A Nekomata Tale Chapter 16
Issei awoke in a world of flame. He was burning on the outside and the inside as his body was being consumed in fire. He had transformed into a thirty five meter long red Dragon. There were two horns growing out of his forehead just above his eyes. He opened his mouth to scream but instead a blast of fire erupted from his nose and mouth in a flame much hotter than any flame he had ever breathed before. The flame was not red or yellow like most Dragon's breath, but a bright blue color, and it was over two thousand degrees Celsius. The trees and grass exploded and the rock of the mountain melted in the relenting heat of the flames. The fire was well over one thousand degrees hotter than the fire of any other dragon that had ever lived except one. This was the fire breath of Ddraig Y Goche before he was destroyed and his soul was sealed within the sacred gear. Issei did not know that though, his mind was that of a raging beast. Issei was a mindless Dragon screaming in pain.
Issei looked and saw a large lake at the base of the mountain. He unfurled his wings and leaped into the sky. He accelerated toward the lake and folding his wings he dove into the deepest part of the lake. Issei continued to dive deep into the water as it boiled around him. At last the fire inside and outside of his body quenched and cooled. Issei swam to the surface and began swimming to the shore of the lake. When Issei reached the shore, he saw another Dragon waiting for him. This was a blue Dragon, equally as large as him and it opened it's mouth showing rows of dagger sharp teeth and started making noises that Issei could not recognize They weren't roars of challenge but quiet almost pleading sounds. Issei didn't recognize this Dragon but sensed that it was responsible for the horrible pain and burning that he felt when he awoke. Issei lunged out of the water and attacked the other Dragon. Issei was going for the other Dragon's throat, his jaws opened wide. The other Dragon slashed at Issei with it's claws knocking his head to the side. The other Dragon roared something unintelligible at Issei and he heard something deep within his mind. But it was equally unintelligible. The Blue Dragon tried to pin Issei to the ground. It was just as large, and just as powerful. Issei opened his mouth and breathed fire at the other Dragon and it shied away from his flame.
The blue Dragon could not withstand the heat of his fire and retreated into the air. Issei shook the water from his body and leaped after it. The other Dragon flew into the sky and abruptly disappeared into a strange pattern of light that appeared in the air. Issei roared in anger after his prey disappeared and took out his frustration on the surrounding forest. He breathed fire onto the forest in a sweeping arc that vaporized the trees and melted the rock into molten lava.
When Issei transformed, Tiamat was expecting the change and she was not surprised, but his skin was much hotter than she expected it to be. Tiamat transformed into her Dragon form and waited expectantly. She was surprised when Issei breathed fire. Issei had the original flame of Ddraig, and it was a flame that no Dragon except Albion was immune to. The flames were directed toward the sky but Tiamat still flinched in reflex. She watched Issei fly into the sky and plunged into the lake. Tiamat flew above the lake and waited apprehensively until he surfaced. She watched the water boil around Issei and waited. Finally Issei swam to the surface and started swimming to the shore.
When Tiamat knew which direction Issei was swimming, she flew to the shoreline and waited for him. As soon as Issei's feet touched bottom and he started walking out of the lake she called out to him, "Issei are you OK?" To her surprise, instead of answering Issei attacked her. Tiamat slapped Issei hard on the face. "Hey, what are you doing?"
Ddraig answered her, "Issei's mind is gone... He doesn't even know what he is right now. He is too much enraged and in too much pain to think." Then Ddraig tried to talk to Issei. "Hey partner, calm down You are Issei Hyoudou the Sekiryuutei. Calm down and think."
Tiamat jumped on Issei and tried to reason with him. "Hey snap out of it!"
In response Issei attacked her with his flames, but Tiamat leaped away from him, flying into the air. Then she opened the Dragon Gate and vanished.
"Serafall, I need your help." Tiamat in her human form was sitting in the Office of the Maou Leviathan in the Palace of the Maou in Lillith. "With the help of the Sekiryuutei Ddraig and at the behest of the Maou Lucifer I have been training the human, Hyoudou Issei to fully awaken Ddraig's power without Hyoudou activating Juggernaut Drive. The Sekiryuutei Ddraig and I used a potion given to me by Ajuka Beelzebub, to rewrite Hyoudou's DNA and transform him into a Dragon with the ability to retain his human form. Unfortunately, the transformation was much more powerful than we anticipated." Tiamat sighed in regret and shook her head. "Hyoudou has become a mindless beast, but he has unlocked Ddraig's original fire. No Dragon can withstand his flame, save the Hakuryuukou Albion. The current wielder of the Hakuryuukou is unknown, but I fear that whoever it may be will be will be no match for Hyoudou in his present form. Hyoudou is currently rampaging in the Dragon territory and his transformation has caused a massive forest fire. Tannin cannot withstand Hyoudou's flames and neither can I."
"What exactly do you want me to do Tiamat?" Serafall asked seriously. Serafall was wearing her green Dress that she wore for important functions in Devil society. She had just finished inspecting the new arena in Agares for the Ratings game and had returned to her office when she was contacted by communication Magic circle by the Dragon Queen.
"I have just finished briefing the Maou Sirzechs. He and his Queen will help distract Hyoudou, and I want you to put out the forest fire and freeze Hyoudou with your ice magic. Ajuka will wait in reserve with the military in case we are not successful."
"You're not planning on killing him, are you?" Serafall asked.
"No of course not. I have grown quite fond of Issei." Tiamat responded. "My hope is that we can trap him in ice and give him time to calm down and his mind can adjust to his new form. Issei is a remarkable man and I am sure that his mind will return, but we must stop his rampage first."
"Wow," Serafall said with a laugh, "I believe you have fallen for Issei..."
"No of course not! That is... " Tiamat's voice trailed off then she cleared her throat and said, " Come on Serafall, we need to go."
"Of course." Serafall said. "But first..." Serafall spun around three times and changed her dress to the pink Milky Spiral Magical Girl outfit complete with magic wand, hat and hair ribbons and thigh high black and pink stockings. Then she winked and made a peace sign with her free hand. "Come on Dragon Queen, lets go save the underworld and then fuck the Sekiryuutei!"
Tiamat shook her head and opened the Dragon gate. "You're incorrigible old friend."
"Yes I know..." Serafall said in a lusty whisper. "But seriously, let's save Issei from himself." Then she followed Tiamat outside and waited for her to transform. Once the transformation was complete she followed Tiamat through the Dragon Gate.
Issei searched in vain for over an hour for his missing prey. He randomly blasted flame into the sky and onto the ground leaving lava and a growing forest fire in his wake. Suddenly, the pattern of light reappeared and out of it, flew Tiamat and Serafall Leviathan. Issei turned and flew toward Tiamat spouting flames. He ignored Serafall who flew away from him, and towards the growing forest fire. Tiamat evaded Issei's fire and again called out to him. Again, he didn't understand the sounds and roared a challenge.
Issei and Tiamat flew through the sky in dizzying patterns each trying to get behind the other. Issei was growing tired and was near his physical limit, but he was too enraged to give up the chase. A magic circle opened And Sirzechs appeared accompanied by his Queen, Grayfia. They flew over to Serafall and watched over her as she blasted water and Ice over the forest fire and pits of Lava extinguishing the flames and freezing the Lava into Basalt. It took her more than thirty minutes to finish while Grayfia and Sirzechs kept guard. They really didn't need to worry because the Sekiryuutei was fixated on Tiamat, who continued to elude him, She was faster and more maneuverable than he was and she also flew with cunning and intelligence while he pursued her. More than once, his blue flames narrowly missed her and just the close proximity of the blast burned even her tough Dragon skin. The fact that in his maddened state, Issei could kill her was very real. She was also growing fatigued, but she needed to wait for Serafall to finish putting out the fires before their plan could be put into place. This was her responsibility and she was willing to pay for her miscalculations and protect the Dragon Territory, even if it cost her life.
Eventually the fires were out and Serafall flew toward Tiamat's and Issei's aerial dance. Tiamat led Issei towards Serafall, Sirzechs and Grayfia. Serafall fired a tremendous stream of ice into Issei's face, and Sirzechs fired powerful bursts of energy into the ice turning it into steam. Issei was blinded by the immense cloud of steam and Issei lost sight of Tiamat, who took advantage of Issei's blindness, and attacked him. She flew into a steep climb and spread her wings to stall her speed, causing Issei to over take her. She climbed into the sky above him and dove at him at top speed. Serafall along with Sirzechs attacked Issei from three different directions, Serafall with blasts of Ice while Sirzechs and Grayfia attacked with blasts of Demonic power. They weren't trying to kill or even injure him, they were only distracting him so that Tiamat could take him down.
Tiamat crashed into Issei forcing him down. She pinned his wings to his side while grabbing his neck, just behind his head with her powerful jaws in a hold to interrupt the blood flow to his brain. She drove him to the ground and didn't release her choke hold until his body went limp. Tiamat released her hold on Issei's neck, when she felt him relax into unconsciousness. She waited several minutes but he still didn't move. She climbed off of his back and transformed back to her human form, then she reached up and touched his face in regret.
"I'm sorry Issei." she said softly. "I didn't anticipate your transformation being so extreme. Come back to me. You are a man, no, a Dragon, not a beast."
Issei didn't move but slowly he shrank and transformed back into his human form. His face was severely burned along with the rest of his body.
"Is he still alive?" Grayfia asked.
"Yes, but his body needs to be healed before his mind can be restored. I am going to leave him in your care while I search for a healer capable of restoring both. Please transport him to the Hospital."
"My clan has the best hospital in the Underworld." Serafall said. "I will transport him directly to the Emergency Room of Sitri General Hospital."
"I will pay whatever it costs for his care." Tiamat said in regret. "This is all my fault."
"No it is not. Ajuka and I also are responsible for what happened." Sirzechs responded. "The Gremory family will pay for his care. I was the one who convinced both you and Ajuka to transform Issei into a Dragon. He is not going to die. Not on my watch."Then he paused and said thoughtfully, "My sister told me that the bearer of the Sacred Gear Twilight Healing is already familiar with Issei. She is the human girl that the Sekiryuutei rescued from a priest serving the Fallen Angels."
"That's right, her name is Asia Argento. She was rumored to have been excommunicated for healing a Devil." Serafall replied. "Sona told me about her. She is attending Kuoh Academy with Sona."
"And Rias." Sirzechs said. "She is living with the Hyoudou family in the Grand Gremory Hotel in Kuoh Prefecture while their house is being rebuilt. I will go and get her."
"No. I will go." Tiamat said. "I am the one who transformed the Sekiryuutei. I need to apologize to his family for his injuries. Then she knelt down and cast a sleep spell on Issei and kissed him lightly on the forehead. Then she bowed to Serafall and said, "I will leave him in your care. Don't let him die!"
"It won't happen. My dear sister is in love with him. I will keep him alive even if I have to take every Phoenix Tear in the Underworld by force!" Serafall replied.
Tiamat nodded and then said to Sirzechs, "I am going now." Tiamat opened the Dragon Gate and vanished. Then Serafall reached down and picked Issei up. Then holding him gently she opened a Magic Circle and teleported to the Hospital.
Left alone with Grayfia, Sirzechs scanned the area of destruction. "It is going to take time for this forest to recover. We need to replant the trees and apologize to Tannin for the destruction."
"Yes of course, my King." Grayfia responded. Then she smiled and said. "The sister of Serafall isn't the only one who is in love with the Sekiryuutei. Rias is also hopelessly in love with him."
"I know Grayfia. I know. First we will go find Tannin, then we will go to the hospital and check on Issei. Once his condition is stabilized, I will inform my sister."