Ball of Nothing

Baal did his best to stall for an hour before they arrived at Lilith's castle. He told his coachman to take the shortest path to the castle and distracted Zero with a game while they were in town. Incubi and succubi filled the streets with no care about the visitors in town. They did as they wanted, tossing clothes around leaving them strewn on the streets with their bodies on full display while others opted for messy make-out sessions. Nowhere in town was safe for innocent eyes.

Zero was blissfully unaware of the growing tension in the carriage, too engrossed in the game of chess. Baal was such a good player. Despite his bored external appearance, Zero knew that the Demon Lord wasn't going to give him any chances or openings. That was the current gap between their experiences and Zero found it exciting. He wanted to challenge Baal again despite his six losses but they had arrived at the castle.

"Tonight, can we play again?" Zero asked and Baal pretended to consider.

"Please?"

"How many stories will you tell me?"

Zero paused and calculated. Baal found that crafty look adorable. Zero could never be a successful poker player with his intentions so clearly written on his face. Knowing his friend, Zero would try to push the numbers low like what Coux taught him. He would start off with one or two but Baal wasn't going to let him gain the initial advantage.

"Five or no deal," he yawned.

Zero's jaw fell. Five? That was ridiculous! Baal didn't even demand so many stories back when Zero requested for Baal's help to sneeze a powerful illusion away. Then an idea came to him. Baal never mentioned what kind of stories he wanted, right? So far, Zero had always been telling Baal long stories and Baal would always let him. Only occasionally would the Demon Lord ask for details. This time, the teenager was determined to not give Baal so much to chew on. he could have five stories but Zero wasn't going to spill all the details for free. That should teach Baal not to be so greedy in future!

"Deal," he told Baal calmly.

At once, the Demon Lord opened his eyes widely in attention. He wasn't expecting for Zero to agree to it without trying to lower down the rate. Then he narrowed his eyes in suspicion. No, that isn't right. Zero would never agree to it without some kind of trick. Ever since his secretary has been tutoring Zero, the young doctor had gotten sneakier. Mammon would've killed to have an apprentice as brilliant as Zero. Baal had to admit, Zero was learning. In fact, he was slightly threatened by how fast Zero's growth was.

"What's the catch? I demand five full stories and won't accept anything less than that."

Zero smiled. "Oh, I'm aware of that. I will deliver five full stories as you requested. No cliffhangers."

Baal narrowed his eyes but couldn't probe further because Lilith swopped down and crooned at Zero.

"Come," she urged with a blinding smile. "We've prepared scented baths for both of you. Dinner will be ready in about an hour and your rooms are ready. Please let my servants know if you require anything, enjoy your stay in the Red Palace. We have a garden tour after this, you will see one of the rarest sights in the abyss. You can only find crystal flowers and trees here in the Lust domain."

Zero's interest was captured almost at once. Crystal trees and flowers sounded fascinating. He nodded and followed Lilith inside. Baal shrugged. He wasn't too interested in the garden Lilith boasted about. Flowers were flowers and trees were trees. He didn't see anything special about them and would prefer to take a nap before dealing with Zero tonight.

Zero was overwhelmed by all the action. People were talking, bowing, guiding and helping him prepare for the bath. Maids and butlers were all over the place and everyone was very polite. Zero didn't know if this level of hospitality was common because he hadn't experienced much of it anywhere else. Unable to cope or react, Zero could only follow instructions and cope to the best of his abilities to leave everything to the maids including helping to undress him and choosing his clothes. Apart from choosing the scented oil he wanted for his bath, Lilith's servants took care of everything else efficiently.

By the time Zero was submerged in the comfortable lukewarm water, he wondered if the same happened for Baal. The water was milky and smelled pleasant enough to drink but something told Zero it was better if he didn't do that. He listened to that instinct and waited for Baal. The maids taught Zero something very interesting. Apparently in the domain of lust, enjoying the hot spring water must always be accompanied with a towel wrapped around his head with sheep horns on two sides. It helped keep the towel from falling off and for wet hair to get messy during the bath. Also, it was common for people to dip in the hot spring water naked.

"There is a special kind of friendship that can only be formed when two people bare their skin in front of each other," was what the head maid told Zero. After hearing it, it was impossible for Zero to not want that kind of special friendship, especially with Baal.

"Why is Baal taking so long?" Zero asked himself and pouted. He sank lower into the water and blew bubbles into it out of boredom. To amuse himself, he started to hum different noises just to hear how it would sound like with the water's interference.

"I see that you're having fun without me," Baal was amused to find Zero doing such childish things.

The young doctor spluttered in the water and choked on it when some got into his windpipe. "Baal!" he perked up when the Demon Lord sank into the water beside him.

"Have you decided what kind of drinks you want to try after this? It's a custom here to drink flavoured milk after a soak in the springs."

Zero thought long and hard. "What would you recommend?"

Baal hummed. Usually, he would go for some kind of alcohol but he didn't want Zero touching any of that yet. "I would recommend strawcherry milk."

Zero spluttered. The thought of Mii as a milk flavour left a bad taste in his mouth. "Is there anything else?"

Baal shrugged. "Cocorice, banono, green lemon, sweet thorns are some of the more popular ones."

Zero didn't know any of those and chose one of the more harmless sounding ones. "I think I'll try banono milk..."

Baal smirked. Oh well, Zero would be in for a treat there.

***

Coux who heard the story from Baal at dinner laughed heartily. Zero sulked badly and shot Baal one of his meanest glares. He could've mentioned that banono was a type of screaming plant. Zero wouldn't have chosen the noisy thing to add with his milk. Then again it was delicious so Baal didn't really lie to him. Still, it wasn't worth the trouble of listening to the screeching thing before it became milkshake.

"Oh dear... I should've told the maids to bring you the menu. My apologies..."

Zero was quick to deny that. "No, it's alright. I did enjoy the hot spring, everything has been more than I expected. It's a very wonderful experience..."

Lilith smiled, thankful that the teenager was enjoying himself. Dinner seemed like a success too with how Zero cleaned his plate completely. Zero licked his lips. Fish hasn't tasted this good uncooked before and the young doctor was curious as to what kind of sorcery the chef has applied. Lilith assured him that no magic was involved but Zero found it really difficult to believe that.

"It's the art of presenting food from the land and food from the ocean together," Lilith explained. It was difficult to explain the cuisine of her domain seeing how the rest of the abyss didn't share the same luxury. Her domain focussed very much on pleasure and everything was customised to make everyone who came here feel like indulging the moment. It was their business strategy to retain visitors and siphon off their life energy after all.

Zero was intrigued. Everything was like a dream here. He loved how everything was perfect. The people were nice, the food was good and now Lilith was going to show him the garden. Crystals were pretty by themselves. What kind of trees and flowers will he be witnessing? The teenager couldn't wait.

Baal decided to tag along despite his lack of interest in such things. Lilith claimed that the best time to view the crystal trees and flowers was when night had fallen. In the darkness, these crystals will glow and Zero would be able to fully appreciate it.

The garden was huge as it surrounds the entire exterior of the castle. Zero was slightly relieved when Lilith said they will only be visiting the inner garden that was in the centre of the compound. It was near the tea room and Zero didn't mind when the butler took over and explained the castle's history while they strolled.

"Music, art and dance are very much part of the Lust domain's history," the old butler explained. Although he looked aged, he still retained his gentlemanly mannerism and Zero thought he was very charming.

The butler droned on about how the castle was founded as well as the rooms once occupied by the different royalties including the Van Doux. That got Zero's attention because he knew that this was Coux's home. He asked a little more about the history of that lineage but the butler wouldn't say too much about it. Lilith only told Zero that it was the Earl Van Doux who decided to leave the household and move to Earth to establish their territory. Other noble demons have done so and they too wanted to participate in the unofficial vie for the title of the strongest aristocrat since that gave whoever with the title the right to decide on domain laws aside from the six Demon Lords. of course, the Van Doux faced their fall and was almost completely wiped out except for Coux who survived and took refuge in Half Moon Village.

"We're here," Lilith told Zero who was in a pensive mood thinking about the story of Coux's family history.

The sight took away his thoughts and Zero wanted to stare at them forever. The trees came in many different colours like pink, blue and purple. The flowers were more unique. Some flowers had more than one kind of colour and they sparkled. There were leaves and flowers that glowed one colour for a while and gradually changed to a different colour. Zero had never seen such a thing before and continued to stare at them, mesmerised.

Lilith dismissed the maids and butlers following them. Only Baal, Zero and Lilith remained in the crystal garden. The Succubus Queen started discussing with Baal about her arrangements to have Amon send someone to pick them up first thing tomorrow morning. Baal thought that it was a good idea. The longer Zero spent in Lilith's domain, the riskier things were for them.

Zero didn't know how long he stood there admiring the view. It was getting colder and colder so he should be standing there for at least half an hour. Behind him, Baal was sleeping at the bottom of a tree and Lilith was perched on a branch.

"Sorry to keep you both waiting," he apologised. It was just so easy to lose track of time here.

"Not at all," Lilith smiled. "It's late, someone will come to escort you to Lord Amon's domain tomorrow morning. Would you like to retire now?"

Baal rubbed his eyes sleepily and yawned. "The stories can wait for tomorrow, I'm tired."

Zero snickered. Baal was always sleepy, it wasn't anything new to him. "I think we should head to bed then," Zero smiled.

"Thank you, Lilith. I enjoyed myself today. It is a very beautiful place..."

The Succubus Queen smiled politely and called for a servant to show them back to their rooms. She stayed in the garden for a little longer, looking at the guest rooms that Zero and Baal resided in and waited until the lights were put out.

Stretching her wings, Lilith smiled wistfully. "I'm glad you think that it is beautiful... goodnight and sweet dreams, Great One."

With that, the Succubus Queen took to the night sky in search for her prey for tonight.