Author's Note: Chapter three! New character and the end of part one of Deist.

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ri2- Yup, underworld and overworld. That staircase was something of a teleporter between Hell and Elysian, so they're not really both underneath the area where mortals live.

Leor: (holding a glass of wine) Hey, if the smeet's been welcomed to life as a Jew, does that mean we should circumcise him?

Kyuubi: (chokes on his non-alcoholic grape juice)

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Some Love

A cloud of gloom surrounded Kyuubi as he returned to Hell. Perhaps it was simply the idea of returning to a place with a reputation such as Hell's after having spent time in such a place as Elysian. If a person were given a choice as to where they wished to be, Hell's population would be able to be tallied by a head count. Likely in the single digits. Probably countable on one hand. And he only had three fingers and a thumb.

Wow, that had sure improved his mood… Maybe it was just Leor. She had a strong personality and had a tendency to vent off on everyone around her, so maybe he was really just being weighed down by her baggage.

What he needed, he decided, was a nice long work session. He couldn't be depressed if he was immersed in Hell's never-ending paper work! While most people would find this idea quite sad, it really did seem like a good idea to Kyuubi.

Of course, whatever lift his mood had gotten was lost as soon as he entered what he liked to consider his room. It was a high domed, dual leveled roomed with four doors, one at each compass direction. There was no visible access to the upper level, which didn't have a full floor but circled the room like an observational platform. In the center of the room, facing east, was his chair. This wasn't some fantasy that he liked to entertain; it really was his chair. It always had been, even if no one felt the need to have the decency to recognize his ownership.

Case in point, the coworker currently lounging in his chair, just like he'd expected. Not working, not even just on break, slacking off in his chair.

"Hey Kyuubi, how'd that trip go?" It was times like this that Kyuubi hated life. Times like this when his moronic coworker completely failed to understand his work and had absolutely no interest in getting his facts right. And, Kyuubi thought on a vindictive note, he's fat.

Kyuubi moved, heavy footed, over to his chair, standing over it with a deadpan look. The other wasn't actually sitting, but more along the lines of laying in his chair. As such he was able to tip his head back against one of the stone armrests and look up at the chair's owner, completely disregarding the other's gaze telling him to move.

"Not so good than? Sucks for you." Had Kyuubi been someone else he likely would have climbed over the armrest and sat on the other. However, Kyuubi had no urge whatsoever to touch the other and did not climb over armrests. He simply sat on chairs like a normal person, not like a child. He was also not about to tell the other, with different words, to move his fat ass.

Considering that Kyuubi had no plan other than to stand next to the chair and glare forces of motion at the other, it was a good thing that someone else came along.

"Kyuubi!" The excited cry was quickly followed by Silver when she came bounding in to the room from the south entrance. Unlike Kyuubi, Silver was energetic, high spirited, female, and quadrupedal. She was also covered in a heavy coat of silky, silvery fur that also formed a mane of sorts around her neck. Her eyes were bright and attentive, a pale blue that always stared people right in the eyes when she talked to them.

Kyuubi cocked an antennae in greeting to her. He wasn't particularly fond of Silver, but tolerated her childish energy. Mostly because he enjoyed living at least enough to not want to die because he was rude to the daughter of the demon lord.

"Aw, um, Kyuubi, how's San-san doing?!" Silver bounced around as she talked, reminding Kyuubi distinctly of a yippy puppy. Which wasn't really a stretch of the imagination, considering how she kept doing little half leaps that didn't get her hind legs off the ground, her perked ears, and her wagging tail.

"He's seen worse days," Kyuubi said, deciding not to upset the young female by telling her that the smeet in question was laying in squalor and starving or that he had been essentially abandoned by his mother.

"Aw…" Silver whined. "I wish I coulda gone to see him… I just wanna snuggle him all day! Don't you Shuki?"

From Kyuubi's chair, Shukaku rolled his eyes, which were a unique burnt-gold color. "Not really," he said, removing a hand from behind his head to gesture with. "I mean, nothing against him or anything, but smeets really are filthy."

Silver squeaked, bouncing p and down excitedly. "Yeah, but than you get to bath them in those cute little smeet bath things!"

"Eh," Shukaku replied, replacing his hand behind his head as he relaxed in Kyuubi's chair, "I'd rather just stay away from 'em, rather keep my fur clean."

Silver leapt forward, pouncing on Shukaku in what was likely an impulse. "Fluffy!" she squealed as she buried her front paws in Shukaku's pelt of rich brown fur.

"Hey!" Shukaku snapped as she ruffled his fur. "You know how hard it is to keep my fur clean when I'm workin'?! I don't need it gettin' messed up when I'm not working! Geez…!"

"Aw, sorry Shuki," Silver simpered, hooking her front legs about his shoulders in a hug. She nuzzled her cheek against his as she continued, "didn't mean to mess up your fur."

"Meh," Shukaku grunted, doing nothing to move either Silver or himself off of Kyuubi's chair. Kyuubi glared a fate worse than death at them, though only Silver noticed.

"Oh, heeeeeeey, Shuki, aren't we in Kyuubi's chair?"

"Mrf, not his damn chair," Shukaku grumbled his head lowering and his voice partially muffled by the fur on his chest.. "Don't see his name anywhere on it."

Silver cocked her head to the side, her fur tossed to the side by the movement. "Well why would he do that? If he carved his name in to th' chair then he'd have his name imprinted on his butt."

There was dead silence for a whole minute, as the two males stared at Silver, Kyuubi slack jawed and Shukaku's face twitching. Damnit, he was blushing, he knew it. Yet another things he hated about Silver was her awkward bluntness.

Shukaku nearly threw Silver off of his body when he finally started laughing, hands flying down to hold his sides as his body rocked with his mirth. When he managed to calm down he reached up to pat Silver on the head, soothing the startled and confused expression that her face harbored.

"Ya know, Silver, I don't think he needs to carve his name in to the seat of the chair. I was kinda thinkin' more along of the back of the chair. But, hey, it's about time someone claimed his ass and if he claims it himself, well who am I to stop him from doing whatever sort of freakish things he wants to do to himself."

Kyuubi had turned on his heel and stormed off before Shukaku had gotten six words in to his third sentence. Screw the chair, they could have it. He was not in the mood to deal with anyone right now. He wasn't a social creature at the best of times and things had been pretty bad as of late. He supposed it had all started with Sangreal's birth. What an occasion that had been… Even Hell's demons had been invited to see the newborn smeet, although the scorn of Urururra and Farook had shortened their visit. Come to think of it, Kyuubi had been sure that that had been the first time he'd really seen any of the inhabitants of Limbo; on the day Death's Embargo was lifted. He was rather confused by the trio's refusal to enter Elysian as an apology of trapping them between worlds for so long, though…

And then the problems started. Farook had been delighted by the birth, even after the rumors started and shrouded Sangreal and Hier in doubt. Like who, exactly, was Sangreal's father? There weren't exactly a lot of potential sires from Elysian, only Urururra and Farook, the latter of which already had a mate. There were two males in Limbo but one of them had died mated and the other was too deep in depression to have voluntarily fathered offspring.

After Sangreal's birth another problem was discovered: his existence was ripping the fabric of existence apart. The birth of being that was entirely pure had thrown off the balance between good and evil, and the removal of evil lead to a weakened process of natural selection; weakening the life in the Mortal Realm. In order to recalibrate Life, a force of pure evil equal to Sangreal's purity had to be created. Since no one in Hell had any plan to have a child, one had to be made from scratch. It was a job assigned to himself and Shukaku; Shukaku as the artistic Sculptor and he himself as the Animator. Thus Tristam had been 'born.'

There were few people that Kyuubi felt deserved pity, but Tristam, in his mind, was probably the most deserving being to ever exist. He himself had long tried to throw off the stereotypes and myths about demons and what others considered to be his inherent evil. Tristam had even less of an argument with which to atone himself.

It was hard for any child to live a life worse than Sangreal's, no matter how noble the smeet's lineage. Tristam, however, managed to come close. He was fed and cleaned as any child should be, but was treated more like a pet than a person. The youngling spent most of his time on the second level of the room, hidden from view but aware of the presence of others.

In order to reach him, Kyuubi had to leave the room his chair was located in and follow a staircase up from another chamber and traverse one of eight dark, narrow corridors to reach the upper level where the child roamed. If he had been larger, Tristam would have been a rather frightening creature. He had the gangly, pinched look of a person who had grown quite a lot taller in a short period of time and long, spindly limbs akin to those of a newborn colt or fawn, with the disproportionately big hands and feet of a puppy or cub. Besides the proportions however, Tristam bore a disturbing resemblance to Kyuubi, albeit with a darker skin tone and, currently at least, the inability to walk upright. Kyuubi blamed Shukaku for that, convinced that it was a deliberate jab at his plans to be celibate for his entire existence.

The other regarded him with his head turned to the side, one wary red eye regarding him. As he came closer to the smeet, Tristam took a few steps backward, his high steps putting a good amount of space between the two males. Kyuubi sighed gently, extending his hand to the other.

"Tristam…" The addressed smeet tossed his head, snorting in response, but didn't continue to back up.

Keeping his hand extended in a friendly gesture, Kyuubi slowly moved closer to the animal-like youth. "It's alright, kit," he whispered reassuringly, "I won't hurt you. That's it, it's just me. Just stay still, every thing will be okay. Yeah, that's good, just like that, just breath. Don't run, don't run, just stay there…" The whispering was a technique he had developed long ago to keep new arrivals in Hell from bolting and ending up lost or in a pool of lava. It worked well, since he had had so long to perfect the technique, now capable of soothing wild beasts. The young demon stood still, stance unchanged but eyes lidded in calm. Kyuubi reached out slowly, gently running his hand over the other's head. Tristam tensed just slightly, but didn't flinch or pull away from his touch. The elder continued to coo gently reassurances to the youngling, keeping him calm.

When the small creature's form slumped, Kyuubi let his whispers fade out. Sighing, he leaned against one of the rock walls, sliding down the rough surface until he was sitting cross-legged on the ground, one hand still resting on Tristam's head. His eyes slid closed as his mind drifted on to topics he wished not to think on.

Worry sparking dimly in his eyes, Tristam stepped closer to his senior, placing one oversized hand on Kyuubi's left knee and nuzzling his check gently. Kyuubi grimaced slightly, but cracked open one eye to regard Tristam, the hand on top of the other's head begin to rub the thin flesh gently.

Look in to Tristam's large eyes, filled with innocence and a hint of worry, Kyuubi felt a wave of rage and despair wash over him simultaneously. He hadn't done enough. Hier never should have had a child. Tristam never should have been created.

Now… Now it was too late. Tristam had been born shunned, the unloved stepchild of perfection. Inherently flawed; destined to be evil. He was nothing more than a child, yet soon his training would begin. His heart would be hardened, his body pushed beyond its limits, and his dormant powers awakened centuries before their time. Then, Kyuubi knew, he would be marked and forced to bear the scars for the rest of time.

But maybe… Maybe he could still do something to make Tristam's life bearable; make it a life worth living. Kyuubi's eyes narrowed, his fingers scratching the back of Tristam's head, the younger purring as he rolled back against the contact.

As Kyuubi planned, Tristam yawned, lazy pleasure clouding his vision as he climbed on to elder's lap. He flopped there belly-down, letting out another purr as Kyuubi switched hands and scratched began his antennae.

If his calculations were correct, his plan would not take long to set in motion. He paused for a moment, grinning as he realized that his intentions would be expanded up on. He ran his hand down Tristam's back, apply a firm pressure to the other's spine. It seemed that he'd be able to save two lives…