Familiar Forest.
Around the time that Acnologia teleported away from his battle with James, the women in his peerages, who were romantically interested in him, were starting to get worried for his safety. Especially after hearing Irene's horror stories about Acnologia.
"Maybe we should go and see if he needs any help." Mizore said, her worry evident from her tone.
"Yeah, I think we should take a look, too." Shion said while gripping the hilt of her odachi.
"Did you forget that Master is there, too?" Cu Chulainn asked while resting his spear over his shoulder. "You really need to have more faith in them. What would James think if he found out you don't trust him?"
Hearing that, all the worried women, Namely Mizore, Moka, Flora, Ayame, Shuna, and Shion, looked at Cu Chulainn with a death glare. And feeling the pressure they were emitting was enough to make him sweat. Surprisingly, though, Evangeline looked quite nonchalant.
"Eva, aren't you worried?" Kahlua asked. "I mean you like him too, right?"
"I wouldn't say I like him. Not yet anyway." Evangeline replied. "But I'm definitely interested in him. And to answer your first question, I'm not worried because I can feel his presence... Oh, and the other presence just disappeared."
"Disappeared?" Irene asked. "Do you mean James killed Acnologia?"
"I don't think so." Evangeline said, shaking her head. "There was no dropping in life force like when someone or something dies. Instead, it just vanished. Probably teleportation."
Hearing Evangeline's explanation, everyone exhaled a sigh of relief. Even though not all of them were freaking out, from those sighs, it was easy to see that all of them were worried to some extent.
"Well, since the fight is over, I guess all we have to do is wait for James and Master Scathach to get back." Mizore said. "Then we can go home."
"We should probably wait for Shuna to finish healing Tiamat, too." Leona said. "By the way, where is that fashion disaster of a Familiar Master?"
"Leona... Please... Don't." Evangeline said in a tired tone. "I've heard enough rhyming for half a lifetime."
"Sorry..." Leona said with a sheepish smile. "If it makes you feel any better, I didn't do it on purpose. Your reaction was hilarious, though."
*Groan*
All the conversations came to an abrupt halt when everyone heard a rumbling groan coming from not far away. When they looked in its direction, they all saw Shuna touching down on the ground.
"Shuna, will she be all right?" Irene asked as she approached the visibly fatigued Shuna.
"*Pant* Yes. *Pant*" Shuna replied. "*Pant* I wasn't able to *Pant* Heal her completely, though. *Pant*"
"Tiamat is one of the strongest dragons alive." Irene said, patting Shuna's shoulder. "As long as any life-threatening injuries have been taken care of, she should be fine."
Instead of replying verbally, Shuna simply nodded her head while trying to catch her breath. At the same time, Katsuyu was sprawled out on her other shoulder, exhausted from pushing her healing assistance to the limit.
"*Groan!* Where am I?" Tiamat asked groggily.
Before anyone could respond, Tiamat's eyes shot open. Then, she tried to stand up. However, due to her injuries and the fatigue from the earlier battle, she stumbled then fell back down on the ground.
"Damn that Acnologia." Tiamat said while gritting her teeth. "He'll pay for destroying my treasures."
While Tiamat continued to mutter about avenging her treasures, the rest of the group could only watch her, unsure of what to say. Eventually, Scathach returned with her spear propped over her shoulder, James hanging from its tip by his clothes.
Seeing Scathach, and the way she was carrying James, once again no one knew what to say. But they were glad to see James was safe.
"Shuna, can you heal him?" Scathach asked, gesturing to James with her chin. "He over exerted himself at the end of the fight. He has many fractured bones and torn muscles..."
"Grr!" Tiamat growled after seeing Scathach and James, interrupting Scathach's explanation. Then, she roared in anger. "Ddraig! I see you brought another host for me to kill"
"*Sigh* I knew we should have left her to die." Ddraig said in a way that everyone could hear him from a green glowing circle on James' left hand.
"You bastard, what did you say?" Tiamat asked angrily.
"Yeah, if it was up to me, we would have left you to die." Ddraig said. "But my host insisted on saving you. Even after finding out about how you tend to treat my hosts. He even made fun of me for being afraid of you..."
Ddraig began to mumble at the end of what he had to say. However, everyone present was strong enough that speaking at that volume was easy enough to hear without straining.
"I've always wondered why it seems like Ddraig is scared of Tiamat, too." Moka said.
"Well, you know what they say." Dante replied with a shrug. "Hell, hath no fury like a woman scorned. Maybe he cheated on her, and she threatened to cut off his manhood."
Hearing that, Cu Chulainn clamped his legs shut while even James twitched, even though he was unconscious. Meanwhile, the ladies in the group began to chuckle, until Tiamat put an end to that.
"The white-haired boy has good perception." Tiamat said. "If that were the only issue, I would have let this go centuries ago."
Hearing that, not only Dante, but all the others on the scene opened their eyes wide in shock. Everyone knew that Dante was just joking as he usually does. In fact, Lady was even ready to smack him upside the head for saying something stupid during a serious conversation.
"Haha. Let's not talk about that, okay?" Ddraig asked with a hollow laugh.
"On top of being a cheating asshole, he borrowed a bunch of my treasures and lost them." Tiamat said, seething with anger.
"I've told you before, that wasn't my fault!" Ddraig shouted.
"Maybe if you didn't fight in the middle of a warzone, killing members of the three Biblical factions without care, I'd still have all my treasures."
Though Ddraig wanted to deny it, he knew what Tiamat said was true. If he and Albion had paid attention to where they were fighting, they would not have been ambushed by the three factions.
"Well, I understand why you have a bone to pick with Ddraig, but why go after his hosts?" Evangeline asked curiously.
"Because it forces Ddraig to sleep more." Tiamat replied nonchalantly.
"I hope you do not intend to repay this Scathach's disciple's kindness with hostility." Scathach said while staring into Tiamat's eyes.
"Scathach?" Tiamat asked with a bit of confusion in her tone. "Weren't you bound to the Land of shadows nearly a thousand years ago?"
When Scathach first appeared with James, Tiamat did not pay any attention to her because she had detected Ddraig's aura. So, after noticing Scathach she was naturally surprised.
"In the past, yes." Scathach said with a nod. "However, thanks to my disciple, here, I was freed from that life of solitude."
"Are you saying that welp was able to kill you?" Tiamat asked in surprise. "That is the only way you could be separated from the Land of Shadows if I'm not mistaken."
"That is correct." Scathach replied with a fond smile. "He granted my greatest wish. He allowed me to die a warrior's death. Then, he reincarnated me as a devil and allowed me to see the ouside world again"
"Nope, not a chance in hell. On my best day, I wouldn't want to fight your crazy ass. And he could kill you in frontal combat?" Tiamat said while shaking her head back and forth. "Ddraig it looks like you're free from me for a long time, this time."
"Seriously?" Ddraig asked in shock. "Just like that? Hahahaha! Not only are you my most powerful host of all time, you're also the one I like the most."
"If that's the case, then I think we need to have Tiamat come with us." James said in a weak tone. "Although I'm flattered you feel that way, Ddraig, I'm not interested in you like that."
Pin drop silence fell over the group and Ddraig was dumbfounded, caught completely off guard. Eventually, it was broken when Tiamat and Leona began laughing uproariously.
"And now I remember why you're not actually my favorite host." Ddraig said in a flat tone. "Thank you for reminding me."
"I'm always happy to help." James replied with a weak smile while Scathach lowered him to the ground before supporting him to stand. "But seriously, I'd really like to have you come with us, Tiamat."
"James, why are you doing this to me?" Ddraig asked with panic in his tone.
"It's not always about you, Ddraig." James said while rollign his eyes. "Of course I want her to come with us for the entertainment value. Even if it will seem like she's yelling at me, I'm sure it will be hilarious."
If Ddraig had a face, James was sure that he would be deadpanning at him with all his might.
"But seriously, I want to make … Hold on." James said, stopping to think. "Is it possible to have two familiar pacts?"
"A second?" Tiamat asked. "How dare you?"
"Well, you wouldn't even be my strongest familiar." James said with a shrug. "So, even if you don't join, Crom is still a pretty impressive familiar."
"Crom? As in Crom Cruach, the Crescent Circle Dragon?" Tiamat asked with shock in her tone. "How did you make a mad man like him accept a familiar pact?"
"Well, I kicked his ass then I told him I give him strong people to fight." James answered with another shrug.
"Oh, I see." Tiamat replied with her eyes lighting up. "And what would you offer me to become your second familiar."
"Slow down, Sweetheart." James said while raising his right hand. "This is a two-way street. I don't want you as a trophy, or whatever. I want you as someone who can bolster my team's fighting strength."
"Tch! So stingy." Tiamat said as she turned her head away.
"So, we can do it like this." James said, ignoring Tiamat's comment. "I'll buy you one piece of jewelry from any jewelry store in the Human World, once a month, regardless of price. In turn, you'll fight for me when needed."
"Once a week." Tiamat said, making her counter offer.
"Let's go." James said without even entertaining that counteroffer. "Some of us have school tomorrow."
"Wait!" Tiamat shouted. "Three times a month."
"Why are you all taking so long to gather?" James asked everyone else in the group. "Mom, if we wait too long, how am I gonna take revenge for you tonight?"
"*Gasp!* come on everyone, let's go!" Leona said with extra excitement in her tone.
Using [Flash Step], Leona appeared behind each member of James' peerages, then began trying to push them towards James in order to speed the process along.
"Bi-weekly!" Tiamat shouted, almost pleading at this point.
Usually, Tiamat would have just let James go, however, that regardless of price comment made her change her mind. On top of that, as a familiar, it was up to James to provide for her in other aspects such as food, shelter, and if she chose to take her human form, clothing. Getting free treasures on top of that was too good to be true.
However, if James had not been able to force Acnologia to leave, basically forcing her to believe that he was stronger than she was, she would not even be considering the option of becoming a familiar. On top of that, she would probably be dead. Instead, she would be robbing him of not only his wealth, but also forcing him to make money and provide her with a tribute. Or maybe she would have just killed him, seeing as James is Ddraig's host for this generation.
"Like I said, once a month." James said when everyone was gathered. "I'll even throw in gift giving holidays."
For the next few minutes, Tiamat struggled to agree. Although she knew that this was probably the best offer she would get, she wanted more. You could never have too many treasures, after all. Eventually, after a minute and a half or so of silence, Tiamat finally made her decision.
"Fine." Tiamat said through gritted teeth. "I accept your terms."
Nodding in satisfaction, James then gestured for Tiamat to come closer.
"Oh, and can you make yourself smaller?" James asked with a smile on his face. "My house isn't big enough for your dragon form."
Scoffing in reply, Tiamat began glowing in a celestial blue glow. Then, the outline of her body began to shrink. As it did, she began moving towards James and the rest of the group. When she was only an arm's length from the group, the glow faded and Tiamat stood before everyone in her human form.
"*Whistle* Not bad." James said while admiring Tiamat's human form. "Not bad at all."
Tiamat in her human form was around the same height as Leona, about 5'9" (approx. 1.75 m), with long, straight pale blue hair, dark blue eyes, wearing a navy blue dress, and her fair skin having a light blue tint. Basically, her whole body was covered in blue. On top of that, her dragon aura was overwhelming. Perhaps because it was condensed into a much smaller size. Plus, the cold beauty vibe she gave off was rather appealing as well.
"We can leave now." Tiamat proclaimed. "I expect my first treasure upon arrival."
"Are you stupid or something, Woman?" Ddraig retorted. "It is two in the morning, there are no stores open at this hour."
"It's 5 p.m. somewhere." Tiamat shrugged uncaringly.
"Although that's true..." James said with a wry smile. "... It feels like that phrase is being used in the wrong context, somehow."