Hello again everyone welcome back to another chapter. Not much to really say Hoped everyone enjoyed the reveal of the second son as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Tyrant Overlord Killidia: Thanks for that clarification I actually did miss that info when I was researching.
Shi The Sin of Sloth: I wonder what the T stands for. ;)
Chapter 24: The Mind
Luna, Shuriya, and Mihae currently find themselves traveling down a corridor filled with moving images. Each and every image was a memory that lived within Nigel's mind. Some of them we happy memories of the time he shared with his mother in his younger years, there were even some that he had of his maidens faces along with Ravel and Sona. Most however were of his year, the violence, the anger, the sadness, and the constant thoughts of connecting the dots on his mother's killer. Playing in a loop, despite the knowledge he now has, as if he is reviewing it over and over for any holes in the info he has.
Mihae looked in awe of the large number of memories living in the front of her King's mind.
Shuriya was slightly saddened by it, as Nigel was still so young yet so many dark thoughts lived in his head. She tightened her hand into a fist seeing this and wanting to help her King even the more.
Luna payed the memories no mind as she knew of the recent part of his life from the time they had gotten to know each other. She was only concerned with finding her King and taking his mind off of the potential pain he may start to feel.
As they continue to walk a loud thud could be heard repeatedly making impact against something in the distance. Each thud was followed by angry grunts.
The three maidens hearing this quickly make their way, finally finding the end of the corridor, out into an open area. It appeared to be an open white room with Nigel's memories of the time just before the explosion sprawled out on the floor in the form of large blocks.
The source of the thuds and grunting was found to be Nigel, who was faced away from them and punching an image of Diodora Astaroth. "STUPID! FUCKING! LITTLE! SHIT! YOU THINK YOUR SO CLEVER?! WHEN I WAKE UP I'M GONNA FIND YOU AND KILL YOU SLOWLY!!!!!" Nigel was wearing pants and shoes but lacked a shirt showing of every back muscle as well as his birth marks. His signature jacket was on the floor next to him as well as his shades.
The maidens all gain a blush as they got a good look at his naked top half.
"The temper tantrum you're exhibiting does not get us out of this conundrum." This voice, once again, belonged to Nigel; but the dialect he used seemed to be more astute. It came from the groups right as the see Nigel... again. This Nigel had on his jacket but was unzipped. His glasses were sitting on his fore head revealing his eyes and his hair was tied back in a ponytail.
All three women were very confused by what they were seeing. Before them was not one but two Nigels. Before they could say anything though, they hear heavy breathing almost as if someone was hyperventilating.
The noise was coming behind another block showing an image of Nigel's maidens.
"Please excuse his behavior. I've concluded that he embodies the the more passive and submissive emotions that make up our collective being." The smarter Nigel explains.
"How bout instead of telling everyone how smart you are, maybe you can start at the beginning of this shit show!" He yells continually punching the picture.
"My...Kings?" Luna speaks up confused of how to address the multiple men. Getting their attention she continues, "What is happening here?" She asks hoping someone makes sense of the situation.
The angered Nigel finally stops punching the picture and turns around. "We died in that explosion. Got pulled up to heaven by Michael and had reunion with my mom. Fell from heaven, ended up back in my ruined body. Remember seeing you tell me something and then I wake up here pissed off with these two along for the ride." He says quickly and then goes back to punching the image.
"That is mostly correct. When I woke up, I rather than experiencing a strong emotion, I find myself stuck on thoughts of before the explosion. I think we we've been made a fool out of." He says with a bothered look on his face.
"What the heck happened?" Shuriya speaks up as their was still not enough context to what he was saying.
The smart Nigel then starts from the beginning of his encounter with Diodora and what he was told. The maidens were left in shock of the news as well as anger at the very thought of being manipulated to that extent.
"He is a little shit. When you find him I want a round with this guy myself." The genie girl says again now angered by the false info her King was told.
"In due time, but until we recover we are stuck here. Speaking of which, what exactly are you ladies doing here?" The smart Nigel ask intrigued by there presence here.
It was the maidens turn to explain things. "We are here to put your mind at ease while your body has surgery performed on it." Luna tells them as she walks up to the angry Nigel.
"Procedu- AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!" The angered Nigel says but is cut of when immense pain courses through his chest.
All three Nigels clutch their chest and wail in pain. The pain becomes so unbearable that they all collapsed.
The three maidens seen this and almost instinctively ran to an individual Nigel.
Luna went to the angry one, Shuriya the shy one, and Mihae the smart one.
None of them thought the pain would translate to the mind of Nigel to this extreme, but now that they were here they had to find a way to help alleviate his pain.
Mihae sees this and takes a deep breath. Her banshee heritage has blessed her with a strong voice, but thanks to her half human side she has learned to use her voice for more than the conventional screeching.
"~Ahhhhhhh~ahhhhhh~ahhhhhhh~" Mihae begins to serenade the room, all three Nigel's were cries of agony died down. Her Song of Ease successfully calmed down the Nigel trio.
Anger seemed only more enraged by this and got back to his feet and punched the picture of Diodora more vigorously.
While Luna just let him go and watched, Shuriya had the shy one's head in her lap. "So what's your personality quirk handsome?" She ask hoping to get a word out of the silent one.
Unfortunately he didn't say a word as he stood up and walked away out of her view.
"Hey! That's really rude ya know!" She gets up and follows him. Once in reach she grabs him by the shoulder, which causes him to freeze in fear.
Turning him around she gets a good look at him. He wears the jacket but unlike his counterparts his is zipped all the way up covering up any potential eye candy. His hair drapes over his face and he wears the hood up which causes a shadow to be cast over his eyes. He also has his shades over his eyes, despite that evident fear could be seen in them. As well as his whole body as he was actively shaking from her touch.
She noticed this and the previous attitude she had was replaced with a soft face, "What's the matter?" She asked him sweetly.
Still no answer and even an attempt was made to turn and leave again. Seeing this she stops is by putting her hand on his face. She looks into the reflection of his shades, "Do you want to talk about it?" She says with a comforting smile.
Nigel seeing this felt something familiar come from the woman. This warm, almost intimate feeling, seemed to calm his nerves. With this new found comfort he nods his head.
The genie girl smiles brightly taking his hand and bringing him back into view of everyone. "Look at what I found everyone. Isn't he just the cutest?" She announced to the group playfully.
Despite the innocent nature of her words, Nigel still had smoke coming out of his ears.
Smiling at this, Shuriya then sits on the floor bringing her King down with her. In moments the girl had returned Nigel's head to her lap.
Despite the close proximity he was to the girl again, the shy one didn't feel the same uneasiness as before. Finding the courage to finally say something he takes a breath, "I... I like how... forward you were with me." He says in a soft and quiet voice.
Her smile seems to become even brighter as she hears praise come from her King. "Then you're gonna love how much more forward I'm gonna get stud~." She says bringing her face closer to his.
As they become more comfortable with each other with the smart Nigel and Mihae also begin to hit it off.
"Utterly remarkable, can you sing different songs and achieve different affects?" The smart Nigel asks the girl as she sat in his lap.
Mihae gives a grin proud of her quick thinking and nods to him.
Nigel begins to grin himself, " Your voice is quite beautiful, I would enjoy hearing it more often someday." He tells her softly grabbing her hand.
A blush grows on Mihae's face at the thought of holding a conversation with her King.
Nigel gives a chuckle at her reaction. "Until that day comes however, I'm more than content with teasing you." He tells her bluntly pulling her hand up and kissing on the back of it.
Her blush grew even more at the affection being showed to her. She found herself not knowing how to react.
Gaining a mischievous grin on his face Nigel just looks at her and brings her hand to his exposed chest.
Steam was visibly rising from her head and her entire face became beet red.
Satisfied by her reaction Nigel then pulls her in closer so that their faces were inches away from each other. "Let's see what other sounds you make." He says leaning in closer, the path not going towards her lips but her neck.
While both Shy and Smart were being seen about, Anger remained punching the image.
Luna seeing the other maidens having fun with their own version of Nigel now wanted attention too. Sighing she finally gets up and before Nigel could throw another fist Luna places a hand on his shoulder.
"Between a voluptuous maiden (and someday queen) or a little devil boy you seem to have chosen the boy. Why is that, does my body not look pleasing to your eyes anymore?" She says in a mock sadness dramatizing the question.
Nigel knows what she's trying to do and cuts it off immediately, "Very funny but you weren't the one that tried blowing me up. So until I find this little fucker, the picture will have to do." He tells her eyes never leaving the image.
Taking her other hand she places it on her other shoulder giving them both a squeeze. "In time my King you shall make him experience your full wrath. For now however, let me take away your frustrations." She moves her body in pressing her breast against his bare back.
"Hmph... I don't have any frustration." He says in a pouting tone.
Luna was somewhat annoyed and also amused by the tsundere like attitude the angry one was giving her. "My goodness, who knew you could be so much like Ravel when your upset, it's quite adorable.~" She tells him teasingly.
Nigel makes sure to keep his head down to hide the embarrassment on his face. "I'm not adorable... I'm the Fire King you... you lady." He mumbles out the sentence unable to find anything witty to say.
"Damn sexy purple lady, with big boobs and great legs, I bet you think you've won. Well I was tired of punching anyway." He says mostly to himself trying to find a way to justify his personal defeat.
He then turns around to talk to the older woman directly. "I'm tired of punching his stupid face, I want affection like the other two have. It's not because I'm want it or anything... it would just be a shame for you to come all this way and not have any focus on you." He says defensively.
Luna just chuckles at this and leans into his ear. "Whatever you say my King." She whispers to him before taking a bite on his earlobe.
Nigel shudders at the sensation. Getting the reaction she hoped for she moved to his lips, taking them with her own.
The angry one gets into the groove and lifts Luna up turning them both around and pinning her against the block.
"Oh, Nigel~..." She says seductively as he takes the lead.
"!!!!!" He comes to an abrupt stop and looks off into the distance.
"What troubles you my King?" Luna asked concerned seeing the alertness on Nigel's face.
"I don't know why, but I'm going to kick Issei's ass the next time I see him." He says with a scowl on his face before disregarding the thought and focusing on his maiden.
Kuoh*ACHOO*
Issei sneezes suddenly.
"Are you alright Issei?" Asia ask her boyfriend with a concerned look.
Ise gives her a thumbs up with a smile, "No worries I think someone is talking about me." He tells her to reassure her he wasn't becoming sick.
The two were back home finishing up some homework, the events that transpired earlier was what Issei considered enough excitement for one day.
Flashback
Hours before when Freed Selzen had made his surprise appearance Issei had planned to cut in and help Kiba. This did not go as planned, as when he was ready to engage a disturbance had caught his attention.
While he wasn't sure what it was he knew that he was not the only one to feel it as Xuelan was on her knees with tears ready to escape her eyes. He heard her call out to Nigel, but before he could ask her what was wrong, more cackling from the mad priest was heard.
"You shitty devils sure know how to cheat!" The young priest yells at them being attacked by both Koneko and Saji.
Kiba was about to respond when a new voice interrupted. "I'm hearing poor excuses father Selzen." The older voice says teasingly.
Appearing out of a shadowy corner was an older priest. He wore a pair of seeing glasses was short, rotund, and had grey hair. His clothing consisted of white priest robes. Though he wore a gentle smile his eyes seemed to lack any sort of humanity in them. His name was Valper Galilei, former head of the Excalibur Research Project.
"Then how about you give me some pointers ya old fart!" Freed yells at him angrily.
Simply shaking his head and sighing the priest speaks up again, "Focus the power of the Excalibur into the blade itself and cut yourself free." He tells his associate.
Following the advice Freed does as told and cuts the line to the wire that was connected to him.
He begins to laugh again as he lets the power of Excalibur flow through his body once more. "HAHAHAHAHA! Hope you don't believe in contraceptives, cuz you're all fucked!"
The group, except for Xuelan, takes battle ready stances brandishing a weapon or item for combat with the powered up Freed.
Upon seeing a red gauntlet Valper became excited. "Freed, keep the boy with the red gauntlet alive. His sacred gear may be the most useful upon it's removal.
Issei's ears perk up at this, "What the hell do you mean removal?" He asks them gaining an eye of Valper solely on him.
"It doesn't matter, let's just hope you don't end up being a total failure like that whore nun." He says in passing not knowing that Issei knows the nun in question.
As it happened previously, anger seemed to take over his mind slowly calling him to lose his senses. "Don't ever call her that again." *BOOST* He says loud enough for the old man to hear.
The old priest sees the change in emotion. Hearing the fabled call of on of the most well known sacred gears, his he brightens up. "Just as I suspected, that is indeed the boosted gear." He rubs his chin and ponders on the reaction of the Red Dragon Emperor.
"What relationship do you have with Asia Argento to elicit such a strong reaction?" The old man ask curiously.
*BOOST* "None of your business!" The young man shouts back not wanting to give the enemy any info in regards to his girlfriend.
Despite not being given an answer it was clear to see that the boy before him was very protective of the nun. An eerie smile crept up on his face. "It won't matter, once the problem here is taken care of, I can personally find her and bring her in for sacred gear removal. It's been a while since I've saved a nun, so hopefully she hasn't become too depraved." He says with his glasses reflecting the light.
*EXPLOSION* Having heard enough from the priest Issei's aura flares as anger fills his face. Rushing forward in a single bound he sets his sights on killing the priest that dared think to do anything with his Asia.
From his right however Freed was rapidly closing in laughing the entire way. "Another shitty dragon, you'll have to do until I get my hands on the dark skinned dragon!"
Xuelan hears his words and looks up with anger in her eyes. She only knew one dark skinned dragon and she currently felt like she had lost him. With her natural instincts and anger fueling her she lunges forward faster than any normal rook should.
Intercepting the mad man with a thrust kick stopping him dead in his tracks. Her blue aria begins to flare as she performs a kata striking a pose. In a flash she shoots her leg up into a high kick hitting him in his temple.
Pulling that same leg back close to her body she then begins to shoot out in rapid succession. Her leg moved so fast that it appeared to be multiple legs hitting the priest. One the kicks had stopped Freed was bleeding and bruise on the entire of his face and mostly likely chest. Before he could even take a breath, a final super kick hit him square in the nose. An audible crunch could be heard as he goes flying back, hitting the wall at the other end of the corridor. (1)
"You won't ever get to see my King again." She says with an intense glare before she runs away.
While this had happened Issei's rush to the priest had proven successful.
In the priest mind, he was led to believe that Chinese girl was no longer a factor. Freed would intercept the boy and he would make his escape. When the girl did go onto the attack and Issei continued on his path, the priest reached into his robe for something.
Before he had a chance to pull it out he found himself choking on his own blood.
He pointlessly grabbed at the gash on his neck hoping it would prolong his inevitable death. Issei just stood over his body watching as the color drained from his skin.
As the dying priest looked up all he could see was a shadow cast over the boy's face. Green glowing reptilian eyes staring at him as if he wanted to kill him again.
The malice to come from the boy seems to bring a fear into the man that he has never felt before. His body convulsed violently as he slowly let go of his throat, too weak to hold on anymore.
Issei sees the final bit of life leave his body and once he feels that the threat to Asia is gone, his eyes return to normal. Issei seems to regain his senses and sees the corpse of the priest at his feet.
Stunned by the sight before him he backs up slowly coming to the realization that he had killed a man. He feels his hands shake and his heart thumped against his chest.
Before he could go into a panic over what he has seen, he feels a hand grab his shoulder. With a jump he turns around seeing Kiba looking at him seriously but with a sense of understanding.
"He would have tried to hurt Asia; if you didn't get to him first, I would have killed him where he stood." Kiba, remembering how Issei had gotten the last time the young nun was threatened, justified Issei's actions to him.
Issei appreciated the reassurance from the swordsman, "T-thanks... I think I'm just gonna go home now." He tells them weakly still shaken by his actions.
He receives nods from the group as he makes his way out of the warehouse. " You were not wrong for killing that man partner, any threat to your maiden must be eliminated. It is in your very existence to protect her, never forget that."
The words came from his partner Ddraig now. Not wanting his partner to plague his own mind with what he has done.
End Flashback
Taking a breath Issei sneaks a look at Asia. Issei would swear that she gave off a light that made any place she was in brighter. A smile that melted his heart and an innocent beauty that he always wanted to keep safe.
Looking at her Issei realized something, "Wow, I didn't think a single lewd thought of her just now." He says somewhat surprised by himself.
Rather than ponder on it he reaches for Asia's hand grabbing it softly. " She must be a pure dragon maiden, if you if all people can't think lewd thoughts of her." Red dragon says jokingly to his host.
"I think... that's what I love about her most." He tells his partner.
Student Council Office
Sona is in a foul mood at the moment. Paperwork has had her busy all day today. She had just returned from finding her new pawn to be colluding with Kiba in the holy sword business. Worst of all she has not heard from Nigel all day. She new that he was following up on a lead but she didn't think the lead would cause his absence for the entire day. She needed his help to relieve the stress of the day, and even more she missed their conversations.
Attempting to call his phone it goes to voicemail immediately. A thing she found odd as Nigel's phone has never been off before.
Getting up she makes for the exit. "Tsubaki, I'm going to Nigel's home to check on him, I'm leaving you in charge of all affairs until I return." She tells her vice president.
SPANK* "Yes Kaichou. *SPANK* Consider all affairs as good as handled." *SPANK* She tells her president as she gives Saji 500 spankings for his earlier misdeeds.
At Nigel's home she knocks on the door to no response. Another oddity for her as one of the maids would have answered the door by now.
"Odd." She thinks to herself becoming more concerned. Trying to figure out who else would know her boyfriend whereabouts, she comes to the conclusion that Ravel Phenex would be her next best option.
Opting to simply head to the Phenex Estate rather than make contact before hand, she summons a magic circle to teleport her.
Underworld
Finding herself in the front steps of the Phenex mansion the sight before her was not what she expected. The front of the mansion had scorch marks and cracks and breaks all over.
She would have left if not for her want to find out something about Nigel. So with full disregard of her surroundings she proceeds to the door knocking on it.
Coming to the door was a maid with a bit of soot on her face. "Thank the Satans! Please come in someone like you will be perfect." The maid says pulling in the young woman walking speedily to somewhere.
"What is happening that I would be needed?" She ask surprised by how quickly everything is happening.
The maid doesn't respond as they continue to walk. Loud bangs could be heard through the walls and a portrait even falls to the ground.
The two make it to a garden area where she sees quite the sight.
In a mess of red and blue fire she sees Raiser wrestling on the ground with another tall blonde man she has never seen before. They seemed to be yelling at each other and throwing punches. Ravel was also standing beside them yelling something with her own orange fire coming off her body.
Stepping forward she summons a magic circle above the three bickering siblings, 'Waterfall' she says releasing water on top of the trio.
While the water itself did very little to the Phenex flames, the trio was soaked and put what they were doing on halt to see who had done it.
"Now that I have your attention, what the hell is going on?!" She says finally getting the commotion under control.
EndWelp that wraps up another one. Holy crap did I finish this in a week?
I appreciate everone that got to this point I will be gone for a week, so hopefully I left y'all with a good chapter.
Got to go into the mind of Nigel. I got the three main personality traits after seeing an episode of batman the brave and the bold. What y'all think? Let me know
Got to see Issei go off the deep end. Honestly Valper Galilei had a very rapey look to him that made my skin crawl the first time I saw him. Gave him a personality to match and instead of waiting for him die gave him a death that was more meaningful. Did anyone else think his death in the anime was unsatisfying? Also it works for what I have in mind with dragons in the long run in this story.
Got to see Sona at the end. Been a while since I wrote anything with Sona in it but she back at it. I wonder how she'll react to what has happened to Nigel.
More importantly how the hell did Marco and Raiser get into this fight?
Welp better get to writing.
Thanks a bunch for reading I'll see you all next chapter.
References:
(1): This was meant to be Chun-Li's critical art from Street Fighter V. Made a tiny change to it by giving her a super kick.