Chapter 114: -To More Than I Can Be
He stared at the two.
First, he looked at Yasaka, who seemed about as calm as one could be. He tried to read her through his Life Sense, but he knew it was useless. She was a master of Senjutsu, after all. There was no way he'd read anything but what she wanted.
Serafall wasn't much better, sitting there like a happy child waiting for… something. She wasn't a master of life energy usage, but she was no doubt good enough to hide from his senses whatever she wanted to. There was no way he'd get anything from her, or Yasaka.
His senses, his spells, they were all useless at reading them. Maybe if he'd been home but… He'd never really had a reason to have something to read them with. So, he'd have to do this the hard way, thinking about it.
Unfortunately… he didn't even know what to do here.
They meant it though, what they were saying. Joshua believed that much even if he didn't understand why or how it had all come to be. Were it anyone else, he might have thought it was a joke, or a trick, or something else. He trusted Yasaka and Serafall though. They were friends and close ones at that. They knew how he was, maybe even better than he knew himself.
So… there was no way they'd say something like that, without meaning it.
He wanted to believe that, at least.
Hence his internal panic at that moment, because he didn't know what to do. How was he supposed to answer that? What was he supposed to say? What was he supposed to feel?
Because he was fairly sure that the unending confusion and nerves he was feeling wasn't how it was supposed to go.
"Joshua," Yasaka said, snapping him out of spiraling thoughts, if only by scaring him even more. Did they want an answer right the- "Joshua, breathe," she told him softly and he let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. "Relax."
"Everything's fine, Josh," Serafall joined in, her smile widening a little. "We know you aren't… used to this kind of thing," she said and he almost wanted to laugh at that. If that wasn't an understatement, then he didn't know what was. "Take your time, there's no rush."
Joshua opened his mouth to say something then, maybe a thank you, or a question, or… a number of things, but his mind was such a mess all of a sudden that he just ended up saying nothing and closing his mouth again. How had things gone from nice and calm to… whatever the fuck all that was? It was safe to say that he hadn't seen that coming.
In hindsight though, as he tried to process things… maybe he shouldn't have been so surprised, he supposed. Looking back at things, both of them had acted strangely at times. In a way that he now could guess pointed in this direction. He'd just never realized what it was, at all. Or maybe it was more accurate that he hadn't thought it was possible, thinking it all wishful thinking and misunderstandings.
In his defense… Romance had never been a thing that was prominent in his mind. At times he'd wonder if he would ever meet someone to spend his life with, or even share a temporary relationship. Maybe he'd think like that about certain people at times, especially the two in front of him but… It had always been just idle thoughts at best, however. A daydream and a fantasy, something for the future that was unlikely to happen or something that just wouldn't happen at all.
A soothing feeling washed over him, foreign but calming. Joshua knew where it came from immediately. The Charm and his connection to the Egyptian Pantheon. He appreciated the nudge, because he felt like he was a wreck, but this was personal and private, so…
'Leave, please,' he thought and, surprisingly, the deities listened. Some seemed to grumble and protest, but all of them left in the end. For that alone, he was grateful, at least.
"I… don't know how to feel… What to say…" he managed to mumble eventually, finding the words even if they weren't what he'd have liked to say and likely weren't what the two women wanted to hear. He was a mess though, and he was a-
"Joshua, we understand," Yasaka reassured him, making him deflate both because he felt useless and because he was relieved to hear that. "It's one of the reasons we waited. We didn't want to overwhelm you when you had things to focus on, things to worry about."
"We also didn't want to wait forever though, so… sorry if we were a little impatient," Serafall continued and it took Joshua less than a second to realize that they were working together on this. Not a surprise, considering how they had approached things but still…
'I need to think,' he realized, because he was letting the emotions get him and he needed to cool down his brain else he let things get worse. 'So, think,' he urged himself…
And so he did. He pushed aside the emotions and tried to be more factual, using the same process he would a spell. Process the information, the meaning and how to move forward.
They liked him, he was working with the assumption that they actually did. They were working on this together too. That, together with the world he was in connected to a dot that… confused him even more. 'See the facts,' he told himself. Because he'd have thought someone liking him improbable before, so what was a little more, right?
They liked him… and they wanted to be with him… both?
'And I thought the world already didn't make sense,' Joshua thought to himself.
"Why would you even-?" he started asking, before his eyes widened and he leaned back a little. The looks on both women's faces was plenty scary, he wasn't ashamed to admit.
"I do hope you weren't going to ask why we like you, Joshua," Yasaka said, making him gulp. He was suddenly very aware that these two were insanely strong, something that strangely enough didn't come up much in his mind. "I do believe you know what most of my reasons are, but I'll add some you might not be aware of," the youkai continued after a moment, relaxing a little, much to Joshua's relief.
Indeed, he could think of maybe one Kunou-shaped reason, but surely-
"On top of how good you are with and to Kunou, I do like you for other reasons too. For one, you aren't a coward." Well, Joshua didn't need to be a genius to get where that one came from. "And you are not only a good father, but a good man in general. It's refreshing, for one, to have someone that doesn't really care who I am. I can't tell you how much I enjoy the times when we just get to spend time together, without having to worry about politics or what's proper. I know I seem to always be in control, but the outside and the inside are different at times, Joshua, you should know. So thank you, for giving me a respite from the things I have to live with, and even helping me in regards to them."
Now, that was possibly one of the most emotional moments he'd seen from Yasaka, Joshua realized easily. Sure, he'd seen her show some things at times. Sadness and joy, but this was different. This was more raw and it was ironic, because her face and voice didn't show much, still mostly calm and as if she were stating the most natural of facts, but her eyes were suddenly a lot more expressive than they'd ever been.
"And I do believe it's my turn now," Serafall took over with a bright smile, her tone joking. That is, before she deflated a little where she sat and her expression took a much softer look. "I know I'm not an easy person to deal with, you know? But you didn't just put up with me. You seemed fine with it, you seem to even like me being me and that's… that's important to me, Joshua, very much."
Serafall looked downright shy. Was the world going mad?
"Yasaka and I share a lot of our reasons for liking you, but I wanted to add that, because it really does mean a lot to me. Especially that you decide to play along at times and… Well, most of my friends are like me. We are weird and we know it. So, it's nice to know someone that's more… down to earth that won't look down on us – on me – as we are, I guess," Serafall explained, a soft smile on her face that was really pulling at his heartstrings. That just wasn't fair.
How was he supposed to think clearly when they were doing this to him?
'What do I do with this information?' he asked himself then, gulping and trying not to let a knot form in his throat. He needed to stay calm. Yasaka and Serafall were waiting patiently, but he didn't want to leave them there forever. How long had passed? How long would they wa-? 'No, think.'
"... I like you too," he said then, confused and nervous, but confident in that, if nothing else. Of course he liked them. How could he not like them, honestly? They were gorgeous, but more than that they were incredible women, both of them.
How was he supposed to not like Yasaka, when she was such a rock in his life, offering him support through the rough patches that he'd gone through since he met her. She'd helped him overcome some things that he'd struggled with for a while. It was her that pushed him to recover from his losses, more than time or anyone else. She'd given him someone to open up to and someone to soothe some of the pain that he'd carried with him.
How was he supposed to not like Serafall, when she was such a ray of sunshine, bringing some joy to otherwise somewhat dull or sad days wherever she went. She might have been weird for some people, but he enjoyed that about her. She was a constant source of positivism that he simply didn't have a lot of in his life. Things were always happier with her around, and that was something that Joshua could very easily appreciate.
"I like you too." he repeated, a smile forming on his face. His nerves were there too, but… But he trusted these two women. He trusted them with a lot of things so… What was a little more, right? At least that simple response seemed to be good enough for both of them, if their responding smiles were anything to go by. Trying to pull himself together, he went to speak again. "I'll admit though… I have no idea what I should do, or say so… I mean…"
He took a deep breath in. ''Relax, don't overthink,' he thought to himself, sighing. He desperately wanted to take a sip from his tea, but it felt wrong, to be so casual about this. He needed to take this seriously and do something. Both Yasaka and Serafall deserved that much, at the very least.
He looked between them, and thought about how they'd approached this. Furthermore, he thought back to some of the interactions he'd witnessed between the two and that now gained a whole new meaning. He thought of some of the things they'd said and done…
"You've been thinking this over for a while," he commented, not a question but a statement.
"We have, yeah," Serafall replied, still all smiles as she nodded for emphasis.
"We are sorry if that bothers you in any way, but… We had to make some things clear between the two of us," Yasaka continued and it was kind of intimidating that they were so… in sync, as it were.
"And after that, we both agreed that it was better to wait, so…" Serafall finished, trailing off. He got the idea though, sort of. It still sounded like absolute madness when he tried to go over it, but denying things would make even less sense.
"So… I mean… I don't want to misunderstand anything," he mumbled, gulping again and running his fingers through his hair. Neither of those actions calmed his beating heart nor his nerves. "But you two-?"
"Like you," Serafall finished for him, making him swallow a nervous chuckle.
"What I meant to say is-"
"And we want to be with you," Yasaka interrupted this time, actually answering the question he'd been going for.
"At the same time, yes," Serafall added.
"That… ok…" Joshua muttered, leaning back a little.
He pictured that, or tried to. He couldn't quite fit the pieces in his mind, but that was because he wasn't from this world. He came from a world where the kind of thing they were talking about was… unconventional at best, at least in most places, from what he knew. In their cultures though, it might not be, if he remembered right.
So, he took a moment to work around that issue, thinking about it in a different way. Did he want to be with Serafall? Yes, of course. Did he want to be with Yasaka? Yes, of course. He had doubts though, fears and insecurities. Probably the same or at least related to the ones that had stopped him from realizing what was happening around him.
And yet…
"I'd like that too," he said then, a nervous smile appearing on his face as he saw Serafall positively beam and Yasaka smile wider. "I… You need to know that I don't know what I'm doing right now and I'm definitely not going to know what I'm doing in the future, so-"
"We know that, Josh," Serafall told him, bouncing where she sat like an excited child.
"We know what we are getting into. Don't worry," Yasaka added kindly.
Joshua's smile widened a little bit.
"I guess, if you really want to put up with me, I'll enjoy it until you realize I'm a mess," he commented before flinching as he felt something hit his head. Leaning down, he looked at Serafall's "magic staff" and the glare on her face… And on Yasaka's face.
"None of that," the Satan told him, all but pouting.
"I'm sorry, I just… Sorry. That was stupid."
"We know you have your insecurities, Joshua," Yasaka told him kindly, her glare receding for a moment. "But we've both chosen you, so, if nothing else, let that give you some confidence, will you?"
"I'll try," he answered, because that was as much as he could say at the moment in regards to that. "So, since you are the ones with a plan and all, what comes n-"
"Now," Serafall interrupted, making him turn towards her with a half-smile. Now with his mind slightly – very slightly – less scrambled, he almost expected that of her. "You are going to take me on a date, mister, because Yasaka's been insufferably smug about you two going on dates all the time."
"Dates? We haven't-"
He stopped himself and thought about that. Slowly, all the outings with Kunou came to mind. Did those count as dates? Kunou was there, but then again, people could bring their kids to dates… right? He wasn't too sure, but maybe that logic worked somehow?
"Stop being so childish, Serafall. You've been on dates with him too, on your own," the youkai woman pointed out and Joshua's brain screeched to a halt again before he blinked. 'I mean, we have gone to the cafe together alone a few times but… I mean… That's…'
He sighed.
"Just now realized, didn't you?" Yasaka asked, to which he gave her a defeated look and then brought his cup of tea to his lips. He needed something nice, warm and relaxing or he might just lose his mind. Besides, at least it looked like things were finally a little less… serious? Maybe?
Still, what was the world coming to when this kind of thing could happen to him?
"Silly Josh," Serafall said patronizingly then, hopping to stand next to him and patting his head.
"I feel like a fool," he mumbled.
"But you are a hot fool, so that's fine, right?" Serafall commented, making him choke on his tea. Well, that was one way to shock him, he supposed. When was the last time someone had called him that, if ever? Well, Kuroka threw comments like that at times, but she was just…
Well, Joshua thought she was just joking, at least.
"Serafall, don't mess with him," Yasaka told the other woman, drawing a pout from the Satan. "He's still processing things, don't you see? At least wait for a bit."
"Fine~"
"I'd have been much more grateful without that "wait for a bit", you know?" he commented, drawing giggles from both of them. Yeah, silly him, he supposed. Joshua sighed then, drinking some more tea. He was suddenly feeling very tired on top of being overwhelmed. His hand moved up to his chest, grabbing his locket and rubbing his thumb over it. "I guess I agreed too quickly, huh?"
"We'll make sure you don't regret it, Josh. I promise," Serafall told him happily, walking behind him and hugging him from behind. Surprisingly – or maybe not – that did make him feel better, more relaxed. This was happening, yes, and it was scary… But he was in good hands, he knew. There were very few that he'd trust more than these two and none that weren't family.
Speaking of.
"Kunou is going to be overjoyed," Joshua commented, drawing an even bigger smile from Yasaka and a chuckle from Serafall. Everyone knew that the girl wanted him to get with her mother and have a proper family. He'd thought that was just a dream before, of course, and had done his best not to give her too much hope without crushing her hopes either…
Evidently, he shouldn't have worried so much.
"Oh, you noticed that but didn't notice us?" Serafall asked, more amused than accusing. "Honestly, I was starting to wonder if you were aromantic or something. Because you are definitely not asexual, I did notice that much," she commented, making him tense up.
So, maybe he wasn't as discreet as he thought he was with his glances… In his defense, how was one supposed to not look at her or Yasaka? That was just impossible unless you were actually asexual… maybe even then. That was just unfair.
"So," he mumbled, gulping as he let go of the locket. Better to change the subject. "About that date?"
[}-o-{]
"This is… surprisingly normal," Joshua commented, taking in the place Serafall had decided would be where their first official date would take place. It was… a cozy restaurant. He wasn't very sure where they were, but people spoke English, so there was that.
It wasn't a 5 star place, he knew that much, but it wasn't a cheap one either. It was just… a nice place. Seemed to be run by a family with some employees and the menu seemed pretty family recipe-ish. All in all, it was warm, somewhat unassuming establishment.
"I found this place some time ago," Serafall told him, smiling softly in a way very unlike her. "I know I'm kind of… weird at times, but I can like normal things too."
"I know that," he replied with a smile of his own. Then that smile turned into an embarrassed grimace as he brought a hand up and scratched his forehead. 'Am I really doing this?' he thought.
"Josh? Something the matter?" Serafall asked, looking a little concerned all of a sudden. "Maybe I should have waited a bit? I was a little excited by you did just go through that whole thing and I might-"
"Serafall," he interrupted, making her mouth click shut. He smiled then, a little amused. At least it was good to know that he wasn't the only nervous one. Sure, it was a little weird to see her, who was always so in control of herself in her own unique way, be like that too. "I'm just going to do something really embarrassing and stupid… And I might cringe to death."
"Yes?" she urged him, suddenly very interested, which didn't help him feel better.
"I made a promise some time ago, so now I gotta keep it, I guess," he added, gulping down his doubts and nervousness. Better to get it over with, he decided. Bringing his hand up, he flicked his fingers a bit, pulling out something from a Storage Spell. "Here," he mumbled, his focus being in not letting his hand tremble nor becoming an embarrassed mess.
Serafall, for her part, stared at the objects in his hand, her eyes widening slightly. Slowly, agonizingly so, the woman moved her own hands to take the offered gifts and bring them towards her. She didn't say anything after that, simply bringing the flowers to her face and breathing in their scent.
'Well, she's not laughing at me, so that's good?' he thought to himself, leaning back on his chair and feeling his face heat up. He felt like an idiot, but at least Serafall seemed to be fine with it? Having her say something would help, that was for sure. As it was, his mind continued torturing him with guesses.
"This is a very specific flower to give," Serafall mumbled, holding them with one hand while she softly caressed a petal with a finger of the other. She almost looked like she was afraid to break them or something. "Can I ask why?"
"Irises mean faith, courage, valor, hope and wisdom," he commented as calmly as he could, looking away. "Yellow ones imply passion," he added, choking a bit on that as he tried not to shut down. "But also joy and happiness… I thought they fit well enough. Hope for something good and joy and happiness… because that's what you make me think about. What you bring me… mean for me, I guess" he managed to say without stuttering or anything.
He brought a hand up to rub his locket once more, trying to calm down.
"I love them," Serafall told him, positively beaming as she continued holding the flowers in front of her. "Thank you, Josh."
"I'm just glad you liked it," he replied with an awkward smile. 'I guess you were right, mom,' he thought to himself, feeling a little more confident. Maybe he was just overthinking it. "Now, you know this place better than I do, any suggestions?"
"Of cou-"
"That aren't there some diabetes-inducing desserts?" he interrupted, making the Satan deflate and pout at him.
"Fine, ruin my fun…" she grumbled. "Meanie."
Joshua just laughed.
"Also," he continued, drawing a curious look from Serafall. "Can I call you Sera? It's a little awkward to call you Serafall when you call me Josh, for some reason," he commented. For whatever reason, that seemed to be the perfect thing to say, because the woman was all smiles immediately afterwards.
"Sure you can!"
Joshua smiled back at her then, feeling a little more confident. Maybe he could do this, after all. Now he just needed to-
"Something the matter?" he asked, looking as Serafall stood up from her seat and walked around the table towards him. Before he could say anything else she leaned down and his brain stopped working for a moment as he felt her soft lips on his.
"That," she said, standing straight once more and looking like a happy camper as she skipped back to her seat. "Is because of the flowers."
"... Glad you liked them," he mumbled, a little stunned. Then again, he should have known to expect the unexpected with Serafall. On that note, maybe he should have expected her to grab the collar of his shirt and pull him in for another kiss.
"And that's for the time I had to wait."
This time, Joshua simply remained silent, at a loss for words.
[}-o-{]
"We could have gone somewhere, you know?" Joshua asked, feeling a little awkward sitting there where he was. They were just outside his house, on the back part facing Asia's garden. The girl herself was inside. Asia had easily agreed when he'd asked her if he could have the house to himself that night, simply having dinner a little earlier and going to her bedroom. She'd simply smiled and told him that she'd use the time to study some of the plant books he'd gotten her.
Kuroka and the Fallen had simply been ordered away and they were under especially watchful wards that he'd added that same day, just in case. They'd been a little unnerved by the sudden extra security, but Joshua didn't much care for that. Yasaka had wanted them to have a quiet night at home.
So, in light of that, Joshua had done his best to give her what she'd asked for.
They'd had a nice dinner that he'd prepared himself, pushing the limits of his Cooking skill. Other than that, they'd just talked. It was normal. The usual thing, basically. Not at all different from how meals were when they went out with Kunou, unlike the date with Serafall, which had been a sort of more intimate affair than how they usually were.
'I really had been going on dates with Yasaka all that time, huh?' he wondered as he sat next to Yasaka.
"We could have, but I didn't feel like going anywhere. I like just spending time with you, Joshua," the youkai woman told him, with that smile that made his insides twist and turn. "Besides, I wanted to focus just on the two of us. I have to say… I'm very glad that we can spend time like this now. It's not much different from what we usually did but-"
"It's different enough," he finished for her, receiving a smile in response. "Yeah, I think I get what you mean," he added, bringing a hand up to his locket and rubbing it with his thumb. It was the same as usual and some might call that boring… but Joshua appreciated that. He didn't know what Yasaka liked about it, but what he enjoyed was that it brought up the peace that the woman symbolized in his mind. That calm and comforting feeling was what he enjoyed about it, especially that night.
Now, he just needed to give her the flowers before he lost his nerve. Good thing that he at least knew it could go well. So, gathering his courage, he noticed Yasaka looking at him very intently. Too intently, actually, which…
"Serafall told you," Joshua said. He was guessing, of course. There was no way he could actually read Yasaka, but still…
"Yes, she did," she acknowledged with a kind smile as if nothing were wrong.
"Well, there goes that, I guess," he commented, making the flowers appear. He'd thought he'd wait until the end of the date this time, change things up a little. If she'd been waiting though, maybe he should have done it sooner. "I know they aren't the normal thing to give but…"
"But they have meaning," she finished for him, looking at the gift he'd brought for her. "And I like them. I have to ask though, is that because of my eyes? Because that's sweet," she commented, her amber eyes not moving away from the flowers. He could get where the comment came from, considering the petals of this one were yellow but progressively more brown towards the edges, giving them an amber look, like Yasaka's eyes.
"Brown irises symbolize security, stability and warmth," Joshua told her, a soft smile on his face as he passed them to her. "I don't think I have to explain, do I?"
"No, you don't," she answered, taking the flowers and looking at them. "This means more than what you are saying, don't they?"
"They do, and maybe I'll tell you one day," he told her, his hand back on his locket. "I'd like to keep that to myself, if it's all the same to you."
"I've had to wait for you before, Joshua. I can wait a bit more for this," she told him. "I'm just happy we can be together like this… truly so now," she added, looking at him and there was something in her eyes that stopped him from answering. Silenced, he could only watch as the woman slowly approached him.
Even expecting it, the kiss was a surprise, slow and tender where Serafall's had been fast and full of emotion. Joshua supposed that fit them, in its own way. As she pulled back with a smile, he was sure that he was mirroring her expression.
There was silence then, but as he looked at her, he held onto his locket still.
"Someone's going to love you some day, Joshua," he remembered his mother telling him. "It'll happen, and it'll change your life. You might not be the best with words or gestures, but let them know, alright? Maybe you can do what your father did for me to do so. He got me these iris flowers, red ones. Romantic passion and love, they mean. It was a whole silly gesture at the time, but very sweet.'
He was brought back to the present when Yasaka leaned forward again, placing a hand on his chest.
"No, I don't think I'm done with just that," she said, her voice low as she reached forward and kissed him again. Carefully but firmly, Joshua was pushed back until he was lying on the floor instead of sitting, with Yasaka on top of him.
Chapter 115: I Feel You Radiating Energy
Joshua brought his cup of tea to his lips and took a sip.
In front of him sat Yasaka, going through some paperwork with a slight smile on her face. It wasn't much, but it might as well have been her singing or something, considering that he'd always seen her just working through things with a serious expression. He brought his cup to his lips and took another sip, this time to hide a slight blush.
For some reason, Yasaka had gotten very affectionate after he gave her the flowers. He wasn't complaining, of course, but he wasn't sure why that had happened. His best guesses were that she either had really liked the gesture or her senses were giving her a rough idea of how important the gesture was for him… Or both? Then again, Joshua didn't trust his judgment in these instances anymore, so he'd rather appreciate some answers instead of having to try and figure it out.
Maybe he would ask her the next time they were alone.
As it was…
He turned to the side and looked at Kunou.
The girl was looking at her mother with furrowed brows and a tilt of her head. Evidently, she realized that something was going on, but she couldn't quite figure it out. It seemed that Yasaka hadn't told her yet. Joshua didn't even know how to even go about bringing the subject up. Was there a good way to tell someone's kid that you were dating their mother?
Granted, he was already acting as her father, so it likely wouldn't be too bad, but still… Joshua felt like it'd be terribly awkward regardless of how things ended up. Just the act of having to tell Kunou that felt weird. Or maybe it was just him feeling out of his depth still? That was equally as possible.
"Something's going on," Kunou said then, pursing her lips. It seemed that she had figured that much out indeed, but nothing else. "Did something happen, mom? I get Joshua being happy. He's been since he finished his spell, but you weren't like that before," she pointed out, narrowing her eyes.
Joshua, for his part, did the brave thing… And turned his eyes towards his own work, bringing his cup up to hide his face. It wasn't that he was throwing Yasaka to the kit fox… but he totally was. Surely she would deal with the whole thing better, right?
"I don't know, is something going on?" Yasaka asked and Joshua couldn't help but look at the woman. She was still wearing that slight smile on her face but now she was facing him. He could almost see her telling him to man up and say it. Why did it have to be him? It could be her, right?
"So, Joshua is involved?" Kunou asked, getting a little more excited. Little one was probably already coming up with ways this could mean they were closer, he bet. She was easy to read like that, at least. If only Joshua could have realized that her mother was of a similar mind…
"I don't know, is he?" Yasaka asked, having entirely too much fun. It was kind of new, to see her so… carefree. 'She's that happy now?' Joshua wondered, a little surprised.
Because sure, he was pretty happy with things. No way he wouldn't be, with two women like Serafall and Yasaka in a relationship with him. It was all a little muted down by the fact that he was constantly on the verge of freaking out and/or devolving into a pessimistic mess. Maybe once he got a little more confidence in things, he'd feel a lot more happy.
Still, it was a little weird to see someone that was usually very calm and collected like Yasaka looking so playful. Or maybe he was reading too much into things? She had shown sides like that before, right? 'God, I'm a mess,'Joshua thought, holding back a groan and dragging his hand over his face.
"Joshua! Mom is being mean!" Kunou whined, making him turn towards her and then giving Yasaka an unimpressed expression. The woman didn't even have the decency to look sheepish. Instead, she just brought a hand up and giggled behind it. "What's going on? What happened?"
"You are making me say it on purpose, right?" he asked Yasaka, temporarily ignoring Kunou. The girl was too curious with this new bit of information, however, so it wasn't really a problem.
"A little bit," Yasaka told him, still giggling. "A little fun revenge for making me wait and being so clueless."
"I resemble that," he grumbled, drawing a snort from the woman, who looked a breath away from going for a full on laugh. He didn't remember ever hearing her do that, so it was tempting to try and push it. As it was, Kunou had grown tired and was poking him with her finger. "Stop poking me, will you?"
"Then tell me!" she demanded, to which he raised an eyebrow. "... Please?"
"That's better," he told her with a nod.
Then he looked at Yasaka, who was determined to be as unhelpful as possible, looking entirely too amused. Taking a deep breath in, he wondered how to best go about it. He looked at Kunou then, looking all curious at him and he remembered how happy she was whenever she saw him have a good interaction with Yasaka, even when it wasn't anything remotely romantic…
'Eh, fuck it,' he decided.
"Serafall, Yasaka and I are in a relationship now. The two of us had a date yesterday," he explained, smiling a little at the wide-eyed look on Kunou's face. "But I think your mother looks like that because she likes making me suffer due to my very, very poor social skills… Or she likes teasing you," he added, trying to steer things away from the awkward part a little bit.
"Or both," Yasaka pointed out, making him look at her, unimpressed. The woman did her best to look innocent, which worked about as well for her as it did with Kunou. Not at all.
"Yes!" Kunou cried out, apparently having finished processing this new information he'd just thrown at her. "Yesyesyes! This is the best, you are the best!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around Joshua and attempting to squeeze him to death, by the feel of things.
With a slight smile and a nervous chuckle, he wrapped his own arms around her.
"This is the best day ever!" Kunou said against his chest, her voice full of emotion. That made Joshua go from amused and nervous to touched and a little sad, he'd admit. He thought it said something about her that she was so happy to have a chance at a complete family now.
She was crying.
"Thank you," she muttered. "Thank you, mom," she added and Joshua turned his eyes towards the woman. Yasaka was still smiling, but she brought a hand up and wiped a tear that hadn't managed to fall yet from her eye. "You are both the best."
"Well, you are not so bad yourself, brat," he told her softly, placing a hand on her head and as she continued pressing against his chest.
"Not a brat," she mumbled. Still, Kunou couldn't quite stop herself from giggling all the same with how happy she was. "... Does that mean I have to call Serafall mom too?" she asked after a long moment.
"You can ask her, but I don't think she'll mind if you don't," he answered before he could stop himself. That was probably something for Yasaka to decide, he was sure. However, when he turned towards the woman, a little alarmed, she just smiled at him and nodded her agreement with that.
"Ok, that's fine then," Kunou said then, her voice still muffled by his shirt. That response still sounded weird to him, but he guessed he'd have to get used to it. The type of relationship he was in now was at least kind of normal for these people, he had to remind himself. 'Don't complain about a good thing,' he told himself. "That's fine. This is great."
"Well, glad you are happy," he said, and somehow Kunou managed to squeeze harder.
"I cried on your shirt, dad," Kunou mumbled then, sounding even more like a kid than she usually did. She pulled away a little then, keeping a hold of his shirt with her hands but otherwise making some space between them as she looked at the wet spot on his shirt. "Sorry."
"Don't worry about it, Kunou," he reassured her with a smile. "Now, how about we celebrate tonight, my place, full meal and a magic show."
"And ice cream?" the girl asked, sounding and looking entirely too adorable.
"And ice cream," he agreed.
"You are the best, dad."
"The best or the best dad?" he asked with a grin.
"Yes," she answered with a matching expression.
[}-o-{]
"Thank you for agreeing to this, sir."
"Soren is fine, young man," Lord Sitri replied where he sat. He probably would have looked a lot more prim and proper if he were fine. Affected by the Sleep Disease as he was, however, the man was slumped against his seat and looking like he was about to faint. "Especially since I can take a guess or two," the man added and Joshua very purposely decided not to try and understand that.
Serafall, Yasaka and him were keeping things between themselves for the moment, and that was how he liked it, really. Kunou was the only one that knew what was up and if he could keep it like that, Joshua would be happy. It probably wouldn't stay like that for long, but he could enjoy that while it lasted.
Regardless, according to both Yasaka and Serafall, things probably benefited a lot from them waiting too. On top of making things easier for him – which he felt a little guilty about, honestly – there was the fact that he was now a verified high ranked person in a Pantheon. The Egyptian might not be the strongest or most present at the moment, but they were known and had at least one very strong presence to speak of. That meant that he wasn't some "peasant courting women out of his league" which would likely cause problems for everyone involved.
It was a bit… uncomfortable, to think about all that, but Yasaka and Serafall seemed happy to chat away about it all, so Joshua just let them be. If he needed to do something, they'd tell him. Politics were really not his thing and he'd been relying on them for that kind of thing since forever. No need to change things up now, especially when he was sure he'd mess things up.
"Wouldn't that be disrespectful, Lord Sitri?" Joshua asked, trying to act professional as he checked the room to decide how to best set up his spells. He'd been allowed to check on Lord Sitri for his Sleep Disease research, which would be invaluable information, really.
Misla was a patient with the disease, of course, but knowing how it progressed and being able to see it first hand? That would give a lot of new information. He had theories on how the disease worked, but if he could confirm some of those… It'd certainly help his progress regardless, he was sure.
"I think it's more disrespectful to ignore someone's preferred way of being addressed, don't you?" Lord Sitri asked, his tone joking, if weary. That actually made Joshua laugh, which seemed to surprise the man.
"Sorry, it's just… I think I've had conversations about that. I was on the other side of things though," he explained, shaking his head. "Everyone insists on calling me Mr. Davis and I'd really rather they don't. I've gotten better about that, but I really didn't like that some time ago."
"So…" Lord Sitri prodded, making him roll his eyes.
"So, I guess I'll do as you say, Soren," he replied, making the man chuckle weakly. "Now, I'm going to start setting up the wards, ok? I might have to ask you a few questions once I start getting the information from those, alright? Just to make sure Serafall didn't lie to me, you are okay with me setting up wards, hexes and boons here, right?"
"I am and I'm sure my daughter wouldn't appreciate you calling her a liar," the devil told him, looking fairly amused all things considered. "Now… I think you should get started. I don't know how long I'll be able to stay awake."
"That's fine, Soren. Readings will be different, but any information is good for me right now. I need all I can get to try and find a way around this," Joshua told the man, finding the best spot he could and pulling out all the circles and foci from a storage spell that left them exactly where they needed to be. Once that was done, he started casting the spells in the necessary order.
As he did, he started getting the information sent straight to his brain. The spells only covered the one room, so there was literally nothing to pick up on other than Lord Sitri's condition. Joshua was joining the devil in feeling tired, since this set of spells was entirely powered by himself. He might have had a major boost in his stats, but powering an array like the one he had just set up was draining all the same.
Too many different things that required too much power because of how specific and power intensive they were. On top of that, just as his magic reserves had grown, so had his skills in regards to magic. His spells were much more powerful now, and that meant requiring more power. If anything, he wondered if his magic boost hadn't quite been enough.
However, it was worth it, because he was already picking up on a bunch of different readings compared to the ones from Sairaorg's mother. Between his new and/or adapted spells and the boost on skills, things were already paying off plenty. Still, he needed to take a moment to process all that, taking a notebook to write down the highlights so he could more easily keep track of everything.
'Magic doesn't seem to be drained, even in small amounts. I need further info on that to make sure but it's not ridiculously small or something,' Joshua mused to himself, closing his eyes and checking on some other things. 'Life energy seems mostly fine, weak but fine. Back to the magic, it seems to be a little… There's something going on there… I need a more deep look into that. Something's off but I'm not sure what. Physically, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong, even with added spells to Misla's last results. So it's almost definitely nothing to do with that-'
"Are you courting my daughter?"
Joshua blinked and then turned towards Lord Sitri with wide eyes.
"Are you, Joshua?" the man asked. He didn't seem angry, or amused, or anything. Didn't even seem curious, really. He just seemed… calm.
"What makes you say that?" he asked back, surprised. He was asking that honestly, really, because he had never seen these people. So, unless Serafall had given the game away somehow…
"A father knows this kind of thing, I'm sure you'll find out someday," Lord Sitri told him, which only made Joshua feel more awkward. And that was saying something, truly. "She was quite happy these last few days," the man told him then, smiling a little. "And then her expression brightened even more when she brought you up about this."
"We have been good friends for a while. You probably know that," Joshua replied. He was fairly sure that he was giving the game away himself by not actually saying no, but he didn't want one of his first interactions with Serafall's father to be with a blatant lie like that. Serafall had never said anything bad about the man, so surely he was fine knowing too.
"I do know, which is why I know she likes you and that there was something different this time," the man explained. "I guess I get why you are keeping it all under wraps for now. Serafall is in a difficult position and so are you, from what she says. Just… take care of my daughter, yeah?"
There was something there, something that he realized after but a second of thought.
"... You can take care of her yourself, Soren," Joshua said then, keeping his tone even as he continued working.
"I could fall asleep right now and not wake up for who knows how long. My daughter believes you can do this, and that means I do, but that doesn't mean it'll happen soon," Lord Sitri told him, not angry nor amused, but resigned. "It puts things into perspective, I guess. So, will you?"
"Fairly sure she'll be the one taking care of me, but I'll do what I can," Joshua replied in the end.
"From the man that cracked a devil bloodline into a spell that humans can use, got the backing of an entire pantheon and is now attempting to cure an incurable devil disease… I don't think you know how reassuring that is," Soren commented, chuckling wearily. "I'm going to sleep soon, I think. It's funny, really. I don't want to, I never do now… And yet I can't stop myself… Young one…"
Joshua wanted to reach out and keep the man awake, but that wasn't how it worked. Victims of the Sleep Disease would fall asleep just like that, exhausted and all but passing out. There was no stopping it and trying to force the issue seemed to make things worse.
"Yes, Soren?"
Instead, he needed to focus and do his job. This was a great moment to pick up information from his spells. He just needed to focus and get all that he could.
"... Nevermind… I'm sure my wife will tell you…" Lord Sitri mumbled, very visibly drifting off. "You said… you would have… questions?"
"Yes," Joshua answered immediately. After that, he started asking the devil all the questions he could come up with. He tried to make them as simple as he could, since Soren looked a breath away from passing out. He didn't want to go for something that would need a long answer, but he needed as much information as he could get. So, he spent a good few minutes asking a lot of yes or no questions and others that would only require a single word answer.
Eventually though, he ran out of time.
"See you soon, Joshua Davis."
"See you soon, Soren," he replied, pausing his writing to look at the man. That felt like a goodbye, but it could not be one. Chances were that the man would wake up, maybe a little sooner, maybe a little later, but it was the most probable, given how advanced his Sleep Disease was.
And yet, there was always the chance that maybe he was unlucky.
Maybe he wouldn't wake up.
'But I'll wake him up anyway,' he thought, thinking of Sairaorg's mother. He thought of Serafall, and Sairaorg, and Sona, and everyone that was affected by this besides the actual victims. He would cure them.
At the back of his mind, the Pantheon agreed.
And Joshua, going back to work, made a decision.
'Break's over, I guess.'
[}-o-{]
[Kuroka]
"Say, you haven't been playing with us much~!" she said, skipping around Davis as he sat on the floor in the middle of the training facilities in his house. "You haven't forgotten about us, have you? It's bad manners to pick up strays and then-"
"I'd really appreciate it if you could leave me be," Davis interrupted, not opening his eyes nor moving from his spot.
"But I get lonely. Don't you get lonely, Josh~?" she asked, pouting at the man. She knew he knew everything that went on inside his wards, after all. They were always watching, every day a little more. "Because if you want company, I can help with that~"
She'd wear him down, she knew. She was more than attractive, after all, and men loved to have the attention of women like her. They were easy like that. He was just playing hard to get, that was all. Kuroka could be patient though. For a man of such strength, power and heart? She sure could.
After all, one didn't need to be a genius to know that Davis was strong. Being in the presence of his spells at all times made sure Kuroka did know that. Especially as of late, when his spells seemed to suddenly be a whole lot stronger for some reason. Neither did one have to be a genius to know he held power, considering he seemed pretty close to some very powerful faction leaders.
And then there was his heart, which had taken a bit more but nowhere near a long time. There were plenty of examples in his house alone, with his sister or the nun. Besides that, however, the most evident clue on this were his familiars. The bond he shared with them, the feelings on that bond. That couldn't be faked.
It was beautiful.
"I've told you, Kuroka. Stop with the jokes," Davis replied stubbornly. Seriously, what was wrong with him? Especially with that response. He always seemed to say something along those lines, really.
"Who says I'm joking~?" she asked, smiling widely and leaning her body down when she saw that he'd opened his eyes. Sure enough, they darted down for a moment before they went back up. Men were easy. "Because I can tell you I'm not. We could ignore the audience and get acquainted," she suggested with a mock-coy smile.
"I'd rather not," Davis replied without hesitating whatsoever.
That stung a little, honestly.
"Come on~ We can just sit down and talk for a bit. I can tell you all kinds of things about myself that I'm sure you'd enjoy," she offered, pushing her arms together to accentuate her chest. "And you can tell me some things about yourself. Like, I'd love to know what's up with the illusions on your arms," she pointed out with a wide smile that widened when his eyes did. Then she reached with her senjutsu towards that particular spell. "Are you hiding a friendship bracelet because that'd be very cute-"
Those weren't bracelets.
The illusion snapped into place in a second.
Just as fast.
"You don't know when to stop, do you?" Davis asked and Kuroka took a hesitant step back. When she saw him start to stand up, she wished she could make herself disappear. She might have miscalculated a little, it seemed. "Do you?" the man insisted and blue eyes locked onto hers, pinning her in place just as much as his spells did when they shifted.
Suddenly, she felt like she was in shackles, shackles that gnawed at her and burned at the same time.
"I asked you a question," Davis said then, walking until he was face to face with her. Were the circumstances different, she might have really liked that. As it was…
"I don't," she whispered, feeling her heart clench as killing intent washed over her. "I'm very sorry."
"I'm sure you are," Davis growled and then something shifted. The most glaring change was his eyes. No longer were they steely blue. Instead, they were pitch black now. When his lips pulled back into a snarl, she saw that his canines had grown longer too. "I'm a very busy man. I really, really can't be bothered with your games. I'm not interested in you. I never was and I'm never going to be," he told her then.
Kuroka would have felt a little hurt if it weren't for the fear she was starting to feel. Not only from the spells, or Davis' appearance change. No, there was more going on. There was a growing presence around them, around him. Something was going on there. She felt like she was in front of a…
A god.
Her eyes widened.
"So, you'll stay the fuck away from me. You won't do this stupid little joke about being interested in me. Because if you are playing games, then I don't care. If you aren't, then you are as dumb as I thought you were when I caught you being a Khaos Brigade member," Davis told her, bringing his hand up and poking a finger harshly against her forehead. "Get it into your head. I'm not your friend. I'm not your ally. All I am right now, is the guy that offered his house to a criminal because he felt like there might be more to her than he and everyone saw."
Taking a deep breath in and then letting it out with a sigh, Davis seemed to calm down a bit. His teeth and eyes went back to normal and the pressure all but disappeared.
"So far, I think I might have been wrong," he added. "Now, go away."
And away Kuroka went.
She might have miscalculated indeed.
Chapter 116: If We Can Make It in the End
[Joshua Davis]
Delving into the divinity of the Minor Blessing of Egypt was proving to be… something.
Joshua wasn't too sure how to go about even explaining it, if he were honest. He'd thought it was more or less the same as before, just flexing it like a muscle that had always been there, like the blessing of Set seemed to have been. Instead, it had changed into something else entirely.
Maybe it was the much greater amount of divinity.
Maybe it was a new approach that the deities had taken this time.
Maybe it was something related to his status as Great Column/Pharaoh, even if he didn't have the title equipped.
Regardless of the reason, the fact was that this was now very different from before. He needed to work on it, get used to it. There were things to test out and things to try. He'd been doing that when Kuroka had decided to be a fucking idiot and he'd found out something both interesting and concerning.
He couldn't tap into the entire divinity as a whole. Instead, he could reach and tap into the divinity of one deity at a time. At that very moment, however, Set had reached out to him instead of the other way around. Joshua wondered why that was, but there were a bunch of reasons to explain such an action. One, because he was a god of chaos, so it checked out that he'd do something randomly. Two, he wasn't a particularly nice god, so helping Joshua in a moment of anger and negativity made sense. Three, the god might or might not have a soft spot for him, he supposed.
After all, he often got a sense of approval from Set, concerningly enough.
Those were his guesses, at least.
At least the Pantheon didn't seem to care overly much about that, if the mostly amused feelings he got through his link to them was any indication. Joshua took some solace in that fact, at least. He rather doubted many of the gods would be on board if Set were scheming something. They also would know, he imagined, and if not, they'd help if something ever happened.
And if that didn't work, at least Joshua had people on his corner that would help him deal with that.
Sitting down, Joshua reached inside himself, touching the divinity and following it towards Shed's side. Lines formed on his skin, symbols and designs that he didn't know the meaning of. Taking a deep breath in, he tried to process the new senses he got.
Joshua could definitely understand how a god could decide to focus on their domain's feelings. He himself thought he might get lost in those. There were many new things to experience. He could feel all the animals close by, for example, but he could also feel them across the world, some more strongly than others. The more dangerous and wilder the animal, the more they seemed to stand out. He could feel people saving others, be it doctors, firefighters, policemen and many more. He could feel hunters, animal or human, stalking their prey or preparing to out looking for them.
It was overwhelming, but also… comfortable.
Like laying in bed during winter, soothing and so very tempting to just stay.
With all those things came strength that he didn't have, even after all the boosts he got. His normal senses felt sharper, his fingers more dexterous. Taking out a dagger from a Storage Spell, he threw it at a target away from him. His aim had never held so true, the motion flowing as easy as breathing.
'Neat,' he thought, feeling the god's proud and happy feelings bleed over into him. It was concerningly smooth, that part, which made Joshua worry that he might be… Not possessed, but influenced by whatever god he decided to "channel" for lack of a better word.
As it was, he was just lucky he hadn't lost control against Kuroka when Set had reached through. It was also fortunate that it felt like it'd be easy to sever the connection on his side. He hadn't tried it then, but he was fairly sure that applied even if a deity decided to take things into their own hands, like the chaos god had.
Joshua just needed to get the hang of it, which was why he was trying to channel those gods that struck him as the best. Shed was his first choice, from there… Well, he'd had some talks with Yasaka and Serafall in regards to where to go from there. There were some gods that they thought would be good choices. Joshua imagined he could ask Shed about where to go with that list.
Several deities had taken some offense with the "screening process", but none had actually decided to cause trouble. Either they were very patient, had thicker skin than he expected, or Joshua was held in higher regard than he thought. Regardless, he didn't want to bet on that with anything, much less his life or that of others.
The fact that several beings agreed and approved of that through his link was both good and bad, honestly. Were they approving of that because it expressed humility? Or were they agreeing with his assessment that he was not that special? Was it something else?
Even after their bout of honesty and openness, the Egyptian Pantheon seemed to have gone right back to being vague as fuck.
Joshua wasn't a fan.
'Things just can't be easy no matter what, can they?' he wondered, sighing. As he did though, he felt the Fallen coming back to the training facilities. They were a bit on edge as they did, especially when they saw him there. The trio had been… frankly terrified when they felt his shift with the whole Kuroka thing. Evidently, they felt like they were walking on an edge even more than they already did.
Unsurprisingly though, Raynare still walked up to him regardless of how she felt. She was determined, Joshua could give her that much. If anything, she seemed even more eager about working with him, for whatever reason.
"Do you need assistance with your training?" she asked, and Joshua regarded her for a long moment.
As he did, an idea occurred to him. One that had plenty of approval from the gods through his link and that was all that he needed to decide to go for it. Reaching in, he tapped into a particular pool of divinity. He felt the shift again, much stronger than with Shed. On his head, entire parts of his hair turned to golden feathers instead of blonde fringes.
"You up for some sparring?" he asked, his voice shifting into something sharper, deeper.
"Always," Raynare answered, half filled with trepidation and half with excitement.
Well, it seemed that Joshua would have someone to test his new powers with.
[}-o-{]
"Almost missed this," Joshua commented as he walked around the battlefield. Many an enemy was pressed to the ground as he walked around with the Fallen sending Light Spears everywhere around. Jeanne was off to the side, a little further away, having gotten a little excited and gone off on her own. He kept an eye on her just in case he needed to get involved but so far things were good.
Evidently, the time off they'd had had only meant they were stronger than before. On top of that, with his progress due to the Quest rewards, this was basically a walk in the park now, even more than before. He could have just ended the fight as soon as it started, but this was good training for the Fallen and Jeanne. It'd add experience.
Besides, this was also great for gathering data on several fronts. His spells were sensing everything inside the boundaries he'd set up, telling him all that he needed to know about what everyone was doing. Tapping into Nephthys, he felt the essence of magic around them and how it bent to the wills of the Hexennacht magicians around and, more importantly, himself.
He now could understand why the goddess said magic loved him.
It twisted to what he needed far more easily than it did everyone else around. It seemed to go out of its way to weave itself in the right shapes that he needed to make everything go more smoothly. It made every spell feel like running with favorable wind, now that he could better appreciate it with an enhanced sense of it.
He wondered if that was the system or a natural talent of some kind.
Joshua ran his fingers through his now long, straight and black hair. It had never been quite like that, even when he'd let it grow, but this was affected by the change in appearance that channeling one of the gods caused. As it was, even with his often weary look, the bags under his eyes had never held the pitch black color that they had at that very moment, as if he were using makeup.
He wasn't sure he was a fan of looking different for every god, but it was a small price to pay, really.
"Josh!" Jeanne called, making him turn towards her. He didn't need to, since his spells were telling him pretty much everything, but it was basically a reflex, really. His Parasitising Hexes drained a spell into non-existence before it was even halfway towards his sister. "This yours?" the girl asked calmly to which he snorted.
She was getting entirely too used to battlefields… Which was a good thing, he supposed.
"Yeah," he replied, starting to walk towards the mage that had attempted to attack his sister. The old woman was, very understandably, scared out of her wits. Unsurprisingly, Hexennacht was starting to realize that they weren't some nobodies. With more and more of their bases falling, there was no way they were confident in dealing with the attacks anymore. "You can surrender and be taken like the criminals you are," he said as he approached them. "Or you can try to fight back. The choice is yours."
Immediately, the woman put her hands up. The same couldn't be said about some guy behind her, who raised his hand and spoke a chant. The circle appeared and the old woman moved away, crying out about him being an idiot.
Which he was.
Joshua tilted his head, letting his spells neutralize the attack before it could reach him. Margalo chose that moment to land on his shoulder and chirp something innocently, like a curious child. 'He was actually that stupid, yes,' he thought to his familiar as he considered the young man.
After a second of wondering what to do, he decided that this was as good a time to test something as any. Flexing his fingers he reached towards the one inactive spell he'd cast around the place. 'Time for summer to shine,' Joshua thought. He'd already tested Fall and Winter, after all. Might as well try and get them all done, see how they worked.
So, he targeted the spell on this man and the magic immediately reached towards him. It scanned the man, reading his magic flow to the last detail before going through with its purpose. The spell took a hold of the man's magic from inside him, wrenching control away from the natural flow of the energy. And then…
It pushed.
The magic inside the man's body was made to flow as it normally would, but much faster. Like someone had taken a video of it and then sped it up to five times the usual. The effect was immediate and a little shocking, but not completely unexpected.
The man blew up.
"... That was… summer, right?" he heard Mittelt ask from behind him as everyone looked at the small red stain on the ground, the only remains left from the young man that had tried to attack them. The battlefield had gone silent then, as everyone turned to look at what had happened. Especially those Hexennacht members closer to where the young man had been.
"Yes, it was," he confirmed with a nod as he looked curiously at the result of his experiment. It was disturbing, admittedly, but not all that different from just using a regular magic attack or stabbing someone to death, as far as he was concerned. One could say this was kinder than some, since the man had died almost instantly. "So, how's it gonna be?" he asked the people around. "My spell could use some more testing," he added idly.
Immediately, everyone dropped to the ground.
"Well, now I have to deal with this, I guess," he mumbled, letting go of Nephthys' divinity and running his fingers through his hair.
"I could do it," Raynare offered, making him turn and raise an eyebrow. That was a little more… helpful than she tended to be, but she seemed to be getting more and more… deferential as time went by, which was all sorts of weird. However, Joshua wasn't going to let the chance to not have to deal with the whole thing pass him by.
He just needed to make sure she'd do a good job.
"Go ahead," he told her, flexing the magic of his spells a bit to make the threat clear.
As she left and started barking orders for her fellow Fallen and some of the surrendered magicians, Joshua turned his attention towards the bloodstain on the ground. 'That was interesting,' he thought with a tilt of his head, pondering on some of the info he'd picked up during the brief moment between the spell activation and the death.
He went over that and what he'd learned of Project Winter.
'Hm, I think I need more data on both,' he thought, turning to look at the Hexennacht magicians around. He was suddenly hoping one of them would try something. If they decided to be stupid and he needed to deal with them, well, it was just convenient that he also had spells to test out, right?
'I might have become an awful person,' Joshua considered. However, he was an awful person that was dating – 'Doesn't feel like the right word for it.' – two very awesome women somehow. So… He couldn't be that bad, right?
He chuckled in disbelief.
'Man, I feel like it'll take a while for that to fully sink in.'
[}-o-{]
Kunou giggled to herself, making Joshua and Yasaka share a fond, if slightly exasperated, look.
It seemed that the girl had gone through a whole new illusion project after she found out about the change in their relationship. Either that or she'd made it some time ago without him noticing. She'd tinkered a spell that made it so that pink hearts popped up and floated about between them. It was a little awkward but funny at first. After an hour, it had gotten old really quick.
Kunou giggled again.
At least she was having a good time.
"I do hope that you are doing your homework, or there won't be any spellcrafting time for you, just saying," Joshua commented, making Kunou gasp and turn towards her very much not done homework. "Honestly," he muttered, rolling his eyes.
Not that he wanted to ruin her fun, but she did need to get that done.
Across from them, Yasaka giggled behind her hand. She seemed to be a lot more open about… pretty much everything, as long as they were alone. It was very nice to see, he had to admit. It was also a little sad though, that she had to be so guarded most of the time.
"Have I told you how much I like seeing you be a father to her?" Yasaka asked then, taking his insides and twisting them with no effort at all. He looked down at his own work. He had never been good at taking compliments regarding stuff that he wasn't confident in. The system had helped him by making him more confident on stuff, like his spell crafting.
That only stretched so far though.
"Not much? At least, not that I can remember right now," he mumbled, tapping on the edge of the paper he had been working on before. It wasn't like he was going to do any work right then and there with his mind effectively made useless. "It's nice to know I'm not messing up."
"You are great, dad," Kunou told him, poking his arm and smiling at him.
"You only say that because I spoil you rotten," he replied with a matching grin. "I appreciate that anyway though," he added, leaning to the side so that he'd push her a little.
"I mean it," Yasaka told him then, earning his full attention once more, even if he was still feeling awkward. "You do a very good job, despite your doubts," she reassured him and Joshua let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding.
"Thanks," he replied. Feeling a little better, he decided to continue that conversation in a slightly different direction. "You do a lot better than you think too," he told her, making the woman's eyes widen a bit. 'Come on, that's enough awkwardness for today. Just man up,' he thought to himself, trying to find his long lost backbone. "I know you feel guilty about not making enough time for Kunou and not being able to let her be a kid, but you are an amazing mother. You should be proud."
"You should, mom!" Kunou was quick to agree, perking up and forgetting about her homework once more.
"Thank you," Yasaka said then, smiling widely. "I guess I deserve that turnabout."
"You do," Joshua replied with a nod and a chuckle. "Speaking of making time for Kunou-"
"No, I've already told you that I won't accept more help, Joshua," Yasaka interrupted, her expression turning into a glare that everyone knew she didn't mean. He simply grinned at her.
"I mean, you said we shouldn't because people would assume I'm courting you… but that's not that much of a problem anymore, is it?" he told her, and he was pretty proud of the slight pink dusting that his question caused on the woman's cheeks.
"You know very well that there's more to it than that," she told him, looking like she was making an effort to appear annoyed and failing.
"I mean, yes, we are kind of keeping it secret and all still… but it'll get out eventually," he replied, waving things off. "Besides, it shouldn't be too much of a problem once it becomes known that I have the backing of the Egyptian Pantheon, you said that yourself. If someone wants to cause problems, we can deal with them."
"... I like that you said "we" there," she replied, the smile winning the battle to appear on her face.
"Great, so-"
"Still no."
He deflated.
Kunou giggled.
And the pink hearts were back, unsurprisingly.
Margalo even joined with a little song from where she sat on a corner, the lil' shit.
[}-o-{]
[Rosar Phenex]
"What you are saying basically means that you can take away the spells from us if you feel like it!" he said, growing more and more insulted as the current discussion went on. The man across from him remained entirely unconcerned regarding his anger. If anything, he looked like he was dealing with a particularly troublesome kid.
Rosar wanted to burn him to ashes.
"I mean, you are not wrong," the human had the gall to say. "This is still a deal. I can't just take it away for no reason. All I'm saying is that I won't allow you to use my spell to support yourself in a war I don't agree with. I'm not giving you the option to do that through a loophole of any kind. I refuse."
"Mr. Davis, surely we can come to an agreement regarding this," Lucifer said then, joining the conversation for once. Rosar didn't know if that was good or bad. The former Gremory had a lot hanging on this deal getting through, since it involved his sister being free of the marriage contract with Riser. On the one hand, that meant that he wanted to make sure the deal happened. On the other hand… that meant that he wanted to make sure the deal happened.
Whether it happened in favor of Rosar or not, it didn't matter.
"This is non-negotiable," the human said then, not harshly but firmly. It was a tone that Rosar very much doubted that many would take with Sirzechs Lucifer himself. If he weren't so vexing an existence, he'd have respected Joshua Davis. "I won't let you use my spell for war unless I agree with you in said conflict."
"Joshua-" Leviathan started then, reminding Rosar of her presence and the fact that he very much still had reservations in regards to both Satans. He'd done some research and it was easy to find out that Joshua Davis was part of the former Sitri's silly little kids' show. There was a connection there, obviously.
The problem was still the Egyptian Pantheon. Even if the three of them were conspiring together, Rosar couldn't do anything. There was an entire Pantheon backing things up. Even if Davis and the two Satans were close, or even friends, it would make no difference. The Egyptians would still have their own reasons for anything they did in regards to this deal.
"No," Davis interrupted. The human interrupted the Satan Leviathan. "This, is, non, negotiable," he repeated, firmly. Then, in the blink of an eye Rosar and his wife both felt it, probably together with Lucifer, his wife and Leviathan. A pressure that hadn't been there before radiated from the human. He hadn't so much as twitched, but the entire setting had shifted. "You'll agree to this, or this deal is off. As simple as that," Davis said, stating that as a fact more than anything else.
Nobody said anything for a long moment, causing the human to tilt his head.
"I think you are forgetting something, Phenex," he commented then. "I don't have to make this deal with you. I'm doing this so that you will get something out of this and won't decide to throw a tantrum instead. I'm trying to be nice and let you get a win out of this very bad situation for you," he explained, his voice measured. "If you decide to be too difficult, I can and will decide to not bother and do as I want. I'm sure there'll be a lot of people very happy with you if you do that… and a lot that won't be."
"Are you threatening me?" Rosar asked, unable to help himself and immediately feeling his wife's nails digging into his thigh. That might not have been his best moment, admittedly.
"So nice of you to notice," Davis replied, as if he was genuinely happy that he had, indeed, noticed the threat. "Maybe I'll be extra petty and decide to replicate more Devil Bloodlines, blame it on you too. I'm sure that would go really well with everyone."
Rosar felt his face pale then, imagining that scenario. If his whole family got a quick death after that, then it'd be a fortunate event. Suddenly, he found himself re-evaluating his opinion of Davis. He'd been terrifying and impressive enough before.
Now, Rosar was moving him up in his list until he was right next to the Satans.
As swiftly as it had come, the pressure left then, Rosar watching as Davis relaxed on his seat.
"I do hope you understand things a little better now," he said then, piercing blue eyes staring straight at Rosar. He gulped. "I'm willing to compromise on a lot of things, but if you try to abuse this deal and my spell, then I'll make sure you regret it. You don't want to cross me, Phenex."
To that, Rosar nodded slowly.
"... I'm sure we can trust you to decide when to best apply this… clause," his wife said then, joining the conversation for once. Davis turned towards her and smiled. Not mockingly, but actually pleased.
"Thank you for the vote of confidence," the human replied, as if the entire previous interaction hadn't happened. "I assure you, I don't want to take advantage of such an open statement, but I don't want to risk things. I'll be as fair as I can be with you, your family and your faction, Phenex."
Rosar certainly wanted to believe that, because if the man wasn't, then this "deal" could very well end up with them being completely screwed.