Thanks to Nekro for the shared ideas and continued interest in DxD, which keeps me trying to tell this story. Thanks to the readers of the previous Parable version, and of course thanks to FF for not completely breaking down. Ironically, as I'm writing this, AO3 is the site that kind of broke down? Can't have shit in this fandom, FFS.
Anyway, this story is loosely inspired in/from/by Dungeon Defense. I'll try to repurpose as much of canon as I can, and expect the story to be -moderately- edgy and have a MC that is shitty as a person. Oh, and Vritra. Because I can't entrust my favorite powerset to Nekro. Blud will have me waiting like Rose in Titanic just to get crumbs of power.
Power theft is cool!
The throbbing in my head returned me to reality. After having nothing but a cold, numb darkness overtake my senses, the sharp pain that weakened me to the point of losing consciousness now brought me back to it.
Not enough to recognize my surroundings, mind you. But still giving me an acute sense of being alive -in the worst way possible-, that shook me awake and forced my senses to take the confusing information clogging my brain into uselessness.
Tough position to be in. I'd been taught that taking risks was a matter of knowledge; that a risk was only a risk when you didn't have all the information needed to make an educated choice. And that, being in such a position, already meant to be on the way to losing. I didn't know what to do, except to scramble until I was in a position to understand everything. To breathe and think. Because that was one of the things that worked both in real life and here.
Still… I lived. Contrary to common sense, I hadn't died. Or I hadn't died permanently, if one wanted to be more technical. Because having your skull cracked and bleeding out was pretty fatal under any circumstance. The 'me' that was left in that damned place had perished, yet I still breathed. I still thought, felt, hoped…
I still hated.
And one of the things that I hated, was when simple things were turned difficult by people that didn't know what they were doing.
"I expected better from you, honestly." The student council room was way too fancy for what it represented. Too many old-looking books in bookcases that were too fancy for being in a simple school, no matter how prestigious. It made Sona Sitri look like some sort of evil witch in a princess movie. Surrounded by her grimoires of hexes and other stuff of that kind, giving her glare more power than the beautiful black-haired girl actually held.
You know, if you ignored that she shared control over the city with her fellow devil heiress.
"That's…" I was going to say that it was her own fault, but that didn't get us anywhere. Being contrarian, just for the sake of it, was an easy mistake to make. Especially when I was annoyed because of having to resort to this. To having to talk with a tertiary character instead of working on my own things. "…My bad, I apologize. But I'd like to ask what I did wrong."
Making myself a little smaller in the seat, fixing the Kuoh Academy uniform that I had been loaned to check the school, only worked because I kept my cool. It'd be easy to start arguing here, for Sona felt like the kind of person that looked down on others way too much.
I knew, from context of this world, that it wasn't the case. But the strict personality and cold voice she had made it very easy to misunderstand.
"Do I have to explain why being caught with the pervert duo is bad?" Sona raised an eyebrow, sounding a little worried for him. But not in the maternal or nice way that Rias Gremory did. But, rather, like she was wondering if there was something wrong with my head.
But that didn't matter. What mattered was the small tidbit of information that she unknowingly gifted me with that question.
"Pervert duo?" See, my memories about this world were vague. Fleeting.
The guy that had been a fan wasn't here. He'd pestered me into watching the first two seasons of the anime, and that had been enough. The talks about the 'lore' and stuff had their appeal, I admit. But saying that I was happy to be in this world filled with dumb hand to hand battles when magic existed, excessive amounts of breasts, and a world that only barely made sense… It'd be a stretch.
"These two are known for harassing female club members, usually the kento girls. And that's why they chased all of you with the wood swords. They just don't learn."
See, here is the thing. Although I don't know a whole lot, I'm pretty sure there should be three perverts instead of two. And, incidentally, the one that I didn't see around was the person I was here for.
I furrowed my brows. Not only because she was saying something that I did not want to hear; but because her words themselves were pretty weird.
"Sounds like they should be expelled." Or in a list, really. But I might be exaggerating.
"If you knew that, why did you join them?" Sona sounded a little exasperated. But I didn't much care for her mood; I cared for her to keep talking.
"I didn't expect them to go peeping on girls. This is your school, after all. I thought that… I don't know, they wanted to show me something cool like… What do human teens do in their free time?"
"…I guess this is why Rias suggested that you should consider joining." Sona sighed.
I smiled a little. Not with confidence, but to show that I didn't hold it against her.
I did, but she didn't have to know that.
"I still don't know why you wouldn't do anything about a known problem." After all, if they had their own stupid nickname, it was something that most people in school knew about. Although the 'duo' thing was… Not unexpected, but disappointing.
"I can't act as strictly with humans as with our kind. I understand our differences better than that." Sona shook her head, like she didn't have access to the school rules of… Every other school in existence. As they would probably show up if she took the care to research online.
Then again, this world was ridiculous like that when it came to sex-related things. Maybe it wasn't the case here.
I wouldn't know, I didn't do that research either.
"Makes sense." It really didn't. The devils that she talked about were her servants, or Rias' servants. Did it really make a difference to enforce rules with them compared to the students in Kuoh?
Granted, I didn't know how the pecking order worked here. I didn't know if the proxy principal, because I guessed that they were just a proxy for appearance's sake, had any power to overrule Sona and Rias. But it honestly didn't matter, I just needed the information that this particular conversation gave me.
"I'd rather take the long approach, have them understand their own mistakes." Sona added, closing her eyes like she was tired of this conversation. "So… Please don't add to the problem. I won't show the same lenience with you. Because I know that you're smarter than that."
I gave her a placating smile -raising my hands as a sign of peace- big enough to show the asymmetry that I hadn't been able to shut down since I came to this world.
The smile that my family, my real family, shared was odd. My siblings and I, especially, had a way to look smug while doing it. A sidewise smile that only became more apparent the bigger the smile became. Which my new body inherited, and retained as one of the few parts of 'me' that remained. That I could even consciously recall without… Something censoring it all away.
Sona didn't like my smile, obviously. The crooked expression looked like I was making fun of her, but I couldn't help it. Trying to stretch my lips to even them out made me twitch, so it looked artificial. It was one of those damning quirks that made people get the wrong idea.
"Got it." What else was there to be said? I'd have liked to squeeze a little more info on matters related to the guys messing around the school. But, as seconds passed, I realized that there was no real reason to stretch this anymore. The topic was dumb, the way Sona approached it completely unacceptable, and it only made me realize that I really wanted to get out of this school as soon as possible. "Should I make a written apology? Or perhaps show up to the club and…"
"No need." Sona interrupted, looking disinterested in the topic now. "Just don't interact with those guys. Of course, if you see the kendo club girls you ought to. But you don't need me to tell you that much. You're not a member of the school yet, so…"
"It'd be messier." Probably even taint the school's prestige a little… If we ignored that they had two people messing with the morals of the school still inside the facilities.
Sigh. Perhaps I was being too harsh here. It mattered way less than I thought, all things considered.
Yes, I had a sister. No, she wouldn't be bothered by these sorts of guys. She'd have dealt with the problem already, but I guess we can't expect everyone to be as smart or decisive as we were…
"Understood." I stood up, all but ready to leave. "Thank you for your time."
I nodded instead of bowing. These devils seemed to disregard formality entirely, so I just did the bare minimum here.
"Take care." Sona nodded back, moving her attention to the paperwork that had piled up while we talked. Thanks to her servants coming and going to deliver… Whatever documents these were.
I walked out of the student council room, then out into the open courts of Kuoh Academy. Seeing the club members of basketball and soccer packing up to leave, as the time to be in the school buildings was starting to run out. They were none the wiser about the person in charge of their safety, or the nature of that protection. They just played around, told jokes, and hung out with their friends. Perfectly normal, perfectly acceptable.
My mind was not on them, however.
"Tch." Any other time, I'd have loved to blend in. Pick up a couple of promising-looking people, make friends with them. But my mood wasn't the best, and my interest in the school had all but turned into zero… Nay, into negative numbers. "So no Boosted Gear for me, then."
I'd have loved to take that Sacred Gear for myself. Take the opportunity of having the initial fallen angels show up, have them perform the ritual on the guy, and make a huge leap in devil society all in one smooth motion. Never mind joining a peerage or having to do odd jobs as a low-class devil, having that Longinus would also solve my problems with growth. It'd essentially kill two stones with one bird, helping me grow quicker while skipping the need to develop other abilities but my demonic power…
Wait, no. Two birds with one stone. The hell? Was thinking about the Boosted Gear turning me stupid? Was that the nerf that its hosts had?
Nah, it was probably the frustration. I hadn't spent more than a couple of weeks in Kuoh, playing around to see if I could get wind of the dude without actually meeting him face to face. For plausible deniability. But it ended up being for naught, as no traces of him were present in Kuoh Academy. And to add salt to the injury, my backup plan didn't work either.
"No Absorption Line either…" I sighed as I got to the special apartment building designed for Rias' and Sona's guests. Magically reinforced in… Some way, and given ample space for the high-class devils that would use Kuoh as either a tourist spot or to visit them.
The apartment complex was well-situated within the town. But I had no use for a central HQ if I wasn't planning to stay anyway, and seeing all the stuff that I had unpacked just to stay for two weeks made me even more pissed off.
Like… Why? I asked Rias' cousin to hold a bit for me, that I'd think about joining his peerage. I could be farming influence points with the unwanted heirs in his peerage right about now! Even considering my excuse to be acceptable, it just wouldn't work the same. Connections were always the singular most important thing to build. Be it at school, work, or any place where there are people. Connections move the world; they make things easier. And now, I had neither a way to acquire a busted Sacred Gear or the advantage of making friends with the future rulers of the Underworld's Pillars.
This is what happens when you make plans without knowing all the facts, I guess.
But… How was I supposed to know that there would be no important characters in the main spot where the original setting happened?! I guess I should've planned to first check if they were there, not to craft the perfect scenario to jump them and still their stuff. But I had no reason to suspect that
White demonic circles came to life on ceiling, floor, and walls all over the apartment as the lights went out. Activating due to a system that I didn't fully understand, but that was clearly meant to be a 'brace for impact' sort of thing.
A second later, something big crashed down. Making the orange evening sky light up into a full morning-like blue. Momentarily eclipsing things into such pure light that even my devil eyes were unable to perceive anything. Rendering me blind for a moment, but one that came with the ground moving up and down. Making the walls crack even through the protective magic circles. Damaging a structure that shouldn't be damaged so easily.
It passed after a couple of seconds, but the defensive magic circles didn't flicker out of existence.
No matter. I wouldn't stay here for that long anyway, but in a different sense than the one I'd been thinking about before.
I rushed out of the building, extending my wings and going straight back to Kuoh Academy. Because, if I learnt something here, was that the two devil peerages loved using it as their headquarters more than anything.
I didn't bother going back to the student council room. Sona wasn't as important as her fellow devil heiress.
"Is everyone alright?!" I didn't knock while entering. This was a bit of an emergency, after all. And no one faulted me for it. Not the little catgirl moving her eyes around like she could hear hunters growling all around her, not the noble blond guy holding onto twin blades for comfort, not the red-haired devil princess that snapped her attention to me and sighed in relief upon seeing me.
"Ah!" Her relief wasn't one that came from us being close, I knew. Rather, she was that nice of a person. But I still wanted to think that being in Rias' good books was a positive thing. For now. "Tooski, you're alright. I'm glad."
I entered the Occult Research Club, leaving the door open behind me so that others could enter. As I didn't see Rias' [Queen, and maybe Sona would feel relevant enough to have a meeting with her fellow [King].
"So are you. All of you." I gave them a troubled sidewise smile. Hoping that it'd convey the right amount of worry instead of smugness here.
There was nothing that could've prepared me for this. I hadn't paid much attention to the plot of this series, but I was pretty sure there was no chance that someone would randomly explode in Kuoh Town. It just didn't make sense.
I had to get out of here as soon as possible, there seemed to be nothing but misery in stock. And I was not going to suffer through any of that without any guarantees that we could succeed.
"Did you see anything out of the ordinary on your way here?" Rias asked me with a clinical tone. Still worried, but fitting into her role as the mind behind the team. Trying to stay focused in spite of the suddenness of it all.
"No." I furrowed my brows. I hadn't checked, rushing to get here as soon as possible, but I couldn't imagine something of that magnitude happening and showing no effect whatsoever in the town. "What is going on…?"
I looked away, to the open door. No one was coming, so I had to dumbly go back and close it before anyone could tell me to. I wasn't going to be embarrassed in an emergency. It wouldn't be like me.
Well, not that I was myself. Even if nothing had been going on at the moment. I didn't even look the same anymore.
Short, green hair, pinkish eyes. Never mind that such colors were wholly unnatural. The only reason I could even say 'short' was that my height was slightly different from the real me. For I had never been a tall guy, but I had looked normal. And even my name had been normal.
Tooski Sabnock was my new name. And while this half-devil body might not be the worst, but I certainly resented not being L****s B*****y anymore.
The dim streetlights outside the motel gave them a creepy vibe. Old, decrepit, and with little else around but a few small shops and abandoned buildings; it was the kind of place that only desperate people would visit. That, or disorganized travelers that didn't time their trip right and desperately needed a break. The boy and his family weren't the later. But he hated to think that they were the former. Even though…
Anyway, the boy was [REDACTED]. With [REDACTED] and [REDACTED]-colored hair. But there was something different about him.
His otherwise confident posture was nowhere to be seen. And instead, a nervous, almost hysterical, body language could be discerned from his [REDACTED] features.
His siblings were inside one of the rooms, left behind with the pretext of splitting up without leaving anyone alone. In this case, because the boy was supposed to go with their mother.
However…
"You made the right choice." A man with little to no hair, a rough overall look, and a lit cigar between his lips put his heavy hand on the boy's shoulder. "See? Things are easier now."
"R-Right." The boy looked away, not wanting to see the other two shady men walked toward the motel room. "Can I… Can I at least keep the key?"
The man furrowed his brows, his hand still on the boy's shoulder.
"The key?" The man sounded more confused than angry. Which was good, but not great. The boy didn't want to make this guy mad with more questions.
"The car key." The boy spoke hastily. "To… To drive away, y'know."
The man's confused expression became so fake that horror dawned on the boy's heart.
"'Drive away'? What are you talking about?"
The boy shrugged the hand off, rushed away. Using his whole strength to move out of the way before something could happen.
A fist caught him on the back of the head, sending his whole body crashing onto the dirty road.
"Fuck! I told you where we were going! You promised!" The boy tried to crawl to his feet, but a boot put his face back down onto the dirty concrete.
"Man… Bradley's little boy wants to talk about keeping promises!" The man cackled, though there was no humor behind his tone. Not then, not when other two people came closer and he regarded them, free from having to deal with the boy's mother. "Make it quick."
The boy didn't get a chance to scream.