Or the dark.

Sleep came quickly, after having worked myself ragged pleasing the two to opposing sides of our sexual civil war. The comfort of a familiar hill, tree, and picnic greeted me alongside the crackling of that same campfire. Even here, in the Seknium, the scales across my right side has changed to this pearly white shine; an oddity that keeps on giving, it would seem. It would have been pleasant, were it not for the throbbing that soon started to shudder through my left side.

I rub at my darker scales. "Ow... what in the Hells is going on with me?"

The throbbing pulses outward in a shadowy wave; the box of memories that rested on the picnic blanket opening at it's inaudible command. The world fades into those same shadows, becoming a brand new arrangement of scenery. The large, strange house; the one from earth, surrounds me. I see a much younger version my past self; no older than sixteen, and those I know to be my family, standing before an odd device as it flashes.

I blink, opening my eyes as Damian. "Are we done yet? Lily will kill me if I'm late."

My mother smiles, giving me a kind look. "Of course dear; be safe!"

"Good luck, Danny." Says Lucius, my brother; patting me on the back.

My father says nothing, staring at me as he always did; with mixed feelings I never understood. I grab the pack I had tossed just out of frame, and rush for the door, turning to see the little photo-shoot my mother had put together for "Danny's first date." My father was his usual stern looking self, with Lu looking much like a clone of our old man. Mom was as beautiful as ever, aging with a sort of grace you'd expect from a queen. Then there was me; standing in the middle...

Looking almost nothing like any of them. I didn't have a single trait from my Dad, seemingly all of that went to Lu. The only thing I shared at all were Mom's eyes; kind, and soft. My hair was the biggest deviation; a bright red-head in a family of brunettes...

I blink, and the memory has changed; I'm in a locked bathroom, throwing things around like a savage as I scream bloody ****.

"Honey! It's ok! You're still my baby!" Cries my mother from the other side.

"Your baby!?" I yell, finally finding the hair-buzzer I had been looking for. "I'm not your baby! I'm a parasite!"

I plug in the buzzer, and get to work removing the proof of my worthlessness; this damned hair, this stupid, fucking hair. His hair.

"Son? Please come out." Asks my father, his voice failing to maintain a calm tone; not that something like me deserved to call him father...

Tears roll down my cheek as I hear his voice. "How can you call me that... when I look like him..."

I thought they were just going to give me "The Talk", tell me to put on a condom, use birth control; all of that usual shit from TV. Instead, when I came back from that date, they decided to tell me the truth. What I really am...

My mother's worried voice rings past the hum of the buzzer. "Sweetie, Danny, it's not your fault that you were... made that way."

Finally through removing the damned hair..."I don't care whose fucking fault it is! I can't... you can't... no one can make it ok!"

My fist impacts the bathroom mirror; a spiderweb of cracks stained in blood marking the glass. A warped collection of faces stare back at me; all of which appear alien, despite having seen this face every day.

"I'm a **** baby! How the fuck am I supposed to be ok with that!? How can I be ok with b-being a... being a fucking Monster!?"

My eyes open, and I find myself in a room of my own making; tears running down my cheek as I'm being shaken by very worried looking Cilla.

She relaxes upon seeing me awake. "Monster! You were shaking so much, I thought you might have been struck by Vibrosis again."

I sit up, noticing a certain dark-skinned smith was missing from the bed. "I'm fine... where's Ashes?"

"She's checking on Gabriella." Says Cilla, still looking me over like a patient at a sick ward. "You certainly don't look fine! You're sweating like a pig in middle of Lumiere."

I pull the blanket in closer, feeling the need to be secure before any sounds leaves my lips.

"I... I think I was messed up; even before the accident..."