Still dont own RWBY or Highschool DxD, or get anything aside from a sense of accomplishment from uploading this fic.

Jaune and Pyrrha appear over the rug covering his summoning circle to a scene far from what he expected. The door looks to have been forced open, then later clawed shut. Saber is snarling on the far side of a puddle that spans a space from the doors hinges to the space between Jaune and Pyrrhas beds, and has him wincing in pain, and Pyrrha whimpering in his arms. Sabers snout has blood on it, and a decent sized bucket is laying on its side in the center of the puddle.

Someone had broken into the dorm with a bucket of holy water. Probably Cardin or Russel, seeing as they hadn't been at Suriels ambush. Not able to do much about the holy water himself, he moves Pyrrha as far from it as he can get her and sets about cleaning her wounds. Luckily, the roll of paper towel they keep in their room is on the safe side of the holy water puddle, as is the case of bottled water. He busys himself wetting squares of paper towel and clearing the blood away from Pyrrhas body.

He is bone tired, and the task doesn't take long, but he still waits until the rest of his team arrives before setting about... healing, Pyrrha. Knowing full well that it will take more than a little explaining and convincing to prevent a freak-out. Plus, he needs help with the holy water. Ren and Nora arrive right around the time he decides to count the number of cuts on Pyrrha, mostly out of curiosity as to whether his guess on just how many there are is correct. Ren stops short in the doorway when he lays eyes on the large puddle "Didnt feel like cleaning up?"

Nora pushes past him to hug Pyrrha, who Jaune still has half resting in his lap until the other girl pulls her out of it on the floor opposite the puddle. "Holy Water." Ren tilts his head then shuts the door as and Nora looks up at him, comprehension the last thing that can be found on either face. "Imagine an acid specific to me and Pyrrha that will also set us on fire. And with how new a devil Pyrrha is, and weak she is right now on top of that, its a good thing she isn't conscious, or just being in the room would be agony for her."

Ren simply nods, before grabbing some of the academies gym towels out of the teams shared 'workout towel' hamper and sets about wiping up the dangerous fluid. "You said you were going to heal her?" Nora prompts, laying the still shallowly breathing, unhealthily pale girl back into Jaunes lap.

"I, I figured I should explain how that works to the two of you before I started." Jaune answers sheepishly, scratching at the back of his head as Nora moves to draw the curtains shut, having a west-facing window can make evenings suck in some ways. Ren looks up as he gathers the pair of now soaking towels into his hands. A slightly shaking, whining Saber slowly plods over to the black haired teen and licks his hand once the towels have been stuffed into the bucket and Rens hands dried. He scratches the familiar behind his ears and motions for Jaune to continue with his other hand. "You see, any king can heal a member of his peerage with... skin to skin contact."

Nora tilts her head and looks over her shoulder, pajama pants in one hand, a t-shirt in the other. "You mean, like, holding hands?"

Jaune chuckles "For a light wound that might do the trick after a while. But for someone who was just completely exsanguinated..."

Rens eyes narrow into a judgmental glare. "Are you suggesting what I think you are?" his tone more than a little harsh, frozen in place by the workout towel hamper halfway through upending the bucket into it.

"I, um, maybe. Erm, probably not as bad as that glare tells me your thinking?"

Nora cracks her knuckles as she slowly turns around, visage having shifted from tired and worried to wrathful. "Jaune, if the next words out of your mouth are 'I need to undress Pyrrha' I'm only going to be starting with your legs."

Momentarily forgetting that he could probably break both their auras without much effort, and trying to think on his feet, Jaune fishes his scroll out of his pocket. "Just a sec, lemme..." Ren starts tapping his foot, and moves the bucket full of holy water soaked towels away from the hamper to a position more suited to launching the towels than dumping them. Jaune finds Rias' cell number and desperately hits dial, hoping his first redheaded friend will both answer and get him out of this predicament.

As soon as he sees the 'calling' screen flicker to a video screen, he swipes it towards the much larger screen sitting atop the teams entertainment center. As the screen flicks to life, Jaune almost wishes he had checked what was on the other end of the line first. Rias had answered all right, sitting up in a bed, white sheets pooled around her bare waist and still mostly covering a nude blonde girl, Rias doing her best to protect her modesy by covering as much of her bare breasts as she can with the arm not holding her phone. "Hey Jaune, why the late call?"

Both Ren and Nora leap back from the suddenly on television, light dustings of pink on both their cheeks, before shifting their glares back to Jaune. "Ma'am, I apologize. Our leader can be rather dense sometimes. Once I have his scroll out of his hands I'll let you get back to your... night, and Nora and I will make sure he is punished for his behavior."

Rias tilts her head in faux confusion, damn her playful side, and quips "What do you mean? I'm just healing my newest servant." While her body language is calm and confident despite her nudity and the seemingly compromising situation, with a face showing confusion; Jaune can see the mirth glinting in her eyes. Another crimson haired girl he has rapidly grown just as, if not closer to, gets the same glint when he can win a genuine smile out of her. "I had to reincarnate her a few hours ago, you see."

Ren halts his slow advance on Jaune to half turn to face the screen, though he does catch himself before he can lay eyes on the screen with the two naked girls dominating it. "Wait, servant as in..." Nora cuts in, stealing a quick glance at the screen, her blush deepening.

The older devil cracks a cocky grin, winks, and manifests her wings "Rias Gremory, heir to the Gremory clan. With Asia here I only need two more pieces before my peerage can start participating in official Rating Games." She glances from the two standing teens to Jaune kneeling on the floor, still cradling Pyrrha "Finally have your first piece I take it Jaune?"

Jaune nods, trying his best to match her confidence as much as he is Sairoargs unflinching determination "Less than an hour ago I reincarnated Pyrrha here as my queen in addition to being my partner."

The screen shifts about wildly, before stabilizing to show Rias with a sheet drawn up to the nape of her neck, and a shock of blond hair belonging to the now named Asia all thats visible of the still sleeping girl. "I'm guessing you had to bring her back from the dead then?"

"It wasn't my first choice for how it happened, but this is better than losing a friend." Jaune replies, easing into the conversation enough that Ren and Nora standing in the room fades to the background.

Smirking, the Gremory heiress flicks two fingers at the screen, before switching to her right hand holding the sheet up, and shakes the left out. "I like to say that I prefer to avoid bringing my servants back from death into my peerage, but Asia makes two in as many months now." She pauses, eyes calculating behind a genial facade, "From what Pyrrha told me about herself I'm surprised anything from your world was able to actually kill her. From what you've told me about your home; since I found out about Remnant, that is."

Jaune knows he probably looks pissed as hell right now, but can't find any desire to try to mask that either. "Turns out theres a Fallen Angel in Vale that isnt keeping to the Grigori truce with the Underworld. We got to the fight before he killed her, but he had a technique that exsanguinated her in the time it took for him to snap his fingers, and a second that nearly knocked me out and blew a semi sized hole in a concrete wall."

Rias face shifts to a scowl as well "Another damned sacred gear hunter?"

Jaune shakes his head, slowly calming and becoming aware of Ren and Noras heads shifting back and forth like their watching a tennis match. "Devil hunter. He had one of his human patsys lure Pyrrha in to get to me." Jaune bites out.

Rias slumps a bit "It could have been worse. Poor Asia had her soul torn out because a fallen angel wanted to steal my new bishops Twilight Healing for herself. With plenty of skin contact and a good nights sleep, Pyrrha should be back on her feet before the four of you go to classes tomorrow. I'll probably be laying with Asia until at least noon. Having your soul torn out and shredded isnt a gentle way to go."

Blinking, probably barely having kept up with the conversation, Nora cuts in "Wait, so Jaune didnt wake you up after you and your girlfriend got done, you know..." the ginger drops her pajamas to make a pair of v's with her hands and start shifting them towards each other.

Rias giggles at that "I wont say that I'm against the idea, but no. The more skin contact a king can make with a wounded member of their household the faster and less painfully that person will heal. Poor Issei had had his heart and left lung nearly obliterated, but woke up perfectly fine the next morning."

"Issei?" Jaune prompts, unable to restrain his curiosity now that the situation seems to have been de-escalated.

"Oh, he's my first and only pawn, Jaune. It actually took all eight for me to bring him back from the dead."

Jaune lets out a low whistle at her luck, though Nora, blushing even deeper now, asks "By perfectly healthy, you mean..."

Rias giggles "Oh, little Issei let me know he was awake before he started shouting. Apparently when a shameless pervert with the sort of social stigma following him that all but guarantees he'll be single for years to come wakes up naked next to the most beautiful girl in his school, self control is out of the question. His parents were so shocked by the apparent turn of events when they checked in on him they just went with the flow."

Jaune feels his left eyebrow twitch "Shameless pervert you say. Who you slept naked with."

Rias switches her hands, then waves Jaune off "Oh don't worry, beneath the veneer of sleaze and the one track mind he's as kind-hearted and noble as you or Sairoarg."

Before Jaune can press the issue, Ren cuts in "Rias, while it has been a pleasure to meet one of Jaunes old friends, today has been a long and tumultuous one, and we were getting ready to go to bed. I'm sure getting to know you better will be a pleasure, but now is not the time for that. I'll let you get back to your, healing." At that he clicks the T.V. Back off. Rias arches an eyebrow at after he adjusts his scroll, Jaune shrugs back, and waves as best he can without dumping Pyrrha to the floor. She returns the gesture and the call ends. "I take it you were trying to clarify something before Nora and I nearly blew up at you?"

Jaune nods, and carefully rests Pyrrha on the floor again. He walks over to his dresser, and hears the dull 'whump' of Ren emptying the bucket of soaked murder towels into the hamper. He turns around and presents his one, and only, sky blue speedo. Something he truly and deeply wishes he didn't need to own. Ren arches an eyebrow in judgment, and Nora snickers into her rapidly raised fist. "Sure, when a girl King slips into a bed naked with one of her mortally wounded naked servants its all teasing and giggles." He quotes something he had once heard a rather drunk nobleman rant at another at a ball Sairoarg and his peerage had been obligated to attend. "But as soon as a man does it, its all screaming and slapping, and spending months proving that you aren't a pervert"

Noras giggles devolve to open peals of lyrical, chaotic laughter as she drops to her knees. "You didn't come up with that." Ren observes dryly, his lips quirking into a half smirk.

"Nope, heard it once, and prepared before I left for Beacon." Jaune shoots back, blushing just a little at the thought of what he would be doing next. A pillow and blanket bounce off his face, and he looks up to see Nora standing by the small closet their dorm has.

She plants her hands on her hips and orders "On the futon tonight Kingy. That way we know there wont be any funny business."

_-*R-DxD*_

The next morning, Jaune is startled awake by the sound of someone teleporting into the dorm room. By the time he has blinked the sleep out of his eyes he notices Sairoarg standing tall in the middle of the room, a satchel cradled under his right arm and pensive look on his face. He moves to get up from the futon, why am I sleeping on the couch- but a small whimper, a warm body pushing back into his, faded hints of apple trying to poke through the scent of blood and sweat, and a slender arm gripping the one he has wrapped around Pyrrhas waist pulling him more tightly into her has Jaune blushing and staying put. Remembering the events of last evening, he instead uses his slightly more free arm to pull the blanket up to better protect his queens modesty.

Realizing his cheeks are probably the same shade as Pyrrhas hair right now, he takes a calming breath and asks "Sairoarg, to what do we owe the early pleasure?"

The imposing devil shakes his head, moves to set the satchel on Jaunes desk, then pulls Jaunes desk chair out and straddles it, musclebound arms resting over its back. "I had intended to visit you later tonight, or maybe even this weekend to deliver those." He jerks his thumb over his shoulder at the desk.

The scraping of the chair and talking at the very least, had woken Ren up "Whos..."

"But then I got a call from a fairly panicked Ravel last night about how you are an overly trusting idiot who's going to get himself assassinated." Sairoarg presses on, ignoring Rens increasing alarm.

"Wha'zapening?" Nora asks, ginger hair sticking out in half a dozen different directions, eyes bleary and barely focused, scowling at the room in general as she pokes her head over the edge of her bed.

Sairoarg shakes his head. "At first I thought she was overreacting, it is Ravel after all." He pauses, probably mostly for effect "Plus I trusted that I trained you better than to do anything truly stupid. Then, I do a bit of feeling around, magically that is, when I was having dinner at my favorite diner in the Capitol. Imagine my surprise when I found not one, but two new permanent summoning circles I could access." Jaune shifts uncomfortably as Sairoargs right foot starts tapping and his brows crease. Worried and mad, great. "Both Rias, myself and our peerages are flattered by the gesture, Jaune. But did you consider that having your home summoning circle open to all of your friends and allies may have wider repercussions? Would you like it if Riser popped in to see what the new circle he can access is? As Ravels King, he counts as an ally. As do all of the household servants and vassal peerages of Clan Bael, and at the very least the servants and extra devils specifically assigned to Ravels wing of the Phenex manor. There's even a decent chance all devils in the service of Clan Phenex have the same access as the Bael, due to your friends good standing in her Clan, despite her low position in the line of succession."

Suddenly feeling like a freshly reincarnated pawn again, it takes all of Jaunes willpower to not shuffle to the floor to kneel before his former master in apology. "I apologize Lord Bael. I didn't think before I acted."

Ren finally comes back to his full senses as the musclebound devil, Sairoarg, he thinks Jaune called him, stands back up and strides over to Jaune and Pyrrha, before flicking his team leader in the forehead hard enough to make him flinch and rock his head back a hair. "You've been promoted, we're equals now, Jaune."

"I'm still a vassal of Clan Bael." the blonde shoots back at the spikey black haired devil.

Said devil purses his lips "Be that as it may, my father still leads the clan." Jaune opens his mouth, but Sairoarg cuts him off "By the time we can depose a man so powerful and entrenched in his position you will likely be close enough to your own goal that we can both grasp what we desire in one fell stroke. Unless etiquette demands we act otherwise you and I are to act like we have already won and are peers, friends and comrades, Jaune."

Jaune nods "Right. So, you said you were going to visit today already, but decided to accelerate your plans because of my bad judgment call. Mind telling me why?"

Sairoarg quirks a smile, Ren gets the impression that despite his intense bearing and intimidating presence mirth is more common to him than rancor, and replies. "First, to deliver the tomes on underworld runes I found. They were saved from the old Clan Marbas' Grand Archive during the civil war. Probably far from comprehensive, but with some study it should get you on course to pinning down just how your magic works."

Having had enough of eavesdropping, Ren pushes his blankets aside and vaults over the edge of his bed. Both Ren and Jaune jump a bit at that. "Ahh, Sairoarg, this is Lie Ren, one of my teammates. Ren, this is Sairoarg Bael, he was my King up until a few months ago, and a good friend." Sairoarg quirks and eyebrow and levels an even gaze on Jaune, a half-grin on his face. "And heir apparent to Clan Bael." The devil, who looks to be at most a decade older than Jaune or himself, offers a hand, which Ren takes. His grip is surprisingly strong for someone who, more likely than not, doesn't have his aura unlocked.

After the devil releases Rens hand, he asks "You had mentioned that the tomes weren't your only reason for coming to Remnant?"

Sairoarg nods "I also came to tell Jaune that we recently found he is on a time-frame." Jaune shits like he would be tilting his head in confusion were he not lying down, and suspects he is doing much the same at Sairoargs comment. "My father has his bishops researching the portal between Remnant and the Underworld. They recently found that its part of a network. A third site in the Jordan River Valley was found less than a week ago."

"How much use does this third site see? If the one in the Underworld was in territory that wouldn't even belong to the Bael were all seventy two pillars still standing..."

Sairoarg shrugs at Jaunes question "No more than three times in the last fifty years is the most fathers bishops can give us. They also found that every time someone travels between Earth or the Underwolrd and Remnant, Remnant drifts closer to the first two. Before too long it will be no more difficult to get from Remnant to the Underworld than it is Earth." He pushes up from the chair he had been straddling, and kicks back the area rug covering the summoning circle on the floor.

He crouches and puts a hand to the series of rings, which is just barely smaller than the rug Jaune had added to their dorm. The entirety of it is in the same wild and randomly blended mix of blues, greens and browns Ren had only associated with tarnished silver before he first saw his team leaders aura flare. The outermost portion is set with a trio of eye-like bowls and heart like arrows. The arrows have cutouts that an irreverent part of Rens mind label rabbit ears; and the 'pupils' of the bowl-eyes are heater shields with an outward pointing triangle of orbs interrupting them and just barely clearing the shields. The ring next is about half as thick as the first, and between them is an intricate vine-like latticework pattern. The next ring is as thick as the second, and in the space between them lay a series of strangely ornate runes that hurt Rens eyes to dwell on for too long. "Thats not a lot to go on." Jaune observes, but Ren is only half paying attention, still trying to take in the intricate work of art that had apparently been hidden on his dorm room floor.

The next ring inward is half as wide, and contains more of the runes, which he thinks are different, but cant seem to remember what he saw for long enough to be sure. A quintet of decorative line breaks is worked into the ring, a pointed trefoil, obscured by the interlinked arch-work of the next ring, as well as a wide open ring willed with a deep crescent pointing towards the outer edge of the construct as a whole. Centered on each hole in the smaller orb is a cutout connecting the empty space to the wider ring of runes. "Its all that father could gather on his own. With the wider implications of this portal network, he has informed the Four Great Satans, and Lord Beelzebub is now personally investigating the Jordan River Valley site." Sairoarg replies, but Ren is barely paying attention.

Moving inward is a series of sweeping arches connecting the trefoils that implies a downward facing curved five pointed star, the bottom 'tip' of which is centered on the tip of bottom heart-arrow of the outermost layer; and the 'bowl' of the top of the star centered on the top 'eye'. A sweeping point is centered in each hollow of the implied star, the top point lining up perfectly with the shield that forms the pupil of the outer layers eye. The next ring is the thinnest of all, and is the first empty ring, though it is not a perfect circle, a perfect triangle with its tip centered on each of the sweeping arched points cut out of the ring it sits inside of. The next circle is the widest, as well as being the first perfect and empty space. Inside of it are four more perfect and empty circles, each of them half as wide as the last. At the center of it all writ large are the nested crescents he knows from the face of Jaunes shield, as well as the belt buckle and back of the shirt of the only other Arc Ren has met.

"What is that?" Ren hears his voice asking before realizing what he's doing.

Jaune and Sairoarg both freeze in place, before leveling their gazes on him "It's my home summoning circle. From here I... Pyrrha and I, now, can teleport to any other summoning circle keyed to my household." he shrugs "I'm working on getting things set up for traditional contract fulfillment on Remnant, but for now it only links back to the Underworld, and one other circle in the Emerald Forest."

The circle flashes, and Ren thinks that some of the runes are different now, but he still can't look at them for too long without his eyes feeling like they're either going to fall out of his head, burst into flames or ice over all at the same time. "And now this circle will only work for your friends and allies who already know about your promotion, origin, and have been to Remnant. You can revert to a more open circle if you want whenever you want." Sairoarg explains as he stands back up. "I take it you can modify your other circle to match this one.

The blond spends a few moments looking the arcane design over before replying "Won't be a problem at all, thanks for the save Sairoarg. Was there anything else you came here for?"

Sairoarg nods, walks over to the chair he had been sitting in and plops into it lazily, eyes half-lidded and replies "Yes, starting next month, you need to start attending the Young Devils Balls again."

"Why? They're a pointless waste of time."

"They most certainly are not, especially for you." Sairoarg shoots back, tone returning to that of the disapproving mentor rather than an equal as he crosses his arms over his chest, disapproval and disappointment obvious in his eyes and posture.

Jaune scoffs, mouth an unamused slash and eyes cold "Yes, the bi-monthly gathering of all of the kids and reincarnated servants of the movers and shakers of the Underworld. Where everyone knows who supports the Old Satan faction and who is a Modernist and keeps to the corresponding cliques. Real important, that."

Sairoarg levels a glare at Jaune. "For you, yes, it is." the younger man opens his mouth, but Sairoarg doesn't give him an opening "Your friends in the underworld are myself and my peerage, Rias and hers, and Ravel. If you are to be respected by the other houses as an equal, forget about acknowledged as a peer amongst the heads of the Seventy-two Pillars, you need more allies, as well as willing vassals." Jaune raises a hand, but Sairoarg again cuts him off, this time with a harsh glare. "Allies that are established and known in the Underworld. Even if a few members of your peerage are able to manage an astonishingly meteoric rise to high class and a peerage of their own, that will only leave you an isolated outsider. You need to establish a network of your own allies now or when the time comes for us to make our move, we may not be able to due to a lack of support."

Somehow managing to look like he's moping despite the fact that he is still clinging to a beautiful girl Jaune heaves a sigh and replies "Fine. First Friday of next month Pyrrha and I will see you there."

Expression softening, Sairoarg asks "Speaking of the girl, what did you reincarnate her as?"

_-*R-DxD*_

Pyrrha slowly wakes up, feeling warmer, safer and better rested than she has in years. Probably since the last time she had fled from imagined monsters to sleep in her parents bed as a little girl. Which is strange considering she had probably been talked into drinking again last night, going by the fact that she is only clad in her bra and panties on the futon instead of her bed, and has more than a few holes in her memory from yesterday. She is vaguely aware of people talking, and not very quietly. Both voices are fairly deep, so it must be Ren and Jaune having an atypical bout of carelessness. A third voice cuts in every now and then, but it lacks Noras playfully aggressive timbre, which is confusing, but the toned arm wrapped protectively around her waist and gentle tickle of relaxed breathing on the back of her neck has her too relaxed to much...

Wait, what? Arm around her waist? She slowly becomes aware of a well defined set of abs pressed against her back, toned legs intertwined with hers... and something, else, pressed up against her butt. With a startled yelp she attempts to flee from the compromising situation only for her wings to get tangled in the blanket and spill her to the floor. Wait, wings? since when did she have wings? She finally opens her eyes to see a smirking Ren looking down at her, Jaune flushed nearly to a shade matching her hair and trying to cover his groin, which is about all that is not laid bare now that she is in sole possession of the blanket they had apparently been sleeping under. "And that's my cue to leave. I'll get back to you as soon as I am able to find out more about which Host the fallen you encountered belonged too. Good luck Jaune." A deeply amused masculine voice announces. Pyrrha whips her head around to see a complete stranger standing centered over one of... Jaunes magic circles burnt into their dorm room floor?

Either way, she is suddenly glad she had accidentally taken the blanket with her, despite feeling somewhat guilty for having stolen what was, mostly, guarding her... guarding Jaunes modesty as well; even as she wraps it around herself more tightly to better shield her own. "Hey, whats the big idea?"

Before anyone can answer Noras groggy, grumpy question, the tall, musclebound man simply, disappears after a slowly spinning sigil mostly similar to the one etched onto the floor springs to life centered on the strangers feet before generating a second, brighter flash of light that fades to white-blue sparkles falling towards the ceiling. She hears the the soft thumping of people moving around behind her, but she cant bring herself to turn and look as the events of the previous day start to replay in her mind. Overhearing Cardin talking with the fallen angel, then following him. Going into the warehouse ahead of her team, confident in her abilities. Fighting the fallen angel alone while Sky and Dove just watched. Getting toyed with and cut right through her aura over and over. The room slowly dimming. Jaune and her team coming to her aid. The room slowly dimming. A snap and the entire world reduced to agony, then, then-

"Hey, breath. In and out." Someone, someone is rubbing her back. "Easy Pyrrha, everything's okay. Your okay. Breath." She follows the nice voices instructions, realizing that she must have been hyperventilating. The room fades back into focus and she sees Jaune crouched in front of her, once again clad in his pajama pants, forehead pressed against hers, his left hand extended, one finger up. She glances away from Jaune for a moment to see Ren standing nearby, hands wreathed in the rippling grey/white of his semblance, a pensive Nora standing behind him, wringing her hands.

"Jaune, I was, I-"

He cuts her off by pulling her into a hug. "You did. So I brought you back. You're my Queen now, Pyrrha."

She relaxes into the comforting embrace for a while, until what Jaune had told her sinks in. He is the king, and she the queen. She can feel her face heating. Doubly so when she remembers that all she is wearing while Jaune hugs her on the floor in the middle of their dorm, with Ren and Nora watching, is her mint green bra and panties. They might not exactly be lacy but the low cut and minimal use of fabric put them firmly in the category of lingerie instead of underwear. She goes rigid. "U-umm. Jaune, if your the King and I'm the Queen, does, does that mean..." She cant even bring herself to say it.

Rueful smirk on his face, Jaune draws back, until only his right hand is still touching her, rested on her shoulder. She immediately finds herself missing the contact and warmth, even as his hand slides down her arm and intertwines with hers to help her stand, which is, nice. She realizes. "Only if we want it to be that way." He drapes the blanket over her shoulders, covering her far more completely than the scant fabric she had slept with- she had- Jaune- "Come on guys, we gotta get ready for class."

Nora scowls "Class? Cardins boss killed Pyrrha last nigh Jaune! How can you be worried about class right now?" the ginger exclaims angrily. Pyrrha winces at her friends blunt nature, especially when she outright says what had happened to her last night.

Jaunes caring expression shifts to something far more wicked, his eyes hooded and anger smoldering in them, half shrouded under his bangs as his head tilts down. "They did, after I warned them what will happen if they get you guys involved. The thing is, Suriel must not know about the Evil Piece system, or be exceedingly dumb and arrogant. Even a Fallen dumb enough to break the truce should know better than to leave any humans allied with devils that they kill intact enough to reincarnate." A sly grin crosses his face as he collects his shower caddy "So, the easiest way we can get back at them, right now, at least, is to go on with our lives like nothing happened."

Nora starts chuckling, a dark grin on her face as well now. She follows Jaune out of the dorm, her aura flaring and flahsing angrily. Ren is behind her with their caddies and a quartet of towels draped over his shoulders. Pyrrha quickly throws on and oversized t-shirt and follows them after grabbing the bag she keeps her shower supplies in.

_-*R-DxD*_

The first half of the day plays out mostly like any other Wednesday, aside from Jaune having to lead Pyrrha around and prod her to, well, do anything. He is able to explain her behavior off as due to a 'family emergency' easily enough, which buys her the space she needs to process. When CRDL amble into the cafeteria at breakfast, only to go white as ghosts, turn around and flee, it is all he can do to keep from laughing, and Nora does cackle at their panicked flight. If any other students notice the exchange or draw any connections, none of them comment on it.

Jaune ends up scratching between Pyrrhas shoulder blades at least half a dozen times between breakfast and their lunch period. Which he can totally understand. The sensation of having wings that extend well past your shoulders at rest folded down to nothing but still entirely there is a strange one, to say the least. As the morning fades to afternoon however, Pyrrhas vacantly shocked expression gives way to a mix of worry, frustration and anger.

Seeing as they have a free period after lunch, the team decides to head down to Vale to eat lunch at a diner near the bullhead docks that caters to Beacon students. They find themselves an out of the way booth and wait to be served, the lunch rush being in full swing, this takes a while, and the silence swiftley grows awkward. The buidings décor is about as stereotypical diner as one can find, black and white checkered tile floor, rich red paint coating the bottom half of the wall, the top half a clean white. Weapon racks and stands line the walls, and pictures of famous huntsmen and huntresses, both alone and with their teams, all in their Beacon uniforms line the walls.

The waitress turns out to be a petite faunus girl with mouse ears the same shade of hazelnut as her hair poking up from a bob cut. The employee uniform consisting of a black and red checkered skirt that stops just above the knees, black stockings disappearing above the hem, a snug black short-sleeve blouse with silver trim, and a white apron. Jaune orders a cheeseburger, Pyrrha a BLT wrap, Nora whines about the breakfast menu being unavailable before getting the soup of the day – creamy cheddar and potato, and Ren their chicken cordon bleu. The waitress gives the group a wistful look before scurrying off to get their drinks.

The team sits in continued silence until the waitress is well and truly out of earshot after dropping off their drinks. Pyrrha breaks it, glancing askance at Jaune, her hand halfway to the midway point between the two of them on the table. Fingers slightly clenching and unclenching. "Is, is there anything else I need to know, Jaune?"

He smiles reassuringly at his partner, idly aware of Ren and Nora paying as much attention to their conversation as watching for anyone to get close enough to overhear them to interject and change the topic across the table. "A few things, but two are going to be all I really touch on for today. First, you have a Sacred Gear within you."

Pyrrhas left hand goes to her chest, her right twitching even closer to him. "A what?"

"Sacred Gears are, objects tied to miracles of antiquity and bound to mortal souls." Jaune answers, trying to find the best words to explain the seemingly arbitrary system. "How they are passed along isn't clear, but all of them can be immensely powerful, if properly trained in the use of."

Pyrrahs face scrunches in confusion, and she reaches for her cola and takes a sip, clearly a little lost in thought. "There's, a, physical object, that's also a miracle from the past, tied to my aura..." she takes a longer, slurping sip. "You mean my semblance?"

Jaune shakes his head, and lets out a chipper "Nah. I can wield a Legendary Blade, which is as good as being able to wield an Excalibur depending on who you ask, and was able to for years before you unlocked my aura."

Nora glances over her shoulder, then asks "Umm, whats an Excalibur?"

Still grinning a bit, Jaune takes a drink himself, the replies "Tied in with Sacred Gears. You see, before God gained control of Heaven and became Earths prominent deity, each pantheon had their own terms for the objects and weapons mortals could attain that were tied to the legends and miracles of their faith. But when a single faith and its deity can more or less take over the world, they get to set the terminology." he pauses when the waitress returns with their food, the group again falls silent, then into idle chatter about their meals until the sad girl is again out of earshot. "Excalibur was a magic blade that far outstripped all other legendary weapons, and even the seven shards that it was reforged into after its breaking stand well above most other mythical weapons."

Ren nods "So, Pyrrha has an additional power to train now. You said there were two things you wanted to cover?" then takes a bite of his chicken.

"Yup. While reincarnated devils still look and function mostly the same as when they were humans, there are a few key differences." Jaune explains, before taking a bite of his burger. "Since Remnant doesn't have any followers of God or his religion, and the Two Brothers haven't smote me since I was reincarnated, the assorted religious risks and pitfalls, outside Cardin and his team at least, are a moot point."

Pyrrha swallows, takes a sip of her cola, and looks over to Jaune "Just to be on the safe side, what exactly are those?" Jaune then lays out in more detail the lance of pain a devil is rewarded for with attempts to pray, the danger of churches and lethality of holy water and blessed objects. The rest of his team pays attention, and, despite being shocked at what the actual ramifications of Cardins 'pranks' had been for Jaune don't seem overly affected. It isn't a faith native to their world Jaune and Pyrrha are barred from and need to fear, after all.

After Jaune finishes that explanation the team falls into companionable silence, tearing into their meals with the single minded focus only teenagers are able to. Jaune breaks the silence once his meal is gone by continuing "The other change you will need to be, mindful, of, is that, as a devil you are a lot more in tune with your desires, which will be much stronger."

Nora quirks an eyebrow at Jaunes continued explanation, before letting out a loud belch as she pushes her empty bowl away. "You don't exactly seem to be going wild with desire, Jaune."

He shrugs "How it affects reincarnated devils varies between individuals. I was reincarnated pretty young, so I've gotten pretty good at impulse control, and the shift was more general than focused. For those who are reincarnated later in their lives, with more developed personalities and life experience it is usually one or two of the seven deadly sins they find themselves drawn too, or are related to facets of their life and personality that were seriously repressed."

"The seven what now?" Nora cuts in, leaned back in the padded bench she is sharing with Ren, hands clasped behind her head.

Jaune chuckles a bit, and slides his empty plate forward as well. "More religious mumbo jumbo, but its still the easiest way to explain things. Lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride." Jaune wipes his face, and drains the last of his cola. "In Pyrrhas case, I'm pretty sure pride is what she's gonna be drawn too."

Pyrrtha looks like she wants to protest, but Ren nods in agreement "Irregardless of her feelings on how the fame has affected her life, one doesn't become a world famous, undefeated tournament fighter without liking the feeling of victory."

Pyrrha deflates at that, then stacks her plate on Jaunes. "Gonna have to add lust to what we're expecting." Nora interjects. Pyrrha, eyes slightly furrowed, pinks now dusted with pink swivels her head to glare, or as close as the overly nice girl can get to a glare, at Nora. "Don't look at me like that Pyrrha, I'm not saying your a horndog, just that your a bit... repressed. I have proof."

Ren quirks an eyebrow at that. "I highly doubt that, Nora."

Nora lets her head roll to the left so she can side-eye her partner, all but screaming 'oh ye of little faith' without saying it. "Remember our first week at Beacon?" Jaune snickers, pretty sure he knows what Nora is talking about. "Specifically, when we went out clubbing?" Nora pulls her scroll out of her pocket.

Jaune bites down a snicker. "You wouldn't." Pyrrha half-whispers, half accuses.

Cheshire grin splitting her face, Nora tuts at the other redhead "That doesn't sound like you agreeing with me, Pyrrha. Admit it, all the fame and idolization has you sexually repressed."

Now scowling, blush a bit deeper, Pyrrah shoots back "I had a boyfriend once."

Ren looks away from his partner to cast near-silent judgment on Pyrrha "Was he another tournament fighter? One as isolated from the rest of society as you?"

The Invincible Girls scowl fades to a pout, as she crosses her arms and looks away from her team. "Still not hearing you admit that I'm right, girlfriend." Nora quips, sliding her scroll to the center of the table, video open and already a frozen tableau from their night at Club Fahrenheit. Most of teams RWBY and JNPR can be seen sitting around the table, holding two or three fingers up on one hand, drinks and empty glasses and bottles scattered about the table, save one bottle sitting on its side in the middle. "As first out it was my sacred duty to record the rest of the game."

"Please no." Pyrrha whimpers at the gregarious girl.

"That wasn't a 'you're right, Nora' Pyrrha" the ginger retorts, voice heavy with mock sadness. She taps the middle of the screen, resuming the video from where she had paused it. Pyrrha buries her face in her hands.

The video on the screen springs to life with the bottle on its side slowly spinning to a halt, open mouth pointed at Pyrrha. The temporarily raven haired girl is the only person at the table holding a single finger up. She giggles, and takes a sip from her bottle. "Since you're all being mean, I'm picking dare this time." She announces, barely audible over the din of the busy nightclub.

A series of 'oohs' can be heard from the other students at the table. "Bad idea Pyrta" Ruby slurs "Yangs crazy with her dares."

"In her third round with the Golden Dragon, will Pyrrha be the second knocked out of our grand tournament of embarrassment and secret sharing?" Nora can be heard 'announcing' from behind the screen. The full size Pyrrha grumbles beside Jaune, fingers splayed over her face so she can watch the screen.

The screen rises to a cattily grinning Yang, leaning back on her stool, ankles hooked on the table, two of the seats legs off the ground, arms crossed over her bust. The brawler raises the hand holding her drink to point it at Pyrrha. "Since you were such a buzzkill when I asked you if you have a crush on anyone, or ever jilled off in your locker room during a tournament, I dare you to make it up to me; with a kiss."

Pyrrha freezes in place, and Yangs grin widens, before she takes a 'victory sip' from her drink as Pyrrhas face colors to match her natural hair color. "Well, at least you aren't dead last Pyr-" Weiss falls silent when the girl in question hops out of her seat to walk around the table. Yang barely has time to move set her drink on the table before Pyrrha catches her cheeks and leans in to kiss the blond. The rest of the table, Yang included, are frozen in shock. After all, Pyrrha could have given the blond a peck on the cheek or forehead and still been following through with the dare.

Nora pauses the video just after Pyrrha pulls away from the brawler, whose mouth is hanging open in shock, eyes bugged out. "I still wanna know if you slipped her any tongue."

Pyrrha heaves a sigh when she realizes the rest of her team are all silently gazing at her, clearly happy to let silence reign until she says something. "Fine, you, you might be right, Nora."

Before anyone else can interject, their waitress, blushing and looking bashful cuts in with a small voice "I, um... did you want your checks?"

Realizing that their teasing may have just given Pyrrhas agent a mess to cover up, Jaune cuts in "I'll cover lunch, guys." He gives the girl his debit card, and leaves a generous tip at the table when they leave along with a note reading 'you didn't see anything' scribbled on a napkin under the money. The quartet then begin to walk back to the bullhead docks at a sedate pace. Jaune notices Pyrrha, who had seemed more or less her usual self again since they got to the diner, appear to get more and more agitated as they walk. And not the sort of agitation that stems from being teased by friends. "Lien for your thoughts?"

For a few moments, she continues to walk in silence. "He toyed with me. I suffered the most crushing defeat of my life last night, and the man who did it wasn't even taking the fight seriously until you arrived."

Jaune purses his lips, takes a breath through his nose, and does his best to reassure his partner "That fallen angel had decades, maybe even centuries of experience on us, Pyrrha."

"You handled him easily enough." She counters snappily, though without any anger in her voice.

Jaune shrugs "Your fighting style is built around subtle use of your semblance, and angels have weapons that circumvent your biggest advantage. Besides that, you aren't used to life or death battles that aren't against mindless beasts."

Scowling, Pyrrha declares "I'll need to remedy that then."

Jaune rests a hand on his queens shoulder as an idea forms in his mind. "Meet me on the balcony after dinner. I have an idea."

_-*R-DxD*_

Jaune and Pyrrha are sitting on the edge of the roof, the wooden training xiphos and gladius Jaune had procured from one of the myriad supply closets scattered throughout the training rings resting on the roof behind them. The campus had fallen quiet around an hour ago now, and were taking a break from the nights sparring. Closer to the door a wooden hammer and pair of daggers are leaning against the wall. "I wonder if Ren and Nora forgot about us?" Pyrrha ponders aloud. The rest of their team having said they would join them for the night training session.

Jaune shrugs "They did both look kinda tired, maybe they decided to turn in early and forgot to tell us?"

Pyrrha looks over to him, a thin sheen of sweat still clinging to her skin. Jaune had modeled the session after how Sairoarg had trained him: full force and intensity until the one being trained can keep pace. Pyrrha, for her part, was catching up quickly. "This is an excellent idea you had Jaune. Without any metal involved this will help both of us with our form and reaction time."

He nods, taking a drink from one of the water bottles they had brought with them to the roof. He is about to comment on how quickly she had been picking up on striking for proper targets, not easy hits to chip away at aura, when sounds of panic become audible through an open window below them. When Fathers Edge, blade dripping blood leans out of the window below them, Jaune shoots to his feet. Pyrrha is hot on his heels as the pair run back to their dorm. Jaune mutters a curse when he sees a fallen angel magic cirlcle slowly fading on their door, which is hanging half off its hinges.

They push the door open, and are greeted by the site of Ren and Nora lying too still, almost to their beds, limbs askew as if they had fallen on their faces then been flipped over gaping holes in their chests and stomachs. As well as an unnatural wave of drowsiness.

Jaune flares his magic, clearing away the lingering effects of the spell that had allowed the rest of his team to be murdered. "Pyrrha, clean Ren and Nora up, I'll be back to reincarnate them and start the healing process after I make good on a promise." At that, he unfurls his wings, grabs Crocea Mors from where it had been propped against the wall waiting to be cleaned and is out the open window.

It doesn't take him long to spot Sky running pell-mell across the mostly abandoned campus, mostly shut duffel bag under one arm, Fathers Edge held at an angle across his chest, most of the blood wiped clean. Jaune swoops into a dive, free arm wrapping around Skys chest from behind and pinning his arms to his sides. With a thought, a summoning circle springs to life beneath them, and in a flash they are at his circle in the Emerald Forest. Far from any cameras or security measures. Jaune releases the other teen to tumble across the clearing, before slowing to land himself.

Jaune kicks Sky's weapon away from the raised stone platform as the gray haired teen vomits off the side of the raised platform where he had come to rest. "I, I didn't mean to!" the taller huntsman in training protests, once he notices Jaune looming over him a few minutes after he is done emptying his stomach.

Crocea Mors true forms tip resting just off to the side of Skys neck, Jaune scowls down at the murderer. "Right. You accidentally went up to the floor my teams room is on after lights-out. Unintentionally placed a sleep spell on the room half my team was in, mistakenly knocked our door off its hinges, and unwillingly gutted both of them and stabbed them through their hearts for good measure. I made a promise last weekend, Sky. Give me a reason to make myself a liar."

Sky starts pushing himself away from Jaune with his elbows, not daring to look away from the furious devil. Jaune stops the other youth with a quartet of hard stomps to his chest. Skys aura flares for the second and shatters after the third, Jaune can feel a rib or two give out when his foot comes down the last time. "I was" he wheezes out a pained cough, and Jaune shifts some of his weight away from the prone mans chest. "Lord Suriel had said he would spend the night training me. Teach me some more useful spells. He showed me the first one, then, it, it was like I was a passenger in my own body." he is starting to hyperventilate, which can't feel good with the broken ribs. "I didn't get control back until they'd both been still for ten minutes, I swear!"

"You say Suriel was training you? How long have you been one of his servants?" Jaune asks, crossing his arms and moving Crocea Mors away from the now vulnerable mans neck.

He glances around, clearly raking his memory, before sputtering out "I, I don't know, maybe a month or so after Cardin befriended me an Dove after we started at Signal?"

Jaune starts tapping the foot mounted on the other mans chest, getting a wince with each tap, the sounds of nature around them adding an eerie feel to the tableau. "All four of you are exorcists in training then?"

Sky shakes his head. "No, only Cardin. Suriel is training us to support him." a self-deprecatory scowl crosses his face. "Well, Russel is the better infiltrator and has more technical skills, and Doves a better mage. So, so I take what I can get, and don't ask questions, you know how it is, right?"

With a deep sigh, Jaune weighs his options "So you're Suriels expendable minion then."

"What, no! Lord Suriel said all four of us will be rewarded for serving him." Sky counters.

Shaking his head sadly, Jaune decides the poor man deserves to know why he has to die. "He only has two wings. The most reward he can offer you is the chance to serve a different Fallen further up the food chain. Considering that you're the least of his minions, that's not likely. I really do wish it didn't have to go this way, but I cant let Suriel think he can get away with tactics like this, and I don't for a minute believe he has enough followers to repeat tonight. I'll make it painless." Before Sky can react, Jaune is crouched off to his side, and Crocea Mors has already slid under his chin and out through the base of his skull. Jaune twists the blade then pulls it free and to the right, doing his best to ignore the look of terrified shock on the other teens face as he wipes the blade clean on Skys shirt.

Jaune teleports back to the dorm room and is greeted by a ghost-pale Pyrrha shaking and leaning against the wall of their room. Ren and Noras blood-soaked tops in a garbage bag along with the bloody paper towels that had been used to clean the pair of corpses gaping wounds. Jaune returns his blade, once more a plain arming sword, against the wall, before making his way over to Pyrrha. "Hey, Pyr, they'll be better in the morning." he intones. Everything feels cold, muted. Always does when he has to take a life. Better that than feeling nothing when he has to, though. "Lets go get cleaned up before we move Ren and Nora. We all need to sleep if we're going to keep up appearances again tomorrow." Pyrrha doesn't reply, but does allow him to lead her to the showers.

They clean and return to the dorm in silence. Jaune took a longer shower than Pyrrha. Stray devils, rogue fallen, old satanist assassins and fanatics; none of them make him feel nearly as low, as hollow, as when some plain old human gets so inextricably tangled up in the affairs of the wrong side of the assorted supernatural communities and nations that they need to be killed. The long hot shower probably would have drained a normal house's supply of hot water, and he still takes a bit more time between cutting off the water and drying himself off before re-joining Pyrrha.

The pair is standing in front of the folded out futon, both Ren and Noras corpses lieing on top of it. "Jaune, why did we strip both Ren and Nora down to their underwear?" Pyrrha asks with a slight blush as Jaune sets an ornate black and platinum trimmed bishop in the hollow of Rens neck, then a rook in Noras.

He stands up and turns to face his, his queen, then replies "Well, if you remember how you woke up this morning..." he trails off, not really able to bring himself to say more flat out.

Blushing, and barely able to keep her face pointed in the same direction as his, Pyrrha replies "I, yes... We, we were both, that is..."

Sensing her clear embarrassment on the topic, Jaune decides to save her. "You see, the King of a peerage can heal his or her subordinates with direct skin to skin contact. And reincarnation only really restores life, it doesn't heal wounds. So, last night, you were..." he takes a deep breath, searches for a gentler way to put it, then presses on "You were alive after I reincarnated you, but still fully exsanguinated." He scratches at the back of his head "And the surest way to heal a mortally wounded member of your peerage is to just, well, fall asleep with them while making as much skin contact as is possible."

Why doesn't Pyrrha look happy that there was a perfectly reasonable explanation for why we woke up the way we did this morning? Jaune shakes his head clear, then Pyrrha, also seemingly recovered, by the lack of blush on her cheeks, finally replies "So, after you, reincarnate them..."

"They still need to be healed, so..."

Pyrrha nods "We unfolded the futon, and left enough space between the two that you can wiggle your way in then pull them tight, and go to bed." She pauses, then asks "How did you convince Ren and Nora..."

Jaune can feel an honest grin splitting his face "You remember Rias?" Pyrrha nods "She's been king of her own peerage for longer than I've been a devil. As soon as I realized I wouldn't be able to get them to go along with the usual and most effective way for a King to heal a gravely wounded member of their household, I called Rias. She proved what she is, then broke it down in a way they could understand" He decides to leave the how out of it, Pyrra seems to have been in a near constant state of embarrassment today and deserves a break.

The silence reigns for a while, at least until Jaune begins the reincarnation rituals. Pyrrha watches the entire affair with rapt curiosity. When the lights fade she makes a small, tired smile, and offers "Lets get to bed then. Maybe tomorrow will be better than the last few days have been."

_-*R-DxD*_

Cardin, Russel and Dove nervously tail Suriel through the Emerald forest. "Where is Sky, Lord Suriel." the leader prompts, barely avoiding tripping over a root in the three am gloom.

The fallen angel shrugs. "No need to worry about that Cardin. We're tracking down the next piece of intelligence he gathered for me tonight."

"Um... L-Lord Suriel, whatever you were hoping he'd find. I, I don't think-" Russels voice hitches and he trails off

Cardin looks in the direction to see Sky, unmoving, his chest and face coated in blood, neck a bloody wreck on a strange stone platform. "Oh, nonsense. I now know that Arc isn't all bark and no bite." He makes his way over to Skys corpse and fishes a strange amulet out of his shirt. "I also know the location of one of Arcs main summoning circles now." He crouches next to the corpse, the remains of CRDL all unmoving with shock still. "Tomorrow I will know if how he turned Nikos into a devil is something he can repeat." Suriel pops the face of the amulet open with the hand holding it, while dipping two fingers of the other into the ruin of Skys neck. He lets the blood on his fingers drip into the amulet, before closing it and putting it back under his shirt. He stands up as a magic circle forms at both Sky and Suriels feet, and begins to travel upwards to their heads. AS the circle moves along Sky, he simply, disappears. As it moves along Suriel, he, changes. They pass the head and blink out of existence. Suriel turns to face Cardins team, now a perfect facsimile of Sky Lark, and, using Cardins dead friends voice, he continues "And now, I wont need to rely on you're sub-par decision making and intelligence to deal with the devils in Beacon Academy, Cardin."

Love it? Hate it? Feel the urge to scream obscenities backwards in Latin? Drop a review and let me know! I love those things!