Pity

Both Arius and Zuna thought that if Eirik was determined enough to act on his anger, Asrael would deserve whatever came to him. Arius really had no reason to be on Zuna's side, but he had even less reason to side with Asrael.

"Let's play a game" Dante was the one that tried to diffuse the tension. Zuna looked over, full of curiosity.

"What game?" Eirik asked.

Dante was glad to distract, he wanted to keep everything relatively calm. "Truth or dare?"

"We're not thirteen year olds." Arius shook his head.

"Yea, terrible game." Zuna agreed, but then she had an idea. "I know a game we could play." She looked at the rest with a micheivious smile.

"I doubt it'll be any fun." Eirik looked at her.

"It's fun for me." Is what she said, and that was all it took for Eirik to go along with whatever she wanted.

"So what's the game?" Arius asked.

"We take turns saying the stupidest things we've done in our lives." She moved to spread her hands out on the table.

"Easy. I once got so drunk, I told a stranger I was immortal. To prove it, I stabbed the right side of my chest with a pencil." Arius didn't hesitate.

"You can only regenerate after you've died, right?" Zuna looked at him.

"Right, so obviously they had to call the paramedics, and I ended up not dying until I sobered up and tried to killed myself again."

"That definitely passes for stupid then, but why did you kill yourself after the first attempt?"

"Because I didn't want to take the time to recover." It should have been weird to talk about dying so casually, but it wasn't.

"Makes sense." She nodded in approval, then she smiled. "Now it's my turn."

"Shouldn't you be going in a circle?" Asrael, who was in the kitchen listening, asked.

"Shh..." Arius hushed him, while Zuna ignored him, she already had plans for his demise. She quickly looked back at the rest without revealing her hidden plans, though Eirik and Arius had both secretly caught on.

"One of the stupidest things I've ever done, would be..." She paused, likely for dramatic effect, "When I forced my dad to show me my greatest fear."

"That sounds more like a regret." Arius wasn't impressed. "But, what is your greatest fear?"

"That my ability will one day work on my dad, and then he'll never wake up." She didn't flinch at the question, Zuna spoke as if she'd already gotten over the fear.

"Oh." Arius didn't try to find out more as he turned his attention to the man beside her. "Your turn, Eirik."

The stoic man had his arms crossed across his chest as he nodded in acknowledgment. "I once let Zuna get hurt."

His daughter rolled her eyes, while Arius realized this was no longer a game, just admitting dumb mistakes. Next up should be Dante... he hoped that the child wouldn't unintentionally make him feel sorry.

Dante seemed to know it was his turn as he said, "200 years ago, I trusted my bother." Oh God. Arius felt his heart break a little, not that it wasn't already in tatters.

Arius wasn't the only one, Zuna turned to glare at Asrael. Without showing it, Eirik was also slowly beginning to find even more reason to torture Asrael.

"My turn then?" Asrael wasn't oblivious to the hate the group directed at him, but he just played dumb too well. "I let my mom kill herself."

The tension in the room was suddenly replaced by, what was it? Surprise? Sympathy? No, not sympathy, but it might've been pity.

It was at least enough pity for them to let Asrael off the hook for now. Though, Dante knew for a fact that it was simply a card his brother liked to use. By bringing up their dead mother, he could get away with being a horrible person.

"This game is getting too real." Arius had to end it. It wasn't even a full round of the game, and it already turned so serious.

"Yea." Zuna sighed. "I'll leave Asrael's punishment for another time I guess."

Hearing that, Asrael had the nerve to say tauntingly, "What? I thought the game was pretty fun." Ultimately invoking a challenge.