"Nura-san!" I greeted Nurarihyon and sat down opposite him.
"What do you want now brat? Want me to get on with the second one?" Nurarihyon measured his words and skirted around the secrecy of the contract, but it was clear to me that he was not pleased, being called over suddenly.
"Something like that." I replied vaguely and waited for the serving boy to leave after serving us tea, "I apologize for the sudden nature of this meeting. I won't keep you from your duties for long."
It had been three days since my meeting with Cleria and a little over a week since Glenda's death. The court date was yesterday, which meant it was time to rescue Lavinia.
Just one problem before I can do that. I need justification for how I know about her, and who better to provide it than Nurarihyon.
Magari was out training the other two and I had taken a half day from the training, just for this. To negotiate.
As soon as the catboy left, I put up a security spell and warded the room with silence and non-detection before I spoke.
"I need a little help-"
"No." He rejected me outright.
"But you haven't even heard it!" I protested.
"I am not doing you any more favours brat! I learnt that lesson the hard way." Nurarihyon sipped his tea, "And didn't you make a deal that you wouldn't ask for any more favours?"
"Aaaand I'm here to amend that deal." I gestured with my hands wide in generosity, "What do you say?"
"Talk."
I smiled. There we go.
"Today, I'm going to adopt the girl we talked about."
"You mean kidnap." He smirked.
I shrugged.
"Same thing. I need you to cover for me in front of my family, tell them, if they ask, that you gave me the information. I have a cover story prepared." I explained, "You were perving on Glenda and happened upon these documents and plans for artificial sacred gear research.
Seeing the value in these documents, you stole them, hoping to sell them to me to make a profit off of it, but then she was assassinated, in a conspiracy within Oz, so you grabbed what you could and booked it.
Now you could just take the girl but you have no interest in her and neither do you want the heat from the political fallout of the wizards targeting your faction. Especially since the one after the girl is Augusta, Witch Of The East and wielder of the Longinus Incinerate Anthem.
So you sold them to me for one vial of Phoenix Tears and the promise of one more if we manage to recruit the girl and she does indeed possess a sacred gear."
"Good cover. But you forgot one thing. What do I get for it? And why would I do such a thing for you?"
"What, two Phoenix Tears not enough for you?" I scoffed, "Be reasonable."
"I am being reasonable." He said in a mocking tone, throwing my own words back at me.
Petty bastard. How dare you use my own spells against me?
"You're seriously holding a grudge against me because of that?" I asked sourly, "I am ten years old. You're a grown man. Have some shame!"
"No, I don't think I will." He refused again, with a smug look on his face.
He's really enjoying this, isn't he?
I was almost expecting a 'My oh my, how the turntables!' from him.
"When you messed up with Glenda, wasn't I gracious? Didn't I forgive your mistake? When you offered Sun Wukong to take me to and from Preta Hell, didn't I adjust my request, generously? In spirit of that, shouldn't you reciprocate a little?"
"Hmm…I don't feel like it." He laughed all coy, "But then again, I'm not the one who needs help, am I?"
Dammit!
I made a mistake. Should have gotten an extra favour from him in exchange for letting him sub-in Sun Wukong. He really was desperate back there.
Some people really don't deserve mercy.
"What do you want?" I gave in.
"Three vials of Phoenix Tears, and I don't have to kidnap Vali Lucifer."
"Two vials and you'll owe me two favours." I countered.
"Three vials and one favour. And I get to reject it if I don't like it."
"In addition to covering for me? And you can reject it but you'll still owe me a favour."
He thought about it for a moment.
"Sure, if you offer four Phoenix Tears, but only because I'm feeling generous today."
I frowned.
I'd hate to give up on Vali but what choice do I have now?
Unless, I can simply have him bring himself to me.
Yes, this could work.
"Four Phenex Tears but you owe me one favour, not including covering for me. You can reject it if you don't like it, but you'll still owe me a favour. I get to ask for favours again. And, you deliver a message to Vali Lucifer for me. And, again, all of this remains a secret between the two of us."
"How is that any different from kidnapping him?" Nurarihyon asked, amused.
"It is different. You don't draw the eye of Rizevim, your faction remains unimplicated, and you get to be in the good graces of the future head of the Lucifer clan, when he escapes on his own. And it doesn't cost you a thing!
You should know the value of having someone like that in your back pocket. The boy has potential, you'll know when you see him." I replied.
He looked at me, gauging my intent before he fell into thought.
Well, the fact that he's considering it is a good sign at least.
"Five Phoenix Tears." He said after deliberation and I nearly burst a vein.
"Four and that's the final offer." I was firm on it.
We glared at each other in a standoff for a long while before he cracked.
"Bah! Fine! But you better be grateful for it boy." He took my hand.
"Deal!"
----------x----------
"Nurarihyon gave this to you?" My father confirmed for the third time.
I nodded.
"Yes. One Phoenix Tear now, two after we recruit her, if she has a sacred gear. One more to keep quiet about it."
"That is steep. Which sacred gear does she have?"
"The research he saw in Oz suggests it's an Independent Avatar-type sacred gear. They are trying to create their own artificial sacred gears and that seems to be the direction they're heading."
"It's also the easiest direction to head to." Ruval said, stroking his chin, "It's basically a familiar contract extended to the soul. Chimeras are already standard practice among magicians. Combining those two, if they copy the mechanisms of a sacred gear… this could be very useful."
"Another benefit for us. Augusta, Witch Of The East and wielder of the Longinus Incinerate Anthem will be there too. She wants the girl to study her sacred gear. Maybe we can negotiate with her for the research data." I said, "Imagine being able to manufacture an army of artificial sacred gears made from monsters from the Familiar Forest, or even a new Longinus, if we manage to capture one of the legendary monsters, like Typhon or Ladon. Another card in the hands of house Phenex. A single Longinus possesses the potential to turn the user into a Satan Class powerhouse. Having a few of those…"
"This might indeed turn out to be a blessing in disguise." My father agreed, "Good job, Riser."
"Thanks dad, but I have one more idea." I added with a grin, "If the Wizards of Oz actually succeed in creating a method to extended the familiar contract to the level of a sacred gear, there might be a secret third benefit for us.
Turning Independent Avatar-type sacred gears into our familiars. Applying the concept of 'taming' on Beast-type sacred gears.
There is even a Longinus, Canis Lykaon that is a literal dog. Turning that into a familiar will give us another Longinus in our hands, as long as we can find the user before they grow too powerful. There's also Regulus Nemea, and the Four Fiends.
Especially because most people can't wield more than one sacred gear, but they can certainly tame as many familiars as they want, bypassing the strain of having a sacred gear!"
My father's eyes widened, and Ruval whistled.
"Riser. Brilliant work, as always." My father praised.
"Ufufufu~ Isn't my son the bestest?" My mother cuddled me up in her bosom, petting my head happily.
"He certainly is." Ruval laughed.
"Ruval, go with Riser. Take... which legions are available right now?" My father asked.
"1st and 5th." Ruval answered, "I'll take the first. It's a quick little trip. We'll be back before anyone notices."
"Take both." My father said.
"There really is no need…" Ruval argued, "And to leave the territory so unmanned."
"Call back the third legion from Zimbabwe for the day." My father shook his head, "I will not risk your lives against a Longinus. Do not look down on her just because she is a human. All it will take is a stray shot and you could be permanently scarred, or worse."
The concern warmed my heart. But there is such a thing as overprotective.
"We'll be discussing some sensitive information there. What if-" I said but my father cut me off.
"Our legions are loyal. None of them would reveal a thing. No secret is worth losing your lives over." He said, "And that's final. Better to negotiate from a position of absolute power than as equals."
"If you say so." Ruval shrugged.
"Let's go then." I hugged my mother one more time before I separated and jumped to my feet.
----------x----------
It was cold. It was always so, so cold.
Ever since the day the doll showed up. That day- that-
She shivered as she hid in the corner of her bed, all wrapped up in the thin sheets stained with her tears.
The world was so, so cold.
A tear streaked down her cheek but froze halfway down into a trail of sleet.
And the doll looked at her, its hollow eyes piercing through her, the same way they had always done, the way they had pierced through her parents.
Midsummer snow. Sudden landslide. The cries for help as she was buried under it all. And the hollow eyes of the doll, staring, staring.
She begged, she cried, she screamed for help, until her throat ran dry and her heart froze over.
As her parents lay there dying, clutching her in their embrace, like a vice grip of love.
The doll stared. Endlessly. Waiting, watching.
Three meters tall, with imposing, hollow eyes and visored face, it four skeletal arms draping across its skeletal ice frame, thin insectoid wings made of sleet and a crown of icicles. It wore a dress gown that shimmered in the light, something a child would have looked upon with awe, were it not for the haunting image it portrayed. A regal sight. A queen of ice. With a heart to match.
It followed her everywhere she went, mere three steps away, haunting her like a spectre. Never helping, never talking, never doing anything other than watch. Just watch.
Stealing away all the warmth in her life, both figuratively and literally.
Since the day they died, she had never felt warmth ever again.
She had done everything she could to it. Screamed at it, hit it till her hands rubbed raw, till her voice ran dry and they put her away. Locked in the room. Away from everyone else.
Because she was a bad girl.
Schizophrenic. Delusional. Effects of childhood trauma.
No one believed her. They never believed her. Because they couldn't see it. The doll. Only she could. It was her personal hell.
She grit her teeth and tried to muster up the hate she needed to glare at it, the hateful thing, as if in defiance, but the pain in her heart had long died, turning into the faint bitterness of defeat and learned helplessness imposed upon her by fate.
No one wanted her after the accident. No one. Not her aunts and uncles, grandmothers and grandfathers.
'You don't belong here.' Her cousins had said. She didn't belong anywhere.
'It's just not a good time, you understand, right?' Her aunt lied. Never a good time. Never for her.
'Cursed child!' Her grandmother beat her with her cane in front of the family, and no one stopped her.
Everyone left her. All alone. Even when they said she was going to be adopted soon… the lady didn't show up. No one cared.
They never showed up. It was all because of her. She was a bad child. A bad girl. She had killed her family. This was her punishment. That's why the doll showed up. She was a bad girl. If she hadn't insisted on going down the slope one more time. If she had eaten her vegetables. If she hadn't asked for ice cream. If she…if she…
She bit her lip as the tears threatened to flow again, holding them back with all her heart because she knew they would only freeze and she would be colder still.
"I'm a bad girl." She rocked herself back and forth, "I don't deserve a family. It's all my fault. It's- I'm…" She sniffled, the tears slowly flowing down her cheek.
Flowing down… her cheek?
She reached out a hesitant hand, to feel it, the tears. Her hand was wet.
It was… wet.
And a voice, soft and gentle. Filled with warmth she hadn't felt in forever asked.
"Do you really believe that?"
...................................................
Finally, Lavinia Reni is here!
The sausage fest is at an end.
Tell me what you think of the chapter.
I have also rewritten the previous chapters and deleted the "No chapter today" notices, so you might notice the number of chapters is different.
Anyways, thanks for reading!
Don't forget to donate you powerstones. The promised extra chapters are coming! Wait just a bit.
Thanks.
Bye~