The Fire in the Monster

Flames of Discord

The five sons of the Demon Lord sat around the dining room table in the Mansion, looking grim.

Eric was rubbing his temples, trying to will away the pain threatening to split his head in two. "I am finding it hard to comprehend how any of these options are options at all."

Matthew nodded, arms crossed. "That's because they aren't."

"Well," said Sam, teeth gritted. "They have to be, because allowing a corpse to impregnate the love of my life is not happening."

Sounds of disgust filled the room.

James grimaced, trying to put what he needed to say tactfully. "Sam... I know how deeply you love Mika. We love her too, and I consider her as much my sister as I consider you my brother."

He cleared his throat and looked straight ahead, eyes unfocused. "That is why, when hearing all of the options available to you both, hers is the one which will cause the least pain in the long term."

The look in Sam's eyes became dangerous and murderous. "... What in the actual fuck did you just say-"

James winced, painfully aware that Sam could still best him in a fight any day and that he was making his brother very angry.

"Just," James began, "give me a moment, before you go off the deep end. What they want to do to Mika is heinous. The ramifications of such an action on a girl in her already delicate state could be disastrous. However, I do believe that with the proper support and proper spells, her situation could be temporary. The baby could be born and adopted out within a year, the action blanked from her mind, and..."

"No." Damien's voice cut off his older brother's explanation icily. "We can't let that happen to her. She'll never recover."

James closed his eyes and took a deep steadying breath. "Someone will lose something precious to them, there is no way to fix that. It is a year of her life or all of Sam's life. We must be logical. I hate it, I am simply trying to make the right choice, not the emotional one."

Eric cradled his head in his hands. "He- he's not entirely wrong. Surely you can see that-"

Sam slammed his fist on the hard wood, a crack splintering the wood across the top of the table. He was unable to speak, knowing that he was inches away from ripping out the throat of his own brother. He had to find some control, he had to, or Sam was going to kill the eldest. As Damien stood, it was not the first nor last time he would think that Damien was such a fucking gift to the rest of them.

"James," he said, voice even and still ice filled, "You aren't hearing me. This is not for a year. No matter what you do, even if she can't remember, she will still know what happened. She will still be raped and she will still feel violated. She can't bear it, James. I've seen her mind. SHE CANNOT SURVIVE IT. It will be the rest of her life, and the rest of her life will be very, very short."

Matthew looked between the faces of his brothers, having never seen them so divided. "We can't let this happen to either of them! There has to be a way."

Suddenly, Sam was laughing. His brothers' eyes fell on him in surprise and horror as Sam laughed so hard his chest burned and his body reddened.

Matthew's face scrunched up, looking stunned. "I... what?"

Sam stood up abruptly, his eyes wild, staring straight in front of him at nothing all. His voice was so low they had to strain to hear him. "There is no getting out of it. There is no way, none of that exists. Here's the truth, and I hope you are all listening, because I am only saying it one time..."