"When attending your King, it is imperative that you remain as respectful as he deems necessary. Your conduct, your every action reflects upon him. Should he require you to adhere to the heights of formality, it is in your best interest to ensure that you do so. Should you be a target of disrespect by anyone, it is Master Lelouch's prerogative whether you are permitted to retaliate, or if he will intercede on your behalf." The large man, the Queen of the Lord Bael's peerage frowned heavily mid-lesson, staring at the redheaded girl under his care. She was grinding her teeth. "You take issue with this?"
Yes. She did. Kallen had been taking lessons on being a proper Queen from Rudolf for two days. Her education was swift and thorough, ranging topics from basic servant etiquette to appropriate conduct when acting as her King's adjutant. That second part was rather straightforward, not too dissimilar to her training in proper chain of command at Sandhurst. That was all fine. But this. "If someone starts shit-talking me, you're expecting me to just take it? I can't hit back unless Lelouch says it's alright?"
It felt petty to complain about that. It was strange that it felt petty but her situation could have been far, far, far worse than this. So far her duties after effectively selling her soul to a devil were to learn to be an ordinary servant and wrangle the rambunctious catgirl. Shirone never seemed to run out of energy. She knew the kitten's species weren't all like that, not when there was an older sister right there to compare her to. The white cat was just intent on being a terror it seemed like. But if chasing a preteen cat was the worst of her worries in literal Hell, she had it easy.
Still...
"I see." The large man nodded to himself, setting the kettle to boil. At the same time he was teaching her 'her place', he was also teaching her the precise method to brew her new master's coffee. Devil Junior was anal about it. Rudolf turned around, regarding her levelly. He was almost comical in appearance most of the time, kind of like a cartoon character drawn to look gigantic and intimidating only to really be a big cuddly bear. Her first impression of him fleeing from the duty of chasing a kitten might have coloured that perception. But as he looked at her, she realised no. If he meant to intimidate, he was very good at it. His height and build allowing him to loom over her naturally, but it was all in the severity of his expression where his intimidating presence lay. "I see. You feel yourself incapable of something so simple as ignoring petty or snide insults?"
"I–"
"Allow me to put this in simple terms, Miss Stadtfeld. You have been entrusted with one of the most enviable positions in our society. You are the Queen to the next Lord Bael. To be his sword, his shield, his advisor and his closest confidant, with only the possible exception of his future wife. You will be the one whom he will rely on in his brightest and darkest days. It is an honour and a privilege to be bestowed such a role, no matter the hardships one must endure for their sake." His fists clenched and without any intention the redhead took a half step back. "If you feel that your fragile pride is worth more than that honour, I'm sure the young master will find an alternative use for you!"
Her eyes widened. Fear gripped her at what that unspoken implication could be. With how... Human these devils were, it was easy to forget they were in fact devils. But once again, her teeth grit, fight or flight kicked in and there was only one response she ever had to that instinct.
But the moment she resolved to do what she had to, the menacing aura of the other Queen faded, the large man's face morphing into deep regret. "I... You have my deepest apologies, Miss Stadtfeld. That was worse than ill-spoken of me and I beg your forgiveness for the outburst. It seems I failed at the very same issue you raised." He turned, took the kettle and raised it over the cup ready to pour as he had what must have been hundreds of thousands of times, only for it to spill. "Blast it all!" he cursed, slamming down the kettle to grab a rag.
"Are you okay?" she felt compelled to ask before she could even consider whether that was an okay thing for her to ask. Or whether she even cared when he had just threatened her with an ignominious end.
Based on his glare as his head turned toward her, the answer seemed to be no. And yet the man sighed and let go of his irritation. "Circumstances have been... Difficult, of late. When the lady of the house fell ill... Suffice to say these may be the darker days I spoke of. Even so, you were undeserving of that tirade and I disgraced myself and my King in delivering it. I am sorry."
Having wiped up the mess, he rinsed out the cup, set to begin the process of brewing all over again. "I wish you to understand, however poorly it may have come across, I do believe holding the position we do is worth any hardship that may be attached to it. Lord Bael is not merely my King, he is my dearest friend. It would take a human lifetime to describe all we have been through together and I would not trade any of it for all the worlds." He sniffed out a sigh, hanging his head. "It would perhaps be best if we cut your lesson short today. We will continue tomorrow."
It was a dismissal. Maybe even a plea for her to go away to let him regain control of himself in privacy. But she couldn't leave without asking. "What you said before, about... Finding other uses for me–"
"The young master would never do that," Rudolf answered immediately without hesitation. "My failures today were many if some even slipped my notice. Master Lelouch is... He is a kind soul. Since he was very young he has tried to style himself as a ruthless schemer, yet at the heart of him is a kindness I'm glad to see was never snuffed out." Once again he looked her in the eye. "For whatever reason, he saw something in you that told him he could trust you implicitly. Rarely has he judged such things incorrectly. He believes you can live up to your position and therefore so do I."
She nodded, turning to leave and escape the awkward atmosphere.
"Miss Stadtfeld." She didn't turn around at his call, but her feet stopped moving. "This was... This could perhaps be called a weak moment. I humbly request you do not speak of it."
"Of course." Once again she continued walking away. Once again struck by just how human these devils were.
-(-)-
Her distressing lesson with Rudolf still stood out in her memory, yet in the two days following he seemed determined to let it lie. Returning to the same diligence and patience he had shown her in her first lessons. It was still tiresome at times, but after bearing witness to that humanising moment she found herself more willing to abide the tedium of learning things she already knew. She had hoped at some point she'd be allowed to get to grips with how devils fight, but he had told her that was a lower priority for now. Her comportment was a higher priority.
Apparently there was an event coming up. A debut celebration for another young noble that had been delayed. Kallen hadn't gotten all of the details and the situation seemed a bit complicated, but the general gist was that her King had done some things to piss off the other house. So she needed to learn how to be on her best behaviour in such a situation. Luckily she would have the chance of a dry run when Lelouch's friends were expected to visit later in the week.
For the time being though she had other social obligations. Teatime with the rest of the peerage. Or at least that was how Ana had presented the idea. And yet, "Shouldn't there be someone else here?" Kallen asked.
"Oh, when I told him about this, Sairaorg suddenly remembered he had other plans for today," the princess-like girl wearing far too many layers sighed in disappointment, raising her cup to her lips to take a dainty sip. "Truly unfortunate."
"You just wanted to have a girls day," the blonde woman Sara accused. The Bishop didn't deny it, just held her cup over her face as though to hide a mischievous smile.
Speaking of mischievous, Shirone was staring wide-eyed at the tray of sweets in the middle of the table. Looking this way and that, at each woman around as though expecting one of them to stop her, she quickly snatched a mini-cake and dove under the tablecloth, cackling as she hid away to devour her prize.
That girl. It never ended with her.
"How are you adjusting to life as a devil, Kallen?" Sara asked, suddenly thrusting the spotlight on the redhead.
"I don't know," she admitted. "It's weird. It almost feels like I don't need to adjust. Everyone I meet in this castle is supposed to be a devil but they all seem so... Human."
"Or humans seem like devils," Sara countered with a smirk.
"I can understand the feeling," Ana commiserated with an understanding smile. "When I was reincarnated I got a harsher view of devils than most. But when I died I was also seeing the worst of humanity. I also found it difficult to tell the difference beyond... Well, I suppose the best way to put it is devils are 'more' than human. Not better, just more. We love more, we hate more, we desire more, you know? Humans but more intense about it."
"I don't know whether to be flattered or offended," said the only pure-blooded devil at the table, though her continued smirk said she landed on neither.
"Yeah... I guess that's a good way to put it," Kallen agreed. "Guess it isn't so bad in that way. People thought I was a bit much when I was ali– Before I– When I was human." She shook off her stumble. "I guess the biggest adjustment is how I see the world. Like, there was a whole war between God–" She barely had time do register the wince of the other devils before a spike of pain shot through her brain. She hissed. "Sorry, mm. Between that guy and angels and devils–"
"And fallen," Sara interjected, still frowning from the sudden pain.
"Right, that fallen and devils are different things is weird too. But there was all of that going on for over a thousand years and we didn't know it."
"Well, you did," the blonde corrected, "It was just made more tame for the sake of human standards. Every legend from the fall of the Roman Empire to the rise of the Black Death, if it had religious connotations it was probably a convenient rewrite."
Ana nodded, nursing her cup. "That period of history was dark and filled with human suffering. A lot of it fighting for their deity. A lot of it as collateral damage. So many wars were fought in his name, it's just better for humans not to know there were likely angels or fallen fighting alongside them from time to time. No one wants that level of carnage to seem justified."
The topic had drifted to something dark. Completely at odds with the intended atmosphere. Funnily enough it was watching a small hand sneak out from under the table to pilfer more snacks that raised Kallen's spirits enough to change the subject to something more fun. "Pretty cool knowing King Arthur was real though. Good to know he was properly Welsh as well!" she said with more than a little pride. "Before now the best Welsh legends I knew were a cool dragon getting stabbed by an Englishman and a guy making yet another hill." The hand appeared again, fully raising the tablecloth as a kitten looked up over the edge of the table. With typical speed, Shirone snatched up the entire snack platter. "Oi!"
The catgirl froze.
"What do you think you're doing?" the redhead asked with an arched eyebrow, not that Shirone could see it. "You're gonna ruin your appetite."
"So?" the nekoshou spat back, lifting and retreating with the delicious sweet treats.
"So, dinner is in two hours." But the snacks were there now, the Queen could practically read it on the preteen's face. "We're having fish..."
"Don't stereotype!" the white-haired girl shouted while pointing in accusation. "Sweets are better than fish!"
For how much Shirone acted like a hyperactive kid, Kallen never expected her to know a word like 'stereotype'. Let alone use it correctly. "Well then if you stuff your face now I'll make sure you don't get any real dessert."
Betrayal. Raw, adorable betrayal. Shirone looked at the platter of sweets. Of little bitesize cakes and shortbreads, then cast herself into her own imagination to see the great culinary delights that real dessert often consisted of. With honest to... that guy tears in her eyes, she shuffled back over to the table to put the platter back, then retreated to sulk in an empty chair.
Sara offered a golf clap. "Impressive."
Kallen blushed. "Not really. It's just what my brother would've said if I were being bratty."
"Even so, it's a good sign you'll grow well into your role."
There it was again. Just like with Rudolf. "I don't get that. My role."
Ana's brow furrowed. "You mean... With the pieces? Well–"
"No, no, I get that. That Queens are usually like, the second in command or, a personal staff officer." She'd met more than a few. She knew what the deal was with that. "What I don't get is why me? Lelouch only met me that day after I got shot on my first combat mission. And somehow that made him decide I was reliable enough to be his Queen. I don't get it."
"Ah." Kallen didn't miss the grimace that passed over the Bishop's face for less than a moment. "Well, that's perhaps something you would be best served asking him about. I could speculate but I trust he has his reasons."
Basically the same thing Rudolf said. "That's less than helpful."
"Look," Sara spoke up in hopes of explaining better. "Lelouch is a very intelligent young devil. He wouldn't have brought you into his service if he wasn't confident you could live up to your position."
Kallen could only sigh. Once again, more or less what Rudolf said. Everyone saying to trust Lelouch's judgement as though that would explain anything. She knew how the pieces worked. Choosing a Queen was supposed to be the most important of all of them. Yet she couldn't find a reason he would choose her and anyone who had an idea, as Ana clearly did, wasn't interested in sharing.
-(-)-
The redheaded Queen couldn't believe was she was seeing. Just staring at what was before her in utter disbelief. As was her only consistent job for the time being, she had been asked by Shirone's older sister Kuroka to fetch the girl for her senjutsu lessons. Because that was apparently a thing. Asian mystic arts on top of devils and angels and all of that crap. And so Kallen had ventured throughout the castle, searched the entire place top to bottom, only to find Shirone creeping outside of the library. Just stood there in the alcove of the door wiggling from side to side, her tails swishing back and forth, the tips sometimes brushing against each other like they were hands rubbing together in anticipation of adorable malevolence.
"Erhem," Kallen cleared her throat. Instantly the nekoshou's snow white cat ears perked straight up, her tails stiffened. Slowly, so slowly, her head turned to the right to look behind her...
Only for her to dart away in the opposite direction, scampering off with an exaggerated "Nyahahahaha!" that faded into the distance.
And so the chase would begin anew. Kallen was beginning to understand why Rudolf was so glad to be rid of this job. Shirone was admittedly cute as anyone Kallen had ever come across. Lucky for her. It helped the Queen push away any urge to strangle her.
The redhead took a step in the direction the nekoshou had gone ready to start over, only to stop as she heard voices. Following the sound, she realised the library door was open.
"... Kallen..."
That was her name. Spoken by Lelouch. He was talking about her with someone. With Ana she realised, having crept over to the open door herself without noticing. She couldn't help but want to listen in. After feeling so uncertain of her place here ever since she arrived, she needed to know what was in Lelouch's head, unfiltered.
"You think that's it?" her King asked in response to something Kallen hadn't caught.
"You aren't a weak devil, Master," the snowy Bishop responded. "Value is relative to the King. If her value was that high despite being a normal human, even with a Sacred Gear, it would need to be something of that level. And with what I saw of her weaknesses..." Her what?
"It's sound logic. So there would only be a couple of possibilities."
"Given her appearance and origin I'd say only one. If I'm right, at least she should be pleased about it."
The devil heir hummed what was almost a laugh. "I should hope so. Wouldn't you, Kallen?"
Damn.
Ana looked to the door, arctic blue eyes widening as they met cerulean. "I-I'm so sorry, Master! I had no idea!"
"It's fine," the laid-back devil waved her worries off, his eyes also meeting Kallen's. "Why don't you come in, Kallen. Ana, if you could give us the room?"
"Of course," the Bishop agreed quickly, shuffling out of the library as Kallen entered, unwilling to meet the redhead's eyes again.
"So?" Lelouch gestured at the chair Ana had just left. "Take a seat."
"I'd rather stand," she declined forcefully, standing defiantly a half dozen feet away from the one who seemed to be conspiring something regarding her. "What did she mean by looking at my weaknesses?" She didn't care if he had a problem with her eavesdropping. Whatever he was doing was far worse.
If he was concerned about her defiance, he didn't show it in the slightest. "One of Ana's abilities is to see the weaknesses, the vulnerabilities of people if she chooses to. Have you ever felt a strange discomfort around her at some point since getting here?" he asked. Her eyes widened. On the day she arrived. She had ignored it as part of being a devil, or being in the underworld. "Please don't hold it against her. I asked her to."
Her eyebrows nearly reached her hairline. What kind of justification was that? "Is that supposed to be better? Besides, even if you asked her to she still did it."
He nodded, still without shame. "Because she would do anything I ask her to. She gave her freedom to me completely. Don't misunderstand, I don't relish that fact, but I appreciate her dedication." The young devil stood then, Kallen's body tensing on instinct. Whatever she thought he would do, he instead picked a book off of the table and returned it to the shelf, offering her his open back as he did so. "Would you like to know something strange though? Based on what she saw of you, you aren't in any way the same kind of willing servant. You loathe being chained down."
"Yeah, looks like you mugged yourself making me your Queen, huh?"
He only smirked at her jab, making her frown in response. That smirk was... Annoying. It was appealing. And that was so very not what she wanted to think about him at that moment. At least it was an easy thought to bury under her irritation. "You say that," he continued, "And yet you've taken to your lessons and duties without a word of complaint." It seemed she and Rudolf had both kept up their end of not talking about their disagreement. "I'd like to put it down to your training but even your graduation from Sandhurst was grudging when it came to your respect for superiors. Seems to me there's an answer I want, and a lot of answers you want. How about we build some trust with a little openness and honesty?"
She gave him a narrow look as she watched him return to his seat. Still acting as though he were in complete control. "What, can't just have your witch ferret the answers out of me again?"
His reaction to the bitter suggestion was strange. A subtle straightening twitch that brought a frown to his face for the first time. "No. And even if I could, I'm asking you. As I said, we have to build trust somehow. So?"
"How about you go first."
His eyes rolled. "I'd rather not be at this all day, Kallen. I'll answer your questions, you have my word. Your answers will be more complete if I have mine first." He gestured once again, bidding her actually answer the question this time.
She looked away. It didn't help that he was asking her a question she didn't have a full answer to, and also one she wasn't sure she wanted the answer to. "It's... Weird. Ever since I was little it's like there's been this voice, but not really a voice, you know? Constantly telling me I could be more. That I should be more. If I submitted, I was less." He was nodding along, like she had just confirmed something for him. "I thought that was normal until I started school and got in trouble for being too intense about things. Taking things too far. But... That day I saw you," she let out a gasp of a laugh. "It was the weirdest fucking day of my life. That voice that had been pushing me to be my best, the one that was never satisfied, it shut up for the first time. And then when I saw you again, the same thing happened. I don't know what it is, but something about you..." She blushed, realising how that sounded. "I don't know."
He nodded again, this time with satisfaction. "I see. Thank you."
"You look like you know what that means," she accused.
He shrugged slightly, smirking. "Maybe."
"Well?!" she demanded, her voice raised. "You said you'd answer my questions, right? What does that mean?!"
"I don't know." Her jaw dropped as he sat there smiling at her. "I did say maybe."
"Urgh, you're such a smartarse!"
"I'm just teasing you a little. I don't know for sure but I have some idea." Reaching over to the other side of the library table, he grabbed the other book sitting there and showed her the cover and title: 'The Father's Gift to Humanity: Sacred Gears'. "What Ana and I were discussing was the possibility of you having a Sacred Gear and what it might be. I had known by looking at you but only by Ana looking at you would we get a clearer picture of what you hold. Without activating it, that is. That was why she was inspecting your weaknesses, not for any more nefarious reason."
"A Sacred Gear..." Her brow furrowed. She didn't remember any mention of that by anyone since coming here. "What is... No. No, I don't care about that right now. There's something more important I need to know." The question no one would answer. If he wanted trust it was time for him to earn some by finally giving her a straight answer. "Why me? What made me so important that you had to make me your Queen? Was it this Sacred Gear thing?" It would be easier to understand if that were the case, even if it would make this whole situation far more terrible. The idea of just being a tool for him...
"No." The answer was immediate. "I promised you honesty and I'll give you that. To reincarnate you as a devil, I had no choice but to do so as a Queen. Your piece value was far too high to do otherwise. Yes, that is likely because of your Sacred Gear. However, even if you were worth far less I would still have made you my Queen in a heartbeat. The truth..." He grimaced, and from that expression she knew she wouldn't be getting the whole truth. "It's far more complicated than anyone knows and I mean that sincerely. No one knows save for Ana and even she is just making educated guesses. I haven't told anyone and for now I don't intend to."
"You promised–"
"I did. As my Queen I'll tell you everything one day. But for now..." His eyes stared into hers, and for that moment, for the first time since she first saw him on that Cardiff thoroughfare, it felt like he was looking at someone else entirely. "I knew someone once. She was very important to me and you remind me a lot of her. She went through a lot of trouble on my behalf. I can't repay her for that anymore so... Maybe I'm seeing this as a second chance to give a happy life to someone who deserves it."
She believed it. She believed the regret in his eyes. "Well... That was kind of sweet, except... You know, the part where you made me your servant to do that?"
"At the time it was that or watch you die."
"And if I hadn't been dying?"
His answer this time was far less immediate. "... Selfishness is an unfortunate trait of devils," he admitted, though there was no shame in how he looked at her. Instead... "I wanted you. I admit that gladly."
Instead he wore a cool stare that gave that declaration completely different connotations. She felt her face light up. She needed to change the subject. "So, Sacred Gear?"
He smiled, as glad to be away from heavier topics as she was distracting him from staring at her like that. "Yes. You have one. A powerful one. Sacred Gears can be described as bottled up legends given to humanity by the leader of Heaven." The list of euphemisms for that guy was apparently quite long. "Some humans are born with them attached to their soul. The 'not voice' you spoke of was probably some silent or subconscious manifestation of its influence."
"So you said you were trying to figure out what it is. What is it?"
"For now, all we have to go on are the weaknesses Ana discovered and some circumstantial evidence."
"Are you trying to keep me in suspense? Just tell me already!"
"Your Sacred Gear..." He was pausing. He was pausing for dramatic effect. He was absolutely trying to keep her in suspense. "Is a dragon."
She blinked. Smiled. Grinned. "Wicked."
-(-)-
The revelation that there was a dragon in her soul was cool. Not being allowed to actually find out what that meant was less so. It didn't matter how much she begged, Lelouch kept asking her to be patient. To get through all the social occasion bollocks and then they could activate it.
Not fair. Not fair! She was a dragon! At least a bit anyway! An honest to that guy Welsh Dragon!
But noooo, let's do meet and greets and all this Pride and Prejudice bollocks first.
She waited and watched as Lelouch greeted his guests as they arrived. First a girl with her dark hair in a bob cut and wearing glasses. He took her hand and kissed the knuckle, the girl blushing softly and smiling. So that would be the girl he was courting semi-officially.
Next to arrive was a blonde, also wearing glasses who was greeted in the same way, though she appeared to take it much more casually, even if she did wiggle her hips as she moved aside to wait for the next guest.
Which– "Lulu-nii!" launched out of the teleport circle before she even fully appeared, grabbing Kallen's King in a tight hug. She nearly shared the Queen's hair colour save for being a darker, richer red. The girl held the hug for... Maybe a little too long. And seemed to enjoy nuzzling him. Maybe she was just affectionate though. "I'm so happy to see you! I have a surprise for you!"
"Oh?" He smiled down at the slightly shorter girl, eyes filled with warmth. "I guess I have a surprise for you too, though I didn't really intend it as one." Looking to Kallen, he gestured at her. "Rias, Sona, Seekvaira, I'd like you to meet my new Queen."
Kallen bowed low in the Japanese fashion. Lelouch had said Rias would get a kick out of it. "It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Kallen Stadtfeld."
She stayed bowed. Had she been given any indication, a single spoken word or acknowledgement, she would have straightened but for some reason there was dead silence. After an uncomfortable length of time she straightened anyway, trying to hide her confusion. The reactions were... Only more confusing.
Both Sona and Seekvaira were hiding their expressions, but left their eyes to show their concern as they darted to the other redhead in the room.
Rias... She looked as though someone had kicked the world out from under her. Tears began to rim her eyes. She looked at Kallen as though she had stolen everything she ever wanted.
The spell of silence was broken. Not by words but by a heeled shoe stomping on her King's foot. "Lulu-nii no BAKA!" She pushed him away and ran back into the teleportation circle, disappearing from sight.
-(-)-
A/N: The following is an author's note, slightly edited, from when I first posted this chapter about six months ago.
Okay. This chapter probably merits me getting out ahead of it with an explanation. If you don't care and are still happy to rock with me, feel free to skip. If you want to know my reasonings or are super angry, read on.
So. Not much getting around what Kallen's sacred gear is now, is there? Not stated outright but... Come on.
Here is a fun fact. Or not so fun if you really don't like this turn to slightly more AU. My original intention was not for Kallen to have Boosted Gear. Way back when I was first starting this story, I intended for Kallen to join the peerage, probably as a Queen but that wasn't set in stone. The alternative was for her to be a doubled up Knight. Either way she was going to have a sacred gear but an original one. Cath Palug, a Welsh monster cat that some of you may have heard of because of Fate, but this one wouldn't be a super godlike beast of destruction. It would have followed the original legend more closely. An aquatic monster cat that had slain over a hundred knights before being defeated by Sir Kay of King Arthur's round table using a mirrored shield. There were a couple of ways I might have gone with its powers. An animal-like feral transformation or a clone-like ability to summon a more bestial duplicate from any reflective surface.
But before I could nail down what exactly those abilities would be... Kallen officially appeared in the story. And the speculation started.
I think it's pretty clear by how I respond so often to comments that I pay a lot of attention to the discussions of this story. Of any of my stories, really. I watched people discuss, people brought up the idea of Kallen having Boosted Gear because red and mecha armour and I was like yeah I can see the parallels but won't you all be surprised. And then someone pointed out a part of the story they believed proved it had to be Boosted Gear... And they were absolutely right. Because I had fucked up.
Hey, Casey! In hindsight, maybe it was a bad idea to introduce the fiery redheaded character famous for piloting a red machine while the characters were in Wales looking at a statue of Y Ddraig Goch! Maybe! MAYBE! It's entirely possible that might have been a catastrophic error if I wasn't actually intending to give her Boosted Gear! Just a possibility!
(present day note: Fun fact. Someone came to the same conclusion on this site too, proving me correct.)
There is an entirely fair amount of foreshadowing that can still be considered a red herring. Especially if the actual thing the foreshadowing suggests is close but not quite what one expects. Having Kallen be in Wales was fair enough for implying she would have a Welsh sacred gear. Having her appear right as the characters had been looking at and discussing the red dragon pushes it past the line of being a red herring. That was legitimately a fuckup on my part.
So, there I was. I had given the readers an entirely fair expectation to the point it would seem like bullshit if I contradicted it. Yet at the same time my ideas for the actual path weren't entirely solid yet. So I had a choice to make. I asked the commissioner what they would prefer I do (having already told them what my intention had been at the start) and they simply said, 'whatever makes for a better story'. A fairer answer I could not ask for. So began the list of pros and cons and plans for both paths.
Cath Palug. It's original, which is a point in its favour but not an especially strong one. It fit Kallen's difficulty with restraining her aggression but that aspect could fit just as well with a dragon. It also fit with Lelouch's ability to quiet that aggression because cat taming (yes it's supposed to be lions but that's too specific an ability). On the other hand, it's getting a little convenient Lelouch finding all of these people with cat-based powers for him to easily win over without even needing to try.
Boosted Gear. It's unoriginal. Every story wants their favourite character to have Boosted Gear so it looks lame on the face of it. On the other hand, it fits the foreshadowing far better. It still fits Kallen's aggression (and the inexplicable curbing of that aggression around Lelouch has potential to be a plot thing I can do things with). It makes the story even more AU, but at the same time that's by sidelining Issei.
... Let's talk about Issei.
I'm not sure who said it. It might have been Third Fang (present day note: I checked and it probably wasn't Third Fang). But whoever it was, they proposed that Issei effectively is DxD (in fact that's actually kind of literal in canon). If he's a shameless pervert, the setting is shameless perversion. If he's not, suddenly that element of the setting is forced to crawl into a corner while srs bsns worldbuilding and intrigue happens. You could easily apply Pokémon's Ash coma theory to Issei. He died, and now he's experiencing his own personal heaven where everything revolves around him, he has a line of eager virgin sluts ready to service him (that he heroically pushes away because he's a hero don'tcha know). When he doesn't want to be fawned over by beautiful women, he gets a chance to use his superpowers that he can call on by emulating Goku from Dragon Ball. It's his personal fantasyland and nothing else is allowed to matter.
Making him the pivotal character of this setting does not fit the tone of this story. At all. It would be such tonal whiplash you readers' heads would rip off from the force of it. If anyone plans to write a story that isn't bending over backwards to suck Issei's dick, they kind of need to either ignore him entirely or lessen his relevance.
And so, purely by happenstance and my own mistakes, we end up in a situation where I can kill two birds with one stone. Kallen's foreshadowing fits perfectly, Issei no longer has to be a spectre looming over this story in the distance, waiting for it to arrive so he can gobble it up in his harem wank aura.
Just to be clear. Not saying Issei is bad. That would be another discussion I'm not prepared or interested in getting into. Just that his story and anyone else's story are near mutually exclusive. I've seen one story get close and that's Beyond the Outer Gate Lies by Xavon Wrentaile (and originally Gabriel Blessing, but far more of it has been written by the former). And even that is a tonally disjointed mess at times. Issei as he is in canon exists for his story. No one else's.