Issei could not speak, not a single word would pry itself from his mouth, no matter how hard he tried. Any and all sense of coherence was beyond his capabilities in this moment, in the presence of an angel.
When she noticed he still could not talk after a few minutes, she giggled once more, her divine wings fluttering with her melodic laughter.
"It's okay to talk to me, you know, or are you just shy?" she said, moving towards him and placing a hand upon his shoulder.
With her face and body so close to him, he could see the divine energies radiating off her in radiant golden light. It was like a full body halo.
"I…I'm Issei" By divine grace, he managed to stammer out his name. Of course whether or not she was able to hear it was beyond him.
"Issei, what a lovely name." Gabriel smiled once more. "What are you doing out here all by yourself?"
What exactly was he doing? He didn't know, couldn't remember. Maybe it had something to do with self-reflection?
"Nothing?"
He couldn't tell if he was questioning himself or her. Man, he was really bad at this.
"Oh, well would you like to help me? I am looking for St. Peter's church. I was told it was somewhere nearby."
This was it, this was his moment to finally get a grip on himself. He could do this. He knew where the church was, Jesus he had gone there with his friend Irina back in the day.
After taking a breath to calm himself he answered with all the courage he possessed.
"I don't know."
The magical dragon in him chuckled. Shut up and go back to sleep he whispered to it.
Naturally it ignored him.
"Oh, that's too bad" she said, bowing her head to him and beginning to leave, "have a nice day."
Crap, he had to do something. He didn't know why he had to, but he just knew it was a necessity. How could he call himself a man if he didn't?
"WAIT!" he yelled way too loudly, internally cringing. He straightened himself up when Gabriel turned back to him, cocking her head to the side oh so cutely. Those blue eyes of hers were practically twinkling in this moment.
"Umm, how about I help you find it?"
Her dazzling smile returned.
Issei was certain he would die from it if he stared at it too long.
"That would be lovely," she said, holding out her hand for him to…grab?
As cool as could be, he sprinted over and joined. Little did he know that this was the first of many meetings he would have with his new angelic friend.
===Line break, present===
Everytime Issei heard the bell ring signaling the end of another day in the purgatory of high school, his spirits would instantly lift and he would practically sprint out of class. Much as he is currently doing now because he had bigger and better things awaiting him at the end of the day. See, for him, school was a practice in patience, a 7 hour slog of boredom about stuff had known about since he was young, filled with the adoration of timid schoolgirls and the jealousy of most of the male population (all of which were morons and perverts to varying degrees).
You know, he hated those two last aspects most of all. On one hand, the girls practically worshiped the ground he walked on, adoring their "crippled prince" but refused to actually talk to him (probably had to do with that psychic aura Ahriman told him about). He would hear them whisper about him, passing along flattering rumors and stuff of the like, but not one ever tried to actually approach him. While it may not be exactly their fault, it was a bit of a pain in the ass, having people talk about you but not to you. And, never to be forgotten was those sympathetic stares, how always their eyes would stray to his missing arm and their face become sympathetic. He despised their pity above all. He got along just fine thank you.
On the other hand, there was the male population which he was pretty sure hated him irredeemably. They just couldn't stand the fact that women actually liked him or that he was the only one of them on somewhat speaking terms with the beloved Rias Gremory and Akeno Himejima. Let it be noted, it wasn't much, just the occasional hello in the hallways or discussion of homework in the English class he shared with him. Being really smart had its perks, you know, getting to skip grades and all that. But that still drew the ire of the sheep in men's clothing.
At least most of the guys just voiced their distaste whenever he was around, just barely loud enough for him to hear but backed down the moment he gave them a searing glare. They were not openly confrontational; they had the sense to understand where they stood in the hierarchy of simps and gigachads.
But that sense could not extend to all of the boys at school, what with the Perverted Duo Mo-something and Mat-what-his-name existing. They had made it their personal mission in life to drive him to insanity with their bullshit, never failing to bring up his lacking arm and a few times, his lacking parents The amount of times Issei had to fight the urge to burn them down to the ground should have earned him a medal or something. He liked to think he was a patient man, but there was just something about those two pricks which set his blood on fire.
Probably had to do with their lack of morality or simple decency. Oh and the fact they constantly reminded him that his parents were dead. Fuck those guys.
Haters will hate, though, as sad as that is, and school will continue to be a drag, but at least he was usually able to make the days pass quicker by talking to Ddraig or listening to music. Indeed, it really was the little things that made life easier.
But every day wasn't all bad, not at all, for after classes, that was when the fun began, when he could do something he actually enjoyed and was committed to. The moment that bell signaled the day's end, he was on his way to the local game store Kuoh Games, to waste his money and time on the greatest hobby of all time: Battlemace 400k. His shangri-la, his happy place, the only thing in life that truly mattered.
Homework? That could wait.
Training? Suck it space wizard and magic dragon, the grimdank calls.
Women? Haha. Sex is temporary, miniatures are forever.
Like a hurricane descending on an inconspicuous seaside town, Issei flew through the doors of the little shop and straight to the room designated for war. While most days, he would content himself with calmly walking in, perusing the stock and painting his own minis in the painting room, today was different. Today he had a tournament against the local community, and oh boy, the prize was enormous: the brand new Nocturnal Wardens Combat Patrol. The sadistic, edgy space batman regiment of galactic marines would be his and nothing would stop him.
Sure, their rules were mid, they would be a bitch to paint, and they resembled the sadistic Night Lords legion from Ahriman's universe, but hot damn did they look cool.
And they would be his. There was no amount of trickery Issei was not willing to use to acquire that massive, valuable set. Strategic Value Absolute.
Now, usually Issei played fairly, never once using his minute psychic might to influence how games went. He was an upstanding player beyond reproach, but just this once, he was willing to bend the rules. Perhaps a fumbled save roll here, a crappy secondary objective pick there.
His magister was always going on and on about using his advantages to ensure victory, so why not put that into practice now? It's not cheating, it's just using an advantage, right?
Wrong. So very wrong partner. If you are going to cheat, then call it what it is. The dragon chided him, making his presence known.
"Shut it Ddraig," the arch-sorcerer's apprentice snapped back mentally. "The last time you started talking to me before a game I nearly lost. Don't screw over my luck! Also, aren't you supposed to be asleep"
I always wake up to watch you play. It's called being a good friend, besides the game is neat. Anyways, relax. How could I possibly mess your luck up when you are about to cheat?
"I don't know, make my rolls suck?"
Partner, you are literally going to use the psychic stuff to make his rolls bad. Just use them on your own.
"Oh. Why didn't I think of that?"
Because you usually don't cheat.
"It's not cheating!"
The dragon chuckled. You keep telling yourself that.
===6 hours later===
Out of respect for his opponents, and the constant jabbering of Ddraig, Issei had reluctantly decided to play the tournament fairly, fighting down every gamer's urge to just get one more six on a wounds roll. Even with such non-beneficial honesty and by colossal miracles, he had clawed his way to the final battle against the Kuoh's king of Battlemace 400k, a man known only by the moniker Mubin.
Going into it, Ahriman's pupil knew this fight would be brutal and one hell of an uphill battle. His opponent was running the perfect counter to his sorcerous warband of Thousand Sons (a tribute to the legion of his magister, it proved to be the only part of the hobby that the space wizard approved of) with the Sisters of the Rose. Their deny the wizard rolls were going to be absolutely brutal, and their melee figures were terrifying in their own right.
Then there was the fact that Mubin was a powerhouse in his own right, a living legend in the Battlemace community. Sure his rolls could suck sometimes, but man did he know how to play. He was a genius of positioning and tactical knowhow.
The game was off to a bad start from the moment it began. Issei's rolls were trash and his secondaries hurt his very soul. In the shooting phase, he couldn't wound any of the units he targeted, no matter how many hits he got, and son of a bitch, his warband's magic powers just wouldn't activate. Mubin was sweeping the board with him. Dammit Mubin.
It was round three and the game was looking well and truly lost. Half his army was gone, he held only one objective in the center of the battlefield, and barring his warlord, his remaining fighters were at most three wounds away from dying.
Partner, I am going to be real with you. You're screwed.
"Wow, how enlightening, I didn't know that," Issei meekly replied to the dragon's first comment throughout the tournament.
But Just because you're screwed doesn't mean you have to lose. It's time to che–I mean use your advantages.
"I thought you thought that was cheating."
Well I changed my mind, back then you weren't losing. So stop moping and start cheating. Fake it till you make it.
For those that were watching this final clash of the tournament, for indeed a crowd had begun to form, even including a single girl, they would have described the grin that then spread upon Issei's face as nothing short of pure evil.
Mubin shuddered.
"For Prospero" the psyker in training whispered to himself, resolute upon the treacherous path of victory. The Night Lord wannabes would be his and reality would bend to his will.
Picking up his die for the start of his turn, Issei embraced his new dark will and let out a resolute battlecry, a litany of hate and righteous vengeance.
"Death to the corpse emperor!"
What followed can only be described as nothing short of a reckoning of Biblical proportions. Mubin and his Sisters of the Rose were powerless to stop the oncoming onslaught of manifested magical boogaloo. The dice gods smiled no more upon the King of Battlemace 400k, atrocious rolls characterizing all his actions whilst Issei packed some serious heat with each time he let go of his dice.
No Thousand Son fell throughout the rest of the game, leaving a trail of carnage and ash in their wake. All was dust, and victory was ultimately bestowed upon their psychic master.
No guilty conscience haunted Issei as he shook his opponent's hand, his eyes and mind remained fixed upon the treasure he had just won. Perhaps it was the dragon in him recognizing the new piece of fineness he just claimed and added to his precious horde of plastic models.
Ah, victory, it indeed was sweet, the congratulations appreciated, the most interesting of which occurring when the single girl in the audience came to give her personal accolades.
She was indeed beautiful, that much Issei could comprehend in the few moments he spent not looking at his prize. She was black of hair with an ever so slightly purple tinge, and possessed of a figure that would garner the attention of any who saw her, luscious and curved in all the right places. However, it was her face that was the most interesting, seemingly so innocent that to be suspicious of her for doing anything would be heresy, especially if those purple gems for eyes looked at you.
Oh, and she had black wings, fallen angel wings, but hey, he would not judge. It was not his place. Afterall, a good friend of his was the leader of the fallen angels for christ's sake. He liked to think he was the most chill with them out of like everybody, but the question had to be asked, what was a fallen angel doing in Kuoh, more specifically devil territory. If he wasn't mistaken, wasn't the game store considered a part of one of the devils at school's turf.
Those thoughts were pushed to the side when she walked up to meet him.
"Congratulations on your victory," she said, shyly looking down at her feet and refusing to meet his eyesight as if it were too embarrassing. That was…odd. He did not know of any shy fallen angels, they were usually pretty…shameless, at least the female ones were anyway.
"Thanks, it was nothing, just dumb luck really." Internally Issei could not help but chuckle villainously, mentally winking to his partner in crime.
For some odd reason she giggled at that, cutely, almost forcefully.
"You shouldn't sell yourself short, you were really good at…uh… what's this game called?"
"Battlemace 400k." He deadpanned. Yeah, he was now suspicious, everything about her and this interaction just seemed wrong, and that question was the nail in the coffin. Why would she watch a game she knew nothing about?
The red flags keep piling up with her, partner. This little angel here warrants caution. Tread carefully.
"Oh yeah, th-that was pretty c-c-cool" she fumbled over her words, reddening and trying far too hard to sell the shy girl act.
Yeah, he was not buying it. Nope, no way in hell. She was up to something.
"Um, this is really embarrassing and, uh, I just was…hopingyouwouldgoonadatewithme" she sped through the last bit in faux rush looking him dead in the eye.
Suffice to say, Issei was not impressed with the act. While he definitely thought shy girls were cute, he did not find this false front in any way shape or form the least bit intriguing. She wanted something from him, and he had an idea of what it was.
Say yes, young Hyoudou. Issei's magister templi commanded, making himself known out of nowhere. I sense something larger at play; she will be our means of gathering information.
What if she tries to kill him?
I would like to see her try.
Issei could not conceal the shiver that ran down his spine at those words, the malice with which the Arch-Sorcerer spoke was truly something to behold. It was a voice that promised only death and destruction.
"Okay, sure. Why not."
The fallen angel squealed in delight and suddenly hugged him, squashing her body against his as tightly as possible before pretending to realize what she had done and separating. A blush followed and suddenly her attention was on the floor again.
"You know I don't know your name, right? Or where we should go."
"Meet me at the park tomorrow." She whispered, continuing to look at the floor.
"I still don't know your name."
"It's Amano Yuma" she said, immediately sprinting out of the game store as soon as those words were said.
"She's going to try to kill me tomorrow isn't she?" Issei questioned the two entities he hosted.
Yup. Sorry, partner.
Why ask a question you already know the answer to?
"Just making sure I wasn't wrong. I would really have liked some dissension from either one of you."
Regardless, I believe a better question is are you going to kill her after she has told you everything you want to know? Something tells me she will crack when put under questioning and threatened with your power. What matters is what comes after.
Now that made Issei pause. What would he actually do the moment he truly held the fate of a person within the palm of his hand. She would have tried to kill him at that point, and he would have every right to end her. There was also a very real possibility she would try to kill again if he didn't finish her. Stray devils were that way, why would murder inclined fallen angels be any different? But what if she was just following orders? Another possibility, he knew some of that fashion were actually pretty good whilst others the scum of the earth. Did he truly want potentially innocent blood on his hands?
Partner, might I offer you some advice?
"Yes, please."
Mercy can indeed backfire the moment it is given, we must accept that. History time and again speaks to this tragedy, but the only way to know if mercy was wrong is after it has been bestowed. I say give her a chance. Who knows, you may gain an eternal ally if such an act were to occur.
Issei smiled gently. Where would he be or who would he be without the sage wisdom of his partner. He hoped he would never find out.
"Thanks, Ddraig."
Don't mention it. Now, that aside, you might want to hurry yourself home. Ahriman is waiting for you with the chess set from hell."
===line break/ 6 years ago===
"Again," Ahzek Ahriman stated coldly at the young boy who once more took up his position opposite his magister within the soul scape.
Raising his gauntleted hand, reached out to the psychic energies of his soul, feeling the echoes of the warp within his existence.
Small orbs of transparent azure light began to form at his fingertips, slowly bleeding to encompass his entire arm in a ring of aethereal potential.
His hand remained slack, opened as he had been instructed so as to best continue to accumulate these energies.
With a shaky breath, he balled his hand into a fist, save for two fingers, his pointer and middle fingers, which he kept pointed out like a finger gun. He moved his arm slowly so that his hand was almost touching his opposite shoulder.
The almost liquid-like magic upon his arm responded in kind, floating from its current place out into the air in front of him, mimicking the movement of his arm. Now, the energy was shaped as an arc directly before him.
Taking another steadying breath, Issei completed the final motion of this psychic attack, quickly swinging his arm away from his body like a single handed backhand tennis stroke.
As before, the azure arc did nothing, fading away before his eyes.
"Again."
He went through the motions for another time as his magister instructed. Still nothing.
"Again."
Once more. How many times would this fail?
"Again."
"Again."
"Again."
Unable to take it anymore, the young boy screamed as a few tears of frustration trickled down his cheek, finally unleashing the attack. The arc of energy fractured like glass once he swung, flinging out these deadly psychic blades at breakneck speed.
They whistled through the air like birds from hell for what seemed like miles on end before finally exploding out of existence in a sudden flash of blue.
Terrified at what this emotional outburst could mean, Issei hesitantly looked over at Ahriman who said nothing.
"What did you do differently?"
"I was angry."
"Indeed. That was a factor. But what else?"
"I don't know."
"Sure you do. Tell me." The arch-sorcerer's voice was cold, cutting, and authoritative. It was enough to trigger a fresh set of tears.
"Cease your bawling and answer my question."
"I…I don't know."
With a twitch of Ahriman's fingers, the boy was lifted from his spot and floated over to his master. He regarded the crying child for a moment, before using one of his gloved hands to dry some of his still present tears.
"You were truly committed at last. You had a goal and would be damned before you failed. Remember that. In each attack you make, every psychic manipulation you use there must be true, unwavering commitment behind it. Understood?"
Ahriman's voice was a whisper, not raised, nor enraged, just quiet and perhaps that is what gave his statement the gravity to make his apprentice truly understand.
"Now dry your eyes, and try again."
===line break/modern day, evening===
The chess game had begun, and it was already off to a terrible start for Issei. His magister had not even started it the normal way, but had immediately dropped it into the fourth dimension the moment the young man made his first move.
I was intrigued by your game today. The last one in particular. The space wizard began, finally breaking his silence.
"Really. I thought you didn't care about any of that."
Issei moved another piece, this one a pawn, hexagonally and down.
I don't, but it was how you won that made me most interested.
Ahriman responded to Issei's move with a pawn of his own, positioning it above its previous position.
"Are you going to berate me for cheating?"
No. Quite the opposite. You had an advantage and you used it to maximum capability.
They continued to move against one another across the four dimensional chess board, Ahriman being the first to lose a piece, a pawn, to the movements of his apprentice. He responded in kind several moves later, claiming one of Issei's bishops.
No battle will ever be fair. You must set aside these notions of honor in the game of war. There is only the victor and the vanquished.
"But isn't honor good? Living your life by it and, say, honoring your friends, your girlfriend, your family, isn't that something you should do?"
But life is not war. At least your life is not.
"What about honoring your opponent, you know, treating him with respect? Does that not factor into, I don't know, things?"
Respecting your opponent is not honoring your opponent. To respect him is to know what he succeeds and is better at than you. That is an absolute necessity in war. To honor him is to give him the chance to kill you in a way you would not kill him.
"An example perhaps, magister?"
We have one here. I know you succeed at pushing forward but do not fully grasp defense in our chess games. As such I position myself for when I changed the dimensions of the game, a dirty move as you are so fond of saying.
True to his words, Issei saw that three of Ahriman's pawns lay positioned so as to have penetrated his backfield the moment the game switched away from the fourth dimension. Sure, Ahriman's pawns would die, but they would take out a knight and a rook before their demise.
"Well shit." he cursed, shaking his head for not seeing such a move coming. He could only bow his head and wait for the hit.
Thus the game shifted and casualties were taken.
You excel at normal chess, when we start, but in the fourth dimension, you forget about other variables such as height all too often. If you want to ever beat me, you need to set aside this honor for the opponent you have and do what needs to be done. Do you think the fallen angel will afford you the courtesy of honor?
"Probably not."
Indeed, but she has already committed the greatest mistake possible. Ahriman stated, almost smugly.
"And what is that?"
Issei knocked out the pawns with ease, unfortunately having to use his queen for one such act.
The game once again returned to the fourth dimension.
She does not respect you and her little act speaks to that. She believed you were a feeble man who would swoon at her pretenses of shyness, not noticing the telltale signs of her dark intentions. Once more, given her number wings, she is clearly not strong enough to face you, but she thinks she can. She believes you weak. She will pay the price for that.
"So, let me guess, you are advocating that I immediately take her out or something of the like after we have interrogated her?"
No. The lizard has made it abundantly clear he does not want you to kill without cause. Well I do not care, I will bend to his judgment since he shall forever be considered with your purity of heart.
"Purity of heart?"
You are a truly good person, as far as morals go. Why do you think the natural corruptivity of some of my powers has no effect upon you? Why do you think your soul remains unblemished? Why do you think you have been able to gain the attention and friendship of one of the Holy Seraphs?
"You know, that explains a lot actually. But then if I don't act honorably in battle, won't that taint my soul or something?"
No it will not. You do not desire to fight, only doing so when necessary. And then when you strike, it is to end the battle. You are not thrilled by war, nor are you deceived about its true nature. You engage it when absolutely necessary with the full weight of the gifts you possess.
As the Arch-Sorcerer spoke, he felled two more of Issei's pieces, striking from a slanted, lower positioning.
"Crap! How did those pieces get there, they weren't there the turn before?"
I made them invisible when I took up my turn, sending copies here.
"But that is actually cheating!"
And so is changing the game's dimensions. I have never played fairly and so I have always won. Now, what are you going to do about it?
Issei was about to respond when suddenly it all dawned on him. When they started playing, Ahriman did not say anything about rules or anything, he just conjured a board and said play.
Technically, there were no rules, so that would mean that…
A grin spread across the apprentice's face.
"Oh, you are so screwed now. Even playing field now, bitch!"
With a snap of his fingers, Issei reverted the board back to its normal state and made his move.
Now you understand. Issei could swear he detected a hint of mirth within the voice of his teacher.
===line break, elsewhere===
"I want him."
"My my, you have never been so forward about any possible candidates before. Is this love perhaps?"
"N…No! I just think…um…that he would make a great part of my peerage. It has nothing to do with the fact I think he's really cute and really nice."
"Fufufufu, so you say, so you say, though I don't believe you, especially with that flustered face you're making. But how will you get him to join?"
"Why not just ask him?"
"You can, and you probably will, but why would he say yes? He seems to have proven himself above your charms as those many attempts to talk to him have proven."
"Well, we're friends right, so maybe that will work."
"When was the last time you had a conversation with him?"
"Stop! Please, you're making me embarrassed!"
Finito, ladies and gents, and really, really, really late. But we did it. And I had fun. Come on Battlemace 400k, the desire for more minis, really real. Now, I can't say when the next chapter comes, I am in college now and my studies have taken up a lot of my freetime. We will just have to wait and see.
So yeah. Stay tuned, we got so much more to come, stuff I can't wait to bring.
We got:
The Raiser battle (we all know who is going to win handedly), shenanigans with the ORC and a certain red head (the cuteness will be supreme), a new fate for dearest darling Raynare, more Gabriel wholesomeness (because angel girl is best girl) and the unveiling of the full boosted gear armor (words cannot describe how hyped I am to write the scene which sparked me to actually write this thing).
So yeah, stick around, read, favorite, and above all else review. Reviews make me want to work harder and faster (that is some real shit there guys).
Until next time gents.
PS. For some ambience listen to Legio Symphonica, dude has this awesome Thousand Sons theme called Magna Tizca, and he just released a Night Lords one called Ave Dominus Nox. Man is incredible and my inspiration.
