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Tweak says, "It's all right, Janet!"

from_the_beast (from_the_beast) wrote in haunted_roads,
@ 2008-06-15 18:45:00

Entry tags:

mikkos, nikolaos

Week Nine: Sunday
When: Afternoon
Where: Their hotel
Who: Mikkos and Nikolaos

Eighteen days gone. Eighteen days too long. For one so old the days were but a blink, but now held more value to the centuries old demon. Everything had changed. Nothing made sense, and every day held a new urgency.

He’d learned much an absence, and for all he learned he knew he learned not near enough. Only that all he’d known for so long, was now in question. Even family loyalty. No… especially family loyalty. He’d punished the one who brought such questions to light, but that did nothing to erase the doubt. A doubt that now grew with each passing day.

Even speaking with his father had done nothing to diminish it. No, no questions were asked of the old man, and Mikkos was careful not to allow any doubt to show, but neither did his father utter a word about all the questions now in Mikkos mind.

No word from Haimon seemed as good as a confirmation. Haimon after all, feigned as much carelessness as Mikkos, when both knew neither felt anywhere near as careless as they seemed.

Still, it made no sense. None at all. Especially when given word that Nik had Dorian in custody. All the years, all the urgency, and now that they had him, there was no hurry at all in bringing him home.

Mikkos hadn’t even returned to his own suite, instead he went straight to that which Nik stayed in. The guards alerted Nik even before his father arrived and let the elder in. Once inside, the demon washed his hands, splashed cool water on his face, and straightened his suit before fixing himself a drink at the bar.

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from_the_depths
2008-06-16 10:40 am UTC (link)

Too long. Too damn long had he been waiting here. Waiting for word from family. Waiting for a return to hell. Waiting…impatiently, angrily, waiting. The fact that it had gone this long Nik knew meant something was amiss. Something had gone wrong and he was left seeking answers from the nothingness of information around him. The only true answers would be found in hell and though it was tempting to return and leave the mess to his father to clean up, Nik could not. He knew if he left the fools watching Dorian would likely fuck up and that would be upon him. More faults of others to be taken out on his flesh. So he stayed, ensuring each and everyday that Dorian was not going anywhere. He stayed and somehow managed to keep from tearing into the bodies of guards to seek out answers they’d never give.

He knew as well that his father had gone down to hells depths. Seeking answers? Deals? Nikolaos did not know. His interaction with the man was nil now. No words, no care, since the moment he’d made his choices in all of this all too clear. There was a part of Nik that hoped his father would not return. That it would not, then, be on him to see to the mans failures. There was a part of him that wished to rid them all of these faults and simply return back to where he should have never left.

This entire situation was fucked from the moment it began. Nik had known it and yet did as he was told. Little good that had done him. Little good it had done any of them.

The anger held was still palpable. A writhing thing inside of him that clawed against his control at every turn. So difficult it was to not kill the corpse bitch while his father was gone. To not wipe out the distraction completely so perhaps then his father could get his focus back to where it had need to be. No matter how angry Nik could never look forward to having to go up against Mikkos. There still remained respect for him, that desire to see him as father and believe that there was reason for all he did. But that was a child’s hope, belief, and Nik was no child anymore.

Mikkos ceased to be father when Nik had to do his work for him. When Nik was forced to play a role not yet meant for him and yet regardless he was now responsible for it. Nik was near certain now that his father had set him up for failure. Whether he realized such or not Nik did not know, but the truth was more then evident with every punishment.

Nikolaos knew that Mikkos had returned. He was alerted long before the man made his way back to the hotel and to his room. At the time of such news he was down in the basement of the hotel, seeing to the false one of their own. The room was near blinding with light and beyond that were measures to keep those not of darkness out of the room and away from the man. Nik would not accept anything less. Not now. The guards knew it. The demon himself knew it.

If things did not change soon Nik would drag the excuse for a demon back to hell himself. Patience was a virtue that was quickly beginning to wane with Nikolaos.

He returned to his room before his father showed there however, taking a few moments time to clean blood from his hands and seek to calm that sneer from his features. A difficult task if there ever was one for him now. By the time he emerged from his room he appeared pristine in appearance even if beneath the clothes the flesh did not mirror that. That, however, did not seem to bother Nikolaos. He accepted the pain, it was a lesson learned. Always.

Dark eyes fell upon the other where he waited, Nik made no move for formalities or welcomes. He took a seat and spoke nothing as a cigarette was placed to his lips and lit, a long slow drag taken from it. “If you have word from Haimon then speak it.” Otherwise he had no need to be here. No reason that would bode well at the least.

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from_the_beast
2008-06-16 09:42 pm UTC (link)

Nik never had been one for patience. Though pushed however, he maintained his calm. Even in the face of every aggravation. It was no secret to Mikkos that his son would rather be home, sooner rather than later. He had not his father appreciation for the surface, and though there once may have been curiosity now there was merely irritation.

He knew he held his cousin in custody, that he’d captured him within hours of Mikkos departure. This news however, had changed nothing with Haimon. Hadn’t that been the whole purpose of their trip to the surface? Now Mikkos wondered. Sure he knew he had had his own agenda, eager once more to see the surface world he’d been dragged away from against his will. It had not been his intent to see Justine again, but that of course, had made things different as well, made him question a return to Hell… Made him question so much.

Still, his father had balked for decades any return to the surface for Mikkos. Today Mikkos questioned what Haimon had in mind in allowing the trip now. After all, if he’d not trusted his son to return why not simply send another? Nik alone could have accomplished the job. Mikkos had believed it a test. Now he wondered if it wasn’t something more, something far more devious.

His jaw set now as he looked at his son, wondering suddenly if Nik knew more about even this then was shown. After all, he knew there was something Nik kept from him. And there was never any denying the boy’s loyalty to his grandfather, so engrained in him as it was. “From Haimon?” He scoffed faintly, lit his own cigarette.

“Nothing. Other than that we should enjoy the Seattle spring and not rush to get home.” Which, they both knew meant something was happening there they weren’t meant to see.

“This surprises you, doesn’t it?” He asked, though it was as much a statement as a hopeful query. No, Nik would not have known he’d still be here, or not be sorely missed at home. He’d never have left.

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from_the_depths
2008-06-16 10:27 pm UTC (link)

Forcing oneself to keep calm in the face of such aggravation was a lesson that all in the family were taught since they were young. Nikolaos knew how to appear far more controlled then he felt. To keep his features nearly pleasant even as his thoughts raced with the desire to rip the other apart. Now more then ever that ability was tried, pushed and tested. Nikolaos did not know just how much longer he could...keep this false calm. The urge to simply take matters into his own hands was all too strong. Burning at the back of his mind with each passing second.

With each moment that everything felt...amiss somehow.

Nikolaos was forced to question all now. The kin around him, the words of others, even the orders given. He knew he could not trust his father’s word, that already had been proven. Never before did he have to question his grandfather. Never had he wondered on just what the family was doing as he was always involved. Now it felt as though pieces were moving around him and it did not sit well. Not at all. Not atop all else that had him so....infuriated.

Calm....was it any wonder now why he questioned the worth of it? The point of holding it at all when it seemed such rage was well warranted. He'd done as he was told. Did the job that was not even his to truly do. And yet he had heard nothing. Given no continued orders, no satisfaction. The man was held still, alive in the hotels depths. Alive without any reason to be. And still he was to this loathsome surface.

From the beginning he had known this to be a test. A test of Mikkos, of his loyalty and his place. A test he had failed. Nikolaos knew in turn that it was a test upon him, to see how he could control and move the family. A test he knew he too had failed. Was there more to it? Nikolaos was uncertain and it was not a feeling he enjoyed. The ice felt to be getting thinner and thinner beneath their feet and yet he had done all he was told to do.

Eyes narrowed at the others words, a slight flash of the reality of the emotions beneath before that facade of calm was pulled back over him. "What surprises me is why certain members of this family are still alive." Nikolaos retorted, allowing Mikko’s to take such words as he wished. First and foremost the pathetic demon below. And beyond that? Nikolaos knew only failure and disgrace; it was all he'd seen since his arrival here on the surface.

“What will surprise me further is if you or he believes I will do any such thing.” There among the words was disdain, heated venom for this place. Nikolaos would not be lingering here. He’d take punishment if he had to in order to return. He could not condone wasting his hours here on the surface where demons felt the need to play human.

They were not human. They were better then them.

To go against law or order was not how Nik was raised but his limits had been pushed and he would not remain to the surface to watch the further disgrace of their blood and not be able to do anything about it.

His patience, his calm, would not last.

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from_the_beast
2008-06-16 11:54 pm UTC (link)

Mikkos had never lied to his son. There were things he’d not told him, some things he never would, as he was better off, safer, not knowing, other things he would… when the time was right. But never had he lied, never had he given his son reason not to trust his word. He knew though that if he ever made the choice to stay on the surface, especially if he were to take back up with Justine, that Nik would see it as a disgrace. That, perhaps more than anything in his life, caused him torment. His father he knew he could not appease no matter what, seeing as he was not Morris, and the same went for Alexis. Justine he believed, would come around if her heart were in it… she was a woman of faith. But Nik… he had such expectations, Mikkos knew he already was falling below. And to think, much of this was due to his own teaching… How he’d made such effort to bring his son up right, to raise a man Haimon could be proud of. He’d strived to do right by his family, to produce the heir that he himself could never be.

Even Alexis had been pleased, likely eyeing her own son for a future husband for herself.

His own eyes narrowed and though he did nothing to disguise his anger his calm never fell. “Speak your mind, Nikolaos. What words you wish to say you are free to speak.” There were no guards with them here, but it was not words against Haimon Nik was thinking, Mikkos was sure.

“And as for returning home… I can tell you, that is not currently an option.” No, they both knew the old man better than that. Such words spoken as polite suggestions, were anything but. This was where that calm façade came from, a pretense that all was well and good, even as a target what placed on the back of the one he spoke with.

And any who thought family was above being such targets had never had a mother married to the man.

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from_the_depths
2008-06-17 12:18 am UTC (link)

While Mikkos believed he’d spoken no lies Nikolaos believed no such thing. His entire life he was raised with this respect for their blood. This innate need to prove worth, to push the family forward and never ever disgrace them. And yet all that had been done since arriving to the surface was that. They had done nothing to see to family power, they had only proven how little they truly held. The proved only the sway of the surface upon one of their own. How weak he was to fall prey to a corpse over his own blood. He had shown only disgrace at every turn and yet Nik was to believe his word still? All those words spoken all his life now thrown in his face. There was little respect for the man in front of him. It had been lost, thrown to the wayside when he made clear where his attention truly lay here. Not on the task or the job but on all that which he was told to leave behind.

He’d made his choices. Nik had been forced to do the same. And yet at every pass it seemed he did wrong by them. No matter the act done or the means to prove loyalty nothing was enough. Not with the disgrace of the father hanging over the head of the son. Nik had more to prove then all others and there were times he wondered if he’d ever be able to dig himself out of the hole his father had thrust him into.

Whether his mother felt the same as Haimon now Nikolaos did not know. If she knew more he’d not asked. Her acceptance was not what he sought, she was a woman and it was not her he had need to prove himself to. But now he saw the looks of others. Looks that had changed since arriving here on the surface. A shift had occurred all around him and Nikolaos was uncertain of the ground he stood upon. He had desire to return, to prove first hand where his loyalties still lay. To prove his worth. Now even that was taken from him.

“You know well the words I wish to speak Mikkos. You’ve seen fit to ensure you have no more respect here then he does.” The words were twisted then, a bitter sharp bite that made lips turn up in a sneer. “You turn away from our blood and it is I who continually pay price for it. You make us all appear weak.” That calm slipped, faltered under the weight of that undeniable anger. He was brought here to the surface only to be disgraced and torn away from the entire world he had known. All he had known the future to hold, to be, was now faltered by these failures.

Failures that were never washed away so quickly. They lingered, taking centuries to recover from and still they would be held against you. Nikolaos fought hard all of his life to rise above, to never be held down by what it was his father had once done. Now he was choked by these acts. Bound and tied by the digraces of others.

“I will not remain here immersed in a job that is pointless. The man should be dead, long ago slaughtered for his insults and yet he remains. A test further that you will fail.” Harsh words, a cut that Nikolaos would not cringe from saying. He respected his father’s strength but he did not respect his loyalties. Not anymore. He held no fear for pain or anger in return; it was not that which ever he feared.

He spoke the truth and it mattered not if Mikkos wished to face it or not. It was truth still. Truth that he had need to be slapped in the face with. Perhaps then he would wake up from his surface stupor and realize truly the situation they were now in. A situation which could have been avoided if the task long ago had been done as it should have.

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from_the_beast
2008-06-17 11:23 pm UTC (link)

To his son’s bitter words Mikkos was, at first, silent. The drink in his hand was finished, the glass set aside in favor of the bottle. Another moment of silent contemplation before a cigarette found it’s way to his lips and Mikkos had it lit.

“It is not for you to decide Dorian’s fate, nor is it on you what I pass or fail.” He cocked his head, studying him, a light coming into his eyes suddenly. “Or is it?

“You speak of my failures as though you sit in judgement of them. Tell me, son. Why exactly did you come along? Certainly not as a divergent excursion away from hell as I would have been led to believe. No, you are far too fond of your home for that.

“So, you’ve judged me, and I’ve failed, is it? Or maybe we’ve both failed, son. Otherwise, why aren’t you being welcomed back? Interesting don’t you think? All the trouble the old man went in making sure I never leave, now it seems I am unwelcome back.

“And you, with all your talk of my failures, never once sought to question me yourself. A lot of questions can be answered that way, you know?”

He sat then, took a heavy swig from the bottle, put out the cigarette and lit another, His jaw was set in a tight knot as he eye’d his son, eyes glaring daggers as bitter anger set in.

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from_the_depths
2008-06-18 12:21 am UTC (link)

“No, it is not. It is family law that should decide his fate. Truths that you taught me from the moment I was born. Yet now you counter them at every turn. You allow him life, to remain as insult and disgrace. Have you become soft to such things Mikkos?” Nikolaos all too quickly shot back. The time of control and calm had faltered the moment the other walked through the door. Too much anger had been left to fester beneath the surface, pushed time and time again until there was no room left in which to contain it.

The mocking question of who was to judge was met with a deeply etched sneer. It was by their teachings that he failed. By their rules, their laws, their orders. “It has been shown to me clearly how you have failed.” By pain, by words, forcefully ingrained till nothing was able to be seen beyond that blinding truth. By Haimon himself Nikolaos had been shown these failures. He’d taken fault for them, as though he too had committed them. It was he who was supposed to prevent them. He who was to keep all of this in line. And Mikkos who had ensured that he never could. He was unable to do so on his own; he had not the strength to control the other.

He was brought here to fail as surely as his father was.

“Do you think I do not?” a sudden flash of rage so violent that it made claws dig deep into the flesh to spill fresh blood upon the ground “Every one of your failures is placed upon my shoulders. Faults I am forced to prove worth beyond. Do you think I have not received punishments for your acts? That I am not reminded again and again why I should not fall to such weakness. Why I must be better then you.” A hiss from the tongue as he resisted urge to move forward. To advance and attack as his body near screamed for. It was evident in every inch of him, that tension that rolled beneath the muscles.

“I came to ensure you did not prove yourself weak again. To remind you why family is before all else. A task I have failed in. You’ve shown clearly where your loyalties lie.” Nik was to be the face of the family, that physical proof right before his eyes of why he should stick to family rule. Why he should not falter to the corpse yet again and disgrace himself as well as his kin. But it was all too apparent that Nik meant little in the end, not above his own desires and wants. “They are not with us.” Not with him.

Words struck like a knife, twisting deep to make lips twist into an even deeper sneer. There was no greater insult to him then to speak as though he’d failed so deeply that he’d not be welcomed back into the family. That he had done so poorly in his task here that he was no longer worthy of any title. “I have faced my failures and repercussions of them. It is you who deny them at every turn.” He who wished to stand here and act as though he had any right to speak of family or blood. Of rights to anything at all. He’d lost his.

“I should not have to question what you do. I should know without a doubt that all you do you do for our blood. I should believe what you have spoken all my fucking life. But now I know it to be false lies from a man that never once held true loyalty to his kin.” He was just like his sister, always looking for that means to run away. Now he’d fucking found it and it mattered not who he had to ruin in order to get it. Not even his own son.

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from_the_beast
2008-06-18 01:52 am UTC (link)

“Family law. Precisely. Not your preference, or even mine. And family law has different dictates for heirs than it does for others. Dorian, like it or not, and third in line to the head of the family. He is to be returned to hell and reconditioned. There is no other option, Nik, none. There are too few heirs to do otherwise.” A bit of the tension had begun to leave his jaw until the insinuation he had become soft. This he did not reply to, having already commented that Dorian’s life was not theirs to take.

“Explain your words. You speak in half truths, leaving out key notes. You say I’ve failed. You say it’s been shown to you. Speak in fullness, Nik. Leave nothing out. I demand the truth, all of it, just as I have always given you the truth.

“Tell me now what you have kept from me.”

His entire frame clenched in anger, but this was nothing compared to what followed. And in a flash the large demon was on his feet. It was he that moved, but not forward, no. He stood his ground, with one foot pointed toward the door.

“He had no right.” He growled, knowing exactly whom the boy meant. Blood seeped from his clinched fists, his wings twitched in lieu of his pacing. “You long ago proved your worth.” His eyes looked almost kindly on his son, almost… sorrowful, though they near raged with venom.

Already he had turned toward the door, momentum from his ire taking him back to hell, to his father’s side. Nik’s words though brought pause to his steps. “You’re wrong.” He looked his son in the eyes. “My loyalty has forever been with you.”

He turned, intent on returning to hell. He would kill Haimon now, or die trying. Though he wasn’t quite certain he would not succeed. There were those in the family that actually had loyalty to Mikkos, after all. It was those that led him to the questions he already held.

Nik could take the words as he would. The truth was his loyalty was to Nik, and also to the family. But long ago had he begun to question any loyalty to his father. Nik’s words now turned question into fact. The old man was done.

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from_the_depths
2008-06-18 02:12 am UTC (link)

A sneer seemed permanent upon his features with such words, vile things that made fingers curl tighter, staining deeper his hands crimson. "As you have? How well it appears to have worked." heated words that held no venom back. A strike meant to lash as surely as his fist did crave to. Mikkos was all too evident proof that such reconditioning did nothing. All it did was delay them, still them in their weaknesses for a time until they failed again the moment that temptation was in front of them again. Proving how little the family meant to them.

If this was all the family had, these demons that had no right to that blood, then Nik had to question if the entire family was weak. Such thoughts would garner harsh punishment if ever voiced and yet the truth seemed to stand right before him. Evident in every movement of Dorian. Apparent in every act committed by his father since his arrival on the surface.

"I've kept nothing from you." words were spoken through gritted teeth as eyes narrowed and steps did then move him forward. "The reality is there in front of you at every turn. Yet you remain to blinded by a corpse and this pathetic fucking world to see any of it." to be aware of what was happening right around him. That was not on Nik but on the man before him. He let himself become blind, distracted. He let himself be swayed and ceased to care what the family did.

He made that choice.

"No right? Where were you to take punishments you deserved? Where were you to prove loyalty so that I was not condemned to your disgraces? Your fault have become my own no matter how I stand against them." rage blinded and Nik was soon right before him, lips twisted back and eyes blazing. "I've proved nothing because of you." every accomplishment, every task completed, every trial he'd survived while others had failed now meant nothing. Here to the surface he was left, told to stay rather then return home where he belonged. Where he'd fought his entire life to be worthy of.

He bore the scars of his punishments, he'd survived each and every one and done as was told. He'd done all for their blood and now he was being denied.

"I'm not." Nikolaos hissed, steps taken back not in retreat but in desire to be away from the one that now uttered lies still right to his face. "You have done nothing but proved otherwise at every turn here." he made his choices, he left the orders and the proof upon another’s shoulders and now it mattered not that Nik had completed the task. Weeks had passed and no word was sent.

A growl resounded at the back of his throat, claws tearing away from his hand and his fist nearly going through the entire wall "Enjoy your fucking surface world Father." such venom, such disdain with that one utterance as he moved to the door, shoving past the larger man if he had to. It wasn't just Mikkos who sought a return to hell. Though their reasons for seeking it were vastly different now.

But even with that desire Nik knew those to see to first. He was not fool enough to leave the other demon here. Not with Mikkos weak as he was to such disgraces of blood.

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from_the_beast
2008-06-19 01:00 am UTC (link)

His face held it’s own sneer, but Mikkos refused to be drawn into any argument about how well his own “conditioning” had took. Was this yet another thing he should be judged on? Apparently so. And if Nik thought him any less a man for such then things were more fucked than Mikkos knew. “Well apparently conditioning works better than reconditioning.” He hissed. “But my rearing, as full as it was with the ways of the family, was never meant to take your mind and leave in it’s place a family puppet. If that was the result… then I did fail as a father.

He snarled finally when Nik accused him of knowing what he himself had worked to keep hidden, and still did. “So eager to find fault in me that now you’ll blame me even for this? Or maybe you actually believe mind reading is a skill of mine? Or that I keep tabs on you the way you keep them on me? No, my son, I never have. That is their game, not mine, nor is it what I taught you. We move through shadows by merit of our race, but we do not hide among them.”

Doubtful Nik would hear any of his words though, so blinded he was by his anger.

He laughed, a mirthless sound as he shook his head. “The old man stoops to such pathetic games and here you defend him? You agree then, that a son should sneak behind his father, that he should spy on him? And that he should be held accountable for the father’s actions?” Blood stained his lips, spilled from literally biting his tongue. “Bullshit Nik!” His voice boomed angrily. “This is not how you were raised. Not how I raised you. A man is accountable for his own actions, and possibly for his sons… but not for his father’s.” No, Mikkos had been his father’s whipping boy once. And when he no longer had that control, Haimon sought to make one of Nik. Nik kept quiet, but now Mikkos knew the truth all too well, in blinding, searing detail.

No more.

Mikkos would put an end to it today. At least that had been his intent, before his son was attempting to shove past him. At the words, and the action, Mikkos turned, roaring as he shoved the other back against the wall. “What is your intent here, Son? You plan to crawl on your knees to the dottering old fool? You hate this place, and your father so much that you’re willing to subvert yourself for his vile whims?” He gripped the other’s lapel, lifting him off the ground by it if Nik didn’t wrestle away. “Have you so little respect for yourself that you would crawl so long as Haimon’s name is exalted?”

The room around them grew steadily dimmer with Mikkos anger, aided surely by Nik’s as well, until finally the were surrounded in deep unyielding shadow. Shadow in which they could see one another more completely than before.

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from_the_depths
2008-06-19 01:48 am UTC (link)

How could he not think him less a man for it? Trained again in the ways of family, of the importance of such, and yet still the moment he was to the surface he ran to his corpse bride and forgot all that they came here to do. How little orders mattered then, how little his word or his kin meant when he had the surface world to distract him from them. Nothing done showed loyalty to the family. No act committed, no words spoken. Every utterance was against that which he’d raised Nik his whole life to believe. There was anger, there was rage, and buried deep beyond that was confusion. A stark slap to his face to have all he’d come to believe stepped upon. For that world to be violently stripped away and for nothing to take its place. Why should he believe some sense of family by the choices made? When it was he who had to see to the task at hand! Had Mikkos been left to do things at his own will Dorian would be long gone from the city and years of continued hunting would commence. But likely that was what his father sought. That excuse to linger away from what had once been home. To stay to this pathetic surface life where his weaknesses did not matter.

“You seek to call me puppet? For doing as I was taught, for honoring my blood!” Words twisted from his lips, leaving a deep snarl as he moved forward. Nik was no puppet, but he would not disgrace their kin in the ways his father had. He would not become another that ran away to the surface because they could not cut it as true demons. He was stronger then that, he’d been raised to be from the moment he first took breath. And now he wished to strike him with it? To spit such honor at him as though he were in the wrong for it. Honor he taught him to hold, to keep, to fucking obey.

“I’ve never hidden but you have no eyes to see anymore.” A sharp shout that near shook the walls around them. The glass long ago discarded to the table crashed upon the ground, trembling from its perch as voices rose. Never once had he, or would he, deny that he’d been here to watch. If Mikkos had not seen that from the moment that they came to the surface then he was blind long before now. Blind far more then Nik even wished to now face. All were, wife and son brought here to ensure that their dear leader truly sought to be such to them. And as Haimon had believed, he did not. It was Nik that took such reality the harshest, that had not wished to believe the stories told of past transgressions.

A belief in his father that had been systematically crushed.

“Weakness of the blood. For centuries we have destroyed any that make us appear weak and you question it now? Now after all this, now after it has all been done…” the tone was nothing more then a scoff, a mocking of all that he spoke. None were left alive to show family weakness. The weak were killed, destroyed before they could continue that trait. It was no surprise to Nik, then, that he was judged by the weaknesses of his father. That he would eternally have to prove that he held no such weaknesses himself. He would not crawl to the surface and into the arms of the dead. He would not forgo the job at hand to go play in the past. He had proven himself. The fact that it seemed to matter not now was a harsh blow.

Yes Nikolaos had taken punishments to ensure he was not weak, that he was stronger then his father that showed weakness. He knew now if he returned with Mikkos holding such disrespect of their blood that such tests would be a hundred times more brutal.

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from_the_depths
2008-06-19 01:55 am UTC (link)

“You raised me to never, ever, accept weakness!” Nikolaos snarled in quick contrast. To never, ever, respect it. Weaknesses were to be exploited, not honored. Yet now he demanded that he listen to one that so openly had displayed it. “Such needs to spy should never have been required. But you made it so!” The last words were bitter, disgusted and disappointed that it had come to this. That rage was not just by the disgrace of the blood or by words forced upon the mind as surely as flesh. Since the moment he had been told of this he’d been displeased. He respected his father more then that, he did not believe it needed. But he’d been proven wrong hadn’t he? They could not trust him upon the surface to see to the task and ignore the past.

The shove past was violent, were his father a lesser man it would have thrown him across the room. But it did not, and near as he was Nik had little time to still the sudden force that was used to shove him back against the wall. Sharp teeth bared and eyes flashed as the slam was felt by every inch of him. It did nothing to sedate him, but only drove that anger deeper. “I. Do. Not. Crawl.” Each word was punctuated, nearly spit in Mikkos’s face as both hands rose, giving Mikkos no time to lift him up as by both arms and wings he shoved back and away from the wall.

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from_the_beast
2008-06-20 01:21 am UTC (link)

Had Mikkos sought such? He didn’t believe so. But then, he’d never intended not to return to hell either. At least it had been in his mind to return. To do what they came here for, but also to linger for a while, to enjoy their time here. No harm in that. Except perhaps to Nik, who found little enjoyment in the surface. No, Mikkos would have seen to Dorian in good time, Nik simply grew impatient. Or was put to it perhaps, by others that were just as much.

As it turned out however, he did run out of time, do to something unforseen. None of them had suspected what Mikkos learned, and what had kept him so long gone.

“No. Not a puppet, Nik. But if you live your life with only Haimon’s glory in mind then you will surely fail. None can live up to it.” Though that was a lie, Morris had. When Morris died, a part of Haimon died with him. Mikkos was not then truly accepted as Morris had been. He would forever be second best. Second to a dead demon. When Nik came, it seemed finally Mikkos had done right in his father’s eyes, and Nik, Mikkos groomed to be the perfect son Morris had been, the perfect son Mikkos never could be. Nik was all that, which was why all of this was even more confusing to Mikkos.

In all his grooming, it occurred to him that perhaps he’d gone to far.

Haimon asked Mikkos from time to time, if he wouldn’t sacrifice himself for the sake of the family. When he replied yes Haimon was satisfied his conditioning had been a success. Not surprising really that he still had such little faith that he felt compelled constantly to test him. And even to test the one best suited to be Morris’ replacement.

“Did I? No, you could simply have asked. You wanted to know what I did with my time on the surface? Oh, the museums, to catch up on what’s gone on in my absence. Did I see my old girl? You know I did. Have I married her? No. And now the rules are that the son is to choose his father’s partners? What I do, what I did in the past… this is my business. It has nothing to do with family loyalty.

“Tell me, Nik, What is more loyal, more painful than to give one’s own firstborn son?” Not that Nik would understand fully, having never been in the situation. But such place was of the highest honor, a thing Nik did understand very well. Such was also the reason Haimon took Morris’ death so hard.

And give his first born son was exactly what Mikkos had done. In some ill-gotten need to please his father, a man he could never, and would never please. Now it appeared that was exactly what had happened, that he’d not only lost his son, but given him up. A foolish step, as Haimon the madman would merely chew him up and spit him out.

Mikkos expected such a move. Rather than fight it, he allowed it, even released him and took a step back. “What is it you expect will happen? You think the old man will simply move forward, accept you as the son he lost?” If that were the case, Mikkos might be pleased, as that would please both his father and his son, but he knew now that no one could take the place of the son he lost.

Only perhaps another son with another wife.

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from_the_depths
2008-06-20 01:58 am UTC (link)

Impatient? Far from it. The demon was on the move and Nikolaos did as was needed in order to see to the job. Unlike his father he was unwilling to chase after him across the world just to be given chance to linger on the surface. He was given a job, an order, and he saw the importance of it. He’d not cast it aside for pleasantries. He did not forsake it because he wanted to linger and move at his own pace. Mikkos could see the move as he wished; he could justify all his actions as he wanted. But it would change little the reality of it in Nikolaos’s eyes. Now he was kept, contained, as ordered….and now it was all for not. He sat in that cage and was not brought where it was Nik had been told to bring him. Nothing had gone as it was supposed to.

“I do not lead my life by his glory but of our blood. Do you think he is all that is left of it? Have you become so fixated on he and all he does that the lineage means nothing to you now?” a sharp growl of retort as he faced his father. This was not about Haimon to Nikolaos. It was never about just the other demon. But it was about their blood, their kin, their name.Their legacy. If he honored them then no other demons would care save Haimon.

Nik sought to impress them both, to prove worth to all of their kin. He had fought hard his entire life to do just that. But it seemed no matter what he did or how hard he worked that he would never be enough. No not even he compared to the son lost. But he was a demon that came too late in life. Not old enough yet to be considered truly worthy. Too much damage had been caused now for him to ever be.

“Bullshit” Nikolaos roared as his father continued, sneering that he had no business in that past that was test to the family. That past that he refused to leave be. Instead of listening, instead of leaving it as the fucking past he moved forward to find it again. He turned away from what had need to be done, from his own son, to play with that corpse. And now he wondered why Haimon tested. Now he wondered why punishments were dealt to any that had place in this mission.

Eyes narrowed and such disgust was written plainly upon his features. “Do not speak to me as though it does not matter. Do not even attempt to tell me I have no right to know.” His words became cold, icy as rage burned through his veins. “Your past has been judged upon me for years. Your weaknesses are mine to prove wrong. What you have done here on the surface, who you saw, it has everything to do with family. Deny it if you wish but the reality is right in fucking front of you!” how could he claim it had no baring on the family when quiet obviously it did. When Haimon had already seen fit to not tolerate it. But no…no of course it had nothing to do with any of them. No…it hadn’t affected the job at all.

Complete and total bullshit.

“We were together in the family until you made choice to end that. Your word had always meant more, never once did I believe Haimon when he spoke ill of you. Not until now. You made your choices here on the surface. You chose wrong in my eyes.” And now there was no going back from it. “Being your son once brought me honor and place. Now it only damns me to your same fate.” To remain here, to never be good enough no matter what was done. No matter what “conditioning” had been done.

“No…” hissed out bitterly and in that moment there was a look to his eyes that spoke far more then that rage ever could. He was reared his entire life to be one thing. To do one thing. And now, in this one act to the surface, that felt as though it were being lost with every passing second. Stolen by acts he, himself, had not even committed. No, he knew he’d never be accepted to the place once it seemed he would. Once Haimons mind was set on one it was not change and Nik knew in the last punishment that something had changed.

In tone…in words.

Without that Nikolaos did not know what it was he was supposed to do. But he would not disgrace the blood. There was chance still of some place, of earning back lost honor.

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from_the_beast
2008-06-30 05:07 pm UTC (link)

To that Mikkos gave no answer. Of course he honored their legacy, of course it mattered to him. But his lifelong struggles to appease his father had left him rather fixated on that, intertwining and confusing Haimon’s word with the will of the family. They were one and the same in his mind’s eye, having been so deeply ingrained as so, though logically he knew it not to be. Haimon, though head, was not all that existed of the family.

Rage ran through him as he saw this look in his son’s eye. The dishonor he brought him, the disgrace. All he had seen in his own father’s eyes now followed him iin the eyes of his own son. He was sick in his gut, sick knowing that by his own actions did his son now judge him. Because of all that he had taught him. And now the son saw dishonor in his son. Mikkos knew the feeling well, the feeling of a father not being what you believed him to be, what you desired him to be, what you needed him to be. But for his own father it was too late, and Mikkos far too old.

Nik however, had made up his mind. Mikkos, by having thoughts of his own, thoughts contrary to the prejudices of their family, was a disgrace. The son appeared in too big a hurry to wash the scent of his father away, to wipe clean from him even his memory.

Bitter? Mikkos was as well, and just as angry. Though in Mikkos was a sadness no hell born demon could abide by. Sadness was chewed up, churned, twisted into seething, bitter anger, and most often hatred. Though in this Mikkos knew not where to turn that hatred. True freedom would come when he could turn it on to Haimon, where he knew it rightly belonged. For now, it was turned upon himself, and unfortunately, the wall beside him.

“Try to return then, Nik. Run to Haimon, to serve at his side, no matter the old fool’s wishes. I had every intention of doing so, but see now that it’s no longer my world, and has not been since I was far younger than you. There is no place for me there. Not at my father’s side, a man unwilling to accept the son he has. No... That’s your place now, isn’t it? You want it? It’s yours.” He walked from the room, brushing past dazed hotel workers who didn’t even see him in the darkened corridors. They would be convinced a small earthquake had shaken the ground, causing the damage left in the wake of the demon battle.

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