Time Again

Grayfia Lucifuge was not a stupid person. In her encounter with Issei Hyoudou, she normally would have had a dozen questions to ask him about being the Red Dragon Emperor. That, and why he allowed himself into Lady Rias' peerage.

She was under orders however, orders directly from Sirzechs himself. Orders to only observe, to gather information until further instructions were given. She had just returned from the Hyoudou residence where the boy named Issei who had apparently resisted Rias' seduction, revealed himself as the Red Dragon Emperor. She honestly didn't know what he had planned by revealing himself in the manner that he did. She was also surprised that she didn't find the two in the process of doing the deed.

Grayfia let out a soft sigh as she laid a sleeping Rias in her bed, tensions were at an all current high inside the realm of Devils. There were so few of the original 72 pillars that most, if not all, of the remaining High Class Devils were looking to solidify themselves in a position of political power, be it marrying off their own, or trying to marry into other families.

Unfortunately, Rias was caught up in the politics as a bargaining chip, or bride to be as she was politically labeled. That brought her train of thoughts back to part of what Issei explained to her before she left, if neither party could come to agreeable terms, they could settle it via a Rating Game. Somewhat unofficially though, while it wouldn't count as a win/loss since Rias wasn't old enough yet to officially participate.

Not that it would stop Raiser Phoenix from agreeing to the challenge, and if Grayfia knew Rias as much as she did, she knew that Rias would be too foolhardy and stubborn to back down.

Releasing another sigh, Grayfia left Rias' room to report on her findings.

Something was off. Something felt... wrong about the shadows in the hallway. It was almost as if they were watching her. It bothered her that she felt uneasy in her own house, but the feeling wasn't hostile by any means. No, by all means the feeling was welcoming, almost too welcoming for a house with barely any people in it.

That and it was the middle of the night.

The closer and closer Grayfia walked to Sirzech's office chambers, the stronger the feeling got. That was until she arrived at the doorway, her instincts practically screaming at whatever was on the other side of the door.

Her heart throbbing, she extended her hand.

"Grayfia wait!" The suddenness of the voice caught her off guard which caused her to make an instinctive grab for the door handle. She realized at the last moment how bad of an idea that was.

Thankfully for her, the person the voice belonged to was faster than she was, and managed to prevent her from touching the door handle.

Grayfia turned to see who had started her, only to find it was her husband, Sirzechs.

"I'm sorry if I startled you Grayfia," he said. "I only acted the way I did for your safety, we don't know who, or what, is behind this door and if there's a trap set or not."

She shook her head from side to side. "No, it's ok. I let my guard down because of my curiosity, but it won't happen again, at least not like this."

Sirzechs nodded. "I'll head in first, make sure you stay on guard if I need your help, that's an order."

As much as Grayfia wanted to follow him and help, an order from your King was not something to take lightly. She trusted him not to need her, but she figured he might regardless. He was far too reckless as the currently titled Lucifer .

Sirzechs reached out and grasped the handle of the door. When nothing happened, he turned the handle and stepped inside the room. It was abnormally dark. As a Devil, seeing in the dark wasn't an issue as they basically had near perfect night vision. The room however, was dark as if something sucked the light out of it.

He had only been in the room for a few seconds when he realized the atmosphere had changed. It no longer felt like someone was watching him.

It felt like there were many people watching him.

"I'll admit, what you've set up is quite impressive. Not many people can say they've entered my home and even less so undetected. I take it you wanted us to find you?" Sirzechs asked.

If the unknown entity, or entities as it felt like, could get into his house undetected, they could stay that way if they wanted to.

"To put it simply, yes." The ambient voice wasn't loud, but it could clearly be heard throughout the entire room making it impossible to pinpoint its origin.

"Well, we found you, what is it that you want from us? Is this whole thing just a charade to get my attention?" Sirzechs wanted answers.

The voice chuckled. "I suppose I was a bit over the top with my performance than what was necessary, but it got me the results I wanted did it not?"

Sirzechs may not have liked it, but he had to admit, what this person did to get their attention worked like a charm. The question now, was how did he get past the defensive barriers he set up to prevent unauthorized access?

"Now I suppose we need to talk, after all, that's why I came here. let's get to business..." As the mysterious figure's voice trailed off, the darkness receded back into its place of origin.

When the darkness completely disappeared, Sirzechs found himself staring into a pair of Ruby Red eyes.

Issei awoke the next morning, rubbing his eyes as he yawned away his grogginess. It had been hard for him to remember exact dates, but for having a 5000 year old memory, he figured he was doing good considering the circumstances. He had remembered enough important information up to this point, but the exact date of when he first met Raiser escaped him. He knew it was sometime this coming week though, and even if it was today, he'd be ready.

3 days later, is when Raiser made his appearance.

The Butterfly Effect, a fickle thing of chaos theory. Its short term effects were nearly negligible. Its long term effects however, were a bit more severe.

An entire set of events could be rearranged and altered depending on the changes that were made. The more changes, the more altered the events became. It could change for the better, people who were fated to die could live, self-destruction could become a thing of the past and people could live on in peace.

If only it were that simple. While the Butterfly Effect could lead to a better future, the opposite could happen just as equally. People who were fated to live, could die. Instead of a happy future, a future stained with bloodshed and carnage.

That, is what was on Issei's mind most of the time on the day Rias told him to meet up with the rest of the club in the club room. He still didn't remember the exact day he met Raiser previously, but something about 3 days rubbed him the wrong way. It felt, off.

If it was in-fact the Butterfly Effect, he was balancing on a thread at this point. As long as he didn't do anything too drastic he was sure it would become slightly less chaotic. He hoped it would at least.

Raiser's obnoxious voice finally brought him out of his thoughts, the bastard was trying to cling onto Rias like she was already his.

It sickened him.

However the time to act was not now, at least not in the way he wanted to act. No, he would still voice his displeasure about the situation his master was in and show that he wasn't a weakling by defending against Raiser's weak Pawn's attack.

"I already told you Raiser, I will not marry you. Who I marry will me my decision and my decision alone!" Rias angrily got up from the couch where Raiser was and started to walk in the direction Grayfia, who was acting as mediator, was standing.

Apparently, this didn't please Raiser in the least bit, he got up after her and went to grab her arm to force her back onto the couch. However, there was one obstacle he would never be able to pass.

Issei Hyoudou.

Said person had soundlessly appeared in-between Rias and Raiser, preventing the latter from reaching the former.

"Who do you think you are boy? Standing between me and my bride is a mistake I will not tolerate!" Raiser said angrily.

Oh how small Raiser was, all he could do was get angry like a little boy who didn't get the toy he wanted.

"I will say this once and only once so listen well, I am Issei Hyoudou, Pawn of Rias Gremory. I will let no harm come to my master while I still live and breathe." There was steel and fire in his voice, he wouldn't back down and if he had to, he'd take matter into his own hands.

"So this one has backbone I see, seems you've managed to find a servant with some worth, misguided as it may be." He paused, turned back to an empty part of the room and snapped his fingers.

Within seconds, his peerage arrived. The first person Issei looked for was Ravel. A detail, at the time he had no reason to consider remembering, was if Ravel was a part of Raisers peerage the first time he had this conversation.

After a quick glance he found that she was nowhere in sight, and at the same time Raiser had chosen one of his Pawns to come forward.

"let us see if you can handle one of my Pawns Hyoudou, if you meet my expectations then we can move on to bigger matters." A glint in his eye told Issei all he needed to know, Raiser was itching for a fight with him.

"Enough" Grayfia's declaration stopped anything further from happening. "I was instructed to act as a mediator in this discussion by Master Lucifer: Sirzechs himself. If either of you take this any further, I will have to step in and intervene myself."

Raiser seemed to back off immediately after he heard her subtle threat if he caused further ruckus.

"To be told that by the strongest Queen..." He paused momentarily. "I have no choice but to oblige."

Issei turned to Grayfia and bowed slightly. "Sorry for causing a disturbance."

Grayfia then turned to where Rias was standing, which said person was heavily blushing from the fact that Issei had been ready to fight for her behalf which pushed her over the edge of deciding whether or not it'd be a good idea to see if romance would be an option with her new Pawn.

"Lady Rias, I assume your answer for the marriage to Raiser Phoenix is refusal?" Grayfia wasted no time at this point.

Rias responded in kind. "That is correct, I have absolutely no interest in marrying Raiser."

"Very well then, Sirzechs foresaw this as an outcome and has planned accordingly, the only way to settle this particular dispute is by participating in an unofficial rating game. Which under these circumstances, where Lady Rias has not reached the age to be able to participate in these games, and where you have won many, Lady Rias and her peerage will be allowed 2 weeks of training time to prepare for the game. If this is not acceptable to you Lord Raiser, then I will follow Sirzechs' order."

It was Issei who spoke up next. "Lady Grayfia, what was his order?"

Grayfia smiled at Issei gently. "His order was to inform the Red Dragon Emperor and have him mediate further."

Issei had to visibly prevent himself from paling.

Raiser actually paled.

Rias let out a soft gasp.

"I... I see, well Lady Rias, how would you like 2 weeks to train for our rating game?" Raiser's voice was slightly up-pitched do to his tense state, and he was slightly more humble.

It was obvious that this Raiser was already scared of Dragons. How... advantageous.

A feeling built up inside of Issei, a feeling of absolute Domination. What he didn't realize, was the extent of the symbiotic relationship between the pre-war Evil Pieces and their King. Rias could feel the intensity of Issei's feelings, she could feel his determination to win and his resolve to win.

Rias turned to Raiser. "I accept having 2 weeks to train, and I accept participating in the unofficial rating game to decide whether or not we marry. Just know, if I win, you will never try to pursue me ever again."

Raiser smirked. "And if I win Lady Rias, you will become my bride sooner rather than later. If I win, you will be married to me within the next 48 hours of the game."

Rias said nothing and just glared fiercely at him.

Raiser just laughed while he walked over to the rest of his peerage. "Very well then, in 2 weeks time we will meet on the battlefield for our rating game. You had better come prepared."

In the moments before Raiser and his peerage left, he could have sworn that the Hyoudou boy had glowing green eyes and a dangerous red aura.

With Raiser and his peerage gone, the atmosphere went back to what could be considered normal for the club room. At least that would have happened if Rias hadn't suddenly lunged at Issei and engulfed him in a hug.

"Uh Rias, not that I hate this or anything like that, but I haven't actually done anything yet have I?"

Rias just chuckled in amusement. "You're a silly boy, your words in my defense were more than enough to make me happy to have you as my Pawn. Thank you Issei for standing up for me even though I never asked you to."

Issei lightly blushed. "You're welcome Rias, I'm only doing what I think is right as your Pawn."

Everyone in the room heard the words, none of them believed that what he had said was literal. They all had a suspicion that Issei probably liked Rias, but because of their current situation, he couldn't do anything about it.

The silence was broken once Grayfia spoke.

"Lady Rias, your brother has asked me to deliver a message to you." She pulled the envelope out from one of her pockets.

Rias took the letter and swiftly moved to her desk. With the others following suit, she swiftly sat down and opened the letter. The members of her peerage watched on in silence as they followed her eyes as she read whatever was written on the piece of paper. When she finished the letter, she simply let it rest on her desk as she closed her eyes in what appeared to be in deep thought.

"Is something the matter?" Kiba was the first to break the silence.

"No." Rias replied immediately, opening her eyes in the process. "Nothing is the matter. We can discuss this tomorrow, it's late and I need to sleep on this before I do anything else. Grayfia, you may go now"

Rias got up and swiftly made her way to the double doorway as Grayfia transported herself back to Sirzechs' side. Pausing as she turned the door handle, she looked back over her shoulder at her peerage who looked back with puzzled looks.

"I'm sorry." Rias apologized. "I really need to think about this. It's not something I can decide on in only a few minutes. I would recommend that it would probably be best to pack a bag or two, like you were preparing to go on a long holiday, or vacation somewhere far from home."

With that, she walked away and shut the door behind her. Which to Issei was a tad odd, the Rias he knew would have more than willing to discuss a letter if it involved her and her peerage. Now that he thought about it, earlier when Rias had tried to seduce him in his bedroom, she had been quivering, it had been every so slight, but it was there.

He took his theory one step further, and glanced at the others still standing around him. Their statures appeared to be all normal but their eyes told a much different story. Akeno's eyes were concerned. Koneko's were fearful. Kiba's were worried. What had them all on edge?

"Issei, I need to speak to you in private. Kiba, Koneko, you may go. I will explain everything to him, and see what I can do about Rias." Akeno's eyes had steeled, and not in a good way.

It only took moments for the room to clear and for Issei and Akeno to take a seat opposite from each other. The atmosphere was think with anticipation. From Issei's perspective, it looked like Akeno had trouble thinking of where to start off, so whatever it must be, must have happened fairly recently, but only after Akeno, Kiba and Koneko had been picked up by Rias.

"Akeno." Issei decided to get the facts, no sense beating around the bush when his source of information was right in front of him, and willing to talk. "Give it to me straight, what happened to you all? I've never seen a group of people look so worried or scared because of someone else's reaction to a letter."

Akeno squirmed slightly. It was obvious this was a sensitive topic.

"Listen, I can tell this much from just your reactions, something bad happened didn't it?" Issei pushed the matter. What the hell had happened that he didn't know about?

"The reason we're on edge, is because of the Fallen activity in this area. What not many people know, and by that I mean Rias' peerage are the only ones who do know, is that the Fallen Angel Kokabiel has taken residence in the abandoned church in town."

Kokabiel was already here? So was what happened to himself not time travel, but dimensional travel? But then why would that person say 'time again'? Regardless, now was not the time to figure that out, he needed to know more about Kokabiel's actions.

"A Fallen Angel of his caliber is residing in this town?"

Akeno gave him a funny look, like he wasn't supposed to know something he did. Issei backtracked a bit to avoid unnecessary questions.

"I only know what I've read from fiction, or from references to names from the Bible. Otherwise, I really don't know much about him."

He hadn't been lying, other than the first time he fought Kokabiel, he really didn't know much aside from what the majority of the Three Factions knew. He never bothered to ask Azazel about him either, after all, he was frozen in deepest part of the Underworld, Cocytus, never to return.

"Oh, I see then." Akeno's reply didn't sit well with Issei, so he decided to try something else.

"Listen, Akeno. Any knowledge I have, any action I might take, any action I can take, will be for every existing member in Rias' peerage including herself. That goes for any members we might get in the future as well. Rias saved my life, she gave me an opportunity to live a better life than I could ever hope for as a normal human. She introduced me to all of you, she gave me a second family which is something I will never be able to repay her for. If it comes down to a choice between protecting my own pride, or protecting my family. I will throw away my pride and put all my effort into protecting you all."

Akeno just sat there while Issei talked. Surprise and shock were the current feelings she was having, this boy in front of her was supposed to be a part of the perverted trio? The way he talked too, he was only 17 right? The way his green eyes... green eyes? She was fairly certain his student profile had it listed as brown but she'd have to look afterwards. He considered them family this early? He was looking her dead in the eyes and not gawking at the size of her chest? Was this really Issei Hyoudou sitting in front of her?

Whether or not it was, didn't matter right now. Right now, what she needed was help, help for Rias, and help for the peerage's sanity and morale. Regardless of who this person really was in front of her, he put her at ease with his words. How she could tell, she didn't know for sure but the way he said it, and the emotion he put into his words, made her believe they were genuine. She felt that maybe, just maybe, they had a chance.

When Issei finished talking, Akeno explained everything.

"I suppose the best place to start is near the beginning. Some low level Fallen Angels had moved into the abandoned church I told you about. At least, that's all we had been able to scout out. Or in this case, what we were allowed to scout out was what he wanted us to find out."

Issei had a feeling he knew who this 'he' was, but didn't interrupt Akeno in the middle of her story.

"After a few days, we decided that a few Fallen Angels wouldn't be an issue for us. So after school ended, we gathered here and took a magic circle to just a few blocks away from the church. When we got there, the amount of guards outside were few, so we sent Koneko and Kiba inside while Rias and I tried to get any information we could out of the guards about why the Fallen Angels would suddenly take residence here."

Akeno looked visibly shaken at this point, whatever happened to her and the others must have been pretty bad. Though, probably not as bad as what he had gone through, since nobody was dead, or had died in front of his eyes when he was useless to do anything about it.

"It's ok Akeno, there's no need to rush anything. I have more than enough time to listen to what you have to say." Issei took one of her hands in both of his, and rubbed the back of it to soothe her. It was what he did to console her when Baraqiel died. Akeno gave a weak smile, she may not have had any feelings for him currently, but she appreciated his kindness none the less.

"We were in the middle of questioning one of the guards when we heard Koneko and Kiba yelling for help. When we got there, Kokabiel had already beaten them in the time it took us to arrive. He was so powerful, there was nothing we could do, he just laughed at our efforts. Useless, he called them, useless, useless, useless..." She paused for a moment to collect herself. "In the end he let us go, said we currently weren't worth the effort to take care of. He threatened us though, that he'd have people watching us, and that if we did anything to interfere, he'd take care of us himself."

Kokabiel definitely wasn't one to bluff, he almost succeeded in destroying the town after all, it was only due to Vali's sudden appearance that ended the threat of war. Of course, it was Azazel who had sent Vali in the first place who swiftly dealt with Kokabiel due to the power of Divine Dividing.

It was at this point in time, that Issei realized how flawed his plan really was. He was the only one who knew that he was from the future. A very far future at that. If he had told them, would they have believed him? Another thing, what the hell compelled him to get stabbed again by Raynare? Not that it would have killed him, but who in their right mind would have... bad example. Issei after seeing everyone he loved die, and traveling almost 5000 years into the past would probably leave even the strongest of people insane.

"Thank you Akeno, for telling me all this. I'm glad you trust me enough to do so." Issei stood and put his hand in one of his pockets.

Akeno smiled slightly. "There was no-one else I could talk to, I'm glad we got you when we did."

Issei pulled his own Evil Queen Piece out of his pocket while standing, it was now or never, and he would carry through with this crazy plan even if it damned him in the end. Anything to save the ones he loved.

"I wish I had another choice, but I'm going to have to break your trust Akeno. Maybe one day I can tell you what I've seen, how I feel, and the reasons why I do things. But until then, you're not going to remember anything past you finishing your story."

Akeno's eyes widened as he spoke, and widened even more at the sight of the Evil Piece in his hand. She tried to get away, but Issei was much, much faster. Faster than she could see, he had crossed the short distance between them and embraced her in a hug.

"I'm sorry."

Those were the last words she heard before Issei pushed the piece into her and darkness consumed her.

Issei laid Akeno's unconscious body on the couch she had just stood up from, taking care to be gentle with her.

Regardless, he had implanted 4 pieces so far, he had many more left, pieces that were formally Rias' from his original timeline/universe and the pieces that were given to him after he achieved his goal and gained a peerage himself. He would return each and every one of them to give his family a fighting chance.

The sound of the door opening is what brought him out of his train of thought. Turning around, he came face to face with an irate Rias, and an explosive blast of demonic energy which sent him across the room.

Issei wasn't hurt, but Rias was the last person he expected to attack him in any way, shape or form.

"Rias, it's not what it looks like, Akeno was just tired and..."

He stopped mid sentence in realization, something was wrong, very wrong. This wasn't a matter of misunderstanding like he originally thought. Not with the way Rias was looking at him.

"Why?"

"What?..." What was she trying to ask?

Demonic energy filled the room, as Rias' power of Ruin swirled around her angrily. She glared at him with eyes of pain, anger and sorrow.

"Why... why did you leave me to die?"

Author's Notes: Cliffhanger! Yeah, I know, I originally was going to end it a different way, and then between not having time to write and a bit of procrastination I forgot entirely! Regardless, this story isn't dead! Yay! Updates will continue to be sporadic, I also apologize for the slightly shorter chapter, but it was a necessary evil.

An honorable mention is in order, the story Holy Inferno Dragon by G1Slipcer. I seriously suggest you check it out, it's well written and has a great story. Plus it will probably update more frequently than this one will.

On a side note, I've been thinking, I've wanted to possibly write another story on the side, but I've been torn between 2 ideas (in all honestly I will end up doing both) but not sure which one I want to do.

The first idea is a JoJo's Bizarre Adventure crossover with RWBY. For those that have read the manga of JJBA, you can probably guess how I will pull this off without breaking JJBA canon.

The second, is a Harry Potter story but in which Harry acquires a Stand power (a Stand Power from JJBA, not a full crossover, just the Stand).

So which would you guys be more interested in? A RWBY story (which would completely replace the failure that is the one currently up, dunno what I was thinking with that one tbh) or the Harry Potter one?

Let me know at the end of your review! Thank You and look forward to the next chapter! ~Shad0wReaper133

(PS: apparently the last time this story was updated was August. I again, apologize for the huge delay.)