A/N: Greetings everyone, wiErD here. And I got another chapter for you in this crossover.
Hope ya like it. :)
Disclaimer: I don't own FT and DxD nor their elements... All goes to their respective authors.
- A Friend Worth Saving -
Natsu and Issei stood shockingly in disbelief as they saw Asia with the priest. More importantly, they were shocked to see her affiliated to such a person. It was not the best reunion between the three of them as Asia had seemingly found out that the two of them were working with the devils. Both of them could only stare at each other in disbelief after seeing each other once again in this unprecedented situation.
"Natsu-san... Issei-san..."
"A-Asia..."
"What's this? You three knew each other...? Too bad, Asia-chan... We can't allow these boys to live because they're devils. Or more importantly, they're working with them." Freed spoke out in disgust before turning his expression into a wicked smile.
"W-Working with them?"
"That's riiiight!" It was then, Natsu tried to reason for them doing so.
"Asia! It's not what you think! We never did any bad things to you, to everyone else!"
"STOP right there, sinner! Even though you're a human, your heart is tainted with the devil. Don't let him deceive you, Asia-chan." Freed tried to dissuade their claims.
"Look, We're sorry for not telling you before... We just couldn't tell right away because you're different from us... That's why I didn't want to see you again... I know that it would be better that way and yet-" Issei gritted his teeth in frustration which caught her attention until Freed, decided to break up the so-called touching atmosphere between them and pointed the light sword towards them without hesitation.
"No can do now, Asia-chan... They're the real enemies... The enemies of God. And we, exorcists have but one goal. Too eradicate all shitty devils like them from mankind!"
"You're really pissing me off, you crazy bastard!" Natsu flared up in flames and not before long Freed had to take a step back further as the flames spread around the house and started to catch things on fire, much to the others' dismay.
"Hoh, you got some pretty interesting power, you got there... " Freed paused before looking back at Asia one more time. "Come on, your enemy is right in the clear. What are you waiting for? Let's kill these sinners with love and revert them back to God."
Issei could not help but feel worried as he felt that Asia was forced to act against her will. If she directs her hostility towards them, then it would be very bad for the two of them, seeing that they have to fight against her if she ever listens to that madman. Gritting his teeth in frustration, Issei suddenly went ahead of Natsu before raising both of his hands sideways to protect the pinkette before shifting his gaze over to Asia.
"Asia! Do you really believe that we would deceive you? Do you think that we tried to deceive you when we helped you on the way back?" Issei reasoned.
"Issei-san..."
"We're your friends, remember? I know it's not the right place to say but still we never did anything to hurt you until now... ..." Natsu added. But before Asia could even speak, Freed simply interrupted her and tried to reason yet again.
"I'm sorry to say, Asia-chan but a human and a devil cannot live together... Because after all, we can't live without the permission of a fallen angel..." Hearing that statement soon shocked the two as they glanced over to Freed warily.
"Fallen angel?"
"What is he talking about?! Asia, what does he mean by that?!" Natsu demanded.
However, Asia was just as rattled over to the situation since it was hard for her think for a moment but Natsu was beginning to put the pieces together. The sensation he felt back at the church and Asia's transfer to that church. It just recently came to his mind that the church in their town was already abandoned a few years ago. If Freed had said something about fallen angels then there's no doubt that they had taken refuge over to that church as well.
Though he was still confused about why Asia was transferred in such a place, Natsu never wasted any time to reach out his hand to her before trying to speak.
"Asia... Come with us! We can protect you. These people you were working with... They're not the good ones."
"N-Natsu-san?" Asia stammered in surprise.
"I don't understand why you were working with them but I know there's good reason behind it... So, come with us! I cannot leave you to the likes of him!"
"Hoh, big words coming from a shitty sinner like you with a shitty devil...! Why don't you all just die?!" Freed tried to lunge himself yet again towards the two, shocking the nun as the two tried to prepare themselves for a fight until a magic circle appeared before the two, shocking both sides as Freed had to raise his light sword after being parried by an unknown figure who came through the circle.
It didn't take long for them to recognize the person after noticing the hair at first glance.
"Kiba?!"
"Natsu-kun, Issei-kun... We've come to rescue you." Kiba turned his attention towards them before looking back to the priest with determination. It was then another person appeared to the magic circle as Akeno and Koneko eventually revealed themselves on the scene before commenting to the situation.
"Ara, ara... What a problem we have here."
"Exorcist..."
A huge wave of relief went through the two as they just saved just in time by their friends. On the other hand, Freed took a step back away from the Gremory knight before putting up another psychotic smiled after seeing a bunch of devil all at once.
"Yeeehaw! So the entire devil organization has finally arrived... My blood is boiling just from see you all... Welcome!"
"I never thought I'd hear a priest speak with such a vile tongue..." Kiba glowered in anger towards him.
"Hoh, is that a death glare... I like it... I LIKE IT! So many shitty top class devils... I wonder how much I would get just by cutting all of you down! I'm so excited that I could die from happiness-"
"Then let me give you a happy death..." Another voice came from the portal as a crimson wave blasted towards Freed, narrowly missing its mark as the priest used his light sword to block the wave and sank his body down to avoid it before hitting the wall which easily destroyed it in the process as Rias came into the portal with the same expression as her other servants after seeing that the two attacked by a rogue priest.
"It seems like you had your fun with my cute little slave... rogue exorcist."
"Buchou!" Issei and Natsu stared in surprise.
"And a new one arrives on the scene. Are you their leader!"
"And what of it?"
"Nothing... It's just adds to the fun now that the final boss is here... I'm tingling with excitement!" Freed laughed hysterically which made the others to note upon his eccentricity and crazy behavior.
"How disgusting..." Akeno hissed.
"He's quite an oddity alright." Kiba mused with mockery on his voice.
On the other hand, Rias turned over to the two in worry, seeing that they had been forced to fight once again. Reaching out a hand to the two, she looked at them with a apologetic look.
"I'm sorry, you two... I've never expected that there would a rogue exorcist in the area... There was a barrier set up around it so I didn't notice earlier..." She paused yet again and turned her attention towards the priest.
"... I'll never forgive anyone who tries to hurt my servants, especially from a vulgar scum like you." She gave off an intimidating glare towards him but he simply accepted it with open arms instead of being provoked by it. Soon afterwards, Rias began to pour out her crimson aura, signifying her own power against Freed who eventually took the situation seriously and took a step back in caution.
"Oops... Isn't that a little bit to extreme now?"
"You were asking for it..." But before they could even eliminate him, Koneko began to sense another presence appearing towards the house as she looked warily towards the redhead.
"Fallen angel approaching..." Her assumptions were made true as a portal soon began to open up from above the ceiling as Freed turned cheerful at the appearance of their masters to assist them on the scene.
"Haha! Well, good timing it is... Now all of you will be punished by the fallen angel!" Freed shouted in defiance.
It was then Akeno turned over to Rias for orders.
"Buchou?"
"Recovering Natsu and Issei is our top priority right now. Akeno prepare for the jump... We're pulling out."
"Understood." As she said that, she outstretched her hands in front of her as a magic circle appeared right beneath them as Natsu looked back in surprise towards them before looking back at Asia.
"Buchou! Let's take her with us... She's not right to be left alone with those fallen angels." Natsu tried to propose but Rias simply shot him down before replying.
"I'm sorry but only those of my clan are able to jump through this magic circle... I've placed a Gremory seal on your hand just in case you needed to escape from situation like this."
"But still-" He gritted in frustration as he looked back onto Asia with great worry. Worried that she might get punished by these fallen angels for helping them in some way.
"There's got to be another way, Buchou! She's a friend... At least, let's take her with us somewhere safe!" Issei tried to help but the magic circle started to initiate its jump as the group began to disappear from the room with the two completely distraught that they're leaving with taking Asia with them. Although it may seemed to be the best option to survive, leaving her alone there is also wrong. And it only pains them to see that they're abandoning her after befriending her.
"Take us back to the club..." Rias ordered.
But before they could even depart, Natsu suddenly jumped away from the circle as his face shadowed his expression before walking his way towards Asia.
"Gremory clan, my ass... How can I call myself a friend if I just stand around and do nothing while she suffers from those people..." He muttered before lifting his left hand where the symbol of the clan was located and burned it away with his magic, shocking the whole group.
"Natsu! What are you doing?!"
..
..
"A person can never call himself a friend if he just pretended not to see that his other friends are suffering and needed help! That's not what I intended to do!" Shouting his determination, Natsu burst into flames, stronger than it was before as both sides shielded their eyes from the force as the flames caught everything on fire except for Asia and the group. Freed had to cut a part of his sleeves as the flames caught with it and stared surprisingly at the burning pinkette with anticipation.
"What the-" He tried to speak was stopped as Natsu instantly appeared before him in blinding speeds that even Akeno had a hard time processing of what happened as the pinkette butted his head towards Freed with pure anger.
"Hey you..."
"Eh?"
"Fly away!" Coating his right fist in flames, Natsu punched the priest right towards the face which soon sends him away before crashing over to the wall, generating an explosion as the house was torn in half at the destruction as Natsu was able to knock out Freed, seeing his body unconscious on the streets with rubble and debris falling out in place. Rias and the others were stunned at the sudden shift of his power as Natsu easily defeated a rogue exorcist in just one punch. Even Asia was surprised as well, seeing his power for the first time.
However, there moment of victory was cut short as four fallen angels appeared right from the portal and it didn't take long for Issei to finally recognize the person in front of them and could only stutter in disbelief.
"Y-Yuuma-chan?!" The other fallen angels were from the same who attacked the two on different occasions though the other last one was completely new to them, seeing that she never made her appearance to them like the other two.
"It's been awhile... Issei-kun..."
"Fallen Angels... Raynare." Rias gazed in caution.
"Hoh, what a wonderful sight... To think that devils and fallen angels would clash at such an early time... It seems like you stumbled onto our precious nun though it seemed like the priest failed to protect her in the end... That's a pity." Raynare spoke before turning her attention towards Natsu and Asia.
"I'm glad you're still alive, Natsu-kun." She cheerfully smiled.
"Raynare! Is this your doing?!"
"There's little time to talk who's ordering who... So I'll just make this simple, give us back Asia and we'll walk away nicely." She proposed but Natsu simply raised his hand before Asia, not wanting to hand her over to her that easily.
"I won't let you hurt Asia!" He growled.
"Hoh, is that a threat? I think you need to consider thinking about your decision... Natsu-kun. After all, you don't want anyone to get hurt tonight now, do you?"
"On the other hand, Rias turned her attention towards the pinkette with worry as the jump circle had began to initiate, giving them a split-decision to either leave Natsu or stay and fight back.
"Natsu! Get out of there now!" Rias spoke.
"Planning to." Without warning, he grabbed Asia bridal-style and started to sprint away from the destroyed house in which the fallen angels followed suit. The situation is turning for the worse and she needed to take action in order to avoid one of her club members from getting hurt.
"Akeno... Go ahead and accompany Natsu on their escape... If anything happens, you have the permission to use any means necessary to dismantle them. Make sure to get back to the club then we'll talk our situation there." She ordered the black-haired girl who only nodded in response before sprouting out her devil wings to catch up to the fleeing pinkette.
"Understood..."
With two of the her members engaging on a group of fallen angels, Rias had no choice but to withdraw as well in order to get the others out on the crossfire and could only hope that Natsu and Akeno would managed to get back to the old building in one piece. Looking back to the distraught Issei, she rested a hand on his cheek before reassuring him of the situation.
"Don't worry... Akeno will surely protect them both..."
..
..
..
Natsu sprinted fast along the sidewalks as he continues to hold Asia in his arms before jumping high in the air and started running from the roofs in order to get away from the fallen angels as far as possible. He can never jump together with them in the magic circle now that he burned off his crest of their symbol which only made him like Asia.
The blonde-haired nun simply held tightly unto his arms as Natsu held her close protectively as they tried taking a corner to divert their attention away from them.
"I-I'm sorry... Natsu-san for dragging you into this..."
"It's fine... I just can't help myself letting the others suffer because I can't afford to... I promise I'll protect you, Asia! I'll save you from those fallen angels."
"T-Thank you-" Before she could even continue, a blade of light was struck beside them, causing an explosion as Natsu and Asia stumbled unto the ground with the former failing to hold onto the latter as they both landed roughly to the pavement. Natsu instantly stood up and sprinted over to the injured nun, ignoring his injuries. It was not long until multiple black feathers fell from the sky as he looked warily above before flaring himself in flames as Raynare and the other three surrounded him before descending down to the ground, blocking him in all direction.
"There's no running away this time, Natsu-kun." Raynare spoke.
"Who said I'm running away last time?" He rebutted.
"So this is the human whom you're talking about..." Dohnaseek pondered.
"He seemed pretty harmless to me."
"Don't let our guard down, Mittelt. His powers are far stronger than what I expected from the other boy and it is unknown to us yet..." Kalawarner warned.
"Either way, you're surrounded, Natsu-kun... I doubt your friends would come save you now since you disobeyed your master, thus becoming a stray devil." Raynare spoke.
"Heh, I never really sided with them... Nor I would side with anyone else. I fight on what I believe is right and saving Asia from the likes of you is one of them." Natsu stood defiantly before clasping both his hands ablaze as the four were left stunned at the power he's displaying right now.
"So this is the power you were talking about, Raynare."
"It seems formidable so be careful..." She warned.
"Don't worry... It'll be over soon." Kalawarner reassured before summoning her spear of light together with the others as Natsu stood in front of Asia who on the other hand was worrying for his safety.
"N-Natsu-san... ... That's enough. Please run away as possible." She pleaded.
"Sorry, Asia but I can't do that... I won't leave a friend behind." He smiled in determination as he turned his attention towards the four fallen angels surrounding him before closing his eyes for a moment to concentrate. A few seconds of focusing his magical power, Natsu finally opened his eyes to them, replacing his black onyx orbs into deep crimson ones as a whirl of hellfire erupted around the two, encasing them inside as Raynare and the others took a step back due to its intense heat with surprised looks.
Asia was also surprised as well, seeing that the flames never burned her completely, seeing that she never felt anything hot despite being close to it. Instead, she felt a warm feeling as the flames protected her from the fallen angels until Natsu reverted back his flames and dashed straight towards Dohnaseek in sudden speeds.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Punching him with his flaming fist, Natsu sent the man away before redirecting his direction towards Kalawarner with determination. Briefly inhaling air into his lungs, Natsu gave one last glance to the woman as rubble floated around him.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Moments later, a huge flame wave made its way to her in which she tried to dodge as it went upwards before resulting a massive explosion, much to her dismay.
"He seems far different from what he was before... He's gotten far dangerous for us to handle." She warned before throwing a spear of light towards him in which he easily deflected in his bare hands.
"I-Impossible-" She wasn't given the time to react as Natsu charged relentlessly before grabbing her face as flames whirled around it.
"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" Forcefully flinging her away, Natsu sent her crashing down to the ground as Raynare and Mittelt came from behind with their own respective spears of lights and thrusted it towards him but Natsu reacted faster and instantly charged up his roar once more and opened wide before releasing another flame wave towards them.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!" The two fallen angels were left surprised as the flames simply burned their spears of light and engulfed them wholly before falling down to the ground with burns on their body.
The pinkette returned back to the ground, having heavy pants as his body was already at its limit, seeing that he used a lot of spells simultaneously. His body is still not yet trained to last long in a fight with groups since he was still unlocking his power. Flames dissipated around him and he knelt in exhaustion as Asia rushed to his side while the other fallen angels slowly recovered from their injuries and turned their attention to the pinkette with caution.
"Natsu!" Asia called out in worry.
"I'm running out of power... Damn, I still have many ways to go." Natsu hissed.
"Hmph, it looks like you've finally ran out of magic... You had your share of rampaging against us and it's time we return the favor." Dohnaseek smirked as they summoned their spears once again.
But before they could even kill him, A large array of lightning strikes blasted in front of them, causing them to fly back as a massive smoke kicked up obscuring the two until it finally settled as Akeno came descending down from the skies with lighting sparking from her hands as she looked at the fallen angels in hostility.
"Anyone who makes an enemy of him is my enemy!" She declared as she landed right beside the two as Asia looked at her in uncertainty after seeing her tremendous power in front of the fallen angels.
"Tsk... It's their queen... And a formidable one..." Kalawarner warned.
"What are we going to do?" Mittlet asked her black-haired companion who took a moment to scan the pinkette before turning her attention to them.
"Change of plans... Forget the nun. We have a more important asset to take than stealing her Sacred Gear... Let's fall back for now." She ordered in which everyone nodded as they all created a portal to escape as Raynare took one last glance towards Natsu.
"Enjoy your victory for now... In time, I'll be the one who will claim that power." She declared before disappearing in sight together with her companions, thus ending the fight with Natsu breathing a sigh of relief until his body immediately gave up and lost its strength, ultimately falling down to the ground in exhaustion as the two girls turned to him in great worry.
"Natsu-san!" Asia cried out in worry.
"He's experiencing a huge fatigue... It's probably because he was pushing his body to its limits." She tried applying some healing spell to him.
"L-Let me help!" Asia soon joined in and placed her hands above his head as a green glow appeared from her rings as Akeno widened her eyes in surprise to see another Sacred Gear from a human.
"Sacred Gear?!"
"Twilight Healing... It's been bestowed to me ever since I was a child and have been healing the sick. I can help Natsu-san to recover with this so please, let me help..." She tried insisting as tears went over to her eyes, feeling worried about the pinkette's well-being. At first, she hesitated for a moment until she finally let her to help him to recover as they both applied their magics to Natsu.
After a few minutes of healing him, he was finally able to breathe normally, seeing his condition slowly returning back to normal, much to their relief.
"That'll do for now...Thank you for your help... Ms-"
"A-Asia Argento... I-I apologize for causing too much trouble to you all... If we weren't in the area then none of this would happen."
"Don't blame yourself, Asia-chan... Natsu and Issei also happens to be on that area and it's our fault for not informing them of a rogue exorcist nearby." Akeno dissuaded her apology.
"U-Ummm... I-Is it true that you were uhh-" She tried asking until Akeno finished her statement.
"Devils? Yes... But I guess, we should talk more about this at the old building... Come, we can discuss the situation with the others and it's not safe to let Natsu stay in the open in his current condition." Asia could only nod at the black-haired girl's suggestion as they started their way back to the school.
A few hours later... (Nighttime.)(Inside the old school building...)
The two separate groups have finally reunited though Natsu was still in the middle of recovering as his body was immensely pushed to its current limits and the extensive use of his mysterious powers have jaded him greatly, resulting a huge fatigue. Issei was worried after seeing his brother in such as a condition but luckily, Asia and Akeno managed to stabilize his condition as he needed a lot of rest from it.
Koneko soon carried Natsu to the other room to recover, leaving the rest of the group in the couch as Asia sat meekly on one couch while trying not to gaze to Rias since she was in the territory of the devils, her enemy that is. Although the uncertainty was present, Rias and the others simply loosened their atmosphere as they began to ask the shy nun.
"Your name is Asia Argento, right?"
"Y-Yes..."
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine, I guess... It's not the same hospitality I got from the Church but I'm grateful to it nonetheless." She reasoned.
"I see... I'm glad... I wanted to apologize for causing too much trouble to your kind earlier... We never expected the fight to escalate that way."
"N-No... it's fine... It was them who started so..." She trailed off in thought.
"Either way, I'm glad that all of you made it back safe and sound... I'm sorry that it might seem to be overwhelming to you for talking face to face with a devil like us but rest assured, we don't mean no harm... I'm sure you know that by now after seeing Issei and Natsu, right?"
"Umm... I-Is it true that Issei-san and Natsu-san are devils?" Asia tried to ask.
"Issei is resurrected as a devil. Natsu on the other hand is still human but he decided to join alongside with us for his brother's sake."
"I see..."
..
..
"Asia... can I ask you something?"
"Y-Yes." Said person jolted into attention as Rias looked at her with a serious expression.
"How did you get affiliated with the fallen angels? I thought the Church has exorcists present in the area but I never expected a rogue one... Can you tell us what happened?" As she said that, Asia's expression turned solemn as she slowly retreated her figure for a moment before telling them her side of the story.
"I was excommunicated from the Church." A collective forms of gasp went over to the group though Issei was the only one unaware of the situation.
"Excommunicated?" He then proceeds to ask.
"Yes, when the members of the Church were viewed by the higher-ups as a threat to their faith. They banish them, stripping away their status and branded as a heretic. There are various things of how a member would be excommunicated but all in all, they did so by provoking the Heaven system and faith and thus, regarded as a threat." Rias explained.
"Then Asia did something that would damage that system?" Issei assumed.
"I think so... I wouldn't delve further to that topic for the sake of her own privacy and reasons so we'll leave at that."
"After I was excommunicated, I got no other place to go so I was transferred here in this town and work as an underling to the fallen angels but I never seen how they work so it's all a bit overwhelming for me." She quivered on her voice as Issei looked at her in worry.
"But even so, you are now a target to the fallen angels and going back to them will only result death, you know." Rias warned. Asia let out a dispirited frown as she looked down on her knees, unsure of what to do. It was then, Rias smiled inwardly as a thought went inside her head for a moment and began to speak once more.
"... Asia, would you like to join my peerage?"
"Eh?" Not only Asia was surprised but the whole group as well as they all gaped in surprise towards the redhead from her sudden proposal to her.
"B-Buchou, are you referring to-" Issei asked doubtfully until Rias complete her statement.
"That's right... I'm offering you a place in my peerage in which you will resurrected as a devil."
"R-Resurrected as a devil?" Asia never even heard of human being reincarnated as a devil. Is this some kind of new system for the devil world? She didn't know.
"I know it's a complicated matter but I'm not forcing you into this... It's just a suggestion to benefit your position as of now. With the fallen angels right on our backs, there's no doubt that they will try to kill without a second thought. On the other hand, if you join our side, we'll be able to protect you. If you want to remain a human, then it is fine, we'll find a suitable place for you to seek refuge from them and protect you until this matter is resolved..."
Asia was still uncertain about the choices she should make right now since it will forever change her life once she decided upon this.
"U-Ummm... I still don't know what to do..." She admitted.
"I see... Take your time, Asia... ... In the meantime, you'll be under the protection of this household so don't worry anymore... You can still choose a decision even after resolving this situation... So give it a thought to decide." Rias smiled.
"Y-Yes..."
"Well, now that settles it, we should head back to our homes soon. We have a big day tomorrow and we need to formulate a plan to fight these fallen angels and drive them out of town..." She paused before shifting her gaze to Asia once again.
"I suppose you don't have a place to stay, right?" A sheepish nod came from the excommunicated nun afterwards.
"... It's alright... You'll be staying with Issei and Natsu's residence for the time being." She smiled, unaware of the gapes from the brownette as he simply fell from his seat as if something hit him right in the head.
"Eh? EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! ! ! ! !"
A/N: Sup guys. Here's the chapter 5 for you... Well, this is the part where I would change the canon differently of how it would end, Asia is rescued and been temporarily granted protection from the Gremory and Raynare changing her plans in obtaining power. The next two chapters would be the last for this arc so stay tuned.
As always, leave a reply on the reviews and tell me what you think. :)
Thanks for the wonderful reviews, it's a great motivation for me to keep writing this.
Until the next chapter ,(^^)/
- wiErD SpeCtrumz blacking out... ... ...
