “It's just Wilbur. He is way too unpredictable.”

Techno still didn't look too happy. The demon sighed heavily as he put down the book. “If he does anything outrageous, I will beat him up.”

Tommy chuckled.

“Right. I'm looking forward to you beating him up.”

After finally completing the model Tommy has been working on for days, Techno offered him a chance to go outside and maybe even ride Carl for a while. Of course, Tommy agreed as fast as he could. Anything for getting out of the strange atmosphere in the house. 

“Phil won't know?” Tommy asked the demon as they quietly reached the backdoor. “I thought he was in his office today.”

“He's having a meeting with another messenger. I think he will be busy for the rest of the day.” 

Tommy nodded. A great chance to finally have some freedom. It was still cloudy outside. The grass started to turn into a pale yellow colour day by day as the weather was getting colder

Tommy didn't mind the cool breeze. He was getting sick of the summer heatwave and beaming sunlight anyways. It would be great to ride Carl on a day like this and enjoy the wind.

But before he could fully took a deep breath of the precious free air, Techno spoke in surprise.

“Wil? Why are you here?”

A figure was standing still in distance. Almost like a statue. The wind ruffled up his brown curly hair and coat, but he didn't seem to care.

“I'm just waiting for Tommy.”

He smiled as he step closer to the pair.

“I know he always goes hiding in your room. And thought maybe you guys will go to the yard at some point.”

Something was telling Tommy it wasn't right.

“Why don't you just come and meet us?” Techno took a step forward and stood between Wilbur and Tommy.

“Oh. I want to give him a surprise.” He still kept the sweetish smile. “And if you don't mind, can I speak to him for a second?”

Techno gave the human a worried glance. But he didn't have reasons to reject his brother.

“Yes, sure. I will just go get Carl.”

Tommy almost wanted to grab Techno’s sleeves to tell him to don't leave him. But it was unreasonable, he knew. He shouldn't be scared of the demon who was just clinging onto him and reading him boring books until he was asleep a few days ago. But this time was different. Something wrong would happen.

“What do you want, dickhead?” Tommy tried to act like usual as he desperately stared at Techno’s back. “I'm busy.”

“It just...I want to gift you something?” The demon acted hurt at Tommy’s reaction. “We didn't spend a lot of time together recently.”

“Yes. Because you keep avoiding me!” Tommy said bitterly. “If you don't want to talk to me then why should I?”

“I'm sorry.” Wilbur simply said.

“But I promise your waiting will be worth it.”

“What...what do you mean?” 

It was the same dangerous feeling he had before, now climbing through his veins.

“Do you trust me, Tommy?” Instead of answering, the demon asked with the same smile.

“It depends. What do you want?” It was like he was a prey being watched by a predator. He hated the feeling.

The demon reached his hand to the human. “Grab me tightly.”

“Alright, weirdo.” Tommy sighed and took the hand. “Then what? A friendly shake?”

But before the demon said anything, everything around him changed into a blurry swirl.

The ancient house. The grass. The cool breeze. Everything started to sink into darkness.

When the nausea finally stopped and Tommy slowly regained consciousness, he was inside completed darkness.

“Are you alright?” Wilbur’s concerned voice came from the darkness as he held Tommy in his arms, afraid Tommy would collapse. “Sorry, I never brought humans with me before.”

“Where do you bring me to?” Tommy suddenly remembered Techno said Wilbur could move through spaces. “Where the fuck am I?”

“Somewhere you weren’t able to leave.” The demon said as he lit up a lamp on the wall.

He knew where he was now.

The awful smell started to make him nauseous again. He looked down on the ground and found the same pile of skeletons sitting there, didn't move a bit since the time he left.

“What the fuck...Wil...” He gasped shakingly as he tightly grabbed onto the demon. He didn't even realize he was crying until tears started to drip down onto the dry floor.

“It's okay. I'm here.” The demon patted his back, as a means of comfort. But Tommy didn't feel any better. Everything he thought he has forgotten came back to him in a second. His crying. The burning pain in his throat. His bleeding knuckles. Everything was flashing in his mind, almost making him want to throw up.

“It will be better soon, I promise.” The demon seemed to be unbothered by Tommy’s breakdown as he carried the trembling human to the iron gate. The same iron gate where Tommy yelled and shouted for hours, but no one ever came. 

“Please Wil...I can't...I want to go back...” Tommy almost couldn’t catch his breath anymore. He begged the demon repeatedly as tears kept pouring out. “I'm sorry...whatever I have done, I'm sorry...”

But the demon didn't stop. No matter how hard he was struggling, no matter how hard he was crying and begging. 

Before Tommy almost passed out from his shortness of breathing, the demon pushed open the gate.

Just with one push. He broke the gate that Tommy thought was unbreakable. 

The iron gate screeched as it fell heavily to the ground, kicking up dust in the air. All the locks were shattered around like they were being cut open. 

The pair step out of the dark cave. The cold breeze was now blowing on Tommy’s cheeks, which were already messed up by tears.

“See? You don't need to be afraid anymore.” The demon smiled as he wiped out Tommy’s tears. “Don’t be so sad, Toms. Our adventure just started.”

“What the fuck do you mean?!” Tommy shouted. He almost wanted to punch Wilbur in the face, if it wasn't for him witnessing how Wilbur just broke the gate with one push. “What do you want?!”

“Aw. Don't be so angry! I'm just trying to make you happy.” The demon pulled him into a tight, suffocating hug as he ruffled up Tommy’s hair. 

And he kept going forward, dragging Tommy alongside. 

It was the same isolated path Tommy walked through with the priests. Tommy started to realize what the demon wanted to do slowly, and he knew he couldn't stop him.

Whatever Wilbur wanted, he got it in the end.

All he could do was to witness.

As they approached the square where the altar was located, a figure who was sweeping the granite floor tiles on the edge of the sauare spotted them and shouted at the pair.

“Stop! Who are you?” 

It was one of the priests that Tommy saw during the rituals. He was the one who kept everything on the altar clean and presentable to the gods, besides Tommy’s blood.

“This place is not welcoming to outsiders, I suggest you leave or I will call the...”

His sentence didn't finish as a hand clenched tightly on his throat, and forced his feet to leave the ground.

“Tommy, do you know this guy?” The demon turned his head to Tommy, totally ignoring the struggling of the dangling priest that was desperate to try not to die from suffocation. 

A few screaming came from far distances. Tommy could see some familiar faces in the panicking crowd, looking at the pair like they saw some beasts wandering from the nearby forests.

“I...I know him. He is one of the priests.” Tommy said as he tried to not meet the despairing eyes of the priest, who clearly had recognized him and tried to ask for help. 

“So...one of the guys who hurt you before?” Wilbur narrowed his eyes as he turned back to his pray. “Then you don't deserve to live.”

He suddenly released the grip and the priest collapsed to the ground. Lifelessly.

A burnt mark was located on his neck where the demon had grabbed, with tiny red sparkles shined through the burnt skin and his lifeless eyes.

Tommy gasped.

The priest, once alive and cleaning the altar, was just lying under his feet, eyes locked at Tommy with the same desperation as he was alive.

What just happened?

“Wil...you just killed him...” Tommy knew his voice was cracking so bad, but he couldn't care less. 

A man just died.

“Because he hurted you before!” Wilbur said cheerfully, didn't act like he just murdered a human being a second ago. “He deserved it.”

A chilling feeling climbed onto Tommy’s spine. Tommy dodged the hand of the demon that was trying to pat him on the head as if nothing happened.

“You just murdered someone!” He almost cried. He slapped away the demon’s hand and ignored Wilbur’s hurt expression. 

He couldn't believe Wilbur was acting so indifferently about taking someone’s life.

Yes, he knew they were demons and took people’s souls as food sources. But this was the first time he actually saw a demon doing it.

So easy. So effortless. It was like picking fruit from the ground and taking a bite.

“I thought he was a bad person?” Wilbur looked at him with an innocent expression like he was a child caught stealing candy. “He hurt you before.” 

Should Tommy feel bad for the priest? 

Morally, of course, he should. This was a living person.

But why he should? Another voice was asking him, coldly.

This was one of his abusers. The priest never thought to help him when he was in pain. He was one of the witnesses. One of the indifferent bystanders.

They hurt him so bad. He was begging them to kill him to end his suffering every day.

Why shouldn't he be angry at them? Why shouldn't he be happy about the revenge?

He didn't know the answer. So he kept his silence.

The demon clearly noticed his indecision and reached his hand to try to gently patted him on the head again.

“It's okay, Toms.”

This time Tommy didn't try to dodge it. He let the demon touch him. 

“Let's go, then. We have so much to do!”

The demon held Tommy’s shoulder as he dragged him to walk across the square, stepping on the altar that was so divine and untouchable a second before like it was just another tile on the ground.

The community members were running away from the pair. Tommy never saw such turmoil in his community before. Everything was so organized and clean and dull, always. People were always peaceful, and never argued or shouted at each other. It was so peaceful to the point Tommy was getting bored.

Just too bad they were the ones causing it. Tommy looked at the people he once knew indifferently. Their emotions always had no influence on him, no matter before he left the community or right now. Their happiness for his suffering was incomprehensible to him, and so did their despair at the moment. 

He could feel his heart was getting colder by the second as he watched them run passed by. Its beating was almost becoming heavy to him.

“Stop now!” A strange voice shouted from behind. It was one of the church’s guards tried to stop their step, holding a long sword in her hand. Tommy didn't recognize her face. Guess she wasn't close to the high-level church numbers.

Seeing the pair didn't even pause for a bit, the guard immediately swung forward without hesitation, but it was broken in half as Wilbur effortlessly grabbed it and snapped it in his hand.

Almost like he was picking apart a cheap toy, instead of tough metals. 

“Do you know this guy?” Wilbur said as he threw the broken blade on the ground and eyed down at the guard, now looking at her broken weapon with an empty expression as cold sweats started to drip down her chin.

“No, I don't think so...” Tommy felt like he was dissociated from reality. He stared at the guard’s face for a while and said to the demon. “She wasn't very close to the church.”

“Alright then! If you said so.” Wilbur gave him a big grin and turned to the trembling guard. “Run, then. It wasn't your turn.”

The guard started to move immediately. She knew this wasn't an enemy she could take care of.

Tommy stared at the guard’s back blankly.

It was all too unreal.

He was now the one deciding if these people could live or not.

“Wil.” He pulled on the demon’s coat. “Can we go back?”

“What happened, Tommy?” Wilbur said with a confusion. “I thought we are having a good time.”

“No! I'm not!” Tommy snapped and almost started yelling again. He couldn't believe how casual the demon was acting to all of these horrific acts. “What the fuck is wrong with you?! I don't want to go back and guide you to murder my church!”

Wilbur didn't answer.

The demon kept his silence for a second. The pair stared at each other intensively, without a word being spoken.

“I just want to make you happy.” Wilbur finally broke the silence. “Aren't you never thinking about why they didn't taste the suffering you had? They hurt you so much...Tommy, they took the first fifteen years of your life and made you think you should die. They are bad people.”

“I know...” It’s true. He knew. 

He knew it a while ago. After spending months with the demons. 

They gave him anything he wanted. They gave him endless affection that he never thought he would have in his life.

They gave him love.

He never thought about it when he was living with the church. He always thought it was his duty to sacrifice and suffer.

But what if it's not? The community lived after he didn't complete his mission. 

No one suffered after he didn't die.

It was almost like it was all just a lie.

A lie that cost him his whole life, and countless life before him.

He remembered the bone pile in the dark cave. He remembered the suffering he could only imagine his ancestors had encountered.

He remembered those empty eye holes of the skulls that were left on the ground when he was left in the cave alone, to die painfully.

Why shouldn't we be angry? The skeletons asked him. The skulls asked him.

And he asked himself.

They don't deserve to suffer.

I don't deserve to suffer.

The pain that lingered in his memory was now turning into unknown anger he never felt before. The anger of wanting to revenge, wanting to hurt the people who hurt him for fifteen years.

Tommy took the demon’s warm hand, which just took the life of a human a minute ago.

He didn't care anymore.

“I don't know, Wil...” He leaned into the demon’s arm and buried his face in the demon’s chest. “I just don't know anymore.”

The demon gave him a familiar warm hug, like the first time they met. 

“It's alright, Tommy.” He said softly. “We are on our way to know.”

Tommy nodded. The pair took one step further, together. 

It was really an adventure like Wilbur said before.

The crowd screamed and scattered as they walked through the streets. Their faces were twisted with fear, just because they knew something terrible was approaching them. Tommy blankly looked at those people, almost like he was watching the scene through someone else’s eyes.

Why didn't they show the same fear when they watched the sharp blades cutting through Tommy’s skin?

Why didn't they show any empathy to him when he was being led to the cave to die alone?

Didn't they ever think he would be afraid of pain and death too?

He almost wanted to laugh at them now.

Humans were truly pathetic.

He watched coldly as Wilbur took the life of another priest he had recognized. The priest’s body fell to the ground, eyes desperately staring at the sacrifice that should be long dead. 

Humans were truly fragile. He started to realize what the demons means by that now. Taking their life was too easy.

But did that include him?

A terrifying thought sparkled through his mind as he witnessed another murder.

If Wilbur could just take a human’s life easily like that, what would stop him from doing it to Tommy in the future? Just because Tommy thought he was special?

Instead of sinking into a black hole of emotions that Tommy couldn't quite understand, a kid’s crying fetched his attention. 

A kid, much younger than him, maybe just six or seven, with the same curly blonde hair as him was crying on the ground, amongst the adults who were running for their life.

Through her stumbled words that were kept interrupted by her crying, Tommy could tell she was calling for her mama.

Their mama.

He walked toward his sibling he never got the chance to meet before. The kid tried to nudge away from him, with fear in her bright blue eyes that were almost identical to his.

“Mama...”

He kneeled in front of her and reached out his hand to the kid. The kid just flinched and stared at him with despair.

He must be like a monster to her. The thought went through his mind.

“Tommy?” Wilbur’s voice came from his back. “Do you know her?”

“No.” He simply replied and stood up. “I don't.”

This was not his family anymore. They gave him up a long, long time ago.

This was just some desperate child crying because she didn't have the protection she was so used to, the protection Tommy never got to know.

He didn't know her. And he never would.

“Well, I think I find their community house.” Wilbur gave him a happy grin as he pointed at the tall wooden building in the far distance. “Do you think we should just burn it?”

Tommy shrugged. “Up to you.”

He didn't care anymore. He was the monster whether he liked the idea or not.

He didn't mind burning everything down when Wilbur was on his side.

Wilbur grabbed his hand tightly and they walked toward the wooden building in the centre of their community. Tommy had never been there before, even though it was just outside of the temple. He frowned upon how little he truly knew about the community he once thought he should die for.

The streets were strange to him. He didn't recognize any of the buildings. One of those should be his parent’s house, but he didn't even know which one belonged to them.

He didn't know anything about this place and those people.

He did recognize a priest on their way, standing in the street who was pointing at him in disbelief.

“You...you are alive?” 

Tommy chuckled. He was one of the people who brought him food and water before. Once cold and untouchable, now just shivered in fear for his life.

“Yes. Sorry I didn't die.” Tommy looked at him pitifully. 

“You betrayed us!?” The priest shouted with expression twisted by fear. “We raised you, gave you everything...is that how you are repaying us?”

Everything? The cold food and the tomb?

He rolled his eyes.

“Wil?” He said tiredly as he turned to the demon by his side. “Can you just kill him? He is so annoying...”

Wilbur nodded and took a step forward to the trembling human.

“Don’t come near me, monster!” He pulled out a shining dagger and pointed at the pair, as pathetic self-defence. “You profane creature…daring to disturb this divine land…”

“Profane? You are accusing me of blasphemy?” Wilbur smiled as he approached the trembling human, disregarding the shining dagger. “Where are your gods now? What did hurting your kinds bring to you?”

The priest didn’t answer.

Instead, he thrust forward with the dagger in hand.

“Wilbur!” 

Tommy yelled out. The blade went through Wilbur’s chest. He could feel his heart skipped a few beats, almost like he was the one being stabbed. 

But the demon didn’t try to dodge when the blade was stabbed right in his chest, right at where a human’s heart should be.

The priest gasped in disbelieve.

“What...what are you?”

“Let me tell you where your gods are…” Wilbur pulled out the dagger easily and discarded it like it was a piece of trash. It made a pathetic ding as it bounced on the ground.

The human catatonically stared at the demon’s cold expression as the creature approached. He did even try to escape his fate anymore.

“I guess he is right here.” 

It was fast and easy. The human became another body lying on the ground, with dark sparkles sprung out his burnt skins. 

Wilbur patted on the wound on his chest. It didn’t bleed out anything, but left an open wound that was healing fast. 

“Fuck. I love this sweater.” He pulled on a loose tread on the broken fabric. 

“What the fuck!” Tommy immediately throws a punch at the demon’s arm. “What the fuck is wrong with you! You just stood there like an idiot!” 

“What!” The demon protested as he tried to avoid the punching. It was like the puny little punch hurt much more than the blade that was just went though his chest.

“You could’ve die! I guess you don’t! Fuck you!” Tommy sniffled angrily. “And for what? Just to be cool?”

“It was fucking cool, alright?!” Wilbur sounded he was being wronged. “It didn’t hurt anyways.”

“I fucking hate you.” Tommy tried so hard to hold back tears that were pooling in his eyes. He didn’t want to cry for this bastard who just took a blade in his chest just to be cool. 

“Awww. You are worrying for me?” The demon gave him a big hug, totally didn’t mind his wound. “That’s the first time!”

This guy was clearly insane. But Tommy didn’t mind anymore.

“Don’t hurt yourself again or I will kill you.” Tommy sniffled his nose. He hugged the demon back. Tightly. 

It was a really nice moment if they weren’t in the middle of a murdering spree. 

His sniffing was covered by the loud shoutings that came from the surrounding, instantly breaking the warm moment the pair were having. Tommy’s perspective caught a blink of bright reflections as swords were being held against them.

Guards were rushing from everywhere in the community, while a white-hair elderly in a black robe was stepping out of the community house.

The elderly sighed at the scene as he stepped toward the pair like he was being disturbed from a nice evening. Tommy instantly recognized him as the high priest, who put the corolla on his head on his birthday morning.

The high priest who was so untouchable to him. The high priest made every decision regarding his fate throughout his short life.

“Wil…that guy.” He gently pulled on Wilbur’s coat. “That’s the high priest.” 

“Oh.” The demon glimpsed at the high priest, who was surrounded by guards armed with weapons all pointing at the pair.

“You are the cult leader?” He mockingly greeted and gave the human a bow. “Nice to meet you, sire.”

“Tommy. We thought you were died.” The priest stated calmly like he wasn't in the center of a warzone. “Is this how you are repaying us? Repaying our community who raised you?”

“You didn’t fucking raise me! You tortured me for fifteen years!” Tommy almost wanted to strangle the man and erased the indifferent expression off his face. He really hated that he didn’t have the demon’s power right now. 

He hated the tone the high priest had. So cold and indifferent like he was above all of them.

“That’s hurtful, Tommy.” The man said coldly, with the same solemn attitude Tommy had seen for years. “You are accusing me of nonsense. We raised you to be a god-honouring person. Why would you even think we tortured you?”

“You kept me in that stone tomb.”

“So kept you safe.”

“You didn't even give me enough food!”

“Why are you asking more? Don't you know how hard is for our community to live in the mountains?” The priest gazed directly at the blue eyes, without blinking. “You never worked in the field or hunted in the forest for even one day, and you are saying the free resources you are given are not enough? Truly ungrateful.”

His words were so chilling.

Tommy was silent. 

He was right. Tommy didn't work for the community for a day but they raised him, giving him free food and water.

Why should he ask for more?

How dare he asked for more?

Just because he thought he deserve more after living with the demons?

The priest surely noticed his inside struggle. He knew Tommy too well.

“You are selfish. Tommy.” The priest said like he was delivering Tommy a judgement. 

“We should left you in the forest the day you were born. You don’t deserve to live.”

His words were hitting Tommy like someone punched Tommy in the stomach. 

“I…I…” 

Why were his words hurting him so much?

This was the person behind all of his suffering. But Tommy couldn't get rid of the guilty feeling he had toward him.

This man raised him. This man made sure he wasn't starving. This man kept him alive until he was pushed into that cave.

Tommy held his face in his palms to avoid the priest’s gaze. But he could still feel the priest’s eyes judging his soul.

“I'm...”

“That's enough.”

The demon’s assertive voice broke his sentence.

“Good speech you are giving. Almost as boring as my old man’s.” Wilbur clapped as he rolled his eyes. “Trying to manipulate a kid again, very cool.”

“What would you know, creature?” The priest said with tiny anger in his tone. “You never even lived a day like a human. This is none of your business.”

“That's where you are wrong, sire.” Wilbur met with the old man’s gaze. “If I never live with humans before, how come I knew how truly terrible your kind is?”

“And why you are taking part in our family’s business?” The priest gestured at Tommy. “Come back to me, kid. We will forgive you after you complete your mission.”

It was a tempting offer. 

Tommy could go back to the church that raised him without asking him anything in return, besides his life.

They would forgive him.

Tommy almost wanted to take a step toward the priest but Wilbur’s grip forced him to stay beside.

“Not a chance, bastard.” Wilbur’s grip was so tight to the point it was almost hurting Tommy. “He is my family now.”

“Wil...” Tommy turned to the demon in shock.

It was the first time he ever heard these words from the demons. 

He always thought he was just their pet. A weak little animal they found to play with. 

It was...unreal.

“Great family to let their child murder his old families.” The high priest said chillingly. 

“Great family to manipulate your people to think torturing and killing children is good.” Wilbur refuted assertively. “And for what? For a lie?”

“It was for the better good. Without a strong faith, my people couldn't survive in the mountain.”

“Oh, so you are just admitting that you are lying to keep your seat comfy?” Wilbur held Tommy’s shoulder close to his chest. “Toms, a lie doesn't deserve your life.”

Tommy sheepishly nodded. He wasn't really paying attention anymore. His mind was just echoed with the word “family”, over and over again.

Who was his family?

The church who raised him, or the demons he just met a few months ago?

“We raised him. That's why we deserved his life.” The priest said stand-offishly as he raised his head. “Tommy. Leave that monster now. He is not even human.”

“Shut up you piece of shit.” Wilbur replied defensively. He was starting to lose his temper, all the sudden. “And don't call me a monster.”

Wilbur would strangle you if you call us monsters. Tommy suddenly remembered what Techno had said to him on the day they met.

He truly didn't like the word.

“Are you really want to spend the rest of your life with the monster who can kill you with a touch?” The priest calmly continued. 

“I said don't call me a monster.” Tommy could feel Wilbur’s body temperature raising rapidly. It was almost burning to him. “Call me that name one more time...your kinds just like to group everything you don't understand to monsters.”

“We raised you, Tommy. Who gifted you the books? Who praised you for the rituals? Who made sure you are not starving even when our community didn't have enough food?” The priest continued, ignoring the demon’s angry gaze, looking at Tommy with a deep disappointment in his eyes. 

“And now, you are betraying us for some undomesticated monster?”

Monster.

Tommy suddenly felt a lack of support on his side and almost trembled. 

Wilbur had thrust forward and knocked down a guard in front of the priest, clenching their neck tightly with a furious force. A heatwave started to raise, centred around the demon.

“Wil! Stop!” He was immediately snapped back from the dissociation and rushed to grabbed on Wilbur’s arm which was holding a guard by their throat. “They are not part of the church!”

He was so freakishly strong. Tommy couldn’t even make him move a little no matter how hard he tried. 

And Wilbur didn't listen.

Wilbur’s red eyes were almost glowing in the shadow, staring down at his prey until the life left their eyes.

The priest didn’t move a bit among the panicked guards, look down the scene like he was not a part of it.

“See? Tommy. A monster. That’s who he is. He can’t understand you and he never will.”

It’s not true. 

Tommy kept yelling Wilbur’s name, but the demon seemingly couldn’t hear him anymore. There was just anger beaming through those red eyes, once warmly gazed at him before.

Wilbur caught the sword from another guard and broke it in half. He punched down the guard’s terrified face, with dark flames sparkled through his fist. Tommy tried to grab onto him again, but his skin was almost burning him.

He retreated his hands. A helpless feeling climbed through his veins, like the day he was in that cave.

There was nothing he could do besides watching his brother lose control and started to lose his anger onto another guard. 

“Wilbur!” Tears started dripping down his face. “Please! Stop!”

The demon didn't stop. He discarded another body to the ground, ignoring Tommy’s crying, and knocked down one more guard effortlessly.

Tommy stared at the disfigured body the demon left, who stared at him back lifelessly. 

He didn't even notice another figure was walking toward him, totally disregarding the blood and chaos that was happening around them.

“Tommy. Tommy.” The priest said with an oddly kind tone. “Let’s leave. He will hurt you. He can’t even recognize you anymore.”

It wasn’t true.

The creature was throwing his fists at some lifeless body until it was broken beyond recognizable. 

Black flames were surrounding him. It was like the flame in the deepest level of hell.

His iris didn't hold the tiniest trait of emotions besides the plain anger.

“Wil...” He cried quietly. The creature didn't hear him, of course.

This was his Wilbur. His brother. He was not a monster. He was the annoying guy who read to him, who whined every time Tommy left his side. He was not a monster.

But now, his brother is murdering innocent people in front of him.

“Haven’t you seen what he did? Do you feel safe staying with such a terrifying creature?” The priest said gently, as he pointed at the disfigured bodies covered with black burnt marks the demon left behind.

Dark flames sparkled through their lifeless eyes. A terrible odour lingered in the hot air, becoming stronger and stronger by the seconds.

Tommy almost wanted to throw up.

While this who he would become? If Wilbur ever lost control again?

No.

It wasn’t true.

He knew it wasn't true. He knew Wilbur.

The Wilbur desperately tried to make him happy, even by dragging him to the place he never wanted to come back to.

The Wilbur who healed his deepest wound when he hurt himself.

The Wilbur who was furious after knowing what the church did to him.

The Wilbur wanted him to be in their family.

His big brother.

Tommy took a deep breathe to try to stop his panicking, although it was becoming harder to breathe in the hot air. He glanced at the broken metal on the ground. 

He knew one of the things Wilbur truly cared about, even if he lost his mind.

“Wilbur.” Tommy calmly said as he kneeled and picked up one of the broken blade shards. He knew the demon would hear him.

“If you don’t stop, I will kill myself.”

He held the shard close to his neck, just below where the collar Wilbur gifted him before.

The priest grasped in surprise.

“Why would you think this will work? He’s clearly lost his mind.”

“You don’t know him.” Tommy said as he pressed down the blade into his skin until it started to bleed. “But I know him. His my brother.”

The demon suddenly stopped his movement.

Tommy smiled. He has won the bet.

Wilbur stiffly turned back his body, discarded the half-dead guard that was in his grip, stared at the human with those empty red eyes.

“Stop it or I will press through my vein.” Tommy said as he held onto the shard harder. 

“…” 

The demon was expressionless. He was just looking at the human, unmoved.

Flares started to die down on his finger tips.

He took a step forward to the human.

Tommy didn’t flinched, although the heatwave from the demon’s body was almost too hot for him to stand still.

“…”

The demon still didn’t say a word.

“Come back to me.” He meet those red eyes, now starting to turn back to the familiar warm shades Tommy knew. Like the shades he saw when he woke up after slicing his throat. “You are not a monster.”

The same warm eyes that told Tommy he couldn't let him die.

“...”

“…Tommy?”

The demon gently called his name.

“Wil.”

He gave him a big grin. He knew he had win the bet.

“I…what happened?”

“You were being an asshole.” Tommy said as he dropped the blade to the ground. “And I don’t believe my brother is an asshole.”

The heat died down as well. Tommy stepped forward, grabbed the demon’s hand.

“I’m sorry…Tommy…”

The demon held his hand tightly.

“What have I done...” The demon gently stroked the bleeding wound on Tommy’s neck. 

“It’s okay. It didn’t hurt anyways.” Tommy blinked. “It was fucking cool, alright?”

The demon laughed as he pulled Tommy into his arms. 

A usual big hug from his big brother.

“I'm sorry, Toms...” Wilbur gently said. “It shouldn’t get me this much. I should no longer be affected by that word anymore.”

“What happened, Wil?” He raised his head. 

“It's just some distant memory. Before I even met Phil, when I was living with the humans.” Wilbur said embarrassedly. “It shouldn't really bother me this much. It was a long time ago.”

“It's fine.” Tommy said as he squeezed Wilbur’s hand tightly in his palm. “We all have something that should be left in the past.”

He smiled at his brother. The Wilbur he finally got back.

“Well done, Tommy.” 

A cold voice came from the background breaking the nice moment they were having. 

“I didn’t think he would actually listen to you.” The priest said indifferently. “Now what? You want to kill me? Betraying me one more time?”

“Shut up you piece of shit!” Tommy yelled. He didn’t want to hear one more word from the bastard anymore. 

“Tommy, I can just kill him if you want.” Wilbur said as he grabbed tight on his brother’s hand.

“No. He should die, but not now.” Tommy shook his head slightly. He still wanted to say something to the high priest.

That he should say the moment when they met again.

This man, who dared to call him back after torturing him over and over again. This man, who didn't give any shit about his people's life as long as he was in the power. This man, who made his brother lose his control.

This man.

“Your highness.” He said determinedly, looking straight into the priests’ eyes. “I am not your family and I never was.” 

“How so? Should I repeat that we raised you?” The priest narrowed his gaze.

“Yes. You raised me like a cow to be slaughtered. You never see me as a human before.” Tommy let go of Wilbur’s hand slowly walked toward the priest.

“We feed you as the best as we can.” 

“What? I don’t deserve to eat your puny food after you guys keep letting me bleed out on the altar?” Tommy stopped in front of the high priest. He was way shorter than Tommy thought previously as Tommy noticed it for the first time.

“And if you don’t feed me I don’t have enough blood to drop.” 

“We kept you safe, Tommy. Never in a day of your life you were threatened by the beasts, the drought, the flood.”

“Yes, by fucking locked me up in your prison!” Tommy said coldly. “And you expect me to be grateful for locking me up for fifteen years?”

The priest looked at him, speechlessly.

“You got any last words?” Tommy approached the priest one more step.

“…”

It was the first time ever he saw the high priest showed fear on his face.

“Leave it, I don’t want to hear.” Tommy stepped back. “You mean nothing to me now.”

He turned his back and went back to his brother.

“Wilbur, let’s go home. I’m tired.” 

“You don’t want me to kill him…” Wilbur asked hesitantly. 

“No. Haven't you kill enough people today?” Tommy gave him a judging glimpse.

“I...” The demon didn't finish his sentence. He looked truly hurt.

“Just kidding!” Tommy nudged him with his elbow. “If we just kill him, there will just be new high priests and more people like me.”

“Then what should we do about him?” Wilbur tilted his head in the elderly’s direction. 

“I have a better idea.”

Wilbur took his hand and nodded. He didn't ask more questions. He trusted his brother’s decision.

They left as fast as they arrived. Everything around them started to become blurry again and sink into complete darkness.

And the next second, they were back in the yard of their home. The familiar cool winds were breezing through Tommy’s curls again.

“What the fuck?! Phil! They are back!”

A voice yelled from the other side of the yard.

“Techno!” Tommy ran to the demon, who was just anxiously pacing back and forward a second ago.

“Where the fuck did you guys go?!” The demon hold him tightly in his arm. “I thought Wilbur kidnapped you!”

“Ouch. That what you think of me?” Wilbur mockingly said as he followed after Tommy, with tiredness in his tone. “That’s hurting me a lot.”

“Kind of.” Tommy shrugged. “You should beat him up.”

Techno chuckled.

“But seriously, where did you guys go?”

Tommy thought for a second, and answered.

“Just a little search adventure.”

It was the second time of seeing George’s original form, but Tommy still almost fainted when he suddenly arrived.

“Is Phil home today?” The roaring voice asked.

“What the fuck! Turn back to your human form!” Tommy yelled to the creature with millions of eyes in the sky. He was just trying to enjoy a nice afternoon on the grass before winter came and the angel ruined everything.

“Oh! Sorry!” The human form George appeared out of nowhere again. “I’m looking for your dad, but I guess you work too.” 

“What?” Tommy yawned as he stood up. “Oh. Do you mean that thing? What did that green guy said?”

“He said he would happy take care of the cult! Of course.” George handed him an envelope. 

“And what about the high-level members?”

“All going to jail. We have talked with some cities nearby. They didn’t even know this cult exist!” George said as he waved his hands in excitement. “Thank you for telling us the existence of such atrocious things. Finally Sapnap got something to do instead of just bothering me all the time.”

“So…they would all just go back to normal human society, I guess?” Tommy glimpsed at the awful handwriting of the letter. The angels were really suck at writing things. 

“Yeah. And all the terrible traditions will be eliminated. I think Dream is sending some actual priests to the area.” 

“Oh. More religions. Cool.” Tommy bitterly replied.

“You sound more like the demons everyday.” George gave him a suspicious glimpse. “What are they teaching you? I guess just blasphemy all the time.”

“If writing words counted as blasphemy, then I guess so.” Tommy chuckled lightly. 

“George?”

A voice came from the back door. Wilbur was standing beside the door frame, holding a plate of cookies in one hand.

“Wilbur! Good to see you again.” George waved at him. “Are those cookies? Can I have one?”

“Sure…but just one! These are all for Tommy.” Wilbur unwillingly give one cookie to the angel. “Techno and I spent hours to learn how to make these things.”

George giggled as he took a bite. And almost instantly spit it out.

“Lord, what did you guys put in those?!” George put the half-bitten cookie back to the plate, ignoring Wilbur’s disgusted expression.

“Tommy would like it! It’s just you are picky about everything.” Wilbur argued as he handed one cookie to Tommy.

“Thanks.” He took a bite.

It was really awful like George said.

But he didn’t mind. It was much better than the last time. At least it was edible this time.

“See? Tommy likes it!” Wilbur said happily. 

“He just acting he likes it because you guys are his brother!” George shouted. “Tommy! Come with me and I promise we make better food than those demons.”

“Nah. I think I will stay with them.”

Tommy smiled.

“They are my family.”