3rd Secret Report up in my profile. Again, those secret reports are very important to the story, so I advise you to read them. These things normally get ignored in the games, when they have plenty of clues and information for the loose ends in the story, lol.
IMPORTANT: Before we begin, I would like to announce something. The Peace Treaty will be the last arc for this story. Do not misunderstand, I am NOT stopping this fanfic as a whole. I'm trying to say that this story will end after the peace treaty arc, and then I will start a sequel that takes place after it. I want to spread out this story so that it's not just one big clump. I mean, this is already the 43rd chapter, and we're not yet halfway through the Excalibur arc. Once the Peace Treaty arc is done, I'll be done with this story and write the sequel that will cover Volumes 5-8.
TL;DR, This fanfic will stop after Volume 4, which is the Peace Treaty arc. The sequel will cover Volumes 5 to 8, after that will be Volumes 9 to 12, and so on. I hope that makes sense.
Discord link: [discord . gg / 4y5QVPj]
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Highschool DxD, or any of its characters...
"Fascinating…" Griselda breathed out after hearing Rias' explanation. As much as it sounded too ridiculous, her words actually made sense and it didn't seem far-fetched. Also, there was no reason for the devils to lie when Kairi was just here, listening to every word and taking it in. "As much as it is quite the peculiar scenario, it does bring you such merits." An amused smile crossed her face before she continued. "You've managed to make us think that Sora has nothing to do with this. For that, I'm impressed."
Rias snorted. "It's weird hearing that from a member of the church, but I guess your reputation does precedes you." Griselda only flashed a pleased smile while the Gremory girl continued to speak. "You're not as hostile to the devils like most exorcists."
Without warning, Xenovia stood up from her seat and pointed accusingly towards the devils, particularly the girls and Sora nearly fell back out of fear. This alarmed everyone, including Griselda. "I've had enough! How did you convince an innocent boy like Sora to join you vile creatures?! You must have forced him!" she shouted, hardening her gaze
"Xenovia, I told you to calm down! You're overreacting!" Griselda said, reverting to a very serious demeanor. With every passing second, she was more glad that she was assigned to this mission with Irina and Xenovia. She could only imagine how chaotic things would be right now if these two were alone without her.
The bluenette turned to her mentor with a defiant look on her face. "No, Griselda! I will not calm down until I have gotten to the bottom of this!" she yelled back, which only caused the older exorcist to narrow her eyes further. "Answer me now, devils! How did you force Sora to join you?! Someone as pure as him will never associate with your kind!" Xenovia growled when nobody looked like they wanted to answer her (it wasn't worth it), which was a blow to her pride. "Did you tempt him with your bodies?! You just corrupted such a pure soul like this boy and manipulated his feelings to join. You! Have you no shame?!" Xenovia snorted at her own words. "Well, I wouldn't expect anything less from creatures of lust…"
Her last statement, instead of causing terror into the hearts of the devils, only caused the girls of the ORC to blush heavily. Actually, only Kiba retained his serious look while everyone else had varying reactions. Rias' serious look faltered and a huge blush took over her face. Akeno covered her mouth with one hand and gasped, while Asia and Koneko blanched. Sure, the thought of having Sora being a loving boyfriend was something that Rias secretly wanted, but going so far as to say seducing the boy… it was just too much.
So much for teasing him all the time.
If that wasn't enough, Kairi and Irina's faces also turned red at hearing those words from their own friend's mouth, but honestly Irina should have seen it coming… not that she was expecting an… explicit matter from Xenovia…
In fact, Kairi had it worse… in a good way, maybe? As soon as Xenovia's words clicked in her mind, various thoughts began to fill her and all of them involved… a certain lazy bum whom she loved and those devils that the bluenette was referring to. "Sora… h-he would never…" Kairi felt a pang in her heart when the thought of other girls seducing Sora came into her mind, causing her to quickly shake it off.
She didn't want to think that was true.
While all of this was happening, Sora only had a deadpan look on his face while his eyebrow was twitching madly. He didn't even blush like he always does, because all of the things he heard was just pure nonsense. "What's the heck is she talking about?" he thought to himself, before sighing in exasperation. "I better clear this up before this gets out of hand."
"Forgive her for this outburst," Griselda sighed as she turned to Rias with a look that seemed to say she was sorry for this. The redhead noticed it and while nobody was noticing it, the two were actually communicating through expressions only. "I don't really believe that any of you would try and seduce him."
Rias sighed in return and flashed the older exorcist a deadpan look, before it turned gravely serious which meant she wasn't in the mood to play around. "Is she always like this? Discipline her, or I will deal with this myself. I will not be responsible for what happens to her should she cross a line."
"I was about to do that, but I'm afraid Sora has it covered already," Griselda pointed to the boy that sat beside Rias before solely shifting her attention towards Xenovia. The Gremory girl was able to turn her head in time to see Sora standing up from the couch with a stern look on his face, something that got Xenovia's attention almost immediately.
"That's enough, Xenovia! You're taking things too far!" he yelled back with a frown of his own. He didn't really care that he could be speaking out of turn right now, but there were a few things that needed to be cleared up. "Nobody forced me to join Rias' peerage, okay? I chose to be a devil when she offered to turn me into one of them. No one seduced me or anything, that's just ridiculous."
That was enough to silence the bluenette while everyone was looking at him in surprise, especially Irina. Sora saw her and Xenovia as his friends, right? If that was the case, then when was he capable of talking that way to people he saw as such? He just seemed too innocent for that…
"What?" Xenovia frowned in confusion, even though she clearly heard his words. Perhaps she just didn't want to acknowledge it, and continued to deny the truth. "Sora, you don't have to speak up for this—"
"I'm not," Sora cut her off sharply, his frown becoming deeper. Normally, he would act a lot friendlier, but he reminded himself that these people were supposed to be their enemies, so he threw his friendship with Irina and Xenovia out of the window for now. "I'm just telling the truth. Rias never forced me to accept being a devil nor did any of my friends here, it was my decision alone and I won't regret it. Stop accusing them for something they didn't do. "
Xenovia widened her eyes for a few moments before narrowing them at the boy, with everything starting to click in her mind. This young man before her wasn't kidding by any means, she could tell it from the look on his face. The innocent boy whom she saw Sora as, there was no trace of it left.
"You… You betrayed our trust ! I thought you were someone I needed to protect, but you're no different from those vile devils with you! I feel ashamed for even thinking of you as innocent!" Xenovia said dramatically, causing most of the people inside the clubroom to start giving her weird looks, while Griselda only shook her head. Sora only rolled his eyes, while thinking of what was going on with the blue-haired exorcist right now. "You also betrayed Kairi, she would never want to be with—!"
She was finally cut off from her words when Griselda stood up and delivered a hard punch to the back of the Xenovia's head, causing her to scream loudly in pain and drop to her knees. A huge lump appeared on her head afterwards, while Griselda's fist was smoking. Irina and Kairi winced at this, but they didn't know whether to feel bad for Xenovia or not, since it was her who brought this to herself.
"That's enough out of you. If you cause another ruckus, you will get more than just a simple lump. Understood?" Griselda snarled, putting her 'scary face' on and causing Xenovia to nod furiously while nursing the lump on her head. She hung her head low and sat back down out of fear. "Besides, I don't believe it's your decision to make on how Kairi should feel about all this. You are not her. Speaking of which," she turned her attention towards Kairi, who flinched at the sight of her scary look. "What do you think about all this, Kairi? How do you feel about Sora, knowing that he is now a devil, who is a creature of darkness?"
"Uhm…" Kairi wasn't able to answer for a few seconds out of surprise, her gaze turning towards Sora as she saw him bear a look of nervousness. It was obvious that he was worried about what she would say. Regardless, she already knew what to say because there was no changing her answer. "I…I don't really care if Sora is a devil now," she answered while shaking her head. Memories of Sora being swallowed by darkness began to fill her mind, and during all those times, he manages to get back up and continue fighting his way back to the light. This was no different. "It doesn't change who he is inside. He's still my friend, and…" she blushed deeply, before taking a deep breath. "...I love him. That won't ever change. He's still the same lazy bum that I know and love."
Her words made Sora's cheeks turn crimson, but it did nothing to hide the smile that graced his lips out of happiness. "Kairi…" he whispered to himself, while desperately wishing he could talk to her alone after all this, to set things straight and deal with the budding feelings inside of him.
Hearing Kairi's answer was enough for Griselda to have a much calmer look than her earlier expression, no doubt pleased with the girl's kindness. "You are truly a kind and caring girl, Kairi. To be able to look past your friend's nature and see him for who he is, that's not an easy feat." Griselda praised, before gesturing to the people around the spiky brunette. "What about the other devils who are with Sora? What do you think of them?"
"Uh, shouldn't we be—?" Irina tried to remind everyone on what they were here for, but Griselda clamped her hand over the teen's mouth, preventing her from speaking. Irina just pouted, but did nothing to resist any further, since she didn't want to be on the receiving end of her superior's scary face.
Regaining some of her confidence, Kairi smiled gently at the devils. "I know they're good people, because I don't believe that all devils are bad." Seeing Sora totally comfortable around them was enough for her to think that they didn't have any ill intentions. Kairi turned her gaze towards Rias, who seemed surprised with the gratitude that she could clearly see in the young girl's eyes. "You're the one who turned Sora into a devil, right? Thank you for taking care of him until now. All of us were worried for Sora when he disappeared from our home, but he was in good hands all time."
Rias' eyes widened even more as she saw Kairi bowing her head in thanks, and caused her to feel a bit strange. She was already used to humans giving her their gratitude while completing contracts but for some reason, it felt different with Kairi. Strangely, she was feeling happy that Kairi said those words to her, but she didn't know the exact reason why.
Despite this, she wouldn't show it to Kairi because after all, they both had feelings for the same boy. There was no way she would let herself lose, but it didn't mean that she had any ill will against the girl. In fact, she was slowly coming to terms with the reason why Sora was romantically interested in Kairi. The girl was beautiful, kind, caring, compassionate, and understanding.
They actually had a lot in common from another's perspective.
"Hm, I didn't take good care of Sora for you, but rather it's because he's my cute and handsome servant. Nonetheless, I appreciate your gratitude." Rias smirked, causing Sora to feel alarmed before looking at his leader in shock.
"Oh no! I completely forgot about Rias!" he thought in fear, remembering just now that the Gremory girl apparently had feelings for him as well, which was the only possible explanation to the time when she kissed him in his own room!
"Huh?" Kairi tilted her head slightly in confusion.
Okay, now Sora was sweating. He was now aware that Kairi returned the same feelings he had for her, but the little moment of intimacy that he had with Rias was tugging on the back of his mind. He didn't know why, but there was something inside him that was letting itself get pulled into Rias' growing feelings. Weird, but he had no time to deal with this right now.
With these two in mind, well, it was going to be difficult talking to Kairi once she finds out that… Rias took his first kiss instead of her. He didn't even want to imagine her reaction…
No sir, he didn't want the girl of his dreams calling him a two-timing cheater…
Panicking, Sora flailed his arms repeatedly to get everyone's attention. He didn't want him and Kairi having problems just when they were finally together again. "Ahhh, I think we should just proceed with the meeting!" he exclaimed while grinning innocently. It seemed to have worked on almost everyone, except for Rias. "I-I-I think we've wasted enough time already…"
Rias was almost tempted to chuckle at Sora's attempt of steering this whole discussion to another direction, knowing the reason why he chose to do so. She kept her amusement to herself, and didn't say anything since her servant did have a point.
"You're right," Griselda nodded as she took a deep breath and bowed her head. "Please forgive us for wasting more of your time. It was hard to do so since Kairi's dear friend happens to be a devil under your command. I believe that to be a good reason why we had to go through… such ceremonies before we truly begin."
"I hold none of it against you," Rias answered professionally. She crossed her arms under hee bust and sent an amused smirk at Kairi. "After all, Kairi deserved to know about Sora. Now then, do you mind explaining the reason why you wished to seek an audience with me?"
Griselda didn't even waste any time and proceeded to explain things. "We're here in this town because three Excalibur pieces have been stolen from the church. From our recent findings, we learned that the thieves behind this crime were taking refuge here. However, when we tried to send in priests and exorcists to get them back, they were all killed."
"To think that something like this was happening in my territory without my knowledge…" Rias frowned, displeased with herself for not finding about this sooner. It wasn't like she had someone to blame, because she was too focused on resolving the matter with Yuuto as well as Sora's nature as a Longinus wielder. "However, I do find it strange that mere thieves would be able to steal a few of the church's most valuable treasures. Do you know how they were able to steal them?"
"We're still investigating on that matter, but we do know who the culprit is. The one who stole the Excalibur pieces was a rogue exorcist named Freed Sellzen," Griselda revealed, surprising everyone from the devils except for Rias.
"Well, what do you know? It appears our interests are aligned at the moment," Rias said with an amused smirk. Upon seeing the confused look on the exorcist's face, she decided to explain further. "A few nights ago, that very same priest attacked one of my servants with an Excalibur as his weapon."
"He did?" Griselda frowned, not surprised at all with this revelation. From what she knew about that man, he was completely insane and had no qualms about the church and God. He always did things as he pleased, which was the reason why he was banished. "I suppose this makes things easier to explain later on."
Rias narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "What do you mean?"
"Freed Sellzen is working under the orders of Kokabiel, a Cadre of the Grigori organization of fallen angels." Griselda continued, which only caused Rias' eyes to narrow even further. "Since Kokabiel is one of the most powerful fallen angels, we have been allowed usage of the two remaining Excalibur pieces for this endeavor."
Hearing those words, Xenovia removed the white cloth that concealed her little package, revealing a large, two-handed sword with a cross in the pommel, an ax-like guard, a second grip with a chain-like form, and a long blade that ended in three points. She grabbed it with both hands and raised it so that it could be seen by everyone. "This is Excalibur Destruction, also known as the Holy Sword of Destruction. As the name implies, it's the most destructive out of all seven pieces. This sword is strictly under Catholic supervision."
"And mine…" Irina piped in with her cheerful smile, before pulling out her armband. After a flash of light, it instantly morphed into a katana. "...is the Excalibur Mimic, the Holy Sword of Mimicry. It's normally kept under the watch of the Protestant Church. This thing can change shape and transform into almost anything you like, so it's really easy to carry around." she boasted, before the blade returned to being an armband.
"The last piece that wasn't stolen is the Excalibur Blessing. As of now, it is heavily guarded with extra security after the incident with the other fragments," Griselda continued. "As you know, the last piece was lost long ago. The ones that were stolen are the Excalibur Rapidly, Excalibur Nightmare, and Excalibur Transparency."
"Those two look really cool…" Despite the holy energy that he was feeling from the swords, Sora thought that the two blades were impressive, and could see why highly important to the church. When a sudden thought crossed his mind, the boy turned towards Yuuto and saw him narrowing his eyes at the swords. "Please don't do anything rash, Kiba…"
"I see. Well then, what exactly do you need from us?" Rias asked, closing her eyes as a sweet smile adorned her lips. If anything, she didn't really like where this conversation was heading to. "I have no information regarding this matter, except for the fact that the person who stole the Excalibur pieces, is also the same one who attacked my servant."
"We don't need information. The higher-ups of the church only wish for this meeting to take place so that we can give you a fair warning," Griselda shook her head. "This conflict is between the church and the fallen angels. All of the higher-ups want you to remain neutral in this. We won't cause an incident with you if you do the same for us."
"Are you saying that we would aid the fallen angels? That's a bold accusation from an exorcist who resolves things through a discussion like you," Rias scoffed but retained her composure.
"Some of the higher-ups might believe so, but I don't. Which is why…" Griselda took a deep breath and adopted a more somber expression. "...I would like to ask for your assistance in this, especially Sora."
This caught everyone off guard, especially Irina and Xenovia. Rias' eyes widened slightly, not expecting such a thing to come out of one of the greatest exorcists of the church. Hearing his name being mentioned, Sora frowned in complete seriousness, having a feeling that there was something about this matter that involved him.
"W-What?!" Irina exclaimed in shock.
"She's going to tell them now…" Kairi only remained quiet, having a feeling that Griselda was planning this all along. The memory of that encounter with an Organization member a few days ago was still fresh in her mind, as well as the words spoken to them by that mystery man. "I guess she's taking all of it more seriously than we thought."
"Griselda, you cannot be serious?!" Xenovia yelled out. She did what was asked of her and remained quiet after receiving a smack on her head, but there was no way she could do that after what her mentor just announced. "The devils are our mortal enemies. Working with them is—!" She was cut off when Griselda used two fingers to shut her mouth.
"I know that very well, Xenovia. You don't need to remind me," she narrowed her eyes as her expression became serious. "But remember what he said to us. That man said he is helping our enemy and you know very well what he is capable of doing. Kokabiel is one thing, but with that man on his side, even I fear for our own lives. If our best chance of stopping all of them is working with the devils, then so be it. Understand?"
Xenovia frowned as well, before she rolled eyes and huffed. It wasn't like she could fight back against Griselda's intimidating look, and so she simply chose to give up and turn her gaze to the side. As much as she didn't like this, she wasn't the one in charge.
"'He'?" Rias asked in confusion. She raised an eyebrow upon realizing that there was more to this than what she initially thought. "Is there something else regarding this issue that we should know about?"
Griselda now turned back towards Rias. "A few days ago, when we arrived in this town and took shelter at the church on top of the hill, a man in a black coat appeared and told us a few important things. We couldn't see his face, because his hood was up," she revealed, causing a massive wave of shock to wash over the whole Gremory peerage.
Almost immediately, Sora stood up with an alarmed expression. There was no way that his ears were playing tricks on him. "Man in a black coat?! You met a member of the Organization?" he asked, his voice devoid of his usual upbeat demeanor.
The green-haired woman only nodded, with Kairi and the two other exorcists doing the same. "Apparently, yes."
While Sora clenched his fists tightly and sat back down, Rias got over her shock and decided to continue. This was no longer a matter between the church and the devils, and it was much bigger. "What did he want with you?"
"Nothing. He was only there to talk and summon a few enemies, or Nobodies, for that matter, to fight against us." Griselda explained, confusing all of the devils inside the room, especially Sora. The boy looked at Kairi in worry, but reminded himself that she was in safe hands with these people. "Shortly after dealing with those Nobodies, he revealed to us the true reason why Kokabiel sent Freed Sellzen to steal the Excalibur fragments. This is also one of the reasons why I'm asking for your assistance in this."
"And that is?" Rias narrowed her eyes.
"Kokabiel wants to use the stolen fragments to kill the devils who are in charge of this town, one of which happens to be you, sister of the Maou Lucifer." Hearing this made Rias' eyes widen in disbelief, with all of her peerage members staring at her with their mouths agape. "Once you are dead, the devils will blame the church for the incident because an Excalibur was used against you. Kokabiel himself will join the conflict and in the end, another Great War will ensue."
Rias was having a hard time holding in the anger she was feeling right now. In fact, if looks could kill, the whole town of Kuoh would already be six feet below the ground. The only thing preventing her from stomping out of the clubroom and hunting down Kokabiel herself was the fact that she had to retain her mature demeanor around a few members of the church.
"So…" she growled, before scoffing inwardly. Sora patted her shoulder softly, even though he was unsure if it would do anything to calm Rias down. "Once a warmonger, always a warmonger. Why did I expect anything else from someone like Kokabiel? He wants to kill me? He's more than welcome to try, but I will not stand by idly and let him do so."
Griselda looked at the Gremory girl in concern for a few moments, before continuing in her words. She remembered Rias' words about one of her peerage members being attacked by Freed, and decided to give this a shot. "There's one other thing he told us that we couldn't quite figure out, but there may be a chance that you can."
"What's that?" Sora asked, seeing that his leader didn't seem like she was about to speak up.
"That man in the black coat told us that the person who stole the Excalibur pieces was Freed Sellzen and yet at the same time, it's not him." Griselda revealed, causing another wave of confusion to flow through the devils.
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"
"We have no idea. But after that, he told us that the one who stole the fragments… was a hollow shell. Do you have an idea on what he meant with that?"
Those last two words echoed in Sora's mind as though it was something etched in his memory. Almost immediately, a mental image of Roxas appeared in his mind, before he thought of that crazy priest whom he had encountered about a month ago. "A hollow shell… that was never supposed to exist…" He then thought about Rias' words when Kiba was attacked a few nights ago or more specifically, Roxas' words which were relayed to her:
"According to Roxas, this 'Freed' didn't seem like he was insane at all, and he wasn't being vulgar one bit. Also, Roxas noticed that he now harbors hatred towards the church for some reason."
Sora's eyes widened as it all came together in his mind slowly. Even though he had no clear idea what happened the night when his friend was attacked, all he needed was Roxas' words on everything.
Roxas… Roxas… Roxas…
Was it by coincidence that Roxas ended up fighting the insane priest that night? It almost felt like it was all part of something bigger. Freed acting weird by not being crazy, angry at the church, wielding an Excalibur as his weapon, being able to use a corridor of darkness, a hollow shell… all of it, they were all… connected.
"I got it!" Sora exclaimed as he stood up all of a sudden, gaining everyone's attention in the process, even Rias' who snapped out of her little trance and now turned to look at her servant.
"W-What is it, Sora…?" Rias frowned in confusion, wondering what had gotten into her pawn to make an outburst out of nowhere.
The spiky brunette looked at his leader for a moment, before looking at the exorcists. "I understand now, the one who stole the Excaliburs and attacked Kiba." His statement made his blonde friend lose some of his seriousness, which was replaced by both intrigue and interest since that was a matter that confused even him.
Rias crossed her arms. "What are you talking about, Sora? We already know that it was none other than Freed Sellzen, the same priest we fought against a month ago."
Sora shook his head slowly and a deep frown took over his features, realizing the true gravity of this situation now that he thought about this scenario. "No, it's not him… or rather, it's not a person. The Freed we're talking about here, is a shell." he revealed, causing the crimson-haired devil to raise an eyebrow, before her eyes widened in realization.
How could she not know about it, when she did a careful and slow reading of everything that was written in Sora's journal? Not only was she aware of all the people who were all included in it, but also the enemies that he fought against. "You don't mean… it's his Nobody?" she breathed out slowly, causing everyone's eyes to widen, most especially Kairi who felt everything beginning to click together inside her mind.
"Of course… a Nobody is the hollow shell when a heart gives into darkness," she said. Her explanation caught the attention of her exorcist companions, before Kairi turned towards Griselda. "That's what he meant when he said that the one who stole the Excalibur pieces was a hollow shell. No wonder he summoned Nobodies to fight us, it was a clue. This is why he wanted me to help in your mission, Miss Griselda. You won't be able to win this fight without keyblade wielders on your side."
"Uhm, I'm confused…" Irina spoke up, raising an eyebrow and tilting her head. She didn't really know anything about this, even though she and Xenovia read a few things in Kairi's journal. It's likely that they didn't pay attention to this topic. "How can a Nobody be a human? Aren't they the squiggly things that we fought in the church?"
"That's the case for most Nobodies, Irina… but not all of them." Sora answered, quickly earning the attention of everyone inside the clubroom. "When a person gives into darkness, his heart becomes corrupted and turns into a Heartless. If the person has a strong will, his empty body and soul that's left behind make up the Nobody. They are creatures that have no emotions, but know how to think and act. They all come in different sizes and forms, but they all have the same symbol."
"...However, there is the rare case wherein a person with an exceptionally strong heart whose Nobody will retain a human form even after giving in to darkness," Rias continued as she shared some of the knowledge she had about this. "As hard as it is to believe, that crazy priest has a strong heart that his Nobody takes on his own appearance."
"That means… the one I fought that night… is not really Freed," Kiba thought to himself as he continued to listen very carefully.
"I understand, if that were really the case, then it would explain why we all thought it was Freed Sellzen at first." Griselda nodded slowly, coming to understand everything that she was hearing right now. "Still, to think that man had a strong heart… it's almost impossible to believe."
"But why would he steal the Excalibur pieces? You said that Nobodies are incapable of feeling emotions, yet he shows no signs of remorse when he committed his crime and killed many of our allies in cold blood." Xenovia asked, her eyes full of suspicion that showed she wasn't on board with this.
Sora turned his attention towards Xenovia. "That's where the guy in the hood comes in. He used to be part of a group of Nobodies who have human forms, and they can all give orders to the lesser ones who will follow them without question. A simple Nobody will follow the one with the strongest will, and this only means that Freed's Nobody is obeying that guy all along. He's the one who gave the order to steal the Excaliburs."
Griselda lowered her head and cupped her chin in deep thought. As much as a lot of things were now making sense, there was still confusion lingering in them. "Hmm, if that person was behind everything, then why would he tell us Kokabiel's real plan? Is he somehow planning on betraying Kokabiel?"
"We have no idea," Rias shrugged her shoulders. "We've been trying to figure out what's the deal with him for a month now, ever since we first learned that he was in this world, but there's nothing. This is actually the first we've heard from him in weeks."
"We are still lacking answers then…" Griselda clasped her hands together and breathed into them softly.
Rias shook her head. "Not quite. Now that we are aware it was Freed Sellzen's Nobody and not exactly the person himself, this brings us to another problem, which is his Heartless." This caused the three exorcists to look at her in confusion and slight suspicion. "Since Freed has a Nobody, he also has a Heartless. However, we haven't encountered any of them for weeks now. That man in the hood is likely hiding it from sight, so he could strike at the right moment. Considering the amount of darkness lingering in that priest's heart, his Heartless could be monstrous, for all we know."
"And that's why I'm going to help," Kairi spoke up with a serious look. "A Heartless can only be truly defeated by a keyblade that will release the heart from the darkness. Whatever his Heartless looks like, it's no match for the keyblade."
Sora widened his eyes at the girl's fearless demeanor. Truth be told, he was going to tell her that it's too dangerous for her to be involved, but kept his mouth shut in the end since he didn't want to look like an idiot. He found himself blushing slightly, while wondering when did Kairi get an attitude adjustment. "Wow… is this really Kairi…?" he thought.
"And we are grateful for your help, Kairi," Griselda nodded with a smile. "Remember, we would have never been able to defeat those Nobodies without you."
"I'm starting to like her," Rias mused in her thoughts. She first thought of Kairi as someone who was as dense as Sora, and that there was nothing in particular about her that stood out, except for her kind and caring attitude. Apparently, Kairi also had a serious and cold side when it came to helping the people she cared about, which was almost similar to her…
Now, she saw the girl as a worthy rival… on who would take her place in Sora's heart, of course.
"There's one other thing that Roxas mentioned about the 'Freed' that he fought that night," Sora continued. "Now that we know he was a Nobody all along, it makes sense how he used a dark corridor to escape. There's only one group of people who love to use that as a way to disappear, and it's the organization where that guy in the hood belongs to. Not only can they control the Nobodies, they can also order the Heartless around. It all fits!"
His first statement immediately caught Kairi's attention, as she looked up at Sora with wide eyes and her mouth agape. Her ears weren't playing tricks on her, right? But… better to be safe than sorry. "R-Roxas is here, Sora?" she asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, him and Xion are both here in this school, Kairi!" he nodded before flashing his signature grin at the young redhead that made her blush slightly. It was the grin that she always loved seeing from him. "I'll tell them later that you're here, then we can all be together!"
"Yes!" A huge smile took over Kairi's features before she nodded eagerly. It turns out that she didn't just find Sora, two of her friends were also in this place and the lazy bum knew where they were! She felt joyful and eager now that Roxas and Xion were just nearby, and she couldn't wait to see them again, because it honestly felt like it had been years since she last saw them. The only one left was Aqua, but Kairi had a feeling that she was close to finding the blue-haired master as well.
Griselda smiled at Kairi for a few moments before turning her attention back towards Rias. "Going back to the topic at hand, I suppose that this has become an even bigger problem now. As much as I don't like it, you and your servants are now involved in this because one of them happens to be a keyblade wielder like Kairi. Therefore, I ask you again," the older exorcist stood up and held out her right hand before her. "Will you lend us your assistance?"
Xenovia was about to protest once again, but Irina held her friend's shoulder tightly and shook her head. The bluenette huffed and just turned away as a result, still unable to believe that they were going to seek help from the church's natural enemies.
Sora was having similar thoughts, except he wanted to help them deal with this. Now that he knew what they came here for, there was no way he could ignore this matter because it involved that Organization member who they've been trying to know more about. Furthermore, now that they knew that it was a Nobody who attacked Kiba and fought Roxas a few nights ago, it was only another reason why they have to help.
He could hope that Rias was thinking the same as him, and not let the devils' natural anger towards the church take over her rationality.
The Gremory girl remained silent and simply stared at Griselda for the next few moments, before chuckling in amusement. "Truth be told, I never expected this meeting to reach this point. I thought you would only request for information from me and you'll do the same in return. I wasn't prepared for one of the church's best exorcists to ask for my help facing this matter, nor finding out that we have some common interests. Most of all, it caught me off guard that one of Sora's friends was apparently travelling with you."
"So you'll decline?" Griselda asked with a hidden smirk to herself.
"I didn't say that," Rias shook her head and stood up, before walking closer towards the green-haired exorcist. "This might be an action that will earn me the disdain of many devils in the Underworld, but I will do whatever I can to protect my territory, even if it involves working with members of the church. Kokabiel will know that he messed with the wrong devil." She slowly shook Griselda's hand with her own, sealing their agreement.
"You're wiser than most of the devils I've encountered in the past," Griselda smiled in amusement. "We have an agreement, then… Rias Gremory."
Rias flashed a smile of her own. "It appears so, but I'm afraid that this is the end of our meeting for today. I'll now have to talk with a few people regarding this decision, but I have a feeling that they will understand considering the factors that affected it."
"Of course, we took up enough of your time already. After all, we've achieved what we wanted with this meeting. We shall discuss more of this another day," Griselda nodded her head and began to head to the door, with Irina, Xenovia, and Kairi following behind her. "In case you need to inform us about something, we're currently at the church on top of the hill."
"Very well," Rias nodded before gesturing towards the set on the table. "You're not going to stay for some tea? I wouldn't mind."
"We appreciate the gesture, but we're fine." Xenovia huffed, not even bothering to turn around. No doubt she was still pissed about this whole agreement.
"M-Maybe some other time," Irina grinned sheepishly, trying to make up for her friend's rudeness by being a lot more polite. "Thank you for being thoughtful, though!"
"Uhm… s-see you later, Sora…" Kairi mumbled while turning her head so that she wasn't looking at the boy. Truthfully she felt sad that they'll be separated again, just when they were finally back together, even though they would definitely meet once more. But alas, she was with Griselda upon arriving in this town, and she had to stay with the woman.
"Y-Yeah… I guess…" Sora said with a tone that matched hers, showing that he wasn't comfortable with this one bit. He didn't want Kairi to leave again, especially after that moment they shared earlier. He also told her that he'll take her to see Roxas and Xion in this school, but how can he do that with Kairi gone? He wanted to call out to Kairi and tell her to stay, but there was something inside him that wouldn't budge.
But just as Griselda was about to open the door, Xenovia stopped in her tracks, her gaze darting towards a particular blonde-haired girl who stood behind the couch where Sora and Koneko sat. Her eyes narrowed as she recognized the girl's features quite easily. "Actually, there's one thing that I wish to confirm. You're the witch Asia Argento, aren't you?"
Asia's pupils shrunk as her body stiffened under the piercing gaze of the blue-haired exorcist. Horrible memories began resurfacing in her mind when Xenovia called her by that name, and Sora quickly frowned at her action, while getting ready to intervene just in case.
"Oh, wow… the former Holy Maiden of Italy? I didn't recognize her," Irina remarked, getting a good look at the blonde bishop before continuing. "I mean, sure she did get banished from the church, but I never thought she'd be reincarnated into a devil…"
"Er… uhm…" Asia stuttered, taking a deep gulp out of nervousness.
"Holy Maiden? Witch?" Kairi said clueslessly, before she turned towards the one person who should know something about this. "Miss, Griselda, what's going on?"
"It's a long story, Kairi. I will explain it later." Griselda replied, before sending a sharp look at the bluenette. Good grief, she just didn't know when to give up. "Xenovia, she's not important. What became of a nun who was banished is no longer our concern. Let's go."
"Even if she was banished, to become a devil is a rather large jump," Xenovia declared, ignoring her guardian's words. "I suppose once you've fallen that far, there is no hope for you to get back. Tell me… do you still believe in God?"
Asia blinked. "E-Eh…?"
"Ugh, isn't that asking too much, Xenovia?" Her twin-tailed partner groaned before resting her palm against her face. "She's a devil now, why would she still believe in God?"
"Even if she does, it's her choice to do so, not ours. Leave her be." Griselda narrowed her eyes even further at the bluenette, sending a look that seemed to say 'just try and you'll regret it'.
"I…I can't just let it all go. I lived with the Lord's teachings my whole life, even after I was banished." Tears welled up in the girl's eyes as she began to sob quietly. "In spite of everything, I can't find myself giving up on God!"
Her answer got a look of concern from Irina and Griselda, while Xenovia simply closed her eyes, seemingly regretful for what she was about to say next. "Is that so? In that case, it should be best to slay you right here and now in the Lord's name. Perhaps then, God will be able to forgive you." Asia gasped fearfully as Xenovia brought out her Excalibur Destruction.
"That's enough!" Rias shouted, sending a venomous glare at Xenovia while flaring up her devil aura. "Touch her and our agreement ends here!"
Xenovia looked at Rias and was about to say something in her defense, only for her to notice that Kairi went in front of Asia, with her arms outstretched in a protective manner. This move surprised everyone in the room, especially Sora who was actually about to make his move and position himself in front of his blonde friend.
"Xenovia, I don't know what this girl did to the church, but you have to stand down." Kairi spoke defiantly, narrowing her eyes a bit. "We just had an agreement with the devils, and you want it to end by killing one of them? I may be speaking out of turn, but that's not the way of the church."
"So…" Xenovia narrowed her eyes too, the respect and admiration she had for Kairi slowly adminishing by the second. "...not only have you fallen in love with a devil, but you're going to defend one as well? I made the wrong decision in- Ow! Ow! OWOWOWOWOW!" Tears started to form in her eyes as Griselda grabbed a fistful of her blue hair and pulled on it. Hard.
"Xenovia…" The older woman growled, causing the blue-haired exorcist to flinch. "Kairi is not a fellow exorcist that you can tell her what to do and not! She can make her own decisions regarding this, and in case you have forgotten, she's not from this world! Whatever she feels for Sora, you can't do anything about it!" Griselda then looked at Asia, who was being comforted by Kairi. "Regarding Asia Argento, it is not our concern whether she believes in God or not. We just gained the aid of the devils in this mission, and I would like to keep it that way."
"You won't lay a finger on them!" Turning back, Xenovia blinked in confusion upon realizing that Sora somehow inserted himself between her and Kairi, with his keyblade in hand and pointing it at her. Sora scowled at the exorcist, ignoring the fact that he saw Xenovia as a friend from the time they spent together yesterday. "What makes you think you can judge someone just because they want to help another person? I don't know much about what you believe in, but I know that this isn't anything like what the church teaches people."
Kairi couldn't help but widen her eyes at how quick Sora acted, though she wasn't surprised at the reason for his anger. "Same old Sora… I guess, even if he's a devil now, he's still the same old lazy bum I know, who's selfless and would do anything to help other people," she thought with her hand placed over her heart. "That's already good enough for me."
"You dare say that you know more about the church more than we do? Is that a challenge I hear, Sora?" Xenovia asked with a scowl of her own. "Perhaps I should teach you a lesson."
"Oh, you won't be fighting him."
Everyone turned to the other person who suddenly spoke. Yuuto chuckled darkly as he approached the exorcists with both hands in his pockets. A sinister grin appeared on his face as he eyed the sword in Xenovia's hand.
"Yuuto-kun, what are you doing?" Akeno spoke up, worried that her kouhai was about to do something that he'll regret.
The blonde teen drifted his gaze from the Excalibur to the blue-haired girl wielding it, his expression becoming more venomous than before. "If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to take a crack at you."
"And you are?" Xenovia asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"You can call me your senpai," Yuuto snarled. He didn't notice that Sora was just behind him, dropping his scowl and was now sending him a look of worry instead. "Although compared to you, I'm just a failure."
"W-Wait, we don't have to do this! A fight isn't always the answer!" Kairi tried to speak up and be the voice of reason between them, but she only got ignored.
Rias looked back and forth between Sora, Yuuto, and the exorcists in both panic and worry. Even after making an agreement with the members of the church, emotions were still running high and it was all about to let loose in a bad way. Sora would no doubt listen to her, but there was no telling how Yuuto would react once she does something. A fight was becoming more inevitable, and it only needed someone to make the first move.
She turned towards Griselda, gesturing for the older exorcist to use her authority and stop Xenovia from doing anything else. That girl would listen to her superior, right? Griselda nodded and walked closer to the pair who looked like they were about to charge at each other. What Rias got however, was something that she wasn't expecting, but didn't hope for.
"Well, since Xenovia and this young man are so keen on fighting each other, why don't we have a little spar to help settle things?" Griselda smiled innocently at the two, who both seemed pleased with the idea.
"Huh?" Rias blinked a few times, wondering if she just heard the older woman right.
And there we go. What a meeting, is it not? Kairi accepts Sora even though he's a devil, aww how sweet. SoKai just warms my heart no matter what. Next, the whole group finds out that the one who stole the Excalibur fragments, attacked Kiba and fought with Roxas, wasn't Freed but rather, his Nobody. This has led to the two sides forming an alliance, wow… who would've expected that? Guess that's how Griselda likes to resolve things. I hope you like Kairi standing up for Asia and fearlessly declaring that she'll help in retrieving the Excaliburs. I want to give her some of the spotlight, instead of getting sidetracked yet again.
Next chapter should be interesting, because we'll be getting Sora and Kiba vs Irina and Xenovia, along with some other surprises.
Goodbye… and good night! BANG! *too sweet gesture*
-Lance