I do not own the Persona series or High School DxD. Everything belongs to their respected owners.
Akira began to find himself in a familiar place as his eyes began to open.
He last remembered going to sleep after going over the events that had happened from the past hours. After that, he went to bed to sleep. But now he woke up, his back on a solid surface that was not the mattress that he once felt before entering his slumber.
Slowly pushing himself up and looking down, the dark, yet blue, coloring glared at him as he began to get back up. Sitting on the flat surface that he once laid on, he rubbed his face. Throwing his legs to the side, he started to stand up to get a better look of his surroundings.
Hearing a sound coming from his right, he slowly craned his head in that direction and remembered the bars and jail cell that he once occupied before. But just like before, as he last remembered, the steel cage was wide open. Even with the barrier gone, Akira only walked up to the doorway and did not pass the frame.
A few meters away from his cell, a single man sat in a chair with a table set up in front of his being. His legs were extremely long and skinny, to a point of a description of lanky; which could also be said for his arms. He kept his arms on the table as he was constantly hunched over while his chin rested on his hand. The man's age was rather elderly with an extremely long nose, pointed ears, and bulging, bloodshot eyes.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room." Igor greeted with that usual smile that nearly looked sinister. Eyes were nearly popping out of the man's sockets with every passing second. The long-nosed being chuckled in amusement. "You are much more remarkable than before when we parted ways. It becomes the most of rare occasions when we make contact with a guest after their journey. Or nothing more than a game for you."
Akira stared for a bit, trying to think up of something to say. Listening to Igor's words, he took notice of the last bit of the man's final sentence. "After their journey?"
With the tap of light footsteps, Akira slowly poked his head out of the cell and looked down to see yet another familiar face. A young girl stared back at him with her golden eyes. With her short stature, it was accompanied by long platinum hair. She wore a blue Victorian dress, and a stylish matching headband with white-butterfly ornaments and yellow roses. "Of course." Lavenza nodded her head, keeping a book tucked under her arm since she was stationed around that spot from the beginning. "Did you think that you were the only one?"
"We have had many guests throughout time." Igor began, gaining their attention once more. "Only a small handful of others have shown themselves not to be any stranger to the Velvet Room after their adventure. But perhaps that will be for another time. Who knows. Maybe you've already seem them before."
"Can you tell me why I'm here?" Akira asked, still deciding not to walk out of the confines of the cell he was in despite being allowed the freedom to wander around. "I thought that my time with this place was done… Not that I hate it."
"It is understandable to why you think so." Igor nodded his head slowly. "As I have said before, it is a rare opportunity for one to be invited to the Velvet Room after their journey. But, you are perhaps one of the most interesting guests so far. Which is why we have brought you here due to your current standpoint."
"Current…" Akira muttered, putting a hand to his chin. "You're talking about the Devils and Fallen Angels."
"Devils, Angels, Fallen Angels, Gods, all mythology within reality." The long-nosed male listed slowly yet in a captivating manner. "I shall tell you now, this is not a game like before. Instead, this is a series of events that shall unfold by each action done by you and the people which you have chosen to stay with."
"Nothing but supernatural powers shall be at work during your journey." Lavenza took another step forward, now ending up in front of the guest of the current Velvet Room. "You have already chosen to place your faith in humanity once before. Feel free to gain strength from its figures." Grabbing the book under her arm, she held it out with both of her small hands.
As Akira stared, Igor chuckled. "I suggest taking a hold and reading it. Trickster." The boy looked up when he was referred to as his nickname by those related to the Velvet Room. "It is nearly never seen that a guest hold his or her own Compendium in their own hands."
"You have summoned your original self before, correct?" Lavenza asked.
Akira looked at the girl's features. "You mean Arsene?"
"Correct." Lavenza nodded her head in confirmation. "Though what you name Mementos and the Metaverse are gone, your abilities still exist. Perhaps due to the amount of supernatural energy. When you read this, you will be granted the strengths that you have once wielded. Not as a 'Wild Card', but as the Trickster that you have been titled with. A character that always has something up their sleeve when the time shall arise."
Looking at the book that was being presented to him, the black-haired male slowly reached over and took the book into his hands. As soon as the Velvet Room attendant released her grip, Akira nearly dropped the Compendium in complete surprise at how heavy it was.
Just managing to cup it into his arms, Akira placed a single finger onto one of the random pages of the book and opened it up. As soon as he opened it though, he saw nothing but blank paper. Something took into immediate effect though as a single white mask shot up and struck him straight in the middle of his head.
As Lavenza caught the Compendium before it could hit the ground, Akira clutched his head once again. He heard laughter. It wasn't his. It was not Igor's. It was not Lavenza.
It was Arsene.
Once more, the Persona within him laughed with complete amusement. But the sudden feeling was more of a headache rather than constant pain. He could feel strength and power that dwelled within him rise once again. The laughter grew louder as well. As the feeling grew, the sounds of Arsene's amusement increased in volume as well. Within a flash of blue and white fire after a few seconds, Akira recovered immediately and recognized himself in his usual Phantom Thief attire.
But that was not all. Before when he fought Raynare, he only had his simple knife and gun. Now, it was different.
The gun he held was bigger yet could still fit and was weighed perfectly in his hand. The black color followed by the red veins creeped from one end of the barrel all the way to the other end with the colors pulsing as if alive. Under the barrel however was a design that would be disturbing to some. Such a look resembled a human spine and small ribcage but with black metal solidifying the spaces between the metal bones until it curved itself to form a guard around the trigger. He remembered using such a weapon and the great Persona of the Star arcana used to create it; the Tyrant Pistol was given form thanks to Lucifer.
But the blade in his other hand was much different than what he had ever used. It was nearly too big to be considered a knife but still not long enough to be called a short sword. It almost looked like it was made of obsidian due to its color. The blade nearly looked like a cutlass with its look alone due to its appearance and size. A D-guard in the shape of a skull around the grip of the handle but cut itself off near the bottom to make space for the hand to move as the hilt seemed to grow from the skull and created the image of two horns. The blade was straight at first, but the last quarter curved itself. A peculiar part of the blade was that the back of the weapon looked slightly rough, almost being comparable to a human spine painted black.
The presence from the melee weapon felt massive and familiar. "…Satanael…" Akira said to himself.
"Yes." Igor answered with a not. "The Persona of the ultimate rebel sealed inside the weapon which shall be known as Paradise Lost. A name which is almost appropriate. Am I safe to assume that you are wondering why you have only Arsene?"
Akira didn't answer as that was what he was thinking. Lavenza however began to remind the man. "Nothing but inhuman beings shall become people or things that you shall meet along your journey should you choose to walk the path. You have chosen to represent humanity. Is it not logical for your Persona to be such?"
He only stared at the woman who stared back with an equal expression. Looking at the two weapons in his hands, he could still hear Arsene's laughter which has now turned into cackling. "Wouldn't have it any other way." He answered with a roguish smirk. But then it occurred to him. "What about my friends?"
"Who knows what will happen?" Lavenza stated as she gently pushed Akira back further into his cell. Slowly as he could feel himself drift away, Igor's voice reached his ears.
"This may be the last time we see each other. But if not, until we meet again."
TakeABreak
"Hey, are you okay? You seem to be a bit out of it."
Akira peeked down into his desk to see Morgana taking shelter in the small space. The feline seemed to be staring with a slightly concerned expression. "Is it because of your visit to the Velvet Room?"
He had told everyone of his experience. Luckily, they had just managed to play it cool as they had neared the gates and grounds of Kuoh Academy. Apparently, their conversation from last night as well had been brought into the morning with the subject of the Velvet Room added in. Thankfully, Akira managed to put a stop to most of the questioning due to even him not really having any more ideas of what was to come.
"I'm fine." Akira said as he began scribbling more notes that he could think of. But those notes weren't related to the subject he had just sat though. Such writing was already done in a separate part of the notebook he was using. "I'm just trying to figure something out."
They were actually related to what Rias said to him yesterday. The red-haired Devil had revealed that her peerage wasn't the only peerage in Kuoh Academy, meaning there was at least one more. There could be several based on the vague information that she had provided. The fact that there could be more Devils and the possibility that they might not be as friendly as Rias forced Akira to think about how to approach such a situation if it were ever to arise.
So far as he could narrow it down, lesser Devils weren't likely to be too far from their King. What that meant was that there was a likeliness that they would all be in the same club or they group together. Sadly, that narrowed it down to everyone but him and the Phantom Thieves.
"Is it about what Gremory-san said?" Morgana asked, wanting to take a peek upwards. Akira however lowered the notebook and flipped it around so that the animal could read it. "Hmm…" He hummed before nodding and allowing the human to bring his book back up. "Well, let's start over. Gremory said there was a 'peerage' meaning that there is more than one Devil. The King is probably the leader of the group or club he or she is in."
"If they have a Queen then she…" Akira kept quiet and trailed off at the end for a second. "…Or he will probably be next to the King more often than not." He noted this from what he's seen from Rias and Akeno. "Who could that possibly be though? Maybe…"
At that moment, Akira noticed a shadow looming over his desk from the front and luckily not the back, otherwise Morgana would have been noticed. When he looked up, he was pleasantly surprised to see Tsubaki Shinra standing there, looking down at him with a stony gaze. Tsubaki Shinra was a 3rd year Kuoh Academy student, fourth most popular girl in the high-school section, and the Student Council Vice-President. In other words, a big deal.
"Can I help you?" Akira asked politely. No reason to be rude, especially to the Vice-President. That as well as they were in the middle of the classroom where they were currently gaining more and more eyes staring at them.
"You are Akira-kun, correct?" Tsubaki responded with a serious face.
"That depends…" Akira answered with a straight face. "Is he in trouble?"
…He shouldn't have said that.
Luckily, the girl didn't seem to be too angry or unimpressed. "Please follow me." She requested, simply ignoring the question. "The Student Council President wishes to see you. Now." She gestured towards the door with a gesture before waiting out in the hall.
"Sure." Akira nodded his head, seeing that there was no other choice anyways. Packing his things, he allowed Morgana to slip into the bag just before partially zipping it closed. Standing up, he looked at the person who sat in front of him.
Just like in Shujin, it was Ann luckily as the blonde girl watched him with curious eyes. As everyone else had their eyes on him due to the vice-president of the student council asking him to walk with her, he knew that he could perhaps act a bit subtle.
Tapping his right pocket a few times while walking, he then raised his hand to adjust his glasses before he was out of the classroom to follow Tsubaki.
Ann was the only one who even suspected such actions as she pulled her phone out of her right pocket and began to text someone.
TakeABreak
The entire walk to the Student Council room was silent. As Akira followed behind Tsubaki, the only thoughts he could muster were ones that made him wonder what happened to make him have to come to such a room once again.
Did Ryuji do something again and he was somehow involved with it?
"Akira-kun."
The boy blinked. "Yes, Shinra-san?"
"Please, Tsubaki is fine." She stated without looking back at him. "If you are wondering, you are not in any sort of trouble."
Akira only nodded his head. But that easily left a single question open. Then what was he being called in for? Taking out his phone, he had a feeling that this was another conversation that should probably be heard from by everyone else. Luckily, Futaba created a recording app that was installed on any one of their phones. All they had to do was get the girl to activate it from her own phone and words would be recorded as long as a call was playing out.
There was still the issue of cellphone bills, but he hardly used the calling feature and had unlimited texts.
At that moment, Akira and Tsubaki arrived at a pair of large and ornate double doors. Seconds later, Tsubaki pulled them open to reveal the Student Council room which, in Akira's opinion, looked like a special court room. The Council room had elevated rows of seats that were meant for the members of the Student Council and observers to sit. Below the elevated seats, there was a space with a tall wooden chair placed in the middle which completed the very authoritative look.
Akira glanced over to Tsubaki and received a nod. He stepped into the room towards the chair in the middle of the space and immediately felt gazes upon him. He looked up and saw all of the members of the Student Council assembled and sitting in the elevated seats. Akira slightly frowned as he didn't notice them before.
"Sit." An authoritative voice stated.
Akira silently took a seat.
That was when he saw the student council president herself, Souna Shitori, in all her glory. She was sitting on her seat just a few feet away from the chair which Akira sat on and was staring at him with calculating eyes. Akira probably saw her the most out of the 3rd years that weren't his friends. Oh right… she was also the third most popular girl in Kuoh Academy's high-school branch: above Tsubaki, but below Akeno and Rias.
Souna, which he thought by his own opinion that would be drowned in many others if other students could invade his mind, was very attractive and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't attracted to her. Souna looked to be in her late teens just like all the other 3rd years. She had short black hair in a bob cut, sharp calculating violet eyes, and a slim figure with modest sized breasts. She wore her school uniform with a pair of black rimmed, oval spectacles right over her face which helped her radiate a mature, dignified and intelligent aura.
"Akira-san," Souna said coolly. "Do you know why you are here?"
"No." Such a response was shameless yet completely honest at the same time.
"I see." Souna responded with a nod. "Well, allow me to formally introduce myself." She said with a push of her glasses. "While everyone in school knows me by the name Souna Shitori, Student Council President, my real name is Sona Sitri."
…Aw shit. Everyone in this room but he and Morgana were Devils weren't they?
At that moment a pair of wings, very similar to the ones that Rias had when she revealed herself as a Devil, appeared on Sona's back. However, it wasn't just her. Everybody in the seats sprouted them as well. Akira leaned over and looked behind the chair at Tsubaki. She too had the black wings sprouting out of her back. Akira had just sat himself down in a room filled with Devils and he had no idea if they were friends or foes.
"You're Devils." Akira sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. This was either going to go well or be annoying like the times he and the others ended up being surrounded by shadows. "So, what is it that you want?" Despite his reaction seeming to be annoyed, he asked the question with complete indifference.
"You most likely already know what I'm going to offer you." Sona stated knowingly with a cross of her arms.
The boy nodded. "You want me to join your peerage, correct? As a Knight?" He then paused to think. "Gremory-san told me about you, didn't she?" He did his best not to deadpan.
"Correct." Sona nodded. "Back to the topic at hand though. The recommended piece for you is a Knight." She stated again. "However, I also have a few Pawns and a Rook left. I can't imagine leaving it as something else."
"I'll just tell you what I told Gremory-san. I came into this world as a human. I can't imagine leaving it as something else."
"Understandable." Sona nodded. "I will respect your wishes, but it you ever change your mind, you'll always have a place in my peerage."
"Thank you." Akira said as he started to get up out of his chair. "Is that all? Can I go now?"
"Sit."
Akira resisted the urge to sigh as he sat down.
"This is for both you and… Morgana-san." She said as she stared at the bag next to Akira. She watched as the black-haired boy stared at her for a couple of seconds. With a reluctant expression, he bent down and brought the bag to his lap. With a cat head popping out and shaking its own skull, she began to continue. Looks like the complaints of meowing coming from his bag were true after all. "The two of you have entered a world that most of humanity is not aware of. As a Student Council President, it is my job to look after the students here in Kuoh, so I can't allow you to proceed any further without properly informing you of the situation."
Akira just stared as this was sounding so similar to Rias. But the next choice of words partially surprised him.
"I can tell that you don't trust me." The violet eyed girl stated bluntly. "I wouldn't trust me either if I were in your shoes." Her gaze sharpened as the two in her vision shared a look. "However, I will tell your right now that what I say is the truth. All that I tell you will be explained to the best of my ability, I swear."
"And what incentive do we have to believe that?" Morgana asked in a surprisingly defiant tone. Many of the Student Council members did a double-take when hearing the cat talk. But a few gasped. "Why would you help us? You're just a stranger, right? Explain to us why we should believe you."
"Because I don't want you to die." Such a reply that held much honesty made both Akira and Morgana blink in surprise. "You were unfortunate enough to be dragged into this side of the world. You got involved not by your own choice and if you died because of that, Rias… and myself would feel responsible." She continued. "Trust me, all I want to do is help."
An everlasting silence seemed to fill the air as Akira and Morgana stared at Sona. Grey and blue orbs looked deeply into her violet ones before Morgana looked up. "What do you think?"
"I'll give her the chance and believe her." Akira nodded with sincerity. "We may not like what we're about to hear, but I'll trust what she tells us is the truth."
"That is all I ask for." Sona replied with thanks being a silent word. "I suppose I should start with the Three Factions."
"Go for it."
Sona narrowed her eyes. "Let's start with Angels." She said as she knit her fingers together. "Angels are the creation of the God of the Bible and are Devils' most mortal enemies."
A bit obvious, but he shouldn't judge.
"Angels are identified by their white wings, the halos around their heads, and their ability to project spears of light." Sona explained. "Light is our weakness and their spears are very lethal to us Devils."
Morgana raised an eyebrow. "Then that woman we fought at the park, she had black wings but could still make light spears. Is she a Fallen Angel? What happened for someone to become like that?"
"You are correct about her being a Fallen Angel." Sona stated with a nod. "A Fallen Angel is an Angel that has performed a sinful act of some kind and has 'fallen from grace' as a result." Just as Haru, Makoto, and Yusuke had predicted. "But let's return to the Heaven's Angels topic. Angels reside in Heaven and their power is measured by the number of wings they possess. The most powerful Angels are the Archangels, and among them, Micheal and Gabriel are the strongest." Just like his Personas before but he didn't bring that up. "They, like us Devils, suffered a considerable amount of causalities during the war.
Morgana had a slight frown as a thought came to mind. "If you Devils invented the Evil Pieces to replenish your numbers, then how are the Angels coping?
"That, I can honestly say, is something I have no clue about." Sona stated with a shake of her head. "God of the Bible can simply create Angels but besides that I honestly have no idea how they are doing in terms of numbers."
"And the Fallen Angels?" Akira asked curiously.
"They usually reside in the Underworld along with Devils due to being banished from Heaven." She answered. "They are essentially identical to normal Angels with the exception of the black wings and the missing halo. They do, of course, follow a different leadership and have formed an organization called Grigori."
"What an ugly name." Akira stated.
Morgana got back on topic. "So, who leads them?"
"The first Angels that fell from Heaven." Sona said coolly. "The Grigori organization has several leaders, but one among them is the supreme leader that leads the whole faction. The Governor General, Azazel."
Akira nearly snorted at the fact that this grand leader held the same name as when Shadow Madarame fought him.
"Now, let me move onto Devils." Sona began.
"Makes me wonder how much Gremory-san left out about this subject considering the amount of details you're telling us right now." Morgana commented with his head leaning downwards.
"…I am beginning to wonder that myself right now." Sona commented but still moved on. "Devils reside in the Underworld and possess bat-like wings but there are some exceptions to that rule." Sona quickly flapped her wings. "All Devils possess superhuman stangth and endurance, enhanced senses, and the ability called 'Language' which allows us to understand any spoken language to us and for us to be understood by the speaker."
Akira whistled lowly. "Handy."
"It is." Sona nodded. "In addition, Devils can use magic like the other two factions. But, as I stated before, we Devils have a weakness to light. Not only that, but we also have a weakness for holy and religious artifacts such as holy water."
Didn't he make the Judge of the Dead revolver from Michael for Makoto and the Heaven's Gate automatic rifle from Uriel for Yusuke? Would those count as holy artifacts? It would probably be best for him to tell them not to pull out their guns against friendly Devils.
"As for who leads our faction, they are the Four Great Maou." Sone added rather quickly. "They are named Lucifer, Leviathan, Asmodeus, and Beelzebub, after the four original Satans."
…Right… the Tyrant Pistol made from Lucifer for him while Haru wielded the Fleurs du Mal axe that was from Beelzebub's sacrifice. He had a feeling he was just digging his own grave in a sense somehow.
"So I take it the original four are dead?" Morgana inquired.
"Yes." Sona answered without a second of hesitation. "They were killed during the Great War. Now, we have four new Maou leading us." She paused for a second. "Are you both familiar with the 72 Pillars?" Morgana and Akira shook their heads. "The 72 Pillars are clans of Devils that did reside in the Underworld. Rias and myself both come from such families."
A cat-head was tilted. "Did reside?"
"Unfortunately, that number was reduced to about 34 after the Great War." Sona informed begrudgingly. "However, the number is actually higher than that, but mixed heritage makes some of the survivors of the war unable to be considered part of the 72 Pillars. Only clans that have kept their heritage pure are still considered to be a part of the original 72 clans." She added the last sentence in complete distaste.
Akira narrowed his eyes. If that war was enough to wipe out so many clans why did mixing heritages matter? The only thing they should have been concerned about was making sure they didn't get wiped out. He could practically smell the prejudice surrounding the whole situation if such thing had a scent.
"Hey, Akira," Feeling a shift in his legs, he looked down to see Morgana staring. "You okay?"
"Yes, are you alright?" Sona was arching an eyebrow at him. "It seemed that my last statement struck a nerve somewhere."
"It's nothing." Akira shook his head.
"Anyways, the 72 Pillars are special only because of their standing, but also because of their clan related abilities." Sona pointed out. "For example, the Bael clan had the Power of Destruction which releases explosive amounts of demonic energy to annihilate objects or enemies." She adjusted her glasses. "But let us move onto another topic. I'm sure Rias failed to mention anything about Stray Devils."
"Not a word." Akira stated.
"Of course she didn't." The violet eyes president huffed. "A Stray Devil is a Devil that has either run away or killed his or her master. Without their master to keep their powers in check their power will eventually grow beyond their control and become a threat."
"And if they become a threat?" Morgana slowly asked although he had a pretty good idea of what the answer would be.
"They are to be killed on the spot."
Bingo. "What if their master is abusive or they want to leave their master's service?" Morgana continued to question.
"There is nothing they can do unless their master allows it."
Akira looked down to see the look of disgust on the cat's face. "Maybe we should move to a different topic."
"Very well." Sona nodded. "While Angels and Fallen Angels are quite dangerous enemies, so are the people known as exorcists. They are trained by the Church and are equipped with light based weaponry to destroy us. But what makes the exorcist so dangerous is that if one of them manages to exorcise a Devil, the Devil's whole existence is erased. Not even the soul is left." She paused to catch her breath. "That is why we Devils are very careful around them. However, when it comes down to it, light spears of the Angels and Fallen Angels are much stronger and effective."
"There's more to it, isn't there?" Akira asked.
"And you are correct." Sona answered. "As with Devils, there are Stray Exorcists as well. They are exorcists that either broke a doctrine of the Church… or simply went insane and became indiscriminate killers who don't care who… or what they kill."
"Got it." Akira nodded. "Anything else?"
Sona tapped her chin in thought. "Hmm… Well there are still the topics of Sacred Gears and Magicians."
Magicians? Now that was a word that caught Akira and Morgana's attention. "Gremory-san did tell us a bit about Sacred Gears."
"Is that right?" Sona questioned with flat stare. "She only told you basic information, didn't' she?"
"Most likely."
Sona slapped her face with her palm at Akira's answer. "I should have known." She massaged her temples seemingly in annoyance. "She's as irresponsible as ever."
This seemed to make Akira chuckle a bit. "The way you talk to her makes me think the two of you are best friends."
"A friend." Sona corrected Akira.
"Still counts." The teen replied with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Right." Sona coughed into her hand. "Before I move onto the subject, could I ask you for a favor? Could you show us this Persona that Rias has mentioned?"
A bit long chapter for my tastes. I did intend for the Velvet Room scene and the Student Council scene to be in the same chapter. But they both turned out to be longer than expected so I had to cut the latter short. Finally beat Persona 5. Happy that I got legitimate compliments and complaints in my reviews that didn't whine about the power levels without good reason.
Also, I didn't realize that this story has been out for over a month. Wow time really flies when busy.
No flames please.