Dance With the Devil
So, um, yeah, I forgot again.
Chapter 8
"Ah, Serafall." Azazel smiled as he walked with Yohko, Asia and Xenovia up to the outer edges of a gate that led to a country property. The group was dressed in more casual clothing than usual, though Azazel was wearing a brown suit while Serafall was wearing a green business suit. "It's good to see you."
Serafall smiled at Azazel. "Likewise." She nodded at the others, "so we're just waiting for..." A pillar of light appeared not far behind Azazel and she nodded and crossed her arms over her chest. "About time that Mic..." Her eyes widened as she saw who it was that stepped out of the pillar of light. "You're..."
"Ah, Gabriel." Azazel couldn't help but grin as he saw the most beautiful Angel of Heaven step into the land of humans.
She was of average height had a soft face, a fair complexion, blue eyes and long blonde hair, her outfit was a flowing, white robe that hugged her body but did nothing to hide her unearthly beauty from everyone around her.
But what drew everyone's attention was the fact that she had two very large breasts on her chest.
Xenovia found her face flushing softly. While she had seen Rias naked on more than one occassion, the Gremory Heiress had nothing on who she used to follow. Even then, Xenovia couldn't help but compare Gabriel's bust size to Yasaka, the fox Yokai leader in Kyoto. "Lady Gabriel, it's good to see you again."
"Xenovia!" Gabriel's eyes lit up happily and she bounced, literally, as her breasts jiggled with each step she took, much to Azazel's delight, up to Xenovia and hugged the Devil tightly. "Oh it's so good to see that you're doing okay!" Letting go of Xenovia, she turned and hugged Asia, who smiled and hugged her back. "Little Asia, I am so glad that you're doing okay."
Asia smiled happily. "Thank you, Lady Gabriel." She continued to smile as Gabriel put her down.
Azazel fought the urge to chuckle out loud and he was so glad that he had taken some pictures with his phone. As much as he'd love to keep such a glorious site to himself, he knew that Issei would forever hate himself for missing it.
"What are YOU doing here?!" Serafall rushed up to Gabriel, who blinked in surprise.
"Ah, Serafall, I didn't see you there." Gabriel smiled at the Devil King. "I apologize, how have you been?"
Serafall felt her eyes twitching. "Don't 'how have you been' to me. You're my rival!"
"...I am?" Gabriel had a confused look on her face. "Since when?"
Serafall face-faulted at that. She groaned before getting back to her feet and glaring at Gabriel. "What do you mean you 'since when'? You've been my rival since I became a Devil King!"
"...But we were having a ceasefire then."
Azazel laughed at the confused looks that the three younger girls had on their faces. "Serafall considers Gabriel to be her greatest rival in Heaven, due to the fact that she's considered the strongest and most beautiful woman in Heaven and Serafall, being one of the Four Devil Kings is the strongest woman in all of Hell." As well as one of the most beautiful, but that went without saying. Clearing his throat and catching the attention of the two powerful females, he smiled. "As much fun as it is to see you two interacting with each other, we do need to get going."
Yohko took a deep breath as everyone walked through the gate and onto her family's ancient lands. As soon as she passed through the gates, she felt a tremendous pressure and some pain on her body. 'Never felt like...'
"My..." Azazel chuckled, though he was looking mildly uncomfortable himself. "These are some powerful wards to repel the supernatural, aren't they?"
"They aren't meant to just repel, but to also weaken Devils, Demons and the like." Yohko said and looked at the others to see how they were doing.
Gabriel didn't look like she was bothered in the slightest. Serafall looked mildly uncomfortable, but ignored it. Xenovia and Asia, on the other hand, were looking like they were in some pain.
"This feels like that forest in Germany I once fought in." Xenovia muttered and shook her head as she ignored the pain. "At least this isn't feeling like it's trying to eat me."
"Ah, the Forest of Gluttony." Azazel muttered, knowing what Xenovia was talking about instantly. "That place is still alive?"
"Not anymore." Xenovia smirked, getting a laugh from Azazel.
"Grandmother..." Yohko said softly as they came across Yohko's family, still frozen as stone statues.
"Allow me to fix this." Gabriel said as she walked forward to work at undoing the curse. There was a light that bathed down on the statues while Gabriel said words that only she and Azazel could understand, as none of the others knew the ancient language that escaped Gabriel's lips.
"You're looking nervous." Serafall said to Yohko, who nodded. "Your family is a bunch of Devil Hunters, are you sure you want them to know what happened to you?"
Yohko bit her lip softly and shook her head. "No, but they'll find out eventually, right?" Part of her wanted to just hide away for a century, knowing that they'd all be dead due to being human by that time, but she couldn't do that to them, to let them think she had died.
"We can always alter their memories," Azazel spoke up, "it's not too late, you can choose to leave."
"No." Yohko shook her head. "I'd rather see them..." She didn't know why she was so adamant on this, but she wanted to see her family freed from their curse.
Azazel and Serafall both understood Yohko's position, they had both dealt with people who had mundane humans as part of their family and it was hard for those with normal humans as family members to completely let go and let go after all.
Serafall knew about the member of Sona's peerage who had been a sickly girl who had been turned into a Devil that belonged to a Hunter clan herself and knew that it caused her some problems.
Azazel was thinking about Vali and how they had to erase his mother's memories of everything regarding Vali and the supernatural so that she could live a normal life. The last time he checked on Vali's mother, he knew she was doing well, with some more kids, but he also knew it was hard on Vali, who could never see his mother or half-siblings so long as his family was still alive. 'I wonder where that old bastard Rivezium is these days.'
Part of him wished he could help Vali reconnect with his mother, but Vali had stated that so long as he was the White Dragon Emperor he didn't want to put his mother at risk anymore.
"I'm done." Gabriel said as she stepped away from the statues.
Everyone watched as the stone started to fade and soften, turning into flesh and cloth.
"Uhhh..." The older woman with white-gray hair and wearing casual red pants and a white shirt with a red jacket over it groaned as she shook her head. "Why do I feel like I haven't moved in months?"
"Grandmother!" Yohko cheered happily and ran forward, hugging the older woman tightly.
"Yohko?" The older woman blinked in surprise. "What happened?" Her eyes widened as she saw the people behind Yohko and she put her hands on Yohko's shoulders and pushed her away, a concerned look on her face. "You... Yohko... Why do you feel like a Devil?"
"Please," Gabriel spoke up, drawing the attention of everyone, "calm down. I am Gabriel, one of the four Great Seraphs of Heaven." Twelve golden wings formed from her back, causing the humans to stagger in surprise. "I come on behalf of Heaven to talk to you and your family."
The older woman looked at Gabriel, then at Yohko, then back at the other humans, who were all looking on in confusion, save for the one that looked like Yohko, who was glaring at Yohko, and sighed. "This is going to be one heck of a story, isn't it?" She rubbed her forehead. "My name is Madoka Mano, the 107th Generation Devil Hunter, come, let us go to my apartment, it'll be less painful for some of you."
"Grandmother, you can't..." The angry-looking girl suddenly spoke up and stopped as Madoka held up a hand.
"Ayoko, never in my life has a Devil..." Madoka turned to look at Azazel, "or something like him, I'm not sure what he is, ever came to talk peacefully. Let's at least hear them out."
"I am utterly confused by what's going on." A woman with short brown hair looked at Yohko and the others. "Where did these people come from and why do some of them look like they're about to pass out or something?"
"Yeah, our younger friends look like they're having some trouble standing here." Azazel smirked and put his hand on Yohko's shoulder. "You know where to go, right?" Yohko nodded. "Alright, everyone, stand close to the pretty Angel and Yohko here will guide us to your place."
"I'll stay closer to you, thank you." Serafall muttered. It wasn't that she hated Gabriel, far from it, she wanted to show that Angel up every chance she got, but she was annoyed by her for some reason.
And unlike what some people might think, it wasn't because of breast envy.
Azazel chuckled as everyone got close together, though the humans did look at him and the others with apprehension, and he could feel the tension in Yohko's body. 'Yeah, we shouldn't have allowed her to come here.' He mentally sighed as the group disappeared in a flash of light.
(-)
Meanwhile in Nerima...
Kyusaku scratched his head as he looked at the still body of Emily, who had just been brought in from Germany. "If I didn't know that she wasn't a person, I'd swear she was." Gerdenheim's research into artifical life was rather amazing, even if it was considered by everyone in the scientific community to be highly unethical. "Then again, sometimes you have to break ethics to get results." The problem with Gerdenheim was that he routinely broke protocols and ethics to get results and that was why he had been disavowed and blacklisted by most of the scientific community.
Still, he had promised Victor that he would fix her up and he would be dammed if he didn't fulfill his promise. Opening up Emily's chest, he opened the body up and stared in shock at the insides.
Quite frankly, he was impressed, not because of how complex it was, but rather the fact with all the loose wires and other problems he could see, he was surprised that this thing could work at all.
Kyusaku shrugged, worse came to worse, he'd just make an entirely new body based off of Emily's current one. It's what he had done with Eimi when he realized that her system's overheating problem was too severe to simply fix and he had to build her an entirely new android body. He had even agreed to allow his wife to put weapons in it so that Eimi could protect Ryuunosuke. "So long as I can save her memory, that's all that's needed."
"Can you fix Emily?" Victor's voice came from behind him.
Turning to the large creature, Kyusaku shrugged helplessly. "As she is, I don't know. I'll try. If I can't, I'll have a new body built and we'll move her memory to that. In fact, I'm going to have to see if we can download her memory to a computer to make sure that it's still there. If so, we can move forward."
Victor nodded and moved to the side. He could wait, he had nothing better to do after all.
(-)
Meanwhile...
Madoka rubbed her forehead as she sat at the table with both Azusas, Chi and Ayoko as they listened to what happened to them and what was going on. "So the forces of Heaven and Hell have united?"
"I'm guessing that it's hard to believe." Azazel said as he calmly took a sip of tea. "By the way, this is quite good."
"Thank you." Madoka muttered as she looked at Yohko. "And you fought a... Super Devil?" Yohko nodded. "Please tell me that he had a motorcycle at least."
"That's what I said." Yohko muttered, before shaking her head. "No, he had no motorcycle."
"Laaaaame!" Yohko's mother, Sayoko chimed in, annoyed by that.
"But you lost." Ayoko said as she glared at her cousin. "And you were turned into a Devil." She scoffed as Yohko nodded meekly. "It would have been better if the one who turned you just let you die."
"HEY!" Xenovia yelled and stood up, slamming her hands on the table while glaring at Ayoko. "Just for your information, she's been having a real hard time dealing with the transition from human to Devil."
Ayoko stood up and glared at Xenovia. "And I suppose a Devil like you will just tell me that it's all well and good, huh?"
"For your information, I used to be an exorcist for the Church." Xenovia sneered at Ayoko. "I used to follow Lady Gabriel, Lord Michael and God religiously while hunting down Vampires, Devils, Fallen Angels, Demons and the like all across Europe."
"And now you're one of them." Ayoko scoffed while crossing her arms. "So how long until you reveal that you're nothing more than a monster who uses a human form to blend in?"
"Oh, that's only pure Devils who have that problem." Serafall said, smirking as her eyes flashed. "In fact, it's kind of annoying hearing you speak on things you don't truly understand."
"I've fought enough Devils and Demons to not be afraid of any of you."
"Oh dear." Azazel sighed softly and rubbed his head. "Xenovia, please calm down, the last thing we need is for you two to start fighting."
Yohko took a deep breath and stood up before bowing. "Grandmother, if it bothers you, I will leave and never return." She straightened herself and looked the older woman in the face seriously. "I thank you for all the training you put me through, but as a Devil, I can no longer be a Devil Hunter and..."
"Stop it!" Madoka growled as she stood up and grabbed Ayoko by her earlobe and pulled down hard. "First of all, Ayoko, that's enough from you, young lady. If you want to fight, do it when you're thinking more calmly."
"Y...Yes... Oww!" Ayoko cried as she was forced back onto her seat.
"And you!" She pointed at Xenovia. "Don't threaten my grandkids, even if Ayoko's from my sister and not from me, she's still my grandkid, got it?"
Xenovia nodded and sat down. "I apologize."
"Fine." She sighed and looked at Yohko. "As for you. Yes, you can't claim to be a Devil Hunter anymore, can you? In that case, I guess Ayoko's now the 108th Devil Hunter of our clan." She didn't look too happy about that and strangely enough, neither did Ayoko. "Now, before I say anything more," she looked at Serafall, "you said you were one of the Devil Kings, one of the rulers of Hell, correct?" Serafall nodded at her. "Tell me, what happens to someone who's reincarnated into a Devil? How is it different than what I've seen with people who were forced to become Devils?"
"First of all, what you've seen was members of the Old Satan Faction who did that." Serafall answered her. "In the past, Devils were ruled by four Great Devil Kings, Lucifer, the first Fallen Angel who became a Devil, Asmodeus, Leviathan and Beezlebub, when they fell in battle against the leader of Heaven, God, I was one of the Devils who was chosen to replace our fallen leaders. However, there were many who were either vassals or descendants of the Great Devil Kings that still existed after our Leaders perished and they became known as the Old Satan Faction while I was part of the Anti-Satan Faction."
"Sounds like a civil war happened." Madoka said, getting a nod from Serafall. "Okay, so I'm guessing that forced transformations and the like aren't used by your kind anymore?"
Serafall shook her head. "Not at all. Most of the time, we take people who are either dying and reincarnate them into Devils or transform people who agree to become Devils." She motioned towards Yohko. "Your granddaughter was one who was dying when she was reincarnated. If you're worried about her trying to absorb souls and going on a rampage, you should not worry about that. Most don't, though there are some who do." Serafall's eyes glinted and Madoka found that it was taking everything she had not to step back in fear. "In fact, those who do are ruthlessly hunted down by Devils and exterminated as quickly as possible. There are exceptions of course, but if you're a reincarnated Devil who abandons or kills his or her master, you can expect to be hunted down and eliminated."
"That... Is more than I was expecting from Devils, I admit." Madoka said softly and looked at Yohko, who was still looking tense and nervous. "Yohko," she looked at her reincarnated granddaughter, who stiffened in surprise, "you said that you fought a Super Devil and lost?"
"Well, tied, I guess, I don't know, I was kind of dying at the time." Yohko said softly. "You remember that Hanyou that we met near the Western harbor? He's the one who turned me into a Devil."
"Saotome?" Madoka blinked in surprise. "You went on a date with him, if I recall."
"Wait, you let her date a half-Demon?" Ayoko asked, aghast.
"Partial Demon." Madoka answered her. "The amount of Demon blood in him was so weak that I was surprised he could generate any Youki at all." She ignored Chi and both Azusas as they started to speak up in shock. "Sit down you three or I'll put you through enhanced remidial training."
"MEEP!" All three yelped and sat down quietly.
"Did you at least brutalize the Super Devil?" Madoka asked, getting a nod from Yohko.
"Sliced his arm apart and threw my Soul Sword into his chest before I passed out."
"Well, in that case I can't be mad at you." Madoka chuckled. "Listen, Yohko," she gave her granddaughter a stern look, "as far as anyone will be concerned, you're no longer part of our clan." Yohko sighed and closed her eyes, she expected that much. "That being said," Madoka smiled softly, "you're always going to be my granddaughter." Yohko stared in shock at her. "I'm not going to condemn you for something that's beyond your control. You fought your heart out and put down a Super Devil."
"Thank you." Yohko smiled happily. "I... Um.."
"So did you sleep with your master yet?" Sayoko asked, grinning as Yohko blushed hard. "I mean, the one who turned you into a Devil is a guy, you should be..." She trailed off as Yohko meekly shook her head. "BAH! Can't you give your old woman grandbabies?! It's not like THIS one's going to die because a Devil came after him, he already is one!" Her eyes suddenly flashed as a thought came to her. "Don't tell me that he's not a good lover."
Serafall snorted at that. "No, no worries in that department." Hey, if the human woman was going to start talking about this stuff, she wasn't going to hold back.
"Can we focus, please?" Madoka asked and shook her head. She looked at the others. "So what's the reason you came here? While I appreciate the fact that you freed us from that lousy curse we were under, I can't help but imagine that this is more than just that."
"Of course it is." Azazel said while Yohko sat back down while Xenovia and Asia both gently squeezed Yohko's shoulders. "The truth is, Mrs. Mano, the Moonlight World..."
"The what?" Madoka raised an eyebrow. "First time I ever heard that term."
"It's just a catch-all term to describe things that aren't mundane." Azazel explained, "anyway, the different supernatural factions have been fighting for far too long and part of the reason why Devil Hunters such as yourselves need to exist is because we couldn't police our own well enough."
"At least you can admit it." Madoka muttered softly. "And just what are you? I can figure out the Devils and the Angel well enough, but you feel like you're half-way in-between or something."
"I'm a Fallen Angel," Azazel smirked as several wings, each as black as night, came out of his back. After drinking in the surprise from the humans, he made them disappear, "anyway, as I was saying, it's beyond time that the Moonlight World united. Recently a Devil from Makai by the name of Jedah Dohma caused problems and was working with the Super Devil that your granddaughter fought against. On top of that there are always bad people out there who need to be stopped."
"So you want to bring us into this grand alliance?" Madoka asked, getting a nod from Azazel. "Hmm, I dunno..."
"If it helps," Asia spoke up softly, "have you perhaps heard of the Heavenly Dragon Emperors?"
Madoka shook her head. "I think I've heard something about Dragon Emperors, but that was just a rumor."
"The Red and White Dragon Emperors," Azazel started to explain, "are two people who have the souls of two of the strongest Dragons to ever live bound to them, generally speaking, they hate each other and try to fight and kill each other constantly. Due to their unique abilities and standing within the Moonlight World, they're generally considered on par with any of the leaders of any mythological faction."
"Both of them have agreed to the peace in the Moonlight World." Asia smiled at her. "As have the Norse Gods and there are others as well."
"And the reason you're telling us is..?" Madoka asked and looked at Gabriel, who had been silent for awhile.
"Because do you not think it would be nice for your clan to have allies they could rely on if a powerful Youkai or something comes for you? Do you not think it would be best to not have to worry about your descendants from having to face Devils?" Gabriel asked her.
Madoka sighed and sat down. "I'll need time to think. My clan's been fighting against Devils for over two thousand years after all."
"Of course." Azazel said as he stood up and walked over to the table and put a card down on it. "This will allow you to contact me when you make your decision."
"We'll be going now." Gabriel said as they all stood up and walked out of the place.
After they left, Ayoko looked at Madoka sharply. "Are you seriously just letting them go?" She asked, twitching as Madoka just stood there silently. "I get that you care for Yohko, I do, but..."
"Stop it!" Azusa got in front of Ayoko and glared at her. "Yohko basically died so we could live! Can't you at least honor that?!"
Ayoko glared at her before turning and storming to the door. Pausing, she turned to glare at Azusa. "I say it would have been better for her if she had just stayed dead. At least then she wouldn't be betraying two thousand years of family history."
After Ayoko stormed out, followed by Azusa 2, Madoka slumped to her chair, looking every bit as old as she felt. "I... I don't know what to do."
If Yohko had been under mind control, that would be easy enough to deal with. If she had been forcibly turned into a Devil like so many others, that would be painful but it would be doable. Having her be a Devil but remain mostly the same?
Madoka didn't know how to take it.
(-)
Elsewhere...
Yohko sighed as the group reappeared at the Occult Research Club room. She staggered over to one of the couches and flopped on it face-first.
Azazel, Serafall and Gabriel all looked at her in worry while Xenovia and Asia went over to console their friend.
While they did that, Azazel looked at the other two leaders and motioned for them to follow him out of the room.
"I knew..." Yohko got out as she shuddered and tried to hold back tears. "I knew that I'd be disowned. Even if grandmother still loves me and I know that she won't attack me and I know that she'll let me come back at any time, I'm basically disowned from my family."
"If nothing else," Xenovia said while rubbing Yohko's back, "you aren't alone." Yohko lifted her head and looked over her shoulder, "none of us will let you deal with this alone."
Yohko smiled at that. "Thank you."
At least she knew that the others wouldn't abandon her.
(-)
"We really shouldn't have taken her with." Serafall said after the other two got into the hallway with her. "I was against it the whole time, if you remember."
"I know." Azazel nodded to her. "But I felt it was important for her to have some closure, even if it would be painful." Scratching his beard, he looked at Gabriel, "and what do you think?"
Gabriel shook her head. "While I agree that letting her have closure on this is important. I think I agree with Serafall that we shouldn't have taken her with."
Azazel shrugged, he knew not to argue against these two on that. He didn't think he was in the wrong on this, but arguing about it would get them nowhere. "The question is, what do we do moving forward? If nothing else, we can at least say that we made the attempt."
"It's hard to go against two thousand years of history." Gabriel said softly. "Such things, even if confronted with evidence of things changing, are not easily resolved."
"No kidding." Both Azazel and Serafall muttered, knowing about the dissidents of their factions.
"Well, there's always the idiot hero approach." Azazel smirked at the confused look the other two gave him. "Do nothing and let the problem work itself out without you."
"Doesn't the problem usually get worse though?" Serafall asked, getting a nod from Azazel.
"It's not like we can force them to accept what Yohko's become." The Fallen Angel leader said and shook his head. "We'll just have to see what they choose."
The two leaders nodded.
There was a flash of light and all three turned to see Issei, Nabiki, Ranma, Mittelt, Irina, a young dark-skinned boy and a young man with blonde hair and green eyes appear in front of them.
"Lady Gabriel," the young man said and took a knee, "I regret to inform you that you must return to Heaven, an emergency meeting between our leaders will be happening soon."
"Dulio, what's going on?" Gabriel asked, concern in her voice.
Nabiki sighed heavily. "Turns out that the Vampires all disappeared from Translyvania." She grimaced at the surprised looks that she was getting. "And no, I can't see why either. It's like something's blocking me from viewing it."
"I'm betting it's Jedah." Ranma said, causing Nabiki to twitch. "You said it yourself, you couldn't scan him for some reason with your Sacred Gear and he can come back from the dead, so..."
"He shouldn't have been able to." Azazel muttered, his eyes narrowed. "Even if he could, somehow, pull himself back together after Sirzechs got through with him, it should take longer than that."
"Shit." Ranma muttered as he recalled something important. "Now I remember, Jedah had this sad sack, kind of looked like Grayfia, who worked for him. I remember he was wearing these glasses to seal away power that was in his eyes, but I never figured out what it was."
Issei's eyes widened. "Sad sack that looks like Grayfia?! You mean her brother... E...Eu..."
"Euclid Lucifuge," Serafall supplied for them, "he's Grayfia's younger brother and was VERY loyal to the Great Devil King Lucifer, but I thought he was dead."
"Apparently not." Azazel muttered as he thought about it. "What does he have to do with anything?"
"He has Gasper's Forbidden Valor View." Issei answered, causing gasps from the others. "And if I was a betting man, I'd bet you that Euclid used that power to stop time and pull Jedah out of harm's way right at the last possible moment."
"And because of how the Power of Destruction works, none of us would ever suspect that Jedah could escape because there'd be no body left to identify." Azazel grimaced in annoyance. "Great, looks like you weren't as successful as we hoped."
Ranma shrugged at that. "Jedah's not stupid, he's pretty good at manipulating people. The question is, now what?"
"A Satan-class Devil who can't be scanned by Nabiki's Irregular Sacred Gear and a loyal follower of the Great Devil King who has the power to stop time..." Azazel grimaced as he thought about that.
"The disappearance of the Vampires wasn't a coincidence, was it?" Gabriel asked, getting shakes from most people in the hallway. "Lovely."
"Ranma," Serafall spoke up and jerked her head towards the classroom, "your newest peerage member needs support from her King." Ranma nodded and entered the room. "As for the rest of you, let us try to make plans for this."
The young boy raised his hand. "Jedah has a Sacred Gear that lets him control anyone's mind. With it he can strip you of all your free will and turn you into his puppet. He did that to me and Akane Tendou."
"And the longer you're under its influence, the more damage it does to your brain." Nabiki finished for him. "I may not be able to search for Jedah directly, but I'll scan future timelines, see if there's anything in the future that would hint at something."
"You do that." Gabriel nodded and walked over to Dulio. "The two of us shall return to Heaven." She looked at Azazel and Serafall. "We shall call for a meeting soon, I'm sure."
They both nodded as the two Angels disappeared in a flash of light.
Irina and Mittelt both looked at each other in worry.
(-)
Yohko looked up as Ranma entered the room. "Um..." Both Xenovia and Asia stepped away from her as Ranma walked over and sat next to her. "I saw my family." She had a sad look on her face while Ranma remained silent. "I've been disowned. Grandmother basically said that I'm dead to the clan."
"Are you dead to her?" Ranma asked, getting a shake from Yohko, "then you're not completely disowned, are you?"
"I can't call myself a Mano or a Devil Hunter ever again." Yohko looked at her trembling hands, "so where does that leave me?"
"...As part of my peerage." Ranma answered her, causing her to look at him. "Even if you don't have a last name, you're part of my family. Whether you want to be known as my sister, daughter, cousin or something else, it doesn't matter, you're part of my peerage now."
Yohko had a light blush cross her cheeks upon hearing that. "It almost sounds like you're proposing to me."
Ranma shrugged at her. "Even if I'm not as vocal about it as Issei is, I wouldn't mind multiple wives myself." Yohko, Asia and Xenovia all stared at him in shock. "...I suppose that you need to know about my Sacred Gear, huh?" Ranma sighed, knowing this was going to suck. "I'll tell you and everyone else later." Glancing at Xenovia and Asia, he shook his head. "Sorry, you two aren't invited to know about this. Let's just say that if Issei knew, he'd get even more jealous than he already is at me."
"I'm almost afraid to ask." Yohko muttered to herself before sighing. "Out of curiosity, it doesn't drink our souls or anything does it?"
Ranma chuckled softly. "Ask yourself this, how could I, someone who had such little Demonic blood and needed to have it jump-started by Lilith survive her for so many years? The first thing she tried to do was suck my soul out of my body when I was eight after all."
The girls had befuddled looks on their faces while Ranma stood up and walked off. Stopping at the door, he turned to look at Yohko. "Just so you know, I don't just pump and dump any partner I'm with if I can help it."
The girls all blushed heavily at that.
(-)
In Makai...
Valerie Tepes looked up at Jedah as he grinned at her. She shuddered, she could feel her body wasn't responding, even if her mind was still somehow fully intact.
"Aww, don't be like that." Jedah chuckled at her. She did notice that his body had several burns and scars on it that weren't there before. "I don't need to wipe out the Vampires, if that's what you're worried about. As for your dear 'fiance'..." He laughed as disgust came across her face, "fine, fine, I won't call him that anymore. Anyway, he and a few others are being... Properly processed for later." He saw the look of confusion on her face and he chuckled. "But why am I not harming you? For one, I want your Sacred Gear's power, nothing more. For two, I am not cruel, despite what I did to a couple of people. I've long since mastered the Sacred Gear I stole from that fool. But, alas, I admit that sometimes I am not too patient, so I use it to destroy the minds of those I control."
Valerie wanted to scream, she wanted to cry, she wanted answers...
But most importantly, she wanted to go to the bathroom!
"Don't worry," Jedah smiled at her, "I've only shut down your autonomic nervous system. You're very much alive and will be fine. As for the Vampires, most of them will be fine as well. But I'm sure that you'd be happy to be rid of more than a few of them." He raised a hand and Valerie felt herself jerking to her feet. "I know that the Holy Chalice has the power to fuse souls and bodies together." He smirked at her look of dread. "I figure if the Red Dragon Emperor can get stronger by fusing his Sacred Gear with Holy power, why can't I make my forces stronger in a similar vein? But don't worry your pretty face, you won't be harmed in the slightest." He smirked and walked off with her following behind like she was a shambling zombie. "Unless you count being forced to watch as your people are changed into things that aren't Vampires."
He laughed as Valerie screamed in her mind, unable to do anything to stop him.
End Chapter 8
I'm way behind on the next arc. Next chapter's the epilogue of this arc, after that, well... Might take awhile, but I am working on it.