'Dammit Ddraig! You just had to say it didn't you!' Issei screamed to the dragon of domination, blaming him for jinxing the situation.

The group of devils stood ready for a fight, something he wanted no part of. The girl standing protectively in front of him, Astrea, was someone that he had been asked to keep safe and out of sight.

She was the only known spectre dragon left in existence, a breed that were especially rare due to their inability to be born in the underworld, where most of the worlds dragons now resided.

The species was rumored to have been the first class to take on a humanoid form, a minor shift in their ability to become intangible by anything other than a dragon slayer element.

From what he'd been told, all Spectre dragons had similar qualities. White hair, red eyes, and were more instinct driven then other high-class dragons. Astrea didn't deviate from this, with her hair reaching to the middle of her back.

[If you hadn't fallen asleep in that shop, you would have returned before she felt the desire to go find you.]

Ddraig had been thankful for the hatchling becoming a part of his life. Before that, Issei had only been interested in chasing skirts. Being responsible for another beings life had at least given him a little restraint. It wasn't much, but that was better than nothing.

If only the hatchling hadn't taken to the same habit of teasing him that Shuri had, Issei may have learned to keep himself in check even more.

"Astrea, calm down." Issei placed his hands on her shoulders, pressing his thumbs into the muscles that she'd worked to fly over here.

It was something he discovered that relaxed her almost immediately.

"No Issei! They were about to attack you!" Astrea turned towards him, a hand flashing out to point towards the two who still held the weapons that were pointed at him only a few moments ago.

"What happens to us if they get a lucky shot, and kill you?" The devils didn't seem to like the change in events, now being ignored by the two, but they weren't about to speak up and miss this chance for more information.

"We die! If you weren't doing your weird rock magic thingy, she would wither away. I would be left on my own, say something to piss off the wrong person because I let my emotions do the thinking, and then I'd die too!"

It was hard to spot thanks to the way her bangs swept over her forehead and just at the corners of her eyes, but Issei could see the tears built up.

Astrea glared at the devils at the corner of her vision, before focusing back on Issei, grabbing his hand and holding it to her cheek.

"I know you said to stay back, but you were gone for so long… When I could smell the devils, I got worried. You promised Uncle T that you would stay with me…"

When his thumb traced along her cheek, her eyes closed to blink back any evidence of how concerned she'd been.

"Can we leave now? I don't wanna be here anymore."

Issei thought on that for a moment. As much as he wanted to leave too, Shuri was most likely going to over rule that decision, no matter how logical of an argument he came up with. The reason was standing a few feet away.

"Turn around, look at the one to the left of the redhead."

Astrea paused, wondering why he was asking her to do that. She didn't want to look at any of the devils, she'd rather just forget they were even there.

"Fine…" She sighed, and slowly did as he asked.

With this barrier in place, the stench of devil had her wanting to plug her nose. She didn't trust them, and she had no reason to. The movement had the scent filling her nose even more.

Once she was facing them, she scanned from left to right.

There was the blonde bastard with that sword, and she was tempted to snap his shiny stick in half. Then a small girl with white hair, a little darker than her own. The girl almost smelled like a cat, but the devil part of it was the most present.

"No fucking way…"

Standing there, with longer hair, bigger breasts, and violet eyes, there was no way Astrea could miss who that girl was. But just to be sure…

"Is that really her?" She asked quietly.

The devils, the one in question especially, all rose an eyebrow. Akeno was starting to feel like she was being put on display and didn't know how to feel about it.

When Issei saw her, he looked as though he was in a trance, and couldn't look anywhere else. Now this new girl was doing the same thing.

"Issei, correct? I believe we have been patient enough in waiting. I can see that at the very least, you don't mean any harm. Otherwise you would have retaliated by now." Rias said, stepping forward from the group.

"But you've only made me more curious, especially with the fixation the two of you have towards my queen. Would you be so kind as to answer a few questions?"

With a hand on her hip, the other throwing her hair over her shoulder, Rias tried to look as regal and authoritative as possible.

"I think we're going to have to play nice for now." Issei whispered to Astrea before raising his head to address Rias.

"I'll make you a deal." He started, catching the attention and interest of the two high class ladies.

Making a deal with a devil, was the most basic and cliche way of getting something you wanted from them. In this case, all he wanted was to get back to his hotel room and get to work. Shuri was probably burning through the built up energy in the gem her soul resided in. The faster he got back, the less work he'd have to do.

"I'll answer three questions of your choice, then you let us leave. Give me 48 hours, and then we can all meet up and talk some more. Deal?"

Rias looked over to Sona, who was already weighing the pros and cons. He was being civil, if a little elusive, so Rias was inclined to agree. She wanted to know what he was using those crystals for, and why a dragon was with him. She was also rather curious about the out of character outburst from her longtime friend, but that could be answered later.

If he'd been involved with the fallen, the odds of him attacking Kiba and Tsubaki would have been almost certain. He didn't, and that tipped the needle towards a chance meeting in her eyes.

She wanted to believe that he'd just wandered into their territory because of the items he wanted to purchase.

Sona nodded, before adding her own contribution.

"I'll place wards around the area. If he leaves, we'll know."

Rias smiled, glad that Sona saw things in a similar way that she did. The potential gain here was too great to pass up. She suspected that Issei already knew that she would think this way based on how he worded it.

Which meant he had dealt with devils before.

"You have a deal." Rias gave him a smile that was teeming with curiosity.

"First, which faction are you most closely aligned to, or associated with?"

She wanted to know what chance there may be, to recruit him or the dragon girl. If they were affiliated with heaven or the church, those chances drastically declined.

"Officially, I'm not a part of any faction. But if I had to name one, I'd say the Shinto, since I was born in Japan and my family has been traditionally been followers of their faith."

With that answer, Sona took both of them off her potential recruit list. The Shinto were stubborn and had a history of not adapting well to life as a devil.

Rias on the other hand, was only more excited by his answer. She loved Japan, ever since her brother's knight had started telling her stories about his home country.

"What are you doing here?"

Rias had asked her question vaugely to see how specific he would be. A person that gave a detailed answer was often hiding something they didn't want known, the same could be said for those who answered as vaguely as possible.

"Someone I care about needs these crystals. Without them, and me, she'll die. I've worked too hard for too long, to let that happen now."

Rias was tempted to ask about this mystery woman, because of the passion and serious tone of his voice. Whoever she was, Issei cared about her greatly. A small part of her was jealous. Her peerage was precious to her, and she had no doubt in her mind that they would do anything less. But with Issei, she didn't get the feeling that this woman had saved his life or anything like that.

To her, it sounded like he would go to the ends of the earth to make sure she stayed well. It reminded her of Sirzechs and Grayfia. 2 people who would do anything to be together, even if they were on opposing sides of a war.

Sona cleared her throat, getting Rias to look over to her. With just a look, she knew what question Sona would want asked.

"What are you?" It was an invasive question, but one that was important.

Issei grabbed the hand of the girl waiting by his side, starting to walk towards his destination.

"Just a human that was unlucky enough to be caught up in the whims of the mystical world."

He walked by, with no one stopping him. His voice had been cold, a sharp contrast to the easy going nature he seemed to display during this rather short conversation.

When they got the edge of the barrier, he placed a hand on it.

Like a mirror shattered, the magic keeping them away from the rest of the world fell to pieces.

It had been too quick to properly judge, but there was no mistaking the raw power in whatever he did. The devils were all left there, unsure if they had just avoided a fight that would have ended with their own deaths.

As prideful as Rias was knowing that she was the strongest amongst them, even she could tell that little display was far beyond anything she could have come up with so quickly.

Looking over to Akeno, Rias couldn't help but wonder if she should have asked why they stared at her like that.

Akeno didn't notice, she was too busy staring at him as he walked away, blushing from the strength he had shown them.

The tug on her sleeve, brought her attention to Koneko.

"He lied."

-LineBreak-

"Issei! I said I was sorry!"

Now that they were away from the devils, Issei turned his attention to the other problem, potential though it may be, that appeared today.

Without looking towards her, knowing that she wanted him to look and see the desperately apologetic face she was certainly putting on, he voiced his grievance.

"You left her alone Astrea." He could feel her shrinking back like a scolded puppy.

"I know you get anxious, I know you have a hard time controlling it, but fucking hell!" His voice rose only a little, but the tone was both angry and cold at the same time. Both knew that he had good reason for it.

"Her crystal is weak enough as it is! The last thing we need is her using too much of the power left! It took me way too fucking long just to get strong enough, proficient enough with the technique to restore her… And in one day all of that work trying to give her a life might be ruined. I really needed you to stay on task today Astrea."

The sound of her footsteps faded, and it took a good 15 seconds for Issei to notice, too lost in his worry about Shuri and her condition.

When he did notice it, he stopped and turned his head back.

Arms crossed and holding herself tightly, head lowered so he couldn't see her face, Astrea looked like she'd taken his outburst hard.

"I'm sorry…" Her words were whispered so quietly that even his ears had a hard time picking them up.

Immediately Issei felt bad for letting his emotions get the better of him. He was supposed to be the more emotionally controlled one between them, and here he was yelling at her for something he knew was a possibility in the first place.

Plus… he'd spent waaaayyy longer in that store than he'd meant to.

Astrea gasped when she felt him bring her in for a one-handed hug. One-handed because he was carrying that elusive crystal in the other. Her arms relaxed from around herself and wrapped around his torso tightly, pressing her face as deeply his chest as she could.

"I shouldn't have yelled at you. I'm sorry. You meant well, I know that." His words were soft, as he rested his cheek on top of her head.

With her, Issei had to be careful with his words. Her development was easily led astray, as had been noted by spending time with him and Shuri. Spectral Dragons… Supposedly, weren't supposed to take human forms until later in life, once they had fully matured.

The big purple fire breather that tasked him with keeping her safe had been the one to say so, and Issei had no other source to rely on to verify that. Mainly because the egg in which Astrea hatched from had been in a stasis like state for over a century, waiting until it was in an atmosphere good enough to hatch. That was when the last ones had been killed… her parents.

Issei had his suspicions about the reasons behind having him take care of her, but again they were unverified. Physically speaking, he'd have no problem with that. It was the whole organized fashion of it all that he didn't like.

"C'mon, let's get back and see what kind of trouble Shuri's gotten herself into this time."

And how much more work I'll need to do. He added that part mentally.

It wasn't a question of if Shuri had done something she shouldn't have. Every single time she was alone, the woman found something that she just couldn't help herself from doing.

In a way, her and Astrea were similar. Except that with Shuri, it usually pertained to household stuff or something that she thought would get a rise out of Issei.

Issei had lost count of how many times he'd been gone for 10, maybe 20 minutes, only to return to finding her cooking or cleaning… Or posing in an outfit that somehow left little to the imagination and yet left so much concealed.

It was maddening!

That one time that she decided to cut up a curtain to use as a sort of slutty makeshift Toga, her words not his… He could see just enough of her ass, thighs and breasts to get him staring and ready to tear it off, but also hid enough that she could probably walk down the street and not have anyone looking at her as though she were almost naked.

It was a dangerous line that Shuri seemed an expert at walking.

The fact that she was rather… hands on with her affection, certainly didn't help his problem.

Oh the troubles of having dragon physiology during the height of puberty. That woman's teasing nature would be the death of him.

And he had to think she was just teasing him. Otherwise Issei would have tried getting with a girl that was essentially a ghost…

Which just didn't sound right.

When Issei tried to pull back, Astrea grabbed onto his hoodie, finally looking up and making eye contact.

"You're not mad at me?"

He was proficient in many things, but when it came maintaining his position against the two females in his life, Issei was a novice.

Her red eyes glistened in a way that seemed far too innocent and vulnerable, with a hint of pleading hopefulness that spoke of something more than just wanting his forgiveness.

How can I possibly stay mad at you when you look at me like that?

It was a phenomenon that only half of the world population could recreate at will. With just a look, though he suspected there was some sort of subliminal message being transmitted to him, any resilience to maintain his position faltered. It didn't matter if he was completely in the right, women seemed to be hardwired with the ability to smash through a man's mental/emotional defenses from birth.

[Or it's because you are too weak willed against them.]

Says the guy that was cowering like a baby when he told Tiamat he broke her treasure.

The times that Issei was able to turn the tables on Ddraig were few and far between, which made each one incredibly satisfying.

With no rebuttal, Ddraig grumbled and faded from the perception of his host.

"No. I'm just worried about Shuri. Let's hurry back so she doesn't cause too much trouble."

-LineBreak-

Sitting at her desk and staring into space, Rias was tempted to call her brother.

This was not an impulse that came about lightly. The entire reason she and Sona had come to the human world was to get out from under the shadow of their siblings. She hated being placed under the umbrella of her family, or as Lucifer's sister.

The 3rd year girl wanted to be known for her own accomplishments, her own character.

But even she had to admit when something was beyond her capability.

Once the unknown young man had vacated the area, Rias had spoken with Koneko about her claim that he'd lied to them.

It was a small lie, but important nonetheless.

Her rook did not use the talents of her species, she shut them down as much as she was able actually, but some things were just too ingrained into a person.

Koneko hadn't been able to tell what he was, but she could tell that he wasn't entirely human at the very least.

This wasn't as helpful as it would seem at first glance. Hybrid beings were not uncommon. But it did rule out a few possibilities.

Youkai for example, if they mated with another species, the child would still be entirely of the mothers race. It was how they sustained their numbers through the ages. Nekomata were mostly female, and so they had taken to finding human males to reproduce most of the time as males of their own kind are so rare.

Rias was willing to bet that he wasn't part fallen, due to the distinct lack of the feeling of being near a powerful being that could wield light. It was a well documented phenomenon with devils.

While never having felt it herself, every devil knew what to expect.

A sense of something wrong, a tingle in the back of the head that screamed danger, a shiver through the spine as her body felt a magic that was tailor made to destroy her.

He couldn't have been part angel, not if he was seeking objects that's magical properties were not used in their practices. And angels did not use magically conducive rocks, nor did they usually associate with dragons.

Rias had come up with a few possible answers for what their newcomer might be.

The first and most likely, was a sacred gear possessor that had been affected by said sacred gear. The ones that were capable of such a thing were low in number. This excited her, because they were always a higher tier. Possibly even a longinus.

She was in a bad spot, needing servants but unable to just take anyone. They had to be powerful, otherwise it would just be a waste.

One of her other guesses was that he was part devil, though he'd have to be pretty far removed from devil society to not know that he'd stepped into another's territory. It would also be more understandable to see a dragon at his side, as they were a species that mostly kept to themselves. And of the ones that branched out, devils were the most common ally.

Her last guess was that he was part dragon himself, thus overriding her last thought. If he were part dragon, having that white haired girl made more sense then even him being a devil. The downside to this was that dragons were both powerful and prideful.

They did not typically side with anyone, and even if she managed to convince him to join her peerage, he might just be too powerful even for all 8 of her unused pawns.

And now for the reason that she was contemplating giving a call to the most powerful devil.

Rias and Sona had taken their queens to the Sitri household for a nice dip into the extravagant bath there.

Once settled, Rias had asked about the way Sona acted upon meeting this Issei person.

"Did you hear the rumors coming out of the underworld about 18 months ago?" was her immediate answer.

Naturally, Rias tried to stay away from most of the gossip, instead focusing on her life here. But even so far away, there were some things that still made it to her ears.

The one Sona brought up had been one of the biggest in the last few years, ever since the announcement of her betrothal to...him.

"You mean the one where a little girl went missing?" Akeno had heard of that one too.

Supposedly, the story was that a little girl had moved into the area just outside of Tannins territory. Most assumed her to be homeless, because she was never seen with anyone, always found wandering the streets by herself.

After a week of the people seeing her, they'd grown used to her popping in to shops and asking for food.

Then she disappeared.

Three residents searched for her, worried the girl might have come across some dangerous creature.

It wasn't until some unknown silver haired devil had come along and somehow become a part of the search that anything really happened. Only it wasn't what they had planned.

In the early morning hours after the new young man decided to help out, the ground shook, the air heated to the point where it felt like they had been introduced to an entirely new climate right on the equator.

Three of the mountains in the range beyond the town had crumbled and blown to such small pieces that the following dust killed any crops in the area.

The mountains that had been levelled were know to have deep caverns that had never been fully mapped out.

Whispers came of a dragon of legend, something no one had ever truly thought existed.

The Diabolos Dragon. King of the abyss.

One person came forward, claiming to have seen the dragon, though most people say the person hadn't been mentally sound for decades.

Scales that ate away at any light coming towards it, a black so deep it could hardly be perceived. Wings long and wide, colored the shade of blood. It's tail was equal to its massive size, the horns and protrusions on its head looking like a crown.

The silver haired young man had intruded into the dragons den and paid the price. He hadn't been seen again.

"One of the last times I spoke to my sister, she mentioned something about that rumor. None of the elders apparently found any evidence that an actual dragon was anywhere near there, at least none that matched the description or were near the assumed size."

The way Sona looked over Akeno and Rias made them worry. Her childhood friend was a cautious type, but the look in her eyes took that to a new level.

"But there was evidence of multiple people spending a fair amount of time there. It appears as though they were looking for something, mining the ore in the deepest parts of the cavern."

Sona paused, giving a pointed look towards Rias and Akeno. It took a few seconds for her to understand, but the light bulb did eventually go off.

"You think he is associated with whoever was down there?" Rias' question was made with a raised brow, not sure she felt the same.

Sona pushed a finger up the bridge of her nose, turning red when she realized that her glasses weren't on her face and the gesture was ruined.

"I'm not certain, but the only parts of that cavern to be mined were in places that had the oldest carbon dating and easily accessible. Old ores are much more useful in dealing with rituals. I find it unlikely that our… guest, just so happens to be looking for virtually the same thing and not be affiliated with whoever was down there."

Following along with her friends logic, Rias started to understand just why she had acted so strangely.

Even for a high-class devil Rias was gifted in terms of natural power, but she wasn't capable of evaporating mountains in mere seconds. Assuming that Issei was part of the group that had been down there, they still didn't know what he intended to do.

A little girl and a teenage boy had gone missing around this group Sona suspected him to be a part of, but he had shown no aggression towards them. The white haired dragon did, but she seemed to be protecting him.

Deciding that calling her brother was the right choice, Rias had a mental list of things she wanted to learn.

Was he a danger to them?

Had the rumors regarding that incident been fully investigated and unravelled?

And most importantly, could he be a potential member of her peerage?

-Hello Rias. It's unusual for you to contact me, is everything alright?

Rias had to shake her head, she'd gotten lost in her thoughts and almost forgot what she was doing.

"Everything is fine at the moment Sirzechs, though something happened today that I wanted to talk to you about."

Knowing his personality, Rias was sure that she had both eased his concern and caught his interest. She did not like calling for help, instead preferring to solve things herself. He knew this just as well as her parents did. It had taken half of her first year to make the point.

-I'm listening.

Now that she was going about it, Rias wondered exactly how she should phrase her question. Making things seem as though she was about to be attacked or even have that possibility was not a good idea.

Sirzechs would teleport here with his power of destruction at the ready and obliterate anything that even came close to her.

That was a lesson learned from experience… poor rabbit.

"Those rumors from Brave's peak about the mountain incident, did anything come from that investigation?"

Thinking on her feet was a useful tool, both for dealing with her family, and devil nobility as a whole. Certain people liked to make themselves look better by making you look stupid, so being adaptable to most situations was something her mother had insisted she learn. It came in handy.

-A rather strange topic…

Ah crap, she really hoped Sirzechs didn't think too long it.

-But not really. Tannin was the one to handle the investigation.

Rias was careful not to let her sigh of relief be loud enough for her brother to hear.

-According to him, it was a fight between two dragons. Neither were particularly injured, and no one living in the area had been hurt, so the investigation ended there.

Hm. That was strange. Rias knew that the dragons liked to be left alone, and the devils were generally okay with that. And technically, the mountains to have been destroyed were in their own territory so no punishment could really be dealt.

But still…

"There wasn't anything about a little girl going missing, or a teenage boy? Nothing about the crystals and ores in the mountains?"

-Nothing out of the ordinary as far as the mountain or crystals go. Tannin has hired people to mine in those caves several times over the years, it's part of how he affords to grow his dragon apples strictly for food. As for the supposed missing people, no one can recall a name. Everyone that was interviewed only had generic traits they could name about either of them.

Rias had to admit that it sounded like a ghost hunt, maybe even literally.

-If the people said to have gone missing were actually there, they left before anything happened. There were no signs of struggle, no blood, no bodies.

Maybe Sona was just on edge from all the work of being the-

Wait… That dragon girl…

Rias and the others had completely ignored her rant in favor of paying attention to Issei. But she had said something about him promising someone she called 'Uncle T' that he would watch over her.

It couldn't have been that simple could it?

What were the chances that she meant Tannin?

Now that she thought about it… there was something in the back of her mind that just refused to come to the surface regarding her. Something she had read once upon a time.

When she first got her evil pieces, Rias had done hours upon hours of research into what might be the best utilization for her peerage. Her queen had already been filled, but she wanted to maximize potential for the rest. This required looking into species and sacred gear types.

Dragons were always sought out for their innate power. It came so naturally to them that it was almost unfair. There was something about dragons and seeing that girl that she knew was important, but just wouldn't come back to her.

-What makes you bring this up with me Rias?

Not knowing what to make of her absent thought, Rias spoke her mind.

"There's a holistic shop in town that sometimes comes across crystals of a significant age by coincidence. Someone bought a crystal like this today and it brought those old rumors to mind. By the way, do you know of any dragons with white hair or scales and red eyes? I know I read about it somewhere but its just sitting on the tip of my tongue."

Even through the magical communication, the change in her brother could be felt. The air around her seemed dangerous, like a cold and bladed hand was inching its way towards her neck.

-Rias. This dragon you speak of, do you know where she is?

Suddenly Rias didn't feel so confident in her decision to call her brother.

END!

I know not much really happened, but i think this little setup is important. Needed to give some context on where this is going and why, but also i want to stick around the same chapter length.

Anyways, hopefully i can crank out something else this week. That would be cool right?

And just so Rihavein doesnt get mad at me for forgetting again, here's the discord link!

discord . gg uDxVym8

Remove spaces

Next chapter will have Shuri and her situation, and why Sirzechs seemed interested in Astrea