Greetings once more!
Writer's block and my day job are the culprits for the slow update this time. Between unreasonable deadlines, ancient equipment and completely asinine decisions by coworkers (and myself) that impeded everyone down the line, it was really freaking hard to concentrate on writing since the previous chapter. It is what it is, though, no matter how much I hate it; fan fiction doesn't pay the bills. Mine, anyway.
There was also the in-depth discussion I had with a murderous vegetable, addressing some matters about the story that more or less required another look. Many thanks to the man killerpickle for taking the time to discuss these things with me and work them out.
Now then, here we go!
Disclaimer: I do not own High School DxD, nor do I own Type Moon, any of its intellectual properties, or any other property used in this work.
Published: March 30, 2024
Updated:
…
Chapter 20 – Groundwork
Much like the other visits Tobio paid to the apartment, there was very little ceremony to this occasion. Connor did, however, ordain Assassin to tidy up by destroying what medical equipment was no longer in use, then set Excalibur Nightmare on the living room couch for the guest to clearly see upon entering.
Along the way, Connor kept his mouth shut about what it was he was showing Tobio. This annoyed the agent, but also increased the shock factor of the reveal once he stepped through the door. It was only after presenting Nightmare that Connor gave a vague explanation of the previous night's events to the agent. In doing so, he had to omit any sort of detail surrounding the Servants while glossing over other things like stealing blood and medical supplies from the local hospital.
It was one of the wildest lies he ever told, and it went without saying that Tobio was not convinced in the slightest. Connor could tell that the man wanted to ask more but, knowing that he would only get the runaround from the magus, he resigned to letting the issue drop.
"So, now that you're up to speed, got anything you'd like to share with the class?" Connor said, crossing his arms.
Tobio stared intently at the magus before his lips set into a thin line.
"Kokabiel has been advocating to conclude the Great War for centuries. His previous attempt in 1943 was beaten back by a superhuman of an exorcist, and he lost most of his credibility as a Cadre. Very few outside of the Fallen wanted to associate with him following that, and those that did were often the shady type, like Valper Galilei."
"The heretical priest."
"I think the term 'fanatical' is a better fit. The man sold his research on Excalibur as payment for asylum after the Church kicked him out. Ever since, he's never shut up about the things."
"Okay, so maybe Kokabiel just got tired of his yapping," Connor guessed. "I know I would."
Especially since the Excaliburs were confirmed forgeries.
The night before, while the Servants waited for the new blood to infuse into Irina's system, Connor decided to get some answers about the Excalibur fragment left behind in the chaos. What he discovered almost made him mad for being right. He and Caster had given the Church way too much credit.
The history told all; there was no way in hell that any of the fragments were related to Excalibur, Caliburn, or anything remotely similar to the two. The ugly things were just remnants of some other holy sword imbued with encapsulated light energy to make them more effective against demonic beings. Furthermore, the pieces had been tampered with numerous times over the course of their existences via alchemy to grant them some sort of gimmick. For what exactly, he neither knew nor cared, it made no difference.
Caster had summed it up perfectly with his remark, 'Fake as a politician's promises.'
There was also something of a genetic lock –for lack of a better term– that the false Excaliburs seemed to possess. Without the right person to wield it, the power that each of the fragments held would remain untapped. Going off of this, Connor went back to Irina and conducted another Structural Grasp to verify what he saw in her before.
Sure enough, in the dead center of her chest was a crystalline core of some kind. Likely an apparatus of whatever conditioning the Church put its exorcists through in order to wield the swords. If someone had skill but wasn't naturally compatible with the weapons, then they could be made to be that way.
The list of stupid moves the Church made against itself just kept getting bigger and bigger. Sure, it was all concealed from the public eye, but darkness had a way of deepening in the shadow of established religion. Hard to believe that someone like Asia was capable of being raised there.
Once Irina was stabilized enough to leave her with Assassin, somewhere around two in the morning, Connor left the bedroom to take care of other matters. Asia was already asleep on the couch by that point, so Connor took a spare blanket to cover her. He elected to stay up and take to cleaning the mess around the apartment. After about half an hour of work, he let himself sink into the living room chair and finally breathe easy.
For a short time, he debated with himself about what to do with the new information he now possessed, but the long night caught up to him and he dozed off.
"If only that's what it was about," Tobio said. "When the Church started using Galilei's research and expanding upon it after casting him aside, he took it personally, and I guess Kokabiel must've seen it as an opportunity."
Putting a hand to his chin, Tobio began to pace back and forth across the living room floor.
"So, he goes hunting for the Excaliburs in order to provoke the Church into retaliating against the Grigori and starting another conflict. When the Church doesn't respond the way he wants, he arranges for the fragments in his possession to be brought here and have Galilei fuse them together. At that point, Sellzen –who can actually wield Excalibur– would use the finished product to kill the local governors in Devil-controlled territory. The deaths of two pure-blood heiresses would no doubt spur some of the Underworld's more vindictive Devils into attacking both sides and kick-starting the war that way."
Connor nodded. "Yeah, I can kinda see that, but I'm of the mind that this was his plan from the start. Grab whatever fragments he could, then leak their location to the Church so they'd send somebody to fight one Excalibur with another, make them do half the work for him. He took three to start with, right?"
"Yes; Nightmare, Rapidly and Transparency." Tobio stopped pacing and looked to Excalibur Nightmare. "Galilei's process requires four to create a stable end product, though, so without that final piece they were expecting to acquire, they've reached an impasse."
Connor let out a groan and rolled his head from side to side. The tell-tale *pop-pop-POP* of the gas bubbles shifting between his vertebrae provided a good bit of relief to his sore neck. He couldn't remember the last time he fell asleep sitting up.
"Right, well, now that they've hit a bump in the road, let's just hope Featherhead doesn't say 'Screw it!' and starts killing everyone anyway."
"I don't think he will. He's waited centuries for a chance like this; it'll be what he considers his masterpiece, so he won't settle for less than a perfect arrangement."
'Some masterpiece, it's all coming apart on him. How's that old saying go? 'Don't put all your eggs into one basket?''
Caster's assessment mirrored Connor's thoughts. For all of Kokabiel's power and supposed age, he made a lot of mistakes in the setup of this little escapade. The whole plan –if their suppositions were true– was a massive, desperate gambit that depended on the Excaliburs being his smoking gun. By this point, he had to be aware of the missing fragment, and betting against a warmonger's ego now that he was so close to his goal was like treading on thin ice. Sooner than later, whatever stockpiled patience the man had would give out.
Still, however small, Connor's meddling had bought a little bit of time.
"Then, if he's really going be this inflexible with his plan, it may still be possible to push him into moving the way we want him to move. If not him, then at least Sellzen and Galilei."
"Did you have something in mind?" Tobio asked.
"To be clear, my first idea was to booby-trap Nightmare and get it back to Galilei so that it would kill him in the middle of whatever process he was attempting. Problem with that is, with only him, Kokabiel and Sellzen working together on this, sneaking the thing back without one of them suspecting foul play isn't going to work. As it stands, our options are limited, except to find Xenovia and keep her Excalibur out of Kokabiel's reach as well."
"I suppose," the agent hummed, "but hardball religious types like her are stubborn. If your idea is for her to just hide, do you think she'll go along with it?"
"There's a good chance I can convince her, once she knows that Irina and one other Excalibur are safe. She already accepted aid from me once, and she willingly came to an agreement with the Devils –beings that she would normally just kill– to look for the stolen fragments, so she is capable of finding compromise."
Tobio gave a dry chuckle. "This isn't exactly the same as treating someone to dinner. But, if you think you've got her figured out, then I'll defer to your judgment. Where should we start?"
"That, I don't know. We would need Irina to tell us of any rendezvous points that she and Xenovia agreed upon before all this happened. If they had any." Connor started to turn and walk for the kitchen, but stopped as a new thought crossed his mind. "Then again, Irina is a former resident of Kuoh; she was talking to herself on Sunday about how 'this' and 'that' were all still here. So if there is somewhere that Xenovia would've gone–"
"Then it could be a place that Shidō remembers from way back when?" Tobio finished, to which Connor gave an affirmative point. "That's still quite a stretch. This town has a number of places that are many decades old. We'd just be searching for a needle in a slightly smaller haystack."
"Sure, but even moving just one step ahead of Kokabiel is a step in the right direction, don't you think?"
Clicking his tongue, Tobio tilted his head one way and back. "Alright. Jin and I will check around town for a bit, start looking in places that have been around for at least fifteen years. What about you?"
"I'll start with what I know: the academy. If Kiba hasn't already lost his pursuers and found his way back, Gremory and her peerage should still be out looking for him. If not, then maybe he and–"
Just then, the bedroom door flung open, cutting the discussion short. Asia was standing at the threshold with a glint of joy in her eyes.
"Connor! Mr. Ikuse!"
"What? What's wrong?" the agent asked.
"Nothing! I think Miss Shidō is waking up!"
As her mind came back to the waking world, the first thing she became aware of was the rhythmic throbbing in her head.
*BOM-Bom, BOM-Bom, BOM-Bom, BOM-Bom*
It felt like a giant drum on the inside of her ears banging to the tune of her own heartbeat. Every successive pulse made her flinch a little bit more. A hoarse groan escaped her lips while her hand reached up to hold her head.
That was the intent, at least. To her heightening discomfort and slight worry, she found that her arm could barely move. It wasn't restrained by anything, but it simply would not budge more than a few centimeters.
Despite the blood pounding in her ears, she could hear someone talking, though it was too muffled to really make out what was being said. After a few seconds, the intensity fell off, and a soft voice reached her much more clearly.
"Miss Shidō, can you hear me?"
She groaned and tried to sit up, but it was as if every muscle in her body had suddenly tightened all at once. Any attempt at movement was met with fierce resistance and a throbbing far worse than the one in her skull.
"Oh, no, stay still, please," the voice pleaded, placing a hand on Irina's chest.
"W… Who…" she mumbled groggily. The images slowly came back to her like they were moving through a wall of fog. The explosion, the forest, the…
Irina's eyes fluttered open, adjusting slowly to the light, and glanced around for the person attending her. Upon finding them, she stared and blinked at the green eyes looking back at her for a moment before she recognized the owner.
"Asia?"
"Yes, Miss Shidō," the golden blonde nodded. "I'm so glad you're awake. How do you feel?"
"Ugh… my mouth is dry and everything else is stiff. I feel like I've run a million miles in a tenth of a second." Irina groaned, trying in vain to wet her lips.
"Here, have some water."
Irina found herself being propped up by the exiled nun and offered a tall glass of the life-giving fluid. Slowly, her caregiver tipped the glass on her bottom lip, allowing the water to easily trickle inside. Feeling her mouth, tongue and throat all regain sensation was incredible, and her renewed sense of taste made this the most delicious water she could ever remember drinking.
Asia continued her administering until the glass was halfway emptied, then adjusted the pillow under the exorcist's head and let her back down.
With her thirst temporarily slaked, Irina's violet eyes surveyed her surroundings. To her confusion, she didn't see the sterile white roofing and walls typical of a hospital or some other medical facility. Instead, she found what appeared to be a normal bedroom with tatami flooring, off-white wall panels held by wooden framing and a balcony access that let morning sunlight through.
Only while looking around did she finally notice the tube running from her left arm and leading to a bag hanging from the ceiling. She was hooked up to an IV, she realized.
"Did you do this?" she asked, moving her opposite arm to point.
"No, it was… a friend, that did that. I had to heal your injuries when you were brought in."
"Brought where, exactly?" She took another glance around. "Where are we?"
"This is my apartment," another voice announced itself from the doorway. "It was the safest place to bring you where your wounds could be treated."
Turning her head to the best of her current ability, she looked and saw yet another face that she had not expected to meet again after Sunday.
"Mr. Lochlainn?"
"Good morning to you, too," the foreign man replied. "I thought it wouldn't be another half day or so before you woke up. I'm honestly surprised."
Connor walked into the room, leaving the door open slightly. Her eyes widened upon recognizing the large object he carried in his right hand.
"I-… Is that Excalibur Nightmare?!"
"Yep," Connor answered curtly, reversing his grip on the weapon to stand it on its tip.
"How? How did you…" Her eyes suddenly widened further. "Sellzen! Th– the Excaliburs! Where's Mimic?! Where's Xenovia?! Did he– " The remainder of her questions dissolved into a fit of coughs.
Connor set the sword to lean in a corner of the room and knelt down beside Asia.
"Take it easy. You lost a lot of blood last night and went into shock. Your body still hasn't fully recovered from the transfusion, so you really shouldn't be moving around right now."
"T- Transfusion?! W- Y-you gave me the right type, right? I'm B-positive, I can't tak- mmph!" Her worried chatter was interrupted this time by Connor placing a finger on her lips.
"We got you the universal stuff, it's fine. Deep breaths, through the nose, out the mouth."
The young exorcist blinked several times and shrunk in on herself slightly. Well, this was embarrassing. The first time a boy touches her face since she hit puberty and it was just to stop her from talking. Fighting down her blush, Irina closed her eyes and did as instructed. After several seconds of this, Connor removed his hand and sat back up straight.
"Now look, I know you have a lot of questions, but time is of the essence, so I'll make it brief. For simplicity's sake, just think of me as a magician. I know everything about the whole situation here; Kokabiel, the Excaliburs, Valper Galilei's twisted obsession, everything. As far as I'm aware, Xenovia and Kiba are still missing from last night, so there's a chance to find them before your enemy does, but that's where I need you to help me. Did you and your partner designate a place in Kuoh to meet up if you ever got separated?"
Irina had not considered for long when she felt something warm and… oddly familiar envelop her right hand. Looking down, she saw that Asia had taken her hand within both of her own. The exiled nun didn't say anything, but the pleading look in her eyes said enough. He would not have saved her if he wasn't a good person, otherwise Asia wouldn't vouch for him.
Looking to Connor again, she decided to place her own trust in him. It wasn't like she could do anything else to help Xenovia right now, anyway.
"Yeah, we did. There's a little shrine dedicated to Inari on the southern edge of the town. My friend Issei and I went exploring around there when we were… four, I think, and there were a couple of sheds behind it. We made one of them our 'secret hideout.' Don't know if any of our stuff is still inside, but…"
"And Xenovia's there?"
"She should be. It's the only shrine near Kuoh, so it's not hard to miss."
"Alright. Asia, keep your phone on hand. I'll call after a while,"Connor said, standing up and moving back to the door.
"Okay," the nun responded immediately.
"Where are you going?" Irina asked.
"To find your partner, and let her know that you're alright."
Connor closed the door behind him, leaving Irina rather uneasy. For one thing, how was he planning to break the news to Xenovia? And secondly, would she even listen to him, or swing first and ask questions later like she usually did?
She felt her hand being squeezed, and looked to see Asia bearing a calming smile.
"I know, but it'll be okay. Connor has his… special way of fixing things."
Closing the bedroom door behind him, Connor turned to look at Tobio. The agent was leaning against the wall, arms crossed as he listened in on the conversation.
"Did you get that?" the magus asked quietly.
Tobio nodded. "Yeah, I know the place. The shrine was constructed at the start of the Taishō period, and Kuoh itself was built as its neighboring town. I'm assuming you want to go?"
"Not yet. Got a few things to do here and then run an errand first."
"Alright, I'll take a quick look around, then wait for you." With nothing more to say on the matter, Tobio made his exit by way of another shadow portal.
The moment the agent was gone, Connor turned and inscribed into the air the runic array for one of the first proper Bounded Fields that Caster taught him: Auditory Isolation. A far more cost effective method than soundproofing every single wall.
'Dagaz, Ansuz, Uruz, Fehu, Isa.'
Once the Field was confirmed erected and fit to the room, he gave the clear for the Heroic Spirits to physically manifest again, Caster to his left and Assassin to his right.
"Lord Ikuse seems quite confident in Kokabiel's behavior pattern," Assassin stoically noted.
"Yeah," Connor grunted. "Too bad that confidence isn't mutual."
"So, what's the new plan?" Caster asked.
"Not really new, so much as working from a different angle. Like I told him, staying that one step ahead of the enemy is the crucial part." Connor turned to face his first Servant. "Every second we can cause Kokabiel's group to waste is another second that gets added to our collective clock. So I'm thinking that we need to employ a different brand of subterfuge."
The druid's red eyes sparkled in curiosity.
Connor gave a rough outline of his plan to counter Kokabiel's attack. Caster played the Devil's advocate throughout, poking holes and pitching alternatives while Assassin remained mostly quiet, only offering suggestions as she deemed necessary.
With the plan reviewed and revised, the Servants went their separate ways in spirit form. Meanwhile, Connor headed for the nearest konbini to pick up what he needed for his part. (1)
Assassin's first report from her position at the academy came within the first two minutes into his journey. Kiba had evidently not made it home during the night, which meant he was either dead or still with Xenovia.
Connor departed the store with a brown paper bag in hand and headed south, once again using Raidho to cover the large distance and make up for time. He arrived at the foot of the hill leading to the shrine within a few minutes, choosing to ascend the hill in normal fashion until reaching the top.
This place of tribute and remembrance to Inari was immaculately well kept, for its old age. All of the structural portions had been blessed with a fresh coat of white paint and trimmed in crimson red. Zigzag paper streamers and tassels of thick ceremonial rope hung from all sides of the pagoda-styled roofline in perfectly even spaces; shide and shimenawa, as he recalled their respective official names. The broad steps leading to the small interior were of polished white marble, further adding to the building's very regal appearance.
The same level of cleanliness, however, could not be said of the caretaker's sheds out behind the shrine, which had both obviously seen better days. Certainly, all of this caretaker's efforts were focused on the shrine itself.
The only thing missing from all of this was Tobio.
Connor glanced around, eyes sweeping over the nearby cemetery in the process. Encompassing about a half acre of wooded land with some steep ravines and old growth conifers in the mix, this cemetery featured several rows of traditional family monoliths. Among these monoliths to the departed, he recognized a human head of black hair. Venturing closer, he made out the older man kneeling in front of a large traditional gravestone, with head bowed, eyes closed and hands clasped together in prayer.
The magus looked around further, wondering who it was that the agent was putting on this act for.
Coming up beside Tobio, he set down the bag and mimicked the agent's posture, though he remained standing. Several seconds passed before either of the two spoke.
"I was beginning to worry that you'd forgotten." Tobio remarked, solid as the stone before him.
"Sorry. You know how it is with housework; one thing turns into ten." Connor responded, remaining likewise motionless. "Who're we praying for?"
"I don't know. I just picked a random grave because I was being watched, and we still are. Stay facing forward. There's a hawk in the tree to my 8 o'clock, and Jin says it smells like a Devil. Must be a contracted familiar."
"Probably Kiba's, if that's the case," Connor surmised. "He might still be with Xenovia, then, so that's a good sign. Did Jin go looking for them?"
"He says the shrine's completely empty, and the caretaker's sheds out back have been overrun with vines, but one of them looks like it's been visited recently. Some of the vegetation there has been cut away, and only in the last few hours. I'm guessing that's where they're hiding. How do you want to approach this?"
"You keep praying, I'll talk to them myself."
"Alone? Are you sure?" Tobio turned his head slightly toward the magus.
"They're tired, hungry and backed into a corner. If we go together, it'll spook them into attacking. I go alone, and they'll be cautious but more liable to listen. Probably. Hopefully." Connor nudged the bag with his foot to make it crinkle. "I went and got a little extra incentive for them to hear me out, just in case."
The right corner of Tobio's lips perked up. "So that was your errand. You dog…"
"I don't wanna hear that from you." Connor reciprocated the agent's snide smile with one of his own. Breaking from his prayer pose, he picked up the bag with one hand and pat Tobio's shoulder with his other –leaving a small gift for the agent– before walking back in the direction of the shrine.
Taking his phone out from his back pocket, Connor stopped his walk after a few meters and looked up to the trees, locking eyes with Tobio's watcher after a bit of searching. It was a sparrowhawk, or at least appeared the part, bearing slate black wings and crown coupled with whitish underbelly and dull red barring. A good disguise for a familiar, especially since these hawks were back in Japan for the coming summer.
The two stared at one another until the hawk took off from its perch and flew out of sight over the treetops.
Continuing on his way, Connor arrived at the two sheds and approached the one farthest from the shrine. While both were in similar manner of disarray –with hop and wisteria vines all but consuming the structures– some of the foliage on the one had been hastily removed to create just barely enough space for the sliding doors. The wooden flooring creaked as he ascended the steps and stopped at the entryway.
"Xenovia, this is Connor," the magus announced. "I know you're here. Irina told me where to find you."
He waited for a response of some kind, but heard nothing.
"Xenovia," he continued, "do you remember the verse that Asia quoted on Sunday? Romans chapter twelve, verse thirteen: 'Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.' She was prepared to open up her apartment to you and Irina so you'd have–"
The shed door suddenly flew open, revealing Xenovia who reached forward and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. Without a word, she pulled him inside and the door slid shut behind him. She then shoved him against the opposite wall and leveled her Excalibur at him, the central tip of its massive blade pointed directly at his throat.
"Where is Irina?!" the exorcist demanded. Her combat uniform was as bedraggled as Irina's had been, and the fatigue in her eyes compounded the tone of her voice. Despite this, she held up the gargantuan weapon as easily as one wielded a toy sword.
The magus looked to see Kiba approach from beside the door. In the shed's dim lighting, he could make out a blade in the Knight's hand as well, though much smaller and more streamlined than Xenovia's, and equally ready to strike at the first sign of hostility.
"She's safe," Connor replied calmly, despite the situation.
"Where?"
Instead of moving to loosen her grip on his collar, he slowly raised both hands, with his right aimed toward the Gremory Knight, palm up and open with the paper bag hanging past his fingers. Kiba warily took the bag and inspected the contents before looking back up to him in confusion.
"It's no gourmet cuisine, but I figured you guys needed the pick-me-up."
"Where is she?!" Xenovia repeated, jostling him slightly.
Connor turned his now open hand to where his index finger could point at the phone in his opposite hand.
"Let me call her and I'll show you."
Kiba studied Lochlainn intently, trying to find any sort of deceit in his offer.
The last few hours had been nothing short of a torturous ordeal for the unlikely duo. They and Irina were so focused on giving chase to Galilei and Sellzen that they never saw Kokabiel until the Cadre began attacking. There was barely any time to think after the first explosion, before the bombardment of light spears began.
Kiba had no way of knowing until later just how long they were chased through the woods. Every second felt like an hour in his mind. It was only thanks to Kokabiel getting distracted by something behind him and stopping his pursuit of the two that they even managed to escape. Even then, Kiba almost had to drag Xenovia away from the forest because she wanted to go back for Irina.
Despite his resentment of the Church and all it represented, he had come to know the two exorcists better over the course of a week. Their words about their faith in God rang hollow in his ears, but their feelings about Galilei and the injustice of his seemingly light punishment resonated with his own. In that sense, he could find common ground with them. Not kinship by any stretch, but at least a small sense of camaraderie.
Which made leaving Irina all the more difficult of a choice.
After several different stops to ensure they weren't being followed, the two found their way to the shrine at Xenovia's behest. Undoubtedly, the enemy was still out looking for them, and they had no possible chance against him, so hiding was their only option. Taking shelter in the least run down of the sheds, they waited for Irina to arrive.
Minutes turned to hours, and as the night dragged on for what felt like days, Xenovia became more anxious, her partner's continuing absence chipping away at her endurance. By morning, she was almost inconsolable, and Kiba didn't feel as if he could blame her. Without so much as a call from Irina, the two were left to fear that the worst had occurred.
Just as they were considering going back out to at least try to look for Irina, who should show up at the door but Connor Lochlainn, Kuoh's enigmatic transfer student.
Prior to the Rating Game with Riser, Rias had warned her servants to be wary around the older boy. From her description of him, Lochlainn was a magic practitioner that differed from the mundane magician. Based on the rumors about him and the few times Kiba had interacted with him, it was clear that the 'magus' highly valued his independence and preferred to mind his own affairs. Having been offered reincarnation by both heiresses only to turn them down cemented that notion.
Now here he was, offering not only food and drink, but communication with Irina? It was almost too good to be true.
But then again… if this was real…
The exorcist glanced back to him in silent petition. Should they allow this?
His only reply was a slight inclination of his head.
Turning to face Lochlainn again, Xenovia lowered Excalibur Destruction slightly and made her position clear.
"Try anything stupid, and you're dead."
"That's fair, but I need to secure this location first. Will you let me?"
Xenovia scowled. "Secure? How do we know you won't just trap us in here?"
"Because if I wanted to do that, I wouldn't have let you know I was coming."
After a moment of consideration, she spun the older boy around, gripping his right shoulder now, and gave a shove. Keeping his hands raised, Lochlainn walked slowly to the northern corner of the shed. Xenovia moved with him, holding the sword level to the center of his spine.
Lochlainn stopped and extended his right hand toward the wall, touching it with his index finger. He then started moving it about in odd directions, and a glowing trail following his movements. It was as if he was drawing something, or rather burning it, into the wall. When he lifted his finger, the glow remained, forming a symbol.
'Are those… Norse runes?' Kiba wondered. He had never seen them in use before.
Lochlainn then pointed with that same hand, indicating to Xenovia where he wanted to go next.
One by one, he walked to all the other corners of the shed, drawing another rune for each as he went. After doing this, he went back to the center of the shed, then drew five more glowing runes in the air before himself. As he finished the last one, the air inside the shed suddenly felt lighter. Slightly cooler, even.
"Okay, now we can speak freely."
"What was that?" Kiba asked.
"A basic double-layered Bounded Field. It'll block any sound from being heard directly outside here and give a very unsettling feeling to anyone that so much as looks at it. Being so close to a shrine and a cemetery, the common thought will be that the place is haunted. That change in air pressure you felt is normal, it just means the field's working."
"You're a magician," Xenovia said.
"Of sorts. Go ahead and check it, if you want. The field won't stop you from leaving."
The exorcist turned to Kiba and motioned to the door with her head. She had the magus secure; he wasn't going anywhere.
Moving to the entrance again, Kiba opened it with no issue, peeked his head out and looked around. Kiba squinted at the drastic change in lighting, but regained focus quickly. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary at first, but the moment his eyes landed on a section of the outside wall, he gasped as an unimaginable chill ran up his back. It was worse than walking into a freezer, the sensation was in his very bones instantly!
Slamming the door shut, he almost let out a curse instead of a ragged breath. And then, just as quickly, the horrible feeling of dread was gone.
"What? What's wrong?"
"I…" He could hardly find the words. Even Stray Devils didn't scare him to such a primal extent. "I-I just looked outside for no more than a second! It felt like–"
"Like every part of your body was screaming at you to get the hell away from here?" Connor knowingly finished for him. "The field may not keep you here, but the reptilian part of your brain that dictates survival instincts is another story. The feeling gets worse the closer you are, and I've found that it works extremely well in keeping away bugs and rodents."
Kiba put a hand to his chest and felt his heartbeat come under control again.
"Okay… but, wait, you said that your 'field' also blocks sound? How are you supposed to call Shidō in that case?"
"The field blocks sound waves in the air, but it doesn't stop cellular data from being transmitted over air waves, so you can still make calls from inside. I've done it before," the magus explained.
Xenovia then pulled him around to face them again and released her grip on his shoulder.
"Then show us."
Lochlainn shifted and smoothed out his shirt. Keeping the phone screen angled to where Kiba and Xenovia could clearly see it, he pressed the call button. Several anxious seconds later…
"Hello?" someone answered. Wasn't that…
"Asia, put it on speaker, please," Connor requested.
"Argento?" Xenovia mumbled, before a shuffling noise came through the line and stopped. She looked to Lochlainn, who just nodded. Cautiously, Xenovia asked, "Irina, are you there?"
"Yeah, Xe, I'm here."
Kiba quietly sighed with relief, then heard Xenovia do the same. Letting out a breath she must not have known she was holding, the bluenette relaxed her sword arm and turned to the ceiling, uttering silent thanks to God.
"Xe?"
"Yes, I'm fine, a-are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm… well, I'm mostly fine," Irina corrected. "I'm light-headed, stiff everywhere, hooked up to an IV, and I've got no desire to get out of bed. Is Kiba with you, too?"
"Right here, Shidō. Glad to hear your voice again. What happened last night? We couldn't find you after that first explosion, and…" Kiba was almost too ashamed to admit that he had left an ally behind, seemingly for dead.
"I don't really know what happened at first, but… Freed Sellzen attacked me when we got separated. He's got Excalibur Mimic now."
"Dammit!" the Knight snarled, turning away and running a hand through his hair. His mentor would truly be disgusted with him, and not just with breaking his oath to Rias by chasing a personal vendetta. In a moment of panic, he left somebody behind, and now that enemy was stronger thanks to his weakness! He had no right to call himself a Devil of Gremory!
"But it's okay! Asia fixed me up and Sellzen doesn't have Nightmare anymore!" Irina quickly added. "Connor stole it from him when he rescued me."
The Knight's head snapped back toward the phone, then to the magus holding it, as did Xenovia's.
"You have Nightmare?"
Lochlainn held up a finger. "One thing at a time. Phone call first."
"Irina, are you sure it's really Nightmare?" Xenovia asked.
"Yeah, Asia gave it to me just a few minutes ago to let me check. It's totally real, Xe."
This time, the looks exchanged between Kiba and Xenovia were of bewilderment.
"Xe, I don't know how Connor did it, but if he hadn't intervened, Sellzen would've killed me last night. He had no reason to save me if he could've just taken Nightmare, but he did it anyway, just like he and Asia helped us earlier. We can trust him."
Kiba looked to the magus again, now understanding why he was here. He possessed something that they wanted, but likewise did they have something he desired. He had come to bargain information for their cooperation.
To his credit, it didn't sound as if Lochlainn was keeping Shidō prisoner, especially if she truly was just handed a weapon. In addition, Argento was with her, and Kiba knew from having met her what made Issei so fascinated with the exiled nun; there wasn't a single malicious bone in the girl's body.
The magus may have had his own goals by interfering, but he saved Irina and helped them all. In Kiba's eyes, that was at least worth the benefit of the doubt. They weren't in a position to be picky about who was offering aid.
He placed a hand on Xenovia's shoulder, urging her to relax. Xenovia said nothing at first; the exorcist remained silent for a few seconds, then stepped back, keeping her grip on Excalibur Destruction steady.
"Just answer this first: what do you have to gain from this? Helping us?"
"Well, the way I see it, World War I is about to get a modern remake, and I really don't fancy a front-row seat to that."
His obscure answer drew confused stares from the two. "What?"
"Look, I'm a selfish prick that believes war is an occasional necessity, but this isn't one of those times," he explained. "Even if it was, I don't want a war on my doorstep any more than the next guy."
"Hold on, what do you mean by World War I?" Kiba asked, taking one step forward. "And what about your friend in the cemetery? There's no possible way the two of you just happened to meet there by coincidence. He's involved in this, too, isn't he?"
"You're right, it wasn't coincidence, but I can assure you he is not with the enemy. In fact, it's because of him that I have an idea of Kokabiel's goal, which leads directly back to the answer for your first question."
"And what's that?"
"The assassinations of Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri. The Excalibur fragments Kokabiel stole weeks ago were just the first step of his plan; he baited the Church into sending the other pieces right to him while he smuggled specialists into Kuoh to complete the next stage. By fusing the fragments and killing pure-blood Devils with them, he's hoping to provoke the Devil Faction into retaliating against both the Church and the Grigori, thereby reigniting the Great War."
Kiba glanced down to the floor, trying to wrap his head around what he had just been told. Killing Rias and Sona? Restarting the war? Suddenly, this backwards scheme began to make some manner of sense.
Kokabiel had been around a long time, so he must have known exactly what buttons to push with the Church and how to push them. If Lochlainn was correct, then it was entirely possible that Kokabiel purposefully left Excalibur Destruction alone; perhaps he wanted them to think that, with it still in their hands, they could destroy the stolen ones easily. Between Galilei and Sellzen, Kokabiel could make actual use of the swords. And if whatever else the Church threw at him was just a bonus, that would mean–
"You're kidding! So by coming to Kuoh, we basically helped him with that?!" Irina bawked over the phone, having come to a similar conclusion.
Xenovia's free hand went to her forehead, her fingers curling as if to claw at herself in frustration. "I don't believe this!"
"You can believe it, and you can also believe that Kokabiel's committing everything to this attack," Connor asserted. "He'll either succeed, or die trying and take as many as he can with him. In which case, he could still win in the aftermath and become a martyr. He did his homework, but he didn't plan for all possible variables, like a third party getting in his way. You work with me on this, and we can cut his support out from under him. He will be all alone with no way forward or out."
…
…
"This… this is a lot to take in, Mr. Lochlainn," Kiba confessed while Xenovia ran her hand down her face. "But if you have a plan, then we can at least hear you out."
"What will you do with Nightmare?" Xenovia asked.
"That thing? Oh, I've got no use for it at all," Lochlainn said, waving his hand in disinterest. "You're welcome to take it back or do whatever, but probably not while Sellzen's still out and about."
"And you're sure that he won't find it or Irina?"
"Positive. They're under stronger security than we are now."
"Asia's pretty confident of that, too, Xe," Irina chimed in. "I think we should give it a shot."
Xenovia looked from him to the phone and back, then sighed and fully relaxed her sword arm.
"Alright… Irina, just focus on resting for now. We'll take care of this, and I'll come get you later."
"Uh, okay. Just… don't do anything that I wouldn't do, alright?"
"There are so many stupid things you've done that I want to give as examples," the bluenette said with a slight smile. "But, I'll spare you the indignity."
"Thanks. I'll see you soon… God be with you guys."
"And may He safeguard you as well."
Taking that as his signal, the magus disconnected and slipped the phone into his back pocket.
"So, what exactly do you want from us, Mr. Lochlainn?"
"I want to set an ambush for Kokabiel, but for it to work, I need both of you to stay hidden for now. I made sure that I wasn't followed when I came here, so they still don't know where you are. Take the time to rest, you're gonna need it."
Xenovia blinked, then her lips turned into a frown. "That's it? You just want us to… keep hiding? Like we haven't been doing enough of that already?"
"Until the trap is ready to be sprung," Lochlainn sternly replied. "There are two factors ultimately necessary to win any sort of engagement: information and timing. I've got the information bit covered, but if we don't time this right, we lose the element of surprise and consequently, could lose the battle."
Xenovia, despite her frustration, decided to accept the rationale, though her eyes remained hardened.
"Kiba, while you're here, I need you to send a message to Rias and tell her everything you've heard here. I'll be sending my own message to Sona at the same time to fill her in on the situation."
"Will you be at the Academy, then?" he asked.
"Very briefly. I've still got things to take care of at my apartment, so I'll be in and out quickly. You know Old Spooky, that dead tree out behind the soccer field?" Kiba nodded. "Okay, I'll put my letter in the trunk as a dead drop. Have your familiar pick it up, then deliver them both to Rias and Sona. You're a verified source to both of them, so this information has to be brought to their attention by you."
Kiba nodded again, more slowly. This way, when the heiresses got matching messages from someone that both could trust and bore the boys' respective signatures, they would know what they were reading was genuine.
"And, as an added measure."
Lochlainn turned to the wall behind him and drew another glowing symbol, this one being shaped like two tall triangles standing on one leg and meeting each other at the tip.
"When Kokabiel makes his move, I'll signal this rune here to light up like Las Vegas at Christmastime –which is to say, in bright, obnoxious patterns. Long red flashes mean 'get ready,' short green blinks mean 'haul ass to the academy.' When you get there, eliminate Galilei; he's the weak link in Kokabiel's plan. Without him, there's no chance of fusing the Excalibur fragments and Sellzen is left with nothing but individual pieces."
"On the subject of Sellzen, what's your plan with him?" Xenovia interjected. "Neither he nor Kokabiel are going to leave Galilei defenseless, and he can still use the fragments to their full extent."
"I know, and I've got somebody else in mind to deal with him. They'll keep Sellzen off your back while you put an end to the fat bastard. Safest bet is to just kill him, don't bother capturing him or whatever."
"Fine by me," Kiba agreed. "And Kokabiel?"
"That'll depend on how Rias and Sona try to handle this from their side. I know that Sona has family at the top of the food chain, but I don't know much about Rias."
"Rias Gremory's older brother holds the title of Lucifer, and is one of the Four Demon Kings that govern the Devils' side of the Underworld." Xenovia replied.
"They both ha– " Connor began incredulously, then slapped both hands against his legs and chuckled. "You can't write this. Okay, Kiba, with whatever else you tell her, you need to strongly advise Rias to call her brother. "
"I was going to do so, anyway. If anyone can stop Kokabiel dead in his tracks, it's Buchō's brother."
"Good, then we can leave that to them if they get here fast enough." Looking between the two, Connor nodded in certitude. "Okay, that should be all for now. We'll adjust as need be if something changes, but eliminating Galilei will remain your objective. Keep an eye on that light, and run like hell when it's time. I'll see you there."
Connor returned to the door, sliding it open and allowing sunlight to cascade inside once more.
"Mr. Lochlainn," Kiba said, making the magus turn to him. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me for anything until we know that it's over. After all, a beheaded snake can still wriggle and bite." With that, he stepped through and slid the door closed again. The creaking floor and fading footsteps signaled his departure, leaving them alone in their sanctuary.
The two remained in silence for several seconds, wondering if any of that had really just happened. Turning to his interim colleague, Kiba gauged her to be in as deep in thought as him.
"What do you think?"
The bluenette looked down. "I think that God truly works in mysterious ways. I want to say that it's too convenient… but you heard the same thing that I did, and right now, I don't see another way of stopping Kokabiel before it's too late. If there is a chance that this plan will work, I would rather not waste it."
Kiba agreed. There was no point in grasping for straws when they were being offered a rope.
"What was in the bag?"
"Hm? Oh, right." He had almost forgotten about what Lochlainn brought them.
Taking the paper bag off the floor where he'd left it, Kiba began extracting its contents; a pair of store-bought onigiri, two premade bento boxes, bottled water and some simple first-aid supplies. There was even a pen and notepad, evidently for Kiba's use.
'I suppose it pays to be thorough,' he silently mused.
Taking the pen and pad, he sat down and began writing. He needed to get his message sent to Rias as soon as possible, and start with making amends for his desertion.
"You go ahead and eat," he said. "I have to take care of this first."
Xenovia did just that, taking one of the onigiri and returning to the corner she had claimed from the moment the two found this place. She set Excalibur Destruction down, then took a seat and leaned her head back against the wall, mouthing another silent prayer. Making the sign of the cross as she finished, she took her first bite of rice, letting out a contented exhale as she chewed.
Kiba couldn't resist the urge to wet his lips.
At Kuoh Academy, tension hung in the air of the Student Council office like a thick fog.
Rias had just teleported into the office, and the look in her eye told Sona that she had not gotten much sleep. Her childhood friend and rival set herself in one of the cushioned chairs facing the desk, as did her Queen in the other.
After the long 'talk' with Saji about his recent actions, Sona and Tsubaki had a grasp of the situation. Freed Sellzen, the rogue exorcist that ambushed Rias' peerage not long ago, had once more infiltrated Kuoh. This time, however, he had the missing fragments of the holy sword Excalibur in his possession. Add to that, he had also come with a priest that Kiba had a history with. Kiba and the exorcists then took off after the Church fugitives into the night, and no one had heard anything since.
Sona made eye contact with the Gremory heiress and slightly raised her eyebrows to ask the unspoken question.
'Anything?'
Rias shook her head "We've looked in all the places in Kuoh that Kiba would go in case of an emergency, but there's been no sign of him or the exorcists."
"I'm sure that he's fine, Lady Gremory," Tsubaki calmly stated, setting down a tray of freshly brewed tea. "Kiba is smart, he'll find a way."
"And I'm sure that you would be the one most comforted by his call, Fukukaichō~" Akeno tittered, earning an indignant frown and blush from the dark-haired beauty.
"Akeno, now is not the time for that," Rias reprimanded her Queen.
"Fufu~ Apologies, Buchō. Just trying to lighten the mood. Sorry, Tsubaki."
"We're all in agreement about Kiba, Tsubaki, but it doesn't ease my worry as his King. Ever since those girls showed up, he's lost focus. He had to be bailed out during a Stray Devil hunt, and even the academy teachers and his clients are telling me that his attention has been anywhere but there."
Rias ran a hand through her long locks and sighed.
"I knew I should've said something to him sooner, try to talk with him about it. But how do you talk about that to someone that doesn't want–"
In the midst of her question, a loud thumping suddenly came from the window. All four Devils turned to look at the noise, and the sight of a small hawk awkwardly perched on the window sill greeted them. The little raptor was flapping and beating its wings against the glass, causing quite the ruckus as if doing its best to knock.
"What in the world?!" Sona began, only for Rias to launch herself from her seat.
"Wait, wait! That's Kiba's familiar, Hayate!" the redhead exclaimed, darting for the window.
"That means Kiba's alright! Thank goodness," Akeno exhaled in relief, standing from her seat as well. "But, what's he got?"
Indeed, in its beak was what appeared to be a folded slip of paper, which was slightly crumpled due to the beak's sharp curvature.
Rias opened the window and allowed the familiar to poke its head inside and drop the paper into her hands. She then straightened it out and pulled her hands apart to reveal that there were two separate pieces. The Gremory heiress examined one of them briefly, then looked to the other, her shoulders tensing by the second.
"Sona, this is a far bigger problem than we thought."
"What do you mean?" the Sitri scion asked, joining her friend.
Rias thrust one of the notes to her fellow King. "Read this one, it's for you."
Taking the paper from her friend, Sona scanned it line by line at a tremendous speed. The more she read, the more her brow furrowed, and by the time she reached the sender's name, she had dropped her head to pinch the bridge of her nose.
"I knew it…" she grumbled. "I swear, this man…"
"Kaichō?"
Tsubaki approached with concern, but Sona just passed the letter to her. The Sitri heiress kept her head hung until her Queen spoke again.
"Lochlainn? He found them?"
"And Shidō as well, apparently." Akeno held up the other note and smiled. "It seems the Chameleon of Kuoh has been causing trouble for Kuoh's newest troublemakers. How very naughty~"
"But advantageous for us." Sona shook her head and adjusted her glasses. "Now we know what this is all about; if Kokabiel really is trying to restart the war, then we need to take whatever steps necessary to make sure he fails. I'm calling an emergency meeting. Tsubaki, contact the headmaster and tell him to dismiss classes for the day. We must evacuate the academy before Kokabiel makes his move."
Walking back to her desk, Sona picked up the phone set's receiver and pressed a button that opened a school-wide intercom.
"Student Council and Occult Research Club members, report to the Council office, please. Student Council and Occult Research Club members, report to the Council office, please."
She then released the button, passed the receiver to Tsubaki and turned her gaze to Rias.
"I'm calling my sister next. You should call your brother as well."
"Wow, going for it right out of the gate!" The Gremory heiress said in exaggerated surprise. "You must really trust Connor for you to act on his advice without a second thought."
Sona took off her glasses to let her light violet eyes meet Rias' blue-green orbs without obstruction.
"I wouldn't say that I trust him, Rias. He has a rather viscous habit of shading smaller truths, but in matters of dire consequence, I've found that his honesty can be quite brutal. As we are, we cannot hope to match the power of a founding member of the Grigori; it would be the height of foolishness to think otherwise. I don't want to cause any more trouble for my sister than you do for your brother, and we might very well be playing into Kokabiel's hands by doing this, but we have no choice."
"Well, maybe not, Kaichō."
The comment drew the room's attention to Akeno, who was still holding the second note.
"You could ask even just one of them to come to Kuoh for a matter that technically has nothing to do with Kokabiel, while subtly hinting at the attack. Lord Lucifer and Lady Leviathan didn't get to where they are by being stupid. If one were to already be here when the attack begins, then their response can be construed as an act of self-defense. That is, if Kokabiel decides to go through with it. The best case scenario is that he leaves without incident because his plan was thwarted."
"But if he truly has deserted the Grigori like Lochlainn claims, retreat might not be an option for him," Tsubaki added, having finished her call. "He may believe that he has no other course of action but to continue."
"Caught red-handed, with no backup plan or means of escape? That sounds like a personal problem~" Akeno said with delight. A bit too much, perhaps. "All the more reason why we should ask the Satans to arrive before he's ready."
Sona glanced to Rias, who was quietly mulling over her choices. Finally, the redhead sighed in relent.
"Okay… I'll call my brother. Who knows, maybe Grayfia will come along to keep him under control."
Sona nodded. It was good to see that Rias was not letting her first Rating Game victory go to her head. Ancestors only knew how this would have gone down if Rias thought that she and Sona would be able to handle this themselves.
Setting her glasses back in place, Sona put her hand to her own ear and conjured a magic circle for communication. She then looked out the office window and into the sky where the sun was rising from behind a blanket of clouds.
'You had better be right about this, Mr. Lochlainn.'
…
1): Japanese convenience store
…
Done.
The next chapter is definitely going to take some time. Once more, I ask for your patience as I work out the details to one of the most outrageous plot twists in all of anime (from a personal standpoint). You can take a guess what that may be, and some of you may hate the result while others may enjoy it. In the words of the late great Toby Keith, "Hate me if you want to, Love me if you can."
Keith is one of my most favorite singers of all time, and it genuinely hurt when I heard that he had passed away. He, Josh Turner, George Strait and Alan Jackson were the guys that got me hooked on country music back in the early 2000s. Gone way too soon, but never forgotten. RIP Toby.
If you enjoyed what you read, leave a favorite, a follow or a review to let me know. Any advice, support or simple good wishes that you feel like giving would be greatly appreciated.
As always, thank you for reading!