Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
April 25, 2008 - Serena Pov.
When I finished crossing my portal, my gaze immediately fell on Rias. She was sitting next to Sirzechs, who was smiling slightly. Grayfia was standing behind them, and next to her was Akeno. Everyone was staring at me.
"Wrong time?" I asked simply.
"Serena! It's always a pleasure to see you again! And no! You came just in time!" Sirzechs said as he stood up with a smile, gesturing to the seat in front of him. "Please take a seat; there was something I wanted to discuss with you." Sirzechs said as he took a seat once more. I frowned slightly as I looked at Rias and Akeno. This definitely wasn't planned.
I sat down in the offered spot, and as soon as I finished settling in, Grayfia was already at my side, pouring tea into the cup in front of me and placing some chocolate snacks, in large quantities. I could see when someone was trying to bribe me with chocolate, but I ignored it, grabbed the snacks, and started eating them. Chocolate was chocolate.
"So. You said you had an urgent matter you wanted me to attend to. I assume it has to do with your sister." I said simply. Sirzechs nodded.
"A pleasure to meet you again, Lady Prince." Rias said demurely as she bowed slightly. I just nodded.
"Yes… a pleasure." I said simply before my attention turned to Sirzechs once more. "So? What do you need?" I asked once more. This time, Sirzechs's smile became more fragile.
"Yes… well… do you remember the potions you gave me to 'study,' especially a very special one?" Sirzechs began carefully. I nodded slowly. Sirzechs grimaced before continuing.
"I remember, yes. Is something wrong?" I asked simply.
"Well… turns out… they're gone…" Sirzechs said timidly, and I froze halfway through eating the snack. I put down the chocolate and slowly turned around to see Sirzechs, who was smiling nervously.
"Excuse me... I thought I heard you say that you used up all the potions I made, specifically to solve a 'critical' problem." I said tensely, this time both siblings flinched.
"No! I mean! We still have most of the potions! We're just missing a special one… let's just say… we don't have Felix anymore." Sirzechs said timidly. My fingers squeezed and crushed the chocolate snack, making both siblings shudder once again.
"Did you lose … the Felix Felicis?" I asked slowly as I looked at them in disbelief. This time, Rias laughed nervously.
"Not so much losing... but more like... we used it." Rias said timidly. The guilty look and nervous smiles were completely identical to her brother's. Honestly, if I weren't so surprised, I would marvel at the completely identical expressions they both had, but this wasn't the time.
"How did they use it?! There was Felix Felicis more than enough to test its effects and leave enough left to settle the engagement!" I couldn't help but snap. Rias blushed slightly.
"And so we did! I mean! Onii-sama told me I had to try it, and well, there was this contest about a special item from an anime that I really wanted, and I tried it with that, and I won! Then I got carried away and used it one more time in another contest and… then another… and another… and another! By the time I realized it, there was no more Felix Felicity for more than one last try, I planned to save it, but I had to use it urgently!" Rias stammered quickly.
I looked at her in complete disbelief. Was she an idiot?! Felix Felicis was practically going to give her the win against Riser in their engagement, and she spent the whole jar on contests?! And what the hell could be more urgent than getting out of an engagement she really doesn't want?!
"I'm leaving." I said simply as I stood up and opened a portal.
"Wait!!" both siblings yelled in panic. In fact, Sirzechs practically lunged forward and grabbed my ankle. I could feel my eye twitch slightly, and I started to back away with a damned slur. I could see Grayfia's thoroughly disappointed look, and I didn't know which of the two Gremorys she was throwing it at.
"For the love of- let me go at once!" I snapped at Sirzechs as I tried to free myself.
"Just give us 5 minutes!" Sirzechs begged, almost pleading. I clicked my tongue when I saw that I couldn't break free from him by force.
"5 minutes." I grunted as I closed my portal, and both siblings sighed in relief. Sirzechs released me, stood up, and sat back down next to Rias. I returned to my seat. "So?" I grunted. Sirzechs cleared his throat before looking at his sister. Rias simply nodded and looked at me.
"As I'm sure you already know, I have to face Riser in a Rating Game in order to dissolve my engagement. However, Riser has full Peerage, while I have only half of my pieces, so I would like to buy Felix Felicis from you. The effects are more than obvious. And they'll help enormously during the Rating Game. I'll pay any price," Rias said, completely determined.
"I can't." I said simply. Rias's face immediately fell, while Sirzechs grimaced.
"What, why not?!" Rias exclaimed in disbelief. I snorted in annoyance.
"Your brother should know that I am contractually obligated not to sell potions to the Gremorys, Sirzechs, or anyone linked to them that could help you break the engagement directly or indirectly." I said simply.
"But no one has to know! I'm not trying to buy Draught of Living Death, just Felix Felicis! No one knows of their existence in the Underworld since you never put them up for sale! The Phenex won't find out!" Rias tried to retort. I rolled my eyes.
"Leaving aside that Ravel is my fiancée and knows about all the potions I can create, and that includes the Felix Felicis— " Rias paled slightly. "—and even if I could, I simply don't have any stock left to sell, the only ones left are my private stash which aren't for sale in any way." I said firmly.
"B-but, you can create more, or not?!" Rias tried to retort, and I growled in annoyance.
"Of course, I can make more-" Silly girl! I bit my lip before saying that. "-But there are three huge problems. The ingredients are extremely rare and difficult to obtain. I have very limited supplies, so I can't just grab Occamy eggs, Ashwinder eggs, and Murtlaps to use as I please. Those are just a few of the ingredients it uses. The second problem is, it takes 6 months to make!" I exclaimed loudly, jumping over everyone. I growled.
"I thought I made that point very clear when I handed you the potions." I said while looking at Sirzechs. He just grimaced.
"...I forgot?" Sirzechs said timidly. I could feel my eyes twitch once again.
"Wait, can't you use time bubbles? Onii-sama said you were able to compress hours into a few seconds!" Rias said excitedly. My eyes narrowed in her direction, stopping her excitement.
"I hope you're not suggesting I spend six months inside a time bubble to create a potion I'd already given you just because you wasted it on something stupid." I hissed angrily. Rias shuddered slightly.
"...it's not nonsense." Rias muttered, and I continued to glare at her. "B-but, I don't know how the potion is made, but I'm sure it must have a cooking period where you simply have to leave it under heat for weeks or months. You can just leave the time bubble in the potion for that long, right?" Rias asked timidly. I massaged the bridge of my nose.
"That's not how my time bubble works. I can't create bubbles wherever I want and leave them unsupervised. I can only create them around me, and I have to be inside them for them to stay stable. If I step outside, the bubble bursts. I won't spend 6 months creating Felix Felicis." I said with finality. Rias bit her lip hard. I wanted to sigh.
Really, that was still a weakness in my time bubbles. I'd gladly anchor the bubbles elsewhere if I could, but it's not possible. Even becoming a Savant from consuming and burning so much Bendalloy isn't feasible. The only thing I could achieve was making the time bubble move with me instead of being anchored to a fixed space. Useful in some situations, but not exactly what I was looking for.
At least... a double bubble, that would work... using Bendalloy and Cadmium bubbles, they cancel each other out, but when I say "annul," I don't mean the bubbles break by colliding with each other. Instead, they are two bubbles that slow down and speed up time at the same intensity, ultimately leaving the "normal" flow of time.
But if I create a small bubble of Cadmium, which slows down time, and then I put a bubble of Bendalloy, which speeds up time, much larger than the first bubble, that would mean I would have concentric bubbles.
A circle where the bubbles cancel each other out and the flow of time is normal, followed by a circular band where everything around it would be accelerating. Inside the double bubble, time would pass normally, seconds, while inside the band where only the Bendalloy bubble reaches, days would easily pass.
That… would have a lot of possibilities. In fact, it could speed up many of my potions if I could control it properly. Not only that, plant growth and rare ingredients were also a possibility. Some plants took years to complete.
I'd have to try it. They'd work like Allomantic grenades-.
Allomantic grenades! How could I forget about Allomantic grenades!!
I controlled all the features of my face to avoid showing my surprise.
Allomantic grenades were cubes with a harmonium core. Harmonium had the ability to reproduce Allomantic powers in its proximity. If it could be replicated and positioned so that the grenade uses bendalloy, then the bubble would be created around the time grenade.
But there was still a problem. I hadn't been able to replicate the divine metals!
Neither atium nor lerasium had been replicated in any way, so I definitely couldn't create Harmonium. Because it wasn't even an alloy, but rather a completely different metal apparently, which curiously, if it reacted in a specific way, could drop Atium and Lerasium. But again, it wasn't an alloy of both, because that's how rare divine metals were.
I hadn't had time to research them properly, so I guess now I had more than enough reason to take that research more seriously.
"As I was saying," I began once more while looking at Rias almost dispassionately. "Finally, the third problem is that even if I had or could create more Felix Felicis, I wouldn't give them to you. I have a contract with the Phenex, and no matter how small the chance of them finding out what happened, I would never jeopardize my engagement to Ravel simply because of you. No, it will never happen." I said firmly as I looked at both Gremory. They both grimaced.
"Really... is there nothing you can do to help Rias?" Sirzechs almost begged. I grimaced. I was really losing all respect for Sirzechs. Yes, she was his sister, but Rias had asked for it. She was dumb enough to waste all the damn liquid luck I'd given her. I wasn't going to be moved by her stupidity.
Rias, too, may be attractive, truly beautiful. There was no doubt about that. And I had a mission to usurp Riser's place and become her fiancée. I'm sure I could find a way to do it. But after this, definitely not. Not in a million years.
"I'm sorry, but-"
"Wait!" I heard Ravel's voice and froze slightly. "Take out your phone, pretend you're texting, and tell them you asked me directly!" Ravel ordered. I blinked in confusion, but obeyed immediately.
"You know what, I'll ask Ravel. If she agrees to take your side, I'll think about it." I said simply while finishing with my phone.
"Really?!" Rias asked excitedly. I snorted.
"Remember, I have to try to convince her to help you break off her brother's engagement. She's not exactly happy with you." I said tersely. Rias grimaced. I rolled my eyes and started fiddling with my phone, practically doing nothing.
"I want you to help them." My fingers froze for half a second before Ravel's words.
"Excuse me, I think I heard wrong. Do you want me to help Rias break off the engagement?" I asked incredulously in my mind.
"Yes, that's what I said," Ravel said immediately.
"Okay, I need more than that, I'm confused," I said immediately.
"Several things actually. After watching High School DxD, I… I can't let Riser marry Rias." Ravel said solemnly.
"What? Why not?" I asked, confused. I could hear Ravel's mental sigh.
" Because my brother won't be happy. He'll hate every minute of being paired with Rias. Rias is the heir of the Gremory family, while Riser is the third son of the Phenex family. It's practically saying that Riser is marrying into Rias's family, and Rias will have the power in the marriage. If they don't ignore each other for their entire existence, Rias will be making my brother's life a living hell, and that's not something I want to witness," Ravel said solemnly. I grimaced.
"Would Rias be so petty as to do that? The engagement was her parents' idea," I pointed out with a grimace. I could hear Ravel snort, and not just her; the others who were listening to the conversation snorted. Yeah, I would have snorted, too, at the stupid thing I said.
"Yes, she would. Rias is childish; she's angry with her parents, but she's taking out all her hatred for the engagement, mainly on Riser. It's not fair; my brother didn't ask for it either, and it's not even Riser's personality that is Rias's problem, because Issei is definitely worse than my brother. That... that will only get worse if they get married." Ravel said mentally, I grimaced.
"Even so, going to the point of helping Rias?" I asked simply.
"Riser will lose. Definitely not the Rating Game, but he will lose to the Red Emperor. Even though he's improved a lot since he started participating in Rating Games with you, he still has no resistance against the Holy, so he'll definitely lose without help. And if not, Sirzechs will do something to prevent it. If Rias were to end up free without consequences anyway, I'd rather help her and have her by her pesky little cunt, and have her do whatever I want, whenever I want." Ravel growled angrily.
Yes, she's definitely terribly upset about the whole situation. I could hear Bella's unhinged laughter and the more polite chuckles of Cissy and Lucius. Only Enid gasped, almost scandalized, though I could hear the amusement in her. I mentally shook my head.
"You're really scary, dear." I said playfully.
"You love me. Now help my new slave and make sure you tell her she owes me big time." Ravel said simply. I snorted.
"I will, but when it eventually comes out that I helped them, I expect you to take care of your family." I said simply.
"Of course, I'll take care of them. Don't worry," Ravel said easily, and I sighed. I looked up from my phone and looked at the others. Both Gremorys, and even both queens, were looking at me expectantly. I rolled my eyes.
"Ravel gave me permission to help you." I said simply. Both Gremorys smiled widely. I raised a hand, stopping them. "But, Ravel told me that you'll owe her big, and that I can collect it whenever she wants." I said simply. Rias's happiness barely dimmed, and she just smiled.
"I understand!" Rias chirped. I rolled my eyes. I really hope Ravel doesn't make her do something humiliating; she can be spiteful, and I definitely wouldn't stop her.
"Well, even so, I can't help you with potions. That's out of the question. It directly violates the contract. And as I said, Felix Felicis really isn't available." I said honestly.
"So?" Rias asked, confused. I quickly manipulated my phone and promptly purchased a copy of a Noble Phantasm for my Unlimited Blade Works. I could feel the information, the blueprint, and the entire history of the selected NP entering my brain.
Gae Buidhe (UBW) [-10] [40]
Gae Buidhe is a B-rank weapon, which degrades to a C-rank when used via UBW, but that didn't matter. It's not as if Gae Buidhe had tremendous attack power. The important thing was its remarkable passive ability, which had remained intact. Although it was definitely more fragile than the real one.
"I Am the Bone of my Sword"
I lightly recited the chant as I focused on my new NP. A golden spear appeared in front of me before it began to twist and slowly transform into the shape of a sword. Then, a purple bandage slowly began to cover it. I gently grabbed it.
"This is Gae Buidhe: The Yellow Rose of Mortality. A cursed spear given to Diarmuid Ua Duibhne by the fairy king, Manannán. It has the curious curse of inflicting wounds that cannot be healed naturally or with magic. The spear reduces the opponent's maximum life limit, limiting healing and regeneration abilities to the point at which the opponent received the wound."
"It should be enough to prevent Riser from healing." I explained with a smile as I placed the sword on the table. "I understand you have Sword Birth as your servant, just say it was his creation inspired by Harpe." I said with a smile. Rias's eyes sparkled slightly.
"That will work!" Rias said happily as she grabbed the sword and hugged it tightly. Sirzechs sighed in relief.
"Thanks, Serena." Sirzechs said, still smiling. I grimaced. Yeah, I hope all this was worth it.
"By the way, since we're here… could you help us with a time bubble so we have more time to train? I'll pay you!" Rias said quickly. I could feel my eye twitching. Yeah, I wanted to leave right away.