Chapter 9: Innocence

Upon being told that they are devils servants, Rias then continued,

"Now, your first official jobs as devils is a fairly simple one. Adrian, I want you to fly around the town, and inform me if you see any fallen angel activity, but do not fight them! Devils going out and hunting fallen angels kind of makes us look bad. Issei, you will have flyer duty, then Katrina and Calvin," Rias sat down on the couch across from them, "each of you will take a seat so we can discuss your background, your powers and the like, so we have a better understanding of each other." Exchanging of bows and handshakes commenced, and soon Issei was out posting flyers, Adrian was flying over the town, and Calvin was seated on the couch across from Rias, discussing his past life in New Marais, while Katrina was sested next to him, waiting her turn.

"So water is your main weakness?" Asked Rias, trying to understand Calvins powers better.

"Yeah, I can't fall into a large thing of water, because that can kill me. It'd be like dropping a toaster into a bathtub for me, with me being the toaster."

"And you live with your grandmother?" Asked Rias. Calvin sighed regretfully,

"She doesn't know that I know. But with how her and Francis were arguing that night, it was amazing the neighbors didn't hear it."

"And Katrina, you're all by yourself?" Rias asked, expressing concern.

"I'm staying with Adrian, so is Calvin. Remind me again, why are we doing this?"

"Because, I want to get to know you two more, as well as Adrian, so I can better help you in the future," Rias explained to Katrina. "Now, would you mind telling me more about this 'Kratos' you've mentioned earlier? You said he was a God of War, yet I don't recall any gods with that name in ANY mythology." Katrina smirked with a smug grin,

"He only became the God of War after he killed Ares."

Meanwhile...

Adrian soared the sky, searching for fallen angels, but was instead greeted by a light spear soaring through the air, barely missing his left side as he dodged in the air. He landed on his feet, making a small shockwave, but casually dusted himself off as he looked for the source of the light spear, and found it in the form of a fallen angel woman. She had long blue hair, and an extremely low cut burgundy dress.

"So you are one of the devils that gave Dohnaseek such a hard time," she said. "My name is Kalawarner, and I've been sent to destroy you, and those other three devils. Including the one that should have already been dealt with twice already!"

"I already know your name thanks to Cindy and Belinda, but leave Issei out of this, he did nothing to you, so just leave him be," said Adrian, a warning hidden in his tone of voice.

"Yes I was already told of your ability to devour others, and assume their identities you walking disease-!" She couldn't even finish her sentence as a large blade was aimed right at the tip of her nose, silencing her,

"I will only say this once," said Adrian, no humor, smiles, or even arrogance in his voice, "Leave this town. Never come back. Or I will fucking kill you." Adrian then made his blade dissappear, walked away from her until he sprouted his wings, and dissappeared into the night sky.

Adrian was then back at the ORC, with Katrina and Calvin waiting on the front steps,

"What's up?" Asked Adrian.

"Rias is waiting for you," said Calvin,

"And she told us to start heading home when you got here," said Katrina, "Good luck," she added in a whisper. Both of them began to head home, leaving Adrian with a raised eyebrow. He made his way inside, and saw Rias seated on one of the couches,

"Ah, Adrian, have a seat," she gestured to the couch right across from her, and Adrian seated himself. Rias then poured herself a cup of tea,

"Care for a cup of tea?" She offered, to which Adrian respectfully declined, and Rias set the tea cup on the table, "How was the search for fallen angels?"

"Came across only one, and I made sure not to engage in combat with her, even though she threw a light spear at me, and called me a 'walking disease.'" Rias briefly wore a look of sympathy, and decided to join Adrian on the couch he was seated on,

"Anything I can do to make you feel better?" Adrian scoffed,

"Not tea." Adrian saw the brief hurt on Rias, and apologized, "Forgive me, when Kalawarner, the fallen angel, called me that it reminded me of New York a little bit." Rias then straightened herself out,

"Why don't you tell me more about New York?" Adrian sighed, and slowly began,

"It all began with Gentek. They made the virus, and one of their scientists, Alex Mercer, decided to unleash it, in the process creating a horde of monsters, including myself. There was some sort of conspiracy behind it, and it makes my head spin when I try to piece it all together. But in the end, it came down to me, and a soldier named James Heller, to stop and kill Mercer. Heller absorbed him, and got the information he needed to find his daughter, whose location only Mercer knew. And once he got what he wanted, he left me to clear the city alone."

"Not very nice of him," commented Rias.

"Then the military came into the picture, and luckily they cleared out what was left of the virus without resorting to nuclear deterrents. But, in the eye of the public, I was still an enemy. So I had no choice but to run away, bringing my parents with me, absorbing Charles MacGuffin so we COULD escape, and finally came to Kuoh Town, to lie low, and hopefully start anew. And here we are now."

"You were forced to leave your home...because of what you are," said Rias, understanding.

"Yes, but WHAT we are doesn't determine WHO we are," said Adrian, speaking from experience. Rias smiled, and began to lean in close...both of them closing their eyes as their lips were about to touch...

"Hey guys I'm ba-OH SHIT! I am so sorry, I-I d-d-didn't mean to barge in and ruin a moment!" Issei stammered as he strode into the room without knocking, making a vein pop in Adrians head, and Rias to blush from embarrassment. She then spoke to Adrian in a hushed tone,

"Maybe some other time," and planted a quick kiss on Adrians cheek. He then stood up with a smile to her, but as soon as he turned to Issei, his smile turned to a glare, and with a combination of hand gestures and lip movements, sent a silent but clear message to Issei,

I. Will. Kick. Your. ASS!

Issei gulped the second Adrian finished, signaling that he understood the message, and Adrian walked out, blowing a quick kiss to Rias as he went.

Adrian had finally made it back to his home, kicking a stone in the process, unintentionally flipping a car in the process, yet he didn't care due to a rotten attitude,

"Spikey haired cock blocking motherfucker!" He grumbled under his breath.

"Whoa whoa easy there Adrian!" Said Calvin, standing in the doorway as Adrian climbed the front steps, "Did something happen at the ORC?" Adrian stopped and looked at Calvin confused,

"The what?"

"The Occult Research Club. Did something happen?"

"Oh! Nah, just got cock blocked by the guy whose life I saved," said Adrian, adding a raspberry on the end of his sentence. Calvin straightened himself out, surprised,

"Issei cock blocked you?"

"Yep." Calvin paused, and busted up laughing, making Adrian pop a vein once again, and Katrina was now approaching the two at the door,

"You're back already?" Asked Katrina, "What did you and Rias talk about? And why is Calvin laughing?" Adrians only response was to give Calvin a straight punch to the nose.

"Ow...SHIT!" Yelped Calvin, clutching his nose, until Adrian whirled around, his hunter sense spiking as he felt two presences, one was a fallen angel, and the other...

"Issei!" Adrian sprouted his wings, and leapt into the air, flying as fast as he could, with both Calvin and Katrina not far behind.

Soon they found Issei, and the same fallen angel Adrian had encountered before, and as soon as his feet touched the ground between her and Issei, Adrian called out to her.

"Kalawarner! I already gave you a chance to leave this town so you could live! Is this your way of telling me you chose to blow it?!" She simply laughed at him,

"Do you really believe that I would simply obey an order from a lower class devil such as yourself?" Katrina and Calvin soon joined Adrian, and the lastly mentioned had wiped away blood that was slowly leaking from his nose.

"Who the fuck you calling lower class, bitch?" Asked Calvin, readying his hands with electricity.

"And anyone who disrespects our friend will pay for it," said Katrina, readying her blades.

"Alright," began Adrian, readying his arms as they turned black and well defined, "Katrina, you try and nab her with your blades while she's in the air. Calvin, if she starts to get too far, turn her ass into ash. If she gets too close for comfort I will take her on!" His plan was immediately destroyed when they all saw Issei running past them and towards Kalawarner. "Waitaminutewhatthefuck! Get back here Iseei, you idiot!" Shouted Adrian, trying to grab him by the back of his shirt, but was too late.

"FOCUS!!" Issei shouted, apparently to himself, a small gauntlet appearing on his left wrist, red in color with yellow spikes and a green gem on the back. A flash of green energy exploded from him, catching Kalawarner in the blast, sending her back and shredding her clothes into oblivion. Adrian, Calvin and Katrina all seemed to have the same thought in mind, and each spoke a part, together forming a sentence. Starting with Adrian, with Calvin adding to it, and finished by Katrina,

"What...?"

"The fuck...?"

"Was that...?"

"You know what?!" Yelled Kalawarner, clearly both frightened and embarrassed, "I don't have time for this! Someone else will take care of all of you!" And she flew off with a huff, leaving behind a heaving Issei, who had now FINALLY sprouted his wings, and a very confused Calvin, Katrina and Adrian.

"Congratulations Issei, you've unlocked your Sacred Gear!" Said Rias, inspecting Issei's new gauntlet. Adrian and company decided to rush Issei back to the ORC, for Rias to give Issei's gauntlet a good look over. "Now that the power has been activated, all you need to do is decide when to turn it on or off." Issei then concentrated, and his gauntlet dissappeared in a flash of green light,

"Whew! I was worried for a second, that would really slow me down in my alone time." Adrian, without even looking in Issei's general direction, brought a palm to his face, while Calvin cracked up laughing, and Katrina shot Issei a look of disgust,

"COULD YOU NOT?!!" She bellowed. Issei shrunk in his seat, and Rias continued,

"Now I should mention, not only do the fallen angels know you're still alive, but now they know you've been reborn as a devil, which will make things a bit more complicated around here."

"I'm sorry Rias," said Issei.

"I know you encountered her by accident, but don't let the power of the Sacred Gear get to your head and try fighting them alone. Understand?" Issei stood up and bowed to her,

"Yes Rias."

-The Following Morning-

Adrian slammed the button down on his blaring alarm clock, and decided to sneak out without waking anyone else in the mansion, enjoying an early morning walk, letting the crisp air fill his lungs, and briefly closed his eyes, until he heard a cry of surprise, and a small crash. Adrian opened his eyes and turned to the sound of distress, only to see a girl, about a head shorter than him, dressed like a nun, underwear exposed and trying to pick herself up off the ground. She had fair skin, gentle green eyes, long gold hair, and a deep blush when she saw Adrian rushing to help her.

"Are you alright?" He asked, helping her to her feet.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little klutzy is all." The wind then picked up, and the veil on her outfit began to blow away, until Adrian caught it with one swipe at the air.

"Here you go, Miss...?"

"Asia Argento," she said politely, accepting the veil, "Thank you for getting this back for me."

"Anytime. Was there a place you needed to go?" Asked Adrian, gesturing to the brown suitcase Asia was lugging with her.

"Why yes actually, I was trying to find my way to the church here in town, but I seem to have lost my way," she said shyly, poking her index fingers together, "I've just recently been assigned there." Adrian nodded,

"That explains the outfit. Congratulations," Adrian said with a smile. Asia smiles back,

"I'm glad I've met someone as kind as you. I guess someone up there is watching out for me."

"Yeah..." Adrian said, slowly turning a sad gaze downward, "Maybe..."

"Oh! Hold on a second!" Said Asia, and dashed across the street, running to a small boy who had scraped his knee. He followed, until he saw her place both of her hands on the knee, and a green glow appeared, healing the knee as if nothing happened. The boy then ran along, and Asia turned back to Adrian,

"Sorry about that. Shall we continue?" Adrian obliged, and after some more time walking, Adrian brought up the question,

"So...this may be a crazy question, but...are you an angel?" Asia giggled,

"No, but I'm guessing you're wondering about what I did back there?"

"Trust me, it's not the craziest thing I've seen. But it was nice of you to heal the boy."

"Thanks. I consider it to be a blessing. It's truly wonderful..." she trailed off, a hint of hurt in her voice that Adrian caught, but they couldn't dwell on it for long,

"There's the church!" He looked up, seeing a lone church on top of a large hill, and the feeling made his skin crawl, and his heart beat like a speeding freight train. "Let me thank you properly..." She then turned to face Adrian, "Would it be a problem for you to come inside with me?" Adrian cringed internally,

"I...am afriad so. There was some things that I needed to do today..."

"Okay. Well it was really nice of you to help me find my way."

"It was a pleasure," said Adrian, tipping an imaginary hat towards her. She giggled once again,

"Meeting you here was a blessing. One I'm sure I won't forget, and I hope we see each other again soon. Oh! I never got your name," said Asia, placing a hand over her mouth.

"Adrian Michaels," he said, holding a hand out for her to shake, which she accepted.

"If you're ever in the neighborhood, feel free to come by the church, it's where I am most of the time." Adrian felt a heartstring pull,

"I'll try to visit whenever I can," he said with a smile. He then watches as Asia walks on to the church, waving as she leaves,

"Goodbye!" She calls out, and soon she was out of sight. Adrian sighed with morose.

"I'm sorry Asia, but it'd be for the best if we didn't see each other again," Adrian said to himself.

"I'd have to agree with you to an extent," said a voice behind Adrian, "I mean, I was worried I'd have to cut between a nun and a devil." Adrian turned on a dime, and saw a guy his age with long white hair and piercing blue eyes. He was dressed in a forest green trench coat over a navy blue muscle shirt, a brown leather holster wrapped around his torso carrying a black gun, blue jeans, brown boots, and a pair of swords across his back. One seemed to be made of pure metal, with a horned skull where the blade meets the hilt, and the other sword had a long silver blade, and a green hilt with a...gear shift built in?

"And who the hell are you?" Adrian asked, prepared for a fight at a moments notice, but the man just sported a cocky grin,

"Damon," he answered, "Descendant of Sparda, grandson of Virgil, son of Nero, and ass kicker of devils."