NMHA Ch. 65 - A Moment's Respite
A/N: Okay, I know what you're all thinking. Another chapter?
No. No it's not. I think I was sleep-deprived last time I posted, and so I accidentally replaced Chapter 64 with this one.
I'm pretty sure my face turned the same shade as a tomato after I realized. *Weeks. Later.*
In my defense, I've been busy with work, but it's still absolutely embarrassing.
My bad, everyone. It's fixed now. Next chapter's on the way, but it's slow going.
Issei's brow was scrunched together, beaded with sweat as the energy surged around him.
BOOST! BOOST! BOOST!
It was further than he'd ever gone before. Farther than he'd ever imagined possible, especially with how young he was.
BOOST! BOOST!
It hurt. It hurt in ways he hadn't known he could hurt, every cell in his body so full of raw power that it felt like it could tear apart at any moment.
It was a feeling he had gotten used to.
"Now, Issei!"
"TRANSFER!" he screamed, dozens upon dozens of boosts washing out of his body in an almost orgasmic release. The air in front of him detonated as he threw his arms outward, the Boosted Gear multiplying the number of oxygen molecules to such amounts that the sky itself became fire, his own body pressed up against the wall he had propped himself against, only for it to give way shortly before he was went flying.
It was terrifying and awe-inspiring in equal measure, he thought, as the explosion petered out, energy spent. By just multiplying the amount of oxygen in the air, after a month of practice he could practically mimic the same explosive force that Lunarunn had unleashed upon Kuoh.
At least in his case, he was creating these explosions in a Bounded Space... unlike a certain Dark Moon.
His falling form, exhausted and de-armored from all the Boosts he had accumulated, was caught by the very same blond he meant to spar with later in the day.
"Every time I watch you, Issei-san, you never cease to impress me," Isaiah commented with a wry smile, landing back on the ground and helping the brunet do the same. "It's amazing what you have managed to become in just a month's time. The rate of growth the Boosted Gear gives you is terrifying."
"Heh... well... it's not like I have... much of a choice," Issei panted out in response, shaking his head as a shaky arm rose to wipe the sweat off his brow. He took a slow breath to take control of his lungs again before he continued. "Considering I need to represent Kuoh's interests in the summit, I need to be as strong as I can."
"I'd say you're plenty strong, if you're able to wipe out a false town like this." the blond gestured to the flattened remains of what was once a city.
Issei grimaced and shook his head, closing his eyes to the all-too-familiar scene in front of him. "It's still not enough. I'm not sure if this is Lunarunn's peak, or if she could do more than completely annihilate Kuoh. I'm told the Satans are at a similar power level, but..."
"But you want to be stronger still."
"I have to be," he insisted. "I have to be the strongest. That way, nobody can take what's mine."
"Well, it certainly explains why you've been training yourself to exhaustion every day," the swordsman mumbled as he created a magical circle - a teleportation spell, to get them out of the Bounded Space. "Let's get you back to your girlfriend so she can get you back in working condition, at least."
At least the smile that broke out across Issei's face at the mention of Asia hadn't changed, the sky turning from red to blue, signifying their departure. Or the way his heart skipped a beat when said blonde hurried across the baseball field to the two, the bands of Twilight Healing already out and restoring Issei's body.
"Ise-kun, you're all banged up again," Asia pouted. "Honestly, if I wasn't here... was the training useful, at least?"
"Slow but steady progress," he replied, bowing his head so their foreheads touched. "You?"
"Having to patch you up every half-hour is practice enough," she half-teased.
"And what about your Balance Breaker?"
"It's... also been progressing."
Issei lifted his brow. "Asia..."
That got another pout out of her. "I've been practicing! But, I just- I don't like using it!"
"...I can't blame you for that," he admitted. "Still, Vitae Memoria is important. It's important for you to be able to defend yourself."
"I know that, it's just... I don't like hurting people. I don't like even bringing up the stuff that hurt others in the past."
"I think that is why you have Twilight Healing," Isaiah threw in his two cents. "Just because you don't like it doesn't mean you won't do it. And the fact that you want to help people who are hurt just means that the Balance Breaker is all the more powerful for it."
Asia shook her head and sighed. "I know. Like I said, I have been practicing. It's just not something I want to practice. I'd... much rather just help people."
"As long as you're able to help yourself," Issei pulled her into a hug. "Since if you can't help yourself, then you're already stuck."
She puffed out her cheeks even as she returned the hug eagerly. "I know, I know, Ise-kun. And what about your Pact with Rias-buchou?"
That got Issei glancing away. "I... haven't really spoken with her. At all."
A voice that the other three had quickly become growing accustomed to cut in. "The dozen unread text messages from her would certainly suggest that."
"Raynare..." Issei closed his eyes and suppressed a groan at the implications behind the newcomer's words as the Fallen in question walked up.
"What? Just because I'm a washed-up exile doesn't mean I don't have any skills when it comes to peeking around."
He opened one eye halfway to stare at her accusingly. "Still, breaking into my phone?"
"Your PIN code was eight-zero-zero-eight-five. It only took me ten seconds," she didn't even try to defend herself as Asia sighed a defeated 'Ise-kun...' and Isaiah chuckled. "Besides, I was curious what happened between you and the redheaded bitch. She really gives off that clingy ex vibe over text, y'know?"
"If I have to take a guess, she wants to continue the Pact we made or something." He grunted. "I haven't actually checked. Can't say I have the fondest opinion of her after what happened; personally, the sooner Rias realizes I don't want anything to do with her, the better."
"Heh. Spoiled girl wants what she can't have." Raynare chuckled and spun around, throwing her arms to the side. "And she could have had aaaaanyone she wanted in her little fiefdom. So the fact that you went and snubbed her? I bet a Devil of Avaritia like the typical Gremory would be practically obsessing over you!"
"So by pushing her away she's more intent on coming onto me." Issei could only groan at the conclusion.
"Welcome to the world of power, Issei-san," Isaiah hummed.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," said brunet waved the swordsman off, pulling away from Asia as he looked Raynare's way.
He still wasn't sure what to think of the black-haired girl. True to form, she was selfish, shameless, and prone to bursts of anger. Yet at the same time, he and Asia still tolerated her. Raynare hadn't asked for anything, hadn't tried anything, yet didn't seem intent on leaving either.
Considering what they were talking about, Issei had an inkling why. He wouldn't ask her though... at least not in public.
"Oi, tits-for-brains. You daydreaming?" Raynare snapped her fingers in front of Issei's face. "Don't go drooling over my ass now too."
"It is quite an impeccable derriere," Isaiah added in Issei's defense, rubbing his chin. "Unfortunately, I am spoken for already, and the demeanor belonging to said backside leaves... quite so much to be desired as to be utterly contemptible."
"Bastard!"
"Point proven quite clearly," he added, smiling winningly at the ravenette as he sidestepped a light spear that sped past his ear. "Such a violent woman, how were you ever a Grigori infiltrator?"
"Don't sound so much like Kala, you prick!"
"She and Valerie have enjoyed each others' company as of late-"
"Okay, okay, enough screwing around with each other!" Issei stood between the two, holding his hands up, though there was a grin on his face. "As fun as it is to watch the handsome bastard get chased by an angry woman, we've got places to be."
Asia nodded. "The school, right?"
"Right." He returned Asia's nod with one of his own. "The summit is nearly here. I've done everything I can to operate as a neutral party, but there's still a couple finishing touches that Azazel-san put forth that the others had agreed with. Plus, well... classes are restarting, aren't they?"
"Issei-kun, are you saying you want to return to school?" Asia gasped. "Ise-kun, have... have you grown?"
"Oi, that hurts!" he grasped onto his chest with one hand. "I've always liked going to Kuoh, I just didn't want to go back to classes!"
"Lemme guess, it's for the girls?" Raynare drolled, with Issei striking a pose, one hand on his hip and the other pointing into the sky.
"It's for the girls! Them and their fantastical oppai-" The brunet danced away as Asia's hand shot out for an ear. "Whoa- Asia-chan, please settle down, it's for a legitimate reason this time!"
Isaiah cottoned on immediately. 'You want to see who among your classmates survived the explosion?"
With that, Asia paused in her attempts to tug on Issei's ear, staring at the swordsman with a wide-eyed look. Rayrnare blinked and did the same, though her expression was not of surprise, but of satisfaction, giving him a nod in the process.
Issei, on the other hand, froze before his outstretched hand went to rub the back of his head. "Well... y-yeah. I've been so busy running errands for each of the four factions in Kuoh that I haven't really had the opportunity to, y'know, check on my classmates. I kinda want to fix that."
Never mind the fact that he hadn't seen hide nor hair of Motohama since the hospital, and Matsuda... well, Issei had heard that he'd ended up doing something actually noble and paid for it with his life. All for the sin of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Maybe that was why Motohama had given him a death glare back at the hospital?
Shaking his head, the wielder of the Boosted Gear lowered his hand. He couldn't waste time on 'maybes'. There was simply too much to do already.
Honestly, for all his power, the thought of going back to school filled Issei with trepidation.
He supposed some things never changed.
Kuoh Academy was different. The building was the same as ever, repaired as it was over the course of the past months. The teachers had all somehow come out of the town's destruction alive - though a few, like his homeroom teacher, hadn't done so unscathed.
"Just because I have to walk using a crutch doesn't mean I won't still catch you lot if you're slacking off," Mr. Yamada warned with a wry smile, even as he was leaning on said crutch as he did so, leg wrapped in a cast. "The past two months have been difficult, but that means your learning is all the more important!"
That elicited groans from the classroom as a whole, prompting their homeroom teacher to slam a hand on the desk. "Enough complaining; I get it! Difficult is an understatement. Still, you have had the time to pick yourselves up after everything that happened, thus we must continue. First off, we have announcements to make. First off, you may notice that many of your peers are no longer among us."
He let that sink in before continuing, Issei's eyes trailing to the empty desks next to him as he tuned out the teacher's voice. Despite everything that happened, he was still a social outcast. Normally those seats would be filled, even if the inhabitants pointedly ignored him.
The fact that they were empty now just indicated how many had either withdrawn from Kuoh or...
The brunet closed his eyes and sighed softly, letting his mind wander. It was almost funny, how minor school seemed in comparison, compared to the entirety of the supernatural world.
Indeed, his thoughts drifted to the various individuals that had shown up in his life, both the good and the bad, and how they all seemed intent on pulling him further and further away from the quiet life he once had-
"Hyoudou-san!"
His eyes snapped back to the teacher, who had pointed a stick of chalk at him.
"My apologies, Sensei," Issei replied after a moment to regather his wits, bowing his head again. "It just seems... a bit much, to have us continue right where we left off, as though nothing happened. You said it yourself; half of our classmates are gone, one way or another."
"I see." Mr. Yamada shook his head. "Then I would speak with you after homeroom. Until then, however, I would have you focus on the lecture to the best of your ability."
There wasn't anything that the brunet could reply to that with, so he bowed his head again and tried to pay attention.
Issei didn't make much headway, but it wasn't for lack of trying.
All the while, Mr. Yamada paid close attention to the brunet in question.
"Now that you are done with that spat, I am here for you to fulfill your end of our agreement."
"Right, right. I had to work pretty quickly since I figured that was the case, but it should be pretty close to as good as you can get. Should work as a proof-of-concept, so give me another day or two on top of that and I can perfect it."
"Enough prevaricating. You either made it work, or you didn't. Now show me."
"Right- er, right away."
Luna could see Ophis's eye twitch when the Infinity Dragon recognized where the Worldweaver had made a quiet place.
"...It's a closet."
"A portal within a small bedroom," the brunet corrected her, before cringing as Ophis's gaze turned back onto her, displeased.
"It's a closet," the human-shaped dragon repeated, voice completely absent of emotion save for a tinge of irritation. "Explain."
Luna obliged, gesticulating with her non-amputated arm. "I wanted to find a place out of the way that you would be able to retire to and enjoy that silence you wanted. So nobody accidentally came bumbling in and disturbed you. The bedroom is a front, and it's got seals to warn anyone else who comes in here that they shouldn't be. The closet itself is magically-expanded, and thanks to some clever thinking on Georg and Fay's part, they were able to create a space where Cataclysm Eclipse's energy would be able to linger without dispersing."
On cue, one of the wings of said Tainted Gear extended into the room and tapped the ground, causing the 'closet' to become enveloped with a dizzying black."You said you wanted a place where you wouldn't have to deal with the five senses, or the flow of magic around you, right? This should be able to do just that, and it'll automatically expand if you decide to shed your human form. As long as you limit yourself to the size of a small human city, anyway, otherwise the Bounded Space might get... wonky."
"Then I will test it."
Luna nodded once, stepping aside to let Ophis go in, the door closing shut behind her.
The seconds ticked by, then minutes, but Luna didn't dare walk away. Not yet.
At the fifteen-minute mark exactly, the door reopened, and from the black the girl stepped back into the room. She stared at Luna for several long seconds with that unnervingly neutral look, before her head inclined in a very, very slight nod.
"It is... acceptable. For the time being." Ophis tilted her head. "You will keep improving it."
'...How does one improve what's basically a sensory deprivation chamber anyway?'
"If it is not beyond my means to know, how would you suggest we improve it?"
"Make it bigger."
"...How big, exactly?"
"Bigger than the Dimensional Gap."
Luna gulped.
"I'm... not sure how to make that work."
Ophis's gaze turned chillier, prompting the brunette to backtrack.
"T-that is, I'm not sure how I'd make a void large enough to put your old place to shame, this already was a surprising amount of work to pull off-"
"Simple. Become stronger. Master Trihexa's power."
Luna puffed out her cheeks and crossed her arms with a pout, and a faint shiver. She still wasn't used to the chill of the prosthetic. "...Easier said than done when the damn thing tries to hijack me every step of the way."
"If you aren't able to, then I could just kill you and be done with it-"
That got the brunette backtracking. "H-hey, I never said that it was impossible- besides, you get this for an indeterminate amount of time compared to three short days from Great Red's 'deal'?"
"Three days of absolute solitude with no other limits would be worth it."
"You can have that here, and more, even, as long as you let me do my thing!" Luna waved her hands in front of her face defensively. "If you could lend a hand with my end of stuff as well, that'd give me more time to make your quiet space better."
Ophis stared at Luna, before nodding once.
"You want me to aid you again," she said, tone growing chillier.
"I gave you what you wanted, right? A place where you could enjoy complete silence?" The Devil gestured to the gateway to said place. "Technically, I fulfilled my end of the bargain already, but the more you help me, the more I can perfect your get-away from everything."
"Or I could just kill you."
"And risk losing the one space you could spend more than a week in without being bothered by Great Red?"
The Infinity Dragon's eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
Luna decided to go for broke. "That's basically the long and short of it; if you kill me, you won't be able to continue using the Bounded Space I made for you. It's linked to the one person who can channel Trihexa's power and not go berserk, after all. If you let me live, then you can enjoy it as-is. If you help me from time to time, then I can make the Bounded Space even better in turn."
The brunette could feel her heart pounding in her ears as the smaller girl mulled over Luna's words. Slowly, but surely, the pressure in the room intensified, until the dragon finally spoke.
"...I will think it over."
She made for the door, but paused and glanced toward the brunette briefly, eyes narrowing with slight perplexion as she stared at the limb that had replaced the Worldweaver's lost arm.
Then Ophis turned back around and walked back into the Bounded Space, the door slamming shut behind her.
Luna didn't let herself sigh with relief until she'd managed to get back to her own room, running a hand - the silver, metallic one - through her hair.
Working with Ophis was nerve-wracking, especially with the dragon having a hair-trigger impulse to murder anything that bothered her.
At least she'd managed to get her to consider the matter. That was a plus, right? Though there was still the matter about Luna apparently being familiar to Ophis.
...That was a matter for another day. Least of all because said dragon would obliterate Luna if she barged in now.
She had a big night to be at in a couple hours anyway!
"You wanted to see me, Yamada-sensei?"
"I did. Please, take a seat Hyoudou-san."
Issei did, feeling particularly confused as he crossed his arms and looked down.
"Is this about class?"
"Sort of. I assume your mind is less on class and more of how... peculiar life has become over the past two months?"
Issei's head snapped up. Mr. Yamada's smile widened faintly.
"I never explained why I need a crutch these days, did I?"
"...Then I take it this and that are related?"" the brunet guessed, getting a nod from his homeroom teacher.
"When the blast hit, I was out for a walk," Mr. Yamada explained. "I was sent flying, and landed badly on my leg. Compound fracture, the bone nicked an artery to boot."
Issei cringed, and the older man nodded. "It's fuzzy from pain and disorientation, but thankfully I didn't pass out - I was able to put pressure on the bleeding until someone was able to help - Kala... something?"
"Kalawarner?"
"So you do know her." Yamada chuckled. "That simplifies things. She took me to a camp of some sort. You have to understand, by then I was woozy from blood loss. My recollection is hazy. But one thing I do remember was someone I recognized, with blonde hair, doing something to my leg. When she was gone, it... was healed."
Asia saved Yamada-sensei's life?
"Then... the cast?" Issei gestured to the bound leg.
"It still hurts. A lot, in fact- I'm not sure why, but trying to take it off feels like I'm tearing my leg open again." Mr. Yamada's brow wrinkled. "It's been getting better day by day, but... I guess I'm still feeling the effects."
That's right. Asia had mentioned that the Fallen had used some sort of mind magic on the people that had wandered into their camp to get them to overlook their existence - 'ignore the wings?' - and smooth over supernatural involvement in the explosion. It'd also explain the phantom pains his teacher claimed to experience.
Issei frowned. It still didn't sit right with him, the idea of mind magic. Mentalism, Sona had called it? It just felt... wrong. Like it didn't belong.
His hand rose to his forehead, rubbing it gingerly as brief flashes of dark visions flickered across his mind's eye, including that one kitsune that he'd... grown close with at one point(?), eyes glazed, completely under the command of another.
No, he did not have a good impression of that kind of magic at all, thank you very much.
"You're probably wondering why I wanted to speak with you about this, right?"
Issei looked back at his homeroom teacher. That wasn't what was on his mind at all, but it was a salient point all the same. "Er... sorta? I was more irritated at the idea that even if you were healed, you're still in pain, but sure."
"That girl I mentioned remembering, I'm pretty sure it's Asia-san."
Issei blinked, but apparently even that reaction was enough for Mr. Yamada. He nodded sagely. "...So I wasn't just hallucinating. I can put two and two together. Considering how close you two are, I can guess that whatever she did, you know about it. Then I suppose that there's more to this story than the terrorists sneaking a bomb into Kuoh?"
It took the Sacred Gear wielder several seconds before he decided it wouldn't be a huge leak if he admitted that much."...Yeah."
Mr. Yamada sighed, and smiled faintly, wryly. "You're involved in something big, aren't you?"
The brunet's mind flashed - the Devils, the Dark Moon, the Beast behind the shadows...
"You wouldn't believe it if I told you, sensei."
The smile on the teacher grew, from sardonic to something else. "Perhaps not. Still, it seems one of the most problematic of my students has finally grown up. Just like I hoped he would."
Suddenly, Issei's chest clenched, the implication causing his mouth to dry up. Grown up? Such a... basic way of putting it, but it resonated all the same. "Yamada-sensei, I..."
The older man held his hand up, stopping Issei from continuing further. "You're still young, you were unsure where you wanted to go. All you had was your dream, but no drive to further yourself. Nothing beyond what Asia-san inspired in you, anyway. But it seems even that spark was enough; after all, here you are now. Doing something important that I'm certain I would never be able to do."
The teacher started making his way to the door, and Issei followed. "I became a teacher because I want to see my students succeed. I am hard because I know that life will be harder. It's important to keep learning, but it's more important still that you understand the person you want to be, and grow as an individual. And Issei-san... you're growing up. Even if your grades aren't what I would like them to be, I couldn't be more proud."
Motohama grit his teeth as he stalked away around the corner, hands stuffed in his pockets.
This was ridiculous! So many students dead, including his best friend. The twin onee-sans of Kuoh pulled out. Classes were back in full swing, and Issei fucking Hyoudou was getting a pat on the back!?
His fist clenched around the vial in his pocket, the substance within tantalizing him, tempting him to use it here and now to deliver justice to a cruel world. All it would take was to uncork the vial and take a swallow...
It was with great difficulty that Motohama shook his head, relaxing his grip on the sealed black fluid as he continued on to the next class like a good student, ignoring Murayama and her clubmates - fewer than before the explosion with similarly muted dialogue - as they passed by each other.
Not yet. He couldn't use it just yet. What would Venelana-sama say if he went and blew this chance she gave him to set Kuoh straight - and then some?
His lips twitched upward.
Yes, His time would come. He could be patient.
As long as Issei got his just desserts for his abandoning them when the time came.
And Motohama had an idea for when that time would be.
Ruval had been enjoying a nice long drink in the heartily-decorated Lord's office when his parents stepped inside, with a sheepish servant following behind them. A quick look at their expressions told him much; his mother was incredulous, and his father furious.
They certainly weren't following the standard when it came to speaking with the Lord of their house.
"Ruval, we need to talk," the former Lord Phenex said, voice betraying nothing. "Now."
The white-flamed Phenex lowered the wineglass from his lips before setting it on the table, one finger lingering on the stem for a second before speaking.
"I assume this... impromptu discussion is about the matter of relocating persons from the former Outlands," he presumed, correctly if the way his father's jaw firmed up was any indication.
"That is only part of it," Lady Phenex insisted. "Indeed, we would be here commending you if these were ordinary circumstances, but-"
"A war, boy?" the other blond male in the room asked, all too softly. "You would put us on a war footing when the only threat to our borders right now is... is this bandit tribe that you can't seem to get a grip on?"
"And what of the Rosalin Cottage?" his mother added on. "It's flooded with commoners now; the value of the property is going to plummet!"
"A village was burned to the ground, its people ravaged, because of their loyalty to us," Ruval replied, his own tone hardening in response. "This is after I put a guard there, after the culprit mutilated two of my Pieces, after the culprit declared war on the Phenex household directly to my face. Tell me, how do you believe that this is a false flag?"
"We are not accusing you of lying for some unknown reason," his mother tried to reason. "Just that you may be... overstating the threat."
The Phenex Flame of Sinai turned in his seat, keeping one arm on the desk as he tapped it rhythmically as he carefully did not look the way of his parents. "Do you doubt the veracity of Diehauser Belial's contacts?"
"Diehauser Belial is a Devil of great renown... but he is the Emperor of the Rating Games." his father responded, crossing his arms. "Not a Lord, or even a Satan. He knows not the resources we of the Great Houses have at our disposal."
'Neither is Zekram Bael,' Ruval thought testily, 'but everyone worships the ground he walks on, even ages after his retirement.'
He could even argue that because Diehauser had grown up destitute, he knew more about the resources the Pillars had- perhaps even more than the Pillars themselves.
"Do you doubt the veracity of the people who I moved into one of our cottages - one of, I might add - and set to work?"
"Of course not," that was the former matriarch, shifting in place. 'Yet, villages are destroyed all the time. That is merely the nature of the Outlands - even if we do supply aid, the low-class Devils will be low-class Devils. No more, and no less."
'Devils will be Devils will be Devils. Luna was certainly on to something there.'
The tapping of the desk stopped, Ruval turning his head but an iota and locking onto his parents from the corner of his eyes.
"Then is it me that you doubt?" he asked, matching his father's dangerously soft tone. "The very Devil you willingly ceded control of the house to?"
"That was before we realized you were so obsessed with the past," Ruval's father replied, standing firm. "We gave you the Lordship because we were of the belief of our eldest being a forward-facing Devil, one who might lead our house to a new level of greatness. So why are you so fixated with the past? Past eras, past flames, past regimes?"
He raised one hand, palm-up, to the side, while the other reached out to Ruval, almost pleading. "It is... unbecoming, for a Lord to be staring back at his own wings when he is steering his Pillar to disgrace. What is it about that commoner girl that has you so enthralled even now?"
Ruval's gaze sharpened and his aura flared, to such a degree that his father stepped in front of his mother instinctively.
The younger Devil set his jaw, clenching his teeth while intentionally slowing his breathing down. This was no time to be angry, regardless of how tired he was with the demonization of his former fiancee.
Then he realized the specific wording in his thought process and had to suppress a snicker, though the sardonic humor apparently appeared on his face all the same.
"Do you know what it is like to be blind?" the current Lord Phenex asked, turning back to his predecessor fully, leaning forward and clasping his fingers together. "To outshine everything around you to such a degree, that you can't see anything worthwhile at all?"
His father sniffed "...If this has to do with your prior ennui, then we are well aware of it."
So they were. Yet shouldn't they be happy for his finally breaking out of that state?
"Rithe Phenex, the Noble Prominence. Shahasa Phenex nee Paimon, the Promenade's Glimmer." Ruval gestured to them both. "You have faced challenges, and your partnership has flourished. Indeed, you two are a match made by the Morningstar, and despite our low birth rate you somehow have not one, or even two, but four children, a most welcome abnormality to our kind. Under your reign, the Phenex house has solidified alliances and increased its capital wealth to heights well warranting our status as a Marquese."
"You know this, yet you are acting in such a destructive manner, as though you don't even care about our wealth."
"Wealth can be reaccumulated. We already want for nothing in this world; anything that can be bought, we can buy. Most anything that can't be bought, we have anyway. So then, why do we keep even more? For status's sake? Is our house merely a Marquese because we have enough wealth to purchase outright a small country in the human world?"
Before either other individual could react, Ruval held up a hand. "I understand that we must be wealthy, to uphold the standard of nobility. I would argue that I, among us all, are the least inclined to have us become paupers. You've read the reports. You've signed off on them. New, you claimed then. Dangerous, too. Indeed, I acknowledge that the Phoenix Initiative is an unprecedented course of action."
"We signed off on your plans because we knew not that you would be pursuing the same expansionist fervor that laid the Demons low, Ruval! Please, son, see sense; there are raiders at our doorstep. Refugees fleeing the fires that you started, fires that are now blazing out of control," Shahasa protested. "We're the Phenexes; we control fires, not let them run amok! Even now we see the effects; alliances withdrawn, deals severed, and I've even heard talks of our house being sanctioned outright!"
As his mother caught her breath after her rapid-fire retort, Ruval processed this information. Talks about a sanction? He knew there were tensions between him and the rest of the Assembly, but had things gone so far already?
'I already have the support of House Belial, not to mention contacts in the media and the pharma industry. The Phenexes have a direct through-line to the populace, and after I've done so much in the regards of outreach programs, my popularity among the public is the same as right after my retirement match against Diehauser. Not to mention there's the whole issue of the Dantalions getting wiped out...'
The only black mark against the Phenexes was the whole raiders on the Outland Front debacle, which had been spun by pundits as a mark against his otherwise impeccable record. He could accept that, but a sanction?
"Over the Phoenix Initiative," he guessed, voice flat, to which both his parents gave a nod. "Why was I not made aware of this beforehand?"
"You have not made many friends in the Assembly, dear," his mother replied, in a much quieter tone now.
Rithe jumped in as well. "Which goes to show just how alienated you have made the other Pillars - I am simply amazed this hasn't happened sooner."
'I wasn't a threat before. Merely a nuisance that could be managed through measured concessions. But now that I have an alliance with the 'youngest' Pillar, the Dantalions are out of the picture, and Luna is back in the picture...'
It would also chastise the Belials by forcing them to choose between honoring an alliance and being allied with a sanctioned Pillar, all the while disincentivizing other houses to step out of line, consolidating power around the Great King Faction and the Bael family even further.
Multiple objectives, all in one step. Minimal interference necessary - a nudge here, and a suggestion there - for a huge impact. This had the Great King's fingerprints all over it.
He'd seen the Devil work his political magic firsthand, after all. Ruval still had the scars from the fallout.
"Is Lord Bael leading the charge?" he guessed, though his father shook his head.
"No. It's Lord Gremory, actually."
'Zeoticus-?' He sucked in air sharply through his teeth. 'No. Venelana. Did Zekram ask her for a favor?'
But what would she gain from her family head leading a Sanction against the Phenexes, especially when Gremory and Phenex were as closely linked as they were in the eyes of the public?
Just what did Zekram offer her?
"I see." He leaned back, crossing his arms as he looked down in thought. "I suppose this is the crux of your issues with my choices. The Gremorys are meant to be our allies, after all."
'Never mind the fact that the matriarch is beholden to the Baels as their daughter and is generally known to be the brains behind Zeoticus's political brawn.'
"So what does it say about you, that all this would be happening?"
Ruval ran a hand through his hair. "Clearly, things are moving faster than I was expecting. I will need to step up my own game in response."
More silence.
"...You expected to be sanctioned?" his father asked, nonplussed.
"It was inevitable. We are increasing productivity, population, and border reach significantly. We are seeing the effects now, even." Ruval's hands gripped the armrests as he rose to his feet. "The Baels have had an unchallenged rule for millennia now; it makes sense that they would take advantage of the enemy at our doorstep to justify cutting us off from the other Pillars entirely."
"This wouldn't even be happening if we still had the allies we had before your Lordship in the first place," Rithe pointed out sharply.
"Yet Venelana Gremory would have her daughter spend time with us all the same, perhaps to pick up on our success, perhaps to seduce me back to the status quo. Belial house has put forth an alliance with us. The Phenex borders are inundated with migrants from other households, seeking opportunity. Rexen has been doing a good job keeping the public image of our family solid, and I have an inroad with Serafall Leviathan." Ruval splayed his hands. "I would argue that we have not necessarily lost allies - merely exchanged them. Besides, are allies who shy away from us because of sanctions from a third source truly allies at all?"
"They must look after themselves, lest they suffer the same fate." Shahasa replied.
Ruval smiled, and slid his hands in his pockets. "Ah, and there's the rub."
Both his parents blinked. "I beg your pardon?"
"Look after yourself, or suffer the same fate. Step out of line, and be crushed underfoot. Obey our demands, or you are our enemy."
Ruval leaned forward again, setting his hands on his desk. "That is what I mean to stand in defiance of, like my fiancee did years ago, like the Allies did in World War 2, like the commonfolk did in the French Revolution, like we Devils did back in our Civil War. When do we draw the line? When must we cross those already in place?" His voice started to rise. "In my perspective, that line was crossed fifteen years ago, when my fiancee was kidnapped, tortured, driven mad! Blast it all, I thought I had killed her until recently!"
"You already brought the perpetrators to justice! The Naberius were ejected from the Assembly!"
The current Lord Phenex gave a short laugh, sharp and harsh..
"The Phenexes are known to the populace for having a view similar to the Gremories: we do not treat our subjects like family as they do, but we do all in our power to see them safe under our wings. And failing that, we pursue those who would harm our own with all the blazing ferocity of the Firebird himself. Remind me, what is our motto?"
"Vivamus Sicut Ignis. Live like fire," his father replied, to which Ruval shook his head.
He smiled.
"You're wrong."
"I beg your pardon!?"
"I looked through the Phenex archives. Sure, the words we use are similar, but there's a faint distinction that I think was lost somewhere in translation." Ruval pulled out a scroll from his drawer, its age visible in the very vellum upon which its contents were written. He rolled it out, set it on the table, and turned it around to show his parents, who each rested their eyes on the writing.
His mother paled. His father shook.
"It's not Vivamus Sicut Ignis, father. It's Vivamus Sicut Incaendium. Live like a wildfire. Bright. Passionate. Unfettered. Free to choose its own path. As for me?" Ruval rose to full height and spread his ghostly, burning wings. "Lunarunn taught me to see with new eyes, and what I see is... disappointing. I'm tired of being told what is and isn't right; and ever since that day, that's something I decide for myself."
"...You've gone mad..."
"Call me what you will Father, but you will not dissuade me. I appreciate your warning, however, and will take steps to minimize the impact as best I can."
"Do you realize what you're saying?" Shahasa pleaded. "You're saying you're going to challenge the Underworld!"
The Phenex Flame of Sinai smiled thinly. "So I am."
"You've gone mad!" Rithe Phenex repeated, spitting the words out and spreading his own wings. "You would try to burn the world for your own ambition and some madwoman who defied the will of the Pillars?!"
Ruval tilted his head.
"Would you say the same, if it was Mother that you were talking about?"
"This and that aren't the same!" his parents denied simultaneously.
The Lord Phenex stared neutrally at them. "...I would beg to differ. All I ask is that you think about it, before you go and attempt to take back the Lordship from me."
There was a beat of silence, as the white-winged Phenex's lips started curling upward, even as his gaze grew chillier.
"That's what Devils do, isn't it? Take what they want, screw what anyone else thinks, especially those they're taking from?"
Shahasa drew herself up with a sniff. "Clearly, speaking with you was a lost cause from the start. I'm disappointed, son. I thought you were better than that."
Ruval felt his heart ache faintly with that comment, but he refused to budge. "What's good for you doesn't necessarily mean what's good for me, mother, father."
"Clearly," Rithe Phenex snorted, withdrawing his wings. "You knew better before that blasted woman dug her claws into you. It was a foolish decision to agree to Sirzechs's request all those years ago."
There was another beat of silence as the weight of that comment hit home.
'Then they never knew me at all. And they don't want to, either.'
He knew they were on the outs. He'd always thought they'd come around.
"Get out," Ruval hissed, still as a statue.
But he didn't know that they were this far apart.
"We planned to. Good day, Lord Ruval." His father bowed, almost mockingly - maybe it was mocking - before turning to walk out the room.
It was very difficult for the younger blond not to strike his father - no, his predecessor - in the back on the way out.
His mother watched Rithe go, before turning back to her son, as though she wanted to say something. Then she turned away, and walked out after her husband.
Ruval stayed standing for several seconds after they left before letting out a long, shaky sigh to sit back down.
"They just don't understand," he whispered to himself, pressing his palms into his eyes. "Don't blame them for what they don't know."
It was very, very hard not to.
In his moment of self-soothing, Ruval missed the footsteps of someone else outside his office, hurrying away.
Disco Inferno: Hey. I have a bit of a problem.
150-Proof: Sure, hit me.
Disco Inferno: Have you ever had a fight with your parents? A big one?
150-Proof: Uh... define 'big'. I know I've had some arguments with Dad about what I was getting myself into more than once.
Disco Inferno: No, it's... they don't understand. Why I'm doing what I'm doing.
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: Are we talking a fisticuffs sorta fight, or a tongue-lashing?
Disco Inferno: No. My... father called me mad to my face, told me that I 'knew better' when I had emotionally isolated myself from the world, and mother just stood by and let him.
150-Proof: ...I'ma kill 'em.
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: Get in line girl, I'm closer to their location.
150-Proof: Well I'm already a criminal and mass-murderer, what's a few more?
Disco Inferno: Luna, Sera, no. Bad girls.
150-Proof: But I want to feed my pet Apocalypse Beast fragment some shitty fried chicken!
Disco Inferno: Luna. No.
150-Proof: ...Can I at least maim them a little?
Disco Inferno: They're my parents!
150-Proof: Horrible parents from the sounds of it.
Disco Inferno: Be that as it may, they are family, and my grievances with them aside I will not condone turning my brothers and sister into orphans.
150-Proof: ...Man, now I feel bad for making that joke. Why you gotta do dat, dude?
Disco Inferno: Misery loves company.
150-Proof: That it does. Seriously though, do you want to talk about it?
Disco Inferno: There's not much to talk about. I knew we weren't on the greatest terms, but I didn't realize it was that bad. I have been... focusing perhaps too much on my project, and not enough on gauging my relationships.
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: Rexen's admitted to having some issues with you too.
Disco Inferno: Rexen was always the closest behind mother's and father's footsteps, becoming a media mogul. I'm glad he's still at least being unbiased in the media, even if he does have his own issues with me.
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: See, you're not alone here! Not all of us Devils are gonna drag you across the coals!
150-Proof: I'm not sure that's what he's worried about.
Disco Inferno: Well, apparently Zeoticus is filing a Sanction against the Phenex household, so that's not entirely true.
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: Oh. Yeeeeeah, that's kinda a big deal, especially given how the Phenexes have been sterling Pillars for as long as they have.
Disco Inferno: As anyone who spent time in the Underworld would know.
150-Proof: Okay, so how's that gonna work against the Phenexes?
Disco Inferno: Embargoes and social isolation, basically. Anyone caught affiliating with us will be hit with the same sanctions and public denunciation.
150-Proof: Then it's a good thing I'm not part of the Assembly anymore, eh?
Disco Inferno: I would much rather we become self-sufficient. But, yes, in the short term, having you as a shadow donor is actually beneficial.
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: Funny thing about sanctions; they don't exactly work when you're able to get what you need despite 'em, though I've been hearing whispers that it might go further than what you described. Question is, you gonna let 'em weigh you down?
Disco Inferno: Of course not. I have my heading, and I will achieve it.
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: Good on you!
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: What's more interesting to me though, is how the other families are gonna react to it.
Disco Inferno: That's what I'm curious about too. This feels like a two-pronged attack to slap down the Belials as well. They did recently publicly ally themselves with us, after all.
150-Proof: Zekram?
Disco Inferno: Zekram.
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: Zekram! Yaaaaaay!
150-Proof: Well, fuck him and fuck those sanctions too. We got your back, and if I know anything about Diehauser (which, admittedly, I haven't met him firsthand so it's just guesswork shhhhhh) he won't back away after making a declaration like that.
Disco Inferno: That would be more compelling without the disclaimer, Luna.
150-Proof: It got you smiling, didn't it?
Disco Inferno: ...Perhaps.
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: That's not a yes! Quick! Send him a picture of your boobies! That should get him smiling!
150-Proof: Really, Serafall? Really!?
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: Duh! You get all flustered and stuff when I send you pictures of mine!
150-Proof: Serafall. Why you gotta say that, aaaaarrgh-
Disco Inferno: You are absolutely shameless.
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: It's true though, just watch!
150-Proof: Serafall I swear to FUCKING GOD-
A few seconds later and a picture appeared, sent by none other than the Maou Shoujo herself, holding up two fingers, with a pair of round boobies on display.
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: Ta-daaaa~
Disco Inferno: It's a picture of birds-
Disco Inferno: You made me spit out my drink all over my desk. Thanks a lot.
150-Proof: Thanks I hate it.
150-Proof: Do you seriously keep pet boobies JUST for this joke?!
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: Well, I gotta keep you all on your toes, don't I?
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: What, did you really think I'd just flash myself like that? Silly degenerates, the both of you~
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: You should know I only show my rack in private~
Disco Inferno: Oh, for... come on. That's twice now, and it's a really good wine too.
150-Proof: GDI Serafall! You're a troll, you know that?
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: Yet you're all too happy to feed me whenever I show up, so whose fault is that~?
150-Proof: You won't leave me alone!
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: And why would I? After all the effort I took to make up for what happened at your first gala, seems rather counterproductive, wouldn't you say?
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: Besides, Sirzechs and the others aren't going to ask questions about who I visit in my off hours on diplomatic missions, not after we've drifted apart like we have.
A few moments passed.
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: It's nice to have someone to share a drink with and bitch about our jobs.
A few more following that comment.
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: That hussy Gabby never does no matter how many times I ask, harrumph!
150-Proof: Heh. I'm sure Ruval feels the same.
Disco Inferno: Hear, hear. I can't exactly meet with either of you face to face thanks to our respective positions in the Underworld, but I'm always down to spend time with you both.
Disco Inferno: Thanks, by the way. It still sucks that Mother and Father are so adamant about what I should do with the house they used to lead, but I feel a lot better.
150-Proof: I'm glad we could lend an ear.
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: Me too. We're all in this together. Now more than ever.
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: But seriously Luna, send titty. We know you're totally fine with showing off, and a good wank helps with stress.
Disco Inferno: Serafall! I would never!
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: Mhm! I know! Which is why I'm asking for us both!
Disco Inferno: I'm not repressed, if I wanted to relieve myself in that manner there are numerous Devils that would be happy to oblige!
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: But only one you'd actually agree to do it with on a whim~
150-Proof: I hope you know that I'm judging you both right now.
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: Love you too, sweetie~
Disco Inferno: Serafall's antics aside, if you don't want to you don't have t-
A new photo showed up, and Ruval's top-shelf bottle of white wine was spat out for a third time.
Disco Inferno: Where the fuck is your arm?!
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: Wow, the fancy shmancy Ruval cursed! Ooh, this one's going in my screenshots folder!
150-Proof: Damn it man, I show you my breasts and the first thing you think of is the fact that I have a prosthetic!?
Disco Inferno: I mean, yes, you're stunning as always, and I think they're bigger than last I saw you-
Disco Inferno: But seriously. Your arm. Explain!
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: She had a rematch with a certain someone. Tall, black hair, ambushed her on the way out from the Grigori ages ago-
Disco Inferno: I'm gonna kill him.
150-Proof: Down boy.
Disco Inferno: Unlike with me, he's not related to you, and he took your arm!
150-Proof: Yeah, well I took his fealty, so aside from accidentally blowing up half of Kuoh, I'd say it worked out pretty well.
Disco Inferno: ...So you lost control of your powers after you got amputated?
150-Proof: For a moment. But a moment was enough. Anyway, yes I've got a prosthetic now. It's still kinda weird, but I'm adjusting.
Disco Inferno: If Kokabiel hurts you again, I'm coming for his head, got it?
150-Proof: If he does, then I'll actually have done something to deserve it that time.
Part of Ruval didn't care. The other part just sighed.
Disco Inferno: ...Fine. I'll take your word for it. But I reserve the right to grill him for answers. Literally, if I have to.
150-Proof: Fine by me.
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: I could practically hear your spittake from my room Ruval, lololololol
150-Proof: You realize I'm gonna get you back when you visit again, right?
Eternal Infernal Sparkle: I know! I can't wait~
Disco Inferno: You two are incorrigible.
150-Proof: We're Devils, dude. Isn't that sort of the point?
Ruval smiled. Yes, he supposed it was.
Masaomi took a deep breath, in, then out, as he held up the phone to his ear.
As the phone rang in his ear, he wondered at how chaotic life could be.
To think, he'd willingly leave Kuoh for a cause that wasn't his or Gabriel's own...
"Hello?"
He smiled. "Hi, Asia. It's me."
"Ah." There was a pause. "Then it's time for you to go?"
"Yeah. I wanted to let you know when I was."
"Mh. I... wish you didn't have to."
"I know. But I made my choice."
"Yeah." There was silence on the other end for multiple seconds. "Tou-san?"
"Don't worry. I promised Gabriel I'd be a voice of reason. And if they won't listen, then I'll stand against them."
"...Mh. Gabriel-sama gave you the okay, right? Then... I suppose..."
Asia trailed off. The former exorcist could practically feel the worry radiating from his phone, but eventually, she spoke again.
"Please, come home safe."
Masaomi nodded once. "I will. Love you."
"I love you too, Tou-san."
He ended the call, then nodded at the young man across from him.
"I'm ready."
The gray-haired hero bowed his head, smiling. "Alright. Then we'll be off."
Masaomi glanced back at the place he had called home for years, nodding once more to himself.
"For a better tomorrow," he murmured, turning back to the golden-eyed axeman.
'God is dead. But His light still lives on - in all of us. So we must act in His place.'
But it was a bit of a leap from acting in Afghanistan to... Masaomi shook his head. That didn't matter. Not now.
The priest reached out and clasped hands with the other man.
"I shall let you lead the way, Gil."
The axeman turned and held out a crystal, tossing it into the air. It stilled midair, then shattered in place, a portal opening up where the crystal had once floated.
The former exorcist and the hero descendant entered the portal, the opening closing shut behind them.
Lunarunn stared ahead, a chill running down her spine as she watched everyone present. Men, women, of all kinds of races and nationalities.
All these people, here for her. For her cause.
She shook her head, clearing her thoughts, before pulling out a small canteen and downing something spicy, sweet, and alcoholic. It burned in her throat, but she didn't cough, and instead embraced the fire, even as she fought back tears.
Luna wasn't one to drink. Still, if ever there was ever an occasion for liquid courage, that time was now.
And to think, this would be the easiest part of tonight.
As she stepped onto the stage, dressed in sleeveless robes of violet and white, silence descended onto the crowd, broken by faint murmuring.
Indeed, many here had never seen her before. Many would be curious about the exposed arm and the smooth metal that replaced her limb. Many already knew.
She lifted her arm, her metal one, and the stage grew completely silent.
"Brothers. Sisters," Luna smiled as her voice resonated out over the crowd, strong and firm. "First of all, I want to thank you all. In just a few hours' time, the Dawn Legion will make its name known to the world. And we shall make our mark, in a way nobody, not even the gods, will ever forget."
She lowered her arm, and started pacing, slowly. "I understand that you are hungry. That you hunger not just for the dinner supplied by our very own Head of Finance, Jaspal nee Valac, but for change. For truth. For justice. I would know, for that same gnawing need is my own."
Luna held her arms out. "For those of you who only know of me, allow me to reiterate. I am Lunarunn nee Bael. I am a Devil, one whose human soul found shelter in a Devil's body. But more than that, I am a daughter of two Middle-Class Devils. I am a Stray Hunter. I am a King. I am the leader of a wedge faction in the Assembly of the 72 Pillars. I am an orphan, orphaned by the cruel whims of an heir to a Pillar. And in the eyes of the Devil Pillars, I am a criminal, guilty of slaying that heir in turn."
Her arms fell once more. "I am many things, some good, some not. But this isn't about me. This is about you, and what you seek. Someway, somehow, you all found yourselves walking into the Dawn Legion. You all sought something more. Something better."
Luna's gaze swept over each and every one of them. "I will say this now: I cannot give you that. What you see here is not dissimilar to a monarchy, with me at the top. But what I offer instead, and what the Dawn Legion represents, is the hope of a better tomorrow, a tomorrow we all build toward. We stand together, because we all see the world for what it is: corrupt. Broken. Abused, and bleeding."
She stepped forward. "But it doesn't have to be! Even now, we see that it can be so much better! Justice delivered through fair trial, not by the blade! Food for the hungry, not for the greedy! Accountability, for those who must be held to account! Safety, not because you're just a face among the masses, too insignificant to be a target, but because you know you can trust the faces that rise above! You need only look around yourself to see it!"
The Worldweaver held out her prosthetic once more. "Indeed, you need only see my scars to understand my conviction: I lost this arm just two months ago, fulfilling a promise that I gave. So let me assure you now, that if I make a promise, I would gladly give my other arm and more to see it through."
Once more, her arm lowered. "That is the standard I hold myself to. The standard I aspire to. I may not fulfill it all the time. I do not claim perfection. But no matter how many times I fail, I will keep struggling, and keep growing. Because I know what it's like to be at the bottom. To be vulnerable. To be helpless."
Luna's hair swayed as her head turned from side to side. "But no more. No more will I accept that a person's worth is measured solely by their strength, whether that's in coin, magic, body, or blood. In those lies the way of barbarism and tribalism. We are intelligent. We are reasonable. We are civilized. We can be so much more. Even now, we are so much more. Each and every one of us, myself included, are so much more than just cogs in a machine more callous than the wilderness we elevated ourselves from."
Her arms rose, as did her voice. "We're part of a movement. A part of a greater cause. A part of the banner of justice and a part of the spear that heralds the new day, the new era, the kinder world, the brighter tomorrow!"
Then her arms fell, though her words continued unabated. "So let us eat. Share one last meal together, for some of us may not return from our just cause. There are those that do not understand. There are those who have lost hope. They will oppose us, led by the very individuals who shackle them! But do not hate those who know no better. Do not hate those who have given up. Pity them instead, for that is all they know."
The brunette's tone dropped. "But they may yet be shown that there is another path." It started a grand crescendo, to the finale of her speech. "A gentler path, at the end of the long night we seek to pierce - that we shall pierce! So let us all break bread together, as brother and sister in arms, so that we may understand not just what we fight, or why we fight, but who it is that we fight for! Brothers! Sisters! Let us cling together, and pursue the hope of that elusive dawn as one!"
She threw her good arm up, fist raised, chest rising and falling from the intensity of her final declaration, and the people before her threw theirs up in response, their cheers and roars deafening in their intensity.
The smile that threatened to split Luna's face was only matched by the joy that filled her chest.
'So the end of an era begins. Do you see me, Mom? Dad? I'm making things right.'
"And I promise each and every last one of you, I will give everything of myself to see our fight through," she swore, her quieted words lost in the cheers of the crowd.
It was chaotic, being in the midst of those that chose to follow her. Those subordinates all wanted to speak with her, and though there were plenty of questions that she had been able to answer, many were left unanswered, either out of personal preference, or because she just didn't have the time.
Indeed, two hours had passed in practically the blink of an eye.
The crowds started clearing out about that point, leaving through portals to their destinations, and as they started to leave Luna realized that it was almost time.
It also meant she had another opportunity, taking the flask at her side and forcibly swallowing the rest of the alcohol within, grimacing as the bitter taste washed down her trepidation.
If she needed the swig before, she'd need the rest for what came next.
They were so close. So. Close. Had it already started? No, dumb question. It had; she had definitive information in that regard. Her moment hadn't though. She was still here, after all.
Luna turned to see her Pawn, dressed in an immaculate violet dress, one hand on her hip and another holding her cup.
"Jasp." She smiled.. "Thanks for the mead. It definitely helped steady my nerves up there."
"It has been a while since you made an official address like that," the Devil in question replied, gesturing back to the podium. "It wasn't too hard to offer something from my personal collection."
"You've got good taste." The brunette chuckled and lifted her shoulders in a shrug. "Though considering I'm a pleb compared to your upbringing, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised."
"I would hope that you think so. I have a standard to maintain, after all." Ruby eyes closed as she brushed her hair back. "Both in my choice of drink, and my choice of... business partner."
"Business partner," Luna echoed wryly, a smirk playing on her lips. "My, my, is that the only impression I've given you all these years?"
Her expression was mirrored by her Pawn. "Oh, certainly you've given me other impressions, but I doubt those are best spoken of in public."
"Kuroka's rubbing off on you," the Worldweaver commented. "Actually, I'm surprised I haven't seen her yet. Did she head off early?"
"She's like the younger sister I never had. Also, yes. She wanted to make sure Shirone was out of danger before Zero Day began." Now it was Jaspal's turn to shrug. "Besides, as long as I keep work and play separate, there is little risk in making the most of both."
"And which 'mode' would you say you're in now?"
"Work, obviously." Jaspal tilted her head, giving Luna a sly smile as she lifted her glass to her lips for a brief drink. "Well. Shortly, anyhow. We still have a few minutes before our turn on the stage comes."
"A few minutes, perhaps, but there's much to be done even so," Georg smoothly interjected, sliding into both their views. "Luna, how is your prosthetic holding up? I want to make sure it doesn't need any adjustments before showtime."
"Almost as good as my own arm," she replied honestly, flexing the metallic limb in question. "I'm not sure when I'll get used to the lack of sense of touch from it, but I can tell you didn't spare any expense in its development. Did I ever thank you for that, by the way?"
"More than once," Georg commented, sharing a look with Jaspal. "Though you certainly put your poor Pawn through its paces when the time came to pay the piper."
She stared back, her expression a carefully crafted mask of neutrality. "I'm still mad at you for charging us through the nose for the thing."
"You get what you pay for, and you got the best in class. Beat me at Striker Siblings and maybe we can talk."
A cold silence fell between the two, Luna stepping in to ease the tension.
"Jasp, it's alright. It was something we asked of him in addition to everything else, so it makes sense he'd want compensation."
The ravenette looked away with a huff. "Be that as it may, I do not appreciate being scalped out of ten billion dollars."
"The best of the best in class," Georg insisted. "Even Mephisto wouldn't be able to one-up me on this."
"How about Ajuka or Azazel?" Luna queried.
"Not even them, not in the time period you gave me."
"Bold words," Luna said noncommittally, flexing the metal arm in question. "But still, I'm not gonna complain about being able to function just as well as before in a physical sense."
'And channel your powers."
"And channel my powers," Luna rolled her eyes. "We get it, you're awesome Georg, no need to stroke your ego when you still regularly trounce me in Striker Siblings."
"Hey, at least now it's down to the last hit every once in a while. You still get greedy when the numbers go up though." The magician's glasses glinted as he pushed them up. "I've yet to train that out of you."
"Oh, so I'm your pet now?" Luna drawled. "Remind me, who was it that paid for the arm?"
"Jaspal."
"And who's Jasp's King again?"
"What are you going to use the money for?" the ravenette interrupted.
"I was thinking of taking about a tenth of that and investing in a nice homestead on the East Coast," the magician replied, shrugging. "Then the rest goes back into R&D. I've got a few projects on the backburner that I'd like to jumpstart once this whole Zero Day debacle is over and done with."
The comment was perhaps a bit pointed, something both women noticed immediately.
Luna frowned. "Georg, does this have to do with what I told you all those years ago?"
"Considering you're taking that same path..." he trailed off, shaking his head. "You're certainly prepared to follow the same steps."
"For a different reason," Jaspal jumped to the brunette's defense. "A better one."
"I know." Georg's lips crept upward as he nodded at Luna. "The fact that you let yourself be tried for the Kuoh Incident and released footage from it to the rest of the organization is indicative of such. Though I wonder, just how different will it all be?"
"Entirely." The brunette's tone was firm. "They might call us the same, but we'll do it a better way. The right way."
"I truly hope so." He glanced away, before sighing. "I just wish that I could have steered clear of all this. But this is the pull of destiny, I suppose. No matter. I made my choice years ago."
"Are you regretting what you've signed on to?"
"Merely lamenting what could have been. I never asked to be a Hero." Georg slid his hands into his pockets. "Still, what we have created, and what we have done, I do not regret it. Nor do I mean to belittle your reason for taking us all into the fire."
"Then there's nothing to it except to finish this as soon as we can, as thoroughly as we can."
"Agreed." Georg held up his hand, a gaming device appearing in a swirl of mist. The smile he gave her was perhaps one of the most genuine Luna had seen from the magician. "But before that... care for one last game?"
The Worldweaver grinned. "You're on."
"I suppose I'll watch," Jaspal sighed, shaking her head with some bemusement. "It'll be one last bit of entertainment for the night to see what sort of magic Georg pulls out of his butt to beat you, my King."
Tears started streaming down the brunette's face, even as the smile remained frozen upon it. "Please don't remind me," she whimpered as she drew her own handheld gaming device.
The magician laughed, a sound that Luna would remember in the days to come as the moment of calm before the storm.
A/N -
Next chapter.
Tempura Wizard, out.