"Aunty just left? Just like that?"

"Yes, Rias," Sona said, rubbing her eyes tiredly. It had been a long day. "As soon as I told her where he was, Aunty teleported away. She didn't stop. No matter what we said or who said it."

For emphasis, Sona looked over at her sister.

Serafall Leviathan was weirdly silent, reading the file the Sitri agents had compiled on Eren so long ago. 

A file that was obviously missing huge chunks.

Sona had rarely seen her sister so focused, but she was glad to no longer be under the Levithan's interrogation.

She had managed to divert her sister to the file by explaining that 'Eren Yeager' was a former mercenary that had set up near Kuoh and that Rias was slowly trying to get to join her Peerage.

Rias, noticing the look, grimaced in understanding.

As much as Aunty could control Serafall's worst impulses, she usually listened to her King like a soldier when needed. For her aunt to straight up ignore Serafall like that was unheard of.

Usually, Sona would be panicking, rushing to the park to save Eren from her aunt's overprotective wrath.

That was what she had first thought to do when Mikasa teleported away, but she had been delayed by her sister's questions. When Sona had a chance to leave, Rias and her Peerage had appeared to investigate the disturbance and talk about the match.

Saji had also been attracted to the commotion, and Sona's plan to teleport to the human world to save her crush was stopped by a piece of information that had come up as she explained things to the Gremory Peerage.

By now, it was too late to do anything, and Sona would have to trust her aunt not to do anything too terrible.

"Kaicho, I swear, I never told her who he was," Saji repeated.

"I believe you," Sona nodded, but a part of his story stuck out. One that had been bugging her. "But you said his last name after she left."

"I didn't know she'd hear that," her Pawn defended himself.

"Irrelevant," Sona waved him off. "But you are absolutely certain you never mentioned his first name?"

"Yes, Kaicho!"

It was Akeno who asked the question on the Sitri heriress' mind.

"Then how'd she know who he was? She asked, using his first name, right?"

"Maybe the Child of Evil hurt someone she knows," Xenovia suggested with a scowl.

"While he was a mercenary? It's possible," Sona said, lost in thought.

It was possible but unlikely.

Her aunt barely left her house in the Underworld most of the time. How would she hear about some random human mercenary who had only been active for a few years after Mikasa retreated from the human world?

And that intensity.

Mikasa Ackerman had never looked at Sona like that before.

It honestly felt like if Sona hadn't told her aunt where Eren was, she would have been attacked by her sister's Pawn.

Whether that was true or not, Sona didn't know, but the fact she had felt like it was a possibility at all was alarming. Aunty had always been a source of almost matronly comfort and security for Sona. 

Feeling threatened at all drove home how little Sona Sitri knew of the Mikasa Ackerman.

Despite all that, Sona would still trust her aunt not to kill a defenceless human.

"This doesn't sound like her," Kiba said, crossing his arms with a frown. "She's usually so cool and collected. And Senpai is too young to have done anything to her while she was human."

"Maybe it's the scarf?"

All eyes turned to Issei Hyoudou in question at his random statement.

"What did you say?"

Surprisingly, it was Serafall Leviathan who asked the question.

In less than an instant, the Satan had practically teleported next to the Red Dragon Emperor, the file on Eren Yeager still clenched in her hand. 

The strongest female devil glared at the boy, all pretence of playfulness gone despite still being dressed as a magical girl.

"Um, ah, It was just a thought?" Issei stammered, clearly intimidated by the intensity of the attention from one of the leaders of all devil kind.

"What do you mean 'the scarf,'" Sona asked, trying to intercede on the boy's behalf. "Why do you think it's important?"

That red scarf was her aunt's single most important possession, and Mikasa never went anywhere without it. 

But Issei Hyoudou should have no way of knowing that. 

So why had he brought it up?

"Um," Issei hurried to try and step back from the Leviathan, though not without getting a peek down her shirt first, as he stuttered out an answer. "I was just spitballing an idea. Eren mentioned a scarf once, and I noticed she wore one. It's the only connection I know of, so I threw it out there."

"He never mentioned a scarf to me," Sona said.

"Me neither," Rias agreed, looking around the room and getting shakes of the head in turn. "What did he say?"

"Not much," Issei said, looking toward Asia awkwardly with a blush on his face. "He was, um, giving me advice and stuff. He mentioned saving a girl and wrapping her in a scarf. Said she kept it and that it meant a lot to her, to both of them. And, um... other stuff that isn't really important. My idea was just that maybe it's the same scarf, ya know? Like maybe someone gave it to your aunt, and she knows him because of that."

That was impossible.

Hyoudou was clearly talking about Eren giving him love advice, but Aunty had that scarf from her time as a human, well before Eren was born and from another world. 

It was just a coincidence.

The others clearly thought so, too.

"That's probably not it," Rias disagreed with a shake of her head. "Aunty has had that scarf for years. Way longer than she's been a devil."

"Maybe it is their weapons?" Kiba offered, getting his own looks from the group. "Senpai's sword has a bit of a unique design. It's completely flat and thin, which is rare for swords because then they'd break easily. But it's made so that the blade can be replaced easily. The sword is disposable, but the handle isn't, like Lady Mikasa's."

As an example, the Knight summoned his Balance Breaker.

The radiation of Light and Demonic energies could not cover up the odd blade design.

"But their swords are different," Sona disagreed, having seen her aunt's original blade recently. "Hers is wider, and the handle has those two triggers."

"Senpai's has to fit in his cane," Yuuto explained easily. "That's why it's so narrow. However, the design principle behind it is the same. I don't know what Lady Mikasa's second trigger is for, but one of them releases the blade. Senpai's handle should have something like that as well. He did replace his blade after he broke it. The idea is such a perfect fit for Blade Blacksmith that it became a part of my Sacred Gear."

The Knight was right, Sona realized. 

She didn't know anything about swords beyond the basics, but now that she thought of it, how her aunt fought was decidedly odd for a sword fighter. 

What kind of swordswoman abuses her weapon till it breaks, then throws it away?

"So it was when Eren was a mercenary?" Akeno asked.

"That can't be right either," Rias denied. "Aunty has had that sword on her mantle since before I met her. He wouldn't have seen it unless Eren came to the Underworld."

"Uh," Asia hesitantly stepped forward, looking at Yuuto apologetically. "Maybe they met when she was dealing with the um, the Holy Sword Project?"

"Too young," Koneko disagreed. "Peace conference?"

"I don't think they met," Akeno disagreed, looking at Serafall for emphasis. "It would have to be before we met him."

Sona tuned out the theories that continued to be bandied about as she noticed something odd.

Her sister hadn't moved.

Ever since Issei explained his comment about the scarf, Serafall had not so much as twitched or even looked at anyone speaking. She hadn't even flaunted her bosom to tease the boy when the Red Dragon Emperor took a peek down her shirt.

Did she know something?

"So-tan?" Serafall asked, torn from her thoughts by Sona's light touch on her arm.

"Is something wrong," Sona asked softly.

"Of course not," the Leviathan denied with a wide smile. "Mi-chan is just curious about your little friend. Why'd you hide him from Onee-sama? Is So-tan trying to keep secrets?"

Sona wasn't buying it.

"...Onee-sama needs to talk to Ajuka-chan," Serafall eventually said, shifting her gaze from Sona's blank face to the half-crumpled file in her hand.

"Lord Beelzebub?" Sona asked in surprise, drawing the attention of the others in the room. "What for?"

"Is it Eren's disease?" Rias asked hopefully. "Did he have a breakthrough?"

The magical girl shook her head, still smiling but slightly pained.

"Miracle Girl Levi-tan can't say. It's a secret," Serafall said, leaning over and putting a finger over her lips for emphasis.

It also showed off her cleavage, much to Issei and Saji's joy.

"Onee-sama will be back soon. Stay here," the Leviathan told her sister. When Sona looked like she would argue, the Satan simply smiled. "Trust Mi-chan, all right? She won't hurt him."

Before Sona could ask what her sister meant, Serafall disappeared in a swirl of sparkles. 

(The unnecessary panty shot was, of course, included.)

There was silence in the room for a long second, but eventually, Issei spoke up.

"I have no idea what's happening," he admitted.

"Uh, me too," Asia raised her hand in agreement with her boyfriend's words.

"...Me three," Koneko raised her hand, albeit reluctantly.

Xenovia, Saji, and Akeno all raised their hands in solidarity. Even Ghasper poked one hand out of his cardboard box in the corner to raise it.

Only Rias and Sona's hands remained lowered. The former watched her rival's face with intensity.

"Sona?" Rias asked, seeing something that the others didn't on the Sitri heiress' face. "Do you know?"

"...Maybe," Sona hesitated. "It's just an idea. But it's really unlikely." 

So unlikely that it might upend everything they knew about reality.

"Give me a bit of time to think. Saji, please check on the rest of the Peerage and let them know something has come up. I'll stay here till my sister comes back."

Her Pawn nodded dutifully, and Sona thanked him before taking a seat and delving more and more into her train of thought.

Serafall keeping secrets from her wasn't rare. 

Despite her childish antics, she was the Satan Leviathan. Sona genuinely had no idea what her sister did most of the time she wasn't filming her show or making a nuisance of herself to her family. Sona knew the gist of it, handling foreign affairs with other factions, but her sister never elaborated on the specifics.

Aunty's secrets were likewise not hidden. Not only was her aunt not the most talkative of women, but much of her past was painful or private, and Sona had never pried about her life as a human.

Eren's secrets were... well, they were a mess. 

On one hand, he had opened up enormously since she first joined him on the bench over a year ago. On the other hand, many of the people and events he talked about did not match what her family's agents had found.

Sona didn't think Eren was lying. She hadn't thought anyone could fake those emotional responses for over a year, so she had always assumed that her investigation had missed something.

It was as if she had lacked one crucial piece of information that would bring it all together.

And her idea, no matter how unlikely it was, would fit the pieces she had built in her mind.

What if this was not Eren's first life?

Reincarnations were nothing new, though they were rare. Usually, the spirits of great heroes or famous figures pass through Heaven's system without too much damage because of the force of their personalities and deeds. These great souls were also more likely to be reincarnated with a Sacred Gear.

The only issue was that Sona had never heard of a reincarnation remembering their past life with precise detail.

But what if Eren was from a world beyond theirs, where the rules were different?

What if Eren not only reincarnated but also remembered his old life?

The more Sona thought of it, the more things started to fall into place.

Eren listed names of people they had not found any mention of, events that had never happened. Could those be from another life in another world?

It would explain Eren's competence. Despite being recruited as a six-year-old child, he had been an almost supernaturally good soldier without access to magic or a Sacred Gear. 

If he had memories of a much older man, it would explain his strategic ability and how he had managed to go from a random orphan to a mercenary leader by his early teens.

Didn't he also act like he was much older than them? Sona had thought it was either due to being a few years older or because of a wider wealth of life experience, but what if he actually was older? Twenty years? Thirty? Fifty years older?

Eren was also increadibly blase about the oddness that occasionally cropped up around them, without ever knowing they were devils. 

Or did he?

He might. Even if he never brought it up, Eren probably at least suspected their last names, once he learned of her true one, were infamous.

Either way, if he had reincarnated, he probably wouldn't be surprised by anything.

Another thought hit Sona then, and she went even further back.

Eren's name.

It had been written on the basket he had been found in. 

Eren Yeager was not an African name, though some colonial heritage could have used it. It was clearly European in origin. And Madagascar had not been a German colony. That's why they believed it had been left by his, possibly European, parents. It would match his Germanic traits.

But didn't her Aunty also possess a name that had origins that sounded Germanic while being from another world?

What if, in that old life, Aunty knew him?

Whether he was the person who gave her that scarf or not, if Mikasa Ackerman knew Eren Yeager, then so many pieces would fit together.

She had spent a few months in Madagascar when she was first reincarnated, hadn't she?

What if she had discovered an infant and somehow recognized him as the same as her? 

What if she had given him the same name as he had in his last life before leaving him on that church's step?

What if she heard the name of a boy who was supposed to be on the other side of the world come from Saji's mouth and immediately went to check on him?

...No. 

There was something wrong with that train of thought.

Not that Mikasa might have known Eren from his last life. 

That still fit. 

It fit perfectly even, as Eren's birth would be around the same time her aunt had been reincarnated.

What didn't fit was that if her aunt cared so much about the baby, why wouldn't she have kept track of his growth? She had the means, both time and resource-wise, to either take him in or check up on him occasionally.

So, if Eren was reincarnated, remembered his old life, and was from the same world as Aunty, and they knew each other back then but didn't know of each other until now, then everything would fit.

It was just too many unlikely coincidences for Sona to believe likely.

Coincidences or design.

Was somebody behind all this?

...She'd put aside that thought for now.

Still, if all this was true, what was the relationship between Eren and her aunt?

For a brief moment, Sona entertained the idea that Eren had been her aunt's husband but shook the thought off. 

Sona did know Mikasa's husband had died before her, but it couldn't be Eren. 

He was very clear about his lack of luck with romance.

Similarly, Sona didn't think they had been friends. Eren had mentioned a whole host of names, and her aunt's hadn't been one of them.

No, Sona had a much more likely idea, one that sent a shiver of worry down her spine.

Mikasa and Eren had been enemies in their past life.

Eren himself had mentioned that his actions had impacted innocent people and that he was a man who had caused a lot of casualties to get revenge on his enemies. 

Had her aunt's loved ones been among those he killed?

Maybe Issei was right, and the scarf was the same one Eren had mentioned, but that notion would take a much darker turn if Sona thought of it as a memento, not of remembrance but a victory trophy.

Sona shook her head, not wanting to think of either her aunt or Eren like that.

(There was a third option, one that niggled in the back of Sona's head.

Sona crushed it ruthlessly.

Eren's retelling of the nameless woman he loved and their parting did not match the young man her aunt confessed to loving. 

Her aunt spoke of a boy with a terminal disease, one she didn't have the courage to confess to but had loved to the end.

Eren spoke of a woman who didn't return his feelings and whom he made into his enemy to carry out his plans, even if he still loved her.

They were completely different people.

Or so Sona told herself.)

"What is it?" Rias asked, interrupting Sona's thought process after she shook her head. 

Her Peerage's theories had gotten wilder and wilder as time passed, ranging from Eren being an alien to a secret super soldier to actually being the love child of a devil and an angel sent down to bring peace between the races.

"I think I know what's going on," Sona eventually said. 

Or at least a better idea than some 'Nephalem' or whatever. Angels couldn't even breed regularly without Falling. That was the entire point of the Brave Saint system. And devils were famously infertile. 

It was such a preposterous idea that Sona could only shake her head at Rias' Peerage lack of grounding in magical theory.

On the other hand, a reincarnation from beyond the Dimensional Gap had its basis in proven magical phenomenon.

"Really?" Rias' eyes lit up in excitement. "Destined rivalry or childhood romance?"

"What."

"Ignore the weeb," Akeno said teasingly at Rias. The redhead stuck out her tongue in response. "Why don't you tell us your idea?"

"...I'm not certain of the specifics," Sona hesitated. "It's just an idea that fits."

"Gimme."

Under Rias's urging and the expectant eyes of the people in the room, Sona laid out her reasoning for believing Eren might have reincarnated with his memories from another world.

"Anime is totally real," Rias whispered reverently, eyes wide.

"Please focus on the important part," Sona sighed, rubbing her temples.

Had she really lost her first Rating Game to this tit-for-brain? 

Was this really her rival? 

Sona should reevaluate her life.

"Yes. The important part," Akeno nodded in agreement, but Sona didn't like how her eyes were alight with mischief and how she covered her mouth in a giggle. "Like how Lady Mikasa might now be a rival for Eren's affection."

"Akeno!" Sona chastised. "That's not it at all!"

"You said she was frantic when she left," Akeno, far from looking contrite, continued to stir the pot. "Maybe they were lovers in their last life, reunited after death. Ah, how romantic."

Rias looked like she was taking her Queen's words more seriously than Sona thought they deserved.

"That's no fair," the Gremory heiress muttered to herself. "The childhood friend always wins."

"So I was right?" Issei asked, looking inordinately pleased. "It really is the same scarf?"

"We don't know that for sure," Sona denied, trying to rein in the chaos of Rias Peerage since their King seemed to have fallen into a funk. "And reincarnation was just a guess. Who knows if it's the truth?"

"Maybe they're doing it right now?"

"...Pervert," Koneko pouted at Akeno, but the Queen didn't take the insult to heart, looking lost in her fantasies.

"Sorry, man," Issei said consolingly as he patted Yuuto on the back. "Don't worry, we'll find you another MILF."

"What?" Sona was at least gratified that the Knight looked as baffled as she felt. "No, I'm fine. I haven't had a crush on her in years. I hope they are happy together."

"Why are you assuming they're together!?" Sona yelled incredulously.

"Do you know Aunty's stance on mistresses?" Akeno asked Rias, who was still pouting. "Or do I need to seduce her first? What's she into?"

"No seducing my aunt!"

"At least she will help me convince him to join my Peerage, right?" Rias asked herself, looking like she was desperately looking for a silver lining. 

Sona thought she saw a ray of hope that her rival might be at least focusing on the essential parts, like Eren's survival, but the Sitri should have known better.

"Aunty is pretty, but I have bigger boobs, and I'm still growing. And once I'm his King, we can hang out even more. I'm sure he'll like anime. I can make up the difference."

Sona felt despair like never before as she saw what her words had wrought.

Was this truly the Peerage of the woman who, only a few weeks ago, had threatened the Underworld?

Was devil-kind going to be all right once Rias became the Gremory head?

Why was she friends with these idiots again?

Sona Sitri turned to the two individuals who had never really interacted with Eren in desperate hope for some semblance of sanity.

Gasper Vladi watched everything from the two eye holes in his cardboard box.

Xenovia Quarta was-

"Come, Ise," the Knight said, tugging the back of the surprised boy's shirt. "We cannot allow the Child of Evil to have a baby before us!"

"Why are you competing with him at that?" Issei asked incredulously as the woman tried to drag him from the room. 

He didn't look like he was putting up much of a fight.

"I'm sure we can find a private room somewhere around here," Xenovia said, ignoring the question. "Devils are famously infertile. We will need to keep trying if we want to beat them."

Issei looked like Christmas had come early.

"Uhhh," Asia wailed, trailing after the pair. "Wait for me!"

Was it too late to join a convent?

Thankfully(?) the trio was stopped before they could leave the room.

Sona never thought she'd see the day when she would look to her sister's arrival as a stabilizing force.

"Miracle Girl Levi-tan has returned!" Serafall Leviathan proudly declared, hands on her hips, as she reentered the room in a flash of pink light.

Sona could do without the dramatic light show that accompanied the teleportation but was genuinely grateful that her sister's arrival had calmed the madness that was Rias' Peerage.

"Welcome back," Sona said instantly, trying to get things back on track. "Why'd you need to talk to Lord Beelzebub? Did you discover something?"

"Miracle Girl Levi-tan has discovered something amazing through the magic of love." 

The Satan twirled, shooting off more sparkles, and posed.

Koneko gave the show a slow clap.

Serafall Leviathan beamed at the dimunitive Rook.

"What?" Koneko shrugged at the looks she was getting. "Gotta respect the game."

"Sister," Sona sighed, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples again. Should she take up drinking? No, that would ruin her work. "Please explain."

"Right! I have discovered that Eren Yeager is Dun. Dun. Dunnnnn." Serafall paused dramatically. "From another world!"

Silence.

"Well, at least my guess was right," Sona sighed, the rubbing of her temples gaining new strength.

"Ah," the Leviathan gasped, obviously surprised by their lack of reaction. "So-tan knew? And she didn't tell Onee-sama?"

"I guessed it after you left," Sona explained.

"So it's true? Eren's from beyond the Dimensional Gap?" Rias asked.

"According to Miracle Girl Levi-tan's wonderful deductions, yes he is!"

"Why does Lord Beelzebub think that," Sona asked.

"Pooey. So-tan is no fun," Serafall pouted, but she did explain. "Ajuka-chan used a bunch of words like 'recessive traits,' 'unknown pathogens,' 'magical incompatibility,' and other boring terms."

"I knew giving him that blood was a good idea," Rias said proudly.

"And he's from the same world as Aunty?"

"Yep, yep," Serafall nodded excitedly. "Ajuka-chan thinks they might even have a common ancestor, but that is way back."

"So they're cousins?" Akeno asked, eyes lighting up in another no doubt deviant fantasy.

"Nah," Serafall denied easily, much to Sona's relief. "Mi-chan is super special, ya know? Her blood has a whole bunch of nifty secrets, according to Ajuka-chan. The boy's blood is boring. As expected of Mi-chan!"

A thought struck Sona then.

If Eren really was reincarnated, wouldn't his blood not match her aunt's at all?

Had other people come to their world at some point in the past, and he was descended from them?

"I have a question," Issei asked, raising his hand like he was in class.

"Levi-tan's rival admits his weakness!"

"Rival?" Rias asked, the look of confusion on her face mirroring everyone else in the room.

Except Sona, who just sighed.

"There's talks of making a new show based on the Red Dragon Emperor. It's going to be a tokusatsu style targeting children. Audience reception for the Pilot has been off the charts in the lead-up to our Rating Game. Onee-sama has been complaining about it for weeks."

"Levi-tan is number one!"

"Really," Issei asked in surprise. "Why?"

"A mixture of the Rating Game against Riser Phenex, the novelty of a dragon emperor being a reincarnated devil, the rumours around the fight with Kokabiel, and leaked footage of the Youth Devil Gathering. We've all become quite well known," Sona explained, unsurprised the Gremory Peerage didn't know of their burgeoning reputation.

If she knew Rias, her rival and her Peerage had spent all summer at an anime-esque training camp.

None of them were the type to pay attention to the news cycles of the Underworld.

"What was your question?" Sona asked, pulling them back on track.

"Right. Is coming from another world a big deal?" Issei asked awkwardly, and when he received odd looks, he hurriedly tried to explain. "Like, we're in the Underworld, right? And a bunch of other worlds are real, too, like Heaven and stuff, right? So Ackerman-sama is an Elden from another world, and Eren is, too. Why's that important?"

"Eldian," Sona corrected, one of the few pieces of information she was confident about regarding her aunt's past. "And it's important because before we knew about Eren, my aunt was the only being we had ever met that originated from beyond the Dimensional Gap."

Also, if Eren remembered a past life after reincarnating, that would be the first verified record of such an account.

Sona could write her thesis on his situation alone. That was how monumental this discovery would be for the wider magical world.

"The Underworld is really close to Earth, relatively speaking, in the Dimensional Gap," Akeno took up the explanation. "That's why we could take a train here. Other dimensions are like that, too. We're all floating together."

"Think of it like Bleach," Rias explained in a way a teenage boy would understand. "The Underworld and all other neighbouring dimensions are like Soul Society and Hueco Mundo. But Aunty was Isekaied from Dragon Ball."

"Gotcha," Issei nodded in understanding.

"There have been theories in magical communities that study the Dimensional Gap that believed there were more worlds out there, other realities that operate differently than ours," Sona continued to explain, unhappy to have such impactful and important knowledge reduced to anime lingo. "But nobody could prove it."

"Why not?"

"Dimensional Gap is scary."

"It is deadly to all but the strongest beings," Akeno nodded to Koneko's summary. "And that's just the Gap. Its two inhabitants are the most powerful beings in existence. Great Red and Ophis."

"Isn't Ophis-"

"The power behind the Chaos Brigade? Yes." Yuuto nodded grimly.

"It's why the leaders are taking the Brigade seriously," Serafall, in a rare moment of maturity, warned. "Ophis is only weaker than Great Red, but that doesn't mean the Orroroboros Dragon is weak. It is still more powerful than all the Top Ten strongest beings combined. A list where the Ddraig and Albion at their strongest were only in the middle."

"Ophis is scary~" Gasper wailed from his box.

"Doesn't that mean we're screwed?" Issei asked with worry.

"If it were to fight directly, then yes," Rias nodded grimly. "But we would have already lost if it wanted to do that. Both Dragon Gods are born of the Gap itself. Concepts made real. Infinity and Dreams. Both the Dragon of Infinity, Ophis, and the Dragon of Dreams, Great Red, are powerful enough to destroy Earth, the Underworld, and everything else by themselves if they want to."

"But they don't," Sona took back up the explanation, knowing better than to let panic fester. "Until recently, both were content to live in the Dimensional Gap. It's the only place big enough for them to be comfortable. They would occasionally appear on Earth or the Underworld before leaving again. They're treated like natural disasters, even among the supernatural races. The last time Great Red appeared on Earth, he took a nap on a mountain range. His snores were loud enough to cause earthquakes."

"Who knows what Ophis is planning with the Brigade," Serafall shrugged. "They don't think like us. It's not to wipe us out, or it would have. It is after something else." 

Then, as if her moments of seriousness were all an illusion, the Leviathan shook her head energetically, bouncing her hair. 

"So uncute. I am glad Mi-chan didn't have to deal with those bullies."

"Anyway," Sona nodded at her sister's words. "That's why my aunt is a 'big deal.' Even if she's not the strongest by our standards, she's still the first being we know of to traverse the Gap and survive the Dragon Gods. Her existence and origin aren't a secret, but we don't advertise it to avoid panic. If Eren is also from beyond the Gap, it is a big deal because others might be too."

"Gotcha," Issei nodded.

"We got off topic for a bit," Sona shook her head and looked back at her sister. "What else did Lord Beelzebub say? Did he find a cure for Eren?"

"No, but seeing him so frustrated is funny. If he keeps up, Ajuka-chan will be as bald as Falbi," Serafall was the only one to laugh at the joke, the others only turning grim at the reminder of their continued failure to cure their friend. "Hey! Don't look so glum. Mi-chan will save him. Just you wait."

"She's going to reincarnate him," Rias asked, at once hopeful and downtrodden. "How can you be sure?"

"Levi-tan knows Mi-chan," Serafall said proudly, puffing out her chest. "If she guessed right, then Mi-chan won't let him die again."

"So you know how they know each other," Sona said eagerly. "How?"

"Um, Levi-tan wants to tell So-tan, but she doesn't know all the details," Serafall said apologetically. "Just that there was a big war in Mi-chan's world, and a lot of people died. The boy who gave Mi-chan her scarf as well. Levi-tan doesn't know more than that. Mi-chan is stingy with her secrets."

"So I was right!" Issei said proudly. "Eren did give her that scarf!"

"Yes, he did."

All eyes whirled to the doorway where Mikasa Ackerman stood. 

A few people looked embarrassed to have been caught talking about her behind her back, but Mikasa didn't look bothered.

Instead, Mikasa looked wrung out.

Sona noted that her aunt's eyes were red from crying.

Mikasa surveyed the medical room, her eyes lingering on Sona and Rias for a moment before they turned to her King.

"I just came by to get some of my things, say a few goodbyes and tell you I'll be in Kuoh if you need to find me."

"Mi-chan?" Serafall asked.

"He won't come to the Underworld," Mikasa 'explained' with a minuscule shrug. "Just as stubborn as always."

"So it's really him," Serafall asked, eyes lighting up in glee. "Levi-tan is happy for Mi-chan. How long do you want? Five years? Ten? A hundred? Maids will deal with your house and territory; don't worry. I can have them build a mansion in Kuoh if you want? Or you can live with So-tan. And you have to introduce me. I have to see if this boy is worthy of my Mi-chan!"

"That's all right. Eren has a spare room," Mikasa shook her head gently. "I'll only be gone a year. Maybe less."

The ominous feeling in Sona's stomach turned into a pit.

"Wha?" Serafall's mouth opened in shock. "You didn't reincarnate him? He's not you-"

"No." Mikasa cut her King off, not letting her finish the question. "He's not. He won't be."

"Oh," Serafall whispered, eyes softening in sympathy. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"It's already more than I ever expected to see him again," Mikasa said, turning away to leave.

Despite her desire to bear impending heartbreak with maturity and grace, Sona noticed her aunt's fists clenched with white-knuckled strength.

"Aunty?"

Sona's call stopped Mikasa in her tracks.

The Pawn turned around and met her niece's questioning eyes. Then she looked around the room at the other eyes watching her in question.

"I can't make decisions for you all," Mikasa said softly to the entire room. "But, if you can trust me one last time." 

Her eyes were only on Sona.

She knew.

Her aunt knew what Sona felt for Eren.

So many emotions raged across Mikasa's face, too many and too complex for Sona to grasp.

Two emotions ended up dominating.

Concern and pity.

"Be careful with Eren Yeager. You have no idea who he is. What he's capable of."

Softly, so softly that only Sona and her sister could hear, Mikasa whispered one last piece of advice.

"He'll break your heart."

Then Mikasa Ackerman was gone again.

********

This was supposed to be out yesterday, but I couldn't access it due to power and internet issues. I had to rewrite it all offline and copy/paste it from my phone, so pardon the lateness. It ended up being slightly longer than initially planned, so I hope that evens things out.

Once more, the 'Mikasa controversy' tree is ripe with fruit.

This chapter is partly so we see the DxD character's thoughts and partly to world-build a bit of DxD lore that isn't really in the anime yet, mostly later in the Light Novels, so some of you probably aren't familiar with it.

I know many people are excited about a catfight (pun intended), but I ask that you trust me to do the characters justice when they meet and interact. 

I won't say anything more for the moment. I've lingered on this one day for long enough that it is time to get the story going again.

The big pivot of part 3 is over, but now our characters need to confront the change and face the future. Time will speed up once more as we inexorably march towards part 4, our final part.

I will meet you all next week on the bench.