Author's Note: Sorry for late posting. I'll admit, I've been rather distracted by games recently (Xenoblade Chronicles 2 being the most current. Lost Sphear is coming out this week as is Monster Hunter World, gods, so much). I've also started to burn out. 'I'm' getting writer's fatigue. I mean, I still have a lot of chapters left to post. I'm currently half-way through Chapter 36 right now (and I'm only now just posting 26) so don't expect things to dry up any time soon. It's just whereas before I was writing a chapter every 1-2 weeks, now it's taking me almost 6 weeks to write one. I fully intend to finish this story, but as I move into what I'm planning to be the final arc, it's getting harder and harder.
Anyways, enough about my complaining. You're not here to read that! You're here for the next chapter in The Battle Never Ends, and thus, I bring you...
Chapter 26: Unexpected Arrival
Tatsumi sat upon the ledge of the roof of the Hall of Lucifer, looking down upon Lucifaad, the old Capital of the Underworld.
The city was unexpectedly normal. Like the rest of the Underworld, it completely bucked the trend for what Tatsumi thought the Underworld should be. Instead of a hellish landscape filled with horrific and monstrous architecture befitting its name and nature, Tatsumi found a normal looking city. If anything, it almost made Tokyo look medieval. Futuristic looking sky scrappers rose up from the ground, creating a forest of steel and glass. They each had their own unique look to them to differentiate itself from the others, but nothing Tatsumi saw here would look out of place in any major city back on Earth.
Above him the artificial light the Satans had created to simulate the human world for the reincarnated devils was dimming with the coming of night. As the sun dimmed the city became more active. The skies began to fill with flying carts, flying devils, dragons, and even stranger things. Even if the city looked like a human city, it filled with devils and their cities became more active at night in contrast to the one's on Earth.
The soft clearing of someone's throat drew his attention away from the city as a familiar presence settled on the rooftop behind him. He started slowly over to his side, making sure Tatsumi was well aware of his presence.
"Good evening, Lord Phenex," Tatsumi said without turning around.
"So this is where you went," Lord Phenex said quietly.
Tatsumi waited for the older man to stop beside him before replying. "The staff were just waiting for an excuse to throw me out." He had given them more than enough reason to do that. Insulting and turning your back on the entire collective political body of society was more than enough for many things. "I'm fairly certain if they felt they had a chance of killing me they'd have attacked as well."
"You were fairly rude back there," Lord Phenex pointed out, "and I'm putting that as delicately as possible. I don't think anyone has ever walked out on us before. I consider myself fairly laid back and even I felt a little put-off by your actions."
"Was I wrong though?"
"No, you weren't, and that's half the problem," another voice suddenly cut into the conversation. Tatsumi did shift his gaze this time and noted a devil he recognized from the assembly, Diehauser Belial, settle upon the rooftop nearby. Lord Phenex tensed beside him, putting Tatsumi on guard as well. "Quite a number of my colleagues are quite upset they weren't given the opportunity to suitably put you in your place. Most of them are still in there creating new insults to hurl at you. It's not nearly as satisfying when the man himself isn't there though."
That was pretty much what Tatsumi thought was going to happen. "Then I'm hardly sorry that I left." He paused for a moment, a thought occurring to him. "You said half the problem?"
"Yes, the other half was the impression you gave by doing so. You no doubt realize that you were brought there so that we could gauge in person what sort of individual you were. There is a surprisingly lack of information on you and your activities and a single press conference is hardly telling of a person's true character. We all know they're fabricated at best." Diehauser turned away from Tatsumi to gaze down upon the city below. His features were hard, but there was a softness in his eyes Tatsumi didn't expect. "Whether you wish it or not, whether it's true or not, your words, actions, and conduct back there is how our society will judge you, and I fear it will not be favorable."
Tatsumi just rolled his eyes. "It was never going to be favorable."
"For most, true," Diehauser Belial said. "But there were some in the middle who did not know how to view you. Now, I fear, they may view you negatively whereas before your conduct could have possibly swayed a few more to your side."
Diehauser Belial was making the assumption that Tatsumi had come here to sway anyone. Tatsumi honestly didn't care. It was not up to him to convince them to accept Humanity. It was up to them to prove to him they didn't need to be put down.
He didn't say what he was really thinking. It probably wasn't a good idea to state that to one of the most influential and powerful devils in the Underworld while he was in the very center of their power with no way to get home unless the devils let him leave or Bennia became impatient enough to come looking.
"People like yourself?" Tatsumi asked instead.
"Oh, no, I'd already come to my own opinion before your arrival. Scarce though the information on you may be, it is there for those who know where to look and have the resources to do so." He paused, casting a glance Tatsumi's way as if expecting another question. When none were forth-coming he cocked a brow. "Not going to ask what that is?"
"That information is too valuable for you to just tell me."
"…hmmm," was all the older devil said. Despite the lack of response there was a look of satisfaction in the man's eyes. "Some of us did have legitimate questions we wished to ask you." He said suddenly, shifting the topic.
"You're free to ask, I can't guarantee you'll hear the response you want."
He couldn't go anywhere at the moment anyways. That was one thing Tatsumi hadn't thought through all the way. He should have been hitching a ride back to the human world with Sona and her peerage. That wasn't going to happen now. There was no way they were going to let him anywhere near their 'precious' future generation, never mind that he goes to school with two of them.
Half the reason he'd been up here was to plan a route out of Lucifaad. He had a basic idea of where the Phenex territory was. If he could make it there he could hide low at the hideout until Bennia or Ravel came looking for him.
"You stated several things during that human press conference," Lord Phenex said, speaking up instead of Belial. "One wonders what your definition of exploitation might be."
That was actually a decent question, and one Tatsumi didn't mind answering. "I guess it comes in two parts, really. The first is law. If it's something the law would see as a violation of an individual's rights and freedoms, I consider that exploitation." Tatsumi gave Lord Phenex a sidelong glance. "The second is sort of a grey area. You can do many things we don't have laws for. That becomes case-by-case. If someone gives consent, and it's not coerced in any way, you're obviously allowed to do whatever they've given consent for. Otherwise it's up to intent really, and that's something I will judge personally. Did you do this or that to help them? Or was it done because they had something you wanted? The first I'll let go, the second I'll stop."
"Let's talk about consent for a moment," Diehauser Belial said, "since a great number of contracts between Devils and Humans—"
"I consider that consent," Tatsumi said, knowing where he was going. "If a human knowingly summons a devil, they know what they're getting into, or should, anyways." What Tatsumi wanted to protect was Humanity's right to choose, even if that choice was dallying with the devil.
"Well, that's not so bad," Diehauser Belial said, sounding satisfied by what he heard. "The devils that will find that restrictive are the sort of devils I won't miss." He gave Tatsumi another look. "Are there any limits to who you'll kill?"
"No," Tatsumi said. "Man, woman, child. Young or old. Weak or powerful. Influential or not. It doesn't matter." It was cruel to include children in that, but he couldn't leave that loophole. The devils would take advantage of it. "I won't judge a person based on what they are, but what they do. I'd even point my blade at Serafall and Sirzechs if they ever went too far."
"Bold words."
"I know, and I'd probably lose if I did challenge them," Tatsumi admitted. He was still a long ways from matching them. "An ideal worth killing for is an ideal worth dying for. Thankfully I don't think it'll ever come to that. The Satans seem to be nicer than the elders."
"Nicer?" Diehauser Belial asked. There was an incredulous look on his face for a long moment before he suddenly broke out into laughter. "Nice?! You should have seen them during the civil war when they fought against the Old Satan faction! They were utterly ruthless!" Diehauser shook his head, chuckling. "I still get shivers thinking back to those days. The people unified behind them because they were too terrified not to. I can't say I don't agree with why they feel we need to change, but they were absolutely ruthless about forcing those that were less agreeable to become, shall we say, more agreeable?"
"Hey now!" Serafall's voice rang out clear across the darkened rooftop. The roof behind him erupted in a shower of steel, concrete and pebbles as Serafall blasted out from below. Tatsumi just sighed as a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his chest and a pair of warm, firm breasts squeezed against his back. "Don't give Tatsumi-chan weird ideas about me! Sirzy-tan may be evil and cruel!" Tatsumi could have sworn he heard a groan coming from down below, "but Levia-tan is nothing more than a kind, beautiful magical girl!"
"Is everyone listening in on us?" Tatsumi asked Diehauser Belial, trying his best to ignore Serafall and those breasts of hers. Was she aroused? He could feel her nipples through his clothes!
The man shrugged and didn't deny it. "As was said before. Some of us had legitimate questions we wished to ask, and even more wanted to hear the response. Those that are more concerned about the future of our race than coming up with new ways to insult you are listening in."
"I would never speak ill of Leviathan-sama or the other Satans," Lord Phenex chimed in. There was a strange look in his eyes as he stared down at him and Serafall. Like he was trying to piece together a relationship and couldn't quite figure it out. "But Diehauser is not entirely incorrect. The Satans can be absolutely ruthless when they need to be. We have simply been blessed with four Satans that placed pragmatism above personal desires. They saw the direction our race was headed and realized we needed to change if we didn't wish to die out. We needed to work with Humanity, treat them with respect, even kindness, if we wanted to survive."
"The Evil Piece system and the Rating Games," Tatsumi said.
"Correct," Diehauser Belial said, "pragmatism is what moved them, even the Leviathan, despite how she acts these days. The birth of her little sister softened her a great deal."
"Sona-chan is just so cute and adorable! I just want to hug her and squeeze her all day," Serafall crowed happily as she demonstrated on him, rubbing her breasts back and forth across Tatsumi's back. Tatsumi noticed that she didn't deny their words at all.
Diehauser Belial arched a single brow at the two of them. "And now Tatsumi-san has stolen Sona-dono from—" His mouth suddenly clamped shut as a flash of fear darted across his face.
What was that about?
Tatsumi's confusion was magnified even more when he saw, rather than felt, the temperature drop around him. The moisture in the air was literally crystalizing before his eyes yet he felt warm. Almost too warm. Serafall was radiating a lot of heat for some reason and her hands clutched at the front of his shirt almost possessively.
"I don't think I've stolen Sona from her sister," Tatsumi said carefully. "I certainly don't try to stop her from doing anything." Not that he could. Serafall would just force her way into his room if he tried so he just let her in whenever she wanted. "It's nice having both around."
It wasn't that bad even. He'd gotten used to it. He could do without the pictures being spread all about the world, but it'd reached the point now that it wasn't even news worthy. Serafall couldn't even sell them anymore because the market was so flooded with them.
"Tatsumi-chan has accepted both of us!" Serafall said, her voice sounded cheerful, but there was an icy edge to it that made him shiver. Her grip tightened and the chill was chased away by her heat. "Tatsumi-chan has provided me with so much quality time and amazing pictures of my Sona-chan being happy!" Tatsumi blinked as a lattice of ice formed between him and Serafall, and everyone else. Just how cold was it outside that bubble of heat Serafall kept him in? "It's you old geezers that keep me away from her more than I would like."
Diehauser Belial hastily looked away but his voice was firm. "You knew what your duties would entail when you became the Leviathan, Serafall-sama. You're free to step down and pass the title on to another at any time. There are others that are willing and capable of taking it from you."
"Anyone that thinks they can do better than magical girl Levia-tan…" Serafall's voice suddenly shifted, going low and dangerous, "are welcome to try and take Levia-tan's name from her."
The instinctual urge for survival within him was screaming at him to change the subject. Do something, anything, to shift away from the topic of Serafall's qualifications.
"Ah, Serafall," Tatsumi said, gently touching the back of her hands as he peered around behind to look at her.
For a brief instant Tatsumi saw a look on Serafall's face so murderous that even death itself would shit itself and flee for the deepest pits of Hades. It was gone an instant later when she noticed him looking, replaced by a wide smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"What's wrong Tatsumi-chan?" Serafall asked brightly. "You missing my Sona-chan already? I know, she's just so adorable and cute! I want to hug both of you together at the same time!"
"Ah, no, well, maybe later," Tatsumi said. That seemed to be the right thing to say as her eyes lit up happily. His instincts stopped screaming at him to change the topic and even the air about them warmed as the icy lattice that had been forming in that air melted away entirely. "I was hoping we could get back on topic?" He looked away and gave both Belial and Phenex questioning looks. For some reason the two of them looked enormously relieved. "Are there any more questions? If not I need to figure out some way to get back to my world now that Sona has left on the subway."
"Don't worry, Tatsumi-chan, I'll take you back myself," Serafall said happily. The smile she gave the other two devils would have frozen a lesser man's blood in his veins. "You old men have anything else to ask my Tatsumi-chan?"
"Oh dear," Lord Phenex said, sighing softly. "It was just supposed to be a rumor."
"It does seem that there's more truth to it than we realized," Belial said, shaking his head slowly. "The writers are going to have a field day with this, but no matter, that's not what we are here for."
"True." Lord Phenex agreed. "We wouldn't want to keep you here overly long. As the leader of Night Raid, you do have duties that you must see to, so there is only one final question."
"Which is?"
"It's more of a demand, a warning, than a question I suppose," Lord Phenex said after a moment. "We can't afford for any more families to go extinct, that includes the Shax family." Lord Phenex gave him a meaningful look. They both knew Tatsumi would move on them sooner or later. "When you target the head of a family, you will ensure that at least one heir, one direct, full-blooded descendent, survives."
"And if they have no heirs?" There was definitely room for exploitation there for those that didn't have any. Although, Tatsumi wasn't sure how many didn't have children.
"Then you're not allowed to target them at all," Lord Phenex said seriously. "We are aware of the issue that presents so we will do what we can on our end to force the two elders that don't have children to have heirs as soon as possible. They're in violation of law as it is and are taking an enormous risk even without the threat of Night Raid hanging above them. You're not the only danger our kind faces, simply the most visible."
"You don't really have to worry about those two anyways, Tatsumi-chan," Serafall said cheerfully. "I know them both. They're not the type of hurt Humanity like Gregorious Abbadon or Lord Shax."
"If you can't promise us that, you won't be returning to the human world." Diehauser Belial vowed in a voice as cold as death. He gave Serafall a stern look. "I'll see to it myself if I have to, and the favor of the Satans won't protect you and your little organization from me. As much as they may like you and support your organization, their duty to our people comes first, no exception. We simply cannot allow you to eradicate an entire family because a human got raped or murdered. Not even your own kind goes that far in punishing their own."
He wasn't allowed to wipe out an entire family. That wasn't normally an issue, except in the case where the family wasn't very large. As much as he had entertained the thought of having Mine utterly obliterate Lord Shax's entire estate with everyone in it… he realized it wasn't realistic. It wasn't how Night Raid operated, and it violated a promise he made with Sona and the declaration he made to the world.
Treat each individual as their own person.
Tatsumi could see where Diehauser Belial and Lord Phenex were coming from, but damn did he hate being given ultimatums. There was a part of him that wanted to resist for that reason alone. He squashed that side of him quickly. He couldn't let stubbornness rule him here.
"I wouldn't wipe out Lord Shax's entire family anyways," Tatsumi said quietly as he looked away from the two leaders of Devil Society and out over the city. Night had fallen in full and the city was bustling with activity as the nocturnal devils came out to play. "I said it before, I will treat each individual as their own person. While Lord Shax has sealed his fate, the rest of his family is different. I know nothing about them or anything they may or may not have done. Any attack on Lord Shax would be as surgical as the one on Gregorious Abaddon." He looked away from the city and back at Lord Phenex. "The same would go for any family."
It was a difficult issue and something all leaders had to face eventually. The clash between reality and idealology. Between doing what was right, and what was necessary. To stay true to his ideal, he sometimes had to bend them. Bend with the wind instead of standing tall and snapping.
Lord Phenex suddenly clapped his hands together, startling all of them. There was a wide smile on his face now. "Well, now that, that's been decided, we don't have any further pressing questions to ask." Ravel's father gave Diehauser Belial an amused look. "I actually look forward to forcing 'The Emperor' to have children. You've been putting it off for far too long."
"I know lots of young women that are drooling for the chance to jump on The Emperor's Sword!" Serafall added cheerfully.
Diehauser Belial coughed delicately. "We'll continue this discussion later." A bright teleportation circle appeared beneath him and he disappeared without waiting for a reply.
"Don't worry about him, Tatsumi-san," Lord Phenex said, still smiling broadly. "I'll throw so many women at him he'll do it just to get me to stop!" Then he to disappeared through a teleportation circle, laughing all the way.
Tatsumi just deadpanned as he stared at where Lord Phenex had been mere moments before. "I know I shouldn't be surprised… but I am."
"You'll get used to it, eventually," Serafall said cheerfully.
"When?"
"Oh, give it a few hundred years or so."
Tatsumi just groaned as a blue teleportation circle spread out beneath the two of them. He gave the city one last look before Serafall took him away.
x~X~x
The large, subterranean hot spring beneath the Night Raid headquarters was one of the most frequented areas of the estate. Nearly everyone that lived there used it at some point during any given day. Some did it to clean themselves of the day's sweat and others, such as the pair of coerulis gently paddling around, were in it for more leisurely activities.
For Tatsumi right then, what had started out as the former, had ended with the latter. He hadn't minded too much. He needed a bit of the latter after dealing with those elders.
He let out a soft sigh of contentment as he leaned back over the side of the hot spring, resting lightly upon his elbows. His eyes fell upon the dark-haired woman resting gently upon him, her chest rising and falling in time with his own. Yes, he definitely could use a bit more of this. They both could. Sona Sitri arguably had it worse than he did.
"Feeling better?" Tatsumi asked the woman who had her arms wrapped tightly around his chest.
"Much better," Sona murmured softly in contentment. There was a hint of exhaustion in her voice. Tatsumi had made sure she'd been thoroughly satisfied. She shifted slightly, causing a certain part of him buried deep inside her to regain its former stiffness. "This needs to happen more often."
"Can't argue with that."
He had no desire to separate from her any time soon, and she felt the same. It was nice with her. Different than when he was with Bennia and Hikaru.
With Bennia it was always rough and face paced. With Hikaru then had been a hint of demand and urgency. Sona though? It had been warm, gentle, soothing and just the sort of thing he needed the day after dealing with the elders of the devil race. It was probably just what Sona needed too after having her dream insulted and ridiculed by them.
A flash of a camera shattered the warm afterglow.
"Sona-chan and Tatsumi-chan, basking in the afterglow of love making!" Serafall said cheerfully from the side with camera in hand.
Tatsumi suppressed a groan. He'd almost forgotten Serafall was there with them. The older devil had watched the entire thing with an eager smile on her lips. The thought of asking her to leave hadn't occurred to him, especially after her reaction towards the devil elders on the rooftop.
A small part of him also enjoyed having her here. She did nothing to protect her modesty as she sat there on the edge of the hot spring with one foot in the water and the other folded beneath her. Her everything was exposed.
"You can't sell them anymore," Tatsumi said, throwing the camera in her hands a quick look.
She shrugged, sending her breasts bouncing distractedly. Tatsumi had to force his eyes to not follow them. "They're more for me, later." She said as she threw her camera to the side where it disappeared into some sort of alternate dimension through a magical circle of runes. "And it warms onee-sama's heart to see the two of you so lovely dovey this early in the morning!"
Tatsumi had to force himself to look away as Serafall hugged herself tightly and twisted from side to side. If the shrug before had been distracting, this was down right arousing.
Sona murmured softly on his chest, no doubt feeling that arousal throb inside her.
"Onee-sama, please, not this early," Sona groaned into Tatsumi's chest. "I'm not ready for more just yet."
Tatsumi pushed himself up on one hand and wrapped his other around Sona, holding her close as he sat up straight. He cut off her quiet groan with a quick kiss. He gently rubbed her back. "I've come to accept that this is just one of those things we'll have to live with," Tatsumi said quietly. "Might as well accept it."
Sona scowled. She knew Tatsumi was right, but this was probably a battle she'd wage until the bitter end.
"I agree completely with Tatsumi-chan!" Serafall said as she zipped over to their side. Before either of them could protest she wrapped her arms and legs around the both of them and hugged them tight. Tatsumi tried his best not to stare at the beautiful breast that was pressing into his side. "I love you Sona-chan, you're my one and only baby sister!" She kissed Sona on the cheek, causing her to look away embarrassed. "Between me and my Tatsumi-chan, we'll make you the happiest girl!"
Sona looked shocked before she shook her head like she was dismissing a thought or heard something wrong. "What about your… assistant," Sona asked.
"…I'm here," a quiet voice floated over from across the hot spring. Tatsumi saw across the way little bit of blond hair poking out from the other side of the large angelic statue in the center of the room. The little girl had been so quiet and unassuming Tatsumi hadn't even noticed her there.
"Ah… you heard all that?" Tatsumi asked. Realizing she'd been here for the entire two hours he and Sona had been… "Sorry, if I had known…"
"You'd have done nothing different," Sona told him in no uncertain terms. "I needed this far too much to have it denied because my onee-sama." She struggled to move her arms but Serafall's embrace was too tight. "Onee-sama, I can't move."
"Aww, just let your onee-sama hold you like this for a bit longer!"
Tatsumi did his best to ignore Serafall. "Your sister aside, are you feeling better, Sona? I know it couldn't have been easy taking that ridicule from those old men."
"Yes," she murmured softly. She gyrated her hips against his, sending slivers of pleasure racing through him once more. "A lot better."
"Hopefully today's a safe day," Tatsumi murmured as he let the soft pleasure from her actions infuse his being. His eyes closed as he enjoyed the feeling of the pressure building before she coaxed it out in a warm, pleasant climax.
"Tatsumi, today is quite possibly the most unsafe day," Sona refuted him. Tatsumi cracked an eye to look down at her. Her eyes were closed as she clung to him. Even without noticing his look she seemed to read his mind. "You don't have to worry about anything, Tatsumi. Even if a child does result from this, I won't let it interfere with your studies."
It was so like Sona to worry about that of all things.
"My Sona-chan really did need this," Serafall said as she smiled at the both of them. "But Sona-chan was also ordered to. Your unique ability to adapt is known and Sirzechs order to all devils to procreate whenever possible came into effect last week."
It didn't take long for the implication of her words to sink in. "Wait… are you telling me Sona has been ordered to get pregnant?" Tatsumi asked, incredulous. She was still in school! They both were! They both had dreams and responsibilities… this wasn't the best time to start a family.
"Don't worry about it, Tatsumi," Sona said. "The chances of it happening are slim. It is… difficult for devils to have children, its why there are so few of us." She did crack an eye then to stare up at him. He could see the love and the desire in her eyes. "Really, all it does is give me an excuse to spend more time with you. Is that bothersome?"
"Of course not," Tatsumi said without hesitation. He gave her a long, passionate kiss to prove his point. "Never think that. You have no idea how nice it is to just be able to enjoy this."
"Like I've said before, you need a real woman in your life," Sona said lightly. "A woman like—"
((GAH! NOOO!)) a loud voice suddenly shattered the calm. ((How could you not tell me you were having a threesome! I could have made it a foursome!)) Tatsumi and Sona gave each other identical looks before sighing at the same time. A moment later a short, little Grim Reaper barreled into the three of them. Tatsumi didn't know how she managed to do it but somehow Bennia managed to worm her way beneath both Serafall's and Tatsumi's arms to squish herself against both him and Sona, opposite Serafall.
Serafall looked startled for all of three seconds before her cheerfulness returned in force. "Levia-tan wasn't in the threesome! It was just my Sona-chan and my Tatsumi-chan being all lovey dovey while I took beautiful wonderful pictures of the two!"
Bennia gave Serafall a wicked grin. ((That was totally a missed opportunity.))
Was it just his imagination or did Serafall look stunned for the briefest of moments? Whatever that look was, it was gone a moment later as she let them go and zipped back to where she'd been before, straddling the side of the hot spring.
"Either that or she has more sense than to interrupt quality time between two loving individuals," Hikaru said as she joined them. Tatsumi looked up just in time to stare as Hikaru stepped into the warm waters and sat next to him. His eyes lingered on her, trailing across the soft contours of her body. Unlike with Serafall, Tatsumi felt no shame staring at her. Hikaru had all but demanded that he stare before.
((No one here is woman enough to satisfy Tatsumi completely!)) Bennia returned with a smile, unperturbed by Hikaru's words. ((Just look at Sona! She's completely exhausted but Tatsumi looks like he's ready to go another two or three hours!))
"Just give me a few minutes," Sona said tiredly.
"Kaichou, I believe you also had something you wished to ask Tatsumi while you were here?" Hikaru said softly. So Hikaru had started to call Sona Kaichou like the rest of her peerage did. Did Sona insist or was Hikaru simply readopting the mannerisms she had been forced to drop three years past?
"Ah, right, I nearly forgot," Sona said as she straightened with obvious effort. The past two hours really had left her an exhausted mess. She didn't even try to fix her hair. Tatsumi brushed the few strands of renegade bangs that had swept in front of her eyes out of the way. She gave him a thankful smile before continuing. "I, Sona Sitri, would like to request the aid of Night Raid in preparing for our Rating Game against Rias Gremory."
"I'm going to assume you don't want us to murder half her peerage," Tatsumi had to throw out there.
She gave him a deadpanned look. "That would be a correct assumption. No, I mean training. Rias and her peerage are getting a lot. I learned that Tannin, a former Dragon King and an ultimate-class devil is going to be training Issei. Azazel, the Governor of the Grigori, will be organizing their training as a whole. Each of them will have a unique regime tailored to them with the best instructors Sirzechs-san can find for them."
"This can't be because of Hikaru," he said, casting a glance over at his friend. No one even knew about Hikaru until yesterday. Arranging to have all that happen seemed to quick to be because of that.
"No, Sirzy-tan had that all planned out from the start," Serafall said, pouting. Tears unexpectedly welled up in her eyes. "He is so mean! My Sona-chan was going to have a hard enough time as it was and he goes and does this! Well Levia-tan won't stand for it! She wants to get the best for her Sona-chan too!" Serafall leaned towards him, her luminous eyes wide and pleading. "Please won't Tatsumi-chan and Night Raid help my Sona-chan? I'll pay whatever you need! It can be a mission! It won't be for free, I promise!"
Get paid by a devil, to train devils to beat devils… what the hell sort of arrangement was this? Although Tatsumi had to admit he wasn't entirely opposed to it. Actually, the more he thought about it the more he liked it. He cared deeply about Sona, and her peerage wasn't too bad either, Kusaka aside. She also had an admirable dream she aspired to achieve. The same couldn't be said for Rias.
The thought of helping Sona hand Rias a crushing defeat appealed to Tatsumi more than just a little. Plus they would get paid for it.
"Why Night Raid? Aren't there others willing to help?"
"Not amongst the devils!" Serafall wailed loudly. "They all want to see her dream get crushed by Rias-chan! I won't let that happen!"
"We are getting some additional assistance as well," Sona said by way of explanation. "My onee-sama is overexaggerating. Not all devils think my dream is foolish and a few did approach me on my way home about helping, those betting on my victory over Rias. Then there are the Fallen Angels. Azazel is a bastard, but not a complete bastard. Some of the other leaders are willing to help by providing information and advice." Sona let out a soft sigh. "I can sense more than a few political overtures happening here."
Tatsumi could as well. Various important and influence people were taking sides. There would be bets, gambling, transactions and business deals done in tandem to the battles between the young devils. By the time they made their 'debut' into society as a whole, each of them will already be caught up in this or that faction.
They may even end up making a few new ones.
"Well, I can't say I don't want to see you crush Rias," Tatsumi admitted.
"So you'll do it?" Serafall asked eagerly.
"There are a couple conditions," Tatsumi said. He had their attention now. "Night Raid's primary mission focus comes first, and I won't force anyone in Night Raid to help you if they don't want to."
"You'll be paid in proportion to how much aid you provide," Sona pointed out.
"That's fine."
((So who do I get to beat up—I mean train?)) Bennia asked with a look so innocent on her face it instantly sent alarm bells ringing in all their heads. There was a confused look on her face as she glanced back and forth between them. ((What? What's wrong?))
"I'm having second thoughts," Sona said.
((What?!))
"She's just joking."
((But Sona doesn't know how to tell jokes!))
Sona tilted her head back and touch her forehead, groaning softly like she had a headache. "And here I was thinking of getting up and letting you spend some quality time with Tatsumi."
((Shutting up now.))
A little victorious smile came to Sona's lips. With a groan that was not fake, Sona gathered her feet beneath her and forced her tired body to stand. A wave of disappointment ran through him as she stood. She wasn't gone but a moment and he already missed the warmth of her body. "Thank you, Tatsumi. Hikaru-san knows how to contact me if I'm not at my place for whatever reason. Just let her know which members of Night Raid have decided to help train and I'll work out who will most benefit from that training."
"May wish to work with Najenda on that, if she agrees to help," Tatsumi added.
Sona nodded as she stepped away from him. "I might just do that. Najenda-san is a woman with a solid head on her shoulders, unlike most of the girls you've gathered around you."
Bennia tilted her head to the side and blinked innocently. ((Is she talking about me?)) Tatsumi didn't say anything and Sona refused to even look at her. ((She's talking about me, isn't she?))
"Onee-sama, we should be going," Sona said as she slowly made her way over to her sister's side with a noticeable limp. "We only have so much time before the game with Rias and I don't intend to waste a single moment."
((Why is everyone ignoring me?!))
"Anything for my Sona-chan!" Serafall said cheerfully. She looked past them all to the statue in the center of the hotspring. "Come along Lilian! Time to go."
"…alright."
((Still being ignored...))
Tatsumi politely looked away as Lilian hesitantly came around the statue. When she realized he wasn't looking he heard her rush across the pool to Serafall's side. It would be a long time before Lilian would ever be comfortable naked in the presence of another man, if she ever was.
"Off we go!" Serafall said cheerfully. There was a flash of blue light and the three of them were gone.
((Now it's just us three!)) Bennia said happily as she climbed atop of Tatsumi, taking Sona's place. She gripped his face with both her hands. ((And I won't be ignored!))
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Tatsumi said innocently.
((I don't know if I should be happy or upset that I've started to rub off on you,)) Bennia said honestly. She gave Hikaru a sidelong glance. ((Want to join us?))
"I came here to bathe," Hikaru said lightly.
((Oh, I see, you're scared of being shown up by little ol' me?)) Tatsumi blinked in surprise and stared at Bennia suspiciously. He knew that look on her face. That was the look Bennia adopted when she was trying to manipulate someone into doing what she wanted.
"You think too highly of yourself," Hikaru returned easily.
Bennia's smile became wicked. ((Can't stand to lose, I see.)) Hikaru stiffened and in that moment Tatsumi knew she'd lost. If there was one thing Hikaru couldn't stand, it was losing. ((I know I can outlast you in every way. I've been with Tatsumi for years. I know all his sweet spots. You though? You're still new at this. You probably couldn't last thirty minutes!))
That had actually been how long she'd lasted that first time. Had Bennia been watching? That was a dumb question. Of course she'd been watching. She'd been there hanging from the ceiling with a rope ready to tie him up if he pushed Hikaru away.
"…That's… not it," Hikaru said softly, swallowing hard. She refused to look at either of them. From the way her body was heating up Tatsumi could see that she was fighting a losing battle with both Bennia, and herself. "Intimacy between a man and a woman should be private and…"
((That's fine, just means I win this competition by default.))
There! Right there! That was the exact moment her resistance shattered. Tatsumi could actually see the moment everything changed. Her head snapped around, her arm went around his back as she leaned up against him, pressing her breasts firmly into his side. "Tatsumi was tired from a long day of work, that is the only reason it lasted thirty minutes." Hikaru hissed at Bennia, her eyes blazing with desire and the drive to win. "I'll show you want real stamina looks like."
((Words are cheap!))
If the situation wasn't so ridiculous Tatsumi would be laughing at how easily Bennia had played Hikaru. Now he was just wondering if he'd ever manage to get out of this hot spring. He did sort of want to finish washing so he could start the day. He still needed to collect the reports from Ravel on how the two missions went and then there was seeing who did and didn't want to help train Sona's peerage.
"Uh, do I get a say in this?" Tatsumi asked the two of them.
The two girls shared a brief look before they turned back to him.
((No.)) "No."
x~X~x
The loud crack of wooden training swords smacking off each other resounded across the training room, mingling in with the grunts and groans of exertion throughout the room. The normally quiet and empty training room was noisy and almost crowded. Sounds of practice echoed off the stone walls as certain members of Sona's peerage trained alongside their instructors.
What the other people were doing wasn't Akame's concern. She had her own little charge to whip into shape in a very short amount of time. Exhausted brown eyes peered up at her from between messy auburn bangs. Sweat dripped down her face and soaked her Kuoh Academy uniform. The sweat had turned her blouse transparent and it clung to her body like a second skin.
Despite her exhaustion, the bokkan she held in her hand was upraised and steady. Her eyes blazed with determination.
When it came to strength of will and determination, Tomoe Meguri was not found wanting. It was everything else that Akame had an issue with.
Tomoe lunged forward, her bokkan screaming towards Akame in a very straightforward and predictable manner. Akame shifted her feet ever so slightly and let the wooden blade whiff harmlessly past. Her own bokkan came up lightning fast and smacked against the side of Tomoe's, sending the blade wide. With the young woman thrown off balance, Akame stepped inside and slammed her shoulder into Tomoe's chest, knocking her to the ground. Her bokkan was held to her throat before she even had the chance to look up.
"You're still over-extending yourself," Akame chastised the girl as she removed the tip of her bokkan from her throat and helped her up to her feet. "If the first foot of steel isn't enough to kill someone, the last four feet aren't going to help."
"But there are big monsters and devils," Tomoe protested. "Like a Cerberus."
"You don't need to cut something in half to kill it," she glanced over her shoulder at Tatsumi who was squaring off against Hikaru. He was the only one that could fight her seriously. "Tatsumi being the exception because of what he is. For anyone else just hamstring it, cut off the wings or take out the Achilles tendon to disable it. If you need to kill, a cut across the throat, through the eyes or ears, or simply reaching the heart is enough. A couple feet of steel is all you need to do any of that, and you won't risk over-committing yourself to a strike you can't recover from if your opponent evades you."
"Yes, sensei, I will remember that," Tomoe said, bowing her head.
"Good, now, I want a hundred laps around the room done within ten minutes."
It wasn't just Tomoe's skill that was lacking. She was lacking in speed and stamina as well. She was better than the average human, sure, but she was literally nothing compared to other Knight class devils.
Her eyes went wide with shock. "What?!"
"And if you can't do that, I'll add a hundred more until you can."
Her eyes filled with horror. Akame was not going to be gentle with her. There was fire in Tomoe, steel, and Akame would forge it into something worthy of wielding a katana, or she would break it. She had faith though. Tomoe's desire to help Sona succeed was too strong to be broken by something like an overly harsh training session.
Akame tapped a stop watch Tatsumi had bought for her for just this purpose. A useful tool she was going to take back with her when she left. "I've already started."
"You're a devil!" Tomoe wailed as she started racing along the length of the wall.
"And no cutting corners!" Akame called back.
"THE DEVIL!"
~o~
Ravel watched as six purple balls of pure demonic energy zipped through the air in an irregular pattern that had them criss-crossing amongst each other. Four of them hit their marks, slamming into three large circle bullseye targets that had been set up a hundred paces from her. They detonated with thunderous force, consuming a large portion of the room in a billow of flame and smoke. A shockwave rippled outwards across the training room, sending Ravel's dress billowing about her frame.
A pair of explosions followed soon after as the final two balls of energy hit the floor and exploded a fair distance further away.
"You're getting better," Ravel said to her charge, Momo Hanakai. For the next two weeks it was her duty to ensure that Momo knew more than the most basic of basic magical spells. While it was true that Ravel didn't have much use for such a weak spell, her own natural flames inherited from her father far surpassed such a rudimentary attack, it was useful for someone not as lucky as her. "The first time you tried you couldn't even reach the targets." There were a number of scorch marks and craters in the tile floor between here and the targets was testament to that. "Accuracy seems to be what we need to work on most right now."
"It's more difficult than you made it look," Momo said, panting heavily. She was drenched in sweat and it made her white blouse cling to her.
That had been more of a fluke than anything. Ravel wasn't going to admit that in her attempt to look cool and fire twelve balls of pure demonic energy that she'd lost control. It was a fluke, a miracle even, that all twelve managed to hit a target. It wasn't her fault! She didn't need to use this spell and so had left it to languish unpracticed for years.
"W-Well, I am the daughter of the proud Phenex household," Ravel said, trying her best to sound confident. "And a thoroughbred devil. It's just natural that this comes easier to me. You've made quite the progress despite being reincarnated. You shouldn't be discouraged. At this rate, I can see you getting the hang of this in just two more days. After that we can move onto something a bit more advanced."
At least she hoped it would take her at least two days. It would take Ravel that long to figure out the next spell she wanted to teach Momo. This was almost as much training for her as it was for Momo! Did Tatsumi realize that? Was that why he assigned her to Momo?
Members of Night Raid needed to be flexible and what would she do if she came up against someone that could eat fire? It had to be that. Tatsumi knew everything. He was simply too kind to tell her she needed more than her family's techniques. He knew how much they meant to her.
Yes, that had to be it! Well don't worry Tatsumi! Ravel would be everything he needed her to be!
She would work hard on all of this at night when Tatsumi wasn't around to see her fail.
"Ah, sensei?"
Ravel blinked in surprise and realized she was staring at Tatsumi as he sparred with Hikaru. She cleared her throat and forced herself to look away. "Y-Yes?" Ravel asked. She really hoped her voice didn't sound as high pitched to Momo as it had to herself.
Momo turned to stare at what had caught Ravel's attention before turning back to her. There was a knowing look on her face. "You love Nakimori-san."
Ravel most certainly did not squeak. That was not what escaped from her throat! "I-I have no idea what you're talking about." She did not love the way his soft, warm, kind smile sent a wave of heat through her body. Nor how unimaginably cool and gallant he'd been when he fought Esdeath to save her. There was that amazingly chiseled chest of his, that sad, terrible past that that made her want to just hold him until everything was better. And her body was most certainly not aching, yearning to take him inside her right then, training be damned!
She didn't love Tatsumi!
"It's fine, I understand," Momo said, still smiling conspiratorially. Ravel scowled at her body. The damn thing had given her away. Her arousal was visible through her dress and she could feel her panties dampening beneath it. That ache she felt between her legs ever was most certainly not appropriate. "I could help you—"
"No, that's quite alright," Ravel said quickly. She noticed Tomoe running along the edge of the room. Stamina training! That was perfect, just the thing Ravel needed to get Momo out of here and her time to regain her composure. "The main issue here is your stamina. Three attempts and you're already this tired? We need to work on that!" Ravel pointed at Tomoe. "Chase after your friend, Tomoe, and don't stop until she does!"
Momo groaned but didn't voice a complaint as she waited for Tomoe to come around before joining up with her. Sona had given them strict orders to follow their every command so long as it wasn't life threatening or perverted. This was neither.
Ravel let out a sigh of relief as Momo disappeared. That was too close for comfort. She needed to regain her composure.
"She really is a devil!" Momo suddenly screamed in horror.
Ravel blinked twice and tilted her head to the side, confused. What was that all about?
~o~
"…this situation, how would you react?" Najenda asked the young girl standing beside her. Shinra Tsubaki, Sona's Queen, was an attentive pupil that took her duties as Queen seriously. That was something Najenda liked about her, and wanted to fix, eventually. Loyalty was fine and all, but everyone needed something they enjoyed doing outside of their duty.
That was for another day though.
Tsubaki frowned as she stared down at what Najenda had laid out before her. It was a map of the mall near Kuoh Academy. Upon it were a number of pins in two different colors. Blue denoting members of Sona's peerage and red denoting members of Rias'.
Serafall had managed to wheedle the location of the Rating Game out of someone, somehow. Najenda didn't ask too many questions about how she managed. She was simply going to use that to help train Najenda. Sona was even now making her own plans, but Tsubaki needed to be able to think up strategies on the fly.
"I would wait at my position until I received change of orders from Kaichou," Tsubaki said. "We were positioned here to prevent Kaichou from being flanked, we need to protect it at all costs."
"And that's how you lose," Najenda said as she shifted some of the red pieces. "If Rias realizes that your forces are split she'll send everything she has at one side, overwhelm it quickly, and rush the King. Even if Rias isn't someone that does that, you will most certainly face someone that will. In that event, it doesn't matter if this flank is protected. You lose."
"I…"
"You need to be flexible and—" she was momentarily cut off as a brilliant flash of light engulfed the room followed by a loud draconic roar.
Tatsumi and Hikaru were ramping things up in the center of the room. One had transformed into pure lightning, the other into the Tyrant. Hikaru immediately took the upper hand, flashing all across the room, through and around Tatsumi as fast as the lightning she was made out of. It was all Tatsumi could do to resist at first. Then he seemed to adjust, a bit at least. Najenda didn't think the Tyrant was capable of becoming utterly immune to that much electrical power, but he found some way not to become incapacitated with each strike and started a chase. Sonic booms erupted all throughout the training room as the two shot all over the place faster than anyone save Akame and Najenda could follow, and she could only follow it because of her artificial eye.
"—not be overly brave I guess," Najenda said, amused by what she saw. Hikaru was faster than Tatsumi, much faster, but there was a pause each time she finished moving as she reoriented herself. It was in that moment that Tatsumi was able to catch up. Hikaru's mind didn't move quite as fast as her body did. Najenda looked over at Tsubaki and noticed her staring at the two of them as well. "Focus."
"Right," Tsubaki said as she tore her gaze away from what had to look like nothing more than streaks of lightning and rippling shockwaves. "What should I do then?"
"What you should do should depend on the situation," Najenda instructed. "Your King, Sona, may not always be able to get instructions to you. They could be intercepted, she may not realize in time the change on the battle field or was incapacitated in some way. You need to keep an open mind and adjust with the flow of battle. If the enemy has focused all their efforts on one flank, then you should move as well to flank them." Najenda said as she moved two of the three blue pieces to flank the red ones that were assembling against the left side of the map. "But always leave at least one scout or individual behind in case the enemy is trying to pull your forces out of position."
Tsubaki nodded twice as she adjusted her glasses. "I see. Doing so may even catch them off guard giving us a greater advantage."
"Exactly." Najenda said. "What's more, you should apply this not only to a macro level, but a micro level too. A fight is never a static thing. Opponents can grow even in midbattle, you've already seen this in Tatsumi and Issei."
"Yes."
Najenda nodded. Tsubaki picked things up quickly. The role of a Queen typically is to lead where the King cannot. Be a pillar of support for the rest of the peerage. That meant having more at her disposal than just the strength of arms or magical prowess.
But that was necessary too.
"I heard you had a counter-type Sacred Gear?" Najenda asked. "The Mirror Alice if I recall what Sona mentioned. How does it work?"
"It absorbs an attack and reflects it back upon the attacker with twice the force," Tsubaki said.
Simple concept, but that didn't really tell Najenda as much as she hoped. "Can you show me?"
Tsubaki hesitated for a moment before finally nodding. She held her hands before her and gestured grandly before her as if she was tracing the outline of an enormous mirror. "Mirror Alice!" Najenda watched with interest as it formed before her. The seemed to take shape in the wake of her gestures.
When it was formed it took on the shape of a large, rectangular mirror large enough to completely conceal Tsubaki. How strong was it? That was what Najenda wanted to know next.
"Tatsumi!" Najenda called out across the training room.
Tatsumi froze in the center of the training room, hovering in place with the Shroud of Longinus and his draconic wings.
"Yes—GAH!" Tatsumi yelped as electricity tore through him. He fell from the air and crashed into the tile floor, his muscles spasming uncontrollably. "H-h-h-e-y-y!" Tatsumi yelled up at Hikaru as she reappeared some distance across the training room. He quickly regained control of his muscles and shot Hikaru an annoyed look. "That was a cheap shot."
Hikaru reappeared at his side in an instant. She was almost unrecognizable. Her entire form seemed to be made entirely of lightning and there was some sort of strange alien crown hovering above what Najenda could only assume was meant to be her face. "Sorry." Even her voice came out warped, crackling like a static charge. "You stopped so suddenly."
"It's fine," Tatsumi growled as slowly climbed to his feet. He gave Hikaru a gentle smile before turning to regard Najenda. "What's up?" His eyes drifted over to Tsubaki's mirror. A wariness crept into his eyes, and rightly so.
"I want you to hit this as hard as you can."
"That's the Mirror Alice," Tatsumi said.
"I know."
"It's going to reflect the damage back onto me…"
"It's for science," Najenda said, giving Tatsumi a rare smile.
He shivered in fear for some reason. His shoulders drooped as he became despondent. "Well… guess I'll see you tomorrow everyone."
Hikaru dropped out of her Sacred Gear, returning to her physical form. It was interesting to note that Tatsumi had pushed her far enough that she'd needed to fully embrace her Sacred Gear. She didn't have a stitch of clothing on her after retaking her physical form.
"I'll take you up to your room," Hikaru said comfortingly.
Tatsumi gave her another smile. "Thanks."
Tatsumi took several deep breaths before he focused on the mirror. He crouched, knuckles touching the ground. His wings flared behind him. "This is going to hurt," Tatsumi muttered before he blasted across the room, the floor cratering beneath his feet. Najenda couldn't follow Tatsumi's movements, even with her artificial eye. One moment he'd been getting ready to charge, the next he was hammering an enormous fist onto the surface of the Mirror Alice.
There was nothing. No powerful boom, no shockwave, no random explosion. Nothing. There wasn't even sound. Tatsumi just hung there suspended in the air.
Tatsumi blinked. "This isn't so bad—"
The mirror shattered.
A thunderous boom deafened everyone. Najenda didn't see what happened. One moment she'd been staring intently at the surface of the mirror and the next she was being hurled back through the air. She gasped painfully as she bounced off the floor, the air in her lungs ripped away. In the distance she heard the thunderous roar of a large marble pillar collapsing to the ground.
Najenda quickly scrambled to her feet and stared. Tatsumi was across the room, embedded into the wall and very much unconscious. The support pillar between him and said wall had been destroyed, a large section of it obliterated by his passage. His right arm, the one he'd used to hit the mirror, was twisted and mangled into an unrecognizable mess. As she watched Tatsumi's form shifted, reverting back to his human shape. He pitched forward, falling out of the hole in the wall.
"Tatsumi-kun!" Ravel shouted, panicked. She was closer than any of them and made it to him almost as fast as Hikaru could have as pure lightning. The young girl caught Tatsumi as he fell and gently laid him against the ground. "Just hang in there Tatsumi-kun, I'll heal you."
"Do you have any spare phoenix tears?" Najenda called out. While Tatsumi could heal from grievous wounds there was a limit and at the rate he was currently losing a lot of blood. His entire body was covered in his own blood. It seemed to be coming out of everywhere and that was not a good complexion. Najenda had to admit she was a little worried.
Even Akame was rushing over to his side.
"I do!" Ravel said as she dug around into her pocket for a vial.
"Will he be alright?" Tsubaki asked. Even she sounded concerned. "Kaichou will be upset with me if I killed Nakimori-san."
"He'll live," Najenda said, eyeing Tatsumi as Akame did what she could to reset Tatsumi's broken bones. Hikaru was at his side now as well, doing what she could to stem the tide of blood gushing from his body. Ravel quickly poured the phoenix tear down Tatsumi's ruined throat. It didn't change his appearance noticeably. "I hope." Either the phoenix tear wasn't as effective as Najenda had been told, or Tatsumi was far more injured than he appeared which was saying something considering he was all but bleeding out of every pore in his body.
Tsubaki gave her a startled look. Najenda just shook her head. "That was easily the same level of power he used to rock Shikoutazer, and that Teigu was as large and as heavy as a mountain." She said as she turned from the scene of Tatsumi's broken body. Najenda forced Tsubaki to pay attention. She wouldn't let Tatsumi's pain and sacrifice be for nothing. "I believe in its complete state like this, there is no limit to what it can absorb and reflect. That being said, I see a major weakness."
"And that is?" Tsubaki asked. Najenda had her full attention now.
"For you to absorb it the attack needs to hit the surface of the mirror, right?" Najenda asked.
"Yes."
"The weakness is that the mirror only protects your front. If your enemy gets behind you, it, or sends an attack around the edge…" there was no need to finish that thought. She could see that Tsubaki understood. She may have always known. "Have you thought about multiple mirrors?" Najenda asked. Tsubaki's eyes went wide as she understood. "If the surface is all you need then the surface only needs to be as large as the attack you're trying to block. We're going to see if we can split the mirror. If you can protect yourself from multiple directions you may be able to deal with those that are faster than you or capable of altering the course of their attack in mid-flight."
"Altering a Sacred Gear?"
"Surprising, I know, which is why your opponent will not suspect that you can do it until it's too late." But that could be done later. For now there was something else she needed to do. She had the same problem everyone else in the Sitri peerage had. "Start running with Tomoe and Momo. You all need to increase your endurance."
"For how long?" Tsubaki asked as she waited for the two to come around.
"Just run as long as they do."
Tsubaki nodded and took off alongside them when they came around. With Tsubaki occupied Najenda started across the room to see how Tatsumi was doing. He really was in rough shape. He may need more than a single day to recover from that.
Along the way Najenda could have sworn she heard Tsubaki calling her a devil for some reason.
~o~
((This isn't fair!)) Bennia complained as she flicked her wrist on the plastic handle sending the tiny little plastic soccer ball bouncing across the small enclosed field.
"You just wanted to beat some of them up," Mine said as she quickly reacted on the other side the game table, twisting this and that handle sending little men stuck on the rod twirling in place as she knocked the ball back her direction.
"Who would you train?" Xenovia asked seriously as she looked on. "And how? You're a Grim Reaper. You can't teach them anything you know."
((That's not the point!)) Bennia whined as she sent the ball spinning back across the game field. The game of foozball had been going on for fifteen minutes and neither had been able to score on the other.
The game seriously wasn't designed to be handle by two players with lightning fast reflexes, quick fingers, and vision capable of following the ball like it was in slow motion.
((I wanted to help!))
"You can help by not getting in their way, we're being paid for this," Mine grunted as she flicked her wrist, sending the ball arcing above the players. She almost scored but Bennia managed to save it with her goalie. "Well, Night Raid is. I wasn't asked either."
((You wouldn't have helped.))
"Not the point."
((And that's what I said!))
"I turned them down. I serve Lady Gabriel and Heaven, I'm not going to help devils get stronger unless she tells me to," Xenovia said, shrugging like she didn't care. Xenovia placed her hands together and looked up to the heavens as she prayed. "She's taking me to the Vatican tomorrow too! I will get to speak with the Pope in her presence. Ah, such a wonderful and joyous occasion. Praise the Lord!"
((Bring me back some souvenirs!)) Bennia said cheerfully as she kicked the little ball back across the field.
"You can just pick some up yourself, we'll be in the area," a light, child-like voice cut into their conversation.
Bennia froze as an unimaginably powerful force rolled over her. She knew this presence, recognized that voice! It couldn't be… why would she be here? Now of all times?
She was trembling so badly as she looked up, she scored on herself in the game. There, standing before them was one of the most powerful beings in existence. Her stature was small, her breasts large, and streams of pure power undulated about her diminutive form. The blind Titan had her gaze upon her.
((A-Ah… hi Themis… h-how you doing?))
"I'm doing very well, thank you for asking," she said. Bennia swallowed hard as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. This was not how she imagined her afternoon going. She looked around for support and found none.
Xenovia had no idea who this woman was, but she could feel the power rolling off her and had quickly backed out of her way. Mine was gone entirely, through a hole blasted into the exterior wall. She hadn't stayed long enough to see what Themis wanted. Bennia couldn't really fault her for that. It was sort of what she felt like doing and would have likely done if she didn't know beyond a shadow of a doubt Themis would just chase her down.
You didn't want Themis chasing after you. The world wobbled in uncomfortable ways when she moved too quickly. It always made Bennia sick to her stomach.
((I-I'm sorry for not contacting you for so long b-b-but—))
"Oh don't get so worked up, Nemesis, I'm not upset at you or this Tatsumi you've fallen for. I simply found myself in the area and decided to drop by."
Themis never 'just found herself' in an area and dropped by. She was here for a reason. At least she didn't seem upset, that much seemed true anyways. You knew when Themis was upset. That Bennia wasn't flattened to the floor by the sheer force of her presence was evidence enough that Themis was in a good mood.
((I-It's Bennia now? I mean, you can call me what you want but… I…)) her gaze flickered over to Xenovia. Maybe she'd forget all this in her fear? At least Mine wasn't around to hear that. She knew who Nemesis was.
Themis just shook her head, sending waves of power crashing about the room. "You still haven't told him. How sad. You will have to eventually."
Bennia bowed her head. ((I know…)) she didn't want to tell him though. What he if thought differently about her? How would he react to know that she was actually the Goddess of Retribution? Or, half-goddess now really since her father SCREWED UP HER REINCARNATION! ((Stupid shitty father!))
She'd never let him live that down. Drunken mistake! GAH!
"I can correct his mistake if you wish," Themis said as she placed a hand on Bennia's shoulder. Bennia wasn't surprised that she knew about what her father did. "It is a trifling matter to make you full-blooded once more, but I will need to take you back to Greece and there will be a period of readjustment."
That was tempting… very tempting actually. With Hades gone, she no longer had to pretend to be undercover. She could regain her complete power and be of more use to Tatsumi. She'd be able to survive at least twice as long if Ophis ever showed up.
Six seconds instead of three!
That alone made her decision, although from the way Themis was looking at her the only answer she was willing to accept was Yes anyways. Might as well go willingly and hope Ophis didn't show up while she was gone.
((I will go.))
"Good, we can talk about other things along the way, such as this mess Ophis has made of Hades. I am a little vexed with that thing. I had wanted to chastise Hades myself but it beat me to it." She paused. "At least it did a thorough job, I'll give it that."
((Of course,)) Bennia said, bowing her head respectfully. You were always respectful to Themis if you wanted to live a long, healthy, happy life. Bennia gave Xenovia a weak smile. ((Will you let Tatsumi know I will be gone for a bit? I'll return as soon as I can.))
"You could tell him yourself," Xenovia said. "He's just down in—" the entire estate shook as a booming sound reverberated up through the floor.
"He's incapacitated at the moment," Themis said. She turned her gaze upon Xenovia and Bennia could see the blood drain from the girl's face. "You will deliver the message, child."
Themis didn't wait for a responsive. She simply tightened her grip on Bennia's shoulder and the two of them disappeared from the estate.
Author's Note: Certain members of Sona's peerage are getting one-on-one training from members of Night Raid! Bennia has been abducted by Themis and Xenovia is heading to the Vatican with Gabriel! Tatsumi is once again on the receiving end of a lot of pain!
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