Yo, so this story took second place in last month's poll, but then grew quite a bit. Still here we are. HOpe you all enjoy it, and the hints of upcoming events a sprinkle in liberally LOL.

This has been edited by Michael Duggan, Nad Destroyer, and Primordial Vortex has also given it a read through for me. Thank all three of them for their help, and I hope you all enjoy it.

Chapter 14: A Werewolf, a God, and a Priest Walk into a Bar…

Whatever anyone was going to say after the two Exorcists left the immediate area was left unsaid for at least a few minutes because other things took priority. Specifically, Koneko took Harry's priority as she rushed Harry the instant the two Exorcists left, unable to hold in her reaction any longer. Harry gave out a loud "Ooof!" as the short but currently armored Nekoshou slammed into his waist, taking Harry off his feet, as he hadn't attempted to set his feet before she slammed into him.

Before they had settled the armor around her disappeared, which was something of a relief to Harry, given that Koneko was now sitting on his waist. The Boosted Gear shifted into its normal gauntlet form on her arm as the girl hugged Harry tightly, muttering, "I'm sorry; I'm sorry," into his shoulder. "Sorry I let you fight that asshole on your own. Sorry I couldn't get back to help. Should've done better!"

Shaking his head with a wry smile, Harry sat up as he hugged her back, stroking her back and the top of her head with gentle fingers while the Nekoshou settled into his lap, her legs on either side of his. His wry smile widened as he felt her body, almost against her will, untense at his touch, a purr building up, but she kept it from appearing just yet despite his fingers working their magic on her little cat ears.

"I never expected you to come back, Koneko. I knew the moment you left, that you'd have other priorities. You, like Rias, had to keep your eyes on the main battle." He shrugged then, his smile turning somewhat vindictive for a second. "Besides, when you come right down to it, I wanted to personally eviscerate him for his attack on you. It's a little selfish of me, I know, that his attack on you mattered more than the rest, but there you go," Harry quipped, winking at her.

At that the last of Koneko's tension left her body, and her purr became quite audible to Harry's enhanced senses. However, things got a little awkward a second later as she took a deep breath through both her mouth and nose. Doing so, Koneko couldn't stop herself from breathing in Harry's smell. It was a deep, heady, earthy aroma, an exceptionally masculine smell, which invaded her senses.

Koneko couldn't stop it; her body started to move of its own accord, her waist starting to shift and drive back and forth, humping her core against Harry's waist without any input on the part of her brain. The heat within her built instantly, and her purr turned deeper, her eyes becoming half-lidded.

To his credit, Harry realized something was off almost instantly, and, despite the rather pleasurable feelings radiating out from his lower half at this kind of contact, he pushed Koneko away, holding her upper body away from his at arm's length. "Are you all right, Koneko?" he asked, his eyes drawn together as her lower half continued to try to hump against his. This was not something he expected from the younger girl.

Standing to one side, Rias had sent everyone else a ways off to let Koneko and Harry have their private moment, but she was close enough to see what was going on. As Koneko began to color red in mortification, Rias quickly moved over and, with a barely whispered word of power, teleported Koneko off of Harry and into the girls' dormitory on the clan's shared property. "Sorry about that, Harry," she said, shaking her head. "It looks as if someone has forgotten to take her medicine. Ooh, she is going to be so embarrassed it isn't even funny."

"What?" Harry asked, blinking. "What does medicine have to do with…"

"Ah, um, well… Nekoshou share many attributes with cats, of course, including some body issues that are not as obvious as their physical characteristics. And Koneko-chan's springtime has come again this year," Rias said, as delicately as she could. Koneko was going to be embarrassed enough without her being blunt about her condition with Harry, of all people. Even Akeno, who had also noticed some of what was happening, wasn't so cruel as to make things worse for the young Nekoshou.

Harry blinked, then let loose a sound that sounded as if he had a frog stuck in his throat. "Rah…wh… um…"

Rias nodded, touching him lightly on the cheek and then down to his jaw. "I have to say, I'm quite happy that you have such tremendous self-control, my love."

"You know I would never!" Harry started, looking affronted.

"I know, Harry," she said with a faint smile, leaning down to give him a light kiss on the forehead on his lightning bolt scar before standing back and helping him to his feet. "I know. But even so, a bodily reaction wouldn't have been anything most could've stopped, especially after a fight, when your blood is already pumping hotly."

"Yeah, no," Harry said, shuddering. That would've been the most awkward stiffy ever, of all time. Thank the stars that all the blood and dust around here has completely killed my sense of smell in human form. I don't know if I would have been able to control myself if I smelled someone in heat while in werewolf form.

With the awkward moment over, Harry and Rias had to turn to the serious side of things. She looked over at her family—minus Koneko, obviously—as well as at Sona and her peerage, and then around at their allies. "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm afraid that before we do anything else, we have to go around and gather the bodies. If we don't find them before this dimensional bubble pops, they will simply drop out in the matching area."

Everyone grimaced at that idea, and Husukai put it into words. "That is no fair way for those who died here to be treated." He looked around at the younger men and women around him, smacking his hands together. "Let us go and gather our dead, comrades, my fellow Senshi (warriors)." Montoya too nodded, and the two leaders turned away, organizing their people into search teams while also getting into contact with their remaining fellows.

The majority of those fellows were at Kuoh academy—or rather, the dimensional bubble's version—and were in no fair state to help. Indeed, there were far more wounded then those still combat capable, something only Rias, having been directing the overall battle, had understood until this point. This meant recovering the dead and, alas, their body parts, would be a long, emotionally arduous process.

As Harry turned to join this effort, though, Rias grabbed his shoulder, pulling him to a stop. "You realize that most of the people who died here were among the Onmyouji?"

"I know that," Harry said with a sigh. "They repaid our friendship and any kind of debt of honor they thought they owed us. Hell, they've put us badly in their debt. I realize, technically speaking, this area is part of Japan, but they had basically ceded it to you and Sona before I ever showed up. They didn't have to fight with us here, especially after the full strength of the attack became known. We, we owe them."

Breathing a sigh of relief that Harry understood that part, Rias nodded. "So we need to, to repay them somehow, to extend the communication between us, the understanding between us. And that has to come from you," she said, putting a special emphasis on the word 'understanding.'

Harry caught that and understood what she meant, but had to frown at the other aspect of what Rias had just said. "Why me?"

"Because you're one of them," Rias replied simply. "You're human, or, technically speaking, were, and are still counted among humanity, anyway," she corrected allowing a smile to flit across her face. "Sona and I are Devils. From the Onmyodo government's perspective, we're also interlopers, who, from a certain light, seem to have claimed a part of Sacred Nippon. Perhaps we could be seen as honored interlopers, but we are still outsiders. Trust me, I've made a study of the Onmyouji society since the New Year's ceremony we went to."

"But I'm a foreigner. How is that…"

"But you are human, as I said. And, Harry, you've stamped your personality on this in such a way that they can understand: in the wards we've put up under your direction. You, Harry, are just as much a leader here in Kuoh as we are. Furthermore, not to put too fine a point on it, you're a man. The Onmyodo are almost as male-dominated as the business world is here in Japan. Moreover, it's because of you that we have opened dialogues with them and with the Youkai Association. No, Harry", she said more softly, touching his cheek as she knew this went against how Harry really preferred to view himself. "It has to come from you."

Harry sighed, catching her hand with his and kissing her palm, looking Rias in the eyes. "I'd rather just be a father rather than anything else."

Rias smiled sadly as she leaned into Harry, her head against his shoulder as she felt his arms move around her, hugging her gently. "And I'd rather be head of my clan and a mother, but we can't always choose what hats we wear."

"No, we can't, can we?" Harry said with a sigh. "This attack, it was a hell of a lot bigger than any of us expected, but we still dealt with it. The wards, what we did there, the mix of magic that makes them so potent. The allies that we have created over time, starting with Yasaka and the Youkai Association and now the Onmyouji. We, we really can't just be parents or family or anything like that anymore, can we?"

Rias shook her head, and Harry sighed faintly. "How do you get me to agree to these things?"

"I don't," Rias replied honestly, leaning back and winking at him before leaning up and capturing his lips with hers as she whispered, "I just point things out and let your common sense do the rest. A soft sell, so to speak."

When they pulled back, Harry nodded at her, and Rias could see the new understanding, the new realization that he could no longer just be a father, teacher, lover, and occasional warrior sink in. That he once more had to assume a mantle of leadership, one that went beyond their extended family, or perhaps even beyond their little slice of earth here in Kuoh. He stared over her head in thought for a few moments while Rias observed his expression, smiling faintly at his intense look, pride in him filling her, as well as a renewed sense of love. He didn't want to do this, she knew, but she also knew that he would do it well regardless, and that made her love and respect him more.

Finally he looked down at her, his eyes smiling at her even as his lips formed into a small, grim line. "Leave it to me, love. I think I have just the thing. But can I borrow Akeno for a bit? And Suzaku? And I might have to ask you and Sona to prepare your own parts of this later."

"Certainly. As for Akeno and Suzaku, I believe they both went off that way," Rias said, pointing to the east of their current position.

Harry nodded, turned in that direction, and moved off, flying away through the air after the two Himejima women towards Kuoh Academy.

Nearby, Sona, who had arrived with her peerage on the heels of Vali's attack on Harry, had remained behind after sending the rest of her peerage off, coordinating the search efforts with Husukai and Montoya. Now Rias immediately moved over to help, also thanking their allies still present there for joining them. Montoya had left one of his fellow Monkey Youkai, and Husukai had left a young Shinsengumi, her arm in a sling, to help coordinate search efforts between their forces.

As she worked with them, Rias could see a growing sense of awe and shock in what they had done making its way through the two of them now that the battle was over, something she knew would be happening in practically all of their allies and, indeed, in many of the Devils and Clan Potter members themselves. No one had expected the sheer number of Fallen Angels right up until the moment it became too late for most of them to back out. They should have lost. A full legion of Fallen against less than three hundred mixed humanoids? They should have lost, or at the very least been forced to rely on Tiamat far more than they had.

But the wards had proved the tipping point, again and again coming into play. And further, the power of Sona, Rias, Harry, Tiamat, even Koneko and the rest, had proven to be more than enough to overwhelm the Fallen. It wouldn't have been if they had faced the Fallen Legion alone, but with their allies they had, and those allies knew it. They knew it and knew that they had been part of something amazing. They had lost people, friends, and even loved ones. But all of them knew they had died to stop even more people from dying in the future, and that was enough for now.

The search continued, moving out from the place where Harry and Kokabiel had had their battle. About fifteen minutes later word spread slowly to take all the dead to the Shinto temple in the west that was one of the five pillars of the ward system. The Shinsengumi and the Monkey Youkai Rias and Sona were working with left at that point to help further there.

This left the two Kings alone for a moment, and Sona slowly pulled off her glasses, wiping away at them with a piece of cloth for as she stared at her friend. "I am, of course, happy that we won and gleeful that we won in such a manner. But I'm also concerned. With this the Onmyodo government might be forced to choose a side or stand on its own, a fourth side, with the rest of the wizarding population of the world coming in with them, learning about the Three Factions and vice-versa. That could be dangerous, very dangerous."

"There is already a fourth side, Sona," Rias said with a sigh. "The Khaos Brigade, remember? Besides which, I think we've already formed our fifth power bloc, haven't we? Our two peerages, Harry and his family, and the Youkai Association. And now…the Onmyodo."

"But the Onmyodo don't have any formal agreement with us," Sona said, still looking worried even as she acknowledged Rias's points. "And I don't know if they have much love for us either. The Onmyouji will wake up from their isolation due to today's work, and the world will find that they are stronger than we gave them credit for, those who knew about them at all. But it is what they will do with that strength that worries me as much as the reaction from the Three Factions to that knowledge."

Rias, however, simply smiled at her friend, patting her gently on the shoulder. "Don't worry. Let Harry handle it; he's got a plan."

"And do you have any idea what the plan is?" Sona asked.

"Nope," the statuesque redhead said with a grin. "I just know I trust him to figure one out."

With that, they too left the area of the initial search effort, moving out to aid in carrying the dead and wondering what would happen from here on. "After all," Rias said during a lull as they moved on from one small battlefield to another, "it isn't just the Onmyouji but ourselves which will be put on the map by this day's work. An entire legion of Fallen not only defeated, not only beaten off, but annihilated? There are, as far as I know, only ten legions worth of Fallen to begin with, which mean they just lost a full tenth of their population."

"Admittedly, the Fallen don't really constitute a nation or anything so organized, but even so there will be repercussions for this amount of violence," Sona said, nodding to indicate that she too understood that number to be accurate. "We have created a power base here that is well beyond anything else on Earth. Oh, Rome, of course, with all of the holy magic contained therein, could be likened to it. And in Hell, perhaps the Grigori's position in Malebolge and the Congress of Clan's Basilica."

That edifice, which was designed somewhat like the Coliseum of Rome, was built on top of a giant citadel, a copy of the tower of Babylon. It was built, rumor said, over the resting place of the original Lucifer, the first Devil. The rather gaudy structure was built in the direct center of Hell and thrust up through three of Hell's levels. It was where meetings between the Devil clans occurred and where much of the bureaucracy that truly ran the Devil-controlled portions of Hell was housed. As such it was the central position of the Devils' government.

"But there is nothing else which the three factions are aware of that is as powerfully defended as Kuoh is now," Sona continued, thinking, And Rome is the only such position on Earth proper, something that might have been somewhat deliberately planned before this. That too could have interesting implications.

"I would argue that the wizarding world in Europe that Harry comes from would be the same," Rias replied with a slight shrug of her elbows.

"Perhaps defensively, considering that no one outside of those hidden wards of their can find even their more isolated places," Sona replied, having asked her sister to look into that very thing. To hear that even Serafall, who for all her silliness was just as skilled as she was powerful, could not find those wards let alone get through them, had been somewhat disturbing. "But offensively?"

Both heiresses looked at each other and then stopped on a nearby rooftop. There they reached out with their magical senses out past the bubble that they were still within to the real world beyond, feeling the wards already growing back to their original strength. "The wards we have helped to create here are like a giant slumbering dog," Sona said thoughtfully, looking at Rias with her eyes twinkling behind her glasses. "Tired but slowly regaining energy and getting ready to wake up again."

Rias giggled at that, but her giggle ended abruptly as the two of them moved over to a nearby building that had been destroyed utterly, where several Onmyouji were trying to pull bodies out of the rubble. "True, but even with them, we still lost people. We can never forget that."

Elsewhere, Husukai was also thinking about the wards and what they could mean, not only for the locals, but for himself and his fellow Onmyouji. Rias had been correct when she had said that the Onmyouji had not really fought because they thought they still owed Harry, Rias, and Akeno. Nor had they fought because they thought war against the Khaos Brigade might again spill over into their own world. No, they had fought because, while Harry, Rias and Sona might have claimed ownership of this land, this was still Japan. Still their land, and the Shinsengumi would sooner die to a man rather than see such as the Fallen take this land by force.

But it was already too late for that, in a way. Oh, they had certainly beaten off the Fallen Angels, but those wards, they implied a sense of ownership that was far beyond anything a conqueror could have done. The land itself had welcomed them on a magical level, and the Onmyodo would have to acknowledge that in some fashion.

And yet, and yet, if I have read Harry and Rias correctly, there might be more here for us. There might well be a future here, one our people need to be a part of. Or else we might be left behind by young Harry and his new power bloc, and that would never do. That need to progress was why the Onmyouji had always embraced the use of technology and could work a few wonders with it, although even with that, there had been little true change on the magical side of things. And even in comparison to that, even working with the non-magical government, this, this mixing of different magics, this mixing of people, it could be something great!

A moment later Momo found Husukai and relayed Harry's plans for a group funeral to him. He agreed to pass on word to the families of the dead, wondering if, perhaps, this could be what he was hoping for.

OOOOOOO

Arriving at the copy of Kuoh to look for Akeno and Suzaku, Harry found Asia outside near the football field. She had stayed in the gym the entire battle, healing wounded that had been teleported away by Rias during the battle, including the mortally wounded: men and women who should have died and would have without her ministrations. Indeed, at present there were a lot of those around the place, slapping backs and exchanging stories as soldiers would after a hard-fought battle.

All told, more than half of the surviving Youkai and Onmyouji owed Asia their lives. There were even some among the Devils who did: Tsubaki, Reya, and Kiba, who had been overcome near the end of the battle by a building collapsing under him at a most inopportune moment. All of them had been healed by Asia, and, to Harry's quiet astonishment, the quiet, gentle, former nun didn't even look tired.

Instead she looked mournful as she stared at the bodies of the gathered dead on the football field. Rias had begun to teleport them here before she had sensed someone blasting through the wards toward Harry's position, and a few others had already been delivered here since. But it was evident that Rias hadn't realized how many of the heretofore wounded were back to a hundred percent, or else these men and women would already have been ordered to join the ongoing efforts

Even as he watched, though, other people were arriving and putting them to work, but Harry left them to it, instead moving toward Asia. She was kneeling in front of the dead, clasping her hands together as she began to pray for them, her face tear-streaked.

She twitched as Harry knelt next to her, putting an arm around her shoulder and pulling her into a hug. She struggled for just a second, then turned and leaned into his shoulder, bawling her eyes out. "I, I should, I should have…" she sobbed incoherently. "I should've done more!"

"Hush lovey; you did all you could. Thinking like that, thinking you could always do more's well and good, but you couldn't have done any more than you already did. Don't blame yourself for something you couldn't control. No one here, not me, not Rias, not even Husukai or Montoya, would have asked you to do more than you did here. Darn it, I'm proud of you, Asia! You saved so many lives today. You did as much as anyone to turn the tide here. Think about all the lives you saved, not the ones who you never got a chance to," Harry murmured into Asia's hair, stroking her back gently with one hand while doing the same thing to the top of her head with the other.

He kept on repeating these and similar statements to the gentle girl for several minutes while, around him, the Onmyouji and Youkai looked on. Some came over and thanked Asia for her efforts, while others left to join the search efforts, and then Reya and Tsubaki came over too, murmuring their own thanks. Eventually Asia just fell asleep in Harry's arms, wrung out by the emotions of the battle, the number of horribly wounded people she had seen today, and the horror of her first full scale battle.

Lifting the girl in his arms, Harry carried her away to the ORC clubroom, conjuring a blanket and pillow for her. He stayed there for a time, just stroking her forehead and whispering the words, "Remember lovey, I'm proud of you; we're all proud of you," until he saw the frown on her face smooth away slightly.

Knowing that this would be the best he could get for now, Harry left her there for the moment and outside found Momo and Ruruko, having returned from some of their own search efforts, and suborned both of them. He sent Momo off on one errand, while asking the younger Ruruko, who was now looking rattled herself after coming down from the adrenaline rush of her first large scale battle, to watch over Asia.

With that done, he was grateful to see Yubelluna, Akeno, and Suzuku arriving, with the two Himejima ladies moving towards the gathered dead, and Yubelluna coming over the school's outer walls carrying two wounded Onmyouji. They had been trapped underneath some rubble while searching for their dead but had come through it miraculously unharmed.

As he gathered the other three to him with a hand wave, Harry noticed that one person he didn't see anywhere was the human form of Tiamat. Hmm… It looks as if my so-called familiar has decided to return to her forest. I'm not honestly happy with that. If she wants to keep our agreement, she needs to contribute more to our knowledge base, if nothing else. Still, there's time to talk to her after everything else has been seen to.

As they were moving towards him, he asked one of the Youkai, "Do your people have any burial rites you wish to see observed for these brave men and women?"

"Actually, there we and the Onmyouji are quite alike. We are both more Shinto based than anything else," the Youkai, a Qilin replied, tossing his lion-like mane in an oddly human seeming shrug.

"Ah," Suzuku said with a nod as she came close enough to hear that, smiling. "It occurs to me why you seemed to want to talk to me and Akeno." Even Akeno nodded at that. Her mother had trained her to be a shrine priestess before she had died, and Akeno had kept up her training with the Himejima clan before it had become known that she was a half-breed. They would need to cast preservative spells on the bodies, those that were whole, and make certain to keep the various…bits together while preparing them for eventual cremation. In the Shinto faith the bodies of the dead were cremated in a sacred fire.

"They died for us," Harry said simply. "They should be laid to rest as they would have wished to, in sacred ground."

Suzuku nodded. "It will take us some time, but I believe we can prepare a suitable mass funeral. So long as the families are told what we are doing and accept it, of course."

"I will see to that aspect," Harry replied firmly. "I will speak to Husukai and tell them what we plan, as well as work with Loup and Yubelluna to prepare the temple. I just wanted you two to please see to the bodies as best you may."

Akeno smiled, moved by Harry's understanding nature and his desire to see to the souls of the dead just as much as the bodies. "We can see to it on our end, Harry, if you can reorganize where the bodies are sent? The school, after all, is not sacred ground." The temple was still sacred ground, having been dedicated to the fox god, Inari Okami. Despite that, because Inari Okami was a neutral deity from an entirely different faith, none of the Devils had any trouble being there, unlike if they entered a church. "But, I am afraid if we are to hold a ceremony, if must be soon."

In the Shinto faith, in ancient times, a spirit of the dead had to be appeased as quickly as possible lest it come back as one of the dozens of vengeful spirits that Japanese mythology had created over time. As a Himejima, Akeno knew that that was actually true. Finding and putting to rest those spirits was the bread and butter of their clan in this day and age rather than hunting full blown Youkai or other nun-humans, as had been the case in decades past.

"Already done; I sent Momo to relay that. And I know. I don't like it much, but I think we can prepare the setting quickly enough. It's still only evening, after all." With a nod of thanks, Harry ruffled Akeno's hair before moving off to speak quietly to Yubelluna. He would need her help for several portions of what he had planned.

Suzuku looked between Harry and Akeno with a smile and then led Akeno off away over the rooftops towards the temple that was one of the five pillars of the wards. They would need time to get their formal priestess clothes ready, which were very different than their every day priestess clothes such as their current garb. "A very thoughtful man, that Harry Potter," the older woman said aloud, looking at her young cousin. "And a good man too."

"Yes, he is, one of the best," Akeno said with a faint smile.

Hours later, Rias and Sona allowed the dimensional bubble to collapse. They had found all the bodies and pieces of bodies they could. Thankfully, things like blood, like the damage which had been sustained by the copy Kuoh, wouldn't transfer over. Once they removed body parts and bodies, the blood would simply become part of the landscape, which would be erased with the bubble.

The instant the bubble collapsed, Yubelluna, who was sitting across from Harry in the ORC clubroom working on some paperwork with him, could see the look in Harry's eyes change. She smiled, realizing what he wanted to do, and gestured him away. "Go on; leave this to me. You told me what you wanted, and I can do about half of the paperwork on my own. The kids deserve to know that we're all alive."

"Thank you," Harry said, smiling at her before leaning forward quickly and giving her a light kiss. There was nothing extraordinarily passionate about it. But like the kiss they had shared at the impromptu party after the ward anchors had been moved, it felt right. It felt like a promise of more things to come, and Yubelluna returned it eagerly for a few seconds before pulling back, shaking her head, and going back to work on the legal document the two of them had been working on.

Within minutes Harry had used the teleportation array set into the clubroom to head home, where he found Lily, Kunou, and Teddy. Tonks was already there, having been headed there overland at the time the bubble had burst, and all three kids looked up as the two of them entered the house as one.

"Hey, Daddy," Lily said with a wave and a relieved smile, while Kunou hopped up, sniffed the air, and then raced over and hugged both of them, one after another, surreptitiously checking for wounds. Unlike Lily, who'd only had to deal with enhanced senses since the incident with the ex-exorcists, Kunou had had her entire life to get used to the fact that she had a very good sense of smell and was able to take in that information. She knew that they had both been hurt, but she couldn't find any wounds now and soon calmed down, smiling as Harry picked her and Lily up, hugging them both to him.

Teddy looked on and then smiled and raced to his mom as she opened her arms. "Hey, kiddo," she said into his hair, lifting him off the ground and into a fierce hug that might have bruised a normal boy's ribs. Tonks sometimes forgot that part of being a Metamorph was an enhanced muscular structure, and that had been before she had become a devil. Teddy, however, said nothing, simply hugging his mother back.

This wasn't the first time his mother had gone into a fight. Heck, Teddy knew his mum went looking for fights a lot of the time. There had been many times over his young lifetime when Tonks had worked with Aurors to take down a dangerous criminal, and there had been her misadventures with Harry, which he could only slightly remember he was so young at the time. So Teddy knew that his mother was someone that would always throw herself into danger if needed, regardless of her own safety. That was hard for a child to bear, knowing that when his mother walked out the door, she might not be coming back.

Tonks, despite not being the best person when it came to being a role model or anything else needed as a mum, was a master of body language, and she chucked him under the chin. "What are you doing, thinkin' such deep thoughts for, huh?"

Batting her hand away, Teddy smiled and just hugged his mother back, thankful that today would not be that day. For a few moments the two parents simply lost themselves in hugging their kids and reassuring them that not only they but their friends were still alive. Neither, however, tried to hide the fact that their allies had taken losses.

"Which is why we're going to have a formal funeral later tonight for them," said Harry. "It'll be in the local Shinto style, but we'll be out late doing that, I'm afraid. Still, I think I have enough time to cook some dinner for us all before I have to get back to some paperwork I need to do before that."

As he had been speaking, Harry had moved into the kitchen, and the others followed him. Reheating and combining a few leftovers that Kalawarner had made took him only a few minutes, and the four of them sat down. They eventually made plans to send the three kids to spend that night in Kyoto with Yasaka, with Rias and Harry possibly joining them later. Since tomorrow was Monday, and they had school, the kids weren't going to get permission to stay up, but in this way they could at least have a mini-sleepover to help them get over the anxiety they had felt during the battle. Before that, however, they had work to do, and Harry smiled at them all. "Hey, how would you three like to help us out with a few things?"

OOOOOOO

Smiling slightly, Rias nodded at her bat familiar, sending it back to its home with a wave of her hand before turning to look at her Knight. Kiba looked utterly exhausted and somewhat irritated with himself. His last minute mishap had been more than embarrassing for the Knight, and she knew that Kiba felt that he should have done a better job during the battle, but she thought he he had performed magnificently and made certain he knew that.

Yet at the present that was not so important as the mission she had assigned her little spies. "Don't worry, Kiba. You're not the only one exhausted after this fight. The two exorcists left Kuoh but immediately got a room at a hotel in the next district after making a phone call in its lobby. My bats didn't get close enough to overhear what was said, but I suppose they must have been wired some money, and, according to my little friends, they were certainly looking happier afterwards. But it's obvious they won't be picking up the trail of this ex-father Valper just yet. You have time to rest tonight, at least."

"And do I have your permission to go after them tomorrow, Buchou?" Kiba asked formally.

"Yes, you do, but not alone. I'll send Koneko with you and maybe ask Harry to go with you as well. If this chase requires magic or subtlety you'll need some help, and he can provide both," Rias replied.

Kiba nodded, bowing his head as he knew that Rias was also sending Harry along because she knew that he could control Kiba if he could not handle coming face to face with the man who, more than any other, was responsible for his friends in the Holy Sword Program dying when he was younger. "That is acceptable, Buchou. Thank you."

"Good. Now go take a shower, Kiba. To put it kindly, you stink. Heck, I imagine we all stink at this point. And I expect you to be presentable at tonight's ceremony." Kiba nodded, and Rias turned to head towards the girls' dormitory, waving at Harry who had looked out of the kitchen's windows where it was clear he was cleaning up after making the kids dinner. Rias sighed, wishing she could have joined them, but she and Sona had to write up a report to their siblings and parents about the day's events and then had to prepare for tonight themselves. Getting Issei to understand he had to dress up tonight in a formal men's kimono had been a trial, but thankfully getting Mittelt to see the point had been easy, and she had left Issei in the sartorially capable hands of the loli Fallen. And she knew the adults of the Potter clan would be equally presentable.

This left only one person who had to be prepared for tonight, and she sighed as she entered the former Gremory estate which had become the girls' dormitory, making her way upstairs to the bedrooms. I hope that getting Koneko out of her room won't be as tough as it might prove. I could excuse her, I suppose, but that would only put off the problem. She needs to face her embarrassment sooner or later. With that in mind she knocked firmly on Koneko's door and entered in the next instant, moving to the mass of blankets hiding her mewling kitten.

After making certain that Koneko knew that, no, she couldn't just hide way for a time until everyone forgot her loss of control, Rias blinked as she stared at a Patronus of a phoenix that had just flown through an open window. "Rias, could you and Sona meet me in the ORC clubroom? Yubelluna and I have been working on something we need your input on."

OOOOOOO

Sona stared across the desk separating herself and Rias from Harry and then down at the paper she had been examining a moment before. She knew she was blushing; she knew that her breath was coming in gasps. She also knew that, at just this moment, she didn't give a damn. She looked over at her best friend, her voice somewhat plaintive as she asked, "Rias, can I ask you for a teeny, tiny favor?"

"No," Rias said sternly, her lips twitching even so. "You can't have him. I'm already going to be sharing him with Yasaka, Yubelluna, and Kalawarner in the wings." And maybe one other too, she thought, remembering a few looks she had seen Harry and Akeno exchange. "That's more than enough, thank you so much!"

Sona would later deny that she whimpered, but Rias had the recording of it and laughed as her normally staid, self-controlled friend tried to regain control of herself, staring between the document in front of her and Harry. For Sona, while the body was certainly an important factor in attractiveness, it was barely ten percent in comparison to what was going on in someone's mind.

Intelligence was by far her greatest turn on. Whereas Rias had sometimes stroked herself to images of anime characters, Sona had several books full of pictures of the faces of famous chess masters and philosophers. Most of those faces were cut out and placed on the bodies of bodybuilders, but still, the sentiment was there. "This is, this is well beyond what I had expected you to come up with, Harry, let alone in the few hours it's been since the fight ended," she admitted. "I… Are you sure that this is a good idea? I mean, this will be a severe strain on your time."

"That's why I emphasized the fact that preparations for this site will take a while," Harry said smoothly. "That'll give me time to resign my current job, buy out the land necessary, and prepare everything necessary in terms of material for the building process and for…" His eyes flicked to Rias, a small smile appearing on his face that made Sona actually embarrassed to see it for some reason. "…for other things."

Rias smiled back, her lips quirking into a smile equally warm while also promising something more. At the sight of it both Sona and Tsubaki, standing silently behind her King, could only look away, embarrassed by the emotions in that simple exchange, even as they wondered what it meant.

"And you'll need someone, an expert in Devil magic, of course," Sona said slowly instead of commenting on that, looking down at a portion of what Harry was going to offer the Onmyodo. The rest of what he had written out as an offer to the Onmyodo government was relatively simple: an extension and enlargement of the agreement they had with the Youkai Association, making it a triple alliance rather than a double. But this…

A school. One where Onmyodo, European wizard, Devil and any other style of magic can be taught? That is tremendously huge! And not only would those magics be taught, but they would be researched too! What that could mean going forward into the future was huge. They had already seen what they could accomplish by mixing up the various magics here in the academy, but to have someplace where research into that could be organized, that was just an amazing advancement.

And we'll be a part of it, Sona thought to herself, almost giddy at the very idea. Something about this whole idea was calling out to her, not just the sheer intelligence that Harry was showing in come up with a formal plan for it so quickly. No, the idea of being part of a school was intensely intriguing.

"Have you decided, by the way, who will be in charge of the research? If you are going to set yourself up as headmaster, then I don't think you'll have the proper amount of time to oversee that aspect," Sona said before she could lose control of herself again.

"Are you volunteering?" Harry asked, cocking an eyebrow at her.

A part of her yelled at her to say yes, but Sona knew her own strengths. "I'm afraid not. If you are offering a position as your secretary, perhaps," she said jokingly. "That is where my main strength lies, after all: organization, paperwork, diplomacy, and, admittedly, getting other people to do what they really should be doing in the first place."

"A secretary, Heh, no, that would be a gross misuse of your talents. I was actually thinking of offering you the job, Tsubaki," Harry said, turning to the other girl, who had been watching her King with some amusement.

Tsubaki knew that her King didn't actually find Harry all that attractive. Oh, physically he was handsome enough, but Harry's dreams for the future before this had been nothing that Sona could really see the interest of. But this whole idea of a school seemed to have mashed her buttons something fierce. But now she blinked in surprise, turning her own attention on Harry, her eyes widening. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I was thinking about offering you the position of head researcher," Harry said with a chuckle. "Well, you or Hermione. I'm afraid I might have to offer it to her lest she try to kill me when she discovers what we've done. But I could soothe her with the position of Chief Librarian. But you, Tsubaki, you've always been at the forefront of figuring out how our various magics work together. You're always taking notes, and you and Kalawarner have been working closely on furthering that runic project of hers. Your mastery of all three of the runic languages we have used in our wards are as good as my own, if not a little better, and you have also always seemed to enjoy it. That's always a major plus when talking about stuff like this. Or any kind of job, really."

"I…" Tsubaki floundered. "I wasn't, that is, I wasn't aware that you had noticed," she said, flushing a little embarrassment. "I just, well, it is rather fun, but I…"

She looked over at her King, who chuckled, taking her hand and squeezing it. "Tsubaki, it's fine. You can answer honestly however you wish. You don't have to think about your position when it comes to this. I suppose that we, our two peerages, will be involved in this school in other ways as well."

"I accept then," Tsubaki said, turning back to Harry and nodding her head so quickly she nearly sent her glasses flying. "Provisionally, anyway. There is no telling whether or not my own interests will change, but it certainly sounds like a fascinating idea.

"A most intellectually stimulating concept, wouldn't you say?" Rias said, emphasizing the two words while she smirked at Sona, who smacked her on the shoulder. "The rest of this," Rias went on, "I have no issue with it all. I've already written up the formal offers for repayment."

"I don't have a problem with that either, nor with the alliance you wish to offer," Sona said, very firmly nodding her head. "Politically that is a fantastic move, Harry, and socially too. Getting more teachers in the Onmyodo style to come here could be difficult, but if it actually works, the outcome will be magnificent."

"Excellent. In that case," Harry said with a smile, "I'll leave you with these notes and get back to writing up the formal proposal, shall I? I have lots to do before the ceremony, including speaking with the Onmyodo officials. It wouldn't do to just spring this on them at the ceremony after all."

OOOOOOO

This was an unmitigated disaster. There was no other way to put it, Azazel reflected as he leaned back in one of the two remaining Fallen outposts in Japan. Not only had roughly a tenth of his people been wooed to join Koka-baka and his war faction, but the fucking idiot had led them into disaster. And then Vali had nearly lost control of his instincts and almost picked a fight with the survivors. Fuck me, was I ever that young, thoughtless, and stupid? Meh, I must have at one point. Thank all the powers that exist that I don't remember it.

Thankfully for their family dynamic, limited thought it was, Azazel didn't need to say anything to Vali about his utter fucking stupidity. Shemhazai, Azazel's best friend, second in command and diplomatic attaché, was doing it for him.

"You utter fucking idiot!" the short, somewhat handsome looking silver-haired Fallen shouted at Vali, who sat stoically, not responding but simply staring straight ahead. "How the fuck could you possibly have just, just decided to attack like that?!"

Realizing that his friend had come full circle in his cursing out of Vali, Azazel raised his head from where he had been cradling his face in his hands and cut in. "Hang on, Shemhazai. I think you've vented your spleen long enough. Let's actually start trying to figure out the repercussions of this act. First, what can we expect on the domestic front from our fellow Fallen and our followers?"

"Not much for a while," Baraqiel, said. The father of Akeno Himejima, he had listened in something approaching shock as Vali described what he had seen of the aftermath of the battle, knowing that his daughter had not only been part of such a slaughter but had lived through it. It made him as proud as it terrified him.

"In this, our people being so spread out on Earth and in Hell is going to work in our favor. News like this won't travel very fast unless we spread it ourselves. Kokabiel's death will be something we'll have to report at least to the rest of the higher ups soon, but we can keep the full details quiet for a while longer. Once the news does break…we can blame the losses on the Khaos Brigade…maybe."

At that Vali shook his head. "Bah! I say we toss this whole peace project out the door. Kokabiel was an arrogant fool who didn't realize how weak he really was in the great scheme of things. But he had the right of it: if we take Kuoh, we smash this alliance the Devils are trying to build with the Youkai and can drag two of the Maou out to fight on our terms."

"One of whom is the most fucking scary bastard in all three Factions," Azazel said dryly. "Even if we tried to take him on together, I doubt we could beat Sirzechs. That man's a monster." He then went on more seriously, spearing Vali with a dark look. "And I haven't been working towards a true peace with the Angels and Devils for more years than you've been alive to just toss it aside because you can't get a hard on without violence, Vali. Reign your instincts in, or I'll do it for you. Continued war serves no one on any side of this conflict, not in the long term."

That was why Azazel was willing to overlook the loss of so many of his people. If their deaths were the price to pay for their continued existence as a society, he would pay it. The Fallen, like the other factions, if they were honest about it, could not afford a resumption of the war. Especially not if this Potter guy is able to teach Devils to create such powerful wards. Fucking wizards. Why the hell did one of those inbred, insular fucks decide to play out here with the big boys now? And why in Kuoh? I need to find out more about him before his actions rattle the pillars of power more than they already have.

Hiding those thoughts from those around him with ease, Azazel held his foster son's eyes until the younger man looked away submissively and then nodded towards Baraqiel. "That's not a bad idea. We'll look into trying to excuse the losses like that. The priority, though, will be keeping our people from trying to attack Kuoh. We can't afford to lose anyone else on that kind of venture, let alone what it would do to the process of our peace talks."

Baraqiel bowed acquiescence, and Azazel turned to his other friend. "Okay, that's on the domestic front. What about the diplomatic side of things?"

"Prepare to eat crow and then say thank you sir may I have some more," Shemhazai retorted. "And that's only on the Devil side of things. Your near-friendship with Sirzechs might let us get out of that side of things with a full formal public apology. But don't get me started on what this will do to our peace talks with the Church. And that's without adding in Vali's heap of dragon shit on top of the already existing pile, which I doubt even Sirzechs will be willing to overlook on top of everything else, the freaking sis-con. UGGGGHhhh… Next time you decide to set me up for a reaming, Vali, could you do me a favor and at least buy me dinner first? This is going to be a fucking nightmare."

Vali rolled his eyes, but at his foster father's renewed glare he stopped from showing any further reaction. Then Azazel turned back to Shemhazai, and the two started to talk about what to expect when their opposite numbers reached out to them formally on this matter.

Sighing, Vali made certain he looked as if he was paying attention before turning his attention to other things. Namely, how to get that Potter guy to agree to fight him. Him and my destined rival, that Nekoshou. I will beat both of them. That is my destiny, to become the strongest. It is inevitable.

OOOOOOO

In a way, Harry's urging them to reach out to the families of the dead was unnecessary. After all, this was not the first time that men had died under Montoya's command or Husukai's, but both men had appreciated it nonetheless. Husukai personally returned that night several times with more than three dozen family members of the dead and others, as did Kalawarner, arriving at Kuoh with several dozen Youkai in two groups.

One such group included a family of three boys of ages ranging from eleven to eighteen along with their mother, a middle-aged woman who was still quite beautiful. But all of them were looking angry as much as sad, and they were scowling and combative with Husukai.

Only the fact that he had warned them to be on their best behavior was keeping them from lashing out as they were met by Tsubaki. She was dressed in mourning clothes and bowed to them and the other families who came with them. "Ladies and gentlemen, if you could please follow me."

"I don't know why we should; you're one of the people who helped kill our Tou-san, after all!" shouted the oldest boy, only to be hushed by his mother.

"I understand your anger, young sir. But we were not the attackers here. And I think you will find that we have shown your father, and those like him, as much honor as we possibly could. Please, follow me," the heterochromatic young woman reiterated, gesturing for them to follow her up the stairs to the temple.

Other groups like this were met by Rias, dressed similarly, along with Koneko, Kiba, Tsubaki, Reya, and Momoat the bottom of the steps leading up the hill to the temple. In groups of four, families like this one, the grieving Onmyouji and Youkai, were led up to the temple where they would, even as this group did, stop and stare.

While the temple was a historical tourist site, the temple itself should have been somewhat rundown, as should have been the ground around it. Instead the temple was in near pristine condition, the grounds well-cared for. Even the trees to either side of the temple looked well-cared for, the grass under them mowed back. Harry and Tonks had been very busy with repair charms, and Loup and Yubelluna had been equally busy taking care of the landscape for several hours by hand and magic.

They had had to bring in material when it became clear that repair spells wouldn't solve all their problems, but Tonks had saved the day due to knowing many specific transfiguration spells which could take building materials and mold them into a preexisting house. The temple had even been painted by the kids, something that had earned them all hugs from Suzuku and Akeno (though that led to issues with Teddy, who would have trouble meeting Akeno's eyes for a few days after feeling his head enveloped in her chest). The kids had also helped prepare the two dozen paper lanterns that lit the area, hovering in the air to give a more magical feel to the temple. All in all, it looked amazing, pristine, and well-cared for.

After letting each group gaze around them for a a few seconds, whoever was leading them would move them on through the temple, where they would be allowed to remain for a time to pass on final messages to the deceased. Then both the deceased and their mourners would move on. The deceased's casket was moved via magic to where it would join the others, in long rows behind the temple.

At the same time the mourners would be led to their places, about two hundred magically created red cushions sat in segments of six, facing the back of the temple. To the sides of these six were places reserved by blue cushions, where those members of the Sitri and Gremory Peerages not part of reception duty sat already, with a third special area denoted by cushions with tassels set up at the back of the area. Each segment slowly filled up, and when they did, Tsubaki and the others joined the rest of their peerages, Sona's on the left side of the prepared area and Rias's on the right.

At the front of this area was a large bonfire marked out by a four-sided box of heavy wooden logs, something Loup and Harry had put together under Suzuku's direction, the older Himejima having taken over the organization for this event. She had, as a priestess, been called upon to perform funerals before as well as other duties, and the Himejima Clan as a whole were well known in that area. Some of the mourners, somber and grief-ridden as they were, recognized Suzuku. Some of them would even think that it was an honor for the head of a famous clan to be leading this ceremony. Most, however, were of course too lost in their grief to think of such thoughts.

There were, much to Harry's regret, children there. Thankfully, none of them were toddlers or as young as Lily and Kunou were. The youngest were twin boys around Teddy's age, and their blank stares and tear-stained faces were enough. The older kids looked sober, but they understood, at least, that their father or mother or older sibling was dead, not just 'gone,' as would have been the case otherwise.

When she met with the five high-ranking officials, Rias bowed formally from the waist, her hands folded in front of her as she did so. "Thank you for coming. And thank you for many more things. We of the Houses of Gremory, Potter and Sitri understand that you had no real reason to fight with us, and aid given without prior payment is often the most important. But we will talk more about statecraft later. Please, follow me."

The officials all knew what to do, and they moved together as one, with the head of the Shinsengumi bowing deeply and formally towards Rias before leading his fellows up the stairs. Soon they were led to their places, and they watched as the ceremony began. The two priestesses prayed over the dead one by one, offering words of condolence, words of hope that the deceased soul passed on and would not haunt the living realm. They spoke of how the dead had shown courage in performing their duty, an important aspect for the Shinsengumi, as it would have been for any solider of Japan in ancient times or now.

As they passed along, mourners were allowed to give specific eulogies before they moved on to the next casket. Some did; many did not, simply standing and moving forward to offer small offerings to go with the dead into the next life, placing them on top of the casket.

Those caskets were not open as they should have been, even in a large scale ceremony like this. Magical combat was never pretty, and no one wanted the loved ones of the deceased to see what had happened to them. Imagination could be a horrible thing at times, but the reality would have been worse in many cases.

Throughout all this Yubelluna played in the background, a slow, sober song on her violin, while two of the Shinsengumi who had fought in the battle played kagurabue, special flutes. The Shinto religion did not have a place for music like this in most funeral ceremonies, but they tended to make an exception for larger ceremonies like this one, although even then they had no songs. Yet Asia, sitting in her place by Kalawarner and Loup to one side, and Yasaka and her party on the other, sang, and sang her soul out in an effort to make the passage of the dead easier.

"Merciful Jesus, merciful Jesus, merciful Jesus, merciful Jesus. Father, who takes away the sins of the world. Grant them rest, grant them rest. Merciful Jesus, merciful Jesus, merciful Jesus, merciful Jesus. Father, who takes away the sins of the world. Grant them rest, grant them rest. Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God. Father, who takes away the sins of the world. Grant them rest, grant them rest everlasting everlasting rest." {Pie Jesu, Andrew Lloyd Webber}

Asia sang in Latin and her voice wasn't the best perhaps, but the emotions and her faith shown through easily. Nor would her choice of music have scanned very well in Japanese, which could also be said of the phrases she spoke next as Asia fell into prayers for the dead.

But thankfully Sona and Rias had thoughtfully provided an area effect translation spell earlier that day. And as they understood the words, more than one grieving woman or man turned to the crying girl singing who seemed to mourn their dead as much as they did with gratitude clear in their faces.

And as they did, Harry could feel the tug on his magic as Yubelluna played. He allowed it, and he could see the magical energy begin to appear, causing a few gasps. But that was next to nothing to what happened next as Harry, sitting beside Rias, reached out to his magic and began to use it consciously and in a very specific way. Because when he did, the dead spoke.

Not to Harry; no, they had nothing to say to him, though his magic was the conduit with which they came back to the land of the living for a few moments, the power of the Resurrection Stone, which had initially been the ship Manannán Mac Lir used to ferry the souls of the dead to the afterlife, activating for the first time under Harry's direction. The spirits of the dead came back, but not in pain as had been the case when it's owners had used the Stone before. They instead came back in thanks to whisper words of encouragement to their loved ones.

Some were humorous. "Well it's finally happened. Forty plus years after your father threatened to do it himself for despoiling his little girl. Ha, I still remember it was you who seduced me! Ahh, good times."

"Now, don't go chasing after every tail you see! You don't want to give young Toshi a half-brother or sister too soon, do you?"

"Ah, my boys, why the long faces!? Didn't I always tell you to smile, whatever life threw at you? Bah, I bet your aunt would just love a chance to put some smiles on those faces with her tickle torture!"

Some were poignant. "I love you, but I ask you to live on without me. That is selfish, I know, but please, do not go through with what you are thinking. I have no wish to see you join me over here when you have so much more life to live."

Some were simply loving. "I remember, and will remember until I return to the great wheel, every day of our lives. Please, watch over our children for me too."

But the message was almost always the same: Live on with our blessing over you. Live on for us. Remember us, love our memory, but in that memory live. And in so doing, they brought heart to those who had been so bereft.

Only those loved ones heard those voices, but everyone there saw the spirits of the dead appearing one after another by their casket. And as that casket was lifted magically into the sanctified pyre, the dead would disperse, the spirits slowly sinking into the ground.

With the first such spirit the magic swelled, and Harry could feel something in the ground react, something magical occurring there with each spirit as the wards grew in strength, but he didn't draw attention to it. Such things could be investigated and, indeed, would have to be later on. Now was not the time for it. Instead Harry just kept the enchantment going, watching as the dead interacted one last time with those they cared for.

When it was all done and Akeno had finished the last note of the last prayer, Harry slowly stood up and moved to face the crowd in front of the giant pyre while Yubelluna and the others paused in their music. Even Asia, unable to see through her tears, felt the pause and stopped her prayers, bowing her head and clasping her rosary.

Facing the crowd, Harry licked suddenly dry lips. He had never having gotten used to the whole public speaking thing outside of the classroom, and the sight of the widows and the children staring at the graves of their parents was very off-putting, even if all of them looked more upbeat and thoughtful than they had when they arrived.

The sight also hardened his resolve, and he looked towards Rias for a brief second, and then to Yasaka, both of whom were smiling at him, before he took a deep breath. "A wise man once said, that there can be no victory without sacrifice. No battle won without blood. We could wish it was otherwise; we could wish our loved ones back, but it can never be. This was not the first battle I've been in. It will not, alas, be the last unless I am truly fortunate. And every one of them, every victory, was bought in blood and death. We do our dead a disservice when we do not remember their sacrifice, when we do not honor their lives given."

He paused then, locking his eyes with one grieving man or woman after another before going on, deliberately not looking at the five governmental officials. "To many here, this battle would seem unimportant, would seem a waste. Why did my father, my older brother, my wife or husband have to die here?"

He paused again, then gestured to the funeral pyre where those spirits had stood before disappearing forever. "They died because it was the right thing to do. Because the legion we faced wanted to break the peace of our times. A peace that protects you, their loved ones, as much as it protects myself and those of us who actually live here in Kuoh. They died protecting you, protecting their loved ones from facing similar battles in the future, and there can be no greater calling than that. So I ask you not to just mourn their passing, but to celebrate their lives, to celebrate your own existence, because it is that existence that they fought to defend."

At that he bowed his head, as did those in front of him, in a silent moment of reflection before he went on, turning first in the direction of the politicians before looking back at the rest of the crowd. "We, Rias of the House Gremory, Sona of the House Sitri, and myself, Harry of the House of Potter, are foreigners to this land, yet we have magically bonded with this land, making it ours in truth in a way that no one else could have. And yet, through the actions of your loved ones, you have shown that you too belong to this land, and we must honor that sacrifice in word, deed, and magic."

He moved through the crowd towards the politicians at the far back by the rear entrance of the temple. He was quickly flanked by Rias, Sona, Akeno, Tsubaki, and Yasaka. They all moved through the crowd until they were facing the political box, whereupon Harry held out a formal scroll.

One of the lesser retainers of the higher ranked politicians moved forward, taking the scroll and moving back to reclaim his space by his leaders as Harry went on, staring the head of the Shinsengumi in the face. "That is the formal alliance offered to you, the Onmyodo government, to join with the Kuoh Alliance that we have created here. To be part of what we are doing here, to be be taught what we have learned by merging our magics, and to teach in turn, along with a mutual defense treaty, which will demand that we, we three," he said, gesturing to himself, Sona, and Rias, and then over to Yasaka. "…as well as Yasaka of the Youkai Association, will come to the aid of the Onmyodo hovernment in times of war or disaster.

"We asked for help, and you came and died for us," he said making his words blunt as possible in direct opposition to his earlier more flowery words, most of which he had Yubelluna to thank for, the bandrui having both a mind trained in Devil law and a soul steeped in music. "Call in turn, and we will reply. And with this, with the signing of that agreement, that pledge will continue as long as our clans continue to exist.

"On top of this, I pledge to further create a school here in Kuoh where magics of all types, European Wizard, Onmyodo, Devil, even Fallen and Youkai type magics, can be taught to anyone willing to learn. There everything we of the Kuoh Alliance have learned of the interaction of the various magical schools will be continually researched, expanded upon, and taught to future generations. Including the child of any Youkai or Shinsengumi who died to defend Kuoh from Kokabiel and his followers," Harry finished, watching as eyes among the politicians widened in sudden and very sharp interest.

"Furthermore," Sona and Rias said as one, moving forward with their own pledges, handing them over as Sona began to speak for the two of them, turning to face the crowd who were all looking at this in a very different sort of shock then they had shown at the spirits of the dead returning. "We, along with this pledge of alliance, recognize that the alliance was not in place when this battle was fought. To that end we, the House of Sitri and the House of Gremory, do formally acknowledge the debt between us. While money cannot bring back the dead, we will pay reparations and monetary aid to those families who are mourning loved ones tonight."

"You will note," Yasaka said as she too stood forward, taking the place of the two younger women as she was flanked by Montoya and two others, including one ancient creature, an elephant Youkai, who looked decidedly out of place in his utilitarian garb and yet somehow right where he was standing behind her in the position of advisor. "That we, the Youkai Association, have already signed an agreement with them. This is a chance for all of us to come together, to perhaps make something greater than the whole. It was dearly bought, but I would urge you to seriously consider this."

Thanks to Harry speaking to them earlier that day, the officials had known this was coming. They had in fact, helped harry write out the formal document they had just been presented with. All of them had already agreed to sign on the dotted line in the coming days, although they would have to convince several other officials first. No, they had anticipated all of that, but not the ceremony itself. If Harry had wanted to make an impression beyond the one he already had during their discussions on this agreement, the ceremony had done just that.

Still, one of them, the most senior spoke up, breaking Japanese tradition in not relaying his words through a junior. He stood on creaky legs and bowed once from the waist before straightening and speaking formally. "We of the Onmyodo people thank you for your words and for the offers of alliance. We gathered here would sign here and now, but we are but a few voices among many. We will have to relay this offer to others and get them to agree in turn before accepting. Yet that only delays the agreement, never doubt it."

As this was going on, Kalawarner and several of the Shinsengumi who hadn't lost loved ones, along with many of Sona's peerage, had been moving through the crowd, handing out drinks, and Kala now moved about the formal area around Harry, moving in among the higher ranking officials and handing out drinks to them in turn. "Drink now," Harry said, holding a glass in his hands as he saw the locals do the same, turning around to once more face the pyre. He noted parents who had been looking on in awe at what was happening, parents looking at their children, children looking thoughtful, and many of them not happy, but no longer as horribly depressed or broken as they had been. "Drink now, to the honored dead."

"To the honored dead," came the massed voices back to him as all of them drank, and the ceremony slowly came to an end.

OOOOOOO

Of course, magic was always a tricky thing, and Harry really should've remembered that Manannán Mac Lir's portfolio went well beyond being the god who guarded the river that led the souls of the dead to their destination…

In the United Kingdom there was a rook. But this rook was not a castle nor a member of a Devil's peerage, but a house shaped like a rook from chess. In this house there lived perhaps the oddest witch of her age. Indeed, Luna Lovegood would argue that she was easily the oddest, thank you very much; she certainly tried hard enough.

However, at the moment Luna would not argue any such thing, for she was staring off into the distance, her silver eyes gleaming as she stood in front of the giant window that had replaced one full side of the main bedroom as she began to sing quietly under her breath. As odd as Luna was, she did not have a good singing voice, but her husband, and ooh, did that not feel good to say even in her own head, looked on fondly from the bed behind her. Or maybe it's just my naked derriere he likes. He certainly enjoyed touching it often enough last night.

Although she and Rolf had been together for years, they actually had not been married, though many had assumed they were. But recently Luna had realized this lack and had decided that not only was she ready to lose her virginity, but that they really did need to do something about that pesky marriage thing too.

Rolf had never pressured her on that score. There had been a time during the war against the Death Eaters where she had been captured. Her captors had just gotten around to starting to have fun with her when Ronald and Harry had rescued her. They had also pretty much colored the interior of the house she had been kept in red along with Luna herself, but she hadn't held that against them. But Luna had a major issue with being touched for quite a while after that beyond hugs and kisses.

She and Rolf had had a small private ceremony yesterday to formally unite their lives. Their only witnesses had been animals and other creatures of the forest present as they betrothed themselves to one another. The ceremony itself had been magical, with fairies of all sorts around and the stars above so visible it seemed they glowed just for the two of them. Then Luna had ridden the bucking bronco until the sun had risen high in the sky.

"How are you up and about, my Luna?" he asked blearily, looking at her as she raised a cup of tea to her lips.

"Secret Lovegood recipe," she said with a giggle that both was childlike and yet oh so wicked, sending a shiver from his head down to his spine.

Something underneath the covers stirred, he stared down at himself in shocked astonishment, and she winked at him. "There was a reason my family earned our name, you know. Love…good."

Her husband shook his head, trying not to stare as she continued to dance in front of the window, completely bare and utterly naked to the world beyond, though of course the wards of the house would keep anyone away. His eyes narrowed thoughtfully as he recognized a few snatches of what she was trying to sing, and he asked slowly, "Why do I get the impression that last night is not the only thing putting that grin on your face, my love."

"Oh, last night was wondrous, but it is not the only wondrous thing that is occurring right now." She became serious for a moment, turning to him, her smile turning grim somehow. "Something amazing, something wondrous, and something terrible. But our captain will be able to lead us through the storms to come and perhaps out the other side. He certainly has a better chance at that than any other."

Her husband, who had not fought in the wars but who had a great respect for the person that Luna at times called captain, simply nodded, a smile growing on his own face. "Well, as long as Harry is there, I suppose that's enough for me. Although, what is the storm going to be? Violence? Social turmoil? Changes to the magic of the world? Or something even worse?"

"Indeed," Luna said. Then, without making any attempt to elaborate, she continued to sing a song from the non-magical world. "…You bear the mark of my elven kiss, clear the way I will take you there, to eternal bliss…"

OOOOOOO

"It's happening again!" shouted several people all at once, scattered around the United Kingdom.

One man, Daniel Pendragon or, as most knew him, Daniel Crag, took his irritation with the news of mysterious glowing marks, misty shadows, and other things scattered across Ireland, Britain, Wales, and even Scotland appearing once more a step further: he started to slam his head into his desk repeatedly as he growled out curses. "Cock!"

This took some time for him to finish, then he turned his head up to look at the ceiling, wondering aloud, "I wonder, though, if we'll finally get a little bit more information this time from the ruddy magical using arseholes we share these lovely isles with? Didn't they mention the last time that Ireland's in their purview too? Right snooty about it too, sneering at us for letting Southern Ireland go, they were."

"I doubt it," said his supervisor unhelpfully. "The Magicals all seem to have one thing in common: they don't like us non-magicals knowing about them at all, let alone knowing that there are things outside of their control in the magical world." He shook his head. "Your connection with that wayward niece of yours actually gave us more information than we got from the officially magical side of things. Any chance you could get in touch with her again?"

"I'll see what I can do. She'll certainly talk to me—Le Fay's a good lass that way—but if she'll be able to tell my anything new, I don't know. Though," he said with a chuckle, "getting in touch with them so easily, and now more than once, I'm certainly stretching the bonds of that little fiction that young Arthur has built up around himself. About having run away from the family, I mean."

"That's his problem," Daniel's supervisor said bluntly. "Not ours."

"True enough."

OOOOOOO

Harry grumbled, his nose twitching, and a 'whuff' sort of noise coming from his nose as he started to smell some burning meat of some kind, something his hind brain told the rest of him was breakfast. His other senses soon followed his nose in activating, and he smiled as he felt two smaller bodies nuzzling into his back and chest. Opening his eyes, he saw Kunou draped across his chest, showing all the boneless nature of the young, with Lily nuzzling into his side. They were both still asleep, though Harry could see them starting to stir. To his other side, Rias was leaning against him, wearing a silk chemise.

For a moment that confused him, his brain unable to make the connection between Rias wearing clothing in bed (and not being his pillow, darn it) and the two kids, before remembering that, yes, those two things were connected. As was the fact that this was not their bedroom. Rather, it was Yasaka's in Kyoto.

Harry and Rias had, after dropping their various bombshells, helped to end the ceremony before retreating to Kyoto to be with Yasaka, who had returned there earlier that night. There they had spent a few cathartic hours with the kids and Tonks before all of them headed to bed. But only Tonks and Teddy had returned to Kuoh at that point. At Yasaka's insistence, Rias and Harry had joined Yasaka and the two girls in Yasaka's bed. "It's certainly big enough for all of us, after all."

And it had indeed turned out to be so, though it might not have been if all of them had not been very cuddly sort of people in their sleep—Yasaka, Kunou, Lily, and Harry because of their kitsune and werewolf heritages respectively, and Rias because…well, Harry was still bemused at times that a Devil like Rias liked to cuddle so much. That she was an aggressive, almost greedy cuddler he could have guessed, just not the need to cuddle in the first place. Not that I'm complaining, mind, he thought in possessive amusement, squeezing Rias against his side and leaning over to kiss her cheek.

The only one missing from the large bed was Yasaka, who should have been on Lily's other side, perhaps. Harry wasn't certain, since the positions they had all been in seemed to have changed during the night. But I seem to remember her tails covering us all like an extra blanket last night. The twitching was a bit strange, but not disturbing despite that. Before he could question this further, his sense of smell told him that Yasaka had entered the room, accompanied by the slight sound of the door and the smell of yeast, soap, and flowers that he knew to be Kalawarner.

"Up and face the day, you four! After all, I believe that three of the four lay-abouts in front of me have school, correct?" Yasaka chittered as even Rias joined the groan this elicited. "And Harry has a mission to boot."

Opening her eyes, Lily scowled at that. She didn't like the idea of her Daddy having another possibly life-threatening mission so soon after this last conflict, but she had been told that Kiba would be going off to try and get some closure from something about his past, though she had no idea what that was. She still didn't like it, and this morning that was added to another night of weird dreams to boot. I wonder if I should tell Daddy or Rias about them, she mused before her stomach informed her that the smell of sausage was much more important. With that she hopped out of bed, and she raced to help set the table with Yasaka, as Kalawarner continued to push in a tray of various breakfast foods.

Rias grumbled a little, then picked a still sleepy Kunou off of Harry's chest and rolled them both out of bed before standing there, her silk chemise only barely covering her panty-clad rear, the front of it tightening noticeably as she stretched, her chest looking as if it might burst out of the silk confines at any minute. And even that was a nod to the fact they'd slept with the kids in the bed the night before. Harry stayed in bed for a moment, drinking in the sight, a low growl of appreciation and desire rumbling from him before he twitched his eyes to Yasaka and Kalawarner.

There, though, he found two more feasts for the eyes. Kalawarner wore her habitual apron—'kiss the cook'—over what looked like a sports bra and tight exercises shorts, with nothing else. Her blue hair was also loose for once entirely, falling down her back in a wave. She smiled at him as she saw him looking and asked teasingly, "Well, aren't you going to come and…eat, Harry?"

Yasaka was even worse in a way. Oh, she had a robe on that was ostensibly covering more than either of the others. But it was loose enough that Harry could stare right down into her cleavage quite easily. Her blond hair was done up in an intricate display, while her tails were all out, switching and twirling behind her, which Harry was astonished to find actually added to the allure as she chittered softly. "I think he'd rather stay in bed and have someone else feed him. Feeling lazy, are we?"

"Ugh, what is this, gang up on Harry hour?" Harry grumped, hopping to his feet. A second later he obeyed the apron's instructions, kissing Kalawarner on the lips. Might as well get Lily and Kunou used to our new dynamic now, I guess. Kalawarner hummed in appreciation, kissing him back gently, but didn't fight as he moved away after a second rather than deepen it.

The two kids, though, seemingly didn't care about this new aspect to the family make up. They were much more interested in the food. Seeing this, Rias laughed, shaking her head. "Sweets before flowers, I guess."

"Hmm, whereas I am much more interested in flowers at present," Yasaka quipped, leaning into him, her lips parting as she looked up at him through her eyelashes.

Harry obliged, leaning down to give the much shorter Yasaka a far deeper kiss, letting his hand go down her robe-covered back before finding where her tails merged into her back under a specially designed hole in her robe. He felt her shiver against him, then moan into the kiss and begin to pant as he let his fingers caress her there before moving back and winking at her. He then sat between Lily and Kalawarner at the breakfast table. "So, are we ready for today?"

"Indeed. Loup's ready to once more cover you, and I prepared a recording of their voices to cover Koneko and Kiba calling in sick this morning," Rias replied, having helped set that up last night while Harry was talking with the Onmyodo officials while the temple was being cleared after the ceremony. "The only issue will be that Loup's not as good at English as you are, so Sona and I will probably have to coach him throughout the day."

As before, to cover their not being in school, Harry would create a lifelike illusion of himself, anchoring it around Loup. However, since he was going to be so far away, he wouldn't be able to direct Loup in teaching his class, which itself would be tougher than it had been previously, since this would be a full class rather than a test day. That meant that Loup, who was barely middling at English, would need to be coached by Rias and Sona. Even if you took away their Devil-given ability to translate any language into any other, the two of them were among the best in the school of any grade. Although concentrating on that and not giving it away that they weren't all there mentally themselves might be pushing it.

Still, hopefully they will be able to deal with it for one day, Harry mused, watching as Yasaka sat down, looking pensive. "What's wrong, Yasaka?"

"Oh, just something I heard from Montoya this morning. Normally he'd be three sheets to the wind by this point after a fight like what you all faced and that ceremony, but he wanted to pass something on to me. The problem is, I don't know if we're in any position to do anything with the information," Yasaka mused, frowning. "But it might allow us to actually land something of a body blow on the Khaos Brigade by removing one of their stronger members."

"I'm all ears," Harry and Rias said as one before looking at one another and laughing. But they were very serious when they looked back at Yasaka, since both wanted to see if they could take the fight to the Khaos Brigade; on their own or in conjunction with other forces, it mattered not to them.

"You know about Bikou?" Yasaka asked, looking between the two of them.

Harry snorted. "I remember him very vividly after reading his file you sent us. He's the Monkey Youkai whose grandfather is the head of the Monkey Youkai clan in China, correct? The one who's been called the best fighter among his generation of Youkai worldwide, and the one who stole his grandfather's magical staff? I can't remember the spells on it, though."

"Exactly, and those spells would be indestructability, enlarging and shrinking at command, and coming to his hand when called. Son Wukong, the head of the Monkey Youkai in China, works on his own to help suppress Khaos Brigade activity worldwide, but he's only one man and can only be in one place at a time. Currently he's somewhere in Norway, of all places, dealing with a few hundred trolls that were let loose from a one of your society's preserves there by the Khaos Brigade."

Harry sat up abruptly at that. "Do the European wizards know about the Khaos Brigade?"

"I do not believe that your Wizarding World knows the full extent of their activities," Yasaka mused. "But they might well be aware of certain individuals who work for the Khaos Brigade. Unless the Onmyouji have informed them about it?"

Harry winced a little at that. "Okay, that's interesting. Sorry, continue."

I'll have to send a message to Hermione and maybe Neville to be on the lookout for such things in the future. But how to do so without hinting at the three factions will be an issue. Hermione could probably keep a secret, but Neville… Neville's changed too much since taking up politics for me to trust him with that information, Harry thought sadly.

"In any event, Montoya learned that Bikou will be returning to China as part of a ceremony in two weeks' time. It's a sacred ceremony to the Monkey Youkai, celebrating the day when his grandfather came down from on high of Mount Huaguo."

"And you want us there to try and capture him, I take it?" Rias asked. "If we tried, how will locals react? Will we have to deal with the locals as well as Bikou and anyone with him?"

"Something of the sort, but not quite. I asked Montoya about that, and he said that while the monkey people won't follow him, nor will they fight for him, but they won't fight him either. That is part of the issue, since that includes those born here in Kyoto and Japan. Since the issue with the Crow Youkai, more than half of my security forces are Monkey Youkai, and without them I am in no way certain we have the manpower to be able to fight Bikou. So a smaller, more elite force might do better."

"But will the locals fight us if they see foreign troops there to take him captive?" Harry asked. "Or should we wait outside and ambush him? I doubt he could get through any teleportation block I put up, for example."

"We have no way of knowing how he's going to be traveling, so that's a nonstarter," Yasaka said with a sigh. "For all I know, he might have figured out a way along with whoever is really backing the Khaos Brigade to re-create Kin'to'un!" At Harry's blank look, she elaborated. "A flying cloud that Son Wukong used on his adventures at that age."

"A flying cloud isn't exactly all that impressive," Harry said dryly.

"It is if the flying cloud can go faster than most high-speed jets, come when you call it, and includes spells on it to keep the individual who is using it unseen by anyone while standing on it," she said with a smirk.

Harry paused. "All right, the speed is a bit impressive," he replied reluctantly. "And I suppose taking the other spells apart could be fun."

Yasaka laughed her chittering laugh at that while Rias rolled her eyes. "Focus, Harry. But seriously, Yasaka, stop dancing around the issue and just tell us how the locals will react if we try to take him captive at this sacred site or whatever."

"It depends on how much they've drunk," Yasaka replied, then chittered at the looks she was getting now. "Monkey Youkai ceremonies tend to be very riotous even in comparison to the rest of us Youkai's idea of a party, let alone a ceremony. If you start a fight with him, everyone else might take part, might back away, migth hoot and holler or place bets. We've no way of knowing. We do know that Bikou isn't very popular among the other monkey men—they think he's giving them a bad name—and a few of the terrorist activities the Khaos Brigade have done were in China, which is far too close to home for most of them to condone. While there isn't really a local magical community, the Chinese government does not react well to things outside its control. If they became aware of a community within their country that did not respond to centralized authority…"

"Right," Harry said with a nod. "That would be very bad. Especially with the numbers and weapons that the Chinese government could bring to bear. Unless you're saying that someone there could create a barrier of some kind that could see off a carpet bombing. So, a small force with various skills in order to combat Bikou and the ability to get away quickly too."

Yasaka nodded, but cautioned, "And you should know we can't send any ladies to this event. It's a for men only kind of thing, unfortunately. And, like I said, it becomes really, really raucous. I do not have any idea how the Monkey Youkai would react to women breaking in on their sacred ceremony, even Monkey Youkai women, let alone women from other races."

"So, Issei, Saji, Loup, Kiba, and me," Harry said with a nod. "If taking ladies along is a clear way to set the locals against us, it's best to not create more issues if we can help it."

"Actually, if we're thinking about this being an anti-Khaos Brigade operation, I could ask my older brother to send one of his peerage members there. Or better yet, my cousin!" Rias said with a grin. "He's been wanting a chance to get to know you anyway, Harry."

"That works," Harry said with a nod. "I can shift around my work schedule to make room for that weekend, so long as you and Rias are willing to watch the kids, Yasaka."

"Is that a trick question?" Rias quipped, pulling Lily into a sideways hug and giving Harry a bright grin along with his redheaded daughter, while Yasaka simply chittered in response.

Soon after the discussion about the Monkey Youkai's information finished, Kalawarner teleported back with the remaining food to the Potters' to spend the rest of breakfast with Asia. Asia had bunked with Koneko the night before and had seemingly worked through much of her reaction to the number of dead she was unable to save from the battle. She was still quite sad and fragile, but Harry had okayed the idea of her staying home for the day and knew that Kalawarner and Yubelluna would watch over her.

The girls would follow later after they were ready for school, with Yasaka walking them to school that morning. But Kalawarner wanted to get back to Asia, having left her to use the bathroom after praying with her earlier that morning. Soon afterward Kunou and Yasaka went off to get ready, and Rias, Harry, and Lily returned to their home. They found Asia ready for school, talking quietly to Kala and Koneko as Kala finished putting together a trio of bentos for Kiba, Koneko, and Harry.

The Nekoshou flinched when she saw Harry and almost moved to hide behind Kiba. But the Knight moved away adroitly, leaving the embarrassed Koneko face to face with Harry. Koneko had been able to ignore her embarrassment last night, but now, with Harry right in front of her, the memory of what she had done after Vali had left came back. She flushed to her ear tips, and her normal illusion covering her ears and tail started to fade, but she fought it back with difficulty as Harry smiled at her, shaking his head and not looking as if he held it against her. That smile helped her calm down somewhat, and her flush started to fade. She knew they would have to talk about what had happened, but it looked as if Harry was willing to let it wait until she was ready.

As they walked into the kitchen, though, Harry frowned, his attention shifting from Koneko to Lily as he saw his daughter yawning. Indeed, she looked to be nearly falling asleep on her feet. She hadn't had a late night before, and Lily also had her werewolf endurance. Yawning and looking tired after a night's sleep was not normal for her. "Lily, are you okay?"

"Ergle, don't know. Been having weird dreams. First it was only a time or two, but now it's every night. I still get some sleep, duh, but sometimes its like my brain doesn't want to wake up with the rest of me," Lily grumbled, slurring and even dropping some of her words in a way that the normally too-intelligent-for-her-own-good, near eight year old would not do. "Not used to it."

"When did these dreams start?" Harry asked, frowning and going to one knee in front of her, bringing his face level with Lily to show how serious he was taking this.

"Erm, about the same time we had that ritual to add Asia into the family. You know, when you, kind of, did something with the ritual that somehow, um, made me like you? Added whatever had been added to you to make you more than a werewolf to me?" Lily asked, frowning and thinking it through.

"Ah, you know about that, Lily?" Harry asked, surprised. He'd honestly felt that trying to explain what he thought might have happened in that ritual, that he had somehow shared some of his own divinity with her, might be a little too difficult for Lily to understand. After all, it wasn't as if there was a real physical change to look at after all.

"Hmm, kind of? Don't understand it up here, but in here," Lily replied, first tapping her head and then her heart. "It's kind of weird, but for a while it was like, there was a difference between us. Not like we weren't family or anything, just different. Then it went away."

"We're always going to be father and daughter, Lily, never doubt that," Harry said firmly, pulling her into a hug. "Although what I ever did to deserve a daughter as smart as you, I don't know." Lily giggled at that, rubbing her head against his shoulder. "But you were telling me about your dreams?"

"Hmm… It was stronger the last two nights. Before that I wouldn't remember anything but a smell, maybe, or a single piece of it. It's always about the ocean and rivers. Doors too, and then this white mist and a forest. I thought the forest was my werewolf side telling me something, since the forest's smell and image was the one I always remembered before. Now, maybe it's this new side of us." Lily shrugged.

"Hmmm, probably." Could something hidden within Manannán Mac Lir's power be trying to send us a message? Damn it, we still know so little about the nature of godly magic, and of Manannán Mac Lir too. "But it sounds as if it was connected to the magic Yubelluna and I have used these past two days, the type based on music and her, um, her worship." He was still a little uncomfortable about that aspect, especially talking to his daughter about it, of all people.

When Lily nodded, he went on. "Well, if you still have them again tonight, tell me. But this weekend, you and I are going to sit down, and I'll go over with you what I know about that part of us, okay? Maybe doing so can help you figure out your dreams. But tell me, do you feel as if there is anything dangerous in these dreams?" But if there is, what else could I do to protect her from it? This is coming from inside Lily, not from an external threat.

Thankfully, Lily shook her head instantly to that question. "No! I think it's weird, but it's like, like a scene from a home I haven't seen. Can't explain it better than that."

"Well that's good, then," Harry said with a sigh. "But we are still going to talk about them more sometime soon."

Lily nodded, then raced over to give Koneko a hug before Yasaka arrived to take her and Kunou to school. "Well, what do you think of that, Rias?" Harry asked.

"I think that we need to ask Tiamat about this, and frankly we are so out of our depth when it comes to deific magics that it isn't funny. You're learning how to use it: that show you put on last night with the souls of the dead tells me that. But where these dreams could be coming from, I have no idea," Rias said with a sigh. "It isn't as if gods ever wrote books or instructions or anything, and each of them were unique, which makes it all the worse."

"We need to head to Ireland. If there's any hint or leftover magic that might help me understand the power I have, it's there," Harry said firmly. He was getting a hang of it and had consciously used the power from Manannán Mac Lir last night and did it well. But using a power like that and understanding all the aspects of it were different matters. "Ireland; libraries in the Wizarding World; and I want to question Fawkes, where he, or she, whatever it is, can't just flash away. And perhaps speaking to the Unspeakables too. Anything to figure this out. I swear I'm stronger magically now than I was two days ago, love, and I don't know how. I need to figure this out."

"And that would give us the time to settle things with your ex-wife and her attempts to try and force you back on her terms. And that rot about you needing to live in the country or lose your lands there too. Don't think I've forgotten about either of those issues, Harry," Rias replied. Or that Gabrielle girl. Grr… If either she or Ginny try to take Lily away or get between me and Harry, I'll introduce them to my Power of Destruction post haste!

"Ah, that, yeah," Harry said, nodding. Crud, I'd completely forgotten about that stuff, too, after Rias and I agreed I would transfer some of my money back to Gringotts to keep a foothold in that world.

Rias looked at him for a moment andthen smirked. "You forgot, didn't you."

Harry huffed, looking away, while Rias started to laugh. "Well, can you blame me? Honestly, with all the real threats we've been dealing with, Ginny and those issues just seem rather banal in comparison."

"True, but little problems can transform to big trouble if not looked after, Harry," Rias warned. She then paused for a moment, thinking while Akeno walked in from the backyard, looking at her and the others quizzically since it was getting on in time. "We have a break coming up at the end of March. Do you think we can put this off until then?"

"Yes. I can use that time to question Tiamat about all this too, as well as a few other things. As different as her magic is from the magic of the Tuatha de Danan, she still might know something about Lily's dreams and should at least be able to tell me why my magic's been growing stronger with every instant I use a 'Blessing,' i.e., magic connected to Manannán Mac Lir's sphere of influence. If what I gained from becoming the Master of the Three Hallows was all there was to his power, then that shouldn't be happening. But it is. I'll make the arrangements for us to head back to Britain then. Me, Lily, and…" He paused, looking at Rias and the others in the kitchen.

"Me for certain, Akeno possibly, and perhaps Kunou. I'd wager that Yasaka would like her daughter to get some experience of other cultures. And Koneko," she added, hearing an almost whimper from the heretofore silent Koneko. Harry too looked in her direction and winked at the girl, causing her to smile back before the issue of how she'd embarrassed herself came to the fore of her mind again, and she looked away.

"Still, I'll take care of our tickets. It's getting late, and those of us heading to school should be going." She hugged Koneko and gave Kiba a nod before kissing Harry on the cheek. "I'll see you all when you get back."

"I do believe we should be heading out too, Harry," Kiba added, nodding to the door. "We are rather on a time-table of a sort."

"Right. But remind me to buy our tickets tonight. I want to get a move on on this," Harry replied before kissing Rias lightly and then heading towards the door after exchanging a smile with Kalawarner, who nodded back at him.

As Harry led the way from his house out onto the street, he was surprised to find Issei there, crossing his arms indignantly as he stared at Koneko and Kiba. "Come on! Do you honestly think I want to be left out of this? If the two of you are going, I have to go too."

"Why?" Koneko asked quizzically.

"Because we're like the Three Musketeers: when one of us goes into danger the other two have to follow!" Issei said, flashing a thumbs up in a cheesy manner before sending a serious nod towards Kiba. "And if this is important for Kiba, then it's important for me too. You're my friend, man. Why would I want to be left out?"

Though Harry hadn't realized it, Kiba and Issei had bonded together over the past few weeks. They weren't as close as Harry and Kiba were, but they were still good friends, and, in a way, Kiba was more of a typical friend to the other young man than Harry could be. He looked at Koneko and Kiba, who both nodded agreement, and Harry nodded back. "Okay, you can come with us, then. But let's get a move on, shall we? I don't think any of us wants Xenovia and Irina to get too far ahead of us, for their own good if nothing else, since we have no idea what kind of force might have been left in Kokabiel's base camp."

"Oh, come on, Potter-san," Issei said with a laugh. "It's not like they'd charge in against overwhelming odds and expect the big guy in the sky to see…them…through…" Issei paused as he heard the words coming out of his mouth and sighed, hanging his head. "They would, wouldn't they?"

"I rather think so."

"Sounds like the baka exorcist combi."

"Is this a trick question?" Kiba, Koneko and Harry answered as one, the words different but the message the same.

"Let's get going, then!" Issei shouted, turning and racing off towards the distant train while the others quickly followed, Harry chuckling dryly and taking up the rear.

The four of them boarded a train which the bat familiar Rias had called Heero led them to and moved through it until they found a few seats away from other people. Kiba, Issei, and Koneko received a few odd looks from the other train-goers, obviously, being of an age where they should be in school, but as they passed Harry didn't even need to use a spell to get everyone to look away. Everyone on the train was simply more interested in their own business than anything else.

Issei and Kiba started a conversation, taking two seats across from one another. At the same time, Harry and Koneko took seats across from one another on the other side of the train, with Koneko very obviously looking out the window and not at Harry. It was so obvious that anyone could tell that her attention was on him even without seeing her eyes glancing his way every few seconds. Harry, on the other hand, simply waited, putting up a notice-me-not spell around them just in case, before pulling out a small book on local enchantments that he had been studying recently.

When Koneko looked up at him, however, he put the book away, turning to her with a faint smile. "Yes, Koneko?"

She blushed and looked away again, poking her fingers together before speaking. "I'm sorry, that's…just sorry. I, my body, it…"

"It was a surprise to me at the time, Koneko," Harry said gently, reaching forward to pat her on the knee. "But it's nothing to be so embarrassed over. Sometimes our bodies get more of a vote on our actions than other times. I completely understand. Remember, I'm a werewolf. I sometimes have to deal with issues like that myself."

"Still embarrassing," she muttered, looking down at her hands before looking up at him once more. "Very embarrassing," she emphasized. "That, that is not…" She stumbled then looked down again. "That is not…not how I see you."

"I don't see you like that either, kitten. Don't worry," Harry said, his voice tender as he used a nickname for her for the first time.

Koneko looked up, her heart in her eyes, her normal self-control fraying badly under the twin impact of finally getting these words out and hearing Harry use that nickname. "H, how do you see me, Harry?"

"You've asked me that question before, haven't you?" Harry replied with a soft laugh. "I told you at that point that you already had a family. But that family has already become mine. Kiba's my best friend; Akeno, a teasing cousin just like Tonks. Rias is my wife." He said it so simply, so possessively, that Koneko could only smile, wondering if he and Rias even knew how they got sometimes when talking about one another.

"All of you worked your ways into my heart in different ways, and you, you, little kitten, you were the first to start using the line between my house and Rias's peerage as a jump rope," Harry continued. "You, with the way you became friends with Lily, with the way you strove to protect her. The way you acted to my little jokes in class, how I had to work so hard to get beyond that impassive image of yours. Before I knew it I had found a caring girl beneath, the little girl who loves RPG games, sweets, and punching things in equal measure. The little girl who cares about all around her even if she only shows it by teasing most of the time. The little kitten who loves having her ears stroked just so. The kitten who opened up her heart to me and Lily, and then Asia, and even Kunou."

His hand rose from patting her knee to stroke her cheek with a gentle finger. "So is it really any wonder, Koneko, that I see you like as you see me, daughter mine?" He smiled tenderly at her as he saw the unshed tears in her eyes.

The smile that grew on Koneko's face as Harry spoke was a thing of beauty, and as he finished speaking she lunged across the intervening space to sit on his lap, hugging him tightly. "Nope," she said cheerfully. "Not at all, Father!"

Harry chuckled, hugging her back, and continued to hug her as she slowly fell asleep against his shoulder, all the irritation and embarrassment and emotions of both being in heat and everything else coming to a head and sending her into dreamland. Harry didn't care. He simply held her, stroking her head and listening to her purring in her sleep for the rest of their time on that train.

OOOOOOO

The day after the battle against Kokabiel and his legion was almost surreal for Rias, Sona, and the others who had returned to school as per normal. Because that was what everything around them was: normal. There was nothing about the academy or Kuoh as a whole that showed what had occurred the night before. The violence, pain, and loss that they had faced against the Fallen legion, which had pressed them all to their limits, just wasn't there. All of them knew that was due to the fact the battle occurred in a dimensional bubble, but it was still strange to all of them that none of that battle had carried over into the real world.

In a way, Rias thought as she left her classroom for lunch, the ignorance we are seeing from all the normal humans around us is part and parcel of what we wish to see, what we're trying to defend. In another, it's a little surreal.

And yet, she and the other Devils couldn't forget what had happened either. And, as the final bell rang for the day, they were reminded of the fact that, even among Devils, last night's activities had caused consternation and worry.

Exiting her classroom again and patting herself on the back for how she and Sona had been able to cover for Harry without anyone seemingly noticing, Rias looked up as she felt a dimensional doorway to hell opening with two people who had been read into the wards bursting out of it. The next second she and every magically sensitive individual on campus shivered as pressure built around them. Exchanging a startled glance with Sona, who had come out of the classroom behind her, she whispered, "Oh no, surely they wouldn't…"

"They did, idiotic parents. There was a reason why we sent our reports through the clan lines rather than straight to the government, darn it," Sona muttered, shaking her head. "Come on; I'd wager the price of that school Harry-san wants to build that neither of our siblings are in any mind to remember to cover themselves in illusions. We have to head them off at the ORC building!"

With that the two of them quickly pushed their way through the crowd of students, entering the nearest girls restroom and teleporting directly from there into the occult research clubroom. The teleportation was so abrupt that Sona stumbled a bit, but Rias caught her, and then the two of them were face-to-face with, not only their fathers, but their older siblings. Older siblings who were both radiating so much anger and fury that it was frightening for the two younger siblings to see, let alone anyone else, as they moved to the door. But Rias gathered her courage and shouted out, "Will you two calm down! The fight is long over."

Zeoticus, who had been manfully holding his son back despite the feeling of the wards buzzing all around him, smiled gratefully and then found himself on the floor as Lucifer threw him off, grabbing up Rias in a hug that was fit to crush her ribs. "Oh, I am so glad you're all right, Rias-tan! I can't believe this happened! What the hell is going on in with the Fallen Angels that an entire legion was allowed to attack here, I don't understand!"

"What's not to understand, baka Onii-sama!" Rias grunted, "Their leader's an asshole who can barely lead his way out of a paper bag, and even then only if it contains a porn magazine! Now let me go, darn it! You're doing more damage than the Fallen attack did!"

Sona too was getting this treatment from her sister, who was muttering about how she had basically threatened to encase the Fallen Angel ambassador to the Devils in ever renewing ice if a hair on her head had been damaged. Well that was what she said between bawling out thanks with the refrain of, "So-tan, So-tan, I am sooo glad you're all right! I am sooo sorry I wasn't here to help." Then she said something that threatened to stop Sona's heart. "Oh, that's it! I am so moving in up here in Kuoh to watch over you! That way the next time something happens I'll deal with it right away!"
"Oh, by the darkness that spawned us all, Hells no!" Sona shouted, her self-possession pushed past the breaking point. She began to smack the top of the oppai loli that was her sister on the head as she was being held in the air, Serafall's face pressing into her far more modest chest. "If you think you can ruin my normal life with your Maou-be-cursed magical girl nonsense, you can think again. I'd sooner run away!"

"Nooooo! Never going to let go!" both sis-con siblings shouted as one, causing their younger sisters to groan again in exasperation.

The next instant the door opened, and the beleaguered Kings' two Queens quickly ushered in the peerage members who were there, which weren't many, of course, on Rias's side of things. All of them quickly bowed to the two Maou.

"See, Serafall," Lord Sitri said, reaching out to touch his oldest daughter's shoulder. "Now, come on. Let Sona go; she's going to turn blue."

"We knew you were all right, Rias," his father said, shaking his head as he tried to pry Sirzechs's arms off from around Rias. "But these two, they've been in a right tizzy ever since we passed on your messages. It's been all we could do to keep them from coming through the teleport circle before this. For my part," he said, beaming at his daughter. "I am proud, more than proud, of what you and your friends accomplished last night."

That was putting it mildly, to be sure. Astonished, appalled, concerned, and awed came much closer to what he was really feeling.

A few minutes later Akeno was bustling around the room serving everyone tea as the two peerages had mainly left, leaving Rias, Sona, Tsubaki, and Akeno to deal with the Maous that had come among them. Rias and Sona sat on one sofa, staring across from it at their siblings and fathers. Thankfully, Rias had been able to use a spell Harry had taught her to transfigure the second sofa into a much larger version.

"What sparked this attack? Do we know?" Sirzechs asked.

"It was all in the report I sent, Lord Gremory," Rias growled, staring at her brother and tapping her finger on her other arm as she crossed her arms underneath her breasts, glaring at him now while consciously not noticing how her father flinched at her use of his title rather than the term father. "What the heck, you mean to say you didn't even read what I sent in?"

Her brother looked a little sheepish, but Levia-tan stood up, weaving her hand. "Ooh, ooh, I did!" She recited the important bits for Lucifer, who frowned, slowly asking questions as the story came out.

"So, it wasn't just your two peerages and the Potter family, but your allies too. That puts it more in perspective for me. And the wards were that effective?"

"Very much so," Rias replied dryly, while both fathers nodded agreement, having had Sona read them into the wards while Rias had worked on enlarging the sofa. That was probably just as well, since Rias might well have let her own father sweat a bit before doing that. "They might not be strong enough to stop you, Nii-san, but they are monstrously strong even so."

"Was there evidence of this attack being part of the Khaos Brigade's ongoing campaign of terrorism? And you took no prisoners? Did all of the attackers die?" Sirzechs asked, wincing. Fuck, this is not going to go over well with Azazel. I can't fault Rias-tan and the others, but, even so, losing a full tenth of their population? On the eve of peace talks? Ouch.

"We wiped them out," Sona said simply. "As for evidence of anything else going on, of this attack being related to the Khaos Brigade, we did find evidence of a Fallen priest working with them. Harry Potter and the majority of Rias's peerage are after him now."

"But I felt I had to stay here for a discussion much like this one," Rias added dryly. "We predicted that our parents would show up, but I thought they would have at least made certain you two had all the facts before telling you about what happened." Her father and Sona's had the grace to look sheepish at that.

"That's nice and all, but why didn't you call for help?!" Serafall growled, slamming her hands down on the table, her normal attitude shifting into something sterner and more violent but still slightly childish. "I know you two value your independence, and I've been proud of everything you've both done here before this. But there is a vast difference between that and facing a legion of five thousand Fallen Angels and a Five-wing Fallen like Koka-aho!"

"Because there wasn't time. Oh, we had long suspected for more than a day that some attack would be coming, but we did not anticipate an assault of this size, an overwhelming display of force from the Grigori," Sona said with a shrug.

"It wasn't sanctioned by them," Lucifer said hurriedly. "I've been in discussions with Azazel for years now, and he's about as antiwar as you could expect a Fallen Angel to be."

"That's nice, and that and a buck fifty will get you a coffee, maybe, depending on where you shop," Rias said, smirking as she gave that response her own little fillip even as she answered her brother seriously. "Considering that Vali Lucifer was here directly on the heels of the attack and attempted to interrupt Harry's killing Kokabiel, I have my doubts. Either Azazel is an utter incompetent or he's lying to you. I don't honestly care which. That Fallen Angel and his legion attacked us. I'm not going to apologize for wiping them out!"

"I'm not saying you should, Rias-tan" Lucifer said soothingly. "They made their beds; you made Kokabiel and his followers lie in them. That's fine. I'm just saying it's going to make peace talks more difficult on their end if word about this gets out to their population at large."

"Shouldn't they be?" Sona asked, pushing her glasses up her nose. "What is the point of peace talks if the leaders of the various groups discussing it cannot guarantee peace?"

Lucifer winced once more but nodded, understanding her point.

The two siblings and the pair of parents then began to question the two more closely about the information they had had leading up to the fight and their decision not to call in more help from the Devil side of things. It was all logical and understandable and showed that, given what they knew up to right before the battle, it seemed as if they hadn't needed the help. At that point, given how short a time frame they had to work with from the time they figured out it's severity to the time when the attack had been launched, there wasn't much the families could have done. Perhaps Sirzechs could have gotten there in time to do something, but even that was questionable, considering that he had worked out that he had been in a meeting at the time.

"We might be guilty of the sin of pride," Sona said for herself and Rias, "yet, we won, didn't we? Surely that should absolve us of that particular sin for now."

Leviathan pouted at her sister's words but nodded slowly while Rias went on for her friend. "I don't think you have honestly looked at what we've been doing here. The wards we've made, the alliances we have with Harry Potter and his family, the local Onmyouji, and even the Youkai Association. All of this we've been doing ourselves, and I think it needs to be taken into account the next time you think we can't handle something, and you feel the need to run to avenge us or whatever."

"Perhaps," Sirzechs said with a sigh. He looked at his little sister, shaking his head sadly. "It's just, you're growing up so fast. I'd rather you slow down a bit."

"Don't count on it," Rias replied tartly, then softened the words with a wink. "But don't worry, I'll still be your little sister whatever else happens."

"That's a relief at least," he said with a chuckle. Then Sirzechs leaned back as he scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Still, all of this makes it even better that we decided to hold the face-to-face peace talks here in Kuoh."

For a moment, all Sona and Rias could do was stare at Sirzechs, the words not quite registering. Then they did, and Sona scowled while Rias pinched her arm hard to keep herself from shouting. In other dimensions, perhaps, there were versions of Rias and Sona who would shout in fury at not being asked, instead simply being told that they were hosting this event. Perhaps in still other dimensions there were versions who would have been amazed at the honor being paid to them and meekly acquiesce.

This dimension, however, had versions of Rias and Sona who had grown past their former selves. Who had matured, learned to act for themselves, been involved in high end diplomatic discussions, and had become powers in their own right. They had learned control, and that stood them in good stead now. Which was probably just as well considering how the wards around them might have reacted to their anger at Sirzechs.

Sona and Rias looked at one another, and then Rias nodded very slightly at Sona, indicating that she should talk. Rias had to take a bit longer to gain control of herself so she wouldn't shout. After all, as angry as I am, he is the chief Maou, and this is a policy thing. I can't yell at him for being a complete donkey's ass about this, as much as I want to.

"Excuse me, but what are you talking about, and why are we only learning about this now?" Sona asked coldly, her eyes flashing as she looked between the two Maou, ignoring their parents for the moment. The two of them didn't look as surprised, but that was an internal clan thing that she and Rias would have to deal with separately.

"I mentioned peace talks earlier," Lucifer said mildly. "It has to be held on Earth somewhere, and it has to be held in some place that is, if not neutral territory, is at least not a place that will not give a symbolic edge to one party or another, and that means here in Kuoh."

"There are other places on Earth where you could meet, you know," Sona shot back instantly.

Leviathan sighed, her face turning serious for just a moment. "The Angels are almost unwilling to come to the peace talks at all, and because of that the Church won't house them on any of its unsanctified lands for fear of internal strife. The Fallen could have hosted it someplace in Brazil or Hawaii before the incident here. But now, not only is their leadership thrown into question, but their commitment to peace at all. No one from the other two factions will want to show up if they try to say they can host the peace talks. That leaves us Devils, and since me and Sirzechs here are the ones pushing the most for these peace talks, we need to choose someplace connected to our families at the very least which means here in Kuoh. We've been pushing to host it here for more than a year actually."

Sona's teeth ground audibly as she barely kept herself from shouting at that last tidbit. "And it never occurred to you to check in with us on whether or not we would be fine with this idea? Not only is that a lot of responsibility, but this attack does call into question not only whether or not the Fallen Angels should be involved in the peace talks at all, but whether they should happen at all! If the Khaos Brigade is still out there, should we not try to look to our own affairs, to clear our own houses, as it were, before formalizing the reluctant peace we have already been enjoying?"

"It is precisely because of the Khaos Brigade that we need these formal talks. They've begun to launch attacks against all three factions, and they've been very good about using Fallen Angels to, say, attack Church and Devil targets like here in Kuoh, and using Devils to attack the Church and the Fallen to sow further discord. We need to make certain that we can stand united against them and against the power behind them."

"'The power behind them?'" Rias replied, the phrase helping her control her anger at the earlier announcement. "What do you mean?"

"There is evidence that a god of some kind, and a very powerful one, is backing them, Blessing them in various fashions. Possibly even more than one," Sirzechs said with a sigh, and everyone in the room save for Serafall stiffened, even Akeno who had been by the tea set.

Among Devilkind only Sirzechs himself could fight a god. Not a demigod like Harry, but a full-blown powerhouse god, like Zeus or the God of the Bible, although even Sirzechs knew he would've lost that particular fight. "There have been stirrings among the still existing pantheons out there, moves that point to them either being involved with the Khaos Brigade or also bothered by the collateral damage. We're uncertain which at this point, though, thanks to Serafall's efforts, we've begun to reach out to some of them. But if we need to fight those other pantheons, we can't be fighting the Fallen or the Angels as well."

Sona fell silent as did Rias for a time, taking in that information, which was something of a bombshell to them. Oh, they knew there were remnants of various older religions out there—the power Harry had gained would have pointed to that, if nothing else. Rias had known about there being remnants of the Asgardian pantheon, since her father actually had had dealings with Odin. And she and Sona both knew that none of the Three Factions could act at all in India. But to know that there might be more pantheons out there who were still intact enough to be called that? That was as big a blow to their world view, as big as learning about the wizards and Onmyouji.

Eventually Rias shook her head, setting that to the side to mention it to Harry when he and the others returned. "I understand that," Rias said. "But you should still have asked for our permission."

"*Ahem* As much as I know you don't want to hear it, you two, but technically he didn't need to," Zeoticus said holding up his hands placatingly to stop any immediate reaction. "You are our heirs, but you're not head of our clans yet, and only the head of a clan would need to be immediately notified that their lands were being considered for an official event of some kind."

"I realize that, but I also know it doesn't matter," Rias shot back with Sona nodding agreement. "This is still our land, sanctified by our blood and sweat and the blood of our allies. By our magic we have made this our land in such a way that no one can argue the point." Rias held up a hand and, gently reaching into the wards around them with her magical senses, caused the wards to come alive around them to the point where even her brother looked around in slight concern. They were even more powerful now than they had been before the fight, and more responsive too. Something about the ceremony last night had shifted them, changed them however subtly, and Rias wondered if Harry had been correct. Sacrifice was, as Harry had said, part of the oldest magics out there.

"Furthermore, there are our allies to consider," Sona went on, taking over from her friend smoothly as if they the two of them had practiced this. They hadn't, of course, but they had both been around one another long enough to know how each other would react, and on this issue they spoke with one mind. "The Youkai Association, Harry Potter and his family, and the Onmyouji."

"And in the case of Harry Potter, he is as much a part of Kuoh as we and our peerages are by this point, possibly even more," Rias interjected. "And you have to know, given their desire to seemingly restart the war between us, that these peace talks might be targeted. As such, holding them here paints an even larger target on Kuoh than already existed. As such, we and our allies need to think about whether or not it is even worth our time to hold it here."

"And before you say anything about simply telling us we're holding it, remember that if Harry doesn't agree he can use the wards just as well as us, and we are in no way willing to chance a break with him on this point," Sona said, knowing where Rias was going. Whereas as heirs the two of them could just be ordered to host the peace talks here, there was no way the same could be said of Harry. That didn't even mention the Onmyouji, who might well join them here in Kuoh physically even more than the Youkai had. So they had to emphasize that angle here or else they were relying just on their parents and siblings being unwilling to use that power.

"So I think it only right and proper that we ask for some concession, not just from you to have us allow you have these talks here—and don't kid yourself, Nii-sama," Rias said, taking over from Sona once more. "If we say no, and the three of us say no, you're not getting through those wards. Not without causing some great calamity when the magic within them snaps, anyway."

"In contrast," Tsubaki said softly, stepping forward from the wall and drawing all eyes to her. "If we can get our allies to agree to let these talks happen here, and, more, to provide security, that will be a major factor going forward."

Sirzechs smiled at her, nodding his head, while Serafall looked to be almost vibrating in place with the urge to glomp Sona and give her a big hug. "Playing hardball, are we? All right, what do you want?" he said trying hard to keep the pride out of his voice while her father looked on and smiled at the two. Lord Sitri's face was a bit more conflicted, but even he looked proud at how the young women were handling this.

"If you'll give us just a moment, please? After all, you did rather spring this on us," Rias said, smiling brightly at them, all her earlier irritation suddenly gone as they agreed to haggle. Without waiting for a reply, she and Sona quickly stood up, heading towards the doorway with their Queens quickly falling in step with them.

Behind them Sirzechs shook his head ruefully. "Huh, this is not going how I expected. But then again, maybe, given the maturity Rias-tan has been showing since this school year began, I shouldn't be surprised."

"I don't like it." All remaining eyes turned to Serafall at that declaration, and a second later they all rolled as well when she started to wail. "When did my cute So-tan start to grow up on me?! Mou! Her reactions would have been so cute, but now she's all in control and stuff! I don't like it!"

Outside, the foursome quickly got organized, whispering options and ideas before splitting up to perform separate jobs. Akeno was sent by Rias straight to Kyoto to get Yasaka, while Rias called out one of her three bat familiars to contact the one that was helping Harry and the others find the two exorcists. Staring into Duo's eyes, she intoned, "Harry, we have a sort of situation here. Nothing dangerous, but it could become irritating in the long run. Sona and I are in a bit of a bind, though, considering our positions as heirs, so we're limited on how we can deal with it."

From there she explained what was going on, while Sona worked to write up a semi-official looking document stating a few of their demands. One set would be personal, the other political, most of which would be passed on to the others who would be coming here for these peace talks. Tsubaki was sent to a certain bookstore to meet with Master Husukai too. Given the fact that they had already been told it was only a matter of time before the Onmyodo government agreed to join the Kuoh Alliance, they could reach out to them and ask their opinion on a few of the things they were going to demand. Especially since two of them were for the Onmyouji themselves.

A few minutes later Akeno returned with Yasaka, who smiled at them all. "Thank you for calling me in on this in such a prompt manner…this time," she teased, before nodding her head firmly and going on in a more formal tone. "I formally demand that the Youkai Association have a seat at these peace talks. But in return we will aid the rest of the Kuoh Alliance in providing extra security for the duration of the peace talks."

She then mellowed, her tails flicking out to tease Rias's face as the redhead spluttered and backed away quickly. "Besides, I was thinking of asking a few of our warriors to move to Kuoh fulltime, as it were. It would be a hard sell usually, but given the teleportation tunnel between Kyoto and here, I might be able to talk a few of our younger warriors into moving."

Rias nodded and then smiled as her little bat squeaked at her, its voice a high feminine squeal. Her three bat familiars could talk in a fashion, though not for very long and not in complete sentences, grammar being something that eluded them. Since they could communicate telepathically, though, that was an issue she could ignore with aplomb. "Harry, fine, trust Master. Squeeze. Love Master."

"Thank you, Duo, and tell Heero to tell him I love him too," Rias said with a tender smile as she dismissed her familiar before looking over at Sona. Tsubaki appeared then and nodded her own head, indicating that she too had been successful. "Well then, let's get those write-ups done."

Yasaka nodded firmly, and they all got to work. About ten minutes later, thanks to some Devil-style spells that helped with paperwork and writing, they were done.

With Yasaka following behind, the Kuoh natives reentered the ORC clubroom, finding the four they had left behind still there, with the two fathers engaged in a spirited argument over the chess board, Sirzechs lazing out on the coach, and Serafall just coming out of the small kitchen. "Excuse me!" Akeno said, somewhat affronted even by a Maou entering her kitchen without her permission. "Serafall-sama, if you want something…" She paused, seeing the amount of sweets the childish Leviathan had grabbed. "… Did you at least leave us something?"

Serafall giggled at the silly question—of course she hadn't—then her eyes widened as Yasaka followed the others into the room.

"Lady Yasaka!" Sirzechs said, quickly sitting up and trying to look more professional and authoritative.

Serafall didn't even try. She simply shouted, "Yassie!" and raced forward, greeting the other short woman with a hug that would probably have sent Saji and Issei into comas, given how their breasts pressed so hard together. The nine-tailed fox chittered in amusement and hugged Serafall back, saying it was good to see her before sitting next to Rias, with Sona on the redhead's other side.

Sona began the negotiations. "All right, we've had a thought, several of them, actually. First, on a personal level, we would like you and my sister to provide us with some more training on the weekends for our peerages, us, and anyone else who wants to join. While I think we all performed as well as we could possibly expect to, more training equals more combat ability, and that can never be a bad thing. We don't care how you do that. You can assign someone from your peerage to it, Lucifer-sama, or see it to yourself, but we would particularly like more help in bringing Kiba and Genshirou's Sacred Gears to the point where they can use Balance Breaker."

Both siblings nodded, and Sona went on, still looking at her sister. "On the political side of things, we will demand reparations. The leader of the Fallen is to formally accept and pay reparations, paying for the families of the dead among the Onmyouji and the Youkai as well as enough money to allow us to begin building the school that we wish to start here."

"School?" Sirzechs and all of the other Devils asked.

"That is part of our agreement with the Onmyouji, though it's also an amazingly good idea on its own that Harry came up with," Rias replied. "Were going to be opening a school that will teach magic, magic of all sorts. Onmyodo style magic, Devil magic, even Youkai Association style magic as much as other races can learn, and wizard style magic. Harry has volunteered to be the first principal, though he called the position headmaster. The school will also work as a major research center into how the various magics work together and what this could mean for our understanding of what magic is in the first place."

At the mention of the school Sona kept a smile off her face with difficulty. Even now she was still somewhat enamored of the idea for some reason. Just something about it called out to her. Still, for now she set that aside and just listened as Rias picked up from there. "Beyond that, we have a few personal demands that the Church and the Fallen will need to meet."

She paused until Serafall and Sirzechs nodded, while her father looked to be almost bursting with pride to one side. Yet to all their surprise it was Yasaka who spoke up. "First and easiest, we demand that the number of dignitaries they send be limited, and that we be informed of who they are in advance of any meeting. Ten per group should be sufficient, and that includes every group that is going to be represented. Not only the three Factions, but my Youkai Association and the Onmyodo Government will demand a spot at these peace talks. We will also be providing security," she finished, repeating what she had said to Rias and the others moments before.

Serafall nodded while Sirzechs looked bemused and the two fathers looked almost affronted, but Rias didn't let them speak, instead leaning forward aggressively. "We of the Three Factions have at times been dismissive and, in other ways, ignorant of the rest of the mystical groups that share Earth with us. Yet times are changing, and we have to realize that other brands of magic, other magical societies, have both merit and ability. It might be different than our brute strength, but it is there. To that end, any talks about extending the unofficial ceasefire between the Factions must include the other distinct cultures which have also had their peace threatened by the Khaos Brigade."

"You realize that giving magic using humans a seat at the table alongside the Church will be difficult?" Sirzechs asked, while his father frowned and leaned back, looking thoughtful now.

The older man wasn't honestly certain he agreed with all ths, but, after seeing how his daughter had grown, he also couldn't say she was wrong on that point. But it was a sign of how she and Sona had grown, not only as people, but in their world views, and he wasn't certain he was comfortable with that. Such is the duality of being a parent, I guess. You want your kids to stay forever cute and biddable, and you also want them to grow up and be able to stand on their own. I can't say I'm happy to see how that has happened, but I can't argue with the results. For the most part, anyway. Harry and my daughter being magically married is still something I'd really rather not think about, though.

"We all realize that. I also realize that the Church sent into our territory perhaps the least experienced and least diplomatic exorcists they possibly could, wielders of Holy Blades or no," Sona said sternly. "I also know that there is a vast difference between mouthing the words that you want peace and actually committing to it. Giving a little on that score will show that they are willing do more than mouth the words."

"Agreed," Serafall stated crisply, causing Sirzechs to look at her. The Maou in charge of diplomacy shrugged her shoulders. "Honestly, the Church shouldn't have an issue beyond the spirit of the thing with the Onmyouji. European wizards would be a different matter, but if Harry is not there as a rep himself but as security, Gab-chan and I can smooth over even that. The issue of limiting their numbers will be harder, but still doable."

"All right. I suppose we can agree to that provisionally," Sirzechs acknowledged. "What else?"

"A personal issue," Rias said, her face hard. "This is not negotiable. Governor General Azazel will be one of the delegates, of course. But he will not be accompanied by the Grigori member Baraqiel. If that man shows up I will incinerate him on the spot." Behind her Akeno stiffened as a small but happy smile crossed her face at that, but Rias resolutely did not look in her direction. "Further, Azazel will formally apologize to myself, Sona, and the representatives of the Onmyodo government and the Youkai Association for running what amounted to black ops operations in our territories in direct contravention of pushing for these peace talks. Whether that is public or private is negotiable, but the apology must happen and be accompanied by the monetary reparations Sona already mentioned."

"I… We can't agree to that, but I suppose we can pass it on," Sirzechs replied. Azazel, he knew, wouldn't have a problem with apologizing for Kokabiel's actions or the trouble Rias and Sona had run into before that with other Fallen, but to do so in public might cause him issues with his own people.

Sona smirked, reaching forward to hand the semi-formal agreements over. "In that case, I suppose you all have your work cut out for you, don't you? Because, let me tell you, if any of these delegates think they can agree and then mouth off or cause trouble once they're here, they really should start wondering about the Fallen legion that we wiped out."

Yasaka chittered agreement. "Which doesn't even mention the fact Harry will be in charge of security and may call in Tiamat."

"That's fine, then," Serafall said before smirking and leaping over to land in Sona's lap. "In that case, I need to get my So-tan charge topped up now!"

"Onee-sama!" Sona yelped as the shorter, bustier Sitri sister started to fondle her. "Gleep!"

"You realize I wanted to have these talks occur in the next month or so?" Sirzechs said with a sigh. "Now, with them needing to agree to these demands and figure out who they're going to send, I can't see that happening."

"Good. I'd rather have put it off until after the two of us graduate this summer," Rias replied tartly. "We have other issues of our own to see to anyway."

When Rias refused to elaborate, Sirzechs sighed, set the papers into a small bag at his side, and then decided to follow Serafall's example, pulling Rias across the table into his lap and nuzzling into the side of her head with a sigh. "Sera-chan has the right idea: I need my Imouto batteries filled up before going back to Grayfia and getting her to help me start on this junk."

"GARRRH!" Rias yelped, trying to pull away without much showing for it.

Chuckling at how some things, at least, hadn't changed, Zeoticus asked, "By the way, do you want me to use what happened here in order to warn off Cousin Chalkas?"

"Who!?" Rias grunted, looking away from where she was trying to get out of her brother's grip. "Oh, him. I suppose. Given my read of the moron I expect he'll still try to challenge me. Just make sure he knows that anyone who tries to take my position as heiress away like this is no family of mine. And, gah, if you, if you get me out of this, Tou-sama, I'll show you around our territory!"

"Ouch," Zeoticus muttered, shaking his head. "And I think you can consider that a deal," he finished, reaching forward to try and disengage his son from his daughter, happy to take another step forward in bridging the gap between him and his daughter.

OOOOOOO

At the same time that Rias and Sona were dealing with their parents and older siblings, Harry and his group had reached the small port town where Rias' bat familiar, Heero, indicated that the two exorcists had gone. They had done so by taking one train, one subway, and then a short bus trip, but they had arrived at last.

Shortly after replying to Rias' message, Heero led them to where Rias' third bat familiar, Rei, was watching the two exorcists, who had apparently taken up position on a market's rooftop to watch what looked like a normal warehouse. The warehouse even looked like it was in use, and Harry recognized the logo on its doors as a food distribution service. Still, even as they watched the market's roof Harry could feel the magic from the warehouse. It was duplicitous, a illusion of some kind placed over the warehouse along with a few wards whose purpose he could guess at but was not at all certain of.

The illusion, though, that I can nearly see right through, Harry thought with some pleasure. His experiments in illusion magic and his working with Yasaka had taught him how to notice the slight hints of something being off. Here there was no one moving around the building, not even a worker on a smoke break. There were no birds on the warehouse roof. This close to the docks, that was a major sign of something unusual going on.

Elsewhere, Harry could also see, or see as much as one could with magic, at any rate, the fact that several large cargo ships and areas of the port had been similarly covered by illusion until recently. Only the illusion on the warehouse was still active, and regular life was slowly starting to take over elsewhere. Still, I'll pass on to Husukai that they might want to send a large group of their equivalent of Obliviator teams down here. There's bound to be some residue here, since I doubt Kokabiel cared what chaos he left in his wake.

Harry was torn from his musing by Issei asking, "So, how do we want to play this? Up front or try to be sneaky?"

"Since we are still not in direct conflict with the Church and, in fact are here to help them as well as aid Kiba in his own issues, I think we need to play this straight. Issei, you and Kiba should lead us in, since Irina's your friend and all," Harry replied, gesturing the Pawn forward. "At least I hope she'll be happy to see you. You didn't do anything to her last night when she stayed at your house, did you?"

Issei hissed out a no, then moved from their own hiding place, leaping from the hotel rooftop they'd been on to the market rooftop where the two exorcists crouched with a surprising amount of alacrity. "Um, hey, you two, we came to help!" he said, while the others moved to join him.

To Harry's surprise, both exorcists actually smiled, and the taller girl, Xenovia, held out her hand to the shorter one, Irina. Irina snapped her fingers and pouted at Issei before putting a few bills in Xenovia's hand. "Darn it! I thought for sure that you would be the only one to come after us to help, Issei-kun."

"Whereas I believed that the devilish desire to avenge himself would, at the very least, force Kiba to come after us. Once we heard Potter-sensei tell us about Valper Galilei working with Kokabiel, it was almost preordained," Xenovia said, counting her winnings.

Having come closer by this point, Harry could see that those earnings were not money. Instead they seemed to be some kind of food coupons. I suppose God's injunction against gambling doesn't extend to food coupons, then. Funny.

"Although your presence, Lord Potter, was not foreseen, nor was yours, Koneko-san," Xenovia went on, looking at the two of them. She addressed the werewolf and the cat girl more politely than she had Kiba, switching between the Italian and Japanese modes of address. Though the smirk on her face which had seemed to be somewhat friendly towards Kiba had disappeared.

This left Harry wondering how exactly she viewed him and Koneko, but after a few moments introspection he decided he didn't care. While the girl had mellowed, Xenovia had yet to apologize to Asia for the way she had spoken to her when they met, and that was not something Harry was going to forget anytime soon. "We're here because our friend is here; is that enough?"

"…I suppose so," Xenovia said before looking at Kiba closely. "I thought you said at one point, however, that you are no longer seeking revenge."

"My feelings on this point are somewhat complex but now are concentrated on Valper rather than you or your swords. I was wrong in blaming the object of desire that had so twisted the Holy Sword Project. But the individual who began it, Valper Galilei, he must be forced to face me. It is not just vengeance for my own sake either. No, this is justice for my fallen friends. There were more than thirty of us, and I was the only survivor. No, for their sake, if not my own, I need to see that Valper gets what's coming to him," the blonde swordsman said.

Both exorcists nodded at that, while Koneko moved to stand beside Kiba in a wordless gesture of support.

Harry clapped Kiba on the shoulder as he stepped around the two exorcists, heading to the side of the rooftop where they were all standing. "What have you discovered so far?" he asked.

"Can you not sense it?" Irina asked, blinking in surprise, while Xenovia shook her head. "That warehouse is full of Fallen Angel energies. We can sense it even through the dimensional bubble they put up in order to keep people away and the illusion too."

"We can tell where those begin, but beyond that overpowering feeling of Fallen magic, we cannot tell anything about what is going on under it," Xenovia said quickly.

Concentrating his senses in the warehouse's direction, Harry frowned slightly. He was no expert with sensing things on the magical level, but nor was he an amateur at it. And what his magical senses were telling him was weird. "There's a kind of foulness there, like something sweet gone wrong. I suppose that's the Fallen magic. But that's only in the illusion magic, matching the fading illusion. The dimensional bubble, the spell keeping people away, that feels different, almost…purer, somehow…" Harry mused aloud.

"It, it feels," he said after a little while, "almost as if someone else has put up another dimensional bubble underneath the original. Is that even possible?"

"Yes. Bubbles like that aren't really solid structures like the one we were fighting in last night. They are instead more suggestions of division from one area of the world to another," Kiba said, thinking about it himself. "A hedge, I suppose you could say, an artificial division, an edge written on a piece of paper. You can always put one edge underneath another."

"That makes some sense, I suppose. But then, why do I think that that's Holy Magic underneath the Fallen magic?"

Everyone around him blanched, most particularly the two exorcists. Godly magic, while extremely difficult to use (as Harry understood all too well by this point), was both amorphous and powerful when properly applied, having no real limit so long as the god in question had enough power to do so. It could be almost frighteningly direct in its application, even if it was hard to use.

In fact, coming from some conversations he'd had with Rias occasionally, Harry wondered if the application aspect wasn't why the God of the Abrahamic traditions had been able to defeat other pantheons. The Church's use of Holy Magic was easy to use, very specific in how it could impact minds and the physical realm, and was spread out among all of 'Gods' followers rather than a few chosen champions.

"Yes, well, setting that disturbing thought aside, the problem is that neither of us can figure out a way through the outer bubble without warning them we're there. And we don't know what kind of security were going to be dealing with," Irina said before glancing at Xenovia in amusement. "Both of us have had a revelation on the issue of arrogance in the face of the unknown of late and have no wish to make that mistake again.

Harry chuckled, shaking his head. It looked as if these two had actually begun to adapt to how their worldview had been expanded on this trip of theirs, and he thought for a moment that perhaps both of them could be people he might like to get to know in the future. So long as Xenovia apologizes to Asia, anyway. Right now was not the time for that kind of thinking, though. They had a job to do, and he wanted to be done with it and then head home to Rias and the rest.

He stared at the warehouse for a few minutes and then looked over at the others. "Would that kind of thing react to teleportation? And do the Fallen Angel's system of anti-teleportation wards work on the same methodology as everyone else's: that they have to know of a specific type of teleportation in order to combat it?"

"Yes," all four of the five other people on the roof said as one. This caused them all to smile wryly, while Issei looked at them in some confusion.

Harry smiled. "In that case I think we can get ourselves onto the warehouse roof with relative ease. Once we're underneath the outer illusion, we'll have to be careful. Am I correct in thinking that any use of magic within the bounds of the illusion field will cause a reaction?"

"That's how these quick and dirty setups usually work, yes," Kiba said with a nod.

"In that case, let's go." Without another word Harry held out his hands to the others, with Koneko quickly taking one, followed by Issei and Kiba swiftly afterward.

The two exorcists were quite reluctant at first, but also linked arms with the others and a moment later reeled way, gasping and shivering at their first ever experience with Apparition. "Yes, the stomach doesn't like being moved through space and time like that, I'm afraid," Harry said with some commiseration in his tone, patting them gently on the backs as they attempted to not hurl.

"You could've warned us," Irina growled, smacking his left lower leg with one hand even as she curled up and tried not to throw up her lunch.

"I could have, but I've gotten so used to using Rias's means of teleportation that your reaction to you using mine didn't occur to me. Sorry," he said. Then as the two of them grumbled he turned away and began to feel out the magic around them. The two exorcists soon started to do the same, while all three of the Devils looked around, wondering why they felt so uneasy, but their own senses failed to tell them anything else.

Xenovia was the first to put what they were feeling here into words. "This is Holy Magic! How are the Fallen able to throw around pure Holy Magic like this?!"

"What is the difference between Fallen magic and Holy Magic?" Harry asked. "Sorry, but I've only ever felt Fallen before this. Don't both Angels and Fallen use the same kind of magical system?"

"Only in terms of combat spellwork," the shorter, somewhat stacked brunette said, her earlier irritation with Harry forgotten as she frowned in thought. "The Fallen actually can't use Holy Magic outside of combat any longer. The higher end spells and usages are denied them once their wings grow black. They can no longer call what I have heard called the Heaven System of magic."

Heaven System? That sounded oddly specific to his mind. Regardless, he shelved that for now, looking at them all thoughtfully. "Okay, that makes some sense, but then what are they using here? It feels, I don't know, ancient to me."

Given his werewolf aspect, it didn't surprise Harry that his mind was unconsciously trying to fit what he was feeling into his mind in terms of smells, as it had earlier, though what his senses were telling him had changed. Earlier he had only been able to detect a hint of something pure underneath the cloyingly sweet scent of the Fallen magic. Now that pure smell had been replaced, like a picture might seem to be so many blobs before becoming clearer. It smelled now of…of dank places, of freshly tilled earth, of dust and the desert. It was all these things and more, things Harry couldn't describe in words.

Something in that magic was calling out to him, something powerful, but he knew that what he was sensing was based on his demigod status rather than his intellectual understanding of magic. It called to an aspect of Manannán Mac Lir's portfolio: the aspect of being a god who guarded the passage to the afterlife. It spoke to him of death.

"The Fallen actually use a broader system of magic a bit more based upon the Devil system of Ankhsera runes more than anything else," Kiba said with a nod. "Because their runes are the same, their wards are the same. Their ability to manipulate magic and so forth are all more consistent with the Devil side of things than the Holy. Considering the first Devil was the First Fallen, Lucifer the Morning Star, that makes sense, doesn't it?"

"Hmmpf," Xenovia huffed. "Holy scripture is more about prayer, group effort, and first building up magic from thousands of different sources and then using it towards a single goal as directed by an ordained priest."

Harry nodded, instantly seeing a parallel there between the rituals that he was more familiar with.

"But this isn't like that," Irina said, calling everyone's attention back to her. "I don't think this is coming from any group of individuals or anything of that nature." She looked directly at Xenovia, her brown eyes grave. "And it isn't Holy magic, not ours, anyway. I can't tell what it is, but it isn't anything that comes from the Holy Father."

She was so firm about it that even the devils could only take her words at face value, and Xenovia just nodded. "Regardless, the Fallen should never have been able to do anything like this. As far as we know, the Fallen would be incapable of even coming near such magic."

Harry sighed, wanting some more concrete answers for what they were all feeling, but he knew that that was asking for too much given the relative inexperience they each had with magic outside their spheres. Indeed, I have to wonder how many people of any of the various magic-using groups understand magic beyond their own types? More reason to start the research academy, then.

"Are you saying that Fallen angels would react to Holy magic just the same as, well, us Devils react to their own Holy weapons?" Issei said, slowly staring down at the rooftop beneath them and trying to imagine what was going on inside the building.

"Yes, that's it exactly," Irina said with a nod.

"Then perhaps they didn't?" Everyone else looked at him, and Issei shrugged. "Maybe someone else beat us here."

"Regardless, I think we need to go in under illusions with the understanding that we might run into severe resistance here," Harry said firmly, catching the two exorcists by the eye and making certain they knew his next words were for them. "No rushing in guns blazing. I'll put each of you under a separate illusion. Hold hands for now so that we can all see through it; that will let us all move around more easily inside. But we need to get the lay of the land before we start hacking and slashing. Something about this whole setup has my hair standing on end."

"Shouldn't that be fur?" Irina quipped, getting a laugh from Harry and Issei.

"Koneko, you'll be our scout," Harry said, taking command of the mission with an ease that even the two exorcists found more comforting than irritating. "Kiba, you'll remain in the rear. Everyone else, single file for now. Issei, eyes front when we get in there, Irina left, Xenovia right. I know we might find ourselves in a corridor without doors or something, but there are these things called illusions, and I don't think we can be complacent and just assume I'll spot them before they let someone inside spring a trap on us."

Koneko smiled proudly even as she called upon her new ability to transform her image into the body of a cat as she had for the ambush that Kokabiel had broken up during the battle against the Fallen legion. In that form her senses and body became somewhat like a cat's, and to everyone who looked at her, the image of her familiar, little Shiro, was all they saw. Even Harry had praised her for it when she perfected it, and he smiled at her now, the paternal look of pride in his eyes making her tail swish happily.

She padded towards the door, looking up at Harry inquisitively, and he reached for it, slowly extending his senses to make certain that it wasn't magically booby-trapped. It wasn't, and it wasn't physically booby-trapped either, though Harry's ability to tell that from this side of the door was somewhat limited, based more on his experience with the way the twins sometimes booby-trapped things than anything else.

He made a note of it, however. There seems to be a certain amount of arrogance in the magical community that I have also developed. After all, magical attacks of that nature aren't the only way to attack your enemy. Sometimes a more normal, non-magical means of attack is even better. Kokabiel knew that, and if we hadn't prepared for it, the effect could have been devastating.

With a single wave of his hand, Harry silenced the door. Then he grasped the doorknob and used Alohamora, the same unlocking spell that Hermione had used in his first year at Hogwarts. The spell worked just as well now as it had then, and he pulled the door open, smiling slightly at the memory of that time while letting Koneko in.

Inside, Koneko moved forward, quickly disappearing into the dark of the corridor within. A minute later she was back, poking her head out over the door's threshold and meowing at them, nodding her head once to indicate that the coast was clear. All of them then entered, one after another, and she padded back along the corridor.

Inside, Harry shivered a little, resisting the urge to hold his nose even as he shifted into his werewolf form. The others looked at him, and he shrugged his shoulders, gesturing to everyone there at the back of his neck where the fur was now standing very visibly on end. "It smells in here," he said at last. It smells of death...inferi? Well, those would be disturbing but little threat, really. Although this smell… I don't know, it's more like a crypt, I would think, than anything else. Reminds me of the graveyard in fourth year more than the inferi.

"Odd," Kiba said, cocking his head thoughtfully. "Koneko wasn't reacting to it. And I didn't think werewolf senses were that much better than cat girl senses."

Harry blinked. "Sorry. My mind's trying to figure out a way to explain what my magical senses are telling me; I forgot to pass that on. The smell's not a physical thing, it's more spiritual. Which, come to think of it, is probably worse."

"You think!?" Issei muttered, loosening his hands and getting ready to cast spells if needed. He still was nothing like a frontline combatant, but he was ready to do whatever he could, and, under the right circumstances, his spells could be devastating.

A few minutes later as they waited, Koneko came back, her stark white kitten form standing out in the darkness of the corridor they had found themselves in. She raced up to Harry and headbutted his lower leg, causing an impact that nearly sent him stumbling despite being in his werewolf form, having forgotten for a moment that, despite what they were seeing she was not a tiny kitten. He looked down at her, and she smiled up at him as much of it as a cat could, and Harry reached down and picked her up with ease despite the fact that she still weighed as much as she normally would. When he held her up to his ear, however, Koneko appeared perched there, the illusion of Shirou disappearing.

"There is something weird here!" she said in a whisper that only Harry could hear even from that distance, a bit of fear coming through her normal monotone. "There are several scientist monk types. I think they match Kiba's description of the group he and his team ran into on their mission a few months ago. But that's not the oddest thing. The oddest thing are the skeletons."

"What?" Harry asked just as quietly, looking at her quizzically and with a certain amount impending dread. "Are you talking about undead? Like inferi?" Oh please, be something simple. Please don't let us have stumbled into some other major event.

Koneko shrugged, remembering Harry mentioning those in a few of his stories about the war against Riddle. "They're not zombies. There are skeletons, fifty heavily armored skeletons."

"You were able to count them?" Issei said as Harry relayed that to the others.

Koneko nodded before looking back at Harry. "They're not the normal undead from RPG games either."

"I don't play those, Koneko. You're going to have to elaborate a bit more."

Koneko huffed and might have rolled her eyes were she anyone else, but she explained readily enough. "They're patrolling the area down on the warehouse floor in groups of five. They are acting like a trained group of soldiers, and they almost look more intelligent and conscious. There are two that are larger and stronger looking, standing near this…this thing. Looks like a steampunk magical version of a giant cross. Can't describe it better than that."

Harry frowned, and then he was holding Fragarach, its form that of a hammer. "Let's go," he said softly after relaying that information to the others. "We stay hidden; no sudden movements, don't break the illusions I put on you. But I think we need to see the skeletons for ourselves."

Koneko hopped off of Harry's shoulder and, an instant later, was covered again by her special kitten illusion, leading the way. She paused deliberately here and there where she had noticed weak points in the floor, hopping over a few places and then stopping to stare at the others, indicating without words that she expected them to do the same. They all did so and made it through the area in relative silence. What noise they were making was covered by the slowly rising hum of electricity of some kind of generator in the background.

Koneko and Harry stood together, the Nekoshou once more sitting on the werewolf's shoulder as they crouched behind a heavy piece of some kind of equipment that had been left on the second floor, blocking the path to a few other doorways. Harry wasn't certain what it was and didn't care to speculate at the moment on that, his attention riveted on the skeletons making the rounds on the warehouse floor below. "You didn't mention their armor."

"What do you mean?" Koneko asked in another whisper. "It just looks like regular plate armor to me."

"Almost like that the Templars used," Kiba murmured to one side, nodding his head. "Not so much armor—their arms are free, obviously—but the chest pieces are the same. But what's unusual about that?"

The skeletons below were about eight feet tall maybe, taller than even his werewolf form. They looked to be broad in the shoulders, or at least they might have been if they had been alive. At the moment they were just skeletons. But they were undead of a type Harry had never seen before. For one thing they really did not have any kind of skin on them. They were simply skeletons, fully articulated skeletons, with not a hint of skin, muscle, or flesh upon them. They wore heavy armor plate on their chests, heavy armored greaves on their feet, and vambraces on their lower arms, along with helmets covering their skulls. Each of these were simple items that left their faces free but protected the backs and tops of their heads, looking almost like a pot made out of steel and placed on a skeleton. Their eyes glowed bright white blue, and occasionally, as they twisted this way and that, blue light would form in their mouths.

All in all they were a very eerie sight to the others. To Harry, however, the chest plates they were wearing glowed with magic. He could actually make out several different runes, runes of a type and variety he had never seen before.

Harry knew that, and he knew he had never seen them before. He knew that intellectually, and yet, as he looked at them, as he took in the runes on their chest plates and the rest of the tableau below them, a faint feeling of…not recognition so much as understanding hit him. It was as if he was looking at something written out in a different language, and yet he could decipher some of the meaning. It was altogether an odd feeling, and he frowned.

Undead, the power to ferry the souls of the dead from one world to another and control of the world of the undead in the Tuatha De Danan pantheon. Shit! Are we dealing with another demigod here, one who can call upon the powers of a similar deity? Or something worse?

Reaching over, Harry gently pulled Xenovia towards him, leaning over to whisper in her ear. "Tell me, do you know if Holy Magic would work on something created by the remains of another pantheon?" he said.

Xenovia shivered, and not entirely in revulsion, at being so close to a werewolf. Harry's hot breath against the side of her neck and ear seemed to awaken something within her, something she was not altogether prepared to face at the moment. "Y, Yes," she whimpered, trying to control her body's reaction to Harry's presence. What in heck is happening! "It, it's occurred before when bits and pieces of heathen religions have caused trouble. We, we can, our Holy Mmmmaaagic is far stronger than, than anything of that nature."

Harry didn't realize it, but he had actually released some of his own godly aura, and it was having an effect on those around him. Koneko felt as if she was in the warm embrace of a loved one and had to keep herself from purring up a storm, feeling happy, protected, and safe. Kiba and Issei felt as if they were in the presence of a leader that that they could rely on and had to fight the urge to not stand at attention and salute, even as they prepared themselves for combat at his side.

For Irina and Xenovia? Young women who had never been subjected to anything similar in their lives, indeed, who felt the very idea of lust was sinful? Their reactions were a little more primal, and Irina was barely keeping it under control by singing hymns under her breath. Xenovia was doing the same by pinching her thigh hard enough to leave a quite noticeable bruise later.

"Good," Harry said, stepping back and moving to one side, gesturing for everyone to lean in. This was absolutely the last thing that Xenovia or Irina wanted to do at that moment in time, but they did so anyway. Each of them then had to bite back another moan as Harry's aura washed over them from point blank range. Irina, though, was able to somewhat push past it by remembering that her friend Issei was right there, nearby.

But Xenovia found herself nearly overcome. Her eyes told her that Harry was a werewolf, and that she should thus be repulsed by this unholy creature, but her womanly senses were just too powerful to let that thought take root.

Thankfully for her and Irina, though, Harry's mind was full of the fight to come, and none of the men there noticed what they were going through. "Okay, here's what we're going to do. Koneko, you're with Irina and Issei," he said, knowing that those two would very much prefer to work together rather than with anyone else.

Idly he wondered if Issei had told his girlfriend that he was going to be doing this today, but intellectually he knew that that wasn't something he had to deal with and so set it aside. Let the boy make his own mistakes and be better for them. Wish I had made my share of mistakes before tying the knot with Ginny, after all.

"Kiba, did you spot Galilei down there?"

"Yes," the Knight replied, his voice a growl as he pointed Valper out. Harry looked in that direction and saw the former priest in question having moved out of a small alcove to work on the cross thing that Koneko had mentioned before.

That device was huge, easily nine feet tall and shaped like a cross, but with several dozen tubes leading out of it into a mold of some kind at its base. To either side were what looked like metal tubs, steam rising from them and the smell of molten metal wafting through the warehouse to Harry and Koneko's senses. And everywhere on the device were nails, nails that had been stamped through talismans like the Onmyodo would use, runes from the Ankhsera school Harry had become familiar with, and more. The nails were so thick on the thing that it was almost impossible to see the original wood of the giant cross underneath the talismans.

In comparison, Valper Galilei was almost plain. He was a short old man who wore spectacles and had curly white hair pressed out to the side by a priest's skullcap, He was also wearing priestly-looking robes: they were in red, black, and gold, which was quite bizarre, but the design matched that of a normal Catholic priest. His movements were slow, but his hands seemed to shake, and he seemed to be licking his lips nervously.

As he moved, Valper was flanked by two even larger than normal skeletons. These looked as if they were titans of their type, two feet taller than Harry in his werewolf form, and their armor not only glowed to his senses, but, as the others looked in that direction, everyone else could make out a few spells on them too. In their hands they held, not halberds or the maces of the other skeletons, but massive claymores in a one-handed grip paired with a tower shield on their other arm.

Still, even with that, Harry had to stare for a moment at the device Valper was working on. Oh yes, I want to examine that. I want to examine that quite a lot, in point of fact.

"Good. In that case, I'll make my way over there," Harry said, smirking evilly. We'll wait until are all in position and then begin the attack. Kiba, you and Xenovia will be in charge of making sure that no one escapes out the main doors and of capturing Valper. Koneko, your group will charge in from here and make sure no one gets out the back way. I don't care if you destroy the door to do it, but make certain no one gets away. I want that device secured, though."

"It, it could be the device that has let them make their fake holy swords," Irina said, her face slightly flushed, but her eyes were locked on Issei as she spoke. Thankfully for her dignity, Issei was still looking at the skeletons below.

"Exactly," Harry said, his lips peeling back from his large canines in something even the most mentally challenged wouldn't call a smile. "Now, let's get a move on."

However, Harry's plan of attack went pear-shaped the incident they moved forward. One of the two special skeletons turned the instant Koneko stepped foot on the first floor, shrieking out in a voice like that of a banshee rather than anything that might have once been human. "Alarm! To arms, my brothers!"

The rest of the undead skeletons instantly responded as a wave of some kind of foreign magic reached out and just…plucked the illusions off Harry and the others as easily as snuffing out a candle. At the same moment the nearest skeleton, the one who had sounded the alarm, brought it's halberd down towards the startled Koneko.

Koneko didn't let it, coming up into an uppercut with the Boosted Gear on her arm and slamming it into the skeleton's armored chest. With her own Rook's strength boosted in turn by the Boosted Gear, the skeleton came apart, its armor shattering before the rib cage underneath joined it in destruction.

"That's torn it!" Harry shouted, leaping forward and off the walkway he had been moving along while casting a wide area stunning spell on the odd monk-like scientists where they had been working in one corner of the warehouse. He couldn't quite get Valper with it, as one of the two special skeletons raised a hand and cast a spell that knocked the stunning attack away with its own magic. At the same time Valper instantly turned and raced towards the main entrance to the warehouse.

Kiba and Xenovia, however, had already gotten in position to cover it and leaped down now, with Kiba holding Holy Eraser shouting out, "Valper Galilei, vengeance for the dead has come for you!" With that he started hacking at the skeletons between them, and Valper backpedaled, looking around desperately for an escape.

The skeletons had reacted with the instant coordination and communication of a trained military unit, something that was utterly beyond bizarre to Harry, who knew that infreri could never think for themselves like this without someone there directing them. But these skeletons were somehow magically imbued with the ability to do so. Each group of five acted in concert, closing in and trying to envelop their targets.

That didn't work so well for them, of course. Despite being small, this group of invaders had teeth to spare. Issei was the first to truly do a lot of damage, to Harry's surprise. He lashed out with a spell, shouting, "Dress Break!" and the armor of the skeletons in front of him in a line from one end of the warehouse to the other, about fourteen, all told, shattered.

In an instant Irina flashed forward. Her sword, Excalibur Mimic, bisected two of the skeletons so weakened before she was forced to defend herself. She then speared a third, her sword's shape changing from a massive axe to that of a lance in an instant. "Nice, Issei-kun!"

Xenovia roared aloud, bringing her sword, Excalibur Destruction, into the side of a skeleton who had just overextended with its halberd. A second later there was an explosion and the armor of the skeleton, which had been out of range of Issei's spell, shattered. The armor pieces blasted back into the faces of two of its fellows. They didn't hesitate and kept on attacking, but Xenovia twirled away, and Kiba leaped forward into their faces, neatly slicing their heads off. But he in turn was caught between three more and was forced to defend himself.

The speed and skill of the skeletons was also well beyond what anyone would think just by looking at them, on par with Kiba in speed if not in skill. Their striking power too was at around the same level as the two exorcists, who had been trained to the highest degree humans could reach before being imbued further by their faith.

Yet even so, they weren't going to be enough to stop Harry as he made his way forward on their flank, leaving Xenovia and Kiba in place to defend the front door while he moved to capture Valper where he had retreated.

As he advanced the two larger skeletons began to cast spells towards them, gray, black, and an odd deep maroon color Harry hadn't ever seen before. All of them were simple energy-based attack spells, however—no conjuration/ transfiguration or anything of that nature—and Harry blocked them with an ease that seemed to take both skeletons aback. One of them stared at him before cackling loudly. "My, my! What do we have here, a little godling who seems to think he has power? Let us show you the error of your ways!"

With that he began to weave another spell as his fellow fell back, singing out in an old, ancient tongue. "Bide, be bound to the ground! Let leeches pour from thy wounds! Come, children of the fields, and feast!"

At these words chains appeared under the feet of Harry and the others with a speed and an accuracy that was surprising to all. Harry shattered them with physical strength, though, and then blocked the second spell with his own before having to create a fireball that ate the horde of locusts before it could spread to attack his friends.

All of this happened within a few seconds, but the others were able to get out of the chains holding them just as easily, if not as quickly, as Harry. But this did allow the skeletons to surround them all. The melee then became general, while Kiba, Xenovia, and Harry continued to try to move towards where Valper was. He had stopped running now and was instead standing behind the two skeleton generals, cackling madly as he looked around at the group of attackers.

Harry snarled, smashing several skeletons to the side, then bearing another to earth as Fragarach changed shape into a longer-hafted warhammer. The blows of the hammer shattered each skeleton it touched, while Harry used his free hand to launch spells at the two titan skeletons. They worked together seamlessly and seemed to favor insect-based attack spells, binding spells, and direct attacks spells, but their shielding spells were extremely good too, blocking all of Harry's spells for a time. Still, he had yet to break out his more dangerous spells, not wanting to damage the nearby device. But he was pushing them away from it slowly, and his lips peeled back into a wolfish smile.

"Are you having fun, Potter?" Xenovia asked as she passed near him.

"Somewhat," Harry said with a nod, smashing another skeleton's skull into flinders. "It's always nice to have a nice unambiguous kind of fight like this."

"Ha, I was gonna say you're more like a dog with a bone," Issei shouted from where he was fighting by Irina and Koneko.

"Hurtful, Issei," Harry said with a shake of his head even as he ducked under a blow from a mace as large as his chest. "Quite hurtful."

"Valper Galilei, if you value your immortal soul, surrender now! You are wanted by his Holiness's Inquisition for questioning regarding your actions and the actions of your group in the Holy Sword Project. Come along quietly, or I will not hesitate to use lethal force! Or let Kiba Yuuto, one of your victims, have you. Whichever seems more expedient," Xenovia shouted.

"You wouldn't hesitate to use lethal force anyway," the priest said dryly, sounding suddenly eerily sober as he watched the combat continue to unfold, his eyes gleaming.

Harry was the first to notice a shift in the battle as he cast a large Bone Breaking Curse on a group of skeletons, figuring the spell would do a lot of damage to creatures that were entirely skeleton. But the spell seemingly fizzled. The next second Kiba's sword stopped working as anything but a sword, the magic in it, Holy Eraser, just refusing to work. This nearly cost Harry and Kiba both, but they were able to link up for a few seconds and protect one another while Harry frowned, trying to figure out what was going on.

Then Issei nearly shrieked as he ducked away from a blow from behind. "What the heck!"

Behind him a skeleton had reformed from being cut in two by Irina, and its mace had nearly caught him in the side of his head. Only the skeleton's desire to land a killing blow had saved him, and he now was on the run. "They reform! That's freaking cheating!"

"Bloody hell," Harry muttered, watching as, indeed, every skeleton they had downed to this point reformed. He tried several spells, one after another, shifting from magical assault to transfiguration, conjuration, Illusion, both European and Onmyodo styles. All his spells fizzled out, and with each spell a feeling grew in him, as if some tremendous will was bearing down on him just out of sight. It's, it's like some kind of Legellimens attack which comes with the aura the skeletons are creating, only instead of trying to get into my brain it's trying to break my will.

Despite the growing pressure on his brain, Harry roared aloud, "The skeletons are exuding some kind of anti-magic aura! Use only physical abilities for now while I work out what's going on."

Even as he tried to figure out what was going on, Harry noticed that only the two exorcists were still making much headway. When Holy magic fought against what could be called Holy magic, faith seemed to play a part, and obviously the two exorcists had more faith than the undead. That, and thankfully whatever was going on also seemed to inhibit the titan skeletons from using spells.

"Indeed, I'm afraid it is you and your companions who will die here, my dear," Valper said, addressing Xenovia from the safety of hiding behind the two titan skeletons. "My new god demands it, and his word is far more attractive to me than that of the false god that I used to believe I served."

"What are you talking about!?" Xenovia asked even as she crossed swords with one of the skeleton titans. "There is no god but that of the Holy Father! All others were but fakers, powerful creatures but not true gods!"

Valper laughed maniacally. "Oh, you are so naïve, Xenovia Quarta. Yes, I know who you are. You would be surprised at how far my former employer had been able to reach into the Church. I thought that under him I would be able to create it, the perfect sword. The ultimate holy sword."

He laughed again, a low, hollow sound as his grey eyes, previously devoid of emotion to a horrifying level, started to almost glow with religious fervor. "But now I know that that alone would never have satisfied me! My god has opened my eyes to the truth. The truth of the world. The truth of everything. War, eternal war without ending. A perfect laboratory to create the perfect divine sword! It will be so…so…glorious!" he shouted in ecstasy.

Locked in magical combat a few yards away from the priest, Harry hated the idea the instant it was out of the priest's mouth. He was not a warrior; he was a soldier. And what was a soldier who didn't want to put up his weapons and go home afterward? "Right," he said aloud, "I hate him already. Please tell me he wasn't that bizarrely creepy when you were younger, Kiba."

"No, he certainly was not," Kiba said with a sigh as he traded blows with four skeletons at once, dancing around them, using his greater agility to great advantage. But without offensive magic his swords were just not doing much. By this point Devil based magic was no longer doing anything to these things, fizzling out like Harry's area-effect spells. This left him with the cutting power of his swords, which was decent, but not much against enemies who reformed once they were struck down.

"You never served the Holy Father, false priest," Irina shouted in the first sign of real anger that Harry had seen from her. "You never would have, never could have acted as you did if you believed in the tenets of our Holy Father. Our Creator is a gentle Father at heart, who is only stern when he must be!"

For a moment, Valper's eyes cleared of the manic glint they had, but the impression he gave Harry wasn't any better now. Now those eyes looked dead, like some kind of fish thing from the deeps. Harry wasn't certain which look was more disturbing, but both made him want to carve the man into tripes.

"Oh, but I did," Valper said, his voice cold and and clear, cutting through the tumult of battle this time rather than rising above it as before. "I did serve God. I thought I served him very well indeed, creating weapons to put in the hands of believers so that we could excise the filth that had slain the Holy Son. But that was until I learned the truth. The one truth above all. That was before I learned that God is dead."

For a moment, everyone was quiet, simply staring at him in shock at this odd pronouncement. Then Xenovia and Irina shouted, "You lie!"

"How dare you try to trick us with such blatant falsehoods!" Xenovia went on, trying to attack through two skeletons only to watch the one she was aiming at dodge, letting the other one attack her in turn. She barely brought her sword back into the on guard position and was knocked several feet backward, her feet skidding on the floor of the warehouse.

"I do not lie," he said calmly, while the battle resumed as the normal undead began cackling in the background, adding an even stranger note to things. The former priest pointed at Harry and laughed, his sanity disappearing like someone had flicked a switch. "People like him and like my new lord would no longer be here, the power of their pantheons would've been absorbed by God, if he was still here. But he is not! He fell, fell to the blade of a traitor in the great war."

Once more Valper's tone became almost normal. "That is why the Church has been slowly losing ground ever since. And ever since, nothing, nothing since his death that we humans have done was to his glory or by his orders! Nothing we have done since, good or bad! Nothing! We all, you, me, the billions of humans worldwide who believe in God, Christian, Jew or Muslim, we have all believed a lie!"

"How darGHUuh!" Irina found herself falling, her attention on Valper having taken her attention off the fight, her weapon skidding away along the floor. A skeleton with a mace had caught her in the leg, and only her endurance and durability as an exorcist had enabled her to keep the leg. But it was now useless, the femur utterly shattered, and Irina could only stare up at her death.

Then Harry was there, smashing the skeleton into pieces and hurling them backwards. But like every other skeleton they had crushed since the start of the fight, it instantly began to reform. This time, though, Harry was staring directly at it with his eyes attuned to see magic via a spell. With that spell he saw a shadow, a ghostly image of the armor appearing in midair to his eyes, then pulling the spirit that had inhabited the skeleton back to life. An instant later the skeleton was back.

It was almost fascinating to watch, on an intellectual level, anyway, Harry reflected. All right, there is something in the runes that inhabit, but are not melded to, the armor. The area of effect, though, it must come from the number of them, perhaps. Whoever had created the skeletons had been a true master of Necromantic magic. But the area of effect… If whoever is behind this, and it must be some kind of god of death, can do that, then…maybe so can I.

With that thought Harry growled angrily and then began to release all control of his aura. The effect was immediate, the skeletons all around him noticing and stumbling back before Harry started to push the twin powers of the mist that had once been the Cloak of Invisibility and the Resurrection stone out in one enchantment. Fog soon began to encompass the room, making the fight even harder for everyone, admittedly, but the next second, as Kiba smashed in the armor of an undead warrior, that warrior fell.

And it did not reform. There was a small flare of something visible even to Kiba and Koneko, the least magically inclined there, then it was the spell on the armor which fizzled out. They could make out the wavy image of something human-shaped in the mist before there was a low groan, and it disappeared into the mist. Harry staggered, grunting and shaking his head as more than one of the others shivered, wondering if what they had just seen was a soul allowed to finally move on to its final rest or something else.

Regardless, Kiba knew they had to capitalize on it. "Whatever you just did, Harry, it's working."

"Target the armor!" Harry roared before the two spell-wielding skeletons were on him. They seemed to have powered up in some fashion too, and Harry hissed as he felt a sword blow get through. But his werewolf durability protected him again, and he closed, flinging spells against them as they did the same back. One of them used a shield spell to protect itself for a second before the other one attacked Harry from the side.

Harry ducked, kicking the skeleton's legs out from under it, then flashed another spell out with his free hand, a simple Leviosa that caught the shielded skeleton, lifting it and hurling it toward the ceiling. At the same time Fragarach came down, and the second skeleton rolled away, lashing out with a spell from its eyes that acted like a battering ram, hurling Harry backward. Despite that, he rolled with it and then came back with another cutting spell, only to watch the skeleton titan deflect it with its massive blade while, above him, the other skeleton broke his Leviosa spell.

With much of his concentration on keeping the mist and its accompanying enchantment in place against the ongoing pressure from whatever was powering the spells on the undead, Harry could barely use the easiest of his spells, even now that it was slowly becoming an option once more. That made him far less dangerous, but it didn't make him helpless, and he howled, leaping forward and bearing that one to the earth, blocking the skeleton's blade with Fragarach as he shouted, "Smash their armor; they won't be able to reform!"

All around him he could hear the others start to follow his new orders. Irina was still down, but Xenovia and Koneko, and even Kiba and Issei, were still fighting. After seven more skeletons had fallen, the strain started to lessen up on Harry, and after ten more, he started to be able to concentrate enough on both the physical and the spiritual fights. A point blank Onmyouji-style metal spike smashed through a conjured shield and the tower shield of his enemy, impaling the skeleton to the ground. Then a Bombarda to the face blinded the second skeleton just long enough for Harry to smash Fragarach, in its warhammer form, into the first skeleton general's chest.

The thing's armor didn't just shatter like the lesser skeleton's armor had. Instead it exploded, and Harry howled in agony as the bits and pieces of it caught him in the chest and face, nearly taking out his eyes. But as he stared through the blood on his face, every inch of the skeleton within the armor turned to dust which fell into a pile on the floor. Even the rest of its armor quickly decomposed, swiftly turning into rust and then dust.

At the sight Valper, who had fallen silent as Harry had begun his magical counterattack, began to back away. Looking around desperately, he seemed to twitch then as if he was a puppet whose master had just pulled his string. He rushed over to the massive device and began to push a series of buttons. An instant later the thrum of the generator burbled, and there was a bright flash as the generator went critical and exploded, destroying much of the device. The rest of it started to turn to ash or simply disappear as the various magical bits failed.

Fire and smoke started to fill the warehouse, adding to the mist of Harry's aura, and everyone lost track of him for a moment. Under this cover Valper raced for the back door which Issei and Koneko, who had taken over guarding Irina, had left. Moments later he was out the door and still running.

Feeling his wounds healing and the pressure of the enemy's willpower abating further, Harry lashed out to the side with another simple Bombarda at a skeleton that was about to get the drop on Koneko, blasting its back armor into pieces. At the same time he bull-rushed the last titan skeleton, bringing them both to the floor. One of his hands grabbed at the enemy's shield, keeping it still, but the skeleton released its own blade and grabbed at Harry's wrist, holding his hand with far more strength than it had shown previously. A cold began to seep into Harry's limb from this touch, and he snarled, trying to wrench his arm free.

"You think you can win here? This battle means nothing, Son of the Islands," hissed a voice, one that was most definitely not the same as the one the skeletons had used earlier. Harry blinked, staring into the blue eyes of the skeleton as the will that he had been fighting against made itself known, pushing its words through its created servant. "You think because you were able to overcome my power at such a distance for a few moments that you are worthy of the power you possess? You know nothing, werewolf! No mortal can truly understand divinity, and you will never know how to wield the power within you well enough to face me!"

"That's rich coming from someone who had to fight through these undead proxies!" Harry nearly snarled, the feeling of the cold creeping into his body and the continued struggle against the will pushing out from all the skeletons around him cutting into his self-control severely. "Come and face me in person if you think me so beneath you!"

"Why would I give you that honor? No, werewolf, you will never be worthy to gaze upon me, let alone do aught else!" The voice barked a laugh, the skeleton's teeth clattering in a staccato rhythm. "Kakakakakaka! The time of gods is coming again! The Christian God kept us all in check, such was his power, but now his absence is finally telling! The time of gods is coming, Son of the Islands, and all those who live upon Gaea's surface will learn once more that they must worship or die. Those like the Devils and other created races will bow along with you or be wiped from Gaea's surface! Kakakakaka!"

"Oh joy, another egotist with a plan of world domination!" Harry growled through clenched teeth, losing the fight against the cold seeping through him now as the skeleton, now rimed with hoarfrost, slowly pushed against him. He was unable to fight it or even spare attention to cast a spell, such was the struggle against the will attempting to master the space around him. He felt the arm holding Fragarach freeze solid as if it had been dipped into liquid nitrogen. Bits started to shatter off, in particular around the skeleton titan's grip as he shifted.

But he was still able to look around himself, and as the smoke and fire from the earlier explosions cleared, he saw Koneko and Issei working together. Issei had cast a capture spell. "Fire, Sticky, Sticky Cannon!" From his outstretched hands came a veritable wave of glue which captured seven skeletons at once.

At the same time Koneko had gained some distance from all the skeletons. Now, turning around, her fist thrust forward with Ddraig gleaming on her arm.

His lips peeling back from his teeth ,Harry grinned for real this time as he addressed the unknown owner of the voice that had been taunting him. "But you seem to forget one advantage we humans have always had over you gods. We like to work together. I'm not alone here, and you forget that at your peril!"

For a moment the intelligence riding the skeleton titan faltered and then tried to push more of its will into the aura of the skeletons, trying to overcome Harry's will. But Harry didn't let it, pouring more of his own will into that contest, allowing the cold to nearly freeze his marrow from his wrist deep into his chest as he kept the enemy's willpower at bay just long enough.

"BOOOST!" howled the Boosted Gear, and fire so hot it looked like a solar flare crashed out in a straight line from Koneko's out-thrust fist, turning the skeletons and their armor to dust and ash.

The loss of that many of its anchors in this place caused the willpower Harry was fighting to falter on the physical plane for a second, the skeleton titan's strength ebbing. Harry lashed out instantly, rearing back, ignoring the agony as his frozen arm shattered, and then thrusting forward, maw gaping. The skeleton's blue fire eyes seemed to widen, and then Harry chomped down, shattering the titan skeleton's skull.

The willpower he had been striving against faltered instantly, the auras around the skeletons nearly disappearing as the spell in the armor of the skeleton titan activated, trying to bring it back from the dead. But Harry didn't let up. He howled, slamming his remaining hand down into the armor covering the skeleton titan's chest, blasting out with a blast of pure magical energy barely formed into a spell of shattering force. The armor exploded, hurling Harry into the air and away, but he rolled, watching as the titan skeleton's remaining body and armor decomposed like all the others.

With the last titan skeleton down, it appeared as if the willpower that had been controlling the skeletons had lost the ability to bring its full will to bare. It was almost as if the titan skeletons had acted like extra-large tunnels, Harry mused, while the smaller ones were small holes letting the enemy's willpower through. Now, without that more powerful local anchor, the enemy's willpower could not overcome Harry's, and the last skeleton collapsed in on itself a second later under a blow from Kiba.

Pushing himself to his feet, Harry could feel his new wounds healing almost instantly, the cold in his body receding while his arm started to regrow from its stump. A second later he began to rein in his aura, the mist signifying his will dissipating around them as he took in the warehouse, beginning to use fire suppressant charms as the smoke and mist started to dissipate. "Right, that was grossly unpleasant." Raising his voice he shouted out, "Roll call!"

"I am well enough," Xenovia reported stoically. She was covered in cuts and scrapes. Her Holy Weapon had been as suited to fight undead like the skeletons as Fragarach in its warhammer configuration.

"Irina is still down," Issei said worriedly. "Her leg's in a very bad way, and she took a blow that knocked her out, but she doesn't look to be injured otherwise. Oh, um, I'm good too," the pervert added as an afterthought, while at his feet Irina started to wake up, groaning, her hands scrambling to try and find her sword.

"Koneko here; I'm fine," Koneko said, coming through the smoke towards Harry. She stared at his re-growing arm for a moment, her eyes worried, but as the regeneration finished she breathed a deep sigh of relief. "Those things gave me the creeps, but I'm fine."

"Yes, you could say they gave me the creeps. They gave me every bloody creep in the world," Harry muttered, shaking his head at the memory of feeling the cold of the grave invading his body, the battle of wills he had only barely won. He ruffled her ears, hearing her purr and push against his large paw while he looked around them.

"Kiba here. I have a few scrapes and maybe a few broken bones; those things were tough! But, I'm fine too, I think…" Kiba's voice came from another area of the warehouse, by one of the walls, if Harry was judging distance correctly.

Irritated, Harry started to use a Onmyodo type spell. "Kaze (wind)!" With this spell he started to gather the smoke and remaining mist ans push it up to the roof, where it slowly started to dissipate. A second later he could see Kiba pushing himself out of the shattered remains of a metal cargo container. "You think?"

"One of them caught me just at the end there, when Destruction Sword was stuck in the ribs of his fellow. It turns out that the anti-magic of whatever aura was keeping our magic bound lasted a tad longer than I had anticipated. My arm is now a bit unresponsive. I think I might have dislocated it. I also took two shots to the ribs from a mace wielder," Kiba reported, moving very gingerly.

As the last of the smoke dissipated, Harry scowled, glaring around him and ignoring their wounds for a few minutes. "Anyone have eyes on the target?"

There was a curse of negatives, and Harry growled deep in his throat before marching over to Irina and crouching in front of her. "Hold still; let me set that leg of yours. You'll have to stay off it for thirty minutes to let strength return to the limb, though." With that he placed his hands on the inside and outside of her thigh before intoning a mending charm to set the bone. The spell might not have been useful against surface injuries unless you wanted a scar, but it worked very well for bones.

As he did, Irina bit back a moan, trying to force her body not to react. Harry's demigod aura was still running a bit rampant after the fight, and it was most decidedly having an impact despite her mortification at the fact.

Looking up at her, Harry quickly conjured a jacket, letting it fall over Irina's shoulders. "Sorry, I didn't realize you were cold."

Irina blinked and then stared down at the chest of her exorcist uniform. A uniform that was essentially a leotard made of blessed fibers. It gave her more protection than even the strongest armor against most weapons, but it did nothing to hide her hardened nipples. She squeaked, pulling the coat around her and thankful that Harry had misunderstood. "Um, tha, thank you!"

Actually, Harry hadn't misunderstood. Instead he had realized what was going on and started to pull in his godly aura under control once more. Damn, I thought my self-control was better than that. Best not to make a big deal of it, though. Luckily, Issei hadn't seemed to notice, and Irina quickly began to regain her own equilibrium once Harry had pulled in his aura.

Harry stood up, slowly shifting back to his human form, grimacing as he did so, and noticing that his clothing had been ruined during the fight, along with Koneko and Xenovia's. A few Reparo spells thankfully helped and earned him his first thank you from the prickly exorcist, who was looking over the remains of the device.

When Harry tried to use a Reparo on it, however, only a few portions of the device reformed. It was evident that whatever had been done to the thing had made it completely unworkable now. "Damn."

"Agreed. I believe the Church would have liked to examine it as well, if only to figure out where all the parts came from. It is evident that whatever Kokabiel was planning for Kuoh, he had created a large organization that backed up his ambitions. The parts of that device and the various magics built into it could have given us a means to find the rest of that organization. Even without him at its head they might cause trouble," Xenovia said.

She then breathed a sigh of relief and reached inside the wreckage of the device, pulling out the real version of Excalibur Rapidly, the holy sword she and Irina had been sent to find. She could tell it was the real version because, unlike all the versions they had gathered the day before, this version actually felt holy, matching her own Excalibur Destruction. "Ah, but at least whatever unholiness that was part of the device's self-destruct could not damage this Holy object of the Church."

"That's nice and all," Kiba said before breaking off with a gasp as Koneko set his shoulder. "Buttt—thank you, Koneko—but that device was not the reason for our being here, and if we catch the creator, you can ask him all the questions you want. So can we please get after him!?"

Snorting, Harry shifted back to his werewolf form and moved over to the last position he remembered seeing Valper, falling to all fours and sniffing the air to get the scent of the man. After a second he nodded. "I have a scent. Xenovia, Kiba with me." He broke off as Koneko appeared at his side, staring at him hard. "And Koneko too. Issei, watch over Irina for a bit. When thirty minutes pass, the two of you can come after the rest of us. Just try not to do something your girlfriend would disapprove of in the meantime."

"Oh, what kind of man do you take me for?!" Issei retorted.

That brought more than a few deadpan stares in his direction, and Issei huffed. "Fine, right. I won't do anything."

Harry nodded and, pausing only to cast several notice-me-not spells on them all, raced off out the back door.

Koneko and Kiba didn't hesitate, moving after him quickly, smacking Issei's shoulder in passing, murmuring words of thanks for his help in the fight before racing after the extremely fast form of Harry as he burst outside. Outside Harry leaped up onto the rooftops, and they followed, taking wing for a moment before racing on foot after Harry again.

Looking over to where Issei was helping Irina up against the wall, Xenovia hesitated. "Are you two going to be all right?"

"Go," Irina ordered. "Until we have Valper, our mission remains incomplete. Besides, he has to pay for those lies! Like Lucifer before him, his tongue is silver, and his heart is black!"

Nodding, Xenovia turned and raced away. She soon caught up with Koneko and then Kiba, the Knight's greater speed having helped him, but they had lost sight of Harry, who had sped on as quickly as he could. But Koneko could in turn catch his scent and started to follow it. In this manner they trailed him for about forty minutes, finally spotting him in a small town that looked almost like a vacation spot several miles down the coast from the port where they had been.

There the trail led to a man matching Harry's height in human form, but looking like a regular Asian man smoking a cigarette.

The illusion was so real that Koneko marched up to him, and snatched the cigarette out of his mouth before breathing a sigh of relief as it disappeared in her hands. "Sorry," she muttered. "Just hate the smell of smokers!"

"So does Rias, Koneko, so you don't have to worry about me taking up that bad habit," Harry said, wrinkling his nose at her companionably as he canceled his illusion, to which she smiled and leaned against the wall next to him.

"Well?" Kiba asked, also leaning on his other side, knowing that Harry wouldn't be just standing there if he didn't have a reason. "What exactly are we doing?"

"That is the million-dollar question," Harry mused, frowning very slightly. "I honestly have no idea. Someone set up a bounded field around that bar there to keep normal people away," he said, gesturing at the building he been watching. "It's a very subtle bounded field, but no one's gone in and no one's come out. And no one has teleported out either. But there is…something inside. And, before you ask, I threw up a teleportation block around the place the instant I got here, so he hasn't left, at least not via any kind of teleportation method I know about."

Kiba looked at him quizzically, and he shrugged. "Rias and I have talked about that a time or two, and she walked me through how Devils and Fallen angels teleport, while Yasaka told me the Youkai's methodology. Both of them are more power intensive than anything my people do and rather cruder, but I can block them. I won't say that someone couldn't overcome it, but if he's in there he certainly isn't leaving through magical means without me knowing about it."

"That makes sense. So, we just go in after him?"

"After the day we've had?" Harry drawled, looking at Kiba quizzically.

The Knight nodded ruefully while Xenovia snorted. "Right, probably not going to be that easy. So how do we do this? If they've thrown up a bounded field since he arrived, they're obviously going to be ready for us, right?"

"More than likely, which means no sneaking around."

He looked up as Issei and Irina joined them. Irina was leaning heavily on Issei, but they both still looked game, Irina having been able to follow the feeling of Xenovia to the others.

"Okay, here's what we'll do. Issei, you and Irina take the back door. Kiba, you go with him. The two of them stay outside while you enter. Xenovia, myself, and Koneko will enter from the front. And now, I hope you're all thirsty," Harry quipped, moving forward.

"The fruit of the vine is a sacred symbol, but one that should be drunk only in moderation," Xenovia warned, her lips twitching as Kiba led the others off, taking Irina around the waist and hopping up to the roof while ignoring the shorter exorcist's squawking in protest.

Issei scrambled to follow them, still not used to moving via the rooftops like that, but soon enough they were in position, and Harry and the others entered the building.

Inside there were about twelve people spread about, unconscious and snoring away in various states of disarray, knocked out by some spell, obviously. In one booth there was the man they had been chasing, sitting across from a very young girl who looked around ten, with long black hair down past her shoulders and out of sight below the top of the table to go with black eyes which had slitted pupils. Her ears stuck out very slightly from the hair, with pointed tips that looked like those of a fantasy elf.

She was dressed in the same Gothic Lolita style that Mittelt favored in black and purple, though she looked much more natural in it than Mittelt ever had, not that Harry would dream of telling the Fallen girl that. She was eating something, a kind of sweet from the scent of it, slowly chewing each mouthful as she stared at the man across from her, her eyes unblinking.

Next to the booth stood a very busty Nekomata, her tail twitching as she looked at them. She was dressed in an obscene version of a kimono in black with red highlights that was open at her shoulders, showing off her large breasts, which were close to those of Rias, to go with her long, flowing black hair. She had hazel eyes with cat-like pupils, and she wore a yellow obi and a set of large, golden beads.

Next to him, Harry felt Koneko stiffen as she stumbled, staring. "Kuroka-neesama!"

His eyes widened as he stared back at the girl in front of him, who was looking at them all inquisitively, her yellow, catlike eyes nearly gleaming with interest as she looked at Harry like he was a particularly juicy rat. For now he ignored that, however, saying, "If you expect me to take her on as another daughter, I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline, Koneko."

His mild joke caused Koneko to twitch out of her stasis at seeing her sister after so long, and she spread out to one side while Xenovia did the same to the other, bringing up her hands and getting ready for a fight.

Giggling, Kuroka moved forward, smiling at her sister. "Hello, little Shirone. You're looking well. And mrr… This would be Harry Potter… I've been wanting to meet you for a long while…" She sauntered forward, barely looking at her sister now, her eyes becoming heavy-lidded with lust as she looked at the man who had begun to entrance her every time she saw him.

She then had to duck under a punch from Koneko as the little girl cross the distance between them in a single instant, moving faster than her bigger sister had thought she was capable of, the Boosted Gear blazing on her arm. "Back off, Kuroka-neesama!" she shouted. "No hitting on Father!"

At that her older sister did back off, looking a little confused. "Father? What in the heck?"

The interaction between them was brought to a very violent end as a presence crushed down on them. This was very different from the willpower made into an aura that Harry had fought through their enemy's undead creatures. That had been cold, calculating, and arrogant and had been mainly seen through its effects by everyone but Harry, who had been the only one able to see more than the fact that his magic and those of the Devils were no longer working.

No, even Xenovia, Koneko, and Kiba, who had just come through the door leading into the back of the bar, could feel this. And the feeling of it was pressure, an overwhelming power and fear pressing down on them like a living thing. It was as if all of them were staring into certain, overwhelming, obscenely powerful death. Kiba gasped, slamming his twin swords into the ground in front of him in order to stay on his feet, while Koneko trembled but fought through it with the help of Ddraig. Xenovia gasped, grabbing at her sword and lifting it to kiss its hilt, reciting psalms to God in an attempt to center herself. Outside, Issei fainted, collapsing to his knees and frothing at the mouth. Irina too fainted dead away, collapsing against him.

Harry, on the other hand, wasn't exactly unused to such a feeling after his time fighting Lucifer. This presence made even Lucifer's aura pale, but Harry was not human. He wasn't even a werewolf any longer, though he still retained the feral nature of beast deep inside. No, he was a demigod, and he pushed against the aura, snarling his fury in its face. "What is this!?" he roared.

"Enough," said the little girl, setting her sweet down. She snapped her fingers, and Valper fell sideways, landing with a thump on the ground next to the stall with all the boneless quality of the recently dead. Looking down, Harry saw that the man's eyes had rolled back in his skull, and blood was coming from his mouth.

The little girl stood up from where she had been sitting and moved over to Kuroka, who had also fallen to her knees, whereupon the little girl nudged her with a foot, the impact of her presence canceling out around Kuroka at the same moment. "I did not bring you along so that you can act out some mating ritual. You asked to remain on the chance of seeing your sibling. You have done so. We will now move on to the reason behind my presence here, or I will destroy you."

The little girl who was decidedly not a little girl looked over at Harry, cocking her head to one side. "Is it not normal for sentient creatures to kneel in the presence of those stronger than them?"

"Grrrrrrah! I, I, kneel to no one," Harry growled out, using all of his inner strength to press against the presence this little girl had, his eyes flashing with fire of red and gold at her.

Beside him Koneko to had pushed herself to her feet, the armor of the Boosted Gear moving over her body as she did, though she made no move to close with this weird little girl. "Be very careful here. That little girl is not a little girl at all. She is the Infinity Dragon, Ophis. A Dragon God above Dragon gods, the strongest existence in this world and many others. I don't know what the hell she's doing here or why she looks like that, but do not test her. Ophis could wipe out Japan and all of us with it in an eye blink," Ddraig warned aloud, the Red Dragon Emperor's words coming out from the green jewel on the back of the Boosted Gear.

The little girl looked at Koneko as the Boosted Gear finished speaking, nodding her head to it and then looking back at Harry before glancing down at the priest. Her eyes narrowed then, and she snapped her fingers. "You," she said, gesturing to Kiba, the feeling of her aura canceling out entirely. "Check him for a pulse. I believe humans have to breathe, do they not?"

Kiba hesitated, moving over to the man whose death he had longed for so long and touching his throat gently. Then he blinked, staring at the man who he had hoped to kill, to make him answer for his crimes against Kiba's friends. "He, he's dead. I… This…this is not how I hoped this would go."

Harry gripped his shoulder. "Revenge rarely does. Just ask yourself this, my friend: is the world a better place without him in it?" Kiba slowly nodded. "Then be content with that, even if you couldn't see to it personally."

Again Kiba nodded, but it was clear that was scant comfort. Harry, however, couldn't spend time trying to reassure the younger man right now. "May I?" he asked, gesturing down at Valper's body.

Ophis nodded, crossing her arms and staring at the body. While she personally had no interest in the creature, several of the people she had gathered to work for her had evinced interest in his work. After they had learned that Harry Potter had left the academy, presumably to come after him, Ophis had decided to use this moment to kill two birds with one stone: meet Harry Potter and retrieve this human. The retrieval operation Kuroka had executed seemed to have been going very well, but now she could sense some kind of foreign magic on the human, the methodology of which she did not know.

Harry cast a few diagnostic spells on the man, then hissed at what they told him, opening the man's mouth and staring inside. "Shit," he said, simply shaking his head. "He's dead. There was a spell on his tongue which made his brain explode inside his head. It's a nasty kind of dark curse I've seen before, one created by the Greeks, of all people. The instant he was captured the spell started a countdown, and when you actually started to take him into custody, it exploded."

So whoever was behind the skeletons not only has a god's power on his side but also access to wizards. Well bloody fuck me. At least whoever it is hasn't moved against Kuoh and seems the arrogant arse type. Maybe I can bring his soul back and ask some pointed questions? Though, given the way this fellow seems to have access to necromantic power, that probably won't go as easily as I hope, if at all. But then we have this Ophis, with a truly horrifying level of power. Could this day get any worse?

Ophis simply cocked her head thoughtfully to one side and then gestured, and Harry twitched backwards. The magic or remains of the spell that his diagnosis spell had detected suddenly appeared in midair like an amorphous blob of smoke. It was colored black and red with striations of green.

The short girl looked at it thoughtfully, then nodded and snapped her fingers, the magic instantly dissipating. Power and the ability to use it in various ways, Harry thought. 0kay, this day did just get worse.

"I was not as interested in obtaining his services as I was in meeting you, Harry Potter, so at least one half of this mission will go according to plan," Ophis said, stalking back towards her original seating position and gesturing Harry into the booth across from her. "Sit and listen."

Harry winced, feeling a little uncomfortable sitting where someone had no doubt died a violent, if unseen, death a few moments ago. But seeing no choice and no way to win this fight, he agreed. Harry knew the power of this creature in the guise of a girl really was the strongest being he had ever met and was well beyond his own power at the moment.

Moving over to sit across from her, he looked at Ophis and forced a bit of humor into his voice, his lips quirking. "What can I do you for? I'm afraid I'm a little full up in terms of girls in my household at the moment, so if you're looking for a foster family, the best I could do is get you in touch with a few."

Koneko, who had just moved to another corner with her big sister, looked up at that, giggling, before looking back at her sister, her mouth narrowing into a thin line.

At the same time Kiba moved to stand by the door, gently pulling Xenovia up from where she had collapsed. "Are you all right?" he whispered.

"No," she said honestly. "No, I am not. First, that, that creature in man's clothing, Valper, won't be able to recant his earlier statements, and even from such a treacherous scum as him, they left a bad taste in my mouth." Xenovia then shivered, staring in something like fascinated horror at the young-seeming, black haired girl. "On top of that, Ophis, she has more power than I have ever felt in my life! I have been in the presence of the Pope. I have lived my life mostly in Rome. I have even seen Archangels, felt their holy presence. But what I just felt…it dwarfs all of that."

"I know the feeling," Kiba said with a shake of his head. "And I thought Maou Lucifer was a monster."

In the booth, Ophis began to speak. "As the child, Ddraig, told you, I am the Infinity Dragon, Ophis. I have no designs on this world or anything in it. Indeed, my goal is to leave this world. I wish to take back my home in the Dimensional Gap. To that end I have been gathering strong followers. Followers with strength, with intelligence, knowledge to breach the dimensional wall, and strength to help me fight the Great Red, the dragon that has taken over my home.

"I am here to give you an offer to join us. You and all of those with you in your new power structure in the area of these islands you have claimed. You interest me, beyond your demigod status, which would be enough to garner some interest in itself. Your spells, your wizard-style magical background, and even your ability to make friends, all of this could be of great use to me. Help me in attaining my goal, and anything you wish will be yours. I will loan my power to you in a Blessing, and you will be stronger than you could ever become on your own. Do you want wealth? I can give that to you. Do you want power? As I mentioned, that is easy. Name it, and it shall be yours.

"Moreover, It is immaterial to me if you have other objectives, other duties that do not coincide with my own mission. Simply help me with mine when called upon, and you may go your own way. I am not a totalitarian. Simply ask anyone who has joined me in the Khaos Brigade; they will tell you this."

For a moment the fact that he was face to face with the real backer/creator of the Khaos Brigade made Harry's mind stumble to a halt. Then he began to get angry. This, this creature in a girl's guise is the cause of the turmoil the Khaos Brigade has been causing? She is the reason behind the attack on Kuoh, behind that bastard Diodora? Behind Kalawarner's orders? GRRRRRR….

It took him a few minutes to regain control of himself, and he only did so by counting very slowly to ten while staring at Ophis, who didn't seem at all bothered by his taking so long to answer her. Luckily, at that point Harry was given some help in controling his temper from an unlikely source. Because, set to the side of the confrontation between the Infinity Dragon and Harry Potter, two cat girls were staring at one another, wondering who was going to make the first move.

Kuroka's emotions were a rollercoaster at the moment, far more so than she had anticipated at seeing her sister. Firstly, she loved seeing Koneko and seeing that she was strong enough to stand up for herself. She seemed the picture of good health too. But then there was the whole bit about Kuroka being a criminal and having left her behind, and everything Koneko had gone through before being placed in Rias's peerage and protected by Sirzechs. The look Koneko was giving her showed how much she too was confused by this meeting, unsure how to act, angry, and possibly even hating Kuroka, but also uncertain if she should at the same time.

Licking dry lips, the older of the two pasted a teasing smirk on her face, leaning towards her younger sibling. "Hehehe, you really are looking well, Koneko-chan. And you've even grown up a bit in the chest area too, if only a little~~," she teased. "You also seem to have also embraced your cat girl side. Do I detect a hint of Senjutsu training on you? That's fantastic! I was afraid my example would make you too afraid to embrace your full self. But what is with that 'Tou-san' thing? Are you into that kind of kinky play?"

Koneko blanched, looking as if she was about to be sick. "No! I'm looking well no thanks to you, and that's freaking disgusting!" Anything like that comes from body, not my personality, and I will deny it ever happened, gah! She didn't say anything about the Senjutsu training, since she couldn't do much with it yet beyond enhance her senses occasionally.

"I don't know; he's a magnificent specimen of a man. And if you're not interested in him, what's wrong with me going after him? Come on, let your Onee-san have some fun~~" Kuroka continued her teasing assault gleefully, setting her interest in the Senjutsu aspect aside while also trying to not address the elephant in the room: the fact that she was a wanted criminal, the reasons for that, and the fact that she had left Koneko behind. Teasing was simply easier than being serious.

This was an error.

"That would be wrong on a lot of levels. And you're not my only sister any longer," Koneko said firmly, her eyes narrowing in anger. "I have little sisters now who look up to me like I looked up to you. But I'm not going to leave them. Not like you did me."

Kuroka flinched, then smiled wanly. "After I went all crazy and killed my King and the rest of his peerage, how was I supposed to take you with me? At the time I was a wanted criminal!" she said defensively.

"That would've still been better than my having to rely on the Gremory clan for protection and being, being traumatized by having to run away on my own when the Devils came after me at first! What about all the of the Nekomata living in hell at that time that were killed because of your actions!"

"I didn't know that would happen! How can you blame that on me!?" Kuroka said, now becoming angry. "That was the Devils jumping to conclusions, the old blood fuckers taking any chance they could to strike at anyone who could become strong enough to challenge them!"

"And you left me among those Devils, so you don't have a leg to stand on!" Koneko shouted back.

Before the shouting match could go any further, Ophis glanced their way, her presence flicking out for just a second as a frown marred her pretty features. But pulled out of his own anger, Harry quickly conjured up a Muffliato around the booth where they were sitting, which caused Ophis to smile slightly and turned back to him.

Shaking his head, Harry sighed, leaning back and staring and turning to Ophis once more. Think, Harry. We don't know why she choose this form, but perhaps…could she perhaps have just never grown up? Wait, set that aside; there's an even more pertinent question. "Why do it the way you have?" he asked aloud.

"What do you mean?" Ophis asked, cocking her head to them.

"If you wish to leave this world, Lady Ophis, I'm certain that the powers that be here would cheerfully help you on your way. Why not simply ask for aid? Why give power to those who have abused it, have shattered the peace of this world's mystical communities?"

"A Dragon does not ask for help," Ophis said, her face showing real emotion for the first time, that of disgust and contempt. "She demands a return for investment. I would never simply ask. Such is the action of a weakling. I wish to kick the Great Red out of my home, reclaim the Dimensional Gap and the silence there as my own. Everything else that the Khaos Brigade does has nothing to do with me."

"Nothing to do with you?" Harry parroted back incredulously. "It has everything to do with you! If you give someone a loaded gun in full understanding that they're going to use it on a crowd of people, you are no less guilty of their deaths than the individual who pulled the trigger."

"I only give them the gun. I do not choose what they do with it. Besides which, they are but humans or Devils. What matter their lives to someone like me?" Ophis retorted, showing no emotion whatsoever to his angry words, simply sipping at her drink thoughtfully and looking at him. "Now come. What do you want in return for your aid? What power can I give you? Everyone I have met here in this fragile realm wants power."

"I don't," Harry said simply. "I already have power, and I know all power is a sham, nothing, worthless if sought for its own sake. What I want is to go home to my family, my daughters, my loving girlfriends, and my wife and never have to fight again. But because of you and those who you have given power to, I will have to fight again, many more times, more likely. Your actions are reprehensible!"

Harry snarled, barely keeping his anger in check now. "When I listen to you, Lady Ophis, I do not hear the words of a powerful Dragon God. When I hear your words, when you tell me what your goal is, and I hear how uncaring you are of what happens here because of your followers, I hear a child throwing a tantrum. Only a child would be so prideful as to not care what happens to others so long as she gets what she wants. Only a child would choose that over asking for help from those around her."

The Infinity Dragon hissed, coming to her feet and hurling the table over Harry's head with a simple rising knee, not even noticing the impact as he ducked. The presence she had released before came back once again, crushing everyone there to the point that they were on their faces on the floor, shattering the Muffliato around the two of them in passing

OOOOOOO

At the same time the conversation between Harry and Ophis had restarted, the two sisters breathed a sigh of relief and, after moving to be as far from Harry and Ophis as possible in the bar, went back to glaring at one another. Kuroka's glare ended almost as soon as it began though, and she reached out for her younger sister, who twitched away before pausing, allowing the older girl to touch her arm but no more. "Look, this isn't how I expected this to go. I… Are you happy where you are?"

"Yes," Koneko said firmly. "I am happier than I have ever been. I have Rias, who helped protect me. I have the rest of my friends and family there: my little sisters, Akeno-nee, Rias-oneesama, and Tou-san."

"So…does that mean you've got no room in this new family of yours for me?" Kuroka asked sadly, her ears drooping.

Koneko stared back at her, then slowly shook her head, raising a hand to cover Kuroka's where it lay on her lower arm. "No, it doesn't mean that. But I'm not going to just overlook the fact that you're a criminal or that you left me behind. You've been with the Khaos Brigade! Do you have any idea how much trouble they've caused, worldwide! And don't think I don't know that you've been an active part of that. According to the reports I've seen, Senjutsu's been used a lot in the Khaos Brigade's attacks too. You ask me if I can let you into my heart, Kuroka, but you're acting like a terrorist!"

Like the rest of the Potter-Gremory clan, Koneko had access to all the information Rias was given by her brother. All of them knew about the issues the Khaos Brigade was causing worldwide in their attempts to cause violent confrontations between the Three Factions and the other magical communities out there. And Koneko had a vested interest in reading some of those reports, scattered though they were, in search of information on her sister.

"Well, a girl needs a home, doesn't she?" Kuroka quipped, then subsided as Koneko simply glared at her. "It's not all that you think. Um, I am an active member, but I don't go around murdering people or causing huge magical events to appear that have to be covered up by the various magical groups or anything like that. And it's not like we're all warmongers. It's just that we all want to change the status quo, this stasis that the Factions and everyone else have been in for so long. All of them are declining in a lot of ways, you know. So I'm just an…agent, that's all, who wants to see the world change."

"You're an agent for a group who wants to break the peace of the supernatural community!" Koneko rebutted. "How is that not a bad thing?"

"Says the girl who's part of a group that's also been ignoring all the rules, getting all of these disparate groups together and suchlike," her older sister shot back, trying to figure out something to rebut that statement with even if she knew it was feeble. "Do you honestly think the powers in the world won't notice how much back and forth there has been between Potter, a wizard, and you and the Gremory girl? There are a lot of reasons why various magicals don't want to intermingle like that, and eventually you'll run into people who won't want that to continue and have power enough to stop it. Then what will you do?"

"But we're doing it peacefully. Your group's doing it violently. Who's in the right there, huh?" Koneko asked belligerently.

Realizing she wasn't going to win that argument, Kuroka looked away again. "So you're saying, as long as I'm with this group, as long as you're with that group, I can't can't be with you. I, there are obligations there, reasons I can't just leave the Khaos Brigade."

"Obligations more important than your sister?" she asked.

"No, but they are there," Kuroka replied, shaking her head, and then she brightened, looking over at the table where Ophis and Harry were talking. "Maybe If he takes up her offer you all will join me too. Mmm…" Her thoughts trailed off as she stared at Harry. "That'd be nice on a whole lot of levels."

"Never," Koneko said, shaking her head firmly. "He'll never do that, which you would know if you knew him at all. Tou-san only cares about family and protecting us." She sighed, shaking her head. "So, so you don't even care about all the trouble you're causing? You think it's excusable because you didn't think you had a choice? Everyone has a choice, Kuroka-neesama. You just chose the one that was the easiest for you personally. Not thinking about the consequences. That seems to be a theme with you. So why would I want you around me or my new little sisters?"

Kuroka scowled, but once more could find no argument to make that would convince Koneko. She'd been prepared to argue about her having left Koneko in the first place, but that seemed to have been set aside with relative ease. But the fact that Koneko would have such an issue with what she had been doing since, that wasn't something she had anticipated.

The two sisters stared at one another but then blinked as the muffling spell around Harry and the infinity Dragon shattered just a second before they found themselves being crushed to the floor. And indeed, Ophis's killing intent spread out past the bounded field that Kuroka had put up earlier, causing several hundred men and women to freeze in terror as if faced with their worst fears come to life.

OOOOOOO

But they were not her aura's target. That target was having it much worse on the other side of the bar as Ophis roared, "Who are you to speak to me like that!? I could destroy you where you stand with a flick of my fingers! Do not think my interest in your intelligence and spells will save you from my wrath!"

Harry shifted into his werewolf form and growled, yet even so, his entire body instantly started to ache under the pressure. But he did not kneel, staring hard at Ophis, his fangs bared into a grin. "Yes, you could, and thus prove my words accurate."

The Infinity Dragon stared at him, glared at him, really, pressing forward with her power, trying to push him to his knees. But Harry didn't yield. It took everything he had, all his magic and willpower, but he remained crouched to leap instead of kneeling, an attack position instead of a subservient one, his teeth bared at her. He could feel the bones of his body breaking and healing, the tendons snapping and reforming, he could even feel his organs start to fail. But he refused to bow to this child with the power of a god.

She stared back at him, and after a few seconds she almost smiled. This Potter was strong, and not just in magic but in willpower. Despite that thought, though, Ophis knew she could, indeed, destroy him. A part of her, the angry, deeply draconic part of her, thought she should kill him now. But it would be problematic to so announce herself to the world unless she killed everyone here.

But in so doing, Potter's words would be proven correct, a small, insidious part of her said. With that thought Ophis scowled but reined in her aura, and the others in the bar gasped, finally released from her pressure.

"We're done here," the Infinity Dragon said, growling the words. "Come, Kuroka. You will not get another offer to join me, Harry Potter. What I offer, I offer only once. And I will remember this refusal."

"I understand," Harry hissed through cracked and shattered teeth. A second later, however, his regeneration had begun to heal the damage, and he stood upright, breathing in deeply through crushed and perforated lungs, blood slowly dribbling down from his lips. "I would also urge you to remember, my lady, that you often get more with honey than with a stick. I urge you to truly think if the actions of the Khaos Brigade are helping or hindering your cause."

As she was once more staring Harry down, the two sisters looked at one another, slowly pushing themselves to their feet. As Kuroka moved to turn away to join Ophis, Koneko lunged forward, grabbing her sister in a hug before moving backwards. "Bye," she said simply, as if all the earlier talking had exhausted her.

"Maybe we'll see each other again sometime soon," Kuroka said, smiling sadly. "Hopefully it won't be across the battlefield. Until then, imouto-chan."

The Infinity Dragon at last broke the staring contest and shook her head, saying once more, "A Dragon does not ask for aid; she demands it in return for payment."

"Then perhaps you should see to figuring out what you can give in return for that payment," Harry retorted.

Ophis blinked at that, frowning, before turning away and moving toward the door.

Koneko moved over to Harry, sitting next to him and putting her arms around him, as Harry looped an arm around her shoulders, staring after the two terrorists thoughtfully.

"Well," Kiba said after a few minutes of silence, his voice laced with enough sarcasm to form a deadly poison. "This went well. We have met the face of one enemy, learned of the existence of a second, and I personally have been deprived of my revenge. Tell me, how exactly was this not an unmitigated disaster?"

"We're still alive. After meeting that creature, I'll call that a win," Harry replied, scowling. "Let's get the others up and then head back."

"What about the two exorcists?" Kiba asked, gesturing to where Xenovia was still slumped unconscious on the floor, having succumbed at last to the pressure Ophis had exhibited. "I honestly would not feel well just leaving them."

Harry sighed. "I think we're going to have to put them up for a few days longer. This mess is going to take a while to untangle, and I think we need both their leaders and yours to know about it."

"In other words, you want older and wiser heads to handle it?" Kiba asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Pretty much, yes, though you could also add in 'more powerful' there. I know my limits, Kiba, and at this point I don't think any of my tricks could overcome the sheer difference in power there. For now, let's get the others, and then I'll portkey us back to Kuoh before anything else happens. We've had enough adventure for one day, I think."

End Chapter

I tried to use a different font for the voice of the enemy behind the skeletons, but it didn't work. If anyone knows how to get unusual fonts to carry over into fanfic, give me a PM please, and I will go back and use it there.

I will not be updating this fic in October because I will be working on ATP, and my track record of keeping the chapters of this work small is… not good to say the least, so I don't want to promise to get both chapters out in one month. I will say it will be back in the poll lineup (October's small story poll will be up by tomorrow) in November. Beyond that, I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.