It had been mostly-destroyed at the end of the final battle of the Devil Civil War, in which Sirzechs had killed Bidleid, the final leader of the Royals Faction. Reduced to essentially rubble and ashes. But in the nearly-half millennium since, Lucifaad had risen in a manner comparable to most phoenixes, and was now comparable to Gid in its size, its hustle and bustle, its unearthly beauty. The latter of which kind of went without saying for most Underworld cities, considering that they literally WEREN'T on Earth.
Near the middle of Lucifaad, there stood a great building that stood above all others. Tall, sleek and imposing, the Devils couldn't have asked for a better home for their legislative branch, even with the caveat that only the nobility- and those in direct service TO said nobility (essentially, those in the nobility's employ, or members of peerages)- were allowed to enter without the express invitation of one of the nobility. On the top floor, in what could only be described as an indoor mini-amphitheatre, the Lords and Ladies of all the Devils Clans were sat (with their most powerful servants, four times out of five their Queens, stood silently at their side), shouting over one another in an attempt to make their outrage over the attack two days ago heard.
"The Fallen Angels have gone TOO FAR this time!"
"They must be held accountable for this constant aggression!"
"Revenge! We must assemble our forces and advance on their territory! Drive them out of Hell once and for all!"
"DOWN WITH THOSE DAMN CROWS!"
Serafall, in a dark-coloured dress rather than her magical-girl attire, sat at the front of the room alongside Sirzechs, Ajuka and Falbium (the latter of whom looked like he was about to nod off. Lucifer only knew how he was able to do it, with the racket going on right now), cast a look over at Sirzechs, the unofficial Head of the group. Not needing words to realise what one of his childhood friends was planning on doing, and wholeheartedly agreeing with her planned course of action, Sirzechs nodded. Nodding back, Serafall stood up and, after applying a not-inconsiderable amount of demonic power to her throat in a voice-amplification spell, yelled to the noble men and women-
"EVERYBODY, SHUT THE HELL UP!"
Everybody in the room heard. And everybody, almost instantly, shut the hell up.
"Thank you!" Serafall spoke, taking a breath and remaining standing. Not that it would have made much difference in how people saw the diminutive (in the form that she'd held for the past two-and-a-half decades, at least) Satan, but that was neither here nor there. "I think I speak for my fellow Satans when I say we're NOT going to war with the Fallen Angels over this! It's far too harsh a response for an attack that resulted in only," she looked down at the report at the table that she and the other three Satans were sat at. "Three casualties. You really want to risk the destruction of our species over THREE casualties?"
"One of those casualties was my beloved daughter, Leviathan!" Renzo Phenex, red-faced as he stood up from his seat, yelled out. "It's cost our Clan much-needed Souls to treat Ruvella! Souls that could have been better-spent on preparations for her wedding to the Gremory Heir!"
"You're welcome, by the way, Renzo." Saylx, Head of the Sitri Clan, spoke up from his seat. From where she was sat, Serafall was certain that she noticed a faint smirk on her father's face. Renzo turned around and looked up at Sylax (who was sat on a higher level than Renzo, thanks to the Sitri Clan's higher status within the Underworld than the Phenex's), momentarily glaring at him before sitting back down.
Serafall cleared her throat, the sound of which reverberated around the room thanks to her still having the voice-amplification spell activated on said throat.
"Anyway," she continued. "Yesterday morning, I personally sent an urgent message to Azazel, asking for his position on these attacks. If he doesn't respond by the end of today, we can begin formulating potential sanctions against them in retaliation for this attack."
"Well, it's a good thing that I'm here now, isn't it?" A new, casual, male voice spoke up. All Four Satans and all sixty-four Clan Lords/Ladies turned towards the source of the voice: Azazel, the Governor-General of the Fallen Angels himself. In lieu of the battle-suit that he had been seen in during the Great War, he wore a V-neck maroon trench coat with a high, wide-open collar that opened up at the hem. He wore two black belts around the waist, and four black bands on each arm (two at the wrist and two near the elbow. He wore grey slacks and brown shoes.
Azazel's hands were presently shoved in the pockets of the trench coat, as he cast his violet eyes around the room. Almost all of the Clan Heads stood up, clearly afraid of the man who could very well kill all (or at least a great number) of them with minimal effort. All of the Satans, however, remained sitting, though Serafall and regarded Azazel with a wary look. Falbium even raised his head from the table to look at Azazel, which was probably the most amount of effort that he'd put into something that entire month, so everyone in the room knew that this was some serious shit.
"Azazel." Sirzechs spoke, in as even a tone as he could muster. "How nice of you to join us."
"How did you get through our servants?!" Agmath Astaroth yelled. "Did you kill them, you wretched crow?! We'll have your head if you did!"
"I didn't." Azazel replied, simply, ignoring the tired 'crow' insult that everyone seemed to throw around these days. Couldn't anyone come up with anything more creative? "As Governor-General of the Fallen Angels, you have my word."
"Your word means shit!" Renzo shouted. "Not when Fallen Angels, who YOU should have a stronger handle on, move into our territory and attack us! When we've done NOTHING to you for the past four-and-a-half centuries!"
"Oh, that." Azazel replied, a more serious, business-like tone. "The attack that you suffered two days ago came from a small group that's splintered from the Grigori in recent years. One that's... not the biggest fan of how things have progressed for us in recent centuries, and just want to cause trouble wherever they can. Less out of any genuine desire for war, but more because they just think it's fun, from what Shemhazai's intel-"
"And how can we be sure," Agezt Agares cut across the Governor-General. "That you're telling the truth about this supposed splinter-group? That this isn't some made-up fabrication in an attempt to cover your behind?"
In return, Azazel snapped his fingers, and a great number of transportation-circles appeared between him and the Clan Heads. Five, ten, twenty- nearly forty, if one were to count. Seconds later, Fallen Angels, one for each transportation-circle, each bound by ropes made of light and with their mouths covered by magic-circles, preventing their ability to speak.
"Here you go." Azazel replied, slipping his hands back into his pockets. "All the surviving members of said splinter-group that assailed... what was it, again?"
"The private party-hall of the Gremory Clan!" Zeoticus called out. "If you truly want to make up for this splinter-group's attack, you'll pay for its repairs!"
"And for Ruvella's treatment!" Renzo added. "That's money that we desperately need, right now!"
"Done, and done." Azazel replied, suppressing a snort at Renzo's last remark. "Send me the bills, and I'll have what you need in a week's time. That sound good?"
Zeoticus and Renzo both looked like they would prefer to have the money earlier, but both Clan Lords nodded their heads.
"In addition to all of that," Azazel continued. "I'll offer my personal apology for what happened, at the hands of my rogues. I promise that I'll be sure to monitor any groups like these that form within my faction from now on, and that something like this won't happen again."
Several of the Clan Heads looked like they were about to hurl further harsh criticism Azazel's way, but the sight of Sirzechs standing up brought all of those words to a halt before they could even come out of any of their mouths.
"Apology accepted, Azazel." the Crimson Satan replied, calmly. "Now, if you wouldn't mind... we were in the middle of a meeting."
"Oh, of course." Azazel replied, inclining his head to Sirzechs. "Wouldn't dream of intruding more than I have to on your little group therapy sessions."
He was gone as soon as he'd arrived, leaving the bound Fallen Angels on the ground between the Clan Heads and the Satans. Some of the bound Fallen writhed and struggled against their bonds, attempting to escape their present situation, while others seemed to have resigned themselves to what they suspected was surely coming, and didn't bother doing the same as their hopeful comrades.
"Alright..." Sirzechs, sitting back down, spoke up, taking a breath and waving his hand, transporting all the bound Fallen Angels away from the chamber. "Now that that matter's over with, shall we continue?"
And continue they did, the conversation drifting onto more mundane topics, as the emergency meeting called between the Pillars devolved into a meeting more like regular, half-yearly sessions that the Clan Heads and Satans participated in, to discuss the goings-on within Devils territory and to peacefully settle disputes between Clans. Things progressed as normal for another couple of hours, until Sirzechs called an end to the proceedings.
"This won't affect the scheduling of our regular meetings." he called out across the room, as all of the Clan Heads got up from their seats and began moving towards the large double-doors at the top and back of the room. "We'll meet again here, at the agreed date and time."
After cancelling his own voice-amplification spell, Sirzechs moved towards the seats, and towards his parents who, rather than make their way up the steps like everybody else, were heading down towards their eldest son (their Queens behind them), clearly intending to speak with him.
"Father, Mother," Sirzechs inclined his head to his parents once they were close enough. "...How is Raylix?"
Zeoticus and Venelana shared a look between each other in silence. Venelana was the one to break the silence between herself and her husband.
"Still hasn't left his room." she replied. "I suppose it's natural for him to mourn the loss of his bodyguards: they were in our employ for so long, it makes sense that Raylix would have built up some sort of rapport with them. We've got his usual maids bringing him food and drink upstairs, but we don't even know if he's having any of it." She let out a quiet sigh.
"I'm reviewing applications among the soldiers in our Clan's employ," Zeoticus continued. "As replacement bodyguards for Raylix. The future Duke Gremory can't be unguarded when he goes back out into the world, even for a second."
"I understand." Sirzechs replied, nodding and stepping back. "Well, I won't keep you from returning home. Maybe I'll come by and... see how Raylix is doing."
"That would be wonderful." Venelana inclined her head to her older son. "Please, don't hesitate to drop by. You know you're welcome back home anytime, Sirzechs."
Sirzechs let out a small chuckle, nodded, turned on his heel and walked off. Zeoticus and Venelana soon did the same, making their way out of the room, then the building, then taking a transportation-circle directly back to the Gremory castle.
The two nobles stepped through the doors that were opened for them by the guards stationed outside. When they had made their way into the main hall, and the doors shut behind them, Venelana moved into the living room, asking Jarahn to fetch her a drink, while Zeoticus began to head upstairs, Gyokuro following behind him. But when they reached the top of the stairs, Zeoticus turned around.
"Get me some lunch, Gyokuro." Zeoticus instructed his Queen. "The kitchen staff will know what I like."
"It will be done, Lord Gremory." Gyokuro replied, inclining her head and heading back downstairs. Zeoticus remained at the top of the stairs, watching his Queen's hips gently swaying as she headed away, until she turned into the dining room, out of her King's sight, through which she'd walk towards the kitchens. When she was gone, Zeoticus turned back around and headed into the castle's residential suite, moving towards the office that was just past his bedroom. As he headed down the hallway that led to his office- and went past his, Venelana's (with the number of female servants that he regularly took into his bedroom and... enjoyed the company of, it only seemed the natural choice for his wife to get her own room) and Raylix's bedrooms, he noticed the door to Raylix's bedroom opening and Rheliesh stepping out, a solemn expression on her face.
Though when she noticed Zeoticus passing, she immediately straightened and stiffened up, looking more like a statue than an actual person.
"At ease." Zeoticus addressed Rheliesh. "Was it the usual duties with Raylix... uh..."
"Rheliesh, my lord." Rheliesh replied. "And, no. I was bringing him lunch."
"I see." Zeoticus nodded. "Has he been eating?"
"I'm afraid I don't know, my lord." Rheliesh replied. "Zest brought food for the young master yesterday, and I wasn't told if he actually ate or not."
Zeoticus hummed in response.
"Try to make sure that he eats, in future." he ordered. "He needs to stay healthy, if his marriage to Ruvella is to succeed. Pass that order on to anyone else who brings him food."
"I understand, my lord." Rheliesh replied, bowing. "It will be done."
"Good." Zeoticus nodded, moving past Rheliesh, past Raylix's room and making for the end of the hallway, where the door to his office stood. Pressing his hand against the door, Zeoticus unlocked and opened the door with his magical signature, and stepped inside.
The office of Duke Gremory was, as one would likely expect, extremely large, nearly the size of Zeoticus' personal bedroom. Bookshelves lined the rightmost wall, filled up with tomes on a variety of topics, ranging from Devil history to battle tactics to the culinary arts... mostly the latter. The leftmost wall was mostly occupied by awards and trophies that Zeoticus had won, both in the Human World and in the Underworld, for his cooking and recipes. Zeoticus walked around his desk, which was almost as wide as the room itself, and took a cursory glance out of the window directly behind his desk, which provided him a wonderful view of Gemyem.
From where he was, he could see the party-hall that had been partially-destroyed by the Fallen Angel splinter-group that Azazel had told of a couple of hours ago. It brought the Gremory Head some comfort to know that someone that wasn't him would be footing the bill for its repairs, but still... he would rather it not have been wrecked, in the first place.
Turning around, he sat down at the desk, and after glancing at the picture on his desk (of him and Venelana on their wedding day. One of the three happiest days of Zeoticus' life, alongside the days that Sirzechs and Raylix had been born), turned his attention to one of the several piles of files on all of the servicemen of the Devil's military, that had been loaned out to the Gremory Clan by Falbium Asmodeus. It seemed only the best choice, to procure his Heir's next two bodyguards from a group of already-known, extremely capable, Devils, to which combat was as natural as breathing.
It would definitely take time to go through all of the files, sift through everyone in order to find the best of the best candidates, but hey. Time was what Zeoticus Gremory- as a Devil- naturally had.
----- ----- -----
Earlier...
Expertly balancing a lunch-plate full of a selection of Raylix's favourite foods on her right hand, Rheliesh gently knocked on the door of Raylix's bedroom.
He'd been found, unconscious, early in the morning, in a Gemyem street not too far from the now-destroyed party hall, with the mashed-up remains of what the soldiers who found him suspected (but were unable to confirm for absolute certain) was one of the Fallen Angels that had attacked his and Ruvella's engagement party. Raylix had been covered in blood, and looking like he'd been crying his eyes out. Thanks to a number of factors (mainly all the blood), the worst was initially feared, but once Raylix had been brought back to the Gremory Castle, it had quickly been found that no harm had come to him (sans a burnt hand. Textbook result of handling an Angel/Fallen Angel's light-conjured weaponry, and nothing a simple healing spell couldn't fix)… but his party-clothes had been utterly ruined.
Zeoticus wasn't all too happy to hear that. Just over 60,000 Souls to get that piece made specifically for his Heir by the Underworld's finest tailors, and Raylix had barely gotten two uses out of it.
As for Raylix himself... no-one had seen him out of his room since the end of the engagement party. Those who'd been in his bedroom since the end of the engagement party (only Zest, Zeoticus and Venelana) hadn't even seen him out of his bed. Hearing that about Raylix brought a pang of sadness to Rheliesh's heart, as the Gremory Heir was normally so full of life and happiness, especially with Sabemka and Tomosei by his side. It was that life and happiness, among other things, that had attracted Rheliesh to Raylix in the first place, and why she wore the fact that she was one of his favourites among the Gremory family's employees with such pride.
The blonde maid was just considering knocking again, in case Raylix hadn't heard her the first time, but as she raised her hand, the door of Raylix's bedroom glowed red for a second, before the glow dissipated. The locking-enchantment on the door had evidently been undone from the inside, by Raylix himself.
'Good, he heard me.' Rheliesh replied. She would've had to wait until Venelana and Zeoticus (who were at an emergency meeting of the Clan Heads, called in response to the attack on the engagement party two days ago) returned in order for one of them to unlock the door for her, if Raylix hadn't responded. And as she didn't know how long such meetings took... eh, never mind. That didn't happen, so no need to dwell on what would have happened if it did. She gently pushed the door open with her left hand, stepping into Raylix's room with the lunch-plate still expertly balanced on her right.
Raylix's bedroom hadn't changed, at least physically, from any of the other times Rheliesh had ever entered it. But with the curtains shut, letting no natural (or the closest thing Hell HAD to natural) light from the Underworld sun in, and Raylix under the covers, an expression that could only be described as 'an attempt to look neutral but so obviously sad that a neon sign telling everyone as much might as well be blinking over your head' on his face... it didn't create the most full-of-life or happiest atmosphere, to say the least.
"Raylix?" Rheliesh spoke, tentatively. "I... brought you something to eat. You know, in case you were hungry."
Raylix looked up from where he was lying, looking over at Rheliesh and the plate that she held in one hand. It was then that Rheliesh noticed a bottle of that Gremory-brand alcoholic drink that Raylix usually had on his desk, on the floor next to his bed, empty.
Suppressing a sigh, Rheliesh moved over to the bed, carrying the plate with her, and setting it down next to Raylix, who had pulled himself up into a sitting position.
"I didn't know what you were in the mood for today," Rheliesh spoke, not meeting Raylix's eyes. Though they looked the same as they'd always done, something about them looked significantly... hollower, was that the word? "So, I tried to get a variety of things that I know you like."
"Thanks, Rheliesh."
Rheliesh looked up at the sound of Raylix's voice, the first time she'd heard his voice since the engagement party. His voice was low, almost dead-sounding: Rheliesh almost couldn't believe that such a voice was coming from Raylix Gremory, of all people. A weak, forced smile was on Raylix's face now as Rheliesh looked over at him.
"You're welcome." Rheliesh replied, standing up. "If you would like, should I come back later? Or..." the blonde maid felt a stab of jealousy at the thought, but forced it down. "Should I send for one of the others?"
Raylix remained silent, his gaze shifting away from Rheliesh and towards the painting of the lake. Rheliesh followed Raylix's gaze and looked at the wall-covering painting herself. Raylix had had it commissioned for him by one of Hell's best artists about a century ago: It seemed somewhat random, Rheliesh thought, for such a painting like that, incredible as it was, to sit among everything else that Raylix had in his room. From what she knew, Raylix didn't have much of an interest in lakes, or anything of that nature. The only thing vaguely relating to lakes that Rheliesh could remember him EVER saying was that, sometimes, he saw a lake in the voice-laden dreams that he had.
"Raylix?" Rheliesh spoke up again, tearing her gaze away from the lake-painting and looking back at him. "Should I come back later? Send one of the other maids?"
"No, thanks." Raylix replied, in the same low, dead-sounding voice, looking back over at Rheliesh. "Maybe later, Rhel. Thank you for bringing lunch."
"It's my pleasure, Raylix." Rheliesh replied, inclining her head to the Gremory Heir for a couple of seconds before retreating from the bedroom, closing it behind her (the door glowed a light red again for a couple of seconds, before the glow faded, as Raylix put the magical lock back on the door) and leaving said Gremory Heir alone, with nothing but the food that had been brought up for him, and his own thoughts, to keep him company now. Raylix leant back against the headboard of his bed, slowly sliding down it until he was in a sort of half-lying half-sitting position, staring at the ceiling.
He'd exhausted all of the anger and sadness that had immediately come after the events of two days ago. Let it all out, all over any Fallen Angel unlucky enough to get in his way. And now, there was nothing left to really feel. All he really felt now instead, if you could even call it feeling, was numb. In truth, part of him didn't even believe that what happened... had actually happened. Part of him thought that Sabemka and Tomosei would arrive at the Gremory Castle and come up to his room, inviting him for another fun day out, and that the events of two days ago had just been some kind of horrible nightmare.
Part of him... wasn't accepting it.
It had all happened so fast. One second, the three of them charged, as one, against the Fallen Angels, ready to kick names and take ass... or however the phrase went. The next, Raylix's two bodyguards, his two confidants, his two friends, were gone, and he was alone, truly alone, for the first time... ever.
Satan only knew how it must have felt for Sabemka and Tomosei, Raylix thought. To die that quickly to a Fallen Angel's light-spear, they had to have been speared either through the brain, or through the heart. How must that have felt? Just a sudden, burning pain where you were speared and then... nothing? And what did the 'nothing' that supposedly awaited all Devils who were purged by an Angel's (Fallen or otherwise) light feel like?
Raylix didn't know, no-one knew, but he had a couple of ideas, all of which gave him the shivers... huh, the first real feeling he'd had since the engagement party. Closely followed by the growl of his empty stomach. Oh yeah, he hadn't eaten since the engagement party.
From his position of half-lying half-sitting, Raylix looked over at the plate of food that Rheliesh had brought him earlier, the scent of which he'd been ignoring since his favourite maid had left the room. She'd been telling the truth, she HAD brought him a lot of his favourite foods.
Herb-fed fried Byrd, Wulf-pie, Human World-chicken and rice, various kinds of fish... he didn't deserve Rheliesh, he really didn't. Or Zest, or Narberal, or Hannah. Pulling himself back up into a sitting position, Raylix reached over and carefully lifted the plate of food up onto his lap, using both hands (he had no idea HOW Rheliesh, or any of the maids, were able to balance plates like this one only ONE hand), and after grabbing the knife and fork, began tucking into the Wulf-pie.
It was good. Very good. Just like every other time the cooks employed by the Gremory Clan had made it for him. But...
He could barely chew his food without his mind wandering, to the occasional Wulf-pie that Sabemka would make for him. Tomosei wasn't the biggest fan of pies of any kind for one reason or another, and Sabemka mostly preferred to make things that the three of them could eat (less effort making differing portions of different things) so it was a rare meal for his best male friend to make. But when he did...
Incredible. Sublime. Bliss for the taste-buds. Lilith-damn PERFECT.
Raylix sighed, as he finished his present mouthful of pie. With Sabemka now... gone, this was the best that Wulf-pie was ever going to get, for him. No more sublime cooking courtesy of his best friend. Just semi-ordinary great cooking, courtesy of the family cooks. With that in mind, it was more of a chore than it usually was for Raylix to polish off the pie, and move onto some of the fish.
As Raylix ate in silence, slowly working his way through the fish, there was another knock on his bedroom door. As the knock rang out, the door to Raylix's room glowed red for a couple of seconds, before it dissipated. Someone else had undone the lock on Raylix's bedroom door, which narrowed the number of potential people that were about to enter his room down to two. Raylix looked up at this as the door to his bedroom opened, with Zeoticus entering a second later.
"Ah, so you ARE eating." Zeoticus remarked, by way of greeting. "Good, good."
Raylix stayed quiet, not having anything to say, and took another portion of fish to give his mouth something to do. Zeoticus noticed this, and awkwardly cleared his throat.
"I've been looking through the files of all the soldiers stationed in our territory, to find the best potential bodyguards for you, Raylix." he began. "It may take a while for me to find a couple of perfect candidates that will work best for your needs, so... I'm going to have to ask you to remain in the castle and its grounds until proper candidates can be found. I know that's not what you want, but I'm sure you'll understand that this is for your safety, okay?"
"...Okay." Raylix replied, after swallowing his present mouthful of fish. He didn't meet his father's eyes, occupying himself with transferring another mouthful's worth of fish to his mouth, and chewing on that as Zeoticus bent down, patting his younger son on the shoulder.
"Good man." the Duke Gremory spoke, nodding before stepping back, and making his way towards Raylix's bedroom door. He got to the door before seeming to remember something, and turning around. "Oh, by the way, Rika, Renzo and Ruvella will be making another visit sometime within the next couple of weeks, so I want you actually coming out of your room to greet them. I'm willing to tolerate you remaining in your room for the time being, but you have to come out eventually. It wouldn't look good for us if you didn't even get out of bed to face your own fiancée, would it?"
He let out a little chuckle at his own remark, and finally left Raylix's bedroom, shutting the door behind him as Raylix continued eating.
Remain in the castle and its grounds? Fair enough, he supposed. It wasn't like he had any reason to go anywhere anymore. It would just be aimless wandering, alone, out in Hell without anyone to really talk to or joke around with. Utterly pointless, as others would put it.
After swallowing the last portion of fish, Raylix moved onto the fried Byrd, sinking his teeth into it. His initial base enthusiasm at munching on something different tapered off extremely quickly as, again, memories of food that Sabemka used to make for him and Tomosei invaded his mind. Raylix barely got within two bites of the fried fish before setting it down and leaning back in his bed, unable to keep eating. He cast his eyes around the room, trying to find SOMETHING that could distract him from memories of his best male friend's culinary expertise.
Eventually, his eyes landed upon the bookcases, and the books within. He'd read every single one of those books cover to cover AT LEAST twice, and up to dozens of times in the cases of some of the older volumes on magical theory and Devil history. The ones on magical theory in particular: with some theories as committed to Raylix's memory as they were, he could make any theory in those books work with enough practical study... probably.
The only problem was that he, powerful as he had been for centuries, had never felt the urge to put all those theories in his mind into any kind of practice. Not when there were other ways to spend one's time like taking on assignments from his parents to remove the threat of any of the remains of the Royals faction, or enjoy the sexual company of maids, or watch movies with-
Raylix rested his head in one hand and took a slow breath. Lilith-damn it, his mind had gone back to them again. And the beginnings of tears were pricking at the corners of his eyes.
"Stop it." he hissed quietly to himself, rubbing violently at his eyes with the back of one of his arms. Crying wouldn't undo the events of two days ago. Crying wouldn't bring Sabemka and Tomosei back. Crying... wouldn't do a damn thing.
Allowing his arm to drop to his side when he was sure that the tears had stopped trying to escape his eyes, Raylix took another breath and slowly picked up the half-eaten piece of fried Byrd that he'd started earlier, and began to slowly eat it. He couldn't stop the memories from flowing back into him, from flooding his mind again, but he COULD do his best to ignore them with every bite that he took.
It wasn't easy... but he did good enough of a job for him to finish the fried Byrd-pieces without having to stop again. As well as the other pieces, before he moved onto the chicken and rice: a fairly simple meal, but no less tasty. As he tucked into it, and was about halfway through, there was another knock at the bedroom door.
Raylix looked up, pausing for a second, figuring that it might be Zeoticus back again, or Venelana, and that they would undo the lock on the door on their own, and open it to come in. However, after a second's pause, there wasn't any unlocking of the sort being done. Raylix waved his hand at the door, unlocking it on his own and allowing whoever was on the other side to push the door open, and enter.
"Hey, Raylix." Sirzechs spoke, shutting the door behind him once he was all the way in the room. "Glad to see you're eating again. Got to stay healthy, you know?"
Raylix, somewhat ironically, ceased his work on the mouthful of chicken and rice mid-chew, and looked over at his older brother, who dragged one of the chairs in the bedroom closer to Raylix's bed, and sat down upon it, looking intently at his younger brother.
"But seriously, though..." Sirzechs scooted slightly closer to Raylix on the chair. "How have you been holding up, Raylix? I know that you were really close with... Sabemka and Tomosei, your bodyguards, so losing them can't have been easy. I'm sorry, all I can really say to try and help is that dealing with things like this... they get easier as time passes, Raylix."
Raylix, his mouth so full of food, could only let out a low, non-committal "hmm" in response to Sirzechs' words.
"I wish I could be here longer, but Grayfia'll come at me with her fan again if I'm away from all the shit on my desk for too long." Sirzechs continued, letting out a small chuckle at his own remark about his Queen. "I literally only had time to pop by and see you for a minute or two. So, sorry I couldn't stay longer." He stood up, leant over and wrapped an arm around his younger brother, in an awkward one-armed hug that said younger brother did not return. With a bowl in one hand and a fork in the other, it wasn't exactly something he could easily do.
"Well, see you." Sirzechs finished, pulling back from the hug after a couple of seconds, and straightening up. He shifted the chair he had been sitting in back to where it had originally been, before making his way towards Raylix's bedroom door. "You know I'm a busy guy, Raylix, but if you want to talk to your big brother about anything... I'll always make time for you."
After shooting another one of his winning smiles at Raylix, Sirzechs retreated from his brother's bedroom, shutting the door behind him. Raylix wordlessly re-cast the lock on his bedroom door, before letting out a breath that he'd been subconsciously holding throughout most of the time Sirzechs had been in the room with him. Setting down the bowl and fork, Raylix rose a hand to his head, rubbing at his eyes again.
It gets easier as time passes? If THIS was easier, then Raylix didn't want to know what the hell HARD was, in whatever alternate-reality in which what Sirzechs said made any sense. He put the half-finished bowl (as well as the plate it came on) down on the floor by his bed, having somewhat lost his appetite for the time being. Maybe he'd regain it later, at which point he could easily re-heat the chicken and rice with a spell or two. As he placed the stuff down, he noticed the empty bottle of Gremory-brand drink that he'd drunk from earlier. Reaching over and picking it up, he sighed at the sight of it being completely empty, and tossed it towards the chair that Sirzechs had been sat in moments earlier, where it landed with a dull thud.
He'd have to get more of that soon. Even if he didn't have anyone to really share it with, anymore.
Sighing, Raylix settled into a more comfortable position in his bed, pulling the covers securely over himself.
He made no attempt to stop the tears that had been tempting his eyes, allowing them to fall as he closed his eyes, hoping that sleep would take him for a while, at least.
----- ----- -----
The only sign that there were any weird goings-on in Lyon, France's third-largest city, former capital of the Gauls at the time of the Roman Empire and home of the Fête Des Lumières, tonight, were the disembodied sounds of high-heeled shoes tapping against the street, and the small splashes of water that looked rather distinctly like someone walking through puddles, only without the someone anywhere to be seen.
However, any of the mundane who saw (or thought they saw) goings-on of the sort just dismissed it as a trick of the eyes. Lilith was counting on that kind of reaction as she, under the best camouflaging-spell that she knew, moved with poise and purpose through the city-streets, steadily making for a number of demonic presences that were on her radar.
Over the past couple of days (it turned out, for whatever reason, that France was NOWHERE NEAR as easy a country to cover as Spain was), she had been nigh-obsessively searching for a specific demonically-inclined individual. She'd gone through over three-quarters of the presences that she'd felt within the country, she had just over a hundred left to search, and the group she was heading towards was the largest number of demonic presences grouped reasonably close together that she could find (ten, if her counting was correct). So, it only made sense to the Prime Succubus to check out the largest group she could find at the time, since that was the biggest chance she had of finding... her.
Lilith had made her way to Lyon's slums, now. Trash piled up everywhere, groups of scruffy, awfully-dressed people scattered around, some just talking normally, others in confrontations with either others or police... but Lilith wasn't here for any of that. She strode through, turning down another, quieter street, and then down another after walking for another couple of minutes, and then coming to a stop outside an old, abandoned-looking large building. Whatever its purpose was before being abandoned (housing? A warehouse? Some other third thing?), it now lay empty (as far as the general populace knew) and silent... but Lilith knew that there were three demonic presences inside.
So too, evidently, could the seven other demonic presences that seemed to be gathered outside: four females, three males. One of the females, a young-looking girl with dark-blue hair and clad in EXTREMELY expensive-looking garb seemed to be the one in charge of the group, judging by how she carried herself and how the others carried themselves in relation to her. Lilith moved in closer, completely silent as she got the best look possible at everyone there.
It took Lilith a second's worth of a glance at each of them to realise that none of the Devils in the little group were who she was looking for. As silent as before, she made her way past, through the half-open door of the warehouse (it took a LOT of effort to get herself... or rather, certain parts of herself, through the door without having to move it in any way, which would've alerted everyone (both inside and outside) to her presence, and quickly scanned the room. What she saw, though disgusting, did nothing to turn her stomach like it would have with some of the fainter of heart: Three semi-monstrous beings, who Lilith assumed to be Stray Devils, all munching on the mangled corpse of some poor human (so mangled were they that not even Lilith could tell whether they used to be a man or a woman) that must've wandered in, for one reason or another.
None of the Stray Devils were who she was looking for, either, that much was obvious with even the briefest glance in their general direction. Shrugging her camouflaged shoulders, Lilith squeezed out of the abandoned building, made her way past the peerage she had originally passed on her way in, and was just about to begin walking a safe distance away so no-one would notice her casting a transportation-circle in order to travel to another part of Lyon, but stopped at the sharp sound of something that sounded very much like a punch in the stomach.
Lilith turned around, still camouflaged, and one of her eyebrows raised at the sight of the peerage's King, standing over one of her female servants (who was lying on the ground, clutching their stomach and coughing up blood).
"Is it your place to question MY authority?!" The girl yelled, spit flying everywhere as she kicked the young-looking man while he was still on the ground. "Is it?! IS IT?!"
Her male servant could only whimper out something that vaguely sounded, from where Lilith was standing, like an affirmation that it wasn't his place to question his King's authority.
"Damn right, it's not!" The girl replied, stepping away and taking a breath, while a couple of the other peerage members moved over to help the one she'd just beaten the shit out of to his feet. "Now get in there and take care of those Strays! All of you! Go! NOW!" she yelled, her demonic power flaring up with the last word as lightning sparked from her hand.
Everyone in the young girl's peerage, who looked like they were about to shit themselves with fear from her power-flare (Lilith, by contrast, didn't even feel any kind of power-flare, so small was it in comparison to her own maximum power), scrambled into the building, leaving their King- who made no attempt to follow them inside- alone outside... or at least, she thought she was alone. The guy that she'd just beaten up had to be half-held up by one of his two fellow peerage-members who'd helped him to his feet just a moment earlier.
Lilith had never met anyone in that woman's peerage before: not the woman herself, not the guy she was beating up, not her fellow peerage members. But just from that, she already felt like she had a pretty good grasp on what went on between them... and she didn't like it.
She REALLY didn't like it.
To the point that she felt a rare compulsion to actually... do something.
"Hello, father!" the noble girl, who had thrown up a comms-circle by her ear and was talking into it. "Yes, yes, I'm alright. Just had a bit of an... incident, with one of my retainers not showing me the proper respect... it was one of the males. Kind of wimpy-looking, brown hair, green eyes, pointed ears... no, I don't remember his name! I'll bring him to you later, so you can give him what he deserves. Alright, bye. Love you." she finished, and the comms-circle disappeared. And Lilith struck.
A camouflaged tail wrapped around the noble girl's neck, instantly depriving her of breath and robbing her of the ability to shout, scream or make any noise. As the sounds and flashes of battle were heard and seen from within the abandoned building, as the girl's servants engaged with the Stray Devils, the noble girl was silently pulled, seemingly through the air, towards Lilith, who continued to hold her by her tail.
Once she was close enough, Lilith held out a camouflaged hand, gently laying it on the girl's head, and began magically rifling through her mind, her memories. That spark of lightning from her hand, and the conversation she'd had with her father- likely a fellow noble Devil- had drawn her suspicion, but she wanted to be sure...
Childhood memories, marriage proposals, extravagant dinners, in all of which was the girl's father, Galldas Stolas, who was basically an older, male version of the girl that Lilith was currently strangling: this girl was the Heiress to the Stolas Clan, whose control over the lightning that originated from the deepest pits of Hell, was unparalleled. Lilith had seen the full potential of that power on display many, many times from the Pillar that the Stolas Clan was named after. One of the most destructive of the demonic powers bestowed upon the Pillars, capable of inflicting extraordinary physical and spiritual pain, and supremely effective when used against those of a holier persuasion. Not that it wasn't effective at all when used against demonic beings, not by a long shot.
A power like that... sounded useful. Incredibly useful.
From the hand that she'd rested on the Stolas Heiress' face, a dense grey smoke billowed, wrapping itself around the whole body of the girl (whose face was steadily turning blue from lack of air) until she was totally enveloped. After a second of the envelopment, the smoke turned purple, and flowed back into Lilith's body. Though from the girl's perspective, the smoke just seemed to be disappearing into thin air, as quickly as it had appeared.
After this was done, Lilith dropped the girl onto the ground, unwrapping her tail from around her neck, turned on her heel and walked away, into the darkness, a small smile playing about her camouflaged lips at her new power. While the girl behind her, letting out a yell of rage at being picked up and almost strangled to death like that, for seemingly no reason, thrust out her hand in front of her and tried to send her Clan's power, hoping against hope that her target was stupid enough to be right in front of her, so she could hear their agonising screams as they writhed at her feet.
However, her Clan's trademark lightning didn't shoot from her fingertips. Nothing much happened at all.
The Stolas Heiress tried again, concentrating as hard as she could. What the hell (no pun intended) was going on? For decades, she'd had no trouble calling her Clan's lightning to her hands, and using it to torture and fry her enemies! So why wasn't it working now?!
Wait...
Her eyes widened when she began to realise what had just happened to her, and she sunk to her knees on the cold, unforgiving Lyon street as what this could mean in the immediate future began to dawn on her.
But Lilith was long-gone by then. Dispelling the camouflaging spell around her body and looking at her hand as purple lightning sparked around it for a couple of seconds, she opened a transportation-circle, stepped into it, and was gone in a soft flash of light, with no sign that she was ever there remaining once she was gone.
----- ----- -----
Before... recent events, Raylix barely remembered any period of time (let alone a whole week) in which he woke up in bed without company of any kind. But as he opened his day, on the eighth day since his and Ruvella's engagement party, he was completely alone in his bedroom. No-one sharing the bed with him in the aftermath of a previous night's debauchery, no-one giving him a wake-up call by treating his cock like a particularly addictive lollipop, nothing at all except Raylix, his room, and the sound of his own yawns as he pulled himself from the sweet embrace of sleep.
Without even really thinking about it, Raylix rubbed at his eyes with one hand, while using a pulse of magic to open the window, allowing the Underworld sunlight to pour in. He could feel dried tear-streaks on his face, which easily came off when rubbed.
Shit, he thought, he'd been crying in his sleep again. Stretching as he mentally berated himself, the Gremory Heir shifted himself out of his bed (as comfortable as it was) and shuffled through his room to the bathroom, summoning some clothes from his wardrobe as he did so. After about half an hour spent freshening himself up to the best of his ability, he came out again, hair made to look somewhat neat and dressed in smart, but still casual-looking, attire.
The Gremory Heir gave himself a half-hearted once-over in the mirror as he shut the bathroom door behind him, but made no attempt to really make himself look any better than he already did. He let out another yawn and headed to his bedroom door, but paused as he got there, his hand outstretched towards the door's handle. Initially tempted to just strip back down to nudity, jump back into bed and go back to sleep, distancing himself from the thoughts and memories that plagued him for the past week, Raylix took a breath to calm himself.
He had to come out of his room sometime, he thought. His father wanted that for when Ruvella and her parents came to visit again (whenever that would be. He hadn't heard a thing as to what day they'd make their visit), so it only made sense that he come out again. It'd be easier to come out a second time to face his fiancée and her parents than to come out for the first time since the end of the engagement party.
Taking another breath, Raylix pulled the door open, and stepped outside, using magic to pull the door shut and lock it behind him. Shoving his hands into his jacket's pockets, he turned and walked away from his bedroom, slowly making his way through the residential wing of the Gremory Castle. It felt like more of an effort than it really should have, putting one foot in front of the other, but he still did it. Maids and butlers in the Gremory Clan's employ did double-takes as he passed, some even offered their morning greetings to the Gremory Heir, but none of them were returned. He wasn't exactly in the mood for conversation... with anyone, really.
After a few minutes of walking, Raylix made his way to the castle's main staircase, and descended it. He saw the doors to the dining room open, heard the sound of conversation floating out, and felt himself moving towards the open doors. The scent of all kinds of well-cooked breakfast meals wafting out was also really, really pleasing to Raylix's demonic nostrils...
Before Raylix even really realized what he was doing, and before he could make his way away from the dining room, he was inside, and both of his parents (who were sat at the far end of the table) had noticed him. Venelana had stood up from her meal, and before Raylix had a chance to react, she had crossed the expansive dining room and embraced her younger son.
"It's good to see you finally out of your room, Raylix." Zeoticus called, from his seat at the end of the table. "Just in time, too. I received a message from Rika this morning, and she intends to make her visit with Renzo and Ruvella today."
"Oh..." Raylix replied, as Venelana- who had taken a gentle hold of his hand and was guiding him towards a seat at the dining room table: on Zeoticus' other side, directly opposite her. "Right." he remarked, sitting down and accepting the plate of bacon, fried eggs, grilled tomatoes, fried mushrooms, buttered toast and sausages that was placed down in front of him. Imported from the human world, but still enjoyed by many noble Devils (including Raylix), he tucked in at his father's insistence. Dead friends or not, he still needed to eat.
"Rika, Renzo and Ruvella will be here around lunch-time, Raylix." Zeoticus addressed his younger son as he ate. "So, if you plan on heading out on one of your little trips today, I must ask that you be back here before then."
"Goff..." Raylix tried to speak, but upon realising that his mouth was still full of food, took a couple of seconds to chew and swallow the remains of what was in his mouth. "Got it. Did you end up finding new... new bodyguards?"
"I did, indeed!" Zeoticus replied, happy that his son was taking an interest in such affairs. "I think I'll introduce you to them after your breakfast. Wouldn't want to be distracted from your food, now would you?"
Raylix didn't reply, but simply transferred another forkful of bacon, tomato and sausage into his mouth, and began chewing again. Venelana let out a light giggle as she polished off the rest of her breakfast.
"Now that you're finally out of your room, Raylix, I'll have some of the maids clean up in there." she spoke up, herself. "We didn't want to disturb you while you remained there, but... truth be told, I'd rather it be kept in its best form possible. Especially if there's a chance of you and Ruvella retreating there during her visit today, and getting to what you were about to do at the end of the engagement party."
"Indeed!" Zeoticus spoke up. "It's such a shame that you weren't able to get to... testing each other out, in preparation for when you're married."
"Mmhmm." Raylix hummed non-committally, nodding and lifting another forkful of food to his mouth and chowing down. More to give his mouth something to do than out of any kind of hunger. Anger stirred inside the Gremory Heir for the first time since the engagement party at his parent's words: did they not even realise WHY he'd been in his room for the past week?
The rest of breakfast passed in relative silence, with Venelana being the first to finish, followed by Zeoticus and finally Raylix. Zeoticus and Venelana were the first to stand up as the plates and cutlery were cleared up by maids, with Raylix following. Zeoticus made a silent indication for Raylix to follow him. Father and son left the dining room together (Venelana made for the living room), and made their way out of the castle's giant double-doors. The pair of them descended the stairs, offering silent greetings to the guards on either side of the doors as they did so, and moved down the steps towards a pair of Gremory-employed soldiers that Raylix hadn't seen before.
Both soldiers were immaculately dressed, in the very same uniform that Sabemka used to wear. Plain black short-sleeved shirt, black pants, combat boots, crimson cape with the Gremory Clan's crest emblazoned proudly on it. In fact, the soldiers themselves looked pretty damn similar: both were taller than Raylix was- easily over six feet compared to Raylix's own five-foot-ten), both possessed far bulkier and more muscular builds than anyone Raylix had ever seen (with one no-longer-alive exception). Both soldiers had the same eye-colour (brown), the same facial structure, and they stood in the exact same rigid pose.
The only difference between the two soldiers that Raylix immediately noticed was their hair colour, even if both soldiers possessed perfectly-done buzz cuts. The one on the left possessed black hair, and the other's hair was similar to that of straw.
Both soldiers immediately snapped into a salute at the sight of Zeoticus and Raylix coming down the steps and approaching them. They remained in such a salute as Zeoticus- with Raylix a step or two behind him- approached them, before the Duke Gremory raised a hand, allowing them to stand at ease.
"Raylix," Zeoticus addressed his Heir as said Heir caught up with him, standing right beside him. "These are the new bodyguards I've found for you. Meet... uh..." He raised his hand again and pointed at the black-haired soldier, to his and Raylix's left. "What was your name, again?"
"Josarry, sir!" the black-haired soldier replied, loudly, snapping back into a salute.
"Right, Josarry." Zeoticus remarked, before pointing at the other soldier, the one with straw-coloured hair. "And you're Ereht, right?"
"Yes, sir!" the straw-colour-haired soldier replied, just as loudly as Josarry, snapping back into a salute just as his fellow soldier did.
"Right, Josarry and Ereht." Zeoticus nodded, turning back to Raylix. "These two will accompany you anywhere you decide to go outside the Castle, be it within the Underworld or to the Human World, for whatever reason. They'll obey any orders you may give. They'll assist you in any fight you get into. They're the perfect bodyguards for you, son. Use them well."
"Right..." Raylix quietly replied, as Zeoticus turned on his heel and headed back into the Gremory Castle, with the doors being shut behind him by the guards stationed on either side. Raylix watched his father go, turning back to face Josarry and Ereht once the doors were shut behind his father. Both soldiers were still in the salute they had snapped into when Zeoticus had addressed them earlier. An awkward silence fell between the Gremory Heir and his two new bodyguards, before Raylix spoke up again.
"You can, uh, stop doing that."
Both Josarry and Ereht instantly stopped their salute, and stood at ease in front of their boss, silently awaiting his next orders. Raylix saw this, and moved past them, suppressing a sigh as he did so. From behind him, he heard his two new guards swiftly turning around on their heel, and moving behind him in perfect sync with each other. Raylix didn't have to look behind him to know that they were almost directly behind him, yet also slightly to either side of him. If Raylix were to stop, Josarry and Ereht were more likely to be standing over him than anything else.
This had never happened with Sabemka and Tomosei, Raylix thought. He remembered when his two best friends (on his recommendation to Zeoticus and Venelana, and after talking it over with them) had been promoted from co-commanders in Raylix's brigade (which had been disbanded, as part of the re-structuring of the Devils' military division, soon after the end of the Devil Civil War) to his personal bodyguards. Thanks to the fact that their status as his best friends had already been cemented by that point, the fact that the aristocracy that governed the Devils' side of the Underworld didn't have the same hold as it had now, or most likely a combination of both factors, there hadn't been as much pressure on Sabemka and Tomosei to be as formal with Raylix- their boss as well as their best friend- as most bodyguards or other servants were.
Though the longer that the aforementioned aristocracy had been in place, the more reminders that Zeoticus gave Sabemka and Tomosei to address their employer the respect that he was due, and to Raylix to enforce such rules upon them. Reputation of treating their servants as family or not, they still had their image as noble Devils to uphold, Zeoticus had told Raylix time and time again.
Raylix took another breath, wrenching his mind away from past memories as he left the Gremory Castle grounds, Josarry and Ereht in perfect step behind him. After a second's pause, Raylix spread his ten Devil wings and took to the skies, slowly flying into Gemyem and descending into the city centre. Josarry and Ereht (who he'd heard spreading their wings behind him) followed, flying in perfect formation behind their boss. A quick glance behind him told Raylix that his two new bodyguards possessed three pairs of wings each, compared to Sabemka and Tomosei's four pairs.
Holding back another quiet sigh, Raylix landed in the city centre, ignoring the heads of the Devils- who were just going about their daily lives- that turned at the sight of the Heir of the family that governed this city, and the whole territory, landing in their midst with two brand-new bodyguards right behind him. Some offered polite morning greetings, like some of the maids and butlers back at the castle, but Raylix didn't reply. Instead, he just moved down one of the streets, making the short walk to his destination: the party-hall that had held his and Ruvella's engagement party last week. The place... where Sabemka and Tomsei had both died.
"Is it just me, or are you also in the mood for fried Byrd-wings?"
"I'll make some for you tomorrow! But are you really thinking about food now? Or do you never not?"
A short, humourless laugh escaped Raylix as the final words his friends had ever spoken rang in his head. Raising a hand to his head, he felt his breathing quickening as Sabemka and Tomosei's voices continued to ring in his head, a little louder than before. His other hand involuntarily clenched and unclenched, and he felt demonic power swirling around it. At the familiar sensation, he opened his eyes and took a slow breath, trying to calm himself down.
Raylix continued his slow breaths as he straightened back up (he didn't even notice that he'd been bent over in any way before now), turned around and flicking his left hand at the ground, casting a transportation-circle a couple of steps away, bound for Sabemka and Tomosei's village. The Gremory Heir made to step into the transport-circle, but found himself stopping just before he did so.
Did he really have the strength to go back to that village, only a week after Sabemka and Tomosei were killed, on his watch? Never mind the strength, did he even have the right? He'd never been that close with any of the villagers, but he knew Sabemka and Tomosei were close with a good number of them, did he have the right to face them in particular?
…
No. Definitely not now... maybe not ever.
Raylix felt an unfortunately-familiar wetness at his eyes, and raised the sleeve of his jacket to his eyes to wipe them dry.
"Sir?" Either Josarry or Ereht (sweet Lilith, they even SOUNDED insanely similar, Raylix thought) spoke up, from behind their boss.
"I'm f-fine." Raylix replied, shutting the transportation-circle he'd cast with another flick of his hand, and opening another one with his right hand. "I'm going home."
"Yes, sir!" Both burly bodyguards replied, instantly snapping into identical salutes, and not letting up on them until Raylix walked past, letting out a sigh as he did so. He doubted that he was ever going to get used to his new bodyguards, and their incredibly rigid formality when addressing him in any way whatsoever. Especially not in comparison to... well...
'Cut it out!' Raylix thought to himself, forcibly shoving the invading thoughts of Sabemka and Tomosei from his mind, even though he knew that they'd be back before long. He stepped into the transport-circle he'd cast seconds earlier, with Josarry and Ereht stepping into it a second or two later, after which he activated the transport-circle and disappeared from Gemyem in a flash of light, alongside his bodyguards.
The three Devils re-appeared in the Gremory Castle's grounds, just in front of the familiarly giant double-doors. The guards stationed in front of said doors- different ones from earlier, when Zeoticus had introduced Josarry and Ereht to Raylix less than an hour ago- immediately moved to open the doors at the sight of the Gremory Heir in their presence, allowing Raylix to re-enter his home. When he didn't hear Josarry and Ereht accompanying him inside, he made to turn around, before remembering what his father had said about them accompanying him anywhere he wanted to go OUTSIDE THE CASTLE, before he continued inside.
"Oh, Raylix!" Venelana spoke up, as the castle-doors were shut behind Raylix. She was heading downstairs, Jarahn at her side. "You... weren't out, for very long. Did anything happen?"
"No." Raylix replied, his hands returning to his jacket pockets. "Just found that I wasn't really feeling it, that's all."
"Very well." Venelana nodded, offering Raylix a gentle, motherly smile as he passed her and Jarahn on his way up the castle's main staircase. Though when Raylix was about to reach the top of it, and make a turn towards the castle's residential wing, Zeoticus and Gyokuro exited the lounge, and upon noticing his Heir, Zeoticus called out to him.
"Raylix! You're back!"
Raylix stopped, as Zeoticus quickly moved past his wife and wife's Queen, heading towards the stairs with his own Queen right behind him.
"So glad you came home quickly, I was just about to call you." Zeoticus continued, as he reached the same step as Raylix (Gyokuro stood a couple of steps below her King and King's son). "Rika just sent a message: she, Renzo and Ruvella will be here soon. I found a replacement suit for you, it's in your room. So, if you could quickly put that on, then come back to greet them when they arrive, that would be just fantastic."
"Yes, father." Raylix replied, nodding and turning, beginning his walk towards the residential wing, back to his room. He was planning on heading there, anyway.
"Of course, I'd have preferred it if you had your original suit," Zeoticus added, with a small chuckle. "But you know. Accidents happen, right?"
"Yeah, right." Raylix replied, unable to hold back a slightly harder edge from his voice as he turned around and continued his walk, his breath unconsciously held until he was far from his parents and their Queens, after which he let out a growl of suppressed anger.
Accident? ACCIDENT?!
Raylix took another few, deeper, breaths as he magically unlocked the door to his bedroom, and pushed it open. As his mother had said earlier, someone had been in here to clean up. The sheets on his bed had been replaced, the plates and other litter on the floor had been taken away, and the whole room just... smelled fresher.
A new suit, just as Zeoticus had said, lay on Raylix's bed, just as the first one had done two weeks before, back when Raylix had first found out about his engagement to Ruvella. It looked pretty much the exact same as the last suit had, which Raylix wasn't exactly unhappy with. Although, truth be told, the Phenex Heiress hadn't crossed his mind ONCE since the engagement party. The Gremory Heir had had more... personal, things occupying his mind for the last week.
Within a few minutes, Raylix had pulled off his casual clothes, tossed them onto a chair and pulled on his suit. Just as he fastened the button on the red jacket, the Gremory Heir heard a knock at the door.
"Unlocked." he spoke up, without turning around. He heard the door being pushed open, and the sound of a throat clearing a second or so later. Turning around, Raylix clapped eyes on Hannah, who was stood in the doorway, looking as prim and proper as she ever did when not in the middle of a passionate session with Raylix.
"Ladies Rika and Ruvella, and Lord Renzo Phenex have arrived, Raylix." Hannah spoke, inclining her head to him. "Lord Zeoticus and Lady Venelana wish for you to come downstairs to greet them, now."
"Yeah, I'm coming." Raylix replied, taking a couple of breaths before turning around, and making his way towards the door. "Thanks, Hannah."
Hannah stepped into the room a little bit to allow Raylix the space needed to easily leave his bedroom, though her tan face flushed red when Raylix leant over and gently pressed his lips against her cheek as he passed her. The Gremory Heir allowed himself a small smile at the look on Hannah's face in reaction to his kiss, before he headed out of his bedroom, and the smile slid from his face.
That small smile had taken WAY more effort than usual, Raylix thought, as he left the residential wing and descended the castle's staircase, where he saw Zeoticus and Venelana chatting with Rika and Renzo, with Ruvella- in a fancier red dress than the one she'd worn two weeks ago, but not quite as fancy as the one she'd worn at the engagement party- stood a pace or two away from her parents. She was the first to notice Raylix, smiling widely as he finished descending the stairs.
"Raylix!" Ruvella spoke up, inclining her head to her fiancé as he approached. The two Heirs' parents looked up from whatever conversation that they'd just been having, and headed over.
"Nice to see you've finally joined us, Raylix!" Renzo spoke up, nodding politely to his future son-in-law. "We were beginning to think that you'd retreated back into your room, and were considering sending Ruvella up to try and coax you out!"
"But thankfully, that wasn't the case." Rika replied, offering Raylix a polite smile of her own. "We're all happy that it didn't come to that, though. It would've been... improper."
"Right, sorry." Raylix remarked, shoving his hands into his trouser-pockets. "Wasn't able to get everything" he gestured to his new suit, "on in time to head back down."
"No need to worry, Raylix." Rika replied. "You're here, with Ruvella, and that's the important thing. Now, why don't we retreat into the lounge?" she looked over at Zeoticus. "I can't imagine that that would be less comfortable than standing around in the main hall, Zeoticus."
"Of course not, Rika!" Zeoticus nodded. "Please, right this way, everyone."
Within a minute or so, everyone was sat in the lounge again, just as they'd been two weeks ago, with each pair (Rika and Renzo, Zeoticus and Venelana, Raylix and Ruvella) sharing the same couches as they had done two weeks ago. Raylix glanced up above the fireplace, where Gaeneron hung, before returning his attention to his and Ruvella's parents, and Ruvella herself.
"Ruvella," Rika spoke up, after everyone was served drinks by some of the maids. "Is there something you'd like to... give, to Raylix?"
"Huh?" Ruvella looked up, before realisation and remembrance dawned across her face, and she quickly opened a magic-circle. Rika allowed herself a small giggle as Ruvella pulled a small vial out of it. One that stirred a vague sense of recognition, deep within Raylix's mind.
Ruvella cleared her throat as she presented the vial to Raylix.
"Raylix," she addressed him directly. "As thanks for defending myself and my family from the Fallen Angels during our engagement family, I would like to gift you a vial of our Clan's valued Phoenix Tears. I hope that you'll use them well, or treasure it as a symbol of our engagement."
She leant forward, gently pressing the vial into one of Raylix's hands as she briefly pressed her lips against his. Raylix heard his and Ruvella's parents making quiet noises of intense approval in reaction to what was going on in front of them, and he could see all four noble Devils smiling widely as Ruvella pulled back, a smile on her face as well. He looked silently down at the vial of Tears that Ruvella had deposited in his hand, before looking over at her.
"Defending you?" he asked, genuine confusion in his voice.
"Ruvella was injured by the Fallen Angels, during their attack." Zeoticus replied. "You killing some of them, and driving the rest off, allowed her Bishop to easily recover her, so she could quickly receive the treatment she needed."
"Huh..." Raylix looked from Ruvella to his father, and back to Ruvella again. "Sorry, I didn't know you'd been injured. Are you okay?"
"I'm... fine, thank you." Ruvella replied, the smile on her face shrinking slightly. Rika and Renzo's smiles had disappeared entirely, and the Lady and Lord of the Phenex Clan both looked upon their future son-in-law with more neutral expressions. One of Rika's eyebrows were also raised slightly.
There was an awkward silence between the six noble Devils, before Zeoticus cleared his throat, breaking the silence.
"Ahh, why don't we have a refill of drinks?" he asked, with a slightly nervous laugh. "I see we're all running kind of low." He called for a nearby maid to refill everyone's glasses, and as they did so, the warm conversational atmosphere slowly returned to the room. Though as he drank from his glass, Raylix noticed Ruvella's parents sending looks of quiet disapproval his way, noticed that Ruvella had shifted herself a slight bit away from him as she talked with Venelana about her and Rika's plans for the wedding, whatever those were.
Raylix, however, stayed silent, wishing that he was back in his room right now but knowing that he wouldn't be allowed to head back up until Ruvella and her parents were gone- which could be hours- or unless Ruvella went with him, which he wasn't sure she'd even want. Plus, he wasn't really in the mood for sex right now.
The next hour or so seemed to pass at a snail's pace for Raylix. Mostly zoned out from everything, offering occasional answers to questions that were asked of him by Ruvella's parents, everything just seemed to blend together into an hour-long mush of boring, with nothing but thoughts of Sabemka and Tomosei for company once they inevitably wormed back into Raylix's mind. Not even Ruvella's incredible body, clad pretty-much only in the dress that she currently wore, could really take his mind off of things.
Zeoticus stood up, the sight of which jolted Raylix out of his zoned-out state. All the other Devils in the room looked his way, as well.
"Renzo, Raylix, why don't we leave the ladies to their wedding-plans and head upstairs to my office?" he asked. "I've been going over some potential designs for what we could wear at the wedding. I'm sure you both have your own ideas as to what you want to wear, and may potentially have your own input."
"Wonderful idea, Zeoticus!" Renzo replied, getting to his feet as well. "Let's head to your office at once!"
Raylix, by contrast, simply shrugged and got to his feet, placing his unfinished glass of drink on a nearby table and shoving his hands in his pockets. His body was practically running on autopilot as he followed his father and future father-in-law from the lounge, glancing again at Gaeneron on his way out.
He wasn't even thinking about the wedding. He wasn't even thinking about anything, anymore.