Outsider Chronicles: Storm of Swords

Waking up with memories of your past life, but not your current is...strange. On the up side, I apparently live in a world that looks to be fun, have a lot of power to survive in said world and no real need to go searching for my past. On the other hand, my past might come searching for me.

So, I was going through my older stuff today when I was bored and stumbled on this gem. Its an older one, but it was basically finished when I found it, so all I needed to do was wrap up the chapter and I figured I might as well post it. I don't think I can continue it, although I think there might be enough in the notes to come up with something if anyone is interested. Anyway, enough of that, enjoy!

Chapter 2

After enduring some light hearted ribbing from Rias and Akeno for forgetting my own birthday, I was quickly dragged into the room by Illya and Chloe and shoved down onto the sofa. The next hour and a half was filled with laughter, fun and presents that I'm sure a better storyteller than I could regale you with.

There was a momentary pause in the fun at one point when Sirzechs showed up alongside his Father, but that quickly went away since, Lucifer or not, everyone in the room was technically family and used to the most powerful Devil in the Underworld being around.

"Happy birthday kiddo," said Sirzechs as he ruffled my hair, making me scowl, "I'm glad to see you're doing well."

"Thanks," I said as I fixed my hair as best I could.

"I am curious though," he said, "I heard you turned down Rias offer to Reincarnate you when she got her Evil Pieces. I'm curious as to why."

"Ah, more like postpone it," I said, "I've been working on something with my Sacred Gear and I wanted to finish it before being Reincarnated."

"I see," said Sirzechs, "And have you managed it?"

I grinned and nodded.

"I managed it right before I came back," I said, "I need to practice with it, but its complete."

"I see," said Lucifer, "In that case, I assume you'll be talking with Rias soon?"

"As soon as I can," I said.

Sirzechs stared at me for a moment, before he held out his hands and placed the long box that appeared in them on the table.

"In that case, here," he said, "I intended to give this to you once you were Reincarnated, but it'll work as a birthday present too."

I blinked and opened the box, revealing a simple black straight bow with a handguard that looked rather familiar. I sighed and fixed the Devil king with a flat look.

"Really?"

He just smirked.

"I happen to like that show as well," he said, "Plus, Rias will get a kick out of it and, regardless of the joke, its a very powerful weapon."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?" I asked as I reached out and picked up the bow.

The moment my fingers closed around the grip, I felt my Magic surge, flowing through me and into the bow. For a moment, the black weapon seemed to glow with power, before it settled back to a faint humm. However, I could still feel it connected to me and knew I could summon it no matter where it was.

"Whoa, thats amazing," I muttered as I took a closer look at the bow.

As I did, I noticed a maker's mark under the grip that looked like an O with a sword and wand crossed over it.

"I don't recognize this mark," I said.

"I commissioned the bow from a rather skilled weapon crafter in the Human world," said Sirzechs, "He's Human, but his family have been making mystical weapons for over two thousand years for anyone who can pay. They are more than a little mercenary and not fully trusted, but their work is highly sought after."

"This is...thank you Lord Sirzechs," I said, more than a little overwhelmed.

Sirzechs smiled.
"Just make sure you look after my little sister," he said.

I nodded with a smile of my own.

"Of course," I said.

"Now that thats done with, I understand that you have something you want to give me," said Zeoticus.

I smirked as I put the bow down and reached into my jacket pocket.

"Yes, I do," I said as I pulled out a thick sheet of papers that probably shouldn't have been able to fit in said pocket, "Iri, Ed and I have been doing some research over the past two years. Its not exactly something that we could confirm through empirical experimentation since the subject matter is a little...personal, but we managed to gather enough evidence from questioning and data analysis to come to a pretty firm conclusion."

"So thats what you three have been doing," said Zeoticus as he accepted the papers and started scanning the covering sheet, "I suppose this has something to do with Rias and Riser, correct?"

I nodded. There wasn't really any point in hiding it after all. Zeoticus raised an eyebrow.

"You realize it would have to be something pretty impressive to make me change my mind, correct?" he asked, "Regardless of Risers...reputation, Richard and I truly believe that this is the best option for both our houses."

I smiled.

"I think the data will convince you," I said.

Zeoticus raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Interesting," he said.

He got to his feet.

"In that case, it would be best if I went and examined this now," he said, "Happy birthday Shirou."

"Thank you sir," I said with a slight bow.

The Gremory head nodded and left, pausing to talk to Rias and the von Einzberns on the way out, who followed him as he left.

"I should probably go too," said Sirzechs, getting to his feet, "I have a lot of work to do. Best of luck kid, I think you'll need it soon enough."

I blinked.

"Um, thanks?" I said, not entirely sure what he was talking about.

The Devil King just smiled and left, leaving me feeling rather confused. I didn't have long to feel like that though as Koneko reached over the back of the sofa and literally dragged me over to where the others had set up a game of Twister. The rest of the party was spent playing more games and generally having a good time.

After a while, things calmed down as the others began to feel the effects of coming down from the inevitable sugar rush that came with birthday parties, so we decided to move onto board games. However, before we did, I decided to take advantage of the lul to speak to Rias.

"Hey Rias, I've got something to show you," I said.

The red-head looked up from the stack of board games on the table in surprise.

"What is it?" she asked.

I grinned and held out a hand. There was a flash of light and a silver and red sword appeared in my hand.

"I finally finished my project," I said, "I'll be keeping that particular blade as a trump card, but this will do just fine."

I planted the blade in the ground and knelt.

"If you'll have me, I will serve as your Knight," I said, "Whether it is my sword or my bow, it is yours to use."

There was a moment of shocked silence, before Rias burst out laughing.

"That really wasn't necessary Shirou," she said, "Although I have to say, you pulled it off perfectly."

I grinned as I stood.

"Well, I thought it was appropriate," I said, "After all, I am using the sword of the ever Loyal Knight as my prop for this."

I frowned and glanced at the sword in my hand.

"Then again, considering what Mordred did in the end, maybe I should have chosen better…"

The sword glowed and morphed into a silver and gray blade that seemed to glow with a light similar to the sun.

"Gawain's sword is probably the better choice," I said.

Rias snorted.

"Whatever sword you choose, I don't really care," she said, "I'll gladly accept you."

She pulled a Knight piece out of her pocket and held it out. I grinned and took it, the red crystal lighting up as I did and sinking into my hand. For a brief moment, I felt my body burn, before a pair of wings shot out of my back and I felt something fundamental change within me. Then the feeling faded and Rias glomped me.

"Welcome to my family Shirou!" she said.

I grinned and hugged her back, dismissing my sword as I did. A moment later, Koneko and Akeno joined the hug.

The next day dawned bright and dreary with a request from Lord Gremory me to come to his study after breakfast.

"Any idea what my Father wants?" asked Rias.

"I think it probably has something to do with the information I gave him yesterday," I said.

"What information?" asked Rias.

"Its what I've been working on for the past two years," I said, "I should go. I'll see you later."

Rias nodded and I headed out the door in the direction of Lord Gremory's study.

I quickly reached the door to said room and knocked.

"Come."

I opened the door and entered. Zeoticus was sat behind the desk with a familiar sheaf of papers in front of him and Ed and Iri sat across from him while two men with blonde hair and blue eyes I quickly recognized as Lord Phenex and his eldest son, Ruvel. Both were dressed in fine clothes, but Ruvel was wearing robes made of some kind of silk that didn't look entirely normal to my eyes.

"Ah Shirou, thank you for coming," said Zeoticus, "I've been reading your findings and I must say, they are very interesting."

"Indeed," said Lord Phenex, "I admit, I never really considered that there could be a reason behind my wife and I having as many children as we do, I simply thought that we were blessed."

"I haven't had chance to read it yet," said Ruvel, "Do you mind filling me in?"

I grinned.

"To put it simply, over the past couple of years I've been looking into birth rates among Devils and the reasons behind it," I said, "Most Devils have only one or two children, often spaced widely apart, but the discussion about you and Riser possibly being able to have more children because he was a Phenex got me thinking about why the Phenex house has so many kids. After some thought and a bit of research I came to the conclusion that there was more going on than simply an unusual fertile couple, especially because something like that hadn't happened before according to the genealogies."

"After that, Iri and I got involved," said Edward, "It took us some time, but we managed to gather the information we needed to come to the conclusion that a Devils ability to procreate is governed by the exact same thing as our Magic, will and desire. If a Devil couple wants a child, they will have one, if they don't, they won't. If one half wants a child, the chance is halved, more so if the one who doesn't want one is the female."

"In short, considering that Rias wants nothing to do with Riser and Riser is a womanizing arse who only wants Rias for her looks, the chances of them actually being able to have kids is pretty much nil," I said, "You'd have better luck marrying her off to Sona."

There was a moment's silence as everyone stared at me. Then, Lord Phenex burst out laughing.

"Well, I suppose that we can't really argue with that," he said once he'd regained control, "I'm very impressed with your work Mr Emiya. Tell me, do you think this discovery applies to other Magical races?"

I hummed thoughtfully.

"Possibly, but I think it would depend on how Magical they were," I said, "Yokai, Angels and other beings that are basically either composed of or completely suffused with Magic would definitely apply, but for those who are half Human or only possess Magic as a small part of them like Wizards...I don't know. Possibly, but I think they'd lean more towards Human nature. They do make use of contraceptives after all."

I shrugged.

"I'd probably need to look into it more, but something like this is really difficult to get data on considering emotions and willpower isn't exactly measurable and procreation isn't something that can conceivably be experimented on ethically."

"We managed just fine," said Iri with a lecherous grin at her husband.

"One experimental couple is hardly what I'd call a large sample size," I said, "Regardless of how...enthusiastic they are."

That comment drew some laughter from everyone else.

"Anyway, with this information, I can safely say that there is little point in continuing the contract," said Lord Phenex.

"I told you that was a bad idea Father," said Ruvel.

Lord Phenex sighed.

"Yes, I know, but I thought I was doing right by Riser," he said, "Thinking about it now, it was probably a mistake. Oh well, lifes nothing without a few mistakes."

He pulled a folded piece of parchment out of his jacket.

"Are we in agreement, Zeoticus?" he asked.

Lord Gremory nodded and held up a matching bit of parchment.

"In that case, I declare the contract void," said Lord Phenex.

Instantly, the two parchments burst into flames and quickly turned to ash.

"Now that thats out of the way, I'm afraid I must be going," said Lord Phenex as he got to his feet, "Good day."

He vanished in a flash of fire.

"I should go too," said Ruvel as he got to his feet, "It was nice to meet you both."

He nodded to Lord Gremory and followed his Father out in another flash of fire. Lord Gremory sat back in his seat and fixed me with a slightly amused look.

"You do know that this could result in some less than pleasant outcomes for your, right?" he asked, "Riser does have quite the temper when it comes to not getting his own way."

I shrugged.

"I don't care," I said, "Theres no way I'd ever let that idiot get his hands on my Master."

"I see," said Lord Gremory, eyeing me with a slightly odd look in his eye, "Alright, you may go. When you see her, tell Rias I need to speak with her."

I nodded and left the room, heading back to Rias' part of the house.

Half an hour later, after letting Rias know her Father wanted to see her, I was working my way through some homework in the sitting room (still have to do that, although it was a lot more interesting than anything I'd been given in the past) when Rias came into the room.

"Hey Rias, how did it go?" I asked.

She didn't respond as she walked across the room towards me.

"Rias? Are you...GLUMPH!"

I was cut off as Rias vaulted over the back of the couch I was sat on and kissed me full on the lips. Before I could properly register the sudden kiss, she released me and wrapped me in a rib-cracking hug.

"Thank you," she whispered.

I smiled and hugged her back.

"It was my genuine pleasure," I said.

"Oh my, whats going on in here?"

We both looked up to see Akeno stood in the doorway looking amused alongside a much less amused Koneko.

"Shirou managed to get my Dad and Lord Phenex to dissolve the marriage to Riser," said Rias with a beaming smile.

There was a moments silence, before Akeno grinned widely.

"Really? How did you manage that?"

I smiled and quickly filled the other two in on everything that had happened and my research.

"Huh, well I guess congratulations are in order then," said Akeno.

"Yeah, its certainly a weight off my mind," said Rias.

She sighed, then smiled and clapped her hands.

"Alright, enough of that," she said, "Come on, lets do something to celebrate!"

Koneko and Akeno both cheered and three sets of puppy dog eyes turned on me. I sighed and stood.

"Alright, I'll go make a cake," I said as I headed towards the kitchen.

Three weeks after my birthday, we received a rather interesting letter from Ruvel Phenex.

"So, does anyone know why we've been invited to his daughter's birthday?" I asked as I read the note over Rias' shoulder, "Do you know her Rias?"

"Not really," said the red-head, "I mean, I've met her, but shes older than me and lives in the Human world so I don't know her as well as Sona."

"I think you impressed Mr Phenex with your work," said Akeno, "I've heard that his Daughters go to school in the Human world and, due to abilities inherited from their Mother, they don't exactly have many friends."

"What abilities?" I asked as I took a sip of tea.

"They're both Veela."

I spewed the hot liquid across the room.

So yeah, apparently I'd somehow missed that Harry Potter was a thing in this world. Then again, I had grown up in the Underworld and there weren't really many self admitted Wizards around. Edward and Irisviel were apparently Magicals before they were Reincarnated, as was Ruvel Phenex wife. Sort of. As Akeno had said, she was a Veela. A French Veela. I decided not to ask about that.

Following that revelation, I decided to do a bit of investigative work and quickly concluded that the events of the books should have been going on. I say should because when I'd found some issues of the Daily Prophet that weren't being used as kindling, one of the articles was about how Harry Potter was nowhere to be found and apparently Sirius Black had been acquitted of his crimes after someone managed to sniff out Pettigrew. I made a mental note to keep an eye on that. Harry's who grew up elsewhere were always fun to see.

On a completely unrelated note, apparently Seekvaira Agares had her territory in Hogwarts and the surrounding area.

A week after the invitation came, the four of us headed through the Transportation Circle and found ourselves in a rather nice garden outside a large villa located on the shore of the ocean in the south of France. The place screamed wealth while still managing to not be ostentatious and was decorated in reds and golds, as was fitting for the Phenex Clan.

We were met at the door by a House Elf with an impressive vocabulary compared with the Elves that appeared in the books and led into the ballroom, which was already full of guests from all walks of life and races, where we were quickly ambushed by Ruvel, who had a tall, gorgeous blonde woman on his arm.

"Ah, welcome Miss Gremory," he said graciously, kissing the back of her hand in greeting, "And the rest of you of course."

He greeted Koneko and Akeno in the same way and shook my hand.

"Allow me to introduce you to my wife, Apolline," he said.

"Bonjour," said the Veela/Devil with a radiant smile, "Its nice to finally meet the one my Husband spoke so highly of."

Despite myself, I couldn't help blushing at the compliment. I could feel her Allure pressing on me, but, thankfully, I retained enough control to be able to keep myself from doing more than blushing brightly and staring a little longer than I probably should. At least until Koneko and Rias got annoyed and stomped on my foot and pinched my cheek respectively.

"YOUCH!"

I blushed brightly as the sudden pain brought me back to myself and I realized I was staring.

"Um, sorry," I said, ducking my head.

Apolline let out a bell-like laugh.

"Its no problem Mr Emiya," she said, "Believe me, I am well used to it. You are actually more resistant to my Allure than most, even other Devils. Its very impressive."

I blushed even harder at that while Koneko and Rias just glowered.

The awkward moment was thankfully broken as another group entered, this one composed of the French Minister for Magic and two guests. Who I immediately recognized by the lime green bowler hat and hideous pink robes as Cornelius Fudge and Dolores Umbridge. Considering that Ruvel was the owner of the French equivalent of the Daily Prophet and Wizarding Wireless, in addition to holding a rather impressive Media empire in the Mortal world, its not that surprising that the Minister had been invited to the party since it was as much a chance to show off and network for the bigwigs as it was a celebration for his Daughters birthday. I did have to wonder if Fudge and Umbitch were aware of their hosts less than Human status though.

"Ah, forgive me but I must be going," said Ruvel, "It was a pleasure to meet you all and see you again Mr Emiya."

He kissed his wife on the cheek and headed over to intercept the Minister and his guests.

"Come, I'll introduce you to my Daughters," said Apolline, "I doubt you want to spend all night talking with us stuffy adults after all."

We followed the part-Veela across the hall to where a small group of teenagers were gathered . I quickly picked out Seekvaira and Sairaorg, which wasn't that surprising considering they were the same age as the birthday girl. As we approached, said girl turned and I felt my breath catch. She was tall for her age and willowy, with long blonde hair, bright blue eyes and pale skin that seemed to be emitting a faint, silvery glow. I'm not sure if it was because she was closer to my age, because she had been born a Devil rather than made one or something else, but her Allure seemed to hit me even harder than Apollines did. Of course, all that did was get Koneko and Rias to hit me again, so I didn't have long to enjoy the sensation.

"Ah, Rias, I was wondering if you would come," said the girl with a radiant smile.

"Hello Fleur," said Rias with a slightly strained smile, "Have you met my Peerage?"

There was a round of introductions of which there was no real surprises, other than the fact that Seekveria had a new Rook who introduced herself as Mai. She was a girl who looked about my age with short, dark brown hair and an attitude problem. I'm pretty sure she had been a Witch before getting Reincarnated and I'd bet my sword that she was in Gryffindor with that attitude, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out who she was. Oh well, none of my business. I'd likely never find myself at Hogwarts anyway.

After the initial awkwardness that always came at these sorts of events, even around kids, not helped in the slightest by the annoyed looks Koneko kept shooting Fleurs way, we quickly started up a friendly conversation that mostly consisted of Sairaorg ribbing me over getting zapped by the Veela Allure three times on the trot. The third time was from Gabrielle, who was actually my age despite looking like an eight year old (because Veela maturity and all that) and frankly adorable. She also looked a lot like Ravel, although she wore her hair in pigtails rather than drills.

It didn't take me long to realize that she was also wickedly smart under her bubbly personality and had a love for books that rivaled my own. That lead to the two of us getting into a discussion on literature, which Mai joined shortly after and proved herself to be surprisingly well read considering her personality.

We'd just started a discussion on the finer parts of whether or not a main character who spent most of their time getting kidnapped was good for character development or just plain boring when Rias suddenly appeared and grabbed my hand.

"Hey Shirou, lets dance," she said.

"Wha...HEY!" I yelped as Rias dragged me over to the dance floor and put my hands on her waist.

Then I blushed as I realized the song currently playing was a slow song.

"So, whats this in aid of?" I asked as I shoved down my blush and decided to just go with it, "You do know how this looks, right?"

As was typical for high class events like this, they were used more as a chance for the upper echelons of society to feel out the other guests and figure out whos connected with who and so on. The fact that Rias had decided to 'accept' a dance with me first so soon after the contract with Riser was broken sent a fair few messages. True, we were still kids, so the messages sent likely wouldn't be taken that seriously, but still.

"Of course I do," said Rias, "I sat through that lesson, you know."

She sighed and rested her head on my chest. My blush promptly put in another appearance and I gulped. After all, even at just 13, Rias was still a very beautiful young lady and Devils mature MUCH faster than Humans anyway.

"You're one of my best friends Shirou," she said softly, drawing my attention back to her, "You've been with me for nearly as long as Akeno and we've shared so much together. Even though you didn't really have much choice considering your circumstances, you still willingly agreed to become part of my Peerage and have had my back for years. You even helped me get out of that stupid contract, despite knowing it could, and probably will, put a massive target on your back."

"Well what else could I have done?" I asked, "You're easily my best friend Rias, not to mention the fact you basically gave me everything I have. I owe you big time and even if I didn't, I'd still help you. Because of the aforementioned best friend thing."

Rais pulled back and smiled up at me.

"Thanks Shirou," she said.

"No problem," I said, smiling back.

The rest of the night passed in a blur of fun, new friends being made and hints of possible futures to be had.

And done. Well, I can't really comment on what past me had in mind, but we clearly have two lovely ladies interested on jumping Shirou's bones. Possibly more if the notes I have are anything to go by. Anyone want to guess where Harry is and Mai's full name?

Normally I'd do more, but I really don't have anything. I know this is a really old one, but please leave a review on the way out!