A/N: Thanks again to everyone who took the time to follow or favourite my story.
I have several things I would like to discuss with you guys, but I'll get to that at the end of the chapter. In the meantime, may I present to you my next chapter.
(*General disclaimer which states I don't own anything inserted here*)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
'What the hell is going on here?' Ben thought, looking down at the gauntlet in fascination.
Everyone else in the clubroom seemed just as shocked as he was.
Kiba spoke up first. "Cool, I've never seen anyone with two Sacred Gears before. As far as I know, it has never happened before. Nice going, Ben," he complimented his fellow Devil with a smile.
Akeno smiled sweetly, "Me neither. Isn't this an interesting development?" she said with a light chuckle as she admired Ben's Sacred Gears.
Rias smiled at her newest servant. "Well done Ben. Now that they have awoken, you can summon your Gears whenever you want." Her tone then turned serious. "Just remember. You should refrain from challenging any Fallen Angels on your own. Not only is It is considered very disrespectful towards us to fight one alone, but you also don't have any experience yet."
"Got it. Despite my intimidating look. I don't actively go out of my way to start a fight where there's no reason to. I'll stay away from Fallen Angels as best I can."
"I suppose that's the best I can expect," Rias relented and looked back down at Ben's Sacred Gears. "I must admit, Ben, that I'm not really sure which Sacred Gears you actually possess. They don't look like any style of Gear I've ever seen before," she stated as she rose up from her desk.
Ben began to investigate his gauntlets further but was quickly snapped out of it when Rias clapped her hands, attracting his attention. He looked up to see her sitting on the sofa, in the spot he had just vacated, and gesturing to a pile of what he recognised as a load of the same flier he was given which brought Rias to him when he was dying.
"There'll be plenty of time for you to look at your Sacred Gears later. But for now, I've got some important work for you to do," Rias stated as Ben approached her. "This job is usually carried out by familiars, but as you're a new devil, this will be a good chance for you to get a grasp as to what we actually do in the human world."
Ben knelt down and started stuffing the leaflets in his bag, grumbling light-heartedly under his breath. He had known that it was going to be boring in the beginning of being a devil. He was no longer a human. He was a devil now and needed to start earning his keep for the people who saved his life, twice already, and in only two days!
Once Ben had put all of the fliers on the table into his bag, he stood back up and made his way to the door. He glanced back at the others who were watching him go. "I'll be back soon. See you guys later," He said as he left the room, closing the door behind him as he did so before heading off to complete his task.
. . . . .
Ben was relieved beyond measure when he had finally finished handing out every one of the fliers he had been issued. There were a lot more than he originally thought and took him what felt like ages to get rid of every single one in his bag. Thankfully, this was greatly shortened when he stumbled across an apartment complex on the edge of town with over three hundred apartments in one location alone. In the end, it took Ben about four hours to finally get rid of those infernal fliers.
But he had done it. He had finally done it!
It was around 8pm when he made it back to the clubroom. When he entered the clubroom, he noted that Akeno and Kiba weren't there. When he asked Rias where they had gone to, she replied that they had gone to do the other thing that devils do in the human world; contracts.
"And that is what I want you to do tonight, please," Rias asked as she rose from her seat and gestured for Ben to join her, which he did. "Koneko has a double booking and I would like for you to take one of her summon requests tonight to get some practice."
Ben glanced over at Koneko to see she was currently licking an ice lolly. When she realised he was glancing her way, she bowed her head slightly. "I would appreciate it," she muttered quietly.
"S-Sure, no problem," Ben answered, taken by surprise by the unexpectedly cute way she said that.
A red magic circle, similar in design to the seal that was on the fliers Ben had spent the last few hours handing out. He recalled it being the symbol of the Gremory family and their servants. Rias approached him and placed her finger in his open palm. As her finger touched his skin, a miniature version of the large magic circle on the floor appeared in his hand. "This is a seal. It serves as proof that you are a member of the House of Gremory," Rias explained and gave Ben a reassuring smile. "You'll be fine. Just do everything I told you and you should be fine, ok?"
Ben gave her a weak nod. "Good, now go stand in the middle of the circle and make me proud."
He obeyed her and entered the red circle, standing on the central symbol of the seal. No sooner had he done that that he started to feel the magic taking over. He felt a slight tingle course throughout his body and, in a small flash of crimson light, disappeared from the clubroom and quickly reappeared in a small apartment that seemed to be full of junk at first glance.
Before Ben could examine his surroundings, he felt a sudden wave of nausea come over him and he rested his palms on his thighs as he took several deep breaths to overcome the very common consequence of first-time teleporting via magic circle. Rias had warned him about this but that didn't stop him from feeling awful.
"Bloody hell," he groaned as he massaged his throat to swallow the bile that tried to escape him. He felt much better after a few more deep breaths, just as Rias had instructed, and stood upright, looking for the person who had summoned him.
"Who are you," a deep, masculine voice called out from above and behind him.
Ben slowly turned around and had to crane his neck back to look up at the tallest and most muscular man he'd ever come across in his life. This wasn't nearly the strangest thing about him though, Ben noted with surprise. No, the strangest thing about his contract was that he appeared to be dressed up as some magical girl from an anime.
Ben unconsciously took a step back from the massive magical girl in front of him. "Hi, I'm Ben, a trainee Devil. You don't happen to be the one to summon a Devil, do you?" he asked nervously as he stared up at the behemoth of a man.
"You know it, bitch," the gigantic man answered in as best a high pitched voice he could physically manage. "But Milton summoned sweet little Koneko, not some big lug like you."
"Yeah, sorry about that but Koneko was double-booked tonight," Ben apologised to Milton, wiping off the few beads of sweat off his forehead, brought on by the intense stare he was receiving from the giant man. "I'm her replacement."
Milton continued to stare at Ben for a few more seconds before he spoke again. "Fair enough, cupcake. Milton wants you to turn her into a real magical fairy princess. If you do that, I'll let you lick my lollipop."
Ben chuckled humourlessly. "I don't know how to tell you this, Milton, but I don't think I can do that sorry. I'm still a newbie Devil and I can't do stuff like that yet. Is there anything else I can do for you?" he asked, hoping there was something else he could do so he wouldn't have to go back to Rias emptyhanded.
Milton was clearly dejected by Ben's news, but quickly recovered when a thought came to him and he abruptly took Ben's hand in his own massive paws and drew him closer to him. "In that case, there's something else I want you to do for me. Come with me."
Turning around, Milton moved further into the apartment, dragging Ben behind him like he was a doll. Ben merely groaned, wondering what just what exactly he had gotten himself into.
. . . . .
"That was, without any shadow of a doubt, both the worst and strangest thing I have ever done in my entire life," Ben moaned as he walked down the road back to the clubroom.
"Oh stop moaning, you big baby," Rias replied from the phone Ben was holding up to his ear. "You completed the contract didn't you?"
"yeah, yeah, I completed the stupid contract," Ben said as he held his payment for the service he provided for the contract; a limited edition magical fairy princess doll. In order to obtain it, Ben had been forced to sit through over three hours of the magical fairy princess anime. He might not have minded it that much if he wasn't forced to act as a cuddling doll for the behemoth of a cosplayer. It was the most awkward situation he had ever been in, and that included his mum walking in on him resting his face in between Rias' breasts.
"Good," Rias replied in his ear. "Are you sure you don't want me to bring you back via a magic circle? It's so much quicker than walking."
"I'll walk thanks," Ben said quickly, his mind already made up. "I need to compose myself after the ordeal I've just been through. I'll see you soon."
"Fine," Rias said, knowing he had made his mind up. "I'll see you soon then. Bye."
"Bye," Ben said before he hung up his phone. Putting it back in his bag, he took out the doll from his bag and examined it. It was still inside its packaging, making it worth something, not that Ben had any concept of valuing collector's items. He looked at it and grimaced as the only thing it made him do was relive that traumatic experience not more than fifteen minutes ago.
"Who thought something like this could make me feel nauseous," Ben said with a dry chuckle before putting the doll back in his bag to keep it safe from any accidents.
As he progressed down the road, Ben glanced up at the night sky to see the sky lit up by the millions upon millions of stars in the sky and couldn't help but admire how beautiful it looked. His gaze returned back down to Earth when he realised that it was quiet around him, a bit too quiet. Ben shrugged and carried on. 'Come on Ben,' he chastised himself, 'Just because you were almost killed twice in two days, it doesn't mean that there's a killer around each and every corn-.'
Before Ben could even finish that innocent thought, something came flying out of the shadows and hit him full force, knocking him off his feet and crashing into the empty deserted warehouse behind him. He went through the thin wooden warehouse wall, breaking it into splinters as he hit the floor and skidded across it for a few feet until he came to an abrupt when he hit the opposite wall with a dull thud.
'I just had to open my fucking mouth, didn't I?' Ben thought as he wiped off the small bead of blood trickling down the corner of his mouth as he rose to his feet to confront his attacker. He looked around himself, only to see he was in near perfect darkness. For some reason, there was something very strange about that sentence but he just couldn't think why.
it then struck him on the head like a sledgehammer. He was a devil! He was meant to be able to see through the darkness as though it were nothing. If that was the case, then why couldn't he see no further than ten feet in front of him? That shouldn't be happening.
"What the hell is going on?!" Ben asked himself with slight fear in his voice. With a small flash of light, his Sacred Gears appeared on his arms and held them up to his face, adopting a basic defensive pose. He had no idea how they worked but he felt a lot safer than without them right now.
Just as he was about to wonder if something else was going to happen, a dark figure rushed through the darkness at an incredible speed, shoulder charging Ben back into the wall behind him, knocking the wind out of him completely. Before Ben fell to the floor again though, the dark shadowy figure reappeared from the darkness and held Ben up against the wall by his throat, though not tightly enough to start actually choking the dazed Devil.
When Ben's eyesight returned to normal as opposed to being blurry from his impact with the wall, he saw that his attacker, his eyes widening in shock at what he saw. Rather than another Fallen Angel, as he expected, coming after his life again he was looking at what looked like a wisp of pitch darkness. It looked like it was made entirely out of the shadows…but it had its hand around his throat so it had some kind of physical presence.
"Who the fuck are you?" Ben gasped from his vulnerable position, trying his best to stay calm and collected which was proving to be incredibly difficult. "And what do you want?"
The figure looked at him for a moment before Ben suddenly heard a voice emit from it. A cold voice with no emotion in it at all. "Nothing that you need to worry about," it hissed menacingly.
Before Ben could ask anything else, the shadowy figure, brought its free fist up and struck Ben in the side of the head with enough calculated force to not hurt his prey but to merely render him unconscious.
Just as its Master wanted.
The shadowy figure laid Ben's unconscious form onto the ground and knelt down in front of his head. He brought his left hand up to Ben's head and started to mutter some words in a language that had been dead for millennia. As he finished his incantation, one of his wisp-like fingers dropped off his hand, only to be immediately replaced by another. The finger which fell to the floor, slithered across the ground towards Ben and, when it reached him, the tendril of dark energy entered Ben's head through his ear, quickly disappearing inside the prone devil's head to start its task.
The tendril wasn't going to kill the young ex-human. That wasn't what Master wanted. No, Master wouldn't want to simply kill Him, it was certain that Master would want to destroy Him completely and utterly in person.
When the tendril disappeared into Ben's head, the shadowy figure placed his hand on top of Ben's head and muttered a memory alteration spell which works on Devils and would make the target forget their entire meeting and, just for good measure, the figure threw a handful of raven-black bird feathers around Ben's body.
With his work complete, the wisp-like creature stood up again and waved his hand, signalling the others that they were done here. In an instant, the darkness seemed to evaporate as the many shadowy tendrils of dark energy dispersed until, after only a few seconds, the warehouse was completely empty except for an unconscious Devil and a handful of scattered bid feathers as the shadowy figure followed after its lackeys to return to its master.
. . . . .
(An hour later)
[BUZZ, BUZZ, BUZZ, BUZZ…]
Ben's eyes opened groggily and without moving his head, reached into his bag with his right hand and pulled out his phone to see it was Rias calling him.
'What could she want?' Ben thought with confusion. 'I only just finished talking with her.'
He answered the call and put the phone up to his ear. "Hello?" he said, keeping his confusion in check for now.
"Where the hell are you?!" Rias' voice cried out from the phone. "I've been waiting for you to return for the last hour and you haven't shown up."
"What are you talking about?" Ben asked, his confusion returning, even greater than before. "I only just hung up on you like a few seconds ago."
"That was over an hour ago," she repeated. Ben's eyes widened at her words and pulled his phone away from his ear, only to see that she was right. An entire hour had passed since he had last spoken to her.
'But that doesn't make any sense,' he thought, his mind abuzz with questions. He returned his attention back to his phone. "What the hell happened to me?"
"I was rather hoping that you could tell me that," Rias replied. "I was getting worried and was just about to send Kiba and Koneko out to look for you."
"I don't know what happened," Ben replied truthfully as he scratched the back of his head which was hurting like buggery for some reason. "The last thing I remember was walking down the street after I finished talking to you, then nothing. The next thing I recall is waking up to you calling me on my phone just now. I don't know what…," Ben trailed off when he looked down at the floor in front of him. "…happened," he concluded as he crouched down to the ground and picked up one of the black feathers at his feet.
"What is it, Ben?" Rias asked, sensing that he had found something.
"I think…," Ben replied, holding up the feather to his face, "…I was just attacked by a Fallen Angel." He looked down at himself to see he had some bruises and scuffs along his body and, though he ached in some places, he wasn't as hurt as he would have expected after surviving a fight against one, especially after what happened the last two times he encountered one.
"What?!" Rias exclaimed with surprise. "Get back here. Right. now." With that, Rias hung up the phone and Ben gulped as he sensed the anger in her voice. Not wanting to make her any angrier than she clearly already was, Ben picked up his bag and ran out of the warehouse, down the road towards the clubroom, trying to come up with some form of explanation for Rias when he got there.
. . . . .
He had nothing.
When he got back to the clubroom, noting that everyone else had returned from their contracts for the night, he was immediately pounced upon by Rias who started bombarding him questions that he just couldn't answer truthfully. He had no memory of what happened to him after he finished his original conversation with Rias before he was supposedly attacked by a Fallen Angel.
After a few minutes of continuous questioning, Rias slumped back in her chair and sighed heavily. "Well, I suppose I should just be grateful that you're okay. But please bear in mind that, in the future, you should refrain from fighting a Fallen Angel on your own. As I've said before, it's disrespectful towards us and you have no experience in combat."
"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Ben said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head.
"On a different note…," Rias said, changing the subject. "…Do you have the payment for that job you did tonight?"
"Oh yeah," Ben confirmed and began rummaging through his bag, shortly after he released a small groan and everyone around him could hear him mutter a faint, "Oh no."
"What's wrong?" Rias asked as she looked back at him only to sigh when he pulled out the collector's edition magical fairy princess doll to reveal to everyone that it had been crumpled and its arm had actually snapped off as a result of Ben's mysterious attack.
"Sorry about this, Rias," Ben apologised, bowing his head in addition to his words, as he placed the doll on her desk and stepping back slightly.
Rias rubbed her temple with a sigh of exasperation. "What am I going to do with you?" she asked absentmindedly while Ben chuckled nervously. "I guess I can forgive you this time as it wasn't your fault that you were attacked tonight, so I'll let you off this time, but don't let it happen again, okay?"
"Yeah, got it," Ben said quickly, happy that he wasn't going to be punished for something he couldn't control.
. . . . .
The rest of the evening was spent with Rias and the others discussing the contracts they did tonight and what payment they received for them, though Ben wasn't really listening as he was far more interested in trying to find out more about his new Sacred Gears. One thing he quickly figured out was that the dial on the back of the emerald gauntlet seemed integral to what the mysterious Gear could do. His exploring also led him to appreciate the way his crimson gauntlet was designed as the fingerless glove-style it sported gave him access to fiddle with his emerald gauntlet without difficulty. It could've been difficult to use otherwise he imagined as he probed the device further.
As he continued to ignore Rias and the others while he explored his Gears, his fingers brushed against the side of the dial which clearly hit something important as the dial suddenly sprang up an inch out of the back of his hand. He slowly stood up from his seat, his eyes never leaving the back of his hand.
"What's up, Ben?" Kiba asked him, seeing him stand up from his seat but he was ignored as all of Ben's attention was currently diverted towards the dial.
He cautiously touched the dial and was surprised to see that the dial could turn. He continued to turn the dial and was shocked when small holograms of strange creatures and beasts suddenly sprang up out of the centre of the dial to stand at around four inches in height. He continued to spin the dial for a while before deciding to stop on a hologram at random. It appeared, at first glance, to be a creature composed of rock and fire.
"What the heck is this thing?" he asked, turning back to the others and holding out his left arm to them, showing the strange creature standing on his arm.
Rias narrowed her eyes as she looked at the hologram on his arm, moving closer to Ben so as to get a better look at the hologram of the creature.
But before she could take more than a few steps towards him or even make a rudimentary guess as to the creature's identity, Ben's curiosity got the better of him and, before he even knew it, he pressed the dial back down into the gauntlet. As soon as the dial hit the base of the gauntlet, he was suddenly engulfed in a bright emerald green light, causing all of them to either cover or avert their eyes from the brilliant light. Once the light had died down again, everyone returned their gaze back to Ben. As they did so, they all let out gasps of varying volume, their eyes wide at the sight before them.
Ben had seemed to have disappeared into thin air, and in his place there stood the very same creature that he was showing to them mere seconds ago. It was a creature completely composed of magma and covered over by brownish rocks with thin lines of magma to streak across his body. The head of the strange creature seemed to float in fire which rose out of where his neck should have been, holding his head in place. The other thing everybody noticed was the intense heat. The sudden wave of hot air which it released caused the other members of the ORC to take a step back in surprise.
Ben wasn't aware of what happened, not even that he had grown around two feet in height. He was looking at everyone who were looking back at him, totally dumbstruck. It was at this point in time that Ben slowly looked down at himself and saw his new body. Understandably, he freaked out.
"Wow," Kiba muttered in amazement.
"What happened to me!" Ben shouted with fear, confusion, and shock. The last thing he needed in his life was to be stuck like this for the rest of his life.
Rias was the first to speak. "I don't know what you did Ben, but it looks like you've transformed into a demon from the Underworld. From what I can tell, you've become a Pyronite," She said still reeling from what happened to her newest, and now most intriguing servant.
"What? Are you saying I'm a demon now? What the heck is a 'Pyronite'?" Ben bombarded her with questions that anyone in his position would naturally do, hoping for quick and clear answers.
"As you may not already know," Rias began to explain to him. "When the original Devil, Lucifer, fell from Heaven, he used his great power to create the Underworld, a world the same size as this Earth, but intended to be a home for us Devils. As the population of devils is miniscule compared to humans, the vast majority of the Underworld is considered wild and usually avoided due to the other unique lifeforms which came into existence with the Underworld; each with their own unique abilities, lifestyle, and powers. Even after the Fallen Angels came to the Underworld to live after being cast out of Heaven, the total area of land inhabited by our two races still barely exceed greater than around 15% at the very most! The rest of the Underworld belongs to the demons and monsters. Some demons were small and generally liked to be left alone while the largest demons in the Underworld have been known to have the same level of power as a Satan-class Devil, the most powerful of our race, and there were even some ancient powerful demons which are stronger than even the four Devil kings!"
Ben whistled at this, his interest in the Devil world and its geography increasing greatly at these words. If he was now a part of it, he might as well commit to it.
"This particular demon which you have turned into is what we call a Pyronite. If what I remember from my lessons back in the Underworld is correct, they're a relatively powerful race which live in or around the numerous volcanoes that dot the Underworld landscape. They have the power to create and manipulate fire and are on par with a mid-level Devil on their own."
"This is actually pretty cool," Ben said as the initial shock of his transformation slowly subsided, only to be replaced by curiosity as he started moving his arms and hands in slow, deliberate movements, getting a better feel of his new body. Another flash of light, though a lot less brilliant than before, suddenly engulfed Ben for a second before it diminished to reveal Ben back in his normal form. A sudden wave of exhaustion washed over him and he wobbled slightly before his legs gave in and he fell to his knees.
"Ben! Are you alright?" Rias asked with a tone of concern as Kiba and Koneko rushed over to him and helped him to his feet before quickly guiding him back to the sofa where he sat down. Ben collected himself after several deep breaths before replying to Rias' question. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just suddenly felt very weak all of a sudden, that's all. It's already passing." He got his breathing back under control and sat upright again.
"Good," Rias said, releasing a sigh of relief. She looked back at the green gauntlet with a look of intrigue. "It appears at a glance that this Gear…." She gestured to the green gauntlet, "…gives you the ability to transform into a demon, possibly more if those other projections you looked through suggest anything."
Akeno stepped up and stood beside Rias, equally curious about this new development. "Has there ever been such a Sacred Gear before?" she asked with intrigue.
[Never before has there been one such as I,] a deep voice suddenly spoke out, the voice reverberating around the clubroom, surprising everyone by its intensity.
"Who said that?" Ben asked, also looking for where the voice came from.
[It was I,] the voice called out again in the same intense voice.
Ben came to the sudden realisation, as did everyone else around him, that the voice had come from his left arm. They all looked down at it in mixtures of shock and amazement.
"Who are you?" Ben asked, his eyes wide at the thought of something possessing the gauntlet attached to his arm.
[Allow me to introduce myself, young one. My name is Azmuth, the Dragon God of life. The Gear which you wield on your left arm is known as the Transformation Drive. I am what you would call one of the Dragon Gods, the All-Father to all Dragonkind! Equal in power to Ophis and only surpassed by Great Red.]
"You're Azmuth?!" Rias exclaimed in shock, putting her hand to her mouth to hide the gasp which threatened to spill from her mouth. The other devils reacted in a similar way, shocked at this development, though Ben was just as confused, if not more so, than before.
Ben held up his hands, "Wait a minute, wait a minute. Time out here. Still a newbie devil, you know. So you're telling me that there's a Dragon God residing in my left arm? And if you're in my left hand, is there someone in my right hand?"
[Indeed there is, young one. The dragon who resides in there is my eldest child, the Red Dragon Emperor, Ddraig. He is in a state of slumber currently and will only awaken when you have grown stronger, young master Tennyson,] Azmuth said slowly, his rich voice sending shivers up Ben's spine.
"whoa, whoa, whoa there just a second. Are you trying to tell me that the Welsh Dragon himself now lives in my right arm?" Ben asked, his eyes growing even wider than before.
There was a short silence before Azmuth replied. [Yes, young one. I do recall him being referred to as such. Why? Is that important?] the Dragon God asked with slight confusion at the look of amazement on Ben's face.
The others looked at Ben's excited look on his face and were just as confused as Azmuth was. "What's wrong, Ben?" Akeno asked him.
"Bloody hell!" Ben exclaimed and ran his left hand over the crimson gauntlet. "This is incredible! I actually have Ddraig himself in my right arm."
"Is that important?" Kiba asked, curiously.
Ben looked up at Kiba and the others, noting their confusion. "You know that I told you guys that I'm British." They all nodded slowly. "Well, I was actually born in Wales…and Ddraig is the Dragon that's portrayed by the Welsh flag! He is my country's signature creature, The Welsh Dragon," he said, still shocked from the revelation and more than a bit giddy.
The others nodded slowly, now understanding the reason he had acted the way he did. He ran his hand over the crimson gauntlet one more time before another question popped into his head. "If the Welsh Dragon lives in my right arm and you're his father…who exactly are you then?"
[I think I'll let the young Gremory answer that,] Azmuth said simply as Ben, eager for answers, looked up at Rias with intrigue as she tore her gaze away from Azmuth's Gear and looked back up at Ben.
"W-Well…as we said before Ben; The world of Devils, Angels, and Fallen Angels also includes demons as well as other creatures on Earth as well as the Underworld. The most powerful race of creatures in both worlds are the Dragons; creatures of incredible strength and power. They had their own hierarchy of leadership, completely separate from the other three races, with the two Heavenly Dragons at the top of the Earthly realm before ascending to the Dragon Gods themselves.
Even before the Great war between our three factions, the three Dragon Gods would keep to themselves. They were Great Red, Ophis, and Azmuth. Although they general kept to themselves, Azmuth was the only God out of those three to directly involve himself in Earthly affairs of any kind. Legend tells how he aided God with the creation of life on Earth, and that he even aided God in creating the Sacred Gears to pass down to Humanity.
[The legends were true, young Gremory. I was a close friend to God and aided Him with the creation of His miracles. As I am known as the Dragon God of Life, I care for all forms of life and created the Dragon race to be the ultimate species of adaption besides God's humans that is.]
"So what does your Sacred Gear actually do, if I may be so bold?" Akeno asked politely, bowing her head ever so slightly for good measure.
[You may, miss Himejima,] Azmuth replied warmly. [As the young Gremory theorised, my Gear allows its wielder to transform into the many races in both the natural and supernatural worlds with either magical power or the potential to develop it. It also allows the user to absorb the DNA of any species with a single touch. At its full power, you will be able to transform into the most powerful beings in creation, though you are very far from that, young one.]
"This is incredible! This explains so much! I never imagined I would be meeting you," Rias said with excitement, bowing to the gauntlet.
[There is no need to bow, I know who you are, young one. You are Rias Gremory, a member of the Gremory household, one of the more kind-hearted Devil Houses in my experience. I believe you are trustworthy enough to treat my partner fairly. I will speak to you later, partner, but for now I must sleep,] the ancient dragon said before returning into the depths of the Sacred Gear to sleep.
The room was quiet for a while as Ben sat in his seat, waiting for someone to break the silence while the others simply stood where they were, totally dumbstruck by the recent turn of events. This state of silence continued until Ben coughed bringing everyone back to the here and now.
It was Rias who spoke first. "Well I never imagined in a thousand years that I would encounter the Dragon All-Father himself," she muttered with exasperation before continuing. "This is certainly unexpected. Never before, in all the Gremory family history has the all-mighty Azmuth ever actually revealed himself to anyone other than God Himself. Only He spoke to Azmuth if you don't count the other Dragon Gods."
Everyone was brought out of their stupor when Rias audibly cleared her throat to get everyone's attention, announcing that it was time for everyone to head home as it had gotten very late without them noticing and so they all wished each other a good night and made their way home.
. . . . .
The next morning saw Ben slowly making his way to school a little earlier than he normally would so that he could go over some of the things that had been discussed last night.
He held his left arm, devoid of his Sacred Gear, and recalled what he had been told last night. 'So I have a Dragon God living inside my left arm and the fucking Welsh Dragon himself in my right?! I have say that it could have been worse.'
His attention was so lost in his own little world he failed to spot the person he walked straight into, her small squeal of surprise being the only thing that brought him back to his senses.
'Oh shit, I hit someone,' he thought with embarrassment, blinking his eyes as he returned to Earth as he looked down to see the person he had hit and help her up. He froze, however, when she turned around to look up at him he froze where he stood and simply stared at her.
She was a nun! He just had to knock over a nun of all people.
He instantly knew that she was a nun because of the familiar dark teal habit she wore and the white veil which covered her head, leaving only her face slightly exposed as she looked up at him.
Ben suddenly realised he was staring and, with his cheeks turning pink in embarrassment, he bent down and held out his hand for her to take. He did knock her down after all; it was the decent thing to do by helping her back up to her feet.
"Crap, sorry about that. Are you alright?" he asked apologetically as he extended his hand to her.
"It's fine, thank you very much," the young nun said in an incredibly cute voice as she took Ben's hand as he quickly pulled her back up onto her feet. No sooner had he got her back up onto her feet that a sudden breeze swept past them, sending her white veil sailing into the air. It was only due to Ben's quick reflexes that he caught it before the wind carried it to who knows where.
"That was close. Here you…," Ben started but halted when he looked back to see her uncovered face. "…go," he muttered, his voice trailing off as his eyes couldn't look away from her.
She was extremely pretty. That was the only thing he could think of to describe if not simply downright beautiful. She had pretty pale green eyes and long blonde hair which was blowing sideways slightly due to the breeze. She had a flawless face which radiated an aura of pure innocence which only held him in place where he stood, transfixed by that and her beauty.
"Thank you very much," she said sweetly as she placed the veil back on her head and securing it so it wouldn't fall off again. When that was done, she looked back up at Ben with an embarrassed expression on her face. "I'm sorry to ask this of you, but I'm afraid I'm a little bit lost. Would you be able to help me?" she asked timidly before sporting an incredibly cute smile that made Ben's cheeks turn even redder than before.
"Uh…sure," Ben replied, casting a quick glance at his phone to see that he had some time before he was late for school. As the two of them began walking the young nun was heading before Ben knocked her over, Ben looked down at her and asked the question he had in his head. "So are you moving here? Or are you just visiting?" Ben asked, gesturing to the suitcase she held in her hands which thankfully didn't burst open when he knocked her over.
"Oh yes, I have actually been sent here to help out the church in this town, and got lost when I was searching for it. But thankfully I bumped into you," she replied kindly.
"Sorry again about that," Ben said, still feeling guilty for knocking her over.
"It's fine, really," she said sweetly with a beaming smile.
"By the way," Ben said, holding out his hand to her. "My name is Benjamin Tennyson, but I prefer to be called Ben."
The blonde-haired girl smiled up at him and took his hand with her own gentle, soft, and slender hand, shaking it slightly. "Hi, my name is Asia Argento. It's so nice to meet you, Ben. Forgive me for prying but with a name like Tennyson, I can't help but believe that you are a foreigner like me then."
"Sure am," Ben replied with a small smile of his own. Why was it so easy to talk to her? He looked back in front of him as they continued on down the street. "So you're looking for the church in this area, huh?" Asia nodded her head at his question. "I think I remember the way there from here. Shouldn't be too far from where we're standing."
"Thank you for going out of your way to do this, Ben," she said innocently before putting her hands together in prayer, "Thank you Lord for sending unto me a…." Ben suddenly felt an extremely sharp pain erupt in his head and he clutched his head with a sharp hiss of pain escaping his lips. 'What the hell was that?!' he thought as the pain disappeared as quickly as it came.
Asia noticed his actions, "Are you alright?" she asked with concern.
"I'm fine, just a headache. I'll be alright after a while," he said, still holding his hand to his head.
Asia looked like she was about to say something but before she could say anything about it, they both turned their heads at the sudden sound of a crying child a few feet away from them.
Without any hesitation, Asia ran over to the young boy and knelt down by his side and held out her hand over his injured knee and, much to Ben's surprise, summoned a green light from a ring which suddenly appeared on the middle finger of her left hand. Even as he watched, the light washed over the boy's injured knee, healing it completely after only a few seconds.
'She's got a Sacred Gear too?!' Ben thought as he watched the scene take place before him.
"There you go, all better," Asia said kindly to the boy and ran back over to Ben.
They continued to make their way towards the church in silence for a few minutes before Ben decided to break the silence between them.
"So…what was with that thing you did back there?" He decided to pretend he was totally ignorant about Sacred Gears.
"Oh that. It's a special healing power that was given to me by God," she said though Ben could hear a slight hint of sadness in her voice and guessed that there was some history between her and the church concerning her power, though he didn't want to say anything and bring up a sensitive subject.
The two of them turned a corner and, before they knew it, were standing face to face with the church they were looking for.
"Well, here you are then," Ben gestured up at the church before feeling a sudden chill run up his spine as he looked towards the church entrance. 'What the hell's going on now? First the headache from Asia praying and now this. I'll have to ask Rias about it when I get back,' he thought as he turned his attention back to the young nun.
"Would you like to come inside?" Asia asked kindly, looking up at him. "I could make you some tea if you like."
"I'm sorry but I have to go otherwise I'll be late for school," Ben apologised as he began to slowly back away from the church. "It was very nice meeting you," he said, bowing in farewell. He noticed that she seemed put down by his answer.
"Oh alright then. It was wonderful meeting someone as nice as you. I hope we meet again," she said cheerily.
"Sure, anytime. If you need any help, just try looking for me," he replied as he turned and started running back down the street towards school. Not noticing Asia waving to him, and then entering the church interior.
. . . . .
(After school)
"You must never go near that church again, Ben," Rias told him sternly.
He had managed to get to school with plenty of time to spare. It was another boring day by Ben's standards and he was on his way to the clubroom through the old school building when he stumbled across Rias in a dimly lit corridor. She was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed and a serious look on her face.
"Why? Is there a problem with going there?" he replied with confusion, surprised at her sudden sternness.
"That church, as well as other places of worship are considered enemy territory. Did you not feel anything when you were near it, or when you were even looking at it?" she asked with a serious tone of voice.
"Yeah, now that you mention it, I did feel a chill run up my spine. It was certainly unexpected, but why did it do that?" he asked, perplexed with what he experienced.
Rias looked at him "That was your devil senses telling you to avoid it at all costs. Not only do we fight Angels and Fallen Angels, we also have to deal with exorcists. These are humans affiliated with the church who wield Sacred Gears. This is because God ensured that humans were the only race who could use and inherit Sacred Gears. Think of it as God's way of levelling the playing field when he created them millennia ago."
"Ben…," Rias continued as she approached him and coming to a stop in front of him. "It's very important for you to remember that if you are killed by a Sacred Gear or a weapon of Light then it will be impossible to bring you back. You become nothing; you simply cease to exist!"
"Are you serious!?" Ben responded, feeling another chill go up his spine.
[The young Gremory speaks the truth, young one,] Azmuth said as a green glow of light, exactly where the dial on his gauntlet would be, suddenly appeared, startling the both of them.
"Azmuth, you're awake again!" Ben exclaimed as he brought his arm up to his chest. He hadn't revealed himself since last night.
[Yes. As I was saying, Sacred Gears and Light weapons were originally designed by God with the specific intent of killing Devils, and Fallen Angels later on. I should know after all, I helped design them initially before I disappeared from this Dimension in self-isolation upon discovering what God intended to use them for.]
"Shit! So you're saying you helped create these Sacred Gear things," Ben exclaimed incredulously. Rias looked equally shocked at this.
[Well, yes and no. Only God has the ability to give the Sacred Gears their power! I only helped with the initial designs and construction of the Gears,] Azmuth clarified before returning to his slumber.
When they were certain that Azmuth was gone for the moment, Rias continued. "It's just as serious as Azmuth said, Ben. You must not underestimate the danger that Light weapons and exorcists possess," she reiterated as she crossed her arms under her large breasts.
"Okay, Rias," Ben muttered, hanging his head low, dejected. "I'll stay away from that place from now on."
Rias sighed at Ben's dejected face. "I'm sorry, Ben. I've been a bit worked up recently and was probably a bit too harsh on you. Come on now, we'd best head to the clubroom," Rias said as she led the way to the clubroom.
"Right behind you," Ben stated as he followed, still reeling from Azmuth's words.
. . . . .
(later)
Ben was sitting alone in the clubroom. Kiba and Koneko had gone out to contracts and he knew that Akeno was somewhere with Rias. He noticed how she rarely left Rias' side.
Ben was thinking; not about Azmuth this time, but about what Rias had told him about the church and how she forbade him from going anywhere near there. He had been too busy being scolded by her that he didn't get the chance to ask her about the strange chill he got when Asia said that prayer.
"She did sound pretty angry with me," he muttered to himself as he leant back into the sofa he was sat on.
"She's not angry with you, you know, just concerned for you," Akeno's voice suddenly spoke up in his right ear.
Ben jumped in shock and fell off the sofa and onto the floor. He looked around to see Akeno with her chin resting on the sofa with a bright smile on her face as she looked at him. "I'm sorry. Did I startle you?" she asked innocently, her innocent smile still on her face.
Ben grabbed his chest where his heart was as he took a few deep breaths to calm himself, "Bloody hell Akeno! Don't do that."
Akeno just giggled and stood up, "I'm sorry Ben," she whined sweetly, though that smile of hers betrayed her true feelings. "But what I said is true, you know. Rias cares for all of her servants, more so than most other Devils."
Rias took this moment to enter the room. She looked at Ben and a small smirk appeared on her lips "This is no time to be lying down on the floor Ben!" she said in mock irritation. Akeno just giggled again.
Ben was looking between the two of them. "But… it wasn't…. It was…. Oh forget it," he said as he got back onto the sofa, Akeno still giggling at his expense. "Anyway. What are you doing here, Akeno? I thought you had already gone home for the night."
Akeno's face suddenly became serious as she turned towards Rias. "I have just received word from the Arch-Duke. There is a stray devil on the loose and we have been tasked with taking care of it. Kiba and Koneko have already been told and will meet us there," she said professionally.
Rias' own expression became just as serious as Akeno's was and nodded in acknowledgement. "Very well, let's go then," she said as she summoned a magic circle in the middle of the room.
Ben got up and joined Rias and Akeno in the magic circle as they vanished, to parts unknown to carry out the grizzly task.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A/N: And that's the end of another chapter. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
What did you think of that little action scene? That's just the first hint of my own little addition to the DxD story. (Hint: My big boss will be replacing Trihexa in the story)
Now, on to the things I wished to discuss with you all:
Firstly, I have received a review by a reader (thanks for writing that by the way) who was wondering whether I will be adding a Balance Breaker or Juggernaut Drive to the Boosted Gear. To be honest with you all, I wasn't planning on doing it. I was going with the idea that he is already powerful with his transformations which will also include canon and original Ultimate forms (I plan to use the aliens up to and including UAF. I didn't care much for what came after that) and that could make my character too OP for the story. However, this is just as much your story as it is mine so if I get some reviews from people to tell me what they think, I will do my best to include them into my story.
The second thing I want to talk to you about is the naming of my demons. For experienced Ben 10 fans, you'll probably recognise the demon he transformed into was actually Heatblast (I made it him to mimic the first alien Ben turned into in the cartoon). Pyronite was just the name of the species. I want my story to be different from other Ben 10 stories and that includes the naming. My intention is to have Azmuth shout out the name of the species name instead of Ben's little nickname for them. But again, if you guys want me to stick to the recognised names then I will do so.
Please leave a review so I can tell what you think of my story and until next week: That's all folks!