Chapter 6: Despair and new Beginning
() Ddraig speaking
{} Sparda speaking
"" Demon/Dark self speaking
Alright here's the last chapter of the Fallen Angel Arc and to answer some reviews along with one I should have answered a while back:
Echo0100: In this chapter Seras shows off a few of her natural powers along with Ddraig's own that was locked away before he ended up sealed into Boosted Gear. Before you ask no she doesn't have Unlimited Blade Works. What she has is similar, yet different as it turns more towards create rather than copy. When I said that she's a combination of multiple characters that doesn't mean she'll have ALL their powers. If you read about them you would notice that they had crappy childhood and/or had big destinies to play as either a saviour... or a destroyer. So no she won't have the Alpha Stigma.
Derek 23 : I'm not too sure if I'll end up writing a lemon as I never wrote one before. If I do end up deciding to write one it will take a while to get to that point due to Seras having internal problems to deal with.
Dark… Everything was dark. No light and no life. The worst type of hell there is and there was currently one occupant there.
"What has become of us, what has become of you?"
An image appeared showing Seras kneeling at the body of Raynare.
The being stared at it with sorrowful demonic red eyes.
"When you come to realize who you are, it is up to you on whether you will forgive me or hate me for all eternity."
I am the 1111111 of 11111
Ashes are what made me… 11111 is what I crave for.
Forever in 11111111, never the light.
Forever scorned and forever hated.
I am the 11111 that will lash out…
And bathe this world in 11111
The priest looked at Seras curiously. He knew the death of Raynare would have been final straw, however he sort of expected a large explosion of demonic energy released and her to enter a demon form. Don't get him wrong he could clearly sense the demonic power released and flowing all over her body, however outside she was just standing there and no physical changes were happening. She still looks human.
The priest was getting impatient. He walked towards her, a blade in hand, intending to provoke some sort of reaction from her. It was a combination of pure instinct and battle experience that caused him to narrowly dodge a blade that would have sliced his head off. He watched as she slowly got back up, blue flames slowly enveloped her form while crimson fire enveloped her left arm.
'The Blue Flames of Hatred & Despair and the Crimson Inferno of Scorching Flames… This is even better than what we expected!'
Seras' appearance started to change a slight bit: Two black stripes appeared one on each cheek, her ears became pointed, her nails lengthened and sharpened to resemble more like claws, small fangs grew out, two small horns in the shape of cat ears oddly enough bursted out of her head, and finally a furry long tail appeared out of her.
Though the changes were small, when combined with her flames along with the emptiness in her now colourless eyes, it truly gave her the appearance of a demon from Hell.
The priest had to dodge to the side as a blade appeared out of nowhere and shot towards him. He watched in amazement as more blades appeared out of thin air, in all shapes & sizes, surrounding her. The priest sensed they were all demonic blades, more powerful than her knives and unlike that Gremory's knight her blades were COMPLETE.
"So I guess it's time for me to get serious as well."
With that he started to change. He became larger & bulkier, his entire body grew white fur while also gaining a shaggy beard & hair, two goat-like horns appeared out of his, two pure white wings grew out of his back, and his priest clothes were replaced by a greek-style toga. Despite his beastly appearance he didn't really resemble that of a demon. In fact his appearance was more close to that of holy then demonic. If it weren't for his glowing red eyes and his own aura he could have easily been mistaken for an angel.
"Now show me what you got descendent of Sparda!"
With unblinking & dead eyes she rose her right arm, which was holding a pure black scimitar , and brought it down like an executioner. All the demonic blades as well as her flames descended on the angel-like demon.
"So this is Seras' newfound friend."
With all the demons dealt with thanks to the arrival of Rias, Akeno and the two fallen angel girls the group decided to catch up on recent events. The devil group were a bit worried on what was going on downstairs while the fallen angels simply felt like something bad had happened. Though they wanted to go to Seras, dealing with a horde of demons was extremely taxing so they had to rest for a bit. It was also at that time that Asia made herself known to the group. Hence all this leading to Rias gaining an interest on her as she wanted to know how someone managed to befriend the near anti-social/suicidal mystery known as Seras Alighieri.
"H-hai." Asia nervously answered.
This was the first time she was under the scrutinizing stare of a devil and it made her nervous.
Rias was examining Asia closely trying to find anything that would cause Seras to warm up to her. True she was quite beautiful and had this aura of innocence around her but she had a feeling that would not have been enough to get Seras to actually be friends with her. When she looked into Asia's eyes, she finally understood; there was loneliness and pain in there, nowhere near the same degree as Seras but it was there.
'Well they did say misery loves company.' Rias thought sadly.
"Well enough of that. I think everyone's rested, so we should go find Seras as soon as possible."
"""Hai Buchou."""
The fallen angels nodded in agreement. While Asia looked happy that they were finally going to help Seras.
Before they could do anything, the ground shook violently to the point that some supports collapsed and causing everyone to take flight with Rias carrying Asia.
Bursting out of the ground quite violently was a large angelic beast-like demon and a humanlike figure wreathed in flames & steel. The figure of flames & steel sent blades wreathed in fire at the demon. Rather than block he managed to dodge the blades with surprising speed for someone his side.
'Better be careful of those flames. If I get too much on me I'm done for."
Although the problem with this was that since Seras was covered in blue & crimson flames he couldn't land any hits on her without having contact with her flames, and despite being a greater demon he had only one long range attack that involved his feathers and it was next to worthless.
'Guess I have no choice. Just hope my Master is in a merciful mood and decides to bring me back to life.' The last part was merely wishful thinking.
He dodged a swing from a black scimitar, apparently she decided to stop tossing fire & swords and decided to actually fight.
He retaliated by slicing her torso with his claws. He was a bit surprised when he heard loud screeching like he was dragging his claws through metal rather than flesh. She backed up to put some space between them. Her wounds instantly healed and she was once again went to slice him to bits. The devils and fallen angels could only watch in awe seeing the viscous and bloody fight between two greater demons, the two were equally matched however it was clear that the one wreathed in flames was winning. True the blows from the angel-like demon were far stronger & vicious than her's as the blows actually caused bones to break and large pieces of flesh being ripped off, however all wounds were healed in a matter of seconds. She did not tire in the slightest and continued to slash at him with ferocity that did not match her eyes.
'Damn I guess I picked a suicide fight.'
Just about ever time he clawed and punched her, the flames would detach and cling to his body. The blue flames spread faster while the crimson flames burned more. The longer they fought the more the flames spread and got bigger.
The priest was getting tired and the flames were eating away at him. He flew a good distance back and shot demonic-enhanced feather at her however her flames burned them to ashes like he predicted. The flames on her back grew and expanded to resemble wings. With a beat of her wings she was already up in the air. The battle became aerial as the two slammed their bodies against each other creating a large shockwave. They kept slamming against each other with bone crunching force with the occasional punch & slice. Eventually the priest was faltering which gave Seras an opening. She cut his arm off causing him to roar in pain before grabbing his horn and throwing him into the ground. Flying down with extreme force she slammed into his gut causing him to spit out blood and causing the ground under him to collapse, sending them both back underground.
Clouds of dust covered her vision though with one swipe of her blade, the dust dispelled. What she saw was the battered & burning body of the priest who was slowly disintegrating.
He lifted his head a bit from the ground, stared at her for a moment, before chuckling and grinning at her.
"Welcome to the family, young demon."
She created a large scythe made out of bone and brought it down on the demon's head dragging it down further and completely cutting him in half. The body exploded in blue & crimson flames not even leaving ashes. She turned her back on the spot not even noticing a small white orb floating a bit before entering Seras' body.
She walked until she came across Raynare's corpse. Her flames & Boosted Gear dispelled leaving only her demonic features and flame wings. She kneeled down staring at the body with an emotionless gaze. She picked up the body bridle-style and flew back up, ascending like some Hell angel…
Seras stared at the stunned group of devils & fallen angels. The group couldn't believe that the flame-wreathed greater demon was actually Seras. She just stared at the shocked group for a moment before taking a few steps forward and gently laid Raynare down on the ground. Taking something out of her pocket she gently laid it on Raynare's heart before walking towards the group.
The two fallen angels snapped out of their funk first.
""Raynare!""
The two ran past Seras to check on Raynare.
She ignored everything & everyone, not even caring about the worried looks from the devils or the cries of despair from Mittlet. She just continued walking forward not really knowing where she was going.
"Seras!"
Someone yelled out her name however she continued walking forward, until someone placed a hand on her shoulder stopping.
She turned her head slightly to look into the eyes of a concerned Rias.
"Tell me Rias…"
Rias flinched at the emotionless tone of her voice.
"Give me a reason why I should continue living in this ugly world."
Rias looked absolutely stunned at Seras' request and was looking at her with a little bit of fear… fear for her and what she plans to do to herself.
Getting no answer Seras shrugged off her hand and once again continued forward, until she was stopped once again. She looked down to see Asia clinging hard to her torso, afraid that if she let go Seras will be gone forever. Something came to life inside Seras but was quickly hidden away. She picked up Asia and continued walking, this time her house being her destination.
All Rias could watch them go. Thinking hard on what to do she then noticed the still grieving fallen angels. An idea popped out of her head.
'This can actually work.'
She walked towards Raynare's corpse with a certain goal in mind.
"And so it begins."
Unbeknownst to everyone, a figure floating near the church having seen all the events.
The figure in question was a young teenage guy with long blond hair, wearing a simple black suit, and had heterochromic eyes: One blue and the other red.
"All we'll have to do now is wait."
"You sure this was a good idea?"
He turned to look at the person who asked.
It was another young teen however he was completely different. Rather than blonde he had short black hair, he was taller & more muscular, his skin pale to the point of being almost white, Wore a simple t-shirt & shirts, and his eyes were a malicious purple.
"If I hadn't sent my subordinate it would have been too late by the time her demon blood took over on its own."
"True however you did play a gamble with everyones lives."
"That would be true… If she were not broken already."
At that statement the black haired individual smiled a sadistic smile.
"Oh yes, I must say her hate and despair is quite delicious."
He chuckled darkly while the other simply had a strange smile on his face.
"Now we just have to wait and see whether she chooses the path of a saviour… or a destroyer."
It has already been 3 weeks since the whole half-succeeded rescue mission. During the days Asia tried to get Seras out of her depression. The problem was she thought that Seras was still sadden over Raynare's death. Don't get her wrong she was greatly saddened over Raynare's death however she had gotten over it, due to her past experiences and her own mentality she already believed that Raynare would be gone from her life for good at some point in the future. What actually got her depressed was the fact that in moment of weakness she gave in to her demon blood and now… she was the very monster she fears and despises.
A flash of red briefly blinded Seras out of nowhere. When it died down Seras was surprised to see Yumi standing in front of her.
"What are you doing here?"
Yumi seemed concerned with Seras' near emotionless tone. Hell it was even more emotionless than Koneko's and that was saying something!
"Buchou wanted you to meet her as she has a surprise for you… Also you should probably bring the nun with you."
Yumi resisted the urge to add some venom when she said 'nun' due to not wanting to upset Seras further.
Seras thought about it. She had absolutely no reason to go… and yet she also has no reason not to go.
{You know if this concerns Asia than it'd be better if you were to see her}
Sparda had a point and she knew it.
"All right I'll go."
Yumi had teleported back to school while Seras opted to simply walk there. When she got there the most of the student population made a big deal out of it with the Perverted Duo crying tears of joy of having their best friend back. The Student Council tried to reprimand her for skipping school for three whole weeks, however since she only paid attention to getting to her destination she basically tuned out/blocked the outside world and paid no one, not even Sona Shitori the student council President, any mind. She was pretty she sure there was some sort of conflict but she can't remember any of it and considering she was still heading toward the club room she guessed she won… or escaped. Either way it didn't matter though the worrying looks that Asia sent her did bother her a bit.
The two managed to get to the clubroom. She saw the Occult group staring at her while Rias seemed to look at her with a bit off… excitement if that's the right word.
"So what's deal anyway?"
Rias stepped forward.
"Well first we wanted you to come as we have some things to discuss that concern about the nun."
Asia got nervous and hid behind Seras while Seras stood protectively in front of her.
"Don't worry about it. We simply received a message from the leader of the fallen angels that concerns the whole incident."
She relaxed a bit.
"Apparently he's sorry for the trouble that he ended up causing you and us all with the rouge fallen angels." She could see Rias not truly believing the fallen angel's words. "As a way of apologizing he's willing to let you keep Asia…" Seras growled after that part taking offence at the fact he was giving her 'permission' "… and he's willing to support you financially."
The last part got her confused.
As if to prove her disbelief wrong Rias gave her envelope. Seras took it and opened it, now holding a cheque.
'That is a lot of zeros.' She thought wide-eyed.
"If you're wondering, don't worry, I checked. It's real."
Oddly enough it wasn't Rias who answered. It was neither of the girls from the club.
Someone appeared out of the shadows. Seras widened her eyes seeing that it was Raynare alive and as healthy as before she was taken away.
Seras just stood there staring at her, stunned beyond all comprehension. Her expression suddenly turned to one of complete rage surprising everyone, except Raynare and Asia who seemingly know the reason for her rage.
"… What is this…?" She muttered. "…What kind of sick joke is this?!"
She turned to glare at Rias who flinched beneath her gaze.
"I saw her dead beneath my feet! So why would you send some sort of illusion of her to me?! Are you deriving some sort of sick amusement of this?!"
Before she could rant some more, Raynare came trying to reach out to her, only for Seras to flinch back.
"Seras… It's me. It's really me…"
"It can't! I saw your body! It shouldn't be possible for the dead to come back!"
There was seemingly a look of desperation that caused many to be surprised.
"… You left this world… You left me… It shouldn't be possible for you to come back…"
She said it so quietly that most weren't able to hear it. Raynare and somehow Koneko were able to hear it though. Raynare seemed to understand what she meant however Koneko looked to be shocked, saddened and confused.
"Seras please, I'm here and alive."
Raynare's hand reached out and gripped Seras' shoulder.
That was a mistake…
With blinding speed Seras plunged her hand into Raynare's shoulder. Blood spilled and Raynare cried out in pain. There was a shout of surprise and everyone came towards them. Seras' look of rage turned to shock… which slowly turned to that of horror.
She could feel it… she could smell it. Her blood, the smell and sensation, was real.
'W-what… have I done?'
Seras' pulled her hand out and in a state of despair of fear tried to run out of the room. Raynare seeing this quickly grabbed Seras and embraced her in a hug.
Seras struggled a bit however Raynare kept a strong grip on her, refusing to letting.
{Seras calm down}
Everyone could sense her demonic power fluctuating, matching her inner turmoil.
"…I'm sorry…" She stopped struggling however she was shivering. "I'm so sorry, I-!"
"Shhh, it's ok. I understand, and don't worry… this time I promise not to leave you again."
Seras shook harder hearing that while Raynare simply held her closer.
The scene was quite touching and caused everyone to smile. However Asia was confused on how Raynare was among the living.
"Raynare-sama…"
Raynare turned to look at Asia while still hugging Seras.
"How are you still alive?"
Rias decided to answer.
"After convincing Raynare's remaining comrades I used my remaining Bishop piece to reincarnate her into my devil servant."
She turned to address Seras.
"I guess I failed to mention that an Evil Piece can also revive the recently deceased."
Seras seemed to have stilled.
"Raynare obviously meant a lot to you as well as your humanity. Think of this as repaying the debt of saving Koneko."
Seras simply sat there letting Raynare hug her. However Seras slowly stood away from the embrace. Seras turned to look to look at Rias. To everyone's surprise Seras bowed down deeply to her.
"Thank you… so very much… Rias Gremory."
When she finally stopped bowing, Rias saw Seras' eyes. Though they were still colourless they now held something in them that they lacked for a long time… happiness.
Underworld: Lilith
Lilith, the Capital of devil territory. A large bustling city that was very similar to many human capitals yet different at the same time. Currently walking around the busy streets was a tall figure wearing a ragged cloak. It covered just about every part of the body leaving the person's identity a mystery. Though it's seen from his posture and the way he walked was that of a man.
A lot of devil citizens gave him strange looks while very few, mostly the rich & noble looking ones, seem to give the figure looks of either fear, hatred or respect.
He stopped suddenly. Slitted blue eyes peered out of his hood looking at the purple sky.
"So there's one left after all, and here I thought they were all gone." His voice very deep yet at the same time soft.
A pair of bat-like wings appeared out of his back. With a beat of his wings he flew into the sky. His cloak bellowing gave glimpse to a sheathed sword. Unsheathing it he sliced the air in front of him; a portal appeared with Kaleidoscopic colours. Sheathing his blade he flew into the portal, it closing leaving absolutely no trace of the mysterious figure…
Author's Notes
Well that ends this arc.
Next up is the Raiser arc.