I do not own Highschool DxD nor do I own Diablo. All rights respectively go to Ichiei Ishibumi, the series' creator, and Blizzard Entertainment, the company who made Diablo.

UNDERWORLD, GREMORY HOSPITAL…

Within the special hospital owned by the Gremory Family back in the Underworld, a patient was sleeping on a bed and surrounded by doctors and medical equipment, the best anyone could ask for and the best money could buy. Heartbeat monitors, brainwave activities, and bags of either blood of IV fluids surrounded the patient, as well as oxygen tanks to feed him.

But a comatose patient was not the only concern. For suddenly…

*SSZING*

Blood sprouts out of the mouth, splattering the face, along with a jolt to the body as it reflexes unnaturally, shaking the bed and equipment attached.

"Hang in there, Aidan!" Kiba pleaded as Koneko wipes the blood off of him.

"Clearly all of these readings are abnormal," Sona noted as she looked at the heart monitor and brain wave activity. "But there's nothing telling us why this is happening…"

She then asked the head doctor, "Are there no other methods we can use to diagnose him?"

"I've not seen any records that explain how to treat a Devil with a condition such as this," The head doctor explained as he wipes his forehead.

Aidan had been comatose for a very long period of time, about two weeks in fact. Since he was rescued from Tristram Cathedral, the myriad of wounds he had procured endured. And the Red Soulstone of Terror remained permanently stuck inside his forehead, unable to be removed by conventional means. Half of his body was covered by the black vein corruption and his left arm was severely deformed, looking demonic in nature like that of Diablo's.

This was hopeless for the doctors. And they knew, to their bitterness, that their medicine and magical healing was not helping.

"What do we do now, doctor?" asked Tsubaki.

"I've called in some additional help," The head doctor said as a familiar blue shimmering portal opens up, like the ones Aidan uses. Stepping out of the portal were two figures. The first was Kharazim but the other one was someone wearing gold jewelry and purple clothing. In her right hand was a golden wand with a purple orb floating above it.

The Chinese woman soon stepped out alongside Kharazim, but everyone in the room, specifically those who went to Kuoh Academy, recognized who it was.

"Professor Li-Ming?" asked a surprised Tsubaki.

"You know her, Vice President?" asked Issei.

"Professor Li-Ming is the Chinese language teacher at Kuoh Academy," Tsubaki revealed to the Pawn, surprising him and Saji.

"I take it you are all surprised to see this," Li-Ming said. "Well, it wouldn't be the first time I suppose."

"What…?" Tsubaki was confused. "What do you mean?"

"I am not just a teacher at your Academy teaching the Chinese language," Li-Ming revealed. "I am the Rebellious Wizard from the hidden island of Xiansai. And before you ask, yes. I am who destroyed the Yshari Sanctum, but I had no choice."

"Xiansai?" Sona asked. "You mean, that same island where humans of great magical talent go to for their training?"

"The very same," Li-Ming smiled. "I studied all the ancient secrets of magic and continue to this day, along with becoming a teacher of Kuoh Academy in the process. Never thought it would be a language course though."

"So why are you here though sensei?" asked Tsubasa.

"My good friend Ajuka called me over," Li-Ming said. "He told me of your situation and of your friend's condition. And from what I see, medicine won't cut it."

"What do you mean?" Tsubasa asked.

Li-Ming walked over towards the comatose patient and, with her hands, conjures a blue mystical spell that acted as a scanner of sorts. But this "scanner" was to indicate the amount of magic within the patient.

Li-Ming concentrates for a moment before her eyes widened with horror.

"No…" She reacted in fear.

"What?" asked Tsubaki. "What is it?"

"It cannot be…" Li-Ming stepped back a bit in terror.

*SSZING*

Blood suddenly sprouts out of the patient's mouth as his body jolts like it was receiving shock. This shook and surprised everyone, the doctors and nurses included. The corruption also began to spread further and further, covering about ¾ of the body.

"Geez…" The head doctor noted. "The plague is killing him. Somebody get me a towel! And more blood bags!"

"On it!" One of the nurses rushes out with a towel as the rest clean up the patient while the others prepare a new blood bag. But the blood was the least of their worries. More twitching occurs as do the sudden jolts. Blood keeps flowing out of new wounds from all over Aidan's body. Though they were small cuts and not enough to kill him, it was problematic.

"Quickly!" The head doctor asked to the others, to Sona and Akeno mainly. "Hold his legs down!"

"Right!" Sona said as she and Akeno hold each of the patient's legs down while Kiba and Koneko hold down his shoulder to keep him stable. Since more and more body reflexes were occurring at a very unnatural and untimely rate, along with the blood sprouting all over the body and mouth.

*BAM*

The doors to the emergency room suddenly fling open to reveal a certain redhead, panting as if she ran all the way from one location to another.

"Rias?" A surprised Sona saw, but Rias' eyes were widened with fear and shock when she saw the patient on the table, in pain and dying.

Slowly, she walks forward and beholds her patient up close and personal. What she saw filled her with great fear.

"Aidan…?"

FLASHBACK; Kiba's POV…

It has already been a full week since we had battled Diablo in the Burning Hells and rescued Aidan. Since then, we had brought him over to a hospital owned and maintained by the Gremory Family, specifically belonging to Rias' older brother, the great Sirzechs Lucifer. We all knew that the healing process for Aidan was going to take a very, very long time. For some of us, that was acceptable considering the kind of trauma he had endured.

But for others, they wished he was out sooner.

When we brought back Aidan, he was a mess. His body was pale, he lost too much blood, and his body weight was considerably less than what it was. Not only that, but the amount of injuries, internally and externally, were so severe that some of the doctors believed he was beyond saving. A few of his vital organs were beyond recovery and he had to get multiple transplants.

He was on the very edge of death itself, so he was placed in an induced coma for his safety. From there, he had to undergo multiple surgeries and implant transports just to get him back to functionality. Everything proceeded along smoothly, yet the doctors were unable to figure out how to get Diablo's soulstone out of Aidan's forehead.

But an x-ray scan of his brain revealed a terrifying truth. The soulstone is permanently attached to Aidan and cannot be broken off or removed carefully. I feared this also meant Diablo is permanently bonded to Aidan, whether he asked for it or not.

One week into his coma, and Aidan began showing signs of failing health. It was the last thing on our minds when we heard of it. Everyone was so shocked to hear of it. The first signs were the corruption of the black veins from his left arm coursing through his body. Next was the soulstone pulsating, giving off beats like that of a heart. With each day that passed, the corruption continued to spread throughout his body and the soulstone pulsated on a more rapid pace.

Nobody knew what was happening though. They had all believed that Diablo was dead and defeated, his soul interred back into the soulstone. But only a few others, including myself, knew the truth.

Diablo was never dead. I suppose he cannot die so easily. A part of me fears that we made Aidan's situation; our situation; much worse. That we were still playing right into the Demon's hands. Claws, whatever.

I often wondered if Rias also knew of this.

And speaking of her, she did not speak a word after Aidan's rescue and internment into the hospital. Day in and day out she visited, citing it to be her responsibility as King to look after her Pawn. I don't deny her logic nor her feelings, but her hardened heart seems to have finally overcome her. She has changed since Aidan became possessed in the first place. And I fear our journey into Tristram's Cathedral only made it worse.

She had to receive a long reprimanding from her brother recently. Mainly it was in regard f her rash and hasty action of killing Diablo. Sona Sitri was probably right in that Diablo will simply return in time if slain. But Rias' concern was of vengeance. She, along with many others, wanted Diablo to pay for everything that had transpired with Aidan from the beginning.

I suppose anyone else would've wanted the same. Sirzechs-sama tried his best to act calm but at the same time, he had to criticize Rias for she could not consider the cost of her actions.

We could really use Aidan right about now.

I don't know if you can hear us in your sleeping state, brother. But please, wake up and come back to us. We need you. I need you.

She needs you, most of all.

As Kiba reconvenes to the present, he looks to see Rias by Aidan's side, holding his hand and pleading for him to wake up. It pains him to be unable to do anything to help his master nor his comatose friend.

"Doctor, is there anything we can do?" asked Tsubaki.

But the head doctor shook his head. "We tried various forms of healing magic, but they had no effect on him at all. Medicinal plants and compound medicines had no effect either."

This was hopeless for everyone. With their modern-day medicine not working at all, and all the healing magic rendered useless, all they could do is just sit and watch in silence as Aidan's body slowly deteriorated and became more and more corrupted by the Sacred Gear and the soulstone still attached to his forehead. Despite being kept on oxygen for breathing, it was ragged and rapid, having had a full tank being used more than once. The only sounds coming off were the heart rate monitor beeping, along with the oxygen tank and brainwave activity machines monitoring and feeding him.

Rias was by Aidan's right side, holding his hand into her hands as she lifts it up, using whatever healing magic she could use to at least help the pain. But even though the magic had no effect, Rias did not want to believe it. She just could not bear losing her favored Pawn again, afraid of letting him go.

"Aidan, can you hear me?" A tearful Rias asked. "Aidan…"

Again, there was no response, but the heartbeat monitor constantly beeping and his brainwave activity being kept in check.

"We checked every part of his body and found a plethora amount of external injuries," The head doctor explained further. "And the worst thing is that they keep sprouting up with every reflex."

"Not to mention the blood loss," Sona added guiltily. "Ever since he was interred, he just keeps losing more and his corruption is getting worse and worse."

"But these wounds should not keep procuring at such an unusual rate," Akeno added. "It's almost as if he is being attacked from the inside."

"It's Diablo," Li-Ming revealed, catching everyone's attention. "He has complete hold over him."

"…What?" A shocked Akeno asked. "But we defeated him!"

"True," Li-Ming said. "But you only destroyed his physical form. While weakened in that state, he still retains a strong influence, hence the symptoms and the coma."

"It's as I had feared and read," Sona agreed. "We slew Diablo, but in the state Aidan is in now, he will simply return in time."

"No way…" A frightened Asia exclaimed in shock.

The last words of Diablo echo back to everyone.

'So much for your unity. The trap, at last… has sprung.'

And now it all came crashing down of the truth. Diablo's trap was never the expectance of the ORC and the Student Council venturing into Tristram Cathedral. Rather, it was to bind and hold Aidan permanently.

In short terms, everyone just made the situation much worse per Diablo's manipulative plan.

Rias only tightened her grip further onto Aidan's hands, realizing the truth of her actions. Her brother was right. As was Sona. Slaying Diablo beneath Tristram was a big mistake as it only tightened his grip on Aidan's mind even further. She looked to see the Red Soulstone before her and it pains her that nothing can be done to remove it.

She did not want to lose Aidan again and experience that fear of loss like before. But alas, all other options presented before everyone were rendered useless. Koneko came behind her master to put her hands on her shoulders, trying to provide some form of comfort.

The doors soon open to reveal someone carrying so many large books and walking slowly towards them, trying to balance it.

"Heave-ho! Heave-ho!" That person revealed to be Saji.

"Saji?" A surprised Sona saw.

"Heave-ho… ah!"

*WABAM*

Saji could not keep his balance and fell forward, scattering the books all over the floor.

"Again? Could you be so more clumsy?" asked Sona as she came to help with the books. "Try to be more careful from now on." But upon seeing just one book she picked up, she had a look of surprise. "This is…"

"Ow…" Saji exclaimed while in pain. "I brought some books that might be helpful."

But as Sona looked, "This is a book about medicine for Goblins." She looked at another book in her right hand. "And this one is on the ecology of insects."

Tsubaki assisted Sona with organizing, but upon opening a book that contained apprehensive writings, she asked, "Saji? Where did you get this book from?"

"This is one of the books that's supposed to be forbidden to Devils!" Sona realized what all the books contained.

But this made Rias' perk her head up.

"Forbidden?" She asked herself.

"Well, I went to the library and explained that there was an emergency with Aidan's health," Saji explained his excuse. "So the person at the desk lent me all these books."

"Who in the world was at the desk today?" asked Sona.

"The real question is where this book came from," Tsubaki suggested.

Suddenly, Rias stood up, catching everyone's attention, even Sona's and Tsubaki's. Her looks showed something of discovery, as if she was hit by a premonition.

"Rias?" asked Sona.

"Kiba, with me! Everyone, keep an eye on Aidan for me!" Rias suddenly rushed outside the room, with Kiba following suite.

"Buchou?" Asia asked.

"What's the matter, Rias?" Tsubaki saw.

"Rias!?" called out Akeno.

But Rias and Kiba were soon gone, heading off into a rush and leaving everyone behind as they continued monitoring Aidan to the best of their abilities, cleaning off whatever mess was procured.

"Where did she run off to?" Asia asked.

"I suspect she went to the forbidden archives of her family's home," Sona said as she read a book and shook a vial containing Aidan's blood.

"Forbidden?" asked Asia.

Suddenly, the heartbeat monitor was beeping on a more rapid pace as Aidan's body began to jolt a bit. Akeno reaches her hand out to Aidan's, seeing what is wrong.

"Aidan's fever. It's burning hotter," Akeno revealed.

"Let me check," The head doctor said. "As a doctor, I should handle this."

The head doctor checks to confirm the fever and sees that Aidan's core body temperature has skyrocketed.

"Start preparing some medicine to lower the fever," The head doctor commanded the nurses.

"Understood," The nurses went to work as Li-Ming uses her freezing magic to at least try to cool Aidan down a bit without freezing his body in the first place.

GREMORY ESTATE…

Meanwhile, in her family's home, Rias and Kiba make a run for the forbidden archives after teleporting back to the Gremory Estate. Dashing by some people within the estate, mainly the maids and butlers, they ignored their calls and questions of where the two were going.

They come across a steel gate, accessible only to the Gremory bloodline that leads further underground to the archives. Kiba stands by as Rias looks for the hidden switch on the wall, which was a simple press of a brick.

*PRESS*

One simple press and Kiba opens the steel gate, leading to a set of descending stairs down towards another room.

Passing through a large room that looked like ancient ruins but filled with large red crystal tubes, the pair made their way to a very large ornate door, about three stories high to be exact. At its middle bore the Gremory symbol, which meant that the archives can only be accessible through that door by someone of the Gremory bloodline. All that was needed was a key to unlock it, and Rias knew what to do next.

Conjuring a knife from her demonic power, she slices her wrist and shows it to the symbol up top with an open palm. Rias ignored the pain, more focused on the more important goal and the reason to access her family's forbidden archives.

*SHIING*

The Gremory symbol on the door glows red, recognizing Rias' bloodline as it draws in a pint of blood form her palm into itself. Soon the area trembles a bit as the large ornate door opens up before Kiba and Rias, the latter having healed her wound up magically.

Once the door opens itself, the two dash on through down a large hallway filled with candlelight, heading straight for the archives. If the answers to Aidan's sickly condition are here, then they will find it.

MEANWHILE…

"What do you mean forbidden?" Asia asked to Sona.

"The 72 Pillar clans each contain an archive forbidden to anyone save for the heads of the families," Sona explained as she watches the doctors and Li-Ming get to work. "Not even the heirs, including myself, are allowed access even though we contain the key to unlocking them: our own blood."

"But what makes them so dangerous?" Asia asked.

"As the name implies, they contain secret knowledge that no one is supposed to know. Some would call them family secrets. I suspect that knowledge had something to do with the Eternal Conflict or even the Devils' history as slaves to the Burning Hells."

"I thought only the Four Great Satans had knowledge of such thing," Tsubaki said.

"It was only rumors, but I confirmed it for myself in my family's home," Sona confessed. "And I later realized that all the 72 Pillars, extinct and present, carried it. All of it related to our Devil Mythology."

"You think Rias would find something in her family's archives?" asked Akeno.

"Maybe," Sona honestly stated. "But we won't know what she will find. Every family archive is vast, and it's more than just knowledge stored in books or scrolls."

BACK AT THE GREMORY ARCHIVES…

Within the archives, Rias stood within a realm whose library shelves filled with an unsurmountable number of books floated within the skies. Both she and Kiba stood within the realm looking through the various books, specifically looking for any knowledge on the regard of Demons and corruption. The answers were here, buried somewhere within this labyrinth of an archive. But it will take more than just a realm of floating bookshelves to look for the knowledge needed to save Aidan.

Within a forest, Kiba and Rias made a run for it, the latter holding a tablet of some sorts. As they ran, one of the archive's guardians, which was basically a giant reptilian blue bird with blue flames adorning some of its feathers, attacks them form behind. But Rias turns around and fires an incredibly powerful blast of her Power of Destruction, destroying the guardian, and making her and her Knight press forward.

Deep underground, underneath the rib bones of an ancient and decayed beast, Rias had some sort of book opened next to a ram's skull that was pressed down onto another tablet. Kneeling down, she places her hand onto the skull as it lights up. Words and runes that contained the knowledge within soon travel upwards into her arm, as if granting her that forbidden knowledge. She could not make out what it was exactly, but she cared not for it so long as it can be used, along with the other knowledge to save Aidan from Diablo's dark grasp. Once she had obtained it, she and Kiba continue moving forward within the realm.

Kiba and Rias soon came across a giant cliff leading down to a very large lake surrounded by waterfalls. They had just emerged out of a forest leading them to the lake, yet for some odd reason, rock pillars stood up from the lake.

With their wings, they levitate themselves across to the center of the body of water. Already their clothes were tattered and dirtied form their journey into the archives, but now was not the time to dwell on such concerns.

"Buchou?" Kiba asked in concern.

"I'm okay, don't worry," Rias reassured.

Calming herself and mentally prepared, Rias folds in her wings, and drops straight down to the lake, with Kiba following her.

*SPLASH*

Descending to the bottom, Rias and Kiba create an air bubble around themselves so as to reach to where the source of power was located. This was the last stop for them to make before they have to head out. If they spend too much time into the archives, then they wil not be able to find their way back home.

Once their feet hit the bottom floor, Rias looks around to find destroyed and empty tablets containing used up knowledge. She had to at least find one of them that contained any inscriptions on what she was looking for.

She then sees a gigantic wall filled with ancient petroglyphs that was forbidden, depicting words and figures that looked as if they were fighting. She could not make out even one word, but this knowledge seemed important enough for her to take it. With her right hand, she stretches it out and touches the wall, only to gasp as the knowledge comes straight towards her, filling her with what she needed.

As she absorbed it, Rias was briefly entangled in the knowledge, seeing brief images of what she could not describe. Nevertheless, she resolved herself to obtain it, if it meant to save Aidan.

*SHUU-PAPIIINNG*

Rias and Kiba were suddenly teleported out of the Gremory Archives in red light that nether had control over and returned back to the main entrance. The good news was that Rias had gotten everything she needed.

"This is…the Estate?!" Rias asked in surprise.

"Looks like we spent too much time without even realizing it, Buchou," Kiba speculated.

And speaking of time, they were running out of it fast. Both make a dash for the door as Rias hands Kiba a list.

"I need you to get everything on this list!" Rias ordered.

"Right!" Kiba answered as the two went in opposite directions to their assignments.

Down at a laboratory in her family's home, Rias searches through jars of mythical ingredients that contained either liquids of unknown substances, solid rocks made of compounds and elements not known to man, and magical gases deemed as experiments.

*CLING CLANG*

Rias pushes aside a set to search for some of the ingredients.

"Not any of these," She bitterly said as she keeps searching for more.

Kiba soon returns to Rias she she looks in a large book with a list in her right hand containing the knowledge she had recovered from the archives.

"What was written on that tablet, Buchou?" asked Kiba with a tray full of jars and ingredients.

"There was some parts that I wasn't able to decipher," Rias said as she looks at the list. "But all that's left is…"

She then gasped in confusion and shock.

"Where are we going to get a drop of Nephalem blood?!" asked a stunned Rias.

MEANWHILE…

*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP*

The heart rate monitor was suddenly going haywire as Aidan's body is further corrupted by the black veins spreading throughout.

"We're losing him!" The head doctor shouted. "Get the defibrillators. Charge at 250."

The nurses rush in with defibrillators as Aidan's corrupted and ravaged body was laid bare for all to see. One of the nurses places the defibrillators on his chest.

"Charging… CLEAR!"

*BADUMP*

Aidan's body shook but there was no response.

"Charge at 300… CLEAR!"

*BADUMP*

Everyone watches from the sidelines, their hands either grasped together as if praying or clenched into fists in the hopes that Aidan does not die. The doctors and nurses work as fast as they can just to resuscitate him but they could only do so much.

*BADUMP*

Another charge at 300 was triggered into Riaden but there was still no change.

*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP…BEEEEEEEEEEP*

It was that long, eerie, and final sound that nobody had wanted to hear from Aidan. As if time had suddenly stopped everyone froze in their tracks, the doctors included. Nobody really wanted to believe it though.

*BAM*

"Aidan!" Rias suddenly called out as she violently opened the doors but when she heard that long eerie noise of the heart rate monitor, she did not want to believe it. Tears immediately began to form, unable to comprehend what she just saw before her eyes. In fact, she did not want to be too late.

"No!" Rias screamed as she rushes over, pushing the doctors and nurses away. "I won't let him die like this!"

Rias then immediately empowers herself with the Power of Destruction. The violent red and black aura envelops her form before her hands turn fiery blue with a pixelated gold emanating off of her. She then looked upon the soulstone on Aidan's forehead.

Sona soon realized what she was about to do.

"Rias, don't!" Sona cried out pleading.

But it was too late.

Rias, determined to save Aidan, grabs the soulstone with both hands.

*FWOOM*

Immediately, violent torrents of energy in the form of tendrils sprout from the red soulstone as Rias struggles against its energies. She stands her ground however as her power aura envelops her, fighting against the red soulstone and, to an extension, Diablo.

"Is she mad?!" Li-Ming cried. "She'll kill us all!"

Rias struggles against its intense energies. But in this she was determined to save Aidan at any cost. And if she believed that forcefully ripping out the soulstone from him would save him, she had to try. But perhaps she was the only one to think of this and not go for a more practical approach, but she did not care.

*SHIING*

Li-Ming creates a large shield around everyone, the doctors and nurses included, to keep the violent torrents of energy at bay. Sweat rolls down her head as she struggles against the violent tendrils hitting her arcane shield.

"Stay behind me!" Li-Ming commanded as she intensifies her shield.

Rias' body was beginning to waver as the energy tendrils suddenly either wrap and burn her skin or slash at her body, giving her some wounds that made her bleed. Though she felt the pain, she pressed on, trying to pull the soulstone out of Aidan.

"Rias!" Akeno cried out to her friend from the shield. "Stop this!"

But her voice could not reach her, even as the violent maelstrom of energy makes cracks into the walls, threatening to destroy the room everyone was standing in.

"If she continues this, we'll be nothing but dust and ashes!" Sona said.

"Rias, you need to stop this!" Li-Ming cried. "

But once again, Rias ignored them, or rather was unable to hear them. Physically, she was exhausted, yet she pressed forward. Mentally, she was battling Diablo inside the soulstone whom the two were fighting for control and possession over Aidan. Yet this standstill was not going to last for long, for this was not where their battle was going to take place.

Rias screams as she goes for one last pull. Her eyes turn from blue to red and her hair flares up.

"EEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

*SHING…BOOM*

The soulstone is ripped out of Aidan, leaving only a small chunk inside his forehead. Shards also break off from the stone and scatter all over, leaving scorched burning marks around the room. Akeno, Sona, and Tsubaki put up magical barriers to shield themselves and the doctors from the blast.

But the only one not behind them was Rias, who had stumbled back with the soulstone shard in her hand. She was surrounded by the violent torrents of energy as they are thrusted back. And in the process…

*CHING…PIERCE*

A large shard of the red soulstone had managed to pierce through her chest and implanted itself in her heart. Rias could feel the shard forcefully enter through her chest yet could not do anything against it.

*BAM*

Rias' back hits a wall as her body slumps to the floor.

On Rias' neck though, wrapped around her to be exact, was the Horadrim necklace. And for some reason, it was glowing a pixelated yellow.

Li-Ming drops her shield as everyone rushes over to Rias.

"Rias!" Akeno cried as she was the first to rush to her best friend. "Hold on, Rias!"

"That idiot!" An angered Li-Ming exasperated. "How could she be so reckless? Now Diablo has trapped her as well!"

Everyone looks up at Li-Ming.

"What do you mean?" Sona asked.

"At the moment she removed the soulstone, a shard of it broke off and has entered into her body. Now Diablo has two souls to keep hold of."

This had stunned everyone.

"Diablo…has two souls…?" A shocked Asia asked.

"A shard of the soulstone is now inside of her?" Kiba asked.

"What will happen to her now?" Akeno asked.

But Li-Ming could not answer. "I don't know. I suspect though that everything will have to depend on Rias now. Only she can save Aidan from whatever the situation has now brought us to. In the meantime, we best get her to another bed."

Everyone understood as the nurses brought Rias' comatose body over to another bed right next to Aidan's. Unknown to them though was that when Rias was laid down, the Horadrim necklace around her neck began to glow brighter than before.

It was dark, black like the void of space. There was nothing, not even the sound of the wind or the presence of someone familiar. It was cold and unsettling, almost as if this was a part of the Burning Hells that no one could withstand.

But as Rias had opened her eyes, she had found herself back in the ORC clubroom. She was just standing there, in front of her desk. Everything looked pristine and clean, untouched as if it was the same as when they had left it.

"Huh?" Rias was confused, finding herself back in this familiar space.

As Rias looks around, she suddenly hears a fizzing sound going off, which turns out to be a hot tea pot by a mini stove used to serve tea for everyone. But as the fizzing sound increases, a noxious purple smoke begins to cover the atmosphere.

Rias, stunned at first, begins to cough as she covers her mouth with her hands to prevent inhalation from the poison.

*CRACK*

Suddenly, reality began to fall apart as Rias looked to see what appeared to be cracks around her. It looked as if reality was made of glass and began to fall apart. Surprised and shocked, she turns around to head back through the doors that led to the ORC room to get away from the smoke and cracks.

However, she suddenly found herself in another familiar place. Rias turned to the left and ran a bit down a hallway before stopping, taking in what she had seen.

"Now I'm at school?" Rias asked herself, realizing this was Kuoh Academy. "Why?"

Suddenly, the school bell rang for a few seconds. But afterwards, everyone turned their attention onto her, their eyes covered by their frontal hair bangs.

"Oh, no!" Rias exclaimed.

*CRACK*

The cracks of reality came back yet seemed bigger than the last. Shards of glass fell around Rias as she looked around, surrounded by the students. The cracks continued to grow in size and extend, with little shards breaking away.

The students all of a sudden brought up their hands, whose nails were sharp like that of vampires. And they began to swarm at Rias.

Rias tries to back off and run away until one of the male students from behind grabs her left shoulder.

*RIIIP*

A part of Rias' Academy uniform was torn off, exposing a bra strap. But this did not hinder her at all as Rias turns to another door on her left and goes straight through.

Though she was out of danger, Rias suddenly found herself falling.

"Huh?" Rias suddenly screams as she fell, like she had fallen out of Heaven. And she was falling fast. "Why, you!"

Using her magic, she slows herself down long enough for her to extend her Devil wings to gain flight and stability. As she flies onward, she looks below to see that she was above Kuoh Town.

"This is our home," Rias realized before the cracks returned.

*CRACK*

Rias then had a clear understanding of what was going on.

"I see," She said. "This is the inside of Aidan's mind."

Before she knew it, the purple smoke from earlier had come back. But instead of suffocating her like it did before, it began to burn a part of her clothes, mainly her skirt.

Using her magic, Rias spreads her arms outward and dispels the smoke away.

'The rampant power and Diablo are trying to devour Aidan's soul, too! I cannot allow that to happen, no matter what!'

After dispelling the smoke away, Rias looks around to see where she could find and detect Aidan.

'Aidan, where are you?'

*BAPUMP*

Off in the distance, Rias suddenly heard a noise, like that of a heartbeat. She saw a faint blue light, glowing like a star in the sky and emanating a light wave every time a heartbeat-like noise was heard. A flashback of her first meeting with Aidan by his house occurred briefly in her mind.

"Aidan!" Rias infuses herself with her Power of Destruction and flies towards the blue light, beyond the cracks of the walls of reality. She was going to save Aidan no matter the cost and no matter how long it took for her to be reunited with him.

'Aidan! Where are you, Aidan?'

Rias flew within a dark forest before she saw to her left that blue light emanating from beyond the tree line. That blue light was Aidan, but she could not tell whether he was calling out to her or not.

"There!" Rias flies over towards the light. Then she encountered a shadowy form of some Demon. And quite frankly, she had no time for it. "Beat it!"

Rias fires a powerful Power of Destruction blast, incinerating the screaming shadow as she continues moving forward.

"Aidan! Aidan! Aidan!" Rias continues to fly through the void, as the tiny glass shards like that of stars zip past by her. As she moves forward towards the blue pulsating light, images of Kuoh Town and the Underworld flash to her in brief images. One was the ORC clubhouse, another the school, and the last one was the Gremory Estate.

Rias then found herself in a dark hallway made of stone, like the ones she had experienced back in Tristram Cathedral. Nevertheless, she pressed forward, even as the shadows tries to resist against her.

"Aidan, where are you?!" Rias called out but there was no answer.

As she gets closer though, the shadows that flew past by her took the form of her worst fears. To her horror and unsurprisingly, it took the form of Diablo.

Diablo however looked different where instead of the red form she had fought in the Burning Hells, it was the one taken from her dreams, specifically the one where Rias was forced to watch Aidan die at Diablo's hand while she was forcefully escorted away by Issei.

Diablo roared as images of the Terror Unleashed flooded Rias' mind, making her halt in her tracks as Diablo psychically held her in place.

"This time, Rias Gremory, your suffering will become sweet music to my ears!" The shadow of Diablo tormented her.

Rias backs away from the shadowy Demon. "Damn you!"

Rias attempts to fire a Power of Destruction blast, but it barely grazes Diablo as he stretches out his clawed right hand, breaks through Rias' spell, and strangles her.

"Ghh… Ack… Grr…!" Rias struggles against the tight grip from the Lord of Terror. The one Demon she despises most once again had her cornered. Now she understood Diablo's last words of the true trap sprung. Once again, she had played herself for a fool.

As Rias looks up, she sees behind the cracks of reality that blue light above her beating before it pulses with that glowing wave. A flashback image of her and Aidan sleeping together on their ten-day training camp in the mountains flashed before her before it faded away. It was one of those beautiful and calm memories Rias had of Aidan, of how she had felt herself safe in his arms in that night, along with getting a good night sleep.

It was a feeling that she had missed most whenever she slept in his bed alone in the time that he was gone.

*GASP*

'Aidan!'

Rias knew she was getting close. She needed to get to him fast.

"Away with you!" Rias vengefully cried against Diablo's shadow, utilizing her Power of Destruction to cleanse away the Demon as it screams in agony before disappearing.

Rias then flies upwards with her wings, faster than ever, trying to reach to Aidan and saw that she was getting much, much closer.

"Aidan!" Rias screamed as she reaches out her right hand for him, flying into the light.

When the light fades away, Rias sees herself in Aidan's room. And there, standing before her with his back turned on her was the man in question. Aidan's form was like that of the one where he crashed the party. Spikes grew out of his back as his red spiky tail swung back and forth slowly.

"Aidan…" Rias called out.

The demonic Aidan turns around, showing his familiar face of red shot diluted pupil red eyes, the red soulstone sticking out of his forehead with glowing veins of power surrounding its point of entry, his cheeks hollow, his skin pale, and the black corruption reaching upwards toward his neck.

In his right hand that was covered from the Sacred Gear of the Al'Diabolos Terror Claws was Dawnbreaker, beaten and broken yet looked demonic in nature compared to its normal appearance. He lifts it up as Rias gasps.

*CRACK*

Rias looks around to see that more cracks in reality were breaking, but that was the least of her worries that blood suddenly gushed out of Aidan's body like a geyser. Aidan demonically grunts as he struggles against this overwhelming power yet has become rabid like an animal, losing all sense of reason and thought.

"Aidan!" Rias called out.

The demonic Aidan screams as he is empowered by the red soulstone with the demonic aura covering his form. He lifts up Dawnbreaker, ready to strike at Rias. Rias gasps and covers herself as the blade contacts with her.

*BOOM*

One explosion later and Rias is seen on the ground. When the smoke clears, Rias looked up to see that she was not incapacitated. There was no cut from the blow and not even the magic power from the attack had injured her in the slightest. As she looks up, she sees why.

Aidan's blade just stopped short of hitting her as he uses his left hand to halt his right arm carrying Dawnbreaker. Aidan struggles and grunts against it, trying to resist against striking down at Rias. Sweat as a result of the intense struggle poured heavily down his demonic looking face, his eyes flickering between blue and red. Perhaps a small part of whatever was left inside of his body was fighting against Diablo's control at this moment.

Cracks from the Al'Diabolos Terror Claws form on Aidan's right arm as he struggles against the dark and poisonous influence.

"Aidan…" Rias tearfully calls out.

*PANG SHATTER*

Aidan finally manages to break free as his Sacred Gear shatters into pieces before dissipating into dust. He regains control as his power aura suddenly dies down. He lowers Dawnbreaker to see Rias on the floor and his red eyes begin to revert to their normal, gentle blue ones.

"Ri…as…?" He weakly calls out. "Rias…?"

Rias could not believe it. She had just heard Aidan's normal voice for the first time in a long time. There was no demonic feature behind it at all despite his appearance.

With tears of both sorrow and relief, she gets up and rapidly hugs him.

"Aidan… I am so sorry," She apologized. "I'm so sorry for making you go through all this. All for the just the sake of me."

Aidan did not know how to respond. Instead, Dawnbreaker slips through his fingers as it falls to the floor.

*DING*

Dawnbreaker impales itself through the wooden floor. All of a sudden though….

"AAAAGGGHHHH!" Aidan screams as the demonic influence comes back. He suddenly tackles Rias down to the floor, surprising her.

*RRIIIPP*

Rias' uniform was suddenly ripped away, exposing her nude breasts over to Aidan. Like a wolf in heat, he suddenly gropes and caresses them, snuggling himself against Rias' neck.

The surprised, if not shocked, redhead yelps and moans, feeling herself aroused bit by bit. This unexpected act completely caught her off and she was unable to fight against it.

"A-Aidan!" She called out in a moan as her large breasts were groped and pleasured. She then felt his tongue lick her between the neck and shoulder, indicating a sweet spot.

Embracing this new feeling of pleasure within her, she wraps her arms around Aidan, making the man in heat look at her in confusion.

"It's okay," Rias reassured as tears of happiness begin to shed. "Do what you want to me. So please, come back to me."

But Aidan merely stared at her back, unsure of what to take in of her words. For Rias though, she could not turn back on this moment, believing this to be the right time for her to say a few magic words towards her Pawn that she had missed so much.

"I love you, Aidan."

The two lean back up as Rias brings herself forward and without hesitation, presses her lips against Aidan's. Unlike their first kiss from before in their bedroom where it was simply casual, this one contained feelings from Rias directed to Aidan. It was what her heart had answered for when it came to him; the heart that longed for his presence at all times.

It was indeed love.

Aidan's Sacred Gear slowly dissipates away as the black corruption in his veins are also cleansed from his body. The soulstone within his forehead is also gone, leaving only a mark of its point of entry.

As Aidan's form reverts to normal, he and Rias are enveloped in a red and white light, naked and embracing one another while looking into each other's eyes lovingly. They ascend high upwards into the starry sky, like they were finally leaving their own Hell behind.

"Rias…" Aidan warmly smiled.

But Rias was beyond ecstatic. For the first time in her life, she was happy and bore a real smile on herself.

"Aidan…" Rias greeted back, hugging her favored servant in pure joy.

Their form is soon enveloped once again in the light before their view turns white as well.

"Nnn…ugh…egh…" Rias groans loudly as her head starts to twitch. Slowly but surely, she opens her eyes to only behold a very blurry vision.

"Rias?" Sona asked. "Doctor, I think she's waking up."

Rias groans a bit as she sits up from where she was, apparently in one of the hospital beds. As she comes about, she looks to see everyone surrounding her, her Peerage and Sona, Tsubaki, and Saji.

"Buchou?" Asia asked hesitantly. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah…" Rias said. "I think so. What happened?"

"After you pulled out the soulstone, an energy blast knocked you out," Kiba explained. "Then you weren't waking up nor responding to our calls. We had assumed the worst."

Rias then remembers. She was trying to desperately save Aidan by forcefully pulling out the soulstone from his forehead. Once again, she was rash and reckless in her actions. But she was so anxious just to save Aidan, having heard his heartbeat go offline.

"You had us worried there, Rias," Li-Ming said. "How do you feel?"

"Minor throbbing," Rias said. "But nothing serious. How long have I been out for?"

Rias soon leaves the bed yet as she gets to her feet, they twitch and start to falter, almost making her fall but Akeno and Sona catch her to bring her back up.

"Easy now," Akeno advised. "You've been out for nearly three hours."

'Three hours?' Rias thought to herself. 'It only felt like a few minutes.'

"Where's Aidan?" Rias asked.

*DIING*

A bright blue light is shone in front of Rias, enough for her and everyone else to see. A light that was gentle and enveloping Aidan's form from his bed. Soon he was covered in a thin layer of crystal.

Standing up thanks to assistance from her friends, Rias slowly approaches her loving Pawn. "A…Aidan?"

A small crack soon formed from Aidan's feet before that crack traveled upwards to the rest of his body. It reaches all the way up to his neck before it comes to a halt near the underside of his chin.

*CHIING*

Aidan's body slowly levitated just slightly above the bed as the blue light becomes brighter, giving off auras of beauty and gentleness indescribable.

Everyone, Rias included, saw this to be perhaps the most beautiful sight they had seen. There were no violent torrents of demonic energy of destruction and there was no corruption spreading like a plague inside Aidan. This light was unfamiliar to them, but it was so beautiful, almost equivalent to that of the Archangel Auriel.

What was astonishing though was Aidan's body going through a mystical change. For one thing, his body grew bigger and his muscles were enhanced a bit to make him more agile like. His black hair also grew longer to the point it reached down to the tip of his shoulders. Then, his old battered skin that was covered in wounds began to shed away like that of a snake, dissipating into some form of mystical dust and leaving behind the scars.

Li-Ming had seen this sort of transformation before though. But that was a long, long time ago. Back when the world was enveloped in shadow and when she and her friends were the only ones that could save it.

'Could he really be-?'

"Aidan?" Rias slowly approaches her Pawn.

As the light slowly flickers away, Aidan's body descends slowly and gently back onto the bed. The sun shone through the window, hitting Aidan's eyes as he groggily opens them. Trying to get a clear visage of what he was seeing, he groans as he slowly sits up before rubbing his eyes briefly.

He then looked to his right to see everyone just standing there, "Huh? Wh-Where am I?"

Everyone was left stunned.

"R—Rias?" A confused Aidan asked. "Is…that you?"

Tear started to fall down Rias as she begins to sob. She slowly approaches Aidan as she begins to choke on her happy tears, to Aidan's confusion.

"Aidan… AIDAN!" She suddenly jumps at Aidan and hugs him tightly, squeezing herself against him.

"Woah, what? Wh-What's wrong, Rias?" A confused Aidan asked but Rias did not answer as she continues to sob loudly into Aidan's chest, now ruggedly attractive.

Everyone around them rejoiced. The head doctor sighed in relief as the nurses shed away small tears from themselves. The Student Council and the ORC also begin to shed tears, smiles covering over their worried faces. Even Kiba began to shed a few tears but he quickly wipes them away. Koneko too felt the same.

Akeno and Asia were tempted to join the hug but reserved it for Rias only, as she was the one who had suffered the most in this endeavor. It has been a very long and arduous journey for the ORC, but they were all relieved to have Aidan back.

Li-Ming takes her leave and exits out, not only wanting to give everyone some space and private time but also to confer with some old contacts of hers about what she had just seen. If that blue light from Aidan is indeed what she thinks she is, then she needed to contact someone to bring him over to a special place to discover who he really was.

All seemed at peace, at least for now.

The next day, Rias is in the living room of a certain house, sitting on one of the sofas in the living room, with Deckard Kain and Asia sitting on the other one.

"It's been decided," Rias said with a small smile. "I, Rias Gremory, will also be living here at the Kain residence. I may be inexperienced, but please allow me to take care for you too, Professor."

Deckard Kain looked largely surprised yet Asia next to him had teary eyes and an unpleasant face. Neither of them knew how to take in this sudden desire to stay with them. While officially Rias said she wanted to "strengthen the relationship with [[her servants]]", they wondered if this was okay for her family to allow.

However, Deckard Kain gave his approval.

"Very well, young Rias," Deckard Kain smiled. "You are most welcomed here. And please, when at home, call me Uncle. We are all family here."

Deckard did not mind having the young Asia stay, given of her once vulnerable life with the Fallen Angels. Yet here was Rias, a noble of a powerful family offering herself a place to stay with him. To him, she was the object of Aidan's love, but even Aidan would not admit it publicly. It was why Uncle Deckard can be protective of him sometimes.

But he knew in his heart that she was pure in body, mind, and soul. They were both good for each other, having watched each other's moves every time they come near one another. They needed one another and Diablo's resurgence tested their close bond that had nearly been shattered.

Uncle Deckard had to be considerate of Asia's feelings too though. He too would support Asia's love for his nephew and would rather encourage it. Rias would ask for the same, although she would most likely want Aidan to herself at times as well.

Rias stands up from the sofa, walks over and looks out to the window, beyond the horizon of trees and mountains, as if she was searching for something beyond. Uncle Deckard came over to her side, knowing what it was she was thinking about.

Yet still, Deckard asked, "Speak your mind."

Rias wasted no time in confessing her thoughts. "Aidan is back. He has woken up from his coma, and Diablo has finally been contained. I should be happy that he is back, that I get to finally embrace, thank him, and apologize of everything."

"But…?" Deckard asked, sensing a contracting statement approaching.

Rias sighs. "But I feel…empty. Aidan is alive and well, but without his presence here… I feel so lost. Like I don't know what to do. Once again, he flees to be alone. And there's nothing I can do. It's like all I did to rescue him was in vain."

Deckard politely puts a hand on her shoulder. "I understand what you are going through, Rias. But he still needs a long time to recover and rehabilitate before he can get back to active duty. And as much as it hates for me to say this, I fear Aidan needs time alone to come to terms with what has happened. Of everyone involved with Diablo's schemes, he was the one that suffered the most."

Rias understood yet still said, "But I can't just sit by and do nothing like before. I don't want to lose him again. I don't want to go through that awful feeling of loneliness ever again when he was gone. The thought of it just fills me with despair."

Rias tightens her hands into fists as Deckard continues to try comforting her. He did not know what words to say to comfort Rias. Despite his great wisdom, he could not exactly cure depression.

He then noticed something around Rias' neck.

"I see you are wearing Aidan's necklace," Deckard saw. "Why is that?"

Rias cradles the Horadrim necklace in her right hand as she looks at it.

"It's the only thing left of Aidan that I remembered when he left," Rias responded. "I've worn it since then. A memory of him."

"Then keep that memory alive," Deckard persuaded. "Aidan will return and when he does, you will never have to let go of him ever again. But for now, have faith and hope he will recover. After all, it is the only thing we can give to him at the moment."

Deckard soon takes his leave, leaving Rias all alone as he and Asia turn in for the night. Rias continues staring out the window, reflecting on Uncle Deckard's words of wisdom. If hope and faith were the only thing needed as of this moment for Aidan, then it will have to do. With her brother Sirzechs keeping an eye on him as he recovers, she has to put faith in that Aidan will return.

As Rias looks out though, she reaches in her inner pocket to pull out a red soulstone shard, taken from when she pulled the stone out of Aidan. Even though a small sliver had embedded itself into her heart and had surprisingly granted her untold powers nearing that of an Ultimate Devil class, the much bigger shard she held was different.

She heard a loud ringing noise emanating from it as she gazes into it. Yet she knew what this influence was. It was the same one that influenced Aidan in the beginning. She looked at it with focus, the darkness within steadily growing within her like gnarled root.

As Rias gazes into the soulstone shard, her eyes turn red as the shadow of Diablo looms above her, wrapping her around in its dark tendrils of corruption. It was in that moment though that Rias learned a truth.

Terror can indeed be conquered, but Terror can never truly die.

Not much to say about this chapter other than Aidan is finally woken up. But that does not necessarily mean that the nightmare is over. Rias may have ripped the soulstone out of Aidan, albeit leave a chunk still inside him and receive a shard in her heart in the process but that does not mean Diablo is gonna stay quiet. He will return but not in a direct manner like last time. As an artist of terror, Diablo best works in the shadows. And now he has a new target in Rias, with her holding onto the soulstone shard and having one inside her chest.

Is this the end of the Darkening of Tristram arc? Yes and no. There is still the recovery process that Aidan needs to go through a.k.a. rehabilitation. But that doe snot mean he will go home a happy man as if nothing had happened. Two more chapters of this long-ass arc and then it will be over. Then I will do a two chapter arc of the Skeleton King because let's face it: back in Tristram, there was one boss in the dungeon everyone had skipped over.

A few references I used were Shingeki no Bahamut: Manaria Friends in Episode 2 and Shinmai Maou no Testament BURST in Episode 9. I figured those two episodes were perfect for this recovery chapter.

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