Drenched in a potent mixture of sweat and tears, Adonis rose from his slumber and looked at his hands.

The boy's calloused hands were decorated by a thick coating of blood that never seemed to end.

"Disgusting..."

Strangely, whenever the blood dripped, ready to stain the pale sheets, it vanished into thin air, as if it had never exitsted at all.

DRIP DRIP DRIP

{Still hallucinating? Just when I was about to congratulate you.}

Ignoring the deity's taunts, Adonis studied the blood and clenched his hands tightly.

"I've accepted that I've killed, and will kill again... but it doesn't mean 'they' have."

{Who?}

"Them..." Turning his head to the side, Adonis confronted a horrifying sight.

Spirits...

Spirits occupied every corner of his room, standing on the empty floor infront of his bed, seated on his couch, and some even lying right next to him.

These spirits were beings he knew quite well, everysingle life he had taken, had escaped his nightmare and manifested themselves around him.

AWOOO

GROWL

CHIRP

BARK

They screamed, howled, barked, and chirped incessantly.

Oddly, unlike the spirits of the magical creatures, Wendy remained silent. She merely stood opposite the boy's bed, staring at him intently.

Ignoring the spirit that continued to glare at him menacingly, Adonis exited the comfort of his bed and began preparing for himself fot the day ahead.

After neatly making his spirit infested bed, Adonis headed to his kitchen and casually cleaned up the mess left behind by the Elder.

Satisfied with with his room's state, apart from the spirit infestation, he removed all his clothes and stepped into the shower, choosing a quick cleanse opposed to a long bath.

***

25 minutes later.

Now fully dressed in his school uniform and prepared for the day ahead, Adonis made his way toward the door.

Just before stepping out, he glanced into the large mirror on his wardrobe out of habit.

Reflecting back at him was his usual appearance, though oddly he was still drenched in an endless coating of blood. Behind him, the same spirits lurked, following him wherever he went.

Accepting this was now his life with a soft sigh, Adonis left his dormitory, locking his door behind him.

'Am I really that late?' Noticing there were no students roaming the halls as usual, Adonis shrugged.

'Oh well, no breakfast then.'

***

10 minutes later.

Closing the wooden sliding door behind him, Adonis entered Class 1A. As he gazed upon the vacated seats, a frown creased his forehead, the gears moving at a much slower pace than they usually did.

"Adonis?" Seated in the large wooden desk in the forefront of the class, Hiram tilted her head confusedly at the boy.

"Hiram, where's the rest of the class?" Still perplexed by the odd situation, Adonis approached the assistant.

"Um, probably still asleep, training or doing whatever?"

"Whatever? Why aren't they in class?"

"Because... It's the weekend?" Hiram frowned, growing increasingly concerned about Adonis's forgetfulness.

"Hehe...Right, the weekend." Scratching his head, embarrased, Adonis diverted his gaze from Hiram.

"Adonis, are you okay?" Pushing the papers on her desk to the side, Hiram dedicated her full attention to Adonis.

"Ye-" Stopping himself from lying midsentence, Adonis looked at Hiram, his countenace complicated.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"No, to be honest..."

"Why? What's wrong." Under the impression that Adonis would confide in her about his daily school struggles or the typical problems associated with being a teenager, Hiram patiantly waited for the boy's response.

"I-I killed, I finally did it. And now I'm being haunted." Rotating his neck, his gaze scanning the room, acknowledging the spirits that now occupied the vacant space.

"Oh my..." As the person who knew the boy best after the Devil God, Hiram empathized.

"Adonis... You're not a bad person." Aware that she wouldn't be able to offer the boy any words of wisdom, battle advice, or even scold him for his actions, she simply enveloped him.

She gave the boy a warm, empathetic hug.

She provided him with the thing he needed most: consolation.

"I-" Choking on his words and involuntarily crying, Adonis wrapped his arms around Hiram's waist, leaving himself completely vulnerable.

{You're pathetic.}

After embracing the boy for ten minutes of silence, Hiram lifted her head from his chest and sniffed.

"Why are you the one crying?" Adonis chuckled and wiped the tears from Hiram's cheeks.

"Shut up..." Averting her puffy eyes from the teenaager, Hiram huffed.

"Hehe, let's go get breakfast. I'm hungry." Refusing to focus on the gloomy topic, Adonis thought about his stomach.

"Breakfast?"

"Yeah, I haven't eaten all morning. I thought I was late for school." Adonis chuckled, walking towards the door while brushing past the spirits.

"You realize it's afternoon right?" Abandoning the paperweek on the desk, Hiram followed closely behind the boy.

"Afternoon?"

{Yeah dumbass.}

'You knew and you didn't think to tell me?' Adonis sighed.

{You didn't ask.} The deity shrugged, unbothered by the boy's irritation.

"Where are we going, the cafeteria is in the other direction." Hiram asked curiously.

"There's this place in the city famous for its panis focacius, I really wanna try it!" Adonis gleamed.

(Panis focacius- A Roman dish that's often considered to be pizza's precursor, is a flatbread topped with a variety of different ingrediants, such as cheeses, meats, vegetables, and more.)

"Yeah, it's really good."

"Huh?!" Feeling betrayed, Adonis abruptly halted in his tracks and turned to face Hiram, his silver eyes softly vibrating with intensity.

'She tried it without me?!'

"Or so I've heard..." Averting her gaze from the boy, Hiram chuckled nervously.

"Hiram... Did you eat it without me?" With every word he spoke, Adonis's eyes vibrated more violently, gradually abandoning their silver hue and transforming into a piercing shade of orange.

"Of course not..." Hiram softly muttered out her reply, refusing to meet the boy's gaze out of guilt.

"Oh okay..." Choosing to believe her out of pure delusion, Adonis exhaled in relief.

{What a child.}

'I won't deny that.'

"C'mon, let's go!" Grabbing Hiram's arm, Adonis dahsed out of the academy's academic block.

"WAIT!"

***

25 minutes later

Seated in a small restuarant illuminated by sunlight streaming through massive windows, Adonis sat at a small table opposite Hiram, practically drooling into the plate in front of him.

{Have some decorum Oizys, the food isn't going anywhere.}

"It looks so good!" Ignoring the deity, Adonis fixed his eyes on his plate, studying the food resting on it.

The fresh flatbread was adorned with the toppings he had meticulously chosen (he had insisted on extra of everything).Its aroma assaulted his nostrils, filling him with a deep sense of rabid hunger, an emotion he was fighting to control...

A battle he would inevitably lose.

However, could you blame him?

Since the beginning of time, man couldn't fight against his instincts...

For centuries, no man has been able to totally conquer gluttony.

So who was he to try to fight it?

"It smells amazing!"

"I know right, wait till you taste it." Picking up her cutlery, Hiram smiled gently.

"What?" Shooting Hiram a glare, Adonis tilted his head intensly.

"I mean, I'm sure it tastes as good as it smells and looks." Smiling nervously, Hiram yet again averted his gaze from Adonis's.

"Let's dig in!" Choosing to ignore the fact that the young lady had clearly already had the dish before, Adonis lifted up the large flat bread, dismissing the knife and fork on the table.

{It looks like pizza.}

'What's that?'

{Nothing, eat your food.}

'You don't have to tell me twice!' Gladly obeying the deity, Adonis devoured a large chunk of the dish in one bite, causing the melted cheese to stretch elegantly.

"Divine!"

{Did Pan ever teach table manners?} He snarled.

'She did...' Ignoring both the deity's remark and the guilt associated with eating messily, Adonis took another bite, completely devouring the flatbread, reducing it to mere crumbs.

"More!" Dissatisfied with the quantity of food, Adonis raised his hand to call upon the waiter.

The boy was determined to devour every last piece of food the restuarant had to offer.

Hiram calmly placed a neatly cut piece of flatbread into her mouth, unfazed by the boy's eating habits.

Unlike the deity, she had come to accept the boy's excessive appetite and saw it as one of his many quirks.

"Wow, you guys are really quick!" Adonis couldn't help but drool on the new plate the waiter placed before him.

His mouth watered uncontrollably, and with each passing second, his cravings intensified, his desires becoming beastlike.

'Maxwell would love this.'

'I'm glad he's kinda back to normal, he looked devasted earlier...' With a gentle smile, Hiram observed Adonis closely, her concern palpable.

"What's up?" Cheese, beef, and grease adorned Adonis's face as he lifted his gaze from his third plate and looked aat Hiram. When their eyes met, he tilted his head in confusion.

"N-nothing, you just have food on your face." Turning red with embarrassment, Hiram pushed aside her thoughts.

"Hm? Where?" Adonis placed his hands on different parts of his face, trying to locate the stray food.

Seeing his efforts were futile, he arched his brows in frustration.

"Right here..." Leaning over the table, Hiram gently placed her thumb near his lips, brushing off the chunks of food.