4000 words MEGA CHAPPY! Yup. You read that right. Took me a looong while to write and its not perfect but the miscellaneous stuff is covered here. A Mephistopheles POV is in there too.
Why you ask?
Because of you beautiful, glorious readers.
We reached the top 100 in the power rankings! WOO!
After three whole years, another one of my fanfics has entered top 100 power rankings!
Thank you guys so so much!
With this the downtime arc ends and we return to the meat and potatoes of the story.
Four more chapters of training before the timeskip, in which we will get two more peerage members and one (1) Nurarihyon bet battle as promised so long ago. Then training timeskip and action!
Till then, enjoy~
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"Sleepover! Sleepover! Sleepover!" Ravel hummed happily as we arranged the family theatre room for the night, carrying a tower of pillows in her tiny little hands, because the servants were still out on their second day of the corporate retreat and thus the chores fell to us to do.
On the side, me and Dulio were sat, setting up the full surround sound system.
"Hand me the red one." I extended a grasping hand in his direction and he handed the cable over, as he spoke.
"Hey, uh…Riser. I was wondering, what did you talk about in the meeting there?"
"Feeling left out?" I asked with a teasing grin, and he rolled his eyes.
I chuckled, before patting his shoulder.
"Just the usual boring stuff. Accounts, new business ideas, the acquisitions from the Zimbabwean campaign. Numbers galore. Super boring."
I lied of course, and I know he knows it's not the whole truth- he is rather smart- but that wasn't the point here. He wasn't really asking what we talked about. What he was really asking was why he wasn't included.
While we have gotten closer over the past few months, he's still shaky about his place in the family and things like this are only going to widen the cracks on those doubts if I don't mend them as they form.
"Dulio, we didn't mean to exclude you or make you feel unwelcome. Even I don't usually get to attend them. It's just mom, dad, Rigal and Ruval. I just had a few ideas this time so I joined in." I assured him, "It's just that I have been trained since birth for this stuff and I can handle it, understand what is being said, follow the conversation and even then, it's difficult for me.
Ravel is four, her head starts spinning when we talk about this sort of stuff and she starts throwing a tantrum, so we couldn't have her in there. And we can't exactly leave her unattended out here- the servants are out today- so we needed someone to keep her occupied." I caught my blunder even as I spoke, "Not that I'm treating you like a servant. It's usually me who takes care of her when they are having a meeting. In fact, once we are done with the Touki training, we'll get you a private tutor too, catch you up with all the stuff you need to know-"
Dulio giggled as he looked at my flustered face and patted my arm.
"I know, I know. I didn't mean it like that." He said with a smile too mature for his age, but eyes that seemed satisfied with the answer, "I was just curious."
He handed me the next speaker cord as we made to move on to the last part of the setup when Rigal returned from his discussion.
I put down the cable and walked over to him, Dulio following behind me.
"How did it go?"
"Phenomenal. They agreed to our terms, reasonable pricing, a few favours here and there. They did want to see if the blueprints you gave us could be annotated better. They couldn't follow some of the lines of logic. Could you?"
I nodded.
"I'll make some alteration before we leave. What about the distraction?"
"Right. We orchestrated some conflict over the mineral rights in Zimbabwe. Put up some 'obstacles' for ourselves. Make it seem like that was the issue. Now we can only hope it fools Mephistopheles for now." He said, and pulled out a package from his storage and handed it to me, "The latest Lenovo and a show copy of Windows XP. See if you can make something of it."
"Thanks." I gave the packet a once over and stored it away, "What about mom, dad, Ruval?"
"They should be back soon? Mom's side went well. We had to grease a few palms but no one really suspected much. We have all possible copyrights for the concept, names, logos, everything- both in the Underworld and the human world, as well as a tentative charter on whatever part of the Dimension Gap we can colonize. Dad hasn't reached out but he should be back soon- speak of the devil." My father returned in the courtyard below, followed by my mom. Ruval though was still busy with the production side of things.
Rigal smiled.
"Riser, relax. We'll take care of it. You don't need to worry about that. Just enjoy the sleepover, see if you can streamline the designs tomorrow before you leave and then focus on your training."
"Sure. But if there's any problem-"
"We'll consult you. We know. Don't worry so much. Leave it to your elders." Rigal ruffled my hair and turned towards the window.
"Ah, look, your guests are here."
I looked out the window and saw my parents greet Lady Misla and Sairaorg.
She looked a bit more worn down than last time, however, and less dignified too. More like the terminally ill single mother she was than the former Queen Bael.
"Go get ready, I'll finish up here." Rigal took over the setup and I picked Ravel up, taking her to change up.
----------x----------
(Mephistopheles POV)
I looked down at the transcript before me and the cross-referenced dossier on the recent trades executed by Phoenix Enterprises as the gears ticked by in my head.
To fire an entire consultancy team, full of noble laureates and award-winning economists.
My eyes wandered over to that one line- Out thought by a ten-year-old.
Riser Phenex. A name not spoken as often as I would like, to glean enough information on him.
There were few things on their roster that would elicit such a reaction from Rigal Phenex, a prodigy in business management and finance, one that had even outclassed my own market plays more times than not.
By process of elimination, it had come down to only two things- their recent conquest of Zimbabwe, one that made little sense in terms of the expenditure it took them, or their recent short pull on the Dotcom bubble. The internet was a dying thing. No one would give it two looks in a mere matter of months.
No, that couldn't be it. That sort of reaction…some damn thing in the dark continent, that would seem right here. 240 vials of Phoenix Tears, if that sum was lost on a worthless investment, that would explain it.
Yet there was some, small nagging feeling in the deep recesses of my mind that told me it wasn't.
The newly orchestrated 'obstacle' this morning was obviously a play at something, a distraction, but what exactly?
I looked at the other reports my spies had brought today.
One from the copyright office where Lady Phenex had unseasonably made an appearance. A list of things, names technology. It hadn't been difficult to acquire. I had spent a millennium seeding every corner of the world with my spies.
And today, of all days for all the servants of the Phenex clan to be on a corporate retreat? Such generosity is uncharacteristic of the miserly Lord Phenex. This was planned out in advance.
The Internet. A DevilNet perhaps?
But why? What was so valuable in it for them to spend so much on it? It was an unwieldy thing, not something that would become popular here. My own Underworld Telephone Line barely made ends meet on the best of days, and lost money on the regular. It was a luxury commodity, and one that I kept alive solely for the leverage it offered me in terms of information on the rest of devilkind.
The internet wouldn't work at even half the efficiency for triple the costs. It made no sense.
I swivelled in my chair as I pulled out all the recent reports on the Phenex clan- servant reports, expenditure, tax forms, gossip, troop movements, everything.
Something was very wrong here. Something didn't quite fit the pattern that Lord Phenex used to fit so snugly within.
The recent debacle with the former Bael heir.
Reports of the new heir visiting their castle in secret.
The young boy that seemed to appear out of nowhere in their castle- Dulio Gesualdo.
Their joint training with the youkai. An apology he declared, but no formal letter of apology was ever sent to the Bael clan…curious. And why send your son with two unknown boys?
The recent engagement with the Gremorys was a curious affair too. A third son with an heir, at an age so young? Why is that?
Then there were reports from their campaign in Zimbabwe- elites going missing, inexplicably, too many to have escaped the purge, too few who resurfaced.
A façade, a mask.
There were sightings of a new kind of hellfire there too. Rumours mostly but, where there is smoke, there is fire.
Slowly, the picture began to come together, the missing pieces linked and a theory began to form in my mind.
This wasn't entirely Lord Phenex's doing. Nor was it Rigal's. There was a third cook in the kitchen.
Supporting Sairaorg Bael's claim- he could have done it easier and out in the open. The unusual secrecy behind it…that smelt fishy.
That party, something happened there, but not quite what they disclosed in public.
It clicked like a flash of inspiration.
Riser Phenex had added Sairaorg Bael to his peerage. The fear, the panic, the rushed apologies that weren't apologies. A joint training camp.
All to obfuscate the truth of that one mistake. That and the engagement with the Gremory girl- Lord Phenex, you cheeky bastard. Putting your hands in three separate pots. Naughty, naughty~
To seek shelter in the shadow of a Satan while plotting against house Bael. Lord Phenex has really grown an extra pair it would seem.
Then there was the boy- Dulio. He appears and then not a month later, they invade Zimbabwe? Coincidence? I think not!
The genocide of white farmers, an orphan boy, easy to seduce into service. But why? Why spend so much effort on a mere human-
A Longinus. The boy had to have a Longinus on him. Going by that logic and the walk-up to the disaster in that particular country…it was likely to be Zenith Tempest.
The DevilNet then- what could that be about? What am I not seeing?
I pulled out my reports on the Dotcom crash, a guide to the internet, the services offered therein, until one caught my attention- AOL.
A chatroom.
The internet is likely expensive, and the sheer effort it would take- this was the most probable answer. A chatroom, undercutting my UTL in service speed, probably cost them less per conversation too. And if they add contracts on each customer, perhaps if they were greedy enough, on each message? The sheer power they could accumulate!
No one knew the power of compounding, dividend paying contracts more than myself in this Underworld. A shame I hadn't considered it before. To have fallen into this rut, ahahahah!
I rested my face on my hand, leaning on the armrest as I swivelled in contemplation.
That power, I cannot let slip from my hands. Yet the costs…is it viable? Can I really afford to compete in what could well be a losing game?
No. I will wait. See how well they do. And then, it was simply a matter of copying their success.
I looked down at the copyright data, my eyes skimming across the paper as my expression turned uglier and uglier with each new word.
Faustian bargain. DevilNet. PhoenixNet. AjukaNet. Firebird. Wizard Browser. Even the names and functions of all related technologies and a charter for the Dimensional Gap?!
They had already sealed every avenue of entry. No name we could market had been left unchecked. Every piece of technology that could be replicated, nailed down in contract law. So thorough was it that even I would not have thought to do it in a thousand years.
The pettiness. The sheer expenditure. To throw around wealth like that…they must be really confident in it. That is worrying. Most of all because this sort of action lines up with neither the personality of the proud Lord Phenex nor the cunning of Rigal Phenex. This thoroughfare…it is a dangerous thought, but…
My eyes wandered back to the one variable that did not fit in.
Out thought by a ten-year-old. That line gave away more than he could have imagined.
Ruval was talented, yes, but he was no politician, nor did he have the business acumen to outthink Rigal Phenex. He wasn't bad at any of those per se, but he wasn't necessarily creative enough to shake them up.
No. This was the handiwork of Riser Phenex, as unbelievable as it might seem coming from a ten-year-old boy. The proof was undeniable.
The mysterious disappearances of stray devils in the Phenex territory. It was a small thing but I hadn't missed it. I just didn't have a course of action to pin it on. Experimentation was likely, but by whom?
Until now.
That new flame… and this idea for a DevilNet.
To have thought so far ahead, to induce such confidence in Lord Phenex and Rigal both, that they would take his word for it. That sort of faith does not appear in a mere day.
Riser Phenex's dossier.
A reckless battle prone personality, a tendency for simple minded decisions. Hah!
What a clever ploy, this brat!
The dossier burned within my grasp, reduced to ash as I felt my chest tighten.
I had only seen this happen once before in my long life, for a child to be trusted at their word, the proof behind that accomplishment, so well hidden all these years, more so than it had been, the last time such a genius appeared in the Underworld.
Ajuka Beelzebub.
And that concerned me even more. To have the thought to conceal yourself, your brilliance, at such a young age…this was not Lord Phenex's modus operandi.
No. It was Riser Phenex.
Another Ajuka Beelzebub, with the kind of caution only employed by one other devil in history- me.
Terrifying. A truly terrifying genius.
My instincts screamed at me.
No. Riser Phenex must die. Before he becomes a threat not even I can contain.
A response born of a primal fear deep within me. One I curtailed almost as soon as it appeared.
Deep breaths, deep breaths. Yes. Good. A decision must be made.
But not in haste. Never in anger or haste. If there was one thing I had learnt in all my years of life, it was that every decision must be made with a cool head and careful consideration.
Perhaps there could yet be a way to curtail the boy, control him, guide him, or perhaps even sweep in his blaze of glory, riding those coattails to a matching success.
Being in the good graces of such characters was always a welcome treat, that I had learnt from supporting the new government in its infancy and Ajuka in particular, a connection I had personally put in the effort to make in his childhood.
Perhaps the same could be done here.
Yes. I need more information.
I picked up the phone and called my most reliable subordinate.
"Lord Mephisto, it is an honour to be called upon. How may this humble warrior-"
"Yes, yes." I dismissed his pleasantries, "Dispense with the formalities, Tannin. I have a job for you. I want you to keep a constant eye on Riser Phenex, his every move, his every breath. Every thought he thinks, I want it listed. I want to know exactly what kind of devil he is, everything about him, everything around him. Can you do that, discreetly?"
"Yes, Lord Mephisto. It will be done."
"Good." I let out a breath I had been holding, a foul one full of doubt and fear, instinct long supressed and surpassed and intuition that still screamed at me to end him, "Good."
But I am better than that. Better than the shackles of my birth and blood. That is why I rose above the rabble then and it is why I keep rising evermore.
Fear is the mind-killer. It is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me, as it always has. And in its wake, I will remain. Untouched, unbowed, ascendant.
----------x----------
"Which one do you wanna watch first? The original trilogy or the new one. We also have some Disney movies, oh! And this one. It's going to release in theatres later this year but we got an advance copy- Monsters Inc.!"
"I wanna watch that!" Ravel grabbed it off my hands, fumbling with the packaging before I stopped her.
"Ravel." I cajoled her, "Sairaorg gets the first pick. Come on. Be a good girl. We can watch it afterwards."
"NO!" She shirked my hand grumpily, "I wanna watch this."
"Riser, it's okay. We can watch this first." Sairaorg grabbed my hand, and smiled gently at Ravel.
I sighed.
"Yay!" She cheered and put the CD in.
"Let it be, Riser. She will fall asleep far before you even finish the movie." My father chuckled understandingly.
"No, I won't!" Ravel stubbornly disagreed.
"Of course, sweet bird." My father patted her head and I gave in.
"Lady Misla, why don't we go and have a drink in the parlor, and let the kids enjoy their night?" My father recommended and Lady Misla nodded with purpose.
My father turned back to me one last time.
"Riser, you're responsible here. Don't stay up too late. It's only a sleepover if you actually go to sleep. Understood?"
I nodded.
"Good. You know where to find us if you need something."
With that they left us to enjoy our night.
----------x----------
"How have you been since our last meeting, Lady Misla? Has your health fared well?" Lady Phenex fired the opening shot.
"I'm not surprised you know." She resigned herself, "I suppose it couldn't be hidden forever."
"Neither can the cuts in your pension." Lord Phenex added, "Zekram is getting suspicious, isn't he?"
Letting go of the maids must have alerted him.
Her expression darkened slightly.
"Unfortunately, so it would seem."
"Then you understand why we cannot offer you any direct aid, yes?"
"I do." She sucked in a long, shrill breath, "That is not why I am here."
She produced a packet from her storage and placed it on the table.
"I have less than a year left." She spoke frankly this time, "After that…I fear for Sairaorg."
Lady Phenex's expression softened, she was a mother too, after all. She understood her worries.
"Don't worry, Lady Misla. We will take care of him. He will be treated no different from our own children."
"Were it that we met under better circumstances, I would be open to believing that. However…" Her pride, what shred remained wouldn't just let her accept charity wantonly.
She pushed the packet towards them.
"This is a nest egg I have saved up for just such a time as this. I don't know if he will be able to use it well or not but, consider it a token of my sincerity."
"There is no need for such a thing, my lady." Lord Phenex rejected it, "Speak plainly, we are not entirely heartless."
She looked at the both of them deeply for a moment before she replied.
"After I am… gone." That word nearly choked in her throat, "I hope to be placed in one of your facilities, perhaps at a discounted rate of care. I won't need much, just that I be near him. That he be allowed to visit, for my presence, however little it may be, to offer him some comfort for as long as it can. Not for long, mind you, only seven years. That is all."
"That can be arranged. We will also post guards among the staff in secret to watch over you. You need not fear for assassination." Lord Phenex assured her. He could read between the lines, he knew what she really wanted.
She let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you. You have no idea how much it means to me."
"No need to thank us my lady." Lord Phenex smiled, slyly, sliding her packet back to her, "However, there is something else you can do."
"The contract." She was no fool. She understood it before she had even agreed to come over.
"After all the loopholes you placed inside it, the contract that was voided the moment it actuated, you still want more?" She laughed self-deprecatingly.
"Just a little renegotiation. A promise, your word as bond." Lady Phenex broached the subject, "That the contract will be dissolved as per your wishes, come seven years' time."
"I won't even be alive to do with it whatever you fear." She argued, but they didn't fall for it.
"We know about the contingency." That was all it took.
She gave in. It wasn't like she had much choice anymore. Her pride was a mere shadow of its former self and her tempers had long cooled in the icy depths of the despair her sickness had wrought upon her. She had given up.
"As you wish." And the contract was made.
She sunk into the reclining chair and let the relief wash over her, finally content in her son's safety.
That was when Lord Phenex said something that completely rocked her world.
"Oh, and by the by, I had some good news for you, my lady." He smiled, like a man who had won a thousand victories in one, "Riser came up with a cure for the Sleep Disease."
"There's a cure?!" She couldn't help but exclaim, before she scanned the castle cautiously.
"We sent all the servants on a corporate retreat, just for this conversation. The secret is safe."
"Are you certain?" She asked, as if what she had heard was a dream.
"Yes, Riser worked hard to make it specifically for you. You may doubt it, but he really does cherish Sairaorg like a brother. He only wants the best for him and by extension, for you."
"But how- he's a child! A ten year old, barely-" She sputtered.
"So was Ajuka Beelzebub when he made the Evil Pieces. No older than twenty."
"Riser Phenex…" Her body went weak as she collapsed in her seat.
"When can I-?"
"It isn't complete yet, but by the time Sairaorg is ready, so shall it be." Lord Phenex explained, "So you will witness it yourself- his ascension to the throne."
Tears welled up in her eyes and she shook with sobs of joy.
"Thank you…" She spoke amid hiccups, "Thank you so much!"
"I am not the one you should be thanking my lady." Lord Phenex pointed out.
She looked up, her vision blurry as a sense of gratitude welled up within her along with a twinge of regret and guilt, with a side of shame.
"Yes." She smiled faintly, a little mischievous hint on its edges, "Allow me to thank the boy…after I wake up."
Lord and Lady Phenex chuckled.
"As you please, Lady Misla. As you please."
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The Lady Misla stone of regret on this story is resolved. Mephisto is onto MC.
And all the extra crap is dealt with.
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