The way back to Kuoh saw them make another detour, going further into the mountains to stargaze and camp out. It left the kids completely exhausted and passed out after a good dinner, which made it easier for Diodora to slip out and leave the catgirl sisters to watch over them while he took Miyuzuin and Genshirou along further into the woods. Genshirou didn't want to venture too far away, but the relatively short distance flying made him accept to tag along. And so, the three of them found the cabin that Stain had told Diodora about.
"Okay, this is not worrying at all." Genshirou murmured as Diodora slammed the door open, breaking it off the hinges as the age and elements had done its job weakening it enough. The inside was dirty and smelled of wet wood too, with creepy crawlies trying to leave the devils' perception as their slumber was interrupted.
Diodora turned to Miyuzuin, who walked at the front toward the living room.
The two guys followed after her, with Genshirou at the back. Effectively sandwiching Diodora between the two of them. Staying close enough that he could use them for balance, and far enough that Miyuzuin would not have to worry about hitting them if she suddenly was attacked.
"Show yourself." Diodora raised his voice once it became evident that no one laid a trap for them.
Stain oozed out of the rotten parts of the floor and ceiling, slowly coming together and taking a human shape for it to communicate. It bowed with the form of an old gentleman, maybe an ex-military person, and quickly motioned to one of the adjacent rooms. The one without a door.
On the other side, the motionless body of Valerie Tepes laid on the oddly well-preserved bed.
"This one almost got caught by Bel Lucifer." Stain stated, letting itself into the room and giving Genshirou and Miyuzuin time to place themselves between the creature and Diodora before continuing "Her situational awareness is deceptively good, although this one was prepared to make an emergency exit all the same. This one has made no further progress in waking this woman up."
"Of course not, her Sacred Gear has been partially stolen." Diodora caressed his chin, seeing the short haired half-vampire breathe very little. Like she died for a few seconds, and her body restarted with a small inhalation afterward. Only to repeat the pattern anew "A normal human wouldn't have survived."
"A normal human doesn't have a Longinus-tier Sacred Gear." Miyuzuin spoke up while analyzing the woman "What do we do now? If we give her the other pieces she'll wake up, right?"
"One of the pieces is in possession of a very powerful vampire." Stain answered, shaking its head "He has used the Sephiroth Graal for far too long. Even if you were to call for a Demon Lord, actually killing that man would be a hard thing to do."
Miyuzuin frowned.
"We don't need to kill him, only to weaken him enough to take the…"
"But who'd help without asking questions?" Diodora interrupted her. Then, he frowned "Not even Sirzechs?"
"This one, of course, means neither of the current Super Devils." Stain corrected.
"What about the Emperor?" Genshirou raised a hand "Yuzu-san's Worthless is really powerful, maybe if a devil like him uses…"
"And get the attention of Rizevim Livan Lucifer?" Diodora scoffed "No, thank you. Fucker's the other Super Devil of the three. We don't want to take him on… Yet. Ideally, we should manage to awaken Valerie before any of the big bad guys notice us."
He gave Miyuzuin an inquisitive look.
"Can you guys give her enough lifeforce to wake up?"
"Man…" Miyuzuin blew some air through her lips "I… I don't know, actually. Why didn't you bring Kuroka if you wanted to ask that?"
Diodora shook his head.
"That can wait, I just needed to ask before I forget. Exploring alternatives sounds nice, but it's not the time." Diodora clicked his tongue "Man, what to do…"
A part of him wanted to just take out her Sacred Gear and let Stain devour her, which would give him all the answers he needed and the ability to use the Sephiroth Graal by himself: He'd come a lot closer to his objective than with any other strategy, as he'd have access to one of the most powerful Sacred Gears ever and would also make him pivotal in changing things for the Alliance from that point onward… If they didn't deem him a psychopath who would murder a girl that has been in a coma for maybe just as long as he was.
In that case, maybe he'd be able to fight them off or flee for long enough to grow strong and start holding his ground. But that'd mean giving up everything that he wanted for himself. Not in the goals and desires sort of way, but more in the 'I just don't want to be a fucking fugitive the rest of my life' sort of deal. Especially because he'd have to deal with the Khaos Brigade at the same time, as they'd probably lose their pieces of the Sacred Gear once Valerie died.
In this case, any info on the whole 'invader' thing would be pointless to have. Unless Diodora found a way to go back to his previous world, in which case…
Well, going back as a devil in a world without a lick of magic didn't sound so bad. He'd have a fair chance to rule the world, unless the magic had been hidden all along. In which case, he really had very little to go back to.
Revenge on his brother? Not a chance. Diodora now dealt with things too big to even think about that guy.
Giving a part of the world to his sister? Also no. She'd do fine with or without him. She was competent, smart, and a talented actress. She had life sorted out anyway.
No. He liked both power and information, but he also couldn't ignore the safety that having the future Alliance on his side would give him. The whole point of cleaning Diodora's image was so these guys wouldn't find a reason to go strike him down, at least not with their heavy hitters that would join later on. He'd thrive amidst them, nurtured by having the best of the best by his side.
He literally had his body broken in the process, Diodora had little to no incentive to go back on that goal now. Besides…
"If she's in a coma due to losing parts of her Sacred Gear…" Genshirou spoke up "...Why don't we give her other Sacred Gears to compensate?"
Besides, Genshirou and the others would probably disapprove. And Diodora didn't want them to turn on him, anyone but them.
Diodora eyed the slime.
"This one hasn't found any proof that it'd help. Furthermore, it's a Longinus Sacred Gear. The way it connects to Valerie Tepes' soul might be a lot more meaningful than in the case of any low-tier Sacred Gear, figuratively speaking."
"It would." Diodora corrected the slime "It's just that it probably has to be another Longinus, or another inherently powerful Sacred Gear like that."
Stain mimicked blinking and made a point of looking at the other two.
"Are Saji Genshirou and Miyuzuin Yaegaki-Belial going to take this information at face value?"
"Of course he knows that and nothing else on the subject." Miyuzuin replied without looking at Stain.
"I mean, Diodora-san knew an awful lot about Vritra. Which only Azazel-sensei knew about, so…" Genshirou scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
The slime lowered its head.
"Well, okay then. This one cannot procure a Longinus to use, in any case."
Diodora shook his head.
"This is Sephiroth Graal we're talking about, maybe if we manage to bring her back for a moment she'll manage to keep herself that way." He didn't really know. As far as he understood, this Sacred Gear could do a lot of things. Even bring people back from death. So maybe, just maybe, they could make her do that for herself.
Maybe he was trying to connect an extension cord on itself, without a current, but it was worth a try.
"Ah, so that's how it is." Stain nodded "Should I make her come in?"
"Do." Diodora stated.
They waited for a bit, but light coming from outside for a brief moment informed them all that they should be on their guard. Steps came in, and they were so springly that one might even forget that they were all holed up inside an abandoned cabin in the middle of buttfuck nowhere.
After minutes of waiting, Star Seeker entered the room.
"Oh! Isn't this the funny guy? The guy-ly guy. I heard you were awake, but I didn't know I'd catch a glimpse of you so soon!" She cheered on, walking like they were hanging out in her house. Waving at Genshirou as she did "What's up, devil guy? How're you feeling after that ass kicking?"
Diodora had started up Autosuggestion before she came in.
"I could be doing better." He acknowledged "All thanks to you."
Star Seeker lifted her hands.
"I didn't know that'd happen. Hell, I didn't even know someone would be able to keep fighting. You guys are so full of surprises… It makes things interesting."
Miyuzuin's mood had dropped to dangerous levels already, but even Genshirou seemed to be affected with the carefree way she talked.
"Sounds nice." Diodora lifted his crutch a bit, for emphasis "You're still not the one suffering the consequences of that battle."
"I wouldn't say that. I got scolded." Star Seeker frowned "I hate when the old farts do that. Like, what are they gonna do? Kick me out? Yeah, right."
She shook her head.
"But I'm not here to talk about that. Azazel-sensei told me to keep an eye on Gen-kun, but your freaky creature keeps making things messy. It's frankly annoying, and I'd like it to stop."
"Unfortunate." Diodora murmured.
"I get that you're mad, but c'mon. This is ridiculous." Star Seeker crossed her arms "Do you want me to apologize? That won't bring your health back."
"Very observant of you." Diodora nodded sagely "Amazing."
Star Seeker tilted her head, cordiality suddenly vanishing.
"You know, I might've even felt a little sorry about this whole thing. But seeing your attitude doesn't help. What do you want me to say? I'm playing nice, I'm doing what Azazel-sensei tells me to. I'm effectively as shackled to the devils as their peerage members are. I get it, I screwed up. So stop."
Genshirou eyed Diodora, confused.
"Stain's been ruining Star Seeker's days." He explained briefly, letting a bit of a smirk to show on his face "She can't do anything about it, because she is indeed tied to Azazel now."
"So you get it! Dear Go-me… Dear me, and you don't feel bad at all?"
Oh? So she even had the habit of using That Guy's name changed? Interesting. Maybe Diodora misunderstood how easy they went on her.
He would still take matters in his own hands, though. No matter what punishment she received, it'd never be enough. Not until Diodora did something irreversible to her in return.
"I actually wanted to talk to you about this, come to an agreement." Diodora lied, motioning for Valerie's stiff body "I'd like to exchange a miracle for removing Stain from your affairs. Can you give her enough strength to wake up?"
Star Seeker frowned.
"Do you think I'm stupid?"
"Very." Diodora replied immediately.
"Well, then you're the stupid one." She sighed "I can see that you're up to nothing good, and I don't benefit from it in the slightest."
"Originally, this was the meaning behind apologies. The offending side offered something precious, something they'd be unwilling to give in any other circumstances, to show their truthfulness." Diodora stared straight at Star Seeker's eyes, those that Stain had studied time and again while he was unconscious "That is how people used to be forgiven, that's how you repent. Not through words, but through actions. And I demand that you apologize to me right now."
"Demand all you want! I'm still not giving you anything." Star Seeker sneered, placing a hand on her chest "Tell everyone whatever lie you cook up, try to tear me apart. I've played by the rulers' rules. I've become an example of someone turning a new leaf. Even if they found faults in my behavior, I'm still too useful to get rid of. I'm one of the precious few Miracle Children alive. Why would they take your side?"
Diodora sighed.
"So be it." He motioned in the general direction of Star Seeker "Yuni."
Miyuzuin disappeared in an instant, surging forward and slamming against Star Seeker so hard that the half-angel's counterattack pulsed wildly to the roof, smashing through it and making pieces of wood fall down on top of Valerie, who was shielded from them by Stain's oozing body.
"Don't eat her." Diodora reminded the creature, who simply bowed down as he walked onward. Following the wake of Miyuzuin's attack "You know what to do, right Genshirou?"
The blond's tendrils oozed out of his clothes, the white in his eyes turning black and his irises purple.
"Yes, Diodora-san." Genshirou nodded with conviction "We pull off the same recruiting strategy as with Yuzu-san."
Diodora blinked a couple of times, drawing a blank with Genshirou's statement.
"Excuse me?"
"You know… Defeating her, draining her of power, showing her reason." Genshirou turned to him, less focused "I… I thought that that was the meaning behind the plan."
Even through Autosuggestion, Diodora felt the need to show a toothy grin.
"No, Genshirou. We're not recruiting Star Seeker." He pointed back at the room where Valerie laid dormant "That comes afterward. For now, we just need her miracle to work once."
"And if it doesn't work?"
"It will." Diodora shrugged.
Not because he knew for certain her miracle would give them the desired result, but because he knew what Star Seeker bowed to instead.
And Diodora had the means to make her bow, deep within his soul. In the snake of infinity that had never left his side through the years in deep slumber. He just had to… Make her realize who she should be respecting.