A Warning
Disclaimer: I do not own Disgaea 4. That belongs to Nippon Ichi. I do own the OC Valerie and the witch hunters Virtue and Jingle.
Summary: Flonne's performance in the Netherworld isn't looked highly upon in another part of heaven that isn't Celestia. The reprehensive intends to go to the Netherworld to check her progress and see if she's worthy. Of course the angel doesn't expect the craziness of the Netherworld when he goes down.
Pairing: Axel/OC (Valerie) with Valvatorez/Fenrich on the side
Rated: T
Genre: Humor, Romance and Friendship
Warning: Swearing, violence, sexual situations and unintentional OOC
For the Disgaea 30 Day Challenge (Day 28 is your favorite pairing. I admit I don't ship with anyone in the series mainly because the only two people I would pair him up with (Adell and Valvatorez) are already in an OTP (Adell/Rozalin and Valvatorez/Fenrich). You can consider this an early bird cameo for the game Zelina and I are working on though). I'm not doing all of them FYI.
The two weeks were almost up in the Netherworld and the cleansing of Fear the Great was almost done. The witch hunters have proved themselves worthy allies of the Hades' Party after tension had finally died down. Compared to the first week where Valvatorez was antagonistic toward Virtue, the two were butting heads whenever it came time to face off more of those monsters.
This should have been a wonderful thing for Fenrich. He didn't have to worry about the two killing each other off and Valvatorez was actively drinking blood again so he wouldn't fall behind a human in strength. Except there was…he and his lord have not been on good speaking terms as of late despite Valvatorez and Virtue settling their differences days ago.
Fenrich assumed it was because Valvatorez was still mad at him for lying about his past and not warning him of the witch hunters. He still didn't understand Valvatorez's hatred toward them even though he had a good idea. Witch hunters broke their code of honor if it meant getting paid or killing their target. That was everything Valvatorez hated in a person and would do all in his power to surpass the strongest witch hunter in the universe. If he could beat Virtue, then The One wouldn't be out of his reach.
The issue with Axel losing his president title had been put on hiatus when there was another problem rising and it concerned archangel Flonne. Artina's paranoia of the higher ups finding out about Flonne's screw up really did come true but not in the sense she was expecting. Artina assumed the Seraph would be angry, but the angel that was to observe the love freak was someone from a heaven that wasn't Celestia.
Celestia was actually just one portion of what humans called heaven. Celestia was home to the Seraph that served the God of the main heaven where the God resided with his angels and archangels. The angel that would appear was the third ranking in Angel Hierarchy. One of the many Thrones who pass judgment down to lower angels and other beings alike was going to look at Flonne. Artina had to repeat multiple times because Flonne had to be on her best behavior, but Flonne didn't seem to worry too much despite the fact that these angels did not have to obey the Seraph. If they didn't like Flonne, they would take matters into their own hands and then go to their God for justification instead of speaking to the Seraph.
No one paid any attention to Artina's worries concerning Flonne or the angels until in the same vain; there was disturbance near the gate again. This time Axel and Emizel were the first ones to reach the gate. Emizel had every intention of getting rid of anymore outsiders given Valvatorez didn't want to risk anymore witch hunters before the end of the second week (he really didn't like them).
"Ma'am…is there a reason for you to be here?" The Gate Keeper asked.
Axel only saw the angel from the back and when the angel turned around, Axel's eyes widened. Emizel would probably bring up the cliché that was happening before his eyes seeing Axel bedazzled by the beautiful angel.
The angel had long silver colored hair that extended to her hip. She wore an angelic robe that was identical to what the human judges wore…except it looked amazing on the angel. The robe went all the way down to her legs covering herself up. The angel's face was incredibly youthful and well taken care of (along with the hair) but the one thing that stood out was the eyepatch on the right eye. If it weren't for the eyepatch, the angel would probably look even more stunning.
"Hey Axel…are you seriously…"
Axel didn't hear Emizel because his ears perked up when the angel ended up speaking.
"I'm not a woman!"
Well that shattered his dreams rather quickly. The Gate Keeper wasn't convinced though even if the tenor of the angel's voice was on the masculine side.
"Umm…"
"You know what? I'll let you slide for that insulting comment if you tell me where Archangel Flonne is. She hasn't answered my message for a week now and its evaluation day of Archangels!"
"Umm…"
The Gate Keeper was overwhelmed by how demanding the angel was. First a human that took no shit from demons now this…
Axel was in denial about the gender of the angel though and approached the two.
"Excuse me ma'am, if you're looking for Flonne, she is down here."
That was met with a glare from the angel whoever insinuated that he was a she. Even his glare was cute…Axel didn't realize he was blushing despite the other's obvious anger.
"I am not a woman! What? Because I'm an angel with long hair makes me a girl, right?!"
If looks could kill…
"Oh…sorry err…Sir…"
"Your Honor!"
Thank god Axel wouldn't be stuttering any longer with Flonne showing up with a worried Artina behind her. The archangel wore the appropriate outfit for this situation because if she were wearing that fallen angel outfit just to blend in today, she wouldn't hear the end of it.
"Judge Marchen is fine." The silver haired angel insisted as Flonne was quick to bow in the youthful angel's presence. Artina still fidgeting took longer to get on her knees for the judge.
"Judge?" Emizel asked.
Flonne smiled. "Yes, Valerie is the judge of the Angel Assembly of Skyworld. He's the one that ultimately decides on the judgment of whoever is brought to the court of the angels."
Axel was more interested in the name Flonne just said. Valerie is a girl's name…
"Never refer to my first name in the presence of demons." He snapped. "Archangel Flonne, you know better I hate when you casually speak."
Flonne only blinked as a response. It was like the conversation they had in the past didn't register in her mind. Shaking his head in annoyance, Valerie got straight to the point.
"Archangel Flonne, you have failed to respond to my message regarding your evaluation. Instead, I'm hearing from other angels that not only are you lollygagging in the Netherworld when there are more important issues at hand but I heard you became the President in the Netherworld to spread your stupid love bullshit to these demons."
Welp, there was an angel that didn't believe in the power of love crap after all. Flonne's eyes were on fire as she declared, "Love isn't stupid! Love is the strongest form of energy that we could use!"
"Yeah, that suggestion is not going to pass as long as I'm the judge." Valerie shot down almost immediately causing Flonne to whine at his rejection of her existence. "Honestly, why are you wasting your time here?"
"I'm not wasting my time! There are problems in the Netherworld too!"
"You're an angel. Focus on angel problems. You were not given the title archangel to abuse it."
Flonne didn't appreciate it when the judge referred to her tending to the Netherworld as "abuse of power". Sure she used the money her apprentice gave her to make a giant robot she always wanted but it was used for the greater good and should not be ignored.
Axel and Emizel couldn't find a way to jump to Flonne's aid and Artina was too scared to. If she spoke, she might have made Flonne look worse. However with how loud Valerie was (for an angel) it wouldn't be long before Valvatorez and the rest of the group stormed over to see what was the problem this time.
"What is going on now?" Valvatorez asked not wanting to go through a repeat of losing in his own Netherworld again.
Valerie was going to dismiss more demons coming to see what he was yelling about…until he saw Virtue and glared.
"Oh, if it isn't the human trash they call Berserker." The judge taunted.
Immediately the expression of the brunette darkened as he fought back with his own insult. "And I see the tranny is still up and running. How's being alone going for you?"
The tension in the area immediately dropped as Virtue was already grabbing his gunblade and the judge looked ready to blast him away with something. Fenrich was starting to sweat though seeing how angry Virtue was just from being referred to by his old name.
"Berserker?" Valvatorez had to ask.
"It was his old name before he changed it after switching his sin…" Jingle mumbled slowly hiding behind Fuka and Desco. "He doesn't want to fucking talk about what happened when his sin is the exact opposite of what it is now."
"So he wasn't always the stoic asshole he is now…"
"No my lord. He was rather short tempered before switching his sin." Fenrich admitted. "Worked out best for him if I do say so myself."
"Oh, so you're friends with not only aliens but demons too?"
"You would know I'm allies with everyone except the Golden Land. Perhaps you should get out of your room more often and go make allies instead of sentencing them all to death."
The burn was strong in this one.
"You better sleep with one eye tonight." The judge threatened as his comeback. "You might find it missing."
Virtue only rolled his eyes as he turned his back on the judge. He was done trading insults but couldn't leave because he was still interested in what Valerie had to say to that love freak.
"Flonne…" Valerie continued as he glared at the archangel. "I do not see you doing what you're supposed to. Normally, I would report angels who abuse their power but…" He smirked. "Unless you can prove you have done something important in the Netherworld, I'll pardon you."
Well Flonne was screwed and the Hades Party knew that. There was no love in this Netherworld. There was only fear. If Flonne was the President longer then she would have effectively brainwashed all the demons to love and tolerate. Flonne was determined to prove it though.
"Of course demons can love!" Flonne declared. "There is love going on right now!"
"Umm Lady Flonne I don't think you should…"
Flonne must have been bullshitting at this point because she pointed to Axel who was still staring at Valerie.
"The love is strong in this demon!"
Yeah she lost it. Fenrich could only chuckle especially when Axel realized everyone was looking at him and he was back to reality.
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
Valerie folded his arms as a response. "Are you joking?"
"No I am not! The love aura is coming out from Axel to you!"
The witch hunter groaned at how stupid the blonde angel was being. Axel realized what Flonne was replying and shook his head.
"W-What are you talking about Flonne? I'm just distracted by the…eyepatch."
Yes out of all the things to comment about Valerie beside his feminine appearance was the fact that his eyepatch ruined his beauty.
"Such a rude a demon…"
"I guarantee it Valerie! I'm sure Axel will demonstrate his love to you and the Netherworld! He wants to paint the Netherworld with his colors! That's his love!"
Maybe Flonne wasn't dumb after all. Fenrich and Virtue picked up that Flonne really was biding herself some time and was throwing the responsibility to the current president who had all the power in the world at the moment. Then again, they could be giving her too much credit and she honestly thought Axel was the love demon to her love angel.
Axel was fooled and held his head up high. "Of course! As the Netherworld president, it's my duty to bring the Netherworld to my knees and die it in my colors!"
"Uh huh. Yeah, whatever. Listen Flonne, you need to get serious since this loser is some nobody anyway who probably can't even love anyway."
"H-Hey! I'm no loser!" Axel suddenly shouted. He had to already deal with Fenrich's bullying and now some beautiful angel was going to insult him now? Not if he could help it. "I can show you my awesomeness if you actually looked this way. Does one eye make it hard to see me?"
Well that was an unexpected comeback.
"Impressive comeback…" Valvatorez repeated what everyone thought.
Valerie wasn't going to let this loser nobody one up him.
"Oh, you really think that I'm convinced that demons especially ones like you are capable of a human emotion like love?"
"I'm not here to prove that stupid love crap! I'm here to prove that I'm not a loser who can't attract people to my music!"
Flonne ended up butting in. "Oh Axel, you can show Valerie around the Netherworld then and show him the love demons have."
"Lady Flonne…I don't think this is a good idea…" The Angel of Avarice muttered.
Valerie perked up though and chuckled rather evilly. "Fine…if this demon can prove me wrong, I'll acknowledge that not only is he not a loser but love does exist, but Flonne, if he proves me right then I'm hauling your ass back to the Seraph to revoke your title. And this loser demon might be losing some important body parts. Heh heh heh…"
"Aww, not only are you an eye robber but you're a cock stealer too? Guuuhhh!"
Virtue probably should have kept his mouth shut because something shot him in the arm and he could feel the pain he's not normally used to. Everyone looked back seeing no weapon but just a bleeding arm.
"Virtue!" Jingle cried out as she went over to heal his arm. Despite her powerful healing magic, it was healing slowly.
"Maybe next time you should watch your tongue because that's going to be the next place I get you at."
What was that?! Fenrich asked himself. It must have been a gun meant for close combat but nowhere did the judge open fire and the judge wasn't caring any firearms on him. Perhaps they were…invisible? But if that was the case, they would be floating somewhere…anywhere around just waiting to strike. So this is the power of the Angel Assembly…
"Well then loser-"
"It's Axel the Dark Hero! Got it memorized?!"
"Axel huh…fine you better give me a tour of the Underworld. I don't have all day. I have laws to signs and titles to take away." He snarked as he looked at Flonne who was starting to sweat after he open fired with his magic. He meant business.
Well Axel was screwed because there was no way he was going to convince an angel who wasn't going to change his mind anytime soon…
"Come on you dumb demon! You can walk faster!"
Yep, Valerie was going to make Axel's life a living hell while he was in the Netherworld. Despite not caring for the demon realm, he sure was insisted on learning all the hot spots in the area. Maybe Virtue's comment about him not getting out much had some meaning to it after all especially when Valerie was demanding to know where the coffee shop was.
"Why do you need to know about the coffee shop?"
"Do you demons not have a coffee shop? That's an essential to staying up all night unless you're telling me that you demons don't sleep at all."
"Some of us sleep for years…" Axel mumbled causing Valerie to snap back at him.
"That's not sleeping! That's a coma! God you demons are hopeless! No wonder the Captain can run you all through single handedly."
Ignoring the insult to all demons, Axel was interested in this "Captain". "Who?"
"You know, our captain of Skyworld! He's a fucking idiot who still doesn't know how to read!"
Well damn…Valerie doesn't respect his superior at all…just like a demon.
"And yet he can slay so many Gods without beating and eye and destroy an entire army of demons with just one arrow."
"…So which is it? Do you hate your captain or do you idolize him?"
"Idolize? Please. If he wasn't the Goddess' pet, I would be the second strongest angel in Skyworld."
Axel raised an eyebrow at the feminine angel. He sure loved to brag. Maybe this was why he didn't have any friends like Virtue declared he didn't.
"So where is the coffee shop?" Valerie asked getting back to the point. "There will be bigger problems if there isn't one!"
"Umm…let's see…I don't think its here but…"
"Oh come on! You demons are uncultured!"
Axel wanted to back out of this now. There wasn't a coffee shop here and he knew it so he ended up dragging Valerie around giving him a tour of this Netherworld. Every time he was trying to explain what this shop was, he would ask for coffee or complain about how the shop was set up causing the demon to get angry and threatening physical violence against the angel. Axel's patience was wearing thin each time. At one point he wanted to go to the Blight House and ask the staff for some high quality coffee beans, but he was going to grin and bare it since the judge only asked to look around.
"Honestly, this place is unrefined. Where are the colors? How can you expect to sell anything if these places are run down? Who is in charge of this Netherworld? He should be doing better to make things look nicer on the eye."
Well maybe that's why things look bad for you when you only have one eye. Axel thought bitterly to himself as he tried to smile but it obviously cracked. "I'm the President. All complaints come to me."
"Really, with how you were explaining things, you remind me of those con artists in the human world."
"Well I am the Dark Hero. I will take that as a compliment."
Valerie laughed bitterly at the title Axel was so proud of. "There's nothing to be proud of with that title. Don't you know that the title originated from the coward from 2000 years ago who abandoned his friends in time of need to save himself from getting cursed by The Great Evil?"
Axel did not know this. He wasn't a history major and given how he lived his life, he wouldn't be able to get history books.
"To think there was an idiot that would use that title. Did you even notice that demons will loathe you for that?"
"Now that I think about it…"
"Exactly. You're better off just stripping your title and giving yourself something less trashy."
It sounded nice but…
"Sorry, but I like the title. Even if you tell me that's what everyone associated it with, that doesn't mean the Dark Hero is what it is." Axel smirked. "Unlike the original Dark Hero, Axel the Dark Hero would never stoop that low. Axel has standards even if this man doesn't."
The judge wasn't convinced and Axel knew that. He realized that he was going to end up upsetting himself the more he stayed with the judge. Sighing in defeat, he looked around to see if there was any place with coffee. Instead his eyes widened seeing a group of green colored demons nearby heading their direction. They were slow, but Axel could recognize them as goblins. The first thing he wanted to do was run, but the judge was insistent on coffee.
"Hey uh…Valerie…"
"Judge Marchen to you idiot demon."
"Uh…I think I do know of a place where you can get coffee. Let's get out of here and go."
"No, you can get it."
"…What?"
"You made me walk around the whole Netherworld knowing full well there wasn't a coffee shop and you want me to move my legs even more? No way."
Well great, Axel wasn't going to move him and the goblins were the one demon you didn't want to mess with. The blonde didn't have a good run in with them in the past and he certainly did not want a repeat of their encounter. He sighed again as he gave his best smile. "Okay, then wait here while I go get the coffee. It won't take too long."
"I don't trust you, but since I don't want to walk, I guess I will wait."
The blonde demon was quick to run off in the opposite direction far away from the goblins especially as they started to approach the angel when he decided to rest against the wall.
Axel was glad that Valerie was out of his hair. No matter how nice his voice sounded, he couldn't bare deal with his criticism any longer. Perhaps leaving him in the lion's den would teach him not to be so haughty in enemy territory according to him especially when Valerie wouldn't put up with him to get him coffee for real. Its almost like he wanted to cause a scene with the Dark Hero but failed and just walked all over him. Axel hated people like that the most…Valerie was just like Fenrich but unlike the werewolf, Valerie just made him lose it faster and if he didn't say he would be right back with the coffee, he would have blown his top, bring up the demons and dragged him along probably resulting in a fight. He didn't care if Flonne was demoted for saying he was crushing on the judge. That was done now seeing how he was nothing but an insufferable asshole.
The blonde smirked to himself imagining what would happen to Valerie. Perhaps the demons would beat him up and cause him to actually cry like the girl he appeared to be. Perhaps they would strip him naked and steal his stuff and leave him there embarrassed…or those demons would end up torturing and killing him.
Axel stopped at that thought though and shivered. Okay, maybe he was being a little too spiteful. It wasn't like him to be this mean spirited especially to a pretty girl…boy.
The Dark Hero had to think about what just transpired. Those demons in particular were goblins and if he remembered correctly, they were notorious for illegal slave trading. Valerie would be the prettiest head on the market, but given how powerful the judge claimed to be, he should be fine. On the other hand, he didn't want the judge to suffer a horrible fate just because he was annoying and he certainly didn't want to be blamed for it.
He laughed to himself before he sighed in defeat yet again and turned back to where he saw Valerie get dragged away by those goblins.
"Why am I even doing this? I'm only going to get killed…uh…why me?"
Valerie would be considered the worst hostage ever. The goblins may have overpowered him and slapped some power limiter on his neck but the judge kicked and screamed the entire time that it was pointless trying to force a cloth down his throat to silence him. The judge must have had some power that prevented him from being silenced rather easily.
In the end, the leader of the goblins just slammed Valerie against the pole lower underneath the building and ordered his men to tie him up. No matter how much he scratched and bit them, he wasn't breaking free. Once they tied his hands behind the pole, the goblins were more exhausted than the judge.
"What the hell! Are all angels this vicious?"
"They're supposed to be female and submissive. This one though is…"
"I am a fucking guy you ugly vermin!" Valerie cursed. "Untie me this instant and remove this collar! I'll spare you if you do it right now!"
"Honestly, she won't shut up." The goblin continued ignoring Valerie's insistence of being a guy. "Not even covering her mouth will shut her up."
"Is there any other way to silence her without dirtying her face?"
"Yes there is." The leader growled approaching the judge who continued to glare at him. "Missy, you like to act tough, but I wonder how long you'll last."
"And for the last time, I am a man!" Valerie continued to shout. He flinched though when the goblin backhanded his face. So much for not messing his face up. He only looked at the goblin glaring with his one eye. "When I get out of this, I'm going to mess up your face tenfold…"
"…Does that eyepatch make you feel tough? You won't be needing it."
Valerie flinched again as the leader of the goblins removed the eyepatch from his eye. Naturally, he was met with something rather unattractive.
"You…"
"Give that back you fucker! You think because I have one eye that I'm not less serious!"
The judge was now kicking his feet in a futile attempt to get his eyepatch back. The other goblins were obviously disgusted at how the judge looked without it on. It was left right at his feet just out of his reach to spite him.
"How disappointing. If you look like that, then you won't be worth as much."
How dare you! Valerie thought to himself but froze seeing the goblin take out a knife and point it toward his tunic.
"I wonder if the rest of your body is just as damaged."
Expecting another barrage of slurs thrown their way, the goblins were surprised that the judge was suddenly quiet. In fact, he seemed to pale as he glanced at where the knife was going. The goblins just chuckled seeing that there was something that would silence him.
"So you wouldn't be worth much for us after all? What a waste. Boys, I guess we can have our way with her if things are that bad."
"…Don't…touch me…"
The judge didn't realize that his voice had lowered considerably and as a result was no longer as threatening. He cursed his weakness in front of these wretched demons that wanted him to screw up. They just laughed as one of them pulled his hair causing him to yelp.
"Your spark did go away after seeing what makes you tick. This is going to be fun."
"…Bastards…I'll get you all…fucking…captain…"
Why did he call out for the captain at a time like this? He was showing more weakness if he wanted his captain to swoop down from the heavens and save him. That wasn't going to happen since he was on vacation and left him in charge of Skyworld. Why couldn't he find a way to remove the collar that prevented him from shooting these goblins dead?
Axel was staring from above and not detected by the goblins. His legs trembled counting how many goblins there were. Perhaps trying to be an actual hero wasn't a good idea now and he should leave, but he feared what the goblins intended to do to the judge.
You got this Axel. Nothing is going to stop you. Axel told himself as he got out a flute. He kept this flute the entire time, but the blonde demon wondered if it would work all the way out here. It was one thing to call those powerful demons from the same Netherworld, but would it really reach here? He wouldn't know unless he tried. Closing his eyes, he began to play a melody and again, he was unaware of the golden butterflies that slowly started to appear and circle around him.
This did not go unnoticed by the goblins that saw the golden butterflies and panicked.
"What? The witches are here already?!"
"Impossible! This is a hidden place!"
"It's because of the angel isn't it?!"
Valerie opened his eye and saw a butterfly reach out for his eye patch and latch onto it. It then flew toward the judge in an attempt to put it back on him.
"What…"
Almost immediately there was a loud tremble. From the sky those rifle demons came raining in on the goblins listening to the melody that rang through the room. If Axel opened his eyes, then he would have seen the rifle demons turn their guns toward the goblins and immediately started gunning them down. The goblins tried to take cover but seeing the butterflies in front of them made them freeze in fear.
"Don't worry about those pesky insects! Focus on the one who's summoning them!"
Axel was actually hidden in plain view so unless they walked up a set of stairs, they wouldn't notice him hiding behind a large box that could fit a full grown soldier in. The golden butterflies were gentle to the judge despite the one who was being touched by them. Not only did the butterflies work together to put the eye patch back on but also assisted in untying the rope for the judge. Valerie was impressed at how gentle the butterflies were despite the rest of them apparently scattering pollen on the goblins paralyzing them and leaving them open to be gunned down by the malchidael demons. The last thing the butterflies did for Valerie was break the collar on him allowing him to use his magic again. Breaking the collar caused those specific butterflies to fall apart in front of him.
"…Thank you…" He mumbled as he glared at the leader who was swinging at the butterflies with a mace and being the only goblin fighting back. "Now he's going to be the one who will be sucker punched."
Valerie said he would sucker punch him, but ended up using his powers to shoot the goblin leader. He wasn't expecting a bullet to the back of his head. He turned his head too late to see the judge smirk as he fell to the ground.
"What a sucker." He snarked to himself before feeling his energy leave him. The collar did more than just prevent him from using his powers. It also zapped him of whatever strength he had left. He wouldn't be able to walk about of this hideout without resting first but those rifle demons could turn their guns to him after they're done with the goblins. "Dammit…"
The music stopped playing in the background though. When the judge noticed, he saw the Dark Hero jump down from the top of the staircase with the flute in hand.
"You were…"
"No time, I'm getting you out of here!"
Valerie gasped when the Dark Hero lifted him off the ground. He turned his back on the butterflies and rifle demons as he rushed back up the stairs.
"Hey! He's getting away!"
"Get him-gahhhh!"
If Valerie didn't know better, Axel planned this all out…the destruction of these goblins…but a demon still saved him. Looking at the Dark Hero, he bore a dark expression as he rushed out of the place. He almost looked the part of prince charming…if he could just drop his scowl that didn't fit him in particular. The judge ended up blushing as he held onto Axel tighter waiting for them to get out before he would let him have it.
Heroes always saved the damsel. Badasses never look back at the damage they cause as they carry the girl in their arms when things break down. Axel imagined himself doing that now with the judge in his arms and one of the many hideouts in the Netherworld going down in flames due to the beasts he summoned. However while he was able to walk the walk in that particular moment, Valerie was not going to sit there and let himself be carried off by some demon once they were out of the hideout and away from any danger.
"Put me down you fool! I can walk on my own!"
"Oh come on! Give me a time to glorify myself! I saved your ass!"
"Saved my ass? I just needed to remove the collar and I would have been fine!"
Axel groaned as he dropped the silver haired angel during his complaining. The angel didn't hit the ground though as his psychic powers allowed him to catch himself before he hoisted himself back up all wobbly and tired. He continued to give the evil stare toward the blonde demon.
"So are you going to thank me?" Axel asked with a cheeky smile. "You have to admit I was cool back there."
"You didn't kill any of the demons. You summoned feral demons to do your dirty work and ran. That's not heroic or princely."
"Well excuse me princess for going out of my way to save you. Honestly, you do nothing but complain."
"I'm not complaining. I'm criticizing your actions. First of all, you don't leave me alone. I'm the guest and I can always come back to beat your ass. Next, I could have handled them alone once you got the collar off of me. I wasn't scared of those demons!"
Axel obviously didn't believe that given how Valerie was the one that jumped into his arms to get him out of that place. Even if his body was warm and he felt like he did something good, right now he was feeling terrible. Just once can he get a thank you?
"…But I guess I should thank you. You prevented me from having to break a sweat…"
He probably should have looked away at that point. Just a small glance and Axel couldn't help but blush. The silver haired angel was…cute…when he was embarrassed.
"…You're welcome…"
Great, it was awkward between the two now as they were slowly walking back to the prison. Someone had to say something to loosen the tension.
There was something though. It took the form of that goblin who was not killed by those rifle demons and was attempting to sneak up behind them. Valerie caught it immediately and got his sai out ready to stab but the goblin charged him knocking his sais out of his hand. Axel gasped seeing what the goblin attempted to do: recapture the beautiful angel. Grabbing the sai, Axel realized what he needed to do with how Valerie was struggling to keep the goblin's hands off of him. Taking the sai, he charged the goblin…
"Flonne, it really was a bad idea to let Axel handle your superior. He's going to come back and fire you on the spot." Artina cried out.
"Yes, there will be a lot of dead bodies on the demon side when they get back." The werewolf added agreeing with the angel. "It would have been better if you sent him back to Celestia and be done with it."
Flonne was firm with her decision and puffed her cheeks with the others ridiculing her decision.
"Demons can love and I can sense the love radiating from Axel! It's love at first sight! So it won't fail!"
"I don't think that's possible for that idiot…" Emizel mumbled. "He loves himself more than anyone else."
"Not like that's a bad thing." Virtue snarked. "Then again, with that short tempered angel, he might drag his dead body back."
"You could have been that dead body Virtue so you should shut the fuck up…" The alien grumbled as she was still healing his wounds even after that. The wound wasn't going away and felt like a real gunshot wound that normal humans would have to wait months before it went away (because sometimes those wounds would never heal).
"He caught me off guard." The brunette responded rather quickly. "It won't happen again."
"Right whatever…"
The witch hunters weren't even going to go into detail on what power Valerie had so perhaps Flonne knew.
"Lady Flonne, what power did Judge Marchen use?" Artina beat Fenrich to the punch. She was worried that he would use the same power on Flonne once he got back for giving him the worse day ever.
"Oh, Valerie is a psychic." Flonne stated as a matter of fact statement.
That actually surprised the Hades Party. Out of all the magic he was displaying, that was his powers?
"Wait…so are you saying that the girly judge can read minds?" Fuka questioned.
"That means he can levitate too!" Emizel added.
Flonne nodded her head. "Of course. The Marchen family of Skyworld is one of the oldest families in heaven. They're notorious for being able to go beyond the 100% of their brain power in order to use their mind as an actual weapon. Valerie is so cool! He's like Magneto but he can go beyond that. He carries two staffs and two shotguns behind him at all time and due to his powers, they're invisible. He's always battle ready."
Virtue shivered at that part though. "You mean he's ready to blow someone's head off the minute they disagree with him."
"Uh huh. That's why you got to be careful around him. He's able to read your mind, levitate and make his weapons invisible."
"Flonne, shouldn't you be worried that he'll do it to you?"
"No why?"
"You described all the ways he could destroy you for angering him."
Flonne was going to say something but she ended up looking outside the window when she heard the judge screaming outside. She smiled seeing what was happening.
"No, everything is fine."
"Huh?"
The group ended up going outside rather than looking outside the window. They were amazed at what they were seeing.
"Come on Valerie, admit I was badass! Look I'm sorry about that attack! Come on!"
"You will refer to me as Judge Marchen you idiot. I will never forgive you for what you did to my hair!"
The scene before them was humorous to say the least. Axel apparently got them both into huge trouble and it showed with the dirt splotches on their clothes and overall beaten appearance. The most noticeable thing about Valerie though was that his long hair was cut to where it was shoulder length now. Virtue learned from experience that messing with the judge's hair was a death sentence. Yet here Axel was alive and half joking and apologizing to the silver haired angel. Valerie was indeed angry but not enough to kill him.
"Look, it was either your hair or your life! Be happy I went back for you!"
"Back for me? You're the asshole who left in the first place when you said you would be back with my coffee!"
"Well maybe if you didn't pick a fight with every demon that isn't as attractive as me, I might not have left you."
"You were a coward! And you're ugly to boot!"
"Hey! The Dark Hero is underhanded and handsome! Take that back what you said about my hot looks!"
"After you give me back my hair! You know how long it took to grow this? You think this is a game?!"
Virtue was as pale as a ghost seeing the two bickering back and forth and not once did Valerie resort to using his weapon to attack Axel unless that was why he looked so beaten up already.
"Amazing…he's still alive…"
"I thought he would be dead by now. How disappointing." Fenrich added to his annoyance. Axel just can't die when the opportunity to murder him is given."
Flonne came out last giggling as the two finally noticed they had an audience. Valerie ended up shoving Axel away in annoyance as he looked at Flonne.
"Flonne, I hope you know you're still going to be evaluated by the other angels for this." He growled pointing to his hair.
"But you had fun though right? You even experienced love, right?"
"…You are a delusional bitch. Just be happy that today had been…eventful or you would have been stripped of your title right here."
He continued to glare at Axel who was glaring back at him.
"We're never going to get along." Valerie added to spite the demon. "So the next time I come down, that idiot better tame himself because no one wants a tour guide who leaves you alone."
"Maybe you shouldn't be a little shit who has to complain about everything…" Axel cursed. Him cursing proved that yes he had his limits too.
"Fine, then! I'm going to take my leave from this dump. I prefer Angel Land anyway." Turning to Flonne, he folded his arms like a child trying to prevent himself from having a child tantrum in front of a female figure as he turned his back to the group not wanting to acknowledge anyone else after his spat with Axel. Valerie didn't need to ask the Gate Keeper to send him back. He was strong enough to send himself back to Skyworld.
"AND DON'T COME BACK!" Axel finally shouted wanting to get the last word in. Now he was in a terrible mood. "…I'm going to sleep. That jerk wore me out."
Fenrich didn't even have the time to make fun of the Dark Hero as he stormed off. Flonne just giggled at what happened and Artina wondered if she predicted this would happen. Yes, she would still need to go back to Celestia but no one here was killed in a gruesome manner. Additionally she might have done something nobody had ever tried to do before for Valerie: have him spend time with an unlikable demon and form a bond. While the two wouldn't acknowledge anything at the moment, Flonne thought her spreading love for them was done for now. However, looking at Valvatorez and Fenrich, she knew her plan wasn't done, so before she would be forced to leave for that hearing, she would need to patch their relationship up.
Me: TBC with 8170 words.
Li: And the relationship between Axel and Valerie begins…joy…
Me: Oh, you shouldn't put it like that! In the other story Alluring Messenger Sinless Accuser, they meet under different circumstances (I'm not at that part in the editing FYI but it's a heads up that yes in that story it doesn't go like this). Notes!
1. I already described Valerie's character in Fallen Angel (when I went back to edit it). In that story because he's interacting with angels, he's a more pleasant being than handling anyone else. His worship of Pit is still obvious though. You can consider this a cameo for when he shows up as a major character in my and Zelina56's game Divinius. Believe me though, this story is probably Valerie at his worse simply due to his racism toward demons. In Fallen Angel, he's more tame because he's in front of Pit and he certainly won't be this rude in the game.
2. There are nine angel rankings in Christianity. When I expanded on my huge angel OC cast to revolve around Pit and Palutena, they're all based on the rankings and combining it with Disgaea and Queen's Blade allows me to have all nine rankings.
Rank 9 are all the normal angels (this includes Pit and the royal bodyguards although their strength is higher than the higher ranking angels).
Rank 8 are the archangels (Michael, Gabriel, Ariel and Rafael for Skyworld and Flonne is one of them in Celestia).
Rank 7 is Principality (and my headcanon is that in Queen's Blade the Head Angel is rank 7 because she sits and judges everyone rather than be a Seraph (because Nanael would have said Seraph if the Head Angel was one).
Rank 6 is Power (mentioned in Higanbana I think is the Goddess of Order. Despite being a separate Goddess, she is in charge of maintaining order and keeping the books of history. Basically, she has many books about the universe and timeline one must never talk but the Golden Land has access to this library as shown in Higanbana when Prism is able to grab a book from her library that was from the Goddess of Order and read all the bad ending scenarios).
Rank 5 is Virtue (and not the Virtue character. In this universe, there are celestial beings that entrust virtues to witch hunters but of course the God of War Ares has to keep it balanced so Palutena doesn't complain about creating too powerful beings and gave them a sin to counterbalance the virtue).
Rank 4 is Dominions (basically this is given to Julius and Alacryn who are in Emizel's bad ending in Higanbana. These two have everything as they work under Palutena, Ares and Hermes in the Classic Universe while also observing and regulating the jobs of the other ranking angels. Of course Julius is a slacker who goes to drink rather than to do his job when he goes to heaven).
Rank 3 is Throne (assigned to the Angel Assembly).
Rank 2 is the Cherub (these people are the ones who decide reincarnation and what karma will go when they do get reborn. These angels…don't look human).
Rank 1 is the Seraph (Lamington).
And then Palutena is the Goddess but is constantly referred to as God as many angels haven't actually seen her and just assume it's a guy.
3. The story of the Dark Hero is brought up in both the Kid Icarus universe and in Higanbana about the Dark Hero who fled during the most important part of the war. Hugo explains that he ran off after his wife and son were killed. Angels don't look at the incident kindly of course.
4. Valerie's body is…messed up to say the least. This is probably why he's so antagonistic toward demons. Only one eyeball and an implication of scars all over his body says a lot. But hey, he's lucky he's still alive and just lost his hair he took so long to grow out.
5. Axel's ability is a returning move from Seven Days and in Disgaea 2 where he plays the flute and summons the monsters. Thought it would be appropriate here especially now that you know he doesn't seem to be aware of the butterflies assisting him.
That's mainly it. Reviews are appreciated. Yes, in the last fic of this series, Flonne will finally help get Valvatorez and Fenrich together after all the sexual tension and fighting they had (of course the fic still focuses on Axel). However before then, we go back and go back to Nemo and his reaction to all the chaos that occurred (I lost my notepad where I wrote what specifically happened instead of coming up with it at the top of my head). Reviews are appreciated. Ja ne!