Chapter 40: Setting the Stage

The floor of the estate rumbled every so often as Tatsumi padded along the richly decorated hallway. Each rumble brought a soft, crystalline melody as the extravagant crystal chandeliers overhead rattled about. The training for the Rating Game was in full swing far below on the lowest level. Extra precautions had been taken to reinforce the pillars, walls and ceiling so that they didn't collapse beneath the extreme training. Further sound-proofing methods had been employed as well.

Despite all the extra securities that had been put in place, it wasn't enough to dampen completely the effects of the training.

Or rather, it wasn't enough to dampen Rita Mordio, Serafall's bishop.

It had been like this every day since the training started. After school Sona would drag her peerage here, subject them to the torture found below, and then throw them home after they were either too exhausted to continue, or midnight rolled around.

As bad as the weekdays had been, they were probably wishing they would go on forever. There was no 'throwing them back home' during the weekend. Nor was there a significant break in the middle of the day to enjoy the relief brought about by school.

Another rumble shook the house causing the pictures on the walls to sway a little.

"If they bring the ceiling down again…" Mine trailed off as she threw an aggravated look at the floor.

Tatsumi threw a quick, sidelong glance at the short, pink-haired woman walking beside him.

"They won't," Tatsumi said. Mine didn't really care what happened to the training room or even the estate. It was the large, extravagant bath just above the training room that she cared about. "We reinforced things this time. It shouldn't collapse like it did the first day."

"Still don't trust them."

Tatsumi didn't say anything in response to that.

"I haven't had much time to stand in during the training, how's it going?" Tatsumi asked Najenda.

Mine wasn't the only one with him. While Mine flanked his right, Akame flanked his left and Najenda brought up the rear. He enjoyed spending time with his friends but something felt different today. Their presence felt like a cage as if they were preventing him from bolting.

"It's going well, surprisingly so," Najenda said. "Your girl has surrounded herself with good people. They moan and complain, but they don't give up. I respect that."

"But you'd know all this if you had watched instead of sneaking around behind our backs!" Mine accused him. "What's going on Tatsumi?" He opened his mouth to protest but she swiftly cut him off. "I know you. You're preparing for something."

"I'm always preparing for something," Tatsumi said quickly, a little too quickly. Even he realized that sounded like an evasion of the question.

Akame stepped in front of him and placed a hand on his chest. "Tatsumi, trust us. We will understand."

"We're also not as oblivious to the obvious as everyone else in this world is," Najenda added as she leaned against the wall next to him. "What's going on with that girl, Sona, that requires you to be so secretive?"

"I really can't keep anything from you three," Tatsumi said, laughing lightly.

"Of course not! And you never will!" Mine added, crossing her arms beneath her chest. "Now out with it. There's no one within ear distance, trust me." Her angelic power flared and for a moment the hallway was filled with a soft pink light. She had her zone out in full force. "I'd sense them, even if they were watching by magical means."

That was one handy ability to have. Blind she may be, but observant was a trait she'd always have. Azazel had said that without an artificial sacred gear, she was almost his equal. She may have two wings worth of power less than him but that was equalized by Pumpkin, allowing her to throw around power equal to his own without a charge time. Add to the fact that she was far more tenacious and had near omniscience within her Dominion of Sight and you had someone that was downright terrifying at times.

Azazel still held the edge over her in experience and the sheer number of tricks he knew, but that'd only last so long.

Tatsumi pushed those thoughts aside for now.

"It's not that I don't want to tell you. It's all about plausible deniability."

"We know how to keep our mouths shut," Mine said. Her features softened and a strange, vulnerable look entered them. "We need to know in case something happens. I don't want you disappearing on us again." Mine gripped the skirt of her dress with white-knuckles. "Don't put me—us, through that ever again."

"I'm not just disappearing off the face of…" Earth. He was, actually, so that didn't really work. "I mean there are others that will know where I am."

"Sona Sitri? Would she tell us the whole truth?" Najenda asked. "Does she even know the entire scope of what it is you're doing?"

"Yes and sort of? Enough." All he was willing to tell her. She knew where he had to go at least.

"You trust them. Why don't you trust us?" Akame asked.

Tatsumi winced painfully. That was a low blow. "I do trust you it's just…" the three of them just stared at him with differing looks of disbelief. He let out a final sigh and relented. "Fine."

Najenda cracked a smile, "that's a good boy. Now, what sort of trouble are we going to have to rescue you from?"

"Ha, ha, ha," Tatsumi shot her an annoyed look.

"You have to admit, we have had to save you more than a few times," Mine pointed out with a large, triumphant grin on her face. "Remember when I had to save your ass from getting executed?"

"Wait, how do you know that?" Tatsumi asked, shooting her a sharp look. This Mine shouldn't know about anything that'd happened to him during Night Raid, let alone speak as if she'd been there!

"I… don't know?" Mine said, frowning in confusion. "The words just sort of slipped out."

There was a piercing, speculative look in Najenda's eyes. "Ymir stated that there are two ways for a Universe to deal with the same person existing in the same place, obliteration or unification."

"They didn't merge like I did with my body," Tatsumi pointed out. "They both still exist."

"I know, they didn't physically touch each other but…" she threw a glance at him. "Did at any time it seem like their thoughts were in unison? There is more to a person than just their body."

"Well… now that you mention it," Tatsumi mused. "There had been a time when it felt like only a single Mine was talking to me from two different mouths."

"But I never touched her!" Mine protested.

"What about your Dominion?" Najenda asked.

"That's…" she trailed off as her face grew white.

"You know more about divine power than I, but what is it made up of?"

Mine let out an uncomfortable grunt and turned away. "W-Whatever, it doesn't matter! This isn't about me! This about Tatsumi and him disappearing on us again!"

"I get it, fine, sheesh," Tatsumi said, grinning at the smaller woman.

"You're not concerned with this?" Najenda asked him.

"No, Mine is Mine," Tatsumi said, still smiling. "To me, they're all one and the same."

"Well, if you're fine, then I won't say any more," Najenda said.

"Be nice to talk about old times without having to return," Akame added, shaking her head softly, "now out with it, Tatsumi. No more delays."

"Sure," he said, chuckling softly. Truth be told, it felt nice to know that if everything went south he could trust Najenda to have some sort of contingency in place. "Sona's Rating Game against Sairaorg Bael is rigged. She wasn't even supposed to fight him. The matchup was fixed, the game is fixed and the rules are fixed. It's all designed so that she suffers a swift, brutal, and humiliating defeat and if something isn't done about at least one of those three aspects, all this training will amount to very little."

"So that's what you're doing then, you're going to alter the rules," Mine said. All three of them knew that it was far too late to alter the matchup and altering the game type would be too suspicious. "How bad are the rules?"

"I don't know," Tatsumi said honestly. "Neither do they, but we can assume Hikaru's abilities will be locked."

"A fair assumption and most likely politically driven. This Sairaorg Bael is supposedly stronger than Hikaru." Najenda mused, a thoughtful expression her face. She lifted her eyes to meet his. "I can see why now you've kept this secret. Night Raid can't get involved because it's purely internal politics."

"If I get caught so long as I'm the only one involved, I can claim I did it because of my relationship with Sona," Tatsumi said, nodding his head. "The moment I involve anyone else, Night Raid's neutrality is finished."

"Makes sense," Akame said. "Are you going alone?"

"And where is it happening?" Mine asked. "So we know which part of the Underworld to raze to the ground when you get kidnapped. Again."

So much for her vote of confidence, but then, he did have a habit of getting kidnapped. Both here and back in his old world. It was almost like a defining character trait or something.

"The details haven't been worked out yet," Tatsumi said. He hoped to have that all done this weekend. He had a meeting planned in the Underworld for that very reason. "As for where…" he turned to Mine. "The same place the game will take place. The floating city of Agreas."

"Of course that's where it is!" Mine said exasperated. "It just had to be the single most heavily defended, guarded and restricted place in the entire Underworld." She fixed him a long look. "They won't let someone like you, or any of us for that matter, within a hundred miles of that place without a reason. Ravel is the only one they'll even…" her eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "I thought you said you weren't involving anyone in Night Raid?"

"I'm not," Tatsumi said then grinned at them. "However, I have no right to tell the Phenex family or their members what they are, or aren't, allowed to do when it comes to things unrelated to Night Raid."

They were the only ones he could rely on. He didn't even know if they were up to helping him, or what it might cost for their aid. All he had right now was a hope and a prayer and a lot of ideas. Ideas that he had no way of telling would work until he actually spoke with the few people he thought would genuinely wish to help and not so they could have something to blackmail or backstab him with later.

Najenda clapped her mechanical hand on his shoulder. "You're really starting to shape up to be a real leader. I had my doubts when I first heard you started up Night Raid again. You always were impulsive and reckless."

"He still is," Mine pointed out.

"True, but he's starting to temper that. It gives me hope that I won't be stuck here until I'm in my nineties," Najenda said.

"He has grown up," Akame said, smiling as well. "Just a bit."

"Thanks," Tatsumi said wryly. The three of them never could just give him a straight compliment. "Now do I have your permission to go ahead, ladies?" he asked, giving them a low, sweeping bow.

"Oh, I suppose so," Mine said as she rolled her eyes. Then she started to laugh. The other two joined in and even Tatsumi couldn't help but chuckle.

"Well, we shouldn't delay you too much longer," Najenda said as she gave him a gentle push, starting him forward again. Akame quickly stepped to the side and fell along beside him once more. "He's going to need all the time he can get his hands on."

"Maybe I can use it as an excuse to skip school on Monday."

"Not likely," Najenda said dryly. "I know a certain Greek goddess that'll drag you back here herself if she has to, if only so that she didn't have to suffer that place without you there." She was probably right. Bennia wouldn't tolerate school without him, and Sona would send her to fetch him if he wasn't back in time. A little, secretive smile slowly came to her lips. "Oh, and Tatsumi, if you ever need to… say, throw a few hypothetical questions my way, feel free. My role here is to advise you on how to lead properly."

"Thanks," Tatsumi said, and this time he truly meant it.

x~X~x

When the light of Ravel's teleportation ebbed Tatsumi found himself in a familiar looking hideout. The couch and chair sitting around the coffee table. The pictures on the wall that were always crooked no matter how much they were straightened. The simple bedroom and bath, both completely outfitted with the necessities.

It was Night Raid's hideout in the Underworld. They couldn't use it as a base of operations for what was to come, they had to cut ties with everything related to Night Raid no matter how insignificant, but it was useful as a gathering place.

"It could use a bit of a cleaning," Tatsumi mused as he eyed the not-so-insignificant layer of dust covering everything.

Ravel perked up. "I could always—"

"Later," Serafall cut her off sharply.

Tatsumi and Ravel weren't the only one here. Sona's hyperactive, magical girl crazy older sister, Serafall, had been waiting for them. She sat on the couch wearing something much different from her usual attire. Most of it was hidden beneath a large, voluminous black cloak she wore across her shoulders, but from what Tatsumi could see peaking out from beneath revealed something thin, form fitting and elastic.

"You're not dressed as usual."

"What we're doing is too serious for me to play around," Serafall said curtly. "What we're doing is undermining one of the pillars of foundation of devil society. Not even I will be able to escape this unscathed. Some may even call me unfit to hold my title."

"And yet you're still doing it," Tatsumi said.

"Sona-chan is worth the risk and it only matters if we get caught." Serafall rose from the couch and made her way across the room to stand in front of him.

There was the unspoken acknowledgement as well that they were really only doing second what the other elders had already done first. The difference was that those that had rigged the things against Sona would have enough backing that it would make no difference if accusations were leveled against them. It wouldn't be the case for them.

"This way," Ravel said, gesturing towards the stairs. He hadn't told her anything beyond the basics, that this was dangerous, risky, and that he and Serafall needed to speak with her parents secretly. No one could know they had been here.

"Lead the way," Tatsumi said as he and Serafall followed after Ravel.

As he descended the stairs he pulled the hood of his own dark cloak up over his head. It was deep, concealing most of his features within its deep shadows. He pulled a mask off his belt and slid it over his face. Serafall and Ravel followed suite.

Anyone that saw them would think something secretive was happening, but they wouldn't know what. Tatsumi simply hoped no one's curiosity would be peaked enough to follow them.

They encountered no one as they descended the stairs and slipped out a backdoor into the alleyway behind the establishment. Ravel took only a moment to grab her bearings before she started off to the right. Tatsumi wrinkled his nose once, trying to banish the pungent smell that clung to the alleyway, and quickly followed her as she led them through a long, winding warren of back alleys. While the main streets of Phantasma, the capital of the Phenex Territory, was cleaned and well maintained, the same couldn't be said for this place. They often had to dodge around large piles of filth and garbage. The place was filled with grotesque, monstrous rat like things with teeth as large as knives scurrying between piles of refuse.

At times they would peer at them intently, wondering if they could grab a quick bite from them as they passed by. A single glance from Serafall was all it took to send them scurrying into the deepest, darkest corners.

Ravel had little trouble finding her way. Tatsumi didn't know if she had the route memorized or if there were markers she was looking for but she eventually found what she was looking for and cam to a stop before a wall like any other. There were no identifying features that would differentiate it from any other part of the maze they'd just traversed aside from a lack of garbage piled up along the base.

She paused and glanced over at Serafall, a question dancing in her eyes.

Tatsumi felt a pulse of demonic energy wash over him and spread out around them. A moment later Serafall shook her head and beckoned her to go on.

Ravel quickly turned back to the wall and ran her fingers along it, searching. Her fingers stopped and pressed into the stone. There was a soft click and a series of clunks went on inside the wall. With a groan the wall shifted and swung inside.

The three of them quickly stepped inside and once they were all in Ravel closed the secret door tightly behind them.

"Light?" Ravel whispered the question softly. He could see her eyes shimmering softly in the darkness, her and Serafall both. They were using magic to augment their sight to see.

"I can see fine," Tatsumi whispered back. His body had already adapted to darkness like this, deeper darkness even, back in Hel. His sight shifted and he could see a different spectrum, one not reliant on light. "Hel was worse."

She nodded and didn't say any more. Turning around, she guided them down the dark tunnel of hewn stone.

Soon after leaving the entrance, or exit Tatsumi couldn't be certain, the tunnel dipped sharply downwards and continued that way for some time. The air became damp as he walked down into what felt like the bowels of the Underworld. The damp air clung to everything, covering the walls and floor in a thin sheen of moisture that made footing treacherous at best. At the deepest portion they found the tunnel flooded. It didn't quite reach the ceiling, but it was deep enough to be a major inconvenience.

"This runs under the Gargoyle River," Ravel said by way of explanation. "It's always leaked. I hate this part."

It made sense. Fire and water went together as well as Tatsumi and Esdeath. That was to say, not at all.

"You've had to use this before?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes, many times when I was younger, we all have," Ravel said as she stepped into the water and started to wade across it. Tatsumi and Serafall followed along behind. "All members of the Phenex family must know of this tunnel and all its branches, entrances and exits." She grumbled a little when the water reached her breasts. The tunnel seemed to level out at that point though as it didn't rise any higher. "As peaceful as we look on the surface, assassination is not uncommon and there are times when oka-san and I needed to get away while oto-san and Ruval-san took care of the attackers."

"As much as many of us want to move forward, there are some families very much stuck in ancient history," Serafall added quietly. She turned to peer at him through her mask. "You've met some, Tatsumi-chan."

Gregorious Abaddon and the Shax family to name two. There had been others, and there would be more.

There was little else in the way of conversation as they waded across the flooded part of the passageway. At the other side at started upwards, ascending back up towards the surface. It was around this time that other passageways leading into this one started to appear. Ravel led them on, ignoring them until they'd nearly reached the surface. There she choose one of the branching passageways seemingly at random.

It made Tatsumi wonder just how many times she'd been forced into these passageways as a child that she could recall so much from memory.

It wasn't long before they came to the end of the tunnel. There was no hesitation in Ravel's movements, finding the buttons required to unlock the secret door. It swung inwards revealing a bedroom beyond that was most definitely a woman's room. It was filled with so many bright colors Tatsumi didn't know where to look.

"Sit anywhere, I'll get my parents," Ravel said as she hurried for the door.

"Looking like that?" Serafall asked, stopping the girl in her tracks. It would look rather strange if Ravel walked about her parents estate wearing a dark cloak, mask, and soaking wet.

"Oh," Tatsumi could feel the heat coming off her face. She fidgeted nervously with her back to them.

"I'll get you a towel," Serafall said as she disappeared into the on-suite bathroom.

"We could all use one," Tatsumi called after her.

Serafall returned shortly with three towels in hand, two pink and one purple. She handed him the purple towel before heading over to Ravel's side.

"I'll turn around," Tatsumi said, turning his back to Ravel to respect her privacy.

"Ah, no that wasn't…" she trailed off into unintelligible mumbles.

"You need to force it with people like Tatsumi-chan," Serafall said comfortingly. "He's too nice for his own good."

"I refuse to become a pervert like Issei," Tatsumi said. He was not so stupid he didn't know what they were talking about. Ravel wouldn't have any issue with him looking at her, not after everything they've been through. Still, it was the principle of the matter. He'd do the same for Sona or Bennia in the same situation.

Bennia though probably would have forced it like Serafall mentioned.

"And some day you'll come to accept that isn't a big deal to us," Serafall tossed back at him. "But we don't have time to convince you of that right now."

Tatsumi just shook his head as the sound of rustling cloth reached his ears. He did his utmost to keep his thoughts pure and not think about a naked Ravel being wiped down by Serafall. He needed to tend to himself. There wasn't much he could do to dry his clothes so he simply soaked up as much as he could with the towel and raised his body temperature to dry it sooner.

"I'll be back soon, please feel free to sit anywhere," Ravel said once she was dried and changed. She gave the two of them a quick curtsey before leaving to find her parents.

All they could do was wait now. There weren't many places to sit, the bed was off limits. He didn't want to even think what Ravel's parents would do if they found a man sitting on their daughter's bed. Not that he thought they'd do anything bad to Tatsumi, it was the reverse he was afraid of.

His eyes fell on the only other place to sit, a small red couch circling a coffee table. He sent a quick mental apology to Ravel for getting water all over her couch before taking a seat.

"You could have at least snuck a peak," Serafall whispered as she sat beside him. "She's risking a lot bringing us here like this."

Was she still going on about that? "We need to stay focused."

"You might need to become a bit more liberal before we're finished," Serafall whispered to him.

He threw a sidelong glance at her. Her eyes were hard and piercing. She was very serious about this. "In what way?"

"I'm not sure yet," Serafall admitted. She turned to stare at the door. "But I do know that we're not going to be able to enter Agreas without a disguise. That means for a time, at least, you'll have to act like a devil."

"We?"

"I'm coming too," Serafall told him.

"Why with me?" Tatsumi asked. "I wasn't aware they could keep you out."

"They can't, but if I don't want my every action watched with suspicion, I need to get in there without anyone knowing."

Tatsumi grunted an acknowledgement and let the conversation fall silent. If Serafall said she was coming with him, then she was coming with him. There wasn't anything he could do but work her into whatever plan was set into motion.

As they waited, Tatsumi let his eyes wander about the room. This was the first time he'd ever been in Ravel's bedroom. It was surprisingly girly. She was normally so serious that sometimes Tatsumi forgot she was only sixteen. The bright colors weren't all that strange, they matched in many ways what she wore. It was everything else. The soft frills, the mountains of stuffed toys, and there were literal mountains of them. They were everywhere.

His eyes wandered back to the secret door they'd entered by and frowned. He hadn't thought much about while traveling through it, but now that he was here, there was a direct passageway between some random back alley and Ravel's bedroom.

"Isn't that a security risk?"

"Probably—"

"—Not as much as you think," Lord Phenex's disembodied voice floated into the room. There was a bright flash of crimson light as a teleportation circle appeared in the middle of the room. The Lord slowly rose from within that runic circle, dressed casually and with a seemingly unconcerned expression on his face. "That passage way is heavily warded. We knew the moment the door was opened and more importantly, who was coming through."

"Who is we?" Tatsumi asked nervously. If the wrong people knew he was here…

"Just my husband and I," Lady Phenex spoke up. Tatsumi's head snapped to the right so fast his neck cracked. There, in Ravel's bed, the Lady of the household was slowly sitting up. She was even dressed in one of Ravel's night gowns. The slip was a little small for her and caused memories of the Elder Devil Gathering to flash across his eyes. Tatsumi was forced to avert his eyes lest she thought him eager to take her up on her earlier offer. "When we realized it was the two of you that were with our daughter, we didn't feel the need to inform anyone else."

"Indeed, in fact, considering a certain someone's attire," Lord Phenex's gaze swept over Serafall no doubt noting her lack of cosplay or formal attire. "We thought it prudent to keep your arrival secret. At least for now."

A hidden little warning there that if they didn't like what they heard, Tatsumi and Serafall being here would very quickly get to the outside world. It wasn't so bad as they hadn't actually done anything yet, but they could also forget doing anything if they were found out.

Say what you will about devils, the Phenex family was very protective of their own. Especially Ravel.

But why warn them at all? They had yet to do anything. They hadn't even said anything. Until they actually did something that threat was fairly harmless. In all the dealings Tatsumi had with the man, Lord Phenex had never passed himself off as someone to hand out toothless threats, especially towards a Satan.

Harmless or not, Serafall took it seriously. "You will keep it a secret," Serafall warned him. Tatsumi couldn't see her expression through the mask, but he felt a hint of killing intent rise from the normally energetic woman.

Lord Phenex arched his brow. "Is that an order, Leviathan-sama?"

"You know as well as I that the Leviathan can't directly command one Lords overseen by Lucifer," Serafall said in a sweet voice. Too sweet. It sent a shiver running up Tatsumi's spine.

The temperature of the room seemed to dip sharply before rising again just as quickly. Was that a lattice of ice forming around Serafall? A lattice that seemed to be melting as quickly as it formed.

"I am glad to hear that the trials your little sister must overcome has not caused you to become entirely bereft of all civility and decency."

Tatsumi was completely confused. What the hell was going on here? Weren't the Phenex family close to the Sitri? Wasn't Lord Phenex and Serafall close allies that often agreed with each other in politics? Why were the two of them about to go to war and neither side knew what the other even wanted!?

"The Leviathan would never think of overstepping her bounds and usurping the Lucifer's authority," Serafall said in a voice as cold as the arctic north. "But I am not she. Not right now."

"Oh? Then that doesn't give you any authority at all."

"My might gives me all the authority I need."

"Falling back upon old ways, are we?"

"Diplomacy has its uses, but power is a nice fallback to deal with those that don't want to listen." The air between the two of them erupted in a brilliant display of ice and fire before fading as way as quickly as it had come.

Lord Phenex shivered as if suddenly afflicted by a bone chilling cold.

That was all Tatsumi could take. He wanted to help Sona, but not like this. Sona's dream would suffer a set back if she lost to Sairaorg, sure, but it was a given that she was expected to lose. Everyone was expected to lose against him. It would be a setback, but she could recover.

Tatsumi wasn't going to throw away his relationship with the Phenex family and drive a wedge between them, Serafall, Night Raid and the Sitri family on account of something like this. What's more it was obvious they couldn't rely on the Phenex family for help. If there was this much animosity before they'd even started to discuss what Tatsumi was here for…

No, he'd simply have to give the bad news to Sona.

Tatsumi stood and stepped between the two of them, causing both of them to start in surprise. It was as if they'd both forgotten he'd even been here.

"We're leaving," Tatsumi said to Serafall.

"But, wait—" Serafall started to protest.

Tatsumi ignored her and turned to Lord Phenex. He bowed low to the man. "Sorry for barging in like this."

"That's—" Lord Phenex started, looking even more startled.

"I wanted to get your help for something but if it's going to cause this much friction between you and Serafall, it's not worth it." Tatsumi continued over the man. "I know Sona. She'll manage despite everything. I value our relationship too much to damage it over something like this."

Tatsumi took Serafall's outstretched hand and pulled her to her feet. "Sorry, looks like we'll have to find someone else to help us."

Serafall just stared at him in confusion.

Then Lady Phenex started to laugh, filling the room with beautiful notes of amusement.

"What?" Tatsumi asked, confused by her reaction.

"It was just a greeting, dear," Lady Phenex said, still laughing, "it was fairly obvious you two were here to negotiate something. With any negotiation, it's important to determine who leads it. Those two were just deciding that with their little verbal spar." Her eyes twinkled with merriment. "And I dare say you just ruined all their fun."

"Oh…" he trailed off. That was just a greeting? They were just playing around? His cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "I thought the two of them were about to try to murder each other."

Serafall let out a long groan and palmed her face. "Oh, Tatsumi-chan."

"He's not a devil," Lord Phenex said, blowing out a long sigh. "It is to be expected that he is not inherently familiar with how politics is played down here."

"I completely forgot," Serafall said. "This was fairly civil, actually. We were rushing things because of how important this was. For important decisions, we officialise it with a Rating Game."

"Ah…" He didn't really know how to respond to that. "I would have thought my Young Devil Gathering debut you'd have figured I'm not very good with politics."

"True, very true, I admit that this was a miscalculation on my part," Lord Phenex said, giving a rare admission of failure. Lord Phenex gave Serafall a questioning look "From the way you let him take control there shall I assume you are with Tatsumi, and not the other way around?"

"It was Tatsumi-chan's idea to come to you," Serafall admitted.

The edges Lord Phenex's lips upturned into a smile. "Then I hope you don't mind us cutting this short?"

"Only if we can make it up later."

"It's a date."

Lady Phenex gave Tatsumi a mischievous look. "We could have a date at the same time." With that look in her eyes, the smile on her lips and the way she leaned forward ever so slightly to allow her dress to dip just far enough for Tatsumi to see those beautiful globes in all their glory, there was no doubt about what she was hinting at.

"Ah, I'd rather just focus on the present right now," Tatsumi said quickly, deflecting the offer to another time.

"That wasn't a no."

Tatsumi turned to Lord Phenex, a pained expression on his face. "Can we just go?"

Lord Phenex just laughed uproariously before slapped an arm around Tatsumi's shoulder. A teleportation circle sprung up beneath him that encompassed both Tatsumi and Serafall. "Of course. Let's go somewhere we can talk privately," he threw his wife an amused look, "before my wife drags you to bed."

As Lord Phenex whisked the two of them away, Lady Phenex's beautiful laughter followed after.

~o~

It was a dark, secretive room where Tatsumi found himself explaining the situation to Lord Phenex. Low burning candles cast a dim glow about the room, shrouding the corners of the room in shadows. There was a faint hint of moisture and mildew in the air and every so often he heard the skittering of insects across the floor.

Tatsumi thought it felt all rather cliché, but then, clichés existed for a reason. He wasn't going to voice a complaint after ruining their earlier fun.

Serafall sat beside him, both were still cloaked and masked, on a small red couch. Across from them, over a low coffee table, was Lord Phenex and beside him, his wife. Everyone knew Lord Phenex was in secret talks with someone, but no one would know with whom or what was spoken.

There was a pensive look on Lord Phenex's face as Tatsumi sat back on the couch.

"I see, I feel like I have a grasp of the situation now," Lord Phenex said. "I hadn't given much thought to Sitri-san's situation, given the irregularities that have appeared around Sirzechs' little sister upcoming game."

Tatsumi didn't know anything about that situation, only that Diodora had insisted on fighting Rias. There was nothing inherently wrong with that. Just like there wasn't anything inherently wrong with making Sona face Sairaorg. It was inevitable if Sona ever wanted to realize her dream. The problem Tatsumi had was everything else. If Sona and Sairaorg were going to battle, it had to be fair.

"There are strange things happening there?" Tatsumi asked. It was more out of curiosity than any real desire to help.

Lord Phenex nodded as he leaned back. "Diodora is the devil that caused Asia to get thrown out from the church, and all so that he'd have the opportunity to take her for himself. This battle is very much over her. If Rias loses, she has to hand Asia over to Diodora."

"And if she wins?"

"She wins, she doesn't get anything," Lord Phenex said.

"That doesn't make any sense." Tatsumi didn't like Rias, but he knew enough about the girl to know that she'd never agree to such a one-sided deal. No one would! Not even under threat of pain. She was far too possessive about her pieces to give them up to anyone.

"I know," Lord Phenex said. "I've been helping Sirzechs figure out how that little agreement came about. Rias' signature is on the document though, so no matter how much we might complain about it, it is binding."

"Strange."

"Yes, but that's not what you're here for."

"No, it isn't." As interesting as it was to find out that Rias was having problems of her own, it didn't matter to him. He'd seen Diodora's peerage at the young devil gathering. They were all women. Issei was going to dominate that game so easily. Those poor women. Tatsumi felt more for them than he did for Asia's and Rias' predicament. "I need to get a look at the rules for the game and to do that, I need to get into Agreas before the game."

There were three ways into the city. Teleportation, airship and gondola. None of them were going to work without aid.

"There's no way to jump you straight there," Lord Phenex said, writing that option off the table immediately. "Only VIPs are allowed to jump straight there. Too much scrutiny for trickery to work. It's been tried."

"What about Airship or Gondola?"

"Both could work," Lord Phenex said, "but they also both come with their own unique set of issues. Airships land at a docking area that is heavily protected. Perimeter scans would see through any disguise we provide, magical or otherwise. Disable the scans and you can get through, unfortunately that'll raise suspicion that something is happening. They don't go offline just because. The city will be on high alert until the cause is determined."

"And Gondola?"

"In an airship I could hide you amongst my servants and no one would give you a second look," Lord Phenex said, "the gondola is different. I would never take it under any normal circumstance. The same goes for anyone in the Phenex family. We're known to be too proud for such mundane modes of travel. It would raise too much suspicion if I did. I would be able to do very little to smooth your entry into the city."

"Would I need it?" Tatsumi asked. "Your help I mean. Getting into the city through the Gondola."

"You're not a devil," Lord Phenex stated bluntly.

"Thanks for noticing."

"He means that you don't act like a devil," Serafall said, turning to face him, "you're very human in the way you treat others. You need someone with you at least long enough to get established."

"Is that not why you're coming?" Tatsumi asked her.

She looked away with a guilty look in her eyes. "I just need to get into the city undetected. There is something else I need to do there." She faced him again, her eyes hard as diamond. "I'm trusting you to fix the rules. There are other matters that need tending to."

"Which are?" Tatsumi asked, wondering if there was something that would get in the way of what he was trying to do.

"Just dealing with a little usurping of authority," Serafall said grimly. "It's best that you don't get involved."

"This is starting to sound a lot more complicated that I originally thought," Tatsumi said.

"I know," Lord Phenex said. His eyes were actually twinkling with excitement! "Unlike the issue with Rias' Rating Game, this feels like proper devilish politics! It's stirring the excitement in my blood."

"I see," Tatsumi said, letting the subject of Serafall's involvement drop, "is there no one you can send with me on the gondola?"

"None I trust well enough to keep this a secret," Lord Phenex said.

Lady Phenex cleared her throat roughly as she gave her husband a pointed look. "I beg your pardon?"

Lord Phenex refused to look at his wife as beads of sweat formed on his forehead. "There are only two I would consider sending with you," he said, changing his tune without so much as missing a beat. "My wife or my daughter."

"I'd like to keep Ravel out of this if I could," Tatsumi said. She would be a last resort. "Less risk of being affiliated with Night Raid if we're found out."

"My wife is the only option," Lord Phenex said.

He did his best to ignore the heated look she was sending his way and kept his eyes firmly on Lord Phenex's. "Let's move on to the airship and the harbor scans." Lady Phenex laughed at his more than obvious attempt to avoid spending time with her alone, causing his cheeks to flush with embarrassment. Even Serafall let out a small little chortle beside him. Devils! "Just want to know what all my options are before I make a decision."

"The scan happens at the gates into and out of the harbor compound," Lord Phenex said. Even he had a little smile on his face. The whole family was strange. He seriously hoped Ravel never ended up like her mother. "There's a magical dome encompassing the harbor, preventing anyone from flying over the gates. Anyone that tries to breach it is attack instantly. They don't even aim, they just bombard the point of breach until a body drops."

"Any way under?"

"It's a platform that juts off the edge of the floating island. There is no underneath and flying is restricted. Flight is permitted, but only low altitude and not outside the city limits."

"They're really strict about security there," Tatsumi grumbled.

"Here more than anywhere else," Lord Phenex agreed. "For it is only on this island that the crystals need to create the Evil Pieces and Brave Saints can be found."

"Ok, that makes it more than a little valuable," Tatsumi admitted. More than a little. It could be said that the very foundation upon which their entire society was built upon, the Rating Games, depended on Agreas. What's more, even the Angels and Heaven were dependent upon it to some extent. It was literally the single most important location in devil society. Humanity didn't have a city of equivalent importance on Earth. Not even Washington DC, Moscow, Geneva or Brussels came close. "It sucks, but I can't really blame you for it."

"I thank Tatsumi-san for giving us his approval on how we do things," Lord Phenex said with a straight face. Tatsumi winced when he realized just how asinine he'd sounded there.

"Sorry."

Lord Phenex just laughed and brushed aside his worries, "do not worry yourself. The only way through the harbor is through the scans. They're a mixture of technology and magic. It can register all spectrums of light, will nullify anything magical canceling any disguises, and will ignore superficial aspects of an individual such as their features and analyze their internal organ and skeletal structure. It then compares those scans to its database of individuals." Lord Phenex leaned forward, elbows on his knees as he rested his chin in his hands and gave Tatsumi a regretful look. "And you are in the database. I regret to inform you that there was a hidden purpose of bringing you to the Young Devil Gathering and that was precisely so that we could map your biological and physiological features and place it in the database. Every scan that connects to this database will be able to identify you the moment you step through it, no matter the disguise we give you, magical or otherwise."

"Thermal?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes."

"Motion?"

"Yes."

"Sound?"

"Yes."

"Vibration?"

"Yes."

"What doesn't it detect?" Tatsumi grumbled. He wasn't certain even his ultimate survival ability, the absolute presence concealment, would be able to get him through it. It might, but at the same time, it might not. Did he want to risk it?

"If we knew, we'd be adding to it right now," Lord Phenex said honestly. "There are some that use it to get medical scans since it provides a far more detailed look of the body than anything the hospitals have." He leaned back again glanced away towards the outside wall. "You're not the first to try to sneak into Agreas." He shook his head slowly from side to side. "You probably won't even be the first one to try that day. It's not a matter of if someone will try to sneak into Agreas on any given day, but how many. There's a whole department dedicated to apprehending those that try."

"So that all but writes off the airship route," Tatsumi said, "there's no way above, below or through it."

"You have to disable it."

"Which would throw the city into high alert."

"And flood the streets with hundreds of plain-clothes enforcers carrying hand-held versions of the scan searching for any hits on people that weren't registered on arrival."

"How much chaos would that cause?" Tatsumi asked. That might not be such a bad thing. If he could avoid those enforcers, the chaos could provide him with an advantage he might be able to use.

"A lot," Lord Phenex said. He could see where Tatsumi was going with his thoughts. "You could make it work. The chaos won't last forever and I guarantee you won't be the only person there who isn't supposed to be. You just need to stay undetected until they've found what they felt is a sufficient number of illegal entries."

"How long would that take?"

"The Rating Game would be over before they finish," Serafall said, throwing a wrench into the scheme. "Sensors going down at this time? This close to a high profile Rating Game? They'll assume whoever brought them down intends to influence the game." She patted Tatsumi's thigh comfortingly. "I don't like this method. It'll get us in easily, but it would make things worse once we're inside. We know where the rules for the game are now. If the organizers think there's a possibility that someone has infiltrated the city to influence the game…"

"They'll move them," Tatsumi said.

"You won't have time to find them again," Lord Phenex said, "like I said, though, it could work. You'd have to move quickly. Hit the administration center the moment you got into the city. If they suspect the intrusion is related to the game, they'll try to move the rules right away. You'd have to reach them first."

Tatsumi groaned and slumped in his seat. "Then that way is ruled out. Even if I reached them first, if they're missing they'll just make new ones. If I'm able to change it before they arrive, they'll notice the alterations and change them back. I need to get into the city without setting off an alarm."

It was the only way to ensure the alterations he made to the rules would stick long enough to make it to the game.

"That is a possibility," Lord Phenex admitted. "It would simply depend on which administrator moved them. Some don't care what the rules are."

"Too much chance and luck involved in that," Tatsumi said. He blew out a long sigh. "I guess the airship route is no good." He paused, frowning. Something didn't add up. "Why would the Gondola route be any better though? Don't they have scanners there?"

"No scanners there," Serafall said.

That made no sense. His confusion must have shown even through the mask as Lord Phenex continued. "Sensors on the Gondola route would make the city too safe. There's no excitement to be had in a perfectly secure location. There are also times when spies, agents and other personnel need to be brought in or taken out of Agreas discreetly. We need a way to do that."

"Whose we?"

"Everyone." This was from Serafall. "Even I have a couple people in there spying for me that no one knows about."

"But why have such sensors on the port and nothing on the Gondola?"

"Scale," Lord Phenex said simply. "There are some enormous airships out there. With a Gondola, only a few can trickle in at a time. That's manageable. What's not manageable is if ten thousand spies or ne'er doers waltz in on a single airship docking."

So in other words they wanted excitement and danger within moderation. They really were strange. That'd never fly here in the human world.

"Gondola it is then," Tatsumi said as he resigned himself to whatever fate the future had in store for him. "What do I need then?"

"A disguise, a fake identification and an escort by someone who knows the city," Lord Phenex said. His eyes dipped to Tatsumi's side where the hilt of Incursio could be seen through the cloak. "And you'll have to leave your sword behind. It's a unique blade. It doesn't matter how good a disguise we give you if someone recognizes it."

"Fine," Tatsumi said. He needed to work on transforming without it. There could be an opportunity for that here. "Let's work out the details then."

This was going to be a deep, undercover mission. If he wanted to pull this off, he was going to have to leave Tatsumi behind for a bit.

~o~

A boiling pit of nervousness sloshed around in the pit of her stomach as she sat in a large, posh reclining chair in one of the many sitting rooms of her home. She nursed a warm cup of tea as thoughts and fears tumbled about within the vaults of her mind.

There hadn't been any chance to find her oto-san. She'd taken not more than five steps into the hallway before her older nii-sama and his entire peerage had appeared to whisk her away to this very room. They'd tended to her every need since, giving her cookies and tea and making sure she was comfortable, but they wouldn't let her leave.

This sitting room was chosen especially since there was an on-suite bathroom.

At first she'd been completely confused. It wasn't until they'd brought her here, to this room, that she realized how bad things looked. She'd just come home without warning, escorting two cloaked and masked individuals through their family's secret passageways.

It threw her mind into overdrive has she tried to figure out how to talk her way out of this without revealing to Ruval who she'd brought home, only to realize there was no way she could. The wards should have informed her father who she had with her, but if he hadn't told Ruval who they were…

But what if he had? What if they suspected something serious was about to go down and wanted to shield her from it?

What was her father doing to Tatsumi-san right now? She knew he could take care of himself, and Serafall wouldn't let anything happen to him. That the house was still here was proof that a war hadn't broken out between her father and Serafall but, what if Tatsumi went home empty-handed?

Ravel wasn't stupid. She knew what this was about. She'd been there when Sona-san had asked Tatsumi-san for that favor and when he'd turned her down. Now all of a sudden Tatsumi-san wanted to pay a surprise visit to her father and didn't want anyone in Night Raid to have anything to do with whatever it was he was planning?

She was no Koneko. She could put the pieces together.

Tatsumi-san intended to help Sona-san. Ravel wanted to help too. It wasn't fair how she was being treated. She knew this was major. That she was stepping into the world of devil politics. She was ready for it.

Wasn't she? If her older brother and her oto-san didn't think so, it wouldn't matter what she thought. She'd be kept out.

These worries and more plagued her continuously as she waited. Outward, she showed none of her nervousness. Sipping tea calmly and holding idle conversation with her older brother at the same time. No matter what was going on, she needed to stay calm and collected. Nothing would be gained from panicking.

She jumped out of her skin when the door opened without warning. Her oto-san strode in without seemingly a care in the world. There was a huge smile on his face as if he was incredibly pleased about something.

Her eyes darted past her father to the hallway beyond. There wasn't anyone else. He was alone. Her heart sunk into her stomach when she realized whatever was going on, had happened without her.

"I've decided to head to Agreas early," her father said unexpectedly. "Ruval, collect your brothers and their peerages. We're taking a trip there in our airship. The Rating Game is in a week but that's no reason we can't enjoy the sights for some time before it begins."

Ravel gently set the tea cup down upon the side table and rose gracefully to her feet. "Oto-san, will I be joining—"

"You're going back to the human world," her father said in no uncertain terms. "You still have school, your Night Raid duties, and your responsibilities in overseeing the training of Sona's peerage."

"Oh," she said, lowering her eyes to her feet. She had thought that might be the case when her father had left her name out. He wasn't wrong. She did have a great many duties and responsibilities back there but… Tatsumi-san needed her.

Or at least she wanted to be of use to him.

"Come," her father said, gesturing her to follow. With a heavy heart she obediently followed her father out into the hallway. "There are some things I need you to relay back to Rias Gremory and I will be busy getting ready for Agreas."

"Yes, oto-san," Ravel said as she trailed along behind him.

She didn't hear anything her father said as she followed. She knew she should, but she just couldn't seem to find the energy to care. All that excitement at the prospect of being of use to Tatsumi-san had disappeared like so much smoke in the wind. Now she was relegated to just 'Manager' while he was off risking his life to help Sona-san.

When they came to a stop, she found herself staring at the door to her bedroom. So she was to leave the way she came? Skulking back home like a child chastised by her parent. It was an irrational thought but she couldn't help herself. This much should have been expected. If Tatsumi truly was risking himself like she thought he was, no one could know she helped him.

"Oto-san about—" she started as her father opened the door.

"We can speak later," her father said, cutting her off. He grabbed her shoulder, and all but dragged her inside. "There's no time for you to return the way you came so we'll just have to send Ravel Phenex back to Night Raid from here."

The way he worded that seemed strange. Ravel frowned and looked up, looking around her room seriously for the first time since entering. A sharp gasp escaped her lips as she saw an identical copy of herself sitting on her bed. "Oto-san, what's going on?"

She whirled around when the door behind her shut without warning. There, of all people, was Najenda and Akame.

"Tatsumi is taking on a lot of risk, we're just making sure Ravel Phenex doesn't cause any trouble for him," Najenda said with a wide grin on her face. "Isn't that right, Ravel?" she asked, throwing the question at the Ravel sitting on the bed.

'Ravel' wasn't even looking at Najenda. She was staring straight at her. Those eyes pierced straight through her, making Ravel feel like all her layers were being peeled away.

"Do whatever it takes," 'Ravel' said, "If something happens to him because you screw up I'll drop a Pulsar on Agreas."

That voice! Ravel recognized it instantly. "Mine?" Ravel gasped in surprise.

"No," Lord Phenex said, "Mine is away on a training trip with Azazel. She won't be back for some time."

"Oto-san! What's—"

"Darian Itrude needs someone to help escort him around Agreas while he is there. Someone that knows the place. Which areas are safe and which are not. Someone that can… guide him and show him proper etiquette. Tatsumi had some… reservations about the only other possible option." Ravel didn't know what to make of the grin on her father's face. Her attention was drawn away as he held out a piece of identification. A sharp gasp escaped her throat as she read the name on it. Everything made sense now. "So, what say you, Illya Itrude? Do you wish to take your honey moon on Agreas?"

Her heart soared as she accepted the card. "Of course! I'll do whatever is required to ensure that my dearest's needs are met while in Agreas."

A soft hand fell upon her shoulder. Akame was there, her eyes somehow making her face look both soft and hard at the same time. "You are no longer Ravel Phenex. Everything that she was bound by, you no longer are. Do whatever is necessary. This can't be tied back to Night Raid."

"Of course!"

She wouldn't let Tatsumi-san down.

Author's Note: And that's it for this chapter! Let me know what you think. Next chapter is the infiltration of Agreas and all the deep undercover stuff! Will things go smoothly or will there be bumps along the road? Oh, and I ended up with Ravel to be his escort because, quite frankly, why use Lady Phenex when I can use an already well-established character that everyone likes? It still works, sort of, if you grease it up and use a sledgehammer to knock it into place, but it works.

Anyways, leave a review and let me know what you think! Next chapter – Agreas Infiltration!