Disclaimer: I don't own Highschool DxD.
Will You Remember?
Nagini rested lazily on top of his shoulders, her body wrapped around his neck, shoulders and chest. Morag was once more messing about with his hair. Margalo was having some fun flying between Jeanne and Joshua. Cheshire, for her part, was curled up on his lap.
It was a quiet day, at least in their home at Kyoto. Jeanne had decided to join his study session for once, taking one of the books that taught about the supernatural side of Japan. It'd been the one Joshua recommended for her to get started. There were a bunch more that went into more detail, but that one gave a good general idea of things.
As for the man himself, he was once more studying Hexes.
He had yet to cast one, but he was in no hurry. While grinding skills was nice and all, he wanted to have his circles actually be good if he was going to be spending time drawing and casting them. Besides, he'd have to gather good materials for that anyway.
After all, Hexes worked with a similar concept to wards. Except, instead of using exclusively wardstones, they could also use other things as foci. It wasn't even necessary for it to be magical items either. Hex magic only required something that could be connected to what the hex was about.
If the hex was supposed to be defensive, the item or items used to cast it had to be defensive in nature. A good but ultimately stupid example would be a Defensive Wardstone. A much better one would be a shield, for example. A normal shield would work, but a shield with value behind it would make the hex stronger. Not value in a conventional way, however, although that could be a good way to estimate it.
No, a hex foci's value was determined by meaning. What did the object mean to the caster? To the world? To others? A normal wooden shield wouldn't amount to much in hex terms, but a wooden shield that had been kept in the caster's family for generations would make for a much more powerful one. A sword with history behind it would help cast a stronger offensive hex than a normal one.
And so it went.
Thus, Joshua had ended up speaking with Serafall and Yasaka about that, both more than happy to help him gather resources or at least get him in contact with people that could. When he actually needed them, that is. For the moment, he was mostly making sure he had his circles right and that he was understanding how the foci were picked. Actual casting would come later.
As it was he had some ideas for things he could probably get without that much difficulty. He obviously had a bunch of wardstones, of course, but while those would work well, they were also generic. In hexes the more related to the ward the items were, the better.
Absently, he pulled a card from his pocket and twirled it between his fingers, momentarily turning his attention away from the book. The card held some of these things he was considering using. Some of such items were daggers. He still had some of the normal ones he'd gotten from the Hunter, after all. The card also held the very first Holy knife that Jeanne had made for him.
Some other items were little mementos he'd conserved of his familiars. Nagini's first shedded skin. Morag's first molted cuticle. Margalo's nest. It was actually a shame that he had nothing of Cheshire's, really. Still, he wasn't entirely certain what type of hexes he could cast with those, or even if he wanted to do it in the first place. Even if they would make for a powerful foci, he was reluctant to use those things like that.
He'd probably stick to normal things, if magical ones, to cast his hexes. At least until he'd leveled the skills enough and was certain they'd make a perfect fit for whatever he wanted to sue them for. That would work, he supposed.
Blowing out a breath and setting the card on the table, he focused back on his reading. Not before checking on his screens though, just to be sure he was remembering the boosts well.
[Hex Magic – Lvl 1/100
Determines the user's ability to utilize Hex Magic.
Increases magic potency while utilizing Hex Magic by 1%.
Increases affected area while utilizing Hex Magic by 0.5%.
Hex Spells: 3]
The buffs seemed to be the same as the Ward Magic ones, but changing which increase was bigger. That was deceiving though. It didn't mean that hexes were stronger or weaker than wards, really. It all depended on the conditions in which they were set. Were the foci better or worse? Was more or less magic used? Was the circle more or less detailed?
And so on it went.
Still, it was nice to have an idea of what he could look forward to. Besides that, there were the three spells he'd decided to focus on for the moment, the Obscuring Hex, the Exposing Hex and the Daunting Hex. Which were basically the Hex Magic equivalent of the Concealing Ward, the Detection Ward and the Deterring Ward.
Hex seemed to have more limitations on what their spells could do, Joshua had found. For example, he'd looked for an equivalent of the Monitoring Ward, but had found nothing of the sort so far. 'Then again… Maybe I'm expecting them to be more similar than they actually are. Even if they have a lot of things in common, they won't be just the same thing with a different name…' He considered with a sigh.
"I'm gonna get myself a cup of tea, you want one?" Joshua asked out loud as he stood up, the weight of the serpent coiled around him not really bothering him. It was actually more cumbersome than anything else, really.
"Yeah, I'll take one, thank you," Jeanne told him, looking up to smile at him, which he turned. A second later, he was already moving and his sister was back to studying. It was a quiet day, it seemed, but he appreciated that, honestly.
[}-o-{]
"So, what do you think?" Joshua asked curiously as he noted down some ideas for illusions in a notebook. "I think a wolf is within our heroes' league right now. We are a bit early in the story," He commented, receiving a thoughtful hum from Kunou.
"Maybe a snake?" She asked, making Nagini perk up from his shoulder.
"Sure, that works. Maybe a giant spider too?" He asked, giving the girl a knowing grin that she happily returned, all but beaming.
"And a bird? To have something flying," She suggested, quickly adding the last part as if it'd make it less obvious that she was taking inspiration from his familiars.
"That works too," Joshua agreed, shaking his head before writing those down. "Wolf, snake, spider and bird. Something like a hawk, for that last one?" He wondered if Cheshire would be insulted when she realized she was the only one without representation? Maybe he should change wolf for lynx?
"An owl, maybe?" Kunou asked.
"Why an owl?" He shot back curiously. An owl was a slightly strange option, all things considered.
"I was gonna say a crow or something but that's… too normal?" She explained hesitantly.
"Fair enough, owl it is," Joshua agreed easily again, noting that down. "Well, better get those illusion circles going, right?"
"Yeah, the spider could fall from a tree branch, maybe? Hanging from its thread?" Kunou suggested then, her eyes all but sparkling as ideas formed in her head. It was adorable and it made Joshua incredibly happy. It was nice to share a project with someone that enjoyed it as much as he did. Working with Azazel was like that, but they each focused on different things.
Right there and then though, Kunou and him were working on the same thing with the same purpose.
Was it silly? A little bit. They were, after all, making cards that basically told a story. That part had been Kunou's idea, amusingly enough. Then came Joshua's bit, making things a little more complicated but also a little more fun. He'd make a card with a scene. There was the starting card, with a different main character, and from there it branched in different directions. Different worlds to start in, different starting points, different events.
It was absolute chaos, especially to keep track of everything, but they were having a lot of fun. 'Really need to make a better system to know which card is which besides just putting a serial number on it,' He mused. They were barely in the fifteenth scene series and it was already an absolute nightmare to find which cards were for which story step. At least, once they took them from the neat piles they'd made for each step. Besides, soon the piles would become too many to just keep adding more.
"Maybe this was a bad idea, Joshua-sama," Fuyuko commented from the side as she set two cups of tea in between him and Kunou.
"What are you talking about? This is great!" The girl explained, happily taking her drink. Apparently, he'd rubbed off on her and gotten her to enjoy a cup of tea at any possible time. "The owl could appear, um… ominously, I guess? The eyes shining from the shadows in the trees as it stares at the hero. How does that sound?" She suggested then, frowning at the cards on the table as if they were already showing the vision she had of the story's scenes.
"That works," Joshua nodded, giving the yuki-onna a wry smile behind the girl's back. The woman wasn't wrong. Maybe this had been a mistake. Then again, at least they were having fun and Kunou was learning illusions. He considered it a win. "I'll work on this later. For the moment, that's enough of a break, back to studying with you."
"Ugh, do I have to? We could go on for a bit longer," Kunou tried, giving him her best kit fox eyes. It was difficult, he'd admit, but he managed not to give in. Instead, he raised an eyebrow at her, which made the girl deflate.
"You are a stronger person than me, Joshua-sama," Fuyuko complimented, which made him chuckle lightly.
"I just remind myself that she might need to know this in the future," He replied with a shake of his head before he started organizing the cards. Then he started taking out the books he usually used to check stuff for the circles he was working on for Yasaka. He'd finally started working on some life energy illusions, although he didn't get much done on that front, considering how low his skill level was.
"There are a lot of defenses here," Kunou grumbled from where she sat next to him with a book of her own. She pouted exaggeratedly as she glared at the pages. "You are even setting some yourself and you are much better at illusions than me. What would I even do?"
"You'd be surprised," He said, shaking his head and planting a hand on her head. "A surprise illusion at the right moment could save your life. So, study, little lady. Besides, I have to actually work if I want to set those defenses you seem so confident about," He added, chuckling as her pout seemed to intensify.
"I know that," She mumbled, barely audible.
"Good," He replied. "Now, I think I'll give you a little test tomorrow and if you do well, we can take a day off studying to just work on stuff. How does that sound?"
"Really?" She asked, all annoyance forgotten as she looked at him with wide eyes. "Yes, of course! What will the test be about?"
"All that I've taught you so far," He answered vaguely.
"Joshua! Don't be mean!" She whined cutely while he laughed.
"Now, come on. I know you'll do well anyway. You are a great student," He told her, smiling at her before finally turning to the books and starting to focus back on his job.
"I know that, but still…" He heard her grumble before they both finally stayed silent as they both did their own thing.
[}-o-{]
"Why am I here?" Joshua asked, watching around disinterestedly. Margalo was having a good time though. As the one that accompanied him that day, the bird quite liked that they were outside for a change. She wasn't a fan of being cooped up in a room, even if she'd put up with it to be with him.
Still though, there was much work to be done and studies to do.
"I wanted you here," Azazel said, as if that were reason enough. Like it wasn't Yasaka the one that was his boss.
"Why is your associate even coming here instead of, you know, anywhere else?" Joshua asked. Because, really, he couldn't fathom why the Governor wanted the Longinus user he'd promised he would bring to guard the youkai to his house.
"That's easy. I want you to take a look at them through your wards," Azazel replied, which only added more questions, really. However, Joshua wouldn't say no to more information being gathered. Getting some data on a Longinus would be nice.
"You haven't said which Longinus your associate has, Azazel," Yasaka pointed out before taking a sip from the tea Joshua had prepared for everyone. "I don't appreciate being surprised in situations such as this."
"You are no fun at all," The Governor said, rolling his eyes as if they were being silly with all their little comments. 'Weirdos, the whole lot of them. Yasaka is the only leader remotely normal,' Joshua thought to himself with a wry smile.
"So?"
"Divine Dividing," The Fallen Angel answered, like Yasaka had ruined a particularly good joke for him. "Vali should be here soon."
"You've been saying that for like 10 minutes," Joshua pointed out, making the man laugh, like that was funny. "Do you really have control over this person?" He had to ask, because he really wasn't looking forward to having a superpowered pain in the ass to deal with on top of everything else.
"That's what I was wondering," Yasaka agreed.
"It'll be fine, no need to double team me," Azazel waved off with a roll of his eyes. "Vali isn't very eager to come here, but the prospect of fighting Annihilation Maker was enticing enough. He'll do as we want, don't worry."
"Vali, huh?" Joshua mused out loud. Something stirred in his mind at the name, a blurry picture of someone with silver hair and-
[Mind Resistance has gone up a level.]
'It's probably no-' He started before pausing. 'Why do I think that's related to Rias though?' He wondered, frowning as he felt a headache coming his way. 'Just my luck,' He grumbled internally, taking a sip from his cup of tea. 'It's probably nothing,' He decided eventually.
"Joshua?" Yasaka called, making him wearily turn towards her. When had he brought his hand up to his head? And when had Margalo perched herself on his shoulder?
"I'm fine," He reassured with a wave of his hand. "Just a headache. I might have gotten a little too into my studies of hexes today," He mused, massaging his forehead.
[Mind Resistance has gone up a level.]
"Hm, maybe you should take a break tomorrow," The woman offered.
"Sure, I could use one, honestly," He admitted, albeit somewhat reluctantly.
"Ah, finally here, Vali," Azazel greeted then, as a figure in white appeared. Gleaming armor covered them, while blue wings extended behind them. They looked like sci-fi ones, made of hardlight. A look through his wards told Joshua that it was all magic though, or mostly, at least.
'Balance Breaker: Scale Mail,' He recognized instantly, narrowing his eyes as he took in the information that his wards provided. However, he wasn't completely focused on it. His mind drifted the smallest bit. That armor, that Sacred Gear, Vali…
[Mind Resistance has gone up a level.]
His headache got worse.
'It's probably… No, that… Can't be nothing, can it?' Joshua mused, running a hand through his hair. 'This is Divine Diving, if it's involved in something it's definitely not nothing… Right? No, it's probably noth-'
[Mind Resistance has gone up a level.]
"Joshua, are you alright?" Yasaka asked, sounding actually concerned then. "Maybe we should just leave. Joshua's obviously not up for this right now."
"This is the man that took out Dimension Lost?" The new arrival asked, his armor disappearing, revealing a thoroughly unimpressed expression. "He's not that much."
"You'll be careful how you speak, boy," Yasaka said, narrowing her eyes at him.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Joshua reassured again, although his smile felt strained now. "It's nothing, don't worry," He added, although his face twitched as he said that. "I'll have to note down everything I picked up. Having him appear with his Balance Breaker was nice, Azazel."
"That wasn't me. That was just him showing off," The Governor admitted, looking amused.
"I was ready to try and see how strong the person that took out a Longinus was. Wasn't expecting them to be… like this," He said, very obviously looking down on Joshua. He was fine with that. He didn't much care for how people viewed him.
"It was mainly them underestimating me and my wards. Not actual strength," Joshua admitted easily with a shrug.
"Wards?" The man, Vali, asked then, a new interest shining in his eyes.
"Yeah."
"Would you care to show me?" The half-devil, from what Joshua's wards were picking up, continued.
"Sure, I can explain them to you if-"
"I mean activate them on me," He corrected bluntly.
"Sure, I can," Joshua nodded, uncaring, especially with the headache he was suddenly dealing with. Activating everything, he only got a slight tilt of Vali's head. That was fine, he didn't have it in him to pay too much attention. Between the feedback of his wards and his growing headache, he didn't feel very observant.
Besides…
'Why does he seem so familiar. And Azazel… And Yasaka… And Kunou… I know them, but this… this…' He frowned, closing his eyes for a moment. He saw flashes of something. Of these people that he already knew… but those weren't memories from recently at all. 'What is… This is not nothing,' He thought.
[Mind Resistance has gone up a level.]
[Quest Completed: Reach a Mind Resistance level of 25
Rewards:
+ Universe Memories Unlocked]
Immediately, Joshua remembered.
However, he had no time to process this new information and what it meant. Instead, a growling voice snapped him out of his distracted state. It was loud though, or at least loud enough to make his aching head protest at the noise.
[Divide!] Vali's Sacred Gear announced, appearing from his back. Joshua felt it through the connection with his wards, how they all weakened instantly. It didn't stop them though, the Draining wards continued to work stealing the energy from the half-devil and powering everything back up.
"Interesting," Vali commented, although he didn't look very impressed. That was fine, Joshua didn't expect him to be. The guy had smacked around a Grigory leader, his wards were good, but Joshua didn't expect them to beat that. 'At least, not without preparing for it,' He amended in his mind. "You might want to turn them off though. Albion doesn't like them."
"Oh?" Azazel voiced, curious.
"They remind him of Vritra. He says he was annoying," Vali informed them and Joshua pieced it together instantly. Right, Vritra's Absorption was pretty similar to how the Draining Wards worked. At least from what he remembered of Saji…
And then, as he turned off the wards and had less things to focus on, his mind drifted off instantly. Mostly jumping to the people he knew from the series and had met in his life. Jeanne especially, since she was his sister.
'I saved her,' He thought, relieved. Jeanne wouldn't be with the Hero Faction now. She wouldn't have to deal with the result of that rather bad decision. She would be fine. Hell, she might even grow stronger than she would have, with all the training and his wards.
Kunou and Yasaka… he didn't remember much of them, but it seemed that he'd already screwed up that arc's information anyway. The Hero Faction was crippled now without Dimension Lost. And if he had any say in the matter, Khaos Brigade would be even worse by the time he was done with them.
Sairaorg… The guy might beat Issei now, with his wards' help. Which worked well for Joshua. He thought Bael deserved that win. The man had certainly earned it more than the pervert.
Rias and Sona… Maybe he could work on those wards some more. And give them some training wards. That'd help the redhead against Riser… probably. It was worth a shot, he supposed. Unless that brought political trouble. He'd have to be careful there.
Still, Joshua thought he was taking all this impressively well. Especially considering that he'd basically already screwed over canon through and through. There was little hope that things would stay the same, that was for sure.
'Was that why my memories were bound? Was there some other reason?' He mused.
"Joshua?" Yasaka asked, and when he turned he realized that the woman had walked up to him. She looked worried too. Had he missed something?
"Sorry, I just… I'm a little… Not well, I guess," He mumbled. It wasn't even an act. Suddenly, he felt tired and his head still felt like someone was trying to squeeze it from all sides. He felt faint and he imagined that he looked rather pale at the moment.
A wave of comfort washed over him. 'Yasaka's Senjutsu again?' He wondered, closing his eyes, momentarily taking that support in. With a deep breath in, he straightened his back.
"Everything ok?" Azazel asked, with a level of seriousness that Joshua didn't associate with the man. Neither from recent nor from old memories.
"Yeah. I think so, at least. Is there anything in my life energy?" He asked, that last question directed to Yasaka who was frowning at him.
"Everything seems to be fine," She replied, although she didn't sound very sure of that.
"Great. Well, once you are 100% again we can talk about what your wards have no doubt picked up from Divine Dividing and its Balance Breaker," The Fallen Angel Governor announced, earning himself a pointed look from the youkai leader. "Lots of tests to do too."
"If we have to," Vali sighed, apparently resigned to his fate. "I'd expected at least a good fight here. That's how you beat Dimension Lost though, right? With those wards?"
"More or less," Joshua replied with a wry smile. He wouldn't have told him about Nagini, but he definitely wouldn't now that he knew the guy would work with Khaos Brigade.
"Hm," The half-devil hummed, not sounding very eager for that fight. Which made sense, Joshua's style wasn't the direct approach that he was probably a fan of. That, together with Albion finding his Draining Wards annoying probably didn't entice him very much. Which suited Joshua fine, if he could avoid fighting him then he'd be happy.
"There'll be no experiments of any kind until we know Joshua's ok though," Yasaka declared, leaving no room for argument, which nobody seemed to want to bring up anyway. "Now, you," She said, turning towards him. "Are going to get some rest."
"Sure," He agreed easily with a weary smile. "I'll just go back in, sit down and get myself a cup of tea. Can I do that, Lady Yasaka?" He asked, his grin widening a little as he asked that last question. She gave him an unimpressed expression. "You want a cup of tea too, by the way? How about you, guys?" He asked her, Azazel and Vali.
"I wouldn't say no to that," The fallen angel took him up on his offer instantly.
"... Sure," The half-devil nodded with a strange expression on his face.
"I could have someone come here and help out while you recover," Yasaka started before he interrupted waving her off.
"No need. I can do this much, I promise," He reassured her. Bringing a hand up to massage his eyes probably didn't help his case much, but he was serious. The headache was even going away and so long as he didn't let his mind wander off to analyze the memories he'd recovered, he'd be mostly fine.
"If you insist."
"I sure do, let's go."
[} Chapter End {]
(AN:Please remember that this story is not mine and will never be mine. Make sure to give thanks to the original author on fanfiction.net https://m.fanfiction.net/u/11459794/)