In the morning Nymph was the second one awake. Her long brown curls were in a disastrous mess as they frizzed out due to the heat. Her brown eyes were absolutely groggy and her nightgown was falling off her shoulders. Her bare feet slapped against the floor as she came down the stairs and groggily looked at the two people who came into her home. “The fuck…” The words were a yawn as she stretched. 

“Good morning Clyde.” She rubbed at her eyes as she pushed past everyone. “Hello, Ana.” She wasn’t too rude. “Hello, whoever you are.”

“Well aren’t you just a ray of sunshine this morning.” Rowan was next down the stairs. Unlike his sister, he was well taken care of. His manners were better and he was dressed for the day. “With company and a young man in the house you shouldn’t be dressed like that.” He lectured Nymph.

“Oh… go fuck yourself, Rowan.” Nymph was still groggy as she went into the kitchen for her own breakfast. The distant ranting of things like it was her house and they invaded could be heard.

Rowan blinked a bit and shook his head. “I’m going out can you tell Mother Clyde? I promised I would read to the orphanage today. I do apologize for my little sister she is quite temperamental.” Like that the eldest son was gone. A shining example of what Lily could do with a child. However, her second child was trying to ransack the kitchen.

Meanwhile upstairs Lily was getting sick into the empty wash bowl that she had managed to make it to. When Ana knocked on the door Lily looked up. “You can come in.” She spoke in between her upset stomach. “I’m sorry I’m not in a better way this morning.” Lily was dressed as well as she could be. She waved with the hand that housed her new ring.

Ana wasn’t even at the stairs when the sleepy Nymph came down stairs. And fought back a laugh and waved the the child. She didn’t bother to have small talk and headed up the stairs.  Her son on the other hand, he stared. He kept his face expressionless to not show what he was thinking. “Wow….Hot.” He thought as she walked right passed him and Clyde who wasn’t surprised by Nymph at all. Before he could introduce himself a voice came from the stairs. His eyes looked over to the well mannered boy.

Clyde looked up as well and said hello before Rowan started to speak to his sister. Then her words flew out of herself, making Clyde sigh. “One day I will get her to act like a lady.” Clyde thought with a laugh, these thoughts didn’t match the ones Alden thought. He was disgusted. “So not hot anymore.” He thought as he looked away from Nymph. He didn’t even bother to watch her walk away.

Clyde looked over to Rowan as he started to speak to him. He nodded. “Yes, I will.” He said with a smile. “Have a good time.”  Clyde then nodded towards the kitchen. “Come on, help me with breakfast. We have much to catch up on.” He said smiling at his nephew who he watch grow up. His hand came around and patted Alden on back then walked with him into the kitchen with his arm around his shoulders.

The elemental dropped his arm from him when they entered, a sigh escaping his lips. Nymph was passed out on the bar counter with something in her mouth. Droll already leaking from her mouth. This was definitely not lady like. “Nymph!!!” He called out to her with a tone of a father. “Get yourself cleaned up.” It was then he saw that it was bread. “Or I will throw you in the bath like before.” With that he turned to start breakfast. Alden was on the sausage while Clyde cooked the eggs and bread.

---

Upstairs, Ana knocked on the door of the room. Hearing Lily’s voice, she entered. The smell of throw up filled the air as she closed the door behind her. The first thing her eyes saw was the ring. “You don’t take heed to warnings do you.” She sighed and accepted it. Mostly because she knew what was going on the instant she walked in. “Marry him. As long as I get to see my niece or nephew I don’t care what you do.” She smiled over to the woman who would soon become her sister in law.

“Clyde is making breakfast, I wouldn’t go down there until after, or the smell will make you puke more. Morning sickness is the worst.” She paused and went to the door. “I will be back with a morning cure.” With that she left and headed down the stairs. She just arrived when Clyde yelled at Nymph. She couldn’t help but laugh.

Clyde didn’t bother to look what she was doing, maybe she was making tea for herself? Ana made some lemon ginger tea and headed back upstairs. Entering the room once more, she walked over to the pregnant Lily. “I think you should name the child after me. Since you know I am the most awesome Aunt ever.” She smiled at Lily as she handed her the tea. Sitting down on a chair near her she looked over the woman. “Drink that, it will help.”

Nymph’s sleepy eyes peeked up at Clyde. She took the bread and bit into it. “But Daddy,” obviously she was messing with him from her voice tone. “Last night was rough. Could hardly sleep… Do I have to get in THAT water.” She honestly didn’t feel like putting herself through the pain.

“Yes Nymphaea,” The sword was never too far from her. It was leaning against one of the stoves. “Your blood requires you to do the bath every day.” Nymph began to roll her eyes as she stretched. “And stop being vulgar you are a half demon, not an animal.”

“Yes, Yaeger.” She left the dad out on him since it was more shock value. The sixteen-year-old pulled herself off the stool and stood up to stretch more. “Guess I’ll take the stupid bath. Can you watch Yaeger Clyde?” She pointed to the sword. “I don’t know… make sure it doesn’t move. I’ve never caught the sword moving on its own but it could.” She left them and Yaeger was sighing.

“How… did she become such a brat.” That was the sound of a confused father. “She was such a good girl until the demonic awakening a few years ago.”

-

Lily laughed a bit, “I was never one for a warning I didn’t think I could handle.” It was her next words that made Lily turn sheet white. Everything began to make sense and she found herself sitting down. “Thank you, Ana.” A smile came to her face. She took the tea and blew on it before sipping. “You know I don’t know how Clyde will take naming our child after you without him even knowing.”

After a while, she felt better and she got up to get dressed. “Well, no time like the present to go tell Clyde he’s a father.” She chuckled a bit as she had heard the tone he took with Nymphaea. “He did say we came together or not at all.” She playfully teased. Once Lily was truly proper she went down stairs. Nymph wasn’t too far behind her. She took a transformation if there ever was one with Nymph.

Her brown hair was long and in many loose curls, her skin had a shining factor like her mother’s, she wore a black corset, pants, and then her boots. She meandered over to the store to put Yaeger around her belt on the back. “Were you a good sword?” Nymph teased.

A sigh left Yaeger and Lily shook her head. “Stop tormenting your father.”  Lily’s voice was stern and Nymph softly shrugged it off. 

Rowan burst into the door and into the kitchen. He was panting hard as he tried to catch his breath. “It’s Aunt Angela. The sky!” Rowan pointed and the kitchen was soon empty as everyone made it out of the house in time to see Angela explode into millions of crystals. 

“ANGELA,” Lily cried out. There had been a smile she was sure of it. “What the fuck was she thinking,” the words were unusual for Lily who was normally classy and not vulgar like her mother. “I need to head over to Angela’s Court. Everyone stay here.” 

Nymph protested, “I want to go.”

“Absolutely not.” Lily was stern. “Clyde you help make sure she doesn’t leave. I don’t know play house.” There was absolute frustration in her voice.


“Auntie Lily,” Kirika was now there. Her long black hair was so elegantly shaped her body but it was her blue eyes that were in pain. “It’s not fair.” Lily hugged her niece who was crying.

“Get it out of you… We have to go see Angela’s son now. Be strong.” Lily wiped her own tears away as she looked back at everyone. “We will be a bit… Please don’t burn the house done. I’ll be back.” Down the road were Toya and a white haired Cathrine, someone Clyde hadn’t meet before. They were all going.

Once they were out of sight it was Nymphaea who spoke. "I don't envy Lucian right now. I've heard stories about where he's going…"

Hearing Nymph reply to him, made him smile as he was making the eggs. She might have been sarcastic, but the comment of dad made him smile. Angelique had only called him father a few times. He loved the feeling. Turning back around, he cleared his smile. “Nymph, if you stayed up on your baths it wouldn’t hurt that much.” After that she left the room. Yeager spoke to him and he looked over to a sword. He knew all too well what he was saying. “That was the same with my nephew here. He is also a half demon. He was such a rebellious lad when he was younger. It wasn’t until he was 17 that his sister helped him accept his demon. Ever since he has been a well mannered boy.”  He patted his nephew's shoulder and Alden gave a small smile. He was remembering his past, he fought against the demon within him for years. If it wasn’t for his big sister, he wouldn’t be here.

---

Anastasia nodded to Lily. She knew that his brother was going to be so excited. He loved her children like they were his own. She took her seat and stayed with the queen. She wanted to make sure she was going to feel better. “He won’t mind, as long as the baby is health and his.” She said with a wave of her had and a smile on her face. She wasn’t one to smile the last few months but now she had something to smile about.

After she finished her tea,she dressed.Ana followed her down the stairs along with Nymph. They headed back into the Kitchen where everyone gathered. “Now you look—” She started to say to Nymph, but Rowan came through the door. When he spoke, everyone cleared out of the house and to the streets.

When Clyde saw Angela in the sky, he went behind Lily and put his hands on her shoulders. The instant he did that Angela exploded. A gasp left everyone’s lips. His arms circled her and held her close. When she started to speak, he pulled away so that she could talk to Nymph. She asked him to stay with Nymph and he nodded. Pulling her into his arms for a moment he kissed her. To show he was there for her. He pulled away upon hearing the young girl. He stepped away so Lily could hug her.

Lily turned to speak to them, before she left he hugged her close once more. “I will be here.” He whispered into her ear before kissing her cheek. Pulling away he wiped a few more tears again. He cupped her cheek while staring down at her with his blue eyes. “I love you.” After that she was gone.

“Lets get inside.” He said aloud to everyone before putting his arm around Nymph. He would force her inside he he had to. Her mother wanted her here. He had to keep her there. Before they entered, Ana commented that she was staying outside the doors to keep watch, just incase. “Mom, I will stay here with you.” Alden said and Ana pointed towards the door. “Inside.” He nodded at her words and did what she said.

Clyde lead them all to the living area with couches and a fireplace. The same place where Lily and him had first made love. “Here, sit down. I will build a fire.” The elemental said leading Nymph to the couch. After, he leaned down at the fireplace and lit it. “I am going to get our breakfast, everyone needs to eat something Alden, stay with Nymph please.” With that Clyde was off to the kitchen.

The room was silent as Alden stared over at Nymph. “So you’re part demon.” He started, not wanting the silence anymore. “How was your awakening?” He asked as he remembered his own. It was painful and he felt like he was being ripped apart from the inside. He wondered what her’s was like. “And what is with the water you were talking about with Uncle Clyde?” He asked, just trying to make conversation. He was also interested in her.

Nymphaea watched as her mother left and Clyde soon had his arm around her forcing her back into the house. “This is so stupid. I want to go with Mom.” It was a protective tone. They had just watched her aunt get destroyed by a goddess. However, her tone was more of a pout as she obediently listened to Clyde.

The silence on the couch was deafening but she took Yaeger off her belt loop and put the sword in between her legs so she could lean on it. “Yup.” She answered Alden as she stared at the fireplace. “I can remember it like yesterday. My body lit up in hellfire. The shadows tried to rip me apart. My mind became lost and I might have killed a few people if it weren’t for my Aunt Angela. After all, hellfire can only be put out by the user or by a divine being.”

Yaeger spoke up. “Girls tend to have it worse than boys because of their emotional state. Even now the difference between you two is astounding.”

Nymph pushed the sword down in the sheath, “No talking.” She was sad and she didn’t wish to be lectured or told how she should feel. “I have to be bathed in holy water or my powers get out of control. Even if I completely were in control of my emotions my powers are too great for my small body. It starts to rip you apart at the seams. You slowly begin not to care who you kill. You don’t care who your family is. You just light things on fire.” 

Her blank gaze ended as she lit the fireplace in a hellfire. She waved her hand and it was gone. “I can control it some days. Other days it just rampages.” She looked at Alden now. “What about you? What kind of demon are you? Yaeger was a high ranking Shadow Demon.” She tapped the sword softly.

Alden looked curiously at the girl before him. She had gone through so much and she was younger then him. “16?’ He thought to himself, his mother had told him how old she was. Leaning back on the couch, he listened to her speak. “It was the same for my sister…” He paused in his words to picture her. “Her awakening was similar to yours. She burnt down a force with her awakening and she couldn’t stop it. My Dad just got my little brother and I out of there so we could stay safe….He couldn’t do anything for her no one could in that moment.” His eyes looked out a nearby window. His mind on his sister. “Maybe that is why she became the quiet one of us all.” He smiled a bit at the memory. “She use to be such a talker. Now she is mostly quiet unless she has something to say.”

He watched her demonstrate her control in the fireplace. His eyes went back to the girl before him. “Shadow demon.” He paused as he turned his eyes from her to the window. His mind going to his father, How could he leave them? “My father’s father, is a high ranking general. My father didn’t want to bend to his will and went rouge.” He paused, anger within him rose. He needed his father, they all did. Now he was gone without a word of goodbye.

“I should’ve used holy water on you all when you had your rebellious time.” His mother came around the corner and smiled at her son. It was a sad smile. She had caught him talking about his father. She wanted to tell him to not talk about him, but she didn’t have the heart to. “Where is Clyde?” Alden pointed towards the kitchen, she nodded and went to him.

---

Clyde had stopped his cooking in the kitchen and now just sat on a stool staring at the flames of the kitchen fire. A hand came onto his shoulder and he didn’t move his eyes. “I want to be with her.” He said aloud finally. “She is strong. She will come to you when she needs you.” She smiled thinking of what happened before. “You picked a good one. A strong independent woman.”  With a pat on his shoulder, she forced him to get up and helped him with the food.

---

The silence set in again and he looked over Nymph. He didn’t like that she was sad. “How about we go outside and have a duel?” He said with a smirk as he stood. “No magic, just weapons.” WIth that he walked out the door. And waited by the edge of the street. It was silence there and no one roamed. They could have this whole area to duel.

“I’m just sore from everything lately. I don’t like being cooped up. I like hunting demons. As crazy as that sounds it was something I vastly enjoyed since my father didn’t think I would ever measure up to other demons of my caliber.” She frowned a bit. “That I would be easily killed.”

The sword shook as if trying to fight the words she spoke but she held it closed. She frowned so deeply as the shaking managed to cut her hand. At the cut it stopped, he hadn’t wanted to hurt his daughter. The wound though was small and it healed up pretty fast right in front of them. Ana had interrupted and she offered a smile to her. Had they been talking about something she didn’t like?

Nymph gave him a smirk at the suggestion and was immediately up. She followed him out into the streets and she unsheathed Yaeger. It was a beautiful sword with a greenish metal in the middle of the blade. The rest of it was almost like an obsidian but that too was metal. She dropped the sheath and they began to have to play fight. It was fun they were smiling and laughing but soon she just lost her smile. Her body language changed and she dropped Yaeger in the middle of it.

“Alden I don’t feel like it…” But they had been having so much fun. “Can we do something else?” Her aunt's death still clung to her like smog. Suddenly there were tears in her eyes once more. 

As they fought, the occasionally smile appeared on his lips. He wasn’t one to smile like his mother, but he couldn’t help himself with the girl before him. They fought in the street in front of the manor. He had barely built up a sweat and nodded. She needed distraction. Her mother didn’t want her to go with her, but what about going with him? He smirked, sometimes he could get around orders.

Walking up to her, he fought the urge to touch her shoulder to comfort her. He remembered what she said before and it brought an idea to his mind. Seeing a posting when he entered, their was a sighting of a pair of demons not to far away from here. They were killing people that got in their path. He wanted to do it himself, but his mother said they had to see his uncle. He saw his uncle, they delivered the news. Now it was his time.

“Come on.” He said with a nod towards the direction of the gate. “There was a sighting of some demons in the forest near by.” He started to walk away hoping that she would follow. “Let’s go kill some demons.” Her said as he looked over his shoulder at her.

They soon headed out of the city.

Lily had remembered everything Bryony had said. It was quite possible Ang wasn’t dead but what she had seen was still fresh in her head. She made her way back to the manor and headed right back inside back to Clyde. She put her head on Clyde’s shoulder. “Today…” She could complain all day. Something alerted her, though. She didn’t sense Nymph.

She had a deadpan face as she stood up and stared at Clyde. “Where is Nymphaea?” After a bit, she started to search the house yelling for her. “Dammit, Clyde I told you to watch her.” She yelled. She was angry and this wasn’t like her. “I don’t have time for this. I lost my sister. I’m pregnant and now my sixteen-year-old is off somewhere where I can see her.”

She let out a frustrated noise as she started looking around the garden for her. Making her way back in she looked both of them. “What?!”

Clyde finally finished breakfast, it took longer than usual because of the events going on. He didn’t even notice the two leave. He did hear them say they were going to have a duel. He didn’t mind that, they were just outside the doors of the house. With Alden being who he was, Clyde knew he wouldn’t leave without saying a word. Ana was beside him as she took a bit of the meat, she was chewing when Lily came in the door.

Clyde opened his arms out wide for her. He embraced her close for a moment before she notice Nymph wasn’t there. “They were just outside?!” He said as she started to look around the house for her daughter. “I’ll look outside.” Ana said before running out the kitchen. All she had to do was open the door and look out, no one was there. “Damnit! Alden.” She said as her eyes narrowed. As soon as Lily came down she followed her to Clyde.

Clyde eyes widened at Lily’s words. She automatically left. He looked at Ana, who was nodding with a big smile on her face. Happiness filled him. Lily soon returned with no sign of his nephew or her daughter. Clyde and Anastasia looked at her. “I will find them. Don’t worry, my son is a good boy and won’t go far with her, I promise.” With that she left.

As soon as Ana walked out the door, he ran over to Lily and picked her up, he spun her around before kissing her. He held her up as he kissed her. He was so happy. She made him so happy. Finally, he released her. “They will be fine. If anything happens, Alden will take care of her. Trust me.” He said as he gazed down at her with loving eyes.

He brought her in for another kiss. Realizing she hadn’t ate, Clyde picked her up and headed back to the kitchen. He sat her down on the stool and put a plate in front of her. Bread, sausage and scrambled eggs. “You need to eat. You are pregnant, so food is essential.” He put a cup of water in front of her and smiled. “No wine either.” He sat down beside her and watched her. He couldn’t believe in such a sad moment, there could be happiness.