3 When the Devil Comes

================================================================  He who possesses the Spear of Destiny

  Holds the Fate of the World in his Hands.

  The Spear of Destiny has been missing

  Since the End of World War II

  -Constantine

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I sat behind the school, slumped on the ground against the wall. It had let out several hours ago. Why was I here again? Oh yeah, my own mother kicked me out of the house. Was she having a relationship or something? Maybe a party? A book club gathering? Either way, it mattered little right now.

  I did spend some time walking around, looking for something to do. This was unlike me. I should have gone to the library and sat there, reading a book for a few hours. Why was I here? Why did I accept my mother's crazy idea in the first place? Maybe I was cracking under the pressure.

  I sat there for several minutes, contemplating my life and reason for existence, before noticing something. The sky was dark and ominous gray, and the town had gone relatively quiet.

  How foreboding.

  I really should head to the library now. But for some reason, I sat there, simply staring at the passing cars in the street. I contemplated my life. This time for real. Why had I agreed to my mother's request? She had tried to kick me out many times before, but I had weaseled my way out, so why did I accept it? 

  It was too suspicious. Why had I accepted it, after years of being able to rebuke my mother's request? Was the guilt finally getting to me? I was paranoid and suspicious again. It was too similar to those novels I read, of stereotypical cliches and overpowered protagonists. I hated this feeling. The feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop. That something was going to happen, that would disrupt my life.

  I sighed.

  I watched the sky for several hours, simply soaking it all in. This was my life. I had died, left behind my siblings, for this. What was I going to do? Get some low paying 9 to 5 jobs and get a girlfriend, I suppose. Maybe start a family, and try to move up the corporate food chain, until my life of prosperity is safe and guaranteed. 

  I looked around at the people passing across the school entrance, along the sidewalk. They all held monotone looks, going to and from wherever they were going. There were a few with happy expressions, going to meet friends, and some with sad, maybe having been fired this morning. It really didn't matter in the end, did it?

  I sighed, as I looked up at the sun. It was now close to night, without me having not moved a single inch since. That's right. I really didn't go searching for drugs. I just sat here after school got out and refused to move since. My school uniform was now dirty. Actually, it wasn't my school uniform. It was just the single uniform I had been wearing to school since 6th grade in middle school. Now that I think about it, perhaps it had some contributing factor to the fact that I had no friends.

  I shivered as a cool breeze set in. It was the middle of November, and I was finishing my Junior year of high school. I sat there for a few more minutes, before contemplating if I should go home now, or wait a few hours and worry my mother that I got kidnapped or something as revenge.

  But I ultimately dismissed the thought. I would never do such a thing, no matter how much I contemplated it. I tilted my head, taking a few seconds to truly relax and clear my mind before I heard something. I looked across the now-dark campus, to see an interesting sight. 

Two groups of people were moving into the old abandoned building on the edge of the school campus. I instantly recognized the unique hair of the 2 great ladies of Kuoh, along with several others. 

Rias Gremory, who was considered the most beautiful girl in the school, who led the Occult research club. Her beautiful red hair and succubus-like body proportions made her a sight to behold. Her right hand, Akeno Himejima, the second great lady of Kuoh, along with her equally beautiful body proportions and black hair walked alongside her. Koneko Toujou, the school's mascot, was on her left, with her extremely small frame and stand-out white hair. The prince of Kuoh, Yuuto Kiba, famous for his looks among the highly dense female student population walked with a serious expression, much different from his usual friendly demeanor, to my interest. 

Walking with them was Souna Shitori, along with the rest of the student council. I blinked. This was suspicious.

I had always avoided them, due to their popularity and likelihood for trouble. They practically screamed "Important Characters". I personally knew Souna Shitori, for her constant nagging at my lack of participation in school activities. It was required for each person to be a part of a club, and even the 'Perverted Trio' were a part of the Manga club. 

Most of them were a part of the were named the 'Occult Research Club' for God's sake. If that wasn't a flag, I didn't know what was. 

Was this contradictory to my previous whining about a normal world? Yes. But this was my older self, unlike my reincarnated childhood self, who was not disillusioned with visions of grandeur with hopes of being a protagonist. I was a nobody, like I was in my previous lie. 

I, of course, ignored her, the student council president that is, in favor of spending my time at home. It also didn't help that I held the best grades in the school, having scored perfect on every test, and only being above Shitori in school rankings due to being a grade above her and scoring better on my entrance exam, while she was recommended into the school.

She invited me many times to play chess, a pastime that I grew to enjoy in my new life. I had grown to enjoy the sport, due to my mother buying a board and having me play with it as a child, due to her lack of parenting skills, and the assumption of me being a super genius due to my grades and intellect at a young age. 

My score was 37 wins, 161 draws, and 0 losses. This greatly annoyed Shitori, who took chess very seriously, whereas I treated it as a hobby, having grown up playing it. She always asked for a rematch, and treated the games like life or death, like something important was on the line. It probably held some deeper meaning to her, but I wasn't going to pry. 

She also made me promise to not tell anyone of her loss, and I obliged. It was strange, but I thought she was just prideful and arrogant. Also, that score was enough to make anyone embarrassed. 

But why were they all gathered? I distrusted both groups, due to both of them being highly selective and isolated. You couldn't join without a recommendation, despite Shitori's attempts for me to join the student council. 

I sat there slumped against the wall, not really caring either way, as they headed into the abandoned building. Probably some school meeting, or some secret rich family secret society I could care less about. I watched as they entered the building, before turning my head away. 

I sat there for some time, having lost the will to get up I mustered earlier. The sun had finally completely disappeared over the horizon, leaving the stars  to slowly appear in the night sky. It was now fairly chilly, and I rested my head against my arm.

"Yasao-Senpai?" I heard someone say, and I looked up.

"Shitori-san." I hoped I used the right honorific. They were still something I had trouble with from time to time, even if I grew up here. I shifted slightly at the honorific of 'Senpai'. Being a weeb in my last life, anime has forever tainted the idea of honorifics. Especially the cursed word 'Senpai'. 

"What are you doing here?" She asked, with an undertone of something I couldn't quite place. 

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Why does it matter? Is your school meeting that secret?" I asked dryly. 

She furrowed her brows, looking slightly confused. "School meeting?" She questioned. 

I nodded at the building. "I saw you heading into the abandoned building with the rest of the Student Council and the Occult Research Club. I assumed it was a school meeting." I spoke simply. I tiled my head looking at her from the side. Was it something else? Well, it was none of my business anyways. 

Her face lit up with understanding. "A-ah. Of course. The meeting." She stuttered, her brain catching up to her words. She blushed lightly, causing me to give her a dry look. She was practically screaming 'suspicious'. But I tilted my head, not speaking, showing I didn't care either way. 

She cleared her throat, taking my silence as an opportunity to change subjects. "W-well, you still haven't answered my question." She deflected the possible oncoming question of what that meeting had been, not that I cared enough to ask. 

"To answer your question, my mother kicked me out of the house for the day, and I could not think of a better place to spend it than here." I answered dryly. 

She blinked. "Your mother seems like an interesting character." She answered neutrally. "It is getting quite late. Are you not cold?" She asked in a formal tone, though I could still pick up a bit of an undertone of something unplaceable. 

"I am fine. I was just heading home anyway." I answered. Shifting my hands to get up. She offered out her hand, and I took it as I pulled myself up. I then sighed, before dusting off my uniform, and then heading to the school gate. 

"Yasao-Senpai." Shitori called out. I turned around, and she put her hands behind her back.  She looked vaguely embarrassed,  looking away. "Instead of sitting at school, how about you visit the student council room wherever your mother kicks you out. We can always use help." She stated in a stern tone. I saw the tiniest hints of a blush, and smiled slightly, for the first time in awhile. She fit the role of a Tsundere so well at this moment I couldn't help but chuckle in my mind. 

"I will think about it." I stated. Normally this was a subtle way to say 'no', but  considering my normal loner personality, it was a statement much different than the emotionless dismissal I usually gave out. I sighed as I walked away. Why was I being so touchy feely today? 

I shifted as I walked, feeling something strange. Why was I being so talkative today?

I walked along the sidewalk back home, feeling vaguely uncomfortable. I meant it when I told my mother this town was unsafe. Disappearances and murders were common, and it seemed like someone died every week at the least. Rumor's of monsters swirled about, of unknown people in the night walking the town. Priests from all over the world, from the Vatican itself, staying for a few weeks before disappearing. 

I frowned, as I felt something watching me. This was not a good sign. I thought I was free of all cliche protagonist moments, but perhaps not. Ambushed by a monster in the night? I sighed, as I looked around discreetly for a phone or something, to pre-plan an escape should the worst come to pass. 

Not that it did much good. A hand shot out of space, grabbed the tie of my suit, pulled me into an alleyway, before slamming into the wall. I spat blood, as the wall behind me crumbled. This was done within a fraction of a second.  I immediately started to assess the situation. Only for me to nearly pass out before I could realize what was going on. 

Pain. So much pain. The pain of what just happened caught up to my brain, as the adrenaline faded slightly as I was held against the wall. My chest was in excruciating pain, as my ribs were likely bruised, if not broken. I prayed my spine was okay, paralysis was not something I wanted to experience in my next life. 

I could breathe, and it seemed like my lungs weren't punctured from pieces of my possibly shattered ribs, so it seemed like I was in no immediate danger of bleeding to death, or drowning in my own blood. Not that it mattered much, given the person in front of me. 

My eyes widened in fear. The person in front of me would normally garner amusement from most people, rather than fear. She were dressed in what looked like a magical girl outfit from an anime, short skirt, wand and all. She was of short height, with black hair pulled into 2 ponytails, and a pink outfit. My teenage mind immediately assessed her sizable bust and thigh size, before catching up to the situation I was in. 

She was emanating a dark aura, with the temperature of the surrounding area dropping alarmingly fast. Ice began to form around the entrance of the alleyway, with ice slowly creeping along my skin from where she held my tie.

"So you are the person she was talking about…" She spoke slowly. I felt my body being crushed under an invisible pressure, as I began to sweat profusely. I clenched my teeth as a dangerously cold wave of energy washed over me. 

"..How disgusting. My Sona-tan deserves more than some waste of space." She spoke dangerously quiet. I shuddered at the look she was giving me. I grabbed her arm out of desperation. That was clearly a bad idea. The second my right arm touched hers, she let go, jumped back, and swung her cheap plastic wand. 

I remained confused for several seconds, as my brain failed to comprehend the situation. Oh. My arm is gone. Blood splattered on my face, and my brain caught up to the situation I was in. 

It hurt. It hurt a lot. She took my arm off. How rude. Now I will have to get a new one. How could she do that? She should know how it feels. Maybe I should take her arm as revenge. It hurts. It hurts.

It hurts. 

Why is this happening to me? What have I done? I was not an extra, I was a faceless mob that didn't even get the chance to die. 

Why?

𝐈𝐭 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐬.

𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝.

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When her precious little Sona-tan told her someone had beaten her at chess, she was devastated. Sure, she smiled and laughed and teased her, but it was a facade. A cursed, disgusting facade. 

She was a Devil. An ancient being that was well over a Millenia old. She had seen the fall of nations, the progression of humanity. She had lived a long, cursed life. 

One inherent thing about Devil's, is that they, biologically, couldn't love. Not in the way humans can. Or at least, they couldn't before. Under the rule of the Satan's, there was no such thing as Love. Only Lust. As was their Sin. Marriages existed solely for the purpose of Political Alliances, Procreation, or Lust. 

Memories flashed through her mind. Of hundreds of meetings, dark, solemn, depressed faces around a table, discussing best how to murder millions of their own people. The Old Satan Faction wasn't even loyal to the Satans, mostly consisting of Slaves and low ranking Devil's that were controlled by their masters who wanted to stay in power. 

Battlefields, with thousands dead at her hand. The blood that stained her hands was enough to turn the entire sea red. She had killed so many. They had exterminated entire houses, young children, who they knew were too brainwashed to see reason. So much blood was spilled during the Devil Civil War. 

All of this was for a better future. Where Devil's were not beings confined by Sin. Where they could Love, Lust, be Happy, and Hope. Something impossible under the Descendants of the Satans, who ruled after the Satans were killed in the Great War. 

After they took power, they changed things slowly. Devil's, who were once evil beings by nature, changed. Slaves were banned, kindness was encouraged, and people began to want to see a better world, unlike their time under the Old Satan Faction. 

She did not regret her actions, because she knew they were for the better. She could see it today more than ever. Rias Gremory, Sona Sitri. They were not cruel, merciless, evil beings. They were kind, even kinder than most humans. 

An example would be Riser Phenex, Rias Gremory's arranged to-be husband. He was a lustful, weak, disgraceful piece of shit that could be killed with the power stored in her fingernail, but compared to the Devil's of the past, he was practically the Second coming of Christ himself. 

Perhaps this was why Sirzechs let the arranged marriage exist between Riser and Rias. Because he knew of the marriages that existed during his youth. But, it mattered little. She had sacrificed so much, killed so many people, so her Sona-tan could live in a world free of such Devil's, of people like the Old Satan Faction. 

She saw the love between Sirzechs and Grayfia. As in, there was none. It was nothing but an arranged marriage to signal the defeat of the Old Satan Faction and an end to the Devil Civil War. It was only after Millicas was born did their relationship bloom beyond Partners, and it took awhile to even reach that level in the first place, before it was nothing but the relationship between the King and Queen of a Peerage.

Sirzech's parents were the same. Velelana and Zeoticus's marriage was nothing but a political alliance between the Belial and Gremory Clans. Her own parents were not much different, being siblings forced to intermarry to preserve the purity of the Sitri bloodline. 

She had fought hard, killed hundreds of thousands, so Sona would be able to love freely. With no arranged marriages or forced relationships. A world in which she was more than a pawn on a chessboard the old demons used to make alliances and bicker with one another. 

Even when her parents tried to force an arranged marriage for her Sona-tan,, she told Sona there was a way to set restrictions on a suiter, such as beating her at chess. Should she have failed, she would have vetoed the marriage, or declared the clan who tried to marry her traitors and have them executed. 

She would do anything to protect her. That was why when Sona told her someone had beaten her at chess, she was livid.  It was meant to be simple. She would pull him into an alleyway, ask him a few questions, maybe force them out with a bit of persuasion, then she was going to hypnotize him to forget the encounter, and perhaps make it so her would never approach Sona again with a bit of Compulsion and Hypnosis.  The very idea she would be forced to marry someone she didn't love was enough to make her blood boil.

Hell, if Sona really liked him, and she did as well, she was planning on using an Evil Piece to reincarnate him, to make him strong enough to protect her. (As well as force him to never leave her side, thus Sona would stay by her side as well.)

While this may sound Evil, it was rather tame compared to what most other Devil's would do in the same situation. Sirzechs would just kill him. Most Devil's of the past would have tortured him for eternity, forced him into their peerage, then made his life living hell. 

It was supposed to be that easy. He wouldn't even remember. She slammed him into the wall, and let out a bit of her magical power to intimidate him. His face contorted in fear and pain, to her grim satisfaction. 

But, what was this feeling? It was strange. A looming presence, hidden, watching her. What was it?

She tried to place the feeling. It was similar to those Saint blessed by the God of the Bible. But a new Saint hadn't appeared for centuries, and the God of the Bible was long dead. She knew that he died in the great war, as did all the Satan's. 

But, what was she feeling? And why were her instincts flaring up?

The boy desperately reached out his hand, placing it on her arm. And she froze. 

Fear. They fear one's natural enemy, of a prey fearing the predator. Devil's feared Angels. It was quite simple. They were their natural enemy, and thus they were universally despised by creatures of darkness. 

But this was different. More … primal. She could only compare it to something Holy, so Holy that it dwarfed all other Angels she had fought in her life. A Holiness only possessed by a Seraphim, or the God of the Bible himself. 

But that made no sense. No being of that power has ever descended from Heaven. The most powerful being's that descended were the Archangels, such as Michael or Gabriel. Perhaps Samyaza or his Watcher's. But nothing this potent. 

Was it … no. The God of the Bible was long gone. He disappeared after the Great War, after killing the 7 Satan's, Samyaza and his Grigori, and the 2 Heavenly Dragons. He had not returned to Heaven, and Angel's were no longer being born. This she knew was true. But then, why was she so …. Afraid?

"'𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 - 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞, 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐬𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 - 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭; 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐚.' -  𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝟐𝟕:𝟏"

A Bible Verse? And where did that voice come from? Why were her instincts blaring at her? When had the street emptied out? Why was the town so quiet? Why was her magic going berserk?

Why couldn't she move?

Why was she in so much pain?

She looked down. 

Oh, her legs were gone. That's why she was in pain. 

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A/N: I'll just combine both here, but I want you guys to note the distinction between Archangels, and Seraphim. (One has 4 wings, the other 12). Also, for those who don't know every nuance of DXD and the Apocrypha it's largely inspired by, Shamyaza is described as one of the first angels to fall. He is also the leader of the Girgori in Myth, with Grigori meaning 'Watcher's'.

For those who think I am bashing Serafall and Sirzech's, I am really trying not to. I really love both characters, and they will both be important in the story to come. 

This is the end of the chapters I plan to post together. Updates will probably be inconsistent but I do have a School and Job life to balance along with writing. This story is something I have been thinking about and wanting to write for well over 2 years now, though it is only recently coming to fruition after dozens of scrapped drafts and 10's of thousands of words deleted. 

I tried to find a Beta Reader on Fanfiction.net, but I hate how it is set up. Also, I have been using the website for over half a decade, and only recently found out it had an app. 

I love to read comments, reviews, and any sort of constructive criticism, so please don't be afraid to comment. Or just yell at me to work faster. 

Feed me power stones, to satiate my infinite hunger. And give me motivation to continue to write.