A New Child

Chapter 2: Breakfast

Shirou knew his new mother wasn't normal, but that was fine. As soon as the door to their new house was closed, two incredibly long horns appeared on Tiamat's head. Shirou could only stand there and stare.

"Oh?" Tiamat turned to look at Shirou. Her head tilted ever so slightly. "Do my horns disturb you? I would not want you to be uncomfortable."

"They're pretty..." Shirou's voice was soft, almost a whisper. He was enamored by them. They were long and curved, somehow making the shape of a butterfly, not unlike the ones in her eyes.

"Why thank you," Tiamat smiled while putting a hand over her mouth. Then, she started to float. Shirou tilted his head, trying to determine what was going on. His new mother was floating, had massive horns, and spoke in his mind. Was his mother even human?

"To answer your question, I am not human," Shirou flinched when he heard the voice of his new mother again. How did she do that? "Oh? Is it impolite for me to read one's thoughts? I apologize."

"I..." Was reading minds wrong? Shirou didn't know, but if it was something that Tiamat was used to doing... "It's okay... I don't mind."

"What a thoughtful child," Tiamat floated over and picked up the small boy. Shirou basked in the warmth that Tiamat provided. "Now, let's explore. We need to pick your room, after all."

~A New Child~

Shirou laid on the bed in his new room. It was comfortable. Nothing like the charred ground from the fire. He looked up at the ceiling, trying to sort out his feelings.

Tiamat was really good to the young boy. From the little time he had known her, she was making an effort to make sure Shirou was as comfortable as possible. Even though Shirou could barely remember his past life, he was smart enough to deduce that Tiamat was not normal.

Is that... really a bad thing, though? Shirou hesitated. Maybe Tiamat did have a few quirks to her. So what? It didn't matter if she could float or read his mind. She loved him. It was obvious enough in the way she held him. Shirou felt safe in the woman's arms. He felt like he was wanted.

The boy closed his eyes and a small smile spread on his face. He truly was lucky.

~A New Child~

Tiamat couldn't help but smile when she heard Shirou's thoughts. This child... he loved her. Even if he wasn't born from her, he felt genuine affection for her. If only her other children would be more like him...

As Shirou's thought patterns started to simmer down, Tiamat started to float. She made her way out of the house and followed the cursed energy she felt as she made her way back to the location of the fire. She saw multiple humans cleaning the place. With a thought, she made herself completely invisible to normal eyes.

She knew she sensed something odd when she was carrying Shirou out of that fire. After a few minutes of aimlessly floating, she found herself levitating over a corpse. There were still traces of severe curses on it, but they were subsiding now that the man was long dead. Tiamat slowly lowered herself until she was on the ground. She then bent over and shoved her hand into the corpse's chest.

Instead of forming a hole in the corpse, Tiamat's hand just went through it. The corpse started to glow gold as Tiamat wrapped her hands around something. She pulled her hand out to see that she was holding some sort of sheath. It felt undeniably fae in origin.

Maybe it would make a good birthday present for Shirou, Tiamat thought as she floated away, her courses set for home.

~A New Child~