章節 16: Chapter 16: Esdeath's Desire
(Third Person)
At long last, Avalon had returned home.
For three long years he had been forced to live without both ice cream and Levi-tan, a truly torturous existence that he had persevered through.
Avalon looked down, watching as a wolf with light-blue fur, similar to the color of Esdeath's hair rubbed its snout against his shin.
"Adaloth."
"Yes?"
"Are you really going to keep him?"
"Of course, Avalanche is a part of our family from now on," Adaloth reached down to pet his head.
'Avalanche? That's a creative name to say the least.' He had a pretty strange name for a Devil, so he wouldn't judge the Demonic Beast too much.
"I think it'll be nice to have some fluffy company from now on," Venelana agreed. Unlike Zeoticus who had multiple concerns about raising the creature, especially since they were known to grow exceedingly large.
Even though Avalanche was only a puppy age-wise, he was already slightly bigger than a fully grown wolf from the human world.
"Woof!" For some reason, Avalanche was even more attached to Avalon than he was Adaloth.
One would almost think the wolf considered Avalon his kin.
"Just make sure you feed him properly, Demonic Beasts are not fun to deal with when they get hungry, believe me." Zeoticus seemingly recalled a horrid memory from his childhood between himself and Klauth.
Adaloth wasn't worried, she had cared for a hoard of huskies in her past life. How much trouble could one wolf possibly bring?
"Speaking of fluffy company," Adaloth looked around. "Where's Tomoe?"
The Youkai had been with them during the trip back, but was suddenly nowhere to be seen.
"He's back in his spirit form," Avalon replied plainly, refusing to elaborate as he walked over to the couch while supporting himself with the self-adjusting crutch Ajuka had given him.
"Is that what the tattoo on your back is for?" Adaloth said, causing Avalon to halt as if it time itself had come to a stop.
"Eh?" Zeoticus blinked.
"Tattoo?" Venelana repeated, her demeanor undergoing a noticeable shift. "Sweetie, what is she talking about?"
Nervous beads of sweat started to drip down Avalon's skin, he cursed Adaloth in his mind with fury unlike anything else he had experienced as Venelana drew closer to him, putting her hand on his shoulder in a menacing fashion.
"Avalon, show me your back."
"It's bad luck to pick on a cripple you know?" He tried to defend himself, but there was only so much he was capable of doing in his heavily weakened state.
Venelana lifted up his shirt without hesitation, gasping as she saw the image of a behemothic white fox with a raging expression, nine tails, dark purple eyes, and bright blue flames spewing out of its mouth.
"It's not a tattoo, it's a seal for Tomoe. He's housed inside my body," at this point there was nothing else he could do but confess.
Exactly as Adaloth had planned.
"As if I'd believe that! Familiars don't require such measures, and why would you even seal him inside your body of all places?" Venelana paused, recalling the strange presence she had sensed around Tomoe when they had interacted back at Ajuka's estate. "Tomoe isn't a familiar, is he?"
"I mean, he is a contracted spirit, so by definition he's technically a familiar?" He answered with a nervous chuckle, his psyche slowly succumbing to his mother's encroaching aura.
"I'm not in the mood for games," Venelana said, coupled with an affirmative nod from Adaloth.
Zeoticus on the other hand decided to take this chance to discreetly scoot away, he knew better than to remain around Gremory women when they were unhappy.
"Tomoe's a Youkai, he's a part of me the same way Souji's Youkai are for him."
"And?"
"Eh?" He blurted out in Zeoticus-like fashion.
"Don't play dumb, I can tell when you're withholding information." Once again, Adaloth cheered on her mother.
Avalon groaned, finding himself helpless under the keen senses of his mother.
"Before he was sealed into me, he was sealed into a Demonic Sword called Muramasa." Avalon held his hand out, calling forth the freakishly-long blade. "I wouldn't have been able to beat Armaros without him, so I think it was worth it."
"It's not about whether it's worth it or not, it's about whether it's safe or not." Venelana sighed, continuing to earn Adaloth's fierce approval.
"There's no need to worry, me and Tomoe have already laid out unbreakable terms between one another before he was sealed into me. If he wanted to do me any harm, he would've already done so by now."
A conflicted expression appeared on Venelana's face as she watched him walk over to the couch, her eyes paying close attention to his blindfold and the newly acquired CAD that he was wearing.
Both Avalon's and Adaloth's bodies were double-edged swords in their own right, it was ironic in a way, one child's power was a danger to everyone around her, and the other's was a danger to himself.
However, Adaloth's problem was one that would be cured with time, whereas Avalon's depended on external assistance, or in simpler terms, life support.
If it weren't for Ajuka, just what kind of situation would he be in at the moment?
She felt truly indebted to the Satan.
It had been three years since they had been able to properly spend time together, yet Avalon couldn't even look at his own mother, father, or sister's face.
99% of the time, everyone around him was just an outline.
She couldn't help but wonder what it felt like to live as he did.
Did it hurt?
Did it not?
Did Avalon wish he wasn't born as he was?
Was he happy with his life as is?
Or did he not care altogether?
She didn't know.
Depending on how the war progressed, there was no guarantee they'd be together for very long again. Avalon and Adaloth could be called back to the battlefield at any moment given their strength.
However, now wasn't the day for intensive family-bonding, they had more than earned their rest.
After all, the twins were now war heroes.
Avalon breathed a relieved groan as he parked his butt on the couch with a tub of belgian chocolate ice cream in his lap, in the exact same spot that he had claimed three years ago.
There truly was no life that suited him better than that of a couch potato.
But as he leaned forwards to pick up the remote, he was hit with a sudden realisation.
He wasn't five anymore, he couldn't just take off his blindfold whenever he pleased.
And more importantly, this meant he couldn't watch Levi-tan.
"My life has lost all purpose," he said in a flat tone of voice, leaning back into one of the pillows. "Ahhhh, now I'm depressed."
"It wasn't even that good of a show," Adaloth rolled her eyes, sitting down next to him and picking up the remote to watch her preferred channel.
"Wasn't even that— You take that back! Take it back right now!" Avalon flailed his arms at Adaloth, the latter just ignoring him as she continued to stare at the screen.
"Oi! I'm talking to you! I said take it back!"
Again, he was ignored.
"Levi-tan isn't even airing anymore, so I don't see why you're making such a big fuss."
Avalon's complexion paled, as if he had just witnessed the passing of a loved one.
"W-What did you just say…?"
"Lady Leviathan is a Satan, where's she supposed to find the time to put on that ridiculous costume during a war?"
"T-This can't be…"
[I'm afraid she speaks the truth. Young Lord, Magical Girl Levi-tan went on hiatus three years ago.] Pandorica confirmed the horrific reality for him.
And from that day onwards, Avalon swore to hunt down every last Fallen Angel himself if he had to, all for the sake of restoring Levi-tan to its rightful place on every television in the Underworld.
The war was now personal.
No longer knowing what to use as entertainment, Avalon's eyes wandered around the room, eventually landing on the sling Adaloth was using to support her right arm.
"Did you use it?" He asked.
"Use what?"
"That seal we made, the one that I'm pretty sure me and Mathers deemed as a complete failure."
Some time ago, Mathers had decided to enlist Avalon's help to create a one-time-use seal that would allow Adaloth to unleash a single attack with all her power under control.
The Bishop had taken inspiration from how Ajuka imbued his Demonic Power into the blindfold Avalon wore, infusing a seal with Avalon's Demonic Power in hopes that it would produce a similar result.
But the product had been completely ineffective, in theory it might be possible for Avalon's control to substitute for Adaloth's lack of it, but a seal was clearly not the right path towards achieving that.
Therefore, Mathers scrapped the project, deciding to explore other avenues instead.
Adaloth's silence confirmed his suspicions.
"I don't know why you even have them, but you're lucky your arm didn't rot off. I'd suggest refraining from using it in the future, if you happen to have more than one of them for some reason."
That was the only time Avalon had gotten involved in Mathers and Adaloth's training, so he wasn't sure how they operated.
"That seal is the only reason I managed to reach you in time, you should be grateful if anything."
"I know, and I am. Gratitude and concern aren't exclusive to one another."
"Oh? You're concerned about me?" She leaned towards him with a mischievous smile. "Then why don't you offer your sister a little help to make up for the heroic sacrifice she made for you?"
He noticed her eyes lingering around the tub of ice cream he was eating from.
"Fine," he said despite knowing full well that Adaloth was ambidextrous.
He scooped some of the frosty goodness up, holding it up to her mouth as she wrapped her lips around it.
"Good boy," she patted his head in an annoying manner, tempting him to bite her hand in retribution.
"Ruff!" Avalanche climbed up onto the couch, also eager to get a scoop for himself.
'Pandorica, is he allergic to chocolate?'
[No, Demonic Beasts are known to consume anything and everything they come across. Including people.]
'Alright, I didn't need to know that last part.'
"Here you go," he gave Avalanche a spoon full as well, proceeding to scratch the Gremory Household's adorable new fluffy friend on the chin.
And then he looked towards Adaloth, seemingly having remembered something. "When you fought your Cadre, did they happen to use a chess piece or something?"
"A chess piece? No, they were wearing armor, but that's about it."
Avalon hummed, recalling that Lars had been the only one to successfully recover a piece, since Sahariel had died just before he could pop it into his mouth.
Penemue on the other hand, had died before she could even think about using it.
The Bishop had later handed it to Ajuka in hopes of learning more about it, but all they got in return was stunned silence alongside a look of stark disapproval that only Avalon had picked up on.
'Can you find anything about it for me?'
[Apologies Young Lord, access to that information has been restricted from me. You'll have to ask the Lord directly if you wish to know more.]
Whatever the chess piece was, it was clearly important.
"Why do you ask?"
"No reason in particular, just morbid curiosity." The truth was that Avalon's eyes made it clear to him that the chess piece Armaros had used, and the Evil Pieces he used, were alarmingly similar in composition.
[Young Lord, there is no reason for you to doubt the Lord's intentions.]
'Good people can do stupid things, Lord Beelzebub is definitely a good person, but that alone doesn't mean he can't make a mistake or two.'
[Young Lord…]
'Don't worry, my very ability to exist is attributed to him. He'll always be in my good book.'
…
Time continued to idle by for both Adaloth and Avalon, the sky looming over the Underworld starting to darken.
"It's about time he arrived," Avalon said out of the blue, stretching his arm over the couch and unleashing a single string of Demonic Power derived from Souji's technique, wrapping it around the front door knob and opening it with the tug of his hand.
On the other side of the door, was none other than Lars, who had a slightly befuddled expression on his face before breathing a faint exhale.
Even in his current state, Avalon's senses were more than capable of covering the entirety of the Gremory Household.
"That was a little unnecessary don't you think?"
Now that Lars was a part of Avalon's peerage, it was only natural that he would be living with him.
The only reason he hadn't been immediately brought over, was that Avalon wanted Lars to have a chance to say his goodbyes to everyone in the Valen Clan, as well as letting him bring his belongings over.
"I can't help it, I'm a show-off by nature." Avalon attempted to somersault over the couch like usual, but Adaloth was quick to hold him down with her arm.
"You're still injured, idiot." She sighed, her brother's lack of self-preservation no longer being new to her.
"Hmph, first Levi-tan, and now my signature greeting. How much more does this world plan to take away from me?" He pouted.
Avalon looked over the couch once more, noticing that there was a figure whom he hadn't expected to be there.
"Esdeath? What are you doing here?" He tilted his head in confusion, followed by Adaloth also shooting a curious glance towards the front door.
"There's something I want to talk to you about," she said with a noticeable amount of resolution.
"Something that we couldn't discuss over text?"
That statement raised an alarm in Adaloth's head.
"Since when did you have her phone number?" She glared at him.
But Avalon chose to pretend as if he hadn't heard a thing.
"Yes, it needed to be in person." Esdeath replied.
'This conversation isn't over,' Adaloth grumbled internally.
"Alright then, I guess there's no better time than the present." Avalon put his arm near the crutch, causing it to automatically latch onto him while he hauled himself to his feet, facing Esdeath with an expectant look.
"I want to join your peerage," both Lars and Adaloth raised their eyebrows and turned to Esdeath at the same time.
'Maybe I should've just let Lars handle her after all,' Avalon pursed his lips, a sense of conflict stirring within him.
"Not interested," Avalon replied immediately, shocking his Bishop and Queen even more.
"W-What…?" Esdeath was taken aback.
"You're making an impulse decision, I don't trust you enough as you are now to accept it. That's all," he was quick to sit back down on the couch, causing Esdeath to rush over to him.
"It's not an impulse decision! I want to-"
"To fight with me? You can do that without joining my peerage," he read her like an open book. "Joining a peerage requires you to fight for your King, not just with them."
"Is there a difference?"
"Yes, there's a difference, and there's a lot more you'll have to do beyond fighting. I understand your desire to fight, I share it after all, but that's something you can do with or without joining my peerage. So you wanting to join it for that reason is meaningless to me."
He didn't mince any of his words, choosing to be as clear and concise as he could be.
"So you think you don't know what I'm signing up for? Is that it?" Of course, being rejected in such a flippant manner didn't put Esdeath in the best of moods.
"Pretty much," he replied while munching on a box of cookies. "What would you even gain from joining my peerage? All you would be doing is fighting the same fight under a different banner, have you even thought about what kind of future you want?"
That last part sent Esdeath into deep thought.
Avalon was right, she hadn't considered what kind of future she wanted.
Klauth had still not named her Heiress, nor did he seem intent on pushing her into the role.
"Then what about you? What kind of future do you want?" Esdeath asked him.
"To become a Satan," Adaloth and Lars were already well aware of his ambition.
"A Satan…" She murmured with widened eyes.
"At least spend the night mulling over your choice, if you still feel the same way in the morning then I'll consider it. But in the meantime," he raised the box of treats towards her. "How about a cookie?"
"Junk food isn't good for you," she dismissed the offer.
He shrugged, taking more of the baked goods for himself. "Your loss, you can go ahead and take any of the guest rooms for yourself. I'll probably pass out on the couch soon enough."
"And make me carry you to your room like usual," Adaloth added.
"It's good to know that I can count you," he patted her shoulder with a punchable grin plastered on his face.
Lars went to set up his things in his new room, and Esdeath to brood over the food for thought Avalon had given her, leaving the twins alone on the living room couch.
"You're always so needlessly cautious when it comes to Esdeath, she said she wanted to join your peerage herself, what reason is there to hesitate?"
"Joining a peerage is pretty much a life-long decision, is it so wrong that I want to give her more time to deliberate on it?" He retorted.
"Is that really all it is?"
Avalon frowned. "What are you trying to say?"
"Nothing grave, it's just that you seem to care an awful lot about her. I'd even go as far as to say you're being a little overprotective," if Avalon didn't have his blindfold on, he'd be met with the harrowing sight of her piercing yellow eyes staring a hole through him.
"You think I have a thing for her?" He wasn't interested in beating around the bush.
"Do you?"
"No, I do not," he scoffed.
'Good, there's only one person you need to have such emotions for. I have no patience for interlopers.'
"I'm merely showing a reasonable amount of concern for someone of her age and mentality, if you want to interpret that as something else then be my guest."
"There's no need to be so uppity dear brother, if you just want to give her some more time then there's nothing wrong with that."
"Your words tell me one thing, your tone of voice another."
"Oh my, to think you're paying such intricate attention to me. I'm flattered," she rested her head against his shoulder, earning a disgruntled groan from him in return. "I wonder, maybe I'm the one you have a thing for?"
"Maybe in another reincarnation," he said without hesitation.
"Your words tell me one thing, your tone of voice another." Adaloth decided to return his phrase.
"Very funny," he replied flatly.
'You know you like it, you're just scared of the shame. My poor heartbroken Adrian, don't worry, I'll mend all of the wounds of your heart one step at a time. Even if it takes thousands of years, I'll always be the one you come back to.'
She smiled, thoroughly enjoying the position she was in.
'No matter how many times I have to break you down, I'll be the one to build you right back up until you understand that I'm the only one you need to have a connection with.'
---
This chapter and the next are basically Esdeath-centered, and from chapter 18 onwards is when the next "sub-arc" if you will properly begins with the introduction of a certain character.
As for those asking whether this is harem or not— the answer would depend on what you define as harem.
Like usual, if you have any questions or suggestions drop them here and I'll either respond to them directly or respond to them in these little post-chapter sections like I've just done.
7 Advance Chapters on the Patreon! (Probably 8 or more before the next chapter comes out considering my current writing pace.)
patreon.com/Accel14
The discord's also here if you wanna join that.
https://discord.gg/wNzT9AEsaz
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