Welcome all, to my miserable attempt at writing shoddy literature! Join me on an adventure of a lifetime, full of comma overdose, italicization abuse, run-on sentences, and poorly devised plot points and character design! Oh I do hope you'll find it to your liking, whether it be because the stories so good it's good, or so bad it's good, or maybe just as a delightful reminder that you, the reader, are a better writer than I!
Now then in all seriousness, this fic is practice. With a mindset of 'if I can't make a fanfiction good, how can I possibly craft a novel capable of making me monies?' I've set out to try and for the love of me improve my poor quality of writing. And maybe, if I'm lucky, I'll reach a point where I can write children's stories for a quick buck.
So then, let the story begin...
LIFE 0
Part 1
"Please, Buchou."
In the dark recess of the abandoned church Raynare sat before her captors. Her cheeks were stained with tears and her eyes blood red. All around her were broken seats and shattered glass, with the walls a mix of being torn down and scorched or just outright destroyed. She could hear in the far distance, only thanks to her enhanced hearing, the roaring alarms of sirens. Something she was sure they could hear too.
She'd mis-calculated.
In a way, they'd all had. He did not have what they were looking for. He was a false lead. A decoy devised by the church to shift glances away from the real Longinus wielder. Raynare wasn't sure how they managed to do it given the properties and sheer capabilities of sacred gears. Wasn't sure how they managed to make it resonate like the Longinus itself but they did. And they all looked like fools for it.
If she wasn't such a broken wreck at the moment, she might have laughed at how this all started over a single trinket.
It started simple enough. She just thought it was a pretty accessory. A ruby locket adored with a few very small green gems crafted around an imprinted dragon on its front. Fakes, of course, no highschooler would have the real deal. He'd pull it out from time to time, when no one was looking, not even his very few friends, and crack it open. He had the goofiest of faces when he looked inside. So, given his response and the reports she'd received Raynare figured it was a portable means to carry a part of his porn stash; as something to help him 'get through the day'.
Still, Raynare wanted it. So during their date, while she was changing clothes for him, she'd asked if he could lend it to her. And when he hesitated, Raynare said it was so she could 'feel as special to him as that locket was for just the briefest of moments'. And he ate it up. After making her promise to take care of it, the boy said he'd lend it to her for the rest of the day. The moment he snapped it around her neck, the fallen angel understood everything.
He was nothing more than a ruse, a means to keep their attention elsewhere. The suddenly realization that hit Raynare was that all of this: from the scouting, to the observations, to this very date…had been a waste of time. Her time. And that aggravated her.
So when they stopped by the fountain at the end of their date, when he promised in the spur of the moment to protect her, Raynare couldn't help but savior his expression when she changed and ran him through with a spear of light. It wouldn't be till she had long since returned to base that she could finally stop shivering over his look of fear and betrayal.
But of course like a cockroach he'd managed to survive, reincarnated as a devil. A pawn, as it were, the lowest rank on the assorted demon ladder of peons; fitting for a weakling.
Raynare couldn't return empty-handed. Not when all she had to show for her mission was a newly made devil. She needed something more. Something that would catch her superiors attention, catch his attention. So when she got the reports of a former holy-woman running around with sacred gear that could heal anything, well, needless to say Raynare was most eager to get her hands on it.
She'd meet him again, her previous target and toy for a day, freshly made fodder for the devils. It was pathetically easy to twist him around her finger, soak in his despairing looks as she played with him while taking away his newly made friend: ironically the nun she'd been after.
Battles raged and the landscape torn. Raynare turned it into a game. Her subordinates teased the devils leading the area with hit and run tactics. It was just as much a stress reliever as it was a means to keep them occupied. But they'd eventually found their location to her annoyance, and on the eve of their projections completion were on the verge of storming their base.
Sitting on her perch within the tower, above the screaming nun, she'd popped open his locket in piqued curiosity. What she found within the boy's precious locket was a picture of two children piggybacking. One was obviously him, the ridden and whipped. On top of him was a girl, smiling and squeezing his neck affectionately. It took Raynare a second glance, a double check, to confirm it was a girl.
And that was that. After single, solemn moment she placed one of her nails into the locket and idly scratched out the picture.
And after a long, frightful battle, she sat here. Abandoned by her subordinates, body broken and bruised, under the scrutiny of those who'd she'd deemed weaker than her.
"Issei-kun…"
"Please," his eyes flickered between herself and the raging demon queen he served. She'd been like a typhoon of power and vengeance, tearing through their defense wards and followers. With what Raynare assumed was a single-minded purpose of ending her servant's source of misery. "She doesn't need to die."
"Issei-kun," His mistress started, a stern voice rising through the torrent of anger that blasted its way through their fortress. "You know what she's doing. After everything that's happened, everything she's done to you, you can't let this charade stop what she's got coming!" The demon queen had a single pointed at Raynare, energy crackling at the tip. She could end her in a second. Not even that. Less than a second. But she didn't. She left the fallen angel there, on the cold floor, finger just inches away from Raynare.
If she moved, even the slightest of inch, Raynare would die. She understood this.
"I-I know," he replied, weakly, "I know." He looked at Raynare, cheeks stained and eyes red, "but she shouldn't have to die. Please…" One couldn't even call this an argument. Just a servant, a slave, begging its master to release their captive. It was pathetic. And she hated herself for having to depend on it.
"Issei-kun," The demon queen's finger started to crackle brighter, "I let the others go. I let those who stormed into my lands and hurt those under my protection, hurt my people, my friends, leave!" The energy at her tip, once merely wisps of power gathering at her point, had become a translucent ball of destruction. Raynare felt her body tense. "You can't just expect me to let her-"
"Do you know what it's like to die?"
The question pierced through the room's tension. The boy's mistress, stopped in her tracks, could only stare at him, shocked. The rest that'd come with them gave him their undivided attention. They knew this kind of question couldn't just be swept aside. Not with a reasonable, logical answer. There was nothing reasonable about this question. 'Do you know what it's like to die?' Could anyone in this room answer such a thing?
Anyone but him?
"Do you know what it's like to die?" He started, eyes welting with tears, "It hurts. It hurts like nothing I could really describe. It's painful, and lonely and…and cold." He glanced at every one of his companions, shifting from person to person. Raynare just stared at him quietly. "I don't remember much more than that, and I'm not sure if it's because I simply felt so little from my own death, or I just don't want to remember all of it, but," He finally laid eyes on his mistress, the fiery demon queen, that who held the fallen angel at her mercy. "I remember this much."
"I know she's done wrong. To me. To Asia. To lots of people we've never met before, and I know how angry you are, but, please Buchou, don't take her life. Because…"
"Because?" The mistress questioned her servant, her words just barely above a whisper, her will visibly faltering.
A single, gentle tear slid down his cheek, "Because no one should have to go through what I did, what me and Asia …did." His final words were choked. The boy was obviously trying to keep himself from breaking down right there. The demon queen stood there, silently watching her servant, finger still aimed at the target of her agitation and frustration. Raynare held her breath, the next few moments deciding whether she'd live or die.
With a single, long-suffering sigh the demon queen relented. "Fine," to the relief of the fallen angel, she lowered her finger, the energy at its tip dispersing into the air. For the first time in over a week, Raynare graced the pawn with a smile. He returned it with a tentative, strained one. This was what he wanted right? Just getting a pretty girl to smile at him? If she could keep it up, just a little bit more, she could be free. Then she'd be able to meet with the fallen angels again and-
"However," Raynare froze, "I'm not letting her go."
With a single, graceful motion the demon queen materialized something. It was a chess piece, a pawn specifically. "She'll work off her debt to us. Is this fine Issei-kun?" She asked as a formality. It was obvious what she intended to do, regardless of her servants reply. Raynare looked from the piece to Issei, silently pleading with her eyes.
She didn't want to be a devil.
Didn't want to lose everything she'd worked for.
Lose him.
"…Okay." He nodded to his queen, who swooped in on her with a smile not unlike that of a predator. She forcibly shoved the piece into Raynare's chest and in one, swift moment, Raynare felt her world shatter. Fear crept up to her face and her face twisted into one of horror. The demon queen was pleased with her reaction and lowered her mouth to whisper something that Raynare would never forget. "Issei-kun may have convinced me to let you live, but,"
"I'll make you wish I'd have killed you."
Part 2
For you, I would even beat god!
"You're just trash." The phoenix stood before the reincarnated devil, above the boy who'd trashed her. He lay on the ground; body scorched, and smoke rolling off of him. Had he been a mortal, the boy would be dead right now. He had nothing. No great power. No great skill or strength. Nothing. And he'd hoped to challenge someone greater than him?
Raynare sneered at Issei.
Sitting at the tallest peak she could manage, a part of the hall's upper levels, the former fallen angel was enjoying herself. Watching him beat down, torn, broken – loosing everything he cared about in one fail swoop to a man deemed better. She was for all intents and purposes in ecstasy.
"I-I'm not," The boy pulled himself to his feet, on struggling legs and shaky balance. The Phoenix just looked away from him.
"Go home kid." He dismissed the boy, just like that. Someone who could not even scratch the great birds of flame was of not interest to him. He heaved a sigh, and turned away from the boy. "Honestly, you're an embarrassment to Rais."
Raynare could see it: the gossip between higher devils, the looks of despair from his comrades, the look of disappointment from those who believed in him. The demon queen – Rias – had tried to run out to her servant but an elder man stopped her and shook his head. Family perhaps? Raynare didn't know. But she could tell, out of anyone there…
He looked the most disappointed of all.
"Hey, Phoenix!" The boy called out with just a little more energy than expected. A slab of debris collided with the back of phoenix's head. It didn't hurt him, a greater devil of power but it did get his attention.
"You just don't know when to give up. You've already los-"
And the great bird, Raiser Phoenix, lord of flames and heir to one of the greatest families in hell, turned back in time to have two vials smashed into his face.
"Burn."
The demon bird screamed, arching his back and letting out a howl of agony. She could see it. Steam. Steam was rolling off the bird of fire. Screams rose from the halls. The devils were in an uproar over what the boy had done. While the hosts of this event tried to settle down their guests, Raynare stared in shock.
Holy water
How did he get holy water?
No, more importantly. How was he managing to hold it? All devils, pure and reincarnated, couldn't handle being around holy items. Let alone holding them. How was he-no, he didn't…he didn't…!
He didn't let himself get burned just so he'd be too numb to feel the pain!?
Issei kept the momentum, bringing out vial after vial of holy water and smashing them against Raiser's form. A smash across the face, over his head, into his abs; it was a never ending assault of holy-powered attacks, of flying sacred water and blessed glass. With each hit the holy water not only splashed on the phoenix, but on Issei as well. Steam poured off both of them, accumulating into something resembling a sauna as burnt flesh and scorched myths collided.
"Let this be!" Issei smashed yet another vial into the man, "A lesson to you!" And another, "And to all the men who'd come after you!" And another! "No other man in this world can have her! I won't accept it!" The boy brought two more vials down on the fire bird, simultaneously smashing them against Raiser "I'll protect that smile!" And with a single, mighty roar he yelled,
"BUCHOU'S VIRGINITY BELONGS TO MMMEEEEE!"
…Was he an idiot?
But Raiser gained his second wind. Wiping as much of the sacred water from his blistering face as he could managed, the fire bird's temperature increased. Fire gathered into his hand, a firestorm of bristling heat and imminent death fast approaching. Issei stuck out his hand, open palmed, and revealed to all what he was holding.
It was a cross.
Raiser nearly relented at the sight of it, but pushed on. A blazing trail of flames gathered behind him, focused into a single fist, preparing for what he assumed, what they all assumed, would be the finishing blow.
Issei yanked out three vials in that very same hand, holding them up above him. With a single clinch he shattered them above himself. Holy water and blessed glass fell atop of him. The pain he felt must have been ten times that of Raiser. It was one thing to get hit with holy attacks; it was another to be completely drenched in holy water. The cross glistened with a mix of sacred water and blood. She could feel it from here, though, the fruits of his suffering. The crosses power had been amplified by the holy water, made it stronger. Made him stronger. Pulling his hand down, Issei reared it back and ran towards Raiser.
"You little shit!" Raiser moved the behemoth sphere of fiery destruction, his final shot against that which he had finally perceived as a threat, to meet Issei head on. Issei extended his fist, white smoke shooting through the cracks between his fingers, and pushed it with all his might.
"Raaaaaiiiiisssseeeeeerrrrr!"
"Braaaat!"
And as one, their fists collided with each other's faces. The force of power sending a shockwave through the hall, blowing away anything that wasn't fastened down. Flames filled the room, burning through anything it could touch. Raynare pulled back from her perch, now fearful of for her life.
Floating in the air above the battle, as the devils started to work on the fire's before they could get out of control, she could see the decisive end to the fight.
One had fallen, and standing over his nigh-comatose body was its victory, shadowed by the intense inferno flickering around them. The boy gave a tired grin, smoke still streaming off him, and looked at his the hand. It was stuck with bloody pieces of glass and an embedded cross.
"I-I did it, Buchou…" Then his strength finally gave, and the boy fell to his knee. He did not collapse to the floor, not like his opponent. No, he kneeled, hands dropped to his side, head lowered. Raynare wasn't sure how he managed it but the boy-no, Issei- had managed to faint on his feet. As the demons ran towards him, as the demon girl fussed over his unconscious form, as the others gathered to carry him and his opponent out of the hall, Raynare choose to keep her distance.
"Hmph." She mumbled to her-self, eyes never leaving him, "Maybe he's not so weak after all…"
Part 3
Sirzechs was at a loss.
He'd come down to the medical ward for many reasons. Chief amongst them was checking on Issei Hyodo, the man he'd sent to fight in his stead. Sirzechs wanted more than anything to prevent his sister from marrying Raiser, but demon politics were a fickle thing. Backroom deals were the norm, and 'breeding rights', as it was unofficially known amongst pure devils, was the highest bargaining chip. The pure demons were a dying race as far as the elders were concerned, and worry of reincarnated devils taking their place in the future was an ever present paranoia for them.
But that didn't mean he wanted to see his sister handed off to a man like phoenix. As…decent …as a guy he was most of the time, at least to pure devils, he wasn't exactly prime husband material. Rias meant more to him than the elder's fear, and if there was anyway to keep her out of the hands of some of the more eccentric devil men, then he'd do it.
Even if it meant bringing an innocent into the in-fighting
Sirzechs frowned. He hadn't placed as much faith into the young man as he thought he did, doubting him when nearly fell during the battle. It was to be expected; telling him to fight for Rias was a split second decision, quickly sending off his wife to prep him for fighting. At the time, Issei was already suffering from his wounds from the previous battles. He was weaker than normal. And if one couldn't expect him to succeed at his best, what hope did someone have in him when he could barely stand?
Yet he was Sirzechs only hope. A freshly made devil barely held together with healing magic that the demon lord sent out to potential death. If a duel was requested, the victor by rite held the losers life in their hands. It wasn't usually done, just as much out of politics as simple politeness to not simply snuff out another's life. Not in this time were every devil counted. But Issei was nothing special, a simple reincarnated devil, lacking any assortment of spectacular powers or abilities. While the others of his group at least held sacred gears or mixed blood, he had nothing. Was nothing but a pawn.
And by the devils definition, that meant he was easily replaced. If Raiser had ended him only his sister would cry, and maybe his comrades if they felt anything for him.
But that didn't make Sirzechs feel any less terrible.
So when he rose to his feet, when he struck Raiser in the face, when the powers of mythical devil and ordinary boy met, and the bird of flames fell…Sirzechs couldn't keep his face from splitting into the biggest shit eating grin his wife had ever seen. Not since their son had been born, anyway. And it was at that moment Sirzechs swore to himself, to his sister's champion, that the demon lord's dept to him would be repaid.
But there was a more pressing matter. Such reckless fighting, even if it had won him the day, came at a price. Devils weren't meant to handle holy items, the very thing that was the bane of their existence. Not without extensive rituals. Even worse, he was a newly reincarnated devil, fragile like a newborn; a newborn that'd essentially thrown itself into a boiling pot of water. It was a miracle that his body was even holding together. Probably because the moment his sister and friends reached Issei, Rias dumped an entire bottle of phoenix tears right on top of the boy.
But it wouldn't last. And unlike the Phoenix, whose great powers of resurrection, something that made their tears great regenerative powers pale in comparison, would allow him to make it through this. Issei had no such talent. Common healing magic wouldn't be able to pierce the deep seated holy taint that'd infected his system. His sister, to her luck, had been blessed with a sacred gear wielder who could heal others. Heal anything. Yet even with such a phenomenal chance, Issei still held a high risk of his body collapsing on it-self. Not to mention that the Gremory had only so many tears in storage to spare, and had to make a choice. Could they spare such a thing on something that was potentially a lost cause? Even the family of kindness had to measure its resources with a calculative mind.
…Which hadn't stopped his parents from sending Issei the tears they kept on their persons. They wanted their little champion to make it just as badly as he did.
And of course, the majority of the Phoenix's were at the moment holding a rather large grudge against the man who'd just humiliated their heir. Even Raisers father and mother, friends of the family, couldn't help him, couldn't help the man who'd just thrashed their son in front of dozens of devil royalty.
It'd look bad for their image, you know?
So when he'd asked his friends to discuss something important with the demon lord. When he just barely crawled out of bed and lowered himself to his knees, forehead to the floor. When he begged the lord of demons to show him a way to become stronger for Rias's sake…Sirzechs just barely held himself together.
"Please," Issei repeated quietly, tears flowing freely. It was apparent to everyone that his victory was a total fluke. Phoenix got cocky, and only acknowledged Issei as a real opponent in the battles final moments. His arrogance had cost him the win. That sort of thing wasn't likely to happen again.
"Issei-kun..." Sirzechs had long abandoned his seat to try and help the boy back into bed. He'd refused to move. "You can't do anything while your injured, Issei-kun. Please return to your bed." Issei held steadfast, refusing to budge an inch. Sirzechs dare not force him, least it harm the already weak man. But he had to do something. Anything to get him to rest.
Sirzechs gritted his teeth. There had been many reasons why he stepped down into the medical ward. To check on Issei was the biggest, yes, but he had another reason. It was a means to protect their boy from that which he inflicted on himself. Gently, he placed his hands on Issei's shoulders, hoping to get his attention.
When the boy looked up, Sirzechs offered as best a smile as he could muster. It was strained but warm. "What if I said…there was a way?" Issei's eyes lit up, "There is a ritual that could help you, Issei-kun. Help you through all of this. It's not something that can be done half-heartedly, or stopped once started. You could even die, Issei-kun…but would you still do it?" The boy nodded, eagerly, innocently, ignorantly of where this path led.
Sirzechs felt his smiled stiffen and grip tighten. "Issei-kun, to go through with this…what if I said it'd be one of the most painful things you'd ever experience in your life; if you even lived through it? Would you still do it?"
"I died once." Despite the situation, Sirzechs felt himself crack a grin.
"When we're through with this, you'll have wished you stayed dead." It wasn't a joke. It would be painful. It would make him wish he was a dead man. But it had to be done. It was a means of giving him a higher chance of survival.
After all, if they could make him immune to the holy taint in his body, there'd be nothing keeping him from being healed right?
Still, he was sure he could get something more out of this. He was technically on a roll so why stop here? So when another idea crept up on him and he felt his grin split open for the second time that day, Sirzechs continued. "Of course, we can't do such a thing for free…"
Part 4
A devil needn't fear holy items.
They were, of course, naturally the bane of their existence. Holy items were the tools of God, and the weapons of man. In times past when their kind haunted the world of humans, past the worlds dimensional crust, and did war with the allies of light; holy weapons were the greatest powers against them. Angels wielding their spears of divine wraith and the humans with their brilliant holy swords, a combined force of reckoning that forced many demons back to the realm of darkness. So when such a pressing weakness had prevented so many of his kind from completing their goals they had decided enough was enough.
It took time to devise a means to deal with the existence of holy powers. Experiments held back in a time when devils were plentiful and the humans were mucking around in the earth. Many test subjects died – a necessary sacrifice for the greater evil- and corpses littered the primordial wastes of the Underworld. But with time, and shortening of the devil population by a grand nine percent, a means of dealing with the holy power of the angels was created.
A ritual made with the sole purpose of immunizing a devils body against the affects of holy magic. For many devils the only time they dealt with holy powers was on the battlefield, where they either died near instantly from being struck by the powers of light or managed to scrape by with barely a scratch. It was this lack of contact that made them weak to holy powers, as it had been found. And the devil's body was not as weak as even they, the demons themselves, had thought. With the right amount of applied holy power, a devil's body could adapt, improve, resist that which had once been its greatest threat.
It was a simple enough task, if a tad expensive. The devil had only needed to be in contact with holy items, all day, every day, for several months. It started out small, maybe wearing a cross or a bracelet and as time went on more and more blessed powers were applied to the devil. Accumulating into a full of bath in a vault of holy water in the last month. It was simple. It was effective. It was insane. Who'd ever think to apply a literal 'beat fire with fire' strategy? And they'd lost over a single percent in the ensuing applications of this ritual. Demons families nearly destroyed as their heirs and older members participated in what's become known as the Great Purge. Of all those who attempted, only a tiny fraction lived through the process.
This ritual had come to be known as 'The Enlightenment', as a joke among the bitter populace.
Leaning against the wall outside of the cleansing room, Sirzechs stood beside the little girl he'd become acquainted with over the past month; golden haired and bright eyed. When the ritual began and the screaming started, she'd tried her best to hold the tears in. She knew what had to be done, as explained by Sirzechs, if they ever wanted Issei to ever be more than a crippled demon that could barely hop out of bed. Her healing powers were vital to keeping the boy stable; especially with how rushed they were going with this. Sirzechs couldn't risk a three month wait with Issei. Not in his condition. So they were doing it in a third of the time.
That didn't keep it from hurting any less for her, he'd imagine. Sirzechs had heard of how the two came to meet, and how close they were…but it had to be done. And she was Issei's best bet.
So for the past month they drowned him in holy power, short bursts at first, see if his system could tolerate that much. For the first two weeks there was screaming, understandably so. But he preserved…no, that's wrong. Sirzechs glanced down at the little girl- at Asia- and knew they both preserved. After that, Issei had been reduced to a near-comatose state; eye's staring blankly and mumbling the occasional 'Rias'. Better than being dead, the demon lord would remind himself frequently, and press on. And now…
Tonight was the night.
Sirzechs knew how these sorts of things would play out. He was old enough to realize what'd happen. When he told his sister that he'd be whisking Issei off for 'intensive training', not exactly a lie, Rias had been furious. A fair enough reaction, given Issei's wounds but when Sirzechs managed to get both their parents, and Issei himself, to ask her for this she'd grudgingly let him go. He'd signed the papers, had Issei's daily life affairs taken care of and set out to accomplish his goal.
But Rias was a smart girl. She'd eventually figure out what had really happened. She'd check for the most subtle of clues. Some of them Sirzechs was unaware off, some of them he did and some the demon lord placed himself. He was trying to mislead her just as much as he was trying to help her, provide a mix signal to his sister – who knew he'd do such a thing. It was a guessing game, what was real and what was not, what she could trust, who she could trust. Deceit was a devil's game, and the two of them could play it like a fiddle.
However, he was the better player. They both knew that. His sister, flooded with evidence, clues, hints, fake and true, and her mind overloaded with 'what ifs', 'possibilities', 'uncertainties', she'd stalled. That was what he needed. So when Rias had finally given up on a subtle investigation, when the Crimson Tempest, Daughter of Extinction, tore her way through their family's lands in a brilliant display of violence to get back what was hers, it'd been too late.
Sirzechs's had won.
The giant iron doors were blasted off their hinges, skidding across the floor and coming to a stop just at the bottom of the staircase. In marched his pride and joy, fiery hair trailing behind her. One after another her friends walked in, weapons out, ready for a fight. It was beautiful, what comrades would do for one another.
Asia had moved to greet them, plead with them that this was the right choice but Sirzechs stopped her with one of his arms. He had a better plan. With a smile he stepped down the staircase, arms open wide.
"Welcome, Ria-ta-"
"Issei-kun."
"In a bit, but Ri-"
"Issei-kun."
"As I was sa-"
"Is-sei-kun." She grounded out.
Sirzechs sniffled and turned away from his sister. "Honestly, Ria-tan! Let me finish my villainous speech! We can't do this properly if you keep interrupting me!" A blink of energy flashed between her eyes, and her hair started to twist wildly. Seems his little sister wasn't in the mood for games.
Sighing, Sirzechs reached into his coat and pulled out a pair of impeccable glasses and slid them onto his face. "Very well, lets move on to the main event." Taking out a set of documents, Sirzechs started flipping through the papers. His sister hadn't waited for his reply and was moving up the staircase step by step. It was a show, honestly. Rias knew she couldn't take him in a real fight. But she also knew that Sirzechs was weak to his 'little princess'. If she pushed hard enough, he'd falter and Rias would get her way. That was an irrefutable fact. Not that she usually resorted to such a tactic. But still…
Honestly. Sometimes he was as bad as Levi-tan was with her sister.
He waited till she was just a few steps away from him, not heading for the demon lord but for the doors behind him. She wasn't planning on paying him any mind from this point on, not unless he got in the way. Good. That'd make her reaction all the sweeter.
"I, Issei Hyodo Gremory, do solemnly swear to love Rias Hyodo Gremory, to be true to you in the good and the bad times, in sickness and health, to blah blah blah." He grinned at his little sister, frozen mid-step, cheeks tinted with an adorable crimson.
"T-that's-"
"Aren't they lovely? Mother found them in religious book by the humans. I was sure you'd be familiar with them!" Sirzechs smacked the back of his hand against the papers. His expression darkened, "I-I never thought I'd see the day come, no, never wanted it to come. I thought you'd be mine forever, Ria-tan but it seems time that Onii-chan has to let his precious little sister leave the nest."
"Wh-wh-wh-what are you talking about!?" She was finally regaining her footing. Good. Now he could knock her down again.
Sirzechs gave her the biggest, brightest smile he could manage. He didn't smile like this often, not unless he had done something. Rias steadied herself.
"Congratulation's on getting married, Ria-tan~!" Silence filled the room, both from Sirzechs waiting for his sister's reaction, his sisters and friends utter confusion and…"Oi! Asia-chan!" Sirzechs turned back to look at Asia, still at the top of the stairs. "This is the part where you do 'that'!"
"H-h-hiiii!" Flinching at being suddenly called out, Asia frantically searched her person for the tool in question. Pulling out a noise maker, Asia blew as hard as she could into the party favor. Like a signal that'd be set off, a part of the ceiling opened. Balloons and confetti fell upon them, with a single sign with the words 'CONGRATULATIONS' rolling down above them.
Rias stared at him dumbfounded until a single balloon had landed on her head, shaking it off and leaning forward. "Onii-chan! Explain yourself!" She commanded, stomping her foot and balling her fists. Gone was the righteous fury of the lover seeking her man, replaced with the rage of little sister who'd just realized she'd been tricked.
"Why should I have to explain myself? You should know. You've already signed the papers, after all." Before his sister could voice her complaint, Sirzechs pushed the papers into her face. "See?"
Rias instinctively reached into her pocket and pulled out a near identical pair of impeccable glasses and slid them on. She skimmed the paper work, over the technicalities and written vows, and came to a stop at the end. "…This is my signature."
"I rest my case." He tried not to look too smug.
Rias squinted at the doted line. "But how? I never-"
"I am a man of many talents!" He said, as if that answered everything, before handing the papers off to Rias. "This is your copy." His little sister continued to look through the papers, scanning over each and every word for the slightest mistake. Legal matters were serious business in the devil world, and just one typo could lead to…difficulties. "Mother and Father have Issei-kun's copy at the moment, along with theirs and the original stored in their castle."
Rias continued to flip page after page of the paper work, lost in her own little world. She really needed to stop doing that.
"…Along with the paperwork for Issei-kun's mistresses."
For the second time that evening Rias froze, finger stuck in the packet of papers and her eyes just hazing over. "Mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-"she went off like a broken record, finding herself incapable of even finishing the word let alone ask Sirzechs what he meant.
"Of course! You didn't think Asia-chan was going to help for free, did you?" He looked back at Asia, who was herself now a lovely shade of red. "Right, Asia-chan?"
"I-I-I-I-III," Her hands swiftly moved to her face, concealing her embarrassment. "I-I Didn't, th-that is-"
"Ara ara, Asia-chan." His sisters second in command, Akeno, the priestess of thunder, cut into the conversation. "So you're my senpai?"
There was but a brief moment of silence, the calm before the storm.
"Se-se-se-senp-p-pai?!" Then it suddenly clicked for the red head. Rias turned away from her brother and pointed an accusing finger at her friend. "You knew!?"
"Of course," She said, placing a single hand on her own cheek, "The paperwork's been out for nearly two weeks." While his little sister stared at Akeno dumbfounded, Sirzechs sent the priestess a thumb up.
"Congrats, Akeno-chan! I mean it! The office said your filing of the paperwork had been the fastest they'd even seen! You set a new record!" There weren't many people who could fill out an entire stack of paper work and force it through the bureaucratic process in five minutes.
"Naturally," Akeno gave a very pleased smile "There isn't a woman alive who knows my Issei-kun better than me~ Fufufu~"
Rias crumbled the papers in her hands, " 'my Issei-kun' " She echoed, fires swirling behind her. Akeno, either unnoticing her masters annoyance or simply uncaring, turned to Asia and winked.
"I know it's going to be a vicious battle between us over the position of number one mistress Asia-chan", she said matter-of-fact, "But lets do our best to please Master too, alright~?"
"Y-yes!" Asia bowed. "Please take care of me!" To which Akeno merely laughed. Sirzechs looked down at his sister. Rias was boiling, sparks coming off and eyes glinting with the promise of pain.
One flash of light later, and Rias's fury was pointed towards him. "What? I just wanted to take a picture for mother and father. You really are quite lovely when mad, Ria-tan~"
"Sirzechs-sama," Kiba stepped forward, sensing his master's oncoming wraith and moving to stop it. "Might we see Issei-kun now?" And like that, Rias's anger was gone, replaced with curious anxiety over her love-husbands condition.
"Right, of course. Asia-chan, if you would…?" Asia turned towards the doors and with a single tap, the doors creaked open. Blasting past Sirzechs, Rias made a be-line for the entrance granted to her. Her friends were on her heels, Asia included and Sirzechs wasn't far behind.
It wasn't a grand room of white or marble, steel or glass. Just a room. A single, casual room with that possessed only a bed on one side and a vault, which usually held a man's worth of holy water. The process had been cheaper than expected given Asia's ability to produce holy water but it was still rather costly.
Rias led the charge in, first to his bedside and babbled nonsense. She didn't pay much attention to his now silvery hair – a side affect from the constant exposure. It'd change back, in time, his sister probably knew. Right now what was more important was Issei's condition.
He shifted in his sleep, mostly undisturbed by the sudden rush of footsteps and individuals invading his sanctuary. They others didn't try to stir him from his slumber, content to just admire the man who'd fought so hard for his master. Sirzechs caught the eyes of Asia, still unsure. He smiled, as if to show that everything would be alright.
After all, they'd succeeded in their conquest.
The creation
Of a Devil's Saint
LIFE 0
Of course this is nothing more than a prologue, a way of drawling in potential readers and checking opinions on what little I have to offer. I do hope you all enjoyed this, and are willing to provide me constructive criticism on how I may improve my writing.
I'd also like to take a moment to state that, yes, I do know there are errors throughout the story. Not just in grammar and spelling but also potential errors in canon backstory. Not that I'd removed Issei's sacred gear, or kept Raynare, or gave him a replacement source of power to keep him able; but in things unrelated to it. So if anyone would care to let me know I'd appreciate it.
Another quick note; yes, I did skip over the first two arcs for a reason. I didn't want to get caught up in several chapters worth of starter arcs. It'd be, well, boring for me to write, and could have potentially worn me out before we even got to the good stuff planned.
With that said, till next time fic reader~
