Chapter 4~Immortalized

The blue haired ghoul stood still in shock. Eyepatch was still alive, even when he was radioed that the half ghoul was absolutely eradicated by Arima. Now here he is, with a completely different aura as well as finally not reeking like a female ghoul. Something like that doesn't simply happen in one night. The twinge of human the young man had was completely replaced as far as the Black Rabbit could see. Plus there is this mysterious girl standing next to Kaneki as well, who had an aroma like nothing any ghoul had a whiff of before, in other words, something that looked human, that isn't human.

Kirishima was the only Aogiri executive to stay back from the raid, and he decided that the main base was far from safe if the CCG manage to capture anyone. Kaneki actually was the only ghoul survivor of the battle that he met so far, he hasn't talked to anyone else that took part ever since the radio had its transmission suddenly cut off. He discarded he device and went around the streets for somewhere to hide out at, because he heard that the main base for his former organization was heavily raided right after he left. He felt extremely lucky to have escaped from the situation.

What he came across was the apartment that Hinami was hunkering down in, and had an encounter for its current sole occupant. When he confronted her, he found that she was also rather stranded, with everyone in Anteiku likely having bitten the dust. She was the first ghoul that he has seen alive since that day. Since going all by his lonesome, even if he admits that Hinami will be annoying until she gets a hang of how to act more mature, would be a worse idea than pairing up, even if its temporary to escape Tokyo.

So imagine his surprise, when this Centipede bastard showed up without a scratch on him with some stranger that smells absolutely suspicious, along with some logically unexplainable physical changes. So his first response was rather understandable.

"Excuse me, what the fuck?"

Kaneki simply stared back stoically, giving off an intense 'no bullshit' vibe. Sona also noticeably went on guard when Kaneki managed to recognize someone, and from his tone and matter of speech, she knows for sure he wasn't exactly a friend. She then wracked her mind for who it could be based on her familiar's observations, and found it to be that 'Black Rabbit' ghoul from Aogiri, the younger brother of one of Kaneki's close friends. She didn't know how he'd react predictably since he gives off mixed signals most of the time. The dead cold voice her queen spoke in next stopped her in her train of thought however.

"Do you want to answer my question, or do you want all of your bones to be broken this time?"

Asked Kaneki threateningly of the younger ghoul, who visibly recoiled both from the memory, as well as the boosted up aura of white haired hybrid. He swears to his life it was even more oppressing than that of the One Eyed Owl. Now that is what truly scared him about Kaneki at the moment, he could already annihilate Ayato with ease, but now it would be with a mere flick of the finger. Furthermore, this came out of a day after the half ghoul's 'death'. Ayato's sense of self preservation won over his anxiety and answered back directly, though lacking the usual hot blooded tone her carried.

"I met Hinami a while after the destruction of the Aogori base, and since the organization likely died, and anyone affiliated with Anteiku was either dead or escaped themselves, we decided it's best to pair up for now to escape from Tokyo."

Before Kaneki or Sona could properly formulate a response, a certain young brunette rushed out of the abandoned apartment, carrying several bags for travel, though that would've been a bad idea for a quick getaway. The three people on the street in front of the building looked at her as she starred in shock.

"Nii-chan? Ayato-san? And whose that?"

Hinami questioned as she was rather confused by the situation. Her strong sense of smell could definitely distinguish that the white haired ghoul was Kaneki, but he also reeked of something completely foreign, and he no longer smelled like Rize either. Why Ayato was there with Kaneki, she can't really place a finger on it. While that, girl, she wasn't human at all, but neither was she a ghoul or even a half ghoul, what's going on?

"Hinami."

Addressed the half-ghoul to her with a smile, it's been too long since he's seen his pseudo sister. Well, at least it felt like it. The air immediately grew more lax around him as Kaneki's mood went up from seeing her.

"Hinami."

Responded the blue haired young man in relief. He legitimately was saying his last prayer before she arrived. If anyone can defuse this situation it was her, the last heartstring of Eyepatch who can get him to cool down.

Sona simply didn't respond. She looked up towards where the girl was standing with a neutral expression, studying the ghoul under her stern gaze. This made the young girl targeted by the bespectacled violet eyes a bit nervous, but looking at how Kaneki was standing close to the young woman, her mind relented the fearful suspicion. If her big brother, in his current state, can trust that person, then Hinami will give them the benefit of the doubt. While the devil remembered her as Hinami Fueguchi, the adoptive younger sister of Kaneki. If her having scouted them all out for months on end wasn't a clue, then Fueguchi calling Kaneki 'nii-chan' certainly was.

The Sitri heiress sighed slightly as she finally spoke up ever since she and her first peerage member arrived in front of the apartment.

"We can explain Kaneki's and the ghouls' current situation inside the apartment. Trust me when I say that you would want to hear what is said."

At that the two newcomers were struck. Hinami was the first to relent, dragging her things back inside the apartment. Ayato stood contemplating for a minute before cursing under his breath and following soon after. The High-Class Devil smiled lightly at that before following as well, along with Kaneki in tow who kept quiet. Hethen smiled lightly to himself, knowing he won't be the only one suffering from the hell that was Sona's lectures.

The two ghouls felt like they've been killed and revived multiple times from Sona telling them how she met Kaneki, the supernatural world, and the truth about ghouls. Ayato was quick to voice "Bullshit" when she started on the middle topic, but her exposing her devil wings and making a magic circle to blast him with a small amount of water that knocked him out of his chair, quickly corrected the reaction.

When she finished off with explaining on how she can unlock their ultimate abilities as a species if they were to be reincarnated into devils, Ayato jumped in quickly for the power, and Hinami simply wanted to be with her big brother figure, so reluctantly also agreed afterwords. Kaneki then finally closed his book, the Hanged Man McGuffin, and joined the three others in the main room. Cracking his finger, he sat next to his king, sighing tiredly as he proceeded to talk to her.

"So when is your sister able to turn us?" Asked Kaneki as Sona finished putting a knight piece into Ayato, and three pawns into Hinami, along with the extremely short ritual that came with it.

Sona responded with a sigh and turned to him. "I don't know. She's still angry that my first peerage member is a male as far as I know, might get even worse if she finds out you're the queen. I could try to use my magic circle to contact her, but I haven't invested any time in learning her signature for personal reasons, and haven't become advanced enough to simply contact anyone. I guess that's the first thing I'll pour my time into other than my family power and strategy."

She rubbed her temple with her hand, trying to figure something out. With one final exhale, she decided on a new course of action.

"I'm going to contact my friend Rias, she can then forward my location to Serafall. Sit tight."

Said Sona as she left into the adjoining room, leaving Kaneki with his fellow ghouls.

Ayato has something eating at him ever since he saw Kaneki, and decided now was the time to voice it. "What happened to my sister?"

Said the Kirishima, trying to avoid adding any emotions to his tone as he said it. When he saw Eyepatch's eyes widen and then drop in utter sorrow, he already has gotten his answer. Black Rabbit's hand slammed into the table, almost breaking it, the short burst of anger let out on the inanimate object led way to sadness as a few tear drops escaped the ghoul.

Kaneki felt extreme guilt at the sight, and he himself wasn't much better off having lost Touka, so he soon also joined in on the wetworks along with Hinami. She had obvious reasons to grieve, losing someone else she viewed as family dealt a huge blow to her heart.

As the three reincarnated devils poured their hearts out on the old coffee table in the other room, Sona held a small blue magic circle to the left side of her face, speaking into it.

"Rias, I'm calling in for the favor you owe me." Said the Sitri heiress curtly as the red haired devilish the other end chuckled and then replied.

"Oho, so what do you need me to do then Sona?" Sona thanked Satan that the Gremory wasn't asking weird questions or doing anything of that sort, this will be making the whole ordeal more bearable.

"Tell my sister to come and find me right now, I need her for something important regarding my first few peerage members." Sona then realized her mistake of mentioning too many details as Rias gasped in surprise.

"Wow and I never thought you'd actually get a peerage miss picky!" Teased the Princess of Ruin as she laughed at her long time friend, who on the other end was growing embarrassed.

"Be quiet Rias! It was a strategic decision to wait for the best candidates!" Answered the Blue King in a bid of desperation to get the Power of Destruction user to hold their tongue.

Thankfully, it worked. "Whatever you say, Sona, I'll go ahead and let your sister know, can't wait to meet your new peerage soon. They would have to be extremely powerful or smart to have caught your eye."

Sona sighed in relief as she closed the magic circle, not having to deal with her friend teasing her anymore. Sona was a bit envious of Rias's luck with servants, seriously, a fallen angel cadre's daughter, a nekoshou, a dhaphimir with a powerful sacred gear, and a Holy Sword Project Survivor all fall into her lap just like that. Next thing you know and she'll have one of the dragon emperors in her peerage!

She walked back into the main room just to see all her retainers cry their hearts out. Considering all they lost the last few days, she wasn't surprised. However, it was an extremely uncomfortable sight for her. She let them at it for another minute before she cleared her throat to catch their attention. The three grew to be embarrassed and hid their faces in the predicament. Meanwhile Sona shook her head and moved to the center of the room.

Holding out her right hand, a large dark blue magic circle formed over the ground, beginning to spin slowly as it expelled a misty aura. The three ghouls looked in confusion and stopped hiding their faces. At that, Sona responded without turning any part of her towards them.

"This magic circle is for creating a bounded field styled by my clan, so only my servants, in that case you three, myself, and my relatives can enter it."

Kaneki immediately relented, walking to go grab his book again. Hinami wiped her left over tears as well as she followed Kaneki, wanting her older brother to teach her more words from his literature. Ayato slouched back into his chair and started taking a nap, the emotional and mental exhaustion finally catching up with the ghoul. Sona decided to amplify her concentration on her magic, the sigil on the ground spinning rapidly before freezing and lighting up. At that the devil stepped away and went over to the lone bookshelf Kaneki put into the main room.

She took the book that caught her eye first, 'The Black Goat's Egg' and cracked it open. As soon as she read the first sentence, she could tell why her new queen loved the author so much, she could tell the affection he had for the writer from all the copies of their books stocking the shelves. She truly smiled at the sight.

Alright, obviously this chapter came later than all the others because of a Satan named school.

However, this also gave me the chance to properly plan this out way more, having gotten ideas over the last few weeks on how to properly construct the world.

Now I have thought over some things, and obviously Ayato is joining the peerage as a knight, Ukaku types focus on speed so it will make him even more of a fast boi if we give him a knight piece.

Kaneki has some physical changes thanks to his reincarnation, what does that exactly mean for our artificial ghoul? Who knows. I know, and you guys don't know yet until the next chapter comes.

Until next time.