Chapter 3: The calm before

Disclaimer: I still own nothin'

Three days later.

Exploring her new body, Kalawarner thought it was really cool. Besides the fact that she thoroughly enjoyed her shower, she had experimented with her Fallen body. In that she had far outstripped her previous form in speed, strength, agility and endurance for one. The second being that she could create spears of light to throw and melee with. Through muscle memory she found out she had a particularly basic style of wielding said spear. Kalawarner in canon, much like Raynare's whole Fallen crew only really hurled those spears at Issei and Rias' peerage, who had a more varied arsenal at their disposal. From Kiba's speed and sword creation, Koneko's absurd strength and (later on) senjutsu, Akeno's traits of all Evil Pieces and her holy lightning, Rias' power of destruction and Issei's rather creative use of the Boosted gear. It seemed Kalawarner had to work hard to rise above her status as a basic foot soldier in Grigori. She had started to get creative with her holy magic in these three days while waiting for Grigori to deploy her group. It turns out the fact that Sacred Gears being influenced by the host's will was based off the fact that magic acts in a similar way, though much harder. She learned the Fallen actually don't have that active an imagination. Whether God had simply made Angels that way to keep them under control or this was some sort of debuff to the Angel race in general, Kalawarner could only guess.

At this moment Kalawarner was in the Grigori training room with Raynare, having fired off light spears at a target fifty meters away. Though she was missing four out of every 10 shots, she was planning to expand her magic pool by expending all of her magic and doing physical exercise she had done in the marines. Raynare, upon witnessing her training, decided not to lag behind and keep up with her. As such, after their four hour session, Kalawarner and Raynare had laid on the training room floor, both panting from the exertion of their training.

"Ahh… Kala…. How did you learn about this training method..? Did Azazel-sama teach you?" Raynare had asked, with excitement in her voice.

"Uhh.. yeah.. I wanted to be ready you know? We're about to fight in a pretty big three-way fight with devils and our holier than-thou brothers"

At that comment, Raynare snickered, likely never hearing that statement before.

"Hey Ray? What do you think of Devils and Angels? I think getting another opinion about them would help sort out my feelings" Kalawarner asked, looking to her partner beside her. Raynare had put her hands behind her head and looked up at the white ceiling in thought before answering.

"I think... We're like them both. Us Fallen I mean. Cast out of Heaven for giving into our desires and considered evil beings by humans... But the devils don't accept us either despite them being beings of desire too. Guess all they see is Angels with less inhibitions. It's disheartening. But we have our brothers and sisters! Plus, we have Azazel-sama to lead us too. He believes we can help humanity with science and technology. It's inspiring… I want to help him. I want to get stronger… To stand beside him" Raynare had said, looking at her new friend seriously.

"To stand beside a twelve winged Fallen? You'd need to ascend to Cadre level you know? How many of us regular foot soldiers can even go to six wings, Ray?" Asked Kalawarner.

"I admit.. I'm a bit obsessed with getting stronger.. Haha.. I might have even resorted to more drastic means if I plateaued at this level of strength.. You're teaching me a better way, Kala. Thank you" Raynare had sat up and smiled at Kalawarner warmly, prompting Kalawarner to turn her head away with a pink tint to her cheeks. 'Damn… Keep smiling at me like that and I'll fuck up and pull an Issei where he screams shit awkwardly..' Kalawarner thought as she stood up and nodded to Raynare while they walked out towards the mess hall.

Grabbing their meals from the lunch lady Fallen, they both sat down and ate when a man with black hair and grey eyes with a goatee sat across from them. He was apparently quite popular amongst their group as the strongest, apparently being close to getting four wings. He was a shoe-in to be the appointed leader of their group for deployment but it hadn't been announced by Azazel yet. His name was Unuriel and he was popular for good reasons. Being his passionate disposition for his fellow Fallen, his shared hatred of Devils and Angels and who could forget how much of a player he was?

"Hey Ladies! You two excited for the deployment too? I'm gonna bring back some scum-sucking devil heads for my room. Could really use some decoration, hahaha!" Unuriel had stated with an odd passion.

"In fact.. you want to see my room before we go?" He said, taking Raynare's hands and looking into her eyes with a flirtatious expression on his face before Kalawarner had cleared her throat with annoyance tinging her face.

"Sorry she and I have tactics to go over after we eat.. she'll have to refuse" Kalawarner huffed out, trying to keep up canon Kalawarner's even tone.

"Right, sorry Unuriel. Maybe later..?" Hearing Raynare say that caused Kalawarner to make a subtle 'Tch' sound as she finishes her meal, Unuriel nodding with an amicable smile and walking to another table with more Fallen women.

"What was that about hmmm?" Raynare asked, picking up her tray to dispose of with Kalawarner.

"You couldn't see it? He wants to sleep with you. It was super obvious" Kalawarner had retorted, being quite used to seeing her past fellow Marines use similar tactics to bed the women in different countries. Jack Haille had considered it pretty grimy to do, since it more than likely ended up with quite a few pregnancies and possible broken hearts. His own Father having never been in his life had certainly influenced his decision to just keep it in his pants despite the cat-calls he had received from the fairer sex. He never wanted a woman to go through that kind of struggle and pain for a man that simply wanted to fuck them. He had built up a resentment that, though had gotten better over time, knowing not all men were like that, he still stubbornly held on to his resentment towards players even now in a different world.

"So? He's kinda handsome and strong. Close to getting four wings too… Do you think he'd teach us if we-" Raynare had started but quickly looked at Kalawarner, seeing her resentment-filled expression as they walked back into their room.

"Have some dignity Raynare…. You're so much better than that, damn it. You and me will reach that kind of power, okay? Just… take my advice. Save yourself for somebody you actually care for. Somebody you see yourself being with for a long time. You won't regret it, okay?" Kalawarner slid her hand down her face slowly and said.

'I can see how you turned into the person in canon now.. If you actually went through with that kinda shit'

'S-Sorry Kala… I wasn't thinking.. Thanks for looking out for me. Just bear with me okay? I'm just… I need power. I've always been on the bottom.. I've been proven again.. and again… that all I want to do, needs power." Raynare had said, looking apologetic.

Kalawarner had suddenly placed her hands her hands on Raynare's shoulders, looking into her eyes with calm eyes and a small, but enchanting smile that had Raynare's eyes widen. "I know. Stick to my training and I'll make us the best badass Fallen partners in Grigori. I heard once we ascend to four wings, we get the option of expanding our training by Grigori. I will get us to four wings, just be patient and watch, before the war is done, we'll have ascended, Ray" Having said her piece, Kalawarner walked into the bathroom to shower as Raynare just stared at the door.

'She was really pretty there…' Raynare'd thought, before sitting on her cot and thinking.

As soon as both finished their showers, they sat on their cots and started talking, getting to know each other for the past three days had really given Kalawarner some insight as to who Raynare was, as a person and not just some antagonist for Issei to overcome. It wouldn't come to that this time, Kalawarner had promised herself she would change the fate of the new and first friend she made in this world.

"So I know this is personal but.. Why did you fall, Kala?" Raynare'd asked, looking serious but prepared for retaliation in case it was too personal.

'Ah that's right… I got some idea as to why she fell. Apparently the original Kala had seduced the wives of married men. So, that's a hot image..' Kalawarner had thought to herself while making her best poker face.

"I fell because.. I had seduced a few married.. people back in the day. You know how God is about the sanctimony of marriage… especially back then" Kalawarner had said with a small smirk, hiding the fact that she was technically lesbian, which to her memory was a big no-no in this age.

Raynare had started laughing as she heard the reason, covering her mouth to try and muffle her laughter so as to not wake up the other Fallen in nearby rooms. She truly looked like a mix of Raynare and Amano Yuuma. Kalawarner had to admit, it was incredibly attractive. It was like the best of both worlds, where it was Raynare's true self but with the more earnest and cuteness of Amano Yuuma. After another hour of conversation, they went to sleep to get ready for their deployment into Devil territory the next day. Kalawarner did not know it yet but she was definitely in for a surprise the next day.

Elsewhere, in the seventh layer of Heaven, where the Holy Father resided.

"Yes.. descend upon them, my child. Bring with you five legions of Angels and purge the area of your Fallen brethren and the death-worshipping Devils. Let the war begin. The other factions shall not interfere.. I have made sure of it"

The Six winged Angel bowed before him and flew away with a hardened expression, ready to purge an area of the Underworld with their Divine light.

A/N First of all, thanks for reading! I'm just gonna answer reviews right here real quick.

Kept123: No the MC won't be able to recreate anime abilities. She's going to be expanding her magic, powers and fighting skills for SURE. Senjutsu and Toki would be absurdly difficult to learn due to her Fallen nature. She won't be OP, just BULLDOZING everything like I've seen in other fics. Her path to power will be by expanding the things I've listed AND her still hidden bloodline abilities. Don't worry, it won't be OP but it'll certainly help. Thanks for the words of encouragement too!

Lazy Canadian-Outty~