The aftermath of the exams went off without a hitch... in fact it went a little too smoothly for Cassius' taste. He just knew something bad was going to happen... and he was right something bad did happen... but not to him.
No the misfortune belonged to one Asia Argento... the so-called witch who saved a devil.
Cassius and his group had been called to witness what passed for a judicial system in the Vatican. And now here he was... staring down an Archbishop whose name he didn't even bother to remember... on and did he mention that he was pointing a gun to the old man's head?
Why did things end up this way you ask? Well...
"This is all that pervert Diodora's fault!" Cassius mentally cursed as he stood with his back to the scared and innocent blonde girl who only ever tried to do the right thing.
That morning started like any other for him and Xenovia... with a heated two on one spar against Griselda.
And they were getting their butts kicked.
Griselda casually blocked a helmbreaker strike from Cassius' Satanael with Excalibur Destruction, sending the devil hunter backflipping into the air and leaving him open for Excalibur Mimic to lash out at him as a whip, wrapping around his ankle.
A flick of the nun's wrist sent him crashing to the floor, where he bounced and was then booted into the approaching Xenovia, who now wielded both Lux and Durandal in either hand.
Xenovia, thinking quickly swung the flat of Durandal wide blade to allow him to stand on the weapon and be launched back towards the woman.
As he flew and created his copies of Ebony and Ivory and spiraled like a football, both guns firing at a rapid pace. None of the bullets hit their target as Griselda merely used Ex-Destruction to block each one.
Xenovia managed to close the distance and slammed the tip of Lux into the spot where Griselda stood, prompting the woman to jump straight up.
The woman realized her mistake only when Xenovia revved the blade's hilt and spun, her momentum carrying Durandal around and around until she resembled a helicopter's propeller.
As gravity tried to carry Griselda into Xenovia's attack, she barely managed to use Ex-Destruction to blow back the holy blade known for its sharpness and indestructibility, sending it flying out of the girl's grasp.
Xenovia, stunned by the counter, found herself on the receiving end of a vicious combo courtesy of Griselda's own holy weaponry
Cassius wasn't idle however as he charged at the woman from behind, swinging Nevan upwards to knock the woman upwards, before using his phantom limb to revolve the weapon in her scythe form around his body. The attack caused Griselda to Juggle in the air, before Cassius caught the neck of the guitar scythe and slammed the blade into the woman.
She went flying back but flipped herself in midair to land gently on her feet.
The woman looked at them for a second before dusting her shoulders of some imaginary dirt.
Cassius and Xenovia narrowed their eye to the woman, only for her to disappear and reappear right before them, Ex-Destruction and Ex-Mimic poised for a crossing slash.
Both acted quickly as Xenovia swung a flaming Lux to intercept Ex-Destruction, while Cassius resummoned Satanael to deadlock with Ex-Mimic. Griselda, with both arms occupied, found herself staring down the barrels of a certain pair of black and white handguns.
"Jackpot." They said in sync as they pulled the triggers of there respective pistol.
As the bullets were propelled forth from the pistols, Griselda activated her trumpcard. The pair of Excalibur fragments glowed with light before an explosion rocketed the pair of teens away from the woman, who managed to dodge the bullets from Ebony and Ivory in just the knick of time.
They pair landed in a heap on the ground and together they groaned in pain.
Griselda strolled up to them, looking no worse than when they had started.
"Not bad. You two almost had me that time. Your teamwork has definitely improved." Griselda comments.
Cassius merely held up his demonic middle finger to the woman as he huffed on the ground.
Griselda found it endearing.
Xenovia sat up and looked to her mother.
"But?" she asked, knowing there was one.
"But, you both are extremely reckless when you attack, like you my darling daughter, that spinning technique from before was both genius... and stupid. Against a large group of foes it would be useful but against a single enemy it's simply overkill." Griselda said with a stern glare.
Xenovia grumbled to herself, having thought the attack was cool.
"And you, Cassius, you're rather versatile due to your wide assortment of weapons. However you haven't mastered any of them! And the attacks you come up with seem to be created solely for the purpose of being flashy!" Griselda stated.
"Yeah that's the point." Cassius sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Pardon?" Griselda asked with a raised brow.
"Ugh ok fine here... just click yes." Cassius sighed as he sent the woman a party invite.
Griselda blinked at the resulting window as it appeared before her and looked at him unsure.
"It's the result of my sacred gear, my natural one... not Grave Artificer... Basically it makes me into a character of a video game. I get stats, skills, and various other perks. But the reaon for my flashy attacks is due to something called Style Points." he explained with a shrug.
"Style Points?" she asked him with a look that said "you can't be serious".
"Yup. Style points, basically what it does is rate how stylishly I fight and gives me better rewards the higher the points. It also boosts the amount of damage my attacks do." He explained simply.
"So you're saying... your flashy attacks actually have another purpose besides killing the enemy..." she stated with a narrowed eyes
"Yuppers." Cassius said as he stood up, and walking away, his hands held behind his head.
"Where do you think you're going?" Griselda asked him rhetorically.
"Uh for a walk? Why?" Cassius asked confused.
"We have matters to attend to with the council of Archbishops." She said with a hint of distaste in her tone.
"Let me guess... they want to put me on trial for being a Devil in the Church. Well they can just Listen up, because if they try anything well... This-" he held up his left arm, "is gonna hurt."
Xenovia snorted at his words while Griselda seemed unamused.
"Are you done para-quoting Sixx AM's this is gonna hurt? And no it has nothing to do with you... for now." Griselda stated with a sigh.
Cassius blinked.
"I'm surprised you know that song." he said before tilting his head with curiosity.
"If this isn't about me then who is it about?" he asked her.
Griselda sighed with solemnity.
"Asia Argento, the Holy Maiden of Twilight... has been deemed a witch." Griselda said with sadness.
Cassius' eyes went wide before he took off running.
"Shitshitshitshitshit-" he thought before yelling, "SHIT!" as he sprinted down several halls as he raced towards the what the Vatican considered their version of a Supreme court, the hall of judgement.
The Hall was blocked by a large door decorated with carved tapestries of an angel, presumably Michael, casting an angel, presumably Lucifer, down to hell where he became a devil.
Cassius would have rolled his eyes at the vanity of it all, if he wasn't charging straight for the door. Oh did he mention that there were guards?
"Move it hypocrites!" Cassius' shout surprised the pair of Exorcist guards, but they failed to react in time to stop him from rocketing at the door and forcing it open with a kick.
As he landed on the other side of the now open door he looked back and smirked.
"Take that Dant- Oh Hell No!" He thought before his gloating was derailed by the sight of Asia Argento, beloved by all, on her knee, in chains, and covered in dirt and bruises.
"How dare you interrupt the time for God's Judgment upon this witch!" One Archbishop who Cassius couldn't bother to remember shouted at him.
Cassius ignored him and stared at the downed girl. She couldn't be older than 10 or 11... and here they were, calling her a witch!?
His left fist tightened before he summoned his phantom arm and launched himself to the girl and knelt in front of her.
"Hey there... are you alright?" He asked her gently.
The girl sniffed as tears rolled down her cheeks.
"W-why? What did I do wrong?" She asked him through choked sobs
"Shshsh... you did nothing wrong... it's just the person you helped wasn't human... they were a devil..." he tried to comfort her as he wiped her cheeks with his human thumb.
"A devil?" She asked him with numb shock.
"That's right... and you know what that's alright. You thought you were doing the right thing... and that's alright." He said with a gentle pat of her head.
"Alright?! You think saving a devil that infiltrated our training facilities and resulted in the deaths of numerous promising exorcist trainees is alright!?" The same archbishop from before stormed towards them from his podium.
Cassius' eyes hardened as he clenched his devil bringer into a fist, the limb beginning to glow with a deep Ultraviolet.
"Mr?" Asia looked at him with worry at his sudden change in emotion.
Cassius looked at her and flashed her a kind smile.
"You just hang tight for a sec. I'll take care of everything." He said before getting to his feet and spinning around.
The Archbishop froze as he now stared down the barrel of Ebony that was aimed right at his head.
"Y-you dare point a gun at me? Do you not know who I am." the Archbishop said with false bravado.
"Nope. Don't particularly care either. All I see here is a deadman." Cassius said with bloodchilling calmness.
The Archbishop was at a loss for words as he stared into the cold blue glaciers that were the eyes of the half-devil.
"ENOUGH!" The voice of Michael resonated throughout the hall as he descended from a beacon of light.
You'd think now that Michael was there Cassius would calm down and lower his weapon... but he knew better than to drop his guard, after all... it was Michael who let Asia be banished in the first place.
"Nice of you to show up Mikey... come to help the girl... or are you going to let her down..." Cassius said coldly.
Michael actually flinched at his words before looking away.
"I'm sorry Cassius but... her banishment has already been decided..." Michael said.
Cassius glared at the angel before sighing.
"No... don't apologize. I already knew this would happen..." he muttered before staring the man in the eyes.
"That's why... if she leaves then so will I." Cassius said with determination, just as Xenovia and Griselda entered the room. Xenovia stilled in shock at what she had just heard.
Michael's eyes went wide with shock, as did Asia's own.
"She's just a kid... she has nowhere to go... no family to turn to... and no one to protect her." Cassius said trying to appeal to the angel's kindness.
It seemed to work as the angel looked to be in thought before nodding in approval.
"Very well... Cassius Sparda... as an exorcist of the church... you are hereby tasked with the safety and well-being of the former holy maiden Asia Argento." He said with authority in his tone.
Cassius immediately noticed the way he phrased the so called mission. "As an Exorcist of the church." Cassius was only a member of the church for three years... meaning once that time was up... Asia would be on her own, to do what she wanted.
Cassius looked pensive but nodded nonetheless.
"I accept this task..." Cassius muttered before turning to the still stunned girl.
"Let's get you out of there..." he said before he broke the chains that bound her with his devil bringer.
She looked up at him her eyes wide with how deeply he seemed to care for her. In only a few days her world had been torn down and shattered to pieces all because she did what she was known for. Her friends all hated her, the nuns in the orphanage spat on her, and even the angels wanted to cast her out, yet this boy with a devilish arm thought only about keeping her safe.
Tears welled up into her eyes before she engulfed him in a hug, although she was much shorter than him, despite only being thirteen almost 14, he'd already hit a growth spurt and was almost 5"8 in terms of height. Sparda's sons and nero had been over 6ft so he might keep growing over the next couple years.
She wailed her pain into his stomach and cried her heart out, all the while he stroked her hair.
Those watching almost felt sorry for the girl... but not Xenovia. Instead she glared at the girl who was taking her best friend away from her.
As Cassius walked towards the gates of Vatican city with Asia, his demonic hand held her's gently so as to guide her.
Griselda, Gabriel and Michael, who was looking sufficiently cowed courtesy of a pouty faced Gabriel.
The three looked at him with worry.
Cassius and Asia, who was extremely shy, approached them.
"Yo." Cassius greeted with a raised hand as a mock wave. Asia cutely mimicked his gesture with her tiny hand.
Griselda snorted at him.
"Looks like my worries are misplaced." She said with narrowed eyes.
Cassius shot her a wink which she rolled her eyes at before engulfing him in a hug, never more had he wished to be shorter than in that moment.
Once he was released from Griselda's embrace she smacked him upside the head.
"What were you thinking!? Pointing a gun at an Archbishop?" She asked him loke he was stupid.
He shrugged.
"She needs someone on her side. And none of them or you were willing to aid her... so that just leaves me." he said to them, to which they looked away in shame.
"Plus that guy's a child predator. I could literally smell the arousal coming from him the closer he got to Asia." He stated with a cold stare.
Michael narrowed his eyes at that.
"I see... thank you for telling me however I cannot convict him without evidence, I'll have one of the angels investigate to be certain." He said to which Cassius shrugged.
"Do what you want." He stated simply before looking to Gabriel who looked a little down at his leaving.
"We'll be alright Gabriel. I'm still part of the church but I'm just... going away to be her guardian for a while. Besides you can always visit us anytime you wish." he said with a smile.
Gabriel sniffed but nodded.
"I know... that's why I've already set up a place for you two to live. I called in a favor from a friend. He should be here any minute." She said with her usual cheery tone.
Michael groaned.
"Sister please tell me you didn't call him!" The archangel said with a hint of annoyance crossing his face.
"Oh hush! You know as well as I do that Azazel is a good parent! He's practically a father to every young fallen that exists in the grigori." She chided her brother with a pouty stern face.
"Yeah Mikey! How could to hate your dear younger brother?!" The very object of Michael's annoyance appeared out of thin air, his arms around Cassius' shoulders in an overly friendly manner.
"Hands off the merchandise Burnt Macaroni." Cassius said with Ebony placed directly beneath Azazel's chin.
Gabriel looked aghast at him while Michael seemed to be willing him to shoot.
Azazel and Cassius stared into each other's eyes for what seemed like an eternity, before...
"Pft-Ahahaha!"
They both burst out laughing and pointing at Michael's face.
"D-did you see his face!?" Azazel cackled.
"He looked like he's about ready to put on a black hood and say "Do it" over and over!" Cassius laughed as he was doubled over while slapping his knee.
Michael looked horrified by their jokes before sighing.
"What have we done..." Michael mourned.
Griselda sighed as well.
"God there's two of them..." she prayed.
Gabriel on the other hand giggled at their antics.
"Glad to see you two are already getting along." She said with a smile.
"I'll say. It's nice to meet a kid with a sense of humor and style." Azazel said before ruffling Cassius' hair, much to his chagrin.
"Hey hey! Hands off the hair!" he said.
Azazel raised his palms in apology.
"Oops my bad kiddo." He said as he backed up.
Cassius sent a mock glare his way before looking back to the three who had come to send them off.
"Thank you for everything, these past few months have been some of the greatest moments of my life." He said, wishing Xenovia was there for him to say goodbye.
He decided to keep her in the party, so she would always know that he was her friend no matter where he was.
Griselda noticed his change in mood and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"She'll come around... she does care for you a lot, and I'm sure you'll meet again some day." She said with a gentle smile.
Cassius smiled to her, and nodded.
"Thank you Griselda... no... Mother, for everything." He said.
Griselda smiled with a few unshed tears in the corners of her eyes.
"You better take damn good care of them." Griselda said, leaving the unsaid threat hang in the air.
Azazel's eyes softened.
"You have my word." He said.
"Good." She said before briskly walking away.
Azazel sighed in relief once she was gone.
"I've met a lot of scary women in my day... but she terrifies me the most." Azazel admitted.
"Agreed." Cassius nodded his agreement.
"Alright then... we shall allow you all to get acquainted and be on your way. I have matters to attend to in heaven." Michael said as he too left.
Gabriel also seeme to realize she had things to do and quickly excused herself to follow after Michael.
Azazel turned to the pair of children and spoke.
"So kiddies any ideas on where you'd like to live?" His words made Cassius blink before he had an idea.
"Well... I was thinking of starting up a Supernatual Bounty Hunting business, so maybe something a bit... mobile?" He pitched.
Azazel rubbed his chin in thought.
"I'm sure I can whip something up for you, however... is traveling around hunting stray devil really the best thing for a gurl her age? Does she even want to travel all the time?" Azazel asked him with a stern but concerned look not unlike a father's.
Cassius looked to Asia.
"He's right kiddo. It's up to you. If you want to stay in one place then I can always run my business from a central location." he said to the girl, letting her know that there was absolutely no pressure in her decision.
Asia looked up at him then back to Azazel.
"U-um... I'd... like to travel... even if it's for a little while. I've never been outside of Vatican City, I want to see more of the world." she said with a hopeful expression.
Cassius smiled at her and ruffled her hair in an elder brother fashion.
Azazel nodded, accepting her decision.
"Alright then. Let's go back to my place. You can stay there until I find a sufficient vehicle for you to both travel and live in." Azazel said.
"Semi-truck. You can convert a container into a living space. and still have enough space to put a small vehicle inside." Cassius said easily.
Azazel blinked at him.
"You've put a lot of thought into this haven't you." Azazel stated.
"Yes yes I have." Cassius said.
"Okay... then what about a name for this business of yours?" He asked him with a curious raised brow.
Cassius glanced at his devil bringer and smiled before he answered.
"Devil May Cry."
Short chapter I know, but honestly this arc is pretty much done.
Next arc will be featuring a four year time skip and the start of the actual series of Highschool Dxd.
There will be some information given during chapters on thing that happened over the course of those four years but no flashbacks for the most part. Cassius will also be taking on the role of the older brother for Asia because damn that girl needs someone to care for her!
#FamilyForAsia
There will also be more devil arms that come into play, but I'll reveal those when the time comes for them.
Now before I forget, Grave Artificer is not all powerful, sure it can create guns and swords and various other items, but it does have limitations. It can only make weapons that humans are capable of creating, but that doesn't mean it can create an atomic bomb! Although in theory he could recreate the Devil Breaker as it was designed and built by Nico, a human. This also means that he would be able to replicate devil arms that were made by human hands (Like Artemis or Dr. Faust.) but they would be a heavily degraded copy do to lacking what makes a devil arm what it is.
As for Cassius potentially getting a Sin Devil Trigger?... uh let's take this one step at a time. So far I've only got things planned up to the Kokabiel Arc. With some cool ideas for Issei, seeing as he is the actual main character of DXD I feel he could benefit from Cassius' aid. Plus I like Issei as a character, which is why I always have my Characters try to help him as much as possible.
Issei has a lot of potential as a character and I like having my own characters bring a bit of that out in unique ways.
So yeah... expect a lot of Issei bias in the future, of course I have no plans to allow him to upstage Cassius.
And finally... I need to set something straight. Cassius won't be randomly summoning things from other Capcom games for one simple reason... it makes no damn sense. Yeah sure could he get a summoning skill in the future? Yeah, in fact I planned on it. However that would limited to demon/devil familiars.
Oh shit- one last thing, this time I mean it. The idea of it being awkward for Dante and Cassius to meet is a bit... far fetched. Dante and Virgil may be the sons of Sparda but remember, Sparda turned against the demon world 2000 years before either of them were born. That's more than enough time for Sparda to have a few children here and there and for them to have children, and so on. My point is... if Dante and Cassius meet... he can play the "Hi I'm your very distant great nephew because your dad's a man whore" card.
So yeah... it would be fine if those two were to ever meet... hypothetically that is. I don't exactly have any plans for an arc like that at the moment.
Now if you'll excuse me... I have to go and start writing the next chapter.