Next up on the list; Chapter 3. I wanted to get this one out faster than chapter 2 and I really hope you enjoy.
For the second time in two days Mephisto and Tannin were talking about the fate of the Titanius clan heir as the boy himself laid unconscious in front of them.
"I'll say it again Mephisto. The boy's wings were extraordinary. Energy stemming from metal bases. They were unlike anything I have seen outside of the Phenex clan."
"But Romulus has no Phenex blood in him. The Titanius and the Phenex clans have had a rivalry for thousands of years." Disputed Mephisto. The old devil was stumped over the change in Romulus and now the two were trying to rationalize the strange turn of events.
"Perhaps experimentation then. Many devil houses have experimented on their young to increase their abilities. Just look at the genetic trials conducted by the old Lucifer family."
"I highly doubt that experimentation is the reason. Galahad had a great dislike for artificial strengthening of a lineage. He, alongside Helen and the house at large, believed that the only strength worthy of being acknowledged is strength gained through hard work."
"But if he was desperate enough, perhaps he wanted his son to have the strength to aid in the rebellion."
"If that were true then the change would not be purely aesthetic, from what you have told me there is no real change in the boy's level of demonic power."
As the two discussed the consequences of Romulus' sudden change in wing aesthetic the door to the room burst open, a servant rushing into the room carrying a stack of papers.
"Lord Mephisto, Lord Tannin, I have the finished biological report on Master Romulus that you requested upon your return."
Mephisto took the papers from the servant's arms and looked over the report.
"No noticeable alterations to his DNA or magic power. Shows multiple bruises across the body as well as severe but recoverable damage to the knuckles of both hands-" Mephisto raised an eyebrow at Tannin as he said that. "No internal injuries."
Flipping through the report and skimming the information he landed on the examination of Romulus' magic.
"Enhanced levels of magic uncommon in the body of a six year old based on demonic averages. Presence of foreign magic in the system but holds similarities to his natural magic signature. Magic signature registered as from Helen Titanius. Addendum: Foreign magic found was discovered to be caused by a dormant king evil piece integrated into the host's body. Said evil piece is attuned with both Romulus and Helen Titanius' magic signatures."
Tannin looked shocked at the newfound information.
"He had a king piece inside him? No wonder he was able to endure as long as he did, just the passive boost given by such a piece would be enough to put him on par with a devil twice his age."
"Indeed, strange that neither of us noticed this. Perhaps Helen implanted it in him shortly before her death. As some sort of last gift."
As the two continued to talk the servant who was still standing, waiting to be dismissed, felt a message echoing in his communication relay spell. Activating the spell and creating a magic circle next to his ear he listened as news was relayed to him. Affirming that he had received the message he dismissed the spell and turned to his master.
"Sir." Interrupted the servant.
"Yes Damien."
"I'm sorry to interrupt sir but our guards are reporting that Grayfia Lucifuge has arrived at the gates and is asking to enter on official Maou buisness."
'Already? I expected a timely response but I had at least expected to be given until tomorrow to prepare Romulus for her arrival.' Thought Mephisto, but he could not act with open hostility nor acknowledge that Romulus was to be coached for his response to the arrival of whoever the Maous decided to send.
'But to send Sirzechs' queen, she would most likely have been part of the attack on the Titanius herself. To have her come to confront the heir of the clan she just yesterday helped destroy, has Sirzechs no heart?'
The old demon lord was shaken out of his thoughts by Damien.
"Shall I have the guards turn her away my lord?"
"No... allow her entrance, have her escorted to the primary meeting hall and tell her we will arrive shortly."
"Yes sir."
The servant Damien turned and retreated out of the room, informing the guards surrounding the estate to allow the female devil entrance. As the door closed behind him Tannin and Mephisto were once again left alone with the unconscious body of Romulus.
"Tannin I want you to go meet with Grayfia and keep her occupied while I prepare Romulus."
"What? Why don't you send some of the servants?"
"She will only bully them into taking her here. You are someone who even she is not powerful enough to cross."
"Fine I'll go."
Tannin walked out of the room and down the halls to the great hall, though as he walked he grew taller and taller until he disappeared, close to his full height so it sounded more like stomping.
Turning back to the unconscious boy in front of him Mephisto reached his hands forward until they rested slightly above Romulus' body. Channeling magic through his hands he cast a healing and rejuvenation spell he watched as the various visible bruises left over from Tannin's training faded away. Unwrapping the bandages on his hands the once bloody and broken knuckles were good as new, the only traces of the injury being that the skin was slightly red and raw from just then being regenerated. The boy's eyes fluttered open as his energy returned. Rubbing his eyes he let out a large yawn and stretched his sore arms to try to banish the lingering tiredness.
Turning his head to take in the room he saw Mephisto sitting in front of him.
"Mr. Mephisto? What's going on? Why 'm I here? Are you going to teach me magic?"
Mephisto smiled at the boy's childish excitement.
"I am sorry Romulus but not today. A member of Sirzechs' peerage has come to validate our story and your health." Romulus' face paled, his pupils dilated and his palms began to sweat, a classic show of fear.
"Calm yourself child. You have nothing to be concerned over. She is not here to harm you, she has only been sent to confirm whether or not you have any knowledge of the annihilation of your clan."
"But I do... Mr Mephisto, so can't she find out?"
"Usually yes, she will most likely attempt to read your mind during her visit. Fortunately I am not without my own tricks. I will seal your memories and replace the missing time with artificially created ones. you will be for all intents and purposes, completely unaware of what happened."
Romulus' eyes widened in amazement and fear.
"W-w-will I get my memories back?"
"Yes boy, I will return them to you when she had left."
"B-but w-what if I don't w-want them b-back?"
Mephisto's eyes softened and sympathy stirred in his normally cold heart. The possibility of permanently altering the boy's mind had never really occurred to him but hearing him ask to never have to remember the pain of seeing everything he loved disappear in front of him must have appeared as a god-send to him.
"I do not know Romulus. But would you like to know what I think about it?"
Magenta eyes looked up and gazed into heterochromatic counterparts before Mephisto took a seat next to the young devil.
"I believe that you should remember, remember what it was that your parents did for you to survive. Remember what it is you are fighting for. Use the pain to become stronger and never allow others to suffer what you have. I believe that is what your family would want."
Sniffing Romulus wiped his hand across his nose, before looking up at the old devil.
"Thanks Mr. Mephisto. I think you're right. Mommy and Daddy and everyone else would want me to remember them, even if I have to remember seeing them go. Can we do this now?"
"Of course. But before everything else. I would like to say Romulus that you are perhaps one of the wisest men I have met in quite a while, and you are only six years old... I look forwards to our talks as old men."
"The young boy smiled up at the old devil, his teeth shining as he absorbed the praise.
"Thanks Mr Mephisto."
Mephisto brought his hand up and placed his palm on Romulus' head, his hand glowing with magic as he manipulated the young boy's mind to forget the terrible tragedy that had befallen him, locking the memories behind a great inner gate and then disguising it so that it would not be found by the she-devil sitting not far away.
Romulus' eyes dulled as he forgot the terrible ordeal of the previous day and instead had his mind filled with false memories of of staying at the Mephisto compound for several weeks before the incident occurred.
In the end the change to his mind took no more than five minutes to accomplish but by the end more than two weeks of false memories were used to cover their story, made so flawlessly that only the best physics in the world would be able to tell that they were fake. The dull vacant look vanished from Romulus' eyes and right before he jumped from the bed, a confused look now on his face
"Mr. Mephisto? What 're you doing here?"
"I am here to retrieve you Romulus we are going to see Grayfia to confirm your presence here before the death of your parents."
The moment the words were spoken a depressed look entered the child's eyes, however there was none of the haunted brokenness that showed he had any knowledge of what had perpetrated it or had even been present for it.
"Ok."
The two walked out into the hallway, moving further and further towards the meeting place where Grayfia and Tannin waited.
Hours later the four maous sat at their table, Grayfia standing before them.
"What did you conclude from your visit?"
Those were the first words spoken since Grayfia had arrived. Ajuka had his hands woven together and a hard look on his face as he scrutinized the 'Strongest queen'. Grayfia herself shivered ever so slightly under his intense gaze. Despite her normally stoic and emotionless stance even she feared the green-haired superdevil sitting in front of her.
"Ajuka." Interupted Sirzechs. "Do not try to intimidate my wife."
"I am not trying to intimidate her Sirzechs. I am simply asking for a report on the mission that she was instructed to complete."
"Maou-sama." Grayfia chose to interrupt to the two before anything could happen. "I completed the mission and I can conclude that Romulus Titanius has no knowledge of what happened to his house. Mephisto may have his suspicions but they have no way of confirming it was us."
"How do you know this?"
"While I was talking to Mephisto and the boy I performed a subtle mind probe on him. Romulus' memories of the past two weeks were of training with Mephisto and Tannin and playing with others his age. I found no evidence that he even suspects us. Mephisto may yet share his suspicions with the boy but he has no knowledge of out involvement."
Sirzechs turned to Ajuka.
"What do you make of this? You were the one who claimed that Romulus knew of our actions and had informed Mephisto."
Ajuka stroked his chin thoughtfully, his brilliant mind working to connect the seemingly contradictory events that had taken place over the last few days.
"Perhaps he manipulated the boy's memories. Mephisto has been known to tamper with the minds of mortals before. I remember hearing about that German duke he conned into giving him his property by convincing him he was his long lost son. He is still using that land as the global headquarters for his Magic Association."
"True, but would he really tamper with Romulus' mind, if I recall correctly his meddling with that German duke caused the man to develop a brain tumor from the adverse reactions of demonic magic interacting with his brain."
"That was more than four hundred years ago, his technique would surely have improved."
"But would he risk the boy's health in the event that is hasn't?"
"Eight centuries ago he manipulated the mind of a seventy two year old human duke. Romulus' young mind is far more adaptable and wouldn't be effected by his demonic power in a negative way, and Mephisto is more than capable of crafting false memories to trick even the most observent beings."
"That's stupid." Serafall Leviathan's childish voice rose over other maou's.
"What?"
"You're just seeing things Aju-chan. I think that you just want someone to play with since you can't find anyone else good enough at politics give you a challenge. I'm going to go get him, then I'm going to bring him home and give him to Sona. Once I get him to live with us we can get him to become one of Sona's peerage members once she gets her evil pieces. She'll be thrilled to have a Titanius rook."
"NO!" Yelled everyone in the room. Breaking the mature and serious tone of the meeting.
"First of all Serafall." Said Sirzechs. "We all agreed that none of us could take him in currently. Secondly if we could, I would get to have him and I would give him to Rias. She will need a good piece to start off with once she gets her set and Romulus will make a fine addition to her family."
"He goes to Sona. Her big sis needs to give her a good present."
"No, Rias. She needs a good rook."
"Sona."
"Rias."
"Sona."
"Rias."
"SONA!"
"RIAS!"
"Diodora."
"What?" Both of the maous turned their heads to the green-haired devil.
"He goes to Diodora. He'll get his pieces sooner than either of your sisters and we need him bound to us as soon as possible."
"Why do you get him?" Complained Serafall. "I saw him first."
"Yes Ajuka." Agreed Sirzechs. "You shouldn't get him... But neither should you Serafall, I get to take him and give him to Rias and she'll-"
"Dibs." Interjected Ajuka, holding up one of his fingers, to emphasize his point.
"What?"
"I just called dibs. Therefore I get him."
"Damn."
"Damn!"
Both of the Maous sat down in a huff, forgetting about the international dibs protocol for a minute, just long enough for Ajuka to steal the dibs out from under them.
"Are you actually going to take him?"
All three seemed to jump in surprise as they turned to Falbium Asmodeus and Grayfia Lucifage who both looked at the bickering leaders with sweat drops.
"Ahahaha..." Sirzechs chuckled uneasily as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Of course not." Said Ajuka. "I just wanted to make sure neither of these two did anything stupid for their sisters."
Serafall pouted but didn't retort, after all everyone knew that even as a six year old Sona had Serafall wrapped around her finger and vice versa. Both sisters would do anything for the other.
Sirzechs also stayed silent, all of them knew that he was very protective of his only younger sister.
"Either way. No I don't think I am imagining thing. Mephisto has outlasted empires, both natural and supernatural, one doesn't do that without more than a few hidden cards. I just assume based on what I saw that he was playing one."
"Very well Ajuka. We will remain vigilant, however we no longer have any reason to keep tabs in the boy officially, we just have to hope that Mephisto doesn't discover the few spies we managed to bury in his home."
Romulus woke with a splitting headache, his eyes stung and his brain pounded. As a six year old even mild head pains were new and unpleasant experiences, which is why instead of getting up and looking for a way to relieve the pain Romulus chose instead to roll over and cover his head with the pillow he had under his head.
"I see that you are awake." The voice was soft but still, just hearing the softest of syllables caused the young boy's temples to throb with biting pain. "I have something for that you know."
Romulus looked out of his pillow, only to flinch away from the harsh light of what could only be mid morning. In the old devil's hands was a glass of water and two little pink tablets.
"Water and aspirin. Ironically no supernatural involvement in creating this combination, despite with the amount of 'miracles' it's delivered."
Romulus grabbed the small pink chewable and devoured it before gulping down the water in just a few seconds. It took a little while but his headache began to fade away.
"Ugh. Mr. Mephisto, what happened? All I remember is you putting your hand on my head and then nothing." His eyes widened as he remembered just who he had met. "Did it work? Did we trick her? Is she here?"
Mephisto could not help but smirk slightly at the young boy. He had not seen a young devil so full of energy since Ajuka Beelzebub (Formally Astaroth) had come to study the art of magical mathamatics from him.
"All is well boy, the memory alterations I made were more than sufficient to fool Grayfia, and you performed brilliantly. Unfortunately to undo the alterations I had to erase the memories of however much time you spent with them. Since then you have been sleeping."
"How long was I sleeping?"
"Just the night, it has been almost ten hours since Tannin and I had you taken to your rooms."
"Oh... okay. Mr Mephisto..."
"Yes child?"
"Tannin said you would teach me magic... are you really going to teach me?"
"I am Romulus. Normally I would have you enrolled with a beginners class for magic but considering your family and circumstances I believe that you need to be placed on an accelerated personalized program. You will have magic and physical training with Tannin in the mornings and I will take over and teach you new magic in the afternoons."
Free from his former head pain and having forgotten about his meeting with the 'Strongest Queen' Romulus was now a jumping bean, hopping up and down excitedly.
"Can I learn magic now? Can I? Can I? Can I? Can I? Can I? Can I? Can I? Can I? Can I? Can I?"
"I am sorry Romulus but for now you must depart with Tannin for your physical training." The door to the room opened and in walked the dragon, as if just the mention of training had summoned him.
"Come on kid we have to get you to work. Today you're going to be blocking another one of my strikes, but this time twice as strong." The dragon grinned at Romulus, showing off rows of dagger like teeth that did nothing to comfort the boy's growing sense of fear at training with his new mentor.
The moment that training with Tannin was mentioned Mephisto felt a pair of small arms wrap around his waist.
"Please... please save me."
Chuckling Mephisto removed the boy's arms from his middle and pushed him over to the dragon.
"Do not worry Romulus, Tannin was only joking, go with him and remember, you will have the opportunity to use your wings."
At the mention of his wings Romulus' eyes widened and brightened before he raced out of the room, his two wings of light and metal emerging and transitioning him from running down the hall to flying. As he took off he rocketed through the corridors as a veritable comet of light before he made a sharp turn around a corner and out of sight.
Tannin looked out of room, his eyes following the boy until he disappeared.
"Ha. The boy does seem happy to use them now. Though considering how they look I'll be surprised if he spends a waking moment without them out."
"Of course he is. I remember when I first learned to fly. It was all I could talk about for weeks."
"A young you... I don't think I can picture it. I always just assumed you schemed a way out of youth and was just born old."
"Very funny old friend. But I think if Romulus is not taken care of he will draw some unneeded attention. You know how inquisitive magicians are."
"Of course, of course, They learned curiosity from the best."
The two old friends shared a long laugh before drifting into a comfortable silence.
"Well, time to make sure the hatchling doesn't fly into anything."
Tannin lumbered out of the room and down the hall, his massive footsteps sounding loudly down the echoing hallways.
The dragon king and his young student didn't return until late in the afternoon; the dragon standing in pique form, not a scratch on his scaled skin. Meanwhile his new student was covered in bruises and cuts with another set of bandages wrapped around his hands. Despite his sorry state and all of his injuries the young boy had a smile so bright it could rival the sun. In his hands was what looked like a large dark scale.
At the gates of the castle Mephisto was there to greet the two. At the same time all around them magicians of various ages and appearances watched in awe and fascination as the two made their way into the head of the magician association's castle.
"I assume that training was fruitful." Mephisto greeted them, gazing at Romulus' happy grin.
"Yeah! I managed to stop Tannin on my fifteenth try, and I punched the bull-oak tree a thousand times and I only cried afterwards. Tannin gave me a scale from his tail. He said I could make it into cool armor or a new shield. Can I do it now, Please"
"Hold on boy, first you must learn how to blacksmith, once you can work iron and steel then you will learn to manipulate the more magical metals, only then will you be able to work dragon scales into armor or weaponry. For now, focus on your lessons with Mephisto."
The group of three rounded a corner, pushed open a set of doors, and were immediately greeted to the sight of a library larger than any Romulus had ever seen.
"Come Romulus, we will begin your lessons here."
Mephisto directed the boy to sit at a table in the center of the massive room, while Tannin reached and retrieved one of the many books from the shelves and moving to an enormous chair where he sat and peered into the tome's contents.
Mephisto ushered Romulus to a large table with dozens of scrolls spread out over the table. Romulus recognized some of them as scrolls his father had shown him during his first six months training in his powers but most were completely foreign to him. As he scanned the assembled reading material he came to something propped up against the far side of the table.
"Is that my shield?"
"Indeed Romulus, Tannin gave it to me after your first day with us. I've been studying it since."
"It's no joke Mephisto." Tannin spoke up from his place off to the side. "I saw that thing repel and throw back Mizuchi and Barren. Neither of them are weak by any means."
"Well you'll be glad to know I know what the shield is made of; one of Jörmungandr's scales."
"Jörmungandr? That lazy little snake? No wonder that thing was so strong."
"Who?" The two old beings turned their attention to Romulus, who from the looks he was giving them had no idea what they were discussing.
"My apologies Romulus, Jörmungandr is one of the dragon kings and the largest dragon in the world. It appears that one of your ancestors managed to acquire a scale of his through some means and forged a shield from it. Much like you were planning to do with Tannin's scale."
"Oh, cool. So I can make one to match?"
"Perhaps with time and practice. But for now let us concentrate on your magic lesson."
"Ok Mr Mephisto. Are we starting now?"
"Yes we will start now. First and foremost; we will have to test the nature of your magic. The Titanius clan was unique in that while they specialised in defensive magic, they could excel in any form of it. Subdivisions of your clan were made for each form of defense."
The old devil placed a large crystal orb in front of Romulus before continuing on with his explanation.
"The scrolls your father gave you were incredibly detailed in the ways of how your clan worked out their magical affinity. Place your hands on the crystal."
The young boy did so.
"What now?"
"Pour you demonic energy into it, the crystal will focus it into a shape, color, and affinity. We will be able to understand your talents from it."
He obeyed, allowing his small but sufficient reserves to pour into the crystal. At first nothing happened; the orb only seemed to glow with purple light before it dimmed. But soon something changed within the transparent expanse. Ribbons of violet light leaked into the center of the ball, collecting and condensing until in the center of the object there was... a circle.
Perhaps circle was not the best way to describe it, the energy collected in the center was constantly shifting, constantly changing shape, settling into an orb or egg shape for some time before moving, expanding and contracting into a thousand different forms.
Mephisto looked into the orb, while flipping through a book that Romulus recognized as the ancient record book of his clan.
"It appears that your magic power has not settled into a coherent form. That is impossible, the settling of magic occurs in devils within a week of their birth in order to stabilize their growth and according to your parent's research, the nature of your capabilities are settled with them. This makes no sense, its almost as if... as if."
"Mr. Mephisto?" Asked Romulus, concerned with why the man had suddenly stopped and looked as if he was contemplating the materials needed to destroy the world.
"Mephisto?" Tannin had also come to see what had his king so stumped.
"OH Helen Titanius you magnificent genius!" The man's voice was excited, full of near child-like joy.
"I see it now. Tannin, the reason she implanted the second king piece, the reason Romulus' power has not settled into a definable form. She was using her own magic to revert his power back to its primal state. The king piece releases energy to destabilize his power. Now we can settle it in any way we choose."
"What does that even mean?"
"For most beings, our natural abilities and affinities with magic are decided in our first week of life by the stimulus we undergo. Now that Romulus' demonic energies have been reverted back to their base state we can place him under the correct stimuli to let him achieve whatever form of magic we wish, and luckily for us we have the ultimate guide to Titanius magic right at our fingertips."
Mephisto patted the chair next to him.
"Come, sit, we will begin by looking over the various different forms that your family has discovered over the years. Afterwards we can determine which would be most suited to you."
Most of what was just said went so far over Romulus' head he couldn't even begin to understand what Mephisto was talking about, however, he knew that he was going to learn new magic, and that alone was more than enough to get him to run up to the table and plant himself into the designated seat. The two devils began to flip through the Titanius clan's index of auras™.
"What's that one?"
"The... lightning form, Raijin characteristic."
"What 's it do?"
"'A heavy lightning form that is most used against storm elemental enemies. Weak against magics like Water and ice magics for their ability to overwhelm defensive spells with large liquid attacks that can harm the defender with their own spells.' A good form but ineffective against members of clans such as the Sitri."
"And that one?"
"Dark form, Erberus characteristic. 'Mainly used to create defensive fields around the user to hide from and evade attacks. Weaknesses are light and lightning based attacks for their ability to dispel the darkness and expose the defender.' Good against some enemies but considering the main enemies of Devils are angels and fallen, both of whom are able to use light based attacks, it would be ineffective."
"What about that one?"
"Fire form, Surya characteristic. 'A form that uses the overwhelming power of the sun to its fullest potential, The wielder of this form had strong resistance to the power of the holy light and fire based attacks, often absorbing them to increase their own power but suffers great weakness to darkness, loosing power quickly within it.'"
"That one sounds good. I know Surya, dad read me the story of Karna."
"Karna's story is a favourite of the Titanius clan but still most of the underworld resides in the darkness, and devils are adept in using darkness magic regardless of their personal or clan affinities."
"Ok... What's that one."
"Chaos form, Chimera characteristic. 'A form that focuses on adaptability over power the chaos form chimera characteristic is a slow but powerful form, allowing the user to attune themselves with four distinct energies to an above average extent; Magic, Chakra, Touki and Heavenly power.
"Oh, that one, I want to learn that one!"
"Patience Romulus." Said Mephisto. "I haven't finished. 'However utilizing the different powers places a large strain on the body of the practitioner, Additionally the usage of counter-spells reduced the speed of casting, making progress slow for most in order to prevent the breakdown and destruction of the body from overusing the chaotic energies.' Now knowing that, are you sure that you wish to continue?"
"What kind of energies are Chakra and Touki? Are they strong?"
"They are, usually they are practiced by senjutsu students, primarily in the eastern areas as the western mythologies rely more on magic power. Son Wukong is a good example of a senjutsu master who uses chakra and touki."
Romulus looked up blankly at him.
"Who?"
"Perhaps you know him by a different name. Does Son Goku mean anything?"
"Oh you mean like Dragon Ball? I love Son Goku, but I like Gohan a little more! Does that mean I can blow up planets? Can I fight aliens like Freeza?" The young devil was jumping up and down with excitement at the thought of firing a Kamehameha.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Deafening laughter shattered the library's quiet atmosphere as Tannin nearly doubled over, choking on air as he gasped for breath. Mephisto just shook his head with a smile and place a hand on Romulus' should to get the boy to calm
"Not that Son Goku Romulus. I was referring to the monkey king. Have you every heard of 'Journey to the West'?"
"Oh isn't that the one with the monkey king under the mountain. I like that one. Dad used to read it to me before bed. Is that his name? Dad always just called him the monkey king."
"That is the one. Son Wukong was born from stone and rose to become equal to the gods, and he was a skilled practitioner of senjutsu, chakra and touki."
"Cool. That sounds really awesome. I want that one. It sounds really strong, and I think Chimeras look really cool. I wanted one as a pet but mommy and daddy wouldn't let me have one. They said the snake tail might bite me."
"That is very... interesting Romulus... Anyway, now that you have selected a nature, as you sure that you do not wish to look through again?"
"Yes."
"Very well, I will need you to undergo the correct stimuli in order for you to obtain the Chaos form. I am sorry for this Romulus, but to set your magic I believe that the only reliable way to achieve it will be to expose you to the terror and confusion of the most chaotic time of your life."
Suddenly this form didn't sound as appealing to the boy, he knew what Mephisto was talking about, young though he was. He didn't want to go back to that time, he didn't want to see his family and friends die, and he definitely didn't want to have to watch as his parents were killed in front of him again.
"Are you ready? If you wish we can spend more time and find another."
"No, Mr Mephisto. We looked through the entire book and we only found a few that were even close to this strong. I want to be strong. For my mom, for my dad, for my family, for my house. I want to make sure that I'm strong enough to make sure house Titanius won't be gone when I am."
"That is admirable, then we shall begin."
A groan erupted from a laying form. Romulus rose from his place on his new bed, rubbing his head with his eyes screwed shut to block out the light.
"Ah, you are awake."
The voice was calm but to Romulus it was far too loud for comfort.
"W-wha?"
"You have been unconscious for nearly two weeks. It seems the mental strain of reliving that night so soon was greater than we could have expected."
Suddenly it all came back, waking up back in the inferno, running through the halls in the arms of his mother. All of that death and destruction he had been too scared to notice then had been clear and perfectly preserved as he was able to take it all in. The scattered bodies that littered the corridors; adults, teen, children and even infants laid strewn on the floors, blood splattered on the walls and ceilings. The sounds of battle were all too plain. Bodies hitting the floor, metal clashing against metal and magic spells colliding were louder than he remembered.
Finally the visions and sounds were ended as the form of his mother dragged him through the library gates, waving her hands as a thick shield spell was placed over the door.
The events continued, dragging the young boy through the trauma of losing everything all over again. The view of Sirzechs speaking to his father before he killed him and his wife seemed even more terrifying to the young boy because he now knew that as much as he wanted to stop it he would be forced once again to sit by and be useless.
"I don't want to do that ever again..." He muttered under his breath.
"You will not have to, the setting of your nature into the Chaos form was successful within the first week of your rest."
Does that mean it's over?"
"Yes, it is. Now it is time for you to learn to control your new power. Come, you are seventeen days behind on your training with Tannin."
And there we go. For those of you wondering Each characteristic has an origin in mythology.
Erberus characteristic: The primordial being of darkness, so a power focused on using darkness was obvious.
Raijin characteristic: The god of Thunder in Japanese mythology.
Surya characteristic: God of the sun in hindu mythology
Chimera characteristic: A little more complex; the bodies of a lion, goat and snake (With dragon sometimes mixed in possibly due to confusion with the manticore) Thus the power to use chakra and touki, the essences of life. Born from Typhon and Echidna, the father and mother of all monsters according to greek mythology, thus the heavenly power. And demonic because of Romulus' demonic nature.
The wing change was due to the destabilising of Romulus' demonic power, reverting the wings into a form of pure energy. Once settled into the chimera characteristic the chaotic energies accentuated the change and carried it over to become a hereditary trait, similar to the phenex wings being because of their relations to the legendary phoenix.