Brystal holds the Book of Sorcery in her hands. It feels heavy, and its leather cover is worn and well-used. On the surface, it appears to be an ordinary book. It's well cared for, despite its age.

It's hard to believe that this thing has caused so much trouble for the Fairy Council.

. . . . .

Brystal is so, so tired of everything.

She sighs, dropping the book onto her desk with a thunk and rubs her eyes.

"Brystal?" a soft voice calls out from behind her door. It is accompanied by quiet knocking.

She sucks in a breath, letting her arms drop to her sides. "Come in!"

The door creaks open, allowing Emerelda to poke her head inside. The expression on her face is sweet and gentle and soft. "Hey."

"Hey." Brystal pauses before saying, "So, any news?"

Emerelda shakes her head. "Nothing yet." She hesitates before stepping inside, shutting the door quietly behind her. She sits on the edge of Brystal's bed, and clasps her hands in her lap. A thick silence falls between them.

"We've received news that Prince Elrik has gone missing," Emerelda says after a moment. "The prince from the Elf Territory?"

"Oh, him." Brystal has not visited the Elf Territory much, nor is she too close with the rulers.

"Yeah," Emerelda says, "him. Anyways, he's gone, and Emperor Elvin wants us to look for him."

Brystal sighs and leans back in her chair, letting her head lean back to stare up at the ceiling. "We probably should. I mean, I'd hate to ruin our alliance with them."

Emerelda nods as she stands. She pauses before squeezing Brystal's shoulder comfortingly, her expression hardening into determination. "Don't worry. We'll find them."

All Brystal does is nod.

0-0-0-0-0-0

"Belphie, c'mon! Don't fall asleep now!"

Belphegor shakes his head lightly, becoming slightly more alert, glancing up at his twin brother. He stifles a yawn as he says, "Ah, sorry, Beel. I'm just feeling a little tired."

"You're always feeling tired," Beelzebub grumbles.

Belphie shrugs. "Which way's the heir again?"

Beel pauses, tilting his head to the side in a kind of thinking manner, tuning in to the heir's aura. After a moment or so he points in a direction. "That way."

"Alright." Belphie yawns. "Let's go, then. I'd really hate for Luci to get there before us 'cause she's never gonna let it go. Probably make a medal to go with it."

"Fair enough." With that, Beel grabs Belphie's hand and surges forward, dashing through the trees and setting everything in their path ablaze.

0-0-0-0-0-0

Lucifer, thankfully, is not there. Leviathan is, though. Unlike in Hell, the oxygen has made all the demons pillars of flame, making it hard to recognize Levi in the first place.

"Hey," fae says. Fae flashes a fanged smile.

"Hey," Beel says to faer, giving Levi a small smile. Beel glances over in the direction of the two young men, who sit huddled around a flickering campfire. "Is that them?" he asks in a hushed voice.

Levi nods. "Yeah, I've been watching them for a while now. The blond guy lit the fire with magic or whatever."

Belphie sucks in a breath. "That's gotta be him then."

"Mhm."

"So what do we do?" Beel asks. "Do we wait or do we just go in?"

"Oh, uh, I was just gonna go in," Levi says. "That, um, might not be the best idea now that I think about it."

"Eh." Belphie shrugs. "It's not like we have a better idea or anything."

"Alright! Let's go then." Without waiting for them, Levi bounds forward, setting the bush they were hiding behind on fire.

"Levi!" Beel scrambles hurriedly after faer, leaving Belphie alone. He sighs before following them, walking through the burning plant.

The two young men stare at them, bodies tensed and ready to attack. The blond one stands in front of the other, as if he were going to need to protect him.

"Don't worry!" Beel tries for a reassuring smile. "We're not going to hurt you."

Neither of the two men respond.

"Ah," Belphie says, "I don't think they can understand us."

To prove his point, the blond one shouts at them, "You've already ruined my life! What more do you want from me?"

"He doesn't understand us," Levi agrees. "Um, what if I. . ." Fae flick faer hand towards the boulder resting nearby. Words begin to etch themselves onto its surface.

WE KNOW WHAT YOU ARE.

The two men stare at each other, and then at the boulder, their expressions becoming baffled.

WE ARE FAMILY. WE HAVE LONG BEEN SEARCHING FOR YOU.

"Holy shit," the black-haired one breathes. "I know what they are."

"What are they?" the blond one asks out of the side of his mouth.

"Demons," responds the black-haired one. "Y'know, from the Demon King story?"

"The what now?" The blond one turns to face his companion, his face scrunching.

"My mom used to tell me it when I was younger." A shadow befalls his face, but, despite this, he continues on, telling the story of their former king.

(Levi shifts faer feet uncomfortably. Faed never liked the old king. Not after all the horrible things he'd forced Asmo to do. Belphie squeezes faer hand comfortingly.)

"And they think I'm the Demon King?" the blond says, looking incredulous.

His companion shrugs. "You're a fairy that controls fire. You fit the bill pretty well."

The blond snorts. "And if I am the Demon King, how the fuck do I 'officially' become king or whatever?"

Levi points at the Boulder again.

FIND THE BOOK. RECITE THE OATH. THE THRONE WILL BE YOURS.

The blond makes a face. "What book?"

THE BOOK OF SORCERY.

"And I don't suppose you can tell me where it is?"

"Um." Beel shoots his siblings a bit of a worried look. "Shit, we don't know where it is."

"Go look for it, then," Belphie suggests. At Beel's expression, he sighs and says, "C'mon, we'll be fine. It's not like anything can hurt us, anyways."

"Alright, fine. Just stay here, okay? It's gonna make me feel better knowing where you are."

"Relax, you big doof." Levi bumps his shoulder. "Go get the magic book. We'll be okay."

Beel nods, and disappears in a cloud of smoke.

Belphie looks between the heir and Levi, a blank expression on his face. "Sooo. . . Now what?"

0-0-0-0-0-0

Belphie wakes up to someone shaking his arm.

"Wake up," Levi says, "Beel's back."

"Finally," Belphie mumbles, sitting up and stretching. "We've been waiting for forever."

"You were asleep for, like, 90% of it," Levi says, giving him a look.

"Please don't argue right now," Beel cuts in, sounding exasperated. "Let's just give them the book, have him claim the throne, and call it a day, yeah?"

"Yes, mom," they reply in unison. Beel rolls his eyes fondly and extends his hand out, waiting for them to take the book.

It is a moment or so before the blond takes it. Beel lets go as he does so.

He skims through a few of its pages, before pausing, and deadpanning, "I can't read a word in this book."

"Just look at the pictures," his companion says, peeking over his shoulders. "Context clues."

It is a while before they find the right page, and when they do, the blond mutters, "Demonous karta, demonous marta. Demonous infintay en demonous traynata."

Belphie feels his soul connect to the heir's, like puzzle pieces clicking together.

Beel lets out a breath of relief. "It worked."

"Well, of course it worked," Levi says. "He's the heir."

"King now." Belphie yawns. "Can we go home now? I'm tired."

"You just slept for, like, four hours."

"And?"

"Let's just go." Beel bows to their new king, before disappearing once again. Levi is quick to follow his actions.

Belphie lags behind, giving a small wave to the pair, before warping home.

0-0-0-0-0-0

"Oh stars." Xanthous drags a hand down his face. "That was an. . . Experience."

"So what now?" Elrik crouches next to him. "Do you go back to the Fairy Territory, or. . . ?"

"I don't think I can," Xanthous sighs. "I'm not sure if they've cleared my name yet. And besides," he adds as an afterthought, "I'd hate to leave you alone."

Elrik bumps his shoulder, smiling softly. "I can take care of myself, y'know."

Xanthous hums in response. "I know you can. But they probably know you're missing by now, and-"

"And you're a terrible liar and can't be trusted with my location," Elrik finishes. "Gotcha."

Xanthous sputters, snapping his head around to face him. "Wha-That-That is not what I was going to say!"

Elrik laughs. "I know, love. I'm just messing with you." His face softens into a more gentle expression. "Joking aside, I know they'll have questions for you if they put two and two together. And I don't exactly want to go home."

"I don't think I'm ready to face them again, anyways." Xanthous props his head up as he stares at the night sky. "I kind of. . . Disappeared on them the last time I talked with them. It'd just be really awkward if I came back all of a sudden."

"Yeah, that's fair." Elrik nods. "So I guess we just live life as wanderers now, huh?"

"Mhm."

. . . . .

"Ooorr, y'know, we could just crash at your new palace-"

"Do you really want to spend the rest of your life cooped up in a castle?"

"Good point."

0-0-0-0-0-0

I would just like 2 say thank u to my beta reader, DuaghterofStories , who is also a big contributor to the world building of this story. You can also find them on tumblr as dark-empress-justice and over on my discord server

/PDN6WzVZ