-The Abyss...

"Alright now, kids, listen up, because I'm only going to teach you this once..."

Satan, the infamous king of wrath, held up a battle axe and a sword in front of two children.

One was a girl toddler with bright orange hair that was fluffy and cloud-like. The other was a boy who looked to be a few months younger than her, who had red hair and mismatched eyes.

"Say you're in a heated war against an enemy. He's faster than you, but he's not stronger, and he has expert knowledge of his body's fundamentals as well as your own. Which weapon would you want to go against someone like that?" Satan leaned in.

The girl, Odessa, was a mute. She gave her great uncle no answer.

Her brother K'ael couldn't talk yet, but he babbled inconsistently as he gnawed on the nipple of his bottle.

"WRONG!" Satan roared.

He threw both weapons across the room like they were frisbees.

Belloc, Stheno, and Melanie were babysitting the demon lord and ducked down just before his weapons could lop off their heads.

"The truth is, weapons don't matter in a fight like that! Weapons don't matter period! The only thing that's going to save you in battle isn't being the spawn of the first dragon, it's preparedness! And to get that, you need-"

"SATANNNNN!!!!!!"

The house suddenly shook as a woman's angry roar reverberated off the walls. Satan, for the first time, lost a bit of color in his face.

Suddenly, a feminine hand grabbed him from behind by one of his horns.

Nyx pulled Satan over her shoulder and slammed him face-first through a coffee table.

The children giggled at the sight and fell all over themselves laughing.

The goddess dug her knee into the side of the demon lord's head; making for one very uncomfortable intimidation tactic.

"Y-You crazy old bitch, get off of me!"

"What the FUCK did you do to my son!?" Nyx roared.

"What, the human?? Nothing!" Satan insisted.

"Lying piece of shit! He's demonifying, you bastard!"

"T-That has nothing to do with me! I swear I didn't make him do it!"

When Melanie and Belloc heard what was going on, they both rushed over with concern on their faces.

"Mal's becoming a demon?" Melanie asked with slight worry.

Nyx applied more force into the side of Satan's head. "Yes! And it's this bastard's fault."

With little regard for his own safety, Belloc gently placed his hand on Nyx's shoulder. "Auntie, as much as I'd like to see you crack open Uncle Satan's head-"

"Fuck you, shut in!"

"-He's not the one who would do something to Malachi without you knowing. You're one of the few people he's actually afraid of."

"I ain't afraid of nothi-"

Nyx jammed her hand into Satan's back and wrapped her hand around his heart. Blood ran past his lips.

"I just..*ahem* h-have a healthy respect for you is all.."

The goddess scoffed.

With further urging from Belloc, she lifted her knee off Satan's head and took her hand out of his back. Though she didn't allow him to get up.

Belloc tried once again to get to the bottom of the story.

"Slow down now... what happened to Mal?"

Nyx swallowed. "W-We're not sure... he was at an event on Earth and he just... collapsed. He had an ability that he stole by eating Lucifer's blessed; force manipulation. It's gone now, and his body keeps changing. His wings won't even go into his body anymore."

Belloc's brow lifted.

"I'm afraid I don't get it..." Melanie said. "I thought Satan's horn had already made him part demon."

Belloc took her hand. "It did, but... Malachi's genetic makeup is really special. Force manipulation, a power that came from Lucifer, must have been keeping the spread of demonization at bay. Without it..."

Belloc shared a look with Nyx. She looked away as if she didn't know what it meant.

"What?" Melanie pursed her lips.

Belloc sighed as he helped his uncle up from the ground. "Demonization at it's root is an infection for mortal races. It overtakes everything else. If it keeps spreading, then Malachi won't be part N'Kai, inkanyamba, cat, or human. He'll just be a demon."

Melanie knew a little bit about how demons worked after living in this house for so long. A sinister feeling ran through her body.

"Okay, so... i-is he going to go crazy and start attacking everyone?"

Belloc knew what Melanie was afraid of, and placed his hand on top of her head.

"Mal would rather die before he hurt your mom, you know that. Unfortunately, since this guy..." He nudged Satan with his foot. "-was the one to make him a demon, then it's almost a given that his temper will be way shorter. It's hard for me to picture Malachi as a violent guy, but..."

The more that Melanie heard, the less she liked. She turned to Nyx and grabbed both of her hands. "C-Can't you do something? At his core, he's still your Avatar, right?"

Nyx turned away. Her black eyes were watery and emotional.

"She can't do a damn thing about it.." Satan finally sat up. "It's like farting in a balloon."

Melanie blinked at him. "...."

"...What?"

"Are you just going to say insane things to me like I'm supposed to have some idea what they mean?"

Satan groaned.

He held up his finger, and a bright red balloon appeared at the tip of his claw.

"Nyx destroyed her son's body the first time she made him an Avatar. Even now, when he enters that state, he's nothing more than a collective mass of shadows bound with a soul. Like air. Nyx is keeping her son's form stable so that he doesn't just dissipate and join the heavens. She is the balloon."

Satan rolled over and brought the balloon to his ass.

"Now, if I were to fart in this balloon, she couldn't separate my fart from the air, because my fart is also air. Just gross air. That's what demonification is. That's why mortals view it as an infectious disease."

Belloc scowled. "She gets it. Put your ass away, please."

"I was just trying to paint the picture. Jeez..." Satan sat back down and passed the balloon to Odessa.

Melanie felt her palms get sweaty. "B-But Malachi can swap between his states again, right? Chaos gave him a physical body back when she took him."

Nyx griaced as bad memories surfaced in her mind again.

Belloc started sweeping up the debris so that his siblings wouldn't play in it. "Yes, that's true, but the fact that Malachi can't even fold in his wings means that he's losing that privilege. He's becoming a purely spiritual being again, and-"

"E-Enough!" Nyx suddenly snapped.

She pulled her hands away from Melanie and started walking out of the living room.

"This doesn't matter because it's not going to happen. I'm sure I can find some items on earth that reverse demonification, so that's what I'll do. My son is not going to become a fucking demon."

Belloc wanted to tell his aunt to wait. Maybe take a breather before she ran off.

But Nyx was like a whirlwind. It was better just to stay out of her way.

Melanie watched Nyx leave with a complicated look in her eye.

"She seems... frantic."

Belloc nodded as he sat down beside his youngest siblings. "Not really surprising. She's that kind of mom after all."

"What does that mean?"

"There are very strict rules in place for gods. They can't interfere in the affairs of another pantheon's followers. If Malachi becomes a full demon, he'll belong to biblical hell.

His mom wouldn't be able to protect him if something ever popped off. If Lucifer asked him to do something he didn't want to, Mal might have to do it anyway."

Melanie swallowed. "B-But your dad erected a barrier between the heavens and the mortal world, right? Will that affect Malachi? Would he have to go to hell?"

Belloc took his time in answering. "No, he shouldn't... but he doesn't need to be getting in any near-death situations for the time being either."

Melanie had so many more questions she wanted to ask.

But at that moment, Stheno placed her hands on her wife's shoulders and spoke to her softly.

"Enough talk of demons for now. We have to start getting dressed if we're going to be late for our reservations."

"O-Oh, right..."

Melanie and Stheno glanced at Belloc who was still seated on the floor.

"Coming?"

He smiled earnestly at them both before he gestured to the kids on the floor.

"Give me a moment to get these two situated and I'll be right behind you. Promise."

The girls nodded in unison and exited the room right after Nyx.

With just the two of them still in the room, Belloc finally looked at his great Uncle with a much more serious gaze.

"...You know if worst comes to worst Aunt Nyx is going to kill you again, right?"

Satan let out a disgruntiled noise to hide his inner worry. "You're being ridiculous. I didn't do anything to the boy that would constitute a-"

"Your horn was way too powerful a gift. You're a Sin King, you know that already. If Malachi finishes demonization he'll become the highest kind of demonic spirit because of you. And you know how those guys feel about potential usurpers."

Satan's mind finally caught up to the danger in front of him, and his face became visibly paler.

"Exactly." Belloc scoffed as he stood up with both siblings in arm.

"Tell me- exactly what do you think those zealot-like bastards are going to do if someone like Malachi just so happens to stumble onto their radar?"