The carriage pulled over to the side of the elementary school in a fit of fire, drawing the attention of all the little demon students who were walking home or being picked up by their own parents today. It was a sight to see, but then again what else does one expect of the Lucitor's carriage?
They were the designated royals after all, this only felt fitting for their arrival.
The carriage door opened and an oddly normal look man in fancy clothing stepped out, adjusting his crown and scoping the scene in front of him. Demon children were walking past him, some giving him dirty looks, but Dave didn't care as he was only here for his son, Thomas.
It was his turn to pick him up from school today after all.
Most princes and princess learned from private tutors rather then go to any public school but Tom insisted, and well, his parents couldn't deny his wishes of wanting to make friends. He was only 8 years old and he needed to meet his citizens someday. Dave was cautious of course, making sure he was under guard 24/7 and making himself full clear to the school's staff that if they hurt a hair on his head he'd publicly take care of them himself. But it was about a week in and so far Tom seemed fine, he didn't seem happy per say, but he seemed decent enough.
But it was immediately apparent something was wrong today, and Dave noticed it quickly when he looked around to not find Tom anywhere. He always told Tom to wait for him, because Dave had a small fear of him being kidnapped or harmed when he wasn't in his sight and his absence here only grew that fear as the school emptied even more much to his worry.
He relaxed, maybe tom was slightly late today? And he'd run out immediately to head home.
A few minutes passed, the parking lot emptied out, and yet no sign of his son.
"Tom? Tom!", He called out, but with no answer. Then he heard footsteps and turned around to face Tom's personal bodyguards, who were both out of breath and utterly terrified, and Dave wasn't sure if they were scared of him or whatever was the reason for Tom's absence.
Either way, something was wrong and they were at fault.
"Your Majesty!" , said one, "You're here! W-we...w-we're uh...". The king's brows furrowed and he was trying not to show himself dying inside, "Where's Thomas... he's not out here to be picked up like he normally is? You two were supposed to be watching him...". The two guards gulped, "Sir, we have no idea! We got separated from him and we haven't seen him since! Honest!".
"THEN GO FIND HIM!", Dave barked at them, and the nodded yes and ran off as fast as they could to continue searching around the school. After they left, the anger on the man's face left and his face turned into one of deep worry and concern. He was jumping to conclusions, Tom could be in the bathroom, or maybe he forgot something inside, but if something happened to Tom Dave knew he'd never forgive himself. he ordered the skeleton horse to wait outside and he made his way inside the school to look for his son.
His first instinct was to ask the staff for assistance, and they had no choice but to help anyway if hey knew what was good for them.
However he found the teachers there were no help, and even when he made them search the entire school from top to bottom they couldn't find a little demon with three eyes, pink hair, and lilac skin. Tom wasn't here, and Dave's heart dropped more and more as every room was confirmed to not contain the missing boy.
Dave was about to go home and call for a search of the underworld, before he walked past Tom's normal classroom, or rather his homeroom. His teacher was still there, working on grading some new homework in, and Dave strolled in suspiciously. Tom described this room for the last few days and he knew it had to be the same one, the teacher looked up to the mewman in surprise and then anger, whether for strolling in or for him being mewman Dave didn't care. "Oh, your highness, still haven't found your son?", she asked, continuing to work on her grading.
Dave crossed his arms, and paced around the room scanning it thoroughly himself as another teacher had claimed to check it earlier. "No, i haven't, but considering you're his teacher, I'd like to ask you some questions if you don't mind?"
She narrowed all her eyes, and Dave held his hands out, " I'm not accusing you of anything m'am, but I do want to know how long my son has been gone in your care so i have better chances of finding him...". The teacher remained calm in his presence, "He left the classroom to go home, just like all the other students, that's the last time i saw him...".
He raised an eyebrow and continued to scope around the room more closely.
A Glimpse of something pink could be seen peeking out from under a beanbag and Dave walked over to it immediately much to the Teacher's distress , the king pulled it out to find a pink rabbit backpack, his son's backpack in fact. Dave stared at it a really long time, someone had been poorly trying to hide this thing, and it looked as if they were in a rush to hide it too.
What happened next, wasn't pleasant.
Mostly for the teacher, as Dave stalked forward to her, holding up the pink backpack with a dark expression on his face. She shook in her seat, Dave wasn't a demon but he sure could make himself scary when he wanted to be.
"Look...it's.."
"Where's my son...?"
She panicked, closing her eyes and spilling out everything, "He's been missing since recess, he never came back but no one could find him anywhere...that's all i know i swear!". Dave grumbled, but he didn't interrogate her any further, although his anger and worry was only rising.
"My lord, we can't find Thomas anywh-", one of the demon guards entered the room and paused, shivering at the king's expression. Dave pointed towards Tom's homeroom teacher, "Stay here and keep an eye on her, i'll be right back, I want to go check the playground myself...".
"Sir, the fence surrounding that and the rest of the back of the school is locked-"
"And that means no one's checked it yet...", Dave grumbled," If Tom was there last, then i'm going to look for any signs of him, someone...most likely some kid...tried to hide his backpack in this classroom...probably to draw less attention to his absence...a kidnapper would never do that...they wouldn't need to because making the effort to sneak into this classroom to hide this is a waste of time...".
The demon guard looked surprised, "W-what are you saying?"
Dave walked past him and out the classroom door, glaring at him,"Just stay here, some kid did something to my son and i'm gonna find out what..".
Dave wandered into the back of the school building alone, the demon janitor bowing to him as he walked past and closed the gate door behind him. The playground was empty, but it was a big area anyway, there had to be something here if this is where Tom was seen last.
Dave started with the playground, looking on the ground and examining all the play gear, trying to find any trace he could of Tom. "Tom?! Tom!?", He called out for what felt like the 50th time since he arrived, he'd been here for a few hours and his heart only dropped more and more each minute.
He held the backpack close to him, he couldn't give up on Tom just yet, he'd search every inch of the underworld if he had to. His search of the playground was very thorough, even if any logical person would know full well his attempts at examining the dirt for his son wouldn't do much.
Footprints, a sign of a tussle, anything he could use to track his son. But there was nothing, it was almost as if Tom wasn't here at all, that or there was just no evidence here to help him. The playground was empty, void of any hope, this was his last chance to find his son! Why did he follow some desperate idea he had instead of calling some real investigators in? If he wasn't here...
Dave suddenly dropped to his knees, what if he couldn't find Tom? What would he tell Wrathmeloir? He knew allowing Tom to attend public school was a bad idea, he should've put his foot down the moment Tom suggested it! Or boosted the number of private guards! Or supervised Tom himself! Or anything he could possible have done to make sure this never happened!
He felt tears start to well up, ones he knew he'd been hiding behind anger as soon as he realized Tom was gone. He felt like screaming, and he was about to, when someone seemed to have beaten him too it. The king noticed there was a glow behind him and turned around to see some fire dispensing from another back part of the building, specifically where the dumpster was.
Dave stood up, and he didn't hesitate to run as fast as possible to the location of the fire, where he found an extremely melted dumpster bin with a small and dirty demon crying inside of it. Dave felt himself start to cry again, but this time with a smile growing on his face, it was Tom.
He found his son, he wasn't kidnapped or dead or- he was right here this whole time! Dave never felt so happy his son's fire powers tied into his emotions, if it weren't for his anger issues...he might have never found his son. Thank Judas he was ok, Tom was ok..
He was almost about to reach out to Tom let out another cry and it made him stop in his tracks.
Tom looked awful, he smelled awful, he looked bruised and hurt and oh god what happened to him?
"Tom...?"
Tom sniffled and finally seemed to notice his father's presence, the little boy looked as if he'd been crying here for hours. Dave didn't approach him, Tom didn't look as if he wanted to be approached at the moment, but he stared at his father a long time and then proceeded to jump out of what was left of the dumpster into his fathers arms.
"D-Dad..."
Dave sat and held him for a short him, relieved to see him ok but also scared to know what led to this, he petted Tom's head. "Tom, It'll be ok...i'm here ok?", Tom sniffled and cried into his shirt, sinking his nails into him and never wanting to let go, Dave felt a mix of joy for finding his son and anger at whoever was responsible for this.
But right now, all he wanted to do was get Tom home, clean him up, and help him feel better. He picked the little boy up, he was getting kinda heavy but right now that didn't matter, "C'mon Tom, we're gonna head home ok?"
Tom nodded softly, shoving his face into his father's shoulder, Dave carefully placed the small pink backpack on his son and carried the small boy to the carriage, pulling out his compact phone to call the guards and let them know Tom was found and they could stop searching.
Dave kept Tom close to him as the carriage made it's way back home, letting Tom cry into his shirt.
He could ask him about what happened later.
Tom was given a bubble bath and a change of clothes before heading back into his bedroom where Dave sat, holding a bowl of ice cream for him. Tom's eyes lit up and he immediately jumped on his bed and grabbed the bowl to begin shoving the delicious substance in his mouth.
Dave grinned and messed up his hair, "Feeling better?". Tom nodded and kept eating, he still seemed slightly dismal but at least he wasn't crying anymore, he finished his ice cream and placed the bowl next to him on the bed. He leaned into his father, and Dave wrapped an arm around him which Tom seemed fine with. They sat in silence for a bit, Dave didn't want to push his son about what happened today, despite how angry he was at whatever happened.
"I'm glad you're feeling better, you look better...and at least your injuries were minor...", He looked at the small animal print band-aids Tom had on his legs and arms as Tom's legs hung off the bed and kicked around. "Mommy is glad to hear you're alright too, she was so worried about you when I told her about today's events...", Tom bit his lip, "I'm sorry I made you and mommy scared, I didn't mean to...". His dad instincts kicked in and he kissed Tom's head, "It's ok Tom, we're just glad you're safe...we're always worried about you.."
Tom's smile fully dropped, along with his pointed ears, a guilty expression upon his face.
"Dad?", Dave raised an eyebrow and looked at his son who was looking off into the distance. "Yes Tom?", Tom shifted his eyes towards the floor and he started awkwardly playing with his hands, "Do you and mommy think i'm a...freak?".
"Tom...did someone tell you that today?", He bit his lip in concern as his son nodded slowly.
Dave's hand that wasn't holding Tom clutched the bed sheet in anger, he knew this talk might come someday, but this being the reason for today's actions only seemed to make him more and more upset. "Tom, goodness no, you're absolutely wonderful and we love you very much just how you are.". Tom kept fiddling with his shirt collar, "No one else seems to...everywhere I go I feel l-like everyone looks at me funny, or w-wants me to go away...".
Dave sighed, he hated seeing Tom feel like the world was against him, "Thomas, remember when I took you to visit your grandparents...my parents? And they were very mean to both of us?".
Tom nodded, "You told me it didn't matter what they think...cause they didn't matter".
"Yeah, I did...well i didn't exactly say they didn't matter but...then again as far as i'm concerned they are no family of ours anyway.", Dave took a deep breath, "Tom, i want you to remember that now. There are going to be mean people like that out there, like your grandparents, and like whoever hurt you today...they're going to try and hurt us...make us hate ourselves...but don't listen to them. They'd be lucky to have you around and it's their loss if they chose not to see it...".
Dave bit his lip, his shoulders sinking, "And none of this is your fault...if any...it's mine...first non demon king of the underworld, who produced the first half-demon heir to it's throne, if it wasn't for me marrying into the throne you wouldn't be so sad and i wouldn't have to be so angry doing my job...".
"b-but then you wouldn't have mommy, or me!", Tom commented, forcing a smile out of his father. "Yeah, that would really suck, you two are the light of my life down here. Daddy gets bullied too, but i feel a bit better every day just having you two around...", Tom wrapped his arms around his father, pulling him in for a hug.
Dave smirked before wrapping his arms around his son and then proceeding to tickle him, first surprising the demon and then causing him to laugh happily. Tom tried to fight back with his little claws but to no avail, the tickle monster had defeated him.
Dave stopped messing with the little boy and Tom had a genuine smile upon his face, he smiled at his father, but then shifted his eyes off to the side. Dave resumed petting the little demon's head, "You don't have to talk about today if you don't want to..I won't make you...".
Tom bit his lip, "Well...w-we went to recess today, and the kids were whispering stuff about me...calling me a freak, and that i'm no prince to t-them...", Tom looked almost as if he was about to cry again. "I tried to ignore them...but then one of them pushed me onto the ground and I h-hurt my knee and t-then...", Dave put his hand on his son's shoulder, "Tom...you don't h-". Tom shook his head, "They kicked me, a-and said more mean things a-about me a-and you guys and then I-I...", he looked at his hands.
"You blew up...didn't you?", Dave finished, and Tom nodded, holding his head in his hands. "T-They called me a freak and r-ran away...a-and...I-I hid myself in the trash...cause that's where all the other garbage goes...", Dave muttered curses under his breath before forcing himself to remain calm, "Tom, you are not trash, far from it...I'm so sorry tom."
"The other kids tricked m-my guards into thinking i was still in the classroom s-so they couldn't save me...they blinded them with spitballs...", Tom said through tears, "I-I just...". Dave kept a comforting hand on him, having him let it all out.
"You w-were right about school...I-I...", Tom sniffled, and his father held him close, "No no no, I was keeping you from any chance of making friends with other kids...and this meant a whole lot to you, I'm just sorry this happened to you...I...I should have done more...".
Tom sniffled, "I don't want to go back...all the kids hate me...they think i'm a freak and...i scared them all away...". Dave held him close again, "I won't make you go back, from now on you can have a private tutor here at the castle...ok?".
Tom nodded.
A few minutes passed, The prince's cries softened, and it seemed like Tom was tired as his eyelids drooped, ready for a nap. Dave picked his son up and properly tucked him in his small bed, handing him one of his favorite stuffed animals, he then took a seat on the bed himself. Tom smiled and sniffled, and Dave helped wipe his tears away from all of his eyes.
"You know Tom, you have an advantage over me down here...at least you look like a demon, you can always blend in the crowd. Me? I'm just a weird mewman, I'll never be able to fit in down here no matter how hard I want to...", he was smiled but Tom could sense his sadness, "Sometimes I wish i could be a demon, like you and your mother...things would be so much easier that way for all of us...".
Tom grabbed his father's hand, "But I like you how you are!", he protested.
Dave hugged his son once more, "I like how you are too, no matter what people say I think you're wonderful Tom, now it's time for all the little demons to go to bed...". Tom snorted, "Daaaddd! it's not even dinner time yet!", Dave put him back into his bed and tucked him in. "I know, but right now you seem tired and you should get some rest...your daddy is gonna handle the school situation ok?"
"Ok.."
"I'll wake you up just before dinner, then we'll eat together, but for now just rest up..", Dave planted a kiss on Tom's forehead, "Us freaks got to take care of each other ok?". Tom laughed and made himself comfortable, yawning, "Night daddy...".
"I'll see you soon Thomas...", Dave stood up, stretching himself out and started to make his way out of Tom's room when he heard Tom mutter something. "I love you dad...", Dave almost felt like crying, he almost didn't want to leave and he probably wouldn't have if he didn't have other things to attend to today.
"I Love you too...".
He made his way out quietly and carefully.
Dave hunched himself over his work, paperwork, his favorite, but he needed to get it done whether he wanted to or not. A demon server came in and brought him his tea and as he took it off the tray and took a sip, the server noticed his expression and carefully chose to talk to him,"I heard Prince Thomas was harmed today...are you alright sir?", the server carefully asked.
Dave ran a hand through his hair, and the demon almost regretted choosing to talk to him before he replied to his question.
"No, i'm not alright...", the king's grumpiness returned, "There's no way i can ever be "Alright" with my son being treated like that...". He took another sip and the server helped fill up more of his cup, "But...", The king went on, "I don't want to scare him...or make his day any worse, I can put up with my anger for one day for his sake...".
Granted, Dave was happy whenever a demon around here at least tried to show some kindness and concern towards him and Tom, even if he was skeptic they only did it because they were the ones in charge of them. He only wished kids would at least have tried for Tom's sake
The server smiled,"Even if that means hiding your angering feelings? You must really love him then Sir...".
Dave eyed towards a picture he kept on his desk whenever he was forced to sit here and do paperwork, one of Tom, as a baby. Before he had his horns and when he hands were even tinnier then they were already, sleeping quietly and nestled into a stuffed animal.
The king smiled meekly to myself, "I'm always angry, believe me...and those kids, the guards, and that school are going to be punished if i have any say in it...but Tom doesn't need it. I never want him to feel like he's...wrong...".
Dave clutched the pen he was holding harder, "I'm...angry...beyond belief...but I love Tom more then all the rage i have in the world combined...".
The demon server smiled sweetly, "You're a good dad your majesty..".
Dave huffed, "Well, I don't know if i'm good...but I am trying...and he deserves to feel safe and comfortable around here, even if I may never do so myself..", he took another sip of tea then he put it down immediately and turned to the server as if he just realized who he was.
"Wait a second, what are you still doing here? You got a dozen other staff to bring tea to, Back to work!".
