A Light Among Darkness

by theLawbringer

Isaac Blackburn is the Vatican's top swordsmen and is sent to japan on a routine Exorcism to silence a group of fallen angels, little does he know that the seemingly normal task will turn out to be the biggest event in his life (Powerful OC, small harem) (strong/less perverted Issei)

11. The Hunt Begins: Part 6

"United we stand... Divided we fall."

~George pope Morris

-XxXxXxX-

"You..." muttered the surprised teen as his eyes remained locked on mine

Smirking calmly and remaining in my seat I waved my hand at the frozen Issei Hyoudou "Nice to see you again, Hyoudou"

Aside from my initial shock, I was, by this point, accepting who I was now conversing with, but from the others perspective I was the only one fully adjusted to the twist of fate... Xenovia was her usual stoic shocked while Irina seemed to find wording her confusion the best response

"Eh?" never said it was an intelligent response did I?

Then again this is one of those '1 in a million' moments, I'd expect a similar response from myself if this happened to me

"Wha-what are you doing here?" he asked

Just by reading him I could register apprehension and fear, apprehension was alright of an emotion but the fear part confused me, it wasn't visible to the others but I did sense fear in his emotions

Raising both my brows at his question I simply shrugged and pointed to Irina "we had some time to kill while we were here so my junior wanted to introduce me to her childhood friend" dropping my hand I then chuckled lightly "though I'm surprised, how the teen I helped from those bullies back then was actually her friend all along... Small world, right?" when I finished I spotted the recognition in his eyes, a small flash but I guess he spotted my obvious lie about the bullies, if his mom wasn't in the room I would have ignored covering for him but since miss innocence was present I had to take measures, and thankfully he noticed

"Right... small world" before Irina could start up Miss Hyoudou shot in

"Wait! You were being bullied!?" she asked in shock, dare I say I was extremely surprised the mother didn't shoot up and hug the kid because she barely bloody moved to check him, then again, the boy looked to be slightly more 'jacked' then when I first met him, and his eyes looked more sharp then the innocent newbie from before

Something's changed in him... and it's definitely not puberty

"Aye" I started with a foreign accent similar to a Scotsmen "I was here a few weeks back, probably mid way through last month when I came across him and a few of these older men" miss hyoudou looked back at me with a worried and questioning stare to which I waved my hands "nothing came of it really, just a flock of crows picking were they shouldn't" from behind miss hyoudou I spotted a crack of a smile grace his lips... ah-ha! He noticed

At least he noticed, the other two barely budged an inch

"You didn't get into a fight did you?" she asked turning to issei, to which he shook his head dismissively

"No" was all he said, Miss Hyoudou released a sigh at that before she looked at me

"Thank you for helping him" she said before bowing towards me

"No problem" I said in return

"Now then, I have dinner to get started so you four converse without me... you three have time for dinner?" she asked but I smiled sadly

"Unfortunately our schedule here is small and limited, we were lucky to find the time to drop by so we must decline the kind offer" I replied, miss hyoudou looked saddened but never the less kept her smile on before she smiled to Irina and vanished into the other room, once she was gone I quickly erected a sound barrier

And everything became quiet... for a moment

"Devil..." muttered Xenovia quietly, a small and light jab to her ribs from yours truly kept her crusader persona at bay, however, her light tone was heard easily, sometimes one can forget devils have adept hearing

"Yes, I'm glad you're observation skills are on point" replied issei, his voice wasn't as strained as before but now it was low and dangerous

"Easy, Hyoudou... I don't even have my sword on me yet your getting hostile" I said, still remaining in the chair

"You don't, but these two do" he replied before he locked his eyes on Xenovia, IE: the one who swings first and thinks later, very easy to notice since she looked on the verge of murder

"Settle down... Now" I said softly

As if I had an absolute command both Xenovia and issei froze, they didn't seem ready to brawl but any more seconds of inaction and I'd be cleaning up an easily avoided mess

"What- what was that?" muttered issei as he glanced down to his fist, his hands by simple view were shaking and his desire to cause a pointless ruckus was dashed quickly, like glass from a 10 foot drop

"I believe your instincts are the cause for that" I started before I stood up, without batting an eye I placed my hand on Xenovia's shoulder soothingly and the petrified expression on her face vanished "I have absolutely zero interest in angering nor fighting my future allies"

"Allies?" Issei asked, confused by my choice of words

"Yes, I'm sure everyone here understands the words definition?" I paused for added effect, nothing in reply, good "well, I'll answer your first question hyoudou" I started before I walked over to him and hovered my hand over his shoulder "the reason why we..." I stopped to point at both myself and the others "... are here is because we have an objective, one that places both myself and my allies on the same scale as you and your allies" when I finished issei simply developed a confused expression but I ignored it

"You may be confused but, in time – that being tomorrow – all of your questions will be answered, until then please keep your knowledge on us being here to you and your friend, we may have allied intentions but there's still room for us to become enemies" I informed calmly before I dropped my hand on his shoulder, and like Xenovia, Issei's shaken expression dropped all together

"Isaac, why are you explaining this to him... he's not involved is he?" question Irina, she had been quite for a good period.

Dropping my hand from the kids shoulder I simply smirked

"This is Gremory's 8 piece pawn and current wielder of the boosted gear, this generation's Sekiryuutei" I informed, Xenovia looked surprised while Irina looked the most shock

Pretty much a rinse and repeat from all the 'reactions' we have...

"You knew?" muttered issei

"I knew the minute you took down that fallen angel, power like that doesn't show itself on a whim and it definitely not a twice critical... its true power must've been unlocked while you were tussling with Raynare"

"Please don't mention that name" raising a brow at his defensive tone I sighed and continued

I'm surprised I even remembered that fallen's name

"Well, we'll take our leave now then" in a matter of seconds issei didn't even let me step past him before eyeing me angrily

"You really think I'm gonna lie to my master so easily? I have more loyalty for her then I do for you, so why do you think I'll listen" he said with anger

It's still amazes me how a few words can spark almost violent behavior in humans, especially the more willing

My thoughts drift on that thought as I held Xenovia's advance back with my right arm, an annoyed and disinterested expression on my tired face

Seeing as how I had been holding her back Xenovia quickly dropped her advance, why she continues to draw a fight when I made it clear I didn't want one begs a question I have no interest in finding

Rolling my shoulder I directed my annoyed expression towards issei whom actually looked a little Apprehensive, sighing for the umpteenth time today I dismissed my annoyance and explained myself

"This is not a matter of loyalty Hyoudou; it's a matter of who knows what and who doesn't... and I'm sure you can guess where we fall in that" I paused to see if I'd get a stupid retort but the kid seemed wise to refrain from doing so "now that you understand yours and our own position then it'd be wise of you to listen to the people who KNOWS what's coming and right now those people demand that you keep our whereabouts to. Your. Self" my words were much more forceful then usual but I had no choice

When dealing with people who don't see the bigger picture, its best to make them see it then tip toe around the subject lest they fall to it

"Can I ask why?" oh god, he didn't pick up the hint? Fine, I'll simplify things but the less he knows the better

"Our superiors have given us clearance on a large scale to ally with the devils in this territory, if we are going to fair well against our common enemy then cohesion between the two parties would benefit us both greatly, however, since the two parties are considered great enemies then I'm sure you can understand how thin a ice we are currently walking on, any ripples and you can forget the added benefit of teamwork, instead of fighting a two way war we'll being fighting a three way war" upon my simplified words issei adopted a understanding expression

"And I'm guessing you're not going to tell me this threat?" he asked calmly

Hold on, I was under the impression that we were the ones bringing the bad news but the kid seemed way to cool headed for someone who just learned they'd be invaded again... something's off

"No, the less you know of the threat the easier it'll be to keep yourself calm for tomorrow... everything will be explained then, understood?" upon my words Issei looked more on my side then before

To him I was a reclusive enigma, not known to him nor known to anyone else besides the two beside me, my strengths were summed up by the only thing physically visual that being my skill with a sword, anything was territory he had not seen yet, to him I was a danger and quickly siding with me was now much harder for him then it was a few weeks ago, and by his previous comment on loyalty to The Gremory heir had me thinking the young lady was making out a good first impression, demanding that much loyalty within a few weeks was admirable

Perhaps working alongside her would be an interesting experience...

After a few seconds Issei sighed "Alright, I think keeping your presents to myself for a few hours wouldn't hurt too much, however this better be worth it" he said calmly

"I wouldn't be keeping secrets if it wasn't hyoudou... your master by this point should be informed of the meeting, see you then" with that done I walked past issei and turned towards the door

However, before I could actually exit the door I glanced back and spotted a timid Asia, leaning against the door frame to the living room, glancing back to the room I noticed Irina conversing with issei for a second before I redirected my gaze onto hers

Smirking calmly at her I lazily saluted the young women, the sudden action helped Asia forget the previous mood, based upon her smile proved to confirm that

At the moment I had no time nor desire to address greetings with her without the others noticing, why I didn't want them to notice would be based on the fact that the both of them fall slightly down the church line of fanatic's, Irina may be kind and at times loving but that's only towards neutral non believers and obviously believers, heretics and 'witches' were on the other side of her list, while Xenovia had a crusader personality, one that held violence as the 'go to' for asserting ones beliefs on others, so saying the three would get along off the get go was far from what would really happen... and I was dreading what they'd say tomorrow about her

That was going to be another round of senior discipline I wasn't looking forward to

Nodding towards the girl I left the house, and thankfully the others did as well without making a fuss over Asia

"See ya tomorrow Ise!" called Irina in her energetic voice, a hand waving

The word awkward couldn't fully describe Hyoudou's expression; he must've expected a more 'serious' mood when meeting his childhood friend, as quick as the reunion was I was positive the boy noticed our large white church robes

I myself was expecting a far more silent mood from Irina, seeing as how Issei hyoudou was the second favorite topic she ever really spoke of rather than her first topic that being her church status, her being this flamboyant was surprising

Rather than say anything all Hyoudou did was wave in a less than enthusiastic manner, one that I kinda understood

'when you reunite with someone only to find them opposing you in some way, it's hard to find any kind of reaction other than a mute and blank response' I stopped to analyze my rather poetic thought while the door to Hyoudou's house was closed, leaving the three of us outside

"Well, that was surprising" I muttered quietly, upon wording my side of the past event Xenovia turned to me with a wide expression, rather than narrowed eyes Xenovia actually looked interested in whatever she was going to ask... and I had a feeling I knew what I was

"Isaac, I'd like to ask what exactly happened back there" came her questioning tone, Irina dropped her stare at the Hyoudou's residence and glanced back to Xenovia in confusion "what happened?" she added

Tilting my head I eyed her with equal confusion to Irina's "What do you mean?"

Xenovia's eyes narrowed slightly but she let it go quickly "back when you said those words, I felt a cold sensation wash over the room like a thick blanket, and after I felt fear..." as if the sheer memory was enough Xenovia seemed to become paralyzed like before

Well, it seems I can't lie my way outta this without it being obvious... might as well let 'em have a understanding

Sighing I confessed a small bit of confidential information, not too much, but enough to sate their curiosity "Words of persuasion..." I started, Xenovia and Irina locked their gazes onto mine, curiosity gazes mostly, my response was vague but that's all they'd get for now "you two aren't the only ones with gifts among the church and it so happens that the division you now serve under teaches those gifts"

The two looked convinced on my 'partial' lie; it was true my division taught advanced divine spells to its operatives however what I used was far to advanced to be associated as a mundane spell downgraded for human use

"So there's such a spell that forces fear into the hearts of others" Xenovia uttered before she placed her hand on her chin, a second later and she turned to Irina "Irina, did you feel the spells effects at all?"

The girl smirked before shaking her head "Nope, I did feel a pulse of energy but I didn't feel fear"

This caused Xenovia to adopted an even deeper expression of confusion but she didn't press the issue further, rather... she just held a look of contemplation on her face

Without thinking I snapped my fingers and a white magic circle encompassed our position, if I had actually thought before I acted I may have been more prepared for the sudden yelp from both the two female exorcists

-XxXxXxX-

Within the confines of the hotel penthouse a sudden swirl of white energy developed within the center of the living quarters before a white magic circle appeared and out came the three of us, a nanosecond later and the magic circle was gone

The two at my side suddenly widened their eyes at the sudden travel speed before they stumbled into the room, they had begun a walk prior to my activation while I remained stationary, movement before the travel process can have some disorientating effects upon arrival

"What the?" uttered Xenovia, her contemplative expression was gone and now replaced with surprise and even larger confusion, Irina simply stared forward in frozen surprise

"Oops, should have warned you I had a knack for using that..." I muttered in quick succession, the blueberry badass simply glared at me while Irina actually did the same thing... sheesh, note to self... never prank these two. Ever.

"At least warn us your gonna suddenly reveal another specialty of yours" Irina piped in after she picked herself up

"Roger that" I replied jokingly

"Was that another one of those 'division spells' you told us about?" questioned the interrogator Xenovia

"Yes" was my quick answer, I added in a tad bit of dismissive context just to show it was actually mundane... it really wasn't

"You'd have to teach us this sometime in the future... having an edge against whatever we face is always welcome to me"

"And also me!" Irina added energetically, a type of energy that seemed way to... off for what she had just gone through

Forgetting that for a second I replied "I'll give the word to the division's handler when we return, but until that time arrives I suggest equating with the tools you have at present" the two nodded before I continued "now, we have a meeting tomorrow with the devil kings of this territory, I don't want any sidetracks or outbursts" I looked at Xenovia "can I have your word that no matter what the devils say, you will remain on point?" I asked and Xenovia stiffened

"Yes, I'll remain at your side... however if things do become violent?" she said

"Don't worry you pretty little head about that Xenovia, Dulio is there to act as the deterrent, if by some dumb chance things grow way out of proportion then simply revealing him would detour their violent goals... he's far more well known then myself, so his face carries more seriousness then my own"

At my words Irina grew confused "why? I thought your reputation was also well known" she said to which I smirked

"The division I work under disavows all actions and connections to church operations, we are a single unit built as a contingent against both supernatural forces and extreme human forces, we are technically the blanket that covers the existence of the supernatural... in more modern terms we are considered 'black ops'" I revealed before I eyed Irina "the reason Dulio is more well known is mainly because he only works part time within the division, his skills are both requested by my superiors and the superiors in the Vatican"

"So does that mean we don't work for the Vatican anymore?" asked a timid Irina

"Within most cases yes, but others, no" I said causing a conflicted expression to land on both their faces, this caused me to sigh "you may not be truly known In the Vatican but that's only to the operatives of the Vatican IE: the ones on the 'need-to-know' basis, however to the upper echelon we are extremely well acknowledge... just not openly"

Again, they didn't seem to enthused

"Aside from that..." I started just too literally dive away from that conversation, the others seemed aware but I forced the subject to change anyway "I want tomorrow to go off without a hitch, so get your rest now... tomorrows gonna be stressful" the two picked up my finality and relinquished their persistence

But before I let them walk away I remembered I had one last thing to deal with tonight before we head out tomorrow

I had mentioned it before, how the event with issei was more shocking then a normal reunion, Irina's way of coping with mental stress of confusion was to hide behind a comforting exterior, smile, and cope... kinda like the saying 'stay calm and strive on' but it still stood as a form of mental baggage, something I didn't want Irina to be thinking about during our meeting with the devils

"Irina" I called out before she could vanish into her's and Xenovia's room, Xenovia stopped to see what it was but quickly understood what I was most likely doing

"Huh? What is it Isaac?"

I ignored her question and instead placed my hand on her head, confusing her further "W-what's this about?"

"Are you alright?" I asked suddenly which Irina simply looked at me confusedly in response

"Y-yeah, I'm fine" she said, I could make out a small blush by the physical contact

"You can't hide it from me Irina, normally you call me 'senpai' but when you call me by my name it means you're something far from just 'fine" I revealed, I got no answer

For a moment I simply pet the girls head, I had a thing for small amounts of physical contact via hand on head for reasons I just tossed under instinct a father would have in consoling a distressed son or daughter (shut up), however I didn't see Irina as a daughter but a friend... weather she showed it or not I knew full well she wasn't in her 'comfort zone'

For a minute I was silent but I cut the silence a moment later

"You feel conflicted don't you?" I started

"Heheh, you have no idea... it's not every day you learn a close person from your past is now someone totally different" she said with a normal tone, though it sounded somewhat lost

Oh how I missed Griselda right now, her specialty was right before me, consoling those who are lost and confused was always her skill while I swung first and consoled later

"I wouldn't fully say he's different... sure he's a devil but I felt no malicious intent other than that anger but something tells me it wasn't evil hatred but rather protective anger"

"Huh? Protective anger?"

I dropped my hand from her head before I plopped down on the couch and soon to be bed before I continued "think of a wolf and his den... normally wolves avoid humans on sight because they know we're dangerous so they flee, however if we were inside their den, then the 'their more afraid of you then you are of them' saying is forgotten, they'll fight and die to protect their home, even if it's against something they fear"

"Why are you basing issei off of an animal?"

"I'm not basing him after an animal more then I'm basing him after their instincts... wolves have the purist and most understanding instincts than any other animal, and they even relate to human behavior in some ways to, protection being one of them" I explained before I relocked my gaze onto Irina's

"We were in Issei's house –his den – and by his actions and tone we were seen more of a threat then a shock"

"Anyways Irina, your emotions right now is based on simple shock and slight confusion... I'm sure deep down issei is still who you remember him to be, from what we both know... reincarnation Via 'evil piece' is more of a physical transformation then mental, he should still be himself"

Irina looked confused "how so?"

"You noticed his friend right? The blonde girl he was shielding back at his house?" I asked to which she nodded in return "I noticed but I didn't get any complete details, why?"

I scratched my chin before I pressed on, I was treading into rogue territory right now and both Irina and Xenovia can be a tad bit, shall we go with 'fanatical' in their way of handling heretics

They may be betrayers but a lot of them have a reason... some so are not exactly voluntary

"Her name is Asia Argento... The previous holy maiden who served the Vatican a year back before she was... excommunicated" I revealed, Irina's eyes widened

"You mean the witch that was –" she stopped when she undoubtedly spotting my hand clenching dangerously on the couches arm rest

"I believe we have evolved from those... terms" I said lowly, Irina looked extremely unaware of the emotional landmine she had stepped on and quickly acted to defuse it

"Sorry" was all she said before she went silent

I absolutely hated that history in human culture, the fanatical and arrogant mind set of humans astonishes me on how they think they can judge when they have Zero right to... a lot of innocent people died because of those heathens who so called believed children or women were witches... under assumption... young and innocent people burned because of their actions

"Senpai?" asked a meek and slightly afraid Irina which shattered me from my deep hated thoughts

"Anyways..." I started so to get back on track "back when I was here I had run into Asia along the way, or rather she ran into Hyoudou. The two hit it off just fine but it wasn't until I learned of the fallen's goals that involved her life being in jeopardy did I start to glue things together... their goal was the removal of her sacred gear 'twilight healing' a gear that heals all sentient life" I explained

Before Irina could pipe in I pressed on to the point "the point I'm reaching for here is this, at some point or rather hyoudou learned of her excommunication from Asia... he didn't like it... it came down to the point that his thoughts believed my presents was the eradication of every rogue and fallen in the city, including Asia"

"What did he do?" Irina asked

"What a good man would always do... protect those who are innocent. Sure Hyoudou's now an official devil but he isn't really a spawn of hell that's every thought and desire is a sin, the only thing registering him as a devil is his physical changes, nothing else"

When I finished Irina nodded before she fell silent again

"Hey" I called catching her attention again "this reunion wasn't exactly what you really wanted right? So how about after the meeting tomorrow you try and have a real conversation with him" I suggested, for a second I saw hope in her eyes before doubt replaced it

"What if things go wrong... what if – *bonk*

The girl was interrupted by a soft bonk to the head courtesy of my karate chop

"Ow... why'd you hit me?" whined Irina with little tear drops built up in the corner of her eyes

I ignored her gripe and pressed onto my point "thoughts like that create negative energy, all the 'what ifs' in the world can't predict the future, all they do is make waiting even more unbearable... so stop worrying and think of the positives" I said causing Irina to stare at me a few seconds and it got uncomfortable

"Irina... your staring" I muttered, in a rather cute manner Irina blushed and looked away quickly all the while muttering a timid 'sorry'

Choosing my actions I quickly got up and pat the girls head "well, I hope you understand now Irina" she could try as hard as she wanted but that extreme blush couldn't be hidden, I'm sure those in space could see it

"Heheh... you're blushing" I pointed out in a chuckle before I poked her shoulder teasingly

All she did was blush even more, ok I better stop before she bursts

I tapped her head gently "you should hit the sack, you've got a reunion to deal with tomorrow remember?" the girl picked up my words and quickly looked up to me, probably surprised that I dropped my teasing, she didn't say a word but I gestured with a jerk of my head for her to skedaddle to her room

And I swear I felt a million years older in doing so

It took a few minutes but Irina was in her room, I noticed the sleeping Xenovia before the door was shut leaving me smiling in satisfaction, she did word her relief but I could tell I did the trick, a little 'peak' and I knew I helped her

Pouring the hot water into the coffee mug I prepared a single cup of tea for myself, I had late night planning to do and some sword cleaning to deal with as well

Can't let the ol blade grow rusty can I?

Oh wait there's a rust mark... damn it

-2 day before Issei's second major encounter with Isaac Blackburn/ shopping district/ 3 minutes after completing stray devil contract/ 1:20am-

Due to the level of destruction caused by the stray devil encounter Rias, as well as her whole peerage oversaw all repairs dealt by the stray's rampage, they even double checked for any survivors, human or inhuman, however no survivors were found

"Lady Rias, we've searched the whole shopping district and the districts in proximity and can't confirm any devil signatures in the area" reported a devil lieutenant

"Thank you, please continue with the repairs then" replied the red headed Gremory, the lieutenant nodded before redirecting his men to clean up duty

The reason the small devil platoon was dispatched was mainly a cover up crew sent to erase all supernatural evidence and reconstruct the scene to look completely untouched by their battle, hard in concept but so is explaining magic

In almost an hour, the previously destroyed shopping district was back to its original shape and all of the dead humans were covered with various innocuous stories Rias didn't want to think about

They had died by the hand of an experimental virus – the main and only story Rias could divulge, a simple case of stray devil evolution, nothing truly new

So to speak..

Currently the Gremory peerage were strewn about, Akeno and Rias were handing out small orders while Kiba and Koneko sat by a medical tent that housed two individuals

Issei hyoudou sat on a fold out bench with a few bandages on his stomach and an arm brace holding his left arm up, he hadn't noticed but it was dislocated in the battle, he only noticed when the physician popped it back in... Without his knowledge

The kid rubbed his sore arm muscles at the unpleasant memory while Asia sat across from him, she was ruled out to have suffered minor shock during the fray, the doctor explained to Issei that the conflict was most likely too much for her to handle so she froze

A little relaxing would heal her quickly

It caused a form of relief to fall over him, when he witnessed Malthus raise his sword to Asia he felt... really motivated and even felt himself understand the feeling when he thought on it and soon after issei fell back into a personal silence

The medical tent was silent of its two occupants while the one doctor worked on his own paper work

Kiba and Koneko sat adjacent from each other as they waited outside the medical tent, the two each in their own thought

Aside from the two, most of the devil forces questioned amongst themselves what could have caused the whole team to grow so silent, the Gremory peerage was currently on the top of the most well talked about peerage, how they mustered the power to overcome the mighty Riser Phenex was probably the signal most talked about thing besides their own lives

But here they all sat – minus their master and second in command – perfectly silent and still... shell shocked

What could have caused the 'Phenex crushers' to adopt such depressed expressions?

Their mutual questions were unanswered due to their duties, whatever it was they were probably not cleared to hear it... nor ask for it

Just clean the human district and go home... simple job, no need to complicate it more

With that in mind the few who dwelled on the topic quickly dropped it and carried on with cleaning and remolding

-XxXxXxX-

Rias couldn't really find an emotion at the moment; all she could do was go through the motions, direct the cleaning team and inform of possible survivor hot spots – a job proving pointless at the time – all they found was mangled body after mangled body, either crushed by debris or mauled by the demons ghouls

Rias could honestly say if she was a simple foot soldier then the sight of the dead would have caused her to puke by this point but she remained numb, her anger to the demon was enough to keep her head leveled

And directly beside her was Akeno who followed by with supplying added support with magical barrier assistance, she expended it all during the last of the fight but she only just got off her break in duties, so her reveres were refreshed enough, she wouldn't feel like a second in command if she left Rias to deal with this by herself so there she was, adding her share of energy to the massive barrier around the district

From among the medium sized red military tent came a single young devil that jogged at a mild pace towards the red headed devil overseeing the repairs

"Lady Rias you have a private call waiting for you" he said forcing Rias to turn to him in recognition, she knew who it was, nodding to the young man she then turned to Akeno and smiled to her in a almost pained manner, something immediately picked up by her second in command who did the same thing

Walking towards the tent Rias prepared for her obvious debriefing, normally it was the duke who debriefed her but for some reason or another she just knew by gut instinct that her brother was calling on a private channel

When she entered the tent and walked pasted the many stares the young devils gave her she was handed a crystal ball by the commanding officer in the command tent

"The other room is vacant for the debriefing malady" advised the scarred devil officer, nodding towards him Rias walked past the man and entered the empty room before she sensed a sound barrier open up behind her

When she felt ready Rias answered the held call by pulsing her devil energy into the crystal, and quickly the crystal produced a full holographic image of her brother, his noble clothes were gone and instead replaced with casual noble clothing of various cultural backgrounds, his expression was calm but his following tone wasn't... her brother had a skill for that

"Hello Rias, I'm happy to see you're in good health" he said in kind greeting, placing the orb on a table beside her Rias placed it down before she turned back to her brother

"Yes, thank you for your concern brother but I'm fully aware on why you're handling my debriefing, so can we just get on with it?" replied Rias, she didn't feel her brothers tone was good for her current mood, he normally drove her nuts on a constant basis but right now she was fuming and the light tone her brother was using was damn close to nails on the chock board

"Observant as always"

'It's not hard to notice' growled Rias internally; her open response however was a blank stare that basically presented impatience and annoyance

"67 confirmed dead and 23 confirmed missing, 20 of which casualties are relatives and family members, that is just an estimate of how many human lives lost to the greed of one uncontrollable stray, forgive me of my rudeness brother but I'm not in the mood for fooling around" Rias didn't want to snap but something in her head just said 'fuck it' maybe now her brother would drop his damn smirk

And in response to her report, it did

"I didn't think it would be that many lost" muttered Sirzechs lowly

"Wait, you weren't informed of this before calling?" added Rias, her tone was less snappy but Sirzechs could tell she really wasn't in the mood

"I was informed of troop deployments to your territory and I was also given information on a stray devil located there, later reports informed me that it was much larger and dangerous than the others... so I confess, I called in worry, the last time we deployed troops to the human realm a civil war was ignited shortly after"

Rias liked his confession but she expected it, so it didn't really affect her to much however her fists clenched at his other words and Sirzechs noticed

"Your angry" he informed seriously

"I could wring a strays throat and not lose a shade in color... I'm far from angry" Sirzechs could see it, his sister was growing at a fast rate but he noticed something odd

Walking towards his sister he placed his hand on his sisters shoulder, he may 'look' holographic but devil magic was far more advanced than human understanding so somewhere down the line of movement and the crystal registered the physical contact and upon contact Rias felt the similar sensation of her brothers hand upon her shoulder and with it followed his monstrous power

She felt herself stiffen when the massive pressure washed over her; it felt like it was scanning her as well as healing her, all her rigid bones and muscles relaxed while Sirzechs did something else

It had been bothering him since the rating game but since then he had noticed small changes in his sister, one of the most influential changes being right now, Rias had said she could kill without changing a shade but unfortunately she didn't have a mirror in front of her to notice her eyes had shifted from her usual teal to blood red

It disturbed Sirzechs that when he made contact with his sister her previous teal eyes went back to red the minute he touched her, testing something the maou Lucifer let go of his sister

And his assumption was correct, when he let go of his sister her eyes went back to normal, giving a go to a second test Lucifer placed his hand back only to see her eyes change back to red

With his testing down Sirzechs stepped back slowly and glanced down to his right hand

"What is it?" asked Rias, she was confused by her brothers actions but for some reason she also felt fear, she had been lying but she forgot about the holograms abilities to completely bring the image and power of an individual without truly bringing them to the location

Had he noticed the demonic energy residue on her? She was sure that after that battle all of them would have a good level of 'demonic radiation'

"Nothing, I just... never mind, we'll talk about that later but in the mean time I want you to continue your duties in the human world, I've already canceled your celebratory party for a later date due to this incident, so there's no need to worry about it while you secure the city" Rias was confused by her brothers response, she was absolutely certain her brother would have picked up the demonic residue but that reaction wasn't fitting for a 'siscon' Satan

She was expecting to be hustled to a decontamination ceremony but so far she was standing idle in confusion, but her confusion sprouted into words after her brother's final words

"Secure the city? Why? All devil energy signatures in the city are mine, my peerage and Sona's, there's no threat in the city that we haven't dealt with yet" she said in confusion

"Think of it as an immunization sweep, I was informed of the small 'ghouls' you encountered along with the strangely mutated stray, and most of the reports suggest a hive mind connection between the two was most viable, who knows if the stray was able to abort a handful of ghouls into the city to start a second outbreak, I won't be satisfied until every square inch of Kouh city is clean, understood?" commanded Sirzechs seriously

For a second Rias considered his words and thought of the many truths his words carried, hive minds and ghouls was a common thing some Youkai monsters used when they didn't have a pack of their own kind to order around, and fail safes usually followed the retreat order to some of its ghouls... as much as she doubted the enraged beast had the brains to think of that when it had a lightning bolt drill itself into its skull she also believed it had done it long before their battle with it commenced

However she had to remember all that was, was a simple test of that demons

And by the sound of his words, he was the one to mutate the stray, meaning creating ghouls was probably child's play for him, if he wanted to then all of kouh would've been consumed in a almost fictitious apocalypse by now

And by whatever reason, it wasn't... still didn't mean it wasn't a possibility

"I understand brother, once we erase our involvement here, me and my peerage will commence a sweep of the city starting tomorrow morning" replied Rias after a moment, however, instead of smiling Sirzechs simply shook his head

"As much as I like you cooperating I would also like Sona's involvement with the hunt, more bodies more ground covered, I've already spoken to her sister on the matter first hand and she agreed... under heavy worry mind you" once he finished the subject changed

"Anyways, what is the condition of the stray devil?" asked Sirzechs who sent Rias for a loop

"Uh?... it's dead, what other condition does it have after that?" Rias asked sarcastically but her brother simply kept a thousand yard stare directed onto her hinting the reply wasn't substantial

"Its condition on the outside is considerably intact – minus the third degree burns on its upper torso – it's fine, however its internal organs have all ruptured if not completely liquidized, including its brain and heart" reported Rias with heavy suspicion

"What about its bone structure? Is that still intact?"

"Y-yes, it suffered only lacerations and heavy burns but its bone structure was almost impenetrable with heavy trauma, not even issei could break its bones" with every pressing question Rias grew more and more confused

"Brother, pardon my asking but –"

"A division working under Ajuka Beelzebub wishes its corpse to be confiscated to him for further study, sorry for the sudden questions but my guests time was growing thin so I needed the answers to supply him with information on what equipment to prepare" interrupted Sirzechs

"Study? Why? I thought stray devil evolution was all documented by now, so why study what you already know?" upon her question Rias didn't notice the rigid and serious expression rise on her brother within seconds of her questioning

He sighed before he took a moment to contemplate his response, weather he liked it or not this was a 'need to know' basis, but for unfortunate reasons his sister was in that particular category due to her based in kouh, if he wanted her prepared for anything then he'd tell her... the twist would be surprising to her

"*sigh* it's been almost 10 centuries since an incident like this occurred, the most recent occurrence on earth was 669 years ago, in Europe that what humans called 'The Black Death". It consumed 200 million human souls in its wake until its 'sudden disappearance' 7 years later, it wasn't seen on earth until today, at the very spot that which you stand now"

The words Sirzechs spoke brought on a few disturbing topics in her head, ones that which she didn't like thinking about... she had attended history class – obviously – and the class on the black death wasn't mostly focused on it but rather pandemic's of history, the teacher however did go into detail when a fellow student of hers asked about it since it did bring about a slew of 'hoo's and awes' when the teacher said it suddenly disappeared into thin air seven years later from its appearance, such a subject she had almost fallen asleep on

Human conspiracy theories amused her to some degree but she had almost fallen immediately asleep when a male student said 'it must've been a zombie outbreak' to which the subject dropped in interest and her sleep became more interesting... the rest of the class fell on deaf ears

"So that means the Great War did effect the humans at some point right?"

Sirzechs cocked his head to the side and rubbed his neck, Rias had been adamant on his past since he was a few millennia older than his sister and that meant he was 'in the trenches' long ago, she had questioned both him and his wife Grayfia hundreds of times but his mother always said it was a touchy subject

And indeed it was

"In spurts, it was... from the beginning the war almost sent the human race to the brink of extinction but then it was brought to a halt by the heavenly dragons who cut our numbers in two, I don't know what or who stopped the two dragons from literally destroying the earth but all I know after that is that we lost 2 demon kings that day, and I think the angels lost one as well... but that was the most violent time, after that the war only reached the humans in rare occurrences, but one such occurrence happed in Europe, involving an ambitious demon and a deadly pathogen" Rias had noticed her brother had delved into a story teller mode so she didn't dare stop him

She was only listening when after the mention of a demon did she finally find the motivation to press a matter

"This demon that attacked Europe, did he have a name?" she asked

Sirzechs shrugged his shoulders "If he did then I don't think I was cleared for that kind of information, I was only a foot soldier then, but I do know a handful of angels and an archangel were the ones to topple the demons ambitions, and after that he vanished" he explained

"Now..." started Sirzechs "back in the time of 1300's medicine was only primitive to the medicine humans have today, by simple guess I could fathom this infection has a more potent strain then its original state 600 years ago... Ajuka wishes to confirm that, in case an occurrence such as this happens a second time I wish to have a countermeasure developed"

Rias nodded at her brothers words, it was obvious he'd delve into this occurrence personally; as much as it seemed mundane it was by now very important

Rias' gut dropped further then it had before

She had fought a demon of unprecedented power, who could create a mutated stray and ghouls on a whim if need be... now she was lying to her brothers face about vital Intel on a coming storm

She felt sick, but she didn't dare show it

"So, is that all you need of me? My peerage has sustained two injuries and I wish to check on them" Rias asked

Sirzechs nodded "of course but I still have one question" he said before he was handed a piece of paper from an outside source, he looked down to it before he stopped and looked back to her

"From other known reports, I've heard the stray was merged with a weapon, I believe it was summarized as a cannon of some kind, care to explain that part?" he asked with his normal smile

Rias looked at him for a second before she straightened herself "Of course, when we finished dealing with the ghouls in the city we engaged the stray who possessed a cannon like weapon, I'm guessing it was a sacred gear due to its unnatural firing process" she explained, she had chosen to reveal her knowledge of it being a sacred gear because he'd find that out soon enough, no real need to play dumb

"Unnatural firing process?" he asked thus hinting her to explain

"It absorbed biological energy when it commenced its firing process, it can absorb 3 of the four elements that being gas, liquids and plasma... we learned it couldn't absorb solids so we used that against him, took its arm off easy" explained the red head devil with a small semblance to pride

Sirzechs in return smirked in a small burst of pride as well before he dropped it "interesting, then the stray must've possessed a sacred gear of low caliber, though I've never heard of a cannon type sacred gear"

"Neither have I, but by this point my mind is open to possibilities"

"A wise decision Rias, thank you for this information, you can attended to your peerage now" with his small farewell completed the image of the maou flickered off leaving Rias in a much more dim tent room

Lowering her head Rias felt a sigh build up in her chest, lie after lie she felt more and more terrible with each word she spoke but her resolve kept telling her to drop the feeling and carry on... she'd find a way around that demons order

She remembered Issei had a dislocated shoulder and Asia was in shock, it would have faded by now but physiological trauma can leave scars

Leaving the tent Rias spotted a crew of devil soldiers working on transport for the stray devils body, if the sight didn't remind her of the battle then the futile attempts to lift the strays massive body would be one for a comedic viewing

Too bad it really wasn't

Turning away from the hulking corpse Rias tread towards the medical tent only to see the boy she was looking for step out of it, left arm held in a sling

She was glad to see her pawn in a well enough state to walk, then again it was only his arm that was injured but him being let go from the medical ward was a sign of fast healing

Rias remembered they had new orders from the maou himself so dealing out those orders now then later when she was actually awake made more sense than waiting, and it seemed fate was agreeing with her because a second later and Akeno was standing among them, however Asia was still inside the medical tent

"Buchou, how did the debriefing go?" came a sudden feminine voice, a second and she knew it was Akeno's; her sudden question caught her from her internal thoughts

"It went by just fine, however we have new orders, ones given by the maou Lucifer himself" she announced, if the peerage didn't know they were siblings then a few gasps would have been heard but they all seemed unmoved, the notion caught their undivided attention but that was all

"Maou-sama has orders for us? What kind of orders?" Kiba piped in asking the mutual question

"Nothing truly worth worry over, he ordered our peerage and Sona's to patrol the city for any surviving ghouls that can reproduce a similar strain such as this one" she explained seriously

"The maou suspects the stray released a handful of ghouls into the city, now he wants to make sure it doesn't happen again, seems legit to me" added Issei whom stood to the right of the medical door

Rias looked at him "it is... How's your arm?" she asked causing the boy to look down to it

"Just a sore muscle and a bruised shoulder blade, the doctor said to keep movement on the DL for a few days, but I think Asia won't let this go for more than an hour" he said nonchalantly, Kiba cracked a smirk at Issei's words

"Try not to be so reckless next time then, and maybe you won't be calling out to Asia for help" said the blonde while he slapped the other teen's right shoulder, the sudden jolt in movement force issei to recoil on instinct

"Hey! That recklessness helped, didn't it? And I'm not always calling out for Asia's help... maybe" replied Issei and this time Akeno giggled at the banter between the two males

"Even so, you did help in defeating the stray Ise" added Rias who crossed her arms over her chest

Issei looked to her only to see her smile but very quickly, it dropped "anyways, how is Asia doing?" she asked

Issei nodded, a serious expression developing on his features "she's stable, the doctor recommended a good time off from devil duties, about 2 days worth"

Rias nodded "2 day rehabilitation period" she said more to herself then anything

Before the Gremory peerage could do anything a devil officer approached Rias "Lady Rias, all of our duties are complete and all evidence of our involvement has been erased" reported the officer

Again, the red headed devil nodded "Thank you lieutenant, my thanks to you and your men for your duties" she said and the officer bowed

"My pleasure malady" was his reply before he nodded to the peerage and walked back to the massive devil circle, a bright flash of red light and the personal guard of the Gremory family was gone, leaving an untouched shopping district to fall into view

"I must ask, did the devils build Rome in a day or did chuck Norris do it?" asked Issei jokingly, only Kiba snickered

"Good question" he said

"Akeno, can you take these three back to the club room?" asked Rias gesturing to the three devils

"Sure" with a nod Akeno turned to the three and summoned a quick devil circle to encompass the four, Rias watched as the four before her vanished

With a sigh Rias turned from the previous spot her peerage was and walked into the now desolate medical tent, it was mainly built around timed devil particles meaning the whole tent as well as everything inside of it would dissipate within a selected time frame, it made traveling in large military conveys easy and fast

Ignoring the fleeting memory of what she was walking into Rias stepped in to find Asia sitting on the edge of her medical bed, she normally held a kind smile but this time she had a far off expression, one that seemed to reflect on past events

But upon her entrance Asia looked up quickly only to lock gazes with Rias' worried expression

"Buchou?" she asked in confusion

Ignoring the instinctual question Rias asked her own question "How are you feeling Asia?"

"Oh, um? I'm fine" came the timid and quiet response from the former nun

With her head aimed down Asia didn't notice the red heads approach until she felt a pair of arms wrap around her head, for a good second Asia remained stationary for obvious reasons, the tight hug Rias had on her left her movements severely restricted

"Buchou?" came the same questioning she had asked before but instead of sounding surprised she now sounded confused by her leaders actions

Why was she hugging her?

Her confusion remained unanswered for a second before Rias pulled away from contact showing Asia a happy expression on her master's expression, thus increasing her confusion further

All Asia could do in her confusion was stare, stare deep into the eyes of her master who for unknown reasons to her, seemed so happy and it bugged the young girl why it didn't make sense to her

Did someone say something kind to her outside? Did something really good happen?

Along all of those thoughts Asia kept trying to pinpoint the main cause for her master's apparent joy... wait?

It wasn't joy she was seeing, only part of the main emotion... was it, thankful joy?

The thought brought a small semblance of acknowledgement to the former nuns face but before she could act on her realization her master noticed she was confused

"I'm sorry for confusing you Asia... but I've been meaning to thank you" started the red haired devil whom showed a side Asia was quiet uncomfortable to see, sure she came off ignorant allot but her common sense was still present... just took a moment to fully kick in

But now she was fully aware of what Rias' emotion was, that being, gratification... she was shocked to see the emotion a second time, the first being Issei's victory over Riser but right now it didn't reach her just yet

Pondering on what she was thankful for only sprung up more questions, therefore Asia decided to word her question outwardly "Thank me for what?" she asked in her usual timid manner

The question only caused Rias to envelop her into another tight hug "it may be a hard subject but what you did... back there... I'm grateful" the soft whisper of Rias' voice was muffled but Asia could hear the genuine words clearly

"Um..." unable to respond to the words of gratitude Asia simply wrapped her own arms around her master and hugged her back, seemed only natural to reciprocate a hug

A few seconds and the second hug was broken and Asia could see her master's previous expression was now fully recovered, she didn't have a serious expression on just that she seemed more at ease

"With all of the work I needed to do I had to save my thanks until later" started Rias before she stood up and sighed "anyways, how are you feeling?"

"Thanks for asking but I think I'm fine now" replied the blonde before she sighed as well, Rias in return simply smirked

"Just a little shell shocked is all?" a single nod confirmed her words

"Well, remember what I said about sulking?" she asked, her tone wasn't soft but seemed to return to her past drill instructor tone, but this time it wasn't harsh and demanding but it only stood to remind her a lesson they all went through back in training

The past is your lesson, the present is your gift, and your future is your motivation

With a small look of realization Asia found herself feeling a smirk rise to her lips, the lesson was almost grained into her brain, not that she had been beaten down like the others but, she just found herself relating to the little quote more so personally then the others

In a small sense she saw her own life in those few words and she even saw herself, smiling as she went through so many hardships, why was she low now when she had almost stared death in the face so many times previously? Nothing was different

'So why should I dwell on them now?' thought the young women

"You remember now?" asked Rias in a fake commanding tone, Asia wasn't able to see her small smile but Rias was in fact smiling

She was feeling out Asia's devil energy from when it was low and now to its peak, in normal standards it was subpar but to see her back made Rias feel like she had paid a small debt back to her unsuspecting savior

"Yes, I remember buchou"

Rias titled her head "then why are you still sitting down?" upon asking the question Asia looked up towards Rias, a lone tear developing in her right eye

Rias had noticed the tear and simply lifted a teasing smirk towards the blonde "and remember what I said about crying?" she added causing Asia to blink, lucky for her the tear was batted away by said blink of confusion

"Huh?" she asked

"On nothing" Rias waved off nonchalantly... Asia was still confused

Dropping the mood Rias extended a hand down to Asia and smiled down to her kindly "now, I believe we have club activities to handle... Shall we?"

With a soft smile Asia lifted her hand and grabbed Rias' who pulled her to her feet "the others should've been dismissed by now" she said

"Hai" replied Asia before a red magic circle developed around them and relocated them in the club room

When they returned to the club room all that occupied the room was the Gremory queen whom had two cups of fully prepared tea sitting on the desk in front of them

"My my, you two took some time to yourselves" teased Akeno, her usual tone of teasing seemed less merciless then what she used against issei

"I was just helping my junior" replied Rias normally before she looked to Asia "do you want me to walk you home Asia?" she asked but the blonde quickly shook her head, too much kindness

"N-no, thank you for the offer though" she replied before Rias quickly replied

"We'll its well past midnight so I'm not going to let you walk home alone, Akeno can you prepare a magic circle for Asia?" upon being asked Akeno smiled and nodded before she walked over and summoned a circle for the blonde

She seemed confused but Rias nipped her confusion in the bud "when I first had Issei do flyers he was attacked twice in a week, and saved twice in a week" her last words were muttered only to herself but she continued before Asia picked that up, Akeno already had noticed "I'm not about to let that happen again"

With a small smile Asia smiled and nodded "ok, see you tomorrow then" she said kindly, Akeno smiled her usual smile, eyes closed and slight smile, while Rias smiled to her normally

Red flash and the two were alone

"My, my Rias, you've become quiet the leader" muttered Akeno with that smile of her's still fully equipped, her flattering words however were simply ignored

As soon as Asia was visibly gone from the room Rias' calm and soft smile was vacant, a scowl now adored her expression with a deep reading of malice laced in her eyes

The wordless response she received in return for her compliment forced Akeno to look to her master only to see her foul expression staring at the spot her new bishop was previously standing

"Rias? What's the matter?" asked the confused Gremory queen

Rias was well aware of her queens confusion and she wanted to quell her friends confusion but she was beaming with so much anger it was hard to even consider it, the feeling was sudden and unrelenting and she found herself lost in her emotions

Last night she had come close to breaking apart at the seams due to an illusion of sorts, she had heard the screams of her peerage as they were killed one by one over her comm's channel, they're screams echoed in her head like an unwanted memory breaking through the mental filters

Then came the words of the demon, it pretty much asked her to play by his rules while using petty threats to cue her into submission and she sadly ablidged by sheer instinct

Perhaps it was fear that helped her along that unwanted path? Rias was certain that was the cause

Then her anger almost skyrocket when the image of Asia's brave feat almost cost her life, the anger she felt wasn't mainly on Malthus but more to her own uselessness, she had been frozen by fear while her peerage remained moving

A true leader never freezes

She had not been taught what a true leader was to actually be but she considered the subject strictly centered to personal preference and hers was more demanding on her part

She had frozen, and that almost cost her peerage a valuable teammate

Her right hand clenched tightly at a memory

Back before they had gone to the district she had promised to keep Asia protected while issei did his pawn duties, it was a system they had devised during the 'crimson week', Issei's abilities demanded he be on the frontlines instead of medic protection

Not only did she promise him but also Asia that she'd do her best to fulfill her promise to both of them

Had Malthus' swing been any faster than not only would she have lost Asia to her weakness but she'd have also lost Issei's trust in her abilities to her inactivity

If she wanted to be her ideal leader then she'd need to make sure fear was the last thing she'd even feel on the battlefield

A leader was to be the fixed point, the first to enter battle and the last to leave it, she was to stand as an ideal figure to her peerage in a positive manner, not a negative example

"Rias?" a small voice came out and this time she looked towards it

Akeno was standing to her right side, a serious expression laced itself on her face but the red headed devil could tell it was forced, she sounded small and meek, as if terrified of something

"What is it Akeno?" she asked calmly, a tone vastly dwarfed by her expression

"Are you alright?" asked the Gremory queen, her tone again seemed scared and small

"I feel fine Akeno but why are you so scared?" asked the red head before she turned to her queen, upon moving towards her Akeno seemed to recoil back forcing Rias to pause and narrow her eyes in confusion "Akeno?"

Now it seemed Akeno had seen something which caused her to widen her eyes

"Akeno? What's going on? I'm confused" asked Rias a little bit more normally then usually, things had changed drastically since her return to the occult research club but things didn't get weird until she got angry

Rias paused 'wait a minute?' she thought before she slowly glanced down to her hand

?!

Rias' eyes widened when she saw her hand almost completely covered in bright red energy, it was tame enough to see her hands but the fact she was caked in red energy confused her greatly, when had she unleashed her power of destruction?

If memory served well, she hadn't even thought of unleashing it and it seemed to her it unleashed itself

A shiver crawled up her spine when that thought past her mind, there was no record in history that told of living devil magic, it was inherited and collected through family bloodlines, it didn't awaken itself, the user woke it on his/her own accord

But this... this was completely different

She had deduced its unleashing probably started when she felt that anger from before, the situation had helped her forget most of the anger but it still reverberated in her head

Closing her eyes Rias focused on closing the open flood gates of power – a training scheme she used to help in keeping her power in check – a few seconds later and a weight she hadn't noticed fell off her shoulders

When Rias opened her eyes Akeno was seen standing before her, a confused and relieved expression on her eyes while her mouth was covered by her hand

What the hell was that?

"What was that?" asked Akeno, her tone was normal again which seemed to relieve Rias a good portion

For a minute Rias tried to respond but she felt a weight return... devil energy expenditure fatigue, she had used a high volume of devil magic in a short burst, and by how tired she felt it was way more then she had in her reserves

Rias dropped to a knee in response

Seeing her master drop to a knee sent her in action, after standard procedure (calling out her name) Akeno rushed to her master's side only to see Rias was close to passing out

The devil magic she had released just minutes ago was unnatural and completely random, she had developed a deep brooding expression before a colossal level of devil magic skyrocket from her being

It was so monstrous Akeno had almost shrunken away in primal fear, it was either by sheer stupidity or bravery that had kept her from running and thankfully she had not run, the amount of magic Rias had expended had thrown her into devil energy expenditure fatigue

"Sorry... about that" muttered Rias weakly, Akeno looked down into her arms to see Rias was barely holding to consciousness

"Don't worry about it Rias, you need rest now or you may develop severe internal damage" advised Akeno seriously, it seemed Rias was in full agreement to her words because just as soon as she replied the red head had passed out

Akeno sighed deeply when she noticed her master had fallen asleep, whatever happened to her must've forced open a large portion of her reserves in rapid succession, even Rias wasn't aware of it until she looked at her hands, Akeno was at first curtain it was all on her but her masters confusion as well as the repaid rise in her devil magic told her it really wasn't

She was taught by Rias' mother and Sirzechs servants on almost all of the devil magic in hell but what didn't come up was forceful reserve opening, IE: devil magic literally forcing open ones magic reserves by the seams, it was possible for those who had small control with large portions of power but there were only four of those in hell and bringing this to their attention right after facing a demon was a big no – no

Rias had specifically ordered them that telling any of the Satan's of the demons involvement in the stray battle would need to wait until the situation presented a higher pressing matter then what it was now, it was a pathetic excuse, but arguing with a royally pissed of Gremory wasn't on anyone's bucket list at the time, so all she could do was trust her masters judgment

But right now her task was the restoration of her master's magical reserves... the devil way

She was glad the spare bedroom was only to her immediate right, she wouldn't outwardly say it but Rias was a big girl – she's eighteen, which meant her standard weight would be around 180 lbs, then add in the muscle development – yeah, she was heavy... but in a good way!

With a good burst of effort Akeno had escorted her sleeping master to the spare bed room in the abandon buildings dormitory, which was renovated to be attached to the club room

As she prepared her masters stand in bed Akeno remembered one, slightly uncomfortable fact about her masters... sleeping habit

A sigh escaped her lips when she simply did what she needed to do

A good uncomfortable minute later and Akeno had stripped her master and placed her in the bed, then came the main uncomfortable path

'I really hope the others don't see this in the morning tomorrow'

With her last words drifting to the back of her memory Akeno commenced Rias recuperation

-XxXxXxX-

-With issei and Asia on route to Kouh Academy, occult research club/ 12:10 am Saturday/ 1 day until the meeting-

The night before was drifting in and out of Issei's mind as he and his female friend walked towards the occult research club. From Akeno's orders the previous night they were told to meet at the club room early in the morning for further orders from Rias' debriefing with her brother, Sirzechs Lucifer

Not only is it an order from her older brother but one from a highly powerful being from hell, orders from those kinds of people are ones not to be taken lightly or ignored

"How is your arm feeling today Ise?" asked Asia kindly

His mussing, distant thoughts were dropped upon question, he raised a confused brow in question "its fine, why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering if you have any after pain, you did scream pretty loudly when he reset your shoulder" replied Asia with a normal expression

"Yeah but that's only because he didn't warn me about it" he replied while he subconsciously rubbed his sore shoulder

"When we get to the club room I'll apply twilight healing to it for you" she said like it was no big deal

"Wait Asia you don't –" issei paused in his quick reply when he saw Asia shake her head, signifying she wouldn't have any of it, instead he dropped his good shoulder "alright, thanks Asia"

Seeing his submission to his supposed fate Asia giggled "I haven't healed you yet" she said with a smile

"That determined expression of yours seems to have already healed me" he said jokingly, all Asia did was smile at him

The two went quiet for a moment before issei picked up a new subject, one he'd been meaning to ask since yesterday "anyways Asia, I've been meaning to ask you something"

Asia in return stopped and looked at him "Mhm?" she hummed sweetly, some part of issei thought the question was redundant

He was obviously going to ask about how she was feeling but for some reason Asia looked and sounded perfectly fine, from time to time she seemed distant but otherwise her emotional state seems perfectly balanced

[I can attested to that partner] called out Ddraig from inside his head, before it startled him but he barely jumped... twas but a usual occurrence

'You can feel her emotional state now mister Swiss army knife?' asked captain jack sarcasm

All Ddraig did was ignore him [it's not really hard to notice boy since you've already noticed, she's fine]

It didn't take any more ignorant confused questions to press his buttons, the dragon in his head said it already. Asia was well on her way to mental recovery... all he had to do now was say...

"Ah... never mind, let's just get to the club room before we get chewed out"

Asia tilted her head in confusion before she just relented and nodded "hai" she said plainly before she started walking with her friend again

The two were silent as they approached the club rooms entrance, knocking once issei gave a five second pause before he shrugged and entered, however buchou wasn't in view nor was anyone else

"Huh? Where is everyone" asked Asia in confusion

"No idea..." started issei before he narrowed his eyes "hold on" he said before he popped his ears and held his partially opened mouth

All was quiet until he heard a small shift, almost like bed covers moving, signalling Asia to stay put issei walked over to the door to the club room's spare bedroom, keeping his ears popped issei stood in front of the door and sighed

"Hello?" Issei called in a normal tone

No answer

Issei narrowed his eyes at the unwanted memory of yesterdays stray devil hunt; it was the same thing as yesterday

Asia didn't know why he chose his way of entrance but it seemed to her the answer didn't really matter after the fact

BANG!

With a tenacious kick issei Spartan kicked the spare room door off its hinges before he rushed in... Only to suddenly squeal

"Issei!? What is it?!" yelled Asia before she rushed to look into the room

The sight she saw was rather provocative and it showed directly on her face... as well as Issei's

Directly in front of the door was the rooms study desk but to the doors left was the bed

That which was currently preoccupied by Akeno and Rias, who were both stark naked... and hugging

...

...

...

A lot of what they were seeing hadn't really registered on both Asia's mind as well as Issei's, though one of which was understandable due to her innocent nature however the un-registration on issei stood more to the fact that he hadn't the chance to notice because of a cat like reflex on the blushing Akeno Himejima... who had directly nailed him in the face with a jolt of powerful lightning

[BOOM! HEADSHOT!] yelled Ddraig before a round on thunderous laughter filled the silent room, Ddraig had predicted the event since many times prior to issei, Ddraig had in fact seen a similar scenario play out with a few of his previous wielders

Rule #2 in common sense: 'must I explain the concept of a closed door?'

-XxXxXxX-

10 minutes later

"So remind me again what happened?" questioned a groaning issei hyoudou, he was currently applying a cold ice bag to his sore nose

"You ran into a storage room and hit your hea – nose on a shelf; I believe we've been over this twice already" replied a blushing Akeno, It was feint and unnoticed... but it was there

"Alright alright... still confuses me though, how I can be hit through buildings and trees yet a shelf clocks me out" replied issei, Akeno simply shrugged at the boys confused words, she had "no idea" either, the lightning she hit him with was strong but she wouldn't tell him that... she had knocked him out a few times in spar's before but that one hit her highlight real

Never seen a man do a back flip from a head shot before

"Will you be alright Ise?" questioned Asia worriedly which caught the boys attention

"Nah, the nose only throbs but it'll pass in a minute, thanks anyway" he said in reply before he closed his eyes from the headache he also felt

He was going to pass the time with a small cat nap but he was waken back from Dozy land by a bright green light that originated from his left side, glancing down to the source he spotted Asia going to work on his left shoulder

"I almost forgot about this" she muttered

"Ah... thanks"

For a minute issei graciously sat back and let Asia heal his sore joint and within a short time frame his arm was back to normal, when a small pop reverberated from his shoulder his arm suddenly felt good as new

Tearing off the hindering arm brace issei flexed his arm and smiled at its fluid motion as well as its painless response to the more vigorous movement

"Mhm... good as new" he said before he smiled to Asia whom smiled back

"Glad to help"

Now the two hadn't asked it by this point the two had noticed Rias was still in the spare bedroom, issei was told recently that she had stayed the night due to king duties and after action reports – a good excuse as any for Akeno to use – but the truth was going to be revealed anyway, they needed to know what happened in case for future occurrences

"Anyways, Akeno why is buchou still not here?" asked the brown haired teen, his question only caused Akeno's expression to harden somewhat... the memory that question brought up kinda embarrassed her

The skin ship thing was not common among the two beauties but it wasn't as if they hadn't used that healing type before, back in the day she had trained vigorously and had sustained many wounds... her master's best approach to mending her wounds?

Strip her naked and hug the living day lights out of her while she was also naked

Akeno's cheeks grew rosy by the minute when the memory flooded her mind, It was not easy for the sight to jump to some less then dignifying perspectives and she be damned if any male would see the sight, Rias couldn't care less but she was more of an exhibitionist then she was!

Akeno had to shake her head from the memory when it got far too deep [Don't even (-_-)] and quickly got on to the truth telling

"Something happened last night that I can't fully explain" she started and Issei's eyes grew wide at the sudden memory of that demon they faced, his thoughts almost made him jump in a rage but he stopped his reckless actions when Akeno continued "During the time she spent working, her devil magic started to grow extraordinarily fast, so fast she wasn't even aware of the change until I pointed it out"

"What happened to her, is she alright?" questioned issei seriously, Akeno took a minute but she nodded however it was unsure

"She's stable, I had to help stabilize her devil energy just so her power didn't tear herself apart but right now she's fine, all she has in after effect is devil magic expenditure fatigue, give or take a few hours and she will be back on her feet... hopefully" she explained but issei narrowed his eyes

"What do you mean 'hopefully'?" he asked deeply, Akeno's eyes slightly dropped at a second unpleasant memory

"It wasn't just uncontrollable devil magic that went rampant but something entirely different... something darker" she replied before issei nodded and lifted his left hand

"Ddraig, you there?" he asked

[I am] Ddraig's voice was loud and open to all occupants of the room

"Do you remember what you did to that ghoul back in the shopping district?"

[Obviously, are you implying I use that here on your master?] He replied calmly

"So you've been listening" muttered issei knowingly

[I've been listening ever since I felt that large patch of residual demonic energy behind you] upon the words of the dragon all eyes in the room widened and all combatants, being Akeno and issei launched in stances however the next words of the dragon eased of their alert

[I said residual, calm down]

"Next time word your sentences more carefully" barked issei annoyed

[Next time listen to them more carefully] replied Ddraig with a stone cold retort

Akeno simply ignored the batter and became lost in thought before she suddenly looked to issei... or actually his left hand

"Mister Dragon –"

[Call me Ddraig please] replied Ddraig quickly before adding [I feel weird when I'm called that]

It took Akeno a second to process she had just got onto a first name bases with a dragon, shaking her head she carried on "D-Ddraig, what does the residual energy feel like?" she asked seriously and curiously

[Mmm, it's hard to make out, try standing over there]

...

...

...

Ddraig suddenly felt extreme anger rise up when he realised that pointing in Issei's mindscape did absolutely nothing to help point out where he wanted issei to stand

"Ddraig you're aware that we can't –"

[Shut up!] Barked the dragon quickly before he started up again [here, this'll make finding the spot more easy]

Issei suddenly felt his eyes grow heavy only to steadily return to feeling normal but now every color on the spectrum vanished leaving everything in a bluish tinge, however, issei became aware that he could now see energy levels or more accurately energy color

Akeno was bathed in a yellow like energy that cackled and sparked here and there "what is this?" he asked

[dragon vision, allows you to see the spectral colors of all living things and the personality traits in visual concepts] explained the dragon in a bored tone as if he'd explained the ability a few too many times

"Akeno, you're sparking" announced issei while he stared at the golden light show that danced on Akeno's figure

"Eh?" question the raven haired beauty before she glanced down to herself, only to see nothing

[they can't see it numb-nuts, only you can] added in Ddraig out loud just to make sure the boy didn't embarrass himself further, had she been human then not only would he look insane – with the thousand yard stare he had on her and all – but the question would have either been a complement or the girl would've found a way to twist his words to a shot to her weight, Ddraig didn't know, but he'd seen his wielders smacked around for the dumbest of things

"Oh, sorry Akeno" he said before he looked away, his curiosity forced him to look at Asia only to see the girl surrounded in green pulsing energy

'Ddraig, what does the energy behaviour mean individually' asked the curious teen

[There are many different combinations, but the two in the room are normal, the older girl has a 'wild' personality and at times it can suddenly change, be it good or bad is directly centered on what happens in her life] explained the dragon

'What about Asia?'

[A calming pulse signifies tranquility and serenity if I'm not mistaken, its pulsing which means it isn't fully tranquil but it's as calm as the other in this room, I remember angels have a non moving energy level due to their constant state of divinity, Asia seems close in relation albeit the pulsing is the only thing differentiating her from the divine pigeons]

'Nice! Knew she had it in her' the answer didn't really rile up a response from the dragon and he didn't really care, the next thing he did was look down to his own hands only to see something that confused him

'Ddraig? Is it normal to have two different colors?' asked issei as he watched red energy burn around him like fire and green energy spark around him like lightning, similar to his dragon force ability

[Normally no, but your case is different than the mundane, the red energy acts like fire for almost two reasons, destruction and at times chaos while the green lightning like energy shows you as well carry a 'wild' personality but its reasoning for being a different color means you have two living beings inside you, you get three guesses on who that could be] the dragons words simply increased Issei's admiration for his own power, he even learnt a bit of himself! While the last bit of it slightly pissed him off

[Moving on, I believe you have a third or fourth energy level to see... look behind you] doing as he was order, issei turned to see a red and black energy cloud near the teleportation zone of the room and walked over to it, Akeno followed along while Asia stayed on the couch

"What do you see Issei?" asked Akeno hastily

But issei didn't answer, extending his left arm out the teen waved his hand slowly through the slow moving cloud of energy, watching as it parted from his hands and at times the cloud – very faintly – light up with red energy, like a lightning storm was taking place in the cloud

It wasn't very large but it seemed ominous and very imposing

"Issei?" pressed Akeno calmly; she took notice of Issei's expression when he was standing directly in the same spot as Rias was yesterday, he looked petrified yet fascinated at the same time and at times it was hard to tell which one

"Hmm?" came his questioning hum

"What do you see?" she asked again and this time the boy looked to her

"I see... a cloud of black and red energy, almost like a feint smoke cloud and it feels... angry" replied issei calmly he hadn't realised it but the cloud was coiling around his arm as if it was living, the sight was cool looking but he'd seen Prometheus, the last time someone let something unknown coil around his arm it snap it in haft

Recoiling his hand back slowly issei noticed the cloud as if follow his hand but then it dissipated

[Looks like you made a friend] piped Ddraig sarcastically but issei ignored the jest and continued to stare at his hand

But while he looked at the residual energy latch to his arm before dissipating he noticed a small stream of red and black

Akeno watched as Issei's eyes trailed from the spot of residual energy to suddenly look away, she followed his gaze and her eyes widened when his vision was looking at the room Rias was currently in

Issei wordlessly followed the trial while Akeno wordlessly followed him towards the door to Rias' room, before they entered the room issei stopped and looked at her

"I'm not walking into a nude scene am I?" he asked which Akeno felt was currently the most off topic question ever asked in an apprehensive atmosphere... ever

"Wha? No, no" she said in reply before issei simply nodded and opened the door... only to freeze

The boy, whatever he was seeing hadn't felt nor cared when Akeno bummed into him from behind, and it seemed to Akeno that she would take more care to stay a few feet from the boy

[Issei, it's safe... just, carry on] soothed Ddraig as issei stared at a literal black wall of smoke, he could see red but it was muffled by the black cloud of – what could be best described as pitch black ink

"Easier said than done Ddraig, I'm literally staring into the abyss right now" he said in reply out loud, confusing yet terrifying the raven haired devil behind him

[Just do it] the dragon said in reply, it was more forceful then before

Sighing deeply issei extended his arm only to see the cloud part, allowing his hand to pass through with zero resistance, his eyes narrowed when the cloud didn't give off a feeling but he shrugged and walked through fully without hesitation

Aside from his creeping suspicion issei couldn't quite help but admire the sight inside the room, from along the exterior of the walls issei could make out black smoke but along the interior of the walls was all red energy, dancing around like a cloud and glowing fiercely, it looked like he'd walked into a black and red cloud

Akeno from outside the room watched as issei seemed to admire the walls and décor of the bland spare bed room before he looked back at her and squinted his eyes

"You there Akeno? I can't see you" he asked and Akeno tilted her head, he was looking right at her why was he finding it hard to see her?

"Um... I'm right in front of you issei" she said back confused

"Well right now I'm tripping balls, all is see through the door right now is a black wall of smoke as thick as 60 layers of black paint... and a whole lot of red"

Akeno's eye brow raised at her allies reply before she shook her head and walked into the room and stood in front of him "this better?" she asked, the boy nodded

"Well what do you see here?" she asked while looking towards the sleeping form of Rias, news flash... she was still sleeping

"Pretty much the same thing as that residual energy outside, except..." he said before trialing off forcing Akeno's eyes to land on his preoccupied expression

"Except what?"

The teen simply declined his head in contemplation before he seemed to find what he was looking for "before the residual energy outside looked translucent and pretty much dying out, but this seems to be thriving, I feel like... I'm in the heart of the storm"

Akeno had wanted to ask another question on what her friend was seeing but the dragon must've read her mind

[Partner, how about instead of explaining it horribly, just transfer the vision to her]

The boy only huffed before he dropped his left gauntleted hand down into Akeno's shoulder

[TRANSFER!]

Akeno was apprehensive when she felt a sudden weight on her eyes and instinct forced her eyes closed but just as fast as the unknown feeling took to envelop her eyes it vanished, she felt safe so opening her eyes was easy... processing the new type of vision she had was the hard part

!?

Issei watched as Akeno's eyes widened before she started to quickly look at the walls and floor before the ceiling became the most interesting thing to her

"You alright?" he asked before the raven haired women snapped her eyes to him and widened her eyes even further at the color of Issei's power signature

She took a minute to process it all the while muttering these intelligent words...

"U-uh, y-yeah"

"Heh, you get used to it quickly but now you can see what I see... your opinion on the rooms decor'?" the last of Issei's words sounded like a high class butler in a sarcastic manner, her response was a fake glare towards him

She took a moment to take in the sights, her vision at first was blurry due to all of the lights in one go but now everything wasn't a massive blare and she could honestly say, as ominous and creepy as the air felt, black and red does complement each other rather well

As 420 as it sounded, Akeno did experience a 'cloud' like effect when she noticed the smoke like energy flow but she didn't understand its significance

[Well... now that you two have taken in the sights I do believe we have a possible demon problem on our hands]

"Way to kill the mood Ddraig" deadpanned issei

"No, he's right... check Rias, if common sense stands true I'm pretty sure this... residual energy, must be connected to Rias' loss of control" agreed Akeno while she looked towards Rias position, issei even glanced and immediately agreed if not fully

The black and red smoke leaked from Rias like a facet, it looked like a mini water fall of dark smoke that rolled down the bed and up the walls like a slow but fast current of energy

[It probably is, it took me a second but I compared the energy with the residual energy outside and I can confirm a small trace of demonic energy weaved in the cracks]

"Is it demonic energy exposure?" asked Akeno with a sour expression

"It could be" muttered Issei quietly but the testy subject didn't fall on deaf hears as Akeno was quick to lock angry eyes at him, something the boy wasn't fully prepared to see

"What? It's not like I want that answer to be true but she was the only one to approach both that demon freak and also approach the remains of that stray devil and we both know that thing leaked demonic energy like a broken water pipe" pressed Issei, when faced with a set of angry eyes whose owner was known for being sadistic, short answers and explanations were a must when arguing

[Well your both fortunate yet at the same time unfortunate] started Ddraig catching the attention of the two

The dragon didn't even need to wait [normally demonic exposure shows a very visible effect on ones energy signature, irregular changes in energy color or the sudden shift of energy flow, the second stage is when it becomes buried and physical changes commence, some physical while the more powerful demon can get a metaphysical mutation]

"Well I don't see any of that; all I see is black and red" added issei

[Save your questions partner, I won't be able to answer any in depth until I can get connected to the source physically] replied the dragon calmly

"Well why didn't you say that at first?"

[I did, you've just been preoccupied with human curiosity]

The boy's eyes dropped in deep annoyance, every bloody time he tries to argue with the mythological beast in his head he'd always miss something... or forget something

With a light click of his tongue issei approached And outstretched his gauntleted hand, he felt hesitant in his next action but neglected to actually acknowledge it and proceeded to place his hand on Rias' forehead gently

From his experience with scanning the ghoul from before issei could remember the similar sensation but this felt much more intimate, he guessed the lack of life in the creature was the main cause for the lack of a recuperating reaction to his contact, it wasn't physical but rather internal

'Ddraig? Why does this feel different?' he questioned in small doses of worry

The dragon huffed before he replied quickly [the initial connection process links you to the internal affairs of the second party, you'll feel small energy fluxes and possible memory trading but nothing truly impacting, just... let it flow over you]

Issei knew questioning further was pointless, the connection to his internal partner was cut right after the quick and informative answer was uttered and now the dragon was getting to work, best to leave it to him

'Let it flow over me... easy enough, I hope' his uneasy words didn't really get rid of the uncomfortable feeling he had, it was almost sudden when the strange energy began to bombard him, not violently but like a lodged log in a raging river

By this point he had forgotten his exterior self and now all he saw was a river of black and red energy raging towards him but none actually hitting him, like the red sea it passed by him leaving no other feeling then uneasiness

For a good minute the young man simply stood in place, he felt continues waves of energy slam into his spot leaving small shock waves or tremors, he had no desire to 'explore' the deep dark cavern he found himself in

'Rias' Inner mind' muttered issei as he glanced around

~over here~

Issei almost jumped physically upon the sound of what seemed like kind and inviting words from someone... feminine? Its pitch sounded high but not to high to be child like, and it was... Distorted

"Who's there?" he called out defensively

~over here~

Issei twisted around again, this time the voice came from down the cavern, and a closer inspection showed the teen an exit to the tunnel however it glowed red instead of white

"Yes issei, follow the mysterious distorted voice into the unknown, nothing bad will happen" muttered issei to himself before he found his legs moving on their own

"Doesn't look like I have a choice on the matter" he added when he didn't in fact have control over his lower body

The walk went on for a good minute and the previous feeling of overpowering uneasiness was dropping little by little the more he closed in on the sounds source

And by that time issei began to hear things, not just noises but in they were in fact voices strewn about in small echoes

'Small memories... Ddraig was right' aside from hearing a large amount of voices, some loud others but mere whispers issei continued on

However the more he continued his quest of curiosity the louder the voices grew until small sentences became apparent

"Lady Rias, your brother wishes to talk with you –"

"You are to be married to the third son of the Phenex family"

"Wha- no!"

"It is the responsibility of the future heir to uphold family –"

The small conversation that he unfortunately heard brought on anger to the teen as he continued his walk down the cavern but his anger was overridden by confusion a second later

"Your anger is you weapon my dear –"

This time the voice was male and powerful but it echoed down the cavern distilling and distorting the actual tone

"– thank you father, with It I will rein destruction on them –"

In return a female voice, a very familiar one at that responded to the words of the male

"You will be the first of many... Val –"

Issei's ears were peaked when he heard a name or rather almost heard a name before a dead silence reined

"What the hell's going on?" questioned the teen as he stepped into the glowing red light

~Nothing of your concern, NOW LEAVE!~

Issei's ears pulsed forcing his hands to cover them, had he been ready then the large ball of black and red energy that collided with him could've been avoided

-XxXxXxX-

(Outside Rias' mindscape)

Akeno had been patient for a good minute but as she was being patient she was also curious, all through the minute she was waiting for her junior for an answer but he seemed to be deep in thought or so she thought at first, she became aware of Issei's true mental state when she felt out the similarities in energy readings and how issei had completely molded himself with Rias'

It was a incredible feat for a new devil but realizing he had help kind of deterred her impression a small bit

But it was a minute after when things grew serious very quickly

ZAP!

CRASH!

Within a matter of milliseconds issei was flung like a ragdoll from Rias' sleeping form by a flash of red energy – looked like a lightning bolt – before it vanished leaving a confused and pained teen leaning against a dented wall

"Issei!" called out Akeno before she appeared by his side

As she checked him for any sustained injury the boy's eyes fluttered open

All issei could see was a blur through his fuzzy vision, he had hit the back of his head against a wall of some sort leaving his vision in disarray but it was dealt with quickly from a soft hand being placed there, a small pulse of devil magic and it cooled down nicely, he hadn't even noticed Akeno until his vision cleared up a little

"What happened?" he asked 'what a day' he muttered in his head

"Something rejected you from Rias; you hit your head... again" reported the raven haired girl before footsteps were heard outside the door... multiple footsteps

"What's going on?" called out Yuuto Kiba from the door way

"Issei!"... Asia

"Hmm"... Koneko

Roll call complete, everyone's here

As Asia rushed to his side issei glanced back towards Rias, he hadn't dispelled his dragon vision or whatever yet so he could see the energy in the room retreating back into Rias; however something was new in the scene

As Yuuto Kiba walked over to Rias and checked on her he had unintentionally walked through someone, he couldn't see her, obviously, his skilled senses would have warned him of the close proximity but the person wasn't physical but rather spiritual

Her entire features were covered in royal looking armor, black armor trimmed with red accents fit over her legs up to her thighs like gothic thigh highs with high heels, light chest armor fit over her torso and complemented her assets – it was very hard not to notice for an ex-super pervert – while small gauntlets rest on her arms up to mid bicep, her face wasn't visible but her red hair was, which cascaded down through the hood followed ominously by a pair of glowing red eyes that which stared at him

Before long he noticed the women smirk – or sensed it, he couldn't really explain but he felt 'curiosity' pass over him from the last remaining energy before the armored women raised her hand and waved her clawed gauntleted hand at him

Then the women twisted in place, a large black cape fluttered behind her showing off a familiar devil crest... As quickly as she turned she vanished just as fast... her entire body suddenly turning to smoke before melding with the rest of the black and red storm cloud, once the rest of the women's body was converted to smoke the cloud suddenly shot down into Rias

Within seconds the massive cloud of smoke that caked the room was gone leaving a calmly sleeping Rias Gremory blissfully unaware of the early morning adventure most of them all had

"Issei!" yelled a female voice that shook him for his stupor

It was Akeno that had almost shattered his devil enhanced eardrums

"Huh?" he asked before he shook his head

"What happened? Why is Rias sleeping unresponsively? And why are you on the floor in pain" questioned the irritated Gremory knight

"Perverted peeper..." muttered Koneko

Before issei could defend himself against Koneko's merciless words Akeno butted in with her own explanation but even before that could happen some else spoke up

"What's going on?"

The whole group paused before they all turned to see Rias, wide awake. Buck naked. And confused, staring at them waiting for an answer

The only sound that could be heard at that moment would be the sound of Kiba's hand colliding with his face to cover his eyes from the sight of his master's nude body; however he was the only one as issei simply stared while the others were simply girls who could care less

"Rias?" started Akeno whom seemed to look at her with apprehension, something that confused the red head "how are you feeling?" she asked

The red head analyzed the others before she scanned herself, but all she did was shrug

"I feel fine Akeno, why?" the confusion on the red head was quiet apparent to the others while Akeno tested something

"Do you remember what happened yesterday?" asked the raven haired queen calmly

Rias soon dropped her head and held there for a second as if trying to remember what happened but soon she raised it with a normal expression "I remember the fight with the stray last night"

"What about after the battle?"

"The cleanup..." she said before she tilted her head "where are you going with this Akeno?" aside from the calm question Akeno felt a cold sensation fill her with every pressing question she asked and after her second question she dropped it all together

She didn't remember at all

Akeno's eyes narrowed but they soften quickly before she sighed "No where president... we just wondered why you were sleeping in, it's unbecoming of you" she filled in the lie like a professional and everyone in the room knew what she was doing... well issei did, the others actually believed it as well

She bowed to her master "your clothes are behind me... we'll leave you to change"

"Thank you Akeno"

The others took the hint and stepped out, Koneko taking issei in a head lock will Kiba stood by with a beat red face... he hadn't seen that sight before

However before Koneko could 'bulldog' the teen in her arms to the floor painfully for peeping a hand landed on her shoulder, investigation showed it was a serious looking Akeno whom shook her head calmly

"I wish to speak with him quickly please" she said before Koneko let him go, her eyes a brand new level of emotionless confusion as she watched the two leave

"What's up with them?" questioned a slow recovering Kiba whom was now trying to change the current subject in his head

"No idea... but something's up" replied the stoic rook as she watched the door, but her interest dropped when a plate of chocolate was placed in her vision, chocolate muffins in fact

Her interest in what the other two was going to have to wait...

-Outside the occult research room-

"What's going on with buchou? Does she not remember yesterday?" questioned a confused issei

"No she doesn't, I wanted to see if I could remind her of the event but every time I thought of doing it I'd get this cold sensation behind me" replied the slightly nervous Akeno

"Hey" he started before he placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly "You alright?" he asked and Akeno simply looked at him for a second before she hardened her eyes

"Y-yeah... it's just... something is wrong here" Akeno was about to continue but issei cut in

"I saw someone" he announced, quiet so no one else heard

Akeno's eyes widened slightly "Who?"

Issei didn't like the idea of this getting out of hand, they were already in deep with that demon in there city but now Rias was exhibiting weird side effects, first that decay ability she simply 'discovered' during crimson week but now she had weird power fluxes here and there

He saw her attack she used on the stray yesterday night and he knew for a fact she hadn't secretly trained to hone something of that magnitude... the hesitance she had after firing that attack even confirmed to him that she was unaware herself

Something was going on with Rias but they had truly no answers to fix it themselves, it was either wait it out and see if it was some kind of devil growth faze or call a Gremory doctor

After his hesitation he proceeded with the former idea "ok, just promise me you won't bring this up to anyone else" he asked and Akeno nodded

"I wouldn't do it in the first place Issei, the problem Rias is having is demon level, no doctor from hell's palace will be able to help her, this is maou level and we both know Rias insisted we keep them as far away from the loop as possible, for everyone's sake... now explain to me what you saw"

"Ok... well, the person I saw was a female, tall, red hair, black and red female armor and a long black cape" as he explained his finding Akeno skimmed over her own memory of a demon that fit his description but unfortunately... she didn't know about demons very well, only a handful of them being 7 in total and all of them were respected gods, there was only one female–ish demon among that rank and it was Asmodeus, demon god of lust

Black armor wasn't on that things attire more so then simple robes of ancient design

However the red hair left an easy impression

"How red was her hair?"

"Very... like blood soaked red"

Akeno's mind raced with all she could remember but so far nothing came up other than a possible relation to the house of Gremory anything further and she came up dry

"Well? Know anything about her?" asked a nervous issei

"No" she shook her head "nothing at all, I've been with the Gremory's since I was thirteen, you'd think they'd have a history book on family legacy or something"

"Then we've reached an impasse..." announced issei, Akeno nodded alongside him

"We'll keep this between the two of us"

"What about Asia? She knows of the demon problem"

"Just tell her it was a misunderstanding"

"A 'misunderstanding' Huh?, story of my life" replied the teen forcing a real giggle from the raven haired female, the two left the subject were it laid and walked back into the club room, thankfully the others didn't really find there excuse of leaving any bit suspicious... other then Koneko

As the two entered they both noticed Rias was back in her chair and bored expression on her features from waiting for the two but it dropped the minute the door opened "Glad you two could join us"

"Sorry for the wait but I was explaining to issei the concept of a close door" she said and immediately dropped his serious expression in favor of looking to the raven haired girl in shock

The expression of 'how could you do this to me' was evident on his face which forced a sadistic smirk on the raven haired teen "next time I might just introduce some punishment" as if the line wasn't enough of a threat Akeno added in a look that spelled 'your ass is mine'

For a lair... she really was fucking good at it

The others however hadn't expected that as a reply and soon dropped their shock and glared at Issei

"So you were peeping on me Ise? I thought we got you out of that faze" started Rias, a normal and uncaring expression on her face "but if you really wanted to see me naked you just need to ask"

His eyes were wider then they had been for any reaction shot taken by anyone

"Wait! What!?" he asked without thinking thus furthering the words of the red head

"Of course, ask and you shall receive"

Issei's mind was running rampant and almost overloading, no matter the instance a girl of Rias' calibre would never admit to letting someone see her naked let alone willingly...

Wait a minute...

He can see what they were doing... they had literally driven him into a dilemma of extreme proportions, on one side he had a possible sarcastic problem, if he asked if they were being sarcastic and most likely were then he'd be seen as a gullible idiot while on the other side, if he however did ask if she was telling the truth then not only would his past demon (perversity) would return but all of his reputational change as well

Women, am I right? Expert manipulators of man since... well, whenever the concept of marriage came along

"Well" he took an intake of breath "I'm just gonna take a seat now if you don't mind" after he worded his retreating words he took a seat and made perfectly sure his eyes didn't lock with Rias'

Do bad... he would have noticed the genuine disappointed expression on her face

The others however hummed at his good choice, they weren't aware of Rias expression either and simply congratulated the teen for his smart retreat, even Koneko smirked slightly at his choice, the old him would have most likely dropped all shame and ask if he could see her naked

Oh there little pervert was growing up *tear flick*

A soft cough brought the attention of everyone back to the composed Rias who smiled at them all

"Now... let's get on with the meeting" started Rias but the door to the club was knocked on softly twice

"Hm" hummed Rias, seemed the day wasn't going the way she wanted

"Come in" she announced after dropping her pouty mood

The door to the room opened which revealed the form of two fellow devils and a third new figure

The first two she know to be Sona and Tsubaki and the third she knew of but her knew pawn and Bishop didn't, introductions were in order it seemed, so with that thought she stood up as did everyone else in courtesy

"Hello Sona, Tsubaki... what brings you here this..." she paused to glance at the clock, her eyes shifted when it was 1:00pm "...afternoon..." she drawled out, shocked at the time

Sona seemed to notice her expression and grew confused but never the less she continued "R-right, I've brought news that requires the both of us however I believe introductions are in order..." when she stopped a single man stepped forward

He was rather similar in height to issei but had a much skinnier build *cough* lack of training *cough* and wore the male school uniform without the blazer leaving the white dress shirt underneath exposed, he hand blonde hair and blue eyes, first impression to issei made him believe he was a 'generic American' but his racist side was squished away quickly by his name

"This is my new pawn Genshirou Saji" as Sona introduced him the teen stood forward and bowed to Rias respectively "nice to meet you Rias Gremory" he said kindly

"Nice to meet you Genshirou, these are my new pieces" she pointed to issei first "this is issei hyoudou, my pawn"

"Hey nice to meet ya" greeted Issei kindly but uncaringly his mood was elsewhere, it wasn't his tone that had pissed off the new boy but rather something else entirely

"Oh... you... the perverts defacto leader" grumbled Genshirou his disappointment skyrocketed

All issei did was narrow his eyes at the boys rude first words

"Well that was rude" he muttered... barely a second and the blonde was on his bad side

Male testosterone... figures

"I don't care of the opinion of a single pawn, I took four pawns... if you've been resurrected then it was either by luck or by a random act of kindness from Gremory-sama" barked the teen, unknown to him the words of the pawn had reached the ears of everyone... including Rias'

But she was known as a reasonable devil... if however she was male and full of ego then not only would the boy be eating his words but he'd also need a good chiropractor for the ass kicking he'd get for his disrespect to her and Issei... not to mention the embarrassment Sona was getting

She guessed the lesson on first impressions was lost on the boy

So in a kind manner Rias cupped her chin in her hands and smiled to Genshirou before addressing the fool

"Genshirou-san?" called Rias politely which forced the teens sour face to drop and lock onto Rias kind closed eyes... Sona had a feeling this would happen

"Yes?" he asked politely

Rias titled her head cutely in her cupped hands before pressing on "I believe first impression with my 8 piece pawn should be taken seriously and insulting him is quiet disrespectful for an initial meeting wouldn't you say?" she asked and at that moment Saji immediately knew... he fucked up

"U-uh? –" he was about to say something along the lines 'wait he's a eight piece pawn!?' but Rias wasn't done roasting him

"And who I choose to resurrect is not the decision of another families pawn to criticize..." she opened her eyes and locked her green eyes to Genshirou's low blue orbs "...so it would be extremely wise for you to gather information on who you're going to insult before you embarrass not only yourself but your master as well"

After her words left her mouth Saji literally felt a wave of regret land on his shoulders, he had not been expecting a harsh verbal thrashing from the Gremory heir but then again... he was strictly told by his master that human manners were seen as primitive to other devils so he pretty much dug himself a hole with a new dog house to sleep in

"Please forgive him... he's young and I haven't shown him the way of things just yet" Sona's smile was bright but it did hide a lace of 'this boy to my rights gonna get it' in her more friendly expression

"There's no need to ask, I already have... inexperience does come with some small reprieves" as she finished she look at the blonde "and I'm sure you've learnt your lesson"

The boy became rigid and at attention "Hai!" he yelled

The two kings chuckled before Rias introduced her next piece "now... this is Asia Argento, my bishop"

At her words Asia stepped towards the teen and extended her hand "Nice to meet you" she said

At the sight of the extremely cute girl Saji became waaaaay to excited and took her hand in his energetically, an action that quite frankly, sent issei into a glare... he knew exactly what the boy was doing

"Nice to meet you Asia, I'm Genshirou Saji –" the poor boy was about to say something extremely cringy but be it by fate or something else entirely he didn't say it, however one would believe the dangerous energy that filled the room was the main cause for the teen to freeze so suddenly

All he had to do was glance up to see a pair a green glowing eyes glaring at him from the couch, his fear rose when he realize it was the hyoudou boy he had been insulting... oh he wish he hadn't looked

His snare and look alone told him very clearly he was treading on territory he was not welcome on, the obvious moves he was 'previously' trying to do was dashed by the phantom steam that exhaled from the boys ears and nose to signify extreme danger

You could say he should have wore his brown pants today

"... It's a pleasure to meet you Asia-san" finished Saji in a fleeting tone

With the introductions complete Rias noticed Sona drop her expression and become serious "I take it introducing your new pawn wasn't your true goal here was it?" asked Rias being fully aware of Sona's sudden mood change

"Your eyes are sharper than usual Rias..." muttered Sona as she turned back to her friend

"I like to keep them that way" retorted the red head causing Sona to huff in return

"I'm here on matters regarding three church officials that showed up on my door step not a few minutes ago" revealed Sona before everyone in the room including Saji to widen their eyes considerably... this excluded the two other Sitri house members

Saji was shocked to hear about church officials but the rest of them knew something was considerably nostalgic about that line

Rias was the first to compose herself before the others followed

"What happened?"

"Surprisingly, they were peaceful" Sona's tone sounded serious but Rias knew her the longest and she detected a much stranger tone... almost a insulted tone in her voice

"You sound insulted" replied Rias causing Sona to narrow her eyes at her before she reached into her pocket

"For a serious situation that one priest was quite the character... so much so he gave me this" before she finished she dropped a chocolate bar onto the massive oak desk "...as a joke" she finished

Rias as well as the others took notice of a regular sized 'snickers' bar that sat on the desk before a small chuckle could be heard which caused most if not all heads to snap to Issei whom looked to be choking on his voice

"Something funny?" asked the now insulted Sona Sitri

As if her question was funny issei almost keeled over but his composer was his top priority at that point, nobody else was laughing

That was... until Rias busted a gut in laughter

"Pfffff haha hahaha!" laughed Rias with tears in her eyes, the joke alone was funny but it being done to Sona of all people was just gold in itself

"Hey!" yelled Sona but it just made it worse as her blushed face sent Rias over the edge a second time

"Hahaha... eat a snickers hahaha... cause you'll turn into Grayfia when you're angry haha!" laughed Rias reciting the joke that had popped in her head

For the following thirty seconds Rias laughed at her best friends red faced expression

Out of all of the pranks or jokes played on Sona this one was probably the most subtle of the group, her sister Serafall was a lively women and took lots of time and pride in making jokes and pranks on her poor little sister just to see if the girl would laugh... 105 pranks later and she hadn't laughed at one

Only glared

Like right now... at the snickers bar

"That priest must have some nerve... joking with me like that" worded Sona, eyes flared with anger and embarrassment

"Relax Sona..." started a composing Rias "... jokes are usually a sign of peaceful intentions"

"And what if he did it to you?" questioned Sona with a question that brought her a raised brow

"I'd still laugh..." she said with a deadpanned expression which caused Sona herself to deadpan

With a long sigh Sona changed the subject "Well... they've asked to hold a meeting with the both of us present here tomorrow"

"Really, what for?"

"I don't know, when I asked he said to tell you and wait until tomorrow's meeting with them"

"What would a priest want with the two of us?" asked Rias to herself

"It could be an assassination attempt, two birds one stone kinda deal... I've heard church fanatics usually use suicide missions for these kinds of things" added Saji sheepishly

Rias shook her head "heaven and hell have made it perfectly clear that war isn't on their agenda, the only ones who show open desire for it is the fallen angels but they've been dormant as well"

This time Sona added in "besides, if they were trying assassination then it wouldn't work nor would it be beneficial to them"

All Saji did was shrug at his theory being demolished, he wasn't mad about it, with the reassuring words the two beauties gave them said war and conflict between the two was a low chance then a high one

As Saji scanned the topic he noticed an angry expression on Kiba's face and it looked sour

His eyes narrowed at it but he didn't press on his curiosity... he been on the opposite end of two glares already no need for a third

"So it's a simple meeting then?" guessed Rias before Sona shrugged

"I guess it is until we find out what they want to tell us"

After a few minutes of low key conversation Sona bid farewell leaving with Saji and Tsubaki, and after that things grew normal... Well as normal as it got for them since lately they all had been magnets to bad news

After the normal club intro things became almost normal, since they usually did contracts at this time they chose to get them out of the way now since right after they had patrol to deal with at night while Sona was informed on her new day job

Many students in school that day would say that Sona leaving school on sick leave would go down in kouh's history as 'most unlikely of instances coming to life' ever.

It was a chore for most of them but it did change up routine a good bit and who didn't like a change in scenery now and then? Since they had direct orders from Sirzechs Lucifer himself Sona sought to complete the job without argument or hesitation, however the thought of dropping school production process in favor of hunting stray 'Zombies' did cause her to cringe at the ridiculousness but further explanations from her friend Rias helped her rationalize the job

The information given to Sona was mostly true however the demon part was neglected in favor of keeping the dangerous subject on the DL, Sona was a responsible devil and a loyal one at that but she didn't encounter the demon personally so if she learned of the demon then bodies would be pushed aside in her rush to report the historical moment to the Satan's. Rias didn't want that... not yet that is

They needed a way to find the demons plans and neutralize his hold on them so to call in the Calvary, one demon verses 4 maou class devils... she was sure the blood stains would wash

However they had little Intel on the demon, all they had was his name but that didn't do anything, the history of demons was by base a simple memory in one's head, the only demons recorded with back stories and actual written information was the select few who stood behind the 4 original demon gods and they've vanished from hell years ago while the ones who stood against the original four suffered greater loses then simple death.. They were erased entirely

History books and names, everything gone in repentance from standing against their 'father'

That little history lesson wasn't absent of a few fearful shivers, Rias included

So with all that 'organized' Rias was curtain things were going to get crazy real soon, and it was all starting with a simple meeting with three church officials... it seemed coincidental to her, three church officials showing up only 1 day after they encounter a demon

She had her suspicions but also her doubts... only the meeting will tell her which was which

-XxXxXxX-

-With Isaac and team/ kouh cities 4 star penthouse suite/ Saturday, 12:30pm-

*sigh*

Today was the day of the meeting and like any other nerve racking moment my blood was pumping with anticipation and slight nervousness, what can I say I'm hu-

Wait a minute...

Well... aside from the anxious expression on Irina and the near blank expression on Xenovia we were set... but one of us was missing

"Wake up Dulio-sama!" announced Irina as her fist yet again beat on the room's door, I could make out soft grumbles and moans on the other side but the sleeping sack of lazy was still unmoving

Before Irina could literally blew I gasket I placed my hand on her shoulder and smiled at her annoyed twitching eye brow, she was up tight and very nervous and the frustrating scene was causing her to nearly hyperventilate

"Aye, easy on the yelling Irina, I'm still waking up myself" I yawned, long days of working and 11:00am wake calls turned into 5:00am wake up calls, I may be a walking computer of celestial data but mental fatigue was a bitch on high heels when it hits home

"Oh, sorry senpai" replied Irina whom stood back and pouted... yup she was really nervous

I patted her shoulder before I winked at her "I got dis" I said confidently before I Spartan kicked the door open

The sudden action had caused a sudden boom of noise to erupt causing the room's occupant to jump from his bed

"Woah woah! I'm up I'm up!" yelled Dulio as he stood at his bed, arms up in mock surrender

"That got you up" I said with an animalistic smile

"Didn't he say keep it down...?" muttered Irina as she deadpanned

"No comment" replied Xenovia equally deadpanning

"Well you didn't have to kick the door open Isaac..." replied the Italian but I smiled and ignored it

"Sleep well?" I asked as I closed the door, not before I winked at Irina and Xenovia cheekily... they had been staring are Dulio's exposed torso for a good thirty seconds

A few squeaks of realization were heard a second late

"Aye, I didn't have to deal with a love stricken fox yesterday, so yeah I'm good" he said with a cheeky grin, I simply scrunched my nose before I smirked at him

"Well hurry, we have a meeting to deal with in thirty minutes and I need my trump card ready if things go uneasy" I said while he just waved dismissively at me

"Yeah yeah, I'm up now so you guys can go on ahead of me, I'll be right behind you" he said before he yawned deeply

All I did was smirk "not gonna pass out on me?"

"Nope"

"You sure?"

"Positive"

"Alright then, were off" I had to make sure captain sleeps-a-lot wasn't passed out when I needed him so a good ol fashioned wake up call was in order, I had Irina do it but since she was basically standing on the border of peeping she only knocked on the door and if you knew Dulio, he could sleep through a rough car ride through a nasty hurricane

He can dish out tsunamis with a breath and a volcanic eruption with a sneeze the guy's practically is the weather so a simple knock was a fleeting noise

But now since he was up and about we could go

Much to Irina's relief

-XxXxXxX-

The afternoon walk to kouh's resident academy was almost as lively as a rich shopping district however the teens on afterschool breaks or a lunch spares were not present as it was a weekend so most of the people were of middle age to old on various destinations such as walks or jobs... the teens were either in side playing video games or raiding the nearest mall

The odd family would pass by... followed by weird glances at the three large robed people

It was hard to smile at them as my appearance was almost similar to a desert raider from a sifi movie I watched a while back and I damn near faught the urge to go "who-te-de"

But alas, the professional atmosphere wasn't an easy cut I might say, the two 'rookie' exorcists were about as rigid as a poll and both equally as emotionless

Xenovia was her usual self I must say but Irina's nervousness was unfamiliar to me since yesterday the meeting she had with issei was by far the most relaxed awkward reunion I've ever seen, yet she continued to smile

But right now it was an obvious forced façade, the smile was almost like she was annoyed with something and the twitching eyebrow was new

"You al –" I stopped my questioning

"I'm fine" they both said robotically

I blinked "Yeah, I can see that" I replied sarcastically a dead look of 'I'm not believing you' hidden under my hood

As the situation was more or less uncomfortable and awkward I remained silent as we walked to the school, 2 minutes of unconversed ground later and we had entered the dead school campus, luckily the school perimeter's gate was opened to the public, however that was forgotten when the gate closed by itself

Devil magic, most likely... and that barrier didn't go unnoticed either

By the looks of things the devils were taking precautions just as much as we were, in case if things go wrong then the public wouldn't notice the school suddenly erupt in supernatural warfare

"Relax you two, its only precautions" I said to the narrow eyed girls beside me

At my words they dropped their ready stances before I began walking towards the instructed building to our immediate right, through a large bushel of tree's and vegetation came what seemed like a dilapidated building with worn out paint and a crusty complexion however the doors and windows were cleaned as well as kept in visual appealing order

"Well, aside from the lacking paint job I'd say the exterior seems... normal" I said while I looked to Irina, she only scrunched her nose before she took her hood off

"We didn't come here to admire the architecture of devil hide outs" replied Xenovia

I shrugged at her uncaringly before the door to the building opened revealing two female devils, my immediate vision had my eyes lock onto the black haired female with blue rimmed glasses, she was the second in command of Sona Sitri's peerage, the one we met yesterday, I didn't know her name nor did I know the other girls name who had raven hair and a purple set of eyes that held a kind visage

Of course it wasn't alone... a deadly ready aura surrounded them but it was held back

"Greetings, lady Sitri and lady Gremory will see you now" announced the queen of Sitri kindly

For a moment Xenovia turned to me with a expecting gaze, I had no idea what she was expecting but I simply smirked at her from under my hood and shrugged a second time "at least they have good hospitality" I said

Pretty soon we found ourselves following the pair of females until we arrived at a large set of doors, seemed like this buildings secretary room or possibly the head office, anyways, the two asked us to wait a moment before they pushed through the large oak doors

"Enter" beckoned a female voice a second after

The two were about to enter but I stopped them with my arm "Remember... no antic's" I reminded will keeping an eye on both of them, a dead serious one "they are going to be our allies after this, all negative opinions and personal grudges stay here, right at this door and you will leave them here until our objective has been completed... understood?"

The two looked at me and after a good nanosecond they nodded firmly... Irina especially

"Hai" they both said

"Alright... then lets rock" after that I pushed the door open revealing ourselves to the devils, well it revealed the two behind me however I still had my hood up... if they saw the ol platinum then things would grow quickly, let's not aggravate or agitate the hive just yet, I'll need to settle them into it then what I previously stated

Aaand... I could say a good dramatic entrance does enthuse me

I'm well past 1000 years of age, gotta enjoy the little things ya know?

From inside the room... large room, stood a good number of devils I really had no time in counting and each of them ranged from size to power level from their respective devil pieces, I recognised the Gremory peerage easily since its only been a good two weeks since our paths crossed but the other peerage was much the opposite

There were those with blue hair and some others with a reddish brownish tinge to it, like I said before I had no time to take in their traits unless I look like I'm staring at them... and scanning the room doesn't go unnoticed

For a supernatural being the only thing we really need to asses in our enemies power level is as stated... there power level, anything else is really pointless, power level isn't just there life essence but there whole capabilities set into one pool of energy, the larger the pool the more watchful you are of them, everything after that is emotional observation and their breathing pattern

And, a little tip... we angels can see memories, like how I can read the emotional state of a person just by looking at them, this is almost the same thing, in fact I don't even know why I'm explaining it... I barely use it

Must be my nervousness...

"Thank you for having this meeting, my name is Xenovia" started Xenovia

"And I'm Irina Shido" added the talkative one... I'm going to have to tell her about division policy of revealing family names, I'm kinda glad Xenovia is a bit resentful of her new family but at times I'm troubled by it

"It's nice to meet you" greeted Rias Gremory politely as the three of us sat down, somehow I was in the middle... don't ask

Before the negotiations could actually move on I felt two expecting eyes land on me, and looking up I could make out both Gremory and Sitri staring at me

"Well...?" started Sitri tapping her fingers on her lap "You gonna introduce yourself or are you the shady type?"

"Well I was getting to that Sitri I just hesitated for a second" I began before I got comfortable

"Wait... that voice" muttered Rias Gremory, eyes locked on my form

"Huh?" I grunted slightly taken aback "Don't tell me you've been thinking about me Miss Gremory" I said before I removed my hood showing off my hair, the others minus the Sitri house, Asia and issei looked shocked/angered by my presents

I say angered because from my left and my right I saw the blonde boy Yuuto Kiba glaring at me, but that was all he was doing, then came the second blonde who was glaring at me for... unknown reasons

Guess I had a thing with pissing off blondes... well Asia was here and I never piss her off sooo, forget I said that

"Another bishounen!" yelled the second blonde with a lone tear in his eye, which gravely threw me off since he basically said this:

Bishounen literally translates to 'beautiful man', one whose appearance and sexuality transcends from regular levels of orientation

So I was aggressively complemented... by a boy

We are off to an excellent start!

"Well if there's one way to start a meeting its with complements I guess" I said offhandedly while the blonde had his cheek pinched harshly by the Sitri queen

"I'm sorry for that..." replied Sitri with a long pause... oh she wanted my name

"Isaac, call me Isaac" I said politely... they most likely knew my name already seeing as it was revealed to them a while back

"Well Isaac-san, I'm sorry for my pawns -" the apparent apology from the Sitri heir was suddenly dropped when realization landed on her head

"No its fine... actually I think he killed the stiff mood in here, I'd thank him actually" I started without noticing the reactions I had in the room "nothing like a good unexpected ice breaker to a truce meeting" after my words I smiled at the blonde before I looked back at the shocked heiress

"You..." they both said in unison, a lot of people are doing that today

"Hi" I said slightly uncomfortable of the looks I was getting, even the other devils were confused

"The Paladin..." again with the unison lines!

All I did was sit there, uncomfortably staring at the shocked looks on Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri, not at all prepared for them

"Senpai... are they ok?" asked Irina slightly uncomfortable as well

"Um... what exactly did you do when you were here before?" asked Xenovia calmly which caused me to look of in space

"Mhm... let's think back on it... saved the kid, um, four times... killed freed... clipped the wings of three fallen angels... aaaaand, oh..." by that time I had realized the impact I had left them with

Everything I did was low key to a normal exorcist but repairing a completely destroyed park from simply pressing my hand to the floor really did shatter the persona of a mysterious exorcist with an unknown power level but that sent me to full blown magical

Then remember my long history to which they most likely hunted for

Hence how they know a nickname of mine... a nice one at that

"Hehehe" I mock laughed in embarrassment, that last move I pulled really was a 'spur of the moment'... or probably an ego trip

"Senpai..." growled Irina while they both stared at me with blank gazes, probably because I did something lots of guys do... show off

For a good minute the two devils stared at me in disbelief however it didn't take them a whole hour to realize I was waiting for them to compose themselves

"What are you doing here?" questioned a nervous looking Sona Sitri, hard to really tell but I heard some of it in her tone

"Is it fallen angels again?" asked Rias, she was a little more composed then her friend however her eyes didn't leave my form at all, not even blink

I simply raised my hands in mock surrender "easy on the questions please" I said calmly, easing the group's leaders down a tad bit

For a moment I sat there scratching my cheek while contemplating how we weren't receiving glares and hostility but instead looks of either fear (directed at me) or anger (you know who) while the rest seemed confused

"This is going better then I hoped" I muttered to Xenovia whom only slightly nodded in agreement

"Forgive my intrusion President, do you know him?" questioned the queen from the Sitri peerage, Sona at the question frowned while keeping her eyes on mine

"Yes... my sister told me of him and what little we know of his deeds..." replied Sona calmly which forced the Gremory girl's eyes to shake

"My brother did the same..." she said quietly

While I sat by and listened to the words of the heiresses I leaned back and listened to the small trading of words from there lower ranked members before I looked to issei, his gaze was one of recognition and he didn't seem at all worried on the matter... he kinda looked bored

Huh

"Isaac-san... what is your business here?" asked Sona Sitri seriously and I noticed a lot of muscles tense behind her, ready for anything

I – don't know what for, my weapon was concealed and the other two had their weapons in perfect view, Xenovia's especially and it was wrapped tightly in holy seal cloth, it'd take a good 2 seconds to remove it

"Seems I have to explain this in detail before I break it to all of you" I started while sitting back up, my words didn't really help ease the suddenly tense atmosphere

"Normally peace treaties between our parties usually end with a sour and bitter taste in both of our mouths; you're side had to deal with our fanatic self righteous white knight mentalities while we had to talk with sinners and in-human traitors with more ego and pride then Lucifer himself" I said sarcastically making a select few devils frown and even Xenovia frowned at me

"But let's check all of that at the door... you can be curtain that our own personal beliefs and ideals have been left behind for the ultimate goal we truly wish, that being peace" once I stopped I noticed Rias and Sona sigh quietly

"Our goal here Sona Sitri is not the purging of a group of fallen angels but an alliance between our two kinds... To fight an even larger force of course"

"An alliance... between all of us?" asked a confused/shocked Rias Gremory, I simply nodded seriously before I pulled out two manila files and tossed them onto the table between us

"I'll start from the top... a week ago my superiors received a letter of attack from St. Paul's cathedral in London England –" before I could continue Rias cut in quickly

"Isn't this classified Intel?"

I simply gazed at her "it is, and when I finish you'll understand why I'm telling you all of this... anyways" with that done I continued

"The three of us were deployed as a QRF team, however we were only there to find out who did it and what their aim was but all we found was a rouge priest cleanup crew and a single survivor" before I continued I felt my voice lock for a second

*Cough* "however our goal switched to hunter task force when we found out the cathedral housed the blueprint in recreating the legendary holy sword Excalibur" before I continued I paused when I felt killing intent spike suddenly but it calmed just as fast, for whatever reason the intent wasn't aimed at anyone

"At the cost of almost all of the occupants of the church they had obtained what they had been looking for" when I finished the first part of the briefing I leaned back while the two heiresses looked to me

"Why is that so important? All it does is recreate the holy sword" asked the red head

"Many Reasons miss Gremory... 1) it's an ancient relic, my superior's do not like something that sacred to be stolen, 2) it's in the wrong hands and 3) if it is recreated it has the combined power of all seven holy swords, and only three are needed to cause a direct catastrophic detonation to level a whole city, and 4) three of which are in the hands of fallen angels, that being nightmare, rapidly and transparency, all of which had been forcefully taken from two churches and the Vatican itself" once I stopped a cold air filled the room from the bomb (no pun intended) I had just dropped

"It is the churches greatest fears come true" added Xenovia seriously

By this time the bored and uninterested expression on issei Hyoudou's face was gone, and now it was replaced with shock and fear so much so he worded a simple question, one I'd answer quite easily "if there's something that dangerous out there then why are you telling us about it when you could be hunting it down and stopping it?" he asked, and a large majority nodded in agreement

I smiled solemnly at him before I answered "we are..." I replied before I pressed forward, this time locking my eyes on the two heiresses before me "the weapon is a holy artifact capable of great destruction" now I looked to Sona Sitri "how mad would you sister be if that thing were to fall on you?" I asked forcing her eyes completely and uncharacteristically wide

"And you miss Gremory, exactly how mad would Serafall leviathan and Sirzechs Lucifer be if their dear sisters were to suddenly be killed in a holy blast?" after my words the two stared at me, then each other

"I'll tell ya what would happen, all of that talk of peace *whistle* out the window, Great War 2.0 is now in effect" I added before the two began to connect the dots

After a long and silent minute the red headed devil spoke up "Who is in charge of this?"

Her words brought me to a topic I had fumbled over for a few hours last night, if I were to keep the information of Malthus from them then they would be fighting blind against a far superior foe they were not at all ready for, and not to mention the trust issue that would follow on my choice to neglect crucial information from the start, all it would take would be a single casualty and there goes the neighborhood

No, I had made my choice last night, they needed to know

"Isaac-san... who's in charge?" pressed a nervous Sona Sitri after a while of silence, it had been only a few minutes since the meeting started and I have dropped more plot twisting H-bombs to level all of their doubts... hell, I could say jolly ol saint nicks gone bat shit crazy and they'd believe it

Before I answered I felt a sudden soft pressure press down on my head... Dulio had arrived

*sigh*

"We first found out of its involvement during closer investigation in st. Paul's cathedral, and then we learned of its identity shortly after finding sulfur within a concealed holy ritual room" I stopped my revealing when I heard a gasp from Rias Gremory

"Is something wrong Miss Gremory?" I asked politely

"Sulfur... did you just say sulfur!?" she asked aggressively, it wasn't hostile but rather an outburst of emotional strain

"Yes... we later interrogated the rouge cleanup crew but they were silenced before they could give us anything" I replied

This time it was Sona who piped in "they were silenced? Who silenced them?"

I shook my head at her "It wasn't a physical silencing Sitri but rather a previously acquired sigil popped their cherry noggins before anything could be done" my reply again forced them to look at each other nervously, I could tell they were directly on the path I was leading them on

"Now fortunately we have a system that helped us find the sigils origin, and our find was... historical to say the least" like a badly written story I brought down the epic plot point with only a single sentence

"The sigil was marked as the demon house of Malthus, bringer of war"

Let me explain why the silence that rained after my words lasted so long, to a pure blooded devil a demon was a myth, a bed time story to either inspire or to scare children from hells domain, they had lived so long ago they probably date back farther than their own parents IE: dark ages... like no internet

They were patriarchs to their devil counter parts and while some do still live among the devils they have ostracized themselves from its workings entirely, some transcending while others vanishing entirely and the only known demon to still be commonly know is Mephisto Pheles who was once known as the 'prime evil' now I hear he's known as the 'prime creep'

Mighty have fallen, get over it

Now, the shock Arndell had towards the demon being involved would probably be the most lax I've seen or heard of anyone reacting to a demon being muttered of mentioned, and while I did take my time in bring down the 'revelation' it was only because simply saying 'hey a demon is up to no good' would be eerily close to crying wolf... mainly: it wouldn't have had the this kind of effect

With the dead silence I continued my briefing, safely to assume I wouldn't be interrupted

"I alone encountered him during a fallen angel incursion at an undisclosed orthodox church a while back, 4 days ago maybe five and his objective was simple: retrieve the Excalibur sword under protection of the fallen angel brigade he has under his command" I explained, the shocked devils who weren't frozen asked a further question, Tsubaki was the one I believe... I heard her name called out a few times by the blonde... just an FYI

"Fallen angels? Why would they side with... a demon?" she asked hesitating at the mention of that word

This time I looked at them confused "you don't know?" I asked and she shook her head

"Sona hasn't learned of any demon other than her own family demon Isaac-san and I'm afraid lady Rias doesn't know either" she replied causing me to look at both Sitri and Gremory both of whom shook their heads ... well that's a set back

*sigh* "Malthus is an earl of hell and erects towers and fills them with ammunition... in fact we happened to have destroyed one of his 'towers' located in Kyoto, inside an abandoned Shinto shrine" I explained, this time issei asked me a question

"What did you find there?... Did you find any Excalibur's?" he asked, kinda quickly to

"No... I'm afraid he's hiding those carefully, since there crucial to his objective we won't see them until he uses them" I replied calmly, the hyoudou boy simply 'tsk' before backing up "as for the fallen angels, well, we have no evidence backing this claim but we as well as my superiors believe the cadre class fallen angel, Kokabiel is directly connected to Malthus and his continues victories" after my words I looked to Tsubaki and nodded

For a minute I waited for the two before me, that being Sona and Rias, to finally return to the meeting since they had been silent for the last of the truce talk only soaking up all the information, not getting an answer I locked gazes with the raven haired girl behind Rias Gremory one who herself looked like she'd seen a ghost

I snapped my finger and she alone looked at me

I stared at her then shifted my gaze to her master, gesturing silently for her to get her masters attention

"Rias..." started the girl as she tapped her master's shoulder, only once and the girl sprung back to life

The first thing she looks at was me – flattering, before she realized my expecting glance

"Yes Isaac-san, what is it?" she asked shakily, I smiled at her

"Since I'm the kind of guy who makes sure his point is across I want to make this perfectly clear" once I got her's as well as Sona's attention I pressed forward "the demon Malthus wishes to assassinate the two of you with a holy artifact, it's effects will commence a war, the great war, and my superior's as well as me and my crew believe the best course of action would be to ally our sides together, combine our strength"

"Only the three of you?" questioned a distraught Sona Sitri, the stress was real today it seemed

That was way too easy

"Four of us..." I corrected before a gust of soft wind erupted from behind me which revealed the fourth exorcist in the room

"I'd like you all to meet my friend here, Dulio Gesualdo... the Vatican's strongest exorcist"

A/N: well that's a wrap!

It's been a long time since I've gotten into writing and I'm glad I did, this last bit was done on one of those kinds of days were my brain just 'clicks' and boom, a way my writing goes

I'm happy, it's been a few too many weeks since my update and I feel like "the division beta" is one of the main culprits, that and the fallout 4 bug still hasn't been shrugged off completely (I'm still hunting for the explosive minigun)

Well aside from my low life having a direct impact on my writing hobby I managed to get chapter eleven out

Sorry for any plot holes BTW, it's hard keeping up with the time gaps and changes I compulsively like to use...

I honestly haven't got much to say on this chapter, I left a lot of what happens in the meeting for the next chapter and on that note, second season that being this arc will end next chapter as well

And for those asking when Rosswiesse is gonna come into play well that's the chapter after the next one, hopefully... if that's gonna be my goal then don't expect the next chapter to come out for a while

I have the meeting, my own after math of the meeting, the change to yuuto's path of vengeance as well as the large battle that will ensue then a surprise intro for a character!... I guess an estimate of 40,000 words? Maybe more, depending if I'm in the writing mood

Now I have many other things I'd like to bring up... mainly a vote

I'm at an impasse here guys and gals... you all know I preach about taking a different path until I'm blue in the face and so I want your guises opinion

Do you want Xenovia to become a devil like normal? Or become an angel?

Personally I want the angel change... feels fresh to me but I'd like to give some power to my readers so there ya go, the voting will be done when the next chapter comes out

And now here's an even bigger vote

I've come to the point where I have multiple ideas for new stories pooling up in my head and I've grown ever so restless on the matter and so I have three that I want you all to vote on

New story #1: not many people have done this and the only one to have done this speaks and writes in Indonesian and quite frankly I don't speak that so I want to write my own version of a prototype/DxD crossover, it'd be posted in the DxD section because I'd only be using references to it and have only a handful of characters from the game, it'll be dark-ish with a few character deaths and blood, kinda what this story is like but less white knight protagonist (sorry Isaac)

New story #2: a more large range story kinda like what blueprint is doing with "disavowed" where we focus on a human vs. supernatural conflict on a large scale, a large slew of protagonists or one with a large variety of devil killing boom sticks and of course, BFG's... pretty much a 'doom' story with humans slaughtering a much more gritty version of DxD devils, less tits more blood IE: a gory bash fic... it'd be a fun side project since doom 4 is coming (looks hawt)... I'd play it... or hell, I could add some 40K elements in there, always wanted to see the imperium of man slaughter some heretics *grins evilly*

New story #3: this one I've been mulling over for a good while, I had been asked this idea by one of my readers were I focus on events before DxD canon begins and then I delved into a self-insert-ish view, modified the idea and came up with a story that would be quiet cool to write... for me personally, always wanted to write a near omnipotent telekinetic badass anti hero tear through the DxD universe before the actually story would begin... yeah, self insert does sound like a turn off doesn't it? It won't be a true one but it'll still be there... in a comedic manner

Well, you can vote on those two subjects for a while in the comments and be aware that I won't start writing them right now... Well actually I could, just not upload them so to keep public demand from crying out, I could write the new story without uploading all the while write my main focus story (this one) and by the time I finish this guy the next one will be done... two stories one... wait that wasn't going anywhere

Well guys it's been fun, hope you guys can leave a review for little ol me... love hearing from you guys, it motivates me into writing more

R&R you beautiful bastards and in the mean time... imma wait for dying light: the following

Peace!