Hey! I'm back again, and you know what that means... Review Response Corner!
Remzal Von Enili says: "Dude that sucks! There really should be a autoback-up feature you could toggle. Sorry that happened to you.
I like the idea of your hero ideas.
If I may toss something out?
I always kept drawing a parallel between the boosted gear and one for all.
I'm not saying give it to izuku but the idea of one for all having its own version of a juggernaut drive is an interesting one to me."
A: I don't really see Izuku as the type of person to have a 'berserk' mode, y'know. Maybe if I end up writing the 'opposite Izuku' angle he'll have one, but the first option... Don't see that happening unless something very, very bad happens.
Cerxer1 says: "I know that every story needs it's dark and serious moments, but lately it's been nothing but those, so is it going to get worse before it gets better ?"
A: Pretty much. It's how shonen works, things get bad, everything rests on the shoulders of people who aren't even old enough to drink, drive or vote, add in a splash of inexperience, teenage hormones and drama, and you understand why the tone can shift so abruptly and so often from light to dark, and stay in dark for a long while. This, however, makes you even gladder when things go back to normal, in my opinion.
MetaTR0N says: "Nice chapter with an interesting take on the origins of Succubi and Incubi. I am liking that the story has taken a serious turn. My only issue is that there are no canon characters introduced in the story until now and tbh I find it hard to care about OCs in any fanfiction. Keep up the good work.
P.S. That situation with Eleanor reminded me of the beginning of The Rising Shield Hero. Were you inspired by it?"
A: Canon characters will be introduced when Issei starts his enrolment in Kuoh, which is as soon as this arc ends, so you'll have to stick it out for a bit longer. About the Eleanor thing and The Rising Shield Hero, I have to say not really.
I haven't read or watched it, but I have heard about the controversy surrounding it, and I believe that it's supremely moronic. It's a question of context, and framing the world. As far as I'm aware, the event in The Rising Shield Hero was pretty much a way of making the main character understand just how rotten the world is towards him, and the fact that he can trust pretty much no-one. It's about showing just how bad the world is to him.
The context here is different. It's a case of a selfish, entitled person being unable to cope with a rejection, attempting instead to destroy the source of the rejection in order to soothe her wounded ego. If you notice in the third chapter, something similar occured between Issei and Lilith. Both naked, she offers, he refuses. Notice the difference in response. Lilith tries tempting him further, but when he turns her down, she backs down, because she has an understanding of boundaries and limits.
Eleanor reacts by trying to first goad Issei into it, then she insults him to elicit a response. Issei doesn't react as she expects, so she decides to take what she wants by force, and threatens him. Issei responds by forcefully refusing her, so she throws a temper tantrum and prefers to 'destroy the toy she couldn't have'.
TL;DR: No, I didn't base it on The Rising Shield Hero, and the context is different between the two, so you should look at them individualy.
Xerzo LotCN says: "so not going on the quest yet training more and getting stronger also very nice history lesson
ise, as badass as it was, is slowly coming unhinged thats very bad why hasnt anyone interfered to help him
he need to take a day or 2 break maybe have some limes with his teachers or a maid or something to decompress
so there are more then one seed right? for each side or just the seed for both halves?
also the history lesson explained lust but how did the other 6 get out?
i think the first bnha story sounds cool especially if he gets ofa he be better trained more prepared and i love stronger izuku fics
the second is hit or miss his character might be cool basically a non shy izuku strong personality maybe non herootaku (loss of that is loss of izuku main character trait) but how far does reverse izuku go is he still a good person it depends its a neat idea but id personally only read it if izuku still somehow got ofa from all might"
A: No one interferred to help because Issei didn't ask for help. Nothing less, nothing more. The Seed has an equivalent on the side of the incubi, which will be learnt about later on. About the other 6 sins, I didn't explain this because it was irrelevant to the information that Laveria wanted to give Issei, but God extracted the essence of the other 6 sins and combined them into a single object, which became the Tree of Knowledge of Life and Death. The sins spread to humanity when Samael tricked Eve and Adam into eating the fruit from this tree.
TheB says: "If it's only half, shouldn't there be two seeds; one with the Incubi?
Man, after this is over, (little) Issei really deserves some relaxation."
A: There is a counterpart to the succubus' seed. That's all I'm saying for now. And after this is all over, Issei is going to receive a bounty of unimagined proportions.
renextronex says: "I only have 1 thing to say... who the fuck goes to Amsterdam and refuses to have sex? that was a hell of a cheap sidestep"
A: Issei, apparently... It's more about the context, than the act itself.
And that's the end of the Review Response Corner! Remeber, this corner is meant to respond to explicitly stated questions, or to statements that could be construed as questions, that are left in the reviews. If your comment did not show up, it's because it wasn't in the valid format to do so.
Feel free to leave a question in this or any of the following chapters in the form of a review. With tht being said, it's story time.
~oOo~
"Wow... Is this how doing drugs feels like?"
Issei's question was based on the fact that he stood in an empty white void. Everything around him was white. Near, far and wide, everything was empty. No sky, no floor, nothing of the sort.
"I have heard that Psychadelic and Psychotropic substances feel very much different from this, Hyoudou Issei."
Issei turned around at the sound of that voice, only to see Aquila in her human form looking him over, a curious look on her face. The Eagle of Victory floated closer to Issei, gripping his chin between her index and thumb before turning Issei's face to one side and the other, all with an inquisitive look on her face.
She then took a step back, floating around him as she looked him up and down, before speaking.
"You have grown stronger much faster than I anticipated. That is very good. However..."
She raised a single finger, electricity sparking on it's tip, before jabbing it into Issei's chest faster than he could follow, pushing him back somehwat and knocking the wind out of him.
Rubbing his sore chest, Issei glared at Aquila, but before he coil complain, a dark spot emerged over his heart, emmanating a black light.
"As I expected..."
"What? What did you expect?"
Seemingly ignoring Issei, Aquila started thinking out loud.
"I never expected the link to progress as fast as it did... Perhaps the same thing that caused this allowed me to notice..."
"What link? Notice what? What the hell are you talking about?"
Aquila turned back towards Issei, her tone serious as she spoke.
"After the battle in the forest... You were dying. Your heart wasn't capable of coping with the stress of the high amount of power you were channeling, so it was stopping. In order to save your life, I had to inject a certain portion of my power into you in order to stimulate your heart to pump, and to sustain the rest of your body as you recovered.
It was supposed to be a transient state, with my power fading with use overtime, that left behind a small link between us that allowed me to know your location whenever you were not actively hiding yourself. I intended to check up on you periodically to see how much you progressed.
However, a weird interaction occured, an oddity of a high caliber. The power that I donated to you, it seeped into you deeper than I expected, and gave itself a physical indicator. I shrugged that off for the moment and sent you off before going my own way.
At first I believed that things were going as I expected, as I could feel your location at most times, however, more was happening than what I was intending. Your presence started becoming more pronounced within my senses. I could feel you with more certainty than I believed I would.
This feeling kept intensifiying as time went on, until I could feel your presence as if you were right next to me. Then, a few weeks after, something different happened.
The part of my mind dedicated to this connection between the two of us... Strengthened, for a lack of a better term. What was simply your presence progressed into what I felt were a foreign set of feelings, and emotions."
"Wait a second... I felt something like that too! When I was learning how to control a power of mine, I meditated and found these different powers in me. When I accessed this power that I wanted, I felt a burst of confusion and curiosity. They were feelings from the outside, yet they didn't feel invasive."
"...It was indeed what I felt when our bond deepened. I was very curious about it, but I felt no attempts of invasion into my mind from your part, or even awareness of what had happened, so I decided to observe silently. I've been keeping track of your general emotions, and occasionally I even get the stray thought, which generally happened to be something related to libidinous activities... Until a short while ago.
Your feelings did a 180, and your happiness became something dark and bitter. This started as a small, infamous part of you, but it's been growing over time. I am very curious. What led you to these emotional extremes, Hyoudou Issei?"
Issei was ready to force on a smile and deflect as he would usually do, only for a burst of inquisitive curiosity to slam into him, originating from Quila. It didn't feel as if she had an opinion this way or another, or that she would try to console him and tell him everything would be alright, she simply wished to listen.
Pushing off his first reflex, Issei buckled down and told Aquila about every event so far, from learning that he would be unable to go back to his previous life, to being accused of assaulting Eleanor.
Through all of the explanation, Aquila just listened patiently, a sense of deliberation flowing from her.
Unloading all of this for the first time since the events of his new type of life left Issei tired and emotionally drained, causing him to all but wilt into himself, his shoulders slumping dejectedly, while Aquila kept thinking.
"Well... One cannot say your life is uneventful. I believed that your encounter with danger as far as Stheno and Midgardsomr went would be a one-off, but to have your girlfriend kidnapped right in front of you by some douche with heavy backing... I understand why you feel like that."
A sardonic smile blossoming on his face, Issei spoke in a self-deprecating tone.
"Isn't this the moment where you tell me none of it was my fault, and that eveyrhting is going to go back to normal, and be alright, and all that garbage?"
"No, because I am not in the habit of lying to people. I will not say that the events were entirely your fault, but some fault you do indeed have in them. You chose to use the attack that debilitated your hand. You allowed yourself and your girlfriend to engage in combat on your lonesome against enemies you were unsure you could defeat. You allowed yourself to lose track of an ally you knew was objectively weaker than you. And then you allowed yourself to be distracted by the interferance of others, and reacted much too late to stop your girlfriend's kidnapping.
Those are facts, and you need to acknowledge them. However.
It is also a fact that her captor wishes to use her as a bargaining chip for this Seed thing, which means she is likely alive, if not whole. You have been growing in strength in leaps and bounds beyond anything you ever expected, which means that you could possibly defeat the enemy in case of further conflict. A team of specialists is working on determining the location where your girlfriend is being held; and you are staying with some of the magical world's best healers, being close to the person who has access to a library full of knowledge that may be lost to the rest of the world about the magical arts, which means that you could find some way to heal your hand.
Just because things are bad right now, and because they changed, does not mean they cannot become good again, perhaps even better than before. Allowing yourself to sink into a sea of despair does you no favors, making things harder on yourself, as negative emotions tend to cloud one's judgement.
There is a philosophy called stoicism, that claims that life is split into two parts, events that you have control over, and events that you do not have control over.
A strong person is the one that focuses not on what they cannot control, but instead prioritizes the events that they are capable of impacting. However, there is another layer to this. You may be unable to control some events, but you can, however, control your reaction and response to them, ultimately controlling how they impact you, and their consequences upon you as an individual.
Remember this, Hyoudou Issei. It is a very worthwhile life lesson, and one that many would have done better to have learnt earlier."
The white void that Issei and Aquila were in shook and trembled, prompting the two to look upwards and to witness a few cracks in the sky.
"What's happening?"
"I believe that our direct psychic connection is fracturing as the two of us return to consciousness."
The cracks started spreading throughout the entire void, as if someone were consistently smashing a sledgehammer into reinforced glass, all the while Issei and Aquila watched. Right before the void shattered into a million pieces, Aquila spoke to Issei.
"I believe you to be a stronger man than most, Hyoudou Issei; worthy of being a true Roman. I expect you to overcome any hurdle and obstacle.
And remember, I will be watching you."
With those as the parting words, the world around them broke into a million shards, replaced by a flash of color, before Issei found himself sitting up in bed, not even having noticed when he first woke up and sat up.
His forehead was covered in sweat, as was his naked torso, and he could see the Eagle tattoo on his bicep glowing a bright yellow for an instant, a feeling of acknowledgement flowing into him, before the light dimmed, then vanished, alongside the foreign emotion that it had been conveying.
~oOo~
Roaming around the castle in the middle of the night, when the usual activity of the maids and servants was completely absent, was a novel feeling for Issei. Something he had never thought to do before.
'I haven't really explored the castle properly ever since I arrived. It's always been studying, training... And spending time with Lilith, before. Now... It's more training than anything else... I need to stop pushing myself into those activities to run away from my thoughts. I need... A break.'
By now Issei was outside the castle, in one of the gardens.
Shirtless and barefoot, he allowed himself to enjoy the feeling of the grass blades tickling at the soles of his feet and between his toes, while a nighttime breeze ruffled his hair.
Wandering aimlessly, Issei soon found himself in front of a lake, the water clearly reflecting the full moon in the night sky.
He sat by the lake indian-style, before allowing his right hand to dip into the water. He wiggled his fingers, allowing the reflected image of himself to waver and distort.
Sitting straight up, Issei decided to do something that he remembers having only done once before, when he first gined control over his Tantric Energy.
He placed both of his hands on top of his thighs in a comfortable position, closing his eyes before taking deep breaths.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
Soon enough, his body went into autopilot as his consciousness turned inwards, deep within himself, as Issei fell into a meditative state.
~oOo~
"Oh... So this is how my... spirit... looks like at the moment..."
Issei's eyes were wide in surprise, watching as a tornado raged in the distance, a massive formation of clouds blotting out the light, illuminating the area he was on in a reddish glow with every crackle of lightning that occured within them.
He looked down, noticing that there was no ground underneath him, similar to how it looked like when he connected to Aquila, however there were black veins crawling from the distance, spreading slowly towards where he stood.
"Indeed."
Issei turned around, being surprised by what came into view.
A massive red dragon, with green eyes each as big as Issei himself, stood across from the brunette.
"Ddraig?"
The brunette looked around, finding surprise in the fact that the previous chaos had vanished completely, replaced by a world of fire. Flames burned everywhere the eye could see. It was as if the world itself was made of fire.
And yet... They did not hurt. No sting, no burn, no horrifying carbonization that one would expect from being in a world of fire. Scattered amongst the mostly red and green flames, however, Issei could make out patches of orange flames, with yellow sparks within and surrounding them, and indigo flames, with a deep-purple core.
"Is this... How the Boosted Gear looks like from the inside?"
"Indeed. Well, mostly. Normally it's only red and green fire, the other colors are a new feature, something altogether new."
"Huh... So, why did you bring me in here?"
Ddraig moved his forelimbs in a manner reminiscent of a shrug as he answered.
"Felt like it. Do dragons really need reasons to do whatever it is they choose to do?"
Sweatdropping, Issei responded.
"I guess not..."
The two lapsed into a silence, before Issei spoke up.
"Hey Ddraig... Did you ever feel... Angry, or sad, frustrated or something like that?"
Scratching at his... Chin?... The dragon responded.
"Angry, yes. Sad... Mhm... Frustrated, less before, but more and more ever since you became the host."
Issei sweatdropped further at that, while Ddraig kept speaking.
"So, yes, it's fair to say that I've felt a lot of stuff like that over time."
"How did you deal with it?"
"Blow shit up."
Issei gave Ddraig a deadpan look at the instantaneous response, prompting the dragon to shrug again - somehow - before he kept speaking.
"Blowing stuff up is a passtime of mine, something that brings me great enjoyment. Back when I was free, whenever I was not feeling enjoyment, I was out blowing stuff up. Mountains, forests, lakes, Dragon Hunters, other dragons that tried to move into my turf... It was just sheer dumb fun, y'know. Now that I'm trapped here in this sacred gear, I derive my fun from the memories of me blowing stuff up, alongside with the few times during which I watch you blowing stuff up. Those things really help me get over how much you aggravate me with your perverted antics, instead of preparing for the fight with him...
But that's beside the point! What's important is that whenever I feel bad, I either do something I enjoy, or I remember the times I did stuff that I enjoyed."
"Okay, first of all, you'll eventually have to tell me more about this fight you keep alluding to. Second of all, is it really that easy? Can you get over bad feelings by doing stuff that you like? I mean... Usually, when you're feeling down, even the stuff that you like to do seems a bit... pointless. And not-fun."
"That's just your stupid human mind overthinking things. Just because something bad is happening, doesn't mean that the good stuff stops feeling good, or that you stop liking what you like. Those are two totally different things.
You humans, however, have a pretty nasty habit which is to worry too much about stuff that they have no control over, like the future. Instead of focusing on the future, us dragons live our lives in the moment, doing what we want, when we want. It's one of the myriad of reasons why dragons are better than every other existing lifeform."
Sweatdropping at the smugness in Ddraig's voice, Issei spoke up.
"You Do remember that doing stuff that you liked when you liked got you sealed in the Boosted Gear in the first place, right?"
Sputtering lightly, Ddraig answered.
"T-that doesn't have anything to do with anything! Dragons still rule!"
"Sure, sure."
Issei chuckled lightly, his closed eyes causing him to miss the upward twitch in the corner of Ddraig's mouth. Having accomplished what he intended to, the dragon schooled his expression before returning to his usual tone.
"Welp, my interest in you has reached zero for the moment, and it'll take a while for it to build up again properly, moreso with your annoying and perverted antics, so now I'm kicking you out of my place."
With those parting words, Issei found his eyes opening, giving him a surprising view of the sun rising over the horizon, the first rays of light reflecting beautifully off the lake, prompting him to smile genuinely for the first time in a long while.
Making his way back to his feet, Issei stretched out the various kinks and aches that his body had built up by spending a few hours in the same position, scratching his butt as he made his way back to the castle, actually walking instead of skulking or stalking around, and with his face in the usual smile, instead of the neutral frown that had become norm.
The brunette completely missed the figure of Laveria that had been watching him from one of the higher windows of the castle, whose worried face changed into a soft smile of her own as she noticed his mood shift.
'It seems he's recovered somewhat... It probably isn't a full recovery, people don't get better spontaneously like that, but it's a start. Perhaps he will be ready for the Seed sooner than I expected him to...'
~oOo~
Breakfast that day was an awkward affair.
For slmody everyone except Issei, that is.
The same people that were all but condemning him with their looks, believing in Eleanor's lie, were expecting him to either be glacial in his treatment of them, to use every possible opportunity to jab at them and rub their face in it. They expected to deal with the same cool, indifferent Issei from before, except this time he'd have a bone to pick with them.
Instead, Issei seemed to be the most cheerful that they saw him before, while the in-house people that had known Issei ever since he first arrived to Luxuria were all pleased with the fact that he had returned to normal.
The brunette himself seemed to be unaware of the tension in the room, his focus split between eating his breakfast, and trading looks with Bernice, who took the opportunity to entice Issei into a repeat performance of their last dalliance.
It seemed to be working somewhat as Issei's tongue all but hung out of his mouth, a blush coloring his cheeks and perverted chuckles emerging from his throat.
Laveria, seemingly one of the only few not weighed down by the awkwardness that pervaded the room, spoke up.
"Xinthia told me she has new plans with regards to your training, Issei."
The brunette shook his head, his focus shifting from Bernice to Laveria - causing the perverted instructor to pout - before speaking up.
"Did she say what it was about?"
The queen responded by smiling enigmatically towards Issei, causing him to groan at the non-answer, before speaking up again.
"She's expecting you at the usual place right after breakfast."
~oOo~
Issei halted from his run in front of Xinthia after having finished warming up, a few light beads of sweat being the only evidence of the effort. Stretching his body in order to loosen his muscles, the brunette adressed his trainer.
"Laveria said that you had something for me to work on?"
"Indeed. From now on, we'll be working on your fighting prowess."
"...What do you mean? I thought this was all we did, day in and day out."
Scoffing, the succubus responded.
"We've been working on honing your instincts and reflexes for combat situations, alongside building up your physical capabilities and magical control and variety. All of those things are great, and a good baseline for any good fighting style, but that's not all.
So far, you've been fighingt in a... Let's say fresstyle... manner, with no set technique. You have the discernment to know when to attack, when to defend, when to dodge and when to parry, but you tend to be hyperfocused on the individual directly in front of you, possibly giving away any environmental advantages that you could have noticed, missing any traps that were laid for you, and allowing other important events to pass by your perception without you noticing, such as having additional enemies joining the battlefield.
Other than that, there's the fact that you can't throw a punch for shit. Your strikes have absolutely no technique behind them. Do not misunderstand me, I do not intend to teach you a martial art per se, since it would probably not mesh with your disorganized, spontaneous fighting style.
Instead I will teach you the best ways to optimize the strength and speed that your body possesses, and to properly apply it when you perform physical activities, from throwing a punch, to swimming a lap. You will learn proper positioning, footwork, breathing techniques, and everything inbetween.
I also believe that your hand-to-hand arsenal is much too limited, being based primarily on strikes with your fists and feet. You rarely utilize your kness and elbows, which are extremely useful especially at short ranges, and you have no throws, holds or locks.
I will teach you the basics of all of those things and impart combat awareness into you. From then on, you'll be tasked with arranging all of those basics into a functional style that best suits you. Any questions?"
Ignoring Issei's raised hand and open mouth, Xinthia spoke.
"Good. Now... DODGE!"
"GAH!"
~oOo~
"Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow."
Issei winced with each step he took, a light limp on his left leg, while his left arm hung limply to his side, everything on it from the elbow up covered in ugly, dark-purple bruises.
One of his eyes was mildly swollen, his cheeks had fist-marks on them, and his lower lip had split. However, despite all of this, Issei's mood still hadn't fallen. Whenever the dark feelings tried coming, Issei just focused on his perversions, and those feelings were easily dispersed. Not buried as they were before, but instead replaced with the satisfaction that Issei derived from his perversion.
"Oh my! Issei, you look terrible!"
The brunette turned around in surprise at call, noticing a worried Bernice walking towards him before taking hold of his right arm, dragging him into a white room reminiscent of a nurse's office.
"Take off your shirt."
The brunette, battered and in pain, didn't even bat an eye at that order, thoughts of perversion pushed aside by his various throbbing swells, none of them of the fun persuasion.
Bernice placed her hands over Issei's left shoulder, a purple glow emitting from them as the brunette felt the pain and swelling reducing. She moved her hands across his entire upper body, relieving the majority of the damage that he had taken and leaving him at a functional state, before doing the same to his face, fixing his busted lip and black eye.
The brunette hopped from his seat, a massive smile on his face as he spoke.
"I don't feel like hamburger anymore! Thanks, Bernice!"
He collected his shed shirt with the intent to leave, only for a pair of arms wrapping themselves around his neck to stop him, a pair of lips all but kissing his ear as Bernice spoke.
"We aren't done yet, Issei. A doctor is supposed to examine her patient... Thoroughly~"
The brunette shivered at that, before a pair of lips kissed his neck, and a pair of hands started fiddling with his belt.
~30 minutes later~
"Thanks, Miss Bernice. I really needed that!"
Said succubus responded by groaning incoherently from her spot on the ground. Her wings, horns and tail were splayed around her, as was her hair around her head. Her eyes were half-lidded, twitching and rolling within their orbits, while her tongue hung out of her mouth. Her nostrils were smudged with bits of white goo, as was the rest of her face in general, and some of her hair.
Her skirt was absolutely drenched, as were her socks and shoes, with a massive puddle underneath her.
Ignoring the fact that he had thoratfucked her into the point of incoherence, Issei all but skipped the rest of the way to his room, ignoring the way that the scent of sex exuding from him had the maids that he moved past stop in their actions, focusing completely on him and eyeing him hungrily.
His door wasn't even halfway shut before he started stripping, before all but vanishing into his bathtub, enjoying the soothing feel of warm water on his muscles, batting around the bubbles with his right hand.
He just took that time to enjoy himself, temporarily forgetting his earthly issues, and focusing on philosophy, pondering upon the deeper mysteries of the universe, and existence.
'...How big is God's rack? Like, God is universally good, and boobs are good, so it only makes sense that God has boobs, that's an indisputable fact. But, just how big are they? Could God bear a rack so huge that their back wouldn't be able to support it? Did the 6th volume of 'Paippo the Oppai Hero' hit store shelves already?'
Issei spent literal hours thinking of such things, only leaving the bathtub once the water had gone cold, and his skin wrinkled like an old prune.
He dressed himself in the usual outfit of a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, the cast back over his Boosted Gear in order to disguise it as normal.
Having nothing better to do at the moment, and not intent of exercising further lest he burned himself out mentally again, Issei decided to wander around.
He jumped out of his room's open window, clambering up onto a proper ledge before using it to jump higher and higher, reaching the actual roof of the massive castle, before casting his sight out into the distance.
"Whoa."
The sight that met him was... Awe-inspiring. The sun was setting in the horizon, it's dying rays illuminating the entirety of the nation within his sight, from parts of the castle itself, all the way to the outter walls of Luxuria, a sight that Issei could only percieve due to his empowered state.
Watching the way the light shifted and bounced off of the various rooftops and ceilings, the way that shadows writhed and shifted as the sun sunk more and more, watching the coloration of the country itself change as if a myriad of photography filters were being cycled in some sort of a fast-paced slideshow... It was just awe-inspiring.
"Very impressive, no?"
The brunette did a 180 in order to face the source of the voice that had managed to sneak up on him and bypass his senses completely, his left arm already rising, before his brain managed to recognize the owner of the voice.
"Jesus Christ, Laveria, you scared me worse than a Health and Safety inspection in the set of a porn film would scare the producers!"
The Luxurian queen smirked at that, having purposefully hidden her presence in order to startle the young man, before speaking up.
"It is good to occasionally remind people that I could sneak into their rooms and slit their throat in their sleep without anyone ever noticing. Makes them less likely to try to deceive me."
Sweatdropping, the brunette laughed awkwardly, before responding.
"Riiiiiiiight..."
Turning back around to look at the nation of Luxuria, Issei decided to appreciate the differences between it and his home city of Kuoh. Kuoh, while seemingly more westernized than many of the other japanese cities due to it's abundance of western-styled buildings, from houses to schools, offices and even public buildings, to even the distribution and disposition of said buildings, still retained a certain... Feel. A feel that could simply be associated to the word 'Japan'.
Could it have something to do with the supernatural? Did japan have an active supernatural comunity? Or was it all simply his homesickness, and his awareness of the fact that he couldn't return speaking?
Issei's previous mood started shifting to sad, pensive and instrospective, something that Laveria noticed, which prompted her to speak.
"I absolutely adore this view. I have felt like this ever since I was a young girl, sneaking away from my boring lessons in nobility and such to climb up things and pull all sorts of trouble, enough to give my mother no shortage of headaches.
At first, I enjoyed the view simply from an aesthetic perspective. It is a very pretty view. However, as I grew older and started learning about the world and how it worked, I started enjoying it from a different perspective.
Having to fight in a war, watching, and participating, in large-scale acts of bloodshed, death and gore... It is horrible, and while at first it made me resentful of the people who got to live their entire lives living in peace, unaware of the existence of war as nothing other than an abstract 'bad thing' that is happening far away from them... Over time, this sight invigorated me. It helped me get through the harder times, the ones where I felt as if I would not be able to carry the burdens that had been placed onto my shoulders.
Knowing that I was fighting for the safety and protection of these innocent people, people who were one day as idealistic and naive as I once was, to ensure that they never had to go through what I did, see what I saw and understand the true cruelties of life... It gave me the drive to keep fighting, and not just literally.
Having this peaceful sight within view every time I visited home, it filled me with a longing and desire for peace. It was hidden, buried under the image of the royal heiress I projected, the one who fought the people's battles, that dutifully obeyed her queen, served the people and led her nation's army to victory, but it was there.
It would be lying to say that it was not a factor in my decision to simply stop the war against Bauxis during my battle with Phillip.
That peaceful sight... I desired to make it a constant, to ensure that you women did not have to grow up in peace, only to be picked up by the army and sent out to fight, bleed and die. It was my long-term goal. It led to infighting, and a civil war, but ultimately, after all the fighting, bleeding and dying, I got what I wished for.
Peace and prosperity for my people.
However, it was a bitter victory. It was a victory built upon the blood and bones of hundreds of thousands. It is a victory that would forever be tainted to me. So I decided to create something new. A result of love and unity, not of war and death.
I found a man that I loved, and I gave birth to my beautiful baby, Lilith. Things were troublesome on his side of the family, and it did not end well for me and him, but... I succeeded in giving birth to something not tainted by blood and war.
My baby girl... She is the one most important to me. I wish that I could go save her myself... However, I cannot. If I were to abandon my nation, a responsibility that I took out of my own desire, I am afraid that not only would I condemn millions to anarchy and death, but I would also lose my daughter. Any respect she has for me would evaporate, leaving behind only disappointment. And if she believed that she was the reason for me abandoning my post, it would be disappointment mixed with resentment, self-loathing and hate.
However, no matter how much I try to rationalize it, what I am doing is still ultimately wrong. I'm pushing you towards the same path that I once followed, creating peace through violence and blood. Perhaps it will make you grow to hate, or resent those that get to live normally. And yet, I would not change a thing if it ensured that my baby girl made it back safe and sound.
How selfish of me, no?"
Sitting down on the edge of the rooftop, Issei took the time to think things through, his right hand scratching his chin as he did. Eventually, he spoke up.
"Do you enjoy the consequences of your past actions? Do you find them worth the effort?"
"I do."
"If you could go back and change things, would you have?"
"Never."
"I see... Then you don't regret what you did, but instead you regret why you did it. You said it yourself, you wanted peace, yet you fought an entire war using your 'responsibilities' as both motivation... And as a shield, an excuse to keep you from actually trying to find peace, in the way that you ultimately did. That's why you feel bad about what you did, and why the achievement you feel the proudest of is having given birth to, and raised Lilith.
She's a product of your own actions, taken for all of the right reasons, with no false pretenses.
And that's also why you shouldn't feel guilty about asking me to save Lilith. Remember, I am choosing to do this. And unlike you, I'm not doing this out of some sense of responsibility, or heroism, or because it's the right thing to do.
I'm doing it only because I want to. No bullshit, excuses or justifications needed. I want to save Lilith, so I will, even if I have to bleed and suffer on the way. And when I do end up saving her, I won't regret the steps that I had to take in order to do so, as it would be the same as saying that saving her wasn't worth the effort."
The sun had finished setting as Issei started speaking, taking away with it the warmth and light of it's rays. In it's place rose the moon. Large and bright, hanging boldly in the skies in a contrast to the darkness of the universe, the moon shed light upon the world while the sun took it's well-deserved rest, showing people that even when things looked the bleakest, there was always a light in the dark, a beacon of hope.
No clouds could cover it, and no star could overpower it. From where Laveria stood, moonbeams fell over Issei as if illuminating him and him alone, showing her the one bright path in this dark occasion for herself.
Not noticing this, the brunette continued.
"This is something that I learnt in the same day that I faced an Ultimate-class being. You do what you want to do, because you want to do it. That way there are only two results, either you succeed in what you wished to do, or you die knowing that you did what you wanted, trying to achieve what you desired, and I'd rather that than live a live of bitterness and regret. So don't worry.
I'll save our Lilith."
In that specific moment, looking at Issei's illuminated back, Laveria could have sworn she saw the outline of a certain man in Issei's place.
She blinked in surprise, only for the moment to pass, however the image itself, and the feelings that it elicited burned themselves into her memory.
A honest smile blossomed on Laveria's face, centuries of stress and pressure being completely absent in her words when she spoke.
"I know you will, Issei. And thank you."
The brunette responded by raising his right hand into the air in a closed fist indicating a victory, drawing a chuckle from the queen before she walked away, any guilt that she felt over placing such a large burden upon Issei completely absent, washed away by his determination and his confidence.
'Just a few days ago he was sulking and down in the dumps, but all of a sudden he's giving me inspirational speeches?... Hyoudou Issei, do you ever cease to surprise?...'
While Laveria made her way back into the castle, Issei's gaze flowed over the moonlit nation, while he thought his conversation with Laveria over.
'I said all of those words in the spur of the moment, but... They're what it felt right to say. I don't regret saying them. And neither do I regret anything that I did so far. I'll keep doing what I want, and what makes me happy. I'll get stronger, I'll rescue Lilith... And I'll definitely get to enjoy the peace and happiness that I had back in Kuoh, with my family, and my friends. I swear it on all the Oppai in the world.'
~?~
'Hyoudou Issei... Every time I check up on you, you surprise me further. I am very impressed with your determination.'
Aquila stopped focusing on the connection that Issei was subconsciously creating with her in his emotionally charged moment, causing the world around her to shift from a first person perspective of Issei as he spoke, back to an empty, white void.
'Never since Marcus Aurelius did I expect to find another so worthy of the title of True Roman. Keep impressing me as you have, Issei, and you may find yourself surprised...'
The psychic avatar of the Eagle of Victory gradually disappeared from the void it was in as Aquila's mind returned to her own body, her head full of various thoughts and ideas revolving solely around one Hyoudou Issei.
~Chapter, End!~
Holy crap this one took a while to write! I just couldn't get what I wanted out of it with the previous things that I wrote! You guys have no idea how many times I had to stop mid-writing, dissatisfied with what I had so far, only to wipe it all out and start anew.
I'm happy with what I wrote now though, so you guys get to read it. Prepare for the next chapter, which is when stuff starts going down again, and the plot advances! Until next time, my friends!