Chapter Thirty-One - (Epilogue One) Fire, Water and Sand

The chime of a bell rang out in the little corner store as two men strolled on through, relishing in the refreshing air provided by the small oscillating fan that stood on the front counter. Pulling down his scarf, Jafar's shoulders sagged in satisfaction as the cold, if not slightly stale air filled his lungs through his nose.

A hand fell onto Jafar's shoulder. Looking over, the man found his blond companion gazing at him.

"You handle gathering the supplies, I'll see if I can gather any information," Came the silky-smooth British tone of his teammate.

Jafar nodded, moving deeper into the store. Idly, his ears picked up the sound of footsteps that began to grow closer and closer, until a voice called out from behind a screen.

"Ah, is someone there?" The gravelly voice said, "One moment, I'll be right out."

The man who emerged from behind the curtain was akin more to a hairy mountain than simply a man. Easily dwarfing even Jafar in height, long flowing grey hair that splayed down their body, an equally-long beard.

The man's walnut eyes narrowed as they locked onto the approaching blonde.

"You're a long way from home, boy. What brings you here?"

Pulling down his own scarf, the blonde readjusted his spectacles and gave a small bow, "Greetings, my name is Arthur."

The man raised his eyebrows, "You speak good Kurdish for a white man. I thought he was your translator."

Jafar tried not to flinch when the shopkeeper pointed over in his direction. He couldn't understand a lick of what the two were saying, so any attention left him feeling rather put-out.

Arthur waved him off, "I prefer to be as researched as possible whenever I try to take a trip. Speaking of which, would you happen to know any landmarks that are worth visiting? I usually find the locals know more about these types of things than the internet."

The shopkeeper began toiling away at something behind the counter, "If you value your life, you should avoid going sight-seeing outside of the city."

Arthur raised his brow, "Why?"

"There is an urban legend around these parts as of late, of a fearsome and territorial beast that dwells in the wilderness outside of the city."

"But surely, that must just be a silly story, no?"

The shopkeeper bitterly chuckles, "You would think so, yeah? But recently, people who go out of the city wind up dead, and their bodies show back up in the city just as mysteriously. Not even a week ago, my main supplier's caravan pulled into the city, his drowned corpse still in the cart's seat."

"How gruesome," Arthur shook his head, "I'll make sure to keep your warning in mind."

"Jafar," Arthur turned to face the young man, "Do you have everything we need?"

The former Exorcist turned his gaze from the shelf as he set a can of food down in a bag, "Yeah, I'm coming up right now."

Arriving at the front counter, Jafar unloaded the various cans of food, and copious amounts of bottled water onto the counter. The shopkeeper counted them up with a hum.

"You're buying a lot. You two are a part of a larger party?"

"Yes," Arthur nodded, "We were the ones tasked with shopping for our trip. Strength in numbers, right?"

"I'm being serious, if you think numbers will help save you out there, you're sorely mistaken," The shopkeeper warned, "The only thing that awaits you outside of this city is sand and death."

Arthur met his gaze, reaching into his coat's pocket, producing an envelope. All the while, Jafar packed the supplies up in his bags.

"We'll take our changes," Arthur pulled a large wad of Iraqi dinar, slapping it onto the counter top, "Jafar, let's get going. Vali wanted us to be ready to leave as soon as he got back."

The two stepped out of the shop, into the bustling, vibrant afternoon streets of the city. Vendors with vivid-colored fabric roofs lined the streets, shouting out at those who passed by in attempts to sell their wares and services.

"So, did you get any useful information?" Jafar questioned as he handed off a bag of supplies into Arthur's waiting hand.

"Indeed, I believe I have," Arthur began heading down the corridor of vendors, Jafar trailing right behind him, "Our friend back there was telling me that some sort of creature has been very territorial outside of the city as of late. People who leave the city are found dead, their bodies apparently being drowned."

"Cheery," Jafar grunted in disgust.

Arthur nodded, "Quite. I believe that may be what we've come here to find, but let us save that conversation for when we arrive back at the hotel, Bikou should be returning with Vali at any moment now."

"Of course," Jafar swung the bags in his right hand gently over his shoulder, as the two men continued their walk down the busy, noisy streets.


"We're back," Arthur chimed aloud as he creaked open the door to their hotel room.

The place in itself wasn't much, a subpar open space with two double beds, a small armchair, an even smaller desk, and a single set of drawers with a tiny CRT television propped on top. The room stunk faintly of mildew, and the spices from the markets that were picked up by the wind whenever a stray breeze decided to waft through the cracked windows that they kept open in the interest of not overheating. The lights only provided a faint glow of light, leaving most of the room shaded in dark.

As soon as Arthur set down the bags in the measly entranceway to the room, the sound of padding footsteps began to rapidly approach the entrance way, before a blur of blonde hair screeched to a halt right in front of them.

"Welcome back, brother!" The girl beamed, her sapphire eyes glimmering in joy, as she looked over her brother's shoulder, eyes widening slightly in recognition, before her smile returned once more, "And welcome back to you too, Jafar!"

Out of his small time with the Vali Team, Jafar could easily say that Le Fay was the one who stood out the most in the rag-tag group of rogues. Far too young to be in such a team, but at the same time, her outgoing, and practically unceasing positivity was certainly welcome. Honestly, she reminded him quite a bit of both Vanessa and Ethan. As a matter of fact, he bet that the two teenage girls would get on great as friends…

All the more reason to get Vanessa back, then.

Arthur adopted a soft smile, "Thank you, Le Fay. I trust that everything's been fine since we've been gone?"

"Oh yes, Kuroka had been telling me all sorts of stories while you were away!" Le Fay smiled, as he brother quirked his brow, "There was this one about-"

"Don't tell them about what we discuss during girl talk, nya~" A voice cut off Le Fay from one of the beds, where Kuroka laid down on her stomach, devoid of her clothing, limbs spread wide on the surface of the mattress.

Arthur gaped, absolutely horrified, "Woman, don't you have shame?!"

Kuroka lifted her head weakly and groaned, "It's too hot out for shame, nyaaaaaaaah…"

Jafar pulled out a plastic water bottle from one of the bags, walking over the edge of the bed. He kneeled down, unscrewing the cap on the still-cool drink, and held it up to Kuroka's lips, as the Nekomata took greedy gulps of the liquid from her spot lying down on the bed.

"Pwah!" Kuroka's lips popped off the bottle once the contents were entirely drained down her throat, Kuoka gave a satisfied purr as she closed her eyes, "You're the best, nya~"

"Just get some rest," Jafar explained, his eyes locking onto the safest sight on her body, her scalp of hair, "It'll cool down a fair bit by nightfall."

"Yes, well we'd like to head out before nightfall…" Arthur checked his wristwatch, as he moved further into the room "Where are those two? We're supposed to run on a schedule, blast it."

"Cool your jets, Arthur," Turning around, the group found none other than Bikou leaning against the doorframe.

"Ah, Bikou you're finally here," Arthur walked up, "But… Where is Vali?"

Bikou smiled, "The hallway."

"...The hallway?" Jafar walked over and poked his head outside the door, raising his eyebrows in curiosity as he took in the sight before him.

Vali paced up and down the hallway, hands stuffed in his pockets, all the while murmuring to himself incoherently.

"Is… Is he always like that?"

Arthur sighed, pinching his eyes, "Only when he's pulled away from a fight. Bikou, what did he do this time?"

"I caught him trying to have a deathmatch with the Sekiryuutei," Bikou shrugged, "I had to intervene, so the three factions definitely know about us now…"

"...Simply wonderful…" Arthur muttered, as he walked up to the door, "Vali, it's time we leave. I understand that you have your reservations about how your confrontation with the Sekiryuutei went, but we must focus on the task at hand."

Vali turned his head, spotting the small group that had assembled at the door. Slowly, his hands fell from where they were ruffling his silver locks like a madman to his sides.

"I know… I know…"

"Good. Now, let us finish preparing so that we may actually depart before sunset…" Arthur turned back inside the hotel room, "Jafar, care to assist me in gathering up the supplies?"

"Sure thing, is there anywhere you want them?"

"No, as long as we load them into bags first, I can handle them," Arthur reached down, carrying some of the shopping bags deeper into the room, setting them down on the one unoccupied bed in the room, "We should sort these into loose categories. That way, it shall be easier to manage."

"Oh, I'll help out too!" Le Fay bounced over to them.


The three spent the next several minutes sorting through the various bags of shopping that Arthur and Jafar had performed a few hours prior. Making simple piles of food, water, medical supplies, and other necessities, which Le Fay would pack up into various backpacks and sacks.

"There we go," Jafar clapped his hands together to dust them off as he stared down at the fruits of their labor, a small mountain of various backpacks and other luggage, "That was quick. Thanks for the help, Le Fay."

"You're welcome!" The girl grinned.

"Yes, your services were quite helpful," Arthur then turned and gave a scathing look at the Nekomata lounging naked behind him, "I imagine if someone decided to be as courteous, we might have finished even faster."

Kuroka stretched, a yawn creeping out of her mouth, "Nyaaaah~ Sorry, too busy trying not to melt here."

"You're impossible, you know that?" Arthur rubbed his temple with his hand.

"Hey!" Le Fay jumped in between them, a pout on her face, "No fighting! We're friends, right? We can't be at each other's throats all the time!"

"..." Arthur looked down at his younger sister, before sighing, "Of course, you're right sister."

"Ahem," Jafar cleared his throat, drawing the attention of the group, "So, I have to ask… How are we going to carry all this stuff?"

Arthur smiled in satisfaction, "Who said we were going to carry anything?"

The blonde man held out his right hand, and in a shower of glimmering lights, a sword coalesced into his hand. Caliburn… Jafar had only ever seen Arthur bring out the sword on one other occasion previously, but the sheer beauty of the blade was awe-inspiring to him. It's very aura seemed to be right and so pure to him, a sense of belonging and content washing over him.

Carefully, Arthur flicked his wrist, the blade of the majestic holy sword swiping through the air, leaving a purple-ish gash in the very air itself.

"If we store all our luggage in here, I may use Caliburn to collect them at a moment's notice," Arthur smirked at Jafar, "More efficient than a carriage, no?"

"Definitely," Jafar replied.

"Anyhow, let us get these bags stowed away, so that we may begin our journey," Arthur checked his watch, "If I remain correct, we should be able to make a good amount of progress by the time night falls."


Initially, Jafar believed that an expedition with a large group would be rather exciting, and for the first ten minutes after they left the city's walls, it had been. Jafar was content to take in the sights of the foreign place, which marked a far-cry from the busy streets of Rome or Italy in general for that matter.

While Jafar himself may have been taking it well enough, his companions were a bit of a different story.

The group walked in a loose pack, with Jafar taking up a position near the middle. Beside him, Kuroka slogged along, her footsteps heavy as she grumbled and complained the entire time under her breath about the 'damn sun'.

Bikou had been content to simply let his Flying Nimbus carry him around alone, but soon after, Le Fay had flashed him a pair of puppy dog eyes that left Jafar weak himself, and now, the young Pendragon was sitting on the edge of the floating cloud beside the monkey yokai, her feet kicking off the sides as she hummed some tune to herself.

Vali and Arthur took up the front, Arthur's eyes always focused forward as he continued to lead the group, a map in his hands. Occasionally, the elder Pendragon would turn his gaze to the back of the group to make sure nothing had gone awry yet.

And then there was Vali. When Jafar had first met Vali, he wasn't exactly sure what to think of him. Brash, a bit meat-headed, and so lustful for battle that Jafar was convinced the boy was either suicidal, insane, or both. The very first day that Kuroka had introduced Jafar to Vali, the boy immediately demanded they fight. By the end of that simple sparring exercise, Jafar had learned one key thing about the team's namesake.

For all of his crazy tendencies to chase battle, Vali could more than hold his own. The boy was a goddamn monster. That alone earned his respect, and made Jafar reevaluate his opinions on Vali, sure the boy was possibly one screw loose, but at the same time, he formed this rag-tag group of people from all walks of life… That alone was more than commendable in his eyes.

"How is everyone holding up back there?" Arthur called.

"I'm fine," Bikou chimed in, "What about you, Kuroka?"

"Uggghhhh…." Kuroka groaned.

"Let's take that as 'good'," Bikou grinned, as Kuroka silently cursed the man out under her breath.

"Sister?" Arthur asked, "How are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm fine!"

"Very good," Arthur nodded, "What about you Jafar? This is your first time going on a trip like this with us."

"I'm fine," Jafar replied, "I'm no stranger to missions like this. We used to do a lot of them over the years at the Vatican, still, this certainly is a change of pace from anywhere in Rome, or all of Italy, for that matter."

"Oh really?" Arthur raised a brow, "That's right, you used to be an exorcist under the church, correct?"

Jafar nodded, "That's right."

Le Fay leaned over on top of the Flying Nimbus, "You must have quite a few stories from then."

"That I do, but most are a bit long…"

"The one thing we don't have is an absence of time," Arthur chimed in.

Jafar sighed, "Alright then… Well, my path to becoming an exorcist all started when I was fourteen…"


April 19th, 2005

Jafar's day-to-day life was painfully average and mundane, to say the least. Wake up every morning at six, eat, get dressed, and get driven to school while his dad was on his way to work as pastor at the local church. At school, he'd barely focus on the boring lessons at hand, instead doodling pointless shapes and symbols in the margins of his notebooks, all while trying to catch himself every time his eyes subconsciously drifted across the room, locking onto the back of his crush's head, an adorable redheaded girl named Annie.

After classes finally let up around three in the afternoon, Jafar would pack his bags and walk down the street for about twenty minutes, until he arrived at the church where his dad worked. The walk was comforting, the early spring breeze blowing through his clothing.

Soon enough, Jafar found himself at the thick double doors that made up the community's modest-sized church. Pushing them open, he was greeted by the brilliant view of the afternoon sun casting rainbow rays through the beautiful stained glass windows that lined the walls of the church. The pews sat lined up neatly in rows, a small handful of people scattered near the front.

Quietly, Jafar made his way to the pews in the very back row, setting down his backpack beside himself, digging out his assigned homework. For the next little while, he sat to himself, working away at his assignments, until finally, from across the room, the door on the tiny confessional box clicked open, and out emerged a robed figure, who locked eyes with Jafar, his face lighting up.

"Hey Dad," Jafar smiled, looking up from his work.

"Hey yourself, son," Mr. Harris ruffled Jafar's hair, "How was school today?"

"It was fine, nothing happened."

Mr. Harris fixed his son with a flat look, "That's what you say every time. C'mon, you go to school every day, you have to be doing something during that time."

"Just the same old-same old," Jafar shrugged, "How was your day, slow turnout?"

"Yep pretty much," Mr. Harris lounged on the pew next to his son, "But that's a Wednesday for you. Still, me and you gotta stay a few hours after closing, it's cleaning night after all."

"Aw man," Jafar groaned.

"Hey, it's not all bad. How about I order a pizza for dinner in a few hours?"

"Deal," Jafar proclaimed as he reached for his bag, only to have it lifted out of reach by his father, "Really?"

His father smirked, "No game boy for you until you finish your homework."

Jafar grumbled, "Fine."

"That's the spirit," Mr. Harris ruffled his son's hair one more time, as he stood up.


"Ah~!" Jafar gasped in satisfaction as his lips popped off the bottle of Coca-Cola that rested in his hand, before he brought his right hand to his mouth, taking a large bite of the slice of pizza clutched within it.

"Slow down kiddo, the pizza isn't going anywhere!" Jafar's dad laughed, taking a slice out of the pizza box that laid open between them on the pew.

Jafar narrowed his eyes, "Yeah actually, it is. Down your stomach, to be precise."

"Hah! Guilty as charged!"

*Crash!*

The sudden sound of glass shattering jolted the two from their seats, eyes widening in shock at the sight before them. By the shattered remains of one of their stained glass windows, a man cloaked in a long coat kneeled, panting and bleeding. Jafar's eyes trailed down the man's figure, from the small shards of the window that stuck to his skin painfully, all the way down, until the young teen's eyes locked onto what the man was clutching in his hand, a sword.

The blade was like something straight out of a fantasy novel, made of glistening gold and sparkling silvers, emerald embroidery running up the flat of the blood-soaked blade, giving it an air of both awe-inspiring presence, and an intimidating edge.

The man gasped, his words coming out of his mouth raspy and weak, "This should buy me a little time…"

Looking up at his surroundings with foggy, unfocused eyes, the sudden intruder's face paled, "No… No, no, no… You guys have to run, now!"

"Sir, what's the matter? Calm down," Mr. Harris walked towards the man, "You're hurt. Please, drop the weapon, and we can get you some help."

"NO!" The man snapped, "Get away NOW! It's coming here, it's going to-"

The next moments would be eternally burned into Jafar's memory…

*Crack!* *Kuh-Chunk!*

The horrible cacophony of noise reverberated around the church. Dozens of massive, sharp blades suddenly pierced through the wall and slanted ceiling of the building, as if… They were giant teeth.

The man attempted to run towards his father, but before he could, the building gave in, and all at once, a massive pair of jaws of some kind of massive lizard chomped down with a force unlike anything Jafar had ever seen before. Jafar stood only a few scant feet away, paralyzed in abject shock and horror, as the blood of his father spurted out of his chomped body, splattering across the side of his face and clothing.

Pupils shrinking as his brain slowly registered the events before him, Jafar began to tremble. He wanted to scream, he wanted to cry, but his body just couldn't register those emotions, it simply failed to.

The young teen flinched when the horrific red eyes of the massive-jawed lizard slid over to him with a disgusting squelch. Was he going to die? Was this how he was going to meet his end? No, no he couldn't… He couldn't die here…

Jafar's eyes fell to the blood-soaked sword that had been knocked to his feet. Bending down, Jafar wrapped his right hand around the handle, sucking in a lungful of thick, copper-tinged air, the handle, it burned to even hold. But it was his only option, he was dead if he ran any further. Slowly, the blistering sensation the sword was causing to his palm faded away, as a small golden glow began to shine from his palm, the sword suddenly gaining a similarly faint, but doubtlessly noticeable outline, which caused the beast before him to snarl in disgust.

He could feel a power well up from within him, like he was capable of moving mountains. Burning heat sparked to life inside of him, an anger, a rage unlike he'd ever felt before. Jafar dug in his heels, staring down the monster before him, face contorted with rage.

… And then he ran forward, blade at the ready, "AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHH!"

The beast attempted to swipe at Jafar with its large talon, however, the teen swiped the sword at the claw, carving a searing slash into the monster's hand, leaving it reeling and howling. The monster doubled-down, opening its horrible jaws lunging forward in an attempt to crunch Jafar to bloody pieces.

The teen let out a guttural roar of sorrowful rage, diving to the left as the creature's jaws snapped shut around nothing. Driven by adrenaline and volcanic anger, Jafar cocked back his arm, and thrust the sharp point of the golden sword right into the beast's large eyeball.

"Gyohohoagggggghhhh!" Came the distorted cry of the monster, as it thrashed around widely, knocking Jafar a far distance, the boy crashing into the altar of the chapel with a shout.

Rife with pain, Jafar struggled to lift his head, only to be met by the titanic mass of the creature's body bearing down on him. The monster opened its jaws, prepared to swallow Jafar whole…

*Blam!* *Krack-Pow!*

The monster screamed as its untouched eye suddenly burst in a bubble of blood and viscera, at the other end of the church stood another man, dressed similarly as the man who had met a grizzly fate alongside his father, holding a large smoking gun in his hand.

The beast rounded on the man, prepared to maul the intruder in an instant. Jafar forced his aching body to his feet, as he took off into a run towards the monster. Jumping with all his might, Jafar landed on the back of the creature's scaly left-hand, before leaping up again, finger's digging into the rough scales that lined its body for leverage as he scrambled to the top of the creature's head.

The monster thrashed about, trying to shake Jafar off its body, however, the other man peppered the beast in a hailstorm of bullets. Jafar got to his knees on the top of the creature's head, and for the briefest moment, his body moved on its own, out of an instinct that had never had time to develop, as if something compelled him to do so.

Jafar opened his right palm out to the air, his hand bathed in a golden glow. In an instant, the sword that was buried deep within the creature's eye flew out, causing a fountain of blood to burst forth in its absence, flying up and landing into Jafar's hand in an underhanded grip.

"Gwoggggooooooogggggoogoggogoogooo!" The beast shook itself wildly as the fresh pain wracked its body. Jafar dug the fingers of his left hand deep into the monster's scales for leverage, warm liquid soaking his hand, as the jagged hide cut his fingers as if he was grabbing a handful of nails.

Biting back a scream of pain, Jafar raised the sword. Tears streamed down his eyes and face, as he let loose a howl.

"DDDDDDIIIIIIEEEEE!"

With all his strength, Jafar plunged the sword deep into the top of the creature's head, the blade cutting through the tough scales of the beast like it was soft butter. Jafar continued to push the blade deeper and deeper into the creature's skull and brain, its cries of pain getting weaker and weaker as the entire length of the golden-bathed blade buried itself to the hilt.

"Go..gggooggo…" With a final weak cry, the beast lost the strength in its body, as it crumpled to the ground, finally slain.

Jafar remained on his hands and knees on top of the creature's head, his body soaked in both his own blood, and the blood of his father. The adrenaline finally left him, as his emotions caught back up to him, as he finally broke down into grieving, wracking sobs.

"AAAAAAGGGGHHHH!"

It would be that point that marked the shift in the course of Jafar's life forever.


"After that, the exorcist, Mr. Roman, would take me back with him to the Lakewood Church in Huston, where I was finally told about the supernatural, and what I had done," Jafar looked off into the distance as the group kept walking, "I was a naturally-born holy sword user, and a powerful one at that, considering the sword I was using was none other than Excalibur Blessing."

"My condolences for your loss," Arthur bowed his head.

Jafar waved him off, "Don't worry about it. The scars are still there, but that happened a long time ago, I've long-since learned to make peace with what happened. There was nothing I could do to prevent it from happening. The story gets better, it just starts out a little sad, that's all."

"I see, very well then, continue," Arthur nodded.

"Right. Where was I? At the suggestion of Mr. Roman and several other high-ranking officials, I was sent out to Italy to live at the Vatican and pursue an opportunity to become an exorcist myself. They apparently had a young exorcist who had made herself quite the name through her flawless work on missions, and at the time, she had begun to take up a role as a trainer…"


April 26th, 2005

Jafar didn't know what to expect when he was first brought before Griselda Quarta. The woman had an unmistakable poise, yet she certainly didn't seem like the intimidating, decorated exorcist that everyone had hyped her up as. One thing was for sure, however, and that was that Griselda was… strange.

"Griselda, this is the young man from the Houston Stray Attack incident," Mr. Harcreutz introduced, "Jafar, this is Griselda Quarta, your future mentor."

"Potentially," Griselda reiterated, "I have yet to properly ascertain if this one's worth my time, Mr. Harcreutz. I already have my hands full with raising Xenovia, so if I am to take on another, I must make sure that they are worth the investment."

"Of course, do as you must," Harcretuz nodded.

"Understood," Griselda bowed her head, before turning on her heels, glaring back at Jafar, "Follow me, we shall find a place to properly assess your worth."

Not waiting for an answer, Griselda took off with Jafar on her tail, as they left the office room, and took off down the long hallway. For several minutes, the two walked along the corridor, neither speaking to the other, before finally, Jafar spoke up, his desire for some sort of interaction pushing him over the edge.

"I'm surprised you can speak English so well," Jafar commented.

"I must be equipped to deal with missions anywhere in the world," Griselda replied matter-of-factly.

"Ah, I see…"

"We're here," Griselda stopped in front of a set of double doors on the right side of the hall.

Jafar looked up to the plaque above the door, "A gym?"

Griselda didn't entertain his question, simply passing through the double doors, leaving Jafar to scramble through the doors behind her.

"Xenovia, I'm back," Griselda called.

Jafar's eyes widened, as from behind a training dummy, a little girl steps forward. Dressed in a simple t-shirt and a pair of green-toned yoga pants, the blue-haired girl's gaze unnerved Jafar to a considerable degree. Her golden eyes didn't convey the same glow or joy that a child her age should have contained. The discomfort was only exacerbated by the fact that Jafar couldn't understand a word of the Italian that came out of her mouth.

"Welcome back, Griselda," Xenovia's ice-cold gaze turned to Jafar, "Who is this?"

"This is Jafar," Griselda replied, "He may become a student of mine, however, I'm going to test him now, go sit down on the bleachers, you can get back to training afterward."

Without a word, Xenovia nodded, and marched off to the bleachers, plopping down on a seat in the third row, her cold, hard stare remaining locked on the two.

"She seems young…" Jafar mindlessly spoke up.

"She is. She became my ward three years ago," Griselda answered, "However, despite her age, she shows much promise. The same cannot be said yet for you."

Something about that phrase irked him, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Despite the fact that you can wield a holy sword, that means nothing," Griselda countered, "Anyone can be born with the capability to do so, and anyone can use a legendary weapon to slay a simple Stray Devil. Your current feats don't impress me. So, in order to show me what you can do, I want you to fight me in a spar."

Jafar growled, that woman certainly knew exactly what to press to anger him, "What are the rules?"

Griselda pointed at a large rack of wooden weapons at the end of the gym, "You get to pick both your own weapon, and the one that I shall use against you. We'll then spar, first to concede wins. That's it."

"Really?"

"Of course," Griselda nodded.

Jafar made his way over to the weapon rack, a wide-variety of armaments at his disposal, from standard one-handed swords, to hatchets, axes, hammers, spears, and staffs. Jafar carefully scanned over his option, before grabbing a basic sword off the rack.

"What would you like my weapon to be?"

Jafar hummed, before pointing to another sword, "That one."

"A rapier? Very well then." Griselda reached over and plucked the thin wood blade from the selection, before her and Jafar walked over to the center of the room, which served as a big ring. The two stared each other down for a moment, Griselda as still as a statute, not even a twitch in her muscles.

Jafar bared his blade, and charged, swinging for a decisive blow against Griselda's torso.

*Swish*

The blade met naught but air, as Griselda simply stared him down, fixing him with an unimpressed glare.

"Disappointing."

"Take this!" Jafar went on the offensive, swinging his sword widely at Griselda over and over.

However, the silent exorcist simply ducked and weaved around every blow Jafar sent her way, until the one moment where Jafar swung a little too hard, before one of her long legs lashed out like a viper, kicking the weapon right out of Jafar's hand. The boy stumbled backwards in shock, and before he knew it…

"Dead."

Griselda was behind him, the wooden blade of her sword along the edge of his neck. Jafar's eyes practically bulged out of his head as his breath caught in his throat.

"Do you understand now?" Griselda spoke deliberately into his ear, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand, "This is how fast your life can end in this occupation. If you aren't prepared at all times, then you're as good as dead. What I saw there was pitiful."

"Again, then."

Griselda raised her brow, "Again?"

"Yeah. I'll keep trying again and again, you never said I couldn't."

"I suppose so," Griselda stepped back, allowing Jafar to go and retrieve his sword, "Very well, if you have enough tenacity, there may be hope for you yet…"


"Did you win?" Le Fay asked, thoroughly invested in Jafar's tale.

The young adult barked out a laugh, "Nope, not even once. We went at it for seven hours."

"Damn, now that's a thought…" Bikou turned to their leader, "She sounds tough, eh Vali?"

"Yeah," The teen looked up from writing in a notebook in his hands, "I might have to try and fight her one day."

"So what happened after that?" Le Fay leaned forward.

"Well, she invited me to dinner, then it was giving me a place to stay for the night…" Jafar rattled off, "Soon enough, I just sorta became a student of hers. She's really not that scary to be honest, she's pretty nice, and totally has a bit of a bleeding heart."

"Oh?" Arthur raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, it was probably only a year later that she took in another student, Irina. She's a sweet girl, happy, bubbly, cheerful at all times, really a big ray of sunshine. She ended up being one of Xenovia's first friends as well, so that was nice."

"Around two years after that, Griselda went on a mission to Germany, and wound up bringing home another kid named Ezekiel. He's never talked about his past much, but apparently he was living on the streets and stealing from people when Griselda found him. He's a bit odd, always speaking in a peculiar way, but he's pretty loyal and kind, and he's got quite the active imagination."

"Two years after that came two more people, Vanessa and Ethan, those two are like siblings to me, for whatever reason, they really seemed to latch onto me in particular when they first joined. Vanessa was super nice, a little bit of a tease and a prankster, but always well-meaning. Ethan was hyperactive and expressive, would totally wear his heart on his sleeve, a real good boy if I've ever seen one," Jafar explained, turning to the younger Pendragon, "They're around your age, Le Fay. I bet you'd get along well with them."

"They sound wonderful," She smiled.

"Oh yeah, we were super close. For the next few years, we all lived and trained together. We eventually got strong enough to start going out on missions. At first, it was just a stray devil here or a rogue exorcist there, but eventually, we started to go on actual missions, even if sometimes, they wound up being a bit more than we probably could've been able to handle. The London Blood Moon incident was a bit of a close call for us, for sure."

"The London Blood Moon incident?" Le Fay echoed.

Jafar smiled, "A story for another time. Anyway, we went on missions like that for a while, just the six of us, until last year, when we got our final member. A guy named Vin. He's a nice dude, started off knowing basically nothing, and worked hard to slowly and surely climb up to our level. He sort of reminds me of a younger version of myself, actually. Truth be told, initially when Griselda had told us that another guy would be joining us, we were a bit apprehensive, y'know? We had such good group chemistry, and we weren't sure if he was going to ruin it or not. Still, he ended up being everything we could've wanted and more."

"It sounds like a fun group."

Jafar sighed, looking off at the slowly setting sun. They would have to begin to set up camp for the night soon if they wanted to use what little daylight they had left.

"...Yeah…" Jafar smiled wistfully, "It was…"


The crackling pops of the fire were a sound that never failed to sooth Jafar's soul, a simple, therapeutic rhythm that reminded Jafar of better days spent camping out with friends.

Behind him sat three tents pitched up under the canopy of a few trees, their lights long since extinguished, yet he remained alone, sitting on an overturned tree, staring into the fire as if hypnotized by the wisps of the flames. That was, until a twitch of movement within the shadows surrounding his peripheral vision caught the former exorcist's attention

"You know, your watch isn't until 3 am, right?" Jafar called behind him, never looking up from the fire, "You still have at least four hours to sleep."

"I couldn't sleep, simple as that," Kuroka sat down beside him, before pausing for a moment, deliberating on her next words.

"So, when were you going to tell the rest of your story?"

"Pardon?" Jafar raised his head from the fire, finally looking over at the Nekomata beside him, the orange glow of the flames casting a flickering light upon her visage.

Kuroka turned to look at the fire herself, "You never shared why you ended up with us in the first place. Not to mention, that girl, Vanessa… From what you told us, she doesn't seem like the type to run off without a reason."

Jafar let out a bitter chuckle, "You know curiosity killed the cat, right?"

"Please," Kuroka scoffed, "If everyone in the underworld gunning for my head couldn't kill me, I doubt a story will."

"Fine," Jafar hunched over, resting his elbows on his knees, "What do you want to know about?"

"Why you aren't an exorcist anymore, for one," Kuroka replied.

Jafar let out a withering sigh, "Around a year after Vin joined us… We came back from a mission, only to be attacked."

"By who?" Kuroka tilted her head.

"Kokabiel," Jafar spat through gritted teeth.

"He wanted the Excalibur fragments we used. We all put up a fight, or more accurately, we tried…" Jafar stared into the flames, the hazy reflection dancing off his eyes as he became lost in their beauty, "It was a slaughter. We never stood a chance. We were all beaten to hell, Ezekiel lost his hand, and Ethan…"

"What happened to him?" Kuroka urged Jafar to continue.

"He was killed. Blown to smithereens in a second," While Jafar's gaze remained locked on the campfire, and his expression remained controlled, his entire frame trembled and shuddered involuntarily, "It was horrific, to watch someone you called a brother be blasted away as if he was nothing more than a fly."

Kuroka's eyes widened, her gaze falling to her lap, "I see…"

Jafar continued, "We were saved by Michael's timely interference, but still, the damage had been done. Kokabiel escaped with three of the Excalibur fragments, and was fleeing into devil territory. The day after, we held a funeral for Ethan… We barely had a body left to bury… I helped dig his grave… I lowered his coffin into the ground… I buried the boy I considered a younger brother…"

Kuroka laid a hand on his shaking shoulder, "... I'm sorry…"

"Don't apologize, you did nothing worth apologizing for," Jafar countered, before sucking in a deep, but shaky breath.

"After that, we learned that due to circumstances, we would be the one's sent to face Kokabiel again… It was at that point that I became disillusioned by the church, they were planning to throw us to the wolves, make us a martyr, for all intents and purposes," Jafar shook his head, "I feel guilty for it still, but I couldn't stick around any longer. As I attempted to run away in the night, I found Vanessa trying to do the same thing, so we left together; we abandoned the rest of our family, and we tried to escape it all… Things were good for a while, except… Except they really weren't, and I was just too blind to see it, or too foolish… But Vanessa was suffering from her grief way too much…"

"She was close to Ethan, even more than me, the two were practically the only family they had left, being childhood friends since birth… It destroyed her when Ethan died, and I just h-hope…" Jafar swiped an arm along his face to wipe away fresh tears, "I just hope that I can get her back before she does something that hurts her even more."

"So that's why…" Kuroka whispered.

"Yeah… I would've had no place to start if not for you, so thank you," Jafar smiled weakly, "Still, I don't know why you'd help me in the first place."

"I saw a bit of myself in you, I guess…" Kuroka shrugged, before turning towards the fire, "Plus, I know what it's like to want your family back…"

"Speaking from experience?" Jafar questioned.

Kuroka nodded, "I've already told you I had a sister, right?"

"In passing," Jafar confirmed, "What's her name?"

"Shirone."

Jafar looked over at Kuroka for a second, before looking back to the fire, "You miss her a lot, huh?"

"Is that even a question?," Kuroka half-whispered, "She's all I have left as well."

"..." Jafar thought for a moment, before shifting to face Kuroka, extending his hand, "How about we make a deal then?"

"Hm?" Kuroka tilted her head in confusion, taken aback by the gesture.

"Let's work together to get our families back. We both have similar goals, right?" Jafar waved his extended hand, "So why not help each other out?"

The Nekomata stared down at the hand in silence.

"Um… Kuroka?" Jafar questioned, "Did I do something wrong? I'm sorry if I did, I just-"

"Nya~, you're cute sometimes, you know?" Kuroka smiled, before firmly clasping her hand into Jafar's, "But the answer is yes. I'd like that. I'd like that a lot."

Jafar reciprocated her smile, "It's settled then."

The two stared into each other's eyes, the fire bringing fresh light to their faces. Jafar, as a fellow person with eyes on this planet, could tell that Kuroka was unmistakably beautiful and alluring, but he'd never taken much thought into it.

Until now, that was. Something about the more reserved and vulnerable side that the typically promiscuous Nekomata was showing him struck a chord deep inside him. The glow of yellow and orange embers gave a soft light to her face, and caused her golden-honey eyes to sparkle like brilliant topaz. Jafar couldn't help the sudden heat that entered his face at the sight.

That was, until the fire was snuffed out by a sudden chilling, and all-too unnatural breeze, causing Jafar's veins to turn to ice.

Kuroka stood up in an instant, "Something's not right. Something is coming this way, and quickly."

"Right," Jafar reached past his short-cut jean jacket with his left hand, ripping his old, reliable exorcist-issue pistol from its chest holster, levelling its barrel into the surrounding darkness of the night.

Thankfully, the darkness didn't last for long, as with a wave of her hand, Kuroka sent out a bundle of purple spectral flames that cast puddles of light around the area. Jafar quickly reached down to his belt with his right hand, firmly grasping the handle of his mass-produced light sword, unlatching it from his belt, and igniting the blade, holding it up akin to a torch. It's humming, white light helping to fight back the ever-present shadows.

"We need to awaken the others," Jafar whispered.

"Yeah, no shit," Kuroka sassed, "I'll keep watch, you go and get them up now."

"Right."

Jafar slowly began to step backwards, making his way back toward the tents where the others slept. Only to be sidelined when a giant, wet force slammed into his side, sending him sprawling into the woods to the side of the camp.

"Jafar!" Kuroka called distantly, as the man tried to regain his bearings, only for his long-trained instincts to flare up, making him plant himself as flat against the ground as possible, as a pair of wet jaws snapped shut with a harsh clack where Jafar's head was a moment prior.

From the glow of his sword, Jafar could finally make out the figure which towered over him, some sort of hairy, four-legged beast that resembled a mix between a wolf and a lion. But most curiously, Jafar could easily tell that the creature was made of water.

Swinging his free arm up, Jafar watched in astonishment as his sword passed right through the beast's head, causing a large chunk of its liquid face to splatter to the ground like a popped water balloon, only for the water to be sucked back up into its legs, and a new section of its head to reform.

It's massive fangs went down for another chomp at Jafar's body, but the man kicked his legs up, and with substantially more effort than he expected, his foot managed to swipe through its chest, and out it's head, deforming the monster's face enough that he could scramble out of its range.

With a crack, Jafar fired off a volley of rounds into the creature's body, observing how it simply shrugged off fire like it was nothing. The beast turned its gaze back to Jafar, roaring in anger, as it bounded towards him, fangs at the ready…

Only for it to be split into two, as Arthur landed right in front of Jafar, Caliburn clutched tightly in his hands.

"It seems that our target came to us…" Arthur pushed up his glasses, "How convenient."

The two halves of the creature quickly began to reform, however, this time, as two separate figures, vague shapes of humans, each one wielding razor-sharp scimitars. The living liquid swordsmen rushed down the two in an X-formation, crossing each other, attempting to strike at Arthur's sides at the same time. In an instant, Arthur blocked against the attack from his right, while Jafar used his light sword to block the blonde's left.

However, both men grew shocked when the water-creatures simply walked right through their weapons, raising their hands, as daggers formed in their hands, poised to stab the life out of the two.

Until their heads popped as Bikou's Ruyi Jingu Bang extended out from the dark at the speed of a comet, smashing into both attacker's heads with the accuracy of an arrow. The monsters collapsed into puddles, as the rest of the Vali Team rushed into the clearing in the woods. Quickly, Le Fay waved her staff, causing a burst of glowing blue fireflies to swarm into the air above their heads, casting an azure glow over them, illuminating the area as if it was still midday.

" Our targets here?" Vali spoke up.

"Sure seems like it," Bikou replied, "Although it really didn't seem that tough. Maybe it's weaker than we thought it was."

"I don't believe so," Arthur pointed Caliburn at the other end of the clearing, where all of the water that made up the attacking being was unnaturally flowing towards, "As a matter of fact, it seems like this has just begun."

The water bubbled and foamed, eventually, beginning to rise into the air, quickly taking the form of a massive person, and soon enough, the water became more and more detailed, until it looked nearly indistinguishable from a human, proper color entering its body.

Jafar's eyes widened, "The shopkeeper?"

"State your business here, filth," The living liquid snarled, "You lot trespass on the sacred lands of the Lahmu, and for that, your punishment shall be death!"

A large shovel formed within Lahmu's hand, holding it as if it were a sword.

[Balance Breaker!]

The air around Jafar whipped up like a hurricane, as Vali shot off like a rocket, fully clad in armor, towards the tall, hairy man.

The punch sounded out like a cannon, the sheer force causing Lahmu's upper body to explode into a shower of water. Vali bolted back to the group's side, shaking the leftover water droplets left on his armor off with mild concern.

[Vali, be cautious. I'm detecting that the water Lahmu's body is composed of is infused with the holy element.] Albion warned.

"Oh great…" Kuroka groaned, "So we're up against something that can regenerate, and is basically poison to half of us…"

"That's what makes it fun, Kuroka," Vali grinned from under his helmet.

"You boys and your fight, nya~" Kuroka groaned half-heartedly, summoning several magic circles around her.

Everyone in the Vali team drew their weapons, and entered their stances.

"Let's go!"


Hey everyone, I'm here! This epilogue has been a little while in the making, but I really like how it turned out. I know some of you may be wondering why the fight isn't detailed, and well… It'll leave you with some mystery, and don't worry, you'll figure out what actually happens next time we get to see the Vali Team in the main plot (which isn't that far away, yay!)

I'm nearly at the end of my university semester now, I got about two-three weeks left, with a whole bunch of stuff down the pipeline during that time, so writing more and more for that little period of time might be a challenge, but after that, I'm going to have most of April, May, and even June to kinda go wild with working on this fic, so expect to get a lot more chapters then. The upcoming 'Underworld Training arc' as I like to call it has been in conception for nearly five months now, and I can't wait to actually write it. We still do have one more epilogue after this one though, which'll be focused on Vin specifically.

On other news, by the time I'm posting this, we're at 299 reviews, so in anticipation of hitting the big milestone, I want to say thank you to everyone who has left a review in the past, or is going to leave in the future. 300 reviews is an insane number to be hitting, and the support that you've all been showing this story is nothing short of breath-taking. I really do appreciate every single fan-theory, question, impressions, everything that you all provide in your reviews… They never fail to bring a smile to my face, and brighten up my day.

Thank you so much everybody, getting past the Peace Summit arc is a big turning point for me, and from here on out, it'll start becoming a crazy-ass ride, so get ready for it.

Finally, I just want to end this by giving mention to a few other DxD fics that I've personally been enjoying, and whose creators have been crazy helpful in assisting in the creation of DxD: Alt.

Azure by Crimcrom. It's an amazing DxD OC story in the same vein as DxD: Alt., and it does exceptional work with bringing life to some of the more underappreciated characters. Also, the OC cast is wonderful. It's a criminally underrated fic (I blame this website for hiding M-rated stories behind the filter for that one), but if you want more fics like this one, check out Azure, you won't be disappointed.

Devil X Darklight and Freelancer Case Files by Seiker Hikaru. These two fics are connected to each other, each one following a different protag in different adventures that occupy the same world. It's a really unique concept, and from what I've been privy to, it's got a lot of amazing ideas. Go show it some support, it needs the number, to be honest.

Other than that, that's my fic recommendations for now. I may recommend some more another time, but that's enough for the time being. Back to DxD: Alt.

Please, if you enjoyed what you read, and want to show your support, or know when I update, do consider leaving a favorite or a follow (or both. Both are very good). Also, please do consider leaving a review. I love to read about what people think of my writing, and I do read every single one, so if you want a way of trying to tell me something related to the story, that's the best way to do so.

I got a lot of schoolwork to do, but a lot of killer ideas are churning up in my head, so I feel like it won't be too long until I'm talking to you all like this again. So until next time, rock on!