II Chapter 2: Unknown Relative
() Ddraig speaking
{} Sparda speaking
"" Demon/Dark self speaking
Seras had decided to go to the clubroom as fast and early as possible hoping she could meet Rias. Though they had that heartfelt talk Seras still felt that Rias was still burdened and sadden by something and she wanted to help her. Though it took a bit longer than expected due to her trying to avoid Sona…
Anyway Seras managed to get to the clubroom without incident though when she opened the door she was surprise to see a silver-haired busty maid sitting on one of the couches. She too looked surprised seeing Seras here. The two stared at each other for a minute until Grayfia stood up and bowed to Seras in greeting.
"How do you do, I am the head maid that services the House of Gremory. My name is Grayfia Lucifuge."
Seras decided to bow in greeting.
"Seras Alighieri; Recently turned demon, the Orphan Ghost, and Rias' friend."
Grayfia looked taken aback at the demon and Orphan Ghost part, though sensing her aura quickly told her that she is in fact a demon. Now that she thought about it with her pure white skin, white hair and colourless eyes she really did look like a ghost. The orphan part was most likely literal.
She noticed something off about Seras. It wasn't something wrong with her demonic aura and she sensed no ill intentions coming from her so what was it?
It was only when she looked into her eyes did she find out what was wrong… Pain & loneliness.
Her entire being was enveloped in it and it disturbed her. No one in that age should have that much amount of despair to the point of it enveloping their entire being. She had seen cases like this before back during the Great War and the Devil Civil War… the person will always end up committing suicide.
She knew Rias cared a great deal for her friends and family, so she knew that Rias will be extremely heartbroken if Seras were to die.
"Is there something wrong Grayfia?"
She snapped out of her thoughts hearing Seras' concerned voice.
"No, everything is fine."
The two lapsed in an uncomfortable silence. Finally Seras decided to break it.
"You know since this place has a kitchen how about I make us some tea?"
Grayfia smiled a bit.
"I would like that."
"So wait you mean to tell me that Rias Gremory, the Princess of Kuoh Academy, is a Japanophile?"
It was amazing that just having tea together caused them to open up a bit and talk about some amusing moments in their life such as this one for example.
"Yes, in fact that was why she situated here in the first place."
"Oh man this is good blackmail material."
Seras had a sinister look in her eyes that reminded Grayfia of Akeno.
She could honestly say that it warmed her heart seeing that not all of her innocence & happiness was as far gone as her aura and appearance would like people to believe.
"Hey would it be alright if I use the shower in this room?"
For some reason she felt that Grayfia had more authority than Rias, despite being the maid of her family.
"I don't see why not."
"Thank you."
Seras went into the shower room leaving Grayfia by herself for the time being.
If one word could Rias' mood it would be foul. Despite Seras cheering her up and bringing Akeno with her, coming back to the Gremory mansion and getting into a fight with her parents got her back into a depressive state and so went straight to her room, completely ignoring her parents.
She noticed that Akeno would send worried glances at her though refrained from asking anything.
Shortly the duo arrived to the clubroom they were greeted by Grayfia.
"Grayfia." Rias bit her lip knowing that the meeting was going to start soon.
Before anymore could be said they heard the water running turn off. Out of the shower came out Seras wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around herself that BARELY covered her privates. That and with her exposed flesh and white hair being wet caused her to look like some sort of erotic angel.
Rias was left gaping, her face becoming as red as her hair. Sure she had seen Seras naked once before however she was too busy healing her body to pay attention. However even so this was completely in a different scale.
Akeno meanwhile was giggling at the sight with a blush on her cheeks. Her eyes burned with BARELY contained lust that made people want to get the hell out of there and scream 'Rapist!'
Seras finally noticed there were other people here other than her and Grayfia.
The three simply stared at each, waiting for one to react. Despite her emotionless face her cheeks were red from embarrassment. Yet strangely she simply raised a hand up and waved at them.
"Yo."
Grayfia merely closed her eyes and shook her head in exasperation.
"Seras-san it might be best that you put on some clothes right now."
Things were a bit awkward after that fiasco with Rias not able to look at Seras without blushing and Akeno basically eyeing her like a piece of eye candy.
Yumi, Koneko, and Raynare came in breaking the awkward atmosphere and replacing it with a serious one.
"Looks like everyone is here. Before we start the club, there's something I need to tell all of you."
"Ojou-sama, do you want me to explain the situation?"
Rias rejects Grayfia's offer by waving her hand.
"The truth is—"
It happened exactly when Rias speaks. The magic-circle on the floor glows.
Seras instantly went on guard, thinking it might be an enemy however Rias placed a hand on her to calm her down.
The symbol of the Gremory drawn on the magic-circle changes into one that looks unfamiliar however at closer inspection it resembled that of a bird.
To be more specific a Phoenix…
Flames come out from the magic-circle, and the room gets flowed with heat. The flames seemingly dispelled revealing man wearing a red suit without a tie and his shirt opened till his chest. He looked like he was in his early 20's. The first thought that came to her mind was a douchebag of the highest order.
"Fuu, it's been a while since I came to the human's world."
The guy looks around the room, then smirks after finding Rias.
"My lovely Rias. I came to see you."
Rias was looking at him with her eyes half closed. She was not welcoming this guy. But the guy didn't seem to care and approached her.
"Now then, Rias. Let's go and take a look at the ceremony hall. The date of the ceremony is decided so we need to check it before then."
He grabs Rias' arm.
"…Let go of me, Raiser."
She says with a deep and serious voice while shaking the guys hand off.
The guy, now named Raiser, didn't seem to care about having his hand shook off and just smirked.
This guy was seriously pissing Seras off.
"You know you should watch what you do and say considering you're invading someone else's territory."
He looks at Seras and instantly lust filled his eyes as he was undressing her in his mind judging from how his eyes roamed all around her body.
"Ah, and who are you my lovely white rose?"
He instantly started flirting with her which disgusted her.
"Rias' friend and also the girl whose about to kick you in the balls."
Rather than looking offended he simply looked amused.
"Apparently this white rose has some thorns to her. You have good tastes my dear Rias."
Both Rias and Seras were glaring murderously at him.
"Raiser-sama, though you are Ojou-sama's fiancee you are still a guest here so please refrain from antagonizing Ojou-sama & her friend further."
Though she spoke politely there was an ice cold aura surrounding her promising unpleasant experience should he disobey.
However before Raiser could say any word he was interrupted by Raynare.
"Wait! Are you saying Rias is supposed to be married to this playboy wannabe?!"
Seras couldn't help but snicker.
Raiser looked outraged however one harsh glare from Grayfia got him to shut up.
"The tea made by Rias's Queen is superb."
"Thank you very much."
Though Akeno smiled at the praise Seras could tell it was fake as she could see that she was barely restraining herself from wringing his neck.
Raiser who carelessly sat next to Rias was holding her shoulder. She kept on shaking his hands off, but he just keeps on touching her hair, hands and shoulders. The others were sitting far away from them so they couldn't anything about it without making a scene.
"Stop it already!"
Rias' voice cut the silence startling a few. She was finally fed up with Raiser's advances and was now glaring fiercely at him.
"Raiser! I told you before! I will not marry you!"
"Yeah, I heard that before. But Rias, that won't do, you know? I think the situation of your household is quite serious."
"That's none of your concern! If I'm the next heiress for the House of Gremory, then I will choose who will become my husband! My father, brother, and everyone in the clan are rushing it! Also it was a promise that I will be free until I graduate from university of the human world!"
"That's right. You will basically be free. You can go to college and you can do whatever you like with your servants. But your Father and Sirzechs-sama are worried. They are afraid that your household will become extinct. We lost a great number of pure-blood Devils in the last war. Even if the war has ended, our rivalry with the Fallen Angels and God hasn't ended yet. It's not rare for the successors of pure-blood Devil to get killed in the worthless battle against them, which leads to the household becoming extinct. So for a pure-blood Devil that are also happens to be a High-class Devil, getting together would be the obvious solution for the forces of Devils. A pure-blood High-class Devil. Even you know that these children will be important from now on, right?"
Rias became silent though her glare didn't lessen.
"The newly produced Devils—. The ones like your servants, the reincarnated Devils, are expanding in terms of strength but that would make us, the High-class Devils with old history background, lose our place. There are old nobles who gets close to the reincarnated Devils because they are very powerful. Well, that might be alright. The newly produced Devils are also important for our future. But we can't allow the pure-blood Devils to go extinct right? You and I were chosen in order to prevent the pure-bloods from going extinct. My house is safe because I have my older brothers. But there are only two siblings in your house. And your brother is someone who left the house. Then there would only be you, Rias, who can inherit the House of Gremory. If you don't take a husband, the House of Gremory will go extinct in your generation. Are you trying to crush the household that has been continuing for a very long time? Because of the past war, there is not even half the number of Devils who were referred as "72 pillars". This marriage has the future of the Devils on the line."
Pure-blood, what a joke. A devil is a devil, as long as they carry devil blood then the race was fine, even if they were just half-breeds. In fact if they kept trying to keep breeding "Pure-bloods" they were all going to die off from genetic defects during the long road.
"I'm not going to crush my house. And I am willing to take a husband."
Hearing Rias, Raiser makes a big smile.
"Oh, to be expected from Rias! Then let's—"
"But I won't marry you, Raiser. I will marry the one I acknowledge. Even the Devils from the old noble house have the right to choose."
Rias talks over Raiser and says it clearly.
Hearing that, Raiser's became unpleasant. His eyes become sharper and he clicks his tongue.
"…You know, Rias. I'm also a Devil who carries the name of House of Phoenix behind me. I can't let that name get tarnished. I didn't even want to come to a small old building like this in the human world. Rather, I don't like the human world that much. The fire and wind of this world is filthy. For a Devil like me who rules fire and wind, I can't stand it!"
Flames surrounded him with small bits occasionally falling on the ground.
"I will take you back to the underworld, even if I have to burn all of your servants."
His hostility and killing intent fills the room. Seras was surprised by how strong the killing intent was. Considering his arrogant & pompous demeanour she figured that he wouldn't be that much of a threat.
'Guess that bastard has some bite to go with his bark.'
The intensity of the flames grew to the point that everyone was starting to sweat from the heat. The flames gather around Raiser's back and formed into wings of fire. Exactly like a fire bird.
He cocked back his fist getting ready to unleash a fireball at them with the other getting ready to defend themselves.
Before Raiser could attack and before Grayfia could do anything everyone heard a strange, almost silent, whistling sound as if something was being swung.
Raiser was suddenly sliced into numerous bits and then exploded into flames, shocking everyone except Grayfia who only narrowed her eyes.
Raiser quickly reformed looking quite pissed.
"Who dares attack me?!"
"… That would be me."
Everyone turned to the direction of the voice. Seras let out a small gasp of surprise seeing that it was the same man she met in that whore house last night.
He removed his cloak revealing the man behind it. He had tan skin, strange blue tattoos on his cheeks and forehead and short black hair. He wore a white t-shirt that seemingly emphasized his muscular & lithe physique, wore a black leather coat with a hood, and wore dark grey pants. All in all if she were into guys she'd probably be blushing up a storm. For some reason she felt a strong reaction coming from Sparda, almost like recognition.
"Y-you!"
Raiser paled greatly and actually looked terrified of this man. The others looked surprised as well with a bit of fear.
"Akuma what are you doing here?"
Grayfia was the only one who wasn't afraid though she did look apprehensive.
"I told you & the others before that I came here to find my kin. However with the commotion I was hearing I decided to see what was going on."
He turned to stare at Seras, and strangely enough at Koneko too, and gave them a smile.
"Good to see you two again Seras, Koneko."
Koneko let out a small smile while Seras let out a small awkward wave. The two looked at each other in surprise but decided to ask questions later.
"So here I am seeing the devils act like a bunch of arrogant idiots trying to take what isn't theirs once again."
Seras could see that Grayfia, Raiser, and Rias were offended by that remark however Rias & Grayfia hid it well (and seemingly agreed with it to a certain extent) while Raiser was too afraid to act on it.
"You know if you had only taken the position of Maou all those years ago you could have done a big difference."
He simply scoffed.
"You and I both know that if I did I would have become nothing more but the Elders' lap dog just like your husband."
Though her expression remained neutral cold rage was evident in her eyes.
An icicle suddenly formed and shot toward him. With one motion from his left hand the icicle was sliced in half. Seras noticed that he was holding a sheathed sword. All she could make out of the blade was the ornate bronze guard and black & white handle; the scabbard itself was obsidian black with several metallic ornaments on its far end and featuring a golden sageo.
"… If you do not believe me then need I remind you about the whole nekomata genocide incident?"
Grayfia actually flinched and looked down in shame. Seras could see pained expressions on Rias & Koneko's face, more so for the latter.
"But enough of all this. You still have some business to address so continue on."
It seemed that Grayfia wanted to say something but chose not to.
"Lord Akuma…"
Akuma turned his attention to Raiser.
"Surely you of all people should understand the importance of this marriage, considering what happened to your clan."
It was so brief that only Seras & Grayfia were able to catch it. Rage, pure unadulterated rage.
Before he could utter a word Grayfia decided to say something first, lest Raiser angered Akuma further.
"There is a way we could settle this."
Everyone turned their attention to Grayfia.
"Master, Sirzechs and those from the House of Phoenix knew it would turn out like this. To tell you the truth this was to be the last discussion meeting. Everyone knew that it wouldn't be solved, so they decided to make a last resort."
"Last resort? What do you mean, Grayfia?"
"Ojou-sama, if you wish to push your opinion forward, then how about you settle it by having a Rating Game against Raiser-sama?
"…!?"
Rias became speechless hearing Grayfia. She seemed to be very shocked.
'Rating Game?'
Yumi, seeing Seras' confused look, answered her unasked question.
"A Rating Game is basically when two Kings and their peerages are pitted against each other, similar to how chess is played."
Seras nodded her in understanding.
Grayfia continues her explanation.
"Just as you know, Ojou-sama, only mature aged Devils can participate in an official Rating Game. But if it's an unofficial match between pure-blood Devils, even immature Devils can participate. However, in this case—"
"-when it involves the family and household problems."
Rias finishes the explanation while making a sigh.
"In other words Father and the others decided to have a game as a last resort if I was to decline, right? Just how far are they intending to interfere with my life to feel satisfied?!"
Rias looked pissed at the info.
"Then are you saying you would also decline to participate in the game?"
Rias for the first time looked unsure. She wanted to challenge Raiser to a Rating Game however she only gained one new peerage member who, no offence, wasn't really anything special at least compared to her other servants. Plus the rest, despite their abilities, simply didn't have the experience necessary for something like this.
"Rias…"
She felt a hand on her shoulder and look to see Seras giving her a look, a look telling her to not back down to take this challenge.
Rias didn't know why, but this gesture gave her confidence.
"No, I won't, since this is a chance. Alright then. Let's settle this with a game, Raiser."
Grayfia looked slightly surprised at Rias' show of confidence while Raiser simply smirked.
"Hee, so you're accepting it. I don't mind. But I'm already a matured Devil and I have already participated in the official game. Right now I have won most of the games. Even so, you still want to play, Rias?"
"I will. I will blow you away, Raiser!"
"Fine. If you win, do whatever you like. But if I win, you will marry me immediately."
Both of them glare at each other.
"Understood. I, Grayfia, have confirmed both sides opinion. I will be in charge of the game between the two household. Is that okay?"
"Yes."
"Yeah."
Raiser & Rias both agree to Grayfia's approval.
"Understood. I will inform the two households then."
Grayfia bows her head after confirming.
Raiser's eyes seemed to be lingering on Seras before going to Raynare. However it wasn't one of lust.
"Tell me my dear Rias, is that former fallen angel your only new servant?"
"Yes, what about it?"
Raiser starts laughing as if he finds it amusing.
"Then this match will be a laugh. Only your Queen, the "Priestess of Thunder" can fight on par with my adorable servants."
Saying that, Raiser clicks his fingers, and the magic-circle on the floor glows.
The magic-circle has the same emblem of Phoenix that Raiser appeared from. Then a number of shadows appear from the magic-circle.
"Well, these are my cute servants."
Around Raiser who said that, 15 people that seems to be his servants gathers around him.
Seras couldn't help but face palm. They were all girls and they were wearing the most ridiculous clothes she had ever seen in her ENTIRE life; and that was saying something.
Raiser noticed Seras staring at him & his peerage with an annoyed expression and her left eye twitching.
"Hey Rias, why is your friend there looking at me like that."
Rias smirked, seeing Seras' expression.
"She probably realized just how much of a lowly pervert you really are."
Raiser scowled.
Seras' attention turned to one of Raiser's peerage members. Specifically the blonde-haired, prideful-looking, princess-like bishop.
"Hey chicken douche. Why does that girl look very similar to you?"
"Ch-chicken douche?!"
Raiser looked absolutely pissed.
"How dare you call me that you low-level demon?!"
Since Rias was nearest to her, she was the only one to notice the very SMALL flinch from Seras, causing her to glare angrily at Raiser.
"Chicken douche not good enough? Than I should probably stick with fried chicken instead."
Some giggling could be heard, mostly from Rias. What made it funnier was that Seras said with such seriousness that it was impossible to tell if she was making fun of him or not.
"How dare she?! Speaking to Raiser-sama like that!"
"Does she have no manners?!"
"She needs to be taught a lesson!"
Raiser glared at her hard.
"Mira do it."
"Yes, Raiser-sama."
A small girl, probably around Koneko's size, jumped out from the group. She had blue hair and was wearing a white haori with a red obi.
Spinning her bo staff expertly she ran forward intending to strike Seras down. Seras blocked the strike easily before pulling it out of Mira's grip. Breaking it into two she threw the pieces at Mira with enough force to push her back and knock her down, yet not enough to actually hurt her.
Raiser narrowed his eyes at her.
"Tell me demon. Why do you interfere in the business of devils?"
"Rias is my friend and I intend to help her gain her freedom."
The ORC group looked at Seras curiously, wandering how she will be able to accomplish that.
"Oh really? How do you intend to do that? This is something between 2 Kings & their peerages. Last I check you are neither a King or a devil servant."
Seras paused a brief flash of uncertainty flash before her eyes before being squashed away permanently.
Both Ddraig & Sparda can tell what she's thinking.
(You sure about this Partner?)
{Once you take this step, there's no going back}
'… It doesn't matter. I have long took this step.'
Seras looked at Raiser with a smirk.
"If that's the case than I guess I have no choice but to become Rias' devil servant."
She could sense everyone's shock. Hell even Grayfia & Raiser look at her in surprise.
"Seras, what are you-?"
She raised a hand to stop her.
"Well this is a surprise. Not even the lowest & dumbest demons out there would willingly become servants of devils. Hell demons would rather die than to become devil servants."
"Really?" She smirked at him. "Well unlike them I don't have any of that idiotic demon pride and besides I gotta repay the kindness that Rias gave me anyway."
Riser stared at her for a full minute before a grin formed on his face.
"Very well, however you do know that once I win not only will Rias belong to me so will you."
It wasn't a question simply a statement.
"That is IF you win ."
All he did was leer at her.
"Tell you what I will allow all of you 2 weeks to prepare for the battle. After all it would be no fun if my opponents just kneeled over like a bunch of bitches."
All the ORC group look pissed at him though Rias looked the calmest.
"Are you giving us a handicap?"
"Is it so bad? Unlike you I am a veteran in Rating Games while you yourself have zero experience."
Rias looked annoyed at how he stated her disadvantage.
"Fine I'll accept this."
"Good. The next time we meet it will be in the battlefield."
He and his peerage teleported away.
Silence filled the room. Everyone was trying to comprehend what Seras had say. Raynare was the first one to snap out of her stupor and approached her.
"Seras are you sure you want to do this?"
She simply smiled at her.
"Don't worry about it Raynare-chan. I can't let my precious people fall into that bastard's hands. So long as I can keep you guys safe then I won't care if I further damn myself to do it."
The girls once again looked stunned at her words. Akuma meanwhile seemed to only smile sadly at this.
'If only I had found you before all this happened.'
Akuma shook his to clear his thoughts before clapping his hands, gaining everyone's attention.
"As touching as it is, Rias I believe you should get your pieces ready to convert Seras into your new servant."
"R-right."
Rias went to her desk to get her evil pieces.
Akuma turns his attention to Seras.
"Seras since you're about join this rag team of teenage devils I think we need to have a talk about your training regime."
Seras was currently resting on her bed deep into her thoughts. Surprisingly despite her heritage, her abilities, as well as having Boosted Gear Rias was still able to reincarnate her into her servant (albeit it took all 8 of her pawn pieces). Strangely enough she didn't grow devil wings and when they took a look at her aura they were also surprised that she was still a demon. Though this was a first time that a demon became a devil servant (youkais don't count) so there was bound to be something different. In fact the pawn pieces seemingly just increased her demonic reserves and that was it. They didn't even know if she could do a promotion like all pawn pieces.
But that was besides the point.
Before everyone went home Akuma talked to her privately. He wanted to train her personally for an entire week in her abilities. She was at first skeptical on whether she should accept or not however she was surprised when Sparda said that she should take up on his offer. She was confused however she decided to listen and accepted the offer.
Though now she needed answers to her newfound questions.
'Sparda what's up with you?'
{What do you mean?}
'When Akuma revealed himself I felt a strong reaction from you and when he asked for him to personally train me you practically ordered me to accept. Just who is he to you?'
Sparda was silent. He didn't know whether he should tell her not. She might react badly to this though then again she didn't react that badly to the fact that the two were related.
He decided to take a leap of fate.
{He's… (sigh) he's my son as well as your uncle}
'… What?'
Seras' widening eyes were the only things to indicate her shock.
{During both my human & demon lives I ended up having quite a lot of children}
(Ha! Pervert.)
SMACK!
{Anyway Akuma was the last child I had as a human… while your mother was the last child I had as a demon}
'My… mother?'
Despite her expressionless face one could obviously see the pain and sadness in her eyes.
{She was the last wielder of my blade and now you're the current wielder}
Even though she knew she should asking more about Akuma, she wanted to desperately know more about her mother.
'Tell me… what was she like?'
Sparda just knew it was gonna be a long night.
Author's Notes
And that's chapter 9 folks! Sorry it took so long. Had to deal with some drama back at home. Plus I ended up getting hit with a bunch of inspiration for new fics that I want to type out... Oh boy I'm gonna end up like Dakkaboy123.
Anyway leave a review on your thoughts.