Chapter 10:standoff

"Correct." Rias answered with a small smile, nodding at Lelouch. "Though we are currently in the middle of an uneasy truce so conflict occurs mostly based on personal grievances and less full scale battle.

" Rias held up her right hand and a red light with an arcane symbol flared on the back of her hand, causing a chain reaction where it appeared on the back of everyone else's.

"This is the sigil of the Gremory Family, a high-ranking Devil Family, as long as you have this you are under my family's protection." She let the symbol fade and returned her hand where it was before.

"As long as you have this, you will be safe from those Angels and Fallen Angels who respect the uneasy peace we have right now."

Lelouch smiled thinly at that statement as he analyzed the symbol and the situation based on Rias' statements.

'A three-way cold war, great.' How nostalgic for him. It was like the standoff between the Britannian Empire, the Chinese Federation and Europia United all over again, only with supernatural nations instead of world superpowers.

It looked like he would be a member of Rias' Peerage for a while until he could build enough influence on his own to protect himself and those who joined him from the other… factions as it were.

Issei had a poleaxed expression on his face, drawing Rias' attention. "You okay?" The President asked, noticing her Pawn's confusion. "You look a little confused.

" Lelouch turned and noticed the boy practically radiating confusion.

When Issei spoke, he confirmed his belief that his classmate was not taking this sort of thing as well as he had.

Though that was hardly a fair comparison. He'd had so much happen to him before he arrived in this world not even the existence of Devils, Angels, or Fallen Angels could phase him for more than a few hours.

As far as he was concerned he had been overdue for a life-altering event the past few months, despite being caught flat-footed he recovered his wits and had begun to try to understand his new situation.

Issei didn't have the same experiences to fall back on, hence the confusion.

"That's because I am." Issei agreed. "I'm kind of overwhelmed by all of this, it's really heavy stuff." He had never expected something like a secret society of the supernatural existing right under everyone's noses.

Rias closed her eyes and hmphed softly. "Remember Yuuma Amano?" She asked, causing Issei to gasp in shock.

Lelouch turned to look at the boy out of the corner of his eye, seeing him sit ramrod straight. That name did not bring back positive memories for the boy.

"Of course, you do," Rias smirked. "How could you forget? The two of you dated for a little bit didn't you.

" Lelouch blinked in shock, that boy had gotten a date despite his perversions? Issei's discomfort was visible and he made it clear he was disturbed by something, but Lelouch wasn't sure what was going on between him and Rias.

When the boy stood up, Rias tossed a picture onto the table, the image glinting in the candlelight. When Issei saw it, he gasped and Rias said, "It wasn't a dream Issei, she was real." A statement that confused Lelouch.

He had a feeling he was missing some context here. Thankfully, Rias began to clear some things up, though Issei seemed to be reacting worse than a few seconds ago.

He ignored the byplay as Rias teased him expressing her enjoyment of that picture and read between the lines as her explanation continued.

When Rias declared her a Fallen Angel, a being who was the same as the one who had attacked Issei the other day and himself the previous night, he realized something.

'She pretended to like him so she could kill him.' He deduced with a sense of disgust. He felt some sympathy for Issei having to go through something like that.

He may have been a pervert, but that kind of emotional manipulation angered the former Emperor.

When Rias started to discuss the manipulation of memory, Lelouch turned and glared at her. "What do you mean you manipulate people's memories?

" He asked coldly. He had some bad experience with that sort of thing in the past and was not eager to find out if the person who he had to work for was able and willing to do such a thing.

Rias blinked at Lelouch, surprised by such a reaction coming from the normally calm boy she knew in passing.

"We, Devils that is, manipulate human memory to hide our existence and to protect them in general from the supernatural.

Fallen Angels can do the same thing which is why your friends didn't remember Yuuma." She turned back to Issei.

"For example, your parents Issei, I did a little memory manipulation on them so that they wouldn't give you trouble after finding me naked in your bed.

" Lelouch ignored that, as well as Issei's blush, and considered her justification.

He decided as long as they didn't touch personal memories like his Father had done, he wouldn't have any objections towards using memory manipulation to hide themselves and the supernatural.

It was done to protect people, and he had already done something similar when he erased his existence from Shirley's mind.

It made logical sense, even if it left a bad taste in his mouth to think of using that power.

"After a Fallen Angel accomplishes their goal, they erase all memories and records of their existence from anyone around the target.

" Rias declared, knowing this was going to end up a tough subject for Issei. But it was necessary.

Lelouch closed his eyes, crossing his arms as he leaned back into the couch.

He was starting to get irritated at the lack of context he had for at least half of this conversation, though Issei seemed to know what she was talking about as he murmured, "Goal? What goal?"

When Rias started to talk about how it had been Yuuma's goal to kill him if she discovered something dangerous about Issei and talked about how he had been killed, along with Issei's reaction about something Yuuma had said as he was dying, Lelouch had enough.

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