The Chaos that consumes the world
XV
Leona drummed her fingers on her lap as she stared at the unconscious form of Romani slumped over on their bed.
Still trying to work her head around what she had seen happen, trying to contextualise what she had seen happen with what she knew of Romani. A man who - without being too offensive - had only the single remarkable trait of being able to fall asleep in otherwise impossible positions and finding those comfortable.
At least…
At least until they came here, to Kuoh.
She knew it was bad news long before she'd ever agreed to the idea, from the very moment that Romani had brought the idea of moving to Japan, she knew it was a bad idea. It just seemed a very pre-emptive thing for Romani to do, the sort of thing that he wouldn't normally have done under any other circumstances.
There were plenty of reasons she could have made up to say no and she was certain that any one of those would have worked and Romani would have just stayed living where they were. None of this would have come to pass and her husband would still be living in blissful ignorance.
…But if she had said no to that, if she had shot Romani down, she knew that it would have done more harm than good for them. The one time Romani suggested something big to her, there was never a chance of her just turning that suggestion into dust right in front of his eyes.
She just wondered where it all went wrong.
The sound of someone clearing their throat brought her eyes across the room, freezing when she caught sight of who exactly was the one who had come all the way up to the top floor of their house to see her.
They brought up their hand, a cordial smile on their face as they waved their fingers down, probably reading her intention to try and stand up to look more presentable, not that it would have made much of a difference. She hadn't bothered to really clean up, the only thing that took priority was Romani right now.
Her Romani.
…Who shot a dragon out of the sky.
The figure moved further into the room, then came to a stop at the foot of the bed and stared down across it, their eyes lingered on the man before flickering over to her, their expression soft as they spoke out their first words.
"How is he?"
She rolled her lips, then shrugged. "He channelled the magical energy of a Leyline into a single point. Any human mage who did that should have just exploded."
A pointed silence from the Devil in the room, their eyes turned to Romani once more and then back to her.
With a slow nod of the head, she waved a hand to them. "But he's fine. He's fine. He's actually great. Not a single thing is wrong with him in the least, at least not physically…a couple of cuts and bruises but no better or worse than the rest of us. Nothing that I cannot actually fix! So really, he's absolutely fine!"
Her voice rose a little as she went on.
She blamed her nerves.
What was she supposed to do in a situation like this in the first place?
This was never something she expected to deal with.
With a low hum, the Devil nodded their head up and down along with her words, showing not even the slightest hint that her slightly raised voice had affected them in the least.
"...Rias speaks very highly of your husband, he sounds as though he is a good man." Their lips pulled up and their shoulders dropped a little. "I'm quite relieved to have heard it, having her away from home is troubling, especially since I cannot really do much in my current position for her. Though to hear she has such characters watching after her…and in more than just battle is…it makes my concern a little less heavier."
The turned to her, then bowed their head lightly. "For you as well. I do not believe I ever got the chance to thank you for contributing to Rias victory in that rating game."
Any other situation, she would have preened at having such praise delivered to her and especially to hear them speak so highly of her husband, though for right now, she couldn't even get much enjoyment from that. Just feeling as though her entire world was being ground up into sand.
…That was oddly fitting.
This must have been how Romani first felt when this all came down for him.
A beat.
She snorted and covered her mouth, feeling the laughter bubble up in the back of her throat.
Waving her hand, she saw the confusion on the face of the Devil and opted to elucidate them. "Ah, no…it's nothing to do with you, it's just that…This is a very ironic situation I'm in right now, it's a little funny…only a little."
Her hand came down, reaching across and wrapping around Romani's own, rubbing her thumb across their knuckles.
But she really wished Romani was awake so they could laugh about it together.
"...Though there will doubtless be a better time, I am inclined to ask now-"
"No. I had no idea until he shot a dragon from the sky."
"...I see. I had to ask."
Humming, she waited a moment before she replied. "How do you know I'm not lying?"
She got a chuckle in response, turning her head met her with a raised brow from the man and a ghost of a smirk upon their face, folding their arms behind their back, they turned slightly and moved towards the door.
"Humans might well be skilled liars, but you don't end up in my position without perfecting the art of seeing them. It comes with the title, honestly. You're telling the truth in that you had no idea what your husband was doing, in much the same way that those downstairs and insisting that perhaps Romani was under a similar effect to a possession type gear."
No.
Romani had nothing like that.
She would have known about it, there wasn't any way she could have hidden something like that, nor was there any way it could have been hidden. Romani had been around Azazel of all people plenty of times for them to have noticed and said something, they definitely wouldn't have let them go if that was the case.
Outwardly, she said nothing.
"Whatever the case, I do not care about that right this instant." Sirzechs Lucifer continued onwards, smiling genially at her as he stepped through the door and into the hallway. "Right now, I am just a brother being grateful to his sisters' protectors. If there is anything you need, anything at all to help with your husband's recovery, do not hesitate to call upon me or Serafall for it."
She believed them.
He moved away without waiting for a reply from her, hearing their steps fade away into the distance.
This was a much more stressful situation than he was supposed to have been expecting when he ended up here all over again.
Really, he'd insisted on coming to check up on Romani.
There had to be something going on here, maybe something like what was happening between him and Ddraig because he could see no way that Romani was somehow some master magician who was shooting dragons out of the sky. For starters, they had never shown anything like that in the past.
Their visions of the future - he'd still kept himself quiet about that - hadn't done much but they had helped him as best they could. Romani held nothing back when they talked about that sort of thing, so the idea of them being some sort of liar who was secretly playing them was just something he couldn't even entertain.
He fidgeted in the chair, glancing over to the side and staring at the others in the house.
It really wasn't designed for this many people, he could tell that right away.
His eyes snapped onto the doorway as the sound of footsteps got closer and closer, the tall crimson haired man rounded the corner a moment later and stepped into the room, casting their gaze over everyone before they softened their features.
"I'm assured there is little reason to fear, it seems as though Mister Archman is merely exhausted from having used such a potent attack. I wouldn't be too worried about their chances for a recovery."
Issei slumped forwards, dropping his head into his hands and sighing into them.
It was a relief.
He wasn't sure what he was supposed to have told Asia when she woke up if something happened to Romani, she'd been out cold as well. Exhausting herself with healing them, he was beyond thankful when Mrs Archaman said she had her own healing creams or that she could make some up.
His only problem was that they were a little cold and they did sting a bit when he applied them.
[You're still worried about that, Partner? I told you he would be fine.]
Issei flattened his expression, drawing his head away from his arm and staring at the back of his left hand, the faint glow which emerged from under his skin and accompanied the gravelly voice of the dragon.
"No, you just said he'd probably live."
[Same difference.]
Issei squinted hard at the back of his hand, feeling the urge to say something to them before he slumped back into the chair. He didn't have the energy to literally get into an argument with his own limb, well…it wasn't exactly his limb anymore, he still needed to properly explain that to Buchou because he could tell that she wasn't too happy with it.
She probably knew.
"Well, if the Red Dragon Emperor expresses such confidence in the recovery, then it seems we can all be put at ease with everything here."
Issei glanced towards the speaker, the older brother of Buchou that he had only really met once and hadn't really done all that much. They'd stepped forwards and congratulated all of them on a victory after the Rating game and then that was sort of it, he was still somewhat mixed on them.
Especially because it was clear Buchou didn't want the marriage in the first place but got forced into it. Maybe he was missing something, but he figured it would have been easier if they had just cancelled the whole thing. Unless this was one of those political things that he didn't understand.
Well, they did show up and help see off that weirdo, along with that guy in the white armour who…well…Ddraig hadn't actually said anything about them. Just grumbled annoyingly under their breath about them not even saying hello and then leaving it at that. He figured there was something between the two of them.
…Probably enemies or something, that was the vibes he got.
"Now then." Clapping his hands together, Sirzechs adopted a more carefree expression as he looked about the rather full room of individuals. "I have some understanding of what transpired, on account of Vlov, though I will say that the presence of you is something of a mystery to me…And please, do not try and explain away the presence of you being here as dealing with some loose ends of the Grigori."
The eyes of the room turned onto the Fallen Angel, the only visible damage to her body was the mangled one piece suit, everything else had been healed up to the point there wasn't even a single blemish on her.
Issei was actually shocked she was still alive.
He really did think she was dead.
He really understood now why those Phoenix tears were considered such a sought after item, they were like the ultra rare quality potions one got for those cinching victories during a boss raid or something.
"Because the secretary of the Grigori, no offence intended against you, is not someone I would have assumed would be the one sent to deal with the likes of Kokabiel. Given the difference in your battle experience."
The purple haired woman neglected to say anything.
"I believe there are more suitable candidates?"
More silence, then the Fallen Angel shrugged her shoulders. "I owed them one and decided to stop by once I heard where Kokabiel was…also some of the circumstances were concerning enough. I was more investigating that and leaving Kokabiel to the Burial Agent."
That seemed…
Issei wasn't sure what to think, it sounded as though they weren't really here to help but were instead after something else. It didn't make sense to him, bringing a hand up and scratching the side of his cheek while he silently looked about the room at the others, pausing as he caught sight of the expression on the face of Sitri-Kaichou.
That was…an expression he'd never imagined to see on her.
She looked downright mortified.
Then again, she had been forced into a lap pillow from the…magical girl.
This night was just one slap in the face after another for him.
"...I see." Sirzechs replied slowly, lowering his arms back to the side of his body. With a noise, his throat was cleared and the blue eyes turned once more, landing upon the trio of exorcists. "And your presence goes without saying as does the sudden appearance of the final character here…which I am inclined to say is, without a doubt, one of the most surprising events of the evening. Even with the appearance of another character."
This guy had an incredible poker face, because they didn't look all that surprised.
The silver armed man stood in the corner, idly turning their eyes to the door every now and again and making it clear that they would rather be anywhere else but in the house. Given that they were getting the stink eye from the super exorcist, he didn't actually blame them all that much.
"While this might sound rather rude, I would prefer to ask…why are you still alive?"
Wow, that did sound rather rude.
Bedivere made an uncomfortable expression for a moment, their left arm moved up and clasped their steel prosthetic for a couple of seconds, remaining silent until they eventually replied. "...I do not feel comfortable in answering such a question. My presence here is rather troubling for me and, meaning no offence, I have completed my business in this town and would much prefer to be on my way."
"As I understand it, your business revolves around the absconding of Church property."
"It belonged to my King before it ever came into the possession of the Church."
Bedivere and Agent Bow matched a narrowed gaze at one another, the rapid fire exchange lasting for a few moments before the latter sighed and turned her head away.
"Though I am unsure as to what manner of explanation I could provide to explain this to the Church once I return. Killing the supposedly final member of the Round Table in order to take their artificial limb is a difficult thing for me to explain under the best of circumstances. It paints me as some manner of villain in this situation."
Issei very nearly snorted.
Yeah, he could see how beating up an old man and stealing their fake arm would be considered rather frowned upon.
That being said…
"Is no one else slightly freaked out about this?"
Saji spoke up in a quiet tone of voice, then cleared it and nodded in the direction of Bedivere. "Like…i-is no one else bothered by the fact that this guy is apparently the Bedivere of the round table? You know, one of King Arthur's first knights? A-are we just accepting that?"
"Saji." A light chiding from Sona earned a flinch from them, but Issei wasn't about to let his fellow pawn suffer this alone.
"Isn't he right though?" He spoke up, drawing the eyes of the room and fighting to avoid his own flinch. Turning his head onto the knight and waving a hand. "I mean, no offence but aren't you supposed to be like…really old and dead? Wasn't King Arthur like…a long time ago?"
Oddly enough, the guy didn't look offended at his doubt.
Rather, He just shook his head from side to side and offered a thin smile.
"Whether you believe me to be the original Bedivere or not, that does not alter my mission. I came here to reclaim the fragments of Excalibur…I have done exactly that and shall be on my way. Whether or not you take issue with that is beyond me."
Bedivere stepped forwards and rested his eyes upon the church girls, though it was not an unkind gaze.
"You no longer have a single Excalibur in your possession, therefore I no longer have any quarrel with you. While I am sorry I acted as a silent thief and took the weapon during your brief bout of unconsciousness, I will now be leaving with my mission completed in search of the final piece."
[Interesting. What would you do if everyone in the room took issue with that, huh?]
Bedivere remained silent, turning his head onto the arm that contained the dragon.
A thin smile overcame his face.
"A confrontation is inevitable either way, Ddraig. Though I will admit that this current situation is less than desirable, I am still bound by the order of King Arthur and I will not rest until I fulfil that order. There is only one shard of the Excalibur left. I must continue my quest to find it just as the Church will wish to see it turned back over to their possession. Neither of us will back down upon this."
Bedivere's head turned back to the Exrocists. "But I shall still make the request. Please, do not pursue me further."
Sure enough, it wasn't even a second later before the Burial Agent replied. "I cannot allow that, until my orders are changed, I shall pursue you until the Excalibur has been returned. You may do so peacefully or I may take it by force. The choice is yours."
"I see. I had expected that answer."
Issei gradually tensed himself at the finality in the tone of the knight.
They weren't seriously going to start a fight here, were they-?
"While I admire the resolve-"
A subtle pressure exuded itself upon his shoulders, Issei's body locked up.
A calm voice aired through the dense feeling like a hot knife through butter.
"-I believe that any further violence between the Church and a third party should occur outside of this territory. If you have a dispute over the ownership of the Excalibur, then I would prefer you take it elsewhere."
His eyes shifted onto the speaker.
Sirzechs had his eyes closed, his head cocked to the side and a smile on his face that promised nothing good.
"My little sister has been through a lot this evening. So please, don't try and start a fight inside her allies house."
No one said anything.
The pressure lifted from him along with a gasp of breath, Issei slumped into the seat and moved a hand over his heart. He'd almost felt as though his body had just stopped working for a few moments.
"...Yes, I would prefer to avoid dragging others into this." Bedivere relented, taking a step back and lowering his head slightly. "I apologise if I gave you the impression that I would be willing to resume my battle here. I have…no quarrel with you."
That earned a blink of surprise from Sirzechs. "I'm surprised, I would have assumed that you would hold a grudge over what happened at Camlann."
"Over those who were not there?" Bedivere remarked, raising his head up and offering a faint smile. "There were just as many humans present on the side of Mordred as there were Devils who fought under his banner. I have had many years to come to terms with what happened on that field."
There was a pause, then the knight spoke in a quieter tone of voice.
"But don't misunderstand. I haven't forgiven those who were responsible and if the opportunity ever arose…"
The silence was deafening, as was the implication.
Sirzechs, meanwhile, just smiled and nodded his head up and down. "I see. In truth, I had expected much worse when I asked the question. Though, I am rather relieved to hear your answer and I understand it well…As I'm sure you will understand if I make sure the opportunity never arises for you."
"Naturally. In truth, I would be rather troubled if you offered up so many heads to try and appease me. I hope I do not come across as that manner of figure."
"Not at all."
Issei had no idea what was even happening anymore.
"Might I ask if you plan to remain for some time?"
Bedivere silently cast his eyes onto the three exorcists. "I must continue my journey and shall be on my way. Provided nothing else occurs, I shall depart this very evening."
Silence from the exorcists, then a single nod of the head from Agent Bow. "As shall we. Again, I demand a clear response to my earlier demand for you to return the Excaliburs. If you do so willingly, then I might not be required to end your life."
"I am afraid I will have to decline such an offer."
"...Pity." A sigh from the woman. "You seemed the dutiful sort, I hate to end your life."
"I'm honoured by your compliment." Bedivere replied quickly, offering a faint smile. "I would hate to have to die."
Did…
Did they just quote princess bride?
Really?
Did they even know what they were doing?
He watched, silently, as Bedivere walked for the door in the immediate aftermath of the comment, striding past Sirzechs and with only a polite nod of the head being a form of greeting, stopping for a brief moment to glance back at the super exorcist.
"I'm sure we'll see one another again shortly."
"I'm certain."
And like that, the man departed without anything else to be said, the sound of the front door opening and closing turning his gaze to the window, whereupon he glimpsed the knight walk right past, their armour fading away into a simple hoodie and tracksuit. Moving further off.
A scuff across the floor, Issei turned his head and blinked as Kiba marched right past him without saying a word. He slowly rose up and moved after them, clearly hearing him, they turned back around and gave him a tiny look that he supposed was reassuring.
"I'm not planning anything, Issei-kun." Waving a hand, they exhaled. "I believe there's been enough of that sort of thing tonight, I just…want to talk with them for a moment, alright?"
"I mean, it isn't up to me." Issei stepped back, falling back into the chair. "But as long as you don't give any trouble to Buchou…"
His eyes wandered to the red headed girl, watching the proceedings with a troubled frown for a few moments, then she closed her eyes and nodded her head up and down rather slowly. "Do what you need to do, Kiba."
"...Thank you, Buchou."
Kiba moved back onwards without another word.
"Can I have a moment of your time?"
Bedivere stopped walking, turning around to the voice and blinking as he found himself staring into the eyes of the young devil from earlier, he knew very little of them, only that they were with the Sacred Gear that allowed for the creation of Demonic Swords.
The blonde teen stared at them with a troubled expression, he had seen it all before, there was something weighing upon their mind but they knew not the words to ask him. Nor did he miss the way they were sneaking glances towards his right arm.
It was simple to deduce the meaning behind those stares, there was a personal dislike towards the Holy Sword.
"Of course."
But there was no reason to deny their request.
He turned himself about fully, facing the young devil with a polite expression. "Though I'm sure you will understand if I say I am in something of a hurry, lingering around here would be a bit of a problem for me…I spent quite a while avoiding the spotlight."
The young devil didn't smile at his remark, but he saw their shoulders lighten a touch, the tension fading away.
"...Does it hurt?"
His expression thinned after the comment.
"I saw the aftermath of your attack…Having the Excaliburs so close to you…does it not hurt you?"
Well, there was no hiding it.
"I will not say it is painless, but I have long since come to terms with any agony I might suffer in pursuit of my oath." With a shake of the head, he slipped his hands into his pockets, regarding the young Devil with a raised brow. "Though I am left with the impression that this is not something you would ask me because you're worried about my health."
A slow shake of the head.
"If…If you really are Bedivere of the Round Table." A beat from the Devil, his expression grew tight. "Then why would you do this now…after all this time? Why not…why did you wait so long to do this? Why collect all these shards now?"
Bedivere stared at them, then lowered his eyes to the ground.
"...Sorry."
The Devil recoiled as though struck, opening his mouth to say something, he cut them short before they had the chance to.
"I do not know what harm befell you to lead to such a grudge, but I can only offer my sincerest apologies for my failure to do anything about it. I could provide excuses about how the shards of the Excalibur were whisked away before I could claim them but…you would be right. I've had many centuries to make the effort to find them."
Turning his head, he thinned his lips.
"The truth is…I am a coward."
They hadn't expected that answer, his expression warped in a mixture of surprise and confusion.
"Worse than that, I am an utter sham of a knight. My mind was plagued with doubts for so very long…worrying that if I made the effort, I might fail and then…It was my fear of failure that held me back."
His sin.
Years passed by before he even realised what it was, he was afraid of what would happen if he failed to collect all the fragments. What would happen if he died before he could achieve his goal and then nothing would happen?
That was what stayed his hand for too long.
But more than the chance of failure…
Arthur would never truly perish if the sword wasn't returned, so long as the final wish of the King remained unfulfilled.
It had been a brief hesitation in the grand scheme of things, only a few hours at most.
But it changed everything.
By the time he had realised what the problem was…
"If there is something you should hate, if there is some reason that Excalibur has caused you heartache…then I would ask you to direct your blame to me. After all, if I had truly been a loyal knight, if I had truly taken the words of my King to heart…then I would have settled this long ago and neither of us would be here now."
Nothing from the blonde devil, his gaze lingered on him for several seconds, then his eyes shut tight and they whipped his head to the side. Clenching his hands into fists and letting out a low growl.
"Do you know what they did…what they did just so they could have a chance of holding a shard of that sword…?"
"...I'm afraid I do not."
"Heh. How very lucky-"
"Quite the contrary." He cut them short, allowing strength to seep into his words. "I consider it a failure. Further proof of what a loathsome character I really am. Excalibur is a weapon, neither good nor evil, it is the actions of men that bring about those crimes."
"...There was a time where I would have thrown everything I had at you just to shatter that arm of yours."
"...And whatever crime had been done to you, I would still use every ounce of my strength to fulfil my oath. My sympathy for your plights, whatever they might be, would not overrule my final command of King Arthur."
A slow nod of the head.
"I figured that would be your answer. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do now anymore." The Devil replied with a shrug, glancing at him and lowering his arms to his side, as though they merely lost every ounce of tension in his body. "...It's finally in front of me, and I cannot even muster the urge to swing a single blade."
Bedivere thinned his lips. "I cannot answer what you are to do now. That is not my place and I do not believe I am even qualified to give advice on anything regarding what one is supposed to do with their life."
"...I just don't understand why everyone is so ready to kill over that damn sword." The Devil spat back, a touch of disgust. "It was a pretty light, yeah, but killing over it? Murdering just to swing around a hunk of metal…what was the point?"
"It was never about Excalibur." Bedivere shook his head from side to side. "Not for me, it is about my oath to my King. Their final command and my duty to obey it, as their final knight at the very end. This is making amends for my mistake after so very long…returning the Holy Sword and finally letting go of their memory."
With a final hum, he turned around and resumed walking. "You seem like a young man, hatred is easy to hold onto when you're young but once you get older…it just seems so strange to spend so much time obsessing over a single thing."
"Isn't that a bit hypocritical coming from you?"
His lip quirked up. "Perhaps a little bit, yes. But it is the final action I need to take to finally move on. The same might be said for you, whether you hate Excalibur or not, I believe that what you need is closure. That is what I seek and I believe it would do you some good as well…but if the only closure you can find is the destruction of the Holy Sword, then I suppose…"
Turning his head, he spared one final glance at the Devil. "I suppose we shall meet again. In which case, I shall be waiting for you."
"...Kiba Yuuto."
"I hope that when we next meet, you have found your answer, Kiba."
"...Why go through all of it for a sword?"
"It was never about the sword." He replied with a shake of the head, turning back around and resuming his walk. "It was always about the person who wielded it. The shining star who led us through those dark days, if only a little…I wish to lighten their burden, even if they are nought but a memory in my head now. They deserve to rest knowing that their final wish was fulfilled…at least that is what I believe."
Whether that is how it played out would be an entirely different thing.
If there was one thing that could have described this entire evening to Rias, it was…
Well, she would refer to it as a dumpster fire.
Not even the words of her brother could soothe the concern she felt at the moment, everything had happened much too quickly and it had been more like a repeated slap in the face, directly in the wake of their victory of the Rating Game as well.
"-and I shall have every measurable resource tracking down this…Fabro Rowan, or whomever they might be, until they are discovered. It is clear to me that such an individual being allowed to run free without surveillance is beyond careless."
A beat, then she watched her brother's expression twitch for the briefest of moments.
"Though, if they have managed to elude us for so long, then I cannot claim that we shall have any further luck. I am aware of how skilled mages can be when they wish to remain hidden…But I doubt they shall be making another attempt on the Red Dragon Emperor any time soon."
That was hardly a comfort to her.
Rias turned her eyes onto her Pawn, Issei slumped in the chair and visibly fought to keep his eyes open. She was amazed at the willpower he had to even remain awake for this long, he'd been in a worse state than Asia and she had long since passed out from exhaustion.
But it wasn't just Issei that weighed on her mind.
It was her peerage as a whole.
If there was one thing that Devils prided themselves on, it was strength…and they had been so utterly outclassed in that regard that she wasn't sure what she was supposed to think. Bad enough that a Cadre had snuck into her territory, but the fact it had been followed by whatever this monster had been?
…This was her fault, wasn't it?
She hadn't pushed everything far enough, she hadn't done everything she was supposed to have done.
Clearly there had been some cracks, something that had been wide enough for all of this to slip on through.
They'd given it their all, each and every one of them, she had seen her Peerage give more than their all.
And it wasn't enough.
It really…wasn't enough.
She knew.
If it had just been her and Sona against that thing, if it had been them and all they had come together with…
They would have lost.
They would have died.
There was no denying that simple reality.
She just wasn't strong enough.
"-e'll make our own way back. The mission here has been a failure and I would prefer not to compound it by accepting aid from the Lucifer."
"I understand."
Rias jerked back into the conversation, glancing up at the dialogue that was happening right in front of her between the Burial Agent and her brother, there was little else to be said in the matter beyond sending everyone home.
She really wasn't sure what she was supposed to think of everything that transpired, nor what she was supposed to do from here on out. It had all seemed so very simple before today, before everything that happened. Sure they would get stronger as they developed, it was just a natural thing, but with all of this?
…Training.
They needed training, there was no denying that.
No, she could debate that for another time.
Right now, she was just glad that they all survived.
That was the most important thing, nobody died.
…And Romani could apparently shoot down dragons from the sky.
He was staring at his ceiling.
And his head hurt, it felt like he'd fallen down the stairs or something along those lines.
With a groan, he brought his hands up and moved them towards his head, cupping his face between them as he tried and failed to recall that last thing that had ended up happening, a vague recollection of being in an old warehouse and-
Memories flooded back into him like an avalanche.
"Gah-!"
Bolting upright, his whipped his head around and frowned-
Something grabbed him and yanked him forwards, only a moment later was his senses flooded with the vibrant scent of a very familiar shampoo, if a little musty. The aroma mostly lost and replaced with a smell of bricks and construction work, an odd scent to be sure but it grounded him rather quickly.
"Leo-? What-"
"Shhhh…" A whisper in his ear, a hand started to paw at the back of his head and stroked his nape, his tension bled away from him as his mind worked to fill out all the details. If he was here and Leona was here, then that meant everything worked out alright.
He'd probably been knocked out.
It wasn't desirable, but it was better than dying.
"How is ev-"
"Everyone is alright, Roman." Leona answered the question before he could even finish, she slowly pulled away from him, holding him by the shoulders and allowing him a look at her. It immediately had his heart drop down into his gut, she looked like an absolute mess, as though she'd gone scuba diving in a skip.
"You're…" His words caught in his throat, eyes roaming up and down.
Leona paused, then glanced down at herself and let out a wry chuckle. "Only just awake and your first thought is about me, huh? I'm fine though…just a little roughed up but nothing major. Same for everyone else, they all pulled through."
His eyes closed, his head slumped forwards, the words passed through his lips with all the relief he could manage. "Thank goodness…really….thank goodness."
"...What's the last thing you remember?"
The last thing?
He was…
It was a little sore.
But he could see it, clear as day in his mind, it surged back to the forefront of his head. "Penny-"
"She's fine, a bit worse for ware but fine."
"...She got eaten by a dragon-"
"Bitten by a dragon, a subtle difference." She assured him in a slightly strained tone of voice, he brought his head up to meet her gaze. It was only half a second before she glanced away from him. "She was in a bad way, fortunately the reinforcements were kind enough to give out a small supply of Phoenix tears, they were a bit generous but helping to protect the sister of the Satans will net you some reward."
He didn't really care about that, just that she was okay.
It seemed impossible after…
He dismissed the image from his mind.
At least, he tried to.
"But is the dragon the last thing you remember?"
He could have sworn there was something off about her voice, like she was trying to get an answer out of him quickly, but he put that down to nerves.
"There…" His words trailed off.
Was the dragon the last thing he remembered?
No…no, there was something else.
Something just before that happened, right before he passed out.
There was…
"...There was a circle, like one made of light or something and then…" A shrug of the shoulders. "Did something like that happen?"
Leona was silent.
More than that, there was something in her eyes as she stared at him, rolling her lips inwards as she cleared her throat. "There…was something a little more, yes."
Well, at least he wasn't crazy.
"Romani…you…" She paused, seemingly struggling to find the right words.
It was odd seeing her like this.
"...You…" A sigh escaped her, she brought her hands back and rubbed them across her face, briefly he was able to make out her low mutter. "I'm just going to come right out and say it."
Dropping the hands, she looked him dead in the eye.
"Romani. You shot down a dragon with a magic beam."
…
…
"...Huh?"
What was she even talking about?
"Is…is that some sort of joke?" He felt a touch of laughter bubble up in the back of his throat as he stared at her straight face, she was getting better at those sorts of jokes if that was the case, but it did feel a little on the nose for him.
He wasn't sure if she was aware of how he felt during that whole fiasco, remembering how useless he was, but it was so absurd that he couldn't help but chuckle a little at the sudden nature of the comment. It really did just come out of left field.
"Geez, Leo…at least wait a little bit before you make those jokes, I just got up…"
With a grumble, he brought his hand up and scratched his cheek, smiling a little at her.
She wasn't smiling back.
She wasn't making a single move.
She was just giving him a single unbroken stare.
…No.
"That…that was a joke…right?"
…She was trying to get him to react, right?
"Hey…Leo…that's a joke…yeah?"
…He couldn't…there was no way that he could…this was really some sort of practical joke, wasn't it?
"Why aren't you saying…?"
Her expression shifted, her eyes crinkled and she turned her gaze away from him. It wasn't to start laughing though, it was because he could see she couldn't bear to look him in the eyes anymore, which meant that she was telling the truth.
But there was no way something like that happened, she had to have been mistaken about it.
He wouldn't say she was lying, but maybe she had just seen things and come to the wrong conclusion.
Yes, that had to be it.
Because the notion that he could have done something this whole time, the idea that he had the ability to actually do something, that he wasn't limited to being nothing more than a spectator was just unbelievably cruel.
…He was tired.
"I'm going to make some coffee."
His announcement earned him a sudden look from Leona, but by that point he was already swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and standing up on them, wavering for only a moment before he started to move forwards.
"Wait, Romani! Come back and lie down, you're still-"
"I just need a coffee." He announced back, repeating the same words back to her as he swung the door open and marched down the corridor.
Only barely aware of the fact that the house was actually repaired, but he figured that he must have been asleep for some time if everything was fixed up. Leona probably did that while he was unconscious, she was really something. Hopefully she fixed the kettle and bought some more coffee beans.
He figured the fridge had been smashed up as well.
Thudding footsteps from behind him. "Romani! Just wait a moment-"
"I'll remember to put a couple of sweeteners in your coffee, you don't need to remind me. I only forgot that one time."
He was moving down the stairs in a hurry, the sooner he got to making the coffee, the sooner everything would start making sense for him.
"Excuse me."
"Ah, of course."
He strode past the tall man in the rather eccentric outfit, mildly noting his youthful features and bright red hair. It looked pretty similar to Rias's, now that he thought about-
He stopped walking.
His eyes gradually turned towards his sofa and stared down, meeting the mildly horrified gaze of Sona. Though that wasn't really what he was focused about, namely the fact that she was currently lying down on his sofa with her head on someone's lap.
Moving his gaze from the student council president, they rested on the face of the individual in question.
Romani's train of thought ground to a halt, the thoughts of coffee swiftly banished from his mind as he stared at the person.
They stared right back, then a smile blossomed on their face as they assaulted him with a pure smile that would have stopped the heart of any man who had been standing where he was standing right now. In any other situation, Romani would have probably collapsed on the spot in that single moment.
Bright pink top, frilly skirt with a flower petal like additions hanging down from her waist, he stared into the bright blue eyes of the dark haired girl, twin tails hanging over her shoulders and right down to the sofa cushions.
"Romani, you've just woken up-"
He raised the flat of his hand in the direction of Leona, cutting off whatever she was going to say, instead his eyes were fixed on the smiling youthful girl.
He blinked.
She was still there.
He blinked again.
Still there.
His right hand came up and rubbed away at his eyes rather furiously, pulling them away and revealing that, sure enough, she was still actually there. His left hand lowered back to his side as he struggled to find the actual words that he wanted to say, a few seconds of opening and closing his mouth.
"Roman-sensei? Are you alrigh-"
He barely even paid attention to the words of Issei from his side, he didn't even look at the student to acknowledge his existence.
There was something much more important right now.
"...Leo."
He didn't turn his head, didn't dare look away in case it really did turn out to be an illusion, though the chances of that happening were currently growing slimmer and slimmer. Not that he actually cared about all that, this was something that was too good to be true, there was no earthly way that…
He was dreaming.
That was the only explanation.
"...Am I dreaming?"
A light sigh, then followed by "Try pinching yourself, Roman."
He did just that.
It hurt.
The girl in the pink dress looked at him in confusion, inclining her head to the side and then furrowing her brows at him. There was a blatant look of concern that seeped into her gaze as she leaned down towards Sona and whispered to her. Just loud enough that he could actually hear her.
"Is he normally like this, So-tan?"
"He's probably trying to come to terms with what you're doing, Onee-sama." Sona replied through gritted teeth, he watched her make an effort to rise up only for the girl to be pushed back down into the lap pillow, managing only a pitiful whine of embarrassment as she covered her face with her hands. "Please…this is embarrassing…"
Romani didn't really mind about all that.
"Hey…"
The twin tailed girl blinked at the declaration, then brought her head up to meet his eyes. "Yes?"
"Could it be…"
There was no way.
"Are you possibly…"
But there wasn't anything else he could see it being, the resemblance was uncanny.
"...Miracle girl Levi-tan?"
Silence.
The hands of Sona whipped off her face so swiftly it very nearly flung her glasses across the room, to say nothing of the sudden expression of horror which crept onto her as she stared at him, the pure mortal terror was rather striking and then was soon matched by the girl whipping her head up to stare at the person giving her the lap pillow.
The twin tailed girl said nothing.
Then she spoke in a tone of voice bereft of emotion. "...Are you possibly…a fan?"
"...Yeah." He croaked back, trying to explain how much of a fan he was. "...I had the limited edition first series figurine of Levi-tan."
"...Where only three hundred were built?"
"...Yeah."
"And why were they recalled?"
"Because they got the eye colour wrong."
"I see."
Taking in a deep breath, the girl closed her eyes and nodded her head up and down, slowly but surely she brought the head of Sona off her lap and then rested it on the sofa, standing up and then striding towards him.
She wasn't tall, she came up a little past his shoulder but not a lot.
Her eyes bore into his own.
Then the dull look on her face exploded with emotions, she pumped a fist down and let out a rather excited cheer. "I'm so pleased to hear that! I'm glad that my show has captured the heart of a person so close to So-tan! Say, you work at the school where she is, right? Can you tell me what she's like? Hey? Hey?"
A brief pause, then she turned around and exclaimed at Sona.
"You didn't tell me that you went to school with a fan of mine, So-tan! But I approve wholeheartedly! There is no way that anyone who is such a devoted fan of Miracle Levi-tan could possibly be a bad person!"
She turned back on him, stars shining in her eyes. "Say! Would you like an autograph?"
Yes.
This confirmed it.
He was dead and this was the afterlife.
…But why let that ruin the moment?
"Would I!?" He felt his smile bubble as his face lit up. "Absolutely! Please, if it isn't too much trouble-"
"No way! After hearing how you protected my So-tan with a super-awesome-flashy attack! Then giving you an autograph is the least I can do!"
…Maybe the heaven coffee could wait.
Wait…
"S-sorry…did you say…super-awesome-flashy attack?"
He was pretty sure he must have heard wrong.
Levi-tan turned on him with a raised brow. "Eh? Do you not remember? Ah, right, they said you got really tired after all that happened. But I heard all about it from So-tan and her friends! They said it was this really big laser beam that shot a big mean dragon right out of the sky! I was amazed when I heard that! Especially because everyone was saying that was the first time they ever saw you do anything like that!"
A beat, then her eyes narrowed and they leaned forwards.
"...Did you know you could do something like that?"
He just stared down at her in mute horror.
"...I…I really shot…"
Gradually lifting his head up, he turned his head about the room.
They were all staring at him.
They were all looking at him with fading amusement.
"I…I shot…a…a dragon…out of the sky…?"
None of them said anything.
He pinched himself again.
It really hurt.
He kept pinching, digging his nails in deeper and twisting as hard as he could. Desperately trying to find a way to wake up because there was no way that any of this made sense. There was no way that he could possible shoot a dragon out of the-
"Stop that!"
He flinched at the voice, his hands were pulled apart and he was jerked down to stare at the speaker. Leona stared into his eyes for a moment, then brought her gaze down and to the back of his left hand, he followed her line of sight and grimaced at the ugly red cut he'd worked into his skin.
"Uhh…wait…did I say something wrong?"
He spared a glance to Levi-tan, who was still here and evidently not a figment of his imagination.
"...I shot down a dragon?"
"...Yes."
"...Oh."
Oh, indeed.
He shot down a dragon.
He didn't even remember doing that.
"...How?"
"...In layman's terms, you focused all the mana of the leylines beneath you into a single point-" Leona cut herself off, then closed her eyes and thinned her lips. Nodding her head in the direction of Levi-tan a second later and speaking once more. "...You fired a big laser at the dragon and shot one of its wings off."
[Yeah. If you'd aimed a little more to the left, you'd have taken its head off instead.]
A slow blink, he turned his head around to find where that speaker was and looking in the direction of Issei.
The brunette boy gave a weak wave, then pointed down to his left hand.
"The dragon in my arm talks now."
Romani just stared.
"...Okay."
He…was really tired all of a sudden.
"Hey…Leo…I'm just gonna…take a nap…quick-"
He was out cold before he could even finish his sentence.
She caught him easily enough in her arms, his body slumped against hers and with her hands wrapping around him almost as though she was going for a hug. Keeping him upright was rather difficult, not because he was heavy but because she was probably just as tired as he was right now.
Adjusting him in her grasp, she flipped him over and scooped him up into a bridal carry, the man flopped in her hands like a ragdoll, eyes rolled shut and snoring quietly.
A sigh escaped her, turning her head onto the assembled crowd.
"Sorry, it's been a long evening and it was a lot to dump on him at once."
"Naturally." Sirzechs was the first to reply, "I believe that the same applies for all of us. So swiftly after such an encounter, I believe that it would be best if we take our business elsewhere until your husband has had time to compartmentalise everything."
The Devil was reasonable.
Who could have guessed?
"We will depart."
Her eyes turned to the Burial Agent and the two exorcists, one of whom looked much more chipper than the other.
The one with blue hair with a green stripe was just staring blankly ahead of her, as though there was something the matter with her. The only thing that Leona could come to terms with as an explanation was something that Fabro had said during the battle.
But the words they had said just didn't make sense to her.
If God was dead, then who on earth was running the system? How did Sacred Gears continue to propagate into the next generation?
But…
No, that line of thinking right now wasn't what she needed to worry about at the moment. What took priority, most of all, was Romani himself and making sure that he was able to get through whatever it was that he was facing.
She figured that there would be some…struggling days ahead for the both of them.
"I believe it would be best that all of us find somewhere else to move to so that we might leave you to your evening, in much the same way that I believe this harrowing venture of yours has earned you all some good rest."
Said Sirzechs, the Devil folding his arms and smiling indulgently.
"Though I would tell you all to stand proud, you have survived an ordeal that many others at your level would have been claimed by. If nothing else, you have proven to me that you are all strong and I eagerly await where that potential will carry you…but there can be time for such things later."
Clearing his throat, he turned down and gazed at his fellow Satan. "Serafall, I believe it would be best if we escort everyone home and make efforts to secure the rest of Kuoh, just on the off chance that there may be some lingering presence of the…creature, still lingering."
Leona hummed with his words and was in no rush to argue against them, the notion that two of the four Satans would be personally guarding Kuoh was - oddly enough - rather comforting. Certainly a far cry from how she would have felt if this news had been delivered to her months ago.
Her eyes turned to the other individual in the room. "What are you going to be doing then?"
Penemue thinned her lips and folded her arms. "I'll…stick around just to make sure that everything gets settled in. Provided that no one has any problems with all of that…"
"So long as your visit remains brief." Rias answered swiftly, but lacking in any real heat.
"If she holds no problems, then I see no reason to overrule her assessment. But be sure to keep an open mind about where you are…I assume you'd wish to avoid any further incidents between the Grigori and the Devils at the moment, yes?"
"Getting into a fight is the very last thing on my mind right now, trust me."
Penemue remarked with a wry smile, stroking her side as though recalling a phantom pain.
Leona couldn't blame her.
"Well…if you'll excuse me, I have someone to put to bed." She turned about face and moved back up the stairs, calling down to them as she did so. "Please remember to turn the lights out before you leave, thanks."
"I'll be certain we conduct ourselves as gracious guests to our most generous host."
…And as if to end the evening with a bang, here she was trading jokes with Lucifer.
…What a tiring day.