Game of Monsters - 131 (Patreon)

Disclaimer: I don’t own Highschool DxD.

Don’t Wanna Waste Another Day

“Lord Azazel must like you a lot,” Penemue commented as they walked through a Grigori base once more. He wasn’t very sure why he didn’t just get teleported straight to Azazel instead of having to make their way to him, honestly. Even if they didn’t want him to get to his office immediately, being sent directly to a waiting room or something would work just as well, right?

Only thing Joshua could come up with was that this had some ulterior motive behind it, but he couldn’t figure out what, exactly.

Not that he cared all that much.

“It’s probably because I’m useful,” he replied with a smile on his face and a shrug when the woman turned to look at him. Apparently, she either wasn’t expecting an answer, or she wasn’t expecting that answer. “Or maybe he finds me interesting. Or both.”

“That does sound like Lord Azazel,” Penemue agreed with a nod and remained silent after that. Not that Joshua minded. He was just there to talk with Azazel and that was it. He’d met the Chief Secretary in his previous visit when he came to ask for information regarding the wings limitation, but even then they had barely exchanged a few words. “I can also see why,” she continued at some point, making him blink and turn towards her. “You were a rising star before, there were stories and whispers… And all of a sudden, new stories are being told, many of which are being confirmed.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he commented with a smile. It seemed that the strings he’d pulled were already paying off. They worked fast. Maybe he could do something nice for Agnes and Gabriel. He hadn’t even gotten to finish the Phenex deal just yet, which would probably multiply whatever they managed by quite a bit. “I feel like you are leading to something though.”

“I’m Chief Secretary, Mister Davis.”

“I prefer being called Joshua,” he commented before she could say anything else. It wasn’t as big a deal as it had once been, but he still preferred it. It still remained a reminder that the person he’d considered the true “Mister Davis” was no more, but at least it didn’t fill his chest with a void anymore.

“Joshua,” Penemue corrected with a nod, somehow making the name sound just as formal. “In my position, I’m tasked with knowing things that Lord Azazel might ignore in favor of other more… important matters,” she explained, and Joshua was fairly sure that with “important” she meant Sacred Gear stuff.

“So…” he said, now curious about where she was going.

“So, don’t think I don’t know what’s happening,” she told him, looking at him pointedly. It was a little amusing, really. Maybe she’d read the situation right, completely so. Or maybe she’d just guessed he was involved in his sudden rise in popularity, as it were. Or maybe she had a completely wrong read on things, for all he knew. Regardless, her words didn’t tell him enough and he wasn’t about to assume anything.

“Good for you, I guess. Not sure what you think you know, but…” he trailed off with a shrug. That didn’t seem to please the purple-haired fallen all that much, but that was more of a her problem.

“You are the one pulling the strings for what’s happening, I know that much for certain,” Penemue said, and he was a little surprised that she was being so direct about what she was saying. “I don’t know why, but I know there’s a reason, one that’s not for power. I know you don’t care for that, so there’s a purpose to rising your standing in the supernatural world. Political problems, maybe, either future or already existing ones that haven’t blown up yet.”

“Hm… You are good,” he commented, honestly impressed. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to admit that, but he didn’t really admit anything. Besides, even if she knew that, it wouldn’t help her do much. He wasn’t making up anything in his pull to get more influence behind his name and even if people found out about Kunou, Yasaka and Serafall, it’d be manageable. It’d be annoying, but manageable.

They were just doing what they were to make it go much more smoothly.

“Thank you,” she replied with a nod and a slight smile. “I do pride myself in my work.”

“You should,” he agreed with a hum. Then something occurred to him. “So, is this walk your thing instead of Azazel? Is this just to get a read on people that visit him?” he asked and the woman smiled.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“So, that’s a yes,” he said, apparently catching her off guard if the way she paused and blinked was any indication. “I have my own ways to get a read on people,” he told her, looking straight into her eyes with his green ones as he read her with Life Sense. It wasn’t as strong as it would have been if he went full Osiris mode, but a partial help seemed to do the trick.

“I see,” she mumbled, frowning as if trying to fit pieces together.

“Interesting that,” he commented, letting go of the divinity and continuing to walk. A second later, Penemue caught up and continued leading him. “I had been wondering about that, actually, so it’s nice to have an answer.”

“I can definitely see why Lord Azazel would like you,” Penemue told him, drawing a chuckle from him.

“Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?”

“It’s supposed to be a bit of both,” she answered, making him laugh even more. Their conversation was cut there, however, when they reached a door and she opened it for him to get in.. “It was nice talking with you, Joshua.”

“Same,” he replied with a nod.

“Joshua,” Azazel greeted him. “What spells or info have you got for me to spread the good word of the lord and savior of spellcrafting?” the man asked.

Joshua wasn’t even surprised that he knew exactly what was going on.

Especially after his talk with Penemue, that was for sure.

[}-o-{]

“It’s over,” the woman said, flanked by several people, all of them looking just as menacing or evil. “You should have finished me off when you had the chance.”

“Not to be that guy, but-” Joshua started, looking at them.

“Domino, I swear to-” Serafall hissed.

“-I told you so,” he finished, a nervous half-smile on his face.

“I haven’t forgotten about you, thief,” the villainess said, narrowing her eyes. “I have something special in store for you.”

“That’s very kind of you, Lady Ebony-”

“That’s not my-” the aforementioned baddy tried to interrupt but he kept going.

“And I’m flattered, truly. You are a beautiful woman-”

“Not the time, Domino,” Serafall hissed.

“But I’m afraid I’ll have to say no,” he finished with an apologetic smile. “ I can’t do anything like that with a woman that keeps such terrible company, you know what I mean?” he added, gesturing towards the rest of the bad guys around her.

“Hilarious as always, Domino Mask,” the villainess said, looking utterly unimpressed. “But there’s no Eternity Orb to save you this time. No tricks you can pull off to get yourself out of the fire. You are both trapped here, with us, and we’ll finally get our revenge.”

“She’s not wrong about that, Levi, gotta say,” Joshua commented dryly.

“We’ll find a way,” Serafall said, gathering energy around her magical staff. “We always do, don’t we?”

“You certainly do,” he commented with a smile. “I’m counting on that, actually.”

“No pressure, huh?” she replied with a chuckle that turned into a grimace when the villains moved towards them.

“Don’t keep me waiting too long, Levi,” Joshua said, extending his arm sideways towards her. “Luna, if you would?” he called then, and Margalo landed on her shoulder.

“Domino?” Serafall asked, frowning in confusion.

“So, you decided to take our offer, thief,” one of the other villains, one of the main antagonists from an arc long before Domino Mask existed. “I knew you were smarter than our new ally here said,” he added, gesturing towards the villainess. The both of them were the leaders of the new bad guy team, after all. It was no wonder they were the ones to speak the most.

“You are not wrong that Levi has to be taken out,” Joshua commented.

“Domino?” the woman next to him asked, betrayal written all over her face. ‘Damn, she’s a great actress,’ he thought to himself, almost feeling actually bad even though they were playing a scene and Domino wasn’t even actually doing anything bad.

“I’ll be waiting, Levi,” he told her with a grave smile before she was teleported away. Then he turned towards the villains.

“You didn’t kill her,” the villain growled.

“No, I took her out. Just like you said,” Joshua replied with a grin. “Now, time for us to play, I guess.”

“Cut!”

“Good job, guys. You looked very menacing, I gotta say,” Joshua commented, drawing some smiles from the previously imposing and evil villains. “That was nice. Until next time, I guess,” he added then, stretching a little and relaxing himself.

“That was great! Everyone’s gonna love it, I just know!” Serafall exclaimed, jumping on his back and wrapping her arms around his neck. He turned his head a little to raise an eyebrow at her. She wasn’t a very discreet woman on a good day, of course, but most of the time she kept it to a level where people could still wonder or dismiss it. This was a little more than usual, which was a little…

Then he noticed that nobody seemed to care. Or, more accurately, nobody seemed to be looking at them. They were all making an effort to look away, really. Hanging onto him, Serafall giggled.

“This is my domain, Josh,” she said dramatically. “I’m the queen here.”

“Sure you are.”

“I am!” she protested with a pout.

“So, where to, my lady?” he asked, making her cheer up and giggle as she wrapped her legs around him and then let go with one arm to point. “So, when’s the next shoot again?”

“You gotta keep track of these things, Josh,” she commented, shaking her head as he walked.

“Too many things, and besides, you are excited enough that you usually don’t let me forget,” he replied with a shrug.

“You should hire someone to help you,” Serafall told him. “You’ll be a very busy man soon and I know you don’t care enough to keep track of everything.”

“Not sure who I could trust with this,” he replied with a shrug, pressing his lips together. “Especially before things get more… known, you know?... Not that someone seems to be doing a great effort to keep things that way like planned.”

“It’s fine. Everyone here is trustworthy,” Serafall reassured him, waving off his worries. “And yeah, I know,” she agreed, nodding. “I do believe I can try to help you with that though.”

“If you get me a magical girl secretary, at least make sure she’s cute, yeah?” he commented jokingly.

“Of course,” she replied, completely seriously. He waited a moment in silence, but he grew worried when she didn’t laugh or anything. “Should it be a staff or wand magical girl?”

“Sera…” He couldn’t say he was impressed with her.

“Fine, I’ll see about getting a boring one,” she said, sighing and deflating as if he’d ruined her day. “But it’d be so cool though,” she whined.

“I’d rather have someone capable-”

“So I can get a magical girl if she’s goo-”

“Sera…”

“Fine,” she repeated, grumbling. “Maybe just-”

“Sera…”

“Fine… You really just have to ruin my fun, don’t you?” she asked him, pouting once more.

“I’m sure we can come up with other ways for you to have fun,” he commented idly. Then he looked at her over his shoulder and smiled at her. “Don’t you?”

“Hmm, I think I know what you are thinking, Josh, and I like it.”

[}-o-{]

Joshua ignored the way Serafall hummed contently off to the side and especially ignored the way Sairaorg was smirking knowingly at him.

They were terrible at keeping things hidden. How was it that they hadn’t been found out already? Maybe Serafall was actually threatening everyone that found out into silence? If someone told him that was a thing, Joshua would believe them.

It was a wonder Yasaka wasn’t on their case.

“Soooo…”

“Shut up, Sai,” Joshua grumbled, before sighing as his friend laughed. “You should be more appreciative, don’t you think? I’m doing you a great solid here.”

“Hm, and I am. I’m also your friend, Joshua,” Sairaorg replied, keeping his smirk firmly in place. “I would be a terrible one if I didn’t make fun of you once in a while, wouldn’t I?”

“I wouldn’t say-”

“Of course you would, Sai-tan~!” Serafall exclaimed happily, making Joshua deflate.

Even then, he still had a smile on his face. Ultimately, he needed to focus on his work, making him go silent. This set of spells was very important, after all. He couldn’t mess it up. It was also, funnily enough, the least important set he was likely to cast that day.

When he finished, he looked up at Misla Bael, taking in the information his new set of check up spells were giving him. On top of that, he channeled Nephthys to improve his Magic Sense to look more in detail at the woman’s energy. After that, Joshua swapped to Osiris once more for Life Sense. ‘Quite useful, I gotta admit,’ he thought, drawing a very muted pleased feeling from the deity.

He also drew some annoyed feelings from other deities, but oh well. He had more use for Life Sense than he had other things at the moment. Besides, he’d given enough attention to Shed, Nephthys and Set anyway and the rest of the pantheon seemed content staying back until he needed them.

It wasn’t time to ponder on any of that though.

Instead, he took his notebook and went over his notes on the Sleep Disease. There was new information to take into account and, unfortunately, it got on the way of the things he’d prepared to deal with the illness. He’d have to make unexpected adjustments here and there. Not a whole lot, but enough. He could only purse his lips.

“Not yet,” Sairaorg said from the side, when he stopped writing and set down his notebook. It wasn’t difficult to read his expression, Joshua guessed, but he still gave his friend an apologetic look. “Don’t worry about it, Joshua,” Sairaorg reassured, waving him off. “As I said, not yet, right? I know this isn’t easy.”

And yet, the devil didn’t manage to keep his emotions completely under control. Joshua could pick up on them just as easily as Sairaorg had his. He noticed the slight shudder in his voice. He noticed how stiffly he stood. He noticed how forcefully neutral his expression was.

“I’m making progress, Sairaorg,” he said, as if that helped any. Any day that he didn’t have his mother, his friend suffered. Especially then and there, when he had hope. It was a lot easier to hold it together when there was nothing to do.

“I know,” Sairaorg replied, moving to sit beside his mother and taking her hand. “I know. Thank you, Joshua,” he added, giving him a nod even though he didn’t look away from Misla.

Joshua wanted to say a lot of things to him, but… ultimately, words were useless.

Balling his hand into a fist, he thought about the other notebook he’d brought. It contained the notes of an array that he’d have tried on Misla. That was only if the new information he picked up was encouraging though. If it pointed to fewer things needed adjusting, he’d just do some quick tinkering and give it a try if Sairaorg agreed.

Instead, he’d found enough new details that he couldn’t reasonably get all the changes done in such quick notice. He’d likely have to rework too many little things, the entire thing if he was unlucky, which he seemed to be. Joshua would just have to wait until the next visit to try that out, he supposed.

It sucked, but it was what it was.

So, staying silent, he continued taking some notes, doing some quick theorizing of what he’d have to adapt. He could try and pick up some more information too, to be as thorough as he could. Sairaorg deserved that. So did Soren and everyone else that had fallen to the Sleep Disease.

Serafall moved to sit on the arm of his seat, placing her hand on his shoulder comfortingly. He looked up at her for a moment, sharing a sad smile with her. She then leaned down to kiss the top of his head before  hugging his head to her chest. She had known, after all, what he was planning and knew now that he wouldn’t even be able to try.

So much for the good mood they’d had earlier, he supposed.

They separated some time later, when they heard Sairaorg take a deep breath in and saw him straighten, although he kept his eyes firmly locked on his mother.

“So, what now? The usual?” he asked.

“Yes, the usual,” Joshua answered with a nod, even if his friend couldn’t see him. “I gather more information, plan a spell array that will help, step by step.”

“Ok,” was all Sairaorg said to that, leaning back on his seat but never letting go of his mother’s hand. “I’m sorry, I know that me being like this makes you feel worse than you already do. I just-”

“Sairaorg,” Joshua interrupted, taking a deep breath in himself before standing up and approaching his friend to place a hand on his shoulder. “Never apologize to me about how you feel regarding any of this, ok? I’m the one that should be apologizing, but…” he said, adding that last word quickly before Sairaorg could try to interrupt. “... Instead, I’ll just try harder. How does that sound?” he added.

“Yeah, that sounds good to me, Joshua,” his friend replied with a weak chuckle.

“Great,” Joshua said with a sad but determined grin.

[}-o-{]

He walked quickly through the halls, hearing the sound of Serafall’s steps behind him. He never turned nor did he speak. He didn’t think he could, what with the knot in his throat. He was being an idiot, he knew, but he just couldn’t help it.

He’d done the same thing many times before, but this time it seemed that checking up on Misla had been worse for everyone involved. Joshua didn’t have any right to feel as bad as he did though. Sairaorg was the one that had the reasons. He was just… He shouldn’t be feeling as bad as he was, or so he thought.

Ultimately, he did.

He reached his destination and opened the door making both occupants of the room look up at him. He moved in quickly, taking Kunou by surprise as he approached her and pulled her into a tight hug. The little girl didn’t take long before returning the gesture though, even if she didn’t understand what was going on.

“Dad?” she mumbled, her voice muffled against his chest. He almost wanted to squeeze her even more, but he refrained from doing so. Instead, he buried his face in her blond locks. “Is everything ok?”

“Yeah… Everything’s fine, Kunou,” he answered, his voice thick with emotion. “I just…” he mumbled, before the words failed him.

“I love you.”

“I love you, son.” “I’m proud of you.”

“I love you, Kunou,” he told her and he felt her stiffen in his arms and hug him even tighter. “I love you, and I’m very, very proud of you,” he said, because she deserved to hear it at a point other than the last moments, if that. He had heard those words so many times directed at him, even when he didn’t deserve them… Had he ever told her that? He didn’t know, but that just meant that if he did, he could stand to do so more.

“I love you too, dad,” the girl muttered against him and he smiled a watery smile.

“I know,” he replied, kissing the top of her head. “And you need to know, alright? You need to know that I love you, ok?”

“Ok,” she answered with a nod.

“Is everything alright?” Joshua caught Yasaka whispering to Serafall, who had taken a seat beside her at some point. He probably wasn’t supposed to hear her, but it didn’t matter. He didn’t care. He just needed a moment with Kunou.

“Yes, it's just… It hit him harder this time, I guess,” Serafall answered and he could almost hear the sad smile on her face. “He’ll be fine, he just…”

“Needs this,” Yasaka finished for her, getting an agreeing hum.

“Kunou,” Joshua said, pulling his daughter away from him slightly but letting her stay sitting on his lap as she had through the hug. “You see this? You know what it is?” he asked her, grabbing his locket.

“It was your dad’s?” the girl answered hesitantly.

“It’s a Davis family heirloom, you could say,” he told her, rubbing his thumb over the lid of the locket. “If something ever happens to me and this thing doesn’t go with me… I want you to have it, alright? Because you are my daughter and that means that this is yours too, your family heirloom, even if you are not Kunou Davis.”

“Yet,” she mumbled with a shy smile.

“Yet,” he agreed with a grin of his own. Maybe he was being impulsive or presumptuous or reckless or stupid, but he didn’t care. It didn’t matter. Even if they were wrong and she never became a Davis… “This is yours regardless, ok? No matter what.”

“Ok,” she replied with a serious nod.

“Good to know that’s clear,” he said, kissing her forehead and making her turn where she sat on her lap so they both looked in the same direction. Taking the locket off for a moment, he moved so that she could see it when he opened it. “I’ve put circles and a small wardstone in it so that it can hold many pictures and switch them with some minor magic use,” he explained to her showing her all the pictures he’d put in the locket.

His parents. Phil and the twins. Jeanne. His Familiars.

Yasaka. Serafall.

And last, but certainly not least, Kunou herself.

“I don’t have to explain, do I?” he commented to the silent girl, who shook her head. Soon, her whole body trembled in his arms and he knew she was crying before the first drop even fell.

“No,” she sobbed. “Can I…?” she started to ask before trailing off, her hand extended towards the locket. With one of his hands, Joshua took hers and brought it to the necklace. “How do I…?”

“Feel,” he whispered to her, waiting for a moment before using his magic to switch the pictures. A moment later, Kunou started circling through them herself, even finding the right way to get specific pictures to show up instead of going through the list. “That’s my girl,” he mumbled, making her press back against his chest.

At that moment, he felt more than saw Yasaka and Serafall sitting on either side of him.

“Sorry for ignoring you I just-” he started, before Yasaka stopped him with a finger over his lips.

“Don’t apologize,” she told him, smiling with unshed tears in her eyes. “That was… That was beautiful. So don’t apologize, ok?”

He nodded slowly, turning back to look forward just as Serafall leaned against his side, resting her head on his shoulder. A second later, Yasaka seemed to follow her example. The four of them sat there, silently looking at each picture on his locket again and again.

And Joshua had to admit, he wouldn’t have wanted to do anything else.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

*sniff*

I’m not crying, you are!

Anyway, I know that the Misla scene went a little bit from 0 to a 100, but it’s just how it went, I guess. Mood was good and happy and such but… Well, that can be ruined rather easily and the situation isn’t what one would call happy at the moment in that regard. Especially for Joshua who had gone there with hopes pretty high only to be told “nope” and slapped on the face with information that didn’t fit his plans.

I hope you agree with me on that.

I also hope you enjoyed the chapter, of course.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Out of curiosity, if I started posting an original story, would you read it? Would it have to be a particular kind or genre of story for you to do it? Anyone that has checked my Discord server knows that I’ve given originals a try a time or two, but I never felt the interest was too high, so I thought I’d check like this to see what answers I got.

See you.