"" - Talking

'' - Thinking

[] - Dragon

"" - mental talking

...

Merlin entered the student council room with his nearly empty delivery bag in hand, Sona and Tsubaki, the only ones in the room aside from himself, was playing chess as he headed over to his bag.

"What delayed you?" Sona asked as she moved one of her pieces ending the game as Merlin opened both bags as he answered

"I was attacked by a group of Exorcists…Managed to get me a souvenir as well" Pulling the Holy gun and clip from out of the delivery bag he noticed both of them looking at him surprised

"Are you alright?" Sona asked moving to check him over to wounds as he replied

"Yeah…fine, I managed to keep there aim off me…" He put them both into his schoolbag, slightly surprised at her concern, as he continued

"Hopefully…If I spend enough time I can work out how to add it in the Chaos Cannon" Sona looked back at him confused as she asked

"Why?"

"Well it'd help if we have to fight a devil…maybe I can even work out some anti holy shield spells or something" Sona's eyes widened as she thought about it, a way to protect devils from Holy power would be priceless to many devils.

"Alright then…would you like a game of chess before you head home?" Sona asked, Tsubaki looking slightly surprised at her friend and master as Merlin nodded as he answered

"Alright Kaichou…I've not played before but I understand the rules" Sona smiled as she moved to set the chessboard up again as Merlin sat opposite her next to Tsubaki as they started the game.

As they played, Yura and Kusaka returned from there own jobs and were watching with intrigue as the pair continued, the game ended in a close win for Sona who managed to notice one of Merlin's traps and stop it as well as the mage making a few mistakes through the game.

"You did well to push me that far for your first game…" Sona spoke as Merlin nodded thoughtfully as he replied

"Yeah…If I hadn't made those mistakes then I'd probably have won" Sona blushed slightly at the thought, she knew Merlin was smart but whether he was smarter then herself had always been the curious line that she'd not been able to figure out between them yet.

"Maybe…" She replied, trying to hide her blush as Merlin got up as he asked

"I'll see you all tomorrow…unless there's something else I'm needed for?" Sona shook her head as she sat there as Yura decided to speak up, surprising the others in the room

"Would you help me study?"

Merlin looked confused at her for a moment before replying "Yeah…Is tomorrow, after school, alright?"

She nodded eagerly while smiling as Merlin picked up his bag as he spoke "Ok…guess we can meet in here beforehand"

"Alright" Yura replied finding her cheeks heating up slightly as he left.

"Why do you need help studying?" Sona asked seriously as the turquoise haired girl turned to look at there master, nervously as Kusaka gave her a teasing smile.

…

Merlin sat at his desk in his room trying to set up the magic circle he would need to use on a piece of paper. The clothe bundle on his left was the bullets from the clip which he'd got his mother to remove to avoid injuring himself as he thought

'This'll take longer then I expected' The magic circle he was using while being complex took a lot of time to work its magic and decipher the equation that made it work and he still had to adjust it and tweak it so he could use it for the Chaos Cannon.

[Are you sure it'll work?] Tiamat asked as Merlin double checked the book he was using to help him, pushing his glasses up his nose as he mentally replying

'I think so…although this was originally meant to be used on magical items made by other human spell casters…I'd like to think the tweaks would give me whatever's different between Fallen and Mage magic on paper for me'

[…If it does then anti holy shields?]

'Well it would be helpful to the others if they can protect themselves against it completely…maybe even as an enchantment for weapons for Rating Games' He mentally replied as he did the final checks and adjustments as the door opened and Reina looked in

"What are you doing?" She asked curiously as Merlin took the bundle of clothe, opening it before sliding the bullets into the centre of the magic circle as she added surprised

"Those are Holy bullets….? What are you doing with Holy bullets?"

"Relax Phenex-sama…I'm just working out how its done…well if this magic circle works right" Merlin replied as he finished setting it all up before starting up the spell, a small jolt of lightning jumping to his hand which he shook in surprise.

"Why?" Reina asked as Merlin checked for injured over his hand before rubbing his hands against his t-shirt.

"For the Chaos Cannon…and maybe coming up with shield spells to block them completely" Merlin replied as Reina stopped with whatever she was going to say to think it over.

"Alright…just keep them away from me" Reina replied as she left the room, Merlin taking a moment to check to see if the spell was working right as he glanced at the start of the formula appearing on the bottom of the paper away from the magic circle.

…

"Ojou-sama, you can't just go to Japan on your own…your teleport would be noticeable by those there and what if he attacks you before you can explain?" Gator asked as she watched the blue haired young woman prepare for her journey.

"Emrys is not like that, Gator, you should know you have watched the pools for long enough… and the Devils won't notice my teleport in or out if I perform the quick jump in my sprite form…"

"I know…Ojou-sama but…" Gator tried to rebuke as the blue haired Fairy put her hand up as she spoke

"I'm leaving you in charge of the vision pools, Gator… I want you to send word immediately to me if anything happens" She looked at the newly fixed white staff, cracks still noticeable down its shaft, she picked it up in her hands looking over it like it held the answers to what she was about to do as she added

"We don't need Emrys finding out that she survived"

"Of course, Viviane-sama" Gator spoke as she bowed; not liking anything that Viviane was doing just because of her twin's actions before with Emrys. Viviane picked up her own staff, crystal in appearance which was topped by what looked to be a blue rose surrounded by strands of the staff.

"Emrys will need his staff as well…if he's to protect those he cares about" Viviane spoke as she activated a teleportation circle under her feet with a tap of her staff.

…

Merlin wondered why Yura seemed to be annoyed at Kusaka about something as he entered the council room, Sona and Tsubaki were busy with papers, as Yura brightened up at seeing him as he spoke "Hey…"

"Hey Merlin-kun" Yura spoke up as she took hold of her bag as she added

"Ready to go…?"

"Yeah unless Kaichou has something for me to do" Merlin replied as Sona looked up as she spoke

"No… nothing today"

The pair said there goodbyes as they started to leave, walking alongside each other as they chatted about what they were going to be studying about before a weird feeling ran through Merlin as he stopped walking

"Emrys…I wish to return that which belongs to you" A familiar female voice rang through his head, turning as he tried to identify where it came from as it spoke up again

"Please come to the roof of your school"

'What do you think, Tiamat?' Merlin asked, Tiamat taking a moment to think as she asked

[What could she have, young warlock..?]

"What's wrong, Merlin-kun?" Yura asked as Merlin turned to look at her as he spoke

"I've got something to do…can you wait for me at the gate?"

'Not sure unless…she's got my staff' Merlin thought as she replied

"I guess why?"

[Why would she have your staff?] Tiamat asked curiously

'I left it after Nimueh died…it fell to pieces from just deflecting the spell she used against me after I barely got out of that cave' Merlin answered, taking a moment to come up with an answer

"I think I left a book in the classroom…" She looked confused at him as Merlin started to head up towards the roof, deciding to follow him as her confusion grew as she realised he was headed up to the roof.

Merlin's eyes widened in shock as he started to back up at the sight of Viviane, her wings in hiding, and being the twin of Nimueh had more of an effect on him then she'd expected as he spoke shocked "You…can't be here…"

"I'm not her Emrys…" Viviane spoke up as Yura sprung out to stand between Merlin and the Fairy before asking

"Who are you?" Viviane silently sighed as she kept her gaze locked on Merlin as she spoke

"I'm Viviane…Nimueh was my twin and I'm sorry for what she did to you"

Yura looked back at Merlin as he seemed to calm down only slightly as he spoke in a serious tone "You have my staff, why?"

Viviane held out the white wooden weapon towards him as she spoke with a calm smile "I wanted to make up for what she did to you…and repairing it seemed like the best way"

Merlin stepped forward as he took a moment to look at her eyes before resting his hand on the staff, a familiar feeling running through his fingers as he looked over it all as he noticed the cracks on it still

"It wasn't possible to completely repair it but it will take a lot to cause it to break again" Viviane spoke as Merlin seemed to finally trust her as he replied

"Thank you, Viviane-san…Is that all you came for?"

"Yes…I will take my leave now…I have other matters to attend to" Viviane answered as she tapped her staff against the floor, the magical circle appearing underfoot as she bowed to them

"Take care, Merlin and if you ever have need of my assistance then just use your staff to contact me" She spoke before activating the magical circle and teleporting away from them as the two girls turned to look at Merlin as he looked over the staff again.

'I don't think I can use this still' He thought to himself as Tiamat spoke up

[You may as well keep it just in case] Merlin nodded to himself, noticing Yura's concern as he used a spell to put it into his dimension pocket, where his battle clothes were before sighing as he spoke

"Let's get to studying then"

"What was that about?" Yura asked curiously as they started downstairs, Merlin sighing before asking

"What do you know about Nimueh?" Yura looked down from what she'd overheard she was someone really close to Merlin from when he was younger but not much else as she answered

"I only overheard that she was someone important to you…"

"That's true…" Merlin sighed as he started to explain what Sona knew as well as about his staff being destroyed by Nimueh when she'd attacked him.

…

A few buildings away Nimueh stood, watching the scene with a sinister smirk, she had managed to hide her presence from her sister with a combination of devil and Fairy magic and now realised how she could use her master's plan to get back at Merlin for trapping her in that cave.

She was dressed in a black corset which showed off her figure and a short ruffled skirt, her long blue hair had been cut shoulder length and seemed to spike out and her Fairy wings had been replaced by two similar sized pairs of devil wings which were in the shape of a cross on her back.

Activating a teleport spell under her feet she soon found herself standing in the castle of her master, who was an obnoxious twerp that none of the other high class devils wanted to be associated with as she started to walk towards his private room.

She opened the double doors with a flick of her wrist to find the silver haired young man with his feet up on his wooden desk as he napped with some sort of magazine covering his face.

"Vine-sama, I've finished the task you assigned to me"

A grumble signalled she'd been heard as Vine put his feet down while setting the magazine closed on the desk as he spoke up "What did you find out Nimueh?"

"Reina Phenex is only surrounded by five servants, two pawns, and a Rook, Knight and Bishop…Although she's also near the Sitri heir and Gremory heir but Gremory is preparing for a rating game against the older brother Raiser"

"Hmm…Interesting… Any of her servants you think will be a problem?" he asked as Nimueh nodded and answered

"The Bishop I have personal knowledge that he's stronger then most would expect…but I should be able to take him" The devil looked curious as he spoke

"Oh…so that's the Emrys who managed to deflect your spell…well I'll leave them to you, my Queen"

Nimueh smiled, glad she would be able to take out Emrys as she turned to make the rest of the preparations for there plan before it could start.

…

Merlin entered the living room, having just checked up on the magic circle working away in his room, his eyes widening at seeing a blushing Reina, Sona, Tsubaki and Yura looking through a book as his mother spoke

"Merlin-kun was sooo cute when he was a child and couldn't resist helping me with potions even if he didn't know what to do" Reina blushed from where she sat looking over the pictures which she'd already seen as Merlin wondered why Sona and Tsubaki had come before bringing his mind back onto the matter at hand

"Mom! Why are you embarrassing me?" Merlin shouted red faced from where he stood as she smiled relaxed at him

"We were just waiting for you Merlin-kun and I figured this was a good way to pass the time"

"You said you'd not get them out before I had a girlfriend" Merlin retorted, missing the quartet of girls blushing as his mother replied

"Well they are girl friends…" She smiled, Merlin blushing as he twitched and quickly retorted

"That's not the same thing!"

"Maybe I should get the photos of when you were a baby out as well" She asked with a calm smile

"Alright…I give, just don't show me as a baby" Merlin replied quietly with his head down to hide his blush as the girls wondered why as he sat on the floor and started with his homework.

"What are you doing in a picture with all those school girls?" Reina asked turning the book so he could see as he embarrassedly replied

"My uncle trained me for a little while and some how his students found out about me visiting and so insisted to help him look after me…and that was taken at my going away party before I returned to be taught by my parents"

…

Nimueh smirked as she watched the students leave the school on Friday; her wings were hidden as she disguised herself in the school uniform as she headed inside to set up the trap to catch the bird.

Entering the kendo club she noticed that the only person left in there was a purple haired young woman who was holding her shinai as she continued through with her practice, along with the two Pawns who were sparring against each other.

"What do you want here?" She heard behind her turning to see Yukihana staring seriously at her, Nimueh quick to smirk as she spoke

"I want you're Master here now otherwise I'll starting attacking"

"What is your business here?" Saeko asked as she narrowed her eyes, Nimueh giving her a dark smile as she pointed a finger toward her, energy building up until another voice spoke up

"You were asked a question?" Reina stepped into view with Merlin and Asuna a few steps behind her as Nimueh smiled at Merlin

"Long time no see Emrys-kun…" Merlin's face turned pale as he recognised her smile, moving forward as he spoke shocked

"Nimeuh….How…I thought you died in that cave"

"She's…but you said she was dead Merlin" Reina spoke surprised along with the others as Nimueh's face darkened as she spoke

"I would've if my master hadn't saved me…" With a wave of her hand all of the people around the bluenette found themselves unable to move as she turned her finger towards Saeko a beam of energy hitting her in the stomach as she shouted in pain and toppled over in agony.

Nimueh turning to skip over to Merlin putting a hand on his cheek as she spoke sinisterly "You know I never loved you, Emrys-kun…I was just after your spells and now I'm after your Master cause she will help return Vine-sama's family to power"

Tears streamed down Merlin's face as Nimueh tittered before moving to stand in front of Reina activating a magic circle under her feet as she spoke "By the time you get free it'll be too late"

Merlin tried to force his body to move as the magic circle took Reina and Nimueh away as he heard Tiamat speak

[Call for Viviane's help…this is Fairy magic after all]

Merlin turned his focus to calling his staff the white weapon clattering onto the floor at his feet as he continued to focus on a help message.

His call for help was soon answered as another magic circle appeared on the floor before them Viviane stepping out as she tapped her staff against the floor, undoing the spell Nimueh had placed on them as Merlin quickly picked up his staff as he rushed over to Saeko as Katase followed over to Merlin as she asked

"What was she on about?" Merlin checked that the third year was breathing, finding it shallow as he got to work on healing her as Viviane answered

"Nimueh and Emrys, were a couple before…she tried to kill him and his natural instincts kicked into protect himself"

Merlin rubbed the tears from his eyes as he took a deep breathe as he focused again on a stronger spell to heal Saeko as Asuna and Yukihana discussed

"How can we follow if we don't know where they've gone?" Asuna asked as Yukihana nodded before adding

"She did this all on her own so her fellow servants will be on high alert, if there are any, should we even find them"

Merlin sighed in relief as he removed his hands from her now healed wounds as Viviane spoke "You used ten years of your own life to heal her…"

"She was in the wrong place at the wrong time…and I know how to get after them" Merlin replied as he headed over to where the two girls had teleported as he continued

"They used a magic circle to travel…I can probably track it by duplicating its details and applying it onto our clan circle"

"I can help you with that…" Viviane spoke as she moved over to help him, Murayama looking at Saeko as she asked

"What about Busujima-sempai?"

"We should move her so that she will think what had happened here was a dream" Yukihana answered as Merlin nodded

"I'll take her to the infirmary and wait for her to come to" Katase spoke, picking up the kendo club captain easily with her devil strength before leaving to cover up what else she needed to as the circle appeared between Merlin and Viviane as the latter spoke

"It's done"

"Let's go" Merlin spoke, a tinge of rage in his tone as he changed into his battle clothes, pulling down the brim of his hat to cover his eyes as he stepped onto the circle soon followed by the trio of girls as Viviane saw them off.

…

Author's Notes

Hope you like the build up to the next chapter, as for Saeko, yes she is going to be a part of Reina's peerage and figured this would be a good start for introducing her into it all, although the start of the next chapter's going to be a big battle.

Anyway all reviews are welcome as well as ideas, I've just about figured out who's going to be in Reina's peerage as well just have to work out as and when to introduce/ add them in.