Disclaimer: I don't own Highschool DxD.
I'll Be Ok
"Are you sure about this, Joshua?" Jeanne asked, looking very nervous. Her hand held a now very familiar shining sword. Healing Gratitude pointed to the ground, as its wielder stared at her companion in disbelief. They'd talked about it through the week. She'd known that he wanted to do it, that he was trying to convince himself to do it. However, she'd never expected that he would actually go through with the idea.
He wanted to let Morag bite him.
"Yes," Joshua nodded, his expression the very definition of seriousness. He'd made excuses for long enough. Everything that could be done would be done, that was what he had decided long ago. He would survive, and that was his only goal. He wanted to reach a point where he would be able to enjoy life without worrying.
"Why?" She asked, and while he'd already answered that question some times, he'd never given her a direct answer. He felt like she deserved one though, so he paused to think.
"Jeanne," He started, his mind working on how to express why he wanted to do something so crazy. The System wasn't going to be mentioned though. For as crazy as the world they lived in was, he thought that was a touch too far. Although, maybe that was just him. "I have an ability of my own," He said instead. "It lets me improve myself faster, in training and several other things. I also think it extends to these three," He added, signaling towards his pets.
"So you want to, what? Develop resistance to venom?" Jeanne asked, brows furrowed in concern. Joshua wondered if that concern was for his physical health or his metal one.
"That and train Morag's venom," He answered with a nod. "I wouldn't do it though, if not for your sword. I've shown it to you. Black Widow bites don't actually kill and with your sword you can heal me whenever you want."
"I just..." The girl struggled for a moment, seemingly failing to find the correct words to express herself. "This is crazy, Joshua."
"It really isn't, at least not from my perspective. This is just like training. We get hurt, but we get stronger by doing so. This is just another way," He explained to her, although it was also for himself. He was still pretty apprehensive towards the whole thing.
"Joshua..." He saw her look at him. Her eyes flashing as if she was seeing him for the first time. The Davis couldn't help but wonder what she was finding in him now. What had she realized about him? Then, she sighed. "How do you want to do this?" Jeanne asked then, looking resigned.
"She bites me, and then you'll wait. I'm supposed to be fine, after all. I just need the healing to speed up the recovery. I can't be out of commission for days," Joshua told her, grimacing at the way she looked at him, like all the progress he had made was immediately undone. "I'll be fine, Jeanne."
"I… You will be fine, won't you?" She asked then, more like pleading, really. "You have to be fine, you hear me?" She demanded, her expression more cute than menacing, but he refrained from telling her that.
"I will, I promise," Joshua reassured her, and took a deep breath in. "Did the voices comment anything regarding this?"
"Some say that you are a fool," She told him bluntly, clearly agreeing with them. "Others say that your determination is admirable," It wasn't hard to see that she didn't agree with those. "Most agree that if what you say is true, then developing resistance to venom could be useful," She said after a long pause, letting out a long breath.
"I don't like it either, Jeanne," He told her softly. "I wouldn't do this if I didn't think I needed to."
"I know… I just hate that I also think we need to," She admitted then, looking away from him. "Everything was much simpler before, you know?"
"It was, wasn't it?" He agreed then with a wry smile. He wondered sometimes, if he would have gone through with his learning of magic if he had known it would lead to all this. Ultimately… "I wouldn't change anything though. I like where delving in this world has taken me."
"..." Jeanne looked at him, opening her mouth and then closing it. Then, she smiled an unreadable smile. "I like it too," She nodded. "Ok, let's do this then."
"Morag," Joshua said, turning to the spider that now stood on his shin. "Go ahead."
The arachnid stood motionless for a moment and the Davis was pretty sure that she was hesitating, as uncomfortable with the whole thing as the humans were. Nagini was glaring at him from the side of his head, expressing her displeasure and he had scratches on his arms that demonstrated Cheshire's. Now though, the cat was simply sitting on his lap, offering comfort.
Then, Morag bit him.
For a long moment, nothing happened, he barely felt anything, really. Then, the pain started making itself known. At first, it was very little, but it increased rapidly and within minutes, he was biting on a piece of wood that he'd procured beforehand specifically for that. He screamed against the thing, his hands gripping at the sheets of his bed.
He'd read that the bite of a Black Widow was painful, he was prepared for it. Regardless, it couldn't be ignored and so, he suffered. In no time at all, sweat started pouring from him. He was sure he'd never sweated like that, no matter how hard he trained or how hot the day was. Regardless of that, his skin seemed determined to be a contradiction, because goosebumps spread over it like he was freezing.
"Joshua, do you want me to-?" Jeanne spoke, and he knew where she was going, but he had to stop her. If she actually said it, he'd be tempted.
"No," He spat out, together with the piece of wood he'd been biting. He groaned, his hand twitching towards his leg. "No, I'll be fine… Just, can you keep talking, please?" He wasn't sure if he was talking, whispering or screaming, really.
He felt Nagini squeeze him slightly, as if reminding him that she was there, which was nice, because he had actually forgotten. His mind almost entirely focused on his leg, that now burned as if he had stuck it into a fire. For a split second, he wondered where Morag was, he didn't feel her on his leg, but that might have been because she was nothing in comparison with what was going on in his limb.
"It'll be fine, Joshua," Jeanne said softly, grimacing when he bristled. "You told me it'll be fine, remember? You just did. It'll go away soon."
She paused again when he let out a long, pained groan.
"Don't mind me," Joshua told her then. "I… Keep going," He pleaded. Anything that gave him something to focus on besides the pain was welcome. He felt his heart beating uncontrollably inside his chest, as if it were bouncing around, trying to escape.
"I… Ok… It'll be fine, Joshua," Jeanne repeated, her tone belying her nervousness but still just as soft as before. He felt her hands on his tense shoulders, gently guiding him down to the side, where she was seated. He would have asked what she was doing, but he honestly didn't have the energy or the focus.
A moment later, he was resting his head on her lap, looking up at her blond hair and blue eyes. Nagini had moved until she was resting, coiled on his chest. The girl then helped him bring his feet up on the bed. 'Why didn't I lie on the bed from the beginning?' He wondered idly, in the middle of his painfilled mind.
"This was a terrible idea," Joshua mumbled as he felt his leg spasm, which made the whole ordeal even worse when it happened. "I can't believe you convinced me to do this."
"Idiot," She chuckled weakly. "I told you so."
"Wow, you have great bedside manners," He breathed out, making her laugh.
"Do you want me to heal you?" She asked then, momentarily serious. He shook his head, forcing away thoughts of agreeing. He couldn't give up just yet. At the very least, he wanted to get a poison or venom resistance skill. The whole thing had to be worth something, or what would have been the point?
"Not yet..." He forced out. "How long has it even been?" He asked then, although he was sure that the answer wouldn't be to his liking regardless.
"Fifteen minutes," The teen answered after a brief pause while she checked.
He wanted to groan again and did so. It felt like so much longer than that and, at the same time, much less too. Then he blinked, a blue screen having appeared in front of him. He used all his momentarily limited brain power to read it.
[Skill Unlocked: Poison Resistance]
Joshua was tempted to tell Jeanne to just get it over with, but he'd just refused. Also, it had only been fifteen minutes, he could resist some more. Maybe get a level or two more. Maybe just an hour… or just a half...? He'd have to see if he could wait that long.
Maybe his increased stats would help? Did Vitality help with that? Maybe. These were things he'd considered before, of course, but he needed to distract himself. He felt something soft on his hand and he immediately knew it was Cheshire. His fingers started slowly petting her.
Joshua blinked repeatedly, taking in his surroundings instead of focusing on his own body. His familiar was under his hand and completely calm. He felt almost as if she were projecting her peace at him. Nagini's weight rested on his chest, her tongue occasionally coming out and touching his chin. Morag…
"Where's Morag?" He asked feverously, interrupting Jeanne as she whispered things to him. The man was almost sure she had been in the middle of explaining some of her sword ideas to him, he barely had enough consciousness to process the softness of her voice, let alone the meaning behind her words.
"She is walking over Nagini," Jeanne told him, not at all bothered that he'd rudely cut into her speech. "She's still going, I think she wants to get on your hair again."
"What does she look like?" Joshua asked this time.
"Like a spider?" The girl answered, understanbly unsure. He was aware that he was probably the only one that could pick up anything from his familiar and pets most of the time. Probably the Bond shining through or something… "She's… moving slower than she usually does?" Jeanne added hesitantly.
"Morag," He breathed out, a ghost of a smile forming on his face. "Nobody is angry at you, Morag," He reassured his little spider. Was she afraid he'd blame her or something? He'd asked her to bite him for god's sake. "Nothing to worry about, girl."
[Bond: Morag has gone up a level.]
"I think she kinda… like, sagged?" Jeanne narrated for him.
"Relief, huh? So Jeanne isn't the only dum-dum that gets nervous for stupid stuff, huh?" He asked out loud with a chuckle that turned into a groan.
"Hey!" The girl protested, although the man wasn't sure if it was because he called her dum-dum or because he compared her to a spider… Or both.
Probably both.
"I still have to beat those insecurities out of Jeane. I don't need you getting all nervous too, Morag," Joshua continued talking, afraid he'd pass out or the pain would increase if he got distracted. "So, none of that, yeah?"
"Idiot," Jeanne said, shaking her head.
"Yeah, she is."
"I was talking about you dum-dum," The girl rolled her eyes at him.
"Oh."
"Idiot."
"Yeah, I feel like an idiot right now," Joshua admitted with a cough instead of a laugh as he'd wanted to. "An idiot in pain."
"An idiot in pain and half out of it," Jeanne corrected and this time he did manage to chuckle.
"Yeah. Yeah, I am," He mumbled looking at the ceiling. "Jeanne…?"
"Yes?"
"Could you make me a cup of tea, I think… Nevermind," He interrupted himself, starting to feel nauseous.
"How about I read you something?" Jeanne kindly offered and he felt his lips tug up despite the pained grimace he was wearing.
"That would be great, thanks," Jame answered, groaning as she got up, carefully laying him on the bed. "Jeanne?"
"Yes?" She replied once more.
"I'm glad you decided to come with me that day," He told her, his eyes closed now as he took deep breaths in.
"..." The girl remained silent for a moment, but Joshau didn't hear her move. "I'm happy I decided to come too, Joshua."
Then, the sound of her steps reached his ears.
[Poison Resistance has gone up a level.]
'That's fine,' The man thought to himself as he eyed the reminder of the ordeal he was going through. 'I have good reasons for doing this,' He added in his mind, focusing on his pets around him and Jeanne who he could hear looking for a book.
[}-o-{]
"You are an absolute madman," Jeanne scolded him after she healed him that night. Apparently, all that caring attitude flew out the window once he was ok. He guessed it made sense.
"I know," Joshua replied with a wry smile as he looked down at the cup of tea between his hands. He hadn't enjoyed his new 'training', that was for sure. Still, it was necessary. Not only to train Morag and later Nagini, but also because he wanted to be prepared in case someone decided to try poisoning him at some point. It was a very specific situation, but it was best to be prepared for everything, especially in case Jeanne was otherwise occupied and couldn't heal him like just now.
The man fidgeted with the drink in his hands for a bit, keenly aware of the glare that he was receiving not only from Jeanne but from Nagini as well. The snake was also, to be honest, much more intimidating and that wasn't even taking into account that she was wrapped around his neck. Those black eyes were certainly something to be afraid of, if anyone asked him.
"Stop glaring at me, would you, Nagini?" He asked after a while. "I apologised for worrying you already, girl. It was necessary."
He received what he was sure was the snake equivalent to a huff and he sighed. A wry smile pulled at his lips when he heard Jeanne giggling at his predicament. At least one of the glares had let up. Almost sighing again, Joshua called for the new skill he'd gained, if only to get his mind off the burning stare of his serpent.
[Poison Resistance – Lvl 4/100
Determines the user's ability to withstand poisons.
Decreases the effectiveness of poisons by 4%.]
Joshua almost sighed in relief when he first saw that screen. He'd been quite worried that the skill would go in the same direction that Language, Bond and Piloting had gone and specify which poisons it would work against. That would have made things quite hard for Joshua. This worked perfectly with his plans though.
He was also quite happy with how much it had progressed in a single day. Four levels was a lot for the time he'd been 'working' on it. He didn't remember if he had any skill that had gone up that fast, if he was honest. Although, the fact that he had started with something like Black Widow venom might have something to do with that. He wondered how it would go when he finally got around working with Nagini.
It would be a while for him to do that though. Even with Jeanne around, he didn't want to try that, in case her sword wasn't enough for him to recover. Maybe when the skill was level 10 or 20… Maybe. He certainly wasn't looking forward to convincing the girl to help with that.
"When are you going to do that again?" Jeanne asked after a moment of silence and, although she wasn't showing it, Joshua knew she was grimacing inside. He knew he was, at least.
"I was thinking about doing it once a week. I definitely don't want to do it more than that," He mused, and he could tell that the girl was somewhere in between being reassured and not. "Should get better soon enough," He added with a small smile as he gently scratched Morag's body, the spider in her usual spot on the back of his left hand.
He was sure he was right too. If he continued training, his Vitality would rise, which he was sure had something to do with how well he could resist the poison without the skill. That, combined with how fast the skill was leveling, made him feel pretty good about his development on that side.
'The problem is that I still need more than just resistance and such. I need something to fight with,' He thought grimly. After all, knife throwing and fighting was all well and good, but that wasn't that good when he knew there were people with battle magic out there. It didn't help that the one magic he had the most access to was practically useless in battle situations unless they had home advantage.
Which isn't to say that he wasn't working on Wards that could help with that though. He'd been toying with some ideas regarding both Devils and Humans alike. The Devil related ones were much easier, he knew, since he could just target any Devil that approached their apartment. That and the Hunter's house too, since he was warding it to keep it a back-up place.
On that note, it had been two months since his 'encounter' with the Hunter and Joshua wasn't aware of anyone approaching the place. That made him wonder if the place was completely outside the knowledge and reach of the mundane people or if his new Wards were enough to conceal it from them. It was a possibility, he supposed, and that was a good thing, in this instance at least.
Back on the topic of the Wards, making defenses against Humans was a bit trickier. After all, Jeanne and him were Humans too, which meant that he'd have to make exceptions for the two of them. That messed with the whole circle, really, making it so that the spell would require much more energy to reach the same results. That combined with the fact that he didn't have that much magic and his Ward Magic skill wasn't that high, would make whichever of those Wards he used practically useless.
"No, Cheshire, don't touch that!" The scream snapped Joshua from his thoughts. He looked up and he blinked as he saw the cat poking a sword that was laid on the table. "Cheshire!" Jeanne shouted when the cat did it again, snatching the weapon from the feline.
"What's the matter?" Joshua asked, confused.
"It's an elemental sword. One of my new experiments, you could say. This one is supposed to give electric shocks," Jeanne explained, cradling the blade between her arms as if holding a baby. "I want to make ones that burn or freeze, stuff like that."
"Huh, good idea," Joshau replied with a nod before blinking again. "Did you get that from games?" The man was very amused when, just as he finished the question, the girl started blushing up a storm. "Been hitting the internet for ideas, huh?" He kept poking then, earning himself a huff as the teen slapped the sword back on the table and stomped away back to her room.
"I was just worried about your stupid familiar!" She shouted, her voice muffled by the door she had just shut behind her.
He was left chuckling and sharing a look with said familiar. Or, he would have, because Cheshire seemed to have her attention focused solely on the sword. Intrigued, and slightly concerned, Joshua leaned forward.
"Cheshire?" He called softly, and the cat seemed to snap out of a trance as her head sharply turned towards him. "Everything ok, girl?" He asked, his eyes slowly looking between the feline and the weapon. Joshua was almost reassured by the fact that Nagini seemed just as puzzled as he felt, what with the way she tilted her head next to his.
Almost as if it was a response of some kind, Cheshire poked the sword once more. This time, the man almost jumped from his seat as a spark of electricity came alive, zapping the air between the paw and the blade. Wide-eyed, he looked at his familiar, who twitched painfully but remained where she was, not jumping away.
"Cheshire?" He called again, this time his voice lazed with obvious worry and surprise. "Why'd you do that, girl?" He questioned and the feline simply turned to stare at him. For a long moment, he wondered what she was staring at him for. Then, it clicked in his mind. "Are you… trying to do the same thing I did?" Joshua asked, slightly concerned.
'Is this how everyone else felt when I decided to poison myself?' He wondered with a grimace when the cat electrocuted herself once more.
"Cheshire, please," He pleaded then. He almost wanted to make his way around the table and pick up the feline. Joshua knew, however, that if she didn't want him to, he'd be unable to stop here. The look he received from the cat made him lean back. "A little help, Nagi...ni...?" He tried, only to trail off when he saw the intense look the snake was giving the cat.
'Oh no,' He thought to himself, realizing what was going on.
Joshua almost whimpered when Nagini slithered her way off his shoulders and on the table, ending up wrapped around another sword. If the head he felt rose and the way the sword lit up with red light was any indication, it was the one that was meant to burn. Where she still stood, Cheshire zapped herself once more.
The man, meanwhile, grimaced.
"You won't do that, will you?" He asked Morag, with a painsed, resigned expression. When the spider replied with a negative turn of her body to the sides, he sighed. He was sure the little arachnid would have died if she tried any of the swords. She was a lot more fragile than the snake and the cat, after all. "Thank you, girl," He mumbled as he scratched her, wincing as he heard the sound of electricity cackling once more.
"Joshua, why are you letting them do that?!" Jeanne all but screeched, evidently having decided to come back.
"Because, what am I going to tell them? Not to do what I'm doing?" He asked with a grimace. Expression that twisted even more when I saw Nagini shudder and Cheshire poke her sword again. "I'm so sorry," Joshua whispered, horrified by the sight of them but unable to stop them.
"At least you understand," Jeanne told him, almost accusatory. He understood, indeed. "They really are your pets."
He opened his mouth then, almost agreeing. At any other moment, he would have. Now though, with the memory of his time under Morag's venom still fresh in his mind, and with the sight in front of him as it was… That didn't feel right.
Almost without thinking, he cast Appraisal on the two animals. His mind searched for the information he wanted inside the screens that flashed in front of his blue eyes. Eventually, he found what he was looking for.
Cheshire, now had a Electric Resistance Skill.
Nagini, to his slight surprise, had two new skills. The one he expected was there, obviously, in the shape of Heat Resistance. The other was Leer, a skill that seemed to help her be more intimidating. Joshua wondered, for a moment, if she had just gotten it while glaring at him.
Amusing as that thought was, his mind wasn't focused on that. It came back to what Jeanne had just said and he closed his eyes for a moment. He remembered picking up Cheshire when she had been bleeding out on the street. His first, terrifying encounter with Morag. Finding Nagini trapped inside the Hunter's house.
He remembered all that had happened since then...
Calling them his pets sounded… wrong.
"Familiars," He corrected her softly with a smile that held both fondness and sadness. "They are my familiars."
Because that's what they were, really.
[Skill Maxed: Bond: Morag]
[Skill Maxed: Bond: Nagini]
[} Chapter End {]