The four reached Deimos' home in time, the sun beginning to slip beyond the horizon. It was a two-story cabin, very similar to the home Isaac was raised in, once upon a time. Deimos reached the door, unceremoniously kicking it open.
"Mary, I'm back!" Deimos announced, flopping Alicia onto the sofa. Alicia grunted, feeling her back hit the frame of the cushion. A series of footsteps could be heard from downstairs, soon rising up a flight of stairs, a door opening from in the kitchen. A female Mobian wolf, wearing a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, walked out of the kitchen. She was carrying a bottle of Lemnian wine, seeing Deimos and the people he had brought with him.
"Are we opening a boarding house, now?" She asked, setting the bottle of wine on the table. Deimos chuckled, before tossing her a small bag of rings.
"There's your weekly pay. The one on the couch needs stitching up. And those two are our guests. Give them whatever they want, within reason." Deimos said, before walking into the kitchen.
Isaac and Sally both looked around the cabin, seeing it was well-built. Isaac looked over the numerous photos strewn about the place, seeing one near the mantle of the hearth. It was a picture of Deimos' parents. They looked similar to Isaac's parents, but Deimos' father wasn't blind. The maroon hedgehog that would have been Azazel was wearing a miner's outfit, being a loose woven shirt, denim pants, and rough, brown boots. The white hedgehog that would have been Gloria was wearing a fur coat and a black, silk skirt. She had a pair of high heels, identifying her as a woman of leisure and privilege. But Isaac saw something else around her eyes, almost as if her face had a sunken look.
"What is that?" Isaac asked himself.
"She was a junkie." Deimos answered. Isaac turned back around, seeing Deimos with a glass of the Lemnian wine, taking a sip.
"My father was the only one close enough to a compassionate parent out of the two. Of course, with a mother like that, it was a very low bar." Deimos said.
"But… my parents were good people." Isaac said, confused by the state of things. Deimos chuckled, taking another swig from his glass.
"I don't how things worked in your universe, but here, my childhood was a fucking hell. I wasn't even ten years old when an old bounty hunter came by here. He was looking for an apprentice. My mother decided, instead of doing any kind of background work on the guy, to sell me to him at slave prices." Deimos revealed.
"You were a slave?" Sally questioned. Deimos shrugged his shoulders.
"Hell, if I know. I mean, I was sold to someone to serve them and assist them when needed, but it was eventually to take over for the guy when he would decide to retire. My father… he tried to intervene. It was the first time I heard him yell at my mother. But once Jack, the bounty hunter who wanted me as an apprentice, offered my mother a shit ton of gold, well, she made sure my father had no say in the matter." Deimos explained.
"She killed him?" Isaac asked. Deimos shook his head.
"No. She invoked the Central City Rangers code with Jack. Once a deal is made, it can only be rendered void by the person who made the deal. Even if Jack would have second thoughts, only my mother could accept to reverse the deal. And if my father would've attempted to stop Jack, it would've let him kill him with impunity." Deimos explained.
"So… he allowed you to be sold?" Isaac asked. Deimos nodded.
"I have no hard feelings against him. It was either he die, and I still get taken, or I go, and he lives. I can understand wanting to live." Deimos said.
"So, what happened next?" Sally asked. Deimos raised an eyebrow, not expecting to have a captive audience.
"Jack took me all over the world, the old Greek. He taught me how to shoot, how to clean a gun, how to sharpen knives. I even took me on a few bounties with him from time to time. But even though I was technically his slave, he raised me like I was his son. After a while, I adopted the name Deimos, as a sign of respect to him. The only one who treated me not as property, besides my father, but as a person. Around when I was fifteen, the Greek died from a heart attack." Deimos began to explain.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Isaac said. Deimos waved it off.
"The man was ninety-five. I told you before, he was an old man. And yet, he could run after a bounty on foot for twenty-six miles before giving up on the race. After I inherited his hunting practice, I decided to return home to confront my folks. After a lengthy trek and a sail across the Moebian Sea, I made it back home. All I had to greet me was a house overgrown with vegetation." Deimos finished.
"What about your parents?" Sally asked. Deimos sighed, taking the photo off of the mantle.
"I opened the door, seeing my mother lounged on the sofa, extremely thin. She was a mess. She had been a junkie for too long, her own body beginning to fail her. I asked where my father was. She only laughed. But not the laugh of someone who found something hilarious. A nervous, horrified laugh. I asked her again, but it was always the same, almost as if she couldn't answer any other way." Deimos revealed.
"Did you ever find out what happened to your father?" Isaac asked. Deimos nodded, before gulping down the entire glass, setting it down.
"I found him downstairs. He was alive… but just barely. Both his legs were crippled. He was emaciated, as if he hadn't been eating for months. He saw me, but couldn't believe his own eyes, seeing his son after seven years. But the moment my hand touched his, he began crying. Tears of a man who was forced to choose his own life over the freedom of his own child. It's not something you soon forget, seeing your own father cry." Deimos answered.
"After helping my father upstairs, I decided to enact my first, and only, act of vengeance. All the anger I felt over being sold to Jack, God rest the old Greek, I dragged my mother out of the cabin by her quills, shot her dead, and burned her corpse into ash." Deimos finished.
Isaac and Sally were unable to say anything, not knowing Deimos' story would end with him having killed his own mother, albeit the one that had sold him into slavery.
"What about your father?" Isaac asked. Deimos smiled, before walking towards the stairs.
"Would you like to see him?" Deimos asked. Isaac and Sally quickly walked over to the stairs, this being something they had to see.
They quickly made it upstairs, seeing that the entire second floor was almost like an apartment. It was furnished with a television, a sofa and chairs, and lamps and a coffee table positioned to give the room a more open feel. In the corner was a small kitchen, fitted with a small refrigerator, sink, and a stovetop. Deimos walked over to the end of the floor, being a few rooms. Deimos reached a door with an old necklace attached to it, before giving it a few knocks. After a few moments, Deimos opened it.
Inside the room was an older maroon hedgehog, sitting in a wheelchair. A blanket was draped over his lap, concealing his crippled legs. He was asleep, lightly snoring, a book open on his lap, having fallen asleep reading.
Deimos shushed them, before reaching an arm under his legs, and an arm under his back. He carefully lifted him out of his chair, the blanket sliding off of his legs. Both legs were fitted with medical braces, his legs permanently crippled from unknown injuries. He motioned his head to the bed, Isaac quickly pulling the covers over, Deimos gently easing his father into the bed. Deimos draped the covers to his father's neck, gently kissing his forehead.
"Good night, dad." Deimos whispered, before leaving the room with the others. Deimos gently closed the door, walking towards the stairs.
"Your father is still alive?" Isaac asked. Deimos nodded.
"It took me several months, but I was able to nurse my father back to health. I turned the entire upstairs into an apartment for him, and he helps me with bounties when I need him." Deimos answered.
"How does he help?" Sally asked, the three of them having reached the bottom of the stairs.
"He's trained me how to use my powers. I inherited them through him. But apparently, when he rendered himself mortal, he inhibited his own powers. But it didn't stop him from passing them onto me and my sister." Deimos revealed.
"So, you do have a sister, as well." Isaac responded. Deimos nodded.
"Yes, but she's not here. She's very sick. A result of my mother being partial to certain narcotics while she was pregnant with her. Right now, she's with the good Doctor Kintobor. He's been treating her, but with the bounty money I'll get from Alicia, I'll be able to afford the progressive treatments to complete her recovery." Deimos explained.
As they talked, Mary was sewing together the wound Sally had put on Alicia, Alicia complaining throughout the surgery.
"Aah! Watch it!" Alicia exclaimed, Mary unrelenting in her needlework.
"Sorry to tell you this, but stitching together a severed tendon and closing up the wound isn't going to be pleasant without anesthesia. This might be a good way of teaching you how your actions result in such extreme consequences." Mary snidely chastised, still working on the wound.
"Mary, how much longer until the surgery's done?" Deimos asked.
"Just need a few more minutes to close everything up and sanitize the area. But if you could grab that bottle of iodine from the coffee table while I finish up, that would be great." Mary responded. Deimos complied, grabbing the bottle of iodine from the table, and handing it to Mary.
"So, how did you two meet?" Sally asked.
"We met on a street corner in Central City. He was looking for someone to look after his homestead while he went on bounties, and I needed a place to lay my head for a while. The situation seemed fortuitous at the time, so I accepted the offer." Mary explained.
"What did you do before you met Deimos?" Sally questioned. Mary sighed a bit.
"I was a lady of the night. You know, fucking random strangers for rings. But thankfully, not anymore." Mary answered, Sally feeling embarrassed for receiving an answer like that.
"Sorry for asking that." Sally said. Mary waved it off, finishing Alicia's surgery.
"Hey, you do what you gotta do to make a living. And now, besides managing a homestead when he's away, when he's here and things are slow, I get to fuck him for a change." Mary crudely stated, Deimos blushing brightly.
"Mary! That's not something you just say to two people you just met! Have some couth!" Deimos loudly stated. Mary laughed, cleaning up the stitched area.
"Why do you care if they know we sleep together from time-to-time? It's not like it's privileged information." Mary questioned. Deimos momentarily threw his hands in the air, signaling he was frustrated.
"Mou eprikse t'arxidia!" Deimos exclaimed, before walking off into the kitchen. Isaac was laughing a bit, having understood what he meant by that statement.
"Translation?" Sally asked.
"I'll tell you later. Right now, I want to get a shower and something to eat." Isaac responded, still spattered with his and Deimos' blood from the fight.
"Bathroom is down the hall to the right. And dinner is already on the stove." Mary said, before realizing, quickly walking into the kitchen. A pot lid was heard hurriedly slamming shut, Deimos jogging a bit out of the kitchen, Mary stopping in the doorway to the kitchen, threatening him with a wooden spoon.
"If I catch you sneaking a taste before the food's done again, you'll be sleeping on the couch with the bitch tonight." Mary threatened, angering Alicia.
"Hey, I resent that!" She responded. Mary rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, and you managed to accrue a 145,000-ring bounty! If being called a 'bitch' is the worst thing you've been called all day, then you must be losing your edge." Mary replied, before walking back into the kitchen.
"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you. Are you and Mary, you know, together?" Isaac asked. Deimos shook his head.
"Not really. We got a 'friends with benefits' thing going on, and I don't really want to complicate that with involving a relationship." Deimos responded.
"But you two sleep with each other. And by the sound of it, you two also share a room. Isn't that a sign that you're in a relationship with her?" Isaac wondered. Deimos shrugged his shoulders.
"Haven't given it much thought, actually. But why mess with something that isn't broken?" Deimos countered.
An hour-and-a-half passed before dinner was served. Mary was serving a stew into bowls, Alicia seated at the table, heavily restrained. Isaac, freshly showered and in a fresh change of clothes, saw that the stew was made up of different vegetables and herbs, and a small variety of shellfish. Isaac sighed, being hungry, but knowing he couldn't eat it. He pushed the bowl away, drinking from his glass.
"Don't like Kakavia?" Deimos asked. Isaac shook his head.
"I can't eat shellfish. It's against my dietary restrictions." Isaac answered. Deimos nodded, before walking to the pantry. He pulled a jar off of the shelf, before opening it and dumping it into a bowl, serving it immediately to Isaac.
"It's borscht. Kosher, cold, and meant to be eaten as is. Enjoy." Deimos said, before he sat back down into his seat, eating his bowl of Kakavia.
As the night waned on, Isaac and Sally were shown to the guest room. It had a twin bed tucked into the corner and a trunk in the other corner. A blanket and sheets were folded on the bed, evident that not many people had been invited to stay the night before. Isaac took his belt off, leaning his sword next to the bed for easy access. As he made the bed, Sally walked to the trunk, opening it. The trunk was empty, let alone a few dust bunnies.
"Seems no one has used the guest room in a while to warrant regular cleaning. So, do you think we'll be here for long?" Sally asked. Isaac shook his head, placing the comforter on the bed.
"We'll be out of here first thing in the morning. I just need a bit of sleep, and then I can power the Warp Ring. Do you still have it?" Isaac asked. Sally nodded, taking it out of her pocket. She tossed it to Isaac, who deftly snatched it out of the air.
"Hopefully, the others will understand why we were gone for a few days. But it's not like this is the first time we vanished for a day." Isaac said, before taking off his belt of knives and setting them on the floor near the bed.
"We really need to stop doing that, by the way. Otherwise, Camilla's going to grow up thinking we avoided raising her for her first year." Sally said, closing the trunk.
"She's going to think we avoided her by chasing after interdimensional counterparts that wanted to kill us and everyone we knew?" Isaac questioned. Sally giggled a bit, taking off her vest.
"I guess we could just go on a honeymoon if we want an actual vacation. By the way, we still haven't done that, yet." Sally said, Isaac flipping the covers over and laying in the bed.
"We could go to Spagonia. I have a few new friends on Olympus that would warmly welcome us for a week or two." Isaac suggested.
Sally smiled, soon easing herself into the bed, cuddled next to Isaac. She sighed, resting her head on his chest. Isaac held her close, relaxing his mind and body for the night.
"Good night, Sally." Isaac said, feeling his eyes grow heavy.
"Good night, Isaac." Sally replied, giving him a kiss on the cheek.
Later That Night:
Isaac coughed horrendously, a sharp boot having dug into his ribs! Sally suddenly rolled out of her bed, unsheathing her sword! She saw Deimos above Isaac, furious! He was wearing a black trench coat and a black brimmed hat, a large red plume stuck into it! He retracted his boot from Isaac's ribs, pulling Isaac off of the bed!
"GET THE FUCK UP!" Deimos screamed, Isaac picking himself up off of the floor.
"Son of a bitch!" Isaac cursed, standing up.
"I told you we should've killed her, but no! You had to convince me to keep her alive! Well, guess what?! She's gone! She managed to escape her restraints and hobbled out!" Deimos yelled, Isaac grabbing his sword from the wall.
"She couldn't have gotten far with a severed tendon, even if it's been sewn back together. She has no way off of the island, and she's wanted!" Isaac explained. Deimos scowled, slamming his fist into the wall!
"If she gets claimed by another bounty hunter, my sister will fucking DIE!" Deimos yelled, fire radiating from his mouth!
Isaac nodded, understanding the severity of the situation. He strapped his belt of knives on, quickly tying on his boots.
"What's with the outfit?" Sally asked, never before seeing Deimos wear it.
"I wear it when I know I'll run into any Central City Rangers. It intimidates them. It also intimidates my targets, and it's by time I intimidate Alicia more than she has been these past 24 hours." Deimos answered.
Isaac walked out into the living room, slinging his bow on his back. Mary was carrying a sawed-off shotgun, loading it with shells. She pumped the gun, loading a shell in the chamber. She tossed it to Deimos, who quickly grabbed it and holstered it into his right holster.
"We'll be back in a few hours. Make sure my father doesn't try to leave after us. He still refuses to acknowledge his disability." Deimos said to Sally, before walking towards the exit. Isaac had already stepped out, ready to scout out the area ahead.
"I'm going with you guys! You know I can hold my own!" Sally responded. Deimos shook his head.
"What do you think will happen if a bounty hunter sees you, you looking exactly like the target they're after?" Deimos rhetorically asked. Sally sighed, realizing she wasn't going to be able to help them without risking her own life from just simply walking out of the cabin.
"Deimos, promise me something!" Sally said, catching his attention.
"Do what you need to do to Alicia but keep Isaac safe!" Sally said. Deimos nodded, walking out of the door.
45 Minutes Later:
Deimos and Isaac were stalking through the Great Forest, Isaac tracking disturbances of the snow, consistent with an injured person hobbling through the snow. Deimos was keeping his sword ready, the blade still unsheathed, but his hand gripping the handle.
"I will kill her. You understand that, correct?" Deimos questioned. Isaac nodded, still uncomfortable in his resolve.
"I just wish you didn't have to… but as you've said, it's either her or your sister." Isaac admitted. Deimos nodded, before stopping. Isaac stopped as well, seeing Alicia in the distance.
She was captured by a bounty hunter, who was busy taunting her. He slowly walked around her, giving a spiel of how she was finally going to know death and how her death was going to serve as a reminder that evil never prospers.
"Ah, not this bastard!" Deimos quietly hissed, recognizing the hunter.
"Someone you know?" Isaac asked. Deimos nodded.
"He figures himself as the ultimate force for good. Of course, the ultimate force for good shouldn't be profiting off of his calling, if that was true." Deimos criticized.
"Police get paid for stopping crimes." Isaac interjected. Deimos rolled his eyes.
"Yes, but how many of them say they are on a crusade to wipe out all evil?" Deimos countered. Isaac nodded in agreement, before notching an arrow.
"Shoot next to his head. He may think himself a force for good, but he is nothing, if not cowardly." Deimos instructed.
Isaac aimed for next to his head, waiting to make sure he wouldn't move. As soon as he stopped in front of Alicia, Isaac let the arrow loose, the arrow splitting the air and hitting the tree next to his head, only a few inches away! The bounty hunter quickly stumbled back in fear, surveying his environment!
"Aim for his holster. Try to lodge it into the leather." Deimos added. Isaac notched another arrow, before letting it loose once more. The arrow hit the holster, actually having enough force to rip the belt off of his body!
The bounty hunter quickly began running, leaving his weapon in the snow. Isaac slung his bow on his back, approaching the clearing. Deimos followed, seeing that Alicia was shivering from the cold.
"Isaac, I'm going to need help with this one." Deimos said.
"Help with what?" Isaac asked. Deimos kicked the back of Alicia's knees, making her kneel in the snow.
"I need you to keep her kneeled while I use my sword to cut off her head." Deimos calmly explained, Alicia's eyes shooting open!
"Wait, you don't have to do that! I'll come back quietly! Please, you don't have to kill me!" Alicia begged, Deimos rolling his eyes.
"How many people said that to you, before you decided to end their lives?" Deimos questioned. Deimos looked at Isaac, motioning his eyes towards Alicia. Isaac shook his head, backing away from them, wanting no part of this.
"I will not kill her. This is your bounty. Not mine." Isaac responded. Deimos scoffed at this, before turning back to Alicia.
"Say your prayers. But know that your death shall save my sister. So, try to find comfort in that." Deimos said, before raising his sword.
Alicia, seeing what the last moments of her life could be, looked away from her impending doom! Suddenly, she saw the discarded firearm of the bounty hunter that captured her the first time! Her left hand being the least-restrained, she lunged towards the firearm, managing to work her hand into it and pointing it at Deimos!
"FUCK YOU!" Alicia screamed, ready to pull the trigger! Suddenly, the gun exploded in her hand, her left arm practically being blown off from the wrist!
Alicia screamed, clutching at the stump where her hand used to be, bleeding through her fingers! Deimos looked back at Isaac, seeing a stretched arm towards where Alicia held the gun, Isaac having used his abilities to detonate the gunpowder in the bullets to stop her from shooting the gun!
"Hahahaha! Good on ya!" Deimos praised. Isaac's arm soon went limp at his side before he completely collapsed into the snow! Deimos hurriedly ran to him, looking over him for injuries! He turned his head, seeing a small piece of shrapnel lodged in the base of his skull!
"Isaac? Isaac! No, no, no! Wake up!" Deimos pleaded, having promised Sally that Isaac would be safe!
Deimos looked towards Alicia, seeing she was on the verge of passing out from blood loss. Growling, Deimos walked over to her, lifting her off of the ground. Deimos worked his hand underneath her head, where the chin meets the neck! Deimos used his foot to anchor her body to the ground, before raising his arm once more! After a few moments, where stretching and tearing of muscle could be heard, Deimos savagely ripped her head from her torso, blood dripping from her neck! Deimos let her corpse fall to the ground, before walking back over to Isaac.
"Come on! You're me! You can't just die!" Deimos reasoned, before pressing his index and middle finger into Isaac's neck. After a few moments, Deimos stopped, now realizing that Isaac had no pulse.
Isaac… was dead.