Outsider Chronicles: Grim Times for Kuoh
In another world, the boy Rias recruited as a Rook wasn't the Fiery Half-Blood, but a seemingly normal young man with a rather fluffy family secret. Oh, and he also happens to be an Outsider as well. Lets see how the addition of another type of Supernatural creature changes things.
So we're back with the start of the Riser Arc. Other than that, I got nothing, so lets dive straight in.
Chapter 10
"So, what is it I'm looking for?" I asked as I leaned over the map of the world we had in the basement.
Floating at my shoulder was Midna, looking around in awe and some curiosity.
"Their relics of my people that were scattered over the world after a war," she said, "We've never been able to find them before, but I'm determined to do it!"
"Right, whatever you say princess," I muttered as I rummaged in one of the draws below the desk, missing my Familiars slight twitch at the nickname, "Ah, here it is!"
I straightened with a pendent in my hand.
"Whats that?" asked Midna.
"Its a Scrying Amulet," I said, "Its used to focus certain forms of perception based magic, things like fortune telling or finding lost things. So long as I know what it is, I can use this to find nearly anything, so long as its not magically protected. I do need to know what I'm looking for though. A description, a part of it or even just the name."
Midna hesitated, before sighing.
"Their called the Fused Shadows," she said, "Their parts of a powerful artifact of pure Darkness my people created centuries ago. It was supposed to be used to protect our home of Svartalfheim from external threats, but one of the Princesses advisers wanted to use it to conquer the Nine Realms. He launched a rebellion and, with the help of dark and foul magic, managed to overthrow the Princess and usurp her throne. He declared war on the other Realms, starting with Asgard. However, he had vastly overestimated his own power and that of the Shadows and his armies were destroyed by the Asir, the Shadows broken and scattered and he was sent packing back to Svartalfheim. Is that enough?"
"Plenty," I said, bending over the map, "Are you sure they're on Midgard though? Cus if not I don't know how much help I'll be."
"I'm sure," said Midna, looking determined.
"Alright, lets see," I muttered as I held the pendent over the map and activated the enchantments within.
I winced slightly as the magic chain bit into my hand and watched as blood began to leak down the chain and drip off the pendent, forming four drops on the map which immediately began to move.
"Is that all?" asked Midna.
"Wait for it," I muttered, not taking my eyes off the blood.
Finally, the blood stopped moving in four different locations.
"Alright, one is in this city, which I'm guessing is the one on your head…"
I ignored the startled look Midna sent my way.
"...The others are located in Scotland, London and the last one is located somewhere in NYC."
I narrowed my eyes as the blood splodges began to shift and form shapes. An A combined with an S in NYC, a crest of some kind in Scotland and a shield in London.
"Thats strange," I muttered, "I've never seen that happen before."
"Any idea what it means?" asked Midna, floating up to examine it.
"I read that if it does that then the thing the caster is searching for is held in a place of great importance," I said, "If I had to guess, the Fused Shadows have come into the possession of powerful persons or organizations who don't know what they have."
"So what do we do now?" asked Midna.
"For now? Nothing," I said.
"What? But you said you'd help me find them!" protested the Twilight Imp.
"And I will," I responded, "But we have no idea who has them, other than the fact they are significant enough to affect my spell beyond just telling us where. Anyone with that much power is not someone I want to annoy, so for now we'll wait. Besides, I've still got school."
Midna pouted, but seemed to accept what I was saying.
"So what do we do now?" she asked.
"Well, I don't feel like going to bed yet so I'm going to play some video games."
"Video games?" asked Midna, tilting her head to the side a little, "What are video games?"
I grinned and lead the way upstairs.
"BWAHAHAH! Take that you damned skeletons!" yelled Midna as she blasted yet another enemy to bits with a fireball spell.
As it turned out, Midna was extremely good at games, having that kind of annoying natural talent that let her pick them up quickly. She'd already demolished me on Blazblue, Skullgirls and Soulcalibur and had moved onto demolishing Mobs on Skyrim while I sat in the corner in the foetal position and tried to pick up the pieces of my shattered dignity.
"Hey, whats this?" asked Midna, breaking me from my funk.
I looked over and saw that she was holding up a Wii game box.
"Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess?" she mused, reading the title, "Sounds cool!"
"Its pretty good," I said, getting to my feet and joining the little imp on the couch, "But you might want to play something else."
To late. Midna had already started up the game and loaded my last save file, which happened to be at the end of the Arbiter's Grounds after you gather the Mirror Shards, right before triggering the cutscene. You know, the one that explains Midnas back story?
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!"
I was really glad my room had been magically soundproofed or Midnas cry of shock would have woken everyone up.
"Sooo, how accurate is it?" I asked.
Midna just let out a strangled squeak as her mouth opened and closed in disbelief.
"I'll take that as a 'very accurate'," I muttered, "So let me guess, you're the princess who was overthrown and your treacherous adviser is called Zant and is a complete nutcase."
The look Midna shot me said it all. It was a look laden with confusion, hesitation and no small amount of fear.
"I-I don't know what your talking about," she stuttered, although a deaf person could have picked up on the fib, "I-I'm just surprised that she looks like me is all."
Well that wasn't suspicious at all. Still, I wasn't about to force my new Familiar to spill everything right now, so I let it go.
"So, you want to continue with this or do you want to play this instead?" I held up a copy of Hyrule Warriors.
The rest of the night was spent bonding over video games, although Midna did seem a bit disgruntled when I chose Twili Midna as my character and managed to beat her on points.
The next day I was walking back from a summoning request, something I enjoyed doing on nice evenings like this one, when I became aware of someone following me. I narrowed my eyes and sniffed the air, picking up the scent of rotting meat, similar to the scent that shrouded the Warlock that tried to go after Laura, the smell of Dark Magic. What was interesting about the scent was that I could pick up a second scent under the first, fainter but far worse than the mans own scent. Curious double scent aside, one thing that was for sure was that whoever was following me was dangerous and needed to be dealt with.
I stepped into the shadows of an alley and hopped up the wall, sticking my claws into the brick keep me in place. I moment later, my stalker rounded the corner, revealing it to be a man in black robes and a cheesy looking skull mask and a wooden stick in his hand.
"Where'd that damned Muggle go?" growled the cloaked man as he walked under my hiding place.
As the man passed me by, I silently dropped down behind him and grabbed him by the shoulders, slamming him into the wall hard enough to crack the brick.
"Who are you?" I demanded.
"Get your filthy hands off me, Muggle scum!" shouted the masked man in English.
What he got was a fist to the gut.
"Wrong answer, try again," I said, "And take that stupid mask off."
I pulled the mask off his face, revealing a gaunt face, with matted black hair and black eyes that shone with madness.
The man growled again and brought up his stick, shooting a bolt of blood red light at me, which I batted to one side.
"Oh, your a wand user," I said, feeling somewhat underwhelmed.
Wand users were a sect of magic users who used a magical core within their body to cast spells from Europe. They shared this feature with Onmyouji, but used a wand to channel their power rather than paper tags and chants. They were also notoriously closed minded and known for vastly overestimating their strengths compared with other races. Thats not to say they were weak, but the fact they drew their magic from within without augmenting it with Natural Magic like Onmyouji meant their spells were less potent. Their strength lay more in the versatility of their magic than the strength.
Unfortunately, in more recent years, the Wizarding World, as they called it, had become more and more closed off, bigoted and ignorant to the world at large, especially the Brits which, from his accent, this guy was.
Amazing the stuff Mom has in the basement, isn't it?
The man seemed shocked by the ease at with which I'd brushed aside his spell, allowing me to remove the wand from his hand with a quick squeeze of his wrist. The wizard screamed as the bones in his wrist cracked slightly from the force of the squeeze, but I didn't really feel all that sorry for him.
"So, any particular reason you're following me?" I asked.
The mans response was to spit in my face. I wiped the spittled from my face with a scowl, before tossing the wizard further into the alley.
"Now that really was a mistake," I growled, advancing on the man, cracking my knuckles.
The wizard snarled and turned to face me, Woging into a Hundjager as he did.
"Aw hell," I muttered, before Woging myself and catching his jaws with my claws as he went for my throat.
"What the hell?" growled the Hundjager/wizard, backing off slightly, "Your Wesen?"
"Clearly," I growled back, "Now what does a Wizarding Hundjager want with me?"
Instead of answering, the Hundjager started laughing.
"Oh, this is good!" he crowed, "Potters Mudblood whore isn't even human! The master will be most amused to hear this!"
"Master? So you work for the Royal Families?" I asked.
The Hundjager gave a fang filled grin.
"Of course I do," he said, "And Lord Malfoy will be happy that another of you annoying Knights gets put in the ground!"
"You really think you can beat me alone?" I asked, "You know a Hundjager stands no chance against a Rotznasig Carcaju."
The Hundjager smirked and moved his gaze to over my shoulder. My eyes widened in surprise as I became aware of another presence behind me, right as something impacted between my shoulder blades, sending me crashing to the ground as my muscles locked up and my Woge received.
"You're late Rodolphus," said the first Hundjager.
"Sorry Rabastan, I got distracted," said the newcomer, stepping into my field of view, limited as it were, "Still, the jobs done, hes dead. I'm surprised that we don't know about Granger being Wesen though."
"I wonder what Lord Malfoy's going to do with this new information," mused the first Hundjager, "I hope he lets us play with her when we're done though."
"You really want to touch a Mudblood?" asked the second, sounding disgusted, "Just make sure you wash your hands when you're done."
The two laughed and turned to leave, just in time for whatever they had hit me with to wear off. My fingers closed around the nearest thing and I surged to my feet, throwing the item, which happened to be a dumpster, at the two Hundjager.
"What the... AHHG!"
"Never turn your back on an enemy until you're sure they're dead," I said, squatting down next to the newly pinned Hundjager, "Now, lets see…"
I turned their hands over and, as expected, found the eight swords of the Verrat on their palms.
"Thought so," I said, "So, what are two Hundjager of the Verrat doing attacking little old me? Does it have anything to do with that Manticore whos ass I kicked a few weeks ago?"
My only answer was a growl.
"Eh, I don't care either way," I said, getting to my feet, "Now, since you've been oh so useful, I'm going to let you go. But, if you come after me and my family again, I'll rip your throats out. Understood?"
Glare.
"Excellent. Midna, if you will?"
My shadow shimmered, before Midna's shadow appeared next to me.
"With pleasure."
Their was a flash of black and orange light and the two Hundjager vanished along with the dumpster.
I turned to leave, intending to head home for something to eat, when my phone rang. A glance at the screen told me that that the caller was Rias.
"Yo Pres, what do you need?" I asked.
"Are you done with your job?" asked Rias in a tight voice.
"Yes, why?"
"Come back to the Club Room, now."
She hung up. I stared at my phone for a moment, not sure what to make of my Kings unusually terse tone.
"What crawled up her butt?" asked Midna, crossing her arms.
"No idea, but it must be important," I said, "We'd best hurry."
I turned to leave, only to abruptly feel my stomach turn inside out and my vision black out for a moment, before it cleared and I fell to my knees heaving.
"What the hell was that?" I gasped between dry heaves.
"You said we needed to be quick, so I teleported us," said Midna, "I wasn't expecting you to be such a wuss though."
I shot the shadowy imp a glare as my stomach finally stopped rebelling and allowed me to stand up.
"Next time warn me," I said.
Midna just giggled and disappeared back into my shadow, leaving me to enter the Old School Building alone.
When I arrived in the Clubroom it was to find my colleges glaring at a blond haired man sat on the couch with his arm around the annoyed looking Rias.
"Um, did I miss something?" I asked, "Whos the idiot who's about to get slapped?"
"Hmm, oh is this the last member of your house?" asked the blond, "Riser isn't impressed."
I raised an eyebrow at the mans tone.
"Thats me, Akihiro Howlett, Rias' Rook," I said, "And you are?"
"Hem, this is Riser Phenex, the youngest son of the Noble house of Phenex and Lady Rias' fiancé," said a new voice making me jump as a grey haired woman I had previously not noticed in the corner.
"This idiot is going to marry Rias?" I asked, looking over at Riser, "Not impressed."
Risers eyebrow twitched.
"You should treat Riser with the respect he deserves," said Riser, "After all, he will one day be married to your master."
"Oh I will treat you with the respect you deserve asshole," I said, "I only give respect to those who have earnt it, not to over entitled brats who have nothing going for them but a family name."
Everyone in the room looked at me like I'd gone nuts as Riser stared at me with an unreadable expression on his face. after a moment, he burst out laughing.
"Ah, Riser likes this ones spirit," he said once he had calmed down.
"You know that referring to oneself in the third person is a sign of Madness right?" I asked.
"Enough of this," said Rias, cutting of the Phenex's retort, "As I have told you and my family many times, I will not marry you Riser."
Risers eyes darkened.
"As a member of the noble house of Phenex I cannot allow anything to besmirch my familys name," said Riser, getting to his feet, "I came out of my way to the human world for you, even if I hate it here."
Suddenly, the room heated up as flaming wings emerged from Risers back.
"The flames and winds of this world are filthy. it is difficult for an Elemental of the Fire and Wind to bare. You will return with me Rias, even if i have to turn all your Servants to Cinders!"
"Just you try it Riser," said Rias, glaring at the other King.
"Enough."
The woman's voice, although quite, cut through the room like a razor.
"It is the desire of Master Sirzechs that this meeting be carried out in a peaceful manner. If you do something rash, I will not hesitate to intervene."
It was quite obvious that the woman was more than capable of taking both Devils down in an instant from the insane amount of power leaking of her. I took a step back, my instincts howling at me to get the hell away from the monster.
"Well, when the order comes from the one called the Strongest Queen then Riser has no choice but to obey," said Riser, "Riser has no wish to fight one of the Gremory 'Monsters'"
"It seems that we will have to resort to the 'last resort' measure Master Sirzechs has planned," said the powerful woman, ranging in most of her power, "This conflict will be resolved with a Rating Game.
"Whats a Rating Game?" asked Issei.
"If I remember correctly, it is a cross between a Chess Game and a Battle Royal," I said, "Basically a fight between the Peerages of two Devils."
"How do you know that?" asked Issei.
"My mother's collection of books has a lot of rather obscure tomes," I said, "However, Riser is a mature Devil and has likely taken part in a few already. that means that we are at a disadvantage. It may be better to wait and..."
"I accept," said Rias, cutting across me, "If this is the only way to gain my freedom from this foolish engagement I will beat you Riser."
"Never mind," I muttered, facepalming at my Master's impulsiveness.
"Very well, but if I win you will marry me immediately," said Riser.
"Very well, I Greyfia, confirm the acceptance of the challenge," said the Queen, "Would it be agreeable for me to manage the details?"
"Yes," said both junior Devils, not breaking off their glaring contest.
"In that case, I shall inform both of your families," said the Queen.
"Rias, is those gathered here the extent of your servants?" asked Riser.
"What about it?" asked Rias defensively.
"If thats the case then this game will be a joke!" said Riser, laughing, "Except your Queen, none of your servants can hold a candle to my own! Let me show you."
He snapped his fingers, causing a magic circle to appeared. in a flash of light, 15 good looking girls appeared from the circle and I was immediately assaulted by the scent of several different Wesen types.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me," I muttered, a slow grin appearing on my lips, "An Excandesco, two Klaustreich, a Steinadler and a Dämonfeuer? Maybe we won't have as bad luck as I thought."
"Um, why is your servant looking at Riser in that manner?" asked Riser, breaking me from my thoughts.
I glanced over at Issei and saw that he was indeed staring at Riser with a look on his face that was somewhere between hero worship and hatred. I sighed and whacked my friend lightly over the head.
"His dream is to have a Harem so I think hes got some sort of hero worship for you," said Rias, ignoring the byplay.
"Disgusting," said one of a set of green haired twins.
"Master Riser, that boy is disgusting," said the other half.
"Don't say that, its normal for those born into the lower cast to look at their betters with envious eyes," said Riser, wrapping his arms around the two girls, "Lets show him what hes missing."
He wrapped his arms around both girls and pulled them close to him, before lifting one up and kissing her. I rolled my eyes at the display.
"How very droll," I drawled in my best spoilt brat impression, "So you're a womanizer, a pervert and a Sisicon."
"What was that?" growled Riser, turning to look at me again, surprise and irritation clear in his expression.
"Well, how else should I take the fact that your sister is in your peerage?" I asked innocently.
Riser spluttered in indignation as the girl my nose told me was related to Riser blushed a bright red.
"I AM NOT A SISICON!" yelled the Phenex.
"Oh really," I said, "Methinks he doth protest too much!"
I could here my fellows trying to suppress their laughter as Riser turned purple with rage.
"ENOUGH! I'll teach you not to insult a Pure-blooded Devil! Mira!"
One of Risers girls, a girl with blue hair, brown eyes and a big stick charged towards me, her intention clear. Unfortunately for her, not only was I ready for her, but compared with my father and sister's attacks, she might as well have been standing still. Mira tried to jab the tip of her stave into my gut, but I grabbed the end before she could, pulling her off balance and kicking her hard, sending her flying back to her fellows.
"To slow, too predictable," I said, before tossing the stick at the gasping girls feet.
Riser growled and stalked back to the circle as Mira was pulled to her feet by her fellows, leveling a glare at me that I ignored.
"I'll see you at the game Rias," said Riser, before glaring at me, "And you, next time you won't be so lucky."
My response was to flip him the bird as he vanished.
"An excellent show young man," said the grey haired maid, "It seems that Rias' talent for finding talent is as strong as ever."
"Thank you Ma'am," I said, inclining my head.
The woman returned the gesture, before turning to Rias.
"The Game will take place in 10 days," she said, "Make sure you use them well."
She vanished in a flash of light.
"Hmm, will that be long enough?" I wondered out loud.
"What do you mean?" Asked Rias.
"Well, as much as I hate to say this, as we are now, we don't stand a chance," I said bluntly, "Risers forces outnumber us, not to mention the fact they have experience with Rating Games."
"True, but we have time," said Rias, "Meet here tomorrow at 9 o'clock sharp."
"Yes Ma'am!" we all chorused.
As we began to leave, I glanced at Asia who was walking beside me.
"Whats wrong?" I asked, noting the tense look on the blond Grimms face.
"Oh, nothing," she said, "I'm just worried about Rias."
"Yeah, I am too," I said, "But we can beat them. Just have faith."
Asia smiled at me.
"I think I can do that," she said.
"Theres something else," I said, "Something that will give us an edge against Risers Peerage. Some of his Peerage are Wesen and I have no doubt that once they hear about you they will be less likely to want to fight. Not to mention their should be plenty of stuff in the lockup to give us an extra advantage."
"Oh...," said Asia, looking down.
"That said, its your choice," I continued, noting her reaction, "If you don't want to we'll think of something else."
Asia shook her head and took a deep breath.
"No, I need to accept this eventually," she said, "Whether I like it or not, its a part of me. I am a Grimm with everything that comes with it, good and bad. I may not like the idea of fighting, but I'll do whatever it takes to help keep Rias from that creep!"
I stared at the normally meek former Nun for a moment, more than a little surprised by her outburst. I knew she was extremely strong willed, but this went well beyond what I was expecting.
"Alright, lets go," I said, smiling at Asia.
And thats the end of this chapter, I hope you liked it!
I'm willing to bet that the fans of Twilight Princess can probably guess where I'm going with the Dark Elves thing since its kinda obvious.
As for the two Hundjager, yes they are the LeStrange Brothers from Harry Potter. It seems that the Voldie of this world might not have as much control over his forces as he first thought, especially with a Royal involved. What does this mean for Aki and his future? Well, lets wait and see!
I pretty much planned from the start to have some of Risers Peerage be Wesen. My original plan was for them all to be, but I scrapped that because it'd be a bit of a stretch to believe.
I like to think that Asia is starting to come into her own. While she dosnt really like the idea of being a Grimm, what with the legacy of decapitation and all that, but she's starting to accept it and has decided to put her heritage to good use.
Now, I'm going to sign off here so leave me a review!
Grimm Diarys
Hundjäger: (HOOND-yay-gər; Ger. Hund "dog" + Jäger "hunter") A vicious, hound dog-like Wesen that serve as the Verrat's main enforcers. They are fast, clever, cold, and calculating, making them ideal for professions like assassinations and bounty hunting, and are so viscous that they are rumored to eat their own mothers from inside the womb.
Excandesco: (eks-KAHN-dee-skoh; Lat. "catch fire") Believed to be the basis of the phoenix legend, these Wesen when Woged resemble a human made of black, igneous rock with three fingers and toes. By releasing large amounts of white phosphorus though their skin, Excandescos can generate intense flames. This power can be accessed regardless of if they are woged or not. Due to their nature, they possess a natural resilience to intense heat.
Slathering their bodies while they are woged with a sticky fire retardant composed of licorice root, beeswax, witch hazel, and jojoba will prevent them from conjuring fire. Consequently, the energy will be turned inwards, causing them to explode. They usually take off the majority of their clothes before they woge to avoid burning them. They are extremely dangerous and prone to pyromania and arson.
Klaustreich (KLOU-strahyk; Ger. Klaue "claw" + Streich "strike") is an alley cat-like Wesen with a reputation of being treacherous and highly aggressive. Women find male Klaustreich irresistible, but it never ends well for those who fall for them, as male Klaustreichs are very possessive and abusive towards their soul-mates. It is very rare for a woman to escape a relationship with a Klaustreich relatively or completely unscathed. Female Klaustreichs are not nearly as aggressive nor as treacherous as their male counterparts, but they tend to keep bad company. Females care deeply for their friends and will look out for those they care about much more than male Klaustreichs do.
Steinadler: (STINE-ad-lur; Ger. "golden eagle", lit. "stone eagle") A hawk-like Wesen renowned for their exceptional vision. Their superior vision is a result of having five times more visual sensory cells per millimeter of the retina than humans. They also have special colored oils in their eyes that reflect certain wavelengths of light. These special ocular biological factors endow them with near perfect night vision and a whole host of other ocular abilities. Steinadlers are also incredibly fast creatures, appearing as a blur when they run, and are stronger than humans and have superhuman reflexes. They are known for their ability to poker-facedly exhibit simultaneous friendliness and sternness, so it is impossible to tell whose side one is on. The ability to sternly influence others as though they were subordinate friends makes the Steinadler excellent military figures. They have a reputation for being heroes and adventurers as well as having high intellect and good intuition.
Dämonfeuer: (DAY-muhn-fyoo-ər; Ger. Dämon "demon" + Feuer "fire") A dragon-like Wesen with the unique ability to convert fat through ketosis into a highly combustible acetone vapor, mixed in with the gastric juices that spill into the lungs, leading to laryngopharyngeal reflux. Thus, when a productive cough is expelled, the combustible vapor is sprayed from the mouth. Following a series of vapor-releasing coughs, a single productive cough releasing gastric juices from the lungs is enough to ignite the gas, giving the appearance of fire expelled from the mouth. Thats a fancy way of saying they can breath fire. Dämonfeuer are treasure-mongers, though in modern times, they have abandoned gold and jewels, instead collecting large amounts of copper, of which they are very possessive. They have no qualms with stealing copper to increase their horde. They are a martial race and have a value for combat. They view dying from combat or while in battle as to die with honor and dignity. As such, they are commonly soldiers and sometimes war heroes.