3rd POV:
At Azazel's invitation, or I suppose plead is a better term, Alexander went around and up the cliff to see what the whole lightning spectacle was all about. He already got the gist from Azazel's previous questions, but he doubted he could be of any use in defusing the situation.
Though, if there's one thing those lighting bolts remind him of, it's probably-
Alex:"It's as if Aina was provoked again. Damn."
Azazel:"Aina?", he asked with genuin interest. "The one from the story you told me earlier?"
Alex:"Yes. Scarlett's step sister and currently, the Green King."
Azazel:"Then, I guess the Green King's power is related to lighting?"
Alex:"Yes and no. Don't think of the kings' powers as elemental based. For example, my powers might manifest similarly to flames or heat, but that's only the 'physical' manifestation. Even I don't fully comprehend them."
To Azazel, this was a very interesting topic. It's not exactly related to sacred gears, something he's researching, but it's something new for him.
Azazel:"So then, it's possible that the power may change or evolve?"
Alex:"As far as I know, maybe only the way the king uses the power might change, but the power itself. Only the 7th king seems to have a different one with each generation. The colorless one. But tough luck finding him."
Azazel:"And now there's a colorless one too. What's the difference?"
Alex:"...the lack of color?"
...
Azazel:"Ok. I walked into that one. But seriously?"
Mercer sighed once before pointing upwards, toward the sky to direct Azazel's vision.
Alex:"I am not exactly sure myself, but I do know that the colorless king rarely uses this."
The sword of Damocles. A symbol of kingship. For some, it serves as a way of protection. For others, it's a reminder that they can destroy the world if they're not careful with their powers. But for all of them it's a message that, much like how the story of Damocles goes, it can fall at any time and leave nothing behind.
But for now, Alexander's sword remains 'healthy'.
For Azazel, this seemed like a challenge, in the sense that part of him felt the urge to fly up there and touch the sword to discern whether it's actually physically there or just seems to be. But at the end of the day, he didn't call the man today to research him like a lab rat. Besides, that would eventually spell troubles if someone were to find out.
Azazel:"You're a singularity on earth, aren't you?"
Alex:"If there's 7 kings, does that mean there's 7 singularities?"
But that question wasn't really asked to receive an answer, but mostly to entertain the fallen angel's curiosity.
Leaving the kings topic behind, it would seem the sudden appearance of the sword has settled down the lighting storm, partially. But enough for the 2 men to approach without having to dodge and dash.
Lo and behold, it's none other than Akeno Himejima and her beloved father.
Baraqiel:"Azazel?"
Azazel:"Seems like your training is going well."
Akeno:"Define 'well'."
She did have a smile on her face, but to call it genuin one must be blind. It's no wonder Azazel took a quick glance at Alex as if saying 'see what I meant?'.
The ordeal just seemed sickening to Alexander, and that's not simply because of the idea of one parent causing the death of the other.
Alex:"Sigh...one sided vengeance is truly annoying."
He said that to himself, but devil hearing doesn't care for it. It's a no brainer that Akeno would take offense to that.
Akeno:"If you're here, can I assume my training is done?"
Azazel:"No. We're just here as spectators. Carry on."
An audible 'tch' came from the girl. Understandable. It's highly probably she's been saying all sorts of things to her dad prior to this visit.
Akeno:"What's the point?"
Azazel:"You want to help Rias win, don't you?"
Akeno:"But not like this!"
It was time for Alexander to behave like a Mercer for once. Can't let Bruce do all the work.
Alex:"Define 'like this'."
Both the daughter and the parent adopted a confused expression, one more hostile than the other.
Akeno:"...how childish.", She referred to the provocation.
Alex:"Coming from the one holding grudges."
Akeno:"Holding a grudge for my dead mother is not childish."
Alex:"Where did I mention 'grudge for your mother'. Did you father kill her?"
Akeno:"No, but-"
Alex:"Are the ones who did it still free?"
Azazel:"Not the case anymore."
Alex'"Well then..."
Baraqiel would have stepped in, especially since he acknowledged his fault for his wife's death. But unlike him, Azazel wanted to see where all of it was headed. He already understood that Alexander is not like any of his sons in regards to problem solving. Meaning if he chose to act this way, there's something to be gained.
As for Akeno, she was reminded of her talk with Leon the night prior. About the difference between her and Koneko and still hated what she heard, as it implies she's all alone in this.
Akeno:"You... don't know anything about what happened...So don't butt in like you do!"
The electrical storm picked up the pace once more, this time the target being not her dad, but her classmate's.
In other words, mission accomplished for Alexander.
His forced smirk sealed the deal and gave Akeno the pretext to fire. She probably didn't think of things like 'how will his children react if he gets hurt', but that's to be expected. Besides, Alex never intended to be hit.
Amidst the constant lighting bolts being thrown at him, he managed to dance around them, giving Akeno that feeling of 'almost hit him'. But much like Hollywood's attempt at staying relevant through a quarantine, it's always close, but never on the mark.
With the distance between the 2 closing in and Akeno's patience running dry, the amount of bolts was reducing. Essentially, it told Alexander that the girl was not immune to her own spells and could potentially hit herself of she fires too close.
Alex:"You asked what's the point of this training, yet here you are exposing your weakness to me.", He kept on pressuring her, intentionally.
Until, finally, he came close to 10 inches from her, making sure to leave enough space between them for a little opening.
A final bolts was fired right in the middle, coming all the way back, from Baraqiel.
Baraqiel:"Get away from my daughter.", was the only line he uttered.
In truth, Alex has put his faith in Baraqiel that he had enough control to fire that warning shot even in very close proximity. And that faith has been rewarded.
Turning around as to hide his face from Akeno, Mercer winked at the 2 fallen angels, a way of saying 'i did my part'.
Alex:"You daughter? Then next time fire early."
In truth, Baraqiel felt as if he played right into his hands, especially considering the genuin smile that Alex had when facing him. Passing by the 2 angels on his way back, he patted Baraqiel on his shoulder and whispered a simple 'good luck', before going down the hill and supposedly back to the mansion.
For you see, when someone hates another person with a passion, making the hate itself disappear is a tall order and more often that not, any attempt at doing that will backfire. In that case, don't waste you time diminishing those feelings of dread. Simply, give the 2 parties involved someone common to hate.
After all, people become closer when facing a common enemy. And as someone who lead the fallen angels for so long, I'd be shameful for Azazel not to notice.
...
Azazel:"Heh. You waste time at the head of that company, Mercer.", he said to himself. "I'm scared to think what you might have done as a politician... or are you letting Bruce take out that garbage?"
To be continued...