Breaking Point

Issei tossed and turned in his sleep. Nightmares running wild in his dream scape. Fear, anger, hate, loss, all the feelings he felt after his encounter with Raynare the night at the fountain. As well as the night she killed Asia. His mind was seeing the worst possible end to his family.

Nightmare

The Khaos Brigade had attacked his home. Not the school, nor the Underworld, his home. The Dragon stood alone on the grand stairs. They had brought some trinket that disabled his balance breaker. His eyes darting around to the bloody corpses around him. Bodies of demons and other supernatural creatures lay scattered. At the foot of the stairs lie Xenovia and Irina. Both swordsmen tried to defend the rest. About halfway up, Koneko and a still pregnant Akeno. They were going to help their friends. At his feet, Asia and the Ravel. They had been too afraid and stayed near him, only to perish in the end. Only two girls remained. Rias and Kuroka.

Both mothers had run upstairs to protect their children. Issei had stayed back to fight. But after seeing the girls he loved more than anything fall before him, he couldn't function. The father's instinct sent him to the room where his children slept. He found Rias and Kuroka holding a crying Elizabeth and Ewan.

"Shh, Ellie. Please be quiet." Rias tried to calm her down, but her shaky voice didn't help.

"I love you Ewan. I'm sorry I couldn't be a good mother for you." Kuroka handed Ewan to Rias. "Save him." She then walked to the door, ready to fight.

The Red Dragon burst in and took his battle stance. Issei stood before them and was ready to defend them to the very end. The door busted down and startled the children.

"So, that's where you went." An all too familiar voice said. "Shame."

"I won't let you hurt them." His balance breaker still not working.

"Very bold. But if you couldn't save those downstairs, what makes you think you can save them?"

End Nightmare

The room erupted in a bright light and Issei was ripped from his dream in a cold sweat. His eyes locked onto all the girls sleeping peacefully in bed. Rias and Irina on his right. Akeno and Asia on his left. The Nekomata sisters on his body. Xenovia was near the foot of the bed. Ravel had managed to get herself wedged between his arm and torso next to Rias.

Issei sat up carefully. After removing Koneko from his chest and unwrapping Ravel, he left the room. It didn't take long for him to decide a destination. He needed to train. That wasn't just some dream. That was a premonition. Especially after 5 nights in a row.

The training room was large and empty. The only sound was a punching bag. 1… 2… 3… and the bag would bust. This continued for hours.

"Partner. If you keep this pace, you'll wear yourself out and won't be able to stand come morning." Ddraig tried to reason.

"I have to keep going. I have to protect them all. I need to protect them all. I don't care what I have to do." He through another right cross and the bag busted.

"How can you protect them if your energy and stamina are gone?"

"Then I will build endurance, so I can fight nonstop for as long as I need." Left, right, right, bust.

"Do you mind talking some sense into him?" Ddraig asked aloud. "He'll listen to you."

"Only every once in a while Ddraig." Rias giggled as she walked to her husband. It was only at her touch that his fatigue caught up with him. She sat on the mat and laid his head in her lap. "What's wrong Issei?"

"Nothing, just stress."

"Don't lie to me." Her eyes turned a deep crimson. "I know when you do."

"I… I need to keep training." Issei went to stand but passed out as soon as he reached his feet.

"Ddraig. What is going on with him? Last time he was this determined to fight was when he battled Sairaorg." Rias asked the great dragon as she pulled her husband back into her lap.

"Issei has been having nightmares for almost a week now. I can see glimpses every so often. From what I can tell, it's the same one every night. Some slight differences here and there." Ddraig's mighty voice was soft.

"You said this has been going on for a week?"

"More or less. There is no telling how much pain he's suffered because of it. I do recall the first night. The pain, the agony. It rivaled the day that Ms. Argento was cast off into the dimensional gap."

Rias remembered that day very well. She remembered seeing the man she'd fallen in love with lose his mind in a broken mess. The cry he let out when Shalba Beelzebub boasted of what he'd done. "How is that possible? Asia was almost killed that day. How could he feel that same pain?"

"That is a question for him." Ddraig fell silent once again.

For now, Rias just held her husband in a loving embrace.

Later that morning, Issei awoke to find himself on the couch in the living room. He went to sit upright, but pressure and a growl held him down. His body was held down by the woman he loved most. Realizing what happened, he groaned in self annoyance. The worry he must have caused her.

As if on cue, Rias' sleepy eyes opened. "Morning dear." She laid her head back down.

"I'm sorry Rias."

"For what?"

"Making you worry about me."

"You idiot." She took a second and propped herself up to look at his face. "I'm always gonna worry about you. It's what you do when you're in love with someone." Her face fell at the memory of her conversation with Ddraig. "Wanna talk about them?"

"About what?"

"Your nightmares."

Issei went to sit up again, but she forced herself on top of him completely. "Nuh uh, you're going nowhere."

"I need to go train. I'm sorry." Issei managed to carefully force Rias off of him and go back to the training room. If he was going to build endurance, the pool was a good start.

Rias was shocked by this. Issei normally talked to her about these kinds of things. Something had to be horribly wrong for him to shut her out. Being one to not take no for an answer, she followed him to the large pool in basement training room. She watched as her husband jumped in and swam lap after lap for an hour.

Asia eventually came to investigate.

"Oh, good morning Asia." Rias called her from a bench nearby.

"Morning Rias. Why is he down here so early?"

"He was here around 2 in the morning training. Ddraig said that nightmares are making him scared of something. I found him about 4 or 5." Rias' face fell into a frown.

"Has he talked about it?"

"No. that's why I followed him, but he got in the pool before I could ask."

Asia stood up and walked over to the pool's edge. "Issei!" She called out to him.

Issei stopped at the edge next to her and looked up. "Hello Asia."

"You need to come eat breakfast." She grabbed his hand to pull him out, but only managed to pull herself in. "That didn't work."

"Obviously." Issei chuckled as he helped her to the side. Rias met them there with towels.

"Quite a stunt Asia. You managed to get him out the pool."

"Only because she's right. If I'm gonna train this hard, I need food." Issei took the towel and dried himself.

"What are you training for?" Asia asked sweetly.

He thought for a moment. 'I can't tell her.' "Just keeping in shape." He quickly tossed the towel and left.

Both girls were stunned. Issei usually wouldn't lie to Asia, much less Rias. "Asia, can I count on you to do something for me?"

"Of course."

"Get Kuroka to put a seal on the door so he can't destroy himself training."

"Okay." Asia smiled and went to find Kuroka.

Rias followed Issei to the shower in their bedroom. She found him holding Ellie above her bed.

"I'm not gonna let anyone hurt you, ever. I promise." He cried as he held her.

"Issei?" Rias approached him and rested her chin on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry Rias."

"Please, tell me what's going on."

Issei took Ellie and laid down on the bed, Rias soon followed. She had picked up little Ewan, so he didn't feel left out.

He took a deep breath and looked down. "It started about a week ago. Every night, I would watch everyone die horribly. First Xenovia and Irina, then Koneko and Akeno. Akeno was still pregnant. After that Ravel and Asia died at my feet." His breathing was shaky and cold. "Then he would chase me to where you and Kuroka were protecting our children. I always wake up when the room goes white."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that this is gonna happen. Not a matter of if, but when."

"Issei, we can fight this. We haven't lost yet."

"Rias you don't get it. The bodies I see, of all the girls. The only way I know who is who, is because of the rings on their fingers. All that's left is a bloody mess." His tears kept falling. "I've watched it happed for 5 nights now. I-I can't stop it."