Akasha Forneus

**Akasha Forneus** is the half-devil mother of Falbium Asmodeus with Lord Glasya-Labolas. She died during the later years of the Devil Civil War due to an unnamed disease.

After her death, Akasha Street was named after her and the Akasha Linguistics Scholarship was founded in her honor.

## Appearance

Akasha was described as a lovely woman who appeared to be in her late 40s, even though she was several centuries old by the time of her death. She had blue skin, blood-red eyes, and long straight black hair which her son inherited. Her solemn face was said to be identical to her son's.

Like all members of the Forneus Clan, she had the characteristics of a sea monster, which in her case, a cecaelia (octopus-like merfolk), with greenish-blue tentacles growing from her waist and scales scattered across her body and on the sides of her legs.

## Personality

According to Falbium, she was the greatest mother, being strict and stern but was always caring and loving. She treated everyone the same, from the highest lords to the common smallfolk, and would only give genuine respect to people she truly saw as respectable.

She was extremely studious and always stated that knowledge is one's greatest weapons, though she admitted that in the Netherworld, those who had knowledge but without power to back it would only advance in life as scholars at best and rotting corpses at worst. After her death, the Akasha Linguistics Scholarship was founded by Falbium in her honor, as he believed that she would prefer this than any monument built in her name.

She was one of the few people who didn't judge Falbium because of his sadistic actions during the Devil Civil War, especially with the Siege of Dreadfort, though she did criticized him, not because of his torture and flaying of over seventy people but because the fact rampant news leaked out without *their* controls, which would have negative impacts on the long-run.

As an ambassador, she was extremely political savvy and was the one who taught both Falbium and Serafall everything they would need to know to survive the political battlefield that was devil nobility, as well as teaching the latter the necessary skills required to be the Netherworld's ambassador and head of Foreign Affairs. According to Serafall, even after she died, she almost single-handedly rebuilt the entire Department of Foreign Affairs after the Devil Civil War thanks to the amount of notes she left behind, and was the one to introduce many of Serafall's most trusted employees.

## History

### Early Life

Akasha was born to a pureblood devil from the Forneus Clan and the magician he made a contract with on a trip to the mortal world. Due to her being born resembling a sea monster like other pureblood devils of the Forneus Clan, she was legitimized and accepted into their family. and she received a noble education despite her half-devil heritage.

At some point in life, she became Lord Glasya-Labolas' lover, but because of her heritage, he didn't marry her and their illegitimate son, Falbium Forneus, was born a couple years later who is a mixed-heritage devil. While the Glasya-Labolas Clan is much more accepting of bastards, his mixed-heritage would be considered a stain on his father's growing reputation and he was sent to live with his mother' family in the Forneus Territory.

When Falbium was 14 years old, Akasha became an ambassador for the Netherworld and would often have to leave for meetings with foreign factions, leaving her son with the company of her family and the Sitri Clan, who had come to see him as a valuable vassal and a good friend to their youngest daughter, Serafall. Upon Lord Aegil Sitri's request, she also became her tutor and taught both her and Falbium everything they would need to know about the political hellscape that was the Netherworld's nobility.

When news arrived of Falbium and Elenei's engagement, she was ecstatic for their marriage. According to Falbium, before they had even thought of when they would marry, she had already thought of a thousand-and-one wedding themes for them to choose. Upon hearing about Elenei's abduction and rape, she initially wanted to come along with Falbium, but because of her declining health, she was forced to remain home with Serafall and the rest of the Forneus Clan.

### Devil Civil War

When the Devil Civil War began, Akasha assisted the Anti-Satan Faction by reaching out and getting them the support from many other factions, such as that of the daemon, the faeries, the youkai, and the monsters. Rumors also appeared about her role as the mistress of the rebels' spy network, though no officials confirm nor deny these rumors.

As the war continued, her health kept on declining to the point where she was bed-ridden for months and even years, before falling into one coma after another because of an unnamed illness. Due to the rebellion, most hospitals refused to treat her in fear of the Old Satan Faction's wrath, which only earned them Falbium as they was destroyed, one after another, shortly their refusal of Akasha's treatment.

### Death

Akasha died when she was 253 years old near the end of the Devil Civil War, and the war stopped for a month to mourn her death on both sides in fear of Falbium's unstable mental state. Her funeral was held in the Forneus Territory per their family's traditions, and her body was put on a wooden boat and set sail upon the Leviant Sea before being set ablaze, and her corpse was burnt alongside the boat and all the grave offerings sinked down beneath the wine-dark sea.

## Relationships

* **Falbium Asmodeus**: Akasha's son. He is a mother's boy through and through, and the two had a very close relationship. He is known for coming to his mother for advice in political matters he couldn't figure out, a habit he kept even after she died as he often makes visits to her false grave once a week or two.
* **Serafall Leviathan**: Serafall is the daughter of the Forneus Clan's liege-lord, Lord Aegil Sitri, and a former student of Akasha. She taught Serafall everything she needed to know in order to survive the hellscape that is the Netherworld's nobility and politics, and even saw her as a daughter she never had.
* **Elenei Bael**: Falbium's late fiancée. While at first, she was worried about their relationship as she couldn't believe the heiress of the Bael Clan could truly love a mixed-heritage devil from a President house, she eventually warmed up to her and began to see her as a daughter. When news came of her abduction, she was enraged and would have ride into battle alongside her son had her health not turned to the worst.
* **Lord Glasya-Labolas**: Akasha's former lover. The two had a very strained relationship due to the differences they had when it came to raising Falbium, as he personally saw his existence as a mistake and a stain upon his reputation.

## Abilities

**Demonic Power**: As a half-devil, Akasha possessed demonic power and presumably all the powers and abilities of a standard devil, including the power to perform spells using the Forneus Clan's magic circle.

* **Absolute Defense** (絶対的な防御ぜったいてきなぼうぎょ, *Zettai-Tekina Bōgyo*): She possessed the Forneus Clan's signature hereditary power which allowed her to construct near-indestructible magical barriers from her demonic magic, as well as increased her Defensive Magic by ten folds. It's presumed that she was skilled with her power as Falbium mentioned that she personally tutored him when he was young.
* **Cecaelia Physiology**: As a Forneus, she had the appearance of an octopus-like mermaid called a cecaelia, and with that, all the standard traits and abilities a regular cecaelia would possess.

**Master Trident Wielder**: Like most members of the Forneus Clan, Akasha was trained with multiple weapons suitable for naval battles, with the trident being her favorite weapon of choice. On the few occasions that she did partake in combat in the Devil Civil War, she used her favorite trident in tandem with her Absolute Defense, which earned her the nickname "Demoness of the Trident".

**Master Politician**: Akasha was an ambassador for the Netherworld's government despite being a half-devil in a time when blood-purity was considered more valuable than one's actual skills - a true testament to her skills. Recognizing her true talents, Lord Aegil Sitri entrusted her to tutor his youngest daughter Serafall in politics instead of employing governesses like other pureblood families. Her political skills also helped her gain the trust of many groups and factions, who came to assist the Anti-Satan Faction during the Devil Civil War.

**Master Linguist**: Akasha was described by many to be a master linguist, and would have pursued the career as a professional linguist had she not had Falbium at a young age. After her death, the Akasha Linguistics Scholarship was founded by Falbium in her honor as he believes this is something his mother would have wanted.

## Equipment

**Trident**: Akasha owned a custom trident created by Ajuka Astaroth, which she used in the few occasions she partook in combat during the Devil Civil War. It was a trident about twice as tall as her, made out of greenish-gold metal and embedded with emeralds at the base of the three prongs. After she died, Falbium sent the trident to Lilith Imperial Museum to be displayed as an artifact from the Devil Civil War.

## Trivia

* A festival is held annually within the Forneus Territory in remembrance of her death.
* She often lamented that Falbium didn't inherit any of her charisma, a sentiment shared by many.
* In Lilith, there is a famous restaurant who sells a fish-pie named after her called the Akasha's Pie, which is stuffed with grilled octopi, onions, diced vegetables, and melted cheese.