It was another day at Eden College. The morning Eric arrived; Becky called out from behind him as she caught up with him.

"Good morning Eric!" Becky ran up to her best friend.

Eric turned and smiled at Becky in greeting, "Good morning Becky."

Becky blushed a little at his smile but kept herself composed as a mature young woman.

"Did you watch the new Berlint in Love yesterday?" Becky asked as she fell into step beside him. "I can't believe those two got back together after all that bad stuff between them." She then held her cheek as another blush stained her cheeks, "And then when Vincent threw his arms around her, I seriously thought my heart was gonna explode." She gushed as she remembered that romantic scene and how she imagines Vincent as Eric and the heroine as herself.

"I don't think your heart can explode from a drama show's romantic scene. If anything, you were experiencing a chemical response in your brain from the visual stimulus that in turn gave you a rush of dopamine which increases your heart rate and blood pressure. As a result, it gives you that rewarding and happy feeling." Eric explained the biological sense of what Becky experienced the night before.

"It was an expression, Eric." Becky released a sigh, "You take things way too literal."

"Heart explosions mostly mean heart ruptures or anything cardiovascular related. It's hard for me to express something potentially fatal with a good feeling." Eric stated, not understanding what show Becky was talking about since he never even heard of it. From what she described; it should be restricted to mature audiences.

Becky released another sigh, "I have a lot of work to do."

"If it's the English assignment you're worried about I have some notes I can let you copy." Eric helpfully said to his best friend.

"Sure." Becky deadpanned. 'More work than I realize.'

Halfway through the day, Anya arrived just in time for Art Class.

Their usual Art Teacher was not in, but luckily, an all too familiar Professor in all his elegance substituted for him.

"It is time for your Arts and Crafts Class. Sadly, Master Rodin came down with something. So, I will be leading the class in his place today." Professor Henderson announced while wearing an apron to protect his attire. "You'll be creating a three-dimensional model out of the materials provided, keeping with the theme of animals. You've been randomly divided into groups, given a limited number of resources at your respective tables. You need to discuss how to use them amongst yourselves." He gave out his instruction clear and concise to his students.

"Yes sir!"

The students talked amongst themselves in excitement for their projects while their teacher announced the groups assigned.

"So cool. Maybe I can make Bond." Anya said with excitement as she stood between Eric and Becky, the two acting as her shield.

"Hm, should be simple enough, you just need some white paper, tape, and shape him like a box. Perhaps we can use some cotton balls if they're available." Eric said as he went over the diagram cutout in his head for Anya to work with.

Anya smiled up at her brother for his help.

"What about you Eric?" Becky asked as he contemplated the possibilities.

"Since it's animals and Anya is choosing her dog, I will go with my cat." Eric shrugged as he went over his own shapes and diagrams and how he will assemble the pieces to make his three-dimensional pet.

"...and as for Group 4: Damian Desmond and Eric Forger." Professor Henderson announced, much to two students' chagrin.

"Hm?" Eric furrowed his brows and frowned deeply in displeasure.

"Gah, dang it! I knew something like this would happen!" Damian exclaimed his own displeasure as he furiously ran his hand through his hair in frustration. He then turned and pointed a finger at Eric, "You better not think about getting in my way, you hear me!"

"That's fair, you're not even interesting for me to bother anyway." Eric stated with his eyes closed as he stood facing the front of the class.

Damian went red in the face at Eric's remark as he clenched his hand into a fist.

"Anya, since you're here with your brother, you can be in his group." Professor Henderson said to the younger Forger.

'Now's my chance.' Anya smiled at the opportunity this presented her. "Thank you, Professor Henderson."

Anya sat on Eric's left with Damian across from them with the art supplies on their table.

"Alright children, begin."

The student immediately began making their art projects.

"Try not to cut off your finger Forger." Damian taunted the accident-prone boy.

"Oh please, I cut off a toe last winter and everything was fine." Eric responded in his usual monotone voice, not looking up from his task.

Damian flinched back as he made a noise in his throat.

"He actually has all of his toes." Anya explained with round eyes as she glanced between Eric and Damian. 'It just wasn't his toe he cut off.'

If anyone asked whose toe it was, let's just say it happened before they entered the third orphanage.

Eric drew out the shapes for Anya to cut out on a white paper, then gave it to her. "Here Anya, you cut the outside of the solid lines, but not the dotted lines, those will serve as creases for you to fold. Understand?"

Anya nodded at her brother's instructions, "Yes, brother."

Eric smiled before he officially began his work with his cat model.

Anya copied her brother's 'work and study' face as she followed the instructions on the diagram Eric made for her. She looked across from her and saw how Damian had a look of intense concentration on his face similar to Eric's.

"What are you constructing Lord Damian?" Emile asked from another table.

Damian showed his diagram, "A griffin. You know, like in my family crest?"

"That is a seriously outstanding choice, I'd say!" Emile praised the younger Desmond.

'And I'd say you're a Φιλί τον κώλο (filí ton kólo.)' Eric sighed inwardly at Damian's yes-man. 'Anya, forget what you just heard, and don't say it out loud.'

Anya nodded at her brother even though she didn't know what it means exactly.

Anya asked, "What's a griffin? Are they related to Mr. Chimera?"

"Not really, they're both mythological creatures of Greek origins. The only thing they have in common is the lion's body." Eric answered, not pausing in his work as he explained, "The griffin is formed of a lion's body with the head of an eagle, sometimes with the eagle's claws on the front feet. The chimera on the other hand is a hybrid of three different animals: a lion, a goat, and a snake. Like the griffin, the chimera has the body of a lion; however, it also has a lion's head. The chimera also uses a goat as a second head which protrudes from the center of its back. Its tail is the body of a snake, tipped with a snake's head. Griffins were widely known as the king of all mythical creatures. This is why it uses two of the most renowned, powerful animals. The lion, known as the king of the land; and the eagle, known as the king of the sky. Since a griffin often has an eagle's wings, they can fly." He finished as he finished folding the cutout of the paper into a tall four-sided pyramid to make up the body of the cat.

"Wow, you seriously know a lot about my family's crest." Damian noted after listening to his rival's long explanation with Ewen and their table mates.

"I'm from Greek origins myself. What did you expect?" Eric said, reminding the boy of how he would often speak Greek to antagonize him.

Damain growled a little before turning to his project. "Well, I'm going to need a lot of paper today, so you guys better not use it all."

"You got it." Ewen nodded, making Eric sigh at them.

'This is the symbol of my family's honor, so I have to make it look amazing.' Damian blushed in hope and excitement, 'If it's good enough, who knows, maybe...' He imagined himself presenting and intricately handmade griffin to his father who praised him for a job well done and how it represented their family crest. 'It could happen.'

Anya, meanwhile, listened in on Damian's thoughts with a peculiar look on her face and immediately came up with a plan to make Damian her friend.

Eric watched his sister from his peripheral vision and noted her disturbing facial expression. 'Okay, that's frightening.'

Damian looked at the pieces of paper as he realized he may not have enough time to make the wings.

"Sy-on boy."

"Huh?" Damian looked up, only to be caught off guard by the light coming off her as she offered him her hand with that gentle smile.

"I will gladly help you make your thing."

Anya then handed him an extra sheet of paper, "You can even use my paper."

Damian was not expecting that. "Huh? What are you talking about, make your own, okay?"

"It's fine, I'm almost done." Anya assured Damian as she glanced at her half-finished Bond, she just needs to stick the head and tail together.

"I just really want to help you. That's all." Anya said as Damian saw more beams of light rippling off of her.

"Uh..." Damian didn't know how to speak as his face gradually turned red and his heart thumped erratically in his chest. "Fine, whatever." It's been almost three weeks since he talked to her after that first meeting and Eric nearly killing him.

Becky watched then turned away with a coy smile, believing her future sister-in-law is in love with Damian.

"Well, then I guess you can make its hind legs." Damian said as he gave her the diagram.

"Okey-doki."

Professor Henderson observed with a look of pride as the two began to work on the project together.

Eric, on the other hand, was leaking out that demonic aura as he glared at Damian beneath his fringes.

Damian suppressed a squeak when he met Eric's gaze before he furiously began to work on his griffin while avoiding the eyes of death.

Eric grabbed a piece of grey paper.

After about ten minutes, Anya finished making the hind legs. At least it was supposed to be hind legs.

"All done." Anya represented the 'hind legs' that had the words jet written on each of them.

"Huh? What are those?" Damian asked as everyone at their table stared at the 'legs'. "I said to make the legs."

"Yeah," Anya threw her hands up in the air, "But I wanted to make some cool jet engines so it can go 'zoom.'"

Damian didn't look too pleased, "Nobody asked for stupid stuff like that!"

Eric silently taped the final touches to the second project with the paper cat sitting beside it.

"Just give it some regular feathers okay!" Damian growled, seething with frustration as everyone watched on.

Anya was undeterred, "Leave it to me."

A moment later, scraps of paper were presented to Damian.

"Ta-da!"

As predicted, Damian wasn't happy, "Don't 'ta-da' me! These things are super sloppy! Do you think it can fly with that few feathers!"

"It's okay, it'll fly because of the jet engines, duh."

Damian exploded at that point, "It's not supposed to have those! Look just butt out would you! Stop wasting all the paper you're worse than useless!"

Anya lost her optimistic and happy face as she began to cry.

"Desmond."

The anger and frustration Damian felt disappeared at the low chilling voice he'd hope to never hear again as his eyes shakily moved to the one sitting beside a weeping Anya.

Green eyes glowed in fury and a frown set in place as he watched Damian with bloodlust and vengeance. Their table mates and classmates surrounding Eric felt that dark ice-cold malevolent aura coming off Eric before they scooted their chairs further away from him in fear.

Fingers that have not fully healed from their cuts flexed, the joints made unpleasant cracking sounds as they spread wide apart to grab the edge of the second piece Eric made and slowly lifted it up to have it face Damian.

Damian felt his soul leave his body as he stared at the words before him.

RIP

Here Lies Damian Desmond

He made my sister cry

Fingers tapped on the handmade head stone as death's green eyes watched him, ready to take his soul.

"Your time has come."

Damian's mouth quivered as he sat there, frozen in his spot, unable to escape the demon of hell.

A hand fell on Eric's shoulder, "That's quite enough now, Mr. Forger."

"Mm?" Eric was brought out of his zone and looked up at Professor Henderson who stood behind him with a stern yet understanding gaze.

"Let's put the theatrics away, shall we?" His teacher said as he felt the vestiges of Eric's aura recede.

Eric's calm demeanor returned as he placed the headstone face down and wrapped an arm around his sister to comfort her.

Professor Henderson then directed his attention to Damian. "As for you, that aggression will not stand! That was extremely inelegant!" He said as he fixed the boy with a disappointed glare.

Damian flinched as he was taken out of the jaws of death.

"Would you describe your actions as gentlemanly, Master Desmond?"

Damian looked up at his teacher and went red with shame and frustration, gritting his teeth tightly.

"No need to get flustered, it won't help you. At this point, it's up to you to do your best with what you have."

Tears peeked at the corners of Damian's eyes as his shoulders trembled in his effort not to cry. All he wanted was his father to be proud of him.

Anya listened to Damian's thoughts and realized the reason why he yelled at her was because he wanted his father's approval with this project.

Professor Henderson looked down at Eric and squeezed his shoulder, "As for you, while the details to your second piece are commendable, they do not fit with the theme."

Eric glanced down at the headstone, "You're right, I should use papier-mâché next time."

"'Next time?'" Damian exclaimed as he glanced at Eric.

After some time, the clock rang.

"Times up children. Please take your creations and display them in the hallway." Professor Henderson announced as the students carried their art projects out of the room.

Eric carried his black cat and made to leave the room, but paused when Anya didn't follow. He turned to see his sister standing in front of Damian whose back was to her with face in his hands.

"Sy-on boy, I'm sorry I was worse than useless." Anya apologized to Damian who turned to her. "So instead of the feathers, please take this." She presented her own second piece to Damian. It was a bit misshapen seeing how she made it without her brother's help, but it definitely had wings on its back.

"Huh, you're giving that to me? Some sloppy garbage you made?" Damian asked as he stared at the item in Anya's hand while the other featuring her dog Bond, was tucked into carefully against her chest.

"I turned it into a girl griffin. See? You can make it form a pair with yours." Anya said sincerely, hoping with her added piece with his, it can help gain his father's approval.

Damian was caught off guard, "Why would I need a second one anyway?"

Anya struggled to form words, "Uh, it's 'cause love can make you fly through the sky."

That sentence made Damian pause, "Huh?"

"Accept it, or the next head stone you see will be real."

Damian released a small cry at the voice behind him as he turned so fast it nearly gave him a whiplash before he backed away from a menacing Eric.

Damain shook all over as he held a trembling hand out to Anya to accept her gift before running out of the classroom to put their griffins on display.

Eric glared after Damian and scoffed, "Hmph, hopeless child, and he dares call himself a griffin."

The final bell rang for the day.

"Really?" Damian said, eyes wide in bewilderment as he stared up at Professor Henderson.

Damian and his henchmen, Emile and Ewen; Eric and his friend and sister, Becky and Anya, stood frozen in the hallway as they looked up at their teacher.

"You're telling me my project-that thing-won first?"

"One of the officials from the board of trustees was quite taken with it." Professor explained with a smile, "They said, 'despite its plucked wings, it stands regal and proud. A reminder our country will persist and recover from war.'"

"Eh, uh, yeah." Damian responded awkwardly. 'They actually saw it, didn't they?'

"Wow, great job sir!" Ewen exclaimed.

"Beautifully done." Emile chimed in.

"Apparently, when he saw the corpse of the baby griffin lying next to it, the poor fellow was unable to hold back its tears." Professor Henderson added, much to the Forger siblings' shock and dismay.

"'A corpse?' That feels like an insult." Eric deadpanned as he rested a hand on his younger sister's head.

Their teacher then turned to the siblings, "You two got second place because of how close your projects were to each other, and for the relationship between them. That short description also moved them." Professor Henderson added remembering how the cat and dog leaned against each other in such a familial manner. "'Brother and sister, though different, always together.' It truly is elegant."

Eric and Anya bowed their heads and said, "Thank you Professor."

Damian blushed as he looked down at the floor. The project he considered an embarrassment to the Desmond family crest combined with that sad excuse of a baby griffin actually got him first place.

Professor Henderson walked away, leaving the students with each other.

Eric turned to Damian, "I believe you owe my sister an apology with a side of gratitude."

"Huh?" Damian made a sound of protest then felt small under that familiar demonic glare.

"Apologize." That distorted demonic voice repeated with that 'gentle' and 'subtle' warning in his tone.

Damian felt himself clench up as Ewen and Emile hid behind him.

Gulping down his saliva, he turned to Anya and bowed low at the waist. "I'm really sorry for yelling at you, I didn't mean what I said before. You're not useless at all. You were very helpful to me. So, thank you very much."

Anya combed through Damian's thoughts. Though he still considered her griffin unappealing, he was still grateful for the gesture and what it did for him.

"You're welcome, good job on winning." Anya responded as she held her brother's arm.

Damian blushed and looked away, "Thanks."

Eric sighed, "With or without its wings, a griffin is still a griffin."

"Say what?" Damian turned to Eric who raised an eyebrow.

"I assumed you already knew about the context behind your family crest and just wanted to be fancy with the wings." Eric turned away, "How disappointing."

"What was that?" Damian gritted his teeth in irritation as Eric and his company walked away.

Eric paused, "The griffin is also a symbol for wisdom, courage and boldness. They are seen as protectors and often appreciated by mortals." He turned his head slightly, "Your behavior was utterly disappointing, hardly worthy of being a griffin. Instead of trying to gain your father's approval, work hard being what the griffin represents."

Eric face forward and walked away with his sister and friend on either side of him.

Damian was left dumbfounded by the words Eric spoke. Somehow, that actually hurt worse than his father's lack of approval.

"Wow Eric, that was intense." Becky complimented as they left the building and made their way towards the bus stop. "You really scared him in art class."

"There are consequences to making Anya cry." Eric stated calmly, holding his sister's hand securely. His earlier rage simmered back to nothing.

"By the way, what happened to that head stone you made?" Becky wondered, not seeing that art piece anywhere.

Eric smirked.

Damian entered his dorm and turned on the light and felt his jaw drop when he saw the head stone with those foreboding words sitting innocently on his bed.

A note was attached to the head stone, 'Keep this as a friendly reminder. Enjoy.' At the end was a doodle of Eric's emotionless face as he gave a peace sign with his fingers.

"Forger!"

"I put it in its proper place on Damian's bed."

Becky and Anya doubled over laughing while Eric continued to smirk in satisfaction.

I originally never intended to write this out so soon. But honestly, I just watched this episode for the first time, and I was not disappointed. Yes, Damian is still a spiteful little shit. Anya obviously has not given up on Plan B. Eric has a dark sense of humor. After that display Damian put on, there's no way Eric would peacefully let that slide. So yeah, he has that effect that is potentially (definitely) traumatizing to those who incur his wrath.

'Φιλί τον κώλο' means 'kiss ass'

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed this. Until then, leave a comment.