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Ch 9: MORE Familial Troubles

Rias Gremory heaved a monumental sigh.

"So you three are similar to us then? The same thing happened to you?"

Irina dryly replied, "Pretty much. Nice to see we all got the same end of the shortstick..."

Their moment of friendly commiseration was cut short as both Dragon's growled at the other, hunched over their respective companions and sizing each other up.

"U-um, A-Albion?"

One sky-blue eye flicked downwards to meet Rossweisse's own similarly colored orb, the Valkyrie swallowing nervously.

"C-could you maybe, erm...not fight the Crimson King this very moment? Please?"

A tense moment followed, Albion glaring at his opposite-

-before huffing out a jet of flame and ensconcing himself in a white light, Ddraig reciprocating the action at a pointed glance from Asia.

The respective group of three each watched the Dragon's transformations with interest, Asia, Kunou and Irina raising an eyebrow as Albion assumed the form of a tall, grey-haired young man wearing noble robes of some kind.

"Hmph. I see you still adopt the form of that virginal wierdo..."

"Better that than some nameless hobo who's only legacy is in the number of Bastard's he sired!"

"Ha! The only legacy your proxy left is one of stupidity! Who tries to punch Shiva in his sleep and then not expect to be wiped from reality?!"

"I'll have you know he still walks with a limp in his right leg! What can your assumed form claim? That he died because he literally fucked himself to death like an idiot?!"

"Well you-"

"SHUT UP!"

Both Dragons fell silent at the five's aggrieved shout, Asia awkwardly coughing into her hand as silence fell over the clearing, both Drakes not halting their stare off one bit.

Rias was the first to break the stalemate, calmly asking, "So how long have you three been with the Emerald Emperor?"

Irina shrugged, responding with, "Asia and I have been with Ddraig for...a month and a half? Kunou arrived about two weeks ago. What about you three?"

"I was the first to arrive, Rossweisse about a week later and Raynare one more after that."

Offering a polite nod Asia explained, "That has been quite some time...if you wish or are able to return home, Ddraig has promised to fight off that imposter Dragon should it appear again, you don't need to stay any longer if that's what you're worried about..."

A loud snort echoed across the range, Albion derisively stating, "Oh, so my older brother is going to protect everyone from another rampaging Dragon, hmm? How noble of you, Ddraig! Considering you're failure with the Evil Dragons I'm surprised you have the guts to pretend you'll be worth a damn..."

All present aside from Albion flinched, legitimate anger warping Ddraig's expression as he malevolently hissed back, "You don't get to lecture me on that! I had the courage to be there! You ran off like the cowardly hatchling that you are-"

Albion violently snarled, jumping to his feet as Ddraig replied in kind-

"Ddraig, please stop!"

"Albion, that's enough!"

Both Asia and Rias placed themselves between the unexpectedly violent confrontation, the girls genuinely shocked at the sheer anger both Drakes had suddenly displayed.

The two Heavenly Dragons hatefully glared for almost another minute-

-before both turned away with bitter huffs.

"I'll patrol the Norse, Devil and Grigori territories. Should this imposter appear, I will deal with them myself."

"Fair enough. I will monitor the remaining Christianic and Yokai lands."

Conversation concluded, both Dragon's stalked off to opposite ends of the plateau, sitting down with all the grace and dignity of angry children.

All of the girls heaved one last sigh of relief.

"So...will you three stay with Albion, then? It sounds as if he will keep your lands safe with or without you being there..."

The three shifted uncomfortably for a moment...before Rias gained a small smile, replying, "I did not have much to look forward to back home. An arranged marriage to a man I neither respected nor liked, pressure to succeed my family as it's head...I feel that here, keeping my lands indirectly safeguarded, is a far better use of my time and energy."

She gave a small giggle.

"It helps that Albion is rather adorable, in his own grumpy way."

Raynare snorted before idly shrugging.

"Keeping an eye on one of the Heavenly Dragons is basically why I was sent in the first place. The man who may as well as be my Father needs to know this kinda stuff and, well...that's me."

A salacious smirk crossed her face and she suddenly grabbed her two companion's sizable busts, squeezing and fondling them as she playfully announced, "Besides, teasing these two supple girlies is way too much fun~!"

Rias merely sighed and rolled her eyes, obviously used to this kind of treatment...while Rossweisse blushed a deep crimson and shouted, "R-Raynare?! C-cut that-eep-out, would you already?!"

Giggling like a demented imp Raynare ceased her mauling of the other girl's sizable bust, the Valkyrie giving a whimper of embarrassed exploitation before getting ahold of herself, explaining, "I will...stay with Albion as well. H-he's usually rather cranky and blunt...but he's always pushing me to be more confidant and never turns down conversation, so...well..."

The Fallen Angel rolled her eyes and spanked the silver-haired girl on the ass, exasperatedly explaining, "Rose, you can just say you want to stay because that's what you want. Bloody Hell..."

Shooting the other woman a reproachful glare the Valkyrie nonetheless sighed, nodding in agreement.

More silence followed before Rias curiously asked, "Why did they seem so...angry with each other? Is there something that happened between them or-"

"Ddraig says they're estranged, there was a picture in his home of them and their dead parents...I guess that might have had something to do with it?"

None of the gathered six had anything new to add to that, Rias eventually running a hand through her crimson hair and stating, "Well, it seems there's nothing more to discuss, at least at the moment...I can't say if we'll meet ever again, but if we don't...it was a pleasure meeting you three regardless."

That got a round of smiles from all present, a rare moment where members of six different factions and various species shared a common ground.

"Feh, I pity those three. Having to spend time with my Brother? I can scarcely imagine tortures worse than that..."

Irina rolled her eyes as they watched Albion and his companions depart, rapidly flying off into the distance.

"Oh please, like you're any better. Personally I think you're just as much of a jerk as he is..."

Ddraig rounded on the Angel, face aghast as he indignantly shouted, "What?! Me?! Worse than Albion? Foolish One, you truly are foolish."

"Oh~? Sounds like someone's a little defensive~!"

The Crimson King ranted and railed at the smug looking young woman, Asia quietly whispering to Kunou, "Are you sure you're ready to fly again? I mean, I know you didn't like it..."

The Kitsune just gave a watery smile, resignedly replying, "Well how else am I going to get back? Walk?"

Asia had no response to that other than a comforting pat on the back as Irina and Ddraig argued in the background.

It had been a long and busy day...but for now it was time to head back to their home, however strange that may have seemed to say.

Sooooooo...this is probably gonna be the first story of mine that I've ever cancelled.

Yup, this story is officially dropped.

I'm doing so for a multitude of reasons.

1) It was mostly just a fun little experiment to practice with 3rd person writing, not something I ever had more than a passing interest in and no long term plan for.

2) The coming school semester is gonna be super busy and with three stories (DH, KoTaS, CtT) that I'm invested in this was definitely a back burner.

3) I kinda sorta forgot for a while that this even existed. Maybe not the best thing I've ever said about my work, but since I just wrote each chapter as it came I never really sat down and planned stuff.

TWotJM is officially cancelled.

BBBUUUUTTTT...I'm more than happy to put it up for adoption! I still have the original .odt files on hand for all chapters I've written so far, if anyone is interested in borrowing or taking over the story just send me a PM and we'll hash out the details. If you want to post your own version or just continue what I've already got I'll be happy to delete this version so yours is the one that gets attention.

Until then, this is where the story ends!