Anything you recognize isn't mine, thanks again to Third Fang and slashfan2018 for letting me borrow your stuff.
Issei knew something was wrong before he woke up.
As a presence user Issei was naturally more sensitive to danger than most, this was enhanced by the training and a couple magical materials Aaron had provided. To the point that Aaron considered his sensory capabilities above average.
He couldn't find a specific person anywhere in the city, or tell someone's exact combat capabilities with a glance as Aaron could.
However, according to Aaron it would be difficult for most to catch him off guard, and he could also differentiate between the people at his level, the people above his level that he still stood a small chance, the people he didn't stand a chance against, and the people who could kill him as easy as breathing.
So having five people in the last category in the same room as him was more than enough for his subconscious to send off warning signals.
His first instinct was to lash out in a panicked rage, however it was quickly smothered by years of training arranged by Aaron. So instead he used a subtle spell, to speed up his perception of time.
Such spells were often designed by magicians to help them cast spells quickly in combat situations. They quickly spread around the mystical world because of how easy and ridiculously useful they are.
The first thing Issei noticed was that the spell was much easier to cast than usual. Issei had no aptitude for magic. It had taken him weeks to learn the basic spell, after years of practice and experience Issei could use it almost subconsciously.
However what Issei was experiencing was far beyond what he had come to expect. Both in terms of effectiveness and ease of use.
This information was quickly disregarded as Issei felt the gaze of all the monsters in the room on him.
Issei once again barely managed to restrain himself from panicking and lashing out. Instead he expanded his senses around him, taking note of everything about his situation.
He was in the ORC clubhouse, and the room was mostly inhabitanted by devils. Most of them he recognized as ORC members and the student council president and vice president, Sona Sitri and Tsubaki Shinra,
The four other devils he didn't recognize however he could tell without question that they could kill him as easy as breathing.
Two of them were next to the student council members, one was right on top of him casting a spell on him.
Issei would have panicked then if not for two things.
A. Because he could tell that it was a diagnostic spell that wasn't doing anything to him.
And B. The caster was strong even when compared to the two aforementioned monsters and would probably kill him should he do anything aggressive.
Aaron's sister Rias was also looming over him next to the mystery devil checking him out.
The last unknown devil in the room was just as strong as the one above Issei,maybe stronger. He was in another corner of the room standing next to the only monster in the room that wasn't a devil. Issei honestly couldn't tell what he was.
Issei felt his heart stop in his chest as he noticed the two humans in the room standing in between the devil and the unknown monster.
His parents.
Then he panicked.
Rias had mixed feelings about her situation.
At first her day had been a successful attempt to return to normalcy, said attempt ended in abroubt and spectacular failure when Aaron showed up without warning.
Despite that, the two long lost siblings managed to have a long overdue pleasant conversation.
Then Aaron disappeared and knocked out everyone in the city in a fit of insane rage.
Rias shivered as she remembered what she could of her brother's heartbeat, her memory of the event was fuzzy however from what she could remember was enough for her to realize that her brother's mental health was worse than she realized.
The children she had taken and cared for were scared, abused, and pushed to the very edge of their sanity.
However the emotions that her brother had emitted… they were on a completely different level from anything she had seen before.
And then there was Issei.
She'd be lying if she said the idea of having the Sekiryutei in her peerage wasn't tempting, however the gratitude she felt towards the Hyoudou family for helping her brother far outstripped any appeal for tricking or tempting Issei into joining her. Therefore the situation she found herself in left a bad taste in her mouth.
And on top of that there was her brother, not Aaron, Sirzechs. This was the first time she had seen him since she'd met Aaron, since she discovered he was being controlled. Seeing him, on top of everything else, made Rias's mind a chaotic mess of worry.
Just like she needed.
Controled or not her brother was a powerful empath, he would have noticed her fear and concern for him in almost any other circumstances. That would bring forth a good number of questions that she couldn't afford to answer right now.
So Rias intentionally stirred her confusion, feigning shock from this mess in order to hide from her brother's powers. Which was surprisingly hard to do after a certain length of time.
It was unsurprisingly more difficult to do so when she had to explain the agreed upon story to her brother and sister in law.
Then to lady Searfall, Sona, and Sona's peerage.
And then to Issei's parents.
And then to Ajuka beelzebub after he showed up.
Needless to say Rias was emotionally exhausted as she stood next to the smartest Maou as she examined her new pawn.
So she could be forgiven for being caught off guard by what happened next.
The first thing she noticed was that Issei's hand was around her wrist. Then she felt all her magic flow into her body, reinforcing its durability higher than she had though possible.
The next thing she knew she was being Swung around by her arm to swat away Ajuka.
Afterwards she felt that strange vertigo-like feeling she could recognize as presence in the back of her mind.
The Young Red Dragon held her in its claw as it awoke with a threatening growl.
"Get away from my parents." Issei snarled, his gauntlet covered right arm around her neck. Putting her between him and the room's occupants like a shield.
That didn't stop the four maou class and above devils from drawing Magic circles in less than a second. All of which were pointed at Issei.
Rias didn't notice this however, her attention was focused on Issei. He held her close enough for their faces to be next to each other, no doubt to make it so any attack launched would hurt her as well. But her positioning also allowed her to see Issei's face.
It was the face of an angry traumatized and terrified child with dangerous powers that they could lose control over any second.
Luckily Rias had plenty of experience dealing with those.
"Issei." Rias said, her voice far more calm than she felt. "Issei it's fine, your parents aren't in any danger."
The room seemed to freeze at her words. Waiting for Issei's reaction.
"Then let them come over here." Issei said after a moment.
Rias shot her brother a pleading look, which the Maou answered by lowering his power and nodding to Issei's parents.
The two humans wasted no time quickly dashing towards their son. Without words they reached out their hands which Issei took without question. A quick identification spell told Issei that they hadn't been harmed or enchanted.
Recognizing this Rias spoke again. "See? They weren't harmed. They were only brought here to see you." Her words seemed to have an affect if the diminishing of Issei's presence was anything to go by.
"Indeed." A new voice entered the conversation.
Issei's head snapped towards the owner of the voice. "Zelrich?" He asked, confused.
The old man standing next to Sirzechs nodded. "It's good to see you again Issei, though I do wish it were under better circumstances."
"What the hell's going on?" Issei thought.
"Something long overdue." A familiar voice rumbled in Issei's mind.
"Ddraig?" Issei "spoke" in his mind. "What are you talking about?"
Ddraig let out a snort. "You've been found out. The supernatural world is aware of you. Specifically the Maou."
Issei's stomach drop. He had always been aware that he was essentially living in hiding for most of his life. However the implications of being discovered never felt more real than right now.
"Calm down." Ddraig interjected firmly, but not coldly. "While the situation is far from ideal, it's not hopeless. Aaron's sister wasn't lying, the Maou have done nothing antagonistic to you or your family since arriving."
Issei let out a sigh of relief. This caused Rias to flinch, leading Issei to remember he was holding the devil's little sister hostage right in front of him.
"You couldn't have told me this sooner!?" Issei mentality shouted.
"A show of strength is necessary in situations like these." Ddraig excused his actions without shame.
"You stupid lizard!" Issei responded
"Hey!" Ddraig responded indignantly.
"Have you calmed down yet?" Sirzechs asked politely.
Issei looked at the Maou warily before giving a shaky nod.
"In that case could you please release my sister." He asked with a smile.
Typically he would have erased the boy from existence by now. However three things stilled his hands.
8 One, he could understand Issei's position, in fact he was taking this remarkably well for a newly turned devil. Let alone a Sekiryutei. And all his actions up to this point have been defensive.
Two, he really didn't want to kill his sister's newest peerage member, she might not accept if he tried to give her a replacement.
Three, it was never a good idea to corner a sacred gear user, their powers were strengthened by emotion. So corning them tended to make the situation drastically worse for the offendending party.
The fact that the Sacred gear in question was not only a dragon type but the boosted gear made the potential fallout exponentially more severe.
Fourth was that Issei knew presence.
His experience in Hellsalmes lot had made the maou fully aware of how dangerous the power could be. And as the head of the only supernatural faction that didn't have access to the mysterious power he was fairly eager to take any chance he could to obtain it.
Issei shifted nervously at the request.
"Go ahead and give her back." Ddraig said out loud. "He could kill you before you tried anything anyway."
Sirzechs didn't say anything to argue against the statement. It was the truth after all.
"Come on now, there's no need to be scared!" A bright and cheery voice interrupted the conversation.
All heads turned to the owner of the voice. To see a girl who seemed at most a year older than Issei with black hair and ice blue eyes… wearing a magical girl costume.
"It looks like we've gotten off to a pretty rough start! Don't worry we're not holding that against you. It's to be expected given your circumstances. If you just let little Rias go and we can discuss this without anyone getting hurt." She spoke with a pepy, sweet voice. Devoid of any malice, maybe even a bit dumb.
Issei backed away from her with a scared look in his eyes, his hold on Rias tightening unconsciously.
When those in the room less than a century old saw this tense preparing for a fight.
Those in the room older than a century saw this and all thought to themselves "Smart kid."
"Searfall." Sirzechs spoke up, regaining everyone's attention. "With all due respect this is a family matter it may be best for you to leave."
No one brought up the fact that Sirzechs had technically left the Gremory family, and that he shouldn't be involved in Gremory family business either.
The magical girl pouted. "Fine! Chase me out. See if I care. So-tan! Akiju Chan! We're leaving! This is a family matter after all." She said before dramatically stomping out of the room.
The devil who had been hovering above Issei sighed before giving Sirzechs a nod and following the magical girl.
Tsubaki looked towards her king with a questioning glance, who was looking at Rias with a torn expression.
Issei winced at her expression, which led him to notice the glares and fearful looks of the younger devils for the first time.
Issei Slowly removed his arms from around Rias's neck and backed away just as slowly. Much to the surprise of those in the room.
"Sorry." Issei apologized lamely, his eyes never leaving Sirzechs.
Sirzechs smiled, then turned to Sona. "As you can see we have the situation under control. Thank you for your concern."
Sona gave Issei an appraising look before nodding and calmly walking out of the room, her queen following more nervously.
As the door closed behind them Sirzechs turned back to Issei, still smiling.
"Now then, I believe it's best for everyone if we start over. Hello Issei Hyoudou, I am Sirzechs Lucifer, I'd like to discuss your future.
"I can't believe him!" Searfall complained. "All I did was try to calm down the situation and he made me out to be the bad guy!"
Akiju rolled his eyes as he listened to Searfall complain for the 57th time. He honestly didn't know if she was complaining about Sirzechs or the Sekiryuutei.
He did know however that if he intenderupted her now she'd just rant at him for longer, so he stayed silent and listened to his fellow maous immature ranting while he did his task.
That being analyzing the church in front of him for any signs of the fallen that had started this mess.
He frowned and pulled his hand away from his analysis magic circle before it faded.
"Nothing?" Serafall asked.
"They were definitely here but their gone now." He confirmed.
He would have liked to investigate further. However that would require actually going into the church, and the literal and figurative headaches that would cause were not worth the information he might gain.
"Could they come back?" Searfall asked with a rare frown.
"I still don't know how they got here in the first place, so it's safe to assume so." Akiju replied. "You might want to find a way to warn your sister."
The only female maou pouted. "Easier said than done."
Akiju nodded in agreement. While the two heiresses resisting their sibling's help might have seemed like simple immaturity, that wasn't the only reason.
The other reason being that indworld law required every family heir to manage a small territory by themselves without aid from their family or any other noble before inheriting their positions
Ironically the law was Sirzechs idea.
Serafall sighed. "What do you think of the Sekiryuutei?"
"Perceptive." Akiju replied with a rare smirk.
Serafall pouted, however her eyes were far colder than that would imply.
"He is extremely unusual, however he monstly matches up with Zelrichs story if that's what you're worried about." Akiju changed the subject.
"Mostly?" She asked.
Ajuka frowned. "When I was examining his body I noticed several types of essences in his body."
Essence was a name for a variety of elemental energies found in Hellsalmes lot. They were famed for being extraordinarily useful in a variety of fields such as medicine, magical engineering, and of course combat.
It was also, like most things from Hellsalmes Lot, kept out of devil hands.
Officially.
Serafall raised an eyebrow. "What types?"
"Life, enhancement, alteration, trancence, transference, fire, perception, mental, protection, trace amounts of light, and two I couldn't understand." Ajuka listed.
"You couldn't recognize them?" She asked.
"No, I couldn't understand them." He frowned. "I don't even think they are essence at this point. One of them is only found in one of his pawns, from what I can tell it's a dense mix of so many different energies that it can't seem to decide what it is. The other one is all over his body, it seems to be a mix of his own, Ddraigs, and demonic powers. However every time I try to analyze it I overload the spell I'm using."
"He overloads it? It didn't feel like he had that much power to me." Searfall asked, confused.
"That's because he doesn't, it's not the amount of power, or even its potency it's …." Ajuka trailed off thinking about how to explain. A very rare occurrence.
"It's as if the energy itself has limitless properties, and they're all showing at once." He explained after a moment.
"Sounds like the old man was keeping quite a bit from us." Serafall reasoned.
"Not necessarily." Ajuka sighed. "Like I said, one was the result of his powers mixing, and the other is most likely from whatever reaction that knocked the city out."
Serafall hummed thoughtfully. "Still I'm not comfortable leaving a newly turned, powerful, hormonal, dragonic, teenager near my sister unsupervised."
"Hm." Ajuka chuckled. "That won't be a problem."
"And why would that be?" Serafall asked.
"His mind and soul were unaffected by the pawns." Ajuka stated bluntly.
"Wait really?" Serafall asked in genuine surprise.
Ajuka nodded.
Something that wasn't widely known about the evil piece system was that they did have a small effect on the minds of the reincarnated devils.
The new devils would find themselves with stronger base urges such as sex drive, larger appetites, shorter tempers and less reservations regarding violence or murder
That's not to say they would immediately become rampant hedonistis,or cold blooded killers. In fact, certain individuals (Such as a teenager learning about the supernatural for the first time, or highly sheltered teenagers coming into contact with the outside world for the first time.) Could completely miss the change.
The Maou were of course aware of this. In fact Ajuka had spent a century fine tuning the evil pieces to limit the effects before making them wildly available to nobility.
However no effort had been made to address the issue since.
"How did that happen?" Searfall asked.
"I suspect it had something to do with his presence. It is known to defend one's mind." Ajuka replied.
"It's unusual for you to leave something that you haven't figured out yet so easily." Serafall observed suspiciously.
Ajuka shrugged. "Sirzechs is recruiting him. I'll get more chances for research."
Serafall hummed to herself. "That's fair, So do you think the boy will be a problem? What are those weird essences doing to him?"
"Surprisingly they don't seem to be doing anything to him at all." He replied. "Like I said, the one in the pawn is dormant, and the other one doest seem to be doing anything at the moment."
"Mysteries aside, do you think he'll become a problem?" Searfall asked again.
"I don't believe so." Ajuka replied. "While his bond with his Tennant is unusually strong and he seems to be exceptionally well trained, he seems to have a rather tame and gentle disposition, all things considered."
Neither of the two mentioned what Sona had told them about his reputation as a pervert. The fact that he had attended a school with two peerages worth of teenaged devils with the boosted gear of all things in him for two years, and had not been charged with some form of sexual assault only served to prove Ajukas statement.
Serafall sighed. "Yeah the boy did seem like the soft type. He'll fit right in with the Gremorys… What are the odds that Zechs planned this out?"
"I wouldn't put it past him." Ajuka replied. "He seemed genuinely panicked when he called me, but I doubt even he could have predicted this mess even if he did arrange the Sekiryutei's recruitment."
"Ugh!" Searfall groaned. "Honestly that brat is so annoying even when we're on the same side!"
Ajuka let out a small chuckle. "Indeed, regardless we both have work to do."
"You had to remind me, didn't you?" Serafall groaned.
Without another word the two maou teleported back to the underworld.
Inside the church
Raynare let out the breath she had been holding, but she didn't dare release her power hiding everyone inside the church.
"We're dead." Kalawarner muttered darkly.
"They're gone, stop panicking." Raynare growled.
"That's not what I meant and you know it!" Kalawarner yelled. "We pissed off the uncrowded maou! You know what his eyes can do! He saw what you said to the brat! We're going to die because you had to feed your overgrown ego!"
Raynare was stunned for a moment, before quickly becoming enraged. "Why you pathetic little-"
"Enough!" Mittlet yelled. "You too can tear each other apart later. Right now we have a job to do, a job that might be our only shot at getting through this mess alive. So both of you need to grow up and act like professionals!"
Raynare turned towards the smaller dallen ready to remind her why she was in charge, but then…
"Hahahahahahahahahahahahah!" Hysterical laughter rang throughout the church.
All the fallen turned towards the source of the laughter to find a young man with silver hair, and red eyes wearing a priest robe laughing with a smile that sent shivers down the professional assassins spines.
"Holy shit! The brat did a number on you guys! Well he always was nasty when he was pissed. I'm more surprised you're alive, all things considered." The young man said, talking more to himself than the fallen, before bursting out laughing again.
Under any other circumstances Raynare would have been on guard from how the ex-priest spoke so familiarly about the uncrowded Maou, but she was tired, humiliated, angry, and desperate to gain any semblance of control over her situation.
"Who the hell do you think you're laughing at you psychotic monkey!" Raynare yelled, spreading her wings out intimidatingly and flailing her power.
The young man showed no signs of noticing this as he continued his laughter.
This was the last straw for Raynare who materialized a light spear and went to skewer the maniac.
But before she could do so she froze, as did her fellow fallen.
Raynare's spear dissipated into nothing as a cold sweat broke over her body. There was now power, no bloodlust, the madman wasn't even paying attention to them, too busy laughing at their situation. But even so all of the fallen knew without question that the priest could kill them without lifting a finger, and yet they were powerless to even beg for mercy.
After what felt like an eternity, mad laughter began to die down.
"Hahahahahahahahahahahaha! Haha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Hhhhaaaaaa." He let out a sigh, his face becoming pensive. "What should I do now?" He asked no one in particular.
"I've done everything I came to do, so the best move would be to just kill you all and leave." He spoke casually, seemingly unaware of his words' effect on the frozen fallen.
"But that would be boring!" He moaned as if he were a child, both reliving and terrifying his captives. "That brat is right on the edge of losing it! I can't leave it like this!"
"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm." He crossed his arms in thought.
"I've got it!" He said energetically before turning his attention to his captives for the first time.
The fallen saw his sadistic smiling face and felt their hopes die. They knew the smile on his face and what it meant.
He was never ignoring them. His laughter, his dismissal, and his childlike attitude were all merely a performance for them. A performance meant to carefully balance their hope and fear so the monster in front of them could relish in their agony.
In the back of their minds Dohnaseek and Kalawarner Found their situation ironic. Mittlet wondered if this was some form of divine punishment.
Unknowing and uncaring of their thoughts the madman spoke to them for the first time, wearing the same smile Raynare had been wearing not even half a day ago as she stood above a dying boy. "I'm going to need you guys to forget some things "
In Hellsalmes Lot, surrounded by concerned loved ones operating complicated machines and magic to stabilize his unconscious body Aaron shivered in his hospital bed.
It's finally done! Sorry guys this one took so long, I've been focusing more on irl stuff lately. Nothing bad, just working on some stuff. Anyways about the story, it kinda bugged me that most fanfics I've read assumed the only reason Rias and Sona never went to their siblings was because of their spoiled brats. I mean they are spoiled brats, (particularly Rias) but if that were it I don't think they would be able to get away with it as much as they did. I admittedly was inspired by Third fangs version of Serafall when making mine, but I didn't just copy paste his version…. I think. He hasn't really gone into her character much. But I put effort into it at least! As for Freed… yeah there's more to him this time than "annoying crazy scrub" I have plans for him, you're welcome to make guesses in the comments.
It should be noted I did not make up essences, they are from Andrew Rowe's works, he is a fantasy author who I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys clever magic systems, and characters who break said systems in their favor.
I don't own highschool dxd or anything else you recognize, now I am off to the annoying process of posting chapters! Enjoy your labor day!