My Secret Demon Boy

Tumultuous Trials

When they had been walking in the halls, and Halo had caught the scent of a demon lingering around the two exchange students, he had initially dismissed it as some other passer demon, or perhaps they had shared a class with one. But as he sat at the table and that scent was still present, he was set on edge. It’s hard to exactly define the scent that all demons carry, but it was a rough and bitter scent, the only descriptor that came to mind is heat, or heated stones. It wasn’t terribly strong like it had been around Eret, but it was definitely there. Clinging to the two boys like a nettle in their fabrics, and hung around regardless of the time passage. Halo had quietly been watching Tommy in particular, who it seemed had the stronger aura around him. But, so far, he seemed perfectly normal, just a relaxed teenage boy, who had currently just dragged him back through old memories kicking and screaming.

If guilt was physical, it was tearing apart his body and heart, all while keeping his throat tight, and voice hoarse. ““But I couldn’t. I liked it, and I hated that I liked it.” He managed to choke out quietly.

Skeppy was silent for a long moment, and he braced for a reaction, for screaming, to be hit. Something. Anything but that horrible silence. He couldn’t lie to the human, looking back and recalling the memory, he always imagined himself getting sick, being just as disgusted with his actions as he was with himself. But, that wasn’t reality and he hadn’t been sick. Dr. Bright had died with a single blow, he made sure of it, but -

No he shook the memory away it was in the past, he was better than that. Wasn’t he?

“That. . .that was a really long time ago, and you. . .you clearly don't like what happened.” Skeppy finally said softly, rubbing his back lightly.

Halo pursed his lips, unsure whether his voice would betray just how close he was to tears, “Thank you.”

“Plus, people can change right? I mean. . .everyone does bad things, and you even told me that you were forced onto that mission, and I’m guessing you were forced to. . .hurt too.” Green eyes pierced Halo’s skull in a phantom memory as Skeppy continued, “You don’t seem like a bad person Bad. I mean it.”

He just nodded, he couldn’t bring himself to speak again, his throat felt tight, so he let the silence settle over the two of them as Tommy and Tubbo seemed to resolve whatever argument they had been having. Gathered back around the screen intent on its contents like bees around a flower. He didn’t care about what the document said, and he certainly did not want to see those images again, they were seared enough into his memory, except unlike still and sepia toned photographs, he had the sounds, the sirens with them. Not a still cold picture, but a real environment, and real things, and real people. Which often tended to be lost when you were an outsider, looking in through the glass of imagery.

“Wait wait,” Tubbo’s voice was soft, as he pointed to something on the screen, “Look at this Tommy!”

Halo glanced over to see the blond perking and looking at whatever it was, Tubbo was tracing something probably in the image with his finger, “What does that look like?” Tubbo asked him, glancing over at the blue eyed boy.

He leaned over, trying to peer over their shoulders, to what Tubbo had outlined on the screen, it took a few moments of him studying the image where Tubbo had traced it again, but then pulled his hand away. It was a few names lightly scrawled on the scanned image, faded ink barely visible against the gruesome scene it captured.

There were several names that he didn’t recognize at all, but Tubbo was grinning, “Dude! This is so cool! I’m going to show Wilbur this as soon as he’s back, this is what you were talking about a few weeks ago isn’t it?!” Tommy was nodding.