Deuce Gorgon stalked uncharacteristically into school. He'd have been in a better mood if his father hadn't had called last night and gotten in a giant argument full of cursing with his mom. Again.
"Deuce!" Cleo called to him. He frowned, glad she couldn't see his eyes which were full of fury. But he pretended, like always, that he was normal old Deuce
"Hey Cleo, hey Frankie, hey Ghoulia," he greeted her and the two girls with her. "what's up?"
"You're later than normal. We just wanted to make sure you were okay." Frankie informed Deuce.
"ughhhu" Ghoulia mumbled in Zombese.
"Exactly. You are twenty minutes later than normal. Class starts in five minutes!" Cleo stressed to him.
"I'm fine. Just slept in." Deuce answered.
"Fine," Cleo said, not believing his reason that was only half true. "But if you need anything just talk to us," she lowered her voice and hugged her boyfriend. "You know you can talk to me about anything."
Next Day
"Voltage! We're finally learning about the Olympian gods!" Frankie sparked. It was lunch at Monster High and Frankie was sitting in the creeperteria, along with Cleo, Clawdeen, Draculaura and Deuce at a table. They were exchanging subjects.
Deuce frowned at this statement and asked, "children?"
"probably. Today we focused on Zeus and tomorrow we're working on Hades." Frankie informed.
"That sounds golden! Don't you think Deuce?" Cleo asked.
"Yeah." He replied glumly.
"What's wrong with you? You've been annoyed about something all week." Clawdeen asked.
"It's nothing to worry about. Just something to do with Mom."
"Is it...anything you want to talk about?" Frankie asked gently.
"Maybe later. When she's less ticked off about it." Deuce suggested.
"Oh. Okay."
That Night
Standing at the foot of a crumbled and destroyed mountain, he couldn't contain the feeling of dread rushing through his veins. He knew he had done this, caused all this destruction.
Moving forward he had to find what he was looking for, whatever it was.
He had a dreadful sensation it was a person he cared about.
He looked around, scanning the horizon when the rocks began to change shape...or where they already like that? He couldn't be sure.
He ran towards one and he saw what he had done to the single most important ghoul in his life.
He cradled her in his arms, begging her to come back, praying to every god he could think of but nothing would work.
"please...please...I'll do anything. Hades, Zeus, DAD! Anybody..." He begged and begged but then he realised that the statues around him were every member of his school, most with missing limbs, crushed by the falling cavern, others missing half their bodies or heads.
"No...NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" He screams of regret carried, echoing as if in a hall.
Deuce woke up from his dream covered in sweat and with his hands bleeding from being clenched into fists and cut into by his razor sharp nails.
There was a light tap on the door. "Deuce? Moró, are you alright?
No. He wanted to rasp. Instead he went to the door and, despite the stinging throb, opened the door to his cousin Viperine.
She looked down at his bloodied hands and took them in hers.
Suddenly, they were little again, on Petros Island, and Deuce had fallen off his new skateboard he had gotten for his 7th birthday the week before, cutting his hands deeply in the process. Viperine rushed over to help, seeing him crying and bleeding.
Gently taking his hands, Viperine said kindly, "let's clean you up."
She slowly led him down the stairs to the large kitchen in their mansion.
He sat down on a stone stool and placed his hands, palms up, on the marble bench.
Viperine got some alcohol, linen and anti-bacterial cream and set it on the counter. Opening the bottle of alcohol, she looked at Deuce with an apologetic smile. She tipped the clear liquid onto Deuce's bleeding hands.
He winced and hissed in pain but didn't cry out.
Viperine gently rubbed it in. Deuce whimpered as the alcohol killed the bacteria growing in his hands.
Then, with a clean cloth, Viperine wiped off the liquid. Deuce let out a breath.
"Do you-"
"No. Keep going."
"Okay. Sorry in advance, moró.