Plans

Dimensional Gap)

After deciding Issei's name, they began to ponder, how would they raise him. It is safe to say that neither of them has had any experience raising a child in their lifetimes. However, they would take it one step at a time and make adjustments as it goes.

(4 years later)

We see Issei flying about in the dimensional gap with his father, as great red is teaching him how to use his wings.

Meanwhile, Ophis is seen reading a manual that she picked from the human world on how to raise kids although it was hard to follow what humans did considering they are dragons so from time to time she sneaked into the dragon territory in the Underworld, ruled by Tannin, the former Dragon king to see how the families raised their younglings.

\\\Flashback

To her surprise, although they were different races, they were very similar to how humans raised their young, albeit there are differences such as teaching them how to fly, breath fire, control their powers and other dragon related things. However, she saw them helping them learn to walk, talk, playing with them whenever they could and also let them play and socialize with other hatchlings just like how human take their kids to parks and they play with one another. She even saw some dragons teaching their kids proper manners and etiquette that might be useful in the future. Others are teaching their kids how to fight as dragons

Seeing the younglings play together made her think "hmm, in terms of fundamental lessons, great-red and I can teach him well however what will we do in terms of social relations?". Ophis has spent most of her life in solitude and hasn't really had any interactions with many people. The few have only been the members of khaos brigade that joined her but they weren't really social interactions, just business. Except for Vali, who conversed with her from time to time, their hasn't been much exposure to people.

"I'll talk to red about it and see what he thinks."

/End of Flashback

Ophis watched Issei attempting to fly using his 4 wings. At first, he staggered and you could see him pout, which she found very cute, but after a few attempts he managed to succeed and is now flying alongside his father. Although, to her dismay, he started performing a few stunts reminding her of great-red but after seeing his happy expression, she decided to let things go.

Still for a small child, he learned things pretty quickly. At only 4 years old, he is able to speak pretty well and absorbs everything they teach him very fast. They are both extremely proud of his progress as would any parent their kid.

He was also really powerful, which comes at no surprise being the child of two supreme dragons, however a few days after his birth, they realized that his power was way too strong for his body to handle and if something was not done, the boy would have been extinguished by his own power so Great-red conjured multiple levels of seals that sealed most of Issei's power. They agreed that they would teach him over time how to control his strength and as he becomes stronger, the seals will be released 1 at a time until he masters his powers and takes his rightful place as the third dragon god in existence. Ophis was sure that in time he would surpass her and eventually great-red.

Despite most of his power sealed, he still possesses much strength within him, being stronger than a high-class devil but not yet at Ultimate-Class which for a 4-year-old hatchling is very strong.

"Daddy, wait for me" breathed heavily Issei as he tried to catch up to his father. "you are going to fast." Great-red looked over his shoulder to see a panted issei as he slowed down waiting until issei caught up.

"Oh sorry, Issei. Still you are making great progress for a 4-year-old hatchling. It shows you possess great untapped potential. Isn't that right, Ophis?"

Issei looked back to see his mother coming so he flew straight at her and hugged her. "Mommy."

With a warm smile, Ophis reciprocated the hug and she held him close to her chest.

"Hi Issei, I see you are learning to fly properly. As expected from my son. I am so very proud of you." Stated Issei as she kissed his forehead. Issei giggled a bit because it tickled him when his mother did this.

"As your father said, you hold great potential inside of you waiting to be unlocked and eventually when you learn to master yourself and your power, I have no doubt you will eventually surpass us." Stated Ophis with absolute confidence. Issei was very happy when she said that

"you really think so mom? Will I be as strong as you? Will I be as awesome as daddy?" he said with sparkling eyes which caused Ophis to laugh a bit.

"Yes Issei, although I don't think cool is the right word to describe your father."

"HEY, I HEARD THAT." Shouted Great-Red. Issei laughed and soon started yawning showing how tired he was. He was practicing very hard so it was only naturel. Untapped potential or not, he is still 4 years old and requires sleep. Ophis saw this and started singing a lullaby she heard in the human world and slowly Issei closing his eyes until he went to sleep.

"Good night my little Issei." Said Ophis as she looked at great-red and he conjured a bed for issei to sleep in. After safely tucking him in, she turned to great-red

"Have you thought about the conversation we had previously?"

"Yes and I do have a proposal if you are willing to hear it." Stated Great-Red.

"Go ahead."

"Well, the only way for him to develop his social skills is to be able to mingle with other kids his age so I propose moving in the human world and let him play with kids his age." Proposed Red.

"Wouldn't he be better off mingling with other dragon hatchlings. Humans are different than dragons."

"I considered that fact and could ask Tannin, however if we show up in the Underworld, there is a good chance someone may notice us and that will lead to Issei's reveal to the supernatural world and I would like to keep him a secret until he is ready to take care of himself."

"You speak as if I would let anything happen to my little Issei." She let out her aura a bit, not to much to not wake up issei, "I would eliminate anyone who dares harm even a single hair on my precious Issei." Explained Ophis.

"So would I. However, he is a dragon and eventually will take flight to start his own journey. No dragon likes to feel restraint, not even by his parents. We will nurture and protect him until he reaches maturity and when he is ready to leave us, we will watch over him as he grows to become a splendid Dragon-God." Stated Great-Red as he looked up as if in thought.

For a second, Ophis felt admiration towards Great-Red which she could not believe.

"Despite being an idiot, you sometimes say smart things." Said Ophis with a smile.

"I have my moments." Grinned great-red as he didn't care that she called him Baka-red anymore. "So have you pondered on my idea or do you require more time."

Ophis thought about it and answered "I find your idea plausible, however, even though it is the human world, there is still a chance for Issei to be revealed to the supernatural world. His draconic aura might invite enemies towards him and I'm scared to take that chance."

This is probably the first time she has ever felt fear for something in her life as her body shook at the mere thought of Issei getting hurt.

"I I I just don't want anything bad to happen ho him. If something were to happen to him, I don't know what I'd do." Stated Ophis as a few drop of tears come out from her. So many new emotions that she didn't even know she could have are coming out to the surface and she doesn't know how to deal with it.

Great-Red was flabbergasted, never would he have imagined seeing Ophis display such pure emotions. He thought about how he should calm her to which an idea popped up but it might result in him getting his ass whooped. "here goes nothing, hopefully I survive the onslaught." Thought great-red as he came close to her and suddenly hugged her. Ophis looked straight at him confused and angry at the same time "What do you think you ar.." before she could finish he interrupted her

"What you are feeling right now is very normal, Ophis. You are overprotective of Issei as any mother would when considering the safety of their hatchling. But, you shouldn't worry so much," he said in a calm voice as great-red wiped her tears off her eyes "As I told you before, we will ensure that he is well protected and nurtured every step of the way. No matter what problems may occur, I'm pretty confident we will get through it and protect Issei from whatever danger may happen." With a grin he adds "After all, we aren't the two most powerful beings in the universe for nothing."

After his speech, Ophis redirects her gaze downwards and removes herself from his grasp. "Oh crap, I may have overdone it" thought great-red as he believed Ophis to be mad at him for embracing her. She turned around as her back is facing him "I'll only say this once, so make sure you listen..." as great-red prepared himself for a thrashing she said "Thank you" in a low and flustered voice although not low enough for great-red to not understand what she said.

That was honestly something he didn't expect but he was at least relieved he wasn't going to get beaten up. "Your welcome" he replied. Ophis wiped away the remaining of her tears and faced great-red once again.

"When should we prepare to move to the human world?" asked Ophis.

"I believe around the time Issei reaches 5 years old. That will give me enough time to make preparations and pick a suitable location to live in." Answered Great-red.

"Very well, go ahead."

With a nod of his head, Great-red teleported via his own magic circle to begin his search. Ophis looked at Issei's sleeping form and decided to sleep near him even though she does not require it. She placed herself near Issei and feeling his mother near him caused Issei to move a bit and instinctually went to hug her. Although, since he is small, he was simply hugging her arm. Seeing this, Ophis smiled brightly at him as she brought him closer to her chest and soon drifted off to sleep.

Unknown to her, a bit farther lay a bat like familiar that was looking over them and then it teleported out of the dimensional gap.

"At last, after all these years, we finally found her. Shalba-sama and the others will be pleased to hear the news." Said the owner of the bat familiar.

"hmm, who do you think is that kid sleeping near her. It seems to be very important to Ophis?" asked another servant.

"Who knows, we will let the leaders decide what to do. For now, we must let them know this information as soon as possible. Shalba-sama is already pissed at us for taking so long to find her. Anymore and it could have been our heads."

Everyone else nodded and teleported to their headquarters.

(At the old-Satan faction headquarters)

The group headed to the council group where are the leaders are located.

"Shalba-sama, katarea-sama, creuserey-sama, we have finally succeeded in locating Ophis." Said one of the servants.

"About time you found her. It's been over 4 years since she disappeared. Why has it taken you fools so long to find her" shouted Shalba.

Shaken with fear, the servant shuttered "be be because she was located in the last place we thought to look."

"Where would that be?" asked Katarea.

"In the Dimensional Gap." As the servant displayed a projection of Ophis and Issei.

"Why, in Satan's name, did it take you idiots four FREAKING years to look into the dimensional gap" roared Shalba as his aura leaked out from him. He was clearly not in a good mood.

"its… its… be because Great-Red is living in there and since Ophis despises him, we believed she wouldn't set foot in there until Great-red is removed." Said the servant trembling and scared for his life. Even though Shalba wanted to end this fool's life, he could not refute their reasoning considering the fact that Ophis gathered them specifically for that purpose. He somewhat calmed down after a moment and said

"haah, very well. Now dismiss." They bowed and left the room as quickly as possible leaving behind the leaders who were conversing with each other.

"This is troubling news. If she is in the dimensional gap, does that mean that she managed to defeat Great-Red by herself and if so, it would mean that she would not be willing to give us her powers anymore" stated Creuserey as Shalba immediately refuted him.

"I highly doubt that simply due to the fact that if her strength alone was sufficient, she would have never created the Khaos Brigade and would have simply engaged him long ago."

"Then, what of Great-red? Has he taken residence somewhere else because there is no way Ophis would share the dimension gap with him." queried Creuserey.

"I don't know and the truth is I don't really care at this point. Our primary concern was locating Ophis location and now that we have found her, we must find a way to acquire her power once more. Our plans have been delayed for too long searching her" claimed Shalba.

"And how exactly are we going to achieve that? Through brute force? You know as well as I that it is stronger than us. The only reason it promised us power was to help it kill great red and return to the dimensional gap!" Creuserey explained.

"I know you idiot. There must be some way to force it to give us its power."

Eventually, Creuserey noticed that Katerea was silent during their entire conversation and decided to ask

"Katerea, is everything ok, you are unusually silent?".

"I've been examining the image left behind by the servants while you two have been uselessly bickering.". Shalba twitched at that while Creuserey simply continued to listen "Now that I have both your attention, didn't any of you notice something amiss about that image?". Both of them took the time to examine the image once more and quickly noticed what she meant.

"Who in blazes is that kid?"

"A new recruit perhaps."

"What aid can a mere child offer in a battle against Great-Red." Exclaimed Shalba.

"hmhmhm" giggled Katerea, "you two aren't looking carefully. The boy is much more precious to her than a mere recruit. Just look at Ophis's expression." Responded Katarea as she point at the image of Ophis.

Shalba immediately retorted "What in blazes are you saying Katarea? Ophis doesn't possess any emo…" As both looked at Ophis's face, they became astounded as she expressed a pure smile.

Now, they were shocked beyond belief, Ophis displayed a smile of pure happiness while embracing the boy. "What the hell!" they both thought. It is impossible for Ophis, a being born from nothingness to be able to display any kind of emotions and yet the image before them disproves that. No words came out of their mouth as they contemplated the oddity before them as Katarea continued to hypothesize a theory.

"The way she acts with that boy appears to be how a mother would with their son."

Shalba practically jumped out of his seat as he shouted "What bullshit are you spewing now? The Ouroboros has no son that anyone knows about."

"Then do you have any theory about Ophis's situation right now? In all our time in Khaos brigade, have you ever seen it react like this towards us? At best, all I've seen close to a smile was a small smirk it had when speaking to the White Dragon Emperor. If you have an idea, then I'm all ears" she asked.

As much as he wanted to refute her, she was right. He had no suggestions to counter her nor could he think of anything that could explain this anomaly.

"Anyways, why not look at this as an opportunity?" she continued.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Creuserey. She looked at the two of them forming a small smirk "Weren't you two talking about how to get Ophis to give us its power. The answer is right in front of us." As she pointed at the kid. "Whether it's its child, spawn or ally, we can deduce that he is an existence who is extremely important to it. So, if say, we manage to kidnap him and use him as a hostage, we'll be able to use him as leverage for Ophis to give us its powers." Shalba agreed with her view however Creuserey has a different opinion on the matter.

"Your idea is plausible, if not for the simple fact that we are dealing with the Ouroboros dragon. If, as you claim, the boy is important to it, the moment we try something Ophis will annihilate us."

"Which is why we must be extremely careful with how to deal with this. It will take some time but if we plan things correctly, we will be able to negotiate with it and claim Ophis power for our purposes. Unless, you guys have a better idea on how to persuade it to give us its powers?" stated Katarea.

Both of the team leaders could not think of anything. After a brief period of thinking, Shalba let out a sigh and said "Very well, we will go with your suggestion, Katarea. We will send our men to spy on them and report every detail to us so we can thoroughly plan our next move. In the end, we require its power so we will use whatever means necessary to attain it."

"Do we have a backup plan should this not work?" asked a worried Creuserey.

"If worst comes to worst, we might have to ask "him" for aid however that will only be as a last resort." Stated Shalba as both other leaders understood what he meant. They could only hope that their plan will work.

"Assemble our best infiltration and concealment team and let them know of their mission."

"Yes." Both stated as they teleported via their magic circles.