Ahriman always went on and on about the importance of dreams, of the possible paths and fates they could predict. Some could alert one of the road to destruction that was to be avoided. Others heralded an inevitable apotheosis. Much in the way of the Warp, they were an ever shifting tide to be deciphered by the gifted and those prepared to seek pure truth.
Issei considered himself among that divine brethren, but for the life of him, he could make no sense of what he saw in this constantly recurring dream. It had started a couple years ago and had plagued him ever since, an almost monthly occurrence. Even Ahriman had no clue what it was, advising him to push forward into what he saw.
Well what he saw was weird to say the least.
The eldar woman just sat there before him in an ever shifting garden, lamenting sorrows untold and curled up as a ball. She made no note of him, nor of her surroundings which seemed to shift every time he came across her in his repose.
He always tried to do something within these moments, reach out to her, but before he could ever make any move or sound, the dream would fade like miasma upon the wind.
Such was the alleged truth of this thing perhaps. Alleged being the key word for today, his step forward was unmatched, unhindered. The dream held.
He had never made it this far; he was mildly aware he was barefoot and the grass was shifting in colors. The trees changed their type, from oak to ashe to sakura, forever and infinitely.
He saw one of her sharp ears twitch. Her head turned towards him.
Her eyes were a glimpse of eternity, fathomless and unending in their radiant depth. What color was it that he saw, something beyond human comprehension he was sure. Still they were indeed mesmerizing.
Issei felt a need to bend the knee to her, humble himself before what he would assume was a queen of some sort.
He resisted, he bowed to none. She granted him a smile. Tearful, but breathtaking.
He knew not how but suddenly she was in his arms, grasping him as a life line.
"My hero…" she whispered to him, kissing the side of his cheek lovingly as a wife would to her husband, "so pure and so bright. All paths and possibilities converge in hope…my hope in the darkness."
Everything faded as dust in the wake of those words.
All that was left was the laughter of a cruel god, an ear splitting tune that terrified him to his core.
===Line break===
Issei was jolted from sleep, his heart ablaze and lungs crying out in pure agony. Sweat fell from his drenched head in beads intermixed with blood. Harsh rouge energy circled around him, volatile and violent, each shift of form sending a pulse of insane pain through his brain.
In the haze of this state, he attempted to get out of bed to do something, anything to relieve the stress wreaking havoc upon his existence, falling face first onto the cold hardwood floor with the rest of his body tumbling afterwards.
For what seemed to be hours on end, he just lay there, his ears ringing and ignorant of the calls of his magister and partner, staring into the abyss of his wall, uncomprehending and unresponsive. By the time any modicum of sanity returned, morning light was streaming through his windows. The day had begun, he had things to do–school, a date, training.
You good now, partner? The ever watchful Ddraig questioned as Issei began to wipe the string of fluids coating his face.
"No" was his clipped reply.
The red dragon chuckled morosely.
How about now?
"It feels like someone put my brain in a blender."
Maybe you will finally be able to act normally, no?
"Fuck you."
Love you too, partner.
Issei grinned at that. Leave it to the overgrown lizard to make a joke out of his misfortunes. Nonetheless, the gesture was much appreciated, he could use a distraction from how painful existence was right now.
Sighing at the still present soreness, Issei forced himself to stand, his head spinning at the sudden movement. Was this what a hangover was like he idly wondered as his brain suddenly twinged. Even thinking hurt, but it was not so bad as…whatever it was he experienced before.
"Magister," he called out verbally for once, he did not trust his mind to not bleed if he did so internally, "what the hell was that?"
A communion, young Hyoudou. A communion with something far older than this world. I did not know she was still capable of such things.
"Who is she?"
That is for you to find out, my apprentice, soon I take it. Very soon.
"Is that good or bad?" he answered back, confused about how cryptic Ahriman was being with this. Usually he was relatively straightforward about everything, despising anything vaguely lackadaisical. If he knew something he wanted Issei to know, he told him. If not, he didn't.
Good, I believe. It is…intriguing to see she has taken to you so quickly. Though I cannot help but wonder why now of all times you can interact with her, especially since you are unfit for such a draining event. Be on your guard. The laughter of that abomination does not bode well for us.
"It's them isn't it?"
Yes.
"But how could they…"
They are omnipresent, echoing across all of time. Now they have found one who may one day challenge their very existence. One who may take her away from its clutches. It will want to make you suffer for such an offense.
War is coming, isn't it?
It was bound to happen one day. My presence here within you inevitably set in motion things of which cannot be undone now. We shall prepare accordingly. By the end of today you must have the Fourth Enumeration well within your capabilities. The Magister Templi concluded before he could answer back with just how impossible the request sounded. It had taken him a year alone to prepare himself to begin the third, god knew how long it would take for him to fully master the fourth.
Whatever was going on now with those…things, it was not good if it would force Ahriman to speed up his teachings so drastically. They were already bad news by just existing, but to possibly be the target of their machinations, Lord have mercy.
With a shaky breath, he called out to his friend.
"Ddraig?"
Yes, partner.
"Do you think we can take on all that is about to come our way?"
The dragon hesitated, that was something he almost never did. Shit.
I do not know, but I know we sure as hell will try.
Issei sighed at that. The future just got a whole lot more bleak.
"Well that's my free time gone, and here I was looking forward to starting painting my Nocturnal Wardens after my date," Issei jabbed, attempting to bring some light into the grim circumstances that just made themselves known.
The dragon laughed at that, inevitably glad to see his host was not completely down.
Is there ever a moment that you aren't thinking about 400k, partner? It's an obsession with you, and I just don't fully get it. Why couldn't it have been something a little more normal, like money or women?
Issei grinned as he made his way to the bathroom to begin the usual morning routines.
"I'm just built different, partner, built like the gigachad of gigachads."
Words cannot describe how much that hurt my soul to hear. I don't think my sealing was as painful as listening to that statement.
"I missed the part where that's my problem."
===line break===
If there was ever a day Issei did not want to go to school or do anything at all whatsoever, it was today. He just simply had more important things to deal with than classes and the little people he called classmates, be it the implications and questions aroused by his dream or the fact he had a date with a fallen angel who was very likely going to try to kill him. At this moment, he did not give a damn about what he had to do for homework or what new lesson one of his classes was trying to peddle.
He needed to prepare and strategize about how to deal with all the small-scale stuff that was going on in the Kuoh supernatural world and the mind boggling crap that was the collective seizure of a pantheon from Ahriman's universe.
Something was not going on, no, everything was going on all at once, and Issei was fairly certain he would have an aneurysm from the stress that was being placed upon his mind.
Thus, in an ingenious move to relieve it, he ditched the remaining two classes of the day and attempted to relax, sitting out in the middle of the academy's field, looking up at the clouds. Whilst going through the Enumerations usually put him at ease, he could not do so currently lest he be discovered by his human brethren or the devils of school.
So cloud watching it was, with Ddraig who awoke just to provide an extra calming presence for his host.
That one looks like a scythe.
"Are you blind? That's a hammer."
The dragon huffed. Scythe, partner, and I would stake my reputation on that.
"What reputation, you have none?"
Issei could practically see the eye roll that accompanied the huff of a response.
I don't think it would be wise to be snippy for your date, partner. Might scare the pretty angel off.
"I'd be doing myself a favor with that one, to be honest. I'd prefer not to, you know, potentially piss off a faction by curb stomping one of their people, let alone Azazael's."
You know he would understand right? Besides, there is no way he would send someone after you, you fascinate him too much, partner.
With a brief word of thanks, Issei returned his attention to the heavens above him, stretching his arms out and placing them behind his head, getting more comfortable. Given the events last night, he could use some rest, so he closed his eyes in an attempt to take a nap.
Seeing as he could really use the relief, he was interrupted by the presence of a familiar devil stepping into the "personal space" of his realm of magical perception. He knew who it was and under any other circumstance, he would be jumping for joy at the thought of spending genuine time with them.
But not right now. He just wanted sleep dammit.
"Issei, um, I hope this isn't a bad time…" she called to him in that ever so alluring voice that could make him melt. "I just, uh, wanted to talk to you for a bit."
In a grim acceptance of reality, he willed his eyes to open, coming face to face with a blushing, crimson haired heiress with eyes as blue as sapphire.
He smiled at her as best as he could, gesturing towards the open space around him
She sat down immediately, her eyes never once leaving his.
Score partner, absolute score.
Issei kindly told Ddraig to shut the hell up.
Naturally, Ddraig did not listen.
"Hey Rias. What's up?"
"I was just…walking by, and, uh, I saw you over here all by yourself. Thought I would come over and maybe…" her face turned down, undoubtedly to hide a face as red as her hair. Not that Issei would know that. Women were not his expertise.
"Hang out with you?"
It was now his turn to blush. Private time with the president of the ORC, sign him up. Like every other member of the male student body, he harbored a rather deep crush for the woman in question, however being the only one not solely focused upon her…assets.
He thought she was a really sweet person in the few interactions he had with her, genuine and caring. Attraction was as imminent as was his partner's teasing. At least his Magister didn't join the dragon, thankfully.
"Sure, th-that would be r-really great," he began, suavely, definitely not stumbling over his words in the process. He took a pause to steady himself, reminding himself that he was an apprentice of the dreaded Arch-Sorcerer Ahzek Ahriman and the host of the famed Ddraig, mighty red dragon. He was so much more than a blushing school boy.
"What do you want to talk about?" he finished staring at her directly and intently, probably too intently if her shocked gaze was anything to go by.
She was pensive for a moment, possibly not believing she would actually get this far.
Partner, you know I am always honest with you, right,
Issei agreed mentally, for the most part. There were a few times when…
Shut it. We don't talk about Tiamat or anything I may or may not have agreed to. Pure speculation. What I am trying to say here is that the Gremory girl here definitely has a case of Issei on the brain, and should you play your cards right, could be…
For the sake of his sanity and sense of reality, Issei ordered Ddraig to shut his mouth once more (again, not listened to). There was no way that…well, maybe…no definitely not. She was so far out of his league it was preposterous to even think otherwise.
Then why is she blushing and stammering?
Yeah, he had no response to that. To be fair, the female species was never something he understood, so he would never really know what went on with them.
"Issei?" Rias spoke again, bringing the man in question from his internal debates and ponderings.
"Huh?" he responded coherently.
"You spaced out, staring into space, I just wanted to know if you are okay? You seemed distant in English today."
So, she was concerned about him…that felt nice, really nice actually. His face turned pure rouge, redder than his crush's hair. She even giggled at that, her own red cheeks included too.
You both are idiots. My advice, save us the time and just kiss her already.
Issei ignored him as he thought how to best respond. His current situation was, as he had previously dreaded over, chaotic to say the least. In this case, he wagered honesty would be the best policy. In the time he somewhat knew her, Rias had her moments of being rather perceptive. If he lied, he had a feeling she would be able to tell, and well, he preferred not to buy into the whole deception thing his Magister always advised him to do. He was an honest man, and nothing would change that.
"Well, truth be told, things have been…messy to say the least. Stress is really piling up, you know, and I feel like I am about to burst. Everything just got infinitely more complicated, and I don't really know what the hell I should do."
Rias placed a hand on his shoulder, the other going to his chin, bringing him eye level with her. She smiled at him, kindly and purely, sending his heart into overdrive. He would not be surprised if she heard its rhythmic thumping with how loud and fast it was banging away.
"You will find a way, I know you will. And if, somehow you don't, though I don't believe that will happen, you can always come talk to me. Ask me for help. We're…friends, "she hesitated there, almost questioning the use of that specific word. He nodded to her dumbly. "Friends help each other, and I would be more than happy to help you. With anything."
Yeah, she is in love with you, partner, or at the least falling really hard, and I don't know how or why. Just know if you don't marry her someday, I will personally kill you.
Issei couldn't help but laugh at that, randomly bursting into peals of guffaws at the sheer absurdity of everything that just transpired. His crush was talking to him, blushing in his presence, and his partner was shipping him really hard with her. You could not make this stuff up.
Seeing her confused, embarrassed face, he offered her a smile, "It's nothing, don't worry. Thank you though, for all that. I really…I really needed that."
She smiled back, nodding to him before suddenly turning timid again, the contradictions of character coming at breakneck speed.
"Um, just…uh…Can I have your number? You know, so we could…talk more. Only If you want, I…don't want to be, uh, a bother."
Issei's eyes widened to an extent humanly impossible. What did he do to deserve such a treasure?
Absolutely nothing. Ddraig input as deadpan as death.
With the grace of a paraplegic monkey, he fumbled his phone out of his pocket and into the hands of one of the most beautiful women he had ever laid eyes upon. In seconds, her number was his and she was gone as quickly as she arrived, leaving a dumbfounded friend who could not process any of what just occurred.
"Am I dead, is this heaven?"
With how much you stumbled over yourself, you may as well be. The dragon sighed to himself. I really need to teach you how to talk to women, partner. First the seraph, then the dream elf, and now the Gremory girl. Welp, on the bright side, at this rate, you'll have a full fledged harem by the time you turn sixteen, so that's something.
"Well, I guess that…wait what!?"
You really are an idiot, aren't you?
"Um, sure? Can I skip my date?
No. Now get up and get moving, partner. We have a job to do.
Still in shock, the Arch-Sorcerer's apprentice acquiesced to the whims of the lodger within him, unaware of the two morons who had seen all that transpired through a pair of binoculars. Or the angel who had descended from on high to spend time with the bumbling mess she called a friend. For some reason, though she could not pinpoint why, she felt a distinct yet minute tinge of jealousy when she saw the interaction between devil heiress and dragon host.
===line break===
Unable to keep down the extremely happy mood, Issei headed the command of the dragon within him, smiling all the way to the park that "Yuuma" had declared their meeting place. He had no idea of what time she would arrive, but he really didn't care, he was on cloud nine and nothing could bring down his good mood.
Well except for the two fallen angels he saw roaming about the park, apparently looking for someone which he guessed was most likely him. They weren't even trying to be stealthy about, meandering about in broad daylight without a care in the world. Oh, and they were lower class too, only a single pair of wings upon their backs.
Issei actually kind of felt insulted by that–if they were going to try to kill him, they may as well actually put in the effort, be professional about the whole thing. Send good operatives who knew what they were doing, but unfortunately for them, they didn't. What he had vaguely worried about immediately dropped off his danger radar. When "Yuuma" tried to kill him, and enlisted the aid of her associates, everything would backfire in spectacular fashion. He would not have just one prisoner, but potentially three.
The day just kept getting better and better, but he knew he should shove those thoughts aside, not get cocky. Pride undoes the mightiest as Ahriman had once said, and pride would not be Issei's downfall.
Cracking his neck, he prepared for what lay ahead watching as his date descended from the heavens carelessly on the other side of the park, landing beside her fallen angel brethren. After a brief exchange of words, they departed, hiding in a pair of bushes as she made her way over to him.
Best of luck, partner. Ddraig offered, followed closely by Ahriman's own brand of encouragement.
Remember what I have taught you. Strike when the time is right.
Issei thanked them both and readied himself for what lay ahead.
"Hey Issei!" Yuuma shouted at him when she was within hearing distance of him, suddenly sprinting over and wrapping him in a tight embrace.
"Hiya, Yuuma-chan" he answered back putting on as much charm as he could muster, "you look wonderful today."
She reddened and smiled at him, so sweetly it was sickening, "You shouldn't say such things Issei-kun. You're making me embarrassed."
He shrugged, offering her his hand to take, the first move in the date to come. She hesitantly took it.
"So what would Yuuma-chan like to do today? Go to the arcade? Get something to eat? Take a stroll through the park?"
She seemed genuinely puzzled at that, perhaps expecting him to have something planned out for what lay ahead.
"Today is your day, what do you want to do?" Issei pushed forth as the fallen angel's surprise remained intact.
"I…I don't know, no one's really ever asked me that. Ever."
The magister's apprentice could not help but be a tad bit shocked at that statement. It sounded…genuine. Maybe there was hope for her not trying to kill him. It would certainly make his life easier.
"Umm, how about we go see a movie. It has been ages since I last saw one."
"If it is a movie Yuuma-chan wants, it is a movie Yuuma-chan will get."
And just like that, the date began.
===line break/sunset===
All things considered, with the whole subplot of murdering him, Issei thought the "date" actually went rather well. They saw some magic girl movie he did not pay one lick of attention to, got some ice cream afterwards, and spent the rest of the day walking through the park arm in arm.
They even had genuine conversations, Yuuma's shy pretense completely forgotten as she actually opened up to him about a few things. While she did not explicitly state it, he came to understand she hated herself to a degree, despised some act from her past that she only referenced as a "stupid, stupid mistake."
Naturally, he had tried to comfort however he could, putting an arm around her shoulder and telling her how all people make mistakes, that it was about learning from them and picking oneself up after that. She promptly accused him of being a life coach in disguise.
With everything that happened, if this was her real personality he was talking to, Issei actually enjoyed being around her, she was kind, even funny, if just a tad bit tsundere.
Of course, when the pretenses were down and it felt like it was the real her with the real him, he stumbled and mumbled his way through their interactions, true to form. Even Ddraig added in his teasings, sensing that just maybe the date would not end in bloodshed.
But it was not meant to be. As soon as they were alone in the park and the sun began to set, she asked him the one question that made him realize his hopes were for naught.
"Issei, will you die for me?"
Sure she had led up to that saying how much fun she had and how much she really actually liked him, but there was no getting past what she said she was tasked to do.
In a sudden burst of light, her innocence faded, giving way to fully unfurled black rings and an outfit (if it could even be called it) that looked like it was straight out of a BDSM store. Her allies, still hidden, moved in tandem, closing in behind him. They thought they were undetected. They were terribly mistaken.
She looked down upon him, a genuine hint of sadness in her eyes.
"If only things were different," she murmured, lowing her head.
"Indeed. Do what you must," he answered back, preparing his defense. He needed at the very least her alive, and so planned accordingly.
She summoned a spear of light in the palm of her hand in a matter of seconds, all too slowly to be considered a threat. The two behind him followed suit.
Wasting no time, he activated his gauntlet quicker than the average human mind could comprehend, summoning it in a burst of aethereal cherry light.
As Yuuma released her light spear his now present armored hand reached out to grab it, swiping it midair in an arc of electrical might, lending his own power, warp lightning to its damaging ability.
Issei twirled it around himself for a moment in what would appear a momentary flash of yellow and bright verdant as he fixed his gaze upon one of the enemies hidden behind them, letting his magical aura awareness guide his hand.
The bolt sprung forth from his fingers, sailing far faster than initially casted, striking true and hitting one of the fallen angels behind him before it could cast his own attack.
The one he struck's aura faded. It was dead. He had…killed someone.
Issei had no time to comprehend the action he had just committed as another spear came his way. Too hung up on his first kill he merely blocked it before dashing into the cover of a tree.
First blood.
"What!?" Yuuma screamed, "how could you!? You shouldn't be able to fight back!? Where are you? Come here!"
She flew at Issei with reckless abandon, giving him the wherewithal to get out of his own head and continue to fight back. Her speed was anything but quick, lazy to be sure affording him the time to charge up his own counterattack.
Forming his gauntleted hand into an open position, as if to catch a ball, he felt the mystical sorcerous manifestations implode upon his hand, taking the size and shape of a tennis ball. Its purple light was bright enough to illuminate the shade the Arch-Sorcerer's apprentice was in as well as the face of his assailant who had no time to react to what was about to hit her.
With the thrust of his fist, the ball of light collided with Yuuma's chest, damaging but not enough to kill, sending her flying a solid six feet from Issei and into a bench head first. She would not be getting up from that. Two down, one to go.
The last fallen angel was smarter than the others, to say the least. After the death of its teammate, it hid away from him, within the shadows of the trees of the park, far from him. From the energy signature and the faint light he could see, she was preparing to strike from range, two light spears it bet he would not be able to block.
Deciding to not wait for the blow, Issei pushed the energies within him once more into the gauntlet, making sure they were not too potent or lethal, raising his arm to his shoulder as the energy swirled before him in an arc of azure might.
An age-old attack, one of the first he had learned under his magister, and one he knew how to cast perfectly in its varied forms of power. It was simple, but effective to say the least.
But he did not have a clean shot, the last opponent remained hidden, so he waited, moved closer to the last target in order to ensure he was accurate and out of his enemy's line of sight. He moved close enough to hear the panting of his enemy, her panting to be precise.
She whispered to herself how this was not supposed to happen, how easy it was supposed to be to kill him. Indeed, pride undoes the mightiest.
With a jolt, she revealed herself, blindly flinging her electric weapons away from her as fast as they would go, completely unaware of where he was.
He struck without hesitation, shards of the arc hitting her directly in the chest and head, dulled and only powerful enough to stun.
The final opponent fell, victory was Issei's. Now all that was left was to move the unconscious prisoner's he had acquired.
The weight of his first kill remained on his mind the whole time he gathered up the defeated, teleporting them back to his home in a crackle of warp lightning.
What had he done?
===Line break===
After depositing the unconscious fallen angels within his bedroom, Issei returned to his living room, collapsing face first upon the couch in a heap of anguish.
Everything had happened so fast, he did not know fully what he was doing, just acting as he had been taught. Nobody was supposed to die, it was…
Partner, listen to me…Ddraig began, suddenly being interrupted by the last voice Issei thought would care.
No, lizard. This one is mine. Go back to sleep.
How can I? He just…
He knows what he has done. Do not trouble him further than he already is. I will handle this.
You really expect me to…
I do. Now be quiet.
Everything was silent for a moment, as the Issei's Magister Templi prepared to speak.
He did not however, much rather pulling his apprentice suddenly within the soul scape, and seating him at the chess table they fought over almost every night. With a flick of his hand, he summoned the pieces.
Just as the pieces manifested, so too did Ddraig, seating himself beside Issei wordlessly.
I believe it is your move.
The young man remained silent, just staring at the Arch-Sorcerer.
In times such as these, it is of utmost importance you focus on something else, set aside the self-loathing thoughts. So, I say again, your move.
Accepting that there was no arguing with his magister, Issei made his move, a pawn forward. Ahzek Ahriman responded in kind.
I will not beat around the bush, understand, you killed someone, an enemy who desired your death.
The apprentice said nothing, just moving another piece.
I understand what you are going through, as hard as that may be to comprehend. I too was once young and inexperienced in matters of death. Long ago, I had my first kill, and reacted not too differently than you have.
Issei looked up at that, watchful and reservedly interested.
I still remember them to this day, a human standing against the pathway of the Great Crusade of the false Emperor of Mankind. He stood against the ideals I believed in then, so I fought and killed them, along with many others on that first deployment.
The Arch-Sorcerer continued to move his pieces, precisely and almost mercifully. His apprentice did not notice it however.
When all was done, all I thought about was that someone had died by my hand. I knew he would have killed me if I did not act thus, but those intrusive thoughts remained. But I was lucky, I had my brother Ohrmuzd back then, he too was dealing with the shock of this very same thing. But he still managed to be there for me, to comfort me.
"I never knew you had a brother."
Yes, I do not speak of him, and I implored the lizard next to you to never reveal him to you. He died long ago, but that is not the subject of this. What I am getting at is that there was someone there for me to confide those feelings with, the loathing and the fear. You have such people, Ddraig most of all, myself to a lesser extent. Even the Seraph and the Gremory girl would work.
"So I am just supposed to say 'hey I killed someone and feel really bad' to one of you and then suddenly feel better."
Mind your tone, my apprentice. But no, you do not. Tell the lizard why it's eating you up inside, I know that you know why. Never forget the key of this all that you were in battle.
"But I was able to control myself against the other two."
Indeed you were, but no plan ever survives the first contact, and no soldier ever performs just as he was trained once the fighting breaks out. These are truths of war I have drilled into you.
"But still…"
There is nothing more. Now talk to the lizard once this game is finished. Understood.
"Yes, magister."
I do believe you have checkmate, young Hyoudou. Well played. When you have ceased your talk with your partner we shall begin training on the next Enumeration. For what may seem an eternity to you will be but hours in the real world. Ready yourself.
===line break/Outside the Hyoudou House===
For the past month, Gabriel, the most beautiful woman in all of heaven, had been looking forward to spending time with her beloved friend, her beloved Issei. What with the activity in heaven, she had been unable to make their almost weekly meetings, but at last she had managed to get some spare time to pop in on him. Of course it came at a cost: Michael's teasing, his playful accusations of her seeing her dragon "boyfriend." Even Griselda agreed with Heaven's de facto leader, smiling knowingly at her.
Over and over again she told them they were just really good friends, pouting at the fact they would not believe her.
Like it was really, really good friends, it wasn't love, definitely not. It wasn't like she thought about him constantly, or wondered what their children would like when…
She buried her face in her hands. No! Bad sinful thoughts! They had to be married first before they could make babies otherwise she would fall! How would he look in a tuxedo on that day? Dreamy and…
NO! Even more bad thoughts!
Suffice to say it was by divine will the Seraph did not fall with how often her "friend" popped up in her mind, but that was neither here nor there. This was not the point of why she was in Kuoh.
She needed to find her Issei. Wait no, just Issei. She needed to find just Issei. That didn't sound right. Her Issei was much preferable.
Regardless of her own ramblings, she had found him at school cloud watching, how cute! She would have loved to have joined him, but she had to wait until after he was off devil turf. All she had to do was call him! He gave her his number long ago, this would be so easy! Then they could cloud watch together, talk about stuff, even cuddle!
But then one of the school's devils started to talk to him, and she began to feel an emotion she had never felt before: jealousy. Now she had no problems with devils, she loved all of god's creation, even them, and she was certain if she got to know the crimson haired heiress they would be great friends. It was just that she wished it was HER talking to him right now, HER helping him with the stress he mentioned.
Regardless, she just had to wait, and she would, she was a very patient angel, but as she came to realize, her waiting had been too long and suddenly he was gone.
And he wasn't answering his phone! Where could he be!
She spent a moment calming herself down then. Everything was alright, it was divine will Issei go off to do whatever it was he needed to, alone. She would respect that and not force herself into whatever he had to do.
No. She would just wait for him at his home; when he was done, they would hang out and everything would be great!
So like the wonderful angel she was, Gabriel sat on the porch of his home waiting for him to appear.
Minutes turned to hours and before she knew it was dark, night had fallen.
Something was up, she knew it deep in her bones, but what?
Then she felt the minute surges of energy, coming from somewhere in the park three miles away. She recognized some of that power, it was Issei's, ancient and distinctly different from any she had sensed in her very long life. Almost unnatural.
Was there a fight going on? She needed to act fast, to help him, but suddenly all sense of energy faded, stopping in an instant, over as quickly as it began.
There was a flash of light within the home, bearing his aura.
Had he teleported? She didn't know he could do that.
She needed to get to the bottom of this, and her Issei needed to answer about what was up. So, with a shake of her hair, and ignoring the doorbell and concept of knocking, she let herself in, only to find him lying unconscious on the couch.
Oh and she could sense fallen angels likewise knocked out in the bedroom.
Just what had happened?
===Elsewhere, same time===
Rias Gremory was never one to sit idly by, when she knew that trouble was up and about, she got to the bottom of it, and likewise she would do so here. With her friend. With Issei.
Why? Because it was the right thing to do. She may be a devil but she had morals, and good friends help each other out. So she would do to him, and hopefully he would one day do to her.
She shoved thoughts of Raiser aside, that disgusting pig, nothing like her cute junior…
She smiled sinfully. One day. One day. It would all work out wonderfully, she knew it.
Setting aside these daydreams of hers, she attempted to call him, just to make sure he was alright given the conversation they had had early.
You know what she got? Nothing, straight to voicemail.
To be fair, she should have expected this, he was busy with whatever was making him stressed. She would just make sure to check on him later when he got home or maybe sometime beforehand.
Oh yeah, Rias knew where Issei lived; she wasn't a stalker, just well informed. She had never actually visited his home, just knew about it theoretically from her queen's reconnaissance. If anything, Akeno was the stalker, not her. Or so she kept telling herself.
Those thoughts in mind, she spent the rest of the day at the ORC, fulfilling some contracts with her peerage, waiting for later to come, and maybe, just maybe keeping tabs on where Issei was.
Accidently of course! It was pure coincidence that the contract she chose took place in the park. Really. She had no clue he would be there. With a fallen angel, being tracked by two other ones.
Okay, maybe it had a little bit to do with that, but she needed to protect her cute junior. Her cute, sweet, wonderful junior…
Then she saw the fight; well fight definitely was not an accurate term for what she witnessed. It was an utter beatdown, courtesy of Issei's apparently well practiced magical capabilities. They were truly something to behold, like nothing she had ever seen or felt before.
They were so refined and aged, it was the energy equivalent of opening up a centuries old bottle of wine. Incredible really.
But, only one thing puzzled her? Issei was supposed to be ignorant of the supernatural, how could he possibly know about magic and the like. Rias had always just sensed his power, dormant, but never unleashed.
Wait, if he knew about the supernatural, then he would most likely know about…her, what she was.
Would he be disgusted?
Would he feel betrayed that she never mentioned it to him?
Also, why would keep this a secret, just what could he be hiding?
Well, she intended to find out, yup, definitely. However, just before she could go confront him once the battle ceased, he was gone in a flash, two of the fallen angels too.
How was he so quick?
Where had he gone?
Hedging her bets on him returning home, she made the journey there only to find…not just any angel, but one of the archangels entering his home! Technically the neighborhood he lived in was neutral territory, but still what was an archangel doing here too on top of everything that occurred?
Resolute in her need for the truth, she marched over to his home to find out.
The End my g's. Seeing as I spent nearly a year on hiatus, I decided to really push the next chapter to y'all. If any of you have read my other works, you know I tend to get a bit sappy when I do romance, so you know, be prepared for what shall come later.
Even after rereading this I still have no idea what possessed me to make both of the first love interest kind of stalkers, but oh well. I guess it just related to me really wanting them to have a moment at his place pointing at each other like WTF! So yeah. Shit happened.
More to come on the Issei X Rias relationship's past. Issei is not the most reliable narrator, nor most experienced with women, so what he sees as barely talking to Rias about insignificant stuff will be a shade different than the reality. Oh and more with Gabriel (again, I really like her, she's just fun).
Sorry to any who feel I am rushing romance, however, I will say that I did it so deal with it. I don't really have an excuse since I am sort of impatient with these things. Still learning as it were.
A cookie is given to whoever guesses who the eldar lady is. Trust me guys, I have massive, astronomical plans for that. It is going to be huge. Call it apotheosis, call it the greatest, most romantic moment of savior-ism in the history of existence. So stick around.
On a final note, we need to talk about the harem. The only immovable ones are as follows: Rias, Gabriel, mystery elf girl, Akeno, Asia, Yubelluna, Sona, Xenovia, Raynare, Kalawarner, Grayfia, Koneko, and Kuroka. Those are set in stone and certain. However I am willing to hear arguments for others, maxing it at 16 girls, since what I have already is going to be really fucking hard to write. If I am going to damn myself, may as well try to do it thoroughly. However, give me a solid reason why and it will be considered. With the above, I have reasons and half formed plans. Also don't expect plotless porno. Sure, there will be…ahem…snu snu, but not pointless. Sex is an expression of love in my book and will be treated as such. So yeah. I really am a degenerate aren't I, ah well, so are you for reading, we will just have to vibe with it together.
Anywho, thanks for stopping by, remember to favorite and follow, and above all else review! I want to see thirty reviews, gents! THIRTY! We making it out of the warp with THIRTY, holy TZEENTCH!