NMHA Ch. 36 - Source
A/N - More slice of life-friendly chapter, it's been a while since I last stopped to work on characters rather than wholly plot. I think this would be a good point for me to do just that. That doesn't mean there's not gonna be plot development, but I'll focus a bit more on the development of individuals as opposed to the story, probably this chapter and next.
As aquamarine eyes opened, Lunarunn Bael was greeted with the familiar sight of the bedroom ceiling, raking across the surface to where it intersected with the wall.
Being the King of her Peerage certainly came with its perks, the brunette reminisced, considering that there were three rooms: One for her, one for the Pendragon siblings, and one for Jaspal and Kuroka.
Her lips and her heart felt a downward tugging at the reminder.
It had been a week since the Nekoshou had stormed out, and they'd heard neither hide nor hair of her, not even from Serafall.
Had Kuroka tried to go after Shirone?
What was Luna supposed to make of that?
She worked her jaw from one side to another, murmuring out a few words mostly to console herself.
"If you love 'em, let 'em go, right?"
Someone shifted at her side and the brunette's eyes slid down to the softly sleeping form of her Pawn.
It had been a week since, and the nekoshou still hadn't come back.
Jaspal, according to the ravenette in question, had taken to seeing Luna's Bishop like a younger sister, so with Kuroka gone she'd been left to sleep alone.
Apparently that wasn't something she'd quite liked: Jaspal had asked if she could sleep with Luna just the night prior after all.
The Worldweaver had agreed, and the two had shared a bed. Luna herself was comforted by that feeling of warmth even now.
That was to say, she really didn't want to get out of bed.
But she had to.
One way or another. At least this way she'd be able to get some time in the shower.
Once Luna had gotten out, she went over to the dresser and started going through some clothes, eventually deciding on a red tee and a pair of short shorts. She'd include a hooded, gray duster as well, but only when she actually left the house.
Yet when the brunette made to put her shirt on, she came to a realization, even if it had been something in the back of her mind over the past few months.
'...have I gotten bigger since I last checked?'
That... had happened to Asia at one point too in canon, right?
But she had figured that was the result of boob envy and Asia's Devil body slowly shifting to accommodate for that.
Luna's eyes shifted to her side and further downward.
'Huh. Guess I'm filling out in all the right places, not just the one.'
But as far as Luna was aware, she wasn't really envious of another Devil's curviness.
So... what was the cause?
"Creature of instinct and Id," Ulan supplied. "Even if you aren't necessarily envious thanks to your original body, you do have an ideal for the appearance you have now, don't you?"
The brunette inhaled softly.
'Ah. When you put it like that...'
The physical form of a Devil wasn't entirely set in stone. One need only look at the likes of Sirzechs - as much of a treacherous bastard as he had proven himself to be, the guy made for a good example of what a Devil could do in general. He had an entirely alternate form after all, perhaps his true one. Granted, said alternate form was the physical embodiment of destruction, but the point remained the same.
If his public face was just a disguise, then Devils definitely had more control over their own appearance, if instinctively, than a human did.
'Hmm.'
She cupped her breasts in each hand, lips pursed as she lifted one slowly, then lowered it as she lifted the other, suddenly very glad that she wasn't a human, if for no other reason than because of her body's ability to adapt to a larger size and the... side-effects it entailed.
She hadn't exactly changed at all while she was in the Underworld, beyond the smattering of scars from her crusade against the heir-killers that she still bore. Luna had no doubt she could make that skin anew with Worldweave by this point by stimulating proper growth, but left them all the same. They were reminders, after all, of the lives she'd ended by proxy of Underworld 'justice'.
Ironic that she was one now, and that apparently in the process her body decided to approach her 'ideal' appearance.
She wondered if it had anything to do with the stress and guilt that had nearly killed her all those years ago. Still nowhere near Rias's or Akeno's builds, but Luna was certainly closer now than she had been before.
'Sheesh. It's a good thing I already prefer going commando in the chest department. Replacing a full set of bras would be complete pain.'
"Ah..."
Luna's head turned to the bed, noting the tired ruby eyes that met hers. A smile crossed the brunette's face.
She turned away with that smile. "Morning, sleepyhead. Did you sleep well?"
"Like a baby," Jaspal groaned, rolling onto her back and lifting an arm to her eyes. "Until you got out of bed, that is."
Luna pulled the shirt over her head, shivering briefly from how snug it was around her before glancing back with a grin. "Am I that comforting a presence?"
"It's because I'm your Pawn, you jerk!" the ravenette protested. "I'm instinctually obligated to derive satisfaction from servitude!"
"If we hadn't been only sleeping in the same bed last night, that would have a far different meaning~" Luna reached out to catch a pillow before it hit the dresser, sloppily-thrown in her direction.
Jaspal glared at her. "Look at you, making fun of me for seeking comfort."
"Oh yeah, I'm totally making fun of you. Ha ha, you have feelings and needs, what a loser." the brunette remarked dryly, rolling her eyes as she walked back over to the bed and sat down on it, leaning over with a teasing, but genuine, smile. "Guess we'll just have to be losers together then, huh?"
Ruby eyes crinkled as lips quirked upward, even as a faint red flush spread across fair skin. "Father always said that winning in everything, no matter the cost, was tantamount to our survival."
"What daddy doesn't know won't hurt him," the Worldweaver whispered back, lifting a finger to her own lips with a wink. "It'll just have to be our dirty little secret, hm?"
"Despite my misgivings, I will trust you in this regard," Jaspal let out a small titter of laughter. "But if you share that little secret with the world, I will never forgive you."
"Hm, hm~" Luna stood again and stepped away, before swinging around with a teasing grin and arms clasped behind her back to face her Pawn again. "Says the girl who so unconvincingly denies she has an exhibitionism feti-"
The second pillow flew true, and this time Luna let it hit her square in the face.
The embarrassed grin on the svelte ravenette, in the split-second before Luna's view of the Valac was blocked by the improvised missile, was well worth the 'punishment'.
Luna was met with the smell of eggs and bacon as she stepped out of the bedroom, taking a moment to sniff the air before letting out a contented sigh.
"Morning Arthur," she started, without so much as looking in the direction where she could now hear the swordsman cooking, heading straight for the fridge. "Think there's enough for four?"
"I made servings for five," the blond replied, speaking over the sizzling of bacon as she passed by. Oh, the Devil could feel her mouth watering now. "You and Jaspal hadn't eaten as much this past week, and I'm used to making that much anyway. It is good to see that you're in a better mood now. Have a good night with your Pawn?"
The reference to her missing Bishop caused the brunette's mood to drop, but it was with practice that she pushed it aside and continued with the same cheer. She knew he meant nothing by his comment.
"Aw, c'mon. We set up a privacy barrier to ensure we didn't bother you two," Luna pouted, crossing her arms beneath her chest with puckered lips as she cast him a glare.
"It worked. There's no telling what sorts of deviancy you two got up to behind that ward."
"In case you were wondering, we were holding hands and sleeping soundly together. Presumptuous asshole."
The blond sniffed, tilting his nose up. "As I thought, deviancy at its most heinous. Shameless bint."
They shared a chuckle, before Arthur motioned. "So what's the plan for today?"
Luna opened the fridge and grabbed a carton of milk, pulling it out before using Worldweave to gently open the cupboard just enough for a cup to slip out, landing in her other hand so she could start pouring. "Not much. I'm still not sure we're at the point yet where we can set up an actual base of operations."
"So you plan on fishing for more descendants?"
"Mh." Luna put the milk back with a nod and walked over to the table in the attached dining rooms. "Plus I need to get back with Georg about our last discussion. Hopefully I'd left him with things to think through."
Considering that the magician bearing Dimension Lost was still up for grabs she couldn't let the opportunity to win him over slip by. Especially considering he was instrumental in the attack on Kyoto. In canon the casualties might have been minimal, but Luna was not going to take any chances here.
Plus, he had a Sacred Gear. Someone was going to pick him up sooner or later, so it may as well be with people who had a direction and an ideal to strive toward, right?
Luna almost grimaced at the irony. She knew that those same words could apply to her, or to Cao Cao, or to Kokabiel, or to even Zekram or Sirzechs.
'Speaking of him, though...'
There was also still no sign of Cao Cao, which suggested he might have been closer to Greece or Germany to recruit Jeanne and Siegfried. There was the matter of dealing with him too, before he got strong enough to challenge Azazel in a face-off. Whether that was heading him off that path, recruiting him, or removing the wielder of Longinus from the equation altogether, Luna wasn't sure yet.
Speaking of the as-of-yet-unformed Hero Faction, though, that led to the overarching organization it had been a part of.
The Khaos Brigade.
She'd thought that the Forgotten Front Party would have been the foundation from which the Khaos Brigade formed, but the FFP had been purged during her kidnapping those years ago.
It still stung that what she'd worked for over the course of years had gone to ruin, but Luna had since gotten used to that feeling.
There was still the chance that Diodora might have been orchestrating something in the background with what few remnants remained, but even then Luna wasn't sure.
Especially since she'd neither seen nor heard hide nor hair of him since that fateful day.
Had he been caught in the purge?
Had he gone mad, and entered his canonical path?
She certainly hoped not. She'd actually begun to think he wasn't actually so bad before she got kidnapped by that Naberius bastard's mercenaries.
Then there was Ophis.
The Infinity Dragon.
The second strongest living being in the DxD-verse...
'Erm. Not counting Big G or Trihexa. One's dead, the other's sealed.'
Still, the latter was a wild card. But Luna got a feeling that if it were unsealed, that wouldn't be good, which meant Qlippoth was a faction to kill on sight. No negotiations, no convincing, nothing. They needed to die. The term 'Beast of the Apocalypse' was bad news, especially since it took God's life to seal the thing in the first place.
"Bad news indeed," Ulan droned, voice completely flat.
'Exactly. I want to try and be reasonable, but if someone's willingly trying to unchain that aberration then there's no room to reason with them.'
But back to the Infinity Dragon.
If Ophis was around gathering soldiers to try and oust Great Red from the Dimensional Gap that might also be a problem factor.
Luna wondered if she could grant Ophis's desire for silence with Worldweave, though.
Now that she had no strings, she could potentially claim the Infinity Dragon as an ally too, if an indolent one.
So much to do. Especially considering canon was getting closer and closer.
The Worldweaver wanted to be ready for when it was.
"Shit, I'm gonna have to do even more, aren't I?" She lifted a hand to her head. "Maybe I could try speaking with the Norse pantheon. Or maybe the Egyptian one."
Wait. Wasn't Odin someone who saw the future too? What would happen if her otherworldly nature set him off?
Arthur overheard Luna's speaking to herself and chose to respond. "Do you think you could get a pantheon to ally with our cause such as them, when the Norse Pantheon is primarily focused on warding off Ragnarok?"
"Ragnarok starts when Baldur gets stabbed by a mistletoe branch thanks to Loki," Luna replied, tapping the desk thoughtfully. "Odin holds out hope that Loki will see reason, or perhaps he's not able to do anything about his son-in-law."
Loki was something of a big shot in canon too, right?
Or was he more just an agent of chaos, a prankster god, like in Norse mythos?
She wasn't sure.
Frankly, it would be risky just to reach out.
She was getting stronger, a lot stronger, but she wasn't sure she could handle a god just yet if worse came to worst and they ended up having to deal with a maniacal deity.
Perhaps it would be something to get around to later. At the very least, she could try setting groundwork down right away.
"But it's worth a shot. Odin, for all his philandering habits, is a knowledgeable and wise god." Luna pulled a face. "...As far as anything without a skirt goes."
There was an idea though.
But then again...
'Yeah, maybe not.'
He was in cahoots with Azazel, and since Azazel was in talks with the Underworld...
Luna shook her head.
She wasn't ready to deal with that viper's nest yet.
'Then again, Azazel was the kind of asshole who plays for keeps.' There was some merit to having him in talks with her on the side. All the better if she manages to secure the support - hell, even neutrality works - of the Grigori in the coming days.
Granted, she had no doubt Kokabiel would have something to say about that.
Luna wasn't training for nothing, though.
Nor was she going to be satisfied with just training herself up to the point where she can match his canon counterpart.
Not when she was fully aware that she was going to be dealing with a Cadre, a Fallen general, and one who had likely kept his claws sharpened ever since the end of the Great War. He was a warmonger after all. She had every belief that for the Watcher of the Stars, the war had never ended.
He'd been a villainous flavor of the day in canon, and if Luna had learned anything about this world, it was that someone like him would be far, far more complex. Thus, it went to stand that he'd be that much if not even more dangerous.
Back to the other Fallen of note, though...
She wasn't overfond of playing the 'boy meets girl' card, but Azazel was a lecher, so she could take advantage of that. The brunette also imagined that he'd know that and see right through any clever ploy she tried making.
Luna pinched the bridge of her nose. She'd seen him six years ago, back in Akihabara, looking through doujins. There was an opportunity then and there, had she had the wherewithal to take advantage of it.
'That being said, considering his contact with the Underworld I'm definitely a person of interest in his eyes. He might still be keeping tabs on my whereabouts, even if I'm trying to lay relatively low.'
"Speaking of philanderers, I'm thinking it's time we get in touch with the Grigori," she decided, her tapping on the countertop coming to a stop. "As loathe as I am to take a step back towards the Underworld, the Grigori's gonna be important in the coming years."
"How so?"
"Among other things, they have the Vanishing Dragon Emperor."
There was the sound of an uttered curse from Arthur as he froze up, and with a quick glance the Worldweaver saw their breakfast making a break for the floor.
Luna caught the falling eggs in a telekinetic hold, courtesy of Worldweave, and popped them back into the air where Arthur was able to catch them on a plate.
"Thanks for the assist." His voice, however, was still tight. "So. The Vanishing Dragon Emperor?"
"Yep. Belongs to a Vali Lucifer, a descendant from the original."
"An origin line Devil with a Longinus-tier Sacred Gear." Arthur drolled. "That's quite a claim, a worrying one at that."
"And if he became an ally?"
"That would be... less discouraging. Even discounting the Red Dragon Emperor, who would undoubtedly become maligned due to our affiliation."
"Well then, I've got some good news for you. He'd get along just fine with our little entourage."
"Fight maniac?" the hero descendant guessed.
"Fight maniac," the Worldweaver confirmed, a smirk rising to her lips.
"Then perhaps there's hope. Provided we can convince him to join us." Arthur let out a sigh. "And what of the Red Dragon Emperor?"
"A potential threat, and a potent one if that's what he becomes," she admitted. "but I'll just say the Dragon Emperors of this generation are unlike any other. Provided we can keep Vali from going overboard, I think we could obtain the support of both. Even if not, the Red Dragon Emperor will be a simple enough obstacle to circumvent."
"M-hm." Arthur sounded like he'd voiced a concerning lack of faith, had a second head of blonde hair not rushed out from the other bedroom and immediately latched on to her brother's side. Said brother didn't budge from the impact, but there was an unmistakable softening of his expression as he smiled down at his sister.
"Good morning, Fay. Did you sleep well?"
"Mhm!" The young girl nodded emphatically as she pulled away, turning around to beam at Luna as well. "Good morning to you too, Miss Luna!"
"Oi, just call me 'Luna'. I told you I'm not so big on the formalities," she laughed lightly. "But yeah, I'd say Jaspal and I had a very good night. Morning to you too, Fay."
Arthur put a hand to his face and let out a long sigh at the double-entendre.
'It wasn't even intentional this time!'
"It appears your brand of humor has infected them. May God have mercy on your souls."
Luna had to fight off a smile from rising to her face at her patron's bland remark. 'Ha.'
"Is something the matter?" Arthur's sister stared up at him.
"Not at all," he lied as easily as he breathed, though the gaze he leveled at Luna suggested otherwise.
Thankfully, Le Fay didn't catch it, instead letting out another nod, as well as a hum, before turning to the food. The brunette couldn't see it, but she knew Le Fay was eyeing it hungrily, even as she turned and looked around. "Where's Jaspal?"
"Right here," the ravenette in question answered, entering the dining room from the hallway with arms upward in a stretch, before sitting down on the chair next to Luna. "Morning Fay, Arthur. As for you, Luna, figured out what you're gonna do?"
"Definitely. I'm going to try and pitch an offer to Georg, for starters." Luna grinned as Arthur started filling up plates with breakfast for each of them, two particularly large portions sectioned off for her and her Pawn. "Following this delicious-looking breakfast, of course. After I'm done with Georg for the day, I'm thinking of making contact with the Grigori."
"And how exactly do you plan to do that?" her Pawn asked, lifting a thin brow.
The Worldweaver shrugged. "I can pull a few strings. At the very least, I'll be able to get a bit of time with one of Azazel's cadres. Once I'm wrapped up there, I'll move on to sending missives to Egypt and Asgard, and maybe Mesopotamia as well."
"Not Greece?" Arthur pressed, coming in with four plates and setting them in front of each occupied seat plus his own.
"The Greek gods have proven themselves almost wholly problematic time and again, minus perhaps Hades." And she wouldn't contact him until she had more confirmation that he was less the canonical Ains Ool Gown ripoff and more of the traditional 'harsh but fair' ruler he's portrayed as in mythology. "The Norse ones can at least be mostly helpful under proper circumstances, and the Egyptian pantheon's 50-50 on decent individuals. The Mesopotamians are an unknown quantity right now, but giving them a chance in the limelight again might get the rest on board."
The tapping on the table went from a single finger to a five-fingered drumming. "The Chaos Karma Dragon might be temperamental, but she's still a dragon and thus prone to a few habits I might be able to spin to our advantage. As long as she's not chained to the Underworld like Tannin."
Then again, was what she was offering conducive to the Egyptians' view of Ma'at? Ma'at was order and unity, and what Luna was seeking to do... didn't exactly fill out one of those two qualities. Still, it was worth a shot. The worst that could happen was that she'd know whether they stood as allies or enemies.
She wasn't even going to get close to India until both her power base and her individual power level were far greater. If Indra decided to take her mission personally as they stood now, she and everyone close to her were way up shit creek without a paddle. If it was Shiva that did such a thing...
The Worldweaver bit into a piece of bacon and swallowed it. If Shiva became an enemy, they would be utterly and irrevocably fucked, no ifs ands or buts about it.
"And what about the humans? The magicians, and the Sacred Gear users that aren't part of the Longinus?" That was Jaspal, who glanced at Luna askance before taking a bite of her own meal.
"As it stands, we have no real base of operations. Until we do, humans that might join us don't have a unified front, nor any protection in the event that one of the trigger-happy factions panic-fires on us. Having Georg on our side will go a very long way in that regard, especially once our company investments pay back in spades. Until then though, I can only go after the most significant of unaffiliated humans."
Arthur's sister just looked between the adults, brow furrowed in concentration as she tried to take part. Even now, Luna could see that the young girl was flagging, and so offered respite.
"Sorry about that. Just a lot of work-related stuff. We'll move on to something a bit more interesting for you, like magic discussion." The brunette smiled and held out a piece of bacon. "Want another?"
The blonde latched on to both olive branches eagerly. "Ooh! Yes please! To both!"
A fist landed against the held-up forearms of the blond, teeth gritting as the force of the impact threatened to knock him back.
However, he'd prepared for such an eventuality, and felt the ground beneath his feet give way as he himself held firm, using the momentum to draw back, a brief blast of fire detonating at the back of his elbow to propel his punch forward, a rocket fist finding a home in the crook of the other individual's elbow.
With a twist from that individual, the blond found himself in the air, a minor inconvenience as blazing white wings spread from his back and sent him blasting back towards his assailant, who met a fierce jump kick enhanced by those wingbeats. Once more ground cracked and gave way, even if the recipient of his kick held his ground. The half-grunt, half-growl that escaped was music to the blond's ears.
He didn't remain there, however, instead using those arms that rose to block his feet to springboard off, lances of electricity racing in to obliterate the foe before him before they dissipated into the air, rendered null by the defense thrown up in response.
This did grant him a moment to land back on the ground and lift his arms back into a fighting stance as swathes of ice spikes speared through the ground on their way to impale him.
Another wingbeat dispersed the ice into so much steam, obscuring their view of each other and that of any onlookers.
Not that it stopped either fighter, spurred on by their ears, and noses, and magical senses, rather than sight.
His arms moved of their own accord, rising to fend off swift, powerful blows, before his body spun to intercept something heavy inbound.
The steam then was blown away by a shockwave, two individuals meeting the others' lifted leg in a high kick meant for the others' head.
Both were breathing heavily, a light sheen of sweat covering the brow of both heads.
Both were also grinning, the thrill of competition burning bright in their shining eyes.
They broke contact, one unleashing a veritable firestorm on the other, twisting flames erupting all around the grey-haired one while the other was met with circles upon circles of air magic, likely to deprive the blond of it.
Not that he'd ever let that happen, a third wingbeat producing lightning-tipped white feathers which crashed into every circle, detonating them before the magic behind them could be released.
Both broke off again before clashing once more, white on gray, blond against grey, the blond lifting off the ground in a wing-propelled vertical spin kick, a lash of leg catching fire and erupting in electrical garlands before one strong hand grabbed onto the leg and threatened to pile-drive him into the ground. He broke free with a twist of his body in response.
Even then he was thrown back, the pile-drive being turned into a throw in that very moment. He recovered admirably all the same, a single wingbeat stabilizing his flight and returning him to an aerial standstill.
The blazing kick left the grey-eyed individual with only lightly singed clothes, a small trail of smoke rising from one sleeve that quickly was snuffed out.
"It seems we're at an impasse, Ruval," Diehauser Belial commented dryly, stretching the leg that had collided with the Phenex's. "At least as far as our sparring goes. Unfortunate that the usual practice arena was occupied by Bedeze and Roygun."
"Considering that you labeled me, someone who just a year prior wouldn't have been able to dream of beating you, as your equal among the Ten Kings, you probably lit a fire under them to try and match up," the blond replied, amusement shimmering in his sapphire gaze. "What was the score again, thirty-nine to thirty-seven in my favor?"
"Don't even bother with that tripe, it was the other way around!" Diehauser laughed, dropping his stance to cross his arms. "Are you trying to get a real fight out of me?"
"No, no, no... maybe." One of Ruval's eyes closed briefly, a wink that caused the Belial's chuckles to intensify briefly as the Phenex's own arms lowered to his sides.
"There we go." The Emperor of Kings nodded sagely. "Honestly though, these past six years have been some of the most entertaining I have had in a long time. I'm disappointed that you retired from the Rating Games to focus on heading your family. The Rating Games have never scored quite as highly since our match that day. Nor have I enjoyed them quite as much since."
"It's worked out so far, hasn't it?" Ruval asked, almost archly, but the small grin across his face belied his true emotions. "Mother and Father have been a little leery of how I have been spending our revenue, but what is the point of accumulating wealth if not to use it? I have been working to guarantee we aren't unduly dipping into our reserves, and I have contacts to help ensure my expenditures are wisely implemented. Worst-case scenario, we lose a half-century's revenue. Considering our stockpile..."
"Takes money to make money." Diehauser commented, scratching the back of his head. He understood what Ruval was implying, given the wry smirk that rose to his face. "That, or unthinkable effort mixed with a helping of luck. Kind of like power, in that sense."
"Thankfully, I have all three in spades."
"Perhaps. You've dropped off in the second category since you took headship of the Phenex family though," the Belial pointed out, pointing at Ruval in turn with a lifted brow to emphasize the point. "If you'd kept growing your strength like you had before, you would have left me in the dust, yet your power's plateaued."
Ruval shrugged as his ever-faithful butler hurried onto the field with wet towels, taking one with a grateful nod to wrap around the back of his neck. "Hmh, I doubt that. I have other things to focus on as well. Besides, who is to say that I haven't been training like before?"
"The fact that we're still just about even in score." Diehauser paused, as though a thought arose as he did the same with the towel offered to him. "Unless you mean to say you've been holding back all this time."
"No. Simply... focusing my additional efforts in a new field, of sorts."
The evasive question caused Diehauser's eyes to sharpen, a curious glint now in the gaze meeting Ruval's. "Oh? Consider my curiosity... piqued. What, exactly, have you been doing all this time if you believe yourself on the same level of training as the year that preceded your final Rating Game?"
Instead, the Phenex changed the topic. "Speaking of 'all this time', how has Cleria been?"
Though the grin on his face suggested that he'd eventually return to his line of questioning, the grey-haired Devil acquiesced.
"Sulking over Kuoh being taken out of her hands," Diehauser bemoaned, dropping the matter for at least the moment. "Not that I can blame her; I'm not overfond of some upstart noble butting in and taking all the credit for the hard work she did."
"And how has Kuoh been growing, ever since the change?"
"...Well." The admission was as begrudging as it could get. "Whether that's because the Gremory girl is just the mouthpiece for Sirzechs, Zeoticus, or Venelana, or because she herself is talented, I can't deny that the town is doing well for itself. Not as well as it would have under Cleria though!"
"Sure, keep telling yourself that." Ruval chuckled and walked up to rap on Diehauser's arm once. "Lord Bael knows Cleria is an effective steward; I have little doubt she'll be chosen for the next city that comes under Devil control, perhaps even an actual city instead of sleepy Kuoh. Her work there was basically done for the foreseeable future, so why not leave a lower-maintenance town in the hands of someone less experienced to learn about how to properly manage one's lands?"
To say nothing of the extension of trust it suggested to the Shinto Faction, that the Strongest Devil's sister would grow up in their land. At least one of Luna's spearheaded efforts was still alive and well.
"Curse you and your logic," the gray-haired Emperor chuckled. "When you put it like that, I can't argue without coming off as petty. But even so..."
His brow furrowed as he trailed off.
"Hm?" Ruval tilted his head as he saw the mild confusion on the Belial's face. "Is something not making sense to you?"
"I don't know. I just... get the feeling, she should have stayed." Diehauser frowned, a silence coming over them both as they processed those words, before a sigh escaped the Emperor of Kings. "No matter. I suppose you're right; there's nothing that can be done now. I do hope you'll push for her to receive stewardship over the next human city, though?"
"As long as you keep your contacts in the Outlands publicly supporting the Phoenix Initiative," the blond shot back, a grin spreading across his face as they began walking back over to the changing rooms.
The Belials had been an Extra Devil family after all, one with next to no power and only the name of their ancestor, until Diehauser appeared and single-handedly carried the Belials back into nobility through his sheer competence; be it his family trait and combat prowess, tactical skill, or political acumen, the Belials became a functional Pillar family again because of Diehauser.
That most everyone enjoyed a rags to riches story, and that Zekram knew it, probably had a significant impact on his ascension as well.
"Of course. It's not every day an established family tries to expand trade and influence into the Outlands." The Belial shrugged. "The last family who tried that were the Marchosias, and... well. You know what happened to them."
"Quite. Funny how the Marchosias outreach and their subsequent extinction are completely unrelated, but not expanding further as things stand now is still something of an unspoken agreement between families. Had it not been for the Civil War, perhaps they would have been able to make something of it themselves." Ruval closed his eyes and scratched his cheek, ignoring the hollow pang that echoed when the family of his late tutor was brought up. "Yet, these are people struggling to simply survive. They might be stronger for it, but at the same time they have to be in order to do so. Ideally, I would see that strength used for more than just to make ends meet."
"How so? They don't have much in the way of magical power, after all. Even those with bloodlines usually aren't able to manifest their clan trait. I'm the exception, not the rule." It was not so much a disparagement but more a statement of fact, with a hint of inquisitiveness behind it.
"Just because they lack magical power doesn't make the Extras and Lows weak. I believe Lunarunn's kidnapping is proof that competence comes in many forms."
Diehauser didn't deny that Luna had been kidnapped then slandered while she couldn't defend herself, rather than running away; he'd been around the block long enough to recognize a political purge when he saw one. So instead, he smiled.
"What happened with that, anyway? You mentioned you got your burn and wings in the aftermath of the kidnapping, but you've never explained any of the details."
Ruval tilted his head. Had he really not shared the story for his scar and wings?
Well. It was, admittedly, something he preferred to keep close to his chest.
Diehauser was a friend, though, and someone who'd more or less aligned himself with the Phenexes once Ruval took the mantle of Lord Phenex.
Loyalty deserved loyalty.
"She did go berserk," he admitted. "For reasons I won't disclose for her sake, but what she'd been feeling was amplified by her ability, and that made her... dangerous. Far, far too dangerous. It was in those final moments that I got this burn."
"Worldweave, right?" Diehauser put a hand to his chin, glancing up in thought as they stepped into the changing room and made for their respective lockers. "I'm surprised you took it as well as you did, that you had to kill your own fiancee."
Ruval set a hand on the locker, holding it there as he felt that sharper pang strike. It was not for the reason Diehauser believed, but it was an ache of loss all the same.
"...She was already beyond my means of saving," he admitted, quietly, telling the truth if only in part. "The most I could do for Luna was... free her from that mad rage."
Diehauser looked away, if only briefly. "So you picked up where she left off."
"If I couldn't bring her home, then the least I could do was try and make the Underworld..."
"A place your memory of who she was could peacefully live in," Diehauser finished, and Ruval could hear the locker opening up. "Because of the ideals she helped you recognize. You already told me that much, at least."
"Hmh." A low, single chuckle bubbled up from Ruval's throat as he pulled out his standard clothing. "It's the right thing to do, the Phoenix Initiative. I may not always be the ideal nobleman, but at least I am trying to be."
"Between you and me, that joint project seems to be going well. I think she'd be proud of the progress you made in just six years."
"Three new autonomous regions that pay fealty to the Phenex family, a lively trade system between each and the Phenex territory proper, offers of temporary contracts for those interested... it may not be an exact match, but the ancient Persian empire knew what they were doing." The Phenex pulled off his shirt, revealing that back to the world around him once more.
"Weren't the Persians stymied by the Greeks?"
"They were, before they played on the Athenian Alliance's divisions to collapse it in on itself. That's why I did some studying, so that the Phenexes don't meet a similar embarrassment as the Greco-Persian War." The blond pulled his shoulders up in a shrug. "It was a terrible matchup of military makeup anyway, so that was a major force multiplier in favor of the Greeks. At least for us, we've been using words and money instead of swords to expand our territory."
"The Phenex Flame of Sinai, studying history. Is that where your 'training' has gone?" Diehauser asked, sounding a mixture of disbelieving and amused.
Ruval just chuckled as he started changing into his actual clothes.
"If you don't remember the past, yet try to follow the same steps, you're doomed to repeat the same tragedies, are you not?"
"Why bring that up?" Ajuka Beelzebub asked, lifting a drink to his lips as he pushed over another report to his closest ally and friend.
"Because I've done the research. I see the signs." Sirzechs Lucifer opened the report and spread the papers, eyes rapidly flicking through them before taking a sip of his own drink. "This isn't the first time that the world's seen a power like this, after all. It's not quite the same, but the appearance of the original Sacred Gear user, wielding what would come to be known as Longinus, was a watershed moment in the history of the Big Three. Lunarunn Bael may well be the same sort of individual."
Ajuka could guess where Sirzechs was going. "One whose very appearance threatens to throw the balance of the world into chaos, for better or worse?"
"Mh. I'm not sure if it's due to Luna herself, or if it is due to the waves her appearance and actions cause, but I'm inclined to believe that it may be both, which only enhances my thoughts toward labeling her the harbinger of a new era."
"I feel obligated to step in and offer my own opinion." Grayfia spoke up, clearly having thoughts of her own as she glanced between Sirzechs and Ajuka, though her expression was as inscrutable as ever. "I have not spoken with Miss Bael ever since you barred her from entering the Young Devils' Ratings Game Tournament, Lord Lucifer, but back then she seemed no more than a highly driven, if reckless, young woman with a unique power. The idea that she may be a harbinger, as you put it, is... concerning."
"As concerning as it might be, the signs line up too easily. The future visions that aren't actually visions. The unusual power, unusually manifested, whose nature transcends what Devils normally possess. The rapid ascent in the rankings, performing a task that would make the vast majority of other Devils balk in a timeframe that would make them flee entirely. The meltdown, however justified it was, and the utter erasure of a Naberius heir, far beyond what even holy light can do to our kind."
The redheaded Devil's gaze glanced out the door. "She knew not to push too hard either when it came to leveraging her 'visions' when speaking with me, implying a level of knowledge she shouldn't have for a supposedly normal girl who found herself in a Devil's body by sheer fluke. If she had tried using Millicas to prove her point about her usefulness when we first met, I would have crippled her to teach her a lesson, yet she stopped just short with Rias and her supposed connection with the Red Dragon Emperor."
So Sirzechs would have. That sort of callous cruelty to just prove a point in leveraging his family against him, it didn't sit quite right with Ajuka. Perhaps he'd have thought nothing of it before, but with everything that seemed to be unfolding he was starting to have his own thoughts on the matter rather than walking fully in lockstep.
"And if it had been Millicas who was the catalyst?" he thought aloud.
Sirzechs stared at the table, while Grayfia sent the green-haired Maou a momentary look of concern, irritation, and confusion. "Why ask a hypothetical like that?" Sirzechs's Queen asked, lifting an arch brow.
"Because I have to wonder as well." Ajuka admitted. "I know you mean the best for your family Sirzechs, and by proxy the Underworld, and I know you've got plans in the works - I even helped you with quite a few - but Serafall has been expressing... reticence. To say nothing of what Falbium may be up to these days, as opaque as his activities have become."
"I am fully aware of both." Sirzechs took a breath, then exhaled. "If Millicas represented the same thing Luna does now, I would have provided everything in my power to ensure that he becomes strong enough for the gathering storm that he is harbinger to."
Yet instead of guiding and training Luna, and helping raise her to be an icon of what a Devil could be, Sirzechs had exploited and abandoned her.
Ajuka knew that Sirzechs had double standards, but for it to be so openly aired put a rather sour taste in his mouth. It never sat quite right with him, nor did it sit right with him now.
"Your actions are starting to push away our friends," he went with, instead. Matters of discomfort aside, he had sworn to stand by Sirzechs's side to the end. Ajuka intended to be his friend's Marchosias, even if he'd taken a name different from the extinct Pillar's. "Now more than ever; Falbium was always the least involved Satan so his complete disconnect from us is understandable, but even Serafall is feeling isolated and is beginning to drift away herself. If you continue this path, then there's a very real chance that we lose her and the Sitri family as a whole."
Sirzechs and Grayfia exchanged glances, with the former giving a short nod before turning back to Ajuka.
"Good."
"Good- '' The green-haired Devil slowly, intentionally, set the wineglass down, before standing up. The pieces were coming together, but he wasn't sure he was fond of what he was starting to see. "Are you serious?"
"If I wasn't, I wouldn't have taken the steps I have so far. Especially with what we learned six years ago."
Ajuka took in a deep breath, then exhaled, before shaking his head. "I will need some time to process the implications. You have given me plenty of food for thought, even if I do not like what you are handing me."
"Take your time." Sirzechs smiled and nodded again, this time in understanding as much as affirmation. "It wasn't an easy decision for me to come to either."
The silver-haired Devil stood, glancing at her husband before giving him another nod. "I shall escort Lord Beelzebub on his way to the teleportation array."
"Please do. Thank you, Grayfia."
As the two left the room, the Super Devil's keen ears could pick up the sounds of conversation between his Queen and Ajuka.
With any onlookers out of the way, and the wineglass in front of him as of yet untouched, Sirzechs lifted it to his lips...
He threw the entire contents of the glass back in a single go.
Diodora watched as awareness appeared in the eyes of the exorcist he brought home with him.
That wasn't to say she was free to go anywhere; he'd made sure to bind her arms and legs to the chair she was currently sitting in, so she would be unable to escape.
"Mmh...?" Her eyes opened slowly, before focusing in on the teal-haired Devil. "W-what? Who are you? Where am I?"
He kept walking, taking slow step after slow step around the exorcist.
He didn't have to wait long for her to speak up again. "Answer me!"
"You don't have room to ask questions of me," Diodora answered, almost casually, as he continued his unceasing circle around her. "But if you answer my questions truthfully, I may be inclined to... oblige your curiosity."
"Tch." The exorcist looked away with a sharp scowl. "Forget it. You're not getting anything from me."
"Au contraire, mademoiselle," the Astaroth countered, eliciting a surprised look from the exorcist as he'd switched to flawless French before continuing in the exorcist's native language. Spanish, if he'd guessed her accent properly. "If I wanted to, I could break your mind right now and take what I want from it. I'm merely granting you the opportunity to walk away with your mental faculties intact."
He stopped behind the bound exorcist's chairs, resting his hands on her shoulders briefly, firmly but not uncomfortably. Judging by her recognition of his words, Diodora had guessed her native tongue correctly. "I find it terribly fulfilling to force someone's obedience in such a manner, but at the same time I try to hold myself to a higher standard than relegating such a brutal use of those mentalist arts to my first method of... negotiation."
Diodora could feel the shudder at his words from the hands on her shoulders, and he couldn't help the pleased shiver that went down his spine.
She was scared.
For some reason, he found himself not unfond of eliciting that sort of reaction in another. The teal-haired Devil's hands pulled away as he continued pacing around her.
"One way or another, you are going to tell me. I'm just giving you the chance to keep your thoughts your own. Don't bother lying either; I'll know if you do."
"...Why are you doing this?"
He walked over to another chair and picked it up, bringing it over in front of the bound exorcist before sitting down in it, one leg crossed over the other. "You're going to have to elaborate."
She wouldn't meet his gaze, defiantly glaring to the side. "Why did you kidnap me? Why are you not just breaking into my head like the first time and just making me tell you everything you want to know?"
Diodora leaned his head to one side, squinted eyes closing shut entirely as he let out a faint hum.
Then, he let out a low rumble of laughter.
"Who's to say you haven't already? What if I already did everything I told you I was going to, and I'm just pretending I haven't for my own sick pleasure?"
The exorcist's head snapped to his, teeth grit and eyes blazing. "Enough games! Tell me what you-"
Her head snapped to the side, an angry red mark already forming around the area where hand met cheek, the motion of his swing only a blur.
"I already told you, you have no room to ask questions," Diodora repeated while folding his hand back in his pocket, as though he hadn't slapped the exorcist hard enough to see her eyes unfocusing and refocusing even now. "So outright demands are beyond the pale. Please don't make this any harder on yourself."
He waited a moment for those eyes to refocus on him, burning with a mixture of fear and anger. Such passion. "I'll even start with something easy, so this becomes less of an interrogation and more of a... discourse. What is your name?"
"Hhff... Fuck you," she breathed out, even as Diodora noted tears leaking from the corner of her eyes.
"Truly an unfortunate name. I imagine the exorcist corps gives you no end of trouble for it." Diodora's smiling mask was firmly in place as he reached out to take her chin, meeting her gaze with a partway-opened one. "Now, why don't you try again? I won't be so kind as to give you a third chance to answer my question."
Pulled to face him as she was, he could see the trembling in her gaze. Oh, she wasn't just scared, she was terrified.
She squeezed her eyes shut. "Carlamine."
He knew she wouldn't reveal her surname so easily - it would give him more leverage over her, even more than that simple act of revealing her first name already had.
Not that it mattered, not really.
"There we go. That wasn't so difficult, was it?" The teal-haired mentalist's eyes slid back shut as he let go of her chin and stepped backwards. "I'm Diodora. Diodora Astaroth. Before you ask: yes, I am a Devil, and yes, I have trapped your chair with enough mind magic to knock you out cold - painfully at that - if you try using any verses to injure me."
Indeed, he could see the runes around Carlamine's seat begin glowing right as he'd mentioned he was a Devil, before dying down as the exorcist's eyes dropped to the floor.
"You're young, barely into adulthood. More experienced exorcists most likely would have gotten themselves knocked out cold if not rendered brain-dead in your place. Anti-Devil conditioning at its finest." The Devil tilted his head from side to side. "I take it you were recently graduated?"
Her eyes narrowed, and after a few seconds decided it wasn't important enough to keep close to her chest. "No. I was apprenticed under another exorcist. I was about a year out from graduating, before we... ran into a Stray that was too strong for either of us to handle. He had me run while he held it off, and that was the last I saw of him. I was transferred to guard duty while a new mentor was decided on."
'Ah.'
"...I'm sorry for your loss."
Any form of reminiscence on Carlamine's face vanished in an instant. "Spare your breath, Devil. I won't fall for your lies."
How ironic: he had been earnest with those words.
"Why lie when the truth is so much more impactful?" Diodora asked, though rhetorically, instead continuing to speak while the blonde digested his words. "Besides, you've already fallen for my tricks, my magicks, and my trappings. Why don't we cut out the middleman, and get straight to the point?"
Carlamine practically snarled at him, but remained silent. Taking that as an affirmation, the teal-haired Devil pressed onward.
"So what were you doing at the blacksite?"
"Guarding it, obviously."
"Hm. And what were you guarding, exactly?"
"Wouldn't you like to know. All that matters is that a monster like you didn't find anything worthwhile there."
He pointedly ignored the 'monster' comment. "Do you even know what was going on there?"
"It was a need to know basis, and I did not need to know. Too bad for you; you won't learn anything from me."
"Hm. Let me rephrase what I just asked you." Diodora stepped forward and took her chin again, looking her in the eye once more. "Do you even know what they did there?"
There was still fear there, but it was buried behind anger. She might have supposed it was righteous, thus it fed into that anger. He could recognize that fear all the same, however. "No, and I don't care to know. Especially not from a despicable thing like you."
Had he heard that right?
She didn't care to know?
'How can she not care to know? Is she mad, or truly that brainwashed!?'
It was almost like she'd spit him in the face, her words had infuriated him.
The Astaroth felt his brow start twitching, and the urge to punish the fool girl for her idiotic tunnel-vision reared its ugly head, boiling and writing beneath his skin.
His non-pocketed hand, the one that had let go of Carlamine's chin in preparation to strike her, shook, and it was with a great effort that Diodora forced himself to take a step away.
Some people were just that thick-headed. Unfortunately, it seemed as though he'd netted himself one of those kinds of people.
He turned to start walking, stuffing his hand into his pocket so both could freely clench into fists. "Then maybe you'd hear it from one of - or several, even - of the kids you were guarding."
"You know about them?" Carlamine's eyes widened as she processed this information, before she began straining against her binds and snarling at Diodora. "Where are they, Devil! What did you do to them?!"
The teal-haired Astaroth pulled a hand from his pocket to flip-flop it dismissively as he continued walking. "Killed them and ate their livers."
"...What?" Her voice dropped, then sharpened into a seething hiss, quickly building into a furious tirade. "You... you..."
He could feel his right eye twitch.
"Oh, by the way, you're failing."
The non-sequitur stopped Carlamine's coalescing fury cold. "Failing... what?"
"Not falling for my lies, of course." Diodora stopped and turned halfway back, head turning the rest of the way, with a mocking smirk. "That last response? That was a complete fabrication. Yet you bought it without a second thought. Why is that, I wonder? I certainly wasn't putting any effort into making it believable. I even just mentioned that you might speak to one of them."
She opened her mouth to speak, or perhaps shout, but a quick flick of the hand as Diodora turned away shut Carlamine up cold, the silencing ward doing its work. "The brats are safe, and far away from that damnable facility, somewhere in Italy. No thanks to you, of course, but they asked me to be lenient since you were apparently one of the 'nicer ones'. I figured I'd judge you before I decide to off you like the rest of the priests there, or worse."
He glared back at Carlamine, a sardonic smirk on his squint-eyed gaze.
"Those kids gave you a chance to survive, and you're not proving yourself particularly worthy of it. Are you the one of those Christians who believes that your religion justifies your specism? That it doesn't matter what atrocities you do or what intolerance you possess, at the end of your life you'll be redeemed just because you pray each morning? If you believe that, you're in for a very rude awakening."
The Devil turned his head back to the doorway, lifting his arms in a shrug.
"I suppose it comes down to what happens when you talk to the one that decided to join me down here in the Underworld. He'll be down to speak with you in about ten minutes; you'll find the silencing ward will wear off by then. Hopefully next time we speak you'll be a little more willing to be reasonable rather than mindlessly accuse and condemn."
As he stepped through the doorway into the holding areas, Diodora left one last parting shot. "Here's a little food for thought: if you plan on continuing to be a mindless drone of the Church, obeying everything they tell you without question, I won't believe you need a mind at all. Next we see, I will act on what I believe about you at that time. That's not a threat; it's a promise."
"Mrrrrgh... do we have to go?"
A young boy, breaking into his double digits, let out a grumble in the back of the car. He sulked out the window as the buildings rolled past, giving way to a more rural environment.
"It's not often that we have events like this, and this is a big event for Masaomi-san," his father pointed out. "He is a friend of Shidou-san, Irina's father, so we should at least visit and offer our congratulations."
"But Irina's not gonna be there?"
"I would be surprised if that was the case."
"Then why do I have to come along?"
"Because you haven't been making any new friends in the past few years," his mother replied, a stern frown coming over her face. "I know you, Motohama-kun, and Matsuda-kun get along, but aside from those two you haven't spoken with anybody else!"
"If you don't make any friends, how do you expect to get anywhere in life? How do you expect to fulfill those... aspirations of yours?"
Wait, she knew!? "But moooooom!"
"No buts, Ise-kun, it'll be good for you to meet more people. Who knows, maybe you'll make a new friend there!"
Hyoudou Issei scowled and turned back to the window, playing with the disabled window control, pushing and pulling it with an angry glare.
"Then I hope it's over quickly," he muttered, to which his father sighed.
"It shouldn't be any longer than an hour - we'll be visiting after the first service has finished, so chances are he will want to keep it relatively short."
Issei didn't like it, the moment he stepped into the service hall.
The lighting, the chandeliers, the tastefully-placed pillars and stained-glass, there was something about it that set him ill at ease.
Almost like he was being watched, but he wasn't sure by who, or what.
Just that he didn't like it.
And like any reasonable kid at his age, he showed it through his actions.
That is to say, he stared at the ground angrily and crossed his arms.
He didn't speak up though, which meant his mother and father would put up with his silent sulking.
They never had been able to get him to stop, before. His father called it an 'unfortunate dedication to earnestness.'
Whatever that meant.
There weren't many other people there, a few other adults speaking to a long, black-haired man in priests' attire before he turned and smiled politely in their direction, giving the approaching family a similarly polite bow, the other adults bowing his way before walking past.
"Hyoudou-san, Hyoudou-san. Thank you both for coming today," he spoke, voice warm and friendly. "I hope that you three are well?"
"Quite. We wanted to extend our congratulations as friends of Shidou-san," Issei's mother replied, nodding her head with a smile. "He'd be proud to see that you revived this old church, I have no doubt. He had been pushing for its restoration for years."
"I'm sure he will be." The priest bowed his head briefly, before his gaze shifted over to Issei. "Ah, where are my manners? My name is Masaomi Yaegeki, the humble pastor of this church. What would your name be?"
Ah. He was paying attention to him.
"Ise."
"Issei..."
"I'm Hyoudou Issei," he corrected himself at his mother's warning, though his tone was entirely begrudging. "Pleased to meet you."
It was clear from the smile on Masaomi's face that he knew Issei's words were forced. Yet instead of brushing him off, the priest knelt down on one knee, to speak with Issei face-to-face. "I appreciate the greeting, even if I can tell you're not pleased to come along. But there is little need to lie; if you wish to be earnest, then say it. I doubt you could say anything to truly upset me."
'Oh!'
If the long-haired man was offering... the child didn't want to be here, and he'd just gotten an opening! With all the ferocity of a dragon, Issei pounced on the opportunity. "Your robe smells like it belonged to an old fart and your hair looks stupid!"
"Ise!"
Even if his mother was mortified, Masaomi didn't take any offense at all, instead standing back up to laugh. "Ahahaha! Oh, you're funny! I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that bit about my hair, but you're not wrong about the robes. I can feel my hair turning gray wearing this thing!"
Issei blinked, before shooting back. "Yeah, why don't you take that thing off before you become an old fart yourself!"
"Watch it brat, don't make me sic your parents on you. I might be older than you but I'm still young and petty enough to be a tattletale!"
"Jerk! Don't use my parents against me!"
"We're right here," said parents deadpanned.
"Then don't diss my hair, no matter how stinky my robes are!"
Issei stepped forward. "What was that? I couldn't hear you over the stink!"
"Guess you're gonna have to grow up a bit so you can get closer to hear, because I'm not gonna speak up!"
The mother and father were about to interject...
Yet at their sole child's smile and lightening expression, both mother and father's own softened.
"Oh- consider yourself lucky that Masaomi-san is an easygoing young man," Issei's mother chastised him gently, before turning back to said pastor. "Do you think you have some time to share some stories about your travels?"
Travels? Issei's metaphorical ears perked up. "You travel to places?"
"All over the world," the black-hair man confirmed. "Actually, a lot of it's inspired by my foster daughter; she has a vast curiosity for the world at large."
He has a daughter?
Issei immediately turned to his parents. "Is that what you meant when you wanted to bring me along?"
"Guilty as charged," his father admitted, with a beam that all but said he was remorseless about the fact. "Masaomi-san and I had spoken briefly last night, and I suggested maybe you and she could be friends."
"I don't have a problem with it. She doesn't have many because we travel so much, so I think it would do her good to have a friend the same age, especially in the town she'll likely spend most of her youth in." Masaomi's face turned more solemn. "She's a smart kid, brilliant even, but she's still just that: a kid."
There was a few seconds of silence as the green-eyed child processed those words.
'...Not many friends, huh?'
As much as he spent time with Motohama and Matsuda, ever since Irina had moved away, he'd been... kind of lonely. It wasn't the same with them.
It hadn't been the same since Irina left.
He wondered if Masaomi-oji's daughter felt something similar to what he did.
Issei tilted his head, thinking it over before he nodded, face firming up. "I guess I could be her friend."
He stepped into the private prayer room, and froze as he saw the girl he had been asked to meet.
The first thing he noticed was that she was definitely a foster daughter; she and her supposed father were most certainly not from the same family.
Long blonde hair.
A soft face with eyes closed in prayer.
An air of peace around her.
Even now, what lingering irritation Issei felt was being put wholly at ease.
He stood, transfixed for a long moment before a thought came to mind.
'Wow... pretty.'
Issei blinked as his mind caught up to him, forcing himself to break his gaze and shake his head before stepping forward lest he end up staring again. "Uh..."
He'd had an idea of what to say as he'd been coming in here.
But now? Now he wasn't quite sure, words escaped him.
All the more potently, now that brilliant emerald eyes opened up to stare at him, curiosity glittering in that gaze.
"Ah..."
Hadn't his dad said honesty was the best policy?
So why couldn't he say anything?
'Don't be a dummy Issei! She's waiting! Start talking!'
Finally, the young boy broke out of his stupor and acted.
He bowed low at the waist, and forced the words out in an exclamation. "I'm Hyoudou Issei, but call me Ise! I like video games, manga, and big bouncy oppai! Let's be friends!"
From where he remained, Issei stood stock-still, waiting for the girl to respond to his exclamation.
When she did, it was with a voice absolutely laden with confusion.
"Eh?"
...His life was over. He could see his parents disowning him now. No, he'd banish himself first!
'Uuuaaaaahhhhh...'
A/N:
Woo, Jaspuna fluff! Or would it be Lupal?
Also, planning for alliances to be in place when the shit begins hitting the fan! Yay!
We also get to see some more of what's going on with Ruval. He and Diehauser certainly get on like a house on fire (pun intended) now that Ruval's finally got his head out of his ass and has started actually seeking to be the 'ideal' noble, rather than just going through the motions.
There's a bit of Maou stuff too, though this is a bit more just a status update on where they're standing than anything else. But hey, we get to see that there's more to the surface than meets the eye. Of course, considering Sirzechs has more political experience than any of us will ever be alive for, that's a given.
Then there's Diodora. Oh, Diodora. Yours is a character I'm going to enjoy fleshing out. I think it's clear at this point that he's not going to be anything close to a hero, but I wouldn't go so far as to call him a 'villain', either. I'd actually say calling him either of these things would be disingenuous to the character I'm trying to build, though it's definitely safe to say he's got traits in spades that you don't want in a role model.
Finally, the ripples continue outward, and Issei meets Asia years before canon. Considering he's still young and still falling into the antisocial pervert personality we DxD enthusiasts know well, I think it's fair to say that he's not nearly so loud and brash - unless he's caught off-guard like he was with Asia. Also, he's probably a lot more 'sensitive' to girls in the same manner. Plus Asia has her affinity for dragons in general to take into account. Thus, Issei's starstruck first impression, and the aforementioned brashness.
Work's already picking up here. My writing time's looking to be going out the window too, so. Y'know. Be prepared, and all that crap.
Tempura Wizard out.
