章節 26: Family
"Hello there, little brother."
An extended silence blanketed the atmosphere.
"I'll see you later, Jake. I'll leave you to reconnect with your family," Luna said before turning and dashing off toward the castle's direction.
Even though it was the first time ever seeing him, Jake recognized the man standing before him. This redhead was none other than Sirzechs Gremory, his elder brother—a man renowned for his immense power, which, according to Serafall, could decimate entire continents with his power of destruction.
Jake was a bit nervous at this man suddenly appearing in front of him but he wasn't going to show it. A cocky grin formed on Jake's face, he lifted his hand, returning the greeting. "Hello there, big brother."
The breathtakingly beautiful maid with silvery-gray hair appeared slightly stunned by his nonchalant demeanor. Meanwhile, his elder brother simply observed him—an inscrutable gaze before an abrupt burst of laughter filled the air. "That's exactly how the men of our lineage should act! Never show any sign of backing down, regardless of whether the opponent is stronger," he commended, his smile broadening into an approving nod. Opening his arms wide in a welcoming gesture, he said, "Now then, why don't you come over here and give your loving older brother a hug?" His eyes shimmered with joy, filled to the brim with unshed tears.
"Um...what?" Jake inquired, slightly disturbed by the unexpectedly whimsical demeanor of his older brother, one of the strongest beings on the planet.
"If you won't come for a hug, then I'll come to you!" Sirzechs playfully exclaimed, beginning to stride towards his younger brother, arms still spread wide in anticipation of a warm embrace. "Come on, give Onii-chan a hug—oof!"
Before he could finish his sentence, a sudden punch from the silver-haired maid landed on his stomach, making him bend over in pain. "Ow, Grayfia… why..."
"Your actions were creeping out your younger brother, not to mention creating a rather unfavorable first impression," she chastised him, turning to Jake and executing a perfectly rehearsed curtsy—Something that Jake didn't think he had ever witnessed in real life before. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lord Jake. I am Grayfia Lucifuge, your older brother's wife, his queen, and a maid in the Gremory household. I must apologize for your elder brother's unconventional behavior. He has always had a fondness for the idea of having younger siblings."
Regaining his bearings, Sirzechs stood up, dusting himself off. "Sorry about that, little brother. I just couldn't contain my excitement at meeting you," he said, his face lighting up with a sincere smile.
Jake hadn't been sure what to expect from his first encounter with his older brother. He had envisioned a stern, formidable figure, emanating raw power, not this laid-back, friendly individual. Regardless, he had to give his brother credit for his excellent choice in a spouse. As he examined Grayfia from head to toe, he couldn't help but find her stunning, she was unbelievably beautiful, a perfect 11 out of 10!
A blush crept onto Grayfia's cheeks as Sirzechs guffawed in the background.
Jake's face turned a shade of red, suddenly realizing he had spoken that aloud. His older brother simply laughed harder, giving him an approving thumbs-up.
"As Gremory men, we settle for nothing less than the best," his older brother boasted, causing his wife's blush to deepen. Then, with a teasing smirk, he added, "And speaking of the best, I hear there's been some sparks between you and Serafall."
"She'd better not lay a finger on you until you're of age," Grayfia grumbled under her breath.
Jake shrugged off her concerns with a dismissive wave. "Don't worry, we've already discussed that," he said, with a small hint of longing.
Then, turning towards his brother in disbelief, he asked, "Can you believe that Serafall actually suggested I could date other women in the meantime?" The query was met with another burst of laughter from Sirzechs.
His older brother simply started explaining to him. "In the Underworld, it's quite the norm for powerful male Devils to have harems, you know. I myself had an entire harem of maids before I met Grayfia. But once I made her my wife—"
"All those worthless women were shown the door," Grayfia interjected, finishing his sentence for him. The bitterness in her voice was palpable as she continued, "They were just a group of gold digging hussies pretending to be maids! They were absolutely clueless about the nobility of the profession. A total disgrace!" She said bitterly. Also Jake realized that his older brother had quite a maid fetish it seemed. Jake couldn't help but be a bit jealous and found himself wondering if he could find a maid as hot and awesome as her in his future.
"I thought Serafall told me that we shouldn't see each other, otherwise there could be some repercussions on the timeline or something." Jake said Sirzechs.
Sirzechs told him that Ajuka had checked everything out and it was fine as long as Sirzechs stuck to a short visit and didn't interfere directly in Jake's matters.
"Getting back on track, the reason I wanted to see you," Sirzechs began, his face softened, and his eyes filled with genuine curiosity. "I've always been intrigued by you, Jake. Serafall has told me about your existence, and I was eager to see for myself the man you've grown into. You've lived a different life than mine, raised in foster homes. I would love to hear your story."
Jake's demeanor adopted a more serious tone. "Yeah, life hasn't been easy. But, I've learned to turn adversity into opportunity. Being on my own made me resourceful and taught me to face challenges head-on."
Sirzechs nodded, a proud glimmer in his eyes. "Your resilience was evident in your recent tournament challenge. I watched the entire event. You performed exceptionally, Jake. Your mastery of Serafall's Magic, particularly that 'Frozen Hell' spell, is truly remarkable." When it came to magic, Sirzechs was no empty flatterer. Jake's 'Frozen Hell' spell had genuinely impressed him, as it not only froze an entire ship solid but also pierced through the goblin silver and froze the pesky creatures at a cellular level, eliminating them instantly… Sirzechs was also a fan of giving his spells cool names and he approved of Jake doing the same.
A grin spread across Jake's face, his tone teetering between pride and playfulness. "Well, I can't let my big brother overshadow me completely, can I? Gotta prove what I'm made of."
Sirzechs chuckled, shaking his head. "You're quite the cocky one, Jake. But I admire your spirit. It reminds me of my younger self."
Jake shrugged nonchalantly. "Hey, it's in our blood, isn't it? We Gremorys have a reputation to maintain."
Sirzechs' eyes sparkled warmly. "Indeed we do, little brother. Speaking of family, I have something for you."
With a flourish, Sirzechs produced a small velvet box from his pocket. Jake's curiosity piqued as he opened it, revealing a set of Evil Pieces—tools used to establish devil peerages.
Jake immediately recognized them from Serafall's descriptions; he simply hadn't expected to receive his own set so soon, at least not before he visited the underworld himself.
Jake gaped in astonishment. "Are you serious? Evil Pieces? For me?"
Sirzechs nodded, a proud smile playing on his lips. "All you have to do is infuse each piece with your magic, and they'll become attuned to you. Ensure these pieces are always with you, specifically in your magical inventory. Misplaced pieces aren't easily replaced." He warned, to which Jake nodded in understanding.
"I know you've made some friends at this school already. Are any of them worthy of joining your peerage, potentially for thousands upon thousands of years?" He advised cautiously. "It's a decision that must be taken very seriously. Nobody wants to be stuck with someone they despise till the end of time."
Jake took his warning to heart, thinking about the few friends he had made at Hogwarts. Among all of them, there was one person he was absolutely certain he would make the offer to—a particular blonde Ravenclaw girl with a dreamy smile. Knowing her, she probably saw this whole situation coming anyway.
The heartfelt moment between the brothers unfortunately had to conclude, as Grayfia reminded her husband of his need to return to the underworld and resume his dreaded paperwork, to which Sirzechs reluctantly agreed.
Sirzechs placed a hand on Jake's shoulder, sincerity seeping through his voice. "Jake, remember, the road ahead won't be easy. But you possess the strength and potential to surmount any obstacle. I'm proud of the man you've become, and I have no doubt that you'll continue to uphold our family's pride. As for our father, I've been itching to confront him about you, but technically, you don't exist yet, and I wouldn't want to risk creating any time paradoxes. That conversation will have to wait a few years."
Jake wore a somewhat frightened expression. "Please don't risk erasing me from existence," he blurted out, eliciting laughter from both his brother and his wife.
With a final smile, Sirzechs vanished into thin air, leaving Jake alone in the forest, clutching the Evil Pieces. As his brother's words of pride sunk in, he beamed to himself, turning back towards the castle to find Luna.
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As Jake headed back to the castle, he held the box open in his hands, slowly infusing each piece with a smidgen of his magic to establish the link. The crowds that had once surrounded the place had mostly dispersed, leaving a few scattered witches and wizards who weren't faculty or students around, engaging in idle chatter.
Midway across the clearing towards the castle, he spotted Luna sitting on a rock, waiting for him. She waved him over.
"Your conversation seems to have not given you any Wrackspurts. I take it things went well?" Luna greeted him with a smile, to which Jake simply nodded affirmatively.
"That's good then," Luna said, then, without wasting a moment, she reached into his box of Evil Pieces and pulled one out. "This one. This is the one for me," she declared, holding up a Bishop piece to her chest.
"Whoa, Luna, hold up!" Jake interjected, attempting to halt her. "I haven't even explained to you what the Evil Pieces are, or what being a member of my peerage entails."
The piece in her hand shimmered as it gradually fused with her being, seeping into her chest. In response, Luna simply offered Jake a playful smile. "Oh, please, Jake. I already knew all about that, after all." She gestured towards her back, excitement alight in her eyes as two wings sprouted forth. "Now we can go flying together," she gleefully exclaimed.
Before any of the wizards or witches lingering around could catch sight of her newfound wings, Jake swiftly conjured an illusion spell to veil them from view.
Luna pouted at him, clearly displeased. These were her brand new wings, after all, and she had wanted to flaunt them! However, she also understood the consequences that such a revelation might bring. It might ironically lead to a witch – or rather, devil – hunt against them.
Jake just scratched his cheek in resigned amusement. "Well then, I guess you and I are going to be family for a long time now, isn't that right, Luna?"
Luna responded with a joyous nod, clutching his sleeve as she demanded that they go flying together. Jake transported them back to the Forbidden Forest, where they could take off into the sky without being observed, thanks to the thick canopy of trees shielding them from the ground. They spent the next couple of hours soaring over the sprawling forest, relishing the sight of the flora and fauna below, while Luna gleefully practiced her flying with her brand new wings. Luna adored the fact that she could now cast every spell she knew without needing her wand. She didn't possess her own spell circles yet to minimize the magical cost of casting, but Jake assumed that since she was now a member of House Gremory and his peerage, she could gain her spell circles when she visited the underworld, likely from either Serafall or his brother.
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After concluding their aerial adventure over the Forbidden Forest, Jake and Luna made their way back towards the castle for dinner. However, as they crossed one of Hogwarts' many courtyards, they heard sobbing.
Curious, Jake asked Luna to proceed ahead while he checked out the source of the crying.
The courtyard was illuminated in the soft, warm glow of the setting sun, casting elongated shadows across the lone bench where Fleur Delacour was seated, her head lowered in despair. Jake approached her with an empathetic expression. She had done especially poorly today and Jake had correctly figured that's why she was currently so down.
"Mind if I join you?" he asked.
She didn't respond immediately but nodded after a moment. Eventually, after sniffling a bit longer, she spoke. "I...I did terribly in the second task," she said, her voice trembling. "I was so confident of redeeming myself after embarrassingly electrocuting myself in the first task, and then it all fell apart when I got shot down immediately. And then I had to be saved by a little boy…" She trailed off bitterly.
"Well, it could be worse-" Jake started, only to be cut off.
"How could it be worse!? Now, I am zee laughing stock, and my entire school hates me!" She retorted angrily.
Jake retorted humorously, "Well, I mean, I'm pretty sure half your school hated you already. You're just so beautiful none of the other girls had a chance." Jake gave her a kind smile as he said that.
Fleur found herself blushing at the compliment from the Hogwarts champion. 'Beautiful'...She'd heard that word countless times over her seven years at school, but this was probably the first time someone had said it without their voice oozing with lust due to her allure. Taking a bold step for herself, she leaned towards Jake and planted a kiss on his cheek. Jake was a bit taken aback by her sudden move, but he definitely didn't dislike it!
"Thank you," Fleur said, appreciating his attempt to cheer her up. "Even if I have no map to assist me with the third task, I will still do my best to win." She had the renewed determination of a competitor in her eyes.
"Well, there's no rule that says you can't steal another champion's map," Jake joked again. However, upon noticing the look of realization on Fleur's face, he soon understood that it might actually be her only viable strategy.
Fleur herself was also deeply considering his advice. She knew he had said it jokingly, and there was no way she would take Jake's or Harry's maps after they had helped her…but if she encountered Victor in the maze…
Jake asked Fleur if she was feeling better, to which she confirmed that she was. She had a plan now to thrust herself back into the running for winning the tournament. Jake flashed Fleur a gentle smile and waved her goodbye as he prepared to head back and have dinner with Luna.
"Wait!" Fleur called out, seizing his arm before he could leave. Jake was a bit taken aback at her continued need for his company when she turned to him with a renewed blush on her face. "When the tournament is over and there are no more hard feelings from the competition, let's go on a date," she blurted out, her face flushed.
"What!?" Jake exclaimed. That had certainly come out of nowhere!
Fleur looked away, still embarrassed at her sudden confession. "I'm sorry, that was sudden," she admitted, her thick French accent permeating her words. "It's just that I was thinking about you being correct. All the girls at my school do hate me, and they always have. Because of that, I've been trying to make them like me by avoiding pursuing any boys during my entire time at school. Now that I'm graduating, I would like to, as they say, see what all the hype is about."
Jake was feeling conflicted. He'd been given permission to date other girls, and even his brother mentioned that harems were common in their society. A part of him wanted to turn her down, but...The proposition was just for a date, after all. It wasn't as if he was inviting her into his peerage or anything…he hardly knew her, after all. Still, thinking that it was okay to have some fun for himself, Jake agreed to go on a date with Fleur after the tournament. She gave him a beautiful happy smile as they parted ways.
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Jake returned to the Great Hall, aiming to have dinner with Luna. He quickly spotted her at the Gryffindor table, engaged in a conversation with Hermione.
"Sorry about that, Luna," Jake apologized as he sat down next to her, "I just had to cheer someone up." Luna pivoted towards Jake, excitement plastered across her face.
"Guess what!" She announced so loudly that the entire table could hear her, "I'm stronger than Dumbledore now!" She exclaimed with delight. Several other students, hearing her declaration, spat out their drinks. After considering what she had just blurted out, none of them believed her, leading to fits of laughter around the table.
"What the hell is she talking about!?"
"Stronger than Dumbledore? Don't make us laugh!"
"I didn't think Looney Lovegood could get any loonier, but clearly I was wrong."
Luna faced the whole table, unperturbed by their disbelief. She genuinely did possess more magical power than Dumbledore due to her Bishop piece! Jake clamped his hand over her mouth before she could blurt out any sensitive information.
In fact, when she had entered the Great Hall to dine earlier by herself, Dumbledore had glanced at her from the head table and froze in absolute shock. All his years of raising his magical prowess as high as possible through rigorous rituals and exercises were proven insignificant because a thirteen-year-old girl had just surpassed him…. At that moment, Albus had excused himself from dinner and retired to his office to lament his plight with his Phoenix, Fawkes.
"Eeeew gross Luna! Did you really have to lick my palm!" Jake said as he pulled his hand away from her and wiped it on a napkin. She just gave him a smug look at being able to speak again.
"So Jake, who was it that you were comforting out there and what were you two talking about that took you so long?" Luna queried, flashing him a playful knowing look.
"Oh, nothing much…" He raised his voice slightly and smirked, drawing the attention of the room. "Just that I've secured a date with Fleur Delacour, that's all!" He announced loudly, hoping to spark a wave of jealousy among the guys at the table.
"Whaaaaaaaaaaatttt!?" Rang out in collective disbelief around him.
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-POV Sirzechs Gremory-
Sirzechs and his wife had just teleported away after their conversation with Jake. Despite informing him that they were returning immediately to the underworld, to confront his arch-nemesis - paperwork, that was not, in fact, the case. No, the two of them had teleported to an entirely different location.
Sirzechs had some business to handle at this place, and it was likely to involve a considerable degree of violence. He knew his brother had already been forced to kill at an early age already, but what was to come was something he didn't want him exposed to just yet. This wasn't going to be in defense after all.
Sirzechs and his ever-loyal queen wore serious expressions on their faces as they ascended the steps of Gringotts Bank…
Nobody harmed his family and got away with it…nobody!
Two goblins, fully clad in their silver-steel armor, guarded the door. With just a small flare of his titanic magic power, both the goblins immediately soiled themselves in fear and dropped their weapons as they fled back into the bank.
"Monster!"
"Demon!" They shouted as they scrambled into the lobby as fast as their chainmail and stubby little legs could carry them.
The goblins tried to slam and lock the magically enforced doors behind them, doors that could even hold off the likes of Voldemort or Dumbledore at full power for nearly an hour. With just a twitch of his finger, Sirzechs released a small blast of destruction that completely reduced the doors to ash.
Every single being in the bank froze at such a blatant action! The patrons were shocked that these two had wantonly destroyed Gringotts property, while the goblins, seeing two of their strongest guards fleeing in abject terror, went on high alert.
"All non-goblins, leave immediately," Grayfia declared to all the bank's occupants. She followed her declaration by releasing a bit of her power for them to feel. Immediately, the smarter wizards and witches decided they could do their banking another day and fled through the destroyed doors.
"And why should a noble wizard such as I listen to someone who's dressed as a whore like yourself?" An irritating voice echoed from the other side of the bank. The voice belonged to a man with long blond hair, an arrogant demeanor, and a cane...not because he needed it, but because he thought it made him look more aristocratic.
Sirzechs, already furious at the goblins, felt his anger intensify at the blatant insult to his beloved wife! He flared his magic power even further, causing all the goblins in the lobby to tremble in absolute fear. Meanwhile, the arrogant man remained unaffected, for some reason.
Feeling her husband's power, yet seeing this man remain unaffected, Grayfia was slightly shocked. She was wondering what was happening before she focused some of her magic into her eyes and saw that this man had barely any magic at all! His magic power was so low that he couldn't even conceptually sense other people's magic!
"And who the hell are you?" Sirzechs demanded from the nearly squib noble.
The blond man just puffed up. "Listen here, you ignorant trash. I am the great Lucius Malfoy, and your very presence in this establishment offends me. I demand you leave immediately." He brandished his wand towards the two of them. "If you don't, then I'll be forced to remove your filth myself." He glared at them confidently.
The trembling goblins watching on just prayed for this poor fool's soul.
Sirzechs recognized the man's name from Serafall's reports. He had sent assassins after his younger brother. Sirzechs glared right back at Lucius. "I have business with you as well, but today I'm only here for the goblins. However, for daring to go against my beloved little brother, here's a parting gift!" Sirzechs snapped his fingers…
Lucius looked confused at this red-haired man's statement. "And what was that supposed to do?" He laughed as he prepared to cast a spell with his wand - his wand was gone…Lucius looked down at his arm, or rather, what was left of it. His entire arm and wand up to his elbow had been instantly vaporized by Sirzechs, leaving behind nothing but a scorched stump.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhhhh Myyy Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrmmmmmmmm!" Lucius screamed, clutching his stump in agony. "How dare you!" he screamed at Sirzechs, "I will have my rev-"
"Shut up," Grayfia interrupted him by blasting him with a wave of ice that sent the man careening dozens of meters right out of the bank into the streets. He was likely severely injured if that didn't outright kill him.
With the interruption dealt with, Sirzechs once again assumed a stone-cold expression as he turned to all the goblins left in the lobby. "Now then," He said. "Bring out your king right now! We are going to have a conversation…"
-End Chapter-
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