(Follows a slightly different version of Ruche's max affection ending. Also slightly AU in a couple other ways.)
It's been three years since Ruche, Faust, and Zeabolos departed on a journey to find a different solution to achieving Faust's goal, and nothing of use has been found. Zeabolos' soul is used to revive Faust's father and homeland, and Ruche is left with one less person she can call a friend, one step closer to being alone.
Faust has reservations about that.
--However, even should that loneliness be resolved, other wounds remain.
AN: Didn't post this here originally since this was just a oneshot, but now that I've finished the sequel, thought I should post them together under the series title.
Might write random snippets here once I've finished posting all of what I've written currently.
"We made an agreement, right? Get on with it."
With a hard voice, Ruche spat those words out, and disappeared from the room faster than either Faust or Zeabolos could see.
"..."
It was to be expected that after three years of traveling together, Faust would get attached to her, but even considering that, she was surprised by how much Ruche's pain and efforts to stand firm hurt her, even when having the more painful conversations...especially those about how she had felt back during the battle against Trillion...she had shared with them in the past to compare them to. Though, she supposed that in those cases, Ruche and Zeabolos had more provided comfort in their own ways than anything else for her, so it wasn't like those events were good reference points anyway. Her chest tightened, and she felt like she should say something, or even scream, but she didn't know what.
She felt awful about Zeabolos too, but somehow, it didn't bite in the same way, and Zeabolos was as determined as he usually was. She knew he had regrets, but he had long since accepted this possibility, and seemed at peace with it.
She pushed the thoughts out of her mind, and opened the Soul Grimoire, starting the ritual. It wouldn't do her any good to back down now. Half-an-hour later, the ritual finished with just enough energy left to begin the restoration of her homeland, and she had a tearful reunion with her father right next to the newly-formed nexus between the worlds.
Despite the moment, though, thoughts of Ruche flooded her mind the moment she was finished, the familiar cold that kept distractions out of mind, associated with her more involved experiments, having faded away as soon as it was no longer needed.
"Father, if you hurt a...friend, but you had both agreed beforehand that it may be needed, what would you do? Even if you don't think you deserve their forgiveness."
That was the shortest way of explaining it, and she felt tired even saying that much. She wasn't sure she could explain the background of her own wrongs against them in a timely manner, beyond that.
He sighed. "You're talking about that Ruche girl, are you not?"
She blinked in surprise. "Huh? Wait, you never saw her, did you?"
"Although it was frequently dim, there were times when I could see and hear those around me. She's the only other one in your group left, and don't think I didn't notice those looks you sometimes gave her."
She felt her face flush, for some reason. Mostly out of embarrassment at her father, she could tell, but there was just a little bit that was embarrassed for another reason.
"...Yes, she's who I'm talking about. Now, can you give me an answer?"
His gut bellowed with laughter. "Of course, of course! Well, I can't really say for certain, but even if I didn't think there was the slightest chance, I think I would try my utmost to convey my feelings to them, whether those be my wishes to support them, or something else."
"I can't very well do that now, though. She's probably long gone, and she would be right to be."
"Perhaps. But I'll still be here when you return, this Underworld," he gestured to the nexus, "will still be here. Be free to follow your heart, my daughter; I'm sure we'll be able to meet again before long, even if this gate disappears."
Those words struck her off-balance, but she felt comforted all the same. "...Thanks, Dad."
"Good luck!"
With those parting words, she broke into a sprint, swiftly leaving the remote housing into the surrounding mountain wilderness.
She didn't know how soon she would find her, but she was confident that she would. It was the only answer she would accept. When Faust found Ruche, she was sitting beneath a tree at a river's edge, staring into its bed. From the angle, it was difficult to be sure, but she was fairly sure that she had been crying.
"Ruche, I want to talk."
The pink-haired demon didn't respond for what had to be at least a minute, before saying, "What is it? If it's stupid, I don't want to hear it."
She felt her chest tighten again. If it weren't for gravitas she had said that with, it wouldn't hurt at all, but it was an unavoidable fact that she was the one who had taken away Ruche's uncle, that she had removed yet another important person from her life, leaving her life even emptier, maybe even just shy of complete loneliness.
...Why did she feel indignant at that? She understood sympathy or self-loathing, but indignance was well outside what she had anticipated.
Ruche continued, taking her silence as evidence that she was about to say something stupid, "I already told you, we made an agreement. You've more than earned your fair share, and we were unable to find a different solution. You have your father and home back now, so we'll go our separate ways, and--"
Something clicked. She wasn't exactly sure what, but at the very least, she knew she didn't want to part ways with her, and that she had to say something. "Even though we all made an agreement, that doesn't change the fact that I'm still sorry." Her voice built as she continued. "It doesn't mean that I don't want to make it up to you somehow, even if I can't ask for any kind of forgiveness...! That might seem impossible, and maybe it is, and I can't replace Zeabolos or any of your family, but that we couldn't find another away is my failure as well, and I don't want this partnership to end here!"
She was tearing up at this point, and Ruche was looking at her with a weird, indecipherable expression, but Faust somehow found it in herself to keep talking, even if she had no idea what she would say next. "You might have your aunts and the other inhabitants of the castle, but even though that's the case, I--"
Ruche interrupted her, annoyed. "You really don't know when to shut up, do you? I said it's fine. I knew going in that this was a possibility, as much as I hoped we could find another way. You've already been pardoned and forgiven. There's nothing to repay, so stop worrying about it. I'm not a child who can't handle herself."
She took a shaky breath. "Maybe, but that doesn't mean it's not harder to do it alone--I know that fact well. Even if there's nothing to repay, I still want to support you, I still want to rely on you, I still want to walk alongside you!"
Ruche flinched, her expression morphing into one of shock, then flushing. Had she said something strange? Ruche's mouth opened, lips parting only just a little, and after a few seconds she asked, "You--are you confessing to me?"
Huh? Faust's expression similarly morphed as she brought an arm up to wipe the tears out of her eyes, though instead into confusion. "Am I? I didn't mean for my words to..."
Her eyes widened.
Her reaction to Ruche leaving before the ritual started. Her embarrassment when her father pointed out that she shot looks at Ruche. Her indignance at the idea of Ruche being left almost entirely alone from the disappearance of her uncle.
No, that made perfect sense, actually. Blood rushed to her cheeks.
She let out a small 'heh.' To think that the one she was crushing on realized it before herself. Though, Ruche was always rather perceptive like that.
She calmed herself. "...I guess that is the case. So, how will you respond, Ruche?"
The girl in question was still surprised. She hadn't really thought she'd be right; it had just been a guess, albeit one with some support. But once she got past that, she was left with a lot of feelings to work with.
Part of her was angry, because of how soon it had been, coming from the woman who had taken her uncle's soul and used it for her own wishes, but it was similarly matched by a part of her that felt sympathy for her, that held her as a friend, that was grateful that she helped them, that saw how much it hurt for her to do this as well. Another part of her was confused how she'd see her like that, and surprised that Faust was even into women. And there was yet another part of her that was ecstatic, as though it had been looking forward to this for a long, long time.
Ruche felt her grip tighten on her knees through her dress, before pulling her arms around them and burying her head in her arms, hiding her face as she stared into the rapids.
She kept struggling with her emotions, but no clear-cut answer arrived. Still in the midst of processing everything, she eventually forced out, "How should I know...how am I supposed to react, when you come to me like this after what just happened?"
Faust lowered her eyes, sitting down as she rested her face in her hand. "I'm sorry. I didn't expect that it would turn out like this, either, and if I knew, I wouldn't have brought it up. But in that case, I won't ask you to respond to those feelings yet. But, I...would like it if we could still be friends."
She heard the other girl sniff. "Since when were you under the impression that we had stopped?"
A wave of relief ran over her. That was just like her. "Thank you, Ruche."
It wasn't enough to wash away everything, not by a long shot, but she felt a lot better. And...she hoped Ruche did, as well.
She tsked. "Don't make such a big deal out of it."
It had been a bit more than a month since then, and about a week since Ruche had returned to her Underworld and reclaimed her spot as Great Overlord. Faust's return with her served as a surprise to the others, but was mostly overshadowed by the sad news that they had failed to find a way other than using Zeabolos' soul.
They still hadn't talked about what had transpired near the riverside on the mountain. As much as Ruche had improved since then, she would frequently stop and stare at some point in the distance during their trek back and start muttering, and every time it seemed that she was in a better mood, the words just got stuck in Faust's throat. When they had gotten back, not much changed, with the exception that Ruche seemed to be throwing herself into her work more, only leaving her house or work room rarely, and even more rarely interacting with her family or much of anyone on a friendly basis.
Faust sighed, and put down the scalpel she had been using, before stepping out of her laboratory. She wasn't entirely sure what she would do, but she was fairly sure that Ruche hadn't had a break yet today, so she could at least get her to take one.
She walked through the halls for a few minutes, before coming to the throne room. She entered it to the sight of Ruche, all alone, going through a pile of paperwork.
"Ruche. I've hit a snag in my research, so I'll be taking a break. Would you mind accompanying me?"
The girl in question looked up at her, pale-pink hair shifting. Her face was blank, as though she hadn't really registered what Faust had said. "Is there any particular reason you need me?"
Faust hummed, and said, "Well, I don't know a lot about the city, and you've been working for quite a while."
A crack made itself apparent the moment she said the second half of that sentence. One moment, she appeared angered, but the next, tired and resigned, though oddly, relieved as well. "...Fine. I probably need it, anyway." She returned to a more neutral expression. "Is there anywhere in particular you want to see?"
Faust shook her head. "No, not really."
She sighed. "I'll just have to show you around, then. Come on!"
As she led the way with a confident expression, Faust let herself smile.
It was a start. Ruche chewed on her jerky as they sat at the lunch table, looking over the forest park they had found themselves taking a break in. She wasn't eating anything herself, having deigned to just get a bottle of spring water.
Suddenly, Ruche spoke up, breaking the silence. "Is there any reason you don't order anything specific at restaurants?"
Faust blinked. Where had that come from? Well, it wasn't like she minded giving her an answer. "There's no particular reason. I just don't have an affinity when it comes to food."
"Ho?" The tone in her voice very much implied that she did not believe her. "I've seen you enjoy pickled shark and mangoes, among others. And I've seen you eat enough to know that there are definitely plenty of things you don't like."
"Ghk."
She had her there. She was good at cutting straight to the point when she wanted to. Not that she disliked that. Unbidden, a smile rose to her face.
"Well, I do have some preferences, but it really isn't something I care much about. While I was wandering, I couldn't afford to be picky, and in my line of work, I often imbibe substances that don't taste good. I suppose I'm just not used to it."
"Ah, I see."
A few moments passed in silence. Then, at the edge of her hearing, she heard Ruche mutter something.
"...You really are honest, aren't you."
"Hmm?" Faust turned her gaze to her. Was that a smile?
The pink-haired girl shook her head. "It's nothing." Her might-have-been-a-smile transformed into a satisfied grin. "So, what food would you say you like most?"
She hummed. "Well, I do remember that I liked shaved ice when I was younger, as well as..."
They continued talking until the sun went down. And so began a routine. Every few days, Faust would come into the throne room and invite Ruche out, and Ruche would often wind up leading the way once prompted. Fegor and Elma would accompany them from time to time, and while she wouldn't call those instances particularly more energetic, they were warmer in some ways.
After a couple weeks, Ruche would even occasionally take the opportunity to initiate the outing, which Faust was quite happy about, both because she was improving, and because of how some part of her interpreted the action. She was fairly confident that the giddy feelings she got were mostly unfounded, but she supposed she would leave them be for now.
Regardless, Ruche was recovering. She could be comfortable being happy about that.
However, it would soon become apparent that the road to recovery would be longer than she hoped. "That's the restaurant we occasionally went to. I don't think I need to elaborate."
"Don't worry, I remember it. Though I don't know why it's frequently the destination of choice."
Ruche shrugged. "The food is good, and it's far enough from home to meet the average citizenry, but not so far as to be inconvenient. That's my guess. I only started going there after we went there in a large group that one time."
"I see. Thanks for indulging me."
"It's not an issue."
A moment passed, when Faust's eyes locked onto something she hadn't seen before. "Say, what is that?" Faust pointed to a nearby park, one she didn't recall being there before.
Her companion looked over to it, and said, "I don't know. I've passed it by a few times, but it was established during the time we were gone. I haven't looked it over yet."
Faust hummed, and walked forward. "Then let's take a look."
The moment she stepped into the park, she changed her mind, immediately coming to the conclusion that this wasn't the best idea. She turned to leave, but stopped when she heard the sound of her companion's voice catching in her throat. Turning to Ruche, she saw her frozen, her eyes wide. Following her gaze, she found exactly what she expected her to be looking at.
A statue of Perpell, frozen in the middle of eating a lot of food, as happy as she had ever been when eating that much. At the statue's base was the epithet, In memory of the Overlord of Gluttony Perpell, who sacrificed herself protecting us from Trillion, the God of Destruction.
Faust could feel the power roiling within the girl beside her, restrained only by its owner's will. Turning back to Ruche, she was faced with the sight of the Great Overlord shaking in place, face twisting with a myriad of different emotions. Surprise, happiness, sadness, anger, acceptance, and unease.
Gritting her teeth, Ruche closed her eyes, breathed in, and breathed out. "...Let's move on."
"I agree."
Grabbing her by the wrist, Faust walked out of the park, leading the way to an undetermined destination.
Eventually, they arrived in a clearing absent of people other than themselves. She felt as though she should say something, but what to say? Faust turned it over in her head, then settled on something.
She began, "The battle is over, you know."
"Yeah, I know that. Do you think I don't?"
She shook her head. "No. But I know that you've been holding back from grieving. I don't know if you're doing it out of some feeling that you need to stay strong, or if you're under the impression that you shouldn't grieve for them, or if you haven't realized it yet. However, I think you need to stop. There's nothing urgent, and yet you keep pushing yourself to work, much more than I'm sure you did before."
"I didn't have the responsibilities of the Great Overlord then."
"That's just an excuse. You can delegate. Plus, if you keep denying yourself grief, then that'll cause problems for the Underworld, too."
Ruche blanched. "Fine, you're right. But I...don't know..." She trailed off, either unable or unwilling to finish the statement she had started.
Faust sighed. "Can you show me the graveyard?"
She cast a flat look at her, the moody atmosphere lifting, before rolling her eyes and turning in the direction of the castle. "Come on. Don't get lost in the crowd." Ruche sighed again, for what was either the eighth or ninth time since they had arrived in the cemetery. Her gaze would flit between the gravestones, and she would start moving every once in a while, but stop shortly after. Little flashes of frustration would cross her face, but never build on each other.
She clearly wanted to do something, but something was preventing her from doing so. Was it her own presence, or was it something internal? Or perhaps it was both. Faust didn't know.
So, she would try both.
"I'll get us some drinks. What do you want?"
"Get me some milk."
"Alright. I'll be back in about twenty minutes."
She brought this up for a reason; if Ruche thought that Faust might come back at any moment, she might not be willing to do much of anything. Hence, if she knew how long she would be away, she would be better able to do all she wanted.
Of course, there was a chance that it would take longer than twenty minutes, but she would cross that bridge when she got to it.
By the time she had gotten back, Ruche was sitting down in front of her mother's grave, just a little ways away from her father's. She seemed to be saying something, but she couldn't make out any particular words from this distance.
Faust stood a reasonable distance away--"I know you're there. If I had an issue with you hearing me, I would have blasted you away."
She snorted, and walked closer. "I see."
"All the same, I'm done with that for now. There's just one more thing I need to do."
"And that is?"
Ruche stood up, face lightly flushed, and grabbed her wrist. "Follow me. I'll show you."
Faust's eyes widened just a fraction. She hadn't really expected a positive response in this case, but she wasn't going to complain. "Very well. Lead the way."
It took a while to get to their destination, passing by a cliff looking over the city that they had spent the past few weeks refamiliarizing themselves with, before arriving at a field of flowers.
For a few moments, Faust found herself staring at the sight, as if she were trying to commit every last flower and blade of grass to memory.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
That was one way to describe it. "Yes, it is. Thank you for allowing me to accompany you here, Ruche."
In spite of Ruche's mild embarrassment, she was smiling. "That's not what I was thinking, really...I just thought that you should see it. Stop throwing me off." She paused, then continued, "But still, I won't deny your thanks. Though really, I should be thanking you, instead."
She blinked. "Really?"
The light blush left Ruche's face, replaced by a serious expression. "Yeah. You've been dragging me out of my work, making me spend time with my family, and pushing me to keep moving on. While you can't claim credit for all of that, I'm thankful that you've been making the effort. I wouldn't have gotten to this point nearly as fast as if you weren't here."
For not the first time when facing Ruche, Faust found herself at a loss for words when she wished she had some. It wasn't as though she disagreed with the logic, but there was part of her that wanted to brush it off all the same, even though she felt happy that her efforts were acknowledged.
Ruche continued, "I can't ignore that, regardless of what your reasoning is. So..."
She let go of Faust's wrist, pulling her hand away just enough for it to be an even distance from both of them, hand open in an offer for a handshake.
"Let's shake on it, alright?"
Faust felt her face flush, heart hammering as she looked at the hand, the sight and situation calling back memories of when they had first agreed to work together that time. The meaning was clearly different here, and the context different, but it was clear that Ruche was deliberately calling back to it, and it was just as embarrassing as it had been then.
She gulped. She said, a little shaky, "I see. I thought that you thought this was embarrassing too, you know."
"Shut up. Of course it's still embarrassing. But we're both thanking each other, so, you know."
She chuckled, half-nervous, half-amused. The context was a little different, and the meaning was somewhat different, but it was still so similar to that time. She reached out, and took her hand. "I see...I'll accept this gratefully, then."
It wasn't as awkward as that time, but it was still awkward. That much was undeniable. But after it was done, for some reason, she found it difficult to push down the smile she had.
"Anyway, come on. We're going to give some of these flowers to them."
"Of course." Faust was having a bit of an issue.
In the past few days since they had visited the graveyard, Ruche appeared to be avoiding her. When they met in passing, her gaze would frequently meet hers for a brief second, then quickly turn away. When they talked for longer, her gaze always wandered, and she seemed to almost stumble over her words at a few points. And on a couple occasions, she would find some excuse--or at least, she was fairly sure they had been excuses--to cut off their conversation and go somewhere else.
She didn't think she had done anything wrong, and Ruche certainly didn't seem to be offended or angry. So what was it?
A thought came to mind, of a possibility that she had consistently forced down every time it came up, and found herself pushing it down again. It wasn't that she disliked the possibility, but rather, she didn't want to get her hopes up.
Breaking her out of her thoughts, the door to her lab opened. She turned to the sight of Ruche standing in the doorway, a decisive determination in her countenance that she had become familiar with.
"What is it, Ruche?"
"We're going out today. Come on."
"Ah." Faust stood up, and began putting away various materials and putting her current experiment on pause. "Give me a few minutes."
Ruche muttered something she couldn't hear, then turned around, saying lightly, "Don't take too long."
"I'll try not to."
After all, Ruche was someone important to her. The walk, in contrast to how it had been the last time, was quiet. Ruche wasn't doing a lot of the things that she had been for the past few days, but she was fairly sure that was a front of some kind. What exactly that meant, she still didn't know.
Rather than out into the city, Ruche led her along the same path she had when they had gone to the field of flowers. This time, however, they stopped at the cliff overseeing the city.
They stood there side-by-side for a while, Faust following Ruche's lead as she stared out over the city, before she eventually asked, "This is a wonderful sight, but is there a reason why you brought me here in particular?"
Ruche breathed in, then breathed out, her eyes closed. She took a small step to the side, before turning to Faust, red eyes meeting hers as she opened them. Her face was lightly flushed, she noted, but it still possessed the same determination she had seen earlier. Her heart skipped a beat, and Ruche began, "Faust, will you promise me something?"
"It depends. What are you asking for?"
"Promise me, that you won't leave me alone. That you won't go on ahead of me. That you won't leave me as the last one left at the end again."
Each word carried heavy emotion behind it, hitting like bricks.
"...I don't want to ever feel like that again."
Ruche's eyes glinted with unshed tears, but even now, she was as determined as ever.
...She really admired that about her. But at the same time, she wished that she would be a little more willing to let herself cry.
Hesitantly, Faust stepped forward, and reached out. Ruche didn't seem to reject it, so she continued, wrapping her arms around the smaller girl, offering some comfort. "I don't know why you're asking this of me, Ruche. But I promise, from the bottom of my heart, that I'll try my best. However, if you're asking me something like that, then you have to promise me something, too."
A moment passed.
"...Yeah? What is it?"
"...I want you to promise me the same thing. Because I...don't want to be left alone ever again, either."
Ruche snorted, and extricated herself from the hug. She smiled, as small as it was, and answered, "Alright. I promise that I won't leave you alone, either."
"Thank you."
Ruche turned away. "Hmph. There's no need to thank me."
After a few moments more, Faust asked, "So, is there any reason in particular you asked that?"
Ruche turned to face her again, face set in a neutral expression, and stated matter-of-factly, "You know...you can be really dense."
...Oh.
Suddenly, everything recontextualized itself.
Faust was sure her face had to be all-but-luminescent right now. She sucked in a deep breath, steadying herself. Finally, she said, "So, we're in a relationship now, to be entirely clear?"
Ruche's lips morphed into an awkward smile. "Only if you want to be."
Faust's face bloomed with a smile of its own. "Of course I do."
Ruche's expression lost any trace of hesitation, the tension leaving her. "I'm looking forward to supporting you, relying on you, and walking alongside you into the future, Faust."
"Thank you, Ruche. I'm also looking forward to that."
The girl in question huffed, though it lacked any real heat, before saying, "It's fine. We're together now, so this much is to be expected."
Faust giggled. "I suppose you're right."
They would spend a while on that cliff in the comfort of each other's presence, and look out over the city together as the sun went down.
When Ru-tan and Fau-tan had returned from their three-year search a couple months ago with the news that they had been unable to find any other method, and their deal was fulfilled, it had been a damper on Fegor's mood. She was uncomfortably familiar with her family and friends dying by now, but knowing that both of her brothers were now dead still stung.
Despite the fact that she was the one who was responsible, though, she didn't hate Fau-tan. She'd been instrumental in defeating Trillion, and even if she ultimately got back her father and homeland at the cost of Zebo-chin, she knew that Fau-tan, Ru-tan, and Zebo-chin himself spent three years searching for an alternative. Plus, she knew Fau-tan herself was bothered by it. It was hard to hold too many hard feelings about it, with all of that.
That being said, she thought it was kinda weird that she came back with Ru-tan. Wouldn't she want to go back home now that she could? That question had sat in the back of Fegor's head for a while.
It all clicked together a bit over two months later though, on one evening as they returned to the castle after spending several hours out.
Fegor's eyes lingered on their lax postures, then fell to their clasped hands, mostly obscured by the lacking light on the veranda. "Aa, so that's why Fau-tan came back with you. I'm surprised."
Ru-tan was the one to answer, Fau-tan's eyes flicking aside like she was considering how to respond. "Yeah. What about it?"
"I'm happy for you two."
She was. They got along surprisingly well, and what she had seen of them since their return only indicated that they became closer in the years they had been gone. Though she intended on reaching out to Ruche if she kept burying herself in work, Faust beat her to it. They clearly knew how to handle each other, and they seemed like a good fit.
They had all lost too many people already. If any of them found love and happiness, then she was grateful that they did. It wasn't enjoyable when everything was all empty and gloomy.
Faust let out a soft breath, the nervous tension in the air dissipating. "Thank you."
"Mhm. But I wonder, when did you two…?"
Ruche's expression became odd. "We only really got together today. It's complicated."
That gave her some pause. Was she not in the mood to talk about it? Well, she'd leave it be then. Switching tracks, she asked, "So, are you going to announce it?"
Ruche paused for a moment, gaze shifting slightly. Faust took the opportunity to respond. "Not for a while; we don't want to make a big deal out of it. We were thinking of mentioning it to a few people soon, however."
That made sense. "Should I tell anyone?"
Ru-tan's eyes shifted back to look at her. "I'm fine with you letting Elma know, but not anyone else. She'll find out soon enough, and probably won't air it out. What do you think, though, Faust?"
"I'm fine with that. I don't have anything to add."
Fegor smiled soporifically. "O~kay. Don't make too much noise tonight."
They reacted immediately, Faust flushing and Ruche exclaiming incredulously, "We aren't anywhere near that far along yet, and stay out of that!"
She chuckled. "Sorry, sorry. Anyway…" She let out a yawn. "Ni~ght."
Faust quickly composed herself and replied in kind. "Good night."
Ruche sighed, exasperated. "Good night."
As Fegor ambled away, one thought was prevalent in her head.
She missed moments like this.
X
Elma fought back a yawn, and flipped to the next page of the financial report. Though Baphomet, and more recently Ruche, were doing more when it came to paperwork and policies, she had taken it upon herself in the past few years to help out in any way she could, and doing paperwork was one such way.
She didn't need to, but…just sitting back and doing what she had always done didn't feel right anymore. It wasn't as though she hadn't ever felt discontent at her lacking physical ability before, but that year and a half where the threat of Trillion hung over them lit a fire in her. So many people had suffered, forced out of their homes and could do nothing but wait and hope. If she could do something, anything, to help those people and ensure that something like that didn't happen again, she wanted to do it.
She signed off on it and put it in a box with the other approved paperwork. "That should be all for today. Cerberus, could you please bring me the mail?"
The once large and intimidating, but now quite small and cute dog bounded over to the cabinet by the door, pawing out several envelopes before bounding back, mysteriously held in place atop his head through some effect she assumed was magical. She picked them up delicately, and sorted through them.
A coupon, advertisement, advertisement, advertisement…ah, a letter from Uriel. She smiled, carefully peeled it open, and unfolded the letter inside.
Dear Elma,
I hope this letter finds you in good health. It's fortunate that things are continuing to stabilize in your family since our previous exchange. Though I am still curious as to how, do not feel obliged to explain.
The situation here seems to be settling down as well, so I may be able to visit soon. I don't know if it will be on official business, as we have yet to decide on when to convene and determine the new relations of Heaven and the Underworld, but it will be nice to see you again regardless. Should I bring the tea leaves I mentioned previously?
The letter continued on for a while longer, replying to bits and pieces of her previous letter and sharing recent experiences in turn. As she was about to finish, she heard the door creak open. She set the letter down on her lap and looked up as a horizontal, straight horn poked through the doorway, followed by the head of her sister, Fegor. "What is it, Sister Fegor?"
She yawned as she rubbed her eyes, before saying, "Ru-tan and Fau-tan are back. If you see them kissing or something, don't tell anyone."
"Eh?" She didn't know how to take that. If she was more physically inclined, she might have recoiled in surprise. "Um, sure, but why? What's going on?"
"They're dating now, but they su~per don't want anyone to know about it. They said I could tell you, though."
Well, that made sense, she supposed… "A-ah, I see. I'll try not to tell anyone, then. Was there anything else?"
Fegor closed her eyes and hummed. Finally, she said, "Mm, no. Night, El-El. You should go to sleep, too,"
"I will soon; I just have a bit left to do. Anyway, good night, Dear Sister."
Fegor flashed a smile, and with that, left, shutting the door behind her.
Ruche and Faust…she would have to give them her well wishes later. But for now…
She turned her head back down, and continued reading. She wouldn't be able to write back immediately, but she could at least finish the letter before going to bed.
X
Ruche dipped her feather pen in ink, signed another paper, and put it aside before moving onto the next.
She'd gotten up early this morning; she hadn't even seen Elma and Faust around, and they lived here. She could have just missed either of them, though Faust was unlikely—it wasn't uncommon for her to stay up way too late or wake up early and go straight to her lab, but she went out of her way to check when she got here, and she hadn't been there.
Elma was another case. She wasn't sure what her schedule looked like now, so she could be just about anywhere. Maybe that was something she should ask her about later.
She had seen Fegor sleeping in one of the halls, though. Did she even step inside her own room last night? Well, it wasn't like that was out of the norm, she supposed.
Still, she wasn't going to complain about waking up early. It gave her more time to finish her paperwork and read through the written reports early today, and she had some things she wanted to do.
Fortunately, after several hours, she was nearing the end. Just a few more documents, and she would be done for the day.
She frowned, and put another in the "tentative" pile. As her eyes scanned over the next paper, her mind wandered to the past few days.
Even though she knew Faust's feelings already, she'd been nervous. No matter how much she tried, it was hard to push that down, even if it was ridiculous for her to feel like that. Still, she managed to get her feelings across, and they were together now.
The corners of her lips lifted.
She wasn't entirely sure when it happened. Sure, with the benefit of hindsight, there were moments she could point to and say she felt some infatuation, but there was a difference between that and what she currently felt. That infatuation might be part of it, but…
Regardless, she definitely knew when it really sunk in. Though she'd known in some sense since that moment Faust poured her soul out to her by the river, it wasn't possible to make it out from her other feelings at the time. Rather, it had only been five days ago when she finally acknowledged that, more than just being someone she was close to, Faust was someone she wanted to be with.
"...So much has happened, Mother. I'm sorry for not visiting sooner."
It wasn't like everything was fine now. That definitely wasn't the case. But that time alone in the graveyard, to go through everything and sort out her emotions, had helped her a lot. It was only natural that it would also make her feelings on that more clear to her, even if it hadn't occurred to her until later that night.
She put one last paper into the "rejected" pile and stood up, quickly making sure everything was properly organized, before leaving the throne room with a skip in her step.
Now, she had someone to surprise.
She quickened her pace as she walked through the halls. She was several hours ahead of schedule, so Faust was probably at her lab. Either that or she was still asleep, though she doubted it. It seemed unlikely she would have stayed up late after yesterday.
Soon enough, she arrived at her destination. With a turn of the handle and a pull, she slipped inside. As usual, there were a variety of instruments on the large desk Faust was seated at, and she was in her chair, fiddling with something she couldn't make out from this angle. It was kind of cute, how much she could get into it. Sidling on over, she asked, "Hey, Faust. What are you up to?"
Almost automatically, Faust turned to look at her, her black hair shifting to reveal more of her smooth face. "Oh, Ruche. I'm making some adjustments to this demonic radio equipment. I'd like to figure out a way to communicate more efficiently between this dimension and my home dimension. As things currently are, we need to deliver information through the portal directly…"
Right, they had discussed that yesterday. Though Faust didn't regret choosing to go with her, of course she wanted to connect with her home and father now that they were revived. It was made difficult by the fact that the ritual opened a portal where it'd been performed, making a roundtrip take about a week and a half for most people at least, but that was why she was currently approaching the issue from the angle of long-range communications.
They recently initiated diplomatic relations with the other Underworld as well, so there was a chance it would also expedite that. It was slow-going currently, what with how both Underworlds were still recovering and the travel time. She hadn't even met their Great Overlord yet.
"That being said, you're here early today. Not that I'm unhappy, but is there some occasion?" Faust's face flushed slightly as she admitted that. Ruche could almost feel her own face get a bit hotter in turn.
"Well, I woke up and finished work early today, so I thought I should visit you. We're involved now, so it's to be expected, you know?" She half-teased, brushing past her embarrassment.
She made a noise almost like a snort and dipped her head, a smile spreading fondly across her face. "I suppose it is." Lifting her head, she asked, "Should I get a chair for you?"
She shook her head. "I'm fine like this. I'll just get a chair myself if I have to."
"Alright." With that, she turned back to the disparate wiring and radio parts.
As Faust started fiddling with them, a thought occurred to Ruche. She asked, "We'll have to ask the other Underworld about it first, but couldn't we move the portal to a more convenient location in the meantime? I know you sent in a report about that last month,"
"We could, from what my testing and math suggests. It would, however, require someone with sufficient power and skill with magic, and it could take a while with the method I've found."
"I see. How long do you think it could take?"
Faust stopped for a second, before replying, "It depends on where it would be moved to. Assuming we move it to the capital, for someone of your caliber, it could take a few months. If we wanted to just move it into this Underworld, it would take a bit less long, but not by much—maybe by a week or two."
It probably wasn't doable then, at least right now. That explained why she didn't follow up on it.
Ruche continued watching her, and another thought came to mind. She may not know as much as Faust when it came to research, but she knew from experience that she could sometimes overthink it. That, or she may have already decided to put off asking about it herself out of consideration for her—it would be like her to do something like that.
So she said, "You know, it'd be faster to go there and do some testing in-person. You would be able to get a better read on how the signals pass through, instead of trying to pick up signals that look like they might have come through."
Faust turned her head as if surprised, before lowering her gaze. "That's certainly true, but…"
Ruche smirked. "Of course, I'd be going with you. I have no intention of leaving you to travel on your own again, after all."
Faust's eyes flicked back up to her. After a moment, she smiled back. "Thank you. To be honest, I had briefly considered it, but," Her eyes flit back down and she continued, "I don't particularly want us to be away from each other for too long, right now. We only just got together."
…O-oh. Of course that would also be a factor. "Well, I can understand that," she said, managing to avoid stammering.
"But, since that's no longer an issue, then we just have to decide when to do it."
Ruche nodded. "Although we could do it at any time, it's probably best to send a message and get confirmation first, which will take some time."
"My father would probably be fine with it regardless, but…" Faust paused, shifting her labcoat a bit before finishing, "I'm not sure if you would be fine meeting him so soon, so I believe that's probably the best course of action."
That made sense. To be honest, she wasn't sure whether she would be fine meeting him so soon, either. Though it wasn't for the reason Faust may have been thinking. "I don't know either, but there's no point holding a grudge against him for that, if that's what you're thinking. I'm hardly going to take that out on him. I'm more concerned that he'll make a big deal out of us, going by how you've described him, honestly."
She would push through it if it came to that, but ideally she wanted at least some time to settle in before that.
Faust averted her eyes awkwardly. "Yes…he probably would." Turning back to her, she said, "Still, I'm glad that you don't hold what happened against him, Ruche."
She smiled. It looked like Faust wasn't blaming herself right now, either. Of course, that incident did hurt Ruche, but it wasn't like she was going to hold enmity over it. Even if Faust was technically responsible, she had already forgiven her for that.
"Don't worry about it." Ruche said.
Faust faintly smiled back.
…At the expression, she felt the sudden urge to envelop Faust in her arms. It was to be expected now, she supposed, but she still felt a bit awkward about it. Carefully, she reached out and made to wrap her arms around Faust's waist. She seemed a bit surprised, but it wasn't long before she returned the smile and reciprocated as she leaned into it, resting her cheek on Ruche's shoulder.
It felt nice—both holding Faust, and being held by Faust. A comforting warmth spread through her, and a fluttering in her heart seemed to both flare up, and calm as if it was being sated. It wasn't really an unfamiliar feeling, as they had hugged each other like this a few times yesterday, but she wouldn't say she was used to it.
She didn't dislike it, though.
Silently, they ran their fingers over each other's back and through each other's hair, content with the quiet.
They silently ran their fingers over each other's back and through each other's hair.
…Faust really was interested in her wings, wasn't she? Just like yesterday, her touch lingered around them for an unusual amount of time—even considering the curiosity she knew Faust had about her second set of wings. She asked about it at the time and got a pretty predictable answer, but it still took her off-guard.
—A stomach rumbled.
She knew it wasn't from her, so—
"Faust, have you eaten anything today?"
"...Ah, I forgot."
She sighed, slightly exasperated. That was just like her. She unwrapped herself from the embrace. "I'll go make something, then. Do you want anything in particular?"
Her eyes flicked to the side, staring at an invisible point thoughtfully. After a bit, she replied, "Something savory and filling would be appreciated."
"Alright, then." With a teasing smirk, she continued, "You should be grateful, you know! Not just anyone would get a meal from a Great Overlord!"
Faust let out a noise half-way between a giggle and a snort. "Well, then thank you, Ruche."
X
Faust leaned back in her chair, lifting her eyes away from the mess of wiring that covered a solid portion of her desk. She hadn't gotten any useful results yet. It was to be expected from a project like this, and she had only really started work on it today, but following her earlier conversation with Ruche and the lack of progress even with her assistance, she was considering putting off work on it for another few weeks.
It was hardly as though she had no other projects to work on, after all. She had yet to get back to fiddling with that True Overlord Seal, for one…regardless of what she pursued, however, it would have to wait. A glance at the clock sitting at the back of her desk confirmed that it was almost time for her to head down to Elma's garden for an outdoor dinner.
When she and Ruche had taken a break to eat lunch together, the topic of discussion eventually turned to Ruche's remaining family: Elma and Fegor. One thing led to another, and after a few messages passed along and received via the maids, they decided to have dinner together.
It still felt a bit strange to be included in such a gathering, honestly. Even if—during those last several months in the struggle against Trillion, and these more recent past couple months—she found herself getting more and more involved with them…if it was just Ruche, that would only be natural, but…
She sighed as she stood up, setting down her tools. Ruche would probably tell her that she wasn't giving herself enough credit—in her own way, of course. So she would put her faith in that, at least for now, even if she didn't feel she deserved it.
With that thought in mind, she left the laboratory and made her way to the courtyard.
Soon enough, she arrived. In the time she and Ruche had been absent, the flowering vines and bushes in Elma's garden had grown significantly, said vines now covering even more of the outer surface of the stony (slate specifically, if she wasn't mistaken) gazebo than it had before, almost entirely blanketing two of the six sectors of the hexagonal roof in green with a smattering of purple-pink and orange. Even outside of the section delineated as Elma's garden, the dirt was more grassy than it was before, too, on either side of the fence bisecting the courtyard.
Inside the gazebo sat Elma and Fegor, around a circular, wooden table that seemed somewhat larger than she remembered. Elma noticed her arrival and turned to wave her over, while Fegor was using one of her sleeves as a pillow between the table and her head.
She stepped along the path and walked inside, taking a seat opposite Fegor. "Hello. I see that Ruche has yet to arrive?"
Elma nodded. "It seems Lady Ruche isn't quite done with the food…"
They had been in the middle of a discussion when Ruche realized that she needed to get started on the food preparation, so that made sense. In an attempt to make conversation, she said, "I heard you've been working on some public works projects. How have those been coming along?"
She smiled. "Oh, they've been going very well! We're hoping to make the new Arctic Ridge habitable enough for its old inhabitants to finish moving back in soon,"
The Arctic Ridge was a layer that had been completely consumed by Trillion, being right after the Gate of Hell. While the current Underworld Core could regenerate destroyed layers if it didn't lose too much power, it couldn't restore things exactly as they were. It was unfortunate on multiple levels, but all things considered, it was a miracle that this much was possible at all.
"Then work in the new Inferno Peak has been completed?" Or rather, mostly new. The boundary between Inferno Peak and the Despair Fields was where Trillion finally met its end, so some remnants managed to avoid being completely consumed.
Elma's smile became a little less energetic, but didn't lose any of its luster. "It's never really done, but we finished with the initial infrastructure a while ago. Still, we're trying our best to make the best Underworld we can."
It was impressive, honestly. Though not much had changed with her health situation—she still perpetually carried that IV stand and bag with her, with a tube running from the bag to beneath the bandages wrapped around her right forearm—she gave off a different impression compared to a few years ago, as though finding an outlet for her kind and gentle nature had made her stronger in every respect. She was used to it by now, but it had taken a couple weeks.
Elma's eyes suddenly turned, something catching her attention. Following her gaze revealed it to be Ruche, carrying a rather large tray in one hand as she approached, her long, pink hair swaying in the wind behind her. She seemed a tad winded, but despite that, she moved with an unmistakable confidence in her step. Unbidden, Faust felt a faint smile rise to her lips as she raised her hand in greeting, which Ruche returned.
"Hello, Lady Ruche. Did you encounter some difficulty?" Elma asked.
Ruche shook her head. "No, it just took a bit longer than expected for the mutton to finish cooking." She set down the tray in the center of the table and sat down next to Faust, opposite Elma.
Fegor finally stirred at the movements, cracking an eye open before lazily sitting up. "Mmh…Hey Ru-tan, Fau-tan." Her eyes turned to the tray in front of them. "Aa, you made a lot, Ru-tan."
It wasn't the largest meal, but she wasn't incorrect. There were a couple steaks laid out next to the mutton, a bowl of sticky natto, dried sunfish, and some kind of seaweed soup. For the drinks, there were two cups of water, a glass of milk, and a hot mug of tea.
Faust had already known she wouldn't hold back, since she was so insistent on being the one to handle the food over the maids, but…"I must admit, Ruche, I didn't expect this much variety."
Most of the food on offer had been brought up in the messages passed along in preparation, but the mutton and dried sunfish were a complete surprise—as was the seaweed soup, but Ruche had already claimed that.
A wide, proud smile spread across Ruche's face at her comment as she met her gaze. "Well, what were you expecting? Of course I'd be capable of this much!"
The words coupled with her expression stirred something in her, and she found herself almost mesmerized. Her heart skipped a beat.
"Oh, that's right! Congratulations, you two!" Elma suddenly piped up, breaking her out of her trance.
Quickly, she found herself turning her gaze back to the food, a wave of embarrassment rolling over her. Out of the corner of her eye, she could tell that Ruche was experiencing the same thing. It was almost enough to make her chuckle.
"Thanks." Ruche muttered. Wordlessly, Faust nodded in agreement as she pulled some of the mutton onto her plate.
They had both been expecting it to come up, but it was somewhat embarrassing to have it be brought up like that, with both the timing and Elma's earnestness.
"Dear Sister told me that you don't want anyone to know currently, but is there anything else we should know?"
Now that was something she could deal with, and clearly it was something Ruche could handle as well, as she shook her head. "Not really, that I can think of at least. Just try to keep it quiet for now. We're not interested in airing things out to everyone or being pushed along."
Faust nodded again in agreement. It was one of the things they had talked about before returning yesterday evening, and they were of one mind on it. They weren't going to deny it and they weren't ashamed of it, but for at least a while, they wanted to keep it private.
"I understand; I won't tell anyone, then." Elma said. Suddenly, she seemed to realize something. "Ah, Sister Fegor and I are the only ones who know right now, right?"
Faust answered this time. "Yes. We considered telling Baphomet, but decided we would rather put that off a bit longer."
"Aa, I see. I get it."
Elma's smile seemed to stretch, if only a bit. "Well, it's true that he can be a bit overbearing…"
Baphomet was reliable and had a strong sense of duty, that was true. However, it was perhaps too strong. While it was probable that he wouldn't make any fuss, the chances of it were significant enough that they decided to wait at least a few days to settle in. They would need to have that conversation at some point, but it wasn't as though it couldn't wait.
With any luck, they would avoid the worst outcome. Even disregarding her own feelings…well, even if Ruche's feelings on the matter had dulled, she knew that she hated being treated like a child.
Changing the subject, Ruche said, "By the way. Elma, I've agreed to the diplomatic meeting with the Heavens. It should be happening sometime within the next month."
"That's good! It would be really nice if we continued to work together moving forward," she replied, her smile strengthening.
"Mhm," Fegor mumbled. "El-El has put in a loooot of effort to get us to this point, you know. Wing-tan, too."
Right, Uriel. That made sense with what she remembered of him. "I assume he will be one of the emissaries, then?"
Elma nodded. "Yes. He was planning on visiting soon either way, so this is fortunate."
Ruche frowned thoughtfully. "That reminds me, you're keeping in contact with him through letters, right? How has that been?"
"It's great! We have a lot to talk about, and he's really helped me out in a few situations…I do wish that we could meet up more often, though. He usually shows up once every month, but sometimes he can't visit due to some other duties."
Ah, so that was why she hadn't seen him since returning.
"Mhm. It's unfortunate. It's entertaining when Wing-tan's here." Fegor chomped down on one of the steaks. After swallowing, she continued, "Oh, and he's pretty strong, too."
She could see Ruche's eyebrows rise in her peripheral vision. "You spar with him?"
"Yup. He recovered…hmm…two years ago? I was bored one time, so I bugged him. Then we fought."
"I see," Ruche said. After a moment, she finally continued, "Well, I guess if nothing's happened yet, then it isn't an issue. Just don't make sure you don't put him in a body bag, or something."
Fegor lazily nodded. "Mhm. He's tougher than he looks, though."
That made sense, when she thought about it. Though she had only known him while his body was in that weakened state, the fact that he survived his encounter with Trillion in the Heavens without being reduced in the same way as Cerberus was a testament to the fact that he himself wasn't weak.
They continued talking like that for a while as they ate, but eventually, it had to come to an end.
"Zzz…" Fegor had already fallen asleep, slumping forward onto the table.
There wasn't even a scrap of food left, the only significant indicators that there had been any being the bones from the steak. They were all piled onto one of the plates, which Ruche then stacked on top of the other plates.
"Thank you for sharing this dinner with us," Elma said. "It was a lot of fun!"
Ruche waved her hand. "It's not that big a deal, really. Anyway, I should be heading home now; who knows how much work there'll be tomorrow. You should also get some rest."
"Yes, I should be going as well. I feel rather tired after eating so much. Good night Ruche, Elma." Faust said.
"Good night then, both of you." Elma replied.
As they stood up to leave and Ruche lifted the saucer containing the dishes, something occurred to Faust. She asked, "Ruche, do you still live at your manor?"
"Yeah? I haven't bothered to move into the castle yet."
"In that case, it may be more efficient if I take those to the kitchen."
She eyed her for a moment, before smiling slightly as she passed the saucer to her. "Alright. Thank you, Faust."
"You're welcome."
And with that, they finally split up and went their separate ways.
…For some reason, as she made her way to the kitchen, something nagged at her. That she had overlooked something she should have noticed, something that was important. What was it…?
As she set the dishes out to be washed, it clicked into place.
Ruche was still staying at her manor. A place that assuredly had a lot of memories for her, her childhood home, and also somewhere completely devoid of anyone else—even house servants.
The topic of her living situation in the Underworld hadn't come up much in the time she knew Ruche, so she logically understood why it didn't come to mind earlier, but it still stung that she took this long to consider it.
Even if she didn't show any outward signs of being bothered by it, Ruche had a habit of hiding her more internal tumultuous emotions. It was entirely possible that she really wasn't bothered by it, but at the very least, Faust wanted to check with her.
It would likely have to wait, however. Ruche had probably already left, and fatigue was beginning to set in.
She would bring it up tomorrow.
…
She woke up as usual. She went through her morning routine, and got her laboratory set up for later. However, the topic had never left her mind.
As soon as she finished, she made her way toward the throne room. It was still early, so it was possible Ruche wouldn't be there, but she could afford to wait.
However, her timing turned out to be perfect. As she rounded a corner, she encountered the exact person she was looking for, who was wearing a smile.
"Good morning, Faust. Did you sleep well last night?" Ruche asked.
"Good morning to you as well, Ruche," Faust replied. "I slept fine. How about you?"
"I'm feeling great! My sleeping habits are much better these past couple weeks." Changing the subject, she continued, "Are you here for something?"
"I wanted to talk to you about something. Can we go somewhere private?"
Ruche raised an eyebrow, but nodded. "Sure. There's a study I don't use much over here," she said, leading her down to the other end of the hall.
They soon arrived. Faust had seen it before, she was sure, but it was bland; it was comfortable, sure, but there was nothing except some chairs, a desk, an empty shelf, and a window.
They sat down. "So, what did you want to talk about?" Ruche asked.
She had thought about it for a while, but she hadn't figured out a 'good' way to ask it. So, she would just go with the direct approach.
"It only occurred to me recently, but allow me to ask: are you really fine with living in your manor?" Faust asked bluntly.
Ruche looked slightly surprised, her eyebrows shooting upward. She then had a thoughtful look. After a moment, she replied, "Yeah, mostly. It can take a bit to commute over here, but I'm used to the place being empty, if that's what you mean. The last time the place had that many people was when I was a child."
She let out a small breath in relief, the tightness around her chest loosening. "That's fortunate. I was worried, since you weren't doing well when we returned a few months ago."
"Well, it's not as though it's all fine. It's just not a big deal. I don't spend much time there these days, anyway."
"I see," Faust said.
"Still…" Ruche began with a teasing smile. "If you're that worried, maybe I'll call you over to help clean up some of my family's rooms."
A ghost of a smile traced itself over Faust's lips. "If that's what you wish, I suppose I must oblige, my Great Overlord."
Ruche chuckled, before her expression returned to its earlier one. "So, is that all?"
Faust nodded, and stood up. "I should be on my way. I have a few things I'd like to test."
She was in one of the castle's verandas, sleeping on one of the benches and facing the morning sun, rather than the bed she remembered falling asleep in. Weird. Well, not that weird. It was pretty normal for her, actually. No point in worrying about it.
She yawned, standing up. She wasn't feeling super awake, but she would probably have some issues if she tried to go right back to sleep. So, she started wandering the halls.
What to do…it had been a few days since the dinner with El-El, Ru-tan, and Fau-tan, so maybe she could bug them to hang out…
Idly moving about with thoughts bouncing around in her head, she eventually found herself in the throne room. As usual, Ru-tan was there, and so were Bapho-chin and Lili-tan. She wasn't doing any paperwork, and Bapho-chin was saying something, so she was probably being briefed on something. She'd have to wait if she wanted to do anything. Oh well, that was okay.
As she lumbered over to one of the chairs, Lili-tan called over to her from the other side of the room. "Morning, Fegor ♪!"
She yawned, and waved. "Mo~orning, Lili-tan." She slumped down into her target, almost melting into the chair's cushioning. So soft. It was enough that she was already dozing off again.
The same voice, much closer now, said, "Oh, pooh, she's already taking a nap…oh well. Sleep tight~♪!"
…
When she woke up again, both Bapho-chin and Lili-tan were gone, though Ru-tan was still around and now dealing with paperwork.
She slowly sat up, stretching her arms before relaxing into the chair. Ah, that felt nice. She wasn't feeling particularly sleepy anymore, but she also didn't really feel like doing anything right now.
"So, is there some reason you're here?" Ru-tan asked, lifting her head. She sounded a bit tired.
"Mmm, nope. I just felt like it."
"I assumed it'd be something like that." She turned back down to the papers on her desk. A second passed, and she glanced back up at her with a slightly sharp look on her face. "Fegor, have you done any of your paperwork for the Arcane Forest recently?"
Fegor hummed. "...Maybe?"
Ru-tan looked at her, nonplussed. Oops. "Well, I can't say I'm surprised. You should keep on top of it, though."
"Mmm…but it's kinda boring, you know?"
"That's not a good reason to avoid doing it." she said flatly.
"Dang. But, there's not much to do. There are a buuuunch of exploration requests, but those are super easy. I can sort through them in pretty much an hour or two."
Ru-tan sighed. "Well, I guess it's good you were given that region, then."
"Yup. I'm no As-chin. I'm not very good at things like that."
Ru-tan turned her eyes back to her paperwork. "I mean, he was always busy with things like that, right? He'd have to be at least a little good at it."
"Mhm. Yeah."
For a couple minutes, neither of them spoke a word.
"...How was he? As your brother, I mean."
Fegor hummed. "We didn't talk too much. Didn't play much either. He was su~per reliable, though. Maybe a bit too serious. Was always doing his best for the Underworld. El-El would probably know more."
Ru-tan snorted. The look on her face was a bit sour, though. "I see…so Father was like that with you too, huh."
It took her a moment to entirely process that.
Huh. She figured As-chin would be at least a bit different around Ru-tan. He seemed to really love her. Maybe she shouldn't ask about that, though. Ru-tan was being moody. "So, why'd you ask?"
Ru-tan replied by way of explanation, "He wasn't around very often, and you were his sister. Of course I'm going to be curious."
Oh. She hadn't known that. That explained it.
…For some reason, she was reminded of her own father. It wasn't really the same, though. Ru-tan didn't do anything like beat up her dad, and As-chin seemed to spoil her pretty often.
Yet at the same time, as she just learned, he didn't spend much time with her. Which made sense with what she remembered of how Per-tan acted around her family, come to think of it. She was always being watched over more by and interacting more with Ru-tan than As-chin.
Nope, it definitely wasn't the same. But she could relate to her feelings, at least a bit.
"Hmm…well, I don't know if I feel the same, but I can kinda get that. I only ever really interacted with my father when he was lecturing us."
That seemed to get her attention. She asked, curious, "Is there some reason for that, or was it just happenstance?"
Fegor could tell that it was a genuine question, but that just made answering it more complicated. She did kinda invite it, though.
She hummed. "Well, our family all lived separately when we were young, so that was one thing. We didn't get many occasions to meet up, either. So that's another. It was only when we became Overlords that we were able to meet up much."
There was also another reason, but should she mention it? Hmm. Preferably, she wouldn't have to talk about it at all. But there was no real reason not to. Everyone else involved in it was dead, and she didn't entirely mind talking about it. If it was someone she didn't know, then it would definitely be no good, but Ru-tan might get something out of it.
Aah, what a chore.
"I see. I've heard a bit about that from Uncle, but not much." Ru-tan said. "Why were all of you raised separately, anyway?"
"I don't really remember it all, but it was something about our parents being too busy to raise us individually. Also something about making sure one of us would still be around if the castle fell…?"
"Right, that was back when the Great Overlord position was hereditary…" Ru-tan muttered. "So you were all raised by nannies?"
"Pre~tty much. Our parents would visit sometimes, but not too much. Oh, except for El-El. She was too weak to be raised anywhere else."
"I should hope that they would raise her here. It's not like she'd be safer anywhere else."
"Mm."
…Well, if it came up again, maybe she would mention it then.
Yeah. Maybe. That sounded good.
X
Elma walked through the halls idly, using her IV stand as a makeshift walking stick. There wasn't much that needed doing today, so she didn't have any particular destination or something. She was just taking a walk.
She would need to go down to her garden at some point to trim and water the plants, but beyond that, she only had a few documents to look at. If she wasn't misremembering, none of the others had much they had to do today either, so maybe they could spend some time together? Maybe she could bring it up when she had the chance. It had been a bit over a week since they last had dinner together, after all.
As she rounded a corner out to a veranca, she came upon the sight of Faust sitting on a chair in the shade of the building, reading a rather large book.
For some reason, she felt like the situation reminded her of something, but she wasn't quite sure what…
Regardless, she walked up and greeted her with a smile. "Hello, Miss Faust. Are you well today?"
Faust looked up from her book. "I am," she said. After a moment she continued, "What about you?"
"I'm just on a walk, since I don't have much to do today. By the way, do you mind if I ask what book you are reading?" Elma asked.
"Ah. I'm reading a treatise on demon anatomy," Faust replied.
Oh, that could have been it. Elma had read some books related to the subject, since she wanted to get a better understanding of her condition.
"Oh! What section are you currently reading?" She asked.
"'On Souls and Power'. It's somewhat illuminating when it comes to how this dimension's Fallen interact with power, but it doesn't seem to have much I don't already know otherwise." Faust said. "That being said, for as wide a topic this book tries to cover, it does a serviceable job with introducing a lot of general principles."
Something about those words pricked at the back of her skull, but she didn't know what. In any case, she was fairly sure she knew what Faust was talking about. She knelt down to look at the cover to confirm. It read Tome of Demon Anatomy, with a picture of a horned skull behind the inlaid words—
Oh. She had certainly read this book before, but it wasn't what she was reminded of.
She would first respond to Faust's comment, though. "Yes, I agree. It's currently used in our academies, I believe, so it doesn't go into any particular subject too deeply. If you're looking for more specific information on that subject, I can recommend some papers by the doctor and nurse we have at our castle. They have a lot of experience when it comes to that."
"I see. I'll look into that later, then." Faust said.
That was good. Now she could ask her question.
"By the way," Elma began, "I was wondering: is Brother Astaroth's soul still in your Soul Grimoire?"
Faust nodded. "Part of his soul, at any rate. We tried looking through Trillion's remnants in order to find more of it, but haven't found any useful results."
Her head dipped. "I see…I'm sorry."
"We didn't expect to accomplish much in the first place. Even if we got more of his soul, revival is likely impossible. He did show some activity when he entered the Soul Grimoire, so we were hoping for that, but there haven't been any results yet…Still, it's quite curious that he hasn't left. Perhaps it has something to do with his personality."
Elma turned the idea over. It wasn't that strange, really. It wasn't something she expected, but it wasn't unlike Brother Astaroth to do something like that. Slowly, she nodded. "That's probably it, I think. Even if he didn't feel like he could do much, Brother Astaroth always tried to visit me at least once a day. Maybe he wants to continue watching over us, even in that state."
She let out a small sigh, before continuing, "Well, if there's anything I can do to help, please let me know. I know he won't come back, and that nothing will likely come of this. But I still want to help, if there's any chance we'll be able to talk with Brother Astaroth even one more time."
"Hmm. I can't guarantee that there will be much you can help with, but that should be fine. I'll let Ruche know." Faust said.
Elma smiled. "Thank you." Switching topics, she said, "By the way, would you and Ruche be interested in going somewhere together with me and Sister Fegor later today? I have no particular place in mind, but…"
Faust seemed to think about it. "I have nothing pressing, so I should be able to make it. Ruche should be available today as well, but I can't guarantee her presence. I will let her know, however."
"That's good. Do you think an hour or so would be fine?"
Faust nodded. "Ruche should be available then, and I should be able to wrap up what I need to quickly. If something comes up, though, we may just have to reschedule."
Elma smiled again. "Alright. I'll go and speak with Sister Fegor, then. "
With a quick wave, they parted ways.
X
"So Inferno Peak is having a water shortage, and the current state of the Arctic Ridge isn't enough to sustain it. Might be able to offset it by adding more wells to the Despair Fields or an underground river. The first would probably see more immediate results, but a more long-term solution…" Ruche muttered to herself. "We'll budget for the first, but try to arrange for the second in the near future. I'll draft something up later today."
At about that moment, the sound of faint footsteps entered the throne room. Automatically reacting to the sound, Ruche lifted her gaze. Even if it was just a maid coming in to clean, she was used to checking at this point.
The owner of the footsteps wasn't a maid, though.
Seeing who it was, she fully raised her head. "Hey, Faust. What is it?" She asked.
Faust walked over, her labcoat and black hair swaying just slightly behind her slim figure with each step. "I thought you might want some assistance today, considering the size of your workload. So I came. Is that fine?"
It wasn't surprising, really; over the past week and a half, she and Faust had visited and helped each other in their work a few times, when they either didn't feel like going out or were too busy for it. Ruche nodded. "Sure. I'm not finished with reading through the reports yet, though."
"That's fine. I can read through this one."
As Faust said that, she took a spot on a short side of the desk, opposite from the sleeping Fegor picking up one of the documents Ruche had already put aside.
If it had been even a few days ago, she may have asked if they could go to another room, but Baphomet (and Lilith) knew at this point—a conversation that went better than she expected, really—and for anyone else, well, Fegor was also at the table, so Faust wouldn't really stick out.
Not that it could stay completely out of public sight for much longer, anyway. At best it'd be just a rumor for another few months. Speaking of, though… "Hey, Faust. Would you be interested in going on a date a few days from now? I'm thinking it'd be in the Despair Fields."
It was somewhere Faust would enjoy being, she knew. Even if architecture and geology weren't her strongest suits, she would definitely find at least some of the scenery interesting. She'd technically been there twice before, first when they left and then when they returned, she didn't really have the opportunity to investigate at the time.
"That should be fine. I don't have a busy schedule for a while."
"Alright."
A moment passed.
"Has the Gate of Hell layer regenerated any more since we came back?" Faust asked idly, turning a page.
Ruche shook her head. "Not really. It was the first layer to be regenerated because of its defensive purposes, but only the gate itself is all that necessary for that. Not many people lived there either."
"So until the Arctic Ridge is finished, it won't change."
"Yeah,"
The next half-hour passed largely in silence, occasionally interrupted by one of them making notes or the turn of a page, or Faust asking clarification on background information.
Still, Ruche appreciated it.
"It looks like the income welfare program has been going well." Faust mentioned.
"With any luck, it'll stay that way. Mammon already proved it could work, so…"
Faust lifted her head and turned to her, asking curiously, "Mammon?"
"Oh. Right, you wouldn't know, would you?..." Ruche muttered, lowering the report she was holding. She raised her head, meeting Faust's gaze. "Mammon always spent a lot of her time going treasure hunting. It was something she did even before she became the Overlord of Greed."
Unbidden, her lips quirked into a faint smile. "She didn't hoard it to herself though. Not even slightly. She didn't want anyone to know about it, but she would always go in, cash in her treasure, and donate almost all of her earnings to the slum district. Poverty decreased, crime lowered, general happiness increased, education levels improved…you get the idea."
It wasn't as good now, of course. There were improvements that weren't there before, and there was plenty of inertia from Mammon's support, but over three years of absence…well. The smile fell from her face. "It's had a lasting impact, even now that she's gone. It wasn't perfect—there's only so much you can do by just directly donating money—but I'd be an idiot to dismiss it. It's not like the lower class is confined to the slum district either, so having a wide program that serves the most purpose to those in need is worth it."
Faust reached over, putting a hand over Ruche's own gloved one and dipping her head. "I think I understand."
A warm sensation spread through her at the words.
It was strange. She wasn't trying to be all that sentimental, and she didn't think she was, really.
But at the same time, she couldn't say her words didn't have any sentiment. She came to terms with Mammon's death a while ago, but it wasn't like she felt nothing when talking about her or something; and sometimes, it did still bother her. It wasn't bothering her much right now, sure, but…
She huffed, not resisting the smile that rose to her face. "Geez. It's not that big a deal." She shifted her hand, interlacing her fingers with Faust's. "...Not that I mind."
…it was nice sharing this with her, at least.
Faust smiled back, letting out a light chuckle. A comfortable atmosphere settled around them.
…
Slowly, Faust said, "By the way, ah…"
"Yeah?" It wasn't common to see Faust speaking hesitantly, so she was curious.
A dusting of pink covered her cheeks—it was kind of adorable, honestly. "Can I rub your head?"
Ruche blinked.
…Well, they were in a relationship, and Faust definitely didn't look down on her, so…
Her smile grew wider. "Sure."
X
It wasn't the first time Faust had been to the Despair Fields, but she couldn't say she'd seen much of it. Though she had some familiarity with it from her perusal of the library and discussions with Ruche, she could hardly say she knew the place. Hence, Ruche led the way.
By and large, the place was dry and arid, with large mountains and hills made of earth and sandstone. Much of the architecture was built into those hills, out of stone and making use of many pillars to maintain their structure. There were exceptions, of course—usually made out of some large Fallen One's bones—but they seemed to be the most common type of building.
It was a fascinating locale for a date, to be sure.
"So, have you lived here before? I admit, I'm not sure; you haven't gone into that much detail about it." Faust asked as she fanned herself.
Ruche hummed noncommittally. "Kind of. Though I usually stayed in the manor and commuted every day, there's housing set aside for officials on each layer, and I used the housing here pretty often."
Ah, that made sense.
Ruche continued, "There are probably even some books still left over from when I stayed there, come to think of it."
Her lips twitched. Ruche always had a taste for literature, whether informative or otherwise, so that wasn't surprising to hear. "I see. That reminds me, what books have you read recently?"
Ruche slowed as they came upon a fountain and pulled her over to a small set of stairs nearby, hidden in the shade of the rocky outcropping it was built into and away from the bulk of the traffic. She sat down beside her, as Ruche replied, "I've mostly been catching up on stuff that came out while we were away. A lot of them are bittersweet, but a circle I sometimes check in on made something surprisingly lighthearted last year. You've probably already read it."
"It's the one by the group that made Darkness, right? I liked it, but it felt a bit strange to read."
Ruche nodded. "Yeah. They named it something pretty corny, but it was fine. What about you?"
Faust pulled off her labcoat, setting it beside her as Ruche muttered a spell, chilling the immediate area by a few degrees. "I've mostly been reading books on specialized topics. It's quite interesting how different astronomy is here from how I recall it being in my own dimension, and the research on the creatures appearing in the regenerated layers is fascinating, but I can't get into Girl's Art of War."
Ruche reached over and cast another spell, simultaneously blowing away the sweat on Faust's upper-back and cooling her off further. "Really? I liked it a lot, personally. What put you off?"
"Thank you," Faust muttered as the cold wind washed over her. She took a moment to think, her brow furrowing. "It's both too rigid and too loose, I suppose. That, and some of the analyses and advice are incorrect. It's difficult to get past that."
"I can understand that. It's really old, so there are going to be places where it's just wrong." Ruche said. "So, what else have you been reading?"
"Well, I've recently been rereading The Royal Detective. It's interesting to come back to it and notice things I missed the first time I read it; there's more foreshadowing than I thought there would be, even as much as I enjoyed it. Thank you for gifting that to me back then, by the way,"
A smile found its way to Ruche's face. "Come on, you don't have to thank me for that. It's been years now, you know?"
"That's true, but I still appreciate it."
Ruche let out a small 'ha'. "Geez. Well, it's fine. I thought you'd enjoy it."
Faust's lips briefly stretched into a smile, before returning to their normal resting place. "I've also been reading…" A tinge of embarrassment welled up in her. Which wasn't reasonable, she knew—Ruche already knew that she had a curiosity for certain novels, albeit not a large one—but old habits die hard, she supposed. "Cerulean Passions: The Dream of My Heart."
"That one was pretty popular for a while. I never read it, though." Ruche said.
Faust nodded. "It's…very passionate and evocative. Not steamy, though—but it did get close at some points. There was plenty of drama, too, but that's the main thing that stood out to me. It did surprise me a bit, though, that…" She paused. She felt as though she should say something else, but at the same time, like she shouldn't. Or rather, that she didn't have the right to.
…She shook her head. As much as she had distanced herself from everyone here at first, she did at least somewhat know Ashmedia. This was ridiculous. Ruche and Zeabolos had supported her too, so why—
Ruche sighed, and a familiar arm wrapped around her shoulders, interrupting her thought before pulling her into Ruche's side, her head coming to rest on their smooth shoulder.
…It was comforting, despite the mild embarrassment she felt. It felt warm, leaning into Ruche's half-embrace, the support of her lithe, slender arm around Faust's shoulders. It was a natural progression, but even with the past two and a bit weeks, it still felt slightly surreal.
"You're getting that look on your face again, Faust. What's the matter?"
Faust let out a breath. It wasn't quite a sigh, but it was something close to it. "...I'm not sure. I thought I was done with this, but I guess not…or maybe, this is something else?" She shook her head again, digging slightly into Ruche's shoulder. "Regardless, it…did surprise me, as I read it, that it was something Ashmedia enjoyed."
"Really?" Ruche sounded a bit surprised. A moment later, she shook her head. "Well, if you want to talk about anything, I'm here as usual. But if it's about that…none of us hold it against you, and none of us would."
"...I know. But thank you."
She felt Ruche's head tilt toward her, one of her cheeks pressing down on her hair. In a confident, but soft voice, she replied, "Well, I do love you."
Her heart skipped a beat. Of course. They hadn't said it in as many words before, had they? "I love you, too."
A second passed. Then Ruche said, a tinge of embarrassment in her voice, "Anyway, what were you going to say?"
She nodded. Right. She partially extricated herself from Ruche's grasp, taking a moment to reorganize her thoughts.
…That would be a good place to start. Adjusting herself into a more comfortable position, she began, "When Ashmedia was training to fight Trillion, she would sometimes come to my laboratory; usually, either to watch me or to lounge around, sometimes reading books on various subjects. For the most part they were about combat and tactics, though some weren't—I didn't pay much attention to them, but on occasion she would leave some of her books behind in my room by accident, and I would return them. On one of those occasions, one of the books she left was a copy of Cerulean Passions."
"Alright," Ruche said.
"It's odd. I didn't think it was particularly noteworthy at the time, and I've been aware she liked romance novels for a long time now, but it surprised me regardless. I don't think I would have been if I'd read it when she was still alive, but…"
"What do you mean?"
"It was less steamy than I expected, I suppose. It wasn't the only factor, but that was the main reason I was surprised. Part of me expected something like it, since she seemed embarrassed about liking it, but is that why? Truthfully, I'm not sure. I can only guess at her reasons, both for liking it and for being embarrassed."
"I see," Ruche said. "Well, I wasn't all that close to her, but I could tell you more about her sometime if you want."
"I'll see about taking you up on that sometime, then."
"Well, you were friends, right? Or something like it, at any rate. It's the least I can do."
"...Hm, you're not wrong."
Faust had still been trying to keep her distance at the time, but Ashmedia's penchant for bothering her did mean that she interacted with her more, enough that she felt like she knew her—to some extent, at least. Perhaps they weren't wholly friends, but 'something like it' felt like an accurate descriptor.
She smiled faintly. "Regardless, thank you for the offer, Ruche."
She felt Ruche wave dismissively behind her back, the arm around her waist shifting back and forth. "Don't worry about it. Really, I've been thinking about something similar lately myself."
"Oh?"
"It's not really easy to explain, but…I feel like I didn't handle some things as well as I could have. Like I could have appreciated some things more, I guess. You know?"
"Ah, I see." There was more to it, Faust was sure of that, but she had a clear enough picture for now.
A lull fell over their conversation for a few moments, the two of them quietly watching the fountain in front of them.
Ruche shook her head. "Anyway," She said, removing herself from their half-embrace and brushing herself off, before standing up. "You're feeling better now, right?"
Faust found herself mesmerized as she stared into the shorter girl's beaming face. If she wasn't already smiling, she would have found it impossible to resist smiling now.
She nodded, standing up as well. "I am. So, you wanted to show me a museum next, I believe?"
"Yep," Ruche replied, grabbing Faust's hand in her own. "Come on!"
The trend of books being bittersweet in the last few years is meant to be a reflection of how the Underworld was affected by the Trillion crisis, and the events that immediately followed it.
It wasn't a big one. She could probably sleep it off or do something else if she wanted. She didn't feel like it though. So…
She rolled off the couch she had been lounging on in El-El's office, lazily putting down the pile of letters she'd been reading, and stood up.
There were a few options. She could go into the Trial of Swords. She could spar with Ergo and Ragon, or maybe Ru-tan.
Hmmm. Any of them would be fine…but she was pretty sure she hadn't had a match with Ru-tan since she came back. So she felt like doing that one the most. Yeah. That sounded good.
El-El looked up from the letter she was reading curiously. "Are you going somewhere, Sister?"
"Mhm. Gonna go bug Ru-tan for a fight. We haven't had one in a while. I wanna see if she's gotten better."
"Oh, I see. Be careful not to injure each other too much. Ah, but I think Lady Ruche might still be busy holding audiences in the throne room, so you might have to wait."
"...Oh, yeah." She forgot Ru-tan was doing that today. "Well, that's fine." She'd just go and bother Ragon or Ergo if she had to wait for long.
"Okay. Have fun, Sister!"
"Mhm. Thanks." With that, she left the room.
As she meandered to the throne room, it was less noisy than she expected. Judging by the footsteps and volume…most of the crowd'd probably left already.
As she peeked into the public area out front of the throne room, that guess turned out right. There were still some people milling around, but most of them were just touring the public area at this point, and the amount of people waiting for an audience had dwindled down to just a few. Ru-tan would probably be done soon enough.
With that thought, she continued down to one of the throne room's private entrances, and flopped down on a nearby sofa, resting her head on Righty as she waited for the noise to dwindle down.
…
…It was pretty quiet now. Had been for about a minute.
She got up and cracked the door open. Yup, the audiences were over. It was just Ru-tan, Bapho-chin, and a couple maids left in there. She stepped inside with a wave. "Hey, Ru-tan,"
The girl in question turned her head. "What is it?"
"It's been a while since we last faced each other, and I want to get some exercise. So, wanna fight?"
Ru-tan raised an eyebrow. "Right now?"
"Yup."
She thought about it for a moment, shifting her gaze down to one of her armrests, before standing up. "Alright, sure. I've been sitting in this chair all day; I need to stretch my legs anyway. Let's go."
Huh. She thought she would have to wait a bit longer. Well, she wasn't gonna complain.
A couple minutes later, they made it down to the arena.
They both did some quick stretches as they walked across the packed dirt to stand opposite each other, stopping at about ten paces from each other. "Ready?" Fegor asked.
Ru-tan nodded, whipping Beholder down to point the open umbrella at her. "Yeah. Bring it on!"
An instant later, magic projectiles flew out from the umbrella, right toward Fegor. She stepped forward, at once dodging around and deflecting any projectiles that came too close for comfort.
Ah, that stung. It looked like her niece hadn't lost her edge. Well, that was good, even if she'd have to wake up properly.
She blinked several times, opening her eyes wide, and dashed toward her opponent.
In a fraction of a second, Ru-tan's umbrella folded close, and she swung it to meet Fegor's swing with Lefty. The blows deflected off each other, sending the both of them skidding back.
Ru-tan clicked her tongue and adjusted her grip. "Well, you're definitely not any weaker than I remember."
"Mhm. I was thinking the same thing."
"In that case, you should know that I'm not anywhere near done yet!"
Ru-tan raised Beholder again, a large amount of magic seals appeared in the air surrounding her, and this time, beams shot out of them. Acting on reflex, Fegor moved forward again, dodging those she could and blocking those she couldn't.
She smiled. This was gonna be good.
…
Thirty minutes later, the fight had come to an end.
Fegor let herself fall back onto the packed dirt, while Ru-tan leaned over her umbrella as it was staked into the ground, supporting her as she barely remained standing.
And then, a moment later, she also fell to the ground.
Several moments passed without either of them saying anything, panting as they recovered from the battle.
"...Phew. It's been a while since I've been run that ragged. You're stronger than last time." Fegor said. "You were pretty intense, too. You didn't hold back at all."
"Well, it's been a while since I've had to cut loose. Of course I was going to put my all into it."
"Mm. That makes sense."
Ru-tan let out a breath. "...You've gotten stronger as well. Even compared to when I was training for Trillion. I didn't expect that."
Fegor's expression fell a bit. "...Mhm. Can't expect that there won't be any more problems like that. Gotta be prepared."
"I see," came the reply. After a long moment, she continued, "Well, I can't blame you."
Hm. Her tone was a bit different from usual.
Then again, so was her own. After all—
"You've thought about it, right? If we were selected sooner."
Yep, that was Ru-tan. Bullseye. "Yeah. Levi-tan, Mammo-tan, Per-tan, Ash-tan…"
In that order, they were selected to fight Trillion, using the ring forged from part of Zebo-chin's soul to shield themselves and get a boost.
And in that order, they died.
"...and a ton of other people died, too." Fegor said.
They managed to weaken Trillion a ton. They knocked it out of its first form, and managed to whittle its dragon form down pretty far, with the help of the Fallen Ones who gave up their lives to enter those weird suits. Because of that, Ru-tan didn't have too much difficulty finishing that form off when it was her turn. But then it had one more. And from what she could tell, it wasn't any weaker than the previous forms. When the fight began, even just watching through Projecty, Fegor could tell that falling back wasn't an option for this one.
"But Ru-tan beat it. It was really close, but you did."
And when thinking about it like that…
Fegor continued, "Yeah. Maybe everything would be better, if one of us went sooner."
Maybe.
It wasn't like she couldn't have woken up sooner, either. She just didn't.
"Maybe. It's possible we could have taken down its first form earlier. Or its second. Maybe we would even be able to finish it off." Ru-tan said. "It would be nice if that happened."
"Yeah," Fegor said. It would be. Even if it would be a real pain if she had to lead the Underworld. Or maybe, if she had woken up even sooner—she cut off that line of thought right there. "...But it probably wouldn't."
After a moment, Ru-tan said, "That's true." With a sigh, she sat up. "We wouldn't know as much…wouldn't be as motivated…" For a moment, it sounded like she was going to continue, but she didn't say anything more.
Yeah. That made sense. There were other factors, and they could talk about just those two points alone a lot.
But there was no point. They couldn't go back in time, and they already thought about it plenty. It'd just hurt pointlessly if they thought about it more.
Still, though…
Fegor stood up with a stretch. "Mmm…you wanna go for another match?"
…She'd be ready next time, to make sure nothing like that could ever happen again.
X
Elma hummed, slowly walking around her garden as she watered the plants just outside the shade of the castle she called home.
It was a nice day. Just sunny enough to be comfortable, but not so much that it would burn her skin. She had today off, so maybe she would spend most of it outside? She didn't have much opportunity to, after all…
She didn't have many places she could go without imposing on someone else, though. Her health could deteriorate at any time, so she needed an escort whenever she went far from the castle. Maybe she would just keep to where she could go with Cerberus?
Well, it was still early in the day, and she wanted to do a couple things before anything like that.
A little while longer, she finished circling the garden, coming back around to the other side, next to the gazebo that sat next to it. Lifting her IV stand, she walked up into it and sat at its center table, relaxing into her chair. There was a book sitting on top of the table that she brought along for her perusal, but she wanted to lounge for a moment before starting.
She looked out from the small structure into the garden, taking in the sight now that she was done for the day. It was a familiar sight, but it was still satisfying to see it in such good health.
Her eyes drifted, eventually landing on a particular tree. It sat at the corner of the garden, about three years old now, with white leaves that looked like feathered wings. It was a Sephirot tree, something which normally only grew in Heaven.
There was a bit of a story behind it, apparently. She brought it up to Uriel a couple years ago in passing, and he gave her some details—he had a Sephirot seed when he fell down to the Underworld during the Trillion crisis, and Miss Ashmedia apparently took it from him and was probably the one to plant it—but when she expressed curiosity, he just said something about painful memories and buried his face in his hands.
…She could guess at some of the details, but it was probably best to just leave that be.
She turned back to the table, and opened the book sitting on it. It was one of Miss Faust's old notebooks, talking about her observations and research on the subject of souls.
She had been reading through it and other research on the topic in her spare time, meaning to get enough of a grasp on the subject that she may be able to help when it came to Brother Astaroth's soul. She probably knew enough at this point, but it wouldn't hurt to finish reading through this first. Her ability with magic was limited, so even if Brother Astaroth's soul was easier to interact with than it would normally be, any help was appreciated…
Over the next half-hour, she read through the rest of it. Fegor had come by, wordlessly slumping over in the chair beside her. Cerberus had wandered over, and was now resting in one of the flower patches. One of the maids swept the nearby veranda.
She pulled her hands back, clasping them together as she stared down at the table thoughtfully. What she now knew reinforced their initial thoughts: Brother Astaroth couldn't be brought back. Even if his soul was in better shape, it would require an extraordinary amount of power to breathe life back into him. The best they might be able to manage is 'waking' him up for a while…but they might just have to settle for helping him fully pass on, and find peace.
But souls were strange. Miss Faust had noted that her father could dimly perceive his immediate surroundings while he was inside the Soul Grimoire, and the remnant of Brother Astaroth's soul seemed to comfort Miss Ruche after being freed from the shell that Trillion had placed him into—even after all it had gone through.
Miss Faust hadn't figured out much on how it worked, but Elma almost felt like she could understand. If the Soul Grimoire was a safe place for exposed souls, and even damaged ones could still perceive some of their surroundings—she had some idea of what that could feel like.
Sometimes, she would barely be able to speak, much less get out of bed. She was fortunate enough to have doctors and nurses ready to help her at almost every time of the day, and to benefit from some of the best advancements, but without those, she would surely be much worse off. If she could feel like that, even with all of the assistance she had, perhaps there was something similar going on with Brother Astaroth, who only had the Soul Grimoire to help him.
That thought…it made her feel uneasy. Brother Astaroth, who was always so reliable…
"Mmm…" Fegor mumbled beside her, pulling Elma out of her thoughts. Her sister stretched her arms above her, before letting them drop down beside her. "Hey, El-El."
Elma turned to her, smiling. "Good afternoon, Sister. Did you rest well?"
"Mhm, yep." Fegor replied. "So, what're you reading?"
Elma blinked, unsure of what she meant for a second. She wasn't reading anything—"Oh! I'm done now, but I was just reading some of Faust's notes on souls…"
"Huh. What for?"
"Well…" Elma began. "Do you remember that time, right after Lady Ruche defeated…that shell?"
"Yeah. You mean the bit about As-chin, right?"
Elma nodded. "He hasn't left Miss Faust's Soul Grimoire yet, so I thought I might be able to help figure out a way to talk to him."
"Aa, I see." Fegor said. "You think it's possible?"
"Probably…I hope so, at least." Elma replied.
Fegor let out a low hum. "Well, it'd be nice. Zebo-chin and Ru-tan are the only ones who got to say goodbye to him. A ton of people would want a chance like that."
Elma blinked. "I know Brother Astaroth was held in high regard, but would that many really want to see him off?"
"Hm?" Fegor tilted her head. "Oh. As-chin was a big deal, but a lot of people died because of Trillion's attack. Even just counting the people by the Gate."
"Oh, I see," Elma said. So that was what she meant. "Yes, you're right. The most that can be done is arranging a funeral, or preparing a memorial, most of the time…"
Elma sighed, her head falling. After a moment, she took a deep breath, and raised it again. "By the way, Sister, how are things in the Arcane Forest?"
Fegor hummed, rolling her head back and forth. "Pretty good. Not many complaints lately. Some of the people've been moving out as the layers get restored, but some are staying. Maybe they'll sign on to move back later, though."
Elma smiled. "It's good that they feel welcome enough that they're willing to stay for at least a small while longer."
"Yeah." Fegor nodded. Switching the subject, she said, "Hey, El-El. You've finished gardening today, right?"
"I have, yes. Why do you ask?"
"I found an old board game in the library. Wanna go play it?"
"Oh, sure!"
X
Ruche walked along the veranda, gazing out as she approached the garden. Faust wanted a moment to finish up with her current test, so she was going to head over to the place the four of them agreed to meet at a bit later. Unlike yesterday, it was rather cloudy, though it didn't look like it would rain. It'd be fortunate if it stayed that way. They were probably going to spend a while outside, and the heat had been getting worse lately.
She stepped out, walking along the path that led into the garden, passing through the gazebo and underneath the hedge stylized with horns, before arriving.
She sat down on the picnic sheet, setting down the bagged food she had brought with her. "Hey, Elma."
Elma turned her head, continuing to pet Cerberus, who was lying next to her. "Oh! You're here a bit early, Lady Ruche."
"I didn't have much I had to do today." She replied dismissively. "Speaking of, though, you always seem to be at these meetings earliest."
Elma smiled awkwardly. "Well, I got into the habit when I took this position, since my health is a bit unstable."
"I see," Ruche said. "You shouldn't really have to do that, though. Most people would understand."
Elma's smile became a bit brighter. "That's true, and I'm grateful for that. You all treat me so well, and I appreciate all you've done to help me…but really, all I want is for nobody else to go away. To help repay all the kindness I've been shown, and help the Underworld as best I can as well."
"—Well, I can understand that. Still, don't overdo it. You can't help anyone if you're bedridden."
"Oh, don't worry. I've been paying close attention, and Cerberus is always willing to help me when I need it." She gave the small dog a light pat.
"Alright, then. Just try to keep it in mind."
"Of course. I don't want to make all of you worry."
…For all that everything had changed, a lot remained the same, huh.
"Heeeeey." Fegor's voice called out from across the garden, the sound of footsteps following it. "Yo. El-El, Ru-tan."
Elma turned to look at her, giving a small wave. "Hello, Sister. It seems you're here early, too."
"Mhm." Fegor intoned with a nod, lying down on the sheet. "Didn't want to slow us down. Fau-tan doesn't seem to be here, though."
"She's finishing up with something. I left her to it, since she needed to focus." Ruche said. "She'll probably be here in a bit."
"Aa, I see." Fegor replied.
They pivoted to idle conversation for a while, until eventually, Faust arrived as well, carrying her own bagged lunch.
With a sigh, she sat down next to Ruche. "Apologies for the delay."
"Mm, don't worry about it." Fegor mumbled.
Elma nodded. "It can't be helped sometimes."
"So, what did you have trouble with?" Ruche asked. "You're not usually this frustrated."
Faust's gaze lowered, her voice sounding a bit exhausted as she answered. "I haven't been able to get the reaction I'm looking for. With any luck, I'll get it to work this time, but I'm not optimistic. This is the fifth time I've attempted some process on that material. I've even been losing sleep for this." She sighed again. "Regardless, I'll have to wait for another day before I can see if I got it right this time. There's no point in dwelling on it until then."
Oh, that explained it. Also explained why she hadn't noticed earlier. Ruche shifted her hand over Faust's, pressing down on it comfortingly. Her yellow eyes flitted over to her for a moment, a small smile tugging at her lips, before returning to normal.
"That reminds me: Ruche, about what you said earlier…"
She smiled wryly. "Don't worry. I have to address it at some point, anyway."
"Very well," Faust said with a nod.
Changing the subject, Ruche mentioned, "By the way, Fegor, you were about to talk about the incident that happened at the Hell's Nightmare mall, right?"
"You mean the one about the art installation, in the newspaper?" Faust asked.
Fegor nodded. "Mhm. It was pretty wild. I helped out a bit, but it's probably still flooded. Probably still a lot of lobsters and crabs around, too."
They continued talking for a while as they ate from the bagged food each of them brought, talking about various recent events, things they had been doing recently, and plans for when Ruche and Faust would visit the latter's home dimension.
Soon enough, though, they ran out of food, and the small talk petered out.
Elma stood up, brushing off her dress with one hand as she held onto her IV stand. "It's starting to get a bit late, so should we head over to the cemetery? After collecting flowers, of course," she said.
"Sounds good to me." Fegor replied, sluggishly rising to her feet.
Ruche nodded, standing up herself. "Yeah. It's almost evening; we should get going. "
A moment passed. Ruche turned, her gaze darting to Faust. She hadn't moved, and seemed to just be looking down at some point on the picnic sheet, a blank expression on her face. "Hey, Faust,"
Faust lifted her gaze, her eyes passing between the three of them. "Right," she said, before standing up. "Yes, let's get going."
…She seemed hesitant for a moment, and had an odd look on her face, but it could probably wait. She could just be in a mood, tired, or maybe distracted by something. Besides, Faust probably wouldn't want her to mention it right now. Ruche reached over to cup Faust's hand in hers and gave her a smile, getting another in return.
Wordlessly, the four—well, five, since Cerberus was following along—set off.
After a short walk, they arrived at the graveyard. The past Overlords and their families were all buried here…but there was only one set of graves that they were going to head to.
Astaroth, her father and the previous Overlord of Gloom. Levia, her uncle's childhood friend and previous Overlord of Envy. Mammon, her friend, adopted cousin-once-removed, and previous Overlord of Greed. Perpell, her younger sister, and previous Overlord of Gluttony. Ashmedia, another of her cousins, and previous Overlord of Lust. And Zeabolos, her uncle, previous Great Overlord, and former holder of the Crest of Wrath.
It wasn't the first time she'd been here, of course. But—
"It's a bit strange coming here with all of you," Elma said. "I've come here with Dear Sister and Cerberus before, but I have never come here with either of you." She glanced between Ruche and Faust. "Actually, I don't think I've even seen you around here lately, Lady Ruche."
Ruche held back a grimace. "Well, I only really started visiting again a few weeks ago…I got delayed by a few things."
"Indeed," Faust said, running a thumb over the back of Ruche's hand.
"I see…" Elma said.
Silence fell after that, none of them saying anything. After a moment, Elma began setting down flowers at each of the graves, starting at Astaroth's.
"Brother Astaroth was always busy…Even if he wasn't the Great Overlord, he put as much effort into his duties as Father. He was very admirable…but I still wish we could have spent more time together." Elma said, kneeling down in front of her eldest brother's grave.
A second passed. Ruche said, her voice neutral, "Yeah. He cared, but he never really spent much time doing anything but work. Never let anyone help him, either."
She didn't hate him. Really, she still loved her father—but he didn't do very well with them. Their mother was sick all the time, and died before Perpell could even really remember anything, too. He tried to make it up to her and Perpell, teach them what he could and spoil them, and she appreciated that, but those moments were fewer than either of them really wanted.
And really, probably fewer than he wanted, too.
Her face fell further, into a frown.
…Despite all that, it wasn't like she could say she did much better, really.
She let out a small exhale, and moved over to the grave right next to Astaroth's—Perpell's.
She let go of Faust's hand and knelt down, setting down some flowers at the grave.
"...You could be such an idiot, Perpell. You ran off to do whatever you wanted all the time, and never seemed to listen…that's how it felt, sometimes." She raised one arm, and set it down on top of the gravestone. "I got frustrated at you a lot. Not all the time, but…"
Those words hung in the air.
She knew what she wanted to get across. It was something she'd thought a lot about. However, it wasn't like she trained how to say it.
Finally, Ruche said, "I think I could have treated you better."
It wasn't all she wanted to say. But even just saying that much felt difficult, like making a jump over a deep abyss.
Something hot rolled down her face.
She loved her sister. She still did, too. She wanted to protect her, wanted to care for her so she would grow up healthy, and wanted to play with her.
She was pretty sure Perpell knew that too, even if she could be harsh on her. But—
She felt Faust wrap her arms around her waist and shuffle up behind her, pressing her lukewarm body against her back. She didn't say anything, just burying her face in Ruche's hair.
Faust had been quiet most of the way up as well, but there was a difference in how it felt. Earlier, she seemed distracted, her mind distant. Now, it was intentional.
"Thank you," Ruche muttered.
Faust muttered back, "It's the least I can do. We're together, after all."
X
Faust felt out of place.
Not in the castle, no, and not in the meet-ups with Fegor and Elma. She had gotten used to that, and she enjoyed the meetings with the four of them. No, what bothered her was something else.
Sometime in the past week, Elma had suggested that all of them visit the nearby cemetery during their next get-together, and maybe talk about some of their feelings about those who had passed. She hadn't voiced any opinion when she was informed, but even at the time, her feelings were conflicted.
Ruche, even if she didn't say as much, sounded like she would probably appreciate it if she were there. Fegor and Elma likely expected her to be there too, and seemed to already consider her presence natural for occasions like this.
Personally, though…there was a feeling that she didn't belong here, in this context. Even with the assurances that they didn't hold anything against her, she felt guilty in a way that was different, but still palpably similar to the guilt she used to feel when she thought about how she had used these people for her own ends. However, at the same time, she had to wonder whether that was more reason to attend, or avoid attending.
So as the picnic came to an end, her thoughts had returned to the topic. Before she could come to any conclusion, however, Ruche called her name, and so she put it out of mind, deciding to go with the flow.
Which led her to here, holding her lover in her arms, as everyone other than her (except for Cerberus) took turns talking about the Overlords who had died because of Trillion.
"Yeah, Per-tan could be really energetic sometimes. Could almost be too much to keep up with. Still, pretty fun." Fegor said. "She would've loved to be at the picnic earlier. We probably would have had to get a lot more food though. She could be a pain when hungry, though. Mammo-tan was kinda like that too."
—She knew most of that about Perpell, or could have at least guessed, but did she really miss that about Mammon?
"I didn't spend the most time with Lady Perpell or Lady Mammon, but I enjoyed spending time with them. I used to read Lady Perpell stories sometimes, and Lady Mammon would occasionally watch or help me do gardening. We never got to go fishing together, though…" Elma added.
She missed those details, too.
"Mammon always liked doing stuff like that." Ruche said. "Thank you for doing that for Perpell, too."
Elma smiled. "You're welcome."
A moment passed, before Fegor said something. "Levi-tan was usually pretty intense. Even when just playing some board games, she sometimes acted all serious. She always found it a bit difficult to let others help her, too. A bit like As-chin. Less hard-headed, though, even if she was most comfortable with Zebo-chin."
Levia…did she even know her? She knew of how she dedicated herself wholeheartedly to something she set her mind on, how she put herself under pressure even in the absence of outside reasons, and how she adored Zeabolos, but…
Ruche chuckled. "Yeah. I offered to cook with her a few times, but she always tried to deflect, saying that I don't need to bother. She didn't need any help usually, though there were a couple times where she got ahead of herself…" She sighed. "Honestly, I'm disappointed I didn't talk with her more."
…Right. That was it. She should have realized, after the discussion about Ashmedia in the Despair Fields.
"Hehe…Didn't she keep some of Brother Zeabolos' gifts in a safe?" Elma said.
It was only natural, of course.
"Yup," Fegor replied. "I think that she also kept some other stuff there, too, though."
After all, she never tried to reach out to them. Rather, she actively avoided getting close to them.
"Faust?" Ruche's voice said, almost sounding distant.
Even if she accepted their forgiveness…she didn't really know all that much about those who were dead.
"Are you thinking about something again?" Ruche's voice asked in a low tone, not quite a whisper, as Faust felt something shift between her arms.
She didn't really have any right to be here.
A hand landed on her shoulder. "Faust."
This time, she was broken out of her reverie, her arms loosening inadvertently. Her eyes met Ruche's red, a sharp expression on her face.
After a moment, her expression relaxed, though Faust could tell that she wasn't going to just let it go. Ruche asked, "Do you need to use the restroom, or something?"
What she was really asking was, 'Do you want a moment to yourself, do you want me to come with you, or are we talking about this here and now?'
She appreciated that. However, though she would like to avoid talking about it…
She shook her head. "No, it's not that."
"Then what is it?" Ruche asked.
"Hmm." Her gaze fell, as she mulled over what to say. Eventually, she said, "I don't think I should be here. I never really knew them, and I deliberately avoided getting to know all of you. I don't feel like I have the right to be part of this."
Ruche just looked at her for a moment, and let out a breath that was almost a sigh. "Well, it's true that you held your distance, and that you don't know them as well as us. That much is a given."
Silence reigned for another moment. "But it's not like you don't know them at all, and it's not like you don't feel anything about them. You've talked about it with me before. And you said you wanted to learn more about them, didn't you?" Ruche said.
"That's true, but…" Faust began, before trailing off.
Fegor said, filling the silence, "Well, I think it's fine if you wanna stay. Even if you don't want to say anything."
"Um," Elma added, "If you want to leave, I don't think any of us will stop you. But I think you have the right to be here, even if you don't feel comfortable. Sometimes I come here with Uriel, when he visits. I think you care a lot about them."
Ruche let out another sigh. "Yeah. It's fine, whether you want to stay or leave. But I don't want you to feel like you aren't allowed to mourn them with us. We would have told you if we wanted this to be family-only or something." She paused, before continuing, "And, you know…"
She leaned in, wrapping her arms around Faust's waist, and kissed Faust on the lips before pulling just slightly away, a soft pink on her cheeks.
Nobody else could have seen it, with how Faust's back was turned to Fegor, Elma, and Cerberus, but it still left her slightly surprised.
Regardless, even without any words, Faust was quite sure she understood what Ruche meant to convey.
Even if this was 'just for family', I want us to be family.
"Alright. Thank you." Faust said, lifting her head and shifting her body to face the whole group. "I think I'll stay here for now. Please, go on."
Elma smiled. "Oh, it's perfectly fine. Though if you don't mind me asking, what sort of stories do you have? Ruche mentioned some earlier…"
Her eyebrows rose. "You want to hear about them? I'm not sure they're very interesting."
Elma nodded. "What about you, Sister?"
"Mm." Fegor hummed. "I'd be interested in hearing some of those, too."
She supposed she could oblige, then. "Well, there was one occasion with Mammon…"
Fegor walked out of the Valley of Swords with a stretch, her earbuds blaring noisy music.
That was good for waking up. She'd have to stop by here more often…when she had to.
With a wave to the Monitor, she walked off.
Ru-tan and Fau-tan were heading off to visit Fau-tan's dad today, so she'd have to see them off in a bit. But what to do until then?
El-El was probably still busy. She didn't feel like sparring with anyone. And she probably shouldn't go back to sleep just yet.
That really only left her work, huh. Oh well.
She plodded along, heading back up to the castle.
"Fegor?" A familiar voice asked. She turned.
"Oh. Hey, Fau-tan. What's up?"
Fau-tan was carrying a few bags, all bustling with stuff she could only guess at. "I've been gathering supplies for when we head off."
Fegor tilted her head. "Really? I don't remember you needing that much when you went off with Ru-tan and Zebo-chin a few years ago."
"My father mentioned in his most recent mail that they were still missing a lot of supplies, so we're bringing some seeds and tools. That and ingredients, so we don't eat into their current food supply."
"Aa, I see." Fegor said. "Oh, that reminds me. Does Bapho-chin know yet, or does he just think that Ru-tan is heading over for some other reason?"
Fau-tan raised an eyebrow. "Well, it's true that Ruche is accompanying me because of that, but…" She shook her head. "Regardless, he is aware. He was surprisingly pleased, all things considered."
"I can imagine. Zebo-chin never really listened to him when he tried to get him to pick someone to court."
"I had heard about that. It came up once or twice in conversation. Did it really happen that often?"
"Mmh, maybe. I only heard about it every once in a while."
"I see."
Some moments passed quietly, as they each walked along the stone and brick path up to the castle, through the city in the early morning.
"So, is Ru-tan doing something to prepare for your trip as well?"
"She should be busy with packing right now. She was finishing up preparations on the official side of things when I went out, so that shouldn't be an issue."
"Oh, I see." Fegor said as they arrived at the castle entrance, waved through by the guards. "Anyway, see you."
"You as well."
They split off, heading in their own directions.
Hm, she left her paperwork in the library, right? That probably wasn't any good. She'd have to head there real quick, someone else doesn't throw 'em away.
Soon enough, she found her way to the table she had sat (and fallen asleep) at last night, tucked away in a small corner in the truly enormous library. None of the papers had gone flying anywhere or something. Lucky.
She sat down, and started idly flipping through them.
Fau-tan's dad, huh? She wondered what he was like. Fau-tan seemed to like him, and didn't seem to have a bad relationship with him or anything, unlike Ru-tan or herself.
For some reason, she felt something prick at the edge of her senses. She looked over to where it came from, only to see a perfectly normal shelf. Weird. That reminded her, though…
She let out a yawn, standing up as she walked over to the shelf to pick out some books that looked kinda relevant to the remaining paperwork. Bapho-chin was bugging her to be more thorough about this, so she figured she should probably at least look like she was studying some of these.
She pulled out a couple books, and turned to head back to the table, when the sound of something falling to the ground rang out. She turned to pick it up and put it back—
—was that Father's diary?
…Yeah, it was. He so would have one.
Several desires warred in her. One to just put it back and forget about it, another to lock it away somewhere so nobody could read it…and the last, to bring it with her and start reading through it.
…
…
…
…What a pain.
She picked it up. Maybe she'd read it, maybe she wouldn't. Probably shouldn't be kept around here, though. She would bring it up with Bapho-chin later, if she remembered.
For now, she'd have to keep going through this stack of paper.
X
Elma waved after Ruche and Faust as they went off, along with Fegor and some of the other castle's inhabitants. "Enjoy your time!"
Several long moments passed as they watched them disappear into the distance from the entrance to the city, and when the two finally left their vision entirely, they began making their way back to the castle.
Baphomet would be the one making the most decisions, but that hardly meant she could relax. Well, she could, probably, but she would rather avoid that.
As that thought passed through her mind, she stumbled over a set of stairs, only barely righting herself with her IV stand before someone else noticed. A spell of dizziness hit her, and she brought her other hand up to hold her head
…It looked like she probably wouldn't be able to avoid that, today.
She considered not telling anyone—but only for a second. Even if they would likely prevent her from working too much today, it was better for everyone if they knew, so they could adjust for her needs.
She knew that.
As soon as they made it back, she made her way to the doctor's office. After some discussion, she was instructed to take some of her usual medicine and get some rest.
A few minutes later, she found herself back in her bedroom. She lied down on her bed, closing her eyes to ease herself to sleep.
Even as she laid there in the darkness of her room, though, she couldn't stop thinking. They had been preparing for this day for weeks—everything was arranged, and everyone was ready to make sure that things went as smoothly as possible during the time Lady Ruche and Miss Faust were absent. But the moment they left…
She opened her eyes, glancing over to her desk, where Faust's Soul Grimoire sat. Even if she wasn't supposed to do her normal work, she could try to make progress on that, couldn't she? She didn't feel all that tired, and she couldn't rest anyway. If it really proved too much for her, she could return to bed or continue writing that letter to Uriel.
She sat up, sliding herself off her bed, and went over to her desk. Opening the Soul Grimoire and pulling out her notes, she reviewed her current notes. There hadn't been any more of Brother Astaroth's soul found in Trillion's remains, there hadn't been any noticeable movements from the shard within the Soul Grimoire, she had finished reading through all of the relevant books and academic papers she could find—
All that was left for her, really, was to experiment with the shard of Astaroth's soul using her own ability in magic. She couldn't really do that, in her current state. It would tire her out, and her body wasn't capable of absorbing power on its own. Using magic like that would probably just make her condition worse.
She sighed, her head dipping.
…Well, there was one other thing she could try. It probably wouldn't result in much—she didn't notice any reaction the previous times she tried it—but she had resolved to try, hadn't she? After all, even if she didn't receive any response, that didn't mean that nobody was there…
She began, "Hello, Brother Astaroth. It's Elma again, if you aren't sure. How are you?"
No answer came.
"I hope it's peaceful for you, at least. You…everyone has been hurt by Trillion too much already. The wounds it left still hurt so many people. I would hope that everyone who lost their lives are free from that now, at least."
She lifted her head a little, facing the wall behind her desk. "Everyone is doing all they can. The Underworld is joining hands with Heaven soon, too, and we're even working together on some things already."
There were a lot of reasons to be hopeful. She was grateful for that. But—
"It still doesn't feel enough."
She knew her limits, and she knew that nobody was really at fault for there still being issues left in the God of Destruction's wake. But it still stung.
There were so many times when she wanted to help, whether directly or through morale, but couldn't participate. A sudden bout of sickness, the location being too far to be safe, some combination of both, or sometimes something else would get in the way, and she would have to stay home—often bedridden, and occasionally requiring someone there to help her.
"How many…how many people have had to suffer, because I wasn't able to do something? Because we had to delay a meeting for my health? Because I was unable to work that day?"
She reached up to wipe away the haze in her eyes, and returned her gaze to the Grimoire on her desk. "...It's probably not that many, but still…even if I know I don't have to be, I'm sad. Even if everyone will put in the effort so that everything will be fine in the end, I still can't help but worry—!"
"I still can't help but wish that I could be of more help!"
A moment passed as her words hung in the air, her chest and throat burning in a way that felt different from the usual dryness and nausea. Tears gathered in her eyes again. She realized that her hands were balled up into fists.
And then, a bright light shone from the Grimoire.
What…?
Before she could register what was happening, it began to move. Rising from out of the Soul Grimoire, the source of light entered the air. Her head followed it as it moved, stopping once it was level with her eyes.
—It felt so familiar. The light, certainly, but much more familiar were the feelings she felt from it.
It was her brother. Her dear eldest brother, Astaroth.
Her words had reached him. Despite the state of his soul, he found the strength to respond.
"...It's you, isn't it, Brother?"
There was no verbal response, but she could still tell: it was indeed her brother, at least in some way.
"I'm so glad to see you again. I never thought I would be able to…" Her lips curled into a smile, the tears falling from her eyes. "Is there anything you want to say? You must have heard me speak a lot already."
The soul briefly glowed, before quickly dimming and falling a bit lower.
"Oh, I should have known. You're low on strength, aren't you?"
Astaroth's soul only moved a bit in response, but it seemed like a reasonable conclusion.
"Could you return to the Soul Grimoire? I'm sure the others would appreciate it if they could meet you again," Elma said.
It rotated back and forth, like how someone would shake their head.
"So, it's impossible?..." Elma mumbled. Her gaze fell. "I'm sorry. I should have waited until Lady Ruche and Miss Faust were back. Do you think you can wait for me to go get Sister, at…least?"
As she said those last words, her brother's soul glowed and dimmed again, as if interrupting her. For a moment, she felt as though her brother was smiling at her. It moved toward her, touching her forehead for just a moment, and then—
A flash of light.
As the brightness faded from the room, Elma looked around. She couldn't see the soul anywhere, and looking down at the Soul Grimoire, it wasn't contained there, either.
—A rush of heat flowed through her. At the same time, so too did emotions, and what seemed to be memories as well.
Everything felt faint. It was like she was sitting in a tub of cozy molasses, which both dampened the outside world and her own ability to do anything, but remained relaxing. A feeling she felt every time she was sick, and had to stay in bed.
Still, a voice made its way through. One that both she and the memory knew well.
The voice carried sadness in it, that was eventually joined by frustration, wishing that they could be more capable, wishing that they could be of more use.
It was a familiar feeling.
…They couldn't do much of anything, themself. They were only barely able to offer their own daughter comfort, before they had to head to their rest.
However, they were still here, within this tome. They hadn't completely passed on yet.
Perhaps…he could give his youngest sister, who always wanted to help others, who now found herself in his own position…just a bit more.
With immense effort, he rose out of the pages of the tome.
She looked shocked. "...It's you, isn't it, Brother?"
He couldn't nod, but he did his best to respond in the affirmative.
"I'm so glad to see you again. I never thought I would be able to…" She trailed off, before continuing, this time with a smile, "Is there anything you want to say? You must have heard me speak a lot already."
It was true; there was a lot he would have liked to say. To everyone. However, that was too much to hope for. He was too weak, too fractured to properly communicate with even one person.
"Oh, I should have known. You're low on strength, aren't you?"
Yes, that was the case. Which was why…
"Could you return to the Soul Grimoire? I'm sure the others would appreciate it if they could meet you again,"
He couldn't shake his head, but he tried to.
There was only one thing he could do, now, to help his family, and those he left behind.
"So, it's impossible?...I'm sorry. I should have waited until Lady Ruche and Miss Faust were back. Do you think you can wait for me to go get Sister, at…"
He would have smiled if he could. Elma always tried her best to be considerate, didn't she?
He didn't have much time, however. He could feel his consciousness slipping closer and closer to passing on.
"...least?"
His soul shifted forward, touching her forehead. With one last exertion of effort, he passed on one last gift—
A surge of power flowed from her left upper-arm as the warmth began to fade, filling her body with strength that she never felt before.
She rolled up her left sleeve, revealing the cause: the Crest of Gloom, which her eldest brother had borne for many years, marking him as an Overlord…
…Was emblazoned upon her shoulder.
This was what he gave her. The reason why he had roused from his rest. Because he knew that he could truly do something to help her, to ease the weakness that plagued her.
"Thank you, Dear Brother…and goodbye."
She removed her hand from her arm, and shut the Soul Grimoire, before turning to her door. With a spirit of determination, she walked over, opened it, and left her room.
She would not waste this strength she was given.
X
Ruche felt strange standing here again.
The first and last time she'd been in this room was months ago now, telling Faust to get on with the ritual before storming off.
She had never seen the portal to Faust's home dimension, and she had never met Faust's father. She deliberately avoided both, before they made their way back to this dimension's Underworld. She didn't feel guilty about that, but it did contribute to the awkward feeling she had.
Which wasn't helped by the fact that she was going to be meeting her lover's father.
An arm wrapped around her waist. She looked to its owner; the woman standing beside her.
Her eyes met Faust's. She didn't say anything, but she didn't have to. The warm look on her face was enough.
…Ruche raised her arm and slid it down Faust's, pulling it away from her waist and taking the hand in her own. She let herself smile, before turning her gaze back to the portal in front of them.
It had a dim, iridescent shimmer, almost as though there was light from the other side being filtered through a cloudy prism. It was impossible to tell much at all from it, though.
"Do portals between dimensions usually look like this?" She asked.
"Sometimes. I've seen cases where they're more clear, and cases where they're less clear." Faust replied.
"Is that so?" Ruche said. Then, changing track, she continued, "Well, let's get going. Lead the way, Faust."
Faust nodded, and tightened her hand around her own. "Indeed—let's."
They walked into the portal together. It was almost blinding at first, but soon enough, her sight cleared up, revealing a completely different environment.
In front of them, across a bridge that stood above a moat of water, a damaged castle towered high, lit up in the afternoon sun. The architecture only carried some resemblance to the castles she was familiar with—it was less centralized for one thing, closer to a fort—but if she had to compare it to anything, it reminded her most of the Great Overlord castle she now presided over. It didn't have nearly as many horns (there were some, though) or as much typical Fallen imagery, however. Which made enough sense, from what she knew; the relationship between the Underworld and the Heavens here had been different from back home, and that in general the inhabitants of this Underworld didn't tend to have anything like horns or wings, going by what she heard from Faust.
Speaking of, Faust hadn't said anything yet. She was looking around, her eyes scanning over the landscape around the castle. Following her gaze, Ruche mostly just saw plains, but there seemed to be some forests off in the distance, and closer to the castle, there was the beginnings of a town. She would guess that there used to be a much larger city or something here, but there were less ruins than she expected.
Faust said, "It's still in disrepair, but it seems my father has managed to get things back in somewhat working order. Though, it's possible that the surge of growth from the ritual is just covering up a lot of it…"
"Maybe." Ruche replied.
Faust hummed, then turned back to the castle. She said, giving Ruche a glance, "In any case, follow me. I can't guarantee I'll be able to show you around to your satisfaction, but the layout should probably be similar to how I remember it, even if it's had to undergo some renovations."
Ruche nodded, and they continued forward.
The bridge appeared to be in the least disrepair out of anything. There weren't any ornate designs in its stone, but it was clean, the guardrails were intact, and it seemed pretty sturdy.
Soon enough, they arrived on the other side, walked through the open gate, and up to the double-doors at the front of the castle. They swung open before either of them could raise a hand to knock.
Standing just behind the doorframe was a rather tall man. He reminded Ruche of her grandfather Lord Azel, albeit with darker hair and—similarly to Faust—no horns or wings, as well as rounded ears. This was probably Faust's father, and the Great Overlord of this dimension: Lucifugus.
Faust confirmed that suspicion for her. "Hello, Father. It's nice of you to come greet us personally."
He laughed. "But of course! I simply must be there to invite my daughter and the Great Overlord of our new neighbor into our abode—nothing else will do!"
Boisterous, huh. Faust had told her, but her father hadn't shown it much in their business correspondence. Ruche said, "It's a pleasure to meet you in-person, Great Overlord Lucifugus."
He shook his head. "No, no, the pleasure is all mine. You've been the one hosting my dear daughter, and I see you've gotten quite close!"
"Indeed we have," Faust replied without hesitation, her hand still clasped with Ruche's.
"Yeah." Ruche affirmed.
They had talked about it a bit beforehand. Though they hadn't gone public yet, most of the people they interacted with on a regular basis were aware of it, and the maids had probably figured it out too. Even if this visit was somewhat for business, they weren't going to go to any effort to hide their relationship.
Despite the trepidation Ruche felt, she didn't regret a single thing about that decision. She didn't even feel embarrassed.
"So, could you tell us where we're going to be staying while we're here, Great Overlord Lucifugus?" She continued. "We have a lot of supplies, and it would be more convenient if we could drop them off before doing anything else."
"Of course, of course!" Lucifugus replied. "Oh, but please, let us dispense with the formalities, Great Overlord Ruche. Be free to simply call me by name—there is still much left to be done until this Underworld is restored to its former glory, and I hardly wish to be distant from the one so close to my daughter!"
That was some weight off her shoulders. She didn't really have any issues with being formal, but it was good to know that she didn't have to be too formal.
…She guessed it was nice to hear that he was so welcoming of Ruche and Faust's relationship too, but she was getting the impression that he would be a bit overbearing. She could already tell that Faust was quietly fighting her embarrassment over her father's attitude, at least.
"Very well. So, Lucifugus, where are we staying?"
"Allow me to lead the way!"
Before he could turn around to begin the tour, Faust said, "Actually, how different is the layout from how it used to be? I was meaning to show Ruche around a bit, but I won't be able to do that if it's changed too much."
"Ah, I see. Much of the layout remains the same, though much of it still needs to be renovated. Shall I leave you to it, then? I can tell you where you'll be staying," he replied.
She shook her head. "Not yet. You can lead us there first. We can decide when I'll show Ruche around afterward."
"I'm fine with putting it off to another day." Ruche said. Faust wanted to catch up with her father at some point, and ultimately Ruche probably didn't need to know where everything was on the first day. She was mostly here to support Faust anyway.
"Then follow me!"
As they walked through the halls, Lucifugus and Faust talked about the state of the castle and Underworld writ large. She asked some questions and talked a bit as well, but mostly just listened. Though she knew about some of what they were talking about, she didn't know enough about the details to contribute in any significant way at the moment.
Something she didn't expect, though, was how many people were inside the castle. Apparently the castle was currently hosting some of this Underworld's remaining inhabitants, since it had more room than many of the other remaining buildings in the capital.
There was less rubble than she expected, but a lot of the decor was severely damaged. She wasn't able to make out what some of the paintings were even meant to be. Some of them were pretty obviously supposed to be family portraits, though, or portraits of individual people.
"And here we are!"
They stopped in the middle of a corridor, lined on both sides with doors. Its architecture made it look like it was an older part of the building, but not as old as some of the main halls.
"We're staying in my old bedroom?" Faust asked.
A knot formed in her stomach.
Ruche…wasn't sure how she felt about that. She wasn't any stranger to them sleeping in the same room—it wasn't all that uncommon during that three-year journey, at least—and she wasn't unhappy about the idea, but…
"If you so wish, but the old storage room," he gestured to the door just to the side of what seemed to be Faust's room, "has also been prepared."
"Let's take a look inside first," Ruche said.
Faust nodded in agreement.
"Alright, I shall leave you to it then. I will be in my study." Lucifugus said, before leaving in the direction they came from.
A moment passed. At some point while her father left, Faust's gaze had turned to the door to her room, where it remained.
Before Ruche could say anything, Faust stepped forward and opened the door.
In a lot of ways, it looked pretty much how Ruche expected it to. There were bookshelves lining one of the walls, a desk that had some journals and minor chemistry implements, a large bed, and a dresser, but there was still plenty of room left that went almost unused, excluding the books and boxes that littered it. There were plenty of scuffs and gashes in the walls, too.
But there were a lot of little things she noticed. Among the novels, scientific texts, and various implements on the bookshelves, there were what seemed to be a couple children's books. There was an old, handmade doll sitting at the head of her bed. There were some marks on the desk around the base of the small test tube rack on the desk indicative of a past accident, and she immediately recognized the rack's design as similar to the one that always sat on the desk in her laboratory.
In a low voice that was almost a whisper, Faust said, "...It's almost the same as I left it."
Her shock was understated, but obvious to Ruche.
She watched Faust as she stepped through her old room, examining everything. First the shelves, then her desk, and finally the boxes.
"I'll have to replace a lot of these." She said, examining a beaker from one of the boxes. She sounded almost relieved.
…She had a guess as to why. Honestly, it'd been a little unnerving when she came back to her manor a few months ago to find everything where she had left it, just with another layer of dust.
"Probably." Ruche said, stepping into the room herself. "Even if your father was able to clean this place up, he doesn't seem like he'd know whether the glass containers need to be replaced."
Faust nodded, and put it back. "If they were just meant for drinking, they would be fine, but these aren't acceptable for my purposes anymore. They aren't relevant for anything I'll be doing on this visit, though."
With that, she slipped the pack she had been carrying on her back off, setting it down beside the foot of her bed. Ruche shrugged off one of the bags she was carrying—there was only so much Faust could carry, so she was carrying some of her stuff—and dropped it down right next to it.
Changing the subject, Ruche said, "Let's check out the other room."
Faust stood up. "Let's."
It was pretty plain. There was a dresser, an old bed, and a lot more shelves and empty boxes. It had clearly been cleaned recently, since there was no dust to be seen anywhere. There were scuffs and gashes on the walls and floor here, too, but they were generally bigger than in Faust's room.
"I suppose it would be too much to ask for if this was kept in a similar state," Faust muttered. "Well, it seems this room was hit worse regardless. The instruments kept in here were probably much more damaged."
Ruche walked over to the bed, running her hand over the sheets and pillows. They were acceptable; better than the bedrolls they'd been using, at least.
"So, what are we thinking?" Faust asked.
It was a good question. Ruche had thought about it, however… "Well, one of the rooms is yours, so your opinion matters most here."
"That's a fair assessment. I would be fine with it either way in the end, but I do feel odd about the prospect of sleeping in the same room, even if it would hardly be the first time." Faust said.
"...So do I, honestly." Ruche replied. "It's not like I'm really against it, but it's different from doing it because it's convenient or because it just turned out that way. This room isn't bad either—it should be fine if I stay in here."
Normally, lovers would only sleep in the same bedroom if they were married or something, right? Their situation wasn't normal, and it wasn't really all that intimate, sure, but going out of their way for it felt like getting ahead of themselves.
…Just for now, though.
"Then I suppose we'll go with that, then."
Ruche nodded. "Yeah."
With that discussion finished, they finished unpacking and made their way to Lucifugus' study. Faust wanted to talk more with her father, and Ruche wasn't going to object to that.
It wasn't quite the same, but the way it was organized reminded her a bit of Faust. It wasn't really cramped, but if you weren't familiar with it, you would need a moment to get comfortable. She guessed that was to be expected, since they were family.
They continued their earlier conversation, talking for a bit longer about the overall situation with this Underworld. It wasn't long, though, before Lucifugus made a motion as though he just realized something, and completely changed the direction of the discussion.
"Ah, but that reminds me. While going through some storage, I managed to find…where did I put it…"
He leafed through his pockets, before pulling out an album. "This! The old family photos. They're in much better shape than I expected, too. What say we take a look through it?"
"It has been a long time…" Faust said.
"I'm interested," Ruche said casually. Honestly, she was more interested in the idea than her tone implied. She had never seen any photos or portraits of Faust when she was younger, and until today she didn't even know what her father looked like, much less her mother.
Lucifugus grinned. "Wonderful! Let's see, then—"
He opened up the album, and with an exertion of magic, its open pages were projected onto one of the walls. Some of the pictures had someone who looked like a much younger Lucifugus in them, and she was pretty sure she'd seen a portrait of one of these people when they went through the halls, but beyond that she didn't recognize many of the people there.
Lucifugus shared stories about some of the photos, Faust made some comments, and he turned a page. This process repeated itself for a while, until eventually, they landed on a particular page.
"—And around this time, you were born!"
Almost every photo on the projected pages were of a young toddler (and sometimes her parents).
"I told my wife that we were taking a bit many photos at the time, but I see now that she was right to capture so many memories." He smiled gently, and began pointing at some of the photos. "This was when you first ate, this was when you first crawled, this was when you first ate solid food, this was when you took your first steps…"
Ruche found herself almost transfixed as they went through page after page. Hearing so much about Faust's younger years, and seeing so many moments of her childhood through these photos—it was nice. She didn't know what she got for her fifth birthday before. She didn't know that Faust had lighter hair when she was younger. She didn't know when Faust moved to her own bedroom.
Even when it came to the things she already knew about from her and Faust's conversations, there was still something about it that held her attention—whether it was the new visuals, or the new perspective, or Faust's own comments, or something else.
That, and the pictures could be really cute.
Still, she could tell that Faust was getting more embarrassed as they went along. It wasn't obvious, and she didn't seem that embarrassed at first, but she was starting to say less as they got further into the photo album—and Ruche knew she would feel pretty embarrassed in the same position, too.
She glanced over to Faust, before standing up. "It's getting pretty late, and we haven't had dinner yet."
"Ah, please excuse me." Lucifugus said, shutting the album and standing up. "I shall make preparations right away. It should be ready in about half-an-hour; Faust should be able to show the way to the dining hall. Farewell!"
With that, he left the room.
Faust stood from her chair herself, a tint of red on her cheeks. "You didn't have to do that."
"Maybe, but it seemed like you were getting really embarrassed."
"I could bear with it. You were so wrapped up in it, after all—if you appreciate it that much, I can take some embarrassment."
Ruche muttered, "I guess. It just doesn't feel right."
"...I did like it, though. Thank you." Faust said. "Still—it's fine, Ruche."
"Sure, but…oh," Ruche said. She turned over the thought in her head; Faust was fine with it, sure, but even if Ruche didn't have to 'make it up to her', she had an idea. "I'll look through my family's manor for any photos when we get back. Maybe Baphomet or someone else will have stories about them."
Faust would probably like having the opportunity to learn more about Ruche in a similar way to how Ruche learned about her, and she didn't mind sharing this with her at all. Of course, it was possible that nobody would have that many stories. Most of the people who were left didn't visit her very often, and she didn't know how many stories had been shared with them about her childhood.
"If they don't, though—" Ruche took in a breath. It was embarrassing, but Faust would probably like hearing it, right? "You know, back when I was really young, I wanted to be a bride."
She was looking away from her now, but she could tell that Faust wasn't expecting her to say that.
A moment passed. When Faust spoke, Ruche could feel the smile in her voice. "That's hardly necessary, Ruche…but I appreciate it." She felt a hand entwine with her own. "I'm looking forward to the day when I can fulfill that dream for you."
…Geez. Of course she would say it like that.
She turned to Faust, meeting her smile with her own.
X
Faust sat next to the portal between worlds as the afternoon sun shone down, slowly turning the knob on the radio transmitter, going through its entire range.
This was the test most readily available to them—Ruche was on the other side of the portal, watching the receivers carefully and noting down any noticeable changes. They didn't have access to particularly complex equipment, so this would have to do.
Eventually, the transmitter reached its limit. She waved a hand through the portal, and a moment later, Ruche stepped through.
"Here," Ruche said, handing a page of notes to Faust. "It's getting closer, but there's still a lot of noise."
She looked over the notes; she agreed. They had the most luck with the additional band-pass filter, but even when the signal made it through, it seemed that it was difficult to pick out. Faust said, "Hmm. I'll adjust the filters again."
"Are you sure? We hit diminishing returns a few tests ago," Ruche replied. "We'll probably need to use more complicated solutions if we want to get much better than this."
Faust nodded. "That's likely true, but there's not much else we can do currently. We should at least be sure we've found the bounds for the best range."
"Fair enough. By the way, you haven't shown me around yet…" Ruche said teasingly.
Faust chuckled. "Let's do that after we get done with this, then."
Another half-hour was spent gathering more data, before eventually, they finished.
With a sly grin on her face, Ruche reached over, pressing a gloved finger right against Faust's nose. "So, show me around, will you?"
"Of course. Follow me."
They spent the next few hours roaming around the many halls of Faust's home. The time spent in the castle yesterday had already stirred plenty of memories inside her, but now that she was giving Ruche a tour, she found many more awakening in her—even with so much of the castle in ruins. There were even a couple occasions when Ruche had to stop her, tell her that she was tearing up, and offer support.
It was nice.
By the time they finished their tour, the evening had arrived.
Faust glanced out a nearby window, seeing the sun begin to set below the horizon. "Dinner should be almost ready by now. We should head down soon."
"Might as well head there, then." Ruche said. "Unless you want a moment?"
Faust shook her head. "I'm fine now."
"Alright," Ruche replied simply.
By the time they made it down, food was being set out by Lucifugus, and before long, the three of them began.
"I hope that your tour went well?" Lucifugus asked.
Ruche nodded, raising her teacup to take a sip from it. "Faust was thorough. I'm curious to see the place again when it's fully restored."
"Wonderful! Though, I cannot guarantee it will be finished by the time you visit again."
"I'm not expecting it to. There's a lot of work that needs doing."
Faust cut in. "Speaking of that, what does the town need currently?"
"Infrastructure and more housing, primarily. Most of our food needs are covered, so there is that, at least, but our access to water is…subpar." Lucifugus said.
Faust nodded. "I see. We won't be able to make much headway in the time we're here, but we should be able to help out a bit. If there's anything that needs to be moved quickly, that's probably one of the better ways for us to help."
"We would quite appreciate the help, regardless!" He said, stabbing his fork into the salad on his plate. After taking a bite and swallowing, he continued, "In any case, I shall give you the relevant information before tomorrow. Now, let us leave discussion about that for later! I wish to learn more about the one whom my daughter holds in the apple of her eye! After all, I may be talking to my grandchildren before long; I had better get to know both their parents!"
He laughed as he finished that last sentence, evidently finding humor in what he said.
Faust let out a sigh. She knew this would happen, but did her father really have to be such a busybody? She didn't mind the sentiment in principle, but…
…?
She glanced over at Ruche. There was a complicated expression on her face, and her eyes had lost focus, drifting just slightly.
And then, as though it had been nothing, her expression was normal and her eyes focused. "So? What do you want to know?" Ruche said.
…It clearly wasn't the time to mention it right now, so she wouldn't say anything, but she knew she would have to ask about that later.
After about an hour, they finished with dinner and went their separate ways. On the way back to their rooms, she took the opportunity to ask Ruche about it.
"By the way, Ruche, you seemed distracted when my father asked about you. Is something wrong?"
Ruche's eyes met hers, an unsure look in them, before slowly falling away. "I'll talk about it later."
She didn't mind that much—she knew well enough that sometimes, Ruche needed some time to get ready before talking to others about something—but it was fairly clear to her that Ruche was much more bothered by this than she appeared on the surface. "Are you sure? I have plenty of time," Faust said.
Ruche nodded. "Yeah. I'm just…" For a long moment, she said nothing. "...not sure how to explain it, right now."
Well, in that case, she would leave it be for now. Still, she leaned over and wrapped Ruche in a hug, who reciprocated.
"...Thanks," Ruche muttered.
"You're welcome," Faust replied. After a moment, she said, "If my father is bothering you, I can talk to him about it."
Ruche let out a noise that was almost a snort. "It's not about him, but I appreciate it."
Their next several days were spent helping out with the repair and reconstruction of the surrounding settlement, among other things. There were a couple occasions where she inquired about it again, when Ruche seemed less tired, but she still wasn't sure how to explain it. Ultimately, they wound up agreeing to let it sit for a week—or until Ruche thought she was ready, whichever came first.
She would just have to content herself by enjoying the time they spent together, until then.
Shortly afterward, their stay back at Faust's childhood home had come to an end, and they began making their way back to the place she had recently come to consider another home for her.
When they got back, however, there was quite an unexpected surprise waiting for them.
The detail of Elma's issue specifically being her inability to absorb (demonic) power is one that's mentioned in her final concept art. On a similar note, according to a comment from the illustrator, Fegor has some familiarity with the human world. This will not come up in this fic, however.
Elma nodded at two opposite her. "Yes. Brother Astaroth gave me his Crest of Gloom before he finished passing on. My body still can't directly absorb energy, but I feel much better than I did before."
They were sitting in a small dining hall. It was only the four of them; herself, Sister Fegor, Lady Ruche, and Miss Faust. The latter two had only returned an hour ago, just in time for them to all share dinner.
Ruche made a noise between a humph and a laugh. "That's just like him."
"I did ask him to go back into the Soul Grimoire, so he could say goodbye and anything else he wanted to say to you and Sister Fegor personally, but he refused. He wasn't sure if he would ever be able to wake up again."
"'S fine. I know what he was gonna say, anyway." Fegor replied.
"It would have been nice to talk to him one more time, but I wasn't expecting it. He already said his goodbye to me, anyway." Ruche added.
"I'm glad you understand." Elma said.
She had already talked about it with Fegor, but she knew that Ruche had complicated feelings about her father.
"It does make sense; it's impressive he was able to exhibit any resemblance to his old self in that state at all." Faust said.
Elma nodded solemnly. "It was." The impressions she got when she was given this Crest hadn't left her. She could remember them as clearly as she could remember the pattern on her room's ceiling, or the faces of the people she loved.
After a moment, Ruche asked, "So, has the ceremony happened yet?"
Elma shook her head. "Not yet. We thought it would be better to wait for you to return, since you weren't going to be gone for long."
"Alright. Should it wait until the weekend, or are you fine with tomorrow?"
"I'm fine with either," Elma said. "Oh, but maybe we can do it when Uriel comes over to visit? It should only be a few days from now."
"Sure. If you want him to be there, then there's no reason not to wait for a few days." Ruche replied.
Elma smiled.
Even if many had left them, she was grateful to still have so much of her friends and family.
X
"Mmf…?"
It was early in the morning when a knock at the door woke Fegor up. Light was only barely filtering through the curtains. Not too strange. She'd gotten plenty of sleep last night after leaving dinner early, so it didn't bother her too much either. But what was strange was the voice.
She turned her head, looking to the door. "What is it, Ru-tan?"
"I want to ask you about something."
She sounded serious. No, more than that. Solemn. Much more than usual.
Fegor rolled out of bed, landing on her feet. "Coming."
Once she was ready, she opened the door. She then asked, "So, what is it?"
Ru-tan's expression definitely matched her tone from earlier. It continued to match as she replied, "I want to know more about your relationship with your father."
Huh. Yeah, that kinda made sense. She'd already talked with Ru-tan about some stuff like that, and it seemed like something she'd thought about a lot.
"Mm. I already told you that we didn't interact much, though."
"That's true, but I'd like to know more of the details. If there aren't any, then I'd at least like to hear what you know about his relationship with your siblings."
…Maybe it was time to talk about that incident. Especially since she found that diary.
"Hmm. Well, I can tell you a couple more things." She walked over to the small table at the edge of her room and sat down, Ru-tan following suit.
She should probably get right to it. Fegor said, "I was pretty young when I became an Overlord. Pretty soon after I became one, I beat up As-chin and Father in a public match."
Ru-tan looked surprised. "Really?"
"Yup. I was surprised too. They were weaker than I thought."
"I know that Father spent a lot of time on paperwork, and heard that Lord Azel did as well, but the war was ongoing back then, wasn't it?"
"Mhm."
"Geez." Ru-tan shook her head in disbelief. She looked like she was going to say something, before deciding against it.
So, Fegor continued. "I knew that was bad after the match. But I didn't know why."
Ru-tan remained quiet, focusing entirely on her words.
"It was a pretty big blow to Father's pride, and a lotta people started whispering about it. Ever since then, I didn't get along with him very well. A lot of the time we spent together when he wasn't lecturing us felt kinda awkward. That's what I thought for a while."
Fegor rubbed her neck. She still wasn't really awake, and it was starting to ache. "I didn't really think about it much for a long time. It was still fun spending time with El-El and Zebo-chin. Did start thinking about it again recently, though. Helps that I found some old stuff Father wrote."
Ru-tan raised an eyebrow, but still didn't say anything.
Honestly, Fegor kinda wanted to skip over the rest. It was pretty embarrassing. But Ru-tan seemed like she needed to hear some of this. She wouldn't be a very good aunt if she ignored that.
"He really was stupid. Lazy, too. He told all the forces to stop so that my birthday could be celebrated, but I didn't know about that. Felt really bad when he was harsh on me, and didn't like the jealousy he felt. Felt like he should just be distant, 'cause he thought he didn't deserve to say he was sorry. Wasn't able to tell me he wanted me to be happy before he died."
She felt her eyes drift down to the table—to the diary which sat on top of it. She could tell that Ru-tan was following her gaze. "But he made it so I'd find this. It was pretty obvious. Maybe he thought he'd die, so he wrote it down. Maybe he did it just in case. He should've just said it…but it was pretty nice to read it."
Yeah. That was a good way to put it.
Ru-tan lifted her head and stood up. Fegor lifted her head too, meeting her gaze.
Ru-tan said, "Thank you, Fegor. You can go back to sleep now."
Heh. She sounded a lot better. That was good.
Fegor stood up and walked over to her bed, flopping down onto it. "'Member to close the door."
Ru-tan didn't respond, but Fegor could hear the door click as she left the room.
She yawned, and buried herself back into the sheets. She was pretty awake, but she had time. For now, she'd just lie back, and…
…Zzz…
X
Ruche stepped out of the shower and into the changing room, wrapping a towel around her torso. Since she talked with Fegor earlier that day, she had a pretty good idea of what she was going to say to Faust, but she still felt nervous. A lot more nervous than she expected, actually.
Which was why she was heading right into the hot springs, now that she was cleaned up.
The air was as warm as she remembered, at least; she didn't feel any chills as she walked along the rocky paths, looking for a comfortable place to sit down in the water.
—Her heart skipped a beat.
Sitting on one of the rocks, a towel around her torso and her legs dipping into the water, was Faust.
It was a sight she'd seen before—she and Faust had been in hot springs together a few times—but that had been long before all of this. Was this still fine?
As she looked away, she caught a glimpse of Faust turning her head, her hair (done up in a ponytail right now) shifting in turn. "Oh. Hello, Ruche."
Now her heart was audibly beating in her ears. "...Hey, Faust. Sorry, I didn't expect you to be here."
"...It's fine. Feel free to sit down." She didn't sound hesitant, despite the time she took to answer.
"Is it really fine, though? It's kind of different with, you know." Ruche said.
"It was hardly on purpose, and we both know how we feel. So, I don't believe I mind much." Faust didn't sound embarrassed as she said that, but it was close. "However, if it bothers you, we can face away from each other."
She was still nervous, but that was something she felt fine agreeing to right now. "Alright."
She walked over next to Faust, before sitting down, her back facing Faust's own. Slowly, she lowered her own legs into the hot water, and her nerves began to still.
Several minutes passed in silence.
Ruche took in, and then let out a breath. She hadn't expected something like this, but they were alone, she was already planning on talking to Faust about it sometime tonight, so there was really no reason to put it off.
"Hey, Faust."
"What is it?" The reply came in a soft voice.
"I'm ready to talk about it now."
She heard Faust shift slightly behind her, and felt a hand rest on her own.
Yeah. She could do this.
Ruche continued, "...You know how I grew up. Mother was usually sick, and Father was rarely around. The maids and butlers didn't really have fun with me or Perpell often. Our extended family sometimes visited, but they didn't stay for long."
She could tell without looking that Faust was nodding.
"Eventually, Mother died. Father was still busy with work and the war, so he still couldn't be around much. Perpell…the nanny was losing patience with her, so I decided to look after her, but you already know how that went."
Faust's hand squeezed her own, but she didn't say anything.
"...I asked Fegor about how she and her siblings grew up, recently. Before they became Overlords, they lived away from each other, and were mostly raised by nannies and others. Even when they became Overlords, that didn't mean they really interacted with their father, the Great Overlord, much more. Father interacted with Lord Azel the most, and I'm sure Zeabolos and Elma interacted with him as well—Elma was raised in the castle, after all, and Zeabolos was one of the main choices to become the next Great Overlord—but Fegor only seemed to really interact with her siblings."
Faust remained quiet, but Ruche knew she was still listening.
She took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves again.
"I don't want to put a child through something like that…but I don't think I can do any better."
It had been on her mind for a while, but the mention of grandchildren brought it to the forefront. Were her feelings right? Were they wrong? What did she really want?
She heard Faust shifting behind her, and felt her arm change position, coming to a stop only when she felt Faust's back begin to press against her own.
Faust eventually said, "Do you mind the prospect of having children itself, or is that concern the only thing bothering you about it?"
"No, it's just—that." Ruche replied.
"I see." Faust picked up Ruche's hand, squeezing it as she interlaced their fingers. "Well, what makes you think that can't be avoided?"
"It wasn't like they didn't care. My father and Lord Azel both loved their family, but they still wound up like that."
"Was your mother not also in the same line of work?"
"By the time she had Perpell, she was already too sick to work. That's not an option for me."
Faust hummed thoughtfully. "Well, I understand your concerns. With your position, finding time for a child would be quite difficult. However, I would be quite willing to help make time—and I'm sure the others would, as well. I may not have known the man myself, but to my understanding, Astaroth never asked for help when it came to that, and it doesn't sound like Azel did either."
Ruche absorbed Faust's words. She was right, at least as far as she knew, and they were able to take some time off to visit Faust's first home with the help of Baphomet, Elma, and the others.
"Maybe that's possible. But…"
There was also something else that bothered her.
"But?" Faust asked.
"...could I really do any better than I did with Perpell?"
X
Faust hadn't expected to encounter someone else when she went to the hot springs. This section of them wasn't open to the public, and few enough people used them at a time that it was uncommon to encounter someone else, even if you were using it at the same time.
So naturally, she had been somewhat surprised when Ruche happened to walk toward her, having also decided to use the hot springs.
Yet more surprising was when Ruche began talking about what had been bothering her. This wasn't exactly the most suitable setting. Still, she wasn't against it.
The conversation went on. She remained quiet at first, allowing Ruche to speak until it seemed appropriate to reply.
The conversation continued on for a little longer, before—
"...could I really do any better than I did with Perpell?"
—that.
…Faust wasn't surprised she felt like that. Ruche had expressed regret at how she sometimes acted with Perpell before, and it was easy to see how she would be concerned about her own ability to raise children as a result. She could say much on the subject, but right now, only some of it would likely help.
Faust said, "I can see why you would be concerned about that. I do think that you would do better than you would have before; you're more mature than you were several years ago, for one thing. I can also assure you that I would tell you if I thought you were doing something wrong. Still, I understand your feelings."
She understood them more than she had let on so far, in fact, though she wouldn't say it was on the same level.
Faust let out a sigh. Though she wasn't against the idea of raising children, she had her own reservations on the topic.
Faust continued, "To be honest…I don't feel prepared either."
"Really?" Ruche asked, a hint of relieved surprise in her voice.
"Yes. I don't have any particular reasoning, but the prospect is daunting. That, and I would like several more years without having to worry about a child regardless. There's already a lot I have to work on, and I would rather finish those before adding something so big to my plate."
She let out another sigh. "And, well…it was only recently that the possibility became something I thought was even worth entertaining. I thought I would spend the rest of my days chasing after Trillion."
She felt another hand come to rest on the arm that was entangled with Ruche's. "...Yeah. I know."
Faust leaned just slightly more into Ruche.
It felt like an eternity passed.
"So we're agreed, right?" Ruche said.
"It seems that way." Faust replied.
There would have to be more discussion about this later, whether it be in several days, several months, or several years. However, even so, a relieved smile spread across her face.
And even though she couldn't see Ruche's face, she could tell that she was smiling too.
I referred to both of Fegor's endings, as well as the other cutscenes about her father's diary when writing this.
It was a familiar scene to Ruche, though not from this perspective.
She was sitting on the throne, and a crowd filled the room, save for a lane left open for the focus of the event—the newest Overlord.
Fegor was standing on her right, as the only remaining Overlord, and Baphomet on her left, as the one who had worked for the Underworld the longest. Faust was leaning against the wall in one of the nearby corners, avoiding as much attention as she could. Many of the castle's employees were filling the space on either side of the throne, Uriel joining them as an important guest, but still standing off to the side.
Finally, the doors slowly opened. "Come, Elma!"
Elma walked through the open doorway and along the red carpet, and up the small set of stairs, coming to a stop right as she climbed the last step.
"I welcome you as one of the Overlords, chosen by the Crest of Gloom. Do you have any objections?"
Elma replied, loud and clear. "No, I have no objection. I just wish that I can keep helping everyone."
Heh. That was pretty much what she expected.
She stood up, and raised Beholder into the air. "All gathered here, listen! The new Overlord of Gloom has been born—Elma!"
The ceremony went on for a while longer. Elma made her expected oaths, Ruche said a few more things. Eventually, everyone dispersed.
Soon afterward, she, Faust, Elma, Fegor, and Uriel found themselves in one of the medium-sized dining rooms. Elma was the one who brought up the idea of them all having lunch or tea together, and so it wound up that way.
It was convenient. They went into the ceremony pretty quickly, so she didn't know much when it came to how Uriel acted differently now. There was some correspondence by mail, since she had to approve various things and help arrange for this latest visit, but that'd likely been read over and edited by someone else first.
It'd at least give her an idea of what to expect when the official meeting to discuss the terms of alliance happened tomorrow.
All things considered, he'd changed, but not that much. He was more cordial, and didn't get carried away as much, but there were a couple times during their conversation when he did. Granted, it was more in good fun than anything else. She was pretty sure that Fegor had even goaded him deliberately.
"So you didn't bring your sword? Boo." Fegor said.
"The purpose of this meeting is peace, not negotiation or a mere visit! It would be far from appropriate to bring along such a weapon." Uriel replied.
"Mmh…Guess I'll have to fight Ru-tan then."
"By the way," Uriel began, "I apologize for your loss. Even if he once fought against us, your uncle was willing to lay down his life for the good of all, and never gave up. He also cared much about all of you."
"'S fine. He had to fulfill a promise." Fegor said.
Ruche laid a hand on Faust's arm beneath the table, and gave her a glance. Fortunately, she seemed to be fine. "Yeah; he wasn't going to skip out on that. Besides, it wasn't like he died for nothing."
"Hmm." Uriel closed his eyes, before opening them again. "That reminds me, did you ever use the Gem of Love?"
"...Gem of Love?" Ruche asked. The term sounded familiar, but she had no idea what he was talking about.
"You know, the gem I brought with me when Trillion was running amok? That Baphomet had it thrown into one of the vaults, but surely it went used at some point…"
Oh. She did remember something like that. Uriel made a big fuss about it, but she didn't remember finding out what it was even supposed to do.
"Mm, nope. Don't remember anyone using it." Fegor said.
"I must confess, I don't remember anyone using it either…" Elma said. "What does it do?"
Uriel sighed. "I suppose you never did let me finish explaining what it could do…well, supposing it is still within your vaults, listen! The Gem of Love is one that responds to true love, and grants power to the one who shows it—even possessing the ability to return a single soul to the world of the living!"
Her heartbeat banged in her ears.
"Is that true?"
He blinked. This was taking too long.
She stood up, and shot out of the room.
This existed. This existed.
If that was true, then she was angry.
Even if it was just one, that was one more person that could have been with them all this time! One more person who didn't have to just remain dead because of something that didn't even belong here!
And it was thrown away for what? Because it was a gift from Heaven?
She slammed open a door and stalked into the storage room. If you wanted something to be forgotten, but couldn't just throw it away, this was the most likely place.
—There it was. It gleamed brilliantly and had the smell of Heaven, but she didn't care. As soon as she picked it up—
A strange feeling washed over her. Just by looking at the gem in her hand, she knew that Uriel's words weren't wrong.
An immense weight fell on her shoulders.
Who?
She didn't know how trying to bring back Zeabolos would impact what Faust had done. Astaroth…was finally with her mother now. Her mother wasn't an option for similar reasons. Mammon was her family's only daughter, and her life had been stolen by Trillion. Perpell was the youngest of the Overlords, and also had her life taken by the damnable thing. Then there was Levia and Ashmedia, who she didn't even know if she could reach.
Her arm fell, and she walked back to the dining room. All her anger was gone, and she felt drained.
Only one person could be brought back. She could tell that much. It would also take a great amount of power to reach them—even more if they were strong.
Before she realized it, she'd arrived back at the dining room. She opened the door, and looked to the group, who met her gaze.
"It's true. We can bring back someone with this—but only one."
Everyone went still.
Finally, Faust asked, "What other limitations does it have?"
"I was told that it would only be able to resurrect someone the user feels true love toward," Uriel said.
Which was true. She could tell that instinctively.
"It also needs power." Ruche added, before looking to one of them in particular. "Fegor. We're probably the only ones who can use it."
"Mmh." Fegor's face scrunched up. "...As-chin's probably at peace now. Levi-tan wouldn't like being brought back when Zebo-chin isn't around. Mammo-tan would probably be happy. Per-tan and Ash-tan, too."
Faust said, "There's no need to exclude Zeabolos from consideration. I believe that everything should be in order, so it shouldn't come falling down if he returns. He may have finished passing on already, in fact."
The tension was palpable. Nobody said a word.
Finally, for the first time since Ruche entered the room, Elma spoke up. "...I don't know if there's any right decision, but I think that no matter who you choose, everyone will understand. Both us and them."
…When Elma put it like that, she couldn't deny it.
It seemed that everyone else felt the same way as well. The tension was looser, and atmosphere in the room was lighter, enough that it wasn't so suffocating.
She looked at the gem she held in her hand.
…Maybe she was wrong, but there was one person who she wanted back more than anyone else. One person who, out of everyone they could reach, had missed out on life the most.
One person who she let down more than any other.
Still…
She lifted her head, a hard look in her eyes. "Is it fine if I use this?"
For a long few seconds, none of them said anything. Faust closed her eyes, as if to say that she had no objection, but would abstain; Uriel was looking away, avoiding comment; Elma had the same solemn look on her face as before, but with a ghost of a smile; and Fegor's expression was contemplative.
Then, Fegor said, "Mm. Yeah. If you feel that strong about it, go ahead."
She didn't know what had gone through Fegor's head, but she didn't sound broken up about it.
She looked at the others again. None of them seemed against it. She let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding.
"Thank you."
She looked back to the gem. It was time.
She began pouring power into it.
"...Please, Perpell."
An unbearably bright light filled the room. More and more of her energy drained from her, a monumental amount, but she refused to stop.
It was like she was walking through an intense blizzard, where the only thing she could see was a faint silhouette in the distance. An ethereal force battered against her, trying to send her off-course, but she kept going, walking toward that silhouette in the distance.
She got closer.
And closer.
And closer.
She reached out her hand, and—
The light faded, and the gem was gone. On the floor in front of her, between herself and the table, Perpell had materialized.
She looked exactly like she did from the moment she set off to fight Trillion that last time. Her clothes showed no signs of the tatters they picked up during the fight, and there were no visible injuries on her skin.
She felt like she was going to collapse at any moment, but she had to check. She knelt down, putting two fingers to her wrist.
Despite how unreal everything felt, the pulse she felt screamed at her that it was anything but unreal.
Ruche's vision was cloudy. Her sister was here. It really had worked.
The others had stood up at some point, and were now beside her, kneeling down beside the newly-revived Perpell.
"What's the matter? You're crying, Sis Ru," Perpell said.
She brought up an arm to wipe her eyes. "...I never thought I would see you again."
Perpell tilted her head quizzically.
"Incredible…It really is you, Perpell." Faust said, before Ruche could reply.
"Mhm! What happened? Sis Ru isn't responding," Perpell replied.
"You died once and came back to life." Faust said.
"Yup. You fought against Trillion, but we brought you back with something that Wing-tan gave us." Fegor added.
"Oh. But why is Sis Ru sad?"
"I'm not sad, Perpell." Ruche sat Perpell up, and hugged her with all her might. "There's no way I could be."
"But why do you have water in your eyes, then?" Perpell asked.
She smiled. "Sometimes, Perpell, you're so happy that you just can't help it."
"Huh…"
There was so much she wanted to say, but she couldn't think of any of it right now. Still, that was fine.
She had a lot of time to say it, after all.
This is the final chapter of this part. Might write some disconnected snippets or another sequel at some point (though I'm unsure what form that sequel would take), as mentioned in my first post, but for now, this is complete.
