Chapter 8: Slime demise

 Darius went to the place the poster had noted as the slime hazard house. There were indeed many slimes mixing around. The demon boy sidestepped them, and made it to the door. Knocking, Darius waited. A woman, very skittish and refusing to open the door all the way, eyed him from head to toe. Her eyes widened when she saw his horns. 

"Hello, my name is Darius Loreth, and I am here to do the slime job," Darius told her with a smile. His fangs pocked out, and she nearly slammed the door in his face. "Wait, I can do the job!" 

"You are a demon," the nymph, now that Darius was getting a better look at her, he could see that she was indeed a nymph, shrieked. Darius winced at that. 

"Yes, I am. Which means that I can get rid of your problem quickly," Darius assured her, and she wavered in the doorway. A slime passed by Darius's legs, and tried to enter the house. The demon child bent and got its nucleus from its slimy body. The slime evaporated, and the nymph breathed a sigh of relief. 

"Well, I guess that if you can get rid of all the slimes, then I will give you the completion letter," she said, and then closed the door in his face. Darius rolled up his sleeves, and went to the nearest slime, careful not to slip on the ice. He was lucky that these slimes were only mildly acidic. His hard demon skin was not even harmed by their goo. 

One slime he took unawares, as it tried to eat a tree. Another he ambushed near a barrel, as it attempted to drink water. The more nucleases he collected, the better he felt. Stronger. As if he were getting the strength of the slimes. When he collected all the slimes, he went to the back garden, and checked to see if there weren't any more slimes. His eyes widened. 

If the front had been infested, then the back was pillaged. The slimes here were bigger than those in the back, and looked to be more acidic. 

"Ok, I have to be smarter about this now," Darius looked around, and saw an iron rod just lying around. He took it, and began to near the biggest slime. Beth had always told him he needed to do the hardest thing first. So, with a battle cry, he plunged the rod inside the slime, and then pocked the nucleus out. 

Darius whopped with joy, when the slime popped with a splash. Then, he got a competitive grin on his face, and began to attack the other slimes. By the end he was covered in slime goo, and grinning from ear to ear. For once, in his short life, he felt like he had done something outstanding. 

Gathering all the nucleases in his pouch, he went back to the front door. Knocking, he waited for the woman to open again. 

"Oh, what have you done?" She asked, and ushered him inside. "You will catch your death like this out there. Look at you, wet from head to toe!" 

"Do I get the letter..." Darius began to ask, but he was ushered into a bathroom.  

"You change from these clothes, and take a bath. I will have them washed and dried. Child, do your parents know you are out here doing bounties?" She asked, and Darius rubbed the back of his head. 

"Dad just told me to come back by nightfall," the demon child knew, from Beth, that his nose twitched when he lied. Half-truths were something he had long since learned how to tell. 

"How irresponsible of him!" The nymph said, and then took his clothes, when Darius handed them to her. "Now, wash up. I will make you something to eat, while you are in here."

With these parting words, the nymph left. Darius went to the bathtub, and waited until it was filled with warm water. Sinking inside, he giggled, when the water turned a light green from the goo that was covering him. Luxuriating inside the warmth, Darius relaxed and began to think about his new life. 

Will it last?

Once he thought about it that way, the thought didn't leave his mind. Before, when he had been an orphan, people had regarded him like he was garbage. Now, that he had a father, they were welcoming to him. Was this all it took? Had Beth adopted him, would have life looked up for the both of them?

Except, there was one big difference between Beth and Andiel. Andiel was a healer. A well-known one with a plethora of patients. A steady income. Beth had been homeless, and crippled. Doing chores, when people took pity on her. 

I should go visit the house. Bring her flowers.

Darius nodded to himself, after the thought came to him. Flowers were a luxury for him, even during the spring. If someone had caught him picking from the many gardens that were in the town, then he would have been brought to the police. Flowers were worth more than homeless people, in the eyes of many. 

"I will change it! Maybe even for a single person, but I will do what Andiel did, and more," Darius vowed, and he placed a hand over his heart. The steady rhythm assured him that his vow was true. One day, when he was a renowned bounty hunter, and had money to spare, he would change lives. Make life easier for those around him. Be a... hero. 

The boy blinked at his own thoughts. Would his conviction last? Was the bounty hunting life for him? He shook his head, and droplets of water flew at the tiles of the wall. 

I will be a hero. Darius vowed. And find happiness. 

"Hey, little guy, your clothes are done. So is the sandwich I made you. Rinse and come, so you can dress," the voice of the nymph came from the other side of the door, and Darius stood up from the warm water, and entered the shower cabin, to rinse the left-over goo from himself.