Roxas wasn't expecting as many people to be sat and stood around as there were, once he and Palutena re-appeared in their living room through their transportation-circle. Just about everyone, from Valian to Isane to Saeko to Venelana to Elsha, everyone who presently lived under the Nephalem's roof, seemed to be gathered in the living room. The presence of said Nephalem and his first wife was instantly noticed by everyone in question, with Elsha being the first to speak up once everyone had turned towards them.

"So? Which is it?"

Roxas and Palutena looked at each other for a second, before looking back at the group gathered in the room, seemingly silently debating over which of them were to reveal what everyone seemed to want to know. Roxas gave a small nod, backing down as Palutena cleared her throat, taking a breath.

"…Girl."

Almost instantly, an assortment of mixed cheers and groans erupted from everyone in the room. Rias, Akeno and Mirajane shared what looked like a three-way hi-five, while Valian looked over at Issei a smug, victorious-looking expression on her face.

"Damn." Roxas remarked, turning to Palutena. "Didn't know that whether our kid would come out with a dick or a vag was such a hot topic of debate."

"You didn't know, Roxas?" Venelana asked, taking a couple of steps out of the crowd and towards her grandson and granddaughter-in-law. "It actually HAS been pretty hotly debated, ever since we all found out that Palutena was pregnant. To the point that Valian and Isane actually… made a bet on how it would turn out."

Roxas looked over at Isane and Valian, both of whom pointed accusingly at each other as if to say "She started it, not me!", before looking back at Venelana.

"And it… escalated into a betting pool that everyone in the house got involved in, in one way or another." Venelana continued. "Aside from me, though between the pair of us," she leant in, a smile forming on her face. "I'm happy that my first great-grandchild will be a great-granddaughter."

"Glad you're glad, Ven." Roxas replied, accepting the brief hug that Venelana gave him before pulling back, and noticing the look on Palutena's face. "You're not mad that this actually ended up happening, Palutena?"

"I'm… not really sure WHAT to feel, Roxas." Palutena remarked. "I mean, I can't exactly say that I feel angry about it, but it does feel weird that people are making bets about our lives." She rested a hand on her belly, looking down at it as she gently rubbed it. "Especially not without telling us about it. I mean, we could've contributed if we wanted to."

"True that." Roxas nodded, wrapping one arm around his greenette wife. "I mean, I just wonder if this is gonna end up happening again next time I knock up someone here."

"I wouldn't mind people betting on whether I end up having a boy or girl with you, Roxas." Penemue piped up, from her position on the couch. "Actually, can I make a bet right now that I'll have a boy?"

"Can I bet that I'll have a girl?" Akasha piped up.

"I bet that Shirone has a girl, too!" Kuroka cried out.

"I never said that I…" Shirone started up, before trailing off of whatever she was going to say and sighing. "Fine, I bet Kuroka has a girl too, if you're going to be like that!"

"You know what, Sera?" Fianna remarked. "I bet you'll end up having a boy with Roxas."

"Then you'll have to have a girl with him!" Serafall replied. "Lucifer below, the idea of our kids getting together sounds hot, now that I think about it-"

"I'm gonna have a girl/I'm gonna have a boy!" Valian and Isane spoke up, pretty much right at the same time, before looking at each other, slightly stunned that they'd spoken up at the exact same time, and then devolving into good-natured giggles amongst themselves.

Meanwhile, unknown to everybody, there was another figure situated just outside the house, as still as a statue as they listened in on the conversation going on inside. They'd felt Roxas' presence returning to the house seconds before, and instantly headed back to continue observing… and talk of Roxas having children with the other women in his life?

Noticing the greenette Goddess' enlarged belly, Ophis looked down at their own belly, wondering to themselves if they'd ever end up in such a state thanks to Roxas. Well, if they were to ever end up mating with him, that certainly wasn't out of the question. And if that were to happen… Ophis certainly wasn't totally opposed to it.


"So, how does it feel, Roxas?" Palutena asked, adjusting her dress slightly as she and Roxas stepped out of the transportation-circle. It was a week later, the pair of them had just travelled from Greece to the Underworld, and were now stood outside Lilith's castle. The time and date of the celebration of Roxas' ascension to the title of Heir of the Lucifer Clan had finally come upon them, and both Nephalem and pregnant Goddess could hear muffled talking on the inside.

Seemed they weren't the first ones to arrive.

"How does what feel?" Roxas asked, reaching up and scratching a random itch that had momentarily popped up on the back of his head, before looking back at Palutena.

"Being Lucifer Clan Heir now, of course!" Palutena replied, turning to look at Roxas. "You can't have forgotten that in the half a minute it took us to get ready and come down here!"

"Ohh, that." Roxas nodded, pausing for a second. "Meh, not that different." He remarked. "At least, not right now. Maybe I'll start feeling different once the benefits of being Lucifer Heir start rolling in, but right now, not that different."

"That's… fair." Palutena nodded, as she and Roxas headed towards the doors of Lilith's castle, which the guards stationed there immediately opened upon seeing the pair of them approaching. Instantly upon the doors opening, the previously-muffled voices that the pair of them had been hearing ever since they arrived instantly became a lot louder as the pair of them stepped inside, with the doors shutting behind them. Almost immediately, Roxas began recognising people who'd made their way here: Michael and Gabriel chatting with Azazel, Imogen, Sairaorg and Achilles sharing drinks, Winter and Raven chatting with each other, Aphrodite (flanked by a pair of very good-looking women who he hadn't seen before) and Lilith sharing conversation with a huge, burly and thick-waisted man with braided red hair that he didn't recognise, who was being flanked by Thor.

Yeah, there were a LOT of people here… including a shitton of press from both the Devil and Lilim sides of Hell, Roxas noticed, but he didn't really care. At least not until the first press-guy noticed him and came towards him, at which point another two noticed and approached him, after which another five did the same, another ten, and at that point everyone was seemingly upon him.

"Roxas, will you be taking any more wives as a result of becoming Lucifer Clan Heir?"

"Did your relationship with Duke Zeoticus play a part in your leaving the Gremory Clan?"

"Will you be playing more of an active role in the Underworld, now that you're Lucifer Clan Heir?"

"Alright, alright!" Lilith, from where she was stood by Thor and Aphrodite, stepped towards the journalists that had descended on Roxas and his wife. "None of that now, they just got in! Save the questions for later, I'm sure Roxas'll be more than willing to answer whatever you want to know, but for now, give him and Palutena some space!"

Some of the journalists' desire to immediately report on the new Lucifer Clan Heir was probably pretty damn great, but said desire wasn't so great that it would cause any of them to disobey Lilith herself: Lucifer's former wife and present Head of the Lucifer Clan. Obediently, they backed off and watched as Roxas and Palutena made their way through the crowd, up towards where Lilith- clad in an absolutely gorgeous black dress that hugged her every curve and accentuated her form without actually directly showing off all that much- was stood.

"Thanks, Lilith." Roxas whispered, allowing Lilith to come closer and wrap her arms around him in a brief hug, which he returned just as briefly. "Or should I be calling you Lady Lilith, now?"

"Maybe in the bedroom." Lilith whispered in reply. She smirked when Roxas, upon acknowledging what she'd just said, stiffened up slightly. "And maybe during more formal events. Right now, though? Nah, you're fine." She pulled back, smiling again as she looked Roxas up and down before looking over towards the crowd of people that she had been chatting with before Roxas and Palutena entered, which the crowd in question seemed to take as a go-ahead to come over.

"So, this is the Roxas Lucifer that I've been hearing so much about?" the huge redhead remarked, his voice loud enough that it rang in Roxas' ears as he approached. As he did so, it seemed to become more and more clear that he absolutely TOWERED over Roxas, and everyone else in the room. Like, at least two feet taller than Roxas, who wasn't exactly a midget. He also had an almost-empty mug, almost as large as Roxas' head, clasped in his fist.

"I guess I'd be right in supposing I'm talking to the ACTUAL Thor Odinson?" Roxas asked, having to tilt his head back slightly to look up into the redhead's face. "Didn't know that people talk about me up in Asgard."

"Ha! The one and only!" Thor replied, letting out a chuckle. "And, well, being the killer of Ares AND the MVP in the death of the Father of All Monsters in Zeus' neck of the woods tends to get you talked about quite a bit, in all realms."

Roxas' eyes flicked to the side of Thor, and met Aphrodite's for a split-second. Within that split-second before Thor started talking again, Aphrodite could only shrug.

"So, Nephalem, huh?" Thor remarked, looking Roxas up and down. "Haven't heard about one of them in a long time, haven't seen one in even longer. You know, the last one I met could really hold his own." He showed his teeth, and Roxas noticed that a couple of them seemed to have been knocked clean out of his mouth. "Think you could do the same, sometime?"

"Maybe, sometime." Roxas replied, meeting Thor's gaze. "Facing one of the strongest beings currently alive and able to fight would certainly be a valuable experience, I'd say."

Thor blinked, looking down at Roxas for a second, before letting out an even louder laugh than before.

"That's what I like to hear!" he cried, clapping Roxas on the shoulder with his free hand, a grin on his face. "Sparring with you is gonna be fun, I can tell! Come on Thorin, I need a refill on mead…"

Turning around, Thor and Thorin walked off, with Thorin only having time to flash a look at Roxas and mouth "Talk later" before following the God whose name he used when working with the Avengers towards one of the tables around the castle's foyer that had food and drink set up. Though he'd probably only gently (by his standards) clapped Roxas on the shoulder, the Nephalem still felt the need to nurse said shoulder as he watched Thorin go, before turning back to Lilith and Aphrodite.

"So… that was a thing." He remarked.

"Yeah, that's Thor for you." Lilith replied, shrugging. "Out of everyone major here, I probably know him the least. He was good friends with Lucifer, and must've somehow heard from someone else that this was happening, and kind of… invited himself. I think I can make an educated guess as to who he heard about this from." She looked rather pointedly over in Azazel's direction, as Thor inserted himself into the conversation between him, Gabriel and Azazel.

"I bet you a night with my asshole and the biggest strap-on you can find that Azazel is how he found out." Roxas remarked.

"Deal." Lilith instantly replied, repressing a snort. "In other news, did you hear that Naamah finally had her kid?"

"Oh, shit?" Roxas grinned. "That's nice. What did they end up calling her?"

"Mio." Lilith replied. "Mio Naamah. Nice name, rolls off the tongue well enough. I'm probably gonna sneak out and check up on her for a bit, don't go anywhere."

"Got it." Roxas nodded, allowing Lilith to lean over and press her lips against his cheek before walking off, leaving him and Palutena alone with Aphrodite and the three women flanking her. The blonde Goddess in question waited until Lilith was out of earshot to speak up.

"I'm how Thor found out, you'd better get your asshole ready, Roxas."

"Huh?" Roxas looked from Aphrodite to where Lilith had gone and back again. "Then why didn't you-?" He brought a hand to his head, sighing. "You know what, whatever. I guess I walked into that one."

"And you know that Lilith's gonna take that 'biggest strap-on you can find' challenge VERY seriously." Aphrodite replied. "Hmm, I wonder if I can convince her to film it and send me a copy…"

Roxas could only sigh and facepalm again, shaking his head before changing the subject.

"Who're the two with you? Haven't seen them before."

"Oh, two of my Charites: kind of my top servants." She replied. "Euphrosyne and Thalia."

Euphrosyne, the taller of the two, with long shoulder-length blonde hair and fair skin, offered a polite smile. Thalia, the shorter of the two, with dark, coffee-coloured skin and chin-length brown hair, simply inclined her head to the Nephalem.

"There's actually a third, Aglaea, but this clashed with her date night with Hephaestus." Aphrodite remarked, shrugging. "Which... fair enough. Anyway, how's Pyrrha doing since I dropped her off at yours?"

"Good, pretty good." Roxas replied. "I think she's settling in well, right Palutena?"

"Yeah, definitely." Palutena replied. "She's getting along with everyone pretty well. Helps that she's REALLY nice."

"That, and she makes for a mean sparring partner from time to time." Roxas added, turning back to Aphrodite. "That reminds me for whatever reason, have we heard about what's happening to the survivors of Operation Divorce? Like Diana, for instance?"

"Eh, for most of them it's probably what you'd expect." Aphrodite replied, drawing a thumb across her throat to amplify what went unsaid. "Diana, I think they're still talking over. Since she isn't included among the executed, it's probably gonna be imprisonment in Cocytus for her."

Roxas nodding, humming slightly.

"Why?" Aphrodite asked. "Wanted to take her as a servant as well?"

"Oh, fuck no." Roxas replied. "I got Pyrrha, that's enough Diana-related stuff for me. I was just curious."

"Fair enough." Aphrodite nodded. "I'm gonna get some wine. Talk to you later."

Gently pressing her lips against Roxas' for a moment, and winking after pulling back once she noticed the reddening of Roxas' cheeks as a result of said kiss, she turned on her heel and left, Euphrosyne and Thalia behind her. Roxas watched her go for a couple of seconds, extremely aware that she was deliberately swaying her ass for him, before finally tearing his eyes away from said ass and turning back to Palutena, who simply rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she did so.

"You know you're probably gonna have to go to Esdeath about prepping your asshole for whatever Lilith's gonna do to you, right?" Palutena asked.

"Yeah, I guess so." Roxas replied. "I'm sure she'll be happy to help either way, if our last few nights together were anything to go by."

"Yeah, I've heard." Palutena nodded, smirking. "You know, once this is over and done with," she gestured to her belly. "I think I'd like to try some of that kind of stuff with you. Heard a lot about you doing bondage-type stuff with Akeno and Esdeath, but never got around to trying myself."

"Well, if you really want to try, they'd be the first to go to once we get home." Roxas replied, picking up a drink from a passing waiter and sipping on it. "They'd surely be happy to help. In more ways than one, in Akeno's case, probably."

"I'm sure." Palutena replied, looking up as she heard three pairs of feet approaching them. Roxas looked up as well, and noticed Azazel, Michael and Gabriel coming towards them.

"Well, well, Roxas Lucifer." Azazel grinned, giving Roxas a light punch in the arm. "As if you didn't get enough female attention down here."

"Jealous, Azazel?" Roxas asked. "Not getting enough attention yourself?"

"You're damn right I'm jealous!" Azazel replied. "Agrat's hot and all, but a man needs some variety now and again, you know? Actually, screw what I said earlier, you're getting attention up above Hell now, what with Aphrodite and Gabriel wanting to jump your bones! Fucking attractive youngsters, I swear..."

"Actually, Aphrodite and Gabriel have wanted me since BEFORE I got pronounced Lucifer Heir." Roxas replied. "Or at least Aphrodite. But eh, semantics."

"That makes it worse!" Azazel cried, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "Damn it, Roxas, you take the fun out of harem-building for the rest of us."

"Future's now, old man." Roxas smirked, turning to Michael and Gabriel, the latter of whom was blushing slightly. "Hey, guys."

"Hello, Roxas." Michael inclined his head to Roxas. "I hate to ask during an event that's- by all accounts- meant to be all about you, but would you mind if I officially announced the engagement between yourself and Gabriel tonight? With all this Underworld press here, and you having just been pronounced Lucifer Heir and all, Gabriel and I thought that it would be a good time to officially do so."

Roxas opened his mouth, paused for a moment, his eyes flicking to Gabriel who, blush aside, nodded in ascent to what Michael had just said.

"Yeah, go ahead." Roxas replied. "I mean, not RIGHT now, please, but you can do it during the celebration, I don't mind. Just come find me when you're ready to, yeah?"

"Of course, thank you." Michael inclined his head to Roxas again. "And I'll do that, of course."

The King of Spades wrapped an arm around a grumbling Azazel and led him away from Roxas and Palutena. Gabriel followed, waving quietly to Roxas as she left alongside her brother.

Taking another gulp of his drink, Roxas watched the three Angels leaving, his eyes flicking to and holding onto Gabriel's ass for a moment as she left his sight, before they flicked back up to meet the crimson-red and light-blue eyes of Raven and Winter, as he noticed them approaching him and Palutena.

"Hey, guys." Roxas greeted his former teacher and fellow student.

"Hey." Raven remarked, nodding to Roxas and looking him up and down. "So, Lucifer Heir, huh? At least I can say I had in training the first Heir of the Lucifer Clan in centuries. Congratulations, by the way."

"Yeah, that should be a good extra dose for your ego, Raven." Roxas replied. "Thanks, anyway."

"Up for a spar, sometime?" Raven asked, rolling her right shoulder a couple of times as a battle-hungry smirk began to form on her face. "I'd hate for one of my best students to have gotten sloppy. And I'm sure Winter thinks the same."

"I do." Winter remarked, looking over at Roxas. "I don't think we've actually clashed swords since before you left the Gremory Clan, Roxas: I'd love to do so again sometime. That, and it'd give me a reason to see Fianna, how is she?"

"She's fine. Settling in fine as one of Valian's Bishops." Roxas replied. "And... you sure that's the only reason you want to come round Winter, Raven? You sure that there isn't any other reason, any at all?"

Winter immediately blushed, drawing a laugh out of Roxas. Raven merely snorted, electing to lightly punch Roxas on the shoulder.

"I'll neither confirm nor deny that, Roxas." She remarked, but the Nephalem could tell by the look in her eye as she looked him down and up again that he was pretty goddamn on-the-money in his assessment. "See you around."

Winter, her face still slightly red, immediately left, while Raven leant over and gave Roxas a gentle peck on the cheek, before leaving as well.

"Damn, I was really hoping to talk to Raven about something." Another female voice that Roxas recognised sounded in his ears. "Oh, well. That can wait until later, I guess."

Roxas turned, and grinned as Imogen, Sairaorg and Achilles, still as a group, came towards him.

"Yeah, I guess so." Roxas replied. "Hey, guys."

"Hey." Achilles remarked. "Congrats on the whole 'Lucifer Heir' thing, Roxas.

"What he said." Sairaorg remarked, holding out a hand that Roxas grasped, and shook. "Though I guess this puts you out of the running for a seat as a Satan, at least for the forseeable future."

"Eh, being a Satan doesn't sound like my thing anyway." Roxas replied. "You won't see any opposition from me when you inevitably shoot for that spot, cuz. Hell, you'll have my support."

"Thanks." Sairaorg nodded, grinning. "That's nice to hear. Though don't think that'll make me go easy on you when we get to our Rating Game, later in the season."

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Roxas replied, grinning himself. "In fact, I'd say that's reason enough for you to give it EVERYTHING you've got. Prove you're worthy of the Lucifer Heir's support."

"And that's even nicer to hear!" Sairaorg broke out in a wider grin, with a battle-hungry edge coming into it. "You're on, Roxas."

"Good." Roxas replied. "See you on the battle- mmph!"

Imogen, having grown somewhat bored by her lack of involvement in the conversation involving her mate, had decided to grab said mate by the front of his shirt and pull him into a sudden, yet extremely intense lip-lock. Almost instantly, as Roxas' mind caught up to acknowledging what had just happened, he noticed camera-flashes going off beside where he and Imogen stood, as the Underworld press (the presence of which Roxas had almost entirely forgot since arriving at the party) seized the opportunity to get as many pictures as possible of the Belial Heiress and her mate, who just so happened to be the newly-ascended Lucifer Heir.

"The hell was that all about, Imogen?" Roxas asked, his voice lowered as she pulled back.

"Kept noticing those Satan-damn parasites everywhere we went, was getting annoying." Imogen replied. "Figured I'd give them something to REALLY talk about. You don't mind, do you?"

"When it's you kissing me? Fuck, no." Roxas replied, allowing Imogen to pull him back in for a slightly slower, yet no less intense kiss. He even reached down and groped Imogen's behind with one hand, prompting the Belial Heiress to pull him in further.

Roxas wasn't lying, kissing Imogen was nice. Nice enough that he almost didn't notice the journalists snapping pictures around them… almost. But he didn't care either way.

What he DID end up caring about, once both he and Imogen came up for air, were the journalists that immediately pounced on him and the Belial Heiress, swarming with questions and assertions about what Imogen yanking him in for a kiss could really mean for the future between the Lucifer and Belial Clans, or whatever. It didn't take long for it to become suffocating, to the point that Roxas had to sneak out of a side-door and head into the expansive gardens of Lilith's castle, in order to escape the journalists.

Taking a couple of breaths, Roxas slowed down his striding pace a bit, once he noticed that no-one was actually following him out. Turning his attention to the garden in question, he noticed that it was actually a pretty damn nice one: Winding paths that looked like they went on for miles, perfectly trimmed clumps of bushes and trees that in equal parts framed the paths or served as little offshoots to said paths, and some cool pieces of garden-art throughout. Overall, this was one hell (no pun intended) of a garden.

Roxas made his way further down the garden, noticing that it was a steady decline that seemed to culminate in a small clearing, and a moderately-sized pond. Yawning, Roxas shed the semi-formal jacket that he'd put on for the gathering and, after finding a decently comfortable-looking, solid and dry patch of land by the pond, sat down and took a breath. Parties and celebratory events could be pretty nice and all, but they could REALLY be too much at times. Roxas needed a break-

"Finally, you are alone." A certain quiet, sultry voice spoke up, one that Roxas recognised INSTANTLY. "Hello again, my mate."

Roxas instantly tensed up, turning his head to where he heard the voice in question coming from, and blinked as he saw a certain black-haired young woman sitting on a branch of a nearby tree, a few paces away from where Roxas had sat down, and looking down at him. She was wearing pretty much the exact same outfit as she had when she appeared in front of him at Zeoticus' funeral, just without the jacket, but that didn't stop Roxas from recognising her on sight.

"Ophis." He remarked, sighing lightly before getting to his feet. "How long have you been stalking me, now?"

"Three and a half months." Ophis replied, calmly, sliding off the tree, coming down the trunk almost like a snake, and landing on her feet before him. Roxas looked away, casting his mind back around that far, but said mind-casting was interrupted when, as soon as Roxas looked back at where he'd been looking before, Ophis was suddenly right in front of him, with barely a step's length separating the two.

"And what the hell for?" Roxas asked, taking half a step back. "I can't imagine I'd have anything that anyone'd be willing to stalk me for three and a half months for."

"You do." Ophis replied, immediately. "I almost got it, last time we met. But we were… interrupted."

Roxas cast his mind back to the last time he and Ophis met, just over a couple of weeks ago. When Ophis had put Imogen and Kiyohime to sleep and then came onto Roxas, in a seeming attempt to-

"You want to fuck me." Roxas remarked, shaking his head slightly. "Still on with the whole 'my mate' thing, right?"

"You are my mate." Ophis replied, simply. "Or at least… you will be, soon."

Ophis took a half-step closer to Roxas, closing the distance between the two beings to what it had been before Roxas had taken his first step back

"Right…" Roxas replied, his eyes narrowing slightly. "You mind if I ask you something? Beyond the fact that I just did ask you something, that is."

Ophis kept her eyes on Roxas.

"…"

"I'll take that silence as a yes." Roxas remarked to himself. "Anyway, why me, of all people, for your future mate? I mean, I know I'm attractive and all, but somehow I get the feeling that that doesn't have much to do with your reason… if you have one, that is."

Ophis blinked, tilting her head slightly, the expression on her face that of one in thought. Silence reigned between the two of them for a moment as Ophis seemed to consider her answer… before she started speaking again.

"Your nature." she replied. "You are a Nephalem. A powerful Nephalem. The only one in the world who can satisfy my promise… that he failed."

Roxas raised an eyebrow, the cogs turning in his head as he thought over what Ophis had said.

"Did someone in the past break a promise that they made to you?" he asked.

Ophis nodded, taking a step back from her previous position, and looking towards the pond that she and Roxas were stood by.

"Yes." She replied, in a slightly quieter tone than she'd been talking in up until now. "The first Nephalem, one even stronger than you at his peak. The one who they called… Lucifer."

Roxas had to do a double-take at the mention of his maternal grandfather's name."

"Wait a minute, Lucifer? First Devil, former wife of Lilith, guy that I apparently look a hell of a lot like, died before I was born?" He swallowed, feeling his mouth having gone slightly dry. "That Lucifer?"

"Yes, yes and… yes." Ophis replied. "That Lucifer."

Roxas sat back down as he had to process that revelation. Lucifer being a Nephalem like in the past, just like he was currently… there was a word for that, but Roxas couldn't quite think of it right now. And, well, it didn't exactly go AGAINST anything that Lilith had told him about Lucifer's past.

"What promise did Lucifer make to you?" he asked, as Ophis sat down as well, just to his right, and shifted herself close to him. "If you don't mind my asking, of course."

"The promise to be my mate." Ophis replied. "As well as, to remain a Nephalem."

The dark-haired woman looked down, and Roxas noticed a hint a sadness in her eyes.

"He broke that promise when he lost his Angelic side, and became a Devil." Roxas stated. It wasn't a question, just a conclusion that he'd come to.

Made sense in context too, when he thought about it. Something told him that if Lucifer had kept that promise to Ophis, his relationship with Lilith would almost certainly have been different, if not outright non-existent.

Ophis confirmed Roxas' statement with nothing more than a simple nod, the same slight sadness remaining on her face.

"I lost interest in him, after that." Ophis replied. "A mate with both light and dark powers, that is something that a being like myself finds… desirable. But, in light of that, I made my own promise. To myself."

"And what promise would that be?" Roxas asked, slightly tentatively. He had a feeling that Ophis was powerful enough to kill him just by farting in his general direction, which for all he knew she WOULD if he ended up annoying her with his questions, but he couldn't help but be curious.

"That when another Nephalem, with power even close to what Lucifer could do, came to be… they would be my mate." Ophis replied, shifting herself to face Roxas.

It was right around then that Roxas noticed that Ophis was touching his arm. And suddenly, without him even having done anything that would warrant that, he felt his five pairs of white Devil wings involuntarily unfurling from his back, which drew Ophis' attention.

"Only five pairs." Ophis remarked, her tone remaining neutral. "I remember Lucifer having six pairs. They also looked like Angel wings, but were silver. Not Devil wings, but white." She blinked, as Roxas retracted his wings. "Oh, well. No matter."

Roxas, on the other hand, was still taking in what Ophis had said about the promise that she'd made to herself, as Ophis began to snake one arm around his body, pulling him closer to her while staring at him, which was enough for Roxas to shift his attention back to her.

"Now that you understand," she spoke, the sadness in her eyes gone, replaced with a more set look. "You can be my mate."

"Wait…" Roxas blinked, trying to scooch away from Ophis but finding himself completely unable to. "We're gonna do this now? Here?"

"Yes." Ophis confirmed, bluntly, shifting herself closer to Roxas and moving herself onto his sat-down form, and began gently grinding herself atop him. "You looked comfortable enough here before I appeared to you."

"R-right." Roxas replied, as he felt Ophis' hands sliding up his body, beneath his t-shirt, before sliding back down towards the tent beginning to form in his pants. "Well, at least there's one thing to scratch off the old bucket-list: have sex outside. Never thought it'd be happening like this, though."

Ophis ignored Roxas' words, sliding off of his body after the moment or so of grinding, and reached for his pants. She initially reached for them as if she was going to undo them, but after a second's hesitation, just instead grabbed onto them and bodily pulled them apart. The same fate met the skirt she was wearing, leaving her completely naked. Roxas wasn't given even a second to look upon Ophis' gorgeous naked form before she ripped apart his underwear, just as she'd done to his pants. As his cock sprung free, Roxas let out a short hiss at his warm cock making contact with the cool evening air, as it seemed to twitch invitingly in front of Ophis' face.

She almost looked transfixed with it, for a moment, before she opened her mouth and began to wrap her tongue around it. Roxas couldn't stop himself from letting out a pleasured hum as Ophis slowly moved her tongue around the circumference of his shaft, and then moved it slowly up and down, gently coating the entirety of his member in her saliva.

"This is… tasty." Ophis remarked, her voice slightly muffled by the fact that she had her tongue out while she said it. As she slowly dragged her tongue back up Roxas' cock, she couldn't help but feel… something, a foreign feeling, inside her beginning to stir. Whether it was triggered by her licking Roxas' twitching cock, or triggered by something else, it wasn't going to stop her from continuing to lick Roxas' twitching cock. Not by a long shot.

Once Ophis' tongue had made its way all the way back up Roxas' cock, now having coated the thing thoroughly in saliva, she opened her mouth slightly further and wrapped it around his cock, starting out slow and sucking on her mate's bulbous head. The sound of Roxas' hums of pleasure ascending to out-and-out moans seemed to feed the foreign feeling that had begun to stir inside Ophis earlier. She didn't know what this feeling was (or much of feelings at all, to be honest), but she couldn't deny that this feeling… wasn't unpleasant. In fact, she'd go as far to say it felt outright NICE.

Almost unconsciously, Ophis began moving her head atop Roxas' cock, steadily taking in more and more of it with each time she went down. She got to between a third and halfway down Roxas' cock before an idea, from something she'd seen a certain Goddess of Love doing to Roxas a couple of weeks ago, re-emerged in her mind. As she pulled back on him, so she was only sucking on the tip again at this point, she lifted her large breasts up and used her hands to trap her mate's cock between them, and began rocking them up and down in tandem with her bobbing her head back and forth again. Such an uptick in pleasure was enough for Roxas to moan louder than he had been before.

'Adds up that she's picked up a couple of tricks.' He figured. 'If she's been stalking me for so long, of course she'd have watched me fu-' "Fuuuck…"

Using a touch of her powers to keep her tits rocking up and down Roxas' cock by themselves in order to free up her hands, Ophis slid one of her hands down below to massage Roxas' balls, which she felt swelling slightly, in tandem with his cock pulsating slightly within her mouth and tits. With the other hand, she reached even further down and began rubbing at her pussy. Another foreign feeling was going on right around there, not one that Ophis could put into words. All that she knew was that her mind was SCREAMING at her to touch herself down there… and the instant she started doing so, she couldn't help but let out a little moan of her own, one that anyone who knew who she was would be EXTREMELY surprised to hear coming out of her.

However, given how Roxas had interacted with her in the few times they'd met up until this point… he didn't. No matter, Ophis supposed. He'd probably come to know all about her soon enough. Speaking of, Roxas was moaning louder than before, writhing in place under Ophis' simultaneous blowjob, boobjob and balls-massage. He was also starting to involuntarily jerk his cock upwards, wanting more of the direct pleasure that bombarded that particular area of his body.

Ophis could feel Roxas' cock and balls pulsating and swelling more and more violently with each time she bobbed her head, rocked her tits or groped around the parts she was bobbing, rocking or groping, She almost disregarded it, but the fact that several ropes of Roxas' warm cum sprayed from his cock and directly into her mouth, without warning, was pretty much impossible to disregard. She tried to swallow it all on reflex, but the sheer volume of baby-batter that left her mate's member became too much for her to take. Some of it was forced to spill out, all over her lower face and breasts.

Ophis swallowed once, twice, before Roxas seemed to stop firing such extreme loads out of his cock, which seemed to be a safe time to pull back. Licking her lips, she took a couple of seconds to breathe, having been deprived of breath for the short moment in which Roxas' cum had invaded her mouth and throat.

"That tasted…" Ophis mused, pausing for a moment as she tried to put into words what she thought about Roxas' cum on her tongue. "…Nice." She surmised, before leaning back down and dragging her tongue across Roxas' twitching cock, collecting the cum that was trailing down his foot-long member. It was still hard, in spite of him having literally JUST hit a very strong climax moments earlier, and Ophis' eyes were squarely on it.

Without a word, she moved forward, taking Roxas' cock in one hand and straightening it up, a small smile coming to her face as she positioned herself directly above him. Ophis then dropped down, allowing Roxas' cock to instantly penetrate her tight inner walls. The pair of them let out loud moans that seemed to perfectly mix with each other as Ophis adjusted herself slightly atop her mate. Actually having his foot-long cock in her for the first time was a bit of a shock to the system, no matter how much she'd thought about and mentally prepared herself for this moment. It took a moment for the initial shock of having Roxas inside her to die down, after which Ophis began to slowly rock herself, back and forth, atop Roxas' cock. As she did so, more moans escaped her, mixed in with panting breaths, something that Ophis had NEVER had to do throughout her entire existence before, but she was too focused on the pleasure of the moment to really care.

Ophis wrapped her arms loosely around Roxas as she rocked herself atop him, her grey eyes half-lidded as she tried her best to wring as much pleasure as she could out of him and his cock. Judging by the look on his face, he was massively enjoying this too.

Grinning, Roxas allowed his own hands to glide across Ophis' body, taking in every square inch of her flawless skin before settling on her plump ass, which he held onto and groped just like Ophis had been doing to his balls a minute or so earlier. As well as that, he began subtly guiding Ophis as she continued rocking back and forth, in a way that he knew from experience would result in her getting more pleasure out of riding him than she was already getting. The results were immediate, as the light moans that Ophis was letting out with every back-and-forth rock she made became decidedly less light.

"Th-this is…" Ophis spoke, through her moans and pants. "I…"

"You don't have to try and put it into words." Roxas replied, slowing down his guidance slightly, his crimson eyes meeting Ophis' grey ones. "If you don't think you can. Just enjoy it."

Ophis nodded, letting out another moan in place of words as she began to pick up her rocking speed again, though almost froze out of pure shock as Roxas leant forward and pressed his lips against hers, holding the kiss for a few seconds as he began, in turn, to rock his hips in tandem with hers, driving up her pleasure still further.

Roxas pulled back the kiss after a couple of seconds, allowing himself a smirk at the shocked look on Ophis' face, before turning his attention to the pair of breasts bouncing in his face. Resisting the urge to openly lick his lips, he leant forward again and captured one of Ophis' nipples in his mouth, sucking on it just as Ophis had sucked on his cock earlier.

"AHH~" Ophis let out her loudest moan yet, throwing her head back in surprise at the sudden spike of intense pleasure brought on by Roxas sucking on one of her tits. Any traces of lack of emotion on her face were gone as she lost herself in the pleasure she was experiencing. As Roxas continued to suck on it, while lifting one of his hands off of her ass so he could easily tweak and pull at her other breast, Ophis became faintly aware of a certain tension that began to build up within her core. With every rock back and forth that she made atop Roxas, with every tweak and pull that Roxas made to her right breast, with every time Roxas decreased the intensity of which he sucked on her left breast only to INCREASE the intensity a couple of seconds later, that tension only grew, as did the volume of her moans.

Even if she didn't fully understand what was happening, Ophis was close. Roxas DID understand what was happening, however, and was more than happy to keep driving Ophis towards her climax. Rather than simply rock his hips below Ophis', he instead took one hand off of her breast, returned it to her ass and suddenly stood up. Holding her by the ass with both hands, Roxas began full-on THRUSTING up into Ophis' pussy, letting out a low moan himself as he took in the pleasure of being inside her.

Ophis' inner walls were tight, and warm. Just the kind of pussy he liked, but it was nothing compared to how much Ophis was liking what Roxas had just started doing to her. Her moans were at the loudest they'd ever been, and they were getting louder with every time Roxas' hips slapped against hers. At the end of it all, Ophis' moans had ascended to a primal scream as she hit her first ever orgasm, juices spraying from her cunt as she did so. Roxas kept a secure hold on Ophis as she rode out her climax, her body shaking and quaking the entire time. Eventually, said shaking and quaking ceased, and she seemed to flop down onto Roxas, panting heavily.

That was the only sound to come out of Ophis for a moment or two as she came down from her first ever orgasmic high, but she eventually lifted her head (which had previously been nestled in the crook of Roxas' neck) and looked up at him.

"Will we…" she began. "Will we get… to do that again? I… I…"

"Oh, of course." Roxas replied, grinning. "In fact, how about we keep going right now?"

Ophis' eyes widened as Roxas suddenly stood up, still holding onto her and with his cock still nestled securely in her cunt. Turning around as Ophis instinctively wrapped her arms around his back, he walked (or rather, waddled. It was kind of awkward to try and walk properly while carrying someone in the way that he was) towards the tree that Ophis had initially appeared to him atop, and pushed her up against the trunk of said tree. Upon doing so, he thrust forward and upwards into Ophis' pussy, drawing out a loud moan from the dark-haired girl.

"I take it you like that?" Roxas asked, grinning at the look on Ophis' face as he worked his way back up to a more regular thrusting pace. Ophis could only nod, letting out a noise from her open mouth that sounded like a mix of a moan and a growl as Roxas continued to thrust into her while holding her up against a tree. She hadn't seen him do anything like this with anyone she'd seen him mate with, but whether or not he'd ever done this before (knowing him, he probably had), holy FUCK did it feel good to have it done to!

Her arms wrapped slightly tighter around Roxas' back as his thrusts continued, leaning towards Roxas and capturing his lips in another kiss, their moans mingling with each other's inside each other's mouths to compliment the regular sound of their pairs of hips slapping against each other. A moment passed before Roxas pulled back, disengaging from the kiss and letting out a chuckle at the lust-addled look on Ophis' face, as the trail of saliva between them hung for a second and then broke. Adjusting Ophis' position up against the tree slightly, Roxas continued thrusting from a slightly different angle, allowing him to lean down easier and capture one of Ophis' breasts in his mouth. Though after a moment's sucking, Roxas pulled back, taking his hands off of Ophis' back and allowing her to hold herself up against the tree, before using his now-free hands to push her breasts together, allowing him to lean down and capture both of her breasts in his mouth at the same time.

The pleasured moan that came out of Ophis at the sight (and feeling) of that was even louder than before, something that buoyed Roxas on to suck harder, holding onto Ophis' tits as he did so while continuing to thrust into her, trusting her to hold herself up against him (which she did). Every moan she let out just added fuel to the lustful fire burning inside the Nephalem, who could only moan in pleasure himself directly onto Ophis' nipples with every thrust he made. He even kept it up after taking his mouth OFF of her tits, re-wrapping his arms around Ophis' back to hold her up.

"Like this, Ophis?" Roxas asked, between his grunts of effort between thrust. "This… what you were thinking of… while you were stalking me… in hopes of making… me… your mate?"

"M-maybe not exactly l-like this…!" Ophis moaned out, throwing her head back against the tree with enough force to crack the spot that she hit with the back of her head… not that she noticed. "It s-still feels… nice! Really nice! Better than n-nice!"

Roxas smirked again, his hands trailing down to Ophis' behind and holding on there as he continued to thrust.

"Good." He whispered, leaning forward so he was right up close to Ophis' ear as he thrust. "That's good, Ophis." He lifted one of his hands off of Ophis' behind for a second, before bringing it down again to give her ass an unexpected, but no less hard, smack.

Ophis let out a yelp of surprise at the sudden action, but seemed to sink further into Roxas' grasp as he spanked her, panting a little harder than she was before from the pleasure.

'Seems she's a bit of a sub.' Roxas thought to himself, smirking as his thrusts continued. 'I can deal with this.'

Adjusting his and Ophis' respective positions so he was pushing her up harder against the tree as he fucked her, without even needing to hold onto her with his hands in order to do so, Roxas began regularly smacking both of Ophis' sizeable ass-cheeks with both hands, at the same time, intermittently with his thrusts up into her pussy. With the position she was stuck in, Ophis could do little more than moan and whimper from the rushes that she felt every time Roxas' hands met her behind, in conjunction with the pleasure that she was already feeling as her pussy got more and more permanently stretched out by Roxas' cock, reshaped into a perfectly-fitting sheath for his Nephalonic member.

That reshaping only felt more and more pronounced as Roxas sped up his thrusts still further, keeping up the smacks to her ass also. Between the thrusts and the smacks, she could vaguely feel Roxas' cock pulsating and throbbing violently, and as well as that could feel that pleasurable tension she'd felt several minutes ago begin to form, and rapidly begin building up with every thrust and smack Roxas delivered. Though her back was against the tree, Ophis was still more than able to lean down, resting her head onto Roxas' shoulder, and simply enjoy the buildup to her next orgasm.

Said next orgasm arrived, for both Roxas and Ophis, a couple of moments later, with less intense reactions from both parties than the first time (or first couple of times, in Roxas' case). Ophis only let out a loud moan- which was rather muffled by her mouth being buried in Roxas' shoulder/neck- and shuddered from her position between Roxas' body in front of her and the tree behind her, while Roxas only let out a low grunt of pleasure as the next batch of fresh baby-batter shot from his cock like water leaving a hose for its new home inside Ophis' pussy.

Ophis let out more, smaller moans as she felt Roxas filling her insides up more than they'd already been filled up the first time, and clung onto Roxas a little tighter as she felt him slowing the pace of his thrusts over the next moment, until he finally stopped. It was at that point that he rested his hands on her behind and lifted her away from the tree, before gently pulling out of her and setting her on her feet. Even when set on her feet, Ophis continued to cling to Roxas for a couple of seconds as she felt herself shaking slightly, her mouth open in a silent sigh as she felt some of her mate's cum dropping- oozing- from her overflowing pussy and either dropping to the ground outright or clinging to her legs and slowly dripping down them.

"You liked that?" Roxas asked, continuing to hold onto Ophis as she held onto him. He took a breath, allowing himself a softer smile as Ophis nodded.

"Mmhmm." She replied, her face in his naked chest continuing to muffle her voice. "Felt…"

"Amazing?" Roxas offered. "Unbelievable? Mind-blowing?"

"A-all of that." Ophis nodded, before taking a half-step back and looking up. "I… I want to stay with you, Roxas. Be close to you."

Roxas vaguely acknowledged, in his post-orgasmic state, the use of his actual name from Ophis rather than just 'my mate', as well as the shape of Ophis' ears that became visible as she looked up at him. They had pointier tips than a normal human's or Devil's, like Kokabiel and Catora in that aspect.

"Like, right now?" Roxas asked. "Or in the future?"

"Future." Ophis replied. "Your home, in the human world. I want to live there, with you."

"Well…" Roxas took a breath. "I guess you could, if you really wanted. I might actually be moving out of that house in the near future, but I don't see why you can't live with me in whatever new place I end up living in. Although everyone else will have to know if you end up living with me… you do know I live with other people, right?"

"Your horde." Ophis replied. "None of them would be able to force me away from you."

"Hm." Roxas hummed, non-comittally. He pulled back from Ophis, focusing magic through his hands to his underwear and pants so he could repair them. "Just as long as you don't try and keep me to yourself, all the time, I doubt anyone'll have any major problems with you. That's the only major rule in the house."

"I see." Ophis replied. "That is… acceptable." She looked up at Roxas, a small smile having formed on her face to go with the blush that had also formed. "Farewell. Until next time… Roxas."

Without another word, Ophis seemed to dissipate into thin air, without any kind of use of a transportation-circle of any kind. Roxas had to blink a couple of times to make sure what he was seeing was real… it was: within a couple of seconds, he was stood alone, half-naked and with repaired underwear and pants, with his t-shirt (which he'd thrown off as Ophis had begun riding him) where he'd dropped it. Bending down to pick it up, Roxas heard the sound of footsteps approaching his position. The Nephalem hurriedly turned towards where he heard the foosteps coming from as he pulled on the shirt, covering himself up just in time to see Azazel coming into the clearing, looking him up and down.

"There you are!" he sighed, shoving his hands into his trenchcoat pockets. "Looked all over this goddamn garden for you… come on, Michael and Gabriel wanted to announce that whole 'getting engaged' thing, and they kind of want you there, so… you lucky bastard."

The last three words came out much quieter than the rest of what the Governer-General of the Fallen Angels had said, but Roxas chose not to her them. Instead he simply nodded, and picked up his jacket before following Azazel back in the direction of Lilith's castle.

"What were you even doing out here, anyway?" Azazel asked. "If you wanted fresh air, you could've gotten that far closer to where the party's at."

"Well, I DID want that, as well as just a bit of alone time." Roxas replied. "It was getting suffocating in there, and not in the air-related way."

"Hmm." Azazel hummed, turning to look at Roxas. "Fair enough. Your face does look kind of red, for someone who was just getting fresh air… Roxas, if you worked out a few spare shots into Lilith's pond, I don't think she'd be too pleased. I won't tell, though."

"It wasn't that, you gross motherfucker!" Roxas replied, forcing himself not to let out a chuckle at the absurdity of Azazel's accusation. "It was… uh…"

"Was what?" Azazel asked, stopping in his tracks and turning to face Roxas. "Whatever it was, I won't tell. Jealous I might be of your immense popularity with the fairer sex, but a snitch against my fellow man I'm definitely not. You can tell me, Roxas."

"Fine, I guess." Roxas sighed, looking down for a second before looking back up at the top Fallen Angel. "Azazel… what do you know about Ophis?"

"Ophis?" Azazel repeated. "The Ouroboros Dragon? Dragon God of Infinity? The strongest being in the world? That Ophis?"

"How many other Ophis' do you know?" Roxas asked. "And wait, what were those last two?"

"Ophis," Azazel continued. "As far as I know, is a Dragon born in the Dimensional Gap. She left it, for whatever reason- maybe she wanted to go sightseeing- but upon returning, discovered Great Red- the Red Dragon God Emperor- in there. As far as my sources go, she wants to force him out." He took a breath. "She's also heavily-linked to the now-defunct Khaos Brigade. That's all I know for certain about her, why?"

"Uh…" Roxas looked from side-to-side, feeling like he was about to break out in sweat at what Azazel had told him, added with what had just happened. "As of about two minutes ago, Ophis appeared and… made me her mate."

"She made you her fucking-" Azazel began, before facepalming and sighing, muttering to himself. "You know what? Why am I surprised at that? Why the HELL am I surprised at THAT?" Letting out another sigh, he began walking again.

"You're not gonna tell anyone about that, are you?" Roxas asked, hurrying to catch up with him.

"Nope." Azazel replied, looking back at Roxas as they came up on Lilith's castle. "I don't plan on it, no. Hearing that Ophis, of all Dragons, has taken a mate… this is gonna take some thinking about."

Azazel said no more to Roxas as the pair of them ascended the steps to Lilith's castle, and pushed open the door. Roxas was then immediately greeted by Gabriel hugging him, and half-dragging him over to Michael, who looked like he couldn't keep in his desire to announce the engagement between the son-in-law of Yahweh and his sister any longer.

Good thing he'd be able to satisfy that desire pretty damn soon.


"Ooh, this bit of land looks pretty nice." Palutena remarked, pointing at one of the pages in the book that she and Roxas had open and spread across each other. It was a couple of days after the celebration of Roxas' ascension to the position of Lucifer Heir, and Lilith had had a book full of options for potential places in the Underworld for Roxas to have his new home built delivered to her grandson's villa.

Immediately upon getting a chance to get her alone with him, Roxas had informed Palutena of what had happened while he was out of the castle. He supposed that Palutena's initial reaction- that being pretty damn worried- was to be expected, but she calmed down a good bit when Roxas went into detail about what EXACTLY happened. Since Ophis saying "until next time" was probably a decent enough sign that she'd be coming back to see Roxas soon (since she could easily appear to Roxas whenever she damn well pleased), Roxas and Palutena had decided to just wait until that happened again. After all, judging by what Ophis had said, she seemed to be pretty willing to share her mate with the rest of Roxas' 'horde' (as she'd called it), since if she wanted Roxas for herself and solely for herself, she'd probably have just kidnapped him and taken him to whatever hideout she has the second that she'd been able to get him alone with her.

"Yeah, that looks alright." Roxas remarked, looking over the page that Palutena had pointed to, which depicted a nice plot of land on the outskirts of the capital of Lilim territory in the Underworld. "Cool view of the city, too. I'm sure it'd look even better at night."

"Cities always look better at night." Palutena replied, as Roxas turned the page, flicking through the next few entries with a half-interested look on his face, before his face lit up as he stopped on one a few pages later.

"How about this one?" Roxas asked, lifting the book a bit to show Palutena. It was a plot of land from the territory that used to belong to the now-extinct Valefor Clan, with a chunk of shoreline from Lake Malaph, the largest lake in the Underworld, seemingly thrown in as well. "Pretty well-sized, nice view of Lake Malaph, out of the way."

"Yeah, that is pretty nice." Palutena replied, focusing more intently on the page in question. "And that chunk of shoreline could surely be converted into a beach, if you coughed up enough Souls for it."

"Heh, yup." Roxas nodded, grinning. "Very own private beach, that sounds nice."

"Yeah, very nice." Palutena replied. "You gonna pick that one? I'm for whatever you're for on this front."

"Think so, yeah." Roxas nodded, marking the page in question and shutting the book, before throwing the covers off of his side of the bed and standing up. "I'll go tell Vene about it, she can pass it onto Dad."

Palutena nodded, and shifted herself into a more comfortable lying position on the bed as Roxas strode over to the door and pulled it open. Though who he saw on the other side almost made him drop the book from where it was in his arms.

"Hello again… Roxas." Ophis tilted her head as she looked her mate up and down.

"O-Ophis!" Roxas stuttered, reflexively taking a step back as Ophis stepped forward, into his bedroom. "Uh, hi. Nice to see you again, I guess." He paused for a second as he looked Ophis down and up. "Is it just me, or is there something different about you? …Did you do your hair differently?"

"No." Ophis replied, immediately, taking another step forward, now fully in the bedroom with Roxas and Palutena. The former, almost unconsciously, took a step to the side to put himself between the Infinite Dragon God and his wife. "Though I would say I am… different. But it has nothing to do with my appearance, it is more… internal."

"Internal?" Palutena repeated, leaning slightly so she could get a better look at Ophis from behind her husband's back. Her father, when he was still alive, had told her things about Ophis. Roxas' word or no, some part of her was still concerned for what would happen if her husband got involved with such a being.

"Internal." Ophis confirmed, looking down at herself and raising a hand to her chest. "I suppose you could call it a… feeling?"

"Go on." Roxas replied, raising an eyebrow. Ophis silently looked at Roxas, then shifted her gaze to Palutena Palutena, then back to her mate.

"Ever since we mated," Ophis began. "I have been encountering these… feelings." The hand above her chest curled into a light fist, as she looked down at it. "That I… do not understand. It…"

"Is it pleasant?" Palutena asked, from behind Roxas. Ophis, looking up at the greenette Goddess, nodded.

"Not in the same way as mating." She spoke. "But it is… pleasant. I… think these feelings are because of my mating with you, Roxas."

Palutena's eyes shifted from Ophis to Roxas, as it was her turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Oh, uh… thank you?" Roxas remarked, looking from Ophis to Palutena and back again. "You mentioned wanting to live with me… so, uh, I guess that's about to start happening, right?"

Ophis nodded, again, taking yet another step closer to Roxas. Roxas himself, dropping the book to the ground, took another step back, tripping over his feet and landing on his back on the bed. Palutena would've probably let out a giggle if it was just her and Roxas in the room, rather than her, Roxas and Ophis, the latter of whom immediately took the opportunity to appear on top of her mate, practically straddling him.

"Alright, hang on, hang on." Palutena, shifting herself back up into a sitting position, spoke up, catching the attention of both Roxas and Ophis. "Before you get down to whatever you're clearly about to get down to: Ophis, what's going on with you and the Khaos Brigade?"

"Oh yeah, we were gonna ask that, weren't we?" Roxas mused to himself, from his position beneath Ophis, who looked over at Palutena, tilting her head again.

"The Khaos Brigade?" she repeated. "I fail to see how that matters."

"Well," Roxas remarked, from below. "Considering that most of the beings I've fought over the last… while, have been associated with the Khaos Brigade in one way or another, a faction that claimed to have YOU as its supposed figurehead, I'd say it matters quite a bit when said supposed figurehead has made ME her mate."

Ophis blinked once, twice, before relaxing herself and sliding off of Roxas' form, taking up a cross-legged sitting position on the bed.

"The group was small when it first approached me." Ophis began. "Led by a Fallen Angel. Said they had heard about my goal to defeat Loud Red. Offered to assist me in exchange for power. I accepted."

"Uh-huh…" Roxas replied, sitting up himself and turning around to look at Ophis, who was looking down at the bedsheets.

"The Khaos Brigade grew quickly." Ophis continued. "Their leaders used me as a… figurehead. It led to more powerful beings joining, which meant more allies to assist against Loud Red, so I allowed it. Granted power when asked." She raised her hand, and manifested a small snake in said hand for a couple of seconds, before dissipating it.

"Makes sense, I guess." Palutena remarked. "So what changed?"

Ophis lifted her head from where she was looking, and silently looked over at Roxas.

"There was a spike in power, some time ago." Ophis replied. "One that I traced to Roxas. It was intense, reminded me of a promise I had made to myself, long ago. Long before the Khaos Brigade ever approached me."

"About finding a mate as potentially powerful as Lucifer when he was a Nephalem?" Palutena asked. When Ophis looked over at her, her head tilting slightly, Palutena shrugged and remarked "Roxas filled me in."

Ophis simply nodded.

"I left the Khaos Brigade soon after that." She continued. "Observing my future mate took precedence."

"Guess all that observing paid off, considering I'm no longer your future mate." Roxas remarked, shrugging. "Just… your mate."

Ophis nodded, and scooched across the bed, a little closer to Roxas.

"And, well, good to know that you're not with the KB anymore, Ophis." Roxas continued. "But I think it'd be easier for all of us if everyone else knew that you weren't with them anymore. Would make it easier for you to get away with… mating, with me, you get me?"

"I suppose that… is acceptable." Ophis replied. "But that can wait."

And before either Roxas or Palutena could say or do anything, Ophis practically launched herself at Roxas, pushing him back down to the bed, her lips against his… right as the door was pushed further open, and a loud female gasp met Roxas' ears from the doorway.

Looking up from his position on the bed, Roxas' eyes widened at the sight of Venelana, stood in the doorway, her eyes wide and mouth open at the sight of Ophis on top of him. As he'd frozen at the sight of his grandmother having discovered Ophis atop him, Ophis pulled back from her attempts to kiss him.

'Guess it can't wait, after all.' Roxas thought.


And that's Chapter number (Nintendo) 64 of Nephalem of Gremory done, and only one left until the end of this first stint! Only one, huh... after nearly five years...

Anyway, Roxas Gremory is now officially Roxas Lucifer now, and a lot of good shit will be coming his way: money, property, actual noble standing in the Underworld, the literal Infinite Dragon God... hmm, one of these is not like the others.

And Venelana seems to have found out, too, one can only imagine how that's going to go.

Anyway, hope you readers enjoyed this chapter, and you have it in you to leave reviews to tell me your thoughts, or if you want to chat with me (about the fic, DxD in general or something else entirely), drop me a PM, look me up on Discord (my name's on my profile) or join my Discord server (link to join that is also on my profile. Just paste it into a browser and take out the spaces). Any of those methods works just fine for me.

See you in the final (of this stint) chapter!