Resurgent Blade
By: Bubbajack
Co-Authors/Editors: Icysnowsage, First Hassan/Darklord331
Special Consultant: Heliosion
Obligatory First Chapter Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DxD or the Nasuverse. They belong to their respective owners.
Note: Special Thanks go out to my Super Donors on : Special thanks go out to my Super Donors: Alexander Murry, Apostle_of_Darkness, Ben wanless, Bobby Glass, CrazymanDK, GAMER HERZ, and Jareth Norris. And to all my other patrons as well.
Ch.1: Denied Oblivion's Sweet Release.
Humanity could best be described as akin to ants. They bunched up together, formed societies, worked subconsciously or not under hierarchies, and were quite intelligent, especially when working in groups. They also thought themselves far higher on the food chain than they actually were, at least when it comes to the planet that was once known as Earth. There were quite a lot of things that were much more dangerous than humans. Things like vampires, elementals, and much more recently, the Aristoteles.
The Ultimate Ones of another planet, Ultimate beings of the entire solar system. Or simply the Types. They had come at the dying cry and will of the planet Earth itself to wipe humanity off its face. And in the end, despite the valiant effort humanity had put up. The Types had succeeded. Humanity was no more. Earth was now a desolate dead rock.
It meant that finally, after all this time, Alaya The collective unconscious will of humanity to survive. Had no more use for her dogs. One such dog, a Counter Guardian, known only as EMIYA, gave a sigh of relief. As he closed his eyes and began to fade away for the last time, He Looked up at the blood red sky as he stood upon the cracked and long dead earth he thought. 'Finally, at long last, it's over. May oblivion take me,' He smirked, despite himself. "Well, I kept my promise, Tohsaka. I tried my hardest. I wonder if you'd be proud."
The Counter Guardian known as EMIYA, formerly as the magus Emiya Shirou should have known better. He always did have terrible luck.
(...)
"What the hell? I should be dead! Dead and gone to oblivion. What the hell is this?!" The counter guardian known as EMIYA, cried out in impotent rage. But those cries came out not as intelligible words but as the cries of a newborn baby. For Counter Guardian, Emiya had been reborn In the body of an infant who cried with the first breaths of life.
"It seems I cannot even die properly. Even when my pact with Alaya is fulfilled. This is just my luck," Emiya grumbled to himself. Though as a newborn, it came out more of the babblings of a babe.
Isaiah. That was what the nurses called him. He had been abandoned at the orphanage after his mother had passed giving birth to him. Not that he really cared one way or the other. Just as Emiya Shirou was not his birth name, neither did he have a particular attachment to Isaiah. To him, a name was just a name. Something to be addressed by. It didn't mean anything to someone like him. What really bothered him was being immobile in the form of an infant. To be completely conscious, yet incapable of moving without aid was beyond irritating. Not to mention the fact that he kept shitting himself. Simply. Humiliating.
'But there's no real help for it, is there?' He thought to himself. Any friends he could make would be infantile and lacking for his adult mind. "I'm going to be stuck like this for several years, so the most I can do is think, plan, and listen. After all, who would expect a baby to spy on them? "
So that is exactly what Emiya did. He listened, waited, and gathered as much fragmentary information as possible to reach his own conclusions about the current world he was in.
The nuns and priests at the orphanage he was in had very loose lips around the babies, so it was easy for him to pick certain things up. He quickly learned that angels were a physical entity in this world, that the church was affiliated with them, and was currently in the state of a three way Cold War with two other factions consisting of Fallen Angels and Devils. All that did, however, was raise more questions than it did give answers. If the Christian pantheon was real, then what about other faiths? Did they also have a presence in this world? How strong were they? How strong would he have to be to not become prey to these pantheons should they exist? Too many unknowns for him to have to deal with and plan for right now. But that was OK. He had time. Time was the only thing he had on his side at the moment. For the first time in a long time, he had an abundance of time on his hands, and to be quite frank, he didn't know what to do with it. So he just kept waiting, watching, planning and doing the occasional bit of Structural Grasping on this new body of his.
Then came his first birthday and the time spent in his new body came and went faster than he knew. He didn't exactly have anyone he could call a friend, but he kept his distance from other children in the first place. The child known as Isaiah was considered distant, a bit of a loner, but kind and helpful when asked. And he was okay with that. He still enjoyed things like cooking and was usually the first who tried to waddle into the kitchen to help when it was time to prepare meals. Well, he tried, but he was shooed away for being a bit too short for that and being way too young. Still, the nuns cooed at his determination to be in the kitchen and help. Some thought he was hungry while others were just happy that a little man was trying to help in their minds.
'Sooner this body of mine matures, the better. Having to crawl around all the time is getting on my nerves,' Emiya thought to himself as he lay awake in his crib one night staring up at the moon. Just when he was about to doze off he heard the sound of wing beats. Moments later, a resplendently beautiful woman with six golden wings appeared in the room. Her hair was long and golden almost reaching to her bare back. Her eyes were a clear blue. She wore something equivalent to a toga around her body. And she slowly walked forward as light seemed to radiate from her very being.
'Is she an Angel? Like an actual Angel?' Emiya asked himself as she walked amongst the infants.
"I thought I sensed something off," The woman said, seemingly speaking to herself. Her voice was light and airy, as if she was a bit of an airhead. Yet she stopped right in front of his crib, Looking down at him. And cocking her head to the side, she said, "Special, aren't you? Little one?"
Emiya retorted in baby babble. "I don't know. Am I? You tell me, pretty lady. Who even are you, anyway?"
"Just as I thought, you are special," The woman confirmed, clapping her hands together happily. "And to answer your question, I am the Archangel of Water, Gabriel."
"Wait, you can understand me?" Emiya asked for clarification.
The woman, The Archangel Gabriel, nodded. "Yes, I can understand you perfectly fine. The gift of tongues is one of the perks of being God's angels," She said that, but her eyes spoke of infinite sadness. " Could you perhaps tell me? Why is your soul so old? The age and power within your soul outranks even my brother Michael."
Emiya found himself sighing, "Although I'm happy to finally have someone to talk to, Lady Gabriel, I'd rather not go digging into my past. Some things are best left buried."
She smiled, reached out a hand, and gently stroked the side of his face. "I can feel you've been down a long, painful road. I can understand if you don't want to talk about it, just know I'm here to listen if you do. It's actually fortunate that I found you before any of the other factions did. Who knows what would have happened to you had that happened?"
"I'm shaking in my onesie," The former counter guardian replied.
"There's something else. Something more in your soul? What is that?" She asked herself as she peered closer at him. She moved and poked the young child on his chest and a slight glow emanated from him.
'OK, that's never happened before. What the heck is this?!' Emiya asked himself.
Gabriel was intrigued by the small but bright light shining from Isiah's soul.
Gabriel was ever curious and decided to study the energy suffused in the strange object.
A frown appeared on Gabriel's face as she looked more and more into the object. It felt solid and firm like metal, possibly iron or maybe steel. There was no holiness or wickedness found in the object. It caught her interest for usually sacred gears leaned towards holy or demonic with few and far between being a neutral alignment.
Gabriel, who had been silent for a little bit then spoke up, "I sense a cold, hard resolve, combined with an age-old resignation and bitterness of one who is tied to their fate," She said, while placing a hand on Isaiah's head.
"I had to do things I was not proud of. Thinking I was making a deal to become a hero. I was wrong," The infant informed the Angel whose frown only deepened at the sheer tragedy locked away in such an old soul within his young body.
"Well you seem to have been blessed with an ability by my father. I cannot tell if it is something natural such as divinity, sanctity or even a sacred gear? I cannot understand though what father was thinking in making such a thing?"
"When you say father, you're talking about God, the Abrahamic God, right?" Emiya asked for confirmation. When the Archangel nodded, he asked, "Why not just go ask him?"
She shook her head and smiled sadly as she replied, "I can't do that. Nobody can… He is… In a place that is now far beyond our reach."
'Yeah, that's not ominous or anything,' Emiya thought to himself. Instead of asking for clarification, he asked something else instead. "What's a Sacred Gear?"
"They're weapons that were created by my Father to keep humanity safe from monsters of various pantheons. The stronger ones have an entity sealed inside of them. Yours seems to be more vast than a sacred gear. I would say it isn't a singular entity but multiple beings seem to be trapped in your soul. It has a glorious if not lonely luster to it."
"But more than that, This… gem. marble? Maybe even a world stuck inside your soul? How did you even acquire such a thing?"
'Well, it seems Unlimited Blade Works is still present. Though it seems to have changed somewhat. Possibly transitioning into what she calls a Sacred Gear, though it seems to be just as vast as the armory I accumulated over my lifetime.' So, thinking, he decided to ask. "These Sacred Gears, can anyone have them? Do I have just one or can I have more than one? As you can imagine, I have a lot of questions."
"Usually it's one per person. And I sense that the one(?) ….. thing connected to you. This marble is intrinsically linked to your soul. Something to do with possibly forging weapons of war? Spears….. No, maybe swords?"
"Ugh, I feel uncomfortable having my dirty soul to bare in front of such a pure being" Emiya said to himself.
"All souls are accepted by heaven. Even the gravest sinner can repent and the gates of heaven will open for them," Gabriel offered her own sage wisdom.
"You say that but my soul has been bathed in the blood of countless innocents," Emiya replied curtly. "So what happens now?" He asked the Archangel.
"Now that I've met you I should report you to my older brother, Michael. I think I will do that. What happens after that will most likely be up to him. Regardless, I think I'll be keeping a close eye on you from now on," She leaned down and kissed him on the forehead. "Don't be in such a hurry to grow up Isaiah-san, Think of this as your new lease on life. Not many people get those. I'll drop by again and see you when I'm free. Sweet dreams."
There was a flap of wings, and then she was gone.
Emiya found himself sighing once again. 'New lease on life, my ass,' He thought as worries began to rise from the fact he had a guardian angel watching over him.
"She was quite pretty though," were the last thoughts of Emiya as his weakened body gave out and he entered sleep's embrace.
(...)
Time seemed to ebb and flow like a river for young Emiya. He got acquainted with his name Isaiah and decided to at least try and bond with the other orphans.
The nuns decided to teach the boy cooking. Emiya was excited to finally rejoin his holy land in the kitchen. He helped peel potatoes, stir stew, and even helped out around the church when the soup kitchen opened and they were to help feed the needy. He heard rumors from the people that a nun would be exiled for fraternizing with a devil. Emiya would take those rumors and run them by Gabriel when she came for her monthly visit.
She was the one who encouraged him to befriend the fellow orphans. She thought even if he was old on the inside this new lease on life would benefit him and there was no harm in making friends after all. Although the noises she made when Emiya gave her a cupcake he made had him worried, and the rapid fluttering of her wings like that of a hummingbird didn't help either. 'Could angels fall from a foodgasm?' Emiya wondered worriedly as he looked at Gabriel's wings and was happy that not even a dot of darkness showed.
Their meetings were quiet, comfortable, and interesting. He would offer valuable insight to Gabriel as it came to matters with the Devils, the underworld, and even situations in heaven. A good example would be the nun case that he heard about.
"So you're saying this nun of yours was kicked out, and she was accused of heresy for helping a devil? I mean it sounds kind of fishy. How many times has this happened before?"
"This is the third known case but they are not limited to any region just that they are holy women. Why do you think there is a connection or foul play here? Who do you think the culprit could be?" Gabriel asked.
Emiya paced the room in thought, "I mean who would benefit the most from the holy faction losing saints, holy women, and nuns specifically?"
"There are plenty of factions that have their eyes on heaven. We have done many things in the name of the Lord that have earned us their anger and ire."
"Yeah the Crusades didn't exactly win you any friends. There is always the devil faction. They could be abducting your holy maidens when they are cast out?"
"I mean that would make things risky with the devil faction. I suppose I could ask Serafall about it. She runs interfaction peace talks. If anyone would know what is going on she might have heard about it. Thank you for this advice Emiya. It always helps me when we have these chats. Now away from serious business, how goes the friend making?"
Emiya for the first time in a while looked embarrassed and blushed while rubbing his cheek," It is going slowly but my cooking has attracted quite a few people. The other girls in the orphanage ask me for advice to improve their own cooking. I hear some of the nuns joking about how I am quite the catch. So there is hope for me anyways."
"There is nothing wrong with having plenty of admirers. After all, one of Father's most loyal sons Solomon had plenty of wives. Oh he was such a wise boy but he was a pushover with his wives. I never understood how Sheba got him to do anything?" mused Gabriel as she remembered the wise King of Israel and his oddly lacking knowledge when it came to women.
Emiya remembered one of his many manifestations in helping the Chaldea Security Foundation. Romani Archiman or King Solomon was not somebody Emiya could think of having a giant harem but hey stranger things have happened.
If there was a time that Emiya could say he made friends then it would have been Chaldea. There were plenty of enemies and allies alike made there. He wondered how they were doing nowadays? Then something Gabriel said caught his attention.
"Wait, are you saying Heaven is okay with harems of all things? I thought adultery and sleeping with multiple women was a sin?"
Gabriel shook her head and her golden locks swayed as her toga stretched not to let her beautiful breasts roam free from the motion, "Oh Father no. As long as you marry them all and don't cheat on them I see no problem with a harem. Honestly that is one of the few things angels might learn from the devils with their evil piece system and vast harems to recoup their numbers after two wars. I honestly think we need to work on our own system. Father not being reachable makes it down right impossible to create more angels."
That was one mystery Emiya was never able to get out of Gabriel. Even when he tried to bribe her with food. She religiously would not tell him where God of the Bible was. Emiya thought the god of the bible may be healing away in a secluded area after hearing about the great war between the three factions of Christianity. It was an interesting story and he thought Gabriel's storytelling was very enlightening.
"Honestly if there was a way to make peace with the devils I would be happy to suggest them but honestly all three sides want something that the others are not willing to give up. Hell any peace treaty would require the fallen as a participant and they are considerably less craven than devils. At least Azazel is from what you told me about your brother. I would honestly talk to Azazel and Serafall and see if you guys can brainstorm possible peace treaties. Also you might want to guard sacred gears better. Especially if the devils can just kidnap them and you know forcibly reincarnate them into devils. Kind of brings the point of sacred gears 'protecting' humanity against the supernatural moot."
"You aren't wrong. Okay I will go try and take care of that when I have time. Stay safe Emiya and I will see you as soon as I can," and with that, Gabriel kissed Emiya on his head and disappeared with only a wing flap and a lone golden feather showing she was there.
(...)
Emiya didn't know what was going on, but today the nuns told them to dress in their Sunday best and line up in front of the orphanage. So he stood there uncomfortably in a suit and tie. The rest of the children were waiting for something to happen. That something in question was a black car that pulled up in front of the orphanage. Out stepped an elderly man in a Cardinal's robes. A hat covered his thinning Gray hair. He had a face like a rat with a mustache that reminded him of whiskers. Emiya already didn't trust him.
He walked down the line of children, inspecting them like a general would his own troops. "Are these all of them?" He asked as he reached the end of the line.
The mother superior an elderly woman who acted like everybody's grandmother, nodded and replied, "Yes, Archbishop Galilei, this is all of the children."
"Good, good," Archbishop Galilei said as he folded his hands behind his back and began to give a rousing speech. "Children, today you have been chosen for a very special project that will benefit the future of the Church." Galilei turned on his heel and walked down the opposite end of the line of children as he continued. "Today, each one of you will be tested to see if you have holy power. Holy power determines if you can wield a holy sword. Should you be determined to have that power, you will be allowed to enter the Churches Holy Sword Project. Which is being headed by me. The project, as you may or may not have guessed, is a project which is trying to find an acceptable wielder for the holy sword, Excalibur. The sword of King Arthur."
Emiya felt his heart stop upon hearing those words. 'Wielding Excalibur? Was anyone else but Saber truly worthy of such an honor?' Raising his hand, Emiya called out. "Sir, I have a question? How did the Church come to own such a weapon if it was supposed to have been returned to the Lady of the Lake after the death of King Arthur." He thought bitterly, 'I know what happens when the weapon isn't returned to the lake, the last thing I need is to be reincarnated into a world ruled by a despotic Lion King,'
The Archbishop walked down the line until he was facing the boy directly and smiled at him and his grandfatherly way as he said, "You are very astute young?"
"You'll have to forgive young Isaiah Archbishop Galilei," The mother superior said as she laughed. "He is very curious and also very knowledgeable about various mythologies. He's read every book he can get his hands on in the library."
The Archbishop laughed again, "Curiosity is not a sin, Mother Superior. In fact, it is something we look for in the church," As he said this, he reached out and tussled the boy's hair. "Yes, you are very knowledgeable, aren't you?"
"I like mythology, sir. It's something of a pastime for me alongside cooking," Emiya replied stiffly, shaking his head as the man had mussed up his hair.
"Well, to answer your question, young Isaiah, the sword being returned to the lake was a cover story the church made-up. In truth, Excalibur broke into seven pieces. Each one has a specific ability of the sword."
"Impossible!" Emiya said before he could stop himself. "Excalibur cannot break." The holy sword of the planet could not be shattered. Fail to be returned? Fail to even be forged? Yes on both counts, both of which had epic repercussions for the planet. So what effect would the Holy Sword shattering have? He trembled at the thought.
Archbishop Galilei smiled sadly as he patted the boy on the shoulder, "I wish that were so child. You are another grand fan of Excalibur's legend, I see. Much like myself. I hope you have a better chance of wielding it than I did at your age. For you see, it was my desire to wield Excalibur, yet being unable to do that led me to create this project. To find proper wielders for the Excalibur Fragments."
"When do we get started?" Emiya asked in all seriousness. A world without Excalibur was a world that could fall to chaos at any time. He couldn't allow this to stand.
"You're eager. That's good. Good!" Galilei said laughing jovially. "But let's see if you have any holy power first," on that comment, Archbishop Galilei waved to the vehicle he came in and out came a very beautiful young girl in Emiya's opinion. She had nice long white hair braided into twin tails and wore a hair clip. She was wearing simple clothes that one would expect from one associated with the church with a nice white blouse.
Emiya felt there was something different about the girl but he couldn't place it. Then he noticed the sword she was holding, " Is that?"
Archbishop Galilei put his hand on Isaiah's shoulder and waved the girl over, "This is one of the members of the holy sword project. Her name is Tosca. The sword she is holding is one of the excalibur fragments lent to me by the church. Go ahead now boy. See if you get a reaction."
Emiya slowly walked up to the girl and bowed respectfully to her and held out his hands, "May I?"
Tosca blushed a little but nodded her head, "Oh of course. Here you go." She handed the sword in Emiya's awaiting hands. When he touched it the sword glowed slightly and if he turned around he would have seen a small frown show on the Bishop's face before it turned into a smile.
"Good good. You got a reaction my boy. Truly this trip was not wasted. It seems we found at least one possible candidate for our project. Come along kids, hold the sword, and see if you get a reaction."
What No one knew except Tosca who could see Isiah's face was that he wasn't smiling. In fact the frown on his face had her worried.
Emiya looked at the sword and felt only one emotion ….. disgust. What was this shoddy piece of metal? What was this horrible imitation of the greatest sword ever made? This…. this was not Excalibur. This was a horrible imitation that mocked the purity and majesty of Excalibur. There was no awe, no wonder, no peace, this fragile imitation of Excalibur would shatter if Emiya reinforced his hands and crushed it with them. How…. how ….. how dare the heavens declare this to be even remotely close to Saber's sword. If there was anything Emiya respected about Saber besides her demeanor and virtue it would be the sheer wonder that came when seeing Excalibur. It truly deserved the name of Last Phantasm. Birthed by the planet by inhuman hands purely for humanities' prosperity. Honestly Emiya felt a little sick to his stomach that this was considered a holy sword.
The Archbishop didn't notice the grimace on Isaiah's face as he gently took the sword from him and passed it to some of the other orphans outside. The sword glowed for some and the child's face who held shined like the morning sun while those for whom the sword didn't glow felt disheartened until the Archbishop patted them on the shoulder, "Do not worry child. I myself was not able to wield a holy sword. Do good by the church in other ways and be good sheep to follow the shepherd of the lord. Mother Superior, the students that show progress I would like to take with me to the institute where we can further research methods to wield holy swords. What would be a good time for me to return with young Tosca here to retrieve them?"
The mother superior looked at the children including Isaiah and thought about what she should do. She saw hope and desire to be of aid in the eyes of her pupils. She didn't want to be the one to crush their hopes, "Come and get them next week Sir Galilei. That will give us time to do a farewell banquet for the children chosen."
"Ahahahah that is perfectly fine ma'am. Come Tosca let us be off," waved Valper Galilei to the young girl. Tosca nodded, retrieved the Excalibur Fragment from the last chosen orphan and smiled at Emiya as she left with Archbishop Galilei.
Emiya felt this was the start of something new and decided to at least try and live out this new lease on life fate seemed to have given him.
(...)
The river of time flowed and soon Emiya was having the last day with his brothers and sisters from the orphanage. He was hugging them goodbye as this was the last time in a while he would see them. From what Archbishop Galilei said it could take months or even up to a year to see proper results from the Holy Sword Project so all the kids coming with him needed to be prepared to leave their home for a while.
Archer still felt apprehensive with the Archbishop. He couldn't place it but there was a sense of wrongness in the man's temperament whenever he looked at the kids. Nothing sexual or mentally disturbed like that fake priest Kotomine. It almost felt like Kirei's daughter Caren staring at him but darker and less mischievous. Like there was something to gain from them. Something more than just helping the church.
The Mother Superior hugged young Isiah as tears fell from her eyes, "Remember my child. You will always have a home here. I will happily welcome you back whenever that shall be. I love you, Isaiah. Never forget that."
Emiya felt a warmth in his cold, hollow heart that had been wounded by millenia of tragedy. It felt nice to be loved and thanked for just existing. He returned the hug, "Thank you Mother Superior. I will not forget my roots."
Emiya left with a smile on his face and sat in the first car where the Archbishop and young Tosca were seated.
The Archbishop gave a small smile, "Ah young Isaiah. I am glad to have you seated with us. I had a few questions for you. Someone as well read on legends may be able to understand more than your comrades in arms."
"And what is that sir?"
"What do you know about the difference between a holy sword and a demonic one?"
Emiya had a deep understanding of weapons thanks to his origin and element. He knew what made a demonic sword and a holy sword but he wanted to see what this world thought about them.
"I don't know sir how are they different?"
At this question Tosca perked up and smiled as she answered, "A demonic sword, while not necessarily made from a demon, is based on negative or dark emotions that corrupted the sword overtime from their wielder. A good example is say a weapon used for slaughter or bloodlust gaining an edge to it that makes it 'cursed' or 'demonic' to drain blood. A holy sword on the other hand is made with more positive or lighter emotions such as the desire to protect, courage to stand against adversity, or even generally being a good person such as Durandal bestowed to Roland!"
"That is right young Tosca. Very good. I think you will be a great addition to the holy sword project," commented Valper.
The sparkles in her eyes showed that Tosca knew quite a bit about swords and made Emiya wonder where she learned about them. While Tosca wasn't wrong…. She wasn't right either. A sword is a weapon whose personality is made not only from how they are wielded but the process of forging them. A good example is Kanshou and Bakuya he wielded as his trusted companions. The swords were made with human sacrifice but the intentions and desires of the craftsman and the materials influenced how the swords would act. Now that he thought about the sword Balmung would cause this world to turn on its head. Used by Siegfried the sword would be extremely holy and pure in its destruction of the dragon menace however the sword when wielded by Kriemhild turned towards revenge and darkness that would cut down any man that stood in her way. Honestly while the theory was similar there were key differences that swords in his world gained attributes then in this world. Which raised the question of how Excalibur was forged. The forging process probably led to this world's sword being broken.
"But what does that have to do with the holy sword project Archbishop sir?"
"Well young Isaiah when holy swords were first created by the heavens a certain wielder and attributes were expected. For example Excalibur was meant to be tantamount to the perfect king and ruler that God wanted to rule over Britain in a time of strife and discord. So upon a young Arthur Pendragon was given Excalibur that he pulled from the stone."
"Not Caliburn sir?"
"Oh heavens no young child. Caliburn is considered the strongest holy sword and is not only closely guarded by the church but even the Pendragon family to ensure its purity and sanctity of the sword. We would only allow such a sword to be used if there was another great war with the devils and fallen. Why even at my level of Archbishop have not even allowed a glimpse of such a sword!"
'Another difference in this world. Though this raises the question, does Clarent exist? What about Arondight? Or Galantine? All good questions to be asked honestly' thought young Emiya as Tosca nodded along.
"What about the other Holy Weapons of the Round Table, Archbishop? Like Arondight, Clarent, and Galatine?"
Archbishop Gallelli became morose, as he said, "Arondight's tale is just as sad as its master's. When Lancelot was driven to madness and he killed his fellow Knights, he corrupted his own holy sword, and it became a demonic weapon. Eventually it fell into the hands of the devils and was lost. Of Galatine, there has been no word since the Battle of Camlann, and of the Silver Sword of Betrayal, nothing is known either."
'Well, at least I know they exist,' Emiya thought to himself as he endured the rest of the ride in silent contemplation. Or he tried to, until Tosca started asking him questions.
"Did you always have an interest in Arthurian legend, Isaiah?"
The former Counter Guardian contemplated lying, but instead he decided to mix truth in with a lie as he replied."I suppose you could call it that. When I was younger I met someone from Britain and she inspired me to take an interest in the Arthurian Tales."
"A woman from Britain? Le Fay Pendragon herself, perhaps?" The Archbishop asked contemplatively as he stroked his chin. Le Fay Pendragon was quite famous in magical circles so it wouldn't surprise him that she would be invited to Italy to recruit the young witch.
"Maybe. I'm not really sure. She was an older woman."
"Hmm, It could have been her, but it also could have been the Ice Witch Lavinia Reni, a known associate of hers. In any case, be on your guard, Isaiah. For either one of them to reach out and contact you means you must be something special indeed."
'Ah crap, my lies are getting me in more trouble than I'd like,' The former dog of Alaya thought to himself. "I promise I'll keep my eyes peeled for buxom blondes in the future, Archbishop."
That caused the old man to laugh, "I'm sure you will, my boy. I'm sure you will. In a few years, I'm sure you'll have no problem keeping your eyes out for such a girl."
"No, not at all, sir," The young boy said cluelessly, as if he had no idea what the older man was talking about. "Ah, to be young and naive." The Archbishop said, almost wistfully As the car pulled into a seemingly abandoned church in the middle of an overgrown lot.
'Yeah, this doesn't seem suspicious at all or anything, or completely off the books,' Emiya thought to himself as the car pulled to a stop. 'Nothing at all suspicious going on here, just your average, ordinary, typical church experiment. One involving children. That just so happens to be taking place in the middle of the woods, Where they can conveniently dump and hide our bodies…' He sighed to himself. 'This is going to end badly, isn't it?'
Tosca stepped out beside him and, seeing the sour look on his face, asked, "Is something wrong Isaiah?"
"I've just got a bad feeling about this. I mean, this doesn't seem at all suspicious to you? This experiment taking place out in the middle of the woods, so far away from civilization that if something were to happen to us, nobody will find our bodies? Plus we're orphans, so nobody will care if we go missing anyway? It's like a bad start to a B rank horror movie, isn't it?"
She gave Emiya an odd look before smiling and saying, "I think you worry too much Isaiah. Father Galilei won't let anything bad happen to us. We're just going to be training to use the holy Excalibur fragments. It's not like we're going to be put into any mortal danger, right?"
"I sure hope you're right Tosca, I sure hope you're right," He said, feeling a familiar chill creeping up his spine. It was the feeling of knowing there was a setup, but walking into it anyway to hopefully prevent other people from getting hurt. 'Let the games begin,' He thought to himself as he walked into the church.
(...)
Everything went normally the first few months, to the Archbishop's credit. Then one by one, the children who failed to succeed in using the holy swords began to disappear. The Archbishop would make up stories saying, oh, he would send them back to the orphanage, since they would no longer be useful to the project. Emiya knew better however he knew what was going on. He couldn't prove it, and he didn't want to alarm the other children by saying they were actually being murdered, but he had a hunch. A very big hunch that the Archbishop wasn't as kind as he liked to act in front of everyone.
"Isaiah, come on, we need to get up," Tosca's familiar calm voice called to him like it did every morning. She's taken on something of a motherly role to the rest of the children. Himself included, much to his chagrin. He knew how to read, write, do math and all of those other things a typical child his age should know how to do. She still insisted on reading to him every night. Said it helped calm her nerves from a long day of training. And who was he not to allow her to indulge herself? But he could tell even Tosca was beginning to feel some kind of strain, even though she didn't show it. Her little pseudo family was beginning to disappear and not return. Week after week it grew smaller and smaller. And the Archbishop's words were no longer honey to her ears like they were before, when the experiments started so long ago.
"George disappeared last night," Aldo, a young bookish boy. Who always had his head in some kind of book or another with thick glasses over his head. On his rather thin frame the glasses looked quite ridiculous but did give him a mousy scholarly air, said. "That means it's just the five of us now. Besides Tosca, you and me, there's also Samson and Jezebel… People keep disappearing in the middle of the night. This can't be right. Just doesn't make any sense."
The mousy boy was shoved aside by a much bigger, brawnier blonde haired boy. The titular Samson. "Oh, shove off, nerd. Those who can't hack it get sent home. That's what the Archbishop has said. We're still here because we're tough. Because we, unlike them, have the potential to wield a holy sword fragment. Even a wimp like you."
"Samson enough," Emiya said, drawing the boy's eye. The two sized each other up before Samson scoffed.
Then after a moment, Samson looked away and said, "I was just messing with him a little bit, trying to encourage him to get his head out of the book for a minute and on what we're supposed to do. That's all."
"It's too early for your type of motivation," Isaiah grumbled. "At least save the roughhousing till after we have our gruel for breakfast."
The remaining test subjects for the Holy Sword Project trooped down to the mess hall where they true to his word, had gruel for breakfast. Same thing they had for every other meal. It wasn't exactly appetizing, but it was filling. Then they were herded by the guards working with the Archbishop on the project to the testing chamber. Where the holy sword fragment Excalibur Rapidly awaited. From what he had come to understand, this particular Excalibur fragment sped up the user if they could activate it. Putting them on par, if not faster than the Rider of the 5th Holy Grail War, Medusa. It really was quite impressive, but also the least dangerous Holy Exclibur fragment should one of them manage to activate it. Emiya, had no doubts that the Archbishop had planned that. He gazed at the thin kris-like blade with something akin to contempt, for the sword known as Excalibur should not break. Yet this weapon before him was living proof of the holy prayer known as Glory, doing just that.
Emiya's fingers itched so badly to trace Kanshou and Bakuya and slaughter his way through the guards, and free the remaining test subjects of this horrid experiment. Yet, even if he did, where would they go? They were in the middle of the woods, he had no sense of direction, no idea where they were, where they could head towards civilization, and they only had a limited supply of food in this place. For the first time since he had slipped Alaya's leash, he felt worthless. Worthless because he knew that, he could kill people but not save them. That even though he was no longer bound by Alaya. He was still only good at one thing. Killing people, taking lives but never saving them. Like he oh so desperately wanted.
Something was different today, however, for Archbishop Gallelli stood above them on a catwalk, His arms spread open like Christ the Redeemer, as he spoke. "Oh children, my children. I am afraid today is the day we part. Unfortunately, none of you were able to activate the holy sword as I had hoped, besides a small response," his arms fell to his sides as he spoke in a disappointed tone. "And we have run out of time. For you see, the Church didn't exactly sanction this project. I may have borrowed funds here and there to promote my own personal dream. The Church isn't exactly happy with me and now they've come to take this project apart."
"And now he's going to monologue like a Bond villain. Before he tries to kill us all," Emiya sighed to himself.
"Am I truly that predictable, Isaiah?"
Glaring up at the man, the former dog of Alaya replied, "To someone like me? Yes, unfortunately so? So I'm just going to have to skip the preamble and get to the part where I stop you from killing us off. If it's all the same to you."
"Stop me? How can someone who has the weakest holy power out of all the children here hope to stop me?" Archbishop Galilie laughed.
"Trace on," Emiya deadpanned as he held his hands out for the handles of blades that did not yet exist.
Despite all the practice he's been putting in this new body, his weapons still came slower than he'd liked. They were twins, swords that mirrored each other, black and white, Yin and Yang. And they were the weapons he'd used throughout his entire living life. The married twin Swords Kanshou and Byakuya. Gan Jian and Mo Ye.
Before anyone could act or react, he flung the black Kanshou at the Archbishop, the blade was a whirling buzzsaw of death as it sliced clean through his clavicle bone. A geyser of blood sprayed from the freshly opened wound.
"Gaah! A… a Sacred Gear?!" The murderous holy man said with shocked awe as blood stained his cossack.
"I guess you could call it that if you want," Isaiah replied as the black blade spun on its axis, slicing through an exorcist standing next to the man. Before coming back to his hand. "Either way, we're leaving, Archbishop. Any attempts to stop us will be met with force."
"Well, I can see why you're so confident now, Isaiah. You must have been practicing this in secret for a while now. I'm afraid being able to create blades won't help you in this situation." Gallelli replied as he held up a switch with a button on it in his one good hand. One that he immediately pressed down on.
'Well, that can't be good,' The counter guardian thought to himself as vents in the wall opened up and a sickly mustard yellow gas began to filter into the bottom of the room.
"Mustard gas? Really? I mean, I'd heard the Catholic Church had worked with the Nazis during World War Two, but… This is kind of hitting the nail on the head, isn't it?"
"I don't expect you to survive Isaiah, I expect you to die, sacred gear or no sacred gear. I am truly sorry you have to go out in such a painful way though. But I cannot afford to have my work or myself captured by the church," The Archbishop replied as he walked down the catwalk to a door, his left arm hanging limply by his side.
"You'd better pray the executioners get to you before I do, Archbishop, because if I get to you before they do. Your death will not be swift. It will be slow. It will be drawn out, and it will be painful," Emiya promised him.
"W-What do we do, this place is filling up with nerve gas?!" Aldo cried.
"Stand back," Emiya replied calmly as he traced another weapon. This one the corkscrew blade of Fergus Mac Roich. The predecessor of the true Caliburn…
Caladbolg.
"Thy core is twisted in madness, so twist all the way in, Caladbolg II," Emiya incanted as the spiral like sword took on a more aerodynamic arrow like shape.
Then in his free hand a gigantic black bow appeared, that he knocked, with all the strength his young body could handle, the new makeshift arrow, before aiming at the locked massive vault door, and letting loose.
The spiral sword arrow spun, letting loose a rainbow as a contrail like the tail of a comet, before it twisted the metal and space before it let out a massive explosion. The former Counter Guardian didn't wait for anyone to react. He could see several exorcists knocked out on the ground from the explosion. No doubt under the Archbishop's employ to make sure none of them escaped alive. "We need to move now!"
"Isaiah, you go on ahead. We'll hold these ones off," Tosca told him as she took up a wooden training sword and infused it with light energy.
"What are you talking about? They'll kill you. We need to go now."
"Don't look down on the rest of us just because you lucked out and got a Sacred Gear," Samson said, using his immense strength to pick up two guards and throw them down the hall, even as he coughed up some blood.
"Tosca's right. You have the best chance of surviving out of all of us. You need to run Isaiah." Aldo said as he beat a downed exorcist with a very heavy book. "Don't look back, just run!"
"But I want…I want to save all of you," He said as guilt, disgust, self hatred and loathing formed in his throat like bile.
"Idiot!" Samson said as he smashed two exorcist's heads together before turning, yelling at him, "How can you save anyone if you aren't strong enough to save yourself first?!" Picking up their fallen swords, He ran into the next oncoming group yelling, "Get the hell out of here, you hero wannabe!"
Grabbing one of his hands in both of hers, Tosca spoke. "Isaiah, if you truly want to save us, then please run and live for us. Remember us, don't let our sacrifice now be for nothing."
"But if I run," Emiya paused, as he thought. 'Then it'll be just like last time. That time, like the Fuyuki Fire, all I could do was run away, while other people died, So I could live. Am I really going to run away again?'
"If you run, at least someone will remember our names. Please, Isaiah for all our sakes, run! Run, live, and remember us," Tosca begged before pushing him forwards and taking her own weapon to bare.
"Damn it! Damn it all! Damn it!" Emiya swore, as he felt the poison coursing through his blood, as well as the energy he'd used up from using Caladbolg taking its toll on his body. He did the one thing his friends requested of him.
He ran. But not before swearing to himself that they would be remembered and avenged.
(...)
The air was cold as it breached his lungs, which were half filled with blood by now. Snow on the ground crunched beneath his feet, and he paid no direction to which way he was running. He just knew he was running as far away from the church as he could get. As his legs and lungs burned, his vision began to blur. 'Is this as far as I go?' He thought as he collapsed in the snow. His breath misting in front of him, as he panted, laying on his back.. 'Were their deaths really for nothing this time?'
But then something, no someone, came into his field of vision. She had crimson red tresses like blood, 'Why is that?' Eyes that were as blue as the sky, and she was wearing a very heavy fur coat. Doing his best to focus on her, he realized she couldn't have been more than a year older than he was. She looked down on him worriedly, "You don't look so good. Are you all right?"
"I'm just peachy. Just needed a minute to catch my breath, that's all," He gasped out before spitting up some blood that was flooding his lungs.
"Big Brother, this person over here doesn't look too good," She called out to someone he couldn't see.
"Shh, Ria-chan be quiet! We don't want the church to know we're here, remember?" An older man with long red hair replied. But that wasn't what he was focusing on. He was focusing on the man's clothes. He was dressed like a damn cosplayer, out in the middle of the forest, in the middle of what he assumed was winter.
"What the hell?" Emiya said to himself. "Am I seeing things in my final moments? Because if so, I'm seeing the most fucked up Grim Reaper ever."
"You're not too far off," The man chuckled, "But I'm no Grim Reaper,"
"So you're just some lame cosplayer then? Awesome. Can you leave me alone? I'd like to die in peace."
"I'm not lame. Ria-chan, Tell him. Tell him I'm not lame!" The man sulked.
"You can be kind of lame, Big Brother," The younger of the two said, in brutal honesty.
"I'm not lame," The man said. The older man sulked even harder.
The girl fixed her gaze back on him, "I like you. Not many people can talk to Big Brother like that. I think I'm going to take you home with me. My name is Rias Gremory and I look forward to getting to know you better."
'Wait, Gremory? Isn't that the name of a Devil?' Emiya thought before he finally passed out from the poison.
(...)
Much to his surprise, Emiya felt himself coming to, and not laying on the floor of a forest. Instead, he felt himself laying on something soft. 'Am I laying in a bed? Feels like it.'
Deciding to get a hand on this situation, he traced the immediate area, And the information of the room he was in flooded his brain. Once his brain reformatted the information into something he could comprehend, he quickly realized he was in a hotel room. A rather lavish hotel room at that. His tracing told him that his mattress was made of memory foam, that the sheets were of silk, and all the furnishings were of high quality leather and polished wood. But the thing that got his attention the most was the fact that there was someone sitting in a chair nearby. Cracking his eye open a smidge, he noted she was a young girl with snow white hair and yellow eyes. Definitely not the royal aristocratic looking redhead he'd met in the forest. But that didn't mean they were unaffiliated. What he needed now was more information. And he could bet dollars to donuts that this young girl could give it to him. Groaning and seeming pain, he pretended to wake up just then. "Where am I?"
"Ah, you're awake," The girl, sitting with her hands clasped around her knees noted. Perking up and revealing a pair of snow white cat ears perked on top of her head.
"Yeah, I'm awake. Where am I? And who are you?" He asked, fixing his gaze on hers.
The girl held his gaze for a moment before looking away to the side and replying, "I'm uh… Koneko. Miss Gremory found you out in the forest and brought you back here. She asked me to heal you up. You were poisoned pretty badly. Are you feeling better now?"
Emiya replied calmly, not wanting to frighten her."Yes, I suppose so. I guess I have you to thank for that. So thank you,"
This caused her to look back at him and smile a bit, seemingly brightening at being thanked. Or praised one of the two. "You're welcome. What's your name?"
"Isaiah, is there something wrong, Koneko-san?" He asked worriedly upon seeing her wince as if in pain.
She shook her head and replied, "No, it's not you, not you specifically anyway."
'My very name made her wince as if it caused her pain. The girl who abducted me, called herself Rias Gremory. Gremory is the name of a devil, one of the 72 pillars Of Solomon. This girl is probably a devil too, and my name made her wince because it has biblical implications.'
He addressed the cat girl directly, saying, "Could you go and fetch Rias Gremory for me? I would like to speak with her."
"How did you?" Koneko began, only to stop when he raised his hand and said.
"If you have questions for me, it'll have to wait until I talk to your mistress. I want to know what exactly her intentions for me are."
Koneko must have heard something in his tone, because she promptly got up off the chair and said, "I'll be right back and see if she's available. She's in a meeting with her older brother right now…." She moved towards the door, only to pause and look back and say. "She's not as bad as you think she is, given the benefit of the doubt. Please?"
And he has said nothing as he as she left silently waiting for the devil to arrive. While he waited, he went over his armory of holy weapons that he could deploy should he need to hastily escape. 'I could deploy Black Keys enmass if I had to. They're of low cost, and would hurt even a devil quite a bit, considering they're sanctified by the church. Maybe not this Church, but still the Church.' At his current level of strength, Emiya figured he could trace about a hundred of them at once if he had to. That should be more than enough to get him out of this place, though. And if he had to pull out something stronger, he could always bring forth something like Durandal or if needs be, Caliburn. They were more costly of course, but in his current situation, he may need to pull out all the stops. His gaze wandered around the room as he continued to think. He noted possible pieces of cover he could use, like the coffee table. Or if he needed to, he could escape out the nearby window. Possible plans began forming in his mind, that were saved or discarded as need arose. If only he had more information on his enemies and location. Then he could make even more complete and concrete plans.
He was pulled out of his musings by a knock at the door. Before someone entered. "You are not Rias Gremory," He noted. "Thus, I have nothing to say to you."
The woman in question was of asian descent, top heavy with long dark hair that trailed down almost to the floor, a nearly porcelain complexion, with blue-green eyes. She was wearing a Shrine Priestess uniform, the red and white was iconic even here. Instead of being offended by his harsh words. She merely laughed saying, "My, my. You're quite the cold one, aren't you?"
"I'm a member of the Church who has been abducted into what is basically considered enemy territory. How exactly should I be acting?" He replied matter of factly.
"Well, when you put it like that, I can see why you're acting so standoffish. But rest assured, you're not being held prisoner are actually Rias-chan's guest."
To which Emiya deadpanned, "Funny, I don't recall being invited anywhere,"
The girl gave another awkward laugh, "How about some tea? Isaiah-san, was it?"
"Yes, and I don't believe you ever introduced yourself at all. That's rude, don't you know that?"
The girl bowed at the waist. "My apologies. My name is Himejima Akeno. Nice to meet you."
The former Counter Guardian continued with his lack of tact, "I'd say the pleasure is mine, but I don't know what I'm doing here and I'm not sure I really even want to be here."
Akeno took it in stride, though, "Perfectly understandable. You'll have to forgive Rias. She tends to act first and think later. When she sees something she wants."
"And you'll have to forgive me, but I'm not in a very forgiving mood at the moment. In fact, I'm quite irritated. When I get irritated, I get inclined to stab the source of my irritation."
Akeno covered her mouth with one hand as she poured tea with the other, "My goodness. Well, we'll just have to settle you down before Rias meets you. We can't have her getting turned into a pin cushion, now can we?"
Moving the saucer and teacup in front of him, she said, "Here, please drink. I'm confident in my tea making skills at the very least,"
Taking the fine china cup, that his vision told him was from The Ming Dynasty and yet perfectly preserved, Emiya traced it. Looking for any hints of magical or poisonous nature, before finally taking a sip. He had to admit it was finally brewed… But he also knew he could do better. "Not bad at all," He complimented after a moment, before giving his critique, "Next time, however, let the tea leaves steep for a bit longer before serving to bring out the flavor of the leaves a bit more."
"Oh, are you a connoisseur of tea?" Akeno asked, seemingly amused by his critique.
"Not so much a connoisseur, just someone who's an old hand at it," he replied.
"Is that so? Well, then next time you can brew the tea and we can compare notes," She said in a composed yet slightly competitive tone of voice.
"Right, next time." He agreed as if there was going to be a next time.
Akeno opened her mouth as if to say something, but then the door to the room burst open, and an irate redheaded girl ran in unshed angry tears in her cerulean eyes. "That stupid Riser Phenex! He thinks he can talk about me like some kind of object he already owns! Like our marriage is a foregone conclusion! This stupid marriage contract is all so stupid and I hate it!"
"Um Rias," Akeno began.
"I mean, who does he think he is just because he has immortality and super regeneration? Like I can't disintegrate his freaking arm off just because it'll grow back! I want to shove a stick so far up his ass and use him as a feather duster if he keeps smirking at me like that! He's such a creep. I swear, Akeno!"
"I don't disagree, Rias, but," Akeno, tried again to no avail as the Pure-Blooded Devil was on a roll.
"What's more, I heard him talking about adding his little sister to his peerage. Is he a lolicon or something?"
Emiya had had enough of her one-sided tirade. Giving a shrill whistle, he called out, "Oi Red! Shut up and pay attention! You're unwilling captive would like a moment of your time."
That got her attention and Rias stopped on the spot, turning to face him. Upon seeing he was awake, she beamed happily, "Oh, you're awake! Are you feeling better now?" A pause before, "Did you just call me Red?"
"It worked, didn't it Red?" His response was cheeky, causing Rias to sulk.
Crossing Her arms under her bust, she pouted, ballooning out her cheeks. "Don't call me Red!"
Emiya was quick to retort, "I'll call you whatever I damn well please, considering you kidnapped me, Red."
"Kidnapping is such a strong word, isn't it? I was more like providing you with much needed medical attention?" Rias retorted, trying to turn the situation to her advantage. "Shouldn't you be a bit more grateful? I mean, I did save your life."
"I never asked to be saved by you or anybody else. Shouldn't I, being from the Church, be killed on site by someone like you, Miss Devil? I thought our factions had this whole mortal enemies thing going on. Not a Batman and Catwoman relationship."
Rias was caught off guard with how keen this young man was, "You're not entirely wrong…"
Emiya nodded. He knew that already, "So then why am I here? What do you want from me?" He held up a hand, stopping her from answering, "No, wait, don't tell me. You want to reincarnate me as one of your little devil minions, don't you?"
"Minions is such a harsh term, I prefer family," Rias said, sounding put out.
"Regardless of how you want to phrase it, you still want to reincarnate me as a devil, don't you? That's why you didn't kill me and brought me back here for treatment."
"Well, yeah, more or less," She said. "Are you interested?"
Giving her a deadpan glare, he replied, "As far as I see it, I don't exactly have a choice. You have me captive here, and if I say no, you'll probably just kill me and dump my body somewhere,"
Rias looked horrified at the prospect, "What kind of monster do you take me for?!"
"I take you for a devil, someone who will trick, deceive, lie, cheat, and steal to get whatever they want. Then, even if you do get what you want, you will do whatever in your power to screw over the person who you make a deal with, so it still benefits you in the end. I've read Faust, The Bible and other material. I know how Faustian bargains operate. I have firsthand experience in the matter."
He didn't mean to let that last bit slip, but it was personal for him, and despite it having been several years, the wounds of being Alaya's Dog were still quite fresh.
"That's not… I'm not… I don't want to…" Rias seems to be at a loss for words. The sheer vehemence in his tone seemed to have struck her. She collapsed on the end of his bed, and then slowly. Oh so slowly, scooted towards him. Once she was close enough, She put her hand on top of his and said earnestly. "I don't want to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you at all. I just want to offer you a chance to be a part of my family. It seems you don't have anywhere to go. So why not come with me?"
"As your minion? Thanks, but I've played that card already, and it didn't work out too well for me."
"What happened to you?" Rias' blue eyes bored into his. And she saw terror horror of something ancient, old and weathered.
"A kid like you wouldn't even begin to understand what I've been through," He told her dismissively.
Rias shook her head as she replied, "No I wouldn't, not unless you told me. It's Isaiah right?" She flinched in pain as she said his name, but she held his gaze all the same.
'I couldn't even tell Tosca about this. Why am I considering opening up to this girl?' He wondered to himself.
But before that first step to understanding each other could truly begin, someone interrupted.
A knock on the door frame came and The cosplayer from earlier entered the room. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but we have a bit of a situation Ria-chan,"
The red-head turned so quick he heard her neck crack as she snapped at her older brother, "What is it now, Sirzechs? Are you trying to marry me off to someone else? A grub worm perhaps?"
"I'm sorry, Rias. Really, but no. This actually concerns your little friend there," He pointed at Emiya and said, "It turns out he's friends with Gabriel. She's looking for him, and she's not too happy…"
Rias face snapped to his, her parlor having gone a few more shades paler. "Do you personally know the Archangel Gabriel?"
"She's something of a friend of mine, yes." He confirmed, "But she's a total airhead and a softie. How dangerous could she be?"
Sirzechs gave a very nervous smile as he replied. "There's a very good reason why her name translates to Strength of God… oww." He added as an afterthought as pain lanced through his head.
As if to emphasize the point, a sudden explosion happened. And the whole building shook beneath them.
"What was that?" Emiya asked no one in particular after he got his balance back.
"Oh shit, she's here," Sirzechs said under his breath but loud enough for everyone else to hear.
"Who, Gabriel? She did that?" Emiya was surprised she was strong enough to make a building shake, but he supposed he shouldn't be. She was an Archangel after all.
Swallowing hard, Sirzechs replied, "Gabriel's power is second only to Michael amongst the heavens, and the reason for her specific name is such because she can convert faith directly to physical strength. If it came to a straight up fight, I don't know if I could win. Especially if she gets close."
Sighing, Emiya shifted the sheets off his person, and walked past the terrified devils. "Wait here. I'm going to go take care of this."
"Are you sure that's a good idea? The last time Gabriel was in a rage, the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, and the Tower of Babel was toppled."
"Seen and done worse, I'll be fine," He said as he strode calmly forwards, to face an irate Archangel.
(...)
'I really need to ask Sirzechs for a raise and time off… And paid vacations too! Because being an ambassador does not cover stuff like this.' Serafall Leviathan thought to herself, as she was doing her damn best to keep an irate Gabriel from completely destroying the hotel they were walking through right now.
At the moment Gabriel was dressed in full holy battle regalia. Clad in glowing golden armor, with holy scriptures engraved all across its face, it made Serafall's skin itch being in such close proximity to it and her eyes hurt just to look at it. in one hand she held a gleaming sword of holy light, her usual airheaded face was set in a grim line of determination. She was pissed, and ready to kill somebody. The situation was tense as the two rode the elevator up to the penthouse suite. So she tried to break the tension by talking.
"I'm sure you're a little friend is fine. Please don't destroy everything. Please? Why do you even care so much anyway? He's just one mortal human."
For the first time since Gabriel had gone on the warpath, She spoke, "I don't know… But he's not just some human. Not to me. To me, he's…. more. Precious. You'd know if you took one look into his eyes to see that he is old. Ancient in soul, and he has been through enough. He doesn't need to go through any more hardships. Not anything that can be inflicted on him by being turned into a devil. He was already essentially left to rot by the church. It took me forever to find him after one of our bishops decided it was a good idea to abduct children," Gabriel looked at her, "You'll understand what I mean when you meet him yourself Serafall."
The new Leviathan hummed for a minute before she teased, "Sounds like you're in love with this human, whoever he is, Gabriel."
"Maybe, but love isn't a sin. Lust is. So I can love him as much as I want," Gabriel replied simply as her body glowed slightly brighter in resolution.
Serafall was flabbergasted. pointing an accusatory finger at her holy counterpart, she said, "You're not even going to try and deny it?!"
"Why would I? There's nothing wrong with loving someone is there?" The Archangel replied in genuine confusion.
Serafall had to resist the urge to facepalm, 'She doesn't even realize that what she's feeling is technically impure. She's so pure that she doesn't realize her feelings should be impure!' "Too pure!" She said, as if in pain which she was because of the purity and holiness of Gabriel's presence and feelings.
Giving her Underworld counterpart a sideways glance, Gabriel asked, "Are you going to be alright?"
It took her a lot of her considerable willpower not to slump over and sigh as she replied, "I'll be fine. I'll be fine. I'm just coming to grips with certain things right now. Please don't kill Sirzechs, I'm pretty sure we can sort this out without bloodshed."
Gabriel's voice was firm with resolve, "What happens depends on what they've done to my friend. I warn you, if they've already reincarnated him into a devil, there will be no saving any of them."
"Great…"
With a subtle ding that sounded more like a proclamation of death, the elevator doors swung open to the penthouse suite, and standing there was a blonde haired, blue eyed boy she'd never seen before. But Gabriel seemed to recognize him, for she wrapped him in a hug within seconds, with all six of her wings wrapping around him at the same instant.
"Isaiah, are you alright? Did they turn you?" She asked, hugging him tightly with her arms and her wings.
"I'm fine, Gabriel. They were a bit too scared shitless of you to do anything. Now why don't you calm down and we can discuss this like rational adults? It's kind of sad that the kid here has to act like a grown up,"
Pulling back from her glomp-like hug, Gabriel asked, "Isaiah, do you actually want to become a Devil?"
"Want to be put under someone else's thumb and possibly have an adversarial relationship with my first friend? No, not particularly," He paused before adding, "However, I will not lie. I am weaker than I am used to being and I require strength and power to get back to form. Becoming a devil is one such path to power. We can discuss what, if any, options the angels can grant me. If you'd like to sit down and have a discussion about this, that is?"
"OK, I was afraid they had turned you against your will. Forced you to become one of them. If that had happened… I would have killed them all. Another war be damned." Gabriel said with cool resolve.
"That's sweet of you to say, Gabriel, but I have no desire to be anyone's Helen of Troy." Emiya told her honestly.
His quip caused the Archangel to giggle a little bit. "Well, you're certainly handsome enough to fit the role."
He gave a smarmy smirk as he replied, "Gee thanks. Now shall we go discuss this like calm, rational adults? Or would you prefer to just kill everything?"
"Killing everything would technically be faster, but I suppose we can talk about it first,"
"Oh, thank Satan," Serafall said, her hand on her chest, and she let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. "If Gabriel doesn't put a ring on it, I will. He just saved all our lives."
"We can hear you, you know?" Emiya said, looking behind Gabriel to stare at the woman, while Gabriel herself just silently stared at her counterpart.
"I know, and I meant every word I said." Serafall replied. "But allow me to introduce myself." She gave a Japanese peace sign, holding two fingers sideways next to her eye as she said, "I'm Serafall Leviathan, but you probably know me better as Magical Girl Levia-tan!"
"Nope. Never heard of you," Emiya said, completely straight faced, causing the new Leviathan to nearly fall flat on her face.
"What? Really. You've never even seen my show?"
He shook his head, "No, why? Is it popular or something?"
Serafall seemed to slump in defeat, "So this is what it feels like to be seen with complete disinterest," Serafall sulked to herself. "Now I know how Falbium feels."
Jaded he may be, but he didn't like making a woman feel bad, "I'm sorry, I've never seen your show?"
"It's fine, it's fine, I can't expect it to be popular in the mortal world too I suppose!" Serafall said, seemingly bouncing back in an instant.
'Well that was quick,' Emiya noted.
"Anyway," Serafall continued as she clapped her hands together, "Shall we get these hopefully nonviolent discussions underway?"
"Um, yeah right this way," Emiya said, jabbing a thumb behind him.
(...)
The air was tense in the room where the meeting was being held. The only sounds that could be heard was the clinking of china cups and the occasional sips from them. Gabriel insisted that Isaiah sat next to her as the negotiations commenced. He didn't particularly care one way or the other, but he figured why rock the boat if he didn't have to? So he found himself on one end of an ornate wooden table with the devils on the other.
After finishing her cup of tea, Gabriel spoke, "For the tea. it was good, but Isaiah's is better."
"Next time he makes the tea," Akeno said, a tense smile never leaving her face.
"So Gabriel appears there has been a slight misunderstanding between us," Sirzechs began. "I want to make it clear, under no circumstances did we intentionally kidnap this, mortal friend of yours,"
"I'm aware. You're many things, Sirzechs, covetous, lustful, prideful, and arrogant in your perceived power, but one thing you have never been, and one thing I have never perceived you as, is an idiot," The Archangel complemented in a backhanded kind of way.
"High praise coming from you, I'm almost tempted to thank you for it," the Super devil said in his own backhanded kind of way.
Gabriel decided to cut to the chase, "Let's stop beating around the burning bush and just get down to it, shall we? What exactly are your intentions for my Isaiah?"
Sirzechs cleared his throat, "Rias? You're the one who wanted him."
In response, the redheaded girl kicked her brother in the shin under the table. "I had intended to offer him membership in my peerage. I didn't know you two were acquainted with each other, however, and meant to offer no insult, Lady Gabriel." Rias bowed her head, pressing it flat against the table as she did so, showing the deepest respect she could to the Archangel.
After a moment of silence, Gabriel spoke again, "I believe you. Devils, no matter how good they are at lying and twisting the truth, often find it very difficult to lie in front of an Archangel, and you didn't lie to begin with. You found a dying boy in the woods and thought you'd offer him a second chance at life as a devil by your side…" Gabriel cocked her head to the side as she peered at Rias and said. "You are kinder than most of your ilk Rias Gremory, raise your head," Upon doing so, Rias could say with honesty she was probably the first ever pure-blooded devil to ever receive a head pat from an Archangel. "You're a good girl,"
"Th-Thank you Lady Gabriel," Really stuttered out, shocked that she had just received a head pat, much less praise from an Archangel.
"Just Gabriel will do," Gabriel affirmed. "It's alright if I call you Rias, isn't it?"
Rias nodded rapidly, "Um, yes! Yes, that's fine."
"Good, Now Isaiah has expressed interest in possibly joining your peerage, of his own accord."
That threw Rias for a loop and got her attention at the same time. Looking at the boy in question she said, "Really?! I thought you hated me?!"
Emiya scoffed, "Pff, don't value yourself so highly. I've only just met you. I don't know you enough to hate you. At best, I have a cautious dislike of you. Hating someone, truly hating them is wanting to wrap your hands around their throat and slowly watch the life slowly fade out of their eyes. All the while getting a grim satisfaction from the act. So no, I don't 'hate you', Rias Gremory, I just don't know you enough to trust you. There's a difference."
"I see," Rias replied, and she truly did. Someone, somewhere, somewhen, had hurt this person in front of her, and he wanted to see them dead with his own two hands. Hatred and bitterness had consumed him. More than ever, Rias wanted to help him. She wanted to help him move on, to see the light in life again. But she couldn't figure out how to do that without making him a member of her peerage first. Yet he seemed open to the idea, strangely enough.
Which prompted her to ask him, "Why exactly do you want to join my peerage?"
Emiya shrugged. It's not like he was going to hide his reasons for this, "I desire power. I was much stronger than I currently am, and I have been weakened severely," he rubbed the bridge of his nose. He was so used to keeping secrets and playing his cards close to his chest. For the first time, he actually considered being straightforward with someone. "Tell me Rias Gremory, what do you know about reincarnation?"
Her inner Japanophile rearing its head, Rias was quick to reply, "It's an Eastern concept. One prescribed to many Eastern faiths. That when one dies, their soul reincarnates into a different body or form or being, but they don't usually keep their memories. Keywords being usually."
"Clever girl," He praised in his own way, "Catch on quick. Yes, I am someone who has reincarnated and yes, I kept my memories. Unfortunate bit, that."
"I um, if you don't mind me asking…. How old are you?" Rias asked.
"I don't know," Isaiah replied, "I stopped counting millennia ago, plus, it stopped mattering."
"Several Millennia old reincarnator? This is a new one even for me," Sirzechs said to himself.
"Were you originally a devil?" Rias found herself asking.
"No, I was a human being who made a contract with the world. Where I was from, the World was sentient. It required Guardians. And I was…young and foolish when I made my contract."
"So you were a guardian of the world. Were you some kind of superhero or something?" Koneko, who had been quiet up till now, asked.
"No. I was most certainly not a superhero," Emiya said, his mood having soured in an instant. "For you see the job of a guardian was to clean up messes. They are glorified custodians. They destroy the cause and the mess makers. Imagine, if you will, a manmade disaster, a war. Slaughter, Chaos, Annihilation. Whenever humans made a mess of themselves, Guardians were sent in to clean it up. I killed everyone. Men, women, and children. Anyone at the site of human destruction was killed. I killed billions to save trillions. And so on and so forth. Until humans were the only things left on a dead planet incapable of sustaining life. After all that they met their own extinction," He wasn't even speaking to his audience now, he was just reliving the horrible memories of what it meant to be a counter guardian. Not that it mattered, for he had their rapt attention. "And what do I get for my millennia of slaughter and servitude? Do I get the sweet release of oblivion? No, I do not. Instead, I get reincarnated as the weakest thing on the totem pole in this world. A mere human, once again."
Emiya then abruptly stood up, making everyone else jump in their seats. "But why take my word for it when I could show you the fruits of my labors? If only for a few seconds."
"You don't have to do this," Gabriel said quickly. Putting her hand on one of his shoulders while a wing encircled around the other one. She was the only one present who had the vaguest hints of what he might be referring to.
"I need you to see. I need you to understand," Emiya said with cold clarity. "I need them to understand."
Gabriel took to her feet, standing next to her young friend, who wasn't nearly as young in soul as he was in body. "Alright then, do what you feel you need to do. I'll be right beside you the entire time."
That, for him, was a first. Someone willing to stand by his side? A novel concept. "Thank you, Gabriel," Locking eyes with the devil's present, he said, "What I'm about to show you is my truest, purest, self. This, Is the fruits of millennia of labor and hard work. The fruits of my servitude. This was the only thing I gained from being a servant to the world." Pausing for a moment, he took a breath and then recited a mournful elegy.
"I am the bone of my sword.
My blood is of iron and my heart is glass.
I have overcome countless battlefields.
Not even once retreating,
Not even once being understood.
I was always alone, intoxicated with victory on a hill of swords.
Thus, my life has no meaning.
So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works."
As he finished his mournful chant, a heatless flame poured forth, consuming them all in a flash. When it cleared, they were no longer in the penthouse suite. They were now standing amongst a field of ash and swords. They numbered in the tens of thousands. The ground was charred black with soot and ash. Vents of steam bled up into a cloud covered sky, where wrought iron rusted gears slowly turned. In front of the devils, up on a Hill covered in blades, was Isaiah with Gabriel still standing next to him.
"Welcome," He said from atop the Hill of Swords. "To my world,"
The entire party of devils looked at the world in awe. Gabriel had a look of abject tragedy on her face at how twisted and broken this young man's soul became where his only comfort was a world of swords, rust, and ash.
Then just as quickly as it appeared, the dismal Hill of Swords disappeared like a mirage in the desert. The devils, at least Rias and her peerage, wondered if it was an illusion, or some other strong bit of magic that merely tricked the senses.
But the likes of Gabriel, Sirzechs, and Serafall knew better. The magic they had just witnessed had, however briefly, terraformed the very world itself.
"What… Just what are you?" Sirzechs found himself asking.
"I'm just an old dog who only knows the one trick I'm afraid," He then added flippantly, "Don't worry though, I am also house trained."
"That doesn't even begin to explain what we just saw. You did something only a god can do. You created a world. Sure it looked decayed and on the brink of collapse but that was a world nonetheless. I hesitate to allow something as old as you near my sister."
"Onee-san I can protect myself!" piped up Rias.
Sirzech held up his hands to placate her, "This is not saying you can't Rias. However, creating a world is beyond the comprehension of devils. It sounds dark but we have only truly been able to imitate the wonders of humanity and the gods of this world. True creation is almost beyond my scope. Destruction I can master and tame with just a snap of my fingers. But creation? That is a vastly different beast. So I ask you Isaiah what are your intentions for my dear sister. If I find them unkind I will not hesitate to crush you with all my might if needed. Better to kill a beast while they are weak then let them grow."
A spear of light to the throat was his response with the hard eyes of Gabriel looking him down. She would not let any harm come to this lost lamb of God. He had already suffered more than Job ever could. She would offer her father's reward in his place to honor and protect Isaiah. "If you so much as touch a hair on his head. I will kill you. That is a promise I swear on Yaweh."
The true pronunciation of God's name made all the devils wince. Serafall got in-between the two and gently pushed both back, "Alright you two. We came here to talk and discuss things. So let's not bite each other's heads off. The last thing we need is another holy war. Satan there are enough people chomping at the bit for that as is. I don't need both of you helping," she then proceeded to look at Isaiah and look at something close to sadness. Emiya saw that look before. It was the look Rin gave him before she had to leave his side.
"Now then. I will cut to the chase. Do you have any plans or thoughts of causing harm to the devils in general? I understand that we are considered a threat to humanity and, former Guardian or not, you have protected humanity from itself for millenia. So I ask humbly. What do you want from us?"
Emiya took a deep breath and answered, "While I would like to just say power. I will be blunt. I want to enjoy this life to the fullest. Someone," He looked at Gabriel, "Suggested I take this chance. I need resources and I need power. Gabriel is limited in what she can do to help and is only one angel. The more people who know about me the worse for everyone involved."
Everyone in the room nodded, agreeing that revealing an ancient human who proved other worlds existed was a bad idea. No one wanted to mention that whatever killed Isaiah's humanity might happen here too.
"So I will make a deal with you Rias, reincarnate me but allow me my freedom. Within reason of course. I fully realize you have to keep up appearances."
Rias closed her mouth as she was about to mention that.
"I will offer my aid. I will aid you as an ally. But know that I am no one's servant. Not any longer. I will ask you to swear on your name, your clan, and your family to honor this deal. Any less and I will break the contract myself and leave."
Sirzech piped up at that, "Do you honestly think it is that easy to reverse reincarnation into a devil? The brightest minds in the underworld came together to devise this? I don't doubt your power but I find this hard to believe?"
"Do not worry. I have my ways and that is all I will say until we come to a deal," stated Emiya firmly.
Rias squirmed in place as she felt everyone looking at her, "Uhm the main question I guess I have to see is if I can even reincarnate you first. I am unsure if I am powerful enough too."
"Are there any restrictions to reincarnation that I should know of?"
Serafall perked up at this, "Well luckily you being human helps. If you were a god or buddha we couldn't reincarnate you. Usually we measure with chess pieces. So we would have to check how many pawns you are worth. Bare minimum you are worth more than one pawn."
"What do these chess pieces do exactly?" Emiya inquired.
"Bishops are strong magically, Knights are fast, and Rooks are strong and durable. Queen's have all the powers of Knights, Rooks and Bishops, while Pawns can Promote to any other piece," Serafall explained.
Emiya nodded, "I see," he said, "Either Knight or Bishop would be the best choice for me. While I do excel as either an archer or a swordsman, as I've already demonstrated, at my core, I am a mage. However, currently I am unable to use my trump card due to lacking sufficient energy."
"Unlimited Blade Works," Rias echoed, the end of Isaiah's elegy echoing through her head.
"The very same." He affirmed. "So knowing this, what do you think the best choice should be Rias?"
'He's asking me? No, wait, he's testing me. If I'm good enough to be a decent King for him,' Rias thought to herself. 'So, that's how it is,' She didn't necessarily dislike that but games like this were more Sona's wheelhouse than hers. Still that didn't mean she was incapable of it, she was just usually more direct. "I think, given the circumstances, Bishop would be the best choice."
She was relieved when Isiaah smirked a bit and replied, "I agree, as while Knight could allow me to both keep my distance for ranged sniping and also close the gap for melee engagements, all of that would pale in comparison to having increased mana reserves here and now."
"Great! So we're agreed then? Isaiah-kun will reincarnate into a Devil under Ria-tan… and there won't be any problems between the Angel and Devil Factions in the future because of this right?" Serafall asked in a saccharine sweet tone as she looked at Gabriel.
The Archangel let out a long suffering sigh, "As long as this is what Isaiah wants,"
"Gabby," He said, getting her attention with a pet name he rarely used for her, "I hope this choice of mine won't affect our friendship, but if it does, I understand… it wouldn't be the first time my choices had cost me a friend."
"You silly boy," She said, wrapping him in a hug with her wings. "You can't get rid of me just by becoming a Devil, it's not that easy. Devil or Human, you're stuck with me Isaiah."
"Thank you, Gabriel. That means more to me than you can possibly imagine," He told her honestly before pulling out of the hug. Facing his soon to be King he said, "Alright let's do this. Is there anything in particular I need to do?"
"Um no, just lay down on the floor for a moment," Rias said as she summoned a small wooden box from a red magic circle. Opening it she pulled out a red Bishop piece. "Ready?"
From his position on the floor the Counter Guardian asked Koneko, "This isn't going to hurt is it?"
"No, you don't feel a thing," She assured him.
"It's like falling asleep," Akeno chimed in.
"Awesome. Make it so number one,"
"Aren't I technically Picard in this scenario?" Rias asked bemusedly.
He glared at her from his spot on the floor, "I can be Worf if you want, we can roleplay all you want later just make with the reincarnating now."
"I hope you'll lighten up over time," Rias said to herself as she activated the Evil Piece.
For Counter Guardian Emiya everything went dark…and then he felt mana, almost akin to his form as a Servant flooded his veins, and his eyes snapped back open and he sat bolt upright. Or he tried to. He felt groggy and even weaker than before.
"Easy now," Rias said, leaning down next to him and placing a hand on his chest. "It takes some time to adapt to. A couple days or so I'm told."
"The first few days always suck, but don't worry Isaiah-senpai you'll be up and moving in no time." Koneko assured him.
"Isaiah, are you alright?" Gabriel asked concernedly.
"Tired," he replied, more annoyed than anything.
Gabriel nodded, "Then rest for now, I will visit you again when you're feeling better," She leaned down and, as was her custom, planted a kiss on his forehead. "Be well Isaiah." Gabriel disappeared in a flash of light and the sound of wings flapping.
"She could do that the whole time?! Serafall whined. "Then why did she punch a hole in the wall?!"
"To prove a point," Both Sirzechs and Emiya said at the same time.
"So, bed please?" The new Bishop asked.
"Right, Akeno get him back to bed and look after him for a bit won't you?" Rias requested of her queen.
"Fufufufu, oh my! I get to play nurse? I suddenly feel the urge to dress the part," The violet-eyed beauty replied as she easily picked her new Peerage member up in a bridal carry and headed back towards his room.
Looking up at her the newly minted devil said, "At the risk of sounding cliche… Hello Nurse!"
"If you're feeling that lively, maybe I'll give you a full physical when we get back to your room?" Akeno said, playing along.
"You're supposed to make sure he gets to sleep, not sleep with him Akeno-senpai!" Koneko complained as she followed the two out the room.
'Why do I have the feeling he's going to be causing me a lot of trouble?' Rias thought to herself even as she smiled at the byplay between her servants.
(...)
Word Count: 15,700 Number of pages: 32 Date Completed: 11/4/2023
(...)
AN: Hello everyone and welcome to my attempt at a DxD fic. I'll be upfront and blunt with all of you. I don't like Issei. At all. I find his personality grating over the top and annoying and thus it's very hard to get into Highschool DxD despite how much I like the other characters and the lore of the world itself. To give you an analogy, it would be like making Minarou Mineta the annoying pervert joke character, the main character of My Hero Academia and Midoriya who has all the tropes of a typical protagonist is just a side character. So I decided NOT to do that for my own story! This fic is NOT going to focus on Issei so if that's what you're here for… kindly go find something else to read and don't send me annoying hate reviews. You'll be wasting my time and yours if so. Now that said, This isn't going to be your average Kiba story either as we've got EMIYA in the driver's seat. I always did prefer him to Shirou in some respects. A blunt and jaded realist over an idealist of his younger self. Yet I always wanted to throw him a friggin bone! You all know what I mean. So now here we are. But I feel like I've ranted long enough. Here's Snowy and Hassan to round things up.
Snowy: Hey guys. Snowy here. Sorry the chapter was a day late. My day job is exhausting emotionally and spiritually. Sleep helps but I got bills to pay so here is the newest story created by us at Inkblot Bros Production. We shall see how the young counter guardian fairs in the world of politics, intrigue, and understanding the world as a whole. He has made some allies but now he has to make sure his own little piece of eden isn't taken from him. Again.
Hassan: You heard him folks, Issei Hyoudou, the oppai perverted person in the entire franchise is not going to be the center of attention here, only our fellow favorite counter guardian EMIYA himself!... .Hello everyone, First Hassan here and today we are presenting you a new story and a unique version made from the CEO of the Inkblot Bros Production Resurgent Blade! Emiya thought that he died when Alaya was destroyed (Honestly, she deserves it) and instead of being in the oblivion, he is reincarnated into one of the least important side characters of DxD, Kiba Yuuto! The reason why we choose him instead of him being reincarnated as Issei cause dude, he has been used most of the time and it's getting boring. We don't want to use a character that constantly says or shouts 'OPPAI!' 24/7. Like the previous stories we took a new unique approach and different style we created. Thank you guys for reading our story, if you want more or want to be a chapter ahead, head to Bubba' account where it hasn't been edited by yours truly. I'll see you guys later! (Turning around while blue flames surrounds Hassan before disappearing)
Thanks for reading and till next time, this has been an Inkblot Bros Production! Peace!
