I spend the next couple of days in Hawaii, helping Asia settle in, and squeezing all the training I can out of Ku. It also gives us time to start planning the Prank Epic of Vengeance on Pua. Ku doesn't even ask why I want to prank his sister, or even if she deserves it. I'm pretty sure he doesn't care, or just assumes that Pua deserves whatever she gets on principle.

Honestly as much as I love Pua and Ku, sometimes their relationship makes me glad I'm an only child.

Asia settles in quickly. If she's a little more subdued than I expect, her smile not quite as bright... Well, Pua assures that this is something that time will actually heal.

I figure I'll stick around for maybe a week. Make sure that things are going well, and that Asia knows I'm still available to help. Even if I'm pretty sure Pua's got that covered. That sticking around means that I'll also get a few days at home and on the beach has no influence...

I'm dragged out of my thoughts by an electronic jingle that I've rarely ever heard.

My phone is ringing.

Why is my phone ringing?

Almost nobody calls my phone. Mia doesn't, I'm not sure she even has a phone. And if she does she's never used it to call me. She's far more likely to just... show up wherever I am. Or leave me suspicious notes to prove she's broken into somewhere else that she shouldn't be.

My mother has my number I'm pretty sure, but she's far more likely to send me an email than anything else. The same with Kunou and Asia... if she wasn't already right here I mean.

Really the only people who actually call my phone are Sarah, Pua or Ku, and Sona...

I'm snapped back to the present by the phone ringing again.

There is, of course, the easy way to find out instead of wool gathering like I have been.

I check the caller ID and answer the phone, "Hello Sona, what can I do for you today?"

"Hello Ericka-san." Sona sounds... tired and worried almost, "I'm afraid that as you say, this isn't a social call. Can you come into the ORC today? Rias... has a request."

I blink, "I thought you were intercepting those for me?"

"I have been." She sighs, "This one though is reasonable, and has a legitimate reason behind it beyond... Just... can you make it?"

I hesitate for a moment, but then this is why I came to Kuoh in the first place. To be involved and a known source of aid. Which means I have to actually help out on occasion, and not just play chess with Sona all the time, "Sure." I check the time and try to calculate what time that makes it in Japan, "Usual time after school?"

"No actually. How soon can you get here?"

"Ah..." That's unusual, I wonder what the rush is. Let's see, twenty minutes for the script, fifteen minutes to say goodbye to everybody here, then maybe half an hour to actually get from my house to the school... "I can be there in a little over an hour. Hour fifteen at most."

She sighs slightly in relief, "That will work. When you get here head straight to the ORC room."

Well. I wonder what all this is about?

###

Something feels off the moment I walk through the door of the ORC room. The entirety of Rias' peerage is in attendance, and for a moment I think I've been ambushed again. Except that Sona is also here which makes me feel much more comfortable with this whole situation.

Still though, there's something in the air which puts me on edge. I think it's the way Rias is fidgeting. Normally she's calm, composed and confident. Even when she's doing something stupid, she at least commits to it.

This hesitancy isn't normal.

Strangely enough, I don't like it.

I slowly close the door behind me, looking around at the rest of the people in attendance. Aside from Rias, everybody else looks serious and worried, except for Issei who looks just as confused as I feel.

Having anything in common with him fills me with shame.

"So, are we waiting for somebody else?" I ask after a few moments, mostly to break the increasingly awkward silence.

Rias sighs, "No we're not waiting for anybody else." She takes a deep breath, "I thought I'd have more time. First you'll need some background. The underworld is ruled by the four Satans. Under them are the seventy two pillars, the original devil noble families. Gremory," She gestures to herself, "and Sitri," She gestures to Sona who nods in acknowledgement, "are both pillar clans. The reason these pillar clans are important is because of the unique abilities passed down through each family."

Is this...? This is a god damned exposition dump, isn't it?

Yup.

Rias goes on to explain how the pillar clans are dying out. How the Evil Pieces are a clever solution to the devil population problem, but they're leading to the idea of a 'pure blood' devil dying out. Basically the whole backstory for everything that happens in the series.

This is all about her marriage isn't it?

Not that she's actually said that yet. I glance at Sona out of the corner of my eye. She's not really paying attention either. Not that she looks bored, just like she knew all of this already, and is waiting for the important part.

Which given how Rias is rambling, I'm thinking she's trying to avoid. Or stall. Not that I can really blame her but...

Yeah, I'm going to move the plot along.

"Rias, this is all fascinating, but what does that have to do with anything?" I make sure to keep my voice even, and not accusing. I don't really blame Rias for not wanting to talk about this, that doesn't mean that I'm willing to wait for her to work up to it on her own, "I was under the impression we were in a hurry."

I glance at Sona, who nods in confirmation. She opens her mouth like she's about to say something, when a corner of the ORC room erupts into a harsh white light.

When the light fades, I find that I've reached into Sclamhaire's carrying case, gripping her hilt. Sona has grabbed my arm to keep me from drawing her. And standing in the corner where the light came from is a devil woman with white hair, an extremely generous chest, and wearing of all things, a maid costume.

She's got a little frilly cloth thing on her head and everything. I mean, really? What the fuck? Why the hell is a woman this powerful, and she's got to be breaking even with Serafall with how much mana she's got in her, a maid? It's probably my own biases showing, but it's really not a choice I would make.

All the devils that had been sitting, stand and bow, "Grayfia-sama." Rias greets the woman happily. And not just because it's gotten her out of explaining why we're here.

The woman, Grayfia, I guess, nods at the other devils but addresses the red headed devil, "Rias-chan. I take it from this gathering that you've already heard."

"I have." Rias nods.

"Do you still intend to challenge the contract?" At this point, I think Issei's the only person in the room who doesn't know what Grayfia is talking about. Something that he's starting to realize as well, judging by the look of growing frustration he's got.

"Then prepare yourself, he won't be far behind me." The devil maid's voice is grave. Rias has time to pale, and everybody else in the room grows agitated, before, as if on cue, the corner of the room Grayfia just appeared from erupts into flame.

I admit my first instinct is to look for a fire extinguisher. Not finding one, my follow up thought is that the lack has to be a violation of the fire code. By this time the fire has vanished, not having burned anything. Instead it's left behind a smirking, blonde, pretty boy. He's wearing a pair of red slacks that matches the color of the red coat he's also got on. Under the coat is an untucked, white, button up shirt. One with enough of it's top buttons undone that were he female he'd be considered indecent even by the standards of this universe. Instead he's just showing off something that it's pretty clear that nobody in this room wants to see.

I kind of wish that the fire had just spread and destroyed things like fires normally do. Cleaning up the aftermath of that would have been much easier than what we got instead.

"Rias, darling!" He sweeps into the center of the room, not even glancing at Grayfia as he glides dramatically past her. I think it's the maid uniform. This guy strikes me as the sort that thinks he's too good to look at the help. "Have you heard the good news?" He moves right up to Rias, and takes her hand to kiss, ignoring how she tries to use her desk as a shield, and keep her hand.

"Hey! Hands off Buchou!" Oh Issei, you complete idiot. Noble, I guess, but a complete idiot. The closest he's ever gotten to being in a fight is getting the crap beaten out of him by the school kendo team. And if Shirone hadn't scruffed him, he'd have jumped the arrogant high-class devil.

As much as I would love to see the two kill each other, that's not what would have happened.

"Is... Is Riser Phenex being addressed by this low class half-breed devil? He is! Extraordinary! Know your place, cur. Rias darling, where did you find this grubby little mutt?" The blond devil looks actually shocked and offended. Which somehow makes the whole thing worse. It's not a facade that he's putting on, he's actually this full of himself.

"What?!" Issei screeches, "Come'er pretty boy, I'll kick your ass!" Issei might have been threatening, if a tiny girl like Shirone wasn't easily holding him back... no he wouldn't be threatening even then. But he might have avoided reducing Riser to helpless laughter. "Buchou, who the fuck does this pretty boy think he is?"

Rias starts to say something, but is cut off, "Riser Phenex is Riser Phenex. High class devil of the Seventy Two Pillars Phenex family, and Rias' fiance." That manages to actually shut Issei up.

It also starts Rias up again. She rips her hand out of Riser's grip and backs several steps away from him. Which isn't the best move really. Sure she's getting away from him, but it looks like she's running. Which I guess she is, but retreat is not the image she wants to project in this situation.

"I am not going to marry you, Riser." At least she manages to make her voice sound forceful, "Not at the end of the year, not at the end of high school, not at the end of college."

Riser laughs, "Of course you will. It's been arranged since we both were children." He steps forward to reach for Rias again, only to have her slap his hand away. "Rias," He growls, "Riser Phenex has been most accommodating. He has allowed you your little game in this disgusting mortal world. He has even come up to this dirty place to visit you." He steps forward quickly and grabs Rias' upper arm hard enough to make her hiss, which on a devil is saying something. The temperature in the room shoots upwards, heat shimmers rolling off the blond devil, "But my patience with these games is wearing thin."

Lightning dances around Akeno's form. Shirone let's go of Issei, and crouches in pounce position, ears pinned back and tails lashing. Kiba has his hand tensing on the edge of grabbing something which doesn't quite exist yet. I actually draw Sclamhaire, and perhaps more telling Sona lets go of my arm and lets me.

All of this proves unnecessary though as Grayfia gently clears her throat.

"What!?" Riser almost shouts and whips around to look at the 'maid'. I can tell the moment he finally registers who he's looking at because his face goes white. Hurriedly he lets go of Rias' arm and manages to not look like he's running away as he moves around her desk and back into the center of the room. The temperature returns to normal slowly as Riser recollects himself.

Finally though, he turns back to Rias, "Rias, darling," The red headed devil looks like she wants to vomit at the term of endearment, "if you persist in this foolishness, you know it will come down to a rating game." The condescending ass smarms.

Rias has also recovered her composure by now, and nods firmly, "Yes. I'm aware. My peerage will be ready."

"Your peerage." Riser scoffs, "What peerage? You have the little knight," He gestures at Kiba, and the not yet manifested sword in the knight's hand gets a little bit clearer, "a mongrel that should have been put down with the rest of her degenerate kind," Shirone lets out one of those pissed off cat groans, but otherwise doesn't move, "...that," He waves a hand at Issei like he can't quite figure out what he's looking at, "and..." His eyes drift over to me for the first time and he pauses. His eyes take in Sclamhaire, her cut out of existence blade, the glowing Script symbols shining on her flat, and the cold mist gently wafting from her blade. For a moment he blinks, then hastily moves on, "the only member of your 'peerage' worth a damn is the lightning sadist."

He makes a grand gesture spreading out both arms, and behind him the room erupts into flame. When the fire fades there's a large group of women and girls dressed entirely in fetish wear. I mean, the woman who appears closest to him has breasts that have to be larger than her head, and is in a dress that is only preserving her modesty through a generous amount of double sided tape.

My back hurts just looking at her.

I lean sideways to whisper in Sona's ear, "Your security sucks."

"Clearly." She grinds back to me through gritted teeth, "Something I intend to fix at the earliest opportunity."

"Behold! Riser Phenex's peerage." It's a full and complete peerage too. Enough women there for every pawn and all the higher pieces, "Now finally complete, and with an unbroken win streak in the rating ga..."

"OHMYLUCIFER!" A voice squeals from right in front of me. I blink and look down at the girl that just darted over to me, "You're... You're the Fallen Magical Girl Weeping Darkness Witch from Magical Girl Levi-tan, aren't you?" I blink and examine the girl. She's an exception to my observation about the fetish wear on the rest of the peerage. Which is good because the little blond girl looks an awful lot like Riser. Too much, really, given what he uses his peerage for. Not that the very pink dress is all that attractive. The thing looks like an over decorated layer cake, and must be at least fifty percent bows and ribbons. Better than the other option though.

"Um... Yeah?" What the hell do I do here? I've never had a fan before! Oh god, I hope this doesn't become a regular thing.

The girl squees, loud enough to make both myself and Shirone wince, while bouncing up and down on her toes and rapidly clapping her hands. A moment later she got very serious and produced a small journal or notebook and a pen from somewhere, "Can I get your autograph?"

I can't stop the smile from growing on my face, "You know what, sure." I put Sclamhaire back in her sheath and sign the excited girls book.

Really, it's the least I can do.

For utterly ruining her brother's dramatic moment if for no other reason.

###

With the tension completely broken, everything else goes rather quickly. Grayfia lays down the law. If there's going to be a rating game it'll take place in one month, and she will be the referee. Then she tells Riser, very politely, to get out as any further interaction between the two peerages before the game will constitute cheating, and she will immediately rule against the instigator.

Riser still sticks around to posture a bit more, but leaves quickly enough.

Once the unexpected guests are gone I finally find out why the hell I'm here to begin with. After a rather half-hearted attempt to get me to join her peerage once more, Rias asks me to be one of the trainers for her peerage. This would allow Rias and Akeno to focus on getting Issei up to speed while I handle my two regular students.

I agree, mostly because I feel a little guilty. Thanks to my interference, she's down a peerage member she would have had, and Issei is even more inexperienced than he would have been in canon.

Not guilty enough to join myself, or offer up Asia. But enough to help out some, if very reluctantly.

So after agreeing, I rush home to pack for a one month trip.

Really, I think they'll be fine. I doubt that Asia contributed that much to the fighting in the original timeline, and thanks to my work, both Shirone and Kiba will be far more capable than they otherwise would be. And if nothing else I'm sure Issei will protagonist his way to a win, just like he did in canon.

So really, I have nothing to feel guilty about.

As I pack up the notes for what I'll work on while I'm at whatever training facility Rias has lined up, I remind myself that if I tell myself that enough eventually it'll be true. At least I think that's the way it works. At some point when I'm in a place I'm willing to stick around in, I should actually go to college.

I'm jerked out of my musing/packing by the sound of something tapping at the glass of the window in my workshop. I drop what I'm holding and rush to the window hoping like hell it's another cat messenger. Or anything from Cait telling me she's fine. Or if not fine, at least where the hell she is so I can bring the cavalry to help.

Instead, when I wrench the window open, I find what looks like a squirrel made entirely out of twigs, leaves, and small stones. A European one judging by the coloration achieved by his autumn leaf 'fur', and the tufts on the leaf/ears.

I blink, confused for a moment, since this isn't a little spirit I'm familiar with. Then again, other than my one nearly disastrous trip to collect trolls, I've never been to Europe. My confusion is replaced by a growing sense of dread as the little thing holds out a rolled up piece of bark paper.

I take it, and the 'squirrel' collapses into its component pieces. Maybe it was a golem then instead of a spirit? Or the spirit had slapped together a temporary shell, and had just taken the express route back home. Maybe I'll get the chance to ask at some point.

I unroll the bark paper and reveal a message written in berry ink. It has nothing to do with Cait though.

The debt by your own words owed, now called due. Come to the one owed.

I wince, as the moment I finish reading the words, something that feels like a fish hook in my soul tugs me west and north.

I sigh. I didn't really want to spend a month in close quarters with Rias and Issei. Especially Issei. But I'm not sure this is better. I had actually convinced myself that this would never happen. Or at least not happen until I was well out of reach.

I sigh again and resume packing, now for a very different trip.

Whether I like it or not, it looks like I'm headed back to jolly ol' England.

###

I'm lucky that the excuse, 'I owe a debt and it's being called in' is a readily accepted excuse in this world. Nobody is particularly happy that I'm ducking out on the month long training trip I'd just committed to. Like fairies, debts owed to spirits aren't things to be ignored lightly.

Which isn't to say I leave them high and dry. Instead of going with them, I write up as comprehensive a training plan as I can for Kiba and Shirone. What exercises to do, when to do them, how often, how many and how long breaks should be, what techniques to practice and how, who to spar with and for how long, and what rules and goals to have during the spars. I never would have managed to get it all done fast enough to send off with them if Ku hadn't been willing to take my not at all panicked phone call.

The wide eyed looks of despair on my students' faces when I hand them a stack of individualized instructions for each though, is entirely worth it.

I stick around to send Rias' peerage off to wherever they're going to be spending the next month. I'm left having to get onto a plane in a hurry. Mia offers to give me a ride to the airport, and I, in a bout of foolishness, take her up on the offer.

Mia drives like the speed limits, traffic lights, stop signs, the roads themselves are mere suggestions. I'm never letting her drive again. Certainly not any vehicle that I own. At least she has her own car...

Mia doesn't own a car.

Where the hell did she get this car!?

###

The problem with booking an international flight on short notice is that you're stuck with whatever seat is available. The seats available are not good ones. I end up trapped in the middle seat between a woman in her fifties who won't stop falling asleep and rolling her head onto my shoulder, and a man who keeps suggesting that I join the mile high club with him, and won't stop. To top the whole experience off, there's somebody maybe two rows ahead of me with a baby that won't stop crying.

The flight attendants are at least sympathetic. One of them, who I wouldn't mind getting to know better, goes so far as to offer me a supply of free drinks. I would have taken her up on them and tried to arrange a later meeting, but the increasingly insistent fish hook in my soul won't give me the time, and meeting a spirit even slightly drunk is a terrible idea. Especially if you owe them a favor.

Instead, I just thank her and go back to reminding myself why murder is bad.

So needless to say, when I get off the plane I'm in a foul mood. Fortunately, I still have a long enough trip that I have time to calm down.

The trip out to the forest I had been to previously to find the trolls takes most of the rest of the day. Thanks to my senses, I can head out at night and not really have any of the usual problems that most would have navigating a forest. I decide to wait though, if for no other reason than I want to be well rested for whatever's coming.

I manage to get a room at a small bed and breakfast and I feel much better come morning about just about everything. Sleep, food, mana, and a shower do a lot to wash away the trip out here. Even the several hours of contortion it takes to get into my armor can't totally destroy my mood.

So armor on, Sclamhaire sheathed on my back, I shoulder my backpack containing my working kit. The basic supplies I have found I'm most likely to need when doing work for my various clients. Notebooks, pens, some reference materials, carving tools for when I have to put Script on something other than paper.

Now as ready as I can expect to be, I follow the tugging on my soul into the woods.

###

"Into the woods to find the spirit, to pay the debt, to..." Singing while working, or just when I won't be bothering anybody, is a habit I developed while continuing my singing lessons and working on Leviathan's show.

Leviathan hearing me sing while reading over my lines for the days shooting led to me doing a lot of singing for the show. Released singles, character specific themes, Serafall even shoehorned a musical episode into the shooting schedule, just to give me more things to sing.

I didn't really mind. I've found that unlike sketching, which I haven't practiced that much recently, singing is something I enjoy doing for its own sake. Maybe if I hadn't started drawing as a method for practicing Script in public without attracting attention I'd find it more fun. Maybe when I don't feel so pressured I'll try doing it again just for the fun of it. I doubt I'll go back to it while still in DxD though. Singing on the other hand, while a method of learning to control my voice, feels a lot more like something I'm doing just for me. So getting to sing a lot for the show is something I pounced on when given the opportunity. Serafall clearly thought I'd need a lot more convincing than I did.

The look on her face when she realized I just agreed at the first request was hilarious.

I let the notes of Into the Woods trail off as I emerge into a clearing. It's a nice day, as shown by the sun drenched patch of green grass, and brightly colored wildflowers surrounded by trees. Standing in the center of the clearing is the hamadryad, autumn colored hair matching her autumn leaf dress and showing her off well.

I smile, and start in her direction through the knee high grass. Sure, this favor is probably going to be something frustrating, but I liked the hamadryad when I'd last worked with her. She had saved me from the pixies, and started carrying me to my camp before I offered her anything. Which means she was willing to help me for free.

From a spirit I didn't have an established relationship with, that's saying a lot.

Only a few steps into the clearing she turns and notices me, immediately the hook in my soul fades away, and she starts in my direction with an almost panicked look on her face. This is odd. The hook shouldn't go away until I've paid back the favor I owe. All I've done so far is show up...

The note said 'come to the one owed'. Was that the favor demanded?

Why the hell would she just want me to show up?

Well, I'm about to find out.

The hamadryad rushes up to me before I've made it more than a quarter of the way to her starting position in the center of the clearing, "You need to leave." She whispers at me harshly.

"...What?" I'm very confused.

"You need to go before they get here! Your debt is paid, now go!" She sounds almost desperate.

I grab her by the shoulders and shake her slightly, "Slow down, you're not making any sense. Before who gets here? Why the hell did you use your favor just to get me here? What the hell is going on?"

"There's no time, they've been waiting for you! You have to go now if you are to escape!"

This whole thing is a setup. I don't know how, or by who, but these are all things that I can figure out once I'm out of this trap. Whatever it is.

I'm about to free my wings and just fly the fuck out of here when the sound of baying hounds fills the air. I hear people moving through the woods all around us. The people are average sized, but the sound of their movement is off. It sounds sort of like people moving in full plate armor, but the metal doesn't sound like steel. There's also no scent of steel or the oil needed to take care of it in the air either.

Taken all together, and given where I am, there are a limited number of explanations for these facts. None of them good for me.

I give up on the idea of flying to escape. If I'm right about what and who these people are, there's no chance that I would actually escape them. The best I'd do is bring the inevitable fight to some place populated. I don't really care about exposing them to the mundanes, but I like to think I'm enough of a good person to not deliberately cause innocent collateral.

The image of Sarah's horrified face in my mind helps me know exactly where the line is.

So instead of trying, and likely failing, to escape, I push the hamadryad behind me and back to the center of the clearing, drawing Sclamhaire as we go. Only a moment later I get my first look at the people I can hear in the woods. They emerge surrounding us, halting at the edge of the clearing. I move around the hamadryad, always keeping her behind me and Sclamhaire pointed at our visitors, as I take in the reality of the situation.

Knights dressed in silvery armor, armed with spears, swords sheathed at their waists, and bows on their backs. The hounds that were howling move around just inside the tree line, meaning I can only catch glimpses of them, and otherwise have to go by what I can hear. Both senses agree though, they're huge.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to, but he said he'd burn down my forest if I didn't do it." The hamadryad whimpers hiding behind me. I note that she isn't a willing participant, but largely ignore what she's saying otherwise. Instead considering what part of the encirclement will be easiest to break though.

My thoughts are interrupted by one of the knights stepping forward, "Ericka Rhostana, Death Witch?" He asks, and his voice is the final confirmation I need to know at least what these people are.

His voice sounds like hunting hounds and the clash of swords. That plus the lack of iron or even metals containing iron?

Fae.

Sidhe fae no less.

I take a deep breath, and let it out slowly. Not flying was clearly a good idea. If these guys aren't the Wild Hunt, then they're the Hunt's understudies. Either way, not folks I have any confidence in escaping. I'm prepared to negotiate with a forest spirit, not fae. Fortunately, I can do this too, it's just harder, and much more fraught.

"Who wants to know?" I ask, keeping my voice as even as I can. Until I'm away from the fae showing emotion is anathema. I can't give them any hints as to what's important to me, or show anything they might take offense at.

"I am Maefael, Knight in service to Lord Áillen the Burner." The speaker sounds very proud of who he works for.

"Not a lord I've heard of before." I comment. It's interestingly a question I can ask without giving offense. Faerie lords are very protective of their reputations, and so really hate imposters to the title. Ensuring that knights aren't just pretending to work for a lord is entirely acceptable, as long as you don't take it too far. Anybody can call themselves 'lord' after all.

Knight Maefael nods, "Aye, my Lord has not been much active in recent centuries. He is a Great Lord of the Summer Court of Fae," On the other hand, fae can't lie. So if one says something like, 'I work for a Lord of the Fae' its the truth, "and he wishes to acquire your services. We are to escort you safely to our Lord's castle."

That isn't actually a request.

Well... fuck.