Meetings

Clearing a Few Miles Away from the City (Rias P.O.V.)

A cerulean teleportation circle lit up in front of her. Out of it came Akame and the two former prisoners who were clearly disoriented from the quick break out.

After giving the two of them a minute to catch their breath and complain amongst themselves, she went to begin the introductions.

"Hello, my name is Rias Pandemos and it's nice to meet your acquaintance." She started.

"Akame. No last name."

"Esdeath Partas"

Between the two, the blond one seemed more relaxed, while the black-haired one put up a guarded front. Her shifting eyes clearly planning their escape. Shaking her head at her partner's actions, the blond one stepped forward.

"My name is Laeticia 'd arc" she said as she bowed. Her partner shook her head and sighed.

"I am Hanabi Hyuga, former heiress of the Hyuga clan." The black-haired woman said steadily. It was very obvious she had been trained in etiquette by her former clan.

"Former?" Akame asked, clearly lacking tact.

*Sigh* "Yes, former. I am the last survivor of my clan and likely my world. Everything else was destroyed. Were it not for a clan-saving transport seal gone wrong, I would have perished with them."

Rias raised an eyebrow. "My Condolences, but are you sure that you're from a different world?"

Narrowing her eyes at her saviors Hanabi had to prevent herself from lashing out.

"Yes, I'm sure! I recognize absolutely nothing. Hell, I can't even recognize these constellations." Rias realized she might have overstepped. It was a little strange though.

"I apologize for the overly sensitive question, but aside from the obvious chakra in your system, the only odd thing about you is the small traces of temporal energy in your aura, a sign that you've interacted pretty heavily with a time-based treasure of some kind. You even resemble a clan that used to be present in the land of sloth, the Otsutsuki clan; they're demons known for their strange eyes. The all-seeing white eye they used to call it or Byakugan for short; they had others, but the Byakugan is the one that looked like yours. According to the locals in the area, they've likely gone extinct. One hasn't been seen in a long time. All that to say, it is a pretty strange situation."

What Rias didn't see was Hanabi's slowly widening eyes. That word was familiar, so very familiar. Otsutsuki, the last name of the woman who drained her people like juice boxes, that leachy bitch. Maybe there was something after all.

"Wait! That's a clan in this world? The woman who broke my world had that name! She was said to be from another planet." Rias flinched back in surprise, then moved to regain her composure.

"Yes, they lived on the continent on which we stand, but have disappeared. If you'd like, we can use my power of prophecy to look into it further. The funny thing about this section of the underworld is that there are actually whole civilizations of humans whose societies were deemed too dangerous by the Biblical God. They were banished down here and a lot of them never noticed the difference aside from the sudden appearance of demon beasts."

Leticia came over to hold Hanabi's increasingly shaking hand. It was pretty obvious what came to her mind. Her land may still be there. Ruins it may be, but at least she might get some closure.

"I want to see that bitch dead. I pray that I can see her corpse." Hanabi mumbled clearly realizing that there was hope, hope to avenge her people and get a measure of closure.

"I can help you with that. I can give you the power to achieve your revenge. If you wish, you could become one of my demon pillars" Rias offered. Her 'vision' was telling her that this girl had the potential for greatness. Turning her into a pillar would unlock an ocean of potential she currently didn't have access to.

"What do you mean by pillar" Hanabi's confusion was clear on her face.

"A Demon God Pillar position and I'm making the offer to the both of you, though I'd ask that you wait till we've finished our immediate business before you make a decision. Call it, an evaluation phase for both sides."

Esdeath was confused. Why the rush. Then, her questions were partially answered when she glanced at her partner to see her nodding. If there was one thing that she had always trusted regardless of which side of the war she was on, it was Akame's instincts. If she thought this was a good idea, then it was.

Rias then proceeded to explain the details of what the position would entail.

Both the newcomers were also surprised, Laeticia especially. If she had been asked this question a few years ago, she would have immediately rejected. How could she become a creature of the dark, when she was so entrenched in the light, when the lord she served was the light. However, if the news she was given while still in her prison cell was accurate, the light is dead and all that was left were a few dim sparks. The sting ringing in her mind above all else was, why the lie. For all her life, her predecessor's life, and even further than that, the web of lies had been woven strong. Yes, she would consider this. Her revelation skill hinting at the benefits.

Hanabi was of a simpler mind. This would give her the power she needs. She would be able to actually participate in the fight to avenge her home. While she wanted to avoid being the avenger type, she needed to be there, if only to honor her fallen family. She would take this girl on her offer for a trial period though. There were things to do before this was discussed further.

Deciding to get to the immediate concern, Rias brought up the reason they were originally here.

"The original reason that we sought you out was to ask if you'd seen this person." She said as she created a projection of the golden-haired knight she had seen in her vision. She did notice though, that Laeticia's eyes widened when she saw the image. We're trying to save the wielder of the Sephiroth Graal to prevent a great evil. At most, she only has a month to live before events trigger that could lead to the end of the world. We don't know much, but from what I've gleaned through prophetic visions, this woman is an ally that we should recruit." She finished as she noticed the serious expression on Hanabi and the saddened expression on Laeticia.

"She was critically injured. A couple of days ago, she was captured trying to rescue us. The problem was that she was exhausted before the fight even started." Tears could be seen pooling in Laeticia's eyes. Hanabi seemed to return the favor from earlier holding her hand. "She wasn't one for stealth, so she just rushed in." Laeticia continued. "She failed and was taken away. I heard from the one of the guards this morning that she was being taken to the Sanguine Caverns; a deep cavern beneath the mountain."

Rias sighed. This wasn't going how she wanted it to. It was quickly getting complicated.

"Do you know where these caverns are?" This time Hanabi was the one who nodded.

"My eyes picked up on it on the way here. I can take you there if you'd like." Hearing this, Rias beamed.

"That's great! Hopefully, we can find her before something happens to her. Akame, can you stay here and gather more information on this settlement? We need to find out what it's for and fast. While I'm not expecting some grand scheme to happen immediately, we need this information now before we spook the mountain. Once we free the Graal holder, intelligence gathering will be a whole lot harder."

"Will do. I agree with your assessment. I'll keep you updated if I find anything." Akame finished as she vanished.

"Esdeath, you're with me. Prepare to freeze the space around the area. We don't want anyone escaping. Try to do it without anyone noticing; once we begin the cavern raid, it'll help if our opposition makes their defense plans with teleportation in mind. Once we're inside. You'll guard the entrance and kill all who try to get in. I'll continue the raid and secure the target. By that point, we'll both be freezing the space. Even Sirzechs Lucifer wouldn't be able to teleport within miles of this place. Information transmission should be harder as well. It'll buy us enough time to get in and out." Rias ordered.

"Why such a high level of caution?" Esdeath asked. "I get being careful, but don't you think this is a bit excessive?" She truly was confused. Rias was one of the strongest beings in the underworld. What was she concerned about?

"Esdeath." She started; her voice serious. "If we fail to properly handle this event, the end of the world could be on the horizon. I don't know the nature of this end, but I trust my 'vision' enough to take this seriously. We need to get this done right. Quick and efficient. Everyone, make your preparations by the end of the day. We meet here at dawn, then we move." Rias finished before moving to find a safe area where she could use her 'visions' full power to glean as many details as she could. You could never have too much information. She'd been burned before by lacking information. She would not make that mistake again.

Everyone nodded and set about their business. Tomorrow was looking to be a hectic day.