The day of the Rating Game between Rias Gremory's peerage and Riser Phenex's had finally arrived—a day promised, prepared for, and anticipated with rising tension.
The atmosphere inside the Gremory family's grand dining hall was thick with anticipation... and one very irritated crimson-haired devil pacing like a storm trapped in silk.
"Where is she?!" Rias shouted, her voice rising an octave as she spun on her heel for the fifth time, crimson hair flaring behind her like fire. "She promised she'd be here!"
She threw her hands up, half ready to summon a gate and drag Hespera out of whatever realm she was terrorizing.
At the long table, her peerage sat calmly, enjoying a decadent breakfast spread—freshly baked breads, golden eggs, and glittering fruit served by silver trays and enchanted platters.
Kiba sipped his tea, amused. Akeno chuckled behind her hand. Koneko quietly munched on a strawberry shortcake, completely unfazed.
Even her parents and brother—Sirzechs, ever the composed Satan, and Venelana and Zeoticus, seated with their usual grace—watched her with a blend of amusement and knowing exasperation.
"She's making an entrance, dear," Venelana said gently, sipping her wine with a smirk. "You know how dramatic your new friend can be."
Sirzechs raised a brow, eyes sparkling. "You didn't really expect Hespera Eveningstar to arrive on time, did you?"
Rias groaned, dragging her hands down her face. "I swear, if she shows up at the last second with a smug smile and some cryptic one-liner, I'm going to throw her straight into the arena myself." (Like you could.😏)
Akeno giggled. "You say that as if you don't like it when she does that."
"I don't!" Rias snapped—then paused. "...Maybe a little."
More laughter followed.
Kiba sipped his tea calmly, legs crossed like a model knight. "She'll be here, Buchou," he said with an amused smile. "Probably fashionably late. It's very on-brand for her."
Akeno giggled behind her fingers, electric sparks dancing at her fingertips. "Mmm~ Rias-chan, you're so cute when you're flustered."
Koneko, sitting on a pile of cushions and munching on a strawberry daifuku, offered her own deadpan wisdom. "You like her."
Rias spun around, face flushed. "W-What does that have to do with anything?!"
Gaspar peeked from behind a decorative curtain. "D-Does anyone else feel like the temperature just dropped, or is it just me?"
Zeoticus chuckled warmly from the head of the table. "I think it's safe to say we're all curious to see what entrance Hespera makes today."
Venelana, ever poised, dabbed her lips with a napkin. "Let the girl have her moment, dear. She has a flair for drama, and it certainly keeps things interesting."
Sirzechs, lounging far too comfortably with a plate of sweets in front of him, popped a sugar cube into his mouth. "I heard she scared a group of exorcists into retirement last week by just blinking at them. I can't wait."
Rias groaned, burying her face in her hands. "She's doing this on purpose. I know she's doing this on purpose."
Just then—
The chandelier above flickered once.
Then again.
And with a slow, deliberate rumble of displaced air and ancient magic, a rift carved itself open at the far end of the hall—petals of black fire and starlight curling at the edges.
From it stepped a vision clad in layered black and violet with subtle phoenix gold threading through her coat. Her silver hair gleamed under the candlelight, her expression unreadable as her twelve wings slowly dissolved into the ether behind her.
"Did I miss breakfast?" Hespera asked, brushing a nonexistent speck of dust from her shoulder.
Everyone stared.
Rias's eye twitched.
"You're late!"
Hespera tilted her head, giving Rias a slow once-over.
"Technically, I'm early. The dramatics don't start until the Rating Game begins."
She winked.
"Now be a good princess and fetch me something sweet. I'm in the mood for strawberries~"
Rias opened her mouth to yell.
But didn't.
Because her eyes were already tracing the elegant line of Hespera's coat. The way her lips curled just so. The smug glint in her mismatched eyes.
Koneko, watching from the corner, popped another daifuku in her mouth and muttered, "Definitely likes her."
~☆~
Back in the quiet luxury of Hespera's mansion, the flickering portal had only just snapped shut behind her when the Hesperides blinked in tandem—clearly trying to process what, exactly, their divine mother had just said before vanishing into chaos.
Aigle, ever the golden-glowing voice of cheer, tilted her head with a bewildered grin. "Did she just say… she was off to play with a fire chicken and his family… and toy with a devil princess's sanity?"
Khrysothemis, serene and composed as ever, folded her hands neatly in her lap and gave a small nod. "That is what I heard."
Erytheia, the smoldering dusk in contrast to her sisters' light, let out a low whistle. "Ah. So we're those kinds of daughters. Cool."
At the table, Ophis—Primordial Void, Infinite Dragon God, and currently dressed in an oversized sweater that read "World's Most Indifferent Mom"—sipped her tea with no change in expression whatsoever.
"She likes to keep herself entertained," Ophis said blandly. "There will be screaming. Possibly fire."
The sisters exchanged a glance.
"...We should probably make snacks," Aigle suggested.
"Already brewing tea," Khrysothemis added calmly.
Erytheia leaned back in her chair, stretching lazily. "Ten bucks says someone tries to punch her and cries about it for eternity."
Ophis blinked.
"…Only ten?"
They all nodded solemnly.
Mother's chaos was never boring.
~☆~
Riser Phenex lounged with casual arrogance at the designated waiting area of the Rating Game Field—a vast, ever-shifting arena nestled in a pocket realm of the Dimensional Gap, protected by layers upon layers of divine and infernal barriers. The air hummed with anticipation, reality itself bending to accommodate the spectacle about to unfold.
He reclined against a throne-like chair made of shimmering crimson flame, sipping from a crystal goblet filled with firewine. His golden eyes lazily drifted across the battlefield, then to the raised stands where his family and peerage were seated comfortably.
The Phenex Clan—draped in flamboyant robes of gold, scarlet, and infernal flame—watched the proceedings with disinterest. Riser's older brother Ruval sat at the center, speaking to their father in hushed tones about the upcoming match. His mother, Lady Cleare Phenex, smiled with all the warmth of a phoenix sun as she fed tiny glowing fruits to a fire sprite perched on her shoulder.
The girls of Riser's peerage lounged across the viewing platform, chatting idly, painting their nails, or playing card games. Not a single one seemed worried. They had heard this was to be another of Rias Gremory's tantrums over marriage. Another spoiled heiress trying to avoid her duties with fire and drama.
The flames danced around them. Their confidence was unshaken.
Because no one—not even Riser himself—knew what was coming.
The rumors of Azazel's imprisonment, of the judgment passed by the Seraphim Council, had barely left the gates of Heaven. Political spin and containment magic ensured the whispers remained fragmented. Few knew the name Hespera Eveningstar. Fewer still understood what it meant.
A forgotten daughter.
A tribrid reborn in chaos.
And the sister of Lucifer Morningstar.
No, to the Phenex Clan, this was still just a game.
They had no idea that the storm was already on its way. And that today's Rating Game wouldn't be a match.
It would be a massacre in disguise~ (poor fire chickens~ 🤭)
~☆~
Back at the Gremory estate, the atmosphere in the grand dining hall was… tense.
No, tense didn't quite cover it.
The Gremory family and Rias's peerage had just finished breakfast—if it could even be called that with Hespera in the room, casually flipping the rules of reality and decorum like pages in a book.
Hespera sat at the head of the long obsidian table like she owned it—because in that moment, she absolutely did. Her long coat draped around her chair like a throne of midnight, one leg crossed over the other, sipping from a mug that definitely did not belong to the Gremory estate. It had a cartoon bunny and said: #1 Chaos Mom.
Rias sat a few chairs down, rubbing her temples as if it might help her brain process Hespera's everything.
Akeno was trying (and failing) not to smile. Kiba looked like he was watching a live theater performance. Koneko? She had long since accepted that Hespera made no sense and therefore couldn't hurt her anymore. Gasper was red in the face for reasons unknown, probably because of the coat slit that teased just enough thigh whenever Hespera shifted. (Aww, vamp-boy is so pure~)
And the Gremory adults? Sirzechs had a glass of juice in his hand and the soul of a man who had accepted chaos into his house. Again.
Venelana, ever the composed matriarch, was watching Hespera with the same expression one might give an unexpected lion at a garden party.
"So," Hespera said lazily, setting her mug down with a soft clink. "Are we all calm now? No more panic attacks? Existential dread? Identity crises?"
Rias huffed, "You're doing that on purpose!"
"Doing what?" Hespera asked innocently, resting her chin on her hand. "Being breathtaking? Existing? Confusing your hormones?"
Rias sputtered, Akeno coughed into her tea, and Sirzechs covered his mouth in a very not successful attempt to hide a laugh.
But before Rias could strangle her with a napkin—
A swirl of divine and chaotic energy opened mid-air, coalescing into a wide portal rimmed in golden leaves and violet thorns.
From it stepped three young women—graceful, radiant, and clearly not human.
The first radiated with warmth and dawn-colored light, golden eyes glowing as soft flowers bloomed in her footsteps.
The second bore an aura of smoldering dusk, her crimson curls flickering like firelight, eyes sharp and clever.
And the third moved like the hush before twilight—the golden hour made flesh, regal and quiet with a calm that could unsettle even the gods.
Behind them, Ophis walked through, her expression flat, her tea cup somehow still in hand.
The room froze.
Rias blinked. "Uh… who—?"
"Gremorys," Hespera said, rising from her chair and gesturing lazily toward the three girls now smiling at everyone like polite chaos incarnate. "Meet my daughters."
Silence.
Complete. Utter. Silence.
Until—
"…I beg your pardon?" Venelana asked, eyes narrowing.
Sirzechs choked on his juice.
Kiba made a strangled noise.
And Rias?
Rias stood up so fast her chair skidded backward. "Your WHAT?!"
Aigle, the golden one, gave a graceful wave. "Aigle. Dawn-born."
Erytheia gave a playful smirk. "Erytheia. Sunset's flame."
Khrysothemis offered a serene nod. "Khrysothemis. Twilight's grace."
"In unison: "We are the Hesperides."
Hespera smiled sweetly. "They grew from my blood. Long story. Ask Gaia."
Koneko stared at them. Then at Hespera. Then at the now-glowing petals that were growing on the walls.
"I'm never eating fruit again," she muttered.
Hespera clapped her hands together, thoroughly amused. "Now that that's out of the way—who's ready for a blood sport disguised as a formal engagement ceremony?"
Rias sat back down very, very slowly.
She was not ready.
Not even remotely ready. 'Did I make a mistake by asking for this psycho's help?'