บท 6: Peerage?
She woke up once more. Or that's what she had thought. As soon as she opened her eyes, she found herself on a pirate's ship. A nostalgic smile made its way onto her face as she stood up on the wet wood of the deck. Clearly, the ship was in the middle of the ocean, but the important part was who she saw at the helm. With measured steps, she walked up to the steering wheel and hugged the woman. It felt a little weird, being this small. But the woman didn't seem to mind and simply rubbed her head affectionately.
"Hi, Tir. Good to see you again. Or is it Akeno now? Honestly, how you ended up in the body of a little angel girl is beyond me. Gahahaha!" The woman laughed joyously.
"Yeah it's Akeno now. This is what getting all my memories back feels like huh? Not bad. I was expecting a headache." Akeno replied before releasing her and leaning against the rail beside her.
"Oh the headache comes after you wake up. Your body can't withstand your soul at such a young age. Not even a fully Fallen one like yours. Your own power awakened to make your body fully Fallen five years ago to avoid this. Luckily for you, however.. I see a particularly cute redhead trying to save your life at the behest of your pleading Mother. That thing will help you." The woman explained, seeing Akeno raise her brow.
"I guess you're not really Lymsie huh? Maybe it was too much to ask. She died a long time ago." Akeno sighed before feeling a hand rest on her head.
"Sorry. I am and I'm not. It's a bit difficult to understand at the moment but I'll explain later. When you truly understand some of the world's most guarded secrets, I'll appear once more. I'll explain everything to you then. If there's one thing you should know though, it's that Lymsie has went on to a better place and she missed you. That is the message she wanted carried to you." Hearing that, Akeno sighed in relief.
"Then.. thank you for that." Akeno replied, looking up at the woman.
She simply smiled at her before Akeno's body started emitting light that slowly warped the scenery around her.
"I'll see you again. Once you remember everything as a Vasto Lorde" The woman said, bidding her farewell.
-Minutes prior-
Rias had decided to visit Japan. Though it took begging her parents and big brother to even do it, it worked in the end. With the mountain of training and studying she was going to face from then on, she wanted to have some fun in the human world before she was swamped with working. She had just received her pieces and had already made Koneko her rook but finding capable people would be hard, especially since she wanted to do so herself and make her peerage a group of friends instead of servants, as others did.
She had traveled to Kuoh, a place her brother had cleared with the Gods of Japan, in hope of meeting interesting people and buying a ton of anime merchandise. Of course, she hadn't gone alone. Her Father's Bishop, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa was with her, watching over her during their time in the human world. Their peaceful stroll around Kuoh was interrupted when a large barrier was erected around a particular neighborhood.
"Eh..? What's going on here, Heinrich?" Rias asked, seeing the barrier block off the street in front of her.
"These seals.. Some Japanese practitioners? Hold on, Lady Rias. Something is-" Heinrich was interrupted when he saw white robed warriors enter a house.
Seeing the Himejima robes, he stayed silent and kept Rias back from interfering. As time went on, the scene became stranger and stranger. It wasn't until a little girl, no older than Rias had stepped out to confront the old man waiting outside with two warriors did Heinrich get nervous. With some unknown energy, she flattened the warriors and went on to have a fight with the old man. He used a large attack on the house and forced the child to take the brunt of it, else her Mother inside would be incinerated. He had to cover Rias' mouth to prevent her from cheering loudly for the girl. Then, they both shivered as a heavier pressure descended upon the man. The look and aura of the girl was incredible but unsustainable in her current body. After scaring the old man away, the barrier fell and Rias slipped away from him and ran over to the girl.
"She passed out.." Rias muttered in concern, hearing quick footsteps coming from the partially destroyed house.
A woman who looked like an older version of the girl ran out and nearly collapsed when she saw her daughter in the state she was in. A choked sob escaped her lips as she gently reached her hand out and touched her daughter's cheek.
"A-Akeno... please.. no.." Shuri checked her pulse, which was weak but thankfully still there.
"Please.. can you help her? I'll do anything.. just please.." Shuri pleaded tearfully to the young Devil.
"I was already planning to." Rias pulled out a Queen piece from a box she had within her bag.
"Lady Rias! Are you sure? Those pieces are precious-" Geinrich warned, but Rias gave him a flat glare before pushing the piece into Akeno's chest without much difficulty.
"I can save her with this. Plus! My gut tells me this is the right thing to d-" The piece shot back out of Akeno and floated in front of a now confused Rias.
Her body rejected it. No, not only that. The Queen piece had undergone a strange mutation. Instead of its previous red, it was now completely white. As if it was made out of some exquisite bone. It felt primal, powerful and hungry. It then flew inside of Rias, who flew back a meter and landed on her butt. Instead of fear though, her eyes lit up in wonder. Even as the previous King piece in her body floated out of her, now mirroring the same appearance as the mutated Queen piece.
The changed King piece floated above Akeno and settled there in silence. Heinrich and Shuri were stunned before they felt as if an entire ocean was floating above them. An emerald green aura flew out of Akeno and into the King piece. The piece started to crack as a seemingly infinite amount of energy was sucked away inside. It mutated... again.
The pressure they felt suddenly eased, yet the energy flowing into the piece hadn't halted yet. It simply changed into a deep, majestic purple color. Once again, it mutated. The piece's bony appearance now resembling something with a bony crown and scales. After a minute, all of the energy was stored and it gently floated into her chest. All was quiet, until the gentle sound of soft breathing made Shuri sigh in relief as she hugged her daughter gently.
"Wow... That was so cool! What was that? Do you know?" Rias asked excitedly, looking up at her protector.
"This is... I.." Heinrich was at a loss for words.
"Wait is she the King now? I'm the Queen?" Rias asked while looking at Akeno's now rapidly healing wounds.
"Wow... What is she...?" Rias slowly moved towards Akeno, staring at her face as if she were entranced.
"She's..-" Shuri paused, unsure if she should tell the two Devils in front of her about her daughter's race.
"A Fallen Angel" Akeno answered for her, her purple eyes staring into Rias' blue.
"Wah.. really!? That's cool! I've never met one. Oh.. DUH! Your wings! I really should have guessed.." Rias hit her head with a sigh, hearing a chuckle from Akeno in response.
"You're funny." Akeno sat up, patting her Mother's arm reassuringly as she did.
"That better not be a jab.. We're friends now and friends have to get along." Rias threw a small pout at her.
"Right.. That happened. I know what happened but there's a little issue with this still." Akeno then looked at Heinrich with a small apologetic smile.
"I'm kinda in Grigori." Her words made him feel as if he was doused in ice water.
"That big Fallen faction?" Rias asked, more interested than anything.
"Yeah that's the one. Not that I'm not grateful but this is a bit of an issue, isn't it? Not that Azazel would care much, but wouldn't your parents and a bunch of the other Devils be concerned you have a fully Fallen member as one of your Peerage? Actually, not only that.. but to have them be the King of your own Peerage? Sounds like trouble, right?" Akeno replied, seeing Rias' expression sour.
"Oh... yeah.. Am I gonna get yelled at?" Rias muttered, dreading the conversation she'd have with her parents.
Heinrich began to sweat. This had all happened on his watch while he was supposed to protect Rias. She wasn't hurt but this situation could be potentially disastrous for the Gremory family as a whole. Akeno gave him a pitying look before standing up with her Mother.
"Well I won't leave this mess to you. You did save my life and cheer my Mom up. Least I can do is help you right back. I'll get Azazel to agree to a meeting with your family. That sound good?" Akeno asked, putting her hand on Rias' shoulder and helping her up.
"Phew! Thanks.. Oh! Since you're part of my Peerage now or.. I'm part of YOUR Peerage now, I can show you around my home and you can meet Koneko." Rias excitedly said, seeming happy to gain a new friend.
"I look forward to it. We can do it after the meeting. And after that.. I'll teach Suou a painful lesson. I'll give him... five days." Akeno's smile looked incredibly ominous to the two Devils.
To Shuri, she chuckled merrily. Shuri had rubbed off on Akeno it seemed. Something about her smile reminded her of herself whenever she exterminated evil spirits. There was a twisted joy in it. She pat her daughter's head and gleefully imagined Suou suffering in the very near future.
"Fufufufu..." Shuri giggled to herself.
Heinrich almost felt sorry for Suou for a brief moment. Although he was a Devil, he offered a tiny amount of pity to Suou in his heart and contacted his Master, Zeoticus.
-Two days later, Himejima compound-
Suou had managed to safely return to his clan hours after his failed attack on Akeno and Shuri. He told his Patriarch and anyone else that Baraqiel had his followers there, to save face. He also had tried to shake off Akeno's ominous threat and play it off as a mere child's threat.
He could not. Every strange shadow he saw, he felt unease. Every random creak he heard, he felt himself sweat. Every time he tried to sleep, he could not. His mind just kept bringing him back to the point where Akeno stood before him. That ominous appearance, those cold eyes that stared through his very being. Worst of all, that horrible pressure that he could still almost feel crushing his very existence.
She was right. He couldn't sleep, he couldn't find any peace, he jumped at shadows and slowly, over the course of the week, he had become more irritable and fearful. Even going so far as to lock himself in his room, excusing it as an injury and his advanced age. On the fifth day, he lay in bed, tossing and turning as his mind stirred and his heart hammered in his chest. Cold sweat covered his body and he felt a cold chill touch his body.
Yet again he sat up, bloodshot eyes scanning his room carefully. He almost relaxed, almost sighed a sigh of relief. Until he saw her, standing above him, staring just as she had five days ago. Her hand quickly sealed his mouth and muffled his would-be deafening screams.
The next day, after not having left his room for days, the Patriarch opened Suou's room to talk to him. Only to find him in a horrendous state. His jaw was hanging by strings of meat. His skin suffering fifth degree burns that snaked around his body. His eyes were whited over and tears, snot and blood drenched his face. His tongue had been burned away into ash that covered the remains of his mouth and on the wall, written in blood was..
"The debt has been paid"
[A/N: Yo you guys got this chappy out by getting this to 100 stones. Thank ya'll so much! Akeno ain't a Devil, in case you hadn't picked that up. Past this is another timeskip where we arrive at Canon. I'll explain some stuff during flashbacks too. Thanks for reading!]
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