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Of Gods and...Men? (DxD Reincarnation Dual SI)

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DodoDude said:
"It was a bitch to steal a steamroller without anyone noticing, but now its totally worth it"
Also now I can't stop thinking about all the mundane uses of time stop that Gasper probably does now.
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Like tying shoe-laces, snipping aglets in half, folding clothes, putting out the dinner-ware, looking over Koneko's homework...

And of course, sharpening the huge knife collection he has.
 
DodoDude said:
"It was a bitch to steal a steamroller without anyone noticing, but now its totally worth it"
Also now I can't stop thinking about all the mundane uses of time stop that Gasper probably does now.
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Alas, Forbidden Balor View does not enable a universal time stop for mundane uses such as:
Nami Tetra said:
Like tying shoe-laces, snipping aglets in half, folding clothes, putting out the dinner-ware, looking over Koneko's homework...

And of course, sharpening the huge knife collection he has.
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What kind of obsessive yandere do you think I am?! If I could stop time for everybody, obviously I'd do it to play pranks on people and steal candy for myself and Koneko to pig out on.
But yeah. Giving myself ZA WARUDO, even as my Sub-Species Balance Breaker, would be kinda boring. It's going to be something else, something I think I'll have quite a bit of fun using.
 
Nami Tetra said:
eh?
whatcha mean willis?
I'm referring to the blitzkrieg Dio does with knives.
Are you saying you actually have a target?
You didn't deny the rest of my reply. You understand the sinister purpose of Aglets?
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Pfft. Who needs physical knives when you can create a Gate of Babylon of pure shadow, hmm?
Huh. I didn't know that's what those were called, but now that I do, I concur. Truly, something so vile can only be the work of an Enemy Joestar Stand!
 
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Chapter Two: Come All Ye Fair and Tender...Ladies?
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    • Chapter Two: Come All Ye Fair and Tender...Ladies?​

    Gasper

    The next day, I awoke to see that Rias had sent a mass text detailing the meeting to everyone in the Peerage. It was to occur early in the afternoon, right after classes came to a close.

    I, mercifully, did not have to attend school, as I had tested out using the college-level education that I had retained from my past life. Rias had seemed a bit put out that she wouldn't get to dress me up in a uniform (likely a female one), but I think she was more pleased that one of her family was a 'genius'.

    And oh boy, I wasn't even slightly eager for the moment she found out otherwise.

    In any event, this gave me the opportunity to roll over and sleep in, in a vain effort to make up for my many hours of missed sleep.

    I managed to get about five and half hours before I reawoke. That left me with roughly an hour to prepare for the meeting and to meet with Kiba, so I tossed on a t-shirt bearing the phrase "I'm Cuter Than Your Girl" in English above a picture of Astolfo, slid on some jeans and my open fronted jacket and left my room.

    I put on my shades as I walked from the old building to the main schoolhouse. Thanks to both my superhuman sense of smell and my Shadowform, I managed to make it to Kiba's classroom without being seen.

    Peering through the window, I could see him bent over his desk with clasped hands, his eyes glazed as he looked at something other than than the classroom around him.

    I sighed. I knew that this wouldn't be easy, but really. Rias would have an aneurysm if he let his grades slip, to say nothing of if he spaced out in battle again and let himself get hurt.

    I pulsed my Demonic Energy lightly, which thankfully seemed to be enough to snap him from his brooding. I waved to him from the window, and he quickly excused himself from class.

    He looked at me with a plastic smile, not unlike the ones he'd give his 'fan club'. "What can I do for you, Gasper-kun? Did Rias need something else for her meeting with...them?" The last word was packed with so much venom that it could've felled Kokabiel (would that that were possible).

    "C'mon, Kiba-sempai. I need to talk to you, and the hallway ain't the place for it." With a beckoning gesture, I led the way.

    We walked a ways to an empty classroom, where I plopped down on a desk. "Alright. I know you've got some severe hatred going on for the Church, and it's largely justified. However. The Exorcists are probably going to come in, say some crap about 'not interfering with their search' and walk off with their noses in the air and their ass-sticks firmly lodged."

    I didn't honestly believe that it'd go that smoothly, considering Little Miss Deus Vult, but I could hope, right?

    In any case, my disparagement of our would-be visitors seemed to loosen Kiba up a bit, if the slight, genuine grin on his face was any indication.

    "As...evocative as that mental image is, I'm not sure where you're going with this."

    I hopped off the desk and paced over to the Knight, shoving my finger in his face. "My point is, tensions are going to be high. Neither of us wants Rias to have any more shit to deal with on top of her current workload. So, for the love of the Maō…"

    -x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-​

    Asia

    "...don't do anything stupid, alright?"

    Xenovia's arms were crossed as she held my gaze steadily, Irina standing a bit awkwardly beside us.

    "I will act as is befitting of an Exorcist of the Holy Cath-"

    "Oh, cut it out, Xenovia!" I sighed, rubbing my temples. "You know as well as I do that the actions 'befitting of an Exorcist' are completely up to interpretation. If we spent any time listening to the Men in Hats we'd be running in circles all day."

    Xenovia bristled slightly, but didn't do anything more. We had never quite seen eye-to-eye on certain matters, the Vatican leadership chief among them, but each of us had a great deal of leeway with the other no matter what. Today, though, I couldn't bend for Xenovia's benefit as I normally would. Not over this.

    "In that school," I began, pointing to the building whose gates we stood just outside, "are Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri. The little sisters of not just one Satan, but two. There are not enough shades of brown for the sheer amount of shit that we could start here, even by accident. I would more cheerfully juggle nitroglycerin than be any kind of Exorcist anywhere near this town, but the simple fact is that we are here."

    I was standing right in front of her now, barely inches away and most of it vertical. Damn but I missed being tall. "We're here, and we have a job to do and a message to deliver. So please, let me do what I'm good at so we can go and do what you're good at."

    I'm not entirely sure what quirk of genetics gifted Xenovia with natural blue-green hair and golden eyes, but the overall effect is quite otherworldly up close. The look in those eyes, like a raptor sighting prey from on high, though...that was something she learned. And damn but she learned it well.

    Still, I held the gaze. Because if there was one thing I was sure of, completely and utterly, it was that no matter what happened Xenovia Quarta and I would always stand at each other's backs.

    And it was because of that bond that Xenovia nodded grudgingly, adjusting Excalibur Destruction on her back. "Let's just hurry it up." She muttered. "I can smell them from here."

    I shrugged internally, Irina sighing in relief even as we turned to walk onto the academy grounds. That was probably as good as I was going to get.

    Our first stop was the Occult Research Club, AKA the Gremory Peerage, and it only took a couple of minutes to find the old school building by following the unsettling buzz of Devil wards. Walking up to the front door, I knocked and waited.

    From the other side of the door, a familiar effeminate voice called, "I am the Gatekeeper. Are you the Keymaster?"

    Xenovia and Irina both blinked, turning inward to look at me as I stifled a grin. "There is no Keymaster here; only Zuul."

    The door swung open to reveal Gasper in all his glory, a manic grin splitting his face. "You. I like you." The blond stepped to the side, sweeping a hand at the hallway behind him. "Welcome to our abode. We have candy, shitposts and shitposting accessories."

    A smirk still decorating his face, Gasper motioned for us to accompany him as he started walking. "Rias is awaiting you in the club room. Follow me."

    Normal procedure set our exploratory formation as single-file Xenovia-Me-Irina. Heaviest hitter at the front, 'VIP' in the middle, most situationally aware at the back because monsters are fond of the classics. This time, despite Xenovia obviously itching to take point on the 'invasion', I led the pack with my oldest friend just behind me. Irina still took up the rear, though, and I knew she was mapping our path as we walked in case we needed to make a swift-but-not-instant exit.

    Instant exits were more Xenovia's specialty.

    Once we arrived at a pair of slightly more elaborate doors than any others we'd passed, Gasper raised a hand to knock, his face more serious than I'd seen it yet. "President, our guests have arrived."

    From beyond the door, a distinctly female voice replied, "Well, let them in, Gasper-kun."

    Gasper rolled his eyes with a fond smile on his face; clearly the two had a good rapport if he found the authoritative tone of the voice amusing rather than sobering. "You heard the boss lady. Come on in." With a flourish, he pushed the double doors open.

    The room was laid out with a table in the centre, couches almost too poofy to be real set to either side of it, and an office desk in front of the far wall.

    Naturally, Rias was seated behind the desk, her hands tented in a familiar pose. To her left stood a voluptuous, black-haired young woman who could only be Akeno Himejima, one hand on a desert tray covered in assorted pasties. From the looks of things, there was one platter missing.

    Sitting in a chair immediately to the right of Akeno, a small, white-haired girl clutched the aforementioned missing platter. In the span of a few seconds, six pastries had disappeared into the merciless void of Koneko's endless hunger.

    To Rias's other side, a blank-faced Yuuto Kiba sat in a chair, his spine ramrod straight and his knuckles white.

    '...Well, that's a better reaction than I had expected. I guess Gasper has had some effect on these people.'

    Finally, Issei Hyoudou sat on the couch, his eyes alternating between focusing awkwardly on Irina and side-eyeing Rias.

    Rias raised her eyes to focus on me. "So. Exorcists from the Church. First, may I offer you some refreshments? You showed hospitality to my adorable servants; it is only fair I show you the same courtesy."

    I regarded the rapidly-diminishing plate of pastries with an amused smile. "Thank you, Miss Gremory. If Miss...Toujou, I believe, can spare a few I'd be more than happy to try some."

    If Xenovia asked later, I would tell her that I accepted because I was being friendly and because I could survive poisoning the best out of the three of us. It definitely wasn't because I slept in and didn't eat breakfast.

    Definitely.

    Still, the pastries were delicious. I stopped myself after eating only a few though; Irina was giving Rias a very subtle stink-eye and Xenovia was about as stiff as Kiba. The tension was rising despite my best efforts; it seemed I should try and cut through this meeting as quickly as possible.

    "Now then, on to business," I declared, rummaging in my cloak for a moment and producing a crumpled letter which I held in my lap. "The long and short of things is this: recently, a fairly wide spread of Catholic, Protestant and Eastern Orthodox churches were attacked. Three in particular, however, suffered fairly major damage and the loss of each site's most valuable artefact...artefacts that were part of a set, in fact." I gave a wry smile. "To be more specific, the items stolen were Excalibur Fragments."

    Kiba's mask of cold indifference shattered like glass struck by a cannonball. From the tension in his muscles and the way he gripped the armrests of the chair, I could tell he was barely restraining himself from leaping to his feet.

    A dark look passed over both Rias and Akeno's faces, while the only sign of Koneko's distress was the fact that her hands were no longer a blur. Indeed, she'd stopped eating altogether.

    Issei merely looked confused, while Gasper, predictably, merely shut his eyes and leaned against the wall tiredly.

    "Naturally, you can see why the Church's upper echelons are...oh, how to put this delicately…" I tapped my chin, then snapped my fingers. "Ah, I've got it – flipping their shit."

    Gasper cracked an eyelid and chuckled quietly.

    Rias looked between the two of us and spoke with a dead tone, "Oh, Maō help us. There's two of them." She shook her head wearily, then looked at me with a certain degree of resignation. "I am sure they are."

    Her gaze came to rest on Issei once more, having noticed his clear confusion. "But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Exorcist-kun, would you mind explaining to Ise-kun what the Excalibur Fragments are? I'm sure you could do a better job than I."

    She looked at me expectantly, and in return I shrugged. "Sure." I turned to Issei, who seemed a bit embarrassed at having been caught flat-footed. "To cover the basics – roughly fifteen-hundred years ago in Britain, during the Battle of Camlann, King Arthur was slain by his son Mordred. When Mordred then attempted to take up his father's sword, Excalibur, and become seen as the rightful king, the blade rejected him so completely that it broke apart into seven fragments.

    "Each of those seven fragments held one of the powers of the true Excalibur, though much diminished, and remained one of the most powerful Divine Artefacts in the church's records. Eventually, through magic, alchemy, Faith and probably duct-tape, they managed to fashion each fragment into a full sword of its own. These seven weapons are known as the Excalibur Fragments, and two each are entrusted to the Catholic, Protestant and Eastern Orthodox churches to keep things on the level."

    I paused for a moment as Issei raised a hand. "Ano...Argento-san, you said there were seven Excaliburs, right? So if each church has two…"

    "Where's the seventh?" I completed the question, and when Issei nodded I leaned forward. "Now that is a very good question, Hyoudou-san, because you see…" Issei leaned forward as well, and once we were both in danger of falling off our seats I broke into a wide grin. "I'll be fucked if I know!"

    A few moments later, Issei peeled himself off the floor to sit properly once again and I settled back into my seat with a sigh. "Honestly, no-one's sure where Excalibur Ruler has gone off to, and that's been the case for quite some time so we make do. Now, though, three of the remaining six have been stolen with extreme prejudice, which is quite a lot of egg on quite a lot of faces. Very important faces, at that." I snorted. "Of course there's also the matter of all the people whose lives are at risk while the Excaliburs are out of play, as well as all the lives lost in the attacks...but the 'important' people aren't talking about that, so what does little old me know?"

    Xenovia knocked me with her shoulder from where she was sitting beside me on one of the couches, leaving me to take a deep breath and offer a tired smile. "Sorry. I knew several people who died in those attacks, and a few more who might never be the same again. It's...frustrating."

    Issei looked a bit uncomfortable, but still nodded. "Thank you for explaining things, Argento-san."

    I waved him off. "It's no trouble, Hyoudou-san. It's just been a long few days."

    Rias cleared her throat. "You have my condolences, Argento-kun. However, why would you come here? Surely whoever absconded with the Excalibur Fragments wouldn't come to Kuoh, of all places. If they did, why?"

    "Miss Gremory, if I could answer that question I would probably have a big enough salary to support both my crippling sugar addiction and a hat worthy of the Vatican," I replied. "The simple fact is that we're tracking the almost perfectly straight path of church-related killings that leads to Kuoh from the Catholic church where an Excalibur was stolen. Every person in this town who held even a distant connection to the Vatican has died a violent death in recent days, so…" I spread my arms, being careful not to smack Irina and Xenovia in the faces. "Here we are."

    Rias tented her hands again and leaned forward. "I'm sure you don't believe we were behind the killings. There is no love lost between my people and the Church, but something like this would be beyond the pale."

    I raised an eyebrow. "Miss Gremory, if I seriously believed that you had the resources at your disposal to launch simultaneous attacks on dozens of churches, with enough forces on hand to decimate multiple squads of highly trained Exorcists, then I probably wouldn't be sitting here – because as far as I can see there would be only one place you could acquire those, and he is well above my pay-grade." I folded my arms. "As things stand, I don't think that you or Miss Sitri were behind or even related to the attacks, the thefts or the recent killings. You, quite simply, strike me as good people. Not the kind to go in for random murder."

    Xenovia's muscles against my shoulder were taut like steel cables. My right hand, concealed by my left sleeve, took a gentle hold of her arm and just held it. She was doing a lot for my sake; if nothing else, I would let her know it was appreciated.

    Rias let out a surprised laugh. "An Exorcist calling a Devil a good person? I never thought I would hear that." Her face quickly sobered. "Well, since you don't believe we were responsible, and since your friend there seems about as comfortable here as Gasper-kun would be in a garlic plantation, I can only assume that you want us to stay out of your way. Is that correct?"

    I sighed, lifting up the letter I had pulled from my robes earlier. "These are the 'instructions' we were given when we left the Vatican," I told her, unfolding the paper. "There's a lot of bluster and too many syllables even for my tastes, but it basically says that we're to tell you and Miss Sitri to back off. Never mind that this is your territory as of the past several years and has been under Devil control for significantly longer than that, or that your experience of the area is much more up-to-date than our own guide's."

    My fingers went to idle work as I lowered the letter, not paying much attention to my hands as I focussed on Rias. "I'll be blunt, Miss Gremory. Irina, Xenovia and I were sent here because the fewer people who know the Excaliburs were taken, the less of a PR disaster it will be and the lower the chance there is of someone capitalising on the Church's weakness. We're good—damn good, even—but compared to the force we can reasonably expect we're out of our depth. This could well be a suicide mission if we go it alone."

    I held up the letter, which I had folded into a perfect (if small) cube. I'd learned the habit as a coping exercise and dexterity training years ago, and it was still fun to do idly. Then, in front of everyone there, I placed it on one palm before slamming my other hand down on it so hard that the air that shot out from under my hand sent a breeze through the room.

    The absolutely flattened letter was left on my palm, and when I turned it sideways what floated down was a mess of tiny shreds. The paper couldn't handle the stress of the compression and had ripped apart. "Now I recognise that the Vatican leadership have made a decision, but given that it's a stupid-ass decision I'm electing to ignore it." I leaned forward in my seat. "Rias Gremory, it's entirely possible that a great deal of shit is about to go down in Kuoh. You don't need to risk your Peerage if you don't wish to, but if we must ask for help, I hope you'll consider it."

    Rias pressed her palms to the surface of her desk and stood. "Of course I will have to discuss this with Sona, but as we both share the responsibility of protecting this town, I don't foresee any issues." She then inclined her head. "Of course, the fact that a wound from any one of the Excaliburs would be almost instantaneously fatal for any of us is also good motivation for us to help you."

    I turned my head to look at both Xenovia and Irina. Each looked back at me; Irina with a glint in her eye and a curl to her lips, Xenovia with hidden tension but a heavily restrained kind of savage glee to her. Internally, I sighed—what troublesome friends I had—but externally I turned back to Rias. "With luck, the Excaliburs themselves will prove not to be an issue. Even if the enemy has people capable of wielding them…"

    Xenovia reached her arm out, tweaking the wrappings around her massive blade just a bit. From under the sleeve of Irina's robe, a rope-like substance protruded for a moment, shining steel-grey as it wound around her wrist in an odd parody of a snake. I could easily feel the Holy aura that washed out into the room from that one moment; not enough to do any damage or even create an uncomfortable atmosphere, but definitely enough to be felt. "They'll probably have a whole hell of a lot less practice than us."

    Rias blinked, momentarily stunned silent. Unfortunately, that brief moment of silence was filled by a deep, almost animalistic growl. I looked to the source of the noise, then met eyes with Gasper in resigned frustration.

    Kiba had half-risen from his seat, fingers clawed and eyes bloodshot. Clearly, he was well and truly at his limit when it came to suppressing his rage.

    By the time I glanced at her Xenovia had already risen as well, meeting Kiba's gaze head-on as one of her hands rested on Excalibur Destruction's wrapped form. I myself cursed internally and quickly checked the other faces in the room, trying to get a read on the common mind.

    Irina was ready to launch herself into a standing position at any second, Excalibur Mimic most likely quivering with tension in the shadows of her sleeve.

    Rias had a resigned and weary look on her face, while Akeno's smile had vanished and been replaced with a frown, her hands open at her sides, ready to fling lightning at the slightest indication of need.

    Koneko had set the long-since empty platter to the side, and now she uncrossed her legs. I'd have thought her unconcerned, were it not for the barely noticeable tension in her legs. Issei was looking desperately back and forth, obviously wondering what he was meant to do in this situation. As for Gasper...

    Gasper had torn his sunglasses from his face in one swift movement and fixed his gleaming red eyes on his fellow Peerage member. I sensed a surge of energy gather, and a space of absolute stagnation formed around the Knight. Not even the air moved in the bubble of stolen time.

    I blinked. 'Wait, what?'

    Gasper sighed aloud, slipping his sunglasses back on. "I apologize for Kiba-kun's behavior." He shot Rias a look, who nodded to him. "You see, he was once one of the unlucky few to be taken by one Valper Galilei. I believe your church named him the 'Genocide Archbishop'?" A hard, mirthless smile adorned the Dhampir's face.

    Xenovia and Irina both hardened their eyes at the mention of the name. I, myself…

    So many bodies. In the small dormitory their chaotic tangle and clasped hands made it hard to tell where one person began and ended, though thankfully the bodies themselves were still intact. Gas was a horrific way to go, but at the very least…

    ...Actually, there was nothing I could think of. There was no 'at the very least'. I was standing in a dormitory full of slaughtered children. Their faces were twisted in a rictus of agony, their mortal shells left to rot on the floor of an abandoned facility without the slightest care.

    I had failed.

    "Asia."

    I blinked, the sound of Xenovia's voice bringing me back to the present. I turned to look at her, finding that she had lowered herself to my level so she could look at me face-to-face. "The mission budget doesn't cover replacement furniture," she said simply.

    Looking down and to my right, I realised that the part of the couch's arm-rest I had been gripping in preparation to rise to my feet had...well, not quite exploded under my grip. That would require some of the material having managed to escape. No, what had happened was closer to an implosion; though either way, the arm-rest was ruined.

    "...Right," I muttered, shaking my hand to clear off the wood chips and splinters. None of them had managed to get into my skin. "Right, of course." I glanced over at Rias, though my eyes drifted towards Kiba. "My apologies, Miss Gremory. That name…" My teeth ground together at the mere thought. "It isn't one I like to hear."

    Rias nodded soberly. Gasper let out a noise like a cross between a scoff and a mirthless chuckle. "Well, there you go. I'm sure all of us would agree that we'd much rather ally with each other than tolerate a monster like Gallilei. There's our common ground, since if the Excaliburs have been taken, it seems likely that he's involved. From what Kiba has told me, he was more devoted to the Fragments than he was to the Big Man himself."

    Gasper sighed again, then leaned back against the wall. "Apologies. Please, continue your discussion."

    "I don't think there's much more to discuss," I sighed, standing up and looking regretfully at the couch. "We still have to begin our investigation properly, as well as conduct a meeting with Miss Sitri. There is...a great deal that must be done."

    Rias looked over at Gasper, who'd cracked an eye at the word 'investigation'. There seemed to be some non-verbal argument going on between them, though their body language did not change a whit. Finally, Rias appeared to capitulate.

    "Well, if it's information gathering you're after, I'm your man." Gasper smirked, and stretched out an arm. The Dhampir's shadow seemed to writhe and become a grotesque parody of the human form. Then, abruptly, a raven flew from the twisted image and landed on his wrist, its eyes surveying the room with far too much intelligence for a natural creature. I noticed absently that Gasper's shadow had returned to normal.

    "Meet Edmund, my Familiar. He's a Raven Mocker, a Cherokee Shadow Beast. He's as smart as I am, and between the two of us, we can comb Kuoh much faster than the three of you could on foot." He paused. "No offense, of course."

    The Raven Mocker let out a cackle. "Instead, take offense! It'd be funny!"

    Gasper looked at the bird-thing with a gimlet eye. "Shut it, or I won't take you to a cemetery for a week." Edmund's beak clattered shut.

    Gasper looked back at me. "So?"

    Xenovia didn't like it. Well, she didn't like anything about today. Being around Devils, being civil to Devils, not scaring the Devils shitless with her shiny Excalibur, and me smashing a Bishop's direct orders into scraps probably wasn't helpful. But still, I could feel her displeasure in the air itself like storm-pressure.

    It was one thing to tell the Devils that, if we needed help, we would 'allow' them to help, and quite another to admit that a Devil could accomplish something in a better fashion than she could. Or at least, there was in my friend's mind.

    So I had a choice. I could make our investigation infinitely easier, or I could make my own life infinitely harder in the name of Xenovia's pride and, by direct correlation, her well-being.

    ...Honestly. Like there was ever even a choice.

    "Thank you for the offer, Mr…?"

    He crossed one arm over his chest and bowed in a manner typical for a butler. "Gasper Vladi. Charmed, I'm sure."

    "Asia Argento," I returned, inclining my head. "Well, thank you for the offer, Mr Vladi – but if we can't even accomplish this much on our own, then that would make us fairly useless Exorcists, wouldn't it?"

    The smile I pasted on my face became easier to hold after a big chunk of tension left Xenovia's frame.

    Gasper hummed thoughtfully. "Well, I suppose that answers that. In any case, should you need anything, I am at your disposal. Use me however you wish." He offered a wink, though the shit-eating grin on his face made it clear to me that he wasn't actually flirting with us.

    Unfortunately, Xenovia was never great at social cues. Just like that, the tension was back and worse than ever as her grip on Excalibur Destruction's hilt tightened. 'Oh, bugger.'

    My hand shot out from my sleeve and gripped hers, drawing her attention for a moment. No words – just a slight shake of my head and a reassuring grip.

    The tension lessened. But slowly, and it was still simmering.

    I turned to Rias. "I think, Miss Gremory, that it is about time for my companions and I to take our leave."

    Rias, who'd been shooting Gasper a dirty look, faced me again. "Very well. Though he could have phrased it better, Gasper's statement stands. If you have need of us, you know where to find us."

    I nodded, offering a quick bow to the Heiress. Irina did likewise, though hers was shallower, and Xenovia barely inclined her head at all. They both left quickly, but I lingered behind a moment. Producing a pen and paper from my robe, I scribbled a set of numbers and a few lines of text before walking to Rias' desk.

    Holding the paper over the wood, I stilled the shaking of my hand through force of will. "...When you think he's ready for it," I said slowly, "please, give this to Isaiah."

    Rias' eyes widened, and she reached for the paper with a hand that shook just as mine had. She gripped the edge as though it might dissolve at any moment, and during that brief pause I felt something press against the back of my hand.

    I glanced down to see an almost two dimensional shadow-tendril stretching from where Rias' shadow crossed mine. I very carefully did not look at Gasper, and slid the thin piece of paper that it bore into my sleeve.

    "I...don't know if it would be good or bad for him to see it…" I told her, "but I think that if anyone should see it, then it would be him. He deserves what I can give him." I turned away, and even I could barely hear my own words as I walked from the room. "They all deserved what I could give them."

    -x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-​

    Gasper

    When the final flutter of Asia's white cloak disappeared around the edge of the doorframe, I heaved a weary sigh and rubbed the bridge of my nose. I probably shouldn't have teased so aggressively...though a small, sadistic part of me wanted to see if I could use innuendo and implication to drive Xenovia and her less-than-stellar social perception up a wall.

    I vigorously stomped on that impulse. As fun as rampant irreverence was, even I knew there was a time and place for it. While the threat of a genocidal Cadre hung over our heads, I was certain it was neither.

    Even as I berated myself for giving in to my baser instinct to sow discord, the technique I had lovingly termed the "Time-Out Room" dissipated from Kiba. He completed his rise from the chair in an instant, snarl still marring his otherwise handsome features, and cast about the room for the targets of his ire.

    Ire that he turned on me the moment he found them missing, knowing damn well what I had done.

    "VLADI!" spat the wroth Knight, hoisting me by the collar of my jacket and slamming me against the wall, "Why?!"

    Rias opened her mouth to intervene, but I shook my head. I was the one who interfered. I made my bed – and now, I'd have to lie in it.

    "We'll settle this the usual way," I replied calmly, even as a platform of shadow appeared under my feet and I wrapped my own hands around Kiba's collar. As I lifted him just as he had done to me, a tendril extended from the platform and unlatched the window to our right. Then, with a swift motion, I hurled Kiba out the window before jumping out after him.

    Kiba was rising from a three-point crouch as I jumped, a furrow in the dirt marking the length of his deceleration. By the time I landed he'd already pushed off into a run, the speed of a Knight leaving him a blur to even my sight.

    Thankfully, for this first blow, my eyes weren't needed – just my right fist, my magic flooding the arm behind it as I threw a punch.

    From the very fist time I crossed fists with him, Kiba and I had always started our bouts the same way – with the exact same blow. And though once upon a time that blow had merely left us both blowing surreptitiously on our knuckles, these days...

    Kiba's fist met mine head on. Of the two of us, he was the more physical, and had the full momentum of his body behind him – but when it came to magic and a Devil's natural energies, I was far more than his match.

    Our fists crashed together, struggled against one another, then repelled explosively with a cacophonous boom as the expanding shockwave tore dirt from the ground at our feet.

    Tradition thus satisfied, we each settled into a brawler's stance.

    Even as angry as he was, Kiba was loathe to speak in combat – so I decided to get the ball rolling myself. "Come on, you broody bitch!" I yelled, the savage glee I'd learned to feel from impending combat sounding clearly in my voice.

    Instead of dignifying my admittedly mediocre taunt with a response, Kiba disappeared in a blur once more, reappearing at my side with a flurry of blows faster than I could hope to dodge...but not faster than I could hope to parry. A few good hits went through, leaving my side aching, but the movements of my arm diverted many of them into grazes or complete misses.

    "A Knight you may be, but you're as slow as ever." I commented.

    He wasn't. He really wasn't, but in our little matches my particularly aggravating approach to psychological warfare was about the most potent thing I had on tap. Rias only approved of our...uh…'touchy-feely' type conversations for as long as Kiba never brandished a weapon and I never externalised my Magic. That left us with our fists, words, and the Demonic Energy coursing through our bodies.

    And there was never any doubt as to which of those I could wield best.

    During a normal spar Kiba would never be even slightly fazed by my taunts and jibes, especially the meagre fare I had to offer today, but right now he was so angry that he couldn't even reach for his usual mask of politeness and his focus was suffering from it. So was his restraint, which I could feel in the aching of my ribs and outer arm, but he wasn't so far gone that he'd conjure a Demonic Sword so that was fine.

    Kiba and I kept exchanging blows, my arms tucked in and up high as I pushed myself around on my toes to mitigate the worst of the many strikes coming my way while I waited for opportunities to launch strikes of my own through the flurry. What parts of my focus weren't on the fight could hear that the rest of the ORC had gathered at the edge of our sparring space.

    "Buchou, shouldn't we stop them?!" Issei asked, half-shouting as he watched us. "Kiba's got a really serious look on his face! What if he hurts Gasper-sempai?"

    As I shifted my head out of a haymaker's path, I could hear Akeno's ominous chuckle over the whistle of displaced air. My grazing blow to Kiba's shoulder in return yielded little more than a sigh of flesh-on-cloth to complement Rias' own fond exhalation.

    "Frankly, Ise-kun, this is normal for those two," she explained. "Yuuto may act composed and responsible almost all the time, but that's because he has these spars to let out his stress and frustration."

    Kiba suddenly dropped into a sweep of my legs, catching me out and sending me tipping backwards. I went with it, feeling at least three blows pass through the air around my legs as I flipped backwards and raised a cross-guard for the jabs that followed. "I've never seen him this angry before," Rias admitted, "but he and Gasper…"

    Three jabs, a haymaker, then he was going to duck and go for an uppercut – opening!

    My fist slammed into Kiba's cheek just as his diminished blow forcibly shut my jaw, sending us both staggering backwards.

    Rias sighed. "Are like shonen manga rivals. Honestly…"

    "That's...that's…" Issei trailed off for a moment, and I wondered if I'd lost the sound of his voice in the slight ringing of my ears. "So cool!" Oh, no, never mind. He was as obnoxiously loud as ever.

    "I didn't know that damn hand...that Kiba-sempai was so...hot-blooded!" Issei sounded almost reverent. Funny; I didn't think he could sound like that when tits weren't involved.

    Kiba and I both pulled ourselves upright. Slight bruises were beginning to show on both of us, in particular Kiba's cheek and my hands. Probably my jaw too, if I had to guess. He was still angry, and I could see it, but he was struggling to get air with the way his trained breathing rhythm had broken under his rage and so I had a few moments. "You asked me 'why'," I commented calmly. As a Dhampir, I still needed to breathe – but not as much as normal people did, so my air supply wasn't as compromised as Kiba's. "Why I stopped you from doing more than standing up menacingly. Why I didn't let you pick a fight with two Excalibur wielders. Why I denied you the first step towards your own justice."

    Kiba stared at me, teeth gritted and arms raised in a guard, obviously waiting for my reasoning.

    "It's because…"

    The rules of the spar said 'no externalising magic'. What that meant, in effect, was that I couldn't use my Sacred Gear, Shadow Manipulation, Blood Manipulation or my spells. Technically, though, it meant I could still use magic internally.

    Imagine speed.

    The wind on my face, flowing around me. The feeling of arms and legs pumping, blood running hot and lungs a furnace as the world flew by beneath me. The blurring of perception as the body outsped the mind.

    I fed the image to my magic, pulling it tight below my skin, and with my next step I vanished in a burst of speed to rival Kiba's own.

    Only Koneko knew I'd been practicing with internalised spells; Rias and Akeno gasping in shock, as well as Issei's excited yell, were music to my ears.

    Seriously; why did everyone think that a Bishop's specialization in Magic meant that they'd be a glass cannon? Devil Magic was limited only by the amount of energy you could channel and the uses you could imagine. As a Mutated Bishop I had plenty of magic, as a fairly accomplished Devil I had even more, and as both the holder of a Sacred Gear and a Dhampir I had a powerful disposition to the mystic arts.

    It was really a no-brainer that with seven years of practice, I was already recognised for my power as a Bishop in the same way that Kiba was recognised for his speed as a Knight.

    I came to a halt directly at Kiba's side, nowhere near his guard area and already in motion anyway, as I continued. "...your fight against them would have been USELESS!" With my final word, my right fist slammed across Kiba's face in a backhand.

    "USELESS!"

    A right hook snapped his head back in the opposite direction.

    "USELESS!"

    A full tenth of my magic reserves poured into my left arm, a rough imagining of strength building on the natural reinforcement of my biology and Demonic Energy to form an uppercut which lifted Kiba more than twice his height off the ground when it slammed home.

    Burning more Demonic Energy, I launched myself after him with a jump, flaring my wings out as I did so to bring myself to a hover and give myself something to pivot around.

    "USELESS!!"

    My final shout was punctuated by a spinning axe kick into Kiba's midsection, smashing him into the dirt below.

    "What would have been the point?!" I demanded, my wings furling back in as I began to descend. "What would you have accomplished?" I touched down, beginning to stride forward. "The complete waste of your life? Hurting us? Hurting me?!"

    Kiba was groaning from a dent in the ground formed by his crash-landing. When I was standing beside him, I reached down and hoisted him up by his lapels as I met his gaze. "I froze you, you damned idiot, because I don't want to lose another brother!"

    Despite still having breath in my lungs, the stern tone I'd tried to enforce on my voice cracked and choked with my words. Once, he had been a character, but after all these years Kiba was more than just another person to me – he was my brother, in every way that mattered. And just the thought of seeing him risk his life so utterly on the slight chance of destroying a sword that would just be re-made anyway…

    Kiba looked at me with wide eyes as my grip on him failed, leaving him to sit back down in the dirt as I angrily dashed the tears from my cheeks.

    There was complete silence for a few seconds. Then, Kiba's head drooped a bit and the last of the tension left him. "...Sorry for troubling you so much, otouto," he whispered.

    I choked on my laugh. "Come on, you daft shit." I pulled him up, slinging his arm over my shoulder before I started dragging him back towards our spectators.

    Rias was shaking her head as we approached, but there was a slight glitter to her eyes. Akeno simply chuckled, one hand on a slightly blushing cheek (and there was something that hadn't become any less terrifying in seven years of knowing her). Koneko met Kiba's eyes and simply said, "You got rekt, Kiba-sempai." I wasn't sure how she managed to communicate the Internet slang spelling verbally, but Koneko did it anyway.

    I had trained her well.

    Issei, on the other hand, had a shit eating-grin on his face as he looked at Kiba. "Kiba...I totally misjudged you." He took a step forward, clapping a hand on Kiba's shoulder. "I thought you were just a damn handsome, but you're really a connoisseur!" He quieted down, leaning into Kiba's ear. I could still hear him though. "I'm not really into S&M stuff myself, but Motohama would probably share some of his stash."

    The pervert seemed to be wiping a tear from his eye as he stepped back. "You're really lucky, you know Kiba-sempai? You found a girl that'll cry for you and kick your ass."

    Kiba and I looked at one another. In the exchange that took place, several decisions were made and several plots of vengeance were hatched…

    But for the moment, we turned back to Issei and laughed.

    "Boyo, you're so naive it'd be cute – if you weren't such a degenerate, anyway." I walked past Issei still chuckling, while beside me Kiba wondered under his breath if it was better to be hated or respected by such a terrible example of a human being as Issei Hyoudou. Rias and Akeno joined in on the laughter as they turned to follow us, while Koneko just shot Issei a slight, superior smirk as she jogged up beside Kiba and started poking him on the cheek.

    The bruised cheek.

    I really had taught her well.

    "...What?" Issei demanded from behind us. "What's so funny?" Each of us began laughing even harder, and when I glanced behind us Issei was grabbing his hair as he wailed to the sky. "Why are you all laughing at meeeee?!"

    But nobody answered.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • Xanothos said:
    "...your fight against them would have been USELESS!" With my final word, my right fist slammed across Kiba's face in a backhand.

    "USELESS!"

    A right hook snapped his head back in the opposite direction.

    "USELESS!"
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    Xanothos said:
    Issei, on the other hand, had a shit eating-grin on his face as he looked at Kiba. "Kiba...I totally misjudged you." He took a step forward, clapping a hand on Kiba's shoulder. "I thought you were just a damn handsome, but you're really a connoisseur!" He quieted down, leaning into Kiba's ear. I could still hear him though. "I'm not really into S&M stuff myself, but Motohama would probably share some of his stash."

    The pervert seemed to be wiping a tear from his eye as he stepped back. "You're really lucky, you know Kiba-sempai? You found a girl that'll cry for you and kick your ass."
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    Man... This Issei is totally out of his depth here... So many traps around that it isn't even funny...

    I bet he thinks TenAsia and Xenovia are together in a straight relationship.
     
    Falzyker said:

    Man... This Issei is totally out of his depth here... So many traps around that it isn't even funny...

    I bet he thinks TenAsia and Xenovia are together in a straight relationship.
    Click to expand...
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    Ummm...apparently using the word "Trap" in this context is an offense on SV. You might want to edit your post before a mod sees...
     
    So the great reveal there going to be lots mental overloads.

    Tsubaki sees Kiba as the Uke in her rotten imaginary world.

    How many pieces Rias has left.
     
    I hope Gasper has several Dio and Alucard (with his guns too) outfits ready for Rating Games cause that would be beautiful. Love the story very funny but without turning into pure crack.
     
    hyperspacemage said:
    I hope Gasper has several Dio and Alucard (with his guns too) outfits ready for Rating Games cause that would be beautiful. Love the story very funny but without turning into pure crack.
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    He to play the Dio needs dude like Vanilla ice to pray the floor he walked in. I have the right guy for the job Mil-Tan, Kawaii right? Now we need a Pucci, nah forget it Valerie fills it.
     
    Chapter Three: I Pity the Poor Immigrant
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter Three: I Pity the Poor Immigrant​

    Asia

    "See now that I, even I, am He, and there is no God beside me; I kill and make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of My hand."

    The last of the green light faded out from around my hands as I lowered them from the ceiling they had been pressed against and I let out a breath. "Amen."

    I could already hear the kerfuffle and yelling starting above me; things like that tended to happen when a hospital found that almost everyone in their ICU, long-term care, maternity, ER and pediatric wards had spontaneously started healing. In the middle of all that, not even the sight of an irritatingly short blond walking out of the electronics maintenance room below the ER was enough to draw attention.

    Just as well, honestly.

    I walked past a great deal of hurrying medical staff on my way back to the hospital's entrance, where I retrieved the note from my sleeve to peruse once more. There was a phone number written across the top and a few scribbled words below it.

    Call or text me if you have a phone, please. If you don't, you should get one, you technology crippled savage. ;P
    In all seriousness, there are...    things to discuss.
    –Vladi

    A quick look around found the expected row of phones in the lobby, and after stepping over I lifted the handset from the cradle and punched in the number on the card. The phone began to ring, even as I looked over my shoulder to cast a look around the lobby.

    A few people had come in and were waiting on chairs to get past reception. Of course, with most of the medical staff running around like headless chickens as they tried to figure out what had caused the spate of miraculous recoveries, they'd probably be there for quite some time…

    Twilight Healing glinted on my fingers as I called up its peaceful warmth. In the well-lit lobby, so long as I controlled the output, the green light which suffused the area was only really visible in particularly shadowed areas as an odd kind of tint. It was still enough to greatly accelerate the rate of healing however, and by the time I walked out of the lobby the doctors would probably have little to no work left to do.

    Well. In the lobby, anyway.

    The phone clicked as the person on the other end of the line picked up. "Vladi's Vampire Crematorium, you stake 'em, we bake 'em; how may I direct your call?"

    I stifled a chuckle. "Guillermo del Toro if you can manage it, though anyone else is good too so long as it's not Shyamalan or Bay."

    There was a short silence as my words were processed, then Gasper replied, "You cheeky little...Bah! Anyways, Argento-san! I'm glad you called. I was wondering if, sometime during your down-time, we could chat. I know this lovely little café that serves the best apple pie."

    "Kaa-san! Kaa-san, it doesn't hurt anymore!"

    I looked over my shoulder again, seeing a young boy running around and yelling. A women bearing a distinct resemblance to him was sitting beside a hospital-issue wheelchair with her hands over her mouth.

    I smiled to myself as I turned back to the phone cradle. "Well, Xenovia's not expecting me back for a couple of hours yet."

    "Excellent! A moment, let me get the address…" The sound of rustling papers echoed in the background, then a loud thump. "...Fuck. Whatever, I'll clean it up later. Anyways, the address is…" There was another pause. "Aaaand it occurs to me that you're probably not too familiar with Kuoh. You know where Kuoh General Hospital is?"

    "...better than I have in years, boy, and I'll not have you coddling me!"

    "Please, Fujimoto-dono, you were unable to walk just hours ago!"

    There was a loud crash and I turned around to behold the sight of a man who must have been in his eighties drop-kicking a nurse. "Do I look like I can't walk to you?! Today's youth, I swear…"

    I did my best not to whistle nonchalantly as the man walked steadily through the lobby, wearing a hospital gown with such pride that it may as well have been full plate armour. "Now to go and see what that son-in-law of mine has done with the family business. I'll teach him not to visit me for years on end…"

    "Oh my Maō. You've been pulling a Panacea, haven't you. I can hear them from here."

    "Oh, it's not like I emptied the place," I retorted, "I just...almost emptied it." It still grated on me that there were some things Twilight Healing couldn't deal with. Diseases, congenital illnesses, detached limbs that weren't still available to be re-attached...I couldn't cure any of them. Not even the cancers brought about by radiation poisoning or smoking.

    I could get rid of most of the symptoms, though, in the case of basically anything but cancer, tumours and other 'living' illnesses. Anyone in the hospital whose illness had progressed past a stage where it could be dealt with could most likely receive effective treatment now, and for the terminal...well, I had bought them some more time at least.

    I did wonder how many of the hospital's coma patients would wake up as their brains re-ordered themselves, though. Depending on what caused the condition the effect I could have on it tended to vary pretty wildly.

    A sigh echoed across the line. "If I'm being honest, I'd probably do the same in your position. If you have the means to help someone and don't...what good are you?" The last words seemed more directed at himself than at me. "Anyways! Since you clearly have some clue where the hospital is, I'll meet you in the parking lot in about...four minutes? Sound good?"

    "Yup." I nodded. "See you then."

    "Toodles." With a click, we both hung up near simultaneously.

    As I walked out of the hospital, I overheard a doctor speaking with the nurse who was picking himself up off the floor. "...seen anything like it, Watanabe-sensei. It's a miracle."

    I grinned and hummed the tune to 'Crazy Noisy Bizarre Town' as I entered the parking lot. It felt good to do good, even if there were some things that were still beyond me.

    ...Like fixing people's shit taste.

    -x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-​

    Gasper

    After hanging up, I swung by Rias' room to let her know I was heading out for a bit, then jumped out of a hallway window and sank into the shadows of the building.

    True to my word, I arrived at the hospital rapidly, and from my perch within the shadows I could see both the results of Asia's work and Asia themselves.

    While I was tempted to pop out of Asia's shadow, I restrained myself. Primarily it was because I'd noticed the lean muscle tone of the androgynous Exorcist's arms in the moments where the sleeves of their robes rode up and I had no desire to undergo an accidental fisting of the torso, though I also didn't want to risk alienating someone who might be the only link with my original world.

    Deciding that discretion was the better part of not experiencing a chidori without the lightning to burn my nerves out, I rose from the shadows behind a tree and made my nonchalant way over to where Asia was standing. "'Didn't clear it out', my foot!" I greeted, clapping a hand on Asia's shoulder gently. "I'm impressed."

    The blond turned, a subdued smile in place. "Thanks." Asia turned to look at the hospital again, in particular at the steady stream of patients who were leaving – some of them for the first time in years. "I've made a habit of doing things like this...there's another two hospitals in Kuoh. I'll get to them at some point."

    I nodded. "Of course, I'll have to tell Rias that you're doing this, but I know that she won't have a problem with it. Hell, if she thought you'd take it, she'd probably pay you!" As I spoke I began to walk, indicating with a gesture that they should follow me.

    Asia did so without hesitation, their movements light and fluid. Even to my ears, their footfalls were quiet. "Well, at least that makes up for the lecture Sitri-san will undoubtedly want to give me the next time I see her," Asia sighed. "That girl is entirely too fond of 'order'."

    I laughed. "You're not wrong there. Just makes it even more amusing when her sister comes around and flusters her; last time, her blush didn't go away for almost a week!"

    After several minutes, we reached our destination, the amusingly named Café D'If. The owner was a huge fan of Dumas' work and had decided to theme the building after the infamous prison depicted in The Count of Monte Cristo. Somehow, the novelty outweighed the inherent creepiness of dining in a replica of a cavern prison.

    Asia shot me a look when we arrived, so I smiled innocently and held the door open for them, sweeping my arm in a grandiose fashion.

    I got a raised eyebrow for my troubles, but Asia still stepped forward, casting their eyes around. Their gaze, I noticed, always lingered more on the people than the surroundings themselves – even when the surroundings were so very bizarre. "I don't know what I expected from a vampire's favoured café," Asia mused, "but if I'd known this place existed I think it would have been something like this."

    I clicked my tongue in mock disapproval. "Stereotyping? Truly, you wound me. I come here because the food is good and the proprietor has excellent taste in literature. The atmosphere is simply icing on the cake."

    I followed Asia into the restaurant, and when we passed the entryway I called out, "Maximilian, you old bastard! You retire and leave the shop to me, eh? You know I'm good for it!"

    A shoe came careening out from behind the counter and struck me square between the eyes. I could've caught it or dodged it but, much like the collision of fists in my fight with Kiba, this was a ritual greeting I wouldn't forgo for anything.

    "You damn brat! I'll never die as long as you keep trying to take my café!" A burly, weathered old man stomped from behind the counter and stood before me, towering above me with a height of nearly two meters. We glared at one another, the tension in the room palpable. I could feel Asia staring at us in mixed concern and bafflement.

    That made their reaction when Maximilian and I grasped hands and burst out laughing all the more satisfying.

    Recovering from a moment of open shock, Asia shook their head amusedly. "I probably should have expected something like that. Anyone who would host you in their café would need a certain kind of disposition."

    Maximilian let out a booming laugh. "Ah, it seems the little brat has found himself someone who can understand him. Good for you, kid."

    Asia and I spoke almost in unison. What we said, however, differed considerably.

    "We're not like that, you damn geezer."

    "I hear the hospital has some openings, ojii-san; you might want to check in so they can look at your eyes if you're seeing things that clearly aren't there."

    Maximilian laughed again, blatantly ignoring both our statements. "Ah, to be young again. Here, I'll show you lovebirds to a private table."

    I sighed. Turning to Asia, I made sure my next words were loud enough for my baking mentor to hear. "I apologize for him; he's getting old. That's why I keep telling him to retire; he's clearly going senile."

    Asia's smile had quite a few teeth in it. "Well, if he's going senile, maybe I should ask one of the Sisters back in Italy if they can recommend any good care homes? I'm sure they'd be happy to take in a friend of a friend, and the café would, of course, be in good hands."

    Maximilian froze midstep, then turned around and scrutinized Asia. I simply chuckled at the consternation on his face.

    After a short while of staring at Asia while muttering to himself, Maximilian straightened, shook his head and motioned to the booth. "Sit there, you confusing brats. Albert will be out to take your orders shortly."

    The two of us slid into a booth opposite one another, Asia seeming interested in how the booth looked hewn of the false rock the café was internally coated with. I had to admit, to an onlooker it probably did look like we were on a date. I'd never been all that successful in trying to develop a more masculine appearance – no matter how I dressed or presented myself, I still came out decidedly feminine. Asia on the other hand, while 'softer' than most, did appear fairly male.

    The fact that Asia was still wearing their Vatican-issue white robes as compared to my jacket and conjured Astolfo t-shirt—both of which had been cleaned magically after the spar—kind of broke up the image though.

    I knew the service here was always prompt, as Maximilian would suffer nothing less than excellence in his employees. "We'll talk once our food's here; the service is too fast for us to get anything done before it arrives."

    As though conjured by my words, the thin form of Albert Guindon rounded the corner and came to a stop before our 'cavern'. "Ah, Master Vladi and guest; what may I get for you on this lovely evening?" His voice somehow managed to be cultured without a hint of pretentiousness; the first time I'd heard him speak, I'd been reminded of an old friend from back home...the lack of a faint Scottish accent rather ruined the comparison, however.

    "I'll have the Blodplättar with a side of apple pie, topped with custard of course." I replied immediately. The blood pancakes here would probably be delicious even were I not a Dhampir, but since I was, they were divine.

    "Very good, sir. And for you?" Albert turned to Asia, hands folded behind him. None of the servers ever needed to write down the orders either; Maximilian expected nothing less than excellence of his staff, and he was damn good at instilling it.

    Asia spent a few moments looking for a menu on the table. When they couldn't find one in evidence, I received another raised eyebrow.

    Before I could explain the...eccentric policy Maximilian had instated, Albert did it for me. "Our establishment has no menu. You may order anything under the sun, and a few things above it, and should we fail to make it, you'll receive three pastries free of charge."

    Asia blinked a couple of times, then smiled. "Well, I'll have to come back with some ideas to test your mettle another time. For now though…" Their eyes unfocussed for a moment before snapping back to Albert. "A Swiss roll, with an aside of apple pie and custard, please."

    Albert nodded. "Very good. Your confectionary delights will be out shortly." The thin, prim man inclined his head to each of us in turn, then strode away.

    Asia looked as though they were about to speak, but I raised a forestalling hand. Precisely one-hundred and eighty seconds later, Albert returned with our dishes, a trail of aromatic steam mixed with a barely discernible energy still wafting through the air behind him as he approached.

    After Albert deposited the food and left us be, I muttered, "If you're wondering about the traces of energy coming off the food, Maximilian is supernatural and doesn't even know it l. I don't know how, but he's using some kind of energy to make his cooking...better. It's how he can cook something that should take the better part of an hour in less than three minutes just by adjusting the heat." I rolled my eyes. "Damn geezer is a savant, and I know I'll never manage to match him in cooking at his worst. I'm honestly not sure he's completely human."

    Asia hummed in interest. "Well, it's to be expected. After all, this is just the kind of world where humanity would be capable of such diversification, isn't it?"

    Before I could say anything in response, they raised a hand. "Just a moment, Vladi-san; I'd rather take just one more step against eavesdroppers."

    I waved a hand lazily, indicating my approval.

    The white sleeves of the robes were rolled up for a moment, revealing the crystalline rings resting on Asia's middle fingers. A faint emerald glow surrounded them, even as eyes of that same colour lost focus once more and became half-lidded. Seconds passed, then the light rising form the rings began to harden, forming recognisable patterns. Two circles, Enochian writing sandwiched between them with the design of an Iona Cross printed in the centre.

    "When He keeps quiet, who then can condemn? And when He hides His face, who then can behold Him? That is, in regard to both nation and man?" Glowing hands moved forward, resting for a moment on the table. In that moment, the circles above the rings each vanished only to reappear at the table's centre and sink into the wood, darkening into a design like an odd stain. "Amen."

    Asia blinked a few times as their focus returned, then sighed with a certain degree of relief. "The Church normally uses that for confessionals; everything we say here should remain here, save for what we carry with us ourselves," they stated. "We can talk freely."

    I massaged my forehead; even though the prayer hadn't been directed at me, proximity still caused me some mild discomfort. I pushed it to the side, however. We had more important things to talk about.

    I cut off a piece of my Blodplättar and consumed it quickly, then spoke, "So. I'll just come out and ask: you're a reincarnate that remembers a world without all...this, and one where there was a Light Novel series called Highschool DxD, yes?"

    "Yes," Asia returned simply, cutting off a section of their own swiss roll and taking a bite. There was a momentary pause before they seemed to almost melt, slumping lower in their seat. "Oh, that is good."

    "Isn't it?" I replied with a grin. "Ah. I suppose I should properly introduce myself. Before I was reborn into this world, my name was Johan Lewis."

    In the quiet of the café, the clatter of Asia's spoon dropping was almost deafening as they stared at me. "...Johan?"

    I regarded them quizzically. "...Do you recognize my name? I was never terribly social, so…"

    I didn't get the chance to see anything else, since a deceptively heavy blond form launched itself over the table and grabbed me in a hug. "...Donne," they said simply, "before, my name was Donne Gibbs."

    My jaw dropped open. "Donne? Donne?! Is that you, you well-spoken Scottish bastard?!"

    There was a sobbing laugh beside my ear, and when Asia spoke recognisably again it was with even more recognisable accent. "You have no idea," they declared, "how hard it is to explain your Scottish accent to an Italian Sister Superior at the age of two."

    A shaky chuckle erupted from within me. "About as difficult as explaining your fluent English to your Romanian Vampire jailers at the same age, I imagine."

    The grip around my neck suddenly tightened a fair bit, and I got the distinct impression that there was a great deal more force behind the body of Asia Argento than the slim frame would have me believe. "Oh...oh, fucking dammit, I knew I should have tried harder! Switzerland was bad enough, so I didn't even try for Romania, but...fuck!"

    I grabbed my reincarnated friend by the shoulders. "Donne...Donne! I know you well enough to know you're beating yourself up about this, even though you cannot be expected to take responsibility for righting all the wrongs in the world. I had to learn that lesson when I failed to get Valerie out with me and almost got killed before I even escaped."

    I loosened my grip on his shoulders slightly. "I know you wanted desperately to help; you were always the better of us. But you cannot blame yourself for being unable to go all over the world and rescue everyone before you even had hit second puberty!"

    "...I almost managed Kiba." Donne's voice was slow, hesitant, and the accent that had apparently been held back by years of practice coloured the words as he spoke. "...I spent so long trailing Galilei's movements. I wasn't exactly unknown, even then, so it was a bitch and half to do it but I tried. And then, one day, I actually overheard him talking with a Bishop about a testing facility in Switzerland. Mont de l'Etoile, near the Italian border. Miles from anywhere but close enough to a road to use it.

    "Well, like I said, I was still a kid. No one was gonna listen to me when it was my word against an Archbishop's...so, I cheated." Donne chuckled a bit, though the sound was wet. "Dulio's always had a soft spot for me, the glorious bastard. He knew what I was doing when I told him there was a new delicacy in Arolla, but he went with it anyway. He took me there and he didn't catch me when I bolted.

    "I still owe him for that.

    "Getting to Etoile was bad enough, but I pulled it off in a couple of hours. Then I found the place; a bloody underground bunker in the mountain-side with a ratty shack for an entrance. Probably some leftover from one World War or another. There was no one guarding it, so I busted the door down and stormed in and...and…"

    Donne's voice trailed off. His grip tightened further. "...All those children," he murmured, "just...gone. And some of them were still warm."

    I clamped my eyes shut as I pulled Donne close. I could feel the shard of the Celtic God of Evil's soul within Forbidden Balor View raging against my self control, begging to be unleashed upon something. 'Valper Gallilei...that's two of my brothers you've stolen something precious from. Your death will be a long and painful one.'

    The malice within me seemed to sate Balor's bloodlust for the moment, but I knew I'd have to be especially brutal the next time I encountered a Stray if I wanted him to remain...amicable.

    I exhaled, then looked down at the blond hair of head burrowing into me. "We'll get him this time, and we'll make him pay for what he has done. You, me and Isaiah; we'll...he'll fucking suffer."

    There was a pause of just a moment. Then, for a split-second, I felt a distinct shudder - as if some great shockwave had just passed by in a moment, disturbing everything for barely long enough to notice. "Yes," Donne growled, "he will."

    'Holy fuck what the hell was that?!'     I pushed Donne back from me and looked at him with wide eyes, my shades having slid down my nose due to the wave of pressure.

    I was just in time to catch a slight shift of Donne's pupils – after they were settling back into their natural shape from something else - and a lightening of his irides from what looked to have been a darker shade of green.

    "...What in the name of the Lucifer's freshly shorn ass was that?!" I demanded shakily.

    Donne met my eyes as he carefully extricated himself from my side of the booth to re-take their seat, apparently choosing their words carefully. "...Something that isn't ready yet," he said finally, "and something that I can't really do on command...but also something that should be enough for dealing with Galilei, if I really need it."

    I narrowed my eyes as my thoughts raced. Dozens of ideas were considered and discarded in the span of as many seconds; truly, all my practice holding the image of multiple spells in my mind was paying off in dividends beyond my initial expectations.

    There were only a few things I could think of that might have such a profound effect when the user wasn't fully proficient, and even fewer that a human could use. And since Donne had already demonstrated that he was in possession of Twilight Healing...I could think of two possibilities, both terrifying in different ways.

    I wouldn't press, however. I was far too happy to be reunited with Donne to bother. I knew that, when the time came, he'd pull through. I had faith in him.

    Our extremely awkward and emotional embrace now done with, I tucked in to my pie with gusto.

    Across from me, Donne did likewise, making rather impressive progress through his meal considering his stature. Not that I had any room to talk on that front. Still, it seemed that it was a startingly short amount of time from the beginning of the meal to the finish, at which point there was no more reason for being quiet. "...Kokabiel will be here soon, if he isn't already."

    I hummed my agreement, then clenched a fist and tapped the table in restrained agitation. "We, Rias's Peerage and Sona's as well, aren't ready for this. We managed to beat Riser without having to resort to Issei Ex Machina, but Kokabiel? We'd have be lucky to leave him lightly injured, and I hope you'll forgive me if I don't feel comfortable relying on the intervention of Vali fucking Lucifer for our survival."

    I looked over at Donne. "I'd ask if you had a secret weapon, but I doubt the high-and-mighty Men in Hats bothered to send anything other than you three, Destruction, Mimic and Durandal."

    The blond drummed his fingers on the table. "Technically, the wielder of Blessing is meant to be 'on call' – but they're the more traditional kind of Exorcist, and Blessing isn't meant for direct combat. Getting them involved wouldn't help at all so I don't begrudge him staying in Germany." He leaned back in his seat. "As far as secret weapons go...well, I've done my damndest, and I'd say that Xenovia is as strong as I could push her to be by now. I have a few tricks up my own sleeve, too, and at least one of them, maybe two, Kokabiel and Galilei couldn't possibly know about. Irina's a lot sharper than she would have been, and she gets along much better with Mimic besides."

    Donne let out a long sigh. "But, despite all that...I still don't think we have enough."

    I tented my hands. "The biggest issue is that if I call in Lord Lucifer, or Lady Levia-tan for that matter, and Kokabiel splits, Gallilei likely goes to ground taking the Fragments with him. Never mind how livid they'd be if they showed up and I had nothing to prove that a Cadre was here. I doubt we can rely on Kokabiel being a brainless fight-junkie, but if I wait to contact one of them until Kokabiel reveals himself to us, it may well be too late." I ran my hand through my hair in agitation. "Fuck, fuck, FUCK!"

    Donne seemed to consider something, closing his eyes and resting a hand on the table. "...I might—might—be able to buy us enough time for reinforcements to arrive," he said slowly, "but if I try, then there's a very real risk that it either won't work or will backfire in the worst way possible."

    The last piece clicked into place. "You mad bastard…" I breathed, "You don't mean…"

    "I can barely control it," Donne said, "and to do it at all I have to relinquish a lot of control first – but while I'm like that, I think I might be able to keep even Kokabiel on the back foot for a little while."

    I clenched my fists and slammed my eyes shut, desire to keep my new family safe warring with concern about the reincarnate that I'd once considered a brother in all but blood. With a long sigh, I made my choice. "Very well. I will trust your judgment. I have faith in you, after all."

    I snapped my eyes open and removed my shades, fixing Donne with my raptor gaze. "However, if you think for one red second that you'll be out there alone, you've got another thing coming." A vicious grin split my face. "You're not the only one with a thing or two up their sleeve." I sobered, then said quietly, "And if you do fully lose control, Maō forbid, Forbidden Balor View should let me contain you without having to hurt you or let anyone else get hurt."

    Donne smiled, the crescent seeming to bridge fondness and sadness. "I suppose we'll just need to have faith, won't we?"

    "A Dhampir Devil with faith, eh? I've heard stranger things, but not many." I shook my head. "Enough of this depressing but necessary talk. Let's talk about something else important."

    Donne raised an eyebrow, obviously wondering what could possibly be more important than a life-or-death struggle with a Cadre. In return, I grinned a shit-eating grin. "Has Xenovia popped the question yet?"

    I later had to pay for the hole Donne punched in the wall when he slammed his head backwards during his shock-induced choking fit.

    Totally worth it.

    -x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-​

    Asia

    My return to the church on the hill was a fairly quiet one, most of my steps going unnoticed as I thought.

    Johan Lewis...of all the people I could be reincarnated with, he was on a very short list I'd be happy to see. The odds of one of us being reincarnated were...actually impossible to know. But both of us? In the same world, at the same time?

    Something was going on, and I didn't like the idea that we were pawns on someone's game board.

    Well – more like Bishops, really.

    I was still caught up in my reflections when I reached the church's doors, walking through and closing the portal behind me with a thud. Enochian characters flared in Light around the doorframe for a moment as it sealed, then died back down to mere carvings once more as I walked away.

    The church's interior was almost fit for service, now. Irina's wards were a harmonious humming on the edge of my senses, while Xenovia's handiwork in repairing the things I couldn't handle with magic was amazingly subtle for her personality. That was what people never got about her - she was as unsubtle as her weapons, yes, but only in character. As was befitting of a swordswoman she paid great attention to detail and was always working to perfect her skills, taking up artistry of wood and stone as a way of training her pattern recognition and as a survival tool.

    Like every challenge she had ever faced, she broke it down before her and lined her path with the remains.

    I still kept the clumsy, half-formed clay figure with an uncanny resemblance of my face that she had made once upon a time. She had no idea I had it, but it was a place to draw strength from when I faltered.

    Just like Xenovia herself.

    The effects of severe alcohol poisoning, particularly on a nine-year-old, seem among the utmost heights of suffering from the perspective of the poisoned. I'd guessed at that before I raided the Vatican's supply of liquor, but it didn't stop me from doing my level best to obliterate every memory and thought in the wake of my disastrous trip to Mont de l'Etoile.

    I might well have drunk myself to death before anyone found me if it hadn't been for Xenovia.

    It was the first time I ever saw her cry. As I watched the absolute mess she became upon finding me surrounded by open bottles and liberally splashed with expensive alcohol, barely hearing the babbling that passed from her lips as she begged me not to go, I swore it would be the last.

    She had kept me anchored then. Dragged me back from the very edge of the pit and chained me to her side so that if I ever fell again, she would go with me, one way or another.

    And so I didn't. I left the abyss behind and moved forward, living for the instant and the moment yet to come, rather than for the rocky trail behind me.

    Xenovia Quarta saved my life when I didn't even realise I wanted it to be saved. For that, I wasn't ashamed to say, I loved her.

    "You're late."

    I stopped just as I was about to descend into the area beneath the church. Xenovia was kneeling before the cross at the rear of the church, Excalibur across her knees, eyes closed and facing away from me.

    Like that would ever stop her noticing what happened in her domain. Her space, what the Japanese called the wa, was nigh impeachable. A fortress where she walked.

    The rock upon which the church was built. Or, at the very least, my church.

    "Sorry," I apologised, taking off my robes and draping them over a pew as I walked over to where she knelt and settled myself into a cross-legged sitting position behind her, facing towards the doors. "I got distracted."

    "This mission is much too important for us to be distracted, Asia," Xenovia commented, and I chuckled.

    "Don't worry, Xenovia. I've not forgotten it."

    There was silence for a few long seconds.

    "...I don't like this. Working with Devils...it goes against all we've been taught."

    I hummed. "All of it? Really?"

    I thought I could hear Xenovia's face twisting into exasperated pleading. "Asia, the Bible's command to love thy neighbour does not extend to the infernal forces."

    "Well, if you listen to the physicists, aren't we all neighbours in a cosmic kind of way?" I asked lightly, leaning back against her. "Quantum Super-Positioning and all these other things they're discovering...things like 'species' and 'home dimensions' are starting to become so very small in the full scale of things."

    A rustle of cloth – Xenovia bowing her head, the muscles in her back shifting. "...I want to hate them," she whispered, "I want it so badly, but…"

    "I know," I sighed, "I know, Xenovia."

    "It's like you always said…"

    I smiled, speaking with her. "Ours is not to know the why, and ours is not to judge the what – ours is only to accept the who. For in the end, even Devils may cry."

    I shifted around a bit, and once I was sat beside her rather than behind her Xenovia's head collapsed into the crook of my shoulder. I wrapped one arm around her in turn as we sat in the silence of the church, humming a simple little tune.

    Everything Stays. The only song I had ever thought to reach for when I first met the orphan with blue hair and so very much rage at the race that had stolen away her parents.

    Now, twelve years later, I looked into a raptor's eyes that held so much more than just hate, and I smiled…

    "...Asia, you've been crying."

    ...For all of a few seconds. "Wait, Xenovia-"

    "It was that Devil, wasn't it? The blonde one." Still gripping Xenovia's shoulders, I was lifted from the ground as she stood up. "Excuse me, Asia, I'm just going for a walk."

    "Dammit Xenovia, I'm fine! It was nothing!"

    I managed to hold Excalibur Destruction down with a foot as Xenovia went to lift it, and for a moment I thought I had a chance.

    "Saint Peter. Saint Basil. Saint Dennis. Holy Mother Mary. Please hear my voice."

    "XENOVIA, DON'T RELEASE DURANDAL IN HERE!"

    Sometimes, I really wondered what I saw in this woman.

    AN: Well, I'd ask y'all to pray for poor Johan, but I'm pretty sure the pain would impede me escaping Xenovia (not that I actually have a ghost of chance at managing that).
     
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    • Xanothos said:
    There was a pause of just a moment. Then, for a split-second, I felt a distinct shudder - as if some great shockwave had just passed by in a moment, disturbing everything for barely long enough to notice. "Yes," Donne growled, "he will."

    'Holy fuck what the hell was that?!'     I pushed Donne back from me and looked at him with wide eyes, my shades having slid down my nose due to the wave of pressure.

    I was just in time to catch a slight shift of Donne's pupils – after they were settling back into their natural shape from something else - and a lightening of his irides from what looked to have been a darker shade of green.

    "...What in the name of the Lucifer's freshly shorn ass was that?!" I demanded shakily.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Did he make the Tyrant from Akame ga kill? Because that would be totally awesome to make as a Balance Breaker for "Look I tame Dragons" Asia.
    Xanothos said:
    A rustle of cloth – Xenovia bowing her head, the muscles in her back shifting. "...I want to hate them," she whispered, "I want it so badly, but…"

    "I know," I sighed, "I know, Xenovia."

    "It's like you always said…"

    I smiled, speaking with her. "Ours is not to know the why, and ours is not to judge the what – ours is only to accept the who. For in the end, even Devils may cry."

    I shifted around a bit, and once I was sat beside her rather than behind her Xenovia's head collapsed into the crook of my shoulder. I wrapped one arm around her in turn as we sat in the silence of the church, humming a simple little tune.

    Everything Stays. The only song I had ever thought to reach for when I first met the orphan with blue hair and so very much rage at the race that had stolen away her parents.

    Now, twelve years later, I looked into a raptor's eyes that held so much more than just hate, and I smiled…
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    :o They have the hots for each other don't they? This has promise... It also says that Issei will be saying "Damn handsome" but then will be surprised by the turn of events...
     
    Falzyker said:
    Did he make the Tyrant from Akame ga kill? Because that would be totally awesome to make as a Balance Breaker for "Look I tame Dragons" Asia.
    Click to expand...
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    ...Well. I can't say that I can fathom where you got that idea from, but I can safely say you're not remotely close.
    Points for an interesting and unique guess, though.

    Falzyker said:
    They have the hots for each other don't they? This has promise... It also says that Issei will be saying "Damn handsome" but then will be surprised by the turn of events...
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    *smug smile*
     
    0/10, not enough Dio and Hellsing Abridged references. Would not read again. :lol

    But seriously, I like this. Multi-SI rarely runs to my tastes, and often just seems to devolve into a story without focus. This one, on the other hand, has good characterization on both sides, some believable butterflies, and hints at greater changes to the plot in the future. Overall, looking forward to where the buddy(?) cop(?) duo go from here.
     
    QuietlyObserving said:
    0/10, not enough Dio and Hellsing Abridged references. Would not read again. :lol

    But seriously, I like this. Multi-SI rarely runs to my tastes, and often just seems to devolve into a story without focus. This one, on the other hand, has good characterization on both sides, some believable butterflies, and hints at greater changes to the plot in the future. Overall, looking forward to where the buddy(?) cop(?) duo go from here.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    You have no iDIO how happy that makes me to hear. Why, I feel like taking a walk...an ENTHUSIASTIC walk.

    But seriously, your praise honors and flatters us. Thank you.
     
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