Morning rolled in properly this time — sunlight through broken windows, birds chirping on what remained of the roof, and Nyxar in the kitchen like nothing happened.
The narrator cleared his throat.
"And here we see the apex predator of the underworld… making pancakes. Truly terrifying."
Nyxar, calm as always, plated up an alarming amount of food. Ember blinked awake at the smell.
"Did… you cook?"
Nyxar nodded. "It's edible."
Bug, sitting down instantly: "That's all I need to hear."
They all ate — Ember, Spirit, Bug, the kid, and of course the mini steel bear now perched on the table like an overenthusiastic hamster, occasionally trying to steal eggs.
The kid giggled. "He's hungry too!"
Nyxar, monotone: "He doesn't have a digestive system."
The kid: "Then he's pretending!"
"And that's how imaginary playtime met existential horror," sighed the narrator.
Breakfast went… fine. Mostly. Until Ember wiped her mouth and stood up.
"Alright. I'm calling Sophia. We need to know who this kid is."
She looked at Bug and Spirit.
"You two — keep an eye on him."
Bug saluted lazily. "Got it."
Spirit muttered, "Define keep an eye."
Ember didn't answer. She just glared until they both sat up straight.
She turned to Nyxar. "And you?"
Nyxar replied, "Forest. Checking for leftover assassins."
"Good. Don't bring any back this time."
Nyxar blinked once — which the narrator translated as no promises — and walked out.
One Hour Later
"And so began the calm, quiet morning," the narrator said.
"Just kidding. It lasted five minutes."
Bug and Spirit, left unsupervised with a child and a semi-sentient steel plushie, made the single worst babysitting duo in existence.
It started small.
The kid threw a pillow.
Mini Bear caught it.
Bug threw it back.
Spirit got hit in the face.
Then came round two.
Within fifteen minutes, the house looked like a battlefield. The couch was missing limbs. Chairs were being used as fortifications. Mini Bear was dual-wielding spoons.
Spirit shouted, "This is not what Ember meant by keep watch!"
Bug yelled back, "I'm watching! I just didn't say I'd stop it!"
The kid laughed maniacally. Mini Bear chittered like a tiny war drum.
Pillow feathers floated in the air like snow.
A bookshelf fell.
Something caught fire — somehow.
The narrator wheezed.
"Yesterday: civil war. Today: the sequel nobody asked for — 'Pillow Warfare II: The Softening.'"
Ember Returns
Hours later, Ember opened the door. Sophia followed behind her, smiling politely.
Then both froze.
The house looked worse than yesterday. And yesterday had corpses, blood, and a partial collapse of the eastern wall.
Sophia whispered, "What… happened here?"
Ember's eye twitched. "...If this house goes through another chaos tornado, I swear — I will personally drag every one of them to hell with me."
Everything. Stopped.
The kid froze mid-throw.
Mini Bear dropped his spoon.
Bug and Spirit both raised their hands like children caught stealing candy.
"And for the first time," said the narrator, "true fear was achieved."
Aftermath
After a long, awkward cleanup, everyone sat down on what remained of the couch — which now had only one arm, three legs, and the soul of a tired veteran.
Sophia sighed, pinching her nose. "Alright. Kid, what's your name?"
The boy smiled proudly. "I'm Belos."
Sophia nodded. "Belos… last name?"
"Gold!"
Sophia blinked. "...Belos Gold?"
Her eyes went wide.
"And there it is," whispered the narrator. "The sound of a woman's sanity snapping in real time."
Sophia leaned forward, voice trembling. "You wouldn't happen to be from a… merchant family, would you?"
Belos tilted his head, thinking. "Uhh… I think I heard my parents say something about that once."
Sophia dropped her head into her hands. "Oh, gods. No."
Ember frowned. "What? What's wrong?"
Sophia groaned. "He's the son of the richest merchants in the entire land."
There was silence. Then Ember said, "...Oh. Shit."
Sophia lifted her head, eyes wide. "Assassinated?!"
Ember nodded casually. "Yeah, uh… this kid was sneaking around our house at midnight. Nyxar heard him and almost sliced his throat off."
Sophia gasped. "What?!"
Ember waved it off. "Then the kid explained people were trying to kill him. Nyxar went outside, killed like… four assassins? Brought back two for interrogation."
Sophia blinked slowly. "And what happened to those two?"
Ember looked at Bug. "Well?"
Bug froze. "...No comment."
The narrator whispered in horror,
"I'm having traumatic flashbacks. Let's just move on."
Ember sighed and continued. "Anyway, Nyxar calmed the kid down, gave him Mini Bear."
She pointed at the plush-sized steel bear now nibbling on a cushion.
Sophia blinked. "Wait — what? Since when did you guys get a bear plush?"
Ember shrugged. "That's one of Nyxar's summons."
Sophia just stared. "Aren't those things supposed to be, I don't know, massive?"
"Yeah," Ember said. "He made a mini version."
Sophia's eye twitched. "He made a what?!"
Ember waved her hand. "Don't worry about it. We don't understand it either."
"She says that like it's comforting," muttered the narrator.
Sophia slumped back on the couch. "So let me get this straight.
One — you're housing the son of the richest merchant alive.
Two — assassins tried to kill him.
Three — Nyxar personally murdered six professional killers.
Four — you somehow have a baby bear now.
Five — and none of you are even remotely panicking?"
The narrator coughed nervously.
"Correction: Ember is panicking. She's just accepted that her roommate Nyxar is an ancient god of weirdness and decided that fighting it is futile. Also… I ship it. Don't judge me."