"Would you die for me?"

A flash of light.

A scream.

A bed creaked in protest.

Shallow, ragged breathing filled the once silent room.

In what was frustratingly still a common occurance, Issei Hyoudou woke up covered in sweat. And terrified of someone who didn't exist anymore.

Again…? Why does this keep happening? I thought after she died…

[You haven't moved on.]

What?

[From what caused you to become a devil. She will continue to haunt you until you find closure.]

I don't suppose you have any ideas on how I can do that.

[Inner peace can only be found by yourself.]

I was asking for advice, not a proverb… Why does it even matter to you anyway?

[My consciousness resides within you, Hyoudou. I also see your terrors. It gets rather annoying after a while.]

Of course. Can't be thinking you actually care.

There was a brief moment of silence inside his mind.

By the way, what do you think of this 'Corrupt Eternity'?

[If it can be used to compliment the Boosted Gears abilities, then it should prove beneficial. Past that, I do not care.]

Issei didn't know what he expected from the dragon. It was probably something along those lines.

"Issei? Are you okay?"

The brunettes head jerked over to his door, only to see emerald green eyes filled with concern staring back at him.

"Asia?"

He was still getting used to her living with him.

"I heard a noise, and then your..."

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm fine, thanks."

"Okay. Well, breakfast is almost ready so come down soon. We have a very important day today! I'm so happy your mom is teaching me how to cook." She said, the last part more to herself than to him as she turned around and left the room.

Issei didn't know what exactly Rias had done to convince his parents to let Asia stay with them, but it had led to his mom teaching Asia how to cook, clean, and complete other various tasks around the house.

He was more focused on what she said before that.

He was not sure why today was important.

"What's a Familiar?"

"Familiars are creatures that perform various tasks for us Devils, from gathering information to handing out contract flyers to even combat purposes. It's a basic requirement for new devils to get one. This, is my familiar." As Rias finished her sentence, a bat like creature appeared, hovering above her shoulder.

It looked familiar to him, somehow.

His hunch was confirmed when the bat transformed in front of him and turned into a girl with short black hair wearing a red and white dress. Yeah, she was definitely someone that he had seen before.

"You're the girl that gave me the flyer…"

"Is she? Interesting..." Rias commented.

In the back of his mind, Issei wondered why that was interesting.

Before he could ponder that further, his attention was put back onto the Familiar. The girl had disappeared just as quickly as she appeared. The small bat creature was once again flying behind Rias's shoulder.

"Of course, I have one as well." Akeno said as an imp appeared on the floor next to her.

Not long after that, they were joined by a white bird and cat, belonging to Kiba and Koneko, respectively.

While Asia gushed over how cute the familiars were, Issei turned to Rias.

"How do we get a familiar?"

The school day was an interesting experience for Issei Hyoudou, to say the least.

First, there was no recoil or sudden stiffness when he walked into the classroom, which he had come to expect from everyone in the room except for Asia, the only friend he had in the class.

He expected that part though, with the effect being gone.

What he didn't expect is what else transpired throughout the school day.

Second, throughout the whole day, he was treated… like everyone else, for lack of a better term.

No glances of disdain or fear, no attempts to stay as far away from him as possible, the teacher even called on him a few times. They just treated him like any other student, like he was...

Normal. Completely normal.

It was difficult not to smile to himself all the time.

Not difficult enough, because something still nagged at him.

All of them had treated him like the plague for weeks, and now everything was fine? Wouldn't they question why it suddenly didn't feel weird to be around him? Why were they acting as if they... Oh.

Rias had mentioned that she would do something about his class situation, but he didn't expect this. He didn't expect for her to change the memory of an entire class and probably a lot more not in his class.

Moments like these were when he was reminded just how terrifying Rias Gremory could be.

In the end, he decided the less he thought about it, the better it would be.

The less scared of his master he would be, anyway.

If only he could actually get his brain to think less about it, he'd be able to follow through with that idea. His thoughts still revolved around the school day during his walk to the Old School Building.

Usually Asia would be there to drag him out of his thoughts, but she was talking to Kiryuu after school, so Issei elected to head over alone.

Asia had been talking to Kiryuu more and more lately, now that he thought about it. He hoped that she didn't change Asia too much.

When Issei got to the clubroom, he was surprised to find it completely empty.

Usually at least two of the club members were present by the time Issei arrived. Seeing it empty was an odd sight for the new Devil.

"Oh, hello."

He turned around. "Akeno?"

"Good afternoon." She smiled. As if sensing what his next question would be, she spoke again. "Rias is gone preparing for the Familiar trip. It's just us for now." He could have sworn he heard her tone change in the last sentence.

He had to be just imagining it, right?

"Um, okay…"

"Ara, you don't have a problem with that, do you?"

She was right next to him now. It was as if she was enjoying his discomfort. Basking in it, almost.

She probably was.

"N-no, of course not."

Akeno giggled.

She leaned in closer to him. Too close.

Instinctively, Issei backed up, until he backed up into one of the couches. Akeno followed him.

"Issei, I-" Emerald eyes looked at the situation in confusion.

"Asia! It's not what it looks like!"

He looked over at Asia, who was doing a very poor job of hiding her discontent with the situation she walked into, and then back to Akeno, who had moved even closer to the point that their noses were nearly touching.

He stared straight into violet eyes and a beautiful face framed by long black hair.

The last time he saw a face like that…

Would you die for me?

Issei jerked away from Akeno, fear seeping into his eyes.

Both girls present suddenly went rigid for a few seconds. Even if he hadn't felt it himself, Issei would have known that it was his effect on others showing up again.

Does this mean it isn't fully gone? But it was supposed to be.

Right?

"Akeno, I-"

"What exactly is going on in here?"

That was how they learned Rias had returned.

After Rias ensured that they would tell her what was happening when she arrived later, they headed out to the forest.

Though headed out wasn't the right phrasing, considering the travel was instantaneous.

Issei blinked. Once.

Instead of the school building, they were in a dark forest.

What the hell.

"This is the Familiar Forest." Rias announced.

"Where do we go from here?" Issei asked.

"We have to wait for the Familiar Master-"

"You called?" A new voice asked.

Every head turned to the forest clearing, where a man was standing.

Saying that the man looked odd would be like saying Ddraig was a lizard.

"If you're looking for Familiars, you've come to the right place."

Absentmindedly, Issei thought he looked similar to a character from a show he had watched as a child.

The Familiar Master informed them about every different kind of Familiar in the forest as he led them down the path. Or at least that's what Issei thought he did, because he wasn't paying very good attention to the man. Rather, he was looking at the trees, his mind still focused on what happened with Akeno.

He needed to apologize to her. And Asia, for that matter.

Nobody should have to feel that.

Not paying attention had caused him to fall behind the rest of the group.

"Issei."

His head snapped forward to see that Rias had slowed down and was now next to him.

"Oh. Sorry."

"Still thinking about what happened in the clubroom?"

Most likely for a completely different reason than she was imagining, but still, he supposed she was right.

"You'll have to forgive Akeno for her behavior from earlier. She's a bit of a tease."

"Oh, it's no problem." He quickly replied.

A small smile played on Rias's face. "I'm sure it isn't."

"I didn't mean it like that-"

Rias chuckled. "I know you didn't, Issei. I was just joking."

A silence fell between them for a minute.

"Rias?"

"Yes?"

"Do you know how the effect came back for a few seconds back there?"

"I was wondering about that." Her face changed into one deep in thought. "The only reason I can think of is that it was reactivated by an extreme influx of emotions. A lot of Sacred Gears are fueled by emotions, after all."

That made sense to him. He's just got to keep his emotions in check, and he'll be fine.

Easier said than done.

"Issei?" Rias asked, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"If you don't mind me asking, what caused that to happen? What emotion were you feeling?"

"Uh..."

A squeal distracted both of them and saved Issei from having to answer. They both started walking forward at a quickened pace to see what was going on.

When he got there, he saw Asia crouching near a blue dragon.

"It's so cute!"

Issei didn't know if 'cute' was the best word to describe it. The thing looked pretty menacing.

Especially when it was glaring daggers at him.

"I think it senses him." Rias told Issei.

"What do you mean?"

"The Red Dragon. It senses Ddraig. Other dragons can feel his aura. The dragon is scared of you, and will probably be rather hostile. I wouldn't go near him if I were you."

"Wasn't planning on it…" Issei said, before something to his right caught his attention.

"Ah, a sprite dragon. Yes, very… cute. Though they are known to be quite aggressive, even uncontrollable if not tamed early on in their development." The Familiar Master added.

"I think I'll call him Rassei."

Nobody present commented on how familiar the name was.

"So, that's one Familiar down, now we only have one left- Issei?" Rias looked back down the trail.

The teen wasn't facing them. His attention was taken by something else from the trees that he was looking at.

A small gray dragon was staring back at Issei.

The brown haired devil took a step towards it, and the dragon, despite looking skeptical, didn't move.

He took another. And another.

Soon, he was crouching in front of the dragon.

Issei slowly moved a hand out, and petted the dragon's head. The dragon looked hesitant at first, evidently trying to see if the devil was a threat or not.

Seemingly deciding it wasn't, the dragon nuzzled into Issei's hand.

"I think it likes you."

Issei looked over his shoulder to see Rias and Asia looking at him and the familiar, who was now licking his hand.

"A female sprite. Much more passive. Probably better for you." The Familiar Master said, looking over at Rassei, who was still glaring at everyone that wasn't Asia.

"Have you made your choice, Issei?" Rias asked.

"Yeah, I think I have."

Issei picked the dragon up into his hands.

"Any idea for what you want to name her?"

Said Familiar sneezed, and shocked Issei. Not enough to cause the devil serious pain of any kind, but enough to show that she is definitely a sprite dragon.

"I was thinking Storm would be a good name."

I want to use Familiars more in this story than in canon. Whether I can actually find a place to fit them into the story, that remains to be seen.