(This takes place before the five-year time skip)

Lewis’s occupation was something of a hazard for their family if they were found. Enemies were popping up around every corner the more his reputation got out. It became a concern about the children’s safety. Now that they had seven it was harder to protect them if Lewis was away on a job. So the talks had started and ultimately they had decided on a decoy house that they could use for his business. They could put up the front easily enough that they lived there.

Using Raile again just made them grimace at how much the man could get out of them so they had decided to ultimately ask Angela if she had any ideas during one of Simone’s visits. “Well… As circumstances would have it… I do know someone trying to get rid of eight houses in Vilpamolan but you might find her… hard to deal with.”

That was all Angela had said about it. It was about a week later and they found themselves in a familiar tavern. This wasn’t just a coincidence, it was all a show. They needed to get the rumors going about their arrival to Vilpamolan. The sooner they did, the sooner their family would be safe.

Simone sat there in her cloak and held onto Lewis’s hand. An obvious sign of affection for some familiar faces who might not have known the two were married. They had also decided it was too dangerous to use their married name and instead chose to go with an alias last name of Dusk, which many knew Lewis by anyway.

“I wonder who our house seller is anyways,” Simone was rather loud about it as she tilted her head towards Lewis. “I didn’t get a name.”

The door to the tavern slammed open and a tall, curvaceous, blue-skinned woman came in. She strutted up to their table turned a chair around so she seat and lean into the back. “You the Dusks?”

“Yes?”

“Cool, you are exactly as my dearest mommy said you would be. I’m Furtuna. Queen of the Skies. A pirate~ I’ve been asked to handle this delicate situation.” The woman was full of sass and attitude and she was rolling her eyes at very points. “I stopped my looting for this shit…” She sighed.

“Well… I mean… how delicate could finding a house really be?” Simone sounded actually confused as it wasn’t an act. Furtuna was acting as this was all a chore. All the men in the tavern were looking at Furtuna and when Furtuna smashed her fist on the table everyone turned away.

“That’s right mind your own fucking businesses you bunch of pussies,” Furtuna yelled and grumbled. “I ain’t the one Mommy Dearest was talking about… I’m in charge of her. Give me two shakes and I’ll go get the little demon.”

“…Little? Demon?” Simone looked at Lewis as Furtuna got up and opened a portal stepping out. “Lewis… I think she’s mad…”

Lewis wouldn’t get the chance to reply as Furtuna escorted in a little girl who’s frown was worse than Furtuna’s. The little girl got a chair from another table and a man reached over to take it back. The girl with white hair that faded into black slapped his hand while glaring. “Shove off,” her sweet little voice rang up. “I’m in a terrible mood and you are making it worse.” She pulled the chair over as Furtuna sat back down. She climbed up into the chair and sat. “This is short. Furtuna… This is too short! They won’t take me seriously.”

Furtuna gave her a look and sighed a bit as she called over to the bartender, “Get this one a few books or something to make her taller. That crate will work.” Once Angelette was on eye level she put her hands on the table and smiled at them.

“HI! I’m Angelette! I’m the great-niece of Auntie Ang.” She had two little wings that made her look like a cherub. Her eyes were two different colors. One was a vivid green and the other was an icy blue. “Now, you two are here to procure a house and it just so happens I have eight.”

“…I know you must get this a lot but how… did you come to possess eight houses?” Simone tilted her head to the other side in confusion. This child couldn’t have been more than five and at how small she was Simone had doubts she was even that old.

“Listen, I play a mean game of poker and I win a lo–”

Angelette was cut off by Furtuna, “She’s a god damn swindler and she’s been banned from every tavern from Adeluna to Sularia. Tell them why you have to sell the houses Angelette.”

Angelette settled into the seat with a frown on her face, “I got caught playing poker with sailors from Vilpamolan in Sularia, and Mama and Daddy told me I have to sell my houses in Vilpamolan as punishment. It’s an investment and I’ll be set for life when I’m ol–”

Once more Furtuna cut the little one off, “This little one is the crowned princess of the Purple Court of Sularia. She is third in line for the throne as it were… She’s already set for life but her adopted grandfather taught her some nasty hobbies and now she’s a gambling addict.”

“It’s not an addiction if you can stop. I’ll stop when I’m ready,” Angelette nodded.

“Sweetie, I’m a fucking pirate who gets high, drunk, sexed, and other unspeakable things on the regular. You are an addict and I’m a specialist on your type,” Furtuna was rather blunt.

“And you wonder why you had issues with men,” Angelette looked up at her and grinned before Furtuna was hanging her upside down shaking her.

“You little!!!!”

“REMEMBER THEY SAID IF YOU HURT ME THAT THEY WOULD TAKE AWAY YOUR BOOZE,” Angelette screamed as Furtuna shook her. Suddenly the pirate stopped and groaned.

“You are the fucking worst…”

“Debatable. I just know how to talk and act. Here, it doesn’t matter how I act,” Angelette shot back. “ANYWAYS, since I was so rudely interrupted by the grubby blue one.”

“I ain’t fucking grubby,” Furtuna groaned and ordered an ale while they talked.

“Sure,” Angelette shrugged, “and I’m not a gambling five-year-old with a history of getting banned from taverns. Are we done lying? Mama says it gives you wrinkles. Which is debatable but I’ll save it for another day. I have eight homes all good-sized for a family like yours. They are all over Vilpamolan and we can see them all today.” She pulled out a key ring with about ten or so keys on it. “See? There are some doubles of the keys already but I’m sure Tempest could make more keys for you if you need it.”

Simone tilted her head, “I don’t know how I feel about buying a house off a five-year-old… What if we bought it for too l–”

“The market value of this place isn’t the greatest. As you can imagine no one really wants to live here that eagerly. I’ll sell you the house for ten thousand silver but you are responsible for the repairs. If this were Adeluna I would charge depending on the area where the home is stationed but it's not. It’s Vilpamolan so I’ll be glad just to get rid of one of these a month.”

Simone was flabbergasted at how smart this child was. “Out of curiosity… Do you know Raile?”

“Yeah, I like to debate him at family parties. It ends in a stalemate,” Angelette shrugged. “He’s pretty good.” That explained a lot how she sounded just as experienced as Raile. She was naturally gifted. No wonder it was so easy for her to swindle. “Now, after cousin Furtuna finishes her drink we can get started on the house viewing. Any idea how many rooms you were looking for? Office space? City view?”

Lewis had sat there, watching the exchange between the two. Despite the dead look in his eyes, he was carefully watching the reactions of everyone around them, looking for anything that may have felt out of place. As for Angelette and Furtuna, he simply ignored their antics for the time being. He was good at that’ Rhenakos wasn’t much better than this. Still, the thought of a five year old that could stalemate Raile was a terrifying thought…it almost might have been better to go with the demon they knew.

“Size doesn’t really matter,” the assassin stated. He looked around, and sighed. Not exactly the best place to discuss this… He eyed Angelette. “On second thought, probably needs at least three bedrooms, and preferably seaside. The more isolated the better. Basement is a bonus. Also need a….supply room.” If this was going to be a front, it needed to be a believable front.

“Anything fit that to start?” he asked.

Angelette thought about it and nodded, “I got a five-bedroom Tudor manor. It’s pretty even for Vilpamolan. It’s down by the water with a balcony as it sits up on a hill a little bit has a decent sized basement as well. Nothing as small as a three-bedroom.” Angelette hopped off the seat and her little wings let her hit the ground softly. “Do we go now?”

Simone looked at Lewis and nodded, “No time like the present. After all, this is a place where our family can flourish.” She was watching the room too and she was trying to keep notes on who particularly was invested in their conversation.

Furtuna lagged behind them as they left the tavern so she could keep watch over the little one. The door opened behind them and at first, it didn’t alarm Simone but before long she let out a groan in their minds. It’s him.

The wannabe rich man with the fake accent who almost got them killed. He might just be who we need though to snoop. He did seem like a gossip queen. From the way, Simone’s eyes met Furtuna’s… The pirate let the follower continue.

Angelette got to the house and it was gated in the front taking the big lock in her hands she started to unlock it. “You know pretty girlie a city like this ain’t safe for someone like you,” it was Jasper finally and Angelette looked up as she cracked the key hard and let the lock fall.

“I’m not scared. What you going to do kidnap me? Ransom me? My grandfather would have you dead in five seconds or less. No one threatens the Norcross’s.” She scoffed and opened the gate.

“The Nor-who?”

“Doesn’t matter~ Mind ya business,” Angelette huffed. “Friend of yours?”

“Not in particular~” Simone said as she turned to Jasper. “Our little reunion will have to wait.”

“Lewis, my boy, you should have told me you were getting married I would have thrown you a hell of a party… Marrying a client is… conflict of interest ain’t it?” Jasper was digging for information and Simone tilted her head.

The fact that Jasper would be so bold as to try and tail Lewis meant a lot. The notoriety that he was gaining was something else, but evidently not enough to deter an idiot like him from following. If anyone else had seen the skills that Lewis possessed, they would have thought twice about trying to follow. Still, as Simone thought to Lewis, this would be helpful.

“Jasper,” Lewis said as the slimy man finally caught up to them. “Are you threatening to kidnap a girl? How beneath you.” The assassin’s gaze narrowed in on him. “You must be mistaken, Jas,” the assassin replied with a fake smile. “I’d never marry a client. Should probably get your records straight…” He leaned in closer, “Unless you want the entirety of Vilpa to know who started a war…” He straightened himself out, and looked over to Angelette. “Besides, my lovely wife and I are here on business. Looking to buy a new property. Bring myself closer to work, you know…”

“Now if you’ll excuse us,” the assassin took his leave and started to walk with Angelette and Simone towards the house.

“Oh never, she is just vulnerable. You know yelling about who she was~” Jasper gave a smile.

Angelette had a glare but shrugged it off, “Foolish men die foolish deaths.”

Simone gave a smile to Lewis as she took his hand, “We were married before I became a client.” She leaned into Jasper. “I was technically the job when we met~ Technicalities though.” Jasper couldn’t tell if Simone was being cheeky or not. Was she lying? Or was it the truth?

The way she held herself made it easy to realize she was noble blooded. She wasn’t faking it. “Closer to work My Boy? Really? How ever so lucky of us. Wouldn’t want your house to catch fire like that one you–”

Simone held up her hand, “I did that. Don’t let Lewis take credit for my work.” She held a dangerous look as she studied Jasper. “He wasn’t kidding when he said you should treat me like you do him you know… I’m every bit as dangerous as he is.” She took a step and flames formed in her hand almost in Jasper’s face. He let out a cry and fell back from the shock. Simone started to laugh. “Let’s go inside before we catch chills,” She took Lewis’s arm again and smiled back at Jasper.

That woman was evil… but more importantly, now he knew where they would be living. Good information to have.

Once Simone closed the door behind her she nodded to Lewis, “That should help a lot. He does seem to have a big mouth after all.” It was still in but a whisper as she didn’t know what was going on.

“Smoking out rats is one of my grandpa’s favorite things.” Angelette spoke up.

“You certainly know a lot about death,” Simone said dryily. She couldn’t imagine her darlings speaking like this.

“You get used to it when your uncle is a warlord, your aunt is a succubus, your uncle might as well be an incubus, your other auntie is a crazy oracle, and my one uncle was a tyrant who waged war to take over the mainland and probably would have won… OH and my other aunt eats people. She’s a siren. Demons… what can you do?” She shrugged and showed them the house.

“It needs a lot of work being in Vilpamolan and all… So you just need cousin Kalina to work on it.” It was much smaller than the castle. “This is the bigger bedroom but it’s not much of a love nest,” Angelette showed them what would be their Vilpamolan bedroom. Sure enough, it was half the size if that of their room on the island.

“Cozy…” Simone said to Lewis.

“So… What do you think?”

Watching Simone toy around with Jasper was amusing. He would never show it, but Simone knew full well how much he was enjoying the whole scenario. Things were going well though, and as they walked away, Lewis nodded in agreement at how he had a loud mouth.

“If he’s half as bad as I know him to be, it’ll be public knowledge by the end of the day,” the assassin remarked.

As Angelette talked about her family and death, Lewis shrugged. “It’s not as uncommon as you would think, Simone. A lot of us grew up around death, and worse…” He gave her a look. She should know, he had since shared those memories and experiences with her during the second awakening of their resonance. It may not have been on the forefront of her mind, but it was always there for Lewis.

The house itself was quaint for its size. From the outside, it had a small patio, and despite it being Vilpa, could have been a nice building out in the plains. But, as it was Vilpa, the cracks showed. The paint was coming off, and there was rot at one of the bases. It would be an easy fix for someone like Kalina. There were probably more issues that needed to work out, but the house itself was a solid front.

They were out of earshot from anyone, but Lewis still felt uncomfortable speaking out loud. We’ll just have to see if a portal can be set. Something only we can activate.[i/] He looked at Simone. “I think it’s….lovely. We’ll take it.”

Simone smirked a bit, “Yeah, I can see it happening. The number of eyes on us was frightening… Or more so exciting… Depending on the situation I suppose. “ Simone frowned a bit and nodded, today she was more or less living in the present. If she sat back and reflected for too long she was scared of being pulled in. Often it led to nightmares for her if she thought too long. She was rather fragile compared to individuals like Lewis and Angelette. She gave a smile now, “You’re right. I suppose that is just the way it is for some people. Angelette, why would you know stuff like this?”

Angelette looked up, “There’s no point in sugar-coating it. Some of us know and some of us don’t. I pay attention but my little sister Triss doesn’t. Daddy wishes I wouldn’t and that I could be sheltered from it but I can’t be. Not anymore. See my Daddy was going to be executed in Sularia for the crimes my grandmother committed. She was a really bad lady and whenever her name gets said you can feel the fear. She committed mass genocide and killed most of her children for experiments with demons. Auntie Ang made a deal with the council. He would marry one of his cousins and hopefully influence him well. Marrying cousins in royalty isn’t uncommon at all. It’s how he met my mama.”

There was a spike of anger from Simone as she held a deep frown, “That’s… horrible. I can’t believe a sister of Lady Angela is like that.”

Angelette thought about it, “It doesn’t matter your family. If you are evil you are evil. You could be raised right and still become evil. Sometimes monsters are made.. Like Auntie Undine. My grandmother threw her off a cliff when she was three to sacrifice to the ocean demon Eliagos, Auntie’s father. She tried to stab Auntie Eldora in the heart as soon as she pushed her out. Evil comes in all shades.”

“The world isn’t black and white…”

“Something like that,” the small girl was wise and for a moment Simone could see Angela a little bit in the girl. Perhaps it was a family trait. “Anyways~ Since you like it so much we can get down to business. MAMA, THEY WANT THE HOUSE AND I CAN’T WRITE YET.” She yelled.

A portal opened and another little girl ran through. She had bouncing black hair and blue eyes she was giggling as she tackled Angelette. “SISSY WHERE YOU BEEN?” Angelette held onto her and Simone was giggling. Triss couldn’t have been older than two or three.

“BUSINESS,” Angelette said proudly as she patted her sister’s head.

From the portal came a very short but curvy angelic woman with pale skin and long white hair. Her eyes were a crystal blue and she was smiling, “I’m so sorry if she talked your ear off. Angel, do you have the title to the house by chance?”

“No, can I run to my room and get it?” Angelette looked up and Crystaline nodded.

“I am sorry if she was trouble. My name is Crystaline and this is my youngest Tristine,” Crystaline pulled her skirt a little to show Triss who was hiding behind it shyly.

Simone knelt down, “Hello Tristine.”

Tristine smiled a bit and looked at Lewis and waved shyly before hiding in her mother’s skirt. “She’s just shy.” Crystaline pat her head and Angel came running back and held up the deed to Lewis.

“We need a contract written Mama. Lewis do you want to make one payment or would you like to do a series of payments?”

What Angelette was describing was just a greater version of what he had experienced growing up. A sacrifice to a demon versus a sacrifice to a drug lord to survive. In the end it was all the same. If you were lucky you lived. If you weren’t, you died. That was the reason Xeik had started the guild, and the reason Lewis has started his family. One step at a time, and hopefully things would be better.

But, the little brat was right. Sometimes, evil was just evil. The assassin wondered what would happen to Rex when he grew up. Sure, he was a good soul right now, but he found himself ion a lot of bad situations, and anything could change. But, that was who he was…and there wasn’t a lot Lewis or Simone could do to fix it.

As Crystaline was summoned, Lewis knelt down with Simone at the shy Tristine. “Hi Tristine,” Lewis said with a warm smile. “I have a daughter around your age too…I bet you’d get along with Fiori.” He glanced over to Angelette as she came back through the portal, and grimaced as he stood up. “Though it would have to be under some heavy supervision if you’re going to be there….” He had a sudden thought, that between Nyssa, Piper, and Angelette…

Even Simone shivered, and she gave Lewis a look to drop it. “Right.” He pulled out a sack of coins. “A single payment. All in one go.” He handed it over to Crystaline. “It’s a little heavy…but I promise it’s all there.” He would have handed it to Angelette, but he wasn’t sure she could count either.

Triss smiled at Lewis and nodded. New friends would be a new adventure. “You would like that wouldn’t you Triss?” Triss nodded again. “She’s a little lamb. So innocent.” Crystaline pet her hair softly as Triss’s blue eyes looked out at the two new people. “She gets over it but it does take some time.”

Angelette took the bag easily enough and looked up at Crystaline, “I’ll count it at home and if it doesn’t have all the silver I’ll be in touch. I’ll send my enforcer for the extra.”

“Angelette… Auntie wouldn’t have suggested them to us if she thought they weren’t reliable.”

“Don’t trust family. Don’t trust strangers. AND certainly don’t trust those that deal with death as a business. Those are the rules. Even if they are trustworthy I still gotta be cautious. Swindling gets you lots of enemies.” Angelette puffed her chest up and put her hands on her hips.

Triss peeked back out, “I like them…” Her voice was so soft and sweet that Simone almost missed it.

“We like you too Triss,” Simone said with a smile. Triss blushed and hid again.

“You like everyone,” Angelette spoke as she handed the quill to Crystaline who wrote out what amounted to a contract between them. “Sign… HERE. HERE. And HERE. With your real names. Please. I’ve been made aware of your situation and I’ll keep it hush.” Angelette’s voice was uncharacteristically quiet with that last bit.

Once she had the paper she rolled it up and handed the set of keys to Lewis. “It’s all yours… Make sure Cousin Kali looks it over real good.” Simone nodded and took a deep breath as they were left alone.

“All ours drab and all,” Simone looked around. “This looks almost as bad as the house we set on fire… This is just one more adventure isn’t it?”