The Burning Fiend

Sasha was delighted by the relaxing environment of the courtyard and found that she enjoyed playing with Talia as well as talking with her aunts. She discovered that her personality was similar to Talia's, but she had become introverted and brooding since she was forced to come to the Infernal Realm. Sasha enjoying joking and playing with her mischievous cousin and both women soon become good friends.

It only took a couple of days for Sasha to integrate completely into Reynolds's family... the only person she had not talked much with yet was Lord Reynolds himself. He had welcomed her to his family, and from time to time he teased her shamelessly, but he seemed to be deeply invested on his research of runic arrays and only spent a couple of hours each day talking with his family.

A couple of days later, Reynolds was sitting cross-legged on the grass while simulating the coupling of the two soul type runic arrays in his mind. He had created the structure of both arrays, and he had started looking for a position where the 'Soul Brand' could have as many connection points with the 'Memory Shackle', the plan was to find a good position and then start modifying the 'Memory Shackle' to contain the 'Soul Brand'.

He had no intention of modifying the 'Soul Brand' as it was the most complex and delicate runic array he had ever worked on, while the 'Memory Shackle' seemed simple in comparison. Reynolds was slightly frustrated at not finding a good way to couple the runic arrays, he then started expanding the 'Soul Brand' array thinking that if the inner structure of the 'Memory Shackle' did not offer enough points to anchor the array, then perhaps it could superimpose both arrays without affecting them.

And he proceeded to increase the size of the 'Soul Brand' and rotate the array looking for points of convergence, the process was long but easy as it did not require understanding or design... he was just testing for different positions and remembering any promising combination as he found them from time to time. Unknown to Reynolds, Sasha was sitting in front of him waiting for him to finish, but she did not dare to interrupt his meditation.

After a couple of hours he finally found a combination of size and orientation that offered close to 60% of compatibility, in theory. He smiled satisfied thinking that with some minimum modifications he might be able to reach at least an 80% compatibility, it will take a few months and a few tests to confirm... but the road seemed correct. He wondered if this was comparable to the fusion of Elemental Laws and was soon lost again in his thoughts.

Sasha was blushing as she watched him smile and startled as he suddenly opened his eyes. Reynolds smiled and said. "Tell me pretty thing, were you waiting for me?" She blushed deeper and panicked a little forgetting what she was originally planning to say, Reynolds noticed and decided to tease her further. "Talia told me that you wanted a maid outfit, is this why you came to see me?" Sasha's face turned completely red and suddenly awoke from her moment of panic when Reynolds started laughing out loud.

She frowned a little angry with herself and very angry with him, but again lost her bearings when he extended his hand and started petting her head. "Don't be angry pretty thing, you will turn into your mother... and I'm sure that neither of us wants that". She was suddenly scared at the idea of herself behaving as her mother and blushed again. "Lord Reynolds, please stop teasing me!" Reynolds laughed again and lifted her chin with his right hand.

"Well, you truly are prettier than your mother... now, what is it that you wanted?" He said smiling and waited for her to calm down. Sasha took a deep breath and pouted at him while crossing her arms below her full b.r.e.a.s.t making her look cute yet alluring. "L-Lord Reynolds, Thalia said that there are many powerful people that could slave us with just a single glance and that I need to find protection to avoid this. Is it true? Can people turn into slaves with just a glance? She said that she received her protection from you..."

Reynolds looked at her, she was not trying to look cute to ask for help... she was truly scared at the idea of becoming someone's plaything. He chuckled and said to her. "She spoke the truth, I can turn most people into slaves with a single glance and the methods of protection are... soul defensive artifacts and being slaved by someone else. Talia and my wives have both protections".

Sasha looked confused. "How can becoming a slave protects someone from being a slave?" She was confused and scared at the thought that her aunts and cousin were slaved by someone. Reynolds nodded considering her question and started explaining as the beautiful raven haired maid knelt next to them. "You can see that this girl is delighted at the idea of being my slave, that is because I can change her personality or ideas with a simple thought. I used the same technique with my family but did not affect their free will or personalities, still I could do it with a simple thought as they are already under the effect of my technique".

He waited for the ideas to sink in and then continue. "During my early years, at the Yulan Continent... one of my brothers became a slave to a powerful necromancer, well... I thought he was powerful at the time. And decided to protect my family from suffering the same fate. They trusted me and became willing recipients of my soul slaving technique, and then... I would know immediately if someone is trying to gain control of their minds or souls. I must confess that I saw it as both protection and a safety life line for myself".

Sasha was looking at the beautiful raven haired saint that smiled delighted as Reynolds placed her in his l.a.p and started petting her. "Sasha, I'm not a good person... but I protect my family, and they trust me. But you need to understand this. I have no trouble for you staying with us during my time on this island, but if you plan to travel with us... you will need to willingly receive my soul brand or you might end up becoming a liability to my and my family. Catherine also accepted my slaving technique to be allowed to travel with us... take your time and considered it".

Sasha was trembling slightly due to the fear of losing her free will like the girl that was being toyed with in front of her. She was brought back from her thoughts when Reynolds said. "As for the soul defensive artifact... I don't know if this island has them as I find it terribly lacking in many things, but I will visit the 'Free Castle' during the following days and buy one for you if they are available. Now... Are you sure I cannot tempt you into wearing a maid outfit?" The entire sentence was said with a calm serious voice and Sasha took a moment to register the last question as she caught herself nodding to the idea of getting a soul defensive artifact before she started shacking her head in refusal blushed again.

"T-there is n-no need for the maid outfit! T-Thank you Lord Reynolds". She then bowed deeply toward him and ran toward the house to escape from him, Reynolds chuckled and said to the maid. "It is a shame, don't you think?"

---

Linley often visited him during the following days, and they talked and laughed while remembering their days at the Institute. Reynolds asked Mosi for a 7-star Fiend to train with Linley, and he provided one without much interest, so Linley was improving his strength at rapid pace due to having a strong sparring partner.

Delia was not happy with Sasha staying with Reynolds, but she said nothing as she found that her daughter was happier than she could remember her ever being and ended sighing in resignation. They left after twenty years as Linley was determined to find his ancestral clan and Bebe wanted to visit his 'grandpa' to enjoy the luxurious life he missed so much.

By then Sasha and Talia were almost like sisters and played around all day, enjoying the protection that Reynolds's fame provided, they teased and pranked people within the 'Free Palace' enjoying complete immunity. The local shop owners were terrified of them and started placing outlooks to close their doors as soon as they were informed that the two devils had left the courtyard.

Reynolds have managed to create an 90% compatibility version of the superimposed arrays and the tests results were satisfactory enough. He was currently engraving the array on the beautiful raven haired girl while she knelt patiently before him, the process took three hours but the results were perfect. Reynolds smiled with glee imagining the frustrated face Mosi that would make when he received a disobedient kitten that he would not be able to tame.

After completing the engraving of this modified 'Soul Brand', he will work on the 'Fire Elemental Essence' runic array hoping to help this girl into creating a fire divine avatar, he really could not wait to prank his friend Mosi... he turned to look at the courtyard and decided that it was time to upgrade the protection of his family against soul slaving. But he would only know if this was worthwhile until Mosi tried to tame the kitten.