"So, anyone wanna tell me what you're all doing here?" Ruto asked in a business-like tone. As much as he appreciated the company, he was really tired of people just coming and going in his house. He wasn't sure why, but it seemed like manners were overrated when it comes to anyone of the three factions.
"We had intended to let you know we were coming but things got a little… complicated." Michael said. He was always one to play the peace keeper. Ruto eyed him.
"How so?" the leaders shifted in their seats. Azazel cleared his throat.
"Well, it seems that there's unrest in each of the factions. You already dealt with an incident involving Grigori tonight. I am thankful for that by the way, and I'll have Codex Machina ready for you soon as promised." Azazel said gratefully, garnering a nod from Ruto.
"The Noble Houses are also in a state of unrest. It's nothing too serious yet, but with the number of pure-blood Devils dwindling, we're getting desperate. There are arranged marriages all over the place and that's contributing to the problem." Sirzechs added. Ruto knew exactly what he meant about the arranged marriages. Yet another little problem he'd have to fix.
"You're telling me the problems within your respective factions, and I get that. But what I wanna know is why didn't you tell me you were coming?" Ruto said with irritation.
"Well… I ended up getting something off of the Taco Bell breakfast menu so that screwed me up for most of today." Azazel said with some shame.
"I was looking after Millicas while Grayfia was out. You know how that goes first hand." Sirzechs said. He had bags under his eyes, so it rang true. Ruto had seen how Millicas could be, being on the receiving end of the infant Devil several times when he was staying with the Gremory clan.
"That reminds me, where is Grayfia?" Ruto asked. "Maybe she has manners unlike the rest of you and decided to wait until she was invited." he added deadpan. The leaders just brushed off the comment but sweat dropped at his blatant rudeness.
Michael stayed quiet, as did Gabriel. Ruto didn't press them. He guessed that the System wasn't functioning properly again. It truly hadn't for a long time, but Michael and the Seraphs had done a remarkable job maintaining it if Ruto said so himself.
As if in reply to Ruto's question, a silver magic circle appeared in the centre of the room. From it emerged Grayfia, the wife of Sirzechs and the legendary Ultimate Queen of the Underworld. She had long grey hair with two long braids at the front and two longer ones at the back, each with a small blue bow at the end. She wore a maid uniform, and while extraordinarily beautiful, exuded an aura of stoicism.
"Well hello again Grayfia, I see you have the decency to wait until announced." Ruto said. Grayfia turned to him and bowed politely with a small smile.
"It's a pleasure to see you again Ruto. Have you been well?" Grayfia asked. Ruto couldn't help but smile. During his time with the Gremory clan, she'd treated him like one of their own as the others had. She would be in charge of making sure he was up and doing what he was supposed to, but in that time, he'd strike up conversation on the fly. After some time, they'd established some common ground and always had something to talk about. She was a good friend to him, and one of the key figures in settling him into the Underworld.
"The answer to that is really based on perspective. But if I had to say, I've been… surviving I guess." Ruto said wearily. Grayfia nodded and sat down beside Sirzechs.
"'So, I think it's time we got down to business." Azazel began. "We've noticed a strange, abnormally huge power level emanating from this house. Now, not to sell you short or anything because we all know how strong you are, but it's certainly not you or the young lady hiding in the kitchen." he said, followed by a muffled "Eep" from the kitchen.
"So what we'd like to know is, who else is here?" Sirzechs asked. Ruto knew there was no way he could deceive them. If they'd known Ophis was here without realising it was her the whole time, how could he? His mind was racing, thinking of any reasonable excuse but it was out of his hands. Like an apparition, she suddenly appeared on the arm of Ruto's chair.
The Leaders' eyes shot wide and contrary to what Ruto thought they would do, they remained very, very still. No one dared say a thing. Ruto, knowing this would get nowhere, decided to relieve some of the tension.
"It's fine guys, the power level that's over 9000 is just Ophis." When he saw them tense up some more, he realised that saying it was Ophis wasn't the best idea. "Listen, she's not here for trouble, she's a guest here."
"Would you mind telling us why?" Michael asked tensely.
"My Dimension is no longer mine." Ophis said, still as toneless as ever.
"What do you mean, if you don't mind me asking?" Gabriel replied curiously.
"Stupid-Red." she said, some annoyance creeping into her voice. "Great-Red as you would know him, is a big pest. He's noisy, so I left."
"Hold up, you want Haru and I to fight him… because he's noisy?" Ruto asked incredulously. He was basically being asked to fight something he knew nothing about, was able to force Ophis out of her dimension, had unknown abilities and strengths, simply because it was noisy? Meh, he'd fought over less.
Ophis faced him, some haste in her movements. "You'll still face him." she said. Ruto couldn't quite put his finger on it accurately with Ophis, but that order sounded almost… pleading in a way.
"Yeah fine, just as long as I know what I'm up against." Ruto said.
"Ruto." Sirzechs said as he leaned forward, a serious expression on his face. "Great-Red is the single most powerful Dragon in existence. The True Dragon if you will. The combined factions at full strength would be nothing but an annoyance to him." he said Gravely.
Rossweisse entered the room with a strange look on her face. "I really hope you don't plan on fighting Great-Red." she said tersely.
"I promised, didn't I? I might lie and cheat to get what I want but when I promise something, I go through with it." Ruto replied sternly. Rossweisse merely shook her head at his stubbornness.
"You don't understand Ruto! It's suicide. The moment you call him out, he'll annihilate you and Haru. That's even if you can get him to fight you, he only fights someone who he thinks is worth his time." Rossweisse explained.
"That's why I'll make them strong." Ophis cut in. She looked determined and any retort from Rossweisse was cut off by her tone. "They will become the strongest Emperors. They need to be, because the fragile balance of this world will soon be gone." Ophis said ominously.
"Explain." Azazel said as he leaned in as well.
"Gods, Dragons, Devils, Angels, all of them will be drawn in to fight. Soon order will be gone, and only Khaos will remain." Ruto, Rossweisse and the Leaders were set on edge by this.
Ruto and Rossweisse shared a worried glance, and silently agreed to discuss the issue later. Ophis remained indifferent as the Leaders let the foreboding warning set in.
"That's why Ruto and Haru need to be strong. The outcome of all of this will depend on them, after all." As quickly as she'd appeared, she was gone. The room was in silence, and no one felt at all at ease.
Ruto looked at the clock on the wall behind him and sighed. 9:54, it's getting late. I guess the right thing to do would be to let them stay here but… ugh, I hate being a nice guy sometimes.
You? A nice guy? Come on, the only reason you let people come and stay here is because you're hoping they'll put out. Go on, admit it. Albion taunted.
Ex-fucking-scuse me? I let them stay because I like to remind myself that I can be a decent human being. Ruto defended.
I don't know. They say such strong denial is a dead give away.
You just wanna see what I'm like in the sack. Perv Dragon.
I only pick up on what my host lets me work with.
... The thing is I know you're toying with me. But it's working.
I'd say that's a victory to me, wouldn't you say?
Ruto didn't reply, opting to end the banter between him and his partner. "It's getting late guys, you should probably… ugh… never mind." he stopped there, seeing that they were already gone. Breathing a sigh of relief, he went upstairs.
He closed the door to his room behind him and sat in his chair. He'd honestly missed the comfort of the cold leather on his ass cheeks. He relaxed into the chair and released a deep sigh, then turned on his monitor and computer. He thought he'd have to blow dust off of his prized machine given how much time he'd been away from it. Just after entering his totally-not-over-complicated password, a pair of hands obscured his view. Two soft objects were pressed against his back and there was a playful voice.
"Hey Ruto, long time no see."
"Gabriel..." Ruto said irritably. Gabriel giggled and took her hands off of his face. His chair was spun and stopped by the Seraph. Before him was indeed Gabriel, undoubtedly the most beautiful Angel in Heaven. She had long curly blonde hair and a voluptuous figure. She was only wearing a towel, which was really distracting Ruto as he tried desperately to focus on her face.
"Wh-what are you doing in here?" Ruto stammered.
"I just wanted to say hi. It's been a while so I thought why not. My, you've grown a bit since I last saw you." She said good naturedly. Ruto cleared his throat and composed himself.
"Yeah but there's saying hi and then there's… well, this! You came into my room without knocking!" Ruto exclaimed. Gabriel tilted her head to the side.
"Wait, that's what you're shouting about?" she asked in confusion.
"Yes, no one, and I mean, no one, comes into my room without knocking." he replied heatedly.
"Well… erm… do you want me to walk out, knock and come back in?" Gabriel asked, already heading to the door.
"Ugh, no point, just make yourself comfortable." Ruto said, spinning on his chair to face the monitor again. "So, how's the System?"
"Not great I'm afraid. We're doing our best but ever since the end of the war, it's been slowly breaking down. Michael's the only one really keeping it going." Gabriel said glumly. The System was the only way that Heaven could keep in touch with the human world without being in it.
"I see." was all Ruto said. He had no idea how to provide any comfort to her. In reality, he knew next to nothing about the System or how it worked.
"I guess now's not really the time for this. After all, we've all imposed ourselves on you, so the least any of us can do is allow you your own space." Gabriel said, smiling at him. Their encounters were almost always brief, but they held some meaning despite their abruptness.
"Yeah, thanks. We'll have to find a better topic to speak on at a better time. I guess now's not great for anyone." Ruto said. Bidding each other good night, Gabriel left the room, closing the door. Ruto did his best to ignore the fact that they'd apparently decided to stay without asking him but that's what they did, and besides they were friends, so he couldn't stay mad for too long.
Half an hour passed, and everyone in the house was settled down for the night. Well, almost everyone. Ruto was at his breaking point. His League game was going terribly, simply because two of his team mates were ass-hats.
"Get the fuck out of mid you dicks!" Ruto yelled. When the two trolls in his game got him killed right after saying that, he went ballistic.
He'd all but destroyed the surface of his desk as deep knuckle sized dents were pummelled into the wood. He'd woken up practically everybody, save for Ophis. He wasn't really sure whether she slept or not actually. Rossweisse was outside his door when she heard another crash. She opened the door to see Ruto sitting there in a Gendo pose breathing heavily before a monitor with a hole straight through it dead centre.
"I just broke my monitor," he said, eerily calm. "I just put my fist… through my 34000 yen monitor. That's nearly $300." Ruto said, not facing her with his gaze fixed squarely on the gaping hole in his monitor. He stood and stormed past her. "Fuck this I'm done."
"Ruto, come on, it can't have been that bad." Rossweisse. He didn't acknowledge her as he went downstairs and into the kitchen. Off to her right in the first guest room, she heard childish giggling. She looked through the gap in the door and saw Sirzechs and Azazel giggling to themselves in front of laptops.
"Hehe, that shit was dope." Azazel said smugly.
"I heard the rage from here, I love these human creations, seriously." Sirzechs replied as the two high-fived.
I think it's best I don't tell Ruto about that. As funny as it would be, I really don't need this place becoming a war zone over a game. Rossweisse thought. She went downstairs to make sure Ruto wasn't doing anything… rash.