Hello everybody, here is Tc bringing you all another story, this time in the High School DxD Universe.
For those who are waiting for an update on my other fics, don't worry, none of them are canceled and they will have new chapters soon.
A few clarifications before you all start reading.
First, it is High School DxD, so the MC will have a Harem. A massive one.
Second, there will be characters from other mangas.
And English is not my native language, so expect grammatical errors.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
The Devil of Light: Chapter 01
Kuoh Academy, inside the Occult Research Club. A group of people was waiting anxiously.
This club was originally abolished by the administration of the school for a lack of members until a certain redhead decided to turn this club into her base of operations.
She was Rias Gremory, a pure-blood devil and the heiress of the Gremory Clan.
Rias was a beautiful young woman with a voluptuous body, white skin, blue eyes inherited from her father, and a buxom figure. But her most distinctive feature was her long, beautiful crimson hair which she also inherited from her father, that reached down to her thighs with a single hair strand sticking out from the top. Her hair also had loose bangs covering her forehead and side bangs framing her face.
Currently, said person was talking with another two girls the same age as her. Their names were Akeno Himejima, a reincarnated devil and the Queen of Rias, Sona Shitori, also known as Sona Sitri, a pure-blooded devil and heiress of the Sitri Clan, and Tsubaki Shinra, a reincarnated devil and the Queen of Sona.
Akeno was a beautiful young woman with a voluptuous figure, very long black hair and violet eyes. Her hair was usually tied in a long ponytail, reaching down to her legs with two strands sticking out from the top and sloping backward, with an orange ribbon keeping it in place.
On the other side of the spectrum, Sona was a bespectacled young woman with a slim figure, black hair styled in a short bob cut, and violet eyes.
Tsubaki was also a young bespectacled woman with long straight black hair that extended down to her knees, with split bangs and heterochromatic eyes, with a violet left eye and a light brown right eye.
The four of them were wearing the Kuoh Academy girls' school uniform, which consisted of a white long-sleeved, button-down shirt, with a black ribbon on her shirt collar worn under a black shoulder cape, and a matching button-down corset, a magenta skirt with white accents, and brown dress shoes over white crew-length socks.
"So Rias," Sona started saying. "Do you know why we have been asked to meet here?" she said.
"No, I don't," Rias responded. "I was in my house studying when I received a message from my family, only telling me that I have to be here at this time with my peerage," she said.
"Same here," Sona said, crossing her arms.
Tsubaki took a step toward her Rias.
"Maybe it's because of the incident that occurred two days ago with the fallen angels and your people, Rias-sama," she said.
Sona turned her head toward her before saying.
"Maybe…," Sona said.
Akeno put her hand on her cheek and said.
"Ufufufu, but why would they care if some fallen scum died?" She said. "They were in the president's territory and tried to kill Issei-kun. We have the right to defend ourselves," Akeno said, smiling while reminiscing about what she did to those fallen angels.
Rias nodded at the words of her queen.
"Yes, we have," Rias said. "I just hope that they see it that way," she said looking at the other occupants in the room.
In a couple of couches in the middle of the room, there was the rest of Rias' and Sona's peerage.
Two of them were the center of the discussion that the two pure-blooded devils and their queens were having.
Issei Hyoudou is a seventeen-year-old high school student of average height with short spiky brown hair, two short locks of hair behind his head, and light brown eyes. He was one of the two new servants that Rias had in her possession, her only pawn.
The other one was Asia Argento, a pretty young girl with long blonde hair and green eyes. Her hair flowed down to her back, with split bangs over her forehead and a single strand sticking out from the top and sloping backward. She was one of the two Bishops of the redhead.
The two were talking happily between the two of them and the rest of Rias' peerage.
Rias' heart softened at the sight. She was so happy that the two of them had recovered after all the ordeal with the fallen Raynare. Especially Asia, she has had such a hard life. First, she was raised by the church as some kind of martyr, instead of the young girl she was. Then she was expelled from it for having a heart so big that she didn't think twice before healing a devil. After, she was recruited by the fallen, just to have her Sacred gear reap out of her, killing her in the process. One tragedy after the other.
At least she was found and rescued by a knight in shining armor. Well, more like a pervert pawn in his school uniform, but she understood what she was thinking.
She just hoped that Issei could keep that smile on her face.
While she was thinking this, a magic circle appeared in the room. It was the circle of the Gremory family, Rias' family.
Through it, a beautiful woman with a strict expression on her face emerged. She appeared to be in her early twenties with back-length silver hair that featured a long braid on each side with small blue bows at the ends, while the rest was let down which ended in twin braids and red eyes. She was wearing a blue and white French maid outfit with long sleeves and a white maid headband over her head with red lipstick as a cosmetic accessory.
She did a little courtesy before saying.
"Good evening, Rias-sama, Sona-sama," she said.
"Greetings Grayfia, how are you?" Rias said.
Without changing her expression, she responded.
"I am fine, thank you for your concern Rias-sama," Grayfia responded. "But I am afraid that I am not here for a casual visit. I have important matters to discuss with all of you. But first, let me introduce myself to the rest of your peerages," she said.
She then turned around to look at the rest of the teenagers and said.
"Greetings everyone, I am Grayfia Lucifuge, a maid at the service of the house of Gremory and Queen of Sirzechs Lucifer," she said, giving them a small bow. "I am here today to talk to all of you about the incident that happened two days ago," she then looked at Sona and said. "Sona-sama, I will also act as a representative of your father, the head of the Sitri family during the duration of this meeting," Grayfia told her.
Sona opened her eyes wide at those words. She didn't expect that.
Grayfia indicated to the two kings that they approached the sofas. Once all the students were together, she began.
"Before we start, I will summarize the information that your two kings have delivered to the clan heads," she said.
Seeing that all the present were paying attention, she spoke.
"First, a team of Fallen Angels arrived at Kuo, the town that you two are supervising, with one of them, a female named Raynare, approaching the student Issei Hyoudou and killing him," she looked at the said person, and seeing no objection, she continued. "After that, Rias-sama turned him into a servant with eight pawn pieces and saved his life," Grayfia said.
Rias nodded at her words. She remembers when she was summoned to that park in the middle of the night. All the blood on the ground flowed from the poor boy's body. And the boy himself, drawing his last breaths, wishing that he got to die in her arms instead of on the cold floor. She didn't like to think of that moment. Yes, she got a powerful servant but it pained her to remember the image of him, broken on the ground.
While she was having these thoughts, Grayfia continued.
"The next day after those events, Issei-sama was walking to his house when he was attacked by another fallen angel that identified himself as Dohnaseek. He was about to be killed when Rias-sama intervened and saved Issei-sama's life once more," she said.
Issei grimaced at her words. He still remembered the pain that fedora-wearing freak provoked him and that spear of light that almost killed him.
"The next day, Rias-sama called him to this room and explained to him all the events that had happened and the new life he had been given," she continued. "He spent the next days doing contracts and familiarity with his new situation until he ran upon a nun and accompanied her to the church on the outskirts of town," she said.
Asia smiled a little at the memory of that day. That was the day that she met Issei.
"After a warning from Rias-sama, he continued doing contracts until he was summoned to a house where the contractor was dead and a stray exorcist was waiting for him. In that place, he met once more the nun named Asia Argento. After a brief conversation, he was about to get killed again, when once more Rias-sama and her peerage appeared to save his life. There was a fight before Rias-sama's group escaped."
Issei grimaced once more at her words. He really had to begin to train himself. He was always being rescued by her master without being able to do much by himself.
"Once they were back in this room, Rias-sama explained to him who were the persons that attacked him and told him to stay away from the nun," Grayfia said. "But the next day, despite the words of warming, Issei-sama met Asia-sama once more and they went on what was essentially a date," she said, looking at the pair.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Issei said, standing up while he and Asia blushed at her words. He wanted to say that it wasn't like that, that they hadn't planned to meet, and that it wasn't a date but one look from the maid was enough to silence him.
Seeing as there were no more interruptions, Grayfia continued.
"At the end of said date, Issei-sama and Asia-sama were found by the fallen Raynare and after a short fight in which Issei-sama was injured, Asia-sama decided to return to the church with the fallen in exchange for letting him live," she said.
Issei was glum at her words. He looked pathetic in the story.
"Once he returned to the Occult club, he was reprimanded for Rias-sama and ordered to not be involved anymore with Asia-sama or any of the fallen. Despite her orders, he, along with Kiba-sama and Koneko-sama, stormed the church where the fallen were hiding to try and kill Raynare and rescue Asia-sama," the maid said.
She then turned her eyes to Rias.
"While the three of them were fighting inside, Rias-sama and Akeno-sama were outside, taking care of the rest of the fallen angels," she looked at Ria's face in confirmation.
"Yes, that is correct," Rias responded.
Hearing her response, Grayfia returned to the story.
"Once the three fallen were dead, Rias-sama and Akeno-sama met with the rest of the group and killed the last fallen, Raynare. Once you all finish doing that, and seeing that Asia-sama was dead, Rias-sama decided to reincarnate into one of her bishops and transfer her to this school and into the occult club," Grayfia said. "Did I forget anything or leave out anything of the events that happened recently?" she asks, looking at Rias.
Rias thought about it for a second before saying.
"No, I think that it was everything," she said.
"I just want to say," said Issei, raising his hand. "That Asia and I didn't go on a date. We were just two friends hanging out," he said. "Right Asia?" He asks, looking at the blonde girl.
"Y-yes, that is right," she said, with a little bit of sadness in her voice. Issei looked at her for a second, confused about her tone of voice, but he just shrugged his shoulders.
Grayfia looked at him with cold eyes for a moment.
"Noted," she responded.
She looked at the two heiresses, with the same eyes.
"The reason why I have called for you two as well as your peerage is to inform you that, based on your behavior these past couple of days, you two will be under supervision for the foreseeable future," she said.
The two devils blinked at her words before standing up and shouting outraged at the maid.
"What, why?!" said Rias. "Those fallen angels came to the city, our territory, killed sacred gear users, attacked my pawn several times over, and tried to extract the sacred gear of another person who was a friend of Issei. Were we supposed to just let them do whatever they want!?" he asked, yelling at Grayfia.
"I concur with Rias," said Sona, "They attacked first, Rias's group was just defending the town and themself. Her actions were justified," she said.
Grayfia continued talking with the same coldness in her voice as before.
"Your mistake," she said. "Was not informing us of what was happening in the town before you decided to attack a group of fallen. A race of people with whom we are, at best, in a cold war that could spark with the slightest provocation" she told the two heiresses.
The two heiresses widened their eyes at her words. They haven't thought of that.
"But…" Rias tried to say. "But I thought that this town was ours to supervise," she said. "And if a problem arose in here, we were supposed to solve it."
Grayfia locked her eyes on Rias. Her cold look made Rias feel like she was four years old again and Grayfia had caught her with her hand in the cookie jar.
"Your responsibilities," she said slowly. "Were to administer the devil population of this part of town, which included your two peerages, stray devils that enter the city, and simple devils that are passing through town. If people of other pantheons and/or people from the church or the fallen enter your territory, you are to inform us immediately and we will tell you how to proceed," she said to them.
Rias and Sona were shocked at her words. They thought that they would have free reign in this city to manage however they wanted.
"Instead, you acted by yourself, without telling anybody, and you attacked a group of fallen angels in your territory while invading a church. Do you two even realize that your actions could restart the war, a war that we might not be able to win?" She asked them.
Sona lowered her eyes. After hearing Grayfia's words, she recognized that they should have contacted someone with more authority than them. Their actions could have brought a war that could cost millions of lives, including their own.
She just wanted to be out of her family's shadow, specifically her sister, so much. She thought that she could do it in the human world. She believed that she could finally prove her worth, that she was more than Serafall's younger sister. And once she was here, she got carried away.
She forgot that there was more in the world than her wishes.
Running a territory was an opportunity to 'spread her wings', as the humans said, but it was also a responsibility. A responsibility that she failed to fulfill, and now she must pay the consequences of her actions.
Sona accepted that, and she will work hard to demonstrate to the devil that it will be sent here to supervise them.
But it looked like she was the only one who did.
"Those fallen angels attacked Issei multiple times!" Rias yelled at Grayfia. "Was I supposed to just let him be killed?!" She said to her.
It looked like Rias didn't understand the gravity of their actions, Sona thought.
"Rias-sama," Grayfia said, her voice losing patience by the second. "You should have contacted us the second you knew there were Fallens in the city, not wait until after you have killed them all," she said to her.
"But…" Rias tried to speak but was interrupted by Grayfia.
"This is not up for discussion," Grayfia said. "I am here to inform you two what is going to happen, not to debate events that have already occurred," she said.
Rias closed her mouth, still angry at her words. So what if she didn't inform them that fallen angels were in the city? They had attacked a member of her peerage and it was her right to defend them.
She had handled everything just fine.
Still, a question popped into her head.
"So, who is gonna be the new administrator of the territory?" She asked.
In a more calm tone of voice, Grayfia responded.
"That had been a problem. The new city manager has to be someone who is on friendly terms with both clans and at the same time, had more experience than you two, so none of your fellow Rockies were chosen," she said.
Sona and Rias grimaced at her words. On one hand, it was good that none of her friends got to see how they had failed in their duties. On the other hand, if someone like Rias's cousin, Sairaorg, could have been selected, he would have made this situation more bearable.
"That leaves us with only two possibilities," Grayfia said. She then looked Rias in the eyes, making her feel anxious. "One of them is Rias-sama's fiance, Riser Phenex."
Rias got pale at her words.
"No!" She yelled at Grayfia. They couldn't do this to her! "You can't do this! There have to be other options than that lazy, womanizer, and disrespectful man-child!"
"Rias-sama," Grayfia said, with a hard tone of voice. "He is a son of the Phenex clan and your fiance, talk about him with more respect," she said.
Rias held her tongue and looked at the maid with desperation. She was supposed to be free in the human world until after she finished college and not have to see Riser any time soon.
But if what Grayfia said was true, her free life would be much shorter than she thought.
Sona looked at her friend with pity. She knew that Rias hated the fact that she would have to marry Riser. She was in the same boat as her once, but thanks to a deal she made with her parents, she managed to avoid such a fate.
Frankly speaking, Sona was also against having him as their supervisor. Riser was, as Rias put it, lazy and a womanizer. He wouldn't take the job seriously and would spend the majority of his time trying to sleep with every female teacher and student that he encountered.
And to make things worse for Rias, he will probably tell the whole school that he was her fiance, making his sexual acts with the female population even more humiliating for Rias.
She had to help her friend, in any way she could.
"What is the other option?" Sona asked, remembering what the silver-haired woman had said.
"The other option…," Grayfia said, looking nervous for a moment. This surprised everyone in the room. The maid had always looked so sure of herself, so confident in her actions that seeing her nervous made the rest of them nervous as well.
"The other option is the heir of the Malphas clan, Jaden Malphas," Grayfia said, sounding more sure of herself.
Rias blinked at her words.
"Who?" She asked. "I don't remember meeting a devil named Jaden. The only member of the houses of Malphas that I know of, is the Lady of the clan, Lady Malphas," she said, confused.
Devils, especially devil nobility, usually meet at social gatherings. These reunions were of great importance because they were one of the few occasions when they could meet both political rivals and allies at the same time without the threat of all ending in a bloodbath.
That was especially true for Rias and Sona, being the sisters of two the Satans and heiress of two clans. Given their positions, they assisted in more reunions than the rest of the heirs.
So it was very unlikely that there was a nobleman that they hadn't met.
"Jaden…" said Sona, thoughtful. "I think that I have heard that name before," she said.
"Really?" Ask Rias, surprised. "Where?"
Sona closed her eyes for a few seconds, concentrating, before saying.
"I think my sister mentioned someone named Jaden once, but it was only a passing comment," Sona said.
It was strange, her sister was always making a big deal out of… well, basically everything but not about this guy. Maybe they just didn't get along?
The two heiresses turned their eyes to Grayfia, who seemed reluctant to speak.
Finally, after a moment of silence, the maid said.
"Jades-sama was, along with the fourth satans and me, one of the heroes during the civil war that occurred in the underworld," seeing the clueless looks of Issei and Asia, she explained. "After the great war between the three factions, in the underworld, having lost their leader after the original Lucifer died, a conflict broke out between the Old Satan faction, lead by the descendants of the original Satans, that wanted to restart the great war, and the anti-satan faction, created by the devils that wanted peace," Grayfia said.
"Wait, Lucifer is dead?!" asked Issei.
"I will explain it in more detail to you later, Issei," said Rias.
"Oh, ok," said Issei.
"During this conflict," Grayfia continued the story. "The contributions of Jaden-sama to the war effort were as great as Sirzechs-sama, making him one of the heroes of the anti-satan faction," she explained.
"Wait," said Rias, with uncertainty in her voice, "If he was such a big deal," she said. "How can it be that I have never heard of him?" she asked.
"And how is he not the head of the Malphas clan?" Sona added. "From what I understand, Lady Malphas was originally of the Agares clan, and with the previous clan head dead, that will make Jaden the leader of his clan," she said.
Grayfia's lips twitched a little at Sona's question. It was as close to a smile as she would make while she was working.
"There is a certain condition imposed by his mother, the Lady Malphas, that he has to fulfill before he can ascend as clan head Sona-sama, and he refuses to satisfy it," she said looking at the bespectacled girl.
"As for why you haven't heard of him Rias-sama," she said, looking at the said girl. "Is because, after the civil war, he refused to have anything to do with most of the devil race," she said.
Both heiresses open wide their eyes in surprise.
"Why?" Rias asked.
Except for Grayfia, the other four heroes of the civil war are the Four Great Satans, the leaders of the devil race.
Sirzechs Lucifer, formerly known as Sirzechs Gremory, was the Satan Lucifer who was in charge of Domestic. Ajuka Beelzebub, formerly known as Ajuka Astaroth, was the Satan Beelzebub and the Chief Advisor for the Technology Department. Serafall Leviathan, formerly known as Serafall Sitri, was the Satan Leviathan who was in charge of Foreign Affairs, and Falbium Asmodeus, formerly known as Falbium Glasya-Labolas, was the Satan Asmodeus who was in charge of Military Affairs.
If this Jaden was as necessary for the anti-satan faction as her brother had been, then he should have received an important position after the civil war was over.
But not only that did not happen, but also his name is unknown to the rest of the Devil race. It was really strange.
At Rias' question, Grayfia fidgets a little, surprising both heiresses with that conduct, before answering.
"Because Jaden…," she made a pause before saying. "Because Jaden-sama disagrees with how the war ended and how the four satans are ruling nowadays," she said.
Rias could see that, despite trying to conceal it, Grayfia was feeling uncomfortable talking about this guy. It was really odd seeing her display so many emotions when she was working.
She was normally very cold and composed while in her role as a maid, but for her to express so many feelings, this person must have had a great impact on her.
"Grayfia, are you ok?" Rias asked, worried.
Grayfia looked at her and with a firm voice said.
"I am fine, Rias-sama, don't worry," she responded.
While Rias was looking at the silver-haired maid with worried eyes, Sona, always the more pragmatic of the two friends, asked.
"Grayfia-san, although both Rias and I would prefer almost any other person to be our supervisor other than Riser, we don't know anything about Jaden Malphas's personality," the Sitri heiress said.
It was true that Riser would be a terrible choice from every point of view. But that didn't mean that Jaden Malphas was a good one. As far as they knew, he could be even worse than Rias' betrothed.
"Sona's right," Rias said. "We don't know anything about him. And even if we agree to it..." she said looking at Grayfia. "How would we contact him? You said so yourself, he doesn't want anything to do with us devils and Lady Malphas is practically a recluse," the redhead said.
Normally, contacting a noble devil was relatively simple, that is, if you were a noble devil yourself. But Lady Malphas was not the most sociable devil, she had been known to close the door on the faces of even the Satans. And if someone as strong as the Satans as this Jaden seemed to be didn't want to be found, it would be almost impossible to get in contact with him.
Hearing their doubts, Grayfia said.
"You don't have anything to worry about," she said, trying to reassure them. "I, along with your parents and siblings, can personally testify about Jaden-sama's character," she said.
The two heiresses relaxed a little at these words.
If someone like their brother or sister vouches for that guy, then he had to be at the very least competent. But that still left them with one problem.
"That is good to know," said Rias. "But we still don't have a way to contact him," she said.
"That is true, we can't," Grayfia said looking at Rais. "But Sona-sama can," she said, shifting her gaze toward Sona.
Surprised by her words, Sona pointed at herself.
"Me?" she asked, still pointing at herself. "How could I do that?"
Grayfia walked toward her and gave Sona a little paper.
Sona looked at the paper in her hand and turned her gaze toward Grayfia.
"A summoning paper?" she said, with skepticism in her voice. "Grayfia-san, do you really think that he will come if I just call him?" Sona said.
Summoning papers were used by humans to call devils and make contracts with them to make their wishes come true for a price. Generally, the devil in question was transported to the place from where the human was calling him. That is, unless you were like Issei, who had so little magic power that he had to walk all the way to where he was being summoned.
It was possible for a devil to summon another, but the problem was that the one being summoned could identify the other devil and could if he wished to, deny the calling.
In this case, if what Grayfia said about Jaden was true, there was no reason to believe that he would answer the call.
Hearing her doubts, the maid answered.
"Yes, I think that if Sona-sama is the one who calls him, he will answer," she said. Seeing her skeptical eyes, she explained. "Jaden-sama indeed refuses to deal with other devils, including most of his friends, like me or Sirzechs-sama. All except one," she said.
Sona's eyebrow rose in curiosity.
"Who..." she started saying before a look of realization crossed her face. "Let me guess, my sister?" She said with an exasperated voice.
"Correct," said Grayfia. "The only one who kept insisting on seeing him was Serafall-sama, and after some time Jaden-sama agreed to meet her. To this day, she is the only one of us five that he is still friends with," she said with an odd voice.
The way Grayfia talked may seem detached, but Rias could see that the relation between Serafall-sama and Jaden botter her. Why that was, she couldn't guess, but it seemed that there was something between Grayfia and Jaden. She wondered what.
While she was having these thoughts, Grayfia kept speaking.
"Once Jaden-sama senses your call, he will know that you are not Serafall-sama, but he'll come nonetheless, to make sure nothing happened to her," she said to them.
Sona seemed to think about her words before looking at Rias and asking for her input.
"I don't have a problem with this plan. Besides, anything will be better than having Riser here," she said with a scowl on her face.
Hearing the words of her friend, Sona looked at Grayfia and nodded her head.
"Very well, I will begin the summoning," she said as she began drawing the symbol on the floor.
While the Sitri heiress began to work, Rias talked to the maid.
"Is there anything more that we need to know about Jaden before we summon him here?" She asked Grayfia.
Grayfia seemed to think for a few seconds before answering.
"Well, you should start preparing yourself to accommodate a large number of people," she said to the redhead.
Rias gave her a curious look.
"Why, because of his peerage?" she asked.
It was pretty common for the peerage to follow the king wherever they went, but she didn't understand the need to mention it.
She and Sona may not have overseen the town as they expected, or so they say, but they were not that incompetent.
"Yes for that..." Grafia responded. "And because that, according to rumors, his peerage has an... unusual number of people," she said.
"What do you mean?" Rias asked.
A complete peerage could have a maximum number of sixteen members and a minimum of six, and an incomplete one, a number between one and fifteen. The numbers could vary between those extremes but that was it. So she didn't see what Grayfia could be referring to.
"I don't know any specific, so it will be better to wait for him to come so he can inform us," Grayfia said. "Oh and his peerage is probably made up entirely of women," she said.
Rias scowled at her words. So much for having them vouch for his character.
"Great, another womanizer," she muttered.
"Do we have to take precautions concerning him targeting the students?" Sona asked, having already finished drawing the summoning symbol.
Grayfia's lips twitched at Sona's question.
"You don't have to worry about that. None of the students in this school, including the people in this room, are his type," she said.
Rias and Sona looked surprised.
"Is he gay?" Asked Rias.
Is rare for a devil to be homosexual but it could happen.
"No," Grayfia replied with amusement in her voice. "It's just that none of you are the type of woman he's usually attracted to," she said.
More than one face look a little offended at her words. They were devils and vanity flowed in their veins.
"Ufufufu, really?" Asked Akeno. She was one of the most beautiful girls in the room and while she wasn't looking for a boyfriend, that didn't mean that she liked the fact that one man didn't find her attractive. "Then what kind of women does he like?" she asked.
While she asked those words, the summoning circle started to activate.
Light began to come out of the symbol on the floor, filling the room with its radiance, which was strange because it wasn't supposed to glow so much.
Shifting her eyes to the circle, Grayfia responded.
"Jaden-sama's lovers had always been female warriors," she simply said.
From the summoning circle emerged an extremely handsome and elegant individual who seemed to be little more than 1,90 mt tall and to be in his early 20s. He has shoulder-length black hair, fair skin and unique golden eyes. He wore a black suit, a dark dress shirt and a black tie.
On his shoulders sat a black cat with golden eyes who, just like her owner, observed the room and its inhabitants.
Jaden looked at the students with piercing eyes, lingering on the two heiresses for a few moments, until he reached Grayfia.
They looked at each other for a few seconds before he said.
"Hello Grayfia," he said with a steady, lower-pitched voice. "It has been a very long time. How have you been?" Jaden asked her.
Grayfia made a curtsey and responded.
"Good evening Jaden-sama, it is a pleasure to see you again," she said, making him grimace at her words. "I have been fine, thank you for asking," Grayfia said.
The occupants of the room could see that her words bothered him, but they didn't know why.
Jaden observed the maid for a few more seconds before looking at Sona.
"Hello, Sitri," he said to Sona in a gentle voice. "I am Jaden Malphas, heir of the Malphas clan. Are you the one who called me?" he asked her.
Sona did a curtsey and responded.
"Greetings, Heir Malphas. I am Sona Sitri, heiress of the Sitri clan. Nice to meet you," she said to him in a neutral voice. "I am indeed, the one who summoned you," she said.
He looked at her for a moment before giving her a warm smile.
"So Sera was right, you did end up growing up into a beautiful young woman," she said, making her blush and some of the people in the room laughed a little at her reaction.
Most people tend to compliment her intelligence instead of her appearance. Rias was the one who was always getting those types of praise, not her.
She would never say it out loud, but it felt nice to be the one getting called pretty, for once.
She heard a cough beside her and she saw that Rias was giving her an amused look.
Clearing her throat she said.
"Forgive me Malphas-sama, but your words implied that we have met before, yet I don't think that we have ever met," she said.
Giving her an amused smile, he responded.
"Oh we have," he said. "I remember that I was having breakfast with my peerage when your sister entered the room all exited, carrying a baby in her arms, yelling to everyone in the room that this was her baby sister and that she was gonna be the most beautiful girl in the world and that she was gonna love you and take care of you and that when you grow up, the two of you were gonna marry and have a family together," Jaden said, making Sona blushed more and more with every word he said. By the time Jaden finished her face turned crimson red. She was gonna have a serious discussion with her sister the next time she saw her
Seeing the state of her friend, Rias decided to intervene.
"Greetings Malphas-sama, I am Rias Gremory, heiress of the Gremory clan," she said, giving him a friendly smile, "Sona and I call you because we need your help," the redhead said.
He gave her a look of recognition before saying.
"If you dye your hair and use contact lenses, you could pass as your mother's twin," he said. "Tell me, how is the Tomato?" he asked.
'Tomato?' She thought. 'What is he talking about?'
While she was having those thoughts, she heard Grayfia say.
"Jaden-sama," she said with a reprimanded voice. "Please refrain from talking about Sirzechs-sama that way," she said, making the rest of the occupants of the room gasped at his words. "He is the Satan Lucifer, so speak about him with more respect," Grayfia said.
He rolled his eyes at her words.
"Oh, I am sorry," he said sarcastically. "Let me rephrase it. How is Tomato-sama?" He said, making Grayfia look at him with cold eyes and the rest of the room choke at his words. All of them except Rias, who was trying, and failing, to control her laugh.
She had never met someone who talked about Sirzechs that way. All the devils were always talking about her brother with the utmost respect. It was a bit tiring and boring after a while.
Hearing someone talk about him that way. With fondness and playfulness at the same time...
It was funny and a bit refreshing. At least to Rias, that is.
The rest of the room seemed baffled and a little insulted hearing someone talk about the respected and all-powerful Satan Lucifer that way.
Specially Grayfia.
"Jaden-sama!" She began to say but was interrupted by Jaden.
"Grayfia, if Sirzechs had a problem with how I addressed him, he would have said something centuries ago," he said calmly to Grayfia, but judging by her stern face, with little effect. "Now that we have fulfilled all the boring pleasantries, can someone tell me why I have been called here?" he said to the rest of the room.
Grayfia, still upset about his early words, took a step forward and said.
"Jaden-sama," she said, "In the name of the Gremory and Sitri Clans, I have been given the task of asking for a request in their names," she solemnly said.
Jaden, seemingly displeased at her words, said.
"You have got to be kidding me. You call me for a favor?" He said astonished, as if he couldn't believe her words.
"Yes, Jaden-sama," she said. "The Clan Grem..." she stopped talking when Jaden held his hand up in an imperious gesture that silenced her.
"Stop," he said. He looked her in the eyes before letting a sight escape his lips and said. "Grayfia, I am willing to hear what you have to say, but not when you are like this," he said, gesturing with his hand at Grayfia.
She narrowed her eyes and said, "What you are referring to?" she asked with a stern voice.
With an equally stern voice, he said.
"You know what I am talking about," he said. "I will not gonna talk to Grayfia Lucifuge, the maid of Sirzechs," he said before moving his hand in a wave gesture and transforming Grayfia's costume.
Gonne was the maid's clothes and in its place was a more normal yet still striking outfit. Her outfit was a black shirt with golden-caramel accents at the edges of the shirt and spread horizontally near the bottom, with two light golden trims going down the shirt; and the shirt split slightly above her stomach, exposing her midriff. Around her neck and shoulders was a long, cyan scarf made from light material that reached her hips. Her jeans were blue, with a white outline at the top.
She looked down at herself before yelling at him, surprising the rest of the devils.
"Jaden-sama!" she said, brooking the decorum. "I am here working as a representative of two noble houses and that was my uniform for work!" she said loudly before calming herself and telling him in a more civility tone of voice. "You have no right to replace it with these clothes," she said gesturing at her body.
"I don't care," he simply said, enraging her once more. "I am willing to talk to Grayfia Lucifuge, Lady of the Lucifuge Clan, Commander of the fifth Army Corp of the Anti-Satan Alliance and the woman I once..." he hesitates for a moment before saying. "The woman I once called a friend. I will talk to that woman, not the maid of House Gremory," he finished saying.
Grayfia just kept looking Jaden in the eyes without saying anything.
Silence filled the room. The young devils looked from Jaden to Grayfia, waiting for one of them to break the quietness.
Finally, Grayfia released a sigh and said.
"Why do you always have to make everything so complicated Jaden," she said, surprising the young devils, especially Rias.
Grayfia was always so strict and serious when working. She never broke her 'devoted maid' character when she was on the job. Not even for her husband, Sirzechs. But she did it for this guy.
"There she is," he said, smiling. "How have you been? Sera told me that you gave birth to a son a couple of years ago" He asked her, more relaxed.
"I have been fine, thanks for asking; and yes, I have a son, Millicas," she said, showing him a couple of pictures that she got from... somewhere.
Jaden smiled at seeing the pictures.
"Cute kid," he said. "He has Sirzechs's hair but your face and eyes," she commented.
"Yes, he is. My cute, little devil," Grayfia said, seeing the photo with fondness in her eyes. "And what about you? When are you gonna settle down and have a family" she asked him. "You know, if you stop being stubborn and give your mother a grandchild, she will finally let you become the Head of the Malphas Clan," she said with a playful tone of voice.
Jaden let an exasperated sigh.
"I have told her that I am not ready to be a father, but she is really persistent," Jaden said.
Grayfia covered her mouth with her hand, trying to hide her laugh.
"Not for a lack of trying, I am sure," she said amused. "If the rumors about the size of your peerage are true, you have more than enough volunteers for the role of mother," Grayfia said.
Jaden narrowed his eyes at her words.
"Only rumors, I hope," he said with a tense tone of voice. "The only people that know about my peerage are my mother and Sera," Jaden said with narrowed eyes.
Grayfia waved her hand in a negative gesture.
"Don't worry, nobody has told us anything, it is just that you have been seen with a... great number of people around you. That and Serafall is a terrible liar," Grayfia said, putting him at ease.
The rest of the devils are concentrated on listening to the conversation between the two older devils.
It was unusual to see the Queen of Lucifer talking to another devil as if they were equals. More than that, like they were friends.
"As much as I enjoy talking with you," Jaden said. "I think that it is time that you tell me why you call me, knowing that I don't like to get involved in devil's affairs," he said.
Grayfia gave him a sad smile and said.
"You are right," she said. "The head of the Gremory and Sitri would like it if you could move into Kudo, Japan, and supervise the two young heiresses for the foreseeable future," she said.
He looked at her for a moment in silence before saying.
"And why, prayed tell, will I do something like that?" He asked her with a neutral tone. "After all, besides I having no reason to do it, there has to be someone else willing to take the job," he said.
"Actually, there is another option besides you, but..." she looked at the two heiresses. "They will prefer not having said devil in their territory," Grayfia explained.
"I see," he responded also looking at the two heiresses before saying. "But that still doesn't tell me why I should help them. I don't know either of them and, as I say, I don't like to get involved in devils' affairs," he repeated.
Say heiresses were starting to get nervous. It didn't look like Jaden was willing to help them, and if he didn't do it, then they would have Riser as a supervisor and that was the last thing they wanted.
"Please Malphas-sama!" Rias intervened. "I will be eternally grateful if you help us, so please" she begged him.
"First..." Jaden says. "Call me Jaden, I am not into all the formalities crap as most of the nobles usually are," she said. "And second, we are devils and selfishness is in our nature. I don't help people without a good reason just because they ask," he said.
Rias didn't know how to respond to that. It was true, she didn't have anything that she could give or barter with. He, like her, was the heir of a noble Clan and, if Grayfia was to be believed, an extraordinarily powerful devil.
No, there had to be some way to convince him.
"Is there nothing that I can offer you to convince you?" She asked, anxious.
He opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted.
"Jaden," Grayfia said. "May I remind you that you have a debt to house Gremory?" She asked. "A debt that house Gremory is collecting now," she said, decisively.
Jaden put on an annoyed face.
"Really? You are gonna collect that debt now?" He said in an irritated voice.
"Yes," she simply responded.
He narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
"Does that old bastard have anything to do with this?" He asked with a tense voice.
"No," she responded with an equally tense voice. "This is a simple request for help from two allied clans," Grayfia said.
"Better not be," he said with a serious face. "I have a busy life and I would hate to have it interrupted to help that bastard."
Grayfia let out a sigh and said.
"Honestly Jaden, he doesn't have anything to do with this," she responded. "And besides..." she continued. "What busy life are you talking about? You and your peerage are probably the most lethal mercenaries the supernatural world could get..." she said surprising the younger devils. "But you do it as a hobby more than a necessity and you are the one who decided what contract to take, so don't come to tell me that you have some big responsibilities awaiting you at home, because we both know that is not true," she said exasperated.
Jaden made an aggravated face at her words.
"What, you will prefer that I do like you five, and make a living of kneeling before that old bastard and bending over at his wimps?" He said sarcastically, causing her to close her fist in rage. "Oh, I am sorry," he said continuing with his tirade. "I forgot, only four of you do that. You prefer to put on a maid custom and act all meek and docile in front of all the underworld, including some of the guys who were our enemies and killed our friends during the war, instead of ascending to your rightful place as Head of the Lucifuge Clan," Jaden said mocking.
The younger devils were astounded. They had never heard someone talk that way about Grayfia and the four Satan.
"What the hell would you know about our duties when all you have ever done is run from yours?" Grayfia said angrily, poking him in the chest. "You were the one who was supposed to be the Satan Asmodeus, not Falbium!" She yelled, making the rest of the devils except Jaden gasped at the revelation. "You were the one who was supposed to lead our armies! Instead, you decided to run from your responsibilities, ran from us, your friends, and spend all these years doing absolutely nothing for the devil race, nothing in the memory of all the friends that we lost in the war!" she reproached him.
"You know nothing about my life or what I have been doing all this time!" He yelled.
Grayfia scowls at his words.
"Kill, fuck, repeat. Do I forget anything?" she asked rhetorically.
"Better that than have to kiss the ass of a bunch of traitors and murders!" Jaden said, starting to let loose his demonic energy. Except that it didn't look like demonic energy at all. It was pure, golden light. Rias had never seen demonic energy of that color. If she didn't know any better, she could have sworn that it was holly energy.
Grayfia started to do the same, making hers clashed with his.
The rest of the room starts to freak out. If those two started a fight here, all of them, along with the rest of the country would probably disappear.
"Rias," said Sona. "We have to do something, if those two start fighting, we will all die," she said.
"What do you suggest we do?!" She asked, desperately. "I doubt that either of them will listen to anything we say!" she said.
Meanwhile, the two older devils continued shouting at each other.
"You know what? It is probably best that you didn't become a Satan," Grayfia says bitterly. "If you did, we would probably be still at war, or extinct, instead of enjoying the peace that we have nowadays," she said.
"No, we wouldn't! If you all had backed me up, we could have gotten rid of the filth that betrayed us and cost us countless friends!" Jaden said, clearly agitated.
"And there he is," Grayfia said, smirking. "There is the petulant child that I once met, thinking that all the problems can be solved with a sword instead of a pen," she said.
"What problem have you solved?" he asked. "Yeah, we are not at war but that doesn't mean we have peace," Jaden stated. "The same kind of old bastards that rule over us once are governing now from the shadows. They took Ajuka's invention, the hope for the Devil race, and they transformed it into a slave collar. Oh, and let us not forget all the low and medium-class devils that they abused daily, but as they are not part of the devil nobility, they don't matter, right?" Jaden said bitterly.
Grayfia was getting angrier and angrier at every word he said.
"And I am no longer a child," he said with a smirk. "You were the one who made me a man, remember?" He said, making her blush and the rest of the room widened their eyes at his words.
That had to be a lie. Every devil knew of the story of how Grayfia and Sirzechs fell in love during the war. They had books and movies about them, for Satan's sake!
Jaden closed his eyes and raised his head to the ceiling as if listening to something. He stayed silent for a few seconds before showing a pleasing smile.
"I can still feel my mark on your body, even after all these years," he said, opening his eyes and smirking at her blush, confusing the others. 'Mark'? What was he talking about? "After all, I too was the one who made you a wom..."
"Enough!" She yelled, scaring the other devils as she let her demonic energy fill the room. All of them, except Jaden, who continued smirking at her.
"We haven't called you here to talk about the past," she said, with fury in her voice. "We call you to make a request that could finally clear all debs between you and the Gremory Clan. Do you accept the request?" She asked.
He remained quiet, clearly thinking about the proposal.
Rias was really nervous, hopi- no, wishing that he accepted the deal. Even after his discussion with Grayfia, she still thought that it would be better to have him as a supervisor instead of Riser.
Besides, if he stays, she could find out more about his relationship with Grayfia and the other Satans.
Finally, after a few minutes of silence, he responded.
"Alright," he said, making Rias almost cry in joy. "I accept the deal, but I will need a few days to sort my affairs in order before moving here," Jaden told Grayfia.
"How many days?" she asked, already more calm.
"Two days should suffice," he said. "In the meantime, I will leave one of my Knights and Bishops to start preparing everything for my stay here," Jaden said.
Grayfia nodded at his words, before transforming her clothes once again into a maid outfit. Her face returned to the neutral expression that she always had when she was working.
Jaden made a displeased face, clearly annoyed to see her in that outfit.
She then bowed to him and said.
"Jaden-sama, in the name of the Gremory and Sitri clan, we thank you and hope that you and Rias-sama and Sona-sama can work well together," she said with a formal voice.
Jaden calmly started walking toward her as he said.
"Grayfia."
She slowly raised her head.
"Yes, Jaden-sam..." she began asking until she saw how close the two of them were.
Jaden gently cupped her face with one hand, making her eyes widen.
"Even after all that has happened between you, me, and the rest of our friends..." he said, lovingly caressing her face. Grayfia tried to maintain her neutral face but it started to crumble with every gentle touch. "It's really good to see you, and I am happy that you find happiness after that damn war," he said with a fond voice.
Grayfia's neutral expression finally collapsed as a loving smile appeared on her face.
"Idiot," she said as a tear fell from one of her eyes.
He returned the smile before slowly disappearing.
Silence filled the room, as nobody dared to break the atmosphere that reigns at that moment.
That is, until a certain redhead said.
"Ooooh, Grayfiaaaaa," Rias said to the maid, her eyes narrowed. "I think that you have some explanation to do," she said.
Hope you like it.