19 Chapter 5 Part 5

- Abe no Ariyuki -

Hmm! He looked in the direction of Tokyo as he sensed his Shikigami Yosuzume being destroyed.

Yosuzume might not have been the strongest but it was certainly not weak enough to be destroyed so easily. This was especially so when considering the fact that he was acting as a spy for him and subtly guiding the Shikoku Youkai against the Nura Clan. With Inugamigyobu Tamazuki possessing Mao's Hammer, the same sword which killed Rihan Nura. He could at least harm the Nura Clan to some extent. As for destroying the Nura Clan with just the power of the Shikoku Youkai was nothing but a dream.

Shikoku Youkai had fallen and while the new blood had potential… the Nura Clan didn't lack those either. Not to mention they had several experienced Youkai behind the clan too.

The best he was expecting was for the son of Rihan Nura and the third commander of the Nura Clan dying in the fight along with a few top brass.

Sanmoto Gorozaemon being involved in the mess made sure that the fight wouldn;t be fruitless.

The shadows were moving. The time for his ancestor's revival was approaching as the Kyoto Youkai under Hagoromo Gitsune had started making their moves.

Any chaos and damage to the Eastern and Western Youkai at the moment would be appreciated. This was the plan and yet… and yet, somehow, Yosuzume was dead.

He divined the place of its death and found that it was near Kyoto.

….

Did one of Yasaka's people find her?

He immediately shelved that thought.

Yasaka's people were infiltrated by the followers of Hagoromo Gitsune and his ancestor for years now. If such a thing had happened, he would have gotten the information almost as soon as they were found.

A more detailed divination showed the location to be a town near Kyoto and not Kyoto itself.

A town bordering the territory of those uppity Principal Clans.

Did any of those make a move?

Yasaka was not the kind to kill people, especially Youkai first. The Principal Clans on the other hand… anyways, it didn't matter who killed Yosuzume.

The fact remains that they must possess Mao's Hammer now.

The sword was an essential part of his plans.

Che. Now, he would have to move personally. And here he thought that he could rest for a while.

– Serafall –

She sat in the living room of the Sitri Mansion. Sirzechs had decided to stay there too and for once she was actually thankful because she didn't know what she would do.

Sona was sent to the Gremory Estate to spend the day with Rias so that she doesn't get caught up in this mess.

Her parents entered the room and she put a barrier around the room.

Both her parents looked at her seriously. "What is this about, Serafall?"

She didn't answer his question but instead brought out two files and handed it over to them. The two files contained the same information, basically everything she could find out about the life of Silas Evans.

They opened the file while she observed the faces and reactions of both of them closely. Did they both know?

She found that her father froze a bit when he read the first page while her mother, while surprised at the name, kept on reading but was not as shocked as father.

This however changed as they read more. It was obvious that her mother was completely unaware of anything but her father hid all his emotions.

"What is this Serafall?" He asked.

"Shouldn't I be asking that question father?" She asked, her voice calm. Even she was surprised at how calm she was when it came to confront her father.

"I don't understand what you mean." He pretended to not know.

"…don't. The last page has a DNA test report. We found some of his hair samples from his old home. It matches." It was a bluff. There was nothing at all in his old home. But it never hurts to throw the bait. And it did pay back.

He quickly opened the last page of the file and saw the report. He read the entire page and closed his eyes, looking tired and finally let out a sigh as he slumped back into the couch. His reaction after that confirmed beyond any shred of doubt that SIlas Evans was her brother. The same brother she had thought was dead all this time.

"Why?" She asked. She couldn't find any other words for this

He stared off into the space for a few seconds and then answered.

"It was the best I could do for him."

She looked for him to continue and he did. "Silas… he was attacked along with your mother. He survived the attack miraculously but… he lost the use of Demonic power. We don't know if they had used something or if Silas was born that way. We couldn't figure it out. The attack happened too soon after he was born. So… I did what was best for him."

"... because he couldn't… use demonic power? Were you so ashamed of that, that you threw your own child away? You threw him away because he couldn't use Demonic Power!?" Her power surged as Sirzechs created a barrier around her.

"I did not throw him away!" He roared, taking her by surprise. He never raised his voice. In all her five hundred years or so of life, she had never seen him raise his voice.

"You don't understand it. Your mother was lying in a pool of her own blood and Silas… he was barely alive. Your mother had gone into a comatose state. I… I carried them both in my own arms. I almost felt my wife and son die in my arms while I could do nothing. Nothing! I have fought in the Great War and I have fought in the Civil War. I have seen my father get killed by God in front of my own eyes while I couldn't even muster the strength to stand up and yet, that moment was nothing compared to what I felt when I saw my newborn bleeding out in my hands. Silas… he was alive only by some sort of miracle."

She listened to him quietly, holding back her own words as he spoke.

"Silas' condition was different. It was not like he only had low Demonic Power. His body wasn't producing enough Demonic Power. Not even enough to keep him alive. He could have died if we didn't seal off his Devil heritage. He wouldn't have survived in the underworld."

"You didn't need to send him away. I would have protected him." She shouted in reply.

The rest of her words were stuck in her mouth at the look he gave her.

"Then why didn't you protect him the first time?"

And with just those words, he put a stop to any reply she could form.

"You are not omniscient, Serafall. Neither am I. But I can and will still do whatever it takes to keep my child alive. With his condition, he would have been shunned in the Underworld."

"I would have killed them all." She replied through gritted teeth. But even she knew that it was not a solution.

"But could you stop the voices? They would have still called him, taunted and shamed him for his condition. Do you think I would allow my son to live in such an environment?"

"Then you could have tried other methods. We could have found a solution for the problem."

"Do you think I didn't try? Do you think I am not trying that even now? During the last eighteen years, I have spent a fifth of the entire Sitri House's wealth to find a solution for Silas' condition. When the Bael Heir was found to be unable to use Demonic Powers, I was the one who wanted to form a research committee to find a solution for this problem in case any other pillar devil suffered from it. But that damned… Lord Bael downright denied my proposition and even blocked any of my attempts to create the team."

She did remember that situation and had just let the matter pass because it was not worth the fight. If she had known…

He continued. "Why do you think of all the business avenues, Sitri House has advanced so much in the medical field in the last two decades? Who do you think pushed Sona towards opening a school for Devils who couldn't use Demonic Magic among other things? I did!" Her eyes widened at the last part.

"I arranged for one of my oldest contractor's friends, who couldn't have any child to take him in. They didn't even know about his heritage. They treated him as their own child. He was raised with love and care in a happy family and grew up as a confident young man. That was something which would have been nigh impossible in the underworld. You have seen young Sairaorg's situation. And Silas' situation was even worse. Fortunately, his condition was fixed somehow, but did you want Silas to go through the same or even worse treatment than Sairaorg got from the whole Underworld? The early years of someone's life are very important. An environment like that would have scarred him for life. I didn't want such a thing for my son. So… I did what I did."

He paused and then took a deep breath. "In this time, I visited him once a year but never met him personally. I took away that chance from your mother and you. I had no right to do so myself. But I kept an eye out for him. My contractor was an Ultimate Class Magician who was protecting him all this time while hiding him in the human world. My plan was for him to teach Silas Human Magic if he had the potential for it. We needed to wait until his body was more ready… adjusted to his low Demonic Power." He stopped, closing his eyes and massaging them.

"Lord Sitri, my apologies if I am interrupting but, I have a question." Sirzechs spoke from beside her.

Her father merely looked at him and he continued.

"You said Silas wasn't producing enough Demonic Power to even keep him alive. I assume you were checking him regularly to see if there were any changes in his condition? I mean from what you have told us, there was no way he could have done what he did against Katerea without at least five times more Demonic Power than Serafall and that's a conservative estimate Ajuka made. Such power would make Silas similar to Ajuka and me instead." He questioned and she looked back at him for an answer.

Yes… It didn't make any sense.

"Every year. My contractor, the magician protecting him, checked for any changes. There was no change in the last eighteen years… well seventeen years. I missed my last appointment with him because…" He sighed. "...because I needed to take care of the fallout from Sona cancelling the engagement. The Salos house was not happy and I had to miss the regular appointment. We had planned to meet six months later… which was in the next two weeks for the next meeting but…"

"But…"

"I tried to contact him recently after finding out about the changes and… he's dead. From what I found out, he was killed by the Utsusemi Organisation. Silas' parents were targeted by some Yakuza who were actually a front of the Utsusemi organisation to collect funding in the human world. He protected them but they ambushed him later on. The whole incident was termed as a car accident in which both of Silas' adopted parents died. They did it for the land which they were living on which lay upon a leyline. The magician had brought them the house because he thought that it might have a positive effect on Silas' condition to live in a magic rich environment. It was a good suggestion and I agreed." He sighed.

"Silas himself completed his education from the high school after moving away from the place and then he disappeared somewhere. From what I found out, he seemed to have opened a restaurant but no matter how many people I send, I can't find any trace of him. I don't know what happened in the last six months. I…"

"Why…. Why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you tell me? All this could have been avoided. We could have helped too." She replied… tired.

He just looked into her eyes. "You wouldn't have allowed him to stay on earth. You would have gone to meet him if you knew. There was a chance of danger I was unwilling to take."

Her hands clenched but she knew that he was correct. But she still didn't agree with him.

At this moment she realised something else and looked towards the person who hadn't spoken anything from the start.

Her mother was staring into the space from the moment she read the file and hadn't said a word.

"Mother…" She called hesitantly but there was no reply. She just kept staring at the space in front of her.

"Sena?" Her father called out.

"I want my son back, Desmond."

She wouldn't lie but the tone in which she said those words chilled Serafall's spine. Her mother was always cheerful and happy looking.

"Sena, I…" Her father tried to talk but was stopped by a raised hand.

"I want my son back." She got up and continued. "Any talk we have will be after that." She turned towards her. "Tell Sona that I will be at the Dantalion House at my nephew's place."

She didn't give anyone any chance to speak as she left the room

Somehow even she didn't want to console her father. She could understand what he did but that didn't mean she agreed with anything. It was not his decision to make alone. For that she and her mother had suffered for eighteen years.

She too got up and left Sirzechs following awkwardly behind her.

The coming days would be extremely stressful for the Sitri house.