Once again it had been a couple more days later. The Kid finally had her own crib, but that didn't stop her from wanting to stay in Grometheus arms. Which annoyed him, to say the least. But, whatever to keep the peace. He didn't want her crying again.
Update. A group of emperor coven guards entered his forest, yes, he had his servants slaughter them instead of the beasts since they were more efficient . And, yes, their death was satisfying for the time being even though one of them called "Steve" managed to get escape.
Today during the afternoon, Grometheus was spending his time searching for clues around the area he found the kid in. He thought that if he possibly found some sort of evidence, it could narrow down the search. It had almost been two weeks now since he found her.
Some sort of "luck" seemed to be on his side in particular.
"What…?" a blue cloth hanged off a branch of a bush, and he pulled it off. It had a few red stains on it which he recognized as blood which made him alarmed due to the implications. He held it up to his face, analyzing it. He flipped it over in his hand, a white corner sticking out of it. He pulled on it, revealing a slip of paper.
All it read was 'I'm sorry, my child'.
Sorry?
He scowled before the paper and cloth was suddenly engulfed both the paper and cloth, destroying both. It then dawned on him.
"I'm sorry." That wasn't a promise for a comeback. That wasn't a promise to bring her home.
That was an apology for leaving her. Meaning, they wouldn't come back. Meaning…
No, no. That wasn't true. Must be a coincidence. He didn't see the material here before. It had to have been planted by some pranksters.
Grometheus dusted off his hands, glowering. Who would abandon their one year old in a forest like this? If they didn't want her, they would've abandoned her earlier.
A thrum of a soul again. It had just entered his forest at the east.
Yes, that's who he'd take his anger and frustration off on.
However, before he could leave, he suddenly heard a voice from behind him
"Something bothering you, old friend?"
The Fear Bringer recognized that voice. With a sigh, Grometheus turned around and saw that there was now a symbol which he recognized and which had formed on the snow-covered ground in front of him. He knows that it wasn't there before.
The symbol was that of a large diamond with a line down the center, sat on another line across the bottom of the circle. Across the diamond is a curved line and sometimes, a smaller diamond is included at the bottom.
"*Sigh* If we're gonna talk you could at least be polite enough to show yourself to me, old friend" Grometheus scowled at the symbol in front of him which he knows is the source of the voice.
For a moment he got no response from it until the symbol on the ground suddenly started to glow an icy blue which was followed by the surrounding ice and snow gathering around it like a mini twister. After a while the they started to form the shape of a humanoid entity that he was familiar with.
Grometheus could only roll his eyes at what was happening before him. He knew his "friend" can be so overdramatic when making an entrance sometimes but this was just plain annoying already. Luckily he's already used to it.
Once the mini twister had dissipated, in front of him now stood a short humanoid with bright cyan complexion, as well as a prism-shaped head with three spikes on top. Their eyes appeared to be closed, giving them a cheerful expression. They also had claws, instead of normal fingers.Their attire consisted of a blue shirt with elbow-length sleeves as well aspuffy dark blue shorts and a pair of blue knee-length boots with dark blue spots on them and lastly alight blue scarf.
"So Grometheus, I heard you took in a kid. Wanna tell me about it?" the entity said with a smirk.
The Fear bringer could only groan in annoyance at this.
This entity before him was known as Frost, the spirit of Ice and Snow and...his mentor.
"How bothersome..."
Meanwhile at Grometheus house...
"Come on, kid. I know you can do it."
The Hunter dangled the keys in front of the kid, trying his best to get her to say her first words. Or at the very least, get close to it. But she kept babbling, though, was trying her best to say what he was. It made the hunter happy; she was trying!
"It's easy, kid! 'Papa'!"
Her babble began to break, and she made sounds that sounded like 'papa'. Wasn't quite close, however. But it was better than last week.
The rustle of leaves alerted the Hunter to his master's presence.
"I think your papa is back," The Hunter picked the Kid up, the latter of which got a little fussy once she spotted Grometheus .
"This is getting quite frustrating," Grometheus groaned in annoyance
"Another intruder, Boss?"
"No, I ran into an icy "friend" of ours who wanted to have a little chat with me. You go on back to your cabin. I'll take it from here." Grometheus' conversation with his mentor had been "informative"
The Hunter nodded, the Kid waved her arms around to try to get to Grometheus . The former handed her off to the latter, and she hugged him around the neck. Or, well, at the best she could. Grometheus chuckled softly, a grin making it's way on the Hunter's face due to this.
"I'll be off, boss!" The Hunter saluted before leaving. The toddler kept on babbling happily, seemingly explaining her day as Grometheus pulled a book out of his closet.
"That's good," Grometheus replied, going along with her babbling. The Kid stopped, seeing a scarf. She reached out to it, and Grometheus grabbed it. "I think it's too big to fit on you. But.." Grometheus placed it around his neck, making the Kid giggle, happily.
Grometheus then sat down in his chair, the Kid sitting on his lap. He began to read to himself, the clock chiming.
The kid patted at the pages, looking up at him.
"You… want me to read to you?"
The kid grinned behind her pacifier, and Grometheus sighed.
"Alright. But I dunno how you'll like it."
He began to read to her, a bit thankful he had chosen a book a little less dark and disturbing. But I mean, it was still 1000 Ghost Stories. Not quite something you'd read a child for bedtime but the kid didn't seem to mind it at all. In fact, she seemed happy and even excited to be listening. Grometheus even gets a little into it, wiggling his fingers every time something creepy happened.
That only made the Kid clap happily, snuggling deeper into his chest. Grometheus kept going, up until he had read at least five different stories. The kid was a bit sleepy, but she was still looking at the pages in awe. She might not be able to talk yet, but she enjoyed every word. She was like a puppy who found a rubber ball.
"Alright, time for dinner and then we'll get you to bed."
The kid whined, wanting to hear more from the book. Grometheus shook his head.
"Maybe one more story before bed. But for now." He picked her up, setting her down on the chair. He took her pacifier out of her mouth, and went out to the ice patches that grew nearby.
Soon, after dinner and changing her, he set her down into her crib. The kid got a little fussy, standing at the end of it where his chair was.
"Oh, come on kid. I did promise another story, but you gotta stay in your crib," Grometheus explained stubbornly. The kid whined, and his eyes softened. "Fine, fine. But you'll have to go back into it after we're done."
He pulled her onto his lap, opening the book again. She leaned back into him again, listening quietly.
"This one is my favorite. Everyone dies except for the demon in the end," Grometheus nonchalantly explained. He then began to read, a tired smile on the Kid's face. Soon, after the story was done, she was fast asleep. He gingerly closed the book, placing it on the nearby boxes. Before he could stand, she had grabbed his finger again.
"You gotta stop this kid…" He mumbled, gently settling her down into her crib. The kid made a little sound, snuggling into the blanket he provided. Grometheus closed his eyes, turning away from her. He was just caring for her for the sake of caring for her.
He can't get attached. Even if he did, her parents would be back to get her. That one had to be a lie. They had to have loved and cared for her. Those were things he couldn't really give. He was Grometheus the Fear Bringer. An apex demon and basically a boogeyman as children had described him. And...
A former shell of what he once...
Suddenly an old memory appeared in his head.
P-please! I'm sorry! I'm not like them! I-I promise I can be *sniff* good...
Grometheus' eyes suddenly widened in shocks at that old memory. He then remembers something the ice spirit told him earlier
"Why don't you raise her yourself then?"
Yeah right. Was the cold spirit seriously expecting him to adopt the kid? It was a foolish idea and yet for some reason he wasn't completely against it...
How weird...
Here you go! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Rothem will be trying to update Dark is not evil next so this story won't be updated for while. Although let us know.what you think!