It was only Issei and Rias inside the clubroom. It has been a day since the defeat of Raynare and her comrades and Asia joined Rias' peerage as her bishop
"Issei how's your wounds?" Rias asked
Issei smiled and patted his legs "It's all healed thank to Asia"
Rias gave a smile of relief and happiness "I see... That girl's abilities are really useful"
Issei looked at his left arm "To think that I have a sacred gear that has the power to defeat god"
Issei was happy that he had such an amazing power but a frown made its way up to his face
"Buchou"
"What is it Issei?"
"You said that if someone becomes a high class devil they receive fifteen evil pieces right?" Issei asked
"Yes"
"And you also said that the evil piece system is based on the game of chess right?"
"Yes"
Issei hung his head a little "So does that mean that there will be 7 other pawns besides me?"
Rias looked at Issei with a small smile "Yes there will be another pawn besides you but only one"
"Huh? Who? And why only one? I thought there were 8 pawns in a chess board," Issei asked
"I told you already before that you took 7 pieces" Rias said reminding Issei on one of their lessons about evil pieces before "and I have one pawn piece left and that pawn piece is special and it's reserved for someone"
"Who?"
"Desmond, but I don't think he will accept anytime soon so as of now" Rias walked over to Issei and hugged him from behind "Issei is my one and only pawn "
Issei blushed because the way Rias said it was like 'Issei is the only one for me' or something similar to a love confession.
"Besides our matching is also great since its crimson and red, "Crimson-Hair Ruin-Princess" and [Boosted Gear]. Ise, first of all, aim to become the strongest [Pawn]. If it's you, you can definitely do it. After all, you are my adorable servant."
Then Rias' face slowly inched closer to his forehead and her lips touched Issei's forehead.
"This is a good luck charm. Get stronger." She said to Issei who was blushing deeply
"I probably should stop adoring you here. The new girl might get jealous of me." Rias said, letting Issei go from the hug while Issei looked at her with a confused expression.
"I-Ise-san…?"
Voice came from behind Issei making him look behind and he saw Asia, who was forcing a smile to appear on her face.
"A-Asia?"
"It has to be… R-Rias-buchou is very beautiful, so even Ise-san will also like her… No, no. I can't think like that! Oh, lord. Please forgive my sinful heart." Asia started praying but she suddenly felt a head-splitting headache
"I have a headache." She said while clutching her head in pain
"Of course. If a Devil makes a prayer to God, of course you will receive damage." Rias says that normally.
"Uuuh, that's right. I turned into a Devil. I can't face God anymore." Asia said a bit sad that she couldn't pray anymore
"Do you regret it?" Rias asks Asia who shakes her head in response
"No, thank you very much. No matter what situation I am in, I'm happy as long as I am with Ise-san." Asia said while giving an innocent smile while Issei blushed at what she said.
Then Issei looked at Asia's clothes. It wasn't her usual nun clothes but it was the uniform for female students of Kuoh.
"Asia, that uniform…"
"D-Does it suits me…?" Asia asked shyly
"I decided to make Asia attend our school. Since she is about the same age as you, she's also in 2nd year. I also made her in the same class as you. Today will be her first day, so make sure to look after her." Rias informed Issei who was jumping with joy inside his mind
"Kukuku...When I introduce Asia to Matsuda and Motohama I'm sure they will die with jealousy... Hahaha I can't stop thinking about it" Issei thought imagining the looks on his perverted friend's faces.
"I will be in your care, Ise-san." Asia bows her head.
Then the members of the club suddenly arrived
"Ara, Good morning, Buchou, Ise-kun, Asia-san."
"…Good morning Buchou, Ise-senpai, Asia-senpai."
"How are you all doing, Buchou, Ise-kun, Asia-chan?"
Akeno, Koneko and Kiba greeted them. Rias and Issei looked around and noticed that Desmond wasn't there.
"Are? Where's Desmond?" Issei asked.
No one answered because no one has seen Desmond after he fought with Dohnaseek. Akeno searched for him at his apartment but no one was there.
Then, as if on cue, a black cartoonish bat entered the room. All the members looked at it curiously.
"What's that?" Asia asked
[Poof!]
With a poof, the bat was surrounded by smoke and when the smoke cleared out the bat was no longer there. Instead there was a boy, who looked no older than 13, with black hair and white bangs. The boy had red eyes with silted pupils and he was wearing a butler like outfit.
"Who are you?" Rias asked the boy "And who sent you here?"
The boy looked at Rias with his red eyes "Hello my name is Kou and I am Desmond-sama's familiar. He sent me here to deliver a message for you Rias-sama" Kou explained his reason for being here.
Kou took out a yellow envelope with the wax seal of the House of Hunter and handed it to Rias.
Rias read the letter out loud
Dear Rias-buchou
I will be gone for a few days because I have to discuss the information that we found out to my family and it is not something that my family and I can do on the phone. Therefore, my familiar will be filling in for my absence.
Sincerely yours,
Desmond Hunter
After the message was done, everyone was silent
"I see" was all Rias could say
"And as you heard from my master, I will be staying with all of you until he returns so let's all get along" Kou bowed while the members just smiled in response
"Well it can't be helped" Rias said "Since everyone is here let's start the party" she said while making a big cake appear on the table
"It might be good sometimes to gather in the morning to do these kinds of things, right? S-since we got new members, I made some cake, so let's eat it together." Rias says it shyly.
The Occult Research club started eating while happily chatting with each other.
She turned to Kou "You can eat with us if you like"
"I would be glad to" the young boy said before joining the ORC on eating the cake
+ + + to where Desmond was + + +
Desmond was now on the forest located on the outskirts of town. He was wearing his assassin clothes.
"Hmmm... It seems Kou already did what I instructed" Desmond muttered to himself before a smile made its way to his face
"Now to go back to the estate" Desmond reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a black card with some kind of magic circle.
"Mt. Sabers" Desmond murmured and as he did, the card started to glow brightly. The glow slowly started enveloping Desmond's body.
When the light died down Desmond was nowhere to be seen
+ + + + +AT THE Mt. SABERS+ + + + +
In front of the gigantic gates of the Hunter Estate, which was located on the bottom of Mt. Sabers, Desmond suddenly appeared in a flash of bright light
Mt. Sabers was a huge mountain owned by the House of Hunter. The castle of the House of Hunter is found at the very top of the mountain but no one, other than the people allied with the House of Hunter, were able to see the castle
Desmond walked near the gigantic gates and pushed it open with ease. The gates to the territory of the House of Hunter enchanted so only those who are members of the House of Hunter, and those the whom the family allow, will be able to enter.
"This is going to be a pain in the ass to climb" Desmond muttered as he looked at the path, which leads up to the castle
Desmond couldn't transform into a bat because of the poisoned wound, which he received from fighting with Dohnaseek. The poison that was in the spear of darkness that Dohnaseek used was strong and his energy is spent on healing his wound and removing the poison from it so he won't be able to use his vampire abilities for a while.
Desmond sighed deeply before slowly walking towards the castle
+ + + + BREAK + + + +
After walking for who knows how long, Desmond finally reached the castle
Upon arriving, he immediately sees a maid waiting for him in front of the mansion doors
"Welcome back Master Desmond" The maid said while bowing slightly
"Hannah what did I say about calling me master?" Desmond asked the maid, now identified as Hannah.
Hannah is a grown woman with a curvaceous figure. She has light-brown skin and navy blue eyes, and she is wearing a light purple lipstick. She has pale lavender hair, which extends to her knees; the bottom half of her hair was braided and tied using an indigo ribbon. She was wearing a customary maid outfit which consists of a long-sleeved indigo dress and a white apron, white stockings and dark brown Mary Janes and a maid headband.
"To not to call you master" Hannah answered while looking down a bit "But—"she was cut off by Desmond
"No buts Hannah... You are to call me by my given name, okay?" Desmond said
"H-hai" Hannah finally answered
"Is mother, father, or any of my sister's home?" Desmond asked Hannah
Hannah shook her head "None of them are home... All of them are doing their missions and they are going to return here later for the meeting that you requested"
"What time is the meeting?"
"At midnight" Hannah answered
"I see... I'm going to my room and will be in there until its already time for the meeting" Desmond said while entering the mansion
"Should I bring tea?"
"Yes that would be appreciated" Desmond answered
"I shall bring them to your room shortly"
Desmond gave a small smile to Hannah before making his way to his room.
+ + + + + BREAK + + + + +
The castle owned by the Hunter Family was divided into four wings.
The north wing was owned by the head of the house, which were the father and mother of the Hunter siblings.
The east wing was owned by the female siblings.
The south wing was for the head butler and head maid of the house
The center of the castle was used for gatherings or meetings with those who are allied or friends with the House of Hunter
The west wing was owned by Desmond
The whole west wing was his.
It has its own library, 9 guest bedrooms, office, meeting area, a huge bath located at the second basement floor and training area at the first basement floor.
Desmond's room was located at the third floor
Inside of Desmond's room was a king sized bed, a huge closet, a 52 inch plasma TV complete with various gaming consoles, a cabinet full of video games, 6 screened monitor gaming pc and a book shelf
Even if he denied it a lot of times already, Desmond was without a doubt a gaming otaku
But right now he wasn't doing anything at all… He was just laying on his bed thinking about how his live had been before he was taken in by the house of Hunter.
His life was a personal version of hell itself.
He was used as a test subject for an organization headed by probably the worst kind of being in the whole world
He was tortured and experimented on. Various chemicals that could've been poisonous and deadly were injected into his body. He also had to endure the pain of multiple operations done to him.
Desmond thought that he was going to die every time they did something to him but his vampire blood kept him alive.
He could've fought back but his sister was held hostage so that Desmond wouldn't put up a fight...
The kids from the orphanage where he was raised also endured the same treatment as Desmond. But unlike him, they were normal humans... Desmond could only watch them die one after another.
But his sister decided that enough was enough. One night when all the strong members of the organization were out, Desmond and his sister did their escape.
They managed to get out of the facility alive but the fallen angel leader of the organization returned and stopped them.
In order for Desmond to escape, his sister stayed behind and held off the fallen angel just long enough for Desmond to escape but she died in the process.
Now that his sister was dead, Desmond roamed around Europe for months. Having to steal money, food and clothes to survive and since he was already 8 years old, his vampire blood was already awakened, unlike when he was still younger his vampire blood was still dormant, he would sometimes kill a wild animal and suck its blood so he could survive.
All vampires need blood in order to live. Let it be pure blooded vampires or half breeds like Desmond.
After a few months of wondering around in Europe, he was found by the Head of the House of Hunter wondering in the territory of the House of Hunter.
He was adopted into the House of Hunter and was trained into becoming one of the deadliest assassins in the supernatural world.
As Desmond kept on thinking about his life as a test subject, he feels like something was missing. .. Something important...
"I'm forgetting something but what?"
He keeps on replaying back his memories, even though it was painful to remember, and tried to find what was missing. ..
But no matter how hard he tries, Desmond couldn't find it at all...
It was like someone stole an important chunk of his memories but why did he only notice now?
*Knock*Knock*
His train of thoughts was stopped abruptly when he heard someone knock on the door
"Come in"
The door slowly opened and revealed Hannah, pushing a cart with a tea set.
"Desmond-sama your tea is ready" Hannah informed
"Yeah... Thanks"
Hannah pushed the cart towards the side of Desmond's bed.
She poured him a cup of tea and handed it to him.
Desmond took a sip of his tea.
"Hmmm. ... It's not as good as Akeno's tea but still good"
As he was drinking his cup of tea, he noticed Hannah looking around his room
"That's strange. ... usually he would be playing his games whenever he's here but he doesn't seem to be playing" Hannah thought as she was looking around.
It would be strange for anyone who had been with Desmond for a long time to not see him play any video games since it was one of the few things that he really enjoys doing...
"Is there something wrong Hannah?" Desmond asked her with a concerned tone.
Hannah snapped out of her thoughts and shook her head "It's nothing to be concerned about" she assured "It's just that... I'm a bit surprised that you're not playing video games" she explained
Desmond raised an eyebrow before realizing what she meant.
Whenever he was not doing any missions or wasn't busy with his job, he was either seen playing or training with his step sisters or locked up in his room playing video games.
"Is there something wrong?" Hannah asked
Desmond shook his head "No... Nothing is wrong. ... I just didn't feel like playing that's all"
They stayed in comfortable silence before Desmond decided to speak.
"Hannah can you prepare the bath? I'm going to contact Kou to see if everything is alright on his side"
Hannah bowed "I shall prepare the bath shortly"
"Thank you"
With that Hannah quietly went out of Desmond's room
Desmond sighed "Now to check on Kou"
Desmond pulled out a black card from his coat with a symbol of the House of Hunter on one side and multiple magic formulas at the other side.
The card glowed and a hologram of Kou appeared
"Master!" Kou said cheerfully
"Hello Kou"
The communication was a bit fuzzy because of the barriers placed around the whole Hunter territory and would occasionally get blurry.
"What can I do for you master?" Kou asked politely
"Nothing... I just wanted to see if everything was alright"
"Everything is fine master..."Kou informed Desmond "Rias-sama and her peerage have been really nice and they even let me join them in their little celebration"
Desmond raised an eyebrow "A celebration? For what? "
(Voice in the background: Kou-kun who is that?)
Desmond frowned "Is someone else there in my apartment?"
"Rias-sama and her peerage came to visit and they are currently looking at some of your photo albums while I tell stories" Kou answered simply
"W-w-what!"