Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
"Are you okay, my love?! Where are you?! "
"Narcissa! Sera, go rescue her!!"
"Do you recognize who they were? Where are they taking you?! Anything that can help us?!"
"Serena! Capture those bastards and bring them here! Do we have dementors? Can we get dementors!? "
"Give them to Bella, she's just as bad or worse!"
"Great idea, Enid! Bellatrix! For once, don't hold back! I want to see every second of their suffering! "
"I'm already in the store! There's no one there! It hardly looks like there was an attack, just residual signs of magic! "
"Damn! There's nothing else you can find, Ravel?! "
"No, sorry! Serena would have to come, she's better at magic than me! "
" Seren -"
"Okay, enough!" I exclaimed mentally, stopping the entire conversation. Lucius, Enid, and Ravel were panicking and starting to text so fast it was hard to keep up. On the other hand, I was also blocking Bella.
Bella felt like a pit of fury, rage, and death right now. It seemed as if every soul inside her was roaring with anger, consuming the entire bond with their bloodlust. I was making sure it didn't fall on the others, or they'd go crazy.
Even using all my Occlumency and being the owner of the bond, I still couldn't block all the hatred Bella was mentally sending.
Besides, it's not like I wanted to; I felt a great deal of murderous rage and anger myself. No one touched my family and came out of it alive. But that wasn't what Narcissa needed right now. We had to find her first.
"Bella! For the love of- calm down already! Narcissa is fine! Feel her for the bond, all of you! She's calm! " I shouted through the bond once more. That made the four of them freeze momentarily. Immediately, they all looked for Narcissa's presence.
Narcissa pleased them all and sent them.
"Thank you, dear, I'm fine, everyone, stop freaking out," Narcissa said calmly and a little amused, though she felt pleased and loving by everyone's reaction.
"Are you okay?" Bella snarled, all her hatred gone and the voices silenced, but she could still hear the fury in their words. Lucius and the others looked anxious.
"Yes, I'm fine. Really," Narcissa said, quickly transmitting her senses to us. We all eagerly took them in and connected with Narcissa. We could immediately sense everything she could.
There was no residual pain in her body to betray any injury; all I could feel was the friction and light bruises on her wrists and arms where she was held, and Narcissa tried to struggle. I focused on her vision, and I could see that she was in a small dungeon, a small cell.
Cold stone and iron bars, there was no noise that I could discern, and the only magic there was, was to keep the cell closed.
We all sighed in relief as we calmed down.
"Okay, can you explain what happened?" I asked much calmer.
"I was working in my shop, I received an order for a suit for a high-class devil from another city a few days ago, normal. I didn't find it strange, it's not the first order I've received from high-class devils."
"He ordered a suit from me. I came in a few days ago to have his measurements taken, and he even paid the advance fee without any problem. I didn't feel anything strange about him. We've been in touch for updates. I've been working on the suit for the past few days. I finally finished it a few hours ago, so I decided to call him to finalize the work and complete the payment."
"When he arrived, he came accompanied by two other people, girls, don't pay attention to them, he's not the first person who wants to show off or brag about the suit in front of other people. When I was showing them the suit, the two girls grabbed me and took all the jewelry I had on." Narcissa said quickly and I frowned.
"Wait, did they take all your jewelry?" I asked quickly. Narcissa mentally nodded.
"Yeah, the weirdest thing is they kept passing them to the man, and the shoulder kept holding them and kept saying 'Hogwarts'." My eyes went wide. I could feel the shock in the others.
"Do you know about portkeys?" I asked incredulously.
"Your memories, my love," Lucius asked without hesitation. Narcissa didn't even hesitate to share her memories. Just as Narcissa had mentioned, everything went really quickly when they arrived to 'collect' the suit.
Once they began removing all traces of jewelry Narcissa had on her, they handed it to the man, just as Cissy had mentioned. The man seemed to impatiently use all the rings, as if waiting for one to finally activate the portkey.
They knew about portkeys, but they didn't know Narcissa didn't have one. The jewelry she currently had was a mix of brass rings that replicate my abilities and metal minds that store attributes. And she doesn't use many of them, either.
Like Lucius and Enid, neither of them were combatants, so the few rings they had were more functional than anything else. Narcissa had rings to prevent sleep, eating, and breathing, along with some gold ones for health. Lucius had the same ones, plus some for mental speed. Enid had some physical enhancements, like speed for when she was in her wolf form, but none that multiplied in abnormal environments.
But leaving that aside, it was clear they'd done their research, or at least part of it. They figured everyone close to me would have the portkeys, and they knew what rings were and the word to activate them, so they'd be on guard for a while.
Once they finished checking their rings and didn't get the results they expected, they seemed frustrated. They grabbed Narcissa, teleported to the dungeon, threw Narcissa in, and locked the cell before walking away without giving her a second glance or saying a word.
Now, who was responsible? It was obvious what the answer was.
"Honest." Bella hissed hatefully. I mean, it wasn't Honest, but it was pretty close. The man Narcissa ran into was Run, a member of Akame ga Kill's Jaegers. But I guess, these belonged to Lucifaad.
The two girls following his were Seryu and Cosmina. The former made sense; Seryu, the damn psychopath, was normal; she should be in the same group as Run, while Cosmina was part of Wild Hunt, another organization. One was under Esdeath, and the other under Honest.
"Can I kill him, please?" Bella almost begged, I snorted and wrinkled my nose.
"Lucius?" I asked simply.
"Run, Cosmina and Seryu, two belong to the Jaegers group and Cosmina to Wild Hunt if we go by the naming of the Akame Ga Kill series. They are working together, but they are not part of the same group." Lucius began while analyzing the memory with ease.
"Run and Seryu, they are definitely reincarnated devils. Run seemed conflicted when she arrived at Narcissa's shop, obviously not bothered by the kidnapping, she was simply following orders that weren't from her boss in charge, her king, possibly Esdeath, I can't be sure."
"Seryu didn't mind in the slightest; she was just happy to follow orders. Still, while the orders didn't come from her 'king,' they're definitely operating with his permission. It's possible this is all someone else's plan, and they've asked Run and Seryu's 'king' to help pull it off."
"That leaves few options. Cosmina was present; she seems to be a devil by birth, but she definitely has an Evil Piece. Leaving that aside, Cosmina being here means Wild Hunt is involved too, and she was more than eager to fulfill her mission, as if she wanted to impress someone.
"So it suggests that Wild Hunt, or the 'king' of Cosmina, is the main force, or at least the one originally tasked with the task. If we go by the way Wild Hunt is formed, it's possible that said king is Syura, Honest's son."
"It's possible he's the mastermind behind it all. They wanted a way to safely enter our island. And they believed portkeys were the only way. They definitely don't know that they only work for succubi," Lucius said quickly. I snorted. It really was unfair to him.
"And why not attack the succubi directly?" Enid asked, confused.
"They know they can't be removed by other people. They were surprised when Narcissa's were removed. They definitely did their research. They hired a succubus with a ring and tried to remove it during sex, but since they couldn't, they tried another way."
"They believed that Narcissa, as a direct pawn of Sera, should have one of those rings, or better, in addition to her value as a hostage. They were ready to cut off Narcissa's fingers." Lucius snarled in hatred.
"fingers? Like succubi? Any relation to Sellzen? " I asked, confused. Lucius growled in frustration.
"Too early to say, once again, I'm lacking information. If I have to speculate, Honest and his group are working with Kokabiel; the two of them want to start the great war between factions."
"Honest is definitely not happy with Sirzechs's rule, or he wants to start a war because he hates peace, or he wants to destabilize Sirzechs's rule like that. Now, why would he want succubi? I have no idea."
"You have ties to the Phenex, all the lower-class devils see you as a symbol, we have more and more commoner devils moving to the city. You have a friendship with Sirzechs, Azazel said that the pantheons believe you have a closer relationship with Rias than is public."
"Do they... Do they want to kill Rias and Sona with the Excalibur? The exorcists and... blame it on the succubi? No- that wouldn't start a war, it would only break relations with Sirzechs and us if Sirzechs believed it at first, but he's not that stupid."
"Maybe the other way around? Kill the succubi and blame Rias? Yes, that's possible. That would be better. They know how you react, they must think you're unstable when they touch things you consider 'yours', rumors spread, they may have been distorted to believe you're actually protective of everyone in your city."
"They want you out of the way. Run and the others didn't seem eager or concerned about attacking Pentagram City during the day. They'll think you went to Kuoh right away to know Narcissa was kidnapped. They want you away from the Underworld."
"Either you die against Kokabiel, or you kill Rias and Sirzechs kills you, either way, the problem is solved. They just need a way to get onto the island, they want to steal as much as they can before someone else takes over the city. I suppose if Narcissa is of no use to them, they'll come after us, or the succubi until they find a way." Lucius said, and we all fell silent.
Yeah, okay, that was starting to give me a headache. Lucius's leaps of logic and mental gymnastics were annoying, really. Stupid Tattletale's power was crap, even more so when he pushed himself to the limit. But at least it gave us a general idea of what was really going on.
"All right, I don't know where you are, Narcissa, but I can open a portal to bring you back." I said without hesitation.
"Wait! I want to go! I want to kill you all! " Bella roared angrily. I sighed.
"And keep Narcissa in the middle?" I asked firmly.
"I'm not made of glass, darling. And I must say, I'm angry at the improper treatment these devils gave me. I want my sister to come and make them suffer," Narcissa hissed. I froze and sighed. I could feel the sadistic happiness welling up in Bella.Even Lucius seemed to support the idea of torturing the people who kidnapped Narcissa.
"Fucking Blacks, fine, it'll be your way. Bella, go find Narcissa, get her to safety, and try to capture any you come across. They'll be a good source of credits." I ordered Bella. Bella was about to complain, and I rolled my eyes. "They just have to be alive. You can do whatever you want with them as long as they don't die, " I interrupted.
"You're the best! I love you! " Bella laughed sadistically.
"I want to go," Ravel said suddenly. I frowned.
"No need, I'm sure Bella can handle it herself," I said simply. Ravel shook her head.
"Whether I can or not, I can't stay still when they're attacking our family," Ravel said determinedly. I paused momentarily before bursting out laughing.
"Well said, Ravel. As long as Bella doesn't mind." I said simply with a smile.
"As long as you don't stop my revenge, do whatever you want," Bella said simply.
"Don't worry, I won't," Ravel said seriously.
"Good, Lucius, if you can, prepare to call Sirzechs. Stay on top of everything. If this ends in the worst possible way, he needs to know. And if possible, don't interfere." I said mentally. Lucius hummed in response. "Also, keep an eye on the island and the city. The defenses are up, but if there's any trouble, let us know." I said seriously.
"Don't worry, I know," Lucius said easily. I nodded.
"I'll go find the succubi. That damn Sellzen must be in Kuoh. Enid, I might need you to heal them if worst comes to worst." I transmitted.
"I'll be with Lucius watching everything," Enid said immediately. I could feel her nervousness.
" Bella, can you get to Narcissa, or do you need a portal? " I asked before finishing.
"I can, I'm waiting for Ravel, I already found her through the bond. She's not that far away" Bella said while humming.
"Here I am!" Ravel said mentally, although I'm sure she also said it out loud to Bella.
"I found it too, let me look for a map… aaand ... They're in... Honest's old territory. When the old faction lost the war, all the Pillar Devil territories that supported the old faction had most of their territories seized and were forced to stay in Lucifaad. Honest was one of them."
"Still, they are the ones who know their own territory best, and even though the territories were embargoed by the Satans, they definitely continued to operate within them in secret. It's not uncommon for them to have some bases or safe houses, or dungeons," Lucius said with a frown.
"Who can we expect?" Bella asked as she got ready.
"Too soon to say," Lucius said immediately, "the Four Rakshasa Demons, Wild Hunt, and Jaegers exist in this world, at least as Peerages of others. For example, Esdeath exists and has access to Evil Pieces. Since all the Jaegers are under your control, that leaves half the pieces available.
"Same with Syura, if Wild Hunt is his Peerage, it's possible there are more devils than we know about. I've been able to find out some information on them over the past month, but there isn't much to report, really. Not that it's important right now." Lucius said clinically. Bella nodded mentally.
"Very well, don't hold back. I'll go find the succubi. It's safe to say that I'll take Kuoh with me, without a doubt. That should give me an excuse to be in the city and confront Kokabiel to complete the side quest of defeating him in solo combat."
"Vali Lucifer should also appear, facing Divine Dividing … I'll see as we go." I said with a grimace.
"Be careful!" Enid said worriedly. I laughed lightly.
"Of course, I have some pretty interesting things, and the white supremacist dragon is a good target. I'm excited," I said playfully. For some reason, I didn't feel Bella's pang of jealousy when she realized I'd be facing a powerful enemy.
I'm guessing her desire for revenge and torturing those responsible for Cissy's kidnapping was much greater. Plus, she might be waiting for Esdeath to show up so she can enjoy it even more.
"Okay, everyone, take care." I said the last message before refocusing on my surroundings.
A/N: Now, what I had already announced, as I mentioned last week, this coming week I will be taking a short vacation. I have two weeks of vacation from work, but I will only not be publishing next week, August 8th.
I should be back with regular chapters on August 15th.
A/N: If you liked the story, join my patreon, patreon.com/Camellya_Addams, there are up to 10 chapters in advance, thank you. Or you can also visit my Ko-Fi, ko-fi.com/camellya_addams.