Astro sighed as he made his way back to the campsite, dragging the body of the creature he'd hunted behind him. Normally bringing something like this back to eat after a hard day's training would have made him feel just a little better, but he knew that like everything in Tartarus, this was going to taste terrible.

His father's birth dimension was great for training. The hostile environment pushed one's senses to their limit, and the creatures who had learned to survive here were powerful, incredibly ruthless, and savage. You always had to keep your guard up, and be on your best when you were in this place.

The downside however was that your choices were to either kill your sense of taste, or starve to death. "Nice haul…" Astro looked up towards Typhon, who had already started a fire and was throwing a piece of wood on it. Astro still hadn't gotten the hang of making fire in this place. Not without magic anyway. All the plant life here was so tough and… rigid. It was hard to start on naturally.

"It's still going to taste like shit…" Astro muttered.

Typhon chuckled. "The terrible taste builds character. And it makes you appreciate the food far more back on mewni," he said. Astro supposed that was true. Even Nia's cooking was bearable compared to what he found in this place. "But don't worry, I think I've managed to find something tolerable this time."

Astro looked at him curiously as he set a pot down over the fire and started stirring at it. The boy looked doubtful, but his father had spent far more time here than he had, so who knew. He took a seat in front of him and then tossed the hunt aside. Coming here to train with his father was… mixed.

It helped him get in touch with his more monstrous instincts sure, but it also tapped into something a little more savage. Something he really wasn't sure he liked. He did his best to keep it in check, but apparently that was the wrong move. According to his father anyway. The elder titan claimed he just needed to let go. Give in to it all and cut loose.

But with some of the things that would cross his mind whenever he stayed in his monster form for too long… he wasn't sure.

When he was fighting against the Youngblood he had to keep himself from taking things too far. In the back of his mind he kept thinking it would be so easy to just run his enemies right through. To finish them then and there. That worried him. He'd never taken ending life so lightly, even back on mewni.

Sometimes he gets far angrier than he'd realized. Raleigh had flicked a cigarette bud in the green room, and it'd rightfully pissed him off. So much so that Amber had pointed out he had his hand on his sword. And speaking of Amber and some of the other girls… he found himself thinking some rather shameful thoughts.

Thoughts that made looking Maria in the eye pretty difficult.

It had taken him a while to realize the behavior that he'd been struggling so hard to keep in check were a lot of traits his father displayed. Typhon never killed just to kill, but when someone crossed him he didn't think twice about it. And he'd admitted to Astro that in the past it didn't take much to do that.

And of course his record with women… that went without saying…

It made him feel conflicted. He loved his father, and he knew he was a good person. But he wasn't sure he wanted to… to be like him. Not in those ways anyway.

"Lost in your thoughts boy?" Typhon asked.

Astro looked back up towards him. "Yeah. I've just been thinking about-"

"How you're going to keep your instincts in check," Typhon finished as he kept stirring away at the pot of stew. "I keep telling you the answer is to stop fighting it. The more you keep trying, the worst things will get. Unless you just embrace your instincts, you'll never be in full control."

Astro narrowed his eyes. "And what if my instincts are telling me to do some fairly wild things? Are you saying I should just go along with them?" he asked.

"Obviously," Typhon said amused.

The prince looked even more annoyed. "You know I can't do that. I may be your heir, but I still represent the Butterfly family. I can't just… do certain things without thinking about the consequences. And I don't want to either," he said.

Typhon grunted. "Still concerned with your petty little titles are you? That's such a mewman way of thinking. No one worth their salt is going to fault you for following your instincts. Not when the alternative is pretty much just killing yourself," he said casually.

"I know this is hard for you to see, but not everyone sees things the same way monsters do. And they're not all wrong for it," Astro said. "What exactly do you think my friends would say if I suddenly just started slaughtering my enemies back on Earth? What would my family say? Would Maria…?"

Typhon hummed. "So it's the waterfolk girl you're worried about? Afraid you can't be loyal to her? I told you how hard things were going to get. You're a young titans approaching his prime. Your urges are going to start growing far worst, and while I'm sure she's a nice girl, she won't be able to fulfill all of your-"

"Shut up," Astro said, narrowing his eyes. "I don't want to hear this from you of all people." It was no secret that Typhon got around quite a bit. Even when he was with Echidna he admitted he hadn't been completely loyal. Not until she'd stabbed him after he got caught anyway.

He was afraid to ask if something similar happened with his mother because… well, the way they were both rumored to be he wouldn't have been shocked if they'd had something far more open going on in that department. He didn't like thinking about it…

Typhon shrugged. "Fair enough. But eventually you will have to accept it and just give in, consequences be damned. Until then you'll just be limiting yourself," he said before he poured some of the stew into a bow and held it out towards him. "Here."

Astro took it, glad they were moving on from this topic, and then took a sip. He hummed and looked down at the stew. "This is… delicious," he said. "What is it?"

Typhon yawned. "Nothing special. Just a few vermin I came across."

The prince raised an eyebrow. "Just vermin? Come on now. I've hunted god knows how many creatures and they all taste like gritty sand. This can't just be the run of the mill creatures lurking about. Tell me what it is." Whatever it was he was going to make a mental note to hunt it down for later.

"You sure you'd like to know?"

"Just tell me."

"It's mewman."

There was a long moment of silence, the two just sitting there staring at one another with unreadable expressions. "That's not funny…" Astro said, glaring at him.

Typhon smirked. "It's not a joke." He lifted his own bowl and down it, then sighed before looking down at him. "Sting sent me a message saying a few mewman fanatics tried to attack the kingdom, and I headed back last night to wipe them out. There were quite a few of them, and it's been awhile since I've had mewman. Seemed like a waste."

Astro's eyes went wide, and he kept staring at his father who was smirking down at him like a cheshire cat. He… he wasn't lying. He was being serious. He dropped the bowl, his hand shooting to his mouth as he hunched over. "What… why would you… why…?"

Just why?

Why had his father done this?

Why did it taste so… good?

His knees hit the ground as he heaved, feeling it crawl right back up his throat. Typhon watched as his son threw up on the ground, desperately coughing and trying to get every last bit of what he'd eaten from his mouth. But the taste still lingered.

A person. He'd just eaten… a person.

"Why in the fuck would you do this…?" Astro asked, still breathing heavily.

Typhon crossed his arms. "Two reasons. I thought the taste would help awaken some more of your instincts. Nothing like fresh meat to rile up the senses. And the other reason to piss you off. Did it work?" he asked.

Astro looked up at him, his eyes now black. "I'm gonna fucking kill you…"

"You're welcomed to try, boy…"

Sting hummed as she made her way towards Typhon's chambers. She sensed a portal opening from there, so she assumed that the father and son had returned from the latest of their training trips. She wondered if the young prince had picked up any new tricks this time. He was getting better at making portals lately.

The doors burst open, and she saw Asterossa making her way out. The boy didn't look at all pleased. In fact she couldn't remember ever seeing him looked quite so furious before. "Hello there Asterossa. How was the trip with-?"

"I don't want to talk about it…"

He walked right past her, and she could feel the hostility and dark magic oozing off of him. It felt like her skin was being pricked by how much anger was radiating from him. She knew the boy had a temper, but he was a fair bit better at dealing with it than his father was. What could have made him so furious?

She heard chuckling, and then looked back up to see Typhon. "Don't mind him Sting. The boy just needs a bit of time to sort things out and cool his head."

Before she could ask just why he needed to do so, her eyes went wide as she noticed the large gaping wound on his chest. "Sir?! What happened?!" she asked. She had never actually seen him hurt before, let alone bleeding. "We need to get that patched up immediately! I'll go get the-!"

"You most certainly will not. This was scarred up nicely," Typhon said, patting his chest. "I want to be able to look back on the first real injury Asterossa managed to inflict on me. You should have seen it. He punched my heart right out of my chest."

Sting looked stunned. "Asterossa did this?!" she asked, turning around. She knew he was growing stronger, but he still seemed a far cry away from his father. To be able to injure him like this was… well, more than little surprising.

Typhon smiled, beaming with pride. "That he did." He was hardly worried about the wound, or his heart. Both would heal and reappear sooner rather than later. No, right now he just wanted to revel in his revel in his son's latest step forward. Asterossa would be mad at him for a bit, but he'd come to learn that it was necessary.

Rosetta had been right about him.

All of his father's potential strength, and all of his mother's talent and affinity for magic. There was no doubt in his mind he'd become the most powerful Titan to walk mewni, and it was hard not to feel immense pride in that fact.

After all, what half decent father didn't want their child to surpass them?

A/N: Typhon has some controversial parenting techniques, and Astro is still struggling to deal with his monster side.