"Familiars?" Atreus asked as Rias suddenly informed both him and Asia that they would be getting their familiars before Atreus left in two days. Rias sat behind her desk smiling as she knew this was a little early for a Devil in the case of Asia but the girl needed some extra protection and a Familiar would help in that regard. For Atreus this was just another precaution that Rias wanted to take to make sure he retuned back to her safely.
"Yes, thankfully there will be a full moon before you leave for your trip." Rias said feeling that fate was on her side in this case. Which had lately been a nice change of pace in her opinion. What with getting Atreus and Asia, and the entire Fallen Angel incident ending without too much fallout things had been going well after a long period of strain and stress. "Listen, I understand that…" Rias stopped as the doors to her room opened and her mood shifted a little.
The entire Gremory household turned to see the full Student Council walk in. Atreus felt Asia slip behind him as she was the only one that was still very new both he school and the other Devils in the town. Atreus recognized Tsubasa out of the group but she was clearly trying her best to appear as her King wanted her to. So Atreus switched his attention to said King, Sona Sitri. He had only met her a few times, all of them when they were acting as student leaders of a club and student government. Likely the reason why he never really noticed his lack of skill at reading her. But now he had to notice her if for no other reason than she was a possible rival for Rias in some capacity.
"Hello Rias, I wanted to check up on you after that whole business with the Fallen Angels. Seems you handled it well enough and were able to add another member to your household." Sona said and Atreus couldn't really see why she couldn't have done this more privately. The only clue idea that came to his mind was that this was an intimidation tactic. The words that Tsubasa said to him before played out in his mind, that Rias was the figure head and Sona was the real power in town. Was this play just another way of enforcing that idea? Atreus didn't have enough insight into the relationship between the two Kings to support that.
"Oh yes, and you have been busy too. The user of one of Vritra's Scared Gears is a promising find." Rias said diplomatically however Atreus glanced over to the only male in the entire group and could see that he was taking differently. A slight puffing of his chest and the former god could tell that he was a boy driven by ego. Atreus instantly felt his opinion of the Sitri Devil drop like a stone in water. "However I still think I got you beat with Pawn findings." Rias added on as she saw the same thing and felt the need to gloat a bit about Atreus.
"Hmpph, I doubt that Gremory. I took up four Pawn pieces and could easily trash this ginger pretty boy." Saji said and behind him Tsubasa felt the intense need to smash his face in. But she kept these feelings in control only because she was sure Sona would tar and feather him for speaking out of turn. Saji was still very green and Tsubasa was seeing him as someone that needed a lot of work before he got the picture. The fact he was pining for Sona and seemed to think he was her favorite certainly made disciplining him harder simply because it didn't get through.
"Atreus here required all eight pieces, you needed two however I felt generous and boosted your power with two more." Sona said making Saji gasp with disbelief.
"T-this guy needed eight pieces?! He doesn't even have a Sacred Gear, I call bullshit!" Saji shouted but then was quickly knocked to the floor with a sweeping kick, his legs taken out from under him and then he felt his head slammed to floor.
"Thank you Tsubasa, he was getting rather embarrassing." Sona said back to her servants before looking back to the Gremory Devils. "I apologize for my Pawn's behavior, he's still new and quite sure of himself. Pride is an admirable trait among Devils but it must be tempered with realism." Sona lectured for both her servants sake and a small warning to the new Gremory Devils. She didn't know either and hoped that they would turn out better than her own recent picks.
"Oh it's fine. I have simply been very lucky in my recent servants. And they have been so impressive I was just planning on getting them their Familiars." That was seemed to surprise Sona and the Gremory Devils could see that Sona wasn't pleased to hear this.
"That could be a problem, I was planning on getting some of my servants their Familiars this month as well." Sona said as she thought on the logistics of this dilemma. "They only let in one group a month and I'd rather not go to a different service on such short notice. Would you be open to a friendly competition to decide just who get this month?" Sona offered feeling that Rias would accept simply on the chance to show off a bit. No matter what type of match or game it was, Sona knew that Rias liked to be in the spotlight and show off her power among other things.
"Hmm… a interesting proposal. What sort of game are you suggesting?" Rias said thoughtfully as she felt a certain thrill at the prospect of a small friendly game between her and Sona.
"This is what they came up with? I expected a little more." Atreus said as he watched Sona, Tsubaki, Rias, and Akeno all stand on a tennis court. He had to admit that they all looked fantastic in their outfits, but he was beginning to think that concentrating this much sexiness in one place was bad for the general sanity of the school.
"Maybe we should have made this a private match." Kiba said with a sweat drop as both he and Atreus watched as a large crowd started to form around the tennis court. Students all began cheering for their favored team, most of the boys shout either their undying love for the girls or just blatantly leering at them. The female students however were a bit more innocent with their cheers but Atreus could sense a linger feeling of sin in their voices as well. A combination of envy, lust, wrath, and pride all mixed in their applause.
"No one being any worse than normal… expect those two." Koneko said as she pointed out a certain duo of boys that both had cameras. The Pawn and Knight followed the Rook's glare and both guys frowned at the blatant and uncouthness of the two perverts. However just as Atreus was about to do something about it, he felt his phone vibrate. Checking it he sighed at the message he got and trusted Kiba to handle the Perverted Duo.
"A plate of cookies on neither team winning." Atreus said and Koneko huffed at the idea she would take such a poor bet. The pawn then walked away from the entire debacle and followed the string of sexy texts all the way back to the Old School Building. He walked through the dimly lit halls, his head down as he continued to get more and more thirsty texts from a certain someone until he came to the central room of the ORC. "Rias is going to blow a fuse when she learns about this." Atreus said as he locked the door behind him while smiling at the sight of Raynare completely naked and sitting on Rias' desk.
"Let her babe, don't tell me you never wanted to bend her over and take her right here." Raynare smirked as she heard the click of the door lock, all the confirmation that he wasn't opposed to doing here. "You're going to be leaving for two weeks, maybe more. I wanted to get in at least one last fuck in before then. Your parents have made home unlivable so I needed to get creative." She explained as he walked over to her, the calm and assumed expression he had made her all the more wet for him. He was perfect, he didn't need to showboat his power, he just had it. A silent swagger that drew her in.
"This defiantly is creative." He replied with a shrug but quickly closed the distance between them. Their lips meeting as she wrapped her arms around his neck as they grew even closer. Their tongues sliding between each other, diving into each other mouths before they started battling for control. Raynare leaned back onto the desk as she lost that battle, she gleefully let him take control and shower her with all his attention. She moaned as he ran his hands across her sides and soon cupped her breasts.
But this wasn't what she really wanted, he was way too clothed for that. Just feeling his hands kneed and squeeze her tits was enjoyable… fuck was it enjoyable but the foreplay was only a small taste of pleasure. Working through the pleasure that his hands, lips, teeth, and fingers were giving her, she lowered her hands and with a bit of trickery was able to undo his belt and pants. Dropping them to floor she started reaching for her prize but then felt her hand pulled back up.
"Come on~ you know you want it." She purred and shivered under those eyes of his, so focused and so in charge. She knew he didn't like someone else setting the pace. That was the plan, she liked to tease and set him off. Get him to show that power and control he had over her. She was his bitch and loved it when he owned that.
"I do, but I want you good and wet first." He said as he pulled her arm and as he interlocked his fingers with hers, shoved both hands between her legs. She gasped as she felt several fingers slip between her folds, then begin to slowly slide along her moistening slit. He made sure to have her go slowly, a small punishment for trying to get something she wasn't supposed to have too early. He let her hand go as he returned to playing with her breasts but she made sure to keep touching herself at the pace he set for her. He would know if she went to slow or too fast, he always did.
Raynare bit her lips as she swiped a thumb across her erect clit, doing so at the same time that Atreus moved his lips down over her chest. A loud gasp wanted to escape her as she felt Atreus take one of her hardened nubs into his mouth and begin sucking, her breasts tingled with pleasure as he continued to give them all his attention. The Fallen Angel slowly began panting as she felt the pleasure build and build, the feeling of Atreus fondling and sucking on her tits and the slow working she had been doing to herself was beginning to get unbearable.
"Please Atreus… fuck I want to cum…" Raynare begged as neared the edge of her first orgasm. She then felt him bit down on her nipple and dove his hand back down with her own. Slipping his fingers in with her own, guiding them both deeper than she had allowed herself to go previously. By now he knew all her sweat spots and he was hitting them all. It was impossible for her now to cum with all the stimulation hitting her all at once. With no one around Raynare didn't feel the need to hold back and screamed as a flood of carnal extasy poured through her veins. "F-fuck… fuck… fuck…" She panted hard as she started to come down off her blissful high. But then she yelped as she was turned over, her ass pushed out and presented for her man as her legs glinted in her own juices.
"Much better, seeing you bent over like this." Atreus gripped Raynare's lovely rear end, enjoying the feeling of his fingers sinking into her flesh. He knew all about her power fetish, she got turned on by two things; having power and those with more using it on her. And Atreus certainly enjoyed the thrill of control over someone in the bedroom, he knew that it was something that his curse of godhood gave him but know he felt increasingly safer in indulging in it. Just hearing Raynare moan heavily as he gave her ass a hard smack, proved this idea to him.
"Yes~, punish this lowly bitch of yours!" Raynare screamed in joy as she felt another spanking hit her as the teasing feeling of her man's tip brushed across her drenched pussy. Then her face contorted into one of pure lustful glee as she felt him push past her lower lips and split her in half like it always did. "Fucking damnit! I'll never get enough of this cock…" Raynare drooled as the same pleasure that always came when she was fucked by her boyfriend hit her.
Then as he started to pull out and push back in she began shamelessly moaning and cursing up a storm. The room was quickly filled with eh wet sounds of flesh hit flesh and the Fallen Angel's dirty talk and throaty moans. This was sharply stopped as Atreus pulled Raynare back up on her knees by her hair. The rough play causing her pussy walls to constrict and tighten around his cock. He pulled her back, her head rest on his shoulder as he continued to pound up into her vice like cunt. The Devil pulled her into a burning kiss as he held her across the midriff with one arm and moved his other hand down to were the two become one.
Atreus smirked as she broke the kiss to throw her head back on his shoulder in smoldering carnality as he began to play with her clit. The sight of Raynare drooling in lustful heaven as she clung to his arm, her mind thinking only of holding onto the source of her current pleasure. He felt her tighten even more as she came again, though he could hear her plead for him to keep going. Wanting to extend her orgasm for as long as possible, whimpers of encouragement escaped her. Not wanted to disappoint Atreus kept up as his efforts.
Pumping into her again and again until he finally began feeling close to his own climax. With one last final thrust he pushed in as deep as possible and flooded Raynare's insides with his seed. Setting off another orgasm for her, Raynare's body locked up with Atreus' own as they both were in the middle of carnal rapture. The two soon fell forward onto Rias' desk, panting heavily as the pleasurable high lingered and slowly faded. Raynare whined quietly as she felt Atreus's lips kiss the back of her neck. Her back arched and her ass raised up to grind against his crotch, happy to find him still hard.
"Mmm… I'm ready for round two if you are." She purred as she knew that her boyfriend could go on forever. She had no idea about his godly stamina but she didn't really care where it came from. Only happy that the man she loved wasn't a one-pump-chump. But then she felt him pull away from her. "No~"
"I'd love to keep this up but this is Rias' desk, and anymore and I doubt we could hide it from her. Plus they'll likely be wondering where I am by now, and I'm not going to get caught like this." Atreus explained and Raynare just huffed a bit. How could they get caught if his illusions fooled everyone? But then she squirmed a little and felt that the previously dry desk was anything but now. "I want all of this cleaned up, if Rias gets any feeling that anything happened her I will be giving my bitch a punishment she won't like." Raynare moaned as he finished this threat with a hard slap to her rear before redressing himself and leaving her for this task.
"Maybe I should just leave it… nah. His punishment will be fun but big red's will won't be."
"Should have made the bet." Koneko grumbled as she left the ORC, and she had been grumbling about her potential loss of a plate of cookies since the tennis match. It had ended with the Gremory team winning the right to go to the Familiar Forest. Which in of itself was a minor let down, at it was to Rias. As they were able to get Asia a neat little dragon as her Familiar but Atreus couldn't find anything that really spoke to him.
"You had your chance." Atreus chuckled as he remained seated in the main room of the Old School Building. While the day hadn't ended with him getting a Familiar he was happy that Asia found something. To him all the monsters and creatures they had seen were just too generic. This was something very important to every Devil and he wanted to be sure that he picked something that he connected with. "So why is a giant stack of a paperwork on your desk?" Atreus asked as he looked over to Rias who was trying to make a dent in the large gathering of work that had been piled up for her.
"Because it looks like Sona is being a little bitter at me for beating her in the tennis match." Rias sighed as she finished another meaningless piece of paperwork that normally Sona would have done. While it was true that this was Gremory territory, Rias didn't have the aptitude for this type of work, Sona did. Rias knew she was a good charismatic leader, the type to rally crowds and draw support for a cause. But she also knew she was a poor administrator. That's why the situation with Sona was worked so well. But now Sona was getting a bit of revenge by letting work Rias was supposed to do actually get to her. "You should go home, this is going to take me all night with Akeno out on a emergency job call."
"All night huh, okay." Rias heard Atreus and assumed that he just listened to her order and left. Twenty minutes later she was still in the very beginning of this workload nightmare when a microwave cup of ramen and convince store coffee was set in front of her. Rias looked up and expected this to be a joke from Akeno but instead found Atreus smiling down at her. "Sorry, this is the best I can do."
"I thought you went home." Rias asked though she was very pleased to have some company.
"And leave you all alone." He chuckled and Rias immediately felt very grateful toward her Pawn and his thinking of her. "But I meant what I said, running to the nearest convince store and grabbing junk food and coffee is the extent of my culinary skills. Unless you have a dead stag around here I could skin." He joked but Rias just was thankful that he was here regardless of what he brought for them to eat.
She watched him heat up the two packs of ramen with a snap of his fingers, summoning a small bird made of fire and letting it hitch a ride on his finger. He held the cups over the bird and summoned some water to fill them. It was all very ingenious but all Rias could focus on was the fiery bird and what it represented to her. She stared at it the entire time that Atreus spent making them their crude meal. Something that did not go unnoticed by the former god. As he finished the food and snapped the summon out of existence, Atreus wondered just what was making Rias so unnerved by the summon.
"Thank you, I'm actually a little surprised you don't know how to cook." Rias said as she took the cup of instant ramen. She wasn't so much a snob to turn her nose to something that was indeed very tasty even if a bit low class.
"I guess you could say that I know camping cooking. I know all the plants that a person can gather and eat safely, I know how to hunt and butcher nearly every animal in the forest, I can even throw all of that into a stew. But in the kitchen… a whole other story." Atreus explained as Rias started eating out of her dinner cup. He had never really thought about trying his hand at cooking. It wasn't in his skill set so it never occurred to him to try. He supposed that wasn't a good mindset to have. But he spent much of his time in life improving on the skills that came naturally to him. Training them to heights unseen by mortals and most supernatural beings. His skills at a bow, words and language, illusions and magic. He worked at these and wanted to make them his.
"Koneko has been asking about going on a camping trip some day, I think it would be great if you could show her some of your skills." The night continued on with the two talking and eating their little on the cheap meal. But eventually the night got too dark and Atreus had to return home or else face the wrath of his parents as the next day he would leaving for his trip with his father. Rias had a smile on her face as felt more content and at peace than she had in a long time. Then she frowned as Atreus' little fire summon reminded her of the very reason why she had not been at peace for so long. "We're not ready… even with Atreus and Asia we're not ready." Any day the time could come to claim her freedom and she knew that she wasn't ready to face it. That needed to change.
"I expect you to call me every day and answer every text I send." The rest of Rias' peerage sighed at her motherly fussing as Atreus, his father, and some unremarkable guy were setting off to on their adventure. Both Kiba and Koneko felt unnerved by the third wheel of this trip, he was too strangely tagged onto the father and son duo. Meanwhile Akeno felt mildly disgusted by his unashamed leering at her, but he hadn't done anything so far so she didn't say anything. Katase and Murayama both were also in attendance and were waiting for their turn at saying goodbye.
"If I can I will." Atreus said knowing that where he was going wasn't clear with his phone coverage. Kyoto was perfectly fine but the dense amazon jungles not so much. Rias pouted at this but gave up trying to argue on this as she knew her Pawn wasn't someone that could be cowed easily into anything. He was remarkably stubborn even if he was too nice about it.
"Fine… but try. I'll worry about you." Rias said finally letting Atreus go, stepping back with the rest of her peerage. She then watched as the two human girls that she shouldn't feel any for say their goodbyes. Both getting a kiss and a promise of a date when he returned. Rias' lip twitched down at hearing this. Logically she knew that these two girls had long been exposed to Atreus and were likely magically addicted to him in some way. That's how she explained to herself why he gave them so much attention but that just wasn't how Atreus worked. So why did she feel so jealous right now?
She watched as her Pawn finished up with the two mortal girls and then walked back to his father and his handler. Then in a flash of grayish light they were all gone. Rias could already feel her chest tighten in worry over just what her favorite servant was doing. Then she felt a hand rest on her shoulder, she looked up and saw Atreus' mother smile warmly down on her and she suddenly felt much better.
"It's better to seize the day than wait around thinking what could be." Rias didn't quite understand what the older woman was saying. They both looked back to the two mortal girls that were leaving to head back to their families. "They seized their moment, as jumbled a mess of an attempt as it was. But they did it. And now they eagerly await for the man they love to come back to them." Rias blushed as the insinuations that were laced in the woman's words manifested in her mind.
"T-that's not… I'm just worried about him as his King. I am heiress to the great house of Gremory. I don't have time to worry about boys or dating, too much rests on my shoulders." She knew she was making excuses that were paper thin. Her responsibilities as heiress were incredibly limited until she grew older. And even then wouldn't be until her father officially announced his impending retirement that she would need to take her position seriously. She just felt she needed to distance herself from whatever it was the woman was trying to say.
"A date doesn't need to be an extravagant affair, a simple meal between two between enjoy each other's company is all that is needed." Rias' couldn't help but think back to last night. She enjoyed it more than she had enjoyed any other time together with anyone in a long time. "Take it from someone who worked hard to get their man to finally understand something as simple as his own feelings, start early." With that last piece of advice Freya left the girl with her own thoughts, greatly enjoying her time as match maker for her son. Making sure that the women in his life would be worthy of him.
Atreus stumbled as he flashed back into reality, but was caught by his father. The teen quickly found his footing and was a little irritated that the first moment of this new adventure was his father saving him even if it was in such a small way.
"Be careful boy, these aren't the Devil's Teleportation Circles so watch yourself." Nex said and both father and son lightly growled at the tone that the man was taking. But Nex just shrugged it off as he knew that neither could lay a finger on them. "I can't blink us across the oceans so we'll be taking a plane to South America and start off from there. Our flight's in three days so try not to cause to much trouble until then." Nex said as he started down the alley that he had brought them to.
"So you're just going to leave us?" Atreus asked as he watched the man that was supposed to be their guide just leave them without any indication that they were supposed to follow. Again, Nex didn't even give the slightest sign that he cared to answer Atreus' concerns. "Is he always like this?"
"Yes." Kratos grumbled before he looked down to his son. This was something that he had been wanting to do for a few years now. He disliked how things were now, his limited time he could spend with his family but at the same time that usually vanished by the end of his stay with them. Restlessness would sink in and the trappings of civilized society got to him. He was a soldier, his life was in the military. That was the last time he knew he was content among other normal people. But now was a very different time and place than those days. He had a family and was in a time where war was considered a tragic thing by most cultures. The current arrangement with Nex was the best solution but one that still had its downsides. The futures that Freya would speak of were unlikely to pass but he still hoped that there was a perfect middle ground that he could find.
"What do we do now? He couldn't have let us stay in Kuoh for three more days instead of dumping us here." Atreus sighed as he and Kratos also started their way out of the alley and into the streets of Japan's capital. The second they did so they stood out like a sore thumb in the crowds of busy locals. Kratos towered over many of them, though he did that everywhere. And even if he had long since started dressing in somewhat modern clothes, mostly as a giant lumberjack, he still looked quite out of place among the many business suits. Atreus was a little better but his northern European features still alarmed people to him as foreigner. Even if he had technically only ever lived in Japan. "Should we find a hotel room or something?"
"Yes, but for now I want to visit a few places." Kratos said as he began walking into the crowd, surprising Atreus by how good he was at not disturbing people as he did so. The teen followed his father through the crowds not exactly understanding what they were doing but he had little else to do.
The two walked their way through the streets of Kyoto, ignoring the humans and eyes in the shadows as they went. Atreus didn't know where they were going but he could tell that his father was pretty intent on it. Atreus honestly would have preferred finding a nice hotel and staying there until Nex came and found them to take off to their real adventure. If he could figure out where Nex ran off too he would have liked to spy on his activities even more so but given that it would pretty much impossible to do so he shrugged that wish off. The former god also was starting to get the distant feeling that they weren't exactly welcomed.
Atreus could sense that they were being closely watched he knew that Japan was filled with more than just Devils. He knew that the Shinto Pantheon had only given the Gremory family Kuoh as little more than a gift to the Devil King's former family in some trade deal. And that the rest of Japan was nothing like Kuoh in terms of the supernatural. Atreus had sometimes felt a small sense of this every time he would travel outside Kuoh, mostly for his club's tournaments, but it wasn't nearly as strong as it was here.
"We are here boy." Kratos said and Atreus was drawn out of his internal musings. Blinking, the teen looked around and saw that they were now at the Fushimi Inari Taisha. Atreus wasn't exactly sure if this was wise, firstly… he was a Devil. Second, Kratos was still a god and this was a massive Shinto Shrine. Inari, a fertility, farming, and overall peaceful god would not take kindly to another God whose set domain was War. But his father seemed adamant at coming here so Atreus followed him into the shrine.
"Uhh… do you think it will be okay if I'm here?" Atreus asked as even if his father felt it appropriate for himself to be there, Atreus was a whole other matter. He was a Devil, one in service to the Devil King's sister and so this could be some breach of contract that the Devils had with the Shinto Kami. Kratos just however grunted a bit at the question and Atreus sighed at the mood that he looked to be in.
The teen watched as his father walked into the main shrine, no one willing to stop him from doing what he pleased. Kratos looked around and at spotting a napping Fox nearby he quickly stormed over and grabbed it by the tail. Atreus just watched in horror as his father dragged out what clearly was some supernatural being out of the temple and then followed Kratos out to a secluded area. The Greek God then tossed the Fox forward and in a puff of smoke a small asexual child with fox ears and snake eyes popped into existence.
"You owe money Inari, Osiris isn't happy that you skipped out on your bet." Atreus' jaw dropped as he witness all this play out before him. The Shinto Kami on the other hand scrambled back to a wall with a fearful and pleading look on its face.
"Listen Ghost, offerings are a little slim this month. Can't you take a-" Inari pursed his lips shut as one of the Blades of Chaos sliced into the wall next to his head. "Right. The money… for Osiris. The money that I will get. Osiris's winning that I will have." He started stammering while Atreus just could not believe what he was witnessing.
"You have three days, I leave Kyoto then. If I don't have the money by then… what happened in Berlin will happen to you." Kratos threatened as he pulled his blade back to his side and then started off away from the Kami. Atreus just looked back and forth between his retreating father and the hyperventilating fox spirit. Deciding that he didn't want to be noticed he ran off back toward his father's side.
"So many questions." Atreus said as he caught up to his father and stuck to his side like glue.
"Don't tell Freya." Kratos started off and that obviously meant that his father was doing something stupid that might put the family in danger. Or at least it was something that Freya would see as possibly putting the family in danger. "In my travels around the world with Nex I have made connections among the other Gods. They don't know what I am but assume I'm some sort of Greek God born in the last few centuries. One with no domain to his name but with enough power to be a threat. They at times hire me to handle their personal drama that occurs between them. Nothing serious, just petty debts and insults."
"So… after all you've been through you're working for gods again? I would expect you to jump back into Hades before ever doing that again." Atreus knew of his father's past and his views on it. It made so little sense that he would willingly put himself in the service of gods.
"Does it look like I am a slave to any of them." Kratos answered and Atreus had to think back to how scared the god at the top of the shrine looked. "Listen Atreus, I do not take orders for any of them. This is business, and I will have my payment. But in the meantime, I provide a service to these childish gods."
"Because they can't be seen doing it themselves or else that would risk war." Atreus said and his father nodded. That made a lot of sense, but it didn't seem like something his father would do. "What do you get out of this?"
"A home. I have agreed to do these little errands for the various Gods I know and in exchange they will grant me a small pocket of reality for myself and my family. It will be a place that we can live without Nex hanging over our heads and live as we please." Kratos explained and Atreus couldn't believe it. It sounded too good to be true but creating small self contained worlds was something that various gods in the world had. Them pooling their power to create a paradise for Kratos and his family would be nothing for them.
"I'm surprised that you would trust them, being gods and all." That was the one thing that made little sense to Atreus. He knew his father's view on gods and just taking them for their word that they would do this felt off.
"It is true that I distrust gods as a whole… but this world is not as ours was. I have seen too many moments of genuine kindness, and weakness, from the Gods to think that they are exactly like the ones we knew." Kratos explained and Atreus was happy that his father had grown so much. That he was willing to walk away from a god that he could have easily killed. It was a little sad for Atreus all these years to think of how his father carried this hate around for no reason now that they were so far from the real beings deserving of that hate. "Now, I need to speak to a few more beings regarding a few more debts and other matters. Nex will find both of us no matter where we are, explore the city on your own." Kratos said before turning and starting off to his next job. Atreus stood at the exit to the Kyoto landmark and wondered just what he would do for the next few days.
"What do you mean we have a spy in our ranks? We don't have ranks… it's just the eight of us and that's it." Nex grumbled before taking a sip from his glass of whisky. He wasn't drinking that local shit either, only American for him. Next to him was a fellow Nephilim, Gen. She was just as unremarkable as Nex was, neither too ugly or pretty. And unlike Nex who didn't mind this facet of their race she was quite irritated by the fact she would never have the looks other supernatural beings tended to have. Not the sinful beauty of the Devils or the angelic purity of the Angels.
"And I'm telling you that someone is changing out the jobs. I don't exactly remember stealing a priceless relic from the Camarilla as part of God's list." Gen grumbled before taking her own sip of sake. The two of them were seated at a small bar deep in the middle of Kyoto. No one else but the bartender was in the bar and even he didn't know that he wasn't alone. These two were in their own world, where no one would ever discover they even existed.
"Maybe one of us had a beef with the bloodsuckers. Doesn't matter in the end really. The list has been so backlogged that who knows what's in there and what's not." Nex sighed not finding his fellow agent of God worry needed. They had their list and did it really matter if it was being given new jobs? The world would keep spinning. "If you feel this strongly about it than take it up with Rim, he's the one keeping track of the damn thing."
"I did, he says that he passes the thing around so many times that he barely considered himself the Keeper of the List. You're the only one that doesn't take the list, you're the only one that I don't suspect."
"Thanks but I really don't need your confidence." Nex said as he finished off his drink. "If this was really all you wanted to tell me than thanks for giving me a excuse to dick around for three days." Nex smirked as he got up out of the booth that Gen had dragged him into.
"This is serious Nex. Someone is using us for their own ends!" Gen shouted only to be given the bird as Nex left the bar.
Atreus walked through the city, illusioned as a typical Japanese man as he didn't want to disturb either the local humans or supernatural beings. The feeling that he was being watched had vanished since doing this and he took this as he wasn't being intently watched. If he was purposely being watched, under someone's orders, then just throwing up an illusion wouldn't have done a thing.
"What am I supposed to do for three days? I don't normally have free time." Atreus mumbled as he was very confused as to just what to do with himself. His hobbies involved other people and he was a social boy, he liked spending time with friends more than just being alone. But as he was musing just what he could do with his sudden free schedule, he heard a large crash in a nearby alley. "Batman for the next few days? Could be fun." He liked screwing with the perverted Duo back in Kuoh, doing it on real criminals might prove to be just as fun.
The second he stepped into the alley though, he could sense that there was something magical in the air. This wasn't his business, if he got too involved than it could come back to Rias. He was pretty sure that he wasn't even supposed to be in Kyoto. But curiosity got the better of him, and he was currently disguised as some random man. Hopefully if it looked like it was too hot for him to be around than he could walk away. Even if he was spotted it would just look like some human saw something they shouldn't have and were now running off.
He walked through the alley and eventually turned a corner to find several monsters and a few humans in heavy robes gathered around a bleeding girl. Already he knew there was no turning back. This was a obvious kidnapping before any words were spoken. He recognized most of the monster looking creatures as Yōkai but the humans were a question that needed to be answered.
"She's damaged, it will take a good deal of effort to fix this up. Her life force is already fading." One of the human sneered as Atreus sneaked over to the group. He pulled his Talon Bow, having held it this entire time under another illusion, he knocked a arrow and got ready. Having heard the girl was already in danger of dying meant he couldn't spend too much time getting information.
"You try stealing the daughter of the Nine-Tailed Fox of Kyoto without getting some scratches on the product. If you want to get her to the Venture buyer then you better hurry out of Kyoto and never return." One of the monsters hissed, Atreus could hear a large amount of pain bleeding into his words, beyond benign deaf to his true emotions he could hear the pain. This was a trade between kidnapers and traffickers, in what Atreus didn't know but he would ask Mimir about the term Venture later. "Just give me my mone-" The monster didn't speak another word as a arrow shot between it's bulbous eyes. Two more arrows flew through the air and killed two more Yōkai.
The human in robes, no… now that they turned and Atreus could see their faces he could tell they were far from human. All but one of the four had disfigured faces the likes that did not come naturally. And the last one had a nose that resembled a bear's snout more than a human nose. That bear like one growled and immediately pounced down where Atreus had fired. Using a speed that was unnatural and faster than the Devil expected. He blocked the monster's attack with his bow, blocking his arms from coming down and impaling Atreus with a hunting knife.
"Baric! Kill the intruder!" One of the three other buyers shouted as they grabbed the girl and dragged her down into the sewers through a open manhole. But not before two of them knocked the last of the Yōkai into the nearby walls with punches fueled with inhuman strength.
"Stop!" Atreus shouted but that did little and soon enough he had to deal with his own attacker before he could do anything to save the girl. Locking back onto the bestial foe in front of him, he got some distance between the two of them with a sudden kick to the stomach. The man launched back thanks to Atreus' own extra human strength. But the man landed with all the grace of a feral animal and was on all four limbs in a aggressive and ready posture. "That was a really good knife. And you smell like trees and bear shit. What's a hunter like you doing in a city like this?" Atreus asked as he carefully stood back up, putting his bow on his back and pulling out his own knife.
"Only thing that a person still needs out there, allies." He answered with a growl before leaping up and coming at Atreus with ferocity of beast. The pawn ducked under the first swipe and then jumped back from the follow up. Atreus cursed as he found himself on the defense, dodging ever move the other guy made while getting in no hits of his own. But then the beastly man made too big a swing and left himself open. Atreus immediately took the chance and thrusted forward. The man locked up and was as still as a statue and Atreus' blade dinged as it hit his body. It was like stabbing concrete. Atreus could hear him smirk as he found himself locked in a choke hold. "You're lucky kid… I'm a picky eater. And your blood smells too hot for me right now."
"Vampire… of course that's what you are." Atreus smirked as he finally figured out just what he was fighting. Atreus snapped his fingers and a snake made of the Light of Alfiheim formed around his arm and then slithered its way onto the vampire. He screamed in pain as the Light burned everywhere the snake touched. While it didn't; outright destroy him like sunlight would, it was by no means just a tickle to the skin. Atreus rolled away and pulled his bow back into his hands. He was ready with another arrow when he looked up and saw the vampire had already half turned into a swarm of rats. His lower body now molding into more and more of the nasty little things. Atreus was just about to cast a larger Alfiheim summon at the swarm as it ran toward the open manhole but stopped as someone beat him to it. A wide river of fire exploded down the alley and utterly incinerated the swarm of rats, their tiny screams a chorus of agony.
"Disgusting leeches, that's who has my daughter." Atreus heard and turned his head to the speaker, that being a beautiful blond woman at the end of the alley. Atreus gulped, not at the fact her kimono was doing little to hide her sizable bust, but at the sheer amount of power that this woman was flooding the local area. It wasn't god level but it was still very scary. But then that aura of death and power faded away as the fire charred the vampire and smoldered out. She then glanced over to Atreus and had a thankful smile on her face. "Thank you young man, if you hadn't stalled for time then I wouldn't have the lead I have now."
"Uh… no problem." Atreus said as he collected himself and stood back up.
"I might even overlook the fact a Devil has dared to come into my territory." Oh shit, he knew that he wasn't supposed to be in Kyoto. But she had started talking, and wasn't going for the kill right away. Though she was just like Rias and he couldn't sense her emotions through her words, he could still get out of this.
"I'm not here on anyone's orders, just here on my way to South America." Atreus said as he slung his bow back around his arm. He saw that the woman wasn't amused to hear this, it was a weak excuse as there were plenty of other cities with airports or ports. "My flight leaves in three days, how about I spend all that time working for you for free. Your very own Devil paying his respects in the form of service. A Devil that is a master tracker and fighter… the kind that could find your daughter."
"Mmm… cunning, I like that." She smirked and Atreus had the odd feeling he had seen smiles like that before but he couldn't exactly place where. "You're a reincarnated Devil right, then that means you don't share the same sins as the High-Born Devils. You probably don't even know the current situation between the Yōkai and the Devils, do you?"
"Yes on both counts." Atreus said, she hadn't agreed or dismissed his proposal. But she also hadn't countered. She was toying with him and he didn't like it. "My offer?" He said directly, not giving any ground or showing any fear to the earlier display of power. If there was one thing he learned from his father was to never show fear in the face of power. Because then that power was over you.
"Forceful, another plus." Again, where had he seen that smirk? It was getting to him, but he would think further on that later. "The answer to your deal is a yes. I will overlook your presence in my city provided that you find my daughter and return her alive in two days." She said before a claw of fire extended out from one of his kimono sleeves. "And if you fail or she dies, I promise you that your new life as a devil will be filled with all the pain I can bring down on you." With that the claw retracted, not that Atreus gave the threat a single twitch of a reaction.
"Two days?" He was pretty sure that he could find her this night, but he still was curious.
"I want the last day for myself, you interest me young man and just having a Devil Servant of my own for a day is a nice little victory for myself." She shrugged but Atreus could tell that she was plotting something. He doubted that she would use him for something major in regards to Devil and Yōkai relations. But just as he thought this a small glimmer flashed across the woman's eyes. "However, an addendum to the deal is I want you each night to have a drink with me."
"Why?" He asked not feeling this was too strange. It wasn't like she was asking him to sleep with her. But at the same time it was a unexpected tack-on and that always spoke to something underhanded.
"I'm a woman that leads the Yōkai of Kyoto. I am surrounded by people unable to drop their manners and masks. Forgive me if I might want a drink with someone that looks to be not intimidated by me." Atreus would give her that. She seemed like the type of woman that could easily become isolated by her strength and political position. People unwilling to get close out of fear or always walk on eggshells around her. The only other people on her level were in other factions.
"Very well, I'll accept those terms. I will find your daughter, I will work for you during my time in Kyoto and each night I will have a drink with you." Atreus said and was somewhat grateful for something to do, even if it meant that a young girl was in danger. But he was confident in his abilities to track down a bleeding girl. He was sure that Rias would understand that he needed to do this in order to not worsen relations between Devils and another supernatural faction.
Rias felt very uneasy. Like something very bad was about to happen. Even as she stood in the middle of Mrs. Deimos' garden, she felt like she needed to stop something from happening right now.
"Rias, you like you do every time someone tries to buy a figurine before you." Akeno commented making Rias blush and stop her current line of thinking. Though Akeno had much the same sense as Rias but she wasn't that worried about it. Whatever it was couldn't possibly that dire. "This really is a nice garden… Mrs. Deimos?" Akeno looked back to see Atreus' step-mother have a similar look as Rias did only for this one to be added with a murderous aura.
"You're doing it again!" Mimir called from inside. "Nothing's happening, Kratos isn't cheating on you, just beating the crap out of some Tengu!" The girls watch the older woman visibly relax at Mimir's words. They hadn't even spoken to Atreus' father but from everything they heard knew that he wasn't the type of man to do something like that. They didn't suspect that there was any fighting going on between them, so it baffled Rias and Akeno why she would ever think that.
"I think I should call Atreus." Rias said only to find Mimir standing in the door to the main house as she opened it.
"You're just as bad as she is aren't ya. You can rest easy too, I checked on the lad and he's just exploring Kyoto and keeping out of trouble the best he can." Mimir said and Rias and Akeno both visibly relaxed like Freya had done earlier. And Mimir hadn't lied, he just omitted a few things because he didn't want them to worry and/or rush off to Kyoto to stop Atreus from walking right into a trap that would surely have a lasting impact on him for the rest of his life.
"Huh… Rias hasn't texted me. Eh, Mimir probably told her what I was doing. Hopefully that means she's cool with it." Atreus may have jumped through some mental hoops in order to come to that conclusion but given that he was in the middle of a sewer he wasn't exactly in the right mindset to think that hard on it.
The former god lowered himself low to the ground, touching the small dripping trail of blood that was stained on the concrete. He had been tracking the vampires for a hour now and was still on their trail. They had tried to ditch any pursuers but they hadn't done anything major. He suspected that they had done so because their man that they had left behind was a fellow tracker. A normal or even a novice tracker would have given up now. But there were signs, little clues that only a master would see. Atreus' eyes darted over to a small scratch in the floor at the right corner way.
As he ran down the sewer he wished that he knew more about vampires than he did. What little he knew was that they were beings descended from Caine. How the Genesis of Mankind worked on this world he didn't know and it seemed that most Gods didn't seem to concerned with that part of history. But Vampires, or Cainites, were all descendants from the man cursed by god for killing his brother. They were technically an unrecognized fourth faction of the Abrahamic Faiths due to this. But they mostly kept to themselves and rarely interacted with the rest of the supernatural world. Atreus also knew that Vampires were separated by Clans and all of the Clans had their own traits and powers. But he wasn't aware of what they were to any real extent. He hated being blind like this but he had a job to do and he would get through it.
Atreus ran through the winding sewers and eventually came to a stop as he saw a little light bleeding through the ceiling. Another manhole cover, a crack in it showing that it hadn't been closed properly. He had gained on them, and they had heard him but recognized that he wasn't their friend. That was fine, he knew that they had to have some sort of safehouse, and they were leading him right too it.
Coming out of the sewers, first he took a deep breath of fresh air, he glanced around to see that he was in a poorer area of the city. The buildings weren't kept in as nearly as good condition and graffiti was tagged on the walls. Only he could tell that the graffiti wasn't normal Japanese or gang markers. He examined the tagging and could tell that they were a type of slang not used by the locals but he had enough to work with. His godly powers of language worked as he looked over the symbols and quickly discovered their meanings.
"Right… safe hide out that way. Thanks Tyler." Atreus chuckled as he doubted that the vampire that marked this would like to learn he just helped someone track down his kin. Or maybe he would, Atreus didn't know or care because right now he was on the right track. He knew that this was the right path the second he spotted a small drop of blood smeared across a trashcan lid. And as Atreus rounded a alley corner he spotted his prey, a group of men wearing heavy robes, obviously to keep them safe from the daylight. "You guys really should have stuck to the night!" Atreus shouted as he summoned several wolves made of Alfiheim light. The group of vampires all hissed at the sudden light and dove into the open door that Atreus had caught them in. As Atreus ran toward the door he heard something get slammed in front of the door. He opened it and found a large and heavy bookshelf blocking his path. He smirked as he was still able to get a foot in the door. "Promotion to Rook."
The Pawn felt a surge of strength flood his body and he easily kicked the obstacle in. The wood cracking and busting apart as it flung through the air due to the force exerted on it. The summoned wolves all swarmed into the building as Atreus walked in. There he found several Vampires all dumbfounded and looking scared shitless, they backed into a corner and tried their best to hide their bodies from the light emanating from the spectral wolves.
"This isn't your business Devil! Whatever that hag fox is paying you we can double it!" One of the hissed and Atreus felt disgusted at the idea that they would think he would even consider it. Was it because he was a Devil and they just assumed he would turn on his word at the chance for greater rewards? "The buyer we have for the girl is wealthy beyond your understanding, a little extra charge to the price wouldn't matter to him. Enough to get you out of Kyoto before the hag fox ever realizes you betrayed her."
"It would be so easy, take the money. Maybe we might even find you for work. The Circulatory System would be happy to have a capable-" The next Vampire didn't have the chance to finish his offer as one of the summoned wolves leapt and began gnawing at him like a chew toy. The rest of the summoned pack likewise pounced on their prey and in the Vampires weakened state, not only from the light but also just being awake during the day, were powerless to stop them. The gamble to have the exchange during the day and avoid being noticed by the local established Vampire powers had proved to be a fatal mistake.
Atreus ignored all of the screaming and sounds of undead dying as he walked calmly to the injured girl haphazardly tossed to the side in the Vampires' panic. Atreus could tell that she had lost a lot of blood and many of her bones had been broken. There was likely internal trauma too. There wasn't much plant life in the building that he could use for Vanir magic but there was a park nearby. He picked up the girl and dismissed his summons as they finished off their prey.