"Lords and Ladies, it is my great honour to present to you today Lord and Lady Gremory and for the first time, Rias Gremory, heir to the House of Gremory!"

Rias was so happy! Today was the day! The day she became a real grown up devil like Mama and Papa! Like Sona-chan and Lulu-nii! She had her evil pieces, she was ready to make her own place in the underworld! She curtseyed in her pretty red dress, fighting not to do a twirl. It had three layers of ruffles on the skirt, perfect for twirling. She had spent ten minutes this morning simply twirling in front of her mirror, watching the fabric flutter with a huge grin on her face.

Even as she told herself how ready she was her blue eyes scanned the banquet hall of her family home. They landed on many unfamiliar faces, those of people she didn't know but nodded at her as their eyes met hers, continuing to applaud. That was nice. But her real reason for doing it, she saw a great many people, some of blond hair but none of the ones she was afraid of seeing.

The Phenex. They weren't present.

She remembered the last time she talked with Papa about them. About the arrangement with their third son. She got... She got very angry that day. It wasn't right, she said some very mean things, things she didn't mean. Her guilt was enough that she had apologised later without being told to. Ever since that day, they hadn't brought up the arrangement again. And with the Phenex not here for her debut, that must mean Papa had finally understood and called it off! She looked up at him, smiling a smile full of gratitude.

"Shall we go greet your guests, Rias?" her father asked with a tender smile in return.

"Yes! Lets!" She gave her answer proudly. Nobly! Like a proper grown up devil should!

That pride and eagerness lasted until around the eighth group of guests she had been introduced to. Try as she might, a bubbly and sociable girl she might have been, it wasn't enough in the face of the crowds she was dealing with.

Old people!

They were all so stodgy and boring! All focused on decorum and being proper and boring! Her heart was in it to make a good impression for the first short while but as she went from group to group saying very similar things to so many people over and over again? Boring!

More and more as the meet and greet wore on her eyes flicked to the space where her own peers were hanging out. She could see Lulu-nii over there. And the girl with dark hair and glasses, that must have been Sona-chan! She was taught better than to let her distraction show but her father's amused smirk let her know he could tell how frustrated she was getting. "I know, honey. It's only like this for this time when you're first meeting everyone. Just make sure you remember all of the names and faces, who's who. Building your relationships with others of the nobility will be very important once you get older."

She nodded sharply. Papa knew how to do all this stuff. If he said it was important then she would give it her best! She could hang in there!

Right as the effort of staying boring and serious started to get to her, it was finally over. Her eyes swirled as she tried to file away every name and face for future Rias to make use of.

"Do you want to go spend time with your friends now, Rias?"

And with just that question the redhead's eyes snapped back into focus and her lips spread into an excited grin. All thought of propriety fled her mind as she skipped alongside her father over to the youngsters. "Lulu-nii!" she cheered as she launched herself at him for a hug.

"It's good to see you too, Rias," he said as he caught her, doing his best not to mess up her hair as he patted her head softly. "Congratulations."

"Thanks!" He let her go, which was good. She had more people to meet! "Sona-chan!" she exclaimed, running over to hold her pen pal's hands in hers. "It's so nice to meet you in person!"

"I feel the same," Sona answered with a slightly confused smile.

"Hey Lelouch? What the hell is with the names she's giving people?" the big boy with the zaggys one his face asked. Not even asking her directly. Rude!

"She has an appreciation for Japanese things," her cousin answered. "I've never seen her put so much effort into something as she did making sure we would hear her honorifics through Language."

"Lulu!" the redhead stomped her foot. He didn't have to tell everyone that!

"What? It was adorable," he told her with such sincerity it only made her more embarrassed. Stupid Lulu! She was a grown up devil now! A proper devil lady! She was beautiful, charming, and... other nice words that weren't 'adorable'. Adorable was what you called a little kid!

But when he looked at her like that with such warmth she couldn't stay mad at him. Turning her nose up at him, her only option was to fight past her embarrassment. Marching up to the other girl there, she wrapped the wide-eyed blonde in a hug. "Hello, I'm Rias Gremory."

"A pleasure to meet you, Lady Rias. I am Seekvaira Agares, heir to the House of Agares," the blonde bowed as she introduced herself.

"Seek-chan!"

"Pardon?"

"Seek-chan!" she repeated proudly. "Let's be friends, okay?"

"Err, yes, I, that sounds pleasant?"

The redhead nodded firmly, twirling in her twirly dress toward her next– Oh. The rude zaggy boy was last. Wait. "Lulu-nii, where's Sairaorg?"

Her cousin's eyes widened as he looked around. "Oh, for– He's run off with Kuisha again. I'll go and fetch them for you. This really is getting quite beyond a joke, them constantly running off together like this."

Rias gasped. "A secret romance?!"

Lelouch sniffed a laugh. "I don't think so. They just have a fair amount in common and thus get along well, that's all. I'll be right back."

The girl gave her cousin's back a flat look as he ventured out to find his younger brother. "He can't be that dense, can he?"

"I believe he might just have a blind spot when it comes to family," Seek-chan answered. Rias decided she liked the blonde already.

"I feel like I'm being ignored," Zephyrdor observed with narrowed eyes at the three girls. Not that they were paying him any attention.

While Lelouch was gone the three girls sat together at their own table getting to know each other properly. Rias and Sona had been in touch for years through letters but it was a whole different experience to learn about each other in person. And Seekvaira was a welcome addition to the newly forming group. An older girl who they could talk to about... Things. Important things. Things Rias wasn't comfortable talking about with Lulu-nii or Sirzechs-niisama.

Speaking of whom, "What are you going to do about your chess match, Sona-chan?" It didn't need stating which match she was talking about.

Her friend frowned, not out of disapproval but contemplation. "I... I haven't decided yet. I never expected my plot to end in this manner. It's like a sword of Damocles hanging over my head, but at the same time it seems Lelouch has no intention of bringing it down."

"Of course not! Lulu-nii would never do that!"

"I think you're right about that," the bespectacled girl admitted with a faint hint of a smile.

"It does put a damper on your marriage prospects," Seekvaira observed with a frown that... may actually have been disapproving. "Some families will believe Lelouch now has first claim to your hand, while others will see you as unwanted. It may seem like a kindness but it could easily do harm to you in the long run if you aren't careful."

"I don't care about that. Who I marry is a low priority concern for what I want to accomplish." Sona always seemed to want to say things as complicated as possible. The redhead wondered if just saying 'I don't care if I marry well' would physically hurt her. But the next thing the bespectacled devil girl said used no such complex language. "... I want to play him again."

"He may not be as gracious next time," Seekvaira warned.

Rias cheeks puffed out. "Yes he would! Lulu would never force anyone into marriage!"

"I don't think I would care," Sona admitted. "Playing against him... It was exhilarating! I've never felt outclassed like that before! Letting me walk away showed he has a kind heart. Paired with a strong mind... And he's... Quite handsome," she finally added with a furious blush. "I wouldn't mind losing."

Rias gasped with a sudden realisation. "We would be cousins!"

"I don't think that's the most important thing to take away from this," Seekvaira observed. Incorrectly to Rias' mind. Of course it was the most important part! She and Sona would be family! Cousins were basically the same as sisters, right?!

"To take away from what?" Lelouch asked as he brought two more back to the group.

"Congratulations, Rias!" Sairaorg shouted on approaching the table. "Sorry I got, I mean we got, uhh..." The boisterous boy looked nervously from the girl next to him, to his brother.

"Lost!" the girl with him finished for him, rescuing him. "Yes, I'm terribly sorry Lady Rias. Umm, I'm Kuisha Abaddon. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"So what're we talking about?" Sairaorg jumped in, eager to change the subject.

Not that the three girls at the table were eager for the subject to change back to theirs. "We were..." Rias' mind grasped for an acceptable substitute, "Talking about anime!"

"Err, yes!" Seekvaira jumped in, "Rias was just telling us, err, what that is."

Rias smiled a cat-like smile. She was a genius she decided. Needing a change of subject she changed it to one of her favourite things to talk about. And Lulu-nii thought he was the clever one!

"Uh oh," Lelouch uttered, "Well, strap in all of you. You're in for a ride. Rias, please try to contain your enthusiasm just a little?"

"I don't need to do that, Lulu-nii!" she harrumphed. How else would she be able to tell them how awesome it all was?!

To her, it felt like ten minutes of telling her friends about one of her favourite things. In reality it was sixty minutes of her babbling about all of the cool parts of all of her favourite shows with no context. All with the enthusiasm only seen in children and the obsessed. And in those sixty minutes, Rias was quite clearly both.

"Rias, honey?" her mother appeared to rescue the other young devils. "Can you come with me for a bit? There's something important we need to do."

"Okay." Standing, she took no notice of the swirling eyes of her table mates, happily following her mother. "What are we doing?"

"Your father is about to make an announcement. We both need to be there by his side."

More boring grown up stuff the Gremory heir decided, but submitted to doing her part for her family. She smiled at her Papa as she neared him. He smiled back at her. But... Why did his eyes look so sad?

Before she could ask, her father raised his glass, clinking a spoon against it, a touch of magic amplifying the sound to make it carry over the hum of conversation. "Lords and Ladies, if I may have your attention!"

Eyes steadily but swiftly turned their way, conversations drifted to an end as Zeoticus Gremory drew every eye toward himself and his family. Only for that attention to then be stolen by the ignition of a magic circle appearing on the floor nearby. Ignition, for it was not made of light, but of flame.

As she saw the insignia in the centre of that circle, a little redheaded girl's heart dropped into her stomach. No. It couldn't be! She looked up to her father again, hoping for some explanation, some reason to believe what was about to happen wasn't about to happen. But he too was looking to the circle, waiting patiently as within it, three figures appeared. A man, woman and teenage boy, all blond. "Apologies for our late arrival, Lord Gremory," said the man, Lord Phenex, his lip curled upward at one end in a smirk.

"That isn't necessary. I can understand wanting to make an entrance," Zeoticus gave his consent after the fact with a tilted nod, his attention returning to his audience. "It is with great pride that I announce the impending union within the Houses of Gremory and Phenex, between third son Riser Phenex and my own daughter, Rias Gremory!"

"Papa?" Rias asked so many questions at once. Why? Did he not care that she didn't want this? Did her feelings not matter? Why didn't he tell her? All of those and more besides. So overwhelmed with despair, her dozen questions in one word only came out as a squeak as her father's hand took hers. She felt her eyes well up, the loss of control over her own future hurt less than the seeming betrayal.

'No... I mustn't cry,' she insisted to herself, forcing back tears, 'I'm a big girl now. I'm too old to cry.' It didn't matter that her world was crashing down around her. She needed to be strong.

"And the Phenex are of course delighted to accept this arrangement," the cracking voice of her new fiancée added as he swaggered over. Her father took her hand that he was holding and placed it in the blond's. Riser held it for only a heartbeat before he pulled her in to wrap his arm around her. "Of course, I could only be delighted to have such a pretty thing as my bride! Hahahaha!" His laughter trailed off as he realised no one was laughing with him. He awkwardly cleared his throat to cut through the unpleasant silence.

The patriarch of the House of Phenex stepped in to rescue his son. "The Phenex look forward to working with the Gremory for the betterment of both our houses and for devilkind as a whole."

Polite applause showered down on the group. The approval of the other pillar houses. The acceptance of her father. The glee of her fiancée as he pressed his lips against her cheek, still holding her possessively. Everyone telling her this was how it had to be. How it was for everyone. The responsibility to do what was required of her for her house. She was young but she understood all that.

Even so... That futile desire, that wish for things to be different, it expressed itself one last time as she choked back a sob, letting a drop of moisture fall from her eye.

But before that single droplet of liquid could reach the floor, a voice filled with rage called out two words. Two words that would rewrite the future of the houses of Gremory, Phenex and Bael.

Hovering over the crowd, a dark-haired boy's hand lit up with a glowing yellow circle.

"RUIN CANNON!"

The circle flared brighter, and in an instant the space between that circle and the direction it was pointed was filled with a vicious maelstrom of blackish-red energy. Tightly controlled, compact, but still fighting to escape the confines of the spell restraining it to take this shape. It wasn't for a lack of skill that the spell was so violent but the sheer overwhelming rage of the one casting it.

"GYAHHHHH!" screeched Riser. His right arm releasing his bride-to-be as his left was shorn off at the shoulder by the Power of Destruction. Already the famed flames of the Phenex were at work on the horrific wound but that didn't save their bearer from the pain of the sudden amputation.

Rias... Stunned wasn't sufficient as a word to describe her state. Numb might be more accurate. It was all she could do to once again ask so many questions with a single word. "L–Lulu?"

"Riser!" Lady Phenex cried, racing towards her son, supporting him as his arm was reborn in the Phenex flames.

"Lelouch, what are you doing?!" Zeoticus yelled up at his nephew.

The boy flexed his wings, making an easy descent as the crowd parted around him. His mother and father were revealed as unrelated devils backed away but he paid them no mind. His eyes stayed fixed on the red haired man who had the temerity to ask him such a question. "Lord Gremory, when I first met your daughter you had me make a promise. A promise to obliterate anything that would make her cry. A promise made to family is one I intend to keep!"