An hour passed before Richard, Carrie and Gabriel came home. The sight of Damien alive stunned and delighted them. Richard almost dropped the new book he'd bought. Carrie was so surprised she nearly exorcised herself. Gabriel's reaction was more mild. The second he saw him, his eyes widened and he muttered "Oh, wow" to himself. They had plenty of time to catch up and express their joy at Damien not being dead anymore.
Claire had finished cooking the celebratory dinner, a mix of all the food they had in the house. Roast chicken, leftover lasagna, spaghetti, and many other dishes, all set together on the table. It was nothing special, but with them all together again, it felt like they were having a banquet fit for a god. They all sat down to eat, Damien drinking his well-deserved cola.
"So," Gabriel said. "How long have you been dating my son?"
This shocked Damien so much he spat out his cola and choked a little. Kitty responded with a squeak and a blush.
"W-What?" He asked once he had got his breath back.
"It's a simple question." Gabriel said with a straight face. "How long have you been with Kitty?"
Damien gulped. He couldn't tell whether Gabriel was angry or not. "A day, I think. We started going out a few hours ago. Not sure exactly how many."
Gabriel hummed and placed his cutlery on the table. He stared into Damien's eyes and gave him a genuine smile.
"You don't have to be so scared or hide it from me. I know now that you're a good guy, and that you won't hurt my son." He said. "I would have objected at first, but you literally died for Kitty. So, I accept you. I trust you to look after him and make him happy."
A shy laugh came from Damien. "Thank you. I promise I'll protect him."
"I don't need protecting." Kitty muttered in a sulky tone. Then he smiled at Damien. "But thanks."
Damien reached over and gently squeezed Kitty's hand. Kitty lay his head on Damien's shoulder.
After they'd all finished eating, Claire and Richard washed and dried the dishes. They moved to the living room to watch TV and talk more. Claire was in the middle telling Damien everything that had happened to them when he was in a coma when a puff of red smoke appeared right next to him.
"Where the hell did you go?" Satan yelled.
He startled Damien so much he fell off the sofa. He sat up, rubbing his head, and glared at Satan.
"For fuck's sake, stop doing that!"
"I'm annoyed with you for leaving your tomb!" Satan shouted. "It was time for your bath, so I got the bucket of water to wash you with, but when I got there, you were gone! How do you think that makes me feel?"
"How do you think that makes me feel?" Damien hid his face in shame. "I don't want everyone to know that you had to fucking clean me!"
"Should I have just left you to wallow in your own filth? I know you don't poop or pee or nothing, but you still get sweaty! Bacteria!"
"Goddammit, shut up! You're so fucking embarrassing."
"I'm only being embarrassing because I'm scared! It frightened me when I found out you weren't there." Satan said with a grumpy pout. "You just left without telling me. I thought something bad had happened to you."
The scowl on Damien's face softened. "Sorry." He muttered in guilt.
"It's OK." Satan's face was still stern despite his words. "But don't do it again. Also, tell me what's up with you."
"What?"
"What's wrong with you?" Satan asked. "I can tell by your aura that something's wrong. I'm your dad. And also Satan. So, I can tell."
Damien's eyes widened. Satan could see auras. He was stupid to believe he wouldn't be able to detect his anxiety. The voice he had been hearing was bothering him. It didn't even stop after his nap. It was becoming stronger, which unnerved him. But it wasn't unusual for a new hallucination to appear, so he wouldn't mention it. Satan had enough to worry about.
"I'm fine." Damien said. "Just got a bit of a headache."
Red eyes studied his face. Satan was clearly sceptical, but he accepted his excuse.
"All right." Satan nodded. "Anyway, what are you going to do about Dana? She's going to find out you're awake soon."
"Yeah, I know." Damien sighed. "I'm just gonna have to fight her again."
To be honest, he was still afraid of Dana. But he owed it to his loved ones to defeat her. He had to protect them and the world itself. He had to win, or everything he knew would end.
☽☾
With shaking hands, Dana pushed the plunger of the syringe until the cold, clear liquid entered her veins. It quickly numbed the pain like morphine. She let out a sigh of relief and disposed of the needle.
She had been suffering from daily pain and exhaustion for four years now. The stress of her rule was taking its toll on her. The agony was so bad she thought her life was coming to an end, though she knew it wasn't. She was terrified of death, more than anything else. So she developed the ritual of injecting herself with Holy water. It stopped the pain, and even healed the scars on her face, and she believed it prolonged her life. But she knew it wouldn't last forever. She needed to find something to make her immortal. She was running out of time.
Half an hour earlier, God had informed her of Damien's return. She had her suspicions that he wasn't dead. She couldn't find his body in any cemetery, no matter where she dug. He was a threat to her and her rule. As if she didn't already have enough to deal with concerning the human rebellion groups that had been on the rise. It seemed that even frightened dogs fought back.
Dana reached into the cabinet of her desk and took out a small stone angel statue, the Angelus. She didn't think she'd have to use this, but things were looking bad for her. She couldn't take any chances.
A good leader would do anything to protect their empire.