Chapter 99: New loyalty and Guilt
They stepped out of the spatial gate and into the meeting room they left from earlier. Varion turned to face Dino. The calm and composed expression he had been holding in front of the other demon lords was gone. Now all that was left was raw exhaustion sitting plain on his face, in the way he held himself and the dullness in his eyes.
He looked at Dino and said, "What did you want? I'm sorry, but I'm kinda just done with today and wanna go to sleep."
Dino dropped to one knee and bowed . "Lord Varion, I am sorry. I know this is horrible timing, and I know you are very tired. But this is something I feel I must do. Please allow me to serve you as I did your father, to be your sword, to be your shield and advisor." He bowed deeper, forehead nearly touching the floor as his body trembled slightly.
"I- I know I am abandoning the last task Lord Veldanava gave me." His voice tightened and he looked like it was hurting him to disobey his creators orders. But you could tell he truly believed what he was doing was right.
"But I believe this is the true reason my lord gave me the mission to watch over humanity. At first I didn't understand the purpose of it, but I do now after feeling your energy. I believe I do, this is why he tasked me to watch humanity, It was to wait for you, my lord. He knew you would need me so he placed me so I would find and serve you the same way I served him. So please, please allow me to serve you, as I once did your father."
Varion stood there and listened, he heard every word Dino said. But his mind was too worn down to process them properly. He couldn't think about his father right now. He could not think about the issues with his instincts, or what it meant to accept something like this. He just wanted the talking to stop and go to sleep. He let out a long, defeated breath and said, "Fine. You can serve me. But I'll give you something to do later… I'm sorry. I'm just completely done with this whole week, and I want to sleep."
Dino's head lifted the moment Varion agreed, as a bright, relieved look crossed his face. Bit It froze almost as soon as he actually saw Varion's expression and the exhaustion sitting within it. He straightened quickly and his hands came up waving frantically.
"No, no, I'm the one who should be sorry! I'm so sorry for bothering you right now! Please, please go have a good rest!"
Varion gave a slow nod."Stella…Handle integrating him….later."
Stella bowed. "Yes, my lord. It will be handled."
Rimuri and Luminous both frowned at the state he was in. They each took one of his arms and started gently tugging him toward his room. The walk was short. They passed through the connected room and into his bedroom, Prinz, Stella, and Milim following behind.
Milim stopped just outside the door. "I'll wait out here." She turned, then paused. She spun around and ran forward, pulling Varion into a tight, desperate hug. He hugged her back and leaned down enough to speak quietly against her hair.
"I promise I'm not mad at you."
She nodded against his chest but did not look up at him. After a moment she let go and moved to the couch, drawing her knees up as she sat.
They all went inside and quickly started taking off Varion's clothes then Prinz, Rimuri, and Luminous did the same, with all of their clothes scattered everywhere.
Stella moved to gather the discarded clothes as the three of them guided Varion on the bed gently laying him on his back. Prinz then carefully shifted his head onto Rimuri's chest and curled around his other side. While Luminous lay across his chest, draped over him and her arms circling around him.
Luminous looked to the side while blushing and muttered. "I'm only doing this because you're hurt, so don't get used to me sharing you so much." Her words carried an edge of pride she usually held, mixed with the fact that she still did not know the other two well.
Varion's hand rose and his fingers gently moved through her hair in a slowly stroking it feeling how smooth it was. "And I am thankful for you doing so Luminous. You don't know how much you being here means to me, Love." He said softly while she preened under his touch.
But she could tell how much it meant to him due to [Lust] which only made her feel more happy.
Rimuri's own fingers were already in his hair, stroking it lightly. She leaned in close to his ear and said, soft and steady, "It's okay. You can rest now. We've got you. Nothing can happen to you here."
Prinz's voice was quiet beside him. "Yes, dear. Sleep. We'll be right here when you wake."
Luminous did not say anything. She simply pressed her head a little more firmly into his chest. Varion let out a long breath, as the tension in his body finally started to ease out slowly.
His eyes moved toward Stella Who had gathered all of their clothes together in her arms. "St3lla can you please get Milim sweets and candy or something….. I know…. she's really …..sad right now." he said as his voice got softer and softer with his eyes drooping.
Stella looked at him and for a moment her expression softened, at the care he was able to show in his state. She smiled, it was a small and genuine one, he had never seen on her before. It made his heart thump in a way he knew far too well by now. She bowed softly, responding to his command "Yes, my lord. I will do so at once. Please rest well, I will handle any issue that arises."
She stepped out, turning out the light and pulled the door shut, leaving the three of them settled around him as his eyes finally closed.
Milim sat on the couch outside his room with her eyes locked on the door, but she was not using them. Her senses were fixed on Varion's soul and the state of his ego. Both were damaged and pulling against each other, his ego trying to drag his soul back into a shape it still recognized. While the soul tried to hold the form it had changed into after his evolution. She watched it without blinking as the cycle of damage and repair repeated, in a never ending loop.
Stella had set a large tray of sweets, candy, and pastries on the low table in front of her. She informed her that Varion had ordered them brought over before he went to sleep. Milim had reached for them without even noticing, eating them gently and slowly, one after another. She barely registered what she was doing.
Then tears started coming from her eyes. They pooled up slightly before spilling and running down her face. She pulled her knees tighter to her chest and buried her face against them with her shoulders shaking. 'I messed up. I messed up really, really bad this time. This is something I swore I'd never allow him to experience.' A small, quiet sob broke out of her.
'While I played around, he went through the same thing I did all those years ago.' Her fist clenched against her chest. 'All because I was too busy playing around with the person who caused this to happen!!' She stopped crying as her teeth ground together and her fist shook with how hard she was clenching them. The anger only lasted a few seconds, then collapsed just as fast.
'I wasn't there when he needed me.' The words were quieter now. 'I let him get consumed by his instincts. I could have warned him. I knew what would happen if he lost someone. I knew the madness that consumes us when we lose someone. I could have done so much better.' Her forehead pressed harder against her knees. 'I'm a failure of a big sister. I'm the worst big sister ever for letting this happen to him…'
As she sat there, she did not notice the footsteps of someone approaching until they sat on the couch right beside her. It was Veldora. None of the usual energy was present as he sat there with his posture rigid and looking at her with a solemn expression.
"You are seeing your own past replay itself before you again, aren't you?"
Milim flinched. Her head jerked up, eyes wide and still wet as she turned toward him. The words had landed harder than she expected. She stared at him, mouth slightly open, but nothing came out, she was completely unable to respond.