Disclaimer.
I don't own High School DxD, or any of the other copy right stuff that may be included in this story.
I don't make any money off of it and only write this for my own enjoyment.
If criticism of religion bothers you, please don't read this story. Also, why are you reading DxD, a story which makes heroes out of devils, if criticism of religion bothers you?
A few days after the meeting at the Occult Research Club Sona, Tsubaki, Momo, and Reya had gathered around the student council desk in a circle. They were currently staring at a Sitri Clan summoning flier. After Ambrose had forcefully summoned Rias into his home, Sona had forbidden her servants from using, carrying, or traveling with summoning fliers. She even banned all magical teleportation until they could solve this problem. It was an alarming vulnerability, one that could potentially jeopardize not only her peerage but the entire devil race.
Sona trusted Ambrose and she knew he would never teach anyone else how he did it. Never the less, the simple matter that the vulnerability existed meant that she had to figure out how to counter it. Just because Ambrose wouldn't teach anyone else didn't mean that someone else couldn't figure it out.
"Are you sure we can't invite the Dragon-Slayer over to give us one little demonstration?" Reya, Sona's [Bishop], pleaded for the fifth time.
Ever since Ambrose had revealed himself to be the new immortal alchemist, Reya had been constantly asking Sona to introduce him to her. This wasn't too surprising; the entire reason Reya joined Sona's peerage was so that she could extend her lifespan in order to further her own study and understanding of magic. But something told Sona that Reya wanted to do more than question Ambrose.
"More like study him in depth." Sona privately thought, swearing to herself that she would never allow Reya to be alone with her fiance.
"He explained to me how he did it." Sona replied, effectively shutting down Reya's request for now. "As you know, normal magical transportation requires you to have a clear mental image of where you're going. You can't transport to somewhere you've never been."
"If you can't transport to a place you've never been then how do these fliers work?" Momo curiously asked. "What's the difference between magically transporting yourself versus using the fliers?"
While Momo had been born with magic, she didn't have the same in depth study that Reya and Sona had. Tsubaki was in a similar situation; her early magical training focused more on the esoteric eastern magic which mostly involved dealing with spirits. This differed from western magic which was more robust and had a wider variety of uses. However all magic, even devil's magic, held the same core principles; the manifestation of will power in order to alter the world around them. The only difference was the techniques that were used and the methods they used to applied magic.
Reya studied all of these aspects of magic, and because of this Sona felt that Reya would be an excellent magical instructor once her school was built.
"The difference is in the details." Reya explained to Momo, "Transporting yourself is 'first person transportation' and you have to know where you're going. When it's you and someone else it's 'second person transportation' and at least one person has to know where they're going. When creating a magical circle to only transport someone else it's 'third person transportation', and the person who activates the magic has to know where to go. Still, each different type involves someone knowing where the destination is."
"The summoning circle on the flier is away around the limitation of not knowing where you're going." Reya continued to educate her fellow [Bishop]. "It acts as a beacon that's attuned to the magic of the Sitri clan seal. Since we are Sitri clan servants we can instinctively locate this beacon, often with out realizing it."
"The way Ambrose explained the exploit was that it's like a sonar." Sona said while recalling her fiance's words. "Since the flier is attuned to our magic, he can send a magical pulse that travels outward until it finds the energy that it's attuned to. Once it finds that energy, it bounces back towards the flier letting him know the location of all the devils attuned to its energy signature."
"So with one flier he can identify the location of an entire peerage?" Tsubaki asked with wide eyes.
"It gets worse. Ambrose is also able to deduce how strong the devil is by measuring how strong the signal is when it bounces back, that's how he was able to identify Rias from the rest of her peerage. This method basically turns the devil into the beacon instead of the flier. With this information he can activate the flier and forcefully summon a devil, or even transport himself to the devil in question using his own method of teleportation."
"How long did the entire process take?" Reya asked.
"He pretty much activated the seal, tossed it on the floor and immediately summoned Rias." Sona admitted.
"Can you please introduce me to him, Kaichō?" Reya pleaded for the sixth time.
"No, stop asking." Sona said irritably. "He's busy hunting Fallen Angels and we have to figure this out."
"Based on his explanation it should be safe for us to use personal magical transportation." Tsubaki reasoned, "It's only the fliers that poses the security risk."
"Yes, you're right about that." Sona conceded, allowing them to use magical teleportation again.
"You know, it's too bad that we can't keep part of this vulnerability." Momo said after a thought. "It could be useful if we were attacked or separated. We could use the fliers to find each other or even transport us to and from danger."
"Yes, but we'd have find a way so that only we could use that ability, rather than just anyone." Tsubaki reasoned. "As it is, anyone could simply locate and summon us."
"That's..." Sona said, "That's actually a good idea, Momo.... That could work...."
"Kaichō?" Tsubaki asked, "What do you mean?"
An idea began to form in Sona's mind, an idea that she had never thought possible before. "Because of my experience with 'Osmosis'?"
"Momo's idea was good, but you're also right Tsubaki. We would have to figure out a way to modify the fliers so that only we could use the exploit." Sona said aloud.
"We'd have to create a whole new rune set order to do it." Reya frowned at the idea.
"Isn't that like creating a whole new method of magical transportation?" Momo asked.
Sona and Reya somberly nodded and the entire peerage frowned at the extra work.
"No, wait! It already exists." Sona exclaimed grabbing a book on magical transportation that she had brought from her apartment. "Here", she said, showing a page that showed the Sitri clan symbol. "This is the actual clan symbol that appears on the ground whenever we transport. Compare this to the flier. See the difference?"
"It's the same." Tsubaki said after a moment of studying it.
"The clan symbol is the same." Reya observed, "But the devil runes differ. One identifies it as the clan's transportation circle, the other identifies the the flier as the clan's transportation beacon."
"But this is the part I'm referring to." Sona said, pointing to a specific rune set. "This is the identification portion of the transportation circle. It's the reason why we can only transport people affiliated with the Sitri Clan. We can't transport a Gremory, or a human; we can only transport members of the clan."
"Why can we only transport Clan members?" Momo asked, "Why can't we just teleport with anyone?"
"The practice goes back to the Devil Civil War." Sona said, educating her servant, "Before the civil war a Devil could teleport along side someone who wasn't a member of their clan. But the Devil Civil War was costly and turned family against family. There were instances where a family member would bring in an army to kill their Clan Head. Maō Beelzebub, or Ajuka Asutaroto as he was known then, developed this Clan Identification Signature rune set so that only individuals who were members of the same clan could teleport. This prevented rebellious family members from ambushing their clan heads in their house. It also allowed weaker members a chance to escape. Often, an heir to a family would be kidnapped for ransom, blackmail. With this method an heir or heiress could teleport to safety with out bringing an army in behind them. It wasn't fool proof, but it did prevent a lot of the remaining 33 Pillars from destroying themselves."
"Do the old ways of teleporting still exist?" Tsubaki asked, "Is it possible to transport someone who isn't a member of the clan?"
"It is possible, but that knowledge is held by the Clan heads." Sona replied, "It's privileged information. While the identification rune set was created and applied to the teleport circle, it was never added to a flier."
"If we could incorporate the identification portion rune set as a condition for the exploit in the flier then the vulnerability would be closed." Reya realized, "Not only that, but we could still use the vulnerability ourselves and turn it into an asset."
"We could transport ourselves to members who are in danger, or remove members from danger by transporting them away." Tsubaki said excitedly. "We could locate lost members, it might even give us an edge in a rating game!"
Sona gasped in astonishment, a beautiful idea was forming, a wonderful idea, an idea that was so...
"Kaichō?" Tsubaki questioned after a moment.
"Shh!" Sona silenced Tsubaki so she could think, her eyes growing wide in excitement. "We could do more than that... What if we used the identification rune set and add it to high level attacks."
"What do you mean, Kaichō?" Tsubaki asked.
"Okay, let me break this down. The identification portion basically says 'If this person is of the Sitri Clan, then activate the spell'. What we're doing is putting it on the flier that says 'If this person is of the Sitri Clan, then allow the activation of the magical sonar location and transport the individual'. If a person using the flier isn't a member of the Sitri Clan, then the flier would simply work as it normal should. But the important part is the rune set that specifically identifies a Sitri Clan members. What if we could add that to a high level magical attacks but flip it around it so that the spell doesn't affect Sitri Clan members? 'If this person is of the Sitri Clan then do not allow the spells to affect them'."
"Our most powerful attacks would do damage to everything but us." Reya said slowly before widening her eyes in astonishment, "We would eliminate the very possibility of friendly fire."
"We might be injured by explosive debris, but the actual attack won't hurt." Tsubaki followed along.
"This would change the art of magical combat forever." Reya realized with wide eyes and a huge smile. "Oh My, I won't ever have to hold back again!"
"That's brilliant, Kaichō" Momo complimented.
Their revelation was interrupted by a knock on the door and the group scrambled to gather up any and all references of their work.
"Sona?" Rias said, peeking her head through the door of the student council room.
Sona sighed in relief; however, she also noticed that her peerage didn't stop gathering any and all materials. "Good girls." Sona thought, not willing to give Rias any edge.
"What are you doing?" Rias asked as she walked in the door.
The security vulnerability on the fliers had to be addressed and the solution would be provided to the entire devil nation. The ability to forcefully summon a devil could not be allowed to exist; however, Sona vowed to keep all other discoveries to herself. The ability to locate her peerage and transport them to and from danger with a single flier was too valuable to share outside the clan. And the ability to cast high level magic attacks that would do no damage to her own peerage was priceless.
"I could siphon the water out of all living beings around me with out damaging my peerage." Sona thought to herself, "You're in for a rough time when we face off in a rating game, Rias."
"Trying to figure out how to counteract the exploit Ambrose used on the flier." Sona admitted, still annoyed that Rias invited herself in.
"Do you need any help?" Rias offered.
"No, we have it covered. We should have it finished in a few days." Sona said, not wanting to reveal any secrets to her rival.
"I can't believe he did that." Rias said, frowning at the memory of being forcefully summoned.
"If it wasn't for him we wouldn't have known about the vulnerability." Sona replied, "And he taught me how it works so that we could fix it."
"Have you spoken to him lately?" Rias asked.
"The last time I heard from him was two nights ago." Sona answered, "He said he encountered two Fallen Angels at the site where his 'date' ended. There was a fight but they both flew away, he didn't pursue them because the humans could have seen them. I haven't spoken to him since then, why?"
"You wanted me to limit my interactions with him. We agreed that you'd act as a mediator between the two of us, so I thought you should know that I ran into him last night." Rias explained.
That was news to Sona.
Since news of the Fallen Angel became common knowledge Sona's peerage requested even more training. They all knew the dangers that were waiting and wanted to prepare for the worst. Sona obliged them and was quite proud of their dedication and commitment.
"Even Saji stopped complaining, mostly..."
But the extra training meant extra long nights. Sona had received a text from Ambrose last night, but she didn't read it until this morning and hadn't had time to get an update from him yet.
"You saw him out at night?" Sona questioned. "Why were you even out at all? I thought we agreed to keep a low profile."
"I was contacted by the archduke about a stray devil loose in the town." Rias said, "I couldn't ignore it. Ambrose found the stray as well and we defeated it together."
"Tell me exactly what happened." Sona insisted.
Rias nodded and began her account of last night's activities.
Rias Gremory and her peerage appeared at the location the archduke had given them, an isolated abandoned building. Her mission was to destroy a stray devil that has been using this location to lure innocent humans in order to eat them. While fighting strays was nasty business, Rias was grateful for the opportunity to further her peerage's training. It wasn't lost on Rias that her friend and rival, Sona, had begun to seriously train her peerage. While not as strict or demanding as Sona, Rias felt that her peerage could use the exercise, especially when one considered the recent arrival of Fallen Angels and exorcists. While handling strays was not as dangerous as going up against the holy magic of the Fallen Angels, one could never be too careful. She was glad that her peerage seemed alert and ready for anything.
"What are you doing?" A voice spoke up from behind them.
Rias's peerage were instantly on guard, with the exorcists arriving today they had been warned to expect a possible ambush. Their guard did not relax when they saw who spoke, the Dragon-Slayer was standing there behind them. While not angry, he was not pleased to see them.
"I thought I asked you not to go wandering around at night until I took care of the Fallen Angels." Ambrose said with a stern look.
"There's a stray devil in the area." Rias cautiously explained, "It betrayed and killed its master and is currently luring people into that building in order to eat them. As Governor, it's my duty to eliminate it."
Ambrose sighed in disappointment, "So that's what that was."
"Ara, what do you mean?" Akeno asked him.
"I've been setting up a few magical sensors around Kuoh so I can search for the Fallen Angels. These sensors let me know when magic has been performed. I'm still fine tuning it to recognize magical signatures so it doesn't help when you all start popping up around the city." Ambrose explained, "Still, seems like Fallen Angels are laying low tonight. Today's the day the exorcists arrived, so they're probably settling in the abandoned church. I came here because I discovered an unknown magical signature in this building, that's when you appeared."
"Would you like to accompany us while we deal with this stray devil?" Rias asked, to her peerage's astonishment.
The Dragon-Slayer didn't verbally reply, he simply nodded and headed towards the abandoned building.
"Wait." Rias interrupted, "Before we go in you have to promise not to use any holy magic. I don't want my servants to become... distracted."
"Very well." Ambrose replied with a nod, "I won't use any holy or light magic what so ever."
As the group made their way towards the abandoned building, Rias took a moment to regard the most confusing person she had ever met in her entire life, Ambrose Dragon-Slayer. She had first heard about him before she ever met him. It started innocently enough, a classmate had asked her if she had a brother. When you're the little sister of Maō Lucifer and attend high school in the human world, then you tend to be closed lipped about your brother. However, as the day went by more and more people started asking her whether or not she had a brother. It was the strangest thing.
It wasn't until she saw him help the kendo club corral the perverted trio that she realized what the fuss was about. Standing there outside the old school building was a ghost from her past. Against all reason, Rias saw her long lost nephew Millicas now grown into a teen. She had quickly asked her [Queen] Akeno who that student was, not sure if she was seeing a hallucination. Akeno giggled and told her that he was the new transfer student, Ambrose Dragon-Slayer. Akeno said that she had waited all day to see Rias's reaction to Kuoh's newest student and thought it was funny that he looked so much like her brother. Rias was too shocked to even care what Akeno thought, she abandoned her chess match with her [Queen] and quickly rushed to the student council room to get some answers.
Unfortunately the answers she got from her friend and rival Sona were not the ones she was hoping for. Sona had explained how she had originally thought the same as her, but had spoken to the Dragon-Slayer and confirmed that he was not Millicas. He could not be a pure blood devil if he had [Sacred Gear], nor could he if he could use holy magic. It was a bitter pill, and Rias had left the office feeling foolish for daring to hope that her nephew had actually been alive.
When she returned to the Occult Research Club her [Rook], Koneko, informed her that the Fallen Angel they had been keeping an eye on had approached the Dragon-Slayer while disguised as a young girl. Rias began to worry that the meeting between the Fallen Angel that she had been watching and the Dragon-Slayer was not a coincidence. She began to fear the worst; if Sona's words were true and the Dragon-Slayer could wield holy magic then the Fallen Angel could have possibly come to Kuoh in order to attack the devils and the Dragon-Slayer was in league with her, having been sent to personally torment her with the memory of her dead nephew. She instructed Yuuto, her [Knight], to take over watching the Fallen Angel and for Koneko to abandon her surveillance and immediately start watching the Dragon-Slayer.
As the days went by and she reviewed the reports Koneko gave her, Rias began to realize that the Dragon-Slayer was an unwitting pawn being lured into a trap. He even seemed completely unaware that he was under surveillance. Every morning and every evening Koneko would perch herself up in a tree in an undeveloped lot and watch his apartment from across the street. She couldn't see everything, but could tell that he was quietly settling into his new life in Kuoh and made no suspicious movements.
Still, Rias had to keep her distance. The Dragon-Slayer didn't trust devils, he wanted to be left alone, he wanted his privacy. Rias had already broken her promise to Sona by spying on him, but that was for the security of both peerages. Rias felt that she had to protect him, but she would remain faithful to the spirit of her promise to Sona; Rias would keep her distance.
She knew the Dragon-Slayer was in danger but could not act on it till the appropriate time, so Rias hatched a plan. She would slip the Dragon-Slayer a flier so that he could summon her when the Fallen Angel attacked. It would seem innocent enough, as if he just happened to get the flier while waiting for his date. Rias could only hoped that he would have enough time to activate it before the worst happened. She couldn't watch the events unfold, for if she sent someone to spy on their date then the Fallen Angel might become aware and kill him before Rias had a chance to act. Rias knew that there were no guarantees and that she might arrive too late to save his life, but promised herself that if that happened she would make him her servant. Her family would naturally adore him and shower him with love. Deep in her heart, Rias had dared to hope that Sona had been wrong; that it wasn't light magic she sensed from the Dragon-Slayer, that he might actually be her nephew. Rias couldn't help but imagine a tearful reunion as her family was made whole once more.
All those hopes and more had died the night of Ambrose's date.
He hadn't used the flier, and as the hours went by it seemed more and more likely that he had been killed. Since he hadn't activated the flier, Rias had no way of knowing where he was. Regretfully, she had called Sona to give her the terrible news; her friend was mostly silent in shock. Rias then confessed what she had planned to her [Queen] and best friend Akeno. At the time Rias wished she had done something more; that she should have risked sending a servant to watch this trap unfold, just to be sure. It was then that she suddenly disappeared from the Occult Research Club and found herself in a new place.
Being forcefully summoned was a dizzying disorienting feeling, it took her a moment to gain her bearings. But as she looked around she found Sona and the Dragon-Slayer waiting for her.
Rias felt alarmed, confused, and immediately on guard despite the presence of her childhood friend and rival. When the Dragon-Slayer questioned her about the flier, she had kept up with the cover story that Sona had insisted, that all devils keep their distance.
The Dragon-Slayer then explained that he had survived his encounter, and that they were going to question the Fallen Angel who tried to murder him. Rias then saw an opportunity to get some answers of her own. She not only wanted to know more about what the Fallen Angels had planned, but she also wanted to know more about this mysterious teen who wore the face of her brother. It seemed that he had pulled the veil over her eyes; as he lead her through his home Rias deduced that the images that Koneko saw were illusions and that his apartment was magically expanded to have multiple floors.
It also seemed that for every answer that she was given, more questions and surprises emerged.
The first surprise was the fact that the Dragon-Slayer had a Phenix egg as a trophy, completely encased in ice and put on display. It wasn't lost on Rias that if he had beaten a Phenix before then he could do it again and possibly save her from her engagement.
But that delightful surprise soon vanished after he gave his demonstration of the 'orb of truth' and summoned the ghost of Raynare the Fallen Angel.
When the Dragon-Slayer used his stone to summon Raynare, Rias was more surprised than revolted. She had spoken to and dealt with spirits before. But these were ones that had appeared on their own, not ones that were forcefully summoned. Rias had never summoned any spirits before, she had only helped them move beyond the veil of death, sometimes forcefully.
Rias was also no stranger to torture, having had to get information from a few stay devils in the past. She had grown even more use to it due to her [Queen]'s penchant for sadomasochism. What caused her to be paralyzed in complete fright and terror was the potent holy aura that suffocated the entire room when the Dragon-Slayer gathered his power. Sona appeared to be prepared for it; she had previously warned Rias about it, so no doubt Sona had experienced it before. But never before had Rias encountered such a dominating holy presence, the fact that it came from an individual wearing her brother's face made it all the more alarming.
Just as alarming as the Dragon-Slayer's holy power, was the answers Raynare gave. There were three more Fallen Angels, even worse was the knowledge that a band of rogue exorcists would soon arrive who would no doubt specifically target them.
Rias began to consider the implications of Raynare's confession and the possible involvement of the Grigori leaders when the Dragon-Slayer unexpectedly asked if she had planned to turn him into a devil after Raynare had attacked him.
That's when things went from bad to worse.
The orb had flashed, signaling that she had lied, and looking back Rias could admit that that was technically true from a certain point of view. There was no malice in her actions, but in the event that the Dragon-Slayer was critically injured or lost his life then she did, in fact, plan to turn him into a devil.
She tried to explain herself, try to make them see that she only wanted to protect him. She couldn't have directly acted with out violating his privacy. The distinction was lost on both Sona and the Dragon-Slayer as Rias soon found out that she was now being interrogated.
Sona accused her of violating their agreement, and while Rias technically did, she couldn't help but notice that Sona was not surprised by any of the Dragon-Slayer's actions. When Rias attempted to point that out, she was shocked to find that Sona hadn't actually spied on him. It was then Rias started to realize that the 'orb of truth' knew what was literally true but couldn't tell the circumstances or intention behind the truth.
However, the Dragon-Slayer seemed to have a keen eye for spotting weaknesses and his next question soon put Rias on the spot again when he asked her how long she had known the Fallen Angel had been in Kuoh.
Rias stuttered to answer because the situation behind the answer was more complex than the answer to his question. Rias had known about the Fallen Angel for two weeks, but hadn't acted on that information for a very good reason. Akeno, her [Queen], had been a Fallen Angel before she was turned. The archduke had found Akeno alone in Kuoh, exhausted, starved, and hunted by her mother's clan. He took pity on her and introduced her to Rias, who had been visiting at the time, and the two became best friends. Although Akeno resented and rejected her Fallen Angel ancestry, Rias had never forgotten the example of the archduke and the lesson she learned. That sometimes an enemy is not your enemy and can become your best friend. So when a Fallen Angel appeared within her own territory, Rias had been cautious, but allowed the Fallen Angel to exist peacefully so long as she made no aggressive moves. It wasn't until Rias started investigating a possible link between the Fallen Angel and the Dragon-Slayer did she realize that Raynare was actually a threat.
Sona and the Dragon-Slayer were too worked up to even listen to her explanation, though Rias had to admit that Sona had a right to be angry. The three of them had just found out about a massive plot to attack all the devils in Kuoh, so Sona should have been informed about the possible threat when Rias discovered Raynare's true intention. Perhaps if she had confided in Sona before the date, this could have been avoided.
Sona began accusing her of betraying the devil race, wanting to know why she would go to such lengths, why she would betray the work of the Maōs and what was so important to risk everything.
The 'orb of truth' wouldn't allow her to properly explain, so she answered Sona as best as she could. She was desperate. Before discovering that Raynare was a threat, Rias had dared to hope that she could make peace with this Fallen Angel. When Rias had discovered that the Dragon-Slayer's life was in danger, she had dared to hope that she could make peace with the Dragon-Slayer. Rias had dared to hope that she could bring them both into her Clan and she could finally be free of her engagement. But she was bound by her constraints. She couldn't have warned the Dragon-Slayer or Sona with out admitting she had been spying, and she could have only stepped in at the right moment to maintain the appearance that she had upheld her promise to Sona.
The worst was when the Dragon-Slayer spoke again. The oppressive holy energy within him completely filled the entire room, it was like suddenly finding yourself within a scorching heat that sucked the air right out of you and seared your skin. He marched towards her, and despite Rias's paralyzing fear she instinctively backed away. The face of her brother, now furious beyond measure, threatened to tear her very soul from her body, crush it in his hand, and enslave her to him. Rias had never been more frightened in her entire life, and when he reached for her she instinctively flinched away, only to find herself dumped into Kuoh's sewage treatment plant.
Despite the disgusting environment she found herself in, Rias had been grateful to be away from the Dragon-Slayer's terrible wrath.
After five showers throughout Sunday, Rias had went to school on Monday in the hopes of clearing up the misunderstanding. Sona was still too worked up listen, she wouldn't even let her properly explain. Rias realized how her actions could be misconstrued, but had hoped that her friend would listen to her side of the story. However, Rias soon found herself on the defensive again as she learned that she might lose her Governorship over Kuoh territory and be forced to return to the underworld in disgrace. Rias knew that if that happened the dishonor would stay with her for the rest of her life, and she feared that the possible result of her disgrace would see her married off to Riser Phenix so fast her head would spin.
"Or perhaps Riser would release me from my engagement, not willing to marry a woman who brought disgrace to not only her Clan but the entire devil nation." Rias thought to herself at the time, unsure which fate would be worse.
When Sona had told her how she had managed to convince the Dragon-Slayer to a meeting in order to straighten out this mess, Rias had grasped it as a life line. She knew that if she had the chance to properly explain things then this entire mess could be resolved. Truthfully, Rias had been quite surprised that Sona had managed to get the Dragon-Slayer to even agree to a meeting and when she asked what was going on between them she received another bombshell.
Sona was now engaged to a young man who instilled a terrible fear into Rias. Sona Sitri, a high class devil, her childhood friend was engaged to a young man who wielded the most overpowering and oppressive holy magic she had ever felt in he entire life. But Sona had gotten out of one unwanted engagement, and Rias vowed to help her friend get out of this one as well.
However, Rias was stunned to find out that Sona had accepted the engagement and planned to go through with it.
"Didn't she feel his holy power when he interrogated Raynare?" Rias had thought at the time, "Didn't she hear how he threatened me?"
But Sona had hinted that there was another side to the Dragon-Slayer, that there was more to him then what Rias saw. Sona revealed that while she hadn't been spying on him she had been secretly meeting with him. Rias understood why Sona hadn't mentioned her defeat in chess before, Maō Leviathan would no doubt have something to say on the matter. Rias didn't even want to think about how Sona's mother would react to someone who wielded holy magic being in her family.
And so, after her meeting with her childhood friend, Rias had made preparations for what was sure to be a difficult meeting. Never the less, Rias was determined to set things right, to clear up this misunderstanding so they could move past this mess and focus on the threat of the Fallen Angels.
Unfortunately the Dragon-Slayer proved that his propensity for catching her off guard was not just a one time occurrence when Rias's attempt to apologize was turned on its head.
The worst part was when he insinuated that she had conspired to not only forcefully turn him, but suggested that she had done the same to her entire peerage.
She had never been so insulted in her life. She treasured each and every one of her servants, she loved them like her own family. The memory of him even suggesting it caused Rias's blood to boil. She had saved them all; gave them new life and a place within her clan.
Akeno had been found by the archduke, he took her to his home where Rias had happened to be visiting at the time. Despite her being a Fallen Angel, Rias's heart went out to the starving girl and the pair had quickly formed a close friendship and were now as close as sisters. While it was true that Akeno was being hunted at that time, Rias was not involved in that.
Her sweet Koneko had been brought to her by her brother. When Koneko's sister, Kuroka, had butchered her [King]'s entire peerage, Koneko was left behind to answer for her sister's crimes. The penalty for killing your master and peerage was to become a stray and have a death sentence over your head. At first it was thought that Koneko was involved in the massacre and that she would pay for those crimes. After an investigation and being questioned by the Maōs, Koneko was found not to have been involved in the attack and her brother introduced them so that Rias could attempt to heal the poor girl's heart. The ill-fated girl had the disposition of a scared kitten when Rias had first met her and to this day she remained quiet and on guard, suspicious of everyone.
When she had first met Yuuto he was nearly corpse. Her brother had been investigating the massacre of the candidates for the Holy Sword Project. Despite being on the brink of death, Rias couldn't help but think he was handsome and didn't hesitate to turn him into her own white knight. Her brother had been surprised, but quite pleased by Rias's actions at the time. Her actions allowed the Maōs to get a few answers about the Holy Sword project, and her new [Knight] was quickly taken away for a few days to be questioned. When Yuuto was returned to Rias, she had begun the process of getting to know her new [Knight] and found him to be polite, but reserved, keeping his personal thoughts and feelings to himself.
Gasper Vladi came to her in a similar situation. Rias had accompanied her brother to Romania for a small diplomatic trip to visit the Vampire Nation. However, Rias was to stay in the hotel and was not allowed to attend any diplomatic functions. That suited Rias just fine, she was young at the time and didn't want to be around a bunch of arrogant stuffy vampires. Her brother's meeting was cut short and he came back to the hotel with the little vampire Vladi, suggesting that she turn him to save his life.
While Rias resented the Dragon-Slayer's implication that she was some evil mastermind who went around creating situations that would turn people into devils, a terrible thought had entered her mind. Rias had realize that perhaps the Dragon-Slayer was right about one thing, there was a pattern to the formation of her peerage. Every single member of her peerage did in fact have a death sentence over their heads when she had turned them. But more importantly, in Rias's mind, they had been brought to her, either by the archduke but mostly by her own brother. Since her brother became Maō Lucifer, he was technically no longer a Gremory and couldn't interfere in Gremory affairs, such as her engagement to Riser Phenix.
Rias's pride burned in shame at the thought, "Did Onii-sama have a hand in the formation of my entire peerage? What kind of a [King] am I to have to rely on him so much?"
But the thoughts of Rias's brother and his possible hidden actions behind the creation of her peerage was halted when Sona reminded everyone at the meeting that they had more pressing concerns. There were Fallen Angels to deal with as well as a contingent of exorcists. Both peerages were in danger and all of their hands were effectively tied.
When the Dragon-Slayer offered to handle the problem himself, it seemed like the best solution. Rias didn't even mind his attempt to extort her for the job, as long as it was handled properly, but then the most unexpected thing happened. He essentially differed his payment to Sona and said that the only thing he really wanted was a date with her. She knew that the Dragon-Slayer was recently made aware of his engagement to Sona, and Rias felt that this was his way of publicly accepting it. Devils come from a world where strength is prized above all else, and declaring your intention to fight Fallen Angels and exorcists for a date was probably the most romantic gesture Rias had ever seen in her life.
Rias had started to see what Sona had hinted at, that there was more to the Dragon-Slayer than she realized. He was a genius, judging by his claims at creating a philosopher's stone, cunning enough to keep Rias on her toes, and strong if he was willing to take on the Fallen Angels and exorcists. Even his ability to wield holy magic held a "bad boy" quality that would no doubt drive Sona's mother up the wall.
So when Rias and her peerage unexpectedly crossed paths with the Dragon-Slayer at the abandoned building to deal with a stray devil, she resolved herself to actually get to know him. Rias knew that he was still upset her and had no reason to trust her; truthfully, she was still quite upset at him. But perhaps if she tried to get to know him, and not see him as a replacement for her lost nephew, she would see more of that side that Sona had hinted at.
"Congratulations on defeating Sona in chess." Rias said as the group entered the abandoned building, figuring that the topic of her friend and rival would be a safe one, "Has she explained to you how chess relates to a devil's peerage?"
"No." Ambrose replied, "We've agreed to keep our private life and her peerage separate."
"That'll be... interesting." Rias said while considering of the intricacy of such a relationship. While devils having a relationship outside of their respective peerages wasn't unheard of, the fact that the Dragon-Slayer sounded as if he didn't plan on becoming a devil and wielded holy magic added an extra layer of complexities.
"I'll be properly introduced to her peerage after I've taken care of the Fallen Angels, but I won't be involved with any of their business." Ambrose explained, "I don't want to undermine her authority as [King], and Sona wants to maintain the proper appearances."
"Fu fu fu, so Sona will be [King] of her peerage, but you'll be King of the bedroom?" Akeno teased with a small laugh.
"Something like that." Ambrose replied with an amused smile of his own, but didn't elaborate further.
"Kak Kak Kak." Cackled a voice from the shadows, "I smell something bad. Will it be bitter? Will it be sweet?" She sniffed the air and glared at the Dragon-Slayer, "Or will it be poisonous?"
A topless woman with long dark hair and silver eyes began to step out of the shadows, Rias's peerage instantly raised their guard.
"Stray demon, Visor." Rias addressed the stay devil, "Nefarious beings that run away from their master to fulfill their own desires deserve death for their sins. In the name of Duke Gremory, I'll kick your ass!"
"What an insolent girl." Visor replied with an amused smile."I will cover you in blood as red as your hair; both you and your brother."
"Wait, what?" Ambrose replied in surprise. "What, you think all red heads look alike?"
"We're not siblings." Rias said, quickly shaking her head in denial.
But their protests were cut short as the stray devil fully emerged from the shadows, revealing her large form. Her front legs were in the shape of hands with long red fingernails, her lower body was in the shape of a beast, and she had a snake's head for a tail. Like some sort of exhibitionist, Visor squeezed her breast that had magic circles rotating around her nipples which then shot out twin energy beams that had everyone scrambling.
"Yuuto", Rias commanded.
Yuuto didn't verbally reply, he grabbed his sword and quickly disappeared. He then reappeared in front of Visor, cutting off her front clawed legs which had her reeling back in pain.
Rias watched, surprised that Ambrose's eyes were following her [Knight], "You can see him?"
"He's quite good with a sword." Ambrose commented, "He must practice a lot"
"The sword is his strongest weapon, but as a [Knight], Kiba's trait focuses on speed." Rias clarified.
Visor's lost limbs fell to the ground and she was left staggering on her hind legs in order to maintain her balance. Frustrated, Visor's anger began to mutate her body, her teeth, ears, and eyes grew sharper as her rage continued to build. She roared in fury, and a second mouth within her body, lined with large vertical teeth, opened up like a gaping maw ready to consume the small petite devil who stood in its way.
"Die!" Visor screamed as she clenched her lower jaws shut, completely swallowing Koneko whole.
"Don't worry." Rias explained, "Koneko is a [Rook]. Her traits are her tremendous strength and defensive ability. That kind of attack won't even scratch her."
Rias's words were proven true as the diminutive girl pried open the stay devil's large jaws with her bare hands. Koneko's clothes were torn in various places, but she paid it no mine and with a shout of "Begone" she punched Visor into the air breaking several teeth in the process and sending the stray devil crashing through a pillar and onto the floor.
"Akeno." Rias commanded.
"Yes, Buchou." Akeno replied with an excited smile as she approached the fallen stray devil. "Ara, what should I do?"
"Akeno is my [Queen]." Rias continued to explain, "The almighty vice commander that combines the powers of all other pieces."
Akeno began to gather her magical strength and lightning began sparking all around her. It built up into a great surge that erupted from Visor's body. The stray devil began to scream in agony.
"On top of that she's a complete sadist." Rias commented, somewhat embarrassingly.
"I wonder how long you can bear it." Akeno shouted in joy as she began to torture the stray for her own pleasure.
Rias then noticed movement out of the corner of her eye and was startled to see the dismembered limb of the stray devil had leapt to attack her. Caught completely off guard, it was only inches away from tearing at her face when suddenly she felt the unmistakable aura of her older brother and the severed limb was blasted away by the Power of Destruction.
"What The Hell?" Rias thought in panic as she saw that the severed limb had not only been destroyed, but it was completely annihilated. "That was unmistakably the Power of Destruction as well as a Onii-sama aura. How in the nine layers of hell could.... Could it be?"
Rias turned and gave Ambrose an incredulous look, a look as if she had never really saw him before; but he paid her no mind, his attention was focused on Akeno.
"Does your [Queen] play with her food too?" Ambrose asked with a frown as he watched Akeno.
"Akeno, that's enough." Rias said, turning her attention away from Ambrose in order to focus to the task at hand.
"Oh, we're already done?" Akeno said with a smile and blush, "How disappointing."
Rias slowly walked up to the defeated stray devil and asked as she approached, "Any last words?"
"Kill me" was the only reply.
"Then you shall vanish." Rias said and gathered her own magic to unleash her family's signature Power of Destruction on the crushed stray devil. With a bright flash the stray devil Visor had been completely annihilated. Rias turned around to look at her peerage, but her focus was on the Dragon-Slayer who had an inscrutable look on his face.
"Well, that was fun." Akeno commented with a pleased smile. "Shall we head out?"
"Yes..." Rias softly said, not wanting to reveal her suspicions. "Just who are you, Dragon-Slayer? That was definitely a very powerful demonic aura and you also used the Power of Destruction. Yet yesterday you had the most intense holy aura I've ever felt. I must tell Onii-sama" She thought to herself, vowing to solve the mystery of Ambrose Dragon-Slayer.
Sona silently listened to Rias's account of what had happened the last few days, not just what had happened at the abandoned building. She listened as Rias explained why she had been watching both Ambrose and the Fallen Angel, her friend's motivation behind planning to turn Ambrose into her servant. Sona listened to everything Rias told her and quite honestly felt a little guilty for not even hearing Rias's side of the story until now.
"I see your point." Sona admitted, but gave her friend a stern look, "But you still should have told me about the Fallen Angel. As far as Ambrose goes... That might take some time."
"I know, and I'm sorry." Rias admitted, "But honestly, right now I'm just relieved to have cleared up this terrible misunderstanding. Friends?"
Sona smiled and nodded, feeling satisfied with the answers Rias had given her, "Of course. Was there anything else that happened at the abandoned building?"
"N-no." Rias denied, "Although he did magically patch up Koneko's clothes after the fight, she seemed grateful. Sona... Do you think... do you think you could talk to him? I'd like to be able to get along with him, maybe learn more about him."
"Rias, please tell me you're not coming on to my fiance." Sona replied with a jealous look, "Because there's no way I'm letting that happen."
"No, no!" Rias insisted waving her hands in denial, "Nothing like that."
"Alright." Sona relented with a sigh, "Truth be told, I'd rather my fiance and friends get along. I'll speak to him, but it might take him awhile to come around. He can be a little stubborn when he's already made up his mind about something."
"Thank you. And if there's anything I can do to help smooth things over, please let me know." Rias said after excusing herself and quietly left the student council room.
"Am-chan has pretty much made up his mind about Rias." Sona thought to herself, "How am I suppose to straighten this out?"
"Kaichō", Tsubaki said, interrupting her thoughts, "The student council room isn't the best place to handle our project for fixing the fliers. It'll probably take a day or two just to create the solution, and then we'll have to make new fliers and test them..."
"Just pack everything up and I'll take it home with me." Sona said after a moment but then thought to herself, "Or maybe I'll take it over to Am-chan's house and use his library. That way I can work on this flier problem and wait for him to return from tonight's patrol."
Sona appeared in Ambrose's home after training her peerage for the day, carrying not only her research papers for solving 'the flier problem', but every single school book she had; she was determined to take a dose of Osmosis in order to memorize her course books.
Ambrose was currently out on tonight's patrol, hunting Fallen Angels and exorcists. Sona had never been alone in his home before, but he had assured her that she was welcome to come by whenever she wanted, even suggesting that she stay the night when ever she wanted. Truthfully, Sona would completely move in with out hesitation if she felt she could get away with it and it warmed her heart to know that he wanted her near. Still, she and Tsubaki had their own morning ritual where her [Queen] would come to her apartment early every weekday morning and they would have breakfast together before heading off to school. If she was suddenly sleeping someplace else then that would raise too many questions.
"But I think I can get away with one or two nights a week and pop back early enough to keep Tsubaki unaware." Sona thought to herself as she climbed the staircase.
Looking around Sona couldn't help marvel at the treasures her fiance had on display, "Am-chan sure is a collector. It seems he separates his archaeological collection by region on each level."
The 3rd floor held held a spare bedroom and the music room, it's hallway was lined with 19th century French paintings, vases, and statues. Sona's continued up the stairs, heading to the 4th floor that held two guests rooms and most importantly the library. The hallways of this floor was dedicated to Dropa Stones, ancient stone discs with spiraling hieroglyphs dating back 12,000 years. As impressive as Ambrose's wondrous artifact collections were, the collection of books in his library was by far her favorite.
It was a bibliophile's dream; here in the library was his collection of rare magical books, kept separately from 'normal' books which he kept in living room on the 1st floor. They were old, but well cared for, organized, diverse in topics, very practical, and extremely rare.
"Am-chan wouldn't have dared to ever take these into the future." Sona had thought when she realized she hadn't read or learned from a single one of these treasures.
What amused Sona the most was how he kept his three favorites in a display case by themselves. The topic of these books wasn't something she would have originally thought, in fact it had nothing to do with alchemy what-so-ever. "Gastronomie Magique" [Magical Gastronomy], volumes 1, 2, & 3 was the culmination works of the sorcerer and chef Gérard Beauford who studied 'grande cuisine' under the world's first celebrity chef Marie-Antoine Carême. Carême invented the high art of French cooking and rose from being an abandoned orphan to the most celebrated chef of his time, cooking exclusively for 19th century Parisian high society. His confection creations were rumored to have been legendary. Gérard Beauford was inspired by Carême's work and dedicated his life to not only learning the art of preparing gourmet foods, but applying magic to the preparation and creation of exquisite cuisine and the magical methods used to enhance the food's flavor.
"Applied magic to creating incredible edible works of art that inspires the imagination and fuels the body." Sona thought, "I can't wait to read and try out the recipes for myself. Am-chan will love what I make for him. Maybe I'll surprise my peerage with a few cakes."
But those thoughts would have to wait as Sona had more important things to do. The vulnerability of the fliers had to be addressed, and while she did find a solution she had to figure out how to properly insert the 'identification' rune scheme into the flier. Then she and her peerage would have to test it in order to make sure the exploit only worked for Clan Sitri members, and that the fliers only 'requested' a summons like it should for everyone else.
Sona decided to get to work while she waited for her fiance to return from tonight's activities. When he arrived Sona would not only get an update from him, but talk to him about Rias's motives and see if the two could make peace. Soon she lost herself in the process of applying magic in new ways and as the night went by she began to appropriate more and more of the library's table, after having found a number of useful books on the shelves. She had finished the repairs needed in order for the fliers to work as intended, complete with the modifications. She then moved on to creating the 'friendly fire' adaptation so that high level spells wouldn't damage members of her clan. Sona was so focused on her work that she didn't even realize it was past midnight when her fiance suddenly spoke from the door.
"What are you working on?" Ambrose asked leaning against the door frame.
Sona, surprised at his sudden presence, looked up only to gasp in horror as her fiance was covered in blood.
"Am-chan." she began.
"It's alright." Ambrose reassured her, "It's not my blood, and it looks worse than it is."
"What happened?" Sona questioned, leaving the table to inspect him. "You look exhausted."
Ambrose sighed and tiredly rubbed his face, "Well, I've confirmed the exorcists are here and they aren't exactly picky on who they attack. My sensors did their job, so when I registered a magical barrier being erected around a home in the suburbs I went to check it out. The barrier was holy and designed to keep all devils out, but it had no effect on me. I managed to sneak in easily enough, but what I found inside..."
"What?" Sona was almost too afraid to ask.
"A family was butchered, and a rogue exorcist was there who called himself Freed Sellzen. He murdered a couple for trying to summon a devil, then got creative by painting "Punishment of the Wicked" in their own blood on the wall. That connard [bastard] was waiting around for a devil to appear after the summons, but he didn't expect me. He was pretty pissed that all of his fancy holy weapons had no effect on me, but then a nun showed up."
"A nun?" Sona asked.
"Yeah, blonde haired little girl. She saw the carnage and screamed in fright. She's definitely with the rouge exorcists, but I don't think she knew what to expect from their methods. She saw us fighting, the blood, the dead bodies on the floor and quickly ran out of the house screaming. In the confusion Freed managed to jump out of a window an escape. Just spent the last two hours cleaning everything up, can't have the authorities getting suspicious."
"What did you do with the bodies?" Sona wondered.
"Resurrected them. Humans are easy, no stone needed, just a combination of light and dark spells on their remains and..." Ambrose snapped his fingers, "up they come. They were understandibly shaken up about the entire experience. Turns out they were summoning a devil in the hopes of having another child. They told me they actually have a girl who goes to our school, but she'll be graduating next year so they wanted another child despite getting on in the years. In the end, I decided not to wipe their memories, and instead gave them some cash to go on a vacation with their daughter. I figured it was best if they left Kuoh for a few days until this all gets taken care of. If I erased their memories then they might have completely forgotten why they left in the first place and come back early. When they do come back I told them that I'd visit them with a fertility enhancer that should help them have another baby. Nice couple, really."
Sona took a moment to consider all that Ambrose said, she figured that a couple who was resurrected from the dead would be grateful enough not to tell the secret of supernaturals. In honestly, she was a little impressed with her fiance's generosity and abilities.
"That nun sounded out of place." Sona commented aloud, "Isn't there suppose to be a nun who's sacrificed in the abandoned church?"
"That was my thought as well." Ambrose said, "Honestly, I'm tired of chasing these Fallen Angels around, and these exorcists are another matter entirely. Tomorrow night I'm going to storm the abandon church and finish this. In the mean time, I'm going to get cleaned up and get some rest. I'm beat." he finished with a yawn
Sona devilishly smiled as a naughty thought entered her mind, "Let me help you."
Sona knelt behind her fiance as she began to wash his back.
While all guest rooms in Ambrose's house had their own private bath, the master bedroom had a bath worthy of being called master. It was large enough to be considered an onsen, but decorated in the French style he favored. It reminded Sona that ancient Romans in Europe utilized public baths, but this was a decorative public bath made private.
As she washed the blood away she let her eyes roam across his body, not only appreciating his form but inspecting it for injuries.
"When most people leave a battle with Fallen Angels and exorcists they have some kind of wounds." Sona remarked as she ran the soapy sponge across his shoulder and arms.
"Mmm" Ambrose sleepily replied, "It's because they use light magic, and devils have a weakness against it. If you were going to fight an opponent who's natural weakness was water, you'd be feeling pretty confident too."
Sona thought about that, "It's no wonder they're so cocky when they fight devils. Their greatest strength is our natural weakness. Worse, devils don't have a singular strength that Angels or Fallen Angels are weak to. We're at a complete disadvantage."
"I guess they weren't expecting to come across someone who could wield holy magic." Sona commented aloud as she began to rinse him off and wash his hair.
"Oh, it's worse than that for them." Ambrose lightly chucked to himself. "Particle physics states that when two waves superimpose on each other it creates interference. The closer I get to their energy signature, their wavelength and frequency, the more I can mitigate the damage they can do. Throughout our little skirmishes I've managed to memorize their energy signatures, but I haven't used this technique on them yet. They don't know I can use holy magic, they only know it doesn't affect me as much. It pays to be underestimated, and I'm going to surprise them tomorrow."
"Just promise me you'll be careful." Sona said as she put the sponge down and wrapped her arms around her fiance, pressing her naked breasts against his back, "You're exhausted."
"I am exhausted." Ambrose admitted while leaning back into her, "I took a vial of Potent Invigoration Elixir the other day and I haven't slept in over 40 hours."
Sona frowned at that. An Invigoration Elixir was a potion designed to increase one's stamina, give them a bit of extra energy to get through the day. Ambrose, however, improved on this designed and created a Potent Invigoration Elixir, and it was indeed potent. One vial of this altered version gives a person unlimited energy and stamina for 36 hours, after that it wears off over a period of 8 - 10 hours and then the individual will crash in complete exhaustion.
"You need sleep, Am-chan." Sona said as she hugged her naked body against his back.
"Yes, my love." Ambrose acquiesced, "I could definitely use a good night's sleep. I need to be well rested tomorrow."
Sona smiled and whispered in his ear with a suggestion, "Then why don't I wash your front, and then we can see about making some sweet dreams for us both."