That night, after finishing playing video games with Jack, Damien went to sleep on the floor. The moonlight appeared through the window, and he stared up at the ceiling blankly, lost in thought.
'So Arthur really is… a bad person. He did tell me he was going to be the main enemy of the world, but I can't imagine this is the right way to go about it.'
'Stupid idiot. No, is he even a stupid idiot who thinks he's playing the role of the self sacrificial hero, or is he just outright a terrorist?'
'If he's the latter, then what am I even gonna do? Will I one day have to… kill him?'
'I hope not.'
Damien sighed, closing his eyes and wishing to get some sleep.
…
He just couldn't seem to sleep. And when he got up, his eyes adjusted to the dark, he looked over at Jack, who was still sleeping. Damien snuck out of the room and went downstairs to eat some more rolls.
And, to his surprise, he saw his mom, Anastasia Assas, sitting down at the dining table.
It was still quite dark, and he could only barely make out her features due to his senses being enhanced by awakening, so naturally his vision-adapted eyes were quite excellent.
He stood still, careful not to put too much weight, lest he make a creaking noise. And when it was dead silent, he heard sniffles.
'Ah. I wonder if she got the news too?'
Damien stepped out from behind a wall, to which Anastasia quickly wiped her eyes. Damien went over to her, sitting down and taking a bread roll.
"Hey, mom," he said gently. She looked at him with a hint of sadness, to which he asked her what was wrong.
"It's about Arthur. I… I'm so sorry, I abandoned you for years, and now when I finally appear into your life, I just go off and talk about my other son, but—"
"It's fine. Sure, growing up without a mom was pretty hard, but I turned out mostly alright, didn't I? And I understand, I'm pretty worried about Arthur too. I kinda didn't care if I met him growing up, but now that I actually know a bit about him, I feel worried more than I expected, y'know?" He said with a small smile.
"Yes, I know. You… You're a good kid, Damien. I'm sorry I dragged you into this," she told him. Damien snorted a laugh, before shaking his head.
"It's all good, I promise. So, what's got you so worried about Arthur?"
"I've been told what he's been doing. Recently, he attacked the Onoreq family. They're descendents of the Fire Dragon. And he killed all of the main members, with the exception of the children," she said.
Damien let out an "hk," looking at her with a faint surprise, which he suppressed. He looked down, saying, "ah, okay."
"Not just that, but the world now knows of dragons. This is causing quite an uproar, and the heads of the main families are deciding on whether to declare war upon the Graves family, which Arthur's joined, or if they should just entirely focus on Arthur."
"The world knows about… man, he's… he's going crazy, isn't he? Ahah," Damien awkwardly laughed. He took a bite out of the roll to calm himself, focusing on the chewing before he swallowed properly and thought it over.
'Gosh, I feel so… weird. It's so hard to describe, but it's like, conflicted and whatnot.'
Damien groaned, glancing at his mom.
"So he's serious about wiping out all dragons. Well, no, he did spare the children, so that's something, I guess. But still, man, that's… gosh, he's such a dang idiot. I just wanna punch him or something…!"
Ultimately, Damien relaxed, continuing to groan and moan like he just lost a bet and had to do a dare he didn't want to do.
The problem that Damien had was that it was such an obviously impossible thing to do, and a really stupid idea. If one dragon was enough to wipe out the entire world of dragons, it would have happened by that point already.
Not to mention, he was worrying both Damien and his mother sick, seeing as he was going to get himself hurt and or killed, leaving everyone behind because he wanted to play the role of the "villain."
Even if he spared children, it did not take back the fact that he was killing their parents, traumatizing and hurting innocent kids.
And as Damien hated injustice and cruelty, he felt as though he may, very well, have to one day face Arthur in a battle. And the burden that would place on their mother was bound to be terrible, having to root for one of your children to defeat the other.
And so, Damien's initial goal of saving Arthur and bringing him back to the family, it seemed so far gone, perhaps even impossible. No. That was wrong.
It was impossible.
And that realization broke Damien's heart. He'd never initially deemed things as impossible, and if they were, he wouldn't pay any mind to them, focusing entirely on what was possible.
So, he was now faced with a decision. To betray the impossible and stick with what he'd known to do, or go against himself, allying himself with the impossible.
Never having been faced with such a dilemma before, he opted to give it a lot of thought before he did anything certain. And whatever he did for certain, he wanted to give 100% at it.
…
Damien had fallen asleep in Jack's room, and was awoken early in the morning. He got up, took a shower and afterwards, while the two families were eating breakfast, they discussed the plans for the day.
"The heads of the families have come together to give their agreement. It has been decided, by majority vote, that war is not declared on just Arthur Graves, but the entire family as a whole," the old man in charge of that part of the Ost family said.
"Huh?" Alicia spoke up. "What about that thing?"
Damien looked at her with confusion, saying "what thing?"
Jack nudged his elbow, and told him about Chad. "The Graves family has perhaps the strongest dragon in existence under their belt. However, he's mostly a passive player, so I assume that is the reason that they've decided to wage war on the entire family."
"Ohhhh, okay. Huh, but why the entire family? I understand they're the Death Dragons, and evil, but why all of them, and not just Arthur, who's causing a lot of trouble?"
"That is because," Hiein said, before continuing, "this is a situation which is very rare. Not often can the entire world of dragons unite against one foe. Most consider this a good opportunity to destroy the Graves family for good, and thereby have less competition."
"Ah, okay. And what do you mean by competition?" Damien asked. "Why do dragons fight? Shouldn't all dragons be united?"
"Because we want to prove our legitimacy," Hiein answered. "As dragons, combat is the only manner we know in which to live and settle large conflicts. And, as descendants of powerful dragons, we wish to prove the superiority of us as individuals, families, and the superiority of our ancestor."
"So, the entire Graves family, that's your enemy?"
The adults nodded their heads. Damien looked down, thinking.
'If there are children there, I wonder if they'll be killed as well? Should I just… should I just run away?'
'If I do that, I'll die for sure. And if I were to ally with Arthur, I don't think I'd be willing to kill as many people as he is. Because of that…'
'I guess I have no choice. I don't think he can be saved, and it's just the best option to join them, to avoid allying with someone who kills so many—to save my own life, and more.'
Damien's heart felt burdened. Yet, he did not look back. He made up his mind, the decision was to go against Arthur. Though he felt like a traitor himself, it was the option that made the most sense.
"So, we're going to use Damien Assas as bait," Hiein said. Damien and his mother looked up suddenly, jolting their heads up as they both said a "huh?"
"We're going to attack a household in which the Graves family may be located. We'll be withholding the usage of Ace's, as that will surely lead to destruction, with their Ace being an instant-kill weapon, of course."
"Okay, but why do I have to be bait?" Damien asked quite loudly in panic.
"Arthur Graves is under the impression that you two are allied. While we can pinpoint his location at all times, if he truly does care for you then he's most likely given orders to the rest of the Graves family to not attack you unless absolutely necessary. You will act as a decoy to drop their guard, and we shall kill them."
Hiein continued.
"However, should you desire to kill as well, by all means let us know, and we can get you the proper training, as you've been blessed with a very unique circumstance, Damien."
Damien looked down, swallowing his spit as he held his head in frustration.
'I have no desire to do that. But if I have to, if I must, I guess I've got no choice. Ultimately, this is like a police officer, or a soldier.'
'I'm not the best person, I don't want to get too arrogant and think that I'm an amazing person. But I don't want to be bad, and so, I'll do what I must. If Arthur and the other members of the Death family are going to kill a bunch of people, I'll do what I must.'
'I have to.'