Prologue Pt 02


Author's Note: I'm greatly relieved how well the first chapter went well, which is very good. I've have very good news as well. I originally wanted this story to act as the prelude of a story which was going to be the sequel, but changed it to start working on my "Transcendent Saga", which the premise is similar to the Strayed Red Emeperor Dragon, but there are going to many twist and turns, which you're going to see in this chapter. I don't own DxD or anything related to the series.


Kiba began to notice something wrong with Gasper ever since they left campus to go to the supplies. He first took noticed on the way to the shopping district, where Gasper was lost in a train of thought. Gasper was so distracted in his thoughts that he nearly got run over twice on the way to the shopping district, where Kiba had to step-in and stop his junior from walking into traffic. When Gasper snapped out of his thoughts and Kiba had asked him what just happened, he goes back to his old timid and panicky self and apologized for not being more vigilant.

After making sure that his young friend wasn't zoning out anymore on their way to the shipping district, Kiba decided not to pry on what the young bishop was thinking earlier. It wasn't till after leaving the shopping district and heading back to the Kuoh Academy is when Kiba began to see the same deep in thought look Gasper had on his way to the shopping district.

"Is there something bothering you, Gasper-kun?" Kiba finally asked, causing the two boys stop walking.

"Huh?" Gasper shook his head as he was snapped back into to reality. He looked over at his senpai with uneasy smile on his face. "N-No Kiba-Senpai. I-I'm fine."

"You're sure? You've been like this ever since we left Kuoh Academy." Kiba pointed out. "If there is something that is bothering you, I think it's a good idea to share it with someone."

Gasper averted his eyes away from his senpai, looking a bit queasy. His body twitched in insecurity as he bit his lip. He looked back up at Kiba with introverted looked on his face. "W-Well t-there is something on my mind, b-but I-I can't say it."

"Why?" Kiba asked, raising a brow in curiosity.

"I-I don't want Kiba-senpai or anyone think less of me." Gasper confessed sheepishly, looking back down at the ground.

"Is it per chance the rating game match with Sairaorg Bael and his peerage?" It was the only thing Kiba could think of. Ever since knowing that the match between their master Rias and her cousin Sairaorg will have no restriction, Gasper became tense as each day has gone by. The young blonde bishop already felt that he was a liability to the team since he couldn't control his powers and can't do much on his own.

"N-No." Gasper shook his head to the side. "I-It's not that."

"Then what is it then?" Kiba asked concernedly. Kiba kneeled down to his junior's height and placed his hands on the Gasper's shoulder. "I promise I won't look down at you if you tell me what's eating you alive."

"You sure?" Gasper asked back for security.

"Of course." Kiba assured him with a calm smile.

"O-Okay... I'll tell you." Gasper said before swallowing his own saliva down his throat. He cleared his own throat and tugged the collar of his uniform before he talked. "W-Well I w-was thinking... that..." The young dhampir devil hybrid began to stutter nervously as he averted his eyes away from his senpai again.

"It's alright," Kiba assured him. "Remember, I won't think bad of you."

"..." Gasper looked up at Kiba before taking in a big breath. Gasper then said what was on his mind in one big shout. "I-I think... e-everyone in the club room was t-too harsh with Issei-senpai!"

"...!" Kiba widen his eyes in shock from what Gasper said to him. "We were... too harsh with Ise-kun."

"I'm sorry!" Gasper puts his arms around his face, like he was trying to shield himself as he apologized and kneeled down to the ground. "I-I been feeling guilty ever since then."

Kiba looked at Gasper stupefied, unsure how to reply back to his young junior. For a moment he thought that Gasper was a delusional for saying that, but now that he thought about it, could it be possible that he and the rest of the Occult Research Club members were a bit rough with Issei.

Issei deserved to be scold. He was too inconsiderate with Rias's feelings and everyone knew it. At the moment it felt right to rebuke Issei for being too so ignorant. So why did Gasper, who didn't sided with Issei during that time, felt guilty for not siding with him?

"Hey Gasper-kun, is it alright if I asked you something?" Kiba requested.

"Huh? What is it?" Gasper asked, slowly putting his arms down.

"Why did you think that we're too harsh on Ise-kun?"

"W-Well... I felt that we're bullying Ise-senpai... Ganging up on him... The way we treated him kind of remind me how I was treated... back home." Gasper confessed with eyes saddened and slightly wet. "Plus when Buchou asked Ise-senpai how he felt about her, I saw a familiar looked in his eyes. The look of fear... It was like Ise-kun was too scared to reply honestly with Buchou."

'Scared?' Kiba pondered, putting his hand underneath his chin. 'Why would Ise-kun be scared of confessing his feelings with Rias-Buchou?' Kiba knew that Issei held strong love and high affection for Rias and vice versa. So why would Issei be afraid of telling his feelings to woman who's going to reciprocate those feelings back. 'Wait a minute. Could it possible that the reason why Ise-kun is ignorant with the all the girls' feelings because he was scared all this time, that means...'

Gasper cocked his head puzzled, becoming concerned on what his senpai was thinking deeply about. Gasper reached his hand out toward Kiba with the intention of tugging his sleeve to grab his attention, but before he could...

"Oh God! How can we be so ignorant!" Kiba smacked himself in the hand when he shouted, making poor Gasper cringed in fear. 'The reason why Ise-kun hasn't respond to the other girls feelings is because he was traumatized by his first girlfriend Raynare.' The thought of the fallen angel who toyed with his best friend's emotions brought a foul taste to Kiba's mouth. Kiba still remembered how Raynare tortured Issei both physical and emotionally. It's no wonder Issei was hesitant and scared to move his relationship with the girls. But what bothered Kiba the most that he, the self proclaim best friend of Issei, wasn't able to pick up his fear of intimacy with women.

"K-Kiba senpai?" The blonde bishop stuttered in confusion.

"How could none of us realized this soon," Kiba muttered bitterly as his cellphone began to rang. He took his phone out and answered it. "Hello?"

"Yuuto-kun, it's me Akeno." The caller identify herself at the other hand. "We have a problem. Issei has gone missing."

"Missing? When?" Kiba asked.

"I don't know. Maybe some time after you and Gasper-kun left, but all we know that Issei-kun is no longer on campus." Akeno said worriedly. "Ise-kun isn't answering his cellphone and we searched everywhere for him."

"We?"

"Me, Asia-chan, Koneko-chan, Xenovia, and Irina." Akeno explained. "Everyone felt a bit guilty regarding how we treated Ise-kun and wanted to consult with him properly regarding his relationship with Rias and the rest of us." Kiba could clearly hear the tone of regret within Akeno's tone. Per chance she and the others are aware of Issei's fear of intimacy too. But Kiba needed to be sure though.

"Hey, Akeno-san. Per chance have you ever noticed something wrong with Ise-kun?" Kiba asked.

"You mean his fear of intimacy with other woman?" Akeno asked back with bitter-sweet tone. "So you figured it out too, huh. We couldn't figured why Ise-kun wasn't able to handle relationships with the girls of the club till Asia figured it out." Kiba could hear Akeno's voice starting to shake, like she was going to cry. "God... You know there were times when Ise-kun looks at us, sometimes he look at us with frightened eyes. I didn't understand why at the beginning, but I finally understood. Are we terrible people, Yuuto-kun?"

"..." Kiba didn't know whether to respond yes or no. In retrospect, there are times the girls of the club have put Issei in uncomfortable situations. They teased him, used him, treated him for granted at times. But it was for good intentions, right?

"Let's not think about this right now." Kiba said, changing the subject. "Our priority is to find Ise-kun. Me and Gasper-kun will search the town. You and the others stay where you are in case of Ise-kun coming back."

"Alright." Akeno obliged. "Just be careful and good luck."

"You too." Kiba said before hanging up and turning towards Gasper. "Bad news, Gasper-kun. It seems that Ise-kun has gone missing from the club room and the girls are getting worried. So let's fan out and-"

Kiba didn't have the chance to finish his sentence as the atmosphere throughout the entire town became dark and tense that gravity itself was pulling everything to the ground.

'Wait this feeling...' Kiba thought, recognizing something familiar within the atmosphere. 'The last time I felt something like this was when... Ise-kun gone berserk!' The memories of his best friend going to berserk flashed in Kiba's eyes.

"K-Kiba-senpai!" Gasper cried, trembling in fear as he sees his senior dropped everything in his hands and running in god-like speed in the other direction. Gasper fell on his knees as he see nothing but trails of dust floating in the direction where Kiba has run. "D-Don't leave me..."

'Why now? Why now of all places?' Kiba pondered as he rushed of the direction where the tense atmosphere came from. He created a holy-demonic sword in his right hands as he came up by the park. 'Why are you going berserk Ise-kun?'

Kiba arrived to the park with the fear of slaying his best friend, but before he realized it, someone has already beaten him to it. The menacing and terrifying aura that Kiba detected not too long ago vanished into thin air and Issei was nowhere to be found by the time Kiba stepped into the park. The only thing he was able to notice that's peculiar was nothing more than a puddle of blood.


"Can't sleep?" Issei regain conscious in his luxurious and spacious bedroom, where he noticed three familiar individuals resting on his bed. They were Asia, Rias, and even himself. Issei noticed that Asia was sleeping to her side away from his doppelgänger on his bed while Rias was approaching him. Seeing the scene felt familiar to Issei. Like he went through this before.

'Ah, that's right.' Issei remembered. 'This was the night right before the Occult Research Club, The Student Council, and Vali's gang fought against the Evil-God Loki and Fenrir.'

"…Akeno had a bright expression. You did something to her right?" Rias asked innocently.

Issei's doppelgänger became petrified like he was caught in the scene of a crime. "We didn't have s…sex."

Issei let out a small light smile as Rias pinched his doppelgänger's cheek and looked at him with half-opened eyes. "I didn't ask to hear that. …You really didn't do it?" She asked concernedly.

"Y-Yes. I'm still a virgin….." She stopped pinching the doppelgänger's check after hearing that. Issei saw the relieved look his doppelgänger had as he rubbed the cheek that Rias pinched. He then watched Rias grabbing the doppelgänger's hand that he used to rub his cheek and placed that hand on her breast.

Issei's doppelgänger winced by feeling the smooth, elastic, soft, and enormous sensation of his master's breast. Even Issei, who isn't touching Rias's breast, can feel the sensation in his own hands.

"U..Umm….Buchou…" A trail of blood came out from the doppelgänger's nose as he stuttered.

"….My heart is beating fast right? Of course it is. We are going to fight against a God. I also feel nervous." Rias muttered gently with her face turning slightly red.

"I certainly can." Issei's doppelgänger replied nervously. "B-but why are you letting me touch your oppai?"

"Ufufu. During the event in the Underworld, I promised you that I will let you touch them, remember? Also I thought that this was the best way to make you relax. –You can't go to sleep because you are nervous, right?"

She sure knew everything. She remembered the promise she had with Issei and kept it. And she was right. Touching her breast did calm Issei down a lot as well. The doppelgänger looked less tense now that he's touching Rias's breast. "You will be fighting in the front-line, you have a crucial role, a fight against a God, so you are worried whether you can accomplish that. You can't go to sleep because you are worried about them, right?"

Again, she was right. Rias was able to read him like a book.

"…Yes." The doppelgänger confessed. "These roles are scary. It's an honour, but I feel uneasy because I don't know if I can fulfil these roles. I also wonder what would happen to everyone if we fail tomorrow. I feel uneasy due to being nervous and the pressure on me."

The doppelgänger blurted out the weak thoughts Issei never wanted to say to Rias. Why couldn't Issei confessed these feelings to other people? Was it because he was truly in love with Rias that he was able to confess anything to her? Maybe touching her breast made him tell the truth or something, though Issei did felt safe feeling his master's embrace.

"It's okay. You can say those things in front of me. –I love Ise, even including those parts about you."

When Issei heard that, everything around him began to crack. From the ceiling to the floor and everything within in began to crack like glass, even Rias, Asia, and Ise's doppelgänger.

'Love... What kind of love is she referring to?' Ise wondered, placing a hand to his chest. With that same hand on his chest, Issei clutched onto his shirt and fell on his knees as the entire room shattered into pieces, turning into nothing more than a white spacious plain.

"Damn it..." Issei wailed, slamming his free hand into the ground. "Is it true? Have I been played all this time by another woman that I fall for? This is how I'm going to be is for the of my life? Being manipulated by other women that I fall for?"

"You lived an unfortunate life." An elderly voice whispered.

"Huh?" Issei heard from the voice from behind and turned around to see scrawny figure dressed in a black cloak.

"Well you are the Sekiryuutei after all. Living the life of misfortune is part of the deal of becoming the Sekiryuutei. " The mysterious figure asked. "Well you should at least consider yourself lucky. Most people would kill to have the kind of relationship that you had with the Gremory devil."

'Relationship!?' Issei clutched his hand into fist and began to grind his teeth. "Shut up you sick bastard! You think this is funny! Do you what it feels like to have your heart crushed by the person you cherished the most! By the person you'll do anything for! By the person you're willing to give up everything to save her? Tell me? Did you ever have that kind of person!?"

"...Yes." The cloak figure responded. "I've fallen in love before and was fooled at the end just like you. It's a shame isn't it."

Issei was left speechless by the man's words. He wasn't sure whether to trust the man's word regarding the issue, but he decided to let it go.

"Alright... I'll take your word on it." Issei said sceptically. "So where are we?"

"A special realm," the cloak figure answered. "A special realm where my domain is."

"A special realm, huh." Issei said, looking around the white spacious world. "So why did you bring me here anyway?"

"I brought you here to save you." The cloak figure answered.

"Save me?" Issei raised a brow. "Save me from what."

"Yourself." The cloak figure explained. With a snap of his finger, the white spacious realm transformed itself into the same park that Issei was in not too long ago, where Issei saw another doppelgänger with enraged expression.

"What!? This is..." Issei quickly recognized the scene.

The Boosted Gear flashed on the doppelgänger body as he became to speak: "I, who is about to awaken am the Heavenly Dragon who has stolen the principles of domination from God! I laugh at the "infinite", and I grieve at the "dream"! I shall become the Red Dragon of Domination And I shall sink you to the depths of the crimson-Uak!"

The chant of the doppelgänger got ceased before it was finished by a sudden blade sticking out from the chest. In that instant, the doppelgänger onto his knees as the scale mail armor materialized from doppelgänger body. The doppelgänger looked down at his chest to see the blade before his entire body collapsed on the ground.

"Oh God..." Issei gasped before covering his mouth. "T-That's right... I almost entered Juggernaut Drive. I could've killed everyone in Kuoh Town if I-I wasn't stopped. "

"Well it's a good thing that you were. " The cloak figure said, snapping his finger to return the park back to the white spacious realm. "If you weren't... this world will have been plunged into chaos."

'Chaos, huh.' Issei could imagine what happened if he did entered Juggernaut Drive. His whole town would've been blown into smithereens in seconds. Countless innocent lives would've been lost just because Issei couldn't keep his cool. And on top of that it would've happened in the human world. The humans who aren't involved the supernatural world would go hysterical. False accusations would happen between nations and war might break loose with the humans themselves or even the supernatural world Issei lived in.

"So You brought me after that." Issei said to confirm, which the cloak figure nodded. "Okay, you did that. So what now?"

"Well since you no longer have the urge to go berserk, you can go home." A red magic circle appeared right on the cloak's figure ride side.

'Home? What home?' After what almost happened, there was no way Issei could face anyone in the Occult Research Club. They, the student council, and even Azazel and Rossweisse have already detected the dark essences of him going into Juggernaut Drive the moment he began the chant. If Issei go back home, he'll have to tell everyone and give them an explanation why he almost gone berserk. Within the tense beating in his heart Issei knew that there was no way he was ready to face any of them, especially Rias.

"...Or you could take an alternative." The mysterious figured offered as a blue magic circle appeared on his left side.

"Alter...native?" Issei asked, walking up to mysterious figure and stopping right in between the two magic circles. Issei looked straight down directly at the blue magic circle. He looked back up at the cloak figure. "What is this alternative?"

"Let's say that the blue magic circle sends you away from the reality you once knew." The cloak figure explained. "You'll escape from the painful truth of your old reality and the blissful ignorance of a new one. Basically it's your ticket away from those who mocked you! Who used you! Who take you for nothing more than granted!"

'Granted...' Issei looked down directly at the blue magic circle tensely. 'That's right... Everyone has taken me for granted. From Koneko-chan using me nothing more than a piece of furniture to Xenovia wanting nothing more than my sperm to produce some superpower children to those abusive experiments Azazel put me through for nothing more than for laughs. Maybe it's better off if I don't go back after all...'

Issei raised his foot, ready to step right on top of the blue magic circle, but stopped his foot from making a direct contact to the ground and pulled it back.

'...But...' The image of Asia and Akeno appeared on Issei's mind.'What about Asia and Akeno-san?'

Within these last six months of being a devil, Issei developed a unique, yet special relationship with the priestess of holy thunder and lightning and the holy maiden. Ise developed a brotherly and sisterly relationship with Asia the moment she moved into his household. Out of everyone that Issei knew, Asia had no personal motivation to gain from Issei except for spending more time with him.

And his relationship with Akeno was also similar to that. At first the relationship was nothing more than a senior student enjoying teasing and flirting with her junior student, but as time went on and their relationship developed Issei began to realized that Akeno depended on more than he thought. She relied on him for emotional support ever since the three alliances were form. She depended on him for courage for the rating game against Sona Sitri and she proclaimed her love for him after he helped reconcile with her father.

Akeno told him that she loved him. So have Asia. Both girls proclaim their love to Issei. Neither of them have personal motivate except to be spoiled by him. What would happened to them if Issei does take the alternative?

'Yet again...' Issei narrowed his eyes as the imagines of what happened in the club room not long ago. The way Asia criticized him was like he was some sort of player toying with some poor girl's emotion, which Issei is not. And with Akeno, she prevented Issei from going after Rias and treated him like crap. 'If they did love me, they wouldn't treated like they did.'

Issei walked right into the blue magic circle.

"I see that you finally made your decision." The cloak figure remarked. "Are you sure you want to do this. Once I snap my finger, there is no going back."

"I'm fine," Issei assured him, letting a single tear fall down his his cheek. "Just get it over already."

"Alright," the cloak figure said, preparing to snapped his fingers. "Oh by the way, I need to explain to you how this alternative works. Since you desire to escape your reality and enter a new one, you can choose the reality you desire to live in. However there is a price you have to pay, depending on the world you have desired."

'A world where I desire. What kind of world do I want to live in?' The possibility of what reality Issei desired is endless. He can desire the perfect paradise if he wanted to. He can have reality that he can have all the beautiful women to fall madly in love with him and do whatever he desired, including Rias. But having the thought Rias, or any girl from the Occult Research Club, gave a stress amount of grief into Issei's heart. 'No... I want to live live in a world that I don't have anything to with Buchou... Not with the Occult Research Club... Not with the three alliance... I want to be free and alone!"

Issei's eyes widen, realizing what reality he desired to live in. He made an unwavering expression on his face as he looked directly at the cloak figure. "I know what reality I want to live in. I want to live in a reality where I never get recruited by Buchou's peerage."


Author's Note: Yes! I deeply wanted to write this kind of story for a long time. Now the reality Issei is going to live in is a world where he never got recruited into Rias's peerage. Don't over think this where Issei is going to vanished into "oblivion" because he was never saved by Rias. Consider the scenario as the classic Christmas movie "A Wonderful Life" and in this story consider the DC's comic "Flashpoint" story line too. If you read the "Flashpoint" storyline, you'll understand what's going to happen to in the future of this story.

As I said during the author's note prior to the chapter, this story is going to be saga, which I devised right around five to six "acts"/"stories" around the saga. The reason why I'm dividing this story into five to six parts is because this story is going to be very long and people like myself, who can get very conflicted reading a very long text books and losing your pages is very irksome. So dividing them into five to six stories of twenty to twenty five chapters fells more in a better sequence to someone like myself.

Okay with that said and done now for the infamous chapter preview!

Issei has runs off into his new reality to regain his freedom! But consequences of his wish will affect his new reality more than he realized. What new shocking world will Issei face when he goes into his new reality?

Next time in A Fragile Heart: Reality Shift

Issei: What have I done...