BOO

Did I scare you? No? Haha i'm not surprised, my update schedule is scarier than me.

Very sorry that I kept you guys hanging for so long but my life has changed up quite a bit in the last few months and I now have a few more things on my plate to deal with. I won't go into them here but just be aware that I will still be updating this story when I can, I ain't gonna leave you guys all alone ;)

Any reviews, follows and favourites would be greatly appreciated and as always feel free to shoot me a pm if you wanna talk about the story or even just anything else, I promise I won't bite ;)

With that said, please enjoy the chapter! :)

The news was hard to take for the ORC.

While Issei had been powerful before, at the time of his fall he was dampened and weak from using his holy sword so the group knew that his chance of survival was bleak at best.

Sirzechs had dreaded telling Rias and the others of Issei's supposed demise, while he did have some suspicions that Issei could have lived, he didn't want to get the ORC team's hopes up.

Koneko took the news hard since ever since she'd been saved by Issei he'd been someone she could talk to, however she hadn't a clue on how she felt about him now since she had been unconscious when Issei had undergone his transformation and committed the deeds he did.

Kiba clenched his fist and set his raging gaze towards the outside world through the window he was sitting by, he had failed to protect his comrade and had even lost control of his emotions and attacked him when he was clearly vulnerable, truely he had sullied his knight's honor and reputation.

Akeno felt conflicted as Issei had been the one closest to understanding her plight with her split heritage, however she hadn't seen him during the game and as such only heard about his deeds to which she thought of him as reckless and cruel... but maybe there was something she was missing?

Rias was also conflicted but much more than Akeno since she had bore witness to the look in Issei's eyes before he'd unleashed his 'annihilation blast', they were filled with burning hate, it appears that Issei truely had changed by the time she'd arrived on that roof and her words to him had been spark that ignited the power within him to overflow with his hatred and betrayal.

Raynare was by far the person who'd taken the news the worst, who could blame her? The love of her life had just been announced all but dead and her last words to him were ones of anger and accusation. The moment Sirzechs had told her Issei's last words before he'd fell Raynare had broken down crying, unable to process the fact that the person she'd loved and hurt still cared before his supposed demise.

Once the news had been delivered, Sirzechs excused himself to deal with important matters concerning the relationship between the Gremory and Phoenix house due to the events of the rating game. This left the ORC in the clubroom speechless as none of them had anything they wanted to or could even voice currently. Slowly each member left eventually leaving only Rias in the clubroom sat at her deck, staring out the window and wondering how this had all gone so wrong.

Light.

Just blinding light, that was all he could see.

Issei slowly regained his vision as his eyes adjusted to the immense amount of light around him. He quickly recognised the softness of the bed he was lying on and the decour of the room around him.

His neutral face turned into a frown as he was in the one place he hated most... Heaven.

Issei rose from the bed and dressed himself in his clothes that had been dried and repaired from the water damage following his fall. He didn't know what to do since the last time he'd been here was just before he'd been cast out of Heaven for bad behaviour, this had been close to a year after Ddraig had cut connection with him and about a month before he ended up saving Koneko.

The double doors leading into his room effectively halted Issei's recollection of the past and brought his attention back to the present and onto the figure that had stepped into the room.

Issei looked over the figure and after some thought recognised the white robes that had been altered to allow combat and bright blue eyes that you could get lost within, standing in front of him was Griselda Quarta, queen of Gabriel.

Said woman stared at Issei with narrow eyes filled with suspicion and curiosity, but also a trace amount of concern for the boy. His new appearance and clothing was something that she didn't know what to think of, yet it was the only thing she had to judge him on since she hadn't seen or heard from him since he'd been cast out of Heaven by Michael.

"Hello Issei" Griselda greeted in a neutral tone.

"Hello" Issei replied in a blank tone, crossing his arms shortly after.

"How've you been?" she asked.

"I've been better but also worse" he responded stiffly.

"I see" stated the former exorcist.

The silence between them was awkward and the tension thick. Both were unsure as to how to begin a proper conversation since it had been so long and they had become very different people.

Eventually though Issei had run out of patience.

"Why was I brought here" he asked slightly annoyed at the lack of answers so far.

Griselda flinched slightly as the boy's sharp tone, she could tell just by looking at his demeanor that something major had changed within him, was this really the same boy that she'd seen in Heaven?

Flashback

A few weeks after Issei had been brought to Heaven, Gabriel instructed Griselda to train the boy so that Heaven may benefit from the Red Dragon Emperor in battle. However shortly after Griselda began training Issei she noticed a distinct lack of effort from the boy as well as a substantial decrease in power.

Issei panted after another of Griselda's brutal assaults, cuts and bruises adorned his body, something the former exorcist was surprised yet angered with.

"If you're this injured then it proves you're not using the power of the red dragon of domination, the whole reason you were reincarnated was to provide Heaven with a trump card against the other factions. If this is all you have then Gabriel made a grave mistake" Griselda spat with disappointment.

Issei snarled at her harsh words, his anger rising more and more by the second, but he held it in because he knew that her words were true. Ddraig had sealed himself off from Issei making him unable to use the boosted gear at all and his body was weak for a normal human.

Issei used his anger and charged the woman with a furious roar, this only stunned Griselda for a moment though as she simply made a wall of light in front of her that repelled Issei's assault and threw him across the room.

But the boy wasn't done, his rage was spilling out in waves and he charged again and again, being thrown back and bloodied by the wall each time. Nine attempts later and Issei was on the floor, his hand reached out to pull himself along the floor towards the former exorcist bit by bit.

Griselda was staring at the boy with pity, but also a small amount of respect at the iron will of the boy, not to mention his powerful rage. At the thought of rage she remembered that the red dragon of domination's power was brought out with intense emotions and in his current state, his rage may be able to awaken his true power.

"Come on boy, is that all you have, if so then it's no wonder that you were killed so easily, your sister was sacrificed so you could have a second chance and fight for us, but you're so weak that you can't even do that, you disgust me spitting on your sister's life like that" Griselda spat in a harsh tone.

A fire lit in Issei's eyes upon hearing these words. This woman had the audacity, the nerve to imply that by not fighting for the people who basically tricked his sister into suicide just to get him on their side was spitting on her so called sacrifice!?

Issei reared up his form and opened his mouth to roar his retort, however nothing came out, he realised moments later that the reason he'd remained silent was because they were right, no matter how morally ambiguous Gabriel's methods were, if he continued like this, the life his sister gave up to give him another chance would be wasted.

Right then and there Issei swore to live. Not for himself, he was selfish and ignorant, he didn't deserve the life his sister had given him. He decided he would live her life instead, the way she never got the chance to, experience the foods, people and culture she never could, he would live for her, until the day he died.

Issei took a deep breath and turned his back on Griselda who stood stunned by Issei's calmness after her verbal assault. Issei kept walking despite a few pathetic protests from Griselda to get back to training and didn't look back.

Flashback end

"Hello? HEY!" Issei shouted at Griselda impatiently, the woman in question quickly snapped back to reality and looked at the boy with confused eyes.

"What happened to you Issei, before you were angry sure, but you were usually patient and respectful now you're completely different" Griselda asked Issei in a compassionate tone, she was worried about Issei's change, yes he'd been kicked out of Heaven but she still cared about her former student. To see the boy changed this much for the worse, she had to know what happened.

Issei crossed his arms and furrowed his brow. His posture screamed that he was currently deciding whether he should tell her or not. Eventually his face softened and he dropped his arms to his sides with a sigh before starting to explain everything, Asia's freakout because of his weakness and broken promise, her betrayal and subsequent killing of himself, Ophis granting him some of her power to return but at the cost of most of his emotions and finally the end of the game leading up to his escape and fall from the prison cell he'd been housed in.

By the end of his story Griselda had a tear in her eye threatening to fall, to think that the person she'd trained and developed a bond with before he was unfortunately ejected from Heaven had to suffer through death and the cold shoulder of the devil faction that has supposedly taken him in as one of their own, it was hurtful to hear.

The former exorcist slowly walked over to Issei and placed a hand on his shoulder. Issei allowed this for a moment but quickly shook it off before returning to the matter at hand.

"I'll ask again, why am I here Griselda?" Issei asked, this time a little calmer.

The woman paused for a moment before giving Issei the news.

"Gabriel wanted to apologize" she stated simply.

Issei's jaw almost fell through the floor, the woman that had gone against the rules of Heaven to reincarnate him as her warrior for the boosted gear, the woman who had stood by her decision and given Issei nothing but the necessary information of his day, had she finally changed? He quickly regained his composure and asked Griselda another question.

"Where is she?"

Griselda frowned before answering.

"Gabriel... she's currently in Heaven's ICU for treatment for injuries sustained in a battle against the white dragon empress, that woman is even more of a battle maniac than she used to be, her power has become so strong that it might be on par with ultimate, maybe even maou class devils" Griselda responded as her voice shifted from a sad tone to a fearful one.

Issei was conflicted, the woman who essentially killed his sister and brought him into her slavery wanted to apologize after all these years but before she could do so the white dragon empress came to Heaven and seriously wounded her, a great seraph. Truly Griselda's assessment of the battle maniac was nothing to be scoffed at. Issei wanted to forgive Gabriel and put this mess behind them but the things she'd done still lingered in his mind, he wanted to congratulate the white dragon empress for hurting the woman who hurt him but also punch her for ruining his chance of reconciliation, no matter how small it may have been.

Giving a long sigh from the mental battle he'd just fought, Issei asked Griselda to take him to see Gabriel, to which she obliged and lead him out of the double door of his room into a gold and white corridor. They walked along for around 5 minutes before reaching a room with a transportation circle in the center.

"This is how we travel between Heavens" Griselda clarified to a confused Issei as he'd never needed to use one of the circles before because Gabriel possessed the power to take him herself to another level of Heaven when required.

"Seems impractical to have such a small circle when there are so many angels" Issei logically stated.

"This isn't the only circle we have you dummy" Griselda playfully replied trying to cut some of the tension between them.

Issei gave a quick look towards Griselda and raised his bow, she wasn't know for making jokes and he didn't think he could remember her telling one in all his time in Heaven, however he had to admit that Griselda cracking jokes was an amusing sight.

The duo stepped on the circle after Griselda chanted the activation spell and were transported to the level of Heaven where Gabriel was being treated.

Issei walked behind Griselda as she lead the way through many hallways filled with beds and medical equipment. Rooms were on both sides of the corridors with angels inside being treated for their conditions.

She stopped in front of a set of double doors and gave Issei a solemn look, he assumed this meant Gabriel was in this room. They entered the room, it was white and gold in colour like the rest of the place but there were several personal items that obviously belonged to the injured seraph, such as a painting of a lovely sunset, special rings crafted for her by Michael and last but the most surprising to Issei was a photograph in a frame beside her bed that showed him, Gabriel and Griselda all smiling next to each other.

Issei remembered the day that was taken.

Flashback

It had been a few weeks since the training session when Issei had sworn his personal oath. Gabriel called the boy up to the meeting room on the 1st level of Heaven where he was met by her and Griselda who still refused to make eye contact with him after the training session weeks ago, her pride had been hurt by Issei ignoring her and walking out but she was upset because she felt awful about the vile words she spewed out at him in an effort to bring out the red dragon of domination.

Gabriel began talking to them both about an upcoming mission that involved peace talks with the devils in the human realm, the location of the meeting was Florida in the USA. They would travel down to Florida using a teleportation circle and appear inside a special safe house protected by guards and supernatural personnel.

After delivering that, Gabriel dismissed Issei and Griselda back to their rooms to prepare for the mission which would start a couple of hours later. Issei was first out the room eager to get away from Gabriel, something about her eyes when she looked at him made him very uncomfortable, it was like she pitied him but also was frustrated with him, he shook this train of thought off soon after and continued down the hall to his room until a hand on his shoulder stopped him in his tracks.

Issei turned on the spot and saw Griselda making eye contact with him for the first time in weeks. She had an expression that was filled with many emotions, the most prominent being regret, confusion and frustration, it also looked like she'd been crying a fair bit because her eyes were red and puffy.

She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. Issei's expression softened, he took her hand and lead here down the corridor and into his room so they could talk in private.

"Issei I- I wanted to apologize for what I said a few weeks back, it wasn't right of me to try and antagonize you to lure out your dragon, if you're not using him then you must have a good reason" Griselda poured out to Issei.

"Thank you for apologizing, it's been a little hard to adjust to this place and being her servant, especially considering the circumstances that brought it about, however i've realized that there's no use rebelling, i'm stuck in this situation and as much as I hate Gabriel for what she did, I have to accept that she is my master and I am her servant, there's nothing more to it" Issei replied with honesty that was laced with veiled anger.

"Issei..." was all Griselda could reply with before falling silent.

Issei opened the door and directed Griselda outside, She obliged with his silent request and left Issei alone in his room. As soon as Issei saw her turn the corner he shut the door.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" he screamed, tossing a lamp across the room where it shattered into multiple pieces against the wall.

Issei slumped against the wall down to the floor where he sat hunched over, head in his hands silently sobbing.

Two hours later, Issei, Gabriel and Griselda were all gathered at the teleportation circle ready to head down to Florida and get setup in their safe house for the peace talk, Issei had asked why Michael wasn't coming too since he was the elected leader of Heaven following the biblical god's death but Gabriel said that it was too risky for him to go because the devils could be planning an attack. Great assumptions to try and build peace on Issei thought.

However Michael's assumptions were proved correct when the trio warped down into the middle of a battlefield, the forces on the side of Heaven were attempting to guard the safe house against devil forces lead by a cloaked figure.

Issei didn't know what to think, he was about to take a step forward when Gabriel stopped him.

"Issei, I want you to stay back here and protect our forces if they breach the safe house, DO NOT go outside" she told him as she handed him a spare holy sword.

Issei gritted his teeth at her babying him and telling him what to do but he quickly calmed himself realizing that without Ddraig he had no way to fight and he wasn't exactly a good hand to hand combatant. He took the sword from Gabriel and moved to the center of the building where a large group of Heaven's injured soldiers were.

Meanwhile, Gabriel and Griselda flew out of the building and attacked the enemy forces head on, Gabriel flew at speeds faster than even Griselda could keep up with, slashing devils left and right with rings of light that she threw with deadly precision. Griselda preferred a more hands on method of attack, her customized broadsword which was blue and gold in colour weighed half her body weight and each time she swung she did it without a hint of exhaustion, decimating each and every devil she hit.

Eventually the devils began to retreat as their numbers dwindled, the two angels relaxed for a moment but it was a moment too long as before either of them could react, the safe house was bombed, the explosion was massive, smoke filled the air and the sound of roaring flames was unmistakable. The two angels looked at each other through squinted eyes and both coughed out the same thing.

"Issei!"

They rushed in the direction of the safe house, worried what fate may have befallen the boy. Gabriel used a spell to clear the smoke from the air so that the ruins of the safe house were visible for all to see. However so was the huge blue shield that wrapped around not only Issei but all the injured soldiers as well.

Gabriel gasped, an action that did not go unnoticed by Griselda.

"What is that? How is Issei and the rest of them alive?" she asked feverishly.

"That is a technique i've not seen an angel perform in many centuries, it's called Divine Protector, the ability allows an angel to draw the pure essence of the holy energy in a holy sword and use it as a barrier or shield to protect other. The size depends on the user's affinity towards holy energy, judging by how large the shield was to protect all those people, I daresay that Issei may have the most potential in the technique that has been shown in the last millennia" Gabriel muttered to her, astounded at her servants performance.

Griselda widened her eyes in shock, a whole millennia, was Issei really that special? She looked at Gabriel's look of satisfaction and developed a worrying thought, what if Gabriel tried to use this technique and force Issei to participate in battle against his will, she wanted to protect him because she knew no one else would but Griselda was still unsure of her feelings towards the boy, was it really worth everything she'd worked for?

Meanwhile on the battlefield, Issei grunted in pain. He had taken the full force of the bomb before he'd managed to put up the shield and save the others and because of that his energy was depleted and his body was covered in cuts and bruises, his face was dirty from the smoke but he was alive. He released the shield and slumped to the floor exhausted from the effort.

Griselda ran over to Issei to make sure he was alright. Once she'd made sure all the damage he'd taken was non lethal, she picked him up and hoisted him onto her shoulder to help him walk. Once they got back over to Gabriel, she suggested they take a photo to celebrate their victory. While she pulled a wide genuine smile, Issei and Griselda forced theirs, unsure of what the future meant for them both now...

Flashback end

Issei was snapped back to the present by a soothing voice calling his name. He opened his eyes and locked them with the golden ones of Gabriel. The injured seraph has awoken in the time he'd been reminiscing because he'd seen her asleep when he entered the room with Griselda.

"You came" Gabriel whispered in a low but grateful voice.

"I did, Griselda said you have something to say to me" Issei replied with a strained voice.

Gabriel paused for a moment, this was harder than she'd anticipated. The seraph knew that she had treated Issei wrongly however she still believed it had been for the good of all of Heaven, so when she saw him here, clearly not the same as he used to be, she took her chance.

"I just wanted to say that you've been doing a good job with the devils and that it wasn't your time to die. That was what you wanted from me right?" Gabriel answered sweetly.

Issei however was pissed. He'd been brought to a place that held nothing but bad memories after he'd been discarded even if only as a farce by the devils, the intention was still there. Now finally when the person who had toyed with him so much was finally going to apologize and give him some closure, she chickens out and takes the easy route? Not on his watch.

His eyes burned with rage as he summoned the boosted gear for the first time in the presence of the angels. How ironic considering it was the only thing they'd wanted from him before.

"You" Issei spat. "You think you can call me here to aplogize for the year of abuse you delivered to me after all this time and then chicken out at the last minute!" Issei finshed his sentence roaring the words at Gabriel like a dragon.

The seraph was shocked to see the boosted gear after all this time, but even more so that Issei had lost his temper this badly, she truly had no idea how much she'd hurt him and how much he was going to make her pay for the pain she caused him.

Griselda got between Issei and Gabriel before things could escalate any further, however that only angered Issei further.

"Really? After all this time and seeing first hand what she's constantly thrown at me you're still protecting her?" Issei questioned incredulously.

"I'm sorry Issei but I cannot allow you to harm her, no matter what she has done, she is a seraph with strong connections to Michael" Griselda explained.

Issei clenched his uncovered hand.

"No... i'm sorry for ever trusting you, I thought we were close before I was kicked out but it appears I was wrong, you're still her lapdog" Issei growled pointing at Gabriel.

"Issei that-" Griselda started but she was cut off by a punch from Issei's gauntlet.

"Next time you get in my way, I won't hold back" Issei warned Griselda before stepping over her groaning form towards Gabriel's bed.

The seraph pushed a button for guards to come to her rescue.

"Try all you want Gabriel, nothing sort of a miracle can save you now" Issei snarled as he raised his arm to deliver the killing blow.

As if on cue a bright light illuminated the room and blinded Issei for a moment, a form appeared from the light and used that moment to strike Issei in the chest, knocking him into the wall.

Issei slowly raised himself to see the bastard who had prevented him from ending that damned seraph, however he was unable to figure out who it was. The person had long silver hair that reached her lower back, she was adorned in white and blue armor that had shining blue wings, her eyes were hazel and she wore a large grin that showed off her perfect white teeth.

"Who the hell are you?" Issei asked, infuriated that this woman had stopped him killing Gabriel.

"Aww, i'm hurt that you don't know who I am... my rival!".

Ooh another cliffhanger, don't you just love to see it? And on my longest chapter yet, over 4.7k words jeez, but I thought i'd make this one longer since you guys deserve a reward for being patient with me.

Well I suppose it's not really one since you all know who that's gonna be with the whole rival shtick but I though for the tiny amount of people who don't know it's important to keep up the cliffhanger tradition :)

As I said before I will update this story whenever I can but it's definitely not going to be cancelled anytime soon, so don't worry, your fave fanfic and its writer are sticking around ;)

So until next time, read, review and pm me with any queries.

BK out :)