Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
April 1, 2008 - Serena Pov
"Thank you for seeing me on such short notice, Lord Beelzebub," I said as I bowed. I was inside Ajuka's laboratory. Ajuka nodded.
"I must say, I'm really curious about your… request," Ajuka said before smiling. "I thought you'd make me work harder to uncover your secrets, not that you'd just come perform a medical checkup," Ajuka said amusedly. I snorted.
"Unfortunately, it is necessary." I sighed tiredly. Ajuka hummed.
"The engagement contracts?" Ajuka asked. I grimaced.
"Yes," I said with a grimace. Ajuka chuckled.
"I suppose you want to verify that your 'abilities' are inheritable?" he asked playfully. I snorted.
"I already checked it myself, thank you very much, but I doubt it'll convince the others," I said simply, almost offended. Ajuka laughed.
"So, you came to me for a simple Satan's signature validation?" Ajuka asked playfully. I pouted.
"When you put it like that, it seems like a waste of time," I complained. Ajuka laughed while shaking his head.
"Luckily, I'm very interested in seeing what I find inside you," Ajuka said, his eyes shining. I wrinkled my nose.
"Phrasing." I said simply. Ajuka looked confused. I just shook my head. "Shall we begin?" I asked simply with a sigh.
I really didn't want to do it, but it was something that needed to be done, according to Lucius.
Aside from my potions, which, while certainly impressive, weren't worth enough to convince Lord Phenex to fork over enough money to secure the land around my island we needed to build something big enough.
Of all the things I could do, the metal arts were inherently inheritable, so I was counting on Ajuka being able to identify them somehow. Upon obtaining Rashek's template, my biology changed. Rashek was born a naturally full Feruchemist, and by using the Well of Ascension, where the power of Preservation resided, he used the equivalent power of a god to alter his biology and spiritual web to become an extremely strong Mistborn. It was the reason Rashek was one of the strongest non-god people in all of Cosmere, if not the strongest. As long as you didn't have the script as your enemy. Obviously.
"Of course, please stand here," Ajuka said, pointing to a circle on the ground. I immediately felt several scanners and other magical instruments begin scanning my body. Ajuka held a tablet in his hand as he quickly handled everything. "Hmm, interesting," Ajuka said.
"Did you find anything?" I asked in his direction. That was quick. Ajuka nodded.
"A lot of things, but most importantly, I'm not getting erroneous or completely random data." He said simply, and I grimaced. I guess he realized I'd lowered my Information Defense for this check; I needed the paperwork to be completely real.
"Yeah, well, that's the point of this checkup, isn't it?" I grimaced. Ajuka raised an eyebrow at me.
"So you did know about that blockade." Ajuka hummed. I just stayed silent. Luckily for me, Ajuka didn't say anything about it before continuing, "Alright, let's get started. let's see… succubus, 18 years and a few months old, distinctive features, horns, elongated upper fangs and a tail. Height, 1.91 meters, weight, 20 kilograms?" Ajuka frowned.
"Ah… that's my fault." I grimaced before abandoning all my metals and returning to my normal weight. Ajuka raised his eyebrows slightly.
"We'll get back to that later. At 65 kilos, you're underweight for someone your height, even for someone who's slim, but you seem completely healthy and fit, so that shouldn't present any problems." Ajuka said calmly. I nodded. Yes, those numbers should be fine.
Although, I'd grown a few inches since the last time I'd measured myself, I was hoping to stop. Severus was tall, and old Serena was shaping up to be the same. Coupled with the Body Tune-Up talent , I could definitely reach 7'10" by the time I finished growing, even if I didn't want to. At the very least, I'd gained a few more curves, and while I wasn't anything impressive, I was well-proportioned and didn't look completely ungainly.
"Interesting. I thought those stars on your cheeks were something aesthetic that you could control, but it's actually demonic power coming to the surface." Ajuka said interestedly, I sighed as I nodded.
"Yes, they start spreading all over my face before growing to the rest of my body. In fact, my star-shaped pupils are also part of them." I clarified simply. Ajuka nodded.
"I'll write it down," he said simply before frowning. "Why is your body filled with metals? Steel, iron, pewter, tin, bronze, copper, gold, aluminum, and cadmium… You know that last one is toxic, right? At least to humans," Ajuka said, confused. I grimaced but nodded.
"Again, yes, I know, and they should be there because of my powers," I said simply. Before taking a deep breath. "It's... complicated. It's part of my powers. When we're done with this health check, I'll explain. After all, I need them to be measured properly." I sighed. Ajuka simply nodded and continued fiddling with his tablet.
"Interesting. You actually have an inheritable trait." Ajuka said excitedly, his eyes shining. "In fact, they seem exactly like a 'clan trait' of the pillar devils. It's incredible," Ajuka said, fascinated.
"And that's weird?" I asked in his direction. Ajuka nodded.
"Very. As you know, there are only 72 pillars, each with its own unique ability. They were personally crafted by Lucifer using Lilith's body, an incredible feat, one I haven't been able to replicate." Ajuka said with a hint of disappointment. "Right now, there are only a little over 32 families left. What is known is that they have a different genetic makeup than other 'commoner' devils. These 'traits' are extremely difficult to replicate, almost impossible, I'd say. So to have a new one is simply incredible." Ajuka grew excited again.
"Does that mean I'm fully certified to reproduce?" I said dryly in his direction. Ajuka nodded.
"Oh yes, definitely. Even though you were born as a succubus and have these 'awakened' traits, they will definitely be a match for your daughters even if they are succubi, which they almost certainly will be." Ajuka said simply. "Pillar devils have special 'dominant genes', certainly not as strong as a succubus's genes, but it does make them inherit their clan trait. Unless some complication arises, it is almost certain that the offspring of a pillar will inherit the clan trait." Ajuka explained.
"And Sairaorg?" I asked curiously. Ajuka raised an eyebrow.
"I suppose it's no wonder you've heard of Sairaorg Bael, he... is an anomaly." Ajuka said with a grimace. "For one, he has both genes awakened, both the power of destruction of the Bael house and the lion taming of the Vapula house, he has both." My eyes widened slightly. "The problem he has, however, is a genetic malformation that prevents him from maintaining, gathering, and accumulating demonic power, so even though he has the necessary genes, he can't utilize the traits."
"That... that's bad luck." I grimaced. This was truly news. And very bad luck for Sairaorg. The chances of a demonic child born from a union of two pillars being born with both traits were tiny, but being born with a deformity that prevented him from using those traits was the height of bad luck.
"Yes, it is, but- mmmm, give me a moment, there's... something strange about your DNA." Ajuka began tapping on his tablet with more concentration.
"Something to worry about?" I asked while frowning. There shouldn't be anything else in there besides what I already knew, so if Ajuka found something besides the obvious, it should be worrying.
"I see... why didn't I see this before?!" Ajuka exclaimed in disbelief as he stared at his tablet as if it were the discovery of the century. "You have recessive genes!" he exclaimed as if that explained everything.
"Recessive genes? Like... the ones that appear in a child if both parents are carriers of those recessive genes and can skip generations? Don't they all have them? They're not special," I asked, confused. Ajuka snapped his fingers and pointed at me.
"Exactly! Recessive genes! And you're right! They wouldn't be important, but these recessive genes are the same as the dominant genes of the pillar devils! Succubi have recessive genes from their parents! The succubus part of them are extremely dominant genes, more so than the pillar genes, but that doesn't mean that all the other genes from the father are rejected, but rather they are placed as latent recessive genes! It's incredible!" said Ajuka excitedly.
"Wait, so that means all succubi carry some pillar trait in a recessive manner?" I asked incredulously. Ajuka nodded.
"If they had the ancestor who was a pillar devil, definitely," Ajuka said. I grimaced.
"Yeah, that covers about 95% of succubi," I said tersely. Ajuka grimaced but nodded. "Now, does that mean, say, if a succubus has a child with a Pillar Devil that has the same 'trait' as her recessive genes, then the 'clan trait' will appear?" I asked directly. Ajuka nodded.
"Exactly! And that's different from what had been thought until now, it was believed that there is simply a very, very low probability that a succubus could give birth to a devil that was not simply another succubus. The few cases that have occurred, it was surely because the mother succubus had the correct recessive gene." Ajuka said simply, I wrinkled my nose. Incest.
"And there's only one recessive gene?" I asked curiously, Ajuka tilted his head "I mean, since it certainly hasn't happened more often, it's almost safe to say that a family line of succubi didn't have offspring with the same family, so it's possible that multiple pillars could have had offspring with a defined family line." I said simply. Ajuka's eyes widened slightly, and he immediately began tapping on his tablet once more.
"Three different recessive genes," Ajuka muttered in disbelief. "You have three completely different recessive genes, so it's quite possible that you have the genes of three pillar devils inside you," Ajuka said in surprise.
" So they can accumulate… I guess at some point the succubi would just spit out children with 'pillar traits'," I said dryly. Once the succubi accumulated enough recessive genes within her, then it would be inevitable that a future generation of succubi would simply carry all of them and have children with clan traits with basically any living pillar.
"Yes… Genes accumulate with each generation. Succubi are known to sleep with any devil, and many times it is unlikely to be known who the father is because he does not show any distinguishing traits, so they surely have a large amount of recessive genes within them, like… like a natural DNA reservoir." Ajuka muttered.
My eye twitched slightly. He just called all succubi, whores, sluts, cum dumps, and bastards in one sentence? I took a deep breath. Ajuka's choice of words aside, he actually had a point.
"This presents many opportunities. The recessive genes in succubi, along with their fertility, could increase the number of pillars. We'd just have to see what genes each succubus has and pair them with the right pillar devils." Ajuka said, thinking. I bristled completely and began decanting all my metals.
"You're not offering succubi as incubators!" I hissed angrily, not caring that he was a Satan. Ajuka looked at me, his eyes wide.
"My apologies, I didn't mean it like that," Ajuka said quickly. I could see he really meant it. I simply glared at him once more and stopped reaching for my metals.
"I hope so, They're under my protection." I hissed once more. Ajuka stopped and frowned in confusion.
"Under your protection? I don't remember hearing anything like that," Ajuka said, confused. I wrinkled my nose.
"It's not official yet, but I promised to help them after what happened to one of them," I said simply. Ajuka frowned.
"Tell me," Ajuka almost demanded. I didn't care if he knew, so I told him everything that had happened during the meeting with Fengxian. The look on Ajuka's face when I finished was downright terrifying.
"...I see..." he said simply, still staring at me. "I could kill him," Ajuka said calmly, as if commenting on the weather. I paused for a few seconds, staring at him wide-eyed before wincing.
"It's really not necessary. As nice as Honest's death would be, it's likely to cause more problems than it solves." I said simply. The devils of Lucifaad remained 'quiet' because they were allowed certain... excesses. All thanks to devils like Honest. Killing such a prominent figure in the Old Devil faction would practically start another civil war.
And while it is impossible for the four Satans to lose, it would lead to a massacre and another major reduction in the already low numbers of the devils.
"I'm expanding my territory to let them move in," I explained simply. Ajuka stopped and nodded.
"That's why this checkup, you're selling yourself for a dowry in territory." Ajuka connected the dots easily, and I nodded.
"Exactly." Confirming without hesitation, Ajuka nodded.
"Then we'd better do a really thorough checkup," Ajuka said, his eyes shining with determination. I sighed in relief and nodded. He quickly began using his tablet once again.
"Back to what we were saying, how is it that, in thousands of years, no one noticed that?" I asked curiously. Ajuka grimaced.
"No one cared about the succubi when they realized that their children didn't have any clan traits and were weak by nature, so they basically received the worst treatment…. Except for Lilith… it is said that Lilith had a great affection for all the succubi… she was called the first succubus…" Ajuka said as his eyes widened slightly as if he had just realized something.
"Do you think Lilith… created succubi as some sort of safeguard?" I asked incredulously. Ajuka opened his mouth slightly before closing it.
"I… maybe," Ajuka muttered in surprise. "It's possible she could have foreseen this outcome for when the great war was over… if she fell, the devils would be at a great disadvantage in replenishing their numbers… but if that's what she made the succubi for…" Ajuka's voice trailed off as he stared incredulously into the air before shaking his head. "I'll have to investigate further," he said solemnly before continuing my check-up once more.
"By the way, I was thinking…" I hummed softly "…if recessive genes are kept within succubi, and as you so eloquently said, they are a 'DNA repository', that means there must be, let's say, genes from devils of extinct pillar families, could those genes be used to revive those families?" I asked curiously. Ajuka stopped stiffly, his head slowly turning and staring at me with his mouth agape.
"You're a genius" Ajuka muttered incredulously before bursting out laughing. He dropped his tablet, and it fell to the ground, but that didn't matter to Ajuka in the least. He simply took long strides in my direction, which made me back up. But Ajuka kept moving forward. He grabbed me by the shoulders and brought his face close to mine. He reached up to kiss me, and I kneed him in the groin. "You're a genius!" Ajuka exclaimed in glee and started laughing.
"Yeah, I know, but could you back away?" I tried to get away from him, but Ajuka was still laughing as he started shaking me.
"Yes, yes, we could! I would just have to compare the recessive genes with the dominant genes of the pillars still present and those that don't match would be genes of extinct pillars! We would just have to grow children from those genes!" Ajuka exclaimed, finally letting go of me.
"Cloning? Isn't that a bad idea? Just have the succubi have children and undergo genetic modification. I don't know if it's possible, but with magic, it should be much easier to implement. As long as the succubi have agreed, obviously." I said as I composed myself. Ajuka nodded vigorously.
"Yes, much easier. Cloning is easy, but it wouldn't have the same result unless you use something like Sephiroth Grail. " Ajuka said quickly. I kept my expression completely still; I really didn't want to tell him where to find the Sephiroth Grail … mmm maybe I should get it for myself.
"As long as the succubi agree." I narrowed my eyes at his. Ajuka stopped and took a deep breath.
"Of course, as long as they agree," Ajuka said, agreeing with me. I nodded.
" And I expect you to wait until they move into my territory and keep it a secret," I said simply. Ajuka immediately grimaced.
"Yeah... I understand... if some not-so-kind devils- like the ones from Lucifaad - find out that they can increase their numbers with the succubi, they will definitely start kidnapping them without caring about anything." Ajuka said, almost disappointed. I nodded.
"Just… I need a little time to bring as many of the succubi as possible into my territory. I can put up some defenses that will keep them safe, and then we can… start asking them if they want to experiment with it… but… don't expect too much. Most of their experience with pillar devils comes from the Lucifaad pillars, and they certainly aren't the best example." I said dryly. Ajuka sighed.
"I understand," Ajuka said defeatedly as he walked away and bent down to pick up his tablet. "You know I'll have to tell the other Satans what I just discovered, right?" he said simply. I nodded.
"I expected it, and there's no need to hide it from them. As long as word doesn't spread to the other pillars, at least not anytime soon, anything's good." I said simply. Ajuka nodded. "By the way, is it possible that some 'mutation' like mine could occur and some sort of new 'trait' could appear?" I asked curiously. Ajuka paused for a split second before nodding.
"It's possible, but I wouldn't expect it. Pillar Devils have been interbreeding for millennia in order to combine and make the next generation stronger, and in thousands of years, there hasn't been a single mutation excessive enough to resemble yours. You're practically a miracle, so I wouldn't expect it." Ajuka said simply, and I nodded. It made sense.
"It just occurred to me that I don't know how necessary genetic modification is. I mean, it's not something that usually happens because it doesn't make much sense. But what if two succubi have children with the necessary recessive genes?" I asked simply. Ajuka paused for a second before smiling.
"I'm starting to like you more and more, Lady Prince," Ajuka said, his eyes twinkling. I chuckled.
"Just call me, Serena, or Sera, if I'm not offending Lady Leviathan," I said simply. Ajuka shook his head amusedly.
"It will be Serena for everyone's well-being," Ajuka said amusedly, before his eyes flashed dangerously in my direction. "Now, let's make sure you succeed in acquiring your new land. I'm sure you won't ask me for help, or Sirzechs, for obvious reasons, so this check had better be perfect and acceptable to any Pillar Devil." I shuddered and paled at Ajuka's determined and terrifying gaze. "So, tell me everything your 'trait' can do while we get started."
I gulped loudly. This is going to be a long day.