Hello everyone!
You guys truly are amazing, I don't think I have ever had quite so much animosity for any of my work before. Again I will do the shoutouts:
Titan034: I will keep that in mind whilst writing. Do keep in mind I already have the first 8 chapters or so done, so you will not start to see the change until after that :3.
: Thank you! I hope you enjoy this one as well.
Soundion: I definitely will, I'm glad you find the story pleasing so far!
DatGuitarGirl: Thanks so much! So far I haven't hit a writers block yet, so you can expect a lot more to come.
I know this is a bit of a short chapter, but I really couldn't say any more in here without thoroughly confusing the reader. The next one is longer, I promise! Enjoy chapter 3!
The City – Nighttime
Rias, Akeno, Kiba, Koneko and Asia were walking away from the church. "Buchou, I swear I recognized that boy." Kiba said. "I know, Kiba. I also have a feeling I have seen him before." "You still have to admit he is cute though." Akeno interjected. "I think Akeno has a crush." Rias teased. "Noooo, I saw him first!" Asia complained, blushing furiously. The two continued to bicker when Kiba walked up to Rias. "Buchou, I will be retiring for the night." Rias nodded and watched her knight walk off.
The four remaining devils carried on. "Buchou." Koneko tugged on Rias's sleeve. "What is it, my cute Rook?" Koneko was silent for a moment, ensuring the other two were still too busy with one another to pay attention to them. "My Nekomata side senses something off about him." Rias faked surprise. "What do you mean? Someone with fourteen wings more than Michael himself mind you, all in different colors, shows up and clears a church full of exorcists in a small ten minutes is not normal?" "… That's not what I meant," Koneko replied. "Senjitsu is fueled by emotion and manipulates any it finds. Everyone feels, I sense Kiba feel, I sense Akeno, I sense you. Everyone." "What are you implying?" Rias asked. "Not him. He didn't feel. Except briefly when he looked at Kiba." Deigning that all she had to say on the matter, Koneko said her goodbyes and went home.
"Asia." Rias said, finally deciding to break the two girls apart. "I don't suppose you have a place to stay for tonight. If you wish, I have a place for you." Asia blushed and bowed her head. "That would be most kind of you… master." Rias frowned. "Not master. In my peerage, everyone is equal. We use the Occult Research Club in our school as our cover, so you may refer to me as Buchou, or President."
A bit later Akeno wished Rias a good night as well, leaving Asia alone with Buchou. "You will be staying in our clubhouse tonight. It's warm and we have a spare bed. It's late and you are just newly reincarnated. You must rest and we will talk of your future tomorrow."
After Rias tucked in her new bishop, she opened up a teleportation circle and headed for the underworld. She had a little research to do. The archives were exactly as she remembered them. A grand building, rows upon rows of pillars under the red sky. Perhaps a thousand by a thousand paces. A grand dome rested in the center of the building's roof.
The Archivist was on the same place she always was and most likely would be for the foreseeable future. She greeted Rias warmly. "Lady Gremory. It has been a while since you last visited." "Indeed it has, Lady Archivist. I would have announced my visit hadn't the need for it arisen so suddenly." The Archivist smiled. "It is of no consequence, Lady Gremory. How can the archives be of service to you?"
"I am looking for information on a person. Most likely an angel. Perhaps one of old." The Archivist nodded. "Of course. Do you have a name, or an alias?" "Yes. He called himself 'the splinter that grew'." The Archivist frowned. "I have never heard of that one before. I know almost all the names of angels of old. You should try the newly reincarnated section. Row ninety-six, subsection D." Rias bowed. "Thank you Lady Archivist."
Rias dug for hours, finding absolutely nothing. She was engrossed in a copy of theoretical reincarnation of demi angelic souls when the chair across from her moved. Startled she looked up to find her brother, Sirzechs Gremory, strongest Maou and the Crimson Lucifer, sitting down across her. "What are you doing here?" Rias asked. "I should ask you the same thing. My little sister is in the underworld and she doesn't even visit her brother?" Rias sighed, turning her eyes back to page four-hundred-sixty-one. "I presumed you were busy, I wasn't gonna stay long, but it turns out the task I set out to do is a tad tougher than I had assumed."
"Tell me." Sirzechs said. "I am looking for information about 'the splinter who grew'." His expression darkened. "Where did you hear that name?" "It's not of any importance-" "It is, Rias. Where did you hear that name?" She looked back at her brother with an equally defiant glare. "You will tell me all you know of him in return, agreed?" A silent battle of wills was fought until finally Sirzechs relented. "Fine."
"A boy came to my town looking for a fallen angel. I helped him as best I could, given the circumstances. He hunted them down to an abandoned church, where he brutally maimed at least one person and chased off a small army of exorcists. Then he dropped a dead church girl with Twilight Healing at my feet and instructed me to revive her as my bishop."
"Did you do it?" Sirzechs asked. "Yes, in exchange for this." She produced the summoning circle and handed it to him. Sirzechs immediately dropped the paper as if it burned his hands. He silently swore, rubbing his hurt fingers. "Well, at least that confirms its authentic." He groaned. "Spill." Rias said.
Sirzechs sighed. "A deal is a deal. Follow me, little sister. Here is not the place to speak of this." Ten minutes later Rias sat across her brother in his luxurious office. "There is a secret very few people are aware of. It's a secret so ugly, it could change the face of this world in a single sentence. And it's also the reason you are here. Therefore I must ask you to keep this conversation within these four walls." Rias nodded in understanding. "I am ready."
"God is dead." She had not been ready for that. "How is that possible. Wouldn't the world have ended with his death?" Rias asked with a shocked voice. "In the last conflict, the one which also claimed the four original Maou, God perished. The Seraph now rule heaven under Michael's lead. Somehow they keep the system working, but it's only a shadow of its former self."
"It was said, that when God perished, nothing but a single feather of his wing remained. From that feather, something grew. Not God himself, but rumor has it that perhaps, given enough time, he will be a worthy successor of the throne. His powers are extraordinary and supposedly outrank everything else this planet has left. His more common alias is 'the Hand of God'." Rias took a moment to process all this. "Well, he outranks Azazel and Michael for sure. He has fourteen wings." She said. "How do you know that?!" Sirzechs exclaimed, disbelievingly. Rias looked at him with an 'Are you so dense?' expression. "I asked him of course. At least your story explains why he is called 'the splinter that grew'."
"Rias." Sirzechs said. "This," he gestured to the paper, careful not to touch it again, "is something extraordinary. It's a gift, a time bomb and answers to unfathomable questions on a single sheet. Use it wisely." Rias nodded. "Of course, brother."
And a happy new year!