Chapter 5
A Grigori Base - somewhere in Japan
They had been away from Kuoh for nearly a week now. They had left a short time after Issei died and that Rias peerage had been dissolved. After the suprise attack and the massacre.
After they had found out the truth.
Akeno was here to meet with a few people, including a couple of her relatives. Koneko had also decided to accompany her.
There were two reasons they were here. The first being that after the end of their peerage, Akeno saw no longer a reason for staying in Kuoh. Or better said she did not want to stay. After what had happened, she just wanted to stay away from the place, at least for some time.
Kiba and Xenovia had gone to the Underworld and were, at least for now, with Rias parents, as official Servants of the Gremory Family.
Rias and Issei both dead, the first one replaced by an imposter. Of course they had no great desire to stay.
And the feeling seemed to be mutual. That Fallen Angel controlling Rias body had looked all too happy about the dissolve of the Peerage and make it perfectly clear that she was happy to see her and Koneko leave.
`Who are you kidding?´ Akeno thought to herself. `Of course she is happy about that. She hates you and the others. You had helped Rias to slaughter her old team after all. And then Koneko and Kiba stood by and watched Rias kill her. You would be happy too to see the peerage disolved if you were in her place.
... or at least tried to kill her,´ Akeno corrected herself.
The thought of all what happened was still too bizarre in her head. First the Fallen Angel Raynare somehow survived her own death after binding her spirit and soul to Issei. Then she took over Rias body after the Spirit Wraith´s attack.
And now Issei was dead as well, along with thousands of others.
All because of Rivezim Lucifer and his group and that betrayer Lamia. It there was anyone Akeno hated even more than this wretched Wraith creature, it was them.
xxx
The second reason for leaving Kuoh was the personal mission Akeno had taken on herself, the hunt for the creature called the Spirit Wraith - Rias killer.
For that she had even asked for the help of her father.
It was something she would not even have considered doing a few months ago. But many things had changed in these months. Not only had her relationship with Baraquiel had drastically improved... you could also say her outlook and priorities had drastically changed as well.
During the last weeks agents from all three Biblical Factions had been looking for traces about this creature. A few had been found.
One quite promising one by agents of the Grigori a few days ago. That was the reason they were here now. It was not just a family visit for certain.
"It is good that you are here daughter," her father Baraquiel greeted her.
"Father," she addressed him. "I am happy to see you as well."
Just a few months earlier, this words would have been a clear lie. But now...? Looking back, even she herself found her own behavior back then ridiculous.
If her Father had now let her down when her mother died or not, there had never been a point in her hating all the other Fallen Angels.
And then her self-hatred - over the blood in her veines and the black-feathered wings on her back?
She had truly been a pathetic little girl.
"I am glad to see you too Akeno," the young man standing beside Baraquiel said.
It was Slash-Dog - Elite Warrior of the Grigori - Longinus User and also a member of the Himejima Clan. Her cousin from her mother´s side.
But it wasn´t as if she knew him well. They had only met a few times.
"What can you tell me about this case you have mentioned?" she asked them.
"We heard about it a half week ago," Slash Dog stated. "It looked at first like a typical case of demonic possession. So we informed both Heaven and the Church and the Devils. Well - it turned out the Devils something about one of their people being involved," he explained.
"The Church had agreed to look at it. But when I talked to Baraquiel about it, he thought it could maybe be the creature you are looking for."
"I see," Akeno said.
"Are you sure?" Koneko asked.
"How could we?" Slash Dog answered. "A Spirit Wraith - a creature like that is barely more than a myth. There had been no sighting in nearly 500 years. And even then they were never completely sure what they were dealing with exactly. You could have just as easily asked us to fing the Yeti."
"The Yeti had not destroyed Rias mind and then ripped out her soul," Akeno replied angrily.
"Do you want to see what we have?" Slash-Dog asked her.
"Of course we want to," Koneko said in her place.
"Okay. The case we mentioned is in the USA," Baraquiel stated.
"The case... it is a young girl," he said in a serious tone.
xxxxxxx
Kuoh
On the surface, only a few things had changed since the last battle and it´s results. Rias was gone. But that was nothing new.
For the time being Sona Sitri was alone the Devil in charge of Kuoh. Officially at least.
In truth there were now more Devils in the town than ever before. And not only them. Since the last attack and the information of threats even beyond that, Kuoh had been turned intoan assembling place of forces from all three Factions.
Raynare was still here. Even if, as it looked, not for a much longer time. She would return to the Grigori soon.
She had also, with help from Azazel, continued on the method to reconstruct her body. As soon as she would succeed in that, she would also officially retake her position under the Fallen.
Inofficially of course she long had. In fact she had been promoted by a far leap and was now serving as a personal advisor for Azazel. Her experience with the being calling himself Faust and her knowledge about this new threat out there made her invaluable.
But there were a few things she was not telling even him... at least not yet.
Not really about the greater picture of course. Private ones however were a different thing.
Right now, she felt a wave of regret about how she acted towards Akeno, Koneko and the others.
Or rather about what she didn´t tell them.
But actually, strictly seen, this feeling did not belong to her. Not really.
From time to time, over the last days, she felt as if a voice was calling out from deep inside her mind. And she also knew all too well that this voice was real.
xxx
Right now however she was lying on the coach in the ORC club-room, where she had fallen asleep a short time earlier.
And in the dream she currently had, she was talking with the owner of that voice. Like he had done it with her not long ago.
"You just had to do that, didn´t you?" the voice asked her.
"You can´t really blame a girl for trying to remove her competition, can you?"
"If it means letting the competition - like in this case - believe that the man it is about is dead, then yes - I think I can," Issei - whose form had just manifested itself out of thin air in front of her - said.
"That would not even be really a lie in your case, wouldn´t it - Issei-kun?" she replied. "Technically you are dead."
"Just as technically as you had been for months," he reminded her. "And yet you are here. So if you can be brought back, maybe I can too," he stated.
"Besides - you seem to be quite hypocritical when it comes to who is your competition and who not," he pointed out. "You didn´t have a problem to tell Irina about me or even Asia."
"Yes. But Irina is now a fellow Fallen Angel. So why would I not share this secret and you with her? And Asia? I admit that I now feel really bad about what I did to her back then. So I could not bring myself to keep this from her."
`And about how you would react to it,´ she added silently.
But since they both basically shared the same mind, she could have just as easily said it directly. She would not risk Issei´s wrath again by keeping his existence a secret from Asia.
The truth was: Issei Hyoudou died. But to their own surprise, the same spiritual connection that Raynare had once created for her spirit to survive bonded to his, still existed and now allowed Issei´s to persist bonded to her in turn.
But that was something only a few people knew about.
Raynare had not even told Azazel about it. Mostly because she feared he would insist on telling the Devils and especially Rias former peerage members.
And that was something she was just not ready to do. At least not yet.
"But you didn´t tell any of the Devils under the girls and especially not the members of Rias Peerage," Issei pointed out.
"Well, except for Asia. But you only told her out of guilt for what you did to her back then and you made her promise not to tell the others by threatening to keep her away from me. Just like you did with Irina."
"Exactly," Raynare answered. "I of course didn´t meant it, I just wanted to keep them from telling this blasted Devils."
"But you even consider telling Ravel, who is a Devil as well," he responded.
To that Raynare said nothing in return.
"Why don´t you admit it, this is not about `keeping things from the Devils´. It is not even about getting rid of members of my harem you don´t trust or like. This is just your personal revenge on Rias former Servants for helping her killing your old teammates and nearly you," he stated.
"You intentionally want to hurt them by letting them think I am gone."
She staid silent for another short moment.
"Do you know something? You are right. And I repeat my question, would they show any compassion for me if our places were reversed?"
They both had already answered that question to themselves.
"So why should I?"
Neither of them said anything.
"I don´t think Azazel would be happy that you keep things like this from him," Issei said.
"No - I guess he would not," she admitted. "But this has nothing to do with him."
"Doesn´t it?" he responded. "Don´t you think Azazel would find the knowledge that I am still here somewhat important?" he asked sarcastically. "Or that he wouldn´t already try to find a way to bring me back?"
"Okay - I will tell them about you," she finally said. "First Azazel and then the other girls. But only after they spend some time thinking you were truly dead... after they had suffered."
"I see you are friendly and kindhearted as always," Issei´s spirit said sarcastically.
"Yes - aren´t I?" she replied with equal sarcasm. "Just like you know me."
xxxxxxx
Oregon, USA - the next morning
Akeno and Koneko had by now teleported to the American Continent, accompanied by Slash-Dog. A few more smaller jumps and they had finally arrived at their destination.
It was at the border of a small town in a country area somewhere at the West Coast.
They arrived right in front of a large house that was part of a farm.
They knew who they were about to meet here.
Waiting at the entrance were three figures who were obviously Exorcists from the Church.
It were two women and a man. They recognized the older woman, who was obviously the leader of the group, instantly. It was Griselda Quarta. Xenovia´s former guardian and the strongest female Exorcist of the Church.
Why was someone like her here?
The obvious answer was quite simply. Because the Church believed as well that they actually might have found the Spirit Wraith.
And a creature like that certainly justified sending someone like Griselda.
In a strange way Akeno actually found her presence reassuring. The very fact that the Church took this case here serious enough to send her might mean that they had not come to this place in vain and the monster she was looking for was actually here."
"It is you," Griselda greeted them.
"Yes - it is us," Akeno replied flatly, not really in the mood for greetings.
In fact, they in fact barely knew the female Top Exorcist anyway. The only thing that actually connected them was Xenovia. And with her gone and Rias peerage being broken up, they were not sure how valid even this still was.
That way or the other, Akeno doubted that the Exorcist felt any closer to them than she did to her. Namely remote acquaintances at best, enemies under a truce at worst.
She was here for one reason. And that was the creature they were hunting for.
"It is nice to see you again Himejima-san, Toujou-san," Griselda said to them.
Akeno was pretty sure she said these words only out of politeness.
They were being led inside the house by the three Exorcists.
Inside they were met with a scene that could have nearly come out of a stereotypical horror movie.
There was the silent worried looking father looking at them with a stoney and pale face, the crying mother who seemed only one step away from being hysterical and the quiet intimidated looking sibling lurking in a corner of the house.
And in her room, shackled and bound to her own bed, was the supposedly possessed child herself - a girl looking around ten to twelve years old.
The girl didn´t move or say anything. She was just starring apathically into the air.
Yes - it could have been a scene straight out of The Exorcist or a similar movie.
The girl herself looked as if she were already half-dead.
"Can you tell us how the situation is?" Akeno asked the three Exorcists.
Griselda turned her head to look at the girl´s parents.
"Tell her what you have told me," she said to them.
"I-... it started about two weeks ago. At least this was when she begann to act differently," the girl´s father told them.
"She started to have nightmares," the mother said. "But that was only the beginning. She became afraid of us."
"Not just of us - of everyone," the father added.
"She thought everyone was going to hurt her. We tried to talk to her. But it was impossible, she only got more scared. She became completely hysterical. She said we hated her and wanted her gone. That we wanted to kill her. Another time she claimed that strange people or even monsters were after her.
It became more and more horrible."
Akeno thought about what the mother was saying. Compared it to Rias when she was under the Spirit Wraith´s influence.
The creature entered it´s victim´s nightmares and showed them illusions of their worst fears. Fears that the Wraith was feeding more and more even when the victim was awake.
Of course Rias had been older, had experience with the Supernatural and was a Supernatural Being herself.
Hell - Rias had seen battle and killed people long before the Wraith ever got it´s claws on her.
This girl on the other hand was completely ignorant to the Supernatural and so far more vulnerable. At least Akeno thought so. She did not truly knew enough about the Wraith to be sure that Rias experience or her powers made her actually less vulnerable to the creature.
Still - the entire description sounded familiar.
"We called a psychiatrist. We thought it was that kind of problem," the father told them. "But then..."
He hesitated for a moment.
"This two are Supernatural Beings," one of the Exorcists stated. "They can clearly take what you will say."
"A few days ago during one of the sessions, we heard loud noise and screaming. We found the psychiatrist lying unconscious next to her. And then - a deep distorted voice was suddenly talking, coming from her. But her mouth was not even moving," the father continued the explanation.
"It told us that our daughter was lost. That she belonged to it and that she would die," the mother stated. "And then - then a few things lying close to her on the ground were rising up into the air, all by themselves and floating around her."
"We have bound her to the bed for the moment," the younger female Exorcist stated. "To keep her from harming herself or others."
Yes - it was definitely some kind of Supernatural what had caused this.
The question was: was it the one they were looking for? Akeno asked herself.
They approached the girl.
"Ah - more visitors," the child said in a distorted voice." They all realized instantly that it was not the girl that was speaking.
The creature was actually talking through his victim. This was something new. But did that mean that they victim was already so weakened that there was no resistance left? Or worse - that the soul was already gone and it was only an reanimated body speaking?
"You are Rias friends aren´t you?" it stated.
"You," Akeno said. "It is you."
"You are the Wraith," Koneko commented.
"Yes. I remember the two of you too of course," the creature said. "I had so much fun with your former Master after all. I remember how often I have shown her scenes of you two turning at her, often along with your lover Issei - telling her how much you hated her and how much happier you would be without her.
Yes - there was for example one of you stabbing her to death and kissing Issei while she was slowly dieing in front of you."
The creature was laughing loudly. It was a bizarre and inhuman sound.
Akeno held herself back from strangling the possessed girl. She forced herself to remember that it was not the owner of the small body talking.
xxxxxxx
Kuoh - At the same time
It was some empty spot somewhat outside of the towns borders. There were no people anywhere in one kilometer´s distance, neither humans or supernaturals.
It was the spot where Raynare had decided to perform her final ritual.
Standing in a few meters distance from her were Lord Azazel, her new `comrade´ the recently turned Fallen Angel Irina and Asia.
The three of them had agreed to oversee and assist in the ritual. They were standing in a half circle around her.
The two girls were also (aside from Kuroka and a bit ironically Ravel Phenex) the ones under Issei´s other lovers she was best going along with.
That simply meant they didn´t constantly had to fight down the urge to kill each other.
It begann. In the center of the ritual was the feather of her real self that she had brought.
She placed in on the ground before them in the middle of a Magic Circle she had conjured.
Raynare admitted the Devil Magic of Rias body actually came right handy for this.
She released her energy and channeled it into the Circle.
The feather started to glow and slowly the shape of a body was starting to form around it.
Irina and Azazel assisted with some of their own energy. From the power alone their help was actually not really neccessary, as powerful as she became after her rebirth.
But given that she was currently inside a Devil´s body, it was probably a good idea to add as much Fallen Angel energy to the process as possible. Unless she wanted her new body end up being some kind of hybrid.
A few moments later the process was over.
Raynare was looking down at the form lying before them.
It was herself. Her old body just like she remembered it. Her own face with the eyes currently closed, her skin, her own hands.
The black wings (currently only one pair, since this body was grown from a feather taken when she was still weak. But that would change soon.)
Her breasts - that were for all of them to see, because the newly cloned body was completely naked.
Lord Azazel was the first who reacted. He looked at her with a light smile, then with a small gesture he used low-level magic to form clothes around it - one somewhat more modest version of the leather outfit she used to wear.
She thought about the look and the smile Azazel just gave her. Good, she thought - maybe now he finally learned to appreciate her attributes as a woman, after seeing them displayed like that right in front of him.
Now would come the next and final step. This was to transfer her spirit from the current body to this new one.
She kneeled down and laid her hand on on her new form´s chest.
For this part she could actually use the assistance of the others. Not so much about just the transfer of her own soul. That was something that she should be do just well by herself.
But to make sure that the bond with Issei´s would stay intact during the process and his soul lost to the Afterlife.
For that she would have Lord Azazel help stabilize the transfer.
She had actually informed him about Issei´s spirit this morning. Like he had predicted, Azazel had not been all too happy about her not telling him this right away.
But after a short discussion (and a few sweet apologies on her part,) he had still agreed to assist her in this ritual.
This was no wonder. After all Lord Azazel needed her cooperation if he actually wanted to bring Issei back to life. And of course for her knowledge about Faust and his people.
So he would not punish her too seriously about a small thing like this. She had told him after all, even if it was a couple of weeks late.
She felt Lord Azazel´s power backing up her own and begann the transfer.
xxx
As Raynare opened her eyes, she instantly felt the difference. Nearly all traces of Devil Energy on her seemed to be gone. There was a small remnant, but that could not have been avoided.
Lying right next to her, she saw Rias - now lifeless - body. Her own body for the last few weeks.
It felt kind of unreal for a short moment.
She looked at herself. Moving her new hands. She saw the black angel-wings surrounding her new (old) form.
She was herself again.
"I will bring her body to her parents," Azazel said to her, as he looked down at what had once been the body of Rias Gremory.
"Try not to do anything to get yourself killed in the couple hours I will be gone," he told her.
"Very funny," she replied.
After he teleported away with the Devil body in his arms, the now completely reborn Raynare turned around to the two other girls.
"When will we bring back Issei?" Irina asked her right away.
That was a good question.
"As soon as his spirit has gathered enough strength for the process," she answered. "And that we will have Great Red or someone else created a new body for him of course."
"And when will that be?" Asia wanted to know.
That was exactly the problem. In opposite to the time Great Red and Ophis had directly interferred to bring Issei back after Samael´s poison - or when Rias had reincarnated him inside his own body - Raynare connection to him had only been able to save Issei´s Spirit... but not Draig´s.
His connection to the Boosted Gear had been severed and it should have already been transfered to someone else. And that in turn had weakened Issei´s soul even more than his physical death would have normally done.
So even if she had told everybody right away, bringing him back right now would have not been an option.
xxxxxx
Oregon - USA
"You know - that seemed to have been her worst fear," the Wraith - speaking from the body of a young girl - continued. "Not any enemy from the outside, but her own Servants and family. That you all would finally realized - not only that she was using you for her own end - but also how pathetic she truly was."
"Shut up," Akeno shouted at the creature. "Whatever else she was - Rias was our friend. She had taken us in, gave us a home."
"You mean the Gremory Family did," the Wraith corrected. "Your `friend´ was just using goods and means that did not even belong to her but her parents."
Both Akeno and Koneko visibly showed the rage rising up inside them.
"Let us be honest. Rias Gremory was never able to achieve anything in her life without relying on her Servants, her brother or her family´s status. The only thing she was ultimately good for in the end was that her soul had made a very satisfying meal for me."
In this moment Akeno snapped.
Before she had even fully realized it, a lightspear had formed in her hand.
Here is finally a new chapter for this story. The long delay was to a great part because I had to make up my mind how to continue from the battle in the last one.