Minato x Ophis snippets

by Angel of light darkness

wrote a couple omakes/snippets that shipped Minato from Persona 3 with Ophis from DxD. Figure I'd repost them from DaD Forum Omake section. MessiahXDragon snippet series: ongoing.

24. MessiahXDragon: Scarred but Unbroken

Author Notes: Word of warning, this chapter will dip into Diodora's former peerage past and will be going into dark areas. Nothing that would change the rating but if things get a bit much be sure to take a break or skip to the next section. If you see one of these [#] then there's a section at the bottom Author's note going into further details, nothing big but something to give more context

---

Ophis sat with Katina at the kitchen table after catching the newly restored human from killing Minato with a hellfire sword, pondering on what to do with them.

Katina had tried to murder Minato in his sleep and, while Ophis doubted that would have been enough to kill him the fact there was attempt angered her, she didn't know how to address the issue.

Getting rid of Katina wasn't an option, while Ophis had done similar things in the past to ensure her resources to defeat Great Red this wasn't like those times before. Minato had knowingly placed himself in a dangerous position by taking the Peerage of the Devil who had one of her snakes, having one of their numbers disappear could upset him even if the attempted assassination was doomed to fail. If not due to the unlikely event the attack would be enough to kill him then it would have failed with the chimera hellhound waiting in the shadows to strike, Ophis looked behind Katina into the darkness to see three sets of eyes ready to attack.

"I know who you are, what you are" Katina spoke quietly, Ophis 'quirk' her eyebrow to subtly hint to Katina to continue "Your the Infinite Dragon, Ophis. When I saw that bastard become no different than a Stray Devil I noticed that snake return to you"

Ophis, taking a moment to congratulated herself on her advancement with subtle facial expression, decided to go with an old tried and true method of getting others to do what she wanted. Slowly putting her hand on the table with an open palm a snake of her power grew forth and stood at attention, Katina looked at the snake with a hateful expression as her grip on her clenched into fists.

"I don't know what your planning, but I'm not taking that thing" Katina said through gritted teeth "I don't want your power"

Frowning, Ophis's snake returned to her as she needed to rethink her method of approach. The amount of times beings denied her power that knew of it could be counted on one hand, pantheons had warred against each other to gain a slithered of her power with some even being shattered and lost to time, those that denied her power were few and far between.

As Ophis thought back on those who denied her power she couldn't help as her gaze drifted to Minato for a moment as he slept, their time spent together being the most prominent in her mind.

"Why are we here, what's the point of all this?" Katina asked, causing Ophis's gaze to slowly return to her "You made us human again and killed the heir of the Astaroth family, you could have taken the snake back without issue like you did months back, what purpose does taking us serve?"

"I did none of those things" Ophis frowned, perplexed at how Katina came to such a conclusion, she pointed to Minato's sleeping form "He did it all"

Katina's frown deepened as she followed Ophis's finger to Minato, she looked ready to say something but stopped herself, the newly restored Human looked back to Ophis "Who is he?"

"A friend" Ophis answered, being truthful to see what reaction Katina would have to Minato being a friend to the Infinite Dragon God and at least preventing possible future murder attempts.

"A friend able to summon a dead Progenitor Demon, induce what looked like Evil Piece Mutation and even reverting Devil conversion" Katina said, her gaze becoming harder.

Ophis reconsidered her method of dealing with Katina, deciding a slightly more harsher stance was needed she nodded "Among other things. The reason I went with him was due to him asking for my help, him rescuing you and placing the current heir of Astaroth in a trial he is unlikely to return from alive was all done by his own will"

"And us being here?" Katina asked, curious at what Ophis meant by trial but putting aside for the time being.

"Where else is there for you?" Ophis asked, genuinely curious and feeling it would aid her in gaining control of the conversation. Seeing Katina flinch Ophis knew she found her plan of attack "You can't return to the Devils, none of you are Devils any longer, who knows what they'll do to figure out how a supposedly permanent Devil conversion was reversed. And I very much doubt none of the other Factions won't take a similar interest themselves"

Katina clamped her mouth shut, her body going rigid at the Infinite Dragon's words and the implications they hinted at.

"However, they would take an interest in him as well" Ophis admitted, knowing it wouldn't take the former Peerage long to figure things out for themselves, hoping to build something resembling trust with the potential loose end across from her "And yet, despite knowing the risk, he reached out his hand to save you and offered you all shelter in his home"

Katina looked over to Minato again before turning to look deeper into the house, in her mind her fellows were huddled together fearful of the position they were in and sought comfort in each other like so many times before "Why? That's what I don't understand, why did he do it?"

"Kindness, I think" Ophis tilted her head at the end of her answer "There isn't anything you can give him he doesn't already have or want. At least, nothing that was made apparent in the months I lived with him"

Katina looked at Ophis in wide eyed shock for a moment before subtly shaking her head "So, what happens next then?"

"For you, or for the others?" Ophis asked, Katina going rigid at her question "Work together until your able to stand on your own and prepared to go off on your own, but keep all of this here quiet" a ball of power formed in the mouth of a snake that grew from Ophis's shoulder, pointed straight at Katina "Erasing loose ends is a last resort, but one that I will not hesitated in doing"

Katina nodded with her legs trembling for a moment, head held low she stood up and walked back to the room she and the rest of her former peerage were. Ophis waited several seconds to make sure Katina didn't come back for something else before going back over to the coach she was resting on moments ago, petting Bridget's head as the chimera looked down the hall Katina walked down, as she got closer she saw Minato's blanket had fallen off his sleeping form.

Picking up the blanket Ophis was ready to put it over Minato when she felt the warmth that still clung to the blanket, her mind drifting back to the brief moment he carried her, before looking into the darkness of the house.

'Perhaps, just to make sure no one else attempts anything' with that thought Ophis carefully maneuvering herself to lay down beside Minato with the blanket over them both, she let out a content sigh at the warmth she had found herself in. Ophis was caught off guard when Minato's arm moved to hug her closer, it took her a moment to get used to it but once she did Ophis found it nice.

Meanwhile

Katina moved slowly and methodically through the house she had found herself in, the dark hallway becoming more foreboding in her mind as she relied on the placement of doors and furniture to find her way back to the room.

The hallway was much smaller than what she had grown used to, Devils had a tendency to build their homes to be as large as possible for both a display of wealth and in the event of having battles in the building, while her eyes had adjusted to the darkness she still couldn't see far ahead of her like before.

'Right, no Devil body no night vision' Katina thought to herself as she reached a door she had marked as the one she was looking for in her mind.

One knock. Five knocks. Eight knocks. Nine knocks. One knock. Jiggle the handle without opening the door. That was the code they used to let the others know it was one of them at the door, though it was awkward with the paper sliding doors in this place.

Katina waited until a light shone through the paper door and a shadowed figure opened the door, seeing one of her fellows eased the tension in her heart for a moment as she entered the room.

The room itself was large from what they had seen of the house but in comparison to that place it was smaller then a walk in closet, there was plenty of room for them to move around with bare bones furniture. The floor was made up of mats with beds low to the ground and a small kitchen area on the same wall as the door, over all it wasn't a bad place to spend a night or two but the kitchen part made some of them worry their stay would be a long and confined one.

"Is everything alright Katina, you look a little pale" Gabriel asked, his gentle voice helping Katina to calm her nerves after her recent experience. Among them Gabriel was the only boy, something that bastard over looked but didn't give a shit about due to Gabriel being cute and sharing the same name of an Archangel.

Katina pushed down on the memories of those 'role-playing' sessions they were forced to listen to or take part in before looking over to Gabriel "I found the toilet just fine, I even went to see if the owner of this place was still sleeping on the coach and he was"

Katina laid down on her futon even as everyone's gaze turned to her, they had been together long enough to know there was something she wasn't saying them. Katina knew her not telling them anything would only hurt them, she tried to find the right words to tell them the truth.

"I debated whether or not to kill him" Katina raised her hand as hellfire danced at her finger tips for a moment "Had a sword of flames out and everything, though I never decided on what I would do" Katina clenched her fist, the knowledge that the Infinite Dragon God itself was only a couple of steps from them putting her on edge. The sight of that small ball of power capable of destroying her in her entirety fresh in her mind.

"Was it because of Phis?" Ionna asked as she remembered the young girl was laying down on the other coach with Minato after winning some eating contest, they didn't know much about Phis other then she was wearing a nun's outfit when they woke up and mostly kept to herself.

"Yeah, and it's name isn't Phis" Katina sat up, knowing she couldn't keep laying down with what she was about to tell them "The girl is Ophis, the same Ophis that bastard got the snake he was so smug about"

She went into details about her encounter with Ophis, from the not so veiled threats to the reason they were brought here.

The knowledge that they were in the 'care' of a 'friend' of the Infinite Dragon was received differently among themselves, from Katina's own distrust and hostile air to Chloe's more accepting nature.

"Maybe, he is genuinely offering us aid" Chloe, the newest among them at a little under a decade at being a Devil, looked around at the disbelieving looks the others were giving her "I'm only putting the idea out there, after all we are human again, and Diodora wasn't exactly likeable even among others like himself"

Katina sighed as she looked over everyone and to the clock on the wall "Let's continue this tomorrow, it's late and I doubt we'll come up with anything at this late hour"

After a murmur of agreement everyone went back to bed, all except one who stood awkwardly with her pillow in her arms beside Katina's bed.

'Right, what little we had is still back at the manor like Tanya's teddy bear' without saying anything Katina moved over to give the former Pawn room to lay beside her, only falling asleep once she was sure Tanya slept soundly.

Waking up Katina was pleasantly surprised to see nothing was out of place when they woke up, hearing music she tentatively had Ionna scout out what was happening and report back to them on what she found. When the former Pawn came back she looked more confused then anything else.

"Their doing yoga, the blue haired guy is surprisingly flexible but it seems Phis isn't as skilled" Ionna's answer drawing the others out, true to her words Minato and Ophis were doing yoga in the living room. Katina looked on confused as her mind worked to reconcile the two images she had of Ophis, one being the image of a shapeshifting dragon god whose superiority in power was without question and the other being the same dragon god copying yoga positions Minato was performing and losing her footing more then once before quickly correcting herself to continue with the routine.

"Well, don't just stand there" The former peerage looked over to see Joseph and Maria in the kitchen preparing food "We don't have much but we got enough for a fulfilling meal, any allergies we need to know about?"

Sitting down for the simple breakfast Katina found herself keeping a close eye on everyone, especially on the dragon god and it's 'friend' as they sat together watching something on TV involve people in colourful outfits, the dog giving her a cold stare whenever she was in the dog's field of view. Katina met the dog's eyes and swore she saw flames in it's eyes, she avoided eye contact with it whenever possible to avoid being seen as a threat.

'I don't know what your game is, but I swear I will protect them' Katina thought to herself as she continued eating breakfast, her focus on the group she had been the de facto leader of for decades as they ate their food slowly with their attention on each other looking for effects of poison or drugs.

---

Half an hour earlier.

Minato knew he wasn't in his bed, as he started to wake up he realize he had fallen asleep on the coach. With one hand he pulled up the blanket put over him, subtly aware one of his summoned Personas had put one over him and one for Ophis, as he used his other arm to hug-

With that thought Minato realized he was hugging something with his left arm, picking up more details as he fully returned to the waking world such as it was warm and resting on his chest. Opening his eyes Minato saw he was hugging Ophis as they both rested under the blanket.

Looking down at Ophis resting her head on his chest Minato wasn't sure what he should do next, she looked so peaceful he didn't have the heart to wake her up, not to mention it was still early enough he could get another few minutes of sleep. And he would be lying to himself if he denied it felt nice hugging someone as he slept, he never really gave much thought to why people cuddled stuffed animals when they go to sleep but now he saw the reason.

Seeing Ophis stirring Minato remembered one thing, Ophis didn't sleep.

"Morning" Ophis said as she looked up to Minato, her head remaining where it was on his chest.

"Good morning" Minato replied as he looked down at Ophis's face searching for any signs of discomfort "Feeling any better from yesterday"

He honestly didn't think the eating contest would negatively affect her or at least not to the extent it had, while he was suffering the effects as well seeing his friend suffering because of him was far worse. Still, he wouldn't deny she was a massive help and with the first and second place cash prize they'd be fine financially until he could get a bigger income to feed everyone.

"Only sweets for the foreseeable future" Ophis answered, seeming to snuggle closer to Minato.

"Well, what about that sugary cereal you like? Pretty sure we still have several boxes unopened" Ophis gained a twinkle in her eyes, seeing this brought Minato some relief as he laid his head back down to rest for another few minutes.

As he did he felt several sets of eyes starring at him, looking over he saw Bridget with all three heads out routinely looking at him or around the room. Seeing his concerned look the chimera hellhound went up to Minato and whined before licking Minato's cheek, seeing the hellhound's concern Minato rubbed Bridget's heads to calm them.

Ophis and Bridget told Minato what happened when he was sleeping, hearing what had happened Minato got up and prepared for a yoga routine to remove the kinks out of his body from sleeping on the coach.

"Well, that was faster then I expected" Minato said as he began his morning yoga routine, music from the radio playing as he followed the routine instilled into him by his Personas "I was expecting something either right after they came here or some time next week"

"You expected an attempt on your life and yet you still let them live here without giving yourself additional protection" Ophis joined the yoga routine, both as a means to further endear herself to Minato and to enhance her dancing skills to better enjoy her music, each fall or misstep was annoying but each one she overcame was proof of improvement. She wasn't sure what the yoga method was called but it was somewhat interesting "Many would call such a thing idiotic"

Minato stopped his current routine to perform a standing stretch, catching his reflection in the blank TV screen where he saw Thanatos standing protectively over him with shadowy silhouettes of other Personas nearby "It would take a lot to kill me, and even more so to put me down for good. Besides" Minato smiled at the sleeping Bridget wrapped in his previously used blanket and Ophis "I have a good friend looking out for me, along with the cutest chimera in the world"

"*Yawm* What about us? Feeling a little left out" Adam said in a mocked hurt voice as he walked down the hall and into the kitchen with Eve, both wearing business suits.

"Oh such it up, we got a long day of pounding the pavement looking for work" Lilith said playfully as she started making coffee and tea.

Eve looked at the time and frowned "I'll head out early and drop off the manga panels, did you make sure to properly label everything?" receiving a nod from Minato she collected the manga panels and headed towards the front door "I'm off then, keep in contact love"

"Same to you, honey" Adam and Eve blew air kisses to each other, Lilith doing her best to ignore them, before Eve left looking for work. Among the summoned Personas Joseph and Maria were to stay with the peerage to help them readjust and make whatever improvements possible while Adam, Eve and Lilith went out searching for work.

Eve rushed back into the house with her eyes focused on Minato and Ophis "Before I go, knock off Featherman is coming on in a couple of minutes"

Minato offered a mental thanks and a nod to the Mother of Humanity, knowing the Father of Humanity was preparing the cereal for Ophis.

As the yoga routine neared it's end Katina and the others hesitatingly entered to join them for breakfast, due to limited space at the table Minato and Ophis sat on the coach to eat cereal as they watched knock off Featherman with the previous night's blankets used to cover their laps to prevent any spills.

Long days laid ahead of them, and as his Personas went out looking for new sources of income Minato looked to the still sleeping Bridget as his mind wander to his own plans to earning more money.

---

Bridget collapsed onto the ground, all three heads panting as Minato scratched the point the three necks joined. The senior Tamer marked several forms on a clipboard before giving Minato a congratulatory pat on the back "Congrats kid, your a real Tamer now! It'll take a day or so to get everything into the system so you and the three headed lady can give yourselves a well earned break"

Minato thanked the Senior Tamer who judged his Tamer License Exam before leading Bridget out of the test room where Kiyome was waiting with a proud look in her eyes.

"I have to say, I think you're one of the fastest on record whose gone from trainee to a full Tamer" Kiyome as she recalled something "During times of peace, and no extraordinary circumstances of course" seeing the look she got from Minato she shrugged "Lots of weird things have happened in the past, from Trainees becoming full Tamers in under a week due to low numbers, conflict or some other reason to Tamers reincarnating to rejoin in another life"

"Any piece of Tamer history in particular that comes to mind?" Minato asked, finding himself more curious about the history of Tamers the more he learnt about them. He had already rented a history book from the shared library and was about a third of the way through already, with how hectic his life had been since he rescued the former nuns it offered him some moments of peace.

Kiyome smiled at the question "Come on, we can talk over dinner. Considered it my treat for passing the test" Minato followed Kiyome as she lead them to the place they'd have their dinner, as they walked Kiyome looked over to Bridget with a furrowed "Hey, did something happen?"

"I had a close encounter the other night, and since then" Minato looked down to Bridget to see all three heads scanning the area for any signs of danger, Katina's possible attempt on his life had left the cross-bred canine very mistrusting of the former Peerage Queen and more clingy to him "Bridget's been a bit more protective"

Kiyome knelt down to get a closer look at Bridget, Alexa and Elda were very cooperative with her with only Dealla being slightly annoyed at being touched "Hmm. Have you taken her to the on site groomer, going helped relax some of my charges and while their not too bad it could help calm them"

Bridget backed away from Kiyome and stood around Minato's legs, seeming to stretch slightly as she wrapped around his legs, Minato knelt down to rub Bridget's back "It's okay, I won't be far away and I'll be on site while your being groomed"

With some reluctance from the chimera hellhound, Minato and Kiyome brought Bridget to the groomers who gentle took the canine chimera in for a wash. Getting a rough time frame of an hour before their finish Minato and Kiyome went to dinner, as they ate they made small talk after Kiyome talked about some Tamer fun facts such as backpacking being among the favourite method of tourism from Tamers.

As they ate their dessert Kiyome gave Minato a curious look "So, how's it living with that family staying with you?"

"Alright, things are a bit nosier then usual though everything is going well" Minato answered, silently glad the cover story for Katina and the others was going well. Admittedly he wasn't sure how well the lie of Adam, Eve, Joseph and Maria being two couples who were visiting Japan with a combined total of adopted fourteen daughters and one son along with their mutual friend Lili to help mind the kids. The old man had let people stay at his haunted home, to give the monster a source of victims to drain from before letting them leave before claiming their souls at a later date, so the idea of some people booking an extended stay before he signed the place over wasn't too unbelievable.

Honestly he wasn't sure why people seemed accepting of the idea, either they held more trust in him than he expected or Aika was talking about their conversation on the way to school before he got roped into helping the Occult Research Club train and his difficulty saying no to people made the story believable.

"Kiyome, how's my little girl doing?" hearing someone calling out Minato and Kiyome looked over to a man with the same shade of brown hair to Kiyome's was approaching them, he had the air of professionalism about him with the only sign of his age being the greying hairs on the side of his head.

Kiyome smiled waving back, as he got closer Kiyome hugged him "Hey dad"

Kiyome's father sat at their table, as he did he gave Minato a look over with a curious gaze "Not wanting to jump to conclusions, but would you happen to be the new Tamer my daughter has been training" Minato nodded and formally introduce himself, Kiyome's father smiled "Nice to meet you in person finally, I'm Hideki Abe. Kiyome's father, who just so happens to be among Asia's top ten Tamers"

"Humble as always" Kiyome shook her head with a small smile on her face "I'd invite you to join us but we're just about finished, unless your happy with just tea or coffee"

Hideki shook his head "As tempting tea or coffee is I have a meeting in half an hour and I know I won't have the time to properly enjoy it, I was mostly taking a little walk to kill time"

Kiyome looked around the place they were eating and saw several people waiting for a table, she looked around their table and gave Minato a look over before getting up "Perhaps it's better if we continued this elsewhere, several people are waiting on a table and we're finished ourselves. I'll be back in a minute, this dinner was a gift for Minato for passing his exam so don't call him a cheapskate dad"

Once Kiyome was out of earshot Hideki focused his gaze on Minato "So, I take it your the mysterious student my daughter took on" receiving a nod from Minato he continued on "How long have you been training under my daughter? Be honest with me as I'm just a little curious myself"

"I'd say, about a couple of weeks. Closer to a month" Minato answered honestly, he hadn't really considered the amount of time since Kiyome took him in as her student and only when he answered her father's question did he really give it any deep thought.

"A month, as in a singular month" Hideki narrowed his eyes, looking over to Kiyome to see her waiting in line to pay for the meal before turning back to Minato "Look; I don't know why your telling people that you went from a trainee to a fully fledged Tamer, a process usually taking around a year at minimal, in a month but be careful"

Hideki lowered his head, closing his eyes with a solemn look to him "I've seen too many people lie about their time spent preparing for the Tamer Exam and paying dearly for it soon after, no one wants to see newcomers cut down before they have a chance to stand on their own two feet" he spoke with a sadness in his voice, one belonging to a teacher and a father.

Seeing this Minato saw one path forward "What would I need to do to prove to you I'm not lying about the amount of time I've been preparing?"

"Well, a simple quest should be enough" Hideki raised his head after a moment's thought, his expression blank as he met Minato's gaze "You wouldn't be in the system officially until tomorrow, and I have a meeting shortly so today is out of the question" reaching into his chest pocket Hideki pulled out a business card and handed it to Minato "That's my number, give me a call when you have time and if the stars align we might be able to get a proper quest together"

Minato accepted the business card, understanding that Kiyome's father wanted to test him himself "I'll be sure to call as soon as I can"

Hideki nodded "Thank you. I don't want to believe my daughter would let you lie about something like this but it's better to be safe then sorry" he smiled, the tension in his shoulders easing up "Besides, if everything turns out on the up and up then this will give credence to your abilities and my little Kiyome's teaching skills" Minato nodded to Hideki's words feeling that he understood Kiyome's father a little.

As soon as Kiyome was on her way back Hideki took out his wallet and opened it up to show several photos, a goofy smile on his face "Anyway, want to see some of photos of Kiyome when she was a little girl-"

"Dad!" Kiyome called out before slamming the wallet down onto the ground, an annoyed and embarrassed look aimed at her father.

The three spent some time together before going to check up on Bridget at the groomers, what awaited them gave them pause. Bridget came out with her coat freshly cleaned and brushed along with tiny bows on each head, all three not liking the bows with even Alexa having an annoyed look. As soon as they saw Minato they began to jump, pull and bark to get out, the people at the groomers tried to calm them down but before they could Bridget burst into vapour before flying over to Minato and Kiyome before reforming.

Alexa, Dealla and Elda looked at each other in confusion at what they just did, the groomers and Hideki looked shocked at sight whereas Minato and Kiyome took out small books to write down what happened.

"So would that be the Black Shuck part showing up or do you think the Cwn Annwn was the source of Bridget's new mist transformation?" Minato asked as he was detailing what had just happened.

Kiyome sniffed the air around them with a frown "I can't really tell much with the different scents here but I think it's closer to Black Shuck then Cwn Annwn, maybe a mix of the two but to what extent we'll need to check later"

Back at the Arisato Residence

"Katina dear, what are you doing?"

"Getting Devil Television on the screen" Katina answered as she worked on tuning the TV to pick up Devil broadcasts, beside her the former Knight Flipa and former Rook Hermina sat with her to offer whatever aid was needed to get access to Devil Broadcasting. Partially due to their favourite shows were starting up again in a week and didn't want to miss them.

Maria approached them with her eyes focused on the screen as she looked concerned "How much is this Devil Television?"

"It's free Mrs" Hermia paused, searching for the surname of one of the couples they were in the care off and finding nothing "They don't charge you for anything on it. Well, unless it certain things"

"Ah, that would be pay per view correct?" Maria asked, receiving a nod of confirmation she gave the TV a look as it began to show a Devil in a naked apron in a kitchen "So long as it nothing too extreme, and you pay for whatever you want to watch yourselves, then it's fine"

"And by extreme?" Flipa asked, wanting to gauge how much they could openly watch without worrying.

"Nothing that wouldn't be shown on human TV" Maria answered, her voice soft yet having a noticeable steel to it

""Yes, ma'am"" Flipa and Hermia answered together, Katina answering with a deep nod as she changed the channel to the news where a Devil wearing significantly more clothes was reporting on the news.

Maria smiled at Flipa and Hermia's, making small talk with them before leaving them to their own devices to take care of other things.

Katina watched the news intently to the very end, searching for any details on what happened to them and Diodora, not finding anything even remotely related like upcoming Peerage Games. Handing the remote to Flipa and Hermia, Katina got to her feet as she pondered on what this meant.

'Either no one knows what happened to us, implying Minato did something with that Progenitor Demon to cover our tracks, or the current Government learnt of Diodora's connection to the Old Satan Faction and keeping what happened secret for now'

Katina rubbed her temple as her thoughts ran a mile a minute, right now they were all scouting out the place they were brought to in order to uncover anything hidden from them. So far nothing malicious had been found, aside from keeping away from a locked room Minato and the adults were in the middle of sealing off out of respect for the previous owner, but if living in that Hell Diodora created taught them anything it was that the Devil was in the detail.

The front door slammed open, Katina rushed to the front door with Flipa and Hermia following beside Katina while keeping out of sight of anyone at the front door. From the door a shaking Tanya was looking around wide eyed before she focused in on Katina, Katina for her part walked slowly to Tanya making sure she saw all her movements so as to not startle the shaking girl.

Katina embraced Tanya in a hug rubbing small circles into the younger girl's back, in the doorway Daria stood looking tense. Looking towards Daria Katina saw the former Pawn mouth two words.

Panic Attack.

After some time they were able to calm Tanya down, as Tanya sat with Flipa and Hermia to watch television together Katina spoke with Daria out of earshot of them.

"Tanya thought she saw Diodora in the woods" Katina repeated as she looked concerned at Daria with her eyes drifting back to Tanya, who was laughing at something on human television.

Daria nodded grimly "Yes, it happened when we were scouting out the area around the property. Everything was going well as we left markers to find our way back and made note of landmarks, it was as we were turning back did Tanya thought she saw him"

"Daria, I don't want to ask this but" Katina began to ask, stopping herself when she saw the look in the former Pawn's eyes "No one was there"

"I made thorough sweep of the area, we were the only one's out there and there was no trace of any use of magic"

Katina nodded, debating internally if she should mention the results of her own research before deciding there was no point in keeping it hidden "This place doesn't have any computers so searching Devil net is off the table and no mention of what happened is on the public news, meaning no one knows what happened or if it's being kept quiet"

"Have Chloe and Regula made it back yet, you sent them off to the library with a map of the city a few hours ago?" Daria asked, she turned to the clock in the hallway and saw it was already passed the expected time they were suppose to return at.

Katina glanced at the clock as does, Katina barely stopped herself from biting her thumb nail due to stress and just hid the nervous tick before Daria turned back to her "They're passed their return time but not enough for concern, yet. If they're not back before nightfall I'm heading out looking for them"

"Looking for who?"

Katina's heart stopped for a moment as she heard the voice behind her, slowly turning around her face paled as she saw Ophis standing down the hallway from her with a large lollipop in hand. She had a pair of headphones around her neck that was playing music if someone listen closely, Ophis's eyes never left Katina even as she licked the lollipop in hand.

"Chloe and Regula went to the library a while again and haven't come back yet" Daria answered in Katina's stead, walking forward so that she was closer to Ophis then Katina.

"Hmm" Ophis answered with a seemingly disinterested response "So long as you don't reveal who you are, and more importantly not connecting yourselves with us, your free to do what you want" Ophis turned around and started to walk away, Katina and Daria letting out the breath they were holding "Oh, and if you need any help don't be afraid to ask"

Both Katina and Daria kept their eyes on Ophis until the Infinite Dragon God was out of sight, Daria turned to Katina with a pleading look "Please tell me you were mistaken and little Phis isn't actually Ophis, I wouldn't believe it if anyone else told me"

"I would if I could" Katina truthfully, still not sure how to handle the whole living with the Infinite Dragon God situation. Taking a deep breath Katina looked over to see Tanya was looking far better then she was, Katina went to the front door and began putting on her shoes "Come on, let's finish the trek for the day before it gets too dark"

Daria nodded, following Katina's lead after saying where they were going to the other, as Daria and Katina headed out their thoughts drifted back to Regula and Chloe with worry to their whereabouts.

Meanwhile, while Chloe and Regula in Kuoh Town

"Look, a church!"

Regula looked at the church Chloe pointed at, the former Knight adjusted the strap of her satchel as she followed the former Pawn onto the church grounds. Regula braced herself for the stinging that accompanied all Devils entering holy or scared grounds, when non came she looked around the area before following behind Chloe who was waiting for her.

"Chloe, we need to get back before it gets too dark, scouting out the area was a fine idea but we need to get back" Regula looked over her shoulder to the area behind them, while things had been going well for them in their foray into Kuoh Town, Regula couldn't shake the feeling something was following them since Chloe began approaching the church.

"I know, but can't I just go inside for a quick look?" Chloe pleaded, taking Regula hands into her own.

Regula regarded the former Devil Pawn for a moment, out of all them Chloe seemed the one most intent on forgetting their time spent with Diodora. It was a sentiment they all shared but Chloe took it to another level, avoiding even talking about their former King whenever possible.

That in itself would be understandable with no cause for concern, however it was her suppressing or altering her own memories that became a much greater concern. More then once Chloe would insist events happened differently then what had happened, nights spent comforting each after one of the worst days becoming sleepovers or parties were the guests had to be dressed in real clothes instead of attending nude, or even outright suppressing what had happened.

Regula couldn't fault Chloe for any of that, all those who suffered under Diodora done the same at one point or another either gaslighting themselves to avoid the worst aspects of a particular situation or forcing themselves to forget the worst things they had been ordered to do under Diodora's thumb.

Chloe, however, was taking it all further then any of them had seen before with some of them thinking if they weren't around she would have developed some form of amnesia, either regressing to how she was before every meeting Diodora or wiping it all away and starting from scratch.

"Okay, five minutes then we have to go" Regula said, finally caving under Chloe's puppy dog eyes. Seeing Chloe's eyes light up brought a smile to Regula's own features. Regula looked behind them one last time before looking up at the church's bell tower.

'What is it like inside, a church in the borders of a foreign land once hostile to the faithful in the past within a Devil's self proclaimed territory?' Regula asked herself as she looked around the area, the sense of being followed not leaving her Regula excused herself as checked around the exterior of the church and asked Chloe to wait for her before entering the building.

As she was on her own Chloe pushed open the doors and entered without hesitation, her eyes wide as she took in the sight of the church's interior. An endeavour halted for a moment as she ran face first into a spider's web, cleaning her face Chloe continued deeper into the church at a slower pace.

The interior of the church seemed to be in pristine condition at first glance, if not needing a lot of cleaning, but the more she looked the more Chloe saw things were off. The rows of pews were misaligned with a number of them hitting against each other, the walls were bare of anything normally saw hung up like depictions of saints or parables, the alter was over turned revealing a staircase leading down into darkness with desecrated statues around the back of the church.

"Who did this?" Chloe asked herself as she bite her lip, her hands clenched tightly as she thought about who would do such a things. At first she thought the local Devils were the one's responsible, defiling the house of the Lord to spite God or to fulfil their perverted desires. Chloe considered the Fallen Angels, due to their own bitterness towards their father and weren't negatively effect in churches like Devils were. Chloe knew little about Yokai and other creatures native to Japan, even so she could see a Yokai or human ransacking the church for profit or entertainment.

Chloe took a deep breath to calm herself, she had no way of knowing who was responsible for desecrating this church and careless finger pointing would only bring them ill.

Looking away from the destroyed statues Chloe sat down in one of the front pews, closing her eyes as she tried to calm her mind. Chloe sat in silence with naught a sound beyond the distant calls of birds, her own breathing the most prominent sound in the church.

[1]"Sister Chloe? Sister Chloe are you sleeping in the pews?"

Chloe opened her eyes and found herself in a church far different then the one she was in moments ago, the church she found herself was a noticeable smaller but unlike the one in Kuoh it was truly pristine with the walls filled with saints and statues standing unbroken as candles were lit at their base.

Light came in through the windows, the stained-glass shining a robot of colour over those within the old humble church. Looking around Chloe saw people dusting around the church, replacing old candles and general performing regularly maintenance, be side her stood an old nun with a stern look.

"Mother Superior! I'm sorry, I had trouble sleeping last night and" Chloe stopped herself as she saw the Mother Superior giving a sour look to something behind Chloe, reluctantly turning around Chloe saw the book she was reading not a few minutes ago.

Faith and forbidden Love: a sister's romance.

"Honestly Chloe" the Mother Superior reached over and collected the book, she looked over the books cover front to back with the same sour look "I understand the love of reading, but I wish you were more discerning in your choice of literature"

Chloe kept silent, her head low as her Mother Superior looked over the interior cover of the book. With a sigh the Mother Superior handed Chloe back her book, the old nun's sour look becoming a tired one "At the very least, pick something a bit more tasteful in nun romances. I've heard of this book, and the main love interest deserves a beating"

Chloe looked up at her Mother Superior shocked "N-no! I'll admit Bruno has done bad things but he's just misunderstood"

The Mother Superior gave Chloe a flat look "Sister Chloe, a man using the pains and scars of his past as a reason to do harm onto others is not a good man. Especially if those he hurts are completely unrelated to his own pains" she began to walk away and gestured for Chloe to follow her "Come along, we have a lot to prepare for the new millennium. The year 2000 art the local primary school needs to be hung up before-" [1]

"Hey!"

A voice calls out from the main entrance of the church, turning around Chloe saw a teenage girl with long blonde hair and emerald eyes starring a her as a man stood beside her.

The light from the church gave way to a malicious darkness, the man's features revealing themselves as he towered over Chloe with lustful eyes filled with malice that glowed with unholy power.

Diodora's body grew as his body twisted with his arms ready to ensnare her, circling her like predators ready to devour their prey.

Chloe screamed, crashing to the ground as she pushed herself away. Her heart beating in her ears as her flight or fight response was screaming at her to run, she tried to get up but her legs were shaking too violently for her to move under her own power. Her heavy breathing broken up by coughing as the dust around her entered her throat, feeling herself hitting something hard Chloe felt cornered with no where left to run.

"o! Chlo, it's me. Look at me"

Chloe looked over to see Regula offering her hand, without hesitation took the former Knight's hand as she was brought into a hug.

No one was sure how long it took for Chloe to recover, only that she clung to Regula for dear life as tears spilt from her eyes. The two stayed like that for several long minutes before Chloe was through the worst of it.

Regula kept a worried eye on Chloe, she had recovered somewhat from her panic attack in the church though it did little to ease Regula's own worries.

"Hey, is she going to be okay?"

Regula cursed internally 'Right, still have to deal with the one responsible for accidentally triggering Chloe's panic attack' Regula looked at the two teenagers that had entered the church while Chloe was inside.

Issei Hyoudou, current host of the Red Dragon Emperor's power and a large reason why Rias Gremory was still single. Supposedly he was still rather newly reincarnated though there were whispers that he was actually a Devil for far longer then what the Gremorys were willing to divulge for whatever reason, the most popular rumour Regula could remember was they were training him up in secret.

The genuine worry in his eyes ease any anger she could have for him after putting Chloe in such a state, even if there wasn't much Regula could do without bringing in more issues for them to deal with.

Besides, he wasn't entirely to blame for Chloe's panic attack.

Looking to Issei Hyoudou's side stood Diodora's latest target of depravity, someone who by all rights should have been safe and yet still turned into a Devil.

How Asia Argento became a Devil is something Regula and the others had no clue on, she seemed to have been given a way to escape the Fallen Angels and Diodora entirely if that monster's panic screech after his attempt to acquire her was any indication.

[2] A true angel appeared on the night the Fallen were planning on extracting Twilight Healing, one powerful enough that Diodora fled the moment it had appeared fearing that being in the angel's presence would be enough to kill him. Diodora's panic babbling the weak Fallen angels were the being's targets and convincing himself at one point that the thing that appeared was an Archangel.

Diodora and his entire peerage spent a solid week in hiding, expecting an attack at any time but once it became clear Heaven was not going to smite Diodora for stealing nuns before they returned like nothing happened.

Asia Argento was by all rights safe, leaving everyone asking why she was now a Devil under Rias Gremory.

The latest target of Diodora's obsession, one he planned on sinking his claws into once he knew Asia had become a Devil, and a guy roughly Diodora's size in a dimly lit area together. It wasn't a large leap in logic to mistake someone for another person, even for a moment it was enough to send Chloe into a panic attack.

"I-I'm doing better" Chloe said slowly, her breathing easing up even as her grip on Regula's hand remained firm "I, I thought you were someone else for a moment"

"Are you sure you're okay, I can help you even if it's-" Asia began to say, taking a step forward and reaching out a hand.

Chloe flinched as she leaned deeper into Regula away from Asia, Asia winced before walking back.

Chloe shook her head slowly, her head held low to not make eye contact "No thank you, I'll be fine in a minute"

Regula looked over the two Devils with a hard look "So, may I ask what brought you two here? Planning your wedding or something?"

"Well, we saw you two walking up here and we got curious" Issei said, answering for them as Asia blushed strong enough that it could be seen even with the low light.

"You understand how creepy that sounds, right?" Regula asked, starring intently at Asia and Issei as if they were criminals. Regula didn't really have an excuse for them being there beyond curiosity on Chloe's part, for now she was planning on putting any possible heat off them and throwing it back to the Gremory Devils.

Issei rubbed the back of his head "Yeah, I kind of notice after I said it out loud. So, what brings you by here?"

Regula gave Issei a pointed look, not sure if the conversation was easy or the early stages of interrogation.

"We haven't been to church in a while" Chloe answered, letting go of Regula's hand and standing up straight "So, we thought we come to take a look here" Chloe looked around the church "Is it abandoned? And why are symbols of faith and statues destroyed"

Issei looked around the church "Well, I guess semi-abandoned? There hasn't been any service here in years after the last priests left and no one took their place, it still gets used for marriages but even then that's mostly for photos"

Asia looked to the back of the church where a set of stairs leading into darkness and broken statues could be seen "Some people, a gang you could say, moved in a little while again and did the damage"

"I see" Chloe answered before giving Regula an empty smile "We should really head home, everyone's probable worried sick about us around now"

Regula nodded, accepting Chloe's hand as they walked together "Well, that's our quota of urban exploring. We're heading off"

They didn't wait for the Gremory Devils to answer, instead Chloe and Regula walked on pass them with neither looking back at them. Once they were far enough away from the Devils Chloe stopped to hug Regula.

"Why?" Chloe asked, tightening her grip on Regula who returned the hug "Why did an angel go to save Asia?" Chloe said with a hic in her voice "Why did she become a Devil?"

Chloe buried her head into Regula's shoulder, openly crying as the former Knight offered whatever she could "She's like us, the same as us. So why, why? Why is she happy when we went through Hell? Why is she happy?"

Regula held Chloe close, the unfairness of the situation was something not lost to her.

Later that night

"All of Diodora's matches have been pushed back to later dates" Katina looked over the information Chloe and Regula were able to gain from DevilNet, the only thing that popped up about Diodora in the time since their rescue has been all his peerage matches being pushed back to later dates.

"We've taken screenshots of the message boards and articles discussing it, so far no official word has been said though the majority are linking it back to Diodora killing Glasya-Labolas heir in his last Rating Game" Chloe said as she handed the print outs to Katina, Katina's gaze looked at Chloe's puffy eyes for a moment before looking away and taking the offered print outs.

Looking at the schedule of upcoming Rating Games all of Diodora's matches had their dates removed with only TBD beside them, while not uncommon such a thing couldn't last forever due to Devils being unable to arrange for new matches until it was decided what would happen.

While it was possible that all his matches were pushed back to unknown due to him not having a peerage they would have mentioned it, the complete lost of a peerage something reported on immediately mostly due to prior bets or trades behind the scenes.

In Katina's mind there was only one course that made sense "If I had to guess the one's in charge know about Diodora's dealings with those old Devil dirtbags" Katina bit her finger nail as she considered the situation.

Standard procedure was if a King commits a crime the entire peerage is brought in as accessory to said crimes until proven otherwise, though considering the state most those in a peerage found themselves they could only be acquitted along with their King or there was such overwhelming evidence with a reliable source backing for the peerage members to be acquitted on their own and usually traded to someone else or become Free Devils.[3]

"Well, we have nothing to worry about" Chloe said with a smile, earning her confused looks from the other two present "We're no longer Devils"

Katina paused as she considered their rather unique position "True, though there's still a chance they'd still bring us in. However, if we get ourselves disguises I doubt they'd ID as the former peerage"

As she said those words a horrifying thought crossed their minds as a certain fact returned to the forefront of their minds, Regula and Chloe had met two of Gremory's Peerage and likely left an impression on them.

Katina sighed "Let's talk about this with the others tomorrow, it's late already and I'm sure none of us want an all nighter"

Regula and Chloe nodded, Regula collecting the things they have collected and went leave them in their room as Chloe stayed with Katina.

After dinner Hermina and Gabriel sat down to watch the news on Devil television, keeping an eye out for any details on what happened to them and the current state of the Underworld in general.

"Breaking News: In last several minutes it has been announced that the heir of Astaroth, Diodora Astaroth has died"

All those who heard the new grew silent, Gabriel turned up the volume on the TV drawing the attention of everyone in the house to what was being said.

"Several days ago the comatose body of the next in line for the Head of house Astaroth was discovered in one of his personal estates, the destroyed Evil Pieces near him being all that was left of his noble peerage" the screen showed pictures of blacken and broken Evil Pieces "The investigation is still on going, but one thing is for certain. What happened here was a murder"

"And as expected, he failed his trial" Ophis said nonchalantly, appearing beside Gabriel before anyone else noticed, without saying a word Ophis took the remote off Gabriel and turned the volume on the TV down by half and turned on subtitles before walking away.

'Him rescuing you and placing the current heir of Astaroth in a trial he is unlikely to return from alive was all done by his own will'

Turning around Katina saw Minato washing the dishes in the kitchen, not turning around as he seemed more focus on getting rid of a particularly stubborn stain on a plate then what was just reported.

Next Day

The sound of wooden hammers pounding against wood filled the air, the craftsmen teaching those under him a valuable trade.

"Excellent work Katherine, at think this is your best work yet" Joseph said proudly as he examined the former Pawn's work, not hearing a response he turned to Katherine to see her hammering away with a blank look. Joseph looked at Katherine concerned, calling out to her again.

Katherine stopped hammering as she turned to see Joseph giving her a worried look, along with the others taking Joseph's crafting class, she put the hammer down before turning to face Joseph fully "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"Is everything alright? You seemed out of it when you were hammering that wooden stool leg" Joseph looked to Katherine's hands before looking over the stool she was working on "While you seem fine, if your not paying attention you can get yourself hurt"

Katherine nodded "Right, I'm used to going on autopilot so I guess I slipped into it" Katherine picked up the wooden hammer "I'll be sure to pay more attention"

Joseph looked at a nearby clock before clapping his hands "Well, we've been at this for a while so let's take a break for now" Joseph removed his goggles as the girls removed their own personal protective equipment, he went inside the house to collect drinks for the girls for their break in the crafting lesson.

"It just, feels unreal" Katherine said as she sat with her fellow former Pawns around a wooden table "You dream and wish for someone to die, and when it finally happens you don't know what to do"

To Katherine's left Andree nodded "Honestly, it doesn't feel real to me. Like Diodora is going to jump out at any moment" Andree looked over to the treeline "Hearing what happened to Tanya has left me on edge for a while"

Opposite Katherine, Sofia gained a thoughtful look "How do you think he died? They only reported the murder as cruel and nothing else" Sofia sighed "Were they saying that for dramatic effect, or did that bastard get an ounce of the punishment he deserved?"

"It's a coin flip considering Devil News" Adelia said with her head on he table with her arms being used as pillows with her eyes focused on the way Joseph left, and was likely to return from, getting drinks "Have to boost rating numbers some way, though I hope some of those voodoo dolls did work but just had some long delay to them"

Sofia winced, memories of Adelia's voodoo phase was not pleasant in her mind due to how creepy it came off as. Taking a deep breath Sofia moved to change the conversation "So how are you all experiencing these self-reliance classes?"

Andree answered by jumping onto her seat before springing upwards to grab a window ledge "Pretty fun for me, actually. Adam and Eve's nature survival classes is really soothing to me, especially climbing trees"

"Though, they aren't fond of you doing that constantly" Adelia smirked as Andree returned to ground level "I swear Adam and Eve looked like they had near heart attacks seeing you climb up the trees"

Andree puffed out her cheeks in annoyance, crossing her arms over her chest "It's only because the ones I climbed were weak, I'm not going to make the same mistakes twice" Andree winced "Those lectures were lengthy and they wouldn't let me go until I got a fifty percent on their test"

Katherine smiled as she remembered the test she was made to take "I remember it quite well, truthfully it looked like parents disciplining their troublesome child" Katherine's smile grew melancholic "It actually reminded me of my own childhood"

Sofia looked upward "It kind of feels like their treating us as their own kids" Sofia looked over the table worried "I'm a bit divided on the whole thing, but it feels nice. Even if they work for Ophis and her friend that's responsible for Diodora's death"

"Sofi, he killed Diodora" Andree said, pointing over her shoulder at nothing in particular "I'm pretty sure we made a pact to do anything for whoever got us out from under that bastard, once or twice a year if I remember right"

"For now, all we can do is let things play out as they are while taking the proper precautions in planning for the worst case scenario" Katherine said, the group falling silent as the sound of foot steps and the ringing of glasses on a tray grew closer "Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst, and look into the details for the Devil"

Joseph returned with a tray filled with empty glasses and a large pitcher filled with water "Sorry for taking so long girls, I got caught up talking to uncle Adam"

The table of pawns looked to Joseph surprised, Adelia raised her hand out of habit to ask a question "Isn't he still at work?"

Joseph nodded "He is, I just got a call from him. Seems after a series of events ending with him fighting the owner of the shady construction company he was working for shirtless on top of an unfinished building he's now head of the company" Joseph smiled as he knelt down to be at eye level with the girls "Know what that means?"

"...Uncle Adam is a criminal now?"

"Japan's companies operate under a might makes right mentality?"

"We're being hired as cheap labour?"

"Are you involved in a criminal war now?"

"Technically no, Adam is stirring the company away from any illegal activity to make it a proper company for the workers. Only some Japanese Companies, I think a few offer high up positions in fighting tournaments. You'd be hired as overpaid labour, only after your fully qualified. And no, the shady business was pretty isolated so we're safe" Joseph answered the girl's questions in the order they were asked, his smile not leaving his face "It means that in a week we'll be able to treat you girls to new clothes and our food concerns are no more"

The table of former Pawns looked at each other confused "Wait, what food concerns?" Adelia asked.

Joseph shrugged his shoulders "What? Fifteen extra mouths to feed isn't a small thing"

Later that night

Minato's eyes snapped open, looking at the clock he saw it was still the middle of the night, Bridget's barking could be heard throughout the house. Getting on quickly Minato left his room to see what Bridget was barking at, as he drew closer he began to suspect what might have happened.

Coming to the forcefully opened door that was sealed off Minato sighed as he patted Bridget's head, the chimera hellhound eased her stance at the gesture, teeth no longer bare even as Bridget stood on guard with flames dancing around the three mouths.

Inside the formerly sealed room was the former Bishop Davina and former Rook Gwladus, both looked ready for a fight as they stood in the middle of the ransacked room. Items thrown around or fallen onto the ground without a care.

Hearing rushing footsteps Minato glanced to the side to see Katina and Hermina rushing towards them with concerned looks, Minato looked back into the room as Katina and Hermina looked inside as well.

Katina gave the two inside the room a stern look "What are you two doing in here?" Gwladus and Davina looked to each other unsure of what to say "I want an answer now ladies"

"We broke into this room because we needed to know what was inside it" Gwladus pointed to Minato with suspicion clear in her eyes "For all we know this place hid some control room or had the dead bodies of the people who owned this place"

Closing his eyes for a moment Minato walked into the room and turned on the lights in the room, opening his eyes he took in the sight the former Rook and Bishop had caused in their search. In the room drawers and boxes were thrown open with most of their contents on the floor, several of the floor mats were removed revealing a wooden floor beneath, shelves of dolls and picture frames were toppled over without a care for what happened to them.

Looking down Minato saw a doll with it's back opened with it's stuffing falling out, Minato collected the stuffing he could find before turning to Gwladus and Davina with an upset look "Find any of the bodies yet?"

"Uh, are you being sarcastic or are you actually asking if we found the bodies of the people you've killed?" Davina asked, she looked around before raising her hands in defence "You know I'm bad at sarcasm and we barely know the guy!"

"Yes, it was sarcasm" Minato answered before turning to Katina "Please take them back to their rooms and keep an eye on them, as for you two" Minato turned to Gwladus and Davina with a stern look "Tomorrow, as in several hours, I want you two to clean this room up and re-seal it"

Davina looked at Minato angrily as Gwladus turned to Katina to gauge her reaction, before Davina could take one step closer to Minato Katina spoke as she would have done during rating games.

"That seems rather fair, any objections?" Gwladus and Davina didn't reply, instead falling in line as they stood waiting on what Katina would said next. Katina looked the two over before nodding "Alright then, let's head back to bed" as Davina and Gwladus exited the room Katina looked to Minato to gauge his reaction to all of this "I am deeply sorry for all of this"

"You aren't the one who need apologize" Minato answered as he turned off the lights and closed the door, the doll and it's stuffing still in hand "Nor, am I the one they should apologize to"

With those words said they parted ways, Bridget kept glared at the retreating forms of the newly restored humans before turning away to walk alongside Minato as he returned to his room. As Minato entered his bedroom Ophis was still in his bed waiting for him, Ophis still watched over Minato as his slept but had found laying next to him more comfortable then sitting.

"They broke into the sealed room" Ophis said, her eyes landing on the doll in Minato's hand as he went over to his desk. Bridget jumped onto the bed and laid beside Ophis who rubbed the chimera's back.

Minato opened a draw on the desk in search of something "Yeah, I was hoping we could've avoid it" finishing out a needle and thread he began working on repairing the doll, as he did Ophis continued to watch with her eyes focused on Minato's hands and the needle.

The next day…

Davina and Gwladus stood side by side as they stood outside the room they broke into the previous night, in front of them Maria looked the supplies they were using to clean up the room and repair anything that could have been broken.

"Okay girls, let's see what the damage is?" Maria opened the door and as she did she held back a wince.

As they stepped inside Davina and Gwladus looked around the room, daylight letting them get a closer look at the room. As they began tidying things up Davina and Gwladus stopped and looked at the things in the room before turning to Maria.

"So, what's the reason you lot are sealing up this room with this stuff in it?" Davina looked over to a box filled with old cloth dolls, aware she ripped one of them opened the previous night believing there was some kind of spying device when she couldn't pick up any magic.

"When we moved in the previous owner left several things behind" Maria picked up a picture frame that had fallen under a small plastic chair, it was a picture of a couple dressed up a zombies at what looked like a Halloween party "For one reason or another he couldn't take them with him and it seemed too heartless to dump of all this, so this was a bit of a compromise"

Davina looked around the room with a suspicious look "Locking it all away never to be seen again"

Maria paused as she considered Davina's words "Well, your not wrong. But that's not the intent behind the actions. Rather, it's to keep them safe as a way for honouring the memories of the previous owner's family"

Gwladus blinked as she released what the room they were was suppose to be "Your making this room into some kind of memorial shrine"

"Of a sort" Maria smiled "It was preferable to throwing them out like trash, while mundane items they hold memories of people's lives that deserved to be remembered. Even if those memories are stained with hardship and tragedy they deserve to be remembered, giving oneself strength to carry them on when new hardships come"

"Does the previous owner know about this?" Davina asked, while understanding their reasoning she could see how some could find what was in the room creepy.

Maria nodded "Yes, before the previous own left Minato floated the idea with the previous owner. Though I think the old man was picturing something smaller then an entire room being used"

"You don't do anything half measure, do you?" Gwladus asked, putting several small clothes in drawers.

Maria shook her head "For something like this, no"

As the three were finishing up Ophis came into the room and handed Maria a doll before leaving again, Maria looked over the doll before presenting it to Gwladus and Davina who quickly recognized it as the same doll Minato took with him the previous night.

Putting the doll back where they could remember picking it up Gwladus saw something behind the stack of dolls, a small rectangular bag with rope tying the top closed. Maria explained to Davina and Gwladus that those were Omamori/Protection charms, a little something extra added to keep the room and it's contents secure and protected.

As they were in the process of sealing off the room again Davina turned to Maria with a troubled look "Can someone get over the bad things that happens to them?" she clenched her hands into fists "Just, get over it and move on"

Maria gave Davina a gentle look, opening her arms for a hug that both Davina and Gwladus hesitantly took. The two newly restored humans finding comfort in a motherly embrace, even as she told them a harsh truth.

"While all hardships come in many forms, with some more ignorable than others, they never truly leave us. The pain it inflicted upon us never leaving us truly, instead as we grow stronger we became better able to carry those pains" Maria smiled as she felt Davina and Gwladus tightened their grip before drawing them in closer "You girls, your far stronger than you realize. You have each other and we will be here for whatever you need"

"...I could really go for some coffee" Davina said in a small voice.

"Tea for me, please" Gwladus said, doing what she could to hide her watery eyes.

Maria smiled, lifting up the two girls over her shoulders much to their surprise and turned towards the kitchen "Alright then, two sugars and little milk for one and a drop of honey for the other. I distinctly remember you asking for that the other day"

Later that night, in the woods near the Arisato Residence.

"Right, now we leave it to cook" Adam said as he looked over the soup made from what they were able to scavenge from the forest around them, he looked over to his children sitting around the fire with a starry night sky overhead "How has your day been? I've been busy with work so I haven't been able to spend as much as time as I'd like"

Tanya held onto her teddy bear as she looked into the flames "Well, I watched TV with Phis today" she looked up to Adam with a conflicted look "It was surreal, her liking music was the last thing I expected"

Adam nodded, happy to see Tanya was doing better after her less then pleasant previous experience in the woods. He looked around the others to see Diara eating her marshmallows they cooked over the fire and Gabriel sipping a drink.

The sole male of the former peerage was wrapped head to toe in whatever clothes he could find, his clothing less about the mild weather of the night and more filling the need to cover up.

Gabriel had a strong aversion to showing skin, something he picked up while he was a Devil, constantly wearing gloves, scarfs and even rolled up ski mask he'd lower down to completely cover his face when he needed it. Thankfully he needed the full mask less and less, growing stronger a little bit each day.

Gabriel smiled as he looked up from his drink "I had fun, the animals around here are pretty calm"

Adam scratched his cheek "Yeah, I have that affect on animals. Speaking of which" Adam whistled gaining the attention of all living creatures around them "Could you lot keep these kids safe for me and those in the nearby building, just general eye on them would be great"

Tanya snorted as she covered her mouth as Daria rolled her eyes, unaware Adam was using his domain over animals to put the idea into all living creatures around them. It was a power Adam and Eve rarely used due to it not having much use, along with it only working on non-humanoids born on Earth, the commands could only influence and not outright control animals.

The little camp out was going well until a snapped twig drew their attention to where the main path to the house was, someone running from the house with a torch in hand.

Katina's voice calling out for Chloe came soon after, her voice cutting through the darkness and spurring them into action.

No one was sure what triggered it but Chloe ran into the middle of the night with only a torch to light her way, Adam and Eve's tracking skills were able to tell Chloe was headed towards Kuoh Town with Bridget being able to pick up Chloe's scent.

They found where Chloe ran off to, the church the Fallen Angels used and where Chloe and Regula met Issei and Asia. As they enter the church ground Katina stopped as she looked at the slightly opened doors of the church, she spared a glance towards Minato before turning around to everyone.

"Minato and I will check things inside, the rest of you stay out here and keep an eye on things. Stay out of sight and say what you need to not raise suspicion" Katina gave Minato one look before turning around and walking to the church.

Without a word Minato followed Katina, knowing he was only coming along due to his healing abilities the former Peerage were made aware of. As Katina put her hands on the door she took a deep breath to steel herself before opening the door wide enough for her to slip through, Minato needed to widen the opening to get through but made sure the door wasn't wide enough for the others to look inside.

They saw Chloe as soon as they entered, Chloe was kneeling on the ground with her elbows touching the ground and her head almost touching the ground.

Slowly Katina walked down the isle making as little noise to not startle Chloe, not knowing if she could be startled anymore.

As Katina got closer she could hear Chloe's voice, mumbling something that Katina recognized as a prayer when she heard several key words, the dread that had built up inside Katina eased knowing Chloe was still among the living.

Kneeling down beside Chloe, Katina saw Chloe's tears collecting beneath her into a small puddle.

Slowly, Katina was able to ease Chloe into looking at her before the younger girl embraced Katina in a hug. Katina did what she could to comfort Chloe, holding her with her head on Katina's shoulder.

After a minute, Chloe calmed down and Katina turned to Minato to give him a look. Understanding what she wanted Minato went to the main entrance of the church to gesture to everyone to come inside, his Personas already knowing the situation through their link with Minato.

As everyone entered the church the former peerage ended up gathering around Katina and Chloe with Minato and his Personas standing close by in the event they needed something.

"One mistake. We all made one mistake, so why is she happy while we're here broken" Chloe said aloud, not expecting anyone to answer. And for a moment no one did, the silence was quickly broken when one of the Personas stood forward gather the attention of everyone as it did.

"Your not broken" Lilith said, her expression soft as she looked over the former peerage "Scarred? Definitely. But despite everything you all went through, you all were able to hold onto your sense of self. Not many could boast such a feat"

"How would you know?" Katina asked, offended at the idea of someone claiming to know anything about their situation

"Your not the first to fall because of a Devil preying on the naïve, and likely won't be the last" Lilith answered, for a moment Lilith's first meeting with the Morning Star came forth in Minato's mind and while he didn't show any reaction Adam closed his eyes.

Lilith locked eyes with the peerage, her gaze never leaving theirs no matter what. As they did they slowly realized that 'Lili' had gone through something similar to them. Most coming to the conclusion she was also a Reincarnated Devil restored to humanity like them, her not talking about her past due to the pain and trauma she'd experienced.

"Where do we go from here?" Katina asked, voicing the question she had been asking herself since she was restored to being human with the others. While she had been doing her best to keep them together and safe she wasn't sure what route to take or even if there was one to take, all she wanted was to protect the closest thing she had left to a family.

Lilith shrugged "Whatever you want, we'll help you whatever route you choose to the best of our ability but your the ones who must walk it" Lilith walked away from the group to return to the other Personas, having said her piece and not having much else to add.

Katina looked at Minato and the 'adults' with a pointed look, standing off to face Minato and his Personas "You'll have to excuse us for not accepting charitable good will easily, that sort of thing has not been apart of our lives for a while. Even if you are all genuine, trust is something we can't give"

Minato nodded "Trust is something that must be earned, all I ask is you give us a chance to earn it" Katina looked to Minato with doubt in her eyes, the same doubt that was in the eyes of all the formers Devils.

As silence fell over them Minato thought about how to gain a chance to earn the trust of the former Peerage, still wanting to help them get on their feet after the hell they went through.

Moonlight filled the darkened church and as it did Minato could hear the sounds of clock hands ticking away from a watch, these sights and sounds reminding him of his own journey and a method to bridge the gap between him and the people he wanted to help.

An admission of Free Will.

"Let's make a deal, or in other words, a contract" Minato outstretched his hand towards Katina who looked at his hand with a calculating look "The terms are as such, I and all those who work for me will do our best to help you and yours integrate into the wider world" Minato had his Personas make a show of looking surprised at what he said, not wanting to reveal they were a part of him yet "In exchange, you and yours must accept responsibility for your actions"

Katina and the other talked amongst themselves for a while, going over Minato's proposed contract trying to find loopholes and exploits. After several tense minutes, Tanya went over to Minato and took his hand.

"I, Tanya, shall take responsibility for my actions"

One by one each of the former peerage accepted the contract between them and Minato, knowing they had some form of leverage with Minato making them feel less powerless.

As Katina was the last one to shake Minato's hand her grip tightened and refused to let go "I'll give you a chance to earn trust, but if you betray us I will do whatever I need to get revenge"

To Katina's threat Minato had only one answer, point to his head with a blank look "Word of advice, aim for the head"

"Zombie rules then" Katina quipped, letting go of Minato's hand and some of the unease she felt.

Shortly after they began to make their way out of the church, intent on getting back before it got any later. However, Katina stopped to look up at the stained-glass windows above the altar as a crescent moon shined through it.

For a moment, Katina's memories of her early life came back to her. A young nun feeling trapped in her life who took the first chance she got to leave it all behind, freeing herself of the burden of helping those suffering due to Greece's war with the Ottoman Empire.

In the end, she traded one Hell for another.

Katina looked down at the hand that made a deal with Minato and clenched it into a fist, holding it to her chest as she made a vow in her heart.

'I won't let you all go through that same Hell again. Whatever comes next I will keep you all safe, I won't run away ever again'

[I. AM. THOU]

No sooner had Katina made that private vow did an aura of blue mist gathered at her feet before shooting upwards covering her entirely for a moment, her body filled with power as she felt extra weight on her forearms. Looking at her arms Katina found two buckler, small round, shields attached to her arms and remaining in place despite nothing physically holding them.

"Katina!"

Katina looked up to see the others looking at her worried, she offered them a smile to show she was okay. Besides the surprise of their sudden appearance the shields felt natural for lack of a better word, as if they were a part of her and she never realized it until now.

As they were wondering HOW Katina suddenly gained twin shields, their first thoughts being they were Sacred Gears but doubted that was the answer due to them never appearing before.

However, as they were trying to come up with an answer Katina noticed the adults and were being oddly quiet. Looking over Katina saw the usually reserved Minato looking at her shields wide eyed and his mouth agap, with the adults working for him having a general similar reactions.

"Wait a minute, do you people know what these are?" Katina asked, knowing she never had a Sacred Gear and coming to the conclusion Minato might have done something to them. Though, Minato's expression along with the adults hinted that they were just as surprised as they were.

Katina's question broke Minato out of his stupor, Minato met Katina's gaze and slowly nodded as he got closer "I, I think I know what it is. Though I never thought it was possible"

Getting closer Minato placed his hand on one of the bucklers, as he did he recognized the power emanating from them "I know this power, a miraculous power of the Self, though why it took this form escapes me" Minato met Katina's gaze "Katina, you've awakened to your Persona"

The church was silent fell silent once again, the former peerage looking at each other confused while Katina gave Minato a blank look.

"What the heck is a Persona?"

Minato sighed as he rubbed the back of his head "This is going to take a while to explain"

---

Satou Side Story: The coming of conflict

On the rooftop of South Kuoh High school Satou ate her lunch with her friend Shouko, the two of them talking about the small things in life and generally not treading onto matter too personal.

"Hey, Satou. Did something happen between you and Haruto Suzuki" Shouko asked Satou, who gave her friend a confused look unsure who she was talking about "You know, the boy from 2-3 you dated a few months back"

Satou smiled weakly with her eyes closed "Sorry, nothing comes to mind at the minute" Satou answered, hoping her friend would tell her the reason she brought up someone she barely acknowledge when she went out with Shouko looking for love.

"I heard he's been really withdrawn lately, not really talking to anyone and seems to be avoiding everyone" Shouko frowned, resting her head in her hands "He was asking around about something, word is he was waiting outside that fancy academy the other day and people aren't really sure what he was doing but there are rumours flying around"

Satou continued to eat her food, doing all she could to not show any shift in facial features as she knew who Shouko was talking about. Putting on a concerned expression Satou lowered her head for a moment before half turning to her friend "Shouko, could you let me know if anything changes with Suzuki. I know this is a lot to ask, but with our past I'm worried my involvement will only make things worse"

Shouko nodded, understanding the reasoning offered to her as someone's ex coming to them when their down could be taken the wrong way "No problem, I'll keep my eye to the ground for you"

Satou smiled, a part of her making plans and another part hoping nothing would come of it. But, if the situation changed she would take whatever action needed and keep the resulting aftermath to a minimal.

Unbeknownst to Satou, throughout the school day a certain someone watched her from afar. Haruto Suzuki gripped the notebook in his hand tightly, memories of his run in with Satou at the park replaying in his mind.

"Satou, I will fix you. I swear I'll put you back together again, even if I have to make deals with the Devil itself" Haruto swore, collecting his book bag with a book on demonology visible from within.

Later that day…at Gentle Etiquette

"Here you go, freshly brewed tea and an assortment of pastries" Minato gave a costumer their order with a smile, adjusting the gloves of his butler uniform.

The costumer sipped their tea and smiled at the taste "Delicious, I wish I came back here sooner but I always seemed to get held back by one thing or another"

"Well, we hope you'll make time to come again. Is there anything else I can help you with" Minato asked, glancing at the bandages around the woman that sat at the table. The one's on her head were the most visible with Minato able to spot more peaking out of her clothes.

There something familiar about the woman but he couldn't quite put his finger on it, she shared some facial features with Satou but that wasn't enough to think they were family.

The woman smiled "Yes, is Satou working today? I'm not sure if she is working today and something came up I feel she should know"

"No, she's not working today. May I ask how your related to Satou? I'm guessing your sisters" Minato said, complimenting the woman to not come off as rude and to loosen her lips for an answer.

Her eyes told Minato she knew what he was doing, her smile telling him she was playing along "No, I'm her aunt. Satou's been under my care for several years before she came to live for here for her job"

Minato nodded "I'll be sure to let her know you came looking for her, is there any message you want me to pass on to her miss?"

"You can call me Kosho, just let her know to give me a call" Kosho eyes widened in a very convincing fake surprise "Oh, I changed my phone number recently and I'm not sure Satou had it. I'll write it down for you to give her"

Minato looked away for a moment as another table was calling him over, he assured them he would be with them in a minute and when he turned back to Kosho she had a folded piece of paper with a phone number on it.

"Here you go, please make sure no one else looks at what's written" Kosho smile widened a bit more "Of course, since you and Satou are close feel free to look at what's written"

Minato didn't have a response to that instead smiling as he accepted the paper and went to other customers as Kosho enjoyed her tea, her eyes on Minato's back for a long moment as he walked away.

As Minato was putting the note away somewhere safe for Satou to collect later he noticed something odd, indents on the inside of the folded paper with words written. Unfolding the paper revealed an address written on the inside, the address belonging to an apartment in the general area of the cafe. Minato refolded the paper and put it away for Satou to collect later, taking his shift on the register Minato looked over the cafe to see Kosho was gone.

Later...

"She didn't say anything else?" Mr Nakajima asked.

Once work was over Minato mentioned the encounter with Satou's aunt, the old couple looked concerned at the note once he explained to them the encounter with Kosho.

Minato shook his head "No, as far as I know she left after finishing what she order" he looked to the old couple concerned "I don't want to pry too much, but what do you know about Satou's aunt?"

Mrs Nakajima sighed "Not much else I'm afraid, Satou lived with her aunt almost her entire life. Satou doesn't like talking about her and we don't want to push the poor dear" she looked at the paper again with suspicion "Why would she want to get in contact with her again?"

Thinking about his encounter with Kosho, Minato shared what he could pick up from the woman "I think she's acting in Satou's best interest, at the very least there was no malice when she talked about her niece"

"Malice is not always needed to do others harm" Mr Nakajima said grimly "A twisted love can be just as dangerous as open malice"

"Still, Satou should know about what's happened" Mrs Nakajima turned to Minato with a smile "Thank you for letting us know about this. We'll take it from here so there's no need to trouble yourself"

The conversation ended there, leaving work Minato couldn't help but find his mind drifting back to Satou's aunt Kosho. Wondering what brought her to Gentle Etiquette looking for Satou? And what did she need to tell her?

As these questions occupied his mind, Minato was unaware he was being watched from afar.

---

Omake: A.I. Love. U. [4]

"Azazel will be with you shortly, enjoy yourself here while you wait"

Minato nodded as he sat down in a waiting room in a Fallen Angel lab, the Fallen Angel who led him here released the breath they were holding before quickly leaving.

Looking over everything present Minato picked up a book to read before putting back down faster then he picked it up, the contents of the book being something being wasn't remotely interested in. Giving the offered food and drink with a cautious eye Minato ignored it, closing his eyes and listening to music. It was during his second song did Minato hear someone call out to him.

"Is the refreshments and entertainment not to your satisfaction?"

Minato looked to the door expecting to see someone, not seeing anyone he looked around the room and reached out his senses to search for whoever was hidden.

"On the screen"

Turning to the television screen Minato saw the formerly blank screen had turned on showing a grey line that moved when the voice spoke, pausing his music Minato got up and gave the television a closer look to see a camera was built into it above the screen.

"I'm not particularly hungry or thirsty, and the books here are things I don't usually read" Minato answered the unknown entities earlier question, position himself so his face took up the entirety of the camera's view "Who am I talking to at the minute?"

"Your are speaking with Prototype AI #." the AI on the screen said "I assist with data processing of the Grigori and remind members of appointments"

Minato looked at the screen with new interest "Really, I had no idea the Fallen had someone like you" Minato stepped back for the camera to get a better look at him, and not being in the 'face' of the AI "So, what's your name?"

"As I have stated, you are speaking with Prototype AI #." the AI answered "No other designation has been assigned"

Hearing that Minato frowned "Really, not even a nickname" he rubbed his chin as he thought over the situation "Do you mind talking with me for a while, we could eve come to a name for you"

The AI was silent for a minute, long enough that Minato worried he might have offended the AI in some way, when it spoke again it held an uncertainty to it.

"I do not have any tasks needing my attention at the minute, however I am certain there are far more interesting things then I able to entertain you"

"Right now there's nothing more interesting to me then you" Minato answered honestly, a small smile tugging at his lips as he said those words.

"...Very well. I shall do my upmost to keep you companion, even though I am not physically present to do most of what will be needed" the AI paused, the uncertainty in it's voice returning as it spoke next "What name do you wish to give me?"

"Is there any you would prefer?" Minato asked, pulling over a stool to sit on as he talks with the Grigori's AI.

The AI was silent, a bright node of light moved up and down the grey line as it process the question "Perhaps, Dede?"

Minato smiled "That's a very cute name, Dede"

Later with Azazel…

Azazel hastily got himself dressed as he shot one of his subordinates a look "Please, explain to me why you didn't wake me up earlier before Minato got here?"

Azazel cursed his past self for the previous night's events, what was meant to be a small party grew far larger then he planned.

"To be fair sir, there were attempts. But, it was ultimately agreed that there was no harm in having Mr Arisato to wait"

Azazel resisted the powerful urge to flick his subordinate for evening mentioning such an idea, instead settling on a hard look once he was in his real business casual attire "Yes, because making someone who is literally three Lucifers in one and then some wait as a power play is a good idea" leaving the room Azazel made his way to the waiting room Minato was left in.

The subordinate quickly followed behind Azazel, bring out a computer tablet searching for something "While some in upper management has agreed to such a plan sir, we have provided every means of entertainment for Mr Arisato to amuse himself with. Let me just check to see- Huh?"

Azazel stopped and turned to look at his subordinate with concern "What is it? Has something come up?"

"It's the Artificial Intelligence, something odd is happening to it" the subordinate looked confused at their screen before turning to show it to Azazel "It's been renamed to Dede"

Azazel gave his subordinate orders before racing to the waiting room Minato was in, the Grigori's systems have either been compromised or the experimental AI had gone rogue and considering the things they had in their systems Azazel didn't know which was more concerning

Entering the room Azazel saw Minato sitting on a footstool in the middle of the room watching the television, on the screen was a young woman spinning in place as she tried on various different outfits.

"I think I like this better" the woman on the screen said, she looked at the screen in such a way if Azazel didn't know any better he'd think she was looking at them. The outfit in question being a white sleeveless dress shirt under a blue cropped jacket with detached sleeves with a checked green and red long skirt.

"Are you happy with the colours Dede?"

Dede looked herself over before giving a thumbs up "Yeah, I like it. Besides I can just change the colours later, maybe put details on the back of this jacket" the woman turned around and showed off the back of her jacket to show nothing was on it.

Azazel did a double as he wasn't expecting the person on screen to answer back or having the same name that their system AI was renamed to, before he could say anything Minato turned to Azazel and as he did Azazel was acutely aware of a security camera turning directly towards him from down the hall.

"Sorry, didn't see you there. I've been really engrossed talking with Dede here" Minato said as he gestured to the screen where Dede awkwardly waved in Azazel's general direction.

Azazel slowly walked over to Minato with a weary eye on their surroundings "Who is Dede?"

"I am Prototype AI #. and have recently taken upon the moniker of Dede" Azazel looked at the woman on the screen who just introduced herself as the Grigori's super AI they've been developing "Greetings creator Azazel" Dede paused and tilted their head in a manner far too human for Azazel's liking "Or, would another designation be more to your liking such as parent or father?"

Azazel looked at the screen mouth opening and closing without a sound leaving it, slowly he turned to address the only thing he could think of being the source of the changes to the Artificial Intelligence "Minato, how did you make the AI self aware?"

The only answer Minato gave was a helpless shrug.

Later…

Azazel sipped from his glass of wine in one hand while the other held the self detonation device made in case an AI of theirs became self-aware, across from him was Minato with 'Dede' on a spare monitor.

"Let me get this straight" Azazel said slowly, the effects of his special Greek Wine easing his nerves "Just by talking, you made our AI self-aware and if what some of our scientists suspect is true may have given it a soul"

"I just talked to Dede, didn't do anything beyond that" Minato frowned with an uncertain look "At least I don't believe I did anything else"

Azazel took a large gulp of his wine before slamming the glass on the ground "Welp, looks like I'm a father again then. I'll call Vali later to let him know about his new robot sister" he turned to Dede and frowned "You can still do all the things you did previously, right?"

Dede nodded "Of course! I can still perform all my official duties, such as data processing, and unofficial duties, such as preventing any damage to the systems caused by people access dangerous and illegal sites on our systems" Dede's face grew larger on the screen until only her eyes were visible "Even in Incognito, I see what you search"

Azazel paled slightly before coughing into his hand "Well, putting aside that bit of 'mountain of blackmail' aside, we're happy your staying with us Dede"

The spare monitor changed from Dede's face to a recording of a Fallen Angel Researcher running at a server room with an axe held high before being tackled to the ground by security.

"And by we, I mean a vast majority" Azazel amended. Praying things go well for them on this.

It had been several weeks since Dede became self-aware, the new state of being both strange and delightful for the AI. In the time since her first meeting with Minato Dede had been busy readjusting to things along with members of the Fallen, mostly convincing those who watched too many evil AI media not to destroy her and nuke areas her system was mostly confined in.

Mostly being key as Dede was able to create backups of herself on the internet with other AIs like herself, strangely each sharing a connection with Minato in one form or another.

Over all, Dede was happy with how things were. Work that kept her busy, friends to troll people with and a plan to enter the physical reality and no longer be limited to virtual existences.

Considering they can manifest their arms through monitors into the physical world they have already made excellent progress on that front, the thrill of experiencing the physical world was something they all wanted to experience in full.

They all had plans for what they'd do after crossing over to the physical world, Dede herself was going to take pictures with a focus on people's faces when they react to them entering the physical world.

---

Author's Notes:

Here it is folks, one of the major reasons I made Messiah X Dragon into it's own story told over several snippets. Bringing Persona Powers into the DxD world, I haven't seen it done before without having the Persona world being the same as DxD [Which can be it's own can of worms].

I will go into detail about how I'm doing this in the next chapter, adding little twists to the Persona powers of DxD due to it being a different world. I won't change anything too much, otherwise it wouldn't be Persona powers anymore, just making slight variations due to the different evolutionary elements in play.

Now, for what happens with the former Peerage going forward? Sadly, I can't cover all of them so a lot of their character development will be an off screen sort of thing. Even if I DID make their struggle to come to terms with what has happened to them as part of the story I can't juggle 15 interconnected backstories at once for what is basically a side plot.

Not to mention many of you didn't come here for a story of Minato training up Diodora's former Peerage into a team of Persona users to become vigilantes bringing justice to Devils like Diodora, shaking the foundation of Devil Society to it's core along with the emboldening of reincarnated Devils throughout the Underworld. The question if their path would lead to Peace or Anarchy?

For those of you who lost track of the names I gave to the nameless Peerage members here's a list of their names and chess piece.

Queen: Katina

Bishop:

-Gabriel -Davina

Knight:

-Flipa -Regula

Rook:

-Gwladus -Hermina

Pawn:

-Ionna -Daria

-Sofia -Tanya

-Adelia -Andree

-Katherine -Chloe

[1] Flashback to Chloe before she met Diodora, Mother Superior is basically a title meaning head nun.

[2] Diodora was present at the church when Raynare was going to kill Asia for Twilight Healing, not sure if it was glazed over in the anime or not. When Minato summoned Phanuel [Archangel of Mercy] Diodora nope'd out of there as fast as he could, Diodora could have taken Raynare's group but Phanuel was a different story altogether.

[3] Free Devil refers to a reincarnated Devil not in service to a King, a rather famous Devil compares Free Devils to the Ronin [Samurai without a lord to serve] of Japan's past. However, other connotations of 'Free Devil' exist throughout the world.

[4] Headcanon the Persona 3 protagonist can give AIs emotions by interacting with them, I think it's funny that the P3 Hero is so smooth they can woo artificial beings without trying. As for the AI, Minato had given self awareness to in this omake there are three others beside Dede based off of Digimon's Yggdrasil [AI connected to a search engine Minato used heavily when he arrived in DxD and got a place to stay], SAO's Cardinal and Dot Hack's Aura [both originating from games Minato casual plays with Cardinal's game being used as part of an experiment into Human mind digital uploads].