Sairaorg had an eager grin on his face as he awaited my answer.
Hesitantly, I said, "I don't know if–"
"What a wonderful idea!" Medea cheered from my side.
I shot her a scathing look. She smiled innocently at me.
"Great!" Sairaorg cheered, pulling off the jacket he'd been wearing, leaving him in a black tank top. "Let's go!" He leapt down to the other side of the arena. There was no magical assistance or flight in that jump, only pure strength. The man was strong, that was for sure.
Kuisha had an encouraging look on her face as she laid a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, Bal. Sairaorg won't hurt you."
I raised an eyebrow at her. "Thanks for the support, sis."
Kuisha sighed. "Of course I believe in you, but he is older than you and has been training all his life."
My wings shot out of my back, lifting me up into the air. I was staring at Sairaorg across the field as I said, "So have I."
As I drifted down to the arena ground opposite Sairaorg, my mind wandered.
I didn't have to agree to this fight. I'd been keeping my power hidden my whole life in the hopes of staying under the radar. While it would amuse my peerage and likely improve my relationship with Sairaorg to go through with this, I could just walk away, but I didn't want to.
I wanted to fight him. Sairaorg was a devil prodigy. He didn't inherit any special devil power. He wasn't like Vali where he lucked into having a Sacred Gear while still being a devil descended from the big L himself. He was, by all accounts, the failure of the Bael family, yet, in canon, he built himself back up and reclaimed his birthright with nothing but hard work. I wasn't sure exactly how his present self measured up to the man that Issei fought, but I would bet my left sock he was already at the pinnacle of High Class, perhaps even further beyond it. He might be knocking on the door of Ultimate Class.
I'd been training my whole life, but I'd never tested myself before. I knew I was far above other High Class devils after my showing in the High Class test, but I didn't know how wide that gap was. I wanted to find out.
"Hey, Sai?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't go easy on me."
Sairaorg grinned, slamming his fist into his open palm. "If that's what you want. I'll make sure you don't get hurt though."
"I will do the same."
Sairaorg barked out a laugh. "I love your confidence, Bal! It makes me think you're gonna show me something you've got hidden up your sleeve. Well, if you really want me not to hold back…" He adopted a well-practiced stance, his grin fading as he focused for a moment. All at once, power exploded around the arena. Sairaorg's form was wreathed in a pearl-colored aura that radiated strength. Touki. That enigmatic, spiritual frustrating ability.
"Here I come, Bal." With no further warning, he exploded towards me, rearing his fist back to strike. He was fast. Unfortunately for him, fast wasn't enough.
A Hole swallowed me, sending me to the connected Hole high in the air. Sairaorg followed me through the Hole, moving too fast for me to close it in time, but he did not emerge from the same Hole I did.
I'd experimented to exhaustion with Hole. I could perfectly control every aspect of the ability. Its size. Its reach. Its destination. Just because a Hole connected me to one point one moment didn't mean I couldn't instantly chain it to an entirely separate Hole, sending Sairaorg to a different point.
Sairaorg blitzed through the new Hole I opened inches from the ground, smashing into the dirt beneath him with enough momentum to crater the soil. The impact didn't hurt him. He was on his feet the moment he hit, but I was prepared.
All around the arena, Holes drifted through the air. You couldn't walk or fly five feet without brushing up against one. I held my hands out at my sides. Magical flames came to life in the air around me.
In the stands, I saw Kuisha's eyes wide in disbelief. Were she to attempt this, she would likely either fail or only be able to hold it for a short time. Hole was a potent ability, but the more complex you got with it, the more intensive it was to use. The difference between myself and my sister was that I was far better with our family's power than she was. From a young age, I'd used it to siphon my own power. Years ago, I discovered how to use Hole to reach across realities. Breaching the Dimensional Gap and the bout of nothingness beyond was far more difficult than anything else I had ever done. Compared to that, what I was doing now was child's play.
"If I wreck your training area, I'll help fix it." I called down to Sairaorg. The next moment, the air was full of steel and fire, raining down from every direction as I launched fire spells through Holes and sent weapons suspended in my pocket dimensions flying at him.
Sairaorg's body was a blur, expertly dodging around the tears in reality around him, avoiding fire and batting away steel even as it came through the Holes all around him. He was spectacular.
I was smiling. I felt the adrenaline. I felt the thrill of the challenge. This was fun.
Wanting to limit Sairaorg's absurd mobility, I clapped my hands together, pulling on a trick Medea had taught me. A dark mist seeped out from me, expanding into the space around me. I conjured dozens of Holes around me to absorb the mist, spreading it all around the arena.
Sairaorg saw the mist, attempting to dodge back away from it, but a Hole opened behind him choked the last haven of safe air with fog. The effect was immediate. Sairaorg slowed down, his muscles fatiguing under the weight of the curse. Still, it didn't put him down. It didn't even slow him all that much. There was a noticeable drop in his ability to dodge my attacks. Some hit him now, but they deflected off of his skin, leaving little to no damage behind. The man was durable.
He flew up towards me. I opened a Hole in his path, connected to one at my side. I sent a torrent of fire through the Hole at my side. The one in front of Sairaorg erupted in all directions like an omnidirectional volcano. He was forced to back off and take a wide berth around it.
I opened more Holes, using the trick again and again, but, even hampered by my curse, he was still agile enough to dodge around them. I couldn't hit him with them because he was just too fast.
I'd need to try something else.
X
The corner of Medea's lip pulled up in a pleased grin as she watched Balthazar fight. It was always pleasing to see the fruits of her labor manifest. Balthazar was a natural at magic, a gift of his devil heritage most likely, but he did not coast along on the current of his potential as most did. He strove for more, always pushing, combining his raw power with a sheer-minded determination to succeed. It was one of the things that made her quite taken with her new master. Seeing that same intensity in his eyes when he pursued his strength directed at her set her aflame. She doubted she would ever tire of it.
"They're…very strong." Aqua said from her seat at Medea's side. She had been watching the fight with wide eyed fascination.
"Yes, they are." Medea commented.
On the field below, Sairaorg, even weakened as he was by the cursed mist Balthazar had employed, was attempting to catch Balthazar in one place long enough to strike him, always slipping through a Hole before Sairaorg could reach him. The disgraced Bael heir seemed to lack much in the way of ranged options. Perhaps that was why he had reincarnated Kuisha as his Queen? With an Abbadon at his side to transport him with Holes, he would not need to worry about closing the distance to his opponent. Contrarily, fighting that same ability as he was now put him at a distinct disadvantage.
"How is…Sairaorg?"
Medea nodded at Aqua's shy question. She'd heard many names in the short time they'd been here. It was natural she would have a hard time remembering them.
"How is Sairaorg not hurt? I've seen him hit by spears, but they left no damage."
"Touki." It was not Medea who answered, but Kuisha, sitting on Aqua's other side. "He has managed what no pure-blood devil before him has and managed to manifest his life force to enhance himself. It magnifies all of his physical characteristics including his durability. It is very difficult to damage him while he uses the technique."
"I wouldn't be able to take those blows." Aqua said. "Maybe if I was wearing my armor I'd…" Aqua trailed off, a sad frown on her face.
"There is no reason to feel inadequate." Kuisha comforted her with a smile on her face. "Sairaorg has trained for a long time to become as strong as he has." She turned back to the fight, her smile thinning into a line. "Which is why I am confused that this fight is still going on. I don't remember Bal ever showing any of this to me."
Medea saw the opportunity to needle Kuisha, but she let it pass, she had other concerns at present. Aqua was still frowning, drawn off in her own little world as she stared longingly at nothing.
She missed this armor she once wore then? Well that wouldn't do. This would be remedied as soon as the opportunity presented itself. For the present…
"I believe some refreshments are in order." Medea cut in with a smile, reaching into the bag at her side and retrieving a box wound with a ribbon. The box was far too large to have actually fit in the bag, but Aqua didn't seem to notice her little trick. Kuisha watched her with narrowed eyes, but Medea paid her no mind. She opened the box and offered it to Aqua.
"Cupcakes?" the Knight asked, tilting her head to the side cutely.
"I made them a few days ago. Hopefully they're still good."
Aqua picked up a cupcake and took a small bite. "They're good!" she said, feverishly finishing her cupcake and taking another.
Potions and paltrices were one of Medea's specialties. They required extensive knowledge and immense skill. Next to mastering such a complex discipline, learning to bake and cook was child's play.
A thunderous boom sounded from the arena, drawing all attention back to the fight.
Sairaorg was picking himself up from the ground, clutching at a smoking point on his chest. Balthazar hovered in the air above him, hands held at his sides, a fist-sized Hole open in front of each of his hands.
Medea absentmindedly picked up a cupcake and took a small bite as waves of crimson power drifted away from Balthazar's body. It seemed he was starting to get serious.
X
Sairaorg was good. No, that wasn't fair to him. Sairaord was a fucking shounen protagonist stuck in someone else's story. Seriously, Boosted Gear or not, how did Issei beat this guy? He was fighting me without Regulus, and the only reason he hadn't landed a hit on me was because Hole was completely busted, not to mention a perfect counter to a martial artist. If he had landed a hit on me, I wasn't sure I'd be able to recover in time before he started to ground-pound me into submission. I was tough, but I wasn't 'tank a hit from spare protagonist' levels of tough.
This wasn't even mentioning the fact that he looked like I hadn't even scratched him. Slowed down as he was by my curse, I'd managed to land several good hits on him with my weapons and fire spells alike. Aside from a singed tank top, I had nothing to show for it.
Guess it was time to field test some stuff.
A small Hole the size of my fist opened in front of each of my hands as I focused my power.
Sairaorg saw I was trying something and leapt up towards me, how wings beating against the air to help him dodge around Holes I opened in his path to send him away. His reaction times were unreal. He'd almost made it to me when a cacophonous boom like ten overlapping lightning strikes shook the arena.
Sairaorg grunted in pain, blasted backwards through the air to smash into the wall of the arena, leaving a small crater. He stumbled his way out of the crater, holding his chest. There was smoke drifting up from where he'd been struck. I grinned.
I'd spent a lot of time trying to push Hole to its limit. My accidental jaunt to the Dimensional Gap was the result of one such test, but it wasn't the only of its kind. When I'd opened that Hole, I'd been testing the range of my power. This attack that actually seemed to hurt Sairaorg was a result of testing other limits.
I knew from watching Kuisha practice that Holes could vary in size. They could be large enough to swallow a person or small enough to only allow a rock to pass through. I wanted to know exactly how small and big I could make my Holes. Large Holes were…hard. Anything past the size I used to transport my peerage around became exponentially more difficult, with a Hole even double that size requiring ten times the power and tiring you out ten times as quickly. That wasn't to mention that they were slower. Focusing that power took time, time you could use to just open a regular sized Hole and attack that way. Large Holes simply weren't worth it.
Small ones though… Those were fun.
It was a lot easier to open a small Hole than a large one, although I had to work at it for a while before I got good at it. Smaller ones were a matter of precision rather than power. Precision could be trained much easier than power.
As much as I tried to push the limits of my power and grow in strength, I couldn't make them too small to be visible to the naked eye. I'd tried really hard to do so. Maybe I'd be able to at some time in the future if I kept training, but that was just beyond me right now. The best I could manage was a Hole the size of a spider's eye.
What use is a portal that small? You can't transport anything through it, right? On the contrary, you can. You see, you don't need to have two Holes of the same size connected to each other. I could take five minutes to create one as large as a house and pair it to a normal sized Hole. The clincher was you couldn't send something through a larger Hole that wouldn't fit through the smaller one, which was why Kuisha never bothered with ridiculously large or small Holes, just 'normal' sized. She didn't think it was worth the effort to make a smaller Hole she couldn't transfer an attack or an ally through. She'd been thinking too rudimentary. Spells, weapons, people – those weren't the only things you could send through Holes. I'd discovered at a young age that I could use my Holes to siphon away my demonic power to help myself grow stronger. Pure, concentrated power. Energy.
It was crude, akin to hitting something with a rock depending on how you looked at it, but I could shove my power into my Holes and have it shoot out the paired one on the other side. I could tailor the amount of power I sent through, making the attack lighter or stronger. If I shoved a bunch of pressure through a fist-sized Hole on one side and it was forced to shoot out of a much smaller Hole on the other side, as small as a spider's eye for example, the force of the attack would magnify immensely as the attack was all forced out of a smaller opening all at once. It was the same principle as a rifle really. Give the energy nowhere to go but out and you get a really nasty punch. So far, this little trick was the only thing I'd been able to actually hurt Sairaorg with.
And I hadn't put everything I had into that strike.
A tiny Hole owned behind Sairaorg, knocking him into the dirt as I struck again. Dozens of miniscule Holes opened around him and battered him from all angles as I rapidly sent power into the Holes in front of my hand, switching their pairing between all of the miniscule ones orbiting in the air around Sairaorg with every new attack even as the Holes orbited around him. No strike came from the same direction.
He was curled in on himself, arms held up protectively to weather the assault. I wasn't sure if he was waiting for me to tire, but that wouldn't happen anytime soon. One of the advantages to this attack was that it cost me barely anything to use. Couple that with its destructive potential and it was an amazing spammable. I'd just never had a chance to use it against someone who deserved to face it. The girl in the High Class test might have actually died if I hit her with this. Sairaorg was hurt, but he looked more determined than anything else.
Man, I felt inadequate. Here I was, going as close to all out against him as I could without actually hurting him, and he was still on his feet, still rearing to go. The man had a Longinus Sacred Gear that he was the user of because of the weird circumstances surrounding his resurrection of Regulus. He was handi-capped and I still couldn't put him down without serious injury. If I threw caution to the wind and powered up every strike to its limits I was confident I could do it, but it might cause lasting damage or outright kill him. Sairaorg was a cool guy. I didn't want to do that to him.
The attacks batting Sairaorg to and fro halted. He flew backwards through the air away from the Holes I'd sent around the arena. One by one, every Hole winked out, leaving only Sairaorg and I in the arena.
Sairaorg's eyebrows were furrowed. "You're good, Bal. If I'm honest, you're better than most I've gone up against. I wasn't expecting that."
"I'll take that as the complement it is, but I will also point out that Hole is a hard counter for you. Which is why," I was going to regret this. "I won't use it for the remainder of the fight."
Ever since I was young, even as I worked to use Hole to its fullest potential, I tried to find avenues to fight without it. There were methods to lock away someone's power in this world, the Beliel's power of Worthless was just one of the more popular ones. I needed to be able to fight without my greatest weapon.
With Hole, I was beating Sairaorg back to a near-sure victory, albeit without his Sacred Gear. Without Hole… I could beat Rias Gremory. I could beat Sona Sitri. I was confident I could overcome Riser Phenex's Immortality. But all of them were minor threats. They were still young. Rias hadn't risen to her canon heights. Beating them wouldn't be much of an accomplishment. I needed to see where I stood in relation to actual threats. With Hole, I'd fared very well against Sairaorg, but he wasn't facing me with his full strength despite my request. Regulus and Coal were still off on their own somewhere and that wasn't likely to change. Sairaorg was fighting me without his greatest trump card while I used Hole with reckless abandon. Without it, I wasn't sure how well I would fare against him.
Let's find out.
Only one Hole was left beside me. I used it to retrieve a spear from my pocket dimension before the Hole closed, the last I would use in this fight. Why was my weapon of choice a spear? Simple, I wasn't a close-quarters fighter. I'd trained with weapons over the years, but I'd found I had more skill with spears and polearms than bladed weapons or even maces. As far as I was concerned, the further I was from my opponent the better. I could stab someone through a Hole with a spear and retract it without fear of someone grabbing my hand, or, failing that, just drop the spear and pull a new one from another Hole before my opponent could stop me. The same wasn't necessarily true for a sword.
Sairaorg watched me intently as I lowered myself to the ground across from him. "Do you still want me to fight seriously?"
"There wouldn't be a point to this otherwise. Just no permanent injury please."
"That goes without saying. This is a spar. I know you were holding back from hurting me earlier, and you can trust me to do the same." He grinned. "I'm still gonna pay you back for all the bruises I'm gonna have though."
I settled into a defensive stance with my spear. "Give it your best shot."
The ground cratered under Sairaorg's feet as he launched himself towards me, the pearl-colored aura of his Touki flaring around him.
When I was younger, I tried everything I could think of to grow more powerful. I knew of Touki's existence, and I knew the broad strokes of what it was, but try as I might, I couldn't figure out how to unlock it. I trained myself beyond exhaustion, I meditated, I did everything I could think of to achieve it. Even still, I was never able to. I gave up, looking at other avenues to enhance myself in a similar way to Touki. My solution likely wasn't as good, but it had the benefit of being something I knew more about than Touki. It was also magic. When you were born into a race whose talent for the arcane was limited only by their power and imagination, that made things much easier. And since this particular magic was blatantly stolen from her home, Medea was able to help me improve it even further since I'd reincarnated her into my peerage.
Streams of verdant energy like electrical wires spread out over my body, encompassing my arms, legs, head, everything. The veins of energy shone bright like an emerald as Sairaorg closed the distance to me. When my preparations were made, I moved to counterattack.
Long before Sairaorg would reach me, I thrust my spear forward. A beam of orange energy shot forward from the tip. Another advantage to long weapons. Their length made them similar to staves. They weren't as good a spell focus as a staff would be, but they were certainly easier to channel magic through than a sword would be.
Sairaorg easily weaved around my attack and kept bearing down on me. Before I could launch another one, he was on me.
He dodged my initial thrust and moved to strike with his fist. I spun away from his strike, sweeping my spear in front of him to conjure a wall of fire between us. I pushed the wall forward.
Sairaorg exploded through the fire wall, the white corona of his Touki flaring bright. The fire hadn't affected him at all. The flame wall had the unintentional side effect of blocking his movements from my field of view. The first thing I saw emerge was a fist headed straight towards my head.
A resounding boom shook the arena. The remnants of my flame wall scattered under a shockwave of force. Sairaorg and I stood in the center of the field, him wreathed in pearl-like light, my skin lit from beneath by emerald lines of energy. Sairaorg's fist had impacted my forearm with enough strength to create a shockwave around us. This man had spent his entire life training. He was empowered by his herculean life force via his Touki. And yet, I took the blow without so much as flinching.
I saw Sairaorg's eyes briefly widen in surprise before he was spinning away from the butt of my spear as I swung it around towards him, trailing red energy as it went.
Sairaorg leapt up into the air, narrowly avoiding the crackling bolt of red energy that shot out of my staff. I used the opening to leap back away from him.
I was beyond ecstatic. I hadn't known for sure how powerful my Reinforcement was before now. It had just taken a strike from a man who trained his entire life to be a martial art's master and I had barely even felt the hit. My Reinforcement worked. Still, I had no illusions about how a close quarters battle between us would go.
Sairaorg had trained for his entire life to become a master martial artist. For a significant portion of that life, he had been heir to the Bael Pillar. As such, he would have had access to the greatest teachers available. I would not be able to beat him in melee. While I had trained a lot in this life, half-remembered lessons from a black belt in karate from my first life was not nearly enough to equate to the instruction Sairaorg would have received. I needed to keep my distance, another reason I liked using a spear. My weapon would make it harder for him to close the distance on me.
That was what I thought anyway.
Sairaorg charged me head on, barrel-rolling through the air on his wings to avoid several more spells shot from my spear. When he grew too close, I thrust my spear forward. Sairaorg punched my spearpoint away, soaring past its effective range and in far too close to me. I blocked his first punch, but he was a better fighter than me and I was caught flat-footed by his maneuver.
I doubled over as Sairaorg's foot buried itself in my stomach. My arms barely came up in time to absorb the punch heading for my head.
The blow sent me flying across the arena, rolling to a stop in a kneeling position, the butt of my spear digging into the dirt to help me steady myself. I didn't feel any damage, but I definitely didn't enjoy being knocked around.
Sairaorg didn't give me any time to breathe, already charging towards me.
I couldn't fight him on his terms. He would win. I'd trained to use weapons, but I was a mage first and foremost. Sairaorg, on the contrary, was a brawler, a damn good one at that. I needed to change things up.
I shot up into the air, my spear held high above my head, an orange energy building within its tip. I aimed it down at Sairaorg as he flew up towards me. He was already moving to dodge another energy beam when something new emerged.
A translucent, orange-hued spectre nearly identical in shape to myself shot forward from my spear, rearing back to strike Sairaorg. It wasn't a Shadow Clone, but it was the best I could figure out how to make without any proper instruction.
If Sairaorg was surprised by its sudden appearance, he didn't show it, merely rolling through the air and punching his way through the spirit as he continued charging towards me. The spectral copy scattered into motes of energy as Sairaorg plowed through it.
I'd honestly expected that to slow him down at least somewhat. I needed to try something else. I gathered my power, preparing to meet Sairaorg in the air.
An explosion of power beneath me pulled my attention from the fight. Sairaorg whirled around as well. Were we under attack?
There, standing on the field below us, were Kuisha and Medea. Kuisha had a deep frown on her face. Medea looked exceedingly pleased.
"That's enough, I think." Kuisha called up to us. "We still have yet to give our guests anything to eat, Sai."
Sairaorg's Touki faded instantly. He floated up next to me in the air, holding his head and chuckling. "Sorry about that, Bal. I kinda got carried away."
I huffed, irritated at the interruption, but pleased with the fight all the same. My Reinforcement slithered back down my skin as I took Sai's offered hand. "That was fun. I haven't been able to test myself against another devil like that in…ever. We need to do it again."
"Oh, we will. Next time I might even break out some of my other tricks for you. Now, come on! There's food!"
X
By the time we made it to the tables out in front of Sairaorg's home all the salami and beef was gone. Coal and Regulus sat a short distance away, passing a very expensive looking bottle back and forth as they boisterously conversed.
Sairaorg had taken Aqua under his wing. I didn't know if he saw how much she was floundering or was just trying to be a good host, but he showed her around to the various dishes and led her through short conversations with each of his peerage members. When they got to Coriana, Sairaorg left her. Coriana and Aqua sat down together and seemed lost in their own little conversation. I kept an eye on her just in case, but Aqua had a small smile on her face the entire time they were speaking, so I let it be. The more friends she made the better as far as I was concerned. I wasn't a therapist, but more people around her couldn't hurt.
Ladora had wandered over to where Regulus and Coal were still drinking heavily and joined in. He didn't contribute much in the way of conversation, but the mythical beasts didn't seem to mind his presence.
Medea had somehow cornered Misteeta when no one was looking. She loomed over the guy and seemed to be interrogating him. Misteeta was looking around for help, but he hadn't started actively running yet. If things got too out of hand, I would step in, but as it was I was letting Medea have her fun.
"That was…quite a showing, little brother." Kuisha said, sitting down at the table next to me.
I lifted my glass towards her. "The product of many years of hard work, sister dear."
Kuisha was frowning, not meeting my eyes. "So you have been working on that for years? I thought it was just the fire magic. The green veins, the mist, the spirit copies – I've never seen those, and I would guess there is more you didn't show, isn't there?"
I slowly nodded, watching her reaction closely. She seemed…sad?
"Why did you never tell me, Bal? Did you think I wouldn't help you? When did you even have time to learn all that? Someone had to teach you."
"I didn't really have a teacher for anything outside of fire magic," She would know as said teacher had been her. At least at the start before I started experimenting. "For everything else… I just used my imagination."
Kuisha barked out a short laugh. "So my little brother is just a prodigy able to fight a devil twice his age to a standstill."
"Sairaorg wasn't going all out."
"But neither were you, brother." That sounded more like an accusation than an observation.
"Ku, what do you want me to say here? Are you mad I didn't tell you about this? If so, I'm sorry you didn't know, but you knew I was training. I needed to be strong to achieve what I wanted in the Underworld.
"And what is that, Bal? Every time I have asked you what you desired out of life you've always said you wanted to get stronger. You never had an end goal. What is your end goal?"
"At first it was security. Now…" I had only three peerage members, but I would pit them against almost any peerage in the Underworld and be confident they would succeed… Once Aqua was better anyway. Discounting that, I had more land to my name now than most minor nobles. I had plans in place to generate wealth and potential avenues to generate riches. Combine that with some potential trades for favors, and I would be a force to be reckoned with. I could elevate my house to be equal to Pillar houses. Once my business started to succeed, I could probably apply right then and there for a Barony, but I had ideas to reach far higher. "I'm going to make House Abaddon great." I finished my thought.
Kuisha was silent for a moment. "Where do I factor into your plans, Balthazar?"
"What do you mean?"
"One of the main reasons I sought Sairaorg out was to protect us both. After losing his heirship, he does not have as much influence as he once did, but even still, he was strong enough to shield us from those who would abuse our ability to use Hole. I wanted us both to be safe. I…" She looked up at me regretfully. "I did the best I could when you were younger, but our parents did not leave me enough to give you a great childhood. Even then, we had far too much attention on us. I burned through the treasury to appease lords waiting in the wings to take you away from me. You were young, held great potential, were impressionable and a subject of intrigue. You were valuable in many eyes."
I was frowning, glaring at nothing. "Did anyone hurt you to get to me?"
She laughed shortly. "Nothing so dramatic, brother. I gave them each a large sum of money and they lost interest. You were a curiosity, but not one worth rejecting a bride to be on their way."
"Do you remember the names of these individuals?" I would have a few choice words for these individuals when I was fully established. Perhaps even something more impactful than words.
"I kept a ledger. I will make a copy and give it to you." She shook her head. "But we've drifted away from the original topic. Where do I fit into your plans, Bal? Is there a place for your sister in the new, Great House of Abaddon?"
"Ku, you shouldn't even need to ask. Yes, there is a place for you. I thought you were happy with Sairaorg. If I knew you'd only joined to–"
"No," she waved me off. "While shielding us was a large reason, it was not the only reason. I have ambitions of my own, and Sairaorg…"
I smirked. "Easy on the eyes, isn't he?"
Kuisha glared at me. "You're one to talk. Tell me, are you enjoying you and your Queen's nighttime activities?"
"Very much, yes. How are things going with Sai?"
Kuisha sputtered, not expecting me to so easily weather her throwing my sex life in my face. Joke's on her. Medea was hot. She was capable. I really liked her. She and I were sharing a bed. I was not ashamed of that fact.
"I… I am taking things slow." Kuisha said, a nuclear blush heating up her cheeks.
"Don't take things too slow, Ku. You deserve him. He's just good enough to deserve you too. But don't wait too long. He may not be in as poor a position as we once were, but it is inevitable that people will offer him marriage contracts that he will have to seriously consider for your collective future. Even if he didn't inherit the Power of Destruction, his children still could."
Kuisha frowned. "I don't want him to think I am using him for his position. It's more than that."
"Then sit him down and have a conversation with him. Outline everything very clearly and make him a part of the plan. Tell him why you joined, how you want him to be heir again and to be at his side when he does. Boom. Done."
Kuisha sighed. "Plans change, Bal. I'm glad you have a path now. I'm happy you're standing on your own feet, but I can't plan for everything. If the two of us ever–"
"Nope." I cut her off.
She frowned at me. "Bal, take this seriously. It's impossible to predict where we will be in–"
"Ku, you're not clued in on a lot of what I'm planning. I'm sorry if that hurts, but I have things in the works that I can't trust with anyone without magically enforced loyalty to me. My peerage will keep it to themselves even without the magically enforced loyalty. They all owe me even beyond the more obvious, but I can't talk about why. If things go the way I want, I will be as independent as a strong devil can be. I'll be able to pick my friends and tell others to fuck off because people will owe me favors, but I won't owe them. I'm not going to let myself be pulled into a situation where the two of us are at odds."
"You can't promise that, Bal." She sounded resigned. "I hope that is the case. I hope things work out for both of us and we can be strong allies, but I won't hold it against you if–"
"It won't happen, Ku. You're my sister. You're the only family I have left. Sorry if I kept things from you, but I didn't do it because I don't want you around. I'm overly cautious, almost to a fault. That's why Caster's good for me. She's been the main driving force behind a lot of the more risky plays I've made that have paid off. I wouldn't have recruited Coal or had the opportunity to do so without her input."
Kuisha followed my gaze, watching as Misteeta was now slowly sliding away from Medea only for her to follow him. "Who is she?"
I took a sip of my drink, trying to be casual when I said, "Caster? She's a witch. We met a little while ago and she agreed to be my Queen."
Kuisha huffed. "I know you better than you think, Bal. Many devils will look at a name like 'Caster' and attribute it to some strange quirk, be it to appear mysterious or some deeper personal meaning. If it were just her using the name, I wouldn't have picked up on anything, but you feel like you're hiding something every time you say it. It sounds forced, like you want to call her something else. It's an alias. Who is she really?"
"Not my secret to tell. I may be her King, but I don't rule her life. Just… Keep this little discovery to yourself please?"
"I won't tell the entire Underworld that my brother is hiding something. Even if we weren't siblings, we are firm allies. What benefits you will likely aid me in the future."
Medea looked over her shoulder, finally realizing she was being watched. Misteeta used the opening to flee, disappearing around behind the house. Medea walked over to us, sitting down at my side and leaning over to kiss my cheek. "Hi, honey."
"Hi," I said, taking her hand in mine.
"Were you talking about me?"
"We were."
"Good things?"
"I told her you're a secret and that she shouldn't tell anyone about you."
Medea frowned, turning to look at Kuisha. "You've determined my identity?"
Kuisha was looking at Medea like she was trying to solve a puzzle. "No. I only know that there is more to you than you wish for others to know."
Medea grinned. "Most would be able to surmise as much, but they would also fail to uncover the truth."
Kuisha's eyes narrowed minutely. "Challenge accepted."
Before any more words were exchanged, I felt a ping of magic. I turned to my side, seeing Medea watching me intently. She'd felt it too.
I reached through a Hole, picking up the gold-inscribed envelope that had landed on my kitchen table, having to be allowed through the wards before entering the premises.
"What is that?" Kuisha asked.
"Letter from Magdaran." I said. Suddenly, she was hyper-focused on the envelope.
I tore it open and unfolded the paper, reading through its contents. Medea leaned over my shoulder to read through it with me.
"What does it say?" Kuisha asked. She'd been tapping her foot while we read through it.
"Mag's having trouble getting things set up. His parents aren't helping him because they think his 'side project' is a waste of time, so we don't have any of the Bael's influence helping us like we thought we would." I explained, running through potential solutions in my head.
"We could cut ties, master." Medea said. "While working with him would be preferable, with our stores and the items we intend to sell, we are now in a better position than he is. We would be helping him more than he would be helping us."
"True, but I think it's best if we work together. While we don't have the Bael's economic backing, the Bael name should still open up a lot of doors."
"It would be easier for me to unseat Magdaran if he was unsuccessful in his endeavors." Kuisha pointed out, watching my reaction.
"I don't think that's the right play. I could be wrong, but I really don't think he likes being heir. If we give him something that he actually enjoys to focus on, he'd be more willing to vacate his seat." I countered.
Medea made a considering sound, taking the letter from my hand, looking over its contents closely. "The main issue he cites is his inability to secure permission to trade with factions beyond the Underworld. That and supplies."
"I have an idea for supplies." I said, thinking of the potential synergy inherent in mine and Aqua's powers when used in tandem.
Medea smirked. "And I have an idea for the permissions. Master, you remember our earlier discussion about a certain pervert. I believe I know how best to make use of that information."
Kuisha looked between the two of us, an expression of utter befuddlement on her face, "What?"