Chapter 30: Repetition

"Okay listen up everyone. Something is going wrong with people sleeping but not waking up and right now we have someone afflicted with it." Rias announced to the gathered devils.

Surprisingly, Ravel and her Peerage had come back a couple minutes after Rias had rushed up and woken him before things had gotten out of hand. Ritsuka, for his part, was sitting down on the couch. His head lurched to the side from time to time only for Asia or Koneko to shake him awake, giving him another cup of coffee. He took it straight, no cream or sugar.

It was barely helping given that his eyes were slowly reddening. The signs of fatigue were heavily visible given that this was his second day awake. It was slightly worse given that Ritsuka had mild cases of narcolepsy… though his explanation of being dragged away in his dreams caused some difficulties in figuring out if it had been narcolepsy amongst the servants in Chaldea.

"You mean that sickness that's affecting the entire other side of the world? He's being affected?" Ravel pointed at Ritsuka, who in his exhaustion, looked behind him. He didn't know who she was pointing at… or it could have been him. He didn't know.

"As far as we know, yes. We now know at least that someone is causing this and it isn't just an epidemic." Rias nodded… only to grimace as she remembered what they needed to do. "Anyways that's not why I called this meeting. I need everyone on deck for this important mission. I've informed the Satans already so they'll be hunting down the cause. The real problem is that we need to keep Ritsuka awake for a bit longer… until Ajuka has found a way to help make this problem go away."

"That sounds much more difficult given that we don't exactly have any leads…" Ravel muttered as she glanced over to Ritsuka. He waved tiredly at her as if greeting her for the first time that day. He was already going off nearly two days of partial incomplete sleep. The option for knocking him out and forcing him into non REM sleep was an option… but that wouldn't have given him any rest. "Are we taking shifts?"

"Yes. At least more than half of us should sleep and the others should alternate whomever keeps Ritsuka awake until we get any notifications from Ajuka." Rias agreed as she looked over everyone.

Yubelluna harrumphed slightly from being a glorified morning wake up call but didn't move from her spot seemingly agreeing to the plan. The others merely nodded in agreement who all turned to their own King who was nodding as well. Rias didn't need to look over her own Peerage to know everyone would help her out.

Akeno nudged Yubelluna with her elbow glaring slightly even though she hadn't voiced any disagreement. Yubelluna glared back clearly annoyed which caused a small silent argument between the two, conveyed merely on sight alone. That was the problem that came with having two similar Queens, at least in demeanor, in the same vicinity.

As for Ritsuka, he remained blissfully unaware of the plans going on around him. It wasn't a secret that they would try to keep him awake… but he needed to focus on figuring out a way to use his advantages within his dreams before he couldn't be forcefully woken up.

Something was keeping him from using the class cards while asleep but he didn't know if he would be able to figure out what. There was definitely something supernatural about being dragged into the same dream, it was almost the exact same as delving into the Chateau D'If. The parallels were merely surface level since he was pretty sure he hadn't stared into the gaze of any Beast class servant.

'That's what I get for being more susceptible to the dream cycle for being contracted to hundreds of servants.' Ritsuka mentally chuckled since it wasn't all that bad, given what he learned from everyone it was pretty neat to be so close to so many people. Not that he managed to keep much privacy most of the time.

The dynamics now where he was the one keeping secrets was surprising to say the least. It wasn't an unwelcome one… merely surprising.

"We'll leave you to the first watch then." Ravel pointed towards the pawns who all agreed.

Ritsuka had to force himself to now pay attention since things were happening. It didn't help that he was feeling exhausted. The lack of actual restful sleep and the knowledge that something inside his dreams was keeping him from actually sleeping exasperated the problems.

After everyone who would have a night shift left to sleep for their turns, Ritsuka was left with the first four of the pawns. The fact he was left with the two pairs of twins kind of threw him off. It was not going to do him any good with his exhaustion threatening to cause hallucinations. Still it was merely a bump on that road most people call life… probably.

He didn't actually know if being hunted in his dreams by an unknown force, only because it kept erasing the memories of it, was as bad as when he was being hunted by Ashiya Douman. That person was a very persistent threat given that it had managed to get into the Wandering Sea several times when Tamamo Vitch required a link just to get in.

"So…" Ile finally spoke. She had been the one with the left hair tie… as far as he could remember. "We just need to keep Nii-san awake then?"

""Didn't you listen? He's being hunted in his dreams." Nel, the one with the right hair tie, spoke up. "Though it does sound a little weird. Hey? Hey, Nii-san? Why can't you use your magic in your dreams? They're your dreams, yeah?"

"Hey you two. Don't unnecessarily shake him. We need to save that if he starts to nod off." Ni, the nekomata with the blue hair and red eyes, quietly reprimanded them.

"I don't think we have much to worry about though. Mr. Mage here seems far more aware so he should be fine so long as none of us do anything stupid." Li, the nekomata with red hair and blue eyes, pointed out.

"Right, right." Ile and Nel both cheered at the same time.

"So how long are we going to be here for then?" Ritsuka finally spoke up, breaking into the conversation.

"Well… " Li looked down at her… technical master. She wasn't sure what this situation really boiled down to honestly. "When we switch shifts I'm certain you'll be switching rooms. I'm not sure how long either…"

"It's fine… I'm just curious." Ritsuka answered tersely, though he tried to look apologetic. It helped but he was getting slightly worried about talking too much.

"Hey… Nii-san, can you tell us a story?" Nel shook Ritsuka's arm, getting his undivided attention.

"I guess so… my choice?" Ritsuka looked at the young lady. As he found out during one of their training sessions during the Excalibur Incident, as it was called, Ile and Nel were actually close to being adults. So their childlike actions were very well choreographed to be as sweet and innocent as possible.

They weren't… successful with it often, but they had managed to make it work against Riser.

"Sure Nii-san, this will be great." Ile shook his other arm as he began to wrack his brain for a story he could actually tell in the vaguest terms possible. They still didn't know about his situation or his circumstances. So he had to be vague about it.

"I suppose I could talk about one of my past missions." Ritsuka beckoned the twin nekomatas to sit as well. At the very least it would distract him from the fatigue he was feeling.

"Really?" Ile and Nel both wiggled as his sides. While their enthusiasm was partially forced, their genuine interest broke through the facade.

"Yeah… so we were tasked with hunting down a killer who had been hunting down whole villages…" Ritsuka started as the premise immediately caught everyone's attention.

Of course talking about Victor Frankenstein explicitly was out of the question. So they would have to take the cliff notes version of events.

"And even though he had the choice, he lost everything in the blink of an eye because of his selfishness." Ritsuka finished up as the four pawns actually started tearing up at the end of the story. It helped that he embellished the events, only slightly.

While the stories were just possibilities, they were also never meant to be given the nature of singularities. It was weird and even after so many years he didn't really understand what that meant.

Or he did and his human psyche didn't want to utterly destroy his mind with that reality where he was responsible for things that happened on a universal scale. He was merely a mediocre mage doing his job. That was it.

"Wow. That guy was a jerk!" Ile shouted as Nel nodded vigorously in agreement. The two of them sitting close against him as they looked up, their eyes shining with wonders of the story they heard.

"Is that the end of that mission?" Ni spoke up her arms scrunched up against her chest with her head resting on her knuckles. She was completely enthralled, almost to the same level as Li. Her tail was actually lashing to and fro showing how interested she was.

"You'd think homunculus would be more… people like, wouldn't you?" Ni tilted her head as her arms crossed.

"Well… they were combat ones. Why go through the trouble of making an actual body when all you need are limbs to strike at foes and legs to stand on." Ritsuka brought up. His head nodded down as Nel lightly tapped her palm on his cheek.

It had been happening through the story. Every couple of minutes had seen him lose focus. It was getting a bit difficult to keep Ritsuka awake but his own stubbornness worked in their favor.

"It's time to switch." Mira called out to a collective 'aww' from the four pawns who listened to the story.

"Don't aww me." Mira groaned, scowling at the four. "It's been almost two hours already, it's not my fault you lost track of time."

"Damn." Ni and Li both snapped on frustration. Their plan to schmooze up to the boss didn't go to plan. 'Next time for sure!'

Ritsuka completely missed the looks that told him the twin Nekomata's intentions. After all, a strong mate came around only once in a lifetime.

"Come along sir." Mira mentioned as she opened the door to the dojo. "We figured that if we were in here we could stay awake a bit better."

"If you think so." Ritsuka muttered as he stood up. The sudden change in elevation made him stumble slightly but he kept his footing. With a quiet gait he followed along with the next pawn.

Within the dojo, Mira had managed to assemble Burent, Marion and Shuriya with each going through the motions. Magic flowed from hand to hand as they took to heart the lessons he had imparted on them. Ritsuka was glad that that was the case… even if the room was extremely humid.

"Ok Boss, think you can help us a bit more. We got the flow going well but we haven't got the whole shape changing down yet." Mira spoke up as the three stopped their own training.

"In what way? You've managed to control the flow? Was it shaping?" Ritsuka pondered as he looked over the group assembled.

"I still haven't been able to move on beyond static shapes." Marion muttered as she looked away.

"My shapes are oblong and lumpy…" Burent sighed as she summoned up a fire diamond which had several bumps on it.

"I was hoping to get fire on my knives." Shuriya admitted as she twiddled her fingers.

"Same for me. I can get it on the tip of my staff until you can find me a spear but it's just a formless blob." Mira added as she took a spot with the other four. The group had been a bit more adamant about training since the incident with Kokabiel.

"It is really tough… um… " Ritsuka started only to rub his eyes with his fingers. "Let's see what we can do about that."

It took a bit more focus than usual, even though he was used to such crazy things. Honestly, even though he had dealt with so much already, having to not fall asleep was the one thing he usually didn't do. It felt like torture… though he was also really exhausted as well, so his opinion might have been inflated.

As soon as Sitonai's card was equipped he kept the giant polar bear and hawk from manifesting for the moment. He formed a couple of blades out of ice and slept them freeze the ground to allow them a place to stand.

"Here, I'll show you as well as I can. This is pretty challenging." Ritsuka started. 'Seeing as I can't do this either.'

He didn't admonish himself out loud but the fatigue was starting to bring up a few of his bad habits. The one he was worried about was how heavy it felt to know he could only do so much. The cards gave him a way to keep up… but that was mitigated by the knowledge that his previous enemies in this word seemed to only focus on physical might. That meant nothing given the things he faced where it wasn't strength that made those enemies formidable. It was what they represented that made him feel that horrifying twist of the knife through his guts.

"From what I've been told and taught, shaping is all about belief and controlling your mana. For all of you, since your element is fire, there are other factors to consider." Ritsuka started out. Surprisingly, with Sitonai's card, the evil witch Louhi had the experience which seemed to be imprinted on the card.

Ritsuka pushed that particular thought out of mind. It wasn't going to help at this moment.

"So what difference does that make?" Burent brought up. It had been the first lesson he had imparted on everyone. They needed to ask questions. It seemed as though devil's pride made them prefer bashing their heads against the wall than asking for help. At least, from his experience the past training week.

"Well, fire is more akin to a living organism." Ritsuka repeated what he was told once before. Sigurd had been… excessive in explaining what fire was. "It constantly seeks to feed without care, growing deadlier by the second for everything it consumes. You are tempering it, forcing it to adapt to a shape of your choosing instead of allowing it to do what it is meant to do. Spread."

"You make it sound like it's something reverential." Marion muttered as she formed a sphere in her hand. It remained a sphere though that was a given. A sphere was the easiest thing to visualize. Edges and corners complicated the process when an element was in use.

"Well… think about it in a myth sense. Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to man allowing them to advance and change into something better. So it holds a certain duality in that term. Both as a life giver and a death dealer. Fire is volatile in a sense, it can be snuffed out easy or spread unopposed. There's a balance there that should be found." Ritsuka continued on.

Unfortunately, that was where his more philosophical notions on fire ended. Sigurd may have placed the thoughts in his mind but Scáthach was the one who pushed him to figure out how to use fire in rune form. He wasn't any good at it, but he understood how to make the runes. The world he found himself in seemed to make it much easier to get results with said runes but he didn't research that avenue much.

After all, while it worked easily in this world didn't mean that it would do the same in Chaldea.

Ritsuka helped the four practice shaping the very flames they drew on. By the end of their session, they had made more progress with the lumps and bumps finally being ironed out of the most basic of shapes. They weren't ready for non static objects but this was progress all the same.

A yawn broke his concentration as he slumped to the floor. Burent and Marion immediately rushed over, keeping him from succumbing to sleep… though the dark rings beneath his eyes were darkening.

"It's time to… shit! Ritsuka stay awake!" Kiba rushed over.

"Ugh… Kiba? Why am I back in the living room?" Ritsuka looked around… though his gaze lingered longer than it should have on any particular object. Fatigue was starting to build up far worse than it had been.

"You almost passed out while teaching." Kiba patted him on the back. "I brought you here… though I think we're reaching a limit. While you managed some rest, staying awake anymore than today will probably lead to hallucinations… and then…"

He didn't want to say it. The other knights with him were just as unflappable. Xenovia, while still new to this, looked on with a mixture of concern and disbelief. It probably didn't help that the person who defeated her was now in such a position. It didn't make sense.

Karlamine remained silent as did Siris who slyly peered at Ritsuka with a single eye. Subtlety was a lost art but no one noticed, the target couldn't notice with their exhaustion weighing them down.

"I'm more surprised you managed to last this long awake, or at least in a state of being awake." Karlamine mentioned, scratching her cheek tenderly.

"I had practice I guess? I was trapped in a time loop of a week, and some of those weeks had me staying up several days in a row." Ritsuka mentioned, blinking incessantly in a desperate bid to keep his eyes awake.

"Uh… why were you trapped in a time loop?" Xenovia was the first to pipe up, completely floored by that statement.

"To draw manga…" Ritsuka mumbled as he started to ponder whether this story was fine to tell.

"You drew manga…?" Siris' eyes popped open at the incredulous admission.

"Also we had to hunt down an eldritch abomination that had trapped us in said phenomenon." Ritsuka added. After all BB was an eldritch abomination as a Summer servant. Even as his mind said he shouldn't think that aloud, he still kept it in the back of his mind.

"Uh… you're joking right…?" Siris muttered, paling as she fully started thinking about what had just been said.

"Nope. No jokes. They were a real bitch to deal with… it didn't help that until about the eighth or ninth loop that we finally figured out how to fight back and get the means to do so." Ritsuka chuckled as he rubbed his eyes.

"Here. Drink." Xenovia offered a cup of coffee. Without even preparing it, Ritsuka drank it straight down. He was used to drinking coffee sans cream and sugar, given his schedule at Chaldea it was almost necessary.

"You just drink it like that… that's a bit too adult like, isn't it?" Karlamine muttered. Her own shock had muted her responses. It didn't help that she was pondering just what kind of monster could trap someone in a time loop.

There was a lot that all four of the knights had to handle given what they heard. Even without knowing details, the certainty of Ritsuka's words and his track record of telling the truth made it more acceptable than it should have been.

And given that his exhaustion was affecting his usual filter, Ritsuka unknowingly was on a time limit.

"Hey… Magus Ritsuka, what was that thing you used against me in our duel?" Xenovia, whether knowingly or not, decided to sate the curiosity that had infected her after their duel.

"That…? It was Gram." Ritsuka blurted out without thinking. "I guess as far as I know…"

Xenovia felt as though she was struck. Gram was known as one of the sacred swords meant specifically for dealing with dragons and unleashed the same destructive force through combined traits due to the similarity to Durandal and Ascalon. She knew how temperamental her own personal blade was given that it needed to be sealed just to hold back its awesome power.

Now she saw someone wield the greatest demonic sword ever, Gram, as if it were a butter knife. She didn't even see the usual signs of strain that were told whenever someone used the blade. Yet, it was said that the blade was lost to a wielder in the Sigurd Institute if the rumors were true.

'And now I find the blade in the hands of a Magus, who wields it with such finesse it's as if it was an extension of his body…' Xenovia thought as she glanced at the other knights.

Kalarmine and Siris, as she came to know them through training, completely shut down. Knowing that the strongest demon sword in existence was nearby had fried their common sense and left them shivering. In fright or excitement she couldn't tell.

Kiba… didn't look shocked at all. He seemed to know already. Xenovia pondered her place, given her relative newness to the group. She would probably be told what was going on… eventually. Still, her curiosity burned a bit more. Kiba gave her a stern look and shook his head.

The message was clear.

'Ask later is it? Fair enough.' Xenovia grunted slightly, keeping her voice down as she did so. It wasn't a wrong assessment.

She could see the logic to it. Ritsuka was the Gremory asset. Even though the Phenex group was allied with them, it seemed that they weren't privy to information either. To her limited understanding, it made sense. She didn't know the full details… yet. But she was certain she would be told in due time.

After another hour of prodding Ritsuka for explanations, it was time to switch. Xenovia looked a bit disappointed though. After explaining he had Gram, he rambled on about hunting treasure with a pair of pirates. It was an interesting story but it didn't further her own understanding of him.

The Rooks and Bishops were working together at this point as they led Ritsuka outside to the backyard. The backyard was a very elaborate garden with a terrace overlooking it. The familiars that each of the Gremory devils had sans Asia were tending said garden albeit in ways that suited them.

Koneko and Asia sat closest to his side at the table they were seated at. Mihae sat next to Koneko with Xuelan and Isabela, who was next to Asia, followed suit. A small table for six people at most… though given how small the Gremory Peerage was it had sufficed.

Ritsuka didn't really notice though. The stimulant from the coffee had worn off, far too fast for his liking. Though Mash sometimes shoved coffee down his throat whenever he was saying far too much… maybe his body had built up an immunity. It was hard to say as he slugged down another cup.

His eyes were hurting. Each blink took longer and longer to keep up. The siren call of the table to act as his pillow was very loud now…

'Wait…' Ritsuka looked to his left noticing that Asia was saying something to him. He shook his head trying to get the cotton that must have stuffed itself in his ears earlier.

"... and then the priest tried to take me but Ritsuka stopped him from doing so." Asia finished her story.

'Huh… oh, right, when we met.' Ritsuka could hear the appreciative 'ooh'ing from the other members.

"And that's how my first day here went. It was kinda scary but I'm happy someone kind came to help me." Asia parsed her thoughts. "Though it was scary knowing that priest was there."

"He was an asshole." Ritsuka piped up, his comment elicited a bit of shock.

"Senpai usually keeps his cursing to a minimum." Koneko tilted her head.

"Was I cursing…?" Ritsuka mumbled confusedly. He was trying to ponder what he might have mumbled while he was sitting.

"You kept saying the f word several times sir." Mihae answered, respectfully bowing her head.

"I did?" He was sure he didn't… though with how lethargic he felt, he wouldn't put it past him. That got him thinking about how he actually sat down… he didn't remember getting up.

"Here drink. It's more coffee. It's the best we got until they get a call back from that Satan." Isabela provided another cup which he powered through even though it was a tad hot. Though given his past with how much coffee he usually had to knock back, it was probably fine.

"I don't think I'm gonna last the day… something is making me want to sleep… and it's getting stronger." Ritsuka muttered as steam flowed from his mouth. The heat hadn't bothered him even slightly, almost as if his nerves had grown numb.

"Maybe we could get you an adrenaline shot… though that might take just as long to get…" Xuelan offered though she made it in jest.

"Would that count as a poison…?" Ritsuka managed out. "Poison doesn't work on me… I think stimulants work on me… but I'm not sure."

"Poison doesn't work on you?" Mihae questioned.

"No. Not really… at least to a certain degree but we've never tested that. Can't even get drunk when I get older… doesn't work. Kind of annoying… wouldn't help but wouldn't hurt…" Ritsuka rambled on as he lost focus entirely.

"I don't think this is working Koneko!" Asia immediately stood up but he didn't react… at least not right away.

"I'll get Rias." Koneko stood up and raced off.

Ritsuka was back in the parlor… again. He was pretty sure it was again… though the couch was starting to look like a different color. For some reason, Akeno was holding on to him with Yubelluna on his other side holding his hand.

"Like I showed you, you can do that much can't you Bomb Queen." Akeno made a snide remark as Yubelluna grit her teeth in frustration.

"I can do this much, don't let your sadism get the best of you Lightning Priestess." Yubelluna growled out as Akeno pouted in frustration.

With a little jolt of magic they each ran a small lightning spell through Ritsuka.

"Ow!" Ritsuka jolted up, his eyes were back open to full even though they were completely bloodshot.

"I think that might buy us some more time. Ajuka still hasn't gotten back to me. Urgh!" Rias stomped her foot accidentally leaving cracks from the impact. She looked down, mortified by what she saw and did her best to control herself.

"That was shocking…" Ritsuka grumbled as he instinctively allowed a pun through. He was usually better than that. "I don't think I like it."

He had been shocked before. A very long hug from Fran had seen him partially electrocuted though it was low power. It wasn't bad but they had used enough magic to actually make him feel it.

"At least you're still awake. If you didn't get lucky you'd have been gone the second time your head hit the pillow." Ravel brought up, pouting slightly as she looked at the two Queens who were draped over her future. She knew it was for a good cause but still… it irked her something fierce. Not even Rias was immune, her occasional glances were full of envy as well.

Even so neither Queen actually took pleasure in the act… well, Akeno might have been but it was difficult to tell. She was a very dedicated switch, at least to Ritsuka only, if necessary. Though that was neither here or there at the moment.

"Damn it all. He still hasn't found anything…" Rias growled under her breath as she put down the cell phone she had been listening to. "He still hasn't found a way to do something. We though that maybe gathering an incubus or succubus would allow them to help you in your dream but none of them wanted anything to do with this incident. It was as if they knew something that could affect them was hiding in dreams."

"Unfortunate…" Ritsuka slurred his words slightly before another jolt was administered to his body. He didn't bounce up on his feet this time though. He sat up straight and slumped back down. "I don't think this is working…"

He was a bit sad that he hadn't figured out a way to activate the class cards within his dreams. They would have helped. Someone was controlling the dream, enforcing rules upon what was and wasn't possible. That left his thoughts swirling… he couldn't use what he was capable of now.

'Maybe… maybe I should be focusing on what I have been able to do. After all, ever since my trek into Imaginary Space, Skadi did explain to me what I was doing to have heroic spirits help me…' Ritsuka looked at his hand, the one that was constantly covered by a glove. 'I completely forgot I could do that as well… and since it's a part of my soul now, in the metaphysical sense, what could they do to stop me…'

It was a long shot honestly… but at this point he didn't have many other options. He was going to pass out completely and be utterly exhausted to the point where nothing could wake him.

And if it didn't work… well, that was a bridge he'd have to cross when it did happen.

"How much mana do you think you could supply me…?" Ritsuka spoke up.

"What? Mana? You mean magic energy?" Rias was once again caught flat footed. More terminology that she was uncertain about but she got the idea after a moment. "I mean we can add mana to you but you'll probably get really sick if we did so."

"Well that's gonna suck… probably gonna need you to do it anyways… cause I'm going to fall asleep no matter what…" Ritsuka stumbled over his words, pausing to figure out just where he was going with this. The murky mess of his mind was a thick soup of shortened thought. He didn't even know if his plan would work…

It made sense in theory… and was incredibly reckless. He had been a bit strengthened in this world when it came to his own efforts on magecraft. It was as if the world made it easier to do such feats. Given the lack of Gaia or Alaya, it made sense. He could tell, due to the magecraft training he went through, that something was missing in this world.

"Wait, we can do it again!" Akeno cried out as she motioned to Yubelluna to follow her lead. Another crackle of lightning sparked across him. Ritsuka didn't even move.

"I don't think that's working anymore…" Ritsuka muttered as his head fell on Akeno's shoulder. The dark circles under his eyes had gotten a bit heavier and his bloodshot eyes, regardless of the color of his eyes.

The sclera of his eyes were turning darker by the second. Whomever was involved had stopped playing around.

And with that Ritsuka had fallen asleep… with only a vague outline of what he needed Rias to do for him.

"Sir, we've found it!" Hypnos shouted as he finally found the access point he needed. The cause of the incident had finally been located after forcing so much of his energy into focusing on one source. "Lord Hades I shall send you right away. Whomever is using Oneiros as their power source has finally tipped their hand, should you kill them then with my power I shall force that death upon their physical body as well!"

"Proceed. I shall keep my word as always and make the interloper pay for their transgressions." Hades nodded and he was forced asleep.

Hypnos quickly used his power to forge a link to whomever's mind was currently being accosted. Nyx assisted with a familiar of her own as well. While it was costly, they honored their words regardless of how much of a setback this would cost.

"Was all this necessary?" Nyx questioned Hypnos as he cast his rituals upon their boss.

"The enemy has been able to block my attempts using Oneiros own authority against me. We both govern the land of dreams and while neither of us hold grand power, we aren't weak either. This jackass kept me at bay but now they've committed everything to a single strike, probably desperation. It doesn't matter, one shot is all that's needed… and if your familiar is lucky we can sever their control." Hypnos explained. "Though… the mind we are entering has been fighting back. I've never seen these kinds of nightmares before…"

"It can't be that bad." Nyx waved off the concern. After all they had seen the darkest acts of man before.

"I couldn't agree with that… whatever this person went through… I can't see how they're still sane." Hypnos shook his head. "A sheer nightmare and that's only from the very edge of the lake of turmoil that sprouts from his head."

"I'd call you a liar… but knowing your propensity for dreams…" Nyx grimaced as she turned her head. It would only take a few hours at most of searching… in dream logic though, that could be an eternity.

"I do ask that you keep the Khaos Brigade from asking for assistance. That Hero Brigade has been trying to convince us about needing conflict in our lives more often." Hypnos muttered. "As far as I'm concerned working with them is just as bad as admitting to working with the other groups in peace, only if we lose that is what our mythology will look like."

"I made sure that Pluto is keeping them from coming any closer… and it should be fine. Hades seems to know what he's doing." Nyx sighed. It wasn't the first disagreement they had about this. They had their trump card resting at the moment, she was still weakened from the endless sleep that she had been given but it was only a matter of time.

"Hmph…" Hypnos grunted as he refocused on his work.

Given the multitude of killings going on… Nyx couldn't help but sympathize. Several of their own troops, the reapers that they employed had been taken by this sleeping death. The culprit had done so using their own member against them. They couldn't even blame any of the other factions. Devils, Angels, and Fallen were all targeted equally. It was almost as if the culprit merely was testing their way to what they really wanted to accomplish.

"It's a human's dream… huh?" Hypnos muttered as the connection was made.

Nyx felt her jaw drop. This entire debacle was all to target one human. It was unheard of… no one human being deserved this level of threat against them. It wasn't her problem per se, but a human that was so valuable that it required hunting then down through several factions just in an attempt to kill them was unreal.

That made this human one of the biggest threats possible. Hades would be absolutely livid if any faction managed to resurrect them to their side. Already the crows, bats and pigeons had been building ways to do that for their souls. The crows and pigeons had been late but they still were finalizing their methods now.

Even so… there was little they could do except cheer their boss on. Whomever this dream belonged to, their death would only be the start in a truly bloody conflict.

All or nothing.

Baal couldn't put off the might of his anger anymore. The last master had escaped one time too many. Failure had etched itself into its very being with every time he managed to get away. Frustration, sheer frustration emanated from it as it forced Oneiros, one of the Greek Gods of dreams to force its way into Ritsuka Fujimaru's dreams.

His mind was the weakest point due to all the contracts that he formed with each heroic spirit he had met. The greatest of strengths that he found that came from the Last Master of Chaldea were the bonds he forged with anyone of any alignment… but that was also one of his greatest weaknesses.

For each contract that was formed, a string of fate had drilled a hole into his soul in a sense. That left a small track for mental interference of any kind. As he continued on his adventures there were more than three hundred to choose from to break in. And that left him a chance, one he couldn't fully use… until now.

With his capture of a physical divine spirit, one of dreams, he now had his chance.

"Be honored God of Dreams Oneiros, you have assisted this one in correcting a wrong that shouldn't have happened. With your contribution to my cause the loathsome being who spelt the death of me and my kin shall be taken care of. Blessings be to you, my accomplice. Vengeance shall be swift and bold… I shan't take more of your time as this will be my last attempt." Bael mentioned as he entered Ritsuka Fujimaru's dream once more.

Oneiros no longer could answer. The pain had been far too intense for his body. The tentacles that had pierced his body had slowly hardened using the god's blood at a catalyst creating horrifying cysts across his back and arms. He no longer was conscious, at the very least, his body now a puppet for the Demon God.

"Truly this is the greatest of joint ventures, a demon and a god. Unheard of in any age, but this is a matter of utmost importance. Dealing with a veritable godslayer is a necessity for all pantheons." Bael allowed the last echo to pierce through Oneiros.

Oneiros did not answer, could not answer. But his body still could react as tears of blood fell from his broken body.

Author's Notes:

To M2R - Asia would have still been taken to Fallen Angel territory since no matter what she did in the future, the moment she healed a devil she was excommunicated. Even Canon wise its mentioned that the church would have eventually sent someone to deal with her, permanent like if I remember right. There were a lot of zealots running the show if I remember right. And she would have been a devil anyways even if she didn't join Rias, Diodora was still keeping an eye out for her.

To Apex85 - Fixed that. Added more. Like I mentioned over on AO3, I'll be adding to the list whenever new servants are revealed and they've shown interest.

to OnyxReaper1 - He did try but the note fell from nowhere when he disconnected from the card. He tried with several different methods but it didn't work.

To death0887 - That is true but he couldn't summon that Anastasia unless he was in the Lostbelt.