If they all lived: Tale of the Demi-gods
It was one of those rare and quiet evenings that were rarely experienced in Nether realm. Especially since this was a particular night that the children of Raiden and Shinnok were forced to stay the night together while their families were off warring one another.
"This place bites…" Savannah stuck out her lip and turned to her brother Dante who was messing with one of the demonic guards that stood guard at the entrance of Shinnok's throne room.
"It's not so bad…" He snickered seeing the guards eye twitch as he poked his face with the end of his staff and Nicos hanging onto him terrified.
Begrudgingly Shinnok had commanded that his arch nemesis' children are not harmed under any circumstances. Something that his own children were not too pleased with but abided by.
"Oh, it's you…" Savannah turned in direction to where the voice came from.
Evah stood in red, and silver toned robes and her long platinum hair hung over her shoulders. looking unimpressed but flashed a sultry smile at Dante who for once stopped poking the demon guard and paid attention to his cousin.
"Well, hello there; don't we look nice?" He ran a hand through his silver tied hair and smiled. Savannah rolled her eyes and sighed exasperated.
"What are you two? From Arkansas?!" The demigoddess dragged her bag from behind her and sighed heavily seeing her brother and flirty cousin get acquainted.
Once inside the parlor Savannah sighed with relief seeing how much more comfortable the sitting area was compared to the rest of the hellish building. Looking down she frowned and ran a protective hand on her baby brother's head.
"Don't worry Nicos I won't let anything hurt you." She assured him and gave a warm smile.
The fireplace crackled giving them a sense of comfort and soon the door opened from the kitchen area revealing a familiar face; one that Savannah didn't mind seeing.
"Lucas…" She chuckled seeing him wear a shirt that read, "Your Mom said I was great."
He looked down; his englowed eyes re-reading the comical text, "Like it? My dad thinks it's hilarious and father thinks it's boarish."
Savannah blinked, "I don't see how you can be okay with having two dads…"
He shrugged, "It's not as bad as you would think; it has perks."
It was an enjoyable moment until Tiberius came through the door with a pile of wood in his hands for the fire.
"Oh, look it's Raggedy Ann and friends." The necromancer muttered seeing the frown on Savannah's face towards him.
"Cool it Tiberius; we gotta play nice remember?" Lucas helped his older brother with the wood and set it down neatly.
He grit his teeth and shot a dirty look at the thunder gods daughter who in return flipped him off. "You see that?! How in 12 hells am I supposed to be civil with that…that harlot!"
Lucas patted his shoulder, "You need lessons on how to come up with better insults, and furthermore just for tonight ignore her…"
Tiberius gave him a dead panned look. "You really think it's that easy?"
Lucas shrugged, "If I you can ignore that fat chick that's always hitting on you at the store than you can ignore a fruit fly like Savannah."
The young necromancer sighed and had to admit that if he could deal with unwanted advances than he could certainly deal with this pesky mortal girl.
The two men silently threw on more logs while Dante and Evah went back and forth obviously flirting.
"Oh, stop Dante…" The porcelain skinned demoness waved a shy hand at him as they giggled and gave one another compliments.
"What? I'm not lying…" He shrugged and ran a finger down her arm just as Tiberius intervened.
"Okay guys we're not in England where you marry your cousin to pass on a lineage; back up and get some space." The two flirts stubbornly left one another and joined the group in front of the fire. They were playing a board game, and it was Nichos' turn to roll dice.
"Don't overdo it Nicos; remember what happened last time when you got the dice stuck in the vent." Dante warned as he watched his brother throw and get snake eyes.
As Nicos moved around the board with his piece Lucas looked over at Dante. "How'd you get your dad to let you guys come over?"
He raised a silver brow and smirked, "I said we could either come over here or let you guys go over there… since we had that séance in the kitchen, he wants us to…What were pops words Savannah?"
She looked over at her Dante and chuckled, "Keep all the voodoo crap away from his blessed temple."
"Yeah, that's what he said…" the red eyed demi-god laughed.
"It wasn't our fault; we were convinced your kitchen was haunted." Tiberius munched on a chip and looked at his sister.
"All the energies pointed to your kitchens…" Evah nodded and moved her piece across the board.
"Speaking of energy do you think you could spare some of that to grab me a twinkie?" Lucas gave her a toothy grin only to have her throw a summoned bone at him.
"Get it yourself…" There was some laughter before the game came to a halt and there was mostly chatter and laughing amongst the group.
Savannah and Lucas laid next to one another, Nicos and Tiberius, and lastly Dante and Evah. The fire crackled, several bags of snacks were opened amongst them all and music could be heard playing from the old radio that was in the corner.
"Where did you go last weekend with your dad?" Savannah asked Lucas as he stared up at the tall ceilings that stretched above them.
"Well, he took me hunting; we caught this wild hog and cooked him up for dinner in the village." He smiled at the thought of his blood father, Reiko teaching him how to catch, skin, and cook a boar for over a dozen people.
"It's weird… It's like Reiko teaches me how to do things and Shinnok wants me to know how to make others do it for me…" His voice trailed off. "I don't know what I like better?"
Savannah listened to her cousin and felt some sympathy, "Is that what you meant by perks?"
He nodded, "It's not about money or gifts like people think; it's about what they do for me… honestly I love them both."
Lucas looked at her with a saddened expression, "Is that possible?"
She thought for a moment before nudging him, "Hey there's nothing wrong with loving both of your dads… Not everyone has the strength to do that."
They looked at one another before laughing at how serious they had gotten until Tiberius frowned. "You seriously can't choose between my father and yours?"
Lucas looked at him and shrugged, "Well no I can't…"
"What does that brute do foy you that father hasn't?" He spat. Everyone stopped what they were doing and watched the conversation that took place between Tiberius and Lucas.
"My dad is not a brute…" Lucas growled.
Tiberius' eyes flashed green, "Oh please…you know some wondered why Reiko left the way he did."
Evah tried to put her hands on Tiberius to stop him, but he shrugged her off.
"They were convinced that he wanted Shinnok's throne but he knew he couldn't have it, so he went to lick Kahn's feet instead."
Lucas stood up and clenched his fists angrily. "You know Tiberius I always knew you had a stick up your ass; I just didn't know it was low enough to be used as a puppet rod!"
"OOOOOH!" Dante covered his mouth and hollered.
"Shut up Dante!" Everyone yelled in unison.
It was quiet for a moment while everyone calmed down until Evah broke the silence. "Lucas there's nothing wrong with having a relationship with Reiko… Sometimes Tiberius is jealous of that."
He snapped his head in her direction, "I AM NOT!"
She shook her head, "Tiberius you will always have father's approval; you're already in line for the throne if something happens to him."
Tiberius looked at his sister and sighed defeated. It was true what did it matter if Lucas wanted to be with Reiko in the end? He had it all just because he was born first.
Finally, he looked up and noticed how upset he made Lucas. Blood father or not they still shared the same mother. The same mother that swore she'd shove them back in her womb if she ever caught them sneaking out after curfew or trying to smoke their father's cigars again.
"Lucas..." The necromancer began slowly. "I don't know what I was thinking… I guess."
He shrugged and ran a hand behind his head embarrassed until Lucas sighed and shrugged it off. "Don't worry about it… I kind of always knew you weren't comfortable with this arrangement."
There wasn't much to say from that point except to go separate ways and act like the outburst didn't happen, but the tension still hung thick in the air.
"Hey…" Dante put a hand on Lucas' shoulder. "Don't let if get you down."
Lucas swallowed a lump in his throat; he'd always hated being the outsider in his family. The only time he could get away from it all was when Reiko came and got him for the weekend or if his mother would take him out of the Spire for an outing. However, Evah was always limited to her interaction with him, Shinnok did his best to keep a certain distance from him, and Tiberius was a dick sometimes.
"If it makes any difference Shinnok is kind of my dad too…" Lucas' head shot up.
"What?" He couldn't believe his ears.
"Yeah so…" Dante adjusted his seating position and sipped some sake from Shinnok's bar. "The fallen god kinda made a little donation with Raiden's…essence." Dante's face flushed mentioning the old event that had played in his young life. "He thought Tiberius was a bust and tried to get my mom pregnant with another heir using his essence when my dad banged my mom."
Lucas felt his eye twitch hearing this story. "So, you're half Raiden and…"
"Half of Shinnok yes… An abomination of demigods as the elder gods put it, but my father vouched for me and raised me like he always has."
Lucas nodded and considered his story carefully, "I always did wonder why you had red eyes instead of blue ones like Raiden… And you're more radical."
He shrugged, "Shinnok might have had his intentions, but Raiden raised me."
"Wait a minute…" Lucas looked at Dante. "Does that mean we're…"
"Fucked up? "Dante finished.
"What! No…" Lucas shook his head, "We're kinda like friends… Or besties? Is that what the earthrealmers call them?"
"Dude please don't ever say that again…" Dante face palmed and ignored the giggling from Evah and Savannah hearing the conversation.
"How about friends under strange circumstances?" Lucas corrected himself.
The dark demi-god chuckled and nodded, "I like that better…"
The night went on more peacefully; eventually all six children fell asleep spread out on the parlor floor. Their parents came home after midnight to find the parlor like a bomb went off.
Raiden's hat was torn over his head and brought down around his neck like a brace, and Shinnok had his left arm in a sling.
"Oh…" Raiden felt his face heat up seeing the mess of children and crumbs on the floor; not to mention Dante with an actual lampshade on his head. "I apologize for the mess…"
The thunder god apologized somewhat embarrassed as Shinnok walked around the maze of arms and legs and turned the lamp in the corner off. "Why bother having any expensive furniture when I can have a litter of ingrates on my floor…" The fallen god mumbled and swiped the unopened soda that was in Tiberius' hand for himself.
"You're taking this awfully well… "Raiden muttered covering Nicos with a spare blanket from the sofa.
"Raiden I'm far too much in pain and annoyed with my revenants to be concerned about my living area." Shinnok answered bluntly before heading to the kitchen for some aspirin and downing it with wine.
"Well, that's unhealthy." The thunder god mentioned before getting a disgusted glare from Shinnok.
"Does it look like I care what healthy is?" They glared at one another as Raiden crossed his arms with a frown.
"Judging by those chapped lips and sunken eyes I'd say no."
Gritting his teeth Shinnok got up from his chair and opened the back door to the kitchen, "OUT."
One word was all Raiden needed from the bony necromancer, "I'll come by for them in the morning…" The thunder god muttered before having the door shut in his face.
"Idiot." Shinnok sat down once more and listened to the soft snores of half a dozen demi-gods in his parlor before lighting a cigar and sighing.