Chapter 23
Disclaimer: I do not own High school DxD or Fairy Tail they are property of Ichiei Ishibumi and Hiro Masima respectively.
"So why would the leader of the Angels appear here when there is said to be a very important meeting soon?" Natsu asked.
"This kind young lady told me that the Dragon King might be in the area today and I didn't believe it," Michael answered.
"You dare say my mate would lie about my whereabouts?" Natsu asked gaining a slight glare.
Akeno smiled at being called Natsu's mate, she touched the mating mark on her neck with a fond smile on her face.
"I would never. It is just that you haven't been seen in the human realm sine before the Great War," Michael answered bowing to Akeno in apology just to be sure not to antagonise the Dragon King.
"I will let it slide this time," Natsu said.
"I thank you Dragon King," Michael smiled with a slight of his head.
"So what is the reason for you coming out here to find me?" Natsu asked knowing that Michael did not just come here for a greeting.
"One thing I am here for is not to do with you to be honest but the host of the Red Dragon Emperor, the other thing however does have something I want to ask you about," Michael said bringing out two wrapped objects.
"Should I bring Issei here?" Akeno asked since Michael wanted something with him as well as Natsu.
"If you don't mind that would be much appreciated," Michael replied with a smile.
Akeno glanced at Natsu and after he gave her a small nod and smile she dashed off to go find Issei.
"So, what is it you want with me?" Natsu asked while taking a seat on the floor.
"I want to know if you know about this one artefact that we found. We have no records of it ever existing," Michael said holding out one of the wrapped objects.
As Natsu took the object in his hands he could feel a familiar power emanating from it and a smile crossed his face.
"From that smile I would say you know of this blade?" Michael asked.
As Natsu unwrapped the blade a midnight black katana with a dark red handle was revealed. A dragon was carved into the handle, the guard looked like many, tiny dragon wings and a purple hue would run through the glyphs that were carved into the blade.
"Darastrix Cayosin," Natsu said in a growling voice.
"What was that?" Michael asked confused with the strange language that he had never heard before, even though he knew all known languages.
"It means 'Dragon Blade' in the ancient tongue of the dragons," Natsu explained while staring at the blade with a look in his eyes that told Michael the Dragon King was remembering a find memory.
The silence continued on for some time because Michael let Natsu have his moment in peace. The silence was interrupted by two people entering the room.
"Hey I got Issei," Akeno announced as she entered the room shortly followed by Issei.
"Akeno said some Angel wanted to meet me?" Issei inquired only to receive a slap to the back of the head from Akeno.
"He is not 'some Angel' as you had put it, he is the leader of the Angels. Show some respect," Akeno berated Issei when she cot a confused look from Issei.
At this his eyes widened and he quickly fired off a flurry of apologies which Michael only laughed off.
"So why did you want to see me Sir Michael," Issei asked after the Angel introduced himself.
"Just Michael is fine. As for why I asked for you here," Michael unwrapped the second blade he had brought with him.
Natsu snapped his attention to the blade and let out a low growl.
"Something wrong?" Akeno asked when they all looked in Natsu's direction.
"That blade has been soaked in the blood of a dragon, tell me Angel when did this happen?" Natsu asked, his voice suddenly as cold as ice.
"What's with the sudden mood change, and what blood of a dragon?" Issei asked getting frightened by Natsu's cold voice.
Akeno got a worried look in her eyes, not wanting to see the one she loved fight the leader of the Angels. Not because she was afraid he would lose, she knew how powerful he could be. No, she was afraid of the consequences of a guest of the Gremory house attacking the leader of the Angels.
"It was a tragedy, Saint George had to slay a dragon which had gone out of control and started destroying the city of Silence Lydia, and this happened a very long time ago, I'm surprised you can still sense the dragon's blood," Michael explained and to his credit he was able to keep his voice level throughout his tale even when Natsu growled once again at the mention of slaying a dragon.
"I think I have heard of that… Lydia, yeah," Natsu quietly talked to himself barely even audible before relaxing a bit.
"I have heard the tale of Lydia, and lucky for you it was a rouge dragon," Natsu finally said in a normal tone of voice.
"What do you mean rouge dragon?" Akeno asked wanting to distract Natsu until he had completely calmed down and it seemed like talking about the dragon being a rouge somehow helped.
In the time this had taken place there were a few groups of dragons that would form clans, then there were those who were cast out of a clan, a rouge, for any number of reasons," Natsu explained.
"So the rouge dragons were outcast?" Akeno asked.
"Yes, and once a dragon is cast out of a clan no other clan will take it in, that leads to them becoming mindless killing machines. If that Saint George guy didn't kill that dragon, some clan nearby would have," Natsu finished his explanation.
"That still doesn't really explain why I am here," Issei remarked.
"Ah yes, now that we are all clam once more I can continue," Michael said gaining a soft growl in irritation from Natsu.
"I wanted to give you this holy sword, think of it as a thank you for the help you provided the church when the entire Excalibur episode happened," Michael finished.
"But Natsu was the one who defeated Kokabiel and Kiba and Xenovia were the ones to deal the final blow against Freed and the fused Holy Swords," Issei replied still not understanding why he would receive a reward.
"That is where your sacred gear comes into play. Ascalon, the name of this sword, can fuse with your sacred gear and then you can summon it later in time," Michael explained.
"That makes sense. So I just get this?" Issei asked.
'Well that's if you want it," Michael replied already having a good idea what the response will be.
"Yes, I want it please," Issei begged.
Michael went through the process of fusing Ascalon with Issei's gauntlet. The European sword with a reddish-purple grip and golden hilt resembling dragon claws, sticking upwards, fused with the red gauntlet giving it a golden tint.
"When you want to summon it all you have to do is imagine the blade forming in your hand. And to store it once again all you have to do is visualise the fusing process one more, Michael instructed Issei on how to summon his new sword.
"That is all the business I had with you Issei," Michael said.
Issei quickly thanked the Angel before returning to the rest of his friends to show off his new sword.
"Mind if I ask where you found this blade, Michael?" Natsu asked when Issei left.
"The report said it was found after one of the battles in the Great War. Our scholars tried to find its origin and some of our warriors tried to wield it. The scholars could not come up with any helpful information and the warriors who tried to wield the blade had their powers drained at an alarming rate," Michael explained what the Angels had done with the blade.
"Which battle was the one where it was found, and how did you transport it when no warrior could wield it as you said?" Matsu asked curious as to where it was found and the events thereafter.
"I believe it was the battle where all three of the factions were battling against one another and if I remember correctly the devil Grandeeney was the one who led the battle to victory for the devils, that was directly before the Fallen Angels launched their massive attack on the Marvell household of the devil faction," Michael said with a thoughtful look.
""I remember that dark day," Natsu quietly said in a grim voice.
"You were there when the Marvel house fell?" Michael asked.
There were no records of exactly happened there since the only survivors were Grandeeney and a few Fallen Angels. The Fallen Angels who were able to return from the slaughter that occurred there were too shocked to explain what happened and to this day they are unable to put into words what had happened.
The only information was that Grandeeney was the only surviving member of the Marvel house and that the surviving Fallen Angels had a new crippling fear for fire. The fear was to such a degree that they would freeze up at the first sight of any flames and e unable to move from there on out.
"I was the one who ended that slaughter with one of my own," Natsu said in a voice void of all emotion.
"This is new to me would you mind if someone from our archives comes to speak to you about that day?" Michael asked wanting to gather information about the most mysterious battle of the war.
"I do believe this meeting is over," Natsu said. He was in a foul mood since that part of his past was brought up. His grip on Darastrix Cayosin tightened signalling Michael that the Dragon King was not going to talk anymore.
"Then until we meet again," Michael said his goodbye and left disappointed that he got so little new information about the blade from Natsu intending to ask him the next time they met but making a mental note not to mention the slaughter when the Marvel house fell.
Akeno came up to Natsu and hugged him tight when Michael left calming him down quite a bit.
"I'm sorry for what happened during that part of the war," Akeno whispered.
"It wasn't your fault, it is all on those Fallen Angels. You have nothing to be sorry for," Natsu hugged her back.
"I guess you have an aversion to most Fallen Angels then?" Akeno asked with a very sad tone.
"I do not have the best of opinions on Fallen Angels but there are some exceptions like that crazy Azazel," Natsu replied.
Akeno now had a very sad and distraught expression on her face. Natsu gently cupped her cheek and made her look him in the eyes.
"Why are you sad?" Natsu asked in confusion.
"It's just one part of my past…" Akeno trailed off attempting to avoid eye contact with Natsu.
"I am here for you Akeno, you are one of my mates and nothing will stop me from helping you," Natsu told her and captured her lips in a soft and gentle kiss.
"I don't know if you are going to say that once you hear what about this particular part of my past," Akeno replied after they broke the kiss.
"You should know by now that I will never leave you Akeno," Natsu said getting a bit worried by Akeno's weird behaviour.
Akeno stepped back and dropped her kimono to under her shoulder blades. From her back came one devil wing and one black angel wing.
"I am half Fallen Angel," Akeno confessed lowering her head and waiting for the man she loved to cast her aside.
Natsu quietly stood up and walked over to Akeno. Akeno grew more anxious excepting Natsu to do something to hurt her only to feel his strong arms wrapping around her in a warm and gentle embrace.
"I love you Akeno and there is nothing in this world that will change that. I don't care what you are or what you did in your past for that matter. You are who you are, and that is my mate Akeno Himejima" Natsu whispered into her ear.
Tears of joy rolled down Akeno's face. Natsu allowed her to cry on his shoulder while supporting her.
"I love you so much, Natsu," Akeno replied after her tears dried out.
"Akeno I would like to complete the mating ritual with you, that is if you want to," Natsu asked looking her in the eyes.
"Of course I want to complete the ritual," Akeno smiled back with the rightest smile Natsu had seen on her face.
The next few hours was filled with passion.
When the two returned to the Gremory estate Akeno quickly decided that she would be moving to Natsu's room without giving anyone a real explanation. Only stating that she will from now on sleep in his bed with him.
Grayfia wasn't the biggest fan of this sudden move and it took some bargaining from Natsu to please both his lovers.
Luckily Natsu had a king size bed meaning that all three of them had enough space to sleep. Natsu help Grayfia close to him with Akeno cuddling up behind him, this was one of the compromises Natsu made in order to calm the raging Strongest Queen down.
After a peaceful night's sleep Natsu slid out of bed early in the morning to train. Today was the day of the meeting between the Three Factions. As Natsu was doing his morning routine a certain blue haired beauty made her way over to the Gremory estate.
Rias had requested her peerage to meet them there before they all headed to the meeting in order to assign everyone a station for during the meeting.
As Xenovia came up to the gates, Natsu arrived from his morning jog.
"Good morning Xenovia," Natsu greeted her with a smile.
Xenovia ran up to him and embraced him in a loving hug.
'Now that you have your alpha mate, when is it my turn?" Xenovia asked with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"How about after the meeting we go out on a little date?" Natsu proposed.
"Really, that would be amazing," Xenovia happily agreed while still clinging to Natsu.
"How about you let me go and I make everyone some breakfast?" Natsu asked.
"Can we stay like this a little longer, you are so warm," Xenovia pouted, giving Natsu puppy-dog eyes while hugging him tighter.
"Fine but let's move inside," Natsu gave in.
After a minute Natsu was able to escape from Xenovia's grasp and prepare breakfast for everyone who would be coming over soon.
Not long after the Gremory dining room was filled with Rias, her peerage, Wendy, Natsu and Grayfia all having a wonderful breakfast together.
"Okay now that we have eaten I want to assign everyone a post to ensure this meeting goes smoothly," Rias announced to her peerage after everyone had their fill of Natsu's cooking.
And that wraps up chapter 23. There is a chance that I might decrease the uploading to one per week or three every two weeks depending on how much work I have. I will make time for one per week and if I can upload a second so don't worry about that. Anyway next will be the beginning of the Three Faction Meeting and everything that goes along with that so, feel free to leave a review or comment and see ya next time.
