Here I come with the second chapter in a row!
Since there are no reviews, let's get straight to the chapter.
¡Enjoy!
"I was the only person who used that spear."
Raynare and Issei looked at each other. Their eyes reflected the disbelief they were feeling right now. Though more than disbelief, the feeling of confusion came over them.
"¿So the spear ended up discarding you?" The question on both of their minds was asked by Raynare, causing Dulio to click his tongue, pretending that those words had hurt him.
"Discard is a strong word." He commented in a dramatic manner, though he recovered instantly. "What happened is that I chose the spear, but the spear did not choose me." Those words confused the two even more. "As Azazel said, this weapon is powerful enough already on its own. And as you may know, the war against the Greeks was not the only one."
"¿Does that mean you were given the spear with the idea that you would help in that war?" Issei asked, earning a nod from Dulio.
"You make good deductions, Issei. I'm sure you've heard about the Three Factions War, so I won't go into details." Dulio commented, then raising one of his hands to emphasize his fingers, or rather, a ring between them. "How I could not control the spear in its entirety, we made an equivalent exchange with the Fallen to form an alliance against the Demons." The ring glowed after those words. "We exchanged the True Longinus for the second most powerful Longinus, this ring here. There were certain terms involved, but they weren't very important." Dulio folded his arms, sketching a toothy grin. "Anyway, what I mean is that I know some secrets about that spear. It's true that I never got to know its true potential because it refused to be used by me, but I can give you several tips if you ever need them." Dulio patted him on the shoulder a couple of times, receiving an awkward nod from Issei.
"I-I'll keep that in mind..." Commented the protagonist with a smile.
"Alright, with that said, I'll leave you two alone and wish you luck with that mission you mentioned." The man took his leave with a quick wave of his hand, to which the young men dismissed him with a nod.
"That guy is really weird..." Raynare whispered in his ear, watching as Dulio was calling Azazel to talk to him privately.
"Well, I don't think it's right for us to say that someone is weird." Issei stated, leaning back in his chair, something that drew a slight smile from Raynare.
"On that we agree."
_ CHAPTER 10: BROKEN MEMORIES _
Azazel stood outside the house, watching the artificial night calmly while smoking a cigarette. Next to him was Dulio, who was standing just like him.
"¿Can you smoke in the heavens?" Azazel asked, tossing the cigarette into a trash can.
"It's still forbidden." Dulio replied, expelling a puff of smoke.
"How boring."
"Too much."
"¿Well?"
"¿Well what?"
"I guess you didn't call me just to smoke."
Dulio didn't answer, all he did was close his eyes as he enjoyed expelling that last puff of smoke.
"It's about the boy." Dulio continued with his typical smile, although this time he looked quite different, as if he was a different person.
"¿What's wrong with him?" Azazel leaned against the wall, not taking his eyes off the artificial sky.
"He has great determination. I've never seen anything like that in anyone, not even Michael himself, or his fellow Seraphim..."
"¿But?" Azazel interrupted him, causing Dulio to close his eyes as he widened his smile.
"But he needs more than that now that he's become the Messiah." Dulio tossed the cigar in the trash. "I don't know what your other Sacred Gear is, but besides determination, he'll also need motivation. That can only be found with good friends, and with great rivals." Azazel just laughed after hearing that.
"He already has some amazing friends, I can attest to that. As for rivals, he has a great wall to overcome." Those words made Dulio look at him.
"¿Is it that heartless bastard he spoke of?" Dulio placed another cigarette in his mouth, then lit it with a small flame appearing over his finger. "¿May I know who this is about?"
"Surely you know him, his name is Raiser Phoenix." Azazel's answer made Dulio look at him sideways.
"¿The Heir of the Phoenix Clan?" Dulio couldn't help but scoff with a click of his tongue. "¿You call that a wall? With the True Longinus he'll turn it into a roast chicken before he even realizes it." Azazel couldn't help but laugh at Raiser's peculiar way of mocking.
"You're right, but if you skip the steps you can take a very hard fall. The brat knows better and he's not stupid anymore." Azazel looked at him for the first time, to which Dulio was impressed at the suspicious smile he was giving him.
"...Though it wouldn't hurt to show him what's beyond a couple of steps."
_ LINE BREAK _
Grigori Forest
Several hours later...
"¿¡WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME SOONER!?" Ddraig shouted with great indignation after hearing the whole story.
"¿What do you want me to do? Once you go to sleep it's impossible to wake you up." Issei placed the spear over his shoulder as he looked at the gauntlet.
"Well..." Ddraig was forced to clear his throat. "It's also not very normal for someone to visit you at three in the morning." The Celestial Dragon defended himself.
"Even if you're right, the truth is that I find it rather odd that someone dead would need to take such long naps." Raynare stated, who sat down next to Issei.
"Act... ¡Actually, I don't need those naps!" Ddraig exclaimed with clear nervousness at being discovered.
"¿Then why do you do it?" The brown-haired man asked with intrigue.
"You see... I do it because dreams transport me back in time." Ddraig's tone sounded extremely nostalgic, something both Issei and Raynare understood. "Though I'm not saying spending time with you is boring, mate." The dragon returned to his usual tone after his words.
"I understand, you don't need to explain." Issei lifted his face with a slightly wistful smile. "There are times when I too would like to go back to the past..."
"We all do." Raynare stated with a slight sigh at the end.
"Speaking of the past, I now understand the reason why that bastard used such a low technique to lock me and Albion up." Those words caught the two's attention, something that cut through that somewhat depressing atmosphere that was brewing.
"That's right, I had already forgotten that God locked you in the Boosted Gear. But, I don't understand what you find strange." Issei commented with utmost curiosity.
"You're not very aware of the scales of power in this world. In fact, I think all brats like you are clueless." Those words only further piqued the two's interest. "The Primordial Gods are the most powerful beings in this world, the ones who created our world. Their power is practically unimaginable, not even the mightiest weapon would be able to replicate such power... except for that spear, but their story is quite unique from any other." The dragon clarified. "I and Albion were far from being able to achieve that power. Even so, God had a great deal of difficulty in stopping us. I understand now, since he intervened in our fight after the war against the Greeks."
"¿And how did that confrontation go?¿ You never told me about it?" Issei asked with utmost curiosity.
"Basically it was an all against all. The three of us were constantly looking for each other's weak points so we could take the victory." This made Raynare and Issei confused.
"Wait, ¿didn't you and Albion fight together to try and stop him?" The Fallen Angel asked.
"Of course we didn't. We probably would have beaten him if we did, but our pride was far more important than our lives." Replied the dragon with a wise tone, something his bearer did not share.
"No offense, but what they did seems stupid to me. I mean, they could still be alive now..." Issei commented, earning a derisive snort from Ddraig.
"It's only natural that you don't understand, you're not a dragon." Clarified the Celestial Dragon earnestly.
The chatter came to an end as they watched the rest of the team arrive.
Just as they did with Ddraig, they also explained to them everything that had transpired. But unlike them, Alan and Yung Len were not very interested in the fact that God was dead, since the Argentinian was never devoted to faith, while Yung Len all his life had maintained that God had abandoned him, although he was a little surprised that in reality he had not only abandoned him, but the whole world. Rick's case was different, as he was the only one who seemed to respect and believe in such divinity wholeheartedly.
Obviously everyone was surprised to learn that Issei was a living legend, but they decided to omit that point. After all, he had the potential to be one, but from afar it was apparent that he still had a long way to go to live up to everyone's expectations.
Although the story was interesting, everyone resumed their morning training. The rest of the day passed normally for the team, except for the Korean, who seemed a bit distracted, as if he had his mind on something else. That was something Issei could notice, but decided not to say anything about it.
The brown-haired man discovered that the spear had an affinity for lightning. Unfortunately, he was not able to discover more interesting things that day, except for some improvised attacks in order to create a new magical attack, something that exhausted him considerably, since, unlike the Dragon Shot, the lightning from the spear was difficult to manipulate because he had to give it shape and, above all, strength. In short, the shape and strength of a magical attack consumes much more magic than a normal attack. That didn't mean that the Dragon Shot was a normal attack, but the Boosted Gear helped a lot so that the attack didn't consume as much energy, unlike the spear. But that supposed flaw is more than overcome when Rick told him that it allowed him to manipulate the lightning element and the spear at will, something that was very rare to obtain coming from a Sacred Gear that materializes as a weapon.
_ LINE JUMP _
Grigori
In the night...
Issei gave a great sigh of exhaustion as he fell onto the bed. His gaze strayed to the nearby closet as the spear was positioned there.
"Sometimes I feel like I'm in a really crazy, eternal dream..." Issei thought aloud, that made Raynare peek her head out from the top bunk.
"I must admit that if I were in your place I wouldn't know what to do. It's like living a nightmare but at the same time it's like a dream fulfilled." Raynare stated with a small smile.
"Maybe it seems like a dream fulfilled to you because you were looking for strong Sacred Gears. In my case, it's neither one nor the other, it's just weird." Issei stated, settling his arms under his pillow. "Changing the subject, ¿didn't you notice Yung Len weird today?" That question surprised Raynare a little.
"Not really, although I did notice some anger in his attacks. I thought maybe he was taking the training a little more seriously." Raynare bowed her shoulders, causing Issei to mimic her gesture.
"I don't know, we should go find him tomorrow to ask him. Luckily his house is very close by." The brown-haired man stated with a smile.
"All the houses are close to this place. It's not like Grigori is a big city. It's more like a small town." Raynare commented graciously.
"That's a good point." Issei sank his face into the pillow. "Anyway, let me sleep. They've been cutting into my sleep at every turn these days." A smirk appeared on Raynare's face.
"¿What if I don't want to?"
"¿Are you going to start already?"
"You're like a baby: all the time crying."
"I take that back. My life doesn't feel weird, it's a fucking nightmare just having you by my side."
"You don't know how happy it makes me to hear that."
A big sigh emerged from Issei's lips.
"¿I wonder what kind of son of a bitch I must have been in my past life to deserve this?"
_ LINE BREAK _
Grigori
The next day...
"¡Hey, wake up!" Raynare slapped him awake, making Issei jump a little.
"¿¡What the fuck?!" The protagonist was quick to show his displeasure.
"The bathtub on the second floor doesn't work. I'll take a bath in our bedroom." Clarified the woman, who turned away without waiting for an answer.
"¿And for that you wake me up with a slap?" Issei asked with a tired expression as he rubbed his injured cheek.
"I tried to do it the easy way but you resisted." Raynare opened the bathroom door as she looked sideways at him.
"Hey, hey, ¿what about my bathroom?" The question was answered immediately as Raynare closed the door without giving an answer. "Well, I guess I can look for Yung Len and save myself some time..." The brown-haired man bowed his shoulders in boredom.
Once he stood up, the protagonist blushed slightly as he listened to Raynare begin to hum as the sound of the shower accompanied her. His brain pictured the beautiful woman naked as she washed her body. Issei shook his head vigorously at this.
He didn't have time to think about such things like he used to, and he knew it.
...
...
...
"Though maybe I'll do a thought or two when I'm done with Raiser." A somewhat perverted smile appeared on Issei's face, but he was punished by the spear giving him a hard blow to the head.
In that way, the minutes passed and Raynare came out of the bathroom. Only a thin towel surrounded her, and her hidden hopes were not long in coming as she prowled around the house to look for and tease Issei a little, for sure that would surprise him. When she saw that he had already left, Raynare put on her clothes and soon after the doorbell of the house rang. She wasn't surprised to see that it was Alan and Rick, as usually they came to pick them up with the intention of having something to eat at the French twins' restaurant and then start training.
But there was something curious on this occasion.
Now Yung Len was not with them.
"¿Are they ready yet?" Asked Rick, who was looking for Issei with his gaze.
"Issei is not at home." Raynare locked the door. "He most likely went to look for Yung Len, since we had in mind to do that."
"Wait, ¿were-were you going to look for Yung Len?" Raynare never thought she'd be able to see Rick nervous, but now he certainly was.
"¿Is something wrong?" The woman asked with her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"¿How long ago did he go out?" Alan also looked rather uncomfortable, an awkwardness that also rubbed off on Raynare.
"It was a few minutes ago, I..."
"No time to waste, let's go." Rick started running towards the house, followed by Alan.
"¡H-hey!" Raynare called after them, then clicked her tongue and began to follow. "¿¡Can either of you two tell me what the hell is going on!?" Raynare asked irritably once he caught up with them.
"Today is a special day, Yung len didn't train..." Rick commented half-heartedly.
"It was our fault, we completely forgot to say so." Alan gritted his teeth in annoyance after his words, something that only worried Raynare even more.
_ LINE BREAK _
Grigori
A few minutes earlier...
Issei knocked on the door with your typical enthusiasm, though that slowly changed as he watched the door slowly open. His expression finished changing when he placed a hand on the lock, as the doorknob on the inside of the house was smashed to pieces.
The feelings that something bad had happened increased even more, and it was impossible for him to avoid having those flashbacks when he had gone to that house where he was caught by Freed, that deranged exorcist.
Although this certainly looked worse.
Issei brought a hand to the upholstery, or rather, what was left of it, as much of the walls were badly damaged.
The distressing feeling turned into a great startle when he heard a loud bang coming from the living room, so he began to approach at a slow pace.
Issei materialized his gauntlet and raised his guard to the maximum after hearing yet another blow. A blow that was repeated on a regular basis.
The tension of the moment grew even more as he saw how a large amount of broken glass was coming from that sector, so he began to advance more slowly.
Until he finally arrived.
His combat stance was completely broken by what he was witnessing.
Yung Len was fine...
Well, actually he wasn't.
There was a large amount of broken alcohol bottles scattered on the floor, while the man was tearing up his own belongings with his bare hands, which were covered in blood.
The cut armchairs, the destroyed pots, the television broken in half, the remains of the furniture scattered on the floor, destroyed picture frames, and much more.
Issei simply couldn't react, all he did was stand at the entrance of the room as he watched Yung Len finish destroying the main table.
"Yu-Yung Len..." The Korean didn't react to the call, he continued to smash the table with his bleeding hands.
"¡YUNG LEN!"
This time, the shout was loud enough for him to hear, although it was too late for the table.
Yung Len met him with a glare, whereupon they both stood in awkward silence for several seconds.
"I'm not going anywhere today." The Korean broke the silence, his tone making it clear that the alcohol was controlling him.
Issei could do nothing but stare at him as he rearranged the crap on the floor with his feet to find a place to sit.
"¿Why...?" Issei couldn't think of anything else to say other than that, his tone sounding somewhat broken as he saw how his friend was doing.
"Today is that day." Was the vague reply from the Korean, who sat on the floor wobbly.
Issei approached with slow steps as he surveyed the destroyed place, his face reflecting the great shock he felt at that moment. But even among all that destruction he was able to find something that managed to save himself.
Issei took a picture among the remains of a destroyed vessel, it showed a rather young Yung Len together with a man, a woman and a girl.
The man was in a formal teacher's outfit, while the woman was wearing a florist's outfit. The girl possessed unique hair as black as night, along with crimson red eyes. Her attire was a casual one just like the boy she was hugging by the neck, where both of them had a beaming smile.
The protagonist brought his gaze to Yung Len, who still remained seated while looking at nothingness itself, his eyes were red from crying and alcohol.
Issei looked at the image once more, until he finally decided to sit next to him without saying a word.
The two shared a rather cutting silence, where Issei was giving him small glances, while his friend seemed completely disconnected from the real world, as he didn't even blink.
"¿Why did you destroy the house?" Issei finally found the courage to ask him, causing Yung Len to glare at him.
The Korean leaned in closer to him, the smell of alcohol was unbearable. Still, his senses weren't as impaired as they seemed, as his bloody hand was able to point out one of the faces in the picture.
"Hel name was Hae. My sistel was 2 mole glans than me. Ahola must have been about 23. She was vely loud." The Korean commented, his drunken tone sounding somewhat muffled and stifled. "My mom was named Bora." A smile crossed his face as he pointed her out in the photo. "She was a galdenel, she loved flowes." Yung Len guided his finger to the last figure. "My fathel was a high school plofesso. I used to make his lunch box. I was an 8-year-old boy so I had no idea how to cook, but he always accepted it with a smile." Issei didn't know when, but at some point in the story Yung Len had started crying again.
They both stood silently looking at that picture, until Issei asked the culminating question.
"¿What happened?"
A choked gasp emerged from Yung Len in an attempt to control the crying coming from those memories.
"We wele coming flom the amusement palk. It was a beautiful day, but I..." Yang Len paused slightly in an attempt to control his tears. "But I was vely angly. I wanted to stay in that place. I wanted to keep having fun, so I told them..." Another choked gasp emerged from his lips at what he was about to say:
"You ale the wolst palents in the wold, I hope you die."
Yung Len covered his mouth with his hand after those words.
"I threw a tantlum and walked out of the house. But I could balely take two steps and lan into a man and a woman." Yung Len closed his eyes tightly. "No matter how hald I tlied, I didn't manage to remember anything after that. Just..." Yung Len clutched her hair tightly. "I only rememer that when I woke up, my mothel's body and my fathel's body wele lying lifeless on the floor, and the house was destloyed. I never knew anything mole about my siste..." Yung Len began to lean back and forth on the floor as the tears fell non-stop. "Evely yeal, evely month, everl week, evely day..." Yung Len bit his lower lip so hard to the point of bleeding.
"I always try to remember, but I never remember anything."
Yung Len finally broke down, beginning to cry inconsolably under the silent gaze of Issei, who felt his eyes watering from the story.
Issei looked at the photo once more as silent tears began to roll down her cheeks.
It was clear from the photo that they were a very happy family.
In the end, Issei placed the photo on the shattered table, then watched silently as Yung Len continued to cry disconsolately. At first he thought of placing a hand on his shoulder, but he of all people knew that this was far from being enough to appease so much pain.
Issei stood up and left the scene, leaving Yung Len alone for a moment. In those seconds only his crying could be heard, until he felt someone perch beside him.
There stood Issei with absolute seriousness while holding a shovel and a broom. The protagonist said nothing, the only thing he did was to take his hand to force him to stand up.
Yung Len watched him silently, watching as the brown man extended the shovel to him. In the end, the Korean only chose to try to control his crying as he took the tool.
Issei began to sweep up all the wreckage while Yung Len took one last look at the picture of his family, until he finally brushed away the last of his tears and began to clean up along with his friend.
Neither of them said a word in that process, all they did was clean up.
Because there was no need to say anything.
Just then Raynare, Rick and Alan arrived, but they chose to watch everything from the hallway with no intention of disturbing them. The three of them looked at each other, and a smile emerged on their faces.
They would wait patiently for Yung Len to finish cleaning their home.
They would wait for him to finish cleaning his heart.
_ LINE BREAK _
Grigori
Several hours later...
"I'm nobody's babysitter, man. I've got much more important things to take care of, I can't waste my time with them." A hooded man said to Azazel, who stood from across the counter as he gave a few adjustments to a ring-shaped Sacred Gear.
"Come on, don't say that. Each one of them has hidden potential that will surprise you." Cadre stated as he continued with his work.
"That's all the same to me, find someone else and call me when they're capable of giving me a good fight." The boy was about to leave, but...
"¿You don't want to do it even if you know the Sekiryuutei is among them?"
The hooded man stopped in his tracks, though he didn't even turn to look at him.
"¿Are you trying to bribe me?" Accused the young man in a deep voice. "I don't care. If you're still weak enough to require the help of your greatest rival, then I'm not interested at all."
"¿Even when he not only possesses the Boosted Gear, but also the True Longinus?"
"¿¡What did you say!?" The young hooded man turned around very exalted, causing a rather unique smile to emerge on Azazel's face.
"Finally think I was able to bribe you, ¿huh?"
¡END OF CHAPTER!
¡I hope you all enjoyed it!
I think you all know who that hooded guy is, maybe adding mysticism was in vain but you know how I am haha.
Again I want to thank Rakei, since he extended his membership for one more month and thanks to that there will be not only one more extra chapter, but two. Remember that the extra chapters are published every 3 days, and if you want to be part of this, you can become a member in my Patre-on for a dollar and continue extending the streak of consecutive chapters. Remember you can find me as: Jyanzein.
¡We'll be seeing you in three days for the continuation!