Dance With the Devil

Tentacle Trouble

Gah! I was working on future chapters and lost what I wrote. I'm sad now.

Oh well, I remembered enough that I can outline and finish the chapter that way.

Also, I own nothing, more the pity.


Chapter 4

"So..." Ayoko looked at Jedah with a flat stare while she tried to calm down from the revelation that he had just dropped on them. "I've been wondering what you're going to do with that girl you captured."

Jedah smirked at the Devil Hunter. "Simple, my dear, I plan on helping her achieve her true potential with her power. Besides, I need someone whom I can throw at Saotome, should I need to keep him occupied." He shrugged as his chair floated backwards. "Do not worry, unlike what I did with the vampire, she still has her mind." He glanced at Valerie, who had no emotion on her face.

That didn't matter as he could feel her emotions raging at him.

"But even the Shikima Queen..." Euclid glanced at the screen where Ranma was currently enjoying himself with the girls. "Even she seems to have fallen under his thrall."

"That's just the side effects of his Sacred Gear, I'm sure." Jedah waved off the concerns. "Besides, now that I know what his Sacred Gear is capable of, I can prepare for it." Internally, Jedah was grimacing, he hadn't anticipated that the fragment of Asmodeus's soul that was in Ranma would have been affected by Lilith as well. 'She really is capable of doing the impossible, huh? What's next? If I had more time, I could do more with this, but...'

He knew that the perfect opportunity to launch his plan was coming up soon.

'And in order to do that, I must remove a few more variables from play.' Jedah had a thoughtful look before he looked at the newly revived Diodora Astaroth and grinned. "Diodora, I have a job for you."

Regardless of what happened with Diodora, so long as it bore fruit, Jedah would consider it a success.

(-)

Meanwhile...

Standing in front of her family home, Akane shivered slightly. She was thankful that Gabriel had given her a replica of her blue overalls and light blue short-sleeved shirt, but that didn't remove the feeling of nervousness she was feeling. "How can I explain it to them?"

"Well, you could always rely on me to lie if you want." A female voice spoke up and Akane turned to look at Nabiki, who was wearing shorts and a loose top while giving Akane an amused look. "Despite anything else, you know daddy and Kasumi will be happy that you're alive." She put a hand on Akane's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "It's up to you if you want to tell them that you're an Angel now or not."

"Will you tell them that you're a Devil?" Akane asked and Nabiki snorted.

Nabiki opened her mouth to speak with her right index raised before lowering it slowly and closing her mouth and smiled ruefully. "Well, my first instinct is to say no and keep everything a secret; but doing so was what got you in trouble in the first place." Akane didn't say anything as she thought about the implications of that. "And, well, I don't think that daddy would hate me for being a Devil, so long as I don't turn into some sort of soul-devouring monster that likes baby-back ribs."

"Uh..." Akane gave her a confused look and Nabiki sighed.

"...so long as I don't turn into a monster that eats babies, I think it'll be fine." Nabiki clarified and sighed as Akane still gave her a confused look. "I made a dead baby joke, okay?"

"Oh." Akane sighed at her own stupidity. "So it should be okay?" Nabiki nodded and Akane smiled softly. "Well, I guess it's been a long time, so..." She reached up to knock on the door but stopped and nodded as she opened the door and walked in with an amused Nabiki following right after her. Akane took a deep breath and nodded. "Kasumi! Daddy! I'm..."

Nabiki smiled, partly in amusement, but mostly in understanding, as Soun seemingly teleported in front of Akane and was hugging her tightly, wailing the entire time how he had missed her and how he was sure she was dead. 'Then again, he's not wrong.' She smiled as Kasumi came over to her. "Hey, sis. We're back."

"Welcome back, Nabiki." Kasumi smiled in return. "I'm glad you and Akane came back in one piece."

Nabiki nodded and looked at Akane as her face turned red from Soun's really hard hug. "I am too."

"WAAAHHHH!"

(-)

Several minutes later...

After getting calmed down and cleaned up, Soun sat at the table with his daughters, giving them a serious look. "So," Soun began, "where is your fiancé?" He looked at Nabiki. "I would have expected him to show up with Akane sooner."

"Well..." Nabiki tapped her chin. "Akane was a bit of a mess after the events that happened and needed some help to get her mind back in order." Soun nodded and Nabiki bit her lower lip lightly. "How much of the supernatural do you know about?" Seeing her father tilt his head slightly in confusion, Nabiki clarified. "I know you know about Demons and ghosts, but what else do you know?"

"Not as much as you do if you're asking that question." Soun said with a serious look on his face while he folded his hands in front of him with his elbows on the table. "I've seen creatures straight out of myths, fought against spirits and demons that still give me nightmares. Why?" Soun asked and blinked as Nabiki and Akane looked at each other and sighed. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"

"Probably not." Nabiki admitted as she explained what had happened to herself and Akane.

As she explained what had happened, Soun's expression became more and more distraught with Kasumi looking more and more concerned and worried.

"So, in the end, in order to save me..." Akane sighed as she finished up what happened to her. "I was forced to give up my humanity and become a reincarnated Angel."

There was a rustle of cloth and the next thing any of them knew, Soun was hugging Akane again, bawling and calling her name while Nabiki and Kasumi both smiled nervously.

"Nabiki," Kasumi looked at her younger sister and jerked her head to the kitchen. Nabiki nodded and got up and followed her.

"H, hey!" Akane struggled and squirmed. "What about me?"

"You'll be fine." Nabiki smiled at her. "Unlike when you were human, you're not going to die from daddy's hugs."

"WAAHH! MY BABY GIRL DIED AND BECAME AN ANGEL!" Soun wailed while squeezing harder, almost like he was afraid she would just disappear in his arms.

Nabiki just smiled at Akane and walked into the kitchen. "What did you want to talk about?" Her smile slowly died as Kasumi sighed and had a forlorn expression on her face. "...Sis?"

"...You're not human either, are you?" Kasumi asked and Nabiki jerked in surprise. "I thought so." Kasumi's expression changed to a small smile. "I was worried that you got swept up into the craziness of the supernatural while being just a regular human."

Nabiki stared, flabbergasted for several moments before shaking her head and holding up her left hand. "...One, how did you know?" She lowered her index finger. "Two, Ranma could protect me if I needed it." She lowered her middle finger. "Three, how long have you known?" She lowered her ring finger and then sighed as she lowered her hand. "For someone with omniscience, I sure as Heaven didn't see this coming." Nabiki muttered to herself before giving her sister a look that said she needed to explain.

Kasumi smiled as she turned and walked to where there were some dishes on the counter. "I always thought it was weird." She said as she picked up a plate and put it into the cabinet. "How you were able to heal so fast from that terrible car accident." She turned her head to look at Nabiki. "I never brought it up because you didn't seem to change, other than going out at night and then wanting to sleep until noon."

Nabiki chuckled and rubbed the back of her head nervously. "Well, you caught me there." She lowered her arm and shook her head. "Yeah, I should have died back then. But as I laid in the hospital bed, a Devil appeared in front of me, turned me into a Devil to heal me, in exchange I had to be his servant."

"...That wasn't Ranma, was it?" Kasumi asked, a concerned frown on her face.

Nabiki shook her head. "No, it wasn't, why would you think that?" She saw the flat expression on Kasumi's face and sweat-dropped. "...That was a stupid question, huh?"

"I'm going to let it pass since I caught you off guard." Kasumi told her and walked over to the stove and ran a finger over the top. "Considering that he has a Succubus that calls him "Master" all the time, the fact that you barely knew him and ended up bedding him, the fact that after Ranma showed up we had a lot more craziness than we typically got. Why, after you, Ranma and Akane all left, the craziest thing we had to deal with were these adorable Martian Mice on Motorcycles that were apparently lost and needed a way to some interdimensional portal to go back to their world."

"...I'm not going to ask." Nabiki shook her head, knowing she could look it up if she had to. "No, my so-called master was a horribly obese and disgusting Devil that I thought I killed, and it turned out that he killed himself in a stupid way." She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I ran to my enemies, looking for protection because I thought I was going to die from other Devils, and they forced me to give them information on this area in case anyone with a Sacred Gear showed up."

"Well, I'm glad that you're still Nabiki and that Ranma didn't force you into anything."

"More like I forced him." Nabiki muttered softly and sighed. "...Is there anything else you want to say?"

"Hmm..." Kasumi nodded. "Try not to die."

"Huh?" Nabiki blinked in confusion before she was hugged from behind. "ACK! D-daddy?"

"WAAAHHHH! BOTH OF MY BABY GIRLS DIED ON ME!"

"Was... Still alive... Became a Devil." Nabiki croaked out as Soun hugged her for all he was worth.

Kasumi just smiled and ushered Soun back into the living room while she went to make some food for the family. Devil, Angel or Human, it didn't matter to her. Her family was back together, even if just a little bit, and everyone was more-or-less healthy.

In the end, that's all that mattered to her.

End Chapter 4


This was a "get back into the flow of the story" chapter as it was the first one I wrote after coming back from my hiatus.