Author's Note: Yo. Chapter 2 here.
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"Rias" - Speech
'Issei' - Thought
[BOOST!] - Sacred Gear Ability/ Ddraig and Albion Speech
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When I think back on the time when I was human, I am full of disgust for whom and what I once was. A foolish, complacent, naïve little girl with no idea of the cruelty that exists in the world.
That naïveté was thoroughly and firmly ripped from me when my mother was murdered. That day, I swore to grow in strength until nobody could ever take those who were precious to me away, ever again.
A promise I was unable to keep.
- Mei Schwarzwald, the Queen of Blood and Betrayal.
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Chapter 3: The Third Move: Queen
Chiaki looked around at the Gremory Group and asked, "What is it you currently know about Mei-nee-sama?"
"Not much." Akeno replied. The Queen of the Gremory Group was in the middle of making tea as she spoke, "Just that she was a German/Chinese half-blood, that she lived in Nagoya with her mother until someone killed her mother, which awakened her Sacred Gear."
"I see." the brunette Pawn said softly, "We had better sit down. This might take some time to explain."
Once all of the people in the room (except Okita) were seated, the girl began her tale.
"As you stated, Mei-nee-sama was half-German and half-Chinese." Chiaki said, "Her mother was Hildegard von Schwarzwald, the former-Heiress to the Schwarzwald Magic Society, while her father was one of the Deputy Dragons of a great Tong in Hong Kong, Mao-Mao Lin Wei."
"What's a Tong?" Gaspar asked timorously.
"Something similar to the Triads." Okita explained, "They started out as community organisations that helped out the neighbourhoods they were founded in, but were almost always eventually turned to crime as they had a fair number of triads as members. Nowadays, there is only a very subtle difference between the two. 'Mountain Master' is the name given to the person in charge of the organisation, while there is a council of 'Deputy Dragons', each jockeying for position to be the next Mountain Master."
"Mao-Mao-teme was a superstitious person." Chiaki continued with a nod to Okita as thanks for the explanation, "When he found out that Hildegard was a witch, he cast her out, already three months pregnant with Mei-nee-sama."
"How could he do such a thing!?" Issei hissed, his sense of right and wrong mortally offended by such a thing. Sirzechs looked as if he agreed with his sentiments.
"Tongs tend to be very traditional." Chiaki shrugged, "Anyway, Hildegard-san couldn't return to her family, as they had cast her out for falling for a normal human, so she fled to Japan and here, gave birth to her daughter, Evumeimei Schwarzwald."
"Wait, so 'Mei' is just a nickname?" Irina asked curiously.
"No, she legally changed her name when she found out about her father and his actions." Chiaki replied, "She was really angry...anyway, for the next twelve years Mei-nee-sama lived her life to the fullest. She was a natural genius at magic and magical theory, was well as possessing some talent in martial arts. She started learning Baguazhang when she was eight. Mind, Body and Magic, all three were trained by her mother so she could protect herself."
"The Eight Trigrams Palm." Koneko stated with a flicker of interest, "One of the three main styles of Wudang Kung-Fu, an internal style focusing on circle walking as a training method. Which offshoot does she use? Ying? Chen?"
"The original style developed and used by Dong Haichuan." Chiaki replied, "He was welcomed into the Bael Family in 1869 and taught Mei-nee-sama himself. Prior to her becoming a Devil, she used the Gao Style created by Gao Yisheng."
"Dong-san was very impressed with her skill." Sairaorg put in.
"Everything was going well for them…until events in China moved to crush their happiness." Chiaki said sadly, "Mao-Mao was to be elevated to the rank of Mountain Master in his Tong, but he had to eliminate any disgraces to his honour before he could do so…"
"'Disgraces'? Surely you don't mean…?!" Akeno's face took on a distressed expression as she recalled being hunted by the Himejima Clan for being half-Fallen Angel.
Chiaki nodded grimly. "He was ordered to have his former lover and bastard child killed before he ascended to his long-sought after goal. He gave the orders without hesitation."
Asia's eyes filled with tears as she heard this and offered a prayed to the Lord for the soul of Mei's mother. To have been slain for such a petty and useless reason…and by a former lover of all things!
"He contacted a group of genuine Taoist Mages who hated foreigners and half-breeds." Chiaki said with a moue of distaste, "They took the job without even asking for payment. As it turned out, one of their members possessed a Sacred Gear…the [Eight Sealing Pillars], which have the ability to cut off the flow of magic within an area that they encircle and interfere in casting magic within that area also."
"Lord, Mei's mother would have been helpless!" Xenovia muttered in shock. Cut off from recharging her magic and having to cast through interference like that with what little power she could force through? Talk about a Herculean task…
"She was. The attack came as a complete surprise, but she still fought back. She actually eliminated a third of the attacking mages, even with all the demerits she was labouring under." Chiaki smiled grimly, "Then one of the Taoists blew her head open…right when Mei-nee-sama looked out from her room."
The stricken expressions on the faces around her were more than adequate to express their feelings on the subject.
"That was when it began…Mei-nee-sama's rage and grief combined with her natural talent unlocked her Sacred Gear, which she used to utterly crush the Taoist mages…literally."
"Why does that sound more like a description than a metaphor?" Issei sighed.
"Because that is exactly what she did to them." Sairaorg said calmly, "Mei crushed the mages to death using her Sacred Gear, the powerful and rare [Fatal Attraction], which grants her absolute control over Gravity within a set area. It was what gave her such finesse and control over regular gravity magic."
"I've never heard of that Sacred Gear before." Rias said in confusion.
"There are thousands of Sacred Gears, Ria." Sirzechs said calmly, "As you well know, there are common ones, such as the [Twice Critical], rare ones such as [Twilight Healing] and the Thirteen Longinus are the only unique Sacred Gears in existence."
Rias nodded her head in understanding.
"There are only two [Fatal Attraction] Sacred Gears in existence and their power ranks just below the Thirteen." he continued, "It was for that reason that when we Devils detected a massive upsurge of power that roughly matched the signature of the [Fatal Attraction], we sent a team to investigate. Among them was our premier Sacred Gear expert barring Ajuka, Amadeus Bael."
There was silence for a moment before Chiaki continued. "After she killed the mages, Mei-nee-sama collapsed from the power expenditure of using her Sacred Gear for the first time combined with the trauma of her mother being killed. When she came around, the first four people she laid eyes on was the Four Maō."
"We invited her to become a devil." Serafall said tightly, "She accepted, as she had no-one else to go to, but then the problem became where to put her. I would have suggested So-tan, but she had only just acquired her [Queen] piece."
"How did you know that she would require the [Queen] piece in order to become a devil, Onee-sama?" Sona asked curiously.
"Ajuka has a device he uses to estimate such things." Sirzechs answered, "And it isn't just any [Queen] piece…she took in a mutation [Queen] piece, with an estimated power rating of a [Queen] and two [Pawns]."
"EH!?" the Gremory Group looked stunned at this. Issei was incredible because he had absorbed all eight of Rias' Pawn Evil Pieces. Saji, in Sona's Peerage, was amazing for absorbing four. A [Queen] plus two [Pawns] had a value of eleven!
"We were rather taken aback by the information as well, which was why we first looked to close family members of the Four Maō to place her with." Sirzechs said with a half-smile, "Ajuka is a recluse and not many of his family actively use their Peerages. Serafall had Sona, but as she stated, that fell through. Falbium…well, he's a lazy bastard. As for myself, I would have suggested Rias, but she tore off and gave her [Queen] piece to Akeno."
"That was when one of the remaining members of the 72 Pillars was brought up." Chiaki added, "The Bael Family was chosen because of their close blood ties with the House of Gremory and Amadeus-sama volunteered for the assignment because of his fascination for Sacred Gears."
The Servitor of the Bael Family looked lost in thought for a moment before she continued. "Over the next six years, she gathered all of us, saving us from situations that should have killed us. I, for example, was about to be murdered by the Yakuza when she came in and slew them. All of us were unwanted and alone, but she took us in and adopted us, called us family, sisters. She planned on trading for us once she was promoted to a High-Class Devil."
"Mei was a combination of mother, sister, confidant, training instructor and King Substitute for the peerage." Sairaorg added, "Amadeus may have been the King in name, but he rarely left his estate, so Mei shouldered that burden as well. This was in addition to training herself into the ground repeatedly and helping me."
"Mei helped you?" Rias looked at the man in astonishment.
"She used her magic to increase the gravity of the room, so I could train harder and build my muscles faster and stronger." Sairaorg replied, "Liban, my Knight, uses [Gravity Jail] to emulate the effect, but it isn't as powerful as Mei's magic, so it takes longer to get the same results, and Liban has much lower reserves of Demonic Energy than Mei, so he can't use it for as long either."
"No wonder I had to use my [Cardinal Crimson Promotion] in order to beat you!" Issei said in mild disbelief as he thought, 'This guy's training regime is nuts!'
"Everything was going well…we were all happy…" Chiaki spoke quietly, lost in her memories, "Until…that day, three years ago. My sisters were slaughtered, their Sacred Gears stolen and I was left alone with the knowledge that the only reason I was left alive was because I didn't possess a Sacred Gear of my own."
"After the alarm went up, I went to look for Mei." Sairaorg said his face darkening as he spoke, "When I found her, I attacked at once, from behind, with the element of surprise on my side and she batted me to one side like a fly. Our battle was vicious, but brief. My emotions clouded my judgement and I was defeated."
"A day later, Mei assaulted the main castle of the Bael Family and stole the bodies of her former peerage, killing any guards between her and her quarry." Sirzechs concluded grimly, "Then, she disappeared…until a year later, when the entirety of her father's Tong was massacred to the last man, with him being the last to die."
"Carved onto his body were a couple of lines in Italian." MacGregor added grimly, "Il giudizio finale sta per essere emesso. Nessuno può emendarsi dal peccato che scorre nelle vene."
"'The Final Judgement shall be delivered.'" Xenovia translated, "'Nobody can escape the sins that flows in their veins.'"
"After that, there was barely any trace of her, save for the occasional sighting…until today." Okita finished.
"Do you have any footage of her?" Chiaki asked.
"We do, but…you might not want to see it." Sirzechs said gently, "She assumes the form of a member of your former Peerage."
Her gaze met that of the Maō Lucifer unflinchingly. "I have to see." she said stoically.
With a sigh, Sirzechs nodded at Saji, who was operating the DVD-R, to start the playback. Chiaki sat through the video of Mei attacking the Grigori HQ expressionlessly, but when she saw her former Queen transform into one of her [Bishops], she gasped incredulously.
"Arisu-nee?!"
"I knew it was her!" Serafall said triumphantly.
"Nobody doubted you, Onee-sama." Sona said tiredly.
"So-tan no ijiwaru!" Serafall pouted.
"So she intends on coming after the Sekiryūtei and his [Boosted Gear] then?" Chiaki mused aloud, "Mei-nee-sama is just as confident as ever, deliberately telling you who her target is."
"Wait, so she purposefully spoke aloud during her attack on Grigori HQ to tell us that I was her target?" Issei asked in disbelief, "WHY!?"
"How better to demoralise your enemy than to tell them you are going to attack somewhere or kidnap someone, then breaking through all of the obstacles in your way and achieve your goal?" Chiaki replied, "She always strives for a complete victory, even using the enemy's own techniques against them to completely crush their will to fight, if she can. Sheer strength cannot defeat her."
"Regardless of her skills and power, she cannot defeat two of the Four Maō." Sirzechs pointed out, "As long as we are here, Issei-kun is safe."
"In which case, she will either lure Issei-san out by capturing someone close to him to use as bait or she will find a way to force you both to leave his side." Chiaki stated flatly, "In addition, you are indeed two of the Four Maō; you cannot guard them indefinitely without neglecting your responsibilities."
"What do you suggest we do then, just hand my Issei over to this woman?" Rias asked darkly, "I will not permit it!"
Chiaki removed a pendent from around her neck and held it up. "This is a magical communications device that Mei-nee-sama created for the members of her Peerage. Using it, we could communicate safely with each other if both the sender and recipient are in the same world."
"An inventive device." MacGregor commented, "So you are proposing…what, exactly?"
"Before she left the first time, Mei-nee-sama challenged me to become strong enough to kill her and to only use this to challenge her when I attain that strength." Chiaki's eyes burned with deep-seated hatred, "I intend to challenge her. Win or lose, we lure her out of hiding."
"Do you really think she'll show herself?" Kiba asked sceptically, "She has to know that this will be a trap."
"She'll still come." Chiaki's voice was firm on this, "She will honour her challenge to me. She'll probably be amused by the thought of being trapped."
"Sirzechs-sama?" Okita asked.
"Do it." the crimson-haired man said after a moment.
The brunette nodded and held the pendant flat on her palm and started channelling Demonic Energy into it. "Mei-nee-sama." she said clearly.
A small hologram flickered into existence above the pendant almost at once. A miniature figure of Mei Schwarzwald looked up at Chiaki curiously.
"Ara…Chiaki-chan." Mei's voice was just as clear as if she was in the same room, "It's been a while. You are well, I trust?"
"I am." Chiaki's voice was frosty with silent rage, "I hereby accept your challenge. Name the place and I will be there."
"Ohhh…?" the Stray Devil's voice was drawn out in curiosity, "Very well. Tomorrow, after school hours, at Kuō Academy. Your choice of confrontation?"
"Martial Arts." Chiaki declared firmly, "No magic, no demonic powers, no Sacred Gears, no minions."
"Clever girl." Mei said in amusement, "I'll be there. I look forward to seeing how much you have improved, little one. Give my regards to Sairaorg-botchan for me."
With that, her image flickered out, leaving Issei to ask, "Sairaorg, why the hell is she calling you 'Young master'?"
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That Night…
Issei's Room, Hyōdō Residence
Issei sighed as he lay back on his bed, alone for once. That was actually a rather hard thing to accomplish, being alone in a house full of his fellow Peerage members, childhood friend-turned-Angel and occasionally members of Vali's group, like Le Fay and Kuroka. Even Ophis was around here somewhere.
He stared at his left arm with a troubled expression on his face. It felt…weird. Not bad weird, but unusual weird. Ddraig was asleep inside the [Boosted Gear] because he had expended so much of his power tethering Issei's soul to the Sacred Gear and fusing with Great Red, the first time such a thing had happened in the history of the [Boosted Gear] according to Sirzechs.
"I really cause problems for people, don't I?" he sighed. Really…Asia had been killed and brought back as a Devil not long after he met her, ditto for Xenovia after hearing the truth that the God of the Bible was dead, and Rias? He had hurt his girlfriend/master by being so dense as to how she had felt for him for so long. It had taken getting a beating from Sairaorg to get it through to him how much she cared for him.
As for the rest…Asia, Xenovia, Irina, Akeno, Ravel and Koneko…he had hurt them by not confiding in them about the scars the Fallen Angel Raynare had left on his heart and mind...her last curse, if you will…and how that had left him with a case of severe insecurity as a result.
Yes, he had still perved on them (except Asia, Ravel and Koneko), but he had almost frozen every time they hugged him. He had constantly wondered if him being around such lovely Bishōjo was allowed, if he was worthy of them, etc, etc.
He was now at least confident that those in Rias' Peerage liked him. Asia and Xenovia wanted him to trade for them when he moved up to being a High-Class Devil, for crying out loud.
Ravel…was an uncertainty, at least to his mind. Yes, Rias had told him how she had been devastated by his apparent death at the hands of Shalba Beelzebub, but wasn't that simply admiration? Besides, she was a High-Class Devil from a family of equal standing as the Gremory. She could surely have her pick of guys. She was certainly cute enough.
Irina…was one heck of a complicated mess. Yes, he liked her, but she was an Angel and he had seen her come close to becoming one of the Fallen if he just complimented her. What would she think if he caused her to Fall? Would she hate him? He thought it likely.
Out of all his Peerage, he could empathise the most with Akeno, as a lot of her insecurities had been laid bare to him. Her hatred for her father leaving her mother to the not-so-tender mercies of her clansmen, her self-hatred because of the Fallen Angel Blood that ran through her veins and her secret fear he would reject her because of his bad experiences with Fallen Angels.
As he had said to her once before, Akeno was Akeno. He may dislike Fallen Angels, but he could never dislike her. Her amazing physical assets aside, she was a good person, not at all like Raynare. Yes, her Sadistic side was more than slightly scary, but every so often, she showed a very gentle side to her that he found absolutely adorable.
Xenovia and Asia were very similar and yet very different at the same time. Both were sheltered, having been brought up by the Church, and yet the way that upbringing manifested itself was very different. Asia was sweet and kind, the eternal innocent, yet with a core of steel and a hidden determination that took him by surprise sometimes.
By contrast, Xenovia was blunt, direct and honest to the point of stupidity on occasion. She was upfront with her desires and occasionally so whimsical that it gave him whiplash. Yet she also had an innate kindness like Asia's own that shone through when she was with the former-Nun.
It helped that they were both beautiful. And had lovely oppai.
Koneko-chan was perhaps the greatest mystery to him. Petite, delicate and sometimes emotionless, she could nevertheless pick up a car and throw it a li away, as well as pop out her nekomimi and tail to look good enough to eat.
She was way too small for any kind of 'activity' however, so she was, much to her continued displeasure, the easiest for him to control his perverted desires around. Her rivalry with Ravel was cute though.
As for Rias? The Crimson-Haired Ruin Princess, the person who resurrected him, his master and girlfriend? He loved her and she him. Her protective instincts for him were at an all-time high because she had almost lost him three weeks ago.
And now he is in danger of being captured and killed by the only SSS-Rank Stray Devil in the history of the Rating Games, a woman so greedy for power that she had slain not only her master but also the entirety of her Peerage barring the only member who did not possess a Sacred Gear.
Yet things did not add up for Issei. Mei had been orphaned by her own father and had treated her Peerage like an extension of her family. Then she just goes mad one day and kills them all at a drop of a hat? The dissonance between the two people -Mei the Mid-Rank Devil and Mei the Queen of Blood and Betrayal- was a rather stark one.
"Hyōdō Issei." a familiar voice said, making the Sekiryūtei jerk himself upright. Ophis, the Ouroboros Dragon and Infinite Dragon God, stood in the corner of his room wearing her usual Goth-Loli dress.
"Oh, Ophis." Issei sighed, "You startled me. How long have you been there?"
"Since just now." she replied, "I teleported in via a magic circle."
'And this is her power after being drained; twice the strength of the Two Heavenly Dragons at their full strength!' Issei thought with a sweatdrop at how easily she bypassed the anti-teleportation seals on the room with her power.
"Can I help you then?" he asked.
"You're being targeted by Mei-chan." Ophis stated.
"Yes I am…wait, Mei-chan?!" Issei replied, only realising part of what Ophis said as he spoke.
"Uh-huh. The Old Maō Faction tried to recruit her into the Khaos Brigade." Ophis stated, "She beat them up and tossed them out. Cao-Cao tried and she refused. Then I went. She politely told me that she had her own goals to accomplish and she wouldn't be able to help me. She also told me to just call her 'Mei-chan' rather than her full name."
"She told the Infinite Dragon God to call her 'Mei-chan'." Issei stated dully, "Tell me something Ophis. Was she strong when you met her?"
"Stronger than you are now." Ophis replied bluntly, "With Ddraig disempowered, cutting you off from [Illegal Move Tríaina] and [Cardinal Crimson Promotion], if she attacked you now, you would certainly put up a valiant fight, but you would eventually lose."
"Way to be blunt." Issei muttered, "Well, do you know how long it will take Ddraig to wake up?"
"Materialise the [Boosted Gear]." Ophis directed.
[BOOST!]
In a flash of red light, the red gauntlet appeared on his left hand. Ophis placed both of her hands on it and focussed for a moment, covering the entire Sacred Gear in a black aura for a moment.
"Twenty years." Ophis pronounced, "A fairly short time for dragons and devils."
"That's all very fine and good, but she could attack me tomorrow." Issei noted with a sigh.
"Wake him up then." Ophis said simply, as if Issei was being dense.
"If I could do that, I would have long before now." Issei retorted, before giving Ophis a shrewd look, "I don't suppose you know how to wake Ddraig up, do you?"
"I do."
"Care to tell me?"
"Ddraig is one of the Nitenryū, the Two Heavenly Dragons, on par with the Six Dragon Kings. Dragons of their level can empower one another, with the only exception being between Ddraig and Albion, as their powers are opposites. Get one of the Dragon Kings to give some of their power to Ddraig and he will awaken." Ophis replied as if such a thing should be obvious.
"The only Dragon King I know about is Tannin-ossan." Issei frowned, "I don't think he counts now, as he's been reincarnated as a Devil."
"He doesn't count." Ophis agreed, "The Midgardsormr is sleeping at the bottom of the sea, Tiamat hates Ddraig, Yu-Long rarely shows himself and Vritra might help, but he is imprisoned within multiple Sacred Gears so he is not at full strength either. That leaves Fafnir."
"That name sounds familiar…" Issei pondered.
"Azazel made a pact with him. He was the core of Azazel's Artificial Sacred Gear [Down Fall Dragon Spear], but he has now broken his pact with the Dragon King and gave the orb that signifies the pact to Asia Argento." Ophis explained.
"How do you know this?" Issei asked.
"Even with Cao-Cao stealing some of my power, I am still the Infinite Dragon God." she stated, "The only dragon with an existence superior to mine is Great Red. I know all that happens with dragons in any world."
"So Asia has the key to waking up Ddraig, huh?" Issei said, "Dragon Kings are tough to deal with though. Can we convince him to help? Azazel-sensei is one thing, but the rest of us…"
"I have given Asia my blessing." Ophis told him, "She now has a very high affinity for dragons. If you wish, I can aid her in creating a pact with Fafnir. Be warned though, he is a perverted dragon that makes you seem mild by comparison."
"I can't let myself get killed again." Issei said with a determined look on his face, "Too many people would be hurt by it. Ophis, I'll be counting on you tomorrow…we're going to wake up Ddraig!"
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Next Chapter: The Fourth Move: Fool's Mate
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