I was gently awoken by the feeling of being compressed.

Instinctively I tried to move my body, but I found myself unable to.

For the second time in recent memory, I've woken up somewhere with absolutely no clue where I am. I feel like this doesn't bode well for my future.

Weirdly enough, I don't find myself panicking or worrying, and I can't help but wonder why that is. Taking a second to think, I come to a vague answer.

There's just something about this place; it radiates safety.

It's warm, I'm constricted, but it's not at all painful. There's also a rhythmic beating coming from somewhere above me.

That last bit stops me in my tracks.

A loud rhythmic beating and a warm constricted area?

Well, I guess I know where I am now.

I almost wish I didn't.

These thoughts are cut off as I feel something that I had previously ignored.

Contractions.

I was about to be born.

There's a reason that as a species, we've developed infantile amnesia, and I'm about to relearn why.

I am, however, left with a burning question. Why is it that I've woken up now?

I mean, children don't sleep the entire time they're in the womb, so why is this my first memory since the void?

Unfortunately, I figured I would have quite a bit of time to workshop an answer. Births happen over hours and I was only at the beginning. I could only hope that one day I would forget all about this day.

That was the only thing on my mind as the hours passed.

The first sign that it was almost over was the light. The light was intense, far too much for my baby eyes to take in at once. I spent the final stretch of time, trying to get my eyes adjusted.

Fortunately, I had a new stimulus to enjoy while I did that, hearing.

It felt like forever since I had heard another human's voice. Though I suppose that they aren't exactly human.

I could hear three distinct voices within the room, one man, and two women.

The man whispering soothing words is my father; the woman in pain would be my mother; and the woman also giving encouragement would be a doctor, I suppose.

By the time I was free of my mother and the umbilical cord snipped, I was barely able to see.

Not because of the light, simply because my vision was worse than it used to be. I could see faces fairly well from short distances, but now I was squinting, trying to pick out details like eye color.

The doctor wrapped me in one of those blankets and handed me off to my mother. Resting in her arms, I could barely make out her blonde hair and blue eyes.

From what I could see of the room and the smell of chemicals in the air, I was pretty sure we were in a hospital.

I don't understand why, though, I mean, if she has the Phenex regeneration, then it doesn't really matter where I was born, does it?

I suppose it would make sense if my father was the Phenex and not my mother, but she looks like a typical Phenex.

Breaking me from my thoughts, my mother began to pull at my cheeks and coo. Even my father got involved in the cheek pulling.

"Look at how grumpy he looks Damien! He's so adorable."

Having said this, she tugged me closer to her chest and swung me side to side in a hug. I could hear my father, Damien, chuckle deeply.

"Well, I can't tell if you hog him to yourself, can I?

I didn't see what happened, but from the small 'nyeh' I think mom stuck her tongue out at him.

"Finders keepers, I got to him first!"

At this point, dad lets out a booming laughter. I don't see the smile, but I know it's there.

"It would've been pretty difficult for me to get to him first!"

I was happy to hear the conversation flow easily between the two. Especially among nobility, you don't marry for love, so it's nice to hear the two bounce off each other. I was 1/1 when it came to happy families, here's hoping we can make it 2/2.

After a bit of playing around mom does pull me from her chest and display me to dad, holding me almost like you hold a trophy.

Dad held a low hum for a few seconds before responding.

"Beautiful"

He took a pause and then continued.

"He got that from me, you know."

Knowing that another mock argument was about to begin, I took the time to take in as much detail about dad as I could.

He had the same blonde hair, and it was difficult to tell from this distance, but he might have also had blue eyes. I began to squint hard trying to work it out.

What I didn't count on was dad noticing the squinting. He stopped in the middle of his reply and moved closer to me.

I could hear mom's confusion, asking him what he was looking at.

"He's squinting pretty hard, is something wrong with his eyes?"

Wow, he's pretty observant.

Less than a second later I was pressed back against mom's chest and she was in the midst of a panic. Telling dad to go grab a nearby doctor.

I hadn't even realized the previous doctor had left the room.

Knowing what was up, I was rather calm. I knew I wasn't blind, but I suppose they probably didn't.

I did get one thing from that, though.

Dad did have blue eyes.

I was feeling a bit tired so I decided to take my mom's arms. The oxytocin was working overtime; I could already feel myself growing attached to her. I was only going to be able to nap for a few minutes, but that was minutes more than I currently had.

And so I fell asleep.


I woke up soon after, being prodded and shook awake.

It was a different doctor this time.

He grabbed my chin and angled my head straight towards his.

"You said he was squinting his eyes at you?"

"Yes, he had been looking at me for a few seconds before he began to squint and strain his eyes." Dad replied.

The doctor hemmed and hawed for a minute, pulling my face in different directions.

"His eyes look alright," the doctor began, "typically blind children's eyes will be cloudy or white. Your son's eyes are neither."

The doctor tapped me on the head, gathering my attention. He pulls out what looks like a tube. With a button press I realize that it's a flashlight.

"Follow my light as best as you can."

Was he speaking to me?

Wait a second, Devils can automatically comprehend languages, am I supposed to be able to understand him? If I show that I understand him, will I have given myself away?

I decided to not follow his instructions and just close my eyes when he pointed the light at me.

I feel tapping on the top of my head, so I open my eyes.

It's the doctor again.

"I understand you're tired, we just need to quickly check this, please follow the light."

He's absolutely expecting me to understand him, isn't he?

What an interesting thing; I don't think the show mentioned the language thing more than once, but it's absolutely fascinating.

This time I decided to listen to the doctor's instructions. As he moves the light up and down, side to side, I follow it.

"There we go," the doctor murmurs to himself.

With a click of the flashlight, the test is over and the doctor looks behind me.

"He's able to follow the light, and as I mentioned, there is no cloudiness or whiteness in his eyes. He may just need glasses."

I can hear mom and dad release a heavy sigh. I can also feel the tension in mom drain away. Her grip on me is loosening.

The doctor climbs back onto his feet.

"Before I forget, there's one more thing I need to ask of you. Have you filled out the birth certificate? It's almost night shift, so we'll need to send it off fairly soon if you want it done today.."

I could hear mom give off a nervous chuckle.

"Uh, in all the rush we weren't really thinking about it."

The doctor is quick to reassure them it's no issue, and I hear paper being picked up coming from behind me.

My father has picked up the certificate, and I can hear the clicking of a pen.

I wonder how this is going to go?

I mean, the children should all have an R name, and yet I chose something else. What was going to happen to dissuade dad from his choice of name?

"Let's name him-"

Dad begins to speak, but mom cuts him off.

"Lucius"

This hard demand has shocked dad. He seems confused and a bit shocked as he repeats it back to mom.

"You know my brother, the one who died in the Civil War. After he died, I always told myself that I would name a child after him. I let you have Ruval, let me have this."

For a while, dad didn't speak. All I could hear was their breathing. I wish I could see what was going on, but the way I was positioned didn't let me.

Finally, he gave a soft response,

"I understand."

Seems like there is a lot of history there. Truth be told, the fact that it isn't just a name I made up, that it would be my deceased uncle's name makes me like it a lot more. Especially since it sounds like he died fighting for what he believed in.

With the name scribbled on, dad handed it off to the doctor, who almost ran out of the room.

Poor guy, he probably didn't want to listen to that. Well, it sounded like a proper soup opera show, so maybe he got some enjoyment out of it, who knows.

Conversation was kept light; however the rest of the time there was a somber tone in the room.

Maybe an hour later, father left for the night and I was left with mom.

She curled up with room and from a remote on the side of the bed, deactivated the lights.

With a whispered good night, we fell asleep.

I don't know how many hours later I woke up.


Mom was still fast asleep, but I knew that I would have trouble doing the same.

Now was the thing I was dreading the most, more than even birth. I was hungry.

I didn't consider myself a particularly prideful person, but I would not accept crying as an option. To do so would irreparably harm my psyche,

Well, not really, but it would be embarrassing to me.

I lied there in the dark, considering what my options were. I was struggling to think of an answer and I was getting hungrier.

As I was getting to the point where I would reconsider crying, an idea struck me.

It wasn't weird for me to understand the doctor, so I should understand the language. My vocal cords may be too weak to speak, but surely I could wake her up by babbling.

And so, I start babbling as loud as I can, trying to wake her up.

Very quickly after beginning, I noticed her begin to shift and wake up.

She seemed groggy, but one look at me relit the smile on her face.

She cooed and pinched my cheek.

Her playtime was interrupted by a rumbling from my stomach, and she shifted tone quickly.

She was still teasing, but she quickly got down to business.

"Is my little man too prideful to ask for food? Or is it that you think mommy is that unappealing?"

I hate rhetorical questions. It feels like there's never a correct answer. I've found, the best way to win is simply by not answering.

After finishing, mom was exhausted enough to head straight back to bed.

I thought that was a good idea, and so very quickly I followed it.


I don't know quite how I should do time skips, so I implemented a few towards the end of the chapter. Do you think that was the right way to do it? Should I add a little indicator saying how much time has passed? I'd love to hear your take on it.

I picked up this way of doing dialog from an author I follow. How is it? Can you understand who is speaking easily enough?

I've planned for this childhood arc to go to 12 years old. Then we'll jump into a modified Engagement Arc. I know, it's been done before, but Zeoctius and Lord Phenex aren't going to not do it just because it's canon.

All I remember about their reasons is that they were good friends and wanted to bind their families together? Maybe they also wanted to try making a child with both Power of Destruction and Phenex Regeneration? Could also be hidden political motives there. I think I can spice things up a bit.

I'm sure you can see where this is going though. The engagement Arc and the Kokabiel Arc, I feel, can't really be replaced because they're not something the characters have power over. They seem unavoidable unless I magic away Kokabiel or let Lucius let someone know some knowledge of the future events he shouldn't have. I don't like that idea, though, and I dislike in time travel stories, when they blab to the first person they meet, that they're a time traveler.

TooLazyToMakeAcc: Yeah, I getcha. I feel like Phenex is typical for a reason though. Its positioning and powers make it excellent for an OC in a battle shounen. Like people writing Percy Jackson OC's and making them a child of the big three. They're more powerful and they're better able to affect the plot. IE. Changing the subject of the Great Prophecy.

If I had some experience behind me, I might've been willing to jump off the deep end and explore a lesser done pillar, but I feel like I would overplan that out and never get anything written. The Phenex, while overdone, has characters I can use but also smudge a bit without drawing too much attention.

Ingvilid would be an interesting merge, though I feel like having them start with that kind of power can cheapen a story a bit. I like overpowered characters as much as the next person (maybe even a bit more, lmao) but there's just something about seeing a character develop and find a reason to get strength. In DxD it feels like the main reason people get powerful is because they have a reason to. IE. Issei and Rias' Engagement, Sairaorg and his lack of Clan Trait.

I messed up the editing, should be alright now.