Chapter 11: Uneasy Alliance

I don't own DxD I'm just using the characters.

Welcome to Chapter 11. Today the hunt for the Excalibur begins and along the way even more secrets will be revealed.

Nightfall had arrived and Rias knew that things were about to get interesting for her and her peerage. Right now she was waiting in the ORC club room while her peerage filled their contracts. "Here we go." Rias muttered as she remembered the conversation she had with her best friend only 30 minutes ago.

(Flashback)

"You're really gonna work with him huh?" Sona said calmly as the two sat in the ORC.

"Yes, but why do you seem nervous about that?" Rias wondered. Sona was never nervous, and if she was nervous, then she had problems.

"I'm nervous because right before you called me I was talking to my sister." Sona admitted. She was about to say more but Rias interrupted her.

"I can't believe you actually called her. What in the world prompted that?" Rias exclaimed in shock. Sona's relationship with her sister was a well-known problem to Rias. If she was asking Serafall for advice, something was wrong.

There's very little information about the Red Dragon Emperor and I hoped she'd have some as Maou." Sona revealed.

"What did she tell you?" Rias wondered. Any information she got would've been useful.

"She didn't actually tell me anything. She just freaked out and asked me why the heck I was dealing with him."

"So let me get this straight, your sister was nervous. Serafall Leviathan is nervous about Issei Hyoudou?" Rias gasped. Serafall was many things but nervous was not one of them. This was huge.

"Yes she was and I kind of understand why." Sona said with a slight blush on her face. She still couldn't believe that he got her to kiss Saji the other day.

"Care to explain?" Rias asked nervously. Rias noticed the faint blush on her best friends face and she was caught off guard.

Sona realized she was blushing and quickly reigned in her embarrassment. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it, Rias." Sona deflected quickly.

"Okay then…." Rias responded worriedly. Something clearly happened and if Sona wasn't going to talk about it, she wouldn't press further.

"Some friendly advice, Rias, work with Issei, but keep him at arms-length. You'll be better off that way." Sona said cryptically. After that, Sona left the room and went back to the student council office.

(Flashback end)

"Rias, are you okay?" Akeno said nervously as she looked at her master. While she was caught up in the flashback, the rest of her peerage had returned.

"Yes, I'm fine Akeno." Rias said sternly, getting out of the daze she was in. This was going to be a tricky night and Rias needed to have her wits about her in order to handle this situation.

A few minutes later, Issei walked in along with the two church girls followed by Arthur and Bikou. Rias could see the look of fury on Irina's face but she ignored it to focus on the brown haired young man. "Sorry for the wait, we had to confirm a few things on our end." Issei said diplomatically.

"Of course, so how are we going to do this?" Rias wondered.

"Freed is somewhere in the city, as for where he is I have no idea. Our goal will be too split up and look for him together. We'll do so in three teams." Issei said calmly.

"How do you want to divide the teams, Issei?" Rias asked calmly. Since he was running the show, she figured he had a plan.

"Team 1 will be Arthur, Xenovia, and Kiba. Team 2 will be Bikou, Akeno, and Koneko. Team 3 will be you, Rias, along with Irina. Each group will have a flare that they can fire up once they find Freed." Issei revealed with a smile. Rias definitely had an issue with the fact she was alone with Irina. Of course Irina voiced her own complaints.

"Hold on a damn minute Issei, why am I alone with her. Where are you going to be during all of this?" Irina complained.

"Well it's simple, Irina. I trust you to watch over Rias so I'm leaving you with her. As for me, I'll be watching over things from afar and making sure that things take care of themselves." Issei replied.

"That's cruel partner. The truth is you just want to watch them and see how Irina reacts to being alone with Rias. This is a test for her, and you both know it." Ddraig snickered.

'Duh, but I can't say that. This will also be a good test of Irina's self-control. Hopefully she doesn't do anything stupid.' Issei responded with a smile.

"Very well then." Irina said reluctantly. As the groups separated Issei wondered how the night would go.

(AN: The next few segments are done simultaneously so that's why it may seem odd. Just letting you know.)

(Team 2's hunt)

Bikou, Koneko, and Akeno were a very interesting team to somebody who knew the group. You had Bikou, the relative of the Great Monkey King, Son Goku; Akeno Himejima, daughter of the fallen angel Baraqiel, though she would never admit it; and Koneko Toujou, one of the last Nekomata. Bikou was aware of the two girl's issues because he was sleeping with Kuroka and he was good friends with Baraqiel. Because of his own family issues, he was the perfect person to fix them of their trauma and that was his mission for the night. Issei knew where Freed was and could easily go after him. Issei's real goal, for tonight at least, was to help Rias and her peerage become stronger in any way possible. After all he wouldn't always be around to back her up and Rias needed the help. Now it was time for Bikou to do his part of the plan. "Hey Akeno, Koneko, let's rest for a second." Bikou said calmly.

"Why? We just got started." Akeno pouted.

"The truth is we already know where Freed is. I'm with you girls for a completely different reason." Bikou admitted. He knew the girls wouldn't take this well but he had no choice.

"So spill monkey boy, where is he?" Akeno said angrily. She may have teased the group before, but they were playing with her life and she hated that.

"I'll tell you girls, but first I need to say something."

"What's that?" Akeno said angrily. She was on the verge of attacking him, alliance be damned.

"Get over your little family problems, the both of you." Bikou said bluntly. A moment later, he was forced to dodge a bolt of electricity from Akeno and a punch from Koneko.

"How dare you! You can't possibly know my pain" Akeno yelled.

"Or mine." Koneko said as her rage clouded her judgement. The girls were about to attack again but Bikou stopped them in their tracks.

"That's quite enough, Shirone, I'm well aware of your issues with your sister and the same with you and your dad, Akeno. Baraqiel would be ashamed of your impatience." Bikou said bluntly causing both girls to stop in their tracks.

"But how did you know?" Akeno said with shock. Koneko was stunned too but sad nothing. After all, Shirone was her real name and something Bikou shouldn't know.

"Some of my connections include Fallen Angels. There's no way I couldn't recognize the aura of one, even a half-breed but that's not important. What is important is why I know that holding grudges is dangerous. After all, I had to fight family issues of my own before I joined up with Issei and the Order." Bikou said solemnly.

"Explain." Akeno said angrily. She needed answers and now.

"You guys know of the Victorious Fighting Buddha, Son Goku, don't you?" the girls nodded so he continued. "Well, I'm his descendant."

"No way!" Akeno exclaimed.

"Yep, and because of it, people heaped expectation upon expectation at my shoulders and it drove me so crazy that I left. Eventually I realized that I was just angry that I couldn't live up to his expectations. Of course it took me ten years to do that."

"But what does that have to do with us?" Akeno cried out in pain.

"It's very simple, I know all about what happened to both of you."

"You're lying." Koneko gasped. Of course the look on his face told otherwise.

"I wish I was." Bikou said solemnly. "In your case, Akeno, the people who killed your mother belonged to her own family and that should never happen. They couldn't believe that one of their own would marry a fallen angel and it drove them crazy, but that's not the worst part."

"What's the worst part?" Akeno said nervously. This was the first time she heard anything about the night her mother died.

"Your mother's family was spying on you guys for a long time waiting for the opportunity to strike. Of course they couldn't do it until Baraqiel was away because of his strength. Your mother was gonna be killed, and to be honest it wasn't a matter of IF, it was a matter of WHEN." Bikou said with a slight rage in his voice.

"That can't be!" Akeno cried out. She had no idea what was going on and the knowledge that her mother was earmarked for death shocked her.

"I wish I was lying but it's the truth." Bikou said calmly. The look of pain on Akeno's face was obvious but Bikou had to do it.

"What about me?" Koneko responded.

"Your case is a giant misunderstanding on your part. Your sister didn't go berserk. That's simply the story you were told."

"What really happened?" The nekomata questioned.

"Your old master was experimenting on your big sister and they were dangerous experiments. He hoped he could unlock her nekomata power and make her an unstoppable force. Kuroka endured all of that knowing it could keep you safe and give you a home but it was incredibly difficult for her."

"So what changed?" Koneko wondered. The fact that he said her name was a minor blip.

"He wanted to do it to you." Bikou revealed much to Koneko's shock.

"It can't be!" Koneko cried.

"But it is. Kuroka knew that there was no way you could handle the same thing she went through and she killed him to prevent that. Afterwards she took you and ran and became a Stray Devil." Bikou said solemnly. The story bothered him a lot due to his relationship with the kitten, but Koneko didn't know that and he had to wait a second before continuing. "Eventually she was captured, but she made a deal with Rias's big brother. She would be branded a traitor and take any punishment he deemed necessary; in exchange you would get a happy life and be blissfully unaware. Sirzechs agreed and you were sent to Rias."

"What happened to Nee-sama?" Koneko wondered.

"She's alive and if you want to see her, I'm sure we can arrange something sooner or later." Bikou said with a smile.

"Thank you." Koneko said as she walked up to the young man and gave him a hug. She was focusing on his energy and realized that he was telling the truth.

"Thank you as well." Akeno said happily though she didn't hug him. "So Bikou, how did you know about-" Akeno was about to ask how Bikou knew Koneko's story but a flare of magic interrupted her train of thought.

"Perfect, Arthur found Freed and is on the move. Shall we go ladies?" Bikou said with a savage grin.

'Oh well I'll find out eventually.' Akeno thought to herself.

(Team 3's hunt)

Irina and Rias were having a hell of a time as they walked together. It was obvious to Rias that Irina hated her and that it was related to Issei. The other day Irina was about to explain more but was interrupted by Issei walking in. Rias was determined to find out more and now was a better time than any. "Hey, Irina?"

"What?" Irina scowled.

"The other day you mentioned that Issei had everything to do with why you hated me. Care to explain?" Rias said calmly. She had nothing to lose at this point.

"Issei was my childhood friend and he was somebody very important to me. I was young but I knew that Issei and I were going to have a special relationship and I was glad for it. When I found out he was the Red Dragon Emperor everything changed." Irina said calmly. She knew that Issei wanted her to be calmer and now was the time.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Rias innocently asked.

"I could've just been a part of the church but I wanted to be by his side. I've been training since I was eight years old and it was all for him. I fought through endless days of painful training and learned things that would scar most adults just to be with him."

"What does that have to do with me?" Rias asked.

"Raynare…." Irina said bitterly.

"What's that have to do with anything? There was no way Raynare could kill him" Rias said angrily.

"You know that now but you didn't know that before. Issei was a human with a sacred gear and you allowed a fallen angel to target him and nearly kill him. I still can't believe he played along with your little plan"

"Wait a minute; he knew what I was planning?" Rias exclaimed.

"Well yea. It was his-" Irina started to say but a flare appeared in the sky. "Perfect, they found Freed." Irina said with a savage grin. She may have hated Rias but she hated Freed FAR more. Plus it let her get around the fact she nearly revealed a huge secret.

"What were you about to say?" Rias said in confusion.

"Who cares, it's time to kill that bastard!" Irina growled as she ran towards the flare.

(Team 1)

"So Xenovia, which Excalibur fragment were you given by the church?" Arthur asked as the group walked together.

"Wait what?" Kiba responded in confusion.

"I received Excalibur Destruction." Xenovia replied calmly.

"Wait a minute, what do you mean by fragment?" Kiba wondered. Despite being part of the Holy Sword project to use Excalibur, he was clearly missing something.

"It seems I have some explaining to do." Arthur said calmly. "Many years ago in Camelot, the sword Excalibur was the weapon of King Arthur. Excalibur was best known according to legend for its seven powers: The ability to destroy anything with a single swing; the ability to mimic anything else; the ability to give holy blessings; the ability to increase its owner's speed to inhuman levels; the ability to cause nightmares; absolute power of obedience, the ability to make its owner invisible. It was thanks to these abilities, and the power of the Knights of the Round Table, Arthur ruled over Camelot with an iron grip.

"Camelot fell eventually though, and why it happened remains a mystery." Xenovia explained remembering the little bit about the legendary country.

"That's because modern history doesn't acknowledge the supernatural. The truth of the matter is Camelot was destroyed by Fallen Angels."

"WHAT!" Kiba and Xenovia exclaimed.

"That's right. Fallen angels attacked the legendary city led by Kokabiel, his goal was to steal the Holy Sword and make it his own. Although Arthur and his best friend Roland survived, most of Camelot was wiped out by the assault."

"My God!" Xenovia exclaimed.

Kiba was focused on something else. "So since the Fallen Angels left, what happened to the blade?"

"Arthur and Merlin, who also survived, separated the sword into seven pieces and gave six of them to the church in order to protect it from Kokabiel's wrath. The seventh was sealed away in a special location and the only way to retrieve it was with Arthur's new blade."

"So what sword was sealed away and what was Arthur's new sword?" Kiba wondered. After Kiba told Arthur about his past during the training Arthur said something interesting. He told Kiba that those who know of Excalibur's power are fated to only know pain.

"Excalibur Ruler was sealed in a dimension by Merlin and the only way to retrieve it was Holy King's Swords Caliburn.

"So you're second blade is?" Kiba said shocked having recognized the name from his training.

"That's right Kiba; Excalibur Ruler is my second sword. My full name is Arthur Pendragon and my family is the descendants of King Arthur and Morgan le Fay; two of the only survivors of Camelot." Arthur revealed solemnly. Placing his hand on his left hip Arthur chanted a small spell and soon Excalibur Ruler stood by his side.

"So that's why you're with us. You're the only one who knows the true power of the Excalibur." Xenovia said astonished.

"Yes, that's right. Irina has Mimic, does she not?"

"Yes she does." Xenovia admitted.

"Wait a minute. I want to destroy the Excalibur, doesn't that bother you?" Kiba said with shock. All his anger and vengeance seemed minor compared to the wrath that Arthur would feel.

"No it doesn't. As I said before, the Excalibur lead only to pain, and if you wish to see them destroyed I would understand." Arthur revealed.

"Hahaha! That was such a touching story. So it seems I'm dealing with some sort of legendary swordsman huh?" Freed cackled as he appeared in front of the group. Everyone was situated in front of an abandoned building and it was clear that Freed had been hiding there in wait.

"It's a pleasure to see you, Freed." Arthur said calmly. Arthur then reached into his pocket and grabbed a black orb which he then tossed into the air. Freed freaked out as the orb exploded and made a loud noise.

"What the hell was that?" Freed cursed.

"That was a way of alerting my teammates who are nearby. They'll arrive soon, but until then, how about we have some fun?" Arthur said with a serious look on his face.

"Nuh uh, screw that, I know when I'm beat!" Freed shouted as he grabbed a smoke bomb and tossed it to the ground. As he tried to run away he collided into an invisible energy that appeared nearby. "What the heck!" Freed cursed.

"It's a special barrier. You can't get away now, Freed." Arthur said with a rare smile. The barrier truthfully wouldn't last long but it was long enough for their purpose.

"Damn it, then I'll have to do this solo." Freed cursed as he prepared for battle.

As Arthur, Kiba, and Xenovia prepared for battle it was clear that this team would have issues. "Alright Xenovia, Kiba, here's the deal. I'll do the main attacking, you two support me from the side." Arthur shouted out before unsheathing Excalibur Ruler.

"Got it!" both shouted.

"Well bring it on, assholes!" Freed said as he sat back to defend.

"Very well Freed, now prepare to witness the true power of the Excalibur!" Arthur charged as the swords clashed.

"Damn you're strong!" Freed shouted as he pushed away. Freed attempted to use Rapidly to attack Arthur's side but was intercepted.

"Not so fast." Kiba shouted using his own blade to block Arthur.

"Damn it! This is bullshit! I didn't sign up for this crap!" Freed groaned.

"You don't have time to curse, Freed!" Xenovia shouted as she jumped up attempting to slash the priest. He dodged the attack but Destruction's power smashed the floor causing a miniature earthquake.

"What the hell"

"Excalibur Destruction is pure power. Even if it doesn't hit you're in trouble." Xenovia said confidently.

"Damn it, this is getting old." Freed said angrily. Freed was in trouble and he knew it. All of the sudden a large crack appeared in the sky out of nowhere.

"What the…!" Arthur screamed as he watched the barrier disappear.

"What the hell's going on" the three said together.

"Freed, get out of there. You can't win and others are on the way. I destroyed the barrier!" A voice shouted out.

"Damn it Kokabiel, where are you?" Arthur shouted.

"Don't worry about me, Pendragon boy. Just tell the others, including your buddies at the Order, that I'll come visit soon." Kokabiel said happily.

"Sayonara suckers!" Freed said as he dropped another smoke bomb and this time he was sure he would get away.

"FREEEED!" Irina shouted angrily having found their location just before Freed tossed the second smoke ball. Unfortunately the smoke bought him just enough time to escape.

"Did you get him, Irina?" Bikou shouted having arrived.

"No, the bastard escaped." Irina cursed before transforming mimic into a fan and getting rid of the smoke. Everyone else was fine but Freed was gone and Irina was not happy.

"So what do we do now?" Rias wondered.

"Kokabiel said he'd come visit soon, so I'd take that to mean we just have to wait" Arthur said calmly.

"Oh well." Rias said calmly as everybody made their way back towards the clubroom. The mission was a failure but everyone was okay.

That's it for Chapter 11. So yea we did some fun stuff this chapter. I hope everyone's enjoying this new version of my original story because I've been working hard to give you guy's quality material. Next chapter Kokabiel finally makes his move.