Ball of Nothing

It was bustling in every corner of the abyss. Baal rolled his eyes. It certainly didn't take long before the word got around about Lucifer and Zero's bet. What's worse was how everyone around Baal seemed to be hyped over it. Coux and Lilith started preparing Zero's uniform in secret from the teen. The ladies were merciless when drilling for information. Grem lost almost immediately when the interrogation began, not that anyone could blame him.

Baal sighed again, heavier this time. Coux had recently been promoted to become the Demon Lord's secretary with how much work had piled up over the last few days. Business was good and things were finally beginning to settle down. Still, there was one matter pending other than Zero's outrageous bet with Lucifer.

The teen couldn't stop pouring through the books in the library ever since he had woken up after he heard that Coux was going to give him a tour of Baal's domain. Baal was thankful for that. He didn't know how much more of his best friend's hyperactivity he could tolerate with his secretary breathing down his neck at every minute. The Demon Lord swore that his hand was going to fall off from signing so many scrolls but his secretary would have none of that.

The trial would happen in two days. Hades retrieved Kerberos and was keeping an eye on the three-headed dog in the meantime. The celestial mutt seemed genuinely happy to see his master and sorry for what he'd done. It was hard to believe that Kerberos was still a puppy despite Hades' claims. On the other hand, Schaf was under house arrest on Mammon's orders. The goat demon didn't seem all that sorry for what he did. However, his hatred for Coux had diminished tremendously under lock-down. Some time-out certainly helped and Baal hoped it would remain that way.

The doctor-in-training found out soon enough about Buddha's sacrifice and Hua Tuo's absence. Needless to say, he wasn't too pleased about it. Merlin and Truen had to leave, much to Zero's dismay. However, he held back tears and bade them goodbye in the most casual manner that he could. It was no surprise that the wood elf had difficulties leaving after. Zero was growing up too quickly and as his guardian, Truen felt as if the training was stealing a huge chunk of precious moments he could have been spending with Zero from him.

After the noisy ones left, Baal was dragged away by Coux who insisted on tackling the pile of obscenity called paperwork which led him to his current predicament. Sekkin and Wiser decided to take turns accompanying Zero while Qin Yun and Amaraline worked at Belles and Begonia. The Demon Lord cursed the existence of work and the person who created the concept. As an all-powerful existence, he should have the right to reap the benefits of the toiling others did for him... there shouldn't be an actual need to torment his brain cells over anything he didn't want to!

Bob was proud of his young master. Zero had a very curious mind and the dragon had much to share from his rich previous life experiences. Mii chose to listen and offer her two cents on some topics. They chatted for hours and Zero's wonderful mind spun webs of ideas every time it had new input.

Zero had plans, he had big plans. Nobody would be ready for it but both the dragon and strawcherry fairy had to admit after Zero shared it with them. It was a rather good plan despite being a little unorthodox. However, there were still kinks in the grand plan that needed smoothing.

"How do you know that the ability Great One gave you would work?" Bob asked. While it is true he could now eat sins, Zero hasn't really tested the new ability. Mii was slightly unsure about it. Eating away someone's sins didn't automatically mean that they would turn into saints without them. Assuming that it did could cause them huge trouble if it didn't.

"We should test it before the trial, Zero."

Zero looked at his assistant and a mischievous glint sparkled in his eye. Both Mii and Bob stiffened. They didn't have a good feeling.

"That's a brilliant idea!" Zero cheered. Slamming the thick book shut, the teen jumped off the chair and headed for the door. Wiser looked up from his books with a questioning look but neither Bob nor Mii had the time to spare him a glance. Whatever Zero was up to, they had better stop him. That look was a large warning sign that says Zero was going to attempt something reckless. Usually, that was a good mix of stupid and reckless that spelt trouble in bold capital letters in red.

"Zero... What are you planning?" Bob asked at last, unable to continue watching his master climb higher and higher Baal's watch tower. Wiser was huffing behind unable to keep up with the energetic youth's stamina.

"I'm going to fly," he told the dragon matter-of-factly. Mii was immediately alarmed. On the other hand, Bob looked confused.

"I didn't know that you could fly..."

Zero shrugged. "We won't know until we try it. Surely with this new body, it would be possible."

In record speed, both assistants jumped on the teen with shouts of protests. No matter how sturdy Zero's new body was, the thought of flying without plan or knowledge was a horrifying prospect. Bob cursed his weak magic. If he'd been stronger, he could have held his master back effortlessly. Being a mental projection, Bob was rather useless but he tried his best. Mii was one step ahead and anticipated Zero's stubbornness.

"Coux! Come in, we need back up!"

After glaring over Baal's shoulder for nearly twenty minutes, the half-succubus was startled when she heard Mii's telepathic message. Baal looked puzzled when Coux stopped swatting the back of his head when he tried to sign the document without reading the terms and conditions.

"Just a second," she said and that got Baal's attention. "I'm sorry. There's an urgent matter that I need to attend to. I trust that you shall complete sorting and looking through this stack of documents by the time I return. Should there be any mistakes, note that there will be consequences. I am not against mass transporting goods from Earth to meet the growing demands at Belles and Begonia."

The threat must have been very effective because Baal jolted upright just as Coux took her leave. If they thought that books would occupy Zero for enough time before the trial, they should have seen it coming. Zero was anything but predictable.

Bob almost shed tears of joy when Coux appeared. The scene was chaotic with Wiser knocked out of commission from the violent scuffle. Zero had one hand holding Bob back and Mii tugging on his lab coat. The sight would've been comical if not for Zero's determination to get into trouble again.

"What's going on?" Coux pretended not to have prior knowledge.

Zero saw this as his chance to gain an ally and quickly explained the situation, begging Coux to agree with his plan.

"I need to get to the tallest part of this building to fly down and get a better map of the area. There should be suitable targets to test the new 'Inheritor of Sins' ability."

Coux raised a brow. "There isn't a need to fly for this. If you asked nicely, we could've arranged for a trip to town."

"But Baal said..."

Coux smiled. "Well, he said that you can't explore the abyss before the trial but it's not exploring if someone accompanies you. Think of it as a city tour. However, you have to promise not to wander off alone and stick to the town near his castle for security reasons."

Zero nodded enthusiastically. Anything beats staying in this castle, no offence to Baal. After being stuck in the castle with nothing to do, Zero now knew the castle's layout at the back of his hands. Hide and seek had gotten boring when Sekkin and Wiser failed to find him even after two hours. To be fair, he didn't use any of Baal's top secret passages that he discovered with his map. He merely hid on the roof until he fell asleep. Needless to say, that game was banned after causing a panic storm in Baal's castle. Ever since that day, Zero couldn't find another muse to entertain himself with before hitting the library. With Mii's ability to process information at an impossible rate, there was no need for Zero to spend days pouring over tomes. He still did it to keep up appearances and pacify Truen who left soon after, throwing Zero into a never-ending loop of trying to find new things to do.

Hearing that the ban was lifted made Zero jump for joy.

"Do I need to change my clothes?"

Coux looked over Zero's new attire and smiled. She knew just what to do in order to motivate Baal. Of course, Zero didn't need to know.

"Yes," she nodded solemnly. "We will need to try out some disguises. It would be dangerous if other demons knew that you're not one of them."

Zero agreed and gave Coux the carte blanche to decide.

***

Five outfits and a lot of photographs later, Zero walked down the streets of the bustling town in a sleek butler costume complete with curly sheep horns. He did his best to model after the only goat demon he knew with the false business smile and pompous sway in his walk. Coux had a hard time stifling her laughs whenever Zero tried to intimidate someone with his wide-eyed stare. Although the apprentice had matured a good bit, Zero still had a baby face that made many female shop owners coo in delight at what appeared more like a doe-eyed request for a discount. Coux was like a cat who had gotten both the bird and the cream with Zero's natural charms making everything work in her favour. Bargaining had never been easier and the half-succubus milked everything she could.

Zero marvelled at the variety of things they sold at the marketplace, his pseudo personality quickly forgotten in his excitement and curiosity. There were many different types of magic stones that caught Zero's eye. The strange equipment and forgotten artefacts in an antique shop made Zero curious about their history. Coux didn't mind when Zero spent a good hour listening to the shopkeeper ramble on about the history of these items.

When they reached the heart of the town, Zero marvelled at the amazing architecture. The bank and library stood out the most but Zero had no interest in entering either building. He was more interested in the auction house when Coux mentioned how rare items were sold there.

"Is there anything in particular that you wish to get?" she asked.

Zero nodded. "I would like a pair of wings."

Coux blinked. "I'm not sure if they have it this season but what would you do with them once you have it?"

Zero smiled. "I'll absorb it and gain flight abilities."

Mii materialised, startling Coux a little. "It's not going to work unless you have the transformation ability to shape-shift... How many times do I have to tell you that you're not going to be able to fly by jumping off high places?" The strawcherry fairy sounded emotionally drained but not even Coux could blame her. She too sometimes wondered how Zero's thought process worked.

"We could get both flight abilities and shape-shifting abilities at the auction house then. Besides, it's not like I'll die from falling off a high place. There's magic to prevent injuries for that. I've tested it."

Coux blinked. "Tested what?"

Zero froze and looked a little guilty. "Sorry... please don't tell Baal! I trained a little because I was bored. It was in the mindscape so nothing really bad happened. We fixed everything real quick. I haven't tested if a magic barrier would help prevent fall damage but it should be able to withstand the impact seeing how it could deflect arrows."

Mii smacked her forehead hard. Leave it to Zero to spill the beans about everything. If not for Zero blackmailing both Bob and her to become his accomplices, she would never have agreed to let him do something so crazy.

Coux didn't seem angry much to the strawcherry fairy's surprise. Instead, she appeared thoughtful.

"How about getting underwater breathing and dark vision abilities while you're at it?" the trader recommended.

Zero thought for a while before dismissing it. "Nah, it doesn't help me travel. Besides, I think I can gain those abilities by absorbing animals that I hunt from Endow Hill. I just didn't feel the need to have them yet."

Mii rolled her eyes. "Flight is not the same as underwater breathing. You need to physically change your form or use magic to do so."

Zero brightened up. "In that case, I ca-"

"No," the strawcherry assistant shot his idea down quickly. "You're not allowed to use magic to fly. You're banned from using magic until your lessons with Merlin. You promised."

Coux left it to Mii to be harsh on the teen. Zero deflated. Quick to catch onto what Mii was doing, the half-succubus smiled.

"We should still check the auction house out. Who knows, there might be the shape-shifting ability you are searching for?"

Zero nodded. "What if they don't have it?"

Mii glanced at her master and closed her eyes. "Then you shouldn't worry about it too much. Jevy's ability to shape-shift is second to none. Eventually, you would be able to gain that ability. However, that comes after your training."

Zero blinked and broke into a blinding smile. "I shall work hard to complete my training! Just watch me, Mii... I will definitely fly one day."

Mii only smiled and let Zero ramble on about his dreams while they walked to Belles and Begonia. Little did Zero know how ridiculous that sounded.

"Does he realise that he would be able to fly once he completes the training? Jevy's abilities would be irrelevant to what he wants right now..." Coux whispered to Mii.

The strawcherry fairy shrugged. "It works for me better if he doesn't realise it. Still, we need to find some poor souls for him to test his new ability. Zero claims that those without sins can become saints or something like that. I'm sceptical. Schaf would never become a sheep of heaven even without his sins. He was born a demon."

Coux looked wistful. "It's still nice to be able to dream. Second chances are not that easily attained. If Zero's ability could write off a person's sins to give them a blank start like how he did that for Douglas... he could become the saviour of our world."

Mii didn't seem to agree. "When there are no problems, humans will create problems just to satisfy themselves. You can take away an animal's knowledge but not their instincts. Removing someone's sins won't change their mindset and personality, there's no way Schaf will become a goody-two-shoe after he's forgiven. Old habits die hard."

Coux frowned. Mii had a good point. "Still, wouldn't it be nice if there was a happy ending for everyone? I don't believe Zero's way of thinking is wrong."

The strawcherry fairy didn't respond. Somehow, Coux had a feeling that Mii knew a lot more than she let on. While the half-succubus would never doubt her loyalty, she sometimes wondered if the things Mii did behind Zero's back was a good or bad thing.

"Come on!" Zero shouted. He was eager to visit the shop that Coux spoke fondly off. More importantly, Zero was dying for some of Lovina's pancakes. Sin hunting was merely a side objective when Zero's stomach came into the picture.