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I need to spar with someone.

Floor of your choice. I'll be using my sword only - I don't waste bullets on people - and my demons will only come out if there's deadly intent, which will not end well for you so I really don't recommend it.

-Aleph

[Lucifer can handle anyone who insults him by himself - except now that he's gone.]

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They almost completely make up for my reputation at home, which accomplished about the same thing.

-killed God, before you ask.

Oh...

[Diarmuid's not sure what is more surprising--the claim or how blase he is about admitting it.]

Why? I mean, why did you do it? Did he wrong you somehow?

[Considering he was raised by a god during a time that the gods mixed with normal people a lot more than they do now, Diarmuid's reaction is probably much different than the one Aleph might be expecting.]

He was going to wipe out life on Earth. It was necessary.

[Don't worry, Diarmuid, Aengus is definitely not the type to anger Aleph.]

Sometimes they are lost to their power.

[Diarmuid nods in understanding.]

If it had to be done, then it had to be done. Not all gods are as gentle as my father was.

[Who would want to hurt someone like Aengus?]

What was your father's name?

[Nobody, that's who.]

It was Aengus. He was a member of Tuatha De Danann--a god of love, youth and poetry.

[Diarmuid smiles and his eyes seem to pick up a bit of a glow. It's obvious he enjoys talking about his father.]

Actually, he was not my birth father, but he is the only person who ever acted like a father to me and the only I will ever give the name. He loved to tell stories and sing songs. They were always such a great comfort to me.

[A comfort Diarmuid really wishes he had access to now, but that would mean bringing his bright and cheerful father into this dark, dead place, and he would never want that to happen.]

He sounds like a kind man. I'm sure you were lucky to have him.

[Aleph has never rued not having a father - it simply is not something that mattered.]

I owe all I am to him. I was honored to have him as my father.

[Diarmuid shudders to think of how he might have ended up if his biological father had raised him.]

What about you? Do you have family waiting for you back on your world?

It's... extremely complicated. But my mother's name is Hiroko, and she's one of the strongest people I've met and also one of the kindest.

[Diarmuid smiles gently.]

That is a beautiful name. I bet she is extremely proud of the son she raised because it seems like you are a lot like her.

We were separated shortly after she gave birth. I only met her again recently.

[Not that you're wrong about the pride thing.]

Some things are passed on from parent to child even if they cannot be together.

[That's part of the reason Diarmuid fears someday becoming like his biological father even though he spent so little time around him.]

And? Was she proud of you when you met again?

We spent a while traveling together before we learned about our relationship... It was awkward for a while, but I think she's proud of me now that the shock has faded.

[He laughs lightly.]

Oh, I bet it was! Wow... What were doing while you were traveling? Was it on your quest to kill that god?

We hadn't originally set out to do that. Actually, she first approached me looking for help searching for a boy who'd gone missing... who turned out to be me.

Amnesia and artificial growth are a terrible combination when it comes to finding somebody.

Indeed!

[A look of confusion crosses his face.]

But artificial growth? What exactly happened to you after you were separated from your mother?

Shortly after I was born, I was raised to be an ultimate human - this included strength and speed, and the alterations done to me also made it so that I grew extremely quickly. By the time we met each other again, I looked about the same age as my mother, who's still in her twenties.

I'm only about one year old now, and that's after six months here.

Oh!

[Diarmuid's eyes widen in shock. It is hard for him to believe something so terrible, but it does actually explain some of the odd things Aleph has said.]

So that is why the sun is so important and you said you remembered so little of your home!

Exactly.

[Just don't treat him like he can't take care of himself, now that you know how young he is.]

[Diarmuid nods for a few moments, thinking. He knows a fighter when he sees one and even if Aleph is young, he's a fighter. It's just now he knows he's a fighter in more ways than one.]

This might seem like an odd question, but do the demons ever seem like family to you since you have been together for so long and you rely on each other for so much?

Family is... odd for demons. I wouldn't consider them anything they couldn't return, but demons and summoners can get pretty close.

I suppose it would be, but at long as there is something there what it is called really doesn't matter. You take care of each other and that is what is important.

[Aleph nods at that.]

If I asked how old you are now that you know my age, would that be offensive?

[Diarmuid smiles slightly and shakes his head.]

It's not an offensive question at all, just a difficult one to answer because of my very nature as a servant. You see, I may introduce myself as Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, but I am not, in truth, him. I am a copy of his soul brought back to life by magical means long after his death. However, I know everything he knew, I feel what he felt, my wishes are the same as his were and so I speak as if I were him.

If you want to be picky, when I died in the war, I was not even a week old, yet much like you I obviously look older than that.

[He pauses to laugh, though it's a little strained. Sometimes being so honest isn't easy. He doesn't like talking about being a copy of someone else's soul because it reminds him he isn't really real, that he shouldn't be here, that nothing he claims as his really is.

Even his much cherish family memories aren't technically his.]

And that is not even all of it. I died in my forties, though I looked much younger because of some magical berries that I once ate. On top of that, the magic that brought me back to life brought me back at my prime so I look even younger--perhaps around 25 or so.

...That is complicated. I'd rather think of you as in your forties since that's what you remember being.

[It's simple that way.]

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