_Ryker Phenex_
My son, Rhys, has always been a sore topic for me.
I could vividly remember when Reyna told me that she was pregnant again. I was ecstatic ... excited about adding another member to our family.
Pureblood Devils have low birth rates, and the possibility of having four children was fantastic luck. I was looking forward to the future as everything was good. I didn't know that things would crash and burn the moment Rhys was born.
He was 100% human ... All of the tests and the brightest minds of Devilkind came to the same conclusion.
I couldn't believe it. How can this be?! I took my anger out on the poor Doctor who gave the news. It wasn't his fault, but I needed someone to yell and blame.
I admit that I have done some underhanded things in life. The list is long. From killing to purposely destroying the lives of many by making a monopoly out of Pheonix Tears, I acknowledge that I did some things that weren't up to the standard of my proud house. But I was a Devil, and it's within our nature to be greedy. Everything I did is for my family, and I have no remorse.
Is this the reason why things turned out this way? Is this some way to punish my past actions?
I looked at my new son and flinched when those calculating blue eyes seemed to lock on to me. Those eyes ... felt off. They weren't the eyes of a newborn, and my instincts were telling me that something was wrong.
Regardless, this was still my son. He should be someone precious to me. Then why am I at a loss on what I should do?
My indecisiveness on that day was my first mistake.
Watching Rhys grow up wasn't the same as my other three children. The first time we arrived home, rumors about him already began spreading through the servants at our home.
It took a lot of time and resources, but we squashed most of the gossip through a series of bribes before it could travel outside to individuals who may want to harm us.
Still, most of the maids and butlers knew that something was up, and my sons Rizer and Rizel had to make it worse by making off-hand comments that revealed too much to people outside our family.
So after month two, Rhys was sent away to a cabin at the edge of our territory. I ordered a maid who was absolutely devoted to House Phenex to look after him.
I told myself that this decision was for the safety of my son. But who am I kidding; I'm just a sorry excuse of a father.
And the second I basically kicked Rhys out and forbade anyone to visit him, the damage was irreversible.
My marriage wasn't the same anymore.
Reyna wouldn't talk to me like she used to. Her smiles look nothing like before, as she was a shell of her former self. What made it worse was her request to sleep in a different room, further splintering our relationship.
Even my pride and joy, Ruval, criticized my judgment, finding it absurd that I would abandon my flesh and blood.
What was I supposed to do? Let everyone know that I have a human son who is defenseless against anyone in the supernatural world?
And let's not talk about what the other Devil Houses would do if they found out. They would use this opportunity to weaken us. There was too much at stake for me not to send him away.
Yet, this was the Head of House Phenex talking. Not Ryker Phenex, the father. People need to understand that my responsibilities outweigh my personal feelings, just like all my ancestors that came before me.
For that reason, the next time I saw him, I didn't feel anything.
He looked good, skinny for a two-year-old, but healthy overall.
From the weekly reports I received from the maid overseeing him, he was an intelligent young man who learned to read and write by himself. He had the work ethic to match it, developing his own training regime at a young age.
Genius was the word that came to mind as he had the potential to match his brothers.
If only he had been born a Devil; fate couldn't be any crueler to him.
Rhys only spoke a few words to me during our meeting. And by his tone, I could tell that he didn't care for who I was to him.
In all honesty, I didn't expect anything better. I deserved this type of treatment after all that has happened.
I made who he is today, and nothing will change that.
Ultimately, he shouldn't mean much to me either. I cut off any attachment towards him early and moved on. I'm glad that I did what I did, cause now, he's just a bad memory.
But why does the slight pain in my chest say otherwise?
_Reyna Phenex_
Staring out the window, I daydreamed about what could've been.
I imagined an evening picnic outside where Ryker and I watched over our kids fondly; Ruval, Riser, and Rizel were all there teaching our youngest how to play chess. For me, everything felt so real, but in the end, this was all just a pipe dream.
Rhys Phenex, my baby boy, deserved so much better than the treatment he received.
I could care less about Ryker's obsession over our family name. He was our son, and that was enough of a reason to love him. Even if he's born a human, that doesn't make him anything less than our child.
And despite that, how did we get to this point?
Rhys was sent away without consulting me, and the perfect family I've dreamed about fractured into pieces.
It felt like a part of me was taken away, as I blamed Ryker and his damn pride for what had transpired. I still couldn't believe that he would do such a thing!
Ignore the other Pillars, ignore the elders; nothing should matter more than our kids. I understand that there are so many things that can go wrong. But I believe that if we stick together as a family, we will figure it out.
I can never get what I want, can I?
Saying that I miss Rhys was putting it lightly.
Any mother separated from their kids should know the feeling of being powerless to protect them.
The dread that something terrible may happen has haunted me every day. And I didn't want to live like this.
That's why I would sneak out at night to visit my youngest whenever I had the opportunity.
Seeing him sleeping in peace always eases my worries. But looking around at his living conditions was the opposite. If I didn't know any better, the place looked like a home in the slums. The ridiculousness of this situation further fueled my anger towards my husband. My son should be living in a warm home surrounded by people who will take care of him. Yet, here he was with nothing but a maid looking after him.
I brought this topic up regularly to Ryker, but every time, he ignored me like I wasn't there.
If I didn't have three other sons to worry and care for, I would've packed my bags, sent divorce papers, and taken Rhys with me.
But I couldn't do that. I had other responsibilities to tend to, and my hands were tied.
Fighting against the head of the house would never go my way either.
The most I can do is check up on Rhys once in a while. And the worst part about it is that I want to do more. A child needs his parents, and it's appalling that I can't be there for him.
However, things changed when he turned three.
It was a random night when I came over to the cabin. There wasn't anything special about my visit until Rhys started thrashing around in his bed, mumbling things in his sleep.
In a frightened manner, he grabbed onto his blanket for dear life.
I didn't know what was troubling him, but my maternal instincts kicked in. I rushed over to him, resting my hand gently on his forehead, hoping physical contact would help relieve his fearful state.
That didn't work as my hand got slapped away forcefully. I was stunned for a second, but that wasn't going to hinder me.
I tried again, but I stopped when I heard my son speaking.
"Mom." Rhys cried in his slumber, trying to cover his face with his hands protectively. It was as if someone was hurting him physically. "Stop ... please stop."
That was all it took for me to hear my heart breaking in two ... Am I that bad of a mother?
... Of course, I am; why else is my son scared of me in his dreams?!
At that moment, It felt like my vision cleared up. I wanted to laugh at how ignorant I was. I keep telling myself all those things about loving Rhys, scapegoating Ryker for the misfortunes in our family. But that's far from the truth.
All this time, I was just finding a way to make myself feel like I was the good guy.
And for that, I was trash, an awful mother who barely knew one of her children. At this point, my relationship with Rhys was no more than strangers.
The floodgates opened as tears streamed down my cheeks.
I teleported out immediately, unable to stay there any longer. I was an unneeded presence in front of Rhys. The sight of me would only hurt him even more.
So from then on, my secret visits came to an end. And that was when a piece of me shattered that day.
_Riser_
I have a love-hate relationship with my eldest brother. I think big brother Rizel felt the same way.
Ruval Phenex was the prized jewel of our family. He was a kind, charismatic, and powerful man that many Devils respected. Compared to him, everybody else was inferior.
That's why Rizel and I are always considered the spares in the eyes of many. Wherever we went, we were associated with Ruval's name constantly.
It's like we aren't our own individuals. We will forever be known as "Ruval Phenex's brothers."
And it hurts being treated this way.
Nonetheless, Ruval never treated us any differently despite all of this. He was always the dependable big brother that would support our endeavors. He never boasted about his accomplishments as he strived to show us how much he loved us.
Because of that, we could never hate Ruval. But living in his shadows has continually been difficult. I had tried to step out of it, though it was near impossible. My eldest brother was perfect, and people will never hold me in the same regard as him.
So I turned to women instead. I became a playboy to cope with my inability to meet the high expectations required of me, as my reputation plummeted. I didn't care as my new standing in society stopped people from comparing me to Ruval. And for that, I was happy.
But that happiness didn't last for long.
Rhys, my younger brother, changed everything. His birth was an anomaly as he was born a human. I have read/heard about those creatures before, weak and pathetic. They are nothing compared to our superior race, as they're nothing more than uncivilized barbarians.
To Rizel and I, we despised him. He didn't deserve to be a Phenex. We tormented him as much as possible despite being scolded by our mother and Ruval. They seemed to love the little freak, and I couldn't understand why. He was different and powerless; that's enough for us to bully him. He wasn't even close to our level, and we loathed having to call someone like him our brother.
Little did I know that my actions made me become someone I detested. I was becoming those people that ridiculed me for not being good enough ... for not being Ruval. And deep down, I know I will never forgive myself for it.
_Ajuka Beelzebub_
Hmmm, isn't this interesting? A Devil being born a human ... I've seen many things in my life, but this is a first.
When the reports first got sent to me, I immediately ran numerous tests to see if I was hallucinating. The possibility of this happening was just unimaginable.
A human turning into a Devil was one thing through Evil Pieces, but the other way around ... no way. I've thought about it in the past since I was curious. However, the complete extraction of demonic power from a Devil was impossible. It was, after all, linked to our biological functions. We would die if that were to occur.
... Unless ... I typed a couple of keys into my computer to recalibrate some settings on it. I matched Rhys Phenex's energy scan with a couple of others saved in my database. The results popped up shortly, and I couldn't help but smile.
So, this was causing this phenomenon. On the screen, "Sacred Gear Detected" was blinking green.
Well, would you look at that? A Sacred Gear, an artifact given to humans by God, has somehow found its way into a Devil. That still doesn't explain everything, though.
I know of hybrid humans/Devils obtaining a Sacred Gear, but this is a son born from two high-ranking Devils.
Micheal has hinted that the System has been going haywire since God's death. But this still doesn't make any sense. The Sacred Gear System only registers humans.
... What if the soul got affected? That thought came out of nowhere, yet it could solve the mystery here.
That has to be it, though! A Sacred Gear can only attach and respond to a being that contains a semblance of a human soul. The System's tight restrictions and who it can choose limit the possible explanations to this dilemma.
But the million-dollar question is how Rhy's Phenex's soul turned human. The medical records show some complications in Lady Phenex's pregnancy; even so, that's nothing special.
Then, my eyes scanned a part of the report that caught my attention. During the C-Section, it seemed like they lost the baby's heartbeat for around 30 seconds.
My mind did some calculations. A baby's heart rate should be around 110 to 160 beats per minute during labor, so the chances of that stopping for that timeframe seemed suspicious enough.
Something happened in that short period, and my mind was telling me of an answer that seemed stupid. "Reincarnation."
It's a theory that sounds silly, but the more I think about it, the less of an argument I can make against it. If a human soul was reborn in the body of a Devil at birth, everything adds up.
I can be wrong here, as I don't have any proof. Nevertheless, this is the best that I can come up with based on the information I have on hand.
It still doesn't explain why his body rejected the Evil Pieces when his family tried converting him into a Devil and why he was human in the first place? But that can wait for later.
For now, I need to find evidence for my hypothesis. If this is correct, though, then this is something that can shake the foundations of Devil Society.
Reincarnated Devils are already a big issue. Add Rhys Phenex into the equation as a human being reborn as a high-class Devil; this will break the delicate balance in the Underworld between the different classes.
It seems like looking into this further to see the validity behind my claims is a high priority. I'll have to alert the other Maous about this situation.
They're not going to like this. We have enough on our belts dealing with the other factions, and suddenly this comes out of nowhere.
Knowing Sirzechs, he'll have one of us watching over the kid to gather more info.
And I have a feeling that Serafall is the perfect choice for this task.
Thanks for the reviews, everyone. I heard all of the compliments, concerns, and issues regarding this story.
But please bear with me; there's still a lot that I need to cover. Planning and writing it out will take a bit of time if I want to have everything line up cohesively.
This chapter has been in the works ever since chapter 2. I was originally going to write it solely through the perspective of Ryker Phenex, but as I wrote more, I wanted to allow the other characters to shine as well. I don't know how everyone feels about me giving circumstances to why Rhys' family acts the way they do. I like it, though, since it gives them more depth; instead of the cliche "I hate the weak."
Furthermore, let me know what you think about Ajuka's role in this chapter. Trueopulence brought it up in the reviews, and I took that idea. So thanks so much for that! It allowed me to shed some light on Rhys and his situation, along with my version of explaining the rules of the Sacred Gear System.
When I was re-reading this chapter, some parts seemed rushed. Don't know if that's just me, but I appreciate you all for reading! Currently, I haven't started the actual next chapter, but I'm looking to get it done soon.
