Leon's POV
My god! My head hurts like shit and I can't see anything! Hell, I can't even move. What am I chained to? Where am I?!
Death:"Welcome to your own mind, human."
That voice...ok. So this is his doing.
Leon:"What is this all about, Death?"
Death:"Preserving what little humanity you have left. Tell me, do you remember what happened?"
Leon:" I remember being assaulted by horde of terrorists and chopping them apart, but... I don't remember anything after that..."
Death:"I see..."
Suddenly, I felt the chains around my arms disappearing and my blindfold was taken off. I was in dark room...was this even a room? And in front of me stood him, the kinslayer.
Death:"Take a seat."
As he said that, from beneath us, bones started surfacing, forming some sort of chair... lovely.
Leon:"So...what exactly do you plan to do by bringing me here?"
He clicked his fingers and what appeared to be Harvester showed up. But he was pointing to the handle, specifically.
Leon:"It cracked?"
Death:"Exactly what i expected from a cheap copy. It seems Vulgrim is lacking materials of quality..."
Vulgrim, huh? That old merchant. Supposedly, he made a lot of deals with the Horsemen in the past.
Leon:"Death, enough beating around the bush. What happened?"
...
Death:"You hit a wall in your developing as a Horseman. And I'm partially responsible."
Leon:"How so?"
Death:"The reason to why you had to resort to a copy of my scythe, to why it cracked and to why you almost self destructed... Your human body cannot handle anymore."
What? Cannot handle?! As if that's an excuse to lay down.
Leon:"Only me? What about the others?"
Death:"While it's true the curse affects your brothers as well, in your case it's worse. In other words, they fused with the souls of the Horsemen, you did not or else I wouldn't be able to talk to you this way."
Leon:"I know that already! I want to know why!"
Death:"The soul of my brothers were severed from their bodies when they died. Me, on the other hand, forced myself to leave my physical body-"
Leon:"...By cutting yourself with Harvester, severing the body-soul link...and I still don't know why?"
Death:"My brothers died in the war against the council, what other reason was for me to remain? As a reminder of the council? No way."
So this is the secret behind the reaper's death...ironic.
Leon:"Sigh..okay, so? You're going to tell me to take it easy or I'll end up dead?"
Death:"We both know that won't accomplish anything. So I have a different proposal."
Leon:"To fuse our souls?"
Death:"Not even I know how we can accomplish that, so until then, how about training to manipulate the curse?"
...
Leon:"Is that possible?"
Death:"With my help, yes. But I'm warning you, the effects of it will be surely amplified. Think you can handle that?
...
Well, can i? Have I not felt enough pain till this moment? Physically, mentally... Don't I deserve a break? ... But then again...this was never my choice to make, huh...
Leon:"You tell me, you pile of bones. Can I handle it?"
Death:"I chose you, so you will."
Leon:"Glad to see you haven't gone soft."
Pain? No more idle threat at this point.
Death:"Very well. It's about time you woke up. There's still a problem you have to deal with, right Leon?"
Leon:"Yeah. I bet Azazel must be getting ideas by now. See you next time, friend."
Death:"I'm always here, human... always were."
3rd POV
In a shrine a bit secluded from the city, Leon Creed opened his eyes, more motivated than ever. This was the same place Ascalon was handed to Issei by Michael and the young man knew that well.
Akeno:"Hmm? You seem to be fine."
Leon:"Akeno? What are you doing here?"
Akeno:"I was told by Jason to watch over you. I'm surprised he knew you would wake up."
Leon:"Of course he did. Or else the link we share would have been shattered. Leaving that aside, you'll take me to them, now."
Meanwhile!
At the Abstergo building in Kuoh, the meeting between the 3 factions continued, with the addition of 3 of the Horsemen and the rest of the Creed family.
Alex:"Angels? Devils? Gods? This sounds like a fairy tale."
Bruce:"Yeah, well, your story about kings with superpowers, clans and so on doesn't look too plausible to me, either."
Scarlett:"Sorry if I'm not really getting into it, but it's too much to take in, all at once. On top of that, what happened to Leon..."
Jason:"He'll be fine."
Desmond:"Yes. He went through worse that that."
Anna was trying to follow the discussion, but it proved to be hard when lacking important details. He seemed more worried about her brother than anything.
Koneko:"Relax. Senpai is not easy to kill.", She reassured her friend.
Saji:"If anything, I'd say he was the threat."
A single spark came out of Jason's hand, a warning.
Alex:"Oh, great. It's the green king all over again."
Azazel:"Yeah yeah. Now, since the situation has been explained to the rest, are all in favor of peace."
Michael, Serafall and Srizechs all agreed, but...
Bruce:"What about Kuoh?"
Rias:"What about it?"
Bruce:"What? It'll just stay devil territory like that?"
Sagi:"Oh come on, man! It's just unfair."
Issei:"You can't just demand something like that!"
Good thing no normal humans were at the company this late in the night.
Bruce:"Unfair? I am sorry, are we signing a peace treaty or allegiance to the devils here?!", He yelled smashing his fist on the table. "Let's not forget not telling us about this in the first place.
Sirzechs:"The peace treaty was between the 3 factions. As such, the Horsemen had no part in it."
Bruce:"Bullshit! You think I don't know that Vali proposed the idea of an alliance to get rid of us? You think we don't know you considered this plan long before the meeting?"
Desmond:"Uriel, I'm pretty sure my brother warned you that he has eyes and ears everywhere. It looks like you took it as a joke."
Uriel:"That's..."
Sona:"Bruce, please. Calm down."
Bruce:"I refuse. I am not here as your underclassman, Sona, but as the Horseman of Strife."
Needless to say, Sona got the message.
Scarlett:"Bruce. That's enough. Your demands are unreasonable."
Desmond:"Hahaha... Sorry mother, but you don't even know half the story."
Jason:"Go on, Bruce. You started the meeting, you're finishing it."
These words coming from the second in command were like music to Bruce's ears.
Bruce:"I know this sounds all rich coming from someone who just moved here few weeks prior, but I can't exactly say this area was run that well under whatever jurisdictions you all decided on before. From letting strays running rampant, to concentration camps for soldier augmented projects or whatever the fuck...forgive me if I'm not inclined to let this territory still be ran by you."
Michael:"I didn't k-"
Bruce:"Know what your subordinate was doing? So you admit that you're incompetent?"
Nobody said a word. Bruce took it as a sign to continue, along with Jason and Desmond nodding to him.
Bruce:"And to top it all, you signed a treaty, making this devil territory, without consulting humans. Were you inspired by Munich in 1938? Were you pals with Hitler and I wasn't aware?"
...
Alex:"... enough, Bruce. I think I-... WE get the point.."
Seems that the father of the Horsemen wasn't fond of the treatment the humans have received.
Jason:"Back to the main topic, Kuoh will not be devil territory from now on. Or I'll just go ahead and declare half of heaven and 1 quarter of Hell as my own property."
...
Irina:"Can't we discuss about it? Desmond?"
Desmond:"If it doesn't involve some improvements...I don't know."
Sirzechs:"I see no one is willing to give up governing rights over this are."
Bruce:"...And?"
Sirzechs:" I supposed, the best thing we could is a compromise."
Serafall:"What are you saying, Srizechs?"
Sirzechs:"Well, I can't say I'm too keen on the idea of suddenly loosing influence in Kuoh. I am a devil after all, so we should probably divide the areas of influence to a certain degree...or at the very least agree on a mutual governance."
Jason and Desmond shared an intrigued look, before turning towards Bruce, who was contemplating the idea.
Alex:"And which one would you prefer?", he said getting closer to the devil.
After watching his sons put involve themselves so much in this matter, he felt the need to support them. At least this time.
Sirzechs:" Well... if we're to assume this peace is more than just a temporary things, I do think the second option would be more beneficial. A common point of interest."
Alex:"Rather, allow me to rephrase. How many spheres of influence are you taking into account?"
A hand grabbed Sirzechs' shoulder from behind, squeezing it.
Leon:"Now that's an excellent question."
Leon's POV
I finally reach the company and the first thing i see is my father negotiating with a devil king. He'd certainly adapting quickly to the new status quo.
Bruce was already ready to give me his chair, until i pushed him back down.
Leon:"Finish what you started."
Bruce:"Ok, but what about you?"
Leon:"We are on the same page.", He responded with a quick glance to the window and wink. "Now then, it looks like you're in a bit of a conflict."
Michael:"Thanks to you, i suppose?"
Leon:"Me? I am actually quite on board with a neutral zone, mind you."
...
Sona:"...You... don't want to take control of it?"
Desmond:"What good would that do for Leon, he doesn't have the time to play ruler anyway."
Michael:"Heh. I guess I misunderstood you slightly."
Leon:"It happens often. I guess some of the blame does lie with me. I don't exactly look like the guy with the best intentions.
Uriel:"Back to the matter at hand... how do we make it neutral?"
Bruce:" Assigning representatives would be a good start. Sona and Rias can remain for the devils, for example."
Azazel:"I see. Then we'll send Kalawarner, as punishment for her actions from before."
She didn't seem to protest.
Desmond:"The angels?""
Michael:"Uriel."
...
Uriel:"eh? But why?"
Michael:"You kept hidden your assault on Leon here, risking a potential attack on the angels. Is it clear? I trust you have no issue with that?"
Leon:"No. As for our side, it's obvious...Bruce."
Bruce:"What?"
Leon:"Don't be so surprised. You've proven to me you can handle yourself in a verbal fight against even supernatural beings. Besides, i might get busy from now on and a little help isn't so bad. Jason, Desmond, i expect you to help him."
Jason:"Of course."
Bruce:"Well then, all in favor for this decision?"
There were no objections which means the meeting is over.
Sirzechs:"Since Vali joined the Chaos Brigade, it's obvious there will be people who will refuse to respect this newly formed council. What are we going to do?"
Leon:" What's the point of the questions, Sirzechs? Why should we care what terrorists have to say about it?"
Those were the parting words before each factions teleported away from the company. Being left alone, Scarlett went ahead and hugged her son who she thought was going to die.
Leon:"Finally. It's over."
Alex:"Almost. We still have to solve some things between us, but...it can wait till we get to the hotel.", He smiled.
Desmond:"Family walk it is."
Anna:"I want to be carried on the shoulder."
Leon:"Yeah, yeah. Anything for you."
I'm grateful that my parents are still here, even after getting dragged into this situation.
Scarlett:"That reminds me. Bruce, you're grounded."
Bruce:"Huh? Why?!"
Scarlett:"No cursing in front of Anna!"
Jason:"Ha! The horseman of Strife is grounded."
Desmond:"Lame."
Bruce:"Oh, shut up, you 2!"
I love this family...
"...So do I..."
To be continued...