They were currently flying over a small European country. Within it was a small settlement at the mountain's base, far from any cities. They were looking at a typical house, nothing out of the ordinary in this country.
So Melusine bites the bullet.
"So is this what you wanted me to see?"
There was silence. All Vali Lucifer did was stare at the house intently, checking to see whether something was real. Melusine She kept staring at him after observing this peculiar expression. Until…
Slowly, a figure came into view. This person wasn't extraordinary; he was just a typical human male of the local ethnicity. But the next person to welcome him back to the man, on the other hand, is a completely different story.
A woman with black hair, in stark contrast to the two of them above, welcomes her husband home while holding two young children and smiling.
To anyone else, she appears to be a typical 30-something-year-old woman.
Aside from the fact that she was quite lively for her age, no one would pay her much attention.
But she means a lot more to these two, as the servant quickly realizes.
The fairy immediately turns to face her master, her eyes wide with complete understanding.
"That woman is your-"
The boy responds, interrupting her before she can finish.
"Yes, that is my mother," he says flatly. His eyes were shut as if he were attempting to contain something.
He keeps going because there is nothing to stop him.
"My mother was a regular person with no distinguishing characteristics, whereas my father was the grandson of the original Lucifer."
He then comes to a halt and takes several deep breaths.
"Breath in..."
"…And out."
She didn't say anything, instead waiting patiently for him to finish without putting any pressure on him.
She simply observes, her face expressionless.
He finally begins to speak. He manages to calm down, albeit exhausted.
"Due to my nature as a Lucifer, and while also receiving a Longinus from being a halfling, my father looked at me in fear."
"So my dearest grandfather told him to constantly beat me for shits and giggles."
His blood freezes just thinking about that man, and he begins to only see red.
"One day… I will murder that man…"
His knuckles turn white and begin to bleed.
She remains silent, however, while maintaining the same expression on his face.
He takes another deep breath to center himself before proceeding.
"The only reason why I didn't punt his ass back to hell and back is because of one thing, only one thing…"
His finger shakes with emotion as he points to the woman as she retreats inside after greeting her new husband.
"Her"
"If I did anything, she would take the brunt of it."
Slowly, a soft look replaces his blank one.
"Yet despite all the trouble I gave her."
"How much of a curse I was."
"And how it would've been better if I wasn't even born!"
"She still protected and took care of me however she could."
"She should've hated me, despised me even!" He shouts.
He drops his hands to his sides and looks down with a lost expression after finishing his outburst.
"However, she didn't..." The half-demon speaks softly, starting to resemble a sacred child at his age.
"She took care of my injuries after I was beaten. Although I was supposed to be forbidden from giving me food, she did so anyway."
He felt as if his emotions were oozing out more and more, and he thought he might cry again, but he kept a straight face.
"But when I had enough and left the first thing on my mind was to come back for her if it's the last thing I did but then I learned that after I left my father erased her memories and left her all by her lonesome and they lost track of her."
In a dejected tone, he speaks again. "Honestly? I was glad. That she didn't have to deal with all this anymore and wasn't killed for it." He stared off, forcing a tired smile. "My shitbag father, my asshole grandfather… even me."
"But we did, we found her"
When he finally turns to face his servant, he still has that cracked smile, but it's a little brighter.
"And it was all because of you, Melusine."
She could only blink in response, completely unaware of what she had done.
He responds with a chuckle, which lifts his spirits.
"Yeah, you wouldn't understand what you did because you did it without realizing it."
"When you actually started to leave the base," she twitches slightly, taken aback that the kid knew about their conversation with Albion, "because your signature was basically of a another white dragon emperor, it caused Azzael to go on a random goose chase and by pure coincidence, locate... her."
"So what do you think?" He asks in a hollow voice, with wide eyes and an odd smile.
"That I was a coward for abandoning my mother?"
"That I'm weak for not being able to go against my father?!"
"That I should've just ended myself for the betterment of everyone else!"
"So what do you think of your pathetic master Melusine!"
He became more anxious as he went on, and at a certain point, he was no longer speaking to her. He was pleading with anyone to pass judgment on him.
"Anyone! Please tell me if I was right! Please berate me! Tell me that it was fine! Scorn me! I'm fine with either!"
"Something!"
"Anything!"
"..."
"...just tell me what to do."
But all she did was stare at him, sigh, and slowly begin to pat his head gently.
"..."
He didn't say anything; instead, he just let her continue to touch her head while staring at the ground for short instances.
"What are you doing?" His bangs were pulled down from his eyes on purpose to hide his emotions.
She didn't answer, rather she only states this.
"It's alright,"
Her voice was low in comparison to his. It was completely genuine, with no hint of rage, fear, or desperation. She keeps brushing his hair.
"You've been through a lot, haven't you?"
She sighs once more.
"It's okay to be alive, Vali Lucifer. Your birth was blessed."
He didn't know how to respond to that.
His lack of response led her to continue.
"Even though your father loathed you, Rizverm mocked you..."
As she drew him close to her, he was drawn into an embrace.
She appears to be the picture of serenity as she closes her eyes and soothes the young man. "Your mother's love for you will never fade."
He began to shake, but she continues to stroke his hair.
"Moreover, even if everyone on this level of existence abandons you,"
She was simply smiling as she addressed him directly as he looked up.
There had been no change.
There was not a trace of disappointment, resentment, or rage.
Just a sincere concern.
"I promise to always be by your side."
His eyes began to well up with tears.
"Let me say that again.
It's an unmistakable fact now.
"I am happy that you were born."
He just wasn't able to hold it in.
"Happy birthday,... Vali Lucifer "
Unlike before, when she exclaims it with such joy and excitement, in celebration of his birth. This time, it was simple, heartfelt gratitude for his continued existence.
"... wwwhhaaahhh!"
After years of abuse and isolation, he gradually broke down into such an outcry that only the three of them could hear it. As Melusine continues to console him.
"There, there. I know all dragons yearn for body heat, so let it all out."
X-X-X
Vali calms down from the experience of the emotional turmoil, that's when he becomes aware of something that he had previously forgotten.
"... *sniff* Hey Melusine?"
"Yeah?" She spoke softly, as if she were attempting to coerce him to sleep.
He lifts his gaze from her chest and it turns perplexed.
"How did you hear that Rizverm was my grandfather?" He questions his servant, becoming increasingly suspicious of her by the second.
He has a valid point, he never discussed his relationship with the Super Devil and only addressed him by name once.
As a response, she did something in front of him for the first time ever since they met.
Her gaze shifts away from him so that he won't be able to look into her eyes.
It didn't take a genius—and he is one—to figure out the solution.
"You knew..." The fairy knight flew back in surprise as he said it in such an accusatory tone dripping with venom.
"Let me explain, V-Vali."
But it was too late; he was already fuming and punching her lightly.
"You completely ruined it! You ruined the moment!" She could only apologize and chuckle uncomfortably in response to her master's screams.
"Ehehe... Sorry?"
"Don't 'ehehe' me! Who told you?" He went to the main suspect and inquired with a savage stare before she could respond. "ALBION?!"
Somewhat surprised at being the new target of his wielder's spite, he clumsily answers.
"Uh! No! I mean, yes! I mean kind of…"
"What do you mean?" He still won't let it go. It eventually led to him discovering the terrible truth.
"She kind of figured it out… by herself and you practically laid it flat out for her. She only came to me to ask vague general questions and just told me what was basically correct soon after."
"Hah?" The devil was speechless, his mouth hanging open like a fish in response to the discovery, which had completely thrown him off his game. All of the rage fades away, and confusion replaces it.
"I mean, think about it, you are dealing with a person who until recently went to the bathroom with you, it doesn't matter how good you are if the person is constantly around you 24/7 ."
"I mean, yeah, Albion is making sense..." He muses. She did use to never leave him outside while he slept occasionally; now, she does it much more frequently when she observes anything she finds monotonous, such as politics or schoolwork. Even then, she still pays partial attention. "Wait a minute.."
"You followed me into the bathroom?!" He points accusingly at the servant, who's still holding her hand up in surrender.
"Oh," she says, realizing he was talking to her and that, unlike before, she didn't feel a speck of remorse. "Since, obviously, I am your servant, I needed to keep an eye on you until Albion told me not to be. When I felt bothered to, I did it." She says it casually as if it were straightforward.
However, something catches the devil prince's attention.
"Wait, recently?"
"Yeah, that was the deal."
Melusine nods in response. "Yes, he promised to help me as long as I stopped doing it for whatever reason." In case it wasn't clear before, she didn't care about his privacy.
"You-! Wh-!" As a result of all this new information, he was overcome with feelings to the point where he couldn't express them. He knew that yelling at her wouldn't help. He eventually resorts to doing the only thing he can.
"...Thank you, Albion. "
He knew he wouldn't have known if it hadn't been brought up, so the only thing he could think of was to thank his partner.
"Don't mention it." The sentiments are fully understood by his scared gear, which disregards them as not a problem.
"Do you want another pat on the head? You look tired again." The girl asks and is completely unaware that she is the source of his current mood.
This was the last straw for the boy.
"Don't patronize me!"
"Sooooo..." If you can call it that, the person who did the "peeking" ignores the outburst and begins to trail off as her gaze wanders. "Now that you're back to normal, what should you do?" She spoke.
He had calmed down from earlier without even realizing it; all he could do was blink in response to the remark.
"She's right; now what?" To be quite honest, he didn't think this out and sort of just did it on the spur of the moment because he had no idea how it would turn out, thought the once-angry boy.
Unfortunately, the servant of the lance made her master's decision for him while he was debating whether or not they should leave.
She looks at him, then at the house, then back at him. This happens a few times before she appears to realize something and raises her fist.
"Melusine, why are you staring at me like that?" At this point, the boy could sense she was about to do something irrational.
"Oh, there's no reason." She says this with a foreboding smile.
*Pop*
Her dragon armor disappears and transforms into the clothes she was wearing before at that sound, and she starts to plummet toward the ground while smiling.
That move brings all his thinking to a halt, as he simply watches her fall until he realizes she was falling, terrified, and then rushes after her.
"Wa- Melusine!"
Ignoring his scream, Melusine gently lands on the ground and begins to move; he quickly follows in a mild panic and then runs after her.
"What are you doing, Melusine?"
She turns to face him with her usual expressionless expression.
"Saying hello to my new brother and sister."
He responds quickly after appearing stunned and then realizing he never mentions to her his decision not to see his mother.
"You can't do that! She has nothing to do with the supernatural anymore and her memories of it have been taken away!"
Not seeing the problem, she replies back.
"And?"
She responds, unable to see the problem.
"And?"
He bit his lip because he knew he wouldn't be able to persuade his headstrong older sibling with half-assed answers, so he starts speaking from the heart because here were no longer any secrets between them.
"I don't want them to become entangled in this world!" She's been through enough already! ...she doesn't need me anymore."
He should have seen this coming.
What would she say about his choice.
For a very long time, Vali, grieving over this choice for a very long time never had the understanding that the solution is plain as day, but to her it's obvious.
Giving him the same puzzled expression she always gives him when she thinks something should be simple.
"So? If you're the strongest, you can protect them from anything, and that's what we're going to be right? Because we are Albion. No matter what world we're in, we should stand as the strongest."
His eyes immediately widen upon hearing that. He remains motionless even after she turns around and walks towards the house, and then-
He burst out laughing.
He laughs as he lands on his back.
For the first time in his life, he was laughing heartily. To the point where tears were following him down his face.
So much so that the fairy returns to check on him giving him a look as he lost a screw in his head.
While chuckling, only one thing came to his mind.
She is correct.
She was dead on.
The strongest have nothing to be afraid of.
He'd never be able to realize his dream if I can't achieve this.
Ignore any fears and look forward with confidence!
Only those who fit that description deserve to be called the strongest of their era!
The white dragon roared at his counterpart after standing up.
"MELUSINE!"
Her concern turns to perplexity as she stares at him.
"I'm going to say it again!"
"I'm going to get stronger regardless of what anyone says!"
"Even more powerful than the Super Devil, Rizverm!"
"Stronger even than Great Red!"
"Because if I can't even do that,"
As he fixes his gaze squarely on her golden eyes, he makes a definitive statement.
There was no rage or aggression, just a look of concentration and a renewed sense of purpose.
"How could I possibly stand proudly by your side!"
And this was the only proclamation his servant could make. She chuckles, smiles loosely, and leans in his direction.
"Well duh you dummy."
It was already the most obvious thing in the world to her, and she believed it had always been true.
This all seemed redundant to hear again to her, but there was a renewing sense of affection in his eyes.
He was, however, aware of it. She'd never understand how difficult it was for him to make that decision. And all is alright. He wouldn't want her to change in any case. But he knew somewhere she understood what she was getting at. That's why, in response, he simply grinned and laughs.
"Now are you coming?" with little more spring in her step turns to the house.
"Yeah... I am."
"No matter what, if she's by my side, I will never lose my way."