"Are you insane!?"

Ichika flinched when she heard Shin's voice rise into a yell. She looked to Sophia, who stood in the corner.

The girl offered her a smile of pity, clearly not wanting to get involved.

"Are you even listening to me!?"

"I can hear you," Ichika mumbled.

"Why? Why of all the people you had to challenge to a fight did you choose Beatrix Lucifer!?" Shin said, looking at her in exasperation.

"Well excuse me. But I don't even know who the fuck she is! You guys are acting like I should know everything when I don't! I was just a bum fuck human a couple of weeks ago! I'm still getting used to everything so get off my case!" Ichika snapped, standing up.

She glared fiercely at her childhood friend. The two stood off, sparks flying between them as the atmosphere in the room grew heavier with each passing second.

Shin took a step back. He took a deep breath and calmed himself down. She was right. "You're right. I… overreacted," he said, taking a deep breath. His heart was pounding, threatening to burst from his chest.

"I gotta say though. You… are really in over your head," Sophia said. She straightened herself and walked over to the pair. "Big Sis is going to mop the floor with you and that's not even an insult."

"I… kinda got that from the vibe she gave off. She's… really scary," Ichika said.

"That's big sis for you. I guess the best we can do is see how well you do, right?" Sophia grinned cheekily.

"Thanks for that amazing vote of confidence. Your Empress truly accepts such humble and truthful compliments from her loyal subjects."

Sophia's smile grew wider when she heard the blatant sarcasm in Ichika's voice.

"The fight's in four hours. How the hell are we going to prepare in four hours?" Shin asked.

"Simple, we can't. Right now, Ichika can't even land a hit on Big Sis so the best we can do is give her handicaps," Sophia replied. She placed a hand on her chin and eyed Ichika up and down. "We can also fight dirty. No one said a fight had to have rules."

"That works," Shin said.

"Besides, if she loses, I doubt my sister will actually kill her or kick her out. After all, sis doesn't want to make me mad," Sophia said. "If I had the time, I'd kick you around the arena myself just to get you ready."

"Please don't do that," Ichika said.

"It's fine. We have Asia. She can heal anything I break," she waved off Ichika's concerns.

"I guess… all I can do is face this head-on. I still really want to wipe that stupid look off her face," Ichika said, clenching her fists. "Thanks, Sophia. Now… I'm going to kick your sister's teeth in— Wow! That sounded bad."

Ichika stood in the middle of the training ground, waiting for her opponent to show up. She glanced over her shoulder and sputtered when she saw Asia following Sophia into the room. "D- Did you really have to bring her in here!?"

Sophia blinked. "Well yeah. You're going to get beaten into next month. Why wouldn't I bring Asia here? At least with her, we can mitigate the brain damage somewhat."

"Not helping!" Ichika said.

"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll be fine. A few fractured ribs. A ruptured kidney. Maybe even a squashed spleen," Shin said.

"You're supposed to be on my side!" she yelled.

"You three are very lively."

Ichika's head snapped forward in a way that she almost broke her neck. Her body stiffened when she saw Bea descending the stairs. The stoic woman stopped near the center of the arena. Her posture was completely relaxed in contrast to Ichika's anxiety-riddled nerves.

"I- I thought you'd run away by now. None can dare face the power of the Red Dragon Empress and live to tell the tale," Ichika blustered.

Sophia smiled while Shin slapped his forehead. Asia's hands tightened into fists as she prepared to eagerly cheer for her friend.

"Mmm? Red Dragon Empress? What a grand title you have there," Bea said, smiling slightly.

"Wait!" Sophia called out.

"What is it?" Bea asked, eyeing her younger sister out of the corner of her eye.

"Try not to beat her up too much! Twilight Healing can heal but it can't heal everything!" Sophia yelled.

"And—"

"And give her a handicap too!"

Bea sighed. "Fine. I'll fight without using my Sacred Gear and I'll use one hand."

"And wear this!" Shin held up a black silk blindfold. "Don't ask where I got this from!... I got it from Sophia's room!"

"Hey! What the hell!?"

Bea ignored their antics and refocused her attention on Ichika. "You hear that. No Sacred Gear for me and I fight with one hand. You are welcome to use whatever you have at your disposal… as limited as that may be."

Ichika bristled at the jab. She clenched her fists, feeling a surge of anger boil inside her.

[Dragon Booster]

Ichika spread her feet slightly apart and raised her arms. Her gaze remained locked on her opponent. That nonchalant way she was standing infuriated her. This woman was looking down on her, insulting the skills that Shin had beaten into her for the past few weeks.

"Don't be surprised if I kick your ass," Ichika said. "Today, the Red Dragon shall triumph over the White."

Bea's eyes widened slightly before her gaze hardened. "Do you…?"

"Enough talk! Let us duel to our heart's content!" Ichika said.

[Boost]

She lunged forward with surprising speed. Her fist sailed across the air only to hit nothing.

Bea leaned her head out of the way at the last possible second. She thrust her palm into Ichika's abdomen, sending her back.

"Good instinct. The first strike always determines the flow of battle. It seems that you're not so useless after all," Bea said.

"Shut up!" Ichika growled. She jumped into the air to deliver a high jump kick, which was promptly deflected by Bea's arm. Bea grabbed Ichika's leg and slammed her violently against the ground,

Ichika gasped before curling into herself.

"Your form is sloppy," her opponent said.

[Boost]

"Haaah!" Ichika sprang to her feet and began to deliver a relentless barrage of punches, all aiming for different parts of Bea's body.

Bea moved gracefully, weaving her way in and out of Ichika's strikes. Her hand moved in a blur, deftly blocking of Ichika's attacks simultaneously. "Your strikes are powerful but lack intent. You're also letting your emotions control you in the heat of battle. Something like this… will get you killed."

"Shut up!" Ichika delivered a powerful right hook that completely missed its target. Bea had disappeared from her line of sight, causing her to look around frantically.

"You shouldn't let your guard down just because you can no longer see your opponent. Having awareness of all your blind spots is something you need to work on." Bea's voice came from her left.

She swiped her arm only to hit nothing.

"Again, you have an opening here." A swift and painful strike hit her in the side, causing her to stumble.

"And here."

Another came at her back.

Ichika hissed in pain. The gem on her Sacred Gear glowed once more. [Boost]

She whirled around to attack Bea, only to hit nothing. "Stay still!" Ichika shouted as she tried to strike Bea repeatedly.

On the sidelines, Shin watched the fight unfold with growing anxiety. Bea was completely toying with her. Even with Ichika having access to the Boosted Gear and increasing her power, she couldn't land a single decisive strike on her.

"I guess even with handicaps, Sis was always going to win," Sophia said, holding Ran in her arms.

"We need to stop the fight," Shin said.

"What?" Sophia raised an eyebrow as he moved toward the arena. She reached out and grabbed his shoulder. Her grip tightened, holding him in place. "Sis won't forgive you if you stop the fight and neither will Ichika."

"But—"

"Ichika will be okay. Sis has been pulling all her punches," Sophia said, gesturing to the fight.

[Boost]

"Haaaaah!" Ichika roared as she threw a kick at Bea's midsection.

The older woman caught her foot with her only available hand and threw her back.

Ichika yelped and jumped back, stumbling before falling and landing on her butt. She winced, feeling the dull pain in her tailbone. She shakily got to her feet, panting as she eyed her opponent. Her body was littered with bruises from Bea's "casual" counterattacks. Her time in the Judo club and her regular sparring matches with Shin allowed her to sense when someone was pulling their punches. The woman before her was holding a terrifying amount of force back with each hit.

"How can you possibly hope to help my sister or Shin on this job? When I came home, I thought I'd get some rest but it looks like I'll have my work cut out for me by babysitting you," Bea said.

"Shut up!" Ichika said, gripping her arm.

"Can you even access your Balance Breaker?" Bea asked.

"My what?"

"I see."

"Speak Japanese! Stop saying things I don't know!" Ichika said, readying herself to deliver another volley of blows.

"..." Bea leaned her head out of the way of Ichika's furious left hook. Her palm struck her in the sternum, causing the girl to gasp and stumble back.

"A Balance Breaker is an essential form. The evolution of a Sacred Gear. Since you were trained by Shin, I fully expected you to have it unlocked by now but to learn that you don't is… wholly disappointing," she said.

Ichika's jaw tightened as she glared at the Exorcist before her.

"You—"

"We're done," Bea said, letting out a sigh of disappointment. "If I were you, I'd have either Sophia or Shin send you back to Japan. In this state, you're just target practice for whatever you'll run into."

Ichika's body trembled as her hands balled into tight fists. Her eyes glowed silver.

[Explosion]

A shroud of dark red aura surrounded her. Her foot shifted and her body vanished into a blur as she sped toward Bea. She raised her hand to deliver a devastating punch to the back of her opponent's head.

However, a flash of blue light stunned her momentarily and she suddenly found herself lying on her back.

Huh? I'm… staring at the ceiling?

She gasped in pain when she felt a boot press down on her chest. Ichika looked up to see Bea's nearly expressionless red eyes looking down at her.

"I have to give you points for striking at an unsuspecting opponent. But still, your entire performance was disappointing," she said. "I hope… you wake up and realize that this world isn't just fun and games. One mistake is all it takes for you to be robbed of everything."

Ichika shifted uncomfortably underneath her. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw the first trace of emotion on her opponent's face. However, that sliver of emotion vanished as soon as the woman took her boot off her.

Ichika slowly sat up, ignoring the dull pain in her chest as she watched Bea walk out of the arena without another word.

Bea's heels hit the floor with an echoing clack as she walked down the hallway. She kept her gaze straight ahead as her mind swirled with thoughts of her spar.

(Are you thinking about the Red Dragon Emperor?)

Bea said nothing as she continued to walk.

(Our destined encounter with the Red One was bound to happen eventually. Unfortunately for her and Ddraig, you are not interested in fighting.)

"What did you think about her?" Bea asked.

The sword at her hip rattled for a brief moment, as if it were deep in contemplation.

(I think that… that girl has a long way to go. At that last moment when she struck at your back, she hesitated. She is… afraid to hurt you.)

"Hesitation will lead to death," she said.

(She is just a child.)

"So were we," Bea said. She stopped walking and gazed out the window. The moonlight reflected in her red eyes before she sighed and disappeared into the dark corridor.

"Do I really have to go with you guys?"

It had been two days since the spar. Ichika had become even more determined to make herself useful. Whatever it may be, she did it. Information gathering. Sparring. Shin had to make her stop at one point and ban her from going downstairs to the arenas. Of course, that wasn't the point of their current outing. Shin groaned as he held onto numerous shopping bags.

"You're the one that forced me to relax. Besides, we're here to buy clothes for the gala, remember?" Ichika asked, placing her hands on her hips. "Are you afraid we might drain your wallet or something?"

"I… why are you even here, Sophia? You're not even going inside the gala," Shin said.

"What? I can't be here?" Sophia asked.

"No—"

"Then it should be fine, right? I don't trust you to choose clothes for a party of any sort! Do you remember when we had to infiltrate that charity gathering at Bohemian Grove a few years ago?" she said.

"Yeah, what was wrong with that?" Shin asked.

"You idiot, I told you we were going to match! We didn't even convincingly pass off as a couple!" Sophia huffed.

"I don't get why we had to match," Shin said.

"Whatever. Color coordination is the essence of defining yourself and your date to a ball. Do you want to embarrass Ichika in front of a bunch of important people? Cardinals! Heads of State! Denzel Washington!" Sophia said as she crossed her arms.

"You wanted me to wear salmon!" he protested.

"Salmon was a good color! You made me look like an idiot! I told you I was wearing a salmon mermaid dress!"

"I looked like undercooked chicken!"

Ichika got in between them and pushed them apart before their argument could escalate any further. "Okay, okay! I… I think I can handle it. My tastes can best be defined as trendsetting. I am, after all, well-versed in high society culture. 'Tis an ability required by someone as prolific and prominent as I."

"Alright, Miss High Society. Let's go. I know this good store where we can get dresses and suits," Sophia said, grabbing Ichika's wrist.

The three made their way further into the mall until they stopped at a boutique with a very long queue.

"Um… do you expect us to wait in line all day?" Shin asked.

"Yes. Of course not. Just follow me," Sophia said, beckoning for them to follow. She sauntered up to each person in line one by one. Her eyes were glowing with a soft shade of pink as she artfully charmed her way to the front.

"Okay, that's cheating," Ichika said.

"It's just a small-scale miracle. It's very useful for getting what you want," Sophia said.

"Can you teach me how to use Miracles?" Ichika asked, watching Sophia charm the guard to let them in.

"Sure. When we finish at the gala, we can pick up a few Miracles for you to use," she said.

Shin grimaced when he took in the scent of the store. It smelled extremely expensive. He hesitantly walked over to one of the bags that was on display. His jaw almost dropped when he saw the price tag. He began to feel lightheaded. The number of zeros on the tag was something his mind struggled to comprehend. How could people come here to shop, let alone shop casually? This was a place where someone should go to buy their wife a 50th-anniversary gift, not an attire for a black tie event.

"Um... can we find clothes somewhere else?" Shin said quietly.

"What? What's wrong?" Ichika asked, looking over his shoulder.

"He probably saw the price tag of the purse," Sophia said.

"My wallet…," Shin whispered. He closed his eyes and sighed. "Looks like I gotta pull out the big guns." He pulled out a small black talisman. The talisman glowed and was replaced with a black credit card. "I'm using Sona's credit card."

"Wait… what? Prez's credit card? Does she even—"

"Yes… okay, I know how this looks but Sona said I can use it if it was related to missions. She keeps track of what I use her funds on," he replied, cutting Ichika off and waving the card around.

Sophia's eyes anxiously flitted between the card in Shin's fingers and Shin. "Um… are you sure we can use that?"

"Yeah. Besides, the Sitri Family is rich. What's a few… er, a couple of thousand euros to them. Basically, I can buy everything from here," Shin pointed at one end of the store, "To there." He moved his arm, all the way across the length of the store.

Ichika gawked. "Wait! We can't just use Prez's money like that."

"Sure we can. I can buy that entire dress rack out right now."

"You know we're just going to a charity ball and not… the Met Gala, right?" Sophia said.

"It's fine. So… since you two know what you're doing, how do we do this? Do I buy the entire store or do you want to try on everything then buy the entire store?" he asked.

Sophia and Ichika exchanged looks before smiling eerily at him.

"No! Go back inside! What even is that!?" Sophia said, looking at his suit.

"Y- You chose this!" Shin protested.

"No, stop. Go back, Shin-chan," Ichika said.

"We should've just bought the entire store." Shin sighed and walked back into the fitting room.

"Try on the next one!" Sophia called out.

He responded with a grumble from behind the curtains.

As Shin changed behind the curtains, Ichika glanced at Sophia, who leaned back against the wall. Choosing a dress wouldn't be as hard as choosing a suit for Shin. The two sat in comfortable silence as Shin changed into his suit. Around them, the two listened to the hustle and bustle of other customers as they chose their outfits, no doubt most likely for the same occasion they were.

"Hey, Sophia. Do you… think I should have stayed in Kuoh?" Ichika asked, fiddling with the hem of her shirt.

"Huh? No. Why?" Sophia blinked, turning to face Ichika.

"I… Sorry, it's just—"

"It's because of what my older sister said, huh?"

Ichika went silent, her lips pursing into a thin line. She nodded weakly. It had been the only thing she could think about since the spar.

"Don't worry about it," Sophia said. "My sister says a lot of things but I think she's just looking out for you."

"That's… a weird way to look at it."

Sophia let out a small chuckle at her words. Her gaze softened slightly and her grip around their haul tightened. "She's very prone to worrying. I guess she has been since we were kids. It comes out in weird ways. I guess it's because… well, it's because it's just the two of us now."

"Just… the two of you now?" Ichika raised an eyebrow at her words.

"Ahaha, sorry. I don't want to talk about sad stuff while we're here. It's just… she's been like that since we were kids," Sophia said wistfully. "And in the end, all we had left was each other."

Ichika said nothing, not wanting to push any further. She placed her hand above Sophia's.

Upon feeling the touch of Ichika's hand through her gloves, she stiffened. Sophia felt her heart thudding inside her chest and her breathing quickened.

Ichika pulled her hand away, noticing the reaction. "Sorry, I sort of forgot about that."

"No, it's fine," Sophia said, taking deep breaths to calm her heart down. She placed her hand on her chest and let out a few more deep breaths.

"Hey—"

"Hey! How's this? I think black and red looks good, right? Please tell me it does so I can change back into my street clothes," Shin said as he threw open the curtains. He came out dressed in a suit, consisting of a midnight-black blazer with black dress pants. Underneath was a red vest over a black button-up and a red tie. He adjusted the tie several times before turning to them.

He raised an eyebrow upon sensing the mood.

"What happened?"

"Nothing," Sophia smiled. "So Ichika, what do you think?"

Ichika glanced at Sophia for a moment before turning to Shin. "I think it'll look good. I have a slight idea of what color I want to wear to match that."

"Really? I can take this off now?" Shin asked.

"Wait!" Ichika said, walking over and adjusting his tie.

"Hey, I can—"

"No, you can't. You can't even tie a windsor knot. Let me do it," Ichika said.

"See, this is way more efficient than buying out the entire boutique," she said.

"Sona has like… a million of these in her territory. What's one more under the Sitri name?" Shin said as he squirmed in Ichika's grip.

"Stay still, idiot!" Ichika barked.

"There are 50 designer dresses in this store. I'm not bringing them back with me to HQ," Sophia said.

"Ugh, fine. Jeez, it would've been so much easier to buy all of it," he mumbled.

Footsteps echoed down a dark hallway, illuminated only by the soft light that emanated from the ancient fluorescent lamps that lined the stone walls. People had many ideas about what the catacombs of the Vatican held. The corpse of Jesus Christ. Aliens. Proof of God. The man wanted to chuckle. Such ideas were nothing compared to the truth. He looked over to his lanky companion. The bags under the man's eyes seemed to have doubled since the last time they met. His companion stiffened when he noticed him staring.

"Father Marco, no need to be so wary. I am glad you decided to accompany me to the meeting spot." His large belly shook as he let out a hearty laugh.

Father Marco nodded silently, pushing his glasses up.

"Be that as it may, however. The guests we are about to meet can be quite fickle so I'd be careful about what you say to them. Do remember that we struck a deal with them," the portly priest said. He turned and continued to walk until he reached a spot in the catacombs that led to a set of stairs. Glancing back at Father Marco to make sure that he was still there, the rotund man climbed the stairs until he reached an old wooden door.

Wind instantly filled the stuffy atmosphere of the catacombs as he opened the door. The silver glow of the moon flooded the interior, outshining the dimming fluorescent lamps.

He beckoned for Marco to follow him as he stepped onto the surface.

"These are... the ruins near the Coliseum?" Father Marco said, noticing the large broken pillars and archways.

"Indeed. This is where our compatriots are located." the man said.

"Ah. You're here."

Father Marco stiffened. No, stiffened wasn't the right word. He wanted to go rigid. His base animal instincts were all telling him that this was a monster, yet the voice, from its pitch down to the irresistible allure that accompanied the enunciation of each syllable, made his muscles relax. His gaze slowly traveled upward, seeing a woman sitting atop one of the pillars.

The woman had a deathlike pallor to her appearance, dressed in a black and red dress-like coat. Her silver hair shone in the light of the Moon. She wore a black top underneath that only covered her abdomen half-way, exposing her midriff. Her long, slender legs and hips were accentuated and well complemented by a combination of black hotpants and a single black stocking on her right leg. She wore black, heeled boots with sharp silver heels.

Father Marco felt the irresistible urge to grab a rock and bash his portly companion's skull in. He slowly reached over to grab a piece of rubble from one of the ruined pillars, feeling the gaze of the woman's violet eyes on him.

"How cute. That puppy looks like he wants to bash your skull in, Valper~," the woman crooned. She hopped off the pillar and landed with such grace that her boots made no sound when she made contact with the broken road.

The woman sauntered over, swaying her hips slightly as she ran a gloved finger across Father Marco's cheek. Her touch sent the Priest into a stupor, causing him to smile like a fool before being snapped out of his trance. The man stumbled back, dazed yet maintaining a longing gaze on the silver-haired woman.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't... coerce them like that," Valper said, glancing at the dazed Father Marco.

"What can I say? Men and women find me irresistible. It's not my fault they tend to go... overboard when displaying their affections," the woman said in a sickeningly sweet tone.

"Remember, our deal. You help us get the fragments, I hand over the data," Valper said, trying to ignore the itching feeling at the back of his subconscious.

"Don't worry, I didn't forget." The woman waved off his concerns. She raised hand into the air, producing an ornately designed sheathed blade in her hand from seemingly nowhere. She smiled as she laid it out on the ground.

Valper's lips twisted into a greedy smile intermixed with hints of untold, uncomfortable lust. He gently reached out to caress the blade as if he were holding a lover in his arms. His hands ran softly up and down the length of its scabbard, tracing along its length. He felt every groove, every engraving, and every detail etched into it from its tip down to its pommel. His lips pressed against the scabbard, staying there for a few seconds as he savored the taste of its scabbard on his tongue. Valper shuddered, letting out a shaky breath along with a low guttural moan.

"Oh, Excalibur Rapidly," he said.

"Now, don't forget our deal. I get you the rest of the fragments, you hand over the data," the woman said, staring at him expectantly.

Valper looked up from the blade in his arms to the woman in front of him.

"I won't forget," Valper said, handing a flash drive over. "This is a deposit. It has the data you want but only the surface-level details. I stole one fragment before leaving the Church. A facility in the Alps had one fragment, which I assume is this one and the Vatican has 2 fragments here. Get me more of the fragments and I give you the rest of it."

The woman's smile never left her face as she stared at the flash drive in her hands. Her fingers curled around the drive and she looked back up to Valper. "Very well. A deal is a deal. I'll be sending you a little gift in a few days. Make good use of him, okay~! My co-worker doesn't like it when people take away members of her family and this man, well, she's grown rather attached to him."

The pot-bellied priest shivered. He didn't know what to make of this woman.

"I... understand," Valper said.

"Oh, and please do your best to fulfill our little bargain. I always hate putting my dogs down, especially one as round and cute as you, Valper~!"

Originally, this chapter was longer. It had the ball but I thought it was too long and reading it was a pain. I decided to cut it into two parts and add the ball in the next chapter. That chapter will serve as a segue into the rest of the arc. Also, it would be weird if we went the entire arc without knowing our main antagonist.

Miss Not-Makima. She's really not Makima, she has white-silver hair after all. As to who she is, well, I'll let you all guess. Just keep track of her because she will appear again later. Just think of her as our first main major antagonist for the entirety of the story.

Anyway, time to do some house cleaning. It's been a while since I answered reviews on FFN. Answering them on here is so odd compared to doing it on Ao3.

Royalrain20xx: Thanks, man. You are actually the first person outside of people I know to give a review with some meat so it's very much appreciated. And yes, I did go a bit overboard with the exposition in the first arc. It felt like I regurgitated an entire wiki page onto a fanfiction, haha. I'm so glad you like Ichika. I was actually a bit worried that people wouldn't like her because you know "female Issei trope" but I'm glad this one stuck for you.

I do have some ideas on how to tackle the situation where she has to kill someone but I'm still working the kinks out for it. I won't go into the specifics because it's spoiler territory but there will be psychological trauma afterward. I've seen a lot of fanfics deal with the first kill thing but getting over it in one chapter but I want to stretch it out a bit and play with it. Because you know... there is a voice in Ichika's head that's not Ddraig that will stop at nothing to use every last shred of trauma as a weapon against her.

Anyway, do leave your review. I love to read them... even if they are the infamous "Great Chapter, please update review". But that is about it from me, review or PM me. I'll see you guys next time.