The Opening Song:

Tank! by The Seatbelts

Laserbr0: Thanks for the support!

Imperial-samaB: Thank dude, this new arc is going to be an original story that I've been developing for a while now.

Kerlongsj Evert Orlejov: So I know I took a very long hiatus but the fact of the matter is that I have been deliriously busy and spent the remainder of my time just researching, developing and rehashing the story.

I'm not gonna say anything about Issei's fate.

As for how the future unfolds, I guess, we shall see what we shall see.

Yusaku-Playmaker: Oh, Sirzechs' comment to Issei is going to be an important aspect to Issei's character arc.

Fazrulz: This is a can of worms that I've opened up, this story about to get personal.

SilentBug: Thank you very much. I try to focus a lot on character growth and I'm still developing as a writer. Writing characters from various backgrounds is quite challenging for me and I want to make it feel organic and balance the pacing of the story itself.

Dracus6: I appreciate the challenge but I am unable to fulfill it.

ChimaTigon: Nice.

Kamigawa Nagamaki: Not gonna lie, that stuff scares me.

Seize Our Day

The Daily Life Saga

The Imperial Seal Arc

Chapter 20: How We See Ourselves

"Who's Cao Cao?"

The question lingered in the air. A question that Issei dreaded to answer. Who was Cao Cao? A megalomaniac who was hell-bent on the destruction of the majority of the Supernatural World. A hero who inspired and gave hope to Sacred Gear users who had been ostracised, used and abandoned. A man he once called brother. A man he thought he would die for.

Issei rubbed his forehead, summing up his feelings in a sentence, "Someone I pray that you will never meet."

Li-Hua's lips thinned at that and she turned the photo around.

Find Cao Cao and you find your father.

'Shit.'

"This is the first real solid lead that I've had in months, Issei!" Li-Hua hissed, pointing a finger at the photo. "I'm not giving it up."

"It's more complicated than that."

"A long time ago, you made a vow to me, a vow that you seem to have forgotten. Do you know what it was?"

Issei closed his eyes and bit the words out. "'That I-"

"-Would do everything in my power to help you." Li-Hua finished before she leaned forward. "I don't know what the history is between you and Cao Cao but I need you on this. You have a personal connection to him. You know the guy. You can find him."

Issei pinched the bridge of his nose. All of this was a terrible idea. He knew that there'd be a tragedy in the wake of this. He could convince her, tell her to walk away from this but if Olivia was taken from him. He'd searched the ends of the earth for her. He made a promise. One that he hoped he would not regret.

"Where was the photo taken?"

*****SEIZE OUR DAY*****

Rias' first thought when she came to was that she was warm. Very warm. And the person that was cuddling her was nice and she could feel something pressing against her back.

She blinked the drowsiness from her eyes and propped herself on the bed. She turned to see Raynare's arm was around her waist, a peaceful look on the normally standoffish Fallen as black hair spilled across the bed.

Normally, it would be quite an experience to be in bed with a Fallen but having had Akeno as her Queen, it wasn't too much of a shock. Too much.

"What happened last night?" Rias clutched her head, agony ripping through her skull. She hissed, trying in vain to stem the hangover from last night and promptly rushed towards the toilets.

Raynare's eyelid rose, watching the redhead run from the bedroom to the bathroom as she emptied out the contents of her stomach.

"Lightweight," Raynare murmured, getting off the bed herself and stretched the kinks out of her muscles. She yawned into her hand, blearily rubbing the dust and crust from her eyes and saw Issei leaning against the doorframe with an apron entitled 'Kiss the Cook' that she found cute.

"Issei, come to bed."

"I would really love to but I can't."

"Why?"

"Apparently, I'm running a cafe, what with all your pals eating all my food and drinking all my drinks. Especially Kalawarner. She kept hovering around me yesterday night."

Raynare crawled out of bed, keeping Issei's eyes on her as she daintily picked up a shirt and buttoned just enough to expose the right amount of cleavage. She sauntered up to him with a saucy grin.

"Or maybe she was hoping that with enough liquor in enough bodies, we'd have a decent orgy."

"She stabbed the pancakes that I made with her eyes locked onto mine and drank all the juice in my fridge and left when she realised that you were leg-locked with Rias. That's not her sending me sex signals, that's a passive burglary."

"Guess Kala is still a bit overprotective of me."

"Uh-huh, now I got to help out every new woman's first foray into being a woman by loudly making sure that she gets some food and water with her hangover." Issei stepped out of frame and a loud shout from the bathroom along with a yelp made her giggle before Issei made his appearance again.

"You're a bit of a dick, you know that?"

"She can handle it, Sensei woke me up after my first hangover with a gong and a three-piece band."

"Fine, I'm hungry anyway." She pecked him on the cheek, slapping his butt on the way to the kitchen. "Come on, slowpoke."

Issei was ready to follow when Rias stumbled out from the bathroom, tying a bathrobe with coffee mugs plastered all over it and groaned.

"How much did I drink last night?"

"About one beer after the first five minutes of karaoke."

"That doesn't sound so bad."

"Then ten shots in thirty-seconds after that."

"Oh, that makes so much more sense. How do I look?" She plastered on a bright smile, not even bothering to fix her bed hair and she shyly spread her arms out. The picture of a normal teenage girl who was taking her first foray into being a woman.

"Happy."

"The last time we were here, I didn't get to properly tour your apartment because of…" She trailed off, embarrassed at the thought of breaking into his apartment and her desperate last act.

"Water under the bridge, let's get this show on the road."

Rias' trek to Issei's living room was somewhat of a revelation. There were photos on the walls, of Issei with a charming smile as he stood against a mountain backdrop with an old woman and a silver-haired girl, another with him amongst desert ruins with Achilles and Li-Hua, on and on it went. Some photos featured him alone, others with at least some people that she recognised and some others that she didn't but there was one odd thing about all of them until she came upon the last one.

A sombre smile on Issei's face as he pointed towards it.

It was a photo, burnt at the edges, yellow and old but she could make out that it was a young Issei beaming at the camera and two people behind him, that looked so very normal and so very happy, had their hands on his shoulders.

"Those are my parents."

"They look so... normal."

"They were the most normal people you could ever dream of."

"I couldn't ever imagine you as being anything but extraordinary."

"Yes, once upon a time before you saw me in all my awesome glory," Rias rolled her eyes at that statement. "I was...normal."

"So where are they?" Issei's cheery smile lost some of its shine as his finger slid off the photo.

"They're gone."

*****SEIZE OUR DAY*****

Tamamo hummed to herself, hands in her white lab coat, as her heels clicked against the ground. She came upon a shrine, the red torii gate marking its entrance, separating the natural world to the sacred place of worship. She examined the gate, seeing how well taken care of it was and could sense the age of the woods, the buildings too. It had been erected quite sometime in the past.

And its lone resident held a broom in her hand, sweeping the courtyard before she looked up from her task and noticed her.

"Ah, Tamamo-sensei, I didn't know you were coming." Akeno bowed and Tamamo smiled genially.

"Please, there's no need to bow."

"My apologies but when one of the most renowned shrine maidens in history is standing before me, it's hard not to be flustered."

Tamamo giggled at the praise. "May I come in?"

"Please, you are more than welcome." Tamamo and Akeno entered the home that Akeno had made for herself. For all the assumptions that Tamamo had of the girl who displayed the 'Onee-San' image and occassionally, the sadistic priestess, she was amused to find that Akeno was still a girl at heart. There were little trinkets here and there, a plushie on the floor, small potted plants against the windowsill and a traditional tea set tucked away.

A small home for Akeno.

"This shrine is very well taken care of." Tamamo sat by the wooden table in the room.

"Ara ara, that is high praise, Tamamo-san but I must ask, why have you come here? I don't believe that I'm behind on my homework." Akeno set down a tea tray for them, seating herself as well.

"I have a duty of care towards my students."

Akeno, to her credit, still had her serene smile. "I have no idea what you mean, sensei."

Tamamo hummed, her eyes washing over the room, opening her mouth to reply to her. "This is about your performance in the Rating Game."

"Oh." Akeno was not surprised by this, she had come to expect it. "Are you here to admonish me about how I didn't perform as well as I should?"

"I thought you did splendidly using your own devil powers and your prowess with the Onmyōdō arts was well-executed. It's good to see you share that knowledge with Rias. The coup de grace with the five elements acting as an amplifier with the Power of Destruction was nothing short of spectacular." Tamamo praised, a smile on her face as rested her chin in her hand.

"Thank you, sensei."

"Now we are in for a conversation, long overdue." Akeno winced at that remark, rubbing the side of her arm and looked down. "You let your pride, your resentment and self-loathing cloud you. In your anger and self-hatred, you said things back on Avalon that hurt Koneko."

Akeno didn't know if she could forgive herself either for saying it in the first place. The shock and hurt in Koneko's eyes washed over her like a wave crashing against the cliffside. The regret spread faster than any wildfire in heart and she knew that she was in the wrong.

"And while Raynare's words were...insensitive, they were also right." Akeno's whipped back up in shock only for Tamamo to hold her hand up before she could speak. "You did have the power to effortlessly defeat all of them and, even though it worked out in the end, you did not."

Akeno's knuckles whitened as she balled her fists at Tamamo's words.

"Why do you care so much?!" Akeno slammed her hands on the table. "We won, it's over. It's like you said, we beat him, that's all that matters!"

Akeno stood over Tamamo, a fiery rage burning in her, boring it all on Tamamo. She still sat at the table, her hands folded over her lap. Any indication that Tamamo was affected by her words were her eyes narrowing by a margin.

"Koneko is doing her very best to understand who she is as a person. SHE was afraid that her closest friends and family would reject her."

"Sh-she would have been-"

"Don't lie to yourself! She would have been less than fine. I care greatly about my students because I know what it's like to be in pain, to be lost."

"There's nothing wrong with me."

"If we were to replay this same scenario again, without our assistance, without all the time in Avalon, would things have been the same?"

"We would've figured something out."

"No." Tamamo challenged, a steel in her voice. She did not rise like Akeno did, nor did she raise her aura to intimidate her. She was wise enough to know that shouting got you so far and she wasn't Emperor Toba's most favoured courtesan for nothing. Words carried their own weight, after all. "If we hadn't helped Rias, she would be married to someone she hates. Her freedom would be ripped from her."

"I can't use Holy Lightning, I can't."

"Why? Because your resentment and pain towards your father? What has he done to you? Why do you hate him so much that you hate yourself?"

"Stop it! Get out!"

"I'm begging you, Akeno. Look inside yourself and ask, do you want to keep going on like this forever? Stuck in self-loathing? Why do you hate your father?"

"Because he wasn't there to protect my mother!" Akeno cried out, tears streaming from her face. "If he had been there, then mother would still be alive."

Tamamo's features softened as Akeno cried and sniffed, not at all the image of the Onee-sama but of a scared girl. Tamamo sighed, moving away and rubbing her shoulders. This was progress. Akeno would finally begin to heal herself, it was up to her if she wanted to.

"Akeno. I know you want to blame your father but you can't use him as an excuse all your life and you can't use it to cope through the pain. I think I know why you hate him so much because deep down, you blame yourself just as much if not more for her death. You have to stop taking responsibility for things you can't control."

Akeno sobbed, trying to reign in her tears as she tried to wipe them away furiously with the back of her hand. Tamamo cupped Akeno's face, wiping away the tears.

"Akeno, you need to forgive yourself."

"I don't know how."

*****SEIZE OUR DAY*****

"I'll come get you after school. Yeah, okay!" Issei smiled to the bemused audience before him as he tried to get away from the phone. "I love you, too. Bye!"

Sona's lips curled ever so slightly to show her amusement at the situation and a little insight into knowing that Issei did indeed care deeply for his family. Genshirou Saji, the latest addition to Sona's peerage, was not aware of who Issei truly was and his impression was based heavily upon his associates at the academy, namely the Perverted Duo. Although, he knew that Issei was indeed quite important to Sona, he wasn't sure what was it that bothered him about Issei. An itch in the back of his head telling him that he was dangerous.

Issei exchanged small pleasantries with Sona who reciprocated in turn as Saji looked back and forth between the two. He interpreted Issei's easygoing smile as a perverted leer towards the president.

"What's your game, Hyoudou?" Saji called out, pointing an accusatory finger at him.

"Excuse me." Issei raising an eyebrow at him.

"He asked for my help, Saji. Please, excuse his behaviour, he's the newest member of my peerage."

"Are you perving on her, Hyoudou? Are you trying to get with our president?" Sona sighed, exasperated at Saji and Issei's poker face throughout all this was something to behold. Sona sipped at the tea that she made.

Issei examined Saji, feeling a pulse from within him that Ddraig was awake and was responding to Saji.

'I can feel something draconic from him, and some of it is rubbing off on him. He feels threatened by your presence.'

'Ah, well. Should burst that bubble then.'

"As a matter of fact, yes." Sona spewed all her tea and Saji stared at him, slack-jawed. "Everyone says that oppai is everything but all breasts are appreciated in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Plus she's got the whole sexy, library appeal to her with the intelligence to match it. You keep fucking up that way, I'm gonna take her right here and now.

There was no other necessary words as something instinctual triggered in Saji as he leapt across the table, trying to tackle Issei. Issei locked his arms around Saji's neck and squeezed with a stoic face

"See what you're doing? You're fucking up." Issei continued to choke Saji as he madly flailed around. "Saji, know when you beat, just tap out. Tap out!"

Sona shook her head in disappointment as Saji tapped his hands all over the furniture.

"Just remember when it comes to this shit, I'm Goku and you're Yamcha. Got it?" Saji mumbled his affirmative into the pillow. Issei threw him back to the other side of the couch.

"We good?"

"Yeah."

Sona coughed into her hand. "Like I was saying before Saji embarrassed himself, Issei is here because he has asked me to help him in a matter that is important to him and to his guest."

The door to the student council room opened to reveal one eye-patched Music captain with a violin case in hand.

"Who's the newbie?"

"Saji is here to have a more hands-on experience in dealing with clients that require a personal touch and so far, he's failing miserably." Saji drew small circles on the floor, mumbling at disappointing his 'kaichou'.

"This is sensitive information we're dealing with, how do I know that it won't get leaked by you or the newbie?" Li-Hua asked.

"As I said before, you are my client and therefore, a contract must be made in exchange for my help which includes confidentiality, of course." Sona explained before bringing out said contract and Issei accepted the slip of paper. "If Saji dares to leak it intentional or otherwise, I will make my displeasure very well known."

The fact that Sona said this with a straight face in her normal tone scared the life out of her subordinate.

"See, Sona's a consummate professional. One of the smartest people I know and that list is small."

Sona was flattered by Issei's words but didn't show it outwardly. For Issei to come up asking for her help was quite interesting. This time, there was no bet or favour to be owed to Issei. He would be owing her in return. She didn't dismiss the company with him, no, it was quite hard to miss the imposing eye of one Li-Hua Shih.

For both of them to be here, something important must have come up. To happen so soon after Rias' Rating Game victory must have been dire. Perhaps this meeting would shed some light on who they were, after all.

"What is it that you need exactly?"

"I need you to help find Li-Hua's father and to do that we need to find something." Issei handed her a couple of papers and Sona raised a brow at seeing a brochure for museum in Beijing and what appeared to be a torn journal entry.

Saji took the flyer, reading it aloud, "Emperor Qin Shi Huang?"

"The first Emperor of China." Sona supplied as she inspected the torn page.

"So what are we finding out?" Saji asked, flicking through the brochure. Issei scratched his head and turned to Li-Hua, sitting down at the table.

"That's what we're figuring out. Someone posted this through the mail, no details, no return address, just that it's a solid lead to finding my father."

"I didn't know you had a father. You seemed so..." Saji paused, trying to find the right word for it without offending the scary eye-patch woman. "Independant."

"Of course, I have a father. Everyone has one." Li-Hua answered simply. "But before he was my father, he was a treasure hunter and sought the most elusive treasures. The Honjo Masamune, the Lost Library of Moscow Tsars, the Ark of the Covenant and Atlantis, to name a few."

"Atlantis isn't real."

"It's real and it's even more impressive that Li-Hua's father found it." Issei spoke up.

"How do you know if it's even real?"

"So devils, angels and the bible are pretty easy to take in but the not-so-lost city of Atlantis isn't." Saji shrugged at that statement. "In any case, it's real because we've been there to try and find him but no luck. Of course, we got caught by Poseidon but he seemed pretty cool about us finding it and let us go once he knew what we were really after."

"Wait, are you saying that-"

Sona shushed him, scrunching her eyebrows in thought before she read the journal entry aloud, "'We were set upon by the Portuguese Navy at the end of the Pearl and I fear that they will seek what I have safeguarded all these years.' This...this was written by Ching Shih."

Saji was at a loss to who that was but Li-Hua and Issei's knowing look made him more curious. "Who's Ching Shih?"

"She's my ancestor. The Infamous Pirate Queen of the Chinese Seas." Li-Hua answered.

"Okay, what does that mean?"

Sona held up the entry and stared pointedly at them. "Saji, this is significant because this is a passage written just before she surrendered to the Portguese Navy."

"Weren't all pirates executed when they got captured?"

"That's what set her apart from the others. She made a deal with the Qing government and kept her fortune, living the rest of her life in wealth until her death. She's arguably the most successful pirate in history. This journal entry, it's gold."

"So you're after pirate treasure?" Saji asked.

"Hold on- 'So it will not fall into the hands of evil, I will conceal my deepest desire in the Light of the First and the Authority of the Emperor will be safeguarded by the carrier of Enlightenment.'" Sona whispered, reading out the words slowly before she set it down and her eyes widened.

"Do you have any idea what this is?" Sona stressed.

"It's nonsense."

"Light of the First…Authority of the Emperor…" Issei trailed off before his eyes widened in recognition and looked to Sona.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"It's been lost for over a thousand years but that's not the case anymore if this is correct."

"Ok, if you guys aren't after pirate treasure then what are you really after?" Saji interjected.

"Li-Hua's ancestor is talking about the Imperial Seal." Sona said, as if it explained everything.

Issei got everyone's attention through a projection that he created of a regal figure in a palace. "Qin Shi Huang defeats the warring states and unifies China for the first time. The Heshibi was in the possession of the Zhao state but fell into the hands of the new Emperor. He orders it to be remade with the Mandate from Heaven imprinted onto the Heshibi and becomes the Imperial Seal of China that recognises his absolute authority as Emperor. Now, the Imperial Seal fell into the hands of many other Emperors until the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period where it was lost."

"So there's an ancient Chinese relic out there, that's worth a lot of money, and someone wants you to find it?"

Li-Hua sighed, "Well, at least we know what we're finding, now the next step is trying to find it through the Light of the First?"

"You mean this Light of the First?" Saji flipped the brochure over and they saw a lamp with a big red circle around it.

"So whoever has gift-wrapped this package for us wants us to go on this treasure hunt, this just seems a little bit too coincidental." Issei scratched his chin in thought as he tried to decipher it all. Why did they send them the package when Cao Cao had the world's greatest hunter with him? Why the Imperial Seal? It had no actual value to him for his goals. He couldn't help but think that all of this was some kind of elaborate trap but he had no idea what the endgame was.

"Whatever the case, it's a solid lead, one that I fully intend on following through with." Li-Hua stood up from the table, nodding to Sona before she departed from the room.

"Thank you for your assistance, Saji. You did an adequate job." Sona dismissed before he bowed and left as well.

"So a deal's a deal and I'll hold up my end of the bargain." Issei said, taking out the contract before Sona plucked it from him.

"Actually, that slip of paper is not necessary, I'll hold you to your word."

"Are you sure about that, Sona? You sure you don't want any assurances?"

"No, I don't think I will."

"Aren't you being a bit too trusting?"

"I've made the decision to trust you."

"A horrible decision if you ask me."

*****SEIZE OUR DAY*****

Aika paced around on the school rooftop biting her lip as she decided on what to do with herself. She could feel the hunger, the deep pit in her stomach. An undeniable thirst that couldn't be quenched with simple food or water. Ever since the Rating Game, that moment with the dwarf man, her hunger pains had been steadily growing worse. Her alternative food sources weren't filling her as much as she thought.

Yet her senses were being invaded by everyone's presence in the school and she so desperately needed some way to stave it off. She couldn't start draining everyone.

Everyone was happy, or feeling that way and it was like blood in the water for her. A few spots of negativity were in the school but the queasiness she felt from that was a drop in the bucket compared to the hunger.

'What are you waiting for, my child? They're yours for the taking. You deserve it.' The voice purred in her ear.

'They're my friends, I'm not going to drain my friends and I'm not going to listen to the fucking voice in my head.' Aika answered back, her eyes flickering from her normal colour to red before it faded.

'Come now, my child. You are denying the natural order. I know you.'

'You don't know a single thing about me.

'On the contrary, I know everything about you. Your desire to hurt and punish criminals because of a wrong that they caused you in the past. Your lust and sweet affections for the boy that tastes like a dragon. My, my, not just any dragon but the latest Sekiryuutei.'

'Leave me alone.'

'Am I now your enemy because I told you the truth?'

"Go away!" Aika yelled, panting heavily. She couldn't help the shaking in her hands nor the insidious laughter from her own head.

*****SEIZE OUR DAY*****

Achilles mumbled small obscenities to himself, cursing himself for walking all the way to school without his bag. Li-Hua called him out on his stupidity and before he had a chance to rebutt, Sona's unamusement made itself known before she sent him home and to get back on time.

Achilles was just outside the Blue Moon Apts when he spotted two strangers staring at the building and subsequently the entrance to it. He walked up to them, hands in his pockets before he coughed.

"You mind moving outta the way?"

"Hmm, how rude." A voice, refined and elequoint, with the subtle undertones of nasal snobbiness that Achilles got the feeling this man had been punched in the face often. The man was middle-aged, dressed in a blue suit with a red handkerchief in his breast pocket, a monocle in his left eye. His companion was smaller, a coat wrapped around their frame and green eyes turned to regard him curiously before she bowed.

"Sorry to bother you." Achilles' first thought was that she looked like a panda. A very cute human-looking panda. Her black hair was tied up into two buns with white cloth covering them and bangs framed the side of her face against her pale skin. From her neck down, he spied a white bodysuit grey trimmings and though he couldn't see her entire frame properly, her stance revealed more. There was a warrior standing in front of him. The joker beside her, he dismissed.

"You looking for someone?" He asked.

"Our business does not concern you, miscreant." The snobby man dismissed.

Achilles shrugged, not at all caring for his attitude and turned to the entrance when the girl grabbed his arm. She glared at the man beside her before she offered an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry about my companion, we've just had a long trip getting to Japan." Achilles decided that he liked the girl much better but he was still wary of what their intention was. "We're here to find something that was lost and we need help getting it back."

"Oh yeah, and what's that?"

"She's not at liberty to say." The nobleman said pointedly at the girl.

"Good luck with that, I'm sure you're, uh...sugar daddy can help you with that." The nobleman sputtered at the insult but the girl stood in front of him, a look in her eye that told Achilles that she wasn't going to give up.

"Please, I need to find my...my family and I was told that they lived here. I've been looking for them for a long time now and…" Achilles could see the frustration in her eyes as if she was at wit's end. "If not, can you at least point us to where Kuoh Academy is?"

Achilles sighed, brushing his hair back. Normally, he would half-heartedly give them some directions and be on his way but something in him didn't want to outright refuse the panda-girl's request. He didn't know what it was but maybe he had a bad habit of helping others and she seemed like a genuinely earnest girl.

"Fine, I'll take you to where the Academy is."

The girl beamed, her smile like the rays shining down after the clouds had parted and bowed once again. "Thank you so much."

"Sure, panda-girl."

"Panda-girl?"

*****SEIZE OUR DAY*****

"So that's the place, is it?" A silver-white haired young man spoke, he had a priest's coat with a gakuran jacket tied around his waist, billowing in the wind as they peered from the top of another building.

"A holy barrier that's protecting the building, Fallen Angel presence that was in town a couple of weeks ago and we've traced the package to this residence." A handsome young man assessed, his robe hung around him.

"Possible that Fallen could have taken residence here."

"Or that they were the intended recipient."

*****SEIZE OUR DAY*****

"Kala, you suck." Mittelt whined, dressed in her gothic loli getup as she stamped her foot on the ground before she turned her nose in the air.

"Stop being petty already." Kalawarner grumbled, her attire was much more tamer in comparison, a black jacket over a magenta top and jeans combo, and she had a bag of groceries in one hand.

"We could have bought the flan."

"One flan becomes two then ten and then we'd be rolling around with a beach ball in the apartment."

"Hmph, says the old hag with saggy tits." Kalawarner slapped Mittelt over the head with her bag as they headed in towards the apartments.

"You're the same age as I am."

"So what, I'm much more cuter than you anyway." The two Fallen continued to bicker at each other as they tried to enter the building but were stopped in their tracks as they bumped into two young men.

"Ah I'm sorry, could you please help us?" The black haired handsome man said sheepishly, helping Mittelt up.

"Ooh, a gentleman, what's your name?" Mittelt smiled, holding onto his hand a while longer.

"My name is Felix and this is Luis, we're new in town and uh, well we're supposed to meet up with a friend and he gave us this address."

"Oh and who might this friend be?"

"Issei Hyoudou."

Mittelt's smile cracked and a sour expression overtook her. "Oh, him."

"Do you know him?"

Mittelt's childish demeanour dropped as she crossed her arms. "What do you want with him?"

"Just to catch up, we go a long way back and he invited us over to come visit him." Felix said.

"Fine, we can wait until he gets back from the academy, he lives right next door so it'll be hard to miss him." As the Fallen lead the two into the building, Felix glanced at Luis and nodded.

As they neared the door to the Fallen's apartment, Luis reached into his coat, a wicked sword gleaming in the light as Felix cast his hand out, eldritch magic forming in the air. "Thank you for your help."

"Oh my, you wouldn't possibly be thinking of murdering my residents in my own building, would you?" Reiko said from behind them with a chilling smile. The Fallen whirled around, shock in their faces as the two spun around unleashing their attacks on the proprietor. The sword stopped mere inches from Reiko's face and Felix's bolt was frozen in the air.

"My, you two are brave for attacking me in my domain." She waved her hand, slapping them with an invisible force that flung them from the building.

Felix's feet hit a magic construct, bouncing from that and onto the tarmac. He tasted the blood in his mouth, feeling around for any dislodged teeth. Luis crashed onto the pavement, rolling from the momentum and stuck his blade into the ground.

"This just got a lot more complicated." Felix said.

Mittelt and Kalawarner leapt towards them, spears in their hands as they screamed their fury.

Kalawarner growled as she tried to push her spear against Felix. "You attacked us in our home, what are you really here for?"

"As I said, we're here to catch up with an old friend." Felix smiled before he retaliated with a spell chain casting thunderous bolts of magic at Kalawarner.

"You're gonna die here, you're gonna die here!" Mittelt sang in a cheery voice as she swiped and slashed at Luis who shrugged of her attacks with his sword.

"Death by Gothic Loli is a tragic and ironic way for me to die." Luis mused out loud as his hand snaked its way inside his coat to grab the handle of a sword. He parried the thrust from her spear and his sword sang from his coat and across her belly.

Mittelt blinked once, before collapsing backwards from the sheer agony and fire that erupted from her stomach. The spear in her hand shattered and Luis loomed over her, a Holy Sword raised to plunge to her skull.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and he whirled around. He came face to face with Murayama and Kiba, their own blades biting into his steel and light.

"This is getting more livelier by the second."

Felix observed the new additions noting that Kiba had demonic blades of his own though lower in terms of quality and that the girl next to him despite wielding a demonic blade was a completely normal human.

"We're attracting a lot of attention now."

Movement from his left caught Felix's notice and he raised a mgic shield, blocking Aika's armoured leg before he backed away as her next kick shattered it. Her sudden appearance forced him to reevaluate his plans as he started setting up more spells before to block the walking bulldozer before him.

BOOST!

The crimson gauntlet was a streak that blew through the half-assed shield that Felix erected and into his sternum. His feet left the ground before Issei held him by the lapels of his coat and slammed him on the ground.

He raised his fist again to crush his skull before he noticed Felix had a magic circle where his stomach was.

"It's been a while, Issei." Issei snarled at his overly-familial tone, as if no bad blood existed between them.

"Georg, where is she?"

"Who?"

"Where's Ophis, you bastard!?"

CHAPTER 20 END.

The Ending Song:

Omae Dattanda (It Was You) by Kishidan.