3rd POV
While the Astaroth vs Agares rating game was still taking place, the adults of the world, the human world that is, had important business to discuss. Sirzechs along with Azazel and Michael have long returned to Odin's side to continue enjoying the event, seeing as how their negotiation with the eldest Creed weren't as fruitful as they had hoped. That's not to say all bridges were burned, just that it wasn't the instant agreement they hoped for. Then again, that was their mistake to assume the eldest of the family to be on the same page as them.
The concern was over the parents of the aforementioned teen, the father in particular, as he had received a peculiar phone call, all the way back from Tokyo. It's been a few months since the brothers had a private conversation after all.
"It's not like you to call me regarding the company, Stephen. In fact, it's not like you to call me first regardless. So what's this all of a sudden?", Alexander Mercer sank into his sit, perhaps expecting the worse.
"Well, I would have visited, but it was brought to my attention you apparently left Kuoh as well, with nobody knowing your current physical location. Can you blame me? Besides, the least you could do is respond since I've given you so much about the kings.", his brother retorted
But can one blame Alex either? He can't exactly divulge to his sibling he currently resides in literal hell, can he?
"Brought to your attention? Hadrian called? Or was it Lara-"
"I don't think that matters right now, Alex. You're the most important person for this company and yet you go missing. I too share you view that the board cares too much about your day to day life, but in this instant I'm forced to agree with them."
Stephen and Alex may not be as close to each other as, let's say, Bruce and Desmond, but they're siblings nonetheless.
"Sigh. I'll come back in a few days regardless. That should satisfy their curiosity plenty. Is that all you called for?", the older Mercer inquired further.
"That wasn't even the main reason I called."
"Then get to the point. Or else you can talk the details with Scarlett."
"How about no.", it's not that Stephen doesn't like Scarlett, it's just that she's the type of woman that would freely accept losses for the company if it came at the expense of her husband's happiness. In other words, as a businessman, Scarlett is Stephen's polar opposite, hence why agreements are virtually impossible to reach. Now you get why she's the lady of iron? "It's regarding our mother-...my mother's birthday."
"She may not have given birth to me, Stephen, but she did raise me.", Alex was quick to fire a comment.
"I'm sorry. I assumed, since your sons don't see her as grandmother, that you'd be on the same page as them.", it wouldn't come as a shock either.
"My children have...special circumstances, so I can't blame them for who they choose to acknowledge as family. But even as their father, I don't agree with them on all matters. Now enough beating around the bush.", the man was getting tired of circling around the main issue.
"Very well then. Since various people are becoming restless regarding the matter, and seeing as how your eldest is in his last year of highschool, I think it's about time we had a proper family reunion, Alex. Mainly, of course, to celebrate Mom's birthday, but secondly, to decided the future of this whole business."
The were a slight pose immediately after, as Alex and Scarlett shared a glace with each other, before continuing.
"I'm assuming the board would like Edward to take my place in the future, am I right?"
"Do you have anyone else to fulfill that position? I don't talk much with my nephews, but the impression the left on me is that they could care less about Abstergo. Am I mistaken?"
"No. You're right.", Alex confirmed. "They have...other things on their plate at the moment. Still, you do realize what a family reunion endows, ri-"
"IF...you mean a meeting between Daniel and Leon, fret not. My youngest will be on his school trip at the time as he's a second year. I too want to avoid another bloodbath.", the last part flew out through gritted teeth. The man does love his children, as much as Alex, hence his restraint to lash out on his own brother.
Taking current circumstances into account, the proposition wasn't half bad, as the more they delay the decision on the matter, the restless people like Hadrian would become. They too have a breaking point after all. There wasn't really a valid reason to refuse, in fact it would prove beneficial to Anna as well, to get hands on knowledge from the Gold King's library.
...
"Very well, Stephen. I'll take you up on the offer. I too want to get this problem out of the way as soon as possible. Can I leave the arrangements to you then?"
"You can rest assured. I'll take care of everything. See you in a few weeks, Alex...and thanks, brother..."
The calls was ended as abruptly as it started, and yet both parties felt a weird sense of fulfillment, as if they both confirmed to themselves the other doesn't view them as a stranger, despite the rough history between their offspring.
"Are you ok?", his lovely wife came to conform her husband, fully comprehending any worries he might have. "I can talk with Leon myself and make sure he'll stay calm.", she offered.
"It's alright, Scarlett. I think he too understands that this meeting couldn't be postponed indefinitely. The only thing I'm concerned about is how exactly is Stephen going to mediate a dialogue between Leon and Edward. They don't see eye to eye. And despite his lack of interest for the company, Leon will surely refuse to yield the position to their side of the family. And on top of that pile, there's this whole supernatural thing-"
"Alex!", she snapped her husband out of the trance he was sinking in. "He's not a kid anymore, that's certain. We just have to talk with him about it, and figure things out together. Our son may be in a troublesome position, but he's also got trustworthy individuals around him."
Few may ever describe Death as some you can trust, but considering his relationship with their son. I think it's fine to put the guard down around him by now.
"You're right, Scarlett. That will be for the better."
Sometimes the presence of a good partner next to you does way more than meticulous planning ahead. Needless to say, Alexander chose a good woman to put a ring on.
Meanwhile
As the game previously mentioned was being watched with eager eyes, in a room reserved for the Gremory team to rest, the atmosphere was rather heavy, most likely due to the outcome the match was likely to with.
"This is quite the surprise, and not the good kind.", the read headed beauty was quick comment at just how masterfully Diodora's strategies were being executed.
Agares was no pushover, by no means. She's the smart kind of devil, much like Sona, always planning ahead. But even the best plans would crumble if their bases lied on false information about the enemy, right?
Amongst all the people present, Leon Creed was the most eager one to watch, as his own expectations were thrown off the scale. Sure. He didn't meet Diodora in person and he's not someone you'd call an expert on rating games either. But if Rias' disbelief was something to be trusted, it would be safe to assume Diodora kept his fangs hidden all this time.
Why he's that attentive to all this? Well, one can't really refuse a request from their surrogate little sister, can they? That's not to say he wouldn't love to refuse, just that the earful he'd get from his actual sister later on would be ten times worse than this.
Of course, someone had to make some objections first.
"Now hold up a second!", Issei shouted his lungs out. "Why is everyone casually skipping over the 'big brother' part? Leon! You bastard! Are you finally making your move?!", the boy felt his plans for the future were in danger.
The face the red headed boy made upon hearing this would be, quite literally, impossible to describe through words alone. So here's a visual representation:
Perhaps this was the raven haired girl's plan all along, she certainly didn't seem to mind her junior's outburst at all.
"Are you happy with yourself, sis?", Leon uttered through gritted teeth towards the person responsible for all this mess.
She, on the other hand, continued to smile innocently, as she were an angel. I mean, she technically it, but a fallen one.
"Is something the matter, Onii-sama?", she returned in kind
This is only served to push Issei's buttons further.
"Leon! This means WAR!"
"Shut up already!", the horseman heard enough wailing for today, and his patience was at it's limit. "Do something about this host of yours, you glorified leather purse!", he dragged the dragon into this.
"What am I even supposed to do?", the lizard sounded even more fed up than Death. "It's not up to me."
"He's your host."
"Not my problem.", the dragon was having none of it.
"Fine then. I'll make it yours then."
That was the last line that came out of the horseman, but certain it was that he had something in store for the red dragon. Something that would be revealed soon enough.
"I'm surrounded by morons...", was Leon's only comment, or rather the only comment he could possibly make. Still, he had a situation to assess. "Moving on, it's clear Diodora has quite a few aces up his sleeve. Since i'm not that familiar with the Astaroth family, I'll need some of your info, Rias."
The heiress nodded in agreement, somewhat thankful for this brother-sister thing he had going on with Akeno, since that would be the only reason the man agreed to help in the first place.
"Let's put this in perspective. Prior to this match in particular, let's say, around the time you faced Riser in a game, was Agares as strong or stronger than you lot at the time?"
The girl thought about it for a second. That was her first rating game ever, so it's not like she had much hands on experience, but...
"Seekvaira Agares is as cunning as Sona at times, and since then I didn't have Issei's balance breaker, Xenovia's Durandal or Gasper at all, I'd say yes. She would have been stronger in rating game turns. Maybe not by firepower, but planning."
"Right.", the boy stroked his chin. "So with that basis in mind, under the same circumstances, would you say Diodora Astaroth would have been as strong or stronger than Riser at the time?"
She would have contemplated the matter once again, but fate had other plans.
"THE AUDACITY TO EVEN IMPLY THAT!", a voice yelled from beyond the door, door that opened to reveal none other than Riser Phenex, in tow with Ravel, his little sister. "I expected at least some form of respect from you, Creed. You'd think this rookie has more experience in games than Riser? Preposterous."
"Ah, for fuck's sake. At least stick to one person, god damn it! You finally learned the pronoun 'I', so keep using it or else my damn ears are going to bleed!"
The horseman was already past the grudges he once held against the devil, especially after he openly apologized to his parents. That's one way to score points with Leon. The rest of the room was split between being surprised that Riser used the first person and that he and Leon was sort of tolerating one another. Either way, came out of left field.
"Hmph. Fine then. Then allow me to answer your question. No. He wouldn't have been at the same level as me back then."
The last bit was what put the horseman on alert. Back then.
"And what about now?", the boy finally stood up from his sit, as he came to the same eyes level as the Phenex.
The devil looked towards the projection of the match one more time, match that was close to ending anyway and finally gave his answer.
"Now...I don't know."
It's one thing when a good person admits that they're less than someone else. But when someone as prideful as Riser confesses to it, it has even more weight behind it.
"Then this ain't going to be an easy match at all, Rias.", Leon turned back towards the heiress, to deliver the dreadful news.
Instinctively, Rias and Issei turned towards Asia, as she seemed the most worried about the future game. Considering the moves Diodora pulled last time, it's to be expected. This time, there is not Bruce or Desmond to put their foot in the door.
And along with those news came the announcement of Seekvaira's loss to Astaroth, another match over.
"Leon...", the king of the peerage closed the distance between them. "You mentioned fighting scumbags before, right? "
"You have quite the experience yourself.", the boy motioned to the blond behind him, who would have lashed out if his sister wasn't there to tone it down.
"Heh. Well, Riser doesn't hold a candle to Bruce in that regard.", would this be a compliment to Riser or an insult to Bruce? You figure this out. "So how would you win against Bruce under these circumstances?"
This would probably the first time she actively asked about the weakness of one of the brothers. Surely, it's not to battle Bruce directly, but rather what she thinks is a cheaper copy of him.
"Rias. What you're about to fight isn't a Bruce knockoff. It's third rate Desmond."
"I don't follow...", she confessed. Can't blame her. She's not familiar with the past of the brothers.
"I don't expect you to, don't worry. I can't exactly tell you how to win, but I can give you an advice. The best way to throw him off is by actively cutting through the spider web he made for himself. There's nothing more irritating for a compulsive conspirator than to render all their games useless."
This was just talk about a game. This came straight from years of dealing with bent-in-the-mind Desmond, who's whole business was to act as Bruce's right hand. If one managed to deal with that for years on end, then Diodora is nothing more than a fly. Still annoying, but ultimately noise is all they would amount to.
Of course, Rias would have preferred a more clean cut answer, but she was thankful she got something anyway. "Thanks, Leon. I'll keep that in mind. For now, it's best we take time to rest and then we'll plan our own countermeasures."
"Not so fast, Rias.", the horseman of Death came out to play once again. Was it time for his promise from earlier?
"What the hell do you plan this time?", his host asked, rolling his eyes, already expecting something absurd to happen.
"Remember your escapade to bring back the black cat?"
"You mean when you threw down with the monkey? What about it?"
"Well I had Dust do some surveillance for me before that and I've struck gold.", he seemed awfully happy about himself. And that usually means trouble.
"What the hell did you d- PHAHAHAHA!!", the red haired boy erupted in laughter, along with the older Phenex and his trusty partner.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?", both the dragon that went to sleep earlier as well as his host shouted at each other, as a song that would haunt the lizard for ages filled the room.
"WHAT DID YOU DO, YOU PILE OF BONES!?", the once legendary winged beast cried out to the horseman, but he was too busy enjoying himself.
This is the result of having Bruce near you for a few years, folks. You start to think and act like the master himself.
"Whose problem is it now, you Bakugan reject?"
To be continued...