Chapter 13: Peace Conference Begins

Chapter 13:

"___" - Speech

(___) - Thoughts

{___} - Internal Voice(s)

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Azazel leaned into his chair as the two other men sat near him waited in anticipation. 

"It seems like Griogri's had quite the eventful past few days, no?" One of them being a handsome-looking man with long blond hair and verdant eyes. 

He donned a red robe with a gold cross in front of an white alb, showering him with a sense of radiant nobility. 

"The same goes for the Church doesn't it? Michael." 

He smiled as the supposed jab had little effect on his composure. 

"I suppose you're right."

The two young Exorcist's behind him chuckled nervously as they turned their gazes away from the three figureheads. 

"To think he'd even consider harming my precious sister, good riddance." Another man of similar age voiced out, he sported shoulder length crimson hair alongside blue-green pupils. 

"Sirzechs, you really need to ease up on your obsession." 

"Hmph, it's only natural for a brother to be worried about his sister. There's nothing obsessive about it." 

"Yare yare." Knowing the Satan as he did, Azazel could only groan in response to his stubbornness. 

 "Azazel, you promised me that I'd meet Ddraig here, where is he?" Leaning against the wall was a well-featured youth with light silver hair and hazel eyes. 

His foot tapped against the floor irritably as he folded his arms together, his pupils darted across the room anxiously awaiting his fated rival. 

"Now now, try to be a little patient. He'll be here any second now." 

"Speaking of arrivals, will Ji-tan be attending? ✰" 

The Governor's sight shifted towards the more "buoyant" Satan of the two. 

"You should be able to ask him yourself, Serafall." 

"Mou, it isn't nice to pry like that, Azazel-chan! ✰" In truth, the Fallen Angel didn't mind Serafall keeping tabs on his [Gold General] in the slightest, it just interested him, that was all.

"Hahah, don't worry, he'll be here soon. I'm sure he just slept in or something." 

Both Michael and Sirzechs raised a brow upon hearing the two bring up an unfamiliar name. 

"Ji-tan? I don't recall you mentioning anyone by that name?" The Exorcist's immediately shied away upon realizing that they had forgotten to tell their leader about the "help" they had received. 

"He's just a new recruit of mine, don't worry about it too much." 

They hummed to themselves as they solicited the Governor-General. 

"Really now? If you've invited him here then surely he must be of some importance." 

"Well, he had a hand in dealing with Kokabiel, so I thought it proper." He shot a glance towards the Leviathan, to which she responded with a knowing wink. 

"Proper, hm?" As much as Sirzechs wanted to pry, his attention was caught by the group of figures walking through the door. 

"Rias, you're here." The Satan forced down the excitement in his tone, albeit reluctantly, for the sake of his own image. 

"Good evening, Nii-sama." 

"So-tan! ✰" However, the Leviathan saw no need for formality in the presence of her sibling. In her usual uppity fashion, she ran right up to her sister and met her with a rib-crushing bear hug. 

"I-It's good to see you too, Nee-san." Naturally, her show of affection in front of some of the most powerful figures in existence was embarrassing to say the least. 

But, the liveliness in the room was soon to mean its end. 

Tap, Tap, Tap. 

Footsteps echoed as the white-haired youth drew closer to the [Pawn] of Rias Gremory's peerage. 

"Who are you?" Or at least, he tried to. As per her nature, she stepped between the two with a defensive scowl on her face. 

"Move, my business is with Ddraig." 

"Huh? Where do you get off bark—" To her surprise, her [Pawn] gently nudged her aside as he let his pupils meet with the taller of the two. 

"Issei?" She queried with evident concern. 

{"Yo, Albion. We meet at last."} 

The ears of everyone present twitched upon hearing the deep, looming voice reverberating from the [Pawn's] hand, as if it had a mind of its own. 

{"Ddraig, as much as I've awaited this moment, your host doesn't seem all that prepared."} 

{"Groan. I concur, I haven't had a host this weak in a long time."} 

"...Ddraig." 

{"But, I haven't lost all hope yet. There's something stirring inside him, I don't know what it is, but I'm sure it has potential."} 

{"I hope you're right, on the contrary this is the first time I've had a host this strong, fate really hasn't favored yours."} 

{"Indeed, honestly, I'm having a hard time believing your host even exists. But here he stands, brat, don't waste the opportunity Albion's given you."} 

Vali chuckled dryly as he nodded in approval, even the Governor shared in Ddraig's sentiment. The young man was nothing but a walking, living, breathing miracle in the form of flesh and blood. 

"Your name's Issei is it? I'm Vali, I'm sure you've figured out who I am by now." 

"So you're my fated rival? Hmph, I despise handsome-types like you." The [Pawn] clenched his fists as he cursed his own genetics, and envied that of the man in front of him. 

"Haha, is that the first thing you thought of? Well, as long as you're angry I suppose it's fine."

The Fallen Angel clapped his hands together as he clasped their attention. 

"You two, if you're going to fight can you at least wait until everyone's here?" 

"Azazel, is this 'recruit' of yours even coming? This isn't exactly a social gathering, some urgency would be appreciated." 

"He'll be here, just give him som—" 

"GET YOUR MITTS OFF ME!" 

"JIN-SAMA! PROPER GROOMING ETIQUETTE APPLIES TO YOUR WINGS ALSO!" 

"See? All you needed was a little patience." 

A crashing sound boomed through the room as two figures came tumbling through the door frame, one of them wielding a comb in his hand whilst the other tried to fend him off. 

"You're late, Jin." The Governor calmly walked up to the two as his face hovered in front of his "recruit". 

Vali's ears perked up at the mention of his name. 

(Jin? His name's Jin? Ha! If only Tobio was here.)

"Azazel! Tell him to get that accursed thing away from me!" Somehow, the individual hardly seemed bothered by the fact that he had just caused a massive scene in front of everyone. 

Azazel hummed to himself as he watched the two continue to tussle with each other. 

"He has a point, you know? If you don't take proper care of your wings they'll get dirty." Jin looked at him with a sense of betrayal on his face as Oron's lips curled upwards. 

"I don't care! Just get him off me already!" He sighed as he reluctantly pushed his arms in between the two, causing Jin to smirk as Oron clicked his tongue. 

"Heh." 

(Just wait till this conference is over, Jin-sama. Just you wait.) 

"Crow?" 

A familiar voice reached Jin as he turned around and was met with the sight of the two Exorcist's he had only just parted with. 

"Xenovia? What are you doing here?" 

"I could ask you the same thing, we're here on behalf of Michael-sama. Don't tell me you're here because of the Governor-General?" 

"Erm, would you believe me if I said no?" Though he tried to appear innocent, Xenovia's frown made it clear that his attempt had little effect. 

"Whatever, I should've figured it out earlier. I see you've had a wardrobe change?" 

On top of his dress shirt, he wore a black blazer with the same inverted cross on its back that Oron's trench-coat had. However, instead of four embroidered wings, he only had two. 

"Eh, it's just a formality." 

"Xenovia, it seems you've already been acquainted with one of Azazel's?" Michael's query sent shivers down her spine as she realized that she had inadvertently blown her cover.

"Uhm, I have, Michael-sama." 

"There's no need to be nervous, it's good that you're getting acquainted with people from other factions, that's the whole reason this meeting was called in the first place." 

"Indeed, if we want peace to prosper between our races it's important that we're able to get along." 

Azazel nodded as he glanced towards both of the Heavenly Dragons. 

"That's why even beyond us faction leaders, I made sure two others with the power to alter the world were present. White Dragon Emperor, Red Dragon Emperor, care to provide some input?" 

Vali shrugged as the notion seemed to be of little interest to him. 

"As long as I'm able to fight strong foes, I could care less." 

"I thought you'd say that, but you don't need war to find tough battles. So try to give it a little consideration alright?" 

"Whatever you say, old man." 

"And, what about you, Red Dragon Emperor?" 

Issei struggled to get the words out of his throat as he felt an enormous weight pushing down his shoulders. 

"E-erm, I w-wouldn't really know abou—" 

"Let me put things into perspective for you, Hyoudou Issei. If we're at war, you won't be able to sleep with Rias Gremory." 

His pupils widened as the girl in question's cheeks turned red. 

"Wha—" 

"But, during peacetime, survival and propagation of the species will become an utmost priority." 

"P-p-p-propagation!?" His more, "natural", expression flared to life as Jin felt tempted to sneak out the door whilst the attention was away from him. 

"That's right, if you wanted to, you could be making children with Rias Gremory every night." 

"That's enough!" Rias felt the urge to throw something at the Governor as he continued to pander to Issei's interests. 

"In summary, with peace you'll be able to make all the babies you want, but with war you'll be making absolutely none. How's that? Makes things easier to understand doesn't it?" 

"Peace! Peace all the way! Make love not war! I want to make love to Buchou every day!" He roared, without sparing so much as a second thought.

"Issei-senpai, you're the worst." 

"Issei-kun, maybe now's not the time?" 

"Issei-san, try to control your instincts!" 

The members of the Gremory peerage felt their embarrassment surging as they tried to look away from the spectacle.

Meanwhile, Jin's eyes seemed glued to the window as countless thoughts raced through his mind. 

(Would they notice if I tried to sneak out through the window? Or perhaps the vents would be better? No, that would cause too much noise.) 

Contrary to everyone else in the room, the only thing that seemed to concern him was the missing warmth of his futon. 

"That's good to hear, having the Red Dragon Emperor on board will definitely make things go smoother. But, if the two of you don't mind, there's one more person I'd like to ask." 

Both Sirzechs and Michael's expressions quipped as they peered towards Azazel.

"Jin, what do you think?" He turned towards his [Gold General], only to see that he was staring up at the one of the air-vents with a deadpan look on his face. 

"Futon." He muttered. 

His response caused everyone to heave an internal "Hah?" as they glanced towards the listless Fallen Angel.

"Uhhh, moving on then."

In his defense, his [King] did say "he wouldn't have to do any talking".