Disclaimer: I don't own Highschool DxD.

Awake and Alive

"So, it happened," Yasaka said with pursed lips and a frown on her face. She didn't look happy to see that he'd won a fight against another Longinus, it seemed. Not that Joshua blamed her though. He could take a guess about what she was thinking and it was likely along the lines of "why'd you stupidly put yourself in danger like that?" or some such. Not that she'd voice that, since they all knew the answer.

"Yep," he replied, his somber expression contrasting the casual way he answered. "It was… not as bad as I thought it'd be," he added, receiving an unimpressed raised eyebrow from both Yasaka and Serafall. "What? It wasn't," he argued, feigning being insulted.

"We'll still have words about this, Josh," the Satan said ominously. "But I guess we gotta talk about the fire in the room, huh?" she said, twisting the saying as then all turned to look at the purple flames that floated about around Joshua. He'd tried to store them in a spell or something like that, but it was no use. It just kept burning through everything until it continued sticking close to him… thankfully without burning him in the process.

"Any plans?" Yasaka asked, tilting her head. "I'm surprised you haven't taken it for yourself, actually."

"I mean, that's an idea, certainly," Joshua commented, leaning back on his seat and taking a deep breath in.

"But?" Serafall prodded, to which he smiled wryly. Of course they knew him better by then.

"But I don't think I need it, which means I might have better use for it giving it to someone else," he explained, bringing his cup of tea to his lips. There was also the fact that the Quest he'd gotten said finding a wielder, and while one could say that it might apply to himself too, he didn't want to risk that kind of loophole too quickly. After his research of Oaths, Joshua wasn't too confident in loophole abuse when it came to supernatural things. "I'm not discarding that option though."

"Well, we devils wouldn't say no, I can tell you that~," Serafall commented playfully as she extended a hand towards Incinerate Anthem's flame. It made Joshua nervous, but he knew that she likely wouldn't be too hurt unless there was an actual attack involved and a lot of power. "But it doesn't seem to like us. Or me, at least," she added when the purple flames seemed to shy away from her, moving in an ironic flowing motion towards the other side of his body. The Satan then proceeded to pout childishly at the fire while he chuckled lightly.

"Shocking," Yasaka said with a flat tone. "I could say the same for my people, but there's something to be said about giving it to the Church and Heaven. It'd certainly earn you the most favor from that faction. They were always very proud and very eager to get their hands on their holy artifacts," she reasoned thoughtfully, which had him nodding. It was something that he'd considered himself, after all.

"Maybe straight to Heaven. Their Civil War might be… progressing, as it were, but I still don't trust the Church this much," Joshua commented. unsure. "I thought about some others, like House of Water and such, but… It'd help, for sure. I'm just not certain that it'd be the best use of this."

"Probably wouldn't," Yasaka agreed with Serafall joining in with a nod. "You could maybe reach out for a new faction to get on your side and this would be a great way to do such a thing. However-"

"Doing this out of the blue would be a bad idea," Serafall finished for her, suddenly serious. "Something to keep in mind though. There's no need to rush things… unless you can't get Incinerate Anthem off of you. Purple flames aren't that common, especially because there's no easy way to explain them always being on you and you can't hide them."

He grimaced at that, but it was a great point. He'd tried to put illusions over Incinerate Anthem, and the Sacred Gear had swiftly burned through them. So, he was kind of stuck with the Longinus floating around him, reminding him of Nagini when she'd been smaller and curled around his body, but at a slight distance.

"I think I'll try to make a spell or an array that'll help keep it in one place instead of around me at all times," Joshua replied, looking at the flames. When he said that, he was almost positive that it was reacting to what happened around it. It had, after all, made some sort of twitching motion that contrasted with its previous smooth curling around him.

It did that kind of thing a lot, Joshua had noticed quickly. Just like when Serafall had extended her hand towards it and it had more or less flinched away. Or when he'd cast the first illusion over it and it had seemed almost offended as it burned the spell away. Or in general when it moved around him almost affectionately.

That was giving him ideas.

"If I can do something like that or hide it or something, I might just see if it reacts well to someone and go that way," Joshua commented and Incinerate Anthem seemed to slow down a lot, almost stopping. "It seems to have a will of its own, even according to the information I had about it before I got it. That seems more and more evident as I watch it. So… It might just choose for itself and we are scheming for nothing."

"...That'd both simplify and complicate things," Yasaka commented, to which he nodded in agreement. It'd make it much simpler to find someone, if not easy. However, it had a lot of potential to make things complicated depending on who it chose.

"Since when have things been simple for Josh though," Serafall said then. The grin on her face seemed to widen when he directed a glare towards her.

[}-o-{]

Setting up an array to keep Incinerate Anthem in place was… surprisingly easy. Joshua had been prepared to have to make some calls and excuse himself while he stayed in a room away from most people… But nothing of the sort happened. The purple flame was separated from him and floating around idly in a matter of hours.

What he'd done to achieve that was simple… and maybe a little silly. First, he'd made an array that used entirely his own magic energy. Second, he'd made an illusion of his Life Energy as best he could. Third of all… he'd asked the Sacred Gear to stay put.

Maybe it shouldn't have felt as out there as he thought it did, considering his weapons and his familiars and such. It still felt weird to talk to what was basically just fire. Holy fire, but fire anyway. 'This world will never not be weird, will it?' he thought, looking at Incinerate Anthem and considering some things about it.

He didn't know how to really go about looking for a wielder for it. As he'd discussed with Serafall and Yasaka, maybe it'd be better to just let it choose someone. However, for that to happen, he had to present it with people to choose from and that's where the problem laid.

Joshua almost wished the Sacred Gear would have continued to be stuck with him. At least that way he'd have been able to just walk around with it until Incinerate Anthem latched onto someone. Now, he'd have to see who to bring to check himself and that was a whole lot of trouble of its own.

"Things just can't be simple, can they?" he asked, and the Longinus floating around in front of him twirled. Joshua got the impression that it was like a childish giggle, for some reason. Cheshire, by his side, seemed to agree with that mental picture and that was enough confirmation for him. Thus, he sighed. Of course the ridiculously powerful Sacred Gear would be childish. Why did he expect differently?

And yet, he couldn't help but smile anyway.

"Well, we'll see what we can do, yeah?" he commented, extending a hand and letting Incinerate Anthem lick harmlessly at his fingers. It was a surreal experience, especially after witnessing what that same purple fire could do. However, it was also… nice. 'I really do have a soft spot for children, I guess,' he mused with a grin. "For now, I have to go, but Cheshire will keep you company," he commented, moving his hand to pet his tiger familiar's head.

Incinerate Anthem seemed to reach towards the feline from the cradle of spells he'd made for it as much as it could, as if peering curiously. Ultimately, it sagged a little, but it didn't seem to take those news too badly, at least. That was a relief. The last thing Joshua needed was the Sacred Gear throwing a tantrum. That didn't sound like fun at all.

Sharing a look with Cheshire, he moved to leave. He'd likely have at least one of his familiars guarding the thing at all times, even if it was in his home where the defenses were at their strongest. He was more worried about Incinerate Anthem getting out than he was about anyone else getting in, really.

"Now what?" Raynare asked once he stepped past a few corridors and rooms. He trusted her, somewhat, definitely more than he did the others and Kuroka, if not by much. However, he didn't trust her nearly enough to let them anywhere near Incinerate Anthem. They obeyed because he was stronger and maybe because he could help them.

If they were given the chance though, he was sure they'd try to kill him or stir trouble some other way. No, he wasn't going to risk that. Joshua would much rather try someone more trustworthy.

The problem was that he didn't have that many people in that list to try, really.

He wasn't what one would call a social butterfly and that was going to bite him in the ass now. The Egyptians were out, from what he could pick up. They didn't seem to care for it, for whatever reason.

The devils were a last resort, at best.

The Youkai could be, he supposed, but he'd rather not give Kunou such a weapon and Yasaka didn't even seem to want it at all. Joshua was fairly sure that trying might get her in trouble with her own Pantheon. Maybe if she asked for it for someone else in her faction? But that was a big maybe.

House of Water and his star students were a possibility, he supposed, but not a very solid one.

There were Jeanne and Asia, of course, but they already had their own Sacred Gears and he didn't want to risk that causing trouble for them. He remembered Saji getting a bunch of them in canon, but that was because they were all related to the one he already had. On that note, he supposed there was Issei too, but his case was even worse, since his Gear already had a consciousness of its own. There was Aika… But it was at that moment that Joshua realized he was kind of grasping at straws, really.

Not that he was dismissing her or anything, but…

"Now, we find another objective," he answered Raynare's question. There was no rush to give Incinerate Anthem away. For the moment, he had a lot of things to think about. One such thing was what to do with the time he'd alloted to Hexennacht, because they were likely to fall apart without Walburga.

Now, Joshua thought he could just sic House of Water on them and let them destroy what little remained of the association. There was little need for him to be involved anymore now that the strongest member was down. Khaos Brigade likely wouldn't care overly much for a branch of it that was now basically in shambles. He predicted that they'd be more likely to just drop them like a hot potato and move on to something else.

Which meant that Joshua had to find some other way to hurt the terrorist organization.

Fortunately, he had some ideas.

"And train," Raynare added, making him chuckle. She did have a one track mind, he knew. It was one of her redeeming qualities, he supposed. Because she loved getting stronger and that was something that he could very easily provide for her in a number of ways. That, in turn, meant that he could have a measure of control over her, which was appreciated.

"And train," he agreed with a nod, drawing a feral grin from the woman.

[}-o-{]

"So, lay it on me, young man," Soren told him sitting across the table from him. The man's wife was sitting by his side with his two daughters on the other. Then there were Sirzechs and Ajuka sitting to each side of the table and Joshua sat alone across from the Sitri family.

"As I said when I called this meeting. I think I have a method to slow down the progress of the Sleeping Disease and likely reduce the chances of randomly falling into the semi-permanent sleep that it's known for," he explained carefully, trying to be as specific as possible. "There's, however, some less than desirable results that are a possibility and I want you to be aware of them before I even try anything, of course. We can delay this if you need time to think it over or feel like they are too much."

"What would they be?" Lady Sitri asked, gripping the hand of her husband a little tighter over the table.

"So, first I have to give you an idea of what I'm going to do," he started answering, taking a deep breath in. "After inspecting the disease and its effects, I'm fairly sure that the main effect is that it slows down the natural movement of the magic, which causes all sorts of problems, like decreased recovery that ends in an absolute halt on it. Another one would be an increased expenditure of magic energy too, along with a sluggish feeling when using it and other things."

"That… checks out," Soren said slowly, not only because he was considering what Joshua said, but also because of the effects of the disease on him too. Joshua didn't even need Life Sense to know that the state of the man affected his family a great deal.

"So, what I'm going to try and do with an array of spells is help counter this symptom, basically speeding up your magic. I can't perfectly match the Sleep Disease's effect, but I can assuage some of the problems that it causes for the moment. It's not a cure, I want to make that clear, it's merely a momentary stopgap. It wouldn't have any effect on someone that's already fallen asleep," he explained, trying to be as direct with everything as he could. "But it should help people like you either not fall asleep at all or at least slow the process or reduce the chances."

"That's more than we had before," Soren breathed out, drawing a grimace from his wife and his youngest daughter. Serafall didn't react, but the grave expression on her face might as well have been the same thing. "So, these possible problems you mentioned… What are they?"

"For one, you know that my area of expertise is on domain magics, which means that my spells will cover an area and nothing outside of it. If I cast this spell over your home, then it'll only have effect here," he explained, taking another deep breath in. He wanted to be professional about this, but this was Serafall's father, which made things complicated. As if Joshua didn't have enough trouble talking with people at all without that pressure over his head. "The problems with this are more than just the evident, however. If you leave, there might be more than just the Sleep Disease continuing its cycle. I have no way of knowing how it will react to the effects of my spell. It might do something… drastic once you are outside and maybe even as soon as I try to counter it."

"And you have plans in place for that latter case," Ajuka said, probably the one who understood what Joshua was talking about the best. He'd gone as far as giving the man files detailing the whole idea just so he'd have a second opinion on it all. "How'd you even find a spell that speeds up magic or even manipulate it?" the Satan asked then, tilting his head.

"I didn't," Joshua answered with a shrug. "I just modified the Draining Ward and similar spells into what I needed," he explained, drawing a slow blink from the green-haired devil.

"... From the Draining…" he mumbled slowly before turning his attention back to the files he'd been given and reading through them, his eyes darting around. "How'd you… Of course, the energy manipulation… The difference between that and this though… I can barely-"

"Back to the matter at hand, please," Serafall said curtly, drawing a quick nod from Joshua and startling Ajuka out of his distracted state. 'Is that what I usually look like when spellcrafting?' Joshua wondered idly.

"Right. I have plans for some scenarios I thought about, but it'll be touch and go. I'll probably need to do a lot more testing once it's set up and it could limit your life to the area covered by the spells. I don't even know if you could move to other areas under the same effects without something happening," Joshua continued explaining. It sounded very bad when said like that but… Well, the situation was kind of bad. He didn't have a solution for Sleep Disease yet, but he was working on it and if he could offer some reprieve to the Sitri family, he wanted to offer it instead of making them wait for however long it took him to make the cure.

"I see," Soren replied, turning to have a long, silent conversation with his wife… Unless his wife had some kind of telepathic power, which could be the case. With devils – and supernatural beings as a whole –, one never knew. "... Go ahead then."

"... You can take more time to consider, Soren, there's no need to-"

"Joshua," Lord Sitri interrupted, softly but firmly. "I live in fear of falling asleep and not waking up. My family lives in fear of me falling asleep and not waking up. If the price I have to pay to have at least some reassurance for them and for myself from that is that I'm confined to my spacious, opulent home where my family lives and my friends can visit… I think I can live with that," the devil told him, giving him a slight smile. "It'll probably cause some trouble when it comes to meeting with other Lords and such, but fuck them."

"Dad!" Sona exclaimed, but everyone that knew her could see that her heart wasn't in it.

"Ok… I'll see what I can do then, Soren," Joshua replied, pursing his lips and nodding. "I have everything ready, just-"

"Then you can do it right now?" the Lord said, making him sigh while the devil smirked. He was starting to realize that it wasn't so weird that Serafall was as she was, evidently.

"I can," he answered with a nod.

So, less than an hour later, Joshua stood in what was by then the usual spellcasting room for him in the Sitri home. There, he stood mostly alone with Soren now. The floor was covered in as many preparations for spells as he could think of. There was a lot of sensing to make sure he didn't miss anything. There was the array to combat the Sleep Disease. There was room for more if he needed to improvise.

All was ready.

Sharing one last look with the Sitri Lord, he got a determined nod from the weary man.

Instantly, he got to work, casting all the information gathering spells first. Once everything was set, Joshua took a deep breath in and cast the array, the most important part and the one that would potentially cause things to get out of hand. The change was immediate in Soren, if not drastic. Joshua could easily pick up on the shift in the flow of the devil's magic.

Nobody moved for a moment, and it was a good thing. Just as imperceptible as the shift Joshua had caused was the one that came afterwards. If he were forced to put it into words, he'd describe what came after was the Sleep Disease trying to keep slowing down Soren's magic at the rate it had before without actually touching the acceleration he'd put on it. It was weird, awkward, and caused some erratic spasms in the energy inside the Devil.

From the looks of Lord Sitri, it wasn't pleasant, but he wasn't convulsing on the floor, so Joshua took that as a good sign. With things sort of alright, he took his time to observe and pick up on what was happening as well as possible. All the while, his mind worked on what to add to the array to patch up this new issue. He didn't want to take too long though, not when anything could happen.

Thus, he channeled Nephthys to go the extra mile.

Soon, he started setting up new spells to adjust the magic better, smooth over the edges that had been left and deal with the "spasms" as best he could. There was more information to be found there though, so even if he'd failed it would have been great progress. He hadn't though, which was the good part.

Joshua took a deep breath in as he waited for more stuff to happen. This was going much better than his worst case scenario though. If he could get this to progress, he might get a bunch of different tests done to get more data on the Sleep Disease. He could make adjustments to improve it and see if something else happened. He could progress all the way to "curing" him. Maybe he'd even stumble on the actual cure that way, but he rather doubted that. There had to be something more he'd have to do other than treat this particular symptom.

This was only the beginning.

"It seems to have stabilized," Joshua said after long, long minutes. "I'll keep a close eye on the feedback of the spells, but as far as I can see, there's nothing else to deal with right now. It's working as intended and the only unexpected effect I just dealt with," he explained, walking around while carefully avoiding all the spells set up. His eyes never left Soren, scanning him over as if trying to see if there was something he could physically see.

Just like magically, there was nothing.

He let go of Nephthys' divinity and relaxed.

"I feel different," Soren breathed out, looking at his hands as if doing so for the first time. "I don't feel as tired," he commented, which sounded like a very small thing but his tone belied how important it was for him.

"I'll continue working on it to make it better. Shouldn't take me long to have it giving you a full "recovery" from the weariness. From there… I'll have to keep looking for a cure," Joshua explained, not wanting to give false hopes. Chances were that he was still far from an actual cure, but he'd get there. For the moment, at least he could offer some reassurance to the Sitri family and maybe some other people in similar situations.

That would be nice and it'd also likely give Serafall and Sirzechs some more favor with their people, which would be a great plus.

"Thank you, Joshua," Soren said, walking up to him and placing his hand on his shoulder. "We are in your debt."

"No debts here," he denied instantly, because really, having the family of his… girlfriend? partner?... of Serafall owe him felt kind of scummy. He'd settle for them not giving the two of them trouble, which they didn't seem inclined to do anyway.

"You are a good man," Soren replied with a smile. It was a smile that he was familiar with. The one that said his words were ignored and the debt was a thing. Joshua wanted to sigh at that. "Now, I have things to do, but I do want you to know I'm very grateful," Lord Sitri continued, turning to the side to look at his very clearly happy and moved wife.

Joshua watched him go with said woman and his youngest daughter, his attention soon pulled to Sirzechs and Ajuka.

"I knew there was a lot to you when we met," the latter commented, still going over the files he'd been given. Then he chuckled and shook his head as he turned to look at Joshua directly, which had been a rare thing ever since his eyes had found the document pages. "I look forward to seeing what else you do, Joshua Davis."

And then he disappeared.

"Ajuka…" Sirzechs sighed, looking at where his fellow Satan had disappeared and deflating. "Thank you, Joshua. This will mean a lot to my people and I'll make sure to compensate you accordingly… or try, at least," the man said as he turned towards him, giving Joshua a wry smile. "For now… I have places to be, apparently."

"Appare-" Before Joshua could finish that, however, Sirzechs teleported away. With a confused tilt of his head, he looked around to see that the Sitri had left too and now there was only Serafall… "Oh," he mumbled, gulping at the sight in the woman's eyes.

It was almost as scary as it was exciting, he'd admit.

A nervous smile spread over his lips while he watched her stalk towards him.

And then her lips were on his.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How's it going?

I think I could have handled the transition between the first half of the chapter to the second better, but it's not terrible, I don't think.

So, there's the situation with Incinerate Anthem more or less explained. Wonder where that'll go, honestly. I'm unsure myself. I have some ideas, but my predictions are unreliable at best, I think.

After that, we have the progress with the Sleep Disease. Not something that seems to terribly excite people, but something that's important for Joshua. Besides, more favor with a faction is never bad, right?

As always, if you can't wait until next week for next chapter, there's up to three new chapters in my Pa tre on:

P a treon . com (slash) AdrianKing

Discord Link: discord .gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Anything in particular you'd like to get a peek on? I tend to have to balance a bunch of different plates in my stories and GoM seems to suffer from this more than any other. So, is there something you feel like I should show? Not something that you'd like to see happen, but something that's likely happening at the moment but just isn't shown because I focus on other things.

See you.