NMHA Ch. 33 - Interludio


(One week post-Meltdown)

Prismatic eyes stared out at the world she resided in, and the faint line of light that stood against the horizon, a star closer than the rest providing light, though it was locked in an endless dawn.

Yet the star remained there. It was golden, it was warm, and even now the being could feel the way it warmed her bones, and shone across the ground just beginning to show signs of life.

It wasn't much, but the greatest monuments were never built in a day.

Ulan sat down, conjuring a seat for herself to gaze upon the slowly burgeoning landscape.

The transparent platform above the abyss was gone, instead replaced with a rocky soil that even now Ulan could almost feel softening. Bit by bit, little by little, this world was becoming suitable for life.

The conceptual being sighed. Luna could hardly have gotten luckier, even if she did not know it yet, for the support that she had been able to find herself.

Even now, deep inside, Ulan could feel a pang of jealousy for Luna, as the conceptual being gazed unto the dawn. He almost reminded her of him in a way, after all, so how could she not?

She waved the jealousy away. Those feelings had long since become irrelevant. All that mattered now was to watch and observe, and advise if need be.

Especially now, she knew she still had so much more to learn.

There had been no way to know that Luna could wrest control of their bond, and go so far as to hijack a significant portion of her power for a time, if inadvertently.

But at the same time, she had a good feeling that she knew how.

And the very thought chilled her to the bone.

Had it sensed her bond to Luna and capitalized?

That was the only explanation.

But how could it have known how to do so?

How could it have recognized the opportunity?

How did it still remember, after all this time?

After everything that had happened?

She had long since thought herself above worldly attachments and baser pleasures like those associated with the body.

But right now, her dearest friend would have to forgive her for indulging in something very fruity, and very strong.

He was always the more virtuous between them.

The burning sweetness of an old favorite drink slid down her throat.

Even now, beneath this ground, she could feel its presence. A taint, left behind by it when it realized that Ruval was going to free Luna despite its attempts to stymie him and Masaomi, etched into the very fiber of Luna's being.

She would never be free of it, not until...

Ulan swallowed, not finishing the thought.

To think, it was intelligent enough to leave behind a mark.

The worst part was, she was incapable of wiping it away.

It was a physical, a mental, and a spiritual thing, whereas she could only affect the spiritual.

Her fists clenched.

It reminded her of... those.

It should have been impossible.

Then again, given what she and Luna represented, 'impossible' was merely 'improbable'.

The fact still caused a weight to settle at the bottom of her stomach.

She thought that she'd be able to get away with letting Luna live her second life lazily if she so chose.

But after everything that happened, with the emergence of it, Ulan realized that was no longer an option.

She sighed, tossing the glass away with an almost animalistic scowl, rising from her seat to stare out at the landscape and begin walking.

"I never expected you to be such a trouble magnet, yet here we are." she said aloud, knowing nobody would hear her. The bond had yet to reopen after all.

Though, couldn't her words be said for any sort of power?

She supposed that Worldweave was no different than a Sacred Gear in that regard.

But if there was one thing she knew, it was that trouble came to all Sacred Gear users, whether they liked it or not.

Power attracted power, after all.

"You never did have a chance to live peacefully," she murmured as she walked to the pool that represented their bond. As it stood, it was cracked, the well of potential leaking away back to the aether, and thus to her. "I thought that perhaps by keeping our bond dormant, none would be the wiser, and you would be able to enjoy the life lost to you."

Prismatic eyes closed. "I am sorry, Luna. I was a fool, thinking us both above the rest."

Where did that arrogance come from? Endless years of solitude?

Perhaps. But she knew better now.

Her hand lifted to the well, and began repairing the damage done to their bond.

'It is active, more active than I had thought it would be. More active, more intelligent... and far, far more dangerous.'

That meant nothing good.

She'd have to step up their game.

She just hoped Luna would forgive her for taking the choice out of her hands.

The Worldweaver didn't realize the true extent of the threat that taint, now a part of her being, represented.

For her sake, Ulan would refrain from telling her until she was ready to bear the burden said knowledge would give.

Thankfully, she truly hadn't lied to Luna yet. Nor did the conceptual being plan to.

She just hoped that Luna would continue to have the patience to keep faith in her.

"Dearest friend... what would you do in this situation?" she murmured, closing her eyes again as more memories arose, this time of a happier place.

She'd let herself return to those times until the bridge between her and her conduit came back together.

Ulan wasn't sure when she'd be able to enjoy such peace again, after all.


(One month post-Meltdown)

Diodora stared resolutely at the three faces staring back, unflinching beneath the pressure of their combined presence.

One angry. Arrogant.

One calculating, scrutinizing.

One guarded, but thoughtful.

One gleeful, far too gleeful given the circumstances.

The last one came from the one who'd brought him here in the first place.

"Ooh, we're all gonna be such great friends!"

As Diodora turned his gaze from the three leaders of the True Satan Faction to the silver-haired man who had stepped between him and the three True Children, his expression was in a scowl. "Why did you bring me here?"

The gleeful expression fell away to a nonchalant shrug. "Because as much as our ideals may differ, we have a common enemy. The current regime, as it stands, is a far greater threat."

"And why should we just accept this whelp, when you appear with him in tow and say he's now part of the leadership structure here?" the arrogant one sneered. Creuserey, if Diodora remembered correctly.

"Because I said so." The teal-haired Devil was taken aback, that the one who brought him to this place would say such a thing in front of these three titans. He could feel their power pressing into him, and each was well into Ultimate-Class in their own right. The fact that the silver-haired one said it in such a bored tone suggested that he couldn't be damned to care about what those three thought.

And Diodora knew these three. He knew them like anyone who was aware of the Civil War knew them.

'Just who have I garnered the attention of?'

"Then please allow me to elaborate." That one was from the other male. Shalba, he was sure. "I understand you are something of a whimsical leader on the surface, but your actions always have meaning. We are... struggling to understand why you wish us to accept this... descendant of Astaroth as our peer, rather than as a subordinate."

"Well, why don't you figure it out for yourself? Why would I bring a mediocre High-Class Devil to the table, someone whose achievements are lackluster, especially considering that he has no apparent talent or skill to make him stand out in any meaningful fashion?"

The way his 'patron' listed off his mediocrity rubbed Diodora the wrong way, but he held his tongue. One wrong move here would see his mission of vengeance dead on the spot, he just knew it.

Finally, the third spoke, the only female in the room, holding a finger to her chin in thought before answering. Katerea.

"Because he has some sort of talent or skill worth cultivating despite his current mediocrity?"

"Bingo!" Two fingers snapped and pointed the female's way. "Glad to see someone actually thinking instead of feeding their shallow egos!"

She looked away with a flush. "You flatter me, milord."

The teal-haired heir got a sneer from Creuserey, as though he were the reason why he'd been insulted.

Diodora stared neutrally back.

'As if. You brought it on yourself.'

"But yes. Little Dio here-" as one arm wrapped around the heir's shoulder, the silver-haired 'leader' leaned down like a parent showing their child off to their friends. Diodora scowled at him in turn, but didn't try to push him off.

He knew his place in the hierarchy. Especially given the circumstances.

"Well, Little Dio has a surprising affinity for mentalism. It's actually incredibly impressive just how close he comes to what we were looking for!"

"Oh?" That got Shalba peering at him, a glint entering his eye. "Fascinating. And how did you find him?"

"Crying himself half to death over the corpse of his dead fiancee~"

The absolute bluntness and cheerfulness with which his patron said it prompted Diodora to actually snarl as he bodily threw the hazel-eyed man off of him in a judo throw.

Creuserey stood sharply, but was stopped by the amused laugh of the very person Diodora had thrown, landing on his feet. As though nothing had happened.

"Ahahaha, I suppose that was warranted." Indeed, those brown orbs appeared hardly offended by Diodora's actions in the slightest. "Settle down, Creuserey, the guy just lost everything he was previously working for. You'd probably be much the same yourself in his shoes."

Diodora got another distasteful sneer, but the child of the original Asmodeus obliged, sitting back in his seat.

"At least I wouldn't be so weak as to lose such things in the first place."

'What a pleasant individual.'

The teal-haired Devil put on a pleasant, saccharine smile for said individual.

"Oh, my apologies, Lord Asmodeus. But please, allow me to ask: who the fuck asked for your input on what I've lost?"

Shalba and Katerea stared at him with widened eyes, but for the third observer...

He just started cackling, hooting with mirth to the point that he'd doubled over.

The three True Children pointedly ignored the laughter.

Creuserey looked at him as though he'd grown a second head.

Diodora recognized that his temper was probably getting the better of him at the moment, but, well. He couldn't exactly show weakness here, especially not before these three.

Plus Asmodeus insulted him, and by proxy, her.

He wouldn't just let that stand.

'What was the saying again? In for a penny, in for a pound?'

"I am - supposedly - going to be working with you, and if we are going to act in lockstep then you better well know that I won't let anyone get in my way, least of all a petty and bitter exile clinging to remnants of a past long dead."

That didn't sit well with Shalba, whose visible eye narrowed faintly, nor Katerea whose fingers tightened around the wineglass in her grip.

The third, however? If Asmodeus's child were a Phenex, the expression on his face suggested his hair would be smouldering.

"Get in your way?" he echoed, voice a low hiss as the table started to shake, and Diodora's legs found themselves weakening under the increasing pressure of the room. "Get in your way? You talk big for a sniveling imp. But for your sake, you best bite your tongue, lest I decide to remove it."

Even if he had to bite the inside of his cheek hard enough to draw blood in order to remain upright, the pressure now crashing down on him to the point where it hurt to breathe, Diodora stood firm.

"I might not be up to your 'standards' now, nor might I ever be on equal terms to you in your eyes," he spoke back, as evenly as he could with lungs slowly compressing in on themselves. "But mark my words when I say that I won't let anyone stop me from bringing the ones who destroyed everything I hold dear to their knees."

"You are one to talk about a past since dead, considering your own motivations," Katerea mused offhandedly, though Diodora had caught a roll of her eyes at Crereusey's resorting to force so soon. "But I, for one, am willing to extend you the benefit of the doubt. If Lord Lucifer believes you have potential, then I will support his decision to include you in the True Satan Faction's leadership."

'What?!'

The teal-haired Devil froze, that one word causing him to stop cold.

"...Lucifer...?" His gaze shifted over to the suddenly slumping-over patron of his.

"Ahhhhh, Katereaaaaa, I was hoping to keep my name on the down-low for a little while! Spoils the fun to just go 'bwa ha ha, I am the son of the first original demon, bow before me' right off the bat, y'know?"

She ducked her head. "My apologies, milord."

"Eh, whatever." The silver-haired man's pout disappeared instantly, replaced with a general geniality. "Guess that just means I need to make my grand introduction a little earlier than I thought I'd be able to."

'Grand introduction? What does he-'

Then, nothing.

There was no sound.

There were no words.

No thoughts.

No world.

Nothing at all.

Simply the one he was moving to kneel for even now.

Where before he'd been slowly suffocating and crumbling under the pressure Creuserey was releasing, now his mind froze altogether, all four bodies in the room moving as one to supplicate themselves before the son of Lucifer himself.

Unlike the pressure Diodora had previously experienced, even from Zekram himself, this one was no pressure to submit, but a raw, overwhelming need. A need to bow, a need to supplicate, a need to obey the Prince of All Devils, and a raw thrill that pierced to his core at the very thought.

"Now, since you already know my surname," the Devil above Devils said airily, six pairs of pure white, batlike wings extending from his back. "It only stands to show that you learn my full name, young Astaroth."

Those wings flexed, and even though the table was blown away from the raw force, the Devils in the room had eyes only for those cheerful hazel eyes as he walked to the remaining throne-like seat and sat down, one hand resting on his cheek as his wings curled in around him.

For a moment, Diodora managed to gather the wits to glance to each side of him, but even that was a herculean effort in its own right to turn away from the inexorable pull of the silver-haired Devil.

Crereusey was trembling, perhaps wordlessly expressing his strength in futility. Or perhaps he despised being subjugated so thoroughly that even now he was trying to resist.

Shalba was still, head low and eyes closed, the consummate servant.

Katarea was shivering, cheeks flushed and eyes alight with a heated adulation.

For some reason, that sent a pulse of rage through him. Not toward the hazel-eyed being who drew said adoration, but toward that adulation itself.

Then the moment of resistance was gone, and his eyes and focus were returned to the Devil before them that commanded their absolute obedience.

"My name is Rizevim Livan Lucifer, the son of the Prince of Demons, the Prince of Devils, and the one who seeks to make this world into a more... satisfactory place. Do not forget it."

He wouldn't.

He couldn't.

Diodora distantly recognized the words imprinting themselves in his mind, that single command bypassing any form of mentalist defenses he had erected as though they were not even there.

Without even trying.

Rizevim Livan Lucifer.

There was little wonder that he paid no heed to the posturing of the True Children. Diodora immediately recognized that Rizevim was transcendent.

He was beyond any of them.

Perhaps even all who shared his race.


(One year post-Meltdown)

Ruval Phenex's gaze cut cleanly across the gap between him and his final foe before his retirement from the Ratings Games. Though they were separated by a large distance, each King on a separate platform to ensure their distance upon entering the Bounded Field selected for their match, they could meet each other's gazes all the same.

Even now, he could see Diehauser sizing him up, brow scrunched as his gaze flicked from peerage member to peerage member, as though analyzing their likely strengths and weaknesses at a glance.

He was pretty sure that was exactly the case, actually.

The crowd was already going wild, cheers sounding out only driven onward by the announcer as he continued to whip them into a frenzy over the match about to unfold.

Not that it was difficult, given the circumstances.

After Ruval had announced his retirement to focus on taking up the mantle of Lord Phenex, Devils were anxious to see his last fights, to see the sort of show he would put up.

And for perhaps the first time in his career, he put effort into giving them a show.

Without once spreading his wings.

Perhaps it was vanity, but he had deigned to remain on the ground until this final fight, even if it meant a more difficult fight.

Yet still, the Phenex had won.

And won.

And won.

He could still remember Tannin's ecstatic laughter as firebird and fire dragon met in a clash of might and martial prowess, emerging bruised but victorious against a Reincarnated Devil whose entire species was one representing strength.

He could still remember the flabbergasted expression on Roygun Belphegor's face as he struck her out of the sky with the force of a meteor, bringing her low without taking to the air.

He could still remember the impotent rage on Bedeze Abbadon's face when he burned the Bounded Field itself, made it into a fiery pit that both continuously sapped Bedeze's strength and added to his own. That had perhaps been his most difficult fight, yet he finished it all the same despite the limitations he'd imposed on himself.

And so it had come to this.

Diehauser Belial. The Rating Games Emperor.

Wielder of Worthless.

The greatest among the Ten.

'You will get to keep that title.'

But Ruval had every intention of claiming it, if only for a mere minute.

His gaze shifted to the VIP box, where he could see four figures.

The cheering Serafall, waving a flag with the image of fried chicken on it, propping up a young Sona who was doing the same.

The calculating gaze of Ajuka, assessing him like one of his little projects.

Even Falbium, who seemed particularly intent on watching him ever since his announcement. He'd been more active as of late, though Ruval wondered if he was trying to regain lost ground since the disbanding of the Forgotten Front Party.

From what Luna had said, he'd been the primary organizer, after all.

Finally, there was him.

Sirzechs Lucifer, the one who had inadvertently put all this into motion, the silver-haired maid that so happened to be Sirzechs's wife dutifully by his side.

His own expression was unreadable.

Ruval narrowed his own faintly, before turning to face his Queen, prompted by said Queen's polite cough.

"Are you ready to begin, sir?"

He nodded, eliciting one from the butler by his side as his head shifted to the other members of his Peerage.

"Thank you all for standing with me until now," the blond lifted a hand to gesture to each of them. "I know I have pushed you all hard this past year. You bled, you sweated, you cried, yet here we stand, at the very top of the games, facing off against the Rating Games Emperor himself. I could not have done it without you all, and for that you have my heartfelt gratitude."

He slipped that hand into a pocket. "I will not waste my breath on platitudes. Our next opponent will be our strongest yet. I do not expect us to emerge unscathed, but I do expect each of you to fight to the greatest of your capability. Do that, and I will be satisfied regardless of your victory or defeat."

Ruval breathed in, feeling the mana flowing within him, within each of his Peerage members. "Today we face not just a King, but an Emperor."

He exhaled, holding out his other hand in a fist. "So let us teach this Emperor why he should always keep his eyes to the sky, lest he lose them to the Phenex's talons!"

The shouts of agreement from his Peerage, namely from John and his Rooks, had the Pillar heir giving them all an earnest smile.

After he took the crown, he'd take his family's reins.

From there?

Well.

There was plenty for the head of a family to reach for, if they had the ambition to push beyond their own house.


(Two years post-Meltdown)

"Walk with me."

How does one ignore the request of an angel when you're an exorcist?

That's the thing. You don't.

Masaomi simply nodded, joining the side of the one who uttered those words, turning his attention away from the bishops that had been... questioning him in favor of the one who had asked them for his time and sentencing.

A question that could only be answered with a 'yes' from the bishops.

How does one ignore the request of an angel when you're a bishop?

That's the thing. You don't.

"You seem to be causing quite a stir with some of your recent decisions in the field," said archangel commented. Seeing as it was his turn to speak, the black-haired man wet his mouth and cleared his throat.

He would have to be forgiven for his slowness. He'd heard legends of this particular individual's beauty, but even so they failed to even capture a portion of the genuine article. Especially since her robes utterly failed to conceal the curves she possessed.

That in addition to what she represented had led to a very brief moment of panic, as well as a not-so-brief feeling of discomfort that remained even still.

"S-so it would seem, Archangel Gabriel."

Gabriel tilted her head faintly, turning it slightly to the black-haired exorcist in the process before letting out a soft giggle, the sound melodic and earnest. "Be not afraid; I come bearing no ill will toward you nor your future."

Indeed, her presence was very limited. In fact, all that seemed to change in the air around him was a faint lightening, as though her presence helped lift some stress off his shoulders.

Serene, that was the word. She practically radiated serenity, but at a level that one would have to be feeling it out to recognize.

That did relieve him of some stress, but even so the exorcist was not entirely at ease.

'Erm. In more ways than one.'

"What about Him?"

"I would not be down here to speak with you like this, pulling you away from a court-martial at that, if He did not approve."

At the reminder, Masaomi looked back at the chamber that he and Gabriel had left, pulling a face.

"Then I presume that He does not approve of my being court-martialed?"

"I would not say that..." she trailed off, before lifting a slim finger to enact a privacy barrier around them as the two walked into the foyer. Bodies around them shifted, not even realizing their presence as they passed through. "Simply that in your case, this particular chain of events requires a more direct touch."

The black-haired man frowned, shooting a glance at the archangel askance. "How much do you know about the circumstances surrounding my arrest?"

"I saw the reports. That you defended a Devil against humans." The Strongest Woman in Heaven cast a side-eyed look Masaomi's way. "You are aware of how antithetical that is to the Church's teachings, right? You're lucky not to have been executed on the spot."

At the very least, her look was more inquisitive, as opposed to reproachful. It was certainly better than what Masaomi had received from his peers, who had all but thought him guilty of treason. "...Permission to speak freely, Archangel?"

She nodded, and so the exorcist did just that. "The Church left out several circumstances regarding the situation that affected the decisions I made in the deployment to Germany."

"You're suggesting that the context is important?"

"If there's anything I've learned, it's that the world isn't nearly so black and white as the Church makes it out to be. It's just easier to say it is, and teach your child soldiers that following orders is more important than anything else."

"You're not defending yourself well here, Exorcist Yaegeki."

He tilted his head up. "You are here to get to the truth of the matter of my court-martial, are you not? Please forgive me if I also bring up some of the less glamorous parts of the Church in the process. Like I said, context is important."

For a long moment, Masaomi did worry that he'd overstepped, but then Gabriel let out a quiet 'tsk' and nodded. "Then continue."

The exorcist obliged. "The humans in question were worshipers in the local parish. They'd caught word that one of the families in town was a Devil and a human... and their child."

"Adopted, or...?"

"Cambion. He has his mother's eyes, but I also sensed demonic energy from him."

Gabriel lifted a hand to her cheek, a furrowed brow proving the thoughts currently going through her mind. "I believe I see where this is going. Once the Devil received word that a mob had formed or that exorcists had arrived on the scene, they fled, leaving the human and Cambion child to suffer the wrath of the mob. Were they still approaching or had they already reached the house?"

"By the time I had arrived, the mob had already dragged the mother and child out and set the house on fire," the black-haired man clarified, nose flaring up at the memory. "It was going to be a bona fide lynching; I was under the impression they had learned enough from Kristallnacht and the events that followed to know better."

The archangel's eyes slid shut as she lifted her face to the sky as they stepped out of shade into sunlight. "Was it truly that brutal?"

Masaomi grit his teeth. "The mother and child were both badly bruised, bodies littered with bruises both new and old. And when I say old, I mean at least a week prior. They were victims of that Devil; he most likely threatened to kill them if they tried ratting him out. I was surprised when that didn't actually happen before the Devil fled. They were battered before, and were still being hit and kicked when I came upon the mob."

"What happened next?"

"I couldn't simply sit by when a woman and her child were being dragged out of their homes and bludgeoned to death. So I acted to disperse the crowd around them. I ended up having to use my gun to do so. I attempted to settle matters without violence, hand-to-hand when that fell through, then aimed for nonlethal, minimal-injury locations when unarmed combat failed. When I was confronted by other Exorcists after rushing the mother and child to a hospital out of town, I accepted arrest willingly."

"She consorted with a Devil and had a child with said Devil."

"Said child tried to shield her with his own body despite barely breaking into his teens and even worse off than she was," he countered, voice starting to rise despite his best efforts to remain collected. "Any comments about the Devil who helped conceive him aside, it was clear that the child and his mother were victims, and I refuse to believe that my job as a soldier of God is to stand by and allow innocent people to suffer!"

Gabriel didn't answer for a good fifteen seconds, walking with her face to the sky and eyes shut. Yet still, she was able to duck beneath a low-hanging tree branch as they stepped out into the gardens.

"And what if it is?"

The blonde's voice had turned cold, callous, and harsh, a vast difference compared to the soft and melodic tones from before.

"Then I will resign and walk away this instant," Masaomi grabbed the lapel of his cloak harshly. "I might be just Nineveh Division, but I know I'm in the top percentile of holy sword affinities in the entire Exorcist corps. I realize that it's a blessing from Him. That doesn't mean I won't walk away from His army if I need to. I refuse to fight for a God who would make his soldiers abet such atrocities."

Gabriel opened her eyes to stare at him, gaze sharp and wary. "You would go against the will of Heaven itself?"

That sent a shiver down his spine.

Yet he wasn't uncomfortable anymore.

"No." The black-haired man tugged his cloak slightly down, the hand on the lapel clenched tight. "I would go against the will of those who claim to represent the will of Heaven itself."

She turned to face the exorcist fully now, lifting a hand to her breast above her heart. "You say this to the face of an Archangel."

"I do." Masaomi squared his shoulders, and met her eyes resolutely. "That is the strength of my conviction."

"And you would say that you know Heaven better than one who presides over it?"

"With all due respect, Archangel Gabriel, these days I believe that the Heaven the Church represents and the Heaven of the God I have faith in, whose name and ideals I swore to fight for, are not one and the same."

Their gazes remained firmly locked on one another, neither budging for several long moments.

Finally, the archangel let out a long sigh, the cold exterior fading away as her head bowed downward, in a slow, accepting nod.

"Then as a representative of the Church I accept your resignation, Exorcist Yaegeki. Exorcist Shidou will be informed of your departure from the Corps."

His eyes widened, then narrowed in a sharp scowl as he tore his robes off, preparing to throw them toward the Archangel that had proved his doubts regarding the Church true.

"However, as a representative of Heaven, Masaomi, I beseech you to hear me out."

That stopped him in his tracks, clutching the bundle of his previous affiliation in his hands like a large ball, just shy of winding up to push it away from himself.

"What?" he said, uncomprehending of what she just said.

"If you are no longer an Exorcist of the Church, then that would make you unemployed." Gabriel tilted her head back up at him and smiled. "Of course, now that you are, I may have a... job offer for you."

She pursed her lips, squinting down toward the ground at her side in thought. "That... is how it goes, right?"


(Five years post-Meltdown)

Luna watched the world go by with a satisfied hum, nursing a sugary drink as her eyes traced the passing glades.

Normally she wasn't the kind of individual who liked nature, preferring to read a book or do something else indoors.

But when she was able to drink in the idyllic English countryside, Luna was of the opinion that this was no typical matter.

Her gaze slid across to the ravenette on the other side of the train, whose ruby eyes were trained downward at papers. Bills, the brunette knew.

Luna felt a little guilty leveraging both Jaspal's business acumen and her own knowledge of the future to come in order to put significant investments into, but she had big plans.

Plans that would require capital.

And Jaspal was the sort of person who would go crazy if she didn't have anything to work on, so the brunette certainly would give her work.

Considering her assets in the Underworld were already gone, all she had were the clothes on her back and the stuff she saved in the Dimensional Gap, most of it the kind of knick knacks and magical curio that wouldn't fly if she tried selling it in the human world.

Thankfully the Valac had managed to abscond with a relative bounty.

It wouldn't have lasted sitting around, but it made for a significant investment into small startups that very soon would become very, very big.

"Are we there yet, nya?"

The brunette turned to the lounging Nekoshou, and felt her eye twitch even as they locked onto her Bishop. She'd known that Kuroka would become a looker as she entered adulthood, but there had to be a limit to how much one's chest could grow over five years. Right?

Or were Nekoshou as a whole a species with a 'glow-up' phase?

Either way, by this point the only difference between her canon appearance and the one she chose now was a slight softness to her eyes that represented a touch more youthfulness.

Then there was the matter of how she seemed to almost lock into a teen in terms of mentality. Straight down to the impatience.

'Also rather close to canon, for that matter.'

"London should be about another half-hour away," Luna replied to Kuroka's question for the fifth time, returning to the window to stare outward again. "Believe me, I'm itching to get off this train too."

Kuroka let out a low groan at that, flopping over in the two seats she was laid out across. "And why didn't we just teleport like any reasonable person would?"

"Well for one, one of the biggest Mage Associations around is situated in London," the Worldweaver offered. "And I dunno about you, but I'm not sure how kindly I'd take to strangers warping onto my turf without warning. I'd rather not offend them right off the bat since we're looking to start dialogue anyway."

"The question is, how accurate is the information the Grauzauberer provided us?" Ruby eyes flicked upward. "We can at least assume the name and general practices of the Golden Dawn, but considering that the two are separate associations we should take anything more with a grain of salt."

"I'm not sure what they would get out of misleading us," Luna mused, holding a hand to her chin. "We haven't done anything to provoke the Grauzauberer, and as far as I'm aware they're unaffiliated with the Underworld beyond the current chairman's prior faction. And the guy holds no love for the Underworld of today, either."

"You are unusually trusting of him, given what he is and your stance toward our kind," Jaspal dryly pointed out, a bemused smirk crossing her face for a brief moment.

"Combination of future visions and a read of his character. Considering we share the same view in our stance toward Devils, I'm giving Mephisto the benefit of the doubt."

"Let's hope this time that doesn't wind up with us getting jumped by Stray Exorcists like it did in the Alps," Kuroka drolled.

"That was three years ago, lay off!" The brunette turned away with a pout. "Geez, make one little mistake on where to try out drinking and you never live it down..."

At least it confirmed that she was never going to be someone to drink alcohol.

"Relax, we're just giving you a hard time." Jaspal gave a small chuckle. "Aside from that... particular mishap, you have yet to lead us wrong."

"Well, it's not just myself that I gotta look after these days, y'know? I know that you two are more than self-sufficient, but even so."

"Well I for one greatly appreciate being coddled, nya!" As if to prove her point, Kuroka got up, waltzed over to the other side of the aisle, and unceremoniously planted her face in Luna's lap. From the folds of her skirt, she heard the Nekoshou's muffled words. "Headpats. Gimme."

"It's not coddling; I spoil you," Luna harrumphed, lifting a hand to gently stroke through Kuroka's hair, whose tail curled up blissfully. "It's like coddling, but with fundamental differences."

"Dragging the heiress to a long-established Underworld family in a journey across the world, all the while working us both to the bone. Hm, yes, that certainly does sound like the definition of a King spoiling her Peerage."

At Jaspal's lidded smirk, Luna jabbed a finger at her with a tongue stuck out. "Hey, you both asked to be worked to the bone to improve your ability to fight, I'm just providing what you want."

"Yes, well, after what happened five years ago, can you blame me?"

Immediately the former Valac recognized what she said, and cringed.

The good cheer in the room evaporated as if it had never been there, save for the slow tail-waving from the Nekoshou elicited by Luna's headpats.

"Not at all," the brunette agreed, voice low as her eyes shifted down to the young woman who was using her as a lap pillow. "I think that was a pretty brutal wake-up call for all of us."

"...She's been in that coma for all this time." Kuroka lifted her head from its place, turning it to the side before resting it again. "When will she wake up too?"

"Soon." Luna swallowed. "I... hope. That's why we're going to the Golden Dawn, after all. Maybe they'll know something about the kind of curse Shirone's been under."

That's why they went to the Graubauzerer, after all. Luna knew that Mephisto was someone with no qualms with helping an exile if he thought it fitting, and after doing a few favors to get into his good graces the Extra Devil had agreed to help how he could with Shirone.

Which was unfortunately little, as it happened.

She could feel Kuroka's throat work in a swallow, probably thinking along the same lines as her.

"I'll never forgive you if she never wakes up."

The Worldweaver stared back out of the window, ignoring the chill that coiled around her heart at those words as best she could.

"I know."


(Six years post-Meltdown)

Rias Gremory was many things, even at the age of ten years old.

She was smart, she was popular, she was gifted, she was rich, and she was creative.

But one thing she wasn't, was experienced.

So when she saw the emaciated form of that girl in the bed, she turned to her brother's friend, swallowing as she lifted a finger to the bed.

"Is... is that who you wanted me to see?"

"Mh." Serafall Leviathan nodded her head slowly. "You wanted to learn about potential Peerage members, right? She might not look the part right now, but she's really strong."

As the redheaded Devil peered at the comatose youkai, a doubtful frown formed on her face. "Really? She's so... small."

"She's been unconscious for a long time," the twintailed Maou replied. "Her muscles have been degrading over time, and her body hasn't had the opportunity to grow like it should."

"How long?"

"Six years, give or take."

"Six..." Rias turned to Serafall again, eyes wide. "Does she have the Sleeping Sickness?"

"No. She's under a curse, and a strong one too. Nobody's figured out how to break it though."

"Then... why bring me here, if nobody knows how to wake her up?"

"Perhaps what she needs is someone like you." The Leviathan Maou clutched her hands to her heart, swaying in place. "The innocent efforts of a young girl, to save her from the evil curse! Ah, it'd be just like a fairy tale~!"

The young Gremory giggled at the show Serafall was putting on before stepping over to the door, the lone entry into the enclosed room. "Okay, okay, I'll try talking to her."

As she entered the room, however, Rias's cheer faded away.

The air felt still.

Nothing moved, except the ebbs and crests of both her chest and that of the white-haired girl in the bed.

Only the sound of a machine tracking the girl's heartbeat, beeping slowly, broke the deafening silence.

Rias shivered.

She could certainly feel something with her mana sense, but it was gross and icky, and she elected to take a nice long shower once she got back home.

To think that this poor girl was suffering in this lifeless place alone.

The young Gremory stepped forward, one hand up to her chest as she wondered how to start.

She then stuck out another hand to gently shake her. "Hello?"

Nothing.

Then she tried sticking it out, beaming and speaking. "It is a pleasure to speak with you! My name is Rias, of the Gremory family. What might yours be?"

...Still nothing.

The hand lowered, and she leaned in, peering over at the unconscious face she'd spoken to.

Was the white-haired girl cringing ever so slightly?

She was sure that if she was friendly, they'd easily be friends. Everyone wanted to be friends with her, even that big-headed jerk Riser.

Then again, this girl had been sleeping for years now, hadn't she?

That meant the white-haired girl wouldn't wake up at the drop of a hat.

She put a finger to her chin like her mother always did when concentrating, letting out a half-grunt half-hum as she wondered how one might wake up a cursed girl.

Well, there were those fairy tales that humans had about true love's kiss...

She much more saw herself as the princess in those scenarios though, waiting for a dashing knight to sweep her off her feet.

Rias could imagine it now-

'Ah, focus! You wanted to try and get your first Peerage member, right?'

She shook her head, clearing her mind of those thoughts that threatened to send her daydreaming.

Well, what happened with the curses in those stories?

They were broken somehow, right? By something happening to be related to the curse?

What if she tried figuring out the curse itself?

That might work.

With that she stepped back outside. "Do you know how she fell asleep, Ms. Serafall?"

Serafall blinked, then nodded. "She was learning how to actively use a type of power called 'Senjutsu', when she was overwhelmed by a super big dose of bad life energy."

"Bad... life energy?"

"Mhm." The Maou Shoujo nodded emphatically. "Just like how there's good people and bad people, there's good life energy and bad life energy. Shirone here got a big hit of the bad stuff, and that's what is keeping her from waking up."

Rias's mind raced, but she didn't immediately speak up.

"So... if the bad life energy goes away, she should wake back up?"

"That's the idea, yes."

The redhead nodded, looking back in the patient room as well.

She was so small.

But there was something about her that interested Rias, perhaps even more than the idea of breaking the white-haired girl's curse.

"Okay. May I stay a little while and try talking to her?"

"Sure." Serafall's gaze shifted back to the Nekoshou in the bed. "She could use a friend, I think."

By the time Rias next exited the room, her stomach was rumbling, and she had a deeply introspective look on her face.

That was when the twintailed woman knew that she was invested in seeing this particular puzzle through.

Indeed, Rias returned day by day, taking long periods of time to speak with Shirone, intermixed with equally-long periods of silent contemplation.

Normally a child would have gotten bored and left after a couple hours at most.

Rias Gremory was not like more children.

Serafall had to step in more than one time to keep her from becoming too enthusiastic in her investigation both of Shirone herself and the room around her, and accidentally break something.

When Serafall commented on this, the redhead tilted her head and squinted at the bedside.

"I'm not sure, I get this... feeling, that we're supposed to be friends. And friends help other friends when they're in trouble, right? So I want to wake her up as soon as possible."

She even brought a magnifying glass one day, as though it would help her more clearly recognize magical traces that she could perhaps inquire about.

It didn't, but Serafall had a feeling that the redhead was also enjoying playing detective.

And so Rias kept returning, day after day, talking with the unconscious Nekoshou and throwing out ideas on how to wake Shirone up when she wasn't looking around the room or deep in thought.

A week later, and she finally had a thought that stopped the twintailed Leviathan in her tracks.

"...What if we tried cutting her off from the world itself? Would the bad energy be cut off too?"

The suggestion that she offered took the Maou Shoujo aback, blinking slowly at the implications.

"As in sealing her ability to use Senjutsu?" Serafall looked into the patient room where Shirone was sleeping. She was far from in prime condition after years of a coma, but the Maou Shoujo strongly doubted it was just Senjutsu keeping her alive at this point. If the curse was piggybacking off of Shirone's natural Senjutsu channeling...

"I... don't actually think we tried that yet." The realization threw Serafall for a loop. It was such a simple answer.

And yet...

"Six years of trying to break that curse, but we never thought to remove the source itself," she admitted, beaming at Rias. "I knew bringing you along would be a smart idea! You've got a talent for this sort of thing!"

The redhead just blushed and looked away with a small grin. "I was just thinking about how fairy tale curses are usually broken."

"You were the only one to think like that, and yet it makes so much sense. If this works, you're getting a full DVD set of those Japanese shows you like, and I think Shirone will be super thankful too!"

"Ohhhhh~!" The girl leaned in, eyes practically sparkling. "Then I really hope it works!"

As Rias spun around the room with the glee of an excited ten-year-old, Serafall's gaze returned to Shirone, and her gaze became solemn.

'It makes so much sense, I'm amazed we didn't recognize it before. Still, I really hope it works too.'

As she turned around, her expression grew cheery again, the solemnity once more hidden away. "Now let's go; Magical Girl Levi-tan has some friends to call in to try your idea out!"

As well as some people who would want to be filled in on the progress that might be made with this development.


A/N:

Much shorter chapter this time, as setup for the next phase of the story. We're starting to get closer to canon, and now we see the young generation beginning to step up to the plate. While some things have changed significantly, others have remained... somewhat the same.

Plus it's something easy to digest after the absolute clusterfuck that was the previous two chapters being big enough to be split into two in one case and a 25k beast for the other. A palette cleanser, if you will.

Tempura Wizard out.