Just a month more.
I was almost there.
In little over a month I would begin to attend Lilith Academy.
Was it reasonable for me to both dread its arrival and hope for it to come sooner?
I quickly recounted the path to my bedroom. It was getting dark out, and I was planning on writing down my thoughts in a journal I'd gotten as a birthday gift.
I was never much of a journalist, but I had gradually come around to it. It was more calming than I had originally thought it would be.
Stepping into my room, I saw Ruval sat at my reading desk, with a novel in hand. He had a plastic bag set on the ground at his side.
I closed the door behind me and began to approach him.
He inserted a bookmark, closed the book, and turned to me.
"Ah, fancy seeing you here."
Maybe it was because he taught me for a year, but I had always assumed Ruval to be a bit of a strict person.
However, ever since we had that discussion about my magical training, he seemed to change overnight.
Maybe I just got too used to him teaching me, but this joking and ribbing of his still surprised me as much as it did when he first covered for me.
"What a shocker."
At my deadpan response, a grin spreads across his face.
He reaches over, picks me up, and sets me on his lap.
He takes the opportunity to tug at my cheeks.
"Well, would you like to know why I'm here?"
I hum for a few seconds.
"I get the feeling that you'll tell me anyway."
Looking up at him, I'm able to see him nodding enthusiastically.
"You bet!"
He reaches into that plastic bag and pulls out a rectangular box. It's promptly sat in front of me.
I have a feeling I know what it is. I've only really seen this type of box used for one thing.
I opened up the box to find a modern smartphone.
Isn't this like the 1900s or something? Is devil technology just that far ahead of humanity or is this some strange hiccup in the timeline?
I further examine the phone, looking for a logo or a brand. On the back I see written across it is 'Asphodel'.
Is this made by the Greeks, or did a devil just steal this name for their company?
"What do you think? I grabbed you the latest model."
It's a really nice gift.
Not only could I keep in contact with him more, but if I could get access to an internet signal, I could just browse the underworld internet. That would certainly help stave off my boredom.
I look up at Ruval and give him the brightest smile I can.
"It's wonderful, thank you."
"I'm not quite done yet!"
With that said, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a case.
Ruval opens them up and displays them to me.
It's a pair of retro earbuds.
Why is it that the phone is modern, but the earbuds look like they were made in the 1990s or 2000s?
I want to focus on it more, but I get the feeling that if I think about it too hard, I'm going to get a headache.
However, this raises a different question.
A phone and a pair of earbuds?
Either this has music preinstalled, or this phone has a functioning internet connection.
One way to find out, I suppose.
"Does this have an internet connection?"
"Yep! Wow, you figured that out incredibly quickly."
Ruval's smile widened.
"I figured, since you're old enough to go to school. You're old enough to have one of these. I had to pass this by mother and father, but they both agreed."
Without much else to say, I just repeat a thank you.
"If you'd really like to thank me, I've got a rating game happening soon. I'd appreciate it, if you tuned in to support me."
I nodded vigorously.
I wouldn't miss that for the world. Not only do I get a phone, but I also get to watch Ruval's rating games? That sounded incredible.
"I'm glad to hear that."
He paused for a moment, and then switched to a different topic.
"Just so you know, I've made sure to bypass the internet restrictions for that phone. Please do not tell mom and dad."
"Why would you do that?"
"Well, how else are you going to watch porn without mom and dad knowing what you're into?"
"I'm 6… I haven't even gone through puberty yet!"
"Yet is the operative word there. There will be a day that you'll thank me for this,"
With me firmly embarrassed, Ruval sat me down on the ground and got onto his feet.
As he was leaving he gave me a hug and said goodbye.
I didn't stand there for too long.
The thought of browsing the internet was too intriguing.
I grabbed the earphones and phone and sat down in the desk chair.
I could now do something I had been curious about since I was born.
Serafall Leviathan had a magical girl show and I wanted to see it.
I was never really into magical girls, but I figured if there was ever one show I would want to see, it would be Serafall's.
The next month passed quickly.
There were season after season of Serafall's show and I had spent most of the day watching.
The only time I paused it was when Ruval texted me that his rating game was taking place.
It was a blowout victory for him. I didn't really care about the details, or Ruval's peerage. I was focused purely on him. This was the first time that I had seen our powers used in battle.
It was beautiful.
There was something fascinating about seeing someone take a mortal wound, only to repair all of the damage in a second. I had the distinct feeling that Ruval was showing off for me. Even the game's announcers noticed Ruval showboating.
After the game I sent him a congratulatory message and went back to watching Serafall's show.
The day eventually came for me to go to school.
I got dressed in the school uniform, and went for breakfast.
Upon entering the dining hall, I was promptly scooped up into mom's arms.
"Oh, look at how cute you are! Do you really have to go?"
She swung me side to side in a hug reminiscent of when I was born.
She doted on me for some minutes before eventually letting me go.
I huffed and patted down my clothing.
Seeing this, I got the feeling that mom almost decided to do it again.
I quickly moved to sit down next to dad, in hopes that me sitting would prevent her from coddling me.
I could hear dad chuckle beside me.
"Are you looking forward to meeting your class?"
"I suppose."
"Worried about something?"
"Theres going to be a lot of people there who only want to get close to me to get something from me, right?"
Mom and dad gave me a sad smile.
"Your father had to deal with the same. People would beg, give sob stories, whatever they could to try and get something from him."
Dad sighed.
"It's not going to be easy. I almost gave up on my classmates a half dozen times."
"Why didn't you?"
"Well, I had become friends with your mother at that point. She was always someone who saw the best in people. She gave me the belief and motivation to reach out and find people who were interested in me."
So, mom and dad were school friends then.
Conversation died down, and breakfast was served.
Once breakfast was finished, mom took me by the hand and a magical circle appeared beneath us.
In the blink of an eye, we were in front of Lilith Academy.
Around us were four or five other parents dropping off their children.
Mom gave me a hug and a motivational speech before going back home.
I walked inside the building and was greeted by a secretary.
"Hello, what is your name?"
"Lucius Phenex"
"You are in class 1-A, go down the hallway to the left, it's the furthest door on the right."
Following her instructions, I walked into a classroom with only a few people currently inside.
I look for a seating chart on the teachers desk, but find nothing.
I look at the only student currently sitting down.
It's a girl with light pink hair, and red eyes, an unusual combination.
"Is there a seating chart, or can we sit wherever we like?"
She shrugs at me.
I guess not then.
Looking at the layout of the classroom, I quickly made my choice.
I take a seat in the back beside the window like a true anime protagonist.
Knowing I have some time before classes begin, I stare out the window as the clouds move across the sky.
I sit there for roughly ten minutes before the final bell rings and the teacher appears.
A man, physically in his mid thirties, he has a short and well-kept beard.
"Hello class, let's begin with attendance."
I take note of the names said, but I return to staring out at the sky.
I almost miss out when the teacher says.
"Florence Nightingale"
I gave him my full attention.
I recognize the name vaguely.
Florence Nightingale, a British medic who was involved in the Crimean War. Is one of her descendants here?
The pink haired girl who shrugged at me is the one who responds.
Well, that's certainly interesting.
It gets me wondering, the original Florence is dead at this point, I think. Is this a related devil who simply named her child after her? I know DxD has reincarnated heroes, but if she's attending this academy, presumably she is also a pure blooded devil.
The teacher goes back to roll call and no other names stick out to me.
Eventually he gets to my name and I respond.
At hearing my last name, the classroom bursts into hushed whispers.
I can faintly make out a few words like "72 pillar" and "immortal".
The teacher finishes off the roll call and begins to address the class.
"We'll go over the syllabus tomorrow, today I want to get all of you acquainted. Let's play a small game. The person with the ball calls out someone's name and tosses it to them. Along with their name, you call out a question. The person whose name is called, catches the ball, and answers the question. Then we will repeat."
He tosses the ball and calls out a question. Very quickly, though, the ball is thrown at me.
"Are you related to the pillar clan?"
I catch the ball and then respond.
"Yes, my father is Lord Phenex."
I ignore the whispers, and toss the ball to someone else.
"Do you have any siblings?"
The game continues, however, it is clear that I'm answering the most questions. It's not really much of a surprise, I suppose. Meeting a member of the 72 pillars is a pretty rare event. To be their classmate would be much rarer.
Eventually, though, Florence tosses the ball in my direction and throws out a doozy of a question.
"How are Phenex Tears made?"
The teacher tries to interfere, stumbling over his words, but I simply respond.
"I don't know, I've never been able to figure out how to make them."
She raises a brow at me, but I simply shrug back.
I figured out most other things, just not the tears.
I toss the ball in her direction.
"Are you related to the British medic, Florence Nightingale?"
She takes the question in stride and responds,
"I'm her reincarnation."
This generates a buzz.
I'm almost too shocked to respond. Heroic spirits can be born into a devil?
The attention slowly begins to shift from me to her.
I pay close attention to her answers as she responds.
She does have memories of her previous life, but not all of them. She is the historical figure, but that doesn't mean they are exactly the same. She has a few unique abilities due to being a reincarnation.
The answers are really interesting.
I spent the rest of the time pondering over her.
At the end of the school day, I'm preparing to meet mom when she appears in front of me.
"I'd like to speak with you."
I don't really have any reason to refuse, so as we walk out we begin talking.
"What about?"
"They say that your clan is nearly immortal. That you can heal from nearly anything. Is this true?
"Yes."
"And your family can produce Phenex Tears, which can heal even fatal wounds?"
"Yep."
She pauses for a minute.
"I share a passion with my predecessor regarding medicine. I want to study your healing abilities to see if I couldn't find some way to put them into practice myself.
I open my mouth to respond, but she continues to speak.
"I understand that you would be potentially spreading the means of your healing, and so I am willing to become your servant should you agree."
How do I even respond to that?
We've known each other for maybe 4 hours and she's already speaking about becoming my servant?
I take a second to compose myself and respond.
"I can't accept that."
She raises an eyebrow and opens her mouth to respond, but this time I continue speaking.
"I don't know you, and I don't trust you. We've met today and you're already suggesting you become my servant? Something doesn't seem right about that."
"I want to help as many people as I can. If to do that, I need to sacrifice my body to you. It is a fair price."
Jeez, what a grim outlook. I almost feel bad for her.
How do I explain to her, that I'm not going to reincarnate somebody I barely know?"
"Maybe you need a little more convincing. In class, I mentioned that as a reincarnate, I have access to a few unique abilities. Here is what I am referring to."
She holds out her hand to me; a bracelet appears over her wrist and radiates holy energies.
Is this a fucking sacred gear?
Has she reincarnated into a devil and still kept her sacred gear? That's fucking wild.
That changes nearly everything. In exchange for studying my regenerative abilities, she would become my servant?
It was almost too good to pass up.
Sadly, though…
"I'm sorry, like I said. I just don't know you. If I knew you more, I may have accepted, but there is simply no trust between us."
It was almost painful to do this.
She was practically giving herself to me.
She closed her eyes and nodded her head.
"I see, so I simply need to earn your trust then."
She opens her eyes and states back at me.
She looks motivated.
"I will earn your trust, in the meantime, please hold onto a bishop piece for me.
I can't help but agree.
By now we have walked out of school and I hear my mom calling out to me.
I turn to Florence and tell her goodbye.
Reaching home, I find myself exhausted.
Not from classes, simply from talking to Florence.
"How was school?"
Should I tell her?
Well, I don't see why not.
"I met this girl-"
Mom squeals, she gives me a bearhug and parades me towards dad's study.
She slams the door open and dad looks up, ready to reprimand someone.
"Damien! Lucius met a girl at school!"
His ire quickly turned into curiosity.
"Really? What is this girls name?"
"Florence Nightingale."
They are both taken aback by this.
"Really? Is she descended from the historical figure?"
"She's the reincarnation of her."
Whatever they were expecting, it wasn't that.
Dad begins to rub his eyes.
"I haven't even gotten to the interesting part."
Dad looks up in curiosity.
"Did you know she has a sacred gear?"
It's dead silent. For two whole minutes, nobody speaks.
The look on dad's face is disbelief.
He finally whispers to me.
"A pureblooded devil has a sacred gear?"
I can only nod.
"She wanted to become my servant in exchange for learning whatever she could about our family abilities. I said no though, because I didn't really know her."
At this point, I worry that dad is going to pass out.
I haven't heard anything from mom since, so she might have already passed out.
Slowly, I begin to see dad breathe. He takes a few moments to steady his breathing and looks back at me.
"She wants to become your servant? Like a peerage member?"
I nod.
Dad looks past me at mom.
I glanced back and forth, aware that the two of them seemed to be having an internal conversation..
Finally, though, they broke their gaze.
They seemed to have come to a conclusion in that time.
No matter how much I asked, neither of them explained further.
I could only wait and see how this would go.
It didn't take long for me to learn what they had discussed. Later that week, Florence and her mother had come to visit and she kept mentioning a playdate.
Our moms left for another room and we were left to talk by ourselves.
It was awkward to begin with.
I had pretty firmly rejected her, but my parents had essentially taken away any reason I might have to not agree.
Florence seemed to take it in stride, though. It was in large part due to her that the conversion began to flow.
Being a fan of history, it was really interesting to pick her brain regarding her memories of the Crimean War.
Also, despite both coming from wealth, we had very different lives growing up. She had lots of experience exploring Lilith, and I had grown up especially isolated.
By the end of the month we had become very good friends.
One day I woke up to discover a chess piece beside my bed.
A red bishop.
Did Florence tell my parents that she wanted the bishop's piece?
I was still a bit hesitant, but I understood that at this point we knew each other well enough.
I knew that she was genuine in her desire to help people and that she wasn't going to dissect me while I was sleeping.
I needed to ask mom and dad one thing, though.
How do I use an evil piece?
The next time we met, I handed the bishop piece to her and asked her a question.
"Are you sure you want to become my bishop?
"I am certain."
She answered with no hesitation.
I grabbed hold of the bishop piece and slowly pushed it into her chest.
It slowly sunk into her, and seconds later, I could no longer see it.
She didn't feel any different. Maybe I needed to have a better sense of magic to feel the changes, though.
She soon got to work examining me.
For the next three hours she tested my regeneration. Seeing how it responded to cuts, bruises, burns, and more.
It was painful, but she had given up her freedom. It was the least I could do.
Since that day we spent more time together, the school had to be informed of her change in status, but it wasn't anything major. She was still a pure blooded devil meaning there was no issue with her attending class.
The only difference was that she now sat besides me in class.
The two of us easily pulled ahead of the other students. We began to compete against each other, trying to pull ahead of each other.
Two months later, dad called me into his office.
I wasn't really sure why.
He had already congratulated me on being my first peerage member, so I couldn't think of anything else.
He was in a somber mood. He and mom were always around October. I never asked, but I knew it had something to do with the wars.
He started off our talk with a simple question.
"What do you know about the Phenex Clan?"
I thought about it, and was disappointed how little I knew.
This was my legacy and yet I didn't really know much about it.
Dad laughed though.
"I would be shocked if you did, I never really told you much."
Recognizing that he wasn't looking for a response, I stayed quiet.
"Among the ranks of the 72 pillars, we are considered Marquis. This is quite a high ranking position, however we are very much an anomaly among the 72 pillars. We are capable of standing toe to toe with even the dukes of the pillar clans."
"Our ability to produce Phenex Tears makes us an incredible asset to devilkind. The ability to cure even fatal wounds. For a race that reproduces slowly, every death via preventable means is a deep cut. Our abilities have afforded us incredible wealth, beyond any other member of the 72 clans."
He lets out a deep sigh.
"When the Great War and the Civil War broke out, we were specifically excluded from drafts. That is just how important we are. That doesn't mean that we didn't fight though. We may have been excluded but it would have hurt our reputation to stand idly by. Throughout those wars, members of the Phenex Clan and its cadet branches fought. We fought bravely, maybe even too bravely."
He goes silent for a moment.
"The end result is this. Our branch families wiped out to the last man. The main family was reduced to just a few. If you've ever wondered why you haven't met another member of our clan, it is because they are all gone. And with them, all the prestige, all the glory, and our legacy has been left to us to carry on."
I couldn't even begin to form words. What was there that I could say to that?
Luckily, I didn't have to say anything. Dad began to speak once more.
"We shall continue this tomorrow, I was going to speak further about our clans ability to make Phenex Tears, and the process to produce them, but i'm exhausted at the moment."
I nodded, stood up, and left for my room.
AN: I think it'll be an interesting relationship between Florence and Lucius. They are like 6 years old, but they both have memories of being in their twenties.
I've recently gone over my plans, and decided I didn't quite like what I had originally planned. It feels like I wanted to dive into the canon as quickly as possible, but in doing that I would have had to mess with the timeline in some weird ways.
So, ive pushed back my original second arc for a later date. Ultimately, I think canon ages will still be changed, but I'm going to take a slower pace regarding this story.
I'm going to be starting up work soon, so updates are going to be slower. Shoutout to King0fP0wers for helping me workshop ideas.