Meeting the Vampires

Human World, Japan, Kuoh.

After sending the Shuzens off, James and the rest of the group, minus Cu Chulainn and Dante, continued to either play video games or chat and watch. Eventually, Moka returned to join them. Then, about half an hour later, the Shuzens and the unknown girl returned.

Although the group had met Akua and Kahlua before, the other three faces were new to most of them. Though they could guess who two of the three unfamiliar faces were. The first, a handsome middle-aged man with shoulder-length black hair, sharp, red eyes, and a short, well-maintained beard. The second was a beautiful, young woman with fair skin, green eyes, and red hair tied into bushy twin tails with red ribbons tied into bows.

"I've met Akua and Kahlua Shuzen before." James said after the quintet entered the room. "And judging from what Moka has told me over the years, you two must be Issa and Kokoa Shuzen, right?"

"That's right." The middle-aged man said. "I'm Issa Shuzen, head of the Shuzen Clan and the father of Akua, Kahlua, Moka, and Kokoa."

As he introduced himself, Issa also took the chance to introduce Kokoa, who was not paying attention to James in the slightest. Instead, Kokoa was staring at Moka as if she wanted to set her ablaze. When Moka disappeared after being hunted down by the other members of the Tepes faction, Kokoa was heartbroken. Even more so because Moka did not bring her with her.

"Unfortunately, I don't know who you are, Miss." James said, directing his attention to the last member of the quintet. "Would you mind introducing yourself?"

"Well, seeing as your subordinates were kind enough to save me from that hell hole, I suppose that would not be too much to ask." The beautiful, blonde woman said in a proud tone. "You may call me Evangeline. My full name is Evangeline A.K. McDowell."

Evangeline, a beautiful, curvaceous woman standing at 5'6" (*approx. 1.64 m) tall with long straight platinum blonde hair and blue eyes wearing a women's business suit with pants instead of a skirt, stood proudly as she introduced herself.

"Eva, it's so cute when you pretend to be a grown up." Kahlua said with a smile as she wrapped her arms around Evangeline. "Why don't you stop pretending and go back to your true form?"

"Let go of me!" Evangeline shouted. "And how many times do I have to tell you? Don't call me Eva. And why are you telling my secrets in front of strangers?"

Naturally, most of the people watching the interaction between Kahlua and Evangeline were confused. However, Moka took it upon herself to dispel the confusion everyone was feeling.

"Evangeline wasn't born a vampire." Moka said, drawing all the devils' attention. "Instead, she was turned into a vampire at around ten years old or so."

"I see." Scathach replied.

Like Scathach, James, Rias, Sona, Akeno, Tsubaki, and Mizore understood what that meant based on Moka's brief explanation alone. The rest of the group, including Leona, were still thoroughly confused.

"What do you see?" Shuna asked.

"It's simple, actually." James replied. "Vampires born naturally from two parents age and mature the same way that most long lived supernatural species do. However, vampires who are converted into vampires from other races, cease aging and remain in the state they were when they were turned."

With James explanation, everyone finally understood. Then, they all turned their attention to Evangeline, curious to know what she looked like in her "true form."

"Oh, for the love of..." Evangeline said in exasperation. "If I turn back, will you let me go?"

"Probably." Kahlua said while tilting her head cutely. "But I'm not sure. You're so cute as a little girl that I might want to hug you some more."

"Issa Shuzen." Evangeline said in a deadpan tone. "Do something about your daughter. If you don't, I'll be placing a curse on you while you sleep. Don't forget, I already have a portion of your blood."

"*Sigh* If I could, I would." Issa said. "But you know how she is, when her mind is set to something, she's as stubborn as a mule."

Evangeline simply rolled her eyes at the non-committal answer from Issa. However, she figured that the chances of Kahlua releasing her would rise if she dropped her transformation. So, just like that, Evangeline began to shrink, her features grew younger, and her hair style changed into a set of twin tails. On top of that, her clothes changed to Gothic Lolita fashion.

"Eva, you're so cute!" Kahlua shouted, ready to wrap her arms around Evangeline again.

When she tried to hug Evangeline again, Kahlua missed her target. When she noticed that Evangeline was gone, the confusion was evident all over her face. The rest of the Shuzen family was also confused. They had no idea how Evangeline was able to get away from Kahlua.

"You are absolutely adorable!" Leona squealed with Evangeline in her arms.

"What the hell?" Evangeline said in confusion while staring at the unfamiliar woman hugging her in the corner of the room.

"*Sigh* She only uses the [Flash Step] for stuff like this." James said as he appeared behind Leona.

After he finished speaking, James pulled Evangeline from Leona's arms and set her on the floor. Then, he picked up his mother by the scruff of her neck, like a cat that had been caught misbehaving, and walked back to the sofa they were sitting on.

"James, let me go." Leona said weakly. "She's like Kunou level cute."

"Yes, I agree. But you're bothering her." James said in an exasperated tone. "Contrary to what her appearance might suggest, she's a grown woman. And she deserves to be treated as such."

"*Sigh* I know." Leona replied. "My instincts just took over."

After James and Leona were seated, James began to introduce everyone to the vampires. After the introductions were done, James' friendly demeanor was dropped.

"Now, Issa Shuzen, if Moka didn't ask me to keep you alive, I'd have taken your head the moment you appeared in my home." James said with his eyes narrowed. "But since she wants to know why you agreed to have her sacrificed, I'll give you a chance to speak."

The more James spoke, the more his aura leaked. Luckily, he had enough control to keep it from hurting the people on his side of the room. Unfortunately, the vampires were not so lucky. Immediately after feeling James' power, Kokoa was forced to her knees. Less than thirty seconds later, Akua and Kahlua were also forced to kneel. Finally, Issa, although he was not forced to kneel, began to shake, unable to contest with the power James was releasing.

'How is it possible that someone this young could be this powerful?" Issa asked himself as he did all he could to remain standing. 'I'm about halfway through the minor god –rank and I can't even stand the pressure from his aura.'

Meanwhile, Evangeline who had been left in the corner away from the rest of the Shuzen family was not affected by James' aura. However, as someone in the minor god-rank like Issa, she could understand just how powerful the young man in front of her was.

'What kind of monster is this boy?' Evangeline thought as she looked at James with intrigue.

"I... Never... Intended to … Sacrifice... Moka." Issa said, struggling to even speak.

"Don't lie!" Moka shouted indignantly. "I heard you discussing it with Marius! You two planned to sacrifice me to restore Alucard to his full strength."

"Do... You... Think you... Would... Have... Been... Able to... Overhear... If I didn't... Allow it?" Issa asked.

With that, James lowered the pressure on the Shuzens.

"I knew that you were nearby and within earshot." Issa said after taking a deep breath once the pressure was reduced. "Then, I made sure that you had a clear path out of the Tepes territory. Otherwise, how do you think you, when you were at the middle-rank, were able to make it out into the outside world so easily?"

With that, Moka stopped to think. She realized what Issa said was true. Until she had created some distance between her and the Tepes territory, she did not encounter a single hostile vampire and was not delayed in her escape in the slightest.

"I'll admit, that makes sense." James said while Moka was thinking back on the day she escaped. "What I don't' understand is why you sent your other daughters to retrieve her three years later."

"That was a bit more complicated." Issa said with a shake of his head. "For close to a century, Marius had been working with a man, a devil, called Euclid Lucifuge..."

"Hold on, he's supposed to be dead." Rias said, interrupting Issa's explanation. He was declared killed in action during the Devil Civil War."

"I know for a fact that he is alive, and well." Issa said. "I met him several times before the Civil War. So, I knew that it was him at first glance."

"Damn it, there's so much to report to Big Brother." Rias said in an exasperated tone.

"So, then what's up with Alucard?" James asked. "How was he revived?"

"Marius used Valerie's [Sacred Gear], [Sephiroth Graal] to revive him. However, it seems that there can only be one Shinso Vampire in existence at a time. So, Alucard was greatly weakened after revival."

"Either that, or the resurrection was incomplete." Scathach added.

"That's possible as well." Issa said with a nod. "We were not exactly... proficient in the [sephiroth Graal's] usage."

"Umm... Excuse me." Gasper said, cutting into the conversation now that there was a slight pause. "You mentioned a Valerie. Did you mean, Valerie Tepes?"

After Gasper asked his question, it was easy to see that he was extremely nervous. However, he stared at Issa with resolution in his eyes. If Issa answered positively, Gasper would then not only know that Valerie was still alive after helping him escape from the Tepes Faction, but he would also know where she is.

"I see." Issa said after examining Gasper for a while. "So, you're the dhampir Valerie helped escape from the faction all those years ago. And yes, she is Valerie Tepes. She became the matriarch of the Tepes family after Marius killed their father."

"But why would he make her the matriarch?" Sona asked. "Vampires are even bigger pure-blood supremacists than devils are."

"I'm fairly certain that had something to do with Euclid Lucifuge." Issa stated in response.

"It's probably because she was a holder of a Longinus." Rias added.

"Does it really matter?" James asked, putting an end to the conversation. "Even if she was the family head, she was still used in those assholes' experiments."

As James finished speaking, he braced himself to be hit by his mother for using such colorful language. However, the smack upside the head he was expecting never came. Instead, when he looked toward Leona, he saw her boiling over in rage. Eventually, everyone else in the room could feel the killing intent rolling off Leona.

"Well damn, the tormenting of a child or young woman has flipped Mom's switch, I guess." James said to himself.

And just as James expected, Leona looked toward him with a solemn expression on her face.

"James, I don't' care what it takes." Leona said in a heavy tone. "But Grayfia's brother has to pay for this."

"Don't worry, Mom." James said calmly. "I never intended to let him get away with it in the first place. Him and his butt buddy Rizevim will pay."

Nodding her head in satisfaction at James reply, Leona's killing intent began to be retracted. However, before everyone could breathe a sigh of relief, another voice rang out.

"Should I... beat up Rizevim?" Ophis asked while tilting her head with a cookie hanging out of her mouth. "He was part of... The Khaos Brigade."

Hearing that voice, the vampires looked over to the little girl Ophis was taking the form of.

"Who is that adorable little girl?" Kahlua asked with stars in her eyes. "I really want to hug her."

"Oh, that's the Infinite Dragon God, the Ouroboros Dragon, Ophis." James replied nonchalantly.

Hearing that, Akua, Kokoa, Issa, and Evangeline froze. Kahlua on the other hand, tilted her head while she continued to stare at Ophis.

"So, can I hug her, or not?" Kahlua asked in a confused tone.

To that, Akua, Moka, and Kokoa sighed. They expected nothing less from their sister. Issa on the other hand stared at Kahlua sternly, while Evangeline did not know what to think about Kahlua's my pace attitude. However, before anyone could answer Kahlua's question, the doorbell rang.

*Ring!* *Ring!*

"Well, let's put this conversation on hold until a later time." James said as he stood from the sofa. "I'll go invite our guest inside."