Scarlet 29

Scarlet 29

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Commissioned by Sivantic

Wordcount: 2500

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I never handled anger well, especially since my anger usually flared up when I felt driven into a corner and had nothing to lose.

My meeting with Alexandria came to mind, and in my new body, my stomach churned at the memory of what I did to her.

But that was beside the point.

In my past life, my anger was something that drowned out my emotions and let me act viciously in the face of a threat. It notched up my mind’s ability to think creatively, lowered my inhibitions, and made me more decisive. It was like an extreme frustration that sharpened everything into clarity and had me act lethally out of sheer instinct, thus saving my life and killing my enemies. Outside of combat, my anger was a distraction that I needed to relieve through my swarm, so that I could think clearly.

In this life, it was different.

My anger flared up to unimaginable heights, which I was sure would drive me wild in the middle of combat until my enemy was dead, but that wasn’t the case now. Quarta arrived with my childhood friend, I felt an intense range that would’ve had me fighting even through grievous wounds, but it simmered down, became pliable, and led me towards the plans I used in my past life… and how I could make them better with the power that I had now.

It was a guide, a constant warmth in my blood, and it surged into my head and bid me to do everything that I could until those who wronged me were dead by my hand.

It’s how things like this are done.

Was it because I was compatible with Ddraig? Was it because I was partially a Dragon now? Was it my previous life bleeding through? Was it my current body affecting my thinking?

I had a lot of questions, almost too many to answer, but they were easy to ignore.

All I needed to know was how to find my enemy and make them suffer for what they did to my friend and make sure they couldn’t do the same to the rest of the people that I held dear.

With that in mind, as everyone fussed over Irina, I left them in search of the tools that I would need to fight back.

I was going to cross a line that I never wanted to cross before, but I had no choice now.

…

A light swung from the ceiling.

Groans resonated from the hallway into the room.
The man who I held up with one hand stopped struggling and went limp, so I tossed him aside, before walking over to the man cowering in the corner of the room.

Kuoh didn’t have much of a criminal presence. The Gremory and Sitri household probably had something to do with that, since their heirs were present, but criminals existed everywhere and were a byproduct of society. They came and went, returning even after being weeded out, and they were a good source of information, assets, and other resources… but I never tapped into them because I wanted to live my current life cleanly.

Until now.

“Explosives. All that you have. Now.” I loomed over the normal, human criminal. He saw me wade through his entire compound without being hurt. My durability was enhanced by my increased connection to Ddraig and when strengthened by my Sacred Gear it gave me the durability to wade against automatic small arms fire. They attempted to hit me with melee weapons, too. They bounced off just like the bullets. “Where are they? I know your kind keep them as trophies.”

Criminal elements thrived off of power and for regular humans that meant weapons. Japan was a relatively peaceful place, where firearms were very hard to get rid of, but humans had their ways to getting symbols of power. This well-armed group, that I’d noticed and gathered information ever since they set up shop here for whatever reason, would at least have something along the lines of what I asked for.
He’s a coward. Look at him pissing himself. Press him a bit harder and he’ll break, Taylor.

I followed Ddraig’s advice as the acrid scent reached through the motorcycle helmet that I wore.

Blood dripped from my jacket as I squatted down look into the man’s eyes and as he attempted to claw through the wall to escape me.

“Did you hear me? Do you understand? I want your explosives. I know that you have them. Give them to me and you’ll live.” I reached out and grabbed one of his calves with my gauntleted hand. I only pressed lightly, but pinpricks of blood stained the pant leg along with ruin quickly and the groans from outside was silenced by a man’s scream. I felt only irritation with my time being wasted. My next words came out as a growl that made the room shudder. “Talk or I’ll grind your leg to paste. Skin, muscle, and bone. All of it will be gone.”

I meant it as a threat, but I kept closing my fist and I didn’t know when I was going to stop, until a voice suddenly rang out.

Not the man’s voice.

Sitri’s.

“Go to sleep.” With a single phrase, she ruined my plans and the man I was interrogating fainted. He became worthless and so did everyone else that I fought. Sitri stood at the doorway of the office, clad in the Kuoh Academy uniform, and looking very out of place in a building filled with injured, bleeding men all over the floors, wrecked furniture, spent shells, and violence. I rose up and met her gaze with a glare through my helmet and she just glared back. I expected her to reprimand me, but the words that left her lips took me off-guard. “You won’t find any explosives here, Ise. These men were controlled and here to ward off any criminals seeking to make this place their territory upon noticing no one holds it.”

The information struck me harder than any regular human could ever hope to.

My simmering anger faltered and I suddenly felt very tired.

Tired enough to just take a seat and let myself get lectured by Sitri.

“I understand that you are angry. Your childhood friend was grievously hurt and she would’ve died without Asia Argento’s presence. If the same happened to Rias, I would be livid… though I must admit I cannot imagine doing the same as you have.” A few of her Peerage appeared. They were more shaken by the sight of what I did, since they used to all be human. They were taught to fear criminals as monsters, but here I was amongst those monsters untouched and victorious. They were devils now, but I still saw fear in their eyes, because I was still human and I crushed what they feared with ease. “Unfortunately, the weapons that you seek do not exist here. My family and Rias’s Family went to great lengths to ensure that we would have a safe place to learn, grow, and become stronger. The possibility of being threatened by criminals with powerful modern weapons was taken into account.”

I looked at the sleeping man before me with his bloody leg and piss-covered pants and gave a grunt as a rose up and allowed him to be tended to.

“I’m going after them no matter what. It doesn’t matter if I have access to the weapons I want. I’ll improvise.” I walked towards Sitri and one of her Peerage came between us. Saji. He had a Sacred Gear and he summoned as he moved to protect her. It was vaguely similar to my own, but it was weaker and more dilute. Out of instinct I met his gaze and growled with instincts not entirely human. He shook, he wavered, and his stance grew weak, but he didn’t move. That was enough for me to regain some control and speak with less… anger. “We’re not enemies. I’m not going to hurt any of you. But you’re going to have to hold me back and find a way to knock me out, if you want to stop me from getting what I need to protect Irina.”

I’m done with losing people. In my past life, I had to endure so much. Despite everything that I did, the lengths I went to, and all the rules I broke, I barely managed to tread above water and survive with the few people I could protect. That wasn’t going to be the case now. I wasn’t fighting Endbringers, Scion, or the Slaughterhouse Nine. Fallen, Devils, and Angel can die with enough force applied to them at the right time at the right place and at the right moment.

I can make that happen.

And, I planned on making that happen.

Saji suddenly shifted as I stayed unmoved by his resolve, but not because of his own actions, but because Sitri pushed him aside to address me.

“Ise-kun. What happened here is a great concern to me and Rias. We are moving to address a threat capable of defeating two powerful wielders of Holy Swords. I have contacted my elder sister and Rias has contacted her older brother. We are preparing as well as we can against the possible threat by relying upon individuals with power and authority that we respect… because we are children.” Sitri argued steadfastly and decreased the distance between us. She pointed upward at me as I glared down at her. Her gaze didn’t waver and the resoluteness of her words and the logic behind them caught me off-guard. “You are a child as well. We Devils value strength and power, but we still rely upon our allies and our families to support us. There is no need to do everything yourself. You have us as allies and you can count upon us to assist you in protecting your friend and fighting against your enemies. Do you understand?”

I wanted to argue, but everything that Sitri said was true.

My anger had blinded me to the fact that the Devils were going to respond to this unknown threat that appeared before them and that I didn’t have to do everything myself. Circumstances didn’t bind us together and we’d die if we didn’t work together, but we still lived in the same place, interacted with one another regularly, and didn’t oppose one another. The threat that loomed over Kuoh was something that we could address together.

Knowing all of that, after having it spelled out for me, had a wave of relief nearly threaten to wash over me.

I didn’t have to do everything myself.

The people I wanted to protect were fragile treasures I had to guard all alone.
They were strong too.

But, still, I knew that I needed more strength so I didn’t just back down and meekly agree.

“I see… but I still need more power… and apparently you and Rias have all of it at your disposal. What do you want in exchange for what you’re willing to give me?” I calmed myself forcibly against my instinctual desire to not compromise, but I held firm against it, because it was a liability instead of an asset if threatened my chances at victory. “What do you want, that you think I’ll be willing to give, Sona?”

Sona knew me well enough that she’d know what I wasn’t willing to budge on, so I broached the topic as well as I could. The bespectacled, short-haired Devil before me was analytical, capable, and probably had a psychological profile on me. That was how she most likely figured out where I was and what I was doing, just as I finished up, and before the police could arrive on the scene. Given the lack of sirens outside, she probably anticipated what I was doing immediately, and did something to make sure that the police didn’t come and complicate things.

With all that, she knew at least that I wasn’t going to be part of her Peerage for any price.

But she spoke eventually.

“I have access to weapons and armor for my Peerage as does Rias, but I doubt you’ll be satisfied with that. Allow me to clarify: you wished for explosives as indirect and direct ways to cause harm, yes?” I nodded at Sitri’s statement. I planned on weaponizing an environment. Explosives hidden in trashcans, bushes, and maybe even a car if I could get one through cash. Gasoline, explosives, and petroleum jelly. These were things regular criminals tried to use when they got cornered and needed an edge. They were things I wanted now. “I cannot provide you those directly, but I can provide you with a contract.”

Sona held out her hand and a mark formed on her hand, as a magical circle arose between the two of us. I felt something shift inside me, not my body, but something deeper and more ephemeral. Closer from where Ddraig “spoke.” I was sure that the magic was connecting with my soul.

“I am Sona Sitri. Heiress of the House Sitri. With this contract, you can invoke my name and call upon my power to cast arcane powers beyond your ability, just like summoners of Devils long ago.” That raised an eyebrow from me. Devils nowadays fed upon the desire generated by people. Kiba said he cooked dinner for lonely, female office workers while Koneko made a killing just letting her ears out and getting pictures of herself taken in cosplay. Both weren’t things that I thought were worth making a contract with a Devil for, but this certainly was. Sitri seemed proud that I noticed and explained. “Long ago these contracts were more common, before Peerages came to be. The power of Devils was in the number of mortals they could call upon, whose power they could use in crisis, and whose souls and desires would become theirs upon death.”

The classical contract from a near-forgotten age.

My soul in exchange for power… wasn’t something I was willing to give.

Sona knew that, so she had other ideas, and so I spoke to further the dialogue between the two of us.

“The terms?”

Sona smiled and was about to speak when the door suddenly opened and Rias flew towards me with unexpected speed, knocking me out of magical circle, and crushing the tenseness of the situation utterly by burying me in her boobs whilst crying out a simple line:

“No, Ise, your first time has to be with me! Sona can have you later but your first is mine!”

I was sure that Sona reacted strongly to that statement, but I was engulfed by boobs, so all thought left me.

Heh.

Boobs.

Well, being a ferocious monster was nice while it lasted.