Reborn in Flame

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"Ruval, please. That's enough." I said, doing my best not to cringe. This was not a conversation I ever wanted to have with my brother. "What did mother and father say when I won?"

Ruval's smile dimmed somewhat. "They were…conflicted. You did well, Riser, but the way you handled things is going to cause problems."

"What do you mean? What did I do wrong?"

Ruval sighed, running his hand through his hair as he tried to organize his thoughts. "You won. Soundly.

That's good for a lot of reasons. The way you broke off the contract is going to piss a lot of people off though. You just publicly humiliated the Gremory family."

Now I was just plain confused. "That was kind of the idea? You know, like how they humiliated me and our family?"

"It's not that simple. Rias's stunt made a fool of you in front of the lower caste. You just slighted the Gremory family in front of the lower caste and the Pillars.

We're…mother, father and I are going to have to run damage control for a while. I'm not sure exactly what that will entail but don't let it bother you. You did good, Riser. You're 1-0 in the Rating Game scene now. Give it a few hundred years and you might even be able to lose to me!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Don't you mean beat you?"

Ruval snorted. "Not on your life. You'll get stronger, sure, but no matter how high you rise, I'll be waiting in the wings to kick your ass."

Grinning at the implied challenge, I said, "We'll see."

Ruval pulled me into a side hug and led me back over to Yubelluna. "Come on, you two." he said. "I'm sure you have lots of celebrating to get to back at the manor. We'll throw a victory party later."

Yubelluna's face went bright red and she looked away shyly, but she didn't deny anything, a fact that excited me to no end.

A teleportation circle expanded out from Ruval to encompass all three of us, and moments later we were back in the main hall of the Phenex Manor.

Mother, father, Raycal, and a visibly shaking Ravel were already there. Ravel was facing mother, and was seemingly in the middle of screaming at her.

"–what you did! I never got a chance to learn from her, mother! Always, 'You're too young, Ravel.' 'When you're older, Ravel.' Why would you trade her?"

Mother turned from Ravel when she noticed us arrive and, looking directly at me, said, "Ask your brother."

I wasn't sure what was happening, but I had a very bad feeling. Father looked disappointed in me; Raycal looked like his usual, unpleasant self; and mother looked downright vindictive. Something was very wrong.

"What happened?" I said to no one in particular, just wanting to learn what was going on.

Ravel pointed at mother and opened her mouth, but mother spoke over her, her eyes still locked on mine.

"I fixed a problem you created with your immaturity, Riser. Perhaps this lesson will finally get through to you where others did not."

"What lesson?" I asked, my panic growing by the second.

Ruval's mouth fell open disbelievingly. "Mother…surely you didn't?"

Mother just smiled at him.

"Ruval, what's happening?" I said, asking the one person who I thought would actually give me an answer.

"When I left to get you, Lord Gremory entered our box. He was saying that you slighted his daughter and shamed her by not fighting her yourself.

He demanded we give him the bishop that trained your queen."

The world around me faded away. Time seemed to slow down. The only thing I was able to focus on at that moment was my mother's smug grin.

"You didn't…" I said, refusing to believe she'd do something like that.

"Clarissa had forgotten who held her leash. I have no use for such a rebellious bishop." She was grinning as she said, "Now all I need to do is pawn that queen of yours off to the lowest bidder. She has been a corrupting influence that needs to go."

Ever since I had been reborn into this world, into this body, I'd struggled with the fact that I had new parents. The parents I had when I was a human were fantastic.

They taught me right from wrong, and sacrificed more than I was able to understand for a long time to keep me happy. When they died, it hurt, but I moved on.

In this life, my parents had seemed great. They were happy to have me, and went out of their way to keep me safe. Then they finally let me start experimenting with my power, and they both stopped conversing with me.

I would only see them at dinner times, and even then I only really talked to Ruval and Ravel. Even Raycal had grown apart from me. When I brought Yubelluna home, I was met with disdain and borderline disgust, but I hadn't cared. I didn't think it would turn into anything serious. I thought they still cared about me – that they saw me as a son and not as a tool.

But in that moment, looking at my 'mother's' vengeful smirk as she drank in my shock and pain, watching my 'father's' disappointed eyes stare indifferently at my pain, I realized the truth. They stopped caring about me a while ago, if they ever did in the first place. No parent would draw such sadistic pleasure from their child's suffering.

"You are no longer my parents."

My words shocked the room into silence. Ravel ceased her screaming, Ruval's protests died on his lips, and Raycal stopped yawning to actually listen for once.

"What did you just say?" Lady Phenex asked, her eyes narrowing as she took a threatening step forward, something I hadn't noticed she did before, but now was remembering several independent instances of.

"You are no longer my parents." Turning away from them, I faced Yubelluna. "If you want to–"

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