Imps Go Out

Chapter 3 - Imps Go Out

Written By Curiostyx

<Grandpa Gregory's Pov>

"Well, that's certainly way more dramatic than mine..." I commented.

As far as I remember, Flame Awakenings shouldn't have been this explosive.

To control the flame, you needed to deeply understand the flame, and that would be utterly impossible if you never felt the pain of being burnt.

But that was it, Pain, a jolt of Pain to awaken your senses.

The Imp in front of him didn't just feel the Pain-No, he was actually literally burning, which should have been utterly impossible for an Imp in the first place.

This meant...

"Oh, you're gonna be spectacular..." I muttered as I felt burning trepidation for Aiden's future.

My attention then returned back to the little fire as he crawled out of the ash pile. The Imp was slightly taller than before, only a few inches shorter than me, which felt rather surreal.

All across his body, Burnt marks could be seen, though they were more akin to tattoos, Really. they were shaped like the streaks of flames that burnt him. A permanent reminder of the torture that he felt today.

The mark on his chest was shaped like an odd symbol. A perfectly circular Ring orbiting an upside-down 7-pointed Star. On top of the Star, 2 round circles were stacked on 2 other round circles, vaguely in the shape of a phallus. The number 666 was positioned at the lower part of the Star.

"Damn, Boy you look nasty" I couldn't help but comment.

The Imp was bloodied all over. Though besides the new Markings, there weren't any actual wounds, the blood smelled weird too.

"Yeah, And you're even nastier..." The 8-year-old Imp answered.

"Hn... Let's get you some clothes first" Aiden's clothes were reduced to ashes when he was in that overdramatic Flame Awakening.

"Actually, why don't I buy you some new nice clothes, eh?" I asked. It was an invaluable opportunity for Aiden to see the outside more, so of course I would take it. I wouldn't ruin another child's future just cause of my bad parenting again...

"What's the motive here? are you gonna abandon me?" The little Imp asked.

"I'm not your birth parents, boy" I answered, calmly.

"Besides, why would I go to the hassle of teaching you about the world if I was just going to drop you off somewhere?" I asked.

"Good point..."

"Yeah, yeah, now get a bath. You smell terrible..." I said.

-+-+-+-

<Aiden's Pov>

An 8-year-old Imp stepped out of the bathroom as he dried himself up with a towel, after which he disposed of the towel by throwing it in the laundry basket.

After that whole Flame Awakening thing, Grandpa said that I was now intuned to the flames and that I could manipulate them as I desired.

But he never taught me how. Apparently, to become a true Master of the Flames, one needed to form their own understanding of the Flames. So I needed to figure it out myself. If I were to be taught the Way of The Flame, I would be piggyback riding on Grandpa's comprehension and that would heavily stunt my own growth as everyone is unique.

Magic is the Manifestation of one's Dreams. Dreams are powerful, they are the phenomena that happen when the Mind interacts with the Soul.

And as everyone's Dreams are completely unique from each other, limiting yourself by using someone else's Dreams as the basis of your Magic is an absolutely terrible idea.

But learning Magic is for another day. Today, Grandpa was finally bringing me to an actual city in Hell.

This was less shopping and more of a trip, really.

But I would never deny such a proposition, the countryside-No, the middle of nowhere scenery was quite a novelty at first, but it's seriously getting old now.

So I got ready for the trip and made my way downstairs, there sat Gramps on the couch waiting for me.

"Ya finally ready?" He asked.

"Yeah, let's go now," I said before he led me outside.

"So how are we going- Oh my Devil," I said, startled.

Outside of the house were three gigantic demonic horses, Hellsteeds are what they're called. Besides the bulkiest of the Hellsteeds, an Imp similar in age to Grandpa stood with a whole cowboy getup on.

"Ayyy, there's old One Eye. How have ya been doing, Ash?" The Imp asked.

One Eye? He was clearly referring to Grandpa here... But Gramps had 2 eyes! so why did he call him that?

And Ash? was that Grandpa's actual first name?

"Don't call me that! My raiding days have long passed... I'm just a Farmer now" Grandpa responded.

"Hn..." The Imp snorted the brought over his attention to me.

"And is this the little fella who ya keep bringin' up?" The Imp asked.

"Yeah, meet Aiden. My adoptive Grandson" Gramps introduced.

"Aiden? Nice name! totally lives up to the spirit and all" He said.

"Well Aiden, Name's Hunter. Me and your Pops go way back" Hunter introduced.

"Nice to meet you Hunter... Mind if I ask, but why did you call Grandpa One Eye?" I asked.

"Oh don't tell-" Grandpa said before being interrupted by Hunter.

"HAH, You won't believe, But this Imp..." He pointed to Grandpa.

"...Used to dress up as a Pirate! Mate even had a whole authentic ghost ship he brought from a Sinner!" Hunter said whilst laughing.

"Oh Satan..."

"And the fucking Parot-"

"HUNTER DON'T TELL HIM!" Grandpa shouted.

"You're pops had a Parot he called 'Cock' and damn was that boy huge, Man couldn't stop bragging about it either, and it eventually led to..." But he was interrupted.

"HUNTER NO!"

"HUNTER YES!"

"Back then, your Pops had this down bad crush on a nice fat-botomed lass..." He said.

"Please stop..." Grandpa pleaded.

"One day, she asked 'Can I see your Cock?'" Hunter stated.

"Oh fuck..." Grandpa said as he clutched his face with both hands in pure embarrassment.

"The 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 on his face, Oh... it was priceless. He thought he was finally gonna get laid!" He said.

"But then she said she just wanted to see the Parot! Hah! The 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 on his face was even 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 hilarious, HAHAHAHA!" He laughed out loud.

"Pff..." I couldn't stop myself.

"S-shut up you two..." I never knew this side of Grandpa, it was certainly refreshing.

-+-+-

<Narator's Pov>

In the city of MetroSin, a couple of Hellhound Pups could be seen surrounding a lone crying Pup.

"Hey, hey... We just want to be friends..." One of the said with a sinister tone.

"G-get away!" The lone Pup growled.

"Sheesh, Is this how you treat your new friends? no wonder you're all alone..." Another said.

"Shut up!" The Pup shouted.

"All we want is the money you got there, Friends share right?" One said whilst the others laughed.

"I-I don't have any money!" He said.

"I know you're lying... You got that scent around you... The scent of money" The leader said to the lone Pup.

"Now give us that money and we'll leave you alone..." One of the said with a grin.

"N-No!" The Lone Pup growled.

"Listen here little shit, we've all gotta eat ya know? so if you don't give us that money then we'll-" But just as the Hellhound was about to strike with his paw, he was interrupted by a hand holding him tightly.

"Stop right there criminal scum"

===

Aiden's name means "Little Fire" if any of you are confused.

Inspiring Quote of The Day: Life's too short to be a Chump, so stop procrastinating and do your work!

Word Count: 1268