NMHA Ch. 4 - Meeting the Mirror


"Dear, are you alright? You've gone pale." Thelastia's tone had taken on concern, and rightly so. The revelation that Lunarunn had experienced had certainly done nothing to soothe her.

So let's assume it's true. Kuroka went insane, and killed her King before fleeing. Lunarunn swallowed, shivering before shaking her head, gathering her jostled wits. But... wait. She seemed mostly okay in the series, if obsessed with wanting to repopulate the Nekoshou race and obsessed over her sister.

Did that mean that Shirone was what calmed her down? That would make sense, to an extent. Love and fear are powerful emotions, and perhaps powerful enough to cut through the veil of madness that might overtake the older sister should Shirone see what Kuroka had become. Or what Kuroka feared her sister would see.

Still, Luna could very easily imagine that the black cat would still be rather affected by the loss of control, particularly after learning that her outburst caused the Devils to fly into a genocidal rage.

So Kuroka's a special case. Can't say I'm too surprised, but still it's concerning. Especially since her actions would lead to one of the blackest moments in modern history for the Devils.

She blinked, coming out of her stupor as a hand landed on her shoulder and shook gently. "Luna?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm alright. I'm fine, it's just... it's a lot to take in." The daughter swallowed, frowning thoughtfully as her mother let out a sigh of relief, returning to her prior spot sitting across from Lunarunn. "Is that why we're in the training arena, so that if I end up having the same issues as normal Reincarnated Devils you'll be able to suppress me without causing significant damage to the house?"

Her mother nodded. "At least you still have your wits about you. That is correct. I might not be the strongest, but at least I exercise my abilities regularly. You, on the other hand... haven't."

Lunarunn winced. Seemed like that was something she and Sol had in common too. "So I'm a blank slate, is what you're saying? I can grow in any direction, but I'm currently at a point where a Devil without any outstanding physical training or ability can overcome me?"

At the subsequent nod, Luna deduced that might have been part of why her powers didn't come naturally to her. If the old Lunarunn were the Devil equivalent of a bookworm or geek, what powers she did have could easily have been stripped away by that botched ritual.

After all, power is a gravity unto itself, so a lack of it would mean it could easily be lost.

"Then let's hope that Luna's ritual wasn't a complete failure then," she declared, though mirrored her expression at the wince of her mother. "Too soon?"

"It's... still a sore topic," Thelastia admitted, before shaking her head quickly. "But that does not mean you are incorrect. Your father and I still care for you, but the Luna from before was... complacent. Happy with her place. We were happy for her for that, but every loving parent wants to see their children excel."

Particularly Devils. They are a race of instinct after all, and then greed atop that, so naturally they would want their offspring to be as well off as possible.

"Then I'd better get started, before we get any further distracted." Lunarunn let her eyes drift shut as she focused inward. Not so much an 'inner' core of power this time, but rather upon her desires. Her instincts, sated at the moment from her prior exploration of her new form, envisioning the way they churned within the confines of her mind.

"Hmm...? Yes, I'm starting to feel something," Thelastia murmured, quiet as to not break her daughter's concentration as she got in touch with her instinctual side. "Whatever you're doing, you're on the right path."

A path... that would be a good way to describe how Luna meant to get in touch with her desires. Within her mind, she now envisioned her instinct as a body of water, dammed by her civility and intellect. Even now, Luna could feel those emotions, swirling just beyond her reach, blocked by that gate.

Or was it... that she was just out of reach of those instincts? She could feel them, almost reaching out to her, reaching out to embrace, to envelop, to consume. The soul-swapped young woman's brow furrowed, as she deduced that it was this hungry feeling that she could glean from said instincts that laid the danger to Reincarnated Devils. Yet, she didn't feel any pull toward it herself. It was reaching out to her, but she remained... disconnected.

Perhaps she was worried for her own sake for little reason. Still, Luna decided that to err on the side of caution would be most prudent in this scenario. Those desires, those instincts, it really was like a rushing stream, wasn't it? To be drawn upon, it could power dynamos, yet could just as easily break down fortresses and drown those caught within its depths.

It could be harnessed, but it could not be truly controlled.

Guided, but not governed.

Directed, but not dominated.

Yes, Luna could start to understand now. A Devil's power wasn't a core to be drawn from, or a state of mind in which reality becomes subjective to her will.

No, a Devil's power came from the crashing tides that were those instincts that laid within every being. To eat, to drink, to survive, perhaps even procreate, and every other desire that built from such, it all laid within that ever-hungry flow blocked by her conscience.

Perhaps she'd need to take a look at that pyramid of needs that showed up in her classes more than once, to get a better handle on what exactly fell within the purview of her powers.

But for now, it was time to let her walls drop, to let forth a flow of the Id, to direct it into the small of her back, where Luna knew that every pure-blooded Devil possessed a pair of wings.

The need for survival, the drive to remain alive, the will to live. In these desires, Luna could see how Devils would manifest them within the eye of her mind, and she let those desires flow as they would, down into the small of her back.

*Fwoomph.*

A gasp.

Luna's eyes opened, blinking as she came out of her fugue. She shook her head, then directed her gaze upon her mother once more, a smile on her face.

A smile that died when she saw the expression on Thelastia, and the utter shock that overtook any sort of joy or pride that one might expect a teacher or mother to show when their student successfully learned a big part of their curriculum.

Tracing her mother's gaze, Luna's own eyes fell upon the new appendages extending from her back, and she too gasped.

Her wings, the batlike appendages that was the mark of a pureblooded Devil, were... different.

Where she expected to find thick leathery wings, what Luna found instead were almost wholly cosmetic in appearance and apparent function. What would constitute as the fingers for the wing, the parts that allowed for a bat's mobility, were not present, at least not visibly. The length of the main limb was white as freshly-driven snow, and the skin of the wing itself was just shy of transparent. Like a veil that covered, but lacked the thickness to conceal, yet the skin of her wings shimmered, as though halfway departed from reality. From that shimmer, Luna could almost, almost see colors widely scintillated, a weave that was almost hypnotic in the way it teased her vision. Was that red? Blue? Yellow, green, anything in between?

She couldn't tell. Something told her she wouldn't be able to even if she spent all week just staring. Something told her that she very well could, and still be fascinated.

Lunarunn flexed what she felt were muscles on her back, and her wings stretched outright, those maybe-colors passing by all the swifter, as though sped along by the way those wings were fully outstretched.

"What... what happened to your wings?" her mother whispered, but her daughter didn't even register that Thelastia had spoken.

Instead, she withdrew her wings, and let one glide beneath her arm to rest upon her lap, stroking the near-transparent, yet colorfully shimmering, wing. Her eyes remained locked on it, wide with wonder.

'My wings... they... they're beautiful.'

No, that defied what Luna thought of them. It failed to understate the level of fascination she held for her newfound pinions.

'They're beautiful, and they're mine. How... how could something like this be mine?'

And that was the thought that put a wide, beaming smile on her face as she continued to stroke the appendage. They were beautiful and they were her's, they belonged to her and her alone, and nobody else could have them. Nobody else could have them and they were her's and they belonged to her, they belonged to her-

'Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine-'

"Luna!"

Were she not caught up in her own fervent adoration for that wing, Lunarunn would have made a wisecrack about being a female Gollum fawning over her 'precious', but as it was she both missed the way the maybe-colors within her wing were now very much colors, flashing faster and faster, and the fact that Thelastia was reaching out for her again, in a display of rapidly-worsening panic.

The moment her mother touched her shoulder to shake her again, Luna's sight lit up, the colors from her wing bursting forth within her vision, enveloping her range of view with an endless deluge of colors.

And then she knew no more.


In hindsight, Lunarunn should have figured that something was off when she wasn't able to naturally channel her abilities.

After all, if it came as easily to a Devil as breathing to manifest their wings, shouldn't it at least have been easy for her to do the same, considering muscle memory?

Go figure that her wings seemed to be of a different sort of beast altogether.

But even now, even as Luna tried shaking off whatever haze was lingering in her mind with marginal levels of success, she could hardly be upset. Regardless of whatever they did to her, she couldn't help but feel a sense of... oneness with her clearly not normal wings.

And as much as she could get frustrated sometimes, Luna didn't hate herself.

Lunarunn's eyes, or whatever constituted for them in whatever space her wings had brought her to, opened up, and found herself surrounded by an endless, black abyss. Dark as far as the eye could see.

Yet, she could also see a faint speck in the distance. Light? No, it shifted ever so slightly... someone else?

Luna wasn't sure if she was on 'ground', yet when the motion to walk left her mind she started moving, making her way in the direction of the 'other'.

As the speck grew in size, the woman realized that she was correct in the assumption that it was another person. As she got closer still, Luna realized it looked familiar.

Hurrying her 'pace', the soul-swapped woman moved faster, coming to a halt but a few feet away from the 'other' before her mind finally caught up.

That 'other' was another Lunarunn.

At least, it looked like her. The same hair, the same shape, the same body, it all looked the same.

Yet, at the same time, Luna could tell a few major differences.

Her wings were fully extended, the same sort that ended up dragging the bodyjumper into this... space, in the first place. They were far larger too, at least three times as wide from tip to tip compared to what Luna had seen for herself before. Those colors that had thoroughly fascinated Luna were gleaming proudly upon those wings. Though unlike before, the soul-swapped woman was able to take her gaze off of them.

The doppelganger's eyes were similarly different. Instead of the aquamarine she knew, those eyes too were replaced by prismatic scintillation.

Another thing that Luna's mind finally managed to comprehend; aside from the wings and eyes, the double had been copying her every move. From each footstep, to the way she came up to the other and started examining her.

Luna's spoke. "...Hello?"

It was with a start that, unlike with the rest of her body, the copy's lips hadn't mimicked her actions, and instead spoke on their own, an echoing resonance that if the source weren't right in front of her Luna would have no idea where it originated from.

"A rather bland introduction, would you not agree?" The lips on her doppelganger quirked upward. "I was under the impression that you bore more charisma than that."

Lunarunn crossed her arms (noting the way her doppelganger did the same - man, that did nice things with her bare chest) and scoffed. "Well sorry for not being on my A-game, whatever you are. Still trying to declutter my head after those wings of yours went and, for all intents and purposes, kidnapped my brain and stuffed it into an unmarked white van. Cut me some slack."

"I apologize for the... forceful method of making contact." Well, at least the doppelganger had some manners. "Unfortunately, your skull was much too thick for me to get through to while you dreamt the night prior."

Well never mind that.

"You had me in the first half there, not gonna lie." Luna's tone was dry, and her expression became a deadpan. "But seriously, what's going on? I'm completely in the dark here, pun not intended."

"That is fair enough. You are not your predecessor after all, so you would be confused as to what happened."

"Implying that the old Luna wouldn't be." Go figure it would know that Lunarunn wasn't the old Luna. "...Considering Mom's reaction to my wings, this probably has something to do with the ritual that did away with the Luna that was supposed to be in this body, doesn't it?"

An echoing chuckle suffused the entirety of the void around Luna. It was... a surprisingly pleasant sound. And feeling. "You would be correct. Your predecessor attempted a soul magic ritual. She meant to obtain powers beyond her scope. She succeeded."

Lunarunn winced. "...So that's why her soul got stripped away. Not because the ritual went wrong, but because it went right?"

"Your internal declaration said it all; Soul magic is, as you put it, 'scary'. Almost without reservation, such rituals have a price beyond the initial expectation. The original Lunarunn Bael would sacrifice her soul for power, like a human. So she received it, at the cost of everything that made her, her. Like a human."

The doppelganger's lips curled into a full grin. It was not a pretty one. "Poetic, would you not agree?"

"Yeah, I suppose that would be the case." Luna - and the double - rubbed the back of her head while glancing away. "So where do I come into this story? Because I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to be here? In Luna's body, and in... wherever this place is."

"Indeed." Prismatic eyes slid shut. "In every other instance of this world, Lunarunn Bael would die an ignoble death, wasting away within a hospice as her body lacked a compatible soul to host. She would not contribute to the world in any meaningful way, thus rendering her impact on every other instance null and void."

"So... you're saying you know my secret, then," the bodyjumper hedged, furrowing her brow.

"It would be most disgraceful for me not to, as I was the one to orchestrate your awakening within Lunarunn Bael's form."

"Including my death?" Luna's eyes narrowed, as the doppelganger's reopened.

"I simply took advantage of a soul being bound for another world. Your death at the hands of, as you coin it, 'Truck-Kun', was wholly unrelated."

The brunette sighed, letting her arms drop back to her sides. "I'll take that with a grain of salt, but ultimately what's done is done. So working under the assumption you're some obscenely powerful being who can play with multiple realities on a whim, I've got a couple questions. First, why shove someone else's soul into an empty husk?"

"Were you to believe I simply wished to change the story in an attempt to stave off 'boredom', I would state so. However, I am aware that you expect ulterior motives, of which I will admit to some."

Lunarunn waited for the doppelganger to continue, before she decided to press. "And that would be...?"

"Of the endless instances of this world I perceive, I am curious how an avatar of my power may affect one of them. The power that your predecessor traded her soul and natural demonic abilities for are unique. Though many may come after you, you are among the first to bear my mark, and my blessing. As such you are of particular notice."

"...You're awfully forthcoming about all this."

Luna was sure that her doppelganger would have shrugged were its personal expressions not limited to her face. So instead, the double rolled her eyes, the prismatic lights within doing a dizzying spin. "Unlike most, I have little to hide. There are still things I may yet keep hidden, though I do so only for the sake of safety."

The brunette's face twisted into a scowl. "Then that brings me to my other big question: why the fuck did you shove me into the body of a girl? In case you didn't notice before you did so, I'm a guy, dammit!"

"Curiosity at how a soul such as yours would adapt to living in a different form."

"And you aren't worried how I might take it?"

"Considering that you are adapting remarkably well thus far, it is of no concern."

Luna paused, taking those words into account before finally conceding a sigh. "Okay, I'll admit to that. But what if I wasn't?"

"Then that would be a different story altogether. But you are. Thus questioning about this alternative scenario is pointless unless it becomes a reality."

"...What are you, then? What are you that lets you take me from my own world and shove me into an... an ecchi anime? With the wrong equipment at that?"

"I am you. I am me. I am truth, lies, life, death, reality, illusion, and everything in between. I am a steward of worlds, but a glance away."

"That... that doesn't make sense." Luna shook her head. "Is that a riddle of some sort? Considering the whole 'reflecting' my body thing you're clearly a mirror or something. But I can already tell the rabbit hole goes deeper than that."

"Think of it as a test, one you will need to solve before you are able to grasp my blessing in a greater capacity than you will find yourself able to once you awaken."

A groan. "Uuuugh. I've never been the greatest at puzzles."

The chuckle resounded again. "Then I recommend you brush up. My blessing is potent, but without understanding lacks power."

Was the world turning white? It seemed like the infinite black was lifting. Was she reawakening?

"...Before I go, one more thing. What should I call you?"

"...Hm. I have not thought of that, for I do not normally interact with others. However, in your case... Ulan, should suffice."

"Ulan. I'll remember it. Probably."

"The sentiment is appreciated, but unnecessary. We both know you are terrible at remembering names unless you are slapped in the face with them."

"Heh, heh... uh. I'll try to remember, then?"

"Quite."

The world flashed bright, and then once again Luna's consciousness faded.


"Luna? Luna!" At the panicked cries coming from her mother, Lunarunn blinked, vision returning as she felt herself getting shaken. Thelasta reentered her view, face pale and hands trembling as she viewed her daughter. A smile formed on her face, relief at its most palpable, as she drew back. "Luna, are... are you okay?"

"I mean... I feel okay?" The daughter blinked again, then recognized that there was something wet on her face. And why should she smell iron? Her brow furrowed as her hand rose to the wet sensation.

They came away red.

Luna blinked a couple of times, pursing her lips as she stared at the bloodied fingers. "...Was I leaking blood from my eyes?"

A nod. "Your wings... they did something to you. Your eyes started flashing colors of all sorts, changing rapidly, then you started bleeding. Thank goodness you snapped out of it quickly, I was worried that I would need to knock you out."

"Sorry." She smiled weakly. "...Though, I should probably say. You know Luna's ritual? I think it worked."

"The wings are something of a giveaway." Thelastia exhaled again, bringing her worried heart back to its natural pace as she lifted a hand to it. "But the question is, what is it that happened?"

"A ritual for power of some sort," Luna surmised. "Or for some other forbidden act. Otherwise my wings wouldn't be ethereal-looking like they are now. Unfortunately, in my little... I think it was a vision, I never got the opportunity to determine what those powers are."

Her mother's lips pursed. "I meant more what happened to you. You said you had a vision?"

"Some sort of conversation to a mirror image of myself, at least. It knew quite a lot." The daughter began to wipe away the blood that had started leaking from her eyes for the apparently short duration of her 'visitation', wiping it on the ground. "Could it be some sort of conceptual being? Those sorts of entities do tend to rend souls that demand visitation, from what I know."

"Your guess would be as good as mine, unfortunately." Thelastia sighed, head slowly swiveling to each side. "You are the one who met said 'being', after all."

"Considering it wanted to experiment with how an 'avatar of its blessing' would affect the world, it's likely at the very least."

The mother twitched, the comment clearly having touched a nerve. "...And it couldn't spare my daughter in the process?"

"It was soul magic, that sort of stuff always has nasty costs with it," the reincarnated daughter breathed out. "Whatever the thing was, it found the irony in a Devil sacrificing her soul for power amusing. I don't think it was personal, though."

Thelastia shook her head once more. "That doesn't help much, dear."

"No, but it's still worth noting," Luna pressed, getting back up and letting her instincts flow again. Now that she'd gotten the feel for it, her wings unfurled from her back just shy of naturally. "Since I'm back though and don't seem to be in danger of being caught in another vision, why don't we try to take a look at what Luna gave her soul for? Some exercise might help work out some of your frustration, too."

Silence reigned for a handful of seconds, before it was broken.

"...I'm conflicted that I might take things too far," her mother started, rising to her feet before spreading her own wings. "But if you insist, then we can certainly see what... powers have overshadowed your demonic ones."

The brunette bodyjumper blinked at the almost eager tone in Thelastia's tone, as well as the hidden gleam of sadism within her eye, and swallowed. It sounded like they were jumping right into sparring?

Perhaps she should have worded that better?


As Luna crashed to the ground for the tenth time, wincing as the turf dug into her skin, she determined that she should have, in fact, worded her request to experiment with her powers better. Thelastia seemed to be taking a rather unhealthy level of satisfaction in beating her daughter into the ground. And she seemed to be the meeker of her parents, too!

"Get up, you still haven't manifested anything more than your wings yet," and speak of the Devil...

The daughter rolled back onto her knees, evading an almost casual axe kick that landed within her prior spot. Thelastia tutted. "You're persistent, if nothing else yet. Luna would have called for a stop already."

Lunarunn grit her teeth, ignoring the way her body's insistence to lay down for a while. Still, she dealt with worse pains before. Or maybe her pain tolerance really was just better in this body. It was hard to tell, particularly in this situation.

"I think we already established that I wasn't one for exercise befo-" She cut herself off as Thelastia rushed in with another kick, diving to the side before scrabbling back to her feet, then backing up rapidly as her mother rushed in with rapid jabs.

Her teeth grit further as Luna felt the wall press up against her back, her mother rushing in for another jab. Seeing as she had nowhere else to go, the daughter's eyes narrowed, letting her body act on its own for the next motions.

The fist was met with a slapping palm to push it off-path, the jab going off to one side while Luna struck back, fist lashing out toward her mother, before it was stopped by Thelastia's other hand.

"Good attempt, but your eyes were too focused on where you wanted to hit." A pull, and Luna stumbled forward, said eyes widening as her stomach bloomed in pain. She staggered back, clasping her stomach and groaning as Thelastia lowered her knee. "You have good theoretical knowledge. Using elbows and knees for strength of impact. Evading what you can and deflecting what you can't rather than taking everything head-on. You lack practical experience though, and that can only be learned through hardship."

Her eyes gleamed with approval, before sharpening once more. "Still, your seeming inability to mix your powers into your hand-to-hand leaves much to be desired. If you are unable to do so, then I may have to start breaking bones."

Luna glanced back up, eyes widening again from their pained squint. "You'd put your daughter back in the hospital after she just came out?"

"If it means giving her access to her justly-obtained powers again, yes." The conviction in that voice did not reassure Luna in the slightest. "I'm surprised you don't feel the same way."

"Human spirit, not Devil." That didn't mean she didn't want to access those abilities that Ulan said she'd be able to make use of, Luna was absolutely willing to go to bed sore and bruised to do so, but going to the hospital so quickly over it was just insane!

"Then it becomes all the more important that I do so until you yourself gain that conviction."

'Well fuck.'

Luna's eyes narrowed as she dodged another punch, but she gasped as something folded her to the side and sent her tumbling along the ground. That insistence from her body to lie down was a lot stronger now, but considering that she didn't want to see Sir Pillowkin-kun again any time soon the branch Bael daughter rolled away from her mother's kick.

It wasn't until she cried out and bounced away that she realized that the first one was a feint.

Luna's hands placed themselves against the ground, and she tried rising again.

'O-oh sweet Jesus it hurts... Nngh!'

Funnily enough, the sharp pain that lanced through her mind at the use of that word brought with it a rush of clarity, and even now she could see her mother's foot racing forward.

Finally, her patience was wearing thin. Had already worn thin. Now it was all but gone, and in its place was a burning indignation. She gave Thelastia an inch to work out her frustration, but it seemed more like she was being punished for ending up in Luna's body!

'And who the hell are you to punish me for something that isn't my fault?'

Luna understood that Thelastia had lost her daughter, and even if she was still moving around she would never be the same, so there was obviously pain still there.

But she'd be damned before she rolled over and took this abuse without fighting back!

Did her mother want her to fight back with her powers? Well fine, she'd do just that, because Luna was done with all this.

Release her inner desires, unleash the Id, and guide those desires outward...

Thelastia had done next to nothing but push her around this entire training.

So her desire, at this point in time, was to push Thelastia back, hard.

Her indignation, which had flared up before, now burned within her like an inferno, and like the drawn-forth survival instinct that had given Luna her wings the human-turned-Devil let the gates fly open, sending that burning heat screaming through her body, and out her thrown-upward hand.

From it, the air blurred. Lunarunn could hear a shriek as the distorted winds blasted forth and caught her mother directly in her torso. Clearly Thelastia wasn't expecting such a swift outpouring of power either; her eyes were wide from shock even as she was sent careening through the darkening sky, spittle escaping her mouth as the impact of said winds bludgeoned the air out of her.

Even as her mother was sent flying away, Luna looked down at her hand in wonder. That indignation within her had subsided to a satisfied purr, seeing just how handily the tables were turned.

"Wow. I think that's a home run right there."

"Thelastia!"

And apparently she and her mother had guests right before the daughter had blown her away. Her head turned to notice her dad staring into the air with no small amount of concern at the hammer blow inflicted upon his wife, but at the moment Luna decided his presence was the lesser concern, particularly as his own wings manifested to take off after Thelastia.

The other person was someone else she recognized from the series, as much as she wished it weren't the case. Ornate armor with a cape that covered either side of his body, topped by a head of hair colored the purest crimson that Luna had ever seen.

She swallowed, eyes growing wide as recognition set in.

If there was anyone to call a 'Devil' in its most complete context, this was definitely the person.

"So I assume you're Luna?" Sirzechs Lucifer queried, walking over to give her a hand back up with a charming smile. "It's nice to meet my refurbished cousin."

Right. Insidiously charismatic, very easygoing, and dangerously sly. He probably wanted to make nice with her, to make connections while she's still easy pickings.

Still, much like with Ajuka, Luna could make use of this.

But damn if he didn't have a charismatic presence. She could practically feel the urge to smile and be swept up in his words.

So it was with a specifically deadpan expression on her dirtied face that the bodyjumper took the Crimson Satan's hand and rose back to her feet. "Refurbished, huh? You really know how to make a girl feel special, Lord Lucifer."

The smile on Sirzechs's face widened briefly before turning mischievous. "It's the most accurate description of you that I have. Unless you wish for me to call you something else...?"

"Luna will be just fine, thanks." She shook her head and let out a short huff. "So I take it you came to visit me for similar reasons Ajuka did?"

"Something like that. There aren't many who can get Ajuka's attention the way you've managed to," The Maou's pauldrons lifted in a shrug. "Between your... unique status of being a pureblooded Devil bearing a human soul and your cheek, you've managed to pique his curiosity. So I decided it might be worth giving you a visit to see for myself the reason for that."

His gaze shifted pointedly to the hand which fired the power that sent Thelastia away. "You certainly seem to possess a lot of power for an untrained Devil just out of the hospital. Actually, it's rather impressive."

Luna glanced away at the genuine tone he spoke with. "Too bad it took me getting kicked around by my mom for half an hour before I managed to actually do that."

"Ah, don't sell yourself short, Lunarunn!" He took a step closer and patted her shoulder, something that caused her to tense up briefly. "Most Devils in your shoes would be near unconscious from exhaustion after that kind of attack. Yet you just look like you got, as you put it, kicked around for half an hour. Certainly battered, but do you feel even the slightest bit tired?"

Blinking at that, the brunette glanced down, lifting a finger to her chin before blinking again. "Huh. Now that you mention it, I do only feel winded. Like I hadn't used my powers at all." She scowled, wiping away some blood that had started leaking from her nose. "Still took an awfully long time though."

And a lot of sore pain, as well as a headache for whatever reason. But she wouldn't bitch to one of the most influential players in the entire series about that.

"Well, the threat to one's well-being does have a funny way of encouraging us to fight back against it in some way." Sirzechs looked up into the air with a puzzled expression, lifting an arm to scratch his head. "So what broke the camel's back for you?"

"Mom threatened to send me back to the hospital if it meant that I'd be able to unlock the powers that the old Luna lost her soul for," Lunarunn replied idly before her head snapped back up in realization. "Hang on, small talk aside, you said you came to visit me because Ajuka was interested in me. Aren't Satans a bit too busy for social calls like this?"

She left the question in the air for a moment, then spoke again with slightly narrowed eyes just as Sirzechs seemed about to reply. "Unless there's another reason behind it, that is."

The Crimson Satan's mouth, which had just slightly opened, closed shut again. As did his eyes, as his head bowed forward, chest rumbling in a chuckle. Once that subsided, his head rose and his eyes opened to meet Luna's gaze once more before finally getting his reply in. "Hah. Ajuka said you were sharp. Fair enough, meeting you's only part of the reason I came here. Do you know about Reincarnated Devils yet?"

"Yeah, Mom and I went over Reincarnated Devils briefly during my lessons on how to summon my demonic powers. I also did some reading on the Evil Piece system, so I know about Peerages and Strays and whatnot."

Technically that was true, but Luna didn't necessarily learn that in this world.

"I take it your visit has something to do with my... special condition, as well?"

"I suppose that would be the gist of it, yes." Sirzechs peered down at the brunette. "I'll keep this simple. You're a special case in a system that's revolutionized our society. For scientists like Ajuka, you're something to study. For politicians, you're someone who may make waves just by existing. And for PR specialists, you're a minor celebrity in the making. Not everyone is a 'natural Reincarnated Devil' after all, so you'll find that your life may become very noisy, very soon."

Lunarunn froze, a shiver running down her spine.

My quiet life... my quiet life outside of messing with canon...

"...Are you here in the mantle of the politician, or the PR specialist?"

The Devil himself smiled brilliantly, even as the brunette felt a fear worse than her encounter with Truck-kun set in deep within her bones, causing her knees to shake and her legs to grow weak.

"Whoever said it had to be one or the other?"

Lunarunn's legs gave out and she collapsed to her knees, staring at the ground in muted horror.

'...Noooooooooooo...!'


A/N:

Whew. Lot of ground covered here, and a some more to cover in the A/N.

Chapter TL;DR - Luna's brain gets shoved into a white van by the entity that stole the old Luna's soul for a nice chat, her mom decides that since Luna was showing such progress she should help her daughter take the next step. Even if that next step meant having to go back to the hospital. Luna takes exception to that, and proceeds to score a home run in Devil baseball using her mom as the ball, after which she meets with the devil himself, who proceeds to psychologically torture her with the realization that her desired 'quiet life' is just an illusion because of her method of isekai.

I do realize 'avatar of a superpowerful being' is something of an overused trope in the DxD-verse, especially since Sacred Gears are... more or less just that. Particularly the Longinus. However, I'll be doing my best to put a twist on that as well. I can tell you for certain that Luna's not going to be a Jinchuuriki, especially in that she'll just flatten everything in her way. Where's the fun in that? Her abilities (as I have them currently plotted out) will have a major kick behind them, but compared to someone like Sirzechs Luna's will be far more complex. Her abilities will be far more technical, more like the Kankara Formula than Ruin the Extinct. The costs to using them will be different much the same way.

I don't think I need to say that the 'blast of force' that Luna used on Thelastia is just the tip of the iceberg, but I'll leave it said anyway.

Let me know what you think with a review! I can always use some feedback.

Anyway, it's late now, and I need to sleep before work. I've already stayed up way too long, lol.

Tempura Wizard signing off.