Of Alliances And Assimilation

Letting out a breath as she ran one hand through her drying hair, Lilith used the other to slightly adjust the neckline of the dress she'd put on for today so it was just right.

A sleek, dark violet number with faintly-glowing silver lining that Odin had sent to her as a proposal gift a couple of centuries ago. As if it would be anywhere close to enough to convince her to actually marry the guy, or to even consider the proposal in the first place before laughing it off. But she had to admit… it was a lovely dress.

Flicking the hand she'd just ran through her hair to get the water and stray hairs off of it, she waved her other hand to send a ripple of magic over her appearance, quickly smoothing any imperfections in her appearance that came with just having come out of the bath a couple of minutes ago, that would have taken far more time than she had to manually clear. Since she hadn't worn this specific dress for a while, it had gotten the slightest bit dusty after hanging in her closet for so long… or at least it had before all the dust on it disappeared in an instant. Her long hair rapidly dried, and smoothed itself out into the straight, hanging, natural style she liked wearing it in. A touch of crimson tinted her lips, matching her eyes and complimenting her dark attire.

Leaning down a little to look at herself in the mirror on her dresser, she smirked at herself before straightening up and making to leave, but before she could, she felt a small magical presence making itself known to her: it was faint, but close, and right behind her.

Turning around, she immediately saw the source of what she'd felt: a small hand-mirror on one of her bedside tables, glowing with a faint red aura, its reflective glass surface rippling slightly.

Blinking a couple of times, Lilith walked over to the bedside table and picked up the device, activating the attempt at connection from one of the mirrors it was linked to, at which point the reflective glass surface ceased its rippling, and revealed Kurumi's face looking out at her.

"Oh, sweet, I caught you." Kurumi spoke, before Lilith could greet her daughter. "Was worried you'd already gone."

"You're lucky, I was just about to head out." Lilith replied. "And good morning to you too, Kurumi. How was Raylix?"

"Great," Kurumi remarked, a small grin crossing her face before it vanished. "But that's not what I'm calling about, Mom. It's Hikari."

Lilith blinked, slowly sitting down on the edge of her bed as she adjusted her grip on the mirror.

"I'm guessing it's happened, then?" she asked. "Her blooming?"

"Yup." Kurumi nodded. "Just now, a few minutes ago."

"I see." Lilith replied. "Well, we all knew it was going to happen sometime soon. Do you know how it happened?"

"Yeah," Kurumi nodded again. There was a shuffling sound on the other end, as well as movement, as Kurumi lay down on her own bed. "Raylix was there for the whole thing. According to him, they ran into each other in the bath, they had a conversation about whether or not he found her attractive, she came onto him and kissed him, and… then it happened."

"So, he WAS her trigger." Lilith mused to herself, before taking a breath and refocusing on Kurumi. "Is Hikari okay?"

Kurumi let out a breath.

"She's alright." She replied. "Bit embarrassed, bit overwhelmed, still a bit flustered after walking in on me giving Raylix the business yesterday, that probably played into it all a bit, but overall she's fine. She's in her room, I gave her one of my dresses that you enlarged for me yesterday, since I'm not entirely confident doing that clothes-enlarging spell without you there to correct me if I screw up. Talked to her a bit to try and calm her down, pretty much what you asked me to do for if this happened when you're not around."

"Good girl." Lilith nodded. "Thanks, Kurumi. Tell you what, if I've got some time tonight, I'll teach you and Hikari how to enlarge your clothes over mirror-call, since I've got to be here for-"

"The next couple of weeks, yeah." Kurumi spoke. "Sounds great though, thanks Mom."

"No problem." Lilith replied. "Sorry I couldn't be there for when it happened, but…" she shrugged, adjusting her grip on the mirror again. "What will be will be. When we get off, just let Hikari know that I'll be calling her later, okay?"

"Sure thing." Kurumi nodded, stretching on her end. "Council shit?"

"Council shit." Lilith replied. "The other six and I hit a deadlock on whether or not to join the Devils in putting sanctions on the Fallen Angels, so we have to bring the Ministers and Governors into it."

"Sounds… fuuuuuuuun." Kurumi drew out the last word, sarcasm present throughout every second of it. "I'll let Hikari know you'll be wanting to talk later, then, and let you get off. Talk to you later, Mom."

"Same to you, Kurumi." Lilith replied, smiling through the mirror at her daughter as the connection faded, leaving the mirror's surface to ripple briefly once again, before going still once again and returning to its normal mirror-ly function. After setting it back down to its original place on the bedside table, Lilith got back to her feet. Gently running her hands over her dress one last time to smooth it over, before snapping her fingers to summon on a pair of heels and leaving her chambers, making her way back down to her throne room once again.

With it being early-morning, the halls were more alive with activity than they usually were, judging by how many servants Lilith ran into as she descended the stairs from her chambers at the top of Castle Gid. Her presence was noticed by every single servant and courtier that she passed, with Succubus and Incubus alike bowing respectfully at her presence. Some of the braver ones offered murmurs greetings that the Lilim Queen barely heard over the sounds of her own shoes on the polished floor. Every now and then, Lilith acknowledged the servants' greetings and bows with small nods, but didn't break stride or even look too much in anyone's direction specifically: her body was too firmly set in autopilot mode, given the route she was on.

Before she knew it, she was at the double-doors to the throne room, with the guards stationed outside hurriedly busying themselves with opening it for her as they noticed her approach. She entered, her eyes flicking from side to side as she took in the long tables set up on either side of the room, at which the Governors were to her direct left- the right of the four other Sovereigns situated at the head of the room. Three of which were seated, the only exception being Agrat, who was stood up and talking with Albedo, close to the Ministers' table on the other side of the room from the Governors'.

Every Minister and Governor in the room, as well as the Sovereigns that had arrived before Lilith, looked up at the sight and sound of her entrance. Some of the Ministers and Governors even rose to their feet in acknowledgement of her presence, but quickly retook their seats and returned to their conversations as she gestured for them to do, while she moved up to her throne at the middle of the seven set up for all the Sovereigns, and took her seat there. Her eyes briefly flicked over to the left, to Albedo and Agrat talking with each other, though with their own hushed tones and the multiple conversations happening between Ministers, Governors and Sovereigns at once, she couldn't quite hear what they were talking about.

It didn't take too long for the remaining Governors and Ministers to enter the throne room, take their seats at their respective tables. Wilbert and Naamah were among the last to arrive, settling into their thrones at around the same time as the Urban Minister, a short Incubus with dark green hair and matching eyes, took his seat.

Once everyone was seated, Lilith cleared her throat, bringing an end to any hushed conversations that were still happening in the room in an instant and prompting everyone to look up at her.

"Ministers, Governors, fellow Sovereigns, good morning to you all." She began. "I see that everyone answered the summons that Naamah sent out yesterday. To recap, we- the Sovereigns- yesterday discussed recent actions taken by the Fallen Angels against the Devils: incursions into their territory, attacks, suspicions of experimentation. You'll see copies of the memo that Asmortael received from Serafall Leviathan at your tables."

With a wave of her hand, twenty-eight copies of said memo neatly appeared from magic-circles on the tables, one for each of the Ministers and Governors. There were mutterings and rustlings as the officials each picked up their copies, and looked it over. Lilith paused for a moment, readjusting herself on her throne as she waited for them all to take in the information.

"The Devils plan to announce a set of sanctions against the Fallen Angels in the coming days…?" She leaned forward slightly and turned to look at Asmortael, who nodded.

"Two days, to be exact." He replied. "I just wish Serafall could've given us more warning on this matter."

Lilith let out a small breath from her nose as she acknowledged her fellow Sovereign's words, before turning to face the Minsters and Governors again.

"However," she continued. "We were unable to reach a resolution amongst ourselves. Thus, as tradition dictates when this happens, we bring the matter before the full council. Anyone that wishes to speak up, to weigh in with their own perspectives, in hopes that we may reach a resolution, is welcome to do so."

One of the Governors rose from their table almost immediately, drawing everyone's attention. A tall Succubus with ashen-grey skin and matching hair, tied back in a high ponytail, and white eyes that almost glowed with urgency as she looked over the room, adjusting her dark-green jacket as she drew herself up to her full height.

"Thank you, Lady Lilith. Sovereigns, Ministers, Fellow Governors," she began, inclining her head to Lilith and the others before looking out to address the room at large. "Irkalla is one of the territories that directly borders the Fallen Angels' side of Hell, and as its governor, I feel it's my duty to speak first on this matter. While I understand the risks and potential hardships that may come with sanctions, the ramifications of inaction, staying on the sidelines, are worse."

Governor Irkalla leaned forward slightly, resting her hand on the Governors' table, her eyes sweeping the throne room.

"Whatever they plan to achieve by what they're doing, the Fallen Angels are only focused on the Devils right now." She spoke. "However, if we don't join our allies in letting the Fallen Angels know that their behaviour is completely unacceptable, what's to stop them from viewing us as an easy target, and turning their attention on us, the Lilim, next? What's stopping them from waltzing right on into my state and wreaking havoc, along with the others that share borders with their lands? They'll undoubtedly be the first to bear the brunt of any such incursions."

Some of the Governors nodded in agreement, with one or two exchanging worried glances. Lilith recognised most of the ones that showed the most visible approval of Governor Irkalla's words as ones that also presided over the states that bordered the Fallen Angels. Naamah, from her throne, leant forward a bit, nodding her own concurrence.

"That's exactly what I've been saying." She remarked, to the throne room at large. "Every minute spent failing to act will only invite more problems."

"Indeed." Asmortael followed, curtly nodding from his throne. "While we've only shared a neutral relationship with the Fallen Angels up until now, the Devils have always been our steadfast allies, even after we went independent. That's an important alliance that we all worked hard to build, and shouldn't risk fraying by not standing by the Devils when they ask for it."

Several other state Governors, and even a couple of Ministers, voiced a low chorus of assent in response to Asmortael's words. However, one of the Ministers that clearly didn't agree with this line of thinking stood up in opposition: Zohnnir, the Lilim's Minister of Commerce, an Incubus with sleek black hair swept neatly to one side, clad in a charcoal-grey suit that contrasted with his glimmering green eyes.

"With all due respect to the concerns of our border states," he spoke, his voice calm and measured. "I feel like you're underestimating the negative consequences that joining the Devils in their placement of sanctions could bring on us. Neutral through our relationship with the Fallen Angels might be, we still have a steady trading relationship with them. We've come to rely on their advancements in enchanted metals and teleportation arrays, among other resources and technologies we've acquired from them over the decades, to the point that they've come to play an integral role in many of our industries."

He paused, taking a breath as some of the Ministers and Governors looked to each other, some exchanging quiet words with each other on their tables, evidently considering his words, before he continued.

"Cutting off that supply chain without any plan of how to mitigate the impact of such disruption, would be, to be blunt, foolish." He spoke. "Our infrastructure, particularly in the very border states you claim to speak for," he met eyes with Governor Irkalla, who had spoken up earlier "our military logistics, and even some civilian industries, depend on those resources that originate in the Grigori. Even if we began preparing and implementing contingencies today, it could take years, perhaps even decades, to recover from the wounds we'll deal ourselves by joining the Devils in their placement of sanctions."

Zohnnir sat down, calmly adjusting his jacket and pants as the exchanging of words between Governors and Ministers alike seemed to intensify. His eyes shifted to the top of the room, where the Sovereigns were all sat, and immediately noticed Leohart leaning forward, just as Naamah had done a minute ago.

"You make a good point, Minister Zohnnir." He spoke up, brushing some strands of his purple hair out of his face. "The immediate strain that sanctions would put on us can't be overlooked. Strength isn't just measured in military might, after all, but also in our ability to sustain ourselves."

Eisheth nodded in agreement, leaning over to one side on her throne as she looked from Leohart to the Commerce Minister.

"I concur with Leohart." She spoke, too, her eyes fixed on Zohnnir for a moment. "You're right to urge caution."

As Zohnnir inclined his head in gratitude, Eisheth looked away from him, instead looking to the Governors and Ministers at large.

"We should definitely start taking steps, though," she continued. "To start going fully independent from the Grigori, no matter what path we choose to take regarding this issue of sanctions. See if we can't try and build up our own answers to the technologies they've sold us over the centuries."

There were murmurs of agreement from Governors and Ministers alike, with even Naamah and Asmortael looking like they were considering Eisheth's words. Before anyone could offer any kind of response of assent to Eisheth's proposal, though, Eroneal, the Interior Minister- a tall and wiry Incubus with deep orange hair pulled up into a bun, and piercing green eyes framed by thin-rimmed glasses- ascended to his feet and looked over at Eisheth.

"An excellent idea, Lady Eisheth," he began, inclining his head in respect to her, "And definitely a position to consider for the future. But in the here and now," he turned towards the Commerce Minister, on the other side of the table from where he was standing. "I must question your own priorities, Minister Zohnnir. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem more concerned with maintaining a convenient status quo than actually taking any steps to ensure the wider security of our people. Are you still going to be prioritising trade deals and profits when the Grigori come knocking on Governor Irkalla's door? Or rather, smashing it in with a light-conjured battering ram?"

Lilith had to hold back a giggle at Eroneal's way of speaking in such a serious situation. It took some serious discipline to hold her neutral expression for the few seconds that the laugh was attempting to force its way out of her.

"Of course I'm not!" Zohnnir called back, from his side of the table. "I'm just saying we should-"

But before he could even voice whatever rebuttal that was making its way from his mind down to his mouth, another of the Governors got to his feet. A lean Incubus with short-cropped brown hair and amber eyes, standing with an almost lazy grace, clad in a delicately-embroidered crimson vest over white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, giving him a somewhat informal appearance relative to everyone else in the room. Lilith recognised him as the governor of Othenvale, a state far closer to Gid than the border regions.

"And speaking of Irkalla," Governor Othenvale spoke, his overall tone light, but everyone could sense the bite behind it, as he looked over at Governor Irkalla. "I'm curious. Will it be your state that's footing the bill this time, to hire Albedo's troops to defend the borders? Or are you planning to ask Ageha to dip into the treasury for it, like you had to do with that housing project? How IS that going, by the way?"

Irkalla didn't reply immediately, but that jab at her from Othenvale was enough for her to shoot him an icy glare, her jaw very clearly more set than it had been a few minutes ago. Othenvale didn't back down, though, instead forming a small smirk on his face and leaning casually against the Governors' table, waiting for an answer.

An answer that didn't come, however, as another from the Ministers' table got to his feet: Hurin, the Justice Minister, his loose pink-and-white braid bouncing slightly on his shoulder as he quickly rose.

"Forgive me, but I think we're all ignoring an important facet in this debate." He spoke, adjusting the black robe he wore over his other clothes as he looked out to the Governors, other Ministers and Sovereigns. "The 'rumours' of what the Grigori are doing to the Stray Devils. And I use the term 'rumours' lightly, considering Azazel's fascination with collecting and experimenting on anything he can get his hands on. Human-world technology, Sacred Gears, his own people… would you really put it past him to do the same to captured Stray Devils?"

The silence brought about by Hurin suddenly standing up was broken by a sea of murmurs and mutterings from all the Governors and Ministers, both seated and standing. Lilith subtly shifted her head to look over at Agrat, who looked like she was STRONGLY resisting an urge to kill Hurin where he stood.

"Look, criminals or not, Stray Devils are still Devils. Our kin, even if they've brought their fated retribution for their transgressions against Hell on themselves." Hurin continued. "But that retribution should come at the hands of the Devils, their own kind. No-one deserves to be torn apart, piece by piece, and experimented on. That's a fate worse than death, and if we can really call ourselves a civilised people? We can't stand by while this happens."

There was silence once again as Hurin retook his seat. Lilith looked out across the room, her expression impassive as she observed everyone's reactions: their subtle shifts in posture and expression, both from those who had argued for sanctions and against them. She could see, anyone with even one eye and even part of a working brain could see, that Hurin's insertion of the moral dimension of this whole issue was a play, to penetrate the practical concerns of trade and security with a differently-angled attempt to rally support for sanctions.

A play that seemingly worked like a charm, given how voices from both tables rose nigh-immediately after Hurin took his seat.

"We're really basing our decision on rumours?!" One of the governors shouted, slamming his fist on the table.

"The Grigori's history speaks for itself, rumours or not!" a Minister retorted, from the other side of the room as she rose to her feet. "Honestly, we should've started sanctioning them ourselves decades ago!"

"You want to throw away our trade agreements for the Devils' benefit?" Another Minister cried.

"You want to abandon our fellow demons to those overgrown seagulls?!" Another Governor snapped back.

Lilith let out a breath, grimacing slightly at the sudden cacophony that had erupted in the throne room. It was too early for this, she thought. Asmortael clearly thought the same, leaning forward from his throne to enter the remains of a debate.

"Everyone, enough of this bickering at once!" he called out. "Throwing tantrums at each other won't get us any closer to-"

But his words either weren't noticed, or ignored entirely, as another Governor interjected to respond to the last Governor's accusation, that the Stray Devils deserved what they got for their crimes against Hell, followed by another Minister pointing out that that kind of logic was no way to conduct themselves on as a faction.

But before the last vestiges of what was once a debate could descend into full-on chaos, Lilith rose a hand, her eyes narrowing, and fired of a pulse of demonic energy from said raised hand. It was far from destructive, but that wasn't her goal: rather, just to make enough of a noise to rise above the shouting and yelling of the Governors and Ministers.

And it worked: silence fell instantly as all eyes turned to Lilith, who took a breath while adjusting herself slightly on her throne. Lowering her hand and scratching her head for a second, she spoke up for the first time since entering the throne room.

"Thank you, Minister Hurin, for your insight into this issue." She began, her tone measured as her crimson eyes flicked over to where Hurin was sat. "The point you raised is valid and important, and deserves consideration."

Her eyes slid away from Hurin, to the room at large.

"However, his was not the only point raised." She continued. "And thus, calling for a decision made on emotions brought about by rumour alone would be, as the Commerce Minister so wisely said, foolish. We can't afford to ignore the practical consequences of any decision we come to today, whatever that may be."

She took another breath, her gaze sweeping across the room. A room that, for the moment, remained mercifully silent, before a new voice broke the quiet.

"Perhaps some kind of compromise is in order." Agrat, leaning forward from her throne, spoke up. "Surely we can show solidarity with the Devils without committing to actions that would bring harm to our own people? Or at least, as much immediate harm as some" her golden eyes flicked towards Zohnnir for a second, before returning to the room at large. "project that fully backing the Devils in their planned sanctions would do?"

The room seemed to collectively lean in, with Governor and Minister alike remaining silent. Lilith looked over at Agrat, tilting her head in slight curiosity while nodding, giving her the signal to continue. Which Agrat did, after clearing her throat.

"Firstly, we could strengthen our military presence along our border with the Fallen Angels' side of Hell." She began. "Not only deterring any Fallen Angels from attempting any incursions into our territory, like they've been doing with the Devils for the last half-decade, but also reassuring the concerned border-states that we hear their concerns, and take them seriously."

Governor Irkalla let out a small, quiet hum of what sounded like approval. But no-one else spoke up or sounded off in immediate response as Agrat continued.

"Secondly... Asmortael, I assume the Devils plan to make a demand to the Fallen Angels to return any Stray Devils currently held within Grigori custody?"

"Naturally." Asmortael replied, nodding as he adjusted one of his sleeves.

"Alright, then." Agrat nodded. "Then it's only natural we join them. Rumours or no, Serafall must have some evidence to believe them, if she's brought them up in the memo she sent. And as you said, Hurin," she looked over at the Justice Minister, inclining her head to him in spite of her eyes suddenly looking a slight bit sharper than they did a second ago. "Criminals or no, they ARE our fellow demon, and deserve the decency of being brought to justice at the hands of their own kind."

Hurin didn't verbally reply, only inclining his head to Agrat in return as she looked up, speaking to the room at large once again.

"Finally, while the Devils plan to announce their sanctions in a couple of days, we... could prepare our own restrictive measures on the Grigori." she spoke, pausing slightly as she seemed to consider her words. "Softer than what the Devils doubtlessly have planned for them, but still firm enough that both of our neighbours know that we're taking this matter seriously. To strike a balance between making our stance on the Grigori's recent actions clear, but not needlessly putting our own interests at risk by severing our economic ties immediately. What those measures could specifically be, we can discuss and settle upon in the coming months, if this is the path we as a government elect to take."

As Agrat leant back slightly on her throne, her proposal hanging in the silent air. Silence that was nigh-immediately broken as murmurs began to ripple through the throne room. Some of the Governors and Ministers exchanged words with their neighbours, while some simply nodded their approval or shook their disapproval. Asmortael and Wilbert, the latter of whom Lilith had deduced was the third Sovereign to vote in favour of sanctions yesterday, looked like they were considering Agrat's proposal at the very least, while Naamah looked decidedly unconvinced.

"Shall we do that electing, then?" Lilith asked the room at large, after a moment's contemplative silence. "On the proposal of compromise brought on by Agrat, with a later promise to discuss our own restrictions, separate from the Devils? ...Sovereigns, on my count?"

The other six throne-sat Sovereigns all nodded, murmured their ascent, and raised their hands in preparation to cast their votes.

"Alright then." Lilith spoke, raising her own as all the Governors and Ministers leant forward to watch. "One, two... three!"

On the word 'three', Lilith fired a bolt of coloured light towards the throne room's ceiling, with the other six Sovereigns firing up their own bolts an instant later. As one, Sovereigns, Ministers and Governors alike looked up at the ceiling to see the coloured bolts that lit up the room. In the middle of the room was a green bolt, Lilith's own, joined by four others, only opposed by two red bolts.

The sound of a light scoff drew Lilith's attention away from the seven bolts. Looking towards where she'd heard it coming from, she saw Naamah sitting below the bolt she'd cast, resisting the urge to openly scowl. Wilbert, on the other side of the row from his wife, also didn't look too impressed. By process of elimination, that meant Agrat, Eisheth, Leohart and even Asmortael had voted in favour of Agrat's compromise, making the Sovereigns' overall position on it clear: five for, two against.

The sight before them was met with murmurs from the Ministers and Governors, which stopped immediately as Lilith refocused her attention towards the table of the former and nodded, indicating that they were free to cast their own votes.

As the bolts cast by the Sovereigns faded away, the Ministers raised their hands and, in unison, cast their own votes. It happened in a second, just like the Sovereigns' own vote a moment earlier, with all parties in the room looking up to see how the Ministers had cast their own votes. And just like with the Sovereigns earlier, the result was clear: nine green bolts, outnumbering the three red three times over.

With the relative voting system they had in place for the Ministers, that meant they'd voted in favour of it essentially 3-1, bringing the total score up to 8-3 in favour of Agrat's compromise. Enough, for anyone who could count to realize, that the approval was already secure irrespective of the Governors' overall opinion on the matter, but tradition still dictated that their votes still be cast and counted.

The former of which was done in another second, as Lilith nodded over at their table, and as the Ministers' coloured bolts fizzled away just like the Sovereigns' had done. The Governors' collective sixteen bolts replaced the Ministers' within a couple of seconds, and just like the Ministers and even the Sovereigns, there was a clear majority.

"Eight, nine, ten, eleven to five." Lilith heard Agrat whispering from directly next to her as she counted up the Governors' votes. "That's a 3-1. 11-4."

Nodding, Lilith swallowed as she adjusted herself on her throne once again. The votes had been cast, and the decision was clear.

"The motion is passed." Lilith declared, sitting up slightly straighter as she addressed the room. "Our borders with the Fallen Angels' territory of Hell will receive more military support, and we'll join the Devils in demanding the return of the rumoured captured Stray Devils. These gestures will be more than enough to show solidarity with our longtime allies while maintaining our commitment to sovereignty."

There was an immediate shuffling from the Ministers' table as Albedo rose to her feet, looking up at the thrones the Sovereigns all sat at, her golden eyes flicking towards her mother for a fraction of a second before refocusing on Lilith in the centre.

"I'll inform the relevant parties of the new border situation at once, if that's agreeable." Albedo declared. "It won't take long."

Agrat immediately nodded.

"Yes, Albedo, go ahead." She replied. "In fact," she added, addressing the room at large as Albedo immediately stepped away from the Ministers' table, making for the throne room's double-doors and disappearing from sight as soon as she was through them. "I think a brief adjournment would do us all some good. We could all use some time to collect our thoughts before tackling the next item on the agenda.

"Agreed." Asmortael spoke, getting to his feet from his throne as well. "In fact, I should send off a message to Serafall at once, to let her know how we're moving forward."

"Good idea." Lilith nodded, relaxing a little in her throne. "Everyone, you're all free to go. We'll reconvene in half an hour."

With the words spoken into the air, the chamber seemed to begin emptying as one. Governors and Ministers alike rose from their seats and moved away from their tables, some leaving the throne room entirely, some gathering into smaller groups to share hushed conversation. Naamah and Wilbert immediately rose from their thrones and followed Albedo and Asmortael's route out of the now-open double-doors. Lilith swore she could hear Agrat muttering something to the tune of "This was a mistake" under her breath as she made her way out alongside her husband.

Lilith, however, remained on her throne, her entire body sagging slightly as she let out a breath of her own. Raising a hand to her temple and rubbing at it slightly, she felt slightly more at ease now that THAT hurdle was well and truly cleared (for now, at least), in spite of the overall headache that Lilim politics could be.

Raylix… Hebeth… Hikari and Kurumi…

She couldn't wait to head back.

Line Break

Sinking his teeth into the Wulf-meat sandwich he'd made for himself in the kitchen just now, Raylix sunk into a chair at the dining room table, tossing the plate down onto the table quickly followed by the sandwich itself. He leant back in the chair and looked up at the ceiling as he chewed, his mind racing as it processed the morning's events. Not just his encounter with Hikari in the bath this morning, which had been several things at once: momentarily nice as she'd kissed him, confusing as he'd seen her bloom right before his very eyes right after, then slightly worrying as he momentarily wondered what he'd done wrong to cause Hikari to react like she'd done, and dash out of the bathroom like a bat out of Hell.

Not that bats resided in Hell, by the way. Common misconception.

But then the conversation with Kurumi not long after, while he was still in the bath. True to her word, Kurumi had come back- presumably after informing Lilith of her adoptive sister's blooming and helping said adoptive sister calm down from the initial shock of it all- gotten in the bath herself and talked him through a majority of everything related to what had happened: what blooming specifically was for a Hybrid Succubus like Hikari, Raylix's own role in it as her 'trigger', and why she'd reacted to what had happened in the way that she did. The only things she really left out were, according to her: "stuff that Hikari would probably rather tell you herself, rather than hearing it from me."

Fair enough, Raylix supposed. He knew he'd definitely rather not someone heard about his whole situation with Sabemka and Tomosei from anyone other than him.

Swallowing the mashed-up combination of meat and bread in his mouth right now, Raylix returned to a normal position on his chair and reached for his sandwich again, tearing another portion of it off with his teeth and letting out an unconscious hum at just how GOOD the cuts of meat Lilith had procured for their food-stock.

Only the best for what was essentially her faction, now. But as he swallowed this chewed-up mouthful, Raylix figured he could use a drink.

Briefly shoving down the internal thoughts of 'then why didn't you get a drink when you were in the kitchen the first time, dumbass?', he rose from his seat and made his way back to the kitchen, immediately making for the cupboard to grab a glass. When he turned around from the cupboard to head for the sink, though, he saw someone coming through the door on the other side of the kitchen, opening the door with a quick pulse of demonic power and summoning what looked like a pot of instant cup ramen from inside to her hand.

When she looked up, she let out a gasp, almost dropping the pot in her hand as her eyes clocked Raylix's. He would've found it an amusing sight had the slight tension from the end of their last encounter not been present as soon as they'd spotted each other.

"Hikari." Raylix greeted, moving over to the sink and filling the glass up with water.

"Raylix." Hikari returned the greeting, moving over to the still-running tap that Raylix was stood at. Raylix could see her moving slightly slower and more gingerly than she'd been doing prior to her blooming… seemed Kurumi wasn't the only one that needed to get used to a suddenly much larger set of boobs and butt. "H-hey."

"I got that, let me." Raylix nabbed the pot from Hikari's hand once she got close enough, opened it, removed the smaller flavouring-packet before tossing it onto the counter. He held the pot under the tap with one hand while focusing some of his energy into the other, to instantly boil the water as it came out and fell into the pot. Once it was as full up to the line on the inside of the pot that he could see, he closed the pot and handed it back to Hikari, shutting the tap off and leaning against the counter as he looked over at her.

"Th-thanks…" Hikari replied, her voice slightly quieter than normal as she looked from the pot back in her hand to Raylix. "I- about earlier- sorry about running off earlier. I-"

Raylix held up a hand, shaking his head as he took a gulp of water from the glass he'd filled up.

"No need." He replied. "Kurumi filled me in on it all. Massive biological growth spurt for Hybrid Succubi like you, plus hormones, plus warm bath, plus your head was already kinda a mess before it all? I'd probably have done way worse than what you ended up doing, if I were in your shoes. So don't think I'm pissed off at you about it, because I'm not."

Hikari let out a sigh of relief, mixed with a small giggle as she took in his words, her fingers running over the outside of the pot of noodles she was holding.

"Yeah, I'm kind of a mess." She remarked. "Like Kurumi. Like Lilith. Like you."

"Pfft, no way I'm as much a mess as you three." Raylix replied, scoffing as Hikari made her way past him, grabbing the flavouring-packet and a fork as she went. He followed her to the dining room, and sat back down at where he'd left his sandwich, with Hikari joining him a couple of seconds later. "But yeah, Lilith's definitely been through some shit… I bet you and Kurumi have, too."

Hikari nodded, shifting her chair a bit so she faced Raylix a bit more head-on than before.

"You could say." She replied. "I dunno if you ever figured it out, or were ever told by someone else, but I'm not Lilith's biological daughter."

"Yeah, I kinda pieced that together on my own." Raylix nodded. "I don't remember any rumours or signs that Lilith was pregnant, or out of the public eye because of a pregnancy, at the time you were probably born… so what are you to her, then? Granddaughter?"

"Great-granddaughter, actually." Hikari replied, leaning back in her chair a little bit as she glanced up at the clock hanging over the door, and back to the pot on the table, before shifting her gaze back to Raylix. "One of her…" she paused, before looking back over at him. "You know about Rizevim, right?"

"I know of him." Raylix replied. "Lucifer's oldest surviving son. I remember Lilith bringing him up when… actually, never mind. Continue."

"Yeah, well, him. He's my granddad." Hikari spoke, licking her lips again. "His son, and a human woman, biologically-speaking, they're my parents. Dad wasn't the best to me to begin with, thanks to his and Rizevim's standards of what a descendant of the First Devil should be. But it was… fine. Relatively. It was just neglect, and Mom did her best to pick up the slack."

"JUST neglect? And your biological mom, right?"

"Yeah." Hikari sniffed, rubbing at an itch that had randomly formed below her nose with the sleeve of her jacket, as she continued. "But that was before I awoke my Sacred Gear. After that… Dad got worse. A LOT worse. Beating the shit out of me like I was some animal that he wanted to bring into line, doing… unspeakable shit to Mom whenever he caught her trying to protect me- not just protect me, even, but just be nice to me. And all on Rizevim's direct orders, too, I'll bet you anything."

She placed one of her hands on the other, in her lap, and tightly gripped it for a couple of seconds before taking a breath.

"It got to the point I could barely eat, whenever I even got the chance to. Hell," Hikari reached up and ran a hand through her long silver hair. "My hair stopped growing right after a point, and Mom- as in Lilith- had to cut it down to a pixie cut after she took me in, so it could start again, grow out properly. But that was after Dad suddenly turned up dead, when I was… yeah, I had to have been ten at the time."

"You think Rizevim did it?" Raylix asked.

"With what I've heard about him, I'm almost certain of it." Hikari replied. "90/10, at least. Same goes for him killing me, had Mom not convinced me to run and… leave her behind. I didn't even hesitate, but…"

She took another breath, one far shakier than the last. Raylix initially raised a hand, with intent to lay it on Hikari's back as reassurance, but hesitated, not sure if that was what she wanted right now. After a couple of seconds, as Hikari wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her jacket, Raylix lowered his hand.

"Let it not be said that Rizevim doesn't give Great-Granddaddy-oh a run for his money, at least." The former Gremory Heir remarked, taking a gulp out of his glass of water before offering it to Hikari. Letting out a short snort, the silverette took it after a second.

"Thanks. I'll drink to that." she remarked, taking a gulp of her own before handing the glass back. "And hell… I know my pre-Lilith life was bad. Not a stretch, or trying to make people feel sorry for me, to say it was, because it was. But Kurumi… shit, she might have had it even worse then me, if only because there was no outside force that caused it to happen. No-one like Rizevim, no event, it just…"

Hikari made a noise out of her mouth while imitating an explosion with her hands. Raylix got the picture well enough, letting out a breath of his own.

"Oh, boy… hey, is Kurumi okay with you telling me about-"

"Yeah, just now, she told me it's fine." Hikari replied, gesturing vaguely upwards to where she'd come down to the dining room and kitchen from. "Plus, it's relevant to what I'm talking about, so…" she looked back at Raylix and shrugged. "You ever hear about the Tokisaki family, from the human world?"

"I might have…" Raylix replied, furrowing his brow slightly. "Dad probably mentioned them in a Gremory business context… wait-!"

"Yup." Hikari nodded, emphasizing the 'p' sound. "You're not the only one around here that was born with a silver spoon up your ass. Her family was rich, like MEGA-rich, by human standards, from what I remember, and Kurumi wanted to use that wealth to help the world. Like GENUINELY help it, not any performative crap, the whole 'be the change you want to see in the world' shebang: kinda like Lilith would have if… what happened to her hadn't happened."

"Sounds nice." Raylix remarked, before taking another bite out of his sandwich.

"Yeah, I'm sure it would've been." Hikari nodded. "And Kurumi's parents were ready to make it happen, too, actually support their kid's dream. But before they could get their plan on the road, Kurumi suddenly fell ill. Everyone was stumped as to why, no-one could explain what was up with her… not that anyone on Earth could have."

Glancing up at the clock again, she grabbed the flavouring-packet, tore it open with her hands and dumped its contents into the pot of instant noodles that had been simmering on the table for a few minutes. Grabbing the fork and beginning to stir the flavouring in, she looked over at Raylix, who had just finished his mouthful of sandwich.

"Does the name Rudiger Rosenkreutz mean anything to you?"

"Yeah, I know of him." Raylix nodded, after swallowing. "Top example of Reincarnated Devils actually having a chance to seriously rise up in the Underworld that the nobles peddle out from time to time. I think he's big in the Rating Games too, founded a Magicians' Guild… why?"

"He was also a father, once." Hikari replied. Finishing stirring up the instant noodles, she slurped up a mouthful of them, chewed on them for a few seconds before swallowing and continuing. "Mom told me the story a while ago: he was trying for ages to have a kid, but once he finally had a son, he got ill. Badly ill, and the culprit was eventually revealed to be his Sacred Gear. It's a rare thing, I think his case was the first of its kind in decades. Usually, they claim the wielder's life, and there's not much anyone can do unless they REALLY know what they're doing."

"Usually?" Raylix repeated, blinking. "You're saying Kurumi was one of those such cases?"

"Yup. Again." Hikari replied, emphasizing the 'p' for the second time in two minutes. "Mostly lethargy, often bedridden. Her parents and best friend did what they could to support her, but… you can't blame them for not knowing how to deal with a Sacred Gear's effects leaking out before it can awaken. Not many people do."

"Ah." Raylix replied. "And judging by how she's here in the compound rather than at home in the human world, I can't imagine what happened next was all that pleasant."

"No, definitely not." Hikari replied. "When it awakened, without any warning, her family home collapsed, claiming her parents and best friend and leaving Kurumi the only survivor. The official story, from what I remember from human news networks that covered the story, was a gas leak, but that wasn't it at all: the house had aged dozens, if not hundreds of years, in an instant. That's the power of Phantasmal Chronograph, a High-tier Longinus that can manipulate time and make living phantoms via manifesting shadows, or echoes of other points in time."

"Hell of a power." Raylix muttered. "Or, powers." He added, after a second.

"You're telling me." Hikari replied, picking up another forkful of flavoured instant noodles, slurping them up and swallowing before continuing. "But that sure as hell wasn't how Kurumi saw it at the time. She ran from her destroyed home out of guilt for what she'd done and initially tried to survive on her own, coming face-to-face with the very bystander syndrome she once- naïvely- wanted to bring an end to, which definitely didn't help. Nor did her own Sacred Gear keeping her alive, as given how long between her home collapsing and Lilith finding her, she should've died at least a couple of times over."

"Oof…" Raylix breathed out, leaning back in his chair. "But at least Lilith found her in the end, and took her in like she did you. And she's… relatively normal now, right?"

"If you believe in such a bullshit term as 'normal', then sure, yeah." Hikari replied, shrugging. "But the damage was done regardless: no more unconditional kindness from Kurumi, to anyone. No more naïveté, either. Not after what she'd been through and directly suffered from. No specific thing- not even her- caused what happened to happen, but the world's current form- the way it is now- sure as hell didn't help when it did. Once she saw that, after Lilith took her in, nursed her back to health, helped her get more of a handle on her Sacred Gear, I think that's when the Kurumi you know and… came in the clones of thirty-six times…" she trailed off, her face going slightly red.

"Thirty-seven." Raylix corrected. "Maybe. Lost count after-"

"Whatever." Hikari sighed, turning away slightly so Raylix couldn't see the light blush forming on her face, as she took another forkful of noodles into her mouth. Raylix let out a chuckle, and crammed the rest of his sandwich into his mouth, taking a moment to chew it up and swallow it before speaking again. "However many times you fired off into her last night, that's when she began as a person."

"Right." Raylix replied, nodding while holding down a chuckle at Hikari's reaction. "Honestly, with all the shit you've been through, I'm surprised you're not crazy. Or evil. Or crazy AND evil."

With some of the noodles still in her mouth, the snort that Hikari let out was somewhat muffled, but still very audible. After swallowing and clearing her throat, she leaned back in her chair and looked over at Raylix again.

"We both have Phantasmal Chronograph to thank for that one." She replied, shifting in her seat slightly. "How old do you think Kurumi and I are, just physically?"

Raylix blinked a couple of times, looking from side to side a bit before refocusing on Hikari.

"Bit out of left-field, that question was." He remarked. "But I dunno… late-teens? End of high school, start of college, that age-range?"

Hikari hummed, seeming to consider Raylix's words for a second.

"Eh, fair enough. Honestly, you're not entirely wrong." She remarked. "Biologically and mentally, I'm 17, since I was born in 1976. Kurumi's 18, nearly a full year older. Four days off a full year, to be specific."

"Huh, neat." Raylix replied, raising an eyebrow. "But where are you going with this? Is this even relevant, or are you doing that thing Lilith does where she talks about a whole bunch of stuff before getting to the point?"

"I'll let you be the judge of that, once we're done here." Hikari replied. "Though the reason I posed that physical-age question is because, well… Kurumi and I are gonna be staying like this, me at 17 and her at 18, for a while. For, uh, fifteen years, I think she said when she did it."

"Oh-kay…" Raylix slowly spoke, blinking a couple of times. "I mean, that's not too bad a thing, right? With how long supernatural beings live, and what Kurumi does on those missions Lilith sends her out on from time to time, that shouldn't be too much of a problem though, right?"

"Not really, no." Hikari shook her head. "Fifteen years is really a drop in the ocean, if we're being serious."

"But still, though…" Raylix replied. "Why?"

"Well, one usage of Phantasmal Chronograph's power that Kurumi discovered is that it can eat time, from a person or object." Hikari explained. "From how she explained it to me, she made what she described as a 'castle' of time-energy, and used it to cleanse herself of all her traumatic memories. Ended up stopping the nightmares that would've doubtlessly started coming as a result of having said memories roaming free, taking hold of her…"

"Good idea." Raylix remarked. "She'd probably have gone insane. Or become a traumatic mess."

"Yup." Hikari, for the third time, emphasized the 'p' as she finished off the last of her noodles, and set the empty pot aside. Without looking in its direction, Raylix reduced the trash to nothingness with his Power of Destruction as he looked over at her. "Don't you love Sacred Gear bullshit sometimes?"

"Oh, like you wouldn't believe." Raylix replied, sarcastically as he took another gulp of water.

"Anyway, when Mom and Kurumi discovered and put together the ins and outs of that particular power, the latter offered to do the same to me." Hikari continued. "At the time, I was on some meds that Lilith had found to help me with all the trauma and nightmares that came with… well, you know." She swallowed, briefly, before continuing. "And honestly, they were a pain to remember to take, and they weren't all that effective anyway. So, I accepted the offer, in spite of the catch."

"The whole not-physically-aging-for-fifteen-years thing?" Raylix asked. "Wait, why fifteen?"

Hikari nodded.

"Yeah, that." She replied. "And the reason it's fifteen is because, well, my earliest memories relating to the trauma of Dad and Rizevim-" she tapped her head with one finger. "Begin at age 2 for me: fifteen years ago. And honestly, maybe 'catch' is the wrong word since that implies a negative for me specifically. But Kurumi, as the caster, is going to have to go through the same period of frozen aging too, while Phantasmal Chronograph does its work to cleanse my memories."

"Well, shit." Raylix replied. "So, when did this whole process begin for the two of you?"

"Not long before we met you for the first time, actually." Hikari replied. "Let me tell you, I'm already feeling more improvements since when we first started the process, versus all that time Mom had me on those meds. But…"

Letting out a sigh, Hikari turned away from Raylix a little, turning her gaze towards the open door to the dining room.

"Honestly, I'm still not fine." She spoke, wrapping her arms around herself and taking a breath. "This whole thing isn't a magic button to fix all my problems. Once it's all over, it won't make what happened when I was a child just not have happened anymore, just the hold that it would've had on me for the rest of my life, had Kurumi not made that offer to me. Same goes for Kurumi, when she did what she's doing to me to herself. The figurative Hells that we both went through our still present in our pasts, and they still played their parts in forging who we are as people… but they're not our respective be-all and end-alls. We've got second chances to build ourselves."

Hikari shifted herself slightly, turning back to face Raylix as she wiped her eyes with her sleeve again.

"And as for upstairs… I'll just confess, I was just off-guard." She spoke. "The nightmares, as much as they've been slowing down, they've still been on my mind. Having my blooming come right then and there, under those circumstances, threw me for a serious loop."

"Yeah." Raylix nodded, already knowing what she was getting at. Blinking a couple of times and leaning back, with how Hikari had opened up to him about her and Kurumi… he couldn't quite figure why, but if there was any specks of doubt left about where he felt he was confident standing, as a unit, with the permanent top love of his life, what he'd just heard and processed had erased it once and for freaking all.

He had his answer ready for Lilith, when she returned in a week and a half.

"Hey… Raylix…"

Returning to a normal position in his seat again, Raylix looked back over at where he knew Hikari was… only to find her having shifted her chair, and herself, a good bit closer to him than she'd been at a few seconds ago, when he'd first leaned back. A second after he clocked that, he noticed that she was looking at him a good bit differently than she had been throughout their conversation: a lot more… lustfully, the effect of which was only amplified by just how gorgeous her eyes were… a lot like Lilith's, in more ways than just their crimson colour.

Not to mention her luscious silver hair that had grown out a little during her blooming (forgive him for not noticing THAT detail initially, he was occupied with… other aspects that had been growing at the time), her curves that were only emphasized by her newly-grown T (yeah, those other aspects), and the extra height. All of that and more painted a picture of a woman that was truly a lethal weapon to the eyes of anyone attracted to the 'fairer' sex.

"Yeah?" Raylix replied, swallowing and taking a second to recollect himself before speaking.

"While I was talking with Kurumi earlier, she also helped me gather my thoughts on some… other, things." She spoke, the beginnings of a grin forming around her mouth. One of her hands shifted up to her breasts, caressing the area of her t-shirt that was covering them. In spite of how said t-shirt had been enlarged by either her or Kurumi after her blooming, Raylix couldn't help but notice how it stretched against her enlarged bust. How could he not, when the position she was in relative to him gave him a good view of her newly-formed cleavage.

"You did, huh?" Raylix replied, the beginnings of a smirk forming around his own mouth.

Hikari shifted her chair back to where it had originally been when she'd first entered the dining room alongside Raylix, before getting to her feet and reapproaching him, as Raylix himself got up and turned to face her.

"Yeah… I did." The silverette replied, reaching up to Raylix's face and gently caressing it while getting in close to him, lightly pressing her enormous rack up against his chest. "See, not only did Mom pick you to take her restored virginity all those centuries ago, when you weren't that much older than I am now, but the first thing you do when you decide to turn over a new leaf from your edgelord phase, as Kurumi would call it? An entire night with her… the aftermath of which I walked in on."

Raylix let out a quiet snort at that, but didn't make any other noise or verbal attempt to interrupt the White Dragon Empress as she continued.

"And then you gobble up Kurumi's virginity, and let her wring you dry with five other hers… the aftermath of that, too, I walk in on."

She leaned forward a slight bit more, pressing her huge tits up against Raylix's chest that little bit harder as she looked up at him. Just from sheer exposure to Lilith's during the night she mentioned alone, Raylix could feel the difference in the air that Hikari's own Succubus pheromones made to when she wasn't attempting to apply them.

"I'm sure you're not enough of a bastard to skip out on me while on your way to the rest of your future harem, are you?" she asked as she lifted one of her thick thighs, slowly and gently rubbing it against his crotch.

"Oh, definitely not." Raylix replied, resting his hands at the small of Hikari's back as he looked down at her. He resisted the urge to moan as he felt the slight bit of stimulation at his most sensitive area. "Honestly, if you hadn't ran out of the bath back there, I might have propositioned you right there and then… not that that would've done me much good, with the state you were in in that moment."

"Yeah, that definitely wouldn't have helped." Hikari replied, tilting her head slightly as she continued rubbing her thigh up against Raylix's crotch, slightly more intensely than half a minute ago. "But that proposition… is it still on the table?"

Raylix couldn't stop himself from letting out a small moan this time, which Hikari took as encouragement to keep going with the motion as she wrapped her arms around Raylix's back in turn, her eyes half-lidded with Succubus-like lust as she looked up at him. And in spite of his hours-long exposure to Lilith's pheromones a couple of nights ago probably giving him some kind of tolerance… Raylix could feel himself getting hornier in response to Hikari's.

"It sure is." He replied, his voice lower in turn. Hikari's grin shifted to a smirk of her own, as she gently guided Raylix back into the chair he'd vacated a couple of minutes ago, and immediately perched upon his lap.

"Good." Hikari replied, leaning down slightly and adjusting her grip on his back, as she lowered her face towards his, locked her lips with his for a second before pulling away for a split-second, and then going back with much more intensity. One of her hands immediately shifted up from Raylix's back to rest at the back of his head, tightening her grip on the hair at the back of his head, holding him in place as she pushed forward in a quest for dominance over his mouth.

Raylix pushed back just as intensely, however: his tongue countering every movement Hikari attempted to make to penetrate his mouth, his hands roaming all over and under Hikari's jacket, over her back as her massive mammaries pressed against his torso. Moaning back into her mouth as felt her wiggling and grinding her crotch directly (or as directly as she could, clothed as the pair of them were) against his. It didn't take too long for his hands to make the inevitable journey down from the top of Hikari's back, once they were up there, over her slim and toned waist that he could easily feel even over her t-shirt, coming to rest on her… incredibly, impressive ass.

Hm, he thought to himself as his hands slowed down a little, sliding over every square inch of said jeans-covered ass that he could get his fingers on. From feeling it out alone, Hikari in her post-bloomed state might just have the biggest ass out of any woman he'd ever screwed… or was about to screw.

This was gonna be fun.