I've returned here now with chapter 10. I'm glad to see everyone is still enjoying this story.
So, before I get into the story specs, I've got some time to respond to some reviews.
Guest: I'll be honest, and say you aren't the only one to request Kuroka be put back in, and since the demand is just that popular, I may as well...
Skull Jokez: I'm glad you find the story interesting. Yes, Indra and Kokabiel will have some...I would rather say history instead of beef. Because as both high ranked fallen angels, they would required to interact with each other at some point. That doesn't mean they get along though.
Sonic: I'm glad you liked it.
Now, since I've done that it's time for the list once again, as always.
Indra-Raynare, Kalawarner, Levi, Yui, Kuroka, Akeno, Koneko, Siris, Karlamine, Xuelan, Yubelluna, oc
As I said in last chapter, I did introduce the oc, it's really up to you if you can ID her. I have no doubts that some of you may have already. Or not...
Okay, now I'm done talking.
Azazel stood in his office with the Cadres, discussing their current predicament. One of their own, Kokabiel, has started to make his own schedule, and he's now causing quite the stir.
"Do we know what he's up to?" Asked Shemhazi.
Azazel sighed as he leaned back in his seat. "He's attacked three churches, stealing some of the Excaliburs they were holding." He said, making them widen their eyes. If Kokabiel was taking the Excaliburs, that could only mean...
"Is he mad?" Baraquiel asked. Azazel nodded, not caring about the insult. "Yes, he is. And we know very well who he's going to attck with those swords."
"The devils." Shemhazi said grimly.
"We need to approach this situation with care. If word gets out, we're going to have a lot of trouble. Michael has already tried to keep his followers calm about it, but they're demanding for something to be done." Azazel told them.
...
The Grigori leaders sat in silence for a while before Azazel broke it again. "Gather all of our best men. I feel that we'll need everyone ready for this time. If we aren't careful, the war will continue." He said sternly. Shemhazi and Baraquiel set out to gather all of the higher ranked fallen angels.
Soon all fallen angels, ranging from 10 winged to 8 winged were gathered up and waiting for their General to explain what was going on.
"Listen up! We are on the borderline of war once again." He said, making them all stare at him with confusion and surprise. "Kokabiel has made action against the church, and the devils by stealing 3 excalibur swords! We must take action now before this gets out of hand, or else we all will have to fight this time!" The governer was refering to all fallen angels as a whole, both of old, and new generations who had yet to even face combat.
"Where do we start?" Azazel saw Ryo hovering in the air a little ways from him. The weapon making fallen angel had his arms crossed an his eyes narrowed. Azazel then remembered something. "Ryo, you and Roku need to find Indra and let him know of the situation. Shemhazai and Baraquiel will take control of all military operations here. I'm going to contact Michael and see if we can't find a solution." He said. And after that, everyone got to work, and prepared for war.
Indra let out a breath as he finished training for the day. He wiped a bullet of sweat from his brow before beginning to head inside. He stopped when he heard the flapping of wings and looked up to see a familiar face. Two in fact.
"Roku, Ryo, you look like you've gone through one of Azazel's regimens." He said curtly. "Indra, it's Kokabiel. He's stolen 3 of the Excalibur fragments." Ryo said, making the white haired fallen angel narrow his eyes.
"I see." He replied. Indra had met Kokabiel plenty of times, and it was safe to say, those two got along like two starving pirahnas left together for too long.
Kokabiel hated the fact that someone younger than him was third in command. Indra was powerful enough to kill plenty of high classed beings with ease—devils among them—while Kobiel was more powerful, he loathed seeing people with power being absolute pansies.
Indra, on the other hand, despised the warmonger with a passion. For it was he that started the conflict with the devils in the Great War. Their faction had lost way too many, and yet the fucker still wanted to keep fighting. The whitehead also didn't like his abuse of authority, Kokabiel seemed to like using others as pawns for his own game, rathering treating his own people like they were actually people.
In other words, it's like putting water and oil in the same container.
"I'll let the girls know" Indra said as he sped up his pace into the house. He saw that the girls were all sleeping on the floor or on the couch. While he liked seeing them at ease, now was a time of urgency.
He picked up one of his pistols and pointed it at the floor.
*Pow!*
"Gyah!"
"What! What's happening?!"
"I'm up!"
Indra sighed.
"Master! We heard a gun fire, is something wrong?!" Riser's former peerage members came blazing down the stairs. Indra smiled slightly, seeing they were already getting accustomed. He then let that smile drop, as he gave them all his usual blank expression.
"We have a problem." He said. Indra gave them a brief breakdown of the situation. They were all shocked to their cores.
"Is he out of his mind?!"
"We'll be wiped out!"
"We must warn lady Rias!" Indra agreed with that last statement. "Get yourselves ready. We leave in 15 minutes." He said, leaving no room for a reply.
The group made it to the ORC building and they entered, but immediately they noticed the tense atmosphere. Akeno smiled as she waved to him, but Indra could see she was distressed, as were the rest of the club members.
"Perfect timing Indra! We have some lovely guests here who would like to meet you." Rias said with a forced smile. Indra let his eyes follow the direction she was gazing, and saw two girls sitting on the opposite couch. Indra didn't show it, but he was instantly irritated with those accusing looks they were giving him.
"Charmed." He said, rolling his eyes.
The whitehead took a seat, and his lap was instantly taken by Koneko while Akeno made her way over to stand behind him.
"These two are Xenovia Quarta, and Irina Shidou." Rias introduced the female exorcists. Indra blinked.
"Indra." Was his reply.
"So you are collaborating with the fallen angels?" Xenovia asked the redhead accusingly. Her eyes were filled with contempt. The crimson princess glared back. "Unlike most fallen, Indra here is special, and he is trustworthy." She replied sharply. The blue haired exorcist ignored her and put her sights back on Indra.
"You. Fallen angel, what have you done with the Excaliburs?" She asked threateningly.
Indra said nothing, but his girls did not take kindly to the tone she blunette was using with him.
"How dare you?!" Kalawarner narrowed her eyes.
"You bitch!" Raynare was close to summoning a lightspear and impaling the girl.
"You dare to threaten our master?!" Karlamine and Siris brought out their swords and took defensive positions at Indra's sides.
Rias could see the situation beginning to escalate, but before she could say anything, she saw Indra raised his hand. He spoke, breaking the tense air with his voice, that was normally emotionless, now with coldness that would put Grayfia to shame.
"Threatening me is childish." He said. His tone made everyone around shiver as they listened. The whitehead got up and slowly approached the blue haired exorcist. It was a very tense moment that had everyone on edge. Indra crouched so that he was eye level with Xenovia and said, "Leave. If you would be so kind."
It was so abnormal to see the usual reserved and stoic hybrid behaving this way, which was why no one was commenting right now. Xenovia huffed and beckoned for Irina to follow. But before they were out of the door, the chestnut haired exorcist spotted Asia, who cowered behind Issei.
"Hey, you're Asia the witch, aren't you? You're a devil now." She said, getting Xenovia's attention.
"Ah, yes. The former Holy Maiden. It shouldn't be a surprise that she has become a creature of sin."Asia cowered even more. Issei didn't like how the two were belittling her and ended up snapping.
"Hey, you leave her alone! She wouldn't be this way if you hadn't exiled her in the first place!" He shouted. Indra felt a small hint of pride, and Deja Vu well up within him. Issei was now reminding him of that same time when he met Raynare.
"I'm only speculating." She turned to Asia. "Do you still believe in the Lord?" She asked. Asia nodded. "I can't stop believing. It's all I've known for most of my life." She said.
"Is that even possible for a devil to believe?" Irina sked. Xenovia nodded. "There are some who can't let go. They still believe in the Lord, but they cannot follow him since they are creatures of sin." Xenovia pulled her sword out of her bandages.
"I can fix that. If you let me cleanse you, I'm sure the Lord will have mercy on you." She said. Issei covered Asia with his body in order to protect her, but before Xenovia could do anything else, her sword was torn out of her hands and tossed harshly to the side.
She turned around just in time for Indra to catch her face in his hands. His eyes held a soft but empty look in them. His voice sent chills down her spine.
"I asked kindly, for you to leave." He said, his voice was low and quiet, but those who were close could hear it fine.
"And if you ever dare to threaten my friends in much a manner again..." He trailed off before gripping her neck like he was about to wring her.
"I'll rip out your tongue, and paint my name in blood across your back." He finished, making everyone who heard shiver.
Xenovia swallowed audibly before picking up her sword.
It was quiet until the two exorcist were gone. Indra exhaled and stayed silent before taking a seat, plopping down on the couch. "You okay Indra?" Rias asked. While she didn't know Indra for very long, he was proving to be a great friend, and what friend wouldn't be concerned about their fellow peer when they just threatened to kill someone?
"No, not really." He muttered in reply.
"My faction is on the brink of war, because of Kokabiel." He said. Rias nodded in understanding. The Grigori has the lowest population of the 3 factions, and she knew that they most likely won't last in another conflict on this scale.
"So what's going on?" The princess asked. The girls explained in order to save the nephilim from more irritation.
"I see. That's very similar to what those exorcists were here for. They were telling us to stay out of the situation." She said.
"That's not wise. You should inform someone of what's happening." Indra replied.
"But-" "I know you're prideful, but that isn't what matters." Indra stopped her.
"Look Rias, It's good that you take pride in your territory and all, but that won't mean anything if your dead." Raynare said.
Rias remained quiet, knowing full well that the fallen angels were right. "Then what do we do?" She asked.
"As Indra said, let someone know. That way we don't have to carry the whole load." Kalawarner said.
"We already know Kokabiel is in Kuoh's area. But we need to find him before he gets too far in his plan." They further explained.
"Indra, you should take it easy for a moment." Raynare suggested. Now normally, Indra would just ignore that and keep working, but since the nephilim liked to keep an open mind, he obeyed.
Akeno went into the kitchen to get tea for everyone, and Raynare followed her. "It must be hard for him." The ravenette devil said. Raynare nodded. "Indra and Kokabiel were never on good terms with each other, so please forgive him if he's not acting like he usually would be. What he's doing is putting us all on edge." The raven haired fallen angel replied.
Out in a undisclosed location, the Cadre class fallen angel that was the cuase of this situation sat grumbling in a chair.
"Weaklings all of them." Kokabiel muttered under his breath. "Don't they understand that there will never be peace until someone wins?! And Azazel was so stupid enough to back out when we nearly had the devils defeated!" He exclaimed.
"So what now boss?" He looked to Freed who was waiting by his side.
"The church went some exorcists to this city. They both have Excalibur fragments. Deal with them, and take their swords as well." He ordered.
Indra pinched the bridge of his nose as he sat on the couch, contemplating on what to do. The first thing on his mind was finding Kokabiel himself, but he knew from the warmonger's rather arrogant attitude that he would show himself soon enough. He was considering going after his lackeys instead, taking away the extra annoyances would make the process much easier to tolerate.
He blinked when he felt a weight suddenly take his lap, and looked down to see Koneko looking up at him, concern marring her features. "Indra, have this." She said, holding up a chocolate-chip muffin up to his face. Indra smiled, taking the treat into his own hands before petting the nekomata on her head. She started to purr as a result and leaned into his chest while he enjoyed the gifted treat.
Indra started to feel himself calm, as he took in the quiet, but not silent atmosphere. If he could complement Rias on anything, it was her taste in the people she stuck around. Koneko had been a good influence on him lately, due to their very similar preferences and tastes.
"Indra." He heard her say, looking up from his chest. He blinked down at her in reply. "When are you going to pursue him?" She asked. He figured she would be the first to ask that. Nekomatas were the only species capable of using senjutsu, apart from his own bastardized version, so it would make sense that she would sense his intentions first.
"I don't think I'll have to." He voiced his thoughts. "Kokabiel is arrogant, so I will assume he will come for us sooner than we may think." Koneko nodded, satisfied with his answer.
"So what then?" She asked again. Indra silently chuckled. The younger girl was wanting to learn his plans so that she would be able to help him. It was admirable, but if she had met the Cadre personally, she would be much more hesitant.
"When is Rias expected to return?" He asked. Koneko thought for a moment, before looking back up at him. "I think around maybe an hour or so." She replied.
Indra smiled, lifting Koneko over his shoulders and onto his back. She blinked, wondering what the snow haired nephilim was planning, before she heard him say, "Want to get some ice cream then?" Koneko smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, careful not to choke him.
Indra unfurled his jet black wings. Curiously, the nekomata reached out and touched one. She felt him shiver slightly before he took off into the sky with a great thrust of his wings.
They went to a park and that was where they came across a vendor. "Ah, hello! What can I get for you?"
Indra got a vanilla cone and Koneko got chocolate, her favorite. The two were just strolling together, enjoying the calm scenery. It was much better than the tension they had went through earlier.
"Koneko." Indra said, as he gazed blankly into the horizon. She turned her attention away from her ice cream and looked up her fellow whitehead. She waited patiently, waiting for him to continue.
"I want you to be careful when facing Kokabiel." He said, expressing his concern. "He will not hesitate to eliminate you, or the others. He will continue to kill until every last one of you is dead at his feet. So please, if you confront him, be on guard at all times." He said. Koneko could hear the faintest hints of anger and slight apprehension in his voice.
"Okay." She responded. Indra was able to smile his usual small smile after that, and they continued to enjoy their ice cream.
"Hmph." Indra looked to Koneko, and saw her ice cream had melted in the short time they spent talking. Looking at his own that was starting to melt, he handed it her. "Here." He gave her his, and Koneko blushed.
'It's an indirect kiss.' She thought. Smiling happily, she licked at the cone while Indra sat quietly, enjoying the tranquility.
As he sat there though, he noticed it was quiet for a park.
Too quiet.
This park was well known to the citizens of Kuoh, and even though it's more isolated-
Indra's eyes turned blue and he could immediately sense others close by. Koneko looked at him, feeling the spike of energy being drawn into him. Indra was looking into the sky at three fallen angels. They all had 6 wings.
"Look's like the jig is up." One of them said, gliding down. The others followed his lead and landed in front of the two.
"Gotta say, I don't know why Kokabiel is concerned about you. You don't look like much to me."
Indra stood in front of Koneko, blocking her off from the traitors. "I can fight." She said. But Indra turned his head to look over his shoulder at her. He gained a small smirk.
"I'll show you why Azazel ranked me third." He said, before turning his head back to the fallen angels.
His wings, all of them, unfurled and stood out tall. Koneko noticed the size difference in his wingspan from the others, maybe it was just a special trait, she figured.
Any trace of emotion that was visible was now completly gone, and now, the Grigori's third best warrior stood before them.
"An 8 wing, huh? Well, there's three of us, you can't take us all on!" The leader of the trio said. Indra only blinked.
"Rrrrrrrr, get him!" They summoned lightspears and began to throw them at the nephilim at a rapid rate. Indra curled his wings around himself and spun around, the lightspears shattering upon making contact with his appendages.
"W-What?!" One of them shouted. Indra refrained from rolling his eyes. He harshly unfurled his wings open and locked onto his first target.
"You wanna go, then let's-" The fallen angel stopped talking when a long torrent of razor sharp feathers dug themselves into him. If you looked close enough, you could see the faint sign of holy magic in them.
Koneko looked at Indra bewildered, she had never seen a angel use a technique like that before. Indra summoned his own spear of light, this one looked as if it were about to explode due to faint traces of cackling lightning running around it. Indra threw the spear with expert precision and it impaled the second member of the trio.
A bloody stain on the ground followed soon after, due to the spear exploding after a sitting in the angel's gut for a second. Now it was only just Indra and the leader. It was only now that his enemy was realizing, he was outclassed.
"Who are you?!" The last fallen angel took a step back. Indra didn't respond, instead creating another unstable looking light spear. This one was larger, with about the same thick shape as a bo staff. Indra cocked his arm back while the angel tried to flee in a last desperate attempt, and with the same lethal precision he demonstrated earlier, impaled his enemy in mid-flight. He exploded like a firework, with electrical fingers reaching for the sky.
Indra turned back to Koneko and held his hand out for her. She quickly took it, and the two were in the sky before anyone could notice them.
"It seems Kokabiel is already making his move." Rias said. After hearing Indra and Koneko explain their encounter with rogue fallen angels, Rias was tempted to strike back. But remembering Indra's words, she had to beat down that thought. Kokabiel was a leader class fallen angel, and while Rias was powerful in her own right, she was still majorly outclassed by him.
"Where's Kiba?" Indra asked, noticing the blond Knight wasn't here. At that, Rias' expression went downcast. "He's chosen to go on his own, I'm afraid." She replied. Rias gave a short explanation of the Holy Sword Project to the nephilim, and he took it in understanding.
"I understand exactly how that feels..." Indra trailed off, getting the attention of the girls. Akeno poked her head out of the kitchen, hearing Indra's remark.
"I know what it's like to not be able to protect loved ones." He said, moving to the window and staring out of it. "It's a powerless feeling." Akeno and Koneko gave him sad looks, but Indra didn't let his resolve crack in the slightest. Now wasn't the time to let the past come back and take control. He could say that for himself at least, but Kiba would pursue his own path, like Rias said. They would just have to make due without him if that was how it needed to be.
"What are we going to do?" Akeno asked, breaking the silence. "I don't know." Rias replied.
"Knowing Kokabiel, he'll just keep sending his lackeys out, but I think he has something planned." Indra said. Having been included in a few operations with Azazel during the last remnants of the Great War, Indra had been introduced to Kokabiel, and had learned a few things about him.
Kokabie is many things, impatient, hateful, brash, and arrogant, the last two being the most prominent of his personality, but he also had the power to back up that brashness. Apart from that, Kokabiel was just a bloodthirsty fallen angel with the desire to win.
"Could you have any possible idea?" Rias asked. If Indra had fought with him before, he surely could've had some idea of what he was planning.
"I do know one thing." Indra said, making her look at him. "Kokabiel likes to overwhelm his enemy. Going on that, I would say he's waiting for the right time to send his forces out for us, maybe even grace us with his presence himself." He muttered the last part.
Right after he said that, a magic cirlce appeared on the floor, and Indra recognized the design. From the circle, Yume, Indra's Godmother appeared. The raven haired Kaneshiro head smiled warmly at her Godson and embraced him.
"It's good to see you Indra. How have you been?" She asked, but it was obvious she already knew that answer. She turned to look at Rias, this being the first time the two have met. "Hello, I'm Yume Kaneshiro, Daisuke's wife."She greeted. Rias tried not to be nervous, seeing as yet another powerful figure was standing in front of her. "Nice to meet you mam." Yume smiled knowingly, and giggled.
"Ah, you must be Akeno." She said, directing her gaze at the shrine maiden. She stood easily a few inches taller than her, and her eyes bored into the younger girl. Akeno couldn't respond, as Yume's pupils were glowing menacingly red, and she had an all-too-pleasant smile on her face. "I do hope you're treating my Godson well?" Akeno gulped. "Y-Yes mam."
Yume stared at her for a few seconds longer before she started to laugh, making both Rias and her Queen sigh with relief.
"Not that I'm not happy to see you, but why are you here Godmother?" Indra asked. Whether it be Daisuke or Yume, there is always a reason for one of the clan leaders to leave the compound.
Yume's expression then turned serious. "Azazel contacted Michael to set up a conference to solve this situation. He wanted Daisuke and I to attend." She said. Indra nodding understanding his leader's choice. "And it's been so long since we spent any time together." She started to pull Indra's cheeks while the nephilim gave her a deadpan look the whole time she did. Rias and Akeno both giggled at the spectacle.
Yume let go of her Godson, and said, "I also understand that the church sent two Holy Sword users here to reclaim their lost ones. Don't they know that will only make this already dire situation worse? If those two die, then it's just more power for Kokabiel." She said, with the three nodding in agreement.
"When is this conference going to happen?" Indra asked.
"In a few days. Azazel wants to either, kill or apprehend Kokabiel before then." Yume replied.
'I honestly would just prefer to kill the asshole.' Indra thought to himself.
It's been two days now, and Kokabiel hasn't shown up yet, but Indra could feel that would be changing very soon. So, he was sitting at home with Raynare and Kalawarner while the rest of the girls were out doing their business.
"Indra, if we survive this, will you take us out again?" Raynare asked out of the blue. Indra raised an eyebrow, before he chuckled softly. "I prefer not to hear you talk like that. But yes, after this is over, I'll take the both of you to dinner." He said, making them smile. They both cuddled into his sides, sharing a moment of blissful silnce.
"If Kokabiel does show up, you'll want to fight him." Kalawarer and Raynare both knew it was true, and he wouldn't deny that.
"Yes. It's time to do something about him. I hate badmouthing Azazel, but he made a mistake in not dealing with him years ago." Indra confessed his thoughts. The two women felt similar to their lover, but they didn't need to verbally respond. Indra sighed silently and held them two close, wrapping his arms around them.
"Do you have a plan?" Kalawarner asked, laying her head down on his lap. Indra gave a small but playful smile. "Nothing in particular." Was his reply. They both rolled their eyes before giggling. "You always were confident." Raynare commented.
"I am hoping we can just get over this though." Indra said. "I already lost mom and dad because of the war. I don't want to lose anyone else." He said, turning his gaze down slightly. Kalawarer sat up in his lap before hugging him, bringing his face into her large breasts as she did so. "We'll get through this, Indra." The blunette reassured. "Yeah, if all of the factions want to keep living, they'll have to put a stop to this." Raynare added.
Indra went silent, mentally praising Raynare for thinking the idea. However, he still had his doubts. Fallen angels already had a bad reputation as it was.
"Here." He heard Raynare say, before feeling both of the girls get up and take his hands in their own. They both had smiles, accompanied by red flushes dusting their cheeks. "A nice bath might calm your mind." He heard Kalawarner suggest, and did not resist as they led him up the stairs.
And, we are done. Now, perhaps some of you were expecting Indra and Kokabiel to come to blows in this chapter, which is understandable due to the history between them. But I kind of want to build up some suspense or tension before they officially come into contact with each other, so maybe next chapter or the on after.
As you may have also noticed, I've shown more of what Indra is capable of. Keep in mind he is the third best in the Grigori, so he will have power and abilities to show for that title. While I'm on this topic, I'll explain a few things.
First is Indra's special light spears, I planned these things way back with different variants. The variant you saw this chapter was "quite originally" called a lightning spear. And as the name implies, you can spot the trace of lightning in them, but upon their use they can explode upon impact of their target.
A second variant I had created for him was a variant I fondly called the cyclone spear. These spears obviously have the implication they have the trace of wind in them. As an element, wind can practically cut anything to shreds. Upon makig contact with a target, much like the lightning spears, they explode, but instead of a typical explosion, it creates something of a small tornado, which cuts apart everything caught in it's area of effect.
Next is Indra using his wings to fire off his feathers as projectiles. Believe it or not, this ability is shown in the wiki, but no angels have done so in the show, and I also have yet to read a story where someone has implemented this ability. Angels, whether they are fallen or not, can use this abilty, but again, like I said, no one just ever does it...
Now we have the mystery girls, yay!
so, the oc, I'll wait one more chapter to see if anyone will guess her identity.
Now for the others;
(2) Hundred: ?
(1) Shiki: ?
(1) No Game No Life: ?
I changed this Senran Kagura girl out for one from No Game No Life, because after going back and watching that again, I just HAD to put this one in. I think you'll be able to guess her quite easily.
And no, it's not Shiro. Koneko I can work with since she's close to Indra's age, but Shiro is a big no for me, despite how adorable she may be. She's 11 years old guys, 11!
Now, I'm done with news. I hope you guys liked it as always. Review if you so wish, and enjoy your day.