Taurael’s POV

I panted, my eyes barely believing what I just saw.

William was knocked unconscious, the black skin beginning to recede.

I broke my leg with that kick, but it took everything I had to knock him out.

Zeus was panting, his light dimmer, and his aura flickering, mana blood falling from most places on his body.

“Athena, you sa-“

“Shut it before I kill you myself. I saved William, you were an unfortunate side effect.”

William’s skin was nearly entirely black. One of his eyes glowing.

Hera leaned over and spoke.

“Its… not possible.”

Poseidon snapped.

“How did that happen?”

I wasn’t sure if they were more shocked by Zeus’s defeat, or by William’s… transformation.

Then his eye went back to normal, as did the rest of his head.

His skin slowly reverted to it’s normal paleness, but he remained down for the count.

I stood, and I looked at Hera, who was carrying Zeus.

“Take him away, before I finish the job.”

She shivered and grabbed Poseidon’s hand before they fled, dragging that pathetic excuse for an atronach with them.

I picked up William and grabbed Ruby.

“Let’s go home for now, Ruby. Papa needs to rest.”

I looked at Grace who nodded. She recovered the quickest. Even if she was still at a loss for words, she knew that as long as she could keep the thing quiet, that William could hide it upon his awakening.

But I needed to assure they’d stay quiet.

“If… any of you say a word of what happened this day… I will kill you myself.”

I spiraled my power, letting the regular people quiver, then I stretched my wings, but Ruby hopped off.

“Control.”

Then all of the regular people began to sway, their eyes glowing a bright white.

“You will remember nothing of what happened between Papa and Zeus, you will remember that the two got into a fist fight because Zeus was being overly vulgar towards Mama, and Papa won, shutting him up, but he got really hurt.”

The people nodded. Then Ruby popped back into my hands.

“Release.”

I took off before the residual control wore off, and I saw Grace fixing the sidewalk.

“Good job, Ruby.”

“Yeah… I used Papa’s magic.”

“You did. You’re incredible.”

“Will Papa be okay?”

“Do you doubt he will?”

“He… looked like the meanie while fighting Zeus.”

“Yes, he did…”

And that nickname… Little Light… It was almost like he was a second Hunter… but William was far stronger… It was like I was looking at a pure demon… his power level was higher than anything I’d ever seen. But… it only spiked after his transformation.

Could becoming a demon be that much of a power boost? I knew demon stones could empower you temporarily, but… a demon… a demon had it in it until it died. But, that glee… it was unnerving seeing William like that.

I landed at the flat and opened the door with my key. I walked in and laid him down onto his bed.

“Rest.”

He took on Zeus… and won… but what we discovered. I wonder if he’d remember what happened.

Ruby walked over to him and laid next to him, then he smiled and subconsciously wrapped his arm around her.

I smiled and decided to lay on top of him in my regular form.

I looked up and saw his sleeping smiling face and I smiled too.

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“I’m happy you’re okay…”

_

I woke up with the nudging of Aoi.

“Everyone else in in the kitchen.”

I yawned and fluttered up before flying groggily towards the kitchen.

I saw Grace, Brent, and Amy. Each of them having serious expressions.

“Is he okay?”

“Yeah, he’s good.”

I landed on the table.

“From the looks of it, he should wake up by tomorrow.”

“That’s good.”

Grace looked at me.

“I think we all know what happened, for a short time… William became a demon.”

I sighed.

“Yeah… it definitely looked that way.”

Brent looked irritated.

“So… we now know that the emotion theory was correct, but what was it?”

I looked at him.

“Hatred.”

“What?”

“William felt pure hatred and wanted nothing more than to simply kill him in that moment.”

“I… see… how do you know?”

“Because I felt the same… If William didn’t start turning, I think I would have instead.”

“I… see…”

All four people shuddered, imagining me as a demon.

Aoi asked a good question.

“How… was he so powerful?”

I shook my head.

“I don’t know, but from the looks of it, he was able to overwhelm Zeus with both magic and physical. That means that he was far stronger than him in that moment.”

“Think he will still be that strong.”

I shook my head.

“I think it’s something that happens only as a demon, that… massive boost of strength.”

Then Grace thought for a moment.

“Could the Hunter had been a moderately strong fire user that was demonized?”

I nodded.

“I thought of that as well, it seems likely…”

Then Brent grimaced…

“He sounded so similar to him too. It was like looking at a supercharged Hunter.”

I nodded.

“I got that feeling when looking at him too.”

Grace looked at me.

“How did you even beat him?”

“Pure surprise.”

My leg, while mostly healed already, still hurt like it was being incinerated in hell fire.

“My leg broke too. It was like his head was a massive metal ball.”

Amy looked at me with concern.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, my bones heal incredibly quickly, it just needs to rest a bit more.”

She sighed in relief.

Then I shushed everyone, I felt a presence. An annoyingly familiar one.

“Hello Morgan.”

“Ah, Wings. Fancy seeing you here, I want answers.”

“About what?”

“What was that massive aura? It caused my entire forest to shake. Has a powerful demon entered this realm?!”

“It tried, but me and William stopped it, he’s currently resting.”

“I see, and why was Zeus there.”

“He was having a concert. He was, however, no help, in fact, he was indirectly responsible for the demon’s appearance.”

She sighed.

“As typical for that accursed atronach.”

Then she looked at the company.

“Well, I expect a full report upon his awakening.”

“Got it.”

Then she looked at Grace and smiled.

“Grace, I know that you probably are able to use William’s Tesseract to meet with Roman, but feel free to visit if you want.”

Then she sunk back into the roots ingrained in the wall. I waited for her aura to fade then spoke again.

“She is irritating as all get out.”

I sighed deeply.

Grace began mimicking her.

“’Feel free to visit.’ As if we’re friends.”

I sighed. Morgan could be irritating. Her pride held no bounds, but she was at least better than Zeus…

“What possessed him to go that far?”

They looked at me. Grace raising a brow.

“What do you mean?”

I sighed.

“Well, Zeus is a scumbag, no doubt, but he almost seemed like someone gave him sixty level points in scumbaggery since I last saw him.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, he usually doesn’t give a second look at children, but then, he flat out wanted to buy Ruby.”

“Yeah… Roman really undersold him as a scumbag.”

“But… that’s beyond how he usually acted.”

“Do you think something happened?”

I nodded.

“I’m going to seek out Hera, see if anything could have happened to increase his jerkiness.”

“Good idea.”

I flapped my wings and began to fly.

As I fluttered out the window, I was thinking on what it meant that William, although temporary, became a demon.

No one has seen a demon form… maybe because usually the demon kills everyone in the vicinity the moment of formation…

I sighed as I flew in the sky. Normally, I’d enjoy such a flight, but given the previous events of the night, my mind was filled with worry and curiosity. I was definitely surprised by Ruby’s power; she instantly was able to control everyone there. I could only imagine how much stronger she would get as she grew up.

But William… he wasn’t really hurt by the situation, but he was definitely fatigued. But, knowing him, he’ll be more concerned about my leg the moment he gets up. I swear, his selflessness is going to get him killed.

But… that transformation was terrifying. He simply stood up… with pitch black limbs where his old ones were cut off. And… that smile… It was like looking at pure wickedness. How could someone so kind become that cruel in an instant. If me and Ruby didn’t stop him… I shuddered considering the possibility.

Though… the amount of power he gained… he went from being demolished to faster than that old man he calls Gramps… I’d have to ask him after William wakes up if he can give any ideas.

Then I noticed it, Hera was nearby, along with Poseidon. I landed in front of them, making them both jump.

“What do you want, Athena?”

I looked at Hera.

“I want to know what happened.”

“Your demo-“

“Not that.”

Poseidon stepped in front of Hera with a look, warning her to stay back.

“Alright, shoot, what is it you are wanting to know about.”

I looked at him.

“Zeus is a twit, we all know it, but he wasn’t that bad last I saw him. I expected the flirting and threats towards me, but why did he go after Ruby.”

Poseidon sighed.

“That would be an atronach thing. That child was incredibly powerful. Her simple stepping made me shiver, Zeus recognized that and wanted to purchase her so he could develop her power until her maturing… then yeah…”

“I see, so he was being greedy and a creep.”

“Yes. I plan to scold him very severely.”

“Do so, if he tries that again… then I’ll be the one butchering him.”

I gave a look that made the two atronachs shiver. They recognized that I was far stronger now than I was as Athena of Greece.

I took off and decided to grab some food to cook for William when he wakes up.

“Pizza? Yeah, that sounds good.”

I had a bit of money as William gave me some occasionally.

I landed at the convenience store and hid my wings before heading in.

I saw the employee that William said was a good guy, he was always here.

I went into the aisle and grabbed the pizza, then I got to the counter and bought the pizza.

Heading out, I flew back to the flat, everyone but Aoi left at that point.

I placed the pizza in the fridge and walked into the room to find Aoi laying next to William, her face stained with tears.

I moved the blanket over her and returned to my regular form.

I changed into my sleepwear and laid down on his stomach.

I looked up, my eyelids beginning to flutter with exhaustion. He smiled, his obsidian hair having almost a red glow… I looked at his arm and saw that it had black markings on it. I sighed and scooted up, putting my head above his heart. The light beating made me groggy, my feathered wing blanketing my body.

I sighed one last time, my worries fading along with it. Then, I waited for the darkness of sleep to take me.