By My Side - Sam/Aomaris Fanfiction

47) Son of a Demon

The voice of the dragon faded and I was left, standing in the throne room of the Demon Lord's castle and extremely unsure of what was about to happen. My test was to see Sam's past? Why would that change how I think of him? A child's laughter broke me out of my thoughts and I spun around to see a tiny demon run into the hall. Green handlebar horns, green incubus taint... This was a miniature version of Sam and I had to put my hand over my mouth to prevent myself from squealing. He was absolutely adorable as a child. Not that he wasn't adorable anyway, but...

Sam ran over to the window, staring out of it eagerly. I watched, already fascinated as another tiny demon flew through the window and landed behind Sam. I recognised this one as well, however vaguely. This must be a young version of Gaku, the winged demon Sam had stolen bread for in his later years. I felt myself melt as I watched them start to play together happily. I didn't think I'd ever seen Sam so carefree or joyful as he ran around his friend. I wondered for a second where Sam's brothers were. I knew James would likely be studying, but what of the others? Maybe they were with their mothers.

"AOMARIS!!" A voice boomed from the end of the hall. Gaku, suddenly terrified, spread his wings and shot out of the window, leaving Sam by himself to face the wrath of whoever had shouted. Nerves flooded through me as I watched the Demon Lord stride towards his third son. "What have I told you about hanging around with commoner demons?!" His father yelled. Sam flinched.
"But Dad, Gaku is really nice! He's fun to play with! I'm not allowed to play with my brothers..." He sulked. The Demon Lord glared at him.
"You think misbehaving like this will change my mind on that?! You will only bring them down! Even Izroul and Zecaeru behave better than you do, and they're both younger than you!" Sam glared at his father.
"Well, maybe that's because you're mean to me!" He snapped.

I gasped as the Demon Lord whipped his hand across Sam's face, knocking his son to the ground. Sam cried out in pain and clutched his cheek. The Demon Lord stared him down.
"I treat you how you deserve to be treated. Get up." Sam scrambled to his feet, trembling slightly. "If I ever see that demon in here again, it will end so much worse for you. Understand?" His son nodded, blinking away tears of pain. Seemingly satisfied, the Demon Lord left the room, leaving Sam on his own in the throne room.

The room around me flashed white and Sam vanished and was replaced by younger versions of his brothers, with the exception of James. Erik asked the question running through my mind.
"Where is Aomaris?" Matthew sighed.
"Father wanted him. He's through there." He pointed at a doorway and I approached it slowly, but sped up when I heard a cry of pain. Peeking inside, I laid eyes on a slightly older Sam curled up in the corner of the room, trapped there by his father. I gaped in horror as the Demon Lord kicked his son in the stomach, snarling at him.
"You call yourself a brute demon?! You're weak, Aomaris! Get up!" Sam tried to stand but buckled to his knees immediately, grasping his stomach and squeezing his eyes shut. "I said GET UP!" Sam either refused to move or physically couldn't and his father growled at him. A punch connected with Sam's head and he went down immediately, unconscious. The Demon Lord growled again and nudged his limp son with his foot.
"Pathetic..." He strode out of the room and a minute later, Sam's brothers entered.
"Aomaris!" Matthew cried out, rushing to his brother. Sam stirred slowly and opened an eye to gaze at him, then looked at Erik and Damien.

"What happened?" Erik asked him gently. Sam grunted with pain, pushing himself into a sitting position.
"Nothing, Uzaeris. I'm fine."
"No, you're not..." Damien said quietly.
"Izroul..." Sam growled, but Damien continued anyway.
"Father has been beating him. He passed out after Father punched him just now."
"Wh- How long has this been going on, Aomaris?!" Erik snapped, looking pissed. Sam groaned.
"Does it matter? I said I'm fine."
"Aomaris, you can't keep taking this. You'll get yourself killed..." Matthew said to him, sounding extremely concerned. Sam glared at all of them.
"I SAID I'M FINE!" He shouted. He jumped to his feet, despite the pain it obviously caused him, and limped out of the room. His brothers stared after him, all looking very worried.