Game of Monsters - 146 (Patreon)

Disclaimer: I don’t own Highschool DxD.

I’ll Take These Footsteps

“Don’t look at me like that,” Joshua said, narrowing his eyes.

“But dad.”

“Don’t “but dad” me either, young lady,” he chided, giving Kunou the lightest chop to the head in the history of chops to the head. It got the point across though, making her pout and grab her head as if he’d actually put any force on the hit. “I told you to be nice to Ravel.”

“But she-”

“-Was doing nothing,” he finished, narrowing his eyes further. “One would think that you’d know I know all that happens around me. I might be a bit clueless, but I’m not an idiot. You can’t snap at her when she’s just trying to be nice and helpful,” he explained and he reminded himself that this was for his daughter’s own good when she started tearing up a little.

He had to remain strong.

Ravel’s thoroughly uncomfortable expression and posture wasn’t helping his resolution much though. He knew the Phenex would have probably preferred to let things go, if only because she didn’t want to make things awkward by being the reason he had to scold his daughter. She was probably going through a different version of the feeling one gets when at someone’s house and seeing that someone get scolded by their parents.

Nobody liked being put in that position.

Alas, needs must.

“Apologize to her,” Joshua said and he fixed Kunou with a look when it seemed like she’d protest against that. “Kunou,” he added after a moment of defiant silence. Fortunately, that was enough to take the wind from her sails.

“... I’m sorry,” she mumbled.

“It’s fine,” Ravel replied in much the same tone but for completely different reasons.

‘Don’t let her off the hook,’ Joshua had to remind himself as he looked at his clearly sad daughter. She needed to learn and Yasaka had told him, explicitly, that the next time she did something bad, he better not fold. Even if she was sad, it’d help her in the end, to know that even if she messed up, he wouldn’t just leave.

Also because it’d help her not become spoiled, but that was harder to do when he’d definitely fold if she wanted something. Drawing a line when she did something bad was one thing, it was another to tell her no when she was being good and wanted something. Maybe that made Joshua a terrible parent, he supposed, but he just… wanted her to be happy.

Why did that have to be bad?

He was exaggerating a little, of course, but the point stood.

“Ok, so, where were we?” he asked, turning towards his devil secretary. Ravel still looked a little out of sorts, but she did a remarkable job at getting over that and straightening herself. She really was entirely too professional for someone her age.

As she looked at her notes, he checked on Kunou through his wards and senses. She seemed to be pouting down at her homework and occasionally sending glances his way. ‘You can do this, Joshua,’ he told himself, gulping down his urge to give her a pat on the head and tell her it was all fine.

Her bouts of jealousy were getting a little out of hand, even if they didn’t happen often.

“Um, we were discussing your new classes at House of Water,” Ravel commented and he nodded for her to continue.

There really wasn’t much need for them to discuss everything he did, but Ravel liked doing that. She was there more to keep track of things and make sure he didn’t forget something he needed to do, like meetings and such. He did get very distracted more often than not, with projects and other things. She was also good at keeping track of the favors he was owed, which was bound to be nice whenever he might need something.

She probably would have been a godsend when he’d been pulling strings to raise his reputation and standing.

Alas, there was no use thinking about the past like that. Still, Ravel didn’t need to be around at all times or anything of the sort. She just… wanted to, for whatever reason. Joshua wasn’t going to tell her not to, when she seemed so adorably enthusiastic about her job. She loved going over every single piece of info he fed her and coming up with ideas for favors that he’d frankly never thought of before.

Granted, most of those things were stuff that he’d never bother with, but it was interesting to discuss anyway.

“Ah, um,” Ravel stopped at some point and he raised an amused eyebrow as she seemed to grow a little self-conscious about… something. “I-I should let you work. I’m sorry, Mr. Davis,” she mumbled, fidgeting with the corner of the page she’d been writing notes on. Kunou seemed like she was going to comment something, but she stopped when Joshua fixed her with a look.

“I probably should, yes,” Joshua replied, because that was really the case. Going over the last hurdle with the Sleep Disease was proving to be more challenging than most of the process up to that point, frustratingly enough. On top of that, he was also smoothing over Project Ascension for Fallen and trying to make the Angel side of it catch up.

And a bunch of other projects and duties.

His life was entirely too busy.

Khaos fucking Brigade, honestly. Joshua really wanted to give those little shits a piece of his mind. He was actually kind of pushing forward some of his plans just because he wanted to kick their asses a little more. They were the whole reason he couldn’t have a good time with his life, or at least as much of one as he’d like.

And that was not nice of them.

They’d have to pay.

For the moment though…

“Keep up the good work, yeah?” he said, planting a hand on top of the girl’s head and ruffling her hair. Kunou wasn’t a fan of that, if the pouty glare she sent their way was any indication, but he just rolled his eyes at her. Honestly…

“Of course, Mr. Davis,” Ravel replied cheerfully, like the adorable secretary she was.

[}-o-{]

[Raynare]

Mittelt and Kalawarna were both shaking where they stood.

Served them right, as far as she was concerned.

Raynare couldn’t say she cared overly much for the two of them though, admittedly. They’d been nice subordinates once upon a time, but that had been about it. They were coworkers at best and people she had to put up with at worst. Ever since Davis had taken them under his wing – or maybe it was better to say he’d put them under his thumb, but Raynare didn’t care for the details – the two of them had been less annoying or helpful and more… irrelevant.

They did the bare minimum, which she couldn’t really understand. Here was the human that should rightfully want them dead or at least suffering, and he was giving them a chance to get stronger. Sure, he pushed a little… aggressively at first, but he could have done a lot worse than that. In the end, Raynare was even a little grateful for that, because it’d kicked her stupid mind into gear back when she couldn’t truly see how good a deal they’d been dealt.

For whatever reason, Mittelt and Kalawarna hadn’t seen the blessing in disguise for what it was.

Raynare had always known they were both a little on the slow side, but really. What did they expect to happen when they half-assed it for as long as they did? She was more surprised that it had taken so long for Davis to do something than she was that he was doing something at all. God knew she’d have put a light spear through them if they had spurned her favor like they had his.

“What… What’s going on?” Mittelt asked after a long minute had passed since Davis called for them to stand in front of him. Raynare wanted to shake her head at her. Hadn’t she learned through all their time there that it was better to let the man think? Granted, this was the first time he’d called for them and not have them immediately start training or something of the sort, but still. 

Why did she think rushing the guy was a good idea when she seemed to be aware that she was in danger?

“What’s going on is that you’ve officially made me stop caring about you,” Davis said and Raynare stiffened. Surely not, right? She’d done everything she could. Everything he asked was done to the best of her ability. Had she annoyed him by trying to do more than was asked and things that weren’t asked for at all? She’d thought she had been careful when doing that. Had she messed up-? “Mittelt, Kalawarna, I’m officially done with the two of you,” he added and Raynare couldn’t hold back a relieved sigh, feeling the tension leaving her body.

Then she realized that she messed up by moving and looked up…

To find Davis looking at her with an amused half-smile. It seemed that she was safe for the moment. She had tempted fate entirely too much then and there though. Better to keep an eye on herself better now. She really didn’t want to know what was gonna happen if she did so again.

“What… What does that mean?” Kalawarna couldn’t help but stammer out, her voice as shaky as her body was. Raynare almost wanted to scoff at her. What did she think that meant? If Davis killed them quickly, it’d be a mercy. They’d all seen what the man could do when properly motivated.

And as far as Raynare was concerned, her fellow Fallen Had certainly given the man reasons to be… creative.

“It means that I’m washing my hands off the two of you,” Davis answered, giving them a bored look. “The reason we are waiting is because, I’m sure, someone decided to be a pain in the ass.”

Well, that was certainly a curious statement. Was he talking about his familiars? Was he going to feed the two to Nagini? Because the snake familiar would appreciate that, Raynare was sure. Maybe that’d put the usually vicious creature in a good mood?

She wasn’t sure if that was good, considering it could mean less effective spars.

“So, we are gonna wait here patiently,” Davis continued, giving them all a flat look. “Aren’t we?”

“Of course,” Raynare replied instantly and she could almost see the other two roll their eyes at her, or at least want to. Sometimes they’d dare and sometimes they wouldn’t. Ultimately, it was inconsequential to her.

“Well, might as well get this out of the way,” Davis continued, turning his blue eyes towards her and even stepping in her direction. She’d thought the current situation was about the other two, after what he’d said. Had she been wrong? “There’s a choice before you, Raynare.”

Immediately, her mind readied itself. She wouldn’t make the wrong choice. No way. Davis had already proven he could give her all the power Raynare had ever dared to dream of having. The extra pair of wings on her back made that abundantly clear. She couldn’t afford to make a wrong choice, a wrong move, a wrong anything.

“You’ve gone above and beyond anything I could have hoped when I took you in, all three of you. Certainly did a lot better than these two,” the man commented, waving his hand dismissively towards the other two, who looked even more pale than they’d already been before. Had it finally sunk in how much they’d screwed up? “I can honestly say you’ve surprised me, pleasantly so. Thus, I’m… forgiving you, for lack of a better term. If you so desire, you can go away now, as simple as that. You can choose to go and continue with your life.”

That sounded like…

That was…

“And…?” she asked, her voice just as fearful as Kalawarna’s had been.

“The other choice-,” Davis started, his calm expression turning into a smile, a sharp, dangerous thing that sent shivers down her spine. “-is that you remain here, remain my little servant and I’ll push you. I’ll push you again and again, as far as I can. Do you want to see it, Raynare, how far you can go?” he asked, stepping even closer to her.

Raynare felt her insides twist and turn and tie themselves into knots.

“Do you want to see your limit?” he continued, his grin widening. “If you even have one?”

What else could she answer? There was only one way, and she couldn't get the words out of her mouth fast enough.

“I do,” she replied in a breath.

“Great to hear,” Davis said, clearly pleased and Raynare had never felt so accomplished.

Fuck going back. Fuck being “free”.

She’d never be free, so long as she was weak, and she knew it. No, Raynare would grow stronger and if she had to do so while having a leash around her neck, then so be it. Better the one leash than being a weakling that could be pushed around by anyone. She’d take Davis over half the supernatural world, as had been the case before.

“Welp, looks like they are here,” he commented then, breaking Raynare from her thoughts as he turned to look at something behind him. Roughly where he’d stood before, there was a teleportation circle that… wasn’t quite activating, or at least not quickly.

Of course the guy couldn’t let someone just teleport in. It wasn’t something that was allowed overly much from people that weren’t of a higher status… Which made the fact that it was Penemue that appeared all the more meaningful. Because if the guy could delay the teleportation of the person who was considered Azazel’s right hand, then who even could be considered above Davis?

Not that Raynare was surprised, really.

After seeing the man take down a Longinus Sacred Gear wielder and give her an extra pair of wings, Raynare was ready to believe he was up there, right where God was supposed to be. After all, if he could do what nobody else but God himself could, then surely that put him in the same league, right? Maybe Davis wasn’t as strong as the individuals in that league, but Raynare knew better than to think Davis was weak.

“Penemue, so good to see you,” Davis greeted amiably, a casual smile on his face as he walked up to Grigori’s Chief Secretary. “Azazel didn’t feel like coming?”

“No, he did not,” the woman answered, frustration clear in her voice. Raynare guessed that the Governor was supposed to be there, since Davis had said “they” before. She wasn’t too sure though, but then again, she was barely paying attention.

She was too busy riding the high of what Davis had told her, offered her, all but guaranteed her. The craziest part was, to her at least, that he’d phrased it like a question. As if she’d ever dare to say no to that, to the chance of being stronger, of being strong. 

“Welp, there they are,” Davis commented, waving his hand towards Mittelt and Kalawarna, who looked… a bit confused. Raynare could understand. She’d thought he’d just end them somehow, but he was handing them off to Grigori?

“Indeed,” Penemue replied, turning towards them and… And Raynare wasn’t sure if being at the mercy of Davis wasn’t a kinder fate. It really depended, but the look on the Chief Secretary didn’t precisely promise anything much better, that was for sure. Ultimately, it seemed that they had never been anywhere near safe one way or another.

Sucked to be them, especially Kalawarna.

Then she turned towards Raynare and she straightened, both out of desire to make a good impression… and to show off her wings, she’d admit. Because damn if she wasn’t proud of those. After so long being nothing and nobody, barely above the rabble, Raynare was now a four-winged fallen. Not much in the face of a ten-winged one, for sure, but she’d get there or die trying. That was all she needed to know.

“Very impressive work, Davis,” Penemue commented, as if she were talking about a piece of art or a machine, but that was fine. Raynare was a project, a prototype, and she knew it. She was a successful one though. That was all that mattered.

They could see her however they wished, if they made her stronger.

“I try,” Davis commented, clearly proud. “And this is nothing. You all have ten wings, right? Five pairs. Azazel's got six. So... I wonder if I can reach that, maybe go past that,” he said and Raynare found herself grinning widely.

God did she love the absolute mad bastard and his insane mind.

Once upon a time, she’d probably have worn a similarly baffled expression to the one that Penemue displayed, she was sure. Then and there, there was nothing but excitement and certainty in her mind. Excitement because she couldn’t wait to be there when they tried, to be there when Davis likely succeeded. And certainty, because after all she’d seen the man do and pull off, there was no doubt in her mind that if anyone could do it, that was him.

It was weird to think about but…

Raynare was so very glad that she’d been tricked, betrayed and left for dead. It had all led her to the position she was in then and there, after all. It had all led her to Davis, the provider of her strength, the one person in the world that could promise her anything and she’d believe him.

“Now, if you could take those two with you? I have things to do and I’ve wasted my time with them long enough,” Davis continued, as if he hadn’t said something absolutely ridiculous before. Raynare wasn’t surprised anymore, but it was still so very… amusingly baffling. “Projects to work on, stuff to study and all that. I’m sure you know how it goes.”

“I have an idea,” Penemue said, clearly a little caught off guard by how dismissive Davis was with her. Not that Raynare blamed her overly much. As Chief Secretary of Grigori, she probably didn’t come across people that didn’t give a damn about her all that much.

The fool.

Davis wasn’t just anyone, after all. Penemue should realize by then that with the man, it should be the other way around. She should be the one being careful what she says and being respectful.

Either way, it wasn’t Raynare’s problem, as she watched the woman take Mittelt and Kalawarna and teleport away.

“So, training?” Davis asked, turning towards her and Raynare could have laughed.

She really had hit the jackpot.

“Thought you’d never ask.”

[}-o-{]

[Sona Sitri]

She breathed roughly through a parched throat, her body leaning forward as she struggled to keep herself upright.

“You guys are doing really well,” Joshua said, standing in front of her and her peerage. The man looked exactly the same as he had when he welcomed them to his place. The most she had noticed through the whole training time was that his breathing would grow a little agitated at times and there were some beads of sweat here and there.

Nothing like how Sona and her peerage looked at that very moment, that was for sure.

“Not good enough,” she breathed out, cursing the fact that she couldn’t even speak properly. What chance did she stand during the upcoming Young Devils Gathering, if she couldn’t even get through one of these training sessions without almost falling flat on her face?

“I think you aren’t being very fair with yourself. Sairaorg and Rias might give you a hard time, but the others? I’ve heard of them, looked into them. Agares is smart, but not as smart as you and certainly not as strong. Glasya-Labolas? If you don’t crush the guy, I’ll be very disappointed,” Joshua told her, looking at her with a calm smile. Sona, for her part, had to hold back a proudful reaction to his encouragement…

And a wince at the last part.

“You are fine. Besides, your peerage isn’t a combat focused one. You have different goals, different aims. That’s fine,” Joshua continued, glancing towards her pretty much collapsed peerage members behind her. “If administration were a fight, you’d beat them all, probably together,” he added, and this time there was no stopping herself from preening the smallest bit.

That is, until she remembered why it was so important that she do well in the fights.

“People won’t care about that,” she said, trying and maybe failing to keep her despondency hidden. The closer the date was, the more Sona was aware that not only was her peerage weak in martial might, but her dream would only make things worse. They had no strength in a society that decided its leaders in their combat prowess and they had a dream that favored the groups of people that the nobility most looked down on

“Hm, yeah, Serafall told me about your… complicated situation,” Joshua commented, making her wince. She expected her sister to talk about her a lot, but Sona still didn’t appreciate that she’d divulged the source of her insecurities like that. It wasn’t like she’d been gossiping with strangers, of course, but still…

Of course it had to be Joshua…

“She also told me that she can’t do much or the stuffy people would get pissy,” the man continued, unaware of her thoughts. “Fortunately for you, there’s a rather convenient thing we can do to help you out against the stuffy people.”

“Please don’t speak like that. Serafall is enough,” she grumbled, finally regaining her bearings enough to attempt to stand straight. It was annoying enough to hear her sister, the Satan, speak so childishly. Hearing Joshua do so too was more than a little infuriating.

“I happen to think they are stuffy too,” the man replied, making her groan. “Just calling things like I see them,” he justified with a chuckle, which didn’t stop Sona from giving him a flat look. “Serafall’s right. You are entirely too serious.”

“It’s you two that aren’t serious enough.”

“Eh, debatable,” Joshua replied with a shrug. “I’m serious about the things I care about. Politics and generally stuffy things aren’t in that list. They are often more annoying than anything else. Kind of how I imagine you view your sister’s childish things, which happen to be something she actually takes pretty seriously.”

To that, she had no response, which must have shown on her face pretty quickly. She assumed as much, considering Joshua sent an understanding smile her way that had her glancing away. Why did he have to put it that way? Why couldn’t he let her be unreasonable and think she was actually reasonable?

It wasn’t a nice feeling to realize that she was wrong, even if she’d been getting the idea for a while.

“Anyway, as I was saying,” Joshua continued before Sona could find the right words to respond to his previous statement. “Serafall and I talked about things and we believe we can help you with your little issue.”

“I appreciate it, but I can’t ask her for help. She might be a Satan-”

“But she can’t do whatever she wants, I get it,” he finished for her, raising an eyebrow at her. “Will you let me finish speaking now?” he asked, amusement clear in his voice as Sona felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. “She can’t do anything, but I can,” he said, giving her a smile. “I happen to think your dream is great, so I’ll push back against the stuffy idiots all I want and the Egyptian will have my back, same as Yasaka. And I’m sure I can definitely put some pressure on things. Reincarnated people are often affiliated to other pantheons, so I just have to present it a bit like it’d be a great thing to smooth things out at least a bit with everyone involved. And if they press the issue…”

If they did, Joshua could, as a representative of the Egyptians, press the issue as a grave insult to other pantheons. The Egyptians weren’t very connected with much, but if they poked the issue the smallest bit, every other faction would jump on the chance. The devils hadn’t been doing themselves a lot of favors with their use of Evil Pieces on people that were technically connected to other pantheons.

If everyone started breathing down the devil’s necks…

“So, you are covered. Nobody’s gonna be mean to you,” Joshua reassured her with a smile. Sona, for her part, didn’t know if she should feel grateful or scared. She knew Serafall could be extreme, but more often than not she wasn’t really able to pull through with her attitude. Now that she had Joshua, someone that allowed her that and seemed to even agree with her extremity…

The supernatural world really didn’t know what was hiding right under their noses.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

I don’t know why I keep torturing myself with this kind of scene with Kunou. It’s already been pointed out to me that I’m not doing a great job with those, so I should really just stick with regular fluff and call it a day… And yet, here I am, because I’m dumb.

In regards to Mittelt and Kalawarna… Well, I always knew Kala was going to go one way or another. Funnily enough though, I always thought Raynare would go with her and only Mittelt would remain, but it seems that didn’t go as predicted. As usual, really, but I felt like pointing that out. Neither of those two was doing much, in my opinion and in Joshua’s, which is why he decided on this.

Works for me, honestly.

And we are at the Young Devil Gathering’s time already. Probably took longer than it should have, but I was honestly running through my own plots and almost forgot that some canon things haven’t gone out the window yet… oops.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Headphones or earbuds? I prefer headphones myself.

See you.