21AN: Updated AN peerage roster, fixed mistake where Sona was the fiancee instead of Rias, made a few small corrections.
Chapter 1: Devils and Wagtails
Sekirei Number 08 Yume held the dying form of Musubi, her young sister, in her arms as tears streamed down her face. She looked down at the girl in her arms, her usually healthy pink skin pale as she shivered, her life quickly flowing out of her.
"I'm so sorry," Yume muttered as a cold wind blew and ruffled her clothing, "if only we were faster."
The young girl's core had been damaged and the damage was irreversible. Not even the greatest of MBI's technologies could save her now. 'So young,' she shook her head as fresh tears stung at her eyes, 'and to never know your destined one, to never feel true love…'
Yume took a deep breath to calm herself, she could do something that may save Musubi but she would need to act quickly and without panicking. It would spell the end of her own life but…she had at least lived a life that she could call her own. Musubi was just too young, to see her die was something she just couldn't let happen. She would pay any price to save her little sister, if she had to forfeit her own life so be it.
"You better find your ashikabi and love him with all your heart ok, Musubi?" a few of her tears fell on Musubi's face and she quickly wiped them away. Just like the rest of the sekirei Yume too wished to meet the man or woman of her dreams one day, her ashikabi, her destined one. "I'm sure you'll love him, or her, enough for the both us." Musubi was always a bundle of seemingly unlimited energy, she could love someone enough for the both of them.
She nodded to herself, her mind made up and her will resolute, "I guess this is good-"
Yume froze as she heard two people approach her from behind, and they were close she realized as the air seemed to…shift.
'How did they get so close without me noticing?!' Yume had faced many human soldiers in her career keeping her brothers and sisters safe from the various parties interested in them and MBI's research in general. Everything from rag-tag mercenaries hired to be cannon fodder, to what she guessed were regular troops to even elite troops and none had ever gotten the drop on her. One of the unknowns, judging from the steps, was a…teenager? And the other, to her disbelief, seemed to be a child judging from how quick he or she had to walk to keep up with the older one and from how light the steps seemed to be.
She turned towards them, shifting Musubi to just her left arm so she could have her right arm out ready to protect her dying sibling, in a rough and somewhat awkward fighting stance. It was the best she could do while carrying a small child. The sight that greeted her was strange to say the least, if the situation wasn't so serious with Musubi on the verge of death she would have gawked at how bizarre it all was. Just like her senses had told her the two who had sneaked up on her were a pair.
The older one stood defensively in front of her younger companion, a steel spear with a wide head held in her hands in a way that spoke of experience and skill to the sekirei. She seemed to be a teenage girl in her mid to late teens with long red-violet hair that shined like silk as it blew in the wind and flawless skin, her face serious as her blood red eyes assessed Yume critically. Yume had to admit the girl was beautiful, slim waist, generous bust, a young face and a toned and fit body. She was dressed in what was seemingly a western high school uniform of a simple white dress shirt, black tie and a red, white and black plaid skirt. Yume would have thought she was a normal, if extremely beautiful, teenage girl.
Yume knew that wasn't the case though due the spear and the…sheer presence of the girl. Yume knew all of her sisters, she didn't know all of them personally but she did know what they all looked like and this girl was no sekirei. Yume should have felt safe, like she could win, the girl was human and sekirei were inherently superior physically. The only humans she had any trouble dealing with were the most elite soldiers or snipers but that was due to their skill with team tactics and sheer distance from her respectively, not sheer individual skill and ability.
Her instincts told her otherwise though, this girl in front of her was dangerous, ridiculously so. Her fight and flight instincts were going haywire with the girl's attention on herself and it told her one thing: RUN.
Still weary of the girl Yume eyed her young companion and saw that she was again correct as a young child stood calmly behind the spear wielding girl. She couldn't make out much of him due to his black hooded coat but she could guess his age from his height, approximately four or five years old. She could also see he wore blue jeans and black boots.
The child reached up and lowered his hood to reveal the face of the child, a boy it seemed, with raven black hair, a friendly smile and green beautiful eyes that shined with youth. She couldn't help but wonder what they were doing here, especially the child.
"I can help you," the boy spoke.
"H-Help me?" Yume muttered in disbelief. "Who are you?" She readied herself for a fight, she couldn't help but find this all very strange.
"Ah where are my manners," the boy blinked before giving her a small nod that showed respect but what surprised her was his tone. While his voice was that of a child his tone lacked the tone of a child talking to his elder, instead his tone sounded proud and noble, viewing her something more akin to his equal or maybe someone inferior. It gave him the impression of a young prince or a noble, like in the fantasy stories she so adored…it was an odd feeling to say the least. "I am Hawk de La Dantalion," he introduced himself before his gaze lowered and she followed it to see him looking at Musubi, a frown appearing on his face, "and I can save her."
Yume's eyes snapped up to meet his, "how? Don't lie, not even MBI can save her."
The boy then reached into his coat and pulled out a small glass vial filled with a clear liquid, "with this."
"Young Master," the spear wielding girl finally spoke, a surprised tone leaking into her calm voice as she too a glance at the boy who was her master before continuing to keep her attention on Yume. "Are you sure? Lady Leviathan may not be happy to find out you used that on someone else."
The boy glanced at her, a resolute will and a bit of annoyance on his face. "Morgana, Mama gave it to me and I'll use it as I see fit."
"As you wish," the spear wielder sighed, "as your Queen I will support you."
"Uh...thanks," he blushed a bit before turning back to Yume, "as long as they haven't died this can heal any injury."
"I don't believe you," Yume fired back, this was all too strange, all too convenient. "Even MBI hasn't created anything like that!" she said, skepticism clear on her voice, something like that sounded like magic.
"Will you risk her life on that assumption?"
Yume pursed her lips, and glanced at Musubi and saw she was getting worse, she had very little time and the one option she had was a gamble. Giving her own sekirei core to Musubu wasn't guaranteed to work, in theory it should but it had never been tried before.
"Make a deal with me is all I ask," he said as he walked past the girl who Yume guessed was his bodyguard and stepped close rto Yume, his 'Queen' following behind in a more relaxed manner but still ready to act. Yume felt sweat on her brow, one wrong move towards the kid and she knew Morgana would gut her with her spear faster than she could blink. "I offer a simple contract, I will grant your wish if you pay my price."
Yume bit her lip and looked down at Hawk's eyes and saw that he was telling the truth, that he could somehow save Musubi or at least believed he did. If anything wasn't it worth a shot? "Save her and I'll pay any price."
Little did she know that she was about to make a deal with a devil.
One Hour Prior
Unnamed Island, 138km East-South-East of Japanese Territorial Waters
In a forest clearing a complex magic circle blazed a dark violet before disappearing in a flash of white, revealing two individuals. One was a beautiful girl, her scarlet eyes scanning for danger and threats as her dark red-violet hair blew in the wind caused by their teleportation. The other was young boy dressed in a black hooded coat, an excited smile on his face.
He couldn't help but be excited, it was the first time he had been allowed to go out with just himself and Morgana since…that incident.
'No no no,' he shook his head, 'bad thoughts go away.' He brushed off the dark thoughts and reminded himself of the positives. Usually someone else would be ordered to follow, but not today. Today it was just him and his Morgana and he couldn't help but smile up at her.
Morgana of course saw this and couldn't help but smile at her Young Master, she knew why he was excited. She was happy too, it was like a date! A date that would probably involve some good old fashioned violence and mayhem but, well, wasn't that what the best of dates should have? It was the case for her at least.
"Well," Hawk turned to his trusted servant, "let's go!"
"Hahaha," Morgana chuckled, following the hooded boy, "yes, yes Young Master. Still, please remember my lessons and not get too excited."
"Of course," he nodded, he had known Morgana since he was three and she had taught him most of what he knew, to him her teachings were the law. "I need to do my part too."
They paused in their walk as they heard talking. Hawk glanced at Morgana and she nodded, notifying him that she was ready and he nodded back to her. While she was much much older than him and far more powerful and experienced in the end she always deferred to his decision for times like these, only ever stopping him for the sake of his own safety. In that way Morgana always reminded him of the knights of Europe, serving their lords and ladies faithfully, the epitome of steadfast loyalty.
Well then again, considering she was around during those times, he shouldn't be surprised at all.
He sped up and leaped into the trees, using the branches as platforms as he sped for the source of the voice they were hearing, wanting to avoid giving themselves away by the sound of rustling bushes. Hawk glanced back and wasn't surprised to see Morgana right behind him, her face serious as she kept her guard up, ready to save him. He nodded to himself, if someone were to ask he did feel a bit nervous being in charge like this, the thought of his Morgana getting hurt due to his actions…he didn't even want to think about it. Still he knew this was the first of many, ever since she became a part of his peerage her fate was tied with his and vice versa…unless he traded her away but that was something he would never do. He had had entire peerages offered in trade for her and more, marriage contracts, territory in the underworld and/or the human world and of course offers of money and he had rejected them all. She was more than a servant to him.
He shook his head, he couldn't let that insecurity affect him now and she and his various teachers had taught him well. He was powerful for his age and he knew that. Morgana herself was no slouch.
'Just remember her teachings,' he nodded to himself as he landed softly on another tree branch and stopped, Morgana landing in a crouch right beside him. In front of them was a soldier clad in full battledress with a forest camouflage print and what seemed to be a Russian, or maybe Soviet made since it had a worn looking wooden stock and handguard, SVD designated marksman rifle slung on his back as he smoked.
He turned to Morgana and whispered, "don't kill him." He didn't want to accidentally kill an innocent man. He still needed to get an idea of what was happening here.
She nodded and hopped down, snuck up behind the soldier and…hit him in the back of the head. Hawk sighed, he knew she wasn't one for being stealthy, she was a warrior at heart but…he couldn't help but find her method…sloppy he supposed was the word. With all the magics she could use that was what she came up with?
Still, she followed his orders and he hopped down. The soldier was standing on a cliff overlooking a research facility and Morgana stood on the edge, once again on guard.
"They're well camouflaged," Morgana commented as she eyed the facility. It was surrounded by a small treeline and had green walls and roofs covered in real living grass, it would have hidden the buildings quite well from the prying eyes of the satellites the various governments and corporations of the world had developed in recent years. She then turned to Hawk knowing he had a fascination with firearms, a rarity in the relatively conservative supernatural world that preferred more classical weapons. "Can you tell anything about them from him, Young Master?"
"Hm," Hawk hummed as he crouched down and inspected the soldier's equipment, "well they're well equipped and probably well-funded." He reached into a zippered pouch and held a pair of black night vision goggles, "these are pretty high-tech, the newest from the US." He then looked at the rifle and saw the straight magazine, something the SVD did not have…"a Chinese copy of the SVD."
"How can you tell?"
"The straight magazine is a dead giveaway. The SVD never had that but the Norinco NDM-86, a Chinese copy, is made chambered in 7.62 NATO and they have straight magazines." He frowned, "American state-of-the-art night vision goggles and an old Chinese made gun using western ammunition." He then turned to Morgana, "weird miss-match of gear…mercenaries I guess?"
Morgana smiled down at him and ruffled his hair, making him blush. "Good guess my student."
He then took the soldier's radio and listened to the ear piece and frowned with what he heard.
Morgana turned back to the direction of the research facility as she heard the sound of helicopter blades and when she looked up at the sky she could see them approaching. She held out her right arm to the side and opened her hand as the air itself seemed to ripple as space itself warped, revealing a gleaning silver shaft and a long sharp steel spear head covered in a complex pattern of runes. She grasped the spear in her hand and gave it a twirl and as always the balance was perfect, it was newest of her Hawk-sama's creations, forged by the Dantalion family's expertise in alchemical magic and reinforced with her own knowledge of runes.
She then turned to her master, still listening to the radio with a frown, "Hawk-sama we have helicopters inbound."
"They must be stealth helicopters then, I don't hear anything about them on the radio," came the reply. "Anyway I heard mentions about them taking some kids or something from MBI, you know, that pharmaceutical company? They want to research on them, maybe MBI's coming to get them back?"
"I don't like this," Morgana frowned, "this is getting too complicated." She then turned to her master, "do you want to continue?"
"Of course! Delphi-san said that if I came here I would find someone that would join my peerage if I helped them and she would never lie to me."
"She's an old woman," Morgana sighed.
"She was also an oracle for the Olympian faction," Hawk argued back, "and old age doesn't really matter when you're immortal." He then stood up and stood beside her. As he looked down the cliff face at the facility he could now hear the faint sound of helicopter blades and once again he was impressed by Morgana's abilities, she didn't even use magic to hear them when they farther away. "Are…Are you worried I'll like her more?"
Morgana blinked at the question and looked down at him.
Hawk looked back at her, "Mother once asked what would happen if she had another baby, what I would think…It's what I thought." He bit his lip and blushed, he knew how Morgana felt about him, she didn't exactly hide it and he had to admit he felt something for her. That said being said as a seven year old he didn't really understand that stuff all too well so he wasn't really sure how she was special to him. He was a child, things like romance were just out of his grasp. He wanted to reassure her but what to say? "You're…you're my first ever servant…and…" he blushed bright red, "you'll always be my Queen."
Morgana blinked again as her cheeks pinked and ruffled his hair, she wasn't really worried about that but it still felt nice to hear it. "Smooth line Hawk-kun," she then kneeled down and gave him a kiss on the forehead, "don't worry, I know you won't forget me." The Dantalions loved their servants with the same intensity that the Gremory did and he was a Dantalion through and through. "I'm more worried for your safety," she then winked at him and stood up.
"You know what I mean," he pouted while rubbing his forehead with his sleeve, like most children the thought of kissing still grossed him out, "and you said you wouldn't do anything ecchi until I was older!"
"Lady Leviathan does that and you don't complain."
Seriously, it was a kiss on the forehead, contrary to popular belief she wasn't a shotacon. She just loved someone who happened to still be young, waiting was no issue to her, she enjoyed being his teacher and older sister figure at the moment.
"That's different, Mama isn't echhi!" he huffed and her brow twitched, what was with the differential treatment?! "Anyway we're going, if anything we're gonna help save the two girls." He then took the radio and clipped it into the shirt under his coat before putting on the ear piece, after cleaning it with a bit of magic of course, and putting on the throat mic.
"Like a superhero?" Morgana raised a brow, Hawk loved that stuff thanks to his guardian's influence.
"Exactly!"
She sighed, but shrugged, as mature as he could be he was still seven.
"Time to go to work!" He exclaimed with a smile before jumping down the cliff and entering free fall, his Queen not far behind. "They're bad guys Morgana, permission to kill."
As they were about to hit the ground a pair of black bat-like wings erupted from their backs, their clothes magically kept intact, and with a powerful flap slowed their descent allowing them to touch down softly.
"You have a plan correct?" Morgana asked, her face and voice serious once more. "Remember what I taught you."
"Of course," he nodded and dashed for the treeline towards the facilities back entrance. His plan was simple, to infiltrate via the rear entrance and from there they would make their way to the labs where the girls were being kept. He hoped to reach them before MBI but if he didn't then he at least hoped to cause enough chaos on their end to distract the security force. From what he had made out on the radio the facility was quite new and was understaffed with additional forces scheduled to arrive in two days, he guessed MBI knew that too since they chose to attack now. "MBI is currently attacking from the front so we'll enter through the back here and try to attract some attention, if we start killing off their guards then they should be suspicious if no one reports back on radio checks."
Morgana nodded and followed her King as they sprinted at superhuman speeds. She held herself back though, she was both taller and faster than her young Master and she didn't want to act as the metaphorical tip of the spear just yet. Her master had killed before in self defense, he loved the human world and visited often and sometimes they would run into a rogue exorcist or someone trying to make a name for themselves by killing her or her master. During those encounters she would let him fight enemies she had weakened enough to earn experience. Still he had only killed in the defense, this would be his first time actually being the instigator.
Would he be able to do it?
As they approached Hawk could see enemy guards, three of them, at the rear entrance. He steeled himself, they were bad guys, kidnappers who experimented on children. Fury lit up in him, people had attempted to kidnap him due to being a Dantalion, a clan of the 72 Pillars, and he had no love for those who targeted children. He held out his hand in front of him and channeled his magic. As a member of the of Dantalion clan he had inherited his clan's talent for Alchemy from his mother, the magic of manipulating matter.
Using that magic he condensed the water vapor in the air and froze it, creating three identical clear blue blades in front of his open palm. They were simple and 50 centimetres long and around 2 wide and possessed no guard, no hilt, no pommel, only a simple double edged blade and tang. They weren't fit for wielding but he didn't mean to wield them.
No instead he shot them out at the guards, the cold blades of ice piercing the unaware soldiers in their heads, their deaths quick and immediate nd they crumpled to the ground as the swords instantly evaporated. Personally he had always felt shooting what were, for all intents and purposes, longswords was a tad bit overkill but Hawk knew his limits. Skilled as he was he was still young and inexperienced and creating big simple things with Alchemy was generally both easier and quicker than small and precise creations like a well-balanced throwing knife. Well within reason of course, he couldn't do anything crazy like create something the size of a sky-scraper. One day perhaps but not at seven.
With the guards down he rushed forward up to the door. He then grabbed a key card from one of the guards, as he didn't need it now after all, but paused as he heard something on the radio and turned to Morgana. "We need to hurry, MBI's tearing through these guys' defenses…that explains why they didn't seem to be concerned their sniper didn't check in…" he murmured the last part to himself. Well there goes his attempts to attract attention, "they're sending most of their forces to stop MBI."
"What do you want to do?" Morgana asked as she simply kicked in the reinforced steel door, causing Hawk to sigh and throw away the key card. Inside the power was out and the emergency lights had come on, bathing the corridors in red light as claxons blared. "Continue or go home? I'm still behind you whatever you choose to do."
"We're continuing," he said without hesitation and Morgana nodded and took up the point man position as she headed into the facility, Hawk right behind her. "Might as well finish what we've started and maybe the one Delphi-san was talking about is inside?"
"Or in the MBI force," Morgana added her two-cents, "she only told you the two of you would meet here."
"Take a left here," Hawk said as he saw a sign pointing to the labs and other facilities on the wall, "and you have a point. Either way we can just erase the memories of anyone from MBI we run into."
"Not kill them like all these…uh, bad guys?"
"No," he shook his head and gave her a look that said he thought her question was stupid, it would have been adorable and hilarious aimed at anyone else but it just made her want to slap him. She was his teacher for almost everything! "They're coming to rescue people right? That makes them the good guys. If we kill them then that makes us bad guys!"
Morgana just shook her head and sighed at his childish sense of morals and she added that as something to correct in future lessons…not the immediate future though. 'Go-er, Maou he's adorable like this,' after all he was only going to be like this once. "And you don't want to be one of the bad guys I'm guessing."
"Duh, I don't want you to be one either...you're like my hero."
"We're devils, not angels you know," she sighed but ruffled his hair, knowing he liked it, it was flattering to hear how he thought of her.
"Just because you're a bad guy, doesn't mean you're a bad guy right?"
"…you have no idea what that means, do you?"
An adorable blush was her answer "…can you teach me?"
"You got it," she grinned and took out her phone to snap a quick photo, the bright flash ensuring the red emergency lights didn't tint the picture but also eliciting a squawk from her Young Master. 'I am so going to send that to Rias,' she grinned in her head.
'She's going to send that to Rias-chan isn't she?' he knew and just sighed as he rubbed his eyes.
"This is it huh?" Morgana commented as they arrived at an elevator that should take them to the labs that was their target. She then pushed the button to call the elevator before she absently flicked her spear, splattering the floor with the blood of the mercenaries she had killed on the way. "What are they saying on the radio now?"
"I don't know," Hawk sighed, "the radio talk has almost all died out, but…"
"But?"
"They said something about…sekirei?"
"Wagtails?"
"I dunoe, they said MBI was attacking with them though, a pair of them. Have you heard about them?" he held his hands over his chest and the blood and grime on his coat floated off of it and condensed into a small ball that he flicked away. "I've never heard of a species called that before," and he knew a lot of them, as a high-class devil it was important knowledge for building a peerage.
"No can't say I have," she shook her head, "but I spent my entire life in Europe before I met you so I can't say I'm an expert on species that live in Japan, there are a lot of different kind of youkai there."
Hawk nodded, all kinds of youkai called Japan home, like the nekomata that his friend Rias had just saved and took into her peerage or the famed kitsune.
"Come on come on," he muttered as he tapped his foot while waiting for the elevator to come.
*DING*
And the doors opened revealing two scientists and four soldiers, surprise was on their faces as the soldiers hesitated in bringing up their rifles to bare.
'Too slow,' he thought to himself as Morgana exploded into an action and, almost so fast he missed it, she cut all six men horizontally by the abdomen, cleanly bisected, and their blood painted the walls and floors of the small space. He waved his hand and the blood flowed into the gap between the elevator floor and the floor of the floor he was on and into the elevator shaft, "there, clean enough."
"You're being awfully blasé about this," Morgana commented as she stepped into the elevator, her master following her.
"I'm no stranger to violence," he shrugged back and Morgana frowned, she often forgot that as a result of his noble status he never experienced the innocent childhood most human children or even devil children experienced. Even with all that's happened he was usually so chipper that she just…forgot.
Morgana then pressed the button for the labs and the door closed. He rolled up his sleeve and checked his watch and bit back a curse, this was taking too long. Since they didn't have a map to work with they just followed signs and had had to turn around a few times because they missed one or two. Times like these he wished he had a bigger peerage but he reminded himself what Morgana had suggested when she had become his Queen, that he should save his pieces for people worth using them on. Still, there was one person he could call for help.
"Come Kuro," he muttered, calling forth his familiar. A small violet magic circle flashed on the floor, the pattern the exact same as the one that transported Morgana and himself earlier, a dagger that was the Dantalion clan symbol at its centre. Kuro emerged from the magic circle, her form resembling that of an abnormally large wolf. Her fur was blacker than the darkest night, seemingly absorbing any light that struck it while her eyes that glowed a blood red turned to the boy who had summoned her.
"Yes pup?" asked the wolf in her usual sultry tone and head cocked while her tail swished silently behind her. She was a dire wolf, a powerful species of mystic creatures found in the oldest forests of the world.
"Want to play Kuro-chan?" he asked. While he didn't usually enjoy killing ordinary people who couldn't fight back against his magic he didn't have any qualms slaughtering people who kidnapped children. In his mind kidnappers who targeted children were some of the worst scum there were.
This outing was already proving quite cathartic. Besides she would help speed things up, or so he hoped.
"Always pup," she seemed to grin, her sharp white teeth contrasting with her jet black fur, "always."
*DING*
As the doors opened the trio stepped out and turned left down the hallway, following another wall mounted sign, Morgana ahead of her master with spear in hand while Kuro ran beside Hawk.
'Time for the knight to rescue the princess,' mused the boy, hoping they were close.
Running down the hallway with his familiar in tow he saw another group of soldiers, his next…no their next victims and he decided to press the attack. Flicking his coat open he revealed a pair of revolvers in rich dark leather holsters clipped to either side of his belt. He took hold of the grip of the revolver on his right hip and drew, revealing Eyasluna, the long barreled revolver's silver body tinted red by the lighting while the blue feathers engraved on the weapon's barrel and frame were tinted black.
Eyasluna was crafted by his mother for his first birthday, it becoming the source of his preference of firearms over more classical weapons and enchanted by Morgana shortly after coming into his service. The weapon itself did not fire physical ammunition, in fact the weapon was more akin to a magical focus and he condensed the air around him into the weapon's cylinders, aimed for one of the soldiers and pulled the trigger.
*BANG!* Eyasluna barked to life with a blue flash of magical energy, some of it being vented out of the two small rectangular compensater holes on either side of the long rectangular barrel's top near the muzzle. The barely visible 'bullet' of dense air screamed towards his target and as it impacted it exploded, blowing the head of the soldier into a pink mist, his helmet nothing but scraps of shredded Kevlar. He had to admit it was, once again, probably over kill to do that much but with him still working on mastering his mother's creations it was better to have too much than too little.
'This is a lot easier than fighting Fallen,' he couldn't help think, as talented as he was and as powerful as he was in magic he still lacked the skill to fight even a two-winged fallen angel safely. Sure he could pack a punch with magic but he lacked the speed, dexterity, and experience to hit a fallen angel or not get hit by them in return. Ordinary soldiers were also a lot easier to fight than the rogue exorcists he had ran into, he still had to rely on Morgana to keep him safe against them, 'and humanity has produced its own share of monsters.' These humans just weren't on that level though.
The other soldiers visibly jump in surprise at the abrupt and brutal death of their comrade. Taking the opportunity to attack with surprise on her side Morgana accelerated forwards, her nameless spear piercing the heart of one soldier before being swung sideways, cutting its way out of her first victim and sending blood and gore flying, and beheading the man's stunned comrade. The last soldier was soon dealt with, the jaws of Kuro crushing his neck with a wet crunch.
"Stay here Kuro, you may have some lunch of you want," Kuro's master said as he turned towards the door of the lab. He didn't want her coming with him and Morgana, last thing he needed was to scare his damsels in distress with the site of a huge wolf. Kuro herself had already started munching on a guard, she herself didn't require physical food but she could use the mana still in the bodies to sustain herself, her wolf side also enjoyed a physical meal. He then turned to his Queen, "and please put away the spear." He also made sure to holster and conceal Eyasluna, while it made it easier he needed no help to use magic and he was far stronger than a normal human anyway.
Morgana nodded and the spear disappeared as the air once again warped as she returned it into her dimensional storage, she saw the sense of the order and walked toward the door unarmed, she was powerful even without it.
"Dynamic…" she started with a grin before she used her superhuman strength to kick the reinforced steel door off its hinges, "ENTRYYY!"
Hawk just sighed and face palmed, wasn't he supposed to be the childish one? You know, the seven year old child and not the 400+ year old warrior mage? Besides, everyone knew a good dynamic entry had you flying through the doorway or, if you were a real pro at it, not even use the door at all!
"It's empty," Morgana's voice snapped him out of his embarrassment over his Queen and he looked up and walked into the lab, drawing Eyasluna once more.
Inside the lab it was empty, papers and some equipment had been knocked on the floor, the scientists on the elevator obviously wanted to escape.
He sighed in disappointment, "well let's look around. Kuro-san! Can you come in here?"
'I don't understand any of this…' Hawk scratched his head as he looked through some technical notes, he understood it in that he could read it, as a devil he could understand any language, but he couldn't get anything more than that. He hung his head, who was he kidding? He was seven, how in the name of the four Maoh was he supposed to get this? He was smart and he could strategize well but in academics he wasn't a genius like Sona.
"Pup!" Kuro called out and he dropped the documents and walked over to her in the corner near the door at the opposite side of the room from where they entered. She was sniffing a dead soldier with his head caved in, a soldier they did not kill. "I smell…something…"
Morgana walked beside her master from her place near the door keeping watch, "something? That's vague Kuro-chan."
"Don't 'chan' me bitch," Kuro huffed and Morgana rolled her eyes, the two had never really gotten along, before Kuro sniffed the body once more. "I smell magic here pup, unfamiliar magic."
Morgana and Hawk turned to each other with a raised brow, now that was interesting and it was clear to Morgana that Hawk was excited. He was a child, he loved new things. Was this man killed by one of these 'sekirei?' A species the more than 400 year old Morgana had never heard of in her travels, a magic that even Kuro, who was alive to see the first samurai emerge, could not recognize? He was all a tingle with childish glee but he took a deep breath and counted to ten, he need to stay calm, level headed. He was in charge here and if he wanted to be treated like an adult when it mattered then he had to act like one when it mattered too.
"How strong is it Kuro-chan?"
"Pup?"
"Is it a threat?" he asked, face now serious and Morgana nodded in approval at his priorities.
"Hmm," Kuro tilted her head, "well in raw magical power I would say he or she would be slightly superior to you Pup."
"But?"
"But with how quickly two of these sekirei, assuming that's what killed him, are going through the facility I would say her magical ability combined with, what I assume, high physical prowess and experience and she is much stronger than you."
Hawk nodded, made sense, he may be a member of the Pillars but he was still young. Prodigal magic abilities only got you so far. He, Rias and Sona out powered two winged angels (fallen or otherwise) but weren't capable of winning against them 100% of the time at their current age.
"Against me though?" Morgana asked.
"Is that a jest, bitch?" came the reply as she looked at her incredulously, "if you were not to hold back then this place would have been reduced to rubble already. By that standard these sekirei are slow."
'Good enough insurance to continue,' he nodded to himself, "can you trace the sent?" If one of these sekirei were here then it would stand to logic that she took one of the kidnapped younger sekirei and rescued her already.
"Of course," Kuro turned, "follow me pup."
"There pup," Kuro stood at a corner and peered out, "past that door."
"And past those soldiers," he commented as he looked around the corner too. "According to what I hear on the radio, one of the sekirei took one of the girls they kidnapped and these guys are being sent to retrieve her."
"Suicide," Kuro shook her head in disapproval, "only sending four normal men? Whoever is their leader shows a fundamental disregard for the rest of the pack."
"Either way," Morgana started as she calmly walked past the two, her spear lazily twirling in hand, "these guys are dead." Her voice startled the men and they all turned to her, weapons raised.
"Freeze!"
"Don't move!"
"Identify yourself!"
"S-Stop right there!"
Morgana just ignored them and turned to her master as his familiar just yawned, "permission to kill?"
"Make it quick," Hawk nodded, they had wasted enough time on these generic grunts in his opinion.
Morgana grinned, she had grown bored and just wished to finish up here and go home and in a flash she seemed to disappear from the soldier's vision and even Hawk had trouble seeing her. She lunged for the closest man and her spear was thrust forward right through the chest and into his heart. With not even a grunt she flung the soldier into one of his friends and they crashed together before she traced glowing runes into the air with her finger. Hawk recognized the jagged 'S' like shape as the 'Sowilo' rune representing the sun or fire and Morgana traced four of them with lightning fast speed, showing her centuries of experience as she finished with a flourish. The runes flashed an angry orange before flames erupted, blasting into the two soldiers like a flame thrower, the supernatural flames burning them to death so quickly they barely had time to scream.
The two other soldiers snapped out of their shock and opened fire but Morgana just stood there, a sadistic grin on her face as bullets impacted her and either shattered or ricochet off her. It didn't surprise anyone, the defensive boost given to her as his Queen meant she didn't even need to do anything to protect herself, the mundane bullets not having enough energy to hurt her.
As the rifles clicked empty, the soldiers jaws fell and they were too numb in disbelief to even remember to reload. They had seen the sekirei fight, all of them had seen recordings during training and had seen them weave around bullets to emerge unharmed but to just take bullets head on and not beat an eye?! Even the sekirei had to dodge out of the way!
"W-what are you?" one of the men mumbled in fear as the other fell to his knees before the woman, no, demon who stood before them, her long red-violet hair flowing behind her like a flag of conquest as the smell of charred human flesh wafted through the air.
"I…" she ginned as she once again traced four 'Sowilo' runes in the air and the men knew it was their end, "a DEVIL!"
And flame exploded once more.
"Was that really necessary," Hawk sighed as he walked towards her, he didn't enjoy the smell of burned human flesh. He then holstered Eyasluna and closed his coat before gripping the door handle, "Kuro-chan stay here and stop anyone from coming, I don't want to be interrupted."
"Of course pup," she nodded.
"Well let's go," he said and Morgana nodded and he opened the door.
Wind blew on his face and he tug his hood down to cover more of his face, he had always felt week to the cold. In front of them was a woman with her back turned to them who seemed to be holding something, or someone. She was dressed rather peculiarly too with a short black skirt and a black body hugging kimono-esque long sleeved top, thigh high black stockings, brown leather belet and black boots. She was of average height and had her dark brown hair tied into a long thin pony tail.
As he stared to walk closer to her Morgana placed a hand in front of him and he stopped. He looked up at her and raised a brow and from the look on her face Hawk could see she wanted to be the one in front and he nodded, giving her permission. This person was an unknown and as they got closer he could hear what she was saying and he couldn't help but frown as it seemed she was getting ready to sacrifice her life to save the dying person in her arms. Was this what Delphi-san meant when she said he would find a good peerage candidate for him on this island? She did say whoever it was he or she would need his help, the biggest reason he had come was because the former oracle of the Greek gods had said this person dying would be a waste.
The thing was though who was he meant to save? The dying child? He could reincarnate her into a devil and save her life. Or was it the one who would sacrifice herself to save that child? He could reincarnate her after she had performed what thing it was she wanted to do. If the child died it would be a waste for such potential to be lost and for someone so kind to die then wouldn't it also be a waste? As he listened more an idea came up in his head.
He nodded to himself, mind made up, he was going to save the girl and ask the woman to be his servant as payment. Mama may not be happy with how he would go about it but it would mean no one had died at all! Besides the child probably wouldn't understand what becoming a devil would mean, the adult woman would and he much preferred people to join him willingly, understanding what they were agreeing to. That said he didn't want anyone seeing them or bothering them and he erected a simple barrier invisible to the eye that would make it seem that Morgana and himself weren't there at all, block all sound from escaping and also repelling anyone who wanders too close by making them want to stay away. It was a basic barrier, something any high-class devil no matter the age could do but it was effective for outings in the human world.
As they stepped closer she appeared to finally notice them and she spun around and entered an awkward combat stance. Now that he could see her properly he could see something he already knew, she was beautiful, not as curvy as Morgana but he found her pretty all the same. Still, he wasn't really concerned about appearances at the moment, instead what caught his attention was the bundle in her arms.
It was a young girl like he had guessed. She looked to be a few years his elder and had brown hair and unhealthy pale skin and she was wrapped in what seemed to be a grey haori, he could also now see the woman wore a pair of black fingerless mix martial arts gloves with '08' written on them in white.
Hawk frowned at her expression though, she was weary and it was obvious she knew that Morgana posed a serious threat to her, either because she knew who she was or the 'look at the kid wrong and I fillet you' aura she was giving off it didn't matter. He thought back to the lessons he'd had on negotiations, some of the few lessons Morgana didn't do since she lacked skill in that area past threatening someone, and he remembered that striking a deal with this heavy atmosphere could be difficult.
Especially when the person you want to make a deal with is tensed up for a fight and it was clear to Hawk now that Morgana would win if they fought, the woman seemed to realize it too. It wasn't like he could stop Morgana either if she attacked, with him in legitimate danger she would go right for the kill and that left him no time to stop her. He needed to be the cool head here…'Maoh help me, the seven year old has to be the voice of reason.'
He took a deep breath and put on a friendly smile before lowering his hood, "I can help you."
"Any price?" Hawk blinked in surprise, what would happen if he asked for a monetary payment? Lives were worth a lot, even normal people. It was obvious she was desperate and while he wanted her to serve him he wanted to be fair about this, it's what his mother would have wanted him to do. He turned to Morgana, "can you keep the girl stable?"
Morgana looked down at her King and rolled her eyes, of course he wanted to be fair about this. She didn't really see the point herself but nodded regardless, this wasn't her trip anyway, "sure." She then turned to…"sorry, can we have your name?"
"Ah," Yume blinked, "you may call me Yume…Morgana-san."
Morgana nodded and crouched down, pointing at the ground in front of her, "can you place her here? I can't heal her but I can keep her from getting worse?"
Yume scrunched her brows and turned to Hawk, a questioning look on her face.
"This is going to be an important decision Yume-san," Hawk answered, his tone carrying the nobility of predecessors, "I don't want this to be rushed and have you regretting it later."
Honestly he was already liking this Yume woman, that kind of kind selflessness appealed to him, Morgana was enough ruthlessness in his peerage. In all seriousness though the last thing he wanted was to have her regret her decision for whatever reason after he had grown to genuinely love her as part of his peerage, his family. If she were to go rogue and become a stray devil he would be sent after her…no he couldn't kill a member of his family, not even if they abandoned him but even if he spared her the Underworld would still hunt her down as was the law. And the Underworld had some real monsters in its service.
Yume nodded and placed the girl down in front of Morgana who then traced a dazzlingly complex array of runes in the air that lit up in dozens of different colours. Yume watched in awe at the completely new site, even Hawk who had seen Morgana perform her runecraft for almost his whole life was impressed as his Queen layered half a dozen runic arrays on top of each other. He recognized a few like 'Ansuz', 'Kenaz', 'Gebo' and 'Algiz' were some of what he saw before they layered so densely that he couldn't read them anymore.
All in seconds, it was another humbling reminder to Hawk of what she was really capable of.
"What are you Hawk-san?" Yume asked the boy who turned away from Morgana, no human could do that and it stood to reason he wasn't one either.
"A devil," was his simple reply, a small smile on his face and Yume was automatically on guard.
"So you want my soul in payment?" Yume asked, she was prepared for it, and Morgana barked in laughter.
"No," Hawk replied, ignoring his Queen. "Well…not really. We don't ask for that anymore, those times are long before my time. I don't know what you've heard about our long lifespans but I am as old as I look."
"Pfft," Morgana held back a laugh, "you mean five?"
"Seven!" Hawk pouted and Morgana and Yume both had to admit it was adorable, if she wasn't so busy Morgana would have taken a picture. "Stop making fun of my height." He then coughed and turned back to Yume, "most of the time we ask for services, money or items for payment."
Yume frowned, "I don't have any money." And she had a feeling Hawk and Morgana did not want MBI involved, considering Morgana was keeping Musubi alive and Hawk may be holding the little sekirei's life in his hands she did not want to upset them.
Hawk then frowned himself, his face serious, "unfortunately the price I ask for isn't so light, 'lives aren't cheap' as the humans say."
"Name your price."
"Serve me," Yume blinked in surprise, "throw away everything you are now and become a devil, become mine and serve in my peerage."
"I'll do it," Yume answered with no hesitation. Serving someone was a light price to pay in her mind for the chance of Musubi living and one day meeting her ashikabi and true love.
"Think it over," Morgana chimed in, "this isn't some short term deal Yume-chan. To serve in a peerage is to become someone's property in the eyes of the Underworld and it isn't short term either, you'll be in Hawk-sama's service until he trades you away, which is not gonna happen knowing him, or either of you die. Devil's live a long time."
"So I'll have to fight for him?" Yume asked, "protect him?"
"Among other things, most of the time I just keep him company."
'So it's like having an ashikabi…'she thought as she glanced at Hawk, 'is he the one?' She couldn't help wonder that, sekirei were only known to react to humans who were their destined ones. Yume had never thought about it since she never even knew it was possible but…what would happen if her destined one wasn't human? What if this was the strange workings of fate at work?
As she thought Hawk interpreted the silence, misunderstanding the reason for her hesitating and decided to clear up what serving him would mean.
"I will be a fair King to you, that I swear to you on the Dantalion name," Hawk started and Yume once again she was surprised at the nobility in his voice, Morgana just smiled, she knew he was a natural born leader even if he could be childish. "If you serve me you will become stronger, faster and more powerful than you are now, on top of a prolonged life span. As you King I will reward your service well, money, territory and power can be yours. As a member of my peerage I will treat you as my family and you will be protected by the power of the Dantalion clan, its influence and power ready to help you if needed. I promise to support you in your endeavours. If you want to climb in status and earn the privilege of having a peerage, servants of your very own, then I will assist you to the best of my abilities."
Yume blinked in surprise once again, she had to admit the offer sounded very generous. It had sounded quite one way, she serving him but obviously he didn't want that sort of relationship. She then glanced at Morgana who already served him.
"He's a good master," Morgana grinned and Hawk blushed, "and you'll still have a lot of freedom, his clan prides themselves on treating their servants well, peerage member or otherwise."
The sekirei nodded and turned back to Hawk with a smile, her mind made up. She could tell he wasn't lying and that Morgana was actually happy to be in his service, even without that last comment she could tell with how defensive she was over him earlier and still is, even if she was being subtle. Serving him, she knew, would be something she was not going to regret. It was fate.
So, following the feeling of nobility the young Hawk exuded and how he called himself a 'King' and Morgana referred to herself as a 'Queen' she kneeled down on one knee in front of Hawk with her head bowed. The soon to be devil couldn't help but have an amused smile on her face. She loved fantasy stories and this felt so much like one. She loved those stories with knights and princes rescuing the damsel or a princess, sweeping them up off their feet before riding on a white horse into the sunset and into a 'happily ever after.' Karasuba would often make fun of her for that, calling her childish, that things like that would never happen and she knew it was fantasy but Yume liked those stories regardless.
Well here she was living out fantasy, finding it to be reality and couldn't help but smile. It wasn't exactly like in the stories and her fantasies true. In her fantasy she was the damsel and her ashikabi the knight or prince. In reality she was more like a knight pledging herself to the prince but, now that she thought about it, that was better. She wasn't a damsel who was to be protected, she was a warrior who protected others.
"Save Musubi and I accept your offer, Hawk-sama."
To be continued...
Next - Chapter 2: Big Fish, Small Fish
Author Question 01: What piece should Yume be? Bishop or Rook?
Author Question 02: Who else should be in his peerage? Suggest sekirei (prefer more minor sekirei), humans and members of the DxD cast.
So I want to give a quick thanks to you guys for correcting my misconceptions with the DxD universe! You guys are great. I've mostly settled on the peerage but I still need a Bishop and a pawn (x2).
His current peerage set up:
Queen: Morgana MacTir (former human mage) [LOCKED]
Bishop: Sekirei 06 Homura/Kagari (former sekirei) [LOCKED]
Bishop: [?]
Knight: Uzume (former sekirei) [LOCKED]
Knight: Xenovia Quarta (former human exorcist) [LOCKED]
Rook: Sekirei 105 Benitsubasa (former sekirei) [LOCKED]
Rook: Sekirei 08 Yume (former sekirei) [LOCKED]
Pawn (x2): Yomi (former sekirei) [LOCKED]
Pawn (x3): Chiho Hidaka (former human) [LOCKED]
Pawn (x2): Yukari Sahashi (former human) [?]
Anyway this story will be focusing more on the DxD side of things while popping into the sekirei side of things on occasion as my other sekirei crossover is more sekirei centric.
Again thanks to my beta WriterGirl for her thankless work.
See you all next time!