Chapter 28

Originally posted on 26/4/2019.  

Roxas was forced to lean back, to an almost uncomfortable degree, as a long wave of light, fired at him by Palutena, flew over him. As he jumped up and smirked at where Palutena was standing, across the battlefield inside his time chamber, about a kilometer away from him. 

Spreading his ten white Devil wings, Roxas sprang forward and began flying towards his green-haired wife, creating a sonic boom behind him as he did so. 

Within just under three seconds, Roxas reached Palutena, and pulled out Excalibur Galatine, preparing to slash at his wife, whom he had been sparring with for the past (approximately) four hours. 

However, Palutena was prepared for Roxas flying at her at just over the speed of sound, and, holding her signature staff firmly in her hand, slammed it onto the ground, and milliseconds before Roxas came into contact with her, he seemed to glow blue, and phase through his wife. After he'd gone fully through her, he became solid again. 

Roxas barely realised this before he lost his footing and fell over, landing on the floor and rolling for a moment before he came to a stop. 

"Hey!" Roxas shouted, getting up and preparing Excalibur Galatine. "Not cool, Palutena!" Preparing his sword, he swung it in several wide arcs, sending several waves of destructive Holy energy at his wife, all of which he could see Palutena blocking with either magic from her staff, or her staff directly. While she was doing that, Roxas dashed around Palutena so he was behind her, and prepared to slash at her again. 

But Palutena saw what Roxas was doing, and whirled around (almost catching Roxas in the eyes with her hair), then raised her staff in order to block Roxas' swing. The two God-Class beings traded blows with their respective weapons: Roxas swung at Palutena's head with Excalibur Galatine, Palutena blocked the sword with her staff and attempted to jab Roxas in the stomach with her staff, Roxas took one of his hands off the handle of his sword, and grabbed Palutena's staff, physically pushing it away from his stomach for enough time that he could get out of the way of a huge white beam of light that she sent at him with one hand. 

Roxas rushed behind his wife and did a running punch into the back of her head, catching her by surprise and sending her into the floor. She got up, however, and created several large shields around herself out of light, and smiled to herself when she saw her husband running right into the shields and bouncing off, before landing on the floor. 

"Hehe." Palutena giggled, as Roxas got up. "I'm up one, Roxas~" she declared, in a rather teasing voice. 

Roxas growled, pulling out Excalibur Galatine and sending three destructive waves at his wife's shields, but they did little more than just dissipate when the waves hit the frontmost shield. 

Transforming his main weapon back into a bracelet on his hand, Roxas then proceeded to infuse his hands with his signature Power of Twilight, and began punching the frontmost shield. 

The first two punches did nothing. The third, however, did do some visible damage, lightly cracking the shield. The fourth punch cracked the shield still further, and by this time, Palutena began trying to reinforce the shield that Roxas was punching, but with his fifth punch, he destroyed Palutene's light-shield, shattering it into pieces that dissipated into the air. 

The same fate befell the second shield. Then the third one. Then the fourth one. And finally, the fifth one, by which time Roxas had quickly pulled out his sword and flicked it at Palutena's staff. Catching her off-guard, said staff left its wielder's hand, and landed on the ground beside her. 

"What was that about being up one, again?" Roxas asked his wife, in the same teasing tone as she used with him. 

"Damn." Palutena replied, walking over to her staff and picking it up, before allowing it to dissipate into her personal pocket-dimension. "Alright. We're even. Happy?" 

"Very." Roxas smiled. "Now." With a snap of his fingers, Roxas and Palutena were standing outside the time-chamber. "Let's get a shower. Then some breakfast." 

"Music to my ears." Palutena replied, as she and her husband made the not-very-long trek upstairs to Roxas' room, and the lovely en-suite shower for Roxas' (and occasionally Palutena's, when she slept in Roxas' room) personal use. 

When they got into the shower and let the hot water run down their bodies, Palutena turned to Roxas, a bottle of shampoo in her hand. 

"Hey, have you used that sword that Fianna gave you? Clarent?" 

"Yeah, I have." Roxas replied. "It's a decent Demon Sword, though it isn't as strong as Galatine. I've tried dual-wielding them but I'm not a fan of it." 

"Well then why don't you get them fused?" Palutena asked. "Like what happened at Kuoh, with those four Excalibur fragments?" 

"Maybe." Roxas replied, as he washed. "That could work. Though who would do it?" 

"I dunno." Palutena replied. "Certain gods? Talented alchemists? Dwarves?" 

"Probably Dwarves." Roxas shrugged. "I remember that Venelana had a trio of Dwarves in her peerage. I could go talk to them, if nothing's happened to them since I left." 

"Fair enough." Palutena replied, walking behind Roxas while rubbing some shampoo into her hands. She then pressed her large breasts into Roxas' back, while slowly rubbing the hair product on her hands into her husband's hair. "Fair enough..." 

"Hmm." Roxas hummed from the nice feeling that came from his wife, who he'd known for over a hundred years, and was married to for nearly ninety years by this point, rubbing shampoo into his hair, something that she'd done since the beginning of their relationship. 

It took about 10 minutes for Palutena to wash Roxas' shampooed hair with water, and once it was done, Roxas stepped out of the shower (Palutena stayed in to wash her own hair), dried himself off and walked into his bedroom to get dressed. 

A couple of minutes later, Roxas walked out of his bedroom wearing a Grand Theft Auto t-shirt and dark-coloured jeans. When he walked downstairs, he saw Rias and Valian talking with each other (and wearing red and silver nightgowns, respectively. Though Valian had her hair tied up and Rias didn't, as usual). 

"Morning, you two." Roxas remarked to his Queen and second Bishop, walking into the kitchen and grabbing a box of cereal, along with a bowl. After pouring some cereal into the bowl (along with some milk (making sure to put the milk in second because what kind of freak puts the milk in first?)), he grabbed a spoon and walked back into the living room, sitting down and putting an arm around Valian while starting to eat his morning meal. 

"Hey, Roxas." Valian replied, kissing her first cousin once removed. "You doing okay?" 

"Pretty well." Roxas replied. "You got all your stuff packed?" 

"Yup." Valian replied. "All the shit I need, I got packed. You?" 

"Same." Roxas replied. "Clothes, laptop, you name it, I got it. Rias?" 

"I've got my things packed." Rias replied, smiling as she saw Mirajane, Isane, Koneko and Kuroka (the latter two were talking to each other) walking downstairs. "Morning." 

Mirajane greeted Rias back and walked into the kitchen to get some breakfast for herself, Koneko and Kuroka just nodded back, and Isane stopped at Rias' word. 

"Morning." The Red Dragon Empress replied, sitting down on the sofa beside Rias. "Hey, Valian. Roxas." 

"Yo." Valian replied, reaching over the sofa to give the host of Albion's rival a fist-bump. 

"Hey, Isane." Roxas spoke, his mouth slightly full, before swallowing his mouthful of chewed-up cereal and milk. "You okay?" 

"I'm alright." Isane replied. "Though I wanted to ask you something." 

"Shoot, child, shoot." Roxas replied, scooping up another spoonful of cereal and milk before shovelling it into his mouth. 

"Well, we're going to the Underworld today, right?" Isane asked as Roxas chomped through his breakfast. "I was wondering how we're gonna get there? Are you teleporting us there, or something?" 

"I would, but unfortunately, I'm not allowed this time." Roxas replied. "Thanks to some bullshit law, we have to go via train into the Underworld. Some crap about Reincarnated Devils having to enter the Underworld through the 'official channels' at least once, or something." 

"I see." Isane replied. She opened her mouth to say something else, but Roxas answered her question before she even asked it. 

"We'll be going with a magical train owned by the Heartfilia family. I'm allowed a discount from the services they provide since their company and mine are partners. Well, in a way." 

"Lucky you." Isane replied. 

"Lucky all of us." Rias corrected her Pawn, as Roxas finished his breakfast and walked back to the kitchen, while Palutena came downstairs wearing one of Roxas' hoodies and a pair of pants that hugged her wide hips, as opposed to her usual dress. 

Valian, Rias and Isane all watched as Palutena snuck up behind her husband and wrapped her arms around him from behind, pressing her breasts against his back. 

"Hey, love." Roxas turned around, while in Palutena's grasp, and kissed her. "I see you're wearing my clothes again." 

"I felt like wearing something different today." Palutena replied. "And that hoodie and these pants are the first thing I found." 

"Why do I get the feeling that I'm not getting them back?" Roxas muttered, rolling his eyes as Palutena moved to get herself some breakfast of her own, giggling at her husband's remark. 

"Because you know me so well, Roxas." she replied. 

Line Break  

About two hours later, Roxas, his peerage, Rias' peerage and Palutena were sat around a large carriage, one of four that were being pulled by the train that was travelling through a dimensional tunnel from the human world to the Underworld. 

Roxas, who was sat playing Zelda: Breath of the Wild on his Nintendo Switch, could see Rias and Akeno talking to each other and Koneko and Kuroka sitting with each other (Kuroka was lightly holding her little sister, who had seemingly drifting off to sleep with her head on her older sister's bosom). He also saw Palutena coming out of the train's bathroom, and sitting down beside him. 

A couple of seconds after, Asia and Xenovia entered the room and walked towards Roxas, who saw them coming and paused his game (he'd come up to a portion in the game that he thought would be good to stop at for a while). 

"Hey Asia, Xenovia. What's up?" 

"Well," Asia looked down for a second. "You said that we'd be training while in the Underworld. What kind of training will we be doing?" 

"The baby-making kind." Roxas replied, in a perfect deadpan tone. At the sight of Asia's blushes and Xenovia's excited-looking expression, he laughed. "I'm kidding." 

The silver-haired Nephalem stopped laughing as he continued. 

"I don't plan to tell everyone what everyone's gonna be doing for their respective training, since it'll distract them from what their specific training will be, but I don't see the harm in telling you together. Asia, you'll be training in magic with someone. I'm not sure who, but it'll most likely be a Bishop of either Zeoticus or Venelana. You'll be training in hand-to-hand combat as well. Xenovia, you'll be training in the technique-side of your use of Durandal." 

"Alright." Xenovia replied, sitting down beside Roxas and wrapping one arm around him, while kissing him on the cheek. "But we'll still have time for attempting to make babies, right? Because I loved the first time we tried a lot~" 

"Heh. Me too." Roxas replied, kissing back while reaching down and squeezing Xenovia's ass. "We'll see, Xen." 

Xenovia moaned slightly as Roxas continued groping her for a moment, before taking his hand off and using it to switch his game off, while looking over at Asia, who was talking with Rias and Akeno. 

"Is it just me..." Roxas murmured to Palutena. "Or has Asia gotten even bigger in the fun-bag department?" 

"It's probably not just you, Roxas." Palutena replied. "You know how supernatural females are able to grow in the perverted way you're thinking," she playfully flicked Roxas' forehead, and continued "Simply on virtue of being the species that they are and the feelings that they have for someone." 

"I wouldn't be surprised if someone like Azazel's looked into that very subject." Roxas replied. Palutena laughed in reply. 

"I'm surprised YOU haven't looked into that very subject." she retorted, through giggles. Roxas blushed. 

"I mean..." he looked slightly awkward, and Palutena just giggled even harder. 

"You've considered it?" 

Roxas nodded, and Palutena snorted. 

"That's hilarious. Almost as funny as the time I tried to teach Pit what 'E-Y-E-S' spells." 

"Oh, I remember that." Roxas replied, chuckling to himself as he remembered the hilarious incident. "Has he still not figured it out?" 

"Not to my knowledge, no." Palutena replied. "But the fact that he's Michael's Queen and the captain of his own little Brave Saints team in Heaven makes knowledge of anything but fighting fall a bit by the wayside." 

"Especially when he's got his subbordinates to do the thinking for him. Outside of battle that is." Roxas added. "In battle though, the dude can really fight. He's a dense motherfucker, but he can fight." 

"Yeah." Palutena replied. "Though I have to disagree with the motherfucker part." she rested a hand on Roxas' chin and pulled him into a deep kiss. "Because last time I checked, you were the only one who fucks me~" 

"Well, with the way you're acting," Roxas replied, wrapping an arm around Palutena's back. "I'm damn tempted to do you here and now, be damned to the fact that half my peerage is in the same room." 

"What a naughty little Nephalem I've created." Palutena smiled, allowing Roxas to push her down onto the sofa and press his lips against hers. "Hmm~" 

Roxas just smirked momentarily as he pressed his lips against Palutena's again, and ran one hand through her silky green hair. As he hungrily pressed his tongue into her mouth, he began running his other hand up his first wife's leg, inwardly smirking at how Palutena shuddered with pleasure as his hand came closer and closer to reaching what was between her legs. 

In time, Roxas reached it, and was just about to pull Palutena's underwear (she was wearing nothing but a white g-string thong) down a few inches so he could get at her pussy, but a loud voice came over the intercom of the train. 

"Attention all passengers, we will be arriving in the Gremory territory in five minutes. Repeat, we will be arriving in the Gremory territory in five minutes. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be collected separately." 

"Fuck." Roxas groaned as he got off Palutena and sat beside her, as he felt the train began to slow down. 

"It's alright, love." Palutena kissed Roxas on the cheek. "We can have some fun when we're alone again~" 

"I'm holding you to that." Roxas replied. The two remained in silence as the train continued slowing down until it came to a stop. By this point, everyone in Roxas' and Rias' peerages had gathered in the room, as the train began to lower to the ground. 

Asia and Isane went to look out of the window as the train lowered, and their eyes both widened at the sheer abundance of people gathered around. A rough estimate would be at least five thousand Devils, most of which seemed to be held back by several security guards. Asia immediately drew a comparison between this and when Roxas and his peerage (her included) entered the Agares Stadium for the Rating Game between Roxas and the team-up of Sairaorg and Imogen. 

"What're you two looking at?" Roxas asked, walking over and looking out of the window himself. After three seconds of looking at the enormous crowd below the train (which had finished lowering to the ground), he went pale, and sighed. 

"Alright. Let's get this over with." Roxas replied, as he, Palutena, his peerage and Rias' peerage all filed out of the train. 

He, Palutena and Rias were the first to exit the train, stepping onto a crimson-coloured carpet that had (presumably) been rolled out since before the train arrived, and the second that happened, there was enormous applause, and a general bellowing of "Welcome back, Roxas and Rias!". The two Nephalem and one Goddess noticed that there was a lot more applause for Roxas than there was for Rias. 

Mirajane and Valian exited the train next, and took their places behind Roxas and Rias respectively, and the rest of the peerages filed out, taking their places behind their respective Kings. 

Fireworks were set off, guns were fired, flags were waved, Gasper cringed in fright from so many people and so much loud noise, Rias smiled and waved to everyone around her, and Roxas noticed a quartet of female Devils at the very front of the crowds to his right that were wearing shirts that were emblazoned with his own name across their breasts, and a picture of his face below his name. 

Palutena also noticed this, given that she leaned down and whispered to Roxas. 

"Seems that you have fans, love." 

"Great." Roxas rolled his eyes and kept walking, only just now noticing Grayfia and Sirzechs standing at the end of the carpet in front of five carriages, one of which looked twice as big as the other four. 

Sirzechs smiled as Roxas, Rias, their respective peerages and Palutena walked up to them. 

"Sorry about all this." he apologized. 

"It's fine, Dad." Roxas replied, as he turned to Grayfia. "Hey, Mom." 

"Welcome back, Roxas, Rias." Grayfia inclined her head to her son and sister-in-law. "You've arrived earlier than Zeoticus and Venelana thought you would." 

"I didn't know there was an ETA." Roxas replied, scratching an itch on his head and adjusting his ponytail. Grayfia didn't reply to this, but continued talking. 

"The carriages have been prepared, and only three family members are allowed in them at a time. Roxas, Palutena, please board the largest one with us." 

"Sure." Roxas replied, rolling his eyes when Grayfia's back was turned. "Mind if Valian comes too?" 

"Not at all." Sirzechs replied before Grayfia could reply. He and Grayfia began walking towards the largest carriage, and Roxas bade his and Rias' peerages goodbye as they began to walk towards the other four carriages. 

"I always hated large-ass fanfares." Roxas muttered as he, Palutena, and Valian followed his parents into the front carriage, which was closed behind them by one of the dozens of servants lining the area. 

Sirzechs laughed as Roxas took a seat opposite him in the carriage. 

"You always were a lot quieter than Rias in your early years, Roxas." the Crimson Satan replied. "Anyway. How have you been?" 

"I've been good." Roxas replied. He and Sirzechs chatted with each other with Palutena occasionally joining in on the conversation. Valian and Grayfia remained silent as the carriage exited the city that the train from earlier landed in, and carried on along a road for several minutes until they entered the gates of the courtyard of the Gremory Manor. 

When they entered through the gates, Roxas could uneasiness creeping up in the pit of his stomach. Though he certainly wanted to make things better and have a good relationship with his family, he couldn't help but shake the feeling that things were going to go south somehow, thanks to what had transpired the last time he had arrived. 

Valian could see this, and while Palutena was talking with Sirzechs about an amusing incident that had occurred in an IKEA a couple of weeks ago, Roxas' silver-haired Queen gently took Roxas' hand in hers and stroked the back of it with her thumb, which calmed her King down a little as the carriage drew to a stop. 

"We're here." Grayfia declared to her husband, eldest son, step-daughter and grand-niece, as she stepped out of the carriage and bowed to whoever was standing outside. 

"After you, Roxas." Sirzechs smiled at his son, and Roxas rolled his eyes, getting out of the carriage and seeing who was standing in front of him, the doors of the Gremory Manor in front of them. 

Zeoticus, Venelana, Gyokuro (who glared at Valian as she stepped out of the carriage alongside Palutena), Millicas, and someone who Roxas certainly didn't expect to see at the Manor: Venelana's Queen, Tannin. A former Dragon King known as the Blaze Meteor Dragon and Ultimate-Class Devil. 

In his human form (which he was currently in), Tannin was a tall, muscular man with dark purple hair in a similar style to Zeoticus, red eyes with lavender sclera, and a slight beige tint to his skin. Something unique to him was the large yellow horns protruding from his head. He wore black armoured pauldrons that extended down to his arms and a loincloth decorated with metallic accessories. His chest was bare and incredibly muscular, looking more like a hardcore bodybuilder than Roxas' toned body, which looked leaner and more athletic. 

"Big brother!" Millicas cried out, dashing towards Roxas and wrapping his arms around him. "I'm so happy to see you!" 

Grayfia looked at her youngest son with slight disapproval in her eyes for a moment, but decided to let Millicas' actions slide. He was only a small child, after all. 

"Roxas." Zeoticus greeted Roxas while stepping forward. "It's nice to see you accepted our invitation to stay here for a couple of weeks." 

"It's nice that you invited me, given what happened last time I showed up here." Roxas replied, accepting Zeoticus' outstretched hand and shaking it, a small one-sided smirk on his face. Zeoticus noticed this, and chuckled. 

"I won't deny that." he replied. "But still. I hope your stay this time has a more positive ending than your last one." 

"Same here." Roxas replied as he let go of Zeoticus' hand, and followed him, Venelana, their Queens (who strode at the sides of their respective Kings) and Grayfia into the Manor, followed by his peerage and Rias' peerage, while Millicas walked at his side and talked excitedly with him about how things had been since the last time he had come to the Gremory Manor. 

Roxas was only half-listening, but phrases that he caught included "planning for my future peerage" and "training in my demonic powers" and "getting used to the idea of being Heir to the Gremory Clan". 

"Heh." Roxas replied, giving Rias a sideways glance, as she had evidently heard the phrase from Millicas' mouth. "Sorry about that, Millicas. Being Heir to the Clan and all that." 

"It's fine!" Millicas replied. "I don't find it hard, it's just getting used to it that's... not easy. But not hard either!" 

"Hm." Roxas replied, shrugging. "Fair enough." 

After a half-minute or so of walking, everyone entered the main lounge of the Gremory Manor, and were invited to sit on the many seats gathered around the room by Zeoticus and Venelana (Gyokuro and Tannin stood beside Zeo and Venelana, respectively, while their Kings sat), which they did. Roxas and Palutena sat on a three-seater sofa, with Millicas perching next to Roxas. When everyone sat down, Zeoticus spoke up. 

"I took the liberty of having some of the servants employed here take your luggage to your rooms." The Gremory lord informed everyone, politely. "You'll be shown to your rooms by the servants after dinner. That okay?" 

There was a general murmur of ascent. 

"Good." Venelana replied. "Roxas." she addressed her oldest grandson. 

"Yeah?" Roxas replied, looking up from his phone. 

"I don't believe I've had the pleasure of being introduced to your peerage." Venelana remarked, looking to everyone sitting around. "I mean we've seen them perform in the Rating Games, and admirably too, but I'd like to be introduced to them, please." 

"I would like to be introduced to your retainers as well, Roxas." Zeoticus replied. 

"Sure." Roxas replied, looking around. "Well, you already know Rias and Valian." 

"We do." Venelana replied. Valian, who was sat on the arm of the couch that Roxas, Millicas and Palutena were sat on, suddenly started forward as Divine Dividing activated without her wish. 

["Tannin?"] Albion's voice came from Valian's Gear. ["Is that you? Haven't seen you in a human form for a long while, my friend."] 

"It has been a while, Albion." Tannin replied, his red eyes resting on Valian. "Interesting that you made it into the hands of one of the three known living descendants of the first Lucifer." 

["Interesting that you made it into the servitude of one of the strongest female Devils to have ever lived."] Albion retorted. ["I wonder what she tempted you with?"] he asked, jokingly. Tannin, however, was not amused. 

"I should think you'd know that I already have a wife, Albion." Tannin replied. "And if you must know, I chose to enter Venelana's servitude because the Dragon Apples now only grow in the Underworld. My type of Dragon needs to eat them to survive, so it made sense." 

["Fair enough."] Albion replied. ["I mean it's impossible for them to naturally grow in the human world, and it has been for some time."]. He then fell silent, and Divine Dividing retracted back into Valian's body. 

"Indeed." Tannin replied, before falling silent himself. Roxas then spoke up, continuing. 

"My Rooks are Akasha Bloodriver, the Vampiress with the pink hair, and Esdeath, the light-blue haired woman. Akasha, as a matter of fact, is one of my wives." 

"She is?" Zeoticus asked. "You're married to more than one woman?" 

"Three, including myself and Palutena." Akasha replied, walking over to Roxas, stopping behind him, and wrapping her arms loosely around him, while baring her fangs and gently brushing them against Roxas' neck. "Though I do know a few women who'd love it more than anything if Roxas were to be wed to them. Including some in my own, former, Faction." she added, her smile falling. "If only for selfish reasons." 

"I understand." Zeoticus nodded, looking slightly awkward for a moment as Sirzechs and Grayfia entered the room. Sirzechs sat down as Grayfia stood beside him. 

"Sorry I'm late." Sirzechs addressed everyone in the room at large. "Did I miss anything?" 

"Just Roxas introducing us to his servants." Zeoticus replied. "Continue, please, Roxas." 

"Sure." Roxas replied. "There's Akeno, my first Bishop, over there, and Xenovia, my Knight, with Asia, my first Pawn." 

"I see." Sirzechs replied, turning to Xenovia. "It's very surprising to see the wielder of one of the strongest Holy Swords in existence join the peerage of a Devil. Or rather, a former Devil, to be more accurate." 

"The honour is mine, Lord Sirzechs." Xenovia replied, bowing her head. Sirzechs just laughed. 

"Please, call me Sirzechs behind closed doors." he replied. "We're not in public and you're a close comrade of my son. You're perfectly free to call me by my name in private. The same goes for all the other peerage members here." he added, as Grayfia closed her eyes and just shook her head in disapproval. 

"Anyway." Roxas continued. "I've already mentioned Asia, and I only have two other Pawns at present. I've got Kuroka, over here-" he gestured to Kuroka, who was just lying lazily on a sofa with Koneko sitting beside her. She greeted everyone with a lazy "nya~" 

"And there's- Jeez, Neo, how did you get that ice cream so fast?" Roxas asked, more surprised than anything to see Neo licking on some more ice-cream. "Actually, you know what? Nevermind." he turned back to Zeoticus and Venelana. "That's my peerage." 

"I see." Zeoticus replied. "Quite a diverse selection of female servants you have, Roxas." 

"Not even gonna deny that, because I know you're right." Roxas replied, without skipping a beat, as there was a knock at the door to the lounge. When Zeoticus told whoever was on the other side to enter, the door opened and one of the maids, one with dark-blue hair and glasses, stepped into the room. 

"The cooks have asked me to inform you that dinner is ready to be served, Lord Zeoticus." the maid said, her voice sounding more like a robot than an actual human. Or Devil. 

Or anything organic. 

"Thank you, Roberta." Zeoticus replied, nodding to the dark-haired maid, who bowed, and left the room as he stood up. "Shall we get going? I'm sure you'd appreciate a good meal." 

Line Break  

Dinner was a rather quiet affair. Everyone was busier eating than talking. Roxas, who was sat between Palutena and Zeoticus (who was sat at the head of the table), barley ate anything. The food tasted pretty good, but it was a bit rich for his tastes). 

As he looked down the table, Roxas saw that some other people were having the same problem as him, chiefly Xenovia, Asia, Gasper and Isane. As he put another portion of food in his mouth, Zeoticus spoke up. 

"Roxas?" 

"Yeah?" Roxas swallowed his mouthful and answered, looking up. 

"I had the idea of taking your servants on a tour of our Clan's territory." Zeoticus informed his silver-haired grandson. "You okay with that?" 

"Sure." Roxas replied. "Though you'd better not try anything with my peerage." Zeoticus laughed. 

"I wouldn't dream of it." He chuckled, as he went back to eating. "I can see that they would prefer you to an old man like me." 

Roxas could see Venelana rolling her eyes (Zeoticus missed this little gesture) as she continued eating her dinner. He could also see her breasts (which were larger than those of everyone in his peerage, except maybe Akeno's) boucing with every little movement she made while eating. 

"Roxas?" Zeoticus asked, again. 

"Yeah?" Roxas answered, again. 

"I've been told by Rias that you got a new house recently." Zeoticus remarked. "How's it working out for you?" 

"Pretty good." Roxas replied, stretching momentarily. "It's a lot bigger than the first place I brought, which works as far as housing both my peerage and Rias' works. As well as Palutena." 

Palutena smiled, and stroked Roxas' leg momentarily before going back to eating her dinner. 

"I see." Zeoticus replied. "You know, I could have a new residence built for you in the Underworld, if you ever wanted to live here. Maybe it could even function as a headquarters for your businesses." 

"Come again?" Roxas looked up as Zeoticus raised his hand and conjured up an image of a tall skyscraper, which Roxas looked at. 

"This is the headquarters for the Gremory Large Enterprise." Zeoticus explained to Roxas while putting his cutlery down. "It's in the middle of the capital city of our Clan's territory, and most, if not all, of the work done, apart from the overseeing of the companies that I own, which I do here, goes on in this building." 

"Looks like a nice one, too." Roxas replied. 

"It does." Zeoticus smiled in reply. "I'll be happy to pay for a similar building to be built for you in the city if you so want. Though it'd have to be a bit bigger if you want to live in it as well, with your servants." 

"I'll consider it." Roxas replied as he went back to eating, while Venelana piped up. 

"I'd also like to hear more about your companies, Roxas." the brunette Bael remarked. "Zeoticus told me what you told him, but you know, I'm curious as to hear from your own mouth." 

"I'll tell you later." Roxas replied as he finished his dinner. "I've got several things on my plate right now, not least of which is the Underworld Gathering in a week." 

"Oh, yeah." Zeoticus replied. "I almost forgot. Aren't you part of that night's entertainment?" 

"I am." Roxas replied. "Well, I and my peerage am. We'll be having a Rating Game." 

"Wait, really?" Rias looked up and at Roxas. "I didn't hear about this." 

"Sorry, Rias." Roxas replied. "And sorry to all of you as well." he apologized to the rest of his peerage. "I wanted to tell you all in a more private setting, since I only found out about this a couple of hours ago, but since Zeoticus brought it up, I might as well say now." 

Who're we having a Rating Game with, Roxas?" Valian asked, after swallowing a mouthful from her plate. 

There was a moment's silence as Roxas licked his lips, before answering his Queen's question. 

"Raven Branwen." 

Line Break  

"Here's your bedroom, Master Roxas." Roberta, the maid from earlier, informed Roxas. The two of them were stood outside a door with the words "Bedroom of Roxas Gremory" emblazoned onto it. 

It was an hour or so after dinner, and Roxas had decided to turn in for the night, so Zeoticus had ordered Roberta (who Roxas learned was one of Zeoticus' Pawns in his peerage) to escort Roxas to his bedroom. 

Of course, Roxas knew where his bedroom was (given that he'd slept in it for a quarter of his life as Heir of the Gremory Clan), but he appreciated the gesture from Zeoticus. 

"Thanks, Roberta." Roxas replied to the dark-haired maid, who bowed to her Master's grandson, and walked away. Roxas watched her go until she was out of sight, as he had to admit that Roberta had a pretty fine body (which her maid outfit only seemed to accentuate, in his opinion), before turning the knob on his bedroom door, and opening it, before stepping into his bedroom. 

The room's walls were a light brown colour, the ceiling was light red, and the floor was covered in a dark red carpet that was comfortable for Roxas to step on as he removed his shoes and tossed them to the side. The 'entrance area', as Roxas remembered Venelana coining the term, was a couple of steps lower than the rest of the room, and had a single grey-coloured armchair with red frame next to a small table. 

Nearby was a fireplace, above which was a mantlepiece that housed several pictures. Pictures that Roxas remembered placing there himself. He walked over to the fireplace and picked up one of the pictures, a picture of his younger self crossing swords with Winter Schnee. There was also a bookcase to the left side of the fireplace. 

Still holding the picture in his hand, he looked around the rest of the room, toward the bed. The bed, which was larger than a King-sized bed (it was closer to a Super King-sized bed), sat perpendicular to the wall and was dressed with red-check sheets. At the head of the bed were three large, matching pillows. The bed-frame was white. 

"Hm." Roxas said, aloud, to himself. "Looks like Zeoticus had the place upgraded." He turned around to place the picture of himself and Winter back on the mantlepiece, and as he did so, he heard someone snapping their fingers behind him. 

A magic-circle appeared in the fireplace, and almost instantly, a fire sprang to life, lighting the room up (as the lights were turned off and the day was turning to night) in a golden glow. 

Surprised, Roxas turned around, and saw Venelana lying on his bed, wearing a purple lace negligee set (the top part of which strained against her massive bust), and smiling at him from where she lay. 

"Hey, Roxas." she greeted her oldest grandson. "You gonna join me in bed? It's real comfortable on here, you know~" 

"I bet it would be." Roxas replied, shedding his jacket and hanging it on the edge of the mantlepiece. "Any reason you're here, or is it just because?" 

"Well, Zeoticus is probably having an orgy with all eight female members of his peerage." Venelana replied. "As he often does." she sighed. "Leaving me without anyone to keep me company~" she shifted her position on the bed and looked at Roxas. "And since you're here, I thought you'd be willing to keep me company." she pressed her large breasts together with her hands and jiggled them around a bit. "As I understand it, you've been doing that with a lot of women as of late." 

"I have." Roxas replied. "But I wanted to ask you something." 

"Oh?" Venelana shifted herself again so she was sat, rather than lying on her front, smirking at the sight of Roxas' eyes darting to her breasts and then back to her face. "What is it you wanted to ask me?" 

"You have a trio of Dwarves in your peerage, right?" Roxas asked, his eyes fully trained on Venelana's face. The brunette Bael raised an eyebrow. 

"I do..." she replied. "Why?" 

"Well I was wondering if they could have a look at the two swords I have, my Excalibur Galatine and the Demon Sword Clarent?" Roxas replied. "And do some work on them?" 

"What kind of work?" Venelana asked. 

"Merging, probably." Was Roxas' reply. "Like taking my Holy Sword and Demon Sword, and fusing the pair of them together into a... Holy-Demonic Sword?" 

"Hmm." Venelana replied, furrowing her brow. "I can see them doing that. Outside of crafting deities like Hephaestus and Goibhniu, the Dwarves are supposed to be the best crafters of weapons in the entire supernatural world." she thought for a moment. "I'll take you to see them tomorrow, if that works for you." 

"Thank you." Roxas replied. He began taking his shirt and jeans off, revealing his toned naked body to his grandmother, and throwing them onto the floor, close to where his suitcase (which was full of some of Roxas' clothes and possessions) was. 

"Hmm~" Venelana hummed as Roxas joined her on his bed. "Very nice. Very, VERY nice." She reached out and gently stroked her grandson's abs, while licking her lips. "Looks much sexier than when I watched that porno you made with Palutena." 

"W-wait, what?" Roxas blinked. "That was for Grayfia!" 

"Oh, it was?" Venelana replied, giggling. "Well excuse me if I caught her watching you and Palutena fucking like rabbits on your wedding night. It's almost like you WANTED to get her worked up." 

"Well... uhh..." Roxas found it very difficult to formulate a response to what Venelana, who was smirking, said. 

"It doesn't matter." Venelana replied. "Just say the word, Roxas, and I can keep you… occupied, for the night, before we go and see my Dwarven servants in the morning." 

"No thanks." Roxas replied. "I want to at least sleep once in my childhood home before I fuck a permanent imprint of my father's-side grandmother into the bed. Or until I get a permanent imprint of myself fucked into the bed by my father's-side grandmother." 

"Aww." Venelana pouted. "You sure?" 

"Yes." Roxas replied, unflinchingly looking into Venelana's eyes, while noticing the pout on her face. "You can sleep next to me if you want, though. I'm not gonna stop you." 

"Sweet." Venelana smiled, and joined her grandson under the covers. While resting her head on the pillow, she snuck several glances at her grandson as he lay down, his head on the middle pillow, and fell asleep almost at once. 

After closing her eyes, Venelana Gremory found herself doing the same thing.