Ortho had a look of delight when he saw the black envelope.
He had been hoping to get an invite to the exclusive college for months now, and he had finally gotten the invitation.
The second he saw it, he began making preparations.
"Eager to attend a new school, huh?" said Azazel.
"You kidding? I've been waiting for this moment for years," said Ortho.
"Funny thing really. A certain damphir got a similar letter as you," said Azazel.
"Gasper got selected? That's great!" said Ortho.
"Yeah, problem is he doesn't want to leave his King, even though it would probably be good for him."
"Ah. I'll go have a talk with him," said Ortho.
When he got to the ORC club room, Gasper was clearly against leaving Rias' side.
"I don't like this," he complained. "Why was I even selected? I never applied for a magical college!"
"I asked, and apparently your father's family signed you up shortly after your Sacred Gear went active," said Rias tiredly.
"So Gasper is going too? That's great!" said Ortho.
"Too? Wait, did you get an invitation to this so-called magic school?" said Issei.
"Uh yeah," said Ortho. "I've been waiting for years for it to show up. I can't wait to go."
Rias perked up at that.
"So maybe you can tell us more about this...Night Raven College."
"First off, it's primarily an all-boy's school. Girls can attend, but it's been literal centuries since one has been admitted," said Ortho.
"And with that, I've lost any interest in applying," deadpanned Issei. Ortho rolled his eyes at him.
"It has seven dorms, each based off one of the Great Seven mages. Heartsabyl, based off the Queen of Hearts spirit of Strictness. Savanaclaw, based off the King of Beasts spirit of Persistence. Octavinelle, based of the Sea Witch's spirit of Benevolence. Scarabia, based off the Sorcerer of the Sands spirit of Mindfulness. Pomefiore, based off the Fairest Queen's spirit of Tenacity. Ignihyde, based off the King of the Underworld's spirit of Diligence. And finally Diasomnia, which is based off the Thorn Fairy's spirit of Nobility," said Ortho.
"Wait...don't you usually swear to the Seven when you're irritated?" said Issei, realizing something.
"Yup."
"I think I've heard of them before... don't they go by other names?" said Rias.
"Well the Thorn Fairy is more commonly known as Maleficent, and the King of Beasts went by Scar. And of course the King of the Underworld is Hades," said Ortho cheerfully.
"Wait...the wicked fairy from Sleeping Beauty is real?" said Issei incredulous.
Ortho gave him a sharp look.
"Issei...in Twisted Wonderland, those commonly considered villains here are treated as heroes there. For example, the benevolent Sea Witch Ursula always completed her end of the bargains, even if it didn't turn out like the wisher expected or wanted."
"Wait...so Disney villains are worshipped in this school?" said Issei.
"Clearly you've never read the original fairy tales," said Ortho dryly. "In the original legend of Herakles, it was Hera who caused Herakles to go mad and kill his wife and children. Hades could have cared less, aside from that time he went to retrieve his pet dog. And in the original story of Aladdin, the street rat was a complete bastard."
"Herakles?" said Issei confused.
"It's the proper pronunciation of Hercules," said Rias amused. "That movie they made was so far off the actual stories it's almost tragic."
"Anyway the school is for four years, three to learn magic and the fourth is when you get sent on a paid internship. Each student is sorted into one of the seven dorms, which is ruled by a housewarden and vice housewarden," said Ortho.
"You know a lot about this place," said Akeno.
"I've been eager to attend for years. Besides, odds are we could convince the headmage to let Gasper attend the same classes as me. I'm already applying for a special permission to bring IDIA with me."
Gasper did not look happy. However out of all of Rias' peerage, he had the worst control over his Sacred Gear and almost nonexistent combat ability. Add in his social anxiety, and he was more of a hindrance than help.
"Do I have to?" he asked nervously. Rias pulled him into a hug.
"I'm not going to force you to attend this new school. But I think learning how to use your magic more efficiently would be beneficial to you," said Rias. "And Ortho already said he'd be going, so you won't be alone."
Gasper clearly didn't like the idea of leaving his family's side. So Ortho decided to throw in an offer to sweeten him to the idea.
"How about this... I know if you agree to attend Night Raven College that Rias would be down a Bishop for four years. So...what if Kuroka temporarily took your place as her Bishop until you graduate? You get some much needed training in magic and your Sacred Gear, Rias gets an experienced Bishop to keep her and her peerage safe. It's a win for everyone."
Ortho could see Gasper was on the edge of agreeing.
"What if we can convince the headmage to let you attend remotely from the dorms, and you only join classes that can't be done remotely. Would you agree to go then?" asked Ortho seriously.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" asked Gasper.
"Let me put it this way. Out of Rias' peerage, you have the least amount of combat training and your sacred gear is more hindrance than help at this point," said Ortho bluntly. "Kuroka could teach them how to use magic properly, and Koneko could learn how to use senjutsu. She's more than experienced when it comes to actual combat since she's sparred with us more than a few times."
Gasper looked to Rias, partly to see how she felt about it.
"It could be good for you...and we know so little about that realm to begin with. Besides...you might find some new friends to add to the peerage."
"Considering that Night Raven is a school of mages, I can guarantee you will at least find someone semi-competent," said Ortho.
Gasper clearly wasn't happy, but he could hardly argue when Ortho had so many good points. Even he knew that he was a liability to Rias and the others, since his control was so shoddy when it came to his Sacred Gear. He still activated it on accident when startled, and that could be dangerous.
Kuroka was just delighted to have almost unlimited sister-bonding time with Koneko, and a chance to properly train her. While Koneko was still unhappy about why her sister had ended up on the Stray Devil list on the first place, she could at least tolerate Kuroka's presence in her life again.
~*~*~*~*~
Ortho looked at the artifact with some confusion.
"So let me get this straight...If this goes right, then Kuroka would cease to be my 'familiar' and would instead be bonded to me the same as she would have as a Bishop under a Devil," said Ortho.
"Micheal wanted my help dealing with the fact that they still haven't been able to boost their numbers since God died. Our best bet is to make an angelic version of the Evil Piece system...the problem is that only the four arch angels would be able to pull it off at the moment," explained Azazel.
"I see. You're using my divine bloodline as a go-between to help get the system up and running," said Ortho.
"This helps the Devils out as well. Not everyone is lucky to have a kind Master like Rias or Sirzechs to act as their king," said Azazel. "If this works, then you could take in the Strays that still retain their sanity long enough to potentially trade them off to another peerage without them losing face."
"Ok, so if we did this then what should we base it off of?" asked Ortho. "From what you told me the angels are going to use a card deck and devils based theirs off chess..."
Azazel grinned.
He held up a replica of Excalibur from an older franchise he rather enjoyed. Ortho had a flat expression.
"Really?"
"They came out with a spin-off that has a magical girl twist. So I thought we could base this prototype off the Class system from Type-Moon."
Ortho was grinning now.
"I foresee an anime marathon in my future."
"Well obviously, but first lets get this done," said Azazel grinning equally.
Ortho honestly didn't mind the new elaborate tattoo on his back, as he had been tempted to get one at some point anyway. It went down his back, and down both arms. Azazel had pulled out all the stops, and had drawn up elaborate designs of pure magical energy. Micheal had been very involved, since this was going to go towards helping the heavenly faction address their dwindling ranks.
If this worked, Asia would be the first one converted into an angel, followed by Irina and two others.
Ortho had to admit, the elaborate wings that appeared when he channeled the newly made pathways looked pretty badass. Considering his close association with Vali (and now Issei) and the fact he had based his CHARON gear on replicating Vali's Sacred Gear the best he could, they had all the characteristics of a dragon's wing, with the soft pattern of an angel/fallen's feathered wings.
Azazel had whistled in appreciation when he saw Ortho manifest those, as he could tell right off the bat that his adopted son had the power levels that easily matched Kokabiel before he was permanently dealt with. If not stronger.
Then again, Azazel and Ortho had experimented with his magical powers and his gear for years now. Unlike Issei, Ortho had pushed himself to the utmost limit just to keep up with his sparring partners. Vali in particular would never have allowed his skills to atrophy.
"Do you think this will work?" asked Micheal.
"One way to find out. Kuroka, you're up!" said Azazel.
Ortho already had a card ready for his girlfriend. He was still in some denial that he was creating an accidental harem that could potentially rival Issei's growing one. And unlike him, Ortho wasn't actively recruiting for it.
Kuroka almost bounded up to him, and looked very eager. As a Stray, she always ran the risk of losing her sanity and going too far to be brought back. This ritual had the potential to fix the part that was broken when she killed her King.
Ortho took CHARON and activated his personal magic circle. The newly created pathways began to burn, but that was to be expected. He hoped to eventually get the ritual down to something he could do on instinct.
Azazel's expression when Ortho calmly used a parody of the sealing ritual from Cardcaptor Sakura was absolutely hilarious.
"Really?" he said amused and incredulous. Micheal just looked confused.
"Hey, if it works. Besides, the way they sealed the Class Cards in Prisma Illya involved them forcing the Servant into submission through sheer force, remember?" said Ortho grinning.
Kuroka was beyond excited, as the Class card merged into her chest, right above where the heart was. She could feel the connection taking place, latching on to the remnants of her connection to the peerage system. While she would remain a Devil, she felt nothing but relief as her bond with Ortho solidified into something more stable than it had been before.
Kuroka had a delighted smile on her face, and she promptly hugged Ortho.
"Servant Caster, ready for duty! I hope to make you proud, Master!"
Ortho patted her head and rubbed her ears happily.
Azazel went to work and began examining the bond.
"Looks like the connection is stable," he commented. "Then again those two have always been close."
"When shall we move to phase two for the saint graphs?" asked Micheal seriously. He gave the two a modicum of privacy.
"Let's start next week. It'll take that long to get the materials needed to convert humans into angels," said Azazel seriously.
Micheal nodded, as he had four candidates ready for conversion. So far, only the Seraphs had the energy and ability to perform a conversion. Among the number of candidates, Irina and Asia were at the top of the list.
After some consideration, Asia would be placed under Gabriel's command while Irina would work under Micheal.
On the plus side, Ortho no longer had to worry about Asia being forcibly converted into a Devil. On the other hand, he wasn't entirely sure how to handle Xenovia's demand that he add her to his newly created list of Servants. It seemed only fitting that she be given the Saber class after how insistent she was.