Chapter 7: Home

Issei and Sona were seated on opposite sides of a chess board. With Issei seated behind the black pieces while Sona was seated behind the white pieces.

"Since you suggested the game Sona I will allow you to make the first move" Issei told her as he waited for her to move. Sona responded in kind and moved her furthest left pawn forward two spaces. Issei then moved his left knight to C6.

-an hour later-

Sona wore a shocked expression on her face. While it had seemingly looked like a close match Issei had just suddenly checked mated her without much effort. She had been outsmarted in chess, a game in which she took pride in her ability to win. Issei packed up the board while Sona tried to comprehend what had just happened.

"Looks like the engagement is still on. Issei the assets are land are now in your name. You can head there now if you wish" Lord Sitri stated which snapped Sona out of her gaze.

"Sona will be going with you as I would like her to see the Valefor estate before she heads back to the Human realm." Lord Sitri added as he headed back up to his office.

"Now Sona I know how you must feel but did you know that I was engaged to your father and I hated my family because of it but he grew on me and I'm sure Issei will have that effect on you and I know he will protect you as well." Lady Sitri stated as she engulfed her daughter in a hug. Lady Sitri knew that because of Issei's dragon nature that he would protect Sona as dragons protect things they own. "Now dear you better catch up to Issei before he gets too far away"

"y-yes mum" Sona answered as she headed to follow Issei who had just about left through the front door.

They walked for a while in an awkward silence till they had left the Sitri estate ground. Issei turned around to face Sona who had walked along with her head down most of the way.

"Sona I know you didn't have a choice in this arrangement but I promise you now that I'll be there for you, you are a part of the family now and I look out for those in my family" Issei told her as he ruffled her hair before he continued walking towards where his family estate was located. Sona put a hand up to where Issei hand had been with a blush on her cheeks.

'Did he mean what he said?' Sona questioned herself before she smiled slightly. Maybe being engaged to Issei wouldn't be that bad. She just had to manage to inform her sister of that the fact that it succeeded and she was not all that keen on that.

It took them about 2 hours of walking to reach the start of the Valefor territory. As they reached the gate of the estate Issei bought up his hand and channelled some of his magic into the gate, which in turn caused the gate to open to allow them in. As they walked through the estate grounds, Sona, along with Asia and Brynhildr admired the beauty of the environment around them. Issei looked around with a soft smile on his face. The last time he had seen his family home was when it was in ruins after the Old Satan faction had attacked his home and attempted to weaken the Anti-Satan faction by destroying one of the estates that housed them. They hadn't succeeded but it had cost Issei his father, who died protecting some of the civilians housed in the house. Issei didn't even see the body of his father as it was nowhere to be found around the estate.

"Here we are, my home" Issei informed the girls as they arrived at the front of the Valefor Mansion.

"Ah Issei your finally here" A familiar voice called out as Issei was tackled by a pink magic girl.

"Evening Serafall, aren't you supposed to be working?" Issei asked her as he returned her hug before he pulled away from her.

"Well I am but I came to see you settle in" Serafall chirped with a big smile.

"Oh hello So-tan, if you're here then that means you lost" Serafall added as her smile faltered only for a couple of seconds before it turned into a sly grin.

"y-yes I lost..." Sona confirmed as she backed away slowly from her sister as that grin was making her scarred.

"Well just so you know I will be his main girl and I'll fight for that position in more ways than one" Serafall stated as she winked to Sona which caused the poor girl to go red in the face from embarrassment as well as make Asia blush lightly while Brynhildr remained with a neutral expression. Issei just sighed as he walked into the house to a familiar sight.

"You should get ready for more girls to compete for your affection, after all dragons attract women, strong allies but also strong enemies" Ddraig told Issei as Issei walked around the house as the girls followed him.

After showing Asia, Brynhildr to their rooms and leaving Sona with Serafall in the lounge room, which might have been a bad idea, Issei made is way up a hill nearby which had a lone tree on the peak of it. Once Issei made it to the top of the hill he looked down at the two graves that were under the tree. The graves marked where his mother had been buried and also where they had marked his father's grave, even though they didn't have a body to bury.

"Hey mum and old man. It's been quite some time since I've been up here. I just wanted you to know that I am doing well and that I'm back. I will keep the families' legacy going and I'll make you both proud of me." Issei stated as he took in the view from up on the hill. The view was perfect and he had spent a lot of time up here with his father and mother when they had been alive as a family.

-With Sona and Serafall-

"So So-tan where are you staying?" Serafall asked slyly

"I-I'll be heading back to the Human world tonight" Sona stuttered as she blushed softly.

"Oh so you're not going to snuggle up to him tonight then" Serafall teased with the sly grin still on her face.

"We-we were just engaged 3 hours ago…It's-it's too soon for that" Sona stuttered again much to her sister's amusement.

"Aw sounds like your missing out, after all his body heat is quite warm and comforting" Serafall stated with a smile on her face.

"H-how do you know that?" Sona asked with hidden curiosity.

"Well we were engaged before the civil war so I had plenty of nights to snuggle up to him and do many other things with him" Serafall stated as a small blush appeared on her cheeks as she wiggled her eyebrows. Sona blushed at his sister's worlds and deep down she could sense a small amount of jealously towards her sister's comment though she dealt with it quickly as she wrote it off as nothing but a crush.

As the night continued Issei came back into the house a retired for the night, wishing Serafall and Sona good night. Sona left shortly after as she had to inform her peerage of what had conspired today while Serafall snuck up into Issei's room. As she made sure she was absolutely quiet she changed into some nightwear before she slipped under the blankets and laid next to him. She wrapped her arms around him and held herself close to him as she took her the warmth that he was emitting unconsciously. Issei then wrapped an arm around her stomach unconsciously and held her close making Serafall smile before she fell asleep.

A/N: Hello my fellow readers how's it going? Another chapter for you all and the next chapter if everything goes to plan should be up tomorrow for you all. The next chapter will thus end the original arc and we move onto the Riser Arc which I'm having trouble trying to figure out. So if you have any ideas for that arc let me know. In other news we have reached 100 favourites which makes me really happy to see people are enjoying this story. It gives me motivation to write more and get chapters up faster.

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and as always, this story is far from over.