[The Beginning Of Change IV]
[LightNovel Spoilers: Only Warning]
: Earth : About Two Days Before Issei's Awaking :
"Issei! Gabriel!" It was getting late... However, Megumi couldn't help but feel that something was up. She went away from her husband. "Issei!" Where are you?
...
"Ise... I can't find him!" Megumi yelled as franticly searched for him. Her eyes swelled with tears. There was no trace of the two children. Nothing. No trail, no camera feed, no blood. Nothing. While there was no blood, it didn't help that she couldn't find either of the two children.
She fell to her knees on the harsh stone pavement. Her pink and white checked skirt did not protect her knees since it was forced up as Megumi fell in pure despair, and came down around her. She felt the dull pain flash throughout her body, but that pain was nothing compared to the pain of losing her child. Her only child and last. Losing a child for a third time.
Her vision blurred, almost blindingly so, as she felt her head spin. Her world was like a wet painting being spun, losing color, shape and meaning.
It reminded her of the first time she had a child.
It ended, tragically. A miscarriage. She and her husband knew they were ready for a child and really wanted it and yet, no avail.
Thereafter, she was determined to have a child, she and her beloved husband. From that moment on until her next delivery, they searched everything to gain the knowledge as to how to have the "perfect" delivery.
Holding her husband's hand, she grunted as she felt her 'child' leave the safe confines of her body. For a second time.
Again, she still failed. For a second time.
Unable to hold back her tears, she cried, not because she was weak-hearted but because she was strong for far too long.
She was absolutely devastated. Her sincere effort was faced with yet another failure. Two lives that could've been, never were... She knew she did everything right both times, yet! Her mistake, whatever it may have been, ended both lives that could have been her child. Sisters, even.
It was about a year when she decided she wanted to try again. She was on her last try, figuratively and somewhat literally. She was found to have a few number of eggs that could be fertilized, after a tragic accident that killed her brother. Her gland was to never mend nor could it have been.
Her hands grasped her husband as she felt herself warm with worries. Her husband smiled, tightening his hold. "It'll work," he simply said. It has to, was what each other knew they were thinking.
Thus, her son, her dearly loved son, Hyoudou Issei was birthed and showered with love. Yet, the regret of failing to deliver a child, moreover two, scarred her, severely. Even to that day, she didn't want another child in fear of killing the could-have-been child that could've been hers.
Nevertheless, it only furthered the fact that she failed to protect her child. He was nowhere to be found. She couldn't have felt more devastated. She wanted to barf, hurl, yell, scream, cry, sob, search 'til next day's daybreak, and yet, give up at the same time, despite everything, she bitterly added. The last choice was fairly attractive, yet, were so the others. However, she wouldn't dare. She couldn't do that to her beloved son. To her husband that also shared her fears and joy.
"Issei..."
She couldn't abandon him after all she has done, all her husband done along with her. She couldn't lose him after all she's done.
"Megumi..." Strong yet gentle arms wrapped around her waist. "...There isn't much more we can do." Even though his voice was strong and blunt, she knew it was for her sake. "I have already contacted the police. So, let's go home." He stopped and strengthened his hold and rubbed her head with his chin. "At least until tomorrow," he added as his wife leaned back into him.
"...Masaru... I..." She covered his arms and hands with her own, fondly rubbing them, as her tears fell at a quickening rate.
"I feel the same." She felt something wet fall upon the back of her neck, sliding slowly as it was absorbed into her skin. He was crying right alongside her. As always. "You'll never be alone."
: Heaven : "Last Chapter's End"
Issei woke up without a shirt and with a weird sensation on his back. It was felt as if something was sticking out his back yet it felt as if it was always there and really delicate. He struggled against Gabriel's body in vain, trying to stretch. "Ano... G-Gabriel, are you awake?"
She snuggled closer to him, as her mouth opened to yawn quietly. She took a few moments to blink repeatedly since she wasn't used to awakening in such a comfortable position. "Mmm... Just a moment..." She stopped blinking and took in the face of the newly revived Angel, the first ever in centuries, only a few inches below her chin. "How are you, Ise?"
Issei furrowed his eyebrows at that. He wasn't too sure how to describe his weird sensation across his back. "My back feels... different." At that, she blinked in slight surprise.
She forgot to force close his wings back into his back, somehow. As a result, the wings were awkwardly position during their sleep. She smiled towards him, somewhat awkwardly. Gabriel lifted herself from the bed with one hand and the other kept the blanket held over her shoulders or at least from dropping below her shoulders.
She simply said, "Issei, you're an Angel." Then she released her own six pairs of wings and the ever-radiant halo atop her.
Issei gaped in surprise. He stared as the white feathers soared and swayed before hitting the floor or the bed. "D-Do I have those?" After all, she did say he was an angel.
Her smile grew, though she wasn't too sure why. "Of course, come, sit up." She used the arm that held her up and made the motion of lifting something. She waited, ever-patiently, ever-forgiving, not that she minded in the first place. It was her fault in the first place after all.
She smiled at the unbalance-ness he had as he rose. It made her remember the old times. Those times was when Angels were birthed or reincarnated left and right and struggled to even walk since they couldn't hide their wings within their back.
With perfectly right curiosity, Issei felt slightly complied to rise. He also felt warm in the face, slightly, as his chest hit the cooler air outside the perfectly warm blankets. He turned his neck, almost straining his neck, to look at his back. He had the same wings as Gabriel. However, he only had 2 pairs instead of six pairs of wings. "I have these?" He said in disbelief. Gabriel nodded, feeling proud, or whatever the feeling, it made her smile wider.
"You also have a halo above your head." She pointed above her head, at her own halo. "Each has their own specialized radiance. I have to say, your radiance is quite beautiful," She said as she leaned forward to inspect the halo. It was similar her own.
However, she has never felt such a connection to a halo like Issei's before. ...Maybe it was one of "perks" of being [King], to be able to tell who was "hers," not that she would consider them, "them" being those who she would used the cards on, her own.
Issei looked away from Gabriel after seeing something that made him blush heavily. His mother always said the chest area for a girl was special and sacred and shouldn't be seen unless they were willing to. And that he should look away if he did.
However, if he found that other "old" person in the park, it would've changed him in ways one couldn't comprehend.
He did exactly what his mother told him, yet he couldn't fight down the heat in his cheeks and almost couldn't fight the instinct to stare. "G-Gabriel, your c-chest..." However, he felt as if cold-water fell upon him, his thoughts were changed and warped. Yet, he felt natural, as if it always happened.
Gabriel blinked as she saw Issei's wings flicker. She looked down towards her chest. Her blanket had fallen from her chest she failed to realize. She giggled, softly. "Sorry," she said as she, with a wave of her hand, magically gained clothes on her body. "Come here, Ise, I'll put some clothes on you too."
"R-Right." Issei turned back to Gabriel taking in the simple strapless white gown.
Gabriel put a hand to her chin as she thought of the perfect outfit for Issei. She blushed as she was just dressing a boy who was a meager fraction of her age. It didn't help that it was like she was a mother, an experience she has never felt. She frowned slightly at her last thought before giving Issei a simple white t-shirt and blue shorts.
"No... This won't work," she muttered. Ddraig wouldn't like the colors... Yet, those were colors of heaven and life as white was purity and righteousness and blue was the color that signifies the vitality-giving liquid, water.
Again she waved her hand over Issei. A red t-shirt and red sports shorts appeared instead. Red is the color of many things sinful... Hate, Suffering, Sin-itself-Worry, Fear, Vengeance... Yet, it also signifies, in the new "world," love, compassion, passion and blood by staying true to one's self. "This should be good." She followed her statement with many nods. Green would look out of place, most defiantly!
Issei looked at himself in disbelief. The clothes came out of nowhere and yet they were, without a doubt, real. It was really, MAGIC! "C-Can I do that?"
She smiled at his enthusiasm. "If you wish to, I can teach you later." She paused as a small frown adored her face. "But, first, we need to..." She took a breath in, unsure how she would deal with his parents. To lie, is to sin, and would make her fall for sure. Yet, if it was in the name of her Heavenly Father, she wouldn't, yet couldn't-didn't want to lie. "Go see your parents."
Issei frowned as he realized his parents would be freaking out. "Tou-san, Kaa-san..." He teared up but refused to let them fall. "H-How long?"
Gabriel considered him, almost pityingly so. "Almost a week..." Her throat felt dry. "They're really scared for you." She swallowed visibly. "To be honest," Issei saw the many emotions in her eyes as her eyes glazed over with faint wetness, "I'm not sure what I supposed to do."
Fear for him.
"But I'm sure it'll be fine." She smiled, gracefully, drawing herself off the bed onto the cloud ground. "Come, let us eat, ne?" She struck out her hand like a parent to a child.
"Y-Yes!" Issei took her left hand with his smaller right hand. They walked to the simple white door, hand-in-hand, side-by-side, towards a new life.
...
"Um, Gabriel?" She hummed happily as a response. "What time is it?"
She shook her head, her blond hair bobbing side to side, as she replied. "I'm not too sure myself, actually, because it's always bright here."
Issei didn't respond, he simply walked along with his "Guardian."
After moments of walking in an empty hallway made of clouds, Gabriel asked, curiously, "Is there anything specific you want to eat?"
Issei was about to respond before another door, made from clouds, opened, revealing another angel, wings and all. The teen-looking angel had blond hair in two hanging tails. Her attire consisted of a black and white maid dress, maid cap, thigh-high socks and blue slip-on shoes. His grasp on Gabriel's hand tightened unconsciously.
"Gabriel-sama!" The angel exclaimed, making her way towards them both.
Issei let go over Gabriel's hand and moved behind her, hiding behind her legs. "Hello, are you well?" Gabriel followed her statement looking back at child Issei. "Everything's fine, Issei. You don't need to hide."
Slowly, he moved to take Gabriel's hand again as he realized he could understand the language he had not recalled ever knowing. Like he always knew it.
The angel peered rather curiously at the child. "May I ask who this young child is?" The angel felt a holy aura akin her kind but... they were no pure angels at that age. Perhaps a "miracle" child?
"He is mine own, Hyoudou Issei."
The angel blinked. It was her own? "W-Who is the father?"
With no hesitance she answered, "His father? Hyoudou Masaru, a human in Japan. Why? Is something wrong, Mittelt?"
The other female, Mittelt, a simple two winged angel, just gaped in utter shock. Gabriel had made utter love to a human without falling. That means-! "How did you not fall?"
She tilted her head, genuinely confused. "What do you mean?"
"I thought we aren't allowed to... have children."
It took a few moments for Gabriel to realize what the angel meant. "Oh! His mother is not me, but another woman. The [Brave Saints] worked on him, however, don't try on anyone else yet."
The angel eyes widened, however, she just turning and smiling brightly towards the oblivious child. "Issei, was it? I'm Mittelt, are you well?"
Issei nodded, feeling odd as he spoke, "I'm just not used to having wings."
Mittelt nodded, taking note of everything about the boy. "That's to be expected," she remembered when hearing/reading her more "recent" brethren were also having the same troubles. "But'll get better, especially since you have me." The girl proudly pointed at herself with her thumb. In pure Japanese, she added, "If you need anything, ask me, your Onee-chan, ne?"
Issei nodded, getting used to her presence. "I-I will, O-Onee-chan."
Issei then remembered a few things had Gabriel said.
He timidly started to ask, "Actually, O-Onee-chan... Can you... After I..."
Megumi was in the kitchen, her face adored a sad and pained look. The police said they vanished in thin air. No traces, no nothing-anything.
She was fixing dinner for Masaru before he got home, like a normal wife. He should be coming home any moment now... She didn't have anything else to do, either. The season was summer, and Issei was on Summer Break. So Issei would usually take all her energy and time, not that she minded.
She stopped herself before she got to deep in her memories with a sigh. That was what she was doing if she wasn't cleaning, cooking, or shopping.
*Knock Knock*
"Kaa-san!"
Megumi jumped, almost dropping the entire spoon into the boiling pot letting it sit on the edge. She knew that voice anywhere. "Issei!" She ran towards the door, her heart in her eyes and legs.
"Issei!"
She swung the door open, letting two figures into her vision. A blond girl, but it wasn't Gabriel she faintly noted, and her ever-cheerful son. "Kaa-san!" Issei jumped into her arms just as Megumi crouched down.
"Issei!" Her vision blurred for the hundredth time that week. Yet it was in pure joy and relief. "Issei!"
Mittelt stood, her shoe twisting and digging into the pavement. She wasn't too used to type of things happening before her. She felt awkward and as if she was interfering.
She was last angel as of before Issei, found in an abandon crib of sorts a few years back. Whether or not it was in time-stasis, was unknown. After all, she was an angel, not fallen, she should've fell because her parents should've fell baby-making ever since the Heavenly Father was... deceased.
A car engine veered behind her. Inside sat a bored-faced man, that was, until he laid eyes on his door step. "Issei?" He sped his way into his drive way.
"Megumi! Issei!" Only Mittelt took notice of the man, moving out the way, gaining a thankful nod from him. Masaru knew it wasn't that his wife and child was trying to ignore him, but were too busy crying happy tears and crying out to each other.
He gathered his family in his arms, tears letting themselves be known as they fell from his face. "...T-Tou-san!"
"Masaru! It's Issei! It's really him!"
In a great hug, a man and woman stood holding each other and their dear child. The houses neaby had heard the shouts of names and looked from their windows at the commotion, only to smile among the finally-united family.
"Kaa-san, Tou-san!"
Vorpal: Fairy Tail Reference somewhere in the beginning, twisted a bit. Thanks Mira.
So um... I decided to ease down my time on typing. My updating speed should be slower, I think. I dunno, it all depends when I type, how I feel and where I am. I should use the extra time for school...
Again, my style of writing was different then my usual. Why? I dunno, to be honest.
Ah, and Gabriel knows it's much better to heal with skin-ship that's what I meant by Rias wasn't wrong.
On the "wiki," Gabriel is easy-going, quick to forgive and blissfully ignorant. I felt like I'm going to be writing a Irina/Asia/Ophis fusion...
However, I feel as if I'm pushing Issei x Gabriel, which I'm not trying to, well, at least not too much if at all.
As for the "random" sadness, well, I guess it's almost over for now?
Raynare's intro was rushed, I realize, but either way, some canon events will happen a bit earlier not by much though, if you hadn't realize.
Mittelt's intro doesn't really belong to me, but to some person who PMed me and threatened to yell something... lol. Don't yell at me, NexusPrime42. However, she will not stay "pure."
As of now, I believe Asia will be in the harem. I don't really wish to make some OC and pair them up with others, or have Asia following him as a little sister character, cuz none of that really fit "me."
That said... Rias and the rest... I guess, they're the unwanted harem? Maybe Rias x Kiba... lol. Never seen that, not that I actually want to, I think?
I really look forward to writing Issei v. Vali, not that it's going to be soon. But, it'll be cool writing their differences, and fight, if not fights. I hope not to disappoint too much in the future.
...So yea...
'Til next update, ne?
[Words: 3,231]
"Happy Valentine's Day!"
Too early? Late?