Disclaimer: I do not own High School DxD or the Fairy Tail Elements.
Hey there, it's been a while. Like usual, life tends to get in the way of my fanfic writing time. Good news, I finally finished my ACT! Now I can update this chapter! Hooray!
Anyways, to the reviews of "Guest" on August 4, to be fair, that is the universe that Ragna and Rachel live in. Their characters in the DxD-verse are different. As in...different universal principles.
Anyways, let's kick this new arc off with this chapter!
Chapter 13: Yamagata Arc - Part 1
(Flashback)
"*Pant*...*Pant*...*Pant*...Damn, you're tough to put down..." Terra panted while placing his hands on his knees.
"*Pant*...*Pant*...You too. You're one strong Dragon Slayer..." Natsu said while panting as well.
After a long battle that involved a lot of collateral damage around the back area, the two were covered smokes and bruises. Terra was covered in smoke marks, while Natsu stood there all muddy and dirty.
Meanwhile, the others stood on the sidelines highly surprised to see how the battle unfolded.
"Who knew he can push Natsu to his limit and force him to use Flame-Lightning Dragon Slayer..." Gray commented while looking at Terra while he folded his arms.
"He's strong...Gray, your clothes!" Lucy shouted while pointing at the naked Gray. When Gray looked down, his eyes widened.
"Oh god damn it!" Gray shouted while he ran off to find his clothes.
"Juvia happy..." a certain water mage lied on the ground with hearts in her eyes while steam was coming out of her ears.
"Wow...Terra-san is strong..." Wendy said with a surprised look.
"So that's the power of the Earth Dragon Slayer. He could honestly give Jura a run for his money." Erza commented.
With everyone commenting on the fight, Makarov cleared his throat, making everyone turn their attention towards him.
"Well then, I think it's time this fight comes to an end. You both fought excellently, so I think this match can end in a draw." Makarov told the both of them, something that made Terra simply nod at this, while Natsu looked comically enraged upon hearing this.
"Huh!? But gramps, I can fight even more and kick his ass!" Natsu yelled out, causing Terra to snort at this.
"Oh really?" Terra said with amusement. Natsu turned to him with fists blazing.
"Yeah! I'm still ready to go! Let's fi-" whatever Natsu was going to say ended up interrupted, as a giant hand popped out of nowhere and slapped him onto the ground.
*SMACK!*
The giant hand lifted itself, and only revealed a flattened Natsu on the ground. When Terra saw this, he simply turned is head towards the source. He found that Makarov enlarged his arm and hand, to the point where it could easily smack anyone easily.
"Honestly..." Makarov sighed. When Terra saw this, he simply folded the back of his arms behind his head.
"Well then, fight is over." Terra said while shrugging. It was then he saw a young blue haired girl run up to him and held her arms towards him. It was then her hands glowed with a gentle light. Terra's eyes slightly widened in surprise when he found his wounds healing at a fast rate, and he looked at her with a slightly surprised expression. When his nose smelled her, he looked at her with realization.
"You have a scent of pure and clean air, something that stands above others..." Terra said, causing the girl to look up to him with a surprised expression. It was then Terra gave her a grin. "Ah, you're Grandeeny's child, aren't you?" Terra said to her in realization, causing the girl to smile and nod at him.
"Yes, I am. My name is Wendy Marvell, nice to meet you!" the young Dragon Slayer greeted. Terra then patted Wendy on the head.
"Nice to meet you to. Though, I never knew that Grandeeny had such a young child to teach. Oh well, I guess age doesn't really matter." Terra told her, causing the girl to softly laugh at him. When she finished healing his wounds, she took a step back from him.
"That was amazing Terra-san! I never knew that you could use earth in such a diverse way!" Wendy said to him with admiration, causing Terra to chuckle at her while scratching the back of his head.
"Just call me Terra. And as for earth, it comes in various forms, so it helps." Terra told her. It was then he noticed a young man with spiky black hair walking towards him. When he smelled him, his eyes slightly widened in surprise when he smelled it. Terra then formed a small smirk on his face, as he walked towards him.
"You smell like pure iron...I know who you are. My old man kept ranting on about your father..." Terra told him, causing the other young man to smirk at him.
"Oh? And what does your old man say about him?" the Dragon Slayer asked while he still kept up his smirk.
"He kept ranting on who has the better element, earth or iron. I didn't take his conversations seriously, but after a while, I begun to see the rivalry between such elements. Isn't that right, Gajeel Redfox?" Terra told him, and the two were standing right in front of each other.
"Geehee...Well then, I guess it's up to us to settle this for our old mans, huh?" Gajeel told him, causing Terra to look at him with a challenging look.
"Oh? Whenever I asked my old man who won, he kept bragging on how he's better. Though, I think it's just him exaggerating. But still, maybe it isn't far from the truth." Terra told him, causing a glint to appear in Gajeel's eyes.
"Oh? Maybe your old man is a sore loser..." Gajeel returned. A glint in Terra's eyes appeared as well, and the two butted foreheads against each other. It was then sparks formed between them.
When the others saw this, some of the groaned while some took a step back from the potential fight that could break out.
"Don't tell me they're going to be rivals..." Lucy groaned.
"*Sigh*...this happens with any Dragon Slayer. You shouldn't be surprised at this point..." Cana said while she went back inside while drinking her booze.
"Honestly, aside from Wendy, the Dragon Slayers are always picking a fight..." Carla huffed as she dragged the Sky Dragon Slayer away from the two, while Wendy looked frantic at the upcoming fight.
The two Dragon Slayers kept giving each other a challenging look that isn't willing to back down, but it soon ended when both stomachs growled.
*Growl*
The two Dragon Slayers then kept silent at that, and the air around them just vanished with an awkward silence. The two kept looking at each other in the eyes, before Terra decided to speak up.
"...Food eating contest?" Terra offered.
"...Food eating contest." Gajeel said with a final tone.
This caused all the Fairy Tail members to fault to the side.
[SO ANTICLIMACTIC!] the Fairy Tail members shouted.
(Later)
The Guild now watched with sweat drops as the two Dragon Slayers were now in a food eating contest, something that Natsu even joined in, though they ignored him. The food eating contest ended up with a draw between the three.
"Whew...you're not a bad opponent..." Terra said while patting his stomach.
"Geehee, you're not bad yourself..." Gajeel said while wiping his mouth.
"Heh, don't count me out just yet..." Natsu said while wiping his mouth, causing Terra to look at Natsu with surprise.
"Where did you come from?" Terra asked the Fire Dragon Slayer.
"I've been here the whole time you bastard!" Natsu angrily yelled, but was soon held back by others to prevent another fight coming up.
"Damn it Natsu! We don't need another fight!"
"Aye!"
"Let go of me!"
Terra watched the chaos happening, before he just shrugged while he turned back to the others. "Like I said before, he has a fiery personality." Terra said while jabbing his thumb to Natsu, who exploded in fire and started attacking the Fairy Tail members around in a rampage.
"Pretty much..." Lucy said while giving a tired smile.
"Tch, Salamander makes too much noise..." Gajeel said while looking at Natsu annoyed. Terra just chuckled, a lifted his cup.
"So you've got an impressive Guild here. You already have like four Dragon Slayers gathered in one place." Terra commented.
"Yeah, but having these guys around always stir up trouble..." Cana said while she drank her alcohol.
"I can tell..." Terra said, while he looked around. He gave a small smile as he saw the setting of Fairy Tail. "This place is sure lively. It's like every day here isn't a boring day." Terra commented.
"You can say that again! Like a man!" Elfman roared, before he was settled down by Lisanna.
"Alright alright, settle down." Lisanna told him, before she turned to Terra. "So Terra, what do you plan on doing now after this?" Lisanna asked him curiously.
"Ah, I was thinking..." Terra started, before he was interrupted by Natsu when he ringed his arm around him.
"Isn't it obvious! He's going to join the Fairy Tail Guild! Isn't that right?" Natsu said with an eager smile, but Terra simply sighed while giving a small smile.
"...As much as it sounds good, I was about to say I'm going to go travel on some more." Terra told him, causing Natsu and the others to look at him with surprise.
"What!? Then why did you come here in the first place!? You don't think we're good enough for you!?" Natsu comically angrily asked him, causing Terra to shake his head at him.
"It's not that." Terra said. "I'm honestly flattered that I'm invited to join Fairy Tail's strongest guild. However, I prefer the life of a traveler. I want to explore new lands, meet new people, learn new things. Maybe find my old man where he is at." Terra answered while giving a smile. "To be honest, I'm not really the type to settle in one place. I prefer to travel." Terra answered.
"But you can see places while you're at the guild too you know. Quests can always take you to see places you want to travel to." Natsu reasoned, but Terra shook his head.
"I'd rather be free from the responsibilities of being a guild member." Terra answered, but Natsu just looked a bit annoyed at his reasonings.
"Mmm..." Natsu frowned while folding his arms, but Makarov simply shook his head.
"Stop it Natsu. We have to respect his decision." Makarov told Natsu with a stern tone, causing Natsu to simply give a huff while frowning at Terra. Terra then gave an apologetic smile towards Makarova.
"Sorry about that, but I prefer traveling. As much as this place seems fun and lively, I just can't stay in one place for too long." Terra told Makarova, causing Makarov to nod in understanding at him.
"Oh believe me, I understand that thing myself. After all, Gildarts is always the one always going out and traveling, despite being a Fairy Tail member. He always likes to go out..." Makarov said. When Terra heard that name, he blinked in surprise.
"Gildarts? Oh, I met him." Terra told the Guild Master, causing the others around him to look surprised by this.
"You met my dad!?" Cana said in surprise.
"You've met Gildarts!" Lucy said in surprise.
"Oh, how's he doing!? Is he around so I can fight him!?" Natsu asked eagerly.
The others were about to move on and ask more questions, but Makarova cleared his throat loudly to gain everyone's attention. Once he gained their attention, he all gave them a slightly stern yet patient look towards the Guild members.
"Settle down, settle down. Let Terra here explain what happened." Makarov told the group, causing Terra to give a small thankful smile towards the Guild Master, before he turned towards everyone.
"Well, where to start..." Terra muttered to himself, trying to think we're to being his story. "Ah, I believe I met him about 7 years ago during my travels." Terra stated, causing all of the members to become surprised upon this fact.
"Wait, 7 years ago? Wait, that seven years also coincides with...!" Lucy said with surprise, causing Terra to nod at her.
"Yeah, I heard about the news where the major Fairy Tail members disappeared on Tenrou Island for a good seven years. I believe I was 10 at the time during my travels." Terra said, causing the Fairy Tail members to look at him with surprise.
"Wait, so before we got stuck inside Fairy Sphere, then that means he is way younger than us!" Gray said with surprise.
"Technically speaking, you guys are older than me, even if you were stuck there for seven years." Terra pointed out.
"Well, that is true..." Natsu said while folding his arms, but then leaned forward with a grin. "So anyway, how did you meet Gildarts?" Natsu asked him.
"I believe he was on this 100 Year Job, and he was making his way towards his job location. On the other hand, I was traveling and happened to cross paths with him. But the moment I crossed him, I immediately sensed the immense power that he had." Terra said while having a look of nostalgia on his face. "Well, the moment I met him was the day that I challenged him to a spar." Terra said, causing all the Fairy Tail members to look at him with shock.
"You challenged Gildarts while you were 10!?" Lucy shouted out in surprise.
"Holy crap, you're just as bad as Flame Brain here..." Gray commented.
"Shut up snow man! I remember you challenging him to fights to!" Natsu angrily shouted.
"Who's a snow man, you walking match stick!"
"Ice stripper!"
"Pyromaniac!"
"Both of you be quiet!"
*Bonk!*
Natsu and Gray were soon lying on the table face forwards while having fats lumps on top of their head, while Erza stood there with a stern expression. She then turned to Terra.
"You may continue." Erza told him, causing Terra to shrug upon seeing this.
"...Anyways, long story short, we fought a bit, and he ended up kicking my ass." Terra said while giving a small grin, causing everyone around him to sweat drop upon his casual statement.
"You've admitted it with a smile..." Lucy said while sweat dropping. Terra turned to her with a grin.
"Aye! As expected of Gildarts!" Happy commented while raising his paw into the air.
"Well, I was ten at the time. I couldn't really win regardless. But now with several years of growing up, I think I have a chance..." Terra said absently, causing Lucy to simply sigh upon seeing the common trait of a Dragon Slayer: Fighting.
It was then Terra grinned while raising his cup. "Let's stop focusing on the past for now. Right now, let's enjoy the present." Terra said to everyone.
"Oh! That's right! Everyone, let's throw a party for another arrival of a Dragon Slayer!" Makarov yelled out to everyone, causing everyone to cheer in joy.
'Well this is certainly interesting...' Terra thought with while smiling upon the scene happening before him.
(Outside)
After having a party, "Fairy Tail" style, Terra decided he had enough fun and decided to move on with his travels. Thus, it brought a few members out there to say their goodbyes to him.
"It's kind of sad that you're leaving so soon. You sure you can't stay for a few more days?" Lucy asked with a slightly sad tone.
"I have to agree with Lucy. You're a lot more tolerable than Natsu here." Gray said while jabbing his thumb to Natsu.
"Shut up ice breath! I'll kick your ass for that!" Natsu exclaimed angrily while igniting his fist into flames.
"No fighting you two!" Erza scolded the two, immediately causing the two to sweat and immediately hang their arms over each others shoulders.
"O-Of course we're not fighting..." Gray said while giving a strained smiler.
"W-We're good buddies after all..." Natsu said nervously. This just caused Terra to chuckle upon the sight. It was then he caught Wendy walking up to him while looking sad as well.
"You have to leave so soon Terra?" Wendy asked, causing Terra to nod.
"Of course. How else would we find our parents? One of us has to look for them." Terra told her, causing Wendy to give a sad smile upon this. Terra patted her on the head while giving a small smile.
"Take care of yourself." Terra told her, and then turned to everyone. "Well, thanks for letting me stay here for a while." Terra said while giving a small smile.
"Think nothing of it Terra. Fairy Tail always likes having new people around." Makarov told him while giving a small smile.
"Then I'll be off then. I'm sure I'll visit you guys again for sure. Fairy Tail is a rather fun place to be with..." Terra said as he turned around and was about to walk away.
"Before you go Terra..." Makarov started, causing Terra to pause in his tracks. "There is something I need to tell you." Makarov said, causing Terra to turn his head towards the short elder man. Makarov then gave a serious look towards him.
"Listen Terra. It is nice to learn about the world, meeting new people, and even discovering new things. It truly is the joy of adventuring and wondering. However, no matter how far you travel, no matter where you go...you have to remember that you have a home you have to eventually return to." Makarov told Terra, causing Terra to blink upon his words. It was then Makarov gave Terra a small smile.
"Fairy Tail will gladly be a home for you. Be sure to keep that in mind." Makarov told him. Terra just remained silent upon hearing this, before he gave a small smile and turned back to the path ahead of him.
"...I'll keep that in mind." was all Terra said, before he walked off to the path ahead of him. As he did, everyone started their goodbyes to him.
"Later Terra! Next time, I'll win our fight!"
"Take care Terra!"
"Later Terra!"
"Come back soon Terra!"
"You better come back and settle this Tachikaze!"
"Later everyone! Hopefully we can meet again!" Terra said while waving a goodbye to everyone.
(Back to Reality - Train)
Terra groaned when he felt himself returning back to reality. He rubbed his eyes while his vision began to clear up. When he regained his vision, he soon found himself seeing his travel companions all asleep. Mittelt was leaning against him, Leone was on his other side while leaning against him as well, Shiroe sat on the other side while slumping forward to show he is asleep, and their newest travel member Ragna leaned against the window of the train while asleep.
"Attention passengers, we now arrived at the Nanyo train station. Please pack up your belongings and have a nice day..." an automated voice came from the speakers of the train, and people soon got up from their seats and started getting ready to leave.
Meanwhile, Terra looked outside and soon spotted a booth that sell bentos and snacks. He felt his stomach growl a bit, and then looked towards his still asleep friends. He then stood up from his seat and walked out of the train.
"I'm sure they'll get hungry when they wake up..." Terra muttered to himself.
(Later)
"So..." Mittelt said, as she bit onto some rice from her bento. She then gave a glance at Ragna. "What's your beef with the Old Maou Faction anyway?" Mittelt asked Ragna with a raised eyebrow. When Ragna heard this, he just gave a frown while turning to Terra. All Terra did was just shrug.
"Everyone here pretty much knows your vendetta against the Old Maou. Pretty much it." Terra said while shrugging. When receiving this answer, all Ragna did was sigh at this.
"Well, it's not much of a secret to keep anyway, so I shouldn't even be bothered at this point." Ragna said, before he turned to his gloved arm. "What happened to my arm reminds me of what the Old Maou Faction did to me..."
"Old Maou did to you?" Leone asked curiously. Ragna then took off the long glove off of his arm, and the others gasped upon seeing the sight of his arm.
"What the...!?" Mittelt whispered in surprise.
"Damn..." Leone while looking at the arm.
"...This is troubling indeed." Shiroe said.
Terra said nothing as he looked at the state of Ragna's arm. Almost encompassing up to his shoulder was black as midnight appendage. The skin didn't appear charred or tattooed, but it looked like it was attached there.
"I don't get it. What's wrong with a black arm...?" Yorokobi said while looking confused. Ragna just sighed while just patting the Exceed on the head.
"Well, this is just part of what happened to me." Ragna answered, causing Terra to fold his arms upon this.
"Part of what happened?" Terra asked, causing Ragna to nod at him.
"Yeah, all thanks to that green haired bastard..." Ragna muttered darkly, before he shook his head before any more dark thoughts could come to him. "Anyways, it all started back when I was at the orphanage with other kids. Life was simple and good at the time. We waited around, hoping for someone to adopt us, while at the same time enjoyed being taken care of by our caretaker." Ragna explained while having a distant look on his face.
"I'm getting the feeling that a "but" is coming..." Leone muttered.
"What else do you think?" Ragna pointed out with a deadpanned look. "Life changed that day when an Old Maou faction member appeared out of nowhere, and then proceeded to destroy all of us." Ragna told them all, causing everyone to become silent upon hearing this. It was then Shiroe decided to break out of that silence.
"...For what reason?" Shiroe asked. Ragna narrowed his eyes upon hearing that question.
"...Reason? That bastard didn't need a reason. All he did was laugh upon the destruction he inflicted. It's like he treated us as nothing more than a game." Ragna answered while clenching his fist. "I would've died with them due to him cutting off my arm, but Rabbit happened to save my life and give me a new arm." Ragna said, raising his arm for them to see. The girls grimaced upon the fact, while Terra and Shiroe gave frowns upon the news.
"...I've been meaning to ask..." Mittelt said with a slight hesitant tone. "...Why the hell is your arm black? I mean, I have seen prosthetics in the Underworld that is capable of resembling real life arms to the tee. So why is it black?" Mittelt pointed out. This caused others to raise their eyebrows upon hearing this fact, and turned to Ragna with curiosity. Ragna just gave a sigh upon this.
"I figured you'll notice eventually. However, you guys will have to keep your mouths shut for what I am about to tell you, because this is something that will cause trouble throughout the Three Factions." Ragna warned them, causing them all to nod at this.
"Just was is to special about your arm that will warrant the trouble of the Three Factions?" Mittelt asked with a raised eyebrow, causing Ragna to look at his appendage with a narrow look.
"...This arm of mine is made from the fragment of the most dangerous monster that is recorded within the Bible." Ragna told them, causing them all to blink in surprise upon hearing this.
"The most dangerous monster recorded within the Bible...are you pulling our legs Ragna?" Mittelt asked with a skeptical tone, causing Ragna to shake his head upon this.
"I ain't joking here. This shit here is the real deal." Ragna answered them. It was then Shiroe looked at the arm of Ragna.
"You said that it is made from a fragment from a monster recorded within the Bible. Could it possibly be a fragment of a Leviathan?" Shiroe asked Ragna, but he shook his head.
"Nope. Not even close." Ragna said while shaking his head.
"The Behemoth?" Mittelt tried next, but Ragna shook his head once more.
"You kidding me? That beasts lacks in comparison to what I'm thinking of." Ragna said, causing Mittelt to furrow her eyebrow in frustration.
"Aw c'mon Ragna, don't beat around the bush." Leone said while pouting, while Terra just folded his arms behind his head.
"I honestly didn't read the Bible, so I don't know." Terra said while shrugging, causing Ragna to sigh upon this.
"Well, I can't exactly blame you guys for thinking that way. But there is one monster you never thought of before..." Ragna said ominously, causing everyone to look at Ranga with raised eyebrows.
"And what would that be?" Terra asked curiously. Ragna stayed quiet for a bit, thinking if it is right to tell them. However, he spent little time with this group, and he barely knows them at best. Even if they do seem trustworthy, he cannot allow this type of information to go out.
"...I'll leave that to your imagination." Ragna answered, causing everyone to deflate upon hearing this.
"Oh c'mon! You gave us all this information, yet you still won't tell us!? Dick move Ragna. Dick move..." Mittelt told him while looking highly unamused.
"Trust me, this is for your own good..." Ragna said while folding his arms. But he grunted while looking at them. "Look, all I can tell you is that his arm of mine has a dangerous power. Even though it lacks, it still deserves the proper name. It's called the Apocalypse Grimoire." Ragna told them, causing the group to raise an eyebrow upon the name.
"Apocalypse Grimoire...? Even I haven't heard of such a grimoire before..." Shiroe said, but then looked at Ragna's arm. "Why is your arm called a grimoire then? Why not an armament or gauntlet?" Shiroe asked, causing Ragna to sigh.
"When I asked Rabbit that question, all she told me was that my arm is considered a grimoire due to the vast array of potential magic, spells, and forbidden knowledge that is possesses. Thus, calling it a grimoire." Ragna answered, causing the others to go "oh" upon this.
"Huh, well, at least it gave your arm an interesting name..." Terra commented. "Anyways, it's Ragna's own decision whether or not he can share it with us. It's understandable." Terra said while nodding in understanding.
"Right!" Yorokobi cried out while raising his paw into the air.
"Damn, and we were just getting to the good part..." Mittelt huffed while folding her arms.
"Ah well, we'll figure it out sooner or later. Stick more with this group, the more likely you'll break under it." Leone said with a sure tone.
"For some reason, that gives me unease about this..." Ragna muttered.
"It's pretty much will be like this from now on..." Shiroe commented while giving Ragna some words of warning.
"That even makes me even more uneasy..." Ragna muttered. It was then Yorokobi gave Ragna a curious look.
"So who was the bad guy who did it?" Yorokobi asked, causing the others to flinch upon the question.
"Urm, Yorokobi, I don't think that's an appropriate topic..." Leone said while giving a small apologetic smile towards Ragna. However, Ragna just sighed at the feline.
"Don't worry about it. The little guy barely doesn't know about discreet. Besides, I'll answer that question anyways." Ragna told them, before he narrowed his eyes upon the question.
"The Devil who brought shit to my life is Yuuki Terumi Mammon." Ragna answered, causing the others to gasp in surprise upon this, except for Terra who sat there with a raised eyebrow.
"Who?" Terra asked with a confused tone, causing Mittelt to turn to him in surprise.
"How could you not know about him Terra!? It's like...oh...wait..." Mittelt broke out of her surprise when she realized something, and then proceeded to palm her face. "That's right, you're from another world. Of course you wouldn't know these type of things." Mittelt said while sighing.
"Well, we can't exactly blame him, can we?" Shiroe said, before turning to Terra. "Basically, the Devils at a time had powerful rulers who were considered the incarnation of seven deadly sins, each powerful in their own right. There is Lucifer, Beelzebub, Satan, Leviathan, Mammon, Belphegor, and Asmodeus. Even the descendants of the original rulers a powerful in their own rights as well. So we're surprised to hear that a descendant of Mammon is involved." Shiroe explained to Terra, causing the Dragon Slayer to go "oh" upon this.
"Oh, I see..." Terra said while scratching his cheek.
"And that's his reaction towards a descendant of a Maou. Of course..." Mittelt sighed. "Honestly, there isn't much people that can surprise or make Terra freak out by this point. Hell, I bet God wouldn't so much as faze this guy." Mittelt said while sighing, causing Ragna to grunt a little in pain. When Mittelt noticed this, she gave a half apologetic smile.
"Oh, sorry about that. Forgot you're a Damphir." Mittelt apoligized.
"It's nothing..." Ragna said while sighing. "Besides, this is nothing compared to back then." Ragna muttered underneath his breath. It was then Shiroe cleared his throat a little, gaining Ragna's attention.
"So your sole reason for vengeance is against Terumi?" Shiroe asked, causing Ragna to silently nod at him. Shiroe closed his eyes for a few moments, before looking at Ragna with a patient look.
"Ragna...I won't stop or talk down upon your desire for vengeance. I find that natural for everyone. However Ragna, I need advise you to not let your hatred overcome your judgement. Tou-san has told me that those who are driven by those kinds of feelings usually don't end well." Shiroe warned him, causing Ragna to grunt at him while folding his arms.
"I'll keep that in mind. Rabbit sometimes tells me that as well, but your advice has less insults in it." Ragna told the Half-God, causing Shiroe to sweat drop at him.
'Just what type of relationship does he have with Rachel...?' Shiroe thought.
(Yamagata - Train Station)
After a few more hours sitting around in the train, the group soon arrived at their intended destination, and they soon walked off of the train.
"Yosh, here we are." Terra said while pounding his fist against his palm. "Let's hope if I can find some form of clue or at least something about my old man." Terra said as he walked forward.
"Here we go again..." Mittelt said lazily as she followed after Terra.
"Well this is a nice city to explore." Leone followed after the two.
"I want sweets after this!" Yorokobi yelled excitedly.
"With the information Rachel gave us, it's quite vague at best. We don't have much of a direction here, but she last found it in a forest nearby. I suppose we should start from there." Shiroe said.
"Sounds like a start." Ragna agreed as he walked along with the group.
As the group walked off to their intended location, a certain person on top of a building was watching them with a raised eyebrow.
"Hm...so that is their aim. Well, whoever Terra must be finding must be someone important to him." Joshua commented while looking intrigued upon this. He then spread his wings and started to go up into the air. "Well then, let's see where this will take us." Joshua muttered with an interested tone as he flew into the air.
(Somewhere else)
"Ah~! This is a nice breeze..." a feminine voice said as she sat atop of a rock near a small waterfall. "Really now, the more I see the world around me, the more it's interesting. But that is not the case for me!" a female voice said with a resolute tone.
"I am here to bring peace and justice to all! Sadly though, there isn't that much conflict to go around. I suppose that's a good thing..." the female voice said with a slightly down tone.
"Ah! Don't be like that!" said another voice. "Remember! This world is vast! It is infinite with adventures and wonders! It's an infinite treasure trove for us to explore!" another person said with an optimistic tone.
"If you say so..." said a feminine voice. "Now then, let's see what we can find around here. Who knows? I might run into Terra-kun here. God knows where that adventure hungry guy is at the moment."
(Another location)
Near the entrance of the forest of Yamagata sprung forth a magic circle. The magic circle glowed for a bit, until a person came out and walked out of it. The person looked around the surroundings, and merely gave a sigh.
"I'm here I guess." the voice said with a blank tone, before the person shook her head. "I honestly don't see any point to this. Even if I do manage to convince the Dragon Slayer to join my Peerage, it isn't going to change my family's status to those people." the person said while a bit of venom leaked into "those people".
"After all, those people only care about pure bloods. Not even a Dragon Slayer will change anything. Not even if he managed to heavily injure Sairaorg." the voice muttered to herself, before she shook her head.
"I don't have anything to lose at this point. Instead, I should just enjoy my time here out in the human world. I'm sure they won't miss my presence..." the person said to herself as she walked forth into the forest.
(Yamagata's Forest)
The group decided that they'll split up to cover more ground. Ragna decided to go lone wolf once more to search for clues, but Terra disagreed as he held his Exceed towards him while saying "It's dangerous to go alone. Take him with you." Terra told him, which caused Ragna to complain upon this. However, he caved in as he saw Yorokobi's "puppy eye" look, thus making Ragna having the feline ride on his shoulder.
Upon Shiroe's suggestions, Terra agreed that both Mittelt and Leone will go together due to the Fallen Angel having an aerial view, while Leone's enhanced senses can find something hidden. Terra and Shiroe decided to team up due to the fact that Terra's senses are strong, and Shiroe's knowledge is needed. Instinct and knowledge go hand in hand together.
As the two walked, Shiroe turned to Terra with a raised eyebrow.
"Terra, do you mind if I ask something?" Shiroe asked Terra, causing Terra to turn towards him while walking.
"What is it?"
"Don't you find this sort of coincidence with Rachel finding that cloth too convenient? I've been thinking about it, and I've begun to notice some form of pattern here. You first told me that your detected your father's scent at Kyoto, learned some form of clue from tou-san, smelled your father's scent once more at Tsuruga, and receive a clue from Rachel at Tokyo. While the previous clues are fine, the one thing that sort of bothers me is Rachel Alucard alone." Shiroe said while adjusting his glasses.
"You think so, huh?" Terra said, while he folded his arms while thinking. "To be honest, I'm surprised too by this sort of coincidence. I mean, Rachel is the closest relation to Dracula himself, so someone of her high status doesn't necessarily do anything meaningless. And that fact that she approached me is something I'm a bit confused at."
"Yes. Normally, Vampires stay in the shadows of the world, not wanting to associate with humans other than their blood. But for her to approach us must mean something. It's a hypothesis, but there is a possibility that Rachel is connected with your father." Shiroe suggested, causing Terra to hum in thought about it.
"Well, yeah, now that I think about it, all she did was approach us and give me this without explaining any reason why she gave it to us. But at the same time, my old man is someone who normally isolates himself from anyone, with the exception of me." Terra said, but narrowed his eyes upon something. "But considering his actions as of late, I'm just sorely confused by now." Terra said while scratching his hair in frustrated confusion.
"Considering what we have right now, we still don't have much of a direction. However, the progress we've been making has been better, so it is something we should take for the best." Shiroe said while nodding.
"Beggars can't be choosers, so yeah, I agree with you." Terra said, before he looked around the forest. He sniffed the air around him, before he shook his head upon sensing nothing. "Nothing, huh? Well, we got to keep moving forward and keep searching for some clues." Terra said, as he walked forth.
(Another Location)
"*Sniff*...*Sniff*...Wait a moment...I smell something!" a feminine voice said with realization.
"Oh? What is it? Is it food? Cause I'm getting hungry..."
"No! This...This smells like demons!" the feminine voice said with alarm.
(With Mittelt and Leone)
"Why do I have to travel with you..." Mittelt grumbled, still a bit irked that she isn't paired with Terra yet again. This time, she is stuck with Leone and he went with Shiroe, and Ragna has Yorokobi with him. It was bad enough that she had to stay separate from Terra in both Kyoto, Chino, Tsuruga, and Tokyo, but this searching thing happening once more? It seriously started to grate on her nerves.
"Aw, what's wrong? Jelly?" Leone asked playfully, causing Mittelt to comically scowl at her.
"Quiet you big breast bimbo!" Mittelt angrily said to her, causing Leone to chuckle at her.
"Ouch, you're going to hurt my feelings. I wonder what Terra would say about that..." Leone said, teasing her once more.
"He would certainly say that you should stop your teasing!" Mittelt exclaimed at her, causing Leone to pout at her.
"Oh pooh, way to ruin my fun." Leone said, before she sighed while giving Mittelt a knowing look. "Seriously though, your thing for Terra is pretty obvious, and it's kind of painful to watch how he is just oblivious to this sort of thing." Leone said with a tired smile.
"I know that feeling all too well..." Mittelt said while her eyebrows twitched. "Seriously, all these advancements from us, and he hasn't so much as shown a single amount of interest. Well, I suppose him being non-perverted is both a good and bad thing." Mittelt said while sulking a bit. This caused Leone to chuckle at her.
"Ain't that the truth?" Leone agreed, before she turned to Leone with a curious look. "By the way, what made you like Terra in the first place?" Leone asked her, causing Mittelt to look at her with surprise.
"Why are you asking that?" Mittelt asked in surprise, causing Leone to shrug at this.
"I don't know. I'm just curious to see how you like Terra and all." Leone said. Mittelt at first became silent, pondering whether or not she should tell her love rival the details. But after considering how she and Leone had a one-sided love-hate relationship, Leone is probably the closest female friend she ever got. Kalawarner doesn't count, considering she is just a good work buddy. Raynare acted like a bitch, but at least she acted as sort of a friend towards her, but not as good.
She decided to just go with it and tell her.
"When I first met him, we didn't even know each other." Mittelt started, while she gazed off into another direction, not wanting to look Leone in the eye.
"I mean, I did try to kill him and all that. But after him beating my ass multiple times, I just gave up. And then after some time, he looked out for me as if he was concerned for my well being, despite the fact that me and my comrades tried to kill him. He was so considerate towards me and my comrades that he didn't care about the past. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be standing here right now. Probably killed off by Gremory's Destruction Magic." Mittelt said with a bitter smile, causing Leone to look at her with a bit of worry. Mittelt continued her story.
"He considered me his friend after all we went through. I was honestly touched and surprised to see how Terra just reaches out to me despite what happened. I guess I couldn't be helped but be drawn and close to him after that, seeing how his kind yet idiotic heart reached out to me. In the end, I find myself having a crush on him. That's the end of story." Mittelt finished, causing Leone to look at her with a bit of surprise.
"So that's how you fell for him? Wow..." Leone said while a bit amazed to hear such a thing. Mittelt sighed while shaking her head.
"Yeah..." Mittelt said while giving a small smile, before she turned to Leone with a raised eyebrow.
"Well then, why do you like Terra then?" Mittelt asked the youkai, causing Leone to raise an eyebrow at her.
"I'm sorry?" Leone said, a bit surprised by the question. Mittelt just looked a bit annoyed by the response.
"Hey, you asked for my feelings towards Terra, now it's your turn." Mittelt told her, causing Leone to look at Mittelt for a bit, before she went into a chuckle.
"Well, I guess fair is fair." Leone said while smiling while folding her arms behind her head. "Well, it first started off with some physical attraction of him being cute." Leone started, causing Mittelt to give her a flat look. When Leone saw the expression, all she did was grin at it.
"Oh don't give me that. What's wrong with taking an interest in guys and flirting with a cute one?" Leone pointed out, causing Mittelt to grumble while turning away from her.
"It doesn't help that the person happens to be my crush..." Mittelt huffed, causing Leone to laugh a bit at it. "So what, you're just physically attracted to Terra then?" Mittelt asked with a raised eyebrow. Leone just gazed off into the distance.
"Well, yeah, at first." Leone said, before she sighed while shaking her head. "But things change when I started to travel with Terra." Leone said, causing Mittelt to look at her with a curious expression.
"After traveling with Terra for a while, I learned a lot about him in the short amount of time I had with him. I was impressed by his heroic acts, always choosing to take action and wanting no reward in return. Well, except for food." Leone pointed out, causing Mittelt to snort upon the fact. They knew very well how big Terra's appetite is.
"But there is more to Terra than his positive qualities. Underneath those qualities are burdens he has to carry." Leone said, causing Mittelt to raise an eyebrow upon the mention of burdens.
"Burdens?" Mittelt asked with a confused tone.
"Yeah. Underneath all that smile is...I'm not really sure how to put this, but a type of burden that he has to carry, but is fine carrying it. I don't really know how to describe it, but I can say he felt sadness in the past. Just seeing that sort of thing just makes me want to stand there and comfort him." Leone explained to her while grinning. "I guess it's safe to say that I just want to be there for Terra."
When Mittelt heard her reasoning, all she did was huff at it. "Damn, and here I thought I had the higher ground in liking Terra..." Mittelt muttered. However, Leone heard it with her ears and just patted her on the head.
"Well, considering the time you didn't really have with Terra, I suppose it's fair for you to have a turn." Leone told Mittelt, causing the girl to turn to her surprised.
"W-What?" Mittelt asked with surprise. It was then Leone gave a sly smirk.
"You should have your turn. I mean, competition ain't fun if there isn't anyone to compete with." Leone told her with a knowing tone, causing Mittelt to scowl upon this.
"You..." Mittelt said to her while indigently glaring at her. "Don't think you're ahead of the game! I still have to beat your ass and your dumb breasts!" Mittelt exclaimed to her, causing Leone to chuckle at her.
"If you say so..." Leone said playfully, before she sighed while giving a genuine smile at her. "Seriously though, I feel kind of bad on how far you are from Terra. So I'm going to be fair and allow you to have some time with Terra." Leone told her, causing Mittelt to blink upon seeing the genuine words of Leone. Mittelt just stared at her for a while, before she looked away with a huff.
"...Thanks." Mittelt muttered, before she folded her arms. "But that doesn't mean I'll go soft on you for Terra just because of this!" Mittelt added at the last minute, causing Leone to smile at her.
"I wouldn't have it any other way."
(With Ragna)
"You know, my original agenda is to search for the Old Maou Faction. Instead, I'm trying to find a giant lizard instead..." Ragna muttered to himself, making his way through the forest while Yorokobi is riding on his shoulder. "What a twist in my messed up life..." Ragna muttered to himself. It was then Yorokobi tilted his head at Ragna.
"Why is you life twisted? Oh! Does it invovle pretzels?" Yorokobi asked eagerly, breaking Ragna out of brooding and turn towards him with a raised eyebrow, before he just broke into a small chuckle.
"It ain't like that little guy. Forget what I said earlier." Ragna told the Exceed, causing the feline to simply nod at him while smiling. Ragna just sighed as he continued walking on while looking around.
"Even if I wasn't looking for the dragon and searching for them, I wouldn't have much progress. And considering Terra is a trouble magnet, it increases my chances of finding them. Damn, that leaves a bad taste in my mouth..." Ragna muttered to himself, still disliking the fact that he is indirectly using Terra to find his targets.
"Bad tastes?" Yorokobi asked with a confused tone, causing Ragna to shake his head.
"It's nothing." Ragna told the cat, before he looked up into the air. "Hey, you think you can fly me..." Ragna was about to suggest having the Exceed fly him up into the air, but his ears soon picked up on something.
*Rustle*
He heard a faint rustling noise, and heard footsteps being made around the area. He immediately went into alarm while summoning his Blood Scythe, preparing for whatever it is to come. The noise kept getting louder and louder, and it appeared out of the bushes. And when Ragna saw it, all he did was blink at it.
"Oh, it's just a rabbit..." Ragna muttered as he lowered his weapon, seeing a rabbit appear out of the bush. The rabbit looked around, and then hopped away, goin into the bushes. After seeing it, all Ragna did was sigh.
"Well that's that. Damn, and I was worried for nothing." Ragna said as he palmed his face. It was then he felt a tap on the side of his neck, recognizing Yorokobi tapping him.
"Hey Ragna...what's that big thing behind us?" Yorokobi asked with a confused tone. As soon as Ragna heard that, he slowly turned around to see what was behind him. And when he saw it...
"...Aw shit."
(With Terra and Shiroe)
Terra sighed as he folded back of his arms behind his head, walking further in the forest with Shiroe following from behind.
"Well, not a single clue to be found. The only other thing is just the clothe Rachel found. Maybe that's the best clue we can only get in this area." Terra said while looking at the sky.
"It would seem so." Shiroe agreed. "Considering that we've spread out and found nothing as of yet, I suppose it is time to move onto another location." Shiroe advised, causing Terra to nod at him.
"Sounds like an idea-" Terra said, but was soon cut off when a particular scent entered his nose. He blinked a few more times, before he turned to another direction suddenly. When Shiroe noticed this, he immediately focused.
"What is it? Did you find your father's scent?" Shiroe asked him, causing Terra to shake his head.
"None. Instead, I'm smelling something. It smells like pure fire and sulfur in the air..." Terra muttered, before he narrowed his eyes. "Shiroe, there might be a fire in this area. Let's go!" Terra told his Half-God companion as he immediately went into a sprint. Shiroe was surprised by Terra's sudden action, but soon ran after him.
"Wait up! I can't run as fast as you!" Shiroe cried out to him, but Terra didn't hear him as he kept running forth towards the source.
'Whatever it is, smelling fire and sulfur in this forest usually means something major is happening. The scent is too heavy!' Terra thought as he kept running forward.
Hopping through the trees and easily going through the terrain of the land, he soon jumped from a highly elevated land platform to an area near the river. He looked around his surroundings, and sniffed the air. He raised an eyebrow when he smelled the scent of fire and sulfur heavier in the air. In fact, the scent was getting stronger and stronger...
That is when he sprung into his instincts.
"Earth Dragon's Pillar" Terra slammed his fist onto the ground, summoning forth a pillar of earth to pop out of the ground and slam onto whatever was coming towards him. Terra felt the impact, and turned to see what he hit.
He blinked on what he attacked. The target is appeared to be some dog-like creature. It was large as a car, and it had brown fur. But the most distinctive features about it was the fact that it was blood stained all over.
The dog was sent flying to the air and then slammed onto the ground. The monster growled as it stood back up again, and turned to face Terra once more. The dog-like creature growled, and then gave a roar as it charged towards Terra. Terra raised his fist and move forward as well. The two closed in on each other, and the monster attempted to pounce Terra with its claws and mouth. However, Terra saw this coming.
"Fist of the Earth Dragon." Terra's arms became coated with stone. Terra immediately moved to the side at the last possible moment, and then used his arm to grab the dog-like monster by the throat. He heard choking noises from the monster, but Terra ignored it as he picked the large beast into the air and then proceeded to slam it onto the ground rather hard, causing cracks to appear.
The force seemed to damage the dog a lot, as the monster gave out a breath of pain before collapsing unconscious. Terra raised an eyebrow at the monster.
"I've encountered plenty of monsters back at Earthland, but this one just stands out from others..." Terra muttered to himself. "It's not a Devil, nor a youkai. It doesn't have a scent. Instead, it's something completely different compared to all the others." Terra said to himself.
Before he could ponder any further, he heard rapid footsteps making its way towards him. He immediately stood up to see who it was, and blinked upon seeing who it was.
It was a person who ran with speeds faster than human. The person also appeared to be a woman, judging by her appearance. But her appearance was something else. She was a young woman of average height with white skin, crimson eyes, and slender arms. She has long silver hair that reached down to her waist. She also wears a hair clip in her hair. She also had a rather curvaceous figure, with a large bust and slim waist. She wore blue light armor, with her red and violet skirts over the belly line. In her armor, she is also equipped with her mini cape.
The woman before him stopped near the other side of the river, and stopped in surprise upon seeing the sight of him and the downed monster. Terra, on there other hand, raised an eyebrow at the appearance of this woman. Not out of her appearance, but out of the curiosity of what she is doing here.
"...It seems you already have taken care of the Garmr." the woman commented, causing Terra to raise an eyebrow at the name.
"Garmr? You mean this guy?" Terra asked as he pointed at the down figure. The woman nodded, before she smiled at him.
"Indeed. It's not everyday that someone of Midgard can fight and defeat a Garmr." the woman said while nodding.
"Midgard?" Terra asked, being confused once more. When she noticed his confusion, all she did was give a small laugh.
"It seems you do not know of the mythology you're encountering. Well, I suppose its understandable, since we are in Japanese lands." the woman said with understanding. Hearing this, Terra just titled his head at her.
"...So who exactly are you?" Terra asked the woman. All the woman did was smile confidently at him.
"I am Eleonora Viltaria. A Valkyrie of Norse mythology. It's nice to meet you."
And here is the beginning of the Yamagata Arc! And this Arc will revolved around Norse Mythology!
And to answer your questions, Terra met the Fairy Tail Guild after the 7-year time skip. So before he met the guild, he was ten years old at the time. He's a lot like Sting and Rogue, who were both young Dragon Slayers before the 7-year time skip.
And another thing. This is the most imagination heavy story arc I ever done, I was I just pouring out with ideas for this arc. I was typing so much on my keyboard for 30 minutes straight without a break. So suffice to say, I had fun while writing this. The next chapter is actually well ahead in development, so it might be updated earlier than usual. Can't hold any promises though.
(About Ragna)
There, I finally made up a background for Ragna, so all of you can understand how Ragna stands in the DxD-verse.
Also, I have changed the Azure Grimoire to the Apocalypse Grimoire to make it fit in with the DxD-verse. I gave you guys plenty of clues on what the fragment of the monster that Ragna has. I think it's pretty obvious.
If you guys figured it out, then let me explain. Despite the Black Beast resembling the Yamato-No-Orochi, I felt that it was kind of out of place, what with the whole activation code of "Restriction 666 released..." sort of thing. So I figured, hey, why not make that fragment that beast? Like I said before, the fragment Ragna has is merely a fragment of the monster's power. He won't be OP because of said power from the monster. More like having him rival High Class Devils or something like that.
(The Girl Talk)
I thought it would be a rather good time to show the relationship between Mittelt and Leone. They show that despite their squabbles over Terra, they both share a good relationship. I also wanted to show some detail on their feelings for Terra, as I felt it would be good for the story.
(Eleonora)
If you found out who Eleonora is, and what series she is from, you get a cyber cookie. For those who don't know, she is from a Light Novel and recent anime series called Madan ou to Vanadis. It's a rather interesting fantasy anime, with the right harem and romance elements IMO. In any case, Eleonora is a Valkyrie in the DxD-verse. Have fun with the connections between the two series.
(Mysterious Characters)
There are three more mysterious figures that have entered the mess as well. Who would it possibly be?
Let's see, the first one is a girl who entered the forest alone while mentioning about a Peerage. The other is a set of two people, with one of them knowing Terra. What could that possibly mean?
Find out next chapter!
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