Disclaimer: I don't own Highschool DxD.
Notorious, so Notorious
"And this-" Joshua said, pausing for a moment to cover his mouth and yawn. "Is a simple way to connect wards between each other so that Draining Wards can power others. One could say that a Draining Ward together with another one, whichever, could be considered one of the simplest ward arrays one can cast. Certainly one of my standard go tos, at least… Granted, it's been forever since I cast just a two spell array," he explained with a small smile, feeling the weariness on him.
He'd worked until late the last night, chasing a particularly elusive idea he'd had regarding the case of Sairaorg's mother. Granted, he'd already been pushing things while reading on the information Azazel had provided in regards to the Fallen Angels – and Angels as a whole, really – and then something had gotten into his mind and… Well, things had escalated a little. Joshua was fully expecting Yasaka to tell him he was an idiot or something in that vein as soon as he showed up to spend some time with her and Kunou later in the day.
With any luck, he'd be able to get a nap in between his House of Water class and then… Or Kunou would be a nice lil' thing and let him sleep during their time together. He didn't want to rely on that though, it'd be shitty of him.
'Stop looking at me like that,' he projected to Cheshire, who was staring at him from his desk. Rolling her eyes, the cat – at least at that moment – made her way around the class, deciding to instead bother his students. That suited him just fine.
"Now, from the spells we've seen so far, which ones do you think would make a good pair in an array of two?" he asked, trying and likely failing to keep his weariness out of his voice. Fortunately, none of his students pointed it out, or so much as looked at him funny for it. Maybe they weren't entirely as stupid as some of them had shown to be at times.
As expected, Levi immediately raised his hand, an excited shine in his eyes that hadn't been there before. Where before he'd been a nervous, shy thing that wasn't sure if he was worth anything despite his vast knowledge and thorough understanding of magic, Levi had started showing a lot more confidence since Joshua had spoken with Sona. If he had to bet, he expected the two had talked and things had gone well.
As Joshua nodded and listened to some of Levi's ideas though, he noticed something else. Nearby, Cheshire had stopped on Meredith's desk and he noticed then that the girl had been… less engaged in his classes than she had been before. She seemed distracted, at times annoyed and at others nervous. 'Maybe…' he considered, his feline familiar quickly agreeing, even before he finished the thought.
Well, a nap was suddenly seeming less likely.
Regardless, he continued with his class for the moment. Once that was done however, he asked Meredith to stay behind. She'd been his first star, as the other students liked to call them when they thought he wasn't hearing. At times they wouldn't even bother to be discreet, but it wasn't anything bad, so Joshua supposed it was fine.
He didn't think he favored them too much however, at least outside of George and Levi, if one could call that favoring. He simply acknowledged their efforts in his class and their talent for his teachings. If the others thought that was something worth praising and being envious of… Then maybe they should try to do better, honestly.
Joshua himself had simply coasted through most of his classes back in his old life, but at least he hadn't been bitter when others did better.
"Is everything fine?" he asked the girl once they were the only ones in the classroom. He's seen several of the students both from the group of "stars" as well as others giving the girl looks, but nobody had done anything. Cheshire, standing beside him, hadn't reacted much either, so he guessed things were fine.
"Of course, Professor Davis," Meredith answered instantly, standing stiffly and visibly trying to appear "fine". He was nowhere near fooled though. He might not have many wards around the classroom when compared to his home and such, but that didn't mean he was blind. Besides, even without his spells, he still had his Magic and Life Senses.
"You are not," he told her, making the girl grimace. "I'm just your teacher, magical teacher at that. So, if you want to pretend that you are alright, then we can do that," he told her simply and she deflated. Even being able to read her energies a fair bit, Joshua wasn't sure if she was relieved or saddened by his words. Likely a bit of both, he imagined.
Cheshire chided him through their bond, but he remained strong. Meredith was a great student, yes, but that didn't give him the right to interfere in her life. Most he could do was offer help, but if she was determined not to accept it… There was little he could do.
"Do you care… Professor Davis?" Meredith asked him then, looking down at the floor and poking it with her foot. "I'm just another student, aren't I?"
"You are," he confirmed with a nod and he didn't need to read her life energy to know that she was hurt. "That doesn't mean I don't care. You are one of my best students, Miss Ordinton. It'd be a shame if that stopped being the case for something that could be solved. So, yes, I care."
"Why? There's a number of students that stand out too," Meredith asked then, which was fair.
Most of Joshua's interest in her had come from the fact that he was fairly sure that she was somewhat related to DxD plot. Her name was familiar to him, at the very least and that was enough to catch his attention. It went further than that though…
"You were the first to stand out though, Miss Ordinton," he answered, his hand finding its place on top of Cheshire's head when his familiar approached him. "All the way back when I'd first started and nobody knew how well I'd do. That matters to me."
She'd been the first to seriously engage in his class, and that was important. He hadn't known how he'd do, and while he hadn't much cared at the start, he had been happy to do well, to have someone that seemed invested in what he taught other than Kunou. So, Joshua felt like returning the favor, at least a little bit.
"So, if there's anything I can do to help with whatever is going on with you, please do let me know, Miss Ordinton," he told her, visibly affecting the girl. How, exactly, he wasn't sure, but he also wasn't sure if it mattered. For a moment, it looked like Meredith was going to speak, opening her mouth and all. Ultimately though, she seemed to decide to keep things to herself.
"... Thank you, Professor Davis," the girl told him in the end. "I appreciate that."
With that said, the girl left before anything else could be added to the conversation. Idly, as he watched the classroom's door close, Joshua wondered if he should get involved with whatever was going on there. Cheshire seemed to think so, but he was already having to balance a whole bunch of plates and he wasn't eager to add more.
'I'll let things be for a bit,' he decided, unsure. Cheshire seemed to think that was reasonable, fortunately.
[}-o-{]
[Kuroka]
"Expanding from blondes to people with black hair, Davis?" one of the fallen angels asked. Despite the nonchalant way the question was voiced, however, Kuroka knew the woman was anything but calm on the inside and no doubt Davis was aware of that too. "Should we expect blue haired women to come next?"
"Depends on the hair color of the next woman to decide it's a good idea to mess with me or around my warded areas," Davis answered flatly with a shrug. The Fallen seemed relieved that nothing bad had happened though and Kuroka was starting to understand why.
She thought she'd gotten a good read on Davis' character since she was captured, but she was very obviously wrong. Back then he'd seemed calm, considering the feeling of his bond with his familiars. At most, he'd seemed annoyed to have to deal with her and all the… baggage Kuroka brought to the table, as it were.
As time passed, she got a peek of something else though. Something that was much more obvious at that very moment, once she was introduced to the Fallen Angel trio. There was a cold, unfeeling machine hiding in the depths of the kind man's mind. He cared little for Kuroka or the fallen, and that was very obvious at that very moment.
It filled her with dread, the way Davis' gaze would sometimes remind her of her old King. Especially because she wasn't sure she could deal with the human as she had the devil. The only reassurance she had was knowing that he wasn't as much of a monster, but she wasn't so sure how good that was, considering she wasn't precisely on the man's good side.
"Today's exercise is simple. Kalawarna, Raynare, Mittelt, you are fighting Kuroka," Davis announced before lazily waving his hand in front of him. "Get started."
And that was that, the fallen charged at her and Kuroka did her best. Davis' spells weighed on her though, weakened her. She wondered if that was a punishment or if the fallen were dealing with the same thing. 'Yes, they definitely are, but less,' she noticed through her life sensing, her only skill that wasn't being affected by the constraining spells.
Apparently, Davis' magic limited them only as much as was necessary for the fight to be even.
In the meantime, the man simply watched while the spar progressed. Kuroka felt the spells watching her every move, the mechanical observers that were the wards, the glaring beasts that were the hexes and the… 'That's new,' Kuroka thought, noticing the almost inconspicuous guarding sentinel. The last one was strange, new to Kuroka, but unnerving enough to know what it likely was.
'Holy,' she realized. It's presence was small, but it stood out enough for her to be nervous. Fortunately, it seemed to be merely some kind of overseeing spell. If that was there though, Kuroka very much didn't want to find out if there was anything more… direct hidden in the spells.
As if she needed more than she already had witnessed to know that Davis wasn't one to be crossed. Besides, there were much better things she could do with Davis than antagonize him. He was strong, after all, especially – but not only – considering he was human. On top of that, he was well connected, if he could just call one of the Satans and the way he talked about other figures such as Yasaka, one of the youkai leaders.
Davis was powerful and Kuroka liked that.
She liked that very much.
It was, then, unfortunate that she seemed to have some… very strong, very concerning competition on that front. Serafall Leviathan wasn't someone that she wanted to cross and if she was reading things right, that might not be the only one Kuroka needed to look out for. So, she might need to be very careful and that wasn't even taking into account the fact that she might have started with the worst foot possible.
Fortunately, Kuroka was used to having the odds against her.
For the moment though, she needed to focus on not getting herself killed. The good thing was that Kuroka was pretty sure she'd have to try to get killed for something to happen. Davis didn't strike her as a man eager to deliver punishment so, as long as she didn't press any dangerous buttons, she would be fine.
Probably.
[}-o-{]
[Joshua Davis]
He couldn't help but stare.
In front of him, to the side, Serafall looked entirely too amused.
On the other side, Sirzechs Lucifer himself looked… not much better than Joshua imagined he did.
And then there was the target of his gaze.
"Dad," the kid whispered, tugging at his father's clothes, as if Joshua couldn't hear him. "It's really Domino Mask," the kid added, visibly excited as he bounced on his feet.
"Indeed, he is, Millicas," Sirzechs confirmed wryly.
"And that's Luna," the kid added, eyes moving to look at Margalo. Contrary to how awkward Joshua felt, his familiar seemed very pleased with the attention of the boy. Then he noticed the wonder in the little one's eyes, which reminded him of Kunou, and that's when he knew that he'd lost already.
No wonder they hadn't asked before teleporting in.
Crafty bastards.
Giving up, he let a smirk form on his face as he brought a hand up and took out a mask from a storage spell.
"A fan, huh?" he asked as he placed the item on his face and got "in character" as it were. Judging by the way Millicas' eyes lit up, it was the right choice. "You hear that, Luna?" Joshua said, turning to look at Margalo, who seemed just as excited as the kid was as she played her part. "Now, that's always nice to see."
"Could I have an autograph?" the kid asked instantly, as if afraid that he might forget or miss the chance. "From both of you?"
"That could be arranged, I suppose," Joshua answered, making a show of thinking it over. "First, we have to make sure of something though," he added with a grin before he looked at Serafall. "Am I better than Levi?"
"Excuse m-?!" the Satan started exclaiming, scandalized.
"Of course!" Millicas exclaimed, completely missing the shattered and betrayed look on Serafall's face and the noticeable amusement on his father's. "You are the coolest character in the whole show. On the whole Devil Network!"
"Now, that's someone with good sense for once. We have to reward that, don't we, Luna?" Joshua commented, grinning wider than before. His pleasure at Serafall's plight wasn't solely because of his character. That's what she got from springing this on him out of nowhere.
With a wave of his hand, he produced a sheet of paper to give the kid what he wanted. Margalo even added a footprint next to his signature, for good measure. Joshua had to admit, it was neat to make a child so happy with something so simple. Millicas looked like he might just have made his day.
"Best day ever," the boy whispered, looking at the sheet of paper as if he couldn't believe he actually had it in his hands and that it was real. "Domino Mask is the best."
"And don't you forget it," Joshua told him, pointing at him as if to affirm that sentence. "You know what? Here," he added, before taking off his mask and handing it to the kid.
"No way…"
After entertaining Millicas for a while with some illusions and spatial magic, Joshua left him with the next best thing after Domino Mask, Luna – a.k.a. Margalo, who definitely liked having someone so in awe of her –, and made his way to where Sirzechs stood next to a mock devastated Serafall. 'At least, I hope it's an act,' Joshua mused, looking at the woman.
"Was this entirely a social visit or was all that a convenient side effect?" he asked, waving his hand towards where the Satan's son was playing with his familiar. He'd be fine regardless, but the whole thing had come a bit too much from out of nowhere. He had the feeling that there was more to it than just entertaining Sirzechs' son.
"The latter," the Satan Lucifer answered, his lips pulling up in a wry smile. "I came to tell you that my parents can't afford to stall for much longer. They've been pulling most inconsequential favors for this so far, but if they continue, it might start actually negatively impacting our house. They'll still do it, if they think it can achieve something and so will I, but I wanted to check on you before letting them burn actual bridges."
Well, that was nice of him, even if it was still for his own benefit.
Joshua looked to the side, idly casting some illusions to keep Millicas entertained. Sirzechs obviously didn't feel like including the boy in their conversation, which was understandable. He also communicated with Margalo through their bond so she'd know to keep things going. Not that she really needed a reason. She was having as much fun as Millicas was, probably.
With that out of the way, Joshua considered the situation Sirzechs presented before him.
The Phoenix Spell obviously wasn't ready yet. There were a lot of things that needed to be worked on. It'd take him months to perfect the thing, if not years. However, that wasn't as bad as it sounded, at least.
"Hm, I think I can have something ready for us to use against the Phenex," Joshua replied in the end. "How long do we have before House Gremory has to start really pushing things?"
"I can't say for sure, since it depends on other Houses, not even only the Phenex," Sirzechs answered, giving it actual thought. Which made sense, really, since this was his sister's life that was on the line, maybe even the whole family. "It's likely that we don't have a month before that, however."
"Ok… I can work with that. I just have to make some definitely needed changes to my spell right now, prioritize some things and…" Joshua mumbled, his eyes unfocusing as his mind got to working. There were things he needed to work on for the "presentation" of the spell, as it were. It wouldn't be fully ready but…
Well, he was thinking about it like a game announcement. Put some CGI scenes to make it look better than it was, maybe some specifically staged in-game scenes. Essentially, the Phoenix Spell wouldn't be that good on release, but he'd get there with some updates. He just needed people to think it was that good.
"Yeah, I can definitely work with that," Joshua decided, a little more firmly. "Tell your parents not to rush into anything. I'll do my best to get things ready before they have to do anything drastic," he told the Satan, only realizing a second too late that maybe he was a bit out of place ordering the man to do anything.
Fortunately for him, the Satan seemed to take that well, smiling a little more honestly.
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it," he waved off, before smirking. "Besides, you'll owe me for this."
"I won't forget. Now, I think I'll take advantage of this and spend some time with my son, if you don't mind hosting us for a little longer," the redheaded man commented, to which Joshua just waved him off.
"Not at all, go have fun. Margalo is enjoying the attention anyway."
"Thanks for that," Serafall said once her fellow Satan was gone, her voice soft. "This means a lot to him, more than he lets on. He's really worried for Rias."
"It'll be fine."
"You believe that, and that means he can believe it a little more too. This was as much to inform you of that and get an opinion as it was to reassure him," the woman explained to him, making him hum in understanding. "And I'll have you know Domino isn't better than Levi!"
That was an argument waiting to happen and Joshua knew what he needed to do. Defuse and say he was just getting in character to better entertain Millicas.
He was feeling bold though.
"Keep telling yourself that."
"Excuse me?!"
[}-o-{]
Leaning back, he looked at the wall in front of him as Morag stuck some notes to it. His spider familiar's threads connected every piece of paper and picture between each other. Morag had, apparently, at some point figured out how to make silk of different colors. Joshua wasn't very sure how, but it likely could be explained by just saying "magic".
"Thanks, girl," he mumbled, his eyes fixed on the notes as the spider crawled her way back to him and climbed on his back. He felt her pride through their bond and he made sure to feed her as much appreciation as he could manage. His mind was a little preoccupied at the moment though, but the arachnid seemed to realize and understand that.
He was running out of time with the Phoenix Spell, after all. Every other project could wait and so they'd been pushed aside for the moment. Fortunately, the Church hadn't called for another base to be secured so far. As for Hexennacht… Well, House of Water was doing its own attacks on that front, so that meant that he could leave things be for a bit without feeling like he was letting them have time to recover.
His own personal projects could be ignored for the moment too, so there was that. He'd be at the cafe less too, but Jeanne would be keeping an eye on Kuoh for him just in case Issei and Aika needed him. As for Rias, he'd communicated to her that his training ground was still available to them but he wouldn't be able to provide more help than that for a while.
Then there was Sairaorg, who he'd had to apologize for. The Bael had reassured him saying he understood, but Joshua wanted to be done with things quickly so he could go back to working on the Sleeping Disease. He felt very shitty having to push that particular project to the side.
Unfortunately, the Phoenix Spell was a lot more time sensitive.
"I gotta adjust the filter a bit," he mused first of all. He'd have to make it seem like the thing could heal anything just as well as Phoenix Tears could. Without being magic experts, people wouldn't be able to tell that particular limitation, and Joshua was fairly sure that even then it would be hard without looking for that flaw. "Strain on the focus is there, but I can tone it down a little bit so it won't be noticeable without extended use."
Morag clicked her mandibles next to his ear, being the offered ear for him to speak to while he brainstormed. She offered actual feedback though, even if it was mostly through the muddled bond they shared. It still helped keep Joshua's mind going.
"Definitely need to reduce the energy consumption. It's the most glaring issue it has right now," Joshua mumbled, running his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, yeah, I know," he added with a grimace as Morag reminded him of all the times people had told him that he needed to work on that particular point.
He'd been more focused on improving the effectiveness of the spell though. Consumption wasn't as important back then. Now though, since he was sort of pushing the actual effect to the side, he needed to make it seem like the spell was as solid on the energy cost side of things as it was supposed to look like on the actual healing side.
"Besides that… Well, there's little else, right? Am I forgetting something?" he asked, tilting his head. Morag replied on the negative before hesitating. Then the spider thought of something, quickly sharing it with Joshua, who started smiling wider. "Oh, that's just mean… But it's perfect," he commented, chuckling to himself. "Nagini would be proud."
Morag seemed a little torn on if that was a compliment or not, but she decided to go with yes.
"Well, lots of work to be done. You up to keeping me company, girl?" he asked, receiving a quick affirmative answer from the arachnid. "Thanks, Morag, you are great."
To that, the spider seemed to reply with what was essentially a "don't you forget it".
[} 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/)