Dante had remained in Sularia perhaps longer than he had thought, not that he had minded of course. The pretty women walking everywhere was more than enough to convince him stay as he’d observe them from afar. Where had this place been all his life? Had the half demon came here long ago, he would of had a permanent home alright. He couldn’t help himself from his mind wandering every time he glanced over a passing woman, but of course he was subtle about it. As much as he was charming, he would give compliments that made them giggle and smile at his direction before they would part. This was truly a paradise and yet he had refrained from indugling in his carnal pleasures, well at least with them.

Unlike both Steele and Colden, he had spent much of his time into his sin that he actually had far better control, which made it his earlier years much easier otherwise he would have likely met with the end of a sword by some knight or noble who’s wife just happened to be with him. Besides that, they seemed rather coy to him, but that might have been because he had been too spoiled by Lotus. Especially the last few days since they rescued their mutual brother from her psychotic mother. The boy seemed to be alright after a bit, though he was sure that he was mentally scarred when he accidentally walked in on them. Of course Colden had his suspicions anyway, but actually witnessing it even if he ran out after a few seconds was surely enough to cause a panic.

They had said that they would run away far from this place once they brought Colden back home, but it seemed like such wouldn’t come true, at least for the time being. It didn’t bother him as he would spend most of his time with Lotus or practicing his music. Today seemed to be that day as he stood in the courtyard, allowing the silence to be broken by his melody. It started off low and vibrant and soon it sped up and it was like sweet nectar to the ears. It was early morning as he watched the world pass by him but he was truly in his own little world. A smile was brought out as he hit the high notes before slowing it down again. His song wasn’t half bad, it just needed a title. It’s been needing so much for since as long as he worked on this piece, which he believed took him a few years of practice.

Lotus had been rather worried about Colden, perhaps more than she had let on. He had been a bit of brat but that hadn’t been his fault now she was sure of it. His personality shift led her to believe their mother had poisoned his every being and now thanks to Crystaline he was slowly coming out of his shell. She had been standing back in the shadows and watching just making sure he wouldn’t give in anymore. When she knew he was fine she stopped watching and spend time making it up to Dante.

Colden would come to her for advice and he made the mistake of coming into her room without knocking only once. She had been rather amused at it but of course, she worried. Dante had told her he would be fine and they continued with their romance. She had been rather surprised that Dante didn’t wish to indulge in the Rosenite women here. She wondered if he was respecting her and it made her mind wander to those three little words again.

Today she had been playing hide and seek with Cinder in the library. Once it was time for her nap the woman handed the little girl off to her mother and told her later it would be Colden’s turn. Cinder had taken right to Colden but she figured it was because Cinder had memories of her father and that Colden looked like Casimir a bit. She made her way to the courtyard and leaned against a column there to listen to Dante’s music. He had said that he would let her hear someday and indeed she did hear.

“You do make some beautiful music just like the way you make love,” she let her words tease him as she finally came out into the open courtyard. She wrapped her arms around his waist from behind so she could listen. She closed her eyes and relaxed. “You’ve been rather good… I’ve not seen you indulge on the women here. Are they not to your liking?” She was curious just a bit.

“Also… Would you like to meet someone?”

Oh he wasn’t worried about the the little squirt; Colden was bound to find out sooner or later about his relationship with his sister. Perhaps it could have happened better, but at least there would be no question about it now. Considering that Lotus was closer to Colden than Dante was, he’d leave it up to her to explain things.

He had been left alone for much of the morning and he could see that midday was soon coming and yet he still played his tune with inventiveness and care. His fingers worked in the same fashion they did with the curves of a woman. Every stroke was slow and paid attention to every detail of his work right up til he felt someone talking to him. Lotus’ words had been heard prior, but it was her touch that convinced him to cease after a little bit. After all, she wanted to hear some of his music. “Oh? And how would we know if I have or hadn’t?“, he smirked before tilting his head to face her. His eyes filled with mischief as always. She had a point, he hadn’t been chasing after the marvelous women that lived here, seeing only Lotus herself in his free time.

“Oh, for the most part they are appealing to the eyes. But they lack some creativeness and they seem so much more conservative than you are.” It wasn’t like he started comparing other women to her, right? Shrugging, he lowed his violin and turned his body to her. “Besides, what about you? I’m surprise that you haven’t taken advantage of being in one of your old stomping grounds, Lotus.”

Now that he thought of it, he hardly felt like chasing after more Rosenites after that talk they had about her having to have a child. It seemed farfetch for her to have one with a complete stranger and at least if it was his, then she’d know that he would be around a lot longer than them. “Oh boy, I do like surprises. Sure, I’d be happy to.”

Lotus chuckled a bit as she tilted her head. “Oh… you know the birds… spiders… They talk.” Her bi-colored eyes look up into his blues as she smirked. Again she looked rather confused at him. “It’s not like you to be overly picky if they are pretty little things though.” She mused. “You aren’t going soft are you?” She teased gently but she wasn’t greatly bothered. When it came to her own habits she hadn’t thought about it.

“I guess… I’m just not interested. They don’t fill me anymore.” It was a weird thing to muse on and she supposed that since everything happened with Dante that he had been enough for her. Not that she wasn’t up for being adventurous but the men just didn’t entertain her like they had.

“Oh, I know you do.” She reached up and kissed him. Before long she had him putting his violin up and she led him down into the city. “Admittedly I was playing with a child before I came to see you but I got a letter not too far into the afternoon today.” She mused lightly. “That someone was in town and he wanted to see you.” This might be the only time that Dante might have been completely welcomed by a man. She chuckled a bit.

There was a fine lewd establishment not far into the red court district. It was a brightly colored building and she opened the door and went in. If she hadn’t been expecting the worse she would have been shocked to see a bunch of red haired males walking around in the nude with Rosenites. She took a moment to sigh. “Not that I am overjoyed to see my brothers but where is he?” The men snapped too, each of them were eying her with interest and not overly shy. They all had different colored eyes as they pointed them in the right way.

Lotus rolled her eyes and pulled Dante along with her. Her brothers were all handsome but they were just that, brothers. They were absolutely everywhere in every corner of the giant establishment. “They are always with him… It’s like a plague…” She sighed softly as she finally found the back room separated by lots of beads and the smoke from many incense burning.

She parted the beads and sitting in a chair surrounded by surround half dozen Rosenite women was a handsome red head with tanned skin and the same gold eyes as the one Lotus had. “I was wondering when you would come see me,” He brought a pipe to lips and Lotus smiled a bit as he sent the women out.

“Knew you would be busy settling in… Any particular reason Arri?” She kept Dante close and looked up at him and smiled. “This is Nazerial, my father.”

Nazerial leaned forward and watched Dante for a bit. “He is a handsome one isn’t he?” He was ignoring Lotus’s question for a moment or two as he pondered it. “Needed to make sure you were alright. You hadn’t written since you got back.”

Lotus chuckled, “It’s only been a few days.”

Nazerial shook his head. “You know I like to be informed…” He waved the pipe at his daughter. “My only daughter ignoring her father… Dante, what do you think about this anyways? Does my daughter please you? She is quite a talented succubus from what I’ve heard.” He took a glass of wine and offered up two other glasses that had been poured. “Help yourself…”

He gave her a questioning look at her reply, but it soon fell of his face before shrugging it off. “Yes, but it does tend to get….I suppose boring after awhile. When it comes down to maidens and young women that are still pure, there’s a thrill behind it especially if you get caught. I found out the hard way that leaping out of a tower of a noble’s daughter is much trickier than one imagines. But lately they don’t seem to satisfy me.” Even the older, more experienced women didn’t seem to carry on the same thrill either. In some ways, Lotus had spoiled him greatly and besides, he simply didn’t feel like it for some reason. “No, no. I know of our arrangement, I wouldn’t jeopardize that because of mere feelings.”

She seemed to be in the same boat that he was, though he was sure that she also wasn’t getting soft either. He smirked beneath her kiss before he put away the violin and followed her into the city, pondering just who it was that he was suppose to see. “Hm, who would want to meet little old me?”, he asked with a tilted head. His eyes, almost instinctively saw more of her kind out today, but like the other times, he watched and let it be. They eventually reached a place of business that had the half demon’s eyes widened with interest as he saw the nude men and women. He was about ready to ask her if they were taking their next into their relationship with orgies but apparently she knew them all too well. When the word “brothers” came up, he looked to her and blinked. He had an idea of who it was that she was taking him too.

“Your father, I presume?” Dante was pulled away from the sight and into the back room. Her brothers were like lotuses, around every corner he could see them at work. It wasn't hard to tell that they were incubi and they reached the one that fathered all of them and her rather shortly. The man was pretty charismatic, though he had good hunches that Lotus didn’t get it from her mother already. Unlike most that would seem stricken by meeting the fathers of their lovers, Dante rather kept his cool as he always did. A pleasant smile slipped onto his lips as he looked to Lotus and then Nazerial. “It’s a shame really, but she had been rather busy the last few days cleaning up after Cyprus’ messes and making sure her brother is of sound mind.” If she wanted to speak of what they had been doing, then he wouldn’t had minded in the least.

Taking in his glass, he allowed it to swirl a bit before taking a sip. “She is wonderfully talented and given my nature, it goes beyond complimenting her abilities. I am Dante by the way, but I figure that you already know about me for some time now.”

Lotus reached her hand up and bet his face softly. A sigh left her lips but it was more one of contentment than anything. “I am not concerned about jeopardizing it at all. I just think it’s funny how it is actually happening on its own.” She laughed a little before booping his nose softly. “You are fine.”

“You’ll see,” she cooed as they walked out and into the city. She watched his eyes and she was more amused than anything by how much he had changed since their feelings had come out. Though it was the interest in his eyes that made her almost laugh when they reached where her father was. He probably had the wrong idea not that it didn’t sound appetizing at all. She filed away the idea for another time so she could focus on the people inside.

“Yes actually, he’s in town.” She answered him as she guided Dante into the background. It was easy to see where her personality came from as Nazerial granted them an audience.

“Ah yes, that wicked bitch of a mother,” he swirled his wine. “You know I would never speak ill of your mother if she didn’t deserve it.” It was more like he was being considerate if Lotus even cared.

“You know it doesn’t bother me. The truth only hurts if you are in denial about it.” She had never been. She wasn’t like Colden. She knew that she had been born to a snake. Lotus sipped on her wine with Dante and flashed them a smile.

“Aye, I’ve heard about your nature from the first time she came to see me after you met.” Nazerial smiled and leaned back in comfort. “How rude Lotus. Introductions go both ways.” Lotus gave him a gentle eye roll and he was chuckling. “I’ve raised you better than that.”

“I didn’t introduce him because I knew you already had his name on the tip of your tongue. Pardon me for not caring about being polite in a non-court setting.” Lotus smirked and sipped more of the wine.

“My only daughter and she have quite the silver tongue on her,” he shook his head and sipped the wine with them. “I’ve stopped by to make sure she is well. Not having a letter after my birdies said she had come back was quite distracting you know. The women weep.” He lightly scolded Lotus.

Lotus frowned a bit and coughed as to move on. “Father is an incubus king believe it or not. The top of the ladder for his kind at least… from his district. Most demons come from a district or two… At least that’s what I refer to them as. They each operate in different ways and have different leaders for the various demons. I’ve never been there.” Lotus pouted.

Nazerial frowned, “Only because I find it too dangerous to bring you. They aren’t fond of half demons there. Even one as pretty as yourself would end up on someone’s sword. It’s tragic really… We could benefit from having stable and intelligent half demons but… You can guess how old blood really is. Pureblood is power.”

Lotus scoffed a bit. “Need to let them meet Eldora… She’ll give them power.”

The incubus thought on it and laughed, “She is a very good example. Your sister has helped me before with a pact or two. Though she is an odd one but power can do that to a person. I am not so much strong as I am crafty. Incubus raise through the ranks a little bit differently than most other demons. The more you can have on your tendrils… or power you leech… The stronger you are viewed. You might have sensed it just a tad when you are around Lotus, the way she can leech without really trying. It’s been known to kill mortal human women and men. I suppose that was why your brothers were excited for Arri. The women here can take quite the energy sucking.”

Lotus smirked a bit at Dante, “It helps that the source of our essence is right here too. We replenish our energies a lot faster here.” She crossed her arms as she held onto the wine glass and swirled it.

It was nowhere near hard to see where most of Lotus’ personality came from. But given how her mother was, and even if it wasn’t the case, Dante wasn’t bother by it at all. There were many demons like Nazerial that were preferred to indulge in pleasures, but much of it depended on what sort of demons they were. He was an incubus and merely behaved as such. Both of their personalities weren’t different at all, which was much appreciated. He watched the banner with smirk beneath his drinking lips. [

]“That was rather naughty, Lotus”, he snickered, “You bring me all the way here and yet you didn’t introduce me to someone clearly important to you?” He clicked his tongue at her before drinking some more wine, clearing teasing her. “Heaven knows of what things she has told you about me. Hopefully nothing that doesn’t flatter me.” He didn’t mind whatever details she wanted to reveal to him, though he knew her to be modest in some regards such as with Colden. Surely her father was seen in a similar light, so he would behave as needed.

“I’d imagine him to be so. Your mother had the trait of only going after powerful demons and the like, so it’s not too surprising.” The plane of demons was a complicated place with far too many rules than one would normally expect.

“DIfferent ranks, different systems, sub realms within sub realms, the plane itself is a chaotic mess yet there are laws into such. It is pretty much ill advised across the board for the likes of us to enter it, Lotus. Your father merely speaks what mine had stated to me and my siblings a long time ago.” He stepped around and serpentine his arm around her waist as he stepped up to her merely because he felt like it and was comfortable enough to do so even in her father’s presence.

“Oh I have. It wasn’t until I knew her other side that I couldn’t put a finger onto why I would feel something about her, something that felt like it was feeding on energies even when we were fall apart.” Of course he wasn’t human and therefore wouldn’t be prone to their fates as much when he was around her. He found it rather intriguing since he figured it only added to her appeal to him. 

Nazerial smirked just a bit at Lotus being shy with Dante. “Now there is a face I will never get used to.” Lotus smiled at her father and laughed almost nervously. “She hasn’t told me any of your activities. Mostly she has asked for guidance on her feelings, how you behave with her, and the like. Nothing that taints your image in the slightest… At least to me.” Not a lot could ever taint someone’s image to Nazerial unless you were like Cyprus, that much Lotus knew.

Lotus nodded up to Dante. “It’s true. That was always how she chose the demons she went after.” Commenting on the world of demons Lotus just sighed. “Yes, yes I know. I’ve been told a thousand times. I am merely curious is all. Though it is odd to hear that Xunatar has said the same things to you.” She never could see the man having a caring side to him maybe it was only for his projects. She snuggled up to him and Nazerial smiled at the picture in front of him as he relaxed in the chair more.

Nazerial smiled at Dante and nodded. “Exactly, it was the first thing my friend Loher had noticed before he took her under his wing. It’s not common for half-demons to acquire the abilities their demon parents give unless the children are powerful, at least something that they can control. Lotus can turn it off and on as she wishes. She can have it be any power when draining.”

Lotus spoke up, “I leave it just a little so I don’t tire but I figured you could handle it, Dante.” She smirked at him. “You were always so ready for more that I figured it didn’t bother you much.” She reached up and kissed the half demon’s cheek.

“Of course, that ability makes her the target of many incubi,” Nazerial’s smile vanished for a moment. “Even the deranged of my sons… Which if it happens again please let me know. Incest is one thing that I cannot stand, I won’t have my children trying to commit it.” Lotus nodded at him as she realized he was being completely serious. “Your brother is treading the line too much in my taste.”

Lotus looked up at Dante. “He’s the one who made the scene when we went to find Eldora outside of Vilpamolan that one time. He’s a bit crazy and Father has been asking me to watch out for him for some time now.”

“I don’t particularly like the idea of killing my own children but if Lotus is being tormented even when she has expressed her dislike I will have no choice but to act.” Nazerial sighed a bit. “It is the downside to Lotus being as lovely as she is. She attracts all sorts of nasty little things…”

Dante wasn’t one that was completely subtle about his words nor advances, at least not normally so. Everything he said and did was made to be a grand statement. At this point, he was being more so modest instead of the typical flashy self. There was no need for such, not with the company he found himself in. Nazerial seemed to be approving, though he could technically understand his initial concern. Perhaps he had heard of his father’s reputation or he was just concern over Lotus in general. “I see, I am fortunate that she spoke of me with such kindness.” He smirked at the woman tenderly, allowing the rim of his glass to press against his lips again.

“Perhaps it is a tad odd coming from him. He doesn’t coddle us in the way a lot of fathers do their children and certainly not the kindest in the world. That being said, he doesn’t actively want us to go off and get ourselves killed. For the most part, we are able to do as we wish and if we get into trouble, he lets us learn the hard way.” Xunatar was a firm believer of having his children be as bright and cunning as possible. Those that were too stupid enough to learn and end up having their lives taken from them deserved it. Dante recognized early on of how his father was, but he had never crossed him and was under his good gracious. Otherwise he wouldn’t be the God’s Avatar right now.  “Demons are a tricky sort, as long as you know how to play their game, it tends to work out. Your mother, as disgusting and ignorant as she was, did unfortunately know how to.”

Dante turned his attention back to Nazerial and nodded, “Ah yes, Lotus told me plenty about him. He had a good eye for talent, if I may say.” Had he still been alive, he would offered him some way of thanks for perfecting her skills. “I guess that her power is what had attracted the likes of myself…among other things.” His eyes shamelessly wondered about her curvaceous body. When they had first met, he figured her to be a another pretty face and form that he wanted to get his hands on, but there was something else. Something he couldn’t put his finger on at that moment and for the few tussles they had afterwards until she told him about her heritage.

Dante didn’t looked at all bothered when they discussed her creepy brother. Clearly it struck a nerve with her father and she certainly didn’t like the attention he gave her. Jealousy was the last thing on his mind given that she would never be with her own kin in that way.

“Like little bugs to the fire. They only serve themselves to get burned then”, he spoke elegantly. If her brother wished to continue down this road, then he would let him see his own demise without lifting a finger. That was unless Lotus wished it. “Funny though that I hadn’t seen him about these parts. Must be a lone wolf or something”, he shrugged.