Days passed by slowly. The time meandered by with each mission they accepted. Days grew into weeks, which grew to months, then years. New domestic tranquility grew between the trio of demons. As time passed, Dante learned how to cook. Both adults learned how to clean. After some time, things started to change around the office. What was once a dark, cold office was becoming a bright, warm and buzzing home. Occasionally Thera would have little toddler outbursts of defiance. Normally months before the age-appropriate habits were supposed to happen. By the time Thera had reached the age of four Dante and Nero were at wit's end. She started to talk in full sentences a year and a half ago and because of this, they wondered if she was going to be mentally ahead for the rest of her life. Dante remembered how he was with Virgil growing up. His brother always knew the answers to everything. Lady inquired that, because one of her parents was a demon, she was going to have a running start in more than one area of growth.
"And a lot of stupid," Nero added jokingly pointing a Cheshire grin at Dante. Dante merely whistled before going back to his magazine.
Around Thera's third birthday, Dante had managed to figure out what type of demon she was. Through many stressful tests that ended with nearly both the child and the parent in tears. Dante had gotten a bit so many times, it could make mincemeat out of a normal human. The results were perplexing, to say the least. After each bite, he would grow weaker. At first, it wasn't even enough for him to notice what with their daughter being only two and a half. It wasn't until Dante noticed a wrinkle that he hadn't before. A wrinkle, on his beautiful chiseled features and he'd had to trigger to make the wrinkle disappear because fuck if he was going to be seen walking around Capulet with anything on his face. That was all the information he needed before he knew what was going on. No rifling through books necessary. The news that he broke surprised the younger teen. Or rather, Nero was the one completely confused.
"I didn't think that he was a real thing," Nero confessed the older demon as the conversation and Dante shook his head.
"Technically Grim Reapers are a breed of demons that live by harvesting the souls of corrupt humans and then eating them. The top dog of the Grim Reapers is the one who decides who's the time it is to be harvested. They are as alive as any of the other demons we've ever dealt with in the past, the only difference is that these are top tier level demons, right below my father's level. They are a high functioning society in the fourth level of hell. They fought alongside Sparda during the rebellion against the demon king. They keep a sense of normalcy in the demon world. As much as it can be for there are no laws." Dante explained as Nero looked down at Thera-who had been a year and a half at the time they had figured this out- before turning back to Dante and sighing.
"It explains the color of her eyes." Nero speculated, looking at the now brighter orbs. Instead of the dark violet they had been at birth, they were now a stronger violet.
"The Grim Reaper has eyes like that. They'll get lighter with age. Depending on the strength of her demon blood, they'll turn white as his eyes have." Dante provided as Nero wiped some spit up off of her face. "He always said it was another reason he didn't want others to see his face. Reapers' eye color ranges from lineage." He popped the lid off a tomato juice and sat back in his office chair, putting one arm behind his head.
"So how do you know all of this?" Nero asked as he let Thera down to toddle away to play with the toys laying a little ways away. Her little feet made small smacking sounds on the wood flooring. She squealed as she picked up an elephant with teething rings for ears. The toy immediately went into her mouth as she plopped onto the floor, teetering back and almost falling over before she caught herself with a jerk forwards and raised both of her hands in victory while the elephant hung from her mouth. Both devil hunters smiled at the small child but were brought back to the conversation as Dante spoke on.
"They're the only demons that can come and go from the demon world without a portal." He started causing Nero's breath to catch. "When my brother and I were younger, when our parents were still alive, he used to come over and visit my father. They would sit for an hour and play chess. Virgil would always watch while I was spending time with mom. Then afterward he would help dad teach us sparring." The surreal look that overtook Dante's face sent a sting of pain through Nero's heart. Even now, so many years later, he remembered the fond memories of his family. "It's Ironic that I used to call him Uncle D and now I'm looking after the guys' daughter this many years later." The words left his mouth with a hollow sound, souring his mouth as a sad look adorned his icy blues.
"So he helped you with your sword skills?" The blue devil inquired. Dante nodded, taking the elephant that Thera had brought over to him. He made it hop half-heartedly across his desk for a moment in silence, looking at how Thera clapped her hands and squealed.
So now, they had to teach the girl how to not use her powers. In public. She could use them at home, as long as she didn't suck the life from her parents or visitors. She could drain the color from all of the stuffed animals she wanted if it didn't hurt any humans.
"So, I can't bite anyone?" Thera asked, her adorably feminine voice a little saddened.
Thera's hair had grown out and was not a wonderfully bleach- white color. The blonde had been drained from it and she now dawned a beautifully silver head of hair that reached her butt. She had it braided-courtesy of Trish- over her shoulder and had a pretty sky blue ribbon tied at the end. Her purple eyes hadn't changed a bit but her face had thinned out now that she had lost some of her baby fat. She had skyrocketed in height and was about a half an inch too tall to be a four year old. Dante and Nero had been worried about that but didn't show it, thinking that she might stop growing to prevent any odd glances.
Her wardrobe had been finished a while ago, now filled with jeans and lots of T-shirts. The occasional dress was thrown in but was usually a dark strawberry or burn orange color. The only pink clothing she owned was one tank top that was an electric pink color with black stripes. Her room had been repainted as well, now donning a deep blue like the night with small stars that glowed when shone in black light. Altogether, they had her completely knitted into their personal lives. They weren't unhappy about it either. Unless of course, it was about her biting people at the grocery store.
"No Thera, you can't bite people. We don't want you to hurt your friends or even people you don't like." Nero scolded and Thera looked down at the floor.
"But I can push them right?" She asked half-heartedly and Nero sighed. Dante let out an amused half chuckle.
"Face it, kid, she's just not ready for kindergarten yet," Dante concluded and Nero glanced at him before Thera growled and stomped her foot, ready to throw the third fit that day.
"I am too! I'm four years old! Daddy says that's old enough!" Thera shouted and Nero hushed her. "I wanna go to school..." Thera said as her eyes welled with tears. Nero shushed her and kneeled to stroke her back.
"If you keep better control over your powers and keep your hands to yourself then you can go outside," Nero stated and Thera sniffled.
"I- I know... but people are always mean to me. I'm scared... my hair and eyes..." She said and Nero put his hands on her shoulders before looking at her eyes.
"Your eyes and hair are beautiful. They're just not used to seeing them." Nero and Thera sniffled before nodding and wiping her eyes. She gave a curt nod before Nero hugged her again. "Now will you promise to behave yourself if I take you to school? No pushing, no mean words, no biting?" He asked and Thera nodded, though it looked like she was just saying it to say it and hadn't even been listening. Nero sighed, mentally tired of the sass that she had been giving them over the last week.
"I promise." She said in a quiet voice and Nero patted her head before letting go and standing up.
"Okay, go on and get your clothes on and we'll leave." He said and she nodded, her happy grin back on her small face.
As she scampered up the steps Nero walked over to Dante's desk and leaned down, resting his forearms against the dark ebony wood. He sighed, hanging his head limply before looking up at Dante and smiling. Dante was looking at him with an observant eye that Nero knew wouldn't be looking anywhere but at him for the next five minutes.
"Four years already and she's just now understanding that she can't purposefully kill people. Somehow I feel like that girl is more hard-headed than you." He stated with another sigh before sitting back against the couch. They'd had to rearrange to be able to keep an eye on their skittering half-demon yeeting machine. Dante crossed his arms over his chest from his place on his office chair with a smug look.
"That just means you have a PMSing version of me to deal with," Dante said slyly, smirking evilly at the way Nero's face went blank for a second before it turned into a defeated look.
"Dealing with the regular you isn't that hard. But she's going to be a handful." He said and stood up, running his hand through his hair before turning and heading to the kitchen. "I need food before we leave." He declared before entering the kitchen.
The kitchen had been updated, now donning new hardware and appliances. The doors on the cabinets had been switched out and the washer and dryer had been upgraded to something bigger. They now had a kitchen table that they made Thera sit every morning with them. It had felt odd when they had to start opening later because of it. The office hours had been hindered because of the new addition to their family.
Nero reached into the fridge, pulling out left-overs from the night before, before putting it on a plate and popping it in the microwave. They had eaten salmon the night before and Dante and Nero had worked together for their first real meal since Thera had turned four. They had only been eating pizza and instant food before. But since Thera was starting school they needed to send lunch with her. Why not start early and learn how to cook by making dinner? Of course, they had the help of the lovely Kyrie, who had taught them from the nitty-gritty. Or as most would say, how to not burn things when cooking them on an electric stove. It had taken them a good year to get things right and finally make a decent meal. Of course, they weren't chefs but it was edible and flavorful.
The Microwave dinged, telling Nero that the fish was done cooking before he popped the door open, extracted the food, and grabbed a fork from the drawer, heading out into the office again.
"Last night's dinner?" Dante asked as Nero entered the room. Nero nodded, eating a large piece of warm fish. Thera came running down the stairs as fast as her small legs would take her, dressed in a tan tank top and grey jeans with little white tennis shoes. She ran over to Dante holding up a brush causing Dante to look down from shining rebellion. "Want me to brush it?" He asked and she nodded, smiling broadly. "Okay, come here." He said setting down the cloth he was holding before picking Thera up and setting her on his lap. She giggled when she was picked up and squirms.
"That tickles papa." She said and Dante couldn't help but smile. The fact that she called Nero Daddy and himself papa was something that would surely confuse the girl when she got older or other people. He wasn't sure at the moment.
"Okay, let's take out the braid. I can't brush it when it's on one giant knot." He said fighting the urge to nonchalantly use swear words. He was trying to work against it since she had started to talk. She had run into the room one day asking what a whore was and well, they tried their best at trying to lower the cussing in the house. Things had certainly changed drastically from how Dante had been before he'd met either of the two half-demons. Dante took out the elastic band in her hair and shook out her hair with his hands, making the braid come loose and her hair fell onto Dante's lap. Dante whistled. "How about we get you a haircut sometime?" Dante asked and Thera looked back at him as he started to brush her hair.
"No! I love my hair." She said stubbornly and Dante looked over at Nero who was happily eating food on the couch and trying to ignore their conversation so he didn't get pulled into it. He knew Dante and the child needed time to themselves.
"Because your hair will get split ends and start standing on end." He said saying the same thing Lady had said to him while she was lecturing him about it one morning while she was brushing Thera's hair. "Plus it's harder to brush when it's this long." He said accidentally catching the brush on a knot. Thera, in turn, whimpered at the pain. "See? I told you." He said and she crossed her arms against the pain.
"I don't care, I like it this long." She said and Dante sighed.
"Fine then, we'll go get it trimmed," Dante said and Thera blinked at him in question. "Just cutting off all the dead ends." He explained and she nodded, not quite understanding. He put the brush down took the hair tie from her and put her hair in a ponytail high on her head before wrapping the excess hair around in a circle in her head. With the large bun on her head formed, he reached over with the other hand and opened the small drawer above his desk chair and grabbed some bobby pins he'd taken to stash around the house. The hair was, with many failed attempts, finally finished before Thera jumped down and started patting the bun on her head with a bright laugh. "They're all done." He said. Nero placed the dish on the table and got up.
"Well if you put that in the kitchen then I'll get going." He said and Dante nodded, going back to what he was doing.
"Have fun on your first day of school princess," Dante said as he stroked the cloth up rebellion's blade. Nero shook his head with a smile at the new nickname he had given Thera before walking over to the girl and taking her hand.
"Let's go," Nero said and Thera smiled so big it looked like it hurt while she began jumping up and down. Nero handed her a small backpack with a matching lunchbox and water bottle fastened to it for easy access.
"Yeah!" Thera exclaimed before they headed for the door.
Nero pulled up to the preschool. The small building had a large fenced in property with a brightly painted brick building centered behind a drop off circle. There was a small turn off right at the entrance for parking which Nero settled the old car into space. With an encouraging smile, Nero turned to Thera who looked a little nervous. He unbuckled his seat belt before getting out and walking over to the other side of the car and opening the door to the back seat, unbuckling Thera from her car-seat.
"Ready?" He said holding out his hand and Thera gave a small frown before looking at her father's eyes.
"What if they make fun of me?" She asked and Nero smiled sadly.
"Just remember that people will love you for who you are, not what you look like. Just be nice, even if they make fun of you. There's no need to stick up for yourself by yelling at them because that won't change who you are." Nero explained remembering how he was when he was young. Thera nodded, feeling a little better before taking Nero's hand and getting out of the car. "Now let's go make some friends." Nero encouraged and Thera gave a little whooping cry with a fist thrust into the air.
Nero shut the door before walking to the entrance of the preschool, watching all of the other kids walking through the doors, which had little suns painted around them, with their parents. Thera was skipping happily beside him and babbling nonsense to herself as they entered the preschool following the parents to the information desk. The line was a few people long, seeing as they got their early. Nero was right when he thought Thera was going to be tall for her age. She was a good inch taller than all of the other kids around her. As the line grew he knew she was going to be one of the tallest kids in her class. Hopefully, she wouldn't get bullied too bad. He knew she was strong but she was also a sheltered girl. She hadn't been out of the house since she was a one-year-old unless it was for just picking up a pizza or going grocery shopping. She wasn't allowed to go to the parks to play or be around other children until this year because of the fear that she might suck the life out of the children. Dante and Nero didn't feel like being sued. Especially when they could potentially have child services take away Thera.
So he hoped she had enough social skills not to be too timid around the other kids. Seeing Thera around the house demanding things of them like she was the queen made him think that she wouldn't be, but on the way to the school she had showed him a completely different side of herself. How could such a small girl be so self-conscious? He shrugged it off, stepping forward as the line proceeded to get shorter.
Thera turned around, glancing back at a parent and their child. Upon closer inspection, Thera saw that it was a small girl. The small girl was shorter than the average four-year-old, making her look years younger than Thera. Her head was donned with wavy jet black hair that just touched her shoulders and dusted thickly over her forehead. Thera stared at her beautiful jade green eyes, enraptured by the unique color. The young girl had dark olive-colored skin that glowed when she moved about with a shy look about her that made Thera want to reach out and hug her. Then the doubt set in again and the young half-demon quickly turned back around. What if the girl saw her eyes and didn't like them? What about her hair? What if she thought Thera was scary? Throughout the time she had spent outside she had observed everything with keen interest. And with that observation, she concluded that she and her two daddy's were the only ones that had white hair. But she was the only one in the whole world that had purple eyes. So it wouldn't be surprising if they thought she was weird.
Again she glanced back and saw the girl looking at her, surprised she jumped slightly and turned around again. This made the little girl behind her giggle and in return, she turned back around and saw the girl smiling at her. A blush filled Thera's face.
"Hi." The girl said quietly. Thera blinked in surprise and when Thera didn't answer the girl went on. "Your eyes are really pretty." She complimented and this caused the blush to darken over Thera's delicately pale skin. Thera smiled a little bit and nodded her head.
"Thank you. Your skin is really pretty." She said and downcast her eyes when she saw the girl giggle.
"Oh, thank you. No one says that but mommy and daddy." She said and Thera blinked in shock before she smiled, clearly having an instant attraction to the girl.
"My daddies say the same thing about my eyes." She said quietly and the girl looked at her in wonder.
"Daddies? You have more than one daddy?" She asked and Thera, thinking she had said something wrong, glanced up at her daddy who was smiling down at her nodding silently. Then she turned to the girl again and smiled big.
"Yeah." She said confidently. The girl smiled a little bigger.
"You don't have a mommy?" The little girl asked with wonder. Pausing, Thera looked down and shook her head.
"I did but papa said that momma went on a long trip and couldn't take me with her." She said and the girl nodded slightly confused.
"I'm sorry, I hope she comes back soon!" The little girl said smiling big and Thera nodded.
"Yeah!" She said and looked up at her daddy who had a blank expression on his face and looking at the back of the woman's head in front of him. She wondered if he was thinking hard again because he did that a lot when he was thinking hard. Then she turned back to the little girl. "So what are your mommy and daddy like?" Thera asked and the little girl grinned.
"Mommy is so funny and she always tries to make everything we do fun! She couldn't take me today because she had to work, but daddy brought me here!" She exclaimed looking up at her father who had similar features but somewhat tanner skin then the olive color of his daughter. "They both love me so much!" She said finally and Thera smiled too.
They took a step forward again and Thera and the little girl were dragged forward by their parents. Thera smiled at the little girl and messed with the end of her tank top.
"So um, what's your name?" Thera asked and the girl giggled.
"My name's Eleni. What's yours?" She asked and Thera paused before smiling to herself and looking at her new friend in the eyes.
"My names Thera." She said and Eleni let go of her father's hand so she could hug Thera. The poor silver-haired child was so shocked she didn't move. Until her father nudged her side that is. Then she smiled so big she felt the whole room light up. She had found her first friend. "Can we be friends?" She asked brightly and the little girl chuckled nodding into Thera's shoulder.
"Yeah, we can be friends," Eleni said and Thera finally hugged back. Nero looked at the two before looking at Eleni's father who was looking at him.
"My daughter doesn't get outside much because she used to be sick when she was younger. I'm glad she's getting along with someone her age so well." Nero explained to him and the older man nodded.
"My daughter has always been too shy to make very many friends. So this is one of her first friends as well." He explained and Nero knew that Eleni was going to be good for Thera.
Once Nero had gotten the small map for the building he turned to bring her to her classroom. There were three main rooms and a few separate classrooms for arts and crafts and then the playground for recess. Thera demanded that they wait for Eleni to get her teachers' name before they go anywhere so they could compare and Nero laughed before standing off to the side to wait for the two others.
"Miss Eleni Anthes, your teacher is going to be Misses Hopper." The lady at the desk said brightly smiling over at Thera as well. Thera's eyes brightened at the name of her teacher and she jumped up and down.
"Eleni we're in the same class!" She exclaimed excitedly and Eleni came over and jumped up and down with her.
Nero walked Thera over to her classroom where the two girls immediately ran in together, Thera's bun bouncing on her head. They met their new teacher who was a young woman about Nero's age and had a sweet baby face and curly brown hair. Her eyes were a bright shade of aqua and she wore a knee-length floral skirt with a V-neck grey shirt. The complete young hotness didn't even register to Nero's devil driven mind. It was only focused on one thing. 'Get back to your lover.' That's about all he felt while Nero was taking his daughter to school. Sometimes he'd even call his devil side a 'sex-driven monster' because he and Dante could go all night and his devil would still want more in the morning. With this new child, demonic habits had become a bit annoying.
Shaking his thoughts from his head he headed inside to meet the teacher. Once she had sent the kids on their way to go visit with the other children she turned to Nero with a smile.
"Hello, I'm Misses Hopper." She said holding out her hand. "It's nice to meet you." She greeted with a smile. Nero took her hand with his human hand-the other being covered by his coat and glove- and shook lightly.
"Same to you. My name is Nero." He greeted and She tipped her head to the side.
"Nero...?" She seemed to be looking for a last name and he shook his head before putting his hand in his pocket.
"Just Nero." He said and she nodded, dropping her hand and keeping the bright smile in place on her face.
"Okay, well Nero. I'm sure Thera will have a wonderful time here. She seems like a wonderful girl." She said and Nero nodded.
"She has a good heart but she can be a bit bossy sometimes. We usually just laugh it off and tell her no to whatever she can't have. She understands pretty well." Nero explained and Misses Hopper nodded knowingly.
"Okay, well I'll lookout for it. There's other parents to talk to before the day starts, so I better be going." She explained and went to talk to the other parents. Nero sighed and walked over to Thera who was playing with Eleni and a young boy who had blonde hair and blue eyes. Thera turned when she saw her father and ran up to him.
"Hey daddy, this is Jimmy, he's gonna play with us too!" She said happily and Nero nodded kneeling.
"That's great honey. I have to go now, but Eleni will keep you company. I'll be back to pick you up okay?" He asked and she nodded, a bit sad but understanding. "And I don't want to get a phone call saying you bit someone okay?" He whispered and she nodded more confident.
"I promise I won't!" She said and he smiled hugging her. She wrapped her tiny arms around his big frame to hug him.
"Good." He said pulling back and pushing back her bangs before gently kissing her on the forehead. "I'll be back." He said gently and she nodded happily before skipping back to her friends. Nero stood up, turning around and catching the heartfelt looks from the parents before casting his eyes to the side with a light blush. He reached up to scratch the side of his nose to hide it before making his way to the door and beginning his trip home.
Wrath: Good day everyone~! I've been steadily looking through these chapters. Part of me wants to keep this chapter as it is, part of me wants to throw the entire story out and throw a fit. Such is the life of a writer. Part of some personal therapy is going through old work and finding ways of making it better. All comments and feedback are appreciated!