Chapter 98: Devil’s Civil War

Ravenclaws' House, Nihon

December 20th, 1091

–

Time continued to flow for the Ravenclaw couple. Erik had managed to find a perfect location for their house in Nihon. It was in a mountainous region that had a dense forest on it complete with its own spring river that flowed from the mountains and a fountain of natural hot water that flowed from the depths of it too. Erik used the location to build their new home in a Japanese style. And he had to admit, the local woodworkers could do wonders with the wood. It had taken him three entire years just to learn all their techniques to then start building his Japanese home. After finishing it, Erik had compiled the woodworking knowledge that he had learned in a book and sent a copy of it to the house-elves in Hogwarts.

Selena had loved their new house too. Her favorite spot of it was, without a doubt, the natural bath that Erik had made using the natural fountain of hot water. Their first guest in the new home was, as always, Hestia. The goddess of hearth loved to visit their new homes. That Erik always had a hearth in them enchanted to always burn safely with her symbol on the bottom of it was all the invitation that she needed to come. And that this new home was in her friend's territory was just a bonus to her.

Their second guest was a surprise to them. Hestia had dragged Amaterasu from Takamagahara to have tea and eat some sweet treats with the couple.

"I hope I'm not intruding."

Amaterasu said in a polite voice to Erik and Selena.

"Not at all, Lady Amaterasu. Any friends of Hestia are our friends too, meaning, they are welcome in our house."

Selena replied to both of them. Right now, Erik was busy in the kitchen finishing some baked goodies. When he entered the room, Erik saw three women talking amicably with each other but the fragrance of the contents in the tray floating in front of him made the three women snap their heads in his direction. Erik held his chuckle for his own health benefits and calmly served the tea and the baked treat to the women. He really thought that only his presence in the room was holding back them from letting out moans from eating the baked sweets.

The four of them had then a friendly talk where Amaterasu got to know the strong couple of humans that was visiting her lands. And, after seeing for herself that they had no ill intent here, she turned to enjoy the company fully. It was a rare occasion for her, as a chief goddess to just relax and have a friendly conversation with others where there were no hidden agendas.

After staying in Nihon for some more months, exploring all the places they could and meeting new people and youkai alike, Erik and Selena opted for continuing their trip.

Between building new homes in new places and their trips, eighty years had passed as quickly as they could and the couple continued with their travel around the world. Eventually, they got the news that the tension that was building in the Underworld, with the Devils, escalated and transformed into a full-blown Civil War. The number of Devils fleeing to the human world has grown exponentially, making them more common to be seen in places that no parent would let their children near it.

Their first encounter with such a type was during one of their trips through where Russia is now. The crazy Devil tried to attack them just for the fun of it but was sent flying back by a punch in the face coming from Erik. That had made the Devil lose most of his teeth and have a broken nose. After that punch, the Devil had no strength to flee and was dispatched quickly after Erik and Selena had made him answer some of their questions, of course. The Devil was a mid-ranking soldier from the losing side of the Civil War that, after seeing that the old Satans had no chances of winning, decided to flee while he could with his life intact. He was having a blast in the Human World since then. Just the things that he had done in the last week were enough to make anyone want to end him for good, so Erik and Selena had no doubts when doing it.

Such cases of devils fleeing the Civil war to the Human World were turning common through the world. But where there were defecting unruly soldiers, there were Devil civilians too that just wanted to live their lives without worrying if they would live to see them tomorrow. Such an example was a family of three that Erik and Selena had met when they were back in Britain. They were two adults with an infant son that had fled the Underworld because the battlegrounds of the Civil War were getting too close to their home. Sebastian, Geri, and Alastor were a young family of three. The couple, Sebastian and Geri, had married some years ago and had Alastor soon after. It was a blessing for them since the Devils had such a low birth rate, so when the war got close, they fled to keep their families whole. The male Devil was a farmer. He used to work taking care of some special plants that could only e cultivated in the Underworld. His wife, Geri, was a seamtress. Not a very skilled one since she had only started to learn the trade and had now to look after their young son, but she had some potential for it.

In a spur of a moment, Erik gave the couple a place to stay. He warded a good piece of land to keep the family's Devil energy masked and some seeds of magical plants to get the man to start his own business. It was the right decision. Sebastian had a gift when tending to magical plants and with time became the person to go for fresh potion ingredients in Britain's magical community.

Such cases were common and Erik and Selena helped whoever they could that wanted only to live in peace and took care of the bad apples that tried to stink the place. And it was because of that that the couple met the one who would become a friend, and later family for the first time in the year one thousand and one hundred and fifty-two.

–

Londinium, Britain

November 12th, 1152

–

It was raining again in the city, something that was very normal for that place but it was bad for some reason as the chilly air of November seemed even chillier. Erik and Selena were in the outskirts of the city, talking with a Devil couple that they had helped some years ago. They had settled one year ago and the man was working at home by making a copy of manuscripts and books manually. He was doing good money by applying some magic to quills and making it do all the work for him. It was just a routine check on how the new wards were holding up. These new wards were designed specifically with Devils in mind and their objective was to nullify the impact that their negative energy had on the environment. Even by masking it, their energy was still there, and it could have a negative impact on the environment around where they were living by causing flora mutation and attracting the wrong sort of magical creatures.

Their talks were interrupted when Erik and Selena felt a strong magical signature approaching them fast. The couple went immediately on high alert, which made the Devil couple go on high alert too. Erik signaled them to not move and soon after, they watched as a Devil pursuing another Devil flew over them without noticing anything amiss on the ground. Erik, for sure recognized the Devil who was pursuing the other one from his past life. It was Serafall Leviathan, the magical girl-Satan. The Devil couple had recognized her too.

"That was Serafall Sitri, one of the leaders of the group that rebelled against the old Satans."

The man of the couple said with his face as white as a sheet.

"You mean the woman pursuing the other Devil?"

Selena asked him, who nodded his head in confirmation together with his wife.

"Yes. I got information yesterday from a friend that stayed in the underworld. They are saying that the war is over, and Serafall Sitri together with the other three young leaders are the most promising candidates to take the manteau as the new four Satans. Talk is that she will get the Leviathan name."

The woman of the couple said in a rush-rush tone like it was some big secret. Unfortunately, Erik couldn't confirm that. After all these years, he had yet to manage to plant some surveillance in the Underworld. Different from the Human World, the Underworld's power scale was much different and he preferred not to take too many risks with it.

"Well, at least we saw that the wards do work well."

Erik said trying to dissolve the heavy atmosphere that had taken place. The Devil couple smiled at that. Indeed, if that barrier had worked against a powerhouse like Serafall Sitri, it would work with others. The talk was quickly finished and Erik and Selena departed from the Devil couple's house. Outside the wards of the house, Selena stopped and looked at Erik.

"What are you thinking of doing?"

Selena asked after seeing the look on Erik's face.

"Er… something possible dangerous but that can benefit us in the long run."

Erik replied to Selena.

"You are not thinking of talking with that devil right? …RIGHT?"

Selena asked Erik and repeated the last word in a higher voice when she saw that 'talking with that Devil' was exactly what he was thinking of doing.

"Love…"

Erik started saying and pulled Selena in a hug.

"... I know what I am doing. Trust me."

Erik said to Selena.

"I don't like it. If anything of what they said is true, her strength is not something that can be easily batted away."

Selena replied to Erik, exposing her concerns.

"Don't worry, I have my aces. The fight will be over before it even starts. That is if we had to fight at all."

Erik said with confidence in his ways and kissed Selena slowly.

"I still don't like it."

Selena mumbled.

"I will take care."

Erik reassured Selena, giving her another series of kisses.

"Yes, you will. I'm too young to be a widow."

Selena joked. But she was, in a way, serious about it. She didn't know what she would do without Erik by her side. With a final kiss, Erik separated from Selena and, after applying some illusions over him, took flight in the same direction that Serafall Sitri went earlier while pursuing the other Devil. Selena watched with apprehension her husband fly away.

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