Chapter 1: Pilot

Rigal Phenex

Washington, DC, USA

I stared intently at the ornate box on my lap. It was made of a dark cedar wood, lacquered and engraved with intricate symbols, runes that suppressed the potent demonic magics within and hid them from any supernaturally sensitive entity around. At its center was my clan sigil, the mark of the Phenex, one of the Seventy-Two Pillars and a marquis of the Underworld. It was, like everything I owned, of superlative quality, but the real value lied in what the box contained.

The evil pieces were one of my prized possessions, next to my copy of the family grimoire and enchanted chalice, and a big part of the reason I'd decided to hop worlds. Following the death of Rizevim Lucifer and the sealing of Trihexa, the world knew peace. Well, perhaps not peace, but as near enough as had ever been achieved by the various supernatural factions.

The Titty-Dragon Emperor had his absurd harem, which unfortunately included my beloved aunt. The Sitri heiress had her school for reincarnated devils. The Bael heir caused a fuck-massive scandal when he told ol' Zekram to go fuck himself so he could become a satan. The many disparate factions of the supernatural world were, if not amicable, at least no longer at each other's throats.

It was great, really.

It was also dreadfully boring.

Sure, there were rating games, and devils who did well in the Underworld circuit could compete in the inter-faction Azazel Cup, but it wasn't the same. In fact, the opportunity to acquire unique and powerful peerage members was… greatly diminished.

Yokai? Most of those weren't all that interesting anyway, and the ones that were were firmly part of Yasaka's entourage. No one sane poked the nine-tailed fox without good reason; she'd been on a bit of a hair trigger ever since that moron Cao Cao kidnapped her daughter. Valkyrie? They served Odin directly and good luck sneaking anything past that wily old god.

Anyone from any other faction who might make a good peerage member likely already belonged to a team, especially since the rating games had been expanded to include the Azazel Cup. It was a "substitute for war," a way to show off the strengths of the various supernatural races. Naturally, that engendered a sense of patriotism that made recruiting across factional lines rather challenging.

So, here I was, in a world I'd only ever seen through a screen. I'd always been a fan of the superhero genre, ever since Uncle Revel used his media tycoon connections to get me the full box set of the Young Justice series before it finished airing. The opportunity to explore this world, recruit interesting peerage members, collect and study magical artifacts, and make a name for myself was irresistible.

I was well-prepared, too. I wasn't some kind of genius super-devil like the previous Lucifer or Beelzebub, but I wasn't helpless. From magic to martial arts, I'd learned at the feet of my father, Ruval Phenex, and his top-tier peerage. I knew there were entities here who'd give even Great Red a run for his money, but for the most part, so long as I didn't go around starting dick-waving contests with gods, I'd probably be fine.

There was a commotion across the street, right outside the Hall of Justice. I'd come in with a plan of course, some semblance of an idea as to how I'd recruit my first piece. I even had a mutated rook for the job. And it all started now.

I ran over to the Hall, hands clutching a notebook. With my burgundy cardigan, charcoal-gray shirt with perfectly pressed collar, and matching slacks, I looked like a preppy rich kid. The chin-length blonde hair and blue eyes of my clan didn't help either. All told, I could pass for a tourist looking for an autograph.

I thrust my notepad towards Kid Flash, or as I knew him, Wally West. It'd annoy him something fierce, but the memes must be fed. I chirped out like an excitable fanboy, positively thrilled to meet him. "Speedy! Speedy! Can I have your autograph?"

"What? I'm not Speedy," Kid Flash said indignantly. He pointed at the archer. "That's Speedy. I'm Kid Flash."

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah, dude. It's not that hard. Flash. Kid Flash."

"Aww, man. Speedy's a much cooler name though. Kid Flash makes you sound like you shouldn't be allowed to approach elementary schools," I kicked my feet in obvious disappointment and handed my notebook to Roy instead. I was told I looked like a kicked golden retriever when I did that. "Can you sign this, Speedy?"

He did his best to stifle his laughter, and almost succeeded. "Heh, sure. What's your name, man?"

"Rigal. Rigal Phenex."

"Huh, cool name. How do you spell that?"

"Just make it out to Tweety, it's fine," I said with a laugh.

"Hey, Kid Flash is totally a cool name," Wally whined.

Robin, by far the shortest of the lot, elbowed his friend in the side. "I dunno, KF, he might have a point there. Just don't go wearing a trenchcoat anytime soon."

"Oh, because 'Robin' is so much better."

"Of course it is. At least it doesn't have 'kid' in the name."

I watched the two friends bicker as they walked into the Hall. They looked slightly older than in the show, perhaps two or three years, probably because responsible people weren't willing to let a thirteen year old boy bust a drug ring. I mean, that happened often enough with us supernaturals, but Robin was a pure normie. Unlike me and my extended family, the poor boy would die when he was killed.

I shrugged it off as multiversal hijinks beyond my understanding. In the end, I was no genius researcher. I wasn't stupid, I had some academic interest in enchanting, but I wouldn't be replicating the Kankara Formula or discovering multiversal laws anytime soon. For now, I'd just have to remember that there might be other things that didn't line up perfectly with the series I'd loved as a child.

Whatever the case, that brief encounter was special to me. These were some of my favorite characters; I loved them like many of my friends loved Magical Girl So-tan. Roy's autograph would be something I'd rub in their faces, if and when I ever went back home.

After watching them leave, I bought myself a ticket and joined the tour group, keeping an eye on them through the bulletproof glass. After all, my first peerage candidate was inside Project Cadmus and I had no idea where that lab was besides "somewhere in DC." Robin and the crew would lead me there.

X

Turned out, stalking Robin and his buddies proved to be unnecessary. The two story building was on fire, a column of smoke wafting up into the sky like a beacon. Now that I thought about it, in the show, one of the genomorphs set the fire to draw League attention, only to get the brat brigade instead. Considering the only other possible culprit was that idiot Desmond, I'd operate with the assumption that the genomorphs didn't actually want to kill all intruders.

Speaking of which, I wouldn't mind offing Desmond if I met him. He was hardly my priority, but I'd be doing the world a favor. The brat brigade would bitch and moan, but I was a devil; we did things a little more permanently where I came from.

I hovered overhead on wings of orange flames, a trademark of my clan. As beautiful as my wings were, they weren't exactly subtle. People noticed me almost immediately and I knew pictures of me would be making the rounds soon enough.

I could have hidden, maybe gone to find myself a mask so I could play the whole superhero game, but that wasn't me. That wasn't befitting of a Phenex, certainly not the son of Ruval Phenex himself.

I loved the genre and these particular characters, but… but this world was not my own. The divide between the supernatural and mundane did not exist. Aliens were common knowledge. Wonder Woman openly claimed to be from a lost race of warrior women straight out of the Twelve Labors. Aquaman declared himself king of Atlantis. Zatara was a self-professed wizard whose magic defied even my understanding.

No, I saw no point in playing with masks. Let the world see, let them stand in awe at the nobility of a lord of the Underworld.

I swept inside, landing alongside Robin. I left him to pull Kid Flash up into the building while my wings flared dramatically. Reaching out with my magic, I took control of the fire and twisted them away from the scientists. The airflow shifted at my command, blowing away the smoke and giving us a clear bubble to breathe in.

"Robin, Kid Flash, you two doing alright?" I asked with a cocksure grin.

"Hey, aren't you that fanboy? Tweety, right?" Robin said. "Neat wings, really fits the name."

"Yup! And yeah, they're pretty great. Do you know if there are people still in the building?"

"We'll check," Kid Flash said. "Nice to meet a new hero. So what can you do? Besides the fire thing."

"Eh, I wouldn't say hero per se, but Aunt Ravel always did talk about noblesse oblige and all that." I reached out with my air manipulation, using it to take hold of the scientists. They squirmed as they were picked up in a bubble of grinding wind that failed to so much as chafe. I excelled at stuff like this; as father said, power would come in time. For a devil my age, control was even more important. "I'll help you guys with Cadmus, but this'll be my good deed of the week."

"Alright, you guys clear the building. I'll check out what's on these computers," Robin said, pulling out a cable from his wrist-mounted computer. He began hacking the computers, leaving cleanup to me, Kid Flash, and the newly arrived Aqualad.

His water-bearers practically sang with magic. The way they integrated seamlessly with his tattoos, he called them skin icons, was practically a work of art. I was no Sitri, but I wouldn't mind the chance to study them for a week. Or forever. Just the opportunity to see those in action made this trip worthwhile.

Maybe, if I offered him a tear, he'd hook me up with the Atlantean smith and tattoo artist who made those? Or, I could drug him and skin him, just a little. The tear would fix him right up anyway…

"Appreciate the help," Aqualad drawled sarcastically, sheathing his water-bearers with a short flourish.

"You handled it," Robin said. "Besides, poetic justice, remember?"

I shook my head. That was probably a bad idea. Mutilating people for research was the kind of stupid thing the Old Satan Faction used to do. It made homicidal devils like Kuroka the Stray, yet another one of the Titty-Dragon's wives. Besides, I didn't want any smoke with Aquaman or Atlantis if I could help it.

I left them to it, moving from room to room to sweep the smoke into a ball of air in my hands. Really, without knowing if there were any others in the building, it was irresponsible of Robin to just jump on the nearest computer. He was a few years older than I remembered watching, but perhaps that didn't translate to much in terms of concrete experience.

Soon, Aqualad found the silhouette of Dubbilex heading into the elevator and called us over. Looking down the shaft was like looking into the maw of one of those giant worms that occasionally showed up in the Underworld's wastelands, albeit with significantly fewer teeth.

"You don't have to come with us, you know," Aqualad said to me. "You're not a hero, right? From here on, there might be real danger."

I almost laughed at that. He'd become a splendid warrior and hero in time, but he was far too young to lecture a Phenex about danger.

Truthfully, this was more like an afternoon stroll than a proper combat scenario. There was nothing down there that could put down a Phenex. Even the telepathy of the genomorphs weren't likely to do more than inconvenience me for a short while.

"Actually, why are you doing this? I mean, secret facility and all, but you don't have any reason to believe this place is doing something illegal, right? For all you know, this is completely above-board, if secret, probably a US government thing," I pointed out.

If we were being honest, their self-imposed "mission" here ended the moment we evacuated the building and helped the firefighters get control of the fire. Anything beyond that was driven by their teenage egos, not any real reason for suspicion. They felt the need to complete an investigation on their own, before Batman could get around to it.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Kid Flash thumped my chest goodnaturedly. "Hey, watch us, new guy. It's hero's instinct. There's something fishy here."

"KF's right. Cadmus was on Batman's radar. I don't know why, but I want to find out," Robin added. With that, he attached a grappling hook to the ceiling and began to rappel down.

I shrugged and joined them. What I wanted was down below. I made a show of lying down in the air, arms behind my head in a nonchalant lounge. "Well, if you say so. You're the veterans after all. Personally, I'm in it for the adventure. Who knows? This might be the start of some grand conspiracy. Maybe even a secret Illuminati type."

"Exactly. You're going to have to cut down on the fire might burn away our oxygen in here."

"Don't you worry about that. Hellfire doesn't burn oxygen in the same way as normal fire. Besides, I'm more than good enough to hold my own, even without fire magic."

"Magic? Dude, what is it really?" Kid Flash scoffed. "Hardlight projector in your cardigan? Oxygen vents to do your cool fire blasts? You can tell us."

I rolled my eyes. Wally's skepticism of magic was his least likable trait. His bullheaded denial wouldn't change even when faced with entities like Dr. Fate and Klarion the Witchboy. Kaldur put it best: Wally clung to science for the sense of control it provided. I didn't bother to correct him. He'd get better, but he was far from the man I knew he could be.

I stood back and watched as we stumbled on their generator room, a whole lot of electricity-producing genomorphs locked in tubes of tempered glass. Robin hacked their systems from within and they got their first hint of Project Kr, just in time for us to be interrupted by Guardian.

"Incoming," I warned.

I lunged forward, pitting my strength against the veteran hero's. Our hands gripped one another as we jockeyed for place. This was the perfect situation to take the measure of myself relative to the locals. Not only did the genomorphs not want to harm us, Guardian was a respectable benchmark to see where I stood as a high class devil in the world of Young Justice.

And the answer was… disappointing.

Not because I was being overwhelmed, quite the opposite. He wasn't so weak that I could manhandle him like a child, but we weren't particularly close either. I immediately dismissed him as a peerage candidate in my mind; he was only ever a secondary consideration anyway.

That was fine. In fact, knowing I was a cut above the majority of the setting was a balm upon my soul.

"Aagghh!" I shouted in mock-exertion, allowing myself to be shoved aside. I was slammed into the doorframe and received a modest jolt of pain up my spine for my trouble. It was more of an annoyance than anything; there was no such thing as a Phenex who couldn't handle a bit of pain.

Kid Flash ran forward to trip Guardian, only for a genomorph to hold out an arm. The boy clotheslined himself and got sent sprawling for his trouble.

Robin pulled his hacking suite from their server to help. He and Aqualad worked reasonably well together for their first time, Aqualad acting as the tank and heavy while Robin deftly used the chaos to take out vulnerable targets with the aid of his boomerangs. Though this was their first battle together, I could see a ghost of the team they would become.

It was a pity I'd have to cut this short. I wanted to stick around, meet Superboy, and watch as they took down Blockbuster while working as a team. It would be their first accomplishment and I'd mis it.

Alas, needs must. My prize was worth it and I wasn't sure if my new rook meeting Superboy would be a good idea so soon.

I stood and made a show of taking in big gulps of air.

"You're going to pay for that!" I shouted dramatically. I felt the bloodline trait of my clan answer, suffusing my very breath with demonic magic. An orb of condensed air spun at the tip of my tongue. There was no finesse, not really, but in this confined area, I didn't need to bother with such things. "Galesong!"

A veritable hurricane erupted from my mouth. Robin saw it coming and promptly hid behind one of the bulkier genomorphs to avoid the storm. Aqualad, who had two water whips around a genomorph's neck, was flung like a man tied to a bungee cord. Kid Flash, being on the ground already, simply ducked his head and weathered it all.

Guardian took the brunt of my weakest named spell. He was bodily lifted into the air and slammed against the computer. The delicate equipment promptly shattered into a million pieces, sending a cloud of smoke and debris throughout the generator room.

He'd be out for several minutes, giving the team plenty of time to escape once they got their bearings. Perhaps they'd get captured by Desmond as in canon. Or maybe this slight nudge in their favor would mean they get away completely. It mattered not, this was what help I was willing to offer.

Now, while both the heroes and genomorphs were distracted, was the time to run like a bitch. I did leave behind a note scorched into one wall:

For the record, magic totally exists, unlike KF's love life.

Ciao~

Rigal "Tweety" Phenex

X

"So you're Match, hmm?" I mused.

The Light, particularly Lex Luther, sponsored Project Match with the goal of, well, providing a direct match to the Man of Steel.

The boy in the pod looked exactly like Superman, if younger. He was in stasis, much like Superboy upstairs. I'd always wondered why Robin never learned about Project Match when he hacked Cadmus records, though I supposed that could be excused with Match being a scrapped project replaced by Project Kr.

He was it, the one, my first piece.

Superboy was a partial clone of Superman because his kryptonian DNA needed to be stabilized with human DNA. Functionally, that made Superboy Big Blue's son. Cadmus found out that they didn't have the means to perfectly clone and stabilize kryptonian DNA because every Project Match sample deteriorated rapidly when released.

Except, I had no such concerns. The evil pieces were designed specifically to resurrect the recently dead, to convert them into something far more robust than a human: a devil.

I carved out a neat circle into the glass with my air magic.

The mutated rook glowed an ominous red in my hand. A kryptonian-devil hybrid. Just the thought made me salivate. Forget ultimate class, he'd easily have the potential to rival the greatest in my old world.

My hand trembled with anticipation as I touched the mutated rook to his chest. "Well then, shall we test the brilliance of Ajuka Beelzebub against Cadmus?"

The piece sank into Project Match's chest with ease. There was a slight ripple of demonic energy, but no fanfare. It felt odd, having such a momentous occasion marked by nothing but my own eagerness.

Then, his eyes fluttered open. They were black, even the sclera, with a ring of light-blue irises. Intelligence and confusion shone behind his eyes. That was good, better than blind rage. When Superboy freed him in the show, the sigil of the House of El on his chest made Match attack him. Seeing how I had no such sigil, I had assumed I'd have better luck.

He sat up, shattering the glass without even noticing. "W-Who are you?"

"I am Rigal Phenex, scion and heir of House Phenex, marquis of the Underworld," I said with an affable smile. Aunt Ravel always did say my smile was my best trait. "Do you have a name?"

"I-I am… My name is… Match… No, that's Project Match…"

I frowned. The uncertainty with which he spoke grated on me. A devil was confident. A devil was honest in his desires. Most of all, a devil knew himself, for both good and ill. That was no way for a rook of Phenex to behave. "That's no name at all. What do you remember?"

"Cadmus. I was made to… to defeat Superman, to be his match."

"That's awful. The sole purpose for your existence is to be a weapon for your creators."

"I'm not a weapon!"

"You are, but you don't have to be."

He was decently fast. As starved of sunlight as he was, he still managed to fly forward and punch me through a wall.

I let out a grunt of pain at that. It was nothing new. Father's rook hit harder. His knight hit faster. But that was fine. I was a Phenex; I'd get up again and again, as many times as necessary.

"That won't work, you know," I spoke calmly as I strolled through the hole in the wall. I brushed off a bit of rubble on my cardigan.

"Then I'll keep punching you until it does!" he shouted. It was unfortunate. I'd hoped to avoid a fight by not having Superman's sigil. Still, I supposed it was to be expected, what with Match being recently awakened and running high on demonic energy.

I sighed. I considered punching him back. I could rip the air from his lungs or scorch him into submission with hellfire, but that wasn't the tone I wanted to set with my first peerage member.

So, I did nothing. My arms fell to my sides as I shrugged. "Suit yourself, but for the record, I'm not your enemy. We'll talk when you're tired."

He wasn't listening. He pummeled me into the ground with bone-breaking force. I felt my ribs shatter, only to heal that very second. He tried flying into the air and slamming me to the ground. He tried heat beam eyes that tickled compared to my father's fire.

A ruptured lung? Burst kidneys? No matter, a Phenex could resurrect from literal ashes if need be. There was absolutely nothing he could do that would stick.

All the while, I stared up at him cooly, bored and unresisting.

"You are a weapon, and you're certainly doing a good job of proving your creators right," I spoke softly, as if to a wounded animal. "But that doesn't mean you need to be. Your life is yours. Your choices are yours."

He panted heavily. He simply lacked the stamina to continue. Perhaps Superman could exhaust my reserves, force me to keep regenerating until he finally defeated me, but Match was nowhere near his father.

Match was a blank slate, a wealth of potential, just like I was. I held out another evil piece, my second rook. Wings of fire spread out behind me. "Do you know what this is?"

He glared at me, exhausted but calmer now. "A chess piece? And wings?"

"Not just any chess piece. This is what's called an evil piece. It can be used to turn anyone into a devil, a devil like me."

"Y-You turned me into a devil?"

"Yes, are you ready to talk now?"

"Talk fast," he growled. It reminded me of a growling puppy.

"That was the only way I knew of to stabilize your DNA. Cadmus, they're not just assholes, they're incompetent assholes. When they cloned Superman and made you, the technology they had was incapable of cloning Superman's DNA perfectly. Those imperfections would have led to your swift deterioration."

"And-And you patched the gaps with… devil DNA?" he asked, unsure. I had to admit, it sounded pretty damn insane when put like that.

"I did, and I can prove it. Close your eyes and think about sprouting your wings. It should come naturally."

He stared at me with some well-deserved suspicion, but did as I'd bid. Then, a pair of cute, black shadows spread out behind him. He let out a gasp of surprise. "They're… They're not on fire like yours."

"No, these babies are House Phenex only, sorry. You get the generic devil variety," I replied with a smile. "But hey, you could already fly so it's not an issue, right?"

"Right. So… What now?"

"What do you want to do? I have no idea how much of an education Cadmus put inside your brain."

"I was made to defeat Superman…"

"And whether you do that or not is up to you, though I don't recommend going after Big Blue until you have at least a few years of yellow sun exposure under your belt." I meant it. Match was powerful in his own right, but as starved of sunlight as he was, he'd never be weaker than he was right this moment.

"You'd… You'd let me go? Just like that?" he asked skeptically.

"Well… No, no I wouldn't. Evil pieces aren't replaceable in my situation. It's also for your own good, believe it or not."

"What do you mean?"

"The demonic energy inside of you needs time to stabilize. And to do that, you need to be near your king, which is me."

"So I've traded one master for another," he said bitterly.

"I wouldn't say that. I have no intention of bossing you around."

"You don't, do you?"

"I don't, really. I'm not a villain despite being a devil. If I really wanted a slave, I would have beaten you down."

"I'm kryptonian," he scoffed. "I'm invulnerable."

"To normal means, yes," I agreed. I then conjured hellfire on the tip of my finger, barely brighter than a match. "This shouldn't hurt a kryptonian, right?"

"Obviously. We don't even need to breathe."

"Good, because neither do Phenex." I then jabbed his arm with my little flame, causing him to yelp in shock.

"What the hell! I-I… felt that…?"

"Kryptonians are incredibly resistant to almost all forms of harm, except magic. My fire is made of magic. Ergo, you burn just like anything else to me."

"You… What do you want then?"

"Well, I'm know I said I'm not a villain, but I'm not a hero either, even though I came here with three heroes."

"Then what are you? What am I?"

"We're whatever we want to be. Neither of those labels matter. Superman doesn't matter. Me? I like magic. My goal is to get stronger, collect magical artifacts, and find worthy peerage members to join me. I'm sure that this will take me all across the globe, maybe even beyond that. I'd like to invite you to tag along."

"Hardly an invitation," he scoffed. He floated in the air, looming over me. "You want a servant. That's why it's a chess piece,isn't it?"

I scratched the back of my head sheepishly. "Ah, that's kind of embarrassing, but all evil pieces look like chess pieces. The creator, Ajuka Beelzebub, loved the game, that's all. I don't see you as a servant at all."

"No? Then what are you to me? My king? Master?"

"You know, life's all about perspective. That's what pops says anyway. You can look at it like that if you want," I said with a nod. Then, I held out a hand. "But me personally? I'd like to think I've gained a little brother."

"A… A little brother?" He looked down at himself. "There's nothing little about me."

"Heh, no, I guess not. A younger brother then. How does 'Match Phenex' sound for a name?"

"Like a stupid dating app for lonely chickens."

"See? You've already got the sass down pat. Besides, being a devil isn't so bad."

"What? Are you going to teach me how to steal souls?"

"Nah, we stopped doing that centuries ago. But, we do have access to magic, and a lifespan that can be measured in tens of thousands of years. Actually, I don't think there's ever been a devil who died of old age. Usually, we do something stupid and pick a fight with someone way out of our league. Try not to do that, okay?"

"I'm a kryptonian. I doubt that'll be a problem."

"It will. There are plenty of beings who can kick your ass. Yours truly, remember?"

"I'll get stronger."

"I'm sure you will. For now, I'd like you to join me. Learn. Experience new things. Figure yourself out, you know? And, maybe if you hang around me long enough, you'll find a life worth living, hmm?"

"That… That doesn't sound so bad…"

"Excellent. Then you can have that as my first order as your king and older brother: Live a life worth living."

He looked contemplative. "A life worth living, huh? Yeah… I can do that…"

"Now, Phenex clan members have names that start with 'r.' It's tradition. How about 'Ronald?'"

"As in McDonald? Hell no."

"Rover?"

"I'm not your dog, asshole."

"Roland? Like the knight of Charlemegne. I mean, you're a rook, but close enough, right?"

"No."

"How abou-"

"Max. Just call me Max, you dumb bastard," he said as he hovered out of the room.

"Oi, I'll have you know, pops loves mom plenty," I yelled in mock-offense. It was nice, having someone to shoot the shit with. "And where are you going?"

"Out. That's up, right?"

I sighed and grabbed him by the back of his shirt. I pulled him to the ground like an unruly kitten. Project Match was a secret, at least from the League. I definitely didn't want to see how Superboy would react to yet another clone that looked exactly like him.

No, we'd be leaving through alternative means. "You have so much to learn about being a devil, Max."

"Like what?" he grunted, the surly bastard.

A teleportation circle bloomed beneath our feet. It burned an orange-gold, with the sigil of House Phenex blazing in the center. "For one, we travel in style."

Then, in a flash, we were gone.

Author's Note

Welp, here's chapter one. I hope you guys enjoyed it. I think I'm going to have Rigal do his own thing most of the time, occasionally encountering the crew as both friend and foe. The idea is to make him a bit like Catwoman, a rogue more than a true villain.

I know very little about DxD and Young Justice. I've been watching YJ to familiarize myself and it's honestly really good.

To clear the air, no, this story is not likely to include lemons. I never have and probably never will write one. That said, this story might include a small harem depending on the commissioner's wishes. I refuse to bloat the peerage though so you can expect me to stack pieces.

Some characters from DC's wider setting might make an appearance. I'm happy to take suggestions, both for characters and magical artifacts and doohickies that Rigal might be interested in collecting.

Thank you for reading. To reach a wider audience, and because I enjoy a more forum-like setup to facilitate discussion, I like to crosspost to a wide variety of websites. You can find them all on my Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/fabled.webs.