Dance With the Devil

Betrayal Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I own none of the series involved, for if I did there would be a lot more sex.

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"So..."

"Did you hear?"

"No way, is that true?"

"Indeed."

Hearing all these voices, Valerie Tepes, a young woman with short blonde hair and red eyes, sighed as she walked into the room, her red and black dress flowing behind her as the others in the room quieted down. "It's good to see all of you." She answered, though her voice held no warmth to it. Not that anyone expected her to show any of them warmth, not after what happened several years ago. 'Gasper, if only I was stronger then. I hope you're fine, wherever you are.' She mentally sighed.

"Your majesty." One of the older men said and bowed to her.

It was something that Valerie hated, the fact that she was treated the way she was, simply because of an ability that she had the misfortune of being born with while her dearest childhood friend suffered because of his ability.

Still, if it hadn't been for her ability, she had no doubt that she would have met the same fate as Gasper did, or that the Vampire clans would still be warring with each other.

Before anyone could say anything more, a yellow sigil formed in the center of the room and a pillar of energy, far stronger than anything any of them had felt in years, erupted from it, sending tables and Vampires flying across the room while the whole castle shook.

"What?! What is this?!" One of the women yelled in shock. "Did... Did our lord Dracula return to us?!"

The energy eventually fizzled away revealing a tall, muscular man in a blue suit and cape, his brown hair was spiked backwards and a yellow glow surrounded his body. "There is no Dracula, only..." His deep voice growled out, "Demitri."

"Lord Maximoff!" Many of the Vampires gasped in shock as they saw the Vampire Lord that had left them hundreds of years ago.

Looking at the Vampires in the room, Demitri snarled. "Has the quality of Vampires fallen this much in the few centuries while I was away in Makai?" None of the Vampires he saw in the room would be worth anything when he was just a fledgling.

"Milord!" One of the Vampires gasped and ran up to him, kneeling. She was a small girl of just under five feet in height, her long, light blonde hair was parted revealing her forehead. She wore a red dress with black leggings that covered her feet and legs. "It has been far too long, I, Elmenhilde Karnstein, welcome you home."

Snorting, Demitri looked around before spotting Valerie Tepes. "You... A half-blood, huh?" He seemingly floated over to her and Valerie audibly gulped as he towered over her. "Despite this, you wear the robes of nobility." Turning, he walked over to the large throne that was on the far end of the room. "Come, tell me of the things that have happened since I was away."

Even if Demitri wasn't showing it, he was tired from eight years of constantly fighting against that lousy barrier that kept him sealed away.

"Milord!" One of the older-looking Vampires quickly ran up to him and knelt down. "Allow me to, WAARGH!"

The others watched in shock as Demitri blasted a hole through the Vampire's stomach, sending him flying away. "Did I ask for you? No, I asked her." He pointed at Valerie. "If I must listen to someone talk about what happened while I was away, I would much rather hear someone who appeals to me, not a man."

"Yes." Valerie nodded and walked up to where the man was and knelt down. "Allow me to tell you what I know."

As he listened, Demitri's face slowly stewed with anger. "This... Friend of yours, where is he now?"

"Last I heard, milord, he was slain by a Vampire Hunter and revived as a Devil."

Growling, Demitri stood up and a powerful aura erupted from him, sending tendrils of energy everywhere, destroying things around him. "Fools! Morons! IMBECILES!" Hovering through the air, his power crackled and snapped, causing everyone to fall backwards and attempt to scramble away, only to find that they were all sealed in the room. "I care little for humans, but if you're going to consort with them and have halflings with tremendous power, you should do better than to chase them away."

"But the bloodline..." One of the elder women yelled before being vaporized by a large Youki blast.

"My chosen mate is a succubus of tremendous power, one I will have when I find her again, what do I care about purity of blood? When it comes to our kind, power and loyalty matter more. I care little if the brat was half human, but his power to stop time was far more than what any of you have." He snarled before pointing his hand at the cowering Vampires. "Since it seems that you have all become drunk on your purity, how well will it serve you when I turn you all to ashes personally?"

"Milord!" Elmenhilde gasped in shock. "Please! Forgive us!"

"And why should I?" He asked, his face a picture of pure disdain. "You have become weak in my absence. I should cull the Vampires and start anew."

"Wait!" Valerie Tepes yelled as she stood up. "Please wait! I understand that we have failed as Vampires in your eyes, but if it pleases you, if it will quell your anger, I will give myself to you."

"Hmm?" Demitri looked at her and floated down to the short-haired blonde. "Do you mean that?"

"If it means the survival of our kind, I will gladly give you my life to do as you see fit." As much as Valerie was unhappy with her kind, she didn't want to see all of them vaporized by an angry lord.

Demitri suddenly threw his head back and laughed loudly. "Very well. The full moon is in three weeks. If you truly mean it, then you shall become my bride."

"If that is what you wish." Valerie didn't want it, but even with her powers she didn't think she could go against him. 'Then again, maybe I could use the cross on him and...' No, even if it took him by surprise, she could tell, he was easily more powerful than all but the Gods that roamed the Earth. 'He might actually survive it.'

After all, one didn't become a Vampire Lord that was second to only Dracula in power by being weak.

(-)

Days later, elsewhere...

Watching the Devil teenagers train with his Valkyries and sons, Odin smirked as he felt someone appear behind him. "You'd make a terrible assassin, Azazel."

"If I wanted to kill you, I would have found a female Longinus user to put on a strip show and kill you that way." Azazel answered him as he walked up beside him. "How are they doing?"

"Pretty good, you've done a good job teaching them." Odin answered as he watched the sparring continue. "Tell me, where is that succubus girl? Even if she's a Demon, I would have loved to have had her around."

"She's unable to join us on this." Azazel answered him. "I can't answer for you, so don't ask."

Odin gave him a grin. "That's fine, so what have you been up to?"

"Dealing with the other leaders of the factions." Azazel sighed and shook his head. "We've been debating what to do with Ranma since he betrayed us. It would be simple to brand him a criminal to be put down, but there's the fact that he's married to the Youkai Association's leader, plus he saved at least three Devils' lives and was a major help a few months back."

"What do you think then?"

"I'd like to smack him for stabbing me in the back." Azazel answered and rubbed where the sword had pierced through his body. "I'm sure he has his reasons, he's not like Vali at least."

"Speaking of whom, if you're looking for him." Odin smirked as he stood up and stretched. "Well, he's been helping his rival get stronger."

Azazel laughed at hearing that. "Hoo boy, I bet that went over about as well as a cat in the shower."

Odin said nothing as he laughed and walked off, Azazel staying behind to watch the teens spar and fight.

(-)

Elsewhere...

Vali raised an eyebrow behind his helmet as he and Issei clashed above the trees. "You're a lot better than you were when we first fought. I'm actually having to put effort in to keep up with you."

"Thanks for reminding me that I suck." Issei grumbled from behind his helmet as the two traded blows in their Scale Mail armored forms.

Vali frowned and ducked under a punch before throwing Issei over his shoulder. "That was a compliment, you idiot. The last time we fought, if not for Azazel's words, you would have died against me." He watched Issei flip around in mid-air and land on the ground hard, sliding back several feet while tearing up the rocks and grass in the process.

Issei grimaced as he fired a blast at Vali, who countered with his own. "So what good does it do me if my best attack gets hard countered by something I've never seen until then?!"

"Figure out a new attack." Albion answered him. "Or failing that, figure out the weakness of the attack used against you."

"Sometimes there's nothing you can do to counter an ability that counters yours, you should know that better than anyone, Albion." Ddrag commented. "However, I've been thinking about that attack since it was used on us and I have thoughts on it."

"What?" Issei looked at his left arm, thankful that Vali was listening in on this as well.

"It may only be useful against really strong attacks. He goaded us into blasting him and even warned us against boosting too much."

Issei frowned, if that was true, then they just had to avoid boosting too much. "But there's a problem, if I don't boost, I can't match him."

"Sucks to be you." Vali answered, amusement in his voice. "Come on, let's keep going." He held his fists up and was preparing to continue the fight when someone landed on his head. "What the?"

"Sorry to interrupt your sparring match," Happosai's voice spoke up, "but I need the boy for the rest of the day. You still haven't perfected your training yet."

"URGH!" Issei groaned as his armor faded and he hung his head. "That training is so damn hard!"

"But it's worth it." Happosai countered and jumped off of Vali. "If you just keep swinging your fists like a barbarian, you'll never be able to save Ranma."

Vali shook his head and dismissed his Balance Breaker. "Well, have fun with that, I've got stuff I need to work on." Waving his hand, he walked off.

"I'm really surprised you're not trying to kill each other." Happosai shook his head as Issei looked at him in confusion. "I've heard about the animosity that the two Dragons have towards each other."

"Oh." Issei shrugged at the old man. "I don't really hate Vali, I mean, sure, I want to punch his face in, but I think that's just because he's a smug prick at times, but I don't hate him."

"That would probably because of myself and Albion," Ddrag commented, "the two of us can't stand each other, though there's no real heat between us like usual. It's hard to explain."

"Ah, you're just old rivals who have grown tired of beating the tar out of each other and tolerate each other." Happosai nodded sagely. "If anything, you probably want to beat each other up because you've always done that. Anyway, enough of that, let's go."

Issei sighed, this old man was just brutal.

(-)

"Seriously?" Happosai asked as he watched the results of the latest attempt. Issei was on his back, his clothing smoking while Xenovia was face down on the ground. Rias was holding her breasts and grimacing. "Well, we learned one good thing, trying to force a boobie beam while Issei's trying to synch with Xenovia only causes everyone pain."

"WHY DID YOU MAKE US TRY THAT?!" Rias yelled, the pain in her breasts slowly subsiding.

Happosai gave her an innocent look. "I thought it would help if you powered Issei up with your boobies, it's not my fault you can't fire a boobie beam yet."

"ARRRGH!" Rias screamed in frustration. "Must... Not... Kill... Old... Man..."

"Hey, I've been really good, I could have stolen your underwear a dozen times over by now. I mean, I've liberated at least a dozen pair of panties from the Valkries since I got here." Happosai smiled happily.

"So that's why I ran out of clean underwear so fast." A new voice spoke up from behind Happosai, a terrible aura filling the area. "First you dare to call me old, you say my tits are sagging and now I find that you're STEALING MY PANTIES?!"

Happosai turned to look at her. "You know, I wouldn't have known they were yours. Such cute, frilly and lacy panties don't belong to an old granny like you, Freya."

Freya's eyes turned blank and white, a tick mark on her forehead appeared as her red aura of terror filled the area. "YOU LITTLE! I'M GOING TO..." She trailed off and blinked as Happosai seemed to disappear before feeling a sensation on her chest. Looking down, she twitched as Happosai was squeezing her breasts and rubbing his face on them. "...What... Are... You... Doing?"

"Enjoying your breasts before they turn saggy and wrinkled." Happosai gave her an innocent smile.

Issei, Rias and Xenovia watched with wide eyes in shock as the red aura of terror turned into a black aura of death. The three quickly scrambled away as Freya let out a yell and Happosai ran off laughing. "...That old man is legitimately terrifying." Xenovia muttered as she shivered. For some reason, Happosai reminded her of one of the old Exorcists from the church who had Durandal before her. "That reminds me, I should give him a call and see how he's doing."

"Who?" Issei asked, trying to focus on something other than the aura of death that was dissipating.

"Oh, just Vasco Strada." Xenovia said, getting a gasp from Rias. "You know the old man?"

"By reputation only." Rias commented. "Frankly I'm glad I never met him before the treaty was signed, from what I heard he was able to nearly kill Kokabiel by himself."

"...Please tell me that he's not human." Issei gaped in shock. He could still remember how stupidly powerful that Fallen Angel had been.

"Nope, pure human." Xenovia shook her head. "He taught me how to use Durandal and everything. Don't worry though, he might look scary but he's the nicest person that you've ever seen."

"I dunno, I've met Asia." Issei pointed out, getting a laugh from Xenovia.

"Trust me, if you met him, you'd like him." Xenovia didn't want to add that Strada would probably want to fight Issei, but that came with the territory of being in the Moonlight World.

There was another explosion, followed by laughter and the three sighed.

"So... Wanna keep trying to synch our auras or are we done?" Issei asked, getting a sigh from the other two.

"Yeah, we're done I think." Rias nodded. "You know, I remember when I was little and looked up to older people all the time because they seemed like they knew what they were doing, now I'm just wondering if everyone after a certain age is insane."

"...What brought this on?" Issei asked, before another explosion was heard in the background.

"That." Rias jerked a thumb over her shoulder.

"Let's be thankful he's not acting like that towards us." Xenovia said, getting a nod from the other two.

(-)

Hours later...

Asia had a determined look on her face as she knocked on the door. After a few moments, the door opened and she smiled happily. "Ah! Issei. I was wondering, you know, since tomorrow is a free day and all, would you want to, um... Goonadatewithme?"

Issei blinked a few times as he processed that. "I was planning on just resting tomorrow."

"...Oh." Asia sighed, disappointed. "If that's the case then..."

"But sure!" Issei smiled at her and rubbed the back of his head. "I mean, isn't there a human city not too far from here?"

"Of course!" Asia's eyes lit up happily. "Let's have fun!" Before Issei could say anything, she grabbed him and pulled him down to lay a quick kiss on his lips. "Bye bye!" She yelled and ran off, leaving him stunned.

"...I never asked what time she wanted to go on that date." Issei said after a few minutes of looking dumbfounded.

(-)

"So he said yes?" Akeno asked, getting a nod from Asia, who was blushing hard. "And you..."

"Yes, I kissed him like you said I should." She squirmed, unable to believe that she went through with that.

"Just relax." Akeno smiled at her. "Now then, we need to help you plan out your date."

"We?" Asia asked, yelping as she finally noticed Koneko sitting on the bed. "Ack! Sorry! I didn't see you!"

"I noticed." Koneko said flatly. "Well, whatever, you won our game, so you get the first date." There was an annoyance in her voice that Akeno picked up on.

"Ara ara, are you upset that you have to wait until after I have a date with Issei?" Akeno giggled as Koneko gave her an angry look. "Just relax, I'm sure Issei will be a perfect gentleman with you too."

Koneko snorted, she wouldn't mind if Issei wanted to be naughty but she wouldn't push it, after all she had promised Rias that she wouldn't. 'Doesn't mean that if Issei-sempai wants to do some naughty fun stuff that I have to stop him.'

"So, where should we go?" Asia asked as Akeno pulled out some papers.

"The Valkyries were kind enough to give me some information on the city and places to go for fun." Akeno was a little disappointed she didn't get the first date with Issei on this trip, but she wasn't going to let that stop her from making sure Asia had a good time. "Anyway, let's look over these places."

"Right!" Asia nodded and looked over the map.

(-)

Back in Makai...

Jedah walked into Akane's room. "Get up, I need you to make me something." He said as she sat up mechanically. "Do you remember this?" He held out a photo, getting a nod from Akane. "I need you to make one for me."

"Of course." Akane said as she created her Balance Break and worked on creating what he wanted. "Is this all?" Her voice was soft, mechanical.

"Of course not." Jedah smirked at her. "I need you to create a pair of rose-tainted shades that can suppress occular powers."

"Yes." Akane nodded as she worked to make that item as well.

After the two items were created, Jedah looked at the first one, grinning. "Excellent." He had a feeling he would need this in the future. Picking up the glasses, he turned to the door. "Come on in then..." Jedah smirked as the person in question walked in. "So, do you think you can handle this?"

The man who walked in nodded at him. "Yes. I may have been misled by my former masters, but you showed me the truth about everything."

"Yet you still remain loyal to their cause, huh?" Jedah shook his head. "Ah well, prepare yourself, if this fails you will go blind."

Akane looked at the person who came in, he was tall with silver hair and wore light colored clothes.

"If you're truly prepared..." Jedah smirked, "Akane, with the power of your Balance Breaker, gift Euclid Lucifuge's eyes with the eye power that I showed you before."

Akane gave him a blank look and Jedah sighed before calling up a screen to show her what he was talking about.

"Yes, very well." She nodded and started stirring the pot before Euclid lowered his head into it.

Ignoring the other Devil's screams, Jedah grinned. Everything was falling into place now.

Don't ask me why, but this is the chapter where my writing really slowed down something fierce for this arc.