16. One Way

Connor's POV

I wasn't surprised to see that the Moon Goddess had seen the promise Benji could bring to the table. I wish that I could be in his shoes, but since I paled in comparison to him I know it wouldn't happen. However, the knowledge that I wasn't as large a percent demon as I thought shook me to the very core. All of my life, I had been told that I carried the demon phenotype because I was over 75 percent, and I had just assumed they were right. I mean, they would have gotten a DNA test before telling me that, right?

When she had taken one look at me and assessed the contrary, it had felt as if every bit of my life was a lie. I didn't want to be that one guy that cries out woe is me at every chance, but a little bit of notification before my world flopped would be nice. I had always been told by my father that a demon was supposed to crave the violence rather than shy away from it, and I had spent my entire life wondering why I was so different from everyone else. It all made sense now.

"Connor, are you alright?" my best friend whispered worriedly as we followed the most influential woman down the hallway, and I didn't know any response rather than shaking my head. I can't lie to him; it just doesn't feel right to me.

"I don't know, it's just... I didn't expect any of this before it happened. There's way too much going on for me right now, and I know that isn't your fault. It's still very hard for me to process."

"You can have time for that later. For right now we need to focus on taking control and keeping it."

"I know what the focus is, I'm just updating you on my mental stability."

"Alright then."

Once we arrived on the steps, we worked together to set it up for a broadcast. It really wasn't that hard since all we had to do was turn on equipment and make sure that all of the microphones and cameras were working, and by the time the Moon Goddess came out to meet it was all in place. My heart would clam up every time I saw her, but I didn't allow that to affect my overall mood. I won't get overly happy or sad just because of this woman, not happening.

"Is everything in order?"

"Yes ma'am," both Benji and I replied in sync, and she seemed to have a satisfied expression on her usually cold face.

"Good. Please start it."

All it took was a press of a button before we were on air, and the little blinking red lights were seemed to be taking forever to flash on and off. Benji was emitting the most nervous energy ever, and I'm sure that I wasn't much better. No one can predict what my father will respond to this.

"Good afternoon my children," she began, and I made sure that my posture wasn't embarrassing. I don't want to look like a bum on national TV. "Listen closely to my words. The current executive of this revolution is not in my favor, and it's time that I step in and make my own influence. The demon running it now is not doing it for you, but rather for only himself. He wants to see pain, suffering, and loss. He's killing you all in his decisions! I ask that you now listen to these two men. While they may be young, their hearts are in the right place. They are the right people to lead my children to victory."

The silence after she spoke was deafening while everyone processed what had just been said, then the entire world blew up in the building behind us. Some of the voices were happy, some confused, and a small but still present portion were mad. Most of the people were willing to listen to a Goddess, but a few doubters reminded me that this hasn't been handed to us on a silver platter. We still need to convince those who doubt our inexperience, and I'm sure that somewhere my father has broken an expensive piece of equipment from anger already. It won't be simple...

Someone came out of the building after we turned off the cast, and I was initially worried that we were about to be shanked. That is until I saw his huge grin, and I reciprocated it. Above anything else, we have to retain the people who are already on our side, and being a rude person isn't the correct way to do that. "What's your name?"

"I'm Manny; I just wanted to meet you in person. I like to meet the people that are going to be directing me around and putting my life at risk."

"Well, it's nice to meet you. I'm going to be doing my best not to have your life, or anyone else's', at risk. Safety is the most important thing for me."

"That's what someone who's about to get me killed would say."

"I'm not going to get you killed on purpose. I mean, I know that swearing for no lives lost is stupid because it is a war, but I want to do my best to keep that number as low as I can."

"Good, you're honest. I was really trying to figure out how honest with your expectations you are. Congrats, you aren't delusional."

"Well that's encouraging I guess?"

"That wasn't the point."

"I know." He walked away from me to bother Benji with a similar question, and I walked back inside where people were all having conversations about the new news. My father was likely flying here right now to yell at me for insubordination, but the thing is that I don't answer to him anymore. I may be his heir, but I'm his equal as far as position goes. I may be much younger than his old ass, but that shouldn't matter to him. Then again, his ego is so far up his ass that I wouldn't rule it out.

I went to my room to collect all of my thoughts into one place, and the sight outside my window was strange in a good way. The streets were empty except for the patrols of guards, and it was almost calming to me. It may have been a ghost town, but that did mean that there weren't many civilians that could get hurt when the humans inevitably attacked. They were probably planning things out right now, and I know that they're going to come for us very, very soon.

I let my demon features come loose from my body, and I couldn't figure out if I still liked them or not. I had never really had a huge fondness for them, but they were still a part of what made me, me. It's not fair for me to diss them so much even though they gave me so much usefulness. I just wish that the truth was revealed earlier... Only time will tell the results of what we have to do, but I'm going to face it with everything I have. That's the only way for us to win, and we will win.