Answers To A Wish.

But Loki shook his head, "No. Apart from that, I'm sure you've seen plenty of Black Family candidates in your lifetime given how you've been through nearly five centuries…are you telling me that there was not a single person capable enough of becoming a Saint or Angel?"

Nicolas frowned and shook his head again.

"It's not that there aren't. It's that to become an Angel requires support not only from the people around you but also from the various True Gods and Goddesses that choose to help you to become one. And given the black family's penchant for crazy experiments and secrecy, much about the house leaves for things to be desired."

"For example, the Greengrass family has had several Saints in the past. But most of them have been hunted down by the other families before they could ever advance to Angels."

"And the worst of all are the periodic wars between the Light and Dark factions of the wizarding world. They happen roughly every fifty years. Long enough for everyone to remember them, but also long enough to make those that grow without it a little careless."

"The most recent war that involved Voldemort-"

Fawley flinched at Nicolas casually using the name while Loki tensed.

"-caused the death of four Saints from the Greengrass family, the Fawleys, the Potters and the Blacks. Each war takes many such lives. And they aren't easy to rebuild."

"Are the Blacks targeted often?" Loki asked again.

Nicolas nodded, "You might not know yet, but the Black Family is synonymous in the Wizarding world with people who don't have any control. They are often found thinning the lines between the good and bad. More often than not when anything happens in a war, the blacks always pick the side of the Dark Lords."

'No…Regulus only joined Voldemort to get his Horcrux…'

'No…wait a second. Regulus wouldn't have known Voldemort was making Horcruxes before joining the dark side..'

'So why did he join Voldemort? Because Walburga asked him to? I doubt she knew anything about it….or she'd never have sent him to his death…she clearly regretted not being able to talk to her sons anymore. I remember seeing her visiting their rooms often when she was still awake.'

'So was it because Regulus noticed something?'

'Is the problem of loss of control that all the blacks are facing related to the Abyss Pathway?'

'I mean why else would Walburga have a coffin ready for her to sleep in when she lost control.'

'Since no one else knew about the coffin and her state until I told Mr. Fawley about it, that could mean that it is a well-kept secret of the Black Family that the ancestors who everyone else thought died used it to extend their lives for a solution to be found.'

Loki frowned at this and he slipped into thoughts once more, leaving the room in a strange silence.

'So in short, Nicolas and Prenelle haven't noticed anything wrong with the Black Family.'

'At least not outwardly.'

'....this can mean two things, that either the Black Family really has no secret. Or…that they don't want to allow anyone else to interfere with it.'

'But if it is the second case, there are only two people that can do things that warrant hiding knowledge about from the world, only one if we take into consideration the relation to the Abyss, and neither of them are people I want to mess with, yet.'

Finally, after the bout of confusion, Loki's eyes firmed as he asked the Flamels what he wanted.

"So I can ask you anything I want and you'll help me with it?" Loki asked with a slight worry about being rejected.

"Don't worry about it and just ask us about it. There's not much we can't do at our stage. So tell us about it in a straightforward manner. Don't be like those other nobles who beat around the bush while acting like peacocks." Prenelle said biting down on her cookie.

"Alright then…" Loki nodded and bit down on his N&P cookie that tasted ridiculously good and spoke, "To regain the Black family's honour, I want to be able to explore the Abyss."

"...?" Suddenly the room turned silent

Everyone looked at Loki with confusion as he sipped his tea and nibbled on his N&P cookies.

"Wh- what did you want to do? Could you repeat that? I think I heard it wrong." Nicholas said with a puzzled expression.

"*Ahem*" Loki faked a cough and spoke lightly, "I want to explore the Abyss. I want to study the thing you told me about, that Beyonder Characteristic from the Devil…"

Loki stopped after explaining as much and looked at the beautiful garden the Flamel's had since he couldn't tell much while Fawley was here since Nicolas hadn't informed anyone but Loki about it.

A butterfly was flapping its wings, moving from flower to flower, collecting nectar to feed itself.

"Are you serious Loki?" Prenelle asked with her hands clasped around the teacup that she was drinking out of.

"Yes. I'm serious." Loki nodded firmly as he matched his gaze with Prenelle.

Everyone was silent for a few seconds before Nicolas's eyes widened slightly, "Ah… I see. So that's why you wanted to learn how to make an alchemical puppet so badly."

Loki blushed a little in embarrassment but he didn't deny Nicolas's accusation.

Prenelle looked at Loki with narrowed eyes and was about to say something before Nicolas raised his hand and shook his head.

He then turned towards Loki and asked him a simple question.

"You said that you wanted to do it to regain the Black Family's honour?"

Loki nodded, "Although I can't tell you about my reasons fully, because I don't know if Granny Walburga will be ok with me sharing the details. I can tell you that I suspect the madness of the Black Family to be related to the devils of the Abyss."

Nicolas nodded in understanding before he spoke again, "We promised to help you in whatever you asked of us. And to your luck, we have a great deal of experience in matters dealing with the Abyss-

"-especially Prenelle here who was rather enthusiastic in her younger days, she liked to go on adventures."

Prenelle scowled but she quickly cut Nicolas off and spoke quickly.

"I am against this."

Loki looked at her with a slightly soft gaze which caused Prenelle to soften a little too before she *sighed* and then looked into Loki's eyes with a seriousness that she had never shown before.

"I will only help you out if you only go to the Abyss when you are at least a demigod, nothing less!"

Loki pondered on Prenelle's words for a few seconds as he thought about several things.

'Demigod…'

'I still don't know how to perform my advancement rituals…'

'But such a request is reasonable…'

'Specially since the Abyss is currently 'Her' domain.'

Loki then looked into Prenelle's eyes and nodded, "Sure. I agree to that."

Prenelle relaxed when she heard Loki's acknowledgement and finally found herself relaxing enough to be able to drink tea again.

"I thought you wouldn't let me go in there…" Loki said softly as he munched on N&P cookies.

"I wouldn't have." Nicolas explained patiently, but then he slightly murmured, "Not if you weren't related to 'Him'." and only Prenelle heard him and proceeded to ignore his rambles.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

A/N : Join my Patreon (p@treon.com/hooin_kyoma_au) to read 20 chapters ahead for just $3.