A/N: Another Damas...Warning for emotional intensity and gore. Seriously, I nearly stopped writing this because of how bad it was. ~ Mika

Before "Deny Thy Father..."

Silence, broken only by the sound of Daddy's body as he went to sleep outside on the floor. Not that it mattered to Damas Mar Hagai, who was sprawled on the floor. Mummy wasn't moving and his baby sister was gone and there was red stuff all over the house which, when the six-year old touched it, felt sticky like glue. It was all over him as well. He didn't know whether the red stuff came from him or Mummy or Daddy but he knew that he didn't like it.

He also hurt all over, but this hurt was slowly going away. Everything was starting to go dark and he felt light, like a cloud on a hot day, and he didn't know what this feeling was but he knew that he liked it and Mummy was still not moving, why wouldn't she wake up?

"Mumma..."

Talking hurt, but if Mummy was going to wake up and help him find his sister, he had to talk. He took a deep breath, like Mummy had told him every time he'd had those nasty injections at the doctor's, and tried again.

"Mummy!"

Damas waited a few minutes, panic settling in. It was still hurting and the red stuff he saw was now coming out of him and he didn't like it, he didn't like it at all, and why wouldn't Mummy wake up? Where was Daddy with his big gun? Why didn't he come back and help Mummy and Damas?

"Mummy, help me..."

He pushed his hands against the floor, trying to push himself up, but there was too much red stuff coming out of him and it hurt Damas so much that he was crying, tears pouring down his face. He wanted Mummy or Daddy to come in and give him a hug, stop all the red stuff coming out of him. Daddy especially, because he could always make the hurt feel better with his white light.

"Mummy...Daddy..." he whimpered, more liquid coming out of him, but this time the liquid was clear and salty and came from his eyes rather than his body.

"In here!" he heard a strange lady's voice shout. He heard footsteps come near him and he lay back down on the floor and curled up in a ball like the hedgehogs he'd seen in books. He thought the bad lady who made Mummy leak red stuff and not move and Daddy scream outside had come back to make him not move, so he did not move for her, heart struggling as more panic set in and a man's voice joined the strange lady.

"There he is,"

"Is he alive?"

Damas squirmed as he felt strange fingers press his neck. "Just. We need to get him to a hospital, and quickly." Without a word, the little boy felt himself being lifted just like Mummy used to do when they played, only he knew that the man and lady weren't playing. All he wanted was to go to sleep in Mummy's arms like he did when Daddy wasn't here.

The person who was carrying him suddenly spoke, very softly. It was the lady whose voice he'd heard first.

"You know, Damas... If we hadn't found you in time, there would be no heir to the city..."

"We could still lose him, Rahoula," the man said.

"We must stay positive, Ribekh!" the lady insisted, warmly but gently, her arms tightening around the severely wounded six-year old. "The poor boy's already lost his family. Need we distress him further?"

Lost his family? The sleepy Damas was confused. What does she mean?

"It's all right, little one," she soothed him. "Just go to sleep. Everything will be all right..."

"Mama..." Damas whimpered. "I want Mama...and...and Daddy...where's...Daddy?"

The lady said nothing, just gave a small, shaky sigh.

Damas closed his eyes and let sleep take him away. At least when he slept, it didn't hurt, and he couldn't see any horrible red stuff.

~x~

Ten years later

"I recall that night..." sixteen-year old Saldam Ar'Aigham said shakily. "I remember...all the pain...everything." He forced down a lump in his throat. "So my birth family...they're dead?"

Rahoula Ar'Aigham looked at her husband for many long moments before turning to her foster son. "Your...mother is. Your father disappeared and was never seen again. Your sister...W-we do not know either. Roah wanted her for twisted experiments, and she is almost certain to have died due to their nature."

The teenager closed his eyes. "So I'm...I'm the only one..."

"Only as far as we know," Ribekh cut in quickly. "Your sister and father may still be alive. But...you have been declared dead in Haven and Spargus City. You may have been excluded from the line of succession..."

The teenager could only shrug, speechless. "And you say I was fortunate." He fingered the Seal of Mar that had been around his neck for as long as he can remember.

His mother smiled. "Yes. You were a lucky boy."

Lucky boy...

Saldam fingered the Seal.

I am certain that I don't feel it.