Yuki Black

Lilith's arms grew crossed, her jaw tightened, and her eyes dimmed to a cruel black, swirling with scarlet light. "Boy,' she started, but Zariel was quick to cut her short.

"Please don't back out on my account. I truly want to know what you'll do." He challenged, unable to believe there was someone stupid enough to appear before him without a real plan. Lilith had simply appeared and demanded answers to questions Zariel himself couldn't give. And even if he could, he was under no obligations to speak nor fear for his life. He didn't care if he died.

Life, death, they were all the same to him. He knew it was only a matter of time before hell sang its homecoming song.

"The Fallen of Hell did a number on you, didn't they," Lilith grumbled, tightening her arms over her chest. "I was told you knew nothing, so maybe I'll just look for your Mother's family, maybe your brother,' She goated one final time, and for the first time, Zariel paused, thinking about something.

He recalled that one night, his mother returned covered in bruises, a busted lip, and swollen eyes. she had looked at him with pure tears staggering into his room as he watched, a little too young to understand what had happened. Her legs had trembled that grim night as she fell to his cradle and kissed his cheek.

Zariel could still recall the stench of liquor on her breath, and he knew his mother never drank. Tears had filled his eyes that day as she spoke. " I should never have been born like so, never should have left the ancient family. Aether was my home, but the gates call for me."

"My little Zar, you'll forgive mommy, right? Will you forgive her for bringing you and your big brother into this false realm? Forgive her for allowing the blood of that beast to flow through you? Forgive me, my baby boy. Forgive mommy! Forgive mommy. Forgive—"

Recalling the bitter tears pouring from her face, her wails as she held him dearly pouring, her heart out, Zariels eyes swelled with pearls of water, and Lilith smiled.

"There it is. Tell me, boy." She pushed, bearing down upon Zariel.

"Fuck off," he snapped, turning his back as he readied himself to descend, " I've no reason to explain myself to the likes of you. Unless you can make a deal, we've nothing to discuss."

Golden light pressed cruelly against Zarils cheeks as a demonic gleam filled his eyes; he snorted, burrowing down towards Alos as Lilith hovered, startled by the look he held. She had seen such looks before, in her knights of hell, beings of unimaginable power with the madness to match.

"Naive as always, my lovely whore," the trickster said, crackling in laughter, as his body emerged from the void, filling the skies with dark embers. "Why is it you think any of us can control Zariel Snow? Did you think I tormented him for nothing? Idiot. Think for a moment. What no response? Well, fine, I did it to strengthen the boy. I knew other fallen would take an interest in him, same with devils and demons, but I needed him to be strong and not fall for plots due to fear. No one can strong arm that boy, not even me. Not yet anyway."

"You sly bastard." Growled Lilith, clenching her fist so tight that the balls of her knuckles turned pearly white. " What the hell are you after?"

"Booty," Mephisto answered, vanishing in a sea of embers, leaving Lilith still trembling in a fit of rage.

…

Barging into the room with a cold look, Zero lifted his mask and frowned as his attention shifted to the virtual image in his hand.

"Aether, I want to go."

"And aurelia?" Zero calmly responded, flicking through various reports.

"Tsk, I can take her."

'What about Tiamat?"

"I—"

"We've all have tons of shit to accomplish in a limited amount of time. I suggest you take it easy. You go to the Great Realm of Aether, and you're dead. Suppose you head anywhere within the Twelve Realms; you are dead. You're weak beyond reason."

"So what does Grandmaster Zero recommend?" Zariel barked through clenched teeth.

"You can start by telling me what happened to get you so riled up."

"Mother's family."

"The Blacks? Oh, you found out—"

"You knew!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Zariel, I'm one of the heads of the most powerful organizations around the Exalted Wheel. Information is power! Of course, I did some research into your mother. Who the hell do you take me for? I'm even one of the heads of the Black Hand. So no shit, I know a few things."

A large frown marred Zariels lips. He growled, " Does my brother know?"

"Yup. you were dead when I found out, and honestly, I forgot to tell you. I still have my reservation regarding your sanity." He carelessly said, dismissing the virtual terminal with a wave of his hand; he sighed, "I still think it's a bad idea to tell you."

"Bad idea? My mother was brutally raped for years, and some House I know nothing about did nothing but stand by and let three children be born through rape. They had better be dead! Or retarded!"

"Yuki Black was a beloved member of a noble family, and Arsene, when I say noble, I mean noble. The black family dated back over several hundred Chaos Cycle and was said to be the guardians of the Sovereign Elements before a betrayal happened in their court and the Elements were stolen. The black family lost a bit of face with that and went into seclusion for a long time, and technically they still are." Zero softly said. Summing two beers from his Infinity Ring, he continued, " House Black is probably the oldest house to still exist in all the twelve realms."

Zero's words came like a convoluted storm to Zariels heart as he could not understand what the hell had happened: Where were they?

Anger swelled and splintered through him as his fist clenched, so tight blood trickled out from his palm.

"Unfortunately, from what I've heard, Yuki Black was said to be a peak Chaos Lord of the highest levels—towering over the ancestors of the Black Family in stature. I'd even heard she killed quite a few chaos lords throughout the years. Her power was so high that there were rumors of her being the strongest being in all of the Twelve Planes. And yet, she always seemed injured."

"I-I-don't understand."

"Even at birth, according to her grandfather, Yuki was born with a crippled soul that never recovered no matter what they did. He even claimed that she should have never been so strong, much less alive this long."