Andreas, Alice and Nyx are sitting around the dinner table, an awkward silence floating in the air. Andreas’ arms and legs were covered in bandages applied by Alice, and after some convincing from Andreas she also took the time to remove the sword blade from Nyx’s shoulder and stop the bleeding. Alice was sitting across the table, staring daggers at Nyx with her arms crossed. Andreas finally speaks up.

  - “I never knew you had… talent for magic, Vanessa.”

  - “Magic?” Nyx replies, fiddling with the bandage on her shoulder. “Right, of course humans would think that this is magic!”

  - “You see?!” Alice exclaims, slamming her hands on the table. A small crack forms in the wood as the table groans under the strain. “It’s not even hiding it! It has been referring to us as humans like we’re a different species, from the moment it possessed Vanessa’s body!!”

  - “Calm down Alice, she still saved us.” Andreas hesitantly replies. “That has to mean that there is something…”

  - “Open your damn eyes, Andreas! This is not our daughter!”

  - “Say, why do I feel slower and heavier?” Nyx asks.

  - “It can’t even express that it’s tired!” Alice yells, getting up from her chair.

  - “Why are you calling me “it” ?” Nyx questions. “I remember humans using that to refer to objects and animals, did the meaning change?”

  - “No, you’re no better than a beast! You’ve taken my daughter away, you demon!”

  Alice seems like she’s about to continue, but she stops when she notices Nyx’s eyes were rapidly filling with tears.

  - “Why would you say something like that?” She sniffles. “I thought humans loved me as much as I loved them, but now they hate me…” She looks up at Alice, who was at a loss for words. “Did I do something wrong?...”

  - “There, there.” Andreas says as he painfully walks over to pat her head and console her. He turns to Alice. “As I said, she saved us. Even if she isn’t Vanessa, there has to be a shred of our daughter left in that head." He turns back to Nyx, and manages to produce a tired smile. "You did nothing wrong.”

  - “You mean that?...” Nyx asks, looking up at him.

  - “Yes. Demon or not, I’m not about to be ungrateful for having my daughter’s life saved, along with my wife’s and even my own.”

  Nyx wordlessly wraps her arms around Andreas, hugging him like her life depended on it.

  - “Huh?” Nyx observes without releasing the hug. “That’s weird, I never really felt that before. I think I would really not be happy if you were extinguished.”

  - “You mean if I died?” Andreas chuckles, which causes him to cough and hold his ribcage. “Don’t worry, I’m not ready to give up the ghost just yet!”

  Nyx nods before letting go of him. She then turns back to Alice, and when she locks eyes with her, Alice shivers as she stares directly into the star shaped patterns.

  - “What?!” She suddenly exclaims.

  - “What’s going on?” Andreas worriedly asks.

  - “I think Vanessa just spoke to me! She told me not to worry, and that she was fine!” Alice clenches her fists. “It was her voice, I’m sure of it!!”

  - “I knew it!” Andreas replies.

  - “Oh, you can hear the voice too?” Nyx comments. “Is she Vanessa? But I’m also Vanessa, isn’t that going to get confusing?”

  - “I told you, you’re not my daughter.” Alice coldly replies. “Don’t call yourself Vanessa.”

  Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

  - “Hmmmm… that’s complicated. I guess I’ll just go back to Nyx then!”

  - “Nyx…” Andreas observes. “You mentioned that name before, but I’ve never heard of anyone named like that. Is that how your species is named?...”

  - “My species? No, my species is named gods, I think. And for my name, you humans gave it to me a few thousand years ago!”

  - “You… really should be mindful of what you say, Nyx. There are only four gods, and they don’t really like it when people pretend to be them.”

  - “I know that much, I made them!”

  - “...Sure you did! Good job.” Andreas smiles as he pats her head.

  - “Stop feeding its delusions.” Alice comments.

  Nyx barely hears her, too busy reveling in the praise. The moment is interrupted by sounds of metal clanking outside the house. They could hear loud chatter, accompanied by dozens of footsteps. When Andreas, Alice and Nyx walk over to the window to check what was happening, they see about thirty armed soldiers a few meters from their front door, wearing the same armor as the man from earlier. Ten of them were surrounding the melted remains of the said armored man. One of the soldiers notices them at the window, and shouts as he points at them.

  - “There they are! One of them has to be the mage that did that!”

  - “Look at their injuries!” Another one of the soldiers yells. “The father or the daughter definitely did that! Kill them!”

  The soldiers scream in unison, and Nyx whips around to stare at the soldier who ordered them to be killed. Her star shaped pupils were slightly glowing, and said soldier takes a step back.

  - “What’s wrong with her eyes?... She has to be the mage!” He says as he draws his sword.

  - “I won’t let you kill Andreas.” Nyx quietly says as she extends her hand towards the group of soldiers. A bright purple light emanates from her hand, burning her skin just by existing next to it. “So I’m going to extinguish you all.”

  The purple light slowly starts floating towards the group of soldiers, who all stop for a second to look at the star.

  - “Wait, is that it?...” The soldier who was speaking earlier says. “No…” He mutters, staring at the remains of the armored man from earlier as the rest of the soldiers charge forward in an attempt to break into the house. “Wait a second, you idiots! You have no idea what her-”

  He never finishes his sentence, as the purple star explodes and creates a giant column of plasma, rising tens of meters into the air. When it dissipates, there is nothing left of the squadron of soldiers. In their place, there is only a giant crater. The only survivor was the soldier who was yelling orders to the rest, having had the reflex to jump away to avoid the blast. His left arm was missing, and he seemed to be unconscious.

  - “Oh, the world is spinning again…” Nyx says as she struggles to keep her balance while her vision grows blurry. “It’s kind of like that time…”

  She doesn’t get to finish her thought as she falls to the floor face first, losing consciousness almost immediately after.

  Nyx is woken up by the sun’s rays illuminating her face. She is in her room and the first thing she notices is Andreas asleep on a chair next to her bed. She gets up, and observes that she feels an intense pain in her shoulder, due to the stab wound she suffered earlier. She proceeds to ignore it and walk over to Andreas anyways.

  - “Father? Father.” She tries to shake him.

  - “Hmmm?... Oh Vaness- Nyx, you’re awake! I was scared you fell into another coma, after what you did yesterday!”

  - “I don’t know why that happened. I just felt really tired after using the star.”

  - “Well what’s important is that you’re alive and… somewhat well. Let’s go downstairs, you’re probably hungry.”

  - “I am!”

  They make their way to the kitchen together, and on the way Nyx sees the surviving soldier from the night before sitting on one of the chairs of the dinner table. He was tied up with a generous helping of rope, and Alice was sitting across the table, staring at him.

  - “Oh, it’s this guy.” Nyx observes. “I need to extinguish him.” A powerful light starts emanating from her hands, and her pupils glow brightly.

  - “Wait up!” Andreas intervenes.

  - “What?” The light fades from Nyx’s hands.

  - “He’s inoffensive right now, there is no reason to kill him!”

  - “But he tried to kill you.”

  - “He isn’t anymore! Also, your mother went through the trouble of capturing him, might as well keep him alive for now.”

  - “Hmmm. If you say so!”

  - “Stop referring to me as her mother.” Alice remarks. “It weirds me out.”

  - “Well, Vanessa and Nyx share a body now so you should get used to it!”

  - “That good nature of yours will get you killed someday.”

  - “It almost did yesterday!” Andreas laughs. “But I’d do it all over again.”

  Nyx approaches the one-armed soldier as Alice starts lecturing Andreas. She shakes him a bit, and the soldier jolts awake.

  - “Wha- Argh! It’s the mage!” He screams as he starts wiggling in his bonds, desperately trying to reach for a knife resting on the table.

  - “Hi! I want to see the pit, can you take me there?”

  - “You… huh?”

  - “Communicating with humans is hard…” Nyx sighs. “I’ve seen a bunch of stuff around the house, and now I’m curious about this pit thing, and why you guys are doing what you’re doing. So I want to go there!”

  The soldier silently stares at her, Alice pinches the ridge of her nose and Andreas has an amused smile.

  - “Looks like I’ve gained one hell of a daughter!” He concludes, laughing in spite of the pain it caused in his ribs.