Cait and I get outside after my phone call to find both Rias and Sona's peerages surrounding a cackling man with grey hair in a loose white shirt and pants, with a long, black coat over them. He's holding a ridiculously over complicated, single edged sword that just looks... awkward. Given the cackling, the holy sword, that... that he's licking, ew, and how he's facing off against everybody else, I'm going with this being Freed.

Right now he's busy laughing and taunting the devils and doesn't appear to have noticed me. Right, I've spent all my time getting ready for the next fight, not this one. And Freed annoys me, so I think I'll be forgiven for getting this over with as quickly as possible.

First, I'm not here.

I fade out of existence as far as anything shy of Cait is concerned, and she wanders off to join the back ranks of the devils.

Second, a single beat of my wings lifts me over the unaware peerages and sets me down inside their encirclement. Casually I walk up behind Freed and point Sclamhaire at his back as he continues to speak lovingly on all the terrible things he's going to do to the devils. The only reason Issei hasn't jumped him yet is because Shirone has a grip on him, holding him back. Then I thrust forward.

The moment I focus on actually attacking, my glamor shatters, revealing me to everyone present. Freed proves he's more than crazy, speciesism, and misogyny, by actually managing to respond to my sudden presence. He twists, just a little, in an effort to avoid or at least lessen what I'm about to do to him.

Unfortunately for him, Sclamhaire slides through his clothing, flesh, and spine like they're air. He coughs once, and would probably like to say something offensive, but with a twist and heave I split him in half from the sternum up. Sclamhaire captures his fleeing life as he dies, and like that I'm at full mana again for the fight ahead.

Freed drops to the ground, the Fused Excalibur dropping next to him. There's a moment of silence that after a beat is broken by Xenovia, "What... why didn't we have her with us in the first place if she can do that?" I glance in her direction and... oh hey, she's gotten another holy sword from somewhere. It's not an Excalibit though, that would be too convenient.

Looking at her now raises another more important question though, "Can anybody explain to me why male Exorcists get real clothes, while female Exorcists have to wear that?" I wave a hand at the skin tight suit that Xenovia has painted on her, "I mean really whoever came up with that design ought to be investigated for some form of corruption, and not the political sort.

Xenovia looks like she's about to shout at me, but then pauses. She looks at what's left of Freed, then down at herself, and frowns. I think she might be about to actually try and answer me when we're interrupted again.

"This... has just been a week of disappointments." A deep resonant voice says from above us. Turning as one we look up to see an unhealthily pale man with glowing red eyes, ridiculously long pointed ears, and sharp shark-like teeth. He's sitting in a throne carved into a rock that's hovering above the school. He's got his chin propped up in one hand, and he looks, like he said, disappointed, "I had hoped that the little bird devil would accomplish something before you killed him. Sow some dissension in the ranks at least. When that failed, Freed promised me he would kill the lot of you. I honestly didn't expect him to get more than three. To find that he only managed to kill one?" He shakes his head and clicks his tongue like, again, he's disappointed.

We all reorient to face the new threat, the peerages pulling together, Rias' into an approximate mush, and Sona's into a clearly well drilled formation. Xenovia is off to one side glaring hate up at the newcomer. Which leaves Cait and me standing next to each other, sandwiched between the two peerages and back from what's become the front rank.

"Who the fuck are you?" Issei demands loudly.

"Me?" The man's smile grows unnaturally wide, "I am Kokabiel, the Star God." He stands and five pairs of pitch black wings spread to each side of him. Looking at it I'm really glad I limited myself to just one set. It looks kind of ridiculous, "Cadre of the Fallen. And this..." He waves a hand behind him and the air ripples like heat shimmer. Suddenly the air is full of Fallen Angels, "Is my legion." He crows triumphantly.

The air is filled with more sets of black wings than I can count. Everything from two to eight winged angels hover above us.

Rias and Sona are looking up at the display with horror. Frankly, I agree with them. This is way more than I had planned for in my worst nightmares about this fight.

It's... not quite the end of the world. What I have planned will still work. As long as the Fallen don't leave the school grounds, the numbers shouldn't really matter. As long as they stay in the school.

Rias recovers her power of speech first, "If you attack us, you risk restarting the war right here!"

"My dear devil princess," Kokabiel licks his lips in a highly unnerving fashion, "that's the entire idea. It's why I brought so many fallen with me. You and your pathetic peerages certainly don't rank as a threat. I need enough Fallen here that that sanctimonious ass Azezel can't pass this off as a lone rogue element. No, this will be the war I've wanted since the last one ended, and it shall start with your deaths and then the razing of this pathetic town of mud monkeys."

Kokabiel spreads his hands and spears of Light snap into existence around him with the sound of breaking glass. Behind him his legion does the same, the sheer amount of Light is beginning to redden the skin of the devils around me even at this distance.

Right, time to do something. I'd been willing to let the ass talk as much as he wanted, because him wasting time only works in my favor. But now it looks like the talking is over and I'll have to act.

I really hope this works, I couldn't exactly test it before now, but...

From the folds of my armor skirt I pull a ring with five popsicle sticks hanging from it like keys. Which they kind of are really. One stick for each of the five separate Scripts I engraved onto the rods that Cait and I had placed surrounding the school.

I select the second stick, and snap it.

Something that I can sense only because of my Mana Breathing twists, and all the spears of Light vanish.

Everybody is silent for a long moment as I breathe out a soft sigh of relief.

It worked.

This, I figure, is the ultimate use of Script. It's a language that defines everything on the most base level. Gravity pulls down because that's the narrative that Script tells. Large objects produce gravity because that's what their Script says they do. Everything is the way it is because that's the way Script describes it. And more importantly in this instance things aren't because the narrative doesn't allow for them.

What I've done with almost a year of work is alter the narrative in this small area that I've defined. The power requirements are immense, so this effect won't last for long, and shorter with each additional Script I activate, but hopefully I won't need it to last for long.

While it does though, Light can't exist. Because the universe, physics, Script, the story I'm telling, in this small space doesn't allow for it.

When I first started planning for this fight so long ago, the first thing I wanted to do was to negate the inherent advantages that Angels, even Fallen ones, would have in this fight. The first advantage the Angels have is Light, a magic unique to them that annihilates any devil it touches.

That advantage has been neutralized.

The next advantage the Angels have, is that my devils have little to no experience fighting in the air. The less said about me attempting the same the better, and I at least have had formal training with somebody who does know how to fight in the air. Kokabiel, on the other hand, and I assume much of his legion, have already survived at least one war where much of the fighting happened on the wing.

Meeting the Angels in the air would be a disaster.

So the next popsicle stick I snap sends the very concept of flight the same way as Light. The Angels' wings still flap, they still channel their holy magic in the same way, but now the result is nothing.

As one the angels, and a few birds that haven't fled yet, plummet to the ground. Even Kokabiel comes crashing to earth.

Everybody looks on in shock as the Angels slowly pull themselves to their feet, still stunned by their sudden trip to the ground. Kokabiel shakily reaches his feet no quicker than any of his minions, and slower than a few.

"What..." He asks, his voice trembling, with fear or rage I can't tell. I'm betting on rage though, "Was. That?"

"That," I say, pulling up my hood and mask. Everybody turns to look at me, "is preparation beating power."

###

Kokabiel doesn't have to say anything. The Fallen Angels rush us en-mass.

To my surprise, it's Shirone that is the first to rush to meet them. She darts forward as fast as I've ever seen her move. The angel in the lead swings at her, the punch almost clumsy. Shirone drops to her knees, sliding under the blow, putting her at the perfect height to fire a hook into the side of the Angel's knee. The joint breaks like a dry twig, dropping the fallen angel to his knees. Shooting to her feet, the nekoshu lands an uppercut that rocks her victims head back, which is quickly taken advantage of with a jab to the throat that collapses the angel's airway.

Taking a step back, Shirone gets room for a running start, then runs forward, plants a foot on the dying angel's shoulder, and launches herself into another one. She lands on her new target, her knees pinning their arms and letting her act with impunity. The little devil grabs the angel's hair to hold it steady and starts punching her new victim in the face just as hard and fast as she can. After only a few moments her fists stop making a 'thunk' sound and start squishing instead.

The angel falls over backwards, a fall that Shirone takes in a roll, coming up on all fours. She glares at the angels, ears pinned back, before emitting a horrible pissed off feline yowl. Then she launches herself into another group of fallen, scattering them like agonized, screaming, bowling pins.

Kiba is right behind her, a sword in each hand, the distraction that had been plaguing his fighting yesterday is gone. His every movement as fast and as sharp as the blades he carries. The swords dart in and out, punishing each movement of the angel's whether in offense or defense with bleeding wounds. Each blow, no matter how light, maneuvers his opponent until a hard swing takes them apart with almost casual ease.

I'm so proud.

The rest of the devils break free from their shock moments later and battle is joined. Melee fighters meet the on-rushing mass of angels like a cliff meeting a wave. The magic users hang back and start raining various energies into the angels. Shards of ice that spread on impact, bolts of lightning, and spheres of black and red crackling Power of Destruction rip through the black winged horde.

In an effort to thin, or at least slow down the huge number of enemies, I snap a third popsicle stick and then lob as many tear gas grenades into the angelic army as I can. The combination of the Script written on the grenades and the Script I just activated affecting the area means that the gas will only affect angels. Immediately the effects of the gas can be heard as the angels start coughing and screaming.

Then I'm out of time.

Kokabiel erupts out of the gas and the melee, and I only just get Sclamhaire in the way of his fist to keep my head on my shoulders. Instantly my mana is refilled. Unfortunately he doesn't back off, and instead keeps throwing punches that I only just keep catching on Sclamhaire's blade. The mana keeps coming. I can't disengage as it's all I can do to hold him back.

On my own I have no hope of even holding him off.

Fortunately, I'm not on my own.

Xenovia's new holy sword cuts the air between Kokabiel and myself. The Fallen Cadre misses having his arm removed by jumping backwards. Which puts him in just the right spot for Cait's large feline form to tackle him to the ground. The giant feline is kicked away moments later and the angel surges back to his feet, his wings spread wide.

He opens his mouth to speak, but before he can a beat of my wings sends me shooting forward, Sclamhaire carving through the air to bisect him neck to hip.

My sword jolts to a halt as the fucker catches her by pinching the flats between two fingers.

What the fuck!

"Pitiful mortal." He smirks at me, "You can not harm me. I am Kokabiel, the Star God!" He proclaims loudly, "And magic sword or not, I am beyond you!"

I just smirk at him.

Catching a sword is an excellent intimidation tactic if you can pull it off. But not if the sword starts trying to eat you as soon as you touch it. The frost visibly forming on Kokabiels fingers assures me that Sclamhaire still doesn't like being touched.

Seconds later he jerks his hand back with a hiss of pain. A hiss that I make worse by twisting Sclamhaire as he jerks backwards to lay open his hand. He glances down at his bleeding hand with a look of surprise, shocked that I'd managed to cut him at all.

He looks back up at us with a snarl, clearly about to start talking again. Which honestly I'm inclined to let him do. The more time he spends talking the less time he spends fighting.

Xenovia unfortunately isn't in on the plan. Before the ten winged fallen can really start in on whatever his new rant is going to be the Exorcist leaps at him, "There is only one God, and he will see you fall, creature!"

Kokabiel laughs and swats her out of the air with a wing, "God? God is dead little worm! He has been for longer than you've been alive! Your every prayer? Cast upon an empty throne. Your holy mission? A lie from your superiors in the church."

"Lies!" Xenovia screams and tries to surge to her feet, only for Kokabiel to seize her by the face and force her back down to her knees.

"Lies? Not at all!" He smiles at her in a fashion I can only call creepy, "I should know, I'm the one who killed him after all. Let me show you." The fallen angel croons as his mana surges and Xenovia begins to scream.

Right, that's enough of that.

I didn't attack Kokabiel during his little speech because I'm much more likely to get what I want out of all of this if Xenovia is disillusioned with the Church. That doesn't mean I'm going to stand by and watch as Kokabiel does... whatever he's doing.

A flap of my wings rockets me forward and I bring Sclamhaire down on the Fallen Cadre as hard as I can. Kokabiel of course notices me coming and plucks Xenovia's new holy sword out of her limp hands. With an almost negligent gesture he swats my blow aside and swings to take my head off with the same motion.

I avoid the blow by dropping to the ground, and baseball sliding under the holy sword and past the angel. He turns to follow my movement only to get several tons of giant cat landing on him. The angel catches Cait's claws on his borrowed sword, but is forced back several steps from the impact.

For a moment they stay in that position, Kokabiel bracing his stolen sword with both hands and Cait reared up on her hind legs pressing her fore paws into it. Then suddenly Kokabiel is staggering forward as the cat vanishes, replaced by the teenage goth. Except the goth still has claws, and she ducks low and lunges forward raking those claws across the angel's stomach.

It's not enough to disembowel him, but the blood dripping from her fingers proves that she got a piece of him.

"How dare you!" Kokabiel howls and slings his off hand at Cait where she retreated after her successful attack. Only for nothing to happen. Seem's he forgot for a moment that Light isn't something that's allowed right now.

It's all the opening I need as I rush him from behind. Whatever enhanced senses angels come with once again warn him that I'm coming before I can land anything. Surprise at his Light not working seems to have slowed him down though. He hurriedly puts the holy sword in the way, and Sclamhaire shears through it with only slightly more resistance than most anything else I've tried her on.

...Oops?

I hope that sword wasn't going to be important later.

Or if it is, that it can be fixed.

Sclamhaire's arc continues and lays him open across the ribs under his sword arm. I shortstop the swing while my sword's point is directly in front of his chest ready to thrust forward. Instead a shock wave erupts from the angel flinging me back.

Since when do angels use any magic aside from Light spears?

I hit the ground and roll to my feet immediately, just in time to get punched right in my armor mask. It's kind of like being hit by the Burner again. Only worse because the fae would have stopped after a single hit to deal with his pain. Kokabiel rains down three or four more hard punches into me, pounding me into the ground.

I'm pretty sure he would have kept going, except that Cait knocks him away from me. I take a moment to catch my breath and let the heat I can feel blooming under my skin do it's work healing me.

Right.

I can't actually fight this guy. He's too strong and too fast and too good. The only time I've gotten anywhere with him was after two consecutive surprises, his Light not responding and Sclamhaire cutting through that holy sword. It's not something I can count on happening again.

Cait seems to be doing somewhat better, but there's no way I'm sitting back and letting her do all the work.

So I've got one thing I can try. Hopefully it works.

I pull myself to my feet almost empty of mana after all the healing. Fortunately there's a great source of mana right over there. A little ways away from me Cait and Kokabiel are trading strikes almost faster than I can track. Cait's using her shapeshifting hard. One moment she's a giant cat, then she'll become the small human woman without warning, evading a blow. Using the moment, she lands several of her own hits finishing by transforming one arm into a giant cat's paw and swatting Kokabiel with it.

It makes for a chaotic and unpredictable style of combat. Though I can tell it's also exhausting her. Fatigue is creeping into her scent, though it's not affecting her performance just yet.

I pluck a small gourd from where it's hanging at my waist and hurl it at Kokabiel as hard as I can. He notices it coming and swats it out of the air. Unfortunately for him the impact is strong enough to crack the delicate shell, enveloping him in the suddenly released pressurized Power of Destruction. He screams from inside the rapidly dissipating cloud of caustic black and red energy. Whatever small amount of damage he's taken it's enough to stagger him long enough for Cait and me to trade places.

He evades Slcamhaire's arc coming out of my charge by leaning back just enough. Then responds by throwing a powerful punch at my face. I manage to pull Sclamhaire up into a hanging block just in time to take the punch, and just like that I have plenty of mana again.

Dear god, he hits like a truck.

Cait falls back to save the insensate Xenovia from a few fallen that have gotten past the devils, and I'm left with the full attention of a Cadre of the Fallen.

Yay.

The fight starts up again in earnest, the two of us exchanging strikes, blocks, and dodges just as fast as we can. Which isn't nearly as fast for me as it is for him. I manage to stay in the game though, because this time I'm playing my mental bow like a harp. Plucking the string just as fast as I can. Each release applying just enough pressure to knock a punch just a touch off course. Or making sure that a foot coming down isn't placed as perfectly as it would have been. It's not much, but it's enough to keep me from getting pounded like a tent peg again.

It's also exhausting in the extreme. Not only am I pushing my body as hard as I ever have, but on top of the usual focus needed in a fight, I'm trying to maintain the state of mind needed for Ku's strength nullifying defense and trying to apply the technique to the use of my telekinesis at the same time. I can feel the strain of keeping it up, and I'm not going to be able to for very long at all. Even with my muscles maintained by mana the rest of me runs on more conventional energy, and that energy is running out. The billowing fog of my breaths in the increasingly cold air coming faster and faster making it clear that I'm running out of time.

...Wait...

The distraction costs me as Kokabiel catches one of my wrists. I can't feel the pressure of his grip through my armor, but I'm getting a worrying amount of mana from it. He quickly grabs my other arm and with strength that I can't even slow down pulls my arms away from my sides.

"I can feel what you're doing little mortal. Did you think I wouldn't?" Well, I was hoping, "It's a good trick." His own breath is visible in the air now, "But even with it, you can't win."

I grin at him, even though he can't see it, "You're assuming that I'm trying to win."

"...What?"

I laugh, "I don't need to beat you, I just needed to stall you." I tilt my head just a bit to the side, "A little chilly, isn't it?"

As though my words are a cue, the temperature drops like a rock. Ice crawls across the torn up lawn and several trees explode from freezing too quickly. Mana so cold that just feeling it is almost enough to give me brain freeze, pulses through the air and the fallen legion is turned into ice sculptures.

"Kokabiel!" A voice thunders through the air, and I look up with a smile.

I've spent a lot of time around Serafall. Most of the time she's silly and happy and trying her utmost to be the perfect magical girl. Sometimes I'd see her more serious on set as she puts together her show with the dedication of somebody who really loves what they're doing. I'd heard stories from her peerage that in her role as the underworld's chief diplomat, she can be a calm soothing presence that is impossible to get any kind of reaction out of except a kind smile.

This Serafall isn't any of those.

This is The Leviathan. One of the most powerful devils alive and a walking ice age who survived and won the devil's civil war.

And she's furious in a way that I've never even heard of anybody being before.

Storm clouds circle the school, and I can feel my Script burn out as she crosses the boundary. Her twelve bat-like wings are spread wide as she hovers over the school looking for something. Her gaze pauses for a moment, probably finding Sona, then locks on to Kokabiel.

One moment I'm being held in the air in a very uncomfortable position. The next I'm falling on my ass as Serafall hits Kokabiel like a falling meteor. I pick myself up and find the two only a few feet away.

Which is honestly closer than I'd like them to be if there's going to be a fight.

...But it doesn't look like there's going to be much of one.

Serafall is going after Kokabiel with an almost berserk fury. Every punch he throws she swats aside leaving behind rime and ice clinging to where she touched him. He tries to talk, but every time he starts she rushes forward landing punishing blows on whatever part of him is available. For all her almost mindless seeming rage, her skill is something I've only seen from the likes of Vivain and Ku. She takes him apart a piece at a time, her aura of cold growing more and more intense with every moment.

Until finally he makes a mistake.

Maybe he slipped, maybe the cold slowed him just that lethal little bit. He's just a bit too slow recovering and the Leviathan slams a knife hand into his stomach, burying it up to the wrist in his flesh. Ice spreads from her hand across the angel's body with shocking speed.

I expected there to be some taunts or gloating. Maybe last words of defiance from Kokabiel.

There aren't though.

The Leviathan just stares up at Kokabiel as he screams, his flesh freezing solid an inch at a time. Disturbingly quickly, everything below his neck is covered in ice, which seems to be what Serafall was going for as she reaches up and grabs Kokabiel's hair with her free hand. With a twitch of her wrist everything frozen shatters, leaving Serafall with Kokabiel's decapitated head.

Then like a switch has been flipped Serafall turns on the ball of her foot and flings herself at her sister with a cry of, "So-tan! Are you okay? Did the bad angel hurt you? I can kill him again if you want! Oh no! Your perfect skin has been harmed! Let big sister kiss it better!"

"No!" Sona yells unsuccessfully trying to hide behind her peerage, who have learned better than to get between the sisters by now, "Get away from me! Help!"

Well.

Apparently Sona is okay.

###

The aftermath of the battle hasn't really settled in yet. The two peerages are clustered together. Rias' peerage is checking each other over. Sona's peerage on the other hand is already starting to talk about how to handle this latest disaster. Serafall had calmed down after assuring herself that Sona wasn't injured in any significant fashion, she had largely kept to the back with the casters and directed her peerage, so was relatively safe.

Cait and I on the other hand are standing away from everybody, nearer to the ORC building where the whole mess had started. Next to me is the body of the unmourned Freed Selzen, and at my feet lies the Fused Excalibur. As near as I can tell nobody has given it any thought since Freed dropped it. Kokabiel had shown up too quickly, and Xenovia...

I glance over at where the Exorcist sits by herself staring blankly into the distance. She's been doing that since Kokabiel had done... whatever he'd done to her to take her out of the fight.

At the moment nobody except Cait is paying me the least bit of mind.

It would be simplicity itself to just pick the Fused Excalibur up and walk away with it. I could be back in my house and then to Hawaii before anybody even noticed I was gone.

On the other hand...

I glance back at Serafall, Sona and her peerage. Once again, in spite of my best efforts, I'd made friends. I'd played, fought, and lived with these people for the better part of a year. They deserved better than me leaving them with the political shit storm that would descend on them if the Excaliburs vanished from their territory with no explanation. They'd never convince anybody that they'd had nothing to do with it.

I wouldn't get to say goodbye either.

I heave a sigh before bending down and picking the mess of a holy sword up, and head in the direction of Xenovia. Out of the corner of my eye I catch Cait smiling at me with approval.

"Shut up." I mutter before reaching the Exorcist and planting the amalgam holy sword point first into the ground in front of her.

She jumps slightly and looks up at me, following me with her eyes as I sit down next to her. We sit in silence for several minutes. Cait turns into a cat and climbs into my lap to pass the time as I watch the devils and Xenovia does... whatever she's doing.

Finally Xenovia speaks, "He didn't lie. I was so sure he had." Her voice is soft, and slightly wavering. She sounds… lost. Lost and broken, "God? Dead? How could that possibly be true? But he showed me. I saw God and He... He looked so tired. I saw Kokabiel walk up behind Him, and stab Him in the back." Tears began sliding down her cheeks, "I felt what Kokabiel felt. His glee at the opportunity, and the pain of his fall. I experienced the whole thing just as the Fallen did." She turned to look at me then, "God is dead. What am I supposed to do now?"

I sigh. I'd gone out of my way to not have this conversation with Asia, and now find myself having it with Xenovia. Who I don't even particularly like, unlike Asia.

Still, I feel bad for her. I can try to say something, "I don't have any real answers for you. I was an atheist until I learned about the supernatural, and even then I didn't really follow any religion. I can't really understand how this is affecting you. The best I can do is give you the same advice I gave to another young woman when she found out about this; is the message any less worth following even though the... one who said it is gone?"

"No." She sniffed and wiped her tears away, "No, it's not." Her voice strengthened and she sat up straighter. Though a moment later she snarled, "The Church though. The Church lied to me. To all of us! They claimed to speak for Him as His voice on earth!" She scoffs.

"Not their biggest fan at the moment?" I ask and receive a very eloquent 'ya think' look in return. I chuckle, "What do you intend to do with that then?" I gesture to the Fused Excalibur in front of us.

She blinks, likely only just now remembering that she'd come here with a mission, "I... I don't know. I'm not sure I want anything to do with it. I was so proud to be chosen for this. An actual mission from God." Her face twisted into an ugly snarl, "Michael told us that this would be in His service. Even the Angels lie." She spat to the side.

"Do you mind if I take it then?" I ask carefully.

She glances at me suspiciously, "Why do you want it? You aren't a holy sword wielder... are you?"

I blink, "Not as far as I'm aware. I've never tried." I admit, "The thing is, the True Excalibur that the..." I wave at the holy sword again, "rest are made from wasn't made by the Church. It wasn't even holy. It was made by the Lady of the Lake, a fae. And was supposed to be returned to her on Arthur's death. Obviously that didn't happen. But I've been... retained by the Lady to get her sword back. That's most of it right there."

Xenovia stares at me for long moments, "Even the heathens are more honorable than my own people. Take it. I want nothing more of it."

I nod and stand, spilling a grumbling Cait onto the ground, then pick up the sword. I pause before I leave, turning back to the Exorcist, "You might want to check in on Irina." I point out, "She hasn't heard any of this, you might want to talk to her before making any decisions on what you do next. It'll probably affect her as well."

Xenovia nods and stands up to head towards the ORC room where her fellow Exorcist and Pua had been left.

I slowly make my way over to Sona and Serafall with Cait trotting along, still a cat, at my side. I'm not looking forward to this. Goodbyes are never pleasant, and permanent ones are worse. I don't really have time for long ones either. Vali is probably still on his way, and he represents the first piece of attention I don't want. He represents exposure to both the Grigory and the Brigade. So short and sweet then.

Like ripping off a bandaid.

All the devils except the Leviathan lean away from me as I approach. Like I'm a fire too hot to get close to.

Sona still gives me a bright smile, "Ericka! I would like to thank you again for your help with all of this. I..."

She trails off as though gathering herself for something and I cut in before she can, "You're welcome Sona. I'm glad you and yours came through all of that in one piece. I actually came over to say goodbye though."

Sona's smile breaks like cracking glass. Which... hurts to see. She was probably about to ask me out, and if I were sticking around I'd probably take her up on it, but as it is...

I'm not though.

So I can't.

"You... You're leaving?" Sona asks keeping an impressively level tone, "For how long?"

"For good. I'm not going to be coming back to Kuoh." I tell her and her expression gets even more closed off.

"Why?" Serafall asks when Sona goes just a little too long without speaking.

I sigh, "You remember when I got here I said I was trying to lay low? Well, attention is about to descend on this town in a major way. Both from this," I wave a hand at where Serafall still has a grip on Kokabiel's head, "And because of that peace conference you're planning to have here."

Serafall narrows her eyes at me, "How do you know about that?"

"Little spirits." I shrug, "Nobody thinks about the terrain or the furniture when they have a conversation." Serafall seems to mull that over for a moment. She blinks, her eyes going wide, then she pales dramatically. "If you like I can give you a few names and methods of contact to get in touch with my... network I guess you could call it. It'll be up to you to convince them to help you though." I'm not going to be using my contacts anymore, I could help Serafall and Sona this much. I'm not sure how much of a difference it would make going forward, but it couldn't hurt.

Serafall takes me up on my offer of information and we spend a few minutes going over which little spirits are likely to help and how to get in touch with them.

By the time we finish Sona has pulled herself together a little bit, "Will I see you again?"

I sigh, "I don't know. I hope so?" I give her a wan smile, "But who knows what the future holds."

"I guess this means I'm not getting you to guest star on my show again." Serafall states with a small smile of her own.

I laugh, "No. If I was sticking around I'd be all over that. I had a lot of fun last time, but as it is...?" I shrug.

Serafall nods, "If you change your mind."

"You'll be the first to know."

I say a last round of goodbyes and head for Rias' peerage. They pause their conversation as I approach. Not like they don't want me to hear what they were saying, more like they're just curious at my arrival. I rarely seek them out after all.

"I'm leaving Kuoh." I tell them simply, "This place is going to start attracting too much attention for me to keep laying low, so I'm migrating to warmer climes, so to speak. Kiba, I've done my best to beat your bad habits out of you. Now all you need is to keep working on them, and keep practicing. You've got a lot of potential, make good use of it."

The devils are quiet for a moment, then Kiba steps forward and bows to me deeply, "Thank you sensei. For your instruction this past year, and more recent advice."

When he straightens up I smile at him, "You'll go far Kiba, I have no doubt."

I turn to my other student, "Shirone, this," I glance down at where Cait is sitting next to me, her tail wrapped around her paws, "is Caitríona, the Queen of Cats. Cait, this is Shirone, probably the last Nekoshu in Japan." I turn back to Shirone, "I'm not going to be able to help you going forward, but Cait can do a better job of that than I ever could anyway. She'll take care of you."

Shirone doesn't say anything, which is unsurprising, but instead darts forward and hugs me around the middle, purring loudly. I pat her between her giant kitten ears, then push her back from myself a little bit and take a knee so I'm face to face with her. Leaning forward I bump her forehead with mine then rub my cheeks against hers.

Cait moves forward once I'm done and headbutts Shirone's shins before rubbing the entire length of her body along the girl's leg, her own purring filling the air. I stand up and step back leaving the two cats to get acquainted, and turn my attention to the rest of the peerage.

"Rias, Akeno it's been... an experience." Is the best I can come up with.

Akeno snorts and Rias smile's politely at me, "I guess this means there's no chance of talking you into my peerage?"

I shudder, "Not in this life or any other."

Rias shrugs, "I had to try. Goodbye Rhostana-san, and good luck with your future endeavors."

"You too Gremory-san." I tell her with a smile which is surprisingly genuine, "Cait, you'll catch up in a few days?"

Cait meows back at me. A sound which carries the idea of 'yes' so strongly it takes me a moment to realize that she hadn't actually spoken words.

I'm not going to think about that too hard. I'll get an explanation from her about it later now that I'm sure I'll see her again before I go.

With that, I take my leave from the devils of Kuoh for the last time.

###

Pua is waiting for me in the ORC room. I'd passed Xenovia helping Irina to limp out of the building on my way in. The crippled Exorcist apparently regained consciousness sometime during the fight or the aftermath.

"Said all your goodbyes?" Pua asks me as I join her looking out of the windows behind Rias' desk. It hadn't really registered until right now, but Pua would have had a perfect view of the entire fight from here. "That Sona girl looked like you broke her heart."

I sigh, "Yeah, she's got a crush on me. I think she'd just managed to work up the nerve to do something about it."

"Sure you don't want to stick around?" Pua asks, turning to look at me.

I shake my head, "No. Nothing has changed any of my reasons for leaving. Sure, being involved with the little sister of a Satan might afford me some protection, but if I stayed with her eventually I'd have to become a devil, and that's never going to happen. And once we broke up any protection I'd have had would vanish..." I think for a moment, "and Serafall would probably kill me for breaking her 'So-tan's' heart. So really it would just get me another enemy."

Pua shakes her head, "That woman, Serafall, has some serious issues. Do the devils not have therapists?" I shrug. It's a legitimate question, and given what I've seen, I kind of doubt it, "So what are you going to do next."

I sigh. With this delivery of Excalibits my debt to Vivain will be paid in full. I can't leave yet though. I still haven't managed to find a way to survive the Gap. With all my effort over the last year the best I've managed is to make something last for a few seconds instead of being destroyed immediately. Which is entirely inadequate for my needs.

Since Script is failing me I'll have to turn to my other tool.

Trait theft.

I really don't want to do this, but there's only one being I know of that is a native of the Gap, thus capable of surviving that lack of existence as an inherent trait. That the being happens to be in the same place as the last Excalibit means I might as well pick it up while I'm there.

I groan, "Next, I'm going to join the Khaos Brigade."