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Demon Child chapter twenty three: Two and a half days

VALE'S POV

The first thing that told me I was alive was a pain in my chest. My mind and body felt sluggish and I felt a bit weak. Then I remembered.

Everything that had happened, Belloc, the kidnapping, the lair, the other Kaiju, the transformation.

Darren.

I was extremely angry at him, that traitor. But something told me he did not intended any harm. He had been desperate, I believe, for being with his race again. How could Belloc banish a seven-year-old? I am pretty sure that he didn't do anything.

Belloc.

How could he? He promised me not to take me away! One second…he had actually told me he wouldn't take me away from my house…

…oh.

Three days. I had three days to go back to my sister. Which leads me to this:

Where in the freaking God was I?

I took a deep breath, looking for some scent that could tell me where was I. I found a faint one, though. Then I opened my eyes enough to see my surroundings. I looked at a rock ceiling and opened my eyes fully now. I stumbled, trying to get up.

I was in a cave that looked very similar to the one with the giant crystals. I put my hand inside my pocket and pulled the crystal out. Another reminder that all that happened hadn't been a dream…or nightmare.

I looked at my body. It was scalier than ever, I looked like a lizard, but I could notice a golden shade where my heart was. I briefly remembered when the ray connected my sister and me.

Now, how do I get out of here? I thought, walking towards what seemed to be the exit of the cave. It led to a much bigger chamber. The scent was stronger now, but I didn't care, all I wanted was to get out of here. It was dark, I could barely see my surroundings, but I could spot another exit in the opposite side of the cave. Without thinking I went towards it at full sprint.

"Good, you're awake." Said an all too familiar voice.

I stopped in my tracks.

LEA'S POV

I opened my eyes slowly. I had- in a way only I could describe- a heartache from Hell. I sat up and looked around, only to find myself in my bedroom. Then everything from last night came crashing down at me.

I felt paralyzed again, I saw all the events again, my burst of uncontrollable magic, the golden light, the change…Change?!

I ran towards the bathroom and looked at my reflection in the mirror. Looking closely I could make out a few changes. My skin was a bit scaly and with a faint shade of orange, almost unnoticeable. I looked under my shirt and saw a golden spot where the golden light had touched me, then I refocused the attention to my face. My features were sharper, my teeth were the tiniest bit pointed, I could notice some blonde among all the red that was my hair, and when I concentrated enough my eyes changed from my usual emerald green to an exact replica of Vale's Kaiju green eyes. I wasn't scared, or anything about that matter. In fact, I could only think one thing:

"I look like Valentine."

VALE'S POV

"H-H-How do I get out of here?" was the first thing that I could think of. I mentally slapped myself, if Belloc would intended to let me go, I am sure I'd have woken up in the desert or something like that. But those were the words that came out my mouth when I faced Belloc in his human form. "How long I was…?" I asked again

"Half a day." Belloc answered.

"I was out for that long!" I asked shocked. Two and a half days…

"Indeed. You wasted too much energy when you showed off at the chamber."

"Wasn't like I knew what I was supposed to do…" I muttered under my breath, eyeing him. "Stop looking at me like that, you're making me nervous." I said, turning my back at him. Oh yeah, I did know what was happening. He wouldn't let me return home. So I needed to create a plan. Fast.

"You healed rather quickly." I jumped when I felt him touching the scar on my back. I stumbled away from him.

"Yeah, I never fully thanked you for that, did I?" I growled at him. He huffed in annoyance.

"You know that you were not the one who…"

"...you were intending to hit! You tried to hurt my brother! For that reason alone, why would you think I will stay in here?! You hurt my sister too! Don't you understand? I need to go back! TAKE ME HOME!" I finally screamed.

"Don't yell at me, Duncan" he said severely. I didn't listen.

"D-Don't…Don't you understand that I'm not like you?! In fact, how could you possibly know the whole throwing-me-into-lava could work?! I…!"

"Enough." Belloc said calmly, and I shut up. For some reason that sounded more dangerous than his yells. "For you information, Duncan…"

"It's VALENTINE!"

"…You won't return there as long as I make sure about it. About the ceremony in the chamber, I kind of guessed…"

"You guessed?! You must have been very sure, seeing as you could've killed me!" I yelled at him, my anger back.

"I was ninety percent sure, alright?" he frowned at me. Next thing I knew he was holding my hand in a vice-like grip. My hand…which somehow had travelled until almost collided with his chest.

I froze. I had really done that?! I was going to be in so much trouble…

"And, pray to tell, why exactly would be this about?" he asked me in a soft voice, which somehow scared me more than if he had raised his voice.

"The other ten percent." I heard myself answering. I was so in for it…

"And about why I am keeping you here (I know you will ask that)" I frowned at that, how did he know? "I am going to teach you all the ways to be a King. Like you said, you're not like me." And now he was using my own words against me. "You must learn to survive, Duncan, if you want to have any hope of making it to the age of eleven," he said. I noticed a change on his behavior, and I got scared. What is he going to do to me? "You must learn to attack, to climb, to run, to fall in such a way that the height absorbs into your bones instead of shattering them."

I almost dared to question what was going on, but one look from Belloc had made me fall silent. I won't show fear, I won't let him know he scares me… Sadly, as I was thinking that, I was trembling so hard that my knees bruised against one another.

"You have one hour," Belloc said, eyes devoid of cruelty but apathetic. "One hour in the lair. If you come out alive at the end, I'll be surprised. If you don't, you'll die. Simple enough, for a little boy like you."

Then he tightened his grip around my hand and pulled me through what felt like vanishing until we reappeared with a sharp crack, mere seconds later, in the center of the lair, where I knew there would be angry Kaiju wanting to tear me apart.

"W-Wait!" I said when I saw him intending to leave, unable to keep my voice from quivering. "At least can you give me some advice?" I asked. Please, I added. Belloc smirked.

"Here's some advice. Stay alive."

He'd vanished with another spell, and the lair had gone silent.

DARREN'S POV

I was walking through one of the caves in the lair, and my conscience was killing me. When the other Kaiju had gone, Belloc had picked Vale up and had vanished with a spell I didn't recognize. That's why I couldn't appear beside him, I didn't know where he had gone.

Now I remembered why my father didn't like being in the volcanic chamber. I, as he, am a Kaiju who is more comfortable in colder, more humid places. And also was the fact that the others weren't…let's say pleased with an Outsider. The majority of them, just out of respect to Belloc, tried to stand me, but I was very wary of the ones who weren't as passive as the others.

I was thinking that when I doubled a corner and I came face to face with two of the large Kaiju I had seen in the chamber. I sniffed the air and froze. There was a mixture of emotions, but the most prominent were anger and bloodlust.

I wasted no time and started running away.

VALE'S POV

I would like to tell you that I was fine, that I knew he would come, but the truth is, I had never been more frightened in my life.

That was a while ago, though I couldn't be sure how long it'd been; and had been wandering around, trying my best to muffle my footsteps, even if I knew they could track me down by my scent. It made no sense to stay put; after what I could only guess had been near to three hours it had become abundantly clear that Belloc was not coming back. I deliberated, torn between what I knew (which was the small hole I hid the first half an hour, giants crystals blocking the light, filled with a depressing lack of humankind) and what I didn't know (the depths of the caves, so dark as to seemingly swallow light, leading to either predators of some sort or-if I was being optimistic-someone who wouldn't want me dead). Eventually, however, the choice was made for me; a green Kaiju the size of an elephant had scuttled past, five meters away, chased by two much bigger ones, before one of the huge ones doubled back towards me.

Maybe if I had been older, or I wasn't in a place full of Kaiju, maybe I would have intended to fight. Instead, I did the first thing that came to my mind.

"Oh cra…AAAHHHHH!"

I started running.

I had never run that fast, not even from Troy, and damn if I wasn't grimly proud of my accomplishment. At least if I was going to die in some God-forsaken part of the lair, I was going to die knowing I had broken my own record for speed. So there.

Now that I think about it, my attitude probably would've been a lot more impressive if I hadn't been covered in sweat and muffling hysterical sobs with my fist, (you can't blame me, I was terrified) but I figured there was no one there to see me anyway. I slipped and fell, tumbling before falling through a small hole in the wall, which at least sent me far away of that ugly-looking Kaiju. I think I knew him, and the other one who was chasing the green Kaiju too. Weren't they the ones who 'challenged' Belloc?

I landed roughly on a place nearly identical to the cave from above. As I tried to slow down my breath, a little flame made its way out my mouth. I stared.

"I'm so stupid!" I mentally screamed at myself. Of course I'd forget the only ability that would help me not to die!

Something moved in front of me and I froze instinctively. It sounded again, this time closer than before. I began to quickly but quietly pick my way in another direction, neck craning back to glance behind my every few seconds, with my heart beginning to beat wildly. This was it. I was going to die here, alone, probably eaten by a lizard with gigantism and human-eating problems.

My breathing was jagged now, and though I was trying to stifle my frantic, shuddering inhales I knew that whatever it was could probably hear me, it was going to catch me any moment now-

A hand hard as iron wrapped around my wrist, prompting my strangled shriek-

I collapsed on the ground of another cave, the stars spinning dizzily above me, and Belloc was watching me with an unreadable expression.

I was back. I wasn't going to die.

The relief slammed into me like a ton of bricks, and for a moment it was all I could do just to take it in, to remember how to calm my heart and breathe in and out, in and out….

"What," I finally choked out, my voice hitching as tears stained my cheeks, "the hell?"

Lesson learned: Never, and I mean NEVER make your father mad if he's a Kaiju

"Psychological test. If you knew I was coming back you'd just sit like a lump until I came to get you. By lying to you about the pick-up time, I made you think that you'd been abandoned," Belloc explained blandly, looking a bit amused.

I felt a surge of incredulous rage. Excuse me?!

"Surprised you made it so long without getting killed, actually. You're pretty light on your feet."

"What the bloody FUCK was THAT about?!" I screamed, trying to sit despite my arms threatening to give out on me. "Is… is this some sort of, of HAZING PROCESS?! I'm BLOODY TEN, how do you expect me to survive in your LAIR, ALONE for HOURS when I've barely transformed?! I thought I was going to DIE! Why the hell would you DO that, why did you-"

"Shut up," Belloc said curtly, and I flinched instinctively. "Good boy. Now, listen carefully, 'cause I'm only going to say this once. As your father, I'm supposed to teach you how to fight and how to survive to my subjects."

I honestly didn't understand. I was the heir, wasn't I? So why-

"They will try to get rid of you to get the throne," Belloc continued, and I swear I felt the world tilt on its axis," and you're going to fight them when they are. The way you are now, I reckon you couldn't fight a field mouse. That's why I'm teaching you, you ungrateful runt, and I'll be damned if I put up with one of them without you learning a thing or two. By the time I'm done with you you'll be the finest killer there ever was-"

I couldn't help a small whimper. Killer? Me?

I turned my back to him. Suddenly I felt as if something was constricting my chest, making me unable to get air to my lungs. My hands went numb and I broke in a sweat. I opened my mouth wide, trying to breathe, but I felt as if I had my lungs filled with cement. I started gasping, completely sure that I was dying.

"What's wrong with you?!" I faintly heard Belloc shouting.

My knees buckled, tears were falling down my cheeks, and I felt a sudden pain in my chest. I felt him grabbing my torso from behind to keep me from falling to the ground. I felt sick.

"No! Don't touch me! Get away!" I managed to stammer as darkness engulfed me.

LEA'S POV

I had been moping around the house all day, feeling him all day, but not having him here. It was slowly killing me, us, but we couldn't do anything. "Darren, if we die because of you I'll kill you!" I whispered furiously.

Matt had tried to talk to me out of it, but I couldn't. I had related to him that Darren was a Kaiju. Oh, I so fear for his life when he arrives here…

Just then, Matt stormed in my room, his face dark.

"Darren's uncle. Probably trying to make us buy a story about how Darren disappeared and such…"

"He doesn't know where Darren is, Matt. He doesn't know anything about that." I said. Matt looked surprised and helped me downstairs.

Effectively, with my parents, Darren's uncle, Rîus, was there, looking very troubled. He looked a lot like Darren, the same face and hair, but his eyes were brown. As soon as he saw me, he stopped in his tracks and stared at me. I hissed at him, sounding identical as Vale when he hissed at Belloc.

"What do you want here, reptile?" I asked with venom in my voice. I don't know why I was acting the way I was, but I couldn't stop myself.

"Where's Darren?" Rîus asked.

I explained him and my parents all I knew. When I was finished, he was looking flabbergasted.

"Darren is there?! They will treat him the same way they'll treat your brother!" he exploded

"What do you mean?" my dad asked.

"Some of them might be okay with it, but exile is not something is forgiven easily. I am pretty sure that being a halfhuman hybrid is also in that category. The point is, is very probable that some of them might try to kill them."

"NO!" Matt and I shouted in desperation. Rîus tried to change the subject

"So Belloc has a son and a daughter?" was the (hopefully last) question he would ask. I blinked.

"No, I'm not Half-Kaiju." I answered. He looked confused for a moment but then realization hit him. Before I knew what was happening, he touched the area where I knew was gold.

And suddenly all the strength went out of me.

I felt faint, dizzy, sick, disgusted, limp with shock.

I felt that hand...Those intentions….I could smell it…It wasn't allowed...Not supposed to touch... Wrong...

He immediately let go of me, but I took a shaky breath and collapsed.

This has been one of my most difficult to write chapters, so I expect a review of this, you know?