NMHA Ch. 75 - Unsettled Scores
A/N - Had to rewrite this one partway through. Thankfully, not terribly so, but it does suck having to re-orient. No matter; what's done is done.
...Then I had a dry spell for weeks. It definitely doesn't help that work has been keeping me extremely busy. Gotta say, when you're one of the few remaining people who's active full-time on the team, it sure does leave your hands full.
Anyway. Long overdue chapter is overdue. Have at it, folks.
She was okay.
That was the first thought that crossed Issei's mind, even as his body sagged in relief as the realization that Lunarunn had come through struck home. The second was that she had fallen on him, quite literally, ending with the two of them on the ground, Asia straddling his hips while the brunet was laying flat on his back.
The third, and somewhat concerning, thought was that he saw the brunette in question through a closing portal, and the expression she wore was unsettlingly stony.
Whatever had happened, clearly it wasn't something that Lunarunn was enthused to do.
He still wasn't sure what to make of her, never mind the fact that she apparently cut off her own arm as a reminder.
Of what, exactly? When did she lose it the first time anyway? How did she get it back?
So many questions, so little time, especially when Motohama was on the loose-
"Asia." He shook her, and she stirred, groaning and staring at the young man beneath her.
"Ise-kun?" she asked, still dazed from whatever had been done to her.
"Yeah, it's me, but now's really not the time to be on top of me like this!"
"Ah..." It took a long moment for the words to process, and her face lit up red. She scrambled off of him, allowing Issei to quickly climb back to his own feet.
"Ise..." she swallowed, but adopted a firm expression. "I- What's going on?"
"Apparently Luna got to you really quickly." Issei helped the blonde back to her feet. "What happened?"
She fell silent at that, crossing her arms around herself, shivering. "I... I don't really know- I just heard screaming, people dying, and this... white-haired person - I think it was a Devil - walked through the camp and nearly tore Koneko and Kuroka to pieces. Just- just like that! They- they were the lucky ones. I... I had to do something, and even after I used Deleterious Dusk-"
His eyes widened. "You used your Balance Breaker?"
"Mh." Asia nodded shakily. "But... Ise, whoever- or whatever- that white-haired person was, he shook off literally everything I threw at him and laughed!"
But... even if Koneko and Kuroka had been broken, they had managed to live through their injuries.
"How did they survive then? It sounds like they should have been dead when I got back to the camp!"
"That's the strangest part- he said he'd let me heal them just enough to live." Asia shook her head. "S-something about wanting to keep the ripples flowing? I-I didn't get it, but after I healed Koneko and Kuroka, he said something else and I just... passed out."
Ripples. What in the world did that mean?
Wait. White hair... wasn't that the same as someone who'd killed him many times over in his visions?
He shook his head. Not the time- there were more important things to worry about. "Well, it sounds like you were unharmed at least. That's good, I need your help. Motohama got his hands on something dangerous, and it sounds like he means to use it against me. Or if not me..."
Asia caught on quickly, gulping once before her expression firmed. "What are we waiting for then?"
Issei nodded back, and the two broke into a run. "Do you still have your phone? I need to contact the Youkai in the area- they might be able to get home before we do and hold him off."
"What about Irina-san, Xenovia-san, and Raynare-san?"
"Hopefully, they can be made aware. Or if Motohama got the jump on them, they should be able to hold him off?" Issei grimaced. "But Lady Venelana wasn't forthcoming on what the artifact she gave Motohama is, or what it does, so I don't know."
"Lady Venelana?"
"Er, sorry- Rias's mom." He shook his head. "Not the point. The point is, we're dealing with a lot of unknowns, and Mom and Dad are targets. We need to make sure they're safe."
She nodded once, pulling out her phone and passing it over to Issei. He nodded back, before punching in a number and putting it up to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Hyoudou Issei, calling in a... VIP PCC, enforced by the SDL?"
There was a beat of silence, then the operator replied, voice low and serious. "State your credentials."
Issei grit his teeth. He really didn't have time for the bureaucracy. "I'm the Red Dragon Emperor, and my parents are in danger. I want to help, is that enough cred for you?"
There was a ragged sigh from the other side of the phone. "It sounds like you already know there is a problem, then. I'll make this quick, Sekiryuutei-dono: we have a serious situation. We've erected a perimeter around your home, but an aberration of some sort has taken hostages."
'Motohama...' An aberration? Just what had happened to him?
"And my parents?"
"The aberration claims to have them. But it demands your presence for negotiation."
Motohama wanted him, after all.
"I'm on my way. I'll be there in ten minutes."
"Understood. Be quick, last I heard from dispatch, the aberration was becoming agitated."
'Oh no.' Issei ended the call with a grimace, passing the phone back to Asia. "I need to hurry."
"Go, Ise-kun. They need you more than I do." The blond nodded. "I'll catch up."
Issei's jaw firmed, and nodded back, Boosted Gear manifesting around his arm, and with a silent Boost sped ahead.
Masaomi was having a bad day.
First was the fact that his coffee machine had broken, depriving him of the morning coffee he'd come to appreciate for his waking hours.
That shot his focus all morning, at least until the discovery that his daughter had been pulled into the mission in Hell, and all contact there was cut off.
And if that wasn't concerning enough, now there was the monster that had taken up residence in the Hyoudou household.
"WHERE IS HE?!" The perversion to the voice was all too familiar, bringing back memories of a terrible incident well over a decade ago. "IF HE DOESN'T SHOW UP SOON, THERE WON'T BE ANYTHING FOR HIM TO SHOW UP FOR!"
He ran a hand through his hair with a grimace, before barking orders to the Youkai holding up the Bounded Field. There was precious little he could do right now. While Masaomi was fairly confident he could defeat the captor, he was sure the instant he made a move, at least one of the captives would die.
For someone who had spent his years as an incorrigible pervert according to Asia, Motohama apparently knew how to hold hostages well, keeping them close.
To say nothing of the way the house was slowly graying, as though life itself were being drained away from the entire area, hence why Masaomi ordered the barriers strengthened to prevent it from reaching the rest of the world.
Once again, his mind drifted to the warehouse.
Back then, it had taken him to talk reason back into the friend who had distorted, and an Ultimate-class Devil to hammer in the point.
Back then, Luna only had the best intentions before she went berserk.
Masaomi very strongly doubted Motohama was the same sort of beast.
"Old man!" Oh thank the Lord. He turned around to see Issei skidding to a stop, expression drawn and eyes narrowed, staring past him toward the house. "I came as fast as I could. Asia's a few minutes behind, but she should be here shortly too."
Once more, the black-haired exorcist quietly thanked God. When the forward base in Hell went down, he'd started fearing for his daughter's safety. That she was back in the overworld, and in good enough condition that Issei was comfortable running ahead, eased many of his concerns.
Many. But not all of them.
"Good." Masaomi wasted no time in getting to the point. "We've got a hostage crisis on our hands. Your former friend, Motohama, took something. It changed him, made him not unlike your typical Stray Devil."
"An Evil Piece?!"
"No, but I almost wish it was." At Issei's furrowed brow, the exorcist continued. "I've seen this before. Fifteen years ago, at an abandoned warehouse in the Tokyo province."
A beat passed. "You mean... this is what happened to Lunarunn?"
The black-haired man glanced either way quickly to confirm that none of the Youkai were listening in before he nodded very slightly. "Yeah. She was really struggling mentally already, and the heir of a Pillar pushed her into a psychotic break. The results... they weren't pretty."
Issei stared at his house, the graying landscape, and the whispers of... something, scratching in the back of his mind, too low to make out, at least from this distance.
'Issei, this corruption, it feels like-'
'I know.'
"...This has to do with Trihexa's influence, doesn't it?" The wings that Lunarunn showed him and Asia had a similar effect, but it was... constrained. Not controlled, but managed to a certain degree.
There was none of that here.
Masaomi nodded again. "I've seen it, you know. The Beast. When Luna started fighting back against its influence, it dragged her into its abyss to devour her. Ruval and I went after her, but we only survived by the barest of margins."
He swallowed hard, a flicker of fear glimmering in his eyes. "If anything could kill God, it would be that thing."
That was an unsettlingly accurate approximation to the creature that annihilated the world in so many of his Sephiroth Graal-induced visions. To say nothing of the eye that he saw at the very end...
Issei couldn't help but shudder.
Was he suggesting that Motohama had been corrupted by that thing as well?
'It sounds like Motohama had been seeking revenge against you even before Venelana gave him that artifact.'
'I know that, but if Lunarunn was, maybe Motohama can be saved too!'
'You can't save everyone, whelp.'
The brunet swallowed. '...I know that. But that doesn't mean I shouldn't try anyway.'
There was an exhale from Ddraig. 'I cannot stop you. But if one of your parents dies because of your hesitancy to strike him down...'
'They won't.'
'You don't know that. Don't bite off more than you can chew, Issei.'
It was true; he didn't know. But he was sick and tired of always being too weak. Too weak to stop Lunarunn before she undid the Summit. Too slow to keep his parents from being hurt. Too weak to stop Riser from being cut in half. Too slow to stop that white-haired maniac from killing everyone in that base camp and kidnapping Asia.
Too weak to make a difference.
But Issei would be damned if he wasn't able to stop Motohama before he did something irreversible.
"I'll try talking to him," Issei said aloud, getting Masaomi's attention again. Seeing the exorcist's eyes return to him, the Red Dragon Emperor continued. "He wants me, right? If you're able to sneak in while I have his attention, you might be able to swipe my parents - and the girls if they're there too - from under his nose."
The exorcist's eyes widened faintly. If Xenovia and Irina were also captives, then that made the situation much more dire. He nodded slowly, placing a hand on the sheath of his blade. "I'll need a signal."
"You'll know it when you see it," he declared with more confidence than he really felt.
"...Alright," the black-haired man acquiesced. "Be careful, when Luna went berserk back then, she was easily as strong as an Ultimate-class Devil. I don't know how strong your friend is, but if he's draining the surroundings like she did..."
Then he was dangerous enough to warrant extreme caution. "Got it. We should hurry."
"Agreed." With another nod, Masaomi turned back to the house. "I'll infiltrate a minute after you enter. You get his attention, I'll get the hostages out of there."
"Got it!" Issei repeated, walking toward his house, shivering as the grayness suffused his body, leaching away color and heat alike. He wasn't cold, but even being in the same area as this stuff felt wrong.
But he pushed on through, and entered the doorway.
Issei opened the door to his house, wincing as the creaking of the hinges echoed in the unnatural silence of the area.
Almost immediately the whispers just out of earshot intensified, distorted whispers emanating from the walls.
He almost stopped to hear them out, but then he heard the catch of a breath in the next room.
Labored. Ragged. Exhausted, or wounded. Neither was good.
He turned to the living room, and stopped at what he saw.
"Well, well, well! Look who finally decided to regale us with his presence."
The voice was twisted. Distorted, in a way that caused the hairs on the back of Issei's neck to stand on end. But it was recognizable.
But Motohama? It took Issei a long moment to recognize his former friend.
He towered over the young man- while normally that bulk should have, the room itself appeared to have been expanded outward somehow, allowing the four-meter-tall monstrosity to remain at full height, unimpeded. Covered in tatters of what had most likely been his clothes, the flesh was blackened, reeking with rot and leaking with bloody tears across the bulky form, tendrils of... something peeking out from between raw and reddened muscles.
It looked agonizing, but the scarlet gaze within the blackened sclera that met his own was unnervingly steady, as was the hateful disgust that emanated from the creature in waves.
'Oh, Motohama...' he lamented internally, before voicing his next thoughts. "What happened to you?"
The transformed human let out a snort, holding out his hands. "Oh, so now you show concern. What a joke, where was that concern when Matsuda bit it?"
Issei winced. "I- I was busy. There was a lot on my plate at the time, and-"
"Too busy for your old pals? Your old crew? Your old partners?" Motohama sneered. "Yes, that sounds about right. Too busy palling it up with your girlfriend, and the other hanger-on too I imagine. How was your first time, Harem King?"
The brunet's eye twitched. "One, none of your business, and two, haven't had my first time yet!"
'Issei, he's trying to rile you up.'
Right. If he wasn't thinking straight, he wasn't going to get done what he needed to.
Motohama stared at Issei, wide-eyed for a long second before breaking into laughter, the booms of his guffaws echoing in Issei's bones.
"Are you serious? All those gorgeous girls practically throwing themselves at you, and you can't even bring yourself to seal the deal? Oh, that is rich!"
Keep him talking. Keep him distracted. Buy time for Masaomi and Asia to get where they need to be. Issei kept repeating those words in his head to keep from losing his temper.
But he didn't. Something that Motohama noticed, as the laughter died down. "You've changed, Issei. The old you would have said something by now. Something stupid, probably."
"I don't have the luxury of being a dumb kid any more," he bit back. "Especially when lives are on the line."
"If only to feed your own ego." Motohama's lip curled upward as the sense of disgust around him intensified. "What's it like, being such a special person?"
"I'm not-" Issei's response was cut off as the transformed Motohama's arm shot forward, forcing him to roll out of the way as tendrils and muscle blurred past him, something loud shattering in the distance.
'Fast!' And with that much bulk, that meant that if Issei got hit, it was gonna hurt a lot.
"Shut up and listen." The arm snapped back, and then the giant turned around and reached out, tossing aside the couch to show Motohama's captives from behind it.
All five of them, Issei noted numbly, as the impact of the couch against the wall sounded across the room before dying all too quickly.
'Oh... fuck.'
They were all in bad shape; Raynare's head was host to a colorful bruise, lolling to one side as her exposed wings, bent and broken, sagged to the ground from within the black, tendrilous bindings that held her and the others in place. Xenovia's own eyes were glassy, locking onto Issei briefly before a faint hint of recognition passed through them. She was still dazed, but given the trembling of her body, she was likely trying to break those bindings.
His mother and father were both unconscious. He could see the rise and fall of their chests, but otherwise they didn't move at all.
Irina, whose arm (her sword arm, he recognized), was limp at her side, and whose leg was definitely not pointing in the right direction, was otherwise the most cognizant of Motohama's captives. Even so, there was a tendril around her mouth as well, keeping her attempts to call Issei muted in the forcefully-monochrome house they were all inside of.
"Mom! Dad!" With a thousand thoughts whirling, he didn't call the other three as he took a step forward. "What did you do to them, Motohama?!"
But Motohama didn't respond, instead reaching out to pluck Xenovia from her spot among those captives, holding her up in a single hand.
He didn't look back as he started speaking again. "Do you know what it's like? To be overlooked? To be looked down on? Abandoned? Of course you don't. That childhood friend of yours never did, despite our antics."
The red eyes flicked back to the still form of the brunet. "But then you have this super duper powerful gift, and suddenly even the twin beauties of the school are trying to get into your pants to earn your favor! And Matsuda and I? We were left in the dust! You didn't even look back."
"I never asked for that gift!" Issei snapped back, but Motohama carried on like he said nothing at all, turning his attention back to Xenovia, the tendrils in his hand rising to caress her face.
Issei shuddered. Xenovia did too, though her arms were firmly trapped, head inching away as she mouthed soundless words. Issei couldn't make them out.
"He tried to be better, you know. Matsuda." Issei's eyes widened, and Motohama continued. "After we got suspended, he spent a lot of time thinking. Then, when you didn't even welcome us back, he took your abandoning us especially hard. He might have given you a hard time, but he actually respected you. He tried to get back into track, tried being a better person, even if you didn't notice. He wanted to be better, because maybe then the Perverted Trio could come back together again!"
Then, a derisive snort. "Hah. Look where it got him. An early grave, sticking up for a girl who was getting harassed."
Wait... Was... that actually true? He didn't detect any sorts of falsehoods in Motohama's voice, but then again...
No. Why lie when the truth can hit so much harder? Matsuda used to run track, after all, and always wanted to try again. And if he really did take Issei leaving them behind like that, then the reasoning was sound.
"I'm sorry." Issei swallowed. "I... thought I needed to take time to come to terms with who I wanted to be. I shouldn't have just cut you two loose like that. It's just... I thought that you two were dragging me down, and that even if I tried, nothing would change-"
"BUT YOU DIDN'T!" Issei's ears rang as Motohama whirled on him once more, face distorted into a horrifying, putrid snarl. "You. Never. Tried. You always had someone to prop you up, make you feel good about yourself, make it easier for you to be the better person. Not me. I was never special."
Motohama's head swayed from side to side. "So when Venelana-sama came with an offer, gave me the attention I never had, can you blame me for wanting to use that special attention to make things right? If our roles were reversed, you'd do the exact same."
"Right?" Issei couldn't understand what he was saying. "Right!? How is any of this right?! You're talking about hurting my family, my friends, or worse, all because you wanted to hurt me!"
"Issei... You abandoned us." The distortion in Motohama's voice subsided, and the brunet could hear the hurt in his tone, even as Issei caught the edge of a white cloak in the peripherals of his vision. "You left Matsuda and I to rot. Then Matsuda died trying to follow your footsteps in the stupid hope that we'd be friends again." There was another long pause. "When Matsuda died, suddenly I was alone. He died in front of me, and there wasn't anything I could do. I couldn't stand it. My parents didn't understand. Not that they would. Work was more important, after all. So when everything went to hell, I was alone."
Then the twisted edge of his voice returned, as did the whispers around them, rising to a crescendo. "So I'm going to make you feel the same helplessness I did."
'ISSEI!'
Before Issei could react to the surge of fell power emanating from Motohama, Something black and covered with red exploded out from the former exorcist's back.
In a moment that felt like an eternity, Xenovia's gaze met Issei's, the haze from before shattered in that singular instance with a crystal clear understanding of what just happened.
Issei felt sick as life left the blue-haired girl's eyes.
Then the moment was gone, and so was she.
The young man could hear Irina's muffled screams as Motohama casually withdrew the spike from Xenovia and let her body drop to the ground.
Motohama stared at Issei with a malevolent glow to his eyes and a sinister smile.
"Ş̷͓̝̰̟̞̘̥͛͆̇̎͂̓̕t̴̺̦̱̦̜̮͛̐̈́̓͌̀̐͌ͅá̷̗̤͊͠r̶̺̎̃͐͐̌̊ṱ̴̢̨͓̬͙͕̳̎̿̈̆̍̏̓̈į̷̦̞̼̏͛̑́͘n̸̖͇͙̳̽̎̑̔g̸̺̜͚̯͖̰̜̳̓̾̑̌̕͘ ̸̛̝̖̏̈́̾͝w̸̯̰̤͇̘̿̓͑͝í̵̲͇̗͙͎̐̃͒̏̉ṱ̴͈̰͕̌̊͗͘͝h̵̡̩͔̗̺̰̰̋̽̊͠͝ ̷̨̨̢͇̥͓̫̖͐͊ḥ̵̦͍͚̙̇̎̊̃̔́̏è̷͖̣̰̮̣̞̏̀͗̏̓̋͜͝r̴̫̓͐.̷̨̛̬̖̘͍̭̜͐͆̇́ͅ"
"NO!"
Masaomi lunged. Motohama lunged. Issei's body became encased in metal.
He too lunged.
But even as he Boosted, Motohama was too close, too fast, and Raynare's broken form was sent flying by the transformed pervert's crushing blow. She slammed into the wall and slid down, a trail of red following her.
Masaomi's blade flashed, the binds falling free from the remaining captives. Yet...
('Mom and Dad aren't getting up-')
Issei crashed into Motohama while the monster's back was turned, slamming him to the ground and scrabbling around the corrupted flesh.
A moment later he was straddled atop his former friend's grotesque form. Motohama himself struggled to break free, lashing out in every direction.
Power. Speed. But no precision.
Issei was too fast, already up in his face. The Red Dragon Emperor's fists rose and fell, finding face-flesh to grind and bones beneath to break, blood and ichor spilling en masse.
Yet still the distorted laughter cut in and out with the impact of his gauntleted hands, gurgling but ever so gleeful, growing in intensity as someone else screamed in pain behind him.
That only caused him to redouble his efforts.
He stopped when he'd done this to Georg.
He dared not stop now, not with this monster trying to kill the people he cared about.
Nor did anyone try to stop him this time, either.
As the haze cleared, he realized that all that was left of his former friend's face was a slurry of unrecognizable paste, the rest of his distorted body eviscerated by Masaomi and scattered throughout the room, trapped in glowing, ethereal cubes.
His eyes shifted over to his parents, still on the ground unmoving, then to Irina, who was pressing her torn shirt to the bloody stump of her other arm, face white and eyes dilated, very clearly trying not to pass out even with tears streaming down her face, chest rapidly rising and falling as she struggled to keep herself from going into shock.
He looked at Xenovia, and Raynare.
One had a gaping hole in her chest (so much like many of his past deaths...), and Masaomi was kneeling over the other, two fingers to her pulse and sagging, head hung low.
When Asia finally arrived, she didn't say anything. Instead, she pulled both men into a hug as the Youkai swarmed the house, moving the body parts of what had once been Motohama and providing blankets for the survivors. As his girlfriend pulled away to start healing Irina, Issei watched. But he didn't dare approach.
The incident was resolved in moments.
But Issei had never felt more tired.
Diehauser Belial was used to hardship.
He was, after all, the shining example of the heights a properly-blooded Devil could achieve, with wit, cunning, and a grasp on power that few could match, even from the humblest origins.
And indeed, humble they were. Before him, house Belial had been all but removed from the Assembly, their holdings so barren.
Being the 'Ratings Game Emperor', as Naud Gamigin often termed him, certainly opened doors.
He doubted the title would get him out of the cell he was currently locked in, shackled with dust-laced manacles tied to the ground, suppression sigils glowing all around him.
Idly, he was impressed. The resources required for this level of efficacy in imprisoning an Ultimate-Class Devil, arguably the strongest among them, would take a considerable amount of time to acquire without garnering notice, even if the OSF were secretly funneling away funds for this very purpose.
Less idly, he was nursing a lingering headache. Young Diodora had certainly not been gentle trying to get inside Diehauser's head. Thankfully, he was skilled enough with Worthless to clamp down on the attempts, but even then it was a difficult undertaking.
Where Diodora had become a Demon was concerning. More concerning still was his rapidly growing power with it. Even more so was the lack of empathy that the once-gentle Devil had previously held in spades.
His eyes slid over to the prone, curled-up form of one of his fellow prisoners, her back to him in a clearly defensive gesture, and the redheaded elder who currently held said prisoner's head in her lap, running her hands through the other girl's dark hair.
When Diehauser didn't break under the pressure, Diodora took it out on the other two. Runeas Gremory was taking Diodora's invasive actions rather well. Sona Sitri... not so much.
"Still sleeping." he spoke, wincing faintly as his own voice caused the pounding in his head to intensify.
"After what Lord Diodora did to her," Runeas replied, gaze lifting up to Diehauser. "I would not be surprised if she did not wake up for a while."
And there was that. 'Lord'. Diodora wasn't exactly a lord, but Runeas seemed to use that term for him religiously after discovering his metamorphosis.
"It is probably for the best," Diehauser replied, to which the Gremory elder hummed in agreement, gaze returning to Sona's sleeping face. "You seem rather unfazed by what happened."
Though perhaps 'unfazed' wasn't the right term. Runeas Gremory was known to be something of an airhead - not unlike Sona Sitri's sister in that regard. There was a solemnity to her at this time, however, that was rather unusual.
"It is a Devil's instinctive duty to serve a Demon," she replied, drawing in a slow breath and exhaling. "Perhaps as the original Gremory's daughter, I am much more at peace with the fact."
"Yet I was able to resist," Diehauser pointed out.
"Then perhaps you are stronger than I," she smiled, but there was a leer to it that the white-haired Devil immediately picked up on.
"...You enjoyed it," he realized.
"It reminds me of simpler times." Runeas made no effort to hide the fact, the corners of her lips rising further, eyes sliding shut. "Of the time of Demons. Dantalion visited Gremory often; Mother usually ordered me to participate in their extracurriculars. Perhaps first I resented it, but in time I came to appreciate the art of being controlled like a puppet on a string. I didn't need to think so much about my actions. It was much more... enjoyable, when I played along."
And yet she still chose to turn her back on the Demons in the end. Why was that? Diehauser wondered. As though she read his mind, Runeas continued.
"Still, it's not a Devil's place to be a mere servant or puppet to their masters, either. We were crafted in their image, after all." A puff of air escaped the Gremory Elder. "We were made to survive, even when our Lords and Ladies were Sundered. So we did." The hand stroking Sona's head stopped. "As much as I miss those old times and relish in the nostalgia, it is not an experience I would wish on everyone."
That explained her insistence on calling Diodora 'lord'. Additionally...
"So you fed him the information in exchange for focusing his attention primarily on you." Sona had still been victimized, but Runeas had been far more Diodora's target during his visit.
"It's amusing; for someone who hates us first-generation Elders, he acts so much like Lord Dantalion that old habits just snapped back into place." Runeas giggled. "The irony of it is quite delicious, though."
"You fed him false information?"
Her cheeks puffed out and she crossed her arms beneath her bust. "Of course not! I would be stupid to lie to a Demon's face." That look morphed into a coy smirk. "But that doesn't mean I didn't choose what he got from me."
"Omission then." Diehauser smiled. "Care to share what exactly you gave up?"
"Nope!" She stuck her tongue out. At least she was still in high spirits.
He'd have to make up for what Diodora did to Sona somehow, though.
Still, they were rather stuck for the time bei-
His head snapped in the direction of a burst of flame, drowning out the screams of their guards before the cell went silent.
"They should be held nearby," that was a voice Diehauser recognized, and his heart rose.
"Cleria! Over here!"
"Diehauser!" Footsteps beat against the ground, and the violet-haired Belial skidded into view, coming to a stop at the bars. "We also have Heiress Sitri and Elder Gremory," she called out to someone out of sight.
The Ultimate-Class Devil rose to his feet. "What are you doing here? I thought you were undercover!"
"Getting you out is more important," she said with all seriousness, procuring a key and sliding it into the bars. A flash of light followed, and the sigils around the prisoners went dark. "It's a madhouse out there, and we need someone who has the ability to make sense of it all."
"We?" he echoed, before their other liberators appeared, hurrying over to Cleria's side. "Ah, Elders Phenex. I presume I have you to thank for convincing my cousin we needed extraction?"
"Indeed." the former Lord Phenex's eyes landed on Runeas and Sona. "It is good to see you well, Elder Gremory. I hope your stay was not too uncomfortable."
"It was nostalgic, at least," Runeas replied, nudging Sona, who began to stir. "But we have a situation as well. Sona and I were... compromised by a Mentalist. A dangerous one at that."
"Diodora Astaroth," Diehauser finished, seeing the glances between the Phenexes. Cleria walked into the cell and started undoing his manacles. "I believe that he was hiding his true abilities from the Assembly for a long time now, and has undergone a ritual to extend that power further. I was able to throw him off, but even bound and suppressed I can at least channel Worthless internally. Sona and Runeas had no such inherent resistance."
"I've had previous experience mollifying Demons, so at the very least I'm in fighting shape, though I'd keep an Ultimate-Class around me to ensure I can be suppressed if triggered." Runeas added, pulling a dazed Sona to her feet, though not unkindly. "Up, little Sitri, the cavalry has come."
Yet as the last manacle fell away and his sixth sense extended out to the world once more, Diehauser noticed something... heavy.
Powerful beyond belief. And it was fighting...
"...Oh."
"You feel it too then," Lord Phenex cottoned on, to which Diehauser nodded.
"I do," he confirmed, voice grim. "So why in the Morningstar's name is Ruval fighting Sirzechs?!"
"We thought you could answer that, given your alliance and personal relations with our son," Lady Phenex replied frostily, glancing in the direction they all could sense the Super Devil and the Ultimate-Class Devil trade blows.
But something about Ruval's aura was wrong. It was his, and there was more to it than he ever showed before, but...
"...That's not Ruval Phenex," Runeas's realization matched Diehauser's own revelation. The simultaneous realizations snapped the Phenex Elders out of their musings, the redhead's face pale as a result of her own as she elaborated on what Diehauser could not. "That's Phenex. The original. I recognize that Id, it's an exact match."
The Phenexes traded wide-eyed looks. "Impossible," Ruval's mother denied. "He was Sundered, just like the rest!"
"And yet Diodora has taken on the mantle of Dantalion," Runeas insisted. "I know the Original Mentalist's presence, I've spent countless years under its influence. What I don't understand is, how would either Ruval or Diodora obtain the power of the original Demons?"
"I..." He licked his lips as the possibilities flashed through his mind, each one more fantastical than the last, but theoretically plausible based on his own limited knowledge. "I may have some ideas."
He'd sworn to be Ruval's ally, but what would that mean here...?
"Please share them, Lord Diehauser." the former Lord Phenex whispered. "What happened to our son?"
"A ritual?" Luna echoed, taking her eyes off the Super Devil momentarily to pay attention to her surroundings.
It was ornate. Extravagant, even. Clearly, the TSF had made themselves comfortable in their exile.
She wasn't a fan.
"Indeed!" her white-haired guide(?) confirmed cheerily. "Just because the Demons were Sundered doesn't mean the parts can't be glued back together. It might not be the exact same, but with enough of a... shall we say pull, you can effectively evolve Devils into their Demonic originators!"
"Awfully convenient, that," she said dryly, coming to look at a servant. Said servant didn't meet her gaze.
Again, she wasn't a fan.
"You seem rather skeptical," Rizevim observed, stopping in his tracks to turn back and face the brunette. "You doubt that Demons can be revived? Even after seeing Phenex?"
"You had something to do with that?" Luna turned to stare at the Super Devil, expression nonplussed.
The Super Devil snickered. "If I did, I'd just say it. No, that one wasn't me."
"That one."
"Perceptive as ever." the white-haired Lucifer spread his arms. "I may have upgraded a few Devils here and there with my uncles' and aunts' ashes. They aren't exactly one-for-one like Phenex is, but the power they end up with definitely belongs to the original heavenly defectors."
"Surprisingly little respect for the dead, if you're offloading their abilities onto others," Luna drolled.
He looked aghast at the idea. "What are you talking about? You know how immortals work, right?"
Luna's brow rose. As much as she hated to admit it, her curiosity was piqued. "Are we talking immortal as in 'won't die to old age', or immortal like 'can't die, period'?"
"The second," Rizevim clarified. "save for a singular exception, but I'll come back to that later."
That got the raised brow to crease together. "Considering the big guy bit it, how would his creations be less... y'know, mortal than the literal Creator God of this world?"
"Ah, see, that ties back into the aforementioned exception," the Super Devil lifted a finger. "Like before, I'll return to that later."
He turned around and continued walking, prompting the brunette to do the same. So far Rizevim's hospitality was holding out, but she couldn't be sure that she wasn't being led into a trap, beyond the supposed confirmation from her patron that bringing harm to her wasn't on his list of priorities in the slightest.
Speaking of, since that she was trying to fish for information on a certain Azrael figure that Rizevim mistook her as...
'Oi, care to share any additional slices of info I might want to know?'
No response again. Luna was getting real sick of Ulan's shit.
"You see, the thing about the Demons is that they are still alive," Rizevim continued, unaware of Lunarunn's thoughts. "Basically dead for all intents and purposes, but their essence remains. With enough of a trigger and a high enough level of compatibility, one can... adopt the abilities of the original, for lack of a better term."
"And you're telling me this... why?"
"Context, of course!" The white-haired Devil spun back around."After all, there are a few individuals running around with adopted powers. Not as many as you might expect, but still enough for a trend. First is Marchosias, but that one... wasn't quite up to snuff. Quite honestly I'm surprised that this particular gestalt hasn't completely fallen apart already."
"Gestalt?"
"The original recipient wasn't entirely cut out to bear the power of the Demon of War. So I had to improvise." He shrugged. "It's impressive what you can do when you have direct access to a person's soul."
"You're saying the Sephiroth Graal is in your possession."
"More like they're an ally for the time being. But yes."
And if Valerie and Isaiah were vassals to Diodora, then that meant Diodora was an ally too.
She grunted. "Then that's probably that Aesle person that Ruval mentioned was giving him trouble."
"Indeed." Rizevim held his hands together, nodding sagely. "I had to do something to clip that bird's wings before he started encroaching on our territory."
"And turning Ruval into a Demon had nothing to do with it?"
"Again, not my fault. Best I can guess is that something happened to him that instilled a significant enough portion of Phenex's essence to awaken the original sometime after Aesle attacked the Assembly."
Luna frowned. "...Again, being awfully forthcoming."
"Pardon me for divulging information, it's been far too long since I've had a discussion with someone as unique as you." Rizevim took a few steps back, gesturing for her to take a seat at the table. Once she did, albeit tentatively, he did the same from the opposite side. A pair of claps from his hand later and another servant appeared, setting down a number of exquisite wines and drinks of undeniably opulent import onto the table between the brunette and the white-haired Super Devil.
Once the servant vanished, he continued. "Even Diodora Astaroth, the pleasant surprise he turned out to be, has grown rather dull over the past fifteen years. He's the most recent Devil I converted into a Demon. He seems to have taken quite a lot from his mother's side of the family tree."
She fit the pieces together quickly. "That son of a bitch adopted Dantalion's powers, didn't he?"
"I'd hardly call Fensaia Dantalion a 'bitch'. Perhaps 'doll' is a better term, but Lord Astaroth was ever the dominant male." But the grin on Rizevim's face confirmed Luna's realization. "Granted, they seem quite happy with each other, so it seems there is no harm done in that regard."
Still, if he was a Demon now, given his predilections... Luna wasn't sure she liked the picture it painted. "Back to the main point. Active Demons. If you're sharing, then why not just share the rest?"
"Because everyone else I have not mentioned, except one, is dead." The casualness with which he said it stunned Luna momentarily, and in the silence he continued. "See, not only do the stars have to align for the recipient to take to the essence of the Demon, but then they have to survive that power long enough to gain a rudimentary control over it without going mad. They essentially become rabid, and if others don't kill them they literally deteriorate into sludge as the Demon consumes them from the inside out. As is the inherently destructive nature of Demons."
Luna made a face, and Rizevim smirked. "Yes, it is a rather uniquely grotesque sort of decay. Heaven's System doesn't make it easy for them, either, since any Demon wannabe running amok gets noticed and put down hard, both to spare those that would otherwise be caught in their path and to handle the rabid dog. Two birds with one stone."
"So if that leaves only one remaining, then who...?" The brunette looked down, and Rizevim leaned forward, resting his elbows on the tabletop and his chin on steepled fingers.
The indulgent grin on his face was all too knowing. "Take a wild guess."
There was only one person she knew that had any sort of affiliation with Demons. The meltdown a decade and a half ago wasn't too far off from the sort of rampage Rizevim described either. Sirzechs mentioned realizing what she was. Even Phenex acknowledged her as a peer, at least to perform some sort of... ritual... on her. And then there was the name Rizevim called her.
But that was an Angel.
But then again, all Demons were Angels once.
Did that mean that in this world, Azrael had become a Demon?
She swallowed hard and looked up, eyes alight with understanding.
If Rizevim called her by the name of an Angel, then that meant the remaining Demon was...
"Me."
There was a long beat as the Super Devil touched the pads of his fingers together and rested his hands on the table.
"And not just any Demon," Rizevim confirmed, cowing the brunette into silence with the admittance, "but among the strongest - second only to Lucifer himself - and even then only by a slim margin."
He leaned forward. "Now you understand why I am so intrigued by your very existence?"
Luna shook her head. There was a lot of evidence pointing to that idea, but there were still some issues with the theory. It took her some time to find her words. "But- if that's the case, I should have been dead ages ago. Azrael's power should have consumed me whole. It took me a long time to even get a rudimentary grasp on Worldweave-"
"Is that what you think Azrael's true power is?" The white-haired Super Devil smirked, leaning back. "Come now. You seem to know a bit about angels and demons. What exactly was Azrael known for again?"
Luna's brow drew together. "...Death. Then something doesn't add up. Worldweave was the power I woke up with- the ability to affect the underpinnings of reality. To change the circumstances in a localized area, and create physical effects from such."
"And you don't think that is... odd, when even Zekram Bael mentioned that such an ability is rather similar to what the big guy upstairs could do in his heyday?"
The brunette's back stiffened, and she drew back. "How do you know that?"
"I know a lot of things," he replied enigmatically, stirring his hand in the air to and fro. "Between that and a robust network of ears, I keep abreast of many goings-on in the Underworld." His gaze fixated on her, pinning the woman in place. "Namely, the interesting bits."
Luna's chin drew downward, head inclining slightly. Rizevim took her silence as a request to keep talking, and obliged. "See, the thing about the Demons is that they all had their individual specialties. You can see them in both occult learnings as well as the abilities of the Pillars. Gremory was a master at magic, and an avid collector of knowledge. Dantalion was much the same, only his specialty was matters of the mind. Bael had the ability to 'destroy' at a conceptual level. All those traits carried over into their offspring, the Devils."
He finally took a drink and lifted the goblet to his lips, taking a long sip for Luna to process what he said. Then, as the drink left his mouth, the white-haired Devil continued. "So why don't you put that pretty head of yours to work, and think about what Azrael's gifts may include were she to have created Devils like the rest?"
Luna scowled but complied, lifting her hand to her chin in thought. "Well... if Azrael is the premier Angel of Death, then if Azrael were to Fall and create Devils, that offspring would also have some level of control over 'Death'. Though I'm not sure how far that would go. If we're talking about someone in the realm of the original Demons like Sirzechs - or you - then it's plausible that said theoretical Super Devil would be able to use 'Death' in a similarly versatile fashion."
Her brow furrowed further. "But what I don't get is how 'Death' and 'Worldweave' intersect. It was the first power I awakened following my own awakening in this body. It's my primary power, the one I've had and used over the past fifteen years. Assuming you had some role to play in the ritual the original 'me' ended up using, then wouldn't I have been... consumed...?"
She trailed off, getting a chuckle from Rizevim as he leaned back, saying nothing as the brunette connected the dots.
"Your predecessor attempted a ritual using soul magic. She meant to obtain powers beyond her scope. She succeeded."
"It would be most disgraceful for me not to know your secret. After all, I was the one to orchestrate your awakening."
"My blessing is potent, but without understanding lacks power."
"...Ulan, should suffice."
"You seem to have realized something."
Lunarunn heard Rizevim, but she wasn't listening, too caught up in her own thoughts to answer him directly.
'It was you the whole time, wasn't it Ulan? No, not Ulan... Azrael.'
This time, she got a response, in the form of a sharp hiss of breath as though slapped, and a fiery reaction.
"That is not my name!" Luna's patron bellowed back with enough scathing venom to make the brunette recoil. A moment passed, followed by a heavy, slow exhale.
Then she added onto her exclamation, softer in tone, and filled with a bevy of emotions that Lunarunn could not immediately make sense of.
"That's not my name. At least... not anymore."
'The hell you mean by that?'
"I... I'll explain later. Once you're away from Rizevim. Just because he will not harm you does not mean you are not at... risk."
'Don't give me that shit, it's about time you stopped hiding secrets from me!'
"You're right," she agreed. "Just... just a little longer. He'll tell you the gist of the story."
'I feel like you should be the one to tell me your story.'
"It's not mine," Ulan denied the passive-aggressive demand, tone laden with exhaustion. "I'm not that person. I haven't been for too long." Her voice fell again. "Far, far too long."
Luna ground her teeth, but reluctantly acquiesced. She was probably right, Rizevim would tell her anyway. Maybe she'd try running damage control - but those visions she had of the original Azrael were certainly damning.
"Tell me about her," she finally said, voice firm and cold. "The original Azrael. I've had fleeting visions of the past, but nothing concrete. Only that she stood against Yahweh, and that something happened between one of the big conflicts and when I first woke up. I'm sick and tired of not knowing what the hell happened, and why everything is so..."
"Fucked up?" Rizevim offered with a wry smile. "Certainly. Considering your circumstances, I'd be happy to oblige- I should warn you though, it's a rather sordid tale."
Lunarunn lifted her chin, staring balefully at the Super Devil. "Do I look like I give a shit?"
"I'd say you're probably well past that point," he affirmed with another snicker. "First off, let me clarify; I'm speaking from mostly second-hand experience. Good ol' Daddy Dearest kept you busy half of the time I knew you, and you kept yourself occupied the other half. But I'd say you probably won't get a better explanation from even Azazel or the Archangels."
"Not that I'm exactly on good enough terms to talk with them anyway," she muttered, to which Rizevim nodded sagely.
"I figured as much, even without considering your true identity. You made quite the splash at the Summit - I have to thank you for the show, by the by. I haven't had that much fun in eons!"
"I'm so glad you enjoyed watching me effectively declare war on the status quo," Lunarunn drawled.
"I'm actually being serious here," the white-haired supernatural being held his hands up, shrugging with his shoulders. "It's been longer than you know since I've been that invested in something, and I'd just about forgotten the thrill of such."
The earnestness in his voice wore away at the edge in Luna's temper, causing it to subside slightly. "...You're welcome then. I guess. Back to the story though. First off, how the hell did Azrael Fall in the first place?"
"Can't say for certain; you'd need to ask Azra herself." Luna pulled a face at the nickname. "Still, from what I've been told, it was a mixture of her becoming frustrated with the big guy over something or another. Apparently, it got bad enough that she snapped, declared war against Heaven while in Heaven, fought through all the Archangels to make it to the Seventh Heaven, and sabotaged Heaven's System before fleeing from God and crash-landing in the Gehenna."
Luna stared nonplussed as Rizevim counted off Azrael's supposed misdeeds. "What? That's what she claims she did - though she often played down the 'fighting through all the archangels' part whenever she could - Vaingloria was certainly not one of her Sins."
Ulan made a noise as though coughing into a fist. "...Of course he brought that part up first."
'You're gonna have to explain that in more detail. For instance: how the fuck-?'
Ignoring the twitch in her eye, Luna waved off the thought. "Okay, fine, fine, assuming that's actually true, that's pretty impressive, I'm guessing as the Angel of Death she was one of the top dogs in Heaven."
"Again, you'd have to ask her if you wanted to know rank. I can't exactly say I'd have been welcomed in Heaven during the Great War," the Super Devil joked. "Though I'm sure it'd have been rather hysterical to walk up to the golden gates and politely knock-"
The mental image did cause Luna's lips to quirk upward. "Back to the point. So whatever the case, Azrael Fell rather spectacularly. What then?"
"Supposedly, she shattered Heaven's System and passed its potential around to every living being. While the System itself still existed, it no longer answered to Yahweh alone- rather, any self-aware living creature could draw on it. Of course, having sided with the Demons, Azrael ended up giving us a bit more than most." He shrugged. "Ever heard of the 'Power of Creation?'"
"...You're suggesting that the Power of Creation is a holdover benefit from being given a piece of Heaven's System."
"Yep!" he popped the 'p'. "And the funny thing is, that same bit of Heaven's System gave anyone the ability to 'create'. More specifically, it gave the potential of harnessing 'magic' to anyone and everyone - some more than others of course, but that's neither here nor there. Point is, Power of Creation. You could call it the next step up from standard 'magic'. There's a reason why the Demons were hated so fervently by both the Fallen and the Angels, and by proxy the Devils."
If Azrael were to keep even more than she handed to the Demons, then that might explain how Worldweave worked at a 'deeper' level of reality. Perhaps Zekram recognized it...
Perhaps that was why he sought to either chain her down or cut her out of the picture entirely, all those years ago.
"You mean beyond the fact that Demons were by and large remorseless killers, torturers, and rapists?"
'But how does Azrael fit into that group?'
"They weren't always like that," Rizevim commented. "Actually, at first, the Demons were more or less like the Fallen, only more antagonistic to Yahweh's rule where the Fallen were more subversive or passive. For a while, the two hell-bound former Angel species were even rather close."
"Then what happened?"
"War happened." He shrugged. "Eventually, I suppose the Demons were sick and tired of it all and decided to indulge their vices further. It got to a point where it started affecting their physical forms. Again, I can't exactly speak for them. But eventually they got nasty enough that even the Fallen broke off their unspoken ceasefire. That was around the time I came to be. It was a pretty brutal period. Not that I was particularly affected given my status and my being the first Devil, buuuut..."
"And how does Azrael play into all that?"
"Oh, she was at the forefront of the fight against Yahweh. The conflict was as personal for her as it was for Lucifer, and she was much less inclined to subterfuge. Considering her mastery over Death meant she could even kill true immortals, there was no reason for her to be." Rizevim sighed with - was that a hint of wistfulness? "There was nothing that existed which could kill as effectively as she could."
Killing true immortals?
"You mentioned before that there was one exception to immortals being able to eventually revive from anything. She was that exception?"
"Ding-ding-ding!" Rizevim clapped his hands together. "That's right! Our girl Azrael was the original 'Death' - the 'Original Death', even. If she killed something, it was gone, full stop. And boy, was she good at it!"
"Then what happened?"
"Well, when the Demons started getting especially nasty, Azrael was among the worst of them. The highest heads have the farthest to fall, or something. Her sin, from what I've been told, was always Ira, so it's not a big surprise that she started getting... short, with anyone and everyone."
He pursed his lips. "Actually, the Devils were in part due to her shortening temper. They - the Demons - grew concerned she would turn on them for some minor slight. After the Valefor line of Devils was born, Valefor himself called Azrael out on her behavior."
And it definitely said nothing good if Demons ended up concerned enough about another's behavior to do something about it.
"She killed him," Luna guessed.
"Without hesitation. At that point, the other Demons realized that she couldn't be reasoned with. So Bael cut a deal with Yahweh."
The brunette frowned. "Wasn't the Great War still going on then? Wouldn't Bael and Yahweh still have been bitter enemies?"
Rizevim's smile dropped. "They were. That's how dangerous Azrael had become. Completely unreasonable, and more than willing to kill anyone that got in her way, be it friend or foe. And her 'way' was to take Yahweh's head by any means necessary. Even the Dragons learned to steer clear of her quickly. What happened to them at her hand made what Yahweh did to make them Sacred Gears look tame."
"I would have thought that you of all people would have supported that sort of violence."
"What good is a world without anything in it to spice things up?" Rizevim scowled. "No, even I know that at that point, she'd become not much different than a rabid cur. Even if she achieved her end goal, she wouldn't have stopped until everyone was purged. There is only one thing you can do to a beast like that."
"Put it down," she finished. The Super Devil nodded.
"So the next time Azrael tried fighting the guy up top, Bael stabbed her in the back. Teleported in, struck her from behind with the Power of Destruction, and destroyed her ability to project her power. She was captured by Heaven shortly thereafter."
"How would you know all that anyway? Were you there?"
"Father told many stories," Rizevim replied offhandedly, waving the question off. "And what records I was able to smuggle out of Heaven over the years corroborates the stories."
"So... then God Sundered Azrael?"
He stilled, hands coming to a rest on the table. "Things went awry when He tried."
"...So we've made it to this part."
Lunarunn heard Ulan's concerned - and resigned - whisper in the back of her mind, but paid it no heed. She had an inkling of what he was about to say, but she wanted to hear it from the white-haired Devil. "Awry how?"
"I..." he trailed off and shook his head, looking remarkably unsure for an otherwise Devil-may-care individual, "don't know for certain. I wasn't there when it happened. But from what I heard, she gave herself up to... create something. A thing. The reports say she became a shadow of what she once was. Nothing more than an empty reflection."
The brunette could hear the sigh from her otherworldly patron, allowing the Super Devil to continue unabated.
"And in doing so," Rizevim looked Lunarunn dead in the eye as he finished his sentence. "Trihexa was born."
A/N:
And so it starts to come together.
More to come, of course. This is just the first layer of the story.
...God I want to add more to this chapter, but that last bit just rounds it out so well!
You'll have to hear more about the conclusion of the Noble Recovery mission next chapter, I suppose. Oh, and what the hell is going on with Ruval/Phenex too.
Tempura Wizard, out.
