Zen opened his eyes slowly, squinting in the sunlight falling onto his face. The birds from the forest had apparently decided to have a concert outside his window this morning. He rubbed his face before he sat up with a large yawn. He ruffled his hair and smacked his lips together before he looked over towards his nightstand where his alarm clock was. He squinted to read the time. Then they blew up as he realized it was eight twenty-two in the morning. He was supposed to wake up twenty minutes ago.

He muttered a foul curse forgotten to time as he yanked himself out of bed, stumbling to his closet. He snatched up his jeans, shirt, and jacket from the hanger inside, rushing to pull them all. He fell halfway through putting on his pants and he let out a loud hiss as he hit his head on the floor, but otherwise ignored the pain as he pulled them up completely. He grabbed his shirt as he rolled onto his stomach and sat up, pulling it on before he reached in the closet and grabbed his shoes. As he stood up he looked around for his sword only to see it wasn't on his desk. He stared for a few moments before he suddenly remembered that he had just hurled it into the closet with his clothes.

"Ugh, I could kill past me!" He snarled underneath his breath even though he knew he shouldn't be too hard on himself. After spending two days and one night at the infirmary he just wanted to sleep in his own bed, in his own room, away from all of those beeping machines and away from the motherly coddling Vada was giving him. As he yanked the doors open again, dropping his boots at his feet, he stared at the large pile of clothes inside the closet before he squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his face. He often just threw everything on the closet floor after he wore them and then every Friday, or at least when he ran out of clothes, he'd cart it all down to the laundry room to clean them. But it was Thursday and there was a very big pile of clothes on the floor of his closet and underneath them was his sword. He rolled his sleeves up, muttering in Latin before he dove into the pile.

About five minutes later his room was a mess of dirty clothes and he told himself he'd fix it after he got back from this stupid mission. He was really angry, to be honest, he had been doing so good at keeping it clean. He was sitting on his bed and yanking on his boots when the door to his bedroom suddenly opened. He didn't look up as he laced up the boots. "Yeah, I know, I'm late!" He snapped. "My alarm didn't go off, I think it's bro–" He looked up after he was done with the first boot then stopped. Malum was standing there, staring at him with annoyance. He sighed, looking back down at his boot. "You just heard me, I'll be down there i–"

"You're not going." Zen blinked before he looked up at Malum. When he saw that he was completely serious his eyes narrowed.

"Excuse me?" He asked, standing up as he grabbed his other boot.

"You're not going. I'm the one who shut off your alarm." Malum crossed his arms. "I was coming in here to make sure you didn't set one on your phone or something."

"I don't have a phone," Zen growled. "The birds woke me up. I sure am glad, considering I'm going on this mission. And what do you mean you shut off my alarm?! I set it last night!" Malum glanced away. Zen stared before he groaned. "Oh my god, did you come into my room and turn it off?! How did I not wake up?!"

"You were pretty out of it," Malum muttered before he shook his head as if to get himself back on track. "Zen, you're not going on this blasted mission." His voice was steady and firm like it always when he was giving orders, but Zen wasn't having it. He needed to get out of this place, away from all of these prying eyes and Malum wasn't about to stop him.

"When did you become my mother?" He growled. "That's right, you didn't, because she's the fucking Void!" Zen screamed the last bit. "You told me three days ago that this was important, so I'm going!" Malum looked startled when he raised his voice before the look twisted in annoyance as Zen shoved past him, trying to pull his other shoe on.

"Ezekiel!" He snapped, catching the attention of every soldier in the hallway. A few backed up into the wall so they weren't in the way while others sprinted down the hallway or into the nearest rooms so they weren't even there. Zen stiffened at his real full name before he glared at him. "I've already told you, you're not going!" Zen turned, hopping on the boot he had on while he was pulling on the other.

"I am." Zen snarled. "And you're not stopping me!" Malum's eyes flared.

"Ezekiel, this is an order!" Malum snapped.

"The team needs me, Malum!" Zen roared back. More left at the lack of a proper title around them. "They need an archer and I'm the best shot this place has!"

"They'll make do!" Malum roared back. Zen pulled the boot on and began to lace it up in record time. Malum stormed towards him, the end of his overcoat fluttering after him.

"No, they won't!" Zen shouted, looking at him as he did the laces by memory. It was quite impressive honestly. Malum wished it was at least a little more difficult for him. "I'm going! I'm fine, I can walk and I can shoot!" He stood up straight as he finished, turning.

"Ezekiel, if you take one more step, I swe–" Zen looked him right in the eye as he took one giant step down the hall. Malum's eye twitched before Zen sprinted down the hallway, skidding around the corner just in time to see Malum storming after him out of the corner of his eye. He growled as he ran faster, yanking his hair-tie off his wrist to put his hair up as he went along. Stupid tall people and their large steps! Even if Zen ran as hard as he could, Malum was going to catch up with him at this point! "Ezekiel!" The man snarled as Zen took a shortcut down to the entrance hall. The shortcut consisted of him leaping over the railing of the stairs, rolling as he hit the ground before he popped up.

The team he had met a few days ago when he was given a mission paused in the doorway and turned towards him in confusion. "Zen? Mr. Malum told us that you weren't-" The leader, an older man, began to ask but Zen cut him off.

"He's a liar," He growled breathlessly, shoving his bangs off his face. "Come on, let's go." His crossbow appeared in his hands and his quiver in its usual place attached to his belt.

"Ezekiel!" Malum shouted from the platform above them, the same one Zen had leaped over. He was gripping the railing and he looked absolutely murderous. "Ezekiel! You're not going!"

"I am!" Zen shouted. The group looked back and forth between them with wide eyes. "You're not going to baby me like I'm some freaking child!" Malum's eyes flared.

"You call being worried about you babying you?!" Zen glared harder.

"When you try to lock me up in here, yes!"

"Ezekiel!" Malum snarled, but Zen didn't give him a response as he turned and shoved the team out of the room, towards the portals. Malum glared after him but didn't go after him. He realized by that point there was no talking the young demigod out of his choice. The section of the railing he was gripping began to crack. A lot of the soldiers in the entrance hall preparing for missions either escaped outside or hurried into another hall. He let out an angry growl before he turned and stormed out of the room.

"Zen, you shouldn't have talked to him like that." The leader said as they walked towards the portal. Zen growled and made sure to not look at the forest near the house. "He looked furious."

"He'll get over it." He said. "Let's just focus on the mission." The team members glanced amongst themselves. Zen knew that they knew. Who the hell didn't? Zen had landed in the infirmary with dark elf venom in him, Vada had been asking people about Nicator's harassment, and the ex-high ranked soldier was nowhere to be seen. They could put the pieces together. But it was very obvious that Zen didn't feel like talking about it, and they weren't about to bring it up when he was holding a crossbow.

As they waited for the portal to activate, Zen placed the stirrup on the ground. As he slipped his foot through it and braced it against his leg, he thought about how angry Malum had looked. Why did he care if he went or not? He had to do this job. It was important and they needed an archer with the plains their enemies house was built in. If they had an archer with a poor shot, the entire thing would go to hell. Didn't he realize that? Of course, he had to, because that was what he had told Zen when he was called into the mission briefing. He shook his head and hoisted the crossbow up after it was cocked and ready for a bolt. He slung it over his shoulder as the portal finished charging up and the team began to go through, one at a time. He sighed softly and glanced back at the mansion.

He did kinda feel bad. He was sure that somehow, in Malum's dark and cursed heart, he meant well. But Zen had never been and never would be some kind of weak little boy. He could take care of himself and he knew his limits. What had happened yesterday was merely an inconvenience, and it was over now. Malum would get over it.

He looked at the portal and then jumped through.