Hi hi!
This took stupid long, but on the good side, I finally got my laptop up and running, so we'll be back to my spastic but quicker updates hopefully!
Looking this story over, I'm really taking my time with how the narrative grows. It's a lot less than the other things I've written, but I'll admit, it's kind of a nice contrast from the usual action I try to write.
Of course, it's not all going to be this sort of awkward romantic "Oh-God-everyone-loves-me-but-I-swear-to-God-I'm-not-a-Mary-Sue" crap, partly because I'm a hopeless romantic that has no real life outside of being a nerd. But hey, may I be damned if I try and imagine it!
...This is getting no where, so I'll stop stalling.
ONWARDS!
Corvus was a mess.
From the moment that the succubus walked up to their table, he knew something was off. Then she started to speak.
To think that she'd allow a foul mouth to make an appearance before him.
And then, when he was sure that Kuro would get mad, all she did was send quips back, as if it was just another normal occurrence!
And so, since she almost refused to do anything about it, it was up to him to take over and make sure that her pride didn't die to this!
But even as he was telling the crowd off, she still told him to calm down! To stop! How could she not see the threat to her reputation? To think that a princess would ever think to allow herself to be spoken to in such a way!
And then, to add to the flurry of emotion, she had thanked him. She had whole heartedly thanked him, even though the end of said date turned out to be a disaster.
He had been ready to be furious with not just the situation, but with her as well. Did she not see that he was trying to make it a special perfect day for the two of them!?
But, then again, she did say that she had never been on a date before…
Corvus groaned, holding his head. It was too much, he was willing to stalk it up to having had stayed up late last night to make sure that all the preparations had been in order.
He wandered into the library, making sure to get to his secluded little spot, before sighing, rubbing his eyes. He hoped that, while it wasn't a success, it wasn't for naught.
Groaning, he gave the stack of books to his side a look. Those should be enough to keep him busy for a while...
Kuro woke up to the sound of knocking. She groaned, rolling out of bed, before slowly dragging herself to the door. It wasn't Vanth's delicate knocking, it was some heavy-duty shit from the other side.
"Who is it?"
"Arc."
"No no no," Kuro murmured, grinning as she opened the door for the spider demon, "You're supposed to start a knock knock joke!"
"...Knock knock joke?"
"You know what, just drop it." Kuro murmured, waiting for him to ask what to drop, only to sigh with relief when he didn't. There was some progress being made here, "What are you doing here?"
"I was looking for my vain brother." Arc sighed, looking around, "...Is he not in here?"
"Nope," Kuro sighed, "After our date, ugh I'm not use to that word, he dropped me off in here and left."
"He just left you here afterwards?" Arc sighed, shaking his head, "You think that with all these years he's wasted on the attention of random women, he's learned how to properly treat one."
"Someone sounds like he's about to go Mario on his bro!" Kuro grinned.
Arc, as expected at this point, gave her a confused look.
"You know, Mario?"
"..."
"And his green mushroom? The one up?" Kuro went on, her hands going into a sort of crazy spaz as she tried to explain, "So, in the game, you can get the green mushroom and you get an extra life and-you know what, fuck it, joke's dead."
"...Alright." Was all Arc murmured, looking around the room once more, before sighing, "That Crow, he knew that Cresil wanted to show us the progress. But, then again, he doesn't like Cresil much…"
"Wait, who?" Kuro asked. If this guy wasn't liked by Corvus, she couldn't help but think of what would happen if she just became friends with him by chance.
"Cresil Aguliance Invidia." Arc sighed, "He runs a lot of the medical and scientific branches here. He's the reason that we've been able to take care of clean up, not to mention he's Legion's second in command."
"Wow, dude has got a lot of power," Kuro said, her curiosity slowly but surely rising. She really wanted to know what this guy was doing and how he did it, "...Would he be against me swapping in for Corvus?"
While Arc thought it over, Kuro almost seeing the gears grinding. If she knew anything, it was the fact that those two hated each other. So, with that said, there was a very big chance that he'd say-
"I don't see the issue." Arc said, a sort of shadow of a smile on his face. No, it was more like the shadow of a shadow. The way it looked on his face and the way his glasses seemed to gleam, it looked really creepy.
"Yes!" Kuro grinned, trying to ignore that look, before grabbing a set of casual clothes. Nothing like not having to worry about Corvus making comments about how a woman could only look fancy to be professional.
Quickly going for the bathroom, she changed into the casual black tank top, shorts and her red hoodie, before jumping out, "Alright, let's science!"
She waited for him to say something about her attire, how plain and bland she looked, or maybe ask where the dress is, only for his eyes to fix on her shoulder, "I take it your jacket still serves you well?"
"All thanks to you, Spiderman." Kuro grinned, a bit too happy to hear, before walking out of the room, "Alright, come on, I don't know how to get there, so I gotta follow you."
Arc nodded, clearing his throat for a moment, before walking out, allowing Kuro to close the door, before going forth to lead the way.
Kuro followed Arc down a whole set of hallways and stairs. Even when she tried to make mental maps, everything just looked so similar.
They had small conversation here and there, no, it was more like Kuro would say something and he'd nod, grunt, or just seemingly ignore her completely.
It wasn't all bad, it gave her more of a chance to talk.
"And that's when I learned how to outdo a drunk and high homeless Rifter." Kuro grinned, chuckling to herself from the story, "Believe me, it was so much harder then I let on."
Instead of the usual grunt of acknowledgement, Arc instead stopped, "Here we are."
Looking around, it was only then that Kuro noticed the fancy walls of the castle had morphed into a sort of darker less-intricate wall of what looked to be concrete. The floor was a bit damp, some water running down the sides.
"I take it that these are the five-star suites?" Kuro asked, as Arc knocked on a large wooden door.
There was a faint, "Coming!" From the other side of the door, before multiple locks and other metal objects clicked, the door slowly but surely being pushed opened, "Sorry, I keep forgetting to get some sort of oil to keep from this door getting stuck again."
Looking the new guy over, he looked a bit...Out of place. The way that he stood in his fancy and clean white lab coat, black dress pants, and a grey sweater-like undershirt screamed "Professional", but his stance was...Off.
He stood in a sort of lazy and laid-back fashion, no straight back and puffed out chest of a usual rich Noble would.
His hair was in a sort of fancy yet casual set as well, a sort of dark blue tidy mop of hair that covered the entire left side of his face. His right eye was a similar color to her own, which also struck out as odd.
"Ah, I don't believe we've met formally," He said, holding his hand out, "My name is Cresil." Before she could answer, he was already shaking her hand, "Don't worry, out of everyone in this castle, you really don't need an introduction, Princess Lilim Akuhei."
"Just Kuro is okay." Kuro insisted, a bit more then fed up with all this royal shit.
It was getting to her, ever so slowly.
Cresil and Arc shared a look, and at this point, it was as if she could read minds.
While it wasn't perfect, she read their faces, trying to think of what they could be trying to convey:
Cresil: Is this chick for real?
Arc: Just go with it.
Cresil: For real, man? I better not get fired for this.
Arc: You won't, just shut up and agree with it.
Cresil: You think she can read anything we're communicating to each other?
Arc: I doubt that.
Cresil: Then why is she just staring at us?
To that much literal thought, Kuro chuckled awkwardly, before looking around the now opened lab.
It looked like a mix of a medical office and a stereotypical Frankenstein lab. Desks of papers littered the room, the walls lined with old looking books, the whole room only lit by a few random bowls of what Kuro assumed to be oil, since all those flames hung by chains holding the bowls to the ceiling.
But, in the far back right corner, there was a birdcage that took up quite a bit of space, looking just big enough to hold a human or three, depending on how you shoved them in. But it wasn't the fact that it was big or covered with a large white sheet that got her attention.
It was shaking.
Something inside was making it move around.
"So, you wanted to go over the plans of the new extended guard towers." Kuro could hear Arc say, as she subconsciously got closer to the cage. She knew it wasn't a draft, partly since there was no type of window down here.
"Ah, yes of course." Cresil said, the two walking to a table from out the corner of her eye, "So, here are the new plans, and those are the blueprints…"
As she got closer, there was a sort of...sound? No, it was like a whole sort of...feel to the cage. Something that felt odd, like it really didn't belong here.
"This will have to be done either during or after the meeting of the seven sins."
"If that is the case, we'll need more manpower on this project. I'm thinking that we use those human slaves for more than just food."
She wasn't really listening in, rather just hearing some words and putting them together with other words that made the most sense. Either way, she was pretty sure that she was right.
"So, where is your brother?"
"He wasn't able to make it today, but thankfully, Kuro here was able to fill in for his position…"
But, right before she could get within a foot, a hand came down on her shoulder, "I'm sorry, Ms, but I can't have a lady wandering around my little workshop here. Lots of gross rusted blades and a ton of more poisonous vials down here."
"Oh, yeah, sorry about that." Kuro grinned awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head, "Also, Just Kuro is good. No Lilim, no Ms., just Kuro." She murmured, before following him back to the table.
Still, she didn't like how that cage looked or felt.
"Since you are Corvus' stand in," Cresil said, gesturing to the blueprints, "What do you think about the latest design for the guard towers?"
Kuro looked over the design. It looked very evil medieval and tall, with a bunch of creepy spikes and a nest at the top of the tower.
On another set, it showed how the building would be made and what it would be made of, a rather durable yet cheap and thin looking steal, "What is it made out of?"
"It's reinforced shards," Cresil said proudly, "Hard to come by, which is why it'll have to be spread thin. But, being how it is the only material that can kill demons, it will do nicely."
"And most of these guard towers will be made 100% of this material?" Kuro asked in slight wonder.
"Well, more or less." Cresil admitted, "While it is ideal, we can't possibly get enough material for the entire building. The weapons and exterior will be shards, while the rest with either be made of or reinforced with obsidian."
"So, in theory, the building is basically unbreakable?" Kuro murmured, before giving Cresil a smug look, "But what about the doors?"
Cresil returned the look, jeez this guy looked more out of place with each passing moment, "The only way up and into the guard box is to get into the bottom of the base here," Cresil said, pointing to what looked to be a sort of hidden doorway, "Through the door, and up the stairs that'll be guarded. Then, once you get to the top, there's an iron gate to keep the guard box from the stairs."
"I guess it's not bad." Kuro murmured, taking mental notes in the back of her mind. She wondered how much Vale would give her for this information.
"Well, knowing that Corvus would have been harder to coax, it's good to know that you're not nearly as stubborn." Cresil said in good natured manner. While he didn't do it, the look in his eyes made it seem as if he would have slapped her in the shoulder, "But hey, if I can coax the spouse, surely the Prince won't be that difficult, right?"
Kuro laughed awkwardly, "Yeah, sure, haha."
Arc could probably feel her discomfort, before clearing his throat, "Technically, they are not entirely bonded, not just yet."
"Oh?" Cresil murmured, confused.
"By royal law, as it is called for whatever reason," Arc stated, each passing moment sounding more and more like some sort of old-aged encyclopedia, "The pairing isn't solidified until the ceremony takes place."
"And this matters...why?" Cresil asked, not seeming to catch on to whatever Arc was saying. Honestly, Kuro wasn't either, but that might be for the fact that one part of her head was listening for any information to keep while the other was still wondering exactly what this ceremony was entitling, "You know what, that'll be a conversation for another day, yes?"
"Indeed." Arc agreed, fixing his glasses.
Cresil then turned to give Kuro a bright smile, "So, Ms. Kuro, how have you enjoyed your stay so far?"
To this, Kuro sighed, there was no way that he'd just drop it, and this was probably as close as he was gonna get, "Well, it's okay, I guess. It's a big jump from the Rift."
"Oh, I'm sure of it." Cresil nodded, about to go on, before a bell went off. Following Cresil's gaze, there was a small portion of the wall, hidden within the shelves, a small area of the wall had bells attached to wires that went into the wall, at least five of them.
Sighing, Cresil walked over to it, the middle bell ringing, "I do apologize, but it would seem as if I'm needed back in the throne room for a little bit. I'll be right back."
With that, Cresil slipped back through the thick door, slamming it shut behind him.
It was then that Kuro really noticed and took in how the awkward silence was slowly getting to her.
She took a quick over the shoulder glance to Arc, who was wandering around in the other side of the room, engrossed in the papers that littered the desk.
Kuro was left to just looking around, searching for something that could hold her mindset for a little more the two seconds. But, by the first minute, she swore that she'd seen everything there was to see in the room.
If she wanted, she could have drawn a detailed map of the place, from sight alone of course.
It surprised her when it was Arc to clear his throat, "So…How has your day been thus far?"
For a moment, Kuro stared at him, stunned. This was one of the first times that she could count at the moment where he was going out of his way to start a conversation, "Well, being how this isn't a bad way to spend the rest of the night, I'd say it could be worse."
"Ah, so I take it your date wasn't as exactly a, as girls say, dream come true?"
"Well, being how I don't usually dream about dates, no, I guess not." Kuro said, shrugging it off. It really was just a waste of time. Friends were good, but a significant other would do little more than weigh you down.
But hey, she's never been in love, cut her some slack, "Have you ever been on a date, Arc?"
"Never had the time or the desire to do so. "Arc said with a scoff, "And while our 'date' is simply made from a mutual deal between friends, it is hard for me to think of anyone in a romantic manner."
Something about the way he said that was a bit off, but Kuro shrugged, she probably didn't sound too different. Before she could go on, the door opened once again, reveal Cresil who wore a grin, "Great news."
"Since the meeting will be taking place tomorrow, I'll be able to start construction quicker then normally anticipated. Of course, this'll require me to scout the grounds, but still, it's great to see a plan fall into place!"
Arc wore something that looked like a nonchalant line with the tiniest curve at the end, "I'm sure the rest will go along just as well."
"Mmm, I do hope so indeed." Cresil murmured, before turning his attention and smile to Kuro. There it was again, something about the expression looked so familiar but it didn't match the setting, "So, I hear that you're different from all the other princesses?"
The way he spoke, it was as if he was trying to look down on her and shame her if she felt higher and different then all else.
It was a sort of word game that all demons liked to play to get the answer they wanted to hear. While you heard them say something like that sounded fancy and upholding, what they really meant was:
"What makes you so special? You're no different from every other stuck up snob."
Kuro couldn't help but scoff, what was this, a Disney movie?
No, she couldn't think that, even in this rich life, she didn't want to deal with a sue case.
"Well, if you consider the first Rift princess to be 'different', then I'll have to agree with you." Kuro shot back casually.
"We don't raise stuck up snobs in the Rift."
"The Rift, you say?" Cresil murmured, a small grin on his face, "Well, that certainly is an interesting revelation. Do tell, what type of culture do you have in the Rift?"
"A Tempter as a princess? Prove it."
Kuro scoffed, gesturing to her outfit, "You're telling me that normal princesses wear this crap?"
"Are you blind, you idiot?"
Cresil laughed, rubbing the back of his head, "Well, it was silly of me to assume, I apologize."
"No harm taken." Kuro answered, cringing inwardly. She was sounding more and more like them by the second.
To this, Cresil laughed again, looking a bit too loose for her liking. You always have to be weary of the seemingly lazy ones, if Undertale has taught her anything, "I have to admit, I've got to tip my hat to you."
"...Huh?"
"You know what I'm saying here." Cresil grinned, "So, tell me, were you at the top of the pickings back in the Rift?"
"Nah, probably on the other side of that spectrum, if you get my drift." Kuro laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head. It felt a bit odd to be receiving any sort of praise, especially from someone she had just met.
"I'm sure that there must be something spectacular about someone such as yourself." Cresil insisted, "To have a sort of rags-to-riches story, that's what everyone these days want, is it not?"
"Most people, I'd assume so." Kuro shrugged.
"Well, either way, I'm sure that this has been a big change for you." Cresil said, casually leaning back on the table behind him, "In which case, I am usually down here."
"Thanks a bunch, my dude." Kuro said, laughing lightly.
Arc then chose that moment to clear his throat, "If there is nothing else to go over, Cresil, we will be taking our leave now."
"Oh?" Cresil said, sounding genuinely confused, "Normally you stay for half an hour more."
"I'm afraid I can't do that tonight." Arc said, sounding a bit more monotone than usual. It was weird, even for the usually emotionless prince, "As you know, the meeting is tomorrow."
"Alas, you're right." Cresil murmured, only to clap, "Oh well, at least that means I can start construction right away!"
"Indeed."
"Well, be off then." Cresil sighed, opening up the door for the two, "As for you, young lady, I do hope that you enjoy yourself. Feel free to come down whenever you please."
"Thanks." Kuro said simply, following Arc out. She shot the demon a last wave, before the door closed behind the two.
"Well, he was a treat to meet." Kuro grinned, nudging Arc in a arm with a stupid grin, "How you two are friends I'll never understand."
"As of late, he has been the only one that is different." Arc sighed, leading Kuro back up to her room, "He just recently joined us, and due to his surprisingly high IQ and different point of view, he's not only a valuable asset, but also someone who has a lot of interesting insight."
"So…In short, he's just fun to listen to?"
"...I guess so, yes."
Kuro did something between a sigh, a groan, and a laugh, "You always sound so proper, do you read a thesaurus before we hang out?"
"I do use the library, it was built for a reason." Arc pointed out.
"...You, my friend, are a work in progress."
"Young Prince?"
It took a lot for Corvus not to groan, he had to uphold his reputation of being a gentleman, even if it was just the help, "How can I help you?"
"Umm, well, you see." the tiny demon girl murmured, twirling her hair.
Corvus didn't understand why Kuro didn't just file for a new maid, he wasn't sure how to stuttering didn't annoy her, "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that one. Do you mind repeating that statement for me?"
With an embarrassed blushed, the servant girl cleared her throat, "The king has cemented tomorrow as t-the day for the meeting of the seven deadly sins to take place."
"It's always a pleasure when they come over." Corvus murmured, with just enough charisma for the little demon not to catch on to the sarcasm dripping from his mouth, "Very well. I will be sure to be properly ready for the meeting."
The girl bowed politely, thought the Crow was sure that it was to hide the red painting her face, before dashing off.
With a sigh, Corvus rose from his chair, looking out into the dim "night" sky. While that blood red sun never really set, this time was still easily picked out for the calm and relaxed period of time where demons could get sleep, if they wished.
Climbing up the stairs to his room, he wondered if there would be a time where he could share this moment with her.
As irritating and stubbornly, ugh, peasant-like she could be at times, she wasn't bad company when the two weren't butting heads.
Shaking the thought away, he opened the door to the bedroom, soft snores of his Kitten filling the air. There was time to think like that later, he still had a black heart to steal.
Marax sighed, leaning forward on his axe.
It had been a long day of…standing. At moments like this, he couldn't help but let his mind wander, just a bit.
He wondered what Vale was doing right now. He was sure that he was doing fine, Vale had always been someone who was able to make the best out of the worse situation. Even when they were younger, Vale was the one who did most of the problem solving.
Of course, his train of thought went from Vale to Lezabel. He couldn't help but wonder how she was doing, on the surface. Surely, she was okay, right? The surface was a lot safer for a demon like her-
"Hey, Mar-Mar!"
"At the nickname, Marax couldn't help but sigh, "Princess Kuro, what a pleasant surprise."
"…Well, if you're going to keep that up, Mar-Mar isn't going anywhere anytime soon."
"I don't suppose that you're here to just waste time?"
From there, Kuro moved to pull something out of her pocket, holding it off to the side, "Of course, I mean, I have no other reason to be out here."
Her voice and tone had a whole different meaning from what her eyes were conveying. Marax almost did a double take, she looked so similar to Vale.
She quickly pushed the paper into his gloved hands, before shooting him a grin, "Well, I now have to go off and do royal shit. Catch ya later, Mar-Mar!"
And with that, she skipped off, back into the castle as if their interaction had never happened.
Marax sighed, putting the letter away for safe keeping. Good thing he was planning to head down to the Rift soon.
I'm kinda tempted to do a sort of crack chapter. But, if I do, it'll most likely make an appearence at the end of this story.
I'm reaching that issue where I know where I want this story to go, but I'm not exactly sure how to get there. For anyone who plays Undertale, since a nerd only knows how to communicate through nerdy things, this story is like the multiverse.
I can think of so many different ways to wrap this story up. If I wanted to, I could end it all now and just kill everyone. But with that said, I'm trying to avoid what happened with Atrium, which I might try my hand at again one day, and figure out the most reasonable story that has my own creative messed-up mind, a decent and enjoyable story, and no GOD DAMN MARY SUE BECAUSE APPARENTLY-
You know what, fuck it, that's a rant for another day.
Anywho, I hope you enjoyed, and I look forward to your reviews!
Till then, bai bai!