Star Lit Sky's
"Issei Hyoudou" - Talking
'Issei Hyoudou'- Thought
"Issei Hyoudou" - Communication circle/phone
*Sounds*
[ Issei Hyoudou ] - Inanis
"Issei Hyoudou" - Draconic voice
It's now the day of the party, and unfortunately, I'm not as excited about this as I once was and instead I'm in a quite annoyed and frustrated mood. There are two main reasons as too why I'm not happy about the party.
Firstly, Sirzechs had to change the location of the party last moment. Now it is being held in the Gremory mansion located in the Underworld. The guests mainly consisted of the same people. However, a few devils managed to reserve some spaces for themselves, making this party a public celebration party, kinda.
This, in turn, upset Serefall, who didn't want to go to a big fancy public recession. She decided that she wouldn't be attending the last minute. I suppose she'll have to talk to me on another date.
Secondly, Rias and Akeno went out to buy themselves some new clothing for the party, which that in its self isn't a problem. Unfortunately, they also decided to buy me a suit to wear as well, and since they bought it with their own money I had to wear it, otherwise they would've been wasting their money. Even if they were loaded, I don't like the idea of wasting money.
Kiba and I are currently in an expansive changing room. I am standing in front of a mirror struggling to properly tie a vibrant violet tie that came with my suit.
Kiba was dressed in a fancy white suit, a black-tie coming with his suit. My suit was a deep black color, the tie being a vibrant violet, matching my color scheme almost perfectly. Kiba's suit gave him the depiction of a white knight.
Despite my animosity for the suit, it does look pretty good on me, if I do say so myself. The suit was uniquely tailored for me, by Rias's request of course, no clue how she got the measurements but she did.
The black suit tailored for my broader shoulders and my slimmer waist. Surprisingly, the suit didn't hide my muscled frame, unlike most suits would do. For once my hair was tidier than typical, still unruly, though it was apparent that I put effort into looking presentable.
Kiba was sat on a bench off to the side of the room, his phone in hand as he read forums and threads that the underworld population created about me as we talked about the Elder Council meeting.
"So, let me get this straight, one of the members wanted to imprison you?" Kiba questioned, surprise filled his voice.
"More or less. He dropped the idea when one of the other members pointed out that they don't have the resources to capture me, not to mention the fact that I could blast my way out of almost any prison I was put it," responded giving Kiba a slight glance as I fumbled with the tie.
"Yeah figures, your a powerhouse if nothing else," Kiba chuckled. A few moments of silence passed, Kiba still scrolling through his phone. He flared his eyebrows in surprise, stopping on a particular page that he found on his phone.
"Would ya look at this, you have a fan club," Kiba spoke, showing me the screen of his phone. Looking at the phone, I could see the list of messages exchanged in a forum about me.
"It looks like their placing bets on how soon it will be before the Elders name you an Ultimate-Class devil and give you your own set of pieces," Kiba spoke.
"Ultimate-Class? That rank is based on your power and how strong you are and not your social status or political position, right?" I questioned. I was inwardly chuckling that they were thinking about giving me that promotion just yesterday.
"Yep, that's correct. Ultimate-Class in one of the three that are based on power, the other two being Maou-Class and then SuperDevil after that. Although, I think you'd be more deserving of Maou-Class with everything considered,"
Kiba looked over the edge of his phone, a sly smile forming on his face. "You sure you don't need help with that?" He questioned.
"Of course not, I won't be bested by a dumb piece of fabric," I growled.
Kiba shrugged it off, making no attempt to press the matter. "Your call. Out of curiosity, would you accept the promotion and the evil pieces?"
"The Elders already thought about giving the promotion to me, and even if they did offer it I wouldn't have accepted it then, and I won't accept it now," I spoke.
"Really? That's an offer most people wouldn't pass up, so why wouldn't you accept it?" Kiba curiously questioned, his eyes looking at me from over his screen.
"Rank's don't matter to me. Besides, I'd rather go through the process to earn it. Plus ordering others around isn't really my thing. I must admit though, having servants to do your every bidding sounds relaxing," I chuckled.
"You're kidding?" Kiba questioned.
"No shit I'm kidding, who do you think I am? I don't want servants, and I never have." I spoke, turning my gaze away from Kiba and back to the mirror. "Under no circumstances will I be a leader, I like the lone wolf appearance more."
"Lone wolf, huh? What does that make us then?" Kiba questioned, looking over at me from the couch.
I looked over to him from the corner of my eye, silence in the air for a few moments before I respond. "You all are exceptions to that rule, which further proves the rule,"
Kiba chuckled at my response and seeing as how he seemed satisfied with the answer, I turned back to fiddle with the tie wrapped around my neck. The moments of silence passed, being interrupted by my deep growl of frustration, accompanied by the sound of the tie's fabric nearly ripping.
"How about you let me help?" Kiba pressed the previous question, sitting up from his position on the couch.
"Fine." I grumbled as Kiba let out a light laugh, setting his phone down. The Knight stepped over to me, slipping the poorly knotted tie off my neck, beginning to loop it into a much better appearance.
"Did you see that? You should be able to do it by yourself if you watched." Kiba spoke, pulling a piece of cloth causing the accessory to slip into place perfectly.
"Sorry, you lost me at the first loop," I responded. Kiba sighed, a disappointed look on his face.
Kiba just shrugged it off, waving his hand, signaling me to follow him. We left the men's changing room, the women's changing room placed just on the opposite side of the ornately decorated hallway.
We stopped at the side of the hall to wait for the women of the peerage to finish with their changing. Unsurprisingly, I wasn't very patient about it. It was already a tragedy that I was forced into the uncomfortable suit and tie, but now I had to wait on the others.
"I would have thought that the girls would have been quicker than this," I grumbled, leaning back against the wall with my hands in my pocket. "I thought spending hours on make-up and hair was something unique to humans,"
"Well, I suppose you thought wrong." Kiba teased, giving a light laugh. "Perhaps its the excitement of the process?"
"Humans use it to look more appealing, right? Then why do they do it? They are supernatural beings, and literally couldn't be more attractive if they tried," I stated frustratingly.
"I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that," Kiba shrugged. "All I know is that we men only know what they allow us to know,"
Unable to refute his words, I sank back down onto the wall. Unfortunately, the girls put up several wards and seals on the door, so there was no way I could even guess what was taking so long, not even my superior senses could pick up a thing going on through that door.
Kiba and I still sat outside the room in the hallway, my tail lightly tapping the ground with impatience. I rotated my head, popping my neck while I flared my wings, allowing them to stretch. Looking down at the black watch on my wrist shows that Kiba and I have been waiting for around an hour and a half now.
Finally, I could hear the deactivation of the seals and wards on the door. I quickly got Kiba's attention, letting him know that the girls were finally coming. We both hastily grabbed our suit jackets putting them back on, buttoning them back up. The double doors opened, revealing the girls, along with their breathtaking beauty.
Rias was dressed in a tasteful long red dress that complimented her figure and red hair, certain select places of the dress clung to her body as if it was a second skin. Rias's hair was curled slightly, the curl growing more defined the closer it got to the ends of her hair.
Akeno was dressed in a black kimono completed with a white obi, and outfit that accurately accented her Japanese heritage. Her typical orange ribbon was replaced with a white one, matching her outfit.
Asia wore a frilled white dress, small patches of an emerald green appearing in the fabric. The dress was barely touching the floor, and her golden hair flowing with a shine from whatever product was applied to her hair.
Koneko was covered in a simple pink dress, small frills on the ends of the knee-length skirt. Her arms and legs covered by a skin-tight pink fabric. Judging from her expression, she was just as happy as I was to be wearing such attire.
"My, I didn't think you'd look this good in a suit" Rias teased, yet complimenting me at the same time with her kind words. The two mates of mine appeared quite satisfied with what they saw.
I rolled my eyes at her words. "Thanks, but I'd like to get out of this as soon as possible. I feel... wrong." I grumbled.
"Oh such it up, we spent enough time suiting it to you, so the least you could do is grin and bear it till this is over," Akeno spoke. She sauntered over to me, adjusting the collar around my neck.
Akeno let her hand trail down my chest, stopping at the pocket on the left side of my chest. Inside the pocket sat a silver dragon, shining violet gems sat where the eyes were. The dragon insignia was coiled around a crimson red rose.
"If you can't wait to take it off now, perhaps you Rias and I can have some fun when the time comes to remove it," Akeno whispered into my ear, just loud enough for the others to hear.
My cheeks turned a shade of pink. "Yeah, well... we can cross that bridge when it comes to it, but now isn't the time to talk about such activities," My gaze turning over to Kiba, who was chuckling lightly at seeing his friends discomfort.
"Yes, I must agree with Issei," Rias spoke, glaring slightly at her Queen. Akeno gave an innocent look as she clung to my arm, playing dumb in response to the glare.
"I don't know what I'm going to do with you," Rias sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Come on. We can't be late now," She spoke, waving for us to follow her.
With that, and the peerage now completely assembled, we set off down the long halls of the Gremory mansion. Rias and Akeno leading the way for the rest of us who followed in the back.
Along the way, I fiddled with the details of my suit, as I was a little anxious. Rias has stressed the importance of our appearances in the devil society, especially since I'm in a relationship with her, and its public knowledge now.
While the armored figure was an awe-inspiring appearance, it could end up being misleading. Therefore, I could end up harming the Gremory name with my actions.
I was interrupted from my anxious thoughts as I felt a soft hand gently grad mine. Looking up, my vision spotted Rias grabbing my hand while she and Akeno both gave me a warm smile.
I didn't even notice that we stopped in front of two large wooden duel doors. Now slightly relieved of my anxious thoughts, I fell back into formation with the others.
Rias lead the procession at the head of the group with Akeno at her side and slightly behind her, I matched Akeno on the opposite side of Rias. Kiba and Koneko sat in the very back, walling off Asia in the center of the group.
After all of us were ready, Rias and Akeno opened the door, the massive doors swinging in a smooth motion as the opened. The doors revealed what appeared to be an expansive and adorned ballroom.
The floors being draped in the signature crimson color of the Gremory color. Columns towering next to the walls of the rooms, supporting the large-scaled room. The edges of the room were filled with tables that were stacked to the brim with different types of foods.
The Peerage and I were standing on a slightly elevated platform, rising above most of the other areas of the room. Five others accompanied us on the more elevated stage, they were already at the center of the stage, appearing as if they were waiting for us.
The five consisted of two figures that I knew, those being Sirzechs and Grayfia. The others I wasn't familiar with, yet their scent was strikingly similar to Rias and Sirzechs. Judging from that, along with the signature red hair of a Gremory on the man, it wasn't absurd to assume that this was their parents, or someone else closely related to them.
The man appeared as if he was a middle-aged Sirzechs, boasting long crimson hair that he has tied loosely in a ponytail. His eyes held a similar color to Rias and Sirzechs, a light blue. His face was adorned with a crimson red stubble, and his attire consisted of white and gold button-up shirt, the top button was left undone, and his dress pants were a white and gold to match.
The woman next to him appeared to look a lot like Rias herself, yet she seemed a little more mature. Her hair was shorter, and a flaxen color in comparison to the crimson red, and her eyes were a violet color that was similar to mine, albeit less vibrant. Her garments were alike to the man's in color. Her dress was a white color, with blackish colored straps running over her shoulder, golden flower clips holding the dress together.
The last was perhaps the most interesting to me, as he was a child. His hair was crimson red, just as Rias and Sirzechs, and his appearance looked as if he was a mash of Sirzechs and Grayfia. Perhaps this was their kid? When I was training with them, I figured they either had a child or was expecting one, just based on some of the things I overheard them say to each other, of course, I didn't ask about it so its only a theory.
Rias led us out to the center of the stage, next to the other occupants of the elevated position. Looking down, I gazed upon a whispering crowd of devils, all of them glancing over the other peerage members and me. Unfortunately, there were too many whispers to pick out just one to hear, so I wasn't able to tell what they were saying, but judging by their tone of voice, it wasn't anything negative.
The group of devils was quite diverse, consisting of older members, and others were just as young as Akeno and Rias. One thing they all had in common though was the fact that they were either dressed in a suit or dress of some kind.
There was one particular member of the spectators that caught my eye over the others. He was a young adult with violet eyes and black hair, and his physique and height were almost identical to my own, his being slightly bigger than myself. His attire consisted of a white and grey vest, black sleeves covering his arms. Black dress pants covering his legs.
His eyes were locked onto me, almost feeling as if he was judging me down to my soul for what kind of person I was. Yet that wasn't the part of him that caught my attention. The aura of a prideful warrior danced around him, and despite being a devil, there wasn't a single trace of demonic energy in his presence. However, despite not having any demonic power, he was strong. You could tell that just by looking at him.
My thoughts were interrupted by Sirzechs clapping his hand together, silencing the whispering crowd as well as the musicians, gathering the attention of the entire ballroom. He stepped forward, ahead of the rest of us on the stage.
Sirzechs inhaled deeply, preparing to speak. " Firstly I would like to thank you all for coming here today for this momentous event. Today, we have all gathered here to celebrate for three exceptional occasions. The first is to celebrate my sister's unprecedented victory in her first Rating Game against the Phoenix family. No one could be as proud of her for her first Rating Game as I am, even if it was only an unofficial game, this win will be a bright symbol to represent her future in the Underworld," Sirzechs spoke, the crowd giving light applause and cheers to his words.
"Secondly, we are here to celebrate a historic event for the entire UnderWorld. For the first time in our long history, one of the great Heavenly Dragons has been integrated into our society under my sister as her servant and faithful Pawn. For those unaware, Issei Hyoudou here is the blood relative of Inanis the Black Dragon Emperor, as well as the wielder of his long lost Longinus." Sirzechs gestured to me.
I stepped forward to stand alongside the Devil King. I flapped my wings lightly accompanied with the movement of my tail, allowing the crowd to get a full display of my draconic features. The crowd gave a slightly more prevalent applaud than before with the first announcement.
"Now, I believe my father, Zeoticus Gremory, head of the Gremory family, has something he wishes to announce before we commence to celebrate this event," Sirzechs spoke, turning his attention to the now identified man behind him.
"Yes, I do have something I want to announce," Zeoticus spoke, walking forward, standing between Sirzechs and me.
"Firstly, I'd like to apologize to my daughter." He started, surprising almost everyone in the room, excluding Sirzechs and the others that accompanied him on the stage.
"I will admit, I wasn't fond of enforcing my own daughter into a marriage that she wanted no part of being involved with. I only did it to ensure the future of Devilkind as well as our lineage, as well as to ensure good relations with the noble Phoenix family. However, I've realized that I was greedy, as Sirzechs already has his boy Millicas." He spoke, his voice low with disappointment for himself, the crowd in silence. Rias's mouth hung open with shock from the words she was hearing from her father.
"However, I didn't come here to just apologize to my daughter," He continued, his voice held a much more pleased tone to it.
"Lastly, we gathered here to celebrate a special moment for Rias. My daughter is in a relationship with the Black Dragon Emperor, and while my initial wishes were for her to marry into the Phoenix family, I am absolutely pleased with the results that have been handed to me. I doubt that there is a soul in the world that can pry to those to apart, so I want to give my daughter and new son-in-law the best of blessings and wishes for them to have a bright future!"
Zeoticus raised a glass of red wine into the air as he concluded his announcement. The crowd erupted with applause to show respect, as well as wishes of good fortune upon our relationship.
"All right, that is all for the announcements of tonight's gathering. Please enjoy the luxuries that have been laid out and prepared by our chefs and maids. Please feel free to enjoy yourself as much as possible." Sirzechs concluded.
The elegant string music started up again, signaling the end of the recession, the crowd dispersing to their own activities upon hearing his final statement.
"I'll find you later tonight, just don't leave before I get to let you know what the Elder Council and I managed to dig up," Sirzechs informed me, he and the rest of his little party exited the ballroom through a door positioned behind the stage.
My stomach began to growl as I spotted the impressive amount of delicacies that were spread throughout the ballroom, ranging from seared meats to sweet confections.
I looked over to Rias for approval, and once it was granted, I made my way over to what looked like a heaping selection of finely prepared steaks. Perhaps Rias contacted them ahead of time?
I quickly began digging into the feast that was set before me, still attempting to retain the bare minimum requirement for manners at the very least.
Looking up from my meal, I could see that Rias and the others were talking to other nobles that attended the party. Rias quite obviously had the most amount of visitors, not surprising considering that she is a princess that had her relationship status publicly announced by her father, as well as won a Rating Game against a supposed immortal.
Kiba and Akeno both held closely behind her, with rather impressive groups themselves. Asia and Koneko both had very small gatherings around them, only consisting of a few people.
I didn't have a single person come up to me the entire time I've been eating. I consider it more of a blessing than anything. I'm more of a solitary dragon. Although I couldn't help but wonder why they didn't approach me, I mean I haven't done anything to drive them away, I don't think anyways.
[Do keep in mind that your "minimum" amount of manners while feasting, is next to nothing.] Inanis mentally quipped.
'Shut it ya old lizard.' I retaliated, halting on my meal as I talked with Inanis, as to not accidentally choke.
[In reality, they are most likely scared of you.]
'Scared? Sure I'm not the most approachable person, but I didn't think they would already be scared of me.' I responded, gazing over the crowd. I noticed that some of them gave me... apprehensive glances.
[People are naturally fearful or curious about the unknown, and you're a very powerful unknown. One that could alter the world as we know it. They will most likely warm up to you over time, once they can see that you aren't a threat to them.]
I simply shrugged it off, not concerned with how much they liked me, so long as it didn't affect Rias's, or the other peerage members' appearance, then I didn't care.
After finishing off the last of the meats that I gathered for myself, I wandered over to one of the clear corners of the room, away from everyone else. As I leaned against one of the columns that supported the room, I noticed that the two interesting devils that were on the stage walked out onto the ballroom floor.
I both visibly and logically confirmed that these two must be Rias's parents, the man because he literally announced it, and the woman because her appearance and scent were just too similar to Rais's to be anything else.
I cut my extended sense off after that, the scent of so many different types of demonic energies from the guests is a bit overwhelming. My quite observations were interrupted as I heard two sets of footsteps drawing near me.
Judging from the scent alone, I would reckon its Ravel Phoenix. It'd be hard to mistake that hearth fire scent. Looking over to my side to confirm who it was, and I wasn't surprised to see Ravel standing before me. What was a bit unexpected was that she had an escort, the Rook the I eliminated, Isabela if I recall?
"Lady Ravel, Isabela, greetings," I spoke, pushing myself from the column, allowing me to look down at them at my full height, maintaining my dead look, as I was quite bored with this party.
"Greetings, Black Dragon Emperor," Ravel spoke, giving a respectful bow. Isabela opting to give a casual wave, much like I would. I glanced the ballroom, catching glimpses of the crowd giving us looks of interest. They probably don't see nobility bow to others often.
"What's with the formalities?" I questioned, looking down at the bowing noble.
"Is that not your title?" she questioned, looking up to me.
"Yeah, technically it is. However, I'm not one for formalities or one to stand on rank. Just call me by my name," I suggested
Ravel rose from her bowed position, coughing to clear her throat. "Very well then, I shall call you Lord Issei from now on," She continued her salutation.
"Still weird, but I doubt you'll take no for an answer," I sighed. I glanced around the room, looking for the presence of any other Phoenix family members.
"Am I correct to assume that you've come as a delegation from the Phoenix family?" I questioned.
T-That's correct," Ravel stuttered, gripping onto the sides of her gothic lolita dress. "We are the only ones that were willing, or capable, of attending. So we were selected to see that there aren't any harsh feelings,"
"Capable? I get not willing to come, but why wouldn't they be capable?" I questioned.
Isabela let out a short laugh before Ravel could respond. "Oh don't worry, they got over their injuries fast enough, courtesy of the Phoenix tears." She spoke, a grin on her face.
"Most of them are still shocked that they actually lost! Mira's been in shock that you broke her staff when you first met, and next, you familiar did the same thing, and whatever you did to our Knight Siris, well she is in a near-catatonic state from whatever the hell you did to her. Riser is the only normal one, or well, up until you say "dragon" in his presence, you do that, and he has a panic attack. It'd be interesting to see what he'd do if he saw you again," Isabela spoke, laughing.
I winced slightly upon hearing this. "I apologize, we had no intention of traumatizing your team, we just wanted to win for Rias," I apologized.
Surprisingly, Ravel was the one to reject my apology. "Personally, I think my brother deserved it, all that boasting. The windbag had it coming." She huffed, turning her head upwards to the side.
I was taken back by her response. Unsure of how to respond, I decided that it would be best if pay reparations for this. "Still, the state that your team is in is ultimately our fault." I thought for a few moments before an abstract lightbulb went off in my head.
I took my claws and extended my tail in front of me, giving me full sight of my deep black scales. I gently ran my fingers over the scales of my tail, searching for a loose one from my sheading process.
Locating a scale that already had another growing beneath it, I dug my claws in between the two scales, forcibly prying the old one off of my body. Thankfully the nerves have already been severed, so there was no pain accompanying the riping sounds.
The scale was a larger one, being comparable to the area of my palm. I wiped the scale against my suit jacket, making the deep black scale appear like a valuable gem. I pressed the gift into Ravel's hands.
Ravel looked astounded at the careless act of self-inflicted violence before she could completely comprehend what events just took place in front of her. When she came to her senses, her gaze shifted down at the black scale in her hands, her face paling at the sight of it.
"I am, in a way, responsible for your team's poor condition, so think of this as an apology." I apologetically spoke. There were other motives behind this action thought. If the crowd saw my efforts, it could help them come to trust me, and perhaps it could even help Rias and her family.
"A-are you sure? I-I mean, no, this isn't necessary, I can't accept this." She spoke, trying to hand me the scale back. For me to only raise my eyebrow in confusion, maintain the same deadened expression.
"It doesn't work like that. Traumatizing your team wasn't necessary, and it wasn't intentional. The only thing we wanted to achieve was to assure Rias's Victory. Besides, what would I do with it? I can't re-attach it. I shed scales from time to time, so it'll grow back in a day or so." I shrugged dismissively, snaking my long tail back behind me.
"A-are you sure? I'm a Phoenix, and my brother tried to take Rias from you," Ravel stuttered, still trying to hand me the scale.
"I hold no grudges against you, nor your family or the Phoenix household. The only one whom I hold enmity for is your brother, Riser, so keep it." I spoke, looking back towards the crowd. Realizing that very romantic music was currently playing, and several devils were paired and dancing on the ballroom floor.
Ravel stood there, seemingly too stunned for words to leave her lips. As she began to regain her coherence, I began to walk away from the two giving them a slight wave from over my shoulder. "Perhaps we will meet another time," I spoke.
"Y-yes! We'll meet again Blac- Issei," Ravel spoke bowing, her hands raising the sides of her dress.
"Let's spar again sometime. I'd like to have another crack at the Black Dragon Emperor," Isabela determinedly spoke.
I shook my head ruefully as I continued to walk parallel to the walls of the ballroom, scanning through the crowd in an endeavor to locate Rias. I managed to spot several familiar faces. Unfortunately, none of them were Rias.
I managed to spot several faces from Sona's peerage, some dancing others chatting the night away. Kiba was on the dance floor with girls who I undoubtedly guarantee that they asked him instead of the other way around, and knowing him; he was to nice to say no.
Koneko was still eating hefty helpings of the confections that were spread in front of her. It seems like that girl has an endless pit of a stomach when it comes to sweets, and yet she still holds such a petite frame, its astounding.
Akeno was off to the side of the ballroom talking amoungst Grayfia and some of the other mature women that weren't participating in the dancing. It isn't that surprising to see that Akeno would get along with the more mature women. She always had appeared more mature than most people her age, despite her seductive and playful tendencies behind closed doors.
After a few more moments of searching, I managed to spot her long crimson red hair. She was leaning on the railing of a balcony, staring into the starry sky that overlooked the Gremory Mansion.
Her fair pale skin shown in the light, her hair dancing through the air from the gentle breeze. She looked utterly zoned out, completely void from the rest of the world behind her and the stars.
I walked behind her, gently tapping her shoulder. She was shaken out from her trance, turning her gaze to me, a warm smile formed on her face once she processed who was the one tapping her shoulder.
"What are you doing out here? There's a party going on for you inside after all," I asked, leaning onto the railing next to her.
"Oh, you know, getting away from the crowd and all. Their all nice, but so many questions about our relationship gets tiring," She sighed.
"True." I simply spoke, a few moments of silence passed as we both enjoyed each others company. "The guests have started dancing in there, you know?" I questioned.
"Oh, I didn't think that much time has passed," Rias spoke, turning to the ballroom, now noticing the music that filled the air.
"Well, may I have this dance?" I politely asked, extending my arm in what I hoped to be the traditional manner that was appropriate for this scene.
Rias blushed with a smile, taking my hand in her own. I gently pulled her from the railing into the middle of the balcony with me, her hand resting on my shoulder.
I grasped her hand and gently placed my other on her waist. I leaned forward, whispering into her ear. "Just to note, I've never danced before. So please be gentle."
While my words were true, they didn't help alleviate the tension building in me. Rias laughed softly before leaning forward to whisper herself. "Just follow my lead to the best of your ability,"
And so we danced, though it was more of me desperately trying to not step on Rias's toes as we move back and forth in sync underneath the starry sky. After a few moments, I managed to get the hang of it. I was far from good, but I wasn't horrendous.
"See, you aren't so bad," Rias congratulated me. "Although I must admit, it's a little bit odd that you're so coordinated on a battlefield, yet you stumble in the ballroom.
"Well if I knew I would've ended up here, then perhaps I would have practiced in between my death fights," I sarcastically spoke.
"Don't talk about such things now," Rias cutely pouted, lightly slapping my shoulder. I only chuckled in response to her cute display.
We continued to dance in the night, listening to the pleasant symphony that flowed through the air from the stringed instruments. We both paused for a moment as our eyes locked together, our faces slowly inching closer along. I wrapped my arms around her waist as she did the same around my neck, pulling each other closer until her soft lips interlocked with my own.
I don't know how long we stood there, nor did I really care, as I lost my thought from the kiss. After an undetermined amount of time, Rias eventually need to stop for breath. She gasped for air, noticing that I didn't need air as I could hold my breath for much longer than her.
"You know Akeno will probably be upset that you've managed to get ahead of her. If she doesn't already know because of our soul link," I pointed out.
"I told her we could share, so that means she has to as well," Rias spoke, steadying her breathing. "Now, seeing that your fine for breath, I want another." She spoke, pulling me back down to her. We locked lips again. Our perception lost to all the world besides each other.
The sound of someone clearing their throat came from our side, next to the entrance of the ballroom. Rias and I immediately broke apart and turned to our gazes to see who was the observers.
Sirzechs and the same boy from before were standing in front of the arched door to the ball. Sirzechs had his eyes narrowed, while the boy just stood there, completely confused as what was going on.
After a few moments, Rias finally broke the silence. "What are you doing here? Weren't you off with our father somewhere?" She questioned the Devil King.
"Yes, I was anyway. We concluded what we were doing, and the party is coming to an end now, so I figured this would be an appropriate time to address a few matters with Issei," Sirzechs spoke, purposefully being vague.
Despite his evident vagueness on the matter Rias still managed to realize what he wanted to discuss. She gave a concerned look to me, a slight nod following.
"Come now Millicas, we should be proper hosts and bid the guests farewell," She excused herself, grabbing the now Identified boy by the hand.
"Awww, but I wanted to talk to Issei," He whined, putting up a small amount of resistance to Rias's attempt of dragging him away.
"I promise you that we can talk to him before he leaves, but we have to do this first ok," assured Rias as she dragged him to the door.
"Yay! All right, let's greet these guests fast so I can see the cool dragon," He shouted, now running ahead of Rias in an attempt to hurry the process along.
'So I'm now known as the cool dragon, huh?' I mentally deadpanned. At least not everyone was scared of me at the party. Although, that will just take some time, if Inanis is right anyway.
Rias shut the duel arched glass doors behind them, providing privacy and silence to Sirzechs and myself. We both waited a few moments for them to gain distance. If Millicas overheard us and repeated it to an essential figure in the devil society, Sirzechs and I both could get in trouble.
"I'm gonna take a shot in the dark and say that's your kid, correct?" I questioned, looking over from my place leaning against the railing.
"Ah, yes, His name is Millicas. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you knew," Sirzechs chuckled.
"Yeah, I mean, the red hair, the destructive energy, dead giveaways." I sarcastically spoke. "So, I assume this is about my family, correct?" I questioned, assured that Rias had enough time to take Millicas away from earshot of our conversation.
"Indeed," He simply responded. "On that matter, I have some good news and some bad news. So which is it first?"
"Let's hear the bad news. It can only go uphill from there," I answered, mentally bracing myself for something horrible. I didn't necessarily think my family history would be nefarious, but seeing as I had no info on them, it would be better to prepare for the worst.
"Most of the records of your family were destroyed along with them, as well as your family was very disjointed from the normal society, so I wasn't able to find much. What we did find was a little... vague, so we had to try and fill in the pieces with some common knowledge of how demonic society worked," He explained.
I let out a little sigh of relief. The bad news was far better than what I could've hoped. Sure I was a bit disappointed that I wouldn't be able to learn much, but something is better than nothing.
"Ok, then what's the good news?" I questioned.
"The good news is that we found anything at all. Your family was very disjointed from the rest of the families and were very secretive about their actions. We don't know why, just that they were," Sirzechs spoke.
My disappointment increased drastically. I'm happy that I'll get anything, but with the good news being, we found something at all, is pretty disheartening.
"All right, let's hear what you do have for me," I sighed.
"Starting off, the name Dracul means Devil or Dragon and isn't directly related to the Vampiric Dracula family, despite the similarity in the titles. The ranking of your family in our political system is a bit complicated, so bear with me," He spoke. Silencing himself for a moment to think of a way to adequately explain this.
He took a deep breath before he continued his speaking. "Your family held enough power to be among the top five families with ease, ranking along with the Bael family in power. However, it is assumed that they didn't hold this rank due to their lack of involvement with the Devil society, as their attention was focused on the Dragon Clans, and is thought that some lesser dragons helped them out during the great war,"
My interest was piqued at hearing the statement that my demonic side was active with the dragon clans. Was it possible that my mother's side and father side were involved together for generations?
"Are you aware of which clans they were active with?" I interrupted Sirzechs before he could continue, as my curiosity was just too great to wait.
"Unfortunately no. We know that it was with one of the now-extinct clans, but we couldn't find any info that listed the clan with a name." He explained to my disappointment.
My expression lit up as I got an idea. Why look for records when I have a direct link to my heritage? I raised my arm and summoned my gauntlets so Inanis could speak aloud.
"Hey, do you have any answers to this?" I questioned, presuming that he already overheard what Sirzechs said beforehand.
[My apologies, but no. If I was to guess, your father involved himself separately from our family lineage, and I didn't bother enough to look into the events of the Devils. I was more interested with the fight of the other foolish Heavenly Dragons.] Inanis answered
"Well, so much for that, but thanks for the answer," I gratefully spoke to Inanis, leaning back looking into the sky. "Anything else?" I questioned looking back to Sirzechs.
"Yes, and this is possibly the most important part of the info I was able to gather," He emphasized, making sure that I was listening for this one part.
"Your family didn't go extinct because of the Great War, not directly in any case." He spoke, his voice now holding a serious tone to it.
"What do you mean? I thought that all of the 72 Pillars went extinct because of the Great war?" I questioned.
"All but yours. Your family, from what we could find, was plagued with inside fighting between the family members and was torn apart from the inside. Your family held two different sides to it, and the Great War rose the tensions of the in-fighting until they either killed each other or they left the family completely," Sirzechs explained.
This was a revelation to me. I never expected that they would have this kind of history. I suppose that this makes sense to why my mother didn't talk about her side of the family at all.
"Do you know why they were fighting?"
"No, they only referred to it as The Event in the tomes that we could find. Your family despised what happened, so they didn't address it with a proper title." Sirzechs shook his head. "Unfortunately that's all we have for now, but I'm going to look into this more, and will inform you of anything I find," He assured me.
"Thank you, really. This means a lot to me," I sincerely spoke, giving him a slight bow.
"It's no problem. You deserve to know this after all, so the least I can do it tell you what I find." He nonchalantly spoke
"Either way, thank you," I spoke again, the same sincerely thankful tone in my voice.
I rose up from the bow. "Well, I should probably go catch up with Rias, she'll probably want to leave soon," I spoke, straightening my suit walking towards the doors to the ballroom.
I was stopped from leaving by a hand gripping my wrist, preventing me from leaving. "Before you go, I wanted to talk to you about that very thing," He spoke.
Nervousness overcame my body, as I was hoping to avoid this entire conversation with him. I suppose it was just wishful thinking hoping that a SISCON wouldn't talk with me about dating his sister.
Turning around, covering my nervousness with a look of bored emptiness, my typical default look, which is why I wore it so well. Sirzechs eyes were sharp as he stared at me with a stern expression.
"Let's make one thing clear. Rias makes her own decisions, and I am not upset with the one she has made. I certainly can't fault her for having affection towards her servants, my wife is my Queen after all. So long as she is happy, I'll give you two my blessing. However, if she comes to me crying, regretting this decision, you're going to be the first person I look for," Sirzechs spoke.
A being of monstrous power just threatened me, even with my skilled poker face, it was hard to hide the fact that I was nervous. Even if I could put up a good fight, he'd still kick the shit out of me in the end.
"Are we clear." Sirzechs spoke. His words were not a question but rather a command.
"...Crystal," I spoke, straining to keep a calm and collected front in the presence of the now threatening Devil King.
The doors creaked open, Sirzechs and I shifting back into our original positions as to pretend this whole ordeal didn't even happen, him letting go of my wrist and I resuming my regular poker face to a much more convincing extent.
Millicas quickly pushed the doors completely open proceeding to run up to me, stars gleaming in his eyes as he seemed eager to see me. I'm assuming he watched the Rating Game, not like he would have any other reason to be so excited to see me.
"Issei! Can you show me your Void Fire! Please!" He shouted, looking up to me, beaming with excitement.
"Millicas, that's no way to ask someone to do something for you," Rias lectured the young boy as she made her way onto the balcony with the rest of the peerage behind her.
"Don't worry about it," I shrugged, making my way over to the edge of the balcony. "I won't even break a sweat."
Sirzechs moved next to the other, leaving a clear and unimpeded view of the night sky, clear of anything that could get in the way of my flames. Since a child is watching, I figured I should add some flair to the fire.
I inhaled just enough air to produce a safeish amount of flames, even if it was shooting into the sky, I'd rather be safe just in case. Before I released the fire, I filled the atmosphere with traces of my aura, drawing a design that the kid will be sure to like.
I breather out the black and violet flames, instantly lighting up the sky as my trails of aura ignited in flames. The air swirled with the dancing flames, anyone near the Gremory mansion would easily be able to see the display.
After the initial flames died down, the second phase of the show started. The aura that I filled the sky with now igniting along its trails, revealing a designed I crafted into the atmosphere.
The backdrop held an ornately designed Gromory insignia spinning in the air. In front of the Gremory insignia hovered a flaming Dragon, along with Phoenix. As I began manipulating my aura, the burning images of the Dragon and the Phoenix began to move through the air. The two figures began to battle fiercely across the night sky.
As I continued putting on the show, I could hear the excitement in the voices next to me. Even Sirzechs had slight signs of enjoyment in the display in front of him. Unfortunately, all things have to come to an end.
As it began to end, I allowed the two figures to charge at each other head-on. The flaming images slammed into each other, exploding like multitudes of fireworks as they made contact. The Gremory insignia fell apart, the flames flowing along the air currents in the atmosphere as it slowly dissipated.
I looked up into the sky, now allowing the flames to do as they pleased. Since I was no longer fueling them with aura, they would slowly dissipate into the atmosphere on their own. I became lost as I looked into the sky, colors of the flames shining in my eyes as I held my two mates close to me, my arms wrapped around both of them.
I felt a soft hand gently grip onto my own. Looking over, I could see Akeno with a warm smile, her hand on my own. "Is something plaguing your mind? You look distracted," She quietly questioned so the others would hear her. The flames erupting like fireworks in the air also helped to cover her words.
"No, I'm fine. It's just..." I spoke, a pause in my words. The reflection of the flames dancing through the sky shone in her eyes. A warm smile formed across my lips as I gazed into her eyes. "...Nostalgic" I finished my earlier sentence, turning back to look into the sky. Images of Akeno and I doing this very thing together when we were children.
Akeno laid her head onto me, snuggling closer to me. We watched the flames continue to dissipate through the air. Thoughts began flowing through my head as I watched the fire continue swirling through the air.
Maybe the arranged marriage between Riser and Rias would've been the best thing to happen for the Devil Society, but I don't care. Looking over to my side, I can see Rias smiling, genuinely smiling. My mates were happy, and that's all that mattered to me.
Maybe life will continue to get better from here...
This is it for the chapter about the party. It's a bit shorter because there wasn't much going on with it, aside from Issei's family which is pretty little stuff in itself for now.
This specific chapter was inspired by a certain other story called "Holy Inferno Dragon". I'm not that good at writing scenes like this, nor am I with romance, so I figured I would base it off something else. I wanted to give proper credit to their fantastic work.
So thank you all for reading, and remember to leave criticisms on how I can improve :D