I do not own Highschool DxD.
Only when the hospital staff of Fifth Heaven practically dragged him out did Issei leave Irina, returning to First Heaven to grab the form and then descending back to his home.
Only once he had did he consider the thought he had shouted down.
Irina found out about the death of God, and she might get made into a Saint while Xenovia's tossed out?
Issei took a deep breath, trying not to become infuriated once more and filing the information away for later use. Once he had, he went to his room and began to read over the form.
Let's see… my name… date… purpose of visit…
All of this information was filled in quickly. The reason the brunette gave was not the full story, but it was not untrue, either.
And he certainly would never put the other reason down on the record. Issei wasn't stupid enough to believe that that would ever fly.
Not to mention that he wasn't sure if it would even come to pass at all.
It was just as he was drawing the form to a close, only one piece of information left, that the knock came to the door.
And when the door was opened, the blue-haired young woman he'd met just days earlier greeted him. Her words to him were quiet.
"Issei… can we talk?"
Xenovia took a seat on the bed upon being let in. For a moment, she stared at the floor, not looking at him.
Then, she asked him a rather unexpected question.
"Issei… I know we haven't known each other very long, but… would you hate me if I went to the Devils?"
Issei blinked. "What do you mean?"
Xenovia looked up at him, eyes uncertain. "Issei… I… I don't have anywhere to go. And I don't want to freeload off of you forever. If the Devils need a new Evil Piece… then maybe that's what I should do, but… I don't want to betray you..."
Issei tipped his head to one side. "Betray me?" He shook his head. "Xenovia, would you consider me your friend? Because I'd call you mine."
"Err..." Xenovia replied, evidently unsure of what to say. "...I'd like to think so..."
Issei shrugged. "Then if you feel that's for the best… no, you wouldn't have betrayed me at all. Just because we'd be on opposite sides doesn't mean we'd have to hate each other. You're my friend, Xenovia. Devil, human or anything else."
Xenovia's eyes widened in surprise.
"Xenovia," Issei continued, "I want the best for you, just like any friend, but… in this case, it isn't my place to say what that is. If you think being reincarnated as a Devil is the best course of action, then I'll accept that with no problem."
Xenovia's face turned into a genuine, albeit somewhat weak, smile.
"However," Issei said, wiping the smile from Xenovia's face, "I'd like to ask you do something for me."
"What's that?" Xenovia asked, gulping.
"Hold off on that for a bit," Issei said. "Just a day or two."
"Why?"
Issei sighed. "Because, Xenovia… I'd like to bring you to Heaven tomorrow. And I doubt they'll let you in if you're a Devil."
Xenovia's jaw dropped open. "Y-you'd do that?" she spluttered, completely shocked.
Issei nodded. "I think Griselda would like to talk to you."
"Th-thank you, Issei..."
The Jack gave a slight grin. "Not a problem. It's the least I can do… though, I need a couple pieces of information from you before we do that."
Xenovia blinked. "Yes? What do you need?"
"Your last name, for one thing."
"Quarta," the blue-haired young woman answered immediately.
"Hmm… same as Griselda, isn't it?" Issei commented as he turned to fill in the name on the form.
"Yes," Xenovia said. "What else do you need?"
"Well, let's see here..."
The blue-haired exorcist gave him the information without a second of questioning. After writing it down, he turned to find Xenovia with an enormous, somewhat goofy grin on her face.
"Issei? What time did you want to…?"
Issei shrugged. "Probably… seven in the morning? Something like that? I got asked to report to Heaven first thing tomorrow."
Xenovia nodded, clearly eager to get going. "I'll be up bright and early, Issei."
Issei nodded back, smiling. "Well then… guess that takes care of that." He stood, intending to go downstairs and get some water. As soon as he stood, however, Xenovia did as well, boldly tossing her arms around him a moment later.
"Thank you, Issei… for everything."
Before Issei could even reply, she was gone, vanished from the room.
For the rest of the evening, Issei wrote his thoughts onto a piece of paper, organizing his thoughts, his responses to possible questions, and whatever else he thought might come up.
Only after an hour or so did Ddraig barge in.
"You're really dedicated to this, aren't you?"
"Yeah."
"I don't understand you, Issei."
"Like I told Gabriel, Ddraig, she's my friend. If I'm not willing to stick my neck out for her, what kind of friend am I?"
The dragon seemed to sigh. "Perhaps that's the disconnect."
Issei blinked. "What are you saying?"
"I'm an old dragon, Issei."
The Jack blinked again. "What do you mean?"
Another sigh came from the gauntlet. "Issei, I was one of the two Heavenly Dragons. It would serve you well to remember that I am thousands of years old."
"Yeah, so? Where are you going with this?" Issei asked.
"Are you familiar with the phrase "lonely at the top", Issei?"
"Err... yeah? Are you saying that's what it was like for you?"
"Yes. I am infamous for my flames - the ones that did not extinguish until they had burned the target to cinders."
"Right..."
"Do you think anyone wishes to be near a creature who is so immensely strong that it could torch them in an instant if they displeased it?"
"Well, I mean... I get on well with Lady Gabriel and Lord Michael..."
"That is not comparable, Issei. No matter how friendly they are towards you, you must remember that they are ultimately not your friends. They are your leaders; you are but one of many subordinates."
Issei bit his lip and did not answer.
"As I was saying, my power isolated me. I had no one. Those who could not stand against me fled in terror, while those who could regarded me as a meaningless existence. I was alone… until I met him."
Issei didn't need to be told who "him" was.
"Albion was one of very few who my flames had no effect on. Apparently, he was in a similar situation regarding his poison, which didn't work on me. We were happy to have an opponent to battle. That's why we are said to be "fated to fight", Issei."
"Where are you going with this?"
"Issei, Albion and I have clashed over and over, yes, but that doesn't make us friends. Not even close. Do you understand, now? I have never truly had friends, and as such I do not regard friendship in a way even remotely comparable to the way you do. I have never known it, so how could I? I had not even realized I had not until I was sealed into the Sacred Gear. Nor had I realized my own loneliness until I was sealed."
Issei looked down at his hand in surprise. "What about your other hosts?"
"They barely acknowledged my existence. I've gotten more conversation out of you in the last few months than I have from my last ten hosts combined. And for that, Issei, I thank you."
With that, Ddraig fell silent, leaving Issei with a mix of emotions once more.
It boggled the brunette's mind to consider that Ddraig might have been lonely and not even known it. Yet, if the dragon's description of his life was accurate, it was no surprise at all.
Issei shook his head, trying to refocus on the paper before him.
The next morning, Issei awoke to the screaming buzz of the alarm clock. After turning it off, he was momentarily confused as to why he had set it, given that he knew it was Sunday.
Then, it all came rushing back to him.
Issei hurriedly dressed, before snatching up the form from his desk. After folding the piece of paper on which he'd been writing his thoughts the previous evening and putting it in his pocket, he quietly walked towards the spare room.
Just a few seconds after Issei knocked, the blue-haired young woman answered.
"Morning, Xenovia," Issei said. "You ready to go?"
She eagerly nodded, causing Issei to smile and return her hug from the night before, paper clutched in his left hand, to Xenovia's surprise.
"Only way to do this," Issei said impishly, an unrepentant grin on his face.
A moment later, the two had vanished into a cross.
Xenovia's eyes had shut as soon as they had begun to shift into the alternate form, but seemingly instantaneously, Issei was speaking to her.
"Xenovia, we're here."
The blue-haired young woman slowly opened her eyes until they were about halfway to fully expanded. Once they reached that point, they snapped the rest of the way.
Laid out before her was a marble path, leading to a pair of enormous gates. Before them stood a pair of Angels, each with wings spread wide and halos in full view.
Through the gate, she could see the buildings, literally set on clouds, scattered around the sky. And about them, in midair or on the paths leading between the buildings…
Angels… so many…
Xenovia's training was still well-ingrained in her, and she suddenly felt incredibly tiny before the hundreds of holy beings, despite most of them not even being aware that she was there.
"You coming or what?"
Xenovia's head snapped upwards to see Issei standing several meters away, near the gate, a grin adorning his features. After forcing her legs to unfreeze, she staggered forward, each step making her feel queasy.
She had been so excited by the prospect of entering Heaven before, but now she was so nervous she could barely think straight.
When the young woman had managed to make it over to stand next to Issei, he began to move forward once again, until one of the Angels called out to him.
"Halt." The voice was bored, evidently having run through this a million times and clearly knowing who Issei was, only demanding because of protocol. "Identify yourself."
Issei took a half step away from Xenovia, before revealing his four wings and halo, whilst holding up the back of his right hand for the guard's examination.
"Issei Hyoudou, Jack of Hearts."
The guard then turned to look over Xenovia, and almost instinctively, she started to drop into a bow.
She was stopped, however, when Issei hooked his hand beneath her arm and dragged her back to her feet.
"No need for that, Xenovia."
The guard nodded towards Xenovia, the female Angel's next words spoken in a somewhat curious, but nonjudgmental, tone.
"Who is this?"
"Err..." Xenovia could barely mumble.
Issei, meanwhile, had far more confidence. "Xenovia Quarta, the human I discussed bringing here yesterday. My guest."
The guard's expression did not change. "You have the form?"
A moment later, it was in her hand.
The Angel scanned the form quickly, checking every piece of information in it was filled, before nodding and looking at Issei. "You verify that everything in this form is complete and correct to the best of your knowledge?"
"I do," Issei replied.
She nodded once again before turning to Xenovia. "You, Xenovia Quarta, understand that you are under the sponsorship of Issei Hyoudou for the duration of your stay within Heaven?"
"I-I do..." Xenovia stammered, her heart in her throat.
The guard offered neither friendliness nor ridicule at Xenovia's nervous response, instead turning to face Issei once more. "You, Issei Hyoudou, understand that you are responsible for any and all of her behavior while she is here, and if she is found to have caused any sort of problem, you will be made to suffer punishment up to and including expulsion from Heaven?"
"I do."
Xenovia couldn't understand how Issei could sound so confident at those words.
The guard nodded yet again as she waved them forward. "Welcome to Heaven, Xenovia Quarta," she said, her tone unwavering from its impeccable formality.
Upon those words, Issei and Xenovia, the latter more hesitantly than the former, walked towards the main gate, pushed it open, and walked through.
Unbeknownst to anyone but himself, Issei was breathing an enormous sigh of relief at the painlessness of the whole process.
"This way," Issei said, walking up one of the marble paths that connected the buildings on the clouds.
As they walked, Xenovia remained firmly in Issei's shadow, unchecked nervousness going haywire in her veins. Angels, beings she had worshiped with her very soul and that she would have considered herself blessed to even catch a glimpse of, were now all around her, so close she could touch them. Most wandered or flew as they would, only a few noticing her. Every once in a while, Issei would greet one, but for the most part they paid neither of them any mind.
Whenever one did, she would hide further in Issei's shadow, until she was practically hugging his back and nipping his heels every few steps.
After a few minutes, desperate to break the ice and get her mind focused on something, anything else, she tried to make some small talk between herself and the Jack of Hearts.
"Err… Issei? Does it usually take that long to get through the gate?"
An amused snort was his reply. "Put it this way, Xenovia: Most of the time, I don't even stop walking. I just show my wings and my right hand and I'm in. They know who I am, anyway. They only even ask because procedure makes them."
Xenovia nodded, before she realized something else.
"If you need that form to get humans in… how'd you get Irina here for treatment?"
Issei shrugged. "There are some circumstances where procedure can be ignored. Apparently, an Angel showing up with an injured exorcist is one of them."
"I see..."
Xenovia continued walking behind him in silence for the next ten or so minutes.
It was only after those ten minutes that the Jack and former exorcist stood before a large building, seated on a cloud by itself.
"Err… Issei? What is this?"
Issei looked at her over his shoulder, a grin on his face. "It's the building where Lady Gabriel's Brave Saints, besides me, live. It's a pretty nice place."
With that, Issei and Xenovia walked over to the front door, the brunette yanking it open.
After the bright light of First Heaven's outdoors, the darkness was as blinding as any sunlight. Xenovia walked somewhat slowly through this unfamiliar environment, while Issei strode on ahead at a much more rapid pace.
At the end of the hall, Issei suddenly spoke somewhat loudly.
"Hey, Griselda! Someone's here to see you!"
Only then did Xenovia remember why she had originally come here.
As soon as she rounded the corner, she caught sight of three Angels, all female, seated at a table in a large chamber; evidently some sort of gathering hall for Gabriel's Saints.
She recognized only one of them, but what a person to recognize.
"Sister Griselda!"
"Xenovia!"
Immediately, the Angel pushed herself out of her chair and strode over to the blue-haired young woman, taking her into a tight hug without a second's hesitation.
And for several seconds, the two stood there, grateful for the opportunity to embrace one another.
Mirana and Asia, meanwhile, looked at Issei.
"I'm guessing you brought her here, Issei?" Mirana asked, a playful grin on her lips.
The brunette simply nodded.
"Issei, you're so kind..." Asia said, her tone adoring despite not having the tiniest clue who the blue-haired young woman was.
Once the two had pulled apart, Griselda laid a hand on Xenovia's shoulder.
"...oh, Xenovia, what am I going to do with you?" she asked, her tone sounding pained.
Xenovia simply looked down at the floor, not having any answer to that.
"Issei?" Mirana said, looking over at her junior Saint. "What's going on here?"
Issei sighed. "Xenovia here was..." He swallowed. "She was excommunicated from the church for finding out about God's death."
The Ace's smile vanished, twisted into a frown. "Oh, dear..."
Asia's expression was one of sympathy; this was no surprise to Issei, given that Asia knew better than any other member of the deck what it was like to have been exiled.
Issei gritted his teeth. "She deserves better than that. Everyone does."
Mirana looked at him, then to Xenovia, then to Griselda, but she said nothing; Asia followed suit.
After Issei went to the kitchen and fixed both himself and Xenovia a quick breakfast, the four Angels and exiled exorcist sat down at the table, the Jack of Hearts and Xenovia each wolfing down a meal.
As they did, they were hit by a barrage of questions, from the exact details of what had happened during the mission to what Xenovia planned to do in the meantime.
The two only had answers for about half of the questions asked.
At the same time, however, Xenovia asked plenty of her own questions, sparking amusement in Issei. He remembered it had been just a couple of months since he had woken up as an Angel, yet that day seemed far in the past even now.
Two hours flew by without the group even noticing, until all of a sudden an enormous glowing cross appeared at around quarter past nine.
Immediately, all of the Angels were out of their chairs, dropping into a bow as the King of Hearts formed from the cross. Xenovia awkwardly followed suit, imitating the bow as best she could, now utterly terrified to be in the presence of a person she knew instinctively to be one of the Four Great Seraphim.
"Good morning, my dear Saints," Gabriel said, her voice its normal warm, friendly tone. "Ah, Issei. Just who I was looking for. Michael is ready to hear you now. You may all rise."
Issei stood quickly, before nodding. "You wish for me to depart immediately, Lady Gabriel?"
"Indeed I do," she replied. "Good luck, Issei."
"Thank you, my Lady."
Without another word, he vanished into a cross.
Once he had gone, Gabriel looked over her deck and noticed there was an extra, unfamiliar figure among them.
"Ah, and who might you be?"
Xenovia couldn't get her mouth to work, earning amused chuckling from Gabriel. "There's no need to be nervous, dear. I won't bite."
"Xe-Xe-Xe-Xenovi-via..." the blue-haired young woman stammered.
"Ah," Gabriel said, her tone changing to a more neutral one as her smile disappeared.
This nearly made Xenovia empty her breakfast onto the fine carpet. She was sure she had done… something to offend Gabriel, and that she was about to pay dearly for it.
The Seraph's next words, as one might expect, caught her completely off-guard.
"I heard what happened to you from my Jack. I assume he brought you here?"
"Y-Y-Yes..."
Gabriel nodded. "I see. I am truly sorry that this happened to you, Xenovia." Then, her smile started to return. "Tell me, Xenovia, are you or are you not the wielder of Durandal?"
"I… I am..." Xenovia said, unsure of where Gabriel was going with this.
"Excellent. I would assume you wish to have this stroke of misfortune undone?"
"Err… yes… I would, Lady Gabriel… if… if it wouldn't be impossible..."
Xenovia felt a tiny spark of hope run through her at Gabriel's question. If she was willing to aid her…
"Well, I can't give you your place back in the church."
Xenovia's face fell as though she had just had a palette of bricks broken over her skull, and she was simultaneously enraged that the Seraph would seemingly toy with her feelings like that.
"However, if you'd like..." the Seraph said, her smile widening, "I may be able to do something else for you."
And cut.