Chapter Text
The four sat in a circle, with equally horrified expressions on their faces.
"Ok, what the actual fuck did we just witness?" Luciel asked, tearing open a chocolate bar, which he had rudely stolen from Yuu's food stash.
"Wait, what?" Yuuichirou blinked, pointing a finger at Mika. "But… If I am Mikaela, then… Who are you?"
Mika could do little more than stare back.
"You… are the pseudo-god, then?" the raven realized, and suddenly, a smile spread across his face. "Mika… I found you."
"Yes, you found me," the blond replied softly. "Took you long enough."
"Wait, why are you two so calm about this?" their brunet son interrupted. "Sorry, but going 'oh, you are the pseudo-god' doesn't really explain anything! What even was the pseudo-god, or homunculus, or whatever the fuck you want to call it? Isn't it just grandfather's powers of darkness?"
"I… guess?" Yuu pondered.
Surely, it was Shikama Doji who had created that entity. It was made from the darkness he experimented on, and anything it did Shikama considered his own achievement.
"So, you are grandfather's powers, who gained a consciousness, and became his son?" Luciel concluded, throwing his arms to the sides. "Makes perfect sense!"
"We swapped identities, in other words," Mika mumbled, still not completely over this reveal.
"I wouldn't say swapped," Luciel argued. "After all, you became an angel, but it wasn't like Father got turned into a pseudo-god. He just became a random-ass human, which is probably the biggest downgrade I've ever seen."
"H-hey!" Yuu's cheeks flushed dark. "I… I am a pretty special human! Right, Mika?"
"Of course you are, Yuu-chan."
"B-but… but…" a small whimper drew everyone's attention.
Michael was sitting on the floor, hands between his legs, and tears streaming down his doll-like face. His body was quivering, it probably had for a while, but everyone had been so shocked they failed to notice.
"Then who am I!?" the little blond exclaimed, placing his hands on top his own head. "I t-thought for sure I was angel Mika! I… I look more like him than daddy, and…! And…! I was sure I remembered things!"
"Now, now, Mai-chan—" Yuu crawled over to the blond, hoping to soothe him, but when his sharp fingernails clawed into his forearms, he realized he might be making a mistake. "Ouch—!"
"My identity has been stolen!!" he cried, shaking the raven back and forth, though with little success given his lack of strength. "Who am I even!?"
"Y-you are my son, of course!" Yuu replied, forcing a small smile, despite the pain from the boy's claws. He was sure they were drawing blood at this rate. "S-see? The past doesn't matter. We are who we are now, not in our previous lives. I am Yuu, your father. You are Michael, my son. Who knows who we will be in our next?"
"B-but where did I come from, really…?" the small blond sobbed. "Why do I look like this? Why do I remember things?"
"We don't know what happened all these years," Mikaela pointed out. "Perhaps the soul got split up? And you received the memories?"
At this point, anything was possible. And it would honestly be the least surprising thing they had discovered today.
"Oh… Ohhh!" Michael's teary eyes lit up, a drastic change in expression. "So then, we are like… the same soul that was split in half? Then… That kind of makes us soulmates, right?"
"Huh?" Yuu blinked, as the small blond fell into his chest, arms wrapping around him.
"You and Daddy might have bound yourselves to each other, but we are one part of the same whole, right? Right?" he giggled. "So, we are even closer to each other than you and Daddy, true, right?"
"What… kind of conclusion is that?" Mika narrowed his eyes slightly.
"That means you love me more than aaanyone in the whole world, right Papa?" the small blond continued. "You love me even more than Daddy, right?"
Yuuichirou glanced nervously towards Mika. He had not expected his expression to be as displeased as it was, though that angry frown quickly dropped when the demon king realized there were eyes on him. He looked away, though Yuu recognized that self-conscious look in his eyes.
"U-um, sure, you are my little baby after all," the raven replied, placing an uncomfortable hand on top the boy's head, petting him. "But, um, Mai-chan, your Electra complex is getting a bit out of hand here…"
"Hey—" another voice called out to them, and a head popped in from the doorframe of the hut they were hiding in. "Is everything okay?"
It was Shinoa, who had allowed the family to have a bit of alone-time to explore the deep, dark secrets of their past. She'd been waiting outside, guarding them in case the squad, or Guren caught up with them, and found their hiding spot.
"Yeah, no worries babe," Luciel replied with a smile. "We just need some time after seeing a lot of crazy shit. I tell you, you wouldn't believe it. But I think we're getting closer to finding out the truth."
"Oh, that is great!" she returned his grin, not really noticing the awkward tension in the room. "Well, I wish you boys luck then. I will go back to guarding the area."
"What would I do without you," the half-demon winked at her. "I promise, once this is over, my attention will be all yours, one hundred percent."
Shinoa giggled at this, before disappearing back outside, pushing the door shut behind her.
"Man, I am so glad Shinoa decided to join us," Luciel sighed out. "She was so hot when she helped us murder all those innocent people for food."
"Yeah, imagine if she had instead turned on us, and tried to kill Mika because I rejected her or something," Yuuichirou laughed.
"Oh my god, that would have been so cringe!"
"We do not speak of God anymore," Michael interrupted, with a frown on his cute face. "He is a jerk!"
"Right, sorry," Yuu apologized in Luciel's stead. "Anyways, what do we do now?"
"I guess, if we are doomed to die and suffer all over again, for all of eternity, no matter what we do… We might as well just run away together?" Mikaela suggested, the same thing he had done a few times in the past. "Let's get away from here, go into hiding, and live out the rest of our days peacefully."
"How realistic is that, though?" Yuu challenged. "Aren't you slowly becoming a full demon?"
"Ah, you noticed?" the blond mumbled.
"Of course," he sighed. "You've been a bit colder, and more distant to me lately…"
"Oh no, that was simply me not wanting to encourage your obsessive behaviour," Mikaela clarified. "Still, I want you to do as I propose. Even if I become a full demon, you still have our sons, and your daughter-in-law. There will probably be grandchildren soon as well, knowing Luciel."
"Hehehe…" the brunet laughed nervously. "Wait, full demon? Does that mean a new outfit change?"
"Mika, you are so marketable," Yuu let out another chuckle. "If only we got to see what that female-version of you—who I totally ended up hooking up with in the past by the way—looked like as an adult… Imagine the figurine sales."
"What are you even talking about anymore?" Mikaela mumbled. "You probably never lived long enough to hook up with anyone, if Fa—um, Shikama Doji kept accidentally destroying each copy."
"That cockblocking bastard…!"
"Yuu-chan, seriously. Just take my suggestion," he insisted.
"And then, what happens when you become a full demon, aside from acquiring another, probably more sexualized outfit?" Yuu asked, staring intently into his partner's eyes. "What, will you possess me? Or will you just leave?"
"I'd leave, of course," the blond huffed, with a weirdly cat-like expression on his face.
"I would like to see you try," the raven allowed a wide grin to appear on his lips. "I'm not letting you get away until we die."
"I guess so," Mikaela, having seemingly accepted his fate, replied.
"Wow, why are you so casual about this?" Luciel pointed out again. "He's talking like he's planning on holding you hostage or something."
"He probably is," the demon king shrugged. "But I have gotten used to it at this point."
"That doesn't sound like something you should get used to," Luciel argued. "This is a toxic relationship! You need to talk!"
"Okay, but it won't work, I promise you. See," Mika turned to Yuu again, and took a deep breath before opening his mouth. "Yuu-chan, I think we have to reconsider our relationship—"
"I will kill myself if you break up with me," the raven replied bluntly.
Mikaela turned back to his son.
"See?"
"You're fucked up, father," Luciel deadpanned.
"Luce, just listen to me for a moment," Yuuichirou raised his hand defensively, at least as much as he could with Michael still clinging to him. He hadn't moved an inch since then. "Imagine for a second that it was Shinoa who wanted to leave you. How would you have reacted?"
Luciel was silent for a bit, staring blankly into his father's green eyes. Then, he parted his lips again.
"I… I would have to lock her in a cage, I guess…"
"Exactly!" Yuu's face lit up in pure joy. "See? You understand me!"
"Oh, for fuck's sake—" Mikaela was staring absolutely dumbfounded at his family.
"Wow Luciel, imagine the father-son bonding we could be doing!" Yuu continued, in increasing excitement. "The two of us, shopping for cages, and collars for our spouses"
"Holy shit, holy shit, holy—" Mika kept mumbling, face pale as chalk.
"Father, I never thought we would understand each other on such a deep, personal level. But I see now we are much more similar than I realized," Luciel smiled. "Okay, let's do it. Let's take everyone and run away together, live happily as one, big demon family—"
"Huh-hum!" Michael suddenly cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention again, effortlessly. "But what about grandfather?"
There was a pause of silence.
"Eh…" Yuu looked away.
"What do you mean 'eh'?" Michael looked at his family in bewilderment. "We… We all just saw the same thing, right? Grandfather being unfairly punished just for wanting to save everyone, and suffering all alone for thousands of years?"
"Well, yes, but—"
"But—!? But what!?" the small blond was looking angry now. "We have to save him of course! Wasn't that the reason you two went through all this in the first place? To save him?"
"Yeahhh, but that was kind of a long time ago," Yuu argued, glancing awkwardly towards Mika. "And I am not his son, I am just some human now, so it's not really my responsibility—"
"Are you kidding!?" Mai-chan looked like he was going insane from what he was hearing. He turned to Mika, with the same sense of wild desperation in his green eyes. "B-but you agree, right? You are his son now, so you will surely want to save him! R-right?"
Mika didn't respond, instead looking to the side, a drop of sweat trailing down from his forehead.
Michael could do little but bury his face in his hand, and start sobbing.
"Oh, Mai, don't cry…" Yuu felt like shit now, trying to pull his son into a hug. "I know you probably have very strong feelings towards him, since you have all those memories…"
"T-then is the only part of the original Mikaela that is left… me?" he sniffled. "Every other p-part is… dead! W-why won't you help me save him?"
"You are Mai-chan, the one and only," the raven reassured, petting the boy's head the same way he always did. "You are a part of me, and a part of Mika. You are our little baby."
"Shikama Doji can take care of himself," Mika added. "If he actually does care for us, he will, uh… probably want us to live as happy lives as possible."
"Y-you are just making excuses for not wanting to save him," Michael huffed.
Maybe there was some truth to it. Yuu didn't feel anything for Shikama at the moment, and neither did Mika it seemed. Yuu only really cared for Mika at the end of the day, as well as the children they had together. Perhaps it was proof that the "angel Mikaela" was long dead, unfortunately. He truly had pitied him, but alas.
However, on another note, if Mika turned into a full demon, and lost his mind, then that would be… bad. He had been close to losing his emotions as a vampire, but if the full transformation would wipe his mind clean, then… Yuu didn't know what he would do.
Still, there was no need to panic. They had fixed it last time, at least temporarily, so they might find a way to do it again. If not, they could all just become crazy demons together, he wouldn't mind that.
"So… What do you guys think about finding all the sinful keys, and fighting God?" Yuu suggested.
"Sounds awesome," Luciel agreed.
"Yes! Let's avenge grandfather!" Michael nodded his head, finally looking pleased with something his family said.
"Excuse me, what?" was the only one to stare wide-eyed at the rest. "Did you just say we will fight God all of a sudden?"
"Yeah," Yuu replied, dead serious. "Won't that solve all our problems?"
"…huh!?"
Mikaela had no idea how it escalated to this.
But apparently, he and his family were now about to plan their battle against the literal God.