Beyond the Outer Gates Lies...A Storm Gathering?

"YOU!" the girl snarled with a fervent hatred that is usually reserved for people who have already met me. But Lash verified that we had never seen her before; not in the battle yesterday or any time in the past.

"Blazing Chakram!"

She flicked her wrist, and a tapered stick fell into her hand. It was made from a pale, white, polished smooth yet unvarnished wood, roughly a foot long. The front third was wrapped in copper wire and capped with a hexagonal chunk of rose quartz.

As soon as her fingers closed on the carved handle of the wand, she gestured at me and called out the spell's name. An unfamiliar mandala appeared in front of her focus, and then launched four fiery discs at me. I sent a small pulse of energy into my bracelet, stopping her attack. Her eyes widened briefly in surprise, but quickly narrowed again.

We had been diverted onto the platform of a nearby train station. I say nearby, because I could see the shadow of Nijou Castle out the southern end of the station.

I also vaguely heard the male Hero demand to know if Ise remembered him. But I would have to leave them to their own fight for the moment.

"That was a lower intermediate level Black Magic spell," I said to the girl, tripping her up as she prepared her next seal, "but not one I recognize. Is it an original?"

"None of your business, you damn incubus," she actually seemed to get more pissed off at the question, "You won't be around long enough anyway. Force Bolt!"

Hmmm, that was interesting. The circle appeared as she called out its name and waved her pretty stick around again. And nine bolts shot out at me. Again I was able to stop them by sending just a sliver of mana into my bracelet. But I was curious because she seemed to be breaking the rules, at least as I knew them.

As you might expect I was familiar with the Force Bolt mandala by that point. Intimately familiar. Like Force Bolt and I got to third base and only a call from her dad kept us from hitting the proverbial home run.

I'm not sure if I explained it, but the default configuration of Force Bolt fired five missiles. I frequently toned it down to versions that only produced three or four shots, to save mana. Now I could think of three different ways to recalculate it, to get nine hits instead. And that's just off the top of my head. But that wasn't the case here. Somehow this girl had gotten that many missiles with just the basic mandala and a bit of unnecessary theatrics. Unless….

'Lash, you memorized that first spell she cast, right?'

'Of course, my host,' the former Fallen sounded almost insulted.

'And on a quick analysis, how many chakram should it produce?' I asked her. I could feel her frown as she fed the glyphs and runes through our shared library of the Black Magic school.

'Only two, I believe,' she said. 'Though this Blazing Chakram uses two characters we have not learned yet, plus one from the Norse school. Since not all glyphs worked the same for every school, there is a measure of error.'

'Yeah, I already know that,' I said, 'But still, after that Force Bolt, I'd be willing to bet you are right about that.'

'You want to know how she is producing spells stronger than the mandala allows for,' Lash concluded, 'even with the possible variance of different casters' strengths.'

'You're damn right I do,' I said, 'My first guess is pretty obvious…'

'She is a Sacred Gear bearer.'

'Right,' I confirmed her guess, 'But if not, maybe that fancy stick of hers is some other kind of focus or magical item that can amplify calculated spells.'

'Or it is just the expression of her Gear. Or she could have talents similar to magic from our universe, but expresses them through calculated spells, because that is how she was tau…'

"Lightning Sunder!"

She wasn't waiting in the few tenths of a second it took Lash and I to consult. This was another one I knew. And again, she used only the basic mandala but the arc of electricity was wider and stronger than it should have been.

She was younger than I appeared to be, short and skinny. And not trim, strong skinny like Oakley or Sona. More like someone who was naturally slender and didn't eat much or work out. She wore the same school uniform as most of the other Heroes, but with heavy black leather combat boots. Plus she had a navy wizard's robes over the top. She had hazel eyes, a slim nose and mouth, and pale skin. Her hair was medium length, but possessed of such natural frizz that it looked like she was secretly keeping one hand on one of those static machines. Most of her 'fro was jet black, but her lighter brown roots revealed that came from a bottle. Between the hair and boots, and the robes and wand, I decided to call her Goth Hermione.

"Okay, I gotta know, Hermione," I addressed my curiosity to the girl directly, "That's some impressive Sacred Gear you have there, almost doubling the power of your spells. I've heard about quite a few different Gears from a certain otaku Fallen…"


Azazel sneezed violently.

"Need a hanky?" Serafall asked, looking at him in concern.


"… but never about one like that. What's it called?"

"How did you kn…" she cut herself off from fully expressing her amazement, and then declared confidently, "Echo of Mysteries is the name of the power that will free Master Georg from your clutches."

"And don't call me that," she added quickly and petulantly.

"Free 'Master Georg' from my clutches?" I demanded incredulously.

"Yes," she nodded angrily, "Ever since he met you, you are all he talks about. 'Dresden's spells are so fast', 'Dresden can vary the effect to an unprecedented degree'. 'Dresden, Dresden, Dresden!'. But once I defeat you, Master Georg will finally acknowledge me."

"Stars and stones," I groaned, "My stalker has his own stalker?"

She glared at me again, but she also blushed in spite of herself.

"Do I need to get you a 'Notice Me Senpai' t-shirt, Hermy? Size extra small, maybe customized with an airbrushed wand?"

"Shut up!" her face was red up to her ears, "Jerk!"

"Come on," I said helpfully, "If it will get Georg off my… back… I'll help you win him over. I seem to be doing pretty good at the matchmaker thing recently."

For a moment she looked hopeful. Then she reigned herself in, and scowled forcefully.

"I don't need your help. Incubus. I just have to show Master Georg how weak you are."

"Sure you can do that?" I prompted a bit more sharply.

"Of course," she bristled, "So far I haven't seen anything that impressive. Certainly not worthy of Master Georg's adoration."

"You do realize that so far all that's happened is you attacked me three times with your Cheater McCheaty enhanced spells, and I blocked them without even trying. But if you want to see what's got Georg's hopefully proverbial panties in a twist…"

Her eyes expanded in fear as I raised my staff.

"Pyro Fuego!"

Fear became terror and eyes like saucers became eyes like dinner plates. My spell was a column of flickering dark red flames with a core of nearly solid, white hot fire.

"Iron Wind," she shouted as quickly as she could. The spell crystalized the nitrogen in the air into a bluish glass. I was familiar with the circle, but it was shuffled to the bottom of my spell list as too weak, too specialized, and too expensive. The Pyro Fuego hit it, and it began to heat up, the crystal going from blue to red in an instant. Behind the shield, Hermy began to sweat profusely. Just when it looked like her defense would fall, I cut off my will and the unfueled fire quickly expired.

"Pyro Fuego!" I immediately repeated.

This time my power became a three fingered dragon's claw. I put a bit of extra mana and focus into it, making the flames green. This time when it touched the remains of her shield, instead of expending its energy, my spell drew the heat back out. Her shield was cooled, but the Pyro Fuego was strengthened. The long, taloned digits wrapped around the edges of her barrier.

"Quenching Rain!" she waved her wand at my spell desperately. Large drops of water ate away at my attack. But I continued to pour energy into it for a moment, so the claw appeared to regenerate. Then I stopped, and her spell almost instantly destroyed the rest of the inferno, as well as cooling her shield off the rest of the away.

"Pyro Fuego!" I incanted for a third time.

The air above her ignited. A cloud of flames that would have filled a six tatami mat apartment descended on her. She didn't notice it until it was dangerously close, and I almost had to end it early to avoid killing her. I didn't necessarily want to end her life. She hadn't proven herself irredeemably evil, yet. And if it came to that I would use 2nd Amendment or a calculated spell. Fortunately, the Hero had decent reflexes.

"Iron Wind, Iron Wind, Iron Wind, Quenching Rain!" she chanted rapid fire, creating a sort of umbrella of the false glass above her, and then using the anti-fire spell to cut it down. Still, some embers got through, and her robe smoldered in places until the water soaked her.

"How?" she demanded, panting from exertion, "No, you are just mocking me, calling out a fake name. Those were three different spells."

Then she bit her thumb, "But where were the mandalas?"

"Didn't Georg tell you?" I blinked in shock.

"Tell me what?" she was losing her grip on her anger, she was so frazzled.

"I'm not a magician," I explained, "Well, I guess I am now. But when I first met Georg, I had only been studying calculated magic for about a month, and only had a dozen or so circles I could reliably use. Most of my magic is done my will and imagination, without seals."

Then I drew myself up in mock pomposity, and in my deepest, best Scottish accent, told her, "I'm a wizzard, 'Ermione."

"What? No, that's impossible…"

Unfortunately, she was babbling too fast for me to tell her to 'search her feelings'.

"… Humans that can use magic without a calculated mandala are just a myth."

"Oh, Hermy, you say such nice things," I said with false humility.

"No, you must be a Devil or Fallen in disguise," she decided.

"They wish," I told her, "But if you can't accept that… Holy Edge."

I manifested the mandala in its vanilla state, creating a simple dagger of Light. I transferred my staff to my left hand, and then swiped my right ring finger down the blade. I showed her my red blood, running free, neither my skin nor the fluid blackened and burned by contact with the power of the Angels.

"And if that's still not enough…"

I reclaimed my big stick, and then took out my blasting rod, too. I waved them in front of me, and ten different variations of the Force Bolt circle appeared in the air before me. Okay, to be honest, I had naturally memorized Magic Missile and also Reya's variant thereof. So only seven of them were recalculated on the fly. And Lash double checked my work, but I did most of the heavy lifting. Or maybe heavy thinking?

"Dresden! Duck!"

I dropped at Ise's insistent tone, my spells spoiled. A moment later, a Dragon Shot passed where my head had been, and just barely missed Hermy.

"What the hell, Ise?" I yelled without looking away from her.

"Sorry," my friend called back, "This guy can redirect my attacks from one shadow to another."

At that, I spared the other Hero mook a glance. He was now clad in what was obviously a rip-off of Ise's armor, but all black.

"Then try short range, wide area attacks," I suggested, "Or get rid of the shadows."

"Okay, I'll try that."

I returned my full attention to Goth Hermione.

"Sorry, where were we?" I told her apologetically.

"All those variants…. Were they all viable?"

"Of course," I sounded insulted.

"Why would you memorize all of those?"

"I didn't," I snorted, 'I came up with them on the fly."

"But you've only been studying magic for less than a year!"

"Your kind of magic," I reminded her pointedly, "And what can I say; I had a really good teacher and insisted on learning how to do magic the right way, not just memorizing a bunch of spells."

"I see," she pulled herself back up, "I can see why Master Georg is so intrigued by you. You might have even been able to match him, one day. But I will still end you here, to save Master Georg from you."

"Balance Break!"

The wand in her hand seemed to fold in on itself and then splinter. Only the crystal remained, and it began circling around her wrist. It spun fast enough to leave after images, which quickly changed color and became solid.

Now Goth Hermy had a ruby, an emerald, a sapphire, an amethyst, and a topaz floating around her like a magic bracelet. The five gems were connected by lines of light, forming a pentagram. I would have mocked her animesque bling, were it not for the power it was radiating.

"Echo of Mysteries: Shards of Akasha," she informed me, confident again, "Force Bolt!"

The default version of the circle appeared again, only to instantly split in five, each one taking on the color of one of the jewels. She released it, and each mandala launched the standard five bolts. Except this time each set of bolts was larger and imbued with a different element. Not unlike when I had used Hellfire and Winter in my early experiments, before they got too hot.

The ruby mandala was naturally infused with fire, the emerald air, the sapphire water. The yellow seal was charged with electricity, instead of earth like I would have guessed. And the purple circle unleashed bolts of shadow.

"Die, incubus!" she declared. I yawned.

"Reflectum," I intoned my shield this time, and channeled magic into both my bracelet and my watch. They formed an inverted bowl of energy. The missiles scraped along the outside of the dish, and exited back the way they had come.

Hermy just smirked. She was probably expecting the missiles to turn back and home in on me. Her jaw dropped as her spell continued back at her. I guess her pigeon Latin was worse than mine. She swung her arm up and shouted, "Shield of Chalk!"

That was another new one to me. White dust filled the air in front of her, and if it had extra elemental properties, I couldn't tell. The missiles entered the cloud, and then began to zigzag around randomly inside, unable to escape.

Of course, I wasn't just waiting. I had put my blasting rod back, and I subtly pointed my staff at the ground under her, and whispered, "Skatus."

Finally the missiles ran out of power, and the chalk vanished as well. Hermy looked at me cautiously, but the outline of a new circle was already starting to form in her hand. I just grinned.

"Hey Hermy, don't look down."

Of course, she did. She wasn't experienced enough to resist. And as soon as she saw the ice, her boots began to slip. She was sliding into a splits, but her distraction was all I needed. When I had put the blasting rod back, I fished out my baseball. With the Zero trying not to fall, I wound up. No words, no magic, just a seventy plus mile per hour fastball.

I beaned her in the temple. She went down like a sack of bricks.

"She's out," I said. But apparently I wasn't talking to anyone except myself, and maybe Lash.

Ise's side of the platform was a charred wreck. He was standing over the male Zero, his pose suggesting he had just given the shadow user a Boosted Gear uppercut. And Kunou was staring at him, her expression implying that in a few years she might want to submit her own special application to Rias. Hopefully she would grow out of it.

I walked over to Hermy, and checked her. Breathing and pulse were steady. She'd probably have a goose-egg, a headache, and a minor concussion, but she should be otherwise fine. I collected my baseball, and then tore up strips off her robe to bind her wrists and gag her. I noticed the gems were gone, and I didn't see the wand form, either.

"So now what?" Ise asked.

"I guess we have to find the others," I told him.

"What about…." he trailed off, glancing nervously at Kunou.

"She'll have to come with us," I sighed, "I can't spare the energy to send her back, and who knows what would be on the other side. Or what she would do."

That got through her hero worship long enough for the princess to stick her tongue out at me.

"So should we…"

His question was cut off when his phone rang.

"Hey, hey, Kiba?" he said, putting it on speaker, "Where are you now? Were you also knocked off course?"

"And how do you even have service here?" I complained.

"I'm with Asia-chan and Hanakai-san," Rias's knight answered, "And we did not arrive at the castle gate as intended. We were ambushed, but are headed there now. I have reached all of the others, we intend to meet there."

"Great, we're on our way."

Ise hung up, lifted Kunou up to his shoulders, and we took off.


A painfully slow twenty minutes later, we all met up. It should have been shorter, but we ran into a few Maker Beasts. They wouldn't have been worth mentioning, except that they were like Avant guard cubist statues. Like an Escher painting mated with a Picasso, and the baby turned into a powerless but ugly and aggressive monster. But also really weak, probably because of all the spindly, barely connected parts.

Asia was in the process of patching everyone up. She dealt with my cut finger and the few bruises Ise had.

"Are we ready to do this?" I prompted. I received a round of nods.

"Okay, Asia, take care of Kunou again, okay?" I said, "And since I was not able to say it earlier; this entire space is enemy territory. You may all Promote as you see fit."

"Yes, Ise, you can Promote," the former nun stated.

"Alright, I'm going to veil the four of us," I indicated my two girls and Saji, "and we'll follow you."

The Gremory crew, Momo and Tomoe marched forward, even as my squad vanished.


Author's Note: Ise's side of the fight is pretty much the same as canon, except for the little interaction with Harry.

Next: Beyond the Outer Gates Lies...A Breaking Balance?