Chương 28: 21 - ||
How many times can you hear disbelief before it becomes a song you hate hearing? For some people, fearing the worst is a traffic jam, or the weather. For others it's hearing, "but they were such good people", or "but they were so young". Every tongue suddenly tripping over well wishes and apologies, as if there's anything that can be said to make the reality not true.
A teenaged Sera stood, looking over a desolate battlefield. Strewn with corpses, feathers of both shades were interspersed with leathery Devil wings. Horrendous Light burns, frozen limbs, scorched skulls.
She stood, eyes wide, realizing that she was the only survivor.
But they want you to fight. As if that were the one thing you haven't already been doing. You fight, even when your fears move through you like a hurricane. Even when your days become a storm drain trying to swallow all the tears thrown at you by people who can't help but show you, their hearts are breaking too.
An endless number of funerals, a graveyard the size of a country. Yet, all the titles and medals in the world couldn't make the void in her chest any less empty. They couldn't bring back the dead. They couldn't bring back her comrades, each far too young to have lost their lives.
Fairy tales? What are those?
You battle through the balancing act of having to shoulder the weight of your own fears, while trying to reassure others that it's okay to go on living. You wrestle through the pain, even when you're too tired to keep your head above the water that keeps flooding through the sinking ship you call your body.
A plan, formed out of desperation, surfaced in her mind. If she could end the conflict, reduce the casualties, then why bother upholding the 'Clan honor'? There's no honor in battle, and dirty tricks didn't exist in war. All that mattered was who was left. And after all…
The body of a living being is incredibly fragile…
We are not given hope. We must chase it. Inspiration is not born from the what if's. We base it on the true stories we come across. We place it on scales to balance out the weight of the loss we've endured already.
She built a name for herself, moving only on borrowed information and striking down the enemy commanders before they could cause more carnage. And yet, for all her cruelty, she would never harm an innocent. This created a problem. What does one do with witnesses you refuse to kill?
Soon, she had gathered many a soul, and trained them to their utmost abilities. They were the Hashashin, the ghosts of the Middle-East.
You are not alone in the fight, so mine what laughter you can from the darkened tunnels of this challenge, and trust that others are searching for the same light as you. Others are digging through the questions and excavating new methods and techniques. We do not reach the peaks of these mountains, without first learning to climb past our want to surrender.
Yet… even after the war was over, the Factions retreating to lick their wounds and mourn their fallen leaders, the fighting still raged. So she kept killing and killing, isolating herself from everyone around her as her death count rose. And then… a ray of hope. A red-haired man, about her age, who painted an image of peace and prosperity.
A future without a need for assassins.
Disbelief is the repeat offender that keeps playing in your mind like a song you hate hearing. Fearing the worst isn't the same as having to live it. It isn't the same as a battlefield medic becoming a weatherman trying to forecast their end, trying bend time into an answer and give it their best guess.
And it worked. The Underworld became peaceful, she could set down her blade and sleep peacefully for the first time in centuries.
Yet she remained empty. No amount of false cheer could fill the void, her bright uniforms only looking like one hideous lie to her eyes. Her sister, the picture of innocence and love, brightened her life for a time, but it dimmed as she realized how tainted she herself was.
So, when they came for her… she let them.
You can't dress a diagnosis in words that make its' gravity less true.
As she closed her eyes, willing to finally atone for her sins, a faint sound caught her attention. She opened her eyes… and saw him.
He picked her up in a bridal carry, smiling down at her and asking is she was okay. And for the first time since she was a child…she was.
'Forgive me, bards of the world!' She thought dreamily, watching as he began to dismantle the enemy's defense. 'Knights do fight while defending their delicate maidens in their arms!'
I blinked, watching a thousand years of war and death flash before my eyes. Sera gasped, eyes glimmering as she pulled away from our kiss. "M-Millicas-sama!" She beamed, tackling me onto the bed once more. "Millicas-sama, Millicas-sama!" She giggled deliriously, resting her head on my chest. "I can feel you! All of you!"
I sighed and gently ran a hand through her hair. "Sera, calm down. It'll pass eventually."
She leaned into my and smiled. "How did I ever live without this?" She murmured, pleasure radiating through the new Link. "I can feel… everything. You all love me. I-I mean, I knew that five seconds ago, but now… mmm…" She nuzzled my chest. "I'm never leaving this."
She seemed to notice a passing thought of one of my other girls. "No, Gil, I'm not wearing normal panties. I was hoping to get laid, tonight." A smirk spread across her face. "Oooh. No wonder everyone likes teasing you, you love being teased!"
Gil flushed, glancing away. "W-what goes on in a King's bedchambers is no one's business but their own."
Sera sat up, eyes half-lidded. "Oh? And what does go on in a King's bedchambers?"
I frowned. I had just snarkily thought that line to myself. So either she had just gained my sense of snark, or… "Sera, you need to get out of my mind. It's not safe to stay there."
She frowned, turning back to me. "What do you mean? It's wonderful in here!"
I sighed, taking her by the hand. "Sera." I told her gently. "My mind is Distorted. Just being in contact with it will make your Distortion worse."
She looked confused. "What? Why is that a bad thing?"
I frowned, glancing over at Ruby. "Ruby, you're the best of us at checking Distortion. Is she—"
"She's already halfway to your level." Ruby interrupted, eyes unfocused. "It's ridiculous how fast her mind is adapting. It's like it was already trying to Distort itself, it just didn't know how."
I turned to Sera, more urgent this time. "Sera, you need to get out of my mind."
"No." She rebuffed, laying her head on my chest once more. "I don't care if it Distorts me or whatever, I'm never leaving. Your mind is just so beautiful… so soft, so soothing, so safe… I'll die before I leave this."
I pushed her up by her shoulders, looking her in the eye. "Sera, you can still feel my mind when you're not merged with it. We don't know what the Distortion will do to you. Distortion is supposed to be a slow process, not an instant fix. It might break you rather than just warping you."
She giggled, leaning in and kissing me. "Don't care. I'm yours now, remember? You can break me however you'd like."
I gritted my teeth. "All right, plan B then. Girls, don't panic."
And then I fell into my Marble.
We had discovered some time back that minds couldn't be entered once they had gone into their Marble. Then, we had thought of using it as a last-ditch defense against attack. Now, I was just using it to forcibly separate Sera's mind from my own. I was barely there for a second, just a quick hop in and out, but it was enough.
When I opened my eyes in the real world, Sera's eyes were wide and panicked, her face distraught. She relaxed as I light returned to my eyes, a smile crossing her face. "Oh, good, you're back." She returned her head to my chest. "Now don't leave again."
I glanced at Ruby. She nodded. "She's out, and hasn't tried to re-enter yet."
Sera giggled. "Of course not. If I go back now, he'll just leave again." She nuzzled my chest, humming happily. "And then I won't be able to sense his emotions…"
I sighed. "Crisis averted, then. Don't scare us like that again."
She pouted. "I don't get what you guys are so worried about, anyway. There's nothing wrong with me, really!"
Ruby frowned. "Sera, you're nearly eighty percent Distorted. How is that 'nothing to worry about'?"
Sera thought for a moment. "I don't… know. Not really. But, it's like… everything I saw in the war… it's gone, now. Not the memories, but the emotions attached to them. The worst ones are still there, but the smaller ones are just kind of… there."
I grimaced. "Sera, there's a reason Distortion is supposed to happen over time. Several, actually. First, your Marble has to form using accumulated experiences, and that needs time. It might wind up destabilizing you if it happens too fast. Second…" I smiled wryly. "You do remember about the Talents, right? If your Talent shows up gradually, then it's easier to get used to it before it gets worse. The Talents start getting stronger about the sixty percent level, and follow an exponential growth rate from there. You don't even know what your Talent is, and now it's at least as powerful as Shirone's. And she occasionally Forgets that the rest of the world exists for hours on end."
Shirone blinked. "I do?"
Ruby nodded. "The other day, you stared out the window at a bird for five minutes straight. I tried to get your attention, but you didn't even see me. And every time I tried tapping your shoulder, I forgot what I was doing."
"…Okay, then." Sera mumbled, apparently realizing the issue. "I'll be careful, then."
I sighed, wrapping my arms around her. "Good."
"…Can I at least touch your mind, though?" She asked tentatively. "It makes me feel safe."
I smiled. "Of course, Sera. As long as you need to."
She smiled back, and returned her head to my chest. "I never realized how warm you are." She murmured.
Asia seemed to realize something. "Oh, right, the Call. Well, let's get into more comfortable clothes before it really sets in, or you'll be in that all night." She nudged Shirone, who grumpily relocated to Gil's lap. "Up you go."
Sera groaned, bunching my shirt in her fists. "I don't wanna move." She grumbled.
Asia smiled patiently, tugging lightly on her shoulder. "You're going to thank me for this in five minutes."
I helped her remove the stubborn Maou, watching in amusement as she acted like a petulant child. I elected to ignore them changing, instead pulling off my dress clothes and carefully putting them back onto the hanger. Since they hadn't been damaged, they could easily be reused. I pulled on a pair of thin cotton shorts and was reaching for a shirt when I was abruptly tackled. "Nope!" Sera cooed cheerfully, wrapping her arms around my neck. "No shirt!"
I got the distinct feeling that I would be outvoted if I tried to protest. I sighed, closing the drawer, and returned to the bed, Sera riding on my back the whole way. I sat down, and my lap was immediately claimed by Shirone in a nightgown and ball gloves. I blinked. "Shirone, why are you still wearing your gloves?"
She hummed, leaning back into my chest and closing her eyes. "Because you made them for me." She answered, her tail waving softly.
I glanced up, noticing that the rest of my girls were wearing theirs, as well. "Was this some sort of unanimous decision that I never heard about?"
Ruby shrugged, pulling hers off and tucking them in the pocket of her red cloak. "I just hadn't gotten around to it, yet."
Asia smiled. "Same as Shirone. You made them for me, so I'm going to use them."
Gil nodded in agreement, inspecting the golden cloth. "They are beautiful. Don't worry, I'm not wearing them to school or anything, but I'm at least going to keep them on for tonight."
I raised an eyebrow. "I can make you something else if you want me to. It doesn't really bother me."
Shirone shook her head, a small smile on her face. "It's not the same if we ask. You made these with us in mind, with no reason other than that you love us and want to keep us safe."
I nodded slowly, making a mental note to make them something besides a thin pair of ballroom gloves. "Speaking of keeping you safe, I think I should do a bit more training with you and Gil."
"A-ah." Shirone muttered.
Sera tilted her head in confusion. "Um… what was that? It was… disappointment, but… arousal?"
I smirked. "That, my dear Sera, was a fetish. She's slightly masochistic."
Sera blinked. "Oh. So, say I were a masochist, and I got hurt… would you all feel pain, or pleasure?"
"Both." I replied. "The pain doesn't disappear if you're a masochist, it just makes you feel pleasure instead of caution or fear."
She nodded. "Got it." She twitched, and a surge of emotion snapped through the Link. "O-oooh." She whimpered, her grip tightening around my neck.
Asia sighed. "That's the Call."
Sera nodded absently, slumping down and resting her forehead against my back. "Thanks for getting me out of those clothes." She murmured. "They would've been a pain to sleep in."
Asia nodded. "I've been through the same thing you have, I know the feeling. I'm just lucky that Cas had a Requip gem with one of Gil's nightgowns in it, otherwise I would've been sleeping in my Habit."
I blinked. "All right, what Call?"
Ruby sighed, sitting on the bed and claiming my arm. "Remember how I told you that after Claim is made, you have to imprint your magic onto the other party through physical contact?"
I nodded slowly. "…Yes?"
"How do you think that's enforced?"
I tilted my head. "…Common sense?"
She shook her head. "It's called the Call. It gives you a feeling like you just lost the world's greatest treasure whenever you cease physical contact for even an instant."
I frowned. "That's not good.
She grimaced. "It's not. Some Dragons even learn how to activate it after the initial time frame has passed, and use it to call their Claimed back to their side. It's… not pretty when they do."
I cleared my throat, electing to ignore the unpleasant thought. "So, do you have any idea why Sera's Distortion was so rapid?"
Ruby hesitated. "…I might. It's just a theory, though."
I nodded. "It's better than nothing."
"So… you know my theory on how Reality Marbles are formed as a reaction to a traumatic event?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, you called it 'the Alien Common Sense of Survivors', right?" I caught on. "Wait, you're saying that because of her mental damage from the war, she was already on the path to Distortion?"
She nodded. "Exactly."
I filed the theory away for later study. "Well, that might well be the case. My idea was that since Reality Marbles were supposedly 'the Alien Common Sense of Demons', Distortion affects Pureblood Angels and Devils more than others."
Gil frowned, setting down the brush she had been using on Asia's hair. "If that were true, wouldn't that affect me, as well?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Gil, you have enough Divinity in you to achieve Divine-level effects. That means that Gilgamesh affected you in more than one way. And besides, you've been careful enough to avoid direct contact with my mind that you're only at about forty percent."
Gil tilted her head, keeping mostly still so Asia could have an easier time brushing her hair. "Fair enough. That would also explain how Asia became so Distorted so quickly. Perhaps it's the same reason her Sacred Gear doesn't function properly. The human soul is naturally resistant to change, as opposed to Angels and Devils who are made to be malleable."
Ruby hummed in thought. "Well, in Asia's case, my theory works as well."
I nodded. "Let's save that for later. Asia, are you almost done with her hair?"
She nodded, carefully tugging at a snarl. "Your hair really is beautiful, Gil-chan. Mine isn't nearly this smooth or lustrous."
Gil smiled proudly, puffing out her abundant chest. "Indeed. I couldn't have asked for a better form. Not even my original body was this magnificent."
"And how's that working for you?" Shirone asked drily, her tail twitching with hidden amusement. "People can't take their eyes off you. Isn't that something you just love?"
Gil drooped. "A-ah. Right."
Asia frowned, setting aside the brush and rising to her feet alongside Gil. "Shirone, don't be mean. Gil can't help it. And besides, if you weren't pretending to be interested in girls, they'd be staring at you, too."
Shirone smirked. "Who says we're pretending?" She leaned over and kissed Ruby. They held it for a few seconds, before returning to their original positions.
Gil flushed, stumbling slightly on her way to the bed. "S-Shirone!" She squeaked, reddening. "W-why did you do that!? And Ruby, why did you let her!?"
Ruby frowned. "Because she's hot and I wanted to? Why else would I kiss my girlfriend?"
Gil huffed, sitting on my other side and crossing her arms. "B-because…I…you…never mind."
Asia giggled, sitting next to her and pulling her into a kiss. When they parted, Gil was a volcanic red. Asia pecked her on the nose. "See? You like kisses. You're just jealous that it wasn't you getting the kiss."
Shirone smirked, her tail curling around Gil's wrist. "Oh? Is my little bird feeling left out?" She leaned forward and pulled the blushing blonde into a scorching kiss.
Sera sighed, ignoring Shirone's Gluttony-induced pleasure with surprising ease. "I repeat, your girls are more involved with each other than you."
I smirked. "Oh? You're right, we can't have that. Asia?"
Asia giggled, leaning behind Gil to meet me in a soft kiss. We pulled away, and I found myself being kissed by Shirone as soon as I returned to my original spot. A round of kisses later, everyone was satisfied. Asia released her fluffy wings, and soon we were all wrapped in a cocoon of warm feathers.
I sighed, picking a feather off Shirone's head. "All right, then. Now that we're all dressed and comfortable, I do believe it's time for the second part of the evening."
There was a pause as everyone in the room seemed to realize what I was talking about, and find something interesting to look at. I sighed. "Well? Who's going first?"
Shirone raised a hand. "We went sledding down the stairs on a lunch tray a while ago."
I paused to stare at her. "I know, I already told you off for it."
She shook her head. "No, we did it again the next day."
I raised an eyebrow. "And?"
She smirked. "It was fun."
I shook my head in amusement. "All right, anything more serious than stair sledding?"
Ruby shrugged. "She made Gil Forget to wear panties to school on the second day."
Shirone blinked. "I did? Why did no one tell me! I want to see Gil without panties!"
Gil's eyes widened, and her face reddened. "W-wait, that was you? That was mortifying! I never thought I would need spare panties, so I had to wear my gym shorts all day!"
Ruby rolled her eyes. "Oh, hush, you. You looked hot in those."
Shirone nodded in agreement. "I made sure to drop my papers more than once, just to see her—"
I rolled my eyes. "More serious than stair sledding or pranks?"
Asia hesitated, raising a hand. "Um, I've been making cookies for the Occult Research Club in my spare time."
I snorted with laughter at Ruby's look of shocked horror. "You what? And you didn't share?"
"W-well, you do eat a lot of cookies already, and I wanted to do something nice for them after all the training." Asia explained timidly, hiding behind Gil.
Ruby still looked mildly affronted. "We'll talk about this tomorrow."
"…Anything else?" I asked drily.
Sera hummed for a moment. "I told your father the bare basics about your abilities."
I blinked, turning to look at her. "All right, what?"
She shrugged. "I'm a Maou, Millicas. I'm legally, morally, and socially compelled to report whatever he wants me to. Just like he's obligated to keep that information to himself unless it's a matter of imminent disaster. I only told him about Millicas, not Red, so he doesn't know about that."
I nodded slowly. "…Okay. I was not expecting that. What kinds of things did you tell him?"
She hummed. "Oh, simple things. Strengths, weaknesses, species, et cetera."
I took a deep breath. "And what did you say for weaknesses?"
"Cute things, emus, and kiwi." She replied promptly.
I closed my eyes, grumbling to myself as the rest of the room burst into giggles. Ruby poked me in the side, her voice tinged with amusement. "I don't know, Cas, I think she's got you pegged."
I huffed. "You love cute things, too! And I don't think I have to tell you about the evils of emus."
Another wave of giggles answered my totally reasonable defense. Sera broke in, leaning over my shoulder. "Wait, so he really does hate emus? I thought Ruby was joking."
Gil nodded, wiping a tear from her eye. "Yes, he does. And they hate him, too. They'll come from miles around just to chase him. He doesn't like killing animals, so he just tries to outrun them. It's hilarious."
"Thanks." I grumbled, rubbing my eyes. "…Back to the subject, what else did you tell him?"
"I told him about my choker, and about your Shadow Clones… but that's basically it for your magic." She considered for a moment. "I told him and Ajuka about Reality Marbles and Talents and such, but that's just so he could recognize the signs in someone else if he had to. With your permission, I'd like to spread the information to the other Factions, as well."
I nodded, seeing her reasoning. No, not because I'm 'just that good', because she was literally thinking it the whole time she was talking. "You want to help them look for potential Distortion."
She shrugged. "It seems like a good idea. There are probably plenty of war veterans, and if we're as susceptible to Distorting as you think, it's even more vital that the information gets out."
Ruby interrupted, smirking. "Oh, Featherbrain and Crowface already know about Reality Marbles. Most ancient creatures do. You're just too young to remember the Alterior Chronology that Kronos wielded before he was killed."
"…Be that as it may," Sera continued, absently making a mental note to look into it, "It's still unlikely that they know how to recognize Distortion."
I weighed the options for a bit, but eventually nodded. "That's probably a good idea. We don't have to identify who has the Marble, just the details of its' formation. We could present it at the Three Factions meeting, call it a research paper or something."
A spike of confusion and a hint of suspicion entered Sera's thoughts, and I sighed. "No, I didn't read your mind. No, I'm not spying on you."
"…So how do you know about the Three Factions meeting?" She asked, her voice carefully blank. "It's still in its' planning stages, and we ourselves don't know when it'll be."
I snorted, amusement tinging my tone. "I couldn't tell you if I tried."
"Try me."
"I'm a paper-pusher from another dimension, come to save the world with my mystical, yet oddly spotty, knowledge of arcane impossibilities." I replied, my tone completely devoid of emotion.
Gil sighed, flipping the page of a book I didn't realize she was holding. "Don't bother asking how he has the information he does, it's a pointless task. You can ask him five times and get five different answers, each seemingly completely true yet utterly impossible. He himself doesn't know the answer, so he makes things up."
I shrugged, not saying a word. 'Five different answers' ranged from 'I died and was reincarnated' to 'My disembodied soul wandered out of my body and into another universe'. Both were completely true, they just didn't know that.
I just never corrected them when they guessed that I didn't know where I learned things.
I chuckled to myself, before shaking off the burst of dry humor and trying to return the conversation to the original topic. "Anyway. Distortions aside, is there anything else?"
Sera tilted her head, reluctantly allowing the change in topic. "I told him about Asia, but only as a precaution."
I squashed the spike of irritation. As annoying as it was that all my work in keeping Asia a secret had gone to waste, it wasn't my right to get angry about it. "Asia?" I asked with forced calm. "Are you mad?"
She shook her head, smiling softly. "No, we really should've told your father ourselves. It only makes sense that Sera's obligated to report a live Angel who lives less than twenty feet away from his bedroom." Her smile widened. "But now that he knows, I can finally meet your family!"
I nodded, mentally sighing in resignation. "All right, then. We'll take you to breakfast tomorrow. Sera, is there anything in particular that we should avoid telling you, so you aren't obligated to report it?"
She hummed in thought, though her mind was more amused than thoughtful. I rolled my eyes. "Do you do that specifically to irritate people?"
She leaned over and pecked me on the cheek. "I have no idea what you're talking about." She hummed once more, her thoughts more playful this time. "And other than weapons of mass destruction, potential threats to the nation, and subjects I'm directly commanded to look into, I don't have to report anything. I avoided letting Sirzechs-chan know about Red, after all."
I sighed, rubbing my eyes. "All right. If that's everything…?" There was a chorus of affirmatives. "Then I suppose I have to punish you, now. Remember, today I won't hold you accountable for the actions themselves, just the fact that you hid them." I flicked Shirone's ear. "I do have reasons for what I ask you not to do, and Talents aren't toys." I glanced over to Ruby. "And helping her hide it, or encouraging her, doesn't exactly make you innocent in this, either."
Asia sighed. "Cas, I already told you…"
"Which is why I'm not mentioning that." I interrupted, smiling slightly. "I'm actually glad that you all love Asia enough to keep her secret. But on the other hand, our relationship is built on trust. I do understand the necessity of some secrets," 'Such as future knowledge I really shouldn't have,' "but Asia could've been seriously injured, or had her mind shattered by a defective Gear that, again, I should've been told about. I probably could've averted the entire situation in the first place if she had told me. Or if any of you had, really. Sure, Asia would've been mad, but it would cut down her mental age by hundreds of thousands, hundreds of thousands, of years."
There was a pause as that seemed to occur to them for the first time. Ruby coughed. "R-right. You know how to work with Sacred Gears. I… kind of forgot about that."
I raised an eyebrow. "You forgot? All right, even supposing it completely slipped your mind that I could fix a malfunctioning Gear, what about the creator of the System himself? How many times, how many times, have we been in the same room as God himself, and you said nothing. You wouldn't have even had to feel bad about it, because I seriously doubt Asia told you to keep it a secret from God, too."
She opened her mouth, paused, and closed it. "Oh." She murmured, shame flickering across her mind. "I didn't…"
"No." I agreed. "But I did. That's the point of letting others know about problems. They might well have solutions you would've never considered, or they might point out a gaping flaw in an existing plan. And that, if nothing else, is why I'm so serious about this whole matter. Sera, at least, had a valid excuse." I reached over my shoulder and flicked her on the forehead. "Which I'm still pissed about." I growled. "I somehow doubt that you were 'legally obliged' to tell my father absolutely everything you did."
She flinched. "A-ah… right… in my defense, I thought you were a terrorist at the time."
Shirone frowned. "Wait, you had the mother of all schoolgirl crushes on someone you thought was a terrorist?"
Sera hid her face on the back of my neck. "S-shut up! You can't choose who you're attracted to!"
I sighed, shaking my head. "Well, whatever. The past is the past, and this is the present. Now, I'm going to assign punishments in order of your entry to our little family." Shirone stiffened slightly, knowing she was first. I sighed, rubbing her hair. "Shirone, you of all people should've known I could've helped. I'm not mad, and I still love you, but I am disappointed. So I'm going to give you a choice."
I tapped the gem on her collar, closing my eyes in concentration. I used a very, very cautious ))Alteration(( to insert a temporary code. Shirone flinched as it settled in, her tail freezing in place. A sense of incredible loss spread over the Link, and a strangled mewl made its' way from her throat. I sighed. "This is a spell I originally designed to prevent Devils from getting power from their Sins. It actively prevents you from getting any stimulus from Sinning, and is impossible to circumvent. Unfortunately it can't work long-term without killing the Devil in question, but it's completely safe to use for short periods."
I tapped her collar. "Your choice is this. Either you keep the collar, and the spell, on for the next twenty-four hours, or you remove the collar for the next week."
She was visibly trembling by now. "W-why?" She whimpered, ears flattening against her skull. She was already beginning to show symptoms of withdrawal, her teeth chattering and her hands shaking. "Th-that's…"
I wrapped my arms around her, pressing my face into her hair. "Shirone." I murmured. "I love you. But you need to choose for yourself whether or not to follow others. Your Gluttony makes you so easy to convince it's not even funny, so I decided to take it away for a while. So either you take off your collar, or you go without your high for a day."
Rage crackled through her mind. "Why?" She snapped, turning to me, eyes flashing. "That's not even close to—"
"Fair?" I raised an eyebrow. "It's more than fair. Unfair would be forcibly binding you without giving you a way out. Cruel would be refusing to touch you at all for an entire day. This way, at least, you have a second option if it gets too hard for you to bear."
She gritted her teeth, eyes glimmering with unshed tears as she slammed her face in my chest and began to cry. I stroked her ears and planted a kiss on her head, whispering soothing words. As she slowly calmed, I returned to my previous task. I ignored Ruby, instead turning to Gil. I reached out, lightly tapping her collar. It shimmered… and vanished. Gil's eyes widened. "Wh-wha?" She managed, her hand going to the place the collar had been.
I leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek. "It's only for a day, love. Only a day. It's not harmful in any way, and I'm sure you have thousands of treasures that would guard you better than that would."
She frowned, but nodded. "V-very well. If this is the consequence of my actions, I will bear it."
Her emotions were much more uncertain. She felt… odd, as if something she had been holding all her life had been taken from her. It didn't seem like there were any negative repercussions, so I let it pass.
I nodded, checking her emotions one last time, before moving on to Asia. I hesitated, knowing this one was a bit odd, before sighing. "All right, I want you to not wear your bra or panties tomorrow."
She blinked, flushing. "E-excuse me?"
I tilted my head. "I seriously doubt there's anything I can do that will make you regret your choice, so I can at least make you remember the lesson."
"B-but, th-there's school tomorrow!" She protested, face now a vibrant red.
I smirked. "I know. The school code allows for shorts to be worn beneath the uniform's skirt, so you won't have to worry about flashing anyone. I'll be next to you the entire time, so you'll be fine."
Shirone matched my smirk, a mischievous look in her eyes. It looked slightly strained, but it was there. "Wait… so if I were to push her into the pool…"
"You're not pushing her into the pool." I replied flatly. "So there's no use theorizing."
She pouted, but there was no real feeling to it. "Spoilsport."
I shrugged, before turning my attention to Sera. "Now, for you. Tomorrow, you have to walk up to Sona and ask her for a list of rules you have to follow. You will follow them, to the letter, for the entire school day."
A spike of horror came through the Link. "Sona?" She gasped, tightening her arms around my neck. "But she doesn't let me have any fun!"
I raised an eyebrow, craning my neck to look at her. "Well, since you obviously love to follow rules so much, I figured you'd love to have some more."
She flinched. "A-ah. R-right. That. Um. Sorry?"
I shook my head bemusedly, returning to my original position. "And that's basically it. Any questions?"
Ruby raised a hand. "I didn't get a punishment." She pointed out.
I smiled sadly. "Yes, you did." 'The same one I gave myself.' "In fact, it's the worst one of all."
She frowned, glancing down at herself. "What do you mean? You didn't do anything to me."
"No, I didn't." I agreed, stroking Shirone's ears.
"…So what's the punishment?" She asked suspiciously.
"Nothing." I replied simply. "Absolutely nothing. You" 'And I' "have to watch them all suffer the entire time, and not do a thing about it. You did nothing save keep secrets, and deserve none of the blame. So you'll do nothing but watch the others suffer through their punishments, feeling their emotions as your own. The rest of them have their own punishment, distracting them from the Link, but we'll have perfect access the whole time."
She blinked, shocked. "That's… unexpectedly hardcore. I know you've always been precise when giving consequences to others, but this is… brutal."
I smiled. "Well, I suppose it served its' purpose, then. I think that this will be much more memorable than a lecture, don't you think?"
Shirone sighed. "What I don't get is why Asia got 'no underwear' while I got 'pick between no attention or no collar'. Can't we switch?"
I raised an eyebrow. "You wouldn't be affected in the least if you went commando for a day, and I doubt Asia will be too put-out if I take away her necklace for a week."
Asia stiffened, and there was a collective wave of amusement from the rest of my girls. I blinked. "What, was something I said funny?"
Asia smiled sweetly. "No, it's nothing. You just have a good point, that's all."
I frowned, a flicker of irritation crossing my mind. "Did we not just get done with a talk about not hiding things? Do I need to make the time longer?"
"No!" Shirone blurted, desperate. "We're fine!"
"Then what is it?"
Sera sighed, turning serious. "Millicas, I sincerely doubt you want to know."
I raised an eyebrow. "Well, I am known for my dangerous level of curiosity. Try me."
"It's not a necklace, it's a day collar. And she's probably just as attached to it as Gil is to hers'." She answered, making Asia avert her eyes.
I blinked. "All right, educate me here. What's a day collar?"
"A day collar is a collar that is usually some form of jewelry that can pass as an inconspicuous necklace that can be easily worn in public without drawing attention to the S-type and can serve as a daily reminder of the relationship even when in places that it might otherwise be inappropriate." Sera replied, as if quoting from a book. "Now, are you sure you wanted to know that?"
"Yes." I replied bluntly. "I prefer to know when I'm giving someone something with sexual connotations." I paused. "Wait, doesn't that mean that half of my harem is some kind of submissive?"
Sera seemed surprised. "Wait, you mean you're not building a slave harem?"
I frowned. "No! Why the hell would I—never mind. Besides, not all of you are subs."
"Nope." Ruby agreed bluntly. "I tried being a sub for a bit, didn't like it much."
I glanced over at the rest of them. "But still. Why do you all know so bloody much about BDSM culture, anyway?"
"Devil media, the internet, personal experimentation, and Akeno." Ruby answered easily, playing with the hem of her gown. "In that order. I think it was about the time Shirone started calling herself your pet that we actually started looking into it."
I closed my eyes. "…Okay, then. I'm just going to… not. How did so many of you wind up like that, anyway?"
Shirone tilted her head, looking up at me. "Master… you Claimed us as your own, and gave us all the love and affection we could possibly need. What else could we possibly give in return, besides ourselves?"
"…Love and affection?" I answered drily. "That's generally expected of a relationship."
She giggled, her tail twitching softly. "But Master… this is us loving you. We love the thought of belonging to you so much that we want to show others how much it means to us." She leaned forward, pressing her forehead against mine. "You aren't making us do anything. We chose this for ourselves. That's why I'm still wearing my collar. I love the thought of being yours more than the feeling I get from my Gluttony."
I blinked. "…I somehow doubt that's healthy."
She rolled her eyes, before closing the small distance between us and kissed me. Sera gasped softly as Shirone's emotions flowed smoothly through the Link. I smiled, before pulling away. "All right, love. I think we should let Sera have a bit of a rest. She's been feeling all our emotions this whole time, and I somehow doubt she's used to that level of emotion.
Ruby shrugged. "The novelty wears off after the first few times you feel the other person using the bathroom."
Sera blinked, nonplussed. "A-ah, what?"
"The Bond makes us share everything. Everything." She smirked. "I even have some memories of six-year-old Millicas I could show you, if you wanted. He's utterly adorable."
I snorted. "Hey, give me some credit. I wasn't just adorable, I knew I was adorable and abused the hell out of it. I'm pretty sure I was the one to teach most of you the puppy-dog eyes."
Ruby frowned. "Stop. You're digging up terrifying memories. The puppy-dog eyes are a weapon of mass destruction."
Sera looked baffled. "…They can't seriously be that bad, can they?"
Gil nodded smugly. "If one is willing to set aside their pride and dignity, one can look so adorable that others will stop what they're doing to stare at you. I used it all the time when I was little."
Asia cooed, pressing a kiss to Gil's cheek. "You can still look adorable now, if you want."
Gil flushed, looking away. "I-I'd rather not."
"But why?" Asia asked innocently. "You're doing so well right now."
Gil reddened even more, and I could imagine steam coming from her ears. "I-I am not!" She huffed, crossing her arms under her sizable bust. "I-I'm always the picture of dignity and grace—like any good King would be. I-it's your fault I'm like this."
Sera seemed to be resisting the urge to tackle the flustered blonde. "She's sooo cute!" She whispered excitedly. "Just look at her! She's such a little tsundere!"
Gil caught the last bit, and began stammering out denials and half-formed objections. "I-I'm not—Asia—She—I—"
Asia giggled, pecking her on the cheek once more. "Yes, dear."
"M'not a tsundere." Gil mumbled, her cheeks a flaming red.
"Of course not." Asia agreed. "But you are cute."
Gil frowned. "No, I'm Kingly." She replied stubbornly, puffing out her cheeks.
Asia sighed, wrapping her feathery wings around her blonde girlfriend. "Of course you are, love."
I chuckled. "In the hypothetical situation in which you were cute, then, since you are a King, wouldn't you automatically make cuteness a part of being King?"
Shirone caught on, beginning to smirk to herself. Gil blinked. "I…suppose."
"Then would you prefer it if we said you weren't cute?" Shirone asked innocently.
Gil shook her head. "No, I—"
"Then what's the problem?"
Gil huffed, glancing away. "I-I suppose I might be cute. But only a little bit. Cuteness isn't dignified or regal."
Sera giggled. "No~… but it does make other people want to snuggle you~!"
Gil perked up, poorly hiding her interest. "R-really? If I'm cute, I can get more cuddles?"
Asia smiled, pulling her into a hug. "Gil, you can ask for cuddles whenever you want. None of us would ever turn you down."
Gil flushed, staring down at her folded hands. "B-but if I ask…"
"Tsundere!" Sera whispered gleefully.
I nodded solemnly. "I told you I had one, didn't I?"
She blinked, a smirk growing across her face. "You did, didn't you? You just never told me how adorable she is."
"Why are we even having this conversation?!" Gil hissed, face reddening once more as she seemed to reboot her brain. "Shouldn't we be, I don't know, getting ready for bed?"
I blinked. "…Isn't that what we just did?"
"Yes! No! I don't know!" She grumbled, shifting uncomfortably. "Let's just… do something. I'm tired of getting teased."
"Awww…" Sera cooed, leaning towards her. "Is little Gil embawassed?"
I rolled my eyes, ignoring Gil's mutinous glare. "Sure, we can do something else. Movie? Snack? Random stuff?"
Gil shrugged, shifting her gaze from Sera to me. "I kind of wanted to finish the book I was reading…"
I nodded. "All right, then random stuff it is. But we'll go to bed in a few hours or so, okay? We have school tomorrow."
Ruby sighed, letting go of my arm and slipping off the bed. She stretched for a moment, making her form do some interesting things, and walked over to the desk to grab her sketchpad and my notebook. "Asia, Sera, do you want me to grab you something?" She called over her shoulder, opening a drawer to grab her assortment of art pencils.
"O-oh, can you grab my Bible off the nightstand?" Asia asked, perking up. "I haven't prayed to the Lord in a while."
Sera flinched slightly, then blinked. "…Um… why didn't that hurt?"
"Loophole in the System." I explained absently, catching my notebook as it was tossed to me. "Asia can't fall, and we can't be hurt by prayers. We're effectively outside the System's jurisdiction."
She opened her mouth for a moment, then closed it without saying a word. "I'll take my bag." She called to Ruby instead. "It's to your left. I have some manga in there."
Ruby tossed the bag to the shell shocked Maou, making me duck. She didn't bother pitying her new Bondmate's confusion. I pretended not to notice the slightly snarky comment of 'welcome to the club' muttered under her breath as she returned to her spot on my right.
And so our odd little group did random activities while simultaneously cuddling. Sera read her manga, Ruby sketched a nude of Sera while I pretended not to notice, Shirone watched me design and crunch numbers for a new spell, and Asia and Gil both read their respective books.
Life is good.
Omake: Proving a point
"Oh, hey, Dad." I greeted, closing the study door behind me. "I brought something for you."
He smiled, setting down his pen. "Oh? Mi-tan brought something for his dear father?" Crocodile tears began streaming down his face. "I'M SO TOUCHED!"
I gave him a polite smile. "Oh, don't worry. It's nothing too bad. I just heard you were profiling me, so I thought I'd return the favor."
He dropped the fake bawling, a smirk growing across his face. "Oh?" His voice was richer, deeper, and his eyes flashed red. "In that case, don't hold back. Come at me with everything you've got!"
I laughed and tossed him a flash drive. "Ah, calm down, it's just a little video."
He blinked, catching the drive. "I see. Well, then, I'll be sure to watch it carefully."
As he was inspecting the drive, I subtly formed a clone and had it disguise itself as a knickknack on the shelf behind him. I smiled at him, turned, and left the room.
Once it finally popped, I felt completely justified in laughing my ass off.
My father pulled out his laptop, plugging in the flash drive and playing the video.
It began with soft piano music, zooming in on a duo standing in front of a chalkboard. A tall man with red hair and a lab coat, and a shorter, well-endowed girl with white hair and cat ears. A rough sketch of Sirzechs's face was drawn on the chalkboard behind them. The people on screen began to speak.
"Hello, this is a public service announcement. I'm Millicas, and this is Shirone. We're here as recon specialists to deliver some shocking news."
The screen faded to black for a moment, then showed a picture of a red-haired man sitting at a desk and making paper airplanes out of a stack of paperwork. The voice continued in the background.
"You see, when you're a confirmed lazy-ass, bribery is no guarantee against a scandal."
Sirzechs twitched. "I GAVE YOU POPSICLES!"
"Our subject's preferred method of avoiding work is the middle-aged maid of his mansion, his wife, Grayfia Lucifage. The sheer amount of work he dumps on her is truly mind-blowing."
"Dammit, Millicas, I thought we had an understanding!"
"Furthermore, at a recent women-only cake buffet, a questionable attendee loomed." The video showed a far-away shot of someone with long hair wearing a white dress and a string of pearls. "Eyewitness reports suggest, you guessed it."
The video zoomed in as the person turned, revealing Sirzechs wearing makeup. He spoke in a high falsetto. "My name is Soroko."
"Not exactly a master of disguise. We're still not sure how they exposed him without discovering his real identity." The man in the lab coat explained, the video shifting back to the two figures in front of the chalkboard.
The girl with cat ears giggled. "I've got to hand it to him, though. Ironically, it takes balls to pull off an outfit like that."
Sirzechs groaned, smashing his forehead against the desk. "Whhyyy…"
The video shifted once more, showing a line of various people, all wearing odd outfits and sporting odd hairstyles. They all seemed to have the same face. The voice continued to narrate as the camera zoomed in. "In between working hours, our resident crossdresser defrauds the public to secure complimentary samples."
The video showed the line of odd people each receiving a small can, before abruptly disappearing. The man handing out the samples looked baffled, but still continued to hand them out to every person in line.
"And what does he do with them? The answer might surprise you."
The image shifted to Sirzechs standing in front of a bubbling pan in a chef's uniform, complete with a large white chef's hat.
"He fries them. That's right, he fries them."
Sirzechs picked up a piece of SPAM from a line of open cans using a pair of chopsticks, dropping it in the pot of grease with a hiss. On his left was a pile of greasy mystery meat.
"As if this Satan's dignity wasn't already suspect. To make it worse,"
The Sirzechs on-screen began to sing softly to himself.
"He does it while singing Justin Bieber songs."
Sirzechs whimpered, holding his face in his hands.
"…And that's not all. To truly plumb the depths of this creature's depravity, we've prepared a full hour of shocking footage."
"THERE'S A WHOLE HOUR OF THIS!?" The poor victim screamed. "WHY!?"
—An hour later—
"N-no point in killing me." Sirzechs Lucifer groaned, slumped over in his chair. "I'm already dead. Emotionally, intellectually, socially dead."
"Brutal, right?" The man in front of the chalkboard said, seated on a chair with the cat-girl on his lap. She appeared to be purring, and her tail waved softly beneath the chair. "But you have to admit, it held your attention. Notice anything strange while you were watching?" The man smirked. "Like about the venue?"
The screen went black, and Sirzechs glanced up.
His entire office was covered in glitter. The floors, the window, the bookshelves, the books, and even the desk in front of him. They were all covered in at least four inches of glitter. He moved his head slightly, and glitter fell from his hair. He blinked. Twice.
'Message received.' He thought drily, standing and wading through the sea of glitter. 'Stop spying on Millicas.'
A/N:
All right, here's the deal. Before I get 'Oh, but Millicas would never hide something as important as the entire future from the girls he literally shares a mind with', I'm gonna tell you a little secret. I won't call this a spoiler, just a little peek behind the scenes.
He has told them.
All right, so you might've figured out by now that Millicas is the type who would've died alone if not for his girls dragging him out of his shell. He doesn't trust others at all. And he is very aware of his own mortality. Hell, he's fighting the literal embodiment of the apocalypse. He's been planning for his possible death since day one. Because of this, he has thousands, thousands, of contingency plans in place. And he would never just let vital information die with him. But… he would never just write down his knowledge of future events—too many ways for that to go wrong. So he told his girls.
Hold that thought.
Now, you might remember a passing mention of the Kotoamatsukami back in Ruby's interlude. But that makes no sense—Millicas would never just leave a potential superweapon unexplored. So, after he learned that it was possible to set a 'start' and 'end' condition for the technique, a la Itachi's raven. He had Ruby set the breaking condition for the mind-wipe be his definite death, and then had her make sure none of them remembered the conversation, and that the conversation would never repeat itself.
It's not that he won't tell his girls, he can't.
…And now I'm a bit creeped out. *Shudder.*
Ahem.
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