AN: Here we bring you the second chapter. See you at the bottom!
Chapter 2
"Lord Riser, it is time to wake up. You have quite the busy schedule today." came a voice from out in the hall.
Riser Phenex awoke from his slumber at the sound of the maid's voice. He was slightly irritated at being woken up so early. But that was gone with the wind once he realized what today was. His thirteenth birthday. The day he would be receiving his evil pieces.
"I'm up!" he shouted loud enough for the maid to hear.
Riser got ready as fast as he could, barely able to contain his excitement. Brushing past every servant he came across. At the dinner table, both his parents noticed his increased vigor and hyperactivity, and shared a knowing look. They had known for a long time that Riser was excited for this day. It was only natural that he would be so hyper.
"When are we going?" He asked several times. "Are we going!? Are we going now?"
"Yes yes," Lady Phenex giggled at her youngest son's obvious excitement. "We are going now."
The trio made their way towards the brightly glowing orange magic circle that had been prepared by the servants. Stepping inside, Riser closed his eyes as the circle rose until it enveloped him in flames.
Appearing in a lab of sorts, the Phenex were greeted with the sight of a tall man with slicked back green hair in a standard noble's attire. A bit humble considering his position.
"I welcome the Phenex clan on this fine day." The man spoke with a small smile.
"Lord Beelzebub, it is an honor to see you again." Lady Phenex bowed alongside her husband and son.
The Satan quickly had them rise; he was not one for formalities nor were any of his peers.
"And I assume this is the child who is to receive his pieces today?" He asked as his gaze settled on Riser. The Phenex matriarch was quick to have him introduce himself before one of their leaders.
"It is an honor to meet you Lord Beelzebub. I am Riser Phenex, the third son of the Phenex pillar." the thirteen year old bowed. The green haired Satan just smiled.
"The pleasure is all mine, young Phenex, but just call me Ajuka. Now then, are you ready?" The blonde nodded his head excitedly as the adults in the room chuckled in amusement at how energetic he was.
The four devils made their way through the laboratory of the Beelzebub castle until they came upon an enormous machine.
"Here it is. By placing your hand right there on the circle and focusing your demonic power into it, your evil pieces will be made. Begin whenever you're ready." Ajuka explained as Riser stared at the contraption until he asked.
"What are the chances of me getting a mutation piece?" Ajuka looked as if he had been expecting such a question as he replied.
"Well normally speaking, the chances are around ten percent." the blonde nodded in understanding as he stepped forward before placing his hand on the magic circle engraved into the device.
Channeling some of his demonic power through it, there was a bright glow as he continued to pour it in until he thought it was enough before stopping and taking a step back.
Out of an opening in the side of the machine came a small box, which was ornately engraved. A few moments later, the light from the machine went out. Ajuka approached the machine, and picked the box up. Opening it, he studied the pieces inside.
A shocked look appeared on his face as he analyzed them, before it melted into a scientific smirk.
"Well," He murmured, before raising his voice to be better heard. "The chances for a mutation piece are around ten percent, and the chances for more than that are even lower. However…"
He handed the opened box to a frozen Riser. "It seems you are quite lucky Riser. Not one, not two, but three mutation pieces have been granted to you."
Riser gaped at that declaration, studying the evil pieces he had been granted. Out of the usual pieces he could see, he saw three that were obviously different. All of the pieces were a golden orange in coloration, but these three were significantly lighter, like the orange you would see after sunset.
A rook, a knight, and a pawn.
Riser sat in his room, idly staring out the window as he lay on his bed, his new set of evil pieces on the end table right next to him.
In his hand was one of those new pieces, the queen piece.
He had been quite shocked to see that he had hit the jackpot with three mutation pieces. This was a sign, he was sure of it. A higher power was telling him to beat his brother. He didn't have a peerage yet. But this was a head start for stronger pieces.
Suddenly, the blonde sat up as he just couldn't sleep. He was already ahead, why stop now? Jumping out of his comfortable bed, he hurried to get dressed before opening a window.
Leaping out, he unfurled his leathery devil wings and soared into the sky while trying not to be seen. He loathed these wings. They paled in comparison to his own Phenex wings, in beauty and literally everything else. But those would be too easily seen. He couldn't alert anyone that he was leaving right now; his parents would never allow him. But his momentum was going strong and he wasn't going to stop now.
Once he was far enough away from the mansion he dropped onto the ground as he prepared a magic circle to take him to the human realm.
Afterall, the evil pieces were made to help increase the devil population. What good would it do to reincarnate another devil?
The bright orange circle glowed as it began activating. The flames once again enveloping him just as they had this morning. As he vanished, Riser failed to notice the pair of eyes watching him from within the shadows.
Appearing in a clearing near a lake somewhere in the Western broadleaf forest in Europe, Riser once again let out his leather wings as he took to the skies.
Looking down, he tried to think of somewhere he could find a strong servant. Greece? Norway? Ireland? There were too many options and while he was educated enough to know about most mythologies, comparing them for the best results were just a little more difficult with his current capabilities.
Maybe this wasn't quite his best idea...
Deciding to think a little more on where he should start his grand quest, the Phenex descended onto the ground. He was in some sort of desert but temperature had never been an issue for him be it hot or cold.
Making his way across the great dunes of sand, Riser started to consider his options a little more carefully. One such option would be a Greek demigod or just about any demigod really. But he wasn't important enough yet to be able to negotiate such things nor was he even capable of that level of trade. Luck seemed to favor him a little but the chances of running into a demigod so casually were slim to none.
"Ugh, why is this so difficult?" He complained. Competent and available, was that too much to ask for?
Deciding that this was taking too long, Riser unleashed his magnificent wings of fire before taking to the skies once again.
Riser loved flying. It was one of his favorite things about being a devil. Being able to soar above and reach the sky. To run a hand through the wet clouds. The wind in his face. He felt unbeatable and he loved it all.
That's when he realized he was running out of time. He had already been out for about four hours. That was half the time he had before he had to get back or someone would notice. Though coming back with a servant would mean they'll notice anyway...
From his current elevated position, he could see the sun slowly but surely rising in the east.
Damn it.
Thinking enough was enough, Riser decided he'd settle for anyone at this point. That's when he heard a scream. Looking down, the Phenex could see explosions of fire and blasts of magical energy being thrown around left and right.
"Candidates!" The boy laughed in "victory" at his good fortune before diving downwards as fast as he could.
Yubelluna was not having a good day. She had started off that morning happy as can be, getting ready for a mage's exam to finally become a member of the Golden Dawn.
She had come from a small family of magicians and had been training all her life, practicing her fire magic and advancing them into explosions.
She had been so happy when she had received a letter from the Golden Dawn that her skills had been recognised, that she could help her family.
All of that went down the shitter the moment her family stepped through the magic circle. It wasn't an invitation and it wasn't the Golden Dawn. No, it was a damn slave trade organization made up of stray magicians.
She had immediately fired a magic bomb and blew up everything in her escape, her parents... hadn't been as lucky. Her father had been stabbed in an effort to block a direct hit aimed for her and her mother had been struck down while she was trying to make a circle for them to escape with.
It hurt Yubelluna greatly, but she couldn't dwell on her losses when she was being chased by another twenty or so men.
She ran as fast as she could, firing bomb after bomb in hopes of deterring her pursuers to no avail.
Until she noticed the form of a little brunette girl not much younger than her locked in a cell as she ran past. A look of absolute terror in the girl's eyes.
Using her magic, Yubelluna quickly blew open the bars of the cell and the wall behind it leading to the outside.
"Run!" The bomb mage yelled as she grabbed hold of the girl's arm and pulled her along until she started to run on her own.
Apparently the base was in some forest. They didn't know where to go, only that they had to keep going.
The mass of mages were slowly gaining ground even with all the spells that Yubelluna fired at them. The other girl was just too slow, obviously from the lack of nutrition judging by how thin she looked.
It wasn't all too surprising considering she was waiting to be sold off by her captors in a cell.
Deciding to switch tactics, the purple haired mage turned to the other girl while momentarily ceasing her bombardment. Charging her magic.
"We need to split up if both of us want to get out of here, when you hear the explosion go left and don't look back" the brunette just nodded as she panted, too tired to give a verbal answer.
Yubelluna looked back. Twenty meters. That was the gap between them and the mages. Just enough to make this work.
Using all of her built up magic, Yubelluna discreetly placed a giant land mine where she stepped. She looked back and watched.. and watched... and... now!
Activating the bomb, both girls heard a tremendous explosion that was quickly followed by the satisfying screams of numerous people.
The two girls quickly went in opposite directions. A trail of fire circling behind the younger girl so that the magicians would focus on the purple haired mage.
Once again a multitude of spells were being fired in an attempt to slow down the pursuers.
Unfortunately, Yubelluna was too focused on those behind her that she wasn't aware of those that had blocked off her only way to escape until it was almost too late. Completely trapped, Yubelluna had nowhere left to run.
"You got nowhere left to go now ya' little bitch. So how about you just come along quietly, aye?" One of them said. He looked to be the one in charge with the staff and the cleaner robes.
"I'd rather die" The purple haired girl growled as the men just laughed.
"That can be arranged" and with that, the leader's staff sparked with electricity as he took aim. Yubelluna shut her eyes as she prepared for the worst... only it never came.
Opening her eyes, the young mage was shocked to see that a boy roughly her age had landed in front of her; effectively shielding her with his own body.
'W-who?' she wondered in her mind.
Riser didn't know what possessed him to take the hit instead of just creating a shield.
He had been working on breaking that habit of his. To not rely so much on his regenerative abilities if he could help it. Watching his brother's battle had taught him that.
Though in the back of his mind, Riser probably knew that the attack wouldn't harm him. Middle class devils couldn't even leave a mark on him. Much less a stray magician from the human realm.
Though he couldn't hide the small grimace on his face. Lightning was lightning and no amount of regeneration was gonna help him ignore the numbness.
When the humans saw the small blonde boy descend from the skies and take the hit like nothing, they grew apprehensive. Even more so when orange flames burst forth from his body at the point of impact, it seemed to be healing him.
"I will say this once and once only, leave" Riser said, voice full of authority. Some of the magicians took a step back while others scoffed at the perceived arrogance.
"Who the hell do you think you are brat?" the leader growled.
"You really think you can fight all of us here, hot stuff?" Another questioned in amusement. The others were slowly gaining confidence as well once they realized that they still had the numbers advantage. Who'd be afraid of a kid anyway?
"So be it" the young Phenex sighed. Immediately a fire burst forth from his body as he prepared himself for battle.
Yubelluna flinched at the sight thinking she was about to be burned only to realize that the flames didn't hurt. If anything they felt warm and comforting.
Focusing back to the fight the young girl watched in awe of her mysterious possible savior as the magicians tried again and again, spell after spell, trying in vain to damage the boy who was practically a living incarnation of fire.
Riser responded in kind by unleashing a devastating torrent of flames as he slowly picked off the men one by one until three of the mages combined their magic into one water spell.
Water struggled against fire as it slowly but surely gained ground making its way towards the two children.
"There they are" turning around, Yubelluna saw the remaining magicians that had been chasing her. Though there were only about six or so out of the original twenty. They seemed to have a couple burn marks too.
If it weren't for the current circumstances, the young girl would've been pretty smug about having taken out so many mages who were stronger than her.
Riser saw this and decided he needed to end this before things got anymore out of hand than they already were.
Creating a dense ball of fire inside the torrent of flames that was currently pushing against the pillar of water, he passed it through the current.
The miniature sun imploded right before it touched the water as a huge shockwave knocked everyone onto the ground.
Quickly standing, Riser pulled the girl he was trying to save close, drawing a small shriek from the purplette before using every bit of power and technique he had over the elements of fire and wind to create a large tornado that seemed to cover the entire forest in flames.
The magicians could only stare in awe before a wave of death in the form of fire consumed them, leaving nothing but the sounds of their screams behind.
Riser fell to his knee after having used so much demonic energy. He doubted he could even teleport right now, which was going to be a huge problem. How the hell was he supposed to get home before his parents woke up now?
Not to mention the forest fire that he had unintentionally started with that little stunt he pulled. He was going to be in so much shit for this.
His inner turmoil was cut cold by a deep chuckle echoing through the fire as a figure emerged.
Yubelluna, who had been trying to help him up, also froze upon seeing the leader of the magicians still alive. How was that possible? That last attack the boy used should've definitely gotten all of them.
"Now that was truly impressive. If I hadn't used my sacred gear I'd be dead for sure" the mage laughed as he revealed what looked to be a small dagger.
"This is called negate. With it, I am able to negate a single physical variable from affecting me," he smirked.
"In this instance, I negated the variable to be burned. I definitely felt the heat though, you had me sweating bullets before even that evaporated" the magician further explained before sneering.
"You also managed to piss me the hell off."
He shot a concentrated bolt of magic at the duo who prepared for the impact only to be pushed down as familiar mop of brown hair crossed Yubelluna's peripheral vision. And then the scream reached her ears. Dread filled her heart.
Getting up, her fears were confirmed when she found the body of the girl she had helped earlier with a hole in her stomach.
"No..." a tear rolled down her cheek. She didn't know why, she had barely even talked to the girl, let alone gotten her name. But regardless she cried.
Meanwhile, Riser just stared at the corpse in shock and anger.
'It's because I'm still weak,' he thought bitterly.
"Ahh damn, that's even more money down the drain, fucking idiot." The offender cursed.
Riser grew furious. His mother had always taught him that a life, no matter how big or small, was precious and should always be treasured. He wanted to teach this man a lesson but he knew he couldn't.
Neither he nor the girl had the strength to beat him, they were too exhausted.
Just as the man was about to fire another spell however, a particular 'X' shaped blade of wind cut him right in half at the waist. He couldn't even scream before the two halves fell.
'That was...' Riser knew that technique. He had seen it all his life. It was his second brother's signature after all. A second later the inferno of a forest fire was gone. Leaving nothing but the burnt surroundings as evidence.
"So this is where you ran off to," a voice to his right said.
Riser turned his head towards the direction of the voice and sure enough there he was. Standing there in a golden suit with his equally golden hair swept back like a greaser. There stood Raze Phenex.
Out of his two older siblings, Raze was definitely more of the 'cool brother' than Ruval.
Not that Riser really had anything against his eldest brother besides that one time when he ate the burrito that Riser had been saving.
It had all his favorites in it and he had been looking forward to it after a long day of training.
Only to look in the fridge and find it missing!
Even when he had taken the time to reorganize the whole thing so that it wouldn't be seen in the corner! And when he confronted him about it the bastard just laughed stating that he should've been faster!
The prick!
And as if to rub salt on the wound, he gave him a single U.S dollar! Currency that was used in the human world! What the hell was he supposed to do with that!?
Ahem...
"H-Hey Raze" Riser greeted nervously.
While he is the cool brother, he also now had blackmail material until his younger brother was too old for it to matter.
His thoughts stilled as he remembered the girl who had taken the hit for him. Someone who he now owed a life debt to.
The nervous look on his face turned to one of seriousness and determination, something Raze instantly noticed.
"I'll explain later, there's something I have to do right now," he said before turning his back to face the body that the other girl was currently crying over.
Raze lifted an eyebrow before he finally took in the scene and figured out what was going on. He also realized what his brother was probably going to do and it was confirmed when Riser summoned his set of evil pieces.
"Are you sure about this?" He questioned.
Riser nodded.
"I owe her my life," he replied before watching a pawn piece float out of the box.
The mutated one.
Both brothers were shocked to find that out of all the pieces, it would be that one.
Then again, Raze could definitely feel the aura of a sacred gear coming from the girl, quite a strong one too considering the output was coming from a dead body. Certainly no longinus, but withhis brother's current level of power this would definitely be a boon.
"Well," Riser started.
"Here goes nothing"
CrimsonAzazel's AN - Hey guys, jesus it's been forever. Firstly, I'd like to apologize for the long term hiatus. It was completely my fault as life hit the shitter and I abandoned both the story and the collab team but we're back in action and ready to surpass Silly Songbird! Unfortunately RedxEagl3 will no longer be joining us but we'll still try to make it work. Thank you for your patience. I also realize that this chapter is actually really short compared to what we wanted but we figured it'd be best to give you guys a lil something. We promise the next chapter will definitely be longer. Anyways, hope you enjoyed and be sure to favorite, follow, and review! - ja ne
Houvdon: Ya'll thought we were gone? Well, we back. Hope you guys all enjoyed and stay tuned for the next chapter. Just hope it doesn't take another year or two to come out. Until then, see you guys. Make sure to check out my newest story, "Midnight Sun". Just ignore the shameless advertising xd