Heavy is the Head // self para
Of all the doors at all the rooms in his new home Envy could have found himself, it had to be the makeshift club area. Why wouldn't it be the room when he recently gifted the place to Marina, when she was so recently the newest worry on his mind? He trusted Gianna's brothers just enough to protect her from Bellora, but the goddess was not the only threat posing a danger to the young girl. The psychotic Azriel, the fiend, the monster hovering in the dark and more than willing to kill the Princes a second time if given the chance. From what little information he gathered, not only that, a familiar connection linking him and Marina that made Envy uncomfortable. Some of it surely stemmed from his sin, seeing the girl practically risk her life just to see their version of Azriel unearthed the twinge of jealousy that it's not the dream witch who she was currently living with, who was taking care of her, but him. Sure, Marina could possess two father figures, yet Az was emotionally distant. It just...bothered him.
Envy pushed open the door of the space, taking in the hardware holding the colored spotlights above the small stage containing the DJ panel. Marina insisted on keeping the mirror disco ball hanging from the ceiling in the middle of what was meant to be the dance floor, and the small bar counter according to the young blonde, would encourage everyone to dance by way of alcohol even though she was barely legal to drink herself. No, what drew Envy's attention is the oddity of the club situated just off-right from the source of where music would be blasted. The grand piano sat in a small corner, leave it to someone as stuck up as Greed to include a fucking piano in a clubby setting, once covered by a large blanket before being unearthed by him and Marina the first time they entered. His brother's excessiveness proved further impressive if the whole of Castle Envy was not the indication. However, none would enjoy this particular room more than she had.
Envy's memories of that barely distant day brought forth two apparitions swimming into view as his mind began replaying the interaction, the darkness through the window now filtering in sunlight just as it was when they were exploring compared to the nighttime it currently is while he's alone reminiscing. Envy watched like a spectator from an outside perspective as Marina's form approached the bench and sat down while the past version of him trained his curious gaze on her. Taking her in, wondering how he reached this good of a point in his life after years of idling. A Queen at his side, married to a First, a father of the lost as Isabel eloquently put it. His own blood children refused his company, avoiding him at every corner, but that didn't make him any less a father for the others. Robin and Valentin, Lysander, Cael, Blair, even Ramiel gained a small taste of paternal instinct despite being a father himself. Marina's fingers smoothed across the black and white keys, pressing down on a few in a brief melody she strung together. "Do you play?" The past version of him asked in surprise, moving forward until he took a seat beside the girl.
"Only a little." Marina's eyes had dropped to her hands sheepishly, the prince thinking it a touch sad she would even feel embarrassed by musical gifts. He didn't seem the type to appreciate the fine arts as they were, but what else was he to do in his kingdom while the other brothers fought battles under the King's command? "My mom thought I needed a hobby to fall back on before the witch apprenticeship was an option. Made me more attractive for potential suitors, I guess. Did you play?" Past Envy slightly frowned at the very notion a girl required a talent to draw in a future husband, the type of thinking his own father likely would have followed if he implemented arranged marriages. He placed his own fingers to the keys, striking them one-by-one expertly until piecing an ancient tune he recalled vaguely as a child played by his own mother's hands. Seraphina's return started digging up repressed memories and had been for a while. "Self-taught partly out of boredom and a fraction from my mother when she was still around back in my Hell days. Not a lot of people know." A pause, "Actually, I think you're the first person. Gianna doesn't even know."
"You are a lot like Ulric in that way, or Ric is a lot like you." He remembered how her statement caught him off-guard, the comparison between father and son opening the dash of hope they could theoretically come to an understanding one day if Ulric saw how vastly different this current version and his version now long dead were. Of course, the fear hovered above his head like a cloud that spoke whispers telling him slipping up is possible. How easily the malicious side returned and corrupted the family he held most dear. Marina's eyes searched the demon's expression, the apprehension not as well hidden as either past or current Envy hoped. "He said I had this ability to pierce through anyone's defenses and let them see I was on their side while also kind of keeping them on the straight and narrow."
"He's not wrong, Marina, and I doubt we're the only ones." The future Envy and the one playing out the memory shared the same thought, the same list of people whose protective barriers Marina sent the wrecking ball hurdling toward. His son with certainty, Gianna, likely Estella given her empathy, Nyrinn, the troublemaker boys, his niece and assassin husband, and hopefully Lysander at some future point. And the Foxwood brothers, oh, the Foxwood brothers. His in-laws and his obstacle gaining their approval. "I don't uphold the easiest walls to conquer, but I think you discovered this back door between me and Ric." Envy gently nudged her elbow with his who returned the nudge right back, "I'm happy he has a comfort like you in his life. Someone who calls people out on their bullshit, yes, but he needed you."
"I know." Marina needed him just as much, it's not a fact she required stating when it's clear what their close friendship meant for the other. Two lost children, spawning from the failures of one or both parents, and bonding over a taste of normalcy. Envy saw the melancholy mixed with the fondness, but he did not make any mention back then as he would have now given what he knew. He hadn't meant to brush aside asking about her personal life before arriving in Ivy Hollow with her mentor, only distracted by his own personal problems with his son however straining the relationship is between him and Ulric prospered. "It's weird how different you are than what I expected. What the coven drilled in me, the whole thing with Gianna, I thought you were the bad guy." It was understandable judging by what Marina and Constance were tasked to accomplished by the sister coven, the files on significant targets. And especially the Princes Of Hell. Facts true to their personality, surely a long list of victims in his file, detailing his villainy.
"And am I the bad guy?" The statement carried a slight serious note in Envy's tone, half-curious by her response and the other half preferring to keep the less savory aspects of his personality in the past. "I mean," He lifted a hand and gestured around, encapsulating not merely the room, but the entire castle as a whole while a certain playfulness oozed from the man, "Would anybody you consider a bad guy graciously gift you your very own club space to blast your favorite ear-pounding music because they adore you?" A slow teasing smile touched the demon's lips as he leaned closer to the girl while he locked their gazes, "Obviously, they'd have to really adore you, but not as much as me."
A shadow of a smile tipped at the corner of Marina's mouth, gaze narrowing into a small glare that could create amusement for even the most cold-hearted creatures of Hell such as him. "You're not the bad guy. Bad guys usually don't care about having families or giving the youngest overly energetic squirrel of said family an entire fucking club just because she enjoys a little music every now and then." A little music is an understatement, she blasted trashy pop and proudly showed off her musical collection to anyone with the ability to hear. She believed in headphones on occasion, but Mar was in the opinion that others should appreciate the atmosphere. "Envy, Envy, Envy," Marina tapped her finger on three separate keys each time she said his name, "Did you just confess," Another key hit, "that you adore me?"
Envy reached over and pressed a key on the lower note side where he was sitting, his mouth opening in a faux gasp as if shocked by admitting the truth, "I think I did." Marina released a scoff and pretended to consider the words before responding with a key smash on the opposite end of the board, eliciting a higher vibration, "I know I'm adorable, but I see how you struggled with saying that. Your face is turning flush, Princey." She played the two-toned whomp whomp sound on the keyboard and gently poked the demon's cheek, Envy swatting at her hand, "Don't worry, mean green machine, I totally adore you too."
The Prince chuckled and reached over to press a note on her end of the piano, unable to contain his grin when the blonde rolled her eyes and returned the favor, "As if that wasn't completely obvious." The pair bounced between pressing several keys back and forth, filling the room with a conglomerate of mismatched music anyone would need earplugs enduring that mixed with a bout of laughter emitted from the two. Suddenly, the scene of the demon and the witch dissipated. Marina and Envy seated together at the piano disappeared, the sun was snuffed out to turn day into night, leaving the current Envy standing alone. A failure of a father who couldn't protect the closest thing he obtained to a daughter.
Envy immediately spun on his heel and moved toward the exit of the room Marina never had the opportunity to use, spilling out into the hallway like a man on a mission. Stopping for nothing and no one, even while he didn't think he would have passed another occupant of the house without somebody stopping him to ask where he was off to in such a rush. He normally would've sought out his Queen for comforting guidance or buried himself in one of many libraries, but Envy headed straight for his office. Nothing really changed between his old and new one, the wallpaper contained a dark forest green representing his house color, the several knickknacks also sporting a variation of green. Envy moved around his desk and stood before the portrait of himself he once commissioned centuries prior until he had an artist include the form of Gianna beside him. Placing his hands on either side of the ornate wooden frame, he lifted it from the hook it was hanging on to reveal the sturdy safe. Setting aside the picture, Envy quickly typed in the security code and swung the small door open. He removed two black leather cases before turning and placing them on the oak desk's surface.
With a flick of his hand, both cases popped open and revealed their contents. One contained his dagger and the other his crown. Envy's fingers took a moment brushing along the velvet holding the weapon, its metal blade shining in the light as if begging to be used again. Once a source of his power and a fragment of home, now a reminder of his mortality. It reminded him of the sword Wrath used to take their father's head, the Kingslayer, how one sweep caused the King's downfall. Envy shifted his attention upon his crown, hands reached out to gingerly pick it up. Kaniel's words flooded the demon's mind as he shifted the piece back and forth, green and black stones glimmering. What happened to the Prince of Hell who relentlessly took without mercy? Who slaughtered those looking to even glance at his obsessions? Some say he turned soft, fell in love, and became a father. He would claim his dramatic flairs dwindled. That Envy allowed a child under his charge to be stolen by a vengeful goddess and he wasn't quick to stop it. The old Envy would have seen it coming, he wouldn't be sitting here and wait to have what belonged to him returned by someone else. Bellora's a bitch, yes, and psycho Azriel could splice him in two, but a fully powered Prince doesn't cower. It's not a question whether or not he desired hunting down both the goddess and the possessed dream witch, he was smarter than inviting in a death sentence, however nothing will keep him locked away in the safety of the mansion while the battle took place. No...he will be there when Bellora dies and Azriel's alter ego is banished with or without Gianna at his side.
Envy raised the crown slowly and placed it on his head, feeling a spark of the old him making a grand return. Once the villains are vanquished, one by Az's hand and the other with Marina's assistance...he will allow the protective possessiveness consume him.
And that is when he'll bring back home what is his.
