In the wake of the Rating Game I'd expected to get some down time. Sadly, it was not to be.

I debriefed my peerage, intending to hold a small celebration of our victory. Instead, I found myself in Bael and Abaddon Trading Co.'s office dealing with a torrent of letters streaming in. The entire Underworld was clambering over itself to get my attention and book time for an item hand-crafted by Medea of Colchis.

Latia and I had managed to set up a better system to sort through everything by funneling it through a system of Holes, but for now the problem was only on hold until we could get more hands to sort everything. There was too much for the two of us to sort through in a reasonable timeframe and the amount was increasing exponentially. Immediately following the creation of our stop-gap solution I was summoned elsewhere.

I'd gone directly from my office to the office of the Underworld's Interior. Several officials made me sign a bunch of papers to formally hand over the assets I was entitled to following my defeat of Bedeze. We'd both signed magically binding contracts to enforce the wager we'd set at the start – everything we owned. Bedeze wasn't the most influential devil alive, but he was certainly wealthy.

Following my acquisition of his assets, I had more land than I knew what to do with and more money than many gods. The territory was near enough to my own because, while he never bothered to visit, he was still an Abaddon. Apparently he and Kuisha and I's father made an agreement however long ago to split the old Abaddon territory between themselves. Our dad then lost a lot of the land in a variety of ways, but I'd already bought up more than he forfeited. Add Bedeze's old holdings on top of that and I held a substantial stretch of territory.

It was all mine now. I'd needed to buy up some land to bridge the gap between the land I bought up around my castle and the territory I'd seized from Bedeze so I wouldn't just have two bubbles of disassociated terrain, but it was simple enough to use the funds I won from him to do so.

I was a Viscount now. After claiming Bedeze's positions for myself, I held enough influence to take a step up the noble hierarchy. The new title really didn't feel all that impactful. Sure, I had a new word in front of my name, but I didn't really have any of what a man of my stature was expected to outside of my lands. I didn't have any subjects. All of the major Pillar families had subjects of one sort or another. Certain territories even held entire cities within their borders that the Pillar governed. Aside from some random structures dotted here and there, the Abaddon territory was barren. Right now, I was in no major hurry to change that fact. In the future when I'd sorted through everything and the present situation had quieted, I might look into it again. It would just be an additional headache right now.

In addition to the land and funds, there were a number of properties located all over the Underworld ranging from small bungalows to full-scale mansions added in with my winnings from Bedeze. Evidently, my uncle had enjoyed vacationing. I looked over the properties. I sold the less useful ones, leaving all of the larger structures and those located in major cities to be dealt with later. Typically housing sales took a while, but Bedeze and I had so much attention from the entire Underworld following the Rating Game that people were tripping over themselves to secure some of his old properties.

Before I'd finished squaring my new properties away I was contacted by the devil who'd been interviewing Bedeze when I challenged him. I'd promised her an exclusive interview following the Rating Game, so we set a time and I appeared on her show.

It was supposed to be a chance for me to deal with some of the more troublesome aftermath of the Rating Game. People were still freaking out about Shang Tsung spouting off about stealing people's souls. He'd pouted like a chided puppy when I showed him the reaction to his dramatics on the Devil Net. I could understand his excitement, but if he'd said literally anything else it would have made my life easier. I planned to use the interview to spin it in a way where it was all and act and Shang Tsung just liked drama. I expected the Underworld to eat it up.

He was not the only problem though. Coal's appearance outside of a Sacred Gear had raised a lot of pointed questions. Medea's mere existence when everyone believed her to be dead was a problem. Matatabi being a giant fire cat that seemingly appeared out of nowhere created some discussion. Then there was the Aqua situation.

After watching the Rating Game back through recordings, I was able to see Bedeze's perspective of events. After Aqua hit him with her Keyblade, he'd assumed she was some long lost Belial bastard as if that was the only way she could have sealed Hole. More surprisingly, the Underworld had taken his summation at face value and was running with it. There were entire forums dedicated to trying to figure out where Aqua came from and why the Belials hadn't found her yet. People were even speculating about how she'd returned to usurp her family's power. It was ridiculous.

The interview was my chance to straighten some things out. I wasn't going to hand out any information that wasn't already common knowledge or talk about how Coal was freed, but I'd give people something so they'd stop wildly speculating.

Then I learned that Bedeze was dead in the middle of the interview. When I saw the picture, it was clear to me that someone had killed him. One doesn't trip and fall and just so happen to land in a way where their throat gets torn out.

Naturally, I did not take the news that someone had killed an Abaddon well. I did not care one whit for Bedeze. On the contrary, after what he tried to do to me, I was glad to see him gone. With that said, I had nothing to do with the man's death. The possibility that whoever had gone after him might come after the only other living Abaddons – myself and my sister – did not escape me.

There were still videos and speculation circling around the Devil Net wondering where I went and what I did after leaving mid-way through the interview. It really wasn't all that hard to put together for someone with a brain.

I went directly home. Once I saw all of my peerage in one piece, I teleported over to Sairaorg's place. His entire peerage had gathered together around my sister. They'd been watching the interview together and, judging by the intent frown on his face, Sairaorg shared my concern about whoever it was that attacked Bedeze coming after Kuisha. We'd shared a few words then I returned home.

I wanted to know who'd killed Bedeze. I didn't care about the man so I didn't want revenge, but I did need to know who this new player on the board was that might want to come after me. The moment I asked Medea for her help, I received the answer to the mystery.

That led me to right now. Medea and I were alone in our bedroom. She wouldn't meet my eyes. She looked terrified of what I would say.

Coal was still on alert outside the manor. While he flew the perimeter, Matatabi sat on the roof, watching for anything out of the ordinary. Shang Tsung and Aqua were still on the porch.

"You killed Bedeze and Runa." I said, clarifying what she'd just told me of the curse she'd cast on Runa during the Rating Game.

It seemed a great effort for Medea to look me in the eye. "Yes."

Seeing how tense she was caused me to frown. I walked forward. Medea's muscles tensed as I approached. I slowly, carefully pulled her into a hug.

The tension oozed out of her body as she clung to me, burying her head in my shoulder.

"Did you think I would be mad?" I asked quietly.

"I didn't consult you. I… I know what he did to you, but he was still your uncle. I didn't…"

"It's okay." I ran my hand down the back of her head through her hair.

She sighed, relieved and happy as she pressed herself into me.

"Can I ask why?" I said.

"They were a loose end." Medea said, still holding me close. "Aqua permanently sealed Bedeze's ability to use Hole. People think she is a bastard child of Adusa Belial right now. That cover can protect her. If they'd realized Bedeze still couldn't use his power, that fiction would no longer protect her. Beyond that…" She pulled away slightly. She reached into her robe and produced two items. One was a standard Evil Piece; Runa's Queen. The other shone like a magical beacon; Bedeze's King PIece. "Taking these will make people ask questions. There will be far fewer questions if they're dead."

"Few people knew Bedeze had the King PIece. By killing him, you prevent people from realizing he is weaker than he should be." I surmised.

Medea nodded. "Among other things, yes. I…" The pieces vanished back into her robe. She pulled herself against me again, resting her head against my chest. "They tried to hurt us. They tried to hurt you. I refused to allow them to get away with that."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't need to know." Her arms tightened around me. "I didn't want you to be burdened by being involved in your Uncle's death, even if he was a terrible uncle. The curse I used notified me when it took effect. I expected to have time to arrive at the scene before it was discovered and erase evidence. I don't know how someone got there before me. If I knew that bitch of an interviewer would use that picture to try to–"

"It's okay." I cut her off. Her voice was picking up. She was getting more animated, more angry. I gently ran circles over her back with my hand.

She sighed, relaxing. "I'm sorry, Balthazar."

"Don't apologize. I'm not mad Bedeze is dead. He tried to take everything from me. And like you said, he was a loose end. I'm not thrilled that you were plotting to kill one of the only family members I have left behind my back, but I understand why you did." I pulled back slightly, gently lifting her chin so she looked me in the eye. "In the future, please don't surprise me like this again. We're a team. Don't feel like you need to handle something alone to spare me pain."

"I will. I'm sorry. I didn't want you to have to…"

She trailed off as I leaned in and kissed her. "It's okay. Now, as much as I'd like to stay here with you, I kind of set Sairaorg on high alert."

Medea's hand snuck up around the back of my head, pulling me back into another kiss. She pulled away with a frustrated huff. "Do not be gone too long."

"I just need to have a quick conversation with Sairaorg and Kuisha. I'll be back soon. Actually, speaking of Sai, have you made any progress on–"

"Your thank you gift?" Medea cut me off. "I believe I am close. I've made several breakthroughs in the week following the Rating Game. I'll tell you about them when you return."

I dashed in to give her one last quick peck on the lips. "Until then."

I backed into a Hole and was gone.

"Bal! Over here!"

I turned to the sound of Sairaorg's voice. The former Bael's peerage was gathered around Sairaorg's mansion. Some stood on the roof. Others patrolled the ground below. They were all close enough to support each other should they need it. Kuisha was at Sairaorg's side. She walked at his side as he approached.

"Did you see the news?" Sairaorg asked. "They're ruling it a murder suicide."

"Yes. I came to tell you it was okay to stand down. I'm sorry for putting you all on alert for nothing."

Sairaorg waved me off. "I'd rather be prepared and have it be a false alarm than be caught by surprise. No harm done."

"Sai, may I have a moment with my brother?" Kuisha said slowly, eyes fixed on me. She was frowning minutely.

Sairaorg looked back and forth between us, a considerate frown on his face. "Sure. I'll bring everyone back inside. When you're done, feel free to stop in and have lunch, Bal." He turned around and started calling out to his Peerage. They flew down from the roof and converged on their King, heading into the mansion.

"Would you walk with me?" Kuisha asked, motioning away from the house.

I fell into step beside her, walking into the field beyond Sairaorg's mansion.

"Sorry for worrying you over nothing." I said.

"Our uncle mysteriously turning up dead is a good reason to worry me. He may have been an ass, but that did not mean I wished him dead."

"How are you handling the news?"

She shook her head. "I said I didn't wish him dead, not that I cared about him. The news of his death only concerned me after I received your warning that whoever perpetrated his death might come for us."

"Sorry about that. I was caught off guard during the interview and just reacted."

"It is fine."

We lapsed into silence. Cresting a small hill, a view far off into the distance was revealed. Sairaorg's property didn't have the same forests mine did. There were sparse trees here and there. The majority of the land was a grass-covered prairie.

"This is the first time we have really had to converse since the Rating Game. Congratulations on your victory."

"Thanks?" I said, still taking in the view.

"Bal?"

"Yeah?" I turned to face her and frowned. She looked conflicted.

"We've… We've discussed something like this in the past. You are not entitled to keep me apprised of everything you do, but I would like to be informed."

"We did. Sorry I didn't let you meet Matatabi before the fight. We were busy preparing."

"That isn't what I'm…" She sighed. "Bal, you are powerful. Very powerful."

I pursed my lips. "I've worked really hard at that."

"I knew you were training, but I… Why didn't you tell me what you were capable of?"

"I told you I'd be able to beat Bedeze."

"Yes, and I worried for months because I didn't see any evidence of that claim. How long have you been able to blow up a mountain in one blow?"

"That one is actually a fairly recent acquisition."

"And the rest?"

I sighed. "What do you want me to say here, Ku? I can do a lot. I've never had a reason to fight anyone seriously like that before, so it hasn't come up. I've been keeping things close to the chest so no one would take advantage of my peerage. Now that you know who they are, I'm sure you can understand that."

"I can. I understand hiding things from the Underworld. Sairaorg is still hiding Regulus. I just… You know you can tell me anything, right? I'm your sister, Bal. Hell, I raised you. I'm not going to use anything you tell me against you."

I smiled sadly. I could understand where she was coming from. She did raise me…at least until my previous memories returned. She'd done a lot for me, and I was grateful for that. With that said, there was a distance between us ever since my memories returned. I took care of myself and she let me. That's not a point against her, it is just a fact.

She was my sister. I counted her as one of my firm allies. Did I count her among my closest allies? No.

Maybe that was wrong of me. Maybe I was a poor sibling. I only counted my peerage as close allies. Maybe I had problems trusting and was being overly paranoid by not trusting Kuisha with more, but I couldn't predict the future. She was Sairaorg's Queen.

Sairaorg was my ally right now. I'd been taken aback by just how willing he was to help me with the Rating Game. I hadn't forgotten that, and I would repay him just as I would repay everyone who had supported me to get me where I am.

Still, I couldn't predict the future. Kuisha wanted to be Lady Bael. If Magdaran and Sairaorg's pleasant meetings turned sour, I might be pulled into a conflict with them and be forced to choose sides. If that happened, I would choose whatever path forward secured my peerage's prosperity. I wanted Kuisha to live a long and happy life, but if it came to choosing between her and my peerage, I would put my peerage first.

Maybe I was a bad brother.

"How much do you know about Hole?" I asked Kuisha.

She seemed surprised by the question. "What do you mean?"

"What all can you use it for? Bedeze was a one trick pony. Hole isn't the most powerful Devil Trait, but it is very versatile. I can show you some tricks some time. We can make a regular thing of it." I wouldn't be showing her how to reach past the Dimensional Gap, but I could show her some of the other tricks I'd learned. It would give me a chance to spend more time with her and hopefully show her that I did appreciate her and everything she'd done for me.

Kuisha smiled softly. "I'd like that."

"We'll talk later about scheduling. I need to go stand down my peerage."

"Not staying for lunch?"

"Coal is still flying the perimeter of my lands right now. I need to let him know we're not about to be attacked." I opened a Hole. With a wave, I said, "I'll see you soon, sis."

"Take care, little brother."

I stepped through the Hole and was gone.

X

The next few days passed by pretty quickly. I'd made the executive decision as Lord Abaddon and King of my peerage that we would all have the time off to do whatever the hell we wanted to. We'd done nothing but prepare for the Rating Game for months, so everyone deserved some time off.

Coal was in the process of setting up a new hoard. With Matatabi's help, he'd found a cave a fair distance from the manor and was piling up gold coins, jewels and other knick-knacks. He didn't sleep in the house anymore. He was more comfortable in his draconic form sleeping on a pile of gold than he was in his devil body sleeping in a bed. I couldn't relate, but so long as he was happy.

Matatabi had been spending a lot of time around Coal and his new hoard. I think she liked the shiny things just as much as he did. She would shrink down to her house-cat size and curl up to sleep on Coal while he slept on his gold. I had a few pictures of her sleeping on his snout. It was really cute.

Shang Tsung split his time between training and lab time. The boost he'd received from draining Runa seemed to be permanent. It gave him access to her magic as well as her strength and some of her skills. The man was reveling in his new power. His time was dedicated towards increasing that power even more.

Aqua, for her part, was spending a lot of time on the Devil Net. She would occasionally slip out of the house through a Keyhole to go…somewhere, but for the most part she spent her time relaxing or navigating through any of forty different forums typing full essay-long posts. I didn't see the appeal, but I couldn't argue with the viscous grin of enjoyment I saw on her face while her fingers flew across the keyboard.

Medea brought me up to speed on what she'd been doing during one of our movie knights. She'd seen videos from Rating Games where powerful pieces were able to infuse their magic or weapons with the traits granted to them by their Evil Piece. Medea had taken this to the next level.

Using Runa's Queen piece as an anchor, she'd tied the Dragon Tooth Warriors she'd created to the Queen Piece's strength and magic. Overnight, the skeletons went from disposable shock troops to a force to be reckoned with. The skeletons were faster, stronger and now some of them could use magic. Medea wasted no time setting up a factory of magical skeletons that could put things together piece-by-piece like an assembly line. She wouldn't need to personally enchant mass-producible items anymore. On top of that, with her new method, she assured me that she could use the skeletons to get our castle built within the year. What had once been a near-two-century project would be completed in just over ten months.

I had the best Queen in the Underworld. Anyone who said otherwise was wrong.

As for me, I just enjoyed the time off. Mail continued to pile up both in the office and in the house as people sent me personal letters that had nothing to do with the business, but I ignored them all. I'd get to them in a week or two. I'd just use the murder of my ass of an uncle as an excuse. People would probably be understanding, or at least pretend to be. They wouldn't be sending me letters if they didn't want something from me, so I could afford to let them stew for a little while.

If I had to guess, the vast majority of the mail I was receiving were invitations to some dumb party where I'd either be expected to kiss someone's ass or someone else would kiss mine. There were also probably a lot of people offering 'generous' sums to trade one of my peerage members away like all of the vultures who swooped in to claim Bedeze's peerage after our Rating Game left him destitute. That was one of the main reasons I hadn't opened anything yet. I was not trading anyone in my peerage. Most devils saw their peerage pieces as things they owned, like shiny jewelry that made them stand out in the crowd. Not me. My peerage were my people, I wouldn't barter them for anything, least of all something as ultimately inconsequential as money. If someone threatened me or tried to force me into doing so, I'd Bedeze them. But I wanted to relax for now, so I'd put it off by simply not reading any of my mail.

Even as I rested, I started making minor plans. As far as the broader future went, most of my machinations were on hold. I wanted to rebuild the strength of the Abaddon Clan. I was already doing that. I wanted to wait for the castle to be constructed before starting any other major projects on my new lands and I was already busy with the business that still only had four employees. I needed to hire more people and plan out what I wanted to do with the land before I moved forward with that.

Opening a settlement or two would be a good start, but that was an entire other headache that I just didn't have the time or energy to even consider right now. I still didn't have a full peerage. When I'd filled out the rest of my peerage's roster I'd start looking into bringing civilians in to live in my lands, but that was still a ways off.

In the short term, I wanted to do something nice for the people who'd helped me. My peerage had free reign to use my bank account for whatever they wanted whenever they wanted. Each of them had a card connected to my accounts that they could use on whatever they wanted, wherever they wanted. This literally would not have been possible without them, so they were my first priority, but there were others.

Medea and I were discussing plans for giving Magdaran a gift to show my appreciation for his support. Despite only working a week, Medea had already worked out how to give Sairaorg his gift. Granted, the method involved Aqua's help and the former Keyblade Master could help anyone cheat with just about anything, but it was still impressive.

The same gift would help me thank someone else I was really glad to have in my corner. Serafall had been running damage control for me for a while now. Even now, I saw her influence in how the world at large was responding to the Rating Game. Aqua had told me she'd come across some news online about Serafall dealing with a lot of crap as a result of some of the secrets I'd brought to light during the Rating Game. I needed to do something nice for her. I had something perfect in mind.

Magdaran, Sairaorg and Serafall would get their gifts soon enough, but I had to take care of someone else first.

Paris was beautiful at night. The lights from the buildings shone together like small stars twinkling on the ground beneath us. I don't know if the Eiffel Tower was supposed to be closed at night given we were the only people up here, but I didn't care. Illusions would hide us and if anyone wanted to make trouble I'd just make them forget I was here. No one was going to fuck up my date night.

Medea hummed contentedly, leaning into my side with her eyes closed. We had a small picnic blanket set out with some breads and meats we'd found in the city earlier today. A separate basket held a bottle of wine and grapes of varying colors.

"Sorry we skipped movie night tonight, but I thought this would be an okay substitute." I said, wrapping my arm around her shoulder and running gentle circles over her arm with my fingers.

"We need to do this more often."

"I'm sorry we haven't gone out much recently. What with the Rating Game and…"

"It's okay. We have time to go out more often now. We can try different places. I wonder what Crete looks like in today's world?"

"We'll go there next. Sorry. I didn't know where else you'd want to go. I knew you enjoyed Paris so…" I trailed off as Medea shifted. She maneuvered herself into my lap and turned her head around to look me in the eye.

"It's perfect. Now stop talking." She kissed me.

I wound my arms around her, holding her against me. "Are you done eating?"

"Yes, why…?" Medea stopped talking as a Hole swallowed us, depositing us onto our bed. "Oh. Oh yes."

SCENE CUT

When we were both ready, we continued our lovemaking well into the night. We slept late the next day and went at it again.

Life was good.

A.N.

Unedited versions are on my QQ: HeWhoMakesTheSunRise and my AO3: TheCandyManCant