Dance in Time

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own thoughts.

I seem to be getting sick. Oh well, have a new chapter.

Part 2 of Dance in Time

Chapter 12

"You want to do what?" Grayfia Lucifuge asked her husband, Sirzechs Lucifer, as she walked into his office. "Forgive me, I must be developing hearing problems. Could you please say that again."

Sirzechs had a rather unusual, for him, serious look on his face. "You heard me correct, dear. Our son, Millicas, is getting to that age where we have to start thinking about his future."

"I understand that," Grayfia said with a nod, "but my question is, why did you not tell me that you were having guests coming over? I won't have time to prepare for them if they will be here as soon as you..."

A knock on the door to the office interrupted Grayfia, who turned as Sirzechs smiled. "Come in." The redheaded Devil King said as the door opened up and a few people walked in.

The first was their eldest son, Millicas, who was leading Ranma and Lilith, along with Morrigan and Chloe into the office. "Hello, Lord Sirzechs," Ranma said with a polite bow, "thanks for having us today."

"Hello, Lord Saotome," Sirzechs said in kind as he bowed back, "it's good that the Demon King can come to visit." After the door behind Chloe closed, Sirzechs chuckled softly. "I think we can drop the formalities now." He said as he stood up and walked out from behind his desk.

"I agree," Ranma said before he walked over to Sirzechs and the two shook hands. "How have things been?" He asked and the two let go of their handshake.

"Good enough." Sirzechs said and looked at Chloe. "So this is your newest peerage member?" Ranma nodded and turned to Chloe, who was bowing to Sirzechs.

"Hello, sir," she said, trying to keep from trembling as she was able to sense just how dangerously powerful the maid and the redhead were. She knew that he was one of the four Devil Kings, but until she met him, she had no idea what kind of power was at his disposal.

And the worst thing, for her, was that she could tell that he was hiding a lot of it.

"My name is Chloe von Einzbern."

"Well, Chloe von Einzbern," Sirzechs said with a smile, "I am Sirzechs Lucifer, one of the four Devil Kings." He looked at his son. "Millicas, could you take Miss Chloe and Miss Morrigan and show them around while we adults have an important discussion? I think your sisters would love to see their big brother."

His son smiled and led the two girls out of the room.

Ranma smiled as the children left. "So, what's the reason you wanted us here? You called me up this morning and asked if Lilith and Morrigan could come to see you and I brought Chloe with, but you didn't explain anything."

Sirzechs walked back behind the desk and sat down, motioning for Ranma and Lilith to sit down across from him while Grayfia stood to Sirzechs's left side. "I was thinking about my son and your daughter and the other day my mother contacted me about a noble that approached her and father about engaging my son to their daughter and it occurred to me that as soon as your daughter, Morrigan, is more widely known that you'll be fielding requests to engage her to some family that has an unwed son."

"Not to mention my other children." Ranma muttered and Sirzechs nodded.

"Quite, but Morrigan is a special case." He pointed at Lilith. "You're the grand-daughter of Azazel, daughter of Asmodeus, one of the rulers of Makai and," he looked at Ranma, "you're married to both Serafall Leviathan and Seraph Gabriel. And while it isn't as well-known by most, you are the descendant of Azrael, the Gremory family and have the blessings of Amaterasu." He smirked at Ranma's befuddled look. "Rias called me up when she found out everything and told me the whole story."

"...Pregancy was weird to her." Ranma muttered and Sirzechs nodded. "...Common in your family?"

"The Gremory clan, yes. Mother was originally part of the Bael family so she was normal when pregnant. But for some reason, all the women of the Gremory family get crazy and weird when pregnant." Sirzechs twitched as Grayfia gave his cheek a pinch. "I didn't mean it in a bad way. It was amusing. You said so yourself."

Grayfia let go of his cheek and nodded. "I do admit, seeing Rias turn her bed into a go-kart so she didn't have to get out of it for a couple of weeks was amusing."

"She did what?" Lilith asked, flabbergasted. "...How many injuries?"

"Just lots of toes that were ran over, thankfully." Sirzechs said and shook his head. "Mostly she drove it around outside." He chuckled as he remembered Rias shooting him with a red-painted paper Mache turtle-shell by accident. "But that's not why I called you two here to talk. Your daughter, Morrigan, and my son, Millicas, are two young Devils that lots of Devil families are going to want to marry into them."

"The son of a Devil King and the daughter of the ruler of Makai..." Lilith muttered as she nodded. "Yeah, they're basically celebrity children at this point."

"...And if people knew about Asmodeus, it would be even worse." Ranma muttered, knowing that only only those in charge of the three factions really knew about Asmodeus. The Fallen Angels and Devils that had been involved in capturing Gabriel had long been dealt with and the few that weren't either executed or sealed into Cocytus weren't speaking about it. "Wait, you're not suggesting what I think you're going to suggest, are you?"

Grayfia let out a small sigh. "Dear, if you're thinking of engaging our children together, need I remind you how that worked between your sister and Riser Phenex?"

Sirzechs smiled and nodded. "I know that. And relax, I'm not going to make the same mistake my parents did." His expression melted into a serious one as he held up his left index finger. "First, if we announce that they're engaged, that will keep attempts from other noble homes to have our children marry their unwed children to a minimum." A second finger was raised. "We don't force this on them. While we have them get engaged, they will be free to end the engagement upon graduation from high school should either or both decide that it's not a good fit." A third finger was raised. "And finally, if it does work out, any children they have together would potentially be the strongest children ever."

Ranma groaned as everyone looked at him in confusion. "I feel like my mom. I'm not even twenty-one yet and I'm thinking about grandchildren."

"This could be fun." Lilith grinned.

"I disagree." Grayfia said with a neutral expression on her face. "I mean no disrespect, Lilith, while you have mellowed out since I first met you, I can only imagine that your daughter won't be any different than you were at that age."

Lilith gave her a tight smile. "Why, Grayfia, are you suggesting that my daughter will try to do lewd things to your children?"

"Didn't you try to do lewd things to Millicas when you met him?" Grayfia asked coolly.

"I thought that he was a cute kid and I wanted to hug and keep him as a body pillow." Lilith felt her eye twitching. "Besides, I never knew that you were a sins of the mother being fulfilled through their daughters type of person."

Grayfia had a polite smile on her face as she tilted her head. "Of course not, but with you and your mother living with her, I can only assume that your daughter has had nothing but poor influences in her life."

"At least none of us have a problem with showing affection or letting their children call them mother." Lilith said with a sweet smile on her face.

Both Ranma and Sirzechs sweat-dropped at the raw hostility the two women were putting out. When literal sparks flew and put a scorch mark on the desk, both men looked at each other, nodded and got up, pulling their wives apart and leaving through different areas with Ranma going through the front door and Sirzechs pulling Grayfia out of the window.

"Grayfia," Sirzechs gave her a neutral look, "what was that?"

The maid took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Forgive me, the incident with her saying she wanted to kidnap Millicas sticks out in my memory like a sore thumb and I do not wish for our son to have a total degenerate as a wife."

Sirzechs mentally sighed as he saw his wife blushing and fidgeting. It was rather unusual for her to act this way, but he knew how protective of their children she was. "...Fia..." He whispered to her, causing her eyes to widen as her blush deepened, "I understand your concerns, but you admitted that Lilith has mellowed out since that day." He paused as she nodded. "Besides, even if Morrigan is a bit on the wild side as a child, maybe she'll grow out of it?"

"Perhaps."

Sirzechs hummed for a second. "Or you can take the time to drill in some manners into her head while she grows up?"

Grayfia sighed softly. "If I do that, I'd have to accept the engagement, wouldn't I?"

"Yes."

"..." Grayfia closed her eyes and actually pouted. It was small, almost unnoticeable, but Sirzechs knew his wife well enough to see the absolutely adorable pout on her face. "Very well... I'll go along with it."

Sirzechs nodded and hugged her. "Don't worry, Fia, I'm sure that you can turn Morrigan into a respectable young woman."

(-)

Meanwhile, in another room...

Ranma gave Lilith a flat stare while she looked sheepish. "...I'm not sure whether to spank you, use a paper fan on you or lock you in a trunk for a few days."

"...Spanking works." Lilith said meekly. "And, I'm sorry, but Grayfia's attitude..."

"I know," Ranma said while giving her an annoyed look, "but you brought it on yourself with how you acted around Millicas." Lilith looked away. "Look, regardless of how you feel about it, being a few years ago and you're still young, the fact is, you still made a pass at her son. Look how long it took Yasaka and you to come to an understanding about Kunou." Seeing Lilith look upset, he opened his mouth before an idea came to him. "...Actually, I just got an idea." He grabbed Lilith and dragged her back into the office.

When they got inside, both Sirzechs and Grayfia had returned. The air was still tense, but not as charged as before. "Say, Sirzechs," Ranma began as he closed the door behind him. "What is the protocol for replacing Devil Kings?"

"Huh?" Sirzechs blinked in confusion and cupped his chin. "Such a thing hasn't come up before. But we did have a large tournament to determine who would be the four Devil Kings, why do you ask?"

"So you're saying that if a Devil was to challenge a Devil King for a one-on-one match that the winner would be that Devil King?" Ranma asked and Sirzechs nodded.

"Why do you ask? Do you want my position?"

Ranma shook his head at Sirzechs' question. "No. I want Issei Hyuudou to face Serafall Leviathan."

"HUH?!" Lilith, Sirzechs and Grayfia all gasped in surprise.

Ranma rubbed the back of his head. "Not that I think Serafall would lose, but the fact is, you four won't rule forever. You've been doing this for a few centuries now and even Heaven got it into their heads to have Angels waiting in the wings in case something happens to one of their leaders."

"Hmm," Sirzechs cupped his chin, "that would be interesting. An open tournament for all Devils, regardless of rank or status, to face each other with the four that do the best would be given the honor of being able to challenge any of the Four Devil Kings. But why do you want Serafall and Issei to face off?"

"Only if they both agree." Ranma told him. "I have my reasons, but an exhibition match of the Red Dragon Emperor against the Devil King Leviathan would put butts in seats. Heck, I guarantee even Heaven would watch such a fight with great interest. And regardless of how it ends, you can announce a tournament for everyone who wants to participate."

"And when Issei loses, he'd be automatically entered into the tournament, huh?" Lilith asked and Ranma nodded. "Interesting, but, Master, I don't..."

Ranma smirked at her. "Simple, it's not going to be just one exhibition match." He looked at Grayfia and then at Lilith. "Since you two are having such an issue with each other, why not hash it out in battle?"

Both Grayfia and Lilith stiffened while Sirzechs nodded.

"Yes, I think that would be a wonderful idea. In fact," Sirzechs clapped his hands as a thought came to him, "why not have some stakes in this battle?" The others looked at him, though Ranma was nodding his head. "Should Grayfia win, the engagement idea is off the table and I won't bring it up again. But should Lilith win, all objections Grayfia has must be discarded."

"...The earliest I think we can do this is six months." Ranma said and Sirzechs nodded. "Serafall will get back from Egypt in three months and that gives her enough time to relax and prepare if she's good for it."

"She will be." Grayfia said with a nod. "She also won't hold back. Her pride refuses to allow it."

"Now we just need to convince Issei." Ranma shook his head. "I'll deal with that. But if we're all in agreement..." He trailed off as the others all nodded. "Okay then."

"As the strongest Queen," Grayfia said while excitement simmered in her eyes. "I won't go easy on you."

"Funny," Lilith said as she stood up and energy crackled in the air, "I wasn't planning on going easy on you either. Care to put your title as the strongest Queen up for grabs as well?"

"And what do you offer in exchange?" Grayfia asked.

"...If I lose..." Lilith tapped her chin and nodded. "I'll owe you one favor. Anything you want, if I can do it, I have to. You can't ask me to harm myself or anyone I love or anything like that."

"Interesting," Grayfia said with a nod. "Very well, I accept."

"I'll contact Issei." Ranma said and Sirzechs nodded.

"If he agrees to it, then I'll make the announcement this afternoon about it."

"Agreed." Both Grayfia and Lilith said with a nod.

End Chapter 12

Don't worry, Chloe is still the star through the 2nd part of this sequel. This is just setting stuff up for the end of the story.