Cooled Passions Chapter 65

Chapter 65: Small Things

Shiro had the most impressive poker face I have ever encountered, I mused as I looked down upon her. Her face had not even twitched since I confronted her, remaining in the same deadpan expression that had become something of her trademark.

Unfortunately for her, her eyes betrayed her. She refused to meet my gaze, looking off to the side, a clear admission of guilt as any.

I sighed, “I’m not angry, Shiro. Just confused. Why are you halting your growth?”

My words floated in silence for a brief moment, before her wine red eyes looked into my own, “Promise you won’t be mad? Or…”

Her words trailed off, apparently unable to complete the sentence, causing me to sight. Putting her down, removing my hands from their position under her shoulders, I knelt down and gently flicked her forehead.

“Ow.” She spoke, grabbing the offended area and looking at me dirtily.

“You’re being silly, Shiro.” I spoke, drawing her into a hug, “No matter what it is, I won’t dislike you, or pull away. I promise.”

She sniffled at that, burying her head into the crook of my neck. I held her as she recovered, not ever quite breaking out into tears properly, but still quite emotional and latching onto the comfort I provided freely.

I felt the whisper of her next sentence across my skin, “I like being smaller than you.”

“Devils can guide how they look, Shiro. If you don’t want to be bigger than me, then you can just decide not to be.” I revealed, causing her stiffen up in my hold, making me grin, “You forgot, didn’t you?”

There was a long, pregnant pause, before finally…

“...Don’t tease, Nii-san.”

The reply brought out great belts of laughter from me.

---XXX---

She relaxed, basking in the best version of her Silence that she had ever found on this infuriating world. Truly, meeting the Moon had to be one of the best things that had happened to Ophis since that giant Red Idiot decided to make an ever bigger nuisance of himself.

Still, she was a Dragon of her word, thus why she was unable to fully relax at the moment. Her silence had been invaded. Sitting in the chair that he brought to these mandated meetings, sat Damocles, the Consort of the Moon. To be fair, it wasn’t as if he was going out of his way to disturb her, but his presence did so regardless.

He appeared relaxed, reading the book in his hands, taking care to not make too much noise as he turned the page. He was even doing that thing he showcased when he met her, calming down his energy and stopping it from thrashing about like the other Devils. Still, it wasn’t enough.

She could block it out, the sheer insane motion this world had. The first time she visited, the assault on her senses ensured that she left rather quickly. How could these things live here, she had wondered, when the very air around them was buzzing with energy? It all vibrated, bounced around, smashed together and apart, in a chaotic dizzying whirl. Even their bodies were made up of the buzzing parts, although much more densely packed. Still, that made them worse, not better.

The condensation just made the whirr from the motion even louder, not to mention the other disgusting sounds that such beings were accompanied by. Sloshing, gurgling, squelching, all of it continuously singing a choir of wretched music into her ears. Even the way they communicated, vibrations of displaced air, was so loud and inefficient, she could scarcely believe it.

The fact that she had been forced hear, to rely on beings like this… it was galling. Even if some of them were more tolerable than others. At least Damocles had not insisted on talking with her, unlike the other Devils she had been giving her snakes to. Something he hadn’t even asked about, in fact, uniquely, he seemed almost completely disinterested in her power.

It was… interesting.

She idly reached out a hand, picking up one of the dark sweets off of the tray on her table and idly chewed it as she regarded his white haired form. What was it that the Moon was so invested in? What about his could she have been so taken by that she had lowered herself to tie herself to him as a mate?

She didn’t really understand what made a mate attractive, to either Devils or Moons, having never even been interested in the topic before. It seemed so confusing to her, why a being would impose on their own solitude to tie their life to an unpredictable variable like that. Of course, she knew what Dragons usually looked for in a mate, someone who could contribute to their hoard and take care of their young, while being stronger than themselves.

Ophis didn’t have a hoard, had no desire for any young and the only being capable of even scratching her was something she would not willingly lay with in any reality.

However, it did give her a reference point to try and figure out the strange union. Applying it to this situation… Was confusing. The Moon also didn’t have horad and was vastly more powerful than the Devil in front of her. So having young, then? But that didn’t make any sense either. Damocles couldn’t provide any more security than the Moon was capable of, so why him?

Suddenly, an idea occurred.

She could ask him.

Ophis was surprised by the thought. Ask him? Willingly full this space, this refuge, with even more noise and distraction? Why?

She puzzled over the question, her brilliant mind quickly finding the answer.

Ah, she was curious. Interesting.

“Damocles.” She began, watching as he jolted in surprise slightly before turning confused eyes to her, “Why does the Moon take you for a mate?”

Taking a bookmark from his breast pocket and putting it in the book that he softly closed, Damocles tilted his head at her, “Are you asking why Ranni chose me as her Consort?”

“Yes.” She then stated the obvious problem, “She in much stronger than you.”

“She is.” He accepted easily, surprising her as the Devils that had taken her snakes had to be forced to admit that Ophis was stronger than them before they agreed to serve, “But power is not the reason she chose me. It’s because of our history together.”

Ophis was even more confused at that, “What history?”

Damocles was of this world, while the Moon was from outside of it. Besides that, she was much, much older than him. In fact, Ophis wouldn’t be surprised if the Moon was older than even her. She was stronger, after all.

“Ranni wasn’t always this way, a Goddess of such immense strength.” Damocles revealed, making her blink, “She initially started as divine royalty on another world, one far, far away from this one.”

Ophis knew that was possible, beings growing stronger over time. It wasn’t her experience, being born the strongest in existence as she was, but she understood the concept. Still, that didn’t fully answer her question. How did Damocles meet the Moon if he didn’t leave this dimension?

“How do you know?” She asked for clarification.

“I used a… conduit, of sorts.” Damocles revealed, “I controlled a proxy body in her world, assisting her in rising up against her Mother and becoming the God of that world. She chose me as her consort during that journey, something she never deviated from even after her ascension.”

Ophis could somewhat understand that. This was ‘gratitude’, right? She didn’t really get it herself, but it made a vague amount of sense to her. It didn’t explain how Damocles used this ‘conduit’ to travel dimensions, but she wasn’t really interested in that. She guarded the Gap from things Outside, she had no interest in other dimensions aside from that.

Still, that seemed to not quite explain just how protective the Moon was over this Devil.

“I still don’t understand.” She stated, causing him to move his shoulders up and down at her.

“You will need to ask Ranni herself for further clarification, but we grew very close during our struggles there. I believe that was when her fondness for me grew and entrenched itself.” He said, frustrating her.

“Feelings are not effective in making decisions.” She spoke, the truth blindingly obvious.

He smiled at her, a strange look in his eyes, “Perhaps you will only really understand when you find a ‘mate’ of your own.”

Ophis doubted that such an implausible thing would ever happen.

---XXX---

The folder thumped against the desk, Serafall letting out an explosive sigh as she slumped into her chair, “Ragnarök has officially begun. I was only able to squeeze out the barest amount of concessions from them before it kicked off in truth, anything more substantial will have to wait until the conflict is decided.”

Sizechs picked up the folder, flipping through it even though he had read through the contents yesterday, “What is your verdict on how we should respond?”

Serafall pinched the bridge of her nose, “It’s a precarious situation. We could get some rather juicy prizes for assisting Asgard, but out involvement will prompt other Factions to get their own slice of the pie.”

“Any direct Military involvement will weaken our Border in the Underworld.” Falbium informed them dispassionately, repeating his words from the report in Sirzechs hands, “The Fallen would be able to take advantage of that, were they so inclined. Not to mention the Greeks.”

Serafall had more to add to that, “I did speak with Gabriel and Azazel about this, considering that the ignition point occurred in our territory. Azazel is keen to get some testing done on his newest inventions, while Heaven has a vested interest in making sure their Northern border remains stable.”

Ajuka summarised, “Therefore the Asgardians winning the war with our aid would be the best outcome for all of us, correct?”

“Doing so would require us to be discreet, using only disposable assets. If we decide to get involved at all, we would have to do so in a way that discourages other Factions from openly following suite.” Sirzechs tapped his fingers on the table in front of him, “Not that it will stop them, of course, but keeping such involvements to as minimal a level as possible would make the whole situation a lot more predictable.”

“Gabriel and Azazel agreed. They believe that if we do decide to help the Asgardians win with a group composed of various members from our Factions, it could allow us to accelerate the Treaty between us massively.” She fidgeted, a distinctly uncomfortable look on her face, “She even had a... suggestion for who we could send.”

“Absolutely not.” Sirzechs immediately figured it out from the way she was responding, “We barely managed to suppress the story of him killing Loki, allowing him to participate in a god killing free for all? We might as well offer up Ajuka’s services to awaken his bloodline ourselves.”

The who in question went unsaid, but the absent figure was still the exact same in all their minds.

“I still can’t believe it…” Serafall remarked, “I keep going over it in my head, I don’t see how he managed to do it.”

“Ranni likely assisted him. The new Goddess’ powers are not something that we understand well.” Ajuka pointed out, “It is almost certain that she would aid him in any combat.”

“Wouldn’t be enough, unless she fought for him and we know she didn’t.” Falbium grunted, the autopsy on Loki being rather conclusive on cause of death as well as the Sagan’s report detailing the broad strokes of the fight, “Damocles said it was surprise. He was able to Lock Loki’s divinity down and strike him during the backlash. A single crucial mistake was all it took, apparently.”

“Even then…” Serafall ran a hand through her hair, “A God-Slayer, before even awakening Lucifer’s blood… Who knows how bad it will be when he does?”

“If.” Sirzechs pointed out, “If he does. Which makes it even more crucial that he not go anywhere near something that could force him into doing so. It’s incredible he hasn’t already, to be honest.”

“Besides, Even if we ordered him to do so, would he even go? We are not exactly on friendly terms right now.” Ajuka brutally pointed out.

Falbium scoffed, “He would, just wouldn’t be happy about it. As much as he puts up a front, he does care about the Underworld.”

“It’s out of the question anyway, I agree with Sirzechs.” Serafall spoke, “If we do send anyone, it will probably have to be a younger Devil looking to prove themselves. That way we could spin it as personal initiative if pressed. The main contribution that we planned was in supplies anyway.”

“I would be happy to coordinate that with you.” Sirzechs nodded to the Magical Girl Cosplayer, “Falbium, do you have an idea what would be the most helpful to send?”

“If we are doing this, sure.” The Asmodeus shrugged, “but you know as well as I do that it will be symbolic at best if we only send a single Peerage.”

“Symbolism is enough. We could use the win.” Sirzechs sighed, “It will help us with the upcoming treaty negotiations. Besides, I doubt the conflict will be over quickly, it will likely take years before the momentum is clear. We will have time to re-evaluate if more is needed.”

“So decent start, then wait and see, huh?” Falbuim shrugged, “Good enough.”

With the Satan’s all agreeing, a plan was swiftly drawn up on who to send with their provisions for the Gods of Asgard. As Falbuim had pointed out, it wasn’t much in this scale of a war, but it was a start and made for a good position to begin bargaining from tin the future.

Serafall left the planning session with a good feeling about the whole business. After the botching of the Sagan issue and the absolute fiasco Japan was turning out to be, she was glad that at least something appeared to be going smoothly. Sirzechs was absolutely correct, she could really do with a win right now.