Chapter 34: Shadows in the Underworld

Ichigo sat quietly at the end of the sofa, the tips of two fingers touching his lips. All the lights in his penthouse were off, allowing the dark to sit still and comforting. Only the ever-present light of the two Underworld moons shone through the windows.

Deep in thought, he absently brushed his other hand through Tiamat’s hair as she lay her head in his lap. Five days had passed since he had returned to the Underworld from Kyoto, and things had fallen to a quiet lull. But this was merely the low and distant rumblings of thunder off in the far horizon. The storm was still coming, threatening to sweep over their Empire.

Channels of communication had been opened with the Grigori, and Serafall had negotiated a temporary military de-escalation of the border. Falbium and Ajuka had both pulled back, with Ajuka returning to his laboratories and Falbium keeping a wary eye from New Lilith. Meanwhile, Sirzechs had been keeping a watchful eye over the Pillar Lords, ensuring none of them stepped over the line and kept their ambitions in check.

The issue of the respective heirs of House Gremory and House Sitri had not been raised just yet, as the potential war was far more pressing. Still, grumblings amongst the nobility were prominent and it would eventually be brought up in due time. Not to mention, Ichigo had to keep his promise to Yasaka to ensure that the two wouldn’t be let off with just a slap on the wrist. Not that Ichigo wanted to hurt the two girls grievously.

They were teenagers.

Teenagers did stupid things.

Unfortunately, the level of stupidity these specific teenagers had managed to accomplish resulted in a massive international incident that they had only managed to avoid because Ichigo had been in the human world by sheer coincidence. Rias and Sona were raised as future Pillar Lords. They were reared and educated to know better than to withhold intelligence, especially of military grade, from their respective fathers. It was a colossal blunder.

Ichigo broke his blank stare and looked down into his lap, where Tiamat ‘s face was gently nuzzled into his stomach. He brushed a thumb across her cheekbone, and an indolent smile made its way to his lips. But it quickly fell as he noted the still healing cut on her beautiful face. Gingerly, his hand came over the wound, hovering just barely over her broken skin. Not daring to touch it, lest he cause her any pain.

He felt a pang of sorrow within his heart, and his chest tightened. His Tiamat wounded, and so openly and blatantly at that. Imagining it alone was painful enough, but having to see it with his own eyes hurt all the more.

The wounds inflicted by Rhongomyniad were healing much too slowly for his liking. For what felt like the hundredth time in the past few days, Ichigo clenched his jaw and silently cursed Kokabiel’s name.

His face lightly twisted into an angry snarl. His beautiful Tiamat had been marred by that mad Fallen. And Ichigo had no outlet for his ire.

She let out a hum in her sleep and shifted her head, nuzzling deeper into him. The sight of her content face made his anger slowly recede. Ichigo put a hand to her head, dipping his fingers into her wild mane of white hair.

As he returned to his thoughts, Ichigo felt a tug in a corner of his mind. A very specific corner which he always kept far, far away from his mental bond with Tiamat. He frowned as his Sin churned slow from within the confines of his Soul. Very briefly, he could feel Sirzechs’ titanic presence within the weave of reality shift and call out to him.

Time to go, I guess.

He let out a quiet sigh and gently called out to his familiar. “Tiamat… Tiamat?”

Her eyes fluttered open and slowly came into focus. Blue eyes grudgingly met his gaze. “I was enjoying my rest, beloved.”

He gave her a light smile as she stretched in his lap and gave a yawn. Ichigo brushed away the hair from her brow and said, “Sorry, but I have to go.”

She froze mid-stretch and gave him a stare before letting out a snort. “Off to consort with the other horrors?”

“Yup,” he said with a touch of humor. “Time for Satan book club.”

As Tiamat raised herself, she turned to him expectedly. Sapphire blues half lidded while her hair messily fell across her face and shoulders.

Ichigo chuckled as he leaned in and gave her a kiss. Tiamat placed both her palms on his chest, and as the kiss became more heated, slowly slipped them up and around his neck. After a few minutes of passion, Ichigo broke away but leaned back in and gave her a chaste kiss on her brow.

“Try not to eat anyone while I’m gone,” he whispered jokingly against her soft skin.

Tiamat responded by shoving him gently, though with even that that was with enough force that he fell off the couch and spilled onto the ground. Yet, all the while, he had laughter on his lips.

From the floor, Ichigo propped himself up on an elbow and gave her a playful smile. “That wasn't very nice. I was being serious.”

“Vexing, more like it,” she said, voice thick with drowsy indifference.

He raised a brow. “Vexing? What’s vexing is you eating my Reavers.”

Serpentine eyes fell on him “Perhaps then, train them not to steal my hunts?”

Ichigo rolled his eyes. “They weren’t stealing. They were cleaning up the carcasses you left behind. By the way, can we talk about you eating in the inner garden? The gardeners keep complaining that you’re trampling all the shrubbery.”

She snorted dismissively. “Servants complaining. You are too complacent, little one.”

“I disagree. And not the issue at hand.”

Her eyes narrowed. “And yet, not a soul says anything when you eat in our garden.”

“Because I eat sandwiches,” he said with a hint of exasperation. “I don’t come flying out the sky carrying some giant dead thing that I then proceed to gorge myself on while spilling blood and guts everywhere.”

Tiamat gave him an offended glare. “I do not gorge!”

“Tiamat, beautiful, I’ve literally seen you swallow manticores whole.”

Her glare only intensified.

As Ichigo stood, he brushed himself off. “And the dark elf last month?”

“It called me your pet.”

Ichigo paused and frowned slightly. “She did? Oh… still, don’t you think eating her was a little excessive?”

But it seemed he had exhausted Tiamat’s patience and she was no longer in the mood for his teasing. She laid back down on the sofa and curtle said, “Away with you, little one.”

Laughing to himself, Ichigo quickly placed one last kiss on Tiamat’s cheek. “See you in a bit, beautiful.”

And he stepped through the dimension fold.

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Thoughts of Tiamat and his love for her were swiftly drowned out as Ichigo stepped through the space and manifested onto a vast, smooth platform suspended in a chasm of nothing.

There was no horizon. No sky. Just a formless black void that faintly pulsed.

The moment Ichigo arrived; the Sin of Wrath poured out like a sea of magma. And, for once, Ichigo did not try to reign it in. He let the full mythic weight of his demonic presence unravel. And reality buckled under him. Time folded, space shrieked, and the dimension groaned under the sheer weight of an unrestrained Crown Prince of Hell.

“Welcome home, little brother.”

The voice was elegant and cultured. Ichgio often thought Ajuka’s sounded akin to a strong, red wine. The right combination of rich and dark textures to please the ears. Beelzebub sat on his Throne of black stone, upon it engraved in molten gold his Seal of Greed. He smiled, pleasantly, as if the world wasn’t trembling and straining around them. In his hands, he played with an orb of hundreds of rotating mathematical formulae, all glowing an eerie green.

Beside him, Falbium lounged like a corpse, his arms and legs lifelessly hanging from the edges of his Thone. The Seal of Sloth glowing a faint and dull grey above his unkept black hair.

“Wait a minute.” Ichigo raised an amused eyebrow. “Falbium got here before me? Or did he just fall asleep after the last meeting and never leave?”

Ajuka gave a soft, entertained hum, even as Falbium’s grey eyes drifted open and spun around until they landed on Ichigo.

“Sod off, Ichigo,” he grumbled in his deep voice. “It’s been a right nightmare. Imagine having to spend day after day staring into Shemhazai’s ugly mug from across the border. Not a wink of shut eye to be had in between either. Bah!”

Ajuka didn't look up from his magical math. “Better him than the Lucifer boy. He mirrored every move I made across the front. I believe he was trying to goad me.”

Ichigo crossed his arms. “The Divine Dividing host? Azazel really put him on the front lines?”

Ajuka’s lip curled. “Azazel? Doubtful. If he’s anything like his forefathers, then the boy takes to orders as well as Sera takes to the idea of restraint. Speaking of which.”

At Ajuka’s pointed look, Ichigo turned around with a frown, only to be hit squarely in the abdomen by a monstrously pink missile.

“Oof!” Ichigo doubled over and took several steps back as pain shot through his entire body from the impact. “What the Hell, Sera!?” He wheezed out.

The short and dark-haired Serafall stared up at him angrily. “You made my Sona-tan cry!” And then she proceeded to launch herself at Ichigo once more.

He raised his arm defensively on reflex, only for Serafall to latch onto the limb with both her hands in a vice-like grip. Ichigo tried to shake her off, and with the strength both of them were exerting, Serafall diminutive form was easily lifted off the ground.

“For Sona!” she yelled and proceeded to bite into his forearm.

“Gah!” He cried out as he began to shake his arm with greater force. As Serafall was flung back and forth in the air, her teeth sunk deeper into Ichigo’s arm. “Let go of me you damn gremlin!”

Sirzechs materialized amongst them.

“That’s enough,” he said, arms crossed behind his back and amusement tinging his eyes. And yet, the entire dimension fell silent at his words. The writhing abyss surrounding them went still and stagnant. “We’ll have plenty of time to play later.”

As Serafall released Ichigo from his jaws, he immediately soothed the bite mark in his Hierro with demonic energy. Sirzechs, meanwhile, sent a questioning glance at Ajuka as he took his Throne. “We do have plenty of time, yes?”

Ajuka did not deign to look up. “Don’t insult me, Sirzechs. The whole reality is time-dilated.”

“Perfect,” Sirzechs said with a polite smile, before turning towards the only two standing Satans. “Shall we?”

And as Ichigo took his throne, he responded to Serafall blowing him a raspberry by flipping her off. The Seal of Wrath burning above his head in a searing orange glow.

The five of them sat in a circle. There were Seven Thrones in total that rimmed along their platform floating in their void dimension. To Ichigo’s right sat Ajuka. And to Ajuka’s right was Falbium. To Ichigo’s left was an empty throne, belonging to the vacant Sin of Gluttony. The next seat was Sera’s who sat in her Throne emblazoned with the Seal of Lust, radiating an eldritch pink glow. And to her left was Sirzechs, on his Throne, the Emblem of Pride burning a fierce crimson. The last remaining empty Throne belonged to the vacant Sin of Envy.

Together, the five Ruling Satans began to unwind the mental seals that bound their full power. Like black wings unfurled that covered the sky, their power stretched into the void, pressing and twisting localized reality under the sheer weight of their existence.

This was the only way they could exist together, safely unrestrained. Outside of Ajuka’s manifested realities, they always had to consciously hold back the bulk of their presence. For if they ever released the full scope of their demonic essence in the Underworld, they’d scorch all life off that plane of existence and leave it a barren wasteland of demonic miasma and energy.

Sirzechs clapped his hands together, all smiles and politeness.

“Right. First order of business…”

He turned and pointed an accusing finger directly at Ichigo.

“You made my Ria-tan cry!”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!”

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At the center of the Gremory estate was the main family’s castle that stretched across the ground for several miles. A megastructure of an edifice, with titanic towers that rose as tall and wide as mortal skyscrapers. And as Kiba found himself scaling the sides of one of said towers, he concluded this was the most inopportune moment to suddenly realize he had a fear of heights.

His blonde hair whipped in the wind as he summoned another sword and plunged it into the castle walls, the muscles in his arms screaming in protest as he pulled himself up for what seemed the thousandth time. After a few more moments, he finally reached his goal. A lone balcony at the height of the gargantuan tower in the far-east wing of the castle.

As he pulled himself over onto the balcony, he collapsed to the marble floor and heaved a great sigh of relief.

I am never doing this again. Ever.

Wiping sweat from his brow, Kiba reached past his collar and pulled out a cord hanging around his neck. Fastened to it was a small arrow shaped piece of silver.

“Right,” he said to himself as he stepped to the glass doors of the balcony and reached out a hand. But before he could touch the glass, his hand met a firm barrier that gave him a painful jolt up the arm. Shaking his arm with a grimace, Kiba took the silver arrow around his neck and pushed it against the magical paling blocking his way.

There was a soft glow before the magic shattered like glass and faded away.

With a satisfied smirk, Kiba turned the handle of glass doors and stepped through and into an incredibly large and luxurious bedroom. With great amusement, he noted an entire wall lined with shelves upon shelves filled with manga.

Typical.

“Yuuto?”

His eyes trailed through the room to the rustling of the bed, and Kiba saw his master’s form slip from under silk sheets. His eyes immediately raked over her. Dressed in a black silk robe, she looked healthy and fine. And, most importantly, he couldn’t see any evidence that she had been crying.

Good.

“What are you doing here,” she asked, astonished.

Kiba shrugged innocently. “Oh, you know. You being a princess trapped in a tower, me being a Knight. I figured I could knock off a cliché or two from my bucket list.”

She blinked in confusion at him for a brief moment, before her expression became one of thorough amusement.

She crossed her arms with an indulgent smile. “You’re here to rescue me from being grounded?”

He gave an all too serious nod. “You’ll have to excuse the lack of shining armor. There's no way I was going to lug all that extra weight as I climbed up here.”

Her mouth parted slightly before she asked incredulously, “You climbed up here?”

At his nod she could only stare in even greater amazement. “What? How? Why? Yuuto, you have wings!”

“Yes, thank you, my master. I am quite familiar with my own anatomy,” he said dryly, before responding in a more helpful tone. “Anti-flying wards set up around the upper perimeters of the castle. The nasty ones that make poor Knights on rescue missions explode.”

Lady Rias rolled her eyes. “Hold on, the castle also has repelling wards to keep people from scaling them. How did you manage to climb then?”

Kiba nervously rubbed the back of his head. “I, uhh, forged a bunch of Holy Swords and kind of stabbed them into the walls and used them as a makeshift ladder. I shaped the Holy magic to bypass the outer defensive wards.”

She stared disbelievingly at him for multiple long seconds. “You what?”

Kiba winced as she marched over to the balcony and peered over the railing.

“Yuuto!” He flinched again at her admonishing tone. “Never mind the numerous holes you’ve left in my tower; a single slip in control and it would have caused the magic to backlash! Do you have any idea how dangerous that would be?!”

He shuffled nervously from foot to foot. “Considering my newly unlocked fear of heights? Yes, yes, I do.”

She turned to him with a glare. “What on earth possessed you to do something so stupid as - this was Issei’s idea, wasn’t it?”

“Absolutely.” He did not hesitate in the least to throw the lone Pawn in their peerage under the bus.

His master pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. “I need to separate you two, he’s clearly a bad influence on you.”

“Hey! That’s not true!”

Issei? An influence on him? Kiba scoffed. Please. There’s no way he would ever allow the criminal behavior of Issei to ever be an influence on him! He was Rias Gremory’s loyal Knight! Not some titty worshipping pervert!

Lady Rias’ gaze turned suspicious and, much to Kiba’s chagrin, she reached up and fixed the collar of her robe, covering up her impressive cleavage.

Kiba pouted. “Now that’s just insulting.”

Lady Rias gave an amused smile before stepping back into her bedroom. But, as she did so, her expression became inquisitive. “How did you get in, by the way? The doors and windows are all magically sealed.”

He held up the small silver arrow hanging from his neck.

“Courtesy of our favorite Queen,” he said proudly. “One time enchantment to break through most mid-level barriers.”

Lady Rias nodded, even as she reached out with one hand to inspect Akeno’s spell-work.

“Well then. Now what? How do you plan on completing this rescue? You’re not planning on carrying me on your back as you climb back down on Holy Swords, are you?”

Kiba shook his head thoroughly. Hells no. He was never scaling castle walls again, if he could help it. Up or down!

“I was going to grab you and just jump.”

Both her eyebrows climbed high and blue-green eyes widened. “Jump? As in off the balcony nearly two-thousand feet in the air?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

His master snorted. “I didn’t realize your rescue was code for double suicide. Not even Asia could heal the stain we would make on the ground.”

Kiba reached into his shirt and brought out a second cord, this one carrying a silver, metal wing.

“Another enchanted item?”

He nodded. “Wind enchantment, specifically. It’ll safely carry us to the ground.”

“Huh,” Lady Rias crossed her arms with a wide smile. “I’m impressed, Yuuto. This is actually a well thought-out, proper rescue!”

“Oh, I think it could have been a bit more thought-out.”

And they both swirled around to the now open main doors of the bedroom, where stood a highly amused Duchess Gremory. Lady Rias’ mother.

Kiba gulped.

Uh-oh.

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“So, to recap, we’re going to do nothing?” Falbium sounded rather pleased.

The other four collectively rolled their eyes.

“No, Falbium,” Sirzechs said exasperatedly, “We are not going to do nothing.”

“It’s more along the lines that we can’t do anything,” Serafall said, as she idly inspected her nails. “At least not to Ophis itself.”

“I think we can all agree taking on Ophis directly would be outright suicide,” Ichigo said as he slouched in his Throne. “That doesn’t mean we can’t take indirect actions.”

Sirzechs nodded in response to Ichigo. “I will reach out to Michael and Azazel and let them know. They will, undoubtedly, want to authenticate the validity of our claims of Ophis’ presence on Earth. Not to mention, to hammer out the most recent fiasco with Kokabiel.”

Ajuka’s hands flew through countless magical circles and mathematical calculations. “Not to state the obvious, but Ophis itself in not on Earth. More likely some avatar or projection. Never mind the planet, the entire cosmos would be ruptured if the Infinite Void shoved itself inside the mortal universe.”

“Fair point,” Sirzechs said as he thoughtfully put fingers to his lips.

After a moment of consideration, he turned towards Serafall. “What of the other pantheons?”

Serafall tilted her head in thought. “Odin and Zeus are optimistically neutral. We should be able to approach them. As are the Dagda and the Morrígan. Rather surprisingly, Nzambi has been welcoming and open to dialogue. But he does not seem to care for politics and most of the time it’s been idle, though admittedly pleasant, chatter with him. I think he’s content being withdrawn from the worlds. And, while there has been some dialogue, I do not believe Indra holds us in very high regard.”

Falbium snorted. “We’re Devils, we’re not supposed be held in high regard.”

Serafall threw him a withering look for having interrupted her. “Yes, thank you, Falbi. That being said, I believe we may need to keep a closer eye on the Devas.”

“Oh?” Sirzechs rose a single, questioning brow.

“We had initially dismissed them as unverifiable rumors, but after Khaos Brigade made contact with Wrath, I had the Ministry of Intelligence follow up on reports of a certain faction of Khaos Brigade moving in and out of India.”

Ichigo frowned as he recalled the cat Yōkai that had snuck into his bedroom and offered him a place in Khaos Brigade. “Which faction?”

Serafall waved a hand and a screen of magic appeared in front of each of the Satans. “Human Sacred Gear wielders. We suspect some of them may even be Longinus possessors.”

Ichigo flicked through the screen and looked over the profiles of the suspected members. “Hero Faction?”

Serafall nodded. “Yes, it's what they call themselves. They gather humans, mostly Sacred Gear wielders. It would seem that many of their leadership are descended from several of Humanity’s legendary heroes. From what intel we have gathered, they espouse a pro-Human agenda.”

“Huh.” Ichigo returned his attention to the screen and began committing names and faces to his memory.

“What of Egypt?” Sirzechs asked absently as he also scrolled through the files Serafall provided.

She frowned. “Horus has been cordial and welcoming. The Egyptians have their fair share of darkness in their own mythos, after all. But both sides know nothing concrete can be established without Ra’s approval. And we’ve yet to be granted an audience with the Eternal Sun.

“As to mythos that outright refuse diplomatic relations: the Jade Emperor is staunchly committed to his isolationist ideals. The various North American pantheons are quite content with ignoring everyone else. And to the south, well, Tezcatlipoca had our representatives killed.”

Sirzechs frowned heavily. “Killed?”

“Sacrificed would be the accurate word,” Serafall smiled icily.

“Did we respond?” Falbium asked, a hint of a demonic pulse in his eyes.

“Not yet,” Serafall said as she leaned back in her Throne. “One international incident at a time.”

Though Ichigo was quite sure that Leviathan had already concocted some horrid revenge scheme.

“Hmm,” Sirzechs did not look pleased, but he moved on for now. “So that just leaves…”

And all eyes turned to Ichigo.

He simply shrugged. “The good news? I haven’t heard a word from Amaterasu, she’s probably got her hands full dealing with the tear in the liminal barriers between the mortal world and the afterlife. The bad news? Yasaka’s down right pissed.”

Both Sirzechs and Serafall grimaced.

Ichigo continued. “Her being angry means Amaterasu is probably…okay, almost definitely even angrier. Susanoo took retribution from the White City, and paid the price for it, so I’m pretty confident that Azazel will have an even bigger headache when she turns her attention to him once the barriers in Kuoh are fixed. Speaking of which, Yasaka is demanding compensation for the terraforming needed to fix the damage done.”

“Wait a minute,” Sirzechs said, his grimace falling away into minor outrage. “I saw the memories! Your Dragon King did most of the damage to the land! Why do we have to pay?”

“Uhh, because the only reason she was even there was because your dumb sisters decided to withhold vital military intelligence that we were treaty bound to share with the Shinto Pantheon and could have helped in preemptively moving troops to divert Kokabiel’s army?”

“Rias is not dumb!”

“My Sona-tan is a genius!”

Ichigo dropped his head into his hand and sighed. “Right, because that was the most important point I made.”

“That aside,” Ajuka cut in, getting them back on track, “we need to consider the implications that the Old Satan Faction may have had a hand in this. The attack on Kyoto two years ago led by the Belphegor twins was egregious enough. What are the chances that some treacherous immortal in Takamagahara is working in tandem with our closest enemies?”

“Ajuka is correct,” Falbium said as he swung his legs with great effort and made to sit hunched over in his throne. “But what is imperative is that we focus on the enemies within. We’ll always have plenty of adversaries outside of our borders, but the ones inside are the most dangerous. We’ve already confirmed that those zealous fools have made bargains with Khaos Brigade. Which means they've possibly gained some form of patronage from that Void-come horror.”

Ichigo considered Falbium’s words. “You think what happened with Kokabiel may be tied to Ophis too?”

“Perhaps, perhaps not,” Falbium said with a careless shrug. “Whatever reason Ophis has returned to this corner of Creation is not important to us.  Not right now. Shalba, Creuserey, Katerea and Rizvem himself: that is where we must begin. Rather – finish what we started all those centuries ago. It's time we went on the offensive."

Ichigo leaned his cheek into a fist. “If we’re going to start what’s basically a second civil war, we’re going to have to reign in the Pillar Lords. The Extra Houses too. We don’t just need everyone under our umbrella…”

“We must ensure they no longer have any daggers for our backs." As Ajuka concluded for him, Ichigo gave a sharp nod.

“Agreed,” Sirzechs said, but a touch of regret entered his eyes. “After the civil war, for the sake of growth, we became indolent. We could have pursued the remaining descendents of the Original Satans. I should have, but…”

“One eventually gets tired of killing old friends and family,” Serafall said quietly.

“Ancient sentiments aside,” Ajuka said dryly, instantly pushing away the somber mood that had settled between Sirzechs and Serafall, “it’s rather obvious where we need to start, yes?”

Falbium scoffed. “Those wretched and withered old things in our basements. Thankfully all of my ancestors are quite dead. Pity you, Sirzechs. Both of yours are still out and about.”

Sirzechs let out a dry snort. “Yes, pity me. Gremory has been pressed into line, I saw to that personally. As for the other…”

They all internally groaned. The Great King was simultaneously their biggest supporter as well as the greatest thorn in their side.

So fundamental was he in the rise of their Empire, that the more authority the Satans solidified, the wider the Great King’s influence spread. And more often than not, old Bael would use his influence in ways that ran counterproductive to the interest of the Satans. While the Great King was utterly repulsed by the Old Satan faction and their warmongering ways, he was still a staunch supporter of the ancient traditions of the Devils.

He firmly believed that the Pillars and the Pillars alone should count amongst the nobility of the Underworld and, along with his supporters, actively hindered the progression of reincarnated Devils into loftier positions within the Empire. There was also the fact that the Great King often flaunted the authority of the Satans and acted on his own. Running private military and intelligence operations for his own benefit.

Sirzechs let out a troubled sigh. “I’ll deal with old Bael myself. Sera, continue monitoring Khaos Brigade, but focus on counterintelligence. I’m more concerned with our secrets remaining such. For the moment, at any rate.”

Serafall gave a playful salute.

“Falbium, you’ll be assiting me with when I approach Michael and Azazel about Ophis. We’ll aim for a temporary truce, and I strongly suspect the military de-escalation Serafall negotiated will be brought up quite a bit as a foundational point.”

“Bugger.”

“Ajuka, continue organizing the Youth Rating Game Tournament we have planned. Since the Pillar Lords should be arriving at Yfel soon, once we’ve convened, I want you to pressure any of the Lord who are deemed to be less than cooperative. Ichigo, focus on tightening patrols within the Empire. I have a suspicion that some of the Lords will be taking the opportunity to run a little mischief amongst themselves. For the time being, we need a unified front.”

“Sounds like a plan,” he said with a nod.

“Right,” Sirzechs said, clapping once. “That should conclude our business for now.”

“Uh-huh,” Ichigo’s eyes narrowed unimpressed. “Nice try. We still need to talk about your respective sisters and their colossal fuck up.”

Sirzechs flinched. “Erk!”

“You berry-headed heartless fiend! Why can’t you just forgive my Sona!”

Ichigo rolled his eyes. “Lucifer Sera, you spoiling her rotten is what led to this mess.”

“Perhaps,” Ajuka quickly interjected before another childish argument could break out, “we should settle on a compromise?”

As they all turned to Ajuka, he lightly intoned, “Both young Rias and young Sona are the respective heirs of House Gremory and House Sitri. As such, this is a matter of Pillars, not of our governance. Perhaps we should let the Pillar Lords decide amongst themselves the young ladies’ punishment?”

Ichigo considered Ajuka’s words carefully and swiftly understood that the Lord of Greed was being rather sly. If Ichigo had his way, and Rias and Sona were left to Yasaka’s non-existent mercies, they’d be stuck in Kyoto working like slaves for a few short years. But the Pillars would be more interested in the concessions Duke Gremory and Duke Sitri would make to spare their daughters from an ignominious fate.

Well, in fairness, while he understood Yasaka’s anger, indeed shared much of it, he didn’t think either girl fully deserved to be left under the care of a wrathful Kyūbi. He had promised Yasaka that neither girl would be let off with a slap on the wrist, and a behind closed doors trial where they would be cross examined and pressed by their elders, would have to suffice.

Otherwise, he’d probably have to get into a scuffle with Sera and Sirzechs, and he was hardly in the mood for that.

“Fine, fine,” Ichigo said, his hands raised in resignation. “We’ll let the Pillars handle it.”

Ajuka looked towards Sirzechs and Serafall. "Do we have an accord?"

Begrudgingly, both of them nodded their heads towards Ichigo, and he accepted the mental olive branch they were both offering. A heavy silence fell amidst the five of them, but it it was quickly broken by a loud yawn.

“Lovely, can I go now?”

“Shut up, Falbi.”