"What are you thinking about?" a young, joyful voice asked, curiously.
Damian smiled and turned his head to look at Lilith, who was walking next to him. A wide grin graced her lips, and her steps skipped happily.
"How lucky I am to have you as my little sister, of course," he chuckled charmingly, knowing exactly what she wanted to hear.
A joyful blush spread across her cheeks, and she giggled with fake embarrassment. "Be serious, big brother!"
"I was! Partly, at least," Damian smirked, still twirling his sword. "I discovered a lot of life-altering things about myself today, but… so long as I have you and Mom, what does any of it matter? None of it changes my goals, desires, ambitions… or my feelings for you two."
Unsurprisingly, his words only made Lilith happier. "I love you too, big brother!" she cried out before glomping him, wrapping both arms and legs around his body while he continued walking. With the power his awakening brought him, carrying her like this was easy enough.
To support her, he wrapped his arm under her and cupped her perky ass… solely to keep her up, of course. It was his sword-side she jumped up, however, so he was forced to quickly absorb the sword back into his body.
Chuckling, Damian caressed her hair with his other hand, while she ground her cheeks into his body, grinning happily. Lilith had always had trouble hiding her emotions. She was an exuberant person whose heart remained ever on her sleeve, and that was just how Damian liked her.
"So, I guess all this new information changes nothing for you, either?" he asked curiously. He knew her answer, of course, but there was still a part of him that wanted to hear it.
"uh, uh," she muttered, shaking her head in denial, even as she continued pressing it into his body.
"Good," he nodded, with only the tiniest slivers of relief. In the end, confidence and self-assuredness only went so far. Even for him, the support of his loved ones was important.
Meanwhile, they arrived at their destination. While Lavinia was off dealing with the aftermath of his awakening, Damian had a few people to meet. Five, to be exact, and the first one was behind the door they'd just strolled up to. As for Lilith, she'd demanded to come with him, and he'd been unable to refuse.
In the end, he was almost as weak to her as she was to him.
"Remember, little Lili," he said sternly before opening the door. "Be nice!"
"Hmpf, yeah, yeah," she snorted, before finally dropping to the ground. At the same time, a pair of seemingly innocuous gloves suddenly covered her hands, and Damian smirked wryly.
Those gloves were Lilith's catalyst.
Sighing with resignation, Erik opened the door and walked through.
The first thing he heard was a cry of frustration, "Damn you, bitch! You can't keep me locked in here forever!" immediately followed by two gunshots.
Damian smirked and quickly turned to cover Lilith. At the same time, he pushed his left arm forward and created a shimmering shield of shadows. Two impacts crashed against the shadows, but Damian didn't have much trouble defending himself against this attack.
Such was the difference between an awakened Eldkin, and a non-awakened one.
"And here I was hoping you'd be happy to see me," Damian chuckled confidently while the shadows dissolved and the guest bedroom revealed itself. "That'll teach me, huh?"
Finally, the shadows were gone, revealing a stunned Luna. She was dressed in an outfit as practical as it was alluring: a cropped leather jacket and a halter top that highlighted her toned midsection, styled with skin-tight, stretchy pants and sturdy combat boots.
Her long silver hair flowed down her body, and a pair of dual pistol catalysts were aimed at the door. Her grey-silver eyes blinked in shock. "D— Damian?! Is that… really you?!"
"Last time I checked," Damian chuckled with an amused nod. At the same time, he lowered his arms and casually pocketed his hands, shrugging sadly. "But… I see I'm not welcome here," he sighed in defeat before beginning to turn around.
"Ugh, don't you try your shit with me!" Luna immediately complained despite the relief in her voice. Her pistols disappeared back into her body, and she quickly approached him. "It's really good to see you alive, Dames. Come here and hug me!"
A smile spread across Damian's lips, and he turned back around to face the relieved expression of his lover. "Well, as the lady demands, I suppose."
Yet, just as they were a mere few steps apart, a third person jumped in between them. Her gloves were covered in a red glow, and bloody spikes extended from her knuckles.
"Haah!" Lilith yelled as she unleashed a flurry of attacks on Luna, her eyes flaring with fury.
Completely caught off-guard, Luna just barely managed to defend herself. Eyes wide in surprise, she took a step back and covered her own hands in moonlight. "What the hell?!" she exclaimed.
Lilith's fists crashed against Luna's defences, and they quickly proved to be evenly matched. Although Lilith was younger and less experienced, she was actually using her catalyst, unlike her opponent.
But that changed quickly. After the first clash, Luna pulled out her dual pistols again and started fighting back. Covering her pistols in moonlight, she started deflecting Lilith's blows with them instead, and the fight became a little easier for her.
So, she used this moment to yell at Damian without taking her eyes off Lilith: "Dames! What the hell is going on?!"
Surprisingly, Damian didn't seem concerned about this and even looked at the fighting with amusement. "Hehe," he chuckled casually before leaning against the wall with crossed arms, his eyes following the combatants. "Luna, I'd like you to meet my little sister, Lilith. I'm sure you've seen her from a distance a few times."
'It's always a sight to see her fight,' Damian thought fondly, actually meaning both of them. He loved the way Luna managed to use her guns in close combat, and his sister's fierce fighting style, combined with her smaller size, essentially turned her into a midget berserker that he just found adorable.
Although he'd never mention that to her…
"Dammit, that's not what I asked!" Luna cried out in frustration, swiping her right gun at Lilith's left fist, and using her left to fire a low charge at Lilith's right, thus deflecting both blows.
Her smaller opponent said nothing and completely ignored their conversation, opting instead for brutal, all-out attacks. Her blood-red eyes were focused and spitting fires of fury.
Sighing, Damian shrugged and explained. "Little Lili is a genius, but also impulsive and emotional."
Suddenly, he looked a little thoughtful. "In that sense, she's actually a little more like a Moonkin… I guess that just goes to show how some personality traits transcend Kin-type."
"Damian!" Luna snarled to pull him out of his contemplation, barely dodging one of Lilith's furious blows.
Damian smiled slightly, feeling compelled to enjoy the sight of their battle. "Just indulge her for a moment, alright? For me? My awakening caused her a lot of stress, and she needs a little outlet…"
Damian was intimately familiar with both of their abilities in a fight, and he knew Luna to be the stronger between them. So, since he was also confident Luna would never harm his little sister, he felt comfortable just watching them for a moment.
Of course, he wasn't just being an agent of chaos here. He had a very good reason for letting these two fight…