PA: So it seems talking about trying to get the next chapter out or not doesn't actually make a difference into chapter release time. I don't have too much more to say here really.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of this stuff; did you know that this story is longer than the first Harry Potter book.
Naruto stood at the entrance to his castle, now a set of ruins. He blinked and let his mind wash over the missing details. Seeing pieces of the wall fill in and buildings repair themselves. Portions of the mountain fill what is missing and the barren sands are blown away showing the path beneath. The faces bound into the mountain, five in total are now withered with faint outlines being the only telling that they were once carved. "Konoha," he uttered, and Tia turned to him her teal eyes looking him over.
"I never gave you the name."
He could feel her scrutiny, her suspicion. If he were in her place he guessed he'd have the same feelings. "I share memories with my predecessors."
"Oh, that must be difficult, my lord."
"You have no idea," though he had to admit the first had been quiet for a while, at least since he had woken up. Wait, if Konoha was here, why didn't the second's memories show him? If Konoha was here then what were the demons that resided here? He paused, Lucifer said that there were flaws, could the creatures here be what remains from the flawed reset? What of these demonic gods? He needed to find someone with the answers. "Tia," his call snapped her to attention, "Do you have a leader?"
"Yes, my lord, and there are a number of us that reside around the mountain still. All are loyal, but our leader, he sleeps often. Age is catching up to him."
Okay, so there was someone that would be able to answer his questions…hopefully. He craned his neck to the side and watched the scenery of leaves and full buildings that he had built up fall away to show the desolation of the area. If people were still around he could get answers, but Tia seemed to believe they were and he was starting to feel the burden of the current cycle. The purple sky might just be the most dangerous. Green was nothing for him; red would send him into a rage which really just lead to him fighting until he ran out of energy. Blue caused magic in general, even demonic magic, to have strange and wondrous effects. Purple though, well let him just say he was glad he wasn't going to be sharing close personal space with Tia for the next few days. It wasn't just a build of lust like he had been lead to believe, but desire in general. A need for more.
He really wasn't sure how much longer he could go on before he'd hold her down and…well, it is best not to think about. Not only did he not want to do that, well he guessed a part of him did, and she was not unattractive. She also said he could…okay the real reason was that Seekvaira would literally have him by the balls if she didn't get a say in this. Not only that, he doubted she would be happy at all if he was busy getting his dick wet while she was doing paperwork and he was meant to be growing stronger.
It didn't help that her dark skin was glistening with sweat or the way her long hair clung to the back of her neck or the wind, how it would catch enough of her cloak at times to hug her shapely body. There was only so much he could take and he was thankful that this test of fleshy temptations would soon be over. "Can you take me to him?" He questioned trying to move this along. She nodded and motioned for him to follow. She shifted her cloak to the side to hide her weapon, which also gave him the sight of her pants that had the task, duty, job? He wasn't sure what privilege they had exactly but he knew the task that they were burdened with. Containing that deadly derriere. It was a sacred task and he would salute that bunch of leather when his mind wasn't so focused on it failing entirely.
He heard rubble moving and his hand shot to his waist. Before he could go further still he felt her slender fingers wrap around his wrist. He paused and watched a child poke their head up and look in their direction for a few moments before scurrying away. "There are children here?" It wasn't so much a question, more like a confused statement.
"Even demons need to reproduce. Well, our kind do at the least, my lord. There are a great many children here. Our number of combatants is the issue," her voice grew softer, maybe even sombre towards the end. What had she seen before he got here?
Naruto looked around again. His lips pursed as he adjusted his clothes. His brow furrowed as he took in the damage properly. "How long ago did Konoha fall?" His question caused her to wince.
"A little over five years."
If his memory was right, that was shortly after he arrived here. "And you fought in it?" His question got a small nod. That explained some things.
He watched the child run towards Tia. She knelt down as it approached. "Gwan, does your sister know you're out here?" The child looked sheepish shifting from one foot to the other before rubbing the dirt on their face. He guessed it was to try and clean the dirt but all it did was smudge it.
"Yes, Miss Tia. I told her I was going searching for the shiny stones, oh!" The child seemed to remember something and dug into their pockets before pulling out a small blue crystal. "Sis says you need pretty things because boys don't look at your properly."
Naruto shut his mouth tightly as Tia turned to look over her shoulder at his direction. He was not stepping on that land mine. "Thank you, Gwan. I'll have to speak to your sister later about what she is teaching you."
"Okay, Miss Tia," the child spoke before tugging on Tia's arm and whispering as well as a child can, "Hey, who is that guy?"
"That is Lord Naruto. The Azure."
"Wow, I should tell Sis so that she can put on her pretty dress."
Tia gave a small shake of her head before speaking "I don't think you'll have time, we're heading to her now." Gwan seemed to look at them both before starting to run off saying something along the lines of not if he got to her first. With the kid gone Tia stood back up and straightened herself out before turning to Naruto properly. "I would prefer it if you forgot what the child said, my lord."
"I would prefer it if you didn't call me a lord."
"I can not do that, my lord."
Naruto gave a small shrug. "I guess I can't forget what the child said."
"My lord."
"Tia."
They locked eyes with one another for a few moments. He was relieved, kind of, to see that there was still a girl in there that cared about her appearance and those kinds of general things. Or maybe it was more about her reputation. Her shoulders sagged a little before she shook her head. "It doesn't matter, you'll find out why soon enough."
That was an odd thing to say. Regardless he moved to follow her when she strode off. More and more people were coming out, none approached but they were watching. It honestly felt like he was back home. People watching and gossiping without ever getting to know him. That was something else he had started to notice, they all looked surprisingly like Devils and not at all like the demons he had been fighting.
Naruto took in what was left of the sights around him, the people struggling to hold on to their home. The adults looking out with sunken, weary eyes. He had people like them through the eyes of the previous Naruto's. He'd felt that sense of hopelessness, that burning desire to fight against something you knew you couldn't beat. Tia seemed to understand he was busy with his thoughts so the walk was quiet. He was thankful for that. The sound of his boots crunching in the sand and dirt did nothing more than set the pace as they came closer and closer to the base of the mountain. He looked up again, watching those faces appear for a moment, faces that the first had looked to for hope, for guidance. They were gone now.
Huh, was that telling of the first's situation? His history was all but dead in this place. They came to stop at a small shack, maybe it was a home to some but Naruto wasn't sure if his mother would be seen dead in such a place. "My Lord, I should warn you that the resident here can be 'curious' in nature."
"Curious as in quirky or inquisitive?" His question was met with a flat stare and he guessed she meant both. He saw Tia take a deep breath in before parting some haphazard cloth that seemed to function as a door and enter the building. He followed behind her; not quite sure where she was leading him, but the people here seemed to have more sense about them than Naruto had been led to believe.
How much of what devils knew was the truth? He was seeing more and more that this history was little more than a story maybe woven to keep them in line or maybe crafted from pure ignorance…he wasn't sure yet. He wasn't sure if he ever would be.
"Nelliel, you had best be dressed; you have a guest."
Well he at least knew the name of whose house he was entering. He followed the linger traces of Tia through the twists and turns of this hovel before entering into a what seemed to be a lounge of sorts. Though he took in the wooden table at waist height. It was littered with small damage but still decorated to an extent. He figured it held value to this Nelliel. There was a small rattle and he looked up at this mop of green hair peering out between separated beads of a kind. She was halfway through a word when the air escaped her. He gave a faint smile and she shrieked causing Tia to sigh as this Nelliel ran further into the house.
He watched Tia stomp after her and then he took a seat at what seemed like a makeshift bar. The stool was uneven on one of its legs but he settled into place as the small child from earlier came up and sat across from him. Eyes full of questions and fists bawled in excitement. "Gwan, right?" The boy nodded quickly and Naruto reached up to shift his cloak while the child watched him as a lion would a deer.
"I thought you'd be made of fire."
Naruto rose a brow. "Fire huh?" there was a nod, "That'd be pretty hard for me to move around wouldn't it?"
"Maybe? But you could just burn anything that got in your way, right?"
"I could," he answered and slowly raised a hand letting it catch alight, "but I don't think fire is just about destruction. Humans used it to start civilisation, to fight back the night and to expel creatures that would harm them. I could destroy…but I don't want to."
He saw Gwan's features scrunch up, it reminded him of Ravel when she was trying to think of something…How long had it been since he had seen his little sister now? "I thought destroying stuff was good?"
"Very rarely is it good."
This only seemed to puzzle the young boy more. He frowned and rested his arms against the bench. "But Sis always talks about how she loves it when the boys destroy her p-"
"Gwan!"
Both Naruto and the boy jolted at the shriek. Naruto turned and saw, who he believed to be, Nelliel standing by the doorway, her face aghast while Tia stood behind her, maybe that was her miffed face, it definitely looked like a 'I want to be done with this' expression. "Umm, well I have to go Lord Fire guy!"
There was an awkwardness that grew as Gwan left. "So…You're Nelliel?"
The green haired demon quickly nodded her head and went to take the place Gwan had been. "Please ignore anything that child said, my lord."
"Please just call me Naruto."
She nodded her head quickly. "Okay, Naruto."
"I guess I can forget what Gwan said then."
"Nelliel!"
"What, Tia?"
His head snapped between the two and he wondered if he did something to cause a fight? He didn't think so, but Seekvaira had always told him he was pretty dense when it came to these things. "You can't just treat Lord Naruto so casually."
"I can if he asks for it. Maybe Naruto has a reason he doesn't like being called that? Did you think of that?"
"I...no. But we are to show respect at all time."
"Perhaps you should respect his wishes?"
Naruto let out a small cough and drew attention back to himself. "Not to be rude, but is there a reason you brought me here, Tia?"
"Well," Nelliel started, "Given that the sky has been purple for a while now, Tia figured you'd need to let off some steam before seeing our boss. Seeing as you hadn't taken up her advances she figured you were put off by what she was."
He felt his shoulders sag and he let out a tired sigh. "Tia, I'm happy to work alongside you and all that stuff, you're switched on, stern and kind, but I'm a pretty lousy partner. I hardly take into consideration the feelings of those around me, and I've come to accept this and am trying to do better. So I vowed that if nothing else, I would always check with my other partners before taking a new one." He saw the two demons seemingly taking in what he was saying. "They aren't here, but if you're still around when we meet back up and they give the thumbs up…I'll pay you back for the last few weeks of torture you've put me through."
Nelliel let out a small giggle while Tia stood a little straighter. "I do not know what you mean, my lord."
"You've been standing closer since the purple sky came. You've been pressing your ass into my dick when we're going to sleep and when I have had to follow you've taken careful measure to sway your hips more than your normal gait." He made sure to meet her eyes as he spoke and watched as she started to shy away from his gaze.
"It seems he might not be the one needing my services then. Well, it is a shame. I would have loved to offer my body as service but I guess I'll just find some decent food for you." Nelliel gave him a small wink as she walked away leaving him and Tia alone, again.
"I was not aware you were paying such close attention, my lord."
"You weren't exactly subtle, but yes, I try to keep an eye on those around me."
She gave a stern nod and came up to his side once again. "Very well, I shall try to be more subtle in the future then. Now if you have no intention to bed Nelliel, we can make our way to our leader."
"Well, lead on then," he waved and she quickly strode out in front. With a look over her shoulder she made sure to throw extra sway into her step. "Not subtle."
"I suppose I should try harder then?"
He watched that sly smile of hers as she continued to walk. Sighing to himself he followed her through the shanty town barely held together with spit and dreams. They were coming to a dead end and he watched Tia stop; her fingers running across the base of the mountain "You should lead from here. He will be pleased to see you," she whispered and found a groove opening a path through the stone.
He gave a firm nod and swallowed the spit in his mouth before moving forward. His eyes quickly adapted to the darkness allowing him to see the faint carvings in the walls. The history of the Elemental Nations, told from the perspective of someone who witnessed it. The first ones were rough, but over time, as he grew closer to the first's era they became more vivid. More care was given. He stopped by one and saw a small child sitting alone on a swing with faint whisker marks resting on their cheeks. The child watched on, taking in the sights of children interacting with adults from a distance. It was a lonely carving. It was a lonely memory. He could recall the day, the first day of the academy where all the other kids got picked up by their parents and got to tell cool stories of how they would grow up to become famous like Hashirama and the other Hokage. He recalled the rope, rough, slowly burning into his hands as he gripped it tighter and tighter silently begging someone to come find him. To come love him. No one ever did.
Naruto wasn't sure if he wanted that over the pressure of expectations that his own life put on him. It was a different kind of loneliness. Was it even right for him to attempt to compare the two? He gave a small grunt and pushed on, further down the hallway watching the scenes he had lived through play out next to him. The fights, the drama and finally his death and rebirth. The detail diminished but the key events were there.
They came to a widening in the hallway that allowed light to come in and showed them a grass room with a thick tree in the middle. It was scorched, twisted, but still filled with leaves. "You damned leaf ninja," the voice was familiar and he turned to watch a large nine-tailed fox descend from the tree. Red eyes baring down on him while Naruto couldn't help to smile which the fox returned with a smirk, "Just can't help but return to your roots, eh, Naruto?"
Raynare struggled to get out her breaths between fits of coughing. Kokabiel had not been pleased with her report and she was still recovering from her discipline. What was she to do though? How could she know that the Hellcat would be there? The Gremory girl and the Sitri princess she had planned for. She had the forces to take them out, both at once even and yes she would have taken casualties but the heiresses were fledglings. They did not have the experience or skill to fight against the numbers she had with her. The Hellcat did. She had fought against demons and fallen before, stronger than what she had with her…The trusted knight of the Azure. She had heard he had forsaken those lands, yet that was not the case.
To make it worse she had passed along the Hellcat's message and Kokabiel laughed. He seemed damned excited that the Azure was calling him out. Raynare didn't know how to feel about that. She should be terrified, she wanted to be scared as she was being sent back there…but she wasn't and that worried her. One of the greatest enemies of her race didn't instil worry or fear in her, but comfort. Why? Had the betrayal of Azazel twisted her body in some way that she wanted to die? Was this some kind of divine punishment for her sins?
She didn't know.
Her hand hit the wall and she winced, looking over to it and seeing the burns that littered her fingers. She rested the digits against the cold stones and steadied herself through the pain. Why had the Hellcat let her live? What was so special about her compared to the other Fallen? She wasn't anything special. She was a nobody.
She tensed her body and slowly manipulated her shoulder back into place whimpering as it crunched and popped and her muscles strained under her skin. She let out a huff and tried to blow away the hair that was stuck to her face, but the sweat was holding it tight. She didn't even want to think about how badly she smelt right now. She'd been Kokabiel's damn plaything for days. The only grace she had was that the bastard hadn't raped her.
Then again, he might think that she'd get off on that. Why the hell was she even here? What had she done that caused Azazel to banish her? Had she screwed up his notes? Had she given the wrong test to one of the others? She didn't know, no one would tell her. Also, why did Kokabiel let her live? No one ever made it out alive from those meetings when they had bad news.
She struggled with her limp towards her room. If she had the twilight healing this wound would be nothing. If she had of made sure the damned boy was dead she might have just managed it. Raynare nearly fell into her door as she opened and and slammed it behind her. She hobbled over to the mirror and looked at herself. Bruising littered her face and body. She could see cuts that would likely become scars on her arms, already infected. Fuck.
She searched for medical supplies but found none. With a huff she ran a cold shower, dried herself off, which opened up wounds, before crawling into her bed. The moment she laid down her door opened and this grinning sick piece of shit was standing there. "I heard you got your ass handed to you by a little reincarnated?"
"Oh piss off, Freed."
"Is the big bad fallen angry she lost?"
"Fuck off." He didn't. He came into the room and held up a med-kit. Inwardly she groaned. The damned prick had been in her room while she wasn't around. "And here I thought it was the other fallen stealing my things. No it was just a stupid human, tell me, do you run around with my used panties on your head like some twisted pervert?"
"Nope, I use them to wipe my ass then chuck 'em in your laundry pile. Gotta love watching you walk around in the same shit that I shat in. Knowing how you're rubbing your precious skin against my rancid crap gets my knockers off. Anyway, not why I'm here slut. See, from where I am standing you're pretty fucking useless. The boss has me going on some big mission in a couple of hours and I could use a little fun, so I'll make you a deal."
That honestly explained a lot and only served to increase her hated for the man in front of her. The way he laughed and grinned always made her skin crawl. "And what makes you think I'll accept?"
His answer was to shake the package in his hand before speaking, "See, you're going to get down on your dirty little knees and give my Prince William a nice sloppy fucking cleaning, really the only useful part of your is your mouth. Then I'll give you this little kit here so you can pretend you didn't get your ass kicked."
What sickened her was the fact that she thought about accepting for a moment. "Fuck off and get out of my room before I report you."
"To who, the man that just spent a few days slapping your ass so hard you can't stand? Or maybe your fallen group? Oh wait, you went and got them fucking killed. If the fucking boss didn't want you alive I would take great pleasure in cutting you up and fucking your tight little throat."
"Don't you have a mission to get ready for?" She tried to change the subject. He just huffed and left and honestly that was probably the best thing that could have come from it. She winced and got from her bed and locked the door, not that it would do any good apparently, before crawling back into bed. She drew the covers up and could feel sleep quickly coming to her.
She closed her eyes and could hear a warm voice calling to her. Whispering gently even. She didn't know who it belonged to, but the way it made her chest feel was all she needed to know that it made her feel safe. 'Ray-ray'. It was a silly name and she wanted to laugh, but that would hurt. She could feel arms wrap around her, a warmth on her back and a breath tickling her neck. 'Sleep, Ray-ray,' and she did. She listened to the voice that made her feel wanted.
Issei was still wrapping his head around everything that happened. Hanekawa was apparently going to be staying in town, not as Uzumaki-san, which apparently irritated their Student Council President… Who was also a Devil. There was some kind of deal where Sitri-san and his King were looking after it together, he wasn't too sure on the details because things were actually looking pretty good for him. Asia became a devil of her own will and joined the peerage alongside him.
That was good, and she was already starting to make friends in school. One thing had been made clear to him from that night, he was weak. He needed to be stronger if he was going to protect people and when he talked to his king about the situation she said that she was going to increase their training. Also, if he so wanted he could ask Hanekawa to train him, but it would be of his own accord.
It must be some devil thing about not wanting to owe another, he wasn't too sure on how that worked but that is where he was going now. Hanekawa had some kind of house on the outskirts of the city and he was looking for it now. As he turned the corner he paused and blinked a handful of times because who in the hells who had a three story mansion in Kuoh in this economy? A devil, that's who. He approached the door and went to knock he paused and looked to his side seeing those amber eyes staring at him. "Um, I've come for training?" As the words left his lips he took in the other person standing next to Hanekawa. Seemingly long hair, blond, pulled up into a bun while Victorian era clothing tightly wrapped her shapely frame. "Oh, I hope I'm not interrupting."
Blue eyes as cold as winter washed over him for a moment before a sudden warmth surged from them. "Is this the boy, Daughter?"
Wait, daughter? Was this Hanekawa's mother? He looked between the two, there was no sign of resemblance sans maybe their proportions and he thought it was too risky to try to get a better idea of how similar those are. "Yep Mumzies."
The woman took a step towards him and Issei saw the image of a majestic flame engulf everything behind her. She was dangerous. Everything in his body told him that, but when she spoke the only thing talking in his body was a much more primal urge. "It is a pleasure to meet you Issei Hyoudou, my name is Raven Phenex and I do hope we can continue to have pleasurable exchanges in the future," her voice was like warm honey running over his skin and before he could so much as reply his body nodded affirmative to her and her attention went back to Hanekawa. "The maids will care for the house and if you or he need anything more do not hesitate to ask."
"Thanks, and I should be good, we might need to change things up when Naruto gets back in action though."
Raven gave a small nod before looking over them once more and smiling. "Well I have things that still need tending to. I shall leave you to your training."
"Bye, Mumzies."
"Um, goodbye Phenex-san," and with his words spoken flames erupted around the woman and she vanished. Issei turned to look at Hanekawa his jaw no doubt slightly ajar as he spoke, "Who was that?"
The cat tilted her head to the side before a look of realisation came across her face. "I keep forgetting that you're brand new. That was Lady Raven Phenex, matriarch of the Phenex house or Mumzies."
Okay, so she wasn't Hanekawa's mother, but this Naruto guy's? That also meant that this house, if he could call it that, was the Phenex ensuring their claim on the territory in the case things went bad… At least from his perspective it could be some other political game or maybe they just wanted Hanekawa to have a house; he really didn't know. He shook his head, that was something he could get into later, for now he needed to focus; he had a task to do. "So, about that training?"
"Oh, I didn't think anyone would actually show up. Uh, well… cool let's do some sparing I guess?" Wait did she not think anyone would want her help? Was he doing something wrong? "Normally peerages compete against each other, so it is kind of like an unspoken thing that they don't help each other." Shit he forgot that she can read minds. How did her other peerage members deal with that? "Naruto is able to block off portions of his mind. I'm not sure how he does it, but most of the others just accept it and move on."
He nodded, it was likely something he'd have to grow to live with. "Speaking of, and I don't mean this as disrespect, but what is so special about your king? I've heard my peers speak of him but I guess it just isn't clicking."
Issei watched her think his question over for a moment. He really was curious at this point. "It's hard to explain in a way that would make sense. I guess you'd just have to meet him and see him in action. They're two very different states, but I think it is the mesh of those really." Thinking on it, he probably did ask a difficult question. He looked at her for a moment, was she even wearing any pants? As the thought crossed his mind she lifted the baggy shirt up to show a pair of shorts underneath before poking her tongue out.
"So, what am I going to be learning from you, like how is this training going to work?"
He nearly flinched at how fist her hands came together in front of her body. "Well, I've been watching you and you don't really have a way of fighting. So I'll teach you the basics of the Phenex hand-to-hand style, from there we'll turn it into something that will work for you."
"The Phenex have their own style of fighting?"
He saw her awkward expression. "More or less. You could more see it like a way of fighting that the brothers developed against each other. Other's call it the Phenex style, but the brothers just call it Blaze Fist." She clenched her fist with her words and there was a kindling of fire surrounding it. "I uh, can't really make flames like theirs without it getting really dangerous." Wait, she was going to teach him a martial arts of a kind that revolved around punching with fire? Akeno and Rias said that his demonic power was super low; would he even be able to use it properly? He saw Hanekawa's head tilt and felt like groaning, she was still in his head. "Your demonic power isn't low."
"Wait, what do you mean?"
"You've got a lot, I guess you just can't control it, or maybe you can't access it? If it is the second one I can't help much, but I could speak to either Ai or Seeks, they might have a better understanding on that."
He looked at his palms, could it really just be a matter of control? If nothing else visiting today had already been informational. With a small nod he looked back to the cat-girl and nodded. "Okay, let's try this sparring thing."
"Nya-haha! Great, don't worry, I'll go super easy on you."
"Not really inspiring but I appreciate it."
Basics, sparring, basics, sparring. Then to finish they shifted over to forms and meditation. Though the forms were a kind of meditation with how they were done. He had to keep reminding himself that it was made by three brothers so that they could punch each other better because there was actually a lot of structure to this 'Blaze Fist'. Also after being face to face with Hanekawa and trading blows with her he could safely say that he didn't want to trade places with the exorcists from a few days ago. She was moving slow enough that he was able to keep up, but whenever their flesh connected Issei had to remind himself that he was fighting a girl, not a lump of iron.
He could also see portions of the basics he was learning in the way she fought. She'd adapted the style to better suit her. It made sense, he could feel the rigid focus on power from what he was learning. The ability to blast through the opposition, it wouldn't be all that well suited for a Knight, if he was remembering her piece right. "Compared to Arashi and Naruto I'm pretty brittle, honest."
Arashi? He hadn't heard that name before. "Is that another of Naruto's peerage members?"
"Yeps, he is our lone Rook," she answered without hesitation while he rubbed some of his sore parts. He was probably going to have some light bruises tomorrow. While he was thinking about this he watched as she reached into the shirt pocket and pulled out a small vial of liquid. "Drink this, it should wash away any of your injuries, I wouldn't do it just before going to bed though otherwise you might be up all night."
Issei gave a small nod and took the vial before pulling the stopper out and downing it. He had no reason not to trust her and though it was salty as hell he could feel his stiffness quickly fading. He blinked in shock and looked at her a few times. "What was that?"
"Phenex Tears. They are used to heal even life threatening wounds. Quite expensive."
Issei looked at the small vial in his hand. This was a devil telling him it was expensive. He was quickly learning that their value of money was grossly different to his own. "When you say expensive?" Her response was to thumb towards the house and he got the message. He also wasn't sure how he felt now having just ingested more money than most people might see in their lives. "I…I can't pay you back."
What he wasn't expecting was for her to start laughing. "Nya-haha, no, I don't expect you to and I won't give you one whenever we train but the first time is the worst by far. Even with the tears you will still be a bit sore, they were regular ones so they won't help with your magic at all." His magic? They hadn't touched on that at all. "The meditation was searching for it and activating it. You did for a moment so there could be some surges. Be careful okay? Also, you should probably tell your King about it."
He nodded and look around, it was honestly really peaceful out here away from the city. He would ask how she got around but after seeing her move the other night that felt kind of stupid. Speaking of, "Thanks for your help. I'll come again if that is okay?" She gave a short nod, "Cool, and um, don't worry, I'll tell Naruto you were a big help when I meet him."
"Great. I knew you weren't a lost cause."
He wasn't even sure he wanted to know what she meant by that.
Coming to terms with the fact that the best friend, or maybe only friend—Naruto wasn't really sure—of your Ancestor was still around and kicking after all this time took some getting used to. So it wasn't much of a surprise that the two had spent the first few moments processing the existence of the other before either of them spoke further. "I take it Lucifer found a way to slip you by in one of those flaws he mentioned?"
"Screw that damned fool. I take it you know everything that happened?"
Naruto shook his head. "Only up to when uh, the first sealed her away. He is in here, somewhere," he said pointing to his head, "I can try to dig him up if you want?"
The giant fox shook its head. "No need. I'll speak to him later. I take it you've run into the demons out there?" Given that the fox let out a chuckle Naruto figured that his expression was enough of an answer, "They managed to hold their sanity for a while. Well, the original four, the ones that you devils call gods, but they were warped and twisted in the end. That redheaded brat, Gaara? Didn't make it, but the others Kage did and each of them is hunting you."
Wait that didn't make sense. "I thought they got captured by the tree?"
"No Kaguya, no tree."
Oh. "Wait, you kicked Tsunade out of Konoha?"
He watched the wide smile stretch over the fox's mouth. "It wasn't too hard back then." Then it turned into a sullen scowl. "They didn't have those massive hordes of bodies. Now though we can barely hold our ground."
"I was wondering about that… They seemingly have countless numbers and are so much more… monstrous?" He watched as Kurama closed his eyes seemingly in thought and he heard Tia shift behind him. It appears he asked a difficult question.
Eventually Kurama cleared his throat. "Demons can, very quickly, be consumed by their desires. To stop this happening, those that live here have taken to cutting out their primal sin. They keep their mind, but sometimes they give up great things."
"Huh, kind of like Stray Devils." He didn't expect his remark to have the kind of reaction it did.
Kurama stiffened and rose a brow at him before speaking, "What is a Stray Devil?"
"I forgot that they didn't exist back when my ancestor was around. Since then, well, Devils created the Peerage System. It allows us to reincarnate others into Devils that are linked back to the creator via chess… huh you probably don't know what chess is either… anyway, it links them back to their 'King' so to say. If they betray the king, or the connection is severed for any reason they can start to lose control over their demonic power and start turning, well, demonic I guess."
"So the devils found a way to deal with the demonic corruption, huh. That could allow us to turn the tide."
Naruto frowned, he could understand the excitement of the fox but there was a lot more to this situation. "The number of nobles with peerages is limited and most tend to hunt Sacred Gear holders." There was a huff from the fox and Naruto rubbed at the back of his neck before continuing, "I can take one, maybe two, but I'd prefer it if you would join Kurama…I need help to take Kaguya down and I can't think of a better player to have on my court."
"After what she did to my old man I want to grind her to dust too, but you aren't ready. She'll eat you alive like the previous times. But something was sent back here after the last fight," the fox twirled one of its tails around and grabbed a box that had been hidden up in the tree. He brought it down to rest at Naruto's eye level. "We'd be stealing a page from those damned Uchiha, but those freaky bird ladies think you can merge with this."
Naruto tentatively took the box from Kurama and opened the lid. Staring back at him was a lone red eye that he had seen before in his memories. He knew how those ripples could flex and contract and how those nine tomoe would spin when about to activate. He closed the lid and swallowed the bile in his throat while he pushed back nightmares and looked to Kurama. "This is her eye?"
"You ancestor and Naruto were a piece of work. Split themselves apart just to get it here before the seal went off. The damned bitch has probably regrown it by now but we could still use its power against her."
"And what if she uses it against us?"
Neither of them knew the answer to that question. Would he be able to fight off her influence if it was there? Would she be able to look in on what they were planning? And what if he died? With God and Lucifer gone would he still enter back into the system of reincarnation if he made the sacrificial seal again?
Was this the last chance? He'd been wondering that very question since Azazel read the contract to him all those years ago. Was everything on his shoulders no, no repeats, do or extinction and in his hands rested either their hope or their doom. He knew very well the power that this eye held. He didn't even know if his body was take to it. Nor if he could control that same power if it did.
Kurama had just handed him Pandora's fucking box and it didn't look like the fox had any intention of taking it back. "My Lord," Tia called and he tried his best to not look startled by the noise. He would admit he had forgotten she was there with everything else going on. "I have been witness to your resolve. Even on death's door you would still gnash your teeth at those that attempt to strike you down. From what I have heard of this Kaguya, she does not hold the same resolve, just power that we can not compete with. You will not lose to her."
Great, more blind faith to pressure him into a decisive decision. He took a breath to steady himself and met the eyes of Kurama. The fox's burning red twisting into a smirk. "That look…After all this time the will of fire still burns. Whatever comes, you will not face it alone."
He let out a tired sigh. Damn these fools. "Fine, you two have convinced me." He moved swiftly before anyone had time to regret his actions. He opened the box, dug his fingers around his own eye despite the protests of his mind and his body. He felt his tongue furl around in his mouth and his teeth grind against as the nerves broke away. He could feel the fire starting already trying to fix this injury despite him not wanting it. Then without pause he put her eye in and felt things snap back into place. The fire closing the wound and mending it in seconds as the blinding pain started to subside.
Naruto let out a shaky breath and looked at the two before opening the new eye. He blinked, once, twice and then his world went black.
Rias was doing her best to keep a formal face. Normally this wasn't too much of an issue; there were of course people, Akeno, that were able to irritate her and she felt her nerves wane, but for the most part it wasn't overly difficult. Now, when two Exorcists walk into her clubhouse and appear to be holding fragments of Excalibur…well it was difficult.
Another level of difficulty was the instant request from the blue-haired exorcist for her to fetch her superior, Naruto, and the disappointment when she was informed that he was not available at the moment, nor her superior, just the land lord. She had to thank whatever deity that was watching over this encounter that Akeno understood not to tease her at this moment with some remark along the lines of 'My King wishes Naruto was atop her,' then the sly look and chuckle as Rias refuted the comment once again.
Then there was Kiba, he had shifted his hatred, or rather the target of it. So instead of the church itself he hated the sword, Excalibur, not the priest that Naruto had suggested those years ago. She had tried to talk to her Knight about this view, but he was rather fixed in his path.
The final, current, difficulty was the fact that a priest of the Catholic church had already died in the territory. She had not been aware of the fact so when the exorcists came in asking if she had anything to do with it, well, her shock was authentic. There was another issue on the way, but it would be a few moments before she showed up. "Rias Gremory," the call of her name from the blue-haired girl brought her attention back to the exorcist, "Do you agree to not become involved in our investigation and the handling of this issue?"
Now that was a question. Rias was not aware of what deals Naruto had going on with the Church, she was aware that he had met with Michael a few years back, that event was quickly squashed before it hit major headlines, but past that she had no idea. Seeing that she was currently managing this land for him, any action she took would reflect on the Phenex name and thereby his. Really she needed more information. "That is a question that I can not answer at the current time, I might need to get advisement from my 'superior'." She took small pride in the dagger glare sent her way.
"For someone who was so insistent that they didn't have one you sure fell back to it rather quickly."
The statement caused Rias' smile to stretch a little under strain before a flare of magical energy gathered their attention to the centre of the room. Issei jumped from the couch and she couldn't blame the poor boy as the rest of her peerage got ready sans Akeno who had seen this teleporting sigil a fair few times.
The Agares.
Definitely not who Rias wanted to show up right now. Striding out with a confidence that could only be fitting on a devil was Seekvaira. Those pink eyes loomed over the room taking each of them into careful consideration. "Gremory Peerage," she gave a small nod of her head towards Rias, who quickly returned it before she watched those eyes lock onto the exorcists. Well, they were in hot water now so it wasn't her issue anymore. "I was told that the exorcists would take a day to gather information from the priest sent ahead before reporting to the heiresses stationed here, did something change?"
Wait, Seekvaira knew they were coming? A heads up would have been nice, or was this meant to be some kind of test? "Excuse me, but I thought this was meant to be a private discussion?" The brown-haired one, um, Irina if she recalled correctly spoke.
"You wanted Naruto Phenex, so I contacted his peerage member stationed here and I am assuming she sent the message forward to you, Seekvaira?" There was a small nod so Rias continued, "This is Seekvaira Agares, Queen and wife to be of Naruto Phenex. There can really be no better substitute for Naruto's views than her."
Irina nodded, but the blue-haired one still looked on with hostility for a few moments before getting a nudge from her partner. "Very well," the blue one started, "Can you inform Rias Gremory and her peerage to stand down as we continue our investigation into the missing Excalibur pieces in this town?"
"No."
"Thank y-, what do you mean 'no'?"
"Exactly as I said," Seekvaira uttered calmly and adjusted her glasses, "You are trespassing, while yes we were informed of your intentions here; my husband never gave his permission and from what I can see neither did Rias Gremory or Sona Sitri. I am here to say you have permission to continue your investigation, but if you take any action that harms the civilians of this town you will be held in account. Secondly, should such a thing come to pass your permission is revoked and Rias Gremory or Sona Sitri have the blessing of House Phenex and House Agares to see you promptly removed from Japan. So no, I will not ask them to stand down. I will ask them not to hinder your investigation so long as it does not endanger any citizen in Kuoh. Or do I need to ask my husband to get in contact with Michael over the disgraceful actions that his exorcists are showing our race during our time of truce?"
No one dared to speak as Seekvaira adjusted her glasses again. Her words reminded Rias why this girl was her best-friend for a large number of years and Rias was doing her best not to chuckle at the fish out of water expression the blue-haired exorcist was giving Seekvaira. Irina recovered quickly and gave a small bow. "Thank you, Seekvaira Agares, perhaps we could have worded what we came to receive better."
"Perhaps you could. Now if you will excuse me, I need to speak to Rias, alone. So you are free to leave." Rias swallowed whatever was in her mouth at that. She wasn't about to be chewed out was she? Seekvaira did not look at her though, no, instead the blond wife to be had a stare down with the blue-haired exorcist as the two church goers left. Seekvaira continued to watch the door as they, in theory grew further and further away. Rias looked to her peerage, each of them looking to her for how to act and to be honest she really wasn't sure.
She took a moment to collect herself. "Koneko, Issei and Asia I want the three of you to tail them. Make sure they don't cause trouble. Akeno, Kiba, I want you two to be on the lookout for any further fallen activity in Kuoh. You're all dismissed." She saw their eyes dart between her and Seekvaira heavy with caution before bowing and leaving the room after giving her an affirmative.
"Your peerage is coming along well. Including Gasper you have the same amount of pieces as Naruto now."
"Speaking of, how is he?"
There was a small silence that spread through the room. "He is well. Recovering, but well, he will be making a public appearance soon."
"That's good, though I do wonder what you got out of keeping me in the dark about the exorcists here?"
"Nothing," Seekvaira answered calmly, "You were not meant to interact with them. It was meant to be handled by myself, tomorrow."
There was a game afoot and one where she was a pawn. This didn't sit right with Rias but there wasn't too much she could do about it at the moment. Her family had political power, she did not. "Now, what was the reason you wanted to speak to me privately?"
She watched as Seekvaira let out a sigh. "You would be angry if you found out that I was aware and hid it from you, so, Naruto has returned and is watching the situation in Kuoh closely, though he does not wish for the Church or Kokabiel to know his location."
"And I take it you don't feel like telling me where he is?"
"No. He is busy helping his newest pieces get used to their roles along with watching the situation. When it is done you will have your time to attempt to seduce my husband. I'm sure you'll fail but it isn't going to stop you from trying, of that much I am sure."
Naruto being in town was good information. It honestly made this whole ordeal with the exorcists seem like a much smaller issue. Kokabiel could still be an issue. While she was coming to grips with the fact that Naruto was the strongest of their generation she wasn't sure if he was ready to fight a Cadre if it came to it. "So I take it that you'll be around Kuoh more, at least until this is done with?"
"If it will take too long then I will have to return to finish preparations for the Host of Embers. Speaking of which, do try to keep me updated with the size of your peerage so that I can have proper numbers for table setting. Also, your request to be seated near Naruto has been considered and I admit I thought of putting you as far away from him as possible but I relented. The Gremory family will be seated on the ring outside of immediate family."
Not what she was expecting. What was Seekvaira playing at? First she wanted Naruto and her as far from each other as possible, now she does not seem to care? "Thanks, Seekvaira, can I ask what brought this on?"
"It was a favour done in advance so that when I ask you to stop Miss Himejima from sending requests to sit on Naruto's lap that you might take it seriously."
Part of her wanted to giggle at the joke, but judging from the serious look she was getting and the actions that Akeno was known to take it very well might not be. "I'll have a word to her."
"It would be best if you could. I reject enough of these cases that I am considering having Hanekawa handle them."
"Surely it can't be that bad?"
Seekvaira let out a sigh. "No, most devils have the class to request the same table, not his lap, but I've had a request from most houses trying to curry favour either with the Phenex or with Naruto himself. This is turning out to be a major headache."
Rias could see how that would be a bother. "I'll talk to Akeno about it. I'm sure it is just harmless fun on her part but she might not understand the situation you're in."
"That would be appreciated."
Naruto awoke on a crumbling platform in a storm-riddled sky. He was back in his mindscape, or his soul if you were spiritually inclined. He tugged at his jerkin and got his cloak out from under his ass as he observed the surroundings. After last time he shouldn't need to fear a giant bird made out of fire trying to eat him. No, the storm was more relaxed now. Yes, still dark and foreboding but there were not near constant streaks of lightning, just a minor one every now and again.
He reached up to his left eye and didn't register his hand. Well, it told him he was either blind there, or that it was missing. Neither seemed like the better option at the current moment. He kissed at his dry lips and slowly stood to his feet as he wondered to the edge of the platform. Taking a look over the edge he just saw the storm continue on further down. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, this is where he fought the first, well, what was left of it. He could see portions of the platform floating not too far away. "So, any idea what I'm in for?" He voiced the question aloud and was pleasantly greeted by a grumble from in his head. A few moments later the first dragged himself out and stood across from him.
"Probably some kind of mental fight to the death with Kaguya… What the hell is wrong with you by the way? 'Oh here is a random eye of an evil person let me just rip my own out and plop it in!' Do you get how stupid you made us look?"
"Says the one that ripped it out for me to have, okay champ. What was I meant to do, just stare at it until the damned thing gave up all of its secrets?"
"Well, someone is feeling mouthy today."
Naruto let out a groan at the first before rolling his shoulders and summoning God Splitter to his hand. "Sorry, but I just spent how long, alone, with Tia so close I could practically smell her the whole time under the purple sky. So yeah, I'm tense. I feel like a swift breeze is enough to get me over the edge at the moment."
"I feel the need to remind you our goal is to kill Kaguya, not seduce her."
"I could try fucking her to death?" There was an awkward pause, "That was a joke."
"Was it?"
He didn't know. This place was getting to him. Tia's proclamations that she could be used as sexual relief every other day did not help. He felt the shift in the air and his head snapped in the direction seeing a tiny white dot floating towards them. He twirled his weapon and pointed it at her direction. "We'll just see what she does."
"Just so you know, if you two start getting naked or even dry humping each other I'm out. Like you can do that on your own."
"I said it was a joke."
Kaguya landed in front of them and her pale lavender eyes searched the two. Her delicate features pulling into a frown. "Why do you assume I am here to fight you?"
"Huh?"
The first, thankfully had much more to say, "I don't know, maybe because you wiped out everyone I knew and have been threatening to do it every time you appear?"
"If you could save the world by sacrificing a few, would you?"
"No, I'd save everyone," answered the first.
Naruto himself gave a shrug, "I don't know." He ignored the look that the first gave him because how the hell was he supposed to know? If his family were the ones that needed to be put down then no way in hell, but if it was a handful of people that wouldn't be missed…He really wasn't sure. Triage…The Kindest cut.
"I can see at least one of you is able to think for a moment," he didn't miss her haughty tone.
Naruto gave a small shrug and looked to the first before stage whispering, "I think she's talking about you."
"No shit. Why would I listen to anything she has to say?"
Naruto let out a tired sigh. "You tried to reason with every other person you fought, even Orochimaru, but Madara and Kaguya? Nope. You fought and fought and didn't even think about stopping until Zetsu flooded your head with memories," he paused and let his words sink in.
Kaguya though pounced on the disruption of the conversation. "He did, but now I want you to imagine having the life you tried so hard to forge be destroyed overnight by jealousy. They hunt you down, you and your children so you become the monster they paint you to be. Then with your children surviving all of that the three of you carve out a place in this damned world only for your children to then turn on you when they find out how you are protecting them."
The first looked at them both before kissing his teeth. "I don't have time for this," he nearly spat before vanishing. Leaving Naruto standing across from Kaguya.
A silence formed between them and Naruto broke it with a tentative step forward. His footstep rippled out like a drop of rain on a still pond. "Where was the father?" She didn't respond. He watched her slowly draw back her robes and saw the pristine skin only marred by a scar not far from her bellybutton. Her fingers traced the wound and he nodded. "You still love him, even after all that."
It wasn't a question. He could see the tears tickling at her eyes and could feel the emotional stress building up in her. He took a small step forward and slowly rested a hand on her shoulder. She flinched at first and forced herself to look at his eyes. "Betrayal is rough. I watched, felt, the other two go through it. I'm sorry you had to go through that."
"I too shifted through the memories of them, of you, before coming here," she quickly held her hands up in a placating manner and he rose a brow not noticing his own tension for a moment. "It was not my intention. I had thought to squash you all, but now…perhaps we are not too different from one another."
"Both of us are aliens in the world we reside…" he trailed having had the thoughts himself for the longest of times, "both of us are trying to protect everyone from a threat that no one knows about."
"We both lie to those closest to us."
He narrowed his eyes on the woman but she just gave him a sad lonely smile in return. "Will you tell your lovers how long you've been here fighting?" He didn't answer. "Will you tell Hanekawa of what you did to her?"
He couldn't answer. Hanekawa…What happened to her was beyond his control. Only later, once it was too late, did he find out what he had done. Naruto remembered the scene so clearly. The vampire, Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade, and her short but potent crusade in Tokyo. Despite what people liked to say, he was grateful for the vampire hunters he had run into there. Together they were able to get her under control and back into church custody. Hanekawa, or rather Tsubasa Hanekawa was one of the many humans that got caught up in the attack.
She doesn't ask about who she was, and he wasn't sure if it was because she didn't know how to or that she didn't want to. He was afraid to tell her that he'd let her die twice.
"Will you tell Seekvaira why she terrifies you? Of why you continue to put distance between the two of you?" Those words stung because he knew them to be true. He could have brought Seekvaira with him and let his mother handle Chongqing. The issue he wasn't sure he could stay focused; no he was sure he wouldn't. She was his weakness and he knew it well enough. If she tried Naruto was sure she'd be able to stop him from fighting Kaguya. He was also torn between trying to live a comfortable life with Seeks and Hanekawa; leaving the issues of the world to someone else or sorting out the issues so that they could live happily.
"I'm not here to trade tit for tat with you, Kaguya. Honestly, I sympathise with your situation, but I don't need to put up with these questions. So we can do this amicably or I can use the home ground advantage to beat you into the ground and chain you up." Tension flew back into the air. Kaguya with her chest and gut bare while Naruto stood in his armour, his one good eye narrowed dangerously.
He knew that she was aware he didn't want to answer those questions. Her hands fell to her sides and her robe came loose around her body and acted as a canvas. "I did not mean to strike a nerve."
"If you looked through my memories you know I avoid those questions…"
"But I don't understand why."
That was not what he was expecting. He furrowed his brow. He called back the hot energy that was rushing to his fingertips and pursed his lips. "I know that I will fail to give them a good answer to those questions. Now, enough about me. We, you and me, need to get this eye working again or your going to have to listen to Seeks rail me over doing something stupid again."
"From what I have seen she is likely to do that anyway."
"And from what I have seen you have very little modesty."
He watched one of her arms move under her breasts and lift them up while a sly smirk came across her thin lips. "Were you not the one that suggested 'fucking me to death'?"
"That was a joke."
"Really?" she mused and he watched the veins around her eyes bulge. He knew well enough from the first it was some form of eye technique from that era. "Your blood is rushing to your genitals and your flow of energy is not stable. I would say you are aroused."
Naruto let out a tired sigh. Why him? Why did this 'goddess' feel the need to screw with him and why today? He snapped his fingers and her robes quickly tied themselves back up he made sure to do it tight and give a few extra tugs than needed around her waist. "Remember, you're in my head and I've wrestled for control here pretty often now." She let out a gasp of air as her robes settled into place. "I ask as a show of good faith."
"Good faith? Interesting words of choice from…well, whatever you are now."
He really should have gagged her.
Things were growing tense in the bastion. The return of Arashi nearly three years had lead to many questions and even more scouting patrols. Ruval stood atop the walls and ran his hand along the obsidian creations. He had a clear view over the wasteland before them. He watched as each day more and more demons joined the burgeoning forces and he wouldn't be surprised if by the end of the week every demon beyond the gate was stationed in front of him. Ready to strike. Ready to fight against them.
Normally the demons would be at each others throats and they could use that to their advantage. But with all these different kinds gathered in a singular space, all staying in line…something big was about to happen and he wasn't sure if they would make it through. Ghaust had sent a runner back to Lilim and well if everything went to plan they'd be receiving new troops shortly, hopefully they would.
There was a grunt from his side and he turned to see Arashi stop beside him with a blood thirsty smile slowly stretching across his face. "It's been a while since I've had a proper fight."
"Didn't you just get back from a skirmish?" It was really only due to the Oni's bloodlust that they caught the forming armies so quickly. If he hadn't of wanted to go out and fight it may have been too late for a chance at help coming.
"A handful of Bloodletters is hardly a fight. This though," he spoke and motioned to the army, "This is a proper fight…Naruto will be back soon."
"That's a pretty bold claim. He's been gone for years now." Ruval wanted to believe in his brother, but he kept thinking of their conversation on the lake. Could Naruto have chosen his time down here to run away? To think? Ruval didn't know and he wasn't too sure he was ready to find out.
"The Great Burner, Naruto Phenex, said he would show me fights beyond my imagination. I can't think of a better place for him to show up again."
He could picture his younger brother showing up when things got dire and it bothered him. Then again…Naruto was good at getting results. He watched as Arashi moved off to find a new sword and stretch. He would admit that his brother had a good Rook. Loyal and tough as nails, maybe a bit brash for the family's liking, but from what he had seen; Arashi would keep Naruto safe when they met back up.
Ruval pushed off from the stones. "Where is my brother!" And promptly slumped back into them hearing Riser's voice call through the bastion. What was with his brother's wanting to play at soldier? Or was this some ploy from their mother? He wasn't too sure and he knew that quiet would be far from him in the coming days and moments. "Ruval."
"Riser," he said and turned to face the youngest brother. Gone was the regular smile, instead his lips were pressed into a thin line. Ruval took notice of Riser's peerage standing at attention. "Normally I'd send you home, but we need all the help we can get."
He watched Riser approach and look over the battlements. "And normally I'd give you some quip about needing my help…I came ahead, mother is gathering her peerage and supporters and will be on the way. She'll demand answers about our brother, but she'll be prepared to fight. Also," He looked over his shoulder back to his Queen who strode forward and presented a large briefcase. "Three hundred vials of Phenex Tears."
"Well, that is one way to show the Maou how much we support the army."
Riser nodded. It would appear that their mother had some kind of plan that would be running in the background then. No surprise there. "Ghaust came to us first; he said something about visiting the other houses after. We don't know how much support he would have gathered; so Father and Ravel have gone with him."
That sounded like his family. Always with a plan. "So, I take it we're waiting for Mother?"
"Not quite." He watched Riser deflate a little as he sagged against the bastion's battlements. "An iris was delivered to Mother." He paused and felt his fingers dig into the battlements. "Naruto's flower."
"Exactly and mother thinks that it is some kind of sign."
"So she wants us to wait for our absent brother before we make a move?"
"Of course, he is the favourite after all."
Ruval quickly suppressed the groan from escaping his throat. "Jealousy doesn't suit you well, brother."
There was another sigh from Riser. "I can't help it. Do you know what it is like to always be the other son? There is the Golden Son and the Azure and then there is Riser."
"Naruto tried to hand me back the position of heir. He tried to vanish and then he through himself into isolated training," he gave a few moments for his words to sink in, "I don't think that sounds like someone who is happy, Riser," Ruval spoke with a small shrug, "But what do I know? I was the favourite son for years."
"And you don't feel any jealousy? He took your place!"
He thought on the question. He would admit to being a little aggravated, but he wouldn't ever consider himself jealous or envious of his little brother. "It is hard to appreciate a shadow until you're basked in the sun. I don't envy Naruto or seek to reclaim my position. I thank him. I am free to do as I please while he is encumbered with chains."
There was a quiet that grew between the two brothers as they looked out over the still growing hordes. "Pleasant brotherly banter aside: where do you want me and mine?"
"I want Yubelluna to lay down a minefield if she can and Riser, those of your peerage with ranged attacks I want in the front trenches with the rest behind, ready to swap when the enemy gets close."
"You mean 'if' they get close?"
"No. When."
PA: And that's another chapter down. We had a lot of reveals this chapter and I am not sure what I am gonna have 'ghost' Kaguya become yet. Next chapter I am planning to finally tie up what happened beyond the Black Gate and start heading towards the Kokabiel encounter and the Host of Embers party. With school being out for a few months; I, hopefully, will be able to get a few chapters out lest some other distraction comes forward.
Until next time Space Cowboy.