This chapter contains some rather heart heavy themes, if you have any bad memories associated with suicide or self-harm, please read with caution, the last thing I want is for me to upset anybody. Please be careful.
Chapter 7 - Toe-To-Toe
[Perspective of: Rias Gremory]
"...So...May I ask..." I began to say to him, looking up at him as he continued to pack his bags. "...Why do you want her protecting so badly? I know that you love her, but...surely, nothing will happen to her while you're gone." he stopped in his tracks, frowning slightly, a sigh crossing his lips.
"...She means a lot to me, Rias, I don't want anything to happen to Lyo, which I why I asked you." he grumbled, his gaze never faultering from his luggage.
"But...as I said, it shouldn't be a problem?" I tilted my head, putting my hand under my chin. "...Are you perhaps not telling me something here, Copper? Like, the reason you're so worried about her?"
"It's as I said! I love her, I want to make sure she's still alive by the time I come back!" he shouted, keeping his gaze on the bags, but stealing a glance at me, as if he said something to hide.
"She's a human, Copper, she isn't a Devil like us, she shouldn't get into any trouble, provided she doesn't stick her nose where it doesn't belong." I responded, folding my arms and staring down the blonde-haired boy.
"I'm not on about that!"
"Then what are you on about?"
Copper sighed, closing his eyes as he seemed to collect his thoughts. "...Rias, stop it. I have my reasons, and I don't fancy remembering what those reasons were." I frowned, deciding that I wouldn't be taking no for an answer.
"Perhaps telling me these reasons may help?" I stated, my arms remaining folded as I stood up. "Because I'm afraid that I can't protect her if I don't know what to protect her from." I seemingly struck a nerve, as Copper's eyes seemed to widen, before he closed them again and sighed, standing up straight and clearing his throat, opening his eyes to glare at me, his red eyes piercing into me.
"...Back when me and Lyonette were in third grade...We'd become pretty close friends at this point, willing to confide in one another and all that..." he began, sitting on one of his suitcases, looking at me. I nodded slowly, waiting for him to continue. "...She'd started coming to school late, and looked progressively more tired and unhappy each day, which was...jarring to say the least, since, she was always a pretty perky and happy girl." I smiled a little, thinking over this little tidbit, before he began to speak again.
"One day, Lyo came to me, all sad and depressed, and, let me tell you...I got all depressed just from looking at her." he continued, his voice faulting a little as he put a hand to his face. "...I'd...never seen her so fucking sad...and, frankly, I never want to again..."
"And that's why you want me to protect her?" I asked, keeping my arms folded, pursing my lips a little. "As sweet and adorable as that is, I don't-"
"Let me get to that part." he snapped, seemingly tearing up a bit. "Don't rush me, Rias." he put his face in his hands, seemingly mentally preparing himself. "...S-she told me that her mom had be shouting at her a lot more, recently, calling her a deviant- a heretic, scolding her a lot more, being kind of emotionally abusive...and apparently, it was because her mom had apparently found out me being a Devil, or...she'd found out 'something horrible' about me..." I opened my mouth to speak again, now thinking that he wanted me to protect her from her mother, but he started to speak once more. "I-I didn't know what to fucking say...She asked me what her mom was on about, and..." he looked on the verge of breaking down. "...That look in her eyes...fucking hell, she looked betrayed...and, I couldn't just blow my cover, I couldn't just tell her I was a Devil, especially considering all the religous shit that harlot of a mom she has put in her head...so, I told her that, I told her I couldn't tell her, that it was a secret...and..." he sniffled, putting his face in his hands. "...she just...broke down!" I blinked, slowly walking over to him and patted him on the back. "She broke down and ran away from me!"
"...There, there..." I tried to reassure him, suddenly feeling a little guilty, once again, I tried to speak, but he began talking.
"...I went to check on her the next day, and...her mom wasn't in, nor was her sister, but..." he was clearly holding back tears, his eyes were watering as he spoke. "...I was worried sick! I ran upstairs to her room, and went inside, and..." it was at this point, that he began to sob uncontrollably into his hands, in clear distress as he slumped over and cried his eyes out. "...She was...she was stood on a chair, with a rope around her neck, looking ready to fucking jump. She tried to kill herself, Rias. She was fully prepared to take her own fucking life!" he slumped back over, continuing to sob and cry out in sorrow, as all these memories which he supposedly repressed flooded back to him. "I-I stopped her. I gave her a hug, and confessed to her on the spot...And...that's what I'm afraid of. I'm afraid she'll try it again..." he slowly brought his face from behind his hands, looking at me with red, tearful eyes and a trembling lip. "...Rias...Swear to me...Swear to me that you won't let anything happen to Lyonette. I don't want to leave for America worrying that the love of my life could be deepthroating the business end of a shotgun, or hanging by a rope from her ceiling!"
I was taken aback, my mouth agape, trying to figure out what to say in this situation. I'd never seen him so distraught, not even when he was talking about leaving to start with, it was a jarring situation, seeing him like this, as I searched my mind for things to say, I put my hand on his back, rubbing it, the words finally coming to me.
"...You have my word, Copper."
"Rias?" my flashback was cut off by a voice, their tone questioning and confused, I looked up to see who it was, finding it to be none other than Lyonette herself. "...You okay? You kinda zoned out and stopped walking..." I looked at her confused face, her odd yellow eyes gazing at me as she put a hand on her hip. "Remember, you're meant to be the one leading the way."
"...Yes. Of course." I walked by Lyonette, stealing another glance at her as I passed, watching her gaze follow me with a look of confusion on her face. It was somewhat hard to believe that this girl had Copper worrying so much. When I first saw her, sure, she was quiet, rather formal and maybe got angry a little too easily, but nothing about her inherently seemed depressive, to me, she just seemed like a simple girl who's been thrown into a world she doesn't understand yet.
"...What are we even looking for, anyway? What is this Stray Devil thing you and Akeno were on about?" she asked, her tone was fairly demanding, seemingly somewhat annoyed, even. "I've been asking the whole way here, and not one of you've answered me." I sighed, preparing to begin my explaination, clearing my throat.
"A Stray Devil is a Devil servant who defied their Devil Master, often, they kill their masters to gain freedom for their own selfish benefits." I stated, watching Lyonette's expression carefully, seeing it change not a jot. "As a result, they tend to be a lot more unpredictable than other Devils...The one we're dealing with has been luring humans into an abandoned house and eating them."
"Right, gotcha." Lyonette stated, nodding and drawing her sword. "So, we're gonna go kill this thing and bring some kind of retribution or some shit?" she asked, her eyes shining a little, as if she thought the idea sounded awesome.
"That's a...rather glorified way of putting it.~" I responded, chuckling a little at the girl's excitement and enthusiasm, folding my arms with a smile. "But...I suppose you're right.~"
"So...is this the place?" Issei asked, looking around at our surroundings. I looked back in front of us, seeing our destination, the aforementioned abandoned house, positioned menacingly in the middle of the forest, fairly large and fancy looking, with what looked to be a ruined observatory.
"Indeed it is." I stated, gesturing everyone to follow me as I walked to the heavy wooden doors, mentally readying myself as I pushed them open, a creak being heard as they revealed the desecrated interior of the building, it reeked a horrid energy, the likes of which I had felt many times before.
"Yep...It's here alright." I thought to myself, glancing at Lyonette and Issei. "Issei, Lyonette, are either of you familiar with chess?"
"Yeah...Sort of." Issei responded, tilting his head, slightly confused. "...I've played it, but I totally suck."
"I made my sister cry when I won a game against her once." Lyonette said, giggling a little before clearing her throat and putting her scarf over her mouth. "...Good times.~" she added, her voice muffled a little. I opened my mouth, preparing to explain the Evil Pieces system to them...But then, I thought of something...
"Why explain it when I can just show them?" I thought to myself, clearing my throat. "I want you both to keep a close eye on your fellow servants tonight."
"...Okay?" Lyonette responded, her voice still muffled by her scarf as she spoke. "...What does that have to do with chess?"
"You'll see in due time." I responded, looking around for a possible area where the stray could be. Almost immediately, my question was answered.
"...Now what could that foul, fecal smell be?~" a relatively mature and feminine voice rhetorically asked, a bit of shuffling and a long sniff being heard. "Mm...But something smells quite delicous, as well.~"
"This is...no." Lyonette said, seemingly losing her train of thought as she drew her weapon, the loud sound of scraping blade against scabbard being heard from her. All of a sudden, a large figure lumbered out from behind one of the pillars in the room above us, a nude female figure with long, flowing black hair, showed herself, mostly, her lower half cloaked in the shadows of the house. "Oh, what the fuck!"
"Viser."
"I see big boobies!~" Issei exclaimed, his voice sounding a mixture of happy and hopelessly conflicted, warrenting a glare from Lyonette.
"Issei! Get your mind out of the damn gutter and focus!" she yelled at him, turning towards the Stray and pointing her crimson blade at it, leering and beginning to speak. "Hey! Freakshow! You forgot your fuckin' clothes!" I sighed, knowing full well that any chance of getting a word in was gone as Viser began to giggle, tilting her head tauntingly.
"Oh?~ You've got quite the mouth on you for a little one, haven't you?~" she taunted, her eyes fixed on Lyonette keenly as she licked her lips. "That should make you all the more satisfying to devour!~"
"I ain't scared of you!" Lyonette growled, her voice muffled, slowly moving forward shakily, her arms clutching her sword tightly as she moved her scarf from over her face. "We're here to end you and your traitorous ways, stray!" she added, a little glint in her eyes as she spoke, trying to sound as threatening and heroic as possible. The stray slowly swayed out of the shadows, revealing a horribly mutated lower half to her, where her legs once were, there was now a large body, with matted fur covering the top of it, each fold of it's abhorrent flesh visible and trembling, a pair of strong, goat-like legs protruding from the bottom of the creature, an archway of horror as it raised a horrid, pallid, sharp nailed hand, I immedietely heard a yelp from Lyonette as she stepped back.
"Your shakiness betrays you, little one.~" the horrid monstrosity had a sick grin on her face as her wicked giggles turned to maniacal cackling. "Were it not for the delicious terror I could smell from you, perhaps I'd believe you!~"
"Viser! You betrayed your master to fufil the lustful wants and desires that have consumed you," I began, attempting to draw the Stray's attention from Lyonette, stepping forward, my voice echoing throughout the broken room. "Your sins are worthy of a thousand Hells, in the name of the house of Gremory, and all who stand beside us," I decided to add in a little dramatic pose, to make more of a distraction. "Begone! Lest you perish and never be remembered!" a few seconds of silence followed, before Lyonette let out a fangirlish squeal, hopping up and down on the spot.
"That was fucking awesome...!" I heard her whisper-yell, slowly trying to contain herself again, clearing her throat awkwardly. Viser slowly began laughing again, sighing and glaring at me.
"It seems you've gotten that one excited.~" she teasingly stated, slowly looking back at Lyonette and licking her lips. "It'd be a shame to let her go to waste now."
"H-hey!" I heard Lyonette shout, stepping back. "What are you implying with that!?"
"It looks like we're doing this the hard way then..." I gave a small nod to Kiba and Koneko, signaling them to begin the assault. Almost immediately, the two of them sprung into action, Kiba drew his blade, the scrape of metal swiftly ringing out around the ruined room as he began charging Viser, Koneko on the other hand, simply began to walk towards the creature, her expression completely indifferent. "You asked how what I said had to do with chess...And I shall now explain." I stated, diverting my gaze back to Lyonette and Issei, noting their respective impressed and shocked expressions. "Devil Servants, upon being brought into the fold of a Devil household, are assigned a chess piece to them," I turned to look at Kiba, watching him dart around, slashing his sword at Viser with vigor and strength, slicing the horror's arms off in a matter of seconds. "Kiba, for example, is my Knight, specialising in speed, not to mention being a devastating swordsman, if you can tell from looking at him."
"W-wait! So each of your servants has a chess piece assigned to them..." Lyonette began, her expression a picture of awe and confusion. "...Nevermind, continue." I turned my attention to the beast, as Koneko began to approach it, watching as the Stray's face twisted into a horrible, warped expression, it's lower chest ripping and tearing itself asunder, a large jaw making itself known in the flesh of the abomination, a loud roar resounded throughout the house as it brought itself down, its jaws snapping shut, grasping Koneko in it's second mouth, beginning to laugh uncontrollabley. Lyonette gasped, blinking and stepping back further, clutching the grip of her sword, trembling.
"Wait for it..." I said with a smile, keeping my gaze trained on Viser's lower half, hearing the Stray's lunatic giggling take a turn, gagging into a horrid cry as Koneko tore the jaws of the mouth open, simply keeping it open, her expression not faultering in the slightest...In typical, Koneko fashion, really. I spied Lyonette, seemingly rearing back a little clutching her sword, her expression that of awe and determination...In the heat of the moment, I thought nothing of her stance, as if she was about to run head-first into the enemy. "Koneko is a Rook, an adept in strength and durability." I looked at Lyonette and Issei, my hand on my hip as I continued. "That bite won't have hurt in the slightest.~"
"End of the line!" Koneko cried, her voice still indifferent and void of emotion, turning around suddenly and delivering a bone-breaking sucker punch to Viser's chest, the beast screaming out, its voice deafening, its second set of teeth shattering from such a devastating blow, setting it on a crash-course straight into a pillar, slamming it's head into it with unrivalled force and power, smashing the pillar into pieces, each bit of rubble crashing down upon its distorted face as it laid there, armless and helpless, I looked to Akeno, about to give her the nod to take the finishing strike...but such a occasion was not to be, as I heard a loud battlecry come from behind me, drawing my attention away from my friend, and to the bespecaled blonde, who was charging head-first into Viser.
"Geeet FUCKED!" Lyonette screamed as she swung her sword at Viser's neck, the beast opening it's eyes and screaming its lungs out, it's tongue lashing out of its mouth and swiping the blade from Lyonette's hand, throwing it aside, before swiping back at her and knocking her off her feet, a cry being heard from Lyonette as she slammed to the floor, looking up fearfully as Viser began to stand once more, her arms seeming to regenerate, but more burlier and strong, the hands tapering to sharp, twisted claws, the shattered remains of the being's lower chest reformed, it's teeth sharper than ever, a menacing aura of dread filling the room.
"Surely she...can't have gotten that powerful?"
"How cute~!" Viser laughed, her voice raspy and warped, a forceful wind billowing through the room, blowing all of us off our feet, throwing us all against the wall. "That you have the fucking guts, to charge at me so carelessly~! Truely, natural selection is alive and well~!"
"L-Lyo! Get outta there!" Issei cried out, trying to resist the wind fruitlessly. I felt myself begin to panic, knowing full well that something was not right, that something had gone terribly wrong.
"Lyonette! As your master, I order you to run!" I yelled, trying to get her to save herself from her inevitable demise...but, she didn't seem to hear me, she quickly got onto her side, forcing herself to her feet, staring up at Viser with fear in her eyes, scrambling for her sword.
"I'm going to savour every morsal of your pathetic little body, you reckless little slut~!" Viser maniacally shouted, delirious and clearly too far gone for any reason to be taken, grabbing Lyonette with a gaunt hand and thrusting her towards her gaping maw, the sorrowful cry of Issei yelling her name being deafening in my panicked state. I squeezed my eyes shut, I couldn't bare to watch, my mind racing with thoughts of my failure, my failure to keep my promise to Copper...However, I felt my thoughts shatter, as if pieced by a sharp blade, my eyes snapping open as I looked towards the scene in front of me...
Lyonette was grasped in Viser's hand, her eyes squeezed shut, as if she was accepting her fate, but the monster's maw was forced open by a congregation of black vines, each with sharp, pricking thorns serrating out of them, lacerating the callous skin of the mouth, there was a moment of deafening silence, before Viser let out a loud shriek, causing Lyonette to open her eyes, a loud yelp being heard from her as she was dropped, watching the monstrosity that just threatened her very life stumble back, a gutful of thorned vines...and on Lyonette's arm, was a black gauntlet the same black gauntlet which adorned her arm when she came back from her summon request a few nights ago.
"Whoa...what the fuck...?" Lyonette mused, looking at her Sacred Gear, which was clutching her blade, both the red highlights and the material of her blade glowing red, small black vines adorning her gauntlet, she stared for a moment, before chuckling, looking up at Viser, a smug look of determination on her face, tears still in her eyes from the shock of it all. "...Alright, freakshow..." she put her left leg back, moving her sword arm forward, taking a fencing stance. "Let's fuckin' dance, shall we?" she said, the vines retracting into the ground, leaving Viser's torso a bloody, gorey mess, blood dripping from each tooth and onto the floor. I gazed in awe, pleasantly surprised by such a turn of events...I could only imagine the joy that Lyonette felt with such an action!
[Perspective of: Lyonette Griffin]
"Holy fucking shit! I feel so fucking coooool!" I giggled happily, stepping closer to the Stray Devil, holding my sword in hand.
"You...little whore!" Viser growled, throwing her head back and letting out another shriek, bringing her head back, glaring at me. "Look at how you've ruined my body!"
"Your body was already ruined from your traitorous actions, Stray!" I cried, my voice stern, but shaky, my body trembling as my adrenaline began to kick in, stepping forward theatrically, my heart thumping against my chest wildly, as I began to speak once more. "You have sullied yourself in your pursuit for power and have refused redemption, and I, Lyonette Griffin-Gremory, shall be your reckoning!" I charged forward, my blade in hand and a spark in my eyes, the Stray Devil screamed, slamming her hand down in a fit of rage, narrowly missing me as I rolled out of the way, my adrenaline pumping at maximum.
"Fucking hell~! I've never felt so alive~!" I glared at the abomination's hand as I got to my feet, stumbling, grinning harder than I ever have, as I cried out. "Sacred Gear! Black Thorn!"
The vines from before smashed out of the ground where her hand slammed, my Sacred Gear began to glow brightly, the vines wrapping tightly around her hand, a loud howl of agony could be heard from the Stray as she tried to force her hand out of the ensnaring tendrils of blackness which were ripping into her hand, her screams and howls only amplified as I slashed my sword into her hand, the blade glowing brighter as it cut into her flesh, chopping it clean off, blood spraying everywhere.
"You horrible little slut!" she screeched, throwing her stumpy wrist into the air, her face twisted into a horrid, wide-mouthed expression of pain and agony.
"Enough mouthin' off, bitch! Shut it and die already!" I said, throwing my hand up into the air, the vines impaling the creature's chest, going straight through to the other side, greeting my ears with even more severe screaming and howling. I heard slow clapping behind me, turning my head to look at the source...It was Rias, stepping towards me, with everyone else staring at me, open mouthed. "...W-wanna finished this thing off, Rias?"
"With pleasure~" the busty red-head said, looking up at the Stray's face, smirking very slightly. "...Do you have any last words, Viser?"
"G-go to hell..." Viser said croakily, watching as Rias seemed to summon a magic circle in front of herself, the iconography of it spinning and glowing, seemingly preparing something.
"Let's get that over with then, shall we?" Rias stated smugly, discharging a large amount of destructive energy from the circle, a loud screech coming from Viser as she seemed to disperse into the energy, disappearing from sight. "...Alright, we're done here." the red-head stated, looking at everyone else, and then me. "Let's go home.~"
"Lyo!" I heard Issei yell, throwing himself at me and hugging me tightly, tears in his eyes. "God-damn it! I thought we lost you for a moment, but that was awesome!" I felt someone pat me on the back, as I turned to see Kiba's smiling face.
"You did great there, Lyonette!" he complimented, the shine in his eyes still as present as ever, with that smug expression of his.
"Yeah, that was pretty cool, actually." Koneko stated, her expression still blank and bored looking, despite everything that just happened. I looked over at Akeno, who simply giggled and nodded encouragingly. I looked down at my Sacred Gear, smiling slightly and sheathing my sword.
"I guess...I unlocked my Sacred Gear properly..." I thought, snapping out of my thoughts suddenly as I looked at Rias, who simply patted me on the head.
"That was quite the display, Lyonette." she said with an appreciative smile, putting her hand on her hip. "I don't think I've ever seen a Stray that powerful...Much less a newly reborn Pawn go toe-to-toe with one!"
"T-thanks, Rias..." I said, realising exactly what was just said, tilting my head. "...W-wait, Pawn?" Rias simply giggled, looking at Issei and I.
"Did I forget to tell you both?" she teased, her voice coated with smugness. "Your chess pieces that were assigned to you both. You're both Pawns."
In unison, my jaw and Issei's jaw dropped, both of us staring at Rias.
"JUST PAWNS?!"
Ohhh boy, that was quite the chapter to write...sorry about the time it took, I was rather preoccupied with other matters, not to mention suffering from writer's block, so as a result, this took a while to do...But, I'm back, and hopefully, in a good state to be writing stories.~
Of course, I need to address the troll/child in the room.
Chucklenuts - "are you retarted? i am VERY serious stop making fun of me or i wlil SUE you and get your STORY taken down
i will ruin your life admiral headPAT
yeah i spelled your name right this time you fucking cunt"
*retarded
and to answer your question, yes, I am retarded.
