CHAPTER 8:

BONDING

It was Mittelt's idea to have a picnic the following day. Raynare didn't really want to, but Mittelt had explained the logic behind it. And to be fair, Raynare thought the argument was sound.

Firstly, it would help them bond with Harry more, and given that they were trying to leave him with a good impression of the Grigori, and hopefully persuade him to stay, even if subtly, it was a good thing. Secondly, Harry was feeling down, and considering there were still concerns about the stability of his psyche and his power, it would be a good idea to try and give him a good time. Thirdly, Harry was probably feeling a bit of cabin fever from being cooped up in Grigori HQ, so getting out into the Underworld at least would help that.

The chosen destination was a lake not far from the Grigori HQ. Raynare knew for a fact that Mittelt's parents used to take her there for picnics before they were slain by some Stray that got the drop on them. Picnicking wasn't a common past-time amongst the Fallen, though, so there was nobody else present as they approached.

Harry was looking around at the bruise-coloured sky and the landscape. "You know, if it weren't for the sky, this'd feel much like Earth."

"That's hardly surprising," Mittelt said. "The surface area of the Underworld is not far off that of Earth's. No major oceans, just lakes. Then again, both the Devils and the Fallen spent centuries doing what you'd call terraforming these days to the Underworld. And it actually does look more like Earth's sky during certain parts of the day. Some sort of magic that the Four Satans put into place ages ago after the civil war."

"But are we safe here?" Harry asked.

Raynare rolled her eyes. "The Underworld is still a dangerous place, just like the wilderness would be in the human realm, Harry. While we're far enough away from the Badlands that Strays aren't likely to be here, that doesn't preclude one managing to make its way past the patrols to attack. And the Underworld has quite a bit of native wildlife that can be dangerous. The Devils even have a preserve of these monsters that they take as familiars during the Full Moon. Don't worry. Mittelt?"

The younger-looking Fallen nodded, and began casting spells with a magic circle. "Detection wards, just in case," she explained to Harry. "Basic stuff for field operatives in the Grigori. We shouldn't need one for a picnic here, but it's not a bad idea anyway."

"Moody would've been proud of you," Harry remarked.

"Oh, you mean Mad-Eye Moody? Wasn't he some famously paranoid Auror amongst the British wizards?" Mittelt asked.

"Yeah. He died shortly after my seventeenth birthday, during a mission to get me away from my old…house alive," Harry said. "Paranoid as all hell, but a damn good teacher. Then again, he himself didn't teach me that much. The one I thought was Moody was Barty Crouch Junior masquerading as Moody."

"Well, I wanna hear more about your adventures, right from the horse's mouth, so to speak," Mittelt said. "But that can wait. This is meant to be a nice relaxing time."

Harry nodded to Mittelt, seemingly grateful, and they began rolling out the blanket and readying the food from the basket, which had a hell of an expansion charm on it. Some of the food, the three of them had made, while others had been pilfered from the canteen of Grigori HQ. "You know, I'm surprised Fallen Angels need to eat," Harry said.

"Well, technically, we don't need to eat, or at least eat often," Raynare explained. "We are partially beings made of magical energy, like solid souls. The Angels still residing in Heaven have no need to eat whatsoever, as they are still connected to God's Grace, though they do eat for pleasure on occasion, and in what they believe to be moderation. But when we Fall, we are disconnected from that Grace. Nutrients can be converted into magical energy. It's actually rare that an Angel Falls from Grace for the sin of Gluttony, unless it's for alcohol. Usually, the sins that cause us to Fall have to do with Lust, Envy, Pride, or Wrath, with Acedia, what you know as Sloth, not being far behind."

"Acedia?"

Mittelt sighed. "Basically, despondency, apathy, despair, so, in other words, if an Angel gets severe chronic depression, down they go," she said with a wave of a hand.

"…That sounds dickish of God," Harry said.

Raynare snorted. "Yes, well…I'll be perfectly honest, many of us who Fell are still desperate to get back into His good graces. I don't hold any illusions to that. Once an Angel Falls from Grace, they're not getting back into Heaven. Honestly, I prefer the Underworld and Earth to Heaven. Heaven is boring. But…being severed from God's Grace…have you ever heard of something called a phantom pain, Harry?"

"No, not off the top of my…oh, wait, Hermione mentioned it once. If you chop off a limb, the amputee can still feel phantom sensations in their limbs, even pain."

"Imagine that, except the absence of God's love." Raynare scowled. "I could go on about it, but we're supposed to enjoy ourselves. Mittelt's heard it often enough from me, anyway, I doubt she'd appreciate it…"

She had to admit, this was nice and relaxing. Just having some food, making small talk, looking across the scenery, which wasn't too bad for the Underworld. She hadn't done something like this in a while. Probably because she thought this shit was boring, though this was at least better than doing some stakeout on some Devil or the Church or a Sacred Gear bearer.

"So, why do you wear that…style of dress again?" Harry asked Mittelt.

"What, this? It's Gothic Lolita style, actually. It's basically a Japanese take on Victorian fashion," Mittelt said. "I saw it once when my parents took me to Tokyo, and I've dressed this way ever since. Of course, Kalawarner's dress sense hasn't changed that much since the 80s, and Dohnaseek's basically been wearing a fedora and trenchcoat ever since the Great Depression."

Raynare scoffed. "Whereas my battle outfit has been timeless."

Mittelt snorted. "You mean it's never been IN fashion, aside from BDSM freaks. Still, it's not only scary, it's effective at distracting your foes with your udders bouncing around."

"Ram it, Washboard," Raynare retorted. "Besides, I wanted it to be a statement to those in the Church and Heaven. If I'm going to Fall for the sin of falling for the wrong man, then I'm going to bear that sin with some fucking pride. Besides, you'd be surprised at how many Angels have a sexy body that they could flaunt if they wanted to. I mean, Gabriel's basically a walking wet dream, if also the walking stereotype of a dumb blonde, or at least naïve. At least Michael had some brains in his head, even if he was boring and staid as fuck."

"Faith doesn't exactly require brains," Mittelt said. "Hey, Harry, you've never heard of the Arab philosopher and poet Al-Ma'arri, right?"

"No."

"He once wrote a poem that basically sums up humanity and religion in a nutshell. The world is divided into two sects: those with brains and no religion, and those with religion and no brains(1)."

"For a blind, vegan atheist, he really had a point," Raynare remarked. "And this is coming from someone who's actually met God. For someone who claims to be about love, I don't think He loved us enough. Angels, I mean. I mean, we were technically His children…but he gave humans more chances than He did to us."

"…Do you regret Falling?" Harry asked.

Raynare snorted. "Fuck no. It's painful losing God's Grace, and what happened to me thanks to Slytherin…it's a mistake that will haunt me for the rest of my life. But I'll give you humans this much, you're rarely boring. I could tell you so many stories about stuff you've only read about in history books, but which I've seen with my own two eyes. I mean, I was at the premiere of so many of Shakespeare's plays. Hell, I could tell you the synopsis of Love's Labour's Won, and any Shakespeare enthusiast would cream their pants if I told them what it was about."

"Hermione would want to talk to you about that. She told me once her parents had a thing for Shakespeare," Harry said. "Hell, as long as you're not going to be name-dropping all the time, I'd love to hear some of those stories myself."

Raynare, despite herself, was actually touched. Few of the human associates of the Grigori would ever want to hear such anecdotes. Then again, most of the humans in the Grigori were Stray Exorcists, exiled from the Church for some transgression or other, and they tended to be embittered individuals at the bare minimum. And when you got to people like Freed Sellzen, one of the latest recruits, who was the very definition of 'batshit crazy', well…

It was at this point that the first chink in the armour she had built up around her heart appeared. It was small, and would be worried open over a period of time, and she still held a torch for her leader, for now. But a well-meant remark from the young wizard had caught her off-guard. And sometimes, that's all it takes…

Somewhere, between dimensions, there was a room. And in that room, Vali Lucifer was showing a recording, one playing back from a small holographic projector. Namely, of his battle with Harry Potter.

The first to comment was a young man in red ancient Chinese armour, with a cocky nature to his easy-going features. This was Bikou, a monkey youkai who was a descendent of the infamous Sun Wukong. "Not bad. I mean, his technique totally sucks, but he's got good reflexes. Hey, wasn't he a Seeker for Quidditch?"

Vali nodded. While he had known something of Harry Potter's life prior to Raynare stumbling across him in the Badlands, after he had learned of that from his adoptive father, he studied up on the wizard's life, as much as he could given the sensationalist nature of their press. He also consulted with the Pendragon siblings, who, while they were only peripherally-related to Magical Britain, on the wizarding side of things, did note parts of Potter's life.

One of them, Le Fay Pendragon, looking somewhere between a public school student and a stereotypical witch with blonde hair, was watching attentively. She and her brother were descendants of no less august a personage than King Arthur, and were named for Arthur and his sibling, Morgan le Fay. "Hey, you didn't beat him up too badly, did you Vali?"

Vali scoffed. "All I gave him were a few bruises and maybe a headache. I know how to pull my punches around the weak, and he is weak. Lacking in proper combat skill. But…that Reave ability…I'll tell you this much: he has potential."

"High praise coming from you," Arthur Pendragon, a blonde young man with glasses and a severe, serious demeanour, observed. "Then again, considering he has managed to become a hybrid of Ddraig and Albion, he should have considerable potential."

"That's a no-brainer, Arthur," Bikou said lazily. "If being hybridised didn't kill him or make him wish he was dead, then it's likely he has something of their strength."

"Hmm, I wonder if he's amenable to my charms, nya?" mused a dark-haired young woman with golden eyes, as well as a pair of feline ears and a pair of cat tails. She wore a dark kimono that seemed in perpetual danger of exposing her gorgeous body.

Vali shook his head. "It's been less than a week since they found him, Kuroka. He's still trying to get over the trauma of being betrayed by those idiots in Magical Britain. Approaching him to join us is a bad idea, and approaching him to act as a glorified sperm donor for strong offspring is an even worse one. Hell, even Raynare understood that seducing him in this state is a bad idea, and she specialises in seduction missions."

"I'd imagine it's because she's infatuated with Lord Azazel, and he actually took the trouble to explain to her what was going on," Arthur mused. "Raynare hangs onto Azazel's every word, even if she hates how he doesn't return her feelings."

"Enough." The soft, gentle monotone came from the final inhabitant of the room. Said occupant appeared to be a pre-teen girl, dressed in something that could have been considered Victorian or Gothic Lolita dress, if she had anything covering her chest other than criss-crossed strips of tape over her nipples. Her cute features were impassive, violet eyes peering at the recording. The only overt sign of her inhuman nature were her pointed ears.

Eventually, the girl seemed to consider something, nodding to herself. "I see. That…was a mistake."

"Uhh, what was, Ophis?" Bikou asked.

"I…remember this one, falling into the Dimensional Gap, like so many the wizards have cast through from the Veil," Ophis said. "I…expelled him when he refused to expire swiftly. I…did not sense Ddraig or Albion present then. That…was a mistake. He…has the potential to bring back my silence."

Vali nodded. He thought Ophis would think along those lines. However, while Vali was eager and hungry for battle, he was far from stupid. Neither was Ophis, but she was simple-minded. Not stupid, but she had a very singular mindset, especially now that the Great Red Dragon was squatting in her beloved home of the Dimensional Gap. She was fixated on evicting said squatter, no matter what. She also had the naivety of the child she appeared to be, albeit in the way only a being capable of laying waste to entire worlds with little effort and yet choosing to be isolated from everything else could be.

"Ophis, we need to hold back on attempting to recruit him into our ranks." Ophis looked at him, and he held up a finger to explain his reasoning. "Firstly, he's not yet strong enough to beat me, and I'm nowhere near the level to deal with the Great Red Dragon at the moment." Ophis' head inclined in a slight nod. He got the feeling she had grasped that already. "Secondly, I'm not convinced he would be amenable to joining the Khaos Brigade. To him, we'd seem little better than the Death Eaters, especially given the way some of the other factions in our ranks act, like the Old Satans. What's more, he's not one to take betrayal well."

"Hardly surprising, considering what those morons did," Le Fay remarked.

"Exactly. I think that we should sell it as trying to evict Great Red out of the Dimensional Gap, to help Ophis. But I'd rather wait until he's in a better mindset. He's still recovering from the psychological trauma of being betrayed by Magical Britain," Vali said. "It's going to be quite a long time before we're ready to take on Great Red, after all."

Ophis didn't acknowledge this, concerningly, save for a soft, almost inaudible grunt. That worried Vali. Ophis was inscrutable at the best of times, and once she made her mind up on a matter, well, sometimes logical arguments could sway her, but logical arguments meant little to a being called the Infinite Dragon God, and with all the power that entailed.

He just hoped she wouldn't stuff things up for the rest of them…

CHAPTER 8 ANNOTATIONS:

So, Harry, Raynare and Mittelt have had a picnic together, and Vali's Team from the Khaos Brigade are plotting. But what is Ophis the Loli Dragon up to?

Review-answering time! MechaPaladin557: Uhh, thanks. I'll be honest, I only used that trope in one of my High School DxD fics, my crossover with Final Fantasy IX, Black Mage of Kuoh. True, I have Issei get shanked in a couple of other crossovers, but he's as competent as he is canon in those. That being said, I don't think it's wholly unreasonable to expect a character to be taken by surprise by Raynare and killed, even Harry, if he's about his canon level. So the trope isn't necessarily bad, as long as it is used correctly.

A10riddick: Despite High School DxD being one of those fictional universes where harems have some justification, the answer is no. I did that with my first couple of Potterverse crossovers with the franchise, but I find doing single pairings as with this story and my Rossweisse-centric story Óskmey helps with the story.

Yorae Rasante: The lines in question that I paid attention to were as follows. Firstly, she declares that she intends to get revenge on everyone who screwed her over, suggesting Raynare has been given shit for being a lowly grunt for some time. Secondly, she states that she did it for the love and recognition of Azazel and Shemhazai, Azazel's second in command. Both sets of lines are in all versions of the story, with minor variations. In fact, the relevant lines in the light novel (Yen Press translation) are as follows verbatim: "All those fools who screwed me over will rue the day they decided to cross me!" and "Almighty Azazel and Shemhazai, I am prepared and ready to do your work! There's nothing more wonderful than this! Ah, Azazel…I dedicate my power, this power, to you!"

As for why she decided on that course of action, there are, as you point out, many potential reasons. A popular fanon theory that I often run with is that Kokabiel, pretending to be relaying orders from Azazel, drove her to this, albeit by playing on pre-existing insecurities. But I think her unrequited love for Azazel, combined with a series of betrayals from allies and friends, brought her to such a state in the first place, hence how I've been portraying her so far.

Devilsummonner666: I generally write Harry as being heroic, and while he would want revenge on the Death Eaters, taking it out on the sheeple of Magical Britain is another matter entirely. But honestly, for now, he's just sick and tired of it all, and just wants a quiet life, or as quiet as he can get.

WearyCurmudgeon: Regarding Harry's libido, I personally think part of it was the social awkwardness and the damage done by the Dursleys to his psyche. Harry clearly can be infatuated, as his relationship with Cho and his reaction to Veela showed. Becoming a Dragon hybrid merely amplified greatly what was already there.

As for Mittelt, she only appears briefly in the anime (and is only mentioned by Rias as her victim in passing in the novel and the manga), but that's enough to have a few ideas on how to develop it, even if her character is as flat as her chest. I was helped by her portrayal in other fanfics, with her characterisation in FILFy Teacher by Vimesenthusiast being a major influence. A lot of stuff about her, I made up wholesale (like her actual age and why she looks like a young teenager, her prowess with IT and modern technology, etc), but I wanted it to be plausible, and show why she is what she is. I didn't think of Luna as an influence, though there's certainly something of Ginny.

Finally, I haven't decided on Harry's fighting style, nor do I intend to be specific about it. I was more specific in Óskmey when discussing Rossweisse's fighting style (which is, in that work, based more on Krav Maga), but Rossweisse is a more formally trained individual than, well, almost everyone else in the series, really.

frisbeeg70: Most of Magical Britain's crimes were being idiots and believing the word of Snape, or rather, Dumbledore through Snape. Don't worry, the actual conspirators will start to get a comeuppance soon, via Azazel.

1. I first heard this quote from Crusades, a book about the Crusades (duh!) by Terry Jones (yes, the one of Monty Python fame) and Alan Ereira, itself a companion book to a TV series Jones presented, one I mentioned earlier in this fic. The cruel irony is, poor al-Ma'arri was proven correct only a few decades after he died: the First Crusade attacked the town he took his name from, Maarat al-Numan, and the Crusaders, suffering some a lack of food, actually went as far as to cannibalise the corpses of the inhabitants. And that was only one of many cruelties inflicted by either side during the Crusades…