67 I Don't Hate Durante

They sat around the rectangular dining table, Dante next to Arius, Arius across from Zuna, and Zuna next to Eirik. Asrael sat at one end with his arms folded and an expectant expression on his face. It was silent with a solemn vibe, and all eyes were on Asrael.

"What? Is this some kind of intervention?" The teenage boy looked around the table at his fellow Eternals.

"No, this is about-" Arius started, but was intercepted by Zuna..

"Yes! We're worried about your addiction to committing evil acts!" She sprang out of her seat and slammed her hands on the table in seriousness. Arius looked at her with amusement as the table grew quiet. After a moment, Eirik grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled her back into her chair. The air eased up quite a lot after her outburst, although they didn't forget about what they planned to discuss.

"Anyway, Asrael. We're here to talk about Chrysa." Arius watched Asraels expression change to confusion and then to dread.

"Not just her!" Zuna started up again. "This is about... everything." She paused for dramatic effect.

"Oh yea? Like what?" Asrael's gaze got chilly as he chuckled coldly. The room grew quiet again, only this time it wasn't an amusing moment.

"Like your obsession with mom." Dante spoke up. Years ago, when their mom died, the obsession didn't die.

"What about it?" Asrael unfolded his arms and put his hands across his abdomen.

"It's detrimental to you and everyone else." Eirik finally said something.

"You can't fix me."

"We can try!" Zuna took it as a challenge. Although such a thing shouldn't be a challenge.

Arius sighed. "It's not fixing. It's finding a better way to deal with your brokenness."

"So I'm broken?"

"It's okay. No one is completely whole." Eirik spoke in his usual tone.

"No." Asrael looked at the tough looking man. "It's not okay, precisely because I'm not broken, I've already been ruined."

"Dumb*ss." Zuna rolled her eyes.

"Excuse me?" Asrael looked almost shocked. "Hazuna, you're the most messed up, right after me."

"We're not talking about me right now!"

"How is she messed up?" Eirik wasn't completely unaware of his daughter's problems, but he didn't want people calling her messed up.

"She has no restraint!" Asrael responded.

"Well at least I don't hate my only family..." Zuna was relatively calm after having just been called 'messed up'. Perhaps it was because she knew that she had problems.

"I never…"  Asrael was rendered defenseless whenever it came to Dante. "I don't hate Durante."

"Really?" Dante looked at his brother.

"I don't." Asrael shrunk in his seat with guilt all over his face. It was the most shocking thing he had done since that night when Eirik used his ability on him.

"Okay." Dante was content with his answer, and it felt like a problem had finally been solved.

The relationship between Asrael and Dante had always been difficult to decipher. If one were to go by Asrael's usual treatment of people he hates, his brother never quite fit into the category. Whether or not Asrael even acknowledged Dante as his brother in the past was questionable from the view of a third party.

The meeting never reached the intended result, yet some things were finally dragged out into the open. There was so much that wasn't understood, but at least some topics were acknowledged.