First Demonic Dragon - Chapter 1033: Punishment, or Lack Thereof...

Chapter 1033: Punishment, or Lack Thereof…

Thrudd had watched her older sister for her entire life.

Thea was the flower that captured everyone’s attention no matter where she went.

If it wasn’t because of her beauty and aura, then it was her personality. In a room filled with people, Thea had a way of picking out the people she didn’t know, or the people who seemed to be having a hard time and befriending them.

She was good at making friends. She was even better at creating followers.

Though it never seemed to be something that she intentionally strived to do. It was a natural consequence of being around her.

She was a ray of genuine light. A woman who never lost her childlike sense of wonder with age, like the rest of the world.

Thea was an eternal optimist. The mystery of mankind, connection, and empathy intrigued her. She devoted so much of herself to exploring it.

Her belief that no matter how dark the situation, things could always be better was one of her most admirable traits. And that mindset, more than any of her powers or inborn abilities, was what made her seem the most like a mythological creature.

She wasn’t a woman without her vices. She liked wine, she liked women, and she sometimes had a hard time taking things seriously.

But Thea was a good person, and perhaps the best example of genuine kindness that Thrudd knew aside from their mother.

With all of Thrudd’s knowledge of her sister, she wasn’t all that surprised when Thea said something seemingly unthinkable.

“I forgive you.”

The air was almost sucked out of the room instantly. Such soft words carried an unthinkably heavy weight behind them.

Apophis, Straga, and Mira all looked like they were going to step in to say something when another of their siblings beat them to the punch.

“Are you joking…?”

Everyone looked at the hole in the ceiling at two more exalted guests.

Thea’s eyes lit up when she saw her brother appear in a rather adorable sweater.

“Bash! There you are, you look so cute!”

Bashenga remained obstinate underneath his sister’s praise. As he floated down, his eyes were full of bewilderment.

“Did you honestly just say that you ’forgive’ him..?”

“Bash…” Thea sighed. “Don’t do this.”

Some people in the house might not have understood exactly why Bashenga and Thea got along as well as they did. Thrudd, who knew her siblings like the back of her hand, wasn’t one of those people.

Just as Thea was relentlessly optimistic and a believer in the better aspects of humanity, Bashenga was just as intensely pessimistic.

He didn’t believe in the good, pure hearts of anyone outside of the family. And even now, there were times when he would have labeled those who tried to be good as pretenders.

In the back of his mind, he saw Thea as someone who needed his protection. Her pure heart was surely going to get her into some kind of trouble one day.

Similarly, Thea saw her brother as someone who needed a little bit of hope. A little optimism.

They were both trying to open each other’s eyes the very best way they knew how.

But their powers and identities ensured that they both had very different visions of the world.

As far as Thrudd was aware, their two very different philosophies had never come to a head before now.

“Unbelievable… How can you even consider such a thing? He kidnapped you!”

“I didn’t say that I wasn’t upset, but I’ve decided to forgive him regardless. Things here are more complicated than you-”

“Are you deluded? Is this a case of Stockholm syndrome where you have completely lost any sense of rhyme or reason?”

Thea brought a hand to her forehead. “Why are you being like this just because I want to let sleeping dogs lie..?”

“You cannot just turn the other cheek when someone has concocted an elaborate plan to magically kidnap you from our home!”

“I am the affected party, so why can’t it be my decision to hold a grudge or not?”

“We were affected too, you dolt! We didn’t know what happened to you!”

Bashenga’s roar shook the house with the force of a bomb.

It took until then for Thea to realize just how scared her brother must have been. And she felt bad for not seeing it before now.

Thea reached for her brother’s face, but Thrudd and Apophis finally decided to step in between the two.

“Let’s not do this here. Please.”

Thea put her hand down at her sister’s suggestion. Though the look on her face was a bitter one.

“Y-Your forgiveness… we do not accept such a thing lightly, Princess.”

Baba Yaga was met with a fierce glare from Bashenga when she tried to speak up. Her heart nearly stopped within her chest.

“Whether forgiven or not, Thea cannot absolve your grandson of his crimes.” Asherah stepped in. “I truly hope that you understand what must come next.”

“Then allow me to be punished alongside my grandson, I-if only to lessen his burden.”

Bashenga sneered.

“You could both die together and the concept of burdens would no longer apply to either of you.”

Straga fabricated a roll of duct tape and ripped off a piece to place over his brother’s mouth.

Bashenga’s mood saw another nosedive.

Asherah looked towards the fates who were standing around with their usual air of ominous silence.

“Do any of you have anything to add?”

The trio of goddesses glanced at each other but said nothing.

“…Very well then. The boy will stand trial.”

–

Thea wasn’t expecting being home to feel like this much of a frenzy.

Everyone seemed to be buzzing all around her at once from the very moment that she returned.

She barely got in the door without being knocked over by relatives. Those relatives were then knocked out of the way when Jazmine barreled through them like a freight car.

However worried Thea’s siblings had been, it was next to nothing compared to her wives. You could have filled an ocean with the amount of tears they shed in a dramatically short interval.

Thea actually quite liked the attention from her family. She could feel the genuine worry they had for her with every crushing hug or tearful smile.

Even her great-uncle Satan, who seemed not to like anyone much, had given her a pat on the head like she was still young.

After a while, Thea began to feel like everyone was glued to her.

She stepped outside to get her first breath of fresh air in several hours. Perhaps it was then that she realized she hadn’t seen Bashenga since they came home.

She would have expected him to be acting as her little bodyguard. Trying to keep the more emotional members of their family from smothering her into Oblivion.

Perhaps he was madder at her than she thought…

She heard the balcony door click open behind her. For a moment, she looked back in excitement only to lose her smile when she realized who had followed her.

“Ouch. I’m not good enough for you or something?” Thrudd tsked as she looked down at the children in her arms. “You see how she treats me, you two? One day she’ll be tap dancing all over your feelings too.”

Odessa and K’ael stared at Thea with thinly veiled suspicion. It was almost like they understood what Thrudd was saying.

“S-Sorry, I just… I thought you were our brother.”

Thrudd nodded in understanding as she passed one of the children to her.

“Bash is in his room and he’ll probably be there for the next sixty years or so… you know he’s the broody type.”

Thea hit her lip awkwardly. She took Odessa and allowed the child’s hands to play across her face while she was in thought.

“Do you think he is mad at me..?”

“I know he is. Pretty silly thing to ask.”

“And you?”

Thrudd just shrugged to herself. “I’m just…glad that you are home and safe. Nothing else is more important than that.”

Thea wasn’t expecting for Thrudd to give her such a democratic answer.

She must have been more bothered by her decision than she was willing to say.

Thea knew what the rest of her family was like. It didn’t really surprise her that her choice of words had gone over poorly.

And yet, she didn’t regret the things she had said.

“I just… felt a little bad for him.” Thea tried to explain.

Thrudd didn’t say anything, nor would she.

Though that didn’t exactly make Thea feel a whole lot better.

“It seems hard to hold on to so much anger all the time and be so lonely that you want to kill almost everyone in the world… with what he did, I’m sure he has plenty of people who hate him. Even his own family. Perhaps it’ll bring him some comfort before judgment.”

“…You’re too kind for your own good.” Thrudd sighed.

Thea smiled, relieved that her sister had finally said something.

“Maybe… but I don’t think it’s all that bad. The thing about kindness is that either everyone deserves it or no one does. Even if we don’t like them or they hurt us.”

Thea leaned over the balcony and stared out into the night sky of her homeland. Her eyes were slightly bitter and nostalgic as she gazed at the timelines above.

“When mom and dad come home… do you think they’ll be disappointed in me too?”

Thrudd didn’t even have to think about the answer.

“They won’t understand. But they won’t be disappointed in you either.”

Thea smiled to herself.

“I guess that’s all I can hope for.”

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