Chapter Thirty-Seven - Moments of Respite
It was the squelching of tires against the muddy stone that got Vin to look up. Standing up from his spot on the porch of the lodge, he gently draped the towel he'd been using to dab away at his hair to the side.
Soon enough, a car pulled up to the property. A decent sized vehicle covered in black and tasteful red decals, including the iconic symbol of the Gremory family. One of the backseat doors clicked open as a red umbrella poked itself out the car, unfolding before finally, a woman stepped out of the cabin.
Dressed in the typical black and white furnishings of a maid, the servant gave Vin a professional bow. If she was at all put off by the state of her client, caked in mud and soaked to the bone, she made no show of it.
"Greetings, Master Vincenzo." The maid's tone was flat, yet never malicious, "We've been instructed to deliver you back to the Gremory Estate."
Vin nodded wordlessly, clutching his phone and earbuds to keep them as dry as he could while he made his way out from under the shelter of the veranda, and out towards the car in the rain. The maid elegantly stepped to the side to allow Vin to crawl into the vehicle's interior.
Immediately, the warmth of the car's heater set to work the chill out of his bones, like a blanket of warmth that slowly coaxed him deeper into the car. Only, Vin froze as he went to go sit down, staring down at the fine leather upholstered seats. Each one made with the finest craftsmanship… Holy hell, they must have been at least $50,000 each…
"Is something the matter, Master?" The maid poked her head into the car, "Is this transport not to your liking?"
"Oh! No, no, no, nothing like that!" Vin stumbled over his words, "Just… Should I really be sitting on these? I'm kinda filthy right now, and those look really expensive."
"Do not be troubled, Master. We'll simply clean the vehicle when we return. This is only one of one hundred and fifty transport vehicles of its kind owned by the Gremory family…"
Vin balked, "... O-One hundred and fifty?"
"Please take your seat, Master." The maid gently coaxed, "The sooner you're seated, the sooner we may begin our return voyage to the Gremory Estate."
"Right, right…" Vin swallowed the lump in his throat, and tried to at least pretend his soul wasn't dying inside when he planted his muddy and soaked body into the fine leather seat, it even squelching slightly as he did.
Silently, the maid entered the car after Vin, folding up her umbrella and giving it a quick shake before dropping into her seat beside him.
As soon as she shut the car door, the engine flared to life, and with a low rumble, the vehicle began to make its way down the wide mountain trail leading from the forest below to the mountain lodge where he'd once stayed.
Vin turned his gaze to the window, watching the rain splatter against the glass as they drove deeper into the rainstorm. The pitters and patters of the raindrops pelting the roof of the car lulling him into a quiet melancholy. He had shed his tears long before, and now all that was left was a dull, empty sensation set deep within his chest.
"Our approximate time till arrival is three hours and forty-seven minutes, Master." The maid informed.
Vin gave her a polite nod and thank you, before he returned his sights to the dusk settling in outside.
At least he had time to compose himself before he got there…
Vin honestly expected his return to the Gremory Estate to be rather discreet. He wasn't part of the alleged parade that Xenovia told him that she and the rest of Rias' Peerage had received when they returned to the underworld. Hell, he wasn't even a devil, so he honestly expected maybe a maid or a single butler to show up, if only to guide him to where he could clean up.
What he didn't expect was for an entire squadron of servants to meet him at the doorway with all the formality and coordination of inviting a crown prince back into his palace.
"Greetings, Master Vincenzo." All the servants bowed deeply at the waist, only prompting Vin to grow more embarrassed. He didn't deserve all of this, no, he was just a guy. He was barely a friend of Rias Gremory too. Honestly, his relationship with her was more acquaintances than anything.
Still, as two servants pulled open the massive double doors to the main entranceway and Vin was prompted inside, he was met with even more attention, another collective of servants awaiting his return, headed by a familiar figure.
"Ah, Miss Grayfia," Vin bowed at the woman, "Sorry that you're seeing me so… rough right now."
"It's perfectly fine, Master Vincenzo." Grayfia reassured, "Azazel contacted us a while ago to inform us of your stay. Was your voyage to your liking?"
"Absolutely," Vin gave her a small smile, before tracing her brief glance at his state of dress, "I just got caught in a bit of a storm before they arrived, that's all. Nothing that they caused, I promise."
Grayfia sighed, "Good, it would have been utterly shameful on our part to have caused such an inconvenience."
"Oh! He's here!" A young voice called out from deeper in the entranceway.
All eyes trailing to the top of the stairs at the other end of the entranceway's massive atrium to meet the smiling, excited face of one Millicas Gremory. Despite the waves of servants lining up the sides of the room, all taking bow to the young devil, he still ran towards where Vin and Grayfia stood with all the exuberance of a normal boy his age.
"Millicas, what have you been told about greeting guests properly?" Grayfia carefully nudged.
"Oh!" The child's face perked up in recognition, giving a small bow to the teen, "Greetings, Vincenzo."
Vin gave him a small grin. "Hello, Millicas."
"I must ask, how come you're so dirty?" Millicas asked. Damn, leave it to kids to be brutally honest sometimes, even when they're royalty. "Were you in a fight or something?"
"Millicas-!" Grayfia scolded with a frown.
"It's alright, Miss Grayfia," Vin waved her off, bending at the knees to get down to the young Gremory's eye level. "You're right though, I was in a fight."
"Cool…" Millicas stared in awe, before tilting his head. "Did you win?"
Vin reached out and ruffled the young Gremory's hair, "Something like that, Squirt."
Millicas stumbled back, a pout on his face as his hands came up to his hair to mix the ruffled and damp spot on the top of his head, a process that coaxed a good natured chuckle out of Vin.
"Millicas, please don't run away from a conversation like that-!"
Venelana Gremory followed her Grandchild down the stairs, widening her eyes in surprise when her sights landed on Vin, who stood back up with increasing awkwardness.
"Oh my, look at you dear, you're soaked to the bone!" Venelana proclaimed, turning to her servants, "Fetch the poor boy some towels! You over there, go tell the cooking staff to put on a pot of soup."
In an instant, the entire hall of servants scattered, everyone flanking off in different directions to fulfill their duties. They moved at such a graceful speed, elegant yet quicker than Vin thought possible. It was only a minute before he had a towel to rub himself down with.
"Let us show you back to your room," Venelana smiled carefully, "Would you like to eat in the dining hall, or back in your room, dear?"
Vin was reminded of the subtle weight of his cell phone in his pocket. He wondered if she was free right now, of all times… Well, he had to try, he just felt like he needed to talk to her, needed to hear her voice again.
"I'll take it to my room if you don't mind." Vin bowed his head.
"It's no bother at all." Venelana waved off, "Grayfia, could you show him back to his room?"
"Of course, Mistress Gremory." The silver-haired maid bowed.
"Wonderful." Venelana reached out towards her grandson, "Now Millicas, let's leave our guest to peace, alright?"
"Okay…" Millicas droned. The small prince turned to Vin with a small, adorable grin, "Good night, Vincenzo."
Vin cracked another smile, "Good night, Millicas."
"There you are." Grayfia carefully transferred the steaming bowl of soup from her serving tray onto the table, "If you require our assistance with anything throughout the night, do not be afraid to reach out to any of our staff. We have multiple servants patrolling the halls at all hours for that exact purpose."
"Of course, thank you Miss Grayfia." Vin nodded.
Satisfied, the woman nodded her head before pivoting on her heels and walking out of the room.
The second that Vin heard the click of his door, he trudged over to his desk's chair and slumped down. He felt tired, both in body and in mind. An accursed mix of apathy and lethargy clinging to his bones tighter than his still-wet clothing.
Eventually, the damp, itchy and overall uncomfortable sensation of his clothing got Vin to stand up, casually tossing off the waterlogged articles and throwing on a simple set of sleepwear from his bags. Better, a lot better.
Vin returned to his seat at his desk, the digits on his right hand slipping around the spoon provided to him. Taking a quick sip from the surface of the food, Vin cooed as the food filled his stomach and warmed his body.
Eyes trailing up to the rest of the table as he continued to eat, Vin's emerald eyes froze onto the sight of his phone. Humming, he snatched the device with his left hand, slowly turning it around in his hand.
Turning it on, Vin stared at the time, 9:48pm. The same time zone as Kuoh. So either they were directly under the town, or the underworld had its own time zone, and his phone was simply incapable of calculating it. Not that it really mattered.
Scrolling through his phone, he soon found his way to his messages app. If she was asleep, then he wouldn't want to wake her up, so instead Vin opened his conversation chain with Xenovia and fired off a quick message.
[Hey, are you awake?]
[Free to talk?]
Setting the phone back onto the tabletop, the teen reached out for his meal once more. However, before the next spoonful of his meal even reached his lips, his phone immediately started buzzing with the chime of his ringer.
"Vin?" The familiar tone of his girlfriend's voice filled the boy's ears, bringing a small smile to his lips.
Vin leaned back in his chair. "Yeah, I'm here Xenovia. How are you?"
"Sore." Xenovia grunted, "The Vir- I mean, Akane, worked me hard today. Probably harder than I've been worked by Griselda in years."
Memories of his own training flashed through Vin's head as he let out a low whistle, "That bad, huh? Still, is it helping?"
"I think so. Some of the more fine movements of Durandal are beginning to feel a bit smoother to do, but other than that, I'm still having problems with having it completely under control."
"Relax, you'll get it eventually." Vin reassured, "I can't possibly imagine how hard it is to even swing that massive thing anyway, let alone try to use it in an actual fight like you do."
"Thanks for the kind words, but I still have a ways to go…" Xenovia shook her head, "So, why did you call anyway? Ah! N-Not that I don't mind you calling me, but I sort of-"
"I get what you mean, Xenovia." Vin cut her off, before raising hand to massage the corners of his eyes. "I guess… I don't know, I did some stuff today that I don't feel too good about, so I kinda just want to… talk about I guess?"
"What happened?"
Vin sighed, "I got into a pretty bad argument with Akeno during training. It was a whole thing, and it got heated pretty quickly."
"...Was this about you being a Fallen Angel?" Xenovia asked slowly.
"Pretty much." Vin huffed, "I just wanted to try and figure out why exactly she was acting so hostile around me, and before I knew it, we both got into a screaming match."
"Tch, that bitch…"
"Whoa, whoa!" Vin did a double-take; he'd known Xenovia for over a year now, and this was the first time he'd ever heard her directly refer to someone, let alone her teammate, in such a way. "What's the matter?"
"You remember when you were kicked off the Gremory Train, and we all had to leave without you?"
"I try not to, but yes, I do." Vin joked.
"Well, pretty much as soon as you left, she started slandering you behind your back." Xenovia growled, "She called you a bunch of stuff… She accused you of being a spy sent by Azazel just to observe us. It's just so infuriating, you and her got along so well before, but all of the sudden she's just- UGH!"
"I know, I know, it's bad." Vin admitted, "But look, you guys are teammates, so maybe you should just drop it."
"Drop it?" Xenovia repeated, "Vin, I'm not going to drop that: I've known you for longer than her, I'm closer with you than her… You're my boyfriend, for heaven's sake! So of course I'm going to get angry when she goes ahead and starts talking bad about you!"
"I understand that, but unlike us, you guys are teammates, right? You need to be able to communicate with each other, and holding a grudge against her for stuff she said about me is only going to impede your ability to work together. How about you just let me be angry about the things she's said about me, alright?"
"..."
"Look, just think about that, okay?" Vin looked down at his bowl of soup, the wafts of steam long since vanished, "I have some dinner I got to get back to before it goes cold, so I'm going to have to say goodnight now, okay? I love you, Xenovia."
"... I love you too, Vin."
With a click, Vin set his phone back down onto the table, and slowly continued to finish his dinner. This entire situation had him all worked up, but he just needed to keep pushing forward, one day at a time…
Vin stood outside of the doors of his room with a nervous twitch in his step. Today was the supposed day where Vin would discover exactly why Azazel wanted Vin back in the Gremory Estate during this training camp, and the general lack of information certainly didn't do anything to help the small stem of anxiety growing in the pit of his stomach.
After attending breakfast, Vin had been informed that someone would be sent for him to escort him to his task for the day; so the teen wasted no time after the morning meal to desperately make himself as presentable as possible. After all, from the sounds of things, this 'task' was perhaps some sort of formal manner, and in the lack of any of his actual clothing, Vin had to graciously accept the clothing that the Gremory staff provided him: a simple collared shirt and a pair of suit pants. More semi-formal than anything, but still, it clung to his cut figure well.
Soon enough, after a half-an-hour battle in the bathroom between a bottle of hair gel and his naturally wild hair, Vin had managed to come out… half-successful? Okay, in truth, the battle was more of a stalemate than any form of victory, the edges and tufts of his hair still refused to properly be matted down by the gel, but at least he was able to get it out of his eyes, and that had to count for something, right?
And that brought him to now, leaning against the wall, silently counting the seconds as the ticks of some unseen grandfather clock echoed off the walls of the long corridor. Silently, he began to play out the lyrics to some song in his mind as the chime of the clock served as a rudimentary percussion. Until finally, a familiar voice graced his ears.
"Master Vincenzo," With graceful steps that never seemed to make a single noise, Grayfia approached the teen and gave a small bow, "I'm here to escort you to your destination."
"R-Right, thank you." Vin swallowed his fears, "Um… Lead the way."
So, step-and-step, the maid and teen walked along the corridors, crisscrossing through a variety of hallways and atriums that were scattered throughout the labyrinthian estate.
"So…" Vin eventually broke the silence, "What exactly am I going to be doing?"
"I apologize, Master Vincenzo, but I'm under strict orders to not disclose the purpose of your visit to you at this moment." Grayfia replied, never breaking kayfabe, "I do ask for your understanding."
"Right, right, of course…"
Well that certainly didn't help his anxieties either… Still, Vin could do nothing else besides continue following behind Grayfia, until eventually, the duo was met face-to-face with a great set of lacquered double-doors.
The silver-haired beauty swiftly made her way to one of the doors, pulling it open for the young man, who stepped through with a short and muffled thanks.
As he took a few steps inside, Vin's nerves quickly rose, until, as if his life had suddenly turned into a horror movie, the sound of the door clicking shut behind him made him jump.
"Ah, there you are!" A new voice beckoned Vin's attention, although, no, this voice was one that he'd heard once before…
Turning around, Vin looked over to a piano, and the well-dressed man with dignified, long, flowing scarlet hair, and gawked.
That was Sirzechs Lucifer.
That was the Sirzechs Lucifer.
Even in the confines of a room that only they occupied, the man still remained as graceful and untouchable as when he was at the table of a historical peace summit, surrounded by those he may have called his enemies some hundreds upon hundreds of years ago.
To say Vin was a little terrified was the understatement of the fucking millenia: the boy was about one 'boo!' away from straight-up shitting his pants.
"Pfft-! Ha-ha-ha-ha!" That was, until the devil king Lucifer himself began to burst out laughing. "Apologies, that reaction was priceless."
Vin's fear rapidly switched to utter bafflement, "Wha…"
"Oh, where are my manners? I should introduce myself properly now that we've met under more relaxed circumstances." The Maou got up from his seat, strode across the room and held out his hand, "My name is Sirzechs Lucifer, current holder of the title of Devil King Lucifer in the Underworld, but you can just call me Sirzechs; it's nice to meet you, Vin."
Almost in shock at what he was seeing, Vin slowly moved to reciprocate the handshake. "Uhhh… I'm Vin, it's… It's a pleasure to meet you, Sirzechs Lucifer."
"Oh, come now, just Sirzechs is plenty!" The crimson-haired satan reassured. "After all, for the foreseeable future, we're partners!"
For the second time in the last two minutes, Vin's brain screeched to a halt.
"Partners?"
"Yep!" Sirzechs smiled. "I should probably explain… You see, we faction leaders are working on a little bit of a… let's say pet-project at the moment."
"Define 'pet-project'."
"We're working on making a television series, and it's called…" Sirzechs ran off to the piano, grabbing a rolled up poster from the top of the instrument, and then proudly unfurling it in his hands. "The Adventures of Oppai Dragon!"
What met Vin was something he couldn't ever anticipate. The poster featured the same bright-red armor that Vin had seen Issei adopt in his fight against Vali at the Peace Summit, posed dramatically with its arms outstretched to the sky, his hands curled in claw-like grips, grasping greedily at handfuls of the air. At the very top of the poster lay the suggestive, endowed image of an underboob, expanded to giant properties to fill the width of the poster. All around, were mixes of crazy lights, confetti, and blazing fires.
It might have been the single most stupid image Vin had ever laid his eyes on in his life.
"Sirzechs… What the hell am I looking at?"
"The promotional poster for our new show?" Sirzechs tilted his head in confusion. "Why is something the matter with it?"
A snort escaped Vin's nose as he tried to reign in his laughter.
"No, no problems at all… Just… Caught off guard is all. So, what do I have to do with…" Vin waved a hand at the poster. "This."
"Ah, I should have explained that." A smile returned to Sirzech's face. "Part of developing this production includes making an opening song for the show. Azazel told me you were capable of playing instruments?"
Vin followed Sirzechs hand as the Maou directed his attention to the far wall: a myriad of instruments lined up neatly like soldiers, rank and file. "I wasn't sure which you played, so I got the house to bring in a tiny sampler of everything from our archives.
"THIS is a sampler?!" Vin thought incredulously. Seriously, the sheer amount of instruments present was more than enough to equip an entire marching band!
"I can use any of these?" Vin turned back to Sirzechs.
The man at the piano nodded. "Of course! Grab an instrument, and come over here."
Vin paced up to the long aisle of guitar stands: each and every one looked immaculate. All forms of different makes, models, and brands stretched before him.
How the hell was he even going to pick..?
Gremory Territory
"HYAH!"
Xenovia swung the massive weight of Durandal's blade down onto the black-haired mercenary, a move that all but ensured that the poor woman under the blade would be crushed.
Yet as the Vermillion Star's Katana rose to meet the legendary blade, it held strong. The sparks of grinding steel crackling in the air as their weapon's locked.
However, it didn't remain that way for long, as Akane quickly shifted to the side, letting the mass of Durandal's blade slide down her blade effortlessly. As soon as her katana was free, she scraped the blade up the inside edge of the holy blade, poised to slash Xenovia in the throat.
"-Erk!" Shifting her hands apart on the long handle of her sword, Xenovia brought the grip up to her face just in time, as the open area of its hilt blocked the offending edge from severing her head from her shoulders.
Giving the blade a kick with the inside of her left foot, Xenovia twirled the massive sword, forcing Akane to leap back, lest her sword be knocked from her grip.
Now on the offensive, Xenovia lowered her sword to her right side: calling on the speed of her Evil Piece before taking off like a rocket, designed towards Akane at breakneck speeds.
Although she was barely more than a flash, Xenovia was shocked to find that by the time she reached Akane, the woman already had her katana raised to parry the massive, telegraphed upward swing she was rearing up for.
… Too bad that wasn't the plan in the first place.
Instead of swinging in that massive arc, Xenovia kept charging, using the pommel of her sword like one would charge with a lance, the knight watched in grim satisfaction as the rounded guard of her sword swept Akane's blade to the side; and with a satisfied crunch, Durandal's meaty pommel bashed into the woman's cheek.
Now that the woman was dazed, Xenovia indulged the desire to unleash a haymaker of a slash, cleaving the area before her with Durandal's full might.
It clashed with Akane's last-minute guard, but the sheer impact forced the woman to go soaring back like a baseball, landing in a skid some thirty feet away.
"Alright, we'll stop there for now!" Akane called, sheathing her weapon.
"Ah~" Xenovia relaxed, all the wound-up tension in the body undone, while the adrenaline began to slow its flow.
"That was a clever move you devised there." Akane complimented. "People seem to think that the only dangerous part of a sword is the blade itself, so using techniques like that do wonders in catching your opponent off guard. You're developing a good grasp of your weapon, and your control over Durandal is clearly improving as well. "
"Thank you." Xenovia bowed.
"Think nothing of it, it's all your effort at the end of the day. I'm just trying to guide you in the right direction. You're the one who's actually putting it all into practice." Akane waved off. "Now, go stretch, take twenty to get a drink and then we'll dive into some drills together."
Nodding, Xenovia let Durandal dissipate into a burst of light as she walked off to the tree where her sweat towel and water bottle lay in wait. Rubbing her forehead with the fabric, Xenovia couldn't help the small, satisfied smile that began to creep onto her face.
No matter how old she was, nothing could dull how good it felt to just… improve. There was nothing quite as rewarding as progress like that.
A flash of excitement sparked up in her as well. Truth be told, she couldn't wait to get back and see how everyone had progressed themselves. Especially if she was proceeding this fast herself…
"...We're getting nowhere here Zechs." Vin groaned, slumping over the guitar that rested on his lap. "We need to figure out a bridge for this song already."
"Indeed…" Sirzechs scratched at his chin, before his digits returned the piano with a start. "Oh! How about this?"
"~Oppai are forever~."
"~Oppai are amazing~."
"~WE~"
"~LOVE~"
"~OPPAI!~"
Sirzechs turned back to Vin expectedly. "Aaaaah~? Great, right?"
"No. Just… No." Vin sighed.
"Do you have any better ideas?" Sirzechs puffed.
Vin scratched his scalp for a moment. Fingers hovering mindlessly over the frets of the instrument.
"I got nothing." Vin hung his head.
"Maybe we need to take a break." Sirzechs admitted as he gazed at a pocket watch he procured from his breast pocket. "We've been at this for nearly six hours now, after all. We made good progress at least."
"Mhm, yeah, I guess we did." Vin absentmindedly agreed.
Sirzechs turned around. "Something on your mind?"
"Oh, no, it's nothing." Vin deflected.
"Really, I insist."
"Alright then," Vin looked down to his guitar. "I suppose that… I don't know, I just said some things the other day and I made someone really, really pissed off."
"Akeno?"
"Yep." Vin sighed. "I finally got to know the reason that she hates me, and it all seemed so… I don't know, pathetic? No, that sounds mean. Maybe outlandish? I basically said as much to her face, and it kinda blew up on me."
"I see." Sirzechs nodded carefully. "Do you regret anything you said?"
Vin looked up to meet the Maou's gaze. "No. No, I meant every single word that I said to her."
"Of course." Sirzechs shuffled in his seat. "Vin, can I tell you a story?"
The devil king took the teen's nod as a cue to continue.
"When I first became the Maou Lucifer, I was still young, inexperienced. I had the body of a man, and all the power I could ask for, but not the life experience to quite match. So, when the conservative, traditionalist devils saw me rise to a position of such power… Oh, the outrage was everywhere."
Sirzechs' smile turned wistful. "I remember that you couldn't go ten minutes in the underworld without it being brought up. People said I was slandering the legacy of the Morningstar himself; that I was going to run the underworld into the ground, that I'd be assassinated by the end of my first month. Frankly, it terrified me, can you imagine that? A devil king, the Maou Lucifer, fretting endlessly about how the population thought of him?"
"I can't quite imagine." Vin shook his head.
"It's true though: there wasn't a single day that went by when I didn't worry about how to get my own people to like me? But that's when I realized something, Vin: you can try as hard as you want for as long as you want, but some people will always dislike you, hate you, loathe you for reasons you can never understand: so why should you spend your life ever worrying about that?" Sirzechs questioned. "Why not spend your time more productively? Surround yourself with people who like you and support you for who you are, and stop giving the people around you a reason to think they're winning against you. It's too easy to give into that hate, Vin, so why even humor it? The important thing I found is that if you can find common ground with one another, then there's no reason to worry. People's opinions will stay their opinions, positive or negative."
Vin sat there, eyes wide, stunned to silence. "I-I… Uh…"
Sirzechs stood up and placed a hand on Vin's shoulder. "Just a little food for thought, okay?"
Despite staying in the Gremory Estate for the entirety of the training camp so far, Rias hadn't gotten a moment of true, unadulterated rest yet. It was only now, after Koneko had apparently collapsed due to overexhaustion that she'd been able to set her training aside and just… wander for a while.
Issei had come earlier that day, picked up by Azazel himself, not only to check on Koneko, but to apparently do some secret project that even she, his King, was allowed to be disclosed about just yet.
Azazel's words, not her own.
She sighed, it had been quite a few months since she moved into Issei's house. Between sleeping with the Pawn, attending classes at Kuoh Academy, and other activities with her peerage members, she could scarcely recall a time where she'd been alone.
Training was one thing. If she was off studying or practicing, then she'd have a goal, a purpose, there was a clear ending point in sight, something to really latch onto. But when was the last time she'd even been alone like this? No one around her, no purpose to her wandering?
It was a strangely serene experience prowling the dimly-lit halls that made up the more obscure corners of the Estate at this time of night; far removed from the service and bedchambers of the left wing and into the more recreational rooms that made up the right side of the mansion.
Dressed in just a baggy, faded T-shirt for an old Rom-Com anime she'd watched years ago and a pair of checked grey sweatpants, she padded through the plush, carpeted halls of the manor barefoot; a look her family's staff had seen her in countless times over the years.
*HYAH-! KCH!*
Rias paused, her enhanced hearing causing her ears to perk up at the muffled, muted noises that haunted the halls.
*PCOOOOOH!*
The whistle of something flung through the air. Like a bloodhound locked onto a scent, Rias started to speed-walk in the direction of the sound's growing volume.
*PING! PING! PING! PING! PING! PING! PING! PCHOOOOOOO-*
*GYAH!*
Rias stopped for a second as the noises stopped. What happened? The devil's natural curiosity went into overdrive.
*H-Holy SHIT! I actually did it!*
There! The noise again. Definitely talking. Rias looked ahead, the pieces locking in her brain.
The sparring arena, of course.
*Alright, again. Gotta make sure this isn't a fluke, right?*
*HYAH!*
*PCHOOOOOOH! PING!*
Rias opened the doors to the large chamber, slipping on a pair of rental sandals the staff ensured remained well stocked in the entrance way. With no hesitation, she moved through the changing rooms, and opened the door to the hall itself.
*PING!* PCCCHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOH!*
The first thing Rias saw when she came in was a mass of golden, crackling light.
*THUNK-!*
Hackles raised, Rias turned to her head to see the volatile light spear embedded deep into the stone not fifteen inches away from her head.
"OH FUCK! I'M SO SORRY!"
Wide-eyed, Rias turned to see the perpetrator of the sudden and possibly accidental sneak attack.
"Vin? Why are you here at this time of night?"
"I wanted to blow off some steam: plus, I had a few theories I wanted to test."
"Your testing includes throwing light spears at whatever person comes through these doors?"
"That was an accident." Vin reiterated. "What I'm actually experimenting with here is my Sacred Gear."
"How so?" Rias raised a brow.
"Do you remember how in our fight against Kokabiel, we somehow got him to blow his own wing off?"
"Yes, I recall it vividly."
"Well, I was never sure how that actually happened, but then I realized something:" Vin's emerald eyes twinkled with a manic energy. "I make crystals."
"..." Rias stared at the boy, "Yes, I'm well aware of that Vin, but what does that have to do wi-"
"No, no, no, Rias: it's crystals, look at the composition!" Vin widely waved his hand around to the spires of crystals dotted around the dusty field. "See that little shine to them? They may be a milky white at the center, but they have a clear surface! They can refract!"
Now that was intriguing. "So you mean to imply that Kokabiel blew his own wing off-"
"Because I accidentally reflected his light spear back at him? YES, EXACTLY!" Vin finished. "Actually, wait, it's perfect that you're here!"
"And why is that exactly?"
"Here," Swinging his right arm up, Vin summoned a large crystal a few feet from the two. "Use your magic destroyer powers on that thing!"
"Magic-Destroyer-Powers? It's called the Powers of Destruction." Rias puffed out her cheek.
"Tomato Tah-mato, can you shoot your magic at the rock, please?"
"Fine." Raising her hand, Rias sent a basketball sized orb of crackling crimson at the rock, which upon contact blasted a hole straight through the mineral like a hole punch. "Happy?"
"So that eliminates more intangible forms of magic… Only lights working so far…" Vin mumbled. "Okay, I have an idea!"
"You seem to be full of them tonight." Rias rolled her eyes.
"You want to train your magic powers, right?" Vin p\ondered. "And I want to get a feeling for trying to refract these light spears of mine. You can erase light spears with your magic, right?"
"Of course I can."
"So how about we do a little exercise together? I refract my light spears, and then you use your magic to try and erase them after!" Vin proposed. "C'mon, it's a win-win! You train your aim against moving targets and you get to burn off some steam too. What about it?"
Truth be told, she had been feeling a little bit antsy after not getting to do much for the day; plus the shot of adrenaline pumped into her earlier still swam fresh in her system…
"I might as well then." Rias waved her hand, a magical circle spreading around the base of her legs, prepared to change her outfit into something more suitable.
…
Wait.
Rias' cheeks flushed for a moment as she realized the potential blunder she was seconds away from enacting: "T-Turn around for a sec. I'll tell you when you can look."
Vin perked up, "Oh! Right, right, go ahead!"
Rias breathed a sigh of relief once the boy's back was facing her. That was better.
"Okay, you can turn around now."
Vin pivoted on his heels, facing the Gremory Heiress: now clad in a far more appropriate pair of gym shorts, and t-shirt. Her hair now done up into a ponytail to avoid it falling into her face.
"There you go!" Vin flashed her a smile and a pair of finger-guns. "Digging the ponytail, by the way: it looks good on you."
Rias let out a breathy chuckle. "Of course you'd think that."
"Got me there." Vin laughed back. "Alright, you ready?"
In a flash of light, he donned Crystal Weaver, and not too long after, the air filled with the warm hum and buzz as a light spear of crackling energy sparked into existence from his palm.
Rias allowed herself a small smile, her hands becoming cloaked in balls of her signature crimson magic like a pair of rudimentary gloves.
"Always."
Hey guys… It's… um… Yeah, it's been a while, huh?
I know a fair amount of you may have believed this fic was dead, and for good reason, but I hope that I can assure you here that it's most certainly NOT. I have so many plans for both the current arcs and the far, far, faaaaar future of the fic as a whole, so I want to do everything I can to make sure those come to fruition.
But I also have University, and it's very demanding of your time.
So while future updates may be slow (think once a month, maybe), I want to stick with this and make sure you're not left with nothing for a super long time like this.
Truth be told, I really didn't want to declare this fic was on hiatus or anything, because the truth is, I've been making personal content for it almost every day since the last upload. Ideas, 3D VROID Models for a few of the cast members, more ideas - the works. So please don't think that DxD: Alternate has ever left my heart or mind because fuck man, it refuses to no matter what.
I've been talking about the fic constantly on the DxD Fanon Wiki Discord server as well, and got a lot of cool writer friends on that server, so hey, if you ever want to have a cool place to workshop ideas or talk DxD, maybe check that out sometime. You can find a link to it on the DxD Fanon Wiki itself: that little discord widget on the right side of the page.
Anyway, I want to update at that more conservative, but consistent pace, especially as I battle with regaining momentum in writing in my life while balancing time for friends and coursework.
I hope you're all excited for the future of the fic, and I really hope that you enjoyed this chapter: it was a long time spent writing it, but it was worth it! I know this chapter is still in the training camp, but we have maybe half a chapter more of the training arc content left to cover and then we're back to the action with the action!
P.S. Thank you once again Crimcrom for letting me use Akane, she's such a treat to write for sometimes. You guys should check out his stuff, by the way: it's top-notch.
Leave a review telling me what you liked and what you're looking forward to in the future of the fic the most! And hey, if you haven't already, maybe consider leaving this fic a follower or favorite to show some support and get updated when I update the fic! Both of these really do a great job at giving me a good idea of what people like and always serve to really put some creative fuel in the tank for writing this!
Have a great one guys, and until next time...
ROCK ON!
God, I've missed doing that.