Chapter 26: Rebuilding

Im so sorry, I was late again, I know. This month is insane for me. I will hopefully be able to put a chapter out for Saturday, but don't quote me. Thank you all for sticking with me, and as a reward this chapter is longer.

-Two days after the boss fight-

Assol and Yui sit in two desks in a classroom. Xertic walks into the room, wearing his butler tuxedo, and carrying a pile of books. He drops them on Assol's desk.

"I will not have an uneducated child living in my house. You will accompany my daughter in her lessons, and the same rules of respect apply to her. Behave yourself." Assol growls behind the pile of books.

"Who the hell says I want to learn this?" He shouts in daemon. A hand slaps him across the face.

"Do you think you know all of the knowledge you can? Tell me all 9 princes of Hell, by their birth, and name their purposes as well." Xertic says, leaning forward and glaring at Assol. The boy adjusts his collar.

"Umm..." Xertic turns swiftly and walks to the desk. Yui giggles at Assol, who was hiding his red face.

"Today's lesson is on art. While you will not need this skill for fighting, both of you will possibly be future rulers, Yui more likely than you." He adds, smirking. "Art is a very important aspect of culture to learn, and may come in handy. With enough practice, you can create anything."

He takes out a piece of paper and a quill. He dips the tip in an ink pot next to him and begins drawing as he talks.

"I was taught by my butler to be very fluent in many languages, to understand cultures, and have a very artistic view. It is not very common for demons to have this knowledge, but that doesn't matter." Yui perks up.

"But daddy, I'm an A.I., why would I need to know this? I can't be a leader in the underworld, can I?" She asks quietly. Assol was about to answer, but Xertic walks over to his daughter and gently puts his hands on her shoulders.

"It does not matter what you are, as long as you are given the power to survive in Hell, you can lead, my little soul." Assol's jaw drops.

"So she gets to be treated nice and I get slapped?!" Xertic shoots a look at him.

"Don't give me a reason to slap you, and I won't." He goes back to the paper. "Anyways, with this ability, you can make pieces such as this." He holds up a picture of Asuna, smiling brightly and brushing hair from her face in the wind. The two stare at the picture.

"Woah..." Assol mumbles. Yui smiles.

"Is that for mommy?" Xertic nods.

"I'll have this colored so she can keep it. Now then, it's your turn. Let's see what you two can do." Just as the two begin, Drake enters the room.

"Young master, may I interrupt?" Xertic nods and the two walk out. "You are doing a fantastic job at teaching, I must say."

"It means alot, coming from you. You were the one who taught Gamelus and me everything we know," the two stop outside of the room. "Now, what is it?"

"The house, I fixed it, you are able to move back." A smile washes over both of their faces. Xertic turns and walks into the room to tell the children the news.

-Afternoon-

Xertic and Gamelus bow in front of Midori.

"Thank you for having us in your home, Mrs. Kirigaya." Midori chuckles.

"It's no problem at all, you two. I'm glad your house was fixed up. Take care of yourselves." Kazuto offers to help carry their luggage outside and walks out with them.

"We telling my mom that demons were under her roof?" Gamelus looks at his brother as Xertic shakes his head.

"Not until she's 80. Thank you, Black Swordsman-sama, so very kind to evil souls... Besides Laughing Coffin." The three begin laughing and Gamelus shoulders his backpack.

"Let Asuna know where we are when she comes by, so this idiot isn't love deprived." He says, shoving Xertic.

"Says the one who hasn't made a move yet."

"Alright, see you two later." The two boys nod and part from the human.

"What lovely humans. It's a shame their lives are limited." Xertic glares at his twin.

"Don't talk like that. We don't know if that's definite. As far as I'm concerned, Sugou is in jail, Lucifer is planning, and Laughing Coffin is silent." He snaps, putting his hands in his jean pockets.

"But what if you're wrong? The world is in danger, Xertic." Gamelus pulls Satan's dagger from a portal. "We have a weapon of mass destruction in our possession. This thing makes an atomic bomb curl up in a ball and sob into its knees." Xertic sighs.

"We can't accept that. We can't give it away after everything we worked for." Xertic opens the door to their fixed shack, taking his boots off in the large foyer. The two sit down on the couch and Drake walks over to them in his butler form.

"What can I get for you today, young masters?"

"Peppermint Tea, Drake. Thank you," they both reply. Drake bows and walks away.

-Evening, Xertic's house-

Xertic sits on the large emerald green couch in his unnecessarily large living room, staring at the cackling fire through his glasses. His girlfriend was lying on his chest, sleeping. He sighs, leaning on his hand, watching sparks bounce off of the flame.

"Damned demons..." His eyes travel to Asuna, hearing her whimper slightly. She was having an awful nightmare. Sugou had trapped her, Behemoth had knocked her out, and she woke up to Xertic pulling her soul from her body. She woke up sweating, breathing hard. Xertic instantly clutches her shoulders.

"Asuna, you're awake, it's OK." She buries her face into his chest. "Nightmare must have been awful. Lucky..."

"Xertic, please be serious..." Xertic means his head back and smiles.

"I'll try my hardest. Tell Dr. Ravenclaw what happened." Asuna explains the dream to him, shivering slightly. "That does sound awful. Don't worry, I know that I can't have your soul. No demon will, I will not allow it." Asuna slowly forms a smile.

"Thanks..." Xertic wraps an arm around her waist.

"You shouldn't be afraid, one is locked away, one is dead, and the other is cuddling with you. Wait, that's not very good..." He twitches his mouth up at the sound of laughter.

"I just experienced trauma and you made me laugh already. I love you." Asuna means her head on his shoulder and Xertic holds a finger up.

"I can't allow you to love me more. Though theoretically I should have eaten your soul by now. It's how demon relationships end up going." Asuna lays back down on his chest, now staring at the fire as well.

"What were you thinking about before I fell asleep? I barely got a word out of you." Xertic shrugs and takes his glasses off. Putting them on the coffee table.

"Just the things that I'm responsible for, and the little time I have. My father will not be able to remain calm for too long, the next step will likely come, and I'm not ready for it..." Asuna looks up at hin.

"What else can Lucifer do?" He smiles sadly, putting a hand on her cheek.

"Asuna, unless I give back the dagger... Satan is going to declare war." Asuna sits up, her eyes wide.

"He'll do what?!"

"Sounds like a regular demonic anime, I know. But yeah, my father will demand a declaration of war. The dagger is a powerful weapon, but I can't give it back..."
"Well, why not? I don't want to watch you go off and fight, I saw that too much in SAO..." Xertic frowns and looks away.

"Did I ever tell you why the dagger is so important?" Asuna slumps back.

"Well, it can kill any living thing..."

"But it also grants life." Xertic snaps his fingers and a book enters his hand. "Death helped craft a weapon that could revive any fallen being, to be used at any time. At first, it was great, generals of God's and Satan's armies could be revived from battle. However, humans began to use it too much, greatly reducing the numbers in both regions. The only agreement God and Satan have made was to lock the dagger up." Asuna thinks.

"So, you stole it-"

"At first to deliver a message," Xertic says, now staring into her eyes. "To show my father who he was messing with. But... Then everything changed a billion years ago." Asuna gasps.

"W-when your mother... You're trying to bring your mother back!" Xertic nods.

"Gamelus, Drake, and I have spent thousands of years trying to figure out how the damned thing works. As soon as we do, then she can be reborn. But doing it commits the biggest crime we could. Taking a soul out of heaven. That's why Satan wants it back, so that we don't use its power." Asuna's eyes well up.

"Xertic... You're plan... It's wrong on so many levels..." Xertic takes her hand.

"Asuna, your mother will eventually find out what I am, find out about Yui, and she will not be a caring grandmother. I... I want our daughter to have this. Don't you see? This isn't about proving my father wrong anymore. It's about fixing our family. Please, understand." He looks away, his jagged teeth clenched. Asuna turns his head back to face her and presses her lips to his.

"You're right... I do not question you..." She pulls back, staring into his slit pupils. "Promise me you will come back safe." Xertic wraps his arms around her shoulders.

"Don't worry about the war yet, it had not been declared. All that's important right now is that we are here, happy and together." The two sit in silence, part of Asuna regretting asking Xertic why he was distant, but the other happy that she knew what his reasons were.

"Come on, we should get to bed soon. I'll text my mother soon and tell her I don't care what she says, I'm staying." Xertic pulls back.

"Thank you, Angel. Yes, I'm calling you that, you are one." Asuna giggles and leads Xertic to his room. After getting into nightwear and Asuna going through a long series of texts, the two lay in bed.

"Even if a war were to come, I will never leave your side. My ghost will always be with you." Asuna leans her head into his shoulder, smiling at the sweet words.

"Don't even think about it, just rest, you've been thinking too much." She presses her lips to his cheek before falling asleep. Xertic closes his eyes.

"Yeah, stop thinking..." he falls into a deep slumber as well.

Alright, that's all for now! Thank you for everything, leave a review to tell me if I'm doing anything wrong, and I love you guys. Absol dismissed.