Stanley found himself in a weird position. A few moments ago he and Ezraphel were having a discussion about her finding a way to cross back to her world because she was obviously feeling homesick. To his surprise she declined his tentatively given offer to allow her this, citing the very real risk that doing such a thing would result in her family (or other factions) discovering Earth and attempting to make their claim on the world.
Rather than take that risk she made the counter offer to instead amass her own personal power and authority on Earth through the careful coercion and manipulation of figures of authority while also preparing the world for the eventual reveal of the existence of Eos. All Stanley could say about this idea was that…it was a plan that would definitely need to be ironed out extensively before they could even begin to think about implementing it.
Unfortunately for them the literal moment after they made this decision a freaking portal opened behind them and out stepped one of Ezraphel's sisters, a fact that was obvious to see given the woman's appearance. So stunned he was by this ridiculous turn of events that he was rendered a speechless statue unable to properly think let alone move and articulate. It also did not help that this Lilim did not seem to be in a good mood if the glare she sported was anything to go by.
"Ezrapheeeel!" She growled out.
For her part the addressed Lilim in question sported the same expression she had when she knew she fucked up and was bejng confronted by him.
'Cue the nervous laugh and stuttered greetings.'
"Hehehe h-hello Thera, h-how are you?" She stated while shuffling forward to place herself in front him, even going so far as to unfurl her wings a bit as if to shield him.
Now why was she doing that?
Not that it seemed to register with the other Lilim, Thera, who didn't seem to even notice him. Her eyes were fixed solely on Ezraphel.
"How am I?" Thera asked in a voice that came out like a velvet purr he's heard Ezraphel done before though compared to Thera it made Ezraphel's similar attempts come off as almost childish.
"Hmm let's see…" Thera held a faux thoughtful expression as she tapped her chin "well I was minding my own business overseeing the conversion of a quaint human settlement into a Demon Realm when I suddenly felt the absence of your presence. So being the responsible older sibling that I am, I abandoned my not so important task that I have been overseeing for the better part of a week in order to rush to your last known location to check up on you. Do you know what I found?"
She asked sweetly at the end and at this point Ezraphel was breaking out in a cold sweat no doubt feeling as tall as Stanley was despite being able to loom over her sister.
"U-um-"
"I'll tell you what I found" Thera interrupted making the other Lilim flinch "I found an empty dwelling with the remnants of a ritual and a book of near illegible scribblings detailing an experimental spell with elements of teleportation that you've somehow made without implementing the most important aspect of such a thing. Do you know what said aspect is?"
"...a dimensional lock matrix?"
"A DIMENSIONAL LOCK MATRIX!" she roared before continuing in a lower but no less furious tone "something so integral to spatial manipulation magic that it is integrated into every teleportation spell. Without it you can be transported into dimensions unknown and be lost forever!" She calmed down with a breath and pinned her with a glare before saying in a quiet voice "I thought you died Ezraphel."
Ezraphel wasn't the only one who flinched at that. In fact he's pretty sure even the Golems eavesdropping nearby flinched at the raw emotion in Thera's voice. The Lilim was no longer angry, now she looked drained and it was only after this that Stanley could see the things he had overlooked due to the spontaneity of her appearance. Her long hair might seem luxurious but it was not in any kind of style, merely left to come down to just above where her wings were folded while her two long bangs were draped over breasts with one obscuring the entirety of the left side of her face.
The same couldn't be said for her clothing which was a plain backless deep purple dress with a black furred collar, a plunging neckline exposing enough cleavage to let it be known that she wasn't wearing a bra, the wide slits on either sides of said dress exposed long legs encased in black thigh high heels and she also wore matching opera gloves that reached her biceps.
What really sold her state were her eyes or rather her lone eye that held a slight daze within them, denoting her mental exhaustion. It was a sight that evoked recent memories of Ezraphel pulling off sleepless nights in an attempt to get Makailand ready.
Ezraphel must have realized this too because she embraced her sister resting her head on the woman's shoulder as she muttered "I am so, so sorry for worrying you Thera."
In response the other Lilim let out a sigh before returning the gesture "it's fine, all that matters is you are alive and…with company."
"Ah" Ezraphel pulled away and moved aside to gesture to him "Thera I would like to introduce you to my husband Stanley Berkowitz."
Stanley now found himself under the scrutiny of the older Lilim which he withstood with surprising stoicism as he raised a hand in greeting.
"'Sup?"
Thera's single exposed eye blinked "charmed."
She then raised a hand towards him to which he looked at it, then at Ezraphel before looking at her with a flat look.
"Yeah, I'm not kissing your hand lady."
Another blink and Thera looked to Ezraphel who hid her wince before answering the unasked question "they don't do that here."
That seemed to spark a sudden realization in the Lilim who started glancing about "and where is 'here' exactly? I was under the impression that you were in some far off dimension but this place looks eerily…familiar."
"Ah, about that…"
Thera set her sights back to her sibling "Yes?"
"We were just in the middle of something important so can we talk about this later?"
Thera's visible eye narrowed suspiciously "what were you doing that could be more important?"
"We were celebrating my birthday" Stanley decided to answer "also, is that thing gonna be there the entire time?" he finished, pointing at the portal.
Thera looked at said portal and spoke "it took a lot of resources to open. We thought this world would be devoid of mana so we made sure to anchor it in a way that it would maintain itself with Demonic Energy from home." Thera explained.
"We?" Ezraphel asked and he could hear the nervousness creep into her tone.
Thera either didn't notice or thought the anxiety to be for something else because she huffed "I could hardly make heads or tales of your 'notes' and had to ask for assistance from Morgana."
That sent Ezraphel's anxiety through the roof as her gaze went back to the portal "o-oh sister Morgana aided you?" She swallowed "will she also be joining us?"
At this Thera sighed "no, Morgana was too busy going on adventures with her husband."
Ezraphel's gaze went to Thera, no longer anxious but shocked "Morgana found a husband!? Since when!?"
"It was a recent development and" she paused a bit before adding "we have you to thank for it."
"Eh, me?"
"Your spell" Thera began and for a split second a complicated expression flashed across her face before continuing "Morgana refined it with a dimensional lock matrix" she emphasized "and it revealed to her the man who would become her husband-Ah!"
Thera was interrupted as Ezraphel smothered her in a bear hug while literally jumping for joy now "it worked! It worked! It worked! It worked!"
Surprisingly Thera handled Ezraphel's eagerness with all the professionalism of someone who has dealt with her for a lifetime.
"Yes, yes but because of that Morgana was too distracted to invest fully in creating a means of finding you leaving me to do most of the work."
At that Ezraphel paused and gently let her down "again I am terribly sorry for worrying you. I was actually discussing with Stanley how I was going to create a way back home. The reason I didn't do so sooner was because…"
"You were distracted" she waved her off "it is to be expected, even mother thought as much."
That had Ezraphel pause "mother did?"
"Yes, she could still somewhat feel your presence despite how paper thin the connection was. With the portal open she must be beside herself with relief knowing that you are alright and happily married."
'So can we get rid of the fucking portal now!?' Stanley thought with rising panic he was trying his damn best to restrain.
He knew who Morgana was thanks to Ezraphel mentioning her during her lessons on magic. Morgana was recognized as the best magic practitioner among the Lilim second only to the Queen of Hearts whose power was described in the MGE wiki to be comparable to the Gods. Though if mentioning Morgana was bad then name dropping their mother and alluding to the idea that she could sense Ezraphel clearly through the portal was worse.
It was getting harder to mask his nervousness about leaving it open.
"Um Thera, how many others know about this?" Ezraphel asked with a neutral expression.
"If you're asking about your missing status then not many. Only myself, Morgana, our eldest sister and our parents know about it."
"Do they know about this portal? Your attempted crossing? Is someone waiting for you on the other side?"
'A little too on the nose there Ez.'
Subtlety thy name is not Ezraphel.
And yet Thera didn't seem to notice this as she answered "as I stated it is important to keep your disappearance a secret. Mother and father entrusted only Morgana and I with the task of retrieving you but with Morgana preoccupied I took it upon myself to venture here alone."
"I see…"
"Of course I-"
"HAAA!"
Thera's explanation was interrupted by Ezraphel's sudden battle cry as she summoned a massive amount of mana to collapse the portal that disappeared in a flash with the echoing sound of thunder.
"..."
For a moment the only sounds that could be heard was Ezraphel panting though it had less to do with any kind of strain associated with fatigue and more to do with adrenalin.
Then Thera continued to say "of course I made sure to inform mother and father about my attempt at opening the portal as well as having a letter delivered to Morgana relaying said information as well as a copy of the spell and the coordinates in case something went wrong."
That wiped the triumphant smile off her face "e-eh?"
Stanley almost face palmed right then and there 'goddamit Ez.'
"Y-you told mother and father about it?"
Thera looked unapologetic as she folded her arms "of course I did, unlike you I won't be attempting to cross dimensions without telling someone just in case I become stranded in some unknown world with no means of communication. Why, that would be the absolute height of thoughtlessness."
Ezraphel flinched as if her words were like arrows spearing through her body.
"I think she gets it," Stanley commented as he started rubbing circles around the distraught Ezraphel's back.
Thera glanced at him for a moment before using her fingers to massage her brows "why did you destroy the portal Ezraphel?"
"I…" Ezraphel trailed off as she tried to come up with a plausible excuse.
"She didn't want more people crossing over" Stanley decided to rip the metaphorical band aid and answer much to Ezraphel's surprise to which the man shrugged "what? I doubt she'd buy whatever excuse you made, might as well just tell her the truth and work things out from there."
Thera chewed on his words for a moment before looking at her sister "you truly were never stranded here were you? You just didn't want to leave."
Ezraphel collected herself and nodded "yes."
"Why?"
"I wanted to prepare myself before revealing my discovery to you all."
"Your discovery?"
"A new world" she answered in a serious tone "one untouched by magic, unclaimed by any Gods and absolutely teeming with humans. No other races exist here."
The more Ezraphel spoke the more Thera's interest was piqued ending with an expression of shock as her visible eye widened at the end.
"Truly?"
"Thera" Ezraphel placed a hand on the other Lilim's shoulder "the last I checked there are over 8 Billion humans currently residing in this world."
Thera gasped in utter shock looking away as she silently came to terms with this information. While that was happening Ezraphel felt a piercing gaze on her back and she looked down to see Stanley staring at her.
"What the hell are you doing?" His eyes seem to say.
In response her tail circled around his waist.
"Trust me."
His expression remained dubious so she grasped his hand to give it a firm squeeze.
"Please."
"Incredible" Ezraphel turned her attention back to Thera to find her sister sporting a wide excited smile "do you know what this means? An entire world filled with humans. Mother wouldn't need to spend so much time focusing on trying to find a means for mamono to birth males. She could end this farce of a war with the Chief God and the Holy Order!"
"Ah, yes I realized this too" Ezraphel spoke in a much calmer tone.
Thera noted the hesitance in her gaze and calmed herself down "but if you knew this and you've been here for almost a year I suppose claiming this world will not be a simple thing."
Before Ezraphel could say anything Stanley interjected "there's not gonna be any 'claiming' Earth lady."
Thera turned her attention to the man seeing him scowling at her "it's because of shit like this that I convinced Ez to hold off on making a portal to Eos in the first place."
Thera's brows furrowed looking from him to her sister and back again "you did?"
"Damn right I did."
"And why would you do that?"
"Tell you what, I'll explain but we were in the middle of a party before you showed up and I don't want to waste the effort your sister put into organizing it."
Thera held his gaze for a moment, she wanted answers, but glancing at Ezraphel who stood firmly by his side while holding his hand, she recognized pushing for it would be ill advised.
Eventually she nodded "very well, I am but a guest here so I will wait until the end of the festivities to continue this conversation. I apologize, but in the meantime I will have to impose."
"No Thera, you are not imposing at all."
'Yes she is' Stanley thought bitterly. Externally he maintained a forced deadpan expression that Thera met with a neutral one.
Meanwhile Ezraphel looked between the two with worry. Silently hoping a change of scenery would help lower tensions she formed a magic circle beneath their feet and teleported them away.
The entire time the Incubus and older Lilim kept their gazes locked on each other, seemingly taking the other's measure. In the next moment they appeared in the living room where Natalie and Anastasia were lounging while playing Mario Kart.
"About time you two showed up. What took you so long?" Natalie had spoken but kept most of her attention on what was happening on the TV screen.
"We had an unexpected guest" came Stanley's response in a forced deadpan.
His response made her finally look away from the screen to see the third individual who bore an unmistaken resemblance to Ezraphel. Immediately the game was paused and Natalie stood up to regard them. Beside her Anastasia also got to her feet, her eyes wide in silent astonishment.
Ezraphel cleared her throat "Natalie, Anastasia this is my sister."
"My name is Thera, the 18th Princess of the Royal Makai," the Lilim introduced herself.
Natalie managed to recover from her appearance shock as well as keep her composure under the effects of the Lilim's undiluted supernatural charm to reply with "Natalie Berkowitz, no titles unfortunately."
"..." Anastasia froze under the Lilim's expectant gaze.
Luckily Ezraphel saved her the trouble by saying "that is Anastasia, she does not speak much."
Thera scrutinized the Golem for a moment before nodding "I see."
There was a brief pause but before it could get awkward Ezraphel clapped her hand "well, make yourself comfortable sister, I will be preparing dinner."
Before she could turn away Stanley spoke up "actually why don't you two help Ez out."
That got the attention of the three ladies who were familiar with him.
"You sure about that Stan?" Natalie questioned.
"Sure, it's my house. I can play host for a bit."
Natalie looked hesitant, it wasn't that she doubted his ability to do that (which she admittedly did, a little) it's just that she could sense the tension and Ezraphel's worried expression did not inspire confidence. Luckily someone else had that confidence.
"..." Natalie turned to Ana as she placed a hand on the Wight's shoulder. The Golem's expression was resolute as she showed her support of him with a nod of reassurance, something he appreciated.
In the face of this Natalie couldn't help but acquiesce with a small nod "if you're sure."
With that the three women left though Ezraphel through them unsure glances to which he tried his best to throw feelings of reassurance through their bond.
'Don't worry I got this.'
Now left alone Stanley let out an explosive sigh before he walked around to plop himself down on the three seater sofa.
He then gestured to the single seat and said "might as well have a seat, unless you want to keep standing."
Thera looked at the piece of furniture before nodding "Thank you."
She slipped onto the sofa with all the grace and incidental sensuality of succubus royalty. One dainty leg was raised and smoothly crossed the other in a way that brought attention to her exposed thigh and just how high the slit of her dress went bringing to question whether or not she was even wearing underwear.
He ignored this with the silent exasperation of someone who recognized her lewdness were all incidental and instead gestured to the TV which had a paused game of Mario Kart on the screen.
"Do you mind if I play this? It helps me relax" he asked.
Thera kept her expression mostly stoic to the point where Stanley could hardly get a read on her but there was no hiding the curiosity in her gaze.
"I'd rather there be no distractions if it's all the same to you" she replied smoothly yet courageously.
'Well so much for that idea.'
He once again tried to play things off smoothly and shrugged before exiting the game and shutting off the Switch. The process was witnessed by the Lilim who observed it with clinical scrutiny.
"Alright, we have a few minutes and you've got questions, so shoot."