Lelouch was used to the stoic, staid atmosphere of his father's office. Herodotus kept this one room as his own sanctum in the castle. The place that most followed his preferences, most emphasised his own style, most worked in concert with who he was as a devil. Function and practicality over ostentatiousness. It was a room that always allowed Herodotus to be the one most in control.

And so it was... disconcerting for Lelouch, seeing his father sit alongside him with the tension of a coiled spring. And the reason for that tension sat across from both Baels, Zekram sitting in Herodotus' seat behind the desk, as at ease and as in control as though this room were where the ancient devil always belonged. He sat with chin held between thumb and forefinger. "So," the Bael progenitor spoke, making Herodotus flinch. "Would you care to outline your actions once again Lelouch?"

-(-)-

Days earlier, Rias' debut celebration

As he watched Rias follow her mother away from the young devils' tables, he felt Sona approach from his side. "Lelouch?" she asked hesitantly, hands wringing, face flushed, "I was wondering, would you like to have another game?"

"Another?" he asked, paying her a certain portion of his attention as he watched his cousin join up with her father. "Not finish our last game?"

"Yes." She adjusted her glasses by the earpiece, adjusted in the sense of moving them but then putting them right back where they started. A nervous gesture. "That is, another game."

"Sounds like fun, though we'll have to fetch a set–"

"No need!" she cut him off, beaming and pulling a miniature set from somewhere. Before he could ask her where, she was already setting the board with a gleeful smile on her face.

"Lords and Ladies, if I may have your attention!"

The young Bael's eyes narrowed. So, it was time. Rias had complained to him at length about it. Her arranged marriage. Though she had told him, she hadn't needed to for him to know who was to be her betrothed. Of all of the options available to the Phenex, Rias was the obvious choice. If they wanted to be a bridge between Great King and Satan factions, Rias was the perfect candidate. Her brother was effectively the leader of the New Satan faction. She was Lelouch's own cousin, already a mild link, it would be an ideal circumstance to have the Phenex's two youngest married to either side of that familial relationship. In-laws to the primary lines of succession for both houses. Phenex blood flowing through both.

Did Lelouch have a problem with it? In principle, no. The Phenex were poised to marry well no matter what, their unique resource valuable enough that they were candidates for marrying into the Bael even with only that on the table. So long as their higher aspirations were thoroughly curbed, something Lelouch was easily capable of doing on his own, he was fine with the arrangement.

So long as Rias was fine with it. And by the heartbreak on her face, that was not at all the case.

"Sona, if you'll excuse me for a minute," he spoke, rising from his seat to her confusion, "I should be back in just a bit."

"Oh." He could hear her disappointment. "Okay, just... Hurry back?"

He nodded slightly, his fists clenching as right before the crowd obscured his vision of her he saw tears in Rias' eyes. "Sai," he spoke, gesturing with his head to tell his little brother to follow.

Jumping up from his own seat, the younger Bael quickly followed his brother. "Yeah, Lulu?"

"I might be about to do something drastic. Will you help me?"

"Drastic like what?"

"Something that might incite violent retaliation," Lelouch answered. "Someone might attack me," he clarified on getting a blank look from his brother.

"Oh. Well yeah, of course!" Sairaorg happily confirmed. "If you're getting into a fight you'd have to fight to keep me away. Which you'd lose."

"I guess that's true," Lelouch chuckled, flaring his wings. "Be ready just in case, okay?"

"Got it!"

The Bael heir was glad for the moment of distraction. Just enough to clear his judgement a little. There was no doubt in his mind that he would take action now. There was no fighting it. Seeing Rias so distraught, it brought memories to the fore. That timid little girl he had first met, how she came out of her shell to reveal just how excited she was to get out into the world. Boundless enthusiasm wrapped in a tiny redhead. And yet there she was, taking her first step into the world and immediately shackled to someone else against her will.

It had been a mistake, he realised. Examining his feelings. They were already so eager to overflow, they needed no help from him. He had to come up with the best course of action based on what he knew he would do. He would intervene. This much was more than obvious. But the how was important.

For devils, to a significant extent, might made right. It wasn't absolute of course. If it were, the Great King faction would be a footnote in devil politics rather than a rival to arguably the strongest devils ever born. But for small, inter-house disputes? Oh yes. Demonstrating yourself to be the stronger was a very good way to weigh a situation in your favour.

The problem was, Lelouch had no stake in this marriage. It was an arrangement between House Gremory and House Phenex. As a Bael, it wasn't really his business, politically speaking. There was a way to make it his business and that was to make Rias his business. By challenging Riser for her hand, that would change the circumstances considerably, but it would also obligate him to marry her. And if an arrangement with Sona would be somewhat complicated, the same arrangement with Rias would be potentially nightmarish. Nullifying a betrothal, stealing a bride from a house already trying to marry into his own, all that on top of the complications of marrying the sister of a Satan and the heir to her house? While it was true there was another potential heir on the way, that could only untangle a single snag in that particular Gordian knot.

Thankfully, Zeoticus had given Lelouch an alternative means to involve himself in this situation. And how lucky he was that it actually suited his mindset in this moment. And it also gave him leave to take aim at the one person unlikely to crush him in retaliation. He and Riser weren't friends, really. Acquaintances at best. Lelouch honestly found the blond to be a bit much, a bit undeservedly full of himself, thought himself more charming than he actually was. But at the same time he didn't relish putting the young Phenex in the crosshairs. He was just as beholden to his parents' whims as Rias was.

Lelouch's hand came up, preparing the spell in his mind. Something small. A shot across the bow, throwing down the gauntlet. Something to get his objection across without ruffling too many Phenex feathers.

Riser leaned in, pulling Rias toward him to kiss her cheek while she visibly recoiled from him, unshed tears threatening to spill.

… One spell was discarded. Another took its place.

Riser was a Phenex after all. He'd live.

"RUIN CANNON!"

The wide beam of destructive energy howled as it billowed from the Bael's palm, battling against the constraining shell of pure will keeping it contained. Fury had always made it stronger, ever since he had first used it in anger. Devil magic thrived on imagination and emotion. Hatred and rage had defined his first life. He knew how to harness it better than most others.

As he allowed the expression of his power to subside, felt that momentary catharsis of hearing Riser's agonised scream (teach him for getting fresh with Lelouch's family), he wondered why he had shouted. He had declared his attack, an obviously strategically unsound move. He could rationalise it as calling his shot, making it as much a declaration of intent as possible. But in truth, no. It had simply felt right to do so. He had named the technique based on what had inspired it. It just felt like, in that moment, when he was so heated, and he was about to use a powerful attack, he should call out its name. Declare his pride in the skill he had cultivated and–

… It was... It was an anime thing, wasn't it. All that time watching those odd cartoons with Rias... It had corrupted him.

He was never going to live this down.

Riser's scream tapered off as the fingers of his left hand finished regenerating. The blond would-be ladies man sat up, panting angrily before standing and glaring up at his peer. "What the hell, Lelouch!" he yelled. "That hurt!"

"Yes! That was the point!" Lelouch shouted back. His eyes flicked quickly from Riser, to Lady Phenex (livid, but making no move), to Lord Phenex (calculating), to Zeoticus (shocked into inaction?) to Venelana (resigned). And then finally to Rias, her eyes wide as saucers, shining with hope and awe. He gave her a slight smile to convey he would make sure everything would be okay, before his eyes returned to Riser. "I'll protect her from anything that would make her sad. Right now, that's you."

"Oh well, that explains everything then," Riser responded with open sarcasm, "That makes it perfectly reasonable to amputate my fucking arm you asshole!"

"You're a Phenex. It grew back."

"Have you ever tried to grow back an arm?! It fucking hurts!"

"And so we circle back to my original statement. That was the point."

Riser's rage grew. His burning indignation no longer just figurative as flames sprouted from his body.

"Before this becomes a brawl," Lord Phenex cut in, stopping his son from launching up to deck the Bael heir, at least for the moment, "Lord Lelouch Bael, am I to understand you started this representing Rias Gremory's interests?"

Lelouch gave Zeoticus a mild look of disappointment, before returning to Lord Phenex, all while keeping half an eye on the still fuming Riser. "I did."

What Lelouch did not know, was that while he had been arguing with Riser, the Lord Phenex had sought out Herodotus in the crowd and caught his eye. A brief, silent conversation ensued. As Herodotus looked away it was made clear that for whatever reason he had no intention of stopping his son. And so the current Lord of the Phenex Flames was forced to do hasty analysis of a difficult situation, with very few viable options. Forcing Riser to back down would be damaging but not unrecoverable. But his nature recoiled at the very idea and he would never force his son to take such a blow to his pride at such a young age. Stepping in himself would be an order of magnitude worse.

Looking to the young girl this situation revolved around, "Lady Rias, do you consent to this?"

"Rias..." Zeoticus saw the writing on the wall.

But the pleading in her father's voice left her unmoved. "I do."

That was it then. "So be it." Offering Riser some final words of advice, the Lord Phenex stepped away. "A duel it is, then."

With a scream, Riser flared his wings of flame, rocketing up to meet his adversary, giving just as little warning as he had received. A fist of flame cocked and ready, he swung at Lelouch's face, the dark-haired boy dodging backward, ceding momentum to the blond.

The adult guests of the celebration below were well used to the proceedings of a fight breaking out. The only difference in this case was the outcome of the bout being treated with unusual severity. But even with that difference, their role stayed the same. Make some room, shields up just in case, enjoy the show. Certainly this was only a brawl between teenagers but it was also the first time either had fought publicly. It was a good chance to see what the boys would be made of in a few years. Lelouch of course bore heavy expectations as the heir to the Bael, but Riser was also the brother of Ruval Phenex, a top competitor of the rating games. It would be a show worth watching.

Lelouch was quickly learning two things. First, that Riser Phenex was a more capable fighter than he had anticipated. The boy's aloof, libertine persona implied he was the type to not care so much about being a capable fighter. It seemed Riser looked up to his brother Ruval more than Lelouch had first assumed. Swinging fists interspersed with gouts of flame kept Lelouch on the defensive, the Bael only able to fire small beams of destruction, doing little damage. Second, it quickly became apparent that Riser was better in the air than Lelouch. Perhaps he wanted to emulate his house's namesake? Perhaps his wings being made of flame were a factor, giving the blond some kind of edge? It didn't matter, fighting in the air was a losing proposition. Lelouch quickly decided he would be better able to manoeuvre with his feet on the ground. But he would need to make himself some room to get there.

He waited, evading further swathes of fire for Riser to make his next attack. The Phenex was clearly winning so there was no call for him to change his strategy. And so he didn't, coming in with a big right hook.

The big swing only gave Lelouch more time to prepare his counter. One magic circle overlain atop another, "Blaze Tenebrous!"

… Damn it all! He did it again!

Between the two boys appeared a barrier, one made of roiling black and red energy overtop something more difficult to determine because of the destructive backdrop. But as Riser's fist punched through the barrier undaunted, it quickly became clear. The fist that emerged, that had previously been wreathed in Phenex flames, had been extinguished as it passed through.

Water. Highly pressurised water. So dense and controlled that it and the wall of destruction had scoured Riser's hand as it punched through. And with Riser unable to see his opponent through the shield Lelouch had conjured, his target was easily able to avoid the fist, only one hand in place to keep the shield up. Because there was one more factor to take advantage of.

"Hu-huahhhhhh!" Riser yelled, feeling the power of destruction quickly eating away at his arm still stuck in the barrier. He tried to pull it back–

Which was Lelouch's cue for a third spell, ease the pressure, freeze the water, locking Riser's arm in place. Riser was stuck, but even then, he couldn't see why he was stuck. The destructive energy still blocked his view of the other side even as it continued to eat away at his arm, at this point devouring the muscle, almost down to the bone. Finally, out of sheer panic as much as anything else, the blond flared his flames as bright and hot as he could, melting the ice enough that he could tear his arm free with some scrapes along his forearm to show for it.

And as Lelouch got the space he was looking for, he dove down to the banquet hall floor and got a look up at his opponent. Riser's teeth were grit with pain, the flesh of his right upper arm being slowly reborn over his humerus bone. His face burning too where the skin had been stripped off. It seemed the Phenex had gotten a bit more up close and personal with the power of destruction than Lelouch had anticipated.

But if Riser was just going to hover up there recovering...

Lelouch raised two fingers, pointing at Riser, a spell quickly forming on the fingertip. The blond's good eye widened, his wings flared brighter as he made to move–

Too late.

Another lance of destruction energy. Much smaller than the Ruin Cannon, but larger than the potshots Lelouch had been taking earlier in the fight, the beam of destruction speared out, striking an already weak point. The semi-exposed bone from Riser's most recent wound. The already weakened support crumbled in the face of that caustic force and Riser's right arm dropped to the ground with a dull thud.

"Lelouch–!" Riser growled through the pain.

The fingers came up again. This time it wasn't a single concentrated beam. Instead, dozens. Small, doing only a little damage, but forcing Riser's regeneration to slow as it dealt with the new wounds as well as the already crippling one. To his credit, Riser tried to fight through them, having no other option if he wanted to continue. He had no choice but to try to stop the assault or else keep enduring it. Even so, that just meant he continued to take each blast head on, not even having the mental presence to dodge anymore. One by one they wore him down. But he could still fight. And with that resolve in mind his arm came up–

"Blaze Tenebrous."

And with those two words, the fight left Riser Phenex. The spell circles hadn't even appeared. Lelouch wasn't casting. But Riser backed off anyway. Panting in fear and pain, his backside hit the floor as he forcefully threw himself away from his opponent.

Lelouch raised his palm, aimed at Riser's head. Once again, a yellow circle appeared in front of it. "This is the spell I hit you with the first time." Lelouch informed his opponent, his face reddened from light burns. "I've read some from the House of Phenex can even regenerate their head. Can you?"

"Not yet..." Riser answered, swallowing.

Not yet. Lelouch smiled at that. Ambition was certainly something he could respect. But still. "Do you concede?"

His pain tolerance overwhelmed, his spirit for this fight thoroughly broken, Riser bowed his head. "I concede."

Smatterings of applause erupted at the conclusion of the short bout. Lady Phenex quickly appeared to collect her son and see to his injuries but the blond shrugged her off. Though he had lost, he wanted to prove he would overcome it, his own flames healing his many wounds over the course of seconds before refocusing on his missing arm.

"An apology would probably seem empty at this moment," Lelouch said as Riser stood proud under his own strength. "But regardless of that, I want you to know I didn't do this because of you." He looked to the edge of the crowd where Rias was smiling through her tears. "I did it for her."

"Hmph," Riser grunted before sighing in relief as his new arm finished growing back in. He raised it up, inspecting it before flexing the fingers experimentally. "You made me look bad. I'll have to get you back for this someday." He paused, his eyes landing on the Bael heir. "Until then." With those parting words, he allowed his mother to escort him away.

"Lelouch," his father's voice brought him out of his post-fight daze. "It's time for us to leave."

"Lulu, you've been holding out on me in our spars!" Sairaorg complained, pouting.

"You can't regrow an arm, little brother," Lelouch reminded him, ruffling his hair before addressing their father. "We're leaving?"

"Yes, when you embarrass the host, undermine their plans, start fights and drive off their most favoured guests you've pretty much outstayed your welcome," his mother Misla said sardonically. "Honestly, Lelouch. Could you please not make a scene at the next event? It's becoming an inconvenient pattern."

"I make no promises," he answered, getting a cuff round the ear for it.

-(-)-

"I see," Zekram spoke with ease that still set both father and son on edge. "So you're saying it was a ploy to ruin the Phenex's chance of rising through the ranks of the pillars, utilising a promise made to the Gremory years ago to make it legitimate."

"That's right," Lelouch confirmed.

"Mm-hm," the ancient devil nodded, pushing his hands against the desk to rise from his seat. For in no way did it belong to Herodotus in that moment. He continued speaking as he walked around the desk. "And it was important to do this at the ceremony, rather than waiting to air your grievances in private?"

"It was important to deny the opportunity of brushing it off," Lelouch lied as easily as he ever had, "By doing it in public I–"

"Lelouch," Zekram said soothingly, putting a hand on his descendant's shoulder, the comforting gesture turned to searing pain. Lelouch grit his teeth as he felt the flesh of his shoulder get stripped away bit by bit as the hand stayed there. "I thought you were smarter than to try to lie to me."

Lelouch gasped as the hand came away, replacing it with his own, his eyes screwed shut.

"Here," the old man placed a small vial on the desk in front of Lelouch, wiping his own bloody hand clean with a handkerchief. "These will be harder to come by from now on. Let that remind you the importance of the lesson you just learned. Lie as you like to anyone you wish. Except me. Now, what was the real reason?"

Lelouch willed his hand not to shake as he took the vial, uncorked it and let the priceless substance, phoenix tears, the pride of the Phenex drip onto his wound. Near instantly, the dissolved flesh and skin regenerated, leaving his shoulder looking pristine. He breathed a sigh of relief. "I needed to stand up for Rias."

"Because..." the ancient devil said leadingly.

"Because I needed to."

Zekram looked disappointed, just as Lelouch knew he would. "You and this utter devotion to the people you consider family. She isn't even a Bael."

"She's my cousin."

"She's a Gremory," Zekram corrected. "Best you remember that. Best you remember whose toes you're stepping on to 'stand up for her'. The Gremory betrothal is done. So is yours. Our relations with both houses are suddenly fraught, not to mention I now have to go around to our allies to reassure them that no, my heir does not intend to push us towards the New Satan faction."

Lelouch wisely kept his own counsel on that matter. Lying was one thing, not speaking was entirely another.

"What do you intend to do about this mess you have caused, Lelouch?"

"I'll apologise to Uncle Zeoticus personally," he answered. "Not for what I did, but for how I did it."

"And the Phenex?"

"What about the Phenex?" Lelouch asked rhetorically. He held no particular ill will against Riser but the Lord and Lady Phenex he would be glad for never having to deal with them.

The elder devil stared a hole through the teenager. "Herodotus, you will apologise on behalf of your petulant and impetuous heir."

"Of course."

"Lelouch." Zekram spoke the name like an accusation. "You are talented. You are strong. You are intelligent. But if you do not learn, you are worthless. You would do well to remember that."

-(-)-

Rias smiled as she lay on her bed. It had been a couple of days since her debut. Her evil pieces rested on her table, the red crystalline chess pieces lain out as though ready for a game.

Yesterday and the night before had been rough. Otou-san and Okaa-san had argued a lot. There was shouting. Things were thrown. And Sirzechs-niisama hadn't helped at all, just smiling and laughing and being nice to her. She got to feel Grayfia-neesama's belly though. She felt the baby kick! It was amazing!

They were gone today though. So instead of getting caught in the tense atmosphere with her parents she chose to stay in her room, reading Lulu's gift to her from when he went to Japan. It was a new series. One about a blond boy who was an obnoxious butthead, a cool dark-haired boy who was all intense and cool, and a redhead girl (pink was basically red). And they went on awesome ninja adventures together! It even had romance stuff too! The redhead stuck between the blond who wouldn't leave her alone and the intense other boy.

Rias hoped she got with the dark-haired boy. He was obviously way better. And definitely not because the two characters reminded her of people she knew. And her thoughts suddenly drifting back to the memory of Lulu saving her from that skeevy guy Riser was just a coincidence. Lulu had looked so handsome flying above the crowd like that... So fierce and determined, all for her sake!

"Eeeee!" she squealed, flipping over and kicking her legs against the mattress, a big grin on her flushed face. Pushing her hand up toward the ceiling she called out "Ruin Cannon!" imagining herself doing that same super move Lulu had that day!

It was fun to imagine. Right up until a tendril of uncontrolled destruction lashed at her ceiling, carving a gouge in it.

"Ah–" she uttered, eyes wide as paint and plaster rained down on her.

Umm...

Otou-san didn't need to know about that. No one ever looked at the ceiling anyway.