2 Days since resurrection

'Demonic power is bullshit,' Taylor thought as she looked at the intricate circle laid out in front of her.

The thought had become something of a mantra for Taylor over the last hour that Rias had been explaining what had changed in Taylor now that she was a devil. As a power fueled by the imagination, its applications seemed limited only by the amount of it one possessed. To top it off a person's reserves could be increased through training.

In addition, a form of mathematics could be applied to demonic power, allowing for the user to cut down on the amount necessary to achieve specific effects. The circle that Rias was creating right now was a transportation circle. A common means of teleportation, which Rias then demonstrated by sending herself to the far side of the garden.

As Rias began walking back over to her, Taylor's eyes drifted to the metal target that had been set up before they had arrived. As she looked over the scorch marks that had been created by the small fireball Rias had thrown in one of her earlier demonstrations, Taylor contemplated a single question: 'Where were they during the battle with Scion?'

So far, Rias had demonstrated the equivalent of mover and blaster capabilities, in addition to the trump aspect she had from granting these powers to Taylor, as well as whatever rating the PRT would stick her with for resurrecting the dead. Cauldron would have slaughtered nations for access to this, especially if Rias and Lucifer hadn't been lying and there was an entire species with these abilities. Contessa's path could apparently predict them, given that she'd dumped Taylor here after the battle, so why hadn't they been there? The only solution Taylor could come up with was that something in this reality had scared Scion enough to lock it off, and wasn't that just the most comforting thought.

Rias arrived back at her side and continued her lecture. "The last aspect of demonic power is bloodline powers." She stretched out an arm in front of her, palm upwards. "These are abilities that cannot be learned or duplicated by any means; they must be inherited. As an example, I inherited the Power of Destruction from my mother."

As Rias finished, a ball of pure darkness that reminded Taylor of Brian's power appeared over her palm. She shifted and took aim at the target, and the ball flew forth, expanding as it did so. Taylor watched as the ball enveloped the target. When it disappeared, it left nothing behind.

She mentally upped Rias's blaster rating half dozen ranks and resolved to be very careful about how far she pushed her luck with Lucifer. Taylor glanced at Rias, who had an expression brimming with curiosity that Taylor had already learned to associate with an upcoming question about her past.

"So, what's your ability? I know you don't like discussing your past, but as a member of my peerage you'll be participating in ratings games, so I need to know what it is you can do." Rias spoke in a tone that made it obvious that she had been practicing the request.

Taylor crossed her arms, "What makes you think I have an ability?"

In response, Rias showed her a pair of puppy dog eyes that probably deserved a master rating. "Please tell me, it's important that we trust each other at least that much. It took my queen to revive you; you have too much potential to not have some type of power."

Taylor decided to acquiesce. She would need to tell Rias eventually anyway, and this would help buy some trust. Still, it paid to be underestimated, at least at first, so a small demonstration should suffice. Luckily, her power was never one that sounded impressive.

She reached out to some butterflies that were floating lazily in the garden, summoning them to fly in a small circle above the palm of her hand. She looked at Rias and explained, "I can control insects."

Rias's eyes went wide. "That's amazing! No one has had that ability since the death of the original Beelzebub. How do you do it? I didn't sense any magic from you. Do you have a Sacred Gear?"

Taylor, rather taken aback, responded, "It isn't that impressive."

Rias spoke in a somewhat stunned voice, "During the Great War, Beelzebub would unleash massive swarms of locusts, destroying the crops of humans allied with heaven and the Grigori, not to mention using them for intelligence gathering. His death was considered one of the largest strategic losses we suffered during the war."

Taylor's reaction to this was split. It seemed downplaying her power would be difficult, since people would associate it with a famously powerful figure. On the upside, getting a reputation as an opponent not to be trifled with would be easier. She made a note to look into Beelzebub. Learning how he used his swarm would allow her to better build off of his reputation.

As always, what Taylor needed was more information. Speaking of which... "What's a Sacred Gear?"

"You've never heard of them? I though you would have, since I'd never heard of the portal you fell out of after you…" Rias cut herself off abruptly, looking flustered, before moving on, "Anyway, Sacred Gears are artifacts created by God and implanted in certain humans at birth, granting them special abilities. Most of their wielders have gone on to become very influential people. I've never heard of one that grants control over insects before, but I'm hardly an authority on the matter."

Artifacts implanted in people by a god granting them special abilities. The idea was unsettlingly reminiscent of Scion. Still, it was convenient. It gave her a ready excuse for her power that would not raise too many eyebrows.

As Rias finished talking, she began leading them out of the garden. "Come on, lunch should be ready soon. You can ask any more questions you have while we eat."

6 days since resurrection

Taylor felt a brief moment of disorientation as her mind instantly connected to the surrounding insects. It seemed she could add transportation circles to her list of teleportation methods that were painful with her powers. Considering they were apparently the preferred method of transportation for devils, she was going to need to find a way to minimize the disorientation.

Shaking off the effect, Taylor began to take in her surroundings. She was standing on a small raised platform in the middle of a city. She was obviously in the downtown area with skyscrapers lining the streets. It would have reminded her of Brockton Bay but for one key difference: where her home city's downtown had been a façade built up to hide the city's decay, this one was genuine.

Within her entire range there was near constant activity, people moving around and going about their daily lives. Even the areas that weren't currently occupied showed the tell tale signs of use. She couldn't find a single abandoned building in her entire range. It was clear that this city was doing better than any she had seen on Earth Bet.

The other obvious difference between here and the cities she was used to was the presence of air traffic. Quite a number of people seemed to be flying to their destinations instead of just walking. There was also the amount of demonic power she was sensing. The entire area was saturated with it, to the point that she was sure she would be unable to pick out the individual auras without her passenger helping out with the multitasking. All in all, it was the most compelling argument Taylor had yet encountered for the devils being a species like Rias had said.

As she left the platform, Rias grabbed her hand and started guiding her down one of the streets. They had come to the city to resolve a minor issue Taylor had been having: clothing. She'd been getting by with borrowing clothes from one of the servants, but she needed some of her own. When she had asked Rias about acquiring some, Rias had insisted on making a day trip of it and taking Taylor to the city for some shopping.

Apparently reaching their destination, Rias came to a stop. Taylor looked into the windows of the shop she had been dragged to and saw mannequins wearing some of the most extravagant gowns she had ever seen. Above the door was a sign declaring the name of the store to be Glamour.

Taylor glanced at Rias, saying, "When I said I needed clothing, this wasn't what I meant."

Rias smiled back. "We'll get to that. We need to stop here first since it'll be a custom order, and the measurements they take will be useful for the rest of the shopping anyway."

"That still doesn't explain why you think I'll need a dress like one of these."

Rias replied in that lecturing tone she seemed to use whenever Taylor asked any questions about devil society. "As my Queen, it's expected that you will accompany me to any social events I attend. As for this dress in particular, it's because we're hosting a small party at the Gremory Estate in a couple of weeks, and you'll be publicly introduced there."

Before Taylor could reply, Rias opened the door to the shop and pulled her inside. Upon entering, a woman appearing to be in her late twenties walked out of a back room to greet them. She looked at Taylor, her eyes lingering on her clothes, before saying, "If you are here to pick up a delivery, you should have come in the back."

Rias seemed to ignore the implied insult, responding, "She's here for a fitting. Taylor, this is Eliza Fay; she's the best seamstress in the city. Eliza, this is Taylor Hebert, my Queen."

Upon seeing Rias, Eliza's eyes went wide for an instant before a practiced smile appeared upon her face. "Miss Gremory. It is good to see you. Miss Hebert, is it? If you would both come with me to the back, we can get started."

"Well that was fun!" Taylor looked up from the remains of her food and across the table of the diner at Rias, who had a big smile on her face. "I always wanted to just go out shopping with a friend."

Taylor smiled back. The day had been fun. At least it had been after she ditched the servant from the estate that had been tailing them. After leaving Glamour, Rias had been true to her word, and they had gone and picked up a practical wardrobe for Taylor to wear. It had been years since the last time she'd been able to take a day to relax, and Rias was easy company to keep. It reminded her of the first shopping trip she took with the Undersiders all those years ago.

"You've never done this before? You certainly seemed to know your way around the district."

"It is not that I haven't been out shopping before, it's that when I did so in the past, I was always sent out with my family's servants to protect me." Well, that explained the tail. Her tone dropped some as she continued, "It was nice to get a chance to go out as Rias rather than the heir of Gremory."

Taylor tilted her head in contemplation"I had a friend once...her parents viewed her as nothing but a resource to be used for their own profit. I've seen the way you interact with your parents; trust me when I say you're not having the same issue as her. They're just concerned because of your age. Give them some time, and they'll give you more freedom. There are worse things than having your parents pay too much attention to what's going on in your life."

Taylor got up out of the booth and Rias got up to meet her, surprising Taylor with a hug. "Thank you for sharing," she said softly. Rias let go and grabbed her hand. "Let's go back home."

A/N: Thanks to my beta GlassGirlCeci it would be impossible to overstate the amount of an improvement this chapter undergone with her help. This chapter has had more rewrites than the other three combined. It has had entirely different events, Akeno showed up in one draft, each of the three sections waere written from Rias' perspective at one point, and it used to end where my next chapter will since I decided to add more details and split that chapter off onto its own. Overall it has been a massive pain and I am still not completely happy with the finished product, though if we waited until I was I would actually post it shortly after the Earth was enveloped by the Sun.

Thank you all for your interest and as always criticism is welcome.