Zaltrius curls up into himself as his eyes stay a deep black. His mind was racing as he thought about what Cyprus had said. “I bet he was just really confused,” Zaltrius mutters to himself his eyes slowly changing to an iridescent white. Zaltrius hears Cyprus walk to the door before pausing, the man turns and walks back into the living room.

Zaltrius settles back into the fluffy, black comforter his body relaxing slightly. “I don’t want to face him yet,” Zaltrius mutters as he closes his eyes. The demon wanted nothing more than to sink into his world. The one place where nothing could go wrong. With a deep breath blood-red flames envelop his body but, the fire only licks at his skin without harming him.

When Zaltrius opens his eyes he was floating in a seemingly empty abyss. The surrounding world was dark as a moonless sky with small differently colored balls of light floating around him. Zaltrius looks at his palms which had begun glowing red. It was faint at first but, the light began growing until it became matching red flames.

Zaltrius lifts his hands to the sky, letting the flames burst out of his hands they begin to twist and form into shapes. The shapes looked like blobs for only a few seconds before they began to form his followers.

As the humans came into sentience their eyes widened. The saw, for the first time in centuries, their god. The demon was in his human form but he didn’t look any less formidable especially when they knew who was hiding behind the fleshy mask. “Master.” a man with greying hair and plenty of scars all over his body says as he bows urging his companions to do the same.

“Rise,” Zaltrius commands as he looks at each of them. “Thomas? Where is Adonis? I would think he would be the most eager to return to my side.” the demon inquires his eyes turning a light yellow as a grim thought crept into his mind.

“I’m sorry, Master. But, he passed. It was only a few months ago. So I’ve become priest in his place.” Thomas replies as he shivers under Zaltrius’ gaze unable to see the emotion behind his master’s eyes.

“He would’ve wanted us to continue my work. You’re new. What’s your name youngling?” Zaltrius asks as he looks to see a handsome boy with dyed black hair and grey eyes.

The boy opens his mouth to say something before Thomas stops him. “This is my son…” Thomas says. Zaltrius raises his hand silencing the elder.

“I asked him did I not?” Zaltrius asks.

Thomas closes his mouth and looks at his feet as his cheeks flush slightly. “My name is Zayden. It’s great to finally meet you, Master.” Zayden says as he bows.

“This is what I need you to do…”

In the morning…

Zaltrius woke up his eyes glowing blood red for a second before they turned blue. The demon stretches before he climbs out of bed and walks to the living room. Zaltrius’ eyes widen as he sees Cyprus sleeping on the couch. The man’s eyes had dark rings under them making Zaltrius worry. The demon made his way around the couch before kneeling in front of Cyprus. Zaltrius swipes some of the man’s snowy hair behind his ear as his eyes turn a light pink.

He couldn’t deny the man’s attractiveness but… he couldn’t risk the heartbreak again. So instead Zaltrius stands back up and walks over to the kitchen.

Magic surges through him as he begins cooking. It was a full breakfast with waffles, bacon, eggs, toast, and sausage. He wanted to make sure that Cyprus would focus on that and not what happened the night before.

Cyprus opens his eyes and takes a deep sniff of the air. It was a delicious smell. His mouth watered as he thought about what was cooking. “What are you doing?” Cyprus calls.

“Cooking,” Zaltrius replies without offering an explanation to the reason. The demon pokes his head out from the kitchen “How do you like your eggs?” he asks as his eyes turn rainbow.

“Scrambled is fine,” Cyprus says. “Wait… is this about…?” he asks trailing off slightly as his cheeks turn red.

Zaltrius doesn’t reply but quickly returned to the food. “Doesn’t matter. I know you weren’t thinking straight,” he says.

“It does matter,” Cyprus says as he stands up and walks to the kitchen. “I still want to apologize for what happened,” he says as he watches Zaltrius use his magic to cool the bacon.

Zaltrius bites his lip. “I should be mad at you shouldn’t I?” he asks without turning around.

“Can you look at me?” Cyprus asks his heart feeling like it was being crushed. “Please?” he asks after a moment.

Zaltrius’ shoulders slump as he turns and looks at Cyprus his eyes a deep stormy grey.

“What’s wrong?” Cyprus asks his eyes widening as he sees the heartbroken expression on the demon’s face.

“I can’t explain it to you. You’ll never understand…”