(Disclaimer: I own neither Highschool DxD nor Ben 10. Both of these belong to their respective owners who own all rights to them.)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ben was soaring through the air at great speed though he didn't feel the wind blow against him as you would expect from the speed he was going at. He looked up to see he was in complete darkness and unable to see any light in the sky above him.
It took him less than a second to recognise he was having another vivid dream.
'I wonder where I am this time,' he thought to himself as he glanced down at the ground that looked like a blur as it passed by him.
*WHOOOOOSH!*
Ben flinched at the loud sound and looked around himself in search of the sound's origin. He quickly found it as he looked up to find that the dark sky above him…wasn't actually the dark sky above him. Rather it was a familiar titanic beast flapping its humongous wings, its body so vast that it blocked out the sky above it.
*WHOOOOOSH!*
The beast flapped its wings once more as it continued to soar freely through the sky towards whatever destination they were heading to this time.
As they passed over the vast, empty terrain below them, Ben glanced own and started to recognise notable geographical features such as mountain ranges as they rose up out of the ground and reached up into the air and deep valleys that looked like great scars dotted across the surface of wherever they were.
"Where am I?" he asked himself as his gigantic guide's head slowly turned to its right and, as if it sensed something, tilted its body in the air slightly until it was heading in the direction it was looking and sped off towards its new destination.
*WHOOOOOSH!*
"Oh, I guess we're going this way then," he shrugged as he also found himself tilting to the right and following after the giant creature.
[Kid? What are you doing here?]
Ben exclaimed at the voice and lost his composure for a moment as his body rolled from the shock of Azmuth's voice suddenly echoing in his ear. He fought to control his flight, struggling for a moment as he'd never experienced this in these dreams before, and when he regained control of his body again, he looked to his left where the voice had originated from.
Floating beside him, flying in the air above his 'dream guide', was a small, pulsating, emerald-green orb of energy. Even as they streaked through the air at fantastic speeds, the orb remained perfectly level with Ben as it continued to gently pulse in a rhythm akin to a pulse.
"Azmuth?! What are you doing in my dream?"
Even though the orb possessed no facial features, somehow Ben could still tell that Azmuth was confused by his response.
[Your dream? What are talking about?]
"I mean, what are you doing here?" Ben repeated, confused at Azmuth's own confusion.
[These aren't dreams, kid. They're my memories.]
"Your memories?!" Ben exclaimed, shocked at Azmuth's statement. He looked up at the titanic beast flying above and, as if only able to reveal its true self now, the darkness peeled away from its body to reveal brilliant emerald-green scales covering its entire body while the thin membrane of its mighty wings took a pale green colour instead.
He couldn't believe what he was seeing but he couldn't deny what he was looking at.
The being that had guided his dreams for years, since he was ten years old, was actually Azmuth!
He was about to ask 'real Azmuth' what he was talking about when…'dream Azmuth' – for lack of a better name to call him – finally reached his destination and came almost to a complete stop in a matter of seconds with another single flap of his mighty wings.
*WHOOOOOSH!*
Momentarily distracted by the sudden change, Ben turned away from 'real Azmuth's' orb and looked up at the other Azmuth to see what he was looking down towards the ground far below him.
Imitating the action, Ben also looked down to see what 'dream Azmuth' was looking at. He got his answer in the shape of two large draconic figures, one as red as blood, and the other as white as freshly fallen snow. Even though they were so high up in the air that the two dragons looked small, he could guess how large they truly were by the size of the destroyed buildings of the large, ruined city they were wondering through.
'Dream Azmuth' growled deeply, his body vibrating from the intensity of his growl and flapped his wings again as he began to descend in the direction of the two dragons.
*WHOOOOOSH!*
As he quickly descended alongside with the gigantic emerald dragon, Ben saw the rapidly growing red and white dragon lay waste to what little remained of the already-ruined city as they appeared to be fighting off hundreds of tiny specks scattered around them. Explosions of varying sizes, all of them tiny in comparison to the dragons though, exploded around the battlefield and on the dragon's bodies though they dint seem to register the explosions though.
These explosions were all silenced momentarily, though, when both dragons unleashed their own attacks in response, resulting in a single massive red explosion in a cluster of foes and a large white line of fiery destruction which trailed off all the way to the ruined city's limits and a few miles beyond that.
Ben couldn't help but gawp at the destructive event he was paying witness to.
"What's going on? Who are they?"
[Those are the Two Heavenly Dragons…and my sons, the Red Dragon Emperor, Ddraig, and the White Dragon Emperor, Albion. This is their final battle, the final one before they were sealed away in their Sacred Gears.]
"Woah," Ben breathed quietly, unable to think of any other way to react.
Azmuth, on the other hand, had more important matters on his mind.
[That's not important right now, kid. Why did you think these were dreams?]
Ben was startled by the abruptness of Azmuth's question.
"Uh, I've been having dreams like these since I was ten years old," he revealed, turning his gaze away from the warring dragons and towards the gently pulsating orb beside him. "I don't have them all the time, but when I do, it's something different every time."
[But…that shouldn't be possible. A human mind, never mind a child's, shouldn't be able to handle the sheer mental strain my memories would place on it! How did you survive such an experience?]
Ben looked down, a defeated expression on his face as memories flooded his head of his early experience with Azmuth's memories. He didn't answer at first, unsure if he wanted Azmuth to know about such a private event in his life.
He eventually discarded this reasoning though. If he and Azmuth were now forever linked through the Sacred Gear then it was only right that they start trusting each other.
"I nearly didn't," he admitted, facing the orb again. "When I first started having these dreams, I thought I was losing my mind. I wasn't able to sleep nor could I get the things I saw out of my head. Every time I closed my eyes, all I could see are images from my dreams. It affected me so severely that I had a bad accident that landed me in hospital."
[So, how did you manage to overcome the mental strain?]
"It was a simple solution actually that my therapist suggested; all I had to do was draw the image on paper."
[And that worked?]
Azmuth seemed intrigued that such a rudimentary solution seemed to work so well.
"It did. I don't know why but as soon as I drew the image in my head it disappeared from my mind. Once I drew the…I dunno, backlog of images, my head didn't burn anymore and I could finally sleep again."
Azmuth went silent as he processed Ben's story. To pass the time until he spoke again, Ben chose to continue watching the battle below him between the Two Heavenly Dragons and the tiny specks that continue to fire everything they had at the two titans and avoiding the massive counter attacks launched by the dragons in response.
[I'm sorry, kid.]
Ben looked back at the orb, surprised by Azmuth's apology.
"Why? It's not like you chose to end up being partnered with me, is it?"
[No, but that doesn't matter. It was because you have my Sacred Gear that you were almost destroyed by the sheer weight of the things I've seen.]
"It wasn't fun, you're right…but I don't blame you, Azmuth. It makes sense in a way, now I think about it."
[How so?]
"Well, I ended up with the Sacred Gear of a Dragon God! Of course it wasn't going to be without significant risks."
[Even if you have put what happened behind you already, I don't know if I can. All I can do to make up for what you went through is help you when you have similar reams in future.]
"What do you mean by that?"
[I mean, when you experience my memories in future, I swear I will be there to unburden your mind from the weight of what you see. I'll be a proper guide from now on and help you understand what you're seeing. You have my word, Ben.]
Ben couldn't help but note that was the first time Azmuth had used his name. He decided not to bring that up and ruin the moment, but he felt touched by the ancient dragon's words and promise.
"Thanks, Azmuth. I appreciate that." He turned back to the Heavenly Dragons below him. "Maybe you could start right now. You said this was the battle Ddraig and Albion fought that led to them being sealed away…but I don't see how that could've happened with how the fight's going on. What happened here?"
[that's very simple, kid….]
Ben mentally sighed at Azmuth's return to calling him 'kid'.
[…I did.]
As if that was the cue it had been waiting for, 'dream Azmuth' suddenly released an earth-shattering roar as it announced its presence to everything for miles around before arcing its body towards the ground…, or rather, directly at the two battling dragons, and launched itself towards the ground at a blinding speed.
Ben was taken off guard by the sudden action and how he was also dragged beside the plummeting dragon at an incredible speed. He saw the ground rapidly growing in size as he raced towards it.
"Oh shit!" he cried as 'dream Azmuth' impacted the ground and everything disappeared as his vision turned black.
. . . . .
Ben's eyes slowly opened to show him looking up at a dark ceiling. From the rays of sunlight piercing through the sides of the curtain covering the window on his right, he deduced that it must be mid-to-late morning.
He continued to take in his surroundings and quickly recognised the familiar sight of his bedroom.
'How did I end up back here?' he wondered before the events of last night suddenly flooded his head and replayed everything he saw and experienced. He slowly brought his right arm up along his chest and felt the areas where Freed had shot him. He couldn't feel any evidence of the bullet wounds he receive but that didn't stop him from remembering the intense pain he felt when he was shot.
His hand then trailed back down his body and reached for his thigh which had been impaled by the exorcist's Light blade. Again, he felt no mark on his body but he could still vividly remember the event in his mind.
"How are you feeling?" a soft voice murmured in his left ear.
Ben tilted his head towards the origin of the voice and found himself face-to-face with Rias, only a few inches separating them, lying beside him in his bed…again. She was lying on her right-hand side and positioned in such a way that she was facing him, her right arm propping her head up while it rested on one of his pillows. Her position explained why his left arm felt numb as she had been lying on top of it while they slept. He also realised, or rather, felt, that she had draped her left arm and leg across his body in her sleep.
As his eyes locked with hers, Ben found himself transfixed by her beautiful blue eyes and unable to answer her, too lost, was he, in the stunning orbs looking right back at him.
He snapped out of it when Rias nudged him gently with her shoulder and tapped his chest with her left index finger as she repeated her question.
"Hey, Ben. Are you feeling alright now?"
Ben blinked several times to recover himself before answering.
"Huh, oh uh, yeah, I feel fine, I guess…at least physically."
"I relieved to hear that."
"Uh, so how did I end up here?" Ben wondered, changing the subject a little.
"what's wrong? You don't like the company?" Rias asked with a false pout which only emphasised her natural beauty.
"No, it's definitely not that," Ben couldn't help but smile back in response. "I'm just wondering how we ended up back in my room."
"Well, it was a bit different this time," Rias explained as she cast her mind back a few hours.
. . . . .
Flashback
(Several hours earlier)
The dark clubroom of the ORC was silent. The occupants of the room had left so quick to the aid of their team member that the room still bore evidence of them being there. Cups of still-hot tea rested on their saucers on the low table and a single cup on the ornate desk. Also lying on the table was an abandoned paper bag of sweets.
And then, without any warning, the tranquil quietness of the clubroom was broken by the magic circle that formed in the open space of the clubroom and five figures materialised in it, the fifth one being heavily supported by the others.
"Quick! Get him on the couch!" Rias ordered, giving space for the others to quickly and carefully move Ben to the couch. She paid no mind to the trail of blood that followed Ben as he was moved to the couch, an attitude shared by the others who barely even noticed the blood staining their clothes.
All they cared about was making sure Ben was alright.
As they placed him down on the far couch from where they arrived as gently as they could, Akeno went straight to work on healing Ben with her magic while Rias paced back and forth behind the other couch as she struggled to contain her rage.
"Those Fallen Angel wretches!" she seethed, clenching her teeth, just as angry at herself as she was with the Fallen Angels.
She had sent Ben into that ambush! He was still new to being a Devil and had absolutely no fighting experience and she had sent him into the arms of a trained exorcist completely on his own without backup of any kind.
"You couldn't have known, Rias."
The red-haired Devil cast a quick glance over to Kiba at his statement before continuing her pacing.
"It doesn't matter! I asked him to go to that place and it nearly got him killed again!"
'I can't let this go on any longer!' she realised, crossing her arms under her chest. 'Those curs have been ignored for too long and have attacked my beloved servant multiple times now! They need to be dealt with! I need to contact Sirzechs and get an answer from him!'
Rias was brought out of her thoughts at the sound of Ben coughing violently behind her. she spun around to see he had regained consciousness again. Rushing over to his side, she took hold of a bloodied hand and held it tightly as his eyes fluttered open and sought her out.
"S-Sorry Rias," he coughed, wincing weakly at the intense pain he felt as his chest rose and fell. "You n-needed to save me a-again."
Rias shook her head slightly as she reached for his blood-stained cheek and cupped it gently with her hand, now covered in his blood as she held him.
"Sssssh, it's okay. All that matters is that you are taken care of."
"Uh, Rias, we might have an issue here," Akeno spoke up as she continued applying healing magic to Ben, her hands glowing slightly as magic flowed through her.
Rias quickly understood what her Queen was trying to say. Akeno was releasing as much healing magic as she was capable of on Ben; so much so that most of his wounds should have closed up by now. This wasn't happening, however. The wounds were closing at an incredibly slow pace and Ben didn't seem to be getting any better.
"What's wrong?"
"I don't know! I'm giving it everything I've got and it doesn't look like it's working."
"Maybe he's still got a piece of something holy lodged in his body," Kiba interjected from the side of the low table as he watched the scene before him.
Rias processed what Kiba was suggesting and nodded her head a little as she thought about it.
"Of course, that would explain why Akeno's healing isn't working. Her Devil healing magic is being suppressed by holy magic.
Returning her attention back on Ben, she saw he was slowly drifting in and out of consciousness, his eyelids drooping a little. She tapped his cheek repeatedly with her hand to rouse him again and directed his attention towards her.
"Ben. We might have found out why we can't heal you but we need you to tell us where it hurts most."
"E-Everywhere," Ben groaned weakly.
"I know it hurts, Ben…," Rias tried again, hiding the concern she felt at how weak he sounded. "…but I need you to be more specific. Where does it hurt most?"
Ben thought about his answer for a moment before weakly raising his right hand which had been hanging limply on the couch and dragged it up his body until it reached the bullet hole near his gut.
"H-Here."
Rias immediately sprang into action at this.
"Koneko and Kiba, I need you two to hold Ben down. This is really going to hurt, but he needs that bullet out of him right now!"
Kiba and Koneko obeyed without question and moved to hold Ben down; Koneko went behind the couch and held Ben in place by his shoulders while Kiba knelt down by his legs and held them firmly, restricting his movement further.
With that done, Rias positioned herself on Ben's other side , right next to the bullet hole Ben had indicated.
"Ready?" she asked, glancing between her peerage members.
"Ready," they all replied in unison.
Rias then looked down at Ben who was staring at her weakly, his eyelids getting heavier and heavier by the second.
"Ready, Ben?"
Ben took a deep breath, wincing again at the sharp pain that ran through him when he performed the simple action.
"Ready."
Rias nodded and placed a piece of her uniform that she had torn off in his mouth before looking down at the offending wound and placed a hand on either side of it. she took a deep breath, steeling herself for the pain she was about to subject Ben to, before she began to spread the bullet wound as wide as she could.
As soon as she started spreading his wound, Ben Immediately started reacting and recoiled away from the excruciating pain but Kiba and Koneko restrained him and held him in place while Rias continued with her grisly task.
"I'm sorry, Ben, this is the only way!"
Ben only grunted in pain; his cry muted by the cloth he bit down on before he passed out. Once she had opened the wound as far as she could, Rias took a deep breath and, unwilling to allow her servant to continue suffering, plunged her right middle and index into the hole and rummaged around in search of the bullet.
Almost as soon as she started looking, Rias winced as her finger brushed against the offending object. As a pure-blooded Devil, holy objects had a far more severe effect on Rias than it did reincarnated Devils like Ben.
Despite this though, Rias persevered and gripped the bullet between her fingers, dislodged it from within Ben's body and pulled it free, all the while grimacing in pain from the bullet in her fingers. She did her best to ignore the pain, understanding that it was nothing compared to what Ben was experiencing.
"Got it!" she exclaimed triumphantly as she looked at the bullet she held. As she looked at it, her hand was engulfed by crimson energy as she used her magic to disintegrate the bullet, watching as it was completely destroyed. "And that's the end of that."
She looked back at Akeno who had resumed healing Ben.
"How is he now?"
"That definitely did the trick. He's responding a lot better now."
"He still needs a lot of healing though. Let's get him back to his house where I can administer the rest of his healing."
Kiba, Koneko and Akeno nodded their heads in understanding and prepared to move Ben while Rias looked down at his face, relieved to see a more relaxed expression on his face.
'Don't worry, Ben. It's going to be alright.'
. . . . .
"I'm so sorry you went through that, Ben. Please forgive me."
"It's not your fault, Rias. Freed was already there, waiting to ambush the first Devil that showed up. If it wasn't me, it would've been one of you guys."
"But you're the only who doesn't have any experience fighting."
Ben sighed, realising that Rias made a good point.
"Urgh, you're right. I still don't know how to use Azmuth's Gear properly and I nearly died of dehydration."
"What do you mean? Did you transform into something?"
Ben then went on to explain the details of what happened to him last night, starting from when he reached the house after leaving the group, to when he encountered Freed and what he did to the unfortunate client.
When he got to the part where he transformed into the fish demon in his fight against Freed, Rias spoke up again.
"That was the first time you used Azmuth's Gear in a fight. You're not expected to be an expert at using it straight away. It will take time to master a power like Azmuth's."
"Yeah, but still…I've nearly been killed three times now and I haven't been able to defend myself properly against them!"
Rias brought her left hand out from under the bed covers and placed her index finger on his lips, silencing him.
"The Fallen Angels you faced have been around since before the Great War between the Three Factions, and that exorcist is a heavily experienced member of the church who has, no doubt, fought many other Devils in the name of God."
"Just because you were beaten by them doesn't mean you are weak, okay? I don't want you to think like that ever again, got it? That may have been your first true fight as a Devil but you were able to hold your own against an experienced opponent for a short while. I don't know what it was that made me decide to resurrect you; perhaps it was fate or destiny. Whatever it was, I doesn't matter anymore. As your master, I should have never let you end up in that position. I should've taken better care of you."
At the last part of her speech, Rias pulled Ben towards her, into her ample bosom and wrapped her arms around his neck and held him in place as she embraced him affectionately.
Unable to think of any other way to respond, Ben responded to Rias' action by wrapping his own arms around her back and returning the hug as he sighed with a content smile at the warmth he felt being in the red-haired beauty's embrace.
He couldn't see from his position that Rias also held a warm smile from the embrace.
"By the way…," Ben muttered as he felt Rias' leg brush against his. "…why are we naked?"
Rias giggled lightly at his question, her breasts pressing further into Ben's face as she did so.
"Didn't I mention it last time? This is the best way for you to receive my healing magic."
"Are you up yet, Ben? Just because it's Sunday doesn't mean you can sleep in the entire day," a horribly familiar voice suddenly declared from the other side of Ben's bedroom door.
'Fuck!' Ben exclaimed but, before he could make any kind of move, his bedroom door swung open with a light *creak*.
"Hello again," Rias chirped happily as she continued to embrace Ben.
"Oh my!" Ben's mother exclaimed apologetically as she quickly closed the door again.
Her voice then started coming through the wooden door.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to disturb you two!"
"It's quite alright, Mrs Tennyson," Rias lightly called out in response. "We were just getting up anyway."
"Oh, that's fine, dear. Uh…breakfast's nearly ready. Will you be joining us again?"
"I would love to, thank you very much."
"It's no problem, dear. I'll set a place for you at the table."
"Thank you. Would it possible for me to have a quick shower first?"
There was a brief pause before Ben's mother replied.
"Of course, dear. I'll set a towel out for you," Sandra announced through the door before the two teenage Devils heard her retreat down the corridor towards the bathroom.
"A shower?" Ben asked, confused, as Rias finally ended their embrace and started to slide off the bed.
"Of course. It's either here or back at the clubroom…and with the frequency of our 'healing sessions', it looks like I might be spending more time here. You don't have any issue with it, do you?"
"No, of course not," Ben blurted out hurriedly, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks at the cheeky smirk she gave him as she looked back over her shoulder from where she sat at the end of the bed. She then pushed herself off the bed and headed towards the door, stopping just before it to pick up the large black dressing gown hanging on the back of it.
"You don't mind if I borrow this, do you? I wouldn't want to give your parents another shock by walking around their house in the nude."
"Uh, no, feel free," Ben replied, his head filling with images of such a scandalous scene playing out, his blush returning to his cheeks.
"You really are a sweetheart," Rias cooed as she slid her arms through the dressing gown sleeves and covered herself.
Ben couldn't help but note that, despite the dressing gown fitting really well on him, it was distinctly tight when worn by Rias, specifically around the chest area.
With a cheeky wink directed back at him, Rias opened the door and left through it, closing it behind her before she then headed off to the bathroom. As he heard the bathroom door close and, thanks to his Devil-enhanced hearing, he heard the shower turn on, Ben pushed himself up and swung his legs out so that he was sitting on the edge of his bed. Gathering himself, he stood up and headed over to his wardrobe where he picked out his clothing for the day, a simple grey t-shirt and dark blue pair of jeans.
Once dressed, he sat back down on his bed and glanced down at his left arm, turning his hand over so it was palm-up.
"You there, Azmuth?" he muttered under his breath.
[I am,] Azmuth replied, his presence making itself known within Ben's mind.
"I don't want what happened last night to ever happen to me again. What can I do?"
[If you want me to be honest, kid…there's not a lot you can do as you are now.]
"What do you mean?" Ben asked, taking the conversation into his head.
[I mean, you are currently only strong enough to maintain a single form at a time for a few minutes. As well as that, you can only access a few demons in the Gear for now. To put it simply, you're still too weak.]
Ben sighed dejectedly and hung his head low at the expected-yet-still-frustrating answer.
"Shit. So there's nothing you can do?"
[I didn't say that.]
Ben perked up a little at this.
[There's a function of the Gear that you can activate that lets you access something I call the Demonata Database, or the DD system for short.]
"The what?"
[The DD system. When you transform into a demon, the feature makes so, when you concentrate on it, you will be able to know instinctively what abilities you can use with that form, and also any future abilities that were unknown to me when their DNA sample was added to my Gear.]
"That is something," Ben nodded as he thought about the implications. "Should take out a lot of guesswork whenever I turn into something new."
[That was the general idea considering it would be a human who inherited my Gear and, most likely, wouldn't know anything about the Underworld or supernatural. Speaking of which, I was only able to acquire a few dozen different DNA samples before I was sealed away.]
"What do you mean?"
[I mean that should you encounter a demon species I failed to get a sample from and touch it with my Gear then a sample will be collected and you'll be able to turn into that demon.
Ben whistled a little at this.
"Woah, that's kinda cool," he muttered aloud.
"What is?"
Ben's head snapped towards his open bedroom door where Rias was standing, his dressing gown draped over her arm and the other resting on her hip.
"Where did you get those clothes from?" Ben wondered as he glanced at her outfit. When she had left him to have her shower, she had been clothed in nothing but his towel. Now, though, she was wearing a simple-yet-elegant red buttoned short-sleeved shirt, a pair of dark blue jeans that hugged her legs and rear in just the right way, and a pair of snow-white socks.
As always, Rias looked absolutely stunning in anything she wore.
"Magic. Duh."
That was the only answer he got as Rias gave him a playful smirk as she hung his dressing gown back on its hook. "Don't change the subject though, what's cool? I presume you were speaking with Azmuth."
"I was, yeah. He was just teaching me more about my Gear."
"Good. I'm glad you aren't letting what happened last night get you down. Now, shall we head downstairs? I don't want to keep your parents waiting."
Ben groaned as he remembered what was waiting for him downstairs. No doubt his mum had already told his dad about what she saw again.
"Argh, I suppose so," he groaned, not enjoying the enjoyment Rias was obviously taking in his embarrassment with the situation. Still, he pushed himself up and followed her as she led the way downstairs.
. . . . .
As he sat down at the table for breakfast, Ben had to endure yet another heavily awkward breakfast, at least on his part, where he could see right through his parent's blank-faced façade of trying to hide just how much they wanted to know why Rias had spent another night in Ben's bed. Instead of asking their burning question, though, they merely acted the part of hospitable host and made sure Rias had a good breakfast before she left.
Once it was finally over, the two teenagers excused themselves and quickly left the table, but not before Rias thanked his mother for another wonderful breakfast and moved back into the entrance hallway on their way back up to Ben's bedroom.
Once they were inside and Ben closed the door behind him, Rias spun around to face him, her arms crossed under her chest.
"I need to head back now. There's still a mountain of work I need to do. I wasn't able to do any of it because of all the excitement last night."
"Sorry."
"No need to apologise. My life is now certainly a lot more interesting now that you're in my peerage. Will you be joining us at the clubroom tonight?"
Ben held a look of confusion as he stared back at Rias.
"Why wouldn't I?"
"After all's said and done, you did have a close encounter last night. I'll understand if you want to miss the club meeting tonight."
"Oh yeah. Don't worry about me. I'm fine now."
"So, I'll see you at the meeting tonight?"
"Yeah, I'll be there."
"I'm glad to hear it. I'll see you again back in the clubroom then."
With an affirmative nod from Ben, Rias created a small magic circle in the centre of his room beneath her feet and disappeared in a flash of red light, leaving him alone in his room once the light was gone.
Not wanting to be in the house with his parents who he knew, without any doubt, were just waiting for the opportunity to start grilling him as to whether there was anything going on between him and the stunningly beautiful redhead that had been found sleeping in his bed twice now, Ben decided to get out of the house before they had the chance to start that conversation, perhaps even hoping they would forget about it and move on with their lives.
Opening his curtains to see the beautiful morning outside, Ben decided to go for a run. Quickly changing into a sports shirt, pair of black training shorts and a pair of trainers, Ben descended back down the stairs, completely ignoring the sounds coming from the kitchen/dining room from his parents cleaning up after breakfast and left the house before they realised he was heading out.
Once he was outside, he performed a basic warmup before picking a random direction and headed off in his chosen direction at a light jog.
. . . . .
(Sometime later)
Ben's jog took him to a deserted local park a few neighbourhoods away from his own. As he jogged up to the small park's entrance, he slowly came to a stop and glanced at his watch to see how long he'd been running for. His eyes widened in shock when he saw that he'd been running for just under two hours!
Thinking his watch must be wrong, he then pulled out his phone from the back pocket of his shorts and looked at the clock to see it said exactly the same thing as his watch.
'Woah, how is that possible?' he thought as he looked over himself. He had always managed to keep himself physically fit and, though he wasn't bulky or packed with huge muscles, he still worked out every now and then to the point where he ended up with the lean, muscular body he had today. Even with his athletic build though, there's no way he wouldn't have affected by the time he had been running for. Instead of this, though, his breathing was calm and regular, he was hardly sweating, and none of his muscles were aching despite him having only just stopped running.
'Is this another perk of being a Devil?' he wondered as he pocketed his phone again and made his way into the deserted park. When he had set off on his run, he'd planned on stopping wherever he ended up for a bit to catch his breath before deciding what to do next. However, seeing as he's just found out another way in which his body has changed since he was resurrected was a massive boost to his stamina and physical capabilities, he decided to change the plan.
Glancing around the park, Ben caught sight of a set of monkey bars over in the children's play area.
'Hmm, maybe I should see what else I can do now,' he mused as he jogged his way over to the high bars. Upon reaching them, he reached up with his hands and took a firm hold of the metallic bar directly above his head and, taking a deep breath, he performed a single pull-up.
Having always struggled to successfully perform even a single pull-up without great strain to his muscles, shock occupied Ben's face once more when he suddenly found himself hanging in the air, his chin now a few inches above the bar he was holding while his knees were level with his waist, and next to no strain being applied onto his muscles.
He tilted his head to look down, astonished at how easy the act had been and, once more, marvelling over his new body.
'Shit! This is incredible!'
Immediately wanting to test what he was now capable of, Ben proceeded to perform as many pull-ups as he could do now, stopping at just short of forty pull-ups when a shot of pain shot through his body from his stomach, specifically where he had been shot. Grunting at the abrupt pain, he quickly let go of the metal bar and fell back down to the ground, landing in a crouch at the last second before hitting the floor.
He brought his hand up and placed it over his sore wound, taking several deep breaths as the pain subsided.
'Shit. Guess it's not as healed as Rias hoped.'
His mind thought back to last night with his fight against Freed. For some reason, he felt there was someone else in that house that he had met but, for the life of him, he couldn't remember who. All he saw in his head was a dark blur standing between him and the mad exorcist, and the blur being brutally beaten by Freed and the feeling of intense anger at being unable to help them.
As his breathing became more relaxed and returned to normal, Ben caught a glimpse of movement in his peripheral vision. His head snapped up and in its direction to see a head of golden-blonde hair on the other side of the park, its owner walking down the street at a brisk pace, as though they were looking for something in particular but didn't know where to find it.
As he stared at the fleeing figure, a strange feeling suddenly came over Ben, a feeling as though he was seeing something important to him but he just couldn't remember what.
A sudden gust of wind passed through the park and caught the retreating figure as she walked down the street. As the gust passed her, she brought her hand up to her veil and turned away from the gust and towards him where he could see her beautiful face.
From the distance they were standing from each other, she couldn't see him but he saw her as clear as day, a lump forming in his throat as the dark veil was unveiled in his head and his mind was cleared.
'It can't be…,' Ben thought in disbelief, his eyes following the familiar golden-blonde hair as the owner continued to quickly walk away from him, completely unaware he was standing there watching her. As he focused in on her with his enhanced vision, his suspicions were confirmed by the familiar nun's habit and white veil.
'It is!'
Asia!
Without thinking, Ben abruptly sprinted off through the park, not even registering the dramatic increase in speed as he ran flat-out, reaching the entrance in seconds and continuing on down the side street he had seen Asia disappear down. As he rounded a corner, he spotted her a few feet away from him with her back to him.
"Asia?"
The figure stopped suddenly at his call and spun around to face him, revealing Asia's innocent, angelic face as she stared back at him, her eyes widening in shock and surprise….
…as well as recognition in her eyes.
Before he could stop himself, Ben rushed forward, closing the gap between them quickly and embraced Asia tightly, embarrassing the red-faced nun by his sudden, unexpected action.
"Ben? W-W-What are you doing here?!" she squeaked as he hugged her, her arms hanging limply by her arms as the shock of seeing him again still gripped her, preventing her from reacting in any other way.
Instead of an answer, Ben quickly leapt back from her, swiftly ending the embrace, with a short hiss as he clutched his chest, his eyes glaring down at Asia's chest for some reason. She looked down to see that he was glaring at the small, silver cross that hung around her neck.
Realising that that was what had caused his abrupt reaction, Asia tucked her cross beneath her clothing, hiding it from view.
"Oh no, are you okay?!" she asked with worry, approaching Ben to see if he was okay.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Ben returned with a short gasp. "I was just so happy to see you again that I forgot about your cross."
Asia's cheeks reddened further at his explanation.
"Y-Y-You wanted to see m-me again?" she stammered, shuffling her feet and clamping her hands together and wringing them a little from nervousness.
Ben approached her again, this time slowly, and placed his hands on her shoulders.
"Of course! Why? Didn't you want to see me again?"
Asia shook her head quickly.
"N-No! It's not that!"
"Then what is it?"
"I really did want to see you again, even if it was one last time…but after last night, I thought that I'd never be able to see you again. This reunion must be a blessing from God!"
Asia brought her hands, still clamped together, up to her face and started muttering a prayer of thanks to God. Ben did his best not to wince at the sudden shot of incredible pain that ran through his head at the young nun's words.
"Fuck! Is that ever going to not hurt?!"
[Considering you are a Devil, I'd imagine that being extremely unlikely,] Azmuth spoke up, answering Ben's rhetorical question even though he wasn't asked.
Ben didn't respond to the ancient dragon who returned back into the depths of the Gear on his left arm, but he couldn't ignore something he had brought up.
"So, you're happy to see me…even though I'm a Devil?" he asked Asia as she finished her prayer.
Asia nodded her head, a small-yet-kind smile appearing on her face.
"I am. I don't care what you are, I know you are a good person and that's all that matters to me."
Ben couldn't help but smile warmly back at Asia, amazed that such a kind-hearted person could exist in the world. He wanted to know what happened to her after he was rescued by Rias and the others last night but he didn't want to sour the mood so soon after reuniting with her, choosing, instead, to save it for a later time.
"So…what are you doing out here?"
A look of sorrow crossed Asia's face, so fast that he doubted he even saw it at all before it was replaced by a warm smile again as she cast a quick glance at the blue cloudless sky above them.
"It's such a beautiful day that I wanted to walk around and enjoy it."
"Were you heading anywhere in particular?"
"Not really, I was just wondering around."
Ben made a snap decision at this.
"Do you mind if I join you?"
Even as he asked, Ben understood that Rias wouldn't approve of him associating with a member of the Church. She never stated outright that he was forbidden from contacting Asia but it didn't take a genius to understand why it wasn't a good idea for a Devil and a Church member to interact so familiarly.
Despite this, though, Ben still wanted to spend some time with Asia. He only met her yesterday but she had such an impact on him, from the moment they first met up to when she placed herself between him and an insane exorcist, that he wanted to get to know her better.
"Really? You want to spend the day with me?" Asia asked with surprise in her voice.
"Yeah…I mean, if you'd like me to, that is–."
"Yes!" Asia blurted out before he could finish his sentence. Quickly realising this, Asia blushed bright red at how eager she sounded. Her face then turned almost the exact same colour as Rias' hair as her stomach chose that particular moment to growl furiously, the sound of which echoed loudly up and down the empty street.
A small smirk managed to sneak its way onto Ben's face, unable to fully contain himself at how cute Asia looked when she was blushing in embarrassment.
The smirk lasted only for a second or two before he decided to put her out of her misery.
"Should we get you some food first?"
Asia didn't answer him. Instead, she whined adorably, her cheeks puffed out and still a deep shade of red from embarrassment, nodding her head a little to indicate her answer.
"Come on then, I know somewhere we can go," he stated, gesturing for her to follow him as he led the way down the street towards the town centre, Asia following him closely.
. . . . .
(A few minutes later)
"What is this?" Asia asked as she looked down at the meal that had been put before her by the waitress before swiftly leaving them to their meal and seeking out another customer.
"Haven't you ever seen a burger before?" Ben asked with surprise, his own burger in his hands and a few inches from his face.
"No, I haven't," Asia admitted shyly, looking back at Ben as he lowered his burger back onto the plate he had picked it up from. "I grew up in the Church. I've never been to a place like this before."
"So this is your first time?"
"Yes."
"Well then…." He picked up his burger again and gestured for her to copy him. When she did so, he raised his burger up a little, as if to raise a toast. "…here's to new experiences!"
A warm smile formed on Asia's face; one that forced Ben to imitate with a smile of his own.
"To new experiences," she repeated before looking back down at the burger in her hands curiously.
Quickly deducing what the issue was, Ben attracted her attention with a small gesture with his hand.
"Like this," he explained for her before gripping the burger and taking a bite out of it, savouring the simple-yet-satisfying taste.
"O-Ok," Asia nodded timidly as she imitated Ben and took a tentative bite of her own burger. As she chewed on it, her eyes widened and appeared to sparkle as she experienced such a new and delicious explosion of different flavours she had never tasted before now. She groaned with delight as she finished the bite she had taken, lowering her burger back down onto the plate.
"Oh wow, this is amazing!" she exclaimed with delight.
Ben chuckled, happy that Asia was enjoying her first experience with a burger. It might be a simple thing but considering Asia had spent her whole life in the Church, it was still a significant moment for her.
He then noted the small smear of ketchup that had ended up on the corner of her mouth.
"You've got a little…," he told her, trailing of as he gestured to his own mouth to get the message across.
"Huh, what?" Asia replied with confusion plastered on her face.
"You've got some sauce on you," he tried again, making it clearer for her.
"I do? Where?" she asked, her cheeks reddening a little as she tapped around her mouth in search of it.
"It's just a little to the left…no, not your left, my left," he tried explaining, hiding the amusement he felt at how Asia kept missing the offending smear of ketchup from her face. He tried directing her for a few more seconds and, after no success, decided to help her out.
"It's just…here," he stated as he reached over with a napkin and gently wiped off the sauce from her face, unable to miss the embarrassed expression form on the young nun's face at his action nor how she mumbled an almost incomprehensible "thank you" for his help.
Thanks to his Devil hearing though, he was able to hear her and waved it off.
"Don't mention it. I'm glad you like it."
"It was wonderful! Thank you for bringing me here."
"Well, it is the only place I've eaten in since I moved here," he admitted with a shrug.
"You've been here before?"
"Well, this is only the second time I've been here. The first I…."
Ben stopped speaking as he suddenly realised that the last time he had come to the restaurant they were sat in was when he had gone with 'Julie' on their day out exploring Kuoh, the day which turned out to be nothing more than a ruse to isolate him away from others so 'Julie' – or whatever her real name was – could murder him and leave him to die on his own.
Asia tilted her curiously as he stopped mid-sentence.
"The first you what?"
Ben shook his head a little and waved her question off.
"Ah, it doesn't matter."
He didn't want to bring up such a morbid subject in front of Asia and spoil the mood when he was trying to help her enjoy her day out. Of course, Ben was very curious as to how someone as sweet and innocent as Asia got tangled up with Fallen Angels and crazy priests, but he didn't want to be the one to bring it up. Asia obviously had her reasons for ending up working with them and he didn't want to bring up sore memories, particularly with how Freed treated her, a fellow member of the Church, last night when they fought.
He decided to change the subject towards a more light-hearted one.
"By the way, you said you didn't have any plans for today, right?"
The same look of sorrow flashed across Asia's face again before it disappeared just as quick again before she nodded her head as she lowered her burger again, having taken another bite of it and making sure to clear away anything left on her face afterwards.
"Yes. I had just planned on wondering around this place and exploring a bit. But then you showed up out of nowhere and my day became so much better."
"Ah, you're just exaggerating…but still, if you want, I can show you some of the fun things you can do around here."
"You'd really do that?! Sharing this wonderful meal with you was already more than enough for me," Asia mumbled meekly, lowering her face in a failed bid to hide yet another blush which took hold of her face, reddening her cheeks again.
Ben struggled to contain himself at Asia's words and embarrassed reaction.
'So cute!'
"Asia, it would be my pleasure," Ben informed her with sincerity, nearly losing his composure right then and there at the beautiful smile Asia gave him.
. . . . .
Once they had finished their burgers and left the restaurant, Ben led the way through the town centre as he searched for something he thought Asia would enjoy doing. He'd been quick to offer her fun things to do, but as they walked down the street, it suddenly dawned on him that he didn't have a clue what Asia would enjoy doing.
'Shit! This is going to make things a little difficult,' he thought as he looked around, hoping to find any inspiration to help him.
"What's that?" Asia asked from beside him.
Ben stopped and looked round to see what Asia was looking at, surprising taking over his face as he did so.
"That? That's an arcade," he explained for her, noting the curious look on her face as she looked at all the different games within.
"Do you want to have a look inside?" he asked, his only answer coming in the form of a shy nod from Asia.
Knowing that was the only answer he was going to get from her without dragging more out of her, Ben led the way inside.
He guided her through the numerous rows of games, each one more different from the last, and explained each one to Asia to see which one piqued her interest the most and the one she wanted to try out. As he rounded a large car-driving arcade game and down another row of games, this one mainly old-school arcade games, and began to tell her about these ones, he realised that she was no longer by his side.
Spinning around and looking back where he'd come from, Ben quickly found her pressed up against the front of the glass pane of a claw-grabbing game and gazing at the prizes confined within. Walking back to her, he looked through the glass pane to see a mound of yellow mouse-like creatures with black stripes within that reminded him of a similar creature though these ones seemed just different enough to not be affected by copyright.
"They're sooo cute!" Asia mumbled excitedly to herself, her eyes sparkling as she peered at them through the glass.
"You want one?" Ben asked as he came to stand beside her.
Not realising he'd been standing beside her; Asia squeaked and jumped a little in surprise.
"Huah! N-No, it's f-fine. I don't…want one," she replied timidly, blushing a little at him having heard what she'd said about them.
"You sure? If you want one, just say so."
"No, I…well, maybe…um, yes please," she mumbled adorably as she tapped her index fingers together shyly, unable to look him in the eye.
"Ok then, one stuffed animal coming right up!" Ben declared as he inserted the necessary coins to start the game and took hold of the claw handle with his right hand and covered the buttons with his left hand.
As the game began, Ben found yet another advantage from his new body. His enhanced eyesight enabled him to get a much better view of the claw and where to position it for the best chance to grab his prize first time, and his reflexes made it a lot easier to know when to press the button to start the crane descending once it was hovering over his chosen target.
Even with these gifts of his, though, he failed to account for how difficult the arcade owners had fixed the game to be so that it limited the number of prizes it gave out to ensure it remained profitable. Not one to give up at a hurdle though, Ben persevered and, after failing his first two attempts, he inserted more coins into the machine and started his third attempt, cheering in triumph as the claw rose back up with his prize in its clutches where it then manoeuvred towards the dump slot and dropped the stuffed animal in its clutches.
As it fell into the dump slot, Asia reached down and pulled it out of the machine and held it close to her chest, her lips forming into a large, bright smile as she hugged it tightly.
"Thank you so much, Ben! I will cherish this for the rest of my life!"
"It's nothing special," Ben responded, rubbing the back of his head, a little embarrassed at how much Asia seemed to love the simple prize he had won for her.
"Oh, but it is!" Asia quickly retorted as she nuzzled the stuffed animal against her cheek affectionately. "Every time I look at it, I will always remember the fun I had today…and it was all because of you!
Ben chuckled awkwardly at the praise he was receiving for, what he thought was, a simple thing that Asia was making a bigger deal of than it actually was. Unable to look directly at her as she beamed at him happily, he looked away and caught sight of something that gave him an idea.
"If you're wanting something to remember today then how about we get a picture taken."
"A picture?"
Ben pointed towards the photo booth resting against the wall at the end of the row of games they were standing in.
"That machine takes pictures of people?"
"Yeah. Quite a few people come here to get their pictures taken."
"What kind of people?" Asia asked curiously, the stuffed animal still held close to her chest.
"All sorts of people…but I suppose the main ones are couples dating and friends."
Asia perked up at something Ben said and looked back at him with a determined look on her angelic face.
"Yes! I want us to try that!" she declared, a little more forceful than she perhaps intended, as she led the way over to the photo booth with Ben following behind her.
"How does it work?" she wondered as she examined the outside of the booth.
"Well, firstly we need to head inside so…." He drew back the booth curtain and held it open for Asia. "…after you milady."
Asia's cheeks reddened a little at this but she still headed inside and sat down on the seat inside. Once she had entered, Ben joined her, letting the curtain fall behind him.
"What next?"
"Next we choose how many photos we want." He tapped the screen to start up the machine. "So, how many would you like?"
"Um…I'm okay with just one."
"You sure?" Asia nodded her head timidly. "Okay then. Next you get to decide what decorations you want on the photo."
"M-Me?"
"Sure, it's your photo to remember our day together so you should decide what you want."
"Oh, okay then," Asia replied as she leant forward and looked at the array of different decorations she could choose from.
"There's so many to choose from."
"There's no rush. Just take your time."
"Ok…then I choose…this one!" she announced pressing the button of her choice.
"Great, now all that's left to do is pose for the picture," Ben stated as the screen before them brought up a countdown, starting at 10 before it started to count down.
"P-Pose?"
9
8
"Yeah, just make sure you decide quickly before the picture is taken."
6
5
"Uh, what pose should I do?"
"It doesn't matter, just do whatever you want."
"Whatever I want?"
3
"Yeah, it's your photo, pose however you like."
2
"Just make it quick," Ben added as he adopted his own pose, smiling broadly at the camera, his left hand giving a 'Peace' sign with his middle and index finger.
1
"Ok, I'll do it."
*FLASH*
Once the picture was taken, Asia quickly fled from the booth, her face so bright red in colour that she was forced to cover her cheeks with her hands to hide the immense embarrassment she felt from what she just did.
Ben re-emerged from behind the booth curtain, the stuffed animal he won for Asia in his hand as she had forgotten it in her hurry to leave the booth.
"I'm so sorry I did that!" Asia blurted out, unable to look Ben in the eye as she spoke. "I-I-I don't know what came over me."
"Hey, hey," Ben approached her and placed his free hand gently on her shoulders. "It's fine. You've got nothing to worry about."
"R-Really?" Asia mumbled meekly, glancing up at him.
"Really," he stated with a comforting smile as he handed Asia's stuffed animal back to her. "I mean, sure it was surprising, but you did something you wanted to do and that's great."
He was interrupted from saying anything further at the sound of beeping coming from the booth to signal the photo was ready.
'That was quick,' Ben thought as he went back to the machine just as the photo was released into the small tray beside the curtain. He picked up the photo and looked at the final result, smiling at what he saw.
"See, what did I tell you?" he smiled as he picked up the photo and brought it over to Asia for her to see. He held it out to her and she took it apprehensively and examined it. The final result was a picture in which was in his chosen pose, his left hand making his chosen sign while his right hand was wrapped around Asia's waist while Asia herself had, just before the photo was taken, chosen to embrace Ben with her arms wrapped around his waist while she rested her head in the crook of his neck, a brilliant, bright, beaming smile flashing at the camera from her. The border that Asia had chosen resulted in the final picture being surrounded by a variety of flowers of different colours.
"So…what do you think?"
Asia didn't respond. Instead, she just looked at the photo in her hand in silence.
"If you don't like it, we can just take another one if you want," Ben said, unnerved by Asia's silence, turning back to the booth with the intention of starting again until they had a photo that Asia liked.
"It's perfect."
Ben spun around to look back at Asia, thinking he'd misheard what she'd said.
"Huh?"
Asia raised her head to look at him. He was shocked to see her eyes were teary and, if it weren't for the happy smile on her face, he would've believed she was upset by the photo.
"I love it. It's perfect," she repeated as she held the photo close to her chest, over her heart.
Ben smiled warmly and returned to stand by her side. She glanced up and locked eyes with him, her smile remaining on her face.
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it," he replied. "We're friends after all, aren't we?"
Asia beamed brightly at his words, her watery eyes threatening to start crying for real.
"Yes!"
. . . . .
(A few hours later)
"I had so much fun today!" Asia exclaimed cheerfully as she tightened her hold over her stuffed animal toy, the picture they had taken stored in the satchel she hung around her neck.
After taking their picture together, Ben and Asia spent the rest of the afternoon trying out a variety of different games the arcade had to offer and lost track of time as they played their games. One thing of note that Ben discovered about Asia from their time in the arcade was that the young, blonde-haired nun was extremely talented at dancing for a reason that neither of them could figure out. All they knew was that, after they left the arcade in the late afternoon, Asia was now the No.1 dancer on the game with the highest score that the arcade had ever seen.
"Same here. I can't remember the last time I had so much fun," Ben agreed as they turned onto an empty pathway on the edge of another of Kuoh's many public parks, this one was screened by large trees on either side of the path. He took a few steps down the new path when he grunted as a spasm of pain, originating from his gut, that shot up through his upper body.
'Crap, I guess that my wound still isn't healed yet,' he cursed as he clamped his hand over the spot where Rias had pulled Freed's bullet out of him.
"Let's stop for a moment, shall we?" he suggested, gesturing towards a nearby bench.
Asia noticed his faint grunt of pain and how he clutched his side.
"You still haven't fully recovered from your injuries, have you?" she deduced sadly.
"It's just the one injury actually," Ben grunted as he gave Asia the best reassuring smile he could muster as he sat down on the bench, wincing at the pain he felt performing the simple action. "One of Freed's bullets didn't want to leave and had to be pulled out by Rias. I just to rest for a sec then we can–."
"I'll help you!" Asia declared firmly, cutting him off mid-sentence as she hurried over to him and sat beside him on the bench.
Before he could politely refuse her help and say he just needed some more healing sessions, Asia had already placed her hands over where he was clutching his side, and before he could ask her what she was going to do, a bright green light illuminated her hands, two silver rings with blue-green gems fixed into them materialising around her middle fingers.
As soon as the green light appeared, Ben instantly felt the pain in his gut start to disappear, much to his amazement.
'What is this power? It took Rias an entire night to heal me…but Asia's almost healed me after mere seconds!'
[It's the Twilight Healing Sacred Gear,] Azmuth revealed, his wizened voice echoing through Ben's head.
"Twilight Healing?" Ben muttered the name under his breath.
"You know of my Sacred Gear?" Asia asked as she finished applying her healing power on Ben, leaving his wound, and the pain, completely gone.
"I've, uh, heard of it. Thanks," he muttered with a smile as he thanked her for healing him. He stood up and stretched his body, amazed at how good he felt now. "So it's a Sacred Gear that heals people."
"Yes."
[Oh, it does so much more than that,] Azmuth added with awe and respect that Ben had never seen from the dragon before. [That Gear is able to heal, not only humans, but any living thing…even Devils and Gods. In terms of power, I argued that it should've been classified as a Longinus.]
Ignoring the last part of what Azmuth said and saving it for later, Ben focused on the first thing he said.
"Wow, you can heal Devils too? That's amazing!"
"You're too kind," Asia muttered with a false smile that Ben quickly saw through.
When tears started to fall down her cheeks, he grew concerned.
"Crap! Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you!" he apologised, sitting down beside her again and placing a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.
Asia shook her head at his apology.
"No, you didn't upset me. I was just thinking back that's all."
Asia then proceeded to reveal her story to Ben. She revealed that she had been abandoned by her parents not long after she was born, having been left outside a small convent. The nuns who lived there took her in and raised Asia as their own, teaching her the ways of the Catholic Church.
She learned about her power to heal when she was just eight years old where she found an severely injured stray dog and prayed for it to be saved, amazing everyone around her when a miracle occurred and she healed the animal completely, making it healthier than it had ever been before. This event caused the Church to take great interest in her and her power, taking her away from the convent and nuns which had raised her and to a larger church where she was declared a Saint. Once she was canonised, many believers and pilgrims flocked from all over the world to the church she had been brought to where she would heal them of their ailments, saving hundreds of people in the process.
Despite her title, though, Asia was always alone and unable to make friends with any of the other children who lived, either in the church itself or the large town it was part of. Her status as a saint made everyone view her as different and left her alone with nobody she could talk freely with.
One day when she was walking through the church gardens, Asia stumbled upon a severely injured Devil. Unable to let him succumb to his grievous wounds, Asia used her power to heal him, unaware that doing so would change everything.
Upon discovering that she possessed a power that healed creatures as 'evil' as Devils, Asia was stripped of her sainthood, branded a heretic and a witch, and forced to flee from the only home she knew and take up work wherever she could help people with her power.
"So that's how you ended up with the Fallen Angels," Ben deduced in as calm a voice as he could while his knuckles were white from how tight he was clenching them.
He was both furious and disgusted with those in the Church who had not seen Asia for the angelic creature she was, using her for their own goals and discarding her as soon as they judged her no longer useful to them.
While he was furious with those who treated Asia so cruelly, he was just as much amazed that, despite the hardship that she had to experience at such a young age, Asia was still such an amazing person who was one of the kindest people he knew.
Asia nodded sadly.
"Yes, they found me and offered to help me if I joined them."
She clasped her hands together and bowed her head slightly.
"I believe all of my suffering has been a test from God, a trial I must overcome to be closer to Him. I believe that, if I pass this test, He will grant me my wish."
"Your wish?"
"Yes," Asia nodded, unable to stop the tears which now trickled down her cheeks. "My wish is to have a normal life with lots of life-long friends I can talk with and do all the wonderful things friends do."
As the tears running down Asia's cheeks intensified, Ben quickly reached over and took the weeping nun in a comforting embrace.
"God must have been listening to your prayers."
"W-What?" Asia asked tearfully, wiping away the tears in her eyes, too upset to be embarrassed by how close Ben was now.
"I'm your friend! We had a lot of fun today, didn't we? I don't care if it's frowned upon for us to be friends, you are one of the most amazing people I know, Asia, and I'd be an idiot not to let you know that someone cares about you and will always look out for you!"
At Ben's heart-felt declaration, the last barriers around Asia collapsed and she couldn't help but release a fresh wave of tears, these ones of happiness though, as she returned his hug with her own.
"Thank you, Ben!" she cried as she wrapped her arms around him.
"Aww, that's so adorable! I think I'm going to fucking puke!"
The two embracing teens broke their hug quickly and spun around to see the new arrival who had interrupted them.
Ben glared at the perpetrator.
"You!" he glared, clenching his fists again.
"Urgh! Why are you still alive, bastard?! Why couldn't you just die like you were supposed to?"
"I'm glad I disappointed you!"
"Raynare?!" Asia exclaimed in shock, wiping away her tears with her sleeve.
"So that's your real name, huh?" Ben sneered, glaring up at the figure hovering above them, her black feathered wings protruding from her back. Her attire consisting of the same bondage gear-like leather outfit she had worn when she killed him. The one who had tricked and manipulated him with magic with the goal of murdering him.
The Fallen Angel Raynare ignored Ben's glare and focused her attention on Asia who was hiding behind Ben, fear in her eyes as she peeked around him.
"H-How did you find me?" she asked fearfully, shaking in fear.
Raynare chuckled and crossed her arms under her large chest.
"You really surprised us when you ran away, Asia. Even though you kept saying you would, none of us thought you actually had the guts to try it. Dohnaseek and Mittelt both thought you'd skipped town but it looks like they were mistaken.
Ben's eyes widened at Raynare's words.
"What?!" he turned back to look at Asia's fearful, teary-eyed expression. "You were trying to escape them?"
Asia looked back at him fearfully before nodding her head.
"Then why didn't you tell me?!" he demanded, tears forming in his own eyes as it instantly and horribly dawned on him what he had done, even if he didn't realise it.
Asia was trying to escape the Fallen Angels!
That was what she was doing when he saw her! she had been trying to escape, and him being the stupid fucking moron that he was had gotten in the way of that!
"Why did you waste your chance to escape to spend time with me?!" he added as tears began falling down his face. "You could've escaped if I hadn't stopped you!"
Asia took one of Ben's hands in both of hers and held it tightly, fresh tears falling down her own face.
"When you found me again, I saw it as a gift from God. You were the first person to ever show me true kindness. You were my first friend. When I saw you today, I made a decision; even if it cost me everything, I wanted to see what it was like to have fun."
"It's really funny, actually!" Raynare cut in with a cruel smirk plastered on her face. "If you hadn't gotten in her way, Asia may well have escaped our grasp. Come on Asia, let's get going. The ritual can't be completed without you."
Ben's head snapped back to glare up at Raynare with fury in his teary eyes.
"Shut the fuck up!" he bellowed as tears continued to fall down his face, his Sacred Gears appearing on his arms. "There's no fucking way I'm going to let you or your fucked-up friends hurt her anymore!"
A dark scowl formed on Raynare's face.
"As much as I want to, kid, I don't have time to mess around…."
A Light spear materialised in her hand which she then aimed directly at him.
"…so I'm just going to kill you quickly!"
Ben pushed Asia away at the same time Raynare released her spear at him. He dove out of the way just in time as the spear struck the ground where he had just been standing.
"It won't be so easy this time!" he shouted up at her as he slammed his hand down on the circular dial that had popped up as he brought his arm up. As he wasn't familiar with his transformations yet, Ben hoped to whatever deity was listening that it was one that would help him protect Asia.
[Transform: Orishan!]
The green light disappeared just as quickly as it appeared, revealing Ben's transformation. His new form had the appearance of a tall, dark red, mollusc-like humanoid with four, slitted, green eyes, and a grey mouth. Covering his head was a large, hexagonal hood, and covering his shoulders, the outside of his arms and legs, and in the palm of his hands were barnacle-like portholes. His chest had an eye-like pattern similar to his face on it, along with a crab-like features on his stomach which gave the appearance of it forming a ribcage. His fingers looked to be razor-sharp and resembled parts of a crab's pincer.
"What the fuck?!" Raynare cursed, moving her hand away from her face where it had obscured her eyes to the bright light.
Ben ignored Raynare as he examined his new form quickly.
"Ok, so this is new. How do I find out what this guy can do?" he asked Azmuth through their mental connection.
[Just concentrate on the form and it will come to you,] Azmuth replied.
Doing as he was instructed; Ben was startled when information suddenly entered his head. Once the information had disappeared, having done its job, Ben suddenly had a grasp of the abilities his new form was capable of.
"It worked!"
[Yes, but beware, kid. Theory and Practice are very different.]
Keeping Azmuth's warning in mind, Ben looked up to face his opponent.
"What the fuck kind of Gear is that?!" she demanded angrily, another Light spear forming in her hand.
"One that's never been seen before, bitch!" Ben retorted hotly, his voice now deeper than before. He raised his right hand up with his palm facing Raynare and fired a jet of hot water from the porthole in his palm at her. Taken by surprise at the sudden counterattack, Raynare only just managed to dodge the scalding water, though she wasn't completely successful as it caught her left shoulder, burning her skin and catching the shoulder strap for her bra, burning it off an causing her breasts to fall free from their confinement.
"Gargh! You bastard!" she hissed, clutching her burned shoulder instinctively with her right hand. She then gasped in pain as two Light spears materialised in her hands before throwing them, one straight after the other, down at him.
'Shit!' Ben thought as he dodged the spears streaking towards him, amazed at how quick he was now in this form and how he was able to fire a short burst of water to the side to give him a small boost.
Recovering from the attack, Ben held his palms out towards his feet and fired a burst of water which launched him into the air towards Raynare who, though she hadn't expected him to make the move he did, managed to avoid him as he launched himself at her, swiping at her with his razor-sharp claws as he passed her.
Ben landed a few feet away from her and Asia with a dull *crack* as he split the stone pathway where he had landed.
"I don't have time for this shit!" Raynare seethed through gritted teeth. When she saw Ben there with Asia, she had hoped she could correct her mistake and get two birds with one stone, killing him once and for all before taking Asia back to the others.
Now, though, she'd only be able to do one of her tasks.
Turning away from the water demon fighting her, Raynare swooped down towards a fearful-looking Asia who gasped at the Fallen Angel descending upon her.
Realising what Raynare was going to do, Ben sprinted back across the path he had leapt across towards Asia. seeing that Raynare was going to reach her before him, he reached behind himself and released another burst of water which gave him a boost of speed, crossing the space between himself and Asia very quickly.
Unfortunately, even this sudden boost of speed wasn't enough though as Raynare reached Asia when he was still a few feet away and took a rough hold of her arm.
"You're coming with me!" she snarled as a purple magic circle appeared beneath their feet.
"NO!" Ben bellowed, stopping the water flow in his right arm which he then reached out ahead of himself with towards Asia.
Asia mimicked his action and reached towards him with her own arm.
"Ben…," she began to say, tears still flowing from her eyes, as she and Raynare disappeared in a purple flash of light.
Ben ground his feet into the ground to quickly stop himself, stopping just before where Raynare and Asia had disappeared. When he came to a stop he fell to his knees and slammed his armoured fists into the ground, leaving an indentation in the ground.
"FUCK!" he bellowed loudly, barely even noticing when he was consumed by red light which reverted him back to his normal form again.
He'd failed to save her. Even though he was now able to use his power against people like Raynare he was STILL incapable of using it to save someone.
[Calm yourself,] Azmuth's deep voice murmured as soothingly as the ancient dragon was capable of.
"But I lost her!"
[Not yet. They need her for something. They mentioned a ritual that they needed her for, and there's only one place they can perform a ritual without being discovered by the young Gremory heiress.]
Ben's eyes widened in realisation.
"The church!"
[Exactly. You can't do anything on your own though. You're nowhere near powerful enough yet to handle multiple Fallen Angels by yourself.]
Ben had to admit that Azmuth was correct. If he was going to save Asia he needed Rias' help.
Taking several deep breaths to calm himself down, Ben picked himself up off his knees. As he did so, he spotted something lying on the floor a few feet away from him which he recognised immediately.
The stuffed animal he had won for Asia.
He walked over to it and knelt down to pick it up. As he did so, he brought it to his chest and held it tightly.
"Don't worry, Asia. I'll give this back to you."
Keeping hold of the toy, Ben took off at a sprint in the direction of Kuoh Academy where he hoped he would find help.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .