Hey everyone, now I know this has been a long time coming and I'm not denying that I dropped the ball. I just really didn't know how I wanted this chapter to go and in the end it just got stuck in the works as I focused on other aspects of my life. Also everyone I need a beta for both my stories and maybe more to come, someone to bounce ideas off and to look over my work, Hopefully having someone to work with will motivate me cause my self-discipline is shit.
Have fun and Enjoy my latest piece.
The Maous sat around their table, their abrupt meeting called to discuss the match that had just occured.
"We need to keep him under observation." Sirzechs said.
"Agreed." Serafall nodded.
"The boy's strength is somewhat concerning." Falbium agreed with his fellows.
The three devil lords turned to look over at their unofficial leader when it came to matters of the Titanius Clan.
"We can't." Ajuka said. "At least not legally. We have no justification or jurisdiction, and Mephisto will fight us."
"We're the lords of all the underworld, he can't fight us and win." Serafall narrowed her eyes at Ajuka.
Ajuka glared at the Leviathan, allowing some of his demonic power to leak out. The blast caused a green glow to appear around the man and a great wind to pick up, ruffling the clothes of the other Maous.
"We control barely a quarter of this level of the underworld Serafall." He growled. "As Maou of foreign relations you should know that we are not all powerful, even within our own realm, or has your obsession with glittery wands and your sister blinded you to basic facts."
Serafall's own face took on a dark tone, shrouding her in shadow. Her demonic power began to leak as well, even more violently than Ajuka's. The floor, walls and ceiling of the Maou's meeting room began to glitter as they were coated in a thick layer of frost and ice.
"Don't patronise me Ajuka Beelzebub." Serafall's voice held a hard edge. "I understand what's at stake here. I do however, disagree that we must perform all of our actions in the shadows. If we send someone, someone loyal to us and capable, as a student to study under the magic association, then Mephisto cannot reject them without reason. Once there our man can work from the inside and help us from there."
"Mephisto will never trust whoever we send." Ajuka told her.
"That's the point silly." Serafall's serious expression morphed back into her normal playful smile. "While old 'Phisto is occupied dealing with the obvious spy, we sneak in more of our people behind his back, or find someone we can use who Mephisto doesn't suspect."
The other Maous exchanged glances.
"It could work." Sirzechs said, rubbing his chin. "We'd need to send someone who Mephisto cannot dismiss, someone of high enough standing that we can make a stink if he objects."
"I have someone that fits." Ajuka said. "I've been bringing her up with Mephisto for a while now and he's been receptive to the idea, I believe it'll be distinct enough that he won't be as suspicious."
"Who is it?" Sirzechs asked.
High above, in the human world, a young man awoke from a deep sleep.
Romulus Titanius rolled around in his bed, taking his time to stretch his sore body and roll around in his plush, comfortable bed.
"Wake up kid."
Romulus' eyes cracked open to see Tannin looming over him. Groaning the boy pulled the blankets over his head and attempted to go back to sleep.
"Don't want to Mr. Tannin." He grumbled from his nest of blankets.
Tannin smirked.
"Then should I tell Vali to go home and mark this week as your loss?"
The covers flew off faster than Tannin had ever seen, and by the time they hit the floor, Romulus was out of bed and the shower was running, spewing steam out into the bedroom from the adjoining bathroom.
"No Mr. Tannin, just give me a minute and I'll be there."
The dragon king chuckled at the boy's vigor, just the day before, the kid had exhausted himself to unconsciousness taking down a Phenex and barely a day later he was raring to go against the White Dragon Emperor. Not that he was the only one, Adrianna Lorelei; the new queen to Romulus, had had very much the same response when faced with the opportunity to train. The girl had like Romulus leaped out of her bed, more than eager to join in on the boys' exercises. Tannin shook himself out of his musings when the sound of spraying water tapered off and the sound of wet footsteps began.
"Hurry up kid, Vali's waiting and you know that boy's not the most patient of people."
"Coming Mr. Tannin." Romulus ran over from the bathroom to his closet, a large fluffy towel held tightly around himself. The young boy tore through his dresser, clothes laid neatly in racks by servants sent flying as he search for something he would find acceptable for training. His chosen outfit in hand the boy rushed back into the still damp bathroom and within seconds emerged.
Romulus's taste in clothes seemed to mirror many his age as he preferred bright colors and designs, no matter how counterproductive to stealth and camouflage they might have been. On that particular day the boy had chosen to don a set of bright blue shorts with a white and purple patterned running shirt.
Tannin shrugged non-committaly at his charge and urged the boy out of the front gate and over to the Bull-Oak woods where his rival waited. Waiting in the clearing was, unsurprisingly, his queen Adrianna Lorelei and, a bit of a shock; Azazel and Mephisto.
Romulus shared a glance with his two friends, both of whom seemed to be just as in the dark as he was about the impromptu meeting. Once the Titanius heir had reached the other group, moving to stand beside his sparing partners, the two adult men seemed to finish their conversation.
"Ah, Romulus." Mephisto acknowledged the arrival of his ward with a small smile. "I see Tannin didn't have as much trouble getting you as I thought."
"No way Mr Mephisto." Romulus cheered, pumping his fist. "No way I wouldn't come to a fight with Vali."
The White Dragon Emperor, who had been standing to Romulus' right, smirked.
"Yeah. If he didn't I'd come and kick his butt even if he was asleep."
"Guys..." Adrianna sighed, warning the two about what would happen if they angered the newly reincarnated devil queen.
"Well." Mephisto said. "I'll not interrupt your practice or Tannin's training, but all three of you, please know that you'll be undergoing some special training once this match is over."
The eyes of all three children lit up at the mention of special training. While most kids would have balked at the idea of hard work the opportunity to learn new magics and skills were opportunities that none of them would pass up.
"Oh, what is it Lord Mephisto?" Adrianna asked excitedly.
"Yeah, old man what've you got planned?" Vali crossed his arms skeptically.
"Well Vali." Azazel said. "Since little miss Adrianna managed to unlock a partial balance breaker-"
"You did what?" Vali asked, his voice rising as he turned towards his friend.
"Um, yeah. I don't really remember it all that great, but Lord Mephisto told me I'd managed to partially unlock it through stress."
Vali grunted in frustration, not at Adrianna, but more at himself for not yet achieving such a power himself.
"As I was saying before you rudely interrupted me." Azazel pouted. "I'll be taking you and Adrianna with me to do some training on unlocking your balance breakers."
Vali and Adrianna exchanged excited looks, smiles blooming on their faces, but it didn't last before Vali's face clouded.
"What about Romulus? He doesn't have a Sacred Gear, he can't train with us."
Adrianna also looked torn, glancing between Azazel and her King.
"Don't worry too much about that little lady." Azazel said, smirking at the worried girl. "Romulus won't be joining you for this particular workout but Mephisto's arranged for some specialised training for him."
"Really?" Romulus asked, face breaking into a grin.
Mephisto smiled.
"You've progressed well in the last three years Romulus." Mephisto said. "You and Adrianna have grown at an incredible rate so far, but you've begun to plateau in your magical growth in relation to Ms. Lorelei. I believe that your body and magic abilities are strong enough now to begin your training in chakra and heavenly power."
"Chakra!?" The young boys voice rose almost to a squeal. The idea of training in the ways of chakra had been enticing since he'd learned that the likes of Son Wukong were masterful users of it. "I'm gonna get to learn to use it? Oh, can I learn from Sun Wukong? Whose teaching me? Can we start now? When do we go? Are the others gonna learn it too?"
"Hold on Romulus." Mephisto calmed his young charge, placing his hands on his shoulders to stop his excited hopping.
"You will be learning from one of our allies from the Hindu pantheon. I have spoken with an old friend of mine who is willing to appoint one of his servants to teach you."
"Cool, when is he coming Mr. Mephisto?" Romulus asked.
"I'm afraid you won't be training here Romulus." Mephisto said. "Your teacher in chakra has instructed that your training will take place in the Hoarian Mountains in the underworld."
Romulus' eyes widened, and fear began to take root inside him. The Hoarian mountains were one of the entrances to the mortal world and into several other underworlds, it was a place where men and gods had crossed over so many times that the entrance was almost tangible. More importantly, it was one of the few points of crossing from the underworlds of various mythologies up to the earth that laid outside of the main Maous' territories. The snowy peaks of the Hoarian mountains of the underworld was where, thousands of years ago, the Titanius clan built their homes.
"Do I have to Mr Mephisto?" He asked, voice going small.
Mephisto's eyes conveyed genuine sympathy for the plight of his young charge.
"I'm afraid so Romulus, not only did your tutor insist upon it, it is time for you to return and take command of your families estates."
Romulus' fists clenched and his body shook but he didn't protest. Instead, he simply turned to his friend and offered a smirk, which was returned, albeit with the White Dragon Emperor offering his own look of understanding.
"Let's go Vali. I want to see just how much stronger you've gotten since our last fight."
Vali grinned, a hungry look on his face.
"Me too. Let's see if you can give me a better meal-ugh."
Adrianna smacked the White Dragon Emperor.
"You've got to stop trying to be like those anime characters."
Laughing alongside his two friends Romulus got into position across the clearing from Vali while Adrianna, Tannin, Mephisto and Azazel took to the skies, flying until they were far enough away to not get caught up in the fight.
"Let's go, White."
"Yeah, I'm gonna win, Purple."
As one, Romulus and Vali launched themselves at each other.
The old Titanius clan estates was a thing of beauty. Built piece by piece into an environment that was never meant to hold life the Titanius, as they were wont to do, had adapted and endured. Over the course of decades and centuries the Titanius clan estates were as large and ornate as anything found in the main underworld faction or the lands of other religions. The compound was built high in the Hoarian Mountains, at altitudes exceeding thirty-thousand feet where most life would have died off from lack of resources. The Titanius, however, had seen the inhospitability of the mountains that rested in the centre of their territories as a challenge to overcome. Over the next many hundreds of years the clan compound had grown from a simple gathering of huts and houses, protected from the elements by the magics of those who lived there, to a sprawling self-contained community.
Romulus breathed deeply, taking in as much of the thin, clear air as he could. The teleportation circle that Tannin had created left them standing in front of the main gates of the clan grounds, protected from the cold and elements but still left out of the Titanius home.
"Is the teacher going to let us in?" Asked Romulus, looking up at Tannin.
"The teachers aren't going to be here until tomorrow kid." Tannin replied.
"Then why are we here?" Romulus demanded, looking fearfully around, as if he expected something to jump out from every shadow.
"You need to open the gates kid." Tannin pushed the boy forward. "It's your home. Mephisto's spent some time bringing the place back up to code, but only you and he have the key to the gate, and only you can to open it for any of us to be allowed in."
Romulus shuffled forward, moving closer to the closed gate. Staring at it, he reached out his hand towards the Titanius clan seal that was engraved on the front of the gate. he had almost placed his hand in the cool stone when he flinched back, staring at a discoloration he now realised to be the remnants of a heavy burn that had scarred the stone.
"I can't Mr. Tannin." He shuddered and fell on his backside, breathing heavily as images of flames flashed in front of his face.
Tannin stared at the hyperventilating boy, shrinking down so that he was only of slightly above average height for a human. He patted the boy on the back trying to get him to calm down and end his episode.
"Just breath boy." He muttered. "You're fine, we're here. You just need to breath."
Romulus took in several shuddering breaths, feeling light headed as the thin air didn't give him the room in his lungs to panic. self-preservation and some semblance of rational thought forced he breathing to slow down. After a few minutes he finally climbed to his feet, turning to look at his mentor who had taken a step back to allow his charge space.
"I'm... I'm ok now Mr. Tannin." Romulus stuttered.
"Ok kid, ready to open those doors?" his mentor asked.
"Y-yeah."
Romulus once again strode towards the gate, more confident in his second attempt to return to his childhood home. Placing his hand against the doors of the compound the door lit up in a blazing display, showing off that the door and its attached wall was not the only defense left behind by his family. Romulus felt his magic drained out of him quickly until he was nearly drained dry. However before he could yank his hand off of the gate that was draining his power the pull cut off. The gate flashed a brilliant royal purple, and climbing around the walls and through the air a defensive shield spell became visible, surrounding the entire compound and forming a massive dome that encased the entire compound.
"Well well." Tannin sounded impressed. "Didn't think the shield would still be up after all this time, not to mention the beatings it must've taken. Well, come on kid, time to see what Mephisto's done with the place."
It turned out Mephisto hadn't done much with the compound, aside from a very thorough repair job that seemed to have taken care of most, if not all of the damages brought about by the Maou invasion three years prior, there wasn't much in the way of new decoration or artistry. Romulus himself had quite a few memories of many of the halls they passed through, filled with wandering clan members going about their days and covered in paintings, tapestries and other assorted works of art from across time. Now most of the walls were barren, save only where there was the occasional artistic covering to conceal the last of the unfinished repairs. The compound was also predictably much warmer than the snowy terrain outside as the stones themselves seemed to exude warmth that seeped deep into Romulus' bones.
The dragon and the devil walked through the wide, repaired halls towards the main clan meeting rooms.
"I never realised how big this place was." Romulus muttered as he looked down on the huge compound which looked more like a small town from a large meeting room.
"Your ancestors might have built this place larger than necessary." Tannin agreed. "But I suppose they were just waiting for the clan to become large enough to fill those areas."
Romulus looked down over his family's home... his home.
"I'm the only one left." he said, tears leaking out of his eyes.
"Don't worry kid." The dragon patted the young boy's shoulder. "Come on, let's pick out some rooms for you and the tutor to stay in while you train."
The two descended from the high vantage point down into the clan proper, wandering throughout the massive compound until Romulus found a large, furnished set of rooms that Mephisto had obviously prepared ahead of time in case Romulus ever returned to his family's ancestral holdings. Letting Tannin settle their things Romulus broke off from his guardian to explore the home he hadn't seen in over three years.
The halls felt haunted as he wandered through them. His mind played vague memories of his time living amongst his family. He could almost hear the laughter of his cousins and relatives he'd played with, see his younger self chase, and be chased by, those other kids.
But more vivid than those happy memories were those of fire and fury. The hallways would occasionally light up with imaginary flames and Romulus would break out into a run, trying in vain to outrun the memories. He ran as fast as he could, sprinting down the halls, until he came to the library of his family compound, the place his life had changed forever. He stood in front of the door, heaving desperately for breath as his fear rose in his chest and transformed into a near all-encompassing panic.
Romulus took off again, not daring to wait and see if the library had been changed from when he'd last been there. He sprinted once more through the halls of the Titanius estate, only vaguely aware of how truly large his family's home had been, before he say shafts of sunlight illuminating the corridor. He flung himself out of the halls, out of his visions, and into the light of the day. The sunlight so far up in the mountains, above the clouds that might have mitigated their brightness, was nearly blinding and Romulus spent his first few moments in the courtyard letting his eyes adjust to the light as he gasped for air to alleviate his overworked lungs.
When he could finally see something other than blinding lights, he was taken by the look of the courtyard. It seemed to have been built as a form of training ground. Numerous posts used for martial arts sparring were set up in the area, places in a formation that surrounded a designated sparring area. Past all of that, there was a small waterfall that poured into a basin that itself drained into two small streams that ran out of each side of the area. in the center of the basin there was a small raised island with grass and a single tree and on it with a small pile of rocks that created a calming atmosphere.
Romulus focused on the calm clear smell of the air and the sight of the water as it flowed. Stumbling over he hopped across the moderate divide created by the water and sat at the center of the small raised island. Romulus took a moment to find that the tree that rose out of the island was in fact a bull-oak. He ran his hand over the bark, not magically enhanced like the one's at Mephisto's headquarters, and admired that the tree had survived so long, even enduring the near extinction of his family.
"You and me." He muttered to the dark brown bark. "I guess we're the last of the family eh?"
Sitting with his back to the tree Romulus assumed a meditative position, dropping his mind into a light trance and focusing on his magic.
He could feel the roiling power within himself. The demonic energy was always there, always present, and always dangerous. Mephisto had warned him when he'd chosen the aspect of the Chimera that the chaotic nature would be something that would make his growth random and in some cases sporadic. Sometime he would grow powerful enough to beat Vali or Adrianna for weeks in a row and then he'd stall for months, which would allow his friends/rivals to catch up and even surpass him in some cases.
More recently he'd been training in the use of his heavenly power. Though like his chakra he hadn't learned how to harness it properly yet it was still a source of power that needed to be kept in balance with his demonic power and chakra.
Concentrating he allowed the gates and locks he had on his power to loosen. The energies streamed out into the rest of his body before they fed into each other. Demonic energy into chakra, chakra into heavenly power, heavenly power into demonic power. By allowing each of his seperate energies to simultaneously be emptied, filled and converted into each other over and over again his body slowly adapted to the chaotic mess that was the combinations of those three powers and allowed the three energies to stay roughly equal in terms of volume within him.
The exercise hadn't been easy at first. None of his three disparate energies had responded well to being mixed, however Mephisto had shown him that the proper way to work around the pain was to work to convert each energy into the same type as whatever core they would travel to. By converting them before they came in contact to the other sources of energy he could avoid the pain of mixing energies he wasn't yet strong enough to combine.
Romulus allowed the meditation and the feeling of circulating his power to dominate his mind and attention. The world around him slowly faded away and became nothing more than the constant cycle of power. Romulus' eyes flickered behind his eyelids and he could see a symbol filling up the darkness. Three points, with lines that bend and circles inwards, forming three eye-like shapes that fed into each other infinitely.
"Romulus"
Tannin's voice cracked through the peaceful nothingness that had taken over Romulus' senses. The dragon king was watching him from the entrance of the training yard. The underworld's sun seemed to be in the act of setting, painting the clouds that surrounded them a myriad of different colors and shades.
"You've been out there a while kid." Tannin said gesturing for the boy to approach. Romulus got up from his place, reeling in his powers and noticing that as he did only then did the cold of the night seem to invade the space. He unfurled his wings and used them to lengthen his jump, carrying him from the small island to his waiting teacher.
"I lost track of time." Romulus said embarrassed. "I was, nice. I was just balancing my energy."
"I saw." The great dragon observed. "You've gotten better, the entire area was warmed by the energy radiating off you, I'm sure your teachers'll be happy they won't have to teach you how to keep your powers level with each other."
"Yeah." Romulus smiled. "I've been practicing, just like Mr Mephisto said."
"I lot more than old 'Phisto told you to. You've been gone for hours."
"I'm sorry Mr Tannin, I told you I lost track of time."
"No worries kid, it's nothing to make a stink out of."
Dinner passed quickly and soon Romulus found himself in his newly allotted room. He slept uncomfortably through the night, not because the bed itself wasn't good, it certainly was. There was just something unnerving about being back in his family's old house.
Come the morning dawn Romulus was woken by the loud roaring voice of Tannin calling the young devil to the Titanius clan's dinning room for breakfast. Apparently a small contingent of servants had arrived the day before while Romulus had been meditating and had prepared both last night's dinner and the morning's breakfast, though Romulus didn't remember seeing anyone the night before.
Entering into the large dining room Romulus saw Tannin sitting at the table across from two other figures. One was a beautiful woman. She was tall and slender, with pitch black hair falling in soft waved down past her shoulders to her mid back. Her skin was a darker olive tone, well tanned and flawless. she was leaning forward, fingers interweaved in front of her face and a small smile pulling at her features. She was dressed in a sky blue gown that seemed far too thin for the cold climate of his home. In fact, the material seemed so thin that he could see the outline of her body underneath it. The gown hung off of one of her shoulders, plunging downward to almost reveal her breast before it looped back around. The dress was pulled together by a sash at her waist, outlining her figure and allowing it to float down her legs.
The other person was confusing to Romulus. Firstly he couldn't tell whether they were a man or a woman. Somehow, they had features that seemed to make them fit into either category, but at the same time, neither gender felt like they belong to them. They had long blue hair, the likes of which Romulus had never seen before, and more than just the odd color, the hair seemed to be made of... crystals? That was the only way Romulus could describe them. The hair was like a curtain of fluid gemstones. Their skin was pale, though it didn't seem to be naturally so, instead it was as if the paleness was from a life kept away from sunlight. They wore a black business suit and a black tie over a white shirt. The suit's arms however ended, it seemed, at the upper arms with a circle of white fabric. The rest of their arms were covered in black gloves that disappeared completely into the arms of the suit.
Tannin finally noticed the young heir standing at the entrance of the room, observing the two new additions who seemed to be joining them for their morning meal.
"Romulus, come here boy. I need to introduce you to your tutors."
The two turned to him and even from their distance sitting at the table Romulus could see that the woman had bright, golden eyes while the other person had blue eyes that shone like their hair, like two precious stones set into their sockets.
"Hello young one." The non-gendered person said, their voice a curious mix of male and female that only made Romulus more confused. "It's nice to meet you."
Romulus slowly made his way over to the table, taking a seat next to Tannin and glancing somewhat warily at the two. The non-gendered person didn't seem to take his lack of response to heart, instead just offering him a kind smile before returning to his rather sizeable breakfast.
"It is a pleasure to meet you little lord." Said the woman in a soothing voice. "I'm looking forwards to having you as a student."
"Romulus," Tannin nudged the boy's side. "These are your new tutors, introduce yourself."
"But they know who I am." Romulus told the dragon.
"Kid, don't be difficult. What did Mephisto tell you about manners?"
"Ok Mr Tannin." Romulus grumbled before turning to his newly revealed tutors. "Sorry I was rude. I'm Romulus Titanius. Welcome to my family's home." He gave a small bow of his head, as Mephisto had taught him to do when welcoming people into his home.
"Well well well." The woman cooed at him. "Aren't you just the most polite little man I've ever met. If you weren't so important I'd just eat you right up, or keep you as one of my little pets."
"Now, now." The non-gendered person patted the woman on her bare shoulder. "You know why we're here Circe. We need to train the boy, not take him home." They turned back towards Romulus and gave their own bow of the head. "Thank you for welcoming us into your home young lord. I hope you prosper under out tutelage and that we do not impede your growth."
"Oh, how could he not grow. He'll be learning under his precious mistress."
"Romulus." Tannin said, talking over the two tutors. "These are your tutors; Circe is here to instruct you in the ways of heavenly power and magic, and Asushunamir will begin your training in chakra."
WHOOOOOOO! Finally! This took forever and a half. but it's finally done. I know this will just be the intro to another training arc but it will have some story progression to go with it and we will get to see some differing points of view as we spend the next few months/chapters learning about how all three of out trio will be training and how they will improve. We all know that both Vali and Adrianna have their training under Azazel and Mephisto, arguably two of the foremost experts on sacred gears and the evil pieces. Together they'll be working out favorite dragon emperor and magic queen into suitably powerful badasses.
Romulus' tutors were a little bit difficult. Originally it was just going to be one tutor introducing Romulus to Chakra while heavenly power would come late but then I was trying to write an answer to Romulus questioning this and I couldn't find an answer beyond 'because I said so' so I changed it.
Asushunamir is a character from ancient Babylonian mythology who was created to charm Ereshkigal so they could save Ishtar who had been trapped in the underworld. He gained the water of life, which he used to cure Ishtar and help her escape. As for the gender non-binary thing well Asushunamir was created to be ambiguous, neither male nor female, and in some other myths two beings take their place. I don't have a huge background in Babylonian mythology, choosing instead to stay in my preferred greek, roman and egyptian myths but I've been branching out so you might see more people from a variety of mythologies.
Circe is a sorceress from greek mythology and is the daughter of the sun god Helios, and in many accounts the goddess of magic Hecate. This is the version that I go with since it makes more sense for her to teach Romulus magic and heavenly power if her parents are two gods and her mother is the goddess of magic.
Next chapter we'll continue with training and check in with Vali, Adrianna and possibly the Maous and other factions responses to Romulus' victories.