Chapter 17

Underworld. Gremory Territory

Just seconds after leaving Kuoh, Cleria appeared inside Gremory Territory and was met with a maid of the family. She was then escorted to the main house and was greeted by the Lord of the house, Zeoticus.

"Cleria, it's good to see you. So shall we begin?" Zeoticus said.

"Uncle Gremory, it is good to see you too. Yes, we should be begin." Cleria replied.

Time Skip

The two devils just wrapped up their talk and Cleria was about to leave before Zeoticus remembered something.

"Oh! I totally forgot. Cleria, I should introduce you to the future owner of Kuoh."

"Alright. Is it your daughter?" Cleria asked.

"Yes. That is right. She has always had a fascination with Japan so I thought this would be a good learning experience for her. She recently got a servant and she is half Japanese." Zeoticus explained.

"Oh? If she is powerful and japanese, I have must've heard of her. What is her name?" Cleria asked.

"Her name is Akeno Hime-" Zeoticus revealed before getting cut off by a loud yell.

"WHAT!? Akeno is here?! I have to see her!" Cleria frantically yelled.

"Ow… It seems you know her. I wouldn't have a problem with bringing you to her."

"Please right now! It is all my fault." Cleria sadly said. Ever since she took a leave of absence watching her territory when she was pregnant, she could never forgive herself. If she was there she could have stopped the intruders. She broke down crying knowing that if she was actively there, it was never going to happen.

"Alright! Now please!"

Scene Skip

The duo of devils, Zeoticus Gremory and Cleria Belial-Yaegaki were just outside of the door of Rias Gremory and Akeno Himejima.

Akeno Himejima and Rias Gremory began to share a room as a result of Rias' engagement coming to light. Rias was scared that she would be taken against her will so she wanted a little protection and Akeno was glad to fill that spot.

*Knock* *Knock*

"Rias?"

"You may come in Father." Rias replied.

Opening the door to the room, both Cleria and Zeoticus saw the occupants of the room fixing their hair in the vanity mirror.

"A-Akeno?" Cleria hestantly spoke.

"A-Aunty Cleria! What are you doing here?" Akeno screamed out. Truthfully to her, she was hurt that no one of her family or friends looked for her. But in reality, everyone searched as hard as they could. The only thing was, Akeno was always one step ahead so they couldn't properly find her. It was only till Vali found her entering Agrippa's territory that they found out she was alive.

Cleria, just couldn't think or speak anymore. All she did was drop to her knees and bowed to the young girl. She had tears coming out of her eyes and when she finally found her voice, she was begging for forgiveness. She thought it was her fault that this happened. It wasn't entirely her fault but it was the fault of everyone who wasn't strong enough to protect them.

This is why Cleria had safety measures in place so something like this would not happen. The flyers…. The added support for watching over Kuoh…. Facilitating the peace that was in Kuoh so none of them could feel oppressed or saddened. But she failed. She, like others, wanted to find happiness and she did but that came at a cost. The love and safety of the Himejima family. They were now a broken family. Even though everyone was alive and well, Shuri and Baraqiel only had a daughter who they could spoil with love and affection. It would have been two but she messed up. But she would never mess up again.

...Never again…

"Aunty Cleria, please raise your head. I don't blame you anymore or anyone anymore. I know the truth already. I've known it for quite a while already." Akeno said with a nervous smile. Even though she knew what happened, it is still difficult for her to see or talk about anybody from her past.

"Your father has been missing you and Ise as well!" Cleria said after she got up from her position of the ground.

"Yeah….right… I am not ready to see them yet, Aunty Cleria. Maybe in a few years but not now. The sores are still there even though I forgave you guys already. Could you not tell anybody that you saw me?" Akeno said with a sad smile.

"But, why?"

"Because I have a new life now. Rias is my king now and I am her loyal queen. I can't just abandon her for selfish reasons."

"Ria, Akeno, and Cleria, this is supposed to be top secret but there is another reason why I was first in line to take over Kuoh. Sirzechs and the other satans have come up with a plan to further peace. We have come closer to peace between the three factions but Sirzechs have thought bigger. A treaty between the Shinto and Youkai faction with the Biblical faction. We plan on having members of our respective factions go to school together at Kuoh academy." Zeoticus interrupted.

"Akeno, we have rebuilt your family shrine, your father has taken residence there again as chance that you may come back." Cleria said but stopped when she saw Akeno's hands tighten.

"Akeno… do you hate your father?" Cleria asked which caused the two pure-blood devils to widen their eyes.

"Yes." Akeno gave a short answer.

"Why?"

"It's because he wasn't there to protect Mother, Ray and I! He should've been there. He always goes off without saying anything and being the child I was, I follow my parents without question. He should've known! He should've stayed! It is all of his fault! It is all of his fault that Mother, Ray and I got attacked. IT IS ALL OF HIS FAULT!" Akeno poured out her grief, sadness and anger. But this was only one side of the story.

"Akeno, I'm sorry but you are wrong." Cleria said.

"What do you mean?" Akeno asked with a confused expression while tears fell from her eyes.

"Do you remember Vali Lucifer? You childhood friend, and the White Dragon Emperor?" Cleria asked trying to have Akeno see the otherside of the story.

"Yes…"

"Well, your father went to find Vali's mother. Azazel received information that his mother was alive. He left that day because he needed to confirm it. None of us was planning on the Himejima getting attacked. That is why I created those silly papers. They don't work based on how much power you put into it. It works based on the will of the user. When I found out about the attack, I cried for days to be honest. I chose to take a break from watching the territory because I was pregnant and I would have to watch my son." Cleria stopped to not have tears fall from her eyes.

"I am so sorry Akeno, truthfully it is my fault as well. The ones that who attacked you guys, were killed by Ise's grandfather, Lord Susanoo. The current Himejima family head is a different person now. He was killed as well by Ise's grandfather. Vali, also found what happened, he begged for forgiveness from your father. He didn't want to break apart your family to help his. I know when he sees you again, he will cry and ask you to forgive him. Do you see why you are wrong, Akeno? They still love you for who you are. Ise and Raynare, they miss you very much and it hurts not being able to see you. Oh! There is one other thing."

"..." Akeno couldn't even say anything. She just sobbed silently and knew that she would have to fix this….somehow.

"Ise and Raynare are engaged." Cleria said bluntly.

"WHAT!" Akeno yelled at the top of her lungs.

"That is correct. Issei Hyoudou and Raynare Himejima are engag-."

"Why? I love Ise too!" Akeno cut Cleria off.

"Akeno Himejima, next time you cut me off, you will get a spanking."

"U-Urk!"

"As I said, Issei Hyoudou and Raynare Himejima are engaged. But that wasn't the only agreement. You are also engaged to Issei Hyoudou. You were engaged to Issei ever since that stray devil attack at the park." Cleria finished.

"Yay! I get to marry Ise! Yay!" Akeno cried out.

"Uh. Congratulations for you at least, Akeno." Rias said feeling upset that Akeno gets to marry the guy that she loves.

"O-Oh. I'm sorry Rias."

"It is fine…." Rias said as she looked towards the floor.

"Oh yeah. Akeno, how did you find out?" Cleria asked.

"Well…"

Flashback -

"Lady Rias! Where are we going today?" Akeno asked as she was being pulled by her hand.

"I want you to meet Tannin! Big Brother and I met him before and he is really nice! So I wanted for you to meet him!" Rias replied with a smile. "And didn't I tell you to just call me Rias."

"Sorry, Rias. Are you sure that I should be calling you by just your name? Isn't that a little rude?" Akeno asked with a small frown.

"I just want you to see me as Rias… Is that such a bad thing to ask for? Not see me as the heiress of my family or a high class devil… just Rias." Rias asked her friend.

"Okay then, Rias."

"Rias~! Where are you going?" A voice called out.

"Oh! Mother! I was just going to bring Akeno with me to see Tannin!"

The voice is Rias Gremory's mother, Venelana Gremory and the Lady of the Gremory pillar.

"Oh? Alright then. Be safe! And make sure to check in once in a while." Venelana told her daughter.

Scene Change - Dragon Territory

"Tannin! It is so good to see you again!" Rias waved as she saw Tannin. Ever since she was young, she is so fascinated by dragons and not camels. How she hated camels. It all started when her big brother brought her to meet Tannin, to see the progress on the dragon apple research, when she was younger. They took a ride on him and she was automatically hooked. How she would do anything to do that again.

"It's good to see you too, Lady Rias. But what is Raynare doing with you? Oh wait. This is a different girl. I'm sorry. The girl that I thought she was has a lighter skin tone and her aura is a bit different." Tannin greeted.

Akeno heard this and her widened her eyes with a few tears. She began to think. Is her sister alive? Is her mother alive? Can I trust this big purple dragon?

"WHAT!? Are you sure? How do you know that girl's name in the first place, Lord Tannin?!" Akeno frantically asked.

"A-Ahem. Excuse me. Alright then. Yes. If I remember correctly her name is Raynare Himejima. She was with the current Red Dragon Emperor." Tannin replied with a confused expression. "Does she have to do anything with you miss…"

"Akeno… Akeno Himejima. The girl you just spoke of is my twin sister." Akeno cried. Her sister is alive. Could by some miracle her mother survived as well? She began to have tears fall from her eyes faster. Rias didn't know that she had a twin sister. She thought Akeno was an only child. She tried to soothe her friend by rubbing her back and grabbing her hands and putting them to her heart. This, unfortunately didn't work so she threw themselves into a hug to try and calm Akeno down.

Only after a few more minutes, Akeno began to sniffle. She was out of tears but she was still sad. The emotions knowing that her sister is alive and possibly that her mother too. It was too much for her that she couldn't do anything but to cry.

"Lady Akeno, I am sorry. I didn't know." Tannin apologised. He always wanted to take care of the younglings. Dragon or not. He felt that it was their duty as the older generation to take care of the younger.

"No it is okay. So you said Ise was with her?" Akeno asked.

"Yes! The current Red Dragon Emperor, Issei Hyoudou. They were here not too long ago, for a fact."

Flashback End

"And that is it! It was a long time ago but I knew the truth." Akeno finished her explanation.

"Well, when you get back to Kuoh when you get older, you will be able to see them." Cleria finished.

This finished the conversation which caused Zeoticus and Cleria to leave the two young girls in the room.

And that is it for this chapter! I would go further but I am too scared haha. I actually wrote a little based on what I would see happening. But anyways. Hope you like this. Next chapter may be almost canon. Or possibly canon. Next chapter they are gonna meet the Holy Father.

Aloha.