It had been a terrible day for the Phoenix Lord. Today was meant to be his day, he was to marry Rias Gremory, the Ruin Princess, the heir of the Gremory Family which was one of the few s dynasties that survived the great war. He was destined to unite their families and bring order and balance to the demon world through their union, which would be a beacon for unity amongst the deeply divided demon kingdoms. Instead, he had to suffer the greatest indignity that could befall a devil of his status, he had been thoroughly outclassed by a dragon, The Red Dragon Emperor no less, but what made this loss even more unpalatable was that he had lost to a child, who stole his bride away from him, tearing his pride to tatters. These were the thoughts that went through the mind of Riser Phoneix as he lay on the area floor, broken down by the power possessed by Issei Hyoudeuo, the wielder of the Red Dragon Emperor.

"Leave my brother alone!" Ravel phoenix cried as she stood in front of Issei, his gauntleted fist pointed at the fallen Phoenix as he prepared to land a final punishing blast.

"Ravel...always getting involved in matters you should not be involved in... thank you," Riser thought, as he looked through his damaged eyes, which had been scorched by holy water, enhanced with Draconic magic, turning a minor inconvenience into a weapon that burned even the most durable of demons to their core.

Issei lowered his gauntlets fist as he caught sight of Riser's condition which was followed by the Announcer calling the match.

"That's it! Riser phoenix is knocked out! Issei Hyoudo, The Red Dragon Emperor wins!" the announcer of the match cried as healers rushed into the area and lifted Riser with their magic, carrying him off the field to be healed further. Ravel walked with them holding her brother's hand as he was carefully taken off the field of battle.

"You'll be okay" Ravel whispered looking at her now unconscious brother as he lay there helplessly

While Issei and the rest of the peerage celebrated their victory and made their way home, Riser on the other hand was placed on a table and was slowly being healed. The holy water required powerful demonic magic to neutralise the magic used in its creation and enhancement and after a few hours, the worst of the damage had been fixed and was now within the scope of Riser's healing ability. However, it would take a few days for him to fully heal.

" I can't believe I lost." Riser grumbled as he rose slowly up from the table, rubbing his face once he was sitting up, though he was healed he could still feel the burning of the holy water on his skin as well as the marks of freshly healed scar tissue.

"How could that brat beat me, I'm Riser Phoenix, the Lord of Flames, the unbeatable lord, and future of the Phoenix family...and now I'm..." Riser hiss turned to a weak mumble, only for a soft knock on the door to the healing chamber, breaking him from this state.

"Brother...can I come in?".

There was an uncomfortable silence as Ravel waited on her brother's answer. Riser focused his gaze on the door and mulled over what he would do before taking a deep breath and sighing.

"Come in."

"How are you feeling, you look a little worse for wear?" Ravel sighed, noticing the fresh scars on Riser's face. Riser turned so his legs were hanging off the table

"I've been better. I was told that if they hadn't gotten to me sooner, I could have been left permanently scarred, and potentially blind, also...I wanted to thank you." Riser mumbled, keeping his head low resting his head on his hands with his elbows resting on his thighs.

"For what brother?" Ravel asked, a mix of surprise and confusion on her face.

"For jumping in to save me when you did." Riser said turning to tell his sister only to turn back to face the ground once he had finished speaking.

"You don't need to thank me for that, you would have done the same for me." Ravel gave a small smile to her brother who was still looking at the floor

"I've never seen him like this, he is usually so brash and confident even in defeat but this is different," Ravel thought worriedly, feeling a sense of unease at Riser's response.

"What do I do now?" Riser whispered, talking to himself.

"What do you mean brother?" Ravel knelt to her brother level.

"I lost. I Riser the burning lord and heir to the house of Phoenix, whose name is the stuff of legend, lost to a child."

Riser's stated clearly and slowly his voice mixed with self aimed anger. The mentioning of his titles, an attempt to rekindle the pride he was known for but the fire in his voice had become nothing but weak embers.

"You're still the same man..." Ravel said trying to comfort her brother.

"Am I? My pride has been dented, my reputation is in shambles, it was already being questioned due to how I fought Rias in our first Rating Game. Now it is ruin and my name... my name has become a symbol of shame." Riser mumbled as he turned to face his sister, his face bearing the burns of enhanced holy water and the pain of his loss that was worse than any burn.

"Don't say that brother!" Ravel yelped noticing how dim her brother's eyes had become.

"But it's true! I am the heir to the Phoenix family. I must represent and present myself in such a way as to the benefit of the families name and honour. By losing to a pawn and a child at that, calls my legitimacy into question and calls the phoenix family name into question! Who can rely on a man who fights a peerage who have never fought a rating game before and almost lose, despite overwhelming numbers and experience? Add to that the loss to a pawn, make us seem weak! And that is my fault!" Riser yelled, pain marking each word.

he had time to think of his actions and his defeat and with defeat, it brought a cold hard truth to the forefront of Riser's mind which he against stated aloud.

"I am weak."

"Your not brother, you're a phoenix! we are not weak, so you are not weak." Ravel yelled she wanted to rekindle her brother's fire but it only brought further doubt to smother his embers

"Really? I may not be harmed like normal devils but I don't have the raw strength or firepower to tackle opponents who can harm me, I am weak because of my pride, my arrogance. Issei realised my pride, my arrogance made me blind to his tricks and I suffered for it...I need to prove myself once more to save our family name and to save my pride." Riser self-analysed himself as he spoke, recapping the numerous battles and rating games he had fought and realised that his biggest advantage had made him unaware of the flaws he had.

"But how are you going to do that? Ravel asked as Riser had a flicker of his former self rise within him as the only solution he had available to him, popped into his head.

"By challenging Rias again..." Riser stated a small flicker of his former self entering his gaze.

" His eyes seem to have brightened...this is the Riser I know" Rave; thought as she saw a spark of light in her brother's eyes, not as bright as usual but enough to show he had enough pride to confront his own faults.

"But won't you have the same issues? Ravel asked noting the issues Riser had just told her about earlier but Riser replied.

"Not if I ask for the match after they have had some time to develop as a peerage. This would give them a chance to grow in power and potentially they may expand their retinue, making the match far fairer."

"It could work but you need to get your strength back. you were able to keep up with issei until he used holy water and a silver cross, so you should be able to match him when the time comes." Ravel replied but Riser dismissed her claims regarding Issei.

"But Remember Ravel, Issei is the wielder of Ddraig. He will learn more of Ddriags powers and abilities and with that, he will become an unstoppable force." Riser stated. He remembered as a child being told of the legend that was the Ddraig and the feats he had achieved, which made a wielder of his power a dangerous foe, especially when they had become accustomed to the raw power they wielded.

"So how do you defeat an unstoppable force?" Ravel asked.

"By asking for help...it may not be my style but I have a favour from an acquaintance I can call in to help."

"Who did you have in mind? Ravel asked as her brother waved his hand to bring her closer for him to whisper the name of the acquaintance in her ear.

"You're going to ask him! Are you insane!" Ravel cried in shock at the mention of the Aquaitnace whispered name.

"He's the best choice, he's tough, strong and loves a good fight, besides, he knows how I fight so knows how I can improve myself."

"...All right, it sounds like a terrible idea to me but if you think it will work then ill support you. do you want me to make him aware that you want an audience with him?"

"No. I'll do that myself," Siser stated as he rose from the table and straightened up and made his way to the door

"Brother, you should be resting, you have time." Ravel worriedly stated as she grabbed her brother's shoulder causing him to stop, she could see he was still weak, feeling his body shaking from exhaustion.

"If I can walk and speak, I can do this task...I cannot waste time." Riser said coldly as started walking again, leaving Ravel in the healing room alone. His usual swagger was gone and instead, he walked slowly with a slight limp.

2My brother's spark is but, it will take time for him to rekindle his pride." Ravel thought as her brother left her view, with the last sight being him summoning a communication spell to his contact.

"Hello. I have a favour to ask..."

10 months later in the occult research club. The club had been hard at work in improving since their first rating game, with expansions to the peerage as well as numerous personal achievements and moments of significant personal growth defining the Gremory peerage who were seated, waiting on the results of their pacts over the last month.

2Hmmm, let's see so Akeno has 26 pacts. Kiba and Koneko have 22, Rossweisee, has 20, Asia has 14, Gasper has 12 Xenovia has 9 and Issei..." Rias went through a list of pacts for the week. It had been a very fruitful week, with a wide array of clients asking for the services of the peerage. This ranged from having a nice dinner to keep a lonely man company after a bad break-up, to the downright strange. Specifically, a certain perverted teenager had been stuck with a group of people who dressed up as fairies and pixes and ran about the forests.

"PLEASE BE GOOD! PLEASE BE GOOD!" Issei yelled in his head, with the cheer and congratulation of everyone else making the entire event more anxious

"You got four" Rias stated coldly, no smiles, no reassuring looks. Instead of a look that was a mix of disappointment and sadness that her love had not done well.

"WHAT! Four! I only got four!" Issei yelled embarrassed by his results, getting a chuckle from Akeno

"It's whats the data shows..." Rias calmly stated only for Issei to interrupt her

"This is bullshit, how come you all got better than me?" Issei put the question to the room, his voice a mix of anger and embarrassment at just how bad he had done.

"Cause we try," Xenovia said bluntly bring a round of chuckles, even Ddraig took the moment to chuckle annoying Issei to a greater end.

"Shut up!" Issei crossed his arms and huffed, sitting down onto the ground,

"Alright, settle down...Issei I know this isn't your forte..." Rias proclaimed, trying to then reassure Issei but Issei interrupted her.

"If I knew what forte meant that would be helpful but I can't help it if people only want to see me cause I do normal stuff, how does everyone else get so much more than me?" Issei sulked

"Because it takes practice and for some people, it comes more naturally. with time you will get more, but until then I want to see you practising your saleability." Rias stated, pointing her finger at Isseis causing his shoulders to relax when he saw the sweet smile of Rias.

Okay" Issei huffed

"Can't believe I'm the worst at this...that's the 12th time this has happened" Issei grumbled under his breath before taking a seat on the couch beside Asia who patted him on the back comfortingly.

"It's alright, you'll get there soon it's like Rias said it takes time and practice," Asia whispered

"I sure hope so... I hate being last" Issei whispered catching Asia's ear, as she comforted him more.

"Alright now that we have the administrative duties out of the way, we can now get down to business..." Rias started rubbing her hands together readying herself to speak only for a lime green magical symbol to appear.

"Azazel?" the peerage stated, as they saw an image of Azazel appear from the symbol. it wasn't often that Azazel would make such an abrupt call as he would usually appear in person to deliver important or bad news.

"Hey kids, how's the work going"

"Not bad. We were just getting down to today's business. So what do we owe the pleasure, your usually off in a bar at this time" Rias stated, looking to the clock to annotate the time.

"Ah good...well I was until I got a rather intriguing call," Azazel stated, stopping mid-sentence to take an ice-filled drink, as Rias noticed by the sound of moving ice hitting the glass.

"Who was it?" Akeno asked intrigued by Azaezls mysterious call

"It was Riser Phoenix," Azael stated, with a serious tone,

"Riser!?" the peerage yelled in shock.

"Yes, I was as surprised by the call as you all are... he wants an audience with you Rias?" Azael turned his attention to Rias, as he spoke.

"But why" Rias asked, she was still in a bit of shock at the news.

"All he said was that he wanted to discuss an important matter with you. What he wished to discuss was not disclosed." Azazel grumbled, he knew the Phoenix and Gremory families had a tumultuous relationship resulting from the duel between Issei and Riser, which made this request even more suspicious, as there was no clear idea as to why he wished to meet as it wasn't Risers style.

"Do you think it's wise to meet with him Rias?" Akeno asked her friend, concern in her voice.

"I'm not sure," Rias mumbled as she mulled over Azaelzs statement, rubbing her chin as she thought.

"We can't trust him! The last time we met he ended up losing, he's probably bitter and wants revenge." Issei bellowed. he knew full well how much Riser had been angered by him gatecrashing his reception, so it was clear for Issei to conclude that Riser would be even more pissed at the loss he had suffered and would want to get back at Issei and the peerage for ruining his plans.

"Your not wrong Issei. He did not take his defeat well. He has been away from public life for nearly ten months, outside of his family, I believe he has not been seen by anyone." Azazel stated, giving the group some much-needed background information.

Hi everyone, sorry for the long break from the Highschool DxD fanfics. Work and other fanfics drew my attention away, but that time has given me a chance to come up with some new stories and ideas which I will be writing in the future. hope to see you all in the next chapter.

keep safe.

"See! now that makes this risky, why the hell should we go see him when we already have an idea as to his motive," Issei growled, getting a few nods from those in the room

"I know. But this could be an opportunity" Rias, sighed, looking to the peerage who were confused by what Rias had just said.

"Opportunity?" the peerage state in unison

"Think about it. Riser is the heir to the House of Phoenix, and his position as heir gives him significant bargaining power. If he needs us to do something, then he is in our debt, and given his resources and connections this would be a valuable meeting if things go smoothly" Rias explained, despite he youth in devil terms, she as the heir of the Gremory family had sat on numerous negotiations and knew the value of negotiation even with houses and people you despise.

"But is it worth the risk Rias? We have no idea as to his intentions but given your history with him, I don't think this meeting will be conducted on the grounds of good faith." Kiba stated, getting a round of nods from Issei, Asia and Koneko.

"But how will we know his intentions without meeting him? He could require out help in a matter of significant importance." Rosweisse countered. her time as a Valkarie and bodyguard to Odin had meant she had sat on numerous meetings and negotiations many of which had issues of bad faith but had to be done for the greater good to prevail.

and it was with this Kiba and Rossweisses statements that the peerage erupted in a series of heated debates

"It's your call Rias?" Azazel looked to Rias seriously as he spoke, his words being loud enough to cause the debates to die down,

There was a pregnant silence as Rias thought over her decision.

"Whatever I choose it will not go smoothly with everyone but I have to do what I feel is best for us." Rias looked to her peerage, a mix of emotions clearly shown on the faces of everyone.

After an uncomfortable silence, Rias had made her decision.

"After some time to reflect on everyone's discretions and remarks I believe it would be in our best interests to meet with Riser..." Rias stated as she did so she felt the atmosphere of the room shift as soon as she provided her answer.

What!"

"I know given our checkered history with him that we do not have the best relationship but I believe we will benefit greatly if we find out what he wishes to discuss, also this means we are still able to refuse to work with him if it is beyond our scope." Rias tried to reassure her friends but it was clear that her decision would not go down smoothly

"If you think it will be to our benefit then ill support you, but I feel we should be cautious since we have nothing to ground as to Riser's intentions." Akeno bowed and stated with a cautious tone.

"I'll let Riser know your decision and we can arrange a date to allow you both to meet to arrange other key details" Azazel replied.

"Okay," Rias stated softly. Azael who was watching could see that Rias was worried about what was going to happen, so Azazel did his best to offer some semblance of support.

"I'll also try to find his intentions."

"Thanks, Azazel" Rias smiled, which lighted Azazel's mood as he did not like the thought of Rias being so worried, given her reputation and the usual confidence that radiated from her.

"I thought you said you're a neutral party?" Rossweisse stated at hearing Azazel words, surprised by his course of action,

"I may act neutral but I always lean to the side of the home team," Azael stated, with a cheeky smile on his face as he headed off to make the call. Deactivating his spell, leaving Rias with a moment to think.

"Looks like we're going to have an interesting couple of weeks." Rias thought as she turned to look at her friends who were now in a deep discussion trying to figure out Risers intention.