Chapter 45

It had been a couple days since the kendo tournament for Sephiroth, we can see him just sitting in the student council room with all of Sona's peerage even the new annoying male member who keeps sending him glares when he thinks that Sephiroth isn't paying attention. He is thinking of the conversation that he had last night with Ddraig who finally woke up.

If you don't remember, Ddraig went silent after Sephiroth tried to boost his second sacred gear, the Chaos cup that Lilith gave him.

*Flashback to last night*

While Sephiroth is in meditation for the night on his bed, his partner finally makes contact with him again.

"Partner, how long have I been out for?" Ddraig asked curiosity in her voice, completely unaware of how long it has been for her.

Surprised for a moment, Sephiroth answered Ddraig "You have been out of it for like a week or so. Do you know what happened to you?"

"Kind of, when I was directing the boost toward the Chaos cup something strange happened when it made contact with it. It sucked up the power boost like we wanted but that wasn't all that it took. Somehow it took my mental energy as well with it, it is the reason that I went silent for a week. I was so weak afterward that I went straight to sleep without being able to inform you." Ddraig said a little bit of fear in her voice when speaking about what happened.

She was scared because if that thing took all of her mental energy instead of just a little more that half she would have died, She couldn't fight it at all and was at the mercy of it completely. Something that she didn't like at all, but there was nothing that she could do against it, that thing was made by a powerful god of chaos, something that severely outclassed her even when she was whole.

"Hmm, that can be a problem then if trying to boost the chaos cup makes it take mental energy too, that means if one is not careful it could kill them if they are not careful. I wonder if the reason that it took your mental energy is because you were the only one that was directing it and I was only watching it. What would happen if I was the only to direct the boost instead, what do you think Ddraig?" Sephiroth asked Ddraig, curious about what she thought of the matter.

Staying quiet for a bit thinking about what Sephiroth said, she spoke up finally "It might work that way but we shouldn't test it out yet because if it doesn't work that way and takes my mental energy again it might just kill me permanently. I only now just have enough restored to talk to you again, I"m still very tired. Was there anything else that happened when we boosted the chaos cup?"

"Yes, my heart felt like it had been stabbed with a sword during the process. I believe that the reason is because it is right next to my heart, I theorize that because we are focusing so much power right next to it. It is affecting my heart as well and that is the reason that I got that feeling." Stated Sephiroth to Ddraig speaking about it like it didn't even happen to him in an even tone of voice.

"Partner, that doesn't sound safe at all. If we try to push it we might end up exploding your heart or something else to it. Maybe we should stop and let it regenerate on its own, what do you say?" Ddraig said hoping that her partner wouldn't do anything to endanger himself again.

"It's fine, I can handle it. I've been through worse than that. If only there was a way to strengthen my heart somehow further so I don't feel any pain" Sephiroth said aloud to himself than to Ddraig.

Ddraig after being quiet again for a while said something in a hesitant tone "I may have a way for you to strengthen your heart but it may very well be the most painful thing that you have ever experienced in your lifetime and may very well kill you in the process. Do you want to know more Sephiroth?"

Thinking about what Ddraig said to him, Sephiroth finally spoke up "Yes, explain the process and all the pros and cons to doing something like this"

Ddraig then went on to explain what would happen to Sephiroth if he was to take the deal that she offered him.

"You will lose your humanity part of your body and become half dragon inside when you gain your new heart. It will change your physique as well increase all of your attributes be it strength, speed, defense, and magic power. All of it will get a boost but you will be even more susceptible to dragon slaying magic or weapons. Let's not forget that because you will be replacing your heart the blood that it will be pumping out will be dragon blood making your body even stronger overall again."

"I have had hosts in the past take this deal and most died because of the pain and over estimated themselves thinking that they could handle it, very few survive it and the only ones that did were ones that did something simple like an arm or leg."

"Now after hearing all of that, what will you do Sephiroth Crescent?" questioned Ddraig.

"I will take the deal Ddraig, this pain you talk about it nothing compared to how I died the first time in my life. Having your whole body being disintegrated is something that didn't even make me scream out in pain, how could something as simple as this compare to that" Sephiroth didn't even worry about the so called pain that Ddraig mentioned considering what he has already been through in his life.

"Fine, but it's going to have to wait for a bit because I am too weak to do something like that right now. I'll let you know when the time is right okay, for now I'm going back to sleep still need to recover myself" She then went quiet signaling that she is currently done with this conversation. Sephiroth went back to his previous task before Ddraig spoke to him, looking forward to when this deal would take place.

*Flashback end*

Back to the student council room with everyone, they hear a knock on the door and Sona asks Saji to answer the door and see who has come to the student council room. On the other side of the door was Akeno, after finding out who it was Saji let her in the room and closed the door behind her.

Sona was curious why her friend's queen is here, "Akeno what has Rias sent you here for that she couldn't come and ask me herself?"

"I'm sorry Sona, but I'm not here for you actually but the person right over there" She said while pointing at Sephiroth on the side. Sona nodded her head to this and didn't say anything and went back to the paperwork that she had on her desk.

Everyone else in the room though was paying attention to the two curious what they were going to be talking about, it was more interesting then doing the paperwork that they were doing before Akeno showed up.

"Rias wants to talk to you at the ORC, but I'd like it if we walked there. I have some stuff I want to talk to you about" Akeno said while giving Sephiroth a bright smile on her face but it looked fake to everyone that knew her, and Sephiroth was one of them that could tell the difference.

Sephiroth nodded his head agreeing and got up and started walking toward the ORC, with Akeno right behind him. After walking in silence for about a minute or so she decided to speak up, noticing that Sephiroth wasn't going to say anything at this rate.

Stepping forward to block off Sephiroth from continuing any further "Sephiroth I need to know what am I to you? I know that you're with Yasaka and I've come to terms with that now, now that I've had time to process it but I need to know what you think of me."

Grabbing her hand with his own "Listen Akeno, I don't have much experience with my emotions and being in a new relationship with Yasaka has helped to some degree but a lot of things are still new to me."

"Akeno, before I met you, I never knew what it was like to be able to look at someone and smile for no reason." When Akeno heard Sephiroth say this she tightened her grip on his hand and had a small trail of tears going down her face. It was probably one of the sweetest things that someone has ever said to her and filled her heart with warmth.

"Did you really mean that Sephiroth?" Akeno said with some lingering hope in her tone, to which Sephiroth nodded his head to her question. Akeno was so happy that she decided to give Sephiroth a passionate kiss to express how she was feeling to him, filled with all of her feelings for him. After breaking the short passionate kiss she had a loving smile on her face that showed how happy she was right now with Sephiroth.

"Also I don't mind sharing you then if that is how you feel about me. I mean if anything this fulfills one of my fantasies of being a mistress to someone while there with someone else" stated Akeno happy that she finally got some answers to some questions that have been bugging her for the past week or so.

They continued their walk to the ORC but this time they were holding hands the whole way now and Akeno had a bright smile on her face the whole way there. Upon entering the ORC he noticed something off about Rias. She looked worried and tense for some reason and it was affecting everyone in the room making for an awkward situation. The only one that wasn't affected by it was Akeno who was in her own world now because of Sephiroth, she walked back to her king and took her normal spot of standing beside her at her desk.

"While I'm curious why Akeno is in such a great mood recently, the reason that I had you come here Sephiroth is that I want to cash in the last favor that you owe me" Rias said, shelving Akeno's change in attitude for another time.

"What do you need me to do for you?" Sephiroth said back giving her an indifferent expression on his face which kind of irked her a bit.

"I'm to be married soon due to an arranged marriage that my father set up with another family in the underworld….." Before Rias could continue the story Sephiroth raised his hand to stop her.

"I already know of your situation because your brother informed me quite a while ago, so I ask again what do you want with your last favor?" While surprised that he knew already of her situation she figured it wasn't important and if anything saved her sometime then. But one of her peerage members was completely shocked and confused because this is the first time that he is hearing about this right now and looked like he wasn't going to be informed till later.

"I want you to….." It is right here that a magical circle formed in the middle of the ORC and a small flame burst from the ground with the cry of what sounded like a bird, and out stepped a

tall and handsome young man in his early 20's with short blond hair and dark blue eyes. His outfit consists of a burgundy blazer with gold embroidery on the right with matching pants and black dress shoes. Underneath his open blazer is a white dress shirt that is not fully buttoned (just one button short), giving a slight view to his chest. This man is known as Riser Phenex, Rias supposed fiance and the third son of the Phenex family.

"Hello Rias my dear, I've come to meet my wife to be and spend some quality time with her." Riser said while taking a seat on the empty couch that Koneko got up from when she saw him making his way to sit down.

"Hello Riser, what a pleasant surprise. Also I"m not going to marry you, I've told you that. I'm going to be the one to choose who I marry in the future and not have someone tell me who I have to be with." Rias said in a stern tone, showing that she wasn't going to back down on the matter.

"Come Rias, you know that…." Before Riser could say anything else Sephiroth decides to speak up, wanting to get the favor that he owes Rias out of the way quickly and go home. He has a feeling that he knows what it is now.

"Rias, what is it that you want me to do for you?" Sephiroth said, completely ignoring and interrupting whatever Riser was going to say to Rias.

Rias was happy internally but didn't let it show on her face, politics and all that, for Sephiroth interrupting Riser because she didn't want to have this conversation again and hopefully with the favor she won't have to again.

"Yes, the favor that I want to cash in is for you to be my boyfriend" Rias said with a bright smile on her face shocking everyone in the room that she would say something like that and especially in front of her fiance. Akeno at this moment lost her bright smile and her face went neutral but if you looked at her hand it was closed into a tight fist.

All the rest of the peerage didn't know what to think because everything that is happening right now is not making any sense, while Riser was looking like he was about to kill someone and he was directing all of his hatred toward Sephiroth. While Sephiroth wasn't showing any kind of reaction to what Rias said and kept a blank expression on his face. Everyone was looking at Sephiroth waiting to see what he was going to say to what Rias asked him.

"No, I will not become your boyfriend" Rias was immediately depressed after hearing him say no because this is what she was banking on to get out of the arranged marriage. That was until she heard Sephiroth continue speaking.

"But if Riser Phenex is the problem and the one that you are to wed if I kill him then your arranged marriage is done and then you are free to do whatever you want. If you want to cash in your favor then this is what I'm willing to do for you otherwise I will wash my hands of this matter and you are on your own."

"So decide what do you want me to do Rias Gremory" Sephiroth said with a blank expression on his face but the tone of voice that he used scared everyone in the room because they had a feeling that if Rias said yes Riser would be dead on the ground in the next second.

Before Rias could give her answer Riser spoke up not being able to hold himself back anymore especially with what Sephiroth just said that he would do to him. "Now listen here you peasant, I am Riser Phenex the heir to the Phenex family and your better in every way possible, you say another word and I will have you…."

It is then that another voice can be heard and in comes a different magical circle this one silver in color and out comes Grayfia the strongest queen of the underworld.

"I would recommend that you don't finish that sentence Riser Phenex otherwise you will most likely die before you know what happened" Grayfia said while walking in between the two people, it wasn't to stop the fighting more so to stop Riser from dying all of a sudden. The underworld wouldn't take losing a pure breed devil lightly especially to someone of another race like Sephiroth.

Riser was getting pissed and angry because he can't seem to say anything without getting interrupted but he knows that he can't back-talk the strongest queen even, he isn't that foolish. He was completely unaware of how close to death he was and if he had finished his sentence would have killed him no matter what for threatening someone he called for no matter how small the threat was.

"Grayfia" Sephiroth says and nods to her, showing his respect to her. To which she nods back to him.

"Rias-sama, I am here to mediate between you and Riser Phenex so that a proper solution can be reached without the need for someone kill someone" Grayfia said looking at Sephiroth when she said that, who didn't react to her statement at all and just gave her a indifferent expression.

But before Rias or Riser could say something Sephiroth spoke up again "This is the last time that I'm going to ask this, will you cash in your favor or not Rias Gremory?"

"Ummmm" Rias was clearly unsure what to do now; it was the simplest solution to her problem but the ramifications of killing an heir to a noble family would be severe and she didn't know if she could handle those even with her family's status and her brother backing her.

Grayfia, seeing her sister-in-laws struggling, knew that she had to say something otherwise Rias might say something that she will regret later.

"Wait, I have a solution to the problem that might work for everyone involved….. a duel."

"Rias-sama will choose someone to represent her to fight for her and Riser-sama will do that same. The winner gets what they want from the other party, this idea is backed by Sirzechs Lucifer, one of the Satan's of the underworld."

Thinking about it for a moment, Riser didn't see a problem with the idea, he was confident that he was going to win especially if he himself fought he was the immortal phoenix and couldn't be hurt or killed by anyone. Rias also didn't see a problem with this idea because she knew exactly who she was going to choose for this duel and from what she has seen Riser has no idea who Sephiroth was or how powerful he truly is otherwise he wouldn't agree to this duel.

"Riser agrees to this duel and I want Rias to marry me right away when I win the duel. Also the one that I want to fight is this guy right here" He said in a smug tone like he already knew the outcome of the duel.

"I want to cancel the arranged marriage then and for you to never bring it up again" Rias said with a confident tone, much like Riser she knew that she had already won at this point as long as Sephiroth agreed to fight for her.

"Good, Sephiroth-sama, do you agree to represent Rias Gremory in the duel against Riser Phenex? Keep in mind by doing this the Gremory family as a whole will owe you a favor as well as Sirzechs Lucifer as well regardless if you win or lose doesn't matter." Grayfia said making sure to tell him that he will be gaining more favors from powerful influences if he was to agree to fight in the duel.

Thinking for a moment Sephiroth nodded his head agreeing, he was going to kill Riser anyway because he knew that Rias was going to cash in her favor but at least this way he gets some more favors to use in the future that are far more valuable than ones from Rias are.

After that they discussed the finer details of the duel and the time and place that they were going to have it and they determined that they would have the fight two days from now in the underworld arena that they have in the Gremory territory. Shortly after that Riser left as well Grayfia to report back to Sirzechs about what transpired here.

"Thank you for accepting to duel on my behalf Sephiroth" Rias said with a small bow toward him, truly happy that she will soon be free from this accursed marriage that her father set up.

"I just want to get out of your debit as soon as possible" Sephiroth said back, making Rias a little sad that was the only reason that he agreed to help her but she came to realize that she won't be able to manipulate someone like Sephiroth and gave up trying and decided to see if she could still somehow be his friend.

Sephiroth teleported himself home shortly afterward once he said goodbye to everyone in the ORC.