"Okay, so, follow the pendulum and breathe steady. In and out."
This is ridiculous.
"Relax," he continued speaking with the soothing voice. "In and out."
Why am I even doing this?
"Are you hypnotized yet?"
"Keep going," Kotonoha insisted.
He sighed. Last evening, they had spent hours going through all kinds of dubious blog posts and articles about hypnosis. Eventually, he had fallen asleep.
When he woke up again, somewhere in the late morning, he had found Kotonoha with some kind of pendulum she had gotten somewhere. Apparently this thing was supposed to focus his powers, but he really doubted whether it would work. Whoever had made it probably didn't know anything about him or his family.
Her eyes followed the amethyst stone, but she didn't seem to be drifting off to sleep like the instructions said she would.
"In and out." Some disbelief was leaking into his tone.
Complete and utter bullshit.
"Are you even trying?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Of course I'm trying. Look, I'm holding a magic pendulum. Now please get hypnotized so I can stop this crap." He was starting to get angry.
"Makoto-kun," she said, breaking eye contact with his pendulum. "Put that thing away."
"You insisted I had to try."
"And now I see I was wrong. Your father said you had to find your own way. So find it. It won't work like this. We need to try something else."
"It's just not working," Makoto insisted. "I can't hypnotize people."
"It has worked...before."
Wait a minute. It had worked before, but those were specific situations, catalysed by…
Her powers manifested themselves when Makoto was in danger, in other words: they responded to her feelings. So what if...it was the same for him? What if his powers needed certain feelings to manifest themselves?
Her ears started burning a bit when she thought about it.
The snake-bracelet had only formed after she had touched his arm. So that must be involved. She had felt a sudden urge to kiss him when he ordered her to. It wasn't strong and would have been easy to deny, but she wanted to encourage him. This type of thing had happened loads of time before, but less strong. However, the situations were always very similar.
Yet, when he gave her the order not to kiss him, she had felt nothing. His words held no power. Maybe the nature of the words played a role in that. His feelings fueled the bracelet. Obviously, the feelings behind the words had been completely different in both situations. That's why this wasn't working now. He wasn't feeling like he had to feel to access his powers.
"Kotonoha? What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I was just thinking. Maybe we should try something else. It did work on that girl at the library. Well, before we were interrupted, it seemed to be working."
"So you're saying I should try it on someone else?"
"Your father said you have to find your own way. I doubt it's gonna work if we stay locked in this apartment and keep trying the same thing over and over."
"You know, I don't really need to develop these powers, if they even exist in the first place. Maybe I'm just popular."
"You've unconsciously used them, don't deny it."
"It could be as you said before. Maybe you just wanted to kiss me. How do I know these girls don't just happen to want the same thing as me?"
"Then why would anyone want to kill you?"
"Maybe they are after you and I'm just in the way."
"The bookcase fell down on you. If they aimed at me, why would they try to bury you beneath a bookcase?"
"Uhm." He didn't really have an answer for that. If they were after Kotonoha, they would have attacked her at that moment. The winged assassin could be explained away as him not wanting to leave behind any witnesses when killing Kotonoha, but the library attack was specifically aimed at him, not Kotonoha. And they hadn't bothered about the innocent blonde girl with him.
"Still, this doesn't prove anything," he insisted. "You mentioned it was a girl. So it could be one of the girls I screwed around with in the past."
"A normal high school girl who just happened to find a winged assassin that can create spears of light? Doesn't sound very convincing."
"Still, it's possible. I thought you were a normal high school girl as well, until you made that dozuki appear out of nowhere and held off an assassin."
"Oh really. That's when you considered I was special?"
"I always thought you were special," he quickly said. "Just not, like that. I never thought you could make weapons appear out of nowhere."
"Okay. So we are going then?"
"Going where?"
"You'll see."
"You know, every time we go out, we get attacked."
"That's just a risk we'll have to take. Besides, I said we are going. You're safe with me."
"Good point."
/
/
"Sensei? Can I ask you something?" Issei asked.
"Go ahead, Issei."
"How did they get in here? Caleb and Rayner I mean. I thought we had shields up to protect Alex."
Azazel took a deep breath. "I'm not supposed to tell you this actually, but, Caleb cannot be stopped. He could take Alex whenever he wants."
"What? How is that even possible?"
"He has a special sword. Usually he keeps it in another dimension."
"Is it a Holy Sword?"
"Yes. The only two-handed one in the world. The Devourer."
He felt a chill going through his body. "I don't like the sound of that."
"It can cut through everything. No shield nor person can stop it."
"You mean…"
"Caleb is on an entirely different level. If he didn't kill Alex we can only assume there was a reason for that."
So, all of them were at the mercy of Caleb from the very beginning? "But...Alex doesn't have a Sacred Gear." So, why had Caleb visited their house? To scare them?
"He couldn't kill Alex without killing you and Rias. So I'm thinking he has a plan for the two of you. He probably made some kind of deal with Rayner."
"Why would someone with that kind of power need a fallen angel?"
"I don't know," Azazel said. "But I intend to find out." He didn't feel like sharing his suspicions with Issei for now. Especially because these suspicions would most likely mean that Rias and Issei were in grave danger. Rayner would want vengeance for the death of Raynare. But simply killing them both wouldn't be enough, that much was obvious.
"Whatever he's planning," Issei said. "It can't be good. We have to stop him." He made a fist as he declared this.
Azazel-sensei shook his head. "The Devourer absorbs the powers of everything it kills. It has the strength of thousands of Sacred Gears inside of it. He could obliterate a small island with one swing. You can't stop him. No one can."
"I've done more things that couldn't be done. When I took Vali's power they said the same thing: impossible. Everything is impossible, until it is done. Caleb himself is only an angel. Without his sword, he can be defeated. Vali beated me even though I had Ascalon and Ascalon is a Dragon Slayer. It can be done, I'm sure of it."
Something told Azazel they would have no chance at all if they didn't even know what Caleb was planning.
And whatever it was, it couldn't be a good thing. Caleb was called the Angel of Darkness for a reason.
/
/
"I don't like it in here," Serana said.
"I would have thought this to be a natural environment for a vampire," Rias said.
"Half-vampire," she corrected her.
The Forest of Familiars was permanently dark. Some moss covered the dark ground, but little else seemed to be able to survive here. The woods were dominated by large jet-black trees without any leaves. They were crooked and lopsided with fingerlike branches that fit better in a horror movie.
The others had stayed behind, or, more accurately, Rias hadn't told them they were going to get a familiar for Alex. Last time, Ise had been determined to make 'slime-taro' his familiar because it could eat women's clothes. Technically, his Dress Break had made this obsolete, but Ise still didn't have a familiar, so it didn't seem like a good idea to take Ise with them. Obviously, everyone else would tell Ise, so it was just the three of them. Well, the three of them and…
"Gotta Catch 'Em All."
"Good evening, Zatouji-san," she said. She made a slight bow for the Familiar Master.
Zatouji was a weird looking guy. His arms were very muscled, but his body was thin. He wore a white tank top which accentuated his bare arms even more. On his legs were dark undescriptive shorts with pockets that were filled with whatever a Familiar Master carried around. He had a dark blue hoodie bound around his waist in case it got cold (even though the Forest of Familiars had a very constant temperature). On his back was a yellow bag filled with...something, probably. He had fingerless gloves and a blue cap. His cap was put on backwards with his brown-red hair sticking out on top.
Technically, Zatouji was a devil, but very few people actually treated him like that. Zatouji spent all his time studying familiars. On full moons, novice devils would come with him to catch a familiar and bind it.
"So," Zatouji said. "Another devil wants a familiar."
"Yes," Alex said, he was trying to sound confident, but she detected a slight tremor in his voice. He must be nervous.
"What kind of type are you looking for?" the Familiar Master asked.
"Well uhm," Alex said. "Rias-oneesama has a bat. I kinda like that one."
"Yes." The Familiar Master studied Alex. "I can see you have a large affinity for darkness creatures. A bat would certainly be suitable for you." He paused for a moment. "Well, let's go then. Bats tend to hide in the darker parts of the forest, so we have a long way to go."
They followed the Familiar Master into the forest.
Rias came walking next to Alex.
"Say Alex," she asked. "How exactly did you meet Serana? She couldn't have summoned you." Considering you don't have a familiar.
He shared a look with his Queen. She nodded.
"I became the First King during the war, a couple hundred years ago," Alex said. "After Onii-san and Okaa-san died, Sirzechs-sama took me in. He and Ajuka-sama took me to Agreas where they developed the Evil Pieces system, along with the Rating Games. They agreed to test it first on someone who was dying, someone who wouldn't be missed. Although the war of the Three Factions had ended in a stalemate, there were still lots of battles all over the world. I was sent there, to walk along the dying and find a suitable person to make into a servant."
She already knew most of this, or could have guessed it. Seems like Alex wasn't keen on telling the details of his actual encounter with Serana.
"So," she pressed on. "You arrived in a battle between the Tepes and Carmilla faction of the vampires?" Rias asked.
"Yeah," he confirmed. "Eventually, I ended up resurrecting Serana. We spend the next centuries travelling around the world, relocating whenever the danger became too large. Until now, Lord Bael still thinks I am dead. I don't know what Caleb thinks, probably the same."
"And when I came to study in Japan..."
"I was sent as well, and you were told to keep an eye on me in case I needed help, which is now, apparently."
"So Onii-sama didn't give you any information either? About what's going on? Why you are suddenly in danger?"
"No. To be honest, I think he doesn't really know what's happening either. If something is happening that is. Maybe we're all just getting a little paranoid."
But she had seen Caleb, and Rayner, so she knew there was a real danger.
"Look," the Familiar Master interrupted them.
They had arrived at a big lake. An array of light fell clean through a hole in the clouds.
"Undine," Rias said, slowly. She had seen this a few times before.
Undines were a weird kind of water spirits. They looked like huge muscular bodybuilders with blonde corkscrew hair that gave Ravel Phoenix a run for her money. They always wore little pink dresses and had reasonably sized breasts.
She had never seen anything else than these androgynous creatures which, the Familiar Master insisted, were all female. If they were, what did a male look like?
Ise had almost received a nervous breakdown when he saw these monsters.
He was probably thinking of other things when he heard 'female water spirit'. More perverted things.
Undines tended to fight for territory with each other.
"Show offs," Alex murmured. "Let's keep moving."
They left the Undines to their battles and continued moving deeper into the forest.
It occurred to her that Alex had never truly answered her question.
/
/
She's sure taking her time, Makoto thought.
His girlfriend had entered the bathroom quite some time ago. He couldn't for the life of him figure out why she would need so much time to go to the pool.
Unless she was seeing this as some kind of date of course. But now wasn't the time to go on dates. People were trying to kill them, and he still had no idea why.
Their powers had to be involved somehow. It couldn't be a coincidence that two people with strange powers were both being attacked. But Makoto had never misused, well, consciously misused his powers. He had certainly taken advantage of the strange power he had over girls, but he didn't really know what he was doing back then.
Could one of them be involved? As some kind of revenge?
That didn't seem likely, but still. Kotonoha had powers, so who was to say one of the other girls didn't have powers as well.
Kotonoha had mentioned there was a girl involved, so it was possible. But then who were the winged assassin and the gray aura army-guy?
It was all very strange.
His dad had certainly given him some valuable answers about the nature of his powers, but he still felt like he was missing out on almost everything of importance.
"I'm done," Kotonoha said as she came out of the bathroom.
She looked good. Her hair was put up and he saw light makeup on her face. Her purple eyes stood out more than usual.
Kotonoha was wearing a short skirt with knee-length socks and a white tank top with a baby-blue cardigan over it.
They followed her curves so naturally he almost wondered if she was wearing anything underneath it.
"Are you done checking me out?" She asked. A sarcastic note had sneaked into her voice.
"Almost."
/
/
"Have you ever seen something like that before?" Rias asked. The creature looked at them from its spot high in a tree.
"A few times," Zatouji said. "It's really rare."
The bat was spherical, with cat ears and little bat wings. There was also a forked tail and two little crow legs. The eyes were different though. Their form was more catlike, as opposed to the more round shape of her own familiar's eyes.
However, the most important difference was the color. Instead of black with light grey, it was crimson on top with a lighter shade of red on its belly.
"What is it?" Alex asked.
"A bloodbat."
"I want it."
"I'm not sure what its abilities are to be honest," the Familiar Master said. "No one has ever caught one."
"Does anyone have any clue how to get it like, out of that tree?" Alex asked.
"I don't think that will be necessary," Serana said. "It's coming."
"How do you…"
She was right. The little familiar hopped a few times and then jumped down.
It flapped with its wings and came hovering in front of Alex. Its eyes blinked innocently. As if it was just curious.
Alex cautiously raised his arm.
The batlike creature landed on his arm and looked at the young boy. The curious look was still present.
"That went very smooth I must say," Zatouji said. "Something must have drawn her to you."
So the thing was female?
Alex and Serana shared a strange look which Rias couldn't place.
It didn't take them long to set up a magical circle to formally bind the bloodbat to Alex. It almost went a little too easy.
"Now you're a real devil," Rias said.
"I guess. Thank you, Rias-oneesama."
They teleported back home via magical circle.
For some reason, Rias still had this nagging feeling that she had forgotten something, something important.
Oh well, it probably wasn't that important.
Right?