Divine Agreements, page 47
Sean sucked at his teeth. “It would be better if it was just the Choosers, then?”
“Or those who are Soul Bonded to you at the most,” Saret said, “which I believe gives a few others the chance to also leave. Do not spread yourself too thin. Given a few centuries, you’ll have even more believers, and your Divine energy will grow. Maybe then, you could extend that to others. My daughters and I will stay here with you for a hundred years, at least. We want to give time to—”
There was a burst of sulfur as a man appeared next to Saret, cutting her off. Sean had Dark Cutter out and against the man’s neck before he was consciously aware that he had moved. The newcomer glanced out of the side of his eye at the blade, then grinned. “Goodness, MacDougal. You have grown, haven’t you?” Lucifer asked.
“I didn’t invite you here,” Sean said stiffly.
“No, no you didn’t,” Lucifer chuckled, “but your world is far from secure, as you haven’t even enveloped it yet. That gives people like Thor and me the chance to come and go with impunity. Now, if you’d be so kind as to move that blade, we can talk like civilized men.”
“He’s here for me, Sean,” Saret sighed. “I thought I’d have more time.”
“You’ve spent ages away as it is, Saret.”
“Is he a threat to you, Mom?” Sean asked, Dark Cutter still in place. “My family is important to me.”
Lucifer’s eyebrows went up. “Starting one holy war isn’t enough for you?”
“I didn’t start that; I just nudged it because they pissed me off.”
His wives were heading back to them, their weapons and armor appearing as they came. Lucifer exhaled noisily, then raised a hand. “I swear to abide in peace so we may talk, on my name.”
Saret relaxed, and she nodded to Sean. “He’s never broken his word when it’s tied to his name.”
“Just come over here first, Mom,” Sean said. “I’ll feel better if you’re not within arm’s reach of him.”
Saret went to Sean’s side, and then Dark Cutter vanished. The twenty armored and armed women that surrounded them stared at Lucifer with cold eyes.
Lucifer looked at each before he bowed his head. “I see. Saret is one of mine, MacDougal. Her daughters,” his gaze flicked to Felora, then back to Sean, “are not in my purview, since they were born on the Queendom. Saret has debts to pay me back for.”
“Mom?”
“In the days long past, my kind sided with him when we were being hunted by his old creator. I still owe him souls for the protection he gave me eons ago.”
“Not many, but enough that I have to collect her so she’ll fulfill her bargain,” Lucifer smiled.
“No,” Sean said flatly. “Mom, you don’t want to go, do you?”
“Honestly, no. I don’t. But Agreements are Agreements, Sean.”
“How many souls, Mother?” Felora asked. “We have a Bog, after all.”
“I wouldn’t ask—”
“We don’t need you to ask. Family is precious, and giving him souls that need to repent? Well, that’s kind of his thing, isn’t it? Tormenting the guilty,” Sean said.
Saret swallowed as the emotions around her held her heart. She knew that Lucifer could feel them as surely as she could. No one had ever shown her such care… not since… but even he had turned from her in the end.
Lucifer smiled brightly. “A deal to be made. I do love a good deal. You will give me what she owes, and I will cancel my Agreement with her. That will be entertaining.”
“Michael will come for me if his protection is lifted,” Saret said, wanting to make sure that Sean understood.
“No,” Sean said. “No one will threaten my family. Lucifer, you will receive one soul per year until her debt is paid. She will stay with my family, as she is my family. When the debt is paid, then you absolve the Agreement.”
“Buying time…” Lucifer murmured. “I’d need interest on the deal to make it worth my time.”
“How many souls do you still owe, Mom?”
“Thirteen.”
“We’re going to the Bog,” Sean said. “He can earmark the ones he wants. You can have fifteen over thirteen years. The last three will all be at the end.”
Lucifer’s lips twitched. “You think a mere two souls is enough interest?”
“Oh, I can always see if Michael will make a deal with me,” Sean said flatly.
Lucifer’s lips pulled back. “They don’t make deals with those touched by me. He would kill her out of hand, then you for even suggesting this deal.”
“He might try to kill me. If he tried, then I’m sure the next Archangel would be less inclined to do so.”
Lucifer snorted, then began to laugh. “So sure of himself already… Goodness, I do so love Pride. Fine, fine. Fifteen at one a year, then three in the thirteenth year. Shall we go let me pick out my new sheep?”
“I’ll go,” Rumia said. “The Bog is my domain to tend. I’ll make sure he doesn’t take those who are close to repentance, nor those who need to stay for a long time.”
Lucifer stared at her, then bowed with a courtly flourish. “A woman after my own heart, a caretaker and purifier of souls. I would be honored to walk with you.”
Rumia snorted as she let her armor revert. “Your charm is lost. Sean has my soul already, along with my heart and soon, even my body.”
“Yes, I can see it. But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be courteous to one who holds the same love that I do.”
Sean crossed over to Rumia, hugging her to whisper, “Don’t trust him. He’s a snake who will twist words. Maybe he isn’t as bad as I’ve always been told, but don’t let your guard down.”
Rumia smiled as she held Sean back. “It’ll be fine, Sean. I’ll mind his tricks and deceits, but I’ll be fine. I know that because you already hold my soul.”
“I’ll go with, as I need to speak to my wives at Home, anyway,” Sean said, stepping away from Rumia. “I’ll be taking us directly to the Bog.” He turned to Lucifer. “You are allowed only this once. You are never allowed to visit my world or plane without my approval which, if given, is only good for that single time alone.”
“Yes, yes, that’s fine. I am so curious to see your Bog, especially with the influx of new people it had.”
Sean didn’t understand, but he waved a hand, and a rift in space appeared, showing the Bog on the other side. It took from his energy and a fragment of Divine, but he knew he would replace both in time. “Rumia, first.”
It didn’t take long to go through the Bog to let Lucifer pick his chosen souls. The moment he saw the Valkyries, he selected all twelve of them right away— they made great souls for him to shape into officers for his war with Heaven. The last three were people Sean didn’t mind giving up: Lomar, the excuse for a commander from Hearthglen, was first. The next two, he was just as happy to give away, Solanice and Velin. When he offered them something other than the Bog, the pair accepted almost immediately.
Lucifer had chuckled the entire time, as he truly enjoyed a good trick. The two new souls would regret their choice, and they didn’t even know it yet. With the souls owed accounted for, Sean watched him go. Then, he took Rumia with him up to Home so he could tell Chastity and Lilly about what had transpired.
He said a silent prayer to Morrigan, hoping that everything was settled. If he could just finally have some peace to love his wives and craft, he would be happy.
Epilogue
Sean held his two newest children, Rupert and Anna, named for Chastity’s brother and Lilly’s mother. Chastity was on his left, and Lilly was on his right. “All of you have had children now. Myna’s been the only one insistent on having two before waiting.”
“We don’t blame her,” Chastity smiled.
“We’re glad she waited after Sean the Third,” Lilly added.
“Father, are you going to play with us later?” Sean the Second asked from the doorway.
Sean gave his six-year-old son a smile. “In a couple of hours. We’re supposed to have guests over soon. Once they leave, we’ll play.”
“Okay…” the boy sighed.
“Husband, the guests have arrived,” Helga smiled, leading her daughter into the room. “Also, Hel has something she wants to say.”
Hel, Helga’s daughter, stepped forward a half-step. “I want to fly!”
Sean gave the two-year-old a soft smile. “You know the rules, Hel. You have to be six before we begin flying lessons.”
“But… you teach me?”
“Yes.”
“Yay!” Hel cheered, then rushed back to Helga, grabbing her hand. “Papa will teach me, Mama!”
Sean was going to correct her, but honestly, he didn’t have a lot to do most days besides spend time with his family. “I will, but right now, we need to go greet our guests.”
Chastity and Lilly took their children from his arms when they got up. They wanted to make sure he presented a strong image to the guests today; weakness might be exploited, as they’d learned all their life.
As they walked through the manor, Sean paused to kiss his wives and touch the heads of his children. Each of the former staff got deeper kisses. Since Chastity and Lilly had both had their children, they were now ready to have their own. It’d been an interesting and embarrassing moment when they’d discussed it years ago, but he knew they were happy.
Making it to the parlor, Sean smiled. “James, you rat bastard.”
“Sean, you dumb idiot,” James said back, getting up and crossing the room to hug his friend. “I’ve missed you.”
“Missed you, too. You’re the asshole who has to visit us. I can’t go to you.”
“Yeah, I know,” James said, stepping back. “Come on, let me introduce the new Mothers, Aurora and Maeve.” James motioned to Summer, who was now Aurora, and Winter, now Maeve. “Now that they aren’t the Maidens, they were able to take their own names. And, of course, my daughters, Summer and Winter.”
Sean gave the four on the sofa a smile, even if two of them were newborns and wouldn’t know it. “Aurora, Maeve, a pleasure. Welcome to Anam and the town of Hope.”
“We are glad to be welcomed,” Aurora said.
“We were not sure we would be,” Maeve added.
“I told you he’d welcome my family,” James smiled, taking his seat between them. “Has Loki won his war yet?”
Sean took a seat. “He hasn’t said anything, so no idea.”
“Husband, I’ve brought the children,” Andrea said, coming into the room.
“Let’s introduce them to our guests,” Sean said. “Aurora, Maeve, James, let me introduce my children to you.”
It took a while to go through all of his children. James had met them when they were born, but now, years later, it was different. When Sean II and Sean III were introduced, the trio chuckled, as well as when the younger James was announced.
“Children, these are our friends; Uncle James, Queen Aurora, Queen Maeve, and their children, Summer and Winter,” Sean said, finishing the introductions.
The children greeted the guests, looking at them with wide eyes. They’d heard some stories of James and his wives, and a couple of the oldest had Mage Sight, letting them see the power the trio had.
“They’ll be here for dinner, at the very least,” Sean told them. “Would you like to stay for a day or two? We have room.”
“We could, if they agree,” James said, glancing at his wives.
“We would love to talk to peers,” Aria said.
“You might enjoy that, too,” Ryann said.
“I would be amenable,” Aurora said.
“As would I. We have befriended some of your old allies who backed James, but it is not the same,” Maeve said.
“Wonderful,” Fiona smiled. “Why don’t we take a tour and give our husbands a chance to talk? I know Sean’s wanted to catch up with James for years.”
“We have felt bad about keeping him away, but we needed to have children,” Maeve said. “He will start coming by more often.”
“We apologize. We should have sent word, but we were… focused,” Aurora said.
“That we can understand,” Chastity grinned. “It’s barely been a year since Lilly and I left Home.”
“It’s entirely relatable,” Lilly agreed.
Everyone left except for James and Sean, leaving the old friends in the room. Before they could say anything to each other, Cali came into the room with two mugs.
“Husband, I have drinks for you and James,” Cali beamed. Her tail wagged as she dropped the mugs off, then collected a kiss. “Have fun.” With that, she was out the door a moment later.
James watched her go, then laughed. “If she’s your wife, why’s she still wearing a maid outfit?”
Sean flushed, taking a deep drink. When he set his mug down, he exhaled. “All of them like wearing them… for reasons.”
“Wait, wait, wait!” James laughed, holding up a hand. He took a deep drink himself before he asked, “You’re going to tell me they like playing naughty maid with you?”
“I’m not going to answer that,” Sean said, bright red.
“You know, I still hate you sometimes. My wives are amazing and I love them, but they aren’t… willing to expand any.” James paused and stared at Sean. “Are they the only ones who do that?”
Sean grabbed his mug. “I’m not saying anything.” He started to drink slowly to hide his face and forestall him having to say more.
“For fuck’s sake…” James sighed. “I’m stopping that chain of questions. If not, I might need to kill you and adopt your family… for them, not me.”
Sean snorted, setting down his now-empty mug. “Right, buddy. Right.”
James grinned and shrugged. “Fine. How has it been, though? The expansion?”
“Amazing,” Sean said softly. “Ever since I started Ragnarök and made a deal with Lucifer, life has been… peaceful. Besides my best friend being AWOL, it’s been good.”
“Yeah, sorry… wait… what? You started Ragnarök and made a deal with the devil? When the fuck did this happen?!”
“Shortly after we got here. Let me fill you in…”
~*~*~
Before dinner, Aurora and Maeve were shown around the town, letting them see their former vassals as well as some of the native Humans of Anam. Sean and his family had spent the years finding the scattered clans and helping them grow with magical-tech that Sean made. Those interactions had quickly led to more followers of Anam Cara.
The fact that Sean had modeled parts of his world after theirs did make the former Fairy Maidens happy… maybe not as happy as his wives, but still very pleased. One of the things Sean changed was Bonds— he refused to let them be in his world, as too much abuse could come from it. For picking up Talents, he’d instead just made the world be based on training. Intent and willpower, plus reputation, would allow anyone to grow.
The biggest change Sean had put into place was one that made him grin. Everyone had a character sheet that they could see in their mind whenever they wanted, feeling that it would give everyone a chance to strive. If someone could see their base, they could strive to improve it. Seeing that improvement could fuel a person to keep striving.
James was laughing as he wiped his eyes. “I can’t believe you made a LITRPG world.”
“Hey, now! No laughing,” Sean said. “We both loved those stories for a reason.”
“And they’re the reasons you gave, but still,” James chortled.
“How’s Cimmacrinth?” Sean muttered, changing the subject.
“Oh, fine. He gets to eat more now, but I make sure he isn’t becoming a chunky boy. I had a few on-world hunts with him. Some of the things that live in the wilds are… different. Not a lot survives dragon breath, so having him as a mount has made things far safer for me. Thanks for that, by the way.”
“He was never going to be thrilled with me, besides his hoard being bigger,” Sean shrugged. “Though having him for the Thor fight would’ve been entertaining.”
“Sounds like it was pretty simple for your family, honestly. Then again, they vastly underestimated you. They brought foot soldiers when they needed an air force.”
“How have the older relatives been?” Sean asked.
