Chapter 4

Sirzechs sat in front of his fireplace, just staring at the flames.

The fireplace wasn't actually necessary, all the weather in Hell was controlled by magic, and it never got unbearably cold unless desired. Still, many homes had fireplaces, purely for the aesthetic. Sirzechs liked sitting in front of a fireplace to calm down however.

There was something soothing about watching the flames...

...Only now, it wasn't working.

Grayfia was currently at the Sitri's, informing them of the situation they now found themselves in as Ivy and Sona were engaged.

She'd been calmer than him, which is why she had taken that duty. That wasn't to say his wife was just as furious as Sirzechs, but Grayfia's anger ran like a glacier, cool, methodical, and, ultimately, unstoppable. Sirzechs temper was much more explosive. Hence his attempts to calm down.

He still had to tell his parents, sister, and son about Ivy, but that could wait.

Hearing about how his daughter died, how his granddaughter had lived, and what was in her future...Sirzechs was prepared to vaporize all of Britannia with the Power of Destruction.

The door opening drew his attention to his wife entering the room. "How did the Sitri's take it?" he asked.

"They were understanding," Grayfia replied. "Sona would like to accompany us when we visit Ivy again. She wishes to get to know her fiance more before she informs her peerage of Ivy and their impending marriage."

"Understandable," Sirzechs agreed, looking back into the flames, as if they held some kind of answer.

"You know we cannot hunt Voldemort down," Grayfia said after a moment.

Sirzechs growled lowly as he answered. "I know," he replied back, his anger clear.

It wasn't that Sirzechs and Grayfia weren't capable, but Sirzechs, as the current Satan Lucifer, and Grayfia as his wife, could not begin any hostilities on Earth, no matter how justified, without running the risk of ending the fragile ceasefire between the three biblical factions. Visits and non violent activities were fine, but anything else, such as hunting down the man that had killed their daughter and was trying to kill their granddaughter, were a huge no.

Unless they wanted to risk starting the war back up, which they didn't.

If Sirzechs wasn't the current Lucifer, things would be different. In a lot of ways, all the devils that weren't Satans had more freedom than Sirzechs, or any of the other three did. It was the burden of their duties and responsibilities, and a reality of supernatural politics.

It was then that Grayfia pointed out a fact Sirzechs, in his anger at being unable to hunt Voldemort down, had overlooked. "But that doesn't mean we cannot aide Ivy."

Sirzechs sat still as stone as that thought passed through his mind. It was true.

He and Grayfia were bound by their positions from hunting that bastard down themselves, but they could aide Ivy to ensure she survived.

First, they needed Ajuka, the current Beelzebub, to examine her. The list of ailments Serafall had passed on to them were mostly old injuries, but there were a few things that weren't, things Ajuka could probably help with. The soul fragment in her head, which likely belonged to Voldemort and explained why he had survived that night he killed Ophelia...Lily. And there was a generational binding on Ivy's devil-blood. Once awoken, Ivy would be more powerful.

They could also arrange for training, in fact that was probably a good idea in general once Ivy's devil-blood was awakened. But that couldn't be planned out until Ivy's devil blood was awakened.

If they were lucky, Ivy would inherit the Power of Destruction. Even if she didn't, becoming a devil would still improve her chances, against Voldemort at least.

The current Lucifer, let out a sigh, in both relief and frustration. Relief that his wife had helped point out what they could do, and frustration that it wasn't as much as he wanted to. "I love you Grayfia," he said, not looking at his wife as he instead continued to stare at the flames. "I could tell you every day for centuries, and I don't think I'd say it enough. But the fact that that...thing that murdered our daughter still walks the Earth, and is trying to kill our granddaughter...I don't remember ever being this angry, not even when Ophelia was first stolen."

He felt his wife lay a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I know," she simply said. "And I assure you, I am just as angry. But instead of focusing on your anger, you need to focus on Ivy, and what we can do to help her. Focusing on what we want to do but can't does nothing but frustrate us."

"I know," Sirzechs growled out. "Intellectually, I know that." He turned and looked up at his wife. "But I...," he looked away again. "I've never had this much trouble controlling my temper before."

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Grayfia tightened the hand on her husband's shoulder at his admission.

Her husband was always so controlled, they both were, but while Grayfia controlled her emotions through stoicism, Sirzechs controlled his with cheerfulness. Even in dire situations, he was able to smile and laugh. Even when he was destroying his enemies utterly with his mastery over the Power of Destruction, he could smile and laugh, and be witty and sarcastic.

She knew just how painful his admission that he couldn't control his temper was for him. Devils did not like admitting weakness, it wasn't just a personality trait, it was an ingrained instinct. Even among family, admitting weakness was like pulling teeth, worse even.

And truthfully, Grayfia couldn't fault her husband.

She wanted nothing more than to end the wizard that had murdered her daughter, her little girl that she had spent so little time with. She wanted him dead so that he could never threaten Ivy. And while she did have a little more freedom than her husband to act, it wasn't enough to hunt down a human on Earth without starting up the Great War all over again.

It was a sign of how much control over their tempers they had that the two of them both realized the implications of their actions rather than simply hunting Voldemort down. Though to be honest, Had Ivy not been present, and been the one to inform them, when they learned these details, Grayfia didn't know that she or her husband would have had the restraint they did.

"Come to bed Sirzechs," she told him. "In the morning...our tempers will have cooled."

She didn't really believe that, but she knew her husband would at least have better control.

That night, Grayfia and Sirzechs did not make love...they fucked, hard and fast and angry. And when they collapsed asleep in bed exhausted, both held the other tightly.

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Venelana Gremory looked up in surprise as her daughter Rias entered the dinning room.

She didn't know her daughter was visiting today. Cone to think of it, Kuoh Academy was still in session, so she was even more surprised to see her daughter.

And it probably meant something had happened.

"Rias," she greeted, smiling as she stood from her seat to walk over and hug her daughter. "What brings you home?"

The red-haired devil smiled at her mother, her green-blue eyes remained guarded however, as they had even since her father, Venelana's husband, informed her of Rias' betrothal to Riser Phenex. "I was hoping you'd tell me?" she answered. "I received a message from Sirzechs requesting my presence this morning."

Venelana's eyes widened in surprise. "I can honestly say that I know nothing of that."

Before her daughter could reply, her husband, Zeoticus, entered the room. Seeing both his wife and daughter in the room, he raised an eyebrow. "I assume Sirzechs asked you here?" he questioned, obviously asking Rias, and not Venelana.

"He did," Rias responded.

"Do you know what this is about?" the sole brunette in the room asked her husband.

He shook his head, "Grayfia just informed me that she and Sirzechs would not be joining us, and needed to speak with all of us after breakfast. She also said that Millicas would not be joining us."

He gave Venelana a confused look, and she could understand why.

Due to their duties, Sirzechs and Grayfia often didn't have a lot of free time. And though they tried to spend as much time as they could with their son, they often had a working breakfast and lunch, and only ate dinner with the family. Thus Millicas almost always ate breakfast and lunch with his grandparents and aunt, when she was home. And while it wasn't unusual for the two of them to occasionally have a morning free, and thus eat breakfast with their son or even with the family, having a family meeting afterward was unheard of.

And that worried Venelana.

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Rias Gremory was worried when she stepped into the sitting room where her brother was waiting.

Her brother wasn't smiling...which wasn't a good sign. And though Grayfia was her usual impeccable self, there was a tension, for lack of a better word, that wasn't normally in the silver-haired devil.

She spotted her parents she a look from the corner of her eye as they entered the room after her.

"What is this about?" her father asked, as he sat down in a chair across from Sirzechs.

Her brother sighed. "We found out what happened to Ophelia," he said, after a moment. "Or at least part of what happened to her."

Rias knew the news wasn't good, just off of they way Sirzechs and Grayfia looked. She may not have been born when Ophelia was, but her parents had told her the story of what had happened to her niece, when she questioned them about how paranoid her brother and his wife had been after Millicas birth.

It was clear her parents realized the bad news as well.

"What...what did you find out?" her mother finally asked.

"Ophelia...was murdered," Sirzechs said, clenching his fist. What followed was an explanation of what they knew had happened, along with the reveal of Ophelia's daughter, Ivy, who was alive...and apparently betrothed to Sona.

Rias would have laughed were it not for the more gruesome details that her brother had learned about his granddaughter's life.

"I'm guessing you told Millicas this morning already?" their father inquired, one hand rubbing his goatee in what Rias knew was an agitated gesture for Zeoticus Gremory.

"We did," Grayfia confirmed. "Though we left out more of the...graphic details."

"Understandable," Zeoticus acknowledged.

"What are your plans in regards to Ivy?" their mother inquired. "Surely you don't intend to leave her alone on Earth?"

"We do not," Sirzechs assured her. "But...everything has overwhelmed her a bit. We plan on having Ajuka examine her, to remove the block on her devil heritage and heal the maladies we know of. But...we don't want to move to fast with her. She may be our blood, and that has earned us some trust. But I'm afraid that if we push too hard, too fast, Ivy will distance herself from us." He sighed again. "She...I don't think she'd told us all of what her life has been like."

Silence lingered in the room after that last statement.

Finally, Rias asked, "What are you going to do about Voldemort?"

To her surprise, it was her mother her answered and not her brother. "He's not going to do anything."

"But..he's trying to kill Ivy?"

"Believe me Rias...I know," her brother said, and Rias noticed for the first time just how defeated he looked. "But unfortunately, the situation is not as simple as me hunting that monster down."

"Your brother is the Great Satan Lucifer," Zeoticus explained. "He cannot act freely on Earth without risking the fragile ceasefire we currently have with the Angels and Fallen."

"Surely there must be some kind of exception?" Rias asked. "Ivy's his granddaughter, she's family."

"Yes, but officially, Sirzechs has no family," her father continued. "It's acknowledged that he's married, and has children. But neither Grayfia, nor Millicas, or even Ivy have the name Lucifer."

"Even we are restricted in what we can do," her mother added. "Even though he is not officially part of our family, your brother's connection, his blood ties to us is almost as restrictive."

"Almost?"

"Your mother and I cannot act too openly on Earth...but you are still young," her father said, grinning slightly. "And everyone knows that youth today are brash, irresponsible, and don't always understand the consequences of their actions."

"We cannot act too openly Sister," Sirzechs said, drawing her attention to him. "But, due to your youth and, forgive me for saying, low rank among devil-kind, you can get away with far more than Mother, Father, Grayfia, or I can."

"You want me to hunt down Voldemort?" the red-haired young woman asked.

"No," her brother informed her. "While you do have the Power of Destruction, and are a devil wizardkind can still be dangerous. And Voldemort is considered dangerous among them. I'm not saying you couldn't kill him," he placated, "but I'm not willing to take that risk."

"Then what are you asking?"

"Officially, not a thing," Sirzechs explained. "Unofficially, try and keep an eye on Ivy until she's adjusted to her new reality. Between yourself and Sona, you should be able to deal with most things that could threaten her. And frankly, at this time, I trust you more than Sona."

"Why? I mean, the Sitri's are allies and friends of ours, aren't they."

"They are," Grayfia confirmed. "But Sona doesn't know Ivy yet, and they will not be married until the end of October at the latest. The only way for Sona or Ivy to get out of their marriage contract is for one of them to die. And while Sona would not risk alienating us by killing Ivy, she may be willing to...let events unfold, if it means getting out of the contract. I honestly do not believe Sona would do that, but there is a chance, and neither your brother or I are willing to take it."

Rias understood her brother and sister-in-law's caution. The vows used in devil marriage ceremonies had been carefully crafted, and were enforced by a devils own magic, to ensure a husband and wife would not betray each other. For a race that was...as sinful as devils, that was important. And until those vows were taken...Sona could work to eliminate Ivy. She'd have to be subtle, but Rias knew her childhood friend was capable of that.

Even if, like Grayfia did, Rias didn't think Sona would betray them like that, she agreed it was better not to take the chance.

"So when do we get to meet Ivy?" she asked.

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I apologize for the wait...due to real life I haven't been getting on my computer much to do anything (I just spent an hour going through my email account, and responding to my forum posts). Sadly, I don't see much changing anytime soon in terms of how busy I've been. So updates on this and other stories, may be a bit. In fact I'm probably likely to get a one shot out before an update because of how easy one-shot stories are.

Please Review and Check out the Stories in My Community (Link on Profile), the Stories I have up for adoption under the title Please Adopt Me! and the Challenges in My Forums.