Hello everyone!
Shoutouts:
Soundion: I'm gonna keep Gabriel's position in the dark for a little longer. Trust me, when the mumbo collides it will be an interesting afternoon ;).
: Magnificent comment, please write more soon.
University is commencing tomorrow and I have a few important retakes coming up Wednesday and Thursday, so expect the update rate to drop a little over the coming week. Sorry guys, but I need to make a living in the future too! Enjoy!
Earth – Kuoh Academy
Issei stood across from Rias and the other members of the ORC. "Where will you go now?" Rias asked him. "I don't know for certain yet. I had… a bit of a falling out with Michael. I have a bit of a project of my own to take care of; maybe I will turn my attentions there now." "You could stay with us." Rias said spontaneously before clasping her hands over her mouth.
Issei gently laughed. "I appreciate the offer, Rias. I will remember it when I find myself in need of shelter. I will, however, not burden you with my presence." Rias remembered the memories. Issei was certain no one would want him around voluntarily. "I want you to stay with us." She said with certain voice.
Something sparked in Issei's eyes. Was it fear? "No, that's quite alright. I really should go." He said in a nervous voice. "… Stay." Koneko said, walking over to Issei and embracing him. "Guys, please…" Issei begged desperately. "You, my dear Issei, are not going anywhere." Akeno said, embracing him from behind. Issei's shoulder sagged. "Fine, but I'm bringing my project and I don't think you lot will like it."
Later that afternoon a cry of anger reverberated through Kuou's grounds. "You're bringing that fallen angel with you?!" Rias shouted in disbelief. "Hey, it wasn't me who insisted I stay with you lot. Besides, she is not ready to come for another few weeks." Rias and Issei stood in the bare room that was to be his. "She is the one who killed Asia…" Rias said through gritted teeth. "Yes, hi, my name is Issei Hyoudou. I was there too, you know?" Rias sighed and brought a hand to her forehead, gently rubbing it.
"What exactly did you hope to achieve with her anyways?" She asked. "Something tells me I can restore her. Call it a gut feeling if you will." Issei replied. "And how do you hope to do that?" "Your guess is as good as mine. I will keep her close, probably as a servant. We will see if the spark within her can be reawakened."
Rias was silent for a few moments. "Fine, but she shares your room." The ORC had gone through the trouble of clearing out a room used for storage purposes for Issei. He would not be using it a lot, since he rarely slept, but he realized it would make for a fine prison with the proper wards in place. "What's in the boxes?" Rias asked, pointing to the five cardboard containers Issei had teleported in earlier that morning.
Issei glanced at them. The answer was: mostly weapons and artifacts. "Want to help me unpack?" He offered in an uncharacteristic display of social skill. He would be staying under her roof after all, it was only fair she knew.
"Of course. Which one first?" Rias asked. "Doesn't matter, pick one." She stared at the boxes, carefully she picked the one on the far right up and placed it in the middle of the room. The first item she removed was large and kite shaped, wrapped in paper. "That," Issei said, as Rias unwrapped the package, revealing a shield, "is the Shield of Daybreak, deflects fire and darkness of almost any kind. Had I had this baby with me, Riser's attack would have been for naught." Carefully Rias placed it on the ground.
The rest of the box contained a myriad of daggers and knives, all with an interesting background story, but nothing major. After the box had been emptied and disposed of, the two stared at the display on the floor. "Where were you planning on stowing this away?" Rias asked. Issei walked over to the blind wall on the far side and reached down, brushing his hand across the wooden panels on the floor.
"Rias, there is life in everything. I may not have green fingers, but all angels can make plants grow." He said. Energy flowed from Issei into the wood. The wood started to grow! A full-fledged tree formed, complete with leaves. Issei molded the plant to cater the forms and shapes he needed. "You only need know where to look for it." He finished with a smile. "Now then, let's get this sorted out." He gestured to the weapons on the ground. "Daggers on the right, knives underneath. The shield goes up there."
Soon they moved on to the second box. "The plant, it's as if you knew exactly how to grow it." Rias said, admiring his handiwork. "I am restoring the arrangements as they used to be in Heaven, I would not be much of a warrior if I did not know my way around my weapons rack." Issei replied. "What's this?" Rias said, removing a helmet from the second box.
"Careful with that!" But it was already too late. Rias screamed in agony as she dropped the metal. She clutched her hand, her fingers turned a deathly pale, blackening at the tips, tears growing in her eyes. "I told you to be careful with that." Issei scolded her as he grabbed her hand. He folded his fingers over hers and muttered a few worlds. When he released his hold her fingers were pale, but not blackened anymore.
"The feeling in those should return within the hour. If it doesn't, immediately come find me." Rias was in too much of a stupor to say anything and merely nodded. "This," Issei said, pulling on gloves and removing the rest of the set form the box, "is the armor of Narook." He quickly discarded the gloves, throwing them in a corner where they immediately rotted and fell to pieces.
"It absorbs the energy of anything it touches, in effect withering it into nonexistence. This includes any and all spells, projectiles and weapons. It then uses this energy to form barriers around itself, making the wearer as good as invincible. Putting it on is a pain though." Issei levitated the armor to the center of the rack.
"Shall we move on?" He asked. Rias sat down on the ground. "You carry on, I don't think touching your stuff is such a good plan." She muttered weakly. Gently Issei ran a hand down her long crimson locks, making Rias shiver involuntarily. "You know I didn't mean to hurt you, right?" He asked worriedly. Rias nodded and assured him with a genuine smile.
Next Issei moved to a large, flat, square box. Gently he lifted the lid. "This must, by far, be the favorite weapon out of my collection." He pulled out an ornate bow, complete with visor and stabilizer. "Behold the Bow of Artemis. It never misses, as long as the shooter's intent is true." He pulled back the bowstring, making an arrow of light manifest within the taut bow. "What I love most though, is that these arrows do whatever you wish. They can do anything from stun to enchant to kill."
Issei walked over and placed the bow directly under the armor. "I hope you won't mind if I skip this one, Rias." He said, gesturing to a fourth, more regular box. "It contains rings and artifacts. Very interesting but we would be here for a while if I had to explain what each and every one of them does." Rias nodded. "That's quite alright. I trust you not to bring artifacts of genocide into the ORC." "Well, perhaps the Apple of Eden-" "Issei!" Rias interrupted. "Fine, fine. You win." Issei said, putting the box aside.
Issei gestured to the wall. "Rias, what is here, is well known to be in my possession by others. However," Issei grabbed the final box, a long and thin one. "I cannot emphasize how important it is you do not flaunt the existence of this weapon to anyone." Issei lifted the lid of the box. "Behold Aurora!" Issei said, raising the large two handed blade of gold and silver.
Rias's eyes went wide. "You own the sister sword to Excalibur?!" She shouted in disbelief. "I spent two hundred years gathering up the pieces and re-forged her myself." Issei said with a hint of pride. "It is, without a doubt, the most powerful sword in existence now that Excalibur has been split into fragments."
Rias watched with awe as he walked over to the wall and placed the large sword to the left of the armor on a diagonal angle. "What's supposed to go there?" Rias eventually spoke, gesturing to a single open spot between the daggers and knives. "Ah, of course." Issei said. He reached into his coat and pulled out his dagger. He tapped it a few times with the fingers of his other hand, contemplating. Then he turned to Rias.
"Take it. It means more to you now than it does to me." He said, handing her the blade with which he had won the rating game. "I… Thank you." She said, gracefully accepting the gift. "But now you have an empty spot on the wall." She said. "Well then, perhaps you should present me with a dagger of your own some time." He replied with a sultry smile.
Rias didn't know what to say, she just stood there and blushed. Why did this talk of daggers have her so flustered? "It's still a little barren, don't you think?" Rias said when she had calmed her nerves enough. "Right." Issei said, crouching down and touching his hand to the floor in the middle of the room. "Would you like me to go?" Rias asked, making to leave.
"No, just… stay there for a second." Rias watched as around her furniture grew out of the floor and walls. A writing desk. Chairs and a couch in the far corner, several shelves and a closet. Her attention soon shifted to the unusually huge bed, curved into a semi-circle, which had grown out of the third well underneath the window. "I will need to have a mattress and sheets tailored for that. Plants can only grow so much." He muttered, brushing his hand through his hair.
"That's quite a bed right there. You planning to share it?" Rias asked. Issei looked at her with a deadpan and spread out his fourteen wings, the tips reaching from wall to wall. "Wings, remember?" He was silent for a few moments. "Although I would not mind sharing. I always feel like someone cares when someone shares my bed." He said. "You know the entire ORC, save Kiba maybe, would share your bed with you if you let them, right? You helped all of us in a time of need, and we care about you. I know you don't believe it but we truly do." Rias said. "Even you?" She blushed, considering her words carefully. "Yes… even me."