"No need to jerk and writhe, Raylix... just let me handle this~"
Quick, heavy breaths escaped the auburn-haired Devil as he shuffled backwards on his bed, until he felt himself backed up against the headboard, unable to move any further. Looking down at himself, he felt his cheeks warming at the realisation that, in his dream, he was stark-ass naked.
"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself like this... but I think it might be time to take things up a notch, do you?"
The voice was coming from right in front of him, just above. Raylix looked up to the source of the voice, his throat rather dry as his breaths continued to come out quickly and heavily. At the sight of... Lilith- THE Lilith, just as stark naked as he was, her enormous breasts and shaved vagina right there on display- straddling him, he let out a sharp gasp.
Smiling down at him, Lilith shifted herself slightly, resting her vulva atop the body of Raylix's shaft. The Prime Succubus' smile widened as she began rocking her hips back and forth along Raylix's length, letting out a small moan as she did so. Small, at least, in comparison to Raylix's much larger moan in response to such a sensitive area being stimulated in such an erotic manner, by the dark goddess sitting above him.
Even though he'd definitely prefer it if his prick and Lilith's pussy interacted in a more... complete, way. She was teasing him, riding him like this: he knew it, she knew it, he adored it, but it was simultaneous AGONY, knowing that what he truly wanted was so close and yet so utterly out of his hands.
Letting out a giggle at the reaction she was getting out of him by this small action alone, Lilith adjusted her position again, leaning forward and brushed her lips against Raylix's. Just that small action alone, the extra stimulation of her whole body just lying down against his, caused the much younger Devil to involuntarily buck his hips out of mixed surprise and excitement.
"Oh~!" Lilith moaned, shifting herself back up into her original position, but this time gently resting her hands on Raylix's bare chest to keep herself balanced and hold him down. "Ahh~ impatient little man-slut, aren't you? Very well, I'll humour you this time..."
Lilith proceeded to raise herself up, far enough above Raylix's cock that it, at full mast, would be able to stand up completely vertically. Something that, as she sprouted her tails and horns, she was more than willing to help happen, as one of them wrapped around the base of said cock and held it in place as Lilith began to lower herself.
When her vulva came into contact with Raylix's member again, this time his bulbous, twitching tip, both she and Raylix let out more moans of their own. With her silky-smooth hands, that were somehow strong enough to easily hold him down, still resting on his chest, Raylix could do little but lie there and watch as Lilith shifted her body around atop his tip, as well as her tail shifting the position of his cock, most likely trying to feel out where the opening was.
"There..." Lilith moaned out. "Okay, no, there? Ahh~ oh, yeah, there... we go!"
Raylix's moan, again, drowned out Lilith's as she lowered herself another couple of inches, his tip and top of the body of his shaft sliding in-between the slick walls of the Succubus' pussy. His eyes slid from the sight of his cock penetrating her, all the way up her perfect body to her face. Blue eyes met red as the smile Lilith was wearing on her face widened, and she let herself drop.
----- ----- -----
Raylix let out a gasp, sitting up bolt-upright as he felt himself unceremoniously dragged from sleep. His quick, heavy breaths quickly gave way to a short fit of loud coughing that seemed to ring throughout his bedroom. Though as the coughs subsided, his more regular breathing returned, and he stretched a little. He raised his hand, initially considering casting the curtains aside to let some natural light in… but lowered it again, thoughts of that gone as soon as he registered a new feeling somewhere around his crotch. It was a foreign feeling… a wet feeling.
Blinking a couple of times, the auburn-haired Devil lifted the covers of his bed, pulled them back, ignored the sudden drop in temperature as the air outside of his bed hit his bare skin, and looked down at his boxers-covered crotch, where he'd felt the wetness coming from. The presence of a wet patch on the underwear he'd gone to bed in explained the feeling he was having, and the realisation of what had happened hit his still-half-asleep mind.
Wet dream. Sexy dream. EXTREMELY sexy dream, he figured, as bits and pieces of the dream he remembered just having flashed in his mind. He didn't know why, he couldn't help it, but he felt his cheeks warming slightly as the flashes came and went. It hadn't been the first time the idea of giving it to (or, more accurately, being given it by) Lucifer's widow. Hell, over the past four centuries, or even longer than that (probably closer to five, if he was being honest with himself), Lilith had probably been the subject of most of the erotically-themed dreams he'd ever had in his life. But it was the first time, at least in a long while, that he remembered actually cumming in his pants just from such a dream.
Usually, it was just a raging boner that one of his favoured maids could take care of, or failing that, he could deal with himself within a few minutes with one hand tied behind his back. But this time, it had actually gone beyond that, right to him jazzing in his boxers in his sleep. With the position he'd remembered going to sleep last night, maybe he'd ended up rubbing his crotch against the bed, and that plus the dream had driven him over the edge?
It wasn't worth thinking about all too much, the former Duke's Heir figured, as he slid out of bed, got to his feet and pulled off his wet, sticky and cum-filled boxers, before tossing them into the basket at the end of his bed. Just something weird that happened, and another article of clothing to be washed. Nothing too out of the ordinary.
After focusing a rudimentary water-spell into his hand and using that to gently clean the general area around his crotch, or at the very least remove that area of the stickiness and cum-residue, Raylix summoned a simple t-shirt and pair of shorts onto himself with another quick wave of his hand, and strode from his bedroom. It didn't take him long to make his way downstairs, towards the kitchen to get himself some kind of morning food. He passed the dining room as he did so, and glanced through the open door to see Hikari sat at the table, slurping up what looked like noodles from a cup with some kind of design on it. She looked like she'd only just gotten out of bed as well, and all Raylix could see on her clothing-wise was a plain green t-shirt. Maybe she was wearing something underneath the table… maybe not.
Shit, was he still horny, even in the aftermath of the dream he'd had earlier?
"Hey." Raylix called into the dining room, his hands sliding into his shorts pockets as he paused in front of the dining room. Hikari immediately looked up from the cup-noodles she was eating, and with some of them still hanging out of her mouth, even dripping slightly, the silverette nodded back to Raylix by way of returning his greeting. Nodding back, Raylix continued on his way to the kitchen. Quickly grabbing a couple of bananas from the fruit bowl on the counter, and making himself a bowl of cereal to go along with it, he made his way back to the dining room, tossing the bananas down onto the table at the place he sat at when he and his crew had had that first dinner with Lilith and her daughters.
That had been nearly a month ago.
Lowering the bowl of cereal down onto the table, Raylix sat down directly across from Hikari, unpeeling and taking a bite out of one of the bananas before shovelling a spoonful of cereal into his mouth. As he chewed, he looked up at Hikari, who looked like she was just finishing her cup of noodles. After licking whatever was left on the fork off the fork, she sent the fork away (presumably to wherever the dishes and cutlery got washed), and got to her feet.
"You know Hikari, I don't think I've ever actually seen you eat anything other than noodles." Raylix remarked, mentally taking in the sight of nothing but a simple-looking pair of dark-grey panties on her well-toned legs, but deciding not to bring her attention to the fact he could see that. "That a diet thing or something?"
The now-empty cup of noodles in Hikari's hand suddenly found itself crushed to powder as the silverette closed the hand that was holding it into a fist. Both beings blinked at the sight of it, somewhat stunned by the sudden sound and action, before Hikari fixed Raylix with a glare.
"I eat other stuff!" Hikari snapped. "Noodles aren't the only thing I eat! It's just…" her glare faded as she took a breath, calming herself as best she could. "It's the only thing I really know how to make. Kurumi's still asleep, pretty sure Mom's still asleep, and I can't be bothered to wait for Adam, so…" she casually gestured to the remains of the cup in her hand, the bottom part of which had broken off entirely and dropped down to the table. "This is all I really know."
Raylix let out a short hum, looking down as his mind immediately jumping back to his own memories of attempts at food preparation… and who the vast majority of those attempts were in the company of, or because of. Letting out a breath, he refocused his attention on Hikari.
"Fair enough." He replied. "Still, not exactly a reason to get all snippy. Was just making an observation is all."
"Yeah, I know. Sorry." Hikari nodded, letting gout a breath of her own. "It's just…" the silverette shifted around on her feet a bit as she picked up the broken bottom of the noodles cup, and along with the non-powderized remains, reduced them to nothing with a quick pulse of demonic power. "I don't know how to say this in a way that doesn't sound weird, but recently I've... found you a little hard to be around."
Raylix didn't reply immediately, with his only initial reaction to Hikari's declaration being to blink. Of all the things he'd figured could potentially come out of a woman's mouth after the phrase "I don't know how to say this in a way that doesn't sound weird", that... wasn't it. At the hell all.
"Hard to be around?" Raylix repeated. "How come? Did I do something wrong?"
"No, it wasn't you!" Hikari replied, immediately and hastily. "I mean, it WAS you, but it wasn't YOU... ugh, that sounds even weirder, doesn't it?"
"Oh, no." Raylix replied, sarcasm slipping into his voice for a second. "It makes perfect sense, Hikari. I understand completely."
Hikari sighed, rolling her eyes and shifting around on her feet a little bit more as Raylix continued working his way through his cereal and bananas. After a moment or so's awkward silence in which the only sound was the crunch of the cereal in Raylix's mouth, Hikari spoke up again.
"You remember the spar we had last week?"
Raylix looked up from his food, again, his mind quickly working to recall that morning's tussle, before his first meeting with Lilith after she'd returned from whatever business she'd had going on down in the Underworld at the time.
"Yeah." He replied, nodding. "Was a good spar, would love to have another sometime. You're pretty strong."
"You, too." Hikari replied. "A spar where we don't hold back... that'd be something."
Raylix nodded, his eyes still on the silverette as she seemed to stare off into space for a second, her eyes unfocused and rather vacant.
"Hikari?"
"Huh?" Hikari replied, refocusing her attention on Raylix for a second or two before letting out a sharp breath. "Goddamn it, there it was again."
"Again?" Raylix repeated, his head tilting slightly in confusion. "What do you mean, again? What happened just now?"
"I just fantasized for a couple of seconds about screwing you senseless!" Hikari replied, her voice raising a fair bit out of frustration. When another couple of seconds of silence stretched out between her and Raylix, with Raylix just looking back at the silverette trying to take in what she'd just cried out, and Hikari taking a couple of breaths to try and calm herself down, the latter spoke up again.
"Sorry. That probably came out weird, didn't it?"
"A bit." Raylix replied, shrugging.
Hikari allowed herself a small giggle, as the auburn-haired Devil devoured another spoonful of his cereal, the last of it that was left in the bowl.
"You know I'm half-Succubus, right?" Hikari asked, as Raylix got to his feet, destroying the skins of the bananas that he'd worked his way through with a quick pulse of his destructive energy, before picking up the bowl and spoon.
"You are?" Raylix replied, looking the silverette up and down before refocusing on her face. "Hm. You don't look like a Succubus."
"And you don't look like a noble." Hikari retorted. "Not when you look like you haven't shaved for a couple of weeks." She pointed over at Raylix's face, where there was indeed a small bit of stubble growing.
"Ha, ha." Raylix replied dryly, reaching up and rubbing the underside of his chin a little bit. "What's your point, though?"
"Well, I think you know how Succubi differ from your standard-issue Devil, right?" Hikari asked. "Lust-based latent powers, hornier than normal Devils, can feed off of... certain acts?"
"Might be oversimplifying it a bit, but yeah." Raylix replied. Hikari let out a small scoff at his words.
"I'm not the expert, Mom is." She retorted again. "But anyway, I'm also half-human, which means I ended up in with a chance of being born with a Sacred Gear and... what do you know, I got one of the strongest ones of the lot in Divine Dividing."
"Yeah, I knew that." Raylix replied. "What's your point, though?"
"Was just getting to that." Hikari let out a sigh as she replied. "For some reason, the fact that I have Divine Dividing, which has the soul of one of the strongest Dragons in the world sealed inside, ended up giving me some... Dragon-like instincts."
Raylix raised an eyebrow, taking a slow inhale as things started to be put together in his mind.
"Like what?"
"Wanting to live according to my own desires without anyone tying me down," Hikari began. "Protect what I see as my own territory, and dominate any challengers that make themselves known to me. Particularly that last one."
"Ahh." Raylix nodded. "I think I'm beginning to get it."
"Yeah." Hikari replied. "I guess after our spar, when we talked about having another one without holding anything back, and just now when we brought it up again, that Dragon-like instinct came up. And I guess it brought out the natural horniness that comes with being part-Succubus."
Raylix nodded, beginning to move from the dining room back to the kitchen. Hikari followed, watching him bend down and put the bowl and spoon he'd used for his cereal into an open dishwasher, before shutting it behind him with his foot.
"So you literally get horny from fighting?" he surmised, standing back up to his full height and looking over at Hikari, who shrugged.
"I guess so." She replied. "Sorry, I know it's kind of weird. Probably should have brought it up to you rather than try and hide it."
"Eh, don't worry about it." Raylix replied. "I just hope it doesn't get in the way of that spar from eventually happening."
"Oh, yeah." Hikari nodded. "Don't think I'm trying to coward out of that, it's definitely gonna happen someday... but just, not today. Just seems more like a relax-day to me right now than a fighting or training-day, you know?"
"Fair enough, yeah." Raylix replied, stretching a little. "I get it, Hikari. See you around."
Hikari hummed, nodded as the auburn-haired Devil turned on his heel and strode from the kitchen, leaving the silverette on her own. Taking a breath, she allowed herself a small smile. That whole conversation was bound to happen sooner or later, she figured, and now that it was over, she figured that the way it went just now was definitely better than how she figured such a conversation with Raylix could have gone.
Although, she found it somewhat weird that Raylix didn't seem to react AT ALL to her admitting, point-blank, to his face that she had gotten aroused by him. Lilith had always told her and Kurumi that they were among the most attractive and beautiful young women in the world... and it wasn't that Hikari didn't believe her (she didn't personally put much stock in things like beauty: beauty wouldn't help her defeat the Red one), but how Raylix had generally reacted to her throughout his entire stay with them so far differed pretty dramatically from how she and Kurumi had been told men would react to them.
Not exactly something worth dwelling on all too much, the Divine Dividing wielder figured, doing a mental shrug before leaving the kitchen herself. Maybe Raylix was just different like that, who knew? She sure as hell didn't.
Meanwhile, as Raylix ascended from the ground floor of Lilith's villa to the first, he heard the sound of female grunts, swipes of a sword through the air and magic being sounded off, coming from the training room that he'd rarely skipped while on his way down. Momentarily pausing before deciding that the shower he'd been thinking about could wait a few minutes, he moved through the door that took him onto the first-floor landing, and moved towards the slightly-ajar door that led to the training room.
He heard more female grunts, more magic being sounded off, and nudged the door slightly further open with his foot to see who was training that hard this early in the morning, and his eyes immediately became full of the sight of Cinder blasting herself off the ground and into the air via what looked like condensed fire-magic fired from her feet that acted as thrusters of a sort. With her swords in hand, and one of them in what looked like a backhanded reverse-grip, Cinder shifted the position of her feet while in mid-air to send herself into a spinning motion, twisting her body in conjunction with the movement in order to increase momentum.
Cinder then stuck her swords out, swinging them in conjunction with how she spun. With her double-handed style and the speed at which she was spinning, she looked more like a large flaming sawblade than an actual person... though the effect was only achieved for a couple of seconds before Cinder seemed to begin spinning too fast to feasibly handle, and then began spiralling out of control towards one of the walls of the training hall. Before she could slam into said wall and potentially hurt herself, however, Raylix spread his wings and shot up into the air, placing himself between Cinder and the wall before reaching out towards the Magician.
The dark-haired Human let out a small grunt of surprise as she found her uncontrollable momentum and movement suddenly halted. Looking around wildly for a moment, her eyes widened slightly as they met Raylix's, as she mentally acknowledged him holding onto one of her arms that he'd reached out and grabbed, stopping her impromptu flight in its tracks.
"Raylix?" she spoke, blinking a couple of times as Raylix gently lowered both himself and Cinder, letting her drop onto the ground on her own two feet once he was close enough to safely do so, before he dropped down himself. "I didn't think you'd be up. Not this early."
Cinder tried to take a couple of steps back, but almost immediately found herself stumbling, and would have eaten shit on the floor of the training-hall if Raylix hadn't immediately reached over and grabbed her by the back of the jacket she was wearing, and yanked her back onto her feet.
"Things happened." Raylix replied, his voice even as he let go of Cinder's jacket, allowing her to readjust it as he shifted a little bit closer to her, in case she ended up going over again. "You alright? Didn't take you for much of a morning person, either."
"I'm... fine." Cinder answered, doing her best to stop a yawn from escaping her mouth but failing quite miserably. "Just figured, since you're usually in here all the time, I'd try getting up earlier and getting some solo hours in..." she yawned again, prompting a raised eyebrow from the auburn-haired Devil. "Guess I'm still working some of the sleep out, even if I've been up for a few hours."
Raylix sighed.
"A few hours...? look, Cinder, there's no-one around here that respects someone who wants to make themselves stronger more than I," he began. "But that's no reason to get up first-thing in order to start, especially not when you're clearly not at your best anyway." he gestured to the bags under the young Magician's eyes. "If you wanted to train, you could've come to me about it, because I'd have helped! What possessed you to make you think that dragging your ass out of bed when it's still freaking dark out, in order to work out like this was a good idea?"
Cinder inhaled, exhaled, bouncing on the balls of her feet a little as she tried to figure out the right way to respond to Raylix's question.
"Maybe I just wanted to get stronger?" she replied, after a moment. "Irene's a centuries-old Platinum, Esdeath's got that Sacred Gear as well as being part-Devil, Tamamo's a mega-powerful Youkai who's regaining more and more of her power by the goddamn day, what the hell am I by comparison?"
"Still damn talented with fire and a sword." Raylix replied, letting out a breath of his own before resting a hand on one of Cinder's shoulders. "How old are you again, Cinder?"
"Don't you know it's rude to..." Cinder began, before rolling her eyes and sighing. "Seventeen."
"Yeah. And Irene by comparison, just like you said, she's centuries old." Raylix replied. "She's probably something like 500... actually, I don't think I know for certain. Anyway, you don't have to compare yourself to Irene. Not as you are now. See her power and skill as something to shoot for in the future? Absolutely, I've got a feeling she'd be disappointed if you didn't think that way. But as something to try and get to right now, or in the near future?"
Cinder's face went slightly pink, as she shifted around on her feet a little bit more.
"I just want... to be more useful." she muttered. "When we were going for that stone Tamamo was sealed in, I just got mind-controlled like it was nothing, and you had me out of it like-" she raised a hand and snapped her fingers in front of Raylix's face. "that! When we met Lilith, I couldn't even do anything! And when the pair of us recruited Esdeath... it was mostly you and her killing all those trolls: I wasn't much better there than I was against those two Youkai or Lilith!"
The dark-haired young Magician took a couple of breaths, seemingly realising that she'd worked herself up quite a bit while laying her heart out. Doing her best to visibly calm herself, she took half a step back from the taller Devil, looking down at the ground until the sound of Raylix's voice prompted her to look back up at him.
"You exaggerate."
"H-huh?"
"You heard me." Raylix replied, closing the distance between himself and Cinder by taking the same half-step that she took. "You're being hard on yourself, Cinder, and I think you're leaving out a few crucial facts. For one, while I do admit you're right in that Esdeath and I got the lion's share of troll-kills when we found her up in Norway, you still contributed. Esdeath didn't make those trolls start ripping each other to shreds all by herself, after all."
"That's not-" Cinder began, but before she could get any further, Raylix raised a hand, immediately cutting across the young Human.
"Would you shut up? Let me finish, please?"
Cinder shut up.
"Thank you." Raylix replied. "Now regarding the operation over in Nasu, I seem to remember Irene and Esdeath falling under the hypnosis of that oversized maggot just as easily as you did. He caught all three of you- four of us, really- off guard. And as for Lilith... come on, no-one can compare to her. Not Irene or Esdeath, not Tamamo at full power, not even me! Even more unfair on you than with Irene, that, trying to compare yourself as you are now to her."
Cinder swallowed silently, seemingly taken a little bit aback by all that Raylix had laid on her. Not sure how to fully react, she refocused her attention on the auburn-haired Devil as he continued.
"You've already proved yourself useful to me and the group on enough occasions, Cinder, and don't think for a second that you haven't." Raylix assured her. "And while it would certainly help us as a whole, for you to become strong, you don't have to rush in catching up to any of the others' levels. And you definitely don't have to try training when you're clearly too tired." he added, reaching over and gently prodding Cinder's forehead with an index finger. "Go back to bed, get a few more hours, THEN come back and work out as much as you want. Doctor Raylix's orders."
Cinder let out a short snort, turning towards the doors to the training hall.
"Are you even an actual doctor?" she asked, as she began to make her way towards the doors.
"Never said I was a doctor of medicine." Raylix replied, following Cinder out of the hall and leaning against the doorframe as he watched her head back to her room. The third door down the hallway, on the side directly opposite the training hall, and she shut the door behind her.
Once Cinder had left Raylix's sight, he moved away from the training hall's doorframe and made his way back towards the door to the landing that he'd come through earlier, pulled it open... and almost walked straight into Tamamo-no-Mae. Out of her usual kimono and in a simple t-shirt and shorts, just like he was, she looked like she was just about to make her way through the door he'd just pulled open.
"Oh, Raylix!" the kitsune half-gasped by way of greeting, her cheeks flushing a light pink at the sudden sight of him. "Didn't think I'd catch you on this floor, not outside-"
"Just came from there." Raylix replied, jerking his head back at the training hall he'd just exited. "Was just talking with Cinder. You alright this morning?"
Tamamo nodded, shifting past Raylix as she entered the landing. Once she was past, she turned back towards him, her eyes flicking from side to side a couple of times before refocusing on Cinder.
"Yes, I'm fine." she answered. "Though actually, Raylix... could we talk? In my room?"
Not taking her eyes off of him, Tamamo took a couple of steps backwards, towards the door directly across from the entrance to the training hall, and pushed it open. Raylix could only raise an eyebrow by way of initial response to the Youkai's request, before shrugging.
"Sure, fine." he replied. "Guess everyone just wants to talk to me today, of all the days."
Tamamo resisted the urge to giggle as she retreated into her bedroom, sprouting her ears and tails as she did so. She used one of her tails to hold the door open for Raylix as he followed her inside, and used that same tail to push the door shut once he was fully in. Taking a seat on her bed, Tamamo looked up at Raylix, who didn't make an immediate move to join her. Instead, he just stood a few paces away, by the doorway, hands in his pockets.
"Well?" he prompted her, somewhat expectantly. "What is it you wanted to talk about in here? Hope it's not anything weird, like how the smell of your piss will never wash out of anything it lands on, or something."
"What? No!" Tamamo replied. "What made you think it would be anything like-" she stopped herself, letting out a slow breath. "Look- listen, Raylix, I wanted to apologize. That time I came onto you- or tried to, I guess- a couple of weeks ago, I should've been able to tell that you weren't into it and stopped before things went too far. It was something I'd struggled with a bit in my past life, and prior to... certain events, it was something I was trying to work on. I'm sorry."
The pink kitsune bowed her head towards Raylix for a couple of seconds, her fox-ears seeming to fold themselves slightly as she did so, before she straightened up again.
"Huh?" Raylix replied, an eyebrow slightly raised again. "What are you talking about- oh, wait. When you brought that food-box for me while I was training? That was nice, I liked that."
Tamamo blushed again, slightly, nodding her head.
"I'm over that, don't worry about it." Raylix replied. "Honestly, looking back, I think I could've handled that whole situation a little better, myself. I guess I was just surprised that someone who I'd only known for a few months came onto me THAT hard. Never had that happen before."
Tamamo nodded, awkwardly scratching the back of her head for a couple of seconds as her eyes flicked away from Raylix and back to him a couple of times.
"Raylix... do you know about my past life?"
"The Emperor Toba-stuff?" Raylix asked. "Yeah. Basics, at least. Came to Earth, fell in love with Toba, got accused of-"
"I know my own backstory, Raylix." Tamamo replied. "No need to recount it right back at me. But do you know anything else of my past life?"
"Uh… no." Raylix answered, shrugging slightly. "Can't say I do. Don't think you ever told me, and I know I've never asked."
"I see." Tamamo nodded, getting to her feet. "Guess the time was never right for you to ask, or me to tell you."
Raylix hummed his agreement as the kitsune moved over to a vanity on the other side of the room, and sat down in the chair right in front of it. She was a little closer to Raylix, now.
"It's been wondered by a lot of people throughout history, as far as I'm aware," Tamamo continued. "Why a Youkai like me even bothered to come to the human world? Did I just want to toy with the higher-ups of my homeland for kicks? Turn the Japanese government against itself for my own benefit only? Was it human-world riches that motivated me?"
"…Well, was it?" Raylix asked, simply, drawing out a slightly stunned expression followed by a short giggle from Tamamo.
"No, it wasn't." she replied. "It wasn't any of that, Raylix. The truth is… I was just curious."
Raylix blinked, didn't immediately reply as Tamamo continued.
"Supernatural beings- Youkai, Devils, Gods, everyone- we all live for ages, don't we?" the kitsune spoke, her eyes trailing from Raylix stood in front of her, to the window on the other side of the room, that gave a decent view of the southern-French countryside. "Thousands of years, even longer. But humans? Not even a hundred years on average: hell, in some lesser parts of the human world, it's not even half of one."
"Yeah." Raylix replied. "Not exactly pleasant to think about. Good reason not to get too attached, I guess."
Tamamo let out a breath, nodding.
"I guess so." She remarked. "Yasaka seemed to pick up on that quickly enough, but I just… couldn't help myself. I just… wanted to know what it was like. I wanted to know how beings with- in comparison to you and me- no time in the world at all, could… live. I really don't know how to describe it better than that, Raylix, but what they call living, I think I just wanted to experience it for myself. That's… I think that's why I did it. That's the root of it, at least."
Raylix took a breath of his own, initially not reacting to Tamamo's confession for a couple of seconds in any way, before nodding.
"Alright." He replied. "You just wanted to see how green the grass was on the other side, as the humans say?"
Tamamo nodded, jostling rather uncomfortably in her chair as she fixed her gaze on Raylix again.
"I suppose so, yes." She replied. "And when I got to the human world, made my way into Toba's court and met the man himself… it was a really nice green for a time. Everyone knows the story, I fell in love with Toba, got the blame pinned on me when he fell ill, was chased out of the court, eventually killed and turned into a stone… and then you rescued me."
"You're welcome." Raylix nodded. "But if I might ask, what's the point of telling me all this? Why now?"
"I… don't know." Tamamo sighed, getting to her feet and turning to Raylix. "Maybe I just wanted to talk to you, let you know in the easiest way possible that when I fell for Toba, what I felt-" she reached up, placed a hand over her heart as she leant forward slightly. "I remember the feeling… and I think I might be feeling it again. Experiencing it again… because of you."
…
There was an uncomfortable silence in Tamamo's room as Kitsune and Devil's eyes met. Tamamo's chest rose and fell as she tried to take measured breaths to keep herself calm, while Raylix just looked back at the pink-haired woman with a neutral look on his face, his body seemingly unmoving.
"Raylix?" Tamamo asked, taking half a step closer to the Devil, closing a gap that Raylix immediately opened again by taking the same half-step back, towards the bedroom door. "You alright?"
"I'm… fine." Raylix replied, nodding. "Are you?"
Tamamo nodded, raising her foot to step towards Raylix again, but seemingly thinking better of it and putting her foot down again without moving at all.
"W-well?" she asked, beginning to shift around on the spot she was stood on. "Do you feel the same way? I know you feel a… certain way about Lilith, but is there any room in your heart for… anyone else?"
"I… uh…" Raylix backed away a little further, reaching behind himself for the door before swallowing, taking a breath and calming himself. "I don't know if I can answer that right now, Tamamo. It's not you, don't think it's you, it's just something I've been struggling with for a while. Among other things…"
He said the last three words under his breath, but that didn't stop Tamamo's ears from perking up ever-so-slightly, as she heard the quiet words entering her ears. She didn't react, however, and simply nodded.
"That's okay." She replied, her tone even as she took another breath. "Just take the time you need. After all, as supernatural beings, we've got a while. Haven't we?"
Letting out a chuckle, Raylix allowed himself a small grin as he reached to open the kitsune's bedroom door.
"Yeah." He replied. "You take the time you need, too. You know, just to make sure you're sure. About the whole… feeling that way, thing. And you know, if you wanted to make me any more of those food-box things… I'd appreciate it."
Tamamo resisted the urge to bark back that there was no need to make sure she was sure about anything, instead choosing to nod, a genuine smile forming on her face at what Raylix said about what she'd made for him last time.
"I'll think about it." She replied, as Raylix pulled open the bedroom door, stepped through it and left, shutting the door behind him and leaving the kitsune alone.
----- ----- -----
"My lady, if you could please just tilt your head forward for a moment…? Thank you…"
Her legs swinging freely as she sat atop a plush, velvet-cushioned stool within one of the Gremory Castle's many ornate dressing rooms, young Rias Gremory did as one of the servants requested without even really thinking about it. The servant who had asked her to do so gently moved her long hair out of the way of her neck, bent down to check the back of the dress that the Clan Heiress was wearing, make sure that it was absolutely perfect for the party that Duke Zeoticus and his wife Venelana were hosting. An important party, Rias' parents had told her so many times over the last couple of weeks, that would see all the most illustrious figures among the Devils in attendance.
The dress- made specifically for Rias, specifically for this party, by the finest tailors that the Gremory Clan could afford- was a masterpiece of clothing craftmanship that perfectly fit her small frame. A vibrant crimson number that mirrored her beautiful, perfectly-kept hair, with delicate lace trim that added a touch of sophistication and grace. At various points over the dress, tiny golden-coloured jewels that caught the light and glistened with every small movement Rias made were sewn into the fabric. From every angle she was looked at from, even though she was still practically a toddler, Rias looked more like a star descended from Heaven than a denizen of Hell.
Whatever the intended effect of the dress was, whatever the importance of the party was, none of that seemed to matter or even register in the mind of the child wearing the dress in question, who the party was being thrown in honour of. To her, it was just a pretty garment that made her feel like a princess, like the ones from the stories her mother would sometimes tell her. It was just a reason she got to stay up past her usual bedtime, and see a lot of people that she didn't fully know.
As the multiple servants that had been spending the last nearly-an-hour dolling her up to look as perfect as possible for the coming event continued to flit around Rias, lay down any finishing touches that needed laying down, the Heiress couldn't help but fidget slightly in her seat, a slight pout forming on her lips to replace the semi-neutral smile that had been in place ever since her preparation for the party began. As beautiful as it looked, and as gorgeous as she felt wearing it, the dress itched in a couple of places and she couldn't help but feel annoyed by it, which was compounded by the fact that she couldn't really move to scratch said itches without either interrupting the servants' work on her or risking ruining said work, which would only make this whole thing take even longer than it already had been.
Hopefully when she was out and in the party, Rias thought, maybe she'd be able to slip away from her parents, find Sona and just spend a carefree evening with her best- or rather only- friend. Such a pleasant thought was enough to bring a smile back to her face, in spite of how the dress continued to itch on her body.
The grand doors to the dressing room suddenly began to creak as they were pushed open, and the room immediately fell into respectful silence. All the servants that were dolling Rias up immediately stopped what they were doing (lucky that they were all just-about done) and stepped back from the young Heiress, who shifted around on her seat to face the doors as they fully opened, revealing Zeoticus and Venelana Gremory. Clad in a form-fitting white and red suit and a flowing black and purple gown, respectively, the Duke and Duchess of the Gremory Clan entered the room in step with each other for a few seconds until Venelana stopped. Zeoticus continued walking, however, slowly walking around Rias and inspecting what seemed like every minute detail of her appearance that the servants had been working on for the past hour.
The respectful silence that the dressing-room had fallen into became slightly more tense as Zeoticus' slow walk around Rias continued until he had gone all the way around, stopped in front of her before looking up at each of the servants, one by one. Though that tension was drained slightly when the crimson-haired Duke took a breath, a smile coming across his face.
"You've all done a wonderful job with my daughter." He spoke. "Thank you very much. Give us the room, please, you're dismissed for the night."
The servants were all too happy to immediately file out of the dressing room, with the last two pulling the double-doors shut behind them. Father, mother and daughter were now alone, with the latter sliding off of the stool and landing on her feet in front of her father.
"Rias, my dear." Venelana cooed, quickly closing the distance between her and Rias, bending down so she was on a level with her daughter and doing her own closer-up check of the dress she was wearing, as well as all the other work the servants had done to make her look as good as possible. "You look absolutely stunning."
Rias giggled, throwing her little arms around Venelana's back when she was close enough, prompting a small giggle from Venelana herself before she pulled back, drew herself back up to her full height. Just as she did so, Zeoticus bent down to meet his daughter's gaze, his expression far more dignified and serious than the loving look Venelana had been giving her seconds before. Rias' giggle, her smile, faded as she met her father's gaze.
"Rias, my daughter." He began, his voice gentle, but carrying the same serious tone as his expression suggested. "This is an extremely important night for our Clan, and for you. It could well be the most important night of your life."
Venelana quietly sighed from her position a couple of steps away, her arms folded under her bust. Neither Zeoticus or Rias paid her any attention, or even noticed the sigh.
"This party we're hosting," Zeoticus continued. "It's not just any normal gathering of noble families. All the esteemed Lords and Ladies among the Devils have come from all across our side of the Underworld, to be introduced for the first time to the Heiress of the Gremory Clan. Our pride and joy, our hope, our future… you."
The Duke Gremory paused, his eyes locked with Rias'. Any trace of the smile that she'd worn when Venelana was talking with her was gone: it seemed to be beginning to sink into the three-year-old just how serious this was. About time, Zeoticus thought, in the back of his mind. For the last couple of weeks, ever since their meeting with Lady Rika and Lord Renzo and while he was planning this gathering, he'd tried to impress upon Rias the particular importance of this gathering. But he didn't think it had really set in the toddler's mind, beyond that it was finally a Gremory-hosted event she was allowed to attend in person, rather than just stay cooped up in her quarters under the supervision of some of the castle's servants. Not until now, at least.
"A lot- and I mean this seriously- a LOT is riding on your shoulders tonight, Rias." Zeoticus continued, after a few seconds. "Not just tonight, but in the future. This is the moment where you begin to carry the future of the Gremory Clan. You're still young, so you don't have to understand all of what that means. You'll come to understand eventually, but that's for the future. Remember your education, remember your etiquette training, make a good first impression on the Underworld tonight. You think you can do that?"
Rias blinked a couple of times, before nodding enthusiastically. Her bright-blue eyes were slightly widened from the tone of her father's words alone, even though she only understood some of the words he'd said to her. She'd only begun to learn about the politics of the Underworld through her regular studies: Zeoticus was right, there was no way she'd be able to understand everything that was being asked of her right now, but there was one thing she understood perfectly. Tonight, she needed to do good for her parents, make them proud during the gathering she was about to go down and join. And that was a task she was more than happy to accept, with the earnestness that only a three-year-old could provide with just a nod.
"Good." Zeoticus nodded in return, rising to his feet, taking one of Rias' hands in his and making for the double-doors of the dressing room. Venelana quickly moved to join him, and the three of them made their way out. Past the bedrooms, onto the landing and descending the Gremory Castle's grand staircase, to enter the main hall of the Gremory Castle. Already a vision of demonic opulence when not hosting events of any kind, Zeoticus had gone above and beyond in turning the hall into the perfect location to host so many distinguished guests on such an important night.
Numerous crystal chandeliers hung from the high ceiling, with many small magical lights within them bathing the hall in a pleasant glow. Dark banners that proudly bore the symbol of a crimson rose upon them fluttered gently along the walls, reminding all that stood in the hall just which Clan was hosting them on this important night, just in case they forgot whose home they were standing in. The air was filled with a harmonious blend of classical music and the low murmur of conversation from the many noble Devils, who all seemed to be silently competing with each other in just how impressive and extravagant their chosen outfits for the night could be. Many tables, some adorned with exquisite floral arrangements, others housing refreshments that all nobles in the room happily helped themselves to, were dotted around the hall.
All of this under the watchful gaze of freshly-commissioned portraits of the original Gremory Devil, who gave his life in service to the Underworld during the Great War; of Gremory's daughter Alcina, who assisted in rebuilding the Underworld as all knew it in the aftermath of the Devil Civil War; of Alcina's son, who had guided the Gremory Clan to the high position it currently enjoyed among the remaining Pillar Clans in the Underworld's current age; and of Zeoticus' firstborn son Sirzechs, indisputable hero of the Underworld who led the Devils as the Crimson Satan.
As the underworld's elite noticed Zeoticus, Venelana and a three-year-old crimson-haired girl that none of them recognised or had seen before descending the stairs, the bustling hall quietened as their collective attention turned towards them. Zeoticus, Venelana and Rias stopped, a few steps off the bottom of the staircase that they had been descending, so they could see over all the nobles that stared up at them, and all the nobles could see them. The Duke Gremory, his wife and his daughter waited for full silence to fall among all the nobles in the room, before Zeoticus- after gently squeezing Rias' hand to let her know things were going to be okay- cleared his throat.
"Esteemed Lords and Ladies of the Underworld." He greeted the hall, applying a subtle voice-amplification spell to his voice to make sure he could be heard by all. "I thank you, once again, for coming to this planned event. Tonight is a new dawn for the Gremory Clan, where past wrongs are righted, and the path of our family's future is forged. By I, my lovely wife-" his eyes flicked to Venelana for a fraction of a second, who performed a practiced curtsey to the crowd of nobles. Out of the corner of his eye, near the back of the hall, he noticed Venelana's half-brother Erechus glaring up at him with a hateful look on his face, but ignored it for the moment.
"-And the newest addition to the Clan." He finished, squeezing Rias' hand again. "I present to you our new Heiress, the future of the Gremory Clan and the pride of our family: Rias Gremory!"
Rias did her best to stand up a little straighter than she was already standing, make herself a little bit taller than she already was, to make sure she could be seen. Though as the hall erupted into polite applause at the introduction to the Underworld's newest Clan Heir, Rias found herself clinging onto her father's hand a bit harder than she was already doing. She wasn't expecting this much sudden noise and attention focused on HER of all people… it was almost overwhelming to the young Devil.
As the applause faded, and all the nobles in the room returned to whatever conversations they had been having before the announcement, Zeoticus finished descending the last couple of stairs of the castle's grand staircase, almost pulling Rias along with him by the hand as Venelana followed in step with him on his other side. Rias quickly caught up with her father's slow walking pace, though, and stuck as close to him as she physically could without tripping either him or herself up as they began to move through the crowd. In terms of height, she barely reached the hips and waists of most of the nobles stood in the hall of her home, her only guide being her father's hand that she clung onto as tightly as possible.
"Lord Agmath!" Zeoticus called out, making Rias jump slightly at his sudden voice, and focus on where- and who- she was being led to. A thin man, about the same height as Zeoticus with short blond hair looked over from a gorgeous woman about the same age, with longer flowing blonde hair that seemed to fade to blue at the tips. The two Devils- who Rias guessed were husband and wife- approached Zeoticus and Venelana, warm smiles on their faces and interest in their eyes as they looked down at Rias.
"Duke Zeoticus, it's nice to see you again." The man, Agmath Astaroth, greeted Zeoticus and inclined his head to the crimson-haired Duke. "You and your Clan really went above and beyond for this celebration, didn't you?" he remarked, looking around the hall before down at Rias. "I can see why: a new Heir is certainly something to celebrate."
Rias resisted the urge to shrink behind her father's legs as she met Agmath's eyes with her own.
"Rias, do you remember Lord Beelzebub, Sirzechs' friend?" Zeoticus asked, as Venelana struck up a quiet conversation with Agmath's wife Vynia. "This is the head of the family that he was born to, Duke Agmath Astaroth."
"It's… nice to meet you, Duke Agmath." Rias greeted Agmath after a second, at her father's silent prompt to do so, employing a small curtsy that she had practiced many times in anticipation of when she'd finally get to come to one of her parents' parties. Agmath nodded back to the young Heiress, glancing up at Zeoticus with a silent smile on his face. Zeoticus, in turn, looked down at Rias (who looked back up at him) with an approving smile on his face, nodding in turn. The toddler's nervous expression vanished, replaced by a more at-ease smile as she seemed to fill with pride at her father's approval of how she'd greeted such an important Underworld figure.
"Nice to see you again, Lord Agmath." Zeoticus remarked, reaching out his hand to the Astaroth Clan Head, who took his hand and shook. "Glad you could make it tonight. Please feel free to enjoy yourself, but Rias and I should be moving on. More people to personally introduce the future of our Clan to, you know?"
"Of course." Agmath replied, inclining his head once again to Zeoticus. "I understand, and wish you luck, Duke. If your Heiress is as polite to everyone else here as she was to us, then I think you'll be just fine. I don't think you'll have a problem righting those past wrongs."
Zeoticus' easy-going smile flickered for a fraction of a second, but he managed to keep the smile going as he pulled back from the handshake with Agmath. Inclining his head to the Astaroth Head one more time, he turned on his heel and moved on through the crowd, Rias' hand in his. Venelana was quick to join her husband and daughter, and they began moving through the crowd again.
"Father…?" Rias asked, her quiet voice barely registering in Zeoticus' ears over the conversation from all the other Devil nobles in the crowd that they were in the middle of. "Past wrongs…?"
"It's nothing you need to worry about, Rias." Zeoticus replied, pausing his slow walk for a second and leaning down a bit closer to his daughter's level. "Not tonight, at least. Ah, Count Lohrez!"
Rias looked up, falling silent as her father approached another couple of Devils, who were currently talking to a graceful-looking male Devil with whitish-grey hair and matching eyes, and a young woman beside him with the same colour of hair and eyes. Words were exchanged between the three adult Devils that Rias didn't quite hear, before the two grey-haired Devils moved on. The young woman glanced over her shoulder at Rias, looking her up and down with mild interest in her eyes before turning around to follow her father into the crowd… or at least, Rias figured the man was her father.
Duke Zeoticus, how nice to see you tonight." Lohrez Glasya-Labolas, a man a few inches shorter than Zeoticus, with a balding head and an extremely pronounced muscular physique, greeted Rias' father with a shaken hand. "Zarine, Diehauser, Imogen and I were just talking about the portraits," he looked up, his eyes flicking to each of the larger-than-life paintings of esteemed members of Gremory's bloodline. "Really nice touch, you'll have to let me know who you found to do such great pieces."
"Come and find me at the end of the night, and I'll share his information with you." Zeoticus replied, returning Lohrez's shaken hand. "In the meantime, I'd like to personally introduce you and Countess Zarine to our daughter and Heiress, Rias."
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Count Lohrez." Rias spoke, without Zeoticus needing to prompt her, dropping into another practiced curtsey. Visibly impressed by her initiative, Lohrez bent down to Rias' level, sticking out his hand as an invitation for Rias to take. One that she took, gently shaking the Count Glasya-Labolas' hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Ms. Rias." Lohrez replied. "You've got a lot to live up to, being the Heiress of such a famous Clan and being Lucifer's little sister, don't you?"
Rias nodded, as Lohrez retracted his hand.
"Mm-hmm." Rias hummed, shifting from one foot to the other as she kept her eyes on Lohrez's. "I've been training and studying as much as I can!"
"Very good." Lohrez nodded, straightening back up. "Well, it was nice to see you again, Duke Zeoticus. And your Heiress."
"Nice to see you too, Count." Zeoticus replied, inclining his head to Lohrez. "Please, enjoy the rest of your night."
Lohrez nodded, turning on his heel with Zarine by his side, and they made their way back into the crowd. As they did so, Zeoticus bent down to Rias' level, taking one of her hands in his with a genuine smile forming on his face.
"You're doing really well, Rias." He whispered, holding his head close to Rias'. "Keep it up, and you'll have no problem making the best possible first impression on the Underworld."
Rias beamed with pride as Zeoticus drew himself back up to his full height, and led Rias into the crowd of nobles once again.
A lot of the rest of the night was a blur for the young Heiress Gremory. So many different faces looking down at her as she was led around the room, introduced to what seemed like everyone. It was almost overwhelming for her at times, but throughout it all the politeness and grace that she'd been coached on remained unwavering. With every successful greeting she made to the nobles taller than her, her parents' pride in her seemed to grow as they talked about her with those she greeted, using big words and terms she didn't understand or really pay attention to. Terms like 'redemption', 'social ladder' and 'Raylix'… what in Hell's name was a Raylix?
As the evening wore on, and things became a little quieter as some of the nobles left the castle to take the evening Underworld air, Rias found herself dragged from her semi-autopilot state as she found herself led towards two people that she actually recognised, had met before this party had even happened. A couple of weeks before, in fact, though there were two people with them that she didn't recognise.
"Marchioness Rika, Marquis Renzo." Zeoticus greeted Rika and Renzo Phenex while inclining his head to the pair of them. "Glad you could make it."
"Of course, Duke Zeoticus." Rika replied, turning towards Zeoticus and offering him a nod of respect in return. "One of the main reasons for this gathering being thrown in the first place? We wouldn't miss it for anything. Riser?"
One of the two people with Rika and Renzo that Rias didn't recognise, who had been talking with the other one, looked up before making his way to his mother's side. A young man in his late-teens, 'Riser' was a striking figure. His hair the iconic Phenex golden-blond, swept back in a style that looked casual yet meticulous, his eyes his mother's dark blue that scanned Rias up and down, down and up. His suit was a deep burgundy, done up with golden buttons that gleamed in the light of the chandeliers above, and a done-up white shirt beneath.
There was silence between the two Devil families for a second, before Rika looked over at Riser, expectancy clear on her face. Riser then inclined his head to Rias, an easy-going-looking smile on his face as he straightened up.
"Rias Gremory, it's an honour." He began, as Rias looked up at him with curiosity. "I am Riser Phenex, second son of the illustrious Phenex Clan. I've heard a lot about you, but it's an honour to finally meet face-to-face."
Rias curtsied in response, as trained, her dress swishing softly as she did so.
"The honour is mine, Riser Phenex." She replied, looking back up and meeting the teenager's gaze head-on. Zeoticus, Venelana, Rika and Renzo all made small noises of approval at the exchange of greetings between their children, as the other blonde Devil that Rias didn't know- who had just been standing behind her parents- whispered something into Rika's ear before stepping away from the group of six.
Some of the jewellery that Ruvella Phenex wore on her red-and-black dress moved about and made a light tinkling noise as she made her way through the crowd towards one of the tables, picking up one of the many glasses of wine housed on it. Looking back at her parents, her younger brother, Rias' parents and Rias engaged in conversation with each other, she let out a quiet sigh. One that went unnoticed by all as she forced a small smile while nodding at Diehauser Belial as he passed with his supposed daughter Imogen.
As her gaze refocused on her and Rias' families chatting with each other, she took a sip of the wine... before pausing to have another look at what she'd just drunk from. It wasn't bad wine, just... rather unique-tasting. Very fruity.
Gremory-wine was weird, Ruvella thought, shrugging and taking another sip, this one smaller than the last. Reaching up to adjust the black ribbon that held her ponytail in place, Ruvella noticed that the group of six that she'd been watching was now down to five: her father was no longer among them.
She then noticed, a second later, that her father was approaching her, and took a breath as he took a glass of his own.
"You alright?" Renzo asked, taking a sip of his own glass before looking at said glass. "Damn, this wine is… interesting."
"I'm fine." Ruvella replied, her eyes flicking to Rika chatting with Zeoticus and Venelana, with Rias and Riser standing beside them, before looking back at her father. "And that's what I thought. Never had wine like this before."
"I'll have to ask Zeo about it once your mother's done chatting with him." Renzo remarked, taking a breath before looking back at his oldest daughter. "You sure you're alright, Ruvella?"
"I'm sure, I'm fine." Ruvella replied, reaching down to flick a speck of dust off of her dress. "It's just… not exactly subtle what they're doing, is it?"
"I guess not." Renzo remarked, shrugging. "Though to be fair, he wasn't very subtle in the way that he left, was he?"
Ruvella shut her eyes and sighed, taking another gulp of wine as she remembered the day she'd received the news, nearly four years ago now. It almost seemed like yesterday when she'd heard from her mother, two days before she was to become Ruvella Gremory, wife of Hell's most-desired bachelor and future Duchess, that Raylix had just… disappeared. The wedding that she herself had had a huge hand in planning, making sure her special day was precisely as she'd fantasized… wouldn't be happening.
Satan below, if she ever saw Raylix again, she'd show him that Hell really had no fury like a woman scorned!
"No." Ruvella remarked, taking another breath to calm herself. "No, he wasn't. Surprised you're giving this whole business merger thing another go, with the same Satan-damn Clan too."
Renzo's gaze followed the chandelier's light reflecting off his glass as he considered his daughter's words for a couple of seconds, before taking another gulp and looking back at her.
"I felt the same way, when Zeo first proposed the idea." He remarked. "But despite Raylix's actions against both his family and ours, the merger between our Clans remains a sound economic venture. I won't deny it, part of me is still annoyed that all the investment we put into what would have been your wedding just ended up evaporating overnight at the end of it all. Millions and millions of Souls, just gone like that." He sighed, snapping his fingers in front of Ruvella's face to underline the point.
"Not as mad as Mother was." Ruvella replied, her eyes flicking over to Rika before back to Renzo. "The stuff she said about Raylix… I actually thought some of those words were made-up."
"All words are made up." Renzo retorted, allowing himself a small chuckle before sighing. "But yes, your mother was definitely the angrier out of the two of us about what happened… but I guess something like that's to be expected, considering it was her money that got pissed away."
Ruvella didn't immediately reply, her eyes sliding across the crowd of nobles to Rika, Riser, Zeoticus, Venelana and Rias. Riser and Rias had taken a couple of steps away from their parents, and were talking with each other. Though to be more accurate, it looked like Riser was doing most of the talking, while young Rias was just listening with wide eyes.
Whatever Riser was talking about, it probably sounded interesting to a toddler like her, but Rias would surely come around once she'd spent a decade listening to Riser talking himself up over and over again to anyone within earshot. The Phenex Heiress' eyes then slid back over to Rika, who seemed to be chatting quite happily with Zeoticus, while Venelana was keeping more of a watch on Rias and Riser than really engaging with her husband's conversation.
"She seems alright now." Ruvella remarked, as Renzo followed her gaze.
"Yes, well…" Renzo replied. "Time to calm down from our initial anger, and some long talks with Zeoticus and Venelana revealed that none of our misfortune came from their hands. They were victims of circumstance as much as we were: as I understand it, it was a cabal of your fiancé's personal maids that assisted in his escape, who have since been dismissed from the Gremory Clan's service."
"May they never find work again." Ruvella remarked under her breath, spite clear in her voice as she took a final gulp of Gremory wine before setting her empty glass down on the table she'd picked it up from, immediately picking up another full one.
"The point is, Ruvella," Renzo continued, placing a gentle hand on his older daughter's shoulder. "Rias' existence provides a second chance for both of us. A way to mend bridges, and secure the shared future that Zeo and Rika envisioned for our Clans. On top of that, Zeo has been extremely open with the way he plans to raise and educate his daughter. By the time she's ready to marry Riser, her sense of duty and honour to her Clan and to the society we've worked so hard over the centuries to build, will be beyond question. She will not follow in your fiancé's footsteps, we guarantee it."
Ruvella took a second, and a sip of the second glass of wine that she was holding, to let her father's words sink in before taking another breath, calmly meeting his eyes.
"If that's what you believe, Father," she replied. "Then I'll trust in your and Mother's judgement."
Renzo raised his glass towards Ruvella, a grin crossing his face.
"That's my girl." He remarked, pride tinged in his voice. "I knew you'd understand."
Ruvella smiled back, raising her glass as well as clinking it with Renzo's before taking another sip.
----- ----- -----
"IT'S A TRAP!"
After leaning up slightly for a second so he could reach behind himself and scratch a random itch that had formed at the top of his back, Raylix settled back down into the comfortable sitting position he'd been enjoying for the past hour and a half, or just over. Sniggering at the hilarious delivery of that line, the auburn-haired former Heir blinked a couple of times as he kept his focus on one of the AgareScreen-IIs that Lilith had bought for the villa, which had been placed in his room.
Hooked up to a Laserdisc player that Kurumi had found after digging around a shop in Marseille, Raylix had gotten one of his favourite human-world movies, Return of the Jedi, playing on it. A small smile played about his face as the movie cut back to Luke, Vader and the Emperor in the latter's throne room.
The Emperor in particular was clearly relishing every Lilith-damn second he had on screen. Or rather, the guy PLAYING the Emperor was relishing every second he had on screen.
As the Emperor attempted to goad Luke into killing him with his lightsaber, Raylix's mind wandered slightly to the idea of what he could make for himself for dinner when he was done with his movie. He'd had a pretty nice chicken sandwich for lunch, using some of the leftovers from the fridge downstairs, so probably nothing involving chicken. Though he'd also noticed sauce of some description in a container in the fridge while he was making that sandwich, so maybe if there was some pasta around, he could make something involving those two things? That'd be nice, he figured.
"It is unavoidable. It is your destiny. You, like your father, are now… mine."
Maybe someone else had the same idea as him, though. And by the time Return of the Jedi was done, and by the time he'd gotten downstairs, maybe that sauce would be gone. So, if that was the case, what else would there be, options for dinner-wise?
Perhaps just some soup? It HAD been pretty cold lately, over the past few days, so Raylix could definitely go for something warm if the option was there.
"Gooooood… I can feel your anger. I am defenceless. Take your weapon. Strike me down with all of your hatred, and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!"
Though on the other hand, making something at all would take a lot of effort. Effort that, after a day of following up on another lead for the Sephiroth Graal that ultimately went absolutely nowhere, Raylix wasn't exactly in the mood to expend. So possibly, he could just grab one of the instant cup-noodle meals that Hikari liked so much, and have one of them for his dinner?
As tempting as that sounded, it'd probably result in her trying to kill him if she found out about him stealing what was hers. And he had a feeling that she would.
"Obi-Wan was wise to hide her from me. Now his failure is complete. If you will not turn to the dark side, then perhaps she will."
"NEVER!"
So yeah, probably best not to try that, at least not without Hikari's permission. As Luke lost his shit, beginning to put Vader on the back foot with how aggressive he'd suddenly become, Raylix did his best to ignore the rumblings of his stomach, and put the idea of dinner out of his mind for now. He had nearly half an hour left of the movie to go, so he could easily just make a final decision then.
Adjusting his position slightly on the bed, Raylix returned his full attention to the movie as, while the Emperor was preoccupied with torturing Luke with the kind of lightning that would make the Fallen Angel Baraqiel blush, Vader grabbed him with what was left of his arms and hurled him down the second Death Star's reactor shaft, killing him at the cost of his own life. When Luke and Vader shared their final words with each other before the latter finally died, Raylix's mind couldn't help but wander again, back to the first time he'd seen this movie, just under ten years ago in a cinema in the US with Sabemka and Tomosei.
He remembered, like it was literally yesterday, Tomosei literally sobbing her heart out at Luke and Vader's final scene together before the black-clad villain passed on. And, yeah, it was a good scene and all, Raylix supposed, and it was nice to see Luke's father turn on his master and kill him, but worth crying over? Thinking that just killing the Emperor suddenly redeemed Vader of all the horrible shit he'd done? Torturing Leia and Han, freezing Han solid, chopping off Luke's arm, most likely a bunch of other bad stuff he'd presumably done for the Emperor between movies that they just didn't see, and just being an utter shitbag in general?
Badass shitbag to be sure, but still a shitbag. Even a decade on, Raylix still failed to understand why that scene brought out such intense feelings in Tomosei… and he never would.
The former Gremory Heir let out a breath, shifting his position on his bed again slightly as he looked down, his mind wandering still focused. Return of the Jedi's ending played out in the background, as his thoughts drifted fully to that of Sabemka and Tomosei.
No way they'd believe that he'd actually met Lilith, THE Lilith, and had lived in the same residence as her for any length of time, never mind nearly a MONTH. They'd probably accuse him of taking one of his wet dreams a bit too seriously, and use that as ammo to mock him about his crush on the Lilim Queen for… well, probably forever, knowing them.
Though they hadn't met in any major capacity since the War, he figured Tomosei would get on with Irene pretty well. Her being a Platinum and all, it'd definitely make for some interesting conversations about magic between the two of them to listen to, when he didn't have anything better to do. And Sabemka would probably get on with Esdeath, or at the very least find her a good sparring partner. Better than getting his shit kicked in whenever he wanted to try out a new fighting style to incorporate into his overall repertoire.
But what about his work with the True Satan Faction? What would, when they were returned to the world- to him- they think of that? Doubtless they'd be at least a little bit shocked, Raylix supposed. Considering they were a newer, more evolved version of the very faction they'd helped fight to put down during the Devil Civil War, and for a few years afterwards as well. But he was sure he'd be able to explain to them that it was necessary, his decision to join them. After opening his eyes to how screwed-up the Devils and their nobility really were, he couldn't just do nothing! They'd understand that this was the right call to make… right?
The sound of his bedroom door being pushed open roused Raylix from his thoughts. Looking up, his attention now focused on the door, he blinked as Kurumi stuck her head into his bedroom.
"Figured I'd find you here." She remarked by way of greeting, a grin playing around her lips. "Mom wants to talk."
Raylix blinked, not replying immediately as he slid off the bed, standing up.
"Oh?" he replied, stretching as he looked back at Kurumi. "Okay. Where is she?"
"Downstairs. Dining room." Kurumi replied. "Or at least that's where she told me to tell you to find her. Didn't say what she wanted to talk about." She shrugged, before her eyes slid over to the AgareScreen, which had just started displaying the end-credits of Return of the Jedi. Her eyes slid back to Raylix as she leant against the doorframe. "Which one?"
"Third one." Raylix remarked, walking around the front of the bed and switching the AgareScreen off, stretching again before making his way towards the door. "Jedi."
"I like Empire better." Kurumi replied, smirking as Raylix rolled his eyes.
"If I had a Soul for every time I've heard someone say that…"
"Oh, really?" Kurumi raised an eyebrow, shifting her leaning onto the other side of the doorframe as Raylix approached. "Which one's your favourite then?"
"…Empire." Raylix replied, not bothering to meet Kurumi's look as he passed her. Hearing her giggle was enough for him as he began the journey downstairs, towards the dining room. When he entered, the first thing he noticed was that the room was rather dimly-lit, with the table itself seeming to give off its own glow that illuminated the two dishes that were laid out at certain places on the table. A delicate arrangement of grilled fish, seasoned with exotic-looking herbs and a side of roasted vegetables sat on the plate at the head of the table, while a familiar dish caught Raylix's eye to the side of it: Wulf-steak, medium rare, golden chips and perfectly-sliced carrots.
The mixed aroma of both meals assaulting his senses was the next thing the former Gremory Heir noticed, which he couldn't help but allow himself a small smile at as he looked across the table, upon which he noticed the third and final major thing.
"Raylix." Lilith greeted the auburn-haired Devil, nodding to him from her position at the head of the table, in front of the fish and vegetable dish. "Kurumi gave you my message quickly, then. Have a seat." She raised a hand to beckon him, gesturing towards the chair closest to the steak, chips and carrots. After a second or so's hesitation, Raylix approached, silently taking the seat offered to him by the Lilim Queen.
Lilith tucked into her own meal the second Raylix's butt touched down on the seat, with Raylix choosing to imitate her with his own meal after a couple of seconds.
"Apologies for this coming on such short notice, but something came up with my real work that I had to take care of." Lilith remarked, once she'd swallowed her first mouthful. "I would've let you know this morning if it hadn't happened. I just wanted to let you know that I think it's time we headed to Hebeth. Deliver and discuss that proposal with Katerea, Shalba and Creuserey, yes?"
"Oh, we're doing that now?" Raylix replied, swallowing his mouthful of steak and chip and nodding. "Yeah, sure, alright. I didn't have anything planned tonight."
"Good." Lilith nodded. "And well, we're not doing it NOW now… obviously." She allowed herself a small giggle as she gestured to her and Raylix's meals. "I just had this whipped up for the pair of us. Don't want to head off to Hebeth on an empty stomach, after all."
Raylix allowed himself a small, nervous chuckle in return as he occupied his mouth with another mouthful of steak, this time paired with the carrots as he quickly worked to mentally recall everything he and Lilith had talked about in relation to the plan and pitch.
"But that can wait." Lilith continued. "For now, I've heard from Kurumi that you've been looking into Rubilacxe's capabilities."
Raylix blinked as he swallowed his mouthful, before remembering that he HAD been working on that when he'd nodded off in Lilith's library a few days ago, and woke up in Kurumi's lap. Not too much of a surprise, then, her having seen his notes on the sword Lilith had given him. He didn't remember getting rid of the notes or trying to hide them in any way before falling asleep on that couch.
"Yeah, I have." He replied. "There's a lot of unique powers in that sword, I can see why your former husband made it his personal weapon. Kurumi must have seen the notes I was making in regards to any potential uses of those unique powers."
"I see." Lilith nodded. "Have you had a chance to wield Rubilacxe in battle, on your searches for the Sephiroth Graal?"
"Only once, so far." Raylix replied. "Stronger than Gaeneron, that's for sure. All it took was one swing, one clash with a Holy sword to reduce some village in Italy to literally nothing. Probably not something best used in the Human World, not without a bit more work to temper all that power."
"Wise decision." Lilith remarked, nodding again. "I think I heard about Bersezio a few days ago. Got written off as a gas-leak by the authorities, as far as I know, but that excuse can only go so far."
Raylix hummed his agreement as he transferred another collection of chips and carrots to his mouth.
"Anyway, would you like a drink?" Lilith asked, raising a hand in preparation to cast a magic-circle. "I know how much you like that Dantatlion vanilla whiskey, I made sure to stock up on a few bottles of the stuff soon after you arrived."
"…Maybe not now." Raylix replied. "Don't want to end up in Hebeth barely able to walk straight. I'll have some water, if that's alright."
"Of course." Lilith nodded, waving a hand to conjure up a glass of water, which she handed over to Raylix. "It's always alright, Raylix. You can ask me for anything~"
While transferring some more fish and vegetables to her mouth, Lilith watched Raylix's reaction to her slight push from just normal talking into the territory of flirting. She noticed Raylix immediately averting his eyes, his face going red as he busied himself with putting together another mouthful's worth of food, before quickly transferring it to his mouth.
Just as Kurumi had told her, along with the research Raylix had been doing about Rubilacxe. He wasn't disregarding any flirting that anyone performed at him. It wasn't even just ineffectually bouncing off him, quite the opposite. He knew full-well that he was being flirted at, why else would he be blushing otherwise? But rather than accept it, or even try and flirt back (which Lilith would ABSOLUTELY be okay with, and she was pretty sure every other female living in this house right now would feel the same way), he just did his best to ignore it, and conceal any reaction he had to it.
Her eyes narrowed as Raylix chomped down his mouthful of food, at a much faster and more savage pace than he'd been working through his meal earlier.
She knew Raylix's reputation, back when he was the Gremory Clan's Heir, as someone who definitely didn't mind being flirted at, and as someone who was more than happy to take a woman to bed with him if they so desired, which summarily ruled out him just not being into girls as the reason for his odd reaction (not that there would have been anything wrong with that if that was the case)… so why, then?
Letting out a soft breath, Lilith refocused on her own meal. There were more pressing matters to discuss and take care of, but this was something she would DEFINITELY be discussing this with Raylix, once the whole situation with the True Satan Faction was taken care of. Silence, apart from the clinking of cutlery against plates, chewing and the sipping of water, permeated the room as Raylix and Lilith finished their meals, with Lilith clearing her throat once the last morsels of fish and vegetables descended her throat.
"Ahh, that hit the spot." She mused to herself, before turning to Raylix. "Now, shall we go over our plan for Hebeth one more time?" she asked. Looking up from his own empty plate, Raylix nodded, adjusting his position on the chair and shifting slightly closer, giving Lilith his full attention.
"The essence of our pitch to Katerea, Shalba and Creuserey," Lilith began, waving her hand to get rid of the empty plates and cutlery, leaving the table bare and with nothing between her and Raylix. "Hinges on our shared adversaries and vision for the world. The presently ruling, false Devil government that stifles Hell's progress and purports a society that only benefits them and leaves the rest of the Devils in the dust to suffer. The ruling factions and pantheons outside of the Devils, vested in maintaining the status quo and fearing the change that's coming."
Raylix nodded, easily following along with what Lilith was saying, where she was going with this. Whatever her actual thoughts on the True Satan Faction versus the current Underworld government really were, he at least got the impression that she was just as invested in their conflict as Katerea, Shalba and Creuserey were. And that was the most important thing that needed to come across to the three of them, wasn't it?
"The Khaos Brigade," Lilith continued, leaning forward slightly. Her humongous breasts rested slightly against the table as she did so, with the cleavage shown by her dress on the fullest display possible for Raylix "Is more than just a faction: it's a coalition of beings the world over, united against a common foe. Humans, Magicians, Youkai, Devils, Fallen Angels, Dragons… Gods… the ranks of the Brigade are diverse and potent in their power."
"Like Ophis?" Raylix asked, leaning back slightly in his chair as he did his damndest to keep his eyes on Lilith's face, as she nodded.
"And the newly-revived Tamamo-no-Mae, among others." She added. "You might be best mentioning Tamamo, considering it's you who are responsible for that one."
Raylix nodded, taking a breath as Lilith leant back herself, her expression unreadable.
"This merger, between the True Satan Faction and the Khaos Brigade," she continued. "Is not simply a fusion of our forces, but a declaration of shared intent to reshape the world. Together, we can amplify our reach, consolidate resources, and seriously challenge the status quo. The enemies of the future are formidable and united, so we must unite to have a chance to usher in the revolution that we both desire."
The Succubus Queen took a breath as she got to her feet, with Raylix quickly following as the pair of them exited the dining room, made their way out of the villa entirely in order to take the late-afternoon Human world-air.
"So, how does that sound?" Lilith asked, looking down to Raylix as they came to a stop in the villa's garden. "Something they'd accept?"
"I'd say so." Raylix replied, looking back up at Lilith. "Might have to play things by ear a bit once we're with them. You know, deliver certain points slightly different depending on how they're taking the rest of it."
"Good thinking." Lilith nodded. "I've got a good feeling about this, Raylix."
Raylix allowed himself a small smile, taking a breath to keep himself calm. Silence stretched out for a couple of seconds between himself and Lilith, with the latter gesturing to the ground as those couple of seconds passed.
"Oh, right." Raylix remarked, chuckling nervously as he cast a transportation-circle, set for Hebeth and large enough for both him and Lilith to step into. When they both did so, Raylix activated the transportation-circle, taking both himself and the Prime Succubus away from the latter's villa in a flash of light.