A Fanatic

A/N: I'm not dead. Surprised! Though I wish I was. If any of you were interested, it was COVID--if you couldn't tell from me being absent for 2 weeks. Anyway, I'm back now. But don't expect too much. With me being sick, I had to be absent from school for 2 weeks, and now, the work and lectures and notes and etc. that I have to catch up on is no joke.

There might be a dip in quality, and there will definitely be a dip in my upload schedule for the next week or so. But anyway, enjoy.

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"How're they, Lady Phenex?" Dylan asked as he sat down opposite Lady Phenex.

"Please. Call me Lycenia." Lady Phenex put her tea down. "Ravel is fine, though Riser is having a bit of a difficult time recovering."

"Sorry about that, Lycenia. I might've got out of hand a bit."

"Oh, it's okay," she smiled. "It comes with the game. I just wish Riser wasn't so battle-hungry." Her smile turned more polite, losing its richness. Her thoughts ran through everything she knew her son was. "And Ravel..."

"Is always being dragged along," Dylan finished for her. "And might one day become just like her brother."

Lycenia's smile turned strain as she stared down at her cup. "I... I just wish I did more for them." Her blonde hair came over her eyes.

Dylan reached out and cupped her hand. Surprised, Lycenia looked up and was captured by Dylan's eyes.

"It's okay, Lycenia," he smiled so warmly. "Ravel is a good girl. She's a smart girl. She can see what's good for her. And you are a wonderful mother." Dylan's other hand moved up to her chin. "Don't let anyone tell you different."

Lycenia's head began to turn drowsy--mush.

But before the two of them could continue their little talk, the door was opened. Dylan took his hands back, and Lycenia shook her flowery expression away.

"Apologizes for the wait, Mr. Leux," Lady Gremory entered. "They'll be ready in a few."

"No worries, Lady Gremory," Dylan waved it off. "Lycenia and I were just having a pleasant conversation."

"Oh. 'Lycenia,' huh?" Lady Gremory teased as she walked to the seats and sat down beside her friend. "Oh, I hope I wasn't interrupting."

"No, not at all," Lycenia giggled.

As the conversation lulled, Dylan gazed over at the door, etched to decadence until one wouldn't even recognize that it was wood, then back at Lady Gremory. "What were they talking about?"

"Oh, nothing I would know," she smiled lightly. Lycenia seemed to agree with her sentiment as she mimicked the smile and nodded.

Dylan tilted his head. "What do you mean?" He turned between the women. "Why not?"

Lycenia muted herself by stuffing her mouth with her cup. Venelana played with her nails and shuffled in her seat. "It's just not our place."

Before Dylan could respond, the door interrupted him once again.

The three looked over to see Sirzech Lucifer, Serafall Leviathan, Ajuka Beelzebub, Lord Gremory, and Lord Phenex walk in.

When Serafall entered, her gaze was fixed solely on the little human--well, not quite little anymore after that show of power.

Her thoughts were running wild, forcing her to immediately take the seat next to Dylan on the couch. With a very cheerful and unwitting greeting, Serafall burrowed next to Dylan.

"Hello," she beamed.

"Hi."

"I'm sure you know who I am," she giggled. She was dressed up in her magical girl outfit, with the pink dress and frills and everything.

Dylan analyzed her up and down. "My Magical Girl, right?" he smiled.

Serafall giggled harder, excited by the fact that the powerful man who had gained her interests was also one of culture. But then she stopped. "'My'?" she sputtered.

Dylan tilted his head. "Isn't that how it goes? The Magical Girl will come to a person's rescue and help them however they can?"

"Well, yeah..." she spoke.

"Well, if you're here to rescue me then you are 'my' magical girl, right?"

Lycenia and Venelana enjoyed the blushing red face of one of the most powerful Devils as she tried to outmatch Dylan. However, the enjoyment was cut short as they had to get up.

Since the 5 Devils had walked in, Venelana and Lycenia now had to stand up from their seat and they started to walk towards the door.

Their husbands then walked over to their spots to fill it.

"Where are you two going?" Dylan asked the two women.

When he asked this, all of the Devils stared at him with furrowed eyebrows--either confused or surprised or a mix of both.

Lord Phenex worked up the courage to answer. "They have duties to attend to, Mr. Leux." He and Lord Gremory sat down at their wives' seat.

"They have cards in this race as well, Mr. Phenex," Dylan replied. His nonchalant tone of voice was deeply unsettling for the group as his outward emotional display was never a good indication of how serious he was or wasn't. "They stay."

Venelana and Lycenia looked at each other and then to Dylan.

He smiled at them, lowering their hesitation and allowing them to walk back to the coffee table.

They both wanted to sit next to Dylan but Serafall had already taken one side. Lycenia got the seat next to Dylan and Venelana squeezed in next to her.

Lord Gremory cleared his throat to try to wash the awkward situation away. "So, Mr. Dylan--"

Dylan giggled softly at this and interrupted Lord Gremory. He waved it off. "Sorry. Go on."

"Anyways," Gremory continued. "As per the agreement, Rias's marriage contract with Riser has been abolished."

"Good."

"And now that we've held up our end," Sirzech started. "We were curious about--"

"When are you gonna give us the bloodline vials you claim to have?" Ajuka interrupted, impatient about the whole procedure.

"Ah," Dylan exclaim. "If that's all you wanted." He reached to his back pocket and pulled out a small vial the held a slimy, white substance.

The two lords stared in awe at the small tube of unassuming liquid. Ajuka leaned in closer with burning curiosity. "Does it work?"

If this thing could pop out bloodlines like it was nothing, the New Satan Faction would undoubtedly be a formidable force. They might even be able to... extinguish the few remaining members of the archaic faction.

Dylan shrugged. "Why don't we see?" He looked around the group. "Anyone up for some cool powers?"

Nobody volunteered; instead, they looked around each other in the vain hope that someone would be brave enough to satiate their curiosity.

Dylan then turned to Sirzech and grinned. "Call Grayfia."

About a minute later, Grayfia entered the room, immediately attracting all pairs of eyes. She looked over at Sirzech. "You called, my lord?"

Sirzech just pointed over to Dylan with a pitying smile. "Sorry," he mouthed.

When she looked over at Dylan who had both Serafall and Lady Phenex cuddling into his arms, her gaze turned spiteful for a moment, only to be washed away almost immediately.

Then, she noticed a little vial with his hands that he was holding like a dangling necklace. Oh, shit, she thought. To which, Dylan just smiled wider.

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Grayfia stood in front of Dylan and stared down at him with a stink eye.

Dylan returned the gaze but with a helping of a smirk. He held the tube up to her while still in his seat. It was hard to stand up when two beautiful women were practically snuggling up with you at each side.

Grayfia just continued her stare down, trying her best to stop herself from smacking that shit-eating grin off his face. [You think this is funny?] she thought inside her head, knowing well that he picked it up.

Dylan's smiled widened. [Very.] Noticing Grayfia's lack of initiative to take the vial, Dylan pressed on. [What's wrong? I remember you laughing quite heavily when you had me sign that paper. Where's all that spunk gone?]

[I hate you.]

[No, you don't] Dylan smiled.

While the two of them were telepathically communicating, the rest of the group were looking at the two of them and their rapidly changing facial expressions in confused silence.

Venelana leaned over to Lycenia. "What's happening?" she whispered.

"I'm not sure. Maybe they are communicating telepathically," Lycenia thought out loud.

Venelana scrunched her eyebrows. "But I don't feel any energy coming off of them for that."

Lycenia just nodded and continued staring at the human.

Dylan jiggling the vial in his hands. [Come on, honey. I'm sure you'll love the taste of it. Or do I have to tempt you with a date? Oh, I wonder which one was your favorite: the chocolate or the strawberry?]

[I would prefer if you didn't flirt with me right now] Grayfia exhaled. [My husband is sitting a foot away.]

Dylan turned to Sirzech who was sitting in nervous silence. Perhaps he knew what the two of them were discussing.

Sirzech, surprised by Dylan's abrupt attention, thought that he was turning to him because Grayfia was his queen and was asking for his permission. "It's her choice," he answered the question. Though he was curious about the liquid, he wasn't going to force it upon her.

Dylan grinned like a hyena and turned his gaze back onto the silver-haired queen. [See? Even he approves.]

Grayfia, fed up with their little escapade, sighed away all of the accumulating irritations from the man and swiped the vial away from him. She opened the cork and chugged the small liquid.

Watching this, Dylan could only be proud.

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(Tiny Timeskip)

"Well," Dylan exhaled. "That was fun."

The 7 other conscious members looked at him in exhaustion and exasperation.

Their clothes were tattered and their hairs disheveled. The room around them was almost completely obliterated.

There were holes in space around them, some of the bookshelves were turned to ash and some were encased in crystal ice. The ceiling was entirely shrouded by a heavy mist of darkness, eating away at it. And the floor had mortar-like holes in it.

On the half-incinerated couch, Grayfia was laying there unconscious. Dylan walked over to her and checked her breathing. "She's fine," he said, releasing the breath that was stuck in their hearts.

"What the hell was that?!" Serafall exploded.

Dylan bent down to get a better look at her sleeping face.. "The vial was too strong. It needs more work."

"You could've killed her!" Lord Gremory added fuel to the fire.

"It was her choice," Dylan quoted Sirzech. "I wouldn't have given it to her if I thought it could've seriously hurt her." He leveraged his arms under her body.

"What do you call that then?" Lord Phenex pointed to Grayfia's unconscious body.

"Being tired." He then picked her up in a princess carry.

Sirzech spoke up. "Where are you taking her?"

Dylan stared softly at the stern woman's adorable sleeping face. "The bloodline was too much for her. She can't control it."

Ajuka nodded sarcastically. "Yea. We can see that." He looked around the room. "That's some stuff you got there." Although he was a bit concerned for his friend's queen, he was more enamored with Dylan's formula.

"It appears that it's not ready for mass consumption yet," Dylan commented. If the most powerful Queen, someone on par with the 4 Satans couldn't handle it, who else could?

Sirzech stood still under Dylan's authoritarian expertise. "So what are you going to do with her?"

Dylan lightly pinched Grayfia's cheeks. "I'll need to monitor her to make sure the bloodline stabilizes." He turned around to face the others. Sirzech had squinted with suspicious eyes. "She'll stay on Earth until she can get to grips with her new powers."

Before Sirzech could speak his disagreements, Dylan continued: "She'll stay with Rias and her peerage. Get them a house to live in instead of living in their dorms. I'll make daily visits."

Sirzech hesitantly nodded along.

"Well," Dylan sighed. "It was lovely meeting you all." He started to walk towards the unhinged doors.

"You're leaving?" Serafall said with sadness. She had flown up to his arms and wrapped her arms around his arm and shoulder.

"You can visit if you want," he smiled and turned to the two other ladies. "That goes for you too." He looked over to the men. "You guys... not so much."

"But you can't just leave," Lord Phenex grumbled. "The deal has not been completed."

"Well, the deal has changed, Mr. Phenex," Dylan curtly returned. "It will be postponed until I can dilute the solution down and Grayfia is well."

Ajuka, with his burning scientific mind, blurted out, "Can't you stay to talk about the solution? I'm sure my expertise can help."

Dylan had turned back to the doors and was walking away. "No time, I'm afraid."

"What's so important that you can ignore the entirety of the Devil population and its need?" Lord Gremory quipped.

Dylan smiled to himself. "I need to grade some papers."