AN: Been on a bit of a break due to RL stuff. But back now with a new chapter. For those who follow my other stories, my PJO/GoT story, The Last King, will probs be the next chapter. Then probably my Elder Scrolls/ Danmachi fic, Last of his Kind, and a Tokyo Ghoul one. So potentially might be a triple update in the next week or two. Depends on time and motivation.

So yeah hope you enjoy it, and please leave a review etc. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to PM me.

Another thing while I am at it, is this. I am a part of a discord group, there are tons of others there, plenty of writers, admittedly mainly PJO, but other stuff too, including a growing number of other writers. Feel free to pop along and say hi, I'm always happy to chat about the stuff I am writing. So if you fancy it please do join by sticking this: discord .gg / elibrary into discord, with no spaces, or using the link on my bio.

Thanks for reading and please do leave a review, or feel free to PM, I am usually much better at answering those!

This story has been betaed by Silver, a Beta that is also a member of the Discord I'm in.

Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or Highschool DxD.

( - )

(Last Time)

The power Ophis had gifted him bubbled away in his chest.

But did nothing to stop whatever was happening.

"Jeanne," Percy rasped out, stumbling away from the kid and falling onto his ass.

His heart was beating far too fast, and his head was pounding.

He could barely even think, let alone speak.

"Percy!" Jeanne shouted, her summoning seal and Raynare forgotten as she rushed to his side.

The last thing he heard before the void took him and he sank into unconsciousness, was a deep, unfamiliar chuckle bouncing around inside his head.

( - )

Chapter 7

( - )

(In Kuoh)

Looking around despondently, Rias Gremory struggled to fully comprehend the emotions she was currently feeling.

She very rarely lost and almost always got what she wanted.

Only right now that was not the case. There was a good chance that she had just lost out on gaining a potentially powerful new piece for her Peerage, and all through simple happenstance and no fault of her own.

Looking around the deserted park, she bit her bottom lip anxiously.

It was quite late in the evening, and the park was still dark. The only light in the area came from some nearby street lamps.

But despite the gloom, she could still see the softly trickling fountain in front of her, as well as the large pool of crimson liquid just in front of the fountain.

It was almost certainly blood.

And going off the fact it was still wet and sticky, it had only recently been spilt.

At her side, Akeno crouched down and trailed a finger through the pool of blood.

"It's still warm," the older girl said softly, her violet eyes narrowed in thought as she idly tasted the blood. "And humans too. We must have only just missed them."

The 'them' she was referring to, likely meant the Fallen that had hunted and killed Issei, and then stolen his body away before she had a chance to revive him as a devil in her service.

"Koneko," Rias said hollowly, her gaze shifting to the petite, white-haired, amber-eyed devil at her side.

Koneko, like Akeno, was a member of her Peerage.

Only where Akeno was her Queen and her right-hand adjutant. As well as the most powerful member of her Peerage aside from herself. Koneko was a Rook. Which, despite her short stature and slim form, made her the undisputed tank of her Peerage. After all, each Evil Piece came with a perk, and the perk of the Rook Piece was enhanced strength and durability.

But her strength and durability were not why she had brought Koneko with her tonight, nor why she was calling on her.

No, instead the reason for that was the gifts she had been born with before she was reborn as a devil in the service of House Gremory,

Before her rebirth, Koneko had been a Nekomata. A feline youkai, and a rare race renowned among other things for their heightened senses and sensory abilities.

"It was Hyoudou," Koneko said bluntly, her voice soft, barely audible. "I can smell his scent in the area. But… there were others…."

Koneko took a step forward, her amber eyes narrowing as she scented the air. "There was the fallen angel that was hunting him, but also two other humans, both female. One of them has an odd… metallic scent, and then there is… another… male…."

"There are traces of magic too," Akeno added, standing up once more. "Corrupted Light from the fallen angel, as one would expect. Stronger than expected, but nothing that we should be all that worried about. But there is also teleportation or spatial magic? I'm not sure."

"Somebody beat us here," Rias stated, a sliver of anger emerging from her despair. "Another group."

"Seems so," Akeno said, her expression composed and remote as she continued to survey the area. Her eyes shifted over the pool of blood and then moved to several other noticeably darker flecks of blood. "But there is also the blood of the Fallen here too." Her lips curled up in distaste at the mention of the Fallen.

"So, unless Issei put up a fight and actually managed to wound a fallen angel. It is unlikely that the other humans here were working for the Fallen?" Rias said, clocking onto what Akeno meant straightaway.

Issei had the potential to be powerful. Especially if his Sacred Gear was as strong as she believed. But unless he had awakened his Sacred Gear – which would've been as fortuitous as it was unlikely – he was essentially just an ordinary, weak human. Meaning he had little to no chance against even a low-level fallen angel.

The fallen angels were known to use corrupted mortals at times. Often, they were mortals who had been tempted away from the church. But sometimes they were also just mercenaries that they had put under their thrall using magic.

But at the same time, these mortals were almost always used as minions or cannon fodder due to the simple fact that ordinary humans just didn't stand a chance against supernatural beings.

Not unless they wielded magic, used enchanted weaponry, or had awakened a combat-oriented Sacred Gear, and had sufficient practice in wielding it.

"Koneko, the other scent, the non-human one…, what is it?" Rias asked quickly, her eyes narrowed. By the sounds of it, one of the humans was a spellcaster, and there was a chance the other was a Sacred Gear user, considering they defeated at least one fallen angel and had, as Koneko described, a slightly metallic scent. But now she was curious about the third individual. The male one that Koneko hadn't provided details on. Their identity could give her a better idea of just who it was they were dealing with, or at least which faction they belonged to.

Frowning, Koneko continued to follow the scent.

"Human, but also not human," she said after a moment. "It smells like the sea, but also… like a snake…" Her body suddenly tensed, and her pupils constricted into cat-like slits. "No, not a snake, like a dragon…."

Rias froze.

It definitely sounded like Koneko was describing a Sacred Gear user, the complex mix of scents, but with a human base that fit the pattern.

But, at the same time what she described was an odd combination.

Especially since she could not think of any Sacred Gear that would fit the description.

Sea Dragons were rare, and she couldn't think of a single one that had been incorporated into a Sacred Gear.

"A human that smells like a dragon and also the sea?" Akeno mused, keeping her composure. "Couldn't that be Hyoudou?"

"Similar, but not the same," Koneko shook her head. "It smells stronger, and… darker… and the perv also doesn't smell like the sea. He just smells of body odour and desperation."

Ignoring Koneko's finishing quip, Rias's expression hardened.

She wasn't sure what was going on. But it certainly sounded like another group or faction had intruded into her territory and poached a prospective member of her Peerage.

Considering Koneko hadn't smelt any other devils it probably wasn't one of her rivals from the Underworld.

Which instead meant it was an external group. Judging by how they had wounded and potentially killed a fallen angel before absconding either with Issei or with his body. There was a high possibility that the culprits were from the only other faction in the Abrahamic Pantheon that was not already represented. They could be either from the Heavens or more likely going off the presence of humans, the Church. After all, she couldn't think who else would be so boldly as to intrude on her territory and steal away the body of her prospective Peerage member.

She wet her lips as she ruminates over her conclusion.

Akeno had not picked up on the presence of purified light, the magic angels and the more powerful members of the Church used. But she had identified the existence of foreign spatial magic in the area.

At the same time though. Going off what Koneko had found. A member of the Church might have been a Sacred Gear user, which could mean that they had done the heavy lifting. Perhaps in a way to throw both herself and Sona off the trail?

It was possible.

Not that her suspicions or theories meant much in the grand scheme.

Without any evidence of either the Church's or Heaven's involvement. Or of the involvement of any other group. If she aired her grievances, she would just be accused of making unsubstantiated accusations.

"I'll let my brother know what happened and what we found, and leave it up to him," Rias said after a moment, before shifting her mind back to the matter at hand.

What they did know at least, was that there was a sect of fallen angels in the area in violation of the truce.

Before tonight, she had been willing to allow them to stay so long as they didn't make too much noise. Both because they had not killed anyone in her territory nor made any aggressive moves and were in fact inhabiting an abandoned church which could arguably be called an embassy of sorts, despite it being in her territory.

If both she and Sona had just wiped them out without provocation the moment they moved in, it could have had a serious impact on relations between the Grigori and the Devils and reignited a wider conflict. Despite their response being somewhat justified on the basis that they were trespassing.

Now however, she had evidence that they had been hunting Sacred Gear users, and where before she was happy to allow things to play out as the end outcome suited her – if they had killed Issei then she would have been able to reincarnate him into her Peerage without issue and gain herself a potentially powerful new piece.

Her eyes narrowed in irritation at that thought.

Unfortunately, things had not transpired the way she had planned.

Still, that also meant that she no longer had a reason to continue allowing the Fallen to remain in Kuoh, and in fact, since she had evidence to show that they were engaging in hostile activity she no longer had any reason to suffer their presence.

"Koneko," Rias said decisively, turning back to her Rook. "Go to the Hyoudou House and see if Issei was dropped off there. It's a long shot, but it's still possible that something can still be salvaged tonight. After you've checked, meet me back at the Occult Research Club."

The white-haired Nekomata gave her a blank look in response before she bobbed her head and disappeared into the night.

"Akeno," Rias continued, her attention now on her Queen. "Contact Sona and ask her to assemble her Peerage at the Occult Research Club. Get in touch with Kiba too, and tell him to meet us there."

"Oh my," Akeno tilted her head to one side and placed a single, long delicate finger on her chin. "Just what is it you're planning?"

Humouring her Queen, Rias sent her a stiff smile.

"I'm going to confirm with my brother first. But I think it is time we wipe out the coterie of fallen angels hiding in our territory." Rias said bluntly.

There was no need to keep them around now that she had lost Issei. Plus, delivering a swift, decisive, premeditated strike and driving them from her territory would give both Sona and herself a bit of positive PR in the Underworld. Or at least it would once they framed the story the right way and set the ever-popular Underworld rumour mill running. On top of that, it would also give her something to vent her frustrations on.

Akeno positively beamed at the news, her barely hidden hatred of all things fallen angel swiftly making its way to the surface.

"Sounds fun," Akeno hummed. Her smile was coy, almost seductive. "But do we really need Sona and her Peerage there?"

"Politics," Rias shrugged.

It wasn't the full truth – the full truth was that she didn't fully know the numbers and forces the fallen angel had available to them due to the protective barriers around the abandoned church, and so wanted to stack the hand in her favour as much as possible – but it was true enough.

"Besides, once they've been dealt with, we'll need to sweep the town for this other group if they're still around?" Rias continued.

"They might already be gone?" Akeno said, her head tilting to the side. "If they teleported in using spatial magic, then it is possible that they left just as quickly."

"Possibly but considering how they somehow knew about Issei and the fallen angel hunting him and ignoring the unlikely chance of them just happening across the scene. It is possible that they have a base set up somewhere in the area that they have been operating from." Rias shot back. "It's a long shot. But on the off chance it pays off, I'm willing to spare some time and resources to search for their base of operations, or at the very least for any evidence of who they might be."

Akeno nodded her agreement. "I'll contact Sona and Kiba."

"Good," Rias smiled tightly, watching as Akeno conjured a glowing purple magic circle under her feet and teleported away, leaving Rias on her own.

Watching her Queen leave, Rias returned her attention to the fountain.

Taking a moment to herself out of sight of her Peerage, she exhaled softly.

She could feel her lip beginning to quiver and her eyes started to sting.

Her hands clenched into fists at her side.

Things weren't supposed to turn out this way.

If everything had gone to plan the fallen angel would be dead, and she'd have a new Sacred Gear in her Peerage. And just in time too, as her long-awaited engagement to Riser Phenex would soon be upon her.

She shook her head, her long, red hair flicking about around her.

Schooling her features, she took a breath and centred herself.

All was not yet lost.

She still had a bit of time before her birthday, and until the Phenex family came to collect on the betrothal agreement her father had signed before she was even born.

She still had at least time to wiggle out of her engagement to Riser Phenex.

Taking a deep breath, she forced her panic deep down and focused on the matter at hand.

If she acted quickly, she could maybe scope out some of the other residents of Kuoh and stack her Peerage with some canon fodder. It wasn't ideal and it went against her initial plan of quality over quantity. But it would at least improve her chances and give her more resources to throw against Riser's much larger and more experienced Peerage in a Rating Game.

She nodded to herself at that thought.

If there was no sign of Issei, she would start scoping out the martial arts and kendo clubs first thing in the morning and see if she could find any hidden gems Sona might have missed.

With that thought in mind, and a new plan for the future slowly taking shape in her head, she twisted on her heel and summoned her own teleportation circle.

It was time to contact her brother to keep him informed on the developing situation, and then make plans for the assault on the abandoned church.

The sooner they annihilated the invasive, black-feathered pests in her territory, the sooner she could refocus her attention on the trails ahead of her.

This was a setback, but it didn't mean that all was lost.

( - )

(At the abandoned church)

"Where is Raynare?" Dohnaseek asked his fellow Fallen, as he, Mittelt, and Kalawarner lounged about in their temporary residence. One of the larger and warmer rooms in the church's undercroft. It was a far cry from luxurious, but with some furniture and some creative uses of magic, they had made it at least comfortable.

"Don't know," Mittelt shrugged dismissively. The short, blonde-haired, blue-eyed angel crashed out on a nearby sofa, her legs dangling over one of the arms as she read a human magazine of some kind. She looked bored, and she sounded.

"Last I heard she was going out to hunt that potential Sacred Gear wielder." Kalawarner shrugged nonchalantly from her own plush chair, her gaze still fixed on her nails as she absentmindedly buffed them. "She said something about luring him out on a date to a secluded spot away from the devils and killing him."

Like Mittelt, the tall, purple-haired angel looked completely fed up.

Not that that surprised him. He was just as bored and miserable.

Lurking about in the undercroft of a dilapidated church was beneath beings of their pedigree.

But still, orders were orders, and so as Lord Kokabiel commanded, they kept watch and occasionally patrolled the area to catalogue local threats and assist in the preparations for his grand plan.

It was not glamorous work.

Nor something he would ever volunteer to do.

But alas, orders were orders.

"That was hours ago though," Dohnaseek scowled, his eyes narrowing in irritation as he looked between his two indolent inferiors.

"Well, what do you want me to say? You know Raynare, she has always been a law unto herself," Kalawarner replied, her striking, purple eyes flicking up to meet his own gaze.

"I don't like it," Dohnaseek pressed on, pushing himself up from his chair as he started to prowl around the room.

Outside of their private rooms, he could hear the shuffle of feet and the murmur of voices as their pet exorcists and human minions went about their humdrum lives; maintaining and practising with their weapons, eating, drinking, chatting, etc.

He felt his lip curl.

He never liked the idea of using mortals.

They were weak and unreliable lesser beings.

Easily manipulated, both by them, but also by their enemies.

But then again, they only really were used as cannon fodder that could be thrown at their enemy to distract them while their superior angelic masters used their flight, speed, and magic to strike down all that opposed them.

In the end, they were a means to an end.

"We should send some people to look for her," Dohnaseek muttered, glancing between the other two angels with an expectant look. "Maybe Freed, he's capable at least."

Freed Selzen.

The white-haired exorcist was deranged and embodied the worst of humanity's traits. But despite his many character flaws, he was also very skilled with a blade and gun, and fanatical in his devotion to killing devils.

He was a complete tool, but also a useful one.

"Who cares, she'll come back as and when she wants," Mittelt groaned, her head lolling about behind her.

His eyes narrowed.

The younger blonde was a poor example of an angel. Which was probably why she had Fallen like she had.

She had no patience and no decorum.

Instead, she was vicious, mean-spirited, and callous.

She was the type of killer who liked to play with her victim before she slowly and painfully killed him.

Suffice it to say he didn't approve of her at all.

Where most fallen angels fell for understandable reasons. Or at least in his mind. Like himself, who had Fallen due to his well-intentioned pursuit of forbidden knowledge. She had fallen due to her own base desires, imperfect character traits, and cruelty.

"Why not send the Heroes?" Kalawarner replied, her tone shifting from bored to amused at the mention of their 'heroic' allies.

Dohnaseek smiled bitterly.

He didn't like or trust the heroes, any more than they liked or trusted him and his fellow Fallen. But at the same time, knowing what he did about them – or at least about the infamous Perseus. He at least respected their strength.

"Do you think they would heed any request for the order I gave them? As they've made abundantly clear, we have no power to tell them to do anything." Dohnaseek shot back. "Besides, I hardly think it would be wise to admit to 'heroes' that have sworn to safeguard humanity, that we're hunting down Sacred Gears users in our spare time. Even if they might agree with us that it is better for the world and humanity as a whole for a Sacred Gear to die than be reborn as a filthy devil."

"Which means you're too scared to tell them to do anything." Mittelt mocked.

Dohanseek's eye twitched.

"As if you're any better," He bit out, before abruptly shaking his head. He was getting distracted. "They're not here anyway. They left a while back."

Kalawarner frowned.

"Maybe they caught up with Raynare and killed her?" Mittelt asked.

Ignoring the somewhat hopeful undertone in the blonde's words, Dohnaseek shook his head. "I doubt they'd endanger their agreement with Lord Kokabiel just to kill Raynare. Besides which, Raynare. For all her faults. Is still very cunning and subtle."

"You overestimate her," Kalawarner said blithely.

Dohnaseek scowled again, both at the tone and content of her words. "This wouldn't have happened if you had just kept your mouth shut."

"They asked where she was. It would have seemed more suspicious if I hadn't said anything at all." Kalawarner replied defensively.

"As if telling them that she was just out 'scouting' by herself wasn't suspicious!" Mittelt laughed nastily.

Kalawarner's lips twitched up into a smirk.

"Either way, they wouldn't have endangered their alliance with Kokabiel just to kill Raynare." Dohnaseek pressed on.

"Could it be the devils?" Kalawarner suggested. "They were looking to recruit the boy; it wouldn't surprise me if they had already discovered our presence. Nor that they would intervene if Raynare made an overt attempt to kill him."

"Possibly," Dohnaseek nodded. "But we won't know what happened just sitting around here."

"Okay fine, so what do you want to do?" Kalawarner sighed.

"I'll go search for her," he replied decisively. "You two stay here and try not to cause too much trouble."

"Ta ta," Mittelt waved mockingly. "Try not to get yourself killed."

Holding back a nasty retort of his own, Dohanseek put his coat on and donned his wide-brimmed hat.

Were it not for Kokabiel's explicit orders he'd have abandoned this mission long ago.

Unfortunately, though, his Lord had been quite explicit in his orders. And at this point, when their plan to reignite a new Great War in spectacular fashion was so close to fruition. His Lord would not be at all merciful to anyone who undermined or put the plan in danger.

Scowling at the thought of his master's ire, Dohnaseek left the room and headed through the undercroft. Wrinkling his nose at the stench of humanity around him, he headed up the nearby stairs and into the main hall.

Dawn would soon be upon them, and the sooner he found Raynare, or at least found out what had happened to her, the better.

( - )

(Percy)

Letting out a soft groan, Percy pushed himself up into a sitting position.

His eyes felt heavy, his head was pounding, and oddly the palm of his hand felt a bit… tingly.

Rubbing his tired eyes and running his hand down his face. It took him a few moments to collect himself and look around.

He was in a dilapidated room of some sort.

The air felt heavy with dampness and neglect. The walls were covered with peeling wallpaper, graffiti, and nondescript dirty stains.

Looking around the gloomy room, Percy frowned.

He didn't recognize his surroundings. But from what he could see of the large room, the place must have once been grand.

Eyeing the cobweb-covered chandelier, his nose twitched as he caught the cloying scent of rotting flesh and blood hidden beneath the stench of mildew and decay.

It smelt like something had died nearby.

Pushing himself up into a sitting position, he made to sit up. For some reason, he had been sleeping on an oddly clean – compared to the rest of the place anyway – chaise longue, with a warm wool blanket covering him. As he did so, however, he let out a hiss as he felt a jolt of pain flash through the palm of his hand.

Frowning, he looked down at the palm of his hand.

From what he could see, it looked perfectly normal.

But despite outward appearances, it felt… raw. Almost like someone had rubbed sandpaper on it and scraped away the upper levels of his skin.

Flexing his hand, he ignored his discomfort for the moment and got to his feet.

Looking around he spotted a bottle of water standing innocuously beside his makeshift bed.

Scooping it up and taking off the cap he took a moment to assess the contents within using his powers before draining it.

The moment the refreshing mineral water touched his lips he could almost feel it wash away his tiredness and headache.

Finishing the bottle off, Percy continued to look around at what he now recognized as a lounge of sorts. His mind whirled as he spread his senses out through the damp, musty air.

He could sense four living breathing presences nearby.

Two of them felt familiar to his senses.

Jeanne.

And Le Fay.

Smiling as he took solace in the fact that although he had awoken in a strange place, he was at least near allies, Percy started heading in their direction.

The third presence was also familiar, but only because he had only just met him.

It was the boy they had saved.

As for the fourth, that too was familiar.

Though for decidedly less pleasant reasons.

Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, and once again flexing his hands. Percy left the lounge and entered a large ballroom.

"Jeanne, Le Fay," Percy greeted as he entered the room and looked around.

Like the room he had woken up in, the room he had just entered had probably once been very grand. It had a high ceiling, intricate mouldings, and multiple large windows that had since been boarded up.

The boy, he noticed as he entered, had been laid out nearby on a set of blankets. And was completely unconscious of the world.

Both Jeanne and Le Fay meanwhile were currently in a discussion of some sort near the centre of the room.

As he approached, he noticed that they were both standing in front of what he could now tell was the source of the rotting smell.

Which, from what he could see was in fact a large piling of mutated flesh.

The thing, whatever it was, was bulbous and bloated, with a large vertical mouth full of sharp, bloody teeth.

His eyes narrowed at the sight of it. Lying around the room in various states of decay were several mutilated human corpses.

From what he could see the abandoned house that Jeanne and Le Fay had chosen to hole up in was the lair of a monster of some sort, and the room he had just entered was most likely that monster's pantry.

"Percy, you're already awake!" Jeanne said, her eyes widening as relief flitted across her face.

"Seems so," Percy nodded, his frown intensifying. "What happened? The last thing I recall is putting down Raynare and saving the kid."

His gaze flicked over to the fourth presence in the room as he spoke.

Raynare, like Issei, was lying off to the side unconscious. Unlike her would-be victim though, she was bound in glowing purple chains and had a small magic seal slowly spinning about in the centre of her buxom chest.

Eyeing her for a moment, Percy looked back to the others.

Le Fay was bouncing about nervously, her eyes full of barely restrained nervousness.

Jeanne meanwhile gave him a once over.

"You passed out not long after you sealed the boy's wound," she said simply. "I don't know what happened, one moment you were fine, the next you just gasped and collapsed."

Percy nodded. "I remember touching the golden ichor that was seeping out of the boy's wound and feeling faint…. How long was I out?"

"Not long," Le Fay piped up. "Jeanne summoned me to heal you. But I wasn't sure what was wrong with you, so we just grabbed you and the other two and retreated here."

"And where is it?" Percy asked, forcing a smile on his face as he met Le Fay's gaze. "And thanks for coming to help."

"Always," Le Fay nodded.

"As for where we are, it is some run-down hotel. It looked abandoned and was as good a place as any for us to retreat to." Jeanne shrugged as she looked around distastefully. "Turns out a Stray Devil was hiding here. But she wasn't particularly tough. It didn't take me long to exterminate her, while Le Fay dropped you off in a back room. We were actually just about to dispose of her corpse and give her victims at least some semblance of a proper funeral."

"So, I really wasn't out for long," Percy muttered, his brow furrowing.

The tingling in his hand was starting to retreat.

But despite that, he still felt a bit… odd.

"About fifteen minutes," Jeanne shrugged.

"What about the other two?" Percy asked, refocusing his mind.

"The Fallen is contained, and I've sealed her magic. She's not going anywhere. As for the boy. He is stable and healed up. I've put him in a coma for now though. We didn't know what you intended for him." Le Fay shrugged.

"We can decide later," Percy replied. "He is a Sacred Gear user, so he'll probably-"

"But he's not though," Le Fay interrupted.

"What?" Jeanne asked, her eyes narrowing.

"When I was healing him up, I gave him a once over with my magic. He had some internal damage, but there was nothing else in him. No Sacred Gear and he has practically no affinity for magic." Le Fay said.

"So, he is just an ordinary human?" Percy asked, confused.

"Pretty much, just a regular teenager." Le Fay nodded.

"If that is the case, why were the fallen angels hunting him?" Percy continued, glancing between his two allies.

"I don't know," Le Fay shook her head. "Maybe there is something hidden in his heritage?"

"I'm not sure, but I can think of a way to find out," Jeanne stated, looking over at their captive, Raynare.

"Okay," Percy hummed, his mind spinning as he pondered over what to do. "For now, Le Fay, you incinerate the stray's remains and bury her victims. Jeanne, move both the boy and Raynare into the other room and then give Le Fay a hand. After that, both of you secure this place. We won't be staying here long, but we'll use it as a temporary base for now while we interrogate Raynare."

"On it," Le Fay nodded, her staff raised as she turned to mutate corpses.

With her fine-tuned control and fire magic, it wouldn't take her long to burn the stray devil's body. Nor would it take her long to use telekinesis to move the human remains outside and bury them. For someone as adept and skilled as Le Fay it would take no time at all.

"Sounds like a plan," Jeanne agreed, hefting the boy over her shoulder like he weighed nothing, even as she reached down and grabbed Raynare's ankle before dragging her none too gently behind her as she left the room.

"What about you?" Le Fay asked as got to work conjuring up a dome-like barrier around the corpse that would contain her conjured flames. "We still don't know why you collapsed. You should rest."

Percy shook his head.

"I'm feeling fine," he continued.

And he actually did.

His headache had gone, as had the tingling in his hand.

"We can look into it later. For now, though, I need to head back to the church." Percy pressed on. "The others will be getting suspicious, and we can't jeopardize the alliance with Kokabiel."

Le Fay pouted. "I still don't get why we're that bothered. Sure, Kokabiel is tough, and he has a load of followers. But he is untrustworthy and unreliable."

"You've pretty much described half of the Khaos Brigade," Percy replied dryly.

Le Fay's lips twitched up into a slight grin. "True."

Percy sent a more genuine smile. "Thanks again for helping out, Le Fay."

"Anytime," Le Fay bobbed her head. "Hanging around with you sure beats listening to Heracles brag, or Cao Cao complain."

"I can imagine," Percy replied, fighting off the urge to roll his eyes at the mention of two of the more problematic members of the Hero Faction.

"But that does remind me," Le Fay continued, her eyes suddenly widening. "While you were gone Kuroka returned from one of her missions. And well, after she heard where you'd gone to, she decided she would come along too. So yeah, don't be surprised if your crazy, cat-girl stalker pops up at some point."

"Noted," Percy chuckled. Kuroka getting bored and turning up at some point wasn't exactly unexpected. By this point, it was a semi-regular occurrence.

"You sure can pick them," Le Fay grinned cheekily. "Like, I get the appeal. She is pretty hot, but you know, she is also completely nuts."

"I am aware," Percy said dryly.

It was a bit of an exaggeration, as in reality, Kuroka was far more complicated than she made herself out to be. But at the same time, he could understand Le Fay's reaction. The two of them didn't exactly gel well together. Le Fay was too innocent and naive, and Kuroka was too cynical, jaded, and extroverted.

"You should give Jeanne a chance," Le Fay continued her attention still on Percy and not on the grim work she was currently undertaking.

"And on that note, I think I'll be heading off," Percy said abruptly. Shutting down that line of conversation straightaway.

Le Fay was a sweet girl, but she could also be a bit nosey at times, especially when it came to certain topics.

"Spoilsport," Le Fay muttered as she turned back to her work.

The body of the stray was completely hidden by the raging fire that she had summoned within the dome of protective magic she had conjured.

"You know it," Percy said, ruffling her hair as he passed her by.

"Oi!" She called after him.

In response, he gave her a wave and headed towards the front door.

The night had not exactly gone as planned, but things were still very much under control, especially with Jeanne, Le Fay, and soon Kuroka, backing him up.

That said, right now he needed to smooth things out with the fallen angels at the church, and then after that, he would head back and interrogate Raynare.

As the nominal leader of the cadre of fallen angels, they were currently attached to – courtesy of Kokabiel's asinine demands – she at least might know more about their grand plan and so would be able to fill in some of the gaps. And so, give him the information he would need to properly plan out his next moves.

( - )

AN: So things are starting to ramp up, and soon Underworld politics and some of the big movers will get involved. This story has been a bit of a slow burn atm, but as the changes continue building, things will quickly escalate. Already canon has been turned on its head, and eventually, things will escalate far beyond the street level stuff in Kuoh.

I've got big plans, and hopefully, once I get them out you'll all enjoy them.

Also thanks for all the reviews, comments and suggestions, there have been some good ones and some interesting ideas. They all help when it comes to writing and plotting out the story. So keep it up.

Hopefully, they sort out FFN soon too, as for some reason I've not been receiving any notifications and the website has been pretty buggy. Just in case my stories are being crossposted on AO3 by a friend called Dread Persephone.

Also, I am on Discord with a load of other writers, so if you fancy popping over to ask questions or offer suggestions about this story, or any of my other ones, or to find new authors you might not have come across yet, please feel free to use the link in my bio.

Thanks for reading and if you have any suggestions or questions feel free to PM me or find me on Discord.

Catch you later.

Greed720.