FireRonin here, finally posting Chapter 9. Yes, I know you've all been waiting for me to upload something desperately (I think?). Finally, some light fluff between Kuroka and Damion, think of it as compensation for my long absence.

Without further ado, here's your chapter.

"Talking"

"Thinking"

"Dragon Talking"

A week had passed since Damion had arrived at this makeshift base for Team Vali, as the group called themselves.

In that time, he had learned quite a lot from each of the team members, and he admitted this group was more capable than Rias, Akeno, and the other club members, with the probable exception of Issei, who could boost his power indefinitely through Ddraig.

He felt outclassed by a large margin though. Damion tried sparring with Bikou, only to end up face-first on the ground in under a minute. Swordplay with Arthur went equally as bad, with him leaving with a few new cuts here and there. Surprisingly though, Damion had a pretty good time understanding the practice of magic with Kuroka, though the session was cut short when he teasingly pulled on one of her ears, earning him a slap to the face.

He, on the other hand, had changed as well. In a bizarre series of phenomenon's that happened every night, his hair had gone from grey to a raven black, and his amber eyes were a lavender color now. His canines had elongated into small fangs, and his irises were more like a dragon now.

Kuroka explained to him that his changes were most likely a result of his body accommodating to Aurorah's soul merging further with his own. Speaking of the female dragon, Damion had yet to receive any word on her condition. He worried that something might be up, but was unsure as to what it could be.

Damion didn't feel any negative side effects however. If anything he felt better with each passing day, more full of energy. Today was a completely different scenario. He felt like the anxiety coursing through him would give him a heart attack, for this time Vali would be the person he would train with.

The whole team had gathered to watch this one, and they had also decided the session would be held a mile north of the house, in a cool, grassy field, as it might get...'messy'.

As they walked there, coming to a conclusion that it wouldn't be necessary to use Arthur's teleportation, Kuroka strode up to Damion, keeping up with his pace. "Hey, how's it been so far? You holding up okay?"

Damion gave her a slight nod, smiling in return. "Yeah, bit by bit I'm improving, but it'll still take a lot more to get to the level of Arthur and Bikou. Don't even get me started on Vali. He terrifies me." At that last remark, Kuroka had to stifle the laughter that tried to escape her.

Her hand intertwined with Damion's, and although he flinched at first out of surprise, he let her walk hand in hand with him, though it was evident he was a bit uncomfortable. From there, both kept quiet until they reached their destination.

"Ok, here seems fine." Vali remarked, turning around to the group. Damion quickly let go of Kuroka's hand before any of the others could notice, making himself look busy by digging the tip of his shoes into the soft ground.

"So, bottom line is, none of us know why Aurorah has fallen silent, but our best guess is that during this…transition you're going through, she is unable to maintain a link to you." Damion nodded at this, finding it a reasonable theory.

Vali continued, striding back and forth, a habit that Damion shared when he began deeply thinking. "I believe the best course of action is to simply expand how much power you draw out of Aurorah, and work from there." At this Damion summoned his Void Gear, the familiar gauntlet encircling his arm, though Aurorah's presence was nowhere to be felt.

"What was the last amount of power that you drew from your gear?" Vali asked, and Damion had to think for a while. So much time had passed that it was somewhat hard to remember when it was that he last used Aurorah's power. "50%. But…how can I even draw on her power if she's not here? It's impossible, right..?" Damion asked.

The white-haired youth shook his head. "One thing I've learned is that the presence of the dragon does not have to be there in order to draw on its power. The dragon's soul may be somewhere within the gear, but it's power will always be present, no matter what."

Vali wasn't done speaking however. "I want you to draw all of it. Use 100% of your power."

Damion gawked at him, jaw dropping to the floor. "1-100!? Are you crazy? I can barely handle 50, how am I going to draw on double of that!?" His mind was racing with all the different scenarios in which this idea could go horribly wrong. "How do we know I won't die on the spot? I wrecked my body with just half!".

"Idiot! The only way you're going to get stronger isn't simply by going beyond your limits. It's by defying the impossible, doing what no one else will!" The strength and force with which Vali responded startled him, and when he spoke, Damion's voice was trembling with fear.

"If I do this…I will die. Aurorah warned me that I wasn't r-ready…" Vali sighed, taking a few steps away from him, his back to Damion. "That's because she assumed you weren't prepared to have so much power in your hands."

Still seeing the reluctance within him, Vali continued. "Look, Albion's specialty is dividing the foe's power by half. If I see you go out of control, or there's the slightest hint of any danger to your health, I'll use it to stop you."

Damion looked around at the people around him, making sure everyone was at a proper distance. He took one last look at Vali, who gave him a nod of approval. With that motion, he took a deep breath and extended his Void Gear.

"Power Release: 100%!"

His chant soon fell into silence anticlimactically, with confused gazes meeting his own. "I…I don't k-know what's wrong…normally I should be powered up. Maybe the Gear won't let me, o-or maybe it's malfunctioning."

Vali shook his head, rubbing the back of his head. "I may have been mistaken. Since the true nature of Aurorah is unknown, the conditions for using her power could actually differ from that of Albion or Ddraig. I should have taken that into account before making you attempt this. Guess this was just a waste of time."

"Not at all. If this served to gain even the slightest of insight into how Aurorah functions and compares to the heavenly dragons, then I'd say this was a success." Arthur pointed out, his voice calm and collected as always.

Bikou sighed aggressively, clearly displaying his annoyance. "And here I thought I would get to spar you at your full power."

Kuroka was the only one that looked relieved, and she walked up to Damion, giving him a once-over with her amber eyes. "I'm just glad that you're okay." Lowering her voice to a whisper so only the two could hear, she added, "I was worried sick that something would go wrong, but I couldn't argue against Vali. Once he sets his mind to something, he sees it through all the way."

Damion shared her concern for his wellbeing, the pressure that was on his chest seemed to lift off like a balloon, allowing him a moment to calm his nerves.

From there the group discussed what could possibly be done about Aurorah and where she could have gone, but many questions where left unanswered, and theories hung in the air like mist. At Vali's request, Arthur transported them all back to front steps of the castle-sized mansion, where each member separated to their individual tasks.

Feeling somewhat depressed at his hopeless situation, Damion headed upstairs, set on simply passing the rest of the day in the small library he found a few days ago. It was chock-full of mythical information about dragons, the three factions, and other trivia. "If anything I might find something useful there, even though Arthur said there were no existing records of Aurorah."

As he passed through the endless hallways he glimpsed Kuroka heading into her room at the far end of the corridor, and in a brief moment of conflicting thoughts, changed his decision.

Practically dragging his feet, he stopped in front of the door he last saw her go in, and gave a few knocks, calling out. "Hey Kuroka…uh, mind if I come in? I sort of need someone to talk to…"

The sound of feet shuffling told him she was inside, but there was no response. Damion glanced around, taking in his surroundings, waiting for a few seconds, before the door was opened fully, revealing Kuroka, who smiled at him. "Sure, come inside."

Damion was about to do just that until his mind finally registered what his eyes where seeing. Kuroka was wearing nothing but a towel around her waist, with the only thing stopping him from seeing her bare chest was her recently wet hair that was sticking to her body.

Quickly going into a state of frantic panic, Damion turned around, covering his eyes. "D-Dammit Kuroka! Put some clothes on, will you?" Kuroka seemed to notice her current state as well, but didn't seem bothered by it in the slightest. "Oh, sorry 'bout that. I tend to forget to make sure I'm dressed before opening the door to anyone."

"W-What do you mean!? How do you forget to put clothes on!?" He claims in disbelief. "This woman, I swear!" He waited for a while, until Kuroka called him inside. Damion obliged, thankful that this time she was dressed in a simple nightgown, which was good enough.

Now that he could focus on his environment rather than Kuroka, he was surprised how Kuroka's room was organized in a messy manner, if that was even possible.

He assumed the walls where painted white, but it was impossible to tell beneath the amount of papers and photos that covered every inch of the four walls. Taking a closer look, most of the papers where spells and lines that glowed with power. Some of the photos where of random places around the world, others with Kuroka smiling alongside different people, which he assumed were previous contacts she had.

There was a shelf filled with books in perfect order, and her bed was perfectly made, alongside a closet which held the rest of Kuroka's clothes, or at least, that's what he assumed. A closed door in the far right corner suggested that was where the bath was.

Turning his attention back to the nekomata, he sat at the edge of the bed, finding it comfortably soft. Kuroka placed herself to his left, staring at him with a curious amber gaze. "What'd you want to talk about?"

Damion sighed, clasping his hands together. "Well, I don't know where to begin…everything is just out of control I guess. I have no idea if I'll ever see Aurorah again, my powers are gone, and I'm no closer to finding where Rias and the others have gone."

Kuroka placed a gentle hand on his cheek, turning his face towards hers, giving him a reassuring stare. "I know your worried about them, so am I. My little sister is with them after all. But I believe that wherever they are, they're safe. They do have Issei after all, and Ddraig."

Damion nodded, never having thought about it that way before. Sure, Issei was inexperienced with Ddraig, but that didn't mean he wasn't powerful. "Yeah, your right. I just wish I could do something, anything! I feel so useless here…I'm no stronger than any of the members in this house. Even you could beat me in my current state."

"Don't say things like that. To me, you're the most important, and your far from useless." Kuroka told him, making a slight blush form across Damion's cheeks. "I always feel calm around her, as if we knew each other perfectly…"

They talked for a while longer, sharing tidbits of each other and talking about how they were holding up under the current circumstances. At one point the conversation somehow deviated into Kuroka giving him a few quick lessons in magic, which went fairly well.

Just before the clock struck midnight, both decided that they had done enough, as they'd been sharing information with each other for around three hours. Damion got up from the bed, now all messed up from their constant shifting, and headed for the door.

"I'll see you in the morning, I guess..." He said awkwardly, heading out the door frame. As Kuroka watched him leave, she felt a sudden rush of nostalgia, and before she knew what she was doing, she had called out to him to wait.

"Hm? You wanted to tell me somet-" Damion's statement was cut short as Kuroka pressed her lips against his, her body almost draping over him like a curtain. His brain short-circuited, and at first, he didn't know what to do. His first suggestion was to pull away, but a warmth inside him, a spark of passion, kept him in place.

Kuroka detached from him, her face a bright red. "S-Sorry…I don't know what came over me…I…I…meant to, I mean…um…g-goodnight!" With a flustered face she moved to close the door, but this time it was Damion's turn.

He grabbed her arm, and with a surprising amount of force brought her back to him, and he wrapped his arm around her waist, pressing her body against his, while his other hand cupped her cheek, and he did the only thing his mind was telling him to do right now. He kissed her back.

Kuroka gasped at his actions, her mind dazed and addled. "T-this feeling….it's been so long. I've forgotten what it felt like…how much I missed you…" The nekomata passionately pressed her lips back, deepening the kiss.

The world around her faded, and in that moment, for both of them, the only thing that mattered was each other. Kuroka wanted nothing more than for this moment to stretch into the infinite beyond, and felt heartbroken all over again when they pulled apart.

Damion looked down at his shoes, avoiding her face. "Kuroka, I d-don't know why I feel like this towards you, it's like I can't control myself around you. Do you feel the same way…?" Damion's voice faded away as he looked back up, both troubled and confused at what he saw.

Kuroka's eyes felt irritated, and when she went to rub them, she realized the stream of tears that were falling down her cheeks. Her body was trembling, yet she couldn't get it to stop. Damion quickly closed the gap between them, holding her reassuringly. "H-Hey…are you alright…?"

Kuroka shook her head, burying her face into his shirt, her sobs turning into cries of anguish. Damion didn't know what to do, or make of the situation, he just stroked the top of her head gently, encouraging her that everything was alright.

Eventually the nekomata managed to calm down, her eyes red from crying. "I'm sorry. I d-don't know what came over me…I think I simply broke down mentally, due to stress…" She lied to him, hating having to do it, but too afraid to tell him the true reason.

Damion shook his head, smiling at her. "It's alright. We all have a breaking point. Some of us just snap faster than others." Kuroka nodded, feeling a little lightheaded. "We should go to bed." She managed to stammer the words out, gaining an agreement from him.

"Yeah, your right. But are you sure you'll be alright on your own? I..I could sleep with you tonight…I mean, I could spend the night in your room." He corrected himself, cursing his wrong choice of words.

"No, it's fine. But, thank you for the offer.." Kuroka turned without another word, closing the door behind her. Damion knew she'd need some time to recover from her breakdown, and said one last 'goodnight' before leaving down the hallway.

As he turned a left at the end of the corridor, he reached his dorm, and when he tried to open it with his key, it wouldn't budge. "Strange. Did I make the wrong turn?" He looked at the number of the door at the top, chuckling to himself. "Yep. Wrong turn."

He went back the way he came, this time going to the right, and he reached his door, though the result was the same. The key wouldn't open the door. He double checked the number on the door, yet, it was the same number as the one on the left: B23.

Now very confused, he moved back and forth between the left and right sections, and realized they were identical. They had been mirrored. He turned back towards Kuroka's corridor, hoping she might have an explanation, but found it was the same as the previous two.

When he looked back, now there were three options, all of them identical corridors. "I'm in a loop. Question is, how do I get out?" As he stared, a shadowy figure began forming at the intersection between all four corridors.

"This presence…it's the same as…" As Damion took in the situation more clearly, it snapped into place. This presence, the four corridors.

A crossroad.

The shadows around the figure dissipated, revealing the same woman that he met out on the road when he was traveling through the countryside.

"You again. What is it this time?" He didn't bother to put up his guard, something Vali would have called outright foolish, but Damion had a gut feeling that she didn't mean to harm him.

The woman gave him a sly smile, as if he was a child asking a really obvious question. "Please, is there any necessity to speak in such a manner to someone who granted you the opportunity to choose your own fate?" Damion rolled his eyes, a bit irritated at the woman.

"Yeah, well your so called fate stranded me inside a blizzard in the middle of summer. If I had to say, you were testing me, right?"

The woman gazed at him with those pure black eyes, and Damion felt as though he should watch his tone a little more. Angering this person didn't seem that great of an idea. There was an air of power around the woman which made him very uneasy, and being unable to summon any of his abilities apart from Valkyrie put him at a serious disadvantage.

"Oh, that little storm? I am not the origin of such an act. The best speculation is that it was most likely Khione, toying around with you." She said half-heartedly, her eyes staring holes into him.

Damion recalled the ferocity with which the storm blew. "That was her toying around?" He didn't look forward to seeing what the full power of the so-called Khione could do. Returning his attention to the mysterious woman, he held out his hand, Valkyrie rising from the void and into his hand.

"You still haven't told me your intentions, nor your name. As far as I'm concerned, you're an enemy." The woman looked at him, and his entire body froze. "T-This feeling…is it fear? Does she really have so much power over me..?"

"My name is Hecate, goddess of magic, sorcery, witchcraft, the Mist, and utmost of all, crossroads." She listed, waving her hands, and at the entrance of each corridor, a door appeared, seemingly made of fog.

Damion stared at her, his body still frozen in place. "A goddess..? You're telling me that there are several goddesses and gods?" At this question, Hecate looked at him amusingly, nodding.

"There are many. Khione, for example, is the goddess of ice and snowstorms. There are the Greek gods and their Roman forms, the Norse gods, and then, the God, the one you devils, fallen angels, and angels associate with."

Her gaze left him, and Damion felt the pressure that kept him from moving suddenly disappear. "Well, that's reassuring." He said sarcastically, and added to his previous statement, "But, you still haven't told me what you want from me."

"A decision, nothing more." Hecate stated, her eyes traveling back to him, only this time there was no intimidating aura emanating from them. "I have been watching you for quite some time, and I've always thought the Fates were cruel on you, which is why I've taken an interest in your particular tale."

The deity continued, before Damion could interfere. "The last choice you made seems to be going quite well for you, unless I'm mistaken. I simply want you to make the next choice."

Each one of the doors opened up, revealing a scenario in each one. The one in front of him showed him all the members of the Occult Research Club, Rias smiling at him with an extended hand. The one to his right showed Vali's team, however Damion couldn't spot Kuroka among them, which bothered him.

The one on his left displayed an enormous grey dragon, tangled in a fight with a serpent that was nearly twice its size. As he watched, the dragon opened its maw, and a torrent of purple flames wreathed around the snake, which hissed and bared its fangs back at it. "That's Aurorah all right, but, what's with the giant snake?

And finally, the door behind him revealed nothing but an abyss of pure darkness. Floating in the middle, was his sword Valkyrie. "What does that mean? Is there something about my sword that I should know?"

Damion drew his attention from the doors back to Hecate, who had been patiently waiting for him. "Well? Have you decided on which path you'll take?"

He shook his head, smiling slightly. "Unlike the other choices last time, these actually seem appealing, with the exception of the left gate, and the one behind me. Still, I feel that if I take either the door with Vali, or the one with Rias, the results won't be any prettier. If anything things could go worse. That's what my gut feeling's telling me."

Hecate's lips formed a smile, which made Damion all the more certain that he was right. He took a deep breath, and then spoke clearly, determined not to show any weakness in his decision.

'I won't choose any of the four. I'll take the fifth route." At this, Hecate's expression turned to one of surprise, though he doubted that she truly was. "Will you now? The rules of the crossroads are simple. There are only four choices, and turning back is not one of them."

"Yeah, that may be right in your rulebook, but not mine. I'm choosing the path that I make myself. That's the fifth path." Damion declared, his lavender eyes burning fiercely with determination.

Hecate smiled subtly, though her eyes shone with the same interest that an archeologist would be if he/she were to be given the chance to study a new fossil.

"You are abundantly filled with wonders, aren't you? Alright, I've heard your decision. I shall be watching you intently, and will appear before you once more in the future." Hecate hovered closer to Damion, tracing her palm on his cheek. He could feel the amount of raw power that pulsed through them, which both fascinated and terrified him.

"Until then, carve out your own path, young hero."

With that, she disappeared, along with the four corridors, leaving him in front of his room. His real room this time. As Damion's mind began processing everything, a voice to his right made him jump in surprise.

"Be careful with Hecate. She often leads people astray, providing only vague information that confuses her 'heroes', and leads them to their graves, after they've completed her wish." Damion turned his head towards the person who spoke, finding Vali there.

"W-Wait, you could hear us? You know Hecate?" He asked, still dazed after the rush of events. Vali nodded, turning away from him and walking down the opposite corridor. Before turning the corner, he called back to Damion. "I've run into her a few times. Whatever you do, don't trust her."

And he was gone. With a heavy sigh Damion opened his room, flopping onto the bed, too tired to even bother changing clothes. As his eyes slowly drifted shut, he thought back on what Hecate had told him.

"Carve out your own path, young hero."

"I'm not gonna carve out a path, I'll build it from the ground to the sky-up, and beyond even that!"

And there's Chapter 9. This was honestly my longest chapter up to date, and I'm quite proud of it, I'm gonna aim to hit 5k words in my next chapter, and 6k in the next, and so on and so on.

-Leave a review with comments about the chapter, or suggestions/ideas that I could implement, and even point out any errors I made so I won't make them in the future.

-New poll is up on my profile, go check it out if you'd like.

-I might be in need of a new Beta Reader, Message me if you'd like to be one.

[IMPORTANT]

-Concerning the story, if anyone complains I'm making the canon characters OOC, here's my defense: It's my story, I can do what I like with it.

-Second, this is not a crossover with PJO. I'm simply implementing some certain elements such as the concept of Greek mythology. If doing this does however make this story a crossover, please tell me.