Hello there any and all reading this. I would just like to state that this is the very first story I have ever made, so bear with any rookie mistakes I may make and feel free to give me criticism and any tips on how to improve.
I will try to replicate most of the canon characters' personalities to the best of my ability with a handful serving as the outliers. These outliers will consist of side characters who may have their personalities and/or histories tweaked in favor of the story.
There are going to be numerous OC's in this story serving as both minor and major characters. So if you absolutely disdain OC stories, this is your warning. That aside, I hope I don't leave (too) much of a bad impression via this story.
To give a time frame for this story, it begins between Gasper's training and the Leaders' Summit.
I do not own High School DxD or its canonical characters. Those belong to Ichiei Ishibumi solely.
A Job Well Done.
While the Kuoh Devils were set to revel in the self-contempt and woe of having failed to save their friends from the clutches of a group of mercenaries, business was calling elsewhere for the unit of hired killers
Alone stands a large, mostly empty room. The floors were of polished gray stone with the walls being made of the same material. There lied a row of large windows stretching from the roof to the floor that lined the entirety of a single wall, allowing plentiful moonlight to seep in and dress the room with a faint, bluish glow while allowing one to see miles upon miles of a robust civilization. Six large chandeliers hung overhead in the shape of a pentagonal figure, the sixth one being slightly larger and found in the center of the formation. The bright, orange lights of the chandeliers kept the blue of the moonlight from adorning the upper half of the room. Attached to a wall next to the row of windows stood a singular, fancy wood door polished to a lustrous twinkle. In the center of the room lied a large table made of the same gray stone as the floor around it. It was here, most of them sitting in the numerous chairs surrounding the table with a handful of stragglers to the side, where the group of ten sat and waited as if expecting someone; perhaps it was a new employer with yet another task for them to undertake. They no longer donned their shadowy garb, displaying their true appearances.
Sitting in a chair that faced towards the window was where a buxom woman donning an aqua-blue kimono whose color seemed to move and glisten like the flow of gentle tides beneath the sunlight took occupation. She looked much like the ocean personified; free, blue hair streaming from her head in combination with skin like clean, smooth ocean bed sand. Her hands rested upon her legs as her eyes wandered from partner to partner. The moonlight illuminated her, making her eyes shine a vibrant blue.
"Something the matter, Miss Shukun?" a moderately endowed woman floating around the room in a likeness that could only be considered aimless asked in a cheery, almost child-like manner. Her positively glowing skin and rosy cheeks made her seem like the pinnacle of innocence and the brown, curly hair on her head bound to a single ponytail contrasted with the untamed and carefree green in her eyes. She wore a simple, white dress that fluttered without concern of who saw beneath as she drifted through the air with a white lily necklace dangling from her neck.
"J-Just keeping a head count on everyone. Nothing much, Exitia," The blue-draped woman answered with a brief shake in her voice, her eyes darting briefly to the man sitting next to her.
"You almost failed to keep secrecy when confronted by the Sitri's forces; is that what you're worried about, Fruendin Kaiyou?" a man with a deep Germanic accent boomed from down the table in the chair closest to the only door in the room, his pale hand resting on a weapon hilt jutting from a small portal beaming with bright, white light within. His hands alone were about the size of a normal man's head. With his other hand, he ruffled his messy, blond hair cut short to his scalp. His green eyes and brows, despite his calmed voice, seemed stern and angry. He released his grip on the hilt, causing both it and the portal to vanish, before he shrugged his brown, worn cloth jacket into a more comfortable position over his green shirt and tucked his hands into a pair of pockets in his cargo pants. "Might I ask how exactly they managed to pressure you that much, fruendin?"
The blue-draped woman hung her head. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt them, so I tried to talk with them a little and they got the better of me with just words."
"Nary beon so ashamed; thou were only playing thy part. Thou hast done most well," the man beside her she had glanced at earlier added, odd dialect confirming the man as Archmage. Instead of being a shambling skeleton as one would expect, he looked almost identical to the studious Chihaku Chiyonosuke form he took earlier: same dark-blue hair tied in a ponytail draped over the back of the chair, same blue eyes hiding behind pince-nez eyewear as they scanned through a tome of numerous pages, same round face steeped in thought and concentration as he read, and so forth. The only thing really different was his clothing, donning an elaborate and scholarly blue robe typically seen on wizards and the such instead of common civilian attire.
"So, I didn't fumble?" Kaiyou asked with worried words and a contrastingly hopeful glint in her eyes.
"Nary a bit. Thou performed just as flawlessly as the rest of us," Archmage answered, prying his gaze from his tome to look towards the gigantic Germanic man. "Nary be so apprehensive, Gent Jaecar Abatangelo. Everything hast fallen into place most perfectly; there nary beon need for thou to worry."
"It's not so much about that. Fruendin Kaiyou has to grow more of a backbone. I know irhe familie doesn't necessarily-" Jaecar retorted.
"Please don't drag them into this. I just don't want to hurt people unless I really have to; I keep telling you this," Kaiyou butted in with a slightly raised tone, said tone getting quieter as she spoke.
"Das tut mir lied, I didn't intend on bringing them into this: a Freudian Slip, I suppose. I just don't want someone taking advantage of you," Jaecar said, thunderous voice unchanging despite his sincere words.
"Kindness isn't to be mistaken for weakness; you, of all people, should know that given how forgiving Kataga was for taking you in after the morally reprehensible shit you've done mister 'Holy Executioner,'" said a man in a high-class black suit resting his head on his arms much like that of a sleepy high school student. Suit aside, he looked and sounded exactly like the disinterested Chikaya Moto.
Jaecar's head hung low. "Ja, I know..." he said with woe hidden by his natural rumble.
"Feckin' Hell X!" a black-haired man of average height in a short-sleeved white shirt that accentuated his well-toned physique shouted with a prominent Irish accent from in front of the wall-spanning windows. Turning towards the man known as X, he stared him down with tense, green eyes. He donned black gloves that revealed part of the back of his pale-skinned hands, one of which rested upon the hip of his well-worn jeans with the other fiddling with a ruby necklace hanging from his neck. "Ya gotta stop goin' for your pals' throats like that; man's be tryin' his best to grow from that, ya apathetic prick," he said as he plucked a black, short-sleeved jacket with green highlights from the ground and proceeded to fit himself into it.
"I'm sorry X, I'll have to side with Rory on this one; that seemed a little harsh," said a ghostly-pale woman sitting beside him bearing upper-back length hair with the hue of snow and a gruesome red and black right eye contrasting against a gentle green eye. She donned a beautiful white garb akin to holy robes which added to her angelic beauty.
"Usually I would condone shit-talk, but that was a little unneeded," said another ghostly-pale woman sitting to the other side of X who looked, at least face and figure-wise, the same as the first woman. This one bore onyx-black hair that only barely passed her neck in length and possessed the same eye colors as the other woman, only this time the colors were swapped from left to right and vice-versa. She donned a black, skin-tight, full-body suit that accentuated her curves and gave her a more deviant vibe.
"What? Jaecar's a man who'd rather have someone give it to him straight and it seems I'm the only one who has the balls to do so: so why not?" X refuted, lifting his head from his arms and looking around with a resting scowl he could not help but naturally hold. "Sorry that I fulfill a niche roll no one else wants to take that makes me seem like I'm being the asshole at every gathering," he said as he adjusted a white cravat tie fitted to his suit.
"Ja, he's correct. I'd rather hear the truth, no matter how blunt it may be, than hear honeyed words that make light of my issues," Jaecar retorted, his head risen back up and brimming with a dominant air in his voice.
"Well shag me for tryin' to prevent a fight," Rory mumbled before turning back to look out the window once again.
The spectacled Archmage chuckled lightly before looking away from his book once again to turn his gaze to Rory. "There would nary beon a fight to begin with, Gent Rory Kane. Gent X is only this blunt with Gent Jaecar Abatangelo as he knows he's fine with the honesty. Otherwise, Gent X will makest sure to beon wary to avoid touchy topics despite his most rude tone."
"Not sure whether to take that as an insult or a compliment, but thanks anyway Ulrich," X said before returning to resting his head on his arms.
"Thou art most welcome, Gent X," Archmage, now known as Ulrich, replied before turning his gaze back to his tome.
A minute of silence fell upon the room. Then, a sigh.
"Sooooo… how long do ya think they are gonna be in there? They've been talking for a while," said a woman who looked exactly like Gekkou Hayashi sitting across and to the left of Jaecar and a few seats to X's right. She, unlike her allies, wore the same outfit seen at Murayama's party: white button-up shirt, hotpants, etc. Her shirt, however, had the topmost buttons undone, revealing a notable amount of caramel-colored cleavage. A claw quickly grew from her pinky finger as she raised her hand to pick a chunk of what seemed to be meat out from between her vicious canid cuspids. Her hazel eyes dashed from side to side before licking her excavated food remnants off her claw.
"They should beon done anon," Ulrich answered the woman. A slight, cheery grin appeared on his face. "Do taketh note that picking thine teeth doth nary constitute as flossing, Lady Amara Sesminis."
A red-furred, dog-like tail stationed on the woman's lower back, demanding her hotpants give way for its existence by moving the rim down slightly, shot into an upright position. "Hey Ricky, why'd ya gotta call me out like that?"
"Ulrich's callin' ya out cuz ya haven't brushed your damn teeth in a week Amy," Rory added, staring out the window as he spoke.
"Hey Knucklehead, last time I checked, I don't eat the same sugary, decay-promoting shit everyone else consumes," Amara barked back, turning in her seat as she did so. "Besides, I repair whatever decay does eat away at my teeth naturally."
"That may be true, but your breath smells like dogshit. Rory's getting at how it's an inconvenience to everyone else around you," X added, slightly lifting his head as he spoke before lowing it once again.
Amara's eyes narrowed inquisitively. "Are ya usin' dogshit as a comparison since I-"
"Does it really matter if I am or not? Bottom line: brush more often," X interrupted.
Amara promptly shut up and turned back around in her seat. She breathed on her hand before holding it up to her nose. Her entire body shuddered intensely. "Wow, it's really that bad? Damn," she muttered.
There, in a corner of the room darkened by an uncertain force, stood a man who looked much similar to Akashi Himura. The man wore fancy, almost Victorian-styled attire dyed a crimson hue worn over a white undershirt fitted with a crimson necktie, which matched with blood-red eyes that shone through the darkness like beacons of danger as they surveyed the room. Upon his black-haired head lied a wide-brimmed crimson hat, which was promptly plucked from his head by a pale, fragile hand. He looked up, hair trailing down to his neck's nape and a pair of black, dog-like ears sprouting from his head as they rose in surprise.
"Got your hat!" the cheery, innocent looking woman paraded with a playful tone and smile. She fluttered away giggling.
The fierce-looking man turned his gaze to Ulrich, not even letting out a grunt of frustration at having his hat abducted.
"Oh Sweet Exitia, doth return Gent Akaho's hat. We art in much too small of a room for thou two to playeth Keep-Away," Ulrich said in an almost fatherly tone without so much as looking away from his book.
"Sorry Mister Senft. I just got a little bored," Exita lamented as she glided back over and placed the hat back on Akaho's head.
"We art in a place of great import and prestige. Thou two can play to thy hearts' content when we return to our abode," Ulrich returned with a gentle voice as he turned a page of his tome.
"What spell are you studying up this time?" The white-haired woman asked, taking note of the text upon the spine of the book that read as indecipherable symbols and hieroglyphs to her.
"Is it a destructive one?" The black-haired woman followed with an almost crazed look in her eyes.
"Doth thou not think I holdeth enough spells and incantations of demolishment Lady Em Nemes?" Ulrich answered and gave a light chuckle. He turned his head to look at the bodysuit-bound woman. "Though I probably should focus on that Omni-Directional Barrier of Spell Feasting spell after this hast concluded,"
"Then what are you studying?" the white-haired woman asked.
"Are you even studying anything at all?" the black-haired woman, Em Nemes, asked.
"I'm nary schooling myself in anything at the tid Lady Eve Nemes," Ulrich answered, turning his gaze to the woman clad in heavenly robes before turning back to his tome. "In mine tid as a human, I found reading a most enthralling pastime. Tis through reading I've also developed a few new spells undocumented and unthought of, I'll have thou know."
The door leading out of the room glided open, the slight creaking of the hinges drawing everyone's attention. Before the doorway stood three figures lined horizontally, giving a full view of each.
The central member of the three included a fairly tall man donning long, crimson hair. Sharp blue-green eyes gave off an aura of aristocratic authority while at the same time seeming gentle and caring. The clanking of a gold and black armored cloak, as decorative as it was intimidating, draped over a garb befitting one of higher society was heard as he approached the table stationing the mercenaries.
"Alright: Ulrich Senft, Amara Sesminis, Akaho, X, stand at attention," announced a shorter man donning vibrant, almost cat-like, blue-eyes and black chin-length hair to the right of the crimson-haired man. He slid a light-skinned hand into the pocket of his black tracksuit adorned with white stripes along the seams and, with the other, adjusted a ragged and tattered off-white scarf around his neck that trailed like a tail down to his calves.
Despite the man's unintimidating appearance being more akin to that of a house cat than a mighty lion, the words he spoke in his oddly suave voice were enough to get the listed individuals to their feet.
"Verily, King Kalari." Ulrich promptly manifested a blue bookmark made of pure magical energy onto the page he was reading before closing his book and standing up, adjusting his eye wear as he did so.
Amara stood up from the table without hesitation, hands resting against it and holding her up. Her red tail wagged much akin to that of an excited hound and her eyes trained on the cat-eyed man.
Akaho, despite already standing at this time, made his way towards the three from his dark corner without so much as a word. He stopped midway down the table and the shadows of the corner he left seeped into his body through his garb like a haze of black smoke.
X unenthusiastically stood up from the table with a long exhalation from his nose. He, once again, adjusted his cravat tie before tucking his hands into the pockets of his suit.
"I need you guys to stand for this as well," said a taller woman to the left of the crimson-haired man bearing piercing, yet entrancing amber eyes and long, silky black hair. She motioned, with a gentle smile and with a pale hand, for the rest to stand before dropping her hand down beside her white dress adorned with black accents while her other hand adjusted one of two white, horn-like hairpins.
Like so, the beautiful woman's gentle words caused the rest who were sitting to stand and some others to turn towards the three.
Em Nemes stood up, her black bodysuit squeaking against itself as she moved before crossing her arms over her chest. Continued squeaking came from the shifting of her hips.
Eve Nemes simultaneously stood up, threading her hands together before her robes as she patiently awaited further instruction. Her malformed eye, though fitting for her sister, shredded her holy image.
Rory left the comfort of the windows and made his way towards the table, rowing his arm as if searching for a pop in his shoulder before smashing a fist into his palm.
Jaecar, being the closest to the door and thus having his back turned to it, had to turn his massive frame around once he stood up. His footsteps, though brief, were loud and mighty.
Exitia floated over and above the table, hovering in the air with knees held up to her chest and a warming, wholesome smile uncaring of the fact she was wearing a dress still being affected by gravity.
"Understood, Kataga," Kaiyou said before promptly standing up and bowing to the woman with hands held to the waist of her blue kimono, its wave-like patterns dancing as she moved.
With everyone standing before the three, the crimson-haired man closed his eyes and took in a deep breath before releasing a sweeping exhalation. He then donned a smile and a frivolous glint in his eyes.
"We managed to crack the captives. They spoke of a Fallen Angel organization by the name of Exagorastés that they worked for. From what they said, this organization has no affiliation with any other group or faction and that they were going on an independent 'crusade' to regain their holy status by slaughtering all Devils and other Fallen Angels not of their group," the crimson-haired man announced.
"A band of overzealous renegades? Not what I'd normally call a problem, but I suppose it has to be something if you're strung out about it," X scoffed.
"Any names?" Jaecar asked.
"No, but we were told there are numerous Cadre-class Fallen Angels running the ranks: including some now-fallen members of Pre-Fall Grigori," the crimson-haired man answered.
"In that case, they might just be a huge pain in the ass after all," X retracted, not all too excited about this news.
"As for the course of action?" Ulrich inquired.
"I will attempt to get into contact with the Faction leaders and warn them of the looming threat. You all have done your jobs; you deserve a rest," the crimson-haired man answered.
"But what if they attack? Shouldn't we be on guard?" Amara asked, not so much dreadful as she was excited as shown by her toothy grin.
"No, that won't be necessary. They planned on attacking Kuoh and only Kuoh because of some… relic they needed from there. Plus, we already have Paradise Lost monitoring the place with a close eye. If anything goes wrong, he will handle it," the crimson-haired man explained before he turned his back to the table and began walking towards the door while the other two, Kataga and Kalari, stayed where they were.
"Did they spill when their allies be rearin' their faces?" Rory asked.
The man turned himself around, his eyes cutting to the fiery-tempered man. With a smile, he spoke.
"Ah, yes. I almost forgot to tell you of that."
And that's the extra chapter. The longest chapter so far being followed by the shortest chapter so far: a neat little coincidence. That being said, I hope this doesn't make it seem like I wasn't trying when writing this chapter.
An update to my schedule: Since, until further notice, I'm hassled with work (college and job-wise) from 11:00 A.M. to 8:00 P.M. from Mondays through Thursdays, my work on this story may be slowed even more than I would've hoped. Though this does pile on to the list of my incompetencies, I've got to pay off my debt somehow. Yep, despite me finally crawling out of my troublesome situation, it came at a price. That's life, I suppose. Thankfully it's not much and should be payed off around the next two months if I keep myself in line.
As for the review response thing I proposed in the previous chapter, I'll probably avoid as I am unsure if any of you want your reviews plastered on the top of the page for all to see. That, and it would bloat my word count more than I already am with these little ending margins and disclaimers.
That concludes Volume 2. It's hard to believe I've already been working on this story for roughly two years. Whether that's an indicator of my laziness or general inexperience I will leave up to you to decide. Thank you all for helping nurture my fondness for writing. Since I can't express my gratitude enough through simple thanks, I owe it to you to keep at my writing until this story comes to a close.