When the carriage arrived back at the mansion, they weren’t greeted right away with the fairies inside. Instead, they were allowed to pile out, confusion, anger and other emotions pouring out of them as they stood on the grass in front of the mansion.
Taniora was the one who greeted them first, able to open the front door with a soft, kind smile on her face.
"Is everything alright?" She asked, essentially a poltergeist of the mansion at this point. Cass gave a tight smile.
"We’re fine. Gideon needs to go heal himself and then we’ll feel better collectively." Cass told her. She frowned at that information, while Edgar made a soft, cute growl and grabbed Gideon’s upper arm. It was then that Cass remembered that the man was still bare chested, but that didn’t seem to bother Edgar.
His anger was too all consuming for him to care.
"We’re borrowing your bedroom, Cass." Edgar told him. Sam tensed, not liking the way that Edgar asked for permission but Cass just smiled, waving as they passed.
"Come down when you’re done, the both of you." Cass ordered and Gideon glanced back at him, his eyes wide. In combination with the wounds Cass could see on his back as he walked away, it made Cass angry all over again. "Fuck. I know I agreed, but..." Cass trailed off and Byron growled.
"You made an agreement, my Lord. Honestly, if they hadn’t protested, I would have. You have no control over your secondary powers. You’re worse off than Lord Gideon when it comes to your demonic powers. Given how quickly you want to act on what has happened, you have no way to turn around and gain control, and unlike Lord Gideon, you do not have a trainer for your powers. You would only hurt yourself, and those who care about you if you attempted something so reckless." Byron had been speaking a lot in the last little bit.
Cass turned to stare at him, Sam doing the same. Both demons stared at the dragon who was huffing and puffing and both had the same thought that he was rather cute. Sam reached for Byron, grabbing his forearm near his elbow and giving it a squeeze, his brown eyes warm.
"I’m sure the Lord can feel how much you care for him with your words and actions, Byron." Sam told him and Cass nodded when Byron turned his dark, black gaze towards him. Cass even felt himself smile.
"You’re right. I do have no control over them. It’s just disheartening that everything you pointed out is true, including that unlike Gideon, I don’t have someone like Edgar who can teach me. Even when it came to relearning magic, I had Lucian around to teach me. There isn’t any other demon around us that we can trust, especially a sex demon. I’m just going to have to learn the old fashioned way." Cass said with a shrug. Sam and Byron stiffened.
"My Lord, you better not be suggesting what I think you are." Sam whispered, glancing towards the door, his expression tight, almost furious. Cass blinked.
"What do you think I’m suggesting? The only way I can understand what’s going on with my body is to figure it out myself." Cass told them and Sam and Byron relaxed. It was only then that Cass clued into where they had jumped, though, it wasn’t really much of a jump. They had been talking about Cass using his powers on others before this, so honestly, it was on Cass that they would think he’d try to use his powers on others.
That’s what succubi and incubi did in lore in his world, anyways. That was on Cass for poorly explaining it.
Taniora watched them interact, her expression warm as she held onto the door. They were still outside, still chatting while the trees swayed in the gentle breeze. None of them cared about the fact that the darkness of night was creeping in, their eyesight good enough that it didn’t matter.
"I wish I could be of help." She said, turning their attention towards her. "I wish I had more information. You’d think with how long ago I had been alive I would have some secret information for you, something lost to time. It doesn’t seem to be the case." She said, giving a heavy sigh. "Instead, I find myself more surprised by the advances you have made as a society instead of the other way around." Taniora said, giving a slightly bitter smile. "It’s wonderful, though. I have a great time exploring when everyone else goes to sleep. Speaking of, isn’t it time for dinner?"
It took Cass about ten minutes later to realise that Taniora had expertly herded them all inside and to the dining room where the rest of the guests were dining. They were all excited to see them, and asked where Gideon and Edgar were. When Cass explained, with Byron interjecting angrily, they all agreed that Cass’ plan was the best option, even if they also wanted immediate results.
One of the fairies even attempted to offer to help, but Aunt Alysora shot it down.
"The only person who could do it would have been Cass’ Mom, and she’s a traitor, so no. Our lovely Cass didn’t inherit his Mom’s gift, and we like him just the way he is." She told them and Cass stared at them blankly.
Then he remembered. Right! His Mother had been known as a songbird or something. She had a really pretty voice that came from her fairy ability. Cass didn’t think he could hold a note, so it wasn’t like he had the same ability. Plus, that would be too much going on in his sickly, unwell body.
Magic, fairy powers, and demonic powers? He needed to pick a lane. It would only make sense if his body tore apart, unable to contain everything that it was attempting to hold.
Cass did notice something interesting, though. He was tired from using the magic that he had that afternoon, but not as tired as normal. He wondered if that had anything to do with the...meal that Edgar had given him earlier, and if he had used that fuel to wield the magic the way that he had.
It was an interesting thing to consider, and something he hadn’t thought hard about before now. Did he use the semen that he got from the boys the same way he used human food? Did it fuel all of his body, or just his demonic side? He was beginning to think all of it. He could have argued that gaining more muscle mass would benefit his demonic side because it would give the people he got semen from more to hold onto, and he was less likely to break in the process of getting more.
That was a solid argument, but using magic powers? How was that something to attract people to get semen out of? Could he argue that it was kind of like a peacock showing off all of its pretty feathers to attract a mate? Cass wasn’t sure, but it was an interesting thing to consider. He didn’t really know how his body worked, how it was held in balance, and if it even was.
He didn’t feel like he was going to split apart, but did people feel it before it happened? Would Cassian have survived long even if he hadn’t betrayed everyone and been killed by Fiona? It was a gloomy thought, and one he should pose to the Gods when they summoned him to see his sister.
~
Edgar and Gideon joined them when Cass had almost finished his meal, but the others had long finished and were just staying with everyone, chatting and having a good time. Gideon had a shirt on when he came back, and he looked a little drained. The same way he had looked when he had overused his powers in the dungeon.
Edgar was still grim-faced, but looked better. He didn’t look pissed off and handsome, and instead just looked mildly perturbed and handsome, his shoulders relaxed. He was still holding onto Gideon, but by his hand. That seemed to be what was going to kill Gideon.
The man was so flushed in the face that Cass was worried about his resting heartrate.
They didn’t even have to ask, spots being freed up beside Cass, food being brought out to them. The fairies even gave Gideon condolences about his shitty family, and offered advice for dealing with them. Gideon looked a little confused and overwhelmed, but nodded his thanks appropriately.
This had been a few days of them eating all together, as a group, and Cass was slowly getting used to it. He could even admit to himself that he really...liked it. Liked eating with everyone like this. It was...warm.
He knew that he had liked eating with his sister before, but now that we had so many people that he cared about, he just realised that he liked sharing meals with the people that he cared about. He liked knowing that they were fed, that they could talk to each other and tease each other over meals.
It was also nice now that Gideon was healed and that he had gotten the rest of his things from the Ridgewood family that he wouldn’t need to go back there, and that they had burned the bridge, not the other way around.
"Edgar, we should send a letter to your father that the Ridgewood’s were beating the new saint and we just rescued him." Cass said suddenly, and Edgar, goblet pressed to his lips, made a disgusted face.
"Why would we contact him if we don’t need to?" He asked, his own anger at his family getting in the way of him seeing the bigger picture.
"Well, wouldn’t it be great if the Dukes were all arguing with each other and turning on each other? After all, what is your family supposed to do? Protect the hero and the saints that the gods give them, right?" Cass asked and watched as the gears turned in Edgar’s mind. He put down his goblet, letting out a sigh.
"You’re really on a mission right now, Cass." Edgar commented. "We came back from the dungeon, dropped off Lucian, and now you’re behaving more like you’re going to eat them then Lucian was." Edgar said, but he didn’t look upset. "Lucy is going to be so mad that he isn’t going to have anyone to eat when he comes back." Ailia let out a snort.
"Oh, I disagree. Cass is leaving the field clear so that there are only a few people that he can eat." She said, wiggling her eyebrows as she drank some herbal tea. Cass flushed, Edgar flushed, and Gideon ate his potato in silence.
The other fairies laughed, while Cass scowled at Ailia. Edgar coughed.
"While that might be the case, I do think he might throw a fit. Could we put them in a dungeon or something to keep them safe until he gets back? I know he would hate to be excluded." Edgar was truly speaking for Lucian while he wasn’t here and Cass softened.
"We’ll consider it. He got indigestion from the last one, and I don’t want him to be in pain over them. They aren’t worth it." Cass said and Edgar nodded.
"Understood. We’ll consider it in the moment then." Edgar said and Cass thought that was reasonable. Taniora chuckled, watching them all with amusement. Cass glanced over at Sam and Byron, the bonded couple that hadn’t told him until Cass had found out for himself. He watched them hold hands under the table and Cass sighed. As long as they were happy, that’s all that mattered, and it also meant that Sam would be alive as long as Byron was.
Cass just had to make sure that that was a long time.