The Time of Isolation Hath Come
XIV
Reading the room was not a talent Romani had.
That being said.
Even he could see just how tense this situation was, despite the names being thrown about that he barely recognised. But what he did recognise were the two people in front of him.
One from a vision.
One from a weird meeting.
His eyes drifted between the two of them, realising that he and Sona had been forgotten in what seemed to be some sort of standoff. He would have been thankful for that, but he felt just as terrified as if he had been under their gaze. It was as though there was some invisible force rooting him to the ground and stopping him from even so much as twitching.
He wasn't even sure if he was breathing or not at the moment.
The name bounced around in his head, eyes shifted and landed on the silver haired teenager.
White Dragon Emperor.
…The person that Issei was supposed to fight to the death or some other such madness.
…They looked really young.
"Seriously?" The exasperated eye roll of the blonde brought Romani's gaze back to the man. "You can't just slap that name on me. You know how many Tezcatlipoca's there actually are? It's like walking up to one of the devil head honcho's and going 'hello Satan!' and then leaving it at that."
A second or two passed, then the man shrugged.
"Whatever. I see that your hosts have a penchant for being ignorant brats, Albion."
{And you appear where it is least expected. As always, Smoking Mirror.}
The disembodied voice came from somewhere, sounding similar enough to the one from Issei but different in it's own way.
Snorting, the man shook his head. "Yeah. Whatever. I heard that there might have been something interesting going on around here and decided to come around and take a little gander…Can't say I really expected this sort of lineup though…and seriously?"
Leaning back, the man curled his lip and made a face.
"I get you're itching for a fight but the best you could find was…" For the first time, he looked over at Romani.
Romani tensed the second the eyes slid over him, he locked up and could not move.
It was as if the world turned to ice around him, barely able to hear a single sound.
Tezcatlipoca made a rather disgusted face for a moment and raised a brow, then slipped a hand out of his pockets and waved in Romani's general direction, shifting his gaze away from the nurse and back onto the silver haired teen. "...Seriously? I'd have thought you'd be out picking on Ddraig or something. Is he too strong for you?"
The teen made a disgusted face of his own. "Ddraig's host is so far below me that I could take his head off with a flick of my finger…I would rather my battles with him be something I could at least savour…"
Now the teen looked at him.
"At least this one managed to do something interesting…he's shown a little bit of potential for a decent fight."
Smirking, the teen angled his head and looked him up and down. Romani very much compared it to someone sizing up a slab of meat in a butcher's shop. Once more, he was rooted to the spot and was unable to move. Now it felt like the temperature had ramped up, he could feel the sweat forming on his brow, dripping down his cheeks and his nose.
"Uh-huh, yeah."
The scepticism was obvious.
"...Did you really come here for something like a peace summit?" The silver haired teen asked, turning from Romani and raising a brow. "I would have said that was far from being your scene."
"And you think you know me so well, boy?"
The teenager's face was blank as a canvas.
Teszcatlipoca wore a taunting smirk as he slipped both hands back into his pockets once more, then looked around before frowning. For a moment, Romani thought he was gazing at him, then he realised the man was actually looking past him towards Sona. He felt her stiffen behind him.
"...Oh, you're one of the bats who run this little place, ain't you?" The man muttered, then inclined his head to the side. "Aren't you going to introduce yourself like a good host? You're running pretty low on manners around here. Between getting picked on by this punk and met just waltzing around here…you've got your work cut out for you, brat."
He could not speak for Sona but simply standing in the presence of this man produced a sense of danger that he could not ignore. It was a tense feeling, akin to staring at a cat moments away from slashing at a hand.
Romani willed strength to his legs, whatever dregs he could summon.
Shuffling slightly to the right, he obstructed the line of sight between Sona and the man.
The eyes were upon him.
"...And what the hell do you think you're doing?"
It felt like all the strength in his body dissipated.
Confusion and terror swirled through him, his tongue felt like lead in his mouth and it was as though it would drop right through his jaw and into the pavement any second now. All he could do was stare as sweat poured off him in thick beads, unable to even muster the strength to swallow.
It was suffocating.
"Don't go all silent on me now." The blonde warned, eyes narrowing behind his shades. "I asked you a question here. Are you trying to square up against me? Because let me tell you…I'd admire it if you weren't close to pissing yourself."
Romani felt a terrible coldness.
Then nothing.
He could not feel a single thing as the blonde stepped closer, moving right past the teen and getting directly into his face, using his superior height to loom over him. Yet in that moment, it was not mere centimetres that separated them.
It was miles.
"So I'll ask you again." The man repeated in a slow and horrifyingly casual way. But there was no hiding the underlying danger in his words. As if every single one was a snake waiting to leap out and bite him. "Did you just try and step up to…"
The blonde suddenly trailed off, the pressure receded.
But Romani did not dare move.
Instead, the man lowered his gaze and moved his right hand up, pushing his sunglasses up his forehead and then squinting at Romani's chest. The nurse dared not move as the man brought up his index finger and pressed it against Romani's shirt, a rather sharp prick that very nearly knocked him over, and he doubted it was because he could not feel his legs at the moment.
"Huh…how about that?" Tezcatlipoca stepped backwards and raised his brows, the previously sharp expression faded away.
Now looking thoroughly amused.
"...You've been molested by something very interesting, it seems. Not sure what you've done to earn that little touch up but…" A shrug of the shoulders and the man angled his head. "Alright…Move out of the way and let the girl get a couple words in. I know how important it is for the Devils to save face."
A brief silence.
Then a smirk.
"Well?" He drawled out, Romani did not even so much as put up an ounce of resistance as hands pressed against his side and moved him out of the way, he was surprised he did not tumble over like a bowling pin when Sona pushed him. But she did so gently, scooting past him with a clearly terrified movement about her.
He even heard her swallow before speaking.
"Lord Tezcatlipoca." Quickly, she lowered her head into a respectful bow. "Forgive me for not offering you a proper welcome. I…I was not made aware of your arrival-"
"You mean people can just walk around here and you don't know jack shit until they're right in front of you?"
Sona froze up like a statue.
Then the blonde threw his head back and let out a boisterous laugh. "I'm just pulling your leg. I go wherever I damn well want."
He looked back down and raised a brow. "And really, I wasn't going to even come here until the actual stuff kicked off but…well…Got bored. Saw this dude creeping around a school and thought I would do my duty as a responsible citizen."
There was a pregnant pause, Tezcatlipoca glanced over at the teen and smirked.
"Then I saw this little punk-"
"Keep calling me punk." The teen cut him off, then folded his arms and set a rather stern frown upon the blonde. Even Romani could tell it was a clear threat, something got stuck in his throat and he very nearly started choking.
Sona sharply intook.
"Alright, I will then." The blonde continued on as if he hadn't even heard the interruption. "Not that I needed your permission or anything."
It went right over him.
The teen narrowed his eyes and looked away sharply, drawing his face into a deep frown but otherwise keeping himself quiet. Then shrugged his shoulders, the frown slid off his face and he moved to pocket his hands.
"I got what I came here to see. I suppose the next time we meet will be at the peace conference."
Tezcatlipoca looked over and frowned, squinting hard at the teen. "Uh-huh. You're actually going to that?"
"Yes-"
"Wasn't talking to you."
{I can hardly separate from my Host.}
Tezcatlipoca rolled his eyes. "Not what I meant, but are you being serious? You, of all things, are going to a peace conference? Come on. Your host is in bed with the crows and your rival is currently slinging shit with devils. How are you gonna make do with your little spat if your respective gangs are at peace with one another?"
The voice was silent.
A sigh echoed out.
{I merely do whatever Vali wishes. But I have no doubt that myself and Ddraig shall bare our fangs to one another again. Peace or no.}
The blonde leaned back and put out a sharp grin. "Now that is more like it. Good to see that you two crazy kids haven't changed all that much."
{You're still incorrigible.}
"Yeah…" Tezcatlipoca waved a hand as the teenager all but shot into the air like some sort of rocket and vanished into nothing more than a streak of sapphire light. "Fuck you too."
Came the final grumble from the blonde as he shook his head, then looked back down and over to them. Blinking twice, he reached up and pulled his sunglasses back down before sniffing once and coughing.
"Oh yeah, you guys are still here."
…He seriously forgot about them?
"Oh, hey!" Suddenly, the man snapped his fingers and pointed towards Romani. "You're the crisps guy!"
That answered the question of whether he was actually recognised or not, yet he wasn't quite sure that particular title was going to net him anything close to an ounce of goodwill. Especially with everything that happened in the last couple minutes as evidence to the contrary.
"I had this nagging feeling that I knew you." Tezcatlipoca continued on, raising his right hand and tapping against his temples. "But I was really struggling to place you. You've got a knack for just showing up in places where I'm heading, aren't you? Either lucky or unlucky, perhaps this is life's way of sending you a message."
Romani dared not speak.
The smile dropped off the mans face and he leaned back, dropping his arm loosely by his side.
"I'm not interested in holding a conversation with a blank slate. If I was, I'd have gone and talked to the door behind you. Start speaking man."
Start speaking?
He didn't even know what the man wanted him to say in the first place!
His jaw clenched, mind going blank as his eyes darted about, searching for anything that might have given him some small measure of content to talk about. Yet he was utterly unable to come up with anything. Instead he just stared at the man for a few moments before opening his jaw through some herculean effort.
"...I-I'm Romani…"
A slow blink, then a raised brow.
"...Not sure I asked." The man replied, popping his lips, then he grunted. "But it's something. Ro-man-ee."
Making a face, the man cupped his chin and nodded to himself. "Weird name. Crisp guy, it remains."
"Oh."
"The hell are you looking so damn miserable for." Romani tensed as an arm draped itself over his shoulder, then he was being dragged away from Sona and the doorway, right up against the taller blonde as they started walking. Or rather, the man started walking.
Romani was fairly sure he was quite literally being dragged along.
"I've gone out my way to give you an endearing nickname. The least you can do is show a little bit of enthusiasm. Honestly, mortals these days. Go a few generations without meeting a God and they forget all about being grateful and shit."
…A…what?
His eyes slid towards the man and stared.
…A what?
"Y-you…what…?"
"Hmmm?" Tezcatlipoca paused and glanced towards Romani, then raised his brows and stepped back, still keeping a hand firmly planted on his shoulder and leaving him with no indication that he was ever going to let go. "Oh! I thought you would have met at least one of us by now, given whose been giving you the touchy feely, but I guess you aren't quite there yet…"
A brief pause, then a raised brow.
"You've got no clue what the hell touched you, do you?"
Romani could only shake his head.
"Well. Let that be a mystery for you…for however long you have left to live."
He stopped breathing.
"I'm not gonna fucking kill you." Rolling his eyes, the man let him go with a shove, sending Romani reeling away from him and barely stopping before he plummeted to the ground. It wasn't even a hard shove.
He just couldn't feel his legs.
"Is that seriously all anyone thinks of me? Some psycho who just walks around starting fights and killing for no reason? Tch. My public image is gonna end up ruined at this rate."
Scratching the back of his neck, the blonde muttered in annoyance before he paused and grunted.
"Then again…What do I care about public image?"
His eyes drifted to Romani once more.
"But yeah. I'm not gonna kill you…not yet at least." A wave of the hand and a carefree smile. "So chin up, crisp guy. I have allowed you to keep your life for the time being. Purely because I'd have to go and find another guy who knows the ins and outs of the junk food around here so keep your info in demand. It's quite literally your lifeline."
He wavered on his feet.
A scoff and a shake of the head. "Can no one around here take a joke? I'm kidding…"
He stopped with a beat, raising his hand and waving it.
"Meh, probably at least. We'll see how things pan out."
He turned away, then stopped, holding up a single finger.
"Oh! Before I forget."
Tezcatlipoca turned back to Romani and stepped towards him, moving so far into his personal space that he could feel the breath against his skin. The ice cold prickles ran down his spine and locked him in place. As if someone had turned every single ounce of blood in his body solid.
"If you ever give me a reason to think you're trying to square up to me. I really will take that as a challenge. Word to the wise…If you enjoy your heart staying out of your direct line of sight…I'd be real careful with how your actions might be perceived, alright?"
He stepped back, then raised a hand to pat Romani twice on the cheek gently.
"Consider it the gift of divine wisdom there."
Stepping back, the man slipped his hands into his pockets once more.
"And in payment, all I'd ask is that you point me to the general direction of Ddraig. Already talked with Albion and I figure, why not complete the set and talk to the other guy? May as well get a read of him beyond…well…stripping clothes off people which is a strange way to start a fight and doesn't work if your opponent is already butt-ass naked but…whatever."
A single sniff, his eyes fell between Romani and Sona.
"Well? Not a rhetorical question."
Romani swallowed but found himself unable to speak.
Sona stepped forwards and moved past him, taking in a breath and finding her voice. Though what Romani most wanted to do was to just pull her behind him, but he got the feeling that would do more harm than good at this point.
Especially with what happened last time.
And he knew in his mind that he wouldn't get away with it twice.
"Might I inquire a-as to the nature of this meeting?"
"No." A single curt response, then a raised brow and a tilt of the head. "Why the hell would I tell you? Look at this from my way. I know for a fact that the only thing you have in common with this guy is…actually, not even race because he's a reincarnated devil and you're as pure as you can get, little miss Satan."
Sona stiffened.
The man continued on unabated.
"If you were his peerage leader or whatever it is, then sure. I'd understand that but right now you're coming across as nosy. Are you trying to meddle in my business and tell me what I can and cannot do around here?"
Romani glanced at Sona.
He saw the faint shivering.
"S-she's the student council president!"
Eyes darted to him and watched in silence.
The man raised a brow and then brought a hand out, gesturing in circles. "Go on?"
His tongue darted out to wet his lips, his fingers curled and he pressed his nails into his palm, tensing his muscles just to stop them shaking.
"S-she's in charge of making sure the students are safe…e-even if you aren't going to hurt him th-there are still rules about u-unaffiliated adults on the premise."
Tezcatlipoca lowered the brow, his arm dropped back down to his side.
He took a single step forwards and looked Romani in the eyes, pupils darting around as he searched the expression.
"...Did you seriously pull the stranger danger logic on me?"
Romani gulped.
"You know what? That's fair." A shrug, he stepped back and waved a hang. "Nice little loophole there. I can respect that…though it sounds like the one you should have used, seeing as how you're a grown-ass man but…I can tell you're a coward so that must have taken some real guts to try and pull that…"
He raised a finger, then turned and pointed behind himself and into the sky.
"I just let Albion's punk host dart off into the sky, despite the fact he was a rude little shit who was spoiling for a fight and making it pretty clear…now…unless Ddraig's brat does anything dumb, I'm more interested in how stuff around here turn out, rather than just killing him and calling it a day."
A beat.
"Just speaking personally."
The hand came down and the smile returned.
"So!" Clapping his hands together, he looked between them. "Where would he-"
Then he stopped speaking, his brows dropped and his head turned to the side.
"Huh. Nevermind then."
For a moment, Romani found himself hopeful that the man had given up, he was close to pleading to whomever would listen that they would leave and he could be allowed to breath. Or just pass out, whichever of the two came first.
He wasn't sure how he was awake in the first place.
The terror of being awake had looped around into dreading what would happen if he passed out.
So he just stood there, torn between welcoming blissful unconsciousness and being horrified that something would occur.
Then Sona tensed, jolting as if hearing something, and her head snapped over to a corner in the distance. Romani's eyes tracked the spot where her head had turned and he was already dreading someone stumbling onto this.
Of course, the very worst thing happened when even he could hear it.
"-akes sense to talk to him a little before we show up to drag him outside and then say we're gonna be training again, also I wanna see how he's doing and-"
Issei's voice might not have been all that loud, but it shattered the silence that had fallen between the three of them.
"It's fine, Issei-san."
Romani felt his heart plummet when he heard Asia speak next.
He stared at the corner in dread.
Issei walked around first, not facing them and speaking instead with Asia who stepped around alongside him.
Behind them came Xenovia.
Who was paying attention.
She froze the split second she caught sight of them.
She knew something was wrong instantly.
Her training kicked in, her right hand clamped down around the shoulder of Issei and pulled, giving no thought to the sudden squawk of indignation and alarm that sprung from his lips, throwing him behind her and into cover, her left gripped Asia by the upper arm and pulled a bit lighter, but stills swiftly enough to reposition her.
She was a non-combatant healer.
It was safer from her out of line of sight.
Her eyes locked onto the tall man, the blonde who oozed bloodlust like nothing she had ever met before.
But it was the pale face of Lady Sitri that was alarming to her.
Worse was the expression on the face of Romani.
The face of pure unmitigated terror, skin that was almost translucent and slick with sweat, she could see it dripping down his cheeks. A coppery scent reached her nose, her eyes darted down to his hands were, she could see red dropping down between his knuckles.
He had clenched hard enough to drive his nails into his skin.
And he didn't even seem to notice.
"What the hell are you do-"
"Quiet." Xenovia hissed the command at Issei when he tried to break free of her grip, she heard his jaw clamp shut with an audible click, never once removing her eyes from the blonde, nor ignoring the casual nature about him.
Her hands came away from the pair and she stepped before either of them, keeping herself tense and ready to launch herself forwards.
"Nice reactions."
The praise was the first thing to slip from the mouth of the man, his tone conversational.
He snapped his fingers and pointed towards her. "Seems you at least remembered your training, though the same can't be said for your loyalty, can it?"
Xenovia stilled and then she glared.
"State your business here."
She ignored the obvious taunt, clearly this man was searching to goad her into a reaction.
She was not about to take the bait and risk doing something reckless.
"Oh?" With a wry smile, the man turned about to face her fully, hands slipping into his jean pockets as he stepped forwards. Loosely buttoned white shirt and slim fit black jacket, he looked more like a tourist than anything else.
Yet something was screaming at her to run.
Her every instinct was telling her to turn around, throw the pair behind her over her shoulder, and then just start sprinting as far and as fast as she could.
"Tell me then, girl." He flung the word at her as if that was all she was. "What are you going to do if I don't tell you?"
He stepped towards her.
Good.
That put him away from Romani and Lady Stiri, at least.
"As a knight of House Gremory-"
"Team-changer."
"...Excuse me?"
"That is what you are though, isn't it?" The man continued on, stepping closer and closer while giving her an indifferent look. "Turn from one side to the other at the drop of a hat? Not that I can really blame you for learning the truth but…come on now. Seriously? These guys? You could have gone solo or something like that or anything else. And you joined up with the guys you've been killing all your life for…what?"
He was right in front of her and looking down.
She could see it now.
The slight curl of his lips, the only evidence of a frown.
Right behind the sunglasses, she could see the early signs of a glare.
"So what the heck were you after then? Just someone to hold your collar while you go out and kill?"
Xenovia rolled her jaw from side to side.
"...I will ask again-"
"Answer my question first." He outright demanded of her, leaning forwards ever so slightly. "Why the Devils? I am genuinely curious…did you ever actually believe in anything you were taught? Or was it all just a convenient outlet? Tow the party line and say all the right things when really you're just waiting for someone to point and say 'yeah, you can kill him!'"
"I have no obligation to answer your questions." She replied back to him with a voice as hard as forged steel. It was taking a great deal of effort not to just clock them in the jaw, but at the same time, she was left with the strong impression that striking them would be a rather bad idea. Not just for herself, but for those around her.
Drawing in a steadying breath, Xenovia squared her shoulders.
"Obligation?"
His eyes narrowed behind his glasses, his hand flew up and whipped them off his face, in the next moment he was glaring at her.
Xenovia felt as though her legs stopped working, a pressure dropped on her shoulders like a lead weight.
Despite her best efforts, her heart started thundering, her blood cooled into ice and she very nearly dropped to her knees in front of them. Barely standing, but even then she was sure that her legs were trembling under her.
Unable to even swallow her fear.
Just the hammering of her heart in her head.
Each beat promised to be the very last one until the next came, but there was left no guarantee of it.
Again and again, her heart beat with the threat of nothing coming after the next.
That was what she came to dread.
The silence after the hammer.
"I'm being really polite here." He very nearly hissed the words at her, the next thing she knew was a finger being scant hairs away from her forehead, she went cross eyed as she focused on the digit. "And you suddenly think you can give me some lip because I dropped in by surprise? Now tell me, girl, what the heck drives you? Why join the Devils?"
She couldn't answer that.
How could she?
All his words went in one ear and out the next, nothing but the muted silence of the world.
"Oh for fuc-"
The exasperated sigh was cut short when a blur moved between them, Xenovia felt herself get pushed backwards, her legs failed her and she dropped like a weight in water. Falling to the pavement, yet the embrace of concrete never kissed her skin. Something caught her by the shoulder and held her up.
Then came a shout of alarm.
"Asia!"
"Leave her alone!"
Two voices at once, all Xenovia could make out was a blurry shape in front of her, nothing else.
Her eyes blurred over and her vision swam.
Was she about to pass out?
Asia did not bother to hide her terror as she stared up at the taller man.
She knew nothing about that in the first place.
But she knew that Xenovia was terrified and she wouldn't let that happen without getting a word in. Before she knew it, she was standing in front of the man with her arms held wide either side of her, blocking the route to the former exorcist.
Barely she heard the shout of Issei, but the reality was that she locked up the second the eyes made contact with her own.
The man blinked and leaned back, whatever aura had been radiating from him vanished and it felt like she was being allowed to breathe again. All the same, she kept her arms up either side of her, jaw trembling as she managed to get the next words out.
"P-please…just…leave her alone…"
It was all that came out from her mouth, even that was nothing more than a whimper.
"...I can smell the piety from you, kid." The man spoke in a cold tone, then raised a brow. "Then why are you with your patrons' enemies?"
"...They're my friends."
A raised brow and a tilt of the head. "Even if your lord says they're evil?"
Evil?
Asia slowly shook her head from side to side. "If they were evil…they would not have been kind to me…"
A slow breath came from the man, then he hummed, lip twitching ever so slightly. "Do you still believe in all his teachings? Even if you've changed teams?"
"Yes."
"...Alright then."
Asia blinked as the man stepped back, pulling out his hands and raising them up in a show of mock surrender. "Good enough answer for me. Really, tragically, naive…but you're honest about yourself. Tough path you've decided to walk, but I've got a feeling you might be able to pull it off…at least until some overzealous priest lops your head off but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it, eh?"
"Oi!" A snapping tone behind her, "Who the heck are you-?"
"Ah-hah!" Flourishing a hand, the man stalked past her without another word and was then standing right in front of Issei and Xenovia, ignoring the latter in favour of the former. Leaning forwards and gazing right at her friend. "The Red Dragon Emperor, huh? Wow…this is actually tragic. I almost feel bad for you, Ddraig."
[Save your pity for those who want or need it, Smoking Mirror. What business have you here?]
Huffing, the man leaned back.
"You and Albion both, huh? What's to say I can't just stop around for a chat?"
[I've seen what your talks look like. You're not here for a chat.]
A loud scoff, then man threw his arms up and stepped away.
"Not every talk is followed by violence. I even let this clown speak to me in a tone that I would have flayed them alive for any other day of the week."
[You're not losing your touch, are you?]
"Fuck you." The curse was delivered with a dry tone. "Losing my touch' you'd know all about that, wouldn't you? Trapped in the arm of a teenage boy."
[...What do you want?]
"That's for me to know and for you to ponder."
He stepped closer and crossed his arms, looming over Issei once more.
Issei had no idea what the hell was going on.
One moment he had been walking to visit Gasper, and the next was sort of a blur.
All he really knew was Xenovia and this guy trading insults and then she was fainting and Asia was speaking to him.
Then the guy was lobbing insults at Ddraig and was now staring at him as if he was expecting something.
Issei just narrowed his eyes, glancing briefly at Xenovia held in his arms, then towards the man and turned himself, lowering the girl to the ground and stepping in front of her, tensing his body and looking them up and down.
They knew Ddraig.
So he really hoped this wasn't some old grudge or something like that.
"Who the hell are you and what do you want?"
Rather than answer him, the man raised a brow.
"Hello to you too." The words were steeped with mirth, the sort of humour one would give if they took nothing seriously. "You have the attitude for this, at least, but without the power to back it up…just saying."
"Just say-?" Issei felt his incredulity rise, combined with the current state everyone was in, the situation boiled over. He stepped forwards and raised his hand, a flash of light brought the crimson gauntlet onto his arm, readying himself with the most basic stance he knew and waiting for something. "You just show up and start threatening people?"
"Threat?" A brief pause, a glimmer of confusion, then the man shrugged. "Just friendly advice more than threats."
Issei scowled. "I don't care what you want to call it-"
"You should." The man stepped close and Issei wouldn't be ashamed to admit that he felt more than a little bit of fear as the mast cast a shadow over him. As if the world turned dark purely because he blocked the sunlight. He wasn't even sure where the sunlight was coming from.
"Because I wasn't suggesting what you should call it. I was telling you how it is."
Warning flashed through his head.
All he could think of was the night at the park.
That same feeling as he lay on the pavement.
"Still keeping your fists up, huh? Alright. You pass."
Issei blinked, the feeling vanished as if it had never been there. "H-huh?"
"You pass." The man repeated, then scrunched up his face. "What? You deaf boy? Embarrassing as it might be to make threats when you can't back it up, you're still the Red Dragon Emperor…though being a pawn for some girl? Which muscle were you thinking with there? Don't answer, I don't actually care."
Reaching up, he scratched the underside of his chin.
"Though you're actually so ignorant it's fucking painful. Didn't anyone ever teach you to show respect to the Gods before?"
The Gods? What was this…guy…talking…
Issei felt his eyes slowly widen, his arms trembled a little.
"...T-then you're…"
"Finally." A frown pulled across the blonde's face. "Yo. Ddraig? What are you doing here? This reflects badly on you if your host is going around making an ass of himself. Nevermind. Lower those fucking hands before I rip them off, because it's starting to get disrespectful. I'm giving you free reign because I was a little rough about your pals, but that was then and this is now."
Issei rolled his jaw, then glanced past him towards the others, then back to the man.
Against his better judgement, his hands lowered and his fists uncurled.
"Are you here for Ddraig or for me?"
Raising a brow, the man scoffed. "There ain't much of a difference in that. No. I'm not really here for either you or Albion. Despite what either of you clowns might think, you're not actually that high on my list of interests around here…No. I'm here for the…peace conference."
The man shuddered. "Ew. Just saying that felt sickly."
Issei frowned deepened. "But…if you're a God then-"
"Oh?" A raised brow and a smirk. "Then why do I give a shit? Good question. Simple. I'm interested in wars and when someone decides they're going to end a war like this before it gets to the good parts, then I'm at least going to take a look…"
He trailed off, then looked up.
"...What the fuck is it today? Everyone is crawling out of the fucking woodwork or something? I come down for a little chat and then-"
He never got the chance to ask what the guy meant.
Nor what he was even talking about.
Namely because the answer dropped out of the sky not even a metre away from him.
His hands flew up as the ground just exploded, hurling stone into his face and against his guard, Issei grunted as parts of the pavement bounced over him or otherwise struck his arms, but then fell away. His arms parted and his eyes widened as he stared at the person who just appeared.
Serafall.
Smile she might have had on her face, but her eyes were colder than any ice he had ever seen.
"Lord Tezcatlipoca. I was not made aware of your arrival."
Even Issei could read between the lines of what she had actually just asked him.
What are you doing here?
Gulping, he turned his eyes onto the blonde and watched for the reaction, to see if there even was one he should have been worried about. Oddly enough, or perhaps more worryingly enough, the man looked barely even concerned at the fact he could potentially be facing down an angry Satan.
Rather, he was just smiling cordially like he was greeting someone on the street.
"Yeah, I don't tend to announce myself." Came the response, all while the God shrugged then made a huffing noise, shaking his head from side to side. "And you keep me waiting or something? For someone so infamous for loving their sister, you sure took your sweet time in actually getting here."
Stepping away, he raised a hand and waved in the direction of Sona, even if he wasn't looking at her.
In fact, it was more the general area of where she was.
"White Dragon Emperor drops in to pick on her and you're a no show, then I come around for a friendly visit and suddenly it's all hands on deck? I mean, what the shit? What were you doing? Re-shoots or something?"
Serafall's jaw visibly clenched, her posture tightened before she let out a breath.
Issei flinched, for reasons not even he could explain.
It just felt like the right thing for him to do.
Just like he very much wanted to keep himself as quiet and small as possible, especially if they started getting into an argument.
He glanced towards the others, then down at Xenovia and Asia behind him, jerking his head away and back the way they had come. The least they could do was clear out of here before someone started shoving. He got the feeling he didn't want to be here if it came to blows and he hoped no one would hold that against him.
"And this!"
He stopped when he felt fingers curl around his collar, it was only a momentary feeling.
Then suddenly he was staring across to where Serafall was, he felt his eyes widen and his limbs go limp, only really kept upright by the man holding the back of his uniform.
"Literally seconds from the Red and White Dragon Emperors meeting! That would have been real peaceful, huh? So I think I've done all of you a big favour by coming all the way out here to this far flung little country. Wouldn't you say?"
Issei would have swallowed, but his throat felt dry.
Like he had nothing but dust in his mouth.
Serafalls eyes met his, she smiled at him in a rather reassuring way.
Really, it did feel a bit comforting.
At least it looked like she was telling him that everything was going to be alright, in a weird sort of manner.
"In that case, I shall thank you for your timely assistance, Lord Tezcatlipoca…and would it be within my right to ask for you to kindly release the Red Dragon Emperor? He appears to be getting rather nervous?"
"...Wait, really?"
Issei felt himself get yanked back, then was nose to nose with the man.
"...Oh, right. First God you've met, aren't I? Could have been worse. Could have met one of those assholes who just hate dragons."
He didn't feel very comforted by those words right now.
"Gugh!?"
A second later, he was hitting the ground, staring up at the sky and blinking as he came to the swift conclusion he was lying on the pavement. Groaning, he rolled up and onto his side, looking and squinting towards wherever someone might have been, blinking again when he realised the God had just tossed him over his shoulder like he was a toy he got bored with.
The indignation stung, but Issei bit down on his lip and avoided the rebuttal that was growing in his throat.
Terror was a good motivator for keeping his mouth shut.
"Issei-san!" Asia's cry of alarm came from somewhere, but no one aside from him paid it any heed.
Not that he blamed them.
Even he was more focused on the standoff between Serafall and the blonde asshole.
"Though, might I ask the reason you have decided to come here? It is, after all, far from your territory."
With a shrug, the man slipped his hands into his pockets. "Tourism…Heard there was some things worth checking out."
Serafall gave an innocent smile. "And those would be?"
Tezcatlipoca chuckled. "We're not gonna play that game now…are we?"
Seconds ticked past.
Then Serafall shook her head. "I suppose not, but as I understand it - and meaning no disrespect - a peace conference does not seem to be within your usual interests. Rather, it would have been the opposite where you are most invested, is it not?"
"Yeah." He gave no denial and sauntered forwards, inclining his head towards the Satan ever so slightly.
Issei rolled his jaw and sat up, glancing towards Asia as she fretted over him, but his attention was quick to fall back towards the man and Serafall. But he noticed the way her eyes dashed towards him and then her head jerked in the direction of Sona and Romani.
He gave a sharp nod of the head and moved up, slowly but surely, and then leaned towards Asia.
"Get Xenovia out of here." He whispered to her, barely aware of the conversation happening a few feet from him. "I'm going to get Roman-sensei and Sitri-Kaichou."
Asia opened her mouth, then closed it again and gave a sharp nod. "Be careful, Issei-san."
He tried for a confident smile, but had little doubt he failed with that. Keeping his body in a low crouch, he turned and started in the direction of Sona and Romani, his eyes remained on the pair of them. Feeling a bit of relief, given that aside from looking as terrified as he felt, they didn't appear to be in any real pain.
Though Romani looked like he was about to be sick with how pale he was, the nurse didn't even look like he was noticing anything beyond the God and the Satan engaged in what was probably a super serious discussion. The type that would have gone right over his head and the sort he would have definitely been fine with never being a part of in the first place.
"-ust have gotten lost in the mail, because you just set all this up and didn't think to wave your hand in my general direction?"
His head inclined slightly to the conversation at that point, stopping briefly and sending a side glance.
Tezcatlipoca had his hands on his hips and loomed over the Satan, not that she seemed all that bothered by his invasion of personal space.
Serafall raised a brow.
"Given that it is a peace conference between the three factions, it was not made readily apparent why you should have been consulted. Though I am sure the others would certainly be willing to listen to any arguments you could put forth as to why you should have been consulted."
"Conquistadors."
"...I am aware of them, yes." Was the slow reply.
Issei shook his head and kept walking, speeding himself up. It felt like he should have really known what they were talking about, but he didn't pay that much attention in history class when the teachers started speaking.
That was really coming back to bite him in the ass, it seemed.
Soon upon both Sona and Romani, it was only the former that really noticed how close he had gotten and was staring at him like he was somehow the most surprising thing here.
Issei jerked his head behind her and towards the building, she hesitated for only a moment and then nodded, turning and grabbing Romani by the arm. The nurse didn't so much as make a single sound as he was bodily dragged behind the younger girl and into the club house, Issei followed behind the pair and glanced one final time over his shoulder.
He froze on the spot.
Tezcatlipoca was looking at him.
Slowly, the man raised a brow.
Issei felt a nervous giggle bubble up from within him, raising his right hand and waving from side to side.
"Y-yo?"
"...When did I say you could leave?"
Issei gulped. "You…you seemed to be having a conversation…" he trailed off, glancing at Serafall before looking back to the God. "D-didn't want to…in-interrupt…yo-you know?"
"...Uh-huh." Slowly, the man nodded his head and loosened his posture.
The next words sucked all the life from Issei's body.
"But jog my memory. I don't remember dismissing you."
"You…uhm…I…"
He didn't know what to say, it felt like every answer was the wrong answer.
Serafall stepped in. "I dismissed them."
By whatever mercy was looking out for him, the God turned on the Satan and loomed over her once more. "And why did you go and do a thing like that? I was in the middle of talking to him before you dropped out of the damn sky. What? Did you think that perhaps I wouldn't want to finish the conversation with him?"
"If it is a request to stand in at the peace conference, then it would serve as a more appropriate venue for your questions. The Peerages of Gremory and Sitri will both be in attendance for the most part. If you have pressing questions, they should be raised there."
"And now is a bad time because…?"
Serafall offered a smile. "Because he might end up making a klutz of himself without realising. He's not accustomed to speaking with those of your stature, I am sure you can understand. More to the point, questioning him without the presence of his King might be perceived as insulting or disrespectful towards her…especially when within her own territory."
Silence.
Then the God snorted, rather loudly.
Raising a single finger, he wagged it in the direction of the Satan and stepped backwards. "That's a shrewd little bit of logic you have there…you can stop speaking like that, by the way. I can tell you really don't like it."
The posture of Serafall just collapsed, she raised her hand and wiped her brow with an exaggerated sigh. "Good thing as well. That boring old stuffy talk really makes me feel old. I'm supposed to be the magical girl Levi-tan! How would anyone really grasp the magic if I'm speaking like an accountant? It's not cute at all!"
Tezcatlipoca turned on him, then jerked his head at the Leviathan. "That's one of your leaders, by the way. Literally. One of your four leaders."
"I…I've watched her show…" He admittedly slowly, giving a faint shrug of his own. "I'm used to it?"
Serafall beamed. "Oh! Did you like it?! Would you like anything signed? I could make it out for you right now if you wanted!"
Issei pinched his brows and gaped at her.
Now!?
She wanted to do this now!?
"Uh-huh…well…" Tezcatlipoca took a single step backwards and made a bemused face. "Weird encounter, not going to lie. But I got some interesting little bits out of it. So I'll stop by later when you're all down for…whatever you're going to be talking about and then we can finish our little chat, alright, boy?"
Issei stiffened.
He gave a jerky nod of the head.
"Uh-huh, great." The God turned on his heel and started marching away, raising a hand and waving over his shoulder. "Later kiddies."
And then he vanished.
Quite literally vanished into thin air.
Issei felt his legs give out from underneath him, he fell forwards and swung his hands out, catching himself just before he hit the pavement. Sweat poured from his brow, he stared at the ground and watched the drops patter onto the ground like rain, breathing in and out as if he would never do so again.
"W-what the hell…what the fuck…?"
Was this all the terror he had been feeling just building up within him?
What the hell!?
It was as if everything just dropped on him, every single nerve was telling him that he had been moments away from dying and had managed to avoid it. The sound of laughter filled the air and for a moment, he wasn't sure where it was coming from.
Then he realised the deranged cackles were coming from him.
Was that seriously what Gods were like?
What even was that about!
He'd never even met the guy before and he was about to die over some words!? What was wrong with everyone!
He thought the whole point of this was that he wouldn't need to worry about assholes coming to kill him!
"Oh! I can't believe that guy! Just showing up here and messing around in this place that So-tan loves so much! It really makes me mad!"
Through rapidly blinking eyes, he brought his head up and stared at the speaker.
Serafall stamped her foot down hard, the pavement cracked underfoot, her hands gripping her magic wand and bending it rather sharply. The entire toy looking as though it was on the verge of curving into a bow.
Then her eyes closed, she let out a long breath through her nose, loosening her hold on the wand and letting it straighten back out.
"No…none of that…I need to check on So-tan first…"
Her eyes snapped onto him, a grimace flickered over her face as she moved towards him, crouching down and tilting her head.
"What about you? Are you alright? That was pretty tense there for a second, I was worried I'd need to use some glitter power for a second to keep everyone safe, but then Sirzechs-chan would definitely get a little upset. But he would understand because So-tan was here and…ah, rambling. Silly me."
Her hand dropped onto his shoulder, patting him twice and beaming at him.
"Good job in getting So-tan to safety! I'll be sure to let everyone know that you were really brave there in holding out until I arrived and saved the day!"
Issei pinched his brows, breathing slowing.
"...Who…?"
"Ah." Serafall winced. "Well. He probably introduced himself but that was…uhm…Tezcatlipoca…Well, that doesn't narrow it down all that much. But he's Black Tezcatlipoca. He's basically a big bully who likes to throw his weight around and make trouble because he thinks it's funny."
Sharply raising a hand, she pointed a finger at his face.
"Be very careful around him in the future! I'm not sure why he's here but it's definitely to cause some mischief. He's a real troublemaker. Not like his sister or brothers, but he's a real meanie!"
Yeah…meanie…
Issei felt really exhausted all of a sudden.
"Come on!"
Feeling startled, Serafall pulled him up by the shoulder and dragged him along with her, pacing towards the front doors of the ORC and without any real effort for him to protest. She threw the doors open and looked around, he couldn't see her expression but he could feel the worry rolling off her in droves.
"So-tan! I saw off the bully! You can come out now!"
"Idiot!"
She hissed right into his ear, then he winced and drew his arm and body away from her as her palm connected with his bicep. It hurt quite a bit, as though he had been punched rather than slapped. And he was left with the horrible idea that it had been her holding back against him.
He was grateful for that.
But it didn't stop him being terrified of the thunderous expression she was wearing on her face as she glared at him through her glasses.
Raising her hand menacingly again before she stopped, her fingers curled into a fist and she swung her arm back down to her side, biting her lower lip so hard he was worried she might end up drawing blood. Instead she just sharply turned her head and stomped away from him and to the other side of the corridor, standing with arms down by her side and body trembling.
"...You. Idiot!"
Another hiss, this one a mixture of rage and something else.
"What could have possessed you to do something like that!?"
Whirling around, she swung an arm right into his face, pointing a finger at him.
"Did you even think for a single moment what could have happened when you decided to just get in his face like that!?"
Romani kept silent, she took that as incentive to continue onwards.
"Do you know what he would have done if he took that as a challenge!? If he decided to make an example of you and exercise his divine authority!? He wouldn't have been reckless enough to try and permanently harm me! But you don't even have anything close to that level of protection!"
Stomping her foot, she glared at him.
Romani looked away from her and towards the ground.
What could he really say?
He knew, probably more than her, just how bad things could have gotten. If even he could figure out something like that…
"...I was the adult-"
"Are you-!?"
Sona yelled, then stopped and closed her eyes.
Slapping her hands over her face and dragging them down, another sharp intake, she brought her hands up and kept them level, her voice lowered slightly but lost none of the intensity.
"Please. Do not use the excuse of being an adult to defend yourself. What you did…was tantamount to standing on the tracks and glaring at the approaching train in the hopes the driver could pull the breaks and stop."
He met her eyes and rolled his jaw from side to side, gripping at his arm where she had slapped him.
"I need you to understand just how close you were to dying. If that had happened then there would be nothing anyone could do about that."
Sona released a breath, dropping her arms.
"It was beyond recklessness and stupidity. I need you to grasp the idea that if this ever happens again, you are to leave it to me. With all due respect, you are out of your element. Whatever authority you believe you have in those situations does not exist."
She turned, pointing her arm down the hallway.
"You are nothing. You have no reputation and no powers. In any other thousand times you tried that, I would now be explaining to your wife why you are not returning home to her. I do not want to do something like that."
"...I just…I wasn't thinking-"
"Then start-!"
He flinched.
"So-tan?"
They both stopped, heads turning down the hallway.
Issei and Serafall stood not far from them.
The latter stared at the pair of them with an unreadable expression, then she started marching forwards.
Before Romani could even blink, he heard Sona let out a sudden gasp of alarm, turning and seeing that Serafall had glomped her into a hug and lifted her off the ground.
He took the chance for what it was, turning away from the pair and sneaking off down the way to where Issei was-
"Romani Archaman."
He stopped.
Then slowly turned around.
Serafall had released Sona at some point and was now staring at him with that same expression.
Her eyes remained fixed on him with the unblinking expression.
Romani felt himself start to fidget. "...I-"
A breath jerked from his body, a tightness coiled around him and pressed his arms to himself, then his feet left the ground. Romani blinked several times and then looked down as he stared at Serafall's blank face looking back up at him, and with her arms coiled around him in a rather tight hug.
Certainly more than someone her size should have managed.
"Uhhh-"
Serafall let him go and then stepped away from him, dusting herself down and smiling widely.
"Thanks for sticking up for So-tan."
"Onee-sama!" Sona sputtered from behind, then pointed at him. "Don't encourage this-"
Serafall turned on her sister. "I am thanking him for sticking up for my little sister. I have some good ears, So-tan. I figured what happened. Reckless, very much so, but I'm going to praise him for helping you and that alone."
She turned back to him, then pointed the wand at his face.
"But don't do something like that again, Mister! Levi-tan would be heartbroken if one of her fans ended up dying! You don't want to make Levi-tan sad, do you?"
"...Uhhh…"
"Hmph! That's what I thought."
The wand bopped him on the forehead, Serafall sharply turned on Sona once more.
"Now then! We're all going to Sirzechs-chan and letting him know about the troublemaker!"
Romani felt as though this day couldn't get much worse.
His pocket started to buzz.
Slowly, his hand dived in and withdrew the vibrating phone, flipping it open and staring at the incoming caller.
"...It's my wife."