I don't own Highschool DxD, or the sparse mentions of Fate.
Speech: "."
Thoughts: '.'
Chapter 1
It started on a snowy day. Issei Hyoudou had a complicated history with snow. The young boy had always enjoyed looking instead of actually playing in it. Too cold. Today was different though for some reason, something he couldn't put his finger on. Maybe it was just boredom.
"Kaa-chan can I play outside?" Issei asked as he looked around at the hotel they were staying in. It was a simple two bedroom room with a television in front of the beds. Issei and his family had won a local raffle for a trip to Hakuba, a fancy ski resort near Mt. Fuji. A small playground caught his eye as they drove up to the snowy terrain. It wasn't too far from the entrance as well. Making it a prime target for his young mind. His mother sighed and his dad laughed.
"Okay! But don't stray too far… promise me, and only for an hour." His mother, Miki, said protectively.
Stars showed in Issei's eyes as he nodded his head in anticipation
"I promise.~"
Issei quickly ran out of the room, getting another laugh from his dad, and exasperation from his mom.
Issei ran to the hotel elevator and quickly pressed the ground floor button. He made his way out of the hotel noticing that it was sunset. As he looked up through the snow he realized that he forgot his snow gloves. It would be hard to play in the snow with freezing hands, after all. He then heard humming coming from the wooded area behind him. Something so sudden that he almost ran away. Even as a child, Issei knew that it was ominous. His eyes felt rather heavy however. And the more he heard the soft melodic humming the more he felt the urge to follow it. Before he knew it and with half lidded eyes, he slowly shuffled his way through the break in the trees. With each step, the more wrong Issei felt. Like he had no control of his body. As he got closer he realized that there was a shadow coming from above him, painting the already shaded area black. With horror, Issei looked up in a drunk stupor. A woman. Barely clothed with white hair. The woman also had a lower half of her body as a spider. Issei could barely think, but he knew, like a dog, that his death was near. The woman gave a menacing grin that looked so far from human that it could only be a monster. Issei opened his mouth to scream and let out a scream that got half way before he felt an iron-like grip on his mouth, silencing him. The spider monster crossed the clearing with an unseeable speed, despite her body. The woman widened her eyes at the half scream and let out a whisper
"Tsk- that will surely draw attention."
She then stared into Issei's eyes.
"I must be getting sloppy."
"Issei!?" A woman said off in the distance, behind the trees.
The spider woman glanced at the direction and grinned. She then vanished, leaving Issei to flop on the ground. Issei looked around in horror and quickly ran towards the voice that screamed, his mom. He ran as fast as his legs could go and ran into his mother's arms as Miki crossed the forest. He shivered for a moment before looking up as he heard humming. With alarm Issei quickly spoke up.
"She's still here, we have to run!" His mother stared at him in confusion before she grunted. Looking up at the strange sound she made, Issei stared in horror as he looked behind his mom. The monster was back, this time with a spider leg piercing the back of his mom's head. Tears came to his eyes as reality sank in for a moment. He looked behind her again and saw that the monster had a twisted grin on her face. Issei could only gape in fear.
"Sorry 'bout that. Was she your kaa-san?"
With a movement so fast he couldn't track, his mom's body was gone, thrown across the clearing. His pupils dilated. And everything went black.
Issei heard the sound of fire crackling enter his ears as he stood up and looked around. He was in a room with grey stone tiles and white walls. There were torches all along the walls casting flickering light, giving it an eerie vibe. He turned his head and froze. There was a man with golden blonde hair and crimson red eyes sitting on a golden throne. He had a white toga-like robe and golden jewelry and large golden earrings. He could also see the beginning of a red tattoo donning his chest. All in all, he looked like a king. He was also staring straight at him.
Something in him commanded him to kneel his head down and the young boy followed his instincts and did. He heard a laugh but he dared not look at the clearly noble king.
"Know this, future monarch, a ruler never bows his head before anyone or anything." The man said in a prideful and haughty tone. Issei quickly looked up and stood. His mind then caught up and flashed back to what just happened causing tears to brim in his eyes. He was about to let out a sob before the man spoke up calmly.
"Silence." The man, seeing that he had Issei's attention, continued.
"Why are you crying… instead of being angry?" Anger rose through the boys body at the callous remark.
"She's dead!" Issei said, sucking in another sob. For a moment it looked like the kings eyes lightened, though Issei could hardly tell.
"Revenge is what you require. Tears will bring you nothing in this world." Issei zoned in on what he said. He then pulled out a golden cup and took a sip from it. Sighing in satisfaction, he spoke again.
"Do you want power?"
Issei thought about it, thinking about what happened again.
'If only I did have power, this would have been avoided'
But what power would save him and his mom from a monster like that woman?
Gritting his teeth he nodded his head anyways.
"Say it out loud." The man said, smirking smugly. Issei took a breath and the tears slowly ebbed.
"I want power." Issei said softly.
The king then broke into laughter, causing Issei to be embarrassed. The laughter finally died down. His cup disappeared into golden motes of light.
"A ruler says what needs to be said, no matter one's emotions." The king said, serious once again.
"The power I wield… what you will wield, is one of the world's greatest treasures." The man said grandly.
"I am the king of all, Gilgamesh! Now destroy that vile creature and sate your vengeance." The man said one final time, pushing him back to reality.
Issei stood up shakily, ignoring the bite of cold. Something raged through his small body.
"Haha~ You actually fainted? That's so cute. You and your mom will make a good meal." The woman said grinning at Issei who now had his hand in the air. The woman's laughter ended as beautiful golden light bathed the dark forest in light.
"A sacred gear!?" The woman looked at the numerous golden portals in front of her, floating in the air in front of Issei. She turned her head to Issei whose face was twisted in anger. She tensed as various weapons slowly appeared in them, all of them pointing at her. Issei was letting his instincts guide him as he stared at the monster in anger.
"Begone." Issei said with a whisper.
It was over in an instant. like shooting stars, they soared and hit the spider monster directly, not giving her any time to react. The spider monster in front of him was now laying dead in the middle of the clearing with swords, axes and spears jutting out of her. Blood pooled underneath her. The anger within him was gone, like he deflated. His revenge had been completed.
Issei dropped to his knees and felt like life was sucked out of him. He then crawled his way to his beloved mother, his kaa-chan, and felt his eyes get heavier. He curled up onto her and sucked back the tears once again, remembering Gilgamesh's words. His eyes slowly closed and he passed out, completely and utterly drained.
The whole situation was eerie even to the veteran yokai, Bakuya.
"A dead mom and her alive son, in front of a dead stray devil… I have a lot of questions."
His fellow karasu yokai shook his crow-like head. They were both in front of the scene.
"These two have no relations to the supernatural."
The memory squad had already been there, making their lives easier.
"Looks like someone saved the boy and killed the stray devil subsequently." More like overkill. Various puncture wounds and even blunt force cleaving wounds littered the spider stray devil's body.
"Whoever did this, killed her instantly." Bakuya stated, starting at various angles. The karasu nodded his head. Bakuya looked at the kid with sadness, he was lying next to the deceased mom.
"Evidentially, they found him huddled on her body."
The clean up crew made their way in and just like that, the supernatural community had covered things up.
Issei found himself laying down on the tiles again. He quickly jumped up and turned around to face the throne. Gilgamesh had a contemplative look on his face. Neither said anything.
"Well? Speak up." Gilgamesh finally commanded.
Issei felt hollow. He had killed that monster and avenged his mom. He didn't feel any better though.
Seeing the demanding glare on the king's face he spoke quickly.
"I killed it thanks to your power. Thank you." A smile wormed its way on Gilgamesh's face.
"Soon it will be yours."
He then closed his eyes.
"Those mongrels attempted to erase your memories." The king spoke seriously.
Shock filled Issei's mind. Fear was present as well.
"What mongrels?"
Silence filled the chamber. Issei gritted his teeth at the lack of response. Today was just too much for the young child. Too much change. His mom was dead and mongrels wiped his mind? Or at least attempted to.
"So…" Gilgamesh started but trailed off into silence.
"So?" Issei asked wearily.
"What will you do now? Monsters exist out there that can wipe out humanity." Gilgamesh asked softly, the impassive look not changing.
Wasn't he too young for this? He was barely ten!?
"Greatness is being thrust into you. I want to hear your intentions." Greatness?
'At the cost of my mom.' Just thinking about a world without her hurt. Yet here we are. He then caught up to what was implied a few seconds ago. Monsters. As in plural. Such a thing was hard to comprehend. What could he do against something that could end humanity?
"Hoh? Going to give up, here I thought you had potential." For the first time since he's been here, Gilgamesh stood up, sending a shiver down Issei's spine.
"I'll only say this one more time. My power is absolute. And so too will yours be." Soon the king was staring down at him after several graceful steps. Everything Gilgamesh did screamed power. Issei knew if he backed down here, he'd regret it for the rest of his life. Mustering all the life he had left he brought his head up and stared at the King directly in the eyes.
"I don't know what I want or what my intentions are. I just know I never want to feel this way again." Issei Hyoudou said honestly.
The king in golden armor laughed and smiled.
"Well said, I will expect an answer from you. Eventually." The world twisted and Issei blinked and opened his eyes in the real world.
"Ugh where am I?" Issei asked slowly as he blinked the bright lights down to a seeable level. He looked around the room and realized that he was in a hospital. He heard light snoring beside him. He turned his head and looked at his sleeping dad who had his head laid down upon the bed.
Issei stared at him and couldn't believe what had transpired. Would his dad blame him? Had those so-called mongrels erased his dad's mind successfully? Only one way to find out. The boy softly shook him awake.
He seemed slow to wake up but then reality kicked in and he jerked awake. Tears were in his tired eyes. It hurt Issei to see his dad with such a hurt look in his eyes.
"Issei-kun… I'm so sorry." His dad said tears now falling freely.
'Now what should I do?' Lying seems to be the only answer. Who knows what would happen if they knew the mind thing failed.
"Tou-chan…" Issei said softly, trailing off.
"Do you remember what happened?" His dad said, tears now receding. He couldn't exactly tell him a monster killed his mom. So he didn't. All Issei did was shake his head, kicking himself for lying to his dad.
"A murderer… Your kaa-chan is dead. My Miki…" Despite having just witnessed her death, despite staying strong, Issei finally wept. He grit his teeth through his tears.
'Noone will die in front of me again.'
AN:
Hello! Welcome to my first story. I've got to admit, this idea has been in my head for a long time, and I ran out of similar reads, so I thought screw it, let's do it myself. And here we are. Sorry if kid-Issei is unnaturally mature, not really sure how to write a kid. Next chapter will feature a timeskip. As for the pairings... Not sure. Any ideas and feedback are supremely helpful. Thanks for reading!
