Okay, so, here's yet another attempt at a Harry/Rias fic. I might be able to get enough chapters done for the December mass-update, but in all likelihood, it probably won't see the light of day until much later in the month or even next year, IF it gets to a fit state to be published at all. I'll still be posting Your Soul is Mine in the Cauldron as part of the December mass-update.
Honestly, I think this is going to be my last throw of the dice for this pairing, at least for now. I've tried to make it work, and it's not working out, and I'm getting frustrated and burned out. If this story works out, then great. If not, then I need to rest it, try to work on other stories, before returning to the pairing. Assuming I do at all.
Anyway, aside from all that, I recently got the fourth series of Overlord on Blu-Ray, along with the first season of The Sandman (which goes to show, sometimes Netflix can get off their arses and release stuff on home video, thus ensuring more revenue than just streaming: hope Disney+ does the same thing with the latest seasons of Doctor Who). Hopefully, my watching those shows might lead to me doing more stories with them.
Oh, and for inquiring minds, the title of this fic, Vellichor, is a term for the smell of old books. Surprisingly, it's a neologism, which is a shame, as it deserves to be an older term.
VELLICHOR
CHAPTER 1:
THE LIBRARY OF ST JOHN THE BEHEADED
"…A library card? Brother, I have one word to say to you: What."
"Hahahah…my dear sister, this library card, as I told you, may be what helps solve your problem. Have you even looked at what the card is for?"
"…The Library of St John the Beheaded? I've never heard of it."
"I'm hardly surprised. Until recently, the Library was considered lost, and even before then, it was something of a legend that only the top echelons of the supernatural world knew was real. Though it was actually mentioned in fictionalised form in the Doctor Who novels, of all things(1)."
"…I have so many questions."
"And you'll have at least a few of them answered when you get there. I've asked the librarian to establish a branch, well, more of an opening, in Kuoh. I've got another for your fellow supervisor, and I'm sure the librarian will allow for entry for the rest of your group. Not that it means much for us, but the forms need to be observed. That being said, please try to respect his wishes, as well as those of his assistants."
"…And who is this librarian?"
"Well, you won't believe who it is…"
"Porn, porn, theological arguments on the canonicity of the Book of Enoch, whatever the hell that is, porn, some treatise by Galileo Galilei on…alien life? Huh. Anyway…oh crap, another Alhazrad treatise(2), going to the extra-restricted area…porn, diary of Rodrigo Borgia, research notes of Valper Galilei, porn…" Emerald eyes flicked up and met the amused eyes of a green-haired, blue-eyed woman who was dressed as a nun(3), but whose amused, sardonic demeanour was anything but. "Okay, is it me, or are the majority of the outstanding texts from the Vatican porn? I thought the priesthood were meant to resist lustful thoughts."
The woman chuckled. "You and I know the reality is quite different. Otherwise, the battle uniforms for we female Exorcists would be less…form-fitting. Oh, they really are practical and easy to move in, but honestly, I feel that the modern battle uniform was designed by a man who had too many carnal thoughts for my liking. Alas, the Vatican is a more worldly organisation than it should be." She looked around the dark-panelled wooden walls lined with bookshelves with a wistful smile. "Still, I never imagined I would ever see the Library of St John the Beheaded, given the disappearance of the previous bearer. But as it happened, His Holiness thought it best that your first contact with the Vatican proper would be with someone who would put your mind at ease and not make any insinuations about heresy. The Vatican still have an uneasy relationship with your people, after all."
"I have an uneasy relationship with 'my people', as you call them," the teenaged boy retorted. "After what happened in the Department of Mysteries, half of them want my head."
"Well, speaking as not just an Exorcist, but as a mother, even if by adoption, while killing is a sin, to kill in self-defence is less of a sin. In addition, Voldemort and his ilk rank amongst the worst kind of wizard, and they have murdered many Exorcists and innocent priests in the past. You did the world a great service in sending them to Hell."
Well, Hell wasn't quite the term Harry Potter would describe the place he sent Voldemort and his followers into in a berserk rage. There was no fire or brimstone, no Devils with pitchforks (and having met a few, Harry found his preconceptions about them challenged). There was, however, colours. Lots of colours, like a rainbow with dysentery shitting itself to death. And a huge Dragon. And what looked like a young girl in Victorian dress, only with no top, just duct tape across her nipples. He didn't know why at the time, but he chalked it down to hallucinations suffered while in a berserker state.
As it happened, thanks to a few pancakes, said girl, aka the Ouroborous Dragon God Ophis, was a somewhat forgiving sort. But he only met her in earnest a little while later. That was probably the weirdest visit he'd had ever since becoming the bearer of the Sacred Gear Infinite Bibliotheka, albeit up against some stiff competition.
In some ways, the woman standing in front of him, Griselda Quarta, one of the most decorated Exorcists of the Vatican, was normal by comparison. She was human, and while very worldly for someone dressed as a nun, and certainly sardonic, she seemed at least normal enough compared to the fact that he had met three Devils (one of whom had taken the title of Lucifer), a Fallen Angel, THE Archangel Michael, a Kitsune or fox-person with near-godlike power, and a Dragon God in the nearly two years since he gained this Sacred Gear.
"The British Wizengamot disagreed," Harry said. "Hence why I'm mostly stuck here. And I'm still re-establishing the branch portals worldwide. Still, at least as far as the rest of the supernatural world is concerned, the Library is neutral ground. So if you come across any Devils or Fallen, leave them be, as long as they do no harm to you. Not that they should be able to here in the Library, but..."
"Oh, don't worry, I understand. My daughter Xenovia, as excellent a rookie Exorcist as she is, is not accustomed to the ways of the world. She sees things in a somewhat singularly narrow manner, and it is hard to get her to see that even in the service of Our Lord, the world is not black and white, but filled with shades of grey. I hope you find your own path, Harry…"
The conversation ran for some time, before Griselda left, though not before she gave a parting shot of "Dominus vobiscum" to Harry(4). With Neville and Luna checking the defences on the Restricted Sections, he had a bit of time to himself to think. True, he'd had time to think before, but it still felt like a rollercoaster, what his life had been like until now.
His current situation started at the end of his fifth year, after idiotically charging into the Department of Mysteries. During the battle, he remembered stumbling across what looked like a book in a bell jar. A stray spell from a Death Eater shattered the jar, and he'd instinctively gone to stop it from falling…only for it to vanish, absorbing into his body.
And after Sirius died…well, he learned what the book could do.
It wasn't until later, when he woke up in the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts, that he learned the truth from Dumbledore. Not just about the prophecy, and those damned Blood Wards. But rather, about the book…about the Sacred Gear Infinite Bibliotecha.
Sacred Gears were special powers granted by the God of the Bible (and wasn't that a shock, to learn that God was real, along with Angels, Devils, and just about every other pantheon out there?) to humans, to redress the power balance with the more powerful supernatural factions. Infinite Bibliotecha was somewhat unique, however. Formed by God during the destruction of the Alexandrian Library (during the clashes between Aurelian and Zenobia in 272 AD), Infinite Bibliotecha was unique in that it did not directly empower the user in any way, save for making them effectively immortal. Or at least that was how it used to act.
The wielder was linked to a pocket dimension that later became known to the Vatican as the Library of St John the Beheaded, becoming a handy repository for forbidden and inconvenient texts. When the Great War between the Three Biblical Factions sputtered to a ceasefire, the treaty was signed within the Library. It was an unspoken rule amongst not only the Three Biblical Factions, but also most factions of the supernatural world, that the Library was neutral ground.
Before Harry, there were only three wielders of Infinite Bibliotecha. The first two relinquished their power voluntarily, opting to live out their remaining years peacefully. But the third died to more sinister purposes. Gellert Grindlewald, the infamous warlock who had, Harry would learn, was Dumbledore's would-be lover before they became bitter enemies, was the one responsible.
Having failed to gain access to Infinite Bibliotecha, Grindlewald, having had contacts within the Grigori (despite the Three Biblical Factions having an unofficial agreement to avoid meddling in wizard affairs), had a prototype Sacred Gear extractor. He removed the Sacred Gear, and attempted to wield it himself. But the Library of St John the Beheaded had other ideas. The Sacred Gear removed Grindlewald's arm, crippling him. He stored it away, doing so in a way that ensured it couldn't re-enter whatever realm the Sacred Gears went to when their wielders died. Upon Dumbledore beating him, Dumbledore took the Sacred Gear away, and gave it to the Unspeakables of Magical Britain. There, it languished for decades, until by chance, it had a new bearer. Dumbledore had hoped to wield it himself later, when Harry ended up with a Horcrux in his head, but the Library rejected him, albeit far more gently than it had with his former lover.
True, the circumstances under which Harry had gotten it had fucked up his life, again, but his reputation was already at a nadir when he ended up gaining its power. And it gave him a bolthole away from the Dursleys. If Sirius was still alive, he'd grant his godfather asylum here.
The loss of Sirius had been a major sting to Harry, and Pettigrew was still out there. Remus was still alive, thankfully, and seeing Nymphadora Tonks, but Sirius' death still cast a shadow over them. Harry, after all, was indirectly responsible for Sirius being there, given how Harry fell for Voldemort's ruse.
Still, he had a new lease on life thanks to the Library. He was away from the Dursleys, he was mostly safe from Magical Britain, and he not only had two of his best friends here helping him, but he remained in contact with the rest. Hell, even despite how much the old man had fucked over his life, he remained on cordial enough terms with Dumbledore. The old man had helped educate him on what he knew of his Sacred Gear and its history, as well as helping him escape. Harry would probably never trust him as much as he used to ever again, let alone forgive him, but he still had some regard and respect for him. Dumbledore at least tried to make up for his mistakes.
And the Library itself was fascinating. He and Hermione, prior to her leaving to join another client in her research, reckoned it was pretty much like the TARDIS from Doctor Who, only without the time-travel. In fact, after voicing remarks that the reception area would have looked wonderful if it looked like the TARDIS control room from the 90s TV movie, they were surprised to discover the next morning that the Library's reception area had reshaped itself into just that. The control console was now an interface for a catalogue and map, as well as monitoring the various entrances for the Library across the world and the dimensions thereof, but it was impressive.
Like the TARDIS, it was alive, even sentient. Then again, a number of Sacred Gears had a certain degree of sentience. Hell, he'd been told by Azazel, leader of the Grigori, that at least two had the souls of the infamous Heavenly Dragons sealed in them. He could certainly believe it. Even when he first used it, part of the rage he felt was actually the Library's own, he was sure.
He was roused from his reverie by a chirping alarm from the console. He knew what it meant, linked to the Library as he was. Someone was about to arrive, someone new. Only those with cards given from the Library could gain access without his permission, and even then, until the card was fully registered, the member bearing the card would be effectively a guest, having to wait until he was ready to admit them.
He went over to the console out of habit, and pulled down the lever for the huge double doors. Technically, he could do this with a thought, linked as he was to the Library, but he just got a thrill out of acting like he was the Doctor. The massive, cathedral-like doors swung inward, revealing the dark void of the dimensional interface. From the outside, the door looked relatively normal, and in fact, the original doors were normal-sized as well.
Out of the darkness appeared a quartet of forms. Three of them were girls, the fourth a boy, all in their teens, even if the youngest girl looked potentially younger. They were all wearing a school uniform, and while the boy's looked relatively normal, the girls wore scandalously short skirts, with a sort of pseudo-waistcoat/corset that seemed meant to emphasize the bust of at least the two older girls.
The boy was a year or two younger than Harry. Blonde hair framed handsome, even vaguely beautiful features that were a touch on the effeminate side. He was like a prince out of a storybook, vaguely, and rather painfully, reminding him of Cedric Diggory.
The youngest of the girls was petite and short, her silvery hair cut in a short bob. A little hair clip in the shape of a cute cat face adorned her hair. Her golden eyes peered at everything with a kind of stoic curiosity. It was hard to tell how old she was. She could have been in her mid-teens, or even pre-teen, though given how she wore the same uniform as the other girls, he guessed she was in her mid-teens.
One of the older girls, who both seemed to be about his age, was clearly Japanese, with her long black hair done up in a ponytail. Her face looked vaguely familiar too. She also had the largest bust of those present, oddly enough, and her eyes were violet. Yet she had a demure, if somewhat amused, expression.
The last of them, he pretty much recognised immediately, if only by dint of having met her brother. Waist-length hair the colour of blood framed beautiful, aristocratic but friendly features, her eyes teal. She had a figure men and women would die or kill for, depending, and he had to tear his eyes away from her generous bust.
Instead of gawping, he stepped forward and held out a hand. "Rias Gremory, I presume? I'm Harry Potter. Welcome to the Library of St John the Beheaded. A pleasure to meet you."
Rias, after a moment, took his hand and smiled. "Believe me, the pleasure is all mine…"
CHAPTER 1 ANNOTATIONS:
So, yeah. Harry's got an OC Sacred Gear, which is basically what happens when the TARDIS from Doctor Who has a bastard mutant lovechild with L-Space from the Discworld novels.
This is far from the only time I have used the Library of St John the Beheaded in my fanfics (my Nasuverse crossover Gorgon and Thanatos was the first), and I have considered using it for High School DxD fics for a long time.
As for the reception area looking like the TARDIS control room from the TV movie, well, as much as Sylvester McCoy is my personal favourite Doctor, I feel that the TV movie's console room is the best of them. Hell, while writing this, I also listened to the version of the theme tune written for the Eighth Doctor's audio adventures. This dark and grungy, and yet fantastic and mysterious take on the tune was composed by celebrated composer David Arnold, who not only did a number of the James Bond films, but also did the opening theme for Sherlock.
1. The Library of St John the Beheaded made its debut in an official Doctor Who crossover with Sherlock Holmes called All-Consuming Fire, which also had much of the Cthulhu Mythos within it. The book by Andy Lane is out of print, but it's worth a read for Whovians. Easier to obtain is the Big Finish audio drama adaptation, starring Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor, and Nicholas Briggs as Holmes.
2. Abdul Alhazrad is, of course, the infamous author of the Necronomicon from the Cthulhu Mythos.
3. I based Griselda on how dinocam3 described her in the My Hero Academia crossover Hero Academia DxD, reasoning that Xenovia's dyed green fringe has to come from somewhere. Basing it off her adoptive mother is not unreasonable.
4. "May the Lord be with you" in Latin. I put this in an annotation because Tom Baker relayed an anecdote from his autobiography about how, when he was in National Service, he mistook a glance from one of his fellow recruits for interest, and spoke this as a greeting, thinking that, like Baker, the man was a Catholic and possibly even an ex-Trappist monk (Tom Baker, believe it or not, was in a monastery as a monk for some years in his early adulthood). The man promptly told him to fuck off.