The concert was unlike anything Deimos had ever experienced before. So many people, all excited to hear live music, pushing and shoving each other in their excitement. It was intense, but he enjoyed it, even before any music actually started. Sophia stayed close to him, both because of his magical presence preventing anyone from harming her, and because… well, they were on a date.
Deimos wasn’t sure how these things usually went, even the little TV he watched didn’t help. There was a sense of nervousness welling up in his gut whenever he looked at Sophia. He wasn’t sure how to act, but just these little moments with her, even with the chaos around them, was enough for him, for now. Clearing his throat to distract himself from those thoughts, Deimos finally asked what he’d been curious about. “Who else is playing? I know Dracine, but…” He had to speak annoyingly loud to be heard.
“Dracine’s the opener. Solomon Kingsmen’s the main act.” Sophia explained, grinning excitedly. Deimos couldn’t help but match her expression, finding her emotions to be strangely contagious. “He’s a legend! He can sing, dance, and play every instrument! They say Dracine’s been taken under his wing.”
Deimos wasn’t entirely sure how impressive that was, but he figured he’d be finding out very shortly. “You a big fan of Dracine?”
Sophia huffed, slightly embarrassed. “She’s only the most famous kid in the empire! She’s basically a hero already.”
Deimos blinked, his teasing grin turning into a genuine smile at the thought. “A hero, huh…”
Even now, he still adored the idea of being a hero like in the comics. Someone going around and just… helping people wherever they could. He knew life wasn’t that simple, but some dreams never could die.
Sophia giggled, practically reading his mind. “Maybe you’ll get some inspiration, hero.” She nudged him teasingly, before letting her hand fall into his.
Deimos turned away, his face turning red as he interweaved his fingers with hers. “Maybe…” Well, he could still dream.
The crowd quieted as Dracine stepped on stage. She looked just like the posters Deimos saw. Relatively tall, wild black hair and red eyes. Her outfit was dark, almost goth in aesthetic. He privately admitted he liked that look.
Once Dracine stepped up to the mic, Deimos had to admit he was taken by surprise at how she practically roared, rather than just singing gently. He’d expected something softer, but he definitely preferred this. “Whoa, I didn’t think she’d do that!”
Sophia grinned. “She’s known for doing just about everything. Not just music, either. She’s also a really good artist, and designer. She’s weirdly talented for someone our age…” She pursed her lips, before shaking her head. “Anyway, Solomon’s coming on soon. If you wanted softer music, this is the guy. He’s fast paced, but everything of his is meant to be Pop.”
Deimos grimaced slightly, not sure he liked the sound of that. “Well… I guess we’ll see.”
Solomon stepped onto the stage, and Deimos had to take a moment just to take in that outfit. It looked like every single color imaginable was on him somewhere, glittery and extremely bright. Compared to the relative darkness Dracine showed, Solomon was like a prism of light. He didn’t look bad, but it was so over the top Deimos wasn’t really sure how to react to it. Feathers, glitter, a flowing cape, topped up with extravagant makeup… Overall, it was perhaps the single most ostentatious person Deimos had ever seen.
Still, Solomon certainly could sing. Nevermind how easily he seemed to motivate the crowd, the man was born to be on stage, it seemed. Deimos couldn’t help but wonder what Solomon’s Core was…
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“Thanks for bringing me out tonight.” Deimos smiled softly at Sophia as they, along with the rest of the crowd, danced slowly to the closing act. Neither of them were sure who it was, but they seemed decent enough, at least. “I’ve never been to one of these before.”
“Yeah, well... Don’t get too used to me spoiling you.” Sophia chuckled. “I’m not this lucky all the time.”
“I’ve seen how bad your luck is.” Deimos grinned smugly. “Anyway, what do you-”
Deimos didn’t get to finish as the stage, quite literally, exploded. The crowd began to panic, pushing and shoving their way to the exits, with Sophia too surprised and scared to act. Deimos, however, immediately shielded her from the mass of people forcing their way through. While his magical presence was capable of stopping most, several people were able to push through, shoving him roughly as well.
“W-what happened?” Sophia clung to him, her eyes wide with fear.
“I don’t know.” Deimos murmured, narrowing his eyes as he took in the sight of the remains of the still burning stage. “But I don’t think it’s over yet.” He wasn’t sure what made him think that, but it felt right. Explosions like that were never accidents, not with how advanced the safety precautions were. Nevermind the typical set up, with Kordan’s daughter playing there would be so much extra security and safety that something like this had to be deliberate. “Get to safety.”
“What about you?” Sophia bit her bottom lip. “I know you want to play hero and all, but… you’re still too young.”
Deimos shook his head. “I’ll be fine.” He couldn’t explain it, but something deep within him refused to turn away from this, especially since he knew Dracine and Solomon would be backstage still. Even if he didn’t end up helping… he’d rather try, than sit by as things only got worse.
What bothered him most was that he knew so many in the crowd had to have magic to put out the fire. That they only seemed worried about getting themselves away… he knew it was wrong to judge them, they were just doing it on instinct, but if he, a simple child, could see past the fear, why couldn’t the adults?
Sophia hesitated to let go, but she eventually acquiesced, running with the crowd to get away from the attack.
Deimos grimaced. With all the people around him, he couldn’t sense anyone. Worse, because they hadn’t actually gotten to the point of passively sensing magic in their classes yet. It’d take too long to sift through the endless stream of information, anyway. With a grunt, he leapt over the flaming stage, once more thankful that his magical presence was so intense. It did its best to keep the flames away, smothering the ones that got too close. He still needed oxygen, as he had nowhere near enough magic to fully sustain himself for any period of time, so he had to move quickly.
“Anyone there?!” Deimos hollered out as he darted through the wreckage. He grunted as he shoved a flaming board away.
“Over here!” He could recognize Solomon’s voice, so Deimos made his way towards where he’d heard the voice.
To his mild surprise, Solomon was carrying an unconscious Dracine, with his leg pinned underneath a metal beam. Normally, it wouldn’t be a problem for anyone to move, but it was placed in such a way that strength didn’t really matter. “Help us!”
Deimos glanced around, gritting his teeth. He needed to find leverage, to pry the metal beam out of the ground. “Ah… fuck it, I won’t need that much magic.” Deimos sighed, pointing his finger at the obstruction.
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Solomon’s eyes widened as a solid yellow laser shot from Deimos’ fingertip, piercing right through the metal beam and leaving him able to move out of it. “Whoa, nice job kid. Now let’s get…” Solomon sighed as he saw Deimos pass out. The use of external magic, combined with his magic actively protecting him from the flames, had no doubt worn him out more than he knew. Still, it wasn’t all bad.
Solomon shook his head, grinning slightly. Nobody knew who saved Dracine…
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“I can’t believe he stole the credit.” Sophia huffed, crossing her arms. “I mean, I knew Solomon was a diva, but that’s so low!”
Deimos sighed. “At least you believe me.” He shook his head, swinging his legs back and forth on his bed. “Aside from you and my family, everyone thinks I’m just trying to be a gloryhound.” He understood, to an extent. The idea that some kid just happened to save Dracine and Solomon was ridiculous. He was lucky anyone believed him.
“Doesn’t make Solomon any less of a bastard for it.” Sophia leaned against Deimos’ shoulder, sighing. “I’m just glad no one was hurt. Did they ever find out why it was attacked?”
Deimos shrugged. “If they know, they won’t tell us. No casualties, but it was probably some kind of message. Like telling Kordan that his daughter isn’t safe.”
Sophia hummed. “Who would do that, though? Doesn’t he have like, everyone voting for him? He’s been the leader in a democratic society for ten thousand years.”
“Nine thousand.” Deimos corrected. “First thousand, we don’t know about. Anyway, there’s always some lunatic getting angry over something stupid. Could’ve been someone from the other empires, too. Like I said, they wouldn’t tell us, even if they did know for sure.” He understood, now, that no matter what he could do, people would still look at him for his age. It was frustrating, but Solomon’s credit-stealing had proven it.
“You got to be a hero, at least.” Sophia patted Deimos’ arm. “You saved their lives, ya know? You really were a hero.”
Deimos smiled, shaking his head. “Anyone could have done it.”
“Yeah, but they didn’t. You did.” Sophia pointed out. “Even I just had to run. I didn’t even realize I could use my magic to help out until afterwards.” She seemed ashamed about it.
Deimos pursed his lips. “Even I passed out after using a single laser. The amount of water you’d need to create to stop the fires would’ve killed you.”
Sophia giggled, rolling her eyes. “You should pay more attention to your magic class. You can’t die from overusing magic. You just pass out and can’t do any more.”
Deimos pouted dramatically. “I can’t help it, he goes over the most boring aspects!”
“Oh yeah?” Sophia laid back, relaxing more. “What do you want to learn?”
“...I dunno.” Deimos shrugged. “Maybe how to fight. Fly, teleport, all the fun stuff.” He imagined himself, several years down the road, flying around and shooting lasers from his eyes at criminals, saving the day. It was a nice fantasy, but if the events at the concert had proven anything, it was that heroes didn’t really exist.
“Well… let’s do it.” Sophia glanced up at him. “Let’s learn it all. We can go hunt down criminals and stuff.”
“What, like the Assassins’ Guild?” Deimos snorted.
“What? No! I meant like heroes.” Sophia pouted, turning away. “I can’t see you killing anyone. Assassins need to kill their targets, you’d probably just tell them off.”
“I can be mean when I need to!” Deimos protested.
“Uh-huh. That’s why you cave every time Dawn gives you puppy-dog eyes.” Sophia teased, lightly shoving him. “You’re soft.”
“Hmph. That’s being nice to my family. And you. I’m not that nice to anyone else.” Deimos shook his head.
“I saw you helping Scott with his homework the other day.” Sophia raised an eyebrow.
“...Shut up.” Deimos huffed, much to Sophia’s amusement.
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“How’s it going at the hospital?” Achlys asked, hugging Lilis close to him as they sat on the couch.
“Not bad.” Lilis murmured. “I’m still not able to do a lot of the intense tasks, but they always need more hands on deck. You remember Doctor Aerin?”
“Deimos’ birth doctor, yeah.” Achlys nodded, humming. “You work with him?”
“He’s my direct supervisor. I’m functioning as his assistant for now. They say if I keep up, I might be able to become a practicing family doctor. Only for prescriptions and diagnoses, but it’d be a massive upgrade.” Lilis smiled softly. “What about you? Now that you’re free from that deal, what are you going to do?”
Achlys shrugged. He didn’t need to do anymore. Lilis made enough money to afford her own medicine now, as well as family expenses. Overall, he didn’t even technically need to get a job. “I might just focus on Deimos and Dawn for now.” He sighed. “I need time to recover, honestly.”
Lilis chuckled. “They’d like that. Deimos needs you, I think. He’s going through puberty already. Got himself a girlfriend.”
“I haven’t missed quite that much.” Achlys huffed, rolling his eyes. “Sophia’s a good girl. But… Yeah, I definitely need to talk with Deimos. Ever since that concert, he’s been a bit more closed off.”
“With Solomon stealing credit like that, I’m not surprised. Having his trust in authority broken like that…” Lilis shook her head. She knew Deimos would recover easily enough, but that didn’t make it any less annoying that someone had hurt her child like that. If she ever got her hands on Solomon…
“Maybe. It might be more than that.” Achlys pursed his lips. “He is growing up.”
“Oh don’t remind me.” Lilis sighed dramatically. “I’m an old woman already.”
“Oh hush, you’re barely thirty.” Achlys chuckled, leaning down and giving her a peck on the lips. “You’re still the same beautiful young woman I fell for.”
“And you’re still the adorkable pain in the ass I married.” Lilis smirked, before shaking her head. “Anyway, I don’t think I’m going to feel safe with Deimos going to a concert any time soon.”
“Not without one of us, for sure.” Achlys nodded. “I don’t care why it happened, I’m not trusting them if they can’t even protect Kordan’s daughter. Especially since Solomon seemed shady before this mess…”
“It’s going to be hard to trust him or even Kordan himself now…” Lilis sighed. She knew it was insane to expect Kordan to be everywhere, but if he couldn’t even protect his own daughter, despite all his power… Though, she privately acknowledged the hypocrisy in her thoughts. She was entirely unable to protect Deimos or Dawn, but there was a difference in the power dynamics. Kordan could level cities with a thought. She’d be lucky to level herself.
“He wanted to learn how to fight.” Achlys spoke up after a long moment of silence.
“Oh? Really?” Lilis tilted her head, amused at the idea. Deimos was still just a child, and he already wanted to learn? No one could ever accuse him of lacking drive.
“Yeah. I’ve got an old friend I can have him learn from. A sniper from the Verbain Skirmishes.” Achlys replied, thinking back on what he’d seen happen to those who came back from that event. It might not’ve been a true war, but it didn’t lessen the effect it had on the survivors.
“Is that safe?” Lilis questioned.
Achlys understood her hesitance. Despite his own adoration for the man, Orion still had PTSD, and had flashbacks around once a month. Either way, Deimos would be safe. Orion was trustworthy, and his husband, Jorge, just as much. “I’m sure it is.” He nodded firmly. “Orion and Jorge are incredible people, they just… didn’t really luck out in life.”
“What will they be teaching him?”
“Well, Orion still wants to pass on his skills with a sniper rifle, and Jorge loves teaching hand to hand. They’ll both teach him magical control too.” Achlys shrugged, not sure what all they’d teach him. He trusted them either way. “Dunno what else, but they were special forces.”
“That explains why they’d have enough free time.” Lilis grimaced. Despite their mutual distaste for the military, there was no denying veterans tended to live comfortably. If not for her condition, she’d have been tempted to go that route herself. “Well, alright. What about Dawn?”
“I was hoping you’d know someone at your job who could help her.” Achlys admitted. “I… Theodore is a liar, and he would probably start experimenting on her. General practice doctors would be a lot more open to it.”
“There’s the issue of time, but… alright. I’ll talk to the doctors and see if anyone is willing, or if they know anyone who would be.” Lilis sighed, snuggling closer to Achlys. “For now, let’s just enjoy the night. Our kids are safe, they’re growing up stronger, and they’ll be happy. No point having a panic attack about things we can’t change.”
Achlys chuckled. “You’re right… I’m gonna grab a beer. Do you want anything?” He asked, standing up to go into the kitchen.
Lilis couldn’t help her worried expression. “No, I’m good.” Despite no longer having to deal with the stress of the experiments, Achlys was still drinking more heavily than she was comfortable with. He wasn’t hurting himself or anything, but it was still… different.
“Alright. How about we watch one of our old movies?”
“Sure, hun. That sounds great.” Lilis was just happy they were all safe and sound.