Chapter 193 - 2.70 [NEW SUB BONUS] Dinner Date
Xander arrived at Diana's front doorstep wearing a nice black button up shirt, black dress slacks and black dress shoes. He was nervous, but excited to be having a formal dinner with her parents. He rang their doorbell and waited for them patiently.
"Xander! Oh my gosh these are beautiful thank you!" Diana said while giving him a quick kiss. He bought her a bouquet of flowers and had another set for her mother.
"You're welcome. May I come in please?"
"We're in here sweetie!" Her mom yelled.
Xander and Diana walked in hand and hand into the dining area, where Diana's parents were setting up the table. Diana's mother, Sophia, appreciated the flowers Xander had for her and grabbed a vase, neatly placing the fresh flowers in the center of the table. She also helped Diana get her roses in a vase, Diana ran them up to her room, smiled, then returned back downstairs. Her father was relaxing in their living room now while her mother cooked.
"So Xander how has all your training been going?" Diana asked excitedly as they sat down next to each other, holding hands, on a loveseat.
"Good. Just a lot of it. Pride has been keeping me really busy and fighting me with different styles. He's tough!"
"I still don't understand this," Simon, her father, said.
"How is it that a triple agent goddess and a former demon sin are in a party and you are all magically safe?"
They both flashed their party seals.
"These sir. My dad can make special conditions to protect all the members of the party. For Pride, he set very specific conditions that if he attempts to harm anyone in the party, his soul will shatter."
"And what does that mean exactly?"
Xander and Diana explained the difference between death and a soul shatter, and Simon shook his head and shivered.
"That's scary. You kids please be careful."
"Of course! I wouldn't let anything happen to Diana or her parents. I promise!" Xander beamed with confidence.
"Dinners ready!"
They ate a wonderful meal and were talking about everything from the upcoming school year, life in the party and agreed to let Diana stay the night at the mansion again. They finished dinner and sat down in the living room to relax.
*****
Pride scanned the backyard, looking for any signs of trouble. Everyone was in position and they had the benefit of having Celeste's telepathic speech if they needed it. As she stood invisibly in the front yard, she noticed four figures walking slowly through the neighborhood.
"Xander, you need to get out of there, now!" Celeste said to him telepathically.
"What's going on? I'm kind of in the middle of watching a movie with Diana and her parents."
"The princes are here. You need to portal them away. I think they want to fight you."
Xander grinned widely. 'Finally!'
"I'm really sorry everyone, but I'm afraid I have to leave early."
'Aw, they're all bummed and Diana is very sad. That sucks.'
"Diana, I love you and I promised to protect your family. The demon princes are walking this way now, Celeste just let me know. I guess she's watching from outside.
"Oh no! Are you sure you're going to be ok?! Can I come with you?" Diana pleaded.
Xander thought about it for a moment.
"You can stay with Celeste but I think you should stay just in case you have to protect your parents. You're strong! Don't be afraid." He said with a gentle kiss.
Diana returned the kiss and gave a firm nod. "I love you too. Mom, dad, get in the basement and lock yourselves in a room please. I'm sure they have a plan."
"You're scaring us! What's going on!" Sophia yelled.
"Don't worry, Eris, Pride and Leila are here too. Pride couldn't tell us exactly what was going on but he said we all needed to be here just in case something happened. Diana will be a good addition to our team but Xander, if you're in danger you need to think that so that the rest of the party comes."
"But doesn't that just put Diana's parents at risk?!"
"Oh, good point. Talk to your parents if you need help and they can get in touch with me for people to send to you, good luck!"
Xander portaled out to the middle of the streets while Diana teleported to Celeste.
Adramelech, Astaroth, Verrine and Beezle were slowly walking down the street when they noticed Xander out in the open.
"It is time. Send in the others." Beezle commanded.
Adramelech whistled, and the entire demon special forces unit were flooding the suburb. Xander tried to portal as many into the ocean as he could, but there were too many of them to trap quickly. Pride's massive figure appeared and Leila was flying in her dragon form, roaring from above. Eris quickly started manipulating their magic, casting flaming metallic projectiles at all the enemies she could hit.
"Don't you think we need more than this?!" Eris yelled.
"No, we should be fine." Pride stated.
"We need to protect the citizens of the neighborhood, so Celeste, you focus on getting them to safety. The three of us will take on the special forces."
"Understood."
******
Xander remembered all of his training with Pride and a crucial piece of advice he gave him earlier in the month.
He smiled, opened a portal and walked through it.
"Well, we knew he could open portals, the question isβ¦where did he go?" Beezle said while walking slowly.
"Verrine, tracking is your speciality, I say you find theβ"
Xander flew out of an open portal above Verrine with a katana and drove it swiftly through the demon, cutting him in half. His body immediately turned to dust and flew away in the wind.
'Target the one with long red hair so they can't find you. That will make the fight winnable. Ok, now I have to focus on these other three.'
Xander quickly built a portal underneath the remaining three and sent them to an open area where no one could be harmed.
"So you've killed our tracker. How very wise of such a young brat. But coming alone was stupid. Today we will kill Sora's son!" Beezle screamed menacingly.