Every time the comb ran through her hair, little strands got caught up and pulled from her scalp. Making the little girl hiss and make faces while her mother tried to make her stay put. She'd learned to do it by herself already, but this time was special. She needed to be as presentable as possible, so the older woman insisted on 'helping' so that the process would be quicker and better.
"Back straight and smile up, Abigail." The woman stated while the little girl frowned at the mirror. Her mother's words made her eyes dart up, seeing the expression on the adult's face made her force a little smile while her hair was pulled "Never let them see you not sparkling."
The little girl looked away, trying to keep the smile up as the frankly painful process repeated.
"Can you at least do it more carefully?" The little girl murmured, making the woman stop in her tracks "It hurts."
"Doesn't sound too convincing." The woman resumed combing, not changing anything about the way she did it. At some point, the little girl wondered if there was any actual need for doing it for so long.
"Please, mom. It hurts a lot." The little girl made her voice a tone higher, warping her expression and lifting her shoulders as she spoke "I hate it."
"The last part was unnecessary, child." The woman gently grabbed strands of her daughter's hair and pulled them against the comb. The strain came between the woman's hand and the tool she used, so the little girl's scalp didn't resent the force behind it "Make me feel like you hate it, don't tell me outright."
"But you wouldn't stop…" The little girl dropped her shoulders.
"Back straight, Abigail." The woman reminded her, pushing the little girl's back forward before continuing to comb "You can't slouch during the dinner. This has to be perfect, your dad will be disappointed if you don't behave."
The woman put the comb down on the desk and made her daughter turn around to see her properly. The woman was almost ready, wearing a cocktail dress in shades of blue and having some light makeup on. But her hair and accessories weren't ready, plus she moved around the house on her sandals. And she'd never be caught outside without her heels, so the little girl suspected that the forcefulness came from needing to prepare herself after helping out here.
"Perfect. Don't mess you head." The woman stated and pulled some ribbon clips from the desk.
Abigail's room was completely pink, with a couple of shelves filled with picture books that she'd never opened, photos, and some toys that went with the huge doll house she had on the farther end of the room. A few posters of a movie or a series were hers, but otherwise the decoration had been chosen by her mom. And although when girls came to hang out, Abigail very rarely used most of the things around.
Case in point, the clips her mother used would never be chosen by the little girl. As she'd been told not to take them out unless her mom told her to. They were too 'nice', even if the little girl didn't find a difference between them and the cheap ones. Only that they belonged to a brand with a difficult to pronounce name.
Well, there were a few things that a 10 year old wouldn't get. She'd need to grow a little more before she figured out the depth of how much effort was put in her appearance.
"You still look like a little child." Her mom said while moving her head by pushing her cheeks, trying to find something she didn't like "Well, no matter. You behave like a young lady, okay?"
The little girl nodded, pushing her shoulders back by reflex to straighten her back.
"Good. Arnold's boys will be around, don't fall for their pranks. Okay?" Her mother's age lines showed a bit while she frowned "If they make you uncomfortable, you make them look bad. Remember what I told you?"
"Stick to the adults, be a darling, make them notice the boys are being mean without speaking…" The little girl parroted without much trouble, earning a nod from her mother.
"If it doesn't work, you tell me. Okay?" The woman shook her head "Boys that age are useless, don't let them pick on you."
Her mood dropped very quickly, and the little girl saw her mother go through quite a few emotions in quick succession before she took some distance from her daughter.
"Honestly, what are they teaching their kids? And your dad always encourages them to go nuts, the little cretins…" The woman saw her daughter again. She hadn't looked away, but her eyes had stopped registering the world around her. So after letting it out, she took deep breaths and fixed her hair a bit.
"Alan is nice." The little girl offered, honestly wanting to help her mother stop being mad.
"He doesn't have a spine, dear. He'll be no-good in the future, trust me on this." She put a hand on her daughter's shoulder, visibly struggling to breathe normally "When you grow up, you realize men are 90% useless and 10% only high maintenance. So learn to pick them apart, because you'll need a good husband to have an easy life."
The little girl didn't really get it.
"Is life really that hard?" Having grown up in a big house, having more things than she needed, and; quite frankly, wanted, had this little girl have a very warped vision of how things worked.
"Oh, trust me. If it's not, then people will try to tear you apart. Pull you down to their level." The woman chuckled darkly, almost losing herself in her thoughts again "So you'll need a husband to help out with the things you can't do. Ideally a man you can both trust and influence…"
At that point, the woman didn't mention that Abigail would have an extremely hard time finding such a partner. It was obvious to her, an adult a little more than thrice her daughter's age. But to the little girl, such an idea didn't make any sense.
If she needed someone to trust, why would she try to influence him? And if she found someone she had to influence, then wasn't that someone not worth her trust?
"Oh! I forgot. I'll put some hair spray on you. Don't move!" The woman seemed to have recuperated from her mood swing, so the little girl simply nodded and waited for her to get back. Kicking her feet on her chair while making faces in the mirror to distract herself.
A little boy's head popped from the corridor to Abigail's room.
"Where's mom?" He asked in a bit of a monotone tone, one he'd started adopting recently.
"Hair spray." Was all the little girl said in return.
"No…" The little boy moaned, making a face as he retraced his steps. The little 'tap, tap, tap' going into the distance while the older sister saw herself in the mirror.
Trust and influence, trust and influence, trust and influence, trust and…
Her eyes darted to something in the mirror, behind her in the real space.
Something in her eyes changed. As of she'd suddenly aged years in mere instants, in spite of maintaining her child-like appearance
"What are you doing here?" When she turned around, a light brunette or dark blonde older girl stood petrified in place. Not scared, but mostly not knowing what to do "Who gave you permission to enter?"
"Well, someone chose to do weird stuff to my soul, so now we're experiencing weird things in turn." Star Seeker gave the little girl a shit-eating grin "Were you always this much of a pushover? Mommy must've been really mean to bring me all the way here without meaning to."
Abigail didn't frown. Instead, her expression turned serene. Having remembered who she was and where she stood, knowing that none of this was real… It gave her strength.
"Nothing to say?" The Miracle Child's grin grew.
"Interesting. I'll have to test this out..." The little Abigail swiped her hand across the room "But get out. This dream sequence is over."
The couple of days following Yuzu's little meltdown had a permanent awkwardness that made the boys kind of nervous. Genshirou and Yuuto looked more like cornered critters than actual friends whenever Yuzu or Akeno were around. Wanting to help, but knowing better than that.
Good. Abby would become even more worried if the boys didn't know at least to give these two a little more space. They needed to go through all the stages of grief on their own, even if the boys checked on them from time to time. In the end, their hearts wouldn't heal in any other way than on their own.
In t-t-t-the end… In the end… End…
Damn it.
"Sis?" Luci stared straight at Abby's face, with his serious expression looking wildly out of place in that baby face of his.
"Yeah?"
"You aren't going to cause trouble, right?" He didn't say what he wanted to, and instead chose a more neutral approach. More banter than an actual inquiry, not meant to be taken seriously.
The funny hooded man probably helped him notice Abby's strain a bit more. He'd always needed a bit of help in navigating the more delicate details, but it seldom lasted long. Neither of their parents would put up with a child that was slow to learn, after all. And even in this world, the siblings prided themselves in their ability to learn quickly.
"Of course not. What am I, twelve?" Abby shrugged, making a point of motioning in a way that let him know that she wasn't very serious about his question "You should go check on little Yuzu instead."
Luci scoffed but relented, unwilling to give Abby any reason to start teasing him with something he actually cared about. She didn't know what he saw in that girl, but she did understand that it wasn't something as cute and simple as a little crush that would pass. Strictly speaking, Abby knew more about romance than him. Given the funny quirk of their mother of thinking that it was alright to teach a 10 or 11 year old girl about such matters, so she felt pretty confident in making the call. Plus, his disengagement here was as damning as an open admission to Abby. Who knew more and more as these people interacted with each other.
Genshirou treated Yuzu and Kuroka as his family, often talking about his siblings with either of them. Like they were his cousins or elder sisters, always ready to listen to them. Always cheerful.
The same could be said for Yuuto and Akeno, although their relationship had probably existed for far longer than the other three. They were able to communicate with few words, and their very movements had been ingrained with the other's in account. Had Yuuto been blindfolded and had to guess whose hands he was grabbing between all the girls, he'd probably guess Akeno's right. And in turn, Akeno treated the boy as if he belonged around her. Always taken into account, always looked out for. A family-like bond that Yuzu had seen in a few families that had divorced parents who remarried to someone who already had children.
Kuroka… Abby didn't like her very much. She was ambivalent in how she treated everyone around her. And her relationship with the rest could be summarized in 'I came to care for you, so now I'm your problem'. She was the most relaxed of the bunch, even with Yuzu and Akeno. Which was respected for the most part, so Abby guessed that Kuroka had come to trace her limits first and then built her relationship with everyone afterward. A cold approach, but one that gave her the most range of freedom in the whole 'team'.
She also wanted to sleep with Genshirou, but he was too much of an innocent little dude to accept. Plus she had already…
"Hey, just meant to ask you since before: What are you doing?" Luci used the long-respected tradition of changing the topic after a moment of silence, giving Abby enough time to get her bearings as she looked down.
Her Sacred Gear laid between her hands, and Abby had spent the better part of the day staring at it. Focusing.
"I'm trying to find the other pieces of the Sacred Gear." She said once she remembered what this was all about "I might be able to sense it. Given Azazel's research on the Vritra Sacred Gears and the dreams your Genshirou had. I might be able to replicate it with the chalices."
This whole thing about god's artifacts was so interesting! Abby could see herself spending days and days researching and experimenting with the Grigori's tools. Azazel himself knew so much that Abby needed to review everything she caught later on. And not only that, but her understanding of her own Sacred Gear grew a little bit with each thing she pieced out thanks to the fallen angel.
"You two grow too fast." The fallen angel had said, but Abby genuinely thought that it was to be expected. Luci found his demonic power very interesting, and Abby couldn't look away from everything she could do with her Sacred Gear. The more time they spent in this world, the more it felt like it was meant to be. Like a piece of the puzzle called A*****l B*****y was completed.
"You sure that's a good idea? The other Vritra hosts were able to look back at Genshirou." Luci looked back at the blond, who was training with Yuuto on how to fend off against swordsmanship.
That the blond used a giant two-handed blade when he'd otherwise dual wield was telling, but Abby didn't care for the specifics of combat.
"You think so? I mean, we're behind like all the layers of fallen angels we can ask for. If it's even possible, what are they gonna do?" Which was, because the star-eyed idiot could see through Abby's mind because of their connection. But Abby wasn't looking through the link in her soul "I thought I'd be able to find traces of magic or something, you know."
"I do. If it's a ritual, then there should be traces that can be followed…" Luci nodded. Thanks to the Kankara Formula's added senses, it should be possible. Not like Abby would tell him she'd snuck a small portion of that power to herself "Feels so weird talking about magic stuff with you."
Abby chuckled.
"You're not a kid anymore, Cricket! Stop talking about stuff that doesn't exist!" She spoke more fiercely than intended, even going as far as to stand up and almost break into outright yelling. She had to play it off with a bit of laughter after startling her little brother "Guess we're just so good that even magic becoming real is fun instead of threatening."
"It was kind of overwhelming at first." Luci couldn't help perking up at the topic, making his features a little cuter as he spoke. Perhaps he'd wanted to have this sort of conversation for a while, given how everyone around spent a lot more time in this 'supernatural' world than either of the siblings. Making them the only ones to have this sort of outlook. Uniting them a little more in this small way "But some studying did the trick. Demonic power is really funny in how malleable but stubborn it is to work with."
Abby lifted her chalice, turning it around between her fingers and making it create a purplish liquid out of nowhere.
She put her palm on top of it and lifted it to create a miasma of demonic power, originally taken from Luci's body prior to giving him the Kankara Formula. And Abby looked at it through the chalice by both tilting it and lifting it up so it'd be above her head.
"Huh. No wonder devils are so feared around here." Abby pushed the miasma down and re-absorbed it into her Sacred Gear "It's hilarious how much you can do with this."
"Right?" Luci smirked.
"I'm almost tempted to weaken your special power. Even with its versatility, it still locks you into its rigid framework." Abby shrugged "You could do better."
"I know, but time's of essence here." Luci shrugged too "Maybe later I'd be able to explore more. For now, this is enough."
"The only thing you lack is experience." Yuzu came out from one of the adjacent rooms. Still looking particularly gloomy, but more centered thanks to the things going on around them "You should be training. Both of you."
Abby scoffed.
"My time is wasted engaging in such barbaric activities. I'm more useful with the guys figuring things out."
"I took a bad hit with Akeno just a couple of minutes ago, and although I heal it still drains me a lot." Luci's words made Abby search the half-fallen angel with her gaze, and found her slowly moving around with Kuroka using her lifeforce around her. Seems like she stuck to her role for far too long "Thanks for that, by the way."
Abby hadn't expected her brother to notice. Partially because she hoped he wouldn't have to recover parts of his body days after giving him the ability to regenerate, but also because it just wasn't in them to do nice things for each other. She expected him to wonder why she'd done it, if she wanted something in return, or if she'd snuck in a little trick in return.
It felt… Nice. Honestly, she could get used to it. But also really uncomfortable at the same time.
"Call it my insurance that I won't be left alone in this world." Abby made a 'can't be helped' motion with her hands while shrugging "This place is filled with babes and gigachads, but nothing would've ever prepared me for it all."
Abby regarded both Yuzu and Luci, trying to actually look at them with her own eyes. Before, she'd called her little brother cute. But that was simply her intrusive thoughts being more comforting than the information that the chalice injected directly into her brain.
Abby knew she was looking at her brother because something in his soul, lifeforce, and presence let her know that he was like her. That all of these traits belonged to someone of another world, someone so infinitesimally similar to Abby herself yet so overwhelmingly different that it could not be anyone but Luci. She distinguished his original form, sometimes, or perhaps it was an illusion from the strange information she saw. But she hadn't spent enough time with her Sacred Gear off to really tell.
Yuzu, too, didn't look to Abby like the tall silver haired cutie that she was. Her bad mood didn't reflect on her twisted features or body language. Abby simply guessed that all the information she gathered of her emotions correlated to such actions, and so far she hadn't really missed the mark too badly. She hadn't looked so tone-deaf to everyone to raise suspicion. Sometimes she glimpsed at Yuzu's real looks, and she could kind of guess where Luci was coming from. But otherwise she, just like everyone in this room and the rest of the world, were simply a combination of all the characteristics that Abby was forced to recognize.
Over and over again, endlessly. Unable to turn it off as she kept using her Sacred Gear, as she kept learning. She'd tried shunting some of the background noise to the star-eyed idiot, but that only let the girl get a better hold of the connection that Abby created. She still held the reins in this relationship. But that girl belonged to this world, knew better and had more experience.
If the scales kept tipping in Star Seeker's favor, then Abby might be in a bit of trouble. But if push comes to shove… Abby had no doubt that she'd win.
"Is that an excuse to not learn to fight or…?" Yuzu's question bothered even Luci, if only a bit. She couldn't understand the little exchange because she had no siblings.
No matter, Abby was a magnanimous girl. She knew how to get back at people without looking bad.
"It's an excuse to have my bro have my back." Abby put her hand around Luci's shoulder, bringing him closer to her. Being mindful of not bringing him TOO close, however.
"Didn't you get Star Seeker as your bodyguard? What did we let her survive for?" Luci rolled his eyes, although he didn't look uncomfortable to Abby's senses.
"She's doing some coverup stuff for us right now. How else do we know our beloved Fate Weaver will come around in a day or two?" Abby released her brother as she strutted toward Yuzu "I mean, as far I know y'all still need me to get back your slimy information network. So maybe let me concentrate on that? Understanding my Sacred Gear might be more useful than learning how to, like, kick and stuff."
"You won't always have people around you." Yuzu insisted "You need to learn to defend yourself."
Abby almost took the opportunity to tear out a piece of Yuzu's face, almost. It'd have been easy by shapeshifting and rendering the half-devil's speed Worthless. But she didn't. She also took that from Yuzu without permission, and Abby wouldn't show her hand without reason.
Plus… Abby didn't know how much power she could spend without diminishing herself. Which honestly was more important than any advantage she could have.
"I could defend myself if I had more of my Sacred Gear so I can access more of the stuff I have in store." Abby moved her hands as if she was filing her nails.
Yuzu didn't seem to like the answer.
"Like what?"
"Literally another Longinus? Honestly, Yuzu. I know I should've been a little more tactful, but please remember that I'm only even awake because of all the stockpiling I'm doing to keep my soul in one piece… Or as much of one piece as I can."
"That's not… It has nothing to do with this." Yuzu looked away? Right, her mind was filled with battle. It was all she knew, so Abby's condition was probably as good as being a goner in Yuzu's mind "Lucius' main weakness is his lack of experience, and it looks to me like he'll stop training if he feels safe around you. And viceversa."
"Aw, you're worried about us?" Abby smirked cheekily.
"Do I look like I'm messing around?" Luci sounded worried about it.
"Well, I wouldn't know. I come from a peaceful life." Abby pointed out "But I guess we should listen to Yuzu in this, right?"
"She knows her stuff." Luci nodded.
Yuzu hadn't expected this sort of reaction, probably because she was still pissed off. But she didn't take it the wrong way. In fact, Abby maybe should've been more positive about training. It might actually have helped Yuzu understand that Abby wasn't messing with her faster.
"Well, don't let me keep you for too long." Abby slapped her brother on his lower back, close to the edge where it stings "Go on, little bro. You have to cover up for me in exchange for my services, remember?"
"Are you really taxing only me? I'm literally your brother." Luci hissed as he covered the spot that Abby hit.
Abby turned to Yuzu, giving her a look that would hopefully let the half-devil realize that she too owed Abby.
"I…" Seems like it worked, but not good enough.
"Just go, Yuzu. I know you'll have my back when the time comes." Abby cradled her cheek, sighing theatrically "If not, I guess I'll just go with someone who appreciates my talents. Someone that won't forget that I gave them part of my immortality and aided in their growth for basically nothing."
"Is getting somewhere to rest and eat nothing to you?" Yuzu asked more defensively now. Abby's point was setting in.
"Pff, no. But I didn't know that your full name was Yuzu 'Azazel' Yaegaki. Good to know, though."
"She's actually Yuzu 'Grigori' Yaegaki." Luci chimed in.
"Lucius?" Yuzu sounded rather betrayed, but Abby managed not to look too pleased with the minute reaction.
"Miyuzuin?" The little boy put a hand on his chest "Have you been hiding more of your past from me?"
"Okay, enough." The Belial girl closed her eyes "I get it. You're on her side."
"Hey, I think Azazel is being so nice because Abby's here. We might get kicked out without her." Luci confided, moving closer to Yuzu conspiratorially "But y'know, might be just me."
"Yeah, you'd be the only one kicked out." Abby added "Shipped straight to the Underworld again. Which might be for the better, to be honest."
"I always thought the most likely to deserve hell was you, actually." Luci didn't even look at her while speaking.
"Fine, you got me. There's no power of friendship or love, this family doesn't allow for such cliché forces to take root." Abby rolled her eyes "I meant that it'd be better because of your demonic power, jackass."
"But I don't wanna go back to Ajuka right now…" Luci tilted his whole body, making a point of looking annoyed.
He knew it'd work, even if only a bit, on Abby.
"That's precisely my point." Yuzu took the opportunity to get back into the conversation "You're one of our most powerful cards to play, you should be taking as much advantage of it as possible. For all of us. Given that no one else got to have that power."
The half-devil's look conveyed annoyance, or that's what Abby was getting. The blonde made a motion with her hands as if she was weighing her options.
"Do you want to get brain damage because of your demonic power?"
Yuzu didn't immediately react offended, but instead stopped thinking for a moment. Trying to actually understand Abby's question.
"What?"
"I didn't make Luci good at it, that'd require me to change more personal aspects of him. And his soul wasn't precisely stable enough to do that." Abby showed Yuzu her hands "I didn't only give Luci Kankara Formula because I wanted to, it's because I don't want to mess someone up in the process of making them compatible with it."
Yuzu gave Abby a long look.
"You're lying."
Abby scoffed and walked around Yuzu, placing her hands on her shoulders and motioning toward Kuroka.
"Okay. Don't you wonder why I haven't given all of you the ability to use youjutsu? I mean, I took the demonic nature off of Genshirou, I kept his [Bishop] enhancements even after taking the piece. Why, then, aren't y'all using youkai magic to create illusions and do whatever it is that they do better?" Abby released Yuzu and moved in front of her, so that the silver haired girl could see Abby in her totality "It's simple: You're not compatible enough to be worth it."
"That still doesn't make sense. Why did Lucius manage to use the Kankara Formula so quickly after getting it, then?" Yuzu pointed at the smaller boy "He wasn't a devil for very long. Don't tell me he was able to do it intuitively."
"Actually, I researched about how demonic power works since I came to this world." Luci became annoyed. Like anyone, he didn't like having his skills doubted. Not even by the girl he was crushing on. Or, perhaps, much less by her "And while being inside the barrier. Ajuka has written a lot about it. I don't have the practice, but I have the theory. And it just so happens that Kankara Formula works by forcefully imposing the theory into the practice."
"The numbers change, but since he can already use it it's just a matter of putting in the input." Abby smiled "I do agree he should be training more. Maybe even twist it so it fits him better, given that it's his only means of fight. But that won't be possible with Ajuka. That guy will only impose the way his power works on Cricket. And that's not necessarily the best course of action."
That seemed to remind Yuzu of something.
"I guess…" She sounded like she was thinking of a personal experience. Perhaps something relatively new. It gave Abby something to hold onto.
"Plus, All is Mine." Abby went to her brother and patted him on the back "You should go to a hideout of the Khaos Brigade and fire that bad boy right now. Keep it working."
"That too." Yuzu looked at Abby's brother "You can cheat your way to the top. Use that spell."
"I was diggesting the last time I used it." Luci excused himself "I know it's like in games: Having it off cooldown is actually bad."
Abby frowned.
"When was the last time you used it?"
"I… Think it was with Ophis." Luci looked up.
Abby gave him a better look as Yuzu's expression changed.
"You are more… No. What? Yes, you're more… Something else. But you didn't grow to enormous proportions. What were you assimilating?" Abby struggled to really word what she was looking at. He was still her brother, unmistakably so, but the body given with Genshirou's human base and Ophis' blessing had made him more… Dragon-like? God-like? Abby hadn't seen any of those things before, and Ophis' presence eclipsed her senses even after leaving the vicinity.
She hated not knowing, and she hated being unable to look cool in front of her brother. She'd have to take it out on Akeno later, when they went back to experimenting.
"I… Think it was the rest of me." Luci pressed his lips together like he usually did when he was scared in front of unknown people "As in, the pieces that weren't put back together."
"Recycling? You're way too efficient, even for me." Abby understood the fear because she could see what it meant. It'd be the equivalent of cannibalizing a limb to avoid starvation. On top of having the brands of having messed with Ophis on his limbs and chest. All Abby could do was lessen the burden with some irreverence "You were right: Your little skill is basically the only trump card you need."
"Of course." Luci struggled to put up a strong front, but he pushed through "I have a good idea of what I'm doing, that's why we've gone so far."
"...It's why I'm still here." Yuzu admitted after narrowly managing to read the room.
"And I couldn't have done it without you, of course." Luci's smile became warmer.
"Skill issue." Abby couldn't help saying.
"Gee, thanks Sis." Luci crossed his arms.
"That's what makes you the little brother, and I the older sister." Abby gave him a condescending smile while patting his shoulder "You must've missed me during the two years you were alone with mom."
"Did… Something happen?" Yuzu asked, although it sounded more like a 'should I really be hearing this?' to Abby.
"Oh, no. It's just a siblings thing." Abby explained before Luci could say anything "That's why Fate Weaver leads, or tries to. And as I understand it doesn't really follow many people's advice."
"Eldest brother thinks he knows better." Luci spat with some disgust.
"And the youngest will always seek people's help. It's just the way we're raised." Abby concluded "There's nothing wrong with it, of course. But when this cutie pie is suddenly thrusted into unknown territory after being away from his beautiful, smart, and resourceful older sister…"
To his credit, he managed to show indignation instead of resentment or distraughtness.
"I did well."
"You could've done better. Way better." Abby pointed at his nose "But you panicked, didn't consider all of your options. And almost died for it."
"That's a little unfair." Yuzu read to Abby like she wanted to defend Luci, but Abby didn't know if it was because she felt bad for him or because Abby's words personally offended her "The Miracle Children were…"
"There's no one to blame for his failures but himself." Abby interrupted "That's the truth. If we sit down here and now, we might be able to come up with a better strategy. Hell, we may not even have the Stain problem and I could've avoided being in soul purgatory for literal years."
Abby looked at her brother, holding back all the things she wanted to say. Giving him time to answer.
"It's very easy in hindsight, isn't it?" Luci's defense was weak at best, but Abby let him keep going "But… I'd love to hear it."
Abby blinked a couple of times.
"What?"
"As you said: I need help, I can't do things on my own. I haven't learned how to be completely independent." Luci sounded a bit hurt. But he managed to keep it out of his voice enough to articulate every word clearly "I still need you, and Miyuzuin, and Gen, and all the help I can get. That's the point, it has always been. Miyuzuin deals with battle, Genshirou will deal with the Heavenly Dragons… And now you will help me get back my cool."
"You've never been cool." Abby smiled thinly.
"Go to hell."
"I kind of am." Abby replied.
"Yeah… Me too." Luci admitted.
Abby turned around.
"Well, I guess that if my little brother still needs me after all this time I have to fulfill my role as the older one." Abby taunted him while shrugging "It's my fault for spoiling you so much while we grew up, so I'll take responsibility."
"You didn't spoil me at all." Luci chuckled.
"Eh…" Abby made a so-so motion with her hand, but didn't press the issue.
"That's… Fine and all, but we still need Lucius to grow as strong as he can." Yuzu interrupted "Or can we get his…?"
"No. I'm not giving you that." Abby denied her with her index "Y'all are using Genshirou for that. And that's that. And we're done talking about this. If you press, I'll take some of your abilities. Are we clear?"
Yuzu did not like that at all, but she didn't have it in her anymore to oppose Abby.
"You'll get us all killed." She gritted her teeth.
"That's absurd! Just be a darling and give me back my Sephiroth Graal. It'll be fine." Abby showed the half-devil all of her teeth.
"Sis." Luci warned her.
"You stay out of this, boy. You just asked for my help!"
"We're the same age now. And one thing doesn't have to do with the other." Luci put himself between Abby and Yuzu, facing his sister with little effort "You're not alright."
She wasn't, but Abby didn't get so worked up because of the Sacred Gear this time around.
"Fine." Abby made a point of speaking as sharply as possible "You do you."
"I'll find targets to get a power boost." Luci gave her a cheeky smile and turned to Yuzu "Can you make me company?"
Yuzu's attention went from Abby to Luci.
"That'd be for the best. Can't have Stain randomly popping up and just getting you killed." She sighed.
"Because you only care about how useful he is." Abby didn't want to hide how amusing she found it "Of course that's the reason."
"Abby…" Luci warned her again.
"Do you have a problem?" Yuzu tried to put Luci away.
He enforced their positions, preventing Yuzu from pushing him and getting any closer to Abby.
Abby's grin grew again.
"No, not anymore." Abby took a few steps back. Without giving them her back "Everyone is in their place now."
After all, everyone should know who was in charge. Even if it was because they knew more, or had more power available. No matter if they were friends, or tools, or whatever other relationships magic enabled.
Those beneath them should obey. Luci couldn't forget that they were raised to lead, that'd break Abby's heart.