Chapter 3
Seven years later (roughly 45 human years)
-Belial- "*sigh*"
-Lucien- "Sire? Sire, are you listening?"
-Belial- "Hm? Yes, Lucien. Please continue."
-Lucien- "As I was saying, the next meeting of the houses is to be held in the human world, and…" He stares at Belial, who has once again begun to lose focus.
-Lucien- "Lord Belial!"
-Belial- "Yes, Lucien!"
-Lucien- "This meeting is very important, and it's crucial that we have all of our information prepared before then. If you're not able to-"
-Belial- "Yes, actually, I'm very tired. Perhaps we could prepare later." He hurries off.
-Belial- "Why don't you take the day off, Lucien?"
-Lucien- "…That child is beginning to become a nuisance."
-Mudo- "*sigh* Now…let's try this again. If I have three apples, and I have four friends that also have three apples each, how many apples do we have altogether?"
-Morrigan- "Um…well…you have three…"
-Mudo- "Yes."
-Morrigan- "And…you have four friends…and your four friends have three apples…"
-Mudo- "Yes, yes!"
-Morrigan- "So you get…seven?"
-Mudo- "…No. You do not have seven apples."
-Morrigan- "Grrrrr…math is hard, Mudo! Can't we do something fun?"
-Mudo- "You must study hard every day, Lady Morrigan."
-Morrigan- "Can't we just do more martial arts training? I like that!"
-Mudo- "…! U-uh…" He cringes as he remembers the several broken bones and reconstructive surgeries that he went through during his last training session.
-Mudo- "Let's just stick to academics for now, my lady."
-Morrigan- "Hmph! You're no fun, Mudo!"
-Mudo- "My lady…" *knock knock*
-Morrigan- "*gasp*" She gets up from her desk and runs for her bedroom door.
-Mudo- "M-My lady!"
-Morrigan- "Ha, ha!" She swings the door open.
-Morrigan- "Daddy!"
-Belial- "Well, hello, child."
-Morrigan- "Hmph!" She jumps into the air and tries to spin kick his head.
-Morrigan- "Hah!"
-Belial- "Oh." Without a beat, Belial grabs her leg, spins and hurls her into the wall outside her bedroom.
-Morrigan- "Grrrr!" She plants her feet on the wall and pushes off, readying another kick.
-Belial- "Too slow." He leans back, dodging the kick and grabs Morrigan.
-Morrigan- "Aw, darn it! I thought I had you this time!"
-Belial- "You're never going to beat me, little girl!" He starts tickling the child.
-Morrigan- "Wah! Daddy, stop! Ha, ha, ha!"
-Mudo- "L-Lord Belial, control yourself!"
-Belial- "Coochie-coo! Coochie-coochie-coo!"
-Morrigan- "Daddy! Ha, ha, ha!"
-Mudo- "My lord, this is highly unbecoming of someone such as yourself! Besides, the young mistress still has her lessons."
-Belial- "Hm? Oh, hello, Mudo. Did you just arrive?"
-Mudo- "You just noticed me!" Belial looks at the chalkboard.
-Belial- "Oh, I see you're studying math. How is it, Morrigan?"
-Morrigan- "It's really hard, Daddy! Mudo's a bad teacher!"
-Mudo(gritting)- "Wh-Why you…"
-Belial- "Is that right?"
-Morrigan- "Uh-huh, uh-huh!"
-Belial- "Oh, I'm sure it's not that bad. Let's see…now, Morrigan. If there are five people and they each have three apples, how many apples do they have in total?"
-Morrigan- "Hm…ah! Fifteen! Fifteen apples!"
-Mudo- "Wha…!"
-Belial- "That's right! See, math isn't so difficult, now, is it?"
-Mudo- "H-How did you do that, master?"
-Morrigan- "Daddy's just a better teacher than you are, Mudo! Nyah!"
-Belial- "Now, now, child. Mudo's a wonderful teacher."
-Mudo- "Th-Thank you, sire!"
-Morrigan- "Mm…"
-Belial- "Hm. But I'm sure you're tired of these lessons. Why don't we go for a walk instead?"
-Morrigan- "Hah…yeah, yeah! Can I ride on your shoulders. Daddy?"
-Belial- "Of course you can!" He takes Morrigan and props her on his shoulders.
-Morrigan- "Wow…! I'm so high up! Daddy's so tall!"
-Belial- "I'll have her back in time to finish her lessons before dinner, all right, Mudo?"
-Mudo- "As you wish, sire." The father and daughter leave.
-Morrigan- "Daddy?"
-Belial- "What is it, my child?"
-Morrigan- "Why do I have to learn all this math and stuff? It's so boring!"
-Belial- "Well, you need a proper education for when you grow up."
-Morrigan- "But why?"
-Belial- "Hm. Look." He turns around to the manor.
-Belial- "What do you see there, Morrigan?"
-Morrigan- "Hm? It's just the house, Daddy."
-Belial- "It's not just a house. It's Aensland Manor. Do you know what Daddy does for a living?"
-Morrigan- "Daddy's the head of the Aensland House!"
-Belial- "That's right. And the head of a house is very important. There are more like me, like Daddy's friend, Demitri. He's head of the Maximoff house. Together, we watch over Makai and make sure it remains a peaceful place for all of us."
-Morrigan- "So…you're like a superhero!"
-Belial- "Well, if you put it that way, I suppose. But that's not the point. Morrigan, one day, Aensland House will be passed down to you and you will become its new head."
-Morrigan- "Then I'd be a superhero like you!"
-Belial- "Exactly. You'll be charged with protecting all of Makai. When that happens, I want you to be strong and smart and be a better superhero that I could ever dream to be."
-Morrigan- "No!"
-Belial- "Hm?"
-Morrigan- "I don't wanna be head of the Aensland House! You're always gonna be the head, Daddy!"
-Belial- "Is that so?"
-Morrigan- "You're the strongest, smartest person in the world! There's no way I could be like you, Daddy, not in a million years!"
-Belial- "Hm…is that so?"
-Morrigan- "Yep!"
-Belial- "All right then, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
-Morrigan- "I wanna be a dancer!"
-Belial- "A dancer?"
-Morrigan- "Uh-huh! Dancing is so much fun!"
-Belial- "Then how about we sign you up for lessons, huh?"
-Morrigan- "*gasp* Really, Daddy?"
-Belial- "Really."
-Morrigan- "Yay!"
-Belial(whispering)- "Ah, what am I going on about? You're still young."
-Morrigan- "You say something, Daddy?"
-Belial- "We should head back and finish your lessons, okay?"
-Morrigan- "*sigh* Do we have to?"
-Belial- "If you finish quickly, we can start training, if you'd like."
-Morrigan- "Oh…okay!"
-Belial- "Then let's go!" He starts running back to the manor.
-Morrigan- "Whee! Faster, Daddy!" As they make their way home, a woman flies overhead, looking back down at them.
-?- "…It's her…"