A few days past the massacre of a royal soldier in Inferno's territory, Moriyana was busy with Deus as well as Fay trying to recreate a vessel fitting for Haruki's soul. Watching the trio with her head tilted to the side, Stella munched on a crispy snack offered to her by the lord of gluttony. At first, she felt confused by the thin layer of crispy potatoes, but the more she munched on, the further her hunger grew for the same.
Having not a clue as to what her mother was aiding the other two with, her eyes wandered all over before returning to Fay's back. She'd often even tried to get Fay to answer her queries, but she was simply dragged back into the cushioned chair by her ghostly friend Max. However, sometimes when the possessed demon eye couldn't take her back, the wolf pair that made up Fay's scarf forced her back into the chair.
"How the hell did you people pull it off?" Letting out a tired sigh, Deus moved away from the glass containers with the automaton bodies floating inside. Hidden under a veil of magic from Stella, she was still just as confused as to why the trio had been staring into the empty glass.
Taking a seat by another chair laying by a dust table, Deus ran his hands through his sweaty hair. Being confident in a dark place for the experiment right under the flaming territory of the demon lord of envy, he wasn't the only one feeling winded and frustrated.
"It shouldn't be this hard to make a soul possess an inanimate object," Fay complained
Moving away from the luminous glass vessel, Fay took a seat at another desk facing Deus. From a lack of any more chairs, Moriyana on the other hand created a stool from her mana and sat down right beside the immobile vessel.
"I've been, wondering something," crossing her legs, she placed her thumb under her chin as she gazed through thin air. "Mother is known for her creations, maybe being directly under her command, Haruki possessed a similar affinity towards it."
Raising her head, she looked at Deus and Fay before shifting her gaze to the bored Stella who seemed to be nodding off to sleep.
"I mean, he was able to summon almost all of her creations; the only thing limiting him was his own physical capabilities and the cap on his levels," although Moriyana tried to spy the reason for their failure, Fay wasn't yet convinced by it.
"The same can be said for you, can't it? You can summon some of her pets as well, and if anyone's attached to her the most it'd be you being her daughter," Refuting Moriyana, Fay began massaging her temples to get rid of a persistent migraine.
"Wait," Deus muttered, picking up something from their conversation.
Glancing between the two looking at him now, Deus felt a bit shy about voicing what he had just realized. Blushing red, he shook his head violently so he could forget about the embarrassment and just out with his point already.
"Big sis was a…" Shying his gaze away from the two, he finally voiced it out. "She's a virgin, then wouldn't it mean Moriyana is similar to her pets, and they are her siblings?"
It took a minute for the other two to register what Deus's revelation entailed, and the moment they both figured it out their eyes widened in shock.
"There's no way," not willing to accept that she was just another monster of Asmodia, Moriyana got up on her feet to test it out. "I always use mana when summoning them, there's no way Marionette ballerinas would come out just because they think we're related in some way!"
"Keekeeek!" All of a sudden while Moriyana laid out her dissent, the sharp sound of a marionette's beak clanked beside her neck. Shocked by the sudden noise, she leaped towards Fay before quickly turning around to the sight of the Ballerina peeking out from an otherworld portal.
'No…' As the truth of her existence unfolded before her, Moriyana's mind was drifting into a dark place.
"What about Reya? Did she not summon these creatures as well?" Trying not to poke at Moriyana when she was in such a vulnerable state, Fay turned to Deus with the question.
Looking towards her, Deus knew exactly what she was trying to do, and thus he gave her an answer to quickly shut down the topic.
"Yes, but her powers are unstable that's why she doesn't fight, and it's probably also the reason why instead of just one or two, she ended up with an army of otherworld creatures on the battlefield," done with his explanation, he added few words more before breaking Moriyana's silent glare at the ballerina. "We can't rely on her to fight, she's often just a last resort, and that too doesn't work all the time."
Pulling Moriyana towards him, Deus conjured up his gun as a warning and the ballerina quickly disappeared into the portal.
"Look at me," grabbing hold of her face, Deus forced her to look into his eyes. "Ameya andresa akui!"
Making use of one of the very few arcane spells he knew, Deus stripped Moriyana's memories of the last few minutes through his eyes alone. Hypnotized by his gaze, she fell unconscious quite easily and was set into the chair Deus had been sitting in.
"What did you do?" Asked Fay despite knowing Deus wouldn't hurt Moriyana, at least not for the moment.
"Ignorance is bliss sometimes, and I made sure she can bask in it until she's ready to accept her true nature," looking up at Fay, he made sure Moriyana's body wouldn't fall off the chair. "Regardless, I believe we're going to need someone with an affinity for creation to make those hospitable vessels."
Still a bit unsure how to feel about the whole ordeal, Fay nodded back feeling a bit suspicious.
"Deus!" The sudden call from Inferno, however, broke the awkward moment.
Turning to the voice, Deus and Fay noticed Inferno standing atop the staircase with his body bent forward. Looking at them from under the wall covering the left side of the stair, he opened his mouth again to add something more.
"A guest has arrived at the battlefield, ahaha," chuckling to himself, he caressed his chin with his left hand. "I know you'll love this, that's why I came to get you before meeting him."
"What are you talking about?" Deus asked, watching Inferno about to turn around to leave.
"Haruki," before leaving the place, Inferno stood by the door at the top of the stairs. "He's here, so's Michael!"
And with that announcement, he rushed off to meet the two he'd just named. Baffled by the news, Fay looked at Deus with utter shock. Although she wanted to go and meet up with Haruki herself, with Stella snoring about and Moriyana unconscious, she knew it wasn't the greatest plan especially when Michael would also be present.
Recognizing the source of her worries, Deus clenched his fist tight before opening it back up to reveal a reflective device laying on his hand. Grabbing hold of Fay's hand, he put it on it and gave her shoulder a reassuring pat.
"These two need you here, but don't worry, you'll be able to see and hear everything I see if you keep looking into that piece of glass," Without much else, Deus began walking away and disappeared above the stairs of the experiment facility.
"Dammit Moriyana, I can't leave for the dungeon until you open up the portal to take us there," left at the mercy of time, Fay settled down into a chair with an uneasy heart waiting for Moriyana to wake up as soon as possible.
In the meantime, she saw through the glass Deus making his way through the scorching ground of the battlefield tarred with the blood of the soldiers. At a distance from him, she noticed Haruki standing beside Michael in a gasp unfitting for a demon. Akin to a holy mage he'd worn a cloak of white with golden laces and the seal of the emperor inscribed over the chest. In his hand as well as Michael's was the flag of the empire. Frowning while looking in the front, Haruki nor Michael seemed too fond of being so close to each other as allies.
'Did they come to surrender on this front?' From the looks of it, Fay was inclined to believe that after the massacre of late, the emperor was halting Inferno's borders for the moment. 'But why is Haruki being so compliant?'
Having no clue about his deal with Asmodia, she found Haruki's compliance to be a tad bit concerning. Had the curse of the emperor taken over his mind? Or was he offered something that turned him to the emperor's side? Whichever it was, Fay knew she couldn't let him be in that state for long, and thus to get rid of his curse, she had to find someone with an affinity to creation as quickly as she could.
Raising her head off the glass device, she turned her head towards her daughter wondering if it was time for her to run tests on her body to hasten the vessel's progress.
'Haruki will kill me if he finds out that I hurt her in any way, but maybe just a little bit of prying on her can give us an alternative method than relying on someone with a creation affinity? Either way, her body can give us the head start we need to progress further.' Despite feeling her heart beginning to bleed, Fay gulped down her angst and lowered her head back to the device. In her mind, however, even though reluctant still, she was willing to force herself to test on her own daughter, but only after watching how the interaction unfolds on the battlefield.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om