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A cozy bedroom. A warm glow from a nightlight bathes the room in soft amber. A young boy is nestled under a messy blanket, feet kicking excitedly as his mother pulls a book from the nearby shelf.
"So? What are we reading tonight, Darling?" she asks with a gentle smile.
Darling kicks his feet up with thought.
"Hmm… read me about the prince, Momma!"
He flops back dramatically, blankets tangled. His mom chuckles, brushing hair from his forehead as she retrieves a worn book titled The Prince and the Commotion.
"Alright, alright, calm down, sweet boy. Momma's got it."
She tucks him in one final time, his small frame barely filling the bed, head sinking into the pillow.
"Momma, read the part where the prince beats the monsters."
She nods and flips to the familiar section. Resting a gentle hand on his belly, she begins:
"The prince, his charming face streaked with blood, his once-shining armor cracked and dull, stood tall before the demon army.
'You've overstayed your welcome,' he declared.
The demons parted, clearing a path for their king.
In a flash, the Demon King stepped forward.
'You dare challenge me, mortal?' he bellowed.
But the prince only smiled.
'I don't care how "great" you are. I am the true king—with this sword!'
He drew his blade.
Its light reflected the sun, forcing lesser demons to shield their eyes.
'This sword—can turn bigger than the mountains, burn hot as the sun, and light as a feather, is a force to wipe your kind in one blow!'
The Demon King scoffed. 'If you wipe out half my kin, I'll leave… but I'll curse this land as I go.'
They clashed. The battle raged day and night.
When dawn broke, the prince knelt—half his face gone, armor clinging by threads.
Blood dripped down.
The demons stood fewer, many fallen.
'DEMON KING!' the prince shouted.
'I've wiped out more than half! Now leave this realm!'
Hovering, the Demon King smirked.
'So be it. But I curse this world.'
Seven glowing ember feathers fell from his hand that morphed into creatures.
The Seven Deadly Sins.
They cackled and vanished.
'As long as humanity exists, these feathers will bring war, pain, and greed.'
The prince raised his sword one last time.
'Deal, but if you come back again… I'll end you.'
The Demon King disappeared into the shadows.
'Crazy adventure for one boy...,' the prince whispered."
The mother closed the book quietly. Her son, now softly snoring, was lost in dreams. Smiling, she adjusted his pillow one last time, kissed his forehead, and turned off the light.
Hours Later.
A faint snickering echoed from behind the bedroom door.
Darling's eyes fluttered open.
"…Mom?"
He climbed out of bed and crept toward the door. It creaked open—
A monstrous version of his mother lunged forward. Her face grotesquely distorted, two horns jutting from her skull. Her wings—razor-sharp—swung at him. He ducked just in time.
"Mom?! What… what are you doing?!"
He reached for her face. Her form flickered—half normal, half demon. Flesh twisted inward, unrecognizable.
"DaRliNG, MaMA doesn't feel Goodd. Stay bacckk…"
A single tear ran down her cheek as she slashed his shoulder. Blood spurted. Darling screamed and crumpled to the floor.
Just as she raised her claws for another strike—SHINK!
A sheathed sword flew through a wormhole and severed her wings in one clean slice.
A man burst through the door, golden-haired, wearing loose pants and a pair of wooden sandals. He scooped Darling into his arms mid-run.
"You okay, kid?" he panted, eyes scanning the room.
Darling only blinked, stunned. The man smiled gently.
With one swing, still sheathed, he decapitated the demon. The head thudded to the floor.
He shielded Darling's eyes.
"Sorry you had to see that. This job's… rough."
He strapped the sword back to his hip.
"But hey, you're safe now. That's what matters."
Darling nodded faintly, about to pass out from the wound.
Outside, the front yard was crawling with officers and people in sleek suits, name tags clipped to their coats.
The man set Darling down before a teen-looking brunette named MAY.
She pulled a sucker from her pocket.
"Here," she said in a mature tone. "It's my last one, so savor it."
Darling took it silently, unwrapping it as May hoisted him up onto her shoulder.
Darling's wounds instantly healed as he ate the candy.
"His mother's dead," she informed the officers matter-of-factly.
They looked at her. Then at the boy.
May sighed and covered Darling's ears with her hand.
He struggled to pull them away—but he still caught fragments of the conversation:
"…made a deal…"
"…minions…"
"…probably didn't know…"
The golden-haired man returned, holding a sheet of results.
"She was full-blood demon. The father… human."
One officer leaned in. "Does that make the kid a—"
Before he could finish, the man gently pulled May's hands away and put down Darling on his feet.
"You'll be safe with us, little one."
May crossed her arms and watched.
"So boss, shouldn't we wipe his memories?"
The man shook his head, eyes still on Darling.
"Nah. I think this one… needs to remember."
The man in blonde squats down and gently places his hands on Darling's shoulders.
"Listen kid, what happened tonight is very tragic, and traumatizing for you. But promise me you'll still do good later in your life. Let this push you to become something great, not evil, alright?"
Darling nods slowly, then points at the man's sword.
"Oh? You like this thing?"
He unclips it from his side and holds it out proudly.
"It's way cooler than her ability, right?"
He says with a smug face, leaning in to whisper it like a secret.
"I can hear you!"
May shouts from across the scene and hurls her pen at him.
The man lets out a loud laugh. Darling stifles a giggle, a faint smile forming.
"Ahahahah! See, Darling? In this life, sometimes you gotta lose before you can truly feel joy."
He lifts Darling back onto his shoulder with ease.
"My name's Buddha, by the way."
Darling grabs a tuft of Buddha's fluffy golden hair and peeks down at him as Buddha looks up with a grin.
"Like the one from the stories?"
Darling asks, his voice soft and curious.
Buddha nods without hesitation.
"Exactly like the stories. Just better."
Darling rests his head on Buddha's fluffy hair.
"Aren't you full of yourself?"
Buddha got Darling down and pat him on the head as Darling smiles.
"What should we do with you?"
Darling shrugs.
"Can I go back to my mommy now?"
Buddha froze and sighs as he rests his hand on Darling's shoulder.
"Look kid, your mom. She's, somewhere else. So you'll have to live with us for a while alright?"
Darling looks down, his smile vanishing.
"But I want my mom. I can't live with a stranger."
He said in a high-pitched voice cracking tone.
Buddha looks around and everyone from there stared at him. He took a knee and wiped Darling's tears.
"Uhhh, hey look at this!"
He took out a tv remote looking thing and flashed Darling with it.
"Sorry kid, but from now you will forget what happened to your mom. You won't know who she is or where she is."
Darling faints and collapsed but Buddha caught him midair.
May walks towards him and smiled a bit as she sees Darling in Buddha's arms.
"So? We going to take care of him now or something?"
Buddha shrugs.
"We do need more employees."
May pinched Darling's cheeks.
"So fucking adorable! But,"
She lets go.
"Little does he know the future will not be kind to him."
Buddha hands Darling to May.
"Well, I have more jobs to do. Take care of this one, and don't let it go rogue like the last time."
May rolled her eyes and took Darling in her arms.
"Yeah yeah, wasn't my fault last time by the way."
Buddha made a face where it looks like he doesn't believe her.
"You're the only one whose been training these guys, but suree."
He mumbles.
May pulls out a blaster out of thin air and blasts Buddha away up in the air.
As Buddha is in midair he pulsed off as he broke the sound barrier.
May sighs and told the rest of the officers and agents to clean up the place and took Darling back to her place.
Darling slowly gains vision and looks around and sees that he's at a different location.
He gets up and walks around, familiarizing the area. As he walks in the kitchen he sees May chopping vegetables while boiling noodles in an apron.
She looks behind her and sees Darling groggy and wiping his eyes.
"Oh hey! You're up. I'm making noodles for us. Wanna help?"
Darling walked to the counter but couldn't reach anything as he stuggled to reach for the tools.
May laughs and placed Darling on a chair at the table.
"It's fine, you don't have to do anything. Just sit here and watch the tv or something."
Darling nods and turns on the tv as a group of colored variant individuals fight. May nods and smiles as she goes back to cooking.
~END OF CH 1