The Rinkai sky glowed softly, its colors swirling like paint slowly mixed on a massive canvas.
Gabriel's head rested in Morgan's lap, his breathing steady. Their clothes were neat, showing no trace of the strange incidents others might have imagined.
Morgan studied his face for a long moment—not with human gentleness, but with the precision of a queen assessing the condition of her soldier.
The blue potion had worked as intended: calming circuits, forcing a body pushed beyond its limits to pause for a moment.
Yet Morgan knew there was another side to its effect.
If a being with excessively high magical resistance drank it… the reaction could take a different turn.
Her thoughts shifted.
"Sith…" she murmured softly. "She didn't drink it… right? I already warned her."
A gentle breeze swept across the rooftop.
A few seconds later, Gabriel's eyelids fluttered. He woke slowly, becoming aware of his surroundings. His face flushed faintly—not from magic, but from the realization of the situation.
He quickly sat up.
"Ash appreciates the concern of the Queen of Winters," he said softly, his dramatic tone returning as usual. "But giving a sleeping potion without permission… that's an ethical violation."
Morgan regarded him with her usual expressionless gaze.
"I didn't drug you," she replied flatly. "I forced you to rest. That's different."
Her hand rose, adjusting Gabriel's slightly crooked collar.
"Using Spirit Dive to connect the channels of my memories for the Ritual Materialization of summoning Sith isn't easy. And you rarely sleep."
Her tone remained flat, yet her gaze was sharp—not angry, but assessing.
"So don't blame the potion. Simply being able to fall asleep is already enough."
She paused for a moment.
"…Besides," she continued calmly, "if I really wanted to do something quietly, you wouldn't even have a chance to notice."
The wind whispered between them again.
Morgan turned her face slightly.
"How are you feeling now, Gabriel?"
Gabriel lowered his head, his eyes still hidden beneath his bangs.
"I'm fine," he said softly. "Thank you."
***
In the school corridor, a few moments had passed.
Sith was standing again, her posture upright and cold as usual, as if nothing had happened. Meanwhile, Ren remained seated on the floor, one hand pressing the area of her neck where the bite had been.
The wound was nearly closed by Spirit energy, yet the sensation hadn't completely faded.
The Spirit of Jester's face flushed faintly—not from pain, but because the recent incident kept replaying in her mind. Too sudden. Too close. Too unexplained.
"For some reason…" she whispered softly, her voice thin. "It feels like… I was just… taken advantage of without even understanding what happened. Is this what it feels like… to be violated?"
Sith didn't even turn her head.
"That's just your perception," she replied flatly, as if commenting on the weather. "Mother's potion is very strong. Drinking blood is the fastest method for me."
Ren slowly lifted her gaze to meet Sith's. Her eyes weren't angry… but they were clearly disturbed.
"You say it like it's normal," she murmured. "Maybe it is for you. But for me… it isn't."
A brief silence hung between them.
Sith let out a short sigh, a hint of irritation creeping into her tone.
"…If you want to blame someone," she said coldly, finally turning, "all of this is because that Lowly Prey made things troublesome from the start."
Without waiting for a response, the click of her high heels echoed down the corridor again as she walked away.
Ren remained there a while longer, her hand still resting on her neck, trying to calm the strange feelings she hadn't fully understood yet.
Not pain.
Not fear.
But something that stirred boundaries she had never realized existed before.
A few steps down the corridor, Sith finally spotted Gabriel walking alongside Morgan.
Her pace immediately quickened.
Without warning, she grabbed Gabriel by the collar and yanked him to the side. The nearest classroom door was flung open roughly, and Gabriel was pulled inside before he could ask a single question.
He had no idea what was happening.
Before the door closed, Sith glanced back at Morgan.
"Don't worry, Mother," she said, her sweet smile far too forced. "I won't overdo it. I just want to play for a moment. It reminded me of an old game."
Morgan watched them for a few seconds.
No intervention.
She turned and continued down the corridor.
The empty classroom door slammed shut.
BRAAAK!!
Gabriel's body hit the floor.
The impact echoed through the silent room, bouncing off the bare walls.
Fine cracks spread across the tiles like a spiderweb—fragile, but not breaking completely.
Gabriel froze.
Not from pain. He had long since shut off his sense of it.
All that showed on his face was pure confusion.
"Sith… why did you throw me down?" he asked, genuinely bewildered.
Sith stood over him.
Her gaze was sharp, cold, pressing down without the need for a raised voice.
Then the sharp heels lifted—hovering just above Gabriel's eyes.
Not touching.
Just hovering a fraction of an inch.
A threat without contact.
Complete control.
"Tell me," she said softly.
But the weight behind her words made the air feel heavy.
"What were you doing with Mother on the roof?"
No shouting.
No explosive emotion.
It was precisely that calmness that felt suffocating.
Gabriel paused, processing.
"Nothing," he answered honestly, flat as usual. "I just took a short nap in Fey's lap. That's all."
Sith's jaw tightened.
"Don't call Mother by that name."
Her voice dropped a notch.
"And don't lie."
Gabriel met her gaze directly.
Not defensive.
Not afraid.
"I'm serious."
The words came out naturally—without dramatics, without flair.
And precisely because of that… they sounded straightforward.
Silence fell between them.
The heels descended slowly.
Sith turned her face away.
"…Hmph," she huffed.
Her hands were still clenched.
Not a fist of pure hatred.
More like someone trying to suppress something… something she didn't want to admit existed.
"I hate you."
Yet even those words sounded like an excuse.
Gabriel rose slowly, brushing the dust from his clothes. He still didn't fully understand how the situation had ended up this way.
But he had no intention of dwelling on it too much.
There were more pressing matters to attend to.
First, he wanted to revisit Materialization Magic—this time with the goal of manifesting the two remaining Faerie Knights simultaneously.
Second, he aimed to study his Hollow power. His mind drifted to Aizen's experiments in creating White, and the concept of a Zanpakutou functioning as a vessel to seal the Hollow powers of the Arrancar.
Gabriel planned to dilute the Hollow essence within himself, then shape it into a Zanpakutou—a container that would both seal and stabilize that power.
With the Hogyoku within him, achieving this in the near future was far from impossible.
The thought of both projects brought a faint curve to his lips.
Yet, it was impossible to research both at the same time.
So, he decided to create several clones to assist him in the studies.
(Note: I won't go into the process—it would be far too long. Don't worry.)
***
Region Keter.
A month had passed.
Gabriel had successfully reformulated the Spirit Materialization Ritual—this time without Spirit Dive, relying solely on a Ritual Circle linked to Morgan and a structured Chant.
During that month, much had occurred.
Morgan had taken full control of managing Region Rinkai, while Sawa, Kurumi, Ren, and Sith carried out interregional diplomacy.
Meanwhile, Gabriel's research on diluting Hollow essence to create White and a Zanpakutou had made considerable progress.
This meant he only needed a few field tests to further evaluate the results.
Now, Gabriel stood behind the school building.
Before him, two Faerie Knights knelt.
The first was Bargest—a tall, imposing woman with long ash-blonde hair reaching her waist, clad in armor.
Her posture was commanding, her aura dense with power, and her heterochromatic eyes—one green, one orange—pierced the space around her.
Beside her was the Faerie Dragon, Melusine.
She appeared young, around sixteen years old. Her long silver hair cascaded freely, framing her face with straight bangs.
Her golden-yellow eyes were sharp, layered with the piercing pupils characteristic of a dragon.
She wore futuristic armor in metallic blue, accented with cyan and silver, adorned with geometric patterns and glowing blue-green runes.
"A question," Melusine spoke.
"Are you our Master?" Bargest continued.
Gabriel nodded slightly.
"Yes," he replied. "I am your Master—the one who has forged our soul bond in this world."
A brief silence followed.
Both drew a steady breath.
"I, Faerie Knight Gawain," Bargest declared firmly, "will be the sword that strikes down all your enemies."
"And I," Melusine added, "as Faerie Knight Lancelot, will be the spear that crushes your foes."
A faint smile lifted Gabriel's lips.
One of his goals in the Date A Live world… had finally been achieved.
However, the situation with Melusine and Bargest was slightly different from Kurumi and Sith, who had already become Servant Heralds.
This meant that the two were not connected to the System.
Gabriel himself had come to this world with only two Contract Seals.
No reserves.
For now, he had no choice but to form a standard Master–Servant contract with them.
Only temporarily.
Once he acquired two additional Contract Seals, Gabriel planned to strengthen the bond—making Melusine and Bargest his full Servants, directly linked to the System like the others.
____
Author's Note:
Well, like I said, Gabriel is going to gather the Faerie Knights as his Servants. That's it 😌
Don't forget to support me, okay? 😏