Disclaimer: I own nothing! I am writing this purely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of my readers. Please support the official release.
Is It Wrong For The Devil To Fool Around In Oario?
Chapter 5
The Salome
"Soooo Care to tell me about yesterday now?" Lucifer said as he leaned back against the kitchen countertop and looked at Maze, his right hand holding a cup of fresh coffee.
Maze looked back at him as she sipped on her own coffee and simply offered a shrug. "It was….. interesting I suppose, or at least most of it was. We went to The Dungeon, massacred some monsters, had a fairly nice dinner, and then I kicked the shit out of some cocky mutt that ruined the atmosphere. Then I came back here and turned in and now here we are"
"And Bell is fine correct?" Lucifer asked as he leaned forward and gave Maze a serious look. "You only said that he got out of The Dungeon fine then that he ran back ahead of you and that he needed some time alone. Would you care to elaborate a little more now that you've calmed down a bit?"
Maze let out a tired sigh and then began to recount the previous day's events in greater detail. When she had returned to the Salome last night she had been in a foul mood from the blonde pallum stepping in and ending her fight with the white haired werewolf so she had not been in much of a talking mood when Lucifer had approached her upon her return. All she had really told him was that Bell was fine and that he was a bit upset from some mockery an asshole werewolf had thrown his way and would probably be fine once he calmed down. She mentioned that Bell had run home ahead of her so Lucifer assumed he had missed his return since he had to focus more on running the club than usual without Maze there to split the work. After Maze had given Lucifer her brief report she had gone to bed in a foul temper and left Lucifer to continue running the Salome alone. Feeling less enthusiastic than usual after his discussion with Maze Lucifer had turned in himself a short while later, leaving the closing of the club to several of his more responsible employees.
"….. So I told the pallum who I was and came back. You know everything after that." Maze finished and took another sip of her coffee. "All in all, not a bad day but the ending pissed me off. I mean the blonde bastard just had to step in when things were about to get good! I fucking hate getting blue balled like that just when I was getting into it."
"I'm a bit surprised you didn't just keep going, you normally love it when more people join in." Lucifer said as he set his empty mug down. "Who were they again? I think you mentioned they were supposed to be important but not their familia's actual name."
"Pretty sure the waitress said the Loki Familia." Maze finished the last of her own drink and set down her mug. "I think I've heard the name before. Supposed to be some of the city's top adventurers right? Have some cute girls the customers like to fantasize about when they're here right?"
After hearing Maze give the name of the familia Lucifer let out a groan and palmed his face, feeling a headache coming on.
"Yes, they are. They're also the familia with the girl Bell currently has a crush on, the one who saved him from the minotaur." Lucifer said as he let out a tired sigh. "So not only have you potentially picked a fight with one of the cities strongest familia's but you might have just sabotaged Bell's chances with the girl before he could even do anything. Brilliant, truly brilliant."
"I honestly doubt most of them will blame me for smacking around the mutt a bit, given how he dragged down the mood of the whole damn pub including them." Maze just shrugged nonchalantly at the thought of potentially picking a fight with one of the strongest familia's in the city. "They might have even shut him up themselves if I didn't call him out first."
"Be that as it may, please avoid picking more fights with other familia's in the future." Lucifer said. "I know we may be part of all this familia business now, but I would still prefer to avoid all the little games and rivalries that go on between the different groups. I had quite enough of politicking and rivalries back in Hell, thank you very much."
With those words Lucifer made his way out of the kitchen and began to head towards the stairs, wanting to see how Bell was doing after the previous day's events. He had only made it up the first few steps when he heard a bang behind him, coming from the entrance to the club. He turned around and began making his way towards the entrance feeling curious who it could be at this early hour. He was almost to the entryway when he saw a pale hand grasp the archway and Bell hobbled into view.
The boy was clearly hurt, his cloths sporting numerous tears and blood being visible around the tears. He leaned on the wall as he moved seemingly needing the extra support to stay standing. His face sported a few dark bruises and some of his hair was dyed dark red from a gash along his upper forehead. Bell's expression was a strange mix of pained grimace and determined as he continued to make his way into the Salome despite his pain. As he fully turned the corner and saw Lucifer standing there his expression shifted to one of clear relief even as Lucifer's own shifted to shock and alarm.
"…. Lord…. Lucifer." Bell panted out, his voice showing his exhaustion as clearly as his appearance. "I want…. To get… stronger."
With those words Bell's strength seemed to fail him and he collapsed forward and would have fallen to the floor had Lucifer not rushed forward as he saw Bell tip forward.
"MAZE!" Lucifer shouted back towards the kitchen as he held the young man in his arms and looked over his wounds.
Maze was at his side almost instantly, his shout causing her to come running at full speed with her two curved knives in her hands. She saw Bell in Lucifer's arms and immediately understood what her lord wanted her to do. Without speaking Maze sprinted over to the bar and vaulted over the counter. She ducked behind it for a second and came back up holding a small leather satchel. She leaped back over the bar and began to make her way towards the two men while pulling out a healing potion from the bag, emergency medical supplies in case a fight in the club ever went too far. She quickly examined Bell's unconscious body for any broken bones and when she found none, she poured the potion onto his various wounds and watched as the magic in the concoction closed them.
Lucifer and Maze watched the last wound close before Lucifer gently lifted Bell into his arms and began making his way towards the stairs, careful not to rouse Bell with his movements. Maze followed silently after the two as they made their way up the stairs and opened the door to Bell's room when they reached it.
/
Twilight Manor
Seated behind his desk Finn Deimne clasped his hands together under his chin as he pondered the events of the previous night. he was not alone in his pondering as the room was occupied by his two oldest companions along with their goddess, all of them wearing thoughtful expressions on their faces.
"Soooo anyone got anything interstin to say? Or are we just gonna all stand here lookin all serious?" Loki asked, finally breaking the silence that had permeated the room since they had gathered several minutes ago.
The three senior executives of the familia felt their lips twitch at Loki's question and decided to properly begin their meeting.
"Just thinking about how to properly address the elephant in the room." Finn said as he unclasped his hands and leaned back in his chair. "It has been quite some time since anyone openly challenged a member of our familia like that, let alone won said fight."
"Better not say that Infront of Bete." Gareth said from his usual seat. "The lad has been angry all morning, ready ta bite the head off of anyone who so much as whispers about the fight."
"Irritating but not unexpected." Riveria said as she leaned back against the wall. "Losing a fight is already a hard thing to endure, but losing in so public a manner? And to a woman and familia we had not even heard of before last night? I do not doubt that we will have to endure his ill temper for quite some time before he returns to normal."
Gareth let out an amused huff at Riveria's words. "Yes, his usual scowling irritable self instead of his scowling extra irritable self."
Loki snickered at Gareth's words while Riveria simply let out a tired sigh.
"All right let's go over what we have learned." Finn said, calling back attention to himself. "Riveria, was The Guild able to tell you anything about the Lucifer Familia or its members?"
"They were although the information they provided does not amount to much." Riveria stated as she pushed off the wall and crossed her arms in front of her. "The Lucifer Familia is a new familia that arrived in Orario roughly six months ago. They currently possess two members, a level five amazon named Mazikeen and a level one human named Bell Cranel. They are listed as a business type familia and own a building in the entertainment district called the Salome. Aside from that The Guild did not have much information on them, not even being able to tell me the amazon's alias."
The last part of Riveria's report surprised Finn slightly. Whenever an adventurer managed to achieve their first grand feat and leave level one behind it was customary to award that adventurer with an alias as a way of informing the world that they had proven they were someone to watch. This was a tradition observed both within and without Orario so the thought of someone managing to reach level five and still not possess a known alias was incredibly strange. If Finn had not witnessed the amazon's strength with his own eyes then he might have thought the statement that she was a level five to be a lie made up by a charlatan trying to appear more dangerous than they were. Instead, what surprised him was that the woman's level was only five when she had so clearly dominated her fight with Bete, one of Orario's strongest Level five's.
"Afraid there's not much I can add." Gareth said as he scratched his beard a bit sheepishly. "I asked quite a few of the lads and lasses if they knew anything about the lucifer Familia and most of them had nothing to say. Those few that did know something didn't have much useful to say. The familia runs a "club" down in the entertainment district that offers…. Various distractions to those looking to have a night on the town. They said that they saw the amazon there tending the bar before but never had any inkling of how powerful she really was. As for her god, well he seems like a fairly standard hedonist telling everyone to indulge in their desires. And before you ask, no I will not be sharing which lads shared this with me. That was the one condition they put forth before talking."
Riveria's features shifted into a displeased frown as Gareth directed his last few words as her, clearly unhappy with the thought of some members of their familia partaking in such brazen debaucheries. Finn on the other hand simply nodded as he took in the information and turned towards the last person in the room who may have some information for them.
"Ya I got nothin." Loki said with a simple shrug, causing all three of her children to blink at her in surprise. "The name Lucifer doesn't ring any bells and the fact he's a hedonist doesn't help narrow it down at all. The name sounds kinda like something one of Phae-Phae's pantheon might have but aside from that I got nothin."
Finn nodded as he took in Loki's words and then leaned his head against his right fist as he took in all his familia members had to share, which amounted to worryingly little.
Now Finn did not have any real hatred for Mazikeen for her fight with Bete since the injuries the werewolf had sustained had not been serious and were easily fixed with a few healing spells. Because while he did care for Bete as a member of his familia and a comrade who he had fought beside many times he acknowledged the reality that Bete had an infuriating tendency to talk down to others and mock those he did not acknowledge. The werewolf had started more than a few fights over the years with his mouth and had almost always ended them by beating his opponents into the ground, something Finn and the other familia leaders had been forced to apologize for more than once in the past. Truthfully it was not the fact that Mazikeen had called Bete out for his vulgar conduct or had beaten him that was a problem but instead the fact that she had done both in an extremely public setting.
From his decades of living as an adventurer in Orario Finn understood how important a familias reputation was and how it could affect how other familias chose to interact with them. Currently Loki Familia probably had the best reputation of any familia in Orario, except perhaps for Ganesha Familia, due to their efforts in ending Orario's dark age and their ceaseless drive to push deeper into The Dungeon. This reputation along with the strength of their adventurers kept the other familias from seeking to obstruct them or challenge them and had allowed their familia to flourish for several years now, largely free from the petty competition that existed between the lower ranking familias. The Loki Familia's only real rival in Orario, the Freya Familia, generally kept to themselves as well and the two groups avoided each other in The Dungeon. However, this status quo had been threatened by Mazikeen's actions the previous night.
Finn did not doubt that word had already spread across the city that one of Loki Familia's top executives had been bested in a one-on-one fight by a completely unknown woman from an unknown familia. If his familia sat back and did nothing after such a clear slight, then it was only natural that the other familias would wonder why that was. At best they might assume that they were unwilling to waste their time on a minor insult and at worst it could lead to some assuming that the Loki Familia might not be as strong as they led others to believe. The former could lead to many problems for their members as people might begin to believe they could challenge them without fear of the entire familia taking issue with the insult. The latter could see the lower familias outright challenging Loki Familia to try and take their hard-won place as one of the city's top two familias.
In the absolute worst case these events could potentially lead to Freya Familia wondering if they really needed to share the top spot with Loki Familia and deciding to challenge them to a wargame. With as many level six adventurers as them and the cities only level seven there was a serious possibility that they would lose a war-game with Freya Familia and be kicked off the pedestal they now enjoyed, leaving them to be considered a lower ranking familia or possibly being driven out of the city altogether. While Finn considered this unlikely it was still a possibility as he did not doubt that the sycophants that made up the majority of Freya Familia would absolutely love the idea of seeing their goddess crowned as the undisputed queen of Orario, with no Loki to contend for the position with. All of this was why he could not simply ignore the fight and continue with their preparations for their next expedition, since leaving the matter alone could lead to any of these possibilities becoming reality.
However, resolving the matter of Lucifer Familia was not as simple as declaring a war-game or demanding reparations from them due to the simple matter of where the familia was located.
"You both said that Lucifer Familia was based in the entertainment district, correct?" Finn asked as he began to feel his thumb ache. "Do we have any idea what his relationship with Lady Ishtar is like? I am honestly shocked that she let another familia establish themselves in her territory."
The main problem with attempting to make a move against the Lucifer Familia was their unknown relationship with Ishtar Familia. Because while Finn was certain that his familia could handle anything the Lucifer Familia could throw at them themselves, the scales became somewhat uncertain when Ishtar Familia was added to the mix. In terms of numbers the Ishtar Familia was one of the largest in the city with numerous level two and three adventurers and a level five captain making them a force to be reckoned with. Still, even if Ishtar Familia decided to become involved Finn was still certain his familia could triumph in a strait up contest of strength. Unfortunately, not all war games were designed to be outright contests of strength and the balance became even more uncertain when factoring in the influence Ishtar herself wielded.
As a goddess of beauty and lust Ishtar was the object of desire of many of Orario's male gods and even a few goddesses. This meant that any request for assistance from Ishtar could potentially bring a dozen other familias into the equation on her side if a war game was declared. If almost any other familia attempted such a coalition, they would almost certainly be shot down by the Denatus but with many gods literally begging for a chance to earn Ishtar's "favor" the chance of an alliance being allowed was there. And that was not even considering the possibility that Ishtar would simply use her charm to sway most of the other gods and get them to agree to an alliance that way.
Loki Familia was strong, strong enough to fight multiple other familias in a wargame and still emerge the victors. But the more people that were added to the equation the more uncertain the outcome would be and if a type of wargame that favored large numbers was selected then things could go very badly for Loki Familia. Finn was hailed as the greatest strategist and commander in Orario but even he was uncomfortable with those kinds of odds.
Still, there was a chance that all these fears would amount to nothing, and this matter could be resolved with the Lucifer Familia simply offering a public apology to the Loki Familia. Finn hoped this would be the case but before he sent anyone down to try and speak with the Lucifer Familia he wanted to have a better grasp on the type of people they were and particularly what kind of god ran the familia.
"I do not like the idea of approaching another familia with so little information on them." Finn said to his comrades. "And unless we want to send out people to begin questioning people in the city there appears to be only one way to gather the information quickly."
Loki and Gareth looked at Finn with raised eyebrows while Riveria shifted on her feet and adopted an expression of unease, all three of them seeming to see where Finn was going.
"Please tell me you are not planning to send members of our familia into such a den of depravity." Riveria said, clearly against with the idea.
"Unless you can think of a quicker way to gain useful intelligence on them then it seems to be the simplest way to proceed." Finn responded with an apologetic smile to the high elf.
Riveria's expression shifted into a light scowl at Finn's words and the other two hummed to themselves at the captain's suggestion.
"I don't suppose you have anyone in mind for this particular…. mission, do you?" Gareth asked as he tried to think of who in their familia might be suitable for this task.
Finn let out a light chuckle and nodded.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I can indeed think of one person I trust with this particular mission."
/
Lucifer let out a long sigh as he leaned forward on his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose with his right hand.
"So, to summarize, after being overwhelmed with shame due to the drunken ramblings of a dog in heat you thought that the most appropriate thing to do was run back to The Dungeon and fight every monster you could find between floors one and five, correct?"
Bell could only nod his head sheepishly from his position seated on his room's couch. The young man had been asleep for most of the day and had only woken a short time before dusk, finding a concerned Lucifer and stoic Maze seated in his room waiting for him to wake up. The two had questioned him on how he had come to be injured and he had explained his late-night dive into The Dungeon after leaving the Hostess of Fertility. As he spoke Lucifer's expression had shifted from concern to exasperation while Maze had simply rolled her eyes at Bell's decision. After Bell had finished Maze had simply let out an irritated sigh and had leaned down so close to Bell that their noses were practically touching.
"Your actions almost made a liar out of me." She had said in an icy tone that sent chills down Bell's spine. "The next time you do something like that I promise you the aches and pains you feel right now will be nothing compared to what you feel when I am through with you."
And with those words Maze had turned and left the room, telling Lucifer she would be overseeing the club downstairs. Bell had begun to relax when Lucifer had asked him to take a seat on the couch so that they could better look each other in the eye as they talked, a request Bell had immediately complied with.
Now Lucifer was slumped forward in his seat as he tried to understand Bell's rational while Bell fidgeted nervously where he sat, the atmosphere of the room reminding him of the few times his grandfather had sat him down to discipline him. After a moment Lucifer seemed to have collected his thoughts and sat up straight again, his eyes focused on Bell and a frown on his lips.
"Bell, you know how I feel about people pursuing their desires." Lucifer began. "I am always happy to help someone cut loose and chase after what they want. However, that does not mean that I condone people charging ahead without the slightest thought to safety. For example, I would never advise someone to try skydiving without checking their parachute first."
Bell had no idea of what skydiving or a parachute was, but he kept his mouth shut as Lucifer continued.
"I told you after you got your skill to not let it go to your head, remember?" The Devil asked as he continued to look Bell directly in the eye. "Just because you have a skill that helps you grow faster doesn't mean you can just charge directly into The Dungeon by yourself and count on your boosted stats to see you overcome whatever appears in front of you. You looked half dead when you walked into the lobby this morning, like all it would have taken was one more good whack from a goblin and you would be on a one-way trip to Tenkai."
Bell fidgeted uncomfortably at that, barely remembering his trek home after leaving The Dungeon. He remembered that it had taken a tremendous effort to reach the Salome and he had just encountered Lucifer before passing out, but aside from that most of his journey back was hazy.
Seeing Bell looking so uncomfortable Lucifer let out another tired sigh and leaned forward again.
"Just promise me no more late-night dungeon diving, alright?" Lucifer said in a tired tone, his expression shifting to offer Bell a small smile. "Because immortal or not all this stress cannot be good for me."
Bell felt his face flush with shame as he realized how much his actions and their repercussions had worried his god and he offered Lucifer as deep a bow as he could muster while seated on the couch.
"I promise that I will not make this mistake again Lord Lucifer!" Bell said, his words filled with sincerity. "Please accept my apology for worrying you and miss Maze so much!"
Lucifer accepted Bell's apology with a simple nod, feeling the usual awkwardness that crept into him when Bell acted respectful towards him return. Suddenly feeling uncomfortable with the conversation Lucifer stood and made his way to the door, turning back to look at Bell with his hand on the knob.
"Remember, no more late-night dungeon dives. The next time you pull another stunt like that I really will let Maze have you." And seeing Bell freeze up Lucifer proceeded to open the door and leave.
Lucifer's mind was still feeling strangely muddled as he began to slowly make his way down the stairs, an occurrence that seemed to happen whenever he spent extended periods of time with Bell. He had begun to wonder if the connection that existed between them due to the falna was having more of an effect on him than he originally thought it would, with some of his interactions with the young man bringing forth emotions and feelings that he was not really familiar with. If he had to compare them to other more familiar feelings, then he would say that it was somewhat like what he felt when he hung out with Maze but the comparison was not completely accurate. When he truly focused and thought back on his eons of existence the closest comparison he could find was back before his rebellion, back before his relationship with his brothers and sisters had been shot to Hell.
These feelings were at once both pleasant and unpleasant. Pleasant because they made him feel warm and appreciated and unpleasant because they reminded him of things he had tried very hard not to think about since the day his father cast him out and sentenced him to rule Hell. These feelings inevitable led to him trying to keep his interactions with Bell relatively short but at the same time feeling a growing guilt for keeping the boy at arm's length. He had tried to remove the guilt by looking for information and people who could help Bell but these actions had still not completely removed it. This sullen mood remained with him as he made his way down the stairs and entered the Salome's main room.
The nights festivities were already well underway despite the sun only having set a short time ago, with a large number of patrons already filling the space and several girls having begun their dances. Lucifer adjusted his expression to his usual welcoming smile as he entered the space, not wanting to be responsible for dragging down the rooms atmosphere and made his way to the bar. Maze had taken up her usual position behind the counter and was already rapidly mixing several drinks as he took a seat near to her. He had only just sat down when he found a glass of his favorite whisky placed in front of him and he sent an appreciative nod towards Maze, the demon clearly knowing her lord well enough to have the glass prepared before he had even finished his descent down the stairs. Lucifer picked the glass up and turned on his seat to face the club, the sight of so many people unwinding and enjoying themselves helping to improve his mood.
Lucifer scanned the club from his seat, looking for something or someone interesting to help him raise his mood back to its usual jovial level. He saw many adventurers seated together in front of the small stages where the dancers had started to perform, patting each other on the back and clinking glasses in celebration of another successful venture into The Dungeon when they weren't starring straight up to ogle the girls in front of them. There were also several well-off merchants and traders who were mixing business and pleasure as they talked about both the price of silk from the far east as well as the silky smooth hair of the dancing girl in front of them. All in all, a fairly standard night for the Salome.
However, as Lucifer scanned the crowed, he was able to spot two people who did not quite fit in with those around them due to their rigid postures and the fact that their gazes seemed to be focused mostly on the floor, only occasionally glancing up to give the room a quick look. The two were a man and a woman and they were clearly here together given their close proximity to one another and the words they were exchanging.
Lucifer felt his curiosity piqued as he examined the two young and fairly attractive people who looked so clearly uncomfortable in his club. Standing up with his drink still in his hand he began to casually make his way towards the two, their apparent discomfort becoming plainer to see with each step. Both were looking around for a place to seat themselves but did not seem to feel comfortable approaching one of the already existing groups and so they just stood there and continued to look around with their faces sporting bright blushes. The two were whispering and did not seem to notice his approach as he quietly strolled up behind the awkward young couple and Lucifer felt a genuine grin make its way onto his face as he stopped directly behind the two.
'This could be fun.' The Devil thought to himself before speaking out loud for the couple to hear him.
"I don't believe I've seen the two of you here before."
/
During his eight years as an adventurer in Loki Familia Raul Nord had been called upon to perform almost any role an adventurer could be called upon to perform. He had acted as a supporter, a courier, a member of vanguard, a member of the rearguard, as long-range support, a secondary leader, and as an assistant to his familia's captain numerous times over the years. The only roles he had not been called upon to fill had been those of a mage and healer due to his lack of magic. And of course, the role of spy his captain had asked him to fill tonight.
Raul took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly in an attempt to calm his nerves as he stood outside the entrance to the Salome, the club his leader had told him was owned by the same familia that the amazon who had beaten Bete belonged to. The building was fairly large and was made in the style of the Kaios Desert, or at least what Raul had been told was the style of that region. He was dressed differently from his usual adventurer's gear, wearing the casual cloths he wore on the days he did not enter The Dungeon. He also had a fairly large coin purse at his waist which his captain had given him to help with his infiltration tonight.
Several hours earlier Raul had been called to his captain's office and had been asked if he would be willing to go to the entertainment district that night and listen for any information on the Lucifer Familia. Raul had been understandably surprised by the request and had asked why they had chosen to ask him of all people, to which his captain had responded that he had already proven that he was capable of resisting the temptations of the entertainment district. This statement had caused Raul to blush profusely as he remembered his last (and only) visit to said district.
It had been some five years prior just after Raul had turned sixteen that he had dared to venture into the Entertainment District. His reason for going had been a foolish hope that by experiencing what the district had to offer he would be able to mature more and become more confident. Unfortunately, when the time had come for him to "do the deed" he had been unable to bring himself to cross that line and had simply contented himself with holding a prostitute's hand as the two of them talked for a short while before he had fled in embarrassment.
However, Raul's humiliation would only worsen when he arrived home and ran into none other than Riveria upon waking through the front door to Twilight Manor. The high elf had somehow been able to tell where he had been by the lingering scent of the entertainment district and the prostitute on his body and had proceeded to loudly question/ berate him right there in the mansions front lobby. Raul had eventually been able to calm the high elf by swearing he had not actually done anything more than hold a prostitute's hand but the damage to his reputation had already been done because of the numerous people who had come to see what had Riveria so upset. For years afterword Raul had been subjected to the mocking whispers of most of the other men in Loki Familia and had never returned to the Entertainment District until tonight.
As Raul stood in front of the Salome and remembered his humiliation, he felt a light pinch on his left cheek and let out a short yelp before turning to look at his unexpected companion for this mission.
Anakitty Autumn (known to her friends simply as Aki) was looking at him in cold disapproval, her normally friendly disposition towards him absent. Aki had happened to come by the captain's office to deliver some estimates on how much Valis they would need to properly fund their next expedition and had overheard Finn giving Raul his mission for the night. Later, when Raul had been leaving for his mission he had found Aki waiting for him next to the front door, dressed in some casual cloths of her own and making it clear that she was going to accompany him whether he wanted her to or not.
"Stop gawking and let's go in." Aki whispered as she leaned in close to Raul. "Were drawing attention by just standing around out here."
Raul quickly glanced behind them and saw what Aki was talking about. There were currently several prostitutes sending questioning glances at the two youths who had been standing outside the Salome for several minutes. There were also several men who were looking at Aki herself in clear interest and were only kept from approaching the lovely young catgirl by her close proximity to Raul, clearly waiting to see if they stayed together or separated. Seeing this was enough to finally steel Raul's resolve and he took Aki's hand and led the two of them into the club.
Anakitty was briefly taken by surprise by Raul's actions before grasping onto his hand with her own as they walked through the doors together.
After she had overheard Raul's and Finn's discussion, she had waited for Raul to leave before approaching Finn and asking him why he was sending Raul on such an assignment. Finn had explained that it was because their options for gathering intelligence in the Entertainment District were limited. The executives in their familia would almost certainly be recognized before they even set foot in the district and there would likely be some rather awkward questions on why they were there, potentially damaging the familia's reputation. This was not something Finn could allow since his own aspirations required him and those associated with him to have impeccable reputations. Also, Riveria had firmly vetoed any possibility of sending Ais or any of the other girls anywhere near such a den of ill repute. They could potentially approach a group like Hermes Familia and ask them to gather information on Lucifer Familia but that would take time and allow the situation to fester. Therefore, Finn felt it was better to send in one of the less well-known members of their familia to gather intelligence and Raul had already proven he could resist the temptations the district offered.
While Anakitty could understand the reasoning behind her captain's decision that did not mean she approved of or was quietly going to accept it. Because while she usually had more faith in Raul than the man had in himself the thought of him going into the Entertainment District by himself filled her with a deeply unpleasant mix of anger, nausea, and something else she couldn't quite understand (or didn't want to admit to herself). So, after she had finished with Finn, she had changed into some of her casual clothes and had waited by the front door for Raul to leave.
The two of them made their way into the club and found themselves in a large room filled with many people seated at various low tables or crowded around small stages where beautiful women danced in various states of undress. Raul stopped once they were in the room and could clearly see what was going on inside. His face heated up as he beheld the dancing girls and froze on the spot until he felt his right hand squeezed hard. This caused him to snap back to reality and he turned to look at Aki, who had a razor thin smile on her face and a look in her eyes that promised worse than a hard squeeze if he kept starring at the girls on stage. This led to Raul swallowing hard and taking another look around the room, being careful to not let his eyes linger on the dancers.
The club was filled with people that appeared to either be adventurers like him or merchants and traders. Raul was able to recognize several high-class adventurers from several different familias scattered around the club and he was glad that they all seemed to be focused on the dancers on the off chance that they recognized him or Aki. He felt a chill run up his spine as he saw the amazon who had beaten Bete tending the bar where she was currently placing a glass down in front of a dark-haired man in cloths similar to those worn by advisors at The Guild. Not wanting to be noticed by her Raul moved himself and Aki away from the entryway and walked over towards a group gathered around one of the stages, attempting to hide by standing close enough to seem like part of the group, but keeping himself and Aki just far enough away that they could whisper to each other and probably not be overheard.
"Do you see any gods?" Raul asked as he leaned close to Aki.
"No." Aki replied, "But I do see the amazon at the bar so we can be sure this is the right place."
Raul nodded and tried his best to not fidget or do anything that could make him, or Aki stand out. Feeling uncertain on how to proceed he began to move towards a low table that was currently empty only to stop as he felt his hand tugged in another direction. Turning his head, he saw Aki turning her own as she had tried to lead them in another direction.
"Um where do you want to sit?" Raul asked.
"I think they might be a good place to start." Aki replied, nodding her head towards a group of merchants seated a short distance away. "Merchants love to gossip so they might know something useful."
"I don't know." Raul said, not quite agreeing with the plan. "I'm not sure approaching others is best. What if they recognize us? I think it would probably be better to just take a seat and listen to what everyone else is saying while trying to not draw attention."
Aki considered Raul's suggestion but shook her head after a few seconds.
"That doesn't seem like a good way to gather information. You could sit at that table all night and only hear people brag to each other or flirt with the dancers."
"But we don't know how these people feel about Lucifer Familia." Raul retorted, "If we start openly asking questions like that, they might decide to tell the amazon at the bar and then we're in serious trouble."
"But we'll also stick out if we just sit around by ourselves and don't talk to anyone else." Aki narrowed her eyes at Raul. "Or were you planning to try and chat up some of the dancers?"
"N-no!" Raul denied and averted his eyes. This proved to be a mistake as his eyes moved directly onto a blonde haired catgirl who was dancing a short distance away and had just removed the top of her outfit. Blushing furiously, he returned his gaze to Aki who developed a light scowl as she had been able to follow Raul's gaze with her own.
"That blush on your face might suggest otherwise." Aki said as the razor thin smile from earlier returned, this time accompanied by a cold tone in Aki's voice.
"I-I'm just trying to think of the best way to follow the captain's orders!" Raul insisted, "You know I don't come to places like this, right?"
"I know you don't come to places like this anymore." Was Aki's frosty response. "Or did you think that I forgot about five years ago?"
"That was just a one-time mistake, and you know it!" Raul shot back, feeling the memory of that embarrassment bubbling to the surface. "You never said anything about that before."
"That was because I thought that you would never choose to come back here again!" Aki said her frigid stone evaporating as anger entered her voice. "You didn't have to accept this mission! You could have left it to someone else!"
"The captain chose me for this because he thought that I was the best chose for this!" Raul replied, some heat beginning to enter his voice. "I may not be able to do much well, but I refuse to let the captain down like that!"
Aki was about to retort when another, unexpected voice suddenly spoke from behind them.
"I don't believe I've seen the two of you here before."
Taken by surprise the two immediately shut their mouths and turned to look at the speaker. He was a handsome man with dark hair and eyes and was clothed in a dark suit of expensive material but simple design. He regarded the two of them with a friendly smile as he raised his hand and took a sip from the glass it held. The man had a jovial air around him and the two of them began to relax before they remembered where they were.
"Um this is our first time here." Raul said as he rubbed the back of his head with an embarrassed expression on his face. "We only learned about this club recently and wanted to check it out."
"Well, I am always happy to welcome newcomers to my club." The man said as he offered them a short bow and spread his arms out at his sides. "I'm Lucifer Morningstar, the proud owner of this fine establishment. Please let me know if you have any questions on what we have to offer here."
Raul and Anakitty felt a jolt run down their spines as the now named Lucifer gave his introduction and were both instantly suspicious. Neither of them sensed any divine aura emanating from the man so he was either masking it or a liar. Aki put words to their doubt after she got over the initial surprise.
"Are you really Lord Lucifer, the new god who has taken up residence in the Entertainment District?" Aki asked with clear skepticism. "Not to be rude but I can't sense any divine aura from you and pretending to be a god is a pretty big deal."
"I am indeed the new celestial that has taken up residence in this fine district." Lucifer replied, deliberately using the word celestial instead of god. "I prefer to enjoy the city without openly advertising my true nature, I find the awe and worry that come with a divine aura to be an annoying hassle when interacting with most mortals. But if you are still skeptical…."
Lucifer stopped speaking and seemed to focus for a split second and then the two of them were shocked again as they felt a divine aura wash over them for a few seconds before disappearing. The two of them regarded Lucifer with surprise as he reigned his aura in again and returned his attention to them.
"Sorry for doubting you, Lord Lucifer." Aki said as worry crept its way through her. She had been hoping to avoid any direct interaction with the deity whose familia they had come to investigate and here she and Raul were, standing directly in front of him with his attention focused squarely on them.
"Oh no need for an apology my dear…. I'm sorry I don't believe I got your names?"
"I'm Raul and this is Aki." Raul replied quickly, doing his best to remember to not speak any falsehood when speaking to a god as they would be able to see through them instantly. "It's nice to meet you but I'm starting to think this might not be the place for us so if you'll excuse us."
With those words Raul attempted to head towards the exit but was halted in his track when Lucifer reached out and lightly placed his hand on his shoulder. The two mortals froze as they looked at Lucifer with worry.
"Now hold on a moment." Lucifer said. "No need to run off or feel ashamed. I believe the two of are here for a very specific reason, correct? One that I assure you many people have come here with before you to satiate as well."
Raul and Aki felt pits open up in their stomachs at Lucifer's words and had to fight the urge to keep from darting around the deity and making a break for the exit.
"A-and what reason might that be?" Raul stuttered out and felt Aki squeeze his hand in concern next to him.
"Well looking to experiment of course!" Lucifer said as he removed his hand from Raul's shoulder. "You're not the first couple who has come here looking to spice things up."
"….eh?" Was the only response Raul and Aki could think to give to The Devil's statement.
"And I'll tell you what I say to every one of those couples." And with those words Lucifer raised his free hand again and gave the two of them both supportive pats on the shoulder. "Good for the two of you! Really, I think that it is a true sign of how dedicated you are to your relationship that you both agreed to come here together to try something new."
"Eh?" Was the two's continued response.
"I mean it makes perfect sense when you think about it. Doing the same thing over and over again can get a little boring after a while so it only makes sense to try and add something, or someone new to the mix to keep things exciting!" Lucifer continued seemingly unaware of the true reason for their shock. "Now I know most of society may choose to look down on such activities but every relationship I have seen where the couple chooses to embrace experimenting together like you are has always comes out stronger. So really there's no need for the two of you to be so tense, just relax and enjoy yourselves! I'm sure you'll be able to find someone who satisfies both of your tastes if you just come out of your shells, hell I'll even introduce you to some of the girls who enjoy helping couples' experiment."
"EH?!" the increase in volume was the only thing either Raul or Aki could think to do as Lucifer gently led them over to an unoccupied table and the three of them sat down.
"U-m that's not- we w-were not here to- Raul and I aren't…" Was all Aki could think to say as she took her seat. Raul for his part just fidgeted in place with a massive blush covering his face.
"Now now, no need to get so flustered. As I said plenty of couples have come through here, so no one is going to get judgmental." Lucifer said as he raised his hand and motioned for one of the girls serving drinks to come over. "So just relax. Maybe letting go might be a good first step?"
Raul and Aki were momentarily confused by the suggestion until they both looked down and saw that their hands were still firmly grasped together, had been grasped together since they had entered the club and throughout their entire conversation with Lucifer. Feeling their faces grow hotter the two slowly released their grip on the other and set their hands on the table in front of them.
"There we go, as adorable as that sight was it did show how tense you are." Lucifer said as the server approached them and placed down a full glass of dark amber liquid in front of each of them. "Now how about a drink and you can tell me what you might be interested in trying tonight?"
Raul and Aki both took long drinks from their glasses and tried desperately to think of ways to get out of their current predicament without trying to lie to a being that they believed could not be lied to.
"Now let me help you figure out what exactly you are looking for tonight." And with those words Lucifer leaned forward towards Raul and spoke to him in a softer more probing tone. "So, tell me Raul is there anyone here you would like to get to know better? What do you desire?"
And with those words Raul felt like something inside him had been unlocked or unbound as words left his lips before he even really had a chance to think of how to respond to the question.
"I…. I would like…. Like to know more about you…. to get to know you better." Was Raul's unthinking response to Lucifer's question.
At Raul's words Aki went ramrod straight where she sat, dreading that Raul's response would clue Lucifer in on the true reason that they had come to the club. But the response Lucifer gave both alleviated those fears and brought entirely new ones into existence.
At Raul's response Lucifer leaned back away from him and his smile shifted from one of curiosity to something far more…. enticing.
"Well now….that was the answer I was hoping to hear." And Lucifer took another sip from his drink as his gaze shifted between Raul and Aki.
/
Raul slowly woke up to a familiar but still unpleasant throbbing in his skull. He was able to recognize it as a hangover from the times he had drunk too much while hanging out with Cruz and the other male members of Loki Familia. He slowly began to rise for the day when he noticed several abnormalities from how he normally started his day.
The first abnormality was that the sheets and pillow he was resting on felt far to smooth, almost like he was wrapped in silk. The second was that he could feel the silk on every part of his body, telling him he was currently naked. The third was that there was something warm pressing against the right side of his body, and the thing was subtlety shifting in response to Raul's own slow movements.
Slowly opening his eyes Raul was greeted by the sight of a ceiling that did most definitely not belong in his simple room at Twilight Manor. Feeling more confused than alarmed Raul slowly turned his head from left to right to inspect the unfamiliar room he found himself in, seeing he had awoken in a large bedroom with stone walls and ceiling with bright red curtains hanging in front of the several large windows scattered around the space. He was currently lying in a large bed with red silk sheets and as his head continued to turn right, he saw the source of warmth on his right side.
Aki's cat ears subtlety twitched in her sleep as she snuggled up against Raul's side, her face content and peaceful as she continued to sleep. From what he saw as his face finally turned to regard her as well as the sensations coming from his right side it was clear that the black haired catgirl was just as naked as he was. Now that he was focused on her he could even feel Aki's tail gently rubbing against his leg as she slept.
"Heh, I'm dreaming." Raul muttered to himself as he turned to look at the ceiling again.
This was not the first time he had such a dream regarding his longtime friend, though he would never admit to having these dreams to anyone. And while he was disappointed that the nature of this dream was not as tawdry as many of the others he'd had about the catgirl over the years he was still pleased with how real the sensation of Aki's bare skin rubbing against his felt to him at that moment. So, he decided to simply lay back and enjoy the sensation until the dream ended and he woke up.
He had only lain there for a short while before he felt something change in Aki's posture and her tail ceased to slowly rub against him. Turning his head slowly towards Aki his gaze was met with Aki's own dark eyes as she quietly looked up at his face, her own face mostly blank as her mind slowly took stock of the situation. The two continued to stare into each other's eyes for several minutes as they said nothing, and both waited for what they assumed was a very lucid dream to end. But as the minutes passed and they both continued to find themselves in the same situation their faces gradually began to heat up as the reality of their situation began to sink in.
Aki was the first to react as her expression shifted from one of calm acceptance to one of shock and embarrassment until she broke off her gaze at Raul's face and proceeded to roll over, so she was facing away from him. Raul just began to grip the sheets around him tightly as he felt his heartbeat grow louder and faster and he struggled to try and find something, anything, to say.
"…. Good morning?" was all Raul was eventually able to come up with after another minute had passed.
Aki glanced back over her shoulder at him and then returned her head to facing away from him.
"….. Good morning." Was her murmured reply a few seconds later.
They continued to stew in the awkwardness of their situation for another minute before Raul couldn't take the silence anymore.
"Do you know where we are?"
Aki said nothing but shook her head to show she didn't.
"I'll go try to find out."
As Raul began to get up and move towards the edge of the bed to his left, he suddenly felt something soft wrap around his right wrist. Turning he saw that Aki was looking at him over her shoulder again and had wrapped her tail around his wrist to stop him from leaving. Taking the hint Raul returned to his previous position and waited for the catgirl to say something.
"….. Do you regret…..this?" Aki said with some hesitation.
Raul felt his face heat up again at her question, but he shook his head to show he did not.
"Do you?" Raul asked in turn.
Aki took a moment to respond before shifting back around so she was facing towards Raul again.
"No." was her only response as her own face blushed again.
The two simply laid there and continued to look at each other as they both thought about what to say next.
"So are we now- does this mean we're….?" Raul tried to say but couldn't properly find the words.
"I think it does." Aki said as a tiny smile crept onto her face. "Unless you think that I would just let this slide after you took something so important from me? What's that saying the gods are so fond of for this type of situation again? "You had better take responsibility" or something like that?"
Raul just let out a quick chuckle as he continued to look at Aki's smiling face and nodded. The previous anxiety and awkwardness had mostly faded by this point and the two began to relax again.
"When you put it like that, I don't have much of a choice do I?" Raul said.
"No, you really don't." Aki relied with her smile widening slightly.
Raul was about to respond when he heard a door open behind him and he turned to see the very familiar form of Lucifer come walking out of a short hallway to the side of the room. The Devil was currently rubbing a towel through his hair and like Raul and Aki was completely naked.
"Well, I'm glad to see the two of you are up." Lucifer said as he finished drying his hair and laid the towel across his shoulders, making absolutely no attempt to cover himself in front of them. "Sorry I had to get up a bit early but after last night's fun I assumed you would be asleep for a while longer."
At the mention of "last night's fun" the pair on the bed turned their gazes back towards the bed, their eyes almost immediately finding and indent in the pillow to the left of Raul as well as signs the sheets had been disturbed on that side of the bed as well. The pair felt their mouths drop open in shock as Lucifer continued.
"Though I must admit the stamina the two of you displayed was quite impressive, so maybe it shouldn't surprise me that your able to bounce back so quickly." Lucifer sent a sly smile towards Raul. "I especially remember Raul was quite good at "bouncing back" quickly, right Aki?"
The two of them remained frozen on the bed as Lucifer moved over to a wardrobe and began to assemble his clothes for the day. Flashes of memories from the previous night began to appear in their minds and the two of them went rigid as they tried to process everything.
"The showers free if you would like to freshen up, and you could both go in together if you would like to save some time." Lucifer turned back to the two of them and offered another inviting smile. "Although if you are in no rush then I wouldn't mind joining as well. After all what's the point of a shower big enough for six if you never use it?"
"T-that won't be necessary!" Aki suddenly blurted out, Raul practically catatonic at her side. "We actually have some people we need to meet soon so we'll be going!"
Aki leapt out of bed, uncaring that her bare body was clearly visible to either Raul or Lucifer and began to frantically gather both hers and Raul's cloths as fast as she could. She put on her cloths as quickly as could and tossed Raul's directly at him, prompting him to begin moving again after she threw his pants directly at his head. In less than a minute the two of them were both dressed again, though their cloths were noticeably wrinkled and askew in some places.
"Oh well alright then." Lucifer said as he began to get dressed at a much more sedate pace. "I understand it can take a while to adjust to new things, just remember you're always welcome to come back. I rather enjoyed last night and wouldn't mind a few repeat performances, if you catch my drift."
Raul and Aki just nodded quickly in recognition of his words and then began to head towards the exit as quickly as they could. Just as they reached the door Lucifer called out behind them.
"Oh, and Raul." Lucifer said to the young man with his hand on the doorknob. "Remember to be more confident. Speaking from quite a bit of experience you have every right to be more confident given how you did, and the "blessings" the gods decided to give you."
At those words Lucifer gestured low on Raul's body and then held his hands up spaced a good distance apart, before then giving him an encouraging grin and two thumbs up. Raul flushed yet again at the rather unexpected (but not particularly unwelcome) praise. Aki also flushed as her mind immediately recalled several memories from the previous night that very much supported Lucifer's statement. Quickly nodding his head at Lucifer's statement Raul opened the door and quickly darted through it with Aki hot on his heels. The two of them all but ran down the stairs and then out the entrance and onto the street, which was now lit by the light of the sun and told them it was mid-morning already with its position.
The two of them took a moment to try to compose themselves before slowly beginning to walk towards the exit to the district. The two fidgeted uncomfortably whenever they felt anyone's eyes on them as they slowly began their long march back to Twilight Manor, having completed their mission after a fashion. After all both Raul and Anakitty could say with a fair degree of confidence that had learned a great deal about Lucifer, though what they had learned was not exactly in line with what Finn sent them there to find.
/
Well, I said I would try and have this chapter done faster than the previous one and I did keep my word by finishing it in a little over three weeks instead of four. It still took much longer than I had hoped but right now I am just happy I was able to finish it before March.
Ever since I first saw the Memoria Freese event "Holy Intoxicating Night Tale" I have been a shipper for Raul and Aki so them getting together like this was actually one of the first things I decided to do when I was coming up with the idea for this story before I even began to type up the actual outline. While I find Raul's self disparaging nature to be annoying at certain points I still find him to generally be a more relatable character than Bell and I like the few moments in the series where he is able to shine. Also I found the fact that he visited the Entertainment District in the past only to not be able to do more than hold a prostitutes hand to be hilarious. For those of you thar don't know this is an actual canon fact and was mentioned in the Sword Oratoria manga. As for Aki I like her design as well as the fact that she is not a catgirl stereotype like Anya or Chloe is. She is also shown to be very capable when she needs to be and I was glad to hear that she was able to make the jump to level five in Sword Oratoria Volume 13.
I hope I adequately explained why Finn and the others are taking such a cautious approach when it comes to dealing with Lucifer Familia. While they are fairly certain they could beat them in a straight up fight, having such a high level unknown suddenly popping up in such an unexpected part of the city has caught them by surprise and so they have decided to go with the cautious approach for the time being. The do plan on doing something about Maze beating up Bete eventually but only after they feel they have a better understanding of what the repercussions of making such a move could be. Also I feel it makes sense for them to be cautious of Ishtar and her lot since with her charm ability and so many high level amazons they could pose a serious problem if they become involved in the dispute between Lucifer Familia and Loki Familia, especially if Ishtar can entice other familias to side with them as well. It wouldn't surprise me if there were several different types of war games where having so many numbers on your side could be a major advantage, possibly enough to overcome the Loki Familia's high quality adventurers if handled smartly.
And finally on the hookup between Lucifer, Raul, and Aki. This idea came to me after I saw the scene in Lucifer season 2 where they have to call in all of Lucifer's previous lovers to interview them. I found that scene hilarious and my mind thought of Raul and Aki for some reason and I just decided to run with the idea and here we are. I always like it better when two people who show they are attracted to each other decided to try and get together before the end of a series rather than only accepting their feelings at the very end. Raul and Aki have known each other for about eight years by this point in the story and the Sword Oratoria manga and Memoria Freese show that their really is some chemistry between the two but like most light novel and anime couples they just seem to ignore it an just stay friends. I decided that I wanted to find a way to change that in my story so I thought the funniest way I could do that was by adding Lucifer "I'm so good at flipping men they call me the skillet" Morningstar to the mix. I hope you all enjoyed it as well and if you did then you can look forward to more interactions between the three as I plan on having them bump into each other more as the story progresses.
My question for this chapter is do you all have any advice on writing how Loki and Gareth speak? I'm not really familiar with their more rural and informal method of speech so it makes me worry about being able to accurately portray them in the future.
As always I hope you are all doing well and look forward to going through any reviews you decide to post.