Issei the Eldritch
As Issei slowly awoke, he smiled at the familiar and welcoming feeling of Aza lying on top of him. He didn't need to look; he'd know her body anywhere at this point.
But he blinked himself awake as realized there was a second body, one that definitely wasn't Aza pulling some self-replicating ability to give him a TwinAza experience.
Looking down at his left side, he stared at the long rivers of blonde hair before realizing that Asia was laying there, hugging his arm. Eyes shifting around the unfamiliar room, he realized he wasn't in his own bed either.
Everything started to come back to him now…the train, the harpy, saving Rias and Sona and then the flash of light.
"Well, I guess I pulled that off," Issei murmured to himself with a small smile, using his right arm to come up and run his hands through Aza's hair.
"Indeed you did, Lord Issei."
Issei's eyes shot downward, to the foot of the bed. Laying there was one Aika, still blindfolded and positioned much like a dog at the feet of her sleeping master. "Aika? Where are we and what are you doing...?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Some bedroom in the Occult Clubhouse. And this was my reward for helping you come home," she answered, sitting up and starting to stretch. "I normally would say serving is reward enough, but getting to sleep at the feet of my gods? How could any good bitch refuse that?" Aika asked with a smirk.
"I'm...not going to argue with that logic," Issei answered awkwardly.
"Because you enjoy the idea of having a petgirl leashed to your bedpost, right, My Lord?" Aika asked with a grin.
"I- yes, but that's beside the point," Issei deflected, feeling himself growing aroused, his erection almost poking Aza's belly. "How long have I been asleep?"
"Just a few hours," Aika answered, crawling up and revealing her shirt was unbuttoned to reveal her pink bra underneath. Issei raised an eyebrow but merely watched as she leaned over Asia's sleeping form, staring at her through the fabric over her eyes. "Brave little thing. Your nun's been in a trance since you got back, healing you."
"Was I that beat up?" Issei asked in surprise.
"You were growing a third arm there for a moment," Aika answered before smiling perversely. "Or, fourth arm to be accurate."
Issei rolled his eyebrows as he looked down at Asia, realizing for the first time he could hear her mumbling in her sleep. "What's she saying?"
"Prayers," Aika answered, looking very amused as she pushed a strand of Asia's long hair behind the ear. "Mostly from the bible, but some eldritch ones have been slipping through. I doubt she even realizes it."
"We're passively brainwashing her?" Issei asked idly.
"I don't think so," Aika answered with a hum. "I think her faith is just slowly moving to you and Aza."
"Still weird to think about," Issei mused. "Where is everyone else?"
"Don't worry about that."
Issei gave a small smirk as he looked down at Aza. "Thought you were awake."
"Let's just lay here for another week or two," Aza said in a sleepy voice, her hair melding with the bed. "You saved the devils and kicked Nyarly's bird. That's enough for now, right?"
"You do remember about school, right?" Issei reminded wryly.
"..." Aza grumbled something that, while adorable, Issei was certain was an otherworldly curse. "Fine, fine," she said, sitting up and stretching, tugging her hair out of the bed.
"Should I get you anything, O Great Center?" Aika asked, bowing her head low to Aza.
"You brought me back my Issei, I'm good," Aza waved off, hugging onto his side. "Where is Yog? She's late for once."
At that cue, there was a knock at the door, to everyone's surprise. Sharing a look with everyone, Issei shrugged and called out to the door. "Ummm, come in?"
In walked an Eldritch of Time, but it was not Yog. Instead, it was Yad, who walked up to the bed with a stoic expression. "Unlike Yog, I have manners," Yad explained simply. "We decided to switch for now, in case any of the Satans are suddenly trigger-happy."
"Ah. That means she took Rias and everyone home while I was asleep?" Issei asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Not exactly," Aza answered, snuggling into his shoulder. "There were two pocket realms, weren't there?"
"Yes?" Issei answered with a raised eyebrow.
"Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri were pulled back here with you," Yad explained. "But the rest of the devils were not."
"..." Issei glanced around, trying to get a read on everyone. "They're not dead, right?"
"No, no," Aza answered, waving him off- and he was sure her hands were flippers for a moment. "If they were, Gactha would be hurt or dead too. She's fine, so they should be too."
"Hence why Lady Yog is searching Hell and the neighboring realms," Aika commented demurely. "It's where they most likely are."
"Well, that's...not great, but good at least," Issei decided, knowing it was better than it could have been. "Aza? Are you okay? Your form's shifting more than normal. Well, you know, normal for when we're not doing it."
"You mean doing me," Aza countered, brushing her arm to turn scales back into skin. "It's high emotions in general. I've gone from worried senseless to incredibly happy, so my form is a bit less stable than I'd like."
"Right, sorry," Issei said in apology. "So, how are Rias and Sona doing?"
"Sleeping," Yad answered, nodding to Asia. "Thanks to some non-Euclidean magic, she's able to heal all three of you at once."
"Wait, I thought I wasn't in that bad of a shape. Why didn't she just heal them first?" Issei asked curiously. Aika and Yad both looked at Aza pointedly. "Ah, right, stupid question."
"She's your healer, not theirs," Aza said simply. "So, you get priority."
"Don't worry, I could have kept them in a temporal stasis if needed," Yad assured. "I'm currently hoping that Yog locates their servants before they wake up."
"What do we do if they're not in Hell though?" Issei asked with a frown.
"Do we have to worry about that now?" Aza asked with a grumble, arms crossed…all six of them.
"Actually, My Queen, this might be to your liking," Yad stated, getting blinking eyes from the queen. "If they're not in Hell, they were flung to the Ag'tsun."
"The Ag'tsun?!" Aza suddenly had a very wide and happy smile.
"...I'm slightly concerned," Issei said, despite his fond smile.
"Oh, nothing. It's just, I might have an excuse to take us on our first date to another planet!" Aza exclaimed with a pleased tone.
Meanwhile
Sona awoke, eyes opening suddenly. Her mind calmed as she saw the familiar ceiling and walls of Rias's clubhouse. More specifically, the private room Rias had there.
"Guess we made it back safe, even if it wasn't where we wanted to be," she said as she sat up and immediately realized two things.
One, Rias was sleeping on the other side of the bed.
Two, they were both in their underwear.
"Well, this brings back memories," she remarked with a brief smile, recalling their sleepovers as children. Glancing around more, she found there were two pairs of uniforms at the edge of the bed.
As she rose to get dressed, her fellow devil began to stir.
"Akeno, is that you?" Rias murmured as she eased her eyes open.
"Off by a lot," Sona answered, fixing on her skirt.
"Sona? What-?" Rias stopped, sitting straight up. "The train. The harpy and Issei. We survived?"
"Evidently, seeing as we're back at Kuoh," Sona pointed out, finishing her clothes.
"Hmm. So we are," Rias said, finding her clothes and putting on her top first. "Any idea what happened after the fight? If everyone is alright?"
"I just woke up, we both have the same information," Sona explained, glancing at the door. "I suppose we should see if our saviors can tell us anything."
"...It's been a while since I've seen you without glasses," Rias commented idly, standing to finish her clothing.
"Pretty sure they were destroyed back in the train. It's not an issue," Sona remarked, both of them knowing she had no actual sight impairment.
That wasn't to say she didn't have to resist the urge to push up glasses she no longer had.
With both dressed, they cautiously made it out of the room in search of the Eldritch. It felt so strange being on guard in Rias's place of power, but there was no telling just what Eldritch was here.
Coming to the meeting room, they both shared a look at the door before opening it.
"-bugs. Seriously, why are so many eldritch bug-based? I thought tentacles were the main thing?" Issei asked in bewilderment.
"I think that might have been my doing," Aza said thoughtfully, finger to her chin. "One of the only races I...designed were insect-based. Ahhh, I miss my Shans...and Xada."
The room got extremely heavy, dark, and gloomy as the Eldritch Queen suddenly underwent a mild bout of depression. Rias and Sona nearly doubled over as they felt the worry in the back of their hearts grow into a stabbing pain, the uncertainty of not knowing what happened to their servants becoming a true fear of their deaths.
"Hey, you okay?" Issei asked in concern, placing a hand on Aza's shoulder, having no idea what she was talking about other than it made her sad.
Azathoth sighed in contentment and happiness as she soaked in Issei's presence. "Yeah, yeah, just bad memories. Story for another time."
"That would be wise, given our company," Yad remarked, glancing to the door and causing all parties to look at it.
Rias and Sona steadied themselves as the feeling left, leaving them uneasy as they took in the scene in full. Issei was sitting on the couch. On one side sit a blonde girl who, during Aza's wave of sadness, had clung to Issei's left arm for comfort. She was looking at them with a polite smile. Standing next to the couch was a girl in a medieval-styled outfit, complete with a European sword.
But the one to Issei's right was the one that had their attention. They had seen her before, they knew exactly who and what she was. But feeling it was a whole other ordeal.
Rias swallowed thickly, fully understanding how Koneko had nearly lost her mind from just being near this woman.
"You're both up. That's a relief," Issei greeted as he stood. "Are both of you okay?"
"We're fine," Sona assured, trying not to glance at Aza, let alone make eye contact. "Thank you. For saving us, your majesties."
"Please, you two were holding her back pretty well before I got there," Issei said humbly. "I'm just glad I didn't make an utter ass of myself in that fight."
"Yes, but who...and what was that exactly, if you don't mind us asking?" Rias asked delicately.
"Some unlucky soul the Crawling Chaos found," Yad informed as she stepped forward. "To answer what you're wondering, I am Yad. I am an Elder God with Yog-Sothoth."
"Yog-So-!?" Sona stopped herself before saying the name as she schooled her expression. "I see."
"And the blond girl is indeed human and she belongs to the Sultana and Sultan," Yad continued.
"Hello, nice to meet you," Asia said as she approached the devil. "I'm Asia Argento."
"You as well, but...belongs?" Rias asked curiously, raising an eyebrow at Issei. "Is she a cultist or...?"
"Personal healer, more like. Long story. She also healed up you both," Issei explained.
"Oh. Thank you then," Rias said thankfully, Sona nodding in agreement. "Not to sound rude, but where is everyone else? Or was it just our part of the train?"
"No, but don't worry, everybody was alive before I went to help you two," Issei explained reassuringly. "As for where...we're still figuring that out."
Both devils raised an eyebrow at that but barely suppressed their tensing bodies as Aza stood up to join the conversation. "They're alive, but they didn't get pulled back here with Issei. Yog is checking around your home realm first."
"Thank you, Queen of the Eldritch," Sona said tactfully. "We appreciate your continued aid in this matter."
"My beloved insisted on helping you, and he doesn't like to leave anything half-finished," Aza said, giggling as she leaned on his arm. "Annnnything~"
Rias and Sona both relaxed, more in surprise than anything, as they felt...the warping reality around Aza brushing up to Issei, almost like her very power was...nuzzling or cuddling with him.
"You know it," Issei said with a grin, his hand reached up and patted Aza on the head, making her beam.
"...You just head-patted Azathoth," Rias said slowly, before quickly covering her in mouth in surprise. "I'm sorry, that just slipped out!" she apologized, hoping that there wasn't any consequence for saying Aza's full name in her presence.
"Hmm? For what? Yes, he gave me a head-pat. You humans have such interesting forms of affection," Aza said, before reaching up to kiss Issei on the cheek. "I still like these ways more though~"
"So do I," Issei said, reaching down and stealing a kiss off her lips.
If she still had them, Sona would have dropped her glasses as she watched Aza swoon.
It was surreal, watching something so off the scale as Azathoth giggling and stealing kisses with Issei.
Yad cleared her throat, making Issei flush with a sheepish look. "Sorry about that, we got a little carried away. We're...use to Yog always popping in, so we learned to ignore having an audience."
"...For once, I believe that sounded more perverted than you meant," Rias remarked, relaxing some with a small smile on her face. "Would it be alright if we contacted our families? I'm sure they're confused and worried by now
"You may want to wait," Yad remarked, glancing at the door. "We should have company in a moment."
"Company?" Issei asked, all looking towards the entrance in anticipation. "You mean Yog?"
Yad remained silent, unable or unwilling to answer.
Issei felt it before he saw it, the cracks forming in reality, manifesting as literal cracks of dark light forming on the door. He glanced at Aza, who didn't look worried or concerned in the slightest. So, he took that as a sign that whoever this was, they didn't mean trouble.
The door imploded into a swirling vortex of shadows and darkness. Rias and Sona inhaled sharply as they were assaulted by the image of something...a huge plumbing mass of tentacles, the vaguest shape of a goat's head, and an unsettling glow from within as a silhouette came forth...
And a mop of white hair popped out, revealing the head of a woman with a strangely adorable pair of curled horns on the sides of her head, one arm on the wall as if she was peeking from around the corner.
'Oh no,' Ddraig whispered in Issei's head. 'I am not here! I am not here!'
"Shubby!" Aza greeted with a wide grin, raising her arms, and they extended just a bit too far to be normal. "I thought that was you I sensed."
"Aza," "Shubby" greeted with a smile. "Sorry to interrupt your honeymoon, but are you by chance missing a dozen or so of..." she paused and pointed to Rias and Sona, "Whatever they are?"
"Devils. And yes, we are," Yad answered. Shub looked at her, causing Yad to look away. "Hello, Shub-Niggurath."
"Oh, Yad. I thought you were Yog for a moment," Shub said softly.
"She was in the underworld, looking for the ones you found," Yad answered quietly.
"Of course she was," Shub said in disappointment, seemingly speaking of something else, before returning her attention to Aza. "Would you mind coming over here? They're being...stingy about releasing them."
"Stingy?" Sona questioned skeptically.
"More like bureaucratic," Yad supplied. "We'll be there in a moment, Shub."
"We will?" Issei asked curiously.
"Most of us," Aza said, glancing at Asia. "She can't come; it's too early for her to be in a place like this."
"It's alright, Aza, Issei. I had some plans after this anyway," Asia assured softly.
"Oh?" Issei asked curiously.
"Well, I'm not...confident I'll ever become a cultist, but I think I do need to learn more about them and the Eldritch," Asia answered with a bashful smile.
"That you do. Some of them make your crusaders look like pacifists," Aza said wisely.
"You actually know about the crusades?" Issei asked, almost mildly surprised.
"Oh yeah, all Eldritch do. You have NO idea how many knights got tricked into worshipping some of us," Aza said in exasperation.
"You...make that sound like a bad thing for you, Your Majesty?" Sona asked cautiously.
"It involved certain Eldritch having a proxy war with each other's cultists," Yad explained in annoyance. "It was, in a word, a mess."
"Sounds like it," Issei mused. "Still, history fun facts aside, shall we?"
All parties began to head to the portal, albeit with some unease on Sona and Rias's part.
"Do not worry," Yad remarked to them. "It's safe for Devil minds, just not humans."
"It wasn't our minds we were worried about," Rias said idly. "But thank you."
With that, Issei and Aza stepped through the portal, followed by the devil duo. He wasn't sure what'd he find on the other side.
"Are we...in a hospital?" Rias asked curiously as she looked around the waiting room.
"I doubt it's just that," Sona stated knowingly, looking at the nurses and doctors walking about, acting as if they hadn't noticed their sudden arrival.
"Eh? That what you see?" Issei asked curiously.
"You don't?" Rias asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Give it a moment. The Eldritch Camouflage will wear off in a few seconds," Yad answered stoically.
True to her word, the world around Sona and Rias warped and melted away. Instead of a waiting room, they were in what looked more like a hive for giant bugs. Halls were replaced by winding tubes not only in the walls but in the ceiling and floor. The material was red and brown, looking like something between organic and rock. Littered over the surfaces were beige crystals that gently lit the areas in an off-color hue.
More importantly, the medic personnel all faded away to be replaced by... giant insects that looked like the strange offspring of fireflies and cockroaches, their low-hanging rears immersing a soft glow as their rearmost legs kept them standing with a mix of coordination and balance. Their other four limbs had many more joints, allowing them to turn and reach in any direction. Their heads were smooth and had a strange adorableness about them for how their many eyes fit into their heads, their antennae moving where their mouths did not.
"..." Sona and Rias starred, almost surprised by how...tame this was, all things considered.
"There you all are," Shub called out, approaching them with one of the creatures, who had four antennae instead of two. "Aza, I'm sure you know Thunsaathha," she said, waving to the creature, who bowed its head as its antennae shook.
"Greetings Great Azathoth, Yad of Yog, Devils of Earth," Thunsaa greeted, the melodic voice echoing soothingly in their minds. The many-eye orbs moved to focus on Issei. "Lord of Azathoth."
Sona and Rias looked to Issei with confusion at that rather lofty and confusing title.
"Yo," Issei greeted. "We're here for Gactha and the devils that were brought here?"
Thunsaa nodded eagerly. "This is good. We do not wish for underserving to be here. But apologizes, Great Azathoth, insistences must be made by the proper scripture."
"I don't suppose you'd allow me to just will the finished paperwork into existence?" Aza asked with a sigh.
"Insistence must be made, for such things are often tried by those already within," Thunsaa answered apologetically.
Azathoth sighed. "Very well. Yad, come and help me write faster. They should at least allow that. Issei, I'll be a minute. You mind keeping Shubby company until I'm done?" Aza asked with a resigned smile.
"I'd offer to help, but I'm pretty sure I need to learn a new language..." Issei paused to look at the roach-fly creature. "And probably a new form of communication to even try."
"These are words that are not false," Thunsaa confirmed. "Please be at ease and remain nowhere else."
The devils watched as Yad and Aza walked over to a tunnel in the ground, stepping casually over the edge and falling down it. Thunsaa, however, opened their wings and took to the air, flying into one of the upper paths.
With that, Shub awkwardly approached the group. "I suppose this is the first time we've met," Shub said, smiling up at Issei. Only now, seeing her with her brown shirt and the white apron over it, did they realize how short her human form was. Not to the point of being considered a dwarf, but she would barely be taller than Koneko, Rias noted. "I'm Shub-Niggurath."
"We've been told. It's a...pleasure to meet you," Rias said carefully.
"Oh, don't worry. I understand we Outer Gods are intimidating," Shub said reassuringly. "I take no offense, but please be at ease. No one here means you any harm."
"Right. All the same, I'm sorry. I'm Rias Gremory, and this is Sona Sitri," Rias introduced.
"Gremory, Sitri. Important names, I believe, but I'm sorry to say I don't know much beyond that," Shub mused before looking to Issei.
Sona and Rias nearly fell over as they watched Shub-Niggurath, The Black Goat of a Thousand Young, bowed her head deeply to Issei Hyoudou.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lord Issei," Shub said with a smile.
"Please, stop," Issei said with a bashful grin as he waved her off. "I'm just Aza's boyfriend."
"Regardless, it's nice to meet the one that makes Aza so happy," she said genuinely. "It's been so long since I've seen her like this. I'm amazed that she learned how to take human form so fast too."
Issei blushed a bit under the praise. "W-well, anyway, thanks for helping with this. Though...how did you get mixed up in all this anyway?"
"Oh. It's nothing special really," Shub answered idly. "I was nearby and sensed something being hurled between realms, rather unsafely. I made sure they got here in one piece, but when they arrived, the Blattnungs were just as confused as me. We found one of Aza's warnuns-"
Rias and Sona did a double take at the term Warnuns, but Issei and Shub took no notice.
"-who said that you, Kungur, tasked her with protecting them," Shub finished.
"Thanks, glad to know we had someone higher up looking out for them," Issei thanked.
"Yes, truly, thank you," Sona said with sincerity. "But may we ask where this is, exactly?"
"According to Aza, in the Eye of Jupiter," Issei answered bluntly, obviously still amazed by that prospect as he looked around.
"First time off planet?" Shub asked playfully.
Issei could only rub the back of his head boyishly.
Rias knew she was more surprised than she should be. She was born in Hell and went to school on Earth. Being to another planet wasn't that strange really, but it was a new experience. "Jupiter? Isn't that a gas giant?" Rias asked, glancing at the very solid surroundings.
"Well, the Eye is the size of three Earths," Shub reminded helpfully. "And with a small dwarf planet placed inside the storm, it's the perfect place for this."
"This being, what? A hidden temple to the Eldritch?" Sona guessed. "Or that's what I assumed by being called unworthy."
"Oh, no, no! That was a...what's the word? A mistranslation?" Shub said in thought. "The Blattnungs rely on telepathy to communicate with other races. However, it isn't always perfect in interpreting their thoughts into your words."
"Oh? Then what did they mean?" Rias asked curiously.
"I'm going to make a guess here," Issei pipped in. "I think by unworthy they meant... "wrongly incarcerated.""
Sona's eyes went wide. "This is a prison."
"More like juvenile detention but...yeah," Issei answered with a nod. "Aza was telling me about this place earlier. The Agtsun'lutun, or Prison of the Red Storm. They mostly keep "young," misbehaving Eldritch here. The roach guys are actually doctors, in a way. I guess that's why you both saw this place as a hospital."
"Sounds more like an asylum," Rias noted. "I'm surprised that the Eldritch would have a place like this."
"Aza has a very off-handed rule, but even we have rules and lines we need each other to respect," Shub answered. "However, the Blattnungs are very firm about making sure all the proper documents are filled out."
"..." Rias and Sona stared for a long moment.
"I'm sorry, I'm just...almost surprised the Eldritch bother with paperwork," Rias said idly.
"Same here," Issei agreed, a morbid thought in his head as he looked at Shub. "It's not human skin, right?"
"No, not human," Shub answered simply.
"Somehow, that's less comforting than it should be," Sona said.
"Do devils not do that?" Issei asked curiously, getting surprised looks from them. "Sorry, but I literally knew nothing about the supernatural world before Aza."
"Ahh, well, that is a question fresh Devil Reincarnates often have," Rias accepted. "But no, we don't do that anymore."
"Anymore being the keyword," Issei noticed with a sweat-drop.
End of Chapter
Annnnnd the Goat-Momma has formally entered the arena. Yeah, that's Shub-Niggurath. Decided to use the aftermath of the battle to be a good way to introduce the Eldritch Juvi-Prison, along with Shub herself.
Fun fact, I didn't actually make up a lot of this stuff about the Eye of Jupiter. It is mentioned to be a prison in the Cthulhu mythos and that Jupiter has some "insect-philosphers" living on one of is moons. I just expanded and combined the two into tihs.
Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this. Next chapter will get the Peerages out of Juvi and headed off.
Early viewing of chapters 16-17 avaliable on my pat-reon:
p a treon . com (slash) akumakami64