Chapter Text
Puffy white clouds drifted across the sky—but it wasn’t truly a sky. Far, far above them lay nothing but earth. The cries of tortured souls rose into a wild cacophony that drifted upon the wind until it reached… a palace.
A beautiful, golden palace, sharp spires reaching toward the ceiling of bedrock, where terrible, sharp stalactites inlaid with gems waited to fall and impale unlucky souls. The palace was adorned in all the jewels and finery hell had to offer–and to its residents, the cries of the damned were like music.
Aside from the babies crying, of course.
Zepharion rubbed his temples, absentmindedly petting a massive white beast with golden eyes and a magnificent mane as it purred.
He was starting to get frustrated with all their wailing in the middle of the night. Annoying, so very annoying. Nonetheless, he got up to check on them, leaving the beast to lie in his room. He went into the nursery to see exactly who was crying; it was definitely more than one baby, but not all of them. The nursery was a colorful room filled with bassinets and changing stations. The place was scattered with plushies and teething rings. There were broken and chewed-up dolls in one corner of the room and colorful paint splattered on the walls.
Each section of the room was a different color and decorated completely differently. Even the crib mobiles were different.
The first crib, and the most decorated, was a pink-and-white bassinet engulfed with gemstones, soft pink petals, and unripe Royal Pudina Berries growing beautifully on the vines around the bassinet. The walls were a soft pastel pink. The mobile was filled with hearts and bats. Inside, the prettiest baby of them all lay.
The second bassinet was a soft purple, covered in stars and moon patterns, with the walls a mix of white and yellow. This mobile crib had the solar system gently spinning in a circle. This mobile was different because it was the only one that played a gentle, almost mute lullaby and was filled with a variety of plushies. The baby inside was fast asleep.
There were no flowers to be seen in the third cradle, only a small, pig-like plush that had mouths all over it. The walls were decorated with images of feasts, and the crib mobile was a bunch of fruits with faces.
The fourth child’s section of the nursery was almost as pretty as the first’s, but it had a darker, far more wicked aura. Images of golden temples decorated the walls, and the crib mobile was gold coins. The bassinet was a dark green, and there was a small dragon plush cuddled up next to her, its scales made out of diamond. Elegant ivy with gold-threaded leaves was wound around the bassinet.
The fifth bassinet was made out of thick iron bars, and the walls were decorated with little figures stabbing each other and in various throes of agony as they died. The crib mobile was various tiny weapons that the baby inside cooed and reached for. Along the iron bars grew red Rippermoss, and there was a small hellhound plush in the cradle.
The last bassinet was shoved in the corner with the little space remaining. There were no paintings of grandeur on the wall—only a brown color made from the leftover paint from the others. The baby inside was crying, flowers looming mockingly over the child. It cried and squirmed, trying not to look. Beside it was a silver fox, and the mobile crib had tiny mirrors.
The third child was chewing on his hands and feet again, to the point where he’d reduced them to bloody stumps.
“Hey! Didn’t I tell you to stop doing that!?” Zepharion yanked the baby’s hand away from his mouth, shoving a teething ring in his mouth for him to chew on instead. He shoved a second one into the gnawing, flesh pit where his stomach should’ve been.
“Great, your feet are damaged again.” He went over to check on the baby in the dark green bassinet.
Inside, a pale, green-skinned baby was crying, awoken from her slumber by the last child.
Damnit, I knew putting them in the same room was a mistake. As the sin of pride, that took a blow in his ego, but he brushed it off. He picked up the pale green-skinned baby in his arms. He did the routine, gently patting her back and whispering some calming words to her.
“You’re okay, you’re okay, go back to sleep.”
She sneered and grabbed at his earring, trying to yank it out of his ear and claim it for herself.
That earned a growl from him as he put her at arm's length. “How insufferable!” He dropped her back in her crib and on top of her little dragon plushie. Maybe she’ll grab that instead. He checked on the second baby, who was obviously fast asleep with a Celestial Awakening flower in her hair. “When you’re actually useful.” He turned to check on the baby in the last crib. “I swear, she better be sleeping.” He walked to the bassinet in the corner.
Inside, the baby was wrapped in blankets, crying loudly.
Zepharion's eye twitched, but he kept his composure, picking her up. “You had another bad dream, as always.” Whenever he held her, she eventually calmed down.
Her face melted into goo and took on the first baby’s pretty, baby-faced features. She gurgled and reached for him now, her malformed face filled with hope–
Only for Zepharion to toss the light turquoise baby back into the bassinet, letting her hit her head on the safety railing.
He didn’t spare her a glance. He would never understand her fixation on her. Speaking of that sin, he headed over to the pink-and-white bassinet and looked inside. The pink-skinned baby was wide awake, content with a glittery white pacifier in her mouth. Her tiny tail swayed from side to side, her wings neatly folded behind her back.
Zepharion sighed, seeing her being quiet. He cooed to her for a moment as she looked up at him with those adorable, wide eyes.
The baby in the iron crib started growling.
Zepharion hissed in frustration, walking back over. He found the grey-skinned demon gnawing the iron bars, red eyes glowing with rage as their terrible, overgrown teeth stabbed into the iron. Their teeth broke with a snap, and they began to cry.
He curled his lip. “It’ll heal in a day, calm down,” he said airily.
Once everything was back in order, Zepharion left the room, turned off the lights, and went to his own room, slumping into a plush chair. The beast padded over, sitting next to him. When they got older, things were going to be different.