Before the Storm

"You can't be serious," Damian blurted out, his eyes still focused on the list before him. "This can't be true... right?"

His voice rang out, shaky and uncertain, cutting through the heavy silence of Winston's study like a blade. His golden eyes that usually gleamed with confidence and vigor were now clouded with something else.

Fear.

The prince stood before the desk, wide-eyed while clenching the list slightly in his hand.

Across from him sat Winston, the ever-composed head butler of the royal household. His dull grayish eyes studied Damian carefully from behind a stack of untouched paperwork. His posture remained uptight and composed. Still focused on the troubled child, he raised a hand to his chin as curiosity quickly took over him.

'...'

"Is something the matter young master?" Winston spoke up, finally breaking the heavy silence in the room. "Are you alright?"

'Does he really not know what this means?' thought Damian, still looking at the paper in his hand.

"Y-yeah I'm fine but... He thinned his lips as if contemplating whether to speak or not, then after a short moment, he thought to himself.

'Cowering won't solve anything, so I might as well see this through.'

"This says the Black Hounds have been gathering massive amounts of mana crystals, forbidden herbs, and relics as listed here right?," Damian asked, slightly regaining composure. "You don't collect those just for fun you know, and as far as I can tell, they're not the type to ever do anything unnecessary, but I suppose you already knew that, so I'm gonna cut right to the chase."

After a little hesitation, he finally blurted out something that could only be considered as unreasonable to the man sitting there before him.

"Its for a summoning ritual..." Damian stated confidently. "They're planning to summon a creature from the darkness..."

Winston's eyes narrowed curiously. "A demon?"

"Or... Demons."

The old man leaned back slightly, tapping his fingers. "That's impossible. How can you tell all that just from a couple of resources.

"I read it in a library." He replied, although in truth he had actually stumbled upon the knowledge sometime in his past life.

The butler raised an eyebrow. "You'll need more than just that to convince me, Damian," Winston said. "And even if you somehow manage that, you'll have to convince the king, too."

"..."

"What's going on here? Why the tense atmosphere?" Asked Lyra as she walked into the room, taking her position beside Damian.

"Oh, it's you Lyra." Commented Damian as she took her position beside him.

"I thought I should check on you, but I have to admit young master, you look rather... Pale..." she remarked staring worriedly at Damian. "Did something happen?"

Winston spoke up before Damian could respond. "Prince Damian claims that a demon summoning ritual might be imminent, isn't that right?"

"E-exactly!"

Lyra's brows shot up in realization. "Damian... It's the Black Hounds, isn't it?"

Winston glanced at her and grinned slightly. "I see he's already filled you in on his 'investigations.'"

"I think so?" Lyra replied, still processing the gravity of the situation.

"Just hear me out Winston... These items here are specifically for summoning." He started, pointing at the paper in his hand. "To perform a summon, you'll need a core, a mana source, a catalyst and depending on the type, of summon, sacrifices too."

He paused, eyeing Winston slightly before continuing.

"If you look here you'll see that they already have everything they need, all except one."

"A mana source." Lyra whispered.

"Exactly, and judging from the quality of the acquired materials, they're gonna need a really big mana source to go with that, and where do you think they can find something like that?" Damian asked, directing his question towards Winston this time.

A short silence followed the question before the answer was delivered In a short whisper.

"The royal capital..."

Even after answering the question himself, inston stared at Damian a little longer, then said, "But the Black Hounds aren't known for dabbling into demonic arts. They're mercenaries. Swords-for-hire. Assassins maybe, but not cultists."

"Exactly," Damian said, turning his gaze to the window. "And that's what bugged me for a while, but now, the answer is crystal clear..."

He walked slowly, drawing the curtains aside to see the grand view of the city bathed in a blinding sunlight.

"They're not the original Black Hounds."

Winston blinked, his face a clear mask of confusion. "I beg your pardon?"

Damian turned back to them, his expression dead serious. "Like I said, They're impostors."

"The real Black Hounds wouldn't have even thought of touching demonic rituals. Yeah sure, they were shady, and maybe we didn't know anything about them, but I have faith that my hunch us correct." Damian continued. "This other group,… they're probably using their name as a cover."

Lyra frowned, her mind quickly piecing everything together. "So then that means the real group has been..."

"Yup.." Damian nodded gravely. "I can only think of one group crazy enough to pull off a stunt like this…"

He paused, letting the words linger in the air for a while. Winston leaned forward, with curiousity, as Damian continued.

"...The Abyssal Cult."

Lyra's eyes widened. "You can't be serious young master." she whispered, her voice laced with dread.

"I am, and what worries me most is that Ren is somehow involved in this as well." He sighed. "Besides, give it a thought," he grinned as if stating the obvious. "They're the only band of misfits who worship the fabled demon king, who else do you think would think of summoning a demon?."

The room grew colder even though the sun was still up, and for a long moment, no one made so much as a sound.

Damian's mind whirred. The pieces were falling into place, but he still wasn't sure he had the full picture yet. He knew the cult had been in hiding for a long time , deep in the shadows, waiting for the right moment.

And that moment was coming, but a single question still rang in his head.

'Why now?'

It was the same as in his past life but at the time, he wasn't in the capital anymore. And the news of a demon spawn didn't exactly reach him until after sometime had passed.

"When," Winston muttered, shattering the silence once more. "When do you think we should expect this... Ritual?"

"Oh that, I don't think we should worry about it anytime soon, a summoning can only take place during an eclipse, and we should still have at least a... Wait, don't tell me," he panicked. "No way,... IT'S TODAY?!!!"