Somewhere, West Virginia, USA.

"Oh he's coming!" She said excitedly.

Casius rolled his eyes. He sometimes forgot that She was an eldritch entity that had the power to tear the fabric of reality when She sat in Her chair bouncing around like a little kid waiting for their favorite cartoon to come on.

"Aren't you excited too Casius?!"

"Positively vibrating Mistress." He stated with mock enthusiasm.

"We knew she was going to tell him, but We didn't think it would be right away!" She did a little clap in excitement as She and Casius waited the arrival of Jeb.

Jeb, meanwhile, was less than thrilled. The talk he just had with the 3 kobolds was amusing at first. But grew more and more annoying as they insisted that what they said was true. That not only was his mother some horror from the void. But that HE was one as well!

He was not amused, Jeb thought as he stomped his way up the mountain to his mother. He didn't know what trick she pulled to make the kobolds think that she was some kind of monster or that he was one too. But it needed to be sorted. It was bad enough hearing from his dad that she was some sort of creature. Now he had to hear the same from the kobolds?!

Sure she was getting up there in age, he thought. But there comes a time where playing her little mind games takes it too far!

But then he remembered the image in the mirror. The nightmares. Dan Mathers. He shook his head though.

"Just stress is all. That's all it is! All it WAS!"

That's what he kept telling himself at any rate. But the more he said it, whether aloud or in his head, the more it felt wrong. Like he was telling himself a lie to make himself feel better. The more he told it, the more he wanted to believe it.

He growled and slammed a fist into a nearby tree. He scratched his head like there was an itch that just wouldn't go away. He shook his head again but it did little good. It seemed like the more he thought about it the worse his head got.

Before long he was burning a path to his mother's cabin. Every greeting he got from his kin was ignored or unnoticed. His ears were ringing and his heart pounded as his breathing grew ragged with every step.

He was just going to have a simple talk with his Ma is all, he thought. But it felt like he was walking through a battlefield. His nerves were on high alert and his head ached. His fingers twitched from the adrenaline pumping its way throughout his system.

He was a jittery mess as he stood at the threshold. He forced himself to breathe. He balled his hands up into fists and placed them on either side of the worn wooden door and held his head down with his eyes closed. Or maybe he slammed them, he couldn't even tell with how wired he felt.

"Breathe. Just Breathe. 1. 2. 3." He resorted on his old breathing trick he would use whenever his temper started to flare up. He hasn't really needed it lately. Probably because he's been so busy being productive trying to get the kobolds sorted that he hasn't been anything more than mildly annoyed about things.

He still felt like he was getting into a ring when he finally opened the door. But at least he didn't feel like he was on crank.

"Hay Ma."

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"Jeb!" His ma cheered as she stood and embraced him in a warm firm hug.

"Casius." Jeb greeted simply.

"Jebadiah." Casius returned with a smile.

His mom returned to her seat with a wide smile on her face as Jeb took a seat of his own. He shifted uncomfortably for a moment before speaking to Casius.

"Can me and my Ma have a moment Casius?"

But his mom put a hand up.

"It's alright Jeb."

"Ok. Fine. You need to stop your little mind games on my friends!" Jeb snapped.

"Oh? What mind games?" She asked with an innocent smile.

"You know damn well! I don't know what you did but now it's got the lizardfolk thinkin' your some sort of demon!"

"Us? Or you?" She asked simply.

"What?"

"Do they think WE are, or are you afraid that they now think YOU are?"

"T-t-that's not the point! The point-"

"Is you're worried that those looks your Pa gives Us, he gives to you when your not looking? That YOU killed Dan Mathers all those years ago? That what you see in the mirror is what you truly are? That those nightmares don't make you feel scared but instead feel good?" She asked, each question feeling like a knife that dug itself deeper into his head and chest.

With a roar he got up and pointed his finger at her.

"THIS ISN'T A FUCKIN' JOKE!"

"Does it look like We're laughing?" She said, smile still on her face.

"You know what?! I don't have to deal with this!" Jeb stated as he turned to leave the cabin. Only to find the door was gone. Not that there was a hole where it had been, but that it was just plain gone! A solid wall was where it was as if there hadn't ever been a door there in the first place.

Jeb chuckled bitterly.

"Ok. Real funny."

Jeb ran his hands over the wall looking for the doorlatch. But the more he searched the angrier he got. He growled and turned to yell.

"ENOUGH OF YOUR FUCKIN' GAMES!"

He found himself surrounded in gloom and darkness. Only himself and his mom were illuminated in a pale blue glow. Casius and the cabin both were gone. She leaned forward and crossed her hands.

"Why don't you say what you REALLY want to say Jeb?"

Jeb looked around the darkness. His heart hammered and his body twitched and shook. His head was a mess as it felt like it was trying to pull itself apart. One part didn't want to say anything, the other was screaming to utter the words.

"It's all true isn't it."

It wasn't a question.

His mother smiled. Not the usual quirky smile she had whenever she played her tricks and games. Just a smile a mother would have when she would speak to her children.

"It is."

Everything stopped. Every nerve in his body stilled and his mind went silent. The silence stretched even as the darkness faded and the cabin and Casius faded back into view.

"What I saw in the mirror. The nightmares. That's me isn't it?"

She just nodded.

"And Dan Mathers? The other kids?"

"Got what they deserved in the end." She replied.

"They were just kids Ma!"

"And they made your life hell for months."

"That doesn't mean they deserved to die! At least not like they did!" Jeb went quiet after that.

An uncomfortable silence filled the air. Jeb wasn't sure if his Ma and Casius was just trying to give him time to think or if they weren't sure what to say either. He wasn't sure what to think let alone say. His life was a lie. Everything he knew and thought was a lie.

His father lied to him, Ruby lied to him, everybody lied to him.

"Why didn't you ever say anything when I was lil?"

She just shrugged her shoulders.

"It wouldn't have mattered. Whether it was 20 years ago or 20 minutes. This was still going to happen. Sam wanted all this kept from you "for your own good". He wanted nothing to do with any of it. We didn't say anything because, as We said, it didn't matter. This would've happened anyway. We figured you would be better prepared, mentally, if you were older. Telling children they have the potential to be gods either humbles them or turns them into monsters. So We waited."

"What if I don't want to be a god?! What if I just want to be normal?! Regular, normal, Jeb?!"

"That isn't in the cards Jeb. The day is fast approaching where you will have to decide. Either you accept you're not a mortal human, or you die."

"What do you mean I'll die?"

"As bad as you think you'll become. You can become much worse. Your humanity is what will damn you and those around you when the time comes. It will shatter and break and you'll be nothing more than a mad dog. And you'll be put down like one."

His head hurt. Not the existential force he was feeling when he came here. But just a regular headache. Like trying to force yourself to do paperwork. It was just too much. Her words were true, he knew that much. His Ma might like playing mind games but this was too much for her to play, especially on him. It all made some sort of sick sense in a way too.

Like waking up and remembering what happened after too much drinking. You might not like what you remember, but at least it all made sense, sorta. But that didn't make his head any better.

"I-i gotta go."

Jeb got up. Casius made to put a reaffirming hand on Jeb's shoulder. But he snapped and smacked away the hand.

"D-d-don't touch me! J-j-just don't."

He made for the, now reappeared, door and left. No calls or greetings were returned even as he left. He had too much that now occupied his mind.

The Crone and Casius watched Jeb leave.

"Will he be alright Mistress?"

"He's a strong boy. Give him time." She stated in return.

Jeb didn't feel very strong though as he descended the mountain. His head felt fuzzy. He wanted to just stop and cry against a nearby tree. His limbs were heavy with every step he took. It felt like he was moving in slow motion.

At some point he had enough. He screamed and yelled and thrashed. Pain, sorrow, anger. Like a dam broke he swung his fists at anything around him, even the air, just trying to let off steam, to feel better, to feel normal again.

He was tired. Just tired. Eventually his rage gave out and he sat with his back to a tree. Everything felt numb. Then he felt something on his face. It took him a moment to realize he was crying. Then the dam broke again, and he wailed and sobbed.