It took us only a couple minutes to make the walk to Asia's clubhouse. I was starting to feel a bit more like my old self and was beginning to wonder exactly why I'd trusted this girl so quickly. I mean, she was adorable and apparently my seeming age but I didn't usually trust people this quickly. I could only assume that apart from the dragony instincts I seem to have now my brain seems to be functioning like an actual sixteen year old (I hate you Clifford).
So aside from having to second guess all my decisions in case of hormone poisoning, I also have to worry about being even more irrational around women than I was before. But somewhere deep down I couldn't help but feel like this sweet girl couldn't possibly wish me harm.
I decided to keep my guard up as we approached what looked like a…big spooky house. Well Harry, this is obviously not a trap you had no reason to be suspicious at all. I followed the cheerful (and more and more suspicious) little blonde in the front door of the house and was confronted with…an even smaller cuter girl.
She was sitting on the stairs eating a lollipop (one of those big ones creepy little kids eat in horror movies) with a placid expression on her face. She glanced my way as I came in, silver hair swishing and simply said "Tall" before apparently dismissing me from her world and returning to her unfinished treat. I raised an eyebrow at Asia, who blushed prettily "Oh that's Koneko, shes one of the other members of our club, Im sorry that was nothing personal Harry she just doesn't talk much."
We climbed the stairs having plenty of room to shuffle to the side as we passed Koneko and as went by her I noticed that the girl had what appeared to be cat ears on her head. Not fake cat ears like some cosplay girls wear, but actual honest to god cat ears. Before I could stop myself I reached out and ran my fingers over one of them, and almost fell over as the girl sat up ramrod straight and let out a deep rhythmic purr.
She tilted her head towards my hand for a moment before seeming to catch herself and jerking away. She turned a ferocious glare on me over her lollipop but the effect was somewhat muted by the adorable blush covering her face.
I heard a muted chuckle from up the stairs a pale athletic looking guy with blonde hair was smiling sheepishly at me "You'll have to forgive Koneko, she never has been very good around strangers." He turned to look at Asia "I got your text and briefed the Pres, shes aware of your new friend and is waiting in the study with Akeno to greet him."
Asia looked (cutely) puzzled "Why would Pres want to meet with Harry?" She got a worried look on her face "Should I have brought him straight to her? Oh I'll never get the hang of being a devil! Hail mary full of grace…OW" This last was uttered with bowed head and clasped hands before she squeaked in pain, which would have worried me more if I wasn't just catching up to her words a minute ago.
My eyes widened and I spun getting my back to the wall as I threw out a hand and thundered "DEFENDARIUS" A wall of blazing blue force sprang into being in a semicircle around me blocking off my sides and all undefended spots that the wall at my back didn't protect. And then it just…stayed there. From the look of the blazing wall I'd used a bit too much magic and I should be passing out any minute now…except I wasn't. My spell just hung there and the damn thing wasn't draining my powers enough for me to even notice.
Ok, my kung fu was definitely strong. I shook off the amazement at my new juice and glared at Asia and the guy, and partway down the stairs at Koneko. "Devils?" I felt the words snap from my mouth, colder than any of the ice I'd wielded as the winter knight. Asia looked startled and pretty-boys face was hard, his jaw set as he held a fricking sword he'de apparently snatched from mid air.
His eyes glittered coldly at me "Yes, we're devils in service to House Gremory,do you have an Issue with that Harry?" I met those eyes dead on, glaring back just as harshly until…I was Alone. Now when I say Alone I don't mean there was an absence of people, though there was definitely that, I mean Alone.
Some people get nervous being in the dark, or being out on the street at night, but fear like that is only really about being alone. Sometimes when youre in a place you can feel the emptiness, the hollow space where human life is supposed to be, and you feel scared, because it's like no one can ever break it, and youll be Alone until you die. Theres no way anyone can ever save you because no one could ever be anything but this Alone and for them to come and save you, both of you would have to experience a grade-A miracle. Pretty-boy's soul was like that.
I was Alone, but I was surrounded by people, surrounded by his dead, pulling at me, weighing at me, begging me for justice or for help. He felt this every day, trapped in the dark, being slowly frozen by his dead, and that's when it hit me. I was in his SOUL. This was a SOULgaze, the important bit of info being that this guy had a soul for me to gaze at. Which meant either this kid was an absolute idiot some particularly sick demon had tricked into thinking he was a devil…or there was a HUGE knowledge gap between my universe and this one, and the kid didn't look that stupid.
I eased off my spell a bit allowing the shield to fade from the visible spectrum, though somehow I didn't think its transparency was fooling anyone in this house. The kid looked…pale. I've never quite been sure of exactly what people see when they look at my soul and honestly I'm A-ok with that, I have enough nightmares without seeing exactly what manner of person those nightmares have made me. "I'm Harry Dresden." I said cautiously "Im sorry for the reaction but I've never met anything friendly that called itself a devil."
The guy smiled at me tightly but relaxed just a hair "My name is Kiba Yuuto, I'm a Knight in the service of lady Rias, heir to the house of Gremory. You've already met Asia, our bishop and Koneko, our rook." I took it that these odd chesslike titles had some significance here, so I decided to keep quiet and take in what information I could to piece together some information. My old mentor, Ebenezar McCoy used to say no one ever looked stupid by keeping their mouth shut.
To be honest it's advice Ive rarely taken, choosing instead my own patented brand of Harry Dresden wiseassery, but I thought maybe since I was sixteen again maybe it'd be a good time to heed the old mans advice, if only just this once. Not that I'd ever tell my grandfather that, itd ruin my reputation as a professional cracker of wise. Kiba's sword was at his side now, and he was gazing at me with an unreadable expression. "Will you give your word that you mean us no harm, if I give mine of safe passage?"
I hadn't picked up a huge amount in my nightmare tour of Kiba's battered soul but I had seen enough to know the pride that he took in being a member of this 'House Gremory' If he gave his word as a Knight he'd damn well keep it. I clenched my jam and nodded tightly. "You have it." I relaxed the invisible shield as I did so. I suppose he must have seen something similar about me, because the sword disappeared (literally just vanished, what the hell).
He gave me a serious look " I think that you should talk to the President, that is, Lady Rias, you seem a bit confused and out of place, and she and the student council president await you upstairs." I must have looked dubious because he assured me "They simply wish to greet a powerful visitor to the school and make sure you aren't a threat, as I promised you're perfectly safe within these walls as long as you offer us no violence."
I exhaled and nodded "Fair enough, but can I at least get some damn clothes. It's a bit embarrassing to be walking around naked like this." Which wasn't actually strictly true, my new sixteen year old body was in much better shape than the old one had ever been and the temperature wasn't really affecting me at all. All in all I could've walked around naked for the next year and it would have only bothered me because…well Hells Bells I was naked.
Kiba nodded and disappeared, returning a minute later with what looked like some kind of cloak, or woulve been on a five and a half foot sixteen year old, on me (who even at sixteen had been taller than your average bear) It only managed to serve as a sort of triple wrapped kilt.
We continued up the stairs, Asia looking adorably upset and still to timid to speak after my magical muscle flexing act (which for lack of a good reason I was starting to feel kind of bad about) and Koneko trailing behind us silently letting out a steady air of menace. If my little bout of heavy petting hadn't already alienated her she didn't seem to impressed with me after my lightshow. As we drew to the end of the hall at the top of the stairs I was a sturdy wood paneled door made of a rich dark wood, and Kib stepped forward to knock.
I heard a musical voice from behind the door say "Come in." The door swung open (I was disappointed I couldn't hear an ominous creak as it swung slowly inward, I guess even devils know about WD-40) to reveal a room with several very attractive girls of about my apparent age. As I glanced at them I could feel power rolling off of each one, in varying strengths and flavors, but the strongest and most ominous power was roiling from a very…ahem…well-endowed redhead, who Kiba seemed to be paying extra attention to. I took it then that this was Kibas master "Lady" (I cant say titles like that without making air quotes in my head) Rias of the house of Gremory.
I had to remind myself not to get bogged down in preconceived notions, this universe obviously worked very differently than mine, but at the same time I had to exercise some of that good ole' white council paranoia. The second girl at the head of the table, a pretty slim girl with glasses framing violet eyes, and short dark hair framing a serious face, was giving me an impassive look and the pretty girl in the ponytail on the left of Rias (who was about as busty as her friend) was giving me an almost salacious look of interest. The final girl, a very pretty serious looking girl with friendly but guarded eyes behind functional glasses, and long straight dark hair, rounded out the group, who all seemed fairly intent on me at the moment. To be fair I suppose a giant bursting into your study in nothing but a makeshift skirt is the sort of thing that most people notice.
The short haired one spoke first "You must be Mr. Dresden, my name is Sona Sitri, heiress of the Sitri devil clan, I bid you welcome to Kuoh academy. That welcome extends for as long as you follow our rules, and not a moment longer." I had to keep reminding myself to keep an open mind, the energy they were pouring out wasn't malicious per se, just really thick. I bowed my head the heiress "I thank you for the offer of hospitality Lady Sitri and will do my best to abide by your wishes while im within your territory." Translation I'll try to play nice, but if you mess with me ill rip off your entire as. See, I can be diplomatic when I want to be.
Rias cleared her throat "And my name is Rias Gremory heiress to the House of Gremory, I also bid you welcome, and offer you use of the accommodations in my clubhouse. We could feel your presence when it appeared and are most anxious to hear what brings you here to our school." I grimaced , I couldn't just tell them I had appeared here with no one to miss me, even if I was reasonably sure they meant me no harm there was no way in hell I was exposing a potential weakness to these people after having just met them, even without taking into account their infernal nature.
I put on my best inscrutable wizard face "I thank you for the invitation for lodging and would be happy to stay with you and your household, unfortunately my business here is of a sensitive nature and I cant currently disclose it, but I do swear that I mean no harm to yourself or your household nor any being on this campus. I would also love an opportunity to interact with yourself and your household and see more of this school of yours, might I be able to sit in on some classes."
God, playing the mysterious wizard after all these years of being talked down to by the council felt good. Rias tensed her jaw but she nodded to me "Of course Mr. Dresden I'm sure we can accommodate your wishes, we're always happy to have new guests, Kiba will show you to your room."
I nodded to the girls both the heiresses and the other two (who I took to be subordinates from their silence) and followed Kiba down the hall, this entire night had been nothing but surprises and I didn't see tomorrow being boring either. As we stopped outside the door that was apparently mine Kiba turned to me .
"Pres had this room made up on the off chance that you decided to accept her offer, we keep it mostly furnished for guests anyway." He stared at me stoically "I'm not sure what that was earlier Harry, but I think I know something about you now, and I suspect somehow you know something about me too. I just want you to know, we aren't your enemies, we don't hurt those weaker than ourselves. We have a lot in common and I hope you'll give us a chance to show you that. Well…goodnight I'll see you in school tomorrow." He gave me a little half smile and walked away, leaving me with a feeling of unease and plenty to think about.
I turned the knob on the wood-paneled door and stepped inside, closing it behind me and, closing my eyes, leaned my head back against the cool wood. There was s much going on and I had no clue what to do, my friends were almost definitely out of reach and even if I could contact them Mab would just find me, I had no money no clothes no place to live long term, hells bells I wasn't even a human being anymore. I probably would have stayed like that for quite some time if I hadn't heard a pretty usical voice ask "Are you alright?" I bolted upright and my eyes flew open searching the room until they found…a girl.
I've seen a lot of supernaturally gorgeous women in my life, fae, monsters in disguise, vampires and even a fallen angel preying on my own deepest fantasies, but I'd never seen a girl like this. Helen of Troy went to bed at night as a kid wishing she could grow up to look like this girl, freaking Aphrodite would've wanted to look more like this girls. And as she stared at me out of those insanely beautiful cobalt blue eyes, gorgeous flowing golden hair waterfalling around slender pale shoulders I couldn't help but be dumbstruck at the awe-inspiring Beauty of her.
She let out a silvery tinkling laugh, like silver sleigh bells rolling into the cleanest most refreshing spring in the world and smiled a bright engaging smile at my expression. "I'm sorry to surprise you, I had to mask my presence so Lady Gremory couldn't sense me and I forgot you wouldn't be able to either. Oh, but I'm being rude, I know your name is Harry but you haven't heard mine yet. My name is Gabriel, one of the four archangels of heaven, and I'd like to talk to you about a job."
So heres chapter two. Hope you all like it, I'm still finding a good balance on exposition and detail for this one, its an uphill battle for every story. I want to thank everyone for their reviews and suggestions and I'd like to put a few peoples minds at rest. I know the first chapter was a bit rough (as is this one honestly) I take a while to hit my stride in a story and im particularly bad at beginnings, I usually compensate for that by jumping in headfirst and doing my exposition retroactively, which is how I prefer to read stories anyway. I realize that's a bit jarring but I hope that maybe this chapter will be better that way, I tried to take my time more. Also I want to make it clear that Harry wont become a devil, I know his soulgaze with Kiba was a turning point and he'll be interacting with them civilly and even in a friendly fashion, but he wont become one it feels sort of against his nature to me and if he did it's be in either Sairorg of Seekvaira's peerage not Rias or Sona mostly because I want to take the story in my own direction. I am toying with making him a Brave Saint. And finally yes Great Red taking him was a bit cheap but there WAS a reason that will be explained later and it has more to do with Harry being starborn than anything else. As to Harry being OOC im working on fixing that but he's going to be at least sort of OOC since he has the brain chemistry of a sixteen year old and hormones to match. Well I hope you guys continue to give this a chance and im gonna go before this note becomes longer than the chapter its about. Cant wait to hear your reviews, night all.
