CHAPTER 1

*/-\*Friday, March 9, 2012*/-\*

"You can't be serious Sirzechs!" Ajuka Beelzebub blocked his fellow Satan's path to the doorway. "You felt that power level, you shouldn't rush in so recklessly. As your best friend, I forbid you from going to investigate that power source without at least one of us, Grayfia, and all the other members of your [Peerage] that are on hand!"

The Crimson Satan made to argue with his green-haired friend but was cut off immediately by his other best friend, who was dressed as usual in her 'magical girl' outfit.

"Yeah! You can count on Magical Girl Levia-tan to help investigate" Serafall, the third Maou said before pouting and pointing accusingly at Sirzechs, "Besides, as the Great Satans, it is our responsibility to investigate such powerful occurrences. Don't think we aren't both coming with you, and you have to get your Dad because he's the Lord Gremory".

Sirzechs turned up his nose and harrumphed, "Fine! Then you two have to get Falbium, that is if it's a responsibility for the Maou. Neither my peerage nor my wife will be involved in something like this if it's something one of us shouldn't handle alone. We'll meet at Gremory Castle and depart when you get there".

Ajuka and Serafall sweatdropped, suddenly looked very nervous. 'Oh' they thought in unison 'That means we have to wake him up… shit'

*/-\* An hour later, at Gremory Castle, after much fussing from Falbium and minor panic from Lord Gremory */-\*

"Yo Sirzechs-chan!" Serafall sang out, "Guess who we found?"

"Enough Serafall. You're already forcing me to be awake; I'm not really in the mood for games." Falbium, the fourth Satan Asmodeus, then turned to Sirzechs with a serious look on his face, "Now this better not be a waste of my time. Give me all the information that you have, and I'll come up with a plan for you to follow. Then I'm going back to sleep."

No one was surprised by their friend's overwhelming sin of sloth and decided collectively that they wouldn't ask any more of him than what he offered.

"Son, I think its about time you told us what the fuck is going on. That sudden power that we all felt is all anyone is talking about right now, and I need to be informed!" Zeoticus was clearly impassioned by the end of his short outburst. It was obvious looking at his bright crimson hair and blue eyes where Sirzechs got his looks from- even if he got his power from his mother's line.

Sirzechs chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't normally get to be as relaxed as he was, but in the company of equals and family, he was able to be himself. "Well you see… We don't know anything at all other than that a bit over an hour ago, a huge surge of magical energy was felt all over the clan's territory. I suppose we also know that the energy wasn't holy, demonic, or draconic in nature. The feel of it wasn't aggressive either".

Falbium closed his eyes and rubbed his chin. "Well, based on what I'm hearing, you four should probably just approach it alone." He opened his eyes and sighed, "After all, if this thing is as strong as this commotion suggests, none of your peerage pieces could ever hope to be more than a liability in battle; should it come to that. The only reason that I'm not suggesting Lord Gremory stay here is because it is his duty as master of the territory to manage all powerful newcomers." He turned toward the door so that he could leave the heavily warded area that prevented the use of teleportation circles, "Unless you have a problem with my plan, I'm going back to bed. Wake me up when you figure out what this thing is."

No one stopped the 4th Maou from leaving. Once he had departed, Zeoticus spoke up. "Well? What are we waiting for? Let's go find out what this thing is!"

With that the small party started moving to go outside. Since they couldn't pinpoint the exact location of the power's origin, they decided to fly over the area around where they thought it could be. In only ten minutes time, Ajuka, Sirzechs, and Zeoticus received the signal that Serafall had found their mysterious power source. But when they tried to teleport to her, they found that they were unable to do so. It was at that point that Ajuka began to sweat and worry. There were very few barriers that could keep devils of his power out- and each that he'd encountered thus far had been of a holy nature. The fact that this barrier didn't have to rely on the devils' natural weakness to keep them away only made him fly faster toward Serafall.

As he closed in on her position, he found himself flying side by side with his two other compatriots. They didn't speak but to make an impromptu plan… Which promptly flew out the window when they saw that in the middle of the wasteland that was this part of Gremory territory, a tall figure had lifted Serafall up off the ground, holding her an arms-length away at eye level. It held her by the sides of her head as the rest of her body hung limply, feet swaying almost a foot and a half off the ground. Most disturbingly, there was a bright blue beam of light and energy connecting their foreheads.

It was disturbing to the devils, that someone who felt like a human had so much power. Even more unnerving was the man's youthful appearance. He was tall and fit, appearing to be in his mid-twenties. His light complexion was a startling contrast to his pitch-black hair. It simply wasn't natural to become so powerful so quickly, and especially not for a human.

They three devils were aiming their charged attacks at the human when the light suddenly stopped. They tensed as Serafall was allowed to fall in a heap and the man spoke airily. "I apologize for that bit of unpleasantness. In my defense she shouted a lot." With that, he picked at his earwax with his pinkie. He stood there staring at them, not even looking slightly perturbed by the attacks he was facing down.

Thankfully, all the devils could sense that Serafall was still alive, just unconscious. For a few moments, they stood there. This strange, tall man without a weapon in sight facing down three devils who had already charged attacks. It was obvious that they were the ones with the advantage. Ajuka thought, 'then why am I so nervous about a fight with this man?'

So there they stood for almost three minutes, assessing the other through the utterly oppressive tension between them.

Thankfully, Sirzechs took responsibility as an ambassador of his people and made the first move to de-escalate the situation. He allowed his spell to dissipate and reigned his power back to lessen the tension. The rest of his party followed suit. He still spoke stiffly, "What did you do to her?"

"I stopped her from shouting at me in a language I didn't understand"

"If you don't understand the language she was shouting at you in, how are you speaking it now?"

"I made myself understand the language." The man smirked, as though enjoying some kind of joke.

"Why You!" Sirzechs began, before his father cast a silencing spell on Sirzechs. It wasn't a particularly difficult one to unravel, but it would take about 3 minutes. Lesser beings could be stuck in suck a spell for months if they could not find someone to break it for them. T'is a delightfully infernal ward.

After silencing is overemotional overpowered idiot son, Zeoticus spoke "Hello, my name is Zeoticus Gremory, Lord of the Gremory Clan. You are currently in the underworld on land owned by the Gremory Clan. If you plan to stay here, I'm sure we could set up some kind of contract." He finished his introduction with a charming grin and a wink. That neatly shaven beard looked scrumptious, and those magically charged blue eyes were to die for. Just because he was married doesn't mean he was going to let his flirting game fall into disrepair. After all, how else would he attract cuties for him and his wife to play with together?

"Well met, devil. I am called Alaveize. I would let you use my true name, but there is no true expression of my name in the languages of this world, so you must make do with that. I am sure the two of us can come to an arrangement," he said with a wink, "Though, I'm afraid I have no need to be introduced to the rest of you."

Just as Ajuka was about to start going of at Alaveize, Serafall popped up to her feet and pointed her wand at Alaveize. "YOU!"

He touched a finger to her staff. "Me," he nodded.

"You can talk now?"

"I could talk before."

"But we can understand each other now."

"Good observation."

"WHY YOU! "It was at this point that Zeoticus silenced her as well.

"Do you mind," He sighed, "If my companions and I have a short talk in private?"

Alaveize smirked and gestured outward, "On any piece of your own land you like."

Zeoticus felt a tic mark forming before he felt Ajuka's hand on his shoulder. The younger devil whispered to the Lord Gremory "Keep calm, he's riling us on purpose. Not out of any sort of desire to gain an advantage as far a I can tell. But its unbecoming for us to be so easily inflamed."

The devils then walked a hundred paces from Alaveize before they began to chat.

"I don't know what the hell is happening out there. We're not usually so easy to rile up. What's the deal you guys?" Zeoticus began, "Doesn't matter. Either way, I'll invite him over for dinner at my estate. You will bring Falbium, and we'll hopefully learn more then. It's obvious that this man is new in this dimension. If I can contract with him now, I will gain an extremely powerful ally."

"Well, if he agrees, then that is our course of action," Ajuka reasoned, "But-"

Zeoticus had already turned away from the huddle and was halfway back to where Alaveize was standing. "Do you want to come over for dinner?" He asked, his tone friendly and welcoming.

"I've never turned down an offer to eat at a Lord's table, why would I start now?" Alaveize chuckled, as if he had remembered some joke.

****Later, at Gremory Estate****

"Ok, we provisionally trust you to not be a threat," Zeoticus began, "But my real question is how you came to be on my property."

Alaveize picked at his salad as he's doing what he's been doing for an hour, being questioned while the main meal is being prepared- of course the kinds of dishes being served at the Gremory estate would be the kind that take between one and two hours to make, so there's plenty of time to get business finished and be able to fully focus on the meal. "I am not of this world, of course, for this was only one of many that I have visited in the past. Your people know of the dimensional gap, yes?"

Sirzechs nodded, "It's the space between worlds of heaven, earth, and the underworld. It's a ridiculously inhospitable, completely lethal to anyone without strong magical protections. Why do you ask?"

"To give you some perspective. I come from a place beyond the dimensional gap. From a completely different plane of existence, only accessible through the Blind Eternities. The Blind Eternities are so lethal that the only way to withstand them is to have a piece of them imbedded in your soul or to be a creature born of them." He paused to take more bites of food as he waited for his audience to compose themselves, "Those with this 'Spark' are known as Planeswalkers. I am one of those number".

Ajuka asked, "Why are you telling us this? What if we try to travel to other planes to do as we with there?"

Alaveize shrugged, "You could do that. But I really don't recommend it. You'll understand soon enough." His nose picked up on the smells of rich dishes with thick gravy and tender meat along with strange veggies- clearly a delicious indigenous treat- in a sublime sauce. There were so many smells from so many different dishes. He was excited! "But once again, I remind you that we all agree I'm not a threat-"

"Provisionally!" Zeoticus interjected.

The 'Walker of course ignored him "And that you won't have to worry about me for long, so let's just eat. I'll explain why after food. I'm quite famished from my journey through planes and dimension." He finished with a wry smirk.

Zeoticus shrugged, "I suppose that's that. We shall resume this conversation after we eat." At that, he clapped his hands twice, and the servants began to stream into the room, most carrying dishes full of rich meats, vegetables prepared decadently, fish and poultry too. Those who were not were offering fine wines and old spirits. After all, there's nothing like embracing the sin of Gluttony in a classy way for a devil like him- and this strange and powerful entity should know it!

*-* 90 minutes later *-*

The Maou and Zeoticus looked on in awe as Alaveize continued to pack away the rich foods served at a quick pace with impeccable manners, long after the rest of them had stopped eating. Suddenly, he put his fork down and wiped the edge of his mouth with his napkin, despite its spotless appearance.

"Hh-h-hh-how?" Ajuka stuttered at the apparent bottomless pit.

"That would be because my body is unravelling due to the nature of this plane. Of course, this is the reason you will not have to worry about me for too long. And the reason why I advise you don't try to leave this plane- even if you manage to survive the Blind Eternities you'd just unravel in the new plane. Simple incompatibility. Thankfully, all of my possessions, due to being inorganic, are not also unravelling." Alaveize suddenly turned solemn, "So I will need a laboratory, Lord Beelzebub. I plan to craft a vessel for my soul that will allow me to interact with the physical world after my bodily demise".

This startled the devils greatly. The practice of sealing your soul and therefore power is considered ghastly even by their standards, though it could be because no devil had divined a way to carry the ability to exercise their own power with them. Zeoticus, due to being around long enough to have seen far more ghastly things in person was the first to ask a critical question- "You say you're 'unravelling'? What exactly does that mean?"

"It means that it requires most of my power to be devoted to holding my being together. If I were to release that grip, I would quickly disintegrate." Alaveize smiled, "But your world seems interesting, and your people long-lived, so instead of letting myself die after so long, I will persist. I will take the form of a hideously powerful artifact to observe and aid for all time, and I will entrust one of you here to be my first caretaker at the end of the crafting process!" 'Nothing like tempting a devil with power. I should have everything I could want for my last days in a form of flesh.'

At that declaration, every Devil's eyes nearly popped out of their heads, and their minds immediately started churning with the possibilities of what this artifact could potentially be and do. In the next second Ajuka stood, slamming his hand on the table. He exclaimed- "Lord Alaveize! Please, after this meeting please come with me! I'll show you to my laboratory and make it available for your usage. I will also provide sleeping quarters for the duration of your project".

It was at this point that Falbium teleported away, too lazy to contribute, but having completed his duty of helping ensure that it went fine. Serafall joined him, but not for laziness. She was still traumatized by what this Mage had done when she had first encountered him. The only reason she had stayed this long was to do her duty. Had she been a devil more susceptible to Envy or Greed she may have tried to win the Planeswalkers favor despite her fear and discomfort.

Alaveize chuckled, "I thank you Lord Beelzebub, for your hospitality. Though, I will not need anywhere to sleep. I will need to be awake continuously for my magic to retain its grip on this plane, so I will work continuously. I have many artifacts in my possession that I can use to keep awake, so you need not worry".

Sirzechs met his father's eye and winked at him. Zeoticus cleared his throat. "And I will send good food to keep you sustained as your work. No need to subsist on garbage supplements. And besides, when other than when you break to eat will you engage to decide who shall be your caretaker. I can't allow you to spend your last days in flesh form not enjoying yourself!" He turned up his nose, "It would be failing in my duty as a Devil to allow you to waste away without a good time".

Alaveize laughed, "Very well, I will take a meal every fifth hour. I suppose it would be quite irresponsible for me to leave myself in an unknown's care. I suppose it is time that I got started on my design though. This meal has been lovely."

Taking the cue, Ajuka spoke, "If you would come stand next to me, I will transport you now."

Alaveize nodded, and the pair departed moments late.

Sirzechs sighed with exhaustion. "Well, that went better than I could have imagined when this day started."

His father looked over, and nodded, "This was a good day. There's a 2/3 chance the Gremory family will gain a 'hideously powerful artifact'. And even if we don't, then Ajuka's daughter and Millicas are contracted, so it won't be long before its all in the family." Zeoticus chuckled, "There's no way at all this could go wrong for me."

Sirzechs made a face, before saying goodbye and teleporting to wherever his wife was. After all, Grayfia would want to know about the developments of the day.

*-*Meanwhile, in Rias's room after eavesdropping on the entire meal*-*

"I have to manage to get to that laboratory." Rias declared, "I have to meet this guy and see if he'll entrust me as his guardian. After all, with a 'hideously powerful artifact' I would be able to offer something none of the others can!" Her sea blue eyes shined with ambition- this Planeswalker will be her ticket to freedom.

"Oh ho Rias, and what can you, at 14, offer that your father or one of the Maou cannot?" Akeno demurred.

Rias smiled softly, "Adventure. If he entrusts me, I'd run away to the human world for a few years. After all, how else will I grow as strong as I need to be if I'll ever be free." She looked to Akeno to see the other girl's reaction. "Ahh," she waved her hands awkwardly, "You don't have to come if you don't want to. You could stay here and train with my father and Grayfia until we would start school in the human world if you wanted to."

"Let me think about this Rias. I don't know right now, but I'll have an answer at the last second to be sure!" She smiled, "As much as I would love to join you, I might not live if I skip even a single lesson with Grayfia!"

"Ok! Just know that I won't love you any less if you decide not to come. You'd just better send letters if you don't!" Rias said in a faux demanding tone to her [Queen]. They both devolved into giggles at that.

OK! Chapter one done! Don't me regarding cannon details about when Koneko and Kiba and Gasper joined her peerage, because I don't care. I decided on 14 as a good age for Rias to be at the beginning of the story because I have a 14-year-old brother, so I have a decent idea of how people that age interact with the world, and because it fits nicely with the plot. Obviously, since Rias won't be around for any of the aforementioned peerage members, I can really mix it up. The only given right now is Akeno. Of course, this is set pre-mending, but due to the nature of the DXD plane, there is no way to leave the plane without dying by unravelling in the Blind Eternities. In addition, the godlike power planeswalkers had by virtue of being planeswalkers is not yet diminished, but DXD verse is so isolated that there no way the mending will affect anything happening here.