Last of the Line
I do not own Highschool DxD or any of it's characters. I own only Vale Beleth.
Author's Note: Alrighty guys, as a few of you may know, I am the 19th Angel. Recently I've had an idea for a DxD story. At first, it was just a nagging feeling in the back of my mind. But then, it started to grow, until I got tunnel vision, causing it to eclipse all other writing ideas I had. It was very similar to the way my story, A New Kind of Ashikabi came to me while at work one day. I can only hope that this will be half as popular as that one was. So, here it is. This story will follow the last head/heir of the Beleth clan, one of the original 72 Pillars families. It will show his journey to build his own peerage and restore his family to power, as well as his attempts to adapt to High-Class Devil life.
Chapter 1- Something Old, Something New
BEEP!BEEP!BEEP!
Vale threw his arm out towards his alarm clock, somehow he managed to hit the off switch on the first try. He threw off the covers as he literally jumped out of bed, landing on the tatami floor with a solid thump. He walked over to his closet on the other side of the room before throwing open the doors and searching through the sparsely furnished closet and fishing out his favorite pair of jeans. They were plain and black and jugged his body just right. They were also sporting a set of nasty looking claw marks across the butt of the jeans.
"Dammit! That Stray Devil last night must have got me without me realizing it. Well at least my butt's okay." he said as he patted down his glutes, checking for injuries and was satisfied to learn that he was uninjured. He grabbed a different pair of gray jeans and pulled them on before walking to the desk that occupied the corner of his room an picking up his cell phone and hitting the redial button. It rang twice before the person on the other end picked up.
"Hello-nyo."
"Hey Mil-tan, it's me, Vale. I found that figure you wanted, still no progress on the whole making you a magical girl thing, but I'm working on it. So what time should I drop the figure by your house?" he asked, making sure to speak in Japanese(his native tongue is English) as he picked the box containing aforementioned figure up and examined it before setting it back down on his desk.
"I just got off work and I'm at the gym stop by my house at 9:30. How much do I owe you this time-nyo?"
"Well, let's see with travel expenses and time put in... It comes out to just over ¥20,000. We doing cash or check this time?"
"Twenty-thousand? Last time it was less that ten-thousand! Why is it so expensive this time-nyo?" Mil-tan asked indignantly.
"I had to go to Portugal to get this thing! You're lucky I used magic to get there or it'd run you over one-hundred thousand. Mil-tan I like you, I really do. But I got rent to pay, man. My real family is dead with absolutely zero money. I can't ask my foster parents for money or they'll have me brought back to the Underworld, probably. C'mon, please man. I need this." Vale replied.
"Alright, fine-nyo. Drop by around 9:30-nyo." Mil-tan said before hanging up with a click.
Vale closed the phone as he finished getting dressed. He walked out into the living room and threw a few slices of pizza in the microwave before retrieving his laptop from the couch and opening his email.
"Alrighty, no change on the bounty for the Exiled Exorcist and the Fallen Angels in this town. They confirmed my Stray Devil kill from last night and payment should arrive in a few days. That makes 32 E-class kills, 29 D-Class, 21 C-Class, 14 B-Class, 3 A-Class. No S-Class ones open right now anywhere near here." he said to no one in particular.
For the last 5 years since he'd left the Underworld, he'd made a living by hunting down Stray Devils and Fallen Angels, while at the same time fulfilling contracts for various mortals. It was a decent, honest living for any Devil. It allowed him to travel the world and test his skills. which had let him turn his aptitude for using his demonic power into pure profit. But at the same time, it prevented him from forming any real attachments to anyone. It was true that he got lonely, but he preferred solitude to the way people had treated him in the Underworld. Approximately five and a half years ago, while on a field trip with his class to a museum about the Great War. While they were there, an artifact in the museum had reacted to him, revealing him as the last pure-blooded heir to the Beleth house. Shortly after, people had started to treat him differently. People who had ignored him had started to ask him for favors, but when he told them he didn't have any money or contacts his family had once had, they had started to shun him and his best friends. They claimed he had mountains of riches from his family, he was just a selfish rich boy that didn't wanna share.
Then, one day he came home to find his parents (who he now knew to be his foster parents) talking to someone from the Sitri clan. Which he found out the next day had been about arranging his marriage to some girl named Sona, someone he'd never even met. That was the final straw, he'd ran away later that night. He escaped the Underworld and fled to the human world. Ever since then, he'd done whatever he could to get by. It'd been tough, but he liked his current life better than any he would've had in the Underworld after people figured out who he was.
He finished his breakfast and grabbed a toothpick to clean his teeth with and headed back to his room before throwing a light hoodie on as he checked the time.
"Alrighty 1:30 PM, still bright and early. Let's go make some money." he said as he tucked his wings in behind him as he headed over to the mirror to groom himself for the night ahead of him.
He grabbed a comb off the counter and ran it through his messy, neck length, ebony hair. He checked himself for injuries once more before confirming he was indeed uninjured. After he made sure he looked presentable, he grabbed his skateboard and backpack before stowing Mil-tan's figure in the backpack and took off for Kuoh Academy. Yesterday he'd found several Fallen Angel feathers at a fountain near there. And one of the students, one Issei Hyoudo was going on about some Yuuma Amano that he was claiming was his girlfriend one day. Who none of the other students claimed to remember the morning after. Memory alteration was a classic indicator of a mid-level Fallen Angel. He threw on a pair of sunglasses to shield his sensitive eyes from the sun and climbed down to street-level before taking off for Kuoh Academy on his skateboard at a nice, leisurely pace.
He arrived at Kuoh Academy just in time to see the students getting out of school. He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and examined it. It was a print-off of Issei Hyoudo's file from the school mainframe, complete with ID picture. He watched the students stream from the academy, noting that many of the students were girls, and extremely pretty ones at that. He watched for another few minutes until he saw Issei exiting the school with two other boys, one bald, the other with glasses.
"Hey man I got Angel Blade last night. Wanna head to my place and check it out with me?" the bald one asked the other two.
"Yeah man, totally. Have you seen the tits on that chick? I'd love to bury my face in those things." the one in glasses said. Issei looked like he was about to say something when Vale called out.
"Hello Hyoudo-san. Might I have a moment of your time?" Vale asked as he chewed on the toothpick still in his mouth. The three boys turned to look at the young man standing on the sidewalk.
"Yo man, just ignore him, that dude's bad news. He looks like a drug dealer. Let's just head home." the bald one chimed in.
"Yeah sorry, I gotta get going. Besides, I don't have any money." Issei said as he re-situated his backpack to his other shoulder.
"Yeah sure, you can head home. Spend the rest of the night with your hands on your dick. Or you can come with me and tell me about Yuuma Amano." He called over, making sure to emphasize the name as he watched Issei freeze in his tracks and turn to face him.
"You know about Yuuma?" Issei asked in a choked voice.
"A little, but I'm more interested about what you know. Now are you certain I can't borrow you for a few minutes." Vale called over.
15 minutes later...
"So lemme get this straight. She asked you to be her boyfriend, you went on a date, then when you got to the fountain she attacked you, right?" Vale asked Issei as they walked down the park walkway to the fountain in the center.
"No, I'm telling you, she killed me. She threw this spear made of light at me, it hit me in the chest and killed me. Next thing I know, I'm waking up naked in bed!" Issei exclaimed as they neared the fountain.
"Anything else you can remember? Seeing as how you are walking and talking, something else had to have happened." he asked as he chewed on the toothpick once more.
"Well, I remember seeing this long red hair and hearing this girl saying, 'from now on you live for my sake'. That's all I remember. Does that help at all?" he asked as he turned to face the young man walking next to him.
"Actually, Mr Hyoudo... It might." Vale said as he flipped his note pad shut and stuffed it in his back pocket.
If he's still alive after being killed by a Fallen Angel, it means he's most likely been reincarnated as someone's servant... which means I'm operating in someone else's turf. Oh crap, I may have to remedy this situation soon. He thought to himself nervously, when he was snapped out of hid thoughts by Issei saying.
"Well, is that all you need to know, um... I'm sorry I never caught your name." Issei said apologetically as he rubbed the back of his head.
"I'm Vale Beleth. And yes, that's all I needed Hyoudo-san." Vale replied casually.
"That doesn't sound Japanese. Now that I say it, you don't look Japanese either. Where are you from?"
"My name is English, it means he who lives in the valley. I move around alot, so I guess you can say I'm kinda from everywhere." he replied. Issei opened his mouth to speak when they were interrupted by a man saying,
"Well, well, well, two Devils in one day, looks like I'm in luck. Where is your master? Who do you serve? If you refuse to answer I will assume you are strays and will deal with you accordingly." said a man in a pale violet trenchcoat, with a white ascot, a black fedora, and black dress pants. Vale watched with interest as 2 black feathery wings spread out behind him.
"What's he talking about? What master?" Issei began to sputter until the man interrupted, saying
"Since you have failed to answer me I will assume you are strays. Prepare to die!" the Fallen Angel said as a blue spear of light appeared in his hands and he hurled it towards Issei and Vale. Before the spear had crossed half of the distance between the two parties, Vale leaped forward and tackled Issei out of the way of the spear of light. Vale's superhuman strength carried them both clear across the walkway behind a tree.
"Ouch goddamn! What was that thing?" Issei said as he clutched his leg tightly. Vale looked down to see a long nasty cut running down Issei's thigh, Vale knew it had to hurt more than it looked since it came from a Fallen Angel's spear.
"Alrighty kid, you're obviously new at this, so here's the deal. You're gonna nut up and I'm gonna cauterize the wound, then whoever reincarnated you can explain things. Here we go!" Vale explained as he hiked up Issei's pant leg and thrust his now-glowing hand against the wound. There was a sizzling sound and the acrid smell of burning flesh filled Vale's nostrils as he cauterized the wound with a flame spell.
"AAAARGH!" Issei screamed in pain before slumping against the tree, obviously unconscious. After making sure that Issei was out cold, Vale stood up and walked out from behind the tree to see the Fallen Angel still searching for him He put his fingers to his lips and gave a shrill whistle. Dohnaseek turned to face the sound of the noise.
"Alright, now that the square is gone. Let's dance!" Vale said as he clapped his hands together, watching as the black magic circle appeared between them and a black handle extended from one side. He wrapped his left hand around the handle and pulled. Dohnaseek watched with interest as Vale pulled the long, black, single-edged sword from the magic circle.
"That's an impressive trick, but a sword won't help you against me." Dohnaseek sneered as another spear of light appeared in his hand.
"Oh, poor Dohnaseek. This is no ordinary sword, this is a blade made by Muramasa, the demon smith. This sword is none other than the Juuchi Yosamu, that means: 10,000 Cold Nights in Japanese. It is technically a demon blade, meaning that it is extremely effective against Fallen Angels like you. Now prepare yourself!" Vale exclaimed. Dohnaseek scowled, he didn't know how this boy knew his name. But he was going to kill him before he could cause any trouble for Lady Raynare.
Dohnaseek rushed forward towards Vale and stabbed at the Devil's chest. Vale saw through the move and parried Dohnaseek's thrust before leaping back and landing a few meters away from the fountain.
"Well, if you're going to be like that, the I guess I'll have to step my game up a bit. Behold the the power of the Beleth clan! Behold the Abyss Physique!" Vale exclaimed as he extended his unoccupied right hand. Dohnaseek clutched a hand to his hat to prevent it from blowing away as a powerful gale swept through the park, blowing his hair across his face. He brushed his hair behind his ear to see that the source of the gale was none other than a large sphere of wind that had appeared in Vale's outstretched hand.
"Compress!" Vale said as the sphere shrunk down to the size of a baseball.
"Bind!" He said as it disappeared inside a magic circle that had appeared on his palm.
"Incorporate!" He said, causing a series of swirling, flowing black lines to appear all over his body.
"Activate!" He exclaimed as a powerful wind shot out from his body, causing Dohnaseek's hair to once more obscure his vision. After he cleared his vision, he saw the boy was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, Dohnaseek felt a presence approaching from behind and spread his wings and took to the air just in time to avoid the incoming strike. As soon as he felt he was safely out of harms way, he looked around for the source of the attack.
"Awww, that's too bad. I was hoping to finish this in one blow." A voice said from behind and below Dohanseek. He turned to see the source of the voice was none other than the same devil he had attacked earlier. Except this time his body was covered in glowing white lines and his hair had turned white with a bright, slightly green-blue color at the edges of it and he seemed to be generating a mildly strong wind around himself.
"Impressive trick, but it won't save you. Take this!" Dohanseek declared as he hurled his spear toward the boy only for him to spread his wings leap towards Dohnaseek and slashed 3 times with his sword. He quickly closed the distance between them, making sure to avoid the Fallen Angel's spear. Dohnaseek formed a new spear and moved to stab Vale with it when he felt the three air blades Vale had launched cut his chest in long, shallow lines. His spear fizzled out as he lost concentration, and Vale took the opportunity to finish the job and raised his sword to finish off the Fallen Angel. Dohnaseek managed to avoid his attack, but not before Vale managed to cut his right arm off with a mighty swing from his sword.
"Aargh! You'll pay for that, you runt!" Dohnaseek screeched angrily as he clutched his remaining arm to the bloody stump of its fallen brother. The Devil hovering across from him only grinned as he opened hit mouth to answer he was interrupted by a woman calling out.
"Not as dearly as whichever one of you injured my servant. Now tell me, which of you is responsible for this!"
Vale turned to see the voice belonged to a young woman who appeared to be in her late teens with a buxom figure. She had a light skin tone, far too light to be from Japan, if he had to guess he'd say she was from somewhere in Europe. She had sharp, blue-green eyes that seemed to see right through him. Her most distinctive feature by far was her long, crimson red hair that reached down to her thighs as she pointed angrily towards Issei, who was still out cold against the tree.
"Hmph if it isn't Rias Gremory, the Crimson-Haired Ruin Princess herself. This battles getting too hot for me. I pray none of us ever meet again." Dohnaseek said as he opened a magic circle and disappeared. Vale descended to ground level again and was about to speak when he was interrupted by the girl saying,
"Are you the one who injured my servant?" she asked as what appeared to be an ominous looking crimson and black aura surrounded one of her hands.
"No, that injury was caused by a Fallen Angel you just saw leave. I only burned him to cauterize the wound and prevent infection. Now if you'd be so kind as to put that spell of yours away, perhaps we can be civil." he said politely as he folded his wings in. The girl narrowed her eyes at him before dispelling the nasty looking aura around her hand. As she did he released the flow of demonic power powering his Abyss Physique, causing the lines to disappear an his hair to return to it's normal black color.
"Well then, I must thank you for saving my servant then. I am Rias, next head of the house of Gremory. And you are?" She asked.
"I am Vale Beleth. Next-slash-current head of the house of Beleth. I just have to say, it's an honor to meet you Rias. I didn't realize this was your turf, I'm sorry for operating here without your permission. I've heard many tales of your beauty and power. I must say the beauty part seems to be particularly understated." He said with a smile. Rias narrowed her eyes menacingly at hims as she replied.
"You either think me a fool or you yourself are one. It is common knowledge that the house of Beleth is extinct. Now who are you really?" she asked as she manifested the crimson and black aura once more.
"I assure you, I'm exactly who I said I am." he said nonchalantly as he extended his hand and concentrated some of his magic in it causing a pattern to appear on the back of it.
"Then prove it." she said.
"I'm trying to." he said simply as he nodded towards his hand. Rias glanced down at his hand and saw what was unmistakably a family crest on the back of his hand. She didn't recognize it right off the bat, but it was black crest, and only 4 families had black crests, and each of them was extremely powerful at their height. Vale watched on with interest as a red magic circle opened up behind her and an attractive woman with long black hair appeared in it.
"Akeno, take Issei back to his house and heal him. I have an important matter that needs attending to."
"Of course, Buchou." the new girl said with a bow, before picking up Issei and teleporting away with him.
"Come with me, please. There are some things we need to discuss. Follow me if you'd please." she said as a magic circle opened behind her.
"Okay, I've got some time." he said as he followed her into the magic circle. The next thing he knew, he was inside a dimly lit wood-paneled room with Victorian-style couches and chairs along the walls. One side was set up to be able to be used as a bath. A large desk sat at the front of the room in front of a large magic circle that was drawn on the floor. A small, white haired girl in a school uniform sat on a couch next to a blonde-haired boy with black pants and a blazer.
"Kiba, Koneko, give us the room." Rias said in a voice that left no room for argument. They both nodded and headed for the door.
"Please, have a seat. I will return momentarily." Rias said as she exited through a small door. Vale walked over and flopped onto a chair. Rias returned several minutes later and took a seat at the desk.
"Hey if this is about me operating on your turf. I sincerely apologize, and if you want me to take my operations elsewhere, I completely understand." He said apologetically as he sat up in the chair.
"No, this has nothing to do with that. But, I do have a few questions Beleth-san, if you don't mind that is." she said as she removed a few papers from the desk.
"Please, call me Vale, and ask away. In that order preferably." he said with a smirk. Rias gave him a quizzical look before asking.
"How many of you are there? I'm not just talking about pieces, I'm talking about all of your servants, familiar included." she asked as she got out a pen.
"Just me. Why would you think I have servants, I don't even have a familiar, much less a peerage. I thought only High-class Devils got them." he said with a shrug.
"But... You are a High-Class Devil." Rias said slowly.
"...No, I'm not. I was raised by a Low-Class family. Ergo, I'm a Low-Class Devil." he replied slowly.
"But, you were born to the Beleth Clan, family crests only appear on pure-blood Devils. That makes you a High-Class Devil, so you don't even have any pieces? Why didn't you get any when you came of age?" Rias asked.
"Nope, never got any pieces. Probably because I ran away from the Underworld when I was only 12." he replied with a noncommittal shrug.
"Why would you do something like that?" she asked inquisitively as she clicked the pen.
"Well, let's just say that when people find out you come from what used to be money they treat you differently and they do stupid stuff. Like trying to marry you off to someone you've never met." he added the last part like he was talking to himself.
"Well, can you tell me more about why you ran away?" she asked quietly as she set the pen down. Vale couldn't help but feel he had piqued her personal interest.
"Nah, I don't wanna bore you with my sob story." he said evasively with a wave of his hand.
"Please?" she asked quietly.
So, over the next hour and a half he told Rias the story of why he left the Underworld even the part about his parents trying to marry him off to one of the Sitris. Rias listened to his entire story with rapt attention, seeming to hang on his every word. She asked that he spare no detail until, finally he finished. After that, Rias excused herself exited the room for ten minutes. When she returned, she was not alone.
"Oh. My. God." Vale said, utterly awestruck at the sight of who followed Rias back into the room. He almost felt the need to stand up and bow.
"Hello, I'm Rias' brother-" the man began.
"Sirzechs Lucifer, the King of the Underworld. Sir, it is an honor." Vale said as he stood from his chair, but he did not bow. He was a free agent, beholden to no man above, on, or below the Earth.
"I must say the honor is mine. When I heard the Beleth clan was till alive 5 years ago, I thought they must be lying, when Ajuka(Sirzechs and Ajuka are best friends and would not use honorifics to refer to each other) went to give you your Evil Pieces and you weren't there. So how are you Beleth-san? How are you and my sister getting along?" he asked before taking a seat on a couch and patting the seat beside him Rias strode over and took a seat next to him. Vale sat back down as he said,
"Well, I'm doing okay. Money's a little tight, but I can't complain. As for your sister, I've only known her a few hours or so, but she seems nice enough. Though, I should go on record as saying I do find her very attractive." he replied. That comment managed to elicit a small smile from Rias. While Sirzechs replied,
"That she is, well I appreciate your candor on that matter. But I came to tell you, that I along with the other Satans are very excited to see that you are alright and we all wish to see you and your family in general returned to their former status. The Beleth clan was founded by King Beleth, and we hope to see you attain that title once more. We've spent the last hour or so reviewing your actions over the past 5 years and I've gotta say, we're very hopeful about you. Now unfortunately, Ajuka is busy doing whatever it is he does. Serafall-chan has a TV show to film. And Falbium-kun... well, he's just lazy. But I'm here to welcome you back to the High-Class society of Devils, and to commemorate this event, we want you to have this." Sirzechs said as he slid a small, black box across the table between the chair and couch. Vale took it from the table and opened it to see a set of 15 chess pieces made of a substance he couldn't place.
"These are your Evil Pieces. You can us them to reincarnate mortals or other individual as a Devil into your service as your own servant. Now, be warned their power is not absolute. Also, more powerful people cost more pieces. Certain pieces have certain abilities. Rooks have power and defense. Knights have advanced speed. Bishops have large amounts of magical power. Queens have all of that. Pawns, with your permission, can promote inside enemy territory into another piece. Choose your servants wisely and they will take you far in life. Choose poorly, and not so much." Sirzechs said informatively.
"Huh, so does this mean I can have my own peerage?" Vale asked as he closed the box and tucked it into his pocket.
"Indeed, it does. Now, this new privilege comes certain responsibilities. If you are to join High-Class society, you need to learn how to comport yourself and any future family you may have. Since you seem to get along so well with Rias, she will be responsible for making sure your High-Class education is carried out sufficiently. The Phenex's cannot do it, as they all reside in the Underworld and we do not wish to inconvenience them, because I assume you wish to remain on Earth or you would have returned by now. I think given certain past events, the Sitri's are an unwise choice in this matter. Is this alright with you Rias?" Sirzechs asked as he turned towards Rias.
"I think I could manage that, yes. As long as Vale-san doesn't mind helping out around the clubhouse from time to time." Rias replied serenely.
"That's fine with me. But hey, I've got a client to get to in half an hour. We'll talk more about this later." Vale said as he stood up and grabbed his backpack.
"That's fine, I'll be in touch. I think it'd be best if you moved in here with Rias, but I'll leave that decision up to you two. Now, if you'll excuse me , I have to go. Grayfia will no doubt be back to retrieve me if I tarry much longer. I look forward to seeing how you progress, Vale-san." Sirzechs said as he stood up and left the room.
"Hey Rias, I'll be back in a few hours. We'll talk more then." Vale said as he neared the door. Rias nodded to him as she followed her brother back through the back door as Vale opened the front door and headed outside as he flipped open his phone and hit redial.
"Hello-nyo."
"Hey Mil-tan, it's Vale. I'm on my way over. By the way, you still wanna become a Magical Girl?" he asked as he pulled out the case containing his Evil Pieces and pulled out and examined a Rook...
Author's Note: Here it is, I'm pretty happy with this first chapter. Vale's Abyss Physique was inspired by Magia Erebea from Negima, but I put my own spin on it. I know who I want him to end up with, but we'll see what happens. Also, big shout out to Sangai-Havoc for his help on the project, he was a huge help. My planned peerage for him so far in order is,
Mil-Tan-Rook
Raynare-Bishop
Irina-Knight
Vali-Pawn(All 8 of them)\
Kuroka-Bishop
Bikou-Rook
Siegfried-Knight
Tiamat or Fafnir- Queen
PM me with any ideas, questions, or comments you have about the story. Please, if you have time, do review. This is The 19th Angel, signing off...