Three Factions Meeting Part 1

Date of the Three Factions Meeting (Rias P.O.V.) (Kuoh Academy)

Walking into what appeared to be a retrofitted classroom with a circular table in the center, Rias looked toward the attendees.

On the devil side, Sirzechs Lucifer and Serefall Leviathan could be seen sitting at the table. In a corner behind them stood Sona Sitri and her queen, Tsubaki Shinra.

On the fallen angel's side were two people. The one sitting at the table was a tall man appearing in his late twenties with short semi-spiky black hair with blond bangs, black goatee, and brown eyes. He wore a red open chested V-neck jacket with gray pants. On his face, he donned a provocative smile that just spoke of trouble. Next to him was a young man with light silver hair and hazel eyes. He wore a green V-neck shirt, black leather jacket, and burgundy jeans. These two were be Azazel and Vali Lucifer respectively, though she's surprised the latter was with the Grigori. To have the white dragon emperor on their side is a massive boon to their strength. According to one of her longer-term prophecies she had a few years back, she saw him turning traitor for the slim chance of killing his grandfather. She didn't know much about the situation back then, but she did now, especially with the intelligence collected during the Old-Satan faction raid. With him dead, he would hopefully stay on the right side of history. If he didn't, he'd be dead before he could blink.

On the Angel's side, Michael could be seen sitting in attendance. Behind him stood two pale skinned beautiful young ladies. The one on the left was a chin-length blue haired girl with a green piece in the front; her eyes were golden brown. The other had violet eyes and chestnut colored hair tied into twin tails with blue scrunches. Both girls had black skin-tight body suits covered in a white cloak. Honestly, it looks like an outfit fallen angels would be more likely to wear considering its high sex appeal.

'Based on the guest list, these two must be Xenovia Quarta and Irina Shidou respectively. Aside from their looks, Rias noticed another detail. Xenovia seemed to have a deep-seated loathing toward the devil side, while Irina seemed to have anger directed at her specifically, though hers was better hidden.

Behind her were Ingvild and Valerie. They were attending as her pillar representatives. On the devil's side, she noticed Serafall's eyes widening when she saw Ingvild, but she would address that later.

"It's good to see everyone." She said with a smile.

"Well. Well. Well. If it isn't the lady that's been shattering the status quo. It's nice to meet you Rias. As you probably already know, may name is Azazel leader of the Grigori faction of fallen angels." Azazel stated with clear mirth in his voice.

"So, this is the one who's caused the stir in the past few months. I am Michael, current leader of Heaven in god's absence. It's nice to meet you, young lady." He said with a politeness that greatly fit his image as the leader of the angels. Were it not for pre-existing knowledge, she would be oblivious to just how vicious he could be. One does not lead a faction of devil hating zealots and come out with his hands clean.

Stepping forward, Rias bowed.

"It's great to finally meet you both. I am Rias Pandemos, formerly Rias Gremory, and current Demon Goddess. With me are Valerie Tepes and Ingvild Leviathan, two of my Demon God Pillars." The two other faction leaders and their followers raised an eyebrow at the title. They would have to ask more about it later.

"Interesting…" Michael mumbled to himself after seeing the two. He was very clear that these two should have Sacred Gears in them, but they currently didn't. He could still sense energy reminiscent to the gears, but they were different at the same time. He had an idea of what went on, but he would need to ask for more details. Azazel was of the same thought, but his interest was a lot clearer with the mad smile visible on his face. Before either of them could pursue the matter, Rias spoke.

"I don't mean to be rude Michael, but was it wise to bring two people with obvious animosity toward our race? Technically, one seems to hate me in particular for a reason I can't fathom. It seems a little off that you would bring these two to this type of conference." She started off. It would be wise to address this before things started heating up.

"Yes, well…." Michael showed a small smile and looked at the two, who showed an uncomfortable expression. "These are two of the girls we would like to recruit into heavens forces due to their prodigious skill sets. They have a lot of potential and we would like to develop them. This specifically is one of the topics we plan on discussing at this meeting." He said, then his expression and voice took on a slightly embarrassed expression.

"As for the hostility they are failing to hide, that has more to do with a lifetime of indoctrination by the church. While the angels have had a long period to come to terms with the need for change due to seeing the bigger picture. The church has not had that luxury. Religion's are hard to change once they've been established and due to most of heaven's power coming from faith, we have to be very careful when making adjustments. It's simply a matter of them not being aware of the larger picture. We plan to change that and as two of heavens upcoming talents, we thought this meeting would be a great time to expose them to the reality of the situation, that devils aren't all evil and they don't all need to be purged as they were taught." Rias nodded, understanding the problem.

Xenovia and Irina were shocked though. This was blasphemy. What Michael said went against everything they had been taught all their lives. The problem though, was the fact that this was coming from Michael, the leader of the angels and the head of heaven at the moment. They had been told God was dead before the meeting during the recruitment process, but this was another crushing blow to their psyche. They managed to barely keep their composure though, even if their face showed an even greater discomfort.

"As for Irina's anger at you, it's simply the fact that you stole her revenge target." He said, causing Rias to raise an eyebrow.

"Her revenge target?" Rias questioned.

"Euclid Lucifuge. His men killed her childhood friend, the previous wielder of the Boosted Gear." He clarified.

"Ah, well I can't say I'm sorry I did. If it's any consolation, he didn't live long to enjoy his spoils. I also heard that Sona and her peerage made sure that the boy received a proper burial." Rias said with a serious expression. She would not have changed a thing about her decisions during that time.

With a sigh, Irina looked at Rias with a lone tear moving down her right eye.

"Thank you. I may be a bit bitter, but I really do appreciate him getting the justice he deserved. I'm under no illusion that I would have been able to locate the slippery man or even touch a hair on his head if I did. He was too powerful for me. It's just frustrating is all." She said with small bouts of trembling.

Rias smiled and nodded, then looked back at Michael who reached into a small magical circle that appeared next to him. Out of it, came a shield.

"It has come to our attention that you have prevented what would likely have been a successful assault on heaven. Before we get on to the business, we'd like to give you a token of our appreciation." Michael said with a smile, shocking the two exorcists behind him. Michael was giving a self-proclaimed demon goddess a gift?

The shield was a round silver shield with the design of a head with snake-like hair on its face. The eyes of the head held two amethyst jewels that were currently glowing in a dim light.

"During one of the joint raids we conducted on the Old Satan Faction locations in Vatican territory, we discovered two humans helping the devils there, who identified themselves as the hero faction. Although they proclaimed themselves as staunch haters of the supernatural, they were helping the devils there in their invasion plans. Due to myself and Gabriel both being present at the raid, we managed to kill one of them. They were Georg Faust and Perseus; the former was the one who died, while this artifact was seized from the other before he escaped."

Rias's eyes widened in surprise. Those were big targets. The fact that the hero faction helped plan the invasion wasn't much of a surprise. She roughly knew of their existence and motives through her visions, but for those two to be beaten so easily with one even falling, it was surprising. What she didn't know was that they were actually strong combatants; it's just Michael and Gabriel caught them without their comrades from their faction and simply outclassed them.

"They seemed to use different treasures that their ancestors received from their respective patron gods. We seized the items we could and sealed them in storage. This shield here is the gift we'd like to give you. It contains the soul and essence of the gorgon. From what we've been able to gather, one of Perseus's descendants alchemically bonded Medusa's head to the shield Perseus used. In light of the information that we're to talk about next, I thought this would be fitting compensation." Michael explained.

Rias was shocked. He was basically admitting to giving her a Demon God Pillar. With Valerie's power, she could revive the gorgon, take control of her curse, and make her a solid pillar. It had to be known that the only reason Perseus beat her was with the aid of divine artifacts that perfectly targeted her. By becoming a pillar, most of those weaknesses would be null and she might even rise to the level of an earth-bound immortal; that is, if she doesn't decide to restore Medusa's original divinity. This was a very good situation. It would also be interesting to hear the true tale of Medusa and her sisters. How did she descend from an earth goddess to the gorgon monster? Myths may be based in truth, but history was written by the victor and the Greek gods definitely won that quarrel.

Everyone else in the room was shocked as well. For the leader of Heaven to give the Demon Goddess a new pillar. Even if they didn't know all the information about how that process worked, they knew what Rias would do with that piece, especially if the two pillars in the room were any indication. Ingvild was dead previously. They had confirmed finding her corpse in an Old Satan Faction base. The only remnant was her sacred gear, which was stolen by Euclid. The fact that she was in this room with the user of the Sephiroth Graal was telling of what Rias would likely do with that shield. The Gorgon would be a powerful entity with the power boost the pillar process would likely bring, especially if she benefits from Valerie's Life Transmutation.

"I really appreciate this Michael" Rias said with a small bow.

"No, you saved us from an assault that would have significantly weakened or destroyed heaven. Truly, this is the least I can do." Michael responded with a shake of his head and a smile on his face.