Irina's Selfishness
It has been one year since Issei had to put on the circlet to suppress his true desires to prevent him from falling. He's become popular at school for his polite behavior and cool demeanor, and has essentially taken the place of former popular boy Yuuto Kiba, who hasn't been at school lately. Despite this, he has promised to marry Irina, who has promised to help him change the church for the better after seeing the sacrifices he's made. She and him wear a pair of rings that heaven supplied for the coming day with Irina's ring being silver with a small green diamond embedded in it and Issei wearing a gold ring with a regular diamond.
Rossweisse has assumed a position as an assistant teacher and working with the trio as their magic user. For the most part, things are relatively peaceful after a whole year of fights and betrayals and even some marriages between the factions. A prominent one is the marriage of the current Governor General of the fallen angels, Shemahazai and his child with his devil wife.
At this moment, Issei is in his third year in Kuoh with plans to have his wedding after he graduates. Irina and him always eat lunch together and sometimes with Xenovia and Rossweisse. Today is just between the two with Issei eating a homemade lunch from his fiancé. Irina has been learning to cook with her new mother-in-law's help. It's a simple lunch, surely, but it is an alright lunch.
Irina stares at her ring while blushing "Only a little longer to wait." She happily says to her fiancé.
Issei happily takes a bite of rice while adding "Indeed, we'll be married; we'll buy a house together, and live our lives happily."
Irina's face goes red and she also says "And…we'll have children too."
Issei almost chokes on his food and coughs some. He drinks some water and calms down while reminding her "Irina, you do….know what'll have to do to make a baby."
Sighing with frustration, Irina has to remind herself it is only because of the circlet that he acts like this. She and Issei have had sex already (Safely) so she knows that he still finds her attractive. After letting this moment pass, the two get a call from heaven. Irina is ordered to stay in Kuoh to escort a devil noble as a sign of good faith. Issei is called to find a missing researcher with Rossweisse and Xenovia.
The three assigned to finding the researcher warp to the abandoned church, which is scheduled for demolition soon by an angel team, under the promise that he must maintain Asia's grave. Before meeting up, Issei pays a visit to her. He comes here often to talk about his day, his missions, and his life overall.
Rossweisse watches silently and admires Issei's kindness to the grave. She wears exorcist armor similar to Irina and Xenovia with her shoulders to her elbows exposed, and leggings that cover up to her thighs and it was originally thought to be too revealing, but Issei didn't say anything.
Walking inside the church, the three are immediately greeted by the current leader of the angels. Gabriel. She is a beautiful woman who usually gives important missions to the team. Rossweisse was reincarnated as Gabriel's Jack of Hearts to keep the formation consistent for Issei's team.
Being gracious, Gabriel bows slightly "Thank you all for coming so quickly." She politely greets the team.
Xenovia is the first to approach when she says"Think nothing of it, Lady Gabriel. We're always ready to serve heaven."
The others agree much to Gabriel's delight and she pulls out a paper that she has "So, it looks like this man was doing research….oh my…he was doing horrible things to make strong soldiers for heaven. Now that's just mean." She explains with her innocent demeanor.
Not liking what she's reading, Gabriel hands the paper to Rossweisse who seems disgusted by what she's reading. She shows it to her teammates and what it reads is…
"Target is accused of conducting illegal and unethical research unbecoming a priest. Target was kidnapping and abusing several species of supernatural beings including several youkia, vampires, and devils. With attempts to create soldiers with inherent superior abilities without permission or consent, and illegal use of facilities, the target must be captured alive for questioning. Crimes include conspiracy against heaven, kidnapping, abuse, illegal experimenting, and murder.
Looking at this report, the three are disgusted by this with Xenovia saying "It's just like the holy sword experiments."
Gabriel nods in agreement and adds "Yes, but I agree he must be captured alive. He also has some monsters aiding him, so please be careful."
While he was told of the experiments after becoming an angel, Issei is still upset by the idea. He thinks that maybe this might have to do with Yuuto Kiba's disappearance since Issei is aware of him being a devil. So he eagerly takes the mission.
Home
Irina is escorting the devil noble, it's actually Ruval Phenex, and he is very polite to his escort.
"Thank you very much for escorting me today, young lady." He politely tells her.
Irina is dressed in normal attire because she was told it's not really a dangerous mission and she can handle some rogues herself, if any. He is very courteous to her and she is nice to him, and doesn't say anything like saying she would have killed him a couple years ago.
While walking, Ruval notices the ring around Irina's finger and he wonders "Oh, is that a wedding ring?"
Irina looks at her finger and bashfully admits "It sure is. I'm getting married after I graduate this school year. My darling promised to marry me just a few months ago."
Ruval looks like he's approving greatly and says "Good, that's very good. My brother is getting married soon, but I don't think his fiancé likes him very much."
Curious, Irina wonders "Really? Then are they getting married then?"
Ruval sighs and admits "It's a mistake, but there was this arrangement, and I really wish that I could do something about it. But, it's not my place to say anything."
Still unhappy to hear it, Irina admits "Well I think that's just plain wrong. I love who I'm marrying, and I think everyone else should feel the same in that situation."
They talk a little while longer until they arrive at the appointed location, and it's a simple area where some angels are meeting to discuss with him about the house of Phenex's contributions to the treaty since it's sounding like they may have thought of an arranged marriage from their house to an angel. But nothing is set in stone yet.
?
Issei and the girls make quick work of all the monsters in this lab-like bunker area where to rogue priest is hiding out. Issei and Xenovia slice up everything that attacks them and Rossweisse obliterates them with magic. The location isn't very far from Kuoh and is really easy to find.
After finding the door to the master control room, Issei slices the door open. Inside the room is the rogue priest. Within moments, the three are in the room and see him cowering near a panel.
Issei walks forward and states "You're coming with us. Don't resist, and we won't hurt you."
Xenovia holds her sword forward and Rossweisse has her magic ready, but the priest simply smiles and snaps his finger as Issei's circlet glows blue and he falls forward with his eyes going blank. Then, a blue mist begins venting into the room. Within moments of Issei passing out, Xenovia and Rossweisse fall asleep without much struggle.
The priest walks forward and mentions "They call my research amoral, they call it horrid, but all I'm trying to do is create powerful angels for heaven. A dragon, a valkyrie, and a natural holy sword user. If could combine these genes, then we'll have powerful soldiers in the future."
He drags the bodies if the unconscious group into some containers and locks them up while he goes to work in his lab.
Hours Later
Irina is back home after finishing her assignment and meeting while escorting Ruval. She sits on her bed and looks happily at her ring again. But while reminiscing, Irina gets a call from someone and she answers to hear that the others went missing.
Worried, Irina immediately asks "Where were they last seen?"
She gets information where they were last seen and immediately puts on her equipment and leaves without hesitating. Her worries are great if three talented people like her friends could be captured or defeated.
It doesn't take long for her to find the base where they were last seen and she makes sure her sword is ready for anything to come. The rogue priest that kidnapped the others is making notes when he hears an alarm in his room go off a little, he did earlier which is how he knew.
He sees an image of Irina on a magical seal and says "Not now, not when I've got the perfect subjects. I'm all out of the sleep agent. He walks over to see what he has that can stop Irina from capturing him and ruining his plans. He finds some orange powder in a vial and mentions "This can at least buy me some time." He leaves with sweat running down his face.
Irina moves around and sees the bodies of the monsters that Issei and others defeated, so she takes added caution in moving around to not be taken by surprise. She hears footsteps approaching and looks gently to see the priest approaching. She needs him alive for the mission, so she readies to knock him out and she swiftly turns the corner to hit him with the hilt of her weapon, but she just barely manages to hit his arm while he throws the powder in her face. The priest falls over and holds his arm as he yells out in pain while Irina inhales the powder.
She gets dizzy for a moment and the priest seizes the opportunity to get back to his lab and make preparations. Irina loses focus on the scenery while in this haze and leans against the wall for the moment.
"What did he throw at me…" she wonders for a moment until she hears a slight laugh. She looks over at where the sound is coming from and sees a girl wearing nothing but a white hooded robe with a mask resembling a dragon.
The girl laughs a little and asks "What exactly are you doing here?"
Irina, still dazed from the powder replies "I'm looking for my friends, and my fiancé. Have you seen anyone around here?" Her thoughts are clouded from the dizziness so she doesn't think the masked girl a threat for the moment.
The girl laughs some more and answers "Maybe I have, and maybe I haven't. What's the point in helping you out? I mean, after all…." She removes her mask and her face greatly shocks Irina when the girls says "I'm just a witch, aren't I?" her face resembling Asia Argento's but she has blue hair instead of blonde and her eyes are different with red instead of green.
After recovering a little, Irina denies this immediately by stating "No, you can't be her. Asia Argento died over a year ago."
Not denying her fate, Asia nods and replies "Oh, I did. But I've simply come back to right a wrong. That's all." Her voice, devious in tone, makes it sound like she has an evil intent in mind.
Irina holds her sword and states "No, I won't fall for it. I'm not letting you trick me. You're a fake."
Shaking her head in disappointment, Asia explains "I'm not deceiving anyone. Not like a selfish girl like you."
Irina doesn't like that claim and reminds her "I'm here to save my friends; I'm not doing this for myself or the church." She turns around to ignore this fake Asia and wants to press on to find her friends, but the fake persists by appearing around the corner with her devious smile.
"Are you really? Because aren't you the most selfish of the entire group?" The fake asks to the annoyance of the angel. Asia reminds her of some facts "Because let me see here. You did save Issei from that fallen angel without any reward in mind. But you also labeled him and Xenovia traitors the moment your superiors told you so and abandoned them."
Past guilt for that arises, but Irina does remember how much it hurt to say those things and she felt hollow the whole time until she saw them again.
Then, Asia admits "But the worst part is, you selfishly want him all to yourself. Issei, the only one who saw past the rumors to treat me kindly, the only one who stood by Xenovia when she had no one else, and the one who has sacrificed so much to make YOU happy…and why, because you happened to save his life."
Feeling insecure, Irina looks at the ground "No, that's not true. He loves me, and I love him. That's the reason we're together." She argues as she runs past the fake Asia and wants to find her friends quicker to get out of here.
But, she turns a corner and sees something, a very familiar scene. The day she saved Issei from Raynare, but now, it's Xenovia who does the saving. Raynare's corpse is on the ground with a big gash in her abdomen as Xenovia checks on Issei right before he passes out and it's her blue hair that he remembers. Before Irina can say anything, she blinks and the setting changes again. It changes so that during times when she and Issei were getting close after Irina left and she sees them dating, holding each other, kissing, and even a scene of Issei proposing to her instead.
Irina heart races and she screams "Stop showing me this!" and then she feels even stranger as the images become blurred.
"Xenovia is the one who stood by her friends. When you came back, she opened up to when you treated her so coldly. Also, if she and Issei where to have a child, it would be natural holy sword user with the powers of a dragon. As an angel, you should desire the best for heaven." The fake Asia rambles on and on about why Irina and Issei shouldn't be together, until, Irina lets her wings out.
In a most selfish statement, Irina proclaims after slamming her hand into the wall "And I don't care about any of that. Maybe we are together because I saved him, but so what? Just today, me and my darling were talking about having children. I don't care about making powerful angels, I don't care about what-ifs, and I certainly don't care about some ghost telling that I shouldn't marry someone I admire and love with all my heart." Irina turns to the fake and slices her across the chest and she is torn apart by the slash as Irina looks angry at her while saying "Asia Argento inspired my darling to make a difference, and I'm going help him. Saying those awful things is an insult, and my darling wouldn't stand for it. So insulting her is also insulting the both of us."
The fake Asia smiles kindly and fades away while Irina's dizziness comes back and her vision is still blurry. Despite this, she perseveres by leaning against the walls and tries to find anything to help her get to where the others are.
But before she can go anywhere else, she looks over a corridor and sees someone with blonde hair pointing in a direction. Though she believes it to be an illusion, she still goes the direction anyway. After a couple more minutes of walking aimlessly, Irina finally makes her way to the control room and her vision becomes clear again and the rogue priest is panicking while trying to move the pods he placed the others into.
The rogue priest panics when he sees Irina standing at the doorway and looks over to his rack and sees one more vial of the powder, and he is immediately seen going to it, so Irina throws a ring of light at the rack and destroys it.
Irina smiles cheerfully with her tongue sticking out and mentions "Sorry, but it looks like you're busted by this angel…(kisses her rosary) amen!" The priest simply falls to his knees and realizes he's hopeless.
He does try to beg "Please, I just wanted to help heaven rebuild its forces."
Irina's face turns irritated and states "No, all you're doing is giving us a bad name. If you really wanted to help, you should have just let people make their own choices."
It doesn't take long for more angels to arrive to take the priest away and take his notes for evidence and names to the families he's hurt. However, while picking up a torn paper, an angel notes that reads: Conception Chance 89% Success!
After freeing the others, Irina and Issei walk home together under the night sky and his circlet needed to be sent off for modification. The priest found a way to use his circlet to make him lose consciousness, so their sending it off to fix that problem.
Issei stretches his arms while exclaiming "Man, that mission was a pain. Being cramped in that pod really made me need to stretch."
Irina giggles at him and replies "Maybe, but it did give me a chance to reflect on things."
Curious, Issei wants know "Really? Like what."
Irina looks up at the sky at explains "You know, it may not mean much for us to get married because we're both angels. But I want to make it so that when we have our own kids, they'll have the choice to marry who they want without being judged. Because that's what I want."
"Good, that's good thing to want, Irina. I want that too, but not just for our kids. I want that everyone." He comments on Irina's desire for a prejudice free world.
Finding his goal wonderful, Irina conveys "It's a tall order for sure, and it'll take a long time for everyone to get there." They then hold hands and she says "But at least we can do it together."
Not long after this, Xenovia and Rossweisse went to England for training for a year, but they seemed off for some reason. But they assured Issei and Irina they would return a year later. But this gave the two more time to be alone together. Kiba eventually reappeared, but his disappearance wasn't a part of the rogue priest's experiments, but it didn't matter to anyone after he returned since he seemed normal.
Some Time later
The location, a church, the place, heaven, and the people here, everyone; they have gathered here for a wonderful ceremony, the wedding of Issei and Irina. Issei is wearing his circlet again for the ceremony, after a fiasco at his bachelor party. He wears a very fine white suite with a white rose and heart insignia on his jacket and watches as Irina is escorted down the aisle by her father. Her dress is elegant, shimmering, and beyond beauty. The one conducting the ceremony is Lady Gabriel herself as no one else could possibly be fit for the task compared to her.
But, she has to read a cheat sheet because she hasn't actually done it before. With her finally reading "So, do you two promise to love each other, trust each other, and loyal to each other until you die?" While unconventional, the two both answer yes, and Gabriel announces "Good, now by the power within me, I officially announce you both husband and wife. You may kiss each other now."
Irina leans in for her kiss but Issei seems hesitant until Irina's mother shouts "Take off that circlet, you blockhead!" and Irina takes off the circlet and Issei immediately puts a big smooch on his new wife as everyone claps.
A little later, Issei carries Irina through the doors of their new home, the new manor built for them on the grounds of the abandoned church. Even a small chapel was built over Asia's grave to preserve it for generations. Their new lives begin here.
…..A few years later
Irina is walking with a small child and telling him sweetly "Shin, there's no need to be shy. School is going be lots of fun."
The small child named Shin, who is dressed in a blue pants and a yellow shirt, responds "But, mommy, what if no one likes me."
Irina shakes her head and says "That's no way to think. You're a sweet boy. I'm sure there's going to be lots of kids who will like you." Indeed, this child is her son with Issei. Issei works a lot lately so Irina is the primary caregiver to their child.
After dropping him with his lunch, Irina begins walking home with a smile. Ever since she and Issei got married, they've taken on everything together and have helped heaven make great improvements. There's still a long way to go, but Irina is confident that it'll make the world a better place for everyone.
But for now "I wonder what I should fix for dinner tonight?" she asks herself while walking home.
At the school itself, later in the day, Shin pulls out his lunchbox and looks for some other kids to eat with, but he's unsure since he hasn't made any friends yet, but he does see a girl and a boy eating alone, so he decides to try talking with them.
"Can..can I eat with you both?" he asks the two children as they look at him.
The boy has blue hair and he looks at the girl, who has silver-white hair, and they say yes.
He introduces himself and the boys say "I'm Zen Quarta."
The girl then says "And I'm Helmwige."
Shin feels okay around these two and they eat lunch together while talking about themselves. The future generation looks like its budding and it began with a perverted boy and an eager young woman. Them, and their own selfish desires to benefit everyone.
This end Ivory Dragon….but I do plan to keep it going in a new story titled Ivory Dragon EX.