Deamon had been leading a very different life to Ridge's.

After what he did to Mexxy, Deamon hardly recognized his best friend anymore. The kingdom quickly stopped their celebrating when they realized just how bad he was. First came the law: quartgods could not have an education anymore.

No one dared to resist him.

Then he began to invest in making Voxeltopia bigger, which made the smaller villagers poorer. It was a horrible way to go. He upgraded Deam onto general of the demigod army, which was a tough job, but he loved it. The army were like brothers to Deamon and he accepted that instead of Ridge.

"Jesus, I feel like we can't go to the toilet without doing something wrong" Feather whispered in Deamon's ears before a meeting. Featherblade was the master of coin, in charge of the finances. But even listening to his advice, Ridge went against him, and continued to spend money.

"Tell me about it" Elevn groaned. He was an architect, one of the best in Voxeltopia, and another one of Deamon's best friends. They used to be known as a crew, Ridge, Deamon, Feather, Elevn and Kupo. Kupo was Deamon's girlfriend, a beautiful girl with long, shimmering blonde hair and pretty brown eyes, another incredible architect. Kaz was also known as part of the crew, but only Ridge liked her. But they had to accept her, because Ridge said so.

"Silence" Ridge snapped in the hall, and everyone went quiet, and knelt before their king.

"Rise..."

__________________________________________

3 years later

Mexxy had to admit it: Living in exile was worse than he could ever imagine.

He lived on the edges of the kingdom, doing the same routine every day. He lived in the forest, living off crops he could steal from farmers, and fruits, berries and nuts he discovered on the ground.

Deamon had taken Tia to a quaint village, giving her to two mortal parents who happily accepted the child in return for a bit of money to support her. She was now, according to Deamon, living peacefully on a little farm, and had become quite good at riding horses. She was a few years old now, and Mexxy did not know what she looked like.

She was the only thing he had left from Carmine, the love of his life. Thinking about her made his eyes tear up for the millionth time. Love was a crue, cruel bastard, he had learned, and it was probably the most important lesson he had ever remembered.

Mexxy paused, his ears pricking up slightly as he heard the gust of wind of an approaching figure.

"Mexxy!"

It was Deamon, but his voice was urgent.

"Yeah?" he asked, watching Deamon land, his face pale.

"It's Tia, Mexxy. Ridge found her."

Mexxy felt like his soul had been ripped out as he took off after Deamon, jetting through the sky. He was too late once. Never again.

___________________________________________________________________-

The King had been advised to go check on smaller villages to see how they were coping with poverty.

Boring.

Ridge stifled a yawn as he glided through the sky, surrounded by about six bodyguards. He landed gracefully and entered the nearest farm.

Two mortals greeted him, a man with black hair and a bit of stubble on his chin, and a woman with mouse brown hair and dull brown eyes.

Ridge sighed under his breath, and asked for their names, what they did, blah blah blah-

"We also have a daughter, called Tia."

He nodded, daydreaming and not paying attention

The two parents paused for a moment. "We...have a little girl. A few years old. Come here Tia, there's a good girl!" the woman cooed, beckoning.

A little girl waddled over, her blueish-grey eyes wide and innocent. Her long brown hair was curled, and she was small and cute and simple. Ridge stared down at her, his eyes widening. No, he thought, it couldn't be-!

Well, well, well, Ridge thought, his mouth twitching up into a grin, we meet again....Tia.

Mexxy's daughter, alive and well...you could have knocked the king over with a feather, he was that astonished.

Of course, Deamon was to blame. He always did have a soft spot for kids. But Ridge had discovered that his own girlfriend Kaz had aborted his first child. It was an immortal child, so he understood, but Ridge badly wanted his own child, and urged her not to abort again.

Ridge entered the house, listening to the farmers drone on about livestock and crop prices and natural disasters, but Ridge's attention was focused on the girl, who had been vigorously fiddling with something metallic outside.

After the parents had finished, Ridge promised them riches and treasures, and their eyes lit up. Ridge left the building eagerly, heading over to the little girl, and he sat down on the grass next to her.

"Here sir" she grinned, handing him the metallic keyring. He took it, smiling slyly, and gazed down at it. A star charm. How adorably innocent.

Looking up at the child, bloodthirst took over his vision. He had failed to kill her once. Never again.

_____________________________________________________________

Mexxy arrived at a horrible scene.

A farmhouse was on fire, already half collapsed. Mexxy had a dreadful flashback, but it was forced away by the sight laid out before him.

Ridge was on top of a small girl, choking the life out of her with his large hands.

Mexxy recognized his little girl instantly, and with all of his strength, charged forward, and threw himself at Ridge with all of his power and muster.

The king was thrown to the side, and he skidded to a halt, snarling.

"Mexxy. So good to see you after all these years." Ridge purred, standing up and dusting himself down.

Mexxy didn't reply. Bloodthirst and the scream for vengeance for Carmine clouded his vision, and he began to attack Ridgedog with all of his heart and soul.

But the king had been taught well in fighting, and he easily deflected his hits.

Until there was a dramatic change of events.

Deamon flew in, ripping Ridgedog away from Mexxy and throwing him aside hard. His crown bounced off, and rolled along the ground near Mexxy's feet.

"Stop it!" he yelled, his voice loud and deep, a general's voice.

The piercing cries of his daughter on his left overruled the crown on his right, and he turned his back on royalty, and picked his daughter up, hugging her tightly against his body.

Ridge stood up, his eyes wide with fury as he attemped to attack Mexxy, but a father's instinct to protect his child was stronger than anything. Mexxy hit back twice as hard as before, making Ridge falter slightly and stagger.

After an awkward staring match, Ridge mustered up the last of his dignity and took up his crown, putting it firmly on his head before storming away furiously, muttering curses under his breath.

Deamon looked left, and he looked right at the burning village, before back down to Mexxy and his daughter. He was cuddling her close, and the girl looked terrified and confused.

"Tia...my baby Tia..." Mexxy kept whispering, his eyes shut.

Deamon left silently, letting the broken prince share a moment with his daughter.

____________________________________________

"My Tia...my baby Tia..."

Mexxy kept whispering the words over and over again. He couldn't understand why she kept wriggling in his grasp. He couldn't understand why she was pushing him away.

"Tia...why are you pushing me away?"

"Who are you?" the little girl cried, her eyes filled with terror as she watched her home burn before her eyes.

Mexxy stared at her in disbelief. She didn't recognize him.

After a moment's hesitation, and after spotting some village people emerge, he swallowed back his sobs, before wiping Tia's tears.

"I'm no one. Forget you ever met me."

And with that, he flew off, letting the village people take Tia into their care.