The Chaos that consumes the world
XI
It was weird that the woman had gone from looking ill and on the verge of death in the arms of Romani not long ago and now she was back up and looking ready to pull out his spine or something if he so much as looked at her wrong.
That being said, she wasn't even the weirdest thing in the room.
No, that belonged to the literal Fallen Angel who was apparently the same rank as the guy who everyone had been worried about in the first place who was now apparently dead and gone.
And the person who killed him might have been a thousand year old monster man who now wanted to eat him - and possibly Saji - because they both had dragons or something in their bodies.
He wasn't all that familiar with who…Vi-Vitran?
Vittryina?
Whatever their name was, they were a dragon as well but they were a series of different Sacred Gears or something? He didn't really absorb all the information that they were speaking and they said they would explain later. That being if he survived to later and he wasn't just talking about the zoo flasher.
Buchou had sent him a look that was a mixture of frustration and exasperation.
And then told him that she was relieved he was alright but they would be having words later about his reckless actions which had jeopardised his safety. He'd tried his best to divert attention away from Romani as well but the man hadn't taken that sitting down and all but blurted out that he was the one who wanted to go in and Issei didn't want him to go in alone.
Which turned into a blame game over who was responsible for it all until they were silenced and told to drop the matter.
But all of that led them to the here and now.
Issei kept his eyes moving between the Fallen Angel and the Exorcists, in no real mood to trust either of them. He wasn't sure which of the two he was less inclined to be around, sure the Fallen Angel lady had been polite but he still remembered what had happened the last time he met with Fallen Angels.
Raynare had been polite as well.
At the very least with the exorcists, he didn't need to worry about them tricking or lying to his face. They had outright told him how they felt about the situation but that didn't mean he liked them for that either.
Or they way they had made Asia look seconds away from having a panic attack each time one of them so much as glance in her direction.
On the topic of the Fallen Angel however, he noticed that they were overly familiar with both Romani and Leona. Which implied that they had met before, but he didn't imagine it being after the whole revelation thing either before Romani looked downright shocked the first time they went through all of this.
Which meant they must have met years ago or something.
At any rate, even after all the Fallen business with Asia, Issei noticed that Romani was still comfortable around the Penemue woman as though there was nothing off about her at all.
It was…it made him feel a little odd.
He trusted Romani but he wasn't sure he trusted being around the Fallen Angel, clearly he wasn't alone as Akeno had been glaring at her non-stop like she was trying to shoot laser beams from her eyes and melt them or something. There had to be something but even that felt out of place to him.
Akeno might have been a bit sadistic - which hadn't been that big of a surprise to actually learn - but she never seemed outwardly malicious until now.
It was a wonder that this house was still standing in the first place.
Whatever the case, everyone seemed to be talking about something that he wasn't really following along with. He was sure that they mentioned some of the big leaders or something at one point or another but most of it had flown over his head.
No, his real focus was on Kiba.
The blonde teen had moved to the front of the house and stared out the window and hadn't moved from that spot, all but turning into a statue.
Issei's feet carried him to his fellow devil before he really knew what he was doing, coming up next to them and slotting his hands into his pockets. Neither one of them said a single word as they gazed out into the street.
It was actually rather awkward, all things considered, especially as he chanced a look at the reflection of Kiba's face and saw it was void of anything. More like a mask than an actual face. It only lasted until the eyes of Kiba flickered down and met him through the reflection, the two stared at one another for only a moment before he broke away from the gaze.
"...Buchou's angry with me."
Kiba made a small noise, nodding their head up and down. "No more than they are angry with me…I suppose you really didn't want me to be the one to do the most reckless thing of the night, did you?"
Issei felt his lips pull up for a half second. "I did tell you, it's better for me to be acting like the idiot…at least it's expected for me to do something stupid. Makes everything more comfortable and all of that."
"I don't think that makes it any better."
"...Yeah, probably not." His hand moved up, rubbing at the side of his neck as a breath escaped him. "Must be a little bit awkward being in the same room as them, huh? I'd feel like crap if I was in the same room as the woman who punked my ass as well."
The brows of Kiba pinched ever so slightly. "It…That seems like a rather bewildering thing for you to bring up now of all times, doesn't it?"
"A little, yeah." He actually regretted saying it the second it came out of his mouth, but it was the only thing that he could think of for why Kiba was acting the way that he was. Unless he'd missed the mark entirely, he'd wanted to get into the building and…
Something clicked in his mind.
"...There was a person you wanted to get, wasn't there?"
Kiba didn't respond, not with words at least, but the sudden huff which escaped them and the rather sour look upon their face told him all he really needed to know about the situation. There had probably been someone there that Kiba was after but they were now dead, which robbed him of the chance of getting them.
Hell, he'd been willing to fight a super exorcist over the chance of getting to them so they must have been really eager, or super pissed. Reckless enough that they were throwing themselves into danger at any rate.
"Sorry that you…uhm…" He trailed off, floundering a little as he struggled to find the right words.
What was he really supposed to say in this situation?
A sigh from Kiba drew his focus, the blonde brought up a hand and rubbed at their face. "Don't apologise for it, Issei-kun…it is better this way. They aren't around to cloud my judgement anymore and that means I can be more…more…I won't be as headstrong on the matter and…"
Their expression started to falter behind their hand, Issei could see enough through the gaps of their fingers.
"You really wanted them dead."
"Dead?" Kiba parroted the word back, barely above a whisper, their eyes met his own through the reflection with a burning chill behind them. He froze at the intensity of the gaze for only a second, Kiba dragged the hand down and revealed the ugly snarl that was now on his face. "Dead…I wanted them more than dead. I needed them to be more than dead. I needed to…I needed to destroy everything they had ever worked on."
Just like that, the fury vanished and was replaced with something cold.
"...But I wasn't even there when it happened. He's dead, his allies are dead, his headquarters are gone and…I wasn't even there to see it. My one chance to finally get justice for his crimes…and it was handed out by some…stranger."
Issei paused for a moment, a frown came to him before he turned to Kiba, raising up his right arm tentatively and then dropping it down onto the shoulder of the blonde in a comforting manner, even if his own expression betrayed his unease with the action.
Kiba turned their head, gazing first to the hand with a raised eyebrow and then towards him, the confusion remained. "...What are you doing?"
"...Trying to comfort you."
The other brow of Kiba shot up to join its counterpart, a slow but bewildered nod of the head came next from the knight. "Is that so…?"
Issei bit down on the embarrassment that threatened to flood across him, instead he growled out a little in indignation. "Shut up, man. I've never done something like this before so I'm trying my best here-"
"No, it's not-" Closing their eyes, Kiba turned their head from him and sighed. "It's not that. I appreciate what you're trying to do here, really I do but it's…"
They kept silent for a few seconds, then started to speak.
"We were all orphans, no parents, no guardians…no one to miss us." Their lips pulled into a bitter little smile. "Taken to a Church where the kindly Father Galilei promised to take care of us. All because we were born with something…either an innate talent for sword fencing in some cases or because we had Sacred Gears."
He felt his expression twist at the words of Kiba, shooting a small look in the direction of Asia for a moment and then back towards the blonde. He was noticing an unpleasant trend here that he wasn't really a fan of.
"...Valper was obsessed with Holy Swords, desperate to find a way to make it possible for anyone to wield them…" Kiba fell silent, then spat off to the side. "Stupid old fool was probably just annoyed that he couldn't hold on himself…a cold comfort that monster would never realise his dream."
Issei nodded along with the explanation.
"Day after day, week after week, he'd experiment on us." Kiba drew their lips thin, adjusting themselves somewhat. "Training, they called it. He and his colleagues were very clinical like that but I call it what it was. Torture. Pointless torture which amounted to nothing because they never did get any way to wield a Holy Sword…none of us could do something like that so they decided it would be easier to just dump the lot of us."
Issei got the impression they weren't talking about letting them go either, he felt as though his blood was boiling underneath his skin. His jaw clenched tightly as he stared at the side of Kiba's face with new understanding, and quite a bit of revolution aimed inwards as well.
He felt sick about his previous thoughts.
He thought this guy had an easy life?
"...I got out and they…" The voice of Kiba wavered for only a moment, a faint trickle of something in his eyes before taking in a breath, clearly burying his emotions once again. "...Buchou found me alone in the snow. A bleeding little child was on the verge of death and she offered me a place in her peerage…I suppose that puts us in the same camp, doesn't it?"
"...Shit camp, eh?"
Kiba snorted, a ghost of a smile on their lips. "Yes, perhaps not the best one to boast of…but I never forgot what it was that killed my…my friends. That man's obsession with Excalibur…all the pain and destruction that it caused so…I'm going to destroy them. All of them. For the sake of my friends who never made it out."
Their hands clenched into fists. "I don't care how long it takes…but I at least wanted the chance to kill that monster myself."
Issei couldn't think of anything he was supposed to say.
In fact, what could he even say?
From the sounds of things, the guy was a scumbag below even the most disgusting trash and Kiba had been dead set on killing them himself. However, it wasn't just them and they seemed to be looking to destroy everything related to them if possible.
However, just from looking at it, just from seeing how far they were willing to go.
"...Is this really alright?"
Kiba turned on him quickly, confusion on their face. "What?"
"I…I get you wanting to smash up Excalibur for what it did but…man, you mouthed off and could have gotten yourself killed over it." He replied, grimacing at the memory surfacing in his mind. Kiba getting absolutely manhandled like he was a chump and then just dumped at their feet. "Just…Buchou, Akeno-senpai, Koneko-chan…everyone, seeing you go so far as that just…"
Kiba grit their teeth, confusion replaced with determination. "It's not something you can understand-"
"You're right, it isn't." Issei accepted that, nodding his head up and down and earning a brief look of surprise. Probably from how quickly he acknowledged the point but he wasn't stupid, there was no way he could understand something like this. "But at the same time, I don't need to understand what you went through to tell you that there are people who care about you…Is it really worth getting yourself killed over it? Buchou would feel miserable, I'd feel like shit for not being there and-"
He cut himself short, turning his head to the side and looking down at the ground.
"...Even if you did smash up the Excalibur even more…what is it going to change? Who's to say they won't just repair it all over again?"
Kiba paused, then furrowed their brows.
"And if they do that, are you just going to go back out there and risk everything to smash it all over again? You…you've really got something here now. You have friends."
Issei pressed his hand right against the shoulder of Kiba. Saying these next words were going to take every ounce of will that he had inside of him, but he was certain that they needed to be said. Whether they worked or not in convincing Kiba to step back, he just wanted to say it. "I see you as a friend now and I don't want you to die."
"...I do not want to die either, Issei." Kiba whispered back to him, shaking their hand off their shoulder. "But how can I keep on living if I know that the thing which caused so many deaths, so much suffering, is still around in the world? How could they ever find peace if…"
The blonde trailed off, falling silent and seemingly unable to finish their sentence. Not that they really needed to.
But Issei knew what they meant.
Though he was curious as to what Romani would do at a time like this, what they would end up saying.
"...Do you think they'd find peace if they knew you were throwing everything away just for revenge?"
He met Kiba's glare without backing down, even if for a split second it looked as though they were actually going to punch him. Yet, just as quickly as the fire had burned it life in their eyes it was quickly stamped out, replaced instead by something cold. Their gaze turned away from him and back towards the window.
"...I'd like to be alone now, Issei."
Saying nothing, he nodded his head up and down while moving away from the devil.
It was a heavy conversation and it really felt like he needed to lie down.
He was in the remains of the kitchen when she caught him, naturally she'd waited until he was by himself but he figured she was going to come by eventually. It seemed as though she had something to say.
"You aren't surprised she's a Fallen Angel."
Romani looked towards the doorway, soon finding the source of the voice.
Akeno.
She stood just a few steps away from him and stared back with an expression he couldn't quite place. It looked far from pleasant but it didn't look hostile either.
As for her statement, he found that he couldn't deny it.
"No."
"You knew."
"...Yeah."
Akeno nodded her head once, her hands still by her side, then she spoke again in that same curt tone of voice. Void of her usual cordial nature. "How long?"
"...Probably the night I got injured, Leo told me that Penny was a Fallen Angel." He recalled it vividly, but it was difficult to remember separate instances back then. Everything just sort of blurred together at that period of time, putting one day after the next was rather troublesome. "Though it didn't really come back to me until just now, if I'm being honest with you."
They said nothing, at least not at first, they just continued to stare at him in silence for what felt like years. That same piercing look in those eyes like they were trying to see right through him, he met it head on with his own gaze. She was upset about something and he wasn't going to back down.
That was ultimately all that really mattered, even if this ended up with her just venting, it was best for her to do that rather than keep it all bottled up inside.
"...Is that why you asked me to spare that Fallen who attacked you?" She queried with a tilt of the head, voice still bland though now slightly accusing. "Because you remembered that you were friends with one of them? Maybe you could make friends with that one too?"
He took in a breath, leaning back into the remains of the fridge and thinning his lips, his shoulders dropped down. "It wasn't about whether I remembered something about Penny…like I said, it only just came back to me now that she wasn't human. It was more about you."
Their eyes narrowed after that comment. "Me."
"...I didn't want you to kill anyone."
"Anyone? Or just that th-"
"Akeno." He quietly interrupted her, she paused in her words before they could really start and stared back at him in silence. He took the lack of a response as a cue for him to continue. "I still see all of you as students, whatever else you say. I don't like seeing you get hurt, I don't like seeing you get into fights…and I don't want to see you killing people."
"I wasn't killing 'people'."
Her words brought a frown to his face but he didn't reply to her immediately, instead he folded his arms over his chest and exhaled. "I can see that you don't like Penny. I'm not going to ask why not, that isn't any of my business and it's clearly personal."
It was hard to tell if she was mollified with the answer or not, but she didn't say anything in response to it nor did she react.
"I've known Penny for years. Longer than I've known any of you and-"
Akeno jumped in. "And in all the years you've known her, she never once saw fit to reveal as vital as who she really was." he could see their scowl, even through the low lighting. "Content to string you along and feed you lie after lie about who she really was-"
"That's not fair." He responded back with a shake of the head. "Leona did the same thing-"
"She did it to protect you." Akeno dismissed quickly, shaking her head and waving a hand. "She did it because she thought she was keeping you safe from the true extent of the world and all the cruelty that came with it. That woman lied to you because it's what she is. It's what they do."
Forget personal, this was…it was rather sad to see her like this.
The sort of pain that only came from being really hurt.
He brought up his arm and gestured across in the direction of the other side of the house. "You know those exorcists would probably say the exact same thing about you if I asked them what they thought about Devils…and I would tell them that I just see a bunch of diligent, expressive, somewhat hard headed but well meaning youths. I don't see you as Devils or whatever else myth or history presents you as…I see you for the people you are. The people I know you can be when you grow up."
The smile that came on his lips was faint but genuine, he locked eyes with the teenager who went silent, still staring right back at him. "If you don't want to get to know her, then I can accept that. She's my friend and it would hurt me a little but…but I could accept that you don't like her…"
His brows pinched. "But is giving her a chance really that much of an ask?"
Akeno met his eyes for what felt like years.
Then they closed and her head shook from side to side. "Roman-sensei it is…you have a soft heart and I fear that it too easily allows others to manipulate." they opened up once again. "You mean well, I know this, but you don't know them like I do. You haven't seen the way they…"
A sigh.
"Given enough time, that woman will eventually let you down as well and she'll do it when it most matters because that's what they are." Akeno shrugged her shoulders, speaking as though what she was stating was nothing more than common sense, wholly uncaring to whatever he had to say on the subject. "They are uncaring liars. Maybe you've caught her on her good days…but those will eventually run out and I hope…I truly hope that it does not lead to something that will haunt you."
He slowly looked down towards the ground. "...Even if you say that, she's my friend. I care about her."
His head came back up.
"Like I care about all of you."
The smile that Akeno gave him was rather pitiful, like she was staring at something saddening. "You and Asia both…what a pair the two of you are."
It vanished.
"I won't trust her."
He figured that would be the answer.
"But I will trust that you would never purposefully do something to put us in danger."
A blink, he stepped away from his support and stared at the teenager, her hands moving around the clasp around in front of herself.
"And that is the best I will be able to do."
"...Then that is all I can ask from you." Even if he really wanted to ask more of her, but without knowing what happened to lead to this opinion, he knew he would end up stumbling into a minefield and probably step on every single landmine in his path.
Footsteps caught his ears, though it seemed Akeno noticed them long before he did as she didn't appear all that surprised by the sudden emergence of Leona behind them, nor did they so much as react when his wife spoke up.
"We're getting everyone together for a little meeting…" Leona trailed off after a moment, he watched their eyes flicker between himself and Akeno several times before they narrowed slightly. Not quite suspicious but definitely aware that something had happened between the two of them. "Do you need a bit longer to talk or are you ready?"
"I think we're fine now." Flashing her a comfortable smile, he walked forwards for a couple of steps before he slowed and glanced at the teenager. "Are we?"
"...As fine as we are going to get, this evening." Akeno replied smoothly, a disarming smile on their lips. Though it was only now he noticed just how easily it returned to her face and having seen her genuine emotions, he could tell that this one wasn't all that genuine. But at least they didn't appear all that hostile or agitated.
Not that he could tell.
"Hmph. That's probably more true than you realise." A quiet remark from Leona as she folded her arms, her own morbid smile present on their face, then jerking their head to the side. "In any case, we're meeting up in the living room now."
"We're headed away from this area and across town." Were the first words out of the mouth of Vlov from the moment Issei even stepped into the meeting, he didn't get a chance to get comfortable before they started speaking.
"To an abandoned factory. One that is far enough away from the populace of the town and can easily be repaired out of sight and without arising too many questions."
A brief pause, the eyes of the Devil swept across the room before they landed upon him. Issei felt himself gulp at the intensity behind the gaze before it tore itself away from him and moved onwards, now falling upon the Fallen Angel in the corner of the room. "My news of Lord Lucifer was received and he has informed me that he and Lady Levithan will be dispatching reinforcements to our location. They should be here within the next half an hour."
That…that didn't seem like that long, actually.
His brows pinched together but he held himself back from blurting out his actual thoughts. Obviously it made sense that they couldn't all camp out inside the house of Romani, but at the same time wouldn't it have been easier for them to go to the academy?
Didn't the club house have that teleport carved into the floor or something for direct passage from the underworld?
"Obviously I can't have Azazel dump a bunch of Fallen here." The Fallen spoke next, drawing his eyes onto her as she frowned. "So, for the time being, I'm all you're getting. Though he said something about another operative nearby who can be forwarded here…"
Her eyes briefly flickered towards himself and then in the direction of Buchou and Kaichou, a slight strain on their expression now. "Though it's mostly down to whether or not you want help from them. The operative was here for Kokabiel and has been hanging back ever since they became…a non-threat."
Wait a second.
"Aren't you here…wasn't that what you were here for?" That was sort of how she had introduced herself initially. But if that wasn't the case, then why was she here in the first place.
The Fallen paused for a moment, then sighed and shook their head from side to side. "I was aware some old friends were in trouble and stopped by. Call it me feeling guilty over not paying close enough attention to Kokabiel or me being protective. Point is that I'm here now though." a pause, their head came back and they raised a brow. "Unless you'd rather I leave."
"I would, yes." Buchou replied back without even missing a beat, a flat expression upon her face before she clicked her tongue. "But it seems that tonight, no one is going to get what they wanted. Least of all whatever monster is trying to hunt down my peerage. Now then, since we assume their target is Issei…we're going to use you as bait."
Issei nodded along with the explanation, it made a lot of-
His head froze, then whipped around to stare at Buchou, his brows shot up his forehead. "We're what?"
His voice came out as a squeak.
Buchou looked rather guilty about the reason before her face composed. "We're going to be right near you. The point being that there is little else we can conclude them being here for. So we shall draw them away from the town so that we can afford to use more power without the risk of harming bystanders."
Issei felt his shoulders drop a little, some of the earlier panic abated from his system. "Okay…yeah, that makes sense."
"It should obviously go without saying that we're going to turn that factory into the world's biggest bear trap." His head turned towards Mrs Archaman, the woman shot him a comforting smile as she waved her hand, almost as though she was trying to waft away his concerns. "Which is fitting, given that we're setting you up like the most attractive lump of cheese."
"...Wouldn't that be for a mouse trap though?"
"We're dealing with a big mouse." Wow, she didn't even look like she lost a single step there. Talk about confidence.
"On the chance that our reinforcements do not arrive before we are found by his individual, we will be tasked with delaying them until such a time as they arrive." Kaichou stepped forwards, adjusting her glasses as she did so, or rather removing them from their face and taking out a small cloth from their skirt pocket.
Wiping down the lenses as they continued to speak.
"Given that this individual seems to have demonstrated a degree of capability in magical matters and has strength enough to defeat a Cadre Class Fallen Angel, it should go without saying that this is not a fight in which any of you can afford to hold back…Though I would like to imagine we shall win."
They slotted the glasses back onto their face.
A pause from Kaichou came next, then her eyes turned onto the direction of the otherwise silent party.
The exorcists.
"I have been…assured that Agent Bow has something she can utilise against the individual which she claims can defeat them. Though she will require time to establish it."
Raising his brows, Issei turned his head in the direction of the woman and didn't even bother to keep his incredulity off his face. Especially since he had some very poignant memories of this person being cradled in the arms of Romani as the man practically dragged them to safety.
Then again, if she was taken by surprise and bitten by a Hydra of all things. Everyone had rammed home just how bad the bites were.
Though there was still something else that bothered him.
His eyes turned in the direction of Romani and Mrs Archaman, his brows pinched and then he looked towards Buchou. "What about those guys? If this place isn't safe then-"
"We're going with you." Mrs Archaman answered the question before Buchou could even open their mouth, he snapped his head back to the woman. Though he noticed immediately that despite her smile, she didn't look all that pleased with her own words. "At its current state, this house couldn't stop a regular old burglar. Until I have time, it's not going to serve anyone for anything so…we're going with you. Given that it is, ironically, the safest place."
"Not after you though. After Issei-senpai."
While she was right, he really wished that Koneko didn't have to sound so indifferent about it.
"Yes, but they have already found this street before and they know that you were heading in this direction once." Mrs Archaman didn't look put off in the least, bringing a hand up and gesturing to themselves. "And, quite frankly, if this man has even half the intelligence I dread them to have, then they would wish to eliminate any safe houses you could be at. Who knows how long they have been there so being with you is just as safe as not being with you…difference is that their focus wouldn't be all on us."
Fair enough then.
"So…when do we go then?" Issei raised his hand and asked.
"Right now." Buchou replied without so much as a blink.
Well, alright then.
All that said and done, the room started to break up as the others walked around and made their way in the direction of the others. Buchou was already working on the teleportation spell while the Vlov guy and Kaichou stood near her. Looking as though they were helping.
Movement in the corner of his eye, one of the exorcists broke away from the other two and made their way towards him with measured steps. The twin tailed girl who seemed to be something of an airhead, or that was the impression he got from her. But it was weird, he felt like he knew her from somewhere.
Could have been a trick of the mind though.
The girl, Irina he recalled, came to a stop next to him and opened her mouth, then paused and closed it again. Their lips rolled inwards and they closed their eyes. Lowering their head for a couple of seconds before bringing it back up.
Then she just started staring at him.
Raising a brow, Issei leaned back in the wake of the odd behaviour, keeping his gaze on the girl for a few moments before finally trusting himself to speak and not stick his whole foot in his mouth. "Do you need something?"
"...I just wanted to say that even in spite of everything that has happened to you…it is nice to see you again, Issei."
He blinked once.
Then twice.
"Again." Parroting the words back earned him a rather sad looking smile and a shake of the head, though it felt a little weird to him. They really did look like someone he met before but he couldn't place it. If there was one thing he was certain of it was that he would never forget a girl this pretty who knew who he was. "...We've met before then?"
"I don't blame you for not remembering me." They replied slowly, then let out a small laugh that sounded rather amused. "I did have shorter hair back then, but it wasn't nearly as cute as it is now."
Shorter hair?
His eyes roamed over the top of her head for a few moments and then back to her face. Squinting at her, he leaned a little closer before he grunted in thought. She really did look somewhat familiar. But if he imagined her with shorter hair and…
His mind stalled.
…Wait.
Dropping his gaze onto her chest, he stared long and hard before he used his mind's eye to do the impossible.
He imagined the girl being without breasts.
After performing that minor miracle of the mind, suddenly the picture became an awful lot clearer. Raising his head back up, he stared at her face before he brought up his free hand, pointing a single finger towards the ceiling before dropping it down.
"...Shidou."
She flashed a rather exuberate smile the second the name passed between his lips, rapidly nodding her head up and down before looking like she was going to try and hug him, only to pause at the sound of someone clearing their throat. With a nervous expression, Irina turned around and glanced over their shoulder.
Both Agent Bow and Xenovia stared at their colleague and himself with disapproving expressions, one of them being far colder than the other.
"Te-he." Scratching the side of her head, Irina took a step backwards away from him.
He still found himself reeling from the sudden revelation.
"...What the fuck is wrong with today?"
After everything he had gone through, this was the straw that broke the camel's back.
"And why do you have breasts!?"
Irina whipped her head around to him and stared at him like he was the one who was making a big deal out of nothing, and not the fact she had just shattered a mental picture in his mind.
"That's…what?" She sounded positively flabbergasted. "Since always! What is that supposed to mean?"
"You were definitely a boy!"
"No I wasn't!"
"Yes you were! I'd have known if you were a girl!"
"Evidently not." The dry remark pulled his eyes to the speaker, pointing towards them with a flair of irritation and a touch of embarrassment in his face. Not that it seemed to put even so much as a dent in the wry smirk of Mrs Archaman, who looked as though she was derriding a lot of amusement from his current situation.
At least Romani looked sympathetic, but they were keeping quiet.
"No! If you'd seen him - her - you'd have definitely thought they were a boy! They were literally-" He cut himself short, closing his eyes and dropping his shoulders. Of all the things for him to get upset about, it literally had to be something like this?
His eyes returned to Irina. "So…when you moved away, was that because…wait, were you always an exorcist even back then or-"
Irina pinched her brows. "No, it was just my dad who was an exorcist and we moved away back to England because of…reasons." a pause, they turned away and exhaled. "Sorry, I was a little surprised that you never spoke to me but I didn't think that you were under the impression I was a boy this whole time…I didn't even act like a boy!"
"That is such a load of baloney! You were definitely a tomboy!"
"Issei."
Buchou's voice fell upon him like a hammer upon an anvil, he paused at the tone and turned his eyes towards the teen. She gave him a sweet smile that looked only a little bit strained. "As touching as this reunion is…perhaps this isn't the best time for it? Especially given that it is probably a bit personal for the two of you."
Her comment brought him up short, then he slowly turned his head around the room and felt his cheeks start to heat up. It wasn't just the Archamans who were looking at him, it was everyone else in the room. Almost as though the entire world had stopped and stared at him, which meant they were also witnesses to his blunder when it came to discerning genders.
He would maintain that it wasn't his fault.
Something was wrong.
And that was without the fact that the signal for the Excalibur shards was currently buried underneath an entire building. He'd rushed over here the moment that his arm had started reacting to their presence once again and it was clear that there was more than one down there, however this wasn't the most opportune time to get them.
He felt his jaw clench as he stared at the rubble, slipping his hands into his pockets and falling back into the crowd.
He'd have to either wait for them to disperse or try to sneak around and dig through all of it. Though he could also disguise himself as a rescue worker and look through, that thought filled him with no small amount of shame. Especially because it would ultimately be nothing more than a deception.
Yet the Excalibur Shards were so close to him now and it was hardly as though he was going to be jumped by Devils here of all places.
However, that brought about another question.
Why exactly was this building nothing but rubble?
A confrontation between the Church and the Fallen was eliminated, they would not have left the Excalibur shards behind. Unless it was mutual destruction between the two of them, in which case it now made a great deal more sense. However, he found himself hesitant to believe something so convenient.
The Devils would have moved in by now and would have claimed the shards of the Excalibur long before he got here. It had been a surprise to learn they were still buried beneath all of that rubble. Setting aside the fact they might not have even known, something like this would not have just escaped their notice.
His eyes danced towards the direction of the ambulances that were still showing up, along with the firefighters who were digging through all of the rubble.
Bedivere grit his teeth and turned his head to the side.
It was something that Lancelot had done before, disguising himself was always a talent of his, much like his squire.
But…
He doubted there would even be survivors in a clash like this and even without that, the Excaliburs were much too dangerous for those who could not handle them. Some poor soul might accidentally stumble across them and pick them up without realising the danger, the damage they could inflict on themselves because of it wasn't worth the danger.
Yes, for the sake of protecting the rescue crews, he could justify his next actions.
With that in mind, he broke away from the crowd and moved further away from them. The mystic code provided to him by Jedidiah started to shimmer as he glanced at the direction of the uniforms worn by the responders. Once he was confident he was out of sight, his outfit shimmered and twisted.
A full head covering gas mask soon appeared to hide away his face as well, a slight tinted visor. A simple illusion that would not fool anyone who was aware of the magical world, but for the likes of these innocent bystanders, it would be more than enough. Moving around the next fire truck he closed in on the point of greatest focus for his arm.
The vibrations reached a critical point.
Then they panged again.
His head snapped up and turned ever so slightly, glancing at the limb as it almost felt as though it was pulling him away from the direction of the ruins and towards another location. The only other time it had done something like that was when the Excaliburs were in motion. But if that were the case, it would mean that the Church agents were still active or the Devils had taken some of the Holy Swords…
Or the Fallen were still around and planning who knows what with them.
Whatever the case, he would need to move fast before he lost the trail.
He would not fail now.
Not when he was so close.
Tracking them to this place had been easy, much too easy.
It would have taken an idiot not to realise what was going on here, they had lured him all the way out to the edge of the town where they would be far from prying eyes or interruptions from the local populace, the chosen area was big enough that they could have constructed a variety of simple little traps for him.
Not that they would work, but it was worth debating the possibility.
They would prove futile, each and every single one, and then he would claim what he had come here for in the first place.
He could afford to be a little reckless.
That being said, he kept a steady pace as he approached the front of the door. One of the large sheet metal entrances where he suspected they would get deliveries. A more direct route into the factory itself. His eyes closed as he focused some of his other senses.
They were camouflaging themselves quite well, clear evidence of a hastily constructed bounded field at play.
But it was, at the end of the day, a quick product. Unsuited for stopping one such as himself.
He moved, metal folded and gave way after but a single step as he pushed his way through into the warehouse itself, the skin on his body rippled and bubbled as he called forth some of his stronger beasts within the same span of time.
A wise move.
The world became a torrent of magical energy as a barrage of spells washed against him, some stronger than others and he could feel the hum of demonic energy, though he could not see it through the next barrage.
A mist crept through the air, a chill which turned the world into sub-zero temperatures.
His body opened up, the head of an armoured reptile charged forth and crashed into a barricade of magical energy, shattering it like thin glass and pushing right on through, it jumped from his body and into the fray of the battle, charging off as more of its brethren followed suit.
"Lightning!"
An eyebrow raised, he turned to the circle hovering right above his head as it sparkled.
The air hummed and then became charged, the lighting fell upon him in a split second and amounted to absolutely nothing. As expected, they were much too weak to prove to be any manner of threat to him.
The coat parted, a large bird burst out and rushed towards the-
A Devil that stunk of Fallen? How curious.
Not that it mattered, the bird slammed into them and carried them away into the ceiling faster than even they could react. He was holding nothing back now, only his finests of beasts would do to claim this prize.
The swarm surged forth from his body without end, a large clawed hand pulled itself from his chest and was then followed by another. Soon the body followed, the giant crocodile flung itself into battle-
Something slammed into his side, earning a light stumble from him and a frown on his face. He turned his gaze down and stared at the hole which had burned its way into his coat, shooting a look to where the attack had come from and narrowing his eyes. A snap of the fingers, the focus shifted and the armoured reptile he had first unleashed charged down his next target.
The Devil with red hair.
She used the power of destruction, a relative of the current Lucifer.
Another beast rushed outwards, the giant crab stomped free of his body and attacked with a thumping clicking noise. Each step shook the very foundations of the building they were standing within. Swinging an armoured claw down only to be countered from one of the actual threats, the Burial Agent survived.
The woman stayed silent as she slammed a punch directly into the head of the crab, a sound like the shattering of plates and then the armour folded like wet paper, the crab hurtled right past him and punched clean through the wall without stopping. He didn't hesitate for even a moment.
The snake rushed from his body and flew at the woman, she batted it away with a simple flick of the hand but was rather unaware of the true danger until the rhino came bursting out his chest and trampling her down into the ground-
"Ha!" A pulse of strong holy power, one of the divine constructs, the weapon struck the Rhino and reduced it to paste with a single swing.
His lips thinned and he folded his arms behind his back.
He released the unicorn into the battle.
A strong sensation approached him at high speeds, he turned to face it and brought up his arm to cover his face. A wall of ice struck him in the next second, his feet rooted themselves to the ground and kept him standing, it was the ice that broke first, shattering around his body as a shape burst out from under his shin.
Willing it upwards, his oily flesh rippled and stretched forwards, a talon burst out from beneath the surface of the skin like a spear and thrust towards the attacker. The Devil from earlier, bringing up their sword and catching the attack at point blank-
The space above the talon rippled, two sets of teeth sprung forth on either side to flank them-
A spin and a tugging sensation, the devil twisted and severed the mouths from his body-
Spears of light shattered against his body, he directed an eye to the ceiling and spotted the second Cadre forming yet another spear to attack him with. They were keeping a distance now, they knew he had the means of killing them with relative ease. That wasn't to say he was going to allow them to maintain that distance.
He swung outwards, rivers of black water spilled forth from his body as he spread the Reality Marble thinner, but it was more than enough as in the mere instant it splashed beneath the Fallen he called forth another.
Dozens of tentacles burst from the depths and swatted the Fallen out of the air before she could counter, they shrunk back as a single head rose out and clamped their jaws down around the leg of the woman. Then swung her down into the ground hard enough to break the floor, her body bounced twice before coming to a halt.
For only a second.
She was back in the air before he could capitalise on it.
It sounded like a simple plan at first, heck it was a plan so simple that even he could have followed along with it.
The guy walked right through the wall and then they unleashed everything that had on him, every single spell, everything. He'd even shot off a full powered dragon shot square into the face of the man and they didn't even look like they'd noticed at all.
They walked through it like they'd been chucking water at them and then just started throwing out all sorts of monsters without end.
His thoughts were driven from his mind as the wolf jumped him, pushing up down into the ground. Hands flew up and clasped at the jaws and kept them pried open, gritting his teeth and resisting the urge to gag from the rather foul breath that was being pelted into his face.
With a grunt, he pushed the head of the wolf aside and threw up a clumsy punch into the chin of the beast, it did enough to throw their weight off his body. Though it ducked away when he tried to kick it, only to surge forwards and try to grab at his legs.
Koneko kicking it in the ribs put an end to that, she kicked a lot harder than he did as well.
The wolf was sent skywards.
He flashed her a relieved smile-
An armoured claw caught her between its pincers and then slammed her into the ground, Issei blanched and then shot to his feet, letting out a bellowing cry as he launched himself at the giant scorpion, it hissed right back at him until he punched it in the…whatever it was, he was hesitant to call that a face.
Pulling his arm back and shaking his hand, it hissed and reared itself back once again, his eyes darted up to the stinger and threw himself into a roll. The hook-like point speared into the ground and tore itself free, launching itself again at him.
He dodged again, then grabbed hold of the stinger before it could pull it back.
The scorpion pulled against him in a bid to free itself from his grip, his eyes widened as he was yanked right off the ground, still holding onto the limb with his hands now in an unbreaking grip.
He prepared himself for being shaken around like a ragdoll.
The pull against him went dead, he dropped back to earth with a light grunt and rolled over to the side, the end of the tail still gripped in his hands, a quick glance revealed a single clean cut right above the bulb of the stinger, then his eyes shot to his rescuer.
Vlov swung the machete down with such force that Issei was sure that the guy turned the wind into a blade as well. They would have had to, given that the scorpion fell apart in the next instant, a clean line right down the middle of the creature.
Issei opened his mouth to say thanks-
A blur slammed into Vlov, carrying them both away and out of sight with only him being able to follow their movements from the sudden trail of devastation that was left behind. His head whipped to see a cloud of smoke from an explosion along with a mixture of snarls and grunts which sounded far from human.
Then his focus shifted elsewhere.
"Koneko-chan!" Still gripped in the claw of the scorpion, the girl looked rather strained as she pushed the pincers apart and rolled out onto the ground, hissing as she put a hand against her side and exhaled, her head turned to him and she shook it from side to side. "Are you alrigh-"
Whatever she said next was drowned out by a roar, a sound that would have been better suited for a jet engine.
He turned and then blanched.
Right before a fist that was larger than his whole body slammed into him like a freight train.
Everything went numb as he twisted through the air, a flight that felt as though it was never going to end.
Then it did, rather abruptly as well.
His body crashed into something that contoured to accommodate him, a weak gasp escaped his lips as he was granted a view of what had just hit him.
A very big gorilla.
A stream of water slammed into the gorilla, slamming it down into the ground and then wrapping around its body like a snake, trapping its arms by its side. The furry monster bellowed and writhed as it tried to free itself, then crackles of lightning shot through the water and carried on into the body.
The light show went on for what felt like hours-
"Shit!" With a gasp, he rolled to the side and grabbed whatever he had landed on - a filing cabinet - and brought it above his head before slamming it down into the lizard which had tried to sneak up on him.
Damn thing looked like a komodo dragon.
"Promotion: Rook!" He felt strength course through his body, pulling his leg back and swinging it forwards. Metal folded when his shin made contact, driving both the ruined cabinet and the lizard into the air and carted off into the distance with a crash.
Something sharp bit into his side.
The only time he could get out was enough to gasp in pain before he was blown off his feet, a shape like tree branches filled his vision as he was shoved painfully into solid brick and then right on through it, rolling across the ground before coming to a halt, coughing out on the ground and pressing a hand where he felt an injury.
His head turned, through the falling dust he could see the shadow of the head and the twin red eyes of his attacker.
It was a deer.
He'd been charged by a-
The deer turned away from him and then seemingly shot away, in the next instant Kiba appeared through the hole with his face caked in black goo and brandishing a large cleaver like weapon like Vlov, their eyes fell on him and without saying anything, they dragged him to his feet and ignored his gasp of pain.
He was bundled back out of the hole and into the fight once more.
Kiba slammed his sword into the ground, the second the tip hit the floor it was like something changed.
Ice spread across from the point of impact, long thin spines rocketed upwards and right into the body of the deer, piercing it at different points.
It twisted, shattering the prison and rearing up-
A blur slammed into it, his eyes caught up with the rest of him and he stared at Irina dragging her sword up and cutting the deer in half, then grabbing it by the antlers and pulling the top half away and tossing it haphazardly behind her.
A smile on her face and she was-
Streaks of light slammed into her and sent her punching through a wall, he snapped his head to the origin and saw that damned unicorn was back again. The horn glowed with light once more as the twin orbs fell upon him.
Roars and snarls filled the air once again, he dropped down and covered his head as something blasted over the top of him, barely catching a glimpse of the Fallen woman having a fist fight with some sort of a lion-goat hybrid before they were grabbed by a clawed arm and slammed into the ground.
Then a tentacle grabbed her and dragged her away into the distance.
He couldn't see anything of what was going-
Something shoved him hard out of the way, the earth tore itself open a second later where he had been standing.
A worm burst from the ground and slammed into Kiba, rising up until it punched clean through the ceiling and then falling back down towards him. Issei's eyes shot wide, he rolled out of the way and jumped, narrowly avoiding being crushed in the attack.
Pain lanced through his chest as something cracked into it faster than he could comprehend, it shot him backwards only for his flight to fall to a halt as something cold and wet clamped around his leg. His eyes tracked downwards and shot wide, his mouth opened to scream.
He never got the chance as he was moving before he could even draw in the breath to scream.
The tentacle smashed him into the ground and loosened its hold, he bounced who knew how many times before coming to a halt, staring dumbly at the ceiling and finding himself unable to feel anything from the neck down.
Thudding all around him turned to nothing more than muffled noises.
Another powerful one dropped his head to his side.
He stared at the vaguely humanoid shapes fighting.
The blue haired woman - Bow - punched the pale skinned man clean in the face only to be thrown out of the way by some sort of clawed limb. A wave of the hand and the man unleashed fire from his hands and stopped himself from being approached.
Someone with rust coloured hair landed down to avoid the flames-
A crack like thunder, the flames parted and something invisible slammed into the body and sent them ragdolling out of the way.
A light grip took hold of him, pulling him further and further from the fighting.
He jostled in the grip and was able to vaguely make out the shape of someone with blonde hair, his vision righted just enough that the features became clear. Saji loomed over him with one eye shut, blood crusted around the side of their face.
They opened their mouth to say something, he was sure they were going to.
Then a dark shape burst through their shoulder from behind, spraying Issei in the face with warmth before Saji was dragged away from him and out of sight, he didn't even see them move. They just vanished from him and he was dropped to the ground.
A groan escaped from his lips as he struggled to move, finding the strength from somewhere to push himself up onto his hands and turn a bleary gaze across the room. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion for him, his eyes never lingered on one fight for too long before they moved onto another.
Koneko being ganged up on by dogs-
Kaichou getting attacked by a giant snapping turtle-
The student council as a whole fighting some sort of giant frog who was spitting acid-
He blinked slowly and shook his head, furrowing his brows at the fighting around him.
Wait a second.
Why was he just lying on his ass?
He had to do something!
But…but what was he supposed to do?
He'd barely been able to fight off a single dog before Koneko saved his life! Right now he was pretty much just some dead weight-
[You said it.]
His head snapped around, trying to find the source of the voice.
Finding nothing.
"Wha-?"
[I'd watch it, if I were you.]
Something made the back of his hairs stand on end, he threw himself forwards into the ground. The ground behind him rumbled, debris rocketed over the top of his head, turning around and rolling onto his side, he stared dumbly at the shape of the reptilian lizard, it had a head like an arrow and the tail of a scorpion.
With a snarl, it pulled its head from the ground and focused on him with laser-like accuracy.
His lips peeled back, he reared upwards onto his legs and lowered himself down.
He wasn't being turned into somethings dinner tonight.
[I have no interest in becoming food either.]
He tuned out the voice and surged himself forwards, the lizard jumped at him with a roar.
They crashed into one another and yet he was just about able to remain on his feet, then a cry of pain escaped his lips as the jaws buried themselves into his shoulder, he wasn't sure how deep the fangs entered his body and he wasn't sure he cared much either.
All that really mattered was the fact his shoulder felt like it was on fire.
His arms closed around either side of the monster and then squeezed inwards, determined to keep it where it was. With the added strength of a rook, he felt himself starting to make some headway. Feeling the crushing embrace take effect, gritting his teeth as the writhing of the lizard turned more frantic, shaking its head while still biting down on him.
[Ha! Still hanging on, are you, brat? Not bad. Thought you'd have thrown it off by now.]
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
A desperate cry escaped his throat as he squeezed down with all his might, something gave way inside the body of the lizard as it went limp and suddenly stopped fighting him, though it was still biting his shoulder and its claws were moving, dragging themselves across his chest and tearing chunks out his shirt.
Warmth spilling down his front.
He loosened his hold and then shoved it off, blood sprayed from the fanged maw of the lizard as it hit the ground.
Issei rushed forwards, clasping the tail with his working arm and turning to the side, dragging it across and throwing it through the air. The body flew away from him and crashed through the side of the warehouse, presumably to somewhere outside.
He was shocked the roof hadn't collapsed on them yet.
[Give it time, this place ain't built for a fight like this.]
"Who the hell even are you?" He quietly growled to himself, turning his head and internally rolling his eyes as he watched the same deer from earlier - somehow in one piece again - stalk towards him with its head lowered.
[You really don't know? I guess brains only go so far with you…Suppose you aren't a total loss for a host though. You got guts at least.]
"If you aren't gonna do anything other than talk in my head-" He growled out, managing a single step before he collapsed onto one knee, his vision turning blurry as he pressed a hand to stem his bleeding shoulder.
He didn't even trust himself to look down at his chest, he was too scared for what it would look like.
[You're probably gonna be dead before any reinforcements arrive, you know. Good plan, but this guy is way out of your league.]
Issei could figure that was the case within seconds of seeing them.
It was also amazing that his last thoughts were going to be having an argument with himself. A buzz in his left arm brought his eyes to the unmoving limb, staring at the glowing jewel in the centre. Something about it attracted him now, for whatever reason, and he couldn't help but stare at-
…Ah.
Wait.
Didn't they say it contained the soul of…did that mean that-
[Got there in the end, did you? Probably the woman bringing it up. Yeah. I'm Ddraig. Right now you're the one thing that stands between me and being lunch for some zoo freak. So I'm gonna cut to the chase because I'm not interested in being part of a collection like this.]
Issei felt really faint, just barely nodding his head.
[I can probably help you out here. But there's gonna be a price for it. You in?]
At this point, what did he have to lose?
"...Yeah, sure."