[Disclaimer: I honestly didn't put nearly as much effort into this as I usually do, so if you think the chapter is bad that's on me lmao]
In a candle-lit room, a blonde woman with blue eyes, Zenith Greyrat, a light-brown long haired man with green eyes, Paul Greyrat, and a red haired woman in a maid outfit, Lilia, were surrounding two newly born baby boys, one of which was crying, while the other was looking around curiously with wide eyes.
But instead of looking at the crying baby with expressions of love and happiness, they were looking at the baby in confusion, and slightly fear. While the curious baby, Rudeus, looked like a normal newborn baby boy, the crying baby, Asyr, was the one who captured everyone's attention.
One of his azure eyes held a pupil like that of a serpent or feline, while patches of black scales were embedded in some places on his skin like a snake. It was as if he'd had a curse placed upon him.
"What's wrong with- is he... is he normal?" Lilia whispered, her voice trembling as she glanced at Paul, who was studying Asyr with furrowed brows.
Paul shook his head slowly, his green eyes filled with uncertainty and confusion. "I don't know. This... isn't typical probably."
At this point, even Rudeus was looking at Asyr.
"So what if he's... different? He's still my baby." Zenith said softly, her expression uplifting as she looked at Asyr with a loving smile.
Paul knelt beside Asyr and made a confident face. "Of course he is. It's not like he's the only person with differences. He's still our son." But the conviction in his voice wavered, overshadowed by the uncertainty of what Asyr might be. Yeah, there were reptile people and people with scales, but unlike them, Asyr was created from two normal humans, and yet he came out… part demon.
For a second, Paul thought about the possibility of Zenith sleeping with another man—someone of the demon race—but that thought was quickly dismissed. He knew she wouldn't be able to do that to him.
"It's a sign of something special," Zenith said, believing the words herself. "Perhaps he's destined for something greater."
Lilia's chimed in, considering the possible issues. "But what if people react poorly? There are plenty who fear what they don't understand. Perhaps if he were born in the demon continent then…" she slowly went quiet.
Asyr's cries escalated, and the shadows around the room danced from the flickering candlelight. Zenith reached out, gently cradling Asyr, feeling the warmth of his tiny body against her chest. "No one will harm you, my sweet boy. We will protect you, no matter what."
Lilia watched as Zenith's maternal instincts took over and Paul watched, their love enveloping Asyr, but she couldn't shake the pity she felt for the boy. What kind of world were they bringing him into? Asyr was sure to face prejudice because of his unusual traits, even among those accustomed to differences. Maybe if it were just his eye that were different things would be better, but the scales made him look like he belonged to the demon race, which was subject to prejudice.
As Zenith continued rocking Asyr with her breast in his mouth, the boy finally fell asleep as she put him back in his cradle.
***
Six months later, and Rudeus and Asyr were crawling around. At first, even Rudeus was giving curious glances at Asyr's inhuman features, but he quickly got used to it, and the two both followed each other around, getting into trouble and making messes.
Sitting under a table, Asyr watched as Rudeus put panties on his face and looked at Lilia, and Lilia looked at him startled.
Tilting his head, Asyr suddenly felt hands seal around his sides as he was lifted into the air. Rudeus was being held by Zenith's left arm, and he was being held by Zenith's right arm.
"You two shouldn't wander around on your own," Zenith scolded calmly and took the panties off of Rudeus's head. "And this doesn't go on your head."
Zenith spoke with Lilia for a little bit, and then put the two back down.
A few hours later, while Rudeus climbed up onto a stool and started looking outside, Asyr was climbing up the stairs.
Reaching the top of the stairs, Asyr looked down the quiet hall. The sunlight shining through the windows was pretty. He could see the dust floating around.
Seeing that the door to his parents room was slightly open, he started crawling over to it.
Pushing the door open, Asyr noticed the room was filled with the scent of lavender and the gentle rustle of curtains in the breeze. His eyes wandered, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. His dad, who he saw go outside earlier, was always saying "no-no" when he tried going into the room.
Under the bed, Asyr spotted something glinting. Drawn to it, he crawled over to the bed, and as he crawled beneath the wooden frame, he found a short sword resting on the wooden floor, gathering dust.
With a small grunt, he managed to pull the sword free, and though it was smaller than him, he had a hard time carrying it. Asyr's eyes lit up, a broad smile spreading across his face as he giggled. He lifted the sword clumsily, waving it around as if he were already in battle.
Just then, Rudeus, who just fell off of the stool and was healed by his mother using magic, wandered up the stairs, looking for Asyr so that they could play. When he reached the door to their parents room, he froze at the sight of Asyr swinging the sword with uncontrollable glee.
Rudeus gasped, too young to speak, a mix of surprise and concern flooding his voice.
Hearing someone else, Asyr looked over to the door and saw Rudeus. Tilting his head wondering why Rudeus gasped, Asyr dropped the sword, the sound of the sword dropping echoing around the room.
Just then, Paul's voice echoed from downstairs. "What's going on up there?"
Panicking, Rudeus rushed to Asyr's side where the sword was, and slid it back under the bed just as Paul reached the door. Asyr looked at Rudeus, confused on why he put the sword back.
Paul chuckled softly, shaking his head. "You two are always getting into something, aren't you?"
Rudeus giggled again, but Asyr tugged at his brother's hand, trying to express his desire to have the sword back. Paul knelt down to their level, his eyes softening. "I saw you with the sword, ya know? You know those aren't for playing with just yet. Soon though, little guy. You have to wait until you're older. We'll find you a real sword when you can use it properly. For now, let's go back downstairs and see what your mother is making."
***
Months later, Asyr could walk now. No more crawling around with Rudeus, especially since Rudeus stayed upstairs all day reading what he called "magic books".
Not only walk, but he could even talk a little now.
"Ha ha! Come on, Asyr!"
Currently, he was outside with his dad. A few weeks ago, Paul finally decided to let him use a sword. Well, a hollow wooden one with dull edges. Still though, it was a start. Anyways, Paul mostly just had him swinging vertically, horizontally, and diagonally over and over with no actual training, but once again, it was a start.
***
A year had passed, and Asyr had started training now. Not sword training, but actual body excercises. He wasn't told to do this though, he just started doing it after seeing his dad do it. Push-ups, sit-ups, planks, etc. He did as many of each of them as he could until he felt like he'd fall if he tried doing it any second longer.
One night, laying in the bed opposite to where his brother's bed was, Rudeus randomly told him, "You know dad keeps a sword under the floorboard to the right of his bed, right? And he wouldn't notice if it went missing like he would with the sword under his bed."
Asyr widened his eyes for a moment and murmured, "Thanks." Before rolling to his side and closing his eyes.
But even though he tried to seem like it wasn't a big deal, his heart was racing thinking of using a real sword finally. Even if he had to keep it a secret and hide it from his parents, he could finally train for real.
***
Months later, in his room since Rudeus had already taken the storage room, a few days after both Asyr and Rudeus turned 2, while Asyr was swinging the the sword that stood out in size even more because of how small he was, his hands started tingling and he thought he saw some kind of light coming from his hands, circulating through his sword as he swung it at the imaginary figure he envisioned in front of him, but he ignored it since he was almost done killing the imaginary figure.
Suddenly, as he swung the sword with all of his might for the finishing blow to the imaginary enemy, he felt his arm pop out of place as the sword swung so fast that it created wind that knocked everything in the room over, and the wall in front of him ceased to exist, obliterated into a pile of wood chips and splinters. As he was still reeling from what just happened, he heard another explosion in the room where Rudeus was training, and at the same time as Zenith barged in on Rudeus, Paul barged in on Asyr.
"Asyr! Are you o-" Complete silence.
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