Hello everyone!
I'm back once again, on a Saturday of all days...
That's just cause I didn't know if I would be able to update on Sunday so I wanted to make sure!
Enjoy!
Chapter 2
If one were to use a word to describe the current situation of the Hyoudou household, then one might use (at first glance): Fire, Chaos, Death or Insanity.
All very acceptable answers considering the current state of said house, however, the true answer was actually: Training.
"ISSEI! IF VALI GETS ANOTHER POINT YOU CAN'T SLEEP WITH RIAS FOR TWO WEEKS!" yelled Ryan from his chair.
It had been the reapers brilliant idea to have two heavenly dragons duke it out one on one in the halls of the large building.
Needless to say, the other residents were not currently present since Ryan had tossed a mountain of cash at them and told them to sod off for the day.
"BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! EXPLOSION!"
Akeno's bedroom was vaporized as Vali narrowly avoided the overcharged attack.
"DIVIDE! DIVIDE! DIVIDE! DIVIDE!"
Issei felt his power dwindle as the white dragon sucked it from him.
Vali struck the red dragon emperor across the back, using the stolen power to increase his speed and durability.
"Very good Vali, you don't need strength when you can hit at such high speeds" praised Ryan.
"Huh… those dorks aren't so bad" noted Dream as she appeared next to Ryan.
"They're strong, a bit more work and a little bit more effort and they might even give you a run for your money" said Ryan with an elbow bump.
"I doubt it… I would just crush them in my mega form" said Dream with a huff.
"Mega form? What are you, a power ranger?" laughed Ryan as Dream swatted at him, "Don't forget that they are both a quarter of a very powerful entity indeed"
"The unknown entity… or more accurately, Equality" whispered Dream nervously.
"Don't worry, even if they do make up our previous enemy, there are four of them, so there is no chance of them going crazy" promised Ryan as he held the girl close.
"I believe you…" sighed Dream happily.
"Alright you two, I think you've trashed this place enough… good work today" said Ryan as Issei hunted Vali down with Ascalon.
"Not bad Hyoudou" said Vali as they came down, Ryan tossed two bottles of water to them, which the gratefully accepted.
"You're not so bad yourself Vali, had you on the ropes for a moment there" laughed Issei as he looked at his gauntlet.
"Very good partner, your power increases daily" Praised Ddraig.
"Careful Ddraig, that almost sounded like a compliment"
The two dragons and two entities turned to see the other two heavenly dragons descend from the large hole in the roof.
"Blair, Carla, how goes life?" asked Ryan as he hugged the two dragon hosts.
"It goes… we were in the area and noticed a rather immense amount of magic being expelled from this general direction" explained Carla as her visor faded, replaced by a pair of blue reading glasses.
"Well your presence is always welcome here" said Issei with a smile.
The six friends talked for a few minutes whilst Ryan repaired the house.
"Remember Issei, Ddraig is a living dragon bound to the boosted gear. Much life Albion is bound to the wings, he is similar to you in many regards. Let's do little test right now, all five of you" suggested Ryan as they sat around in the lounge.
"What are you planning master?" asked Dream as she sat up.
"Trust me, feel the power of your dragon self build in your stomach, breath in deeply and let it all collect in one spot. When you can't possibly collect any more, sigh gently" explained Ryan clearly.
"That's it?" wondered Vali in surprise.
"Easy as pie" stated the reaper.
The five dragons did as instructed; Vali breathed out first, a plume of beautiful white flames erupted from his lips.
Brilliant red flames emerged from Issei, stunning blue from Carla's and gentle green from Blair's. Dream's flames were a multi-colored cascading rainbow.
"Wow… we can literally breathe fire" muttered Issei in wonder as he did it again.
"Correct, you have a dragon inside of you, so therefore you can breathe fire, simple" explained Ryan as he breathed out a puff of black flames.
"How can you do it then?" asked Blair curiously.
"I created the dragons remember, you take a little bit from me and I just so happen to be able to breath fire…" explained Ryan with a wave of his hand.
An odd look crossed Dream's face.
"I thought you and God created the dragons" she said in confusion.
"Well… yeah, we kinda did…" muttered Ryan, his eyes locked with the ground.
"What does that mean?" asked Vali curiously.
"Just drop it…" whispered Ryan.
"Come on dude just tell…" began Issei.
"I SAID DROP IT!"
The five dragons were blown off theirs chairs by the sudden outburst. Dream pulled herself up and found Ryan sitting down, a look of pure sadness plastered on his face.
"We're sorry Master, we never meant to upset you" whispered Dream as she hugged him.
Silenced filled the living room as the dragons retook their seats.
"What I'm about to tell you is a lost secret, there are only nine beings in existence that know of this tale" explained Ryan after a few minutes had passed.
"Damn… the endless know everything" grumbled Briar.
"I actually have no idea what he's talking about" whispered Dream.
"Nor should you, the original eight and… someone else are the only ones who know the true story of the dragons" said Ryan as he clicked his neck softly.
"Someone else?" whispered Carla.
"It was before the battle between me and Equality; seeing how prosperous humans had become, I yearned to have a species of which I could call my own. This was before the creation of the devils and angels you see. I manipulated my DNA and created a race of creatures that could develop far better than humans" explained Ryan with a hint of a smile on his face.
"The dragons…" muttered Vali.
"Correct, however God was not so forgiving when it came to the creation of dragons. In order to keep them alive I had to construct a scythe modification that could kill any dragon, Life would keep it just in case something ever happened" muttered Ryan sadly.
"A scythe modification?" wondered Blair.
"Indeed… I had so much faith put into dragons that I refused to look past their rapid growth in the areas of emotion. There was one such dragon who was more powerful than the rest, it killed a large portion of the dragon population before god was able to seal it away" explained Ryan with a pained expression.
"Why didn't you use the scythe on it?" asked Dream curiously.
"Because it was stolen… and in order to retrieve it I had to kill the ones who had taken it from god" whispered Ryan in sadness.
"Who would take the only defence against dragons?" asked Vali in anger.
"I, who shall awaken, am the heavenly dragon who stole the principle of domination from god. I laugh at the infinite and fret over the dream. I shall become the red dragon of domination and I shall drown you in the depths of crimson purgatory"
"Juggernaut drive…" whispered the five dragons.
"Principle of domination, principle of supremacy… you say it with slight differentiation's but the idea is the same. The two brothers who stole the only means to destroy their kind, when not bound to my scythe, the dragon slayer has the destructive capability to wipe out all dragons on the planet… I'm still not sure how you managed to swipe it but I couldn't bring myself to kill Ddraig and Albion to take it back" said Ryan with a shaky smile.
"And we are sorry Grim Reaper, we now understand the severity of our actions" said Albion in a sad tone.
"Aye… I was not aware of the sheer power and danger the dragon slayer possessed" muttered Ddraig in surprise.
"God tried to replicate the same technique I used but was unable to, I could only have one dragon slayer in existence at one time so I couldn't make another. His efforts created Ascalon and he bequeathed it upon the angels, those two races came after god sealed away… that powerful dragon and I embedded one last piece of genetic code into every dragon plus the infinite, referring to Orphis and the dream, referring to great red; the two most powerful dragons in existence. It basically means that you all know the origin story of dragons, it's just buried deep within your genetic makeup" explained Ryan with a sigh.
"So this… powerful dragon you speak of, who is it exactly?" asked Vali curiously.
Ryan looked at the floor for a long time.
"When I created the dragons I gave my first three attempts the literal powers of entities… Orphis was the first, the sadness I felt when I saw the humans flourishing and not having been a part of creating them caused me to fashion her. Seeing her success I felt a rather strange emotion: happiness; and from that, you came into this world Dream… nothing but an egg, it would be hundreds if not thousands of years before either of you hatched but that wasn't the point. By this time I was feeling rather confident, so I decided to make one final test egg that embodied a part of me that I thought could prove useful…"
"We're back!" yelled Xenovia as the door crashed open.
"It seems our story will have to wait for another time" said Ryan as he got to his feet and began helping Akeno with dinner.
"That was… odd" muttered Carla as she stood and hugged the members of the ORC.
Ryan simply cut vegetable slowly, his eyes never leaving his knife.
Later that Day (Unknown Location)
The soft tapping of footsteps echoed through the hall, black eyes locked with the ground, never looking up.
"Stupid emotions making me feel guilty" grumbled Ryan as he turned another corner.
He hadn't been lying when he told the story, he just left out the part that Orphis and Dream were created second and third, not first and second… alright he had been lying!
A large stone golem stood before him, he raised his hand and swiped it to the side, the creature stood down and allowed him to pass. Arrows shot out of the wall, the harmless projectiles bouncy lightly off his body.
"We really need to update this place" noted Eva as she appeared next to him.
"Oui… do remember that the location is known only by us" noted Ryan as the floor vanished from beneath them, a pit of jagged spikes loomed beneath them as the two entities floated gently over them.
The walked in silence for a few minutes before coming to a large double door, stopping before it, Ryan and Eva raised their hands, the Grim Reaper's glowed black whilst Mother Natures glowed bright white. A loud click signaled that the door had unlocked, Ryan pushed it open with one hand.
Eva ground her teeth together as she saw the sealed creature before them, thousands of magic circles pulsed away, keeping the ancient entity in a coma like state.
"We need the dragon slayer" muttered Eva as she recast a dozen of the circles.
"I'm not going to kill Issei and Vali" stated Ryan as he helped strengthen more of the bindings.
"I never said you should kill them…" sighed Eva sadly as she rested a pale hand on the entities forehead.
"There is no way of extracting the dragon slayer without killing the host itself" muttered Ryan as he sat down next to Eva, the two entities sat in silence for a while.
The soft breathing of the terrible beast, the only sound that resonated throughout the hall.
"Being this close, it almost looks peaceful" whispered Eva softly.
"It's ironic that I tried to replicate your ability" laughed Ryan sadly.
Eva growled at Ryan for a moment before breathing in deeply and taking a few moments.
"Ryan… you created a beautiful race of creatures, Dream and Orphis are living examples of this. You even made her beautiful, admittedly her dragon form is drop dead terrifying but the point is you are not a bad person for trying to make life. I certainly have killed in the past so why can't you make life?" asked Eva as she hugged him tightly.
"That's gotta be the sappiest speech ever… thanks" muttered Ryan as he hugged her back.
"You're the dumbest dummy of a grim reaper I have ever met. Ariana was a bitch to me so I'm sorry for snapping at you all the time" grumbled Eva as her face went red.
"Yeah… she was only ever nice to me, I think she was slightly obsessive" noted Ryan as he recalled the moment when she had picked a fight with Love just because she had complimented him on his new set of swords.
The sudden pulsing of a magic circle next to their ears told them that the world still moved on.
"Hello?"
"Go for reaper Blackworth"
"Spring, calm down, we'll be there soon"
"Rogar… don't kill anyone before I get there, after? I'll see how the cards fall"
The two entities hung up and chuckled to themselves. Looking at the locked down entity, the two originals set off towards the exit, unaware that their hands were linked together.
Entity Meeting Hall
"Okay, spell it out for me, ladies first"
"So apparently it's acceptable to kill thousands of people right as I take control. Spring is supposed to represent the coming of change and new life, if this dwarf is allowed his earthquake then it will totally defeat the purpose of the season change!" yelled the pink haired entity of spring.
Despite being all powerful beings that can obliterate the planet in a matter of moments, Life and Death were the two endless charged with dealing with internal conflicts amongst the rivaling entity groups.
For example: The elements, the one's responsible for causing natural disasters and stuff like that; didn't get along to well with The Seasons, they are in charge of dealing with changing the seasons if that wasn't obvious.
Right now Rogar, entity of Earth was challenging Spring, entity of Spring. Rogar was scheduled to perform an earthquake, it would totally wipe out three medium sized South American villages in the process and Spring was not happy about it.
"Now listen here candy floss, I've been planning this quake for months now, I even asked permission from death himself" countered Rogar with a smug smirk.
"Is that true Ryan?" asked Eva with a raised eyebrow.
"Oui… The death toll will only just peak into the thousands, nothing special about it, simply the timing" explained Ryan with a nod.
Eva nodded in understanding before turning back to the season.
"I stand on your side with this one Spring but Rogar has done this fairly and properly. He is allowed to perform his earthquake and you must live with it" sighed Eva sadly.
Spring looked down heartened.
"I understand; I'm sorry for wasting your time" muttered Spring as he bowed to the two endless.
Ryan sighed deeply.
"Spring, please remember that you and your siblings were created by Eva… I mean Life, in order to rest and purify the world. The elements were created by me in order to impose change upon the planet naturally, much like teenagers getting pimples. You were always meant to grind against one another, it is literally built into your being… don't take this to heart, please" said Ryan with a smile.
Spring took a moment to let the words sink in before a small smile broke out across his face.
"For an entity that literally embodies everything I hate in the world, you're not so bad sir" said the teen as he bowed and walked off.
"Smug little shit" growled Rogar as he scratched his beard.
"He has a good heart Rogar, they all do… ease up on them a bit" muttered Eva as she stood and clicked her back.
Ryan got to his feet and walked over to the tiny man.
"You owe me a rather large earthquake, do it now so I can rest easy" ordered Ryan as he took a step back.
Rogar nodded and breathed deeply, the only thing required to pull off an earthquake was for Rogar to be touching the ground; he could then send the vibrations to the exact location he needed.
"Earth Dwarf Sacred Art: Precision Earthquake!"
A brilliant flash of emerald light sunk deep into the ground followed by a light shake was the only results of the magic spell being cast.
"Hmm… excellent work Rogar, one thousand and thirty nine people perished" noted Ryan as he felt their souls slip onto the next plane of existence.
"Rest in peace young ones" whispered Eva as she sighed sadly.
Ryan put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her close, Eva was surprised but relaxed into the embrace. Rogar, seeing his cue to leave, snuck out quietly.
"I don't like seeing you in pain Eva, but I can't stop what I was born to do" whispered the reaper softly.
Eva sobbed into his shoulder, her pure holy tears lightly stinging the surface of Ryan's skin. He didn't break the embrace however; he simply held her closer and gritted his teeth.
Eventually Eva noticed the small wisps of smoke coming from his shoulder and back pedaled instantly.
"I'M SO SORRY!" she yelled loudly before Ryan clamped a hand over her mouth.
"It's fine, nothing like a bit of holy magic to let you know that you're not invincible" laughed Ryan as the skin healed in a matter of moments.
Eva went to say something but held her herself back, she simply walked over to him and gave him a small peck on the lips. Said reaper was stunned and his face lit up a bright red shade.
"What are you going to do now?" asked Eva as if nothing had happened.
Ryan took a moment to compose himself before seriously thinking.
"I'll do my job and watch over Issei… it's basically the whole reason why we are how we are now" noted Ryan as he walked towards the exit.
"It certainly is" sighed Eva happily.
Kuoh Academy (After School)
"Miss. Sitri, what brings you about this class so late in the day?" asked Ryan as he finished up cleaning the class room.
Sona pushed her glasses up her nose before smirking at the reaper.
"I simply wish to ask your advice on something" asked the heir to the Sitri family.
Ryan raised an eyebrow curiously.
"What could you want to know from me?"
"What are your thoughts on the rage entity?" asked Sona softly, Ryan was surprised but he knew she was serious so he took a moment to think.
"His name is Max if you were curious, he's very wise, far wiser than I will ever be. His sense of humor is really the only negative about him. He's kind and cares about those he loves, he'll do anything to protect humans, he sees his relationship with humans as a two sided coin: if he protects them then they will carry on keeping him alive through anger and rage" explained Ryan with a smile as he thought of the gray haired entity.
"I see…" muttered Sona.
Ryan could almost see the ideas flashing across the devils eyes, it made him smile, watching others find inspiration and creativity from the simplest of things. A gift he would never truly get to experience himself.
"Forgive my intrusion but why the sudden interest in my rage fueled friend?" asked Ryan curiously, his interest overpowering his sense of caution.
Sona blushed a deep red so quickly that Ryan was eighty percent sure she was sick.
"I… I want to ask him to… to the upcoming dance…" muttered Sona in embarrassment.
Ryan looked rather perplexed at the young devil.
"You, Sona Sitri, want to ask the living embodiment of rage to the prom?" asked Ryan more to himself than to her.
"Yes…" she whispered sharply, "I owe him my life and more"
A look of confusion crossed the reapers face before being quickly replaced by a small smile.
"He saved you… didn't he?"
Flashback (Equality War)
"Sona, we have to move!" yelled Tsubaki as she dragged the unconscious Saji.
The Sitri peerage had become separated from Serafall during the battle and Saji had taken an almost fatal blow trying to defend his fellow devils. High above them, a battle between gods raged, but down on earth they were struggling to hold off even one equality clone.
"INCOMING!" yelled Alexander as he decapitated a clone that he had landed on from above.
"Thank you for the breathing room reaper, how is the situation?" asked Sona as the devils rested underneath a tree.
"Chaotic to say the least, try and join up with your Satan again, I have to return to the fray I'm afraid" explained Alexander as he lept high into the air, a swarm of clones converging on his position.
"You heard him everyone, as much as she annoys me, we have to find my sister ASAP" ordered Sona as Tsubaki and Momo helped support the injured pawn, "Fan out and scan for enemy…"
Sona was cut off as a blast of white energy ripped the land in front of her apart, it tore through Tsubaki, killing the devil queen instantly. A huge swarm of equality clones were rushing towards the peerage at break neck speed.
"Sona… move…" groaned Saji in pain.
Sona would not however; she would die for her peerage.
The clones got closer and closer until they were mere meters from them…
"… SACRED ART: PUGATORY HELL FLAME FIRESTORM!"
The young devils were engulfed in flames, yet none of them felt the heat. The clones however were all but vaporized under the intense fire that had saved them.
Looking up, Sona saw a tall, muscular figure approaching them.
"Top of the morning to ya small wee devils, oh dear… well she's not fully gone, it's gonna hurt but I think I can save her" muttered the man as he bent down next to the body of Tsubaki.
He took the torso and legs and pushed them back together, he flooded the body with magic, refusing the two pieces back together.
"You all might wanna step back" suggested the man as he built up magic in his hands.
The peerage got the message and backed up a significant amount. The man began drawing magic runes around the queen's body; he took his sword and made a large gash on the middle of his palm, the blood flowing into the dead girl's mouth.
"Oh wondering souls that guide the lost, return to me what was taken before time, I can only offer myself as payment. Don't let her move on without having lived, I beg of you!" the man yelled into the sky, his eyes lit up dark red as did Tsubaki's.
"RAGE SACRED ART: PHOENIX FORCE REVIVAL!"
The sky lit up gold and red as a glorious bird of pure fire descended from the sky and dove directly into Tsubaki's body; she shook violently as the man's magic flowed into her.
Eventually the light died down and Sona sprinted towards the two figures, neither of which was moving.
"TSUBAKI!" screamed Sona as she all but lept at the devil.
Said queen was groaning slightly at the sudden increase of weight to her chest area.
"President, do you mind removing yourself from my breasts?" asked the girl politely.
Sona was on the brink of tears but still managed to keep her composure.
"Good to see you haven't died yet kid, I gave you part of my magic and you're basically unkillable since you heal in a matter of moments thanks to an infusion of my blood" noted the man as he got shakily to his feet.
"ENDLESS FINAL ART: SHADE PROTOCOL!"
The man looked towards the sky, a look of pure fear plastered on his face.
"You idiot Blackworth" he muttered before his feet set on fire.
"Wait! What is your name kind sir?" asked Sona as she grabbed onto his arm.
The man looked at her with a soft smile before winking.
"I'm Rage baby! One of the original eight!" he yelled as he rocketed off into the sky.
Sona couldn't help but watch the bright red streak of flames until it was so far away that she couldn't see it and even then, she carried on looking.
End Flashback
"Max always was the most noble of us" noted Ryan with a wave of his hand.
"Indeed he was, he saved Tsubaki's life and I am ever in his debt for protecting my peerage. I simply wish to ask one favor of you" stated Sona firmly.
"I think you deserve at least that" said Ryan with a nod.
"Will you arrange a meeting between Max and I?" asked Sona with a steely glint in her eye.
Ryan snapped his fingers; a large magic circle appeared above them before a body fell through and crushed the desk between them.
"What the hell Blackworth!" groaned Max as he got to his bare feet.
"I didn't mean now!" hissed Sona in surprise.
"Well Miss. Sitri here would like to say a few things to you Max, au revoir for now!" yelled Ryan as he employed the masterful art of jumping out the window like the troll he was.
Kuoh Academy (Without that troll of a reaper)
"Oh… it's you Miss. Sitri, how is Tsubaki doing? Tell her to eat plenty of red meat, her metabolism will have increased since her healing, not much I can do about that I'm afraid" explained Max as he took out a sheet of paper and began writing down things on it.
"Yes… thank you once again for that Mr. Rage" said Sona with an extremely rigid bow.
"Please call me Max and there is no need to thank me, I saw you were in a bit of a spot of bother so I helped you out like any good entity would do" said Max as he brushed the compliment off.
Ripping off the piece of paper, he handed it over to the devil who quickly scanned it. A few things surprised her but they were completely reasonable as far as she was concerned.
"Where do we get these bath salts?" asked Sona curiously as she read the last item on the list.
"That is the third rarest mineral known only to four beings on the planet, I am the only one capable of removing them since the heat of the volcano in which they are found vaporizes all but my inner rage" explained Max with a straight face.
"Oh…" muttered Sona.
"Just kidding, Ryan and I can get them but since I can't disclose the location you can just have my personal stash, this should last her roughly the rest of her life. Put one crystal in every time she has a bath, showers don't matter as much and make sure she is the only one in the bath… everyone else will be burnt alive" sighed Max as he placed a medium sized locked box on the table, the golden key sat atop it, glinting in the light.
Sona unlocked the box and saw thousands and thousands of glowing orange crystals, only just bigger than a mere salt crystal. A pair of metallic tweezers sat atop the pile, meant to be used to extract them.
"I thank you kindly Max, I will give these to Tsubaki tonight" stated Sona as she re-locked the box and sent it to her personal storage via magic circle.
Max sighed deeply before running a hand through his gray hair.
"What is the true reason you wished to see me Miss. Sitri? I hate only two things in this world: grapes with seeds in them and liars" explained Max as he stood right before the red faced devil.
"I… I…w… I was wondering… if you weren't too busy that is… if you… if you would like to… accompany me to the Kuoh Academy dance" stammered Sona her face feeling as if it might turn to ash.
"Sure thing, I'll pick you up at eight!"
Hyoudou Residence
"What are you smiling about Master?" asked Lime as he served the small reaper a slice of freshly made lime pie.
"Just in a good mood my little fruit… just in a good mood" said Ryan as he looked out the window, smiling softly to himself.
A/N: I really do hate grapes with seeds in them though...
Anyway!
Here is another chapter for you all (sorry it took so long but until FT gets its shit together this will be standard updating time!)
Clarification Time:
- I know Kuoh Academy is in Japan (I just don't care!)
- I know you can't revive a Satan or God (Yet again, I don't care!)
- I know Ryan can crush most enemies he faces (I hate writing combat scenes...)
- I also know that a few people (not mentioning names) have been using my ideas without credit... I'm fine with you using the ideas of the endless council and entities and all that but just give me a little credit!
Also on another note:
A friend of mine suggested that instead of making a new story each time I put out another volume, I should simply make a really long story, that way I don't have to rope you all back in incase you haven't followed me as an author and have only followed the story (which you should totally do btw!)
Send your thoughts on what I should do: Put it all together (neatly of course) or keep it as is?
Review, PM, Follow, Fav and as always:
My name is Parradox and thanks so much for reading.
Bye!