I Do not Own DXD or MHA, that belongs to its respective creators and my OC belongs to me... somewhat... he is Very Dabi-like... I guess you can probably say it is OOC Dabi or something.
"Dialog"
Normal description
"Inner thoughts"
Powers
Chapter 3: Hmph... They Ain't So Bad
The blue light finally cleared and I stumbled a bit as the guy caught my shoulder. As he did and I turned to see him I saw, and felt, him flinch a bit under my gaze. I gave him a nod of thanks and then stood to my full height, while shaking the dizziness from myself, and let my eyes adjust to the now moderately lit room. "Ohhhh man... Teleporting sucks real bad." My voice comes out like I am tired, and I am... of all this bullshit. I want Valper to die already, but I'll take time to prepare more while others do my work.
I began to look around the room and then noticed that it wasn't moderately lit, and that was just the spots in my eyes. I then held my hand out and it began to light up, but then I had water appear out of a magic circle on my hand and it extinguished. "None of that, you'll set off the fire alarms." I turned to see Sona with a leveled gaze and her finger pointed towards the magic circle. The stare she is giving me is like a teacher disciplining a problem child.
"Pfft... whatever floats your boat, Sitri-san. Kinda don't want the authorities showing up around me now if I can help it." With the light of the magic circle I was able to see around the room a bit more. It looked like a office space with a few desks and table to work on projects. The walls were painted with a lime green and there was a board with tasks that reads 'Student Council To-do List'. I seen a very nice looking desk at the front and then I could see outside the window. It looked like I was at a school judging by the scene illuminated by moonlight.
"Where are we? This ain't some school is it, cause I doubt with my looks I ain't winning hearts and friendships." I say with a sarcastic tone, that comes off like a joke. My face has bored expression while my hands are still in my pockets.
"It is." I then see the lights flick on and the curtains are then closed. I then see the taller girl with glasses move to a cabinet and pull out a... chess set? She then pulls a chair and puts it in front of the large desk that Sona promptly sits at. The others around the room going to wherever they can and Momo waves me to the seat that was placed in front of the desk. Sona then levels her gaze again. "Care for a game while we discuss?"
"You'll lose." I say with a smirk.
She raises a brow and then smirks a bit herself, but it seems more of amusement than like she is taking me seriously. "Oh? Well then please sit and let's begin." The others in the room smile and chuckle as well. I take a seat and then lean forward. "Have you played before? You have some confidence with this game being all to you, so I assume you have."
"Yeah... I used to play with a guy named Marcus back in the day. Guy said I needed a level head if I was gonna go hunting and so he taught me shogi and chess. I don't approach everything head on, contrary to my appearance. I like to be at least seven steps ahead and no less than that." I keep my smirk on my face as I point to a color. "I'll take black if you don't mind?"
"I don't mind." She then begins to set up her side and watches as I set up my side. Most likely she doesn't believe I have experience and was just talking big, which is fair. I look like a psycho killer. "A question then..." I raise a brow and look at her. "What would you have done if you had not met us and the Exorcist wouldn't have given up any information?" She then moves her first piece.
I move mine immediately. "I would have fell back on the manners of my current target who was apparently here and would have exploited his hate of Devils. A few rumors of people doing Devil worship in a few obscure locations would attract him like a shark to blood." She then moves her piece as she hums at my answer. "Should that have failed then I would simply wait for murders to pop up as I patrol for him and if after awhile nothing happened I would then ask the Devils for assistance. I'm still one guy so I can only look so much."
I move my piece and then Sona does the same as the tall girl puts some drinks on the table. "Thank you Tsubaki." She nods and then returns to the game. "So I heard you were hunting this person, but I don't know the full extent. Can you enlighten me, and us, to why you are searching for this man? I think it would allow us to have some much needed perspective for this situation." I mull it over as I place another piece on the table.
Sona moves one and we continue like this as we talk. "Same old boring revenge story. He isn't the real target, but he can lead me to the one that is, so in a sense this guy Freed Selzan is a means to an end." I take a drink and then look to the tall girl. "Thanks Tsubaki." She nods and then stands next to Sona as Tsubasa and Momo stand to my left and right, respectively, and the guy is behind me.
"Well that explains the man Freed, but who is it that you are hunting then? Perhaps I know of where they are." She says and watches me carefully.
"An ex bishop of the Church named Valper Gallilei, the Archbishop of Genocide. He had adopted a bunch of my friends and I from an orphanage and tried to make us into tools for the Church..." My eyes must have gotten a faraway look, as I breathed out a heavy sigh fighting back a stray tear, because the Devils seemed to sense my hesitance. "... but the bastard. He killed all of us after his 'research' was concluded." I give a mirthful laugh. "Church didn't even arrest or kill him... they excommunicated him and use his research. I plan to correct that and make sure it is slow and torturous when I rip all of his life from his body and scatter it to the winds." I say with a determined look.
The Devils seem taken aback and a few of them seem to look at me with pity. Not the first ones to do that, but at least it shows some people care still. I'll kill him so all of you can rest easy. Sona clears her throat and then continues to play. "I see... I have no knowledge on the man, but you have my sympathies." I nodded as I sigh and move a piece. The other Devils seem to notice that I have a majority of Sona's pieces, but the girl herself has yet to notice. "My next question is why do your powers seem to hurt so bad. The scars are... not friendly for the public and it can feel good to burn yourself to that extent."
I sighed and nodded at that and then had my knight take her queen piece. "Here we go again. I don't know... I remember waking up with them after I saw my-" I swallowed a lump in my throat. "When I saw my friends bodies... I felt so hot and then when I woke there was nothing but ash all around me and a destroyed facility and my body was in agony." I see Sona has noticed the state of the board and she has a worried expression on her face that she clears quickly. "After awhile the pain receptors in my body died and now it doesn't hurt anymore. Then again nothing physical does. I ain't a healthy guy when it comes to my mind either so I at least acknowledge I am... let's call it 'wired differently' in my head from the events."
"I... see..." She bites her thumb as she scans the board seeing that she is being backed into a corner. I stay leaning forward and then give a yawn. "Well... the weird thing is I don't sense any magic, nor a sacred gear from you so I am having a hard time understanding where they come from." I shrug and then try to think of a response as she and I play. It takes about five turns to word it right.
"Well I do feel something that is just out of reach in me as I use my flames. It always stays out of reach for me. My guess is that the flames are whatever it is slipping through, but not complete so they were harming me. Maybe my magic is just sealed or something. I don't know how to go about opening it up." I then place my Queen next to her king. "Check."
She seems to have her eyes glaze over as she sees that there is no way for her to go. If she takes out the Queen, the pawn will get her and if she runs from the Queen the knight or rook can capture it.
"..."
"..."
"... I lose. It is your win." She seems to redden her cheeks a bit and I am understandably confused.
"Look it's just a game Sona. No need to get embarrassed by losing. Anyway I assume I am staying here in the school then? This is where we went so I guess that is the case right?" She was staring at the board like it was fake and seems to be trying to see through an illusion, but it never changes. I then notice the faces of everyone around me and they look to be in shock... seriously it is just chess. The guy behind me seems to be seething. DUDE IT IS CHESS! Devils are so damn weird!
She eventually looks up to me and the blush is still present on her face. She then clears her throat and all the base in her voice is now left her. "W-well yeah." She fixes herself after a few breaths. "There is a couch and I can have a blanket dropped off here. I'll simply alter the mind of the faculty to allowing you to be here and think it is normal. Try not to cause too much trouble with the students... please." She says the last word meekly.
I sigh. "Well a couch is better than nothing. I might use the showers to clean off, but again Sona... it is just chess. Stop making such a big deal about it." She nods reluctantly and I continue, not giving anyone a chance to say a word. "Right well I am going clean up." I stand and make my way to the door and grab a key, thing has to be a master key or something. "I'll find my way there and if you don't wanna see the rest of my burns I suggest staying away. Night." I left the room.
Sona was staring down at the board again and then her flushed cheeks brighten slightly. Saji then yells and breaks the silence. "RAAAAAAAGH! NO WAYYYYY! I was supposed to be the one to marry president Sona! Not some edgy teen from who knows whe-"
"SAJI!" Sona then yells not having the outburst go uncalled. She then stands up and then puts her hand to her face. "This was... not a foreseen circumstance that I thought would happen. We will have to explain it to him later, but at this point... my parents know I lost a fair match. They will most likely be contacting me tomorrow." She sighs and then looks back to the board as she then picks it up herself.
Momo is the next to speak up. "We are soooo sorry president! I didn't think that this would happen tonight after we told you." She says apologetically.
Tsubasa joins her. "Yes... the fault is ours. We are deeply sorry President." They both end up bowing and put their heads to the floor in a show of sorrow.
"It's fine. It was my hubris that brought this on. Most people are confused by a game offer and he oozed confidence. My pride came into question there and I did this to myself. Aside from the scars and his attitude he may grow to be family, but that remains to be seen. I can't go back on the contract and my father and mother are going to want to meet him. Let's go home and drop him off some blankets and a pillow for the couch." She then thinks of something else. "He also said his magic could be sealed or something is sealed in him. I wanna try to break that seal and see what happens. I'll spend the night researching ways to pull a sealed off bit of magic out of someone."
They all nodded and with that they left and eventually Tsubaki came back and left Luca a blanket and pillow for the couch. He would then fall asleep as his head hit the cushions of the couch. His wounds healing completely like normal, but the scars always remaining.
The next day
I ended up sleeping like a log on that couch in the office, but damn is it boring here. No TV and all that or any sort of games and they expect me to stay put or something? Well at least I got time to look through my rewards from the quest.
Hypocrites of Grace
It seems you stumbled upon a random exorcist and are now given the option to make yourself known to the Devils with a little clean up duty. Show this bastard what a victim of the Holy Sword Project is made of!
Objective: Stop/kill the Exorcist- complete
Bonus Objective: Cause more than 100,000 dollars in property damage! - complete
Hidden Objective: Find out any information from the Exorcist before the end. -Complete
Rewards: 1000 xp, Special trait
Bonus rewards: 2500 xp, Magic seed implanted
Hidden rewards: Sona and peerage allies, Quest: A Freed in a Haystack
I skimmed through the rewards and then nodded as I mentally brought up the... magic seed?
Magic Seed Implant(0%): A seed of incredible power that is earned through feats of pure diligence. Congratulations on accomplishing this Gamer! This seed is now implanted in your very soul and as you encounter and defeat magical beings you will absorb some of their power to nurture the seed. Once it sprouts it will then grant you a magic affinity and your Mana will be unlocked.
"Alright then... guess I can get magic so I got a few more things to add to the arsenal. Well depending on how long this takes to hatch inside of me that is. Now about that Special Trait..." I then mentally brought up the Special Trait roll wheel and spun that shit as I lazily gazed at the spinning shapes.
DING!
Phantasmal Form: The spirit realm a place lost to many and accessible to some. Now you can access it too! Well a limited form of it at least. With this you can take on the aspect of a ghost and pass through objects and others. The look you have while doing this is up to you entirely, but the results will always be the same! Be careful though as Yokai techniques will still hit you and that can be bad, Luca.
So I can turn intangible now? Badass! Thanks for the warning to System. Now I won't be stupid with it either. Actually since I can decide what I look like when I use it then I choose... nothing. Nothing happens at all and I look just like I do now when I use it. More of a strategy reason too, I mean if I suddenly go slightly transparent or give off an aura then people will know what I am doing. Kinda don't want that and it can definitely surprise people if I just walk through them and blast them with flames.
Now let's see this Quest...
A Freed in a Haystack
You know Freed is here, but now you also know there is a lot more than just Freed Selzan here. This is gonna take you some time to go through, but that will be okay. See you don't have to really do anything since Sona and her peerage have agreed to help you in exchange for favors. This may end up being a boon, but don't slack off too much. This quest will go a lot faster if you take a active approach, but you still have your deal to uphold, so remember that!
Objective: Find Freed Selzan
Bonus objective: Take down all 30 Exorcists by either your hands or Devil hands (0/30)
Bonus Objective 2: Don't betray Sona and follow through on your words!
Rewards: 500 XP per exorcist, 3000 XP, ?, ?, Increased reputation with Sona and her peerage.
"I accept this quest." I say and I see the accepted notification as I dismiss it. Most of my notifications are off in fact except for quest notifs and other stuff when I learn something new. Don't plan on changing that soon since it keeps my vision clear. Now then what can I do today? I guess I'll stay here for a bit and wait for Sona and them. Actually what time is it?
I then got up and walked to the curtains and pulled them open as the sun hit me hard. After my eyes adjusted I could see that it was at least 6:30 AM judging by the sun's height in the sky. I found out that the clock on the wall in here doesn't work, so gotta go off of experience. I nodded and then looked over to my shirt and jacket... if you can even call it that. It is more like a button up than anything else, but I like to keep it open. After getting dressed fully I went and opened the window and just sit and watch the clouds go by.
"Honestly it feels nice to relax like this. I can't remember the last time I could just let go and kick back. I left on this damn journey to take down Valper far longer than I remember, and to be honest it has done a lot of damage to my psyche. This is almost obsessive at this point, like I just have to kill him, or I will be a failure to my friends and myself." I clutch my chest and then get lost in my own head for awhile, a leg kicked over the side and another up and resting on the window sill, where I am sitting. The sun is shining on me and soon I hear the sound of a bell. Opening my eyes I see that students are starting to fill into the gate and I just sit there and watch.
I see a few people look up at me and I just shrug and watch as some file by and into the building. A few of them stare a little too long, so I give them a small wave, to let them know I see them, and then go back to cloud watching. Eventually I see Sona walking in with Tsubaki and a two other girls. One has long red hair and blue eyes which gives her this really nice exotic look and next to her is a Japanese girl that has hair done up in a ponytail that goes down to her backside. The students not sneaking glances at me seem to be squealing at the sight of the 4 of them... high school is weird, I'm glad I graduated early from home studies.
Sona and the red head seem to be having a god conversation to ignore all this, but the Tsubaki girl ends up seeing me and stops. When she does Red sees that and then she stops as well and then Tsubaki says something. After that I see them turn towards me with a mix of emotions. The pony tailed girl, I am not dignifying that face with a response... did she lick her lip? Red seems to be studying me and Sona is looking spooked and she is getting red in the face like Red's hair. Must be mad, but the rest of the students look over towards me and a bunch of different voices are heard at once and it gets really annoying. Sona appears to be trying to yell something to me, but I can't hear.
I give sigh. "Well better go see what she wants." I then hop out the window and fall about 12 feet. A few yelled as I did, but they stopped when I landed just fine on my feet and I began walking towards them. Silence. That is all that I hear as I make my way to Sona with my hands in my pockets. I hear a good bit of voices breaking through the silence.
"Who is that?"
"What happened to him? Look at those burns."
"The burns?! Look at the peircings!"
"Is he a gangster?" Pfft I may have chuckled at that one.
I end up making it to Sona and she seems to be still slightly red, but not as much anymore. There is a bit of silence and so I clear my throat. "Ahem Sorry Sona, uhhh what is the honorific for people well aquainted? Forget it. I couldn't hear you Sona so what was it you said?" I hear a few gasps around me.
"First Names?!"
Are they dating?!"
"I didn't think Sona was into bad boys!"
I took this as my cue to make a sarcastic remark. I clicked my tongue. "Yep... that is exactly what it is. Sona here is trying to save me from delinquency and is doing a greaaaat job doing that. We play all kinds of games with each other too, so now that you know the obvious truth please move along so we can talk." I expected a lot of things... but not for an eruption of squeals that nearly sent me stumbling and left my ears ringing.
"Sooooo romantic!"
"It's like finding your Yakuza Prince!"
"That bastard! It was supposed to be meee!" A few guys yell and then send glares to me.
Sona was as beat red as you can get and I swear her mask just cracked as she is unable to figure out what to say. The Red head seems to be wearing a large smile at seeing Sona react this way and the raven haired girl next to her chuckles. "Ufufufu. My how bold of you. To say such a thing in front of the whole school no less? You must be real quick to mark what's yours." I shrug as at least she is able to joke back.
Tsubaki is just shocked and looking to Sona as now she is reaching nuclear levels. I then see her exclaim with her mouth open like a fish. "G-g-g-g-g-get back in the student Council room now, Luca! I-I-I'l be there in a moment, b-but I told you not to make a scene!"
I roll my eyes. "Well I can't read lips and I couldn't hear you over all the yelling. My bad. Gonna head back there again, but I don't know the way. If you remember we didn't use any doors to get me in there." I say matter-of-factly.
A round of gasps are heard and I swear I heard someone shout "Scandalous." The raven haired girl and Red seem more and more amused by the second. Sona is sputtering trying to save the image she has and I just chuckle a bit. "High school is so weird."
In the office of the student council I am getting the literal third degree from Sona with the other three just amused to all hell and back. I stay looking at the ceiling as I wait for her to finish and eventually comes. "... I mean what were you thinking saying something like that!?"
"Hm?" I hum a bit. "Well I didn't think everyone in your culture couldn't understand sarcasm, but here we are." I shrug and she grinds her teeth and let's out a growl, but it sounds like a puppy trying to get it's toy back. "Look I said I was sorry. Seriously it was just a joke and now I gotta deal with annoying guys here that are jealous. If anything I got it worse since I gotta make sure not to put too many in the hospital for starting shit." I say as I lean back on the couch. "Anyway I got a serious problem here."
She seems to calm down enough and then hears me out with a serious look. "I was left without TV or food to cook so I am bored and hungry." Red, who I now know as Rias from the walk here and Akeno, the raven haired girl both laugh pretty hard at this as Sona gets mad enough steam could come out of her ears if it could.
"Are you SERIOUS?! You-"
I cut her off. "Easy girl... if you keep nagging me then people will think we are a married couple." I say as I stay laying there and she stops immediately, the same flushed look on her face as she looks away. "Not the reaction I thought I would get, but..." I lean up to a sitting position and put my foot on a table. "The guy last night said that there is 30 of the assholes here. Which means Freed is one of them and I got 29 urns to fill before I get to him, so how do you wanna handle this?" The three look at me and then I shrug and raise my hand, no fire forms. "Truth be told I was just gonna send em to hell screaming with my flames till I found the guy. Maybe kill the rest as well now that I think about it."
Tsubaki pushes my feet off the table and then takes a step forward. "We were actually talking about that last night before we went to sleep. What would be your way of finding them if all of your plans failed? This was not discussed, but I am curious to know how you would react to all plans failing." I then ignite my finger and this draws Rias and Akeno's attention.
"Easy. I'd burn everything till I get my guy." This makes them stiffen a bit. "I am ruthless in my hunt for these guys and I will be honest that I have become mentally unhinged from my searching, however, I can keep tact as long as there is another answer other than 'burn everything and scatter it to the wind'. I save that for Stray Devils when the Gamigin house was making me pay for info with their dirty work." This seems to catch Rias' attention.
"I didn't think the Gamigins would use a human to do their work for that. It is unlike them, but I would like to know if you will be a threat to the territory and to Sona. She is one of my best friends and your statement certainly doesn't paint you in a good light." She says with a bit of faux confidence as she takes an authoritative tone and stance.
"Sona is my ally so her allies are also mine. As long as she doesn't betray me then I won't harm her." I shrug. "Besides I ain't gonna kill Devil heiresses without a good reason or your people will eat me alive. Actually scratch that, regardless of reason they will eat me alive and I am looking to stay around for awhile till I kill Valper." I say that old bastard's name with the purest venom I can muster.
"Ufufufu. You seem to be really angry at this Valper guy. What could he have done to earn such ire from you." She then leaned forward giving me a good sight of dangling breasts hidden behind clothes. I looked back to her and she seems to be smiling with a faint blush. "I wonder what I would have to do to get your precious anger. I am a bit jealous, Luca." She then stroked my cheek and felt the leathery burns.
I don't really move and just look at her. "Kill my entire family and then tell me how we are gonna be heroes of the church. Then try to kill me after betraying me when you worm your way into my heart and be the father I never had." She seems to lean back and then gets a downcasted glance. "For something different and for the bedroom then bring me Valper yourself and I'll owe you a life debt." I say with a dead tone. She was obviously trying to flirt, but I just don't have time yet for something like that. After I kill him I'll maybe give it a shot at being calm and healing for once. "Don't get so sad, you just hit a nerve that's been flared since I was 6."
Rias has been zoned in on my face for awhile since I started and I didn't miss her slightly widened eyes before she regained her composure. I turned to look at her and waved for her to go on. "Ahem. Well I was just wondering if you were able to tell me what they were doing to you and the others. The church has done some horrible things and so I was seeing if this was about the same, but it is truly tragic." I nodded to her.
"You don't have to bottle the emotions, Rias. I saw your reaction and honestly forget all the courtroom crap and just talk to me like you would your best friend or something." I say as I motion a hand to Akeno.
She gains a small smirk. "In that case I would like some tea then Luca." She teases.
I chuckle a bit. "Well I would if I had some or a stove to make it with. Can't exactly go down to the cafeteria and cook something... wait can I?" The rest of the Student council had filed in while we were talking and Sona sighed.
"I'll see about getting you a TV and some snacks to hold you over. Unfortunately given the state of your body it would look bad to let you go to the kitchen to cook anything at all." I looked at my arms and well she wasn't wrong. "As for food to eat today I will get Saji to run and grab you something." I nod and smirk her way.
"Aww.. you do care Sona. I am touched, right here." I point to my heart and her face gets redder than a tomato. I laugh a bit and then stand up. "Man you are really easy with that. I'll be back gonna head to the bathroom."
As I was leaving Rias gave me a quick "Hey" and I turned to see her as I paused for the door. "Can you tell me what the Chruch called it when you were a kid. I just wanna run some things by my brother and see if he knows anything."
"That's understandable. It was called the Holy Sword Project." She and Akeno stiffen then nod. I nod and then head out of the room as Sona takes a few more breaths.
Sona calmed down when he left and then she just stomped the ground and growled. "He's like a punk version of my sister and he was the one who had to destroy me in CHESS! GRRRRAAA! I don't know how to take this! I hate when Onee-sama teases me and now he is doing just the same, but a bit better!" She seems to be having a mini tantrum right there, and the rest of the room knows that only her family and Serafall can get a reaction like this out of her.
"Ufufufu... Ohhh it seems Sona finds herself in a similar situation to Buchou here. You can just use one of your favors and have him say he doesn't want to marry you, you know?" Sona coughs into her hand and Saji looks crestfallen at being reminded. Akeno then looks to Rias, who seems to be lost in thought. "Buchou? Rias?"
Rias then comes back to reality and then inhales sharply and exhales. "I knew his past sounded familiar."
Sona seems to be calmer now and then looks to Rias with a curious look, as does the rest of the room barring Akeno. "What do you mean Rias?"
"His story is... the same as Kiba's. You see..." Rias then explains the way she found Kiba and how he was a victim of the holy sword project. The room getting to listen to the events have a few gasps and anger at the church for doing something so heinous.
It got worse when Sona revealed what Luca said about the leader of the project just getting excommunicated. At that Rias slipped a bit of her demonic power from hearing that the one who hurt Kiba, and now Luca, is still around.
As they were talking in the office two boys ended up turning a corner at the same time and bumped into each other. They both looked at each other, cyan blue eyes meeting the blueish-gray. The blonde one of the two then raises adopts a exasperated look and then reaches out to the arm of the black haired boy.
