(Rias POV)

(Y/N)...why did you have to go?

Right now I was at the Gremory Estate, sitting in a chair, watching as everyone was in a panic, not only because (Y/N) died, but also because Issei was killed while he was in a coma because someone stabbed him with a knife covered in Samael's blood. Plus it was worth mentioning that the Khaos Brigade is attacking the underworld by using Annihilation Maker to create 13 massive beasts that look like chimeras, or different combinations of different monsters. What's worse is that these giant monsters are also spawning more beasts from their bodies, like their skin becomes new monsters. These beasts were targeting capitals of the underworld or other important places. Among these monsters was a much larger, humanoid monster that is called Jabberwocky, while 12 smaller monsters are called Bandersnatch. We had the underworld's strongest forces fighting against them, it was like flies fighting against a lion. Even Sairaorg's elder brother, Diehauser Belial, the emperor of rating games, was only able to stall Jabberwocky for a couple seconds at best. The only good news out of all this is that the citizen evacuation was successful, so no civilians are getting caught up in the crossfire. However, I didn't care about the monsters,I just wanted (Y/N) back. I was wearing his sealskin on my body, hugging it around myself because it reminded me of him. I was also holding the rook piece that used to be inside him.

"So it seems like the Four Satans are going out into the field, won't be long before we're sent out there too." Riser walked towards us, but I didn't care, everything was falling apart anyways. "Hey Rias, you okay? You look like a mess."

"Why do you care?" I glared at the Phenex, who raised both his hands and backed away from me.

"Look I just came here to escort my brother and give you guys some possibly good news, jeez I know I was an asshole in the past but I'm trying to change." Riser was now talking in the first person. "According to the sacred gear database in heaven, the boosted gear is still in Issei Hyoudou's possession."

"I am not in the mood for this Riser." I was not in the mood for the mystery surrounding Issei's death.

"Here is your tea, sorry I don't make it as good as Akeno does." Kiba walked to the lounge area I was in before setting a tray of tea in front of me on the coffee table. "Oh, hello Riser."

"Cut the glare, I'm here on official business for once." Riser looked behind him, and he noticed two people walking towards us. "Well speak of the devil and he shall arrive."

"Rias Gremory." Riser and Ravel's older brother, Ruval Phenex, looked like Riser, except older and dressed in a nice suit. "I am terribly sorry for your loss."

"Thank you Ruval." I thanked the man while putting on the hood of the coat, the jacket didn't have any blood on it, thankfully.

"I understand your heart is heavy, but there are pressing matters at hand." Ruval reached into his pocket and handed me some vials full of Phoenix Tears. "When you are ready, we can use your help out there."

"My peerage is scattered right now, so right now is not a good time for us to enter the fray." I still took the Phoenix tears so we can enter combat the moment we can. "Xenovia, Irina, and Asia are all currently in heaven, talking with the angels, Rossweisse and Gasper are somewhere getting stronger, Akeno is on Earth helping (Y/N)'s family, and the rest of us just need some time to mourn."

"I understand, I wish you the best, come along now Riser."

Ruval, Ravel, and Riser all left us, and I decided to go to my room. I know it's selfish of me, but with some of my best pieces out of commission or deceased, there's nothing I can do. I got up from the chair and felt the cold marble floors beneath my bare feet. The halls were dark and empty, the only person I saw was Kiba, who was sitting on the chair in the lounge room, trying to process the fact that Issei and (Y/N) are dead. I passed by the guest room Asia was staying in and heard that she was still sobbing. I decided to go by the kitchen and get Asia a glass of water so she won't dehydrate herself by crying. I grabbed a cup of water for Asia before entering her room, noticing how her hair was a mess, and she was crying into a pillow. I set the cup of water before sitting on the edge of the bed, then I pat Asia's back.

"Asia,you need to drink your water, I don't want you to get dehydrated." I rubbed Asia's back as she got up from the bed, allowing me to see her eyes were red with tears. "How are you holding up?"

"I want to go to (Y/N)'s side..." Asia sniffled, and I handed her a box of tissues so she could blow her nose. "But if I go to (Y/N)'s side now...he'll be upset...He promised he'll always protect me...so I don't know what to do."

"He would have wanted you to take care of yourself." I wrapped both my arms around Asia. "He would want you to drink water, eat healthy meals, get enough sleep, but most of all, he would want his memory to not bring you sadness."

"I-I know...I just m-miss him so much." Asia blew her nose into a nearby tissue. "I still remember when we first met...he must have thought I was such a klutz when he saw me trip over. And the worst part is that he saw my panties...it was the worst first impression ever!"

After that, Asia began talking more and more about the past and how (Y/N) helped her when they first met until Asia began drifting off to sleep. Minutes later, Asia was fast asleep. I laid Asia down on her bed and covered her petite body with a sheet before grabbing a new pillow for her, since her old one is soaked with tears. After changing her pillow and resting her resting head on it, I left Asia's room and made my way to my room, but before I reached it, I noticed someone stomping over to me, and given her dark brown hair in a pixie cut and tanned skin, I recognized her as Onihime, a classmate of (Y/N)'s. Given her furious expression, she must have heard about the news. She stomped over to me with Unohanna and Kankuro behind her, trying to stop the girl. Onihime suddenly grabbed my collar with one hand and lifted up, reeling her fist back like she was ready to punch me. My feet couldn't reach the ground, and given Onihime's furious expression, she was going to pummel me.

"You! We trusted you with (Y/N) and he fucking died because of you!" Onihime tried punching me, but Kankuro grabbed onto her fist and was holding her back. "If he never became a devil, then his parents could still see him! Because of you, (Y/N)'s dead! Why are you so quiet? Speak up!"

"Onihime, relax, Rias didn't order him to die!" Unohanna was trying to calm the daredevil down, but it was okay, I deserve this.

"No, it's my fault that (Y/N) died." I didn't even bother fighting back against Onihime. "He volunteered himself to distract everyone so we could escape. I knew it would kill him, but I still let him do it. I truly am the worst, so go ahead, do whatever you want."

"Onihime, that's enough."

Walking towards us was a Inuit man with long black hair, a beard and mustache, a green snow jacket with white fur, dark blue snow pants, and black boots. I recognized him as Nootaikok, a member of (Y/N)'s peerage and the possessor of the Moon Arcana. I did recall that Falbium sent a distress signal to (Y/N)'s peerage, so they should be heading over.

"It's not a good idea for you to let your emotions consume you." Nootaikok's breath had some mist coming from it, just what one would expect from an ice god. "(Y/N)'s death is tragic, but the war doesn't stop."

"Onihime, you're just looking for someone to blame, but you're blaming yourself too for all this aren't you?" Unohanna struck a nerve, and Onihime set me down.

"This ain't over!" Onihime pointed at me angrily as she stomped off again, and behind her, Kankuro bowed in apology before running off for his friend. Kankuro doesn't talk much does he?

"Sorry about her, she's pretty moody." Unohanna apologized to me before bowing to me. "Don't blame yourself for any of this, to be honest, (Y/N) was kind of lonely before he met you."

"Him? Lonely? I thought a lot of girls liked (Y/N)?" I was surprised by this, like sure (Y/N) told me he wasn't popular with girls, but I didn't believe it until now. "He's so sweet and loyal."

"Personality wise, he's ideal, but appearance wise, he scares most people away." Unohanna explained. "(Y/N) had trouble making friends until you came along, and he started to become a lot happier."

"Really?" I was surprised by this, but now that she mentioned it, I was surprised by how expressful (Y/N) was back when I first met him.

"Yeah, I'm amazed you haven't noticed." Unohanna then began walking off to follow Nootaikok and Onihime, off to go deal with the giant monsters. "Goodbye Rias."

With that said, I decided to continue my walk towards my room, but as I reached it, I noticed some people standing at my doorway. Sairaorg was knocking on my closed door, calling my name while Ayako sat on his shoulder, one her phone. Sona, Seekvaira, Zephyrdor, and Saji were here as well.

"Rias, there you are." Seekvaira suddenly wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. "We were worried about you ever since we heard what happened. How are you holding up?"

"Considering you're wearing his signature seal skin, I'm guessing it's true." Ayako pointed out, as she climbed down in a depressed manner, so Sairaorg held her hand.

"It's true, (Y/N) died so the rest of us could get away." I wrapped my arms around Seekvaira, who began rubbing my back. "It was his idea, but I should have stopped him, maybe he would be here to help us if I actually helped him."

"Rias, you mean well, but think about this logically, Cao Cao has one of the most misogynist abilities I know of, the ability to only cancel out the powers of women." Sona joined the hug. "He knew this and was doing that to protect you, but still, I miss him too, so feel free to let everything out with us."

"Damn Cao Cao..." Sairaorg grit his teeth. "(Y/N) was a person who I saw as not only my equal, but someone I believe who surpasses me. At least I was born with a lion tamer ability, but he has nothing but his seal skin, yet he still beats me."

"He and I may not have spoken much, but I know he was a good guy." Saji sighed. "Hey Rias, we need your help out there fighting the monsters, so we need to get a move on."

"I can't right now, all my pieces are either away or are in no condition to fight." I really did want to help, but with Gasper at the fallen angel institute, Rossweisse in Northern Europe, Irina and Xenovia in heaven, and the rest of my pieces mourning, fighting right now wouldn't do any good.

"I understand, but don't let your depression last too long, (Y/N) wouldn't want you to cry at his memory." Sairaorg then began leaving. "I just came by to check on you, so take care of yourself, will you?"

"I'll try."

(Timeskip, brought to you by mist covering the screen)

(Vali POV)

"Damnit, this curse is still in effect!"

I was at (Y/N)'s house, holed up in my guest room with a bucket next to my bed. My body was in constant pain because of the side effects of Samael's curse, and the bucket was next to my bed just in case I needed to throw up. Outside the door, I heard the sound of (Y/N)'s parents sobbing. The rest of my team was here as well, trying to help (Y/N)'s parents by doing various chores around the house while they mourned. I heard Akeno was there as well, but I wasn't allowed to leave the room. Apparently there was an attack on the underworld, so Grayfia was here with her son. Azazel was also here, trying to contact the angels and tell them about the situation. At the side of the bed was that doctor (Y/N) knows, Miach I think his name was?

"Okay Vali, in order to expel most of the curse from your body, I'm gonna have to beat your chest with this bamboo stick that I covered in Angelica, cayenne, mint, nettle, and sage." Miach pulled out a meter long stick covered in an array of plants. "I hope you're not masochistic."

"Wait what?"

Out of nowhere, Miach suddenly began beating my chest using the bamboo stick, and much to my surprise it actually stung a bunch! I was tempted to grab onto my chest to help with the stinging, but Miach held my arms back. After some strikes, I felt something rise from my stomach like vomit. Miach noticed this too and began beating my stomach even more intensively. From my mouth, some kind of black vomit spewed forth out of my mouth, and Miach put the bucket in front of my face, catching the black substance inside it. Miach put a lid on the bucket, sealing it with duct tape before putting the bucket in his lap.

"That should be most of the curse, but it'll take some time for your body to fully expel the rest of it though." Miach informed me. "Until then, stay away from holy water, angels, kryptonite, and penicillin." Miach adjusted his glasses. "Now onto the most important subject, you were there when (Y/N) died. Did you see his soul leave his body?"

"His soul?" I rarely saw people's souls leave their body, so I shook my head no. "No I haven't, what would it look like?"

"Every soul is different, but the one common all souls share is that they're glowing orbs." Miach explained to me. "Due to (Y/N)'s unique properties, I think it would be a blue colored orb that has sea-like properties. Like coral grows out of it and it's constantly dripping water. But if you didn't see it, then there's a chance his soul never left his body, or it was taken. Given how you said there was no pulse, I'd say it was the latter."

"Taken? How could a soul be taken away?" I have never heard of that kind of thing happening.

"Despite grim reapers being known for being experts in soul magic, they're just gifted in it, anyone can learn how to take a soul." Miach explained. "So was there anyone else at the scene of (Y/N)'s death?"

"Ophis was holding his hand, but that's about it." I recalled the scene, and suddenly I became curious as to where she was. "Hey, where's Ophis anyways?"

"She's your boss, you should know."

"Shut it."

(Scene change brought to you by Bikou figure ice skating while Kuroka, Le Fay, and Arthur were the judges)

(Third POV)

It was night time, yet it wasn't dark because the bright full moon lit up the night sky that was decorated by stars. Waves crashed against the sandy shore, and it was lonely except for a little girl standing alone. Ophis was standing on the sand, watching the waves roll in. From the tropical trees behind her, a man dawning a black cloak emerged holding a lantern. Inside the lantern was a bright red orb that was blazing like a fire.

"Hello Ophis." The man dawning the black cloak called for the small dragon's attention, causing her to turn around. "Best to be discreet right now, since what Vagus and Ophis are doing is probably illegal."

"I have the soul." Ophis pulled a lantern similar to Vagus' from seemingly nowhere, except this lantern had a blue soul that had coral growing out of it and water dripping from the bottom of it. "You have the red one..."

"Of course Vagus does, Vagus always fulfills Vagus' promises!" Vagus held the lantern out to Ophis. "Zenorse made the lanterns focusing on aesthetics, so be careful. The lanterns are fragile."Ophis and Vagus traded lanterns, so now Ophis had the red orb and Vagus had the blue one.

"So what are you doing with (Y/N)'s soul?" Ophis questioned the reaper, who had already begun walking off.

"Vagus and Zenorse need (Y/N)'s soul, (Y/N)'s soul is pretty basic, but very adaptable." Vagus answered. "Zenorse, Vagus, and Ursula discovered an old enemy may have been reincarnated. (Y/N) is possibly the only person who can defeat this person."

"Not even Great Red or I?" Ophis questioned, and Vagus shook his head. "Why are you so certain (Y/N) can defeat him?"

"(Y/N) is connected to the person who killed him in the first place."

(A/N: You know, I always find it funny when people think I actually PLAN things. Every time I read someone's comment that says "You did such a good job on planning this!" I am so tempted to tell them I am making this up as I go, like I'm writing volume 12 while reading volume 12. Like boi/gurl, this series has been nothing but on the spot thinking, dice rolls, mythology, and mental breakdowns, there is no room for planning. Also stubbornness, lots, and lots, of stubbornness.