A/N: There we go! Chapter 3 is up and ready to go. This chapter basically finishes the introduction of Shirou and Illya in the world of DxD, or at least most of it. The next chapter will be shorter and finish the aftermath of the Fallen Angel incident.
And finally there is an action scene in this fic. It only took around 15k words to get to it, rejoice! I hope that you can enjoy it and I'm always open for critic. So if you have anything to say about Illya's or Shirou's fighting style, please send me your ideas. Furthermore, I am also willing to collect and insert any ideas reagarding Illya & Shirou fluff.
Anyways, I am not a fan of long author notes. Here you go with the newest chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own High School DxD or Fate/Stay Night.
Chapter 2 – Fallen Angel
Illya decided she liked school life. In the short span of a few days, she had more fun than she ever had had before the Holy Grail war. The other students in her class were very nice to her and treated her with respect. The lessons were easy and she had already claimed the top rank in her class. Add to that that everyone just did what she asked, not because she threatened or hypnotized them, but because they couldn't decline a request from the 'cute little girl' and she couldn't be happier. Well, maybe if Shirou would finally give in to her demands to bath with her..
Oh, and of course Koneko-chan. Mentally, she knew it was wrong to treat her like a pet, but she just couldn't help it! Everything about the girl screamed 'pet me' and 'adorable' to her. That's why she hadn't been terribly surprised after Shirou told her about her suspected Nekomanta origins. It just fitted too well. The way she was looking at and eating Shirou's lunches.. She swore she heard Koneko-chan, the normally expressionless girl, purring once.
But the time she enjoyed most, was the time she spent with her adoptive older brother. In the short time they lived together, they already developed a daily routine.
In the morning, Shirou woke up around 5am for his workout. Afterwards, a quick shower and then he started to prepare breakfast. Illya, as someone who could spend hours in her workshop late at night, normally woke up around 7am to the smell of food being prepared.
Afterwards they left for school together and came back together as well. Neither of the siblings spent their time in a club, even though they tried to find a suitable one.
The small homunculous was happy with that, it left her more time with her Onii-chan and more time for her magic research in the afternoon. In the workshop she had set up, she worked on her current project – the magecraft of her mother.
Illya's own magecraft allowed her to use single strands of her hair to create small high-performance bird familiars. They were autonomous beings that defended her and pursued targets automatically, strong enough to block magic attacks, fast enough to dodge them and able of shooting magic blasts on their own. They each generated a considerable amount of magical energy, and Rin once compared them to a "miniature magus". Illya could change their shape into different forms, for example swords with a single command.
In her old world, she was capable of controlling a small number of them without problems, but was limited to use six at most. Now, without the need of supplying prana for Berseker and the general enhancement of magecraft in this new world, she was able to create a small flock of them. That might sound very strong and it certainly was, but due to the need of a hair for each bird, she had the fear of going bald at a young age. They were bound to be in a few battles, after all, Shirou found conflicts even without searching for them. And she was sure, he didn't like hairless small girls.
That's why she was currently researching her mother's magecraft. Instead of hairs, Irisvyel had used thin, long and flexible wires. She had used them to either produce an instantaneous homunculus with alchemy that attacked the enemy while having the ability to transform itself into numerous shapes. She had also used her weapon to immobilize her target.
Illyasviel, being Irisvyel's daughter, was confident that she could do so as well, given she had enough time and experience. That would not only solve the hair problem, it would strengthen her magecraft as well. She already ordered a mile of high quality wires without Shirou's knowledge. The internet really was a fabulous place, so many things only a click away! Why didn't she know about it earlier? Her days in the Einzbern castle would have been a lot less boring with the unlimited supply of animes online..
After a busy afternoon in their respective workshops, the siblings normally ate dinner together and then relax in the garden or living room. It was an 'ordinary' life as far as Illya was concerned and she enjoyed every second of it.
It was a normal school day and Shirou had just finished his lunch with Illya. She left early because her class had swimming lessons after lunch, so she had to change before lesson. He was on his way to the school hall when he heard a very loud whisper.
"Come on, let me see as well! You can't just look at them on your own Issei!" The red-head was curious. What could they be doing? It had to be interesting if they were fighting about it.
Rounding the corner, he saw three boys, crouching down and shuffling in front of a wall.
"Not yet! The new girl hasn't started to change yet." Issei whispered to his two other companions. It was then, that Shirou remembered who these boys are – and their reputation.
On the first day of school, Sona had warned him to avoid these three. They were nothing more than perverts and used every opportunity they got to discuss lewd themes or to peep at girls. Thankfully, they didn't attend his class, instead they were second-year students and mostly stayed seperate from everyone else. The later was more because everyone avoided them, rather than them choosing to do so.
"The new girl? Now that you mention it, the first-year got a new cute loli.." One of the other guys said.
'I think his name was Motohoma or something and the other was called Matsuda. What are they doing here?' Shirou wondered curiously. And then he recalled what they said and what he knew...
They were currently next to the pool or rather the changing rooms. He could see a hole from where he stood which allowed a person to look into the room unnoticed. So the perverted trio were peeping again... at the students who changed for swimming lessons... his sister had swimming lessons right now.. 'new girl'... 'cute loli'... Oh. OH!
Barely keeping his anger in check, his magic circuits flared up, projecting a weapon of pure mailce and bloodlust. Taiga's cursed shinai. The other boys must have noticed the immense pressure radiating from it, because they turned to him.
Shirou smiled, his smile empty of the usual kind and friendly expression. Now, it was filled with malice and a promise of pain. "So, does anyone of you want to explain why you are peeping at my sister?" The shinai twitched in anticipation, but the perverted trio didn't answer. They were too busy shivering in fear.
…
"Neh, Onii-chan?" Illya turned to look at Shirou who was walking besides her. School finished not long ago and they were on their way back.
He stopped as well. "What is it Illya?"
"Do you know what happened to the perverted trio? I could sense them outside the changing room and was gathering the others to give them a good beating, but when we arrived, they were already lying on the ground unconcious. They had a lot of bruises, as if someone with a wooden sword hit them really hard.. And in the air was a lingering feeling of mailce I felt before, like when Taiga brought this cursed shinai with her.. Do you have any ideas?" She gave her brother a suspicious look.
Shirou smiled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head with his right arm. "Hm, no. How could I? But I'm sure they deserved it.. I mean they tried to see you naked after all and.." He trailed of at that thought. Somehow he suddenly had to think about a scenario where he didn't beat them but joined them. And then would have seen Illya naked, changing with the other girls.. His face flushed at that thought.
'Bad thoughts, she is your sister Shirou! I bet that's the influence of all the tantric rituals I had with Sakura..' Somehow, his face adopted an even darker shade of red.
Illya's look turned even more suspicious. But in the end she just shrugged and continued to walk home. Her brother let out the breath he was holding and his shoulders slugged in relief. It would have been very awkward if she had decided to ask about his sudden change in colour.
Shirou was sitting on the veranda of his and Illya's new home. It was late, a few hours after dinner and the sun had already set behind the distant horizon. Only the light of the stars and a few light from the house lit up the backyard. He could barely make out the outline of the two sheds and the trees in the beackground.
Gazing up to the stars, he found himself remembering his last night with Kiritsugu. They had been looking at the stars as well, back in Fuyuki. Now though, they were different. He couldn't see the stars he was used to see, just like he wasn't sitting in his old home, no. He was in a new world with Illya, his long lost sister.
He remembered the promise he made to his father. The promise to continue his dream of being an 'Ally of Justice'. It wasn't like he broke his promise, he still wanted to be one.. but it wasn't his prority anymore. No, he still lived to save others, but now.. Now the most important person was Illya. He would save her no matter what , the only person he was left with. After talking with Archer, he chose the few other the many and now, only Illya remained of the few, strenghtening his desire to protect her.
She was the most precious person to him, currently the only one who mattered. And he wanted to show that to her, protect her from any dangers.
He heard someone sitting down next to him and turned his head to see the small girl he was just thinking about. She sat down quietly, and as if she was reading his mind, she rested her tiny hand on his. The message was clear and they both sat in a comfortable silence, not needing words to convey their thoughts. An hour later, Illya was leaning against Shirou and slowly fell asleep.
The magus put her head in his lap and smiled affectionally. He patted her head and she unconciously snuggled closer to him, seeking his warmth and protection.
No, there was no way he would let anything happen to her. And if had to die to protect her, he would do so without a second thought – he had done so already anyways, back in the cave with the Holy Grail. Not wanting to disturb her peaceful sleep, he stayed in his position until slowly, the sun started to rise and the first rays woke her up. But by then, he was already asleep, so he missed the look on her face, which was an odd mixture of happiness and sadness.
…
It was five days later that Illya witnessed the death of Hyoudou Issei.
She was on her way back from a late night shopping spree. It was more akin to a late night building site material robbery, but strictly speaking she didn't take anything. Instead she just experimented with the wires there and only had the intention of stealing them if they were suitable. They weren't so technically she didn't do anything illegal and Shirou wouldn't have a reason to complain. Not that he knew what she was doing, he thought she was in her workshop, working on her newest project. He wouldn't agree to her running around that late. He loved his concern over her, but sometimes he was just too overprotective.
She was crossing through a small park when she suddenly felt a slightly powerful being heading her way. Without thinking about it, she leapt into the nearest bush and quickly constructed a small bounded field to hide her presence. It couldn't compare with Assassin's presence concealment, but as long as the being wasn't as perceptive as a servant, she should be fine.
Moments later, two people came into her view. One was Hyoudou Issei if she remembered correctly, a pervert who deserved only the worst treatment. Next to him was the being she felt earlier. It looked like a normal human girl, an especially cute one. She seemed to enjoy her night with Issei, was she his girlfriend? This guy had a girlfriend? Why did she hide her form, did she want to live a normal life like all these others at school?
"It sure was fun today." The girl let go of Issei's hand and turned to him with a cute smile. "Hey, Ise-kun?"
"What is it Yuma-chan?" Illya couldnt't help it, her mouth fell wide open. 'So the pervert really has a girlfriend? I can't believe it. It looks like they are about to kiss.. Bah.'
"There is something I want to do to celebrate our first date. Can you listen to my wish?" Yuma-chan asked him. Illya was mystified. She knew she should go and let them have their provate moment, but this was just too good. Maybe she could use the same tactic with Shirou...
She didn't listen to the next few sentences, busy imagining things in her own little world. That is until she heard Yuma-chan's voice again.
"Will you die for me?" The words were accompanied by a happy laugh.
Illya watched on as Issei had a confused look on his face and sighed. Why didn't he have enough common sense to run away? At least she would learn her motives through his death. In this moment she was thankful that her idiot brother wasn't with her. He would have run there by now and risked a fight against an unknown being, completely disregarding his own safety.
Something she would never do. Instead she stayed and watched as 'Yuma-chan' sprouted black wings from her back and flapped them twice. 'An angel?' Illya thought. 'No, the black w ings would categorize her as a Fallen Angel. Our world had them too, but they were really rare and mighty. This one doesn't even have an oppressive aura.'
After deploying her wings, 'Yuma-chan's' personality changed. Instead of the cute and shy girl Illya observed in the beginning, now her voice was cold, mirroring her sardistic expression. "It was fun. The short time I spent with you. It was like playing house with a little child."
With these words, the Fallen Angel summoned a spear of light. At least that was what Illya thought. Lightning or holy light shaped into a spear. It reminded her a bit of Shirou's magecraft, but far inferior. This spear was just a very bulky and holy spear. Of course it was stronger than any normal weapon and very quickly formed, but no match for a Noble Phantasm.
The Fallen Angel threw the spear at Issei who didn't move. He hadn't moved all the time, was he really that shocked? It was as if he didn't have any survival instincts or reflexes. The spear pieced his stomach easily and the boy looked down at it, disbelieving.
"Sorry. You were a threat to us, so we decided to get rid of you early. If you want to hold a grudge, then hate the God who put the Sacred Gear inside you." 'Yuma-chan' flew away in the night sky.
Illya sat in the bushes and watched Issei die, but didn't spare him a thought. Instead she digested all the new information. That Fallen Angel killed an unassuming teenager because he could be a threat to them? How? Did it have something to do with this 'Sacred Gear' she mentioned? What exactly is that? And if they were willing to kill such a small potential threat, they certainly would kill Shirou and her as well if they knew about them.
A glowing light snapped her out of her musings. A magic circle appeared and with it, two persons she knew. Rias Gremory and Akeno Himejima. Two third-year students and said to be the two hottest girls in school.
Illya had remembered them quickly, after all they were one of the biggest threats for her Onii-chan's love. She suspected that her Onii-chan liked big breasts, Sakura, his former lover, was well-gifted in that departement after all. So these two, the two with the biggest breasts, were on the top of her list of potential enemies.
They walked over to Issei's side, quietly talking to themselves. From what she heard, she could only puzzle together that they weren't working together with the Fallen Angel in any way. It more sounded as if they were enemies. Also, they seemed to have predicted his death and meeting with the Fallen Angel.
After reaching his side and crouching down, Illya could see a faint red glow and eight small things entering Issei's chest. She could literally feel how his body structure changed to resemble theirs, and after a small time the boy started breathing again. The spectacle ended with a magic circle, transporting all three of them away.
Illya didn't know what to make of this scene. Basically, a Fallen Angel killed a teenage boy because he was a potential threat. He possessed something even he was not aware of and sounded like a strong magical weapon of sorts. Said boy was revived by the enemies of that Fallen Angel, basically resulting in them gaining the boy and the weapon. And without a doubt, Rias and Akeno will teach Issei how to use that thing. All in all, the Fallen Angel just strenghtened her opposition by killing her prey. Illya had to surpress a laugh, that was hilarious.
It wasn't until half an hour later that Illya left her impromptu hiding place and went back home. She didn't encounter any more interesting scenes or beings though.
To say that Shirou was shocked at her news would have been an understatement. Illya giggled at his expression, it was just too funny. What she had told him might be bad news, but she was almost glad she witnessed everything just to see his face.
The first thing he asked made her heart jump. "Are you alright Illya? They didn't notice you or anything? I would rather have you alive than some information about what's going on." He said seriously.
Instead of focussing on the fact that she might have saved Issei's life by intervening, he was worried about her well-being! If this had been during the beginning of the Holy Grail war, he wouldn't have spared more than a thought for her, after ensuring that she was fine. No, he would have left the house immediately, searching for Issei to see if he needed help or trying to find the Fallen Angel to get them to stop killing people. The later one was almost suicidal, charging their stronghold without knowing where it was or how many of them were there.
So she flashed him her most brilliant smile. "I am alright. I found the whole thing more interesting than scary. None of them were a threat to me, at least not alone. I am not just some small girl, Onii-chan." She said the last sentence with a pout. Maybe it was her imagination or wishful thinking, but the faintest hint of red appeared on her brother's cheeks after seeing her pouting.
"That's good, I'm glad! I don't know what I would be doing if I lost you as well.." The small homuncolous could see his face saddening, and his voice trembled slightly.
Illya stood up from where she was sitting on the couch and sat down next to him, leaning against his chest. "It's okay Onii-chan. I'm here. And I won't ever leave your side, no matter what."
With these words, she buried her face in his chest, hiding her expression. If he could see her face now, he would know that something was wrong and she couldn't allow that. They had to enjoy their time together! No, that just strenghtened her resolve to not tell him about her looming death. Soon she would have to prepare him for that, so that he wouldn't break, but until then.. She was going to enjoy this!
His words didn't help the guilty feeling in her chest. "I know, Illya. You are the most precious person in this world for me, and I will do everthing to protect you!" He pulled her a bit closer in a comfortable hug. She tightened her grip on his shirt, blushing heavily at his words.
"..you are for me as well, idiot." Illya mumbled, trying to calm down her fast beating heart. How could he just say something like that without being embarassed? She didn't think she would ever find an answer to that, except of his block-headed mindset. He couldn't take hints to save a life..
They stayed like that for a while, enjoying the other's embrace and the feeling of warmth and safety. Being comfortable like this, Illya was about to fall asleep when she felt her brother shifting.
"So what are we going to do about it? We can't let these Fallen Angel run around the city, doing whatever they want. The Occult Research Club and the Student Council might be watching the city but they can't be everywhere." Shirou asked.
Illya sat up and looked at him. "We have to start with finding their base, afterwards we can decide what to do about them. Right now, they are only attacking people with one of these Sacred Gears and I think they are very rare. She said they were created by god after all. So I don't think they will actively kill others for the next few days. Also, they would draw too much attention to them if they just killed innocents."
"You're right." Shirou nodded. "That should give us some days to find out about their objective and where they are hiding. And when we did that.."
Illya perked up at that. "We kill them!" Her cheerful voice seemed just a bit off for such a dire statement.
"I wish you wouldn't be so happy about that.. Killing someone should always be the last possible option. Only if they are unreasonable or continuing on their path regardless of our words, killing them is excusable." She said with a sigh. He tried to shift his position in a lecture pose, but he didn't have Rin's experience with them and ended up in a funny looking position.
"Muh ~, Onii-chan! You are no fun." The white-haired girl replied. "I will do as you say for now, but if they endanger you, I will definitely kill them!" Her tone didn't leave any room for arguments, so Shirou just accepted it. They had this argument before and he had lost it every time.
…
The sun was burning brightly in the afternoon sky, no clouds to block its rays from reaching the earth. It was an surprisingly warm day for this season and not only Shirou felt uncomfortable hot in his school uniform. Next to him, Illya was complaining loudly about the unbearable heat and how she wished to be back int germany where it was nice and cold. Well, maybe a bit too cold where Illya lived. He googled the place of her old home once and wasn't surprised to find the location in the very south, on a mountain. Normal german weather was similar to the japanese one.
The two siblings were walking back from school after an exhausting day. The previous few nights they had spent searching for traces of the Fallen Angel, but they hadn't been able to find a clear trail. Today they planned on searching through the area around the abandoned old church and were walking in its direction.
After arriving at a park Illya insisted to go in to 'buy' (Shirou was forced to pay for her) ice cream, he saw a strange sight. A girl who didn't exactly look lost, but as if searching something. She had blonde hair and green eyes, and was standing a head taller than Illya, later wasn't really hard in his opinion. The most notable about her was her attire – a proper nun outfit with cap and everything. As he was wondering what she was doing here, a white blur suddenly jumped at the girl with a cry.
"ASIA!" That sounded like Illya. But what would cause her to suddenly hug a nun in the middle of the street? Shirou never met her nor heard about her from Illya. He knew about her weakness for cute things, and that girl was cute in her outfit, no question. But even then she normally surpressed her urge to hug them and just directly lecherous looks at them. Like the one time she wanted to go to a maid café...
"U-uh? Illya? Is that you?" The girl was talking in english with a strange pronunciation, he suspected she wasn't Japanese, just like her looks. But she didn't seem to be British as well, if her matter of speaking was any indication. Maybe she was a nun right from the Vatican.
"I should be asking you that! You told me that you were too busy to stay until he woke up and then left without saying anything!" Illya accused her, causing her to look at the small girl unbelievingly. Shirou looked at them, confusion written in his face.
"W-without saying anything? I told you where I am going next and what I am going to do, but.. y-you were very concentrated on your boyf-" She stopped mid-sentence, her look suddenly becoming fearful. Shirou swore that he could feel Illya's malicious aura from five meters away, but what would cause her to be that angry?
"My what?" Illya's tone was more sweet than ever and he swore he saw Illya's face changing into one of Rin's scary grins. Asia took a step back.
Her reply was spoken hastily. "Y-your b-brother.."
"Oh, that's right!" She exclaimed cheerfully, grabbing a confused Shirou who finally closed the distance. Jugding the look on Asia's face, not only he was taken aback by Illya's sudden mood change. "Here he is now, better then before!"
"I'm glad. I was worried, sometimes even though the body healed, the mind can have suffered irreparable damage already." She smiled with relief.
"Excuse me? Illya, who is this and how do you know her? You sound quite close." Shirou finally voiced his curiousity. What were they talking about, it almost sounded as if he was the subject.
"Ah, how rude of me. Onii-chan, this is Asia. She helped me healing you after.. well, after arriving." She gave Shirou a pointed look. "Asia, I am sure you remember my brother. He is regretably hard to forget." She ignored his annoyed look.
"Nice to meet you, Asia. I am Shirou Emiya, thank you very much for helping me!" He gave Asia a respectful bow. If he remembered correctly, Illya did mention a nun helping her back then.. Could this young girl really be the one? He had expected someone looking more.. Well, more experienced than her. But there was no sense in doubting his sister's word. After all, Illya looked like a eleven years old girl and not like the twenty years old prodigy in magecraft she was.
"Nice to meet you as well! I am happy that you are back in good health, when I found you, you were half-dead." Asia smiled at him happily. Her smile reminded Shirou of someone.. It almost was as if she was genuily happy for him that he was healed. Her smile didn't show any hint of pride. No, she didn't smile because she was happy she healed him. She smiled because he wasn't hurt. It fascinated him.
Next to him, Illya was faking a cough and he noticed how annoyed she was. How long did he stare at the nun?
"I'm sorry, you just reminded me of someone. May I ask how you healed me? I was quite battered back then, but when I woke up three days later I was perfectly fine.." That was one of the things that bothered him. Illya had told him about the healing, but she was too focussed on her own task to ask. And afterwards Asia had to leave, while Illya was too tired to even move. The only thing she could remeber was a green glow where Aisa placed her hands. Was it a form of magecraft?
Illya seemed to expect something along the line. "Why don't we go for tea somewhere? I am sure that's not something to be discussed in public."
Shirou nodded in agreement and Asia's smile widened at the proposition. "That's a good idea! Why don't you come to the church with me? I moved in there two days ago."
"The church? Are you talking about the old church close to here? I thought it was abandoned?"
"No, that's nor true! A few people are living there, though Raynare-sama mentoined that they only moved in recently as well.." Shirou blinked curiously. Did that mean the church was planning on retaking the area? Could there be executors? Normally it would be too dangerous to go there, but with Asia, the chances of getting attacked were low.
"Show us the way then! I can't wait to meet them and to drink your tea." Illya's voice sounded even more enthusiastic than before. Could she be thinking something similar as Shirou? But why was she so happy about it..?
…
Illya and Shirou were sitting in a small room, waiting for Asia to finish the preparations for the tea. She had shot down every attempt Shirou done to help her, claiming it to be the poor manners to let her guests do the work. So instead they were seated on two old and uncomfortable chairs, listening to the noises of the tea-set clappering in the small kitchen.
"Here you go!" Their host entered the small room with a pot of tee and three mugs.
""Thank you"" Both of them exclaimed at the same time. That earned them a bemused look from Asia.
"So Asia, how did you heal my Onii-chan?" Illya said between taking sips from her tea.
"Hm? Oh, you must be talking about my Sacred Gear, 'Twilight Healing'! Here, look." She pointed to the two rings she was wearing on her middle fingers. "It allows me to heal any injury, even fatal ones as long as the person is still alive."
Illya nearly spat out her tea in shock. "Any injury?! That's a very powerful gift to have, Asia!" Shirou nodded, recovering from his shock as well. If that was true, then her Sacred Gear possessed similar powers to Avalon when reunited with Saber. Well, expect the transport to ever distant utopia of course. But that was still a power Magi in their home world would kill over.
Speaking of which.. Shirou glared at the little white-haired girl next to him who had adopted a calculating and slightly wanting look. She felt his look and sighed in disappointment. He shook his head, she didn't really just thought about stealing from the person that saved him, right?
"Thank you! I am very happy that god gave me this amazing power." Her look conflicted her words, but she didn't say more.
"God, hm? Onii-chan and I are curious. We never heard about Sacred Gears before, are there more of them? And who has them?"
"The original God of the Bible created the Sacred Gears as part of His system to enact miracles on Earth. Only humans have them and they can be very powerful. For example, it is said that there are some Sacred Gears who have the power to surpass God. For who has them.. I was told that they wielders have to have a strong desire. It would certainly make sense, since I have the desire to help people."
"They sound very useful, indeed. Too bad that we don't have one.." Illya trailed off.
Shirou on the other hand was looking at the door with worry. A few seconds ago he noticed a smell increasing in intensity. The smell of feathers, raven feathers. He didn't know how he knew the smell of black feathers, but it got stronger every second. In the beginning he could only make out a faint trace of it lingering everywhere, but now..
The door openend and revealed a tall man standing in the doorway. "Asia, I wasn't informed that you had visitors." He said, sparring only a short look at Shirou and Illya.
"I am sorry, Donaseek-sama! They are people I met before and just ran into at the park. When I came back, I couldn't find you or the others." Her voice was careful and polite, her apology accompanied by a small bow.
"Just don't let it happen again. Raynare wants to speak to you, so your guests have to go." His voice didn't leave any room for arguments. Shirou was about to reprimand him for his manners when he felt Illya's small hand on his lower arm. He looked at her and she slowly shook her head, as if saying 'not yet'. With a sour look at the Fallen Angel in the doorway, he sat back down. Risking a fight in this closed space with Asia in the way was too dangerous. Especially when they didn't know how many else were here. He knew that, but he didn't have to like it. Wouldn't it be for Asia's and Illya's safety, he would have confronted the 'man' here and now.
"Thank you for tea. I hope we will meet again, Asia!" Illya thanked the nun and dragged a startled Shirou with her through the door. He heard her shouting "Goodbye" after their leaving forms.
"So... the Fallen Angel have their camp in the abandoned church. And Asia is helping them or at least being manipulated to help them. I can't imagine her knowingly helping killers. Her 'Twilight Healing' isn't a threat for them, but useful, so they would rather have her alive. But we can't leave her in their hands, what if they found a way to steal it from her?"
"I agree with you Onii-chan. What do you say, tomorrow evening we are attacking the church? That would leave us enough time for preparations, my wires would be here by then as well. And you can finalize the runes I showed you on your clothes." Illya suggested to her brother.
After exiting the church, Illya had quicky built a small bounded field around it, not detectable through any means, to count the numbers of Fallen Angel coming in and leaving. If they were lucky, by tomorrow they should have an estimate about them and the chances of an attack. They had to take them out quickly then, so they couldn't use Asia as an hostage. It was a solid attack plan, infiltrating the base and getting out in the fastest time possible.
"Wait.. Wires? Why would we need them?" Illya never mentoined wires before, in the whole Holy Grail war she didn't use them in any fashion. He knew that she crept around town at nights sometimes, maybe it had something to do with that.
"Hmm, Onii-chan. That's a surprise~" She giggled. "But even so, I can think of a LOT of ways to use them.." Finishing her statement with a wink, Illya took another bite of her dinner.
"Is that so? I can't.. Uh. I-Illya! W-what are y-you saying?" Shirou stuttered, his face turning as red as a tomato. But instead of answering, she gave him a mischievous smirk.
"By the way, Onii-chan." Illya said, acting as if his outburst didn't happen. "Today I would say you improved this meal by.. 60%. That's really good, considering its commonness."
Todays dinner was Nikujaga, and as always, Shirou cooked it better than the original. It has become a trend that after every meal, Illya was evaluating Shirou's cooking in comparison to the version she knew. Of course, she didn't know a lot of Japanese dishes, only Western ones, but in the last few weeks they did some trips to restaurants. That didn't only help her evaluating, but also enabled Shirou to steal the recipes, allowing him to cook them at home.
"I'm glad you like it. What are you planning to do tomorrow after school?"
"Hm... I need to prepare some things, but my research can't continue without the wires.. Which Asia's rescue with the appliance of my magecraft. What about you Onii-chan?"
"I will relax, so my prana reserves go up to their maximum. Would you mind if I watch you working on your new project?" Shirou rubbed the back of his head thoughtfully.
"So you want to watch me while I work on a new magecraft? Could it be that you want to steal all my well-kept secrets?" Illya asked in a faked hurt voice. She brushed away a non-existant tear under her right eye. "My brother is using my affection for his own greed.. How cruel."
Shirou looked at her in shock. "Illya, I would never do that! It's not like I could use it anyways."
"Suuuure." The small girl suddenly had a mischievous smirk on her face. "Let's make an exchange! You can watch my research and the price is you, taking me out on a date!"
"Huh?"
"Geez, Illya" She was skipping happily next to him and dragging him in direction of the church. "Slow down a bit. We still have at least one hour left.."
Shirou had wanted her to stay at home, of course. It would be too dangerous and he didn't want to risk loosing her, he had said. But she had stayed resolute, arguing that they didn't know the dangers and that she could have killed him easily during the war with her magic. He conceded to that point and Illya was glad about it. Right now, she may have been the weaker one, combat-wise, but in every other aspect of magecraft, she was by far superior. And they would need that for overcoming bounded fields and traps. She had to promise him to not take any risk, though. Not that she planned to keep that promise if he was in danger.
Suddenly, she noticed a very distressed boy running in their direction. He had brown hair and wore the same school uniform as Illya and Shirou. But the thing that caught her attention was a big hole in that uniform, as if someone had stabbed him with.
"Issei-san?" Shirou called out, causing the boy to stop and look at him. "Is everything alright? You look worried.."
"Asia.. They took Asia with them.. She ran away and I couldn't protect her.. I need to save her, need to convince Buchou.." Issei muttered under his breath.
Illya perked up at these words. "What about Asia, what happened?"
"Yuma-chan, no, Raynare kidnapped her for some ritual tonight! I have to help her!" He screamed at the two. Suddenly he noticed who he was talking too and paled a bit. "Emiya-senpai.. uh. Sorry, I have to hurry, something important came up!" With these words he sprinted away as far as he could.
Illya gave her brother a curious glance. 'Why does his fear come from?' She wondered, but that wasn't important now. He said that Asia ran away and was captured, seemingly for some ritual this night. That couldn't be good.
"Onii-chan, if he tells Rias-senpai about that, they will distract them long enough for us to make a move? What are you saying?"
"That's right. While they storm the main entrance, we will go around the back. They shouldn't be in trouble or? You said that your bounded field only counted four Fallen Angel?"
She nodded. "That's true. So, let's go!"
…
Mitelt was anxious. Raynare-sama had tasked her and her companions to guard the back entrance of the church, telling them that the devils, the devils that were an actual threat, would come from there. In her own words, 'The insect with the twice-critical couldn't even begin to understand my power' and it was very likely he would just charge in from the front entrance. And that was guarded by this crazy exorcist.. Seriously, that guy gave her the chills. She was only a hundred-twenty years old, but she was sure that only a few were as mad as him. The only thing which made him work with them was the promise of killing a lot of devils.
Well, she better didn't think too much about him. She would be thankful to the devils if they actually managed to kill them. Raynare-sama wasn't in any danger, such a mighty Fallen Angel with four wings, couldn't fall.
So why was she feeling so anxious? It wasn't because of the upcoming confrontation, they prepared enough for the heir of the Gremory clan and the thunder priestess. They might be ridiculous strong, but against three Fallen Angel wielding holy spears.. They weren't likely to win.
Her companions, Donaseek-sama and Kalawana-sama sat on a nearby tree with a relaxed expression. They had fought a lot more battles than she did, they lived through the war. Mittelt didn't like them too much, they were intimidating, not accepting any failures and punished her hard in the last few weeks. No, they weren't how she expected the Fallen Angel to be. She herself didn't fall too long ago, only 50 years have passed since then. Azazel-sama, her leader, was kind and understanding towards her, but his subordinates.. not so much.
She was loyal to Azazel-sama. That's why she followed Raynare-sama to this mission. She asked her directly if she wanted to contribute to Azazel-sama rise to glory and of course she did! So she ended up in this city, on a supposed observing mission. When did it get to this?
It started when Raynare-sama killed the young boy they were supposed to keep an eye on. He seemed unassuming, his Sacred Gear not awakened and totally unaware of anything concerning the three factions. And then Raynare-sama killed him. What's worse, he got revived and now he was their enemy. Thankfully his Sacred Gear was a weak one, a common one.
Then there were the times Fred, the mad exorcist escaped to 'have fun'. He ended up killing a family and nearly lost Asia in the process.
That girl was the latest thing Mitelt didn't feel comfortable about. Asia was a former Holy Maiden, she might have been casted out of the church, but did she deserve that? Did she deserve what Raynare-sama was going to do with her? Yes, after extracting Asia's Sacred Gear, which would kill the nun in the process, Raynare-sama would be far more powerful and valuable to Azazel-sama. But why didn't they just take the girl? Nowhere in his original orders, he ordered them to do something like that.
But Raynare-sama said that he contacted her directly with these new orders and so she followed. She followed her every order perfectly, not wanting to disappoint Azazel-sama.
She was so lost in her thoughts, that she didn't notice the subtle shift in her companions behaviour. Their relaxed stances turned to something more alert and combat-suitable. No, she only noticed something was wrong when two persons stepped in their view and they weren't the ones they expected.
"Hoh? Aren't you the two from yesterday? The ones visiting the little nun? What are you doing here?" Donaseek mocked them.
"They must be lost!" Mitelt heard Kalawana's voice through the clearing. "If you promise to run away, I will kill you painlessly." Her tone was delightful, as if she was happy about a bit of warm-up before the actual battle.
"I will have to disappoint you." The red-haired boy replied. He wore a black jeans and a leather jacket with a red T-Shirt underneath. His voice didn't shake one bit, he looked unconcerned about the killing intent her two companions emitted. "If you hand Asia over now, we will spare your lives."
The three Fallen Angel couldn't conceal their surprise. Who did he think he was? It was clear that he was a human, just like the little girl next to him. The girl had snow white hair and wore a white dress. The odd thing was that she seemed to carry around ten pounds of wires. They were slung across her tiny body, nearly covering her upper-body completely. How could a small girl carry that weight? But that didn't matter now, no. The important question was: How could they hope to compare to even a single Fallen Angel? Or were they simply mad?
Her companions must have thought the same thing, because a second later, loud laughter boomed across the clearing. "YOU want US to surrender? Hahaha! I didn't expect that!"
Suddenly the small girl spoke up, adressing her brother, but speaking loud enough for everyone to hear. "Onii-chan, you asked them to surrender and they refused. Can we kill them now? Asia is waiting!" She smiled sardonically.
Mitelt was taken aback. Who was this little girl to speak as if killing them was just a nuisance? She didn't have any more time to think about that, because Donaseek arrived at the end of his patience.
"Okay, that's enough. Just die and learn your place you pity humans!" With these words, he summoned two spears of holy light and hurled them at the odd pair.
Shirou looked at the spear without a hint of worry. They had talked about this situation beforehand and Illya was going to use her magic to block them. Of course he could have projected a few blades to intercept them, but that way he had time to use his Structural Grasp on them.
"Trace on."
Od began to pump through his magic circuits and he looked at the spears. And found out that they weren't spears at all. Just as Illya expected them to be, they were compressed holy light, harder than any steel and at the same time lighter than a dagger. And extremly deadly to everything demonic.
He couldn't replicate them or save the blueprint in his Reality Marble, he couldn't even grasp the experience of the wielder from them, because they were created only a second ago. But that was fine, because he found an important information. They weren't superior to his Noble Phantasms. All this registered in his brain in a fraction of a second. When he finished his analysis, the spears were almost upon him, but Illya activated her magic in time.
The spear was blocked by a giant bird. But not a normal bird, no. It was a giant bird, made of magical influenced wires. A homuncolous capable of defending against attacks, with the ability to act without commands from its creator. The magic of Illya's mother, Irisviel. Shirou had to admit, Illya's own magic, the small white birds who gave Rin so much trouble, were powerful enough. But this thing, it was just too much. He doubted that even he would stand a chance against a small army of them.
Confusion was written about the Fallen Angels' faces and Shirou used this lull in the battle to project his favourite swords, the ones he perfected his fighting style with. Kanshou and Bakuya, the "married" twin swords representing yin and yang.
The king of Wu had ordered Gān Jiàng to forge the imperial sword, but he couldn't think about ways to forge such a sword. Seeing his desperation, his wife Mò Yé had threwn herself into the furnance in front of her husband, because to forge swords reaching the reals of God, a human sacrifice had to be made. Grieving, he had forged two swords, but kept one in his position. When the king had found out, he had the blacksmith killed.
They weren't the strongest swords in Shirou's amory by far, but they had several advantages. For one, the tracing time was incredible low. The other advantage was the main ability of the swords. Their strong bond with each other, not only allowed them to attract each other, but it was also said that they will return to their owner even if events caused them to be lost.
"Onii-chan, I will take the jerk. He tried to take your life and deserves a punishment. Try not to take too long for killing the other two." Illya said, her cheerful personality still present in the midst of the battle.
"Hai." Shirou nodded. It was a good strategy, her birds could attack independently, enabling her to use her magecraft on top of that. Furthermore, she already ordered one of her birds in a guard position behind Shirou, so that he could concentrate more freely on one opponent at a time.
It was then, that the Fallen Angel moved. Kalawana and Donaseek both summoned spears and flew in Shirou's direction, but the male Fallen Angel was forced to retreat because of heavy magic attacks coming from the birds. Kalawana on the other hand moved in without a problem and performed an upper-hand strike aimed at his head. He swiftly brought his swords together and reflected the strike.
The force behind the blow made him slide backwards for a few meters. His arms didn't feel numb or gave away thanks to his reinforcement, but he still felt the blow. He adjusted his reinforcement, pouring more prana in the small gaps he could find, hardening his bones and muscles. The next blow was easily averted. Now that his opponent didn't have the advantage of gravitation she had after jumping from a tree and accelerating with her two black feathery wings, he could easily deflect the stab aimed at his shoulder.
He noticed that she didn't aim at a vital area. It seemed like she wanted to play around with him for a bit before killing him. He could live with that, he didn't come this far without making use of his opponent's arrogance. Paired with his sword style, it enabled him to win agaisnt opponents with higher skill.
Yes, his own sword style. Created to fight servants and beings with skills and powers far above his own. It relied on a simple tactic. He left deliberate openings in his attacks and blocks, forcing them to exploit them just like any trained fighter would. But since he created the opening, he would already know where his opponent was going to strike, allowing him to block his opponent's attacks without looking.
It was suicidal at best and just plainly stupid. But it worked. No matter how much Illya complained about it, saying he deliberately put himself in danger, she couldn't argue with the results. So he continued to use it and perfected it with Archer's memory. The ultimate technique against beings like the one he was fighting now.
Barely a few seconds passed and he already blocked two dozen strikes at his shoulders, heart, armpits, legs and stomach. His opponent's face became increasingly frustrated until she disengaged.
"Why can't I reach you? What is this? Mitelt, stop day-dreaming and help me out!" She cried with a furious voice.
"Yes, Kalawana-sama." The small Fallen Angel replied. He could see how she summoned her own spear made out of holy light and readied her wings.
He evaluated the situation. They were physically superior to him, but he was used to that. Their spears didn't reach Noble Phantasm quality, but would withstand at least ten blows. He could match their speed and strength with reinforcement, but he didn't want to use too much prana, he didn't know if they had to fight the other Fallen Angel afterwards. At least they weren't a match for his skill, he could work with that.
Deciding to stick to Kanshou and Bakuya for the moment, he threw the swords at the older Fallen Angel who dedflected them without much effort. However, that was exactly what he expected. Both of the Fallen Angel were confused, since he was apparently weaponless now and the smaller Fallen Angel who flied at him, hesitated in dealing a killing blow. That hesitation proved fatal.
Judging the path of her thrust by the movements of her shoulders, he side-stepped it by bending his upper-body to the right. He then raised his empty hands, his favourite twin swords flickering to live within them, and stabbed them in her side. The girl cried out in pain and collapsed a few meters behind him, her spear shattering after she lost the focus to maintain it.
"You.. You are full of surprises. Don't think because you defeated Mitelt, that it's easier now. She only was a hindrance anyway, following us because she thought Azazel-sama told us to do so. That gullible girl didn't even suspect that Raynare was acting out of her own accord. Ha!" She snickered. Lazily she blocked one of the magic attacks Illya's familiar was shooting at her.
"This thing has annoyed me too much. Nobody stands against the might of the Fallen Angel!" Behind her, dozens of spears of light formed, shooting at the familiar and shredding it to pieces before Shirou could react.
"Now, come and die, human."
Shirou readied his swords. "You talk too much. It's distracting." And then he rushed at her, closing the distance between them in a heartbeat.
He lashed out with Bakuya, but she summoned another spear in his way, blocking the white ebony blade. However, she was a moment to late to dodge his other blade and it drew a small line of blood across her cheek.
She growled at him, unleashing all her fury in her thrust and slashes, and Shirou was briefly forced in the defensive. He fell back into his sword style, leaving wide openings which the Fallen Angel tried to take advantage of out of reflex. He deflected them easily and met every single one of her swings.
After twenty clashes in the short span of a minute, he blocked another attack and.. the spear shattered. Looking totally confused, she wasn't able to summon another spear in time and instead jumped backwards to get away from his onslaught.
"Impressive. To hold out that long against me, you are not a normal human.. Let's end this, shall we? Show me you strongest attack!" She shouted, smiling with glee. Her whole body shivered with anticipation. He nodded. Everyone had the right to demand this, if Saber had taught him one thing, then it was pride on a battlefield. He didn't have this pride, no, but his opponents.
The red-haired magus saw her summoning another spear and smirked slightly. She was in the perfect position. He threw his second pair of swords at the feathered figure and traced his final set of twin swords.
"Spirit and technique, flawless and firm"
She blocked his swords and he rushed forwards to meet her. He looked behind her to follow the trail of the first set of swords which he head thrown nearly a minute ago.
"Our strength rips the mountains"
The older Fallen Angel followed his line of sight and paled slighty. In the last second she managed to summon to light spears in their path and deflected them again.
"Our swords split the water"
That caused her to be too late to meet his swings and Kanshou and Bakuya left a shallow cross-formed wound on her torso. She readied herself for his next attack.
"Our names reach the imperial villa"
Shirou continued to chant and slowly, the swords in his hand started to change their form. He flooded them with prana and cracks started to form. The twin swords got longer and unstable, until they were mere shards, just holding together because of the prana inbetween the pieces. Now they were broken Noble Phantasm, holding so much energy that they would explode with the slightest touch.
Normally, no one would dare to break a Noble Phantasm. It might have been the most powerful and destructive attack possible, but it came with a price – the destruction of the Noble Phantasm. It was a one-time only attack, shattering the swords and rendering them useless. On a battlefield, with only one weapon, even such a mighty attack would be useless in the end.
Thankfully, Shirou was a faker. A faker who could summon the same swords again and again, breaking them all the while. So he didn't have any regrets if he destroyed his prana constructs.
"The two of us cannot hold the heavens together."
The faker saw the look of horror on the Fallen Angel's face. His swords resembled wings now, deathly wings. She blocked the swords and they shattered, sending thousands of shards at her. She tried to fly upwards, desperation in her movements, to avoid the incoming death, but the two of the formerly thrown copies of Kanshou and Bakuya bit themselves in her shoulders, pushing her back down.
Shirou looked impassively as his opponent was torn to pieces in front of him. It was the first time he used the technic, but not the first time he saw it being used. In Archer's memories, he had seen this attack a hundred times. It was a bit disappointing really. He still couldn't reach his alternate future self, his attack would have been fast and more destructive.
He shrugged. It was useless to think about that now. He turned in the direction where he last saw Illya to see how her fight was going.
…
Illya was whistling happily. It has been a long time since she had a real opponent to fight against. She knew she had a sardistic side and it was far too long that she let it out. She hadn't needed to, in the last few weeks. After the Holy Grail war and the arrival in this new world, there were no real threats. Even those beings in school were nice. And her Onii-chan didn't like it when her eyes sparkled with malicious intent.
Now however, he was busy defending against two Fallen Angel. So he wouldn't notice her change in personality and if she played around with her prey for a bit. Finally, she could drop her cheerful school personality. She liked to be happy and to act the age she was looking. But it was just a part of her and not all of her.
Like most magi, Illya had developed several personalities. Magic was performed by hypnotizing oneself, and most of the times that was followed by a change of character. She had three personalities right now, the cheerful little girl, the more mature woman stuck in a girl's body (she only used that one around Shirou) and her sardistic battle personality.
She knew that Shirou had four personalities. One normal one, the kind and gentle boy who helped everyone as best as he could, a battle one, in which he analyzed every single detail, progressed the information and executed the most effective course of action. In this personality he surpressed his emotions, didn't hesitate to kill and most importantly, actived his Eye of the Mind (false). His other two personalities were an analytical one for performing standard thaumaturgy and, most surprisingly, a cooking personality.
She shook her head at the last one, that was just too much like him to develop his own personality for cooking.. She giggled. A loud voice focussed her attention back to the battle.
"What are you laughing at little girl?! As soon as I finish with your little birds, I will torture you until you can't stop screaming!" The Fallen Angel shouted at her. He was currently busy with dodging the magic attacks of her bird-familiars.
She had used all the wires she had with her to construct four hawk-like familiars. She could theoretically create and control more, but only half of the wires she ordered online had arrived in time. So she had to make do with what she had.
Illya ordered her familiars to circle the flying Fallen Angel and to intercept if he started to fly in her direction. For a minute she looked on with a smile as he tried to defend himself against the onslaught of small magical attacks. Then she saw that he had enough and was seriously furious now. That was good, it would lead him to make mistakes.
He lashed out at the nearest bird and cleanly cut it in two. The magic-controlled wires fell down uselessly. Her smile didn't falter one bit. Everything was going as she had planned it. The man roared and summoned dozens of light spears around him, shooting down two of her familiars, until only one was remaining.
He smiled fiercly. "Now you are defenseless. It was fun, little girl, but that's it for you."
"Then come if you think you can beat me. Stop running away you coward." Her smile widened and she saw how it only caused the Fallen Angel to become more furious. He flapped his wings and accelerated straight towards her. After crossing half the distance between them in an instant, the last familiar blocked his way. He lashed out against it.
This time, his spear didn't hit. Right in front of his eyes, the bird lost his form and the magic-powered wires hang loosely in the air for a second. Only to bind him a moment later. He was unable to use his wings and his hands were bound to his side.
The small homuncolous happily reached to her hair with her right hand.
"Degen."
Four strands of hair started to glow and formed four small swords, waiting for her command to shoot at the enemy. She saw the Fallen Angel's eyes widen in fear and gave him one last wave, before he commanded her hair-swords to kill him.
"That's for trying to hurt my Onii-chan!"
…
Illya happily skipped to her brothers side. The fight wasn't too exciting or hard, but it was a good test for her new Mystic Code. She saw him using Crane Wing Three Realms and frowned a bit at the sight. Wasn't that totally overkill?
She saw him looking in her direction and waved. "Onii-chan! Did you finally finish?" She asked with a teasing smile.
"Yeah.. You know, I had two opponents, so technically I was faster then you." He smirked at her.
"Pff, only because I decided to play around a bit." She pouted and smiled inwardly at seeing his slight blush. He couldn't withstand her cute pout, yay!
They stopped bantering when they heard a painful groan behind them. Illya looked at the small Fallen Angel who was loosing a lot of blood from a deep wound in her side.
"Onii-chan, that one isn't quite dead.. Do you want me to finish it?" She shot a curious look at her brother.
"Wait, Illya. From what I gathered she was decieved by the others and didn't attack me until she was ordered to.. I think we can use her otherwise."
Illya glared at him, releasing a bit of killing intent and saw him shivering. She smiled at him dangerously and replied with a very sweet voice. "Use her otherwise? Just what is Onii-chan thinking, I wonder? I always thought you weren't a pervert.."
Shirou gulped. "W-what? No, t-that's not it! I-I was thinking about sending her back as messenger! That's the truth!"
"Hm, that would work. If we patch her up and send her to this Azazel guy, we could tell him through her that these guys" She pointed at the two dead Fallen Angel. "were doing some stuff behind his back. Furthermore, she saw that we know how to protect ourselves and it's not like we used anything flashy.." She rubbed her chin in thought.
"You! Do you understand me?" She directed her question at the shivering Fallen Angel on the ground who nodded once.
"Good. As soon as we healed you a bit, you are going to contact this Azazel and tell him about what happened. Also, tell him that this city is now under our protection, so he should better not try anything funny!"
After making the small Fallen Angel repeat her words, Shirou cut in. "What is your name then?"
"M-Mitelt.." Her fearful voice was barely audible over the the wind in the trees in the background.
"I am Shirou and this is Illya. Nice to meet you, Mitelt-san, I hope you live up to our expectations!" He smiled at her kindly and Mitelt stopped shivering for a moment. She looked at him in wonder and continued to do so even when Illya started to heal her wounds.
...
After taking care of the last Fallen Angel and sending her on her way, the two now slightly bloodstained siblings continued their advance to the church. Only to stop and look in wonder, as an unconcious Fallen Angel shattered the window and landed right in front of their feet.
"Now, that's a surprise. Onii-chan, what do you say? Why don't we bring this.." Illya pointed at the unconcious Fallen Angel at their feet. "..with us and see if they want to have it back?" Shirou chuckled at her words. That was the last Fallen Angel they detected so that meant Issei had suceeded in rescuing Asia. Relief flooded through him and he smiled at the small girl.
"Why not, I am sure they would welcome the gesture. And since we revealed ourselves to the Fallen Angel, the others should be informed as well. How about an introduction?"
…
Rias Gremory was confused. Okay, the plan went well, but it went way too well to be true. They didn't even encounter the other three Fallen Angel they were told about. Right after Issei left to save Asia, Akeno and her teleported to meet some allied Fallen Angel. They told them about Raynare's actions which were against her orders of a simple observation and who she was with. Three other Fallen Angel should have been with her. But they couldn't find a trace of them now, her detection spell coming out blank.
She just hoped they fled the scene after hearing about their assault on the church and left Raynare behind. The other thing that went great was the matter of Issei and Asia. Issei unlocked the next stage of his Sacred Gear, the Welsh Dragon. With this he was now able to double his power every ten seconds, making him incredible strong over time. And all it took was Asia's death!
Of course she was going to resurrect her, her Sacred Gear once they got it back from Raynare, would prove invaluable. The power to heal devils was extremly rare. Additionally, she wouldn't object to living as a devil because of her friendship with Issei.
Now, Issei just punched Raynare unconcious and she unintentionally flew through a window, they had to get her back so they could transfer the Sacred Gear again.
"Koneko, would you be so nice to fetch her?" She asked with a smile. Koneko nodded and went outside.
While they waited, she comforted Issei who sobbed over Asia's dead body. The poor boy really went through a lot today, he was at his end, physically and mentally.
It was then that Koneko entered the church again, wearing a concerned expression on her normally emotionless face.
"Koneko? What is wrong? Where is Raynare?" Her tone was equally concerned. For Koneko to show her emotions that open, something must have happened. Did Raynare wake up and fled? That couldn't be!
Koneko turned her head and looked outside. "Illya-san and Shirou-senpai have her."
Everyone froze at these words. Akeno lost her usual smile, her mouth opening slightly in shock. Kiba stumbled from where he was standing and nearly fell down. Even Issei looked up from where he was sitting with a confused expression.
True to Koneko's words, moments later the door opened fully and Illya stepped through it, wearing a happy smile. Behind her trailed Shirou, carrying Raynare like a sack of potatoes on his right shoulder. They were dressed oddly, instead of their usual school uniforms that all of the Occult Research Club members wore, Shirou wore a black and red outfit and Illya a cute white dress. But the most eye-catching thing were on their clothes – a few bloodstains on Illya's dress and a lot of blood on Shirou's clothes.
Illya waved at them. "Hey~! We found this outside and thought that you may want it back!~" She sung the last part in a cute and innocent voice.
That unnerved Rias more than the whole battle she had been in before. "Illya-san? Shirou-san? What are you doing here? Where did all this blood come from?"
They looked down at themselves, as if they only noticed that now. Shirou openend his mouth to answer, but Illya cut him off. "You know, Onii-chan and I were just trying to visit Asia and ran into these three scaaary Fallen Angel. So we killed them and came to help Asia's rescue."
Her non-chalant tone set everyone at edge. Rias saw Shirou tensing up slightly, but then he rolled his eyes. "Really, Illya, stop that. We heard about Issei's plan and wanted to ensure its success. So we took out the Fallen Angel." Next to her, Rias heard a sharp intake of breath.
"You took out three Fallen Angel by yourselves? That can't be true, you are humans! And young students on top of that." Kiba yelled in disbelieve. Only exorcists could hope to achieve something like that and even they would be hard pressed to fight one Fallen Angel alone, no matter how weak it was. For them to do so without even receiving wounds was imposssible.
"Ah, well. You see, Onii-chan and I are not particular normal." Illya giggled. "Now, where is Asia? We want to make sure she is alright, after all, we owe her quite a bit!"
At that, Rias peerages' gazes turned to look where Issei was sitting with Asia in his arms.
…
Shirou followed the others line of view and found himself looking at Issei, Asia in his arms, sobbing silently. He only needed one glance to see the sad truth – Asia was dead. He was too late again, he couldn't save the people close to him. This girl saved his live without asking anything in return and he had let her die!
He hang his head low in resignation. His hands clenched to fists, not caring about his nails digging into them. The only reason they didn't draw blood was because of Avalon healing them faster than he could damage them. Again. Someone died, and he couldn't save her. He might have discarded his ideals, but Asia, she was a friend, one of the few people he swore to protect no matter what. And now she was dead.
He barely registered when Illya hugged him, her own eyes wet with coming tears. He didn't notice how Illya took his hand into her own, trying to comfort him. He didn't even notice how they woke up Raynare again, extracting the Sacred Gear and planting it back in Asia. Why would he notice? It was pointless, she was dead and there was nothing to change about that. At least they killed this 'Raynare' who had killed her.
But what he did notice was the word "revive". He remembered then. Issei had died before, and was resurrected as one of Rias' species. And he seemed to be his normal self, no sign of mind control or other things. It was as if he had never died.
He could see that Illya perked up at these words as well.
"..revive?" He muttered and he saw everyone turning to him. "What exactly does that mean? Which species do you even belong?" His voice rose with every word, until he nearly screamed the last ones.
"Ara, Shirou-san. You defeated these Fallen Angel without even knowing what we are?" Akeno's usual smile returned, wider than normally.
"What Akeno wants to say, we are devils." Similar to a well-practiced performance, Akeno, Kiba, Koneko and Rias spread their wings behind them. They didn't look similar to the Fallen Angel' ones, instead of black feathers they were bat-like.
Shirou and Illya tensed up, but Rias ignored them and continued. "We can revive a person up to 30 minutes after their death and add them to our peerage. They would then answer to me as their master." The siblings tensed up even more. That sounded awfully similar to the Holy Grail war..
"But you don't have to worry. I know what you are thinking now.. Isn't that the same like slavery? That's not true! They keep their free-will and the only difference from before are the abilities and duties of a devil. No, a peerage is a family, it's more like adoption." She smiled at the two.
Shirou was speechless. Could that be? A devil talking about family.. That's not something you see every day. "..Do it then. But if she prefers to be dead instead of living as a devil, I will kill her." His hardend gaze turned to the crimson-haired beauty. Illya looked up to her brother and squeezed his hand. He was going through a lot of emotions right now and he knew she would support him in his decision. That's all she could do for him.
"Fine." Rias walked over to Asia's corpse and knelt down. She grabbed inside her school uniform and took out a red Bishop piece. After inserting it into Asia's chest with a blinding red glow, the girl started to breath again.
"…Ise-san?" Issei hugged the girl to his chest. Slowly Illya and Shirou walked up to the two.
"Shirou-san? Illya-san? What are you doing here? What's going on?"
It was Illya who spoke up. "To make it short: You died because neither Shirou and me nor Issei-san was fast enough. This girl over there" She lazily pointed at Rias who waved awkwardly at her. "revived you as a devil so you can join her peerage. You now have the chance to live as a devil or die."
Her shocked look caused Shirou to glare at his sister. He knew that she was impatient and wanted to get this over with, but that's no reason to be so rude. But she only shrugged and sent him a look that said 'You would have said the same with different words, so what?' Their attention was turned back to the blonde nun who spoke up.
"Uhm.. I.. As long as I can be with Ise-san, I am happy. He is my only friend!"
Shirou saw the boy tearing up and he himself let out a happy sigh. He would have hated to kill her if she prefered that. He knew it was hypocritical to save people even though they didn't want to be saved, but Asia was a friend. And a friend had the right to choose their fate. Everyone had. He would have argued with her, of course, if she wanted to die, but if she was really that against living as a devil he would have had no other choice. Especially considering her existence before was the ant-thesis to being a devil.
He saw Illya looking a bit annoyed. "Asia, don't forget, we are your friends as well!" She then took Shirou's hand and started to drag him outside. Before she reached the door, she turned around and looked at the devils who were smiling happily at Asia.
"We are going to talk about that tomorrow, aren't we? And then you better explain some things."