Chapter 25: Dark Place
A/N: 25 chapters officially done! I know it may seem like I'm dragging it along, but due to the FanFiction app keeping the word count around 2K per chapter, I have to drag it out, whether I like it or not. But anyway, for those of you who are wondering why Adrian is acting the way his is acting, this chapter will partially explain that. Enjoy!
Adrian slowly opened his eyes, rubbing his head as he looked around with his one weary eye,
"Where...where am I?" He wondered aloud. His eye eventually adjusted, and he saw he was in a familiar black expanse, with no landmarks or describable features, "Wha...? I know this place..."
"It's where you and I first met," said a familiar voice, one that made Adrian turn on his spot on the ground, and could hardly believe his eye as he saw a male figure, no older than himself, completely encased in boneshell, dressed exactly like Adrian, right down to the eyepatch.
Adrian could only stare at the man in shock,
"You...you're me!"
"Heh, you could say that," said the Boneshell Adrian, striding in circles around the one eyed devil.
"But...what's going on? Why are we here? Why can't I move or feel my legs?" Asked Adrian, and on the last question he pointed to his limp legs, referring to his inability to move them.
"I'll get to that," said Boneshell Adrian, "but first I have to ask; what all do you remember?" Adrian paused, looked down to the ground and thought back to his earliest memory,
"Well...I remember going after Koneko with Damon, Issei and Rias..."
"Mhmm..."
"Then...I remember meeting Konekos' sister, Bikou, that cloaked man, and..."
"Darius Zafar," the Boneshell Adrian finished, "the man you asked Rias not to give you details of in case you should ever meet him in real life." Adrian looked up at his Boneshell self, his one eye brimming with irritation,
"Yep. That's the one."
"So what do you remember next?" Asked the Boneshell Adrian.
"Then...I felt my mouth moving, but I don't know what words were coming out," Adrian thought aloud, truly not remembering what he had said, "then I speared Darius into the forest...and then...nothing."
"You remember nothing after that?" The Boneshell asked.
"Not a thing," said Adrian, "after that, I woke up in this dark place." The Boneshell Adrian turned away, a smile crossing his skull-like mask covered face out of Adrians' line of sight,
"Pity," he said, "that means you don't remember the number we did on Darius." Adrians' eye widened as he turned his body towards his boneshell self, still unable to move his legs,
"What do you mean 'the number we did on him?' What did we do?" Asked Adrian, his concern rising.
"Well, what do guys normally do when they find the shit who fucked the woman they love?" Adrian felt his breath trembling, his concern rising higher than before as the Boneshell Adrian continued, "I broke more than a few of his bones, left more than a few cuts from Yamato and his own sword, then, before we were going to punch his head off his shoulders, we iced the cake by popping his eyes in his skull."
"WHAT?!!" Adrian practically roared.
"So he could never lay eyes on your precious Rias ever again, not even in death," finished the Boneshell proudly, until he noticed Adrians' form oozing rage as he spewed curses with a venom laced tone at his Boneshell self,
"YOU EVIL SON OF A BITCH!!" Adrian shouted, "I wanted to hurt Darius, not brutalize him!! I didn't even want to kill him!!"
"Well you're lucky on that last part," said Boneshell Adrian, "because after we popped his eyes, but before we could take his head off, your precious Ruined Bitchess shot you with some dark energy, cracked a certain vertebra, and now you're paralyzed from the waist down." Right when Boneshell Adrian finished speaking, Adrian paused, then looked down to his legs, and tried one more feeble attempt to move them,
"I'm...paralyzed...?"
"From the waist down," said the Boneshell, "but don't worry, I'm pretty sure that pretty blonde with Twilight Healing you passed to Issei could heal them...pretty sure..." Adrian looked up at his Boneshell self with alarm at the words 'pretty sure,' "...but if she can't, I got another method that could help you..." Adrian gave his Boneshell self a distrustful glare, "...let me take the wheel. I'll heal your legs, give your powers much needed 'oomph,' and take you to new heights that would leave your old pal Zeus pissing his boots with blood. What do you say? Partners?" The Boneshell Adrian then held out a hand, offering a handshake, which Adrian stared at, and raised an eyebrow in response,
"How do I know that this won't be like that time at the mirror house?" He asked, remembering when he lost control and almost bit the head off of an already dead vampire.
"Hey, I'm a part of you, aren't I?" Asked Boneshell Adrian, "I helped you take the fight to Zeus in Slenders forest. We fought as one, and you had no problem with it. Who can you trust more than yourself?" Adrian paused, thinking carefully, then slowly, hesitantly began holding his hand out to his Boneshell self, until a distinctive crack was heard, like thunder among the silence, and Adrian felt a tingle in his legs, and slowly began to stand himself on the black ground, smiling to himself in relief,
"My legs...!" Boneshell Adrian frowned at Adrians' speedy recovery,
"So I guess your blonde sloppy seconds can heal your legs," he muttered to himself, but masked his disappointment with a smile, "but never fear, my offer still stands. When you find yourself in a position that you feel is your most weakest..." Boneshell briefly tapped his temple knowingly, "...you know where to find me."
Adrians' eye shot open, finding himself back at the now empty reception, the majority of the room in disarray, seated on the floor while propped against the wall where the devil kings were once gathered, with Pennie and Asia crouched next to him, the latter of which was using her Twilight Healing to heal his wounds.
"Pennie? Asia? What happened?" He asked.
"When you, Damon, Koneko, Rias and Issei all dissappeared, some god named Loki showed up with his...son, I guess? And they both began tearing the place up."
"Then when the devil king Beelzebub made them disappear, we saw Damon and Issei carrying you in," said Asia, "then Rias told us that you turned into a stray devil again, I got so worried!" Said Asia, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.
Adrian turned, seeing Rias reporting to Sirzechs and Grayfia, while Issei was standing in place of Damon, unintentionally hassling Katrina about Thatans' fight against Loki and Fenrir,
"Just answer me this, before Damon asks you himself," said Issei. He turned his eyes to a piece of paper with several questions scribbled on it, "'was he just as handsome as he was in The Avengers?' Seriously, Damon?"
"It wasn't Tom Hiddleston, you moron!" Katrina snapped. Issei held his arms up in a defensive position before continueing,
"Well then, 'was he at least as hilarious when he was on Supernatural?'"
"That wasn't even Loki!" Said Katrina, "That was Archangel Gabriel pretending to be Loki, and to answer the question, no he wasn't as funny." Damon loudly groaned into the air from the other side of the room,
"That means you guys may as well have duked it out with that spaz from Son of the Mask," he said, still holding onto the empty soda, focusing on his own past.
"What's with Damon?" Katrina asked Issei, "He's usually the one asking stupid questions and making references to almost everything."
"He got quiet and upset when he found out that one of the Chaos Brigade guys had a Devil Bringer arm," Issei whispered. Adrian grew curious, but channeled out of the conversation when he heard Sirzechs speak to Rias,
"So then, you fought his accomplices in the forest?" Asked Sirzechs, wanting to make sure he understood correctly.
"Yes. Bikou, Kuroka, a cloaked man I didn't recognize, and a young man named Darius, too."
"And did they leave our Koneko unharmed?" Asked Sirzechs, turning to the petite devil who was standing close to Damon as he finally stashed the empty can in his coat, and pulling the girl into a hug that lifted her off thr ground, forcing away his past thoughts as he focused on what was in front of him.
"She had a bit of a shock," said Rias truthfully before breaking into a smile, "but she's fine. No surprise though. Koneko is a member of my esteemed household after all."
"Then I made the right decision in giving her to you," said Sirzechs, sharing her smile, "you've become a true master over your household Rias. I'm very proud of you." Rias then dropped her smile, and looked to the side, briefly making eye contact with Adrian before looking to the floor. "Is something wrong Rias?" Sirzechs asked, noticing his younger sisters sudden change in emotion. Rias looked her brother in the eye, opening her mouth to speak, but she couldn't make any words come out.
"It's my fault!" Called Adrian, painfully rising up and popping his back as he approached the two Gremorys and Grayfia. "I let one of them, Darius, get the drop on me, and for some reason, she felt like it was her fault when it was mine," he lied. "I need to get stronger, so then I could protect her better." Sirzechs was surprised, but then nodded his head,
"If you wish, we could have Sairaorg return and train you further."
"Thank you, Sirzechs, but I think this is something I need to do on my own..." Adrian then sighed, and bowed respectfully to the Devil King, "...excuse me." Adrian then took his leave, with Rias and the others watching him as he left the room.
He had just exited the room when he was suddenly turned around by Rias, who was yet again speechless as she tried to speak to Adrian, but he raised a hand up, and asked a question of his own,
"President...why did you attack me and let Darius get away?" Rias was stunned, but soon let her hair shadow her eyes as she spoke,
"It wasn't right...what you did to Darius...it was unlike you. You were never cruel, and what you did, what you have almost done, was the cruelest thing I have ever seen from you." Adrian sighed, then hooked Rias' chin, making her look him in his one eye,
"Then you made the right call in stopping me." Rias then watched as Adrian turned and left once again, this time, the only thing he felt was shame; shame in himself...