Author's Notes:
Firstly, as always, I would like to thank all those who favorite, followed or reviewed my story. Your support is really appreciated and pushes me to try harder.
Secondly, sorry for the slightly late update, but my muse decided to go into several tangents instead of focusing on my ongoing stories and only grudgingly agreed to help after I had written the rough drafts for those tangents, which took some time.
Lastly: I do not own either "HighSchool DxD" or "SwordArtOnline"
\V/
Musings
"So let me see if I got things straight." Rias tiredly asked from her seat inside the Occult Research club room, absentmindedly rubbing her forehead in order to stave off the headache she could all but feel was coming. "Not only did you have the brilliant idea of trying to test a completely unknown ability, that not only seemed to literally break several principles of how Devil powers work, but had already been proven to have caused you serious harm, but also decided to do so completely unsupervised?"
"Well, not exactly unsupervised, I did get Klein, Asuna, Koneko, Asia and Yui to watch over me." Kirito sheepishly said while rubbing the back of his hand, a small embarrassed smile on his face as he stood alongside said girls in front of the couch Rias was sitting.
"My apologies Kirito-kun, let me correct my statement." Rias said in a far too sweet tone of voice that made shivers run down his spine. "You decided to test an unknown, possibly highly dangerous new ability, while being completely unsupervised by anyone that had any idea of how Demonic powers actually work and what could truly go wrong, or how to counter any possible fallback and minimize the damage to you or those around you."
"A technique that, forgoing it's unexplained origins and possible inherently dangerous nature, you decided to try in a park in the middle of the city, despite the fact you suspected that it could actually cause you to, quote unquote, make you go berserk? Did I get it right?" She said with a beaming smile that showed far too many teeth for comfort and did not reach her now gleaming eyes in the slighest. "Am I actually forgetting anything?"
"No, you actually summarized his hare brained idea pretty well." Asuna said with a tired sigh upon noticing her husband clear hesitance in actually answering their [King's] question.
"You know, Asuna, I'm actually surprised you went along with this little debacle." Rias said in a wondering tone, turning her eyes from the sheepish looking black clad [Rook], to the auburn haired [Knight], a curious look entering her features. "Normally you are the one to stop this kind of things, something that I'm quite thankful for. So care to explain what changed this time?"
"Truthfully speaking? Circumstances conspiring against it and the fact I know Kirito far too well." She immediately replied, giving her husband a glare that was a perfect mixture of fondness and exasperation.
"By the time Kirito and the others had told me their 'plan', and subsequently failed to dissuaded them from actually attempting to do it, I had to chose between: Trying to forcefully stop him right there and then, which would only mean that the stubborn knucklehead would most likely try to do so by himself on the sly later on; Leave in order to try and contact you, which would mean he and the others would go ahead with it completely unsupervised; or stay and try to do some damage control upon the whole mess." She dryly stated while giving a small shrug with her shoulders, as if acknowledging the fact none of the options were something she would actually prefer. "In the end I chose to try and minimize the danger and control the fallback as well as I could. I may not like it, but at the time it was the best path available."
"I see your point." Rias finally said after a long moment, her hand lowering itself from her forehead and grabbing a steaming tea cup. "And considering the fact Kirito hasn't fallen into a coma or something, or that the city is still standing and not a smoldering wreck, I suppose the worst case scenario didn't come to pass."
"And we even managed to acquire some data about Papa's transformation!" Yui cheerfully state from her perch upon Knoeko's shoulder, apparently completely unaffected by the earlier tense atmosphere.
"Is that so?" Rias curiously asked, turning her gaze to the small fairy AI, everyone else in the room mimicking her action. "I thought you said Kirito simply curled up and fell asleep? How much data would you be able to get from that?"
"Especially considering how often he already does that." Asuna tacked on with a small smirk, making all the girls in the room to giggle and Kirito to get a small blush on his face.
"While Papa's transformed avatar lack of motion and refusal to partake into any measurable activity did hamper any chance of accurately measuring its physical capabilities, the transformation itself and the data stream and energy transfer it initiated did provide some very interesting readings." Yui explained, her voice completely serious, her eyes locked in the distance as if seeing something else only she could see for a moment before hologram like images appeared around her, showing Kirito's normal form and his bestial form side by side, several extremely complex math equations appearing around both pictures.
"From what I managed to gather through my analyzes of the process, Papa's transformation seemed to only be viable due to the fact it caused the creation of an extremely short lived, two way, partial connection between Papa's mind and some kind of constantly shifting energy plane." Yui continued to explain to her enrapture audience, the image of a stylized multicolored constantly changing energy fractals appearing above both pictures. "From what little I managed to gleam from the connection during the few seconds it remained open, said plane seemed to be constituted from nothing but shapeless, ever shifting, pure energy, energy which seemed to follow the connection straight into Papa's body, providing him the requirements for his transformation to occur."
"So I somehow take energy from somewhere else for the transformation, like from another dimension or something?" Kirito idly asked in slight curiosity, as if the fact his brain was connecting with an unknown energy plane was something minor and easily brushed off.
"Please take this seriously, Kirito-kun." Asuna admonished her husband with a stern look, Koneko and Asia nodding their agreement at her side. "This raises even more question to that particular skill, and until we know more about this 'energy plane' and exactly how interacting with it can affect you, we can't take this lightly."
But before Kirito could apologize for his nonchalant answer, Rias voice cut through the room, the sheer disbelief present on her words gaining everyone's immediate attention, despite the near whisper upon which they were spoken.
"The Dimensional Gap?" Rias whispered, wide incredulous eyes quickly shifting from the data Yui was showing them to her nonchalant looking [Rook]. "You actually managed to open a link to the Dimensional Gap?!"
"Unknown, I do not possess any data regarding the place you are referring to in order to either validate or disprove your enquire." Yui calmly stated, tilting her head slightly as she took in Rias shocked form.
"A formless void plane that stands between all the planes of existence, filled with nothing but ever shifting currents of pure untamed energy." Rias explained in a surprisingly calm tone of voice for her current appearance, her incredulous gaze fixed upon her, now uncomfortably fidgeting, [Rook].
"Eeeh, I take from your reaction that there is something unusual with me being able to do so?" The black clad [Rook] hesitantly asked, the sight of his normally calm and in control [King] pale and slightly panicking face managing to unnerve him slightly.
"You mean besides the point about you somehow surviving the experience?!" She deadpanned back, her voice rising several octaves higher than normal as she started to lose her composure, only for Akeno to place a hand upon her shoulder in a comforting manner.
Staring at her [Queen's] calmly supportive gaze, Rias stopped and forcibly took several deep breaths, re-centering herself for a few moments before giving an apologetic look towards Kirito.
"I apologize for my outburst." Rias truthfully said, a faint tremulous smile upon her face. "But you must understand, the Dimensional Gap remains a near total mystery despite centuries of research being done in an attempt to uncover its mysteries, by Angels, Devils, Fallen and Gods alike, to no avail."
"One of the few things that we do know about this particular plane that seems to connect every known plane of existence together is that, with two extremely unique exceptions to this rule, every being to ever directly interact with it unprotected suffered the exact same fate, they swiftly died the moment they did so." She stated with finality, her words causing a solemn silence to permeate the room as everyone considered what that could mean. "So the fact you managed to actually interact with it, no matter how small and fleeting the connection was, is… well is completely unheard of…"
Staring at her normally lackadaisical [Rook] surprised expression and the worried looks upon the others features, Rias questioned what could possibly be happening and what it could mean for them all.
'We will have to test it further, Yui's analysis could simply be wrong, or she could be picking a completely different plane of existence.' Rias thought, seeking any other explanation to the situation at hand.
After all, to directly interact with the Dimensional Gap was literally a death sentence. Even dragons, with their ability to absorb foreign forms of energy into their bodies in order to empower and improve themselves could not survive in the Gap, even the strongest of their kind having to leave it after mere minutes of exposure lest they be consumed by its ever shifting energy currents, by its eternal void.
'Yes, her analyses has to be wrong, there's got to be another explanation, after all the only two beings who can survive in the Gap are…'
But her train of thought was suddenly cut short, right alongside the tense atmosphere inside the club room, as the double doors to the room were shoved open with a bang, allowing an harried looking, wide eyed, slightly panicking, perverted [Pawn] to swiftly run inside.
"Buuuccchhhooouuu! You got to help me!" Issei shouted at the top of his lungs, running straight towards Rias startled looking form, stopping mere inches away from her. "There is a crazy damned pretty boy Fallen stalking me!"
After taking a moment to process the phrase her dear [Pawn] had just spoken, taking in exactly what the words meant, Rias found herself blinking in utter befuddlement, both her incoming headache and any thoughts about her [Rook's] unknown ability being swept aside for a moment.
Regaining her focus after a moment and taking in her dear [Pawn] frantic looking face, before moving to her other Peerage members looks of confusion and befuddlement, and finally adding it with everything else already going on, Rias simply gave up the fight and surrendered to her urge to face palm.
'And it's still only Tuesday...' Part of her mind could not help but bemoan, silently wondering what else was going to happen before the week was over.
\V/
Walking alongside Akeno, giving the placidly smiling [Queen] uncertain looks from time to time due to how little she had explained exactly why they were going towards a shrine of all places, Issei could admit he wasn't feeling all that upbeat.
Especially considering that after explaining the whole situation regarding that Azazel crazy guy to Rias Buchou, she had taken one look at the situation, analyzed a few reports and important looking papers, asked him a few more question about what the damned pretty boy had done during the contracts Issei had taken, and then proceeded to explain to him that there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.
Blushing slightly as he remembered his loud scream of surprise at Buchou's words, as he slightly panicked at some crazy damned pretty boy stalking him with nefarious intentions towards his virtue.
Apparently Rias could do nothing about it, due to the very simple fact that Azazel, the Governor-general of the Grigori, leader of all Fallen Angels, had permission from the Four Great Satans themselves to be within the city limits due to the upcoming meeting involving the three factions that would happen next week on Kuoh academy.
Sure, no one expected one of the faction leaders to arrive so many days earlier to the meeting, just like no one could ever have foreseen that he would contract a Devil to play games with him or help him with his hobbies.
But there was nothing 'technically' wrong with it, nothing that expressly forbade him from doing just that, and so Rias Buchou's hands were effectively tied up, despite the fact she most definitely did not like the idea of the leader of the Fallen Angels having developed an interest in him, as her near silent curses regarding the crazy pretty boy crazy Fallen most clearly showed, or the extremely angry look that she had sported upon finding out there was nothing she could realistically do.
And while Issei could refuse further contracts with the stupidly overpowered crazy faction leader that was apparently stalking him, doing so would cause some problems since he was not only a paying customer, but a repeated paying customer, a repeated paying customer that tended to pay exceedingly well at that, and so it would reflect really badly for Issei himself specifically, and Rias Buchou in general, to deny service to a paying customer who had done nothing wrong, at least as far as the higher ups were concerned, which in turn could seriously jeopardize his chances of ever becoming a High Class Devil and in turn his ultimate goal of becoming a Harem King.
'Stupid, crazy, pretty boy bastard.' Issei inwardly grumbled, even as he wondered if all the Fallen Angels were complete crazy nut jobs.
'First that crazy nut job exorcist, then that idiot fried chicken bastard, and afterwards it was the other crazy Fallen, and now this pretty boy stalker insane wacko, were do this guys keep popping up from?!' He inwardly despaired, exasperation clear on his thoughts as he knew had no choice but accept any future contracts from the crazy bastard for the sake of his dream.
[Ah, c'mon partner, cheer up! This is a good thing!] Ddraig boisterously proclaimed, his words extremely cheerful. [Meeting a strong guy like that in such a way is nothing more than a good opportunity! Just like a random encounter!]
We have arrived Isse-kun." Akeno placidly said, a small smile open her features as she gestured to the shrine atop the large stairwell. "Rias-buchou would have liked to accompany you herself, but alas an sudden summons by the elders forced her hand, especially since it would not be wise to delay this meeting."
"Meeting?" He curiously asked as they climbed the stairs, eyes looking to the still smiling [Queen]. "And why a shrine of all places, didn't you guys tell me these places are dangerous or something? Or is it only churches that are off limits?
"I'm glad you remember our lessons Isse-kun, and yes, depending on the relation between the religion in question and the Underworld, a shrine can be just as dangerous as a Christian church, though not as directly damaging perhaps." She explained, a dreamy tone quickly entering her voice as she uttered her last words. "But don't worry, this place is under a certain agreement so that Devils can enter freely, it is my home after all, and besides, we are being expected."
Wondering who exactly could want to meet him in a shrine, while also thinking that the austere but beautiful landscape of the place really suited Akeno and was a quite fitting home for the Devil priestess, Issei follow her towards the main shrine.
Stepping forward Akeno reached for the main doors of the structure, a small faint smile clear upon her face as she gazed straight into his eyes before promptly opening the doors.
The feeling of Holy power that suddenly filled all their surroundings immediately cleared Issei's mind of the topic of Akeno's living space, as he took several steps back while staring wide eyed at the figure placidly standing inside the shrine.
An angel, hair glittering as gold, was standing inside the shrine, wearing white robes with golden and red highlights, a serene and inviting look upon his features and twelve golden wings at his back.
"Greetings Hyoudou Issei-kun, I thank you for promptly answering my summons." The extremely powerful looking twelve winged angel pleasantly stated, a content serene smile fixed upon his radiant features. "Please allow me to introduce myself; I'm Michael, leader of the Angels, it's a pleasure to meet you."
'Another damned pretty boy, why are they stalking me?!' Part of Issei's mind couldn't help but bemoan, even as the rest of his brain rebooted itself from the shock suddenly meeting one the leaders of Heaven had just inflicted upon it.
"This aura, it sure brings back memories, I see that you are embracing your destiny as Ddraig's champion, well done." He cheerfully stated, as if having a pleasant conversation with an old friend.
[What the hell is that thing doing here?!] Ddraig bellowed in anger, the sheer hate Issei could feel in his words actually managing to get the [Pawn's] full attention.
'Do you know this guy, Ddraig?' He curiously asked, wondering if they had met in the past.
[Not the Angel! The abomination he is carrying with him!] The dragon roared, making perfectly clear to his host he really wasn't amused with the current situation. [How dare he bring such a monstrosity to our presence?!]
Looking at the sheeted blade at the Angel's side, Issei couldn't deny that it did give him a slight feeling of apprehension, nothing even near what he had felt from the Excalibur fragments, but still something that made a small shiver to go down his spine.
'Do you know what that is?' He enquired, curious about the apparently holy-but-not blade the Angel was carrying and his draconic partner strong aversion to it.
[YES! NOW BURN IT, BURN IT WITH FIRE!]
"… and so, considering the help your faction bestowed upon ours during the Excalibur incident, alongside the fact you allowed the fragments to be returned to the Church, it was decided a few gifts would be granted in thanks." Michael continued, blissfully ignorant to the fact that the recipient of his speech hadn't heard most of it, having been busy talking with the voice that lived inside his head. "And while choosing said gifts, I decided that this should be bestowed to you, a special courtesy of sorts."
"Saint George 's blade, the dragon slayer sword Ascalon, please consider it a gift of sorts." He cheerfully stated, grabbing the sword at his waist and offering it towards Issei with both hands. "May it serve you well."
[DESTROY IT! DESTROY THAT UTTER ABOMINATION TO DRAGON-KIN… wait what?] Ddraig stated in befuddlement, his words immediately losing the burning hatred they had contained a fraction of a second before. [He is seriously giving that thing to us, really?]
[Now we are talking! C'mon partner, what are you waiting for?] Issei's now suddenly cheerful titanic lodger eagerly said, much to his host's confusion.
"The blade has been altered so that you may incorporate it into your Sacred Gear; I hope you find it useful in the future." He stated moving forward and placing the blade next to Issei's left arm, upon which Ddraig had already materialized his Sacred Gear without any particular input from the [Pawn], where it promptly disappeared in a flash of gold light, the holy energy being swiftly absorbed into the gear.
[AWESOME! Oh, I can't wait to see Albion's face when we pull this out on him! That pompous, overgrown, stuck up wyrm will never see this one coming! It will be glorious!]
"I'll be looking forward to your future exploits, Red Emperor-kun, but for now I must take my leave." Michael stated, giving both Issei and Akeno and friendly nod in goodbye before leaving the shrine.
Looking from the place the Angel had just left the building towards where Akeno was still standing with a placid smile upon her features, all the while Ddraig all but cackled maniacally inside his mind, Issei found himself pondering one simple question.
'What just happened?'
\V/
"Here is some tea, Issei-kun." Akeno said after pouring a cup for the harried looking [Pawn]
"Ah, thanks a lot." He replied in a distracted tone, cradling the teacup upon his hands. "But seriously, what's up with all those feathery nut jobs that have been showing up? As if that Fallen bastard wasn't bad enough."
"You really don't like the Fallen do you Issei-kun, but then again, I can't say that I can blame you." She plainly stated, a self depreciating smile appearing upon her features. "They are disgusting, traitorous beings. As one carrying their taint, I should know."
"Carrying their… Akeno-san, what are you talking about?" Issei asked, a tinge of worry on his tone as he watched the pained expression upon their Peerage's [Queen] usually unflappable face.
"It's not exactly a secret, Issei-kun. After all the moment I call upon my wings any one can see the ugly truth." She plainly stated with an humorless laugh, even as her wings materialized behind her.
Staring in confusion Issei took in her wings, immediately noticing that, unlike every other pair of Devil wings he had seen before, both wings were not identical.
One was the usual dark, leathery bat wing he had grown used to seeing, but the other was different from normal, being covered in jet black feathers, as if the wings of a crow.
'Just like the wings of a Fallen Angel.' He realized in surprise, wide eyes moving from the feathery wing to Akeno's self depreciating face.
"My mother was a human, a shrine maiden, but my bastard of a father, he was a Fallen Angel." She said in an oddly detached tone of voice, one hand roaming alongside her feathery wing for a moment before roughly grasping its feathers, as if intending of ripping them off. "Do you see, Issei-kun, I carry the tainted blood of a Fallen within me, the same beings that killed both you and Asia once, the same beings whom attempted to kill our whole Peerage."
"Such a disgusting sight, isn't it? I know how much you despise them, and after what they did to you, that is hardly a surprise, there is simply no way you can hold good thoughts about them." She continued, a sad resigned light entering her eyes. "Do you hate the Fallen, Issei-kun?"
Not truly understanding what was happening but being able to see both the pain and self-hatred Akeno was all but displaying, Issei immediately replied with nothing but the truth, somehow knowing that to do anything else wouldn't do any good.
"Yes, I hate Fallen Angels." He said with utmost sincerity, Akeno's gaze momentarily growing even sadder, only for him to soldier on before she could reply. "But, I like Akeno-san."
"What…? But I have the blood of a Fallen Angel in me, the blood of the same disgusting beings that killed you Issei-kun, how could you say…" She tried to interject, only for the perverted [Pawn] to continue on, going over whatever she was trying to say and not giving her a chance finish.
"Those things have no relation with each other." He stated with finality, nothing but utter certainty upon his words. "Akeno-san is Akeno-san, you're a kind senpai who helped me when I had just become a Devil, you are the Occult Research club vice president who is always there when I need it."
"Who cares who your father is; you are still the Akeno-san whom I like!" He said, his voice rising up in intensity as he continued, his eyes locked at her own. "I have never, not even once, had thoughts of dislike towards Akeno-san! Even now, after hearing that Akeno-san has the blood of Fallen Angels, I cannot come to hate you, for you are still you, and nothing will change that!"
"Err, I mean… I like you even now so, there's no problem right? Huh? What the hell am I saying? Sorry, I'm not sure what else to say, but…" He mumbled, the sudden passion with which he had speaking abandoning him, only for his halting words to be stopped by Akeno as she threw back her head and laughed, relieved tears on her eyes.
"You truly are something else, Ise-kun." She said with a watery smile, a hand quickly drying her eyes. "I can see why both Rias and Asia think so highly of you."
"Ehhh…" He trailed off, not really knowing what to say or what to make of the current situation
"Yes, I have decided, the fact you like Rias is hardly a problem after all, she can keep the place of the first one." She playfully said, stalking towards the confused [Pawn] with a sway upon her hips and an impish smile on her face. "And I'm kind enough to allow Asia-chan her position as second, she is adorable enough that I can appreciate her in said position."
Not understanding what was happening or what to do, Issei stood perfectly still, as if a deer caught upon headlights, as Akeno loosely draped her arms over him, encircling him in a loose embrace, her breasts lightly pushing against his chest.
"But that is not a problem, after all, Ise-kun." She whispered directly into the now crimson faced [Pawn's] ear. "I have no problem with being the mistress."
"I'm sorry for my lateness Ise-kun, but my brother had to talk to me about some urgent matters, thought for once it's good news instead of bad, to think that the elders are finally acknowledging my growth and letting dear Gasper out of…" Rias eagerly said as she entered the shine, a beaming smile firm upon her features, only for her words to trail off and said smile to swiftly disappear as she laid eyes upon Issei and Akeno's current position.
"Akeno, what exactly do you think you are doing." Rias asked in a dangerous tone of voice, a frown appearing upon her features as she leveled a glare at her [Queen] who was all but draped over her dear [Pawn].
"I thought it was obvious Buchou." Akeno calmly replied, an impish smile firm upon her features as she tightened her hold upon the crimson faced [Pawn], completely unaffected by the glare her oldest friend was currently giving her.
"I'm staking my claim." She shamelessly stated, moving even closer to Issei dazed looking form and lightly nibbling upon one of his ears.
Wide eyes moving from Akeno's smug, impish smile to Rias angry putout frown, all the while ignoring Ddraig's ever increasing ramblings about what they would do to Albion with their new shiny sword, all the while silently enjoying the feeling of Akeno's precious oppai pressing against him, Issei couldn't help but question what exactly was going on, a confused look firm upon his blushing features.
\V/
Standing at the very edge of the woods that marked the perimeter of Kuoh academy, her sharp sense of smell easily picking up the scent track that was marking the way, Koneko hesitated, doubt and uncertainty battling within herself beneath the expressionless mask that she normally showed to the world.
If she was to be truly honest with herself, she knew that she would rather never walk down the path that was marked into the woods, would rather never seek what was hidden within, would rather never open the Pandora's Box that was waiting at its end.
For to do so would be to break a promise she had made to herself so long ago, right after Her betrayal.
But at the same time she knew full well that she may very well need to do so if she were to keep the new vow she had made just a scant few days ago, a promise she knew that, as she stood now, she may not be able to fulfill, a promise which, truthfully speaking, she gave far more weight than the one she had made all those years ago.
Firming her resolve Koneko walked further into the woods, passing through the trees at a steady rate, acknowledging the fact that the decision had already long since been made and there was no point in delaying it further with her own self-doubt, she was committed.
This particular path may be something she had personally promised herself many years ago to never tread, for to do it was to follow the same path that She had trod so long ago, and Koneko had no desire to associate with Her, no matter how small and circumstantial said connection was.
But taking this very same path would also grant her what she needed to keep her newest vow, allowing her to go further than she could currently do with her body alone, to deal with threats that she could not face as she currently was, the idea of safeguarding her new promise far outweighing the discomfort that treading said path would cause her.
For taking this path would allow her to far better protect Kirito, Asuna and Yui, would allow her a far better chance of safeguarding her family, to protect her newest promise.
To keep her family safe.
This in turn meant that there was simply no question regarding if she would walk it down or not, it was a foregone conclusion, her decision having been made from the moment she had revealed herself to Kirito back in that warehouse, from the moment she had finally accepted them as her family, to deny it would be nothing but folly, and she was most definitely not a foolish person.
With a slight nod of her head she entered into the clearing the scent trail had led her to, not even a trace of hesitation upon her steps as she walked towards the figure sitting at the very middle of the clearing, patiently waiting for her arrival.
Stopping right in front of the figure sitting cross legged upon the ground, Koneko calmly sat down herself, imitating her posture, her resolute eyes staring at the red head's own closed eyes, waiting for her to acknowledge her presence.
"So in the end you finally decided to embrace it?" Hikari curiously asked, opening her emerald eyes, her two fox tails lazily swaying behind her. "The gift contained upon your blood, the power of your heritage?"
"Are you certain you desire to tread this path, to seek it despite the vows you had taken to forever forgo its very existence? Despite the destruction she who shares your blood caused with those very same graces?" Hikari asked while slightly tilting her head, a harsher glint entering her eyes as she stared down her fellow Youkai.
A short solemn nod was the only response from the stoic [Rook] placidly weathering her gaze, as the nekoshou kept staring at the kitsune calmly sitting in front of her, the resolve in her eyes not wavering for a single moment.
"I see, embrace what you have found, few are fortunate enough to be able to rediscover that which was once lost." Hikari simply stated, a warm smile entering her features and her eyes losing their hard edge, her words being answered by another solemn nod of agreement.
"Very well, let's get started them, shall we?" She jovially stated while clasping her hands together, a beaming smile upon her face, all traces of the earlier tension and seriousness she had been sporting vanishing as if they were but a dream. "So tell me Koneko-chan, what do you know about Youjutsu and Senjutsu?"
\V/
Author's Notes:
So with this chapter we take a little more in depth look at what exactly Kirito's transformation entails, see Koneko-chan decide to take any future threats against her 'family' seriously, Issei get Ascalon and fail to see the obvious regarding the girls in his life, and fully advance into the 'Vampire of the Suspended Classroom' arc, next chapter our favorite shy half-vampire will make his appearance, look forward to it.
In a separate note: Seriously, why must my muse be so difficult?
When I had lots of free time a few months ago, I barely had any new ideas, but now, now that my schedule is completely packed and I can barely keep up with my already ongoing projects, she decides to suddenly go into overdrive.
As I said in the AN up above, in the end I had to put all those new ideas down into writing in order to get my mind uncluttered enough so that I could get back to both DAO and SC, but that also means that now I've not one, nor two, but four rough drafts to new stories: Black Shield, Drifting Swords, Sunset's Sky and Worm Hunter, including tentative first chapters, rough plotlines and everything else, for each of them.
And worse, I can all but see the potential they have, which in turn means that while I now can focus on my already ongoing projects for the time being, those little things will be staying there, at the back of my mind, egging me on with the worst possible thing, random ideas and possibilities.
Sorry about the rant, but that kind of 'problem' never happened to me before and it really rubbed me the wrong way.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter, please review before leaving.
