Chapter 80: The Leaders Summit Begins
A/N: 80 chapters down, let's keep it all going!
The following morning, the school was surrounded in a large magic barrier, almost identical to the one made when Kokabiel made his attack, and the entire ORC had gathered inside the clubhouse, making the final preparations for the Leaders Summit.
"Well, time to go," said Rias.
"Agreed," said Adrian, turning to the club members that were staying behind; that being Koneko, Damon, Gasper and Katrina.
"And Damon, behave yourself while we're gone," Rias tactifully added. Damon nodded his head, mocking her as he turned his head away, only to be punched in the arm by Katrina for his disrespect.
"Koneko and Katrina, you two are going to stay behind to watch Gasper, because if his power goes off during the summit it can stall negotiations...and Damon would most likely do something stupid at that summit anyway so he's staying behind too," said Adrian, earning a middle finger in the air from the Devil Hunter. Issei then approached Gasper,
"Hey dude," he began, "go easy on the girls," He handed Gasper a small device, resembling much like a Nintendo DS, "and you can borrow this."
"Awesome! Thanks Issei! I'll try not to let you down!" Said the young dhampir. Koneko then proceeded to place a large box of snacks on the coffee table,
"I also stocked up on some snacks for us," she said in her blank tone. Katrina arched an eyebrow at the box, then shifted her gaze to Koneko,
"Snacks for us or snacks for you?"
"Considering it's mostly stoner food, I'd say I'm at least in that mix," cut in Damon, snatching a small bag of potato chips from the box and ripping the top off with his teeth.
I wish there was more we could do for the boy, thought Adrian. He deserves so much more than what he's got...
Some time later...
The ORC members remaining, consisting of Rias, Adrian, Issei, Asia, Xenovia, Akeno and Kiba, all gathered outside the main buildings conference room, to which Rias gently knocked on its' door,
"May we come in?" She slowly opened the door regardless, and they slowly filed inside, seeing Sirzechs, Michael and Azazel all seated at the main table. Seated next to Sirzechs was Sona Sitris' sister, Serafall Leviathan, standing by his side was his queen Grayfia, and standing by the wall on Sirzechs side of the room was Sona herself, accompanied by her queen piece, Tsubaki Shira. Standing behind Michael was Irina, clearly not pleased to see Xenovia entering the room, and finally, standing in the farthest corner on Azazels' side was Blizy and Vali, the latter of which was staring right at Issei and Adrian.
"Well this is nice and awkward as hell," Adrian commented in a low voice.
"Everyones here," said Sirzechs, "This is my sister Rias and her retainers," the Devil King introduced, "They are the ones who fought Kokabiel during his surprise attack a few days ago."
"That is a rather impressive feat," Michael humbly praised, "I thank you for all of your hard work."
"Once again I apologize," said Azazel, not even looking remotely sorry with a smile still crossing his mouth. "It seems one of my boys caused you a bit of trouble."
"'A bit of trouble?' Our friend Wesker is in a coma because of your boy, Azazel," snapped Adrian.
"Adrian-!" Rias warned, trying to keep the peace, but Azazel stopped her,
"No he's right, my words don't cut it," he looked at Adrian and said with pure conviction, "I'm sorry for what happened to Wesker. I cared for him like a son and I let him get hurt. Him getting put in a coma by Kokabiel is horrible, and I wish I could change that, but I can't. All we can do now is keep moving forward, alright?" Adrian took a deep breath, unsure if Azazel was truly speaking from the heart or simply being a good actor, but he knew the summit had to keep going.
"I'll take that," he relunctantly grumbled.
"Now that all the participants are represented," said Sirzechs, trying to steer everyone back on track, "It's time for this summit to commence." The inhabitants of the conference room couldn't see it, but above the school an entire army of angels, fallen angels and devils have gathered, preparing for if and when the summit goes horribly wrong.
Meanwhile...
Katrina watched from the clubhouse windows, seeing the three armies gathering outside the school, shaking her head as she turned back to Koneko, Gasper and Damon,
"A part of me still wishes I could be there," said the War Goddess.
"Well unfortunately it wouldn't be wise to bring a Goddess of War to a summit that is supposed to bring peace," said Damon, "That would be like bringing feul to a house fire and expecting to put it out." Katrina rolled her eyes, sitting on the couch next to Koneko, briefly glancing at the box of snacks, having to do a double take as she saw the box was now empty.
"What happened to all the snacks?!" Katrina turned to Koneko, who was chewing on a pocky stick, then Gasper who was focused on Isseis' DS game, specifically Mario Bros, but it was the loud belch that answered Katrinas' question. She angrilly turned to Damon, seeing him laying on his back, smoking a joint while surrounded by snack wrappers.
"I happened to the snacks, happy?" Asked Damon, sitting up, and seeing an irritated and slightly hurt Katrina glaring at him.
"No, I'm not happy, because I wanted some of that you bastard!" Katrina shouted, causing Gasper to slowly duck inside his box, closing the lid as he continued to play his game.
"Oh wah wah wah!" Mocked Damon, rising to his feet, "If you're that hungry I'll get some fucking pizza," he grumbled, heading for the door and making a magic circle.
"Or you can stay here and help me and Koneko watch over Gasper like you're supposed to," Katrina sarcastically suggested.
"It won't be more than ten minutes tops," said Damon, not even trying to be reassuring. He then walked through his magic circle and dissappeared, and no sooner was he gone that Katrinas' phone vibrated, causing her to look, and saw it was a photo of Damon, standing outside the pizza parlor while flipping off the camera.
"How did he even get out of the barrier around the school?" Asked Katrina confused.
"You asking me?" Said Koneko.
Meanwhile...
"The rest of the details regarding the incident between Kokabiel and my household can be found in my official report," said Rias, who was holding a very advanced tablet that was projecting a brief summary of Kokabiels attack above the table where all the leaders could see.
"As a witness, I, Sona Sitri, confirm the veracity of the report presented by Lady Gremory," said Sona.
"That will be all," said Sirzechs, "Thank you very much." Serafall turned in her seat to face Rias and Sona,
"Great job ladies! You make me so proud Sona!" Sitris' eyes briefly widened, and she turned away and walked back to rejoin Tsubaki out of embarrassment.
"Perhaps the Governor General of the Fallen Angels would care to share his opinion on the report?" Sirzechs added, wanting to see Azazels' reaction.
"Kokabiel went rogue," said Azazel, "therefore my thoughts on the incident are irrelevent."
"So he acted entirely on his own?" Asked Michael, wanting to confirm what Azazel was saying.
"Well he never had my permission, if that's what you're asking," stated Kokabiel, sporting his smug grin. He then chuckled, which irritated Adrian more so, "but something tells me the damn fool wouldn't have tried to destroy the whole town if he knew I was staying here. I've grown quite fond of the quaint little place." Issei gritted his teeth as Azazel made eye contact with him.
"Try to stay on topic, if you please," said Sirzechs, noticing the tension rising.
"I sent the White Dragon Emperor in to resolve the issue, but once he got there it seemed someone else already dispatched Kokabiel for us."
"This 'Zeus' character I've heard a fair bit about?" Michael curiously asked.
"That's the one," said Azazel, "who I believe slayed one of Rias' pawns if I'm not mistaken."
"His name was Calvin," said Adrian, stepping forward, "but we aren't here to discuss either of them. We are here to discuss peace between the three leaders in this room, because every second we waste talking about it, the more Zeus could be gaining more and more of an upperhand on us!" Adrian spoke directly to Azazel, "Now, Azazel, Governor General of the Fallen Angels, would you please stay on the fucking topic?!"
"Adrian that's enough!" Said Sirzechs, only to be interrupted by Azazel,
"No, the Bone Dragon is right," the fallen lazily admitted, "so how about we make peace and be done with it?" Most of the rooms inhabitants were surprised by Azazels' wish, "That is the purpose of this grand summit, isn't it? Of course it is..."
Back at the clubhouse...
Gasper was still playing his game while Koneko was seated on the couch next to him, and Katrina waiting by the window, keeping a look out for Damon...or worse. Gasper paused his game as he was about to fight Bowser, and spoke,
"I'm worried. I hope they're okay," he said with a concerned tone. He then shrunk into his box, "What if the summit turns chaotic and war breaks out and everyone dies?! I don't think I can take it!" Gasper then placed his paper bag mask on his head as he began crying.
"As Goddess of War, I won't let that happen," said Katrina without turning around. Konekos' stomach rumbled,
"I wonder when Damon will be back with that pizza?" She wondered aloud to herself. She then sensed something amiss, and Katrina spotted a group of figures outside the clubhouse. They were all floating on an odd rune, orange in color, dressed in dark robes with a large eye on the front where it shielded the top half of their faces. Katrina couldn't see for sure, but she felt the one in the lead was smiling directly at her,
"Koneko, stay here with Gasper, we got company..."
