Chapter 47: Peace talks.
Ichigo's peerage had a nice relaxing couple of days. The girls went out and had fun, the guys stayed in and played their games.
Zelretch wasn't' lying with regards to his skills, even though they stayed home that day, he took them to school. Everyone reconvened around dinner time.
Saber seemed to have calmed down and was happily enjoying her meal.
It wasn't long before an unexpected knock was heard from their door. Ichigo could sense who it was and begrudgingly went to answer.
He stared at the duo of devils who were standing on his doorstep and sighed
"We just started dinner, come in" He said to both Rias and Akeno. Both of the devils perked up at the thought of eating Shirou's cooking again.
As the group ate silently at the arrival of the newcomers, Ichigo finally broke the silence when the meal was about finished.
"So why are you here?" He asked the two devils.
"First….we wanted to thank you for your help, you saved our lives" Rias said sincerely.
"Though I'm probably the last person who has the right to lecture you on running head first into danger, you need to think about your companions well being as well" Ichigo said ironically.
Rias had an awkward expression come over her, she knew she messed up and almost lost her peerage which she treated as family more so than servants.
"Now, what else are you here for?" Ichigo asked again.
"The three factions are going to have peace talks…..all of them requests the presence of you and your peerage" She said hesitantly.
"Request?" Ichigo said with an eyebrow raised.
"...Strongly Requested…." Rias reiterated.
Ichigo didn't argue, he knew this would have to come eventually. He didn't wanted to make any enemies if he didn't have to and the cat was already out of the bag.
"Time and place?" Ichigo asked.
Rias was a bit stunned at how fast he accepted the 'invitation'. "Kuoh Academy, tomorrow at 6:00 PM. Sona made some excuse to close the school for the rest of the week."
"…seriously…at the school?" He asked rhetorically.
"Whatever, we'll be there" He finished.
The two girls could see he was a bit irriated and quickly left after they relayed the message.
"Went better than I had thought it would" Akeno said awkwardly.
"I just hope nothing happens at the peace talks…." Rias said hesitantly.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the time approached, the group sat together to discuss their best course of action.
"So whats the plan?" Ichigo asked his group.
"Deflect any probing questions about the worlds we came from, be clear in that we don't want to be dragged into their petty squabbles" Rukia said.
"We'll probably be asked about which faction we are aligning with, they can't really say we are in full support of the devil faction even considering we are devils ourselves." Naruto added.
"The three factions aren't the only ones we have to be cautious of, no doubt that the other factions in the world will have ears listening in on what happens" Jaina said.
"Politics everywhere" Ichigo sighed.
"We've already shown that we are a force to be reckoned with, and they also don't know the full extent of our abilities. Adding on the world traveling facet, they can't easily declare war on us" Tier said.
"It seems we have the higher position, we know much more about them than they do about us" Sasuke stated.
As the group continued to discuss, Zelretch walked in and sat down.
"Any advice gramps?" Ichigo asked.
"You are not invincible in this world, just remember that." Zelretch said with a serious expression.
"If worse comes to worse, take your group and jump to a random world." He said with a hint of compassion.
The atmosphere was a bit tense as they looked at the clock slowly ticking away.
"We'd better head out…" Ichigo said.
"I'll give you a ride" Zelretch said with a smile as a portal opened up in the corner of the room.
The group readied themselves and made their way through the colorful portal that Zelretch had opened.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The various factions had members present at the school, each brought along their trusted aids and some powerful soldiers in case of an attack or betrayal, so the atmosphere was a bit tense to say the least.
They all readied for battle when a portal suddenly opened up in the middle of the school courtyard, they did not recognize the energy signature and assumed the worse. It wasn't until they saw who came through that they eased up a bit but still remained on alert.
They've seen the power these 'devils' wielded. They were strong, very strong. If possible they did not wish to come to blows so they suppressed any killing intent they would normal expose.
It was kiba who came out and greeted the group.
"If you would please follow me, everyone is waiting in the student council room" He said politely.
As the group approached the room, they could feel several powerful auras behind the door. Some they recognized and some they did not.
"Glad to see you finally join us" Sirzechs said to the guests who walked through the door.
Ichigo and his peerage looked around, they could guess the new faces who were present. Azazel, the fallen angel leader and a silver hair kid around Ichigo's age who's aura felt oddly similar to Issei's. Michael the Heaven faction leader and Gabriel, one of the seraphs of heaven. On the devil's side was Sirzechs, and Serafall along with various personnel such as Sirzech's queen.
There were also Rias's and Sona's peerage present as witnesses to the recent event along with Xenovia and Irina who sat near Michael.
Ichigo and his peerage took their seats during the silence that followed him entering the room. All eyes were on this strange group.
Azazel was the first to speak, "Is that…his feather?" He asked towards Saber who still had kokabiel's feather in her hair.
Everyone looked at the auspicious white feather in the king's hair.
"Yes" Saber said without hesitation.
"Why do you wear the feather of such a bastard" Sirzechs asked, he was still very angry at the fallen angel for attempting to kill his sister.
Saber's pupils shrank as she lost her temper a bit. A force started to crush down everyone present. She was using her Haoshoku Haki for the first time against other people.
Everyone had their eyes widen at the force that was pushing on them, it felt like Saber was a towering mountain as her will was overpowering theirs.
"I will not tolerate insults to that man in my presence" She declared.
After a few moments, she let up on the pressure and let everyone catch their breaths.
"How did he die?" Azazel asked after everyone regained their wits.
"I was sure you would have been told already" Ichigo said.
"I want to hear it from her…" Azazel said, looking over to Saber.
"With a smile on his face" Saber said solemnly.
"I see….thank you" Azazel said with sincerity. He was aware of kokabiel's goals, to know he was happy in his final moments….it put the fallen angel's heart at ease.
"I think we've gone a bit off topic…." Michael said, breaking the depressing mood.
"I agree, we need to get down to business" Sirzechs responded.
"First, I would like to say that the fallen Angel faction did not support what Kokabiel was doing and we apologize for the suffering the one's present had experienced" Azazel said.
"We don't blame you, we all have had to deal with subordinates who go off on their own against orders" Michael said.
"I'm still angry at the whole thing, but I don't personally blame you Azazel." Sirzech responded.
"Thank you for the trust" He replied happily.
"I would like to ask our guests their opinion on the treaty between our three factions" Azazel declared to the room as all eyes turned towards Ichigo's group.
"Peace is good, though I don't really care if you three fight it out one way or another" Ichigo said offhandedly.
A few eyebrows were raised at his comment.
"I was told of kokabiel's reasons for doing what he did….and while I do not support his actions I can't help but agree with his observations. Your three factions are treating humans like livestock, and most of my group comes from humanity." He said towards the faction leaders.
"That's not true at all!" Sirzechs denied immediately.
Ichigo didn't respond to the Satan and instead turned towards Rias.
"Would you be so kind to explain how you acquired Issei into your peerage?" Ichigo asked the redhead.
Rias's expression darkened. She cared heavily for her peerage…but some of her means have been a bit unscrupulous.
Everyone was looking at the redhead who couldn't give an answer.
"Allow me, Rias sat by and watched as issei was killed by a fallen angel so she could reincarnate him and look like the good guy. Not only that, she knew about these fallen angels that were in her territory illegally and allowed them to move around and cause all sorts of harm not only to Issei but to other humans." Ichigo said to the group.
"Did she do something evil? I would say no. But did she completely disregard Issei's existence as a human because of her own desires?" He said to the group again.
No one spoke up again at his statement, there wasn't much to argue with in their eyes, he was indeed correct on both counts.
Issei looked like he wanted to say something but held back on Rias's account.
"I don't align myself with any of your factions" Ichigo declared.
"We would rather be the faction that protects humanity from the likes of supernatural threats" He said with a smile.
"That would make you stray devils…." Sirzechs said with eyes narrowed.
Ichigo snorted at his comment "Then send some hunters after us" He said arrogantly.
"Are you not scared that we may reject your presence in our world?" Michael said.
"The world's will has already recognized us as its own, your opinion means nothing" Ichigo retorted. He was trying to keep the commanding position in the conversation.
"The world's will?" Azazel asked in confusion.
"The world has a will, it will reject foreign entities" Ichigo explained.
Everyone was looking at the orange haired shinigami in shock. Many religions refer to the world with some kind of personification, but they never took it literally.
"The evil pieces…." Azazel said.
"Oh, looks like you figured it out" Ichigo said in amusement.
"Because my group were reincarnated as devils, the world was essentially tricked into recognizing them as its own" He explained.
Before any more questions could be asked, explosions were heard outside and large amounts of magic was felt.
"We don't want to fight, we just want somewhere to call home…." Ichigo quickly said since their meeting was being called short due to the obvious intrusion going on outside.
"But that doesn't mean we are pushovers" He declared to the room as another explosion went off.
"We can finish this later, lets deal with these intruders first" Sirzechs said.
As the factions walked outside, they saw a battle happening between their forces and some unknown magicians.
"Khaos Brigade" Azazel said.
"That's right" An unknown woman said.
"Cattleya Leviathan" Serafall said.
"Oh I'm so honored that the great Serafall Leviathan knows me" She answered sarcastically.
Cattleya looked over to the silver haired youth standing next to Azazel.
"How long are you going to keep standing there?" She said towards the boy.
All eyes turned to him as he walked over and stood next to Cattleya.
"Vali….." Azazel said with a cracked voice. He was a bit blindsided by this sudden betrayal.
"My only desire is to fight strong opponents" Vali said as he activated his sacred gear.
It became apparent who he was to Ichigo's peerage at this point. The opposite of the dragon that resided within Issei's sacred gear.
"You are going to use the power of your sacred gear right in the middle of a town?" Ichigo asked.
"Who cares about them, I just want a good fight" Vali said as a smile crept up onto his face.
Issei was about to step up and fight his rival until he heard a familiar voice resound throughout the school.
"I am the bone of my sword" Shirou chanted.
The words felt like blades to all those who heard, the taste of steel hung in the air.
Everyone present had heard the news regarding his ability….to create a world of infinite blades.
"Steel is my body and Fire is my blood" He continued.
As they all stared at him, he did not continue his aria like they thought he was doing instead he said something else.
"Trace on"
Three blades appeared, suspended over his head.
These were powerful blades, but they all held a certain aspect to them.
Vali and issei both suddenly felt an oppressive aura wash over them, Issei fell to his knees immediately as vali started to buckle under the pressure.
"What….are those…?" Cattleya asked hesitantly.
"Ascalon, Balmung, and Arondight. Weapons that have slain dragons." Shirou declared to all of those present.
Everyone gawked at the legendary blades that were floating before them. No doubt they were not from this world.
"That Ascalon…..its stronger than the one in our vaults" Michael said with shock.
Cattleya wasn't here to have an all out war, her main objective was just to cause some chaos and bring back Vali….she would not fight a losing battle.
"We're retreating" She told Vali as she opened up a portal to leave.
When the duo finally left, Shirou dismissed his blades.
Azazel filled the group In on who exactly this 'khaos brigade' was. It comprised mostly the old Satan faction and various descendants of heroes who wish to remove all supernatural entities from the world.
The peace treaty was eventually signed, Ichigo's group had managed to duck away without too many questions thanks to the incident.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As Ichigo's group came back home, they started to relax again. Most of what happened didn't really have anything to do with them for a change.
"Seriously…..'khaos brigade' " Naruto said, a bit dumbfounded at their name. Everyone had a laugh at their expense.
They were interrupted as Zelretch came flying in through the door.
"You, You, You,…..You….and You" He said, pointing towards Shirou, Saber, Ichigo, Rukia and Jaina.
Before they could question what he was doing, he suddenly opened portals underneath them and swept them away to parts unknown.
The rest of the peerage looked at the vampire in confusion.
"Should we be worried….?" Yoruichi asked.
Zelretch shrugged his shoulders as he jumped into one of the portals on the ground and disappeared.
"Lets go play a game" Sarah suggested.
They dwelled on Ichigo's group no more as they made their way to the game room.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Since a lot of people don't read the one at the bottom I thought I would add one here. I did a bit of foreshadowing in regards to a VR world last chapter, that doesn't mean this next world will be it. I have one planned for later down the road.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone