Wow... three whole reviews... in five days... such animo for M rated scenes. I should write fewer of them, doesn't seem to do well for my review scores. Anyways, I will thank those of you who did review:
Sunsengnim: Your words are too kind! I will try my best to give the other girls as much attention, but since I am a little inexperienced at this, I can't guarantee the quality.
: magnificent comment, please comment more soon.
Guest: Thank you! I will now have to be creative as to what he can do with them ;)
The following morning Issei gently kissed his Koneko awake. "Love, we need to go freshen up. The meeting will take place in half an hour." Koneko yawned and stretched out like a cat, before nuzzling herself into his warmth again.
"It's too early." She complained, keeping her eyes closed. "Who plans a meeting at six in the morning anyways?"
"Someone who has no time to waste… except with his beautiful girl with wings of fire that is. Now let's go. We need to wash ourselves and you only have one shower." Issei replied.
"Will you shower with me?" She asked in a seductive tone.
"You have no idea how much I'd love to, but we are on a deadline and I am a man with little control when it comes to you. Behave and I might dry your wings for you once you are done." Issei did just that after she had showered. Quickly he rinsed himself down as well, before pulling on his usual attire and quickly kissing his girl. Then they went through the teleportation circle.
The meeting was not held anywhere near Japan, or Italy, or the homebase of the Grigori. Issei had pulled a few strings to ensure the meeting would be on neutral ground. Once, a long time ago he had prevented a large swindle of money from the United overseas Bank in Singapore. The grateful CEO had insisted on rewarding him. As the bank had held nothing Issei wished for at the time, the man had settled for a favor, somewhere in the future.
Their current headquarters was the 123rd tallest building in the world and had a large meeting room on the top floor with a breathtaking view over downtown Singapore with the sea behind it. Issei had insisted the top five floors remain locked and absolutely no one was allowed through without an invitation or his direct, verbal consent. The top floor of the building was a large, saucer shaped room, large enough to host a party of at least one hundred people. Now, in its very center was a large conference table.
The rising sun was on the eastern horizon when Issei and Koneko walked out of the room reserved for summoning circles. As they grew closer to the meeting room they could hear shouting and bickering. "It looks like they already got a head start on us…" Issei sighed, before squaring his shoulders and stepping into the room.
"Silence!" He shouted over everyone else. Suddenly everyone was quiet and looked at him with big eyes. Issei looked around the room. Raphael and Raynare looked at him with slight smiles. All four of the Maou, Sirzechs, Serafall, Beelzebub and Asmodeus were present. Each with the queen of their peerage.
"When I heard about the situation I thought the rest of the Maou should be informed." Sirzechs said. Issei nodded, moving on to the next set of people. Representing the fallen angels were Azazel and Shemhazai, along with three regular fallen angels acting as body guards. Staring daggers at both groups was Joshua Cromett, who brought two of his fellow court members and six exorcists, clad in church uniform.
"Alright, first of all," Issei said, "is anyone in here not convinced of the necessity of this meeting?" Issei looked around, daring anyone to speak up. "Is anyone in here not aware of the current situation?" Once more silence filled the room. "Good, at least that's a start. Have a seat everyone." Issei said, gesturing to the conference table. "The purpose of this meeting, plain and simple, is to forge a plan of action against Michael. He must be stopped at all costs. Should any of the three present parties not wish to participate, now is the time to say so."
"The church shall not wage war on Heaven!" one of Cromett's court members said. Immediately Joshua stepped in, pushing the man back into his seat. "What father Laurent wished to say," he said, shooting the man an angry look, "was that we have concerns pertaining the thin line we are walking. Is the enemy Michael, or Heaven? Is there any personal gain in it for anyone? Isn't it convenient you get to take over, should we succeed?"
"I assure you the last thing I wanted was this. I have absolutely no desire for power, it only corrupts and destroys. There is personal gain in this for everyone – the world continues to exist. Heaven is a necessity, just like the underworld and the earth. Waging a war on it would be nothing but destructive." Issei assured the two men.
"Will there not be spoils of war to be divided afterwards?" Beelzebub asked.
"Always. So. Egoistic." Issei muttered. "No, Beelzebub. There is your life to be won. Will that suffice?" Issei looked around the room. "Let me state it clearly for everyone. As it is right now, your lives will come to a miserable end within the next three years. The only way there is a chance you all get to keep your puny, miserable, pathetic existences is to remove the leach that is Michael from this world and pray that I prove powerful enough to replace the system." Issei said with an irritated voice.
Complete and utter silence. "Well then," Azazel said eventually, "If it's beyond debate that there is a war to be waged-"
"we will not cooperate with those exorcists!" Serafall shouted. That being said the whole room collapsed in unorganized shouting. Issei sighed and fought the urge to end everyone in the room where they stood, knowing he was fully capable of it. Deciding against shouting again, he brushed against everyone's mind, relaying his message mentally.
"Once, a long time ago, Michael told me why it's necessary we live in a world bound by rules and borders. The nature of existence is to be egoistical, to fight for one's survival. It's difficult for individuals to work together and without those rules and boundaries, the world would devolve into a perpetual war."
Everyone had grown quiet during his little speech. "And here we are, proving him right." Issei finished aloud. "Heaven," he continued, "is a fortress. It's almost impossible to get there, let alone conquer it. Michael isn't stupid. By now he realized two of his Seraph defected. He knows we move against him, but he is confident he will need to expend no effort to keep Heaven. Conquering it requires an army so great; it could only in theory be done if all the forces on earth stood against him collectively. Something he thinks us incapable of."
"He thinks devils incapable of putting someone else before themselves." Issei looked at Serafall, Sirzechs, Beelzebub and Asmodeus. "He thinks fallen angels incapable of working together as a unit." He looked at Azazel. "He thinks angels and exorcists incapable of turning on their own home, even if it's rotten." He said, looking at Cromett. Issei let the silence hang in the room for a while. "Are we?" he eventually asked.
It was the silence of a made decision that hung in the room. "We can't just pull all our forces together; it would leave our homes undefended and alert Michael immediately. What's more," Asmodeus said, "if we are going to do this, we need a place to hide an army." Ever so slowly Cromett leaned forwards, placing his hands on the table. Everyone was watching him expectantly.
"The church has some two-and-a-half-million exorcists. If we stretch duties and scrap any leave that was scheduled, we can free… perhaps a good four-hundred-thousand of them." Four-hundred-thousand. A number he challenged the other parties to match.
"We can make the Grigori go dark. We have no children or homes to protect, only our order. Buildings can be replaced. If we mobilize everything we have, the fallen angels can contribute, to the angel exact, 391.951 people, myself included." Azazel said softly, submitting himself to the necessity of the cause. He buried his face in his hands, contemplating the gravity of the decision he just made. So much done in so few words.
With that all attention turned to the Maou. With mixed feelings everyone awaited their reply. Would the devils finally come out of hiding? "One-hundred-thousand." Serafall said.
"One-hundred-thousand." Sirzechs said.
"One-hundred-thousand." Asmodeus said.
"One-hundred-thousand." Beelzebub said.
Everyone in the chamber was quiet. This is where the doom of this world was to be decided. An army of perhaps 1.2 million would march on Heaven. "I might have another suggestion." The other father Cromett had brought said. "There is an atoll, a small settlement on it. The people there are strongly religious; the church could have them moved. Usually getting there would be impossible to hide from prying eyes. However, if the devils could employ their teleportation circles in our service…"
The four Maou nodded in agreement. "Would you four help me place a shroud over the isle?" Issei asked them. Once more they nodded. Issei dug up six cellphones and placed them on the table. "In there," Issei said, "you find everything you need, ranging from funds, which I have plenty of, to contact information." He looked at the four Maou, at Azazel and at Cromett. "This is your last chance. Pick up the phone and you are committed."
One by one they took the sleek, black devices from the table. "Alright, get me numbers, Joshua, you get me the coordinates of that island. We need to start making duty rosters, decide on the chain of command, make a plan of action." Issei said. "I suggest everyone returns to their respective homes now, prepare as much as you can and we will meet again in three days." General nods of approval. "Any suggestions for the location?" Issei said.
Three days later they met again on the Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland. This time no one brought entourage, not even Issei. It was just the four Maou, Azazel, Cromett and him. There they made up the final drafts on the numbers, set rally dates and marshal plans, planned out their center of operations and made a rough outline of what duties were to befall whom.
Asmodeus and Beelzebub had no desire to command in battle, instead they forfeited their troops to Serafall and Sirzechs. Joshua, who wasn't a natural born fighter, took the logistics upon him. Azazel offered to help make the final roster with Issei, who gladly accepted the help. One week before the troops were set to move to Tristan da Cunha, the small island far off the African coast, Azazel and Issei convened to make the final plans.
"So we have the regular troop branches. Five of them in total. We have to attach medics to those. We need people to gather Intel, we have Cromett's logistical branch. We will need to make a division for special operations as well, just for the eventuality that we need to act surgically." Azazel summarized.
"If we are going to split our medics up like that, we are going to need more than one commander on that. Say we take two, we have… ten of them from the top of my head." Issei replied.
"Sirzechs, Serafall and I are going to head up combat troops for sure. Cromett wanted to take the support branch and mentioned something about two very gifted exorcists who might be capable of fulfilling such a role." Azazel said.
"Alright, let's say that Sirzechs, Serafall, you and Cromett's two exorcists take the main combat roles. I have to commit Raphael somewhere for sure, he is expecting as much. That leaves us three roles to divide yet." Issei said, circling the question marks on the paper.
"I leave those in your two, very capable hands, Issei." Azazel said, looking over the paper. "All these divisions, these battalions and brigades. All these respective ranks are going to need names." He said. "And," Azazel added, looking at Issei, "you will have to give this army a name." When Azazel saw Issei's look of protest he quickly said "this army is so massive people need clear structure and terminology. You can't have over a million people run around and expect everyone to simply know what to do. They need guidance. If they didn't, having any chain of command is completely useless."
Issei nodded. "I will take care of it, then. Take care, Azazel. I will see you with your angels in seven days when we leave for Tristan da Cunha, for war." The two were about to leave when dark clouds gathered above their heads at an unnatural rate.
"Michael?" Azazel asked Issei.
"No, I would sense him. There are far more angels on the other side, but I sense no malign intent." Issei said. One by one, three winged angels began to descend from heaven, gathering up in neat squadrons. From each group one angel broke formation and floated down to where Issei and Azazel stood.
The four angels, clad in shining golden armor spoke as one. "We, the keepers of the gates of Heaven, wish to defect." Issei inquired to their reason. The response was bitter and concerning. "Our saint Peter spoke out against Michael and was publicly executed. Many of us wanted to side with our former trainer and master who now stands against Michael. No one must be admitted to heaven anymore. Only evil lurks there now."
The ORC clubroom
"How was your meeting with Azazel?" Koneko asked, walking over to him and burying her face in his chest. "I brought guests." He said solemnly, gesturing to the window. At that moment Rias walked in.
"Issei, honey, would you happen to know anything about the small thousand angels MAKING CAMP IN THE TENNIS COURT?!" She yelled.
"Well, you sure are a perceptive woman, Rias. I was kinda hoping you would miss that detail. Still-"
"No, no, no. I already consented to one angelic being in my vicinity, I will not have a thousand more on my doorstep who, from the looks of it, are not there to sell girl scout cookies!" Rias was adamant about her case.
"Everyone is gone for summer vacation, no one will see them. Rias, they defected from heaven and need a place to stay until we can get them a more permanent place on Tristan da Cunha. Quite frankly I'm not about to turn down a thousand of Heaven's best warriors." Issei replied.
"Well, then I'd suggest you find them a better place to stay."
"Alright, alright. I'll just tell them to march up to the town hall and camp out on the steps. I'll defer the church to you when they have to buy out the media again." Issei made way for the door.
"You are so despicable!" Rias shouted after him. Issei smiled and walked on, not looking back. "You will not get away with this!"
"I heard the average reporter can be bought for 2.3 million!" Issei yelled over his shoulder.
"Fine! Fine! You win, you asshole!" Rias 'mphed' indignantly and stomped past Issei, outside and out of the building.
"You know, everyone talks of working together, but I don't get the feeling they are going to walk the walk." Issei said when Koneko caught up to him. "If I were the local devil overlord and someone parked a thousand angels on my doorstep I wouldn't be amused either, but I understand where you are coming from." Issei glanced down at the paper in his hands, looked at the schemes, the math, the endless planning. It just didn't fit. It wasn't an integrated army.
"Would you lead them?" He asked, offhandedly staring at the paper, an Idea forming in his mind.
"Who?"
"The angels, the thousand outside. Would you lead them?" Issei repeated.
"I don't know. I guess I'd be honored, but why would they follow someone who looks like a fifteen year old girl? Especially if they are the well trained warriors you make them out to be"
"Because I'd tell them so." Issei stated matter-of-factly. Yes, Issei had a plan. Something truly… revolutionary. "So will you?" Raynare passed through the room at that moment. "Come on, Koneko. I need generals I can trust. Please, for me?" He said. Raynare made to speak up, but quickly caught herself. Not fast enough though, for Issei saw.
Was she ready for it? A test, perhaps. Yes, that would do nicely. "Did you want to say something?" He asked, turning to the fallen angel.
"No, master." She said, a frightened gaze in her eyes. When he kept looking at her expectantly, she began to squirm. "I did the laundry, as per your request. Gabriel's wounds are healing but she I suffering from withdrawal. I gave her some buprenorphine." Issei looked at her.
"I didn't ask you to look after Gabriel." Issei said with a flat expression.
"No, master. It just felt like…" She looked as if she was about to sprout wings and fly, no pun intended. "the right… thing… to do." Raynare might as well have been vomiting with her current expression.
"Regardless, you wanted to say something. Speak up." Issei said. He knew what question she was going to ask.
"W-well… I was… yo-you know… thinking… t-t-that maybe…" Raynare stuttered anxiously.
"Yes?" Issei was getting impatient.
"Icouldbecomepartofthefighttoo." Silence, utter silence as Koneko worriedly looked at Issei trying to gauge his reaction.
Unbeknownst to the two this was where Issei's planned little act began. He started to laugh hysterically, doubling over whilst Raynare looked away with an indignant and ashamed look on her face. He took her by the arm and dragged her along. "I think you forgot what place you are in, perhaps you need a reminder."
"No… no… nooooo!" Koneko watched as Raynare was dragged out of the clubroom, desperately trying to grab hold of anything as she was dragged off to no doubt an unpleasant situation at best. Koneko sighed in defeat. Her boyfriend would never learn. A few minutes later she heard a cry of fear followed by a dull thud and a civilized applause. Rias walked back in, a little calmer this time.
"Do you know where Issei went?" Rias asked.
"Follow the cries of agony." Koneko replied, gesturing to the window. "And don't tell Akeno. My boyfriend." Rias snickered and walked out of the door. She proceeded to the tennis court, where the blood curling screams appeared to be coming from. Rias was shocked by what she saw.
Tied to a tree was Raynare, an apple on her head and several arrows embedded in the tree around her. Some hundred paces away stood Issei, blindfolded, who silently swore and made a hand gesture before picking up another one of the arrows stuck in the dirt next to him. He notched it into the bow, pulled back the string and sent the arrow flying. Raynare screamed when the arrow embedded itself a mere two centimeters next to her right earlobe. The thousand angels, who had slowly gathered around to watch the spectacle and stood around the two, followed the arrow with their eyes, watched it miss any indicated mark and clapped.
"Yes! Yes! Save me Rias!" Raynare yelled, desperately fighting her bonds
"Issei! What are you doing?!" She shouted running over to him. Issei turned his head her way, feigned losing control of his bow a little and let the next arrow nick Raynare's arm, leaving a very thin line across her wrist.
"My, my. Rias, be careful. If you distract me I might just hit… erm, miss my mark!" He said, notching another arrow.
"Still, what do you think you are doing-"
"Shut up! Shut up! Don't talk to him! Don't distract him" Raynare yelled with fright in his eyes.
"What does it look like." Issei replied with a deadpan voice, letting go of the taut bowstring. "I'm doing target practice." Raynare screamed when the arrow struck just above the nape of her neck. Another applause.
"On your servant?"
"Call it an added dimension if you will." He shot another arrow at Raynare, which struck just shy of the apple. "Was I close?" He yelled across the field.
"Fuck you! Just because you are above me does not mean you get to walk over me you asshole!" was his reply. Immediately Issei lowered his bow and turned to Rias.
"She passed her test. How can I help you Rias?"
"Well, I had a suggestion concerning the angels, but are you implying you were really in control the whole time here?" She asked a little bewildered.
"Rias, you are really slow sometimes, aren't you?" Issei whistled and took three arrows out of the ground. One of the angels in the crowd took out another apple and threw it into the air as hard as he could. In rapid succession Issei shot two arrows up which went invisible against the glare of the sun. Then he turned and sent one more arrow at Raynare. It struck the apple dead center and split it with a neat vertical line.
Issei took of the blindfold. "Someone untie her." He said, gesturing to Raynare who was looking at him with a mixed expression. "Oh and Rias," He took her hands and stretched them out at elbow length from her. "Catch."
"What are you-" at that moment something cold and wet hit her hands. She looked down to see the apple, neatly cut in four parts. "You are really good." She remarked. "Why the blindfold?"
"Because you can sense the world around you through other means than your eyes. People always seem ignorant of that fact." At that moment Raynare walked up to him and visibly fought the urge to slap him across the face.
"Congratulations, you passed." Issei said and took out the duty roster. "Pick one." Raynare was a little bewildered, but did ask he asked. The fallen angel's eyes scanned across the numbers and symbols, not understanding any of it. There was a clear division into six rows.
"That one." She said, pointing to the one on the left. Issei turned the page over, looking at the one she picked.
"Congratulations, you are now head of intelligence. I hereby release you from your role as my servant. Enjoy being in the fight." Issei said as he walked off. This was absurd. Rias looked back and forth between the retreating Issei and the dumb folded Raynare. Quickly she ran after Issei.
"Wait, you just made her a general in your army? Can you even trust her?"
"So many questions, Rias. You forget who I am. When I first took her in, I did so because I sensed her spirit was pure. Despite what you think, she is not inherently evil and therefore trustworthy. All I needed to know was if she was fit to lead. She realized what leading means on that field five minutes ago. Soon she will be the one holding the bow and whoever is below her will be tied to the tree. Figuratively that is. I needed to know she will not abuse that fact and turn the bow on her enemies instead of her 'servants'."
"You put her to the test?" Rias asked incredulously. Issei nodded.
"You have some experience leading too, am I right?" Issei asked. Rias looked at him and nodded.
"I am a King. Of course I do." Issei studied her carefully, and then held out the roster to her as well.
"The four left ones are already spoken for. Pick one." Issei looked over the page. She too, did not understand what the markings and numbers meant, but picked a row regardless. Issei turned the page over, looking where she held her finger. "Congratulations. You are now head of special operations."
Later that day Issei sat on the grass, his back to a tree with his girlfriend sprawled out over his lap. Koneko watched the setting sun as Issei was scratching and scribbling on a note block. Eventually he put down the paper and absentmindedly started toying with Koneko's hair. One of the angels came out of the encampment on the tennis court and headed for them.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Ursus, leader of Justice White, the first gatekeepers. Might I have a word?" He asked once he reached them. Issei leaned down, kissed his girl with wings of fire and gently removed her from his lap.
"Walk with me." He instructed the angel, who fell into step next to him.
"We have a problem." The angel said. Issei shot a questioning glance his way. "Now that there are no guardians of the gates of heaven anymore, dead souls have nowhere to go. There is a buffer in place, but it's filling. Rapidly. I might have a solution though." He was silent for a bit, contemplating the best way to put his suggestion forward. "Perhaps we could turn part of your army into Seraphim."
"Absolutely not." Issei replied. The ritual bound roaming souls to another individual, increasing their power but o so easily corruptible. Whoever preformed the rite gained unprecedented control over the person who gained control over the souls. "There is no guarantee I can turn them back to normal afterwards."
"The alternative is wait for the buffer to overflow and watch Michael make them." The angel reminded him. Issei silently cursed, realizing he was right. He would have to shift around even more battalions now. He turned to the angel and pointed a finger at him.
"Only you, your men or me make them and its volunteer basis only. Understood? And only after the volunteers have been well informed about the consequences." Issei rubbed his temples. "I'll have a long night ahead of me if I'm gonna make all the math work. Do me a favor and go tell your new Prefect." Issei said. The angel quirked an eyebrow. "Koneko, she's to be your new leader, remember?" He said gesturing to the girl who was watching them intently from some hundred meters away.
"Ah, yes. Prefect Toujou." The angel said. "Are you sure she is capable of leading us?" He asked. Issei frowned and fought to regain his composure.
"What she might lack here." Issei said poking the man's strong upper arm, "you lack in here." He said, poking the man's head. "Now shoo before I decide to read more into that comment." Before Issei was to retreat for the night he had to do one more thing. Walking back into the ORC he headed over to his chambers and sat down in one of the chairs next to the bed. With pity he looked at Gabriel's writhing and sweating form as she softly cried within the blankets.
"What am I to do with you?" he softly said to himself, contemplating.
"Enlist her with me." Raphael said from behind him. Issei turned, not having noticed the other Seraph's presence.
"Well, you are on medic duty, so I could stick her with you. I still don't fully trust her, though."
"As much is to be expected. She did do this to herself because of you, though. I'd say she is doing all she can to earn her redemption." Issei nodded in agreement.
"I can't really talk to her about it when she is… like this…" Issei said, gesturing to Gabriel. "It will be another week at least, probably two. Can you run the show by yourself that long?" Raphael nodded in reply. "Then let's wage a war, Raphael."