{Tara's POV, the next day.}

Feeling the 'knocking' against my side of the link, I grumbled and tried to ignore it, but for some reason, my sister wasn't letting me sleep. [Tara, wake up! Asia should be landing soon. We'll be picking her up so wake up and get dressed.] Oh... That.

Grumbling more, I blearily opened my eyes, and took stock of my situation. Rias was by my side, head buried into the crook of my neck, Koneko meanwhile was resting with her head against my breast, and over my heart as she usually did. I took a second to take in the sight, then shook it off as I brought my wings back in, and slowly made my way out of the bed, and moving Rias a bit towards Koneko, so she would claim my daughter as her substitute body pillow. With that done, I got out of bed, and snacked on a Lightning Bead, charging up and getting my mind running. {I'm up. Time?}

[Currently, it is 6:45AM. Asia's flight lands at 8:00AM.]

I paused. {... So... Why am I up now?}

[We'll be skipping school today to get Asia integrated with her new environment. In order to do so, I believed it better to get you up now, instead of later.]

I turned to stare in the general direction of my twin, and narrowed my eyes, trying to glare at her through the floor. {I hate you. With every fiber of my being, I hate you.}

[Oh hush you over dramatic sloth. Take your shower and get dressed. The airport is a half hour away by car, and that's not counting traffic.] I heavily resented the 'sloth' comment, and grumbled a garbled mess of obscenities at her. I could feel the eye roll, so I just sent the mental equivalent of a middle finger at her. [How mature of you Tara. Truly, such a model figure of maturity.]

{Oh fuck off!} I ignored the amusement flowing from her, and made my way to the shower. I'd deal with the smug bitch later.

After I was clean and dressed, I made my way downstairs, after waking Rias and Koneko, the former taking a shower while the latter was in her rightful place on my back, and walked into the livingroom where my twin was on a couch with her daughter looking at a cartoon or something. She leaned back a bit, looking at me and my daughter as she did, and waved. Koneko lazily Nya'd at her in return, making us both smile, and Cynthia excitedly chatter back.

I went over and gave the little rabbit a quick pat on the head, and dropped Koneko off onto the couch while I went to get our breakfast. I wasn't surprised to come back to my daughter splayed across the couch, her legs and body over my sister and niece's lap, head taking up an empty space next to Martha. I went over to that spot, and after she held her head up a bit, I sat down, and let her lay her head on my lap. Like me, Koneko wasn't a morning person. If she could viably sleep the day away, she would.

My daughter's fondness for the Sin of Sloth aside, I ate and fed her while my sister and I talked. {So we got a nun coming over. What's she all about again?}

[Tara, Serafall literally gave us her information last night.]

{Well, yeah, but that was last night. I literally went to sleep like, an hour or two later.}

Martha just stared at me, deadpan at full force. I just shrugged at her. [Sometimes, I don't understand how you got through college.]

That got a raised brow from me. {You do remember that I DID study, right?}

[I wonder about that.]

{'Scuse me?!} My sister mentally laughed at me, and I huffed. {Ah fuck off. Don't wanna hear shit from the bitch that drank my Rum and got shitfaced on accident.}

My twin bristled at that, and shot me an embarrassed glare. [IT WAS IN A WATER BOTTLE TARA! I WASN'T EXPECTING RUM IN A WATER BOTTLE!]

{THAT WAS THE POINT! I DID IT TO SPECIFICALLY HIDE IT FROM YOU, AND YOU FOUND AND DRANK THE WHOLE THING!}

[It was sweet!]

{It was mine!}

[Then you shouldn't have left it in the front! You should've stashed it away in the back!]

{I was lazy all right! I wasn't expecting for you to pick out the rum from the water!}

[IT WAS THE FIRST BOTTLE!]

{I HAD LAB THAT NIGHT!}

Before my sister and I could get further into the pointless but very important argument, mom came into the livingroom, gave us a customary look, then blinked. "It's too early for arguments. Whatever happened was probably Tara's fault anyway." And with that said, she went to the kitchen.

I just stared at her retreating form with my jaw dropped, unable to believe I was just betrayed like this by my own mother! The wave of amusement I felt was immediately followed by a smirk from my sister. "I rest my case."

My everything twitched, and I was tempted to bring out a wing or my tail to smack her upside the head with, but she'd probably avoid it somehow. So instead, I just settled on feeding my daughter, and ignoring the smug look Martha was sending me, and the confused ones my daughter and niece were shooting the both of us. (I hate it here.) I was pretty sure my twin was reading my thoughts, since her smirk just grew wider at that. (Fuck you.)

Yup, she was totally reading my thoughts.

After that whole thing, we got ready to head out. Rias and everyone else were going to go to school, Kuroka was going to stay at home and chill, and mom, Martha, Koneko, Cynthia, and I were going to the airport.

{Asia's POV}

Excommunicated. That one word crushed me when I heard it. All my life I was raised to use the lord's gift, help those that needed it. But why didn't that extend to everyone? Why did healing someone, something I've done ever since my gift was discovered, lead to me being excommunicated? Even when I was told I healed a Devil, I didn't understand it. The lord encouraged unity and compassion no matter the gender or race of a person. That's what I was raised to believe and always did.

So why did the church not understand it?

Why did practicing what was preached lead me to this point?

My faith was shaken for a moment, but only a moment. 'This was a test' that's what it must've been. It had to be a test of my faith. I just knew it. This was a test, and I'd keep going until I passed.

Despite knowing that, I did wonder where the lord would lead me now. Even if it would be in the lord's hands, I wondered what my life outside of the church would be like. Being the 'Holy Maiden' was all I knew, so what would I be without it? Those thoughts filled my mind, but when I was visited by Lord Azazel, those thoughts faded.

An angel, even one that had fallen, was still an angel. And to have someone like him point my way, alleviated my fears and made me look forward to my life with a 'Very interesting family' as he put it. I never knew what a family was like, my fellow nuns and priests were there, sure, but I'd never felt the familial kind of love I'd read and heard about. It was something I always thought about 'what would a family be like?' And now I was told I would be living with one?

It was a sign, it just had to be.

I was given the option to be brought there immediately, but there were more things I always wanted to try, and I was offered another of them. The chance to fly on a plane! I would always hear about traveling from the other members of the church, but I was never allowed to do it.

But now? I wanted to fly, to see the world from the sky.

So I did. It took a few hours, but the joy of seeing the world from up high, to see the sun rise above the clouds, was a sight I'd always remember. But now, now the plane was landing, and I followed the crowd as we all exited the plane.

I didn't have anything with me, so I didn't have to go to the baggage claiming section, so I just kept going. I was told they'd be at the lobby, waiting for me, so I kept going. And when I made it there? The family I was told about wasn't exactly hard to find.

Standing together were three of the tallest and most beautiful women I'd ever seen. The tallest of the trio wore her long wine red hair in braids, held by golden manacles. Her amber eyes were accentuated by the shadow her large black sunhat, while the emerald sundress she wore showed off her womanly figure. The heels she wore just adding to her impressive face seemed the most mature and striking of the three, paired with her figure and height, I assumed she was the mother to the other red haired women I saw. She just had a presence about her.

The 'shortest' woman with brighter red hair, done up in a high ponytail, was the one holding the sign. She had a softer face then the sunhat woman, but she was wearing a scandalously tight black hoodie that covered her arms, neck, and just above her breasts, and that was it! Her breasts were covered by a red sports bra, exposing her highly toned midriff, while the skin tight torn black jeans did nearly nothing to hide her supple thighs and legs. The dark blue shoes she wore were seemingly the most normal part of her outfit. (T-Th-That's too lewd!)

Finally, the last redhead, who seemed to have a bit more firm and sharp face, while also more modest then the former redhead. Her hair was let down, a flowing stream of red that reminded me of strawberries, one eye covered by a bang while the other eye was a pretty sapphire blue, almost the same shade as the other woman's. She had a gray furred sweater that was zipped halfway up her breasts, which exposed a sinful amount of cleavage, as well as a white under shirt. Her pants were baggy black sweatpants, and her shoes seemed like normal sneakers.

A small part of me was intimidated at the three of them, they all had blessed figures, and then there was me, but I wasn't going to dwell on that thought.

Instead, I focused on the two children with them. The taller of the two, which was around my height, had pure white hair like snow, and amber eyes that looked bored and somewhat curious. Her hair went down to her shoulders, a cat hair clip in her hair, and a golden claw earring caught my attention for a moment, but I looked away soon after. She was in an outfit similar to the last redhead, a furry white sweater, and baggy gray pants which seemed a little too big for her.

Then there was the youngest among them. The little girl excitedly looking around, practically radiating in place, was adorable. Her red cap covered some of her ash blonde, close to white hair, but worked well with her bright red eyes. Her little red dress and white under dress was the cutest thing I'd seen, and her little boots just made the outfit just that much cuter.

Taking a moment to just look at all of them for a few more seconds, I wondered how this next stage of my life would test me, but I also knew I'd have to go on to. I could only keep going.

So I did.

I kept going, and made my way to them. I saw as the redheads looked me up and down, the younger children did so too but the redheads just held more of a pressure, and I felt the third tallest woman hug me. It was so sudden that I was caught off guard. I'd been hugged before, but there was something just fundamentally different about this hug. I felt warm and cherished... I felt safe. "Girls, look at her! She's adorable! We're definitely keeping her."

The woman just kept hugging me, and it was a little hard to breath as I was pressed into her womanly bits. It was a bit embarrassing to be held in another woman's bosom like this, but it felt right for some reason. "Mother... There might not be much to keep if you keep suffocating her." The tallest of the trio, as well as the speaker, helped pry me out of her mothers hug, and I felt like I owed her my life.

The mother, which surprised me as I just assumed the tallest of them was the mother, just sighed as she looked at me again. Her eyes roaming over my form, seemingly critiquing my choice of clothing... Which made me feel bad. "Mhm... But still, I'll need to thank Sera the next time she comes over. Any ideas Martha?"

The now named Martha just started humming, and then shrugged her shoulders. "I'll figure something out later." The mother just smiled and I saw amusement in her eyes. While that happened, I turned towards the last redhead, the one named Tara.

The names of both women seemed to remind me of the story of St. Martha and her dragon, Tarasque. That made me feel somewhat more relaxed, living with people named after a Catholic story couldn't be that bad. The woman, Tara, looked at me and then whispered 'cute', which made me blush. I couldn't remember the last time I was given a compliment that simple, but I enjoyed the feeling it gave me. If this was any indication of what my new life would be like, I was already sure I would love it.

But I did wonder about something. "Um, excuse me, but... Will I still be able to pray?" They all looked at me, and nodded. That was a huge relief, and it was the only thing I was really worried about. With that worry gone, I was ready to keep going, and see what my new life would be like.

{Tara's General Narration two days later}

Seeing and interacting with Asia was a nice thing. The girl was cute, a little clumsy, which set off some instincts in me, and was just a pure bundle of joy. The girl was so sheltered, it made me tempted to turn the church as a whole into a giant crater.

The girl had never even had PANCAKES! What kind of evil organization was the church?!

Hearing that, Koneko, mom, Cynthia and I made sure Asia had as much fun as she could. None of us liked her comment about being a burden, so we tried to dissuade those thoughts from her, but it was a work in progress.

The nun got settled into our home relatively quickly. Though, there were some things she was going to take time getting used too. One of those things was sleeping in the same bed as another woman.

The thing was, we didn't have an extra room, and since Rias and Koneko slept with me, while Cynthia slept with Martha, mom took it upon herself to claim Asia as her own cuddle buddy. At first, the nun was embarrassed and tried to dissuade her by saying she'd sleep on the couch, but mom just didn't care, and practically dragged the innocent blonde away to have her wicked ways with her... Which meant Asia now had experience being a body pillow.

After some questioning, she admitted she liked being held by mom, so Rias, Martha, and I started up a betting pool on how long it'd take for mom to adopt her. It just made sense at this point for mom to adopt a stray of her own, since Martha and I did it, and woe be her if she was left behind. (It's kinda funny when I think about it.) It was, but now wasn't the time.

While Asia started getting used to the house, as well as the inhabitants, she started asking questions of mom and the rest of the girls, mostly about what being a Devil was like. I also got asked a bunch of stuff about being a dragon, I had to explain it after she nearly tripped down the stairs seeing my tail and horns out the first time, but it was the bit at our names that she spent a good amount of time talking about. Though, her questions about Devils took the cake. She seemed really curious about the whole thing, and we recognized some of the question she asked as some Irina asked when she first found out about Rias. Though... We were starting to get worried when she asked if they sacrificed virgins, with genuine curiosity in her voice. Me and he rest of the girls in earshot just choked on air, or whatever the others were eating when we heard that. I had to make sure Rias didn't die via omelette, and listen as the girls told her that wasn't what they did.

That was an interesting morning. But everyone loved Asia, so despite her worrying about it, she fit right in. I could even make a 'Nun a Devil and a Dragon walked into a bar joke now, and it'd fit! Though, not sure when I'd ever use it.

Anyway, we had a good two days with Asia, and we were all happy with her. Kuroka liked to tease her, Cynthia enjoyed a new person to have around, the Devils were a bit guilty at a pure soul like Asia being hurt because of one of their kind, so they were protective of her, just like mom, Martha and I were. My twin's and my own protectiveness could be easily understood, but it was mom's that made us make the bet in the first place. Mom was getting attached to the sweet cinnamon roll, like, attached attached, and we all saw Asia eating up the affection she was receiving. It was like a duckling looking up to her mother, and we all agreed with that comparison.

Though, the interruption came from an unexpected, but slightly expected source.

Looking at the message Futaba put into the group chat, I knocked on my sister's side of the link, getting her attention. When I had it, I filled her in. {Sooo... Persona 5 is starting.}

That got her full attention. [Are you sure? It's begun today?] Getting permission to link our senses, I showed her what I was looking at.

-In Full Bloom-

Sakura Lily - Heyyy, so you remember that guy Sojiro agreed to take in?

Lightning Flower - Yeees?

Sakura Lily - Cool. Well he's here now.

[Ah, well, this in somewhat inconvenient.] And it really was. With the final confirmation that Persona canon was ready to roll, Mental Shutdowns were going on, and Uncle Ro had told us about Kurusu a month back, but we were still waiting for the protagonist to enter the scene, and now that he had, there was now another thing we had to pay attention too.

It didn't help that I remembered fuck all of Persona at this point, it'd been nearly two whole decades since I'd seen anything of the game... So yeah, I had no idea what was going to happen anymore. Yikes.

Lightning Flower - Alright. Play nice Futaba, no scaring the shit out of him by hacking his phone and 'threatening' him.

Sakura Lily - That was 1 time!

Rose of Ruin - Didn't you do that to Issei too?

Danger Daisy - Wait, when'd THAT happen?

Looking over to Rias, who was laying across my legs with her phone on her chest, and an issue of JJK in her hands, I gave her a raised brow. My sister just met the look, and shrugged. "Well she did."

Rolling my eyes, we both looked at the chat when we felt our phones buzz.

Sakura Lily - ... I plead the 5th!

Danger Daisy - What would honoring your father and mother have to do with this?

Sakura Lily - YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN IRINA!

Rias and I shared a snort at those last two, and went back to doing what we were beforehand. For her, that was reading, while I was thinking about this new bit of information. With the protagonist of P5 in the scene, Martha and I could start planning for Futaba's Palace. We both knew that was probably going to be the only way to resolve her problem of leaving her room, but neither of us knew how her Palace would be affected, while also not fully trusting the Thieves to be able to clear it. Sure, they did it in the game, but this was our life now, and we didn't want to leave our cousin/little sister/niece to a bunch of strangers.

Which was further messed up was our schedule. With the event going on in July, Martha would be with Rias and Sona, while I'd be in Tokyo, working on Futaba's Palace. [We'll need to keep in contact. Depending on how these situations go, we may end up utilizing the teleportation aspect of our link.]

I mentally frowned at that. {If I can do it safely, I'll see about blitzing Futaba's Palace. The sooner that's put of the way, the more free time I'll have in case something goes wrong.}

[The keyword there is 'if' it can be done safely. If not, you'll need to take your time, and let the Thieves do their job. By that point, they should have three Palaces under their belts, and will know more then either of us will.] She had a point, a really good point.

Sighing, I idly looked at the group chat as I felt my twin leave my mind.

Sakura Lily - Still, I feel bad for the guy.

Danger Daisy - Why?

Sakura Lily - Didn't you read the file I sent over?

Scarlet Begonia - She was on assignment.

Danger Daisy - Yeah! Totally!

Sakura Lily - You sure about that?

Danger Daisy - Yup. That's my story, and I'm sticking with it.

Rias and I shared an amused look, equally aware that Irina was lying given her response.

Scarlet Begonia - ... And there went what little effort I put in.

Rose of Ruin - Irina, never play Poker.

Sakura Lily - Speech -100.

Lightning Flower - There was an attempt made I guess.

Rias and I snickered at the back to back responses, and I could feel a bit of amusement coming from my twin.

Danger Daisy - You're all mean!

That just made our snickering worse.

Danger Daisy - Anyway! Why did you feel bad for that guy, Kurusu or something?

And now we were back to interested.

Sakura Lily - Oh yeah! Okay, so he's got a record. An Assault charge for 'attacking an upstanding citizen in the throes of night' or some crap like that.

Sakura Lily - Though, when I took a look at it, it's obviously a set up. The guy he 'assaulted', as well as the woman there as a 'witness', both said he did it.

Sakura Lily - Issue is, when I took a closer look, the victim isn't named, the Judge has a hidden history of accepting bribes or purposely conducting sham trials, and the woman was laid off a few days after the trial, 750,000 yen richer. Tracing where the money came from was actually a little difficult, but not that hard, so I ended up finding the source... And I hit the jackpot.

Sakura Lily - Masayoshi Shido, an up and coming political powerhouse, destroyer of dreams, and the guy that's the head of a hidden cabal.

Sakura Lily - The guy's got some of the best cyber security I've seen, and getting through it will take me alot of time, but I can do it. This is a lead that I'll probably spend a majority of my time following, but the TLDR of it is he pretty much ruined Kurusu's future when the guy stopped him from doing something. I did my yearly good deed since he gave me a lead, and hid Kurusu's file, no one will be able to find the digital version or anything about it, so he should be able to have a sorta normal life unless he goes back to his hometown.

"Tch, politicians. Just as bad, if not worse then some of us." It said something that my sister, a literal Devil, didn't like the guy at all.

Still, what Futaba did WAS a nice thing to do. "Rias," My younger sister hummed in response. "Remind me to do something good for Futaba later." She hummed again, and went back to reading. She'd remind me.

Scarlet Begonia - Make sure to treat this with caution, Futaba. While you and Uncle are safe under our Wards, as well as protected by your lockets, that does not mean you cannot suffer retaliation.

Sakura Lily - Gotcha cousiii. Though, you didn't count Potter.

That got a snort out of me, and when Rias saw why, she rolled her eyes. "I still think we should try convincing her to legally take the Potter name."

"Hmm, probably after she takes up the Sakura one."

Rias smirked at that. "So in two or so years?" I barked out a laugh at her response.

A week or so after Martha told Azalea about Uncle Ro, which was only two or three months ago, she found the time to visit Leblanc. She didn't say she was a Half Fallen, didn't say she knew Marth or the rest of us, she just showed up as a new customer.

She ended up liking it so much that she became a new regular. Though, none of us were sure if she 'just' liked the food and drinks. After a month of going into Leblanc, and interacting with Uncle Ro, Martha somehow noticed the beginning of a crush being formed by the Half Fallen. I was pretty sure it was due to the hooting coming from Hedwig, and I laughed my ass off when she first told me about the golem, while the two were on call. I'd heard the conversation since I was curious about what the massive spike in amusement was, and decided to look into her thoughts, which was how I found out Azalea was crushing on our uncle.

That may have led to me going into her room, which didn't surprise my sister, and making some pointed promises of bodily harm. My twin on the other hand made a casual comment about some curse that denied orgasmic release, no matter the stimulation... I was pretty sure her threat scared Azalea's more then mine did... And I could respect that.

Anyway, our Fallen friend was laying the groundwork as it were, and was doing her best to get to know our uncle some more. Uncle Ro noticed this, and seemed to be interested in Azalea too. The old man didn't seem to mind the age gap if she didn't, he especially didn't mind the fact she wasn't human after she told him. Martha had convinced her that it would be better to get that out of the way at the start, so secrets wouldn't interfere in any relationship that formed between the two.

Thanks to that, Futaba got involved since she still had the cafe bugged, and she talked to us about it. Learning more about Azalea, the gremlin got even more curious, and decided to hack her phone, and proceed to scare the shit out of her, hence why I told her not to do it to Kurusu. After that, Futaba and Azalea struck up conversation, mediated by my twin, and they hit it off.

Ever since then, things have been developing between the three of them. Hedwig liked to chill in Futaba's room most of the time, and the gremlin liked the owl golem, so it was a win win, especially with how Uncle Ro liked the fact the two got along. Hell, they were talking about letting Azalea have the guest room so she and Futaba could talk more often. Things were moving fast, but they were going great, so who cared?

Zoning back onto my sister, I hummed. "I give it a good two and a half years before they tie the knot."

Rias took a second or two to think on it, then nodded. "Fair. How much are we betting?"

That was a good question.

{General Narration}

After that, things cooled down again. We spent time with Asia, Martha and Sona had taken it upon themselves to teach her Japanese. Sure, Martha or Sona could cast a language spell on her so she could speak Japanese, but she wouldn't be able to read it, so the lessons were needed.

As for Futaba, she kept us up to date on Kurusu, while also telling us about whatever progress she made on Shido.

That's how things went for a bit. The first bump came from Futaba's side. I had forgotten it, but when Futaba told us that a student had tried to commit suicide, I nearly snapped. There was the part of me that felt guilty, because I'd not only FORGOTTEN an attempted suicide, but also the reason behind it. It took me hours to remember just why Suzui tried to off herself, and when I did, my guilt was replaced by anger. My tail had nearly left holes in the wall, and cracks in the floor with how hard it was thrashing around.

It took Martha teleporting me to the grounds Rias owned, and fighting me for an hour for me to not be pissed anymore, and hold off on flying over to Tokyo to Roar Shujin into a crater. It helped that my sister promised me she'd head over to the hospital Suzui was in, and heal her with her Verdant Light. I accepted that, but I still felt guilty at forgetting.

The logical argument was obvious, it'd been two decades since I'd seen anything of the P5 game, and the event happened in the 1st arc of the game.

My emotional side didn't exactly care for logic at the moment, even though I knew I'd cave to it later.

That event passed, and after reassuring everyone I was fine, and also having a conversation with my twin about a certain topic, things went back to normal... Though they didn't stay that way for long.

It was a week later when a certain blonde fuckhead decided to try dropping by.

Keyword was 'try.'

{Tara's POV}

"Renewal Taekwondo - Dragon Style: Rok Talons!" Flipping back, my claws scrapped against the scales of Issei's Balance Breaker clad form, sounding like steel clashing against steel. Though, as soon as my back reached the right position, my hands connected to the ground, and I spun, the wind, and my tail lashing out as I did. I called the move 'Typhoon' because of the speed I whipped up the wind around me.

I felt Issei stagger back from both hits, but the familiar sound of [BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!] [BOOST!][BOOST!] rang out, making me curse when he recovered faster then I expected, and felt him grab my tail.

Knowing what was coming, I brought my tail back into myself, which was instant, and flipped off the ground, and into the air as I brought out my wings. "Two can play at that game, Tara-chan!" That was the only warning I got before Issei shot off the ground, and into the sky in front of me, faster then I expected for 5 Boosts. "Red Dragon's Barrage!" I put my guard up, and braced against the hail of fists that rained down onto me. I felt my scales crack and shatter as more and more hits landed on me, pushing me towards the ground, but I took it and waited for the right mome...- [BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!] Now!

Issei had reared a fist back, and I knew he was going to use it to shatter my defense. Unfortunately for him, that was what I was waiting for. Flashing behind him with Thunder Body, I raised both beaten and bruised arms above my head, and SLAMMED DOWN. "Lightning Dragon's HAMMER!" Issei's armor cracked beneath my hands, and he shot towards the earth like a meteor.

But I wasn't done.

Following after him with a Thunder Step, I reappeared spinning like Sonic, my tail coated in lightning as I did. "Lightning Dragon's Tail Slam!" I crashed into Issei's back, more cracks forming against his armor, nearly shattering a portion of it.

I was about to press the advantage when my instincts warned me to move, so with a Thunder Body, I re-positioned myself back into the sky, narrowly avoiding Issei's retaliation. "Red Dragon's Domain!" The air around us became oppressive, the gravity changed so abruptly I almost came crashing down. Rocks were flattened to dust, trees cracked and shattered.

Domain was basically flexing Spiritual Pressure, and fucking up the area around him. The effects increased depending on how many boosts he had. 1 Boost put an 'eh' amount of pressure in a 2m radius around him, while every Boost after doubled the potency and range. At 10 Boosts, everything within 20ms of him was weighted down and constantly battered by his magic. He couldn't keep it up for long, his reserves weren't up to it yet despite taking Moon Dew Tea, but he was getting there.

Done with the mental exposition, I watched as Issei got himself out of the crater I'd put him in, and stared down at him as he stared at me. (If someone was outside looking in, this would look badass.) That thought flew by my mind, but I didn't focus on it. Instead, I kept my gaze on my opponent, and grinned when he got into stance.

Lightning coursed around me, while Issei got another 5 Boosts, his Domain expanding and pushing against me as it did.

Bringing out my horns, I let my tail come back out and primed it above my horns forming a triangle as a sphere of lightning formed in front of the tips of my horns/tail. "Lightning Dragon's...-"

Meanwhile, Issei brought both arms together, fists clenched and aimed at me as dark red mana formed on his arms. Escalation was something dragon's just did for the fuck of it, and Issei was quickly picking up on it. "Red Dragon's...-"

Though, before both of us released moves that cause mass destruction to our surroundings, an unfamiliar magical signature suddenly appeared near the ORC, making us both turn towards the building. That signature's magic felt like fire and air, a com...- I growled when I made the connection, and dispelled my Cero. Looking towards Issei, I noticed him dropping his Balance Breaker, and heard the [RESET] come from the Old Gecko.

With his Domain receding because of that, I went down to land in front of Issei, and quickly brought out the duffel bag of clothes I always had whenever I did any sort of training. Issei mirrored my action, we all had a duffel bag we kept in our bracelets, and after making a lightning screen, we got changed, and headed over to the ORC.

Neither of us knew this was coming, so that meant Rias didn't know it was coming either.

And given Rias didn't like anything about Phenex, suddenly being confronted by one just seemed like a recipe for disaster.

{Rias' POV a few minutes earlier}

Looking over the paperwork, I could just FEEL the migraine forming. After the last Stray Devil we'd taken out, things had been rather simple in Kuoh. No suspicious deaths, no missing children taken by supernatural entities, or anything that was remotely troublesome, just how we all liked it.

That didn't mean there wasn't paperwork.

Our people in the police force were reporting about some strange rumors they'd been hearing, something about weirdos in cloaks speaking of magic, a sign of magicians was worrying given the Raven's hadn't spotted any. (I'll need to bring this up with Sona, Reya and Martha-Oba later.) They were the ones that monitored and worked on the Ravens, so this was their issue.

Nothing suspicious from the coroners, which was good, but the trivial issues were annoying.

The bars had an annoying amount of rumors floating around as usual, but the rumors about Magicians were also in there too.

My contacts in the 'Gentleman's Club' brought another issue to light, one that made me frown as I looked at it, and I just sighed as I put the paper down and kneaded my head. (On the one hand, I'm flattered, while on the other, thinking about some old men fantasizing about my family just makes me want to throttle someone.) The issue had been more and more clients requesting workers to come with red wigs, wigs the same shades as my, and my sister's/mother's hair. (Why couldn't I have gotten the politicians?)

Sona and I had split what areas we'd govern in our territory, I'd ended up with information and low leveled positions, while Sona got the Politicians and higher positions like that. We weren't allowed to cheat by using resources like the Ravens or our families money, so we did it the old fashioned way. By making contracts with people, we slowly but steadily got contacts everywhere we could, and created our own information network, while also gaining experience governing a territory. Though, it was times like these that made me wish I had gotten the other side.

A cup of tea being placed in front of me broke me out of my thoughts, and I sent a grateful look to my longtime friend and Queen. Akeno smiled back, and looked down onto my desk, blinking at the report I'd just been reading. "Hoh~? Some people seem to be getting a little too into role playing."

I rolled my eyes at that, and took a sip of the tea. As usual, it was great. "Kind of wished they just didn't, but that'd be asking for too much."

The snort that came from my Queen just solidified that. "How very true. People need SOMETHING to look forward too. It was only inevitable that the four very buxom and model tier women would become someone's fantasies. I know some of mine~ are." I shot the embodiment of a Yamato Nadeshiko a deadpan, which made her giggle. "Oh hush, you know I'm only joking." Another eye roll, and I went back to the tea. "Or am I?~" I ignored that.

I also ignored the sensual way she licked her lips, knowing she was doing it on purpose.

Relaxing with just Akeno around was a different experience now then it used to be before the move. Beforehand, Akeno had been my Queen, my closest confidant and bestfriend.

But now, Tara-nee was one of, if not THE closest person to me in my life. Mom and Martha-Oba were immediately after her and tied for the spot. Then came Akeno. She knew this, and didn't care at all. She understood the bond I had with the Sakura's, and even had her own with Martha-Oba, and even saw mom as an aunt.

So really, it wasn't that much of a surprise that our dynamic was a bit different, but not in a bad way.

I was about to finish my tea when I felt the familiar presence of the Phenex messenger bird, which made me scowl, when it was replaced a moment later with the presence of someone I hadn't been near for years. I grit my teeth as I felt my fiancee walking towards my club building. Looking over to my Queen, she sensed it too, and joined me in scowling at the arrogant annoyance. "Should I go 'greet' him?"

I gulped down the last of my tea, then got up. "No. This annoyance didn't bother to send a missive, so he's currently trespassing on Gremory/Sitri territory. I want you to go inform Sona while I... Entertain, the bastard."

My Queen nodded at me, and left in a flash of teleportation.

With Akeno gone, I started making my way out, when I felt the sparring session between my elder sister and the current Red Dragon Emperor, end. (Well, if Riser makes any mistakes, he'll end up dragon chow before I can rend him from the mortal plane.) Despite the amusement that thought gave me, a part of me dreaded the reason Riser was here for. Intellectually, I knew I could delete him from existence, but fear or dread was never meant to be fully based on reason or logic.

It didn't take long for me to make my way out of the ORC building, and when I did, I was confronted with the person who could only be Riser Phenex. He hadn't reached the Wards yet, but he was only a few steps away from doing so. The thought of him tripping the Wards, and becoming a mana battery until he was drained dry highly amused me, but I'd enjoy the sight if it happened, at the moment, it hadn't.

Looking at him, his entire posture just disgusted me as it oozed pretentiousness, and my opinion of him was only reaffirmed as I spotted the unconcealed greed in lust in his eyes as his eyes roamed my figure. Scowling at him, I crossed my arms, and issued the warning. "Riser Phenex, you are currently tr...-"

I was interrupted by an over exaggerated sigh coming from him. "Ah, Rias Gremory as I live and breath." My eye twitched, and I resisted the urge to put the worm in his place. "Riser sees," My eye twitched again. When Cynthia did it, it was cute. But when a grown man like Riser did it, it was creepy and made him sound idiotic. "The years you were out of contact have been good to you. It makes the news Riser has come to deliver that much sweeter."

The dread I felt earlier returned, but as fast as it did, the anger was faster. (This piece of shit thinks he can walk into my territory and CLAIM me? I'll tear him apart faster then Tara-nee would.) I scowled at the man before me, and let my Power of Destruction slip a little, crimson red miasma slowly seeping into the air as I did. "Riser Phenex, you are currently trespassing on Gremory/Sitri territory. Move no further or you WILL be subject to our territories Wards." I already knew what was coming, which was why I didn't ask, but he was still going to know how... Displeased, I was if he took a step further. Plus, with a pair of Ravens nearby, I knew I wouldn't catch any flack since I'd given him the warning.

He didn't seem to care about the warning though, nor the grass wilting beneath our feet, and just went on, a patronizing smile on his face and sadistic glint in his eyes as he did. "Ah, my beautiful Crimson Haired Princess of Ru...-" I was developing more twitches as he waxed on about my title, but smirked when the dumbass crossed the Wards.

In an instant, the Wards made by Martha-Oba flared to life, immobilizing Riser in ethereal shackles, chaining him to the earth. With him bound, the shackles glowed an eerie and sickly green as the curses began seeping into Riser's flesh. Corrosive purple marks began growing along his face, as well as the rest of his body, while his complexion paled. I watched as his skin started rotting, even though his Phenex Regeneration began counteracting it, and felt my grin grow as he screamed. (Maaan... Akeno's REALLY been rubbing off on me.) I wasn't sure if that was a bad thing or not.

Though, I didn't get to enjoy the scene, since a few moments after Riser began screaming, teleportation circles with the Phenex Clan's emblem flared to life, revealing Riser's Peerage... Which made me scowl as I saw them. Considering Riser was my enemy, I did my best to learn all I could about him and his Peerage. Seeing that yes, it was not only fully composed of women, but also young girls that were Koneko's age, made me want to turn Riser into dust.

I might not have had ground to stand on considering I had Koneko and Gasper, but the former was saved from execution, while the latter had been Reincarnated after being murdered. Riser was known to boast about 'snatching quality Yokai twins', and knowing about his debauchery, I scowled far harder then I'd ever done before. That resulted in my hold on my Power of Destruction to loosen even more, causing the area to shimmer like looking out a window on a hot day.

It didn't take long for the Wards to trigger against Riser's Peerage, who hardly offered any resistance given these were already being empowered by their King's strength, and soon they were chained and cursed like their King, screaming in pain as they did... Though, I frowned at the girls' screaming, and sighed after a few moments. (Riser deserves this for being dropped as a child a few too many times, the girls don't.) With that thought, I moved forwards to grant the girls temporary access, so the Wards stopped draining them, but was stopped by another teleportation circle flashing into existence.

A highly familiar one, which was soon replaced by a figure I knew quite well.

Grayfia Lucifuge, The Strongest Queen, my brother's wife, and my sister in law. And going by the unimpressed look on her face as she looked between me, Riser, as well as his entire Peerage, I knew I wasn't about to have a good day. (Atleast none of this is my fault.)

That was the thought I had before a clap of thunder sounded out, and a flash of lightning materialized by my side, signifying that my elder sister was here, and given the figure next to her, so was Issei. They was joined by multiple flashes of teleportation circles, bearing both the Gremory and Sitri crests, which disappeared to reveal the rest of my Peerage, minus Gasper, by my side, as well as Sona's, which was joined by my 'aunt.' Grayfia didn't even bat an eye at the sudden show of force, while I was both relieved, and a little worried. (Still not my fault!)

This was going to be a long day.

{A few minutes later}

After freeing Riser from the Wards, and an annoyed Martha-Oba healed him, as well as the rest of his Peerage, he and his Queen were sitting in my club room, his Peerage standing behind the couch he sat on, wearily looking at us all. I was at my desk looking at the idiot, my Peerage by my side, Akeno on one side and mom on the other. My sister's were sitting in chairs on both sides of my desk, practically announcing they were with me. Martha-Oba made Tara-nee's an ivory throne, while the one she made for herself was an aged but regal looking wooden throne. There wouldn't be enough room for us all, Sona and Tsubaki were the only ones here as their part of the Sitri contingent. Issei wasn't involved in this, since he had no tangible ties to either myself or Sona, so he went to hangout with Kuroka and Cynthia.

Grayfia was standing by the side, observing us all. She was the only reason a fight hadn't broken out.

There was a tense silence, which was inevitably broken by my sister in law. "Firstly, we must bring up the glaring issue. Riser-sama," Being addressed so suddenly by The Strongest Queen, the idiot snapped to attention. "Why did you see fit to enter Rias-sama and Sona-sama's territory without advanced warning?"

Being stared at by an irate, even though she was hiding it, Grayfia, the idiot didn't test his luck grandstanding. "Riser will be," Tara-nee and mom's snickers made my lips twitch up a bit. "Marrying Rias, so her territory will belong to Riser anyway." I counted down from 10 in my mind, and refrained from calling him an arrogant dumbass.

Too bad Tara-nee didn't do the same. "Well damn, dumb fucks got an ego on em."

That comment stilled the room for a second, which then passed as the temperature began to increase. My sister just raised an unamused brow at Riser, who was glaring at her. "Riser has," Tara-nee blatantly barked out a laugh at that, making the temperature increase some more as flames flickered around Riser's form. In response, Tara-nee let lightning dance around her hair, and grinned at Riser, teeth morphed into ivory daggers that could easily rip his flesh apart. "Riser would advise the random human keeps her mouth shut before she gets it shut for her."

Wrong thing to say.

Tara-nee grinned like a shark, and morphed her eyes into slits. "Try me you limp dicked shit eating cuck, I'll tear you apart." The low rumbling of thunder accompanying that seemed to make Riser angrier, proving he had no self preservation instincts after he blatantly antagonized a dragon to her face.

Before things could heat up, I ignored the unintentional pun, the temperature abruptly fell, making us all turn to Grayfia, who still did not look amused. "I'd like to remind you both that this is a discussion about Riser-sama's actions. If you two cannot be civil, I will be forced to ensure you comply."

Tara-nee stared at Grayfia, who stared back. After a few tense seconds, Tara-nee huffed, smoke coming out of her nostrils, and she nodded, letting the lightning flicker out of existence, while turning her eyes and teeth back to normal. "Whatever. Just keep the peacock from lowering our collective IQ and we'll be good." I was starting to worry that Serafall's visits damaged my sister's sense of danger, because she was calmer then I expected considering she stared down an High-Ultimate Class being.

Meanwhile, Riser scoffed, and looked away, trying to look like he wasn't the least bit afraid of Grayfia... He failed, much to the amusement of my side. "Entertainment aside," Eyes went to Martha-Oba, who looked over the room with the presence of someone with power, and knew how to use it. "The misconception here is quite a dangerous one, for you that is, Phenex."

The scowl on Riser's face made me feel that much better. "And what 'misconception' is there, human?"

Mom, Tara-nee and I bristled at the way he spat out 'human', but Martha-Oba didn't care. "While you may believe in the union between yourself and Rias, that event has yet to occur." The way he blinked just showed he didn't get it, but the dawning look of comprehension in his Queen, and sister's eyes, said that THEY did. The pointed look my aunt sent at Riser made it look like an empress condemning a man to death. "As of this day, you have illegally trespassed upon Sitri territory. The Sitri family are NOT allies to the Phenex, and this infraction could very well lead to concessions made against the Phenex for attempting to bypass our Wards." With every word my aunt spoke, Riser and Ravel grew paler.

It was when she finished, that both Phenex's looked to Grayfia, possibly hoping for her to say she was wrong. Too bad for them that The Strongest Queen had a look of approval in her eyes as she glanced at my aunt, and nodded to the Phenex children. "Martha-sama is correct. By sending no prior warning, while also disregarding the verbal warning given by Rias-sama, you, Riser Phenex, have not only created a precarious situation for the Phenex and Sitri, but also for the Phenex and Gremory."

Forgetting who he was talking too, Riser shot to his feet. "WHAT?! IT'S RISER'S RIGHT TO VISIT HIS FIANCEE! NOT HAVING BEEN ABLE TOO FOR SO LONG SHOULD BE A SLIGHT AGAINST THE PHENEX!"

The temperature immediately dropped after that, and my sister in law's chilling gaze mad Riser remember just who he was shouting at. "While the Phenex have complained about being unable to visit Rias-sama, you have proceeded to ignore several procedures that nearly resulted in not only your death, but the death of your Peerage. Rias-sama would have fully been in the right to allow the Wards to drain you of your magic, and leave you all as curse ridden corpses due to this. It is only due to the contract that you still breath. You would do well to remember that, Riser Phenex."

Riser practically collapsed into the couch at my sister in law's admonishment, and she didn't stop there. "Now, because of this incident, both the Gremory and Sitri heiresses can demand some form of concession for this slight, lest this be brought up to the heads of all three clans."

Riser grit his teeth, and I had to hold myself back from grinning like the cat that ate the canary. This was what I'd been looking forwards too!

When Grayfia looked to Sona first, I was a little disappointed, but it could wait a few moments. Sona, Tsubaki, and Martha-Oba shared a look, and after they all sent an interested stare towards the Phenex siblings, they turned back to each other and nodded. Turning to my sister in law, Sona spoke. "We want a crates worth of Phoenix Tears. That will be enough for the Sitri to let this sleight go."

Riser growled at Sona, but after a look from Grayfia, nodded. "Very well. Riser will see to it that the crate is sent."

Sona, Tsubaki, and Martha-Oba smiled, and nodded. That left me.

When Grayfia turned to me, I smirked at Riser. "The Gremory calls for a Rating Game." That announcement made Riser and his Peerage still, while the anticipation was practically radiating off of my mother, Akeno, and my elder sister. "In accordance to procedure," I had to get that one in, it was right there. "In three days time, a Rating Game between us will be held. Should the Phenex win, this sleight will be forgotten. Should the Gremory win, the Marriage Contract between Rias Gremory and Riser Phenex will be broken."

Riser's scowl deepened, while the hackles of his Peerage collectively rose. I just smiled at them as my Power of Destruction gently seeped into the room, lightning danced around my mother and Queen's forms as Akeno let out a low mocking laugh, Kiba created swords for both hands, and Koneko smiled in that infuriating smile cats give.

"Riser accepts." My freedom was in sight, now I just needed to show this insignificant bastard just who our families tried to bind to him.

[Omake - What da fuuuck? Kuroka's POV yesterday]

(In through ta nose, out through ta mouth. Count ta 10 an all that.) My headache wasn't going away, and I was sure I was gonna lose my mind.

Opening my eyes, I looked at the source ah my headache, and looked at the laughing form of the midget Shirone and I adopted as a little sister. The tyke, Shirone, and I were in the forest, up at Rias' place, doing some Senjutsu training, the usual...

But somewhere along the line, the tyke just said 'fuck it', and wandered off. Now I was deep in meditation, one with nature and all that shit, so I ain't notice she left. It took Shirone coming out of her trance, and making the most confused 'Nya?' I'd eva heard in my life, to break me outta my trance.

And when I did... I just joined my sister in staring at the sight before us.

In front of us, Cynthia was on a massive fire bunny the size of a bus, hundreds of smaller, actual bunny sized fire bunnies hopping around them. Shirone and I were just flabbergasted, dumbfounded, exasperated, other big words that mean the same fuckin thing. Because really, how ta fuck was I supposed to feel seeing a rabbit midget riding atop a big ass bunny made of fire, that could probably blow the forest to hell if it exploded? (Smokey ain't give me advice fer this!)

"Onee-sama?"

"Yes, Shirone Nya?"

"Let's blame this on Martha-Oba."

I thought about that fer a second, then nodded. "Yeah, totally up fer that Nya."

Blaming the mother was a totally viable course ah action, and one we'd happily take.