Chapter 14: An unwelcome visitor
When Ben returned back to the others without Kiba with him, Rias only sighed resignedly and dismissed Akeno and Koneko for the night before returning home with Asia and Ben via a magic circle which transported them straight back to Ben's room.
"I wonder what's going on with Kiba," Asia muttered as the light from the magic circle disappeared.
"Kiba mentioned something before he left," Ben said as he sat down on the edge of his bed with Asia joining him while Rias sat down in his desk chair. "He said something about destroying Excalibur. He couldn't possibly be talking about the same 'Excalibur' from the Arthurian legend, could he?"
He looked to look back at Asia. "I loved reading about the Legend of King Arthur when I was younger," he said, explaining how he knew about the sword. "I always liked Merlin the most."
"He is, indeed, referring to the very same sword once wielded by King Arthur," Rias interjected, joining in with the conversation. "It's one of the, if not the, most powerful collection of Holy Swords in existence."
A look of confusion made an appearance on Ben's face. "Hang on a minute. Collection? Since when has there been more than one Excalibur? I know there is some debate as to whether the 'Sword in the Stone' and the one given to Arthur by the 'Lady of the Lake' are the same sword or not but that could hardly be called a collection."
"That would be true…," Rias continued, leaning back into the chair and crossing her legs as she did so, "…if Excalibur hadn't been split into seven pieces."
"Umm," Asia muttered timidly, raising a hand from beside Ben as she wasn't able to keep up with Ben and Rias' conversation. "What is Excalibur exactly? I never heard anything about them while I was a member of the church."
"They're Holy Swords," Rias explained to the young devil. "Extremely powerful weapons which are, without any doubt, the absolute worst things for a devil to find themselves facing. Simply touching one can cause a devil to burn up from the amount of Light which resides within each one, suffering a single cut from one could spell instant death."
Ben whistled as he listened to Rias' explanation. 'Wow!' he thought to himself. 'If one Excalibur is that powerful then just how powerful was Excalibur when it was whole? Well; it is the "Sword of Kings" after all.'
"Thankfully," Rias continued, attracting Ben's attention again. "The single biggest weakness with Excalibur is that the number of people who are capable of wielding such powerful swords is extremely low. After various skirmishes over the last few centuries there are now hardly any descendants of the original sword wielders left. Those last few are now closely protected by the Church."
"That's some good news at least," Ben stated as he rested his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands as he listened to Rias.
The red-haired beauty, however, didn't seem to share the same optimism that Ben had and her expression remained troubled. "Normally, yes, you would be right. That would be good news for us. That is, however, if the church hadn't recognised this glaring weakness and started to do everything they could to rectify it by raising people to be artificially compatible with wielding a Holy sword as strong as Excalibur. Those behind the scheme were confident that once they were able to create enough artificial wielders successfully, there would be very little to stop them from unleashing them upon devils everywhere. The project itself was known as the Holy Sword project."
"The Holy sword project?" Ben and Asia said in unison as they stared at Rias with intrigue and slight worry in their voices.
"I've never heard of that," Asia said, struggling to look back through her memories in search of any mention of such a project.
Rias turned her attention towards Asia. "I'm not surprised you've never heard about it. It was terminated years ago and only a small handful of people knew about its existence when it was active. The reason I know about it is because… because Kiba barely survived it," she revealed with a troubled expression on her face.
"Seriously?!" Ben exclaimed with shock before his thoughts took him back to their club meeting a few hours earlier.
"Hang on a sec," he said as he quickly rose up off his bed and made for the door. "There's something I need to show you."
With that, he left the room in search of what had been stuck in his mind for a while and, only now, resurfaced to the front of his mind. He made sure to move as quietly as possible through the house so as to not wake his parents up and returned a few minutes later with what he had been searching for.
He returned to his room upon finding it and opened the photo in search of what he was looking for, flicking through the pages in search of the photo which had caused Kiba to act so strangely. "While my mother was embarrassing me by showing you my baby pictures, Kiba was looking through this one and asked me about – where is it? – ah, here, this one," he stated when he finally found the photo in question.
He handed the book to Rias as Asia stood up and stood beside Rias to look at the photo too. He pointed to the picture of him and his cousin fighting in one of their all too frequent brawls. "It wasn't until he saw this photo that he started acting distant and strange." Ben then moved his finger over to the sword which was hanging on the wall behind the two fighting children. "I think that he must've recognised this sword here as an Excalibur Holy Sword. I didn't think much on it before but it all makes sense now. When he saw it all his memories from being in the project came flooding back."
Rias leant over and examined the picture closely for a few seconds before sighing and leaning back in her chair though her attention was still drawn towards the photo. "Yes, I think you're right," she muttered quietly.
"So what does this mean?" Asia asked with confusion.
"I'm not exactly sure," Ben replied as he noticed Rias was still lost in her thoughts. "Rias? Any thoughts?"
Without warning, Rias snapped the photobook shut and looked up at the two of them with a bright smile on her face. "Oh, would you look at the time," she said as she stood up from the chair. "It's time to go to bed," she said as she began to undress out of her uniform and underwear. Asia blushed slightly at Rias' actions but nevertheless began to imitate her, stripping out of her clothes too in an effort to not be outdone by the sexy red-haired devil opposite her.
Ben just sighed and ran his hand down his face as he watched the two beautiful devils completely undress for bed right in front of him without a care in the world. He watched them in silence for a few seconds before he started to remove his own clothing.
'How did my life get like this again?' he thought to himself yet again as he crawled into bed where he was quickly joined by Rias and Asia who slid under the covers on either side of him and each took an arm which they used in place of a pillow as they snuggled against his bare chest and settled down before they all fell asleep shortly after. The darken room fell into silence though this was only brief, ending when it was broken by the soft patters of raindrops which started to strike against the window.
. . . . .
Kuoh, unknown location
While Ben and the two female devils settled in for the night in extreme comfort and warmth, the same couldn't be said for a particular Gremory Knight.
Kiba was walking down a dark street, completely alone and totally drenched as the heavens had opened up a few minutes ago and began to rain down on everything in Kuoh, soaking Kiba right to the bone, not that he noticed it though. He was too lost in painful memories to care. Painful memories of his time before he become a devil, back when he was a follower of the Church and participant of the Holy sword project.
Tears he didn't realise were streaking down his face merged with the steadily worsening rain as the faces of those he had abandoned appeared before him in his mind, tormenting him by reminding him of his failure.
He was abruptly brought out of these painful memories when a robed man suddenly appeared out of a dark alleyway in front of him. Kiba's eyes widened slightly when he noticed that the man was actually wearing the robes of a priest.
'What's a priest doing out here? And in this weather?' Kiba thought to himself though he didn't really care about the answer.
It was then that Kiba noted the expression on the priest's face, a look of extreme terror.
The priest noticed Kiba and stumbled towards him, an evident limp in his leg. "Help me…please," he gargled before collapsing on the ground. Kiba stopped in his tracks at this and gasped slightly when a rapidly expanding pool of blood began to spread out from the priest's corpse and began to mix in with the rainwater.
"Well, well, well. Look who we have here. Long-time no see, little devil," a sharp, eerily familiar voice cackled as another figure strode out of the alleyway the priest had just come from.
Kiba quickly summoned a sword in his hands and took up a combat stance as he recognised the mystery man before him who turned to face the blond-haired devil which a sadistic smile on his face.
Freed Selzen.
Kiba's eyes were drawn to Freed's waist when he caught sight of the sword in the exorcist's hand and his eyes widened when he realised what it was he was holding.
Freed was wielding a Holy sword…no, it was worse than that: it was an Excalibur!
"Ooh! This is going to be so much fun!" Freed cackled as he launched himself at Kiba, his blade raised above his head.
. . . . .
"What now?" Ben wondered with a slight sigh as he found himself, once again, floating through the air with large, brilliant flames surrounding him. In the recent times he had been brought to this place by his draconic companions the flames had taken on a mixture of their flames into a single large conflagration, Ddraig's crimson red flames and Azmuth's piercing emerald-green flames.
Just as was the case the last times he had been brought to this space, he was quickly joined by Ddraig's imposing figure and Azmuth's titanic head, the only part of his hulking body that could materialise in the finite space they were occupying.
"What's wrong? Why are we here again?" he asked the two dragons as they towered over him. it had been an intimidating sight originally but Ben had soon gotten used to the sight and it now longer fazed him.
[We have come to give you a warning, kid,] Ddraig announced, lowering his head down slightly as he did so.
"A warning? About what?"
[It's about the 'White One'.]
"The 'White One'? Wasn't that your brother?"
Ddraig growled under his breath at this and shook his head. [Hardly. The only thing we share is that we were both brought into existence by the same sire and dam. Apart from that, we are completely different.]
[More like two sides of the same coin,] Azmuth muttered to himself.
As much as Ben knew Ddraig wanted to retort to Azmuth's jab, the large dragon surprised him by restraining himself. Still though, he thought it best to move the conversation along a bit.
"So what did you need to warn me about?"
Azmuth took the lead in the conversation now as his hulking head also lowered itself slightly to see Ben better. [What do you remember of what I told you about him?]
Ben scratched his head as he thought back on what he had been told before answering.
"Not much. Aside from your weird 'family' relations, all I remember is that he and Ddraig had been fighting each other for millennia before you stepped in when it went too far and they were both sealed inside Sacred Gears to contain them."
[Good. The story didn't end when they were sealed away though. It seems that, even after having their souls removed from their physical forms and being sealed in their Sacred Gears, the two of them found a way to continue their never-ending battle.]
"How?"
Ddraig interjected at this point.
[By using our human hosts as vessels,] he explained. [It doesn't happen with ever host though. Centuries can have passed between each encounter with several humans having possessed our Gears and lived their entire lives without encountering the other host. This isn't the case for you though, kid.]
Ben sighed. "I guess I was hoping for too much, huh?"
[It can't come as too much of a shock though considering what you did. That little stunt you pulled off in the Underworld revealed you to everyone in the Underworld and almost certainly even further when news spreads that you possess a dragon god,] Azmuth declared, shaking his humongous head at the very suggestion that Ben could lead a relatively quiet life.
[Because of your rematch with that Phenex pup, you have shown the 'White One' that I have found another vessel and my powers have awoken again,] the crimson dragon explained further. [He knows of your existence now and will no doubt make himself known to you in the future.]
"Well that's just fucking great," Ben groaned as he brought a hand up to massage his forehead at the bombshell that had been dropped on him.
[If you're looking for someone to blame then look no further than him," Ddraig added, casting a glance towards Azmuth. [He's the reason that we were sealed away after all. It's because of him that, as my human host, you have been dragged into our story.]
Azmuth growled deeply and snorted at Ddraig's insinuation with such force that the flames around him flickered as a result.
[Watch your tone, hatchling! Sealing you two away was the only way to stop you two from destroying both the human world and the Underworld with your destructive battles. You should thank me if anything.]
[And how did you come to that conclusion?] Ddraig retorted with a scoff.
[If I hadn't stepped in to stop your fighting when it collided with the Three Factions in their war then they would have sought ways to completely destroy the two of you. Sealing you away was the only way to limit the damage you caused to the world without destroying you.]
Eager to avoid watching this go any further with the three of them being linked together for the foreseeable future, Ben decided to step in again before things got out of hand.
"So how will I know the 'White One' when he finds me? It could be anyone, right?"
This proved to be the correct decision. Ddraig turned away from the emerald giant beside him and turned his attention down on Ben.
[Hardly. As a dragon yourself now, you will be able to sense the white dragon whenever he is near.]
[When you meet him, though, my advice is to avoid combat with him where at all possible,] Azmuth added with a faint hint of concern in his voice. [I don't know how long Albion's host has had to train and make his power their own but I am certain it's a lot longer than you have.]
"So, until I get stronger, I need to hope they don't find me…and if they do, I need to avoid fighting them as best I can, right?"
[That about sums it up,] Ddraig nodded.
"Well that's just great. Thanks for the warning…I guess," Ben muttered before he felt himself being pulled away and returned back to the land of consciousness.
. . . . .
Ben's eyes slowly opened up, only to find himself opening them up to a forest of crimson red hair in front of him and a pressing weight on his chest with his arm wrapped tightly around it while his other arm was wrapped around something else to his immediate left.
His senses returned to him quickly enough to let him recognise the forest of crimson hair as Rias' and that his face was currently buried in her sweet-smelling locks. As he pulled his head back, he quickly noted Asia's golden blonde hair splayed out across his chest.
He sighed as he dropped his head back onto his pillow and gazed up at the ceiling as he pieced things together.
Somehow, during the night, he had pulled Asia on top of his chest so that her breasts were now pressing against his bare chest while he had subconsciously wrapped his arm around her back and held her in place with his embrace. Asia didn't appear to have been woken up by his actions during the night and had slept through it…well, it was either that or she had woken up and decided that she didn't oppose the arrangement and went right back to sleep.
With what he thought he knew about the former nun's character, Ben would've confidently betted on the former idea being true. He had no doubts that she had some feelings for him but he didn't think they were strong enough for this to happen. He thought that Asia was too innocent and would've been too embarrassed with Ben's 'forwardness' and would have broken away from his embrace purely because of her innocent nature that she developed from growing up with the Church.
If that wasn't awkward enough. As his sleepiness diminished completely, Ben turned to look at Rias and saw that he had also done something to her while he slept. At some point he had pulled her body closer to him so that her large breasts were squashed up against the side of his body while his leg had become intertwined with Rias' left leg which was now trapped between them. His hand wasn't satisfied with this though and had snaked down Rias' back and was now resting on her soft backside.
Before the two young women in his arms had come into his life, Ben could never have ever pictured himself being in such a position, only ever doing so in his wildest dreams. Furthermore, ever since he became a Devil, he had noticed that his confidence and assertiveness had steadily grown daily, resulting in situations like his current one becoming far more common. Of course, he had been embarrassed and apologetic when he woke up to find himself entwined with the girls in compromising situations, but over the course of the last few weeks he had grown to accept these erotic episodes as they became his new normal.
It was only when he stopped and really thought about it did Ben wonder just what had happened to him in such a short time.
[You can thank us for that, kid.]
Ben winced slightly as Ddraig's powerful voice abruptly filled his head.
"Argh, can you not do that," he grunted as his early morning drowsiness quickly disappeared. "…and what you mean I can you thank you for it?"
Azmuth's equally powerful voice joined in with the conversation.
[You possess the Gears of two dragons, the souls of whom you now share with your own. Dragons are incredibly magical beings, intertwined with the very magic of creation Itself. As the possessor of one of the two Heavenly Dragons and a dragon god, you will be the focal point of that incredible energy which will affect both yourself and the people around you….]
[…particularly those of the opposite sex. Due to the draconic energy around you, you will find their inherent feelings…especially their sexual urges will be amplified when they are around you.]
"Are you saying that I'm going to end up with some kind of harem of lustful women?"
He couldn't see it but Ben could tell that Ddraig shrugged his shoulders at Ben's question.
[Sure. It happened to every one of my previous hosts.]
"But that doesn't explain what happened to me though," Ben pointed out.
[That's because of me…,] Azmuth interjected gruffly. [While Ddraig is indeed a powerful dragon, he is still weak when compared to myself. My existence is devoted to the very concept of life, to bring life to a dimension devoid of it due to…well, that's not important right now. My magic is tied to the aim of ensuring life finds a way to survive, be it consciously or unconsciously. I trust you are familiar with the basic concept that the fittest creature will survive?]
"Yeah."
[Good, that saves time. My Sacred Gear may give you the power to transform into different creatures but my aura leads you to take on the forms of the apex specimen of a species. In addition to this, my aura also affects your own DNA, increasing your confidence and leading you to take on more animalistic tendencies whenever you feel extreme arousal.]
"Wait, what?!" Ben exclaimed in shock.
[It's simply the way of nature and life, young one; the strong and powerful attract the attention of females and his strong genes ensure his bloodline is passed on without fail. It's the same as nearly every living creature in existence…and particularly in demons. In their world the strongest alpha demon controls the collection of demons in their tribe, herd, hive, shoal…whatever they were and that means having all the females for themselves. An alpha demon is extremely possessive about their women and don't appreciate rivals trying to steal them. As I said before, thanks to the power of your human brain and soul you won't consciously feel any of these changes aside from more confidence. The primal, animalistic urges will only ever affect you when your mind may be in a dormant or instinctive state; this includes when you are sleeping and also when you are engaging in procreation.]
"So, you're saying that I'll become more primal and animalistic whenever I have sex?"
[Not to the point that you lose yourself entirely, but otherwise yes.]
[Congratulations, kid,] Ddraig added with a slight nod of his large head. [It seems you are destined to, not only be surrounded by bounds of beautiful, lustful women, but it seems that you will be blessed by numerous children in future.]
[Yes, it appears as though you will be able to overcome the issue that affects Devils,] Azmuth continued with an almost interested tone in his voice.
Ben wanted to demand more answers from the two dragons as to what they were talking about when he was interrupted when he felt the two young women in his arms begin to stir as they slowly roused themselves from sleep.
His desire for more answers was swiftly quashed as he felt the drowsy women in his arms unconsciously grind themselves against his body as the two of them were slowly roused from sleep. Rias was the first one to wake up completely and blinked away the last remains of sleep before looking around to take in her surroundings, looking downwards to see the position she had ended up in with Ben. She then looked back up to see Ben staring back at her as he smiled a warm smile at her, a smile which she quickly returned.
"Good morning, Ben," she said in a playful voice, still somehow silky-smooth after having just woken up. "You must be having very exciting dreams at night if this is how we are when we wake up. Maybe I should discipline you for having such lewd dreams about your master."
Ben couldn't tell if she was being serious or not and would've been a liar if he said he wasn't curious to see what the red-haired beauty would do to discipline him.
Before his delusions went any further, Asia took this opportunity to wake up fully and slowly brought her head up to see that she was lying on Ben's stomach with his arm holding her firmly in place. He had to admit that he was surprised when Asia tightened her own grip around Ben's chest with her arms…though, as expected of her innocent nature, her face still turned bright red as she quickly looked away in embarrassment at the position she was in.
"G-good morning, Ben," she stuttered cutely without looking up at him. "D-did you sleep well?"
"Oh, I think he slept very well, Asia," Rias teased in a teasing tone as she stroked Ben's cheek affectionately. "From the looks of him, I would say he's been having very sinful dreams about us. In fact, you can probably feel how sinful they were yourself."
This only made things worse for Ben as his cheeks only grew worse from Rias' teasing. Asia, not understanding what Rias was getting at made to sit up to ask the red-haired devil what she was talking about. However, as she did this her right thigh brushed across Ben's pelvis which, while it wouldn't have been bad at normal times, was currently pitching a tent from everything that was going on through his head from both Azmuth's revelation and Rias' teasing.
When Asia stumbled upon the hard object she let out a little squeal of surprise and froze where she lay, her face going so red that Ben was amazed he was getting burned from its intensity. This caused the crimson-haired temptress to let out a cute giggle as she observed Ben's own reaction to Asia's discovery.
She pulled herself further up their bed until she was leaning against the headboard where she then pulled Ben's head into her buxom chest and began to stroke his hair with even more affection than before.
"Just when I think you couldn't get even more adorable, you go and do something like this," she purred seductively before tilting his head up to look into her perfect blue eyes. "What am I going to do with you?"
Before Ben got ahead of himself and suggested just what Rias should do with him, they were interrupted by Ship leaping up, seemingly out of thin air, and landing on the bed.
The fact that the familiar didn't land on him with more force than was necessary told Ben that Ship might finally be starting to forgive him for his despicable crime. The fact that they didn't glare at him when he reached forward and gently scratched the top of their head was even more of a positive sign.
As had become another morning ritual, Rias and Asia both greeted the energetic familiar and showered them with affection for several minutes until Ben noticed the time. They had to get out of bed shortly otherwise they'd be late for school.
As sharp as she ever was, Rias came to the same conclusion as him.
"Hmm, I guess we'd better get up before we're late," Rias sighed as she reluctantly disentangled herself from the confines of the duvet. Once free she shimmied past Ben, making sure to bush against him with her naked flesh as she got off the bed and turned around to give Ben a sight to behold.
"Thanks for the wonderful night…Ben," she purred salaciously, adding extra honey in her words when she said his name before she made to leave the room. Despite his earlier bravado, Ben unconsciously gulped at the way she said his name and felt Asia grudgingly remove herself from him too and put on a pale blue nightdress that was resting beside the bed. It had been given to her by his mother not long after she had come to live at Ben's house and was used by the former nun, though that was until she found out about Rias' particular sleeping attire and didn't want to be outdone by her.
"We'd best go and get breakfast started," she said as she joined Rias before the two of them made their way towards the kitchen.
Ben watched them leave before sighing and lying back down on his bed, running his hands over his face and through his hair to bring his emotions back under control. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy these moments first thing in the morning…far from it.
"What did I do to deserve my life ending up like this?" he asked himself for the umpteenth time.
He quickly regretted asking himself this as Azmuth, a creature who was completely alien to the concept of rhetorical questions and already treated Ben as an imbecilic child, grunted in annoyance at Ben's apparent incompetence and began droning on about the effects of having a dragon's soul intertwined with his.
Drowning out the ancient dragon's voice, Ben pushed himself up and got off the bed and went through his own daily morning rituals.
When he made his way downstairs into the kitchen, he was met by the sight of his mother already in the process of making breakfast with Rias and Asia, the three of them talking away to each other as if they had known each other for years. Ben attributed her joyful demeanour to the fact that there were now two more females living in the house now. It certainly didn't hurt that she absolutely adored the two of them and treated them as though they were her own daughters.
She turned her head at the sound of the door opening.
"Well, good morning, sleepyhead," she called out to him as he sat down at the table and was soon joined by the three of them who brought over the finished meals.
Rias and Asia took up their usual spots on either side of Ben while his mother occupied the chair that was positioned opposite him.
"I would have woken you sooner…," Sandra said teasingly as she took a sip from her cup, smiling at how the two young women subtly moved themselves closer to Ben. "…But I didn't want to disturb you. You look so good together."
"Sometimes I wonder how you can be so open-minded, mum," Ben sighed as he continued to eat his breakfast. He knew she was trying to play her part of the 'embarrassing mother who needs to embarrass her son now that he's in a relationship with someone'.
"Well, we are living in the 21st century, sweetie, anything is possible as long as you are willing to work for it," she replied simply, taking another sip from her cup. She then turned her attention to the girls on either side of Ben. "Now girls, it's my motherly duty to ask you: Is my son treating you well? I know I raised him to the best of my ability to be a decent person, but you know how young men can be."
A small blush appeared on Asia's cheeks as she remembered how she woke up a few minutes ago. "Oh no! Ben has been nothing but kind to us, mother. He was there for me when no one else was and protected me when I was in trouble," she muttered with an embarrassed smile on her lips.
"And what about you, Rias?" Sandra asked, turning her attention over to the crimson haired beauty. "Has my son been treating you well?"
Rias' initial answer to her question was to take up Ben's arm and hold it against her chest with she rested her head in the crook of his neck, a warm smile on her face. "Of course, mother. I wouldn't be like this if I thought he wasn't treating me well. He sees me as more than just a member of the Gremory family; he sees me as Rias, and that's just the way I like it."
Ben's mother gave her an understanding nod. "I don't know about it personally of course, but I can imagine how difficult it must have made things for you when you couldn't be your own person because of your family," she said kindly before noticing the time. "You three had best be heading off to school before you're late. Have a good day," she added as the three devils finished their meals and rose out of their seats and headed off to school.
. . . . .
(After school)
Ben and Asia slowly made their way through the corridors of the old school building to the clubroom. As they passed through the corridors he admired the attention to detail in the annual cleaning. The walls were spotless and there was no trace of spider webs which had previously begun to appear around the place.
"Oh look! The floor is so shiny," Asia noted as she gazed down the corridor. Ben, who was admiring the now dust-free windowsills, turned to look to the spotless wooden floorboards.
"Sure is," Ben said as he looked at the shiny floorboards in front of him. "They sure get the job done, don't they?"
They turned the final corner before the clubroom and Ben suddenly caught sight of something in the corner of his eye. A set of double doors at the end of the corridor which appeared to locked down like Fort Knox. He was surprised at the sight of it because he was sure there was nothing there until now. It was probably because he just never paid attention to it. he could make out that it was covered with magical chains and yellow tape with "KEEP OUT" written all over it to ward off any would-be snoopers.
"Huh, I wonder what's in there," he said curiously, stopping just outside the clubroom.
Asia stopped beside him and looked at the door too. "I don't know. I don't think I've ever noticed it before," she admitted as she gazed at the sealed doors.
[I can't tell what's in there…,] Azmuth muttered in Ben's head. […but I can sense a lot of magical seals placed around that room to prevent it from being opened. I can even sense an alarm seal which, if the door were to be opened, would send a message to whoever created the seals.]
"Sounds like they didn't want anyone to get in there," Ben replied and felt Azmuth grunt in agreement.
"It's called the 'forbidden room'," a female voice whispered salaciously into his left ear.
Ben jumped slightly at the sudden voice and spun around to come face to face with Akeno who was looking at him with a seductive smile on her face. "You've got to stop doing that Akeno," he chastised the Gremory Queen who only chuckled sweetly in response.
"I know, but you make it so easy to torment you," Akeno said slyly as she cupped her cheek with her hand. "How can I possibly resist?"
It was at this point that Ben spotted the two people standing behind Akeno and watching their banter play out. He recognised them immediately as Sona Sitri, the Student council president as well as heir to the Sitri Household and her Queen, Tsubaki, who stood beside her, pushing up her glasses up to the bridge of her nose.
"What's going on?" Ben asked curiously, looking back to Akeno.
"Oh, nothing much. Just something that Lady Sitri would like to discuss with Rias. Shall we go in?" she asked sweetly and gestured for him and Asia to take the lead. Ben did so and opened the door to the clubroom, entering with Asia beside him and holding the door open for Akeno, Sona and Tsubaki who entered quickly behind them, shutting the door when everyone had entered.
"Took you guys long enough," Rias called out from her desk where she had her head low as she filled in some paperwork. The only other person in the room was Koneko who was sitting on the sofa, eating some snacks as always. His first assumption was that Kiba had already been sent out to complete a contract but that thought disappeared just as quickly when he remembered the way Kiba had acted last night. He seriously doubted that Rias would have let him handle a contract without explaining everything to him first.
Rias looked up from her work to see that Sona had also come with them. She put her pen down and leant back in her chair with her fingers clasped together and resting on the desk. "Oh, hello Sona. I wasn't expecting to see you today. To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?" she asked politely, a warm smile on her face.
"I would prefer to speak about this matter with you in private. It's not something you'll want to talk about in front of a lot of people…trust me," she said cryptically though Ben could tell she was being very serious.
Rias stared at Sona in silence for a moment before replying. "You make it sound like a serious situation," she stated matter-of-factly.
"It is," Sona replied simply though with the same seriousness as before. "Very."
Rias sighed and nodded her head in acknowledgement. "You're not one for making issues bigger than they are. Very well, I guess I'll have to cut this meeting short for today." She stood up from her desk and came to a stop beside Ben. She looked up at him and took hold of his chin with her thumb and index finger, pulling him down to eyelevel. "It looks like I'll be home late tonight. Don't wait up too long," she said suggestively before gently patting Ben on his cheek and disappearing in a magic circle with Sona along with their respective Queens.
. . . . .
(Later)
"I wonder what got Sona so serious," Asia asked as they walked down the street together.
"I don't know," Ben admitted as he scratched his head. "She usually carries herself in a calm and controlled manner. I don't think I've ever seen her get so serious before in all the time I've known her, although that is only a short while. Must be something important," he concluded with a shrug as they continued their journey, turning the corner onto the street his house was on.
Just as they were a few feet away from his house though, Ben stopped abruptly when he felt a sudden ice-cold shiver run up his spine.
Asia had clearly experienced the same thing if her similar shudder was any indication. "I just felt a chill come over me all of a sudden," she gasped, unfamiliar with what just happened to her.
"Yeah, me too, and not a good kind either," Ben muttered as the shiver he just felt was replaced by a feeling of unease that he couldn't shake off. "Now that I think about it, I swear I've felt this feeling before…."
[You have…,] Azmuth's voice told him with a wary tone in his voice. […this feeling is exactly the same as what you felt when you encountered that deranged exorcist.]
Ben's eyes widened when he realised that Azmuth was right. It was back when he first encountered that crazy exorcist on his second contract. Without thinking, he suddenly charged towards the house and barged through the unlocked door to find the hallway in complete darkness. Asia quickly followed after him and entered the house as Ben summoned both his Sacred Gears to his arms.
[Be careful, Ben. It's inadvisable for your secret to be discovered,] Azmuth warned with caution.
That was the farthest thing from Ben's mind right now though.
"I don't give a shit about that now, Azmuth! If someone's here to hurt my mum then I'm going to end them!" he retorted fiercely as he advanced into the dark house.
He got no further than a few steps before he was taken aback by the familiar sound of his mother's joyful laughter coming from ahead of them in the living room which was the only source of light he could see.
"Mum?" he asked cautiously, taking a few more steps towards the living room. "Are you there?"
"Of course I am, Ben. I'm in the living room, sweetie. Come in here; there's someone you should meet," his mother's voice called out from the living room doorway, easing his concern though only slightly as the uneasy feeling still clung to him.
Ben cast a quick glance to Asia who was sticking close to his side before he started edging further towards the light source. He hid his Sacred Gears as he reached the living room doorway. There was no need for them if his mother sounded so familiar with whoever was giving off this tingling sensation in the back of his neck.
He froze when whoever was in there with his mother answered a question that was presented to them and a horrible sensation came over him, way worse than before, when he recognised the voice.
'Oh no,' he thought despairingly. 'I recognise that voice. Oh please don't let 'it' be here.'
He poked his head round the doorframe to see his mother sitting in her usual chair and stroking Ship who was lying on her lap protectively and staring, unblinkingly, at the two young women his mother was happily talking to who he suddenly noticed sitting on the sofa opposite her.
They both wore white robes that covered everything below the neck and highlighted their allegiance to the church, they both appeared to be around the same age as him and one of them had short deep blue hair with a small patch of green hair on her fringe while the other had short hair that was a burnt orange colour.
Beside the blue-haired young woman was a tightly bound bundle of rags which covered up a mysterious object. For some reason when Ben looked at it he got a bad feeling…as though the object itself didn't want him to look at it.
[Careful, kid,] Ddraig said warningly as Ben cautiously entered the room. [That object is giving off the same energy as a Holy sword, an Excalibur in fact. I can also sense the same energy radiating from the other girl though I can't see it.]
"Oh it's worse than that, Ddraig…," Ben answered back to the crimson dragon with distain as his gaze locked onto the orange-haired girl sat on the sofa. "Much worse."
"Long time no see, dweeb," the orange-haired girl said with a chirpy smile on her face.
. . . . .
(A few hours later)
"I'm so glad you're okay!" Rias exclaimed with relief as she wrapped Asia and Ben in a tight embrace.
They were currently in Ben's bedroom and Rias had just returned from her meeting with Sona, rather hastily in his opinion, and expressed her extreme relief in discovering the two of them were unharmed after their recent visit by the two Excalibur wielders.
It had turned out that that was the reason behind Sona's request to speak with Rias in private. The two exorcists had apparently appeared in front of the school that morning and expressed a request to speak with Rias tomorrow in the clubroom.
"You're not hurt are you?" she asked with worry, no sign of her breaking off her hug anytime soon. "I swear if one of those exorcists so much as laid a finger on you I'll…."
"There's no need to worry, Rias. We're both okay," Ben said consolingly, rubbing her back slowly to reassure her. "I must admit though that I was extremely surprised to find out my cousin's working for the Church."
"What?" Rias asked, drawing back slightly to look at him with surprise. "Are you sure it was your cousin?"
"Well, we haven't seen each other in years but I still remember her well enough to recognise when she's sitting in my living room without a care in the world."
. . . . .
*Flashback*
Ben stood frozen as he stared at his cousin, Gwen Tennyson, sat down on the sofa and who was not only looking like she'd already made herself feel at home but was now looking at him with a smug grin on her face.
"Bet you weren't expecting to see me anytime soon, were you?" she asked with a polite smile though her subtle smirk hid her true feelings.
"W-W-W…." Ben was at a complete loss for words. "W-What are you doing here? And more importantly...since when were you a member of the Church?" he asked with great shock as he continued to stare, wide eyed, at her.
"What's wrong with that?" she retorted in a defiant tone of voice he was all too familiar with when he was forced to be in the same room as her when their families met up. "You don't know everything that's been going on with my life since we last met…just like I don't know everything that's been going in yours," she added with a slightly raised eyebrow.
It didn't take much to work out what she meant.
She knew he was now a Devil.
[Keep your guard up, young one,] Azmuth cautioned him through their telepathic link. [She may be family but that doesn't erase the fact that she's part of the church…and she wields a Holy sword.]
"Oh, I wouldn't put it past her to attack me with just her fists. She's way worse than my sister in that she wasn't against biting when we used to fight each other," Ben replied mentally as he glared at his cousin who was completely ignoring him and had returned her attention to his mother, yet another one of her tactics.
"How have you been, Gwen?" his mother asked, bringing Ben's attention back to the here and now. "It's been simply ages since I last saw you and your parents. How are they doing by the way?"
"They're doing very well, auntie, thank you for asking," Gwen replied with what appeared to be a genuine smile at being able to catch up with her.
The rest of the next hour and a half was exclusively taken up by Gwen and Ben's mother catching up on everything they had missed out on in the last two years. Even back when they were living in the States, the two of them got along like a house on fire; when Ben and Gwen weren't in the same room to start a fight that is.
As this back-and-to went on, Ben stood back and watched the two of them as he tried to figure out why they were in his house. He didn't believe for a second that it was to simply catch up. Ship copied him from their place on Sandra's lap where they sat motionless and continued to stare down the two young women as if waiting for any excuse to spring into action and defend their family from the two uninvited humans who had entered their territory.
The conversation eventually came to a stop when the blue-haired girl sat beside Gwen who had neither spoken a single word since arriving nor taken her scrutinising gaze off of either Ben or Asia nudged her arm gently to attract her companion's attention. Gwen glanced towards her and they exchanged knowing glances to each other before Gwen soon turned back to look at Sandra with a small smile. "I'm sorry auntie Sandra, but we have to head off now. It was wonderful meeting you again."
The two young women stood up from their seats, the blue-haired girl taking the bundled-up Holy sword with her as she did so.
"Aww, leaving so soon?" Ben muttered sarcastically, ignoring the light glare that was sent his way courtesy of his mother. She was aware of the rivalry that existed between them since childhood and had often been the one to break up their little wrestling matches before they broke something in their boisterous tumble.
"Yes we are," Gwen replied in an equally sarcastic tone to her annoying cousin before a smug smile returned to her features. "But I can easily come back here so we catch up some more auntie. I do so enjoy your company."
"Of course," Sandra said kindly as she gently pushed Ship who got the message and reluctantly abandoned their position and leapt onto the empty spot on the sofa beside her and stood up to escort the two girls to the front door. "Don't hesitate to come round whenever you want. You're always welcome here. You are my favourite niece after all."
They had exited the house before Gwen turned back around and gave her aunty a quick hug while chuckling softly. "I'm your only niece, auntie Sandra," she retorted sweetly before breaking away from the hug and joining her silent friend as they headed off down the dark street before being swallowed up by the darkness.
"I do hope they'll be okay," Sandra said with concern in her voice as she watched them disappear down the road. "Who knows what kind of weirdos prowl the streets at night."
Ben chuckled softly and patted his mother on the shoulder consolingly. "I know; we just watched one leave." Sandra smacked his arm though there wasn't any force behind it. "Seriously though, you don't have to worry about her, mum. Have you forgotten all those fights you had to break up between us?"
"How could I possibly forget those?" she replied with a chuckle at the memory. "Sometimes I felt like I was trying to break apart a fight between two feral alley cats."
Ben chuckled at the image the simile brought up and followed his mother back into the house, closing the door behind him.
*End of Flashback*
. . . . .
"And that's all that happened?" Rias asked seriously, her arms still wrapped around the two young devils. "They didn't talk about anything else?"
"No. Nothing else," Ben replied. "As I said. Gwen seemed genuinely happy to see my mom and catch up on 'old' times so I don't think she had any ulterior motives. But the other girl though…." Ben trailed off as he thought back to the strange girl who had never said a single word throughout the entire visit. "She never said a word but she stared at both me and Asia the entire time. I asked Azmuth and he said that the mostly likely reason they were really here was to find out, for definite, if we were devils or not."
"And you're absolutely certain that they were carrying Excaliburs?" she asked him firmly.
"Yeah. Azmuth confirmed it but I sensed something strange when I was near them, especially when I looked at the bundle of rags that one of them had brought with her. Though I couldn't see it, I Azmuth and I could still sense a similar aura coming from my cousin though neither of us could see a sword anywhere on her."
Ben's answer didn't do much to quash Rias' worries. "I am not letting either of you out of my sight again," she declared with finality. "Do you hear me? I feared the absolute worse on what I would find when I got back. I can't tell you how relieved I am that you're both okay."
Ben's room returned to silence as they simply enjoyed the warm, comforting hug. Ben even returned it and rested his chin on the top of her head to comfort her and relieve her of her fears. After a short silence, Rias broke apart from them and sat down on the edge of Ben's bed and rested her elbow on her knee and her chin on that hand as she became lost in deep thought. Asia joined her on the bed while Ben sat down in his desk chair.
"So Sona didn't tell you what they were doing here?" he asked her, drawing her out of her thoughts.
"No," Rias replied with a slight shake of her head. "They didn't explain exactly why they were here in Gremory territory. They only wanted to set up a meeting with me tomorrow. Perhaps they'll tell us why they're here then."
. . . . .
In the ORC clubroom
(The next day)
Everyone was gathered in the clubroom and waiting for the two Excalibur users to arrive. Every member of the ORC was present and waiting for the arrival of their two visitors…everyone that is, except for Kiba who was still missing from their last job with the stray devil. He hadn't come back from his walk or whatever he was doing and everyone, including Ben, was starting to get very worried about him.
Rias was sat down on the sofa which had its back to the window while the rest of her peerage was standing behind her. Ben cast a quick glance over at Rias to see that she was clearly thinking the same thing. She adamantly refused to relinquish him from her service though that didn't stop her from worrying about her Knight.
The atmosphere in the room tensed up when they all suddenly heard a knock on the door. As Ben was the closest person to the door, he walked up to it and opened it to allow Gwen and her silent, blue-haired companion to enter the room and take the offered seat opposite Rias which they accepted politely. Ben closed the door behind them and took his original spot beside Asia again.
There was an incredibly awkward silence for a few seconds before Rias put the cup of tea she was drinking from back onto the table and looked at the two young women with a polite smile on her face.
"Well, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit? I was told that you wished to discuss something with me," the Gremory heiress asked, breaking the tense silence with forced politeness. Ben could sense that it was due to years of rigorous lessons in the etiquette of noble devils that allowed her to pass it off so easily. "What can I do for two members of the church?"
Ben was surprised when the blue-haired girl suddenly spoke first. He had started to believe that she couldn't speak at all until that point. "Firstly, I would like to express our thanks for you agreeing to speak to us at such short notice," she said politely before bowing her respectively head. "My name is Xenovia Quarta."
"And I'm Gwen Tennyson," Gwen added, also with a respective bow.
Ben didn't need to look at them to know that Gwen's surname had surprised both Akeno and Koneko and answered the question on their lips without taking his gaze off of her.
"Cousin," he muttered in a resigned tone. Out of the corner of his eye, Ben could see the two devils slightly nod their heads in understanding and return their attention to their new 'guests'.
"So what is the reason you wished to speak to me?" Rias asked again, getting the conversation back on topic.
The two ladies sat opposite them went silent for a moment, as though they were collecting their thoughts, before revealing the reason they were in Kuoh.
"Recently, three Excalibur Holy Swords which were kept by the Vatican, Protestant Church, and Eastern Orthodox Church were stolen by an unknown party," Gwen explained to the gathered devils.
"The only thing we know for certain is that this unknown party is working with the Fallen Angels," Xenovia added from her spot beside Gwen and held out the wrapped-up sword beside her. "These are from the ones we have left," she said as she removed the cloth to reveal the large sword in her hands.
Ben felt a chill run up his spine as he looked at the Holy sword. Even by just looking at it, he could tell that it was an extremely deadly sword and didn't have any doubt that he could be seriously hurt by simply touching it.
"The Excalibur I wield is called the "Excalibur of Destruction". Until I was presented with it for this mission, it was kept safe in the control of the Catholic Church." She then replaced the cloth on the sword to cover it up and Ben felt himself relax as soon as the sword was out of sight though he still felt a heavy sense of unease with it being so near to him.
Gwen then extended her arm out of her robes to show a frilly bracelet wrapped around her upper arm. Even as he looked at it, the bracelet started to move as though it were alive until it had transformed into a katana. Once again, Ben felt a sharp chill run up his spine at the sight of the sword. He just couldn't help but be cautious around such a deadly weapon.
"And mine is known as "Excalibur Mimic" and used to be in the possession of the Protestant Church before I was given it."
"And what exactly do you want me to do?" Rias asked politely, showing no indication that she had been affected by the appearance of the Excaliburs.
"We want you to stay completely out of our way," Xenovia said simply yet firmly. "This issue has nothing to do with devils; it's strictly between the church and the Fallen Angels. The last thing we need is for the devils of this town to…."
"Side with the Fallen Angels?" Rias said abruptly, cutting Xenovia off mid-sentence as a dangerous aura suddenly surrounded Rias as she glared at the blue-haired Holy Sword user. "I would like to make myself very clear when I say this: No member of the Gremory household would ever work with the Fallen Angels."
A small smile appeared on Xenovia's face as she stared at Rias, seemingly unperturbed by Rias' sudden outburst before. "I'm glad to hear that, sister of the Great Devil King, but I would still appreciate it if you devils could stay out of our way while we complete our mission."
"I would've thought that the Church would have sent more than just the two of you to recover such powerful swords," Ben stated, curious as to the church's unusual way of handling the situation.
"Our superiors believe that we are sufficient enough to retrieve the stolen Excaliburs and bring them back to where they belong," Gwen retorted confidently as she stared at her annoying cousin. Nothing seemed to have changed in the two years since they last saw each other, though she wasn't really that shocked to be honest. Ben glared at her but didn't take the bait and remained silent.
"Out of simple curiosity, do you happen to know the name of the Fallen Angel behind these thefts?" Rias asked the two sword wielders with intrigue.
"We do actually," Xenovia replied politely before casting a quick glance to Gwen where they exchanged a silent discussion. It lasted a few seconds before she turned back to Rias. "I don't think there's any problem with telling you his name. The Fallen One behind the thefts is known as Kokabiel."
Rias and Akeno expertly controlled themselves though it was clear that they recognised the name.
"You're going up against a Leader-class Fallen Angel?! Do you plan on dying? He will certainly kill the both of you and simply take your Excaliburs too," Rias declared with exasperation.
"We were made fully aware of the kind of creature we were dealing with when we set out for our mission," Xenovia replied honestly. "We do what we must for God. If it means our death then so be it. Should we be unable to retrieve the Holy swords, we have our orders to destroy them before they can be used by the Fallen Angels."
With that said, the pair of them rose from their seats and made their way towards the doors when Xenovia seemed to suddenly remember something and turned back to the assembled devils, her gaze fixing on Asia. Her gaze was so intense that Asia became, understandably, very nervous and took hold of Ben's arm for comfort.
"I almost forgot. I thought I recognised you from last night. Asia Argento, the former Saint who fell from God's grace when she became a devil." Asia lowered her head, desperately trying to get out of Xenovia's piercing gaze.
Gwen appeared confused at first before she too looked back at Asia and her eyes widened as she recognised the name.
"Seriously?! This is Asia Argento? The witch who was a Saint, only to be rejected when she once healed an injured devil?" she asked with something akin to awe.
"How the hell can you possibly know about that, dweeb?" Ben asked, taking great delight in the annoyed expression which appeared on her face every time he used that name for her. She really hated it and he knew it.
"Of course I do," she retorted with frustration. "It's a fundamental lesson in the church to warn us of what happens when we give in to temptation and fall away from God's Grace."
Ben struggled to keep himself calm at that moment after hearing Gwen's words. After everything those in the Church put her through, right to the point of exiling her for healing a wounded devil, they were now using her as a lesson of what 'loyal' followers of the church had to be cautious of.
He'd rather be killed again before he let anyone from the Church mess around with her new life for their own ends. He simply wouldn't allow it.
"Tell me." Ben was brought back to the real world at Xenovia's words. "Do you still believe in our God?" Asia gasped and raised her head to look at Xenovia with shock.
Before she could answer, however, Gwen beat her to it. "Oh, I wouldn't expect her to, Xenovia. She's a devil now, completely over us," she pointed out, one hand on her hip while the other gestured to the ex-nun hiding beside Ben.
"Yes," Asia replied meekly, yet truthfully, as she raised her head, her eyes watery as she said it. "Even though I am a devil, I haven't been able to give up my faith in Him, no matter how much it hurts when I mention His name."
"If that is the case then allow us to execute you now so you can face His judgement," Xenovia declared bluntly as she brought up her Holy sword though she kept it in the cloth covering it for the time being.
That was the final straw for Ben and he took a step forward, hiding Asia from Xenovia's gaze. "That's it! I tried to stay quiet but I just can't do it anymore," he declared as he glared daggers at Xenovia who, to her credit, didn't appear fazed by him.
Before he could take another step towards the blue-haired exorcist, Koneko put her arm out and placed it against his chest, holding him back with her impressive strength.
"You're not helping," she muttered warningly though Ben just didn't care anymore. They had gone too far!
"I don't care, Koneko!" he retorted angrily, not taking his eyes off of Xenovia's. "Do you have any idea what you people did to her? Do you? You controlled her entire life when you found out about her power and you have the nerve to call her a 'witch'?"
"Believe me when I say that calling her a "witch" is the kindest thing I can call her," Xenovia replied simply.
Ben took a deep breath to calm himself down from Xenovia's words. "You people used her for your own ends, preventing her from having a normal childhood! The Church was the only family she had after her parents abandoned her…and yet you simply exiled her for healing a single devil? She didn't want any of that! She just wanted to live a normal life!"
"A true saint can live off the love of God alone," Xenovia responded unabashedly. "If Asia makes sacrifices for anyone besides God then she was never a true saint," she said coldly.
"Well that's good," Ben stated angrily, his temper rising ever so slowly. "She never asked to be a saint in the first place. She's with us now and I can guarantee that she is much more appreciated with us than she ever was with the church!"
"And who are you exactly?" Xenovia asked with her eyes narrowed as she glared at him.
"I'm her friend. No, I'm more than that; I'm her family, and if you try to hurt her then I won't rest until you pay."
"That's quite a bold statement, devil," Xenovia said with a smug smile. "Do you plan on making an enemy of the entire Church then? Pretty big talk for a little devil like yourself."
He tilted his head slightly to pop the muscles in his neck before walking towards Xenovia, coming to a stop right in front of her. He could hear Rias and Akeno giving him warnings about calming down and stepping back though he didn't pay any attention to them as all his focus was on the arrogant exorcist before him.
[Careful, Ben,] Azmuth cautioned in Ben's mind. [You are still a devil and attacking these two exorcists could spark another war.]
Ben was forced to listen to Azmuth's words and took a deep breath to calm himself down before speaking again. "I'm warning you right now, not as a devil or member of Rias' peerage but as both the Dragon All-Father and the Red Dragon Emperor, that if you want her then you'll have to go through me first." The eyes of both Xenovia and even his cousin visibly widen at his titles and he smirked slightly at them. "And I don't think I need to remind either of you what happened the last time you angered a dragon like Ddraig."
The name obviously meant something to them as he could see his cousin out of the corner of his eye inhaled sharply at the name and gulped as another lesson she was taught back in the Church came to the forefront of her mind.
[Huh. Seems my name still sparks fear into mortals. I approve wholeheartedly,] Ddraig mused with amusement.
"Ben, that's enough!" Rias called out from his left and, deciding to listen to her this time, he took a step back towards Asia and the others with his eyes still fixed on Xenovia.
"What perfect timing. I'll take both of you on," a familiar voice called out from the doorway to the clubroom.
The new voice distracted both Ben and Xenovia who broke eye contact with each other to turn their attention, like everyone else, to the origin of the voice to see Kiba leaning against the door he had just come through without anyone realising.
"And who are you?" Xenovia asked in a bored tone as she stared at the new arrival.
"I'm your superior, though I'm considered a failure. It's nice to meet you," Kiba said though it was clear to everyone that he didn't mean those words at all.
"Kiba," Rias gasped, surprised at seeing him again after nearly two days of nobody knowing where the hell he was.
"If you think you stand a chance against my Excalibur, why not have a match to find out," Xenovia said sharply at the Gremory Knight.
"I think I'll join you," Ben added, stepping forward as he said this.
He wasn't going to let that bitch get away with threatening Asia, not by a long chance.