Hey everyone, it's been a while hasn't it? For those of you who are still around, welcome back, but if it's your first time here, then welcome! It's been too long since I've updated this story. Like..4 years I think. It's not that I haven't cared, but I've really had a lot going on. I recently just left a toxic relationship, and I joined the army. Haven't really had a lot of time, but it looks like I'm going to be getting a lot more of it now. But that's not really important, now then is it? You're here for the story, and I hope I don't disappoint. So without any further delay, welcome to Chapter 2!


Chapter 2

Rias Gremory was not having the best of days. What was supposed to be an average day turned out to be quite the strange ordeal. After having a surprise pop quiz in nearly all of her classes, she had gotten into an argument with her brother and father over her arranged marriage to Rizer Phenex, which as usual, didn't go as planned. To top things off, she and her peerage were now engaged in battle with a stray devil, one that was much more powerful than she had anticipated.

"What's the matter Gremory? Don't tell me that's all you've got!? I'm not satisfied!" the she-devil cried out. Rias growled at the stray devil, who stood a good few feet over her. In this beast's transformed state, she had long, dark brown hair, her face complete with glowing red eyes, and her jaw seemingly unhinged, was lined with uneven rows of sharp, serrated teeth. Her body seemed to extend, her torso, arms, and legs seemed to grow about four feet a piece, with her hands and feet ending in long talons. While it didn't look powerful, they did say that you should never judge a book by its cover for a reason. Those long arms gave it incredible physical strength, while it's skin appeared to be much harder than your average devils. However, the Crimson Princess wouldn't back down.

"Akeno, now!" she ordered her queen, giving her the signal to strike against the devil. The sadomasochist smiled in delight as she called down her lightning to strike the devil head on, causing the devil to scream out in pain.

"Oh, I hope that's not all you take. I've only just started with your punishment…" Akeno cooed out, her eyes glazed over with delight. The she-devil growled out in defiance, shaking off the pain and attempting to strike back at the Thunder Priestess, only to be met with another high voltage strike. Rias smirked in response. Her strategy was working.

"Kiba, go for it!" she commanded, and right on cue, her blonde haired knight materialized a sword out of thin air and sped his way right towards the stray's knees, getting right behind her and swinging his sword, making a clean cut behind both knees. With the slice made, the creature no longer had the means to stand, causing her to collapse to the ground, landing on both knees.

"You bastard! You'll pay for that!" the devil roared out, but Rias' knight could only smirk in response before jumping out of the creatures range before it could attempt a counterattack.

"Now Koneko!" Rias shouted towards her peerages smallest member. Without a word, Koneko ran up to the crippled devil as fast as she could, and using a strength that was hidden behind her small body, she jumped towards the beast and delivered a crushing knee blow to the temple of the rouge devil, and then flipped herself in mid-air, diving down towards and delivering a strong punch to her face.

"I'll...I'll get you all….I swear it! If it's the last thing I do, you'll...you will all pay!" the devil swore, but after such repeated attacks, she found herself disoriented, not being able to see straight and having trouble forming coherent thoughts. Rias could only sigh and shake her head.

"You know you brought this on yourself. I have no pity for you." she said solemnly, causing the devil to growl at her.

"I don't need your pity, you bit-" she didn't get finish, as Rias had finished her off with a powerful blast from her Power of Destruction.

"Such a foul mouth...you should have let me played with her more Rias." Akeno whined, the glaze of her eyes starting to fade. Kiba chuckled in response to his queen's antics.

"I somehow have a feeling that it wouldn't have been very fun for her Akeno. It was good that we finished this as quickly as possible, don't you think so Koneko?" the knight had reasoned, but Rias's rook merely shrugged.

"It was no big deal." Koneko said. Rias smiled at her peerage.

"Good job today everyone. Let's call it a day for now. I'll see you all tomorrow." she said, to which her knight and rook nodded, before heading their respective ways home. However, Akeno stayed behind with Rias, a concerned look adorning her face. Rias looked at her queen with a confused look.

"Is there something wrong Akeno?" the Crimson Princess asked almost uncaringly, causing Akeno to frown.

"You tell me Rias. You've been cold lately. Is it about-" Akeno didn't get a chance to finish, as Rias flared her aura for a moment, causing the Thunder Priestess to take a step back unconsciously. Realizing what she had done, Rias ran forward and hugged her best friend tightly.

"I'm sorry...I just...I can't do it. I won't marry that bastard! I won't!" she cried out, tears falling down her face freely. Akeno just hugged her friend back, trying her best to calm her down.

"Shhh...it's okay Rias. We'll find a way to get past this together, I promise." Akeno said to her crimson haired friend in an attempt to soothe her. Rias nodded her head, acknowledging the fact that she heard her best friend, but wasn't entirely sure if she believed her or not. No matter how she looked at it, there seemed to be no way out of her arranged marriage to Rizer Phenex.

"I want to believe you Akeno, but I just don't know…" she trailed off. Breaking away from her friend, she felt an odd chill wash over her. Looking over to her friend, she saw that Akeno seemed to be shivering. Looking down at her hands, she too, was also shivering, as she also noticed she could see her own breath.

"What's going on…?" she wondered aloud. The two devils looked over towards nearby bushes where they heard some sort of rustling sound. The two prepared themselves, as it seemed they were about to face another enemy. However, what popped out was not what either of them were expecting.

"Hey, I uh...I don't suppose either of you could tell me where I am?" asked a shirtless young man, appearing from the bushes.

"Alright, where do I find him?" Gray asked. Zeref's smile faltered for a second. Gray noticed this and looked at the man strangely.

"Well you see, that's where things get complicated…" the dark mage trailed off. Gray huffed in annoyance.

"Of course it's complicated. Why can't things involving Natsu ever be simple?" Zeref chuckled at this, reminiscing of a time long forgotten.

"I've often wondered the same. However, as for where Natsu is, Mard Geer's curse has somehow sent Natsu into another dimension. I truly don't understand how, but perhaps that was Mard Geer's intent all along. Surely, he knew that his power was nowhere near strong enough to kill me." Zeref mused. Gray just looked at him oddly, trying to make sense of what he just said.

"Another dimension...you mean kinda like Edolas?" Gray asked. Zeref nodded in response.

"Almost, but not quite. This dimension is very different from this one and Edolas. I don't expect you to run into any alternate versions of the people you know here in this dimension." Zeref elaborated. Gray just nodded in understanding.

"Alright, so when I find Natsu, how do I get back here?" the slayer inquired. Zeref seemed to expect this question, and handed Gray a small orb.

"When you find Natsu, you and he will pour your magic power into this orb and it will create a portal back here. Until then though, you must make sure that nothing happens too this. If it breaks, you'll be stuck in that dimension forever." he warned. Gray numbly nodded, pocketing the small orb gently.

"Now then, if there are no other questions, you really should get going, don't you think?" Zeref inquired. Gray looked the man in the eyes, noticing how they turned red, causing the young slayer to take a step back out of fear. Zeref reached out his hand, and Gray could swear he felt the air behind him shift. Turning around, he saw a bright portal had formed behind him.

"Do be safe on your travels." he heard Zeref say. He was about to retort, but found that the dark mage had pushed him into the portal before he could say or do anything.

"Hey you basta-" was all Gray managed to shout before the portal closed. Zeref stood there for a moment, just staring at the spot where Gray had been standing.

"If anyone can bring back Natsu, it would be you. I only pray that the energy there hasn't brought him out." Zeref said aloud.

The two friends looked at Gray oddly. Certainly, it wasn't every day that a shirtless man adorning odd tattoos just randomly appeared from the bushes. Rias wasn't exactly sure what to do while Akeno, on the other hand…

"Oh my, what a handsome fellow you are. Rias, can I keep him?" the Thunder Priestess said, her eyes starting to glaze over once more. Gray's eyes twitched out of annoyance and nervousness.

'Oh great, another Juvia. Just what I need in my life…' the slayer lamented.

"Look lady, I don't belong to anyone. I just wanna know where I am. I'm lookin for someone. If you can't help, then I'll just be on my way." Gray declared. Rias didn't look amused by the situation one bit though.

"Just who do you think you are to talk to my queen like that? Do you not know who you're talking too?" the Gremory Clan heiress questioned. Gray looked at the crimson haired girl with an unreadable look, causing Rias' to frown ever further. The two held each other's gaze for several moments before Gray suddenly started laughing hysterically.

"Hey, what's so funny?!" Rias demanded. She was livid, absolutely livid. Who was this man to so boldly laugh at her, as if she was the punch line of a terrible joke. His incessant laughing grew louder and louder, and as it did, so did her growing anger. Without a second thought, a blast of energy fired out of her hand towards Gray, who immediately jumped out of the way. The blast just narrowly missed the young slayer, as it disintegrated a tree that was behind him.

"Hey, what the hell is wrong with you?! Do you try to kill everyone you just meet?" Gray roared out of fury. Rias didn't reply however, and looked as though she was about to fire another blast. Gray prepared himself for a fight, a cool mist flowing from his body as he focused his magic. Akeno couldn't help but shiver.

'This feeling...I don't know why, but it's so dark. Just what are you?' Akeno thought to herself. While she knew that she should be breaking up the fight, she also knew that Rias needed to vent some of her pent up frustrations. She'd also be lying if she said she wasn't curious about the strange boy her best friend was about to fight.

"I wonder how things will turn out…" Akeno pondered, observing as the two combatants got ready to face off with one another.

"I'll be sure to put you in your place." Rias sneered. Gray smirked in response.

"You're welcome to try. I just don't wanna hear you cry once I've kicked your ass." Gray said confidently, as he crafted his Cold Excalibur.

"Now, let's see what you've got!"


Now I know what you're thinking. "Short chapter and a cliffhanger? Voltaire you're just too cruel for too us...", but hold on there! I've got good reasons! First off, I'm known for my cliffhangers by now, so that shouldn't be too much of a surprise. But also, y'all gotta keep in mind that it's been 4 years since I've picked this puppy up. It'll take me a bit before I get back into the swing of the feel of this story. Also, I'm sure you noticed that some of these characters aren't acting like they normally would. WELL...it is an alternate dimension, right? I'm taking a few liberties with some of their personality traits but don't worry, characters themselves will go largely unchanged, and everything should be back to normal within a few chapters. Well, until next time! Leave a review and let me know how I did!