Chapter 31-The Future Is Mine

Disclaimer: I don't own Highschool DxD.

The Future Is Mine

"Huh, this Town has a lot of things for such a small place," Joshua commented, looking over the information that Rias and Sona had brought for the next meeting. There was still that annoying feeling that he should know something mixed with the slightest of headaches, but he ignored that. It was probably nothing.

"It's been under Devil supervision for a while," Sona started, pushing up her glasses. She did that a lot, he'd noticed. Mostly when she had to explain things or consider something, if he had to guess. "Our people like their luxuries and thus, they've taken the liberty to… improve the town."

"That makes sense, I guess," He mused, reading over the information, absently moving his left hand in the air as Morag walked around it aimlessly. "Everything seems fine. It should actually be rather easy from what I'm seeing. I've done wards like this for much bigger cities for Sairaorg. That's good, because I'd rather focus on making the wards as good as possible," He added with a grimace. Rias joined him, probably reading his thought process there, but didn't comment.

"This is what I could gather regarding supernatural presence around our territory," The redhead said as she passed him a file that looked about as filed as the one Sona had given him, which was impressive. Maybe it sounded insulting, but he'd expected less from her. The Sitri seemed to be the one that was actually more oriented to this kind of thing. Still he took the offered information and started going through the information.

"Lot's of Youkai presence, expected, but good to know. I think this'll be the first thing I'll get out of the way after putting up wards oriented for your faction," He told them as he continued reading. "Oh? You looked up the neighboring countries' information for this?" He asked as he continued reading with slightly widened eyes.

"I thought it was something to take into account. While traveling is much easier in the supernatural, distances are still important. So, someone a country or two away is more likely to… visit, than someone on the other side of the world. I thought it would be necessary information when you said you needed to know what was close by. Was I wrong?" Rias explained before growing unsure as she added the last part, reminding Joshua of a nervous Jeanne.

"No, no, this is perfect actually," He reassured her quickly as he continued reading with a smile. He'd expected her to give him the information she could get of Kuoh's surrounding area, maybe of Japan, not that quarter of the world. "This is great. It'll help a lot, certainly," He mumbled as he continued reading. 'Maybe I can find a way to target specific Youkai traits instead of Youkai per se, that could help avoid anyone slipping through a crack-'

"Ahem, Josh?" Jeanne called, clearing her throat to get his attention and making him look up. She looked exasperated, while the devils looked… happy, he guessed. Sona had a barely noticeable smile on her face while Rias was practically beaming.

"Sorry, my mind goes away often when wards are involved," He apologized with a wry smile. "All this information is perfect. Much more than I got from Sairaorg, that's for sure," He told them. What he didn't tell them was that Sairaorg's cities were a lot less supernaturaly oriented than theirs, but the point stood.

"Now, in terms of payment," Sona said and he looked at her, blinking. He hadn't considered that much, really. He liked making wards, and he already had a job to pay for what he wanted. If he was honest, at this point he was only doing the magical job more as a hobby than actual work. Well, that and building relationships in case he needed them. He'd been planning to just ask for money or books when the subject eventually came up or at the end of the job. "I talked with Sairaorg and I think you'll find this to be suitable."

Then, on her hand, appeared a book that she passed him. 'Hex,' He read the simplistic title before looking at the two Devils and opening it. Reading through the first few paragraphs he could already tell why they thought it would be a good payment for him.

"Hexes work similarly to wards, except that instead of a wardstone they use other magically oriented objects as foundation and foci. That's a rather simplistic view, but not an inappropriate one," Sona explained, looking very satisfied with herself, as if there was no way he wouldn't like her idea. To be fair to her, he didn't.

"Certainly is," He agreed with a grin, ignoring the groan Jeanne let out or the facepalm he heard her perform.

"That's just one of a collection of books that we'll pay you with too," Rias added, making him look at her. Once he did, the girl turned slightly sheepish. "I know we can't make this job less… troublesome for you, no matter what we say. So, I thought we could increase the pay to make up for it."

Cheshire meowed something at them, which got Joshua's attention.

"Is there something you are not telling me?" He asked, trying not to sound too suspicious. His familiar wasn't being aggressive, so he guessed there was nothing wrong with whatever they were keeping out of their words, but still…

"We… contacted some other people, in case you changed your mind about this job," Sona explained slowly, for the first time sounding unsure as she looked between Cheshire and him. "People either outright rejected us or they asked for ridiculous prices, probably expecting to drive us away."

"So, I'm not the only one that realizes the situation, huh?" He said wryly. "Guess that makes me an idiot for agreeing to this," He added with a shake of his head. 'And I guess I was too paranoid to reject them, contrary to those people,' He mused dejectedly. "Anyway, this'll be more than enough, I appreciate it. Maybe I'll even add this to your setup. When I think I'm good enough, at least. Never have enough surveillance, I guess."

"If you think you can, we wouldn't say no," Sona told him with a wider smile than he thought he'd seen on her. "If you need anything for either the wards or, possibly, the hexes, be sure to let us know and we'll arrange for it."

"If it makes you feel better," Rias commented with a wry smile. "I'm sure our siblings will cause… trouble for them. At least the ones that raised their prices."

"It does… I think," He replied with a sigh. Then he set down the book together with the notes. "So, I think that's all for this meeting, yes?" He asked then, more to get going than because of actual curiosity. After all, he knew that there was nothing-

"Well, I wanted to ask about something," Rias commented, making him pause and blink.

'Well, I was wrong,' He thought to himself as he leaned forward.

"I'm listening," He told her, bringing his notebook in front of him and getting a hold of a pencil. Just in case he needed to take some notes.

"Sairaorg said you set up a training ward array for him?" Rias asked then, looking very interested. Joshua was also sure that Sona was straightened the smallest bit, although that was difficult to tell. 'What's with Devils and training?' He couldn't help but ask himself.

"Yes, I did," He confirmed with a nod. "I've been working to improve that one, actually. Why, you interested?"

"We are," Sona said, making Rias's eyes widen slightly. 'They didn't talk about this beforehand? What?' Joshua thought, looking between them. "Would it be possible, then?"

"Well, I need precise information about your peerages. Like, what were they originally? Devils? Humans? I know you have a half-Fallen as a Queen, are there any other half-something? I need to know that," He explained to them, reminding himself of the fact that the Queens weren't present for this meeting, for some reason. 'Is it because of what happened with the half-Fallen?... I forgot the name… Ugh.' The fact that Rias suddenly looked troubled all but confirmed his suspicions. Sona, for her part, looked unaffected.

"I'm sure we can talk more about this once this set of wards has been set up," The latter said then, pushing her glasses up before standing to leave.

"Sure, I'm working on improving that array anyway, so I'd need time regardless," He told them with a shrug, setting down the pencil and standing up too. "I'll start working on those wards then and I'll contact you when I feel like I can start setting up something. Shouldn't take me too long, but this'll take more than one sitting."

Of course it would. Not that he hadn't put effort into Sairaorg's wards, but they had been a learning experience, really. He'd told the man as much and he'd just laughed it off. Saying that he was fine with that, just that he'd have to set them again and much better when the time came.

This one, Joshua couldn't afford to be so relaxed about. His life and that of his family depended on those wards protecting these two girls. 'No pressure,' He thought to himself.

[}-o-{]

[Rias Gremory]

"Rias!" Sona all but shouted once they teleported back to the Student Council room. "Leave us alone," The Sitri Heiress said to her peerage, which quickly evacuated the premises seeing their usually calm and collected King almost about to lose it. Tsubaki and Akeno, who had remained behind this time, remained by their side, however. "What possessed you to ask that?" Sona demanded once it was just the four of them.

"I just thought that it could be useful," Rias tried, but she already knew her best friend wouldn't buy it.

"You want that ward array to train for Riser. I know that already, don't lie to me," Sona hissed. "Do you have any idea the mess that could cause? Joshua is already reluctant to do this. The only reason he's doing so is likely because he's too afraid to back down and because of his contract with Sairaorg. Do you think even he will stay if he learns what you are trying to do?"

"Nobody should cause problems because of-"

"I told you not to lie to me, Rias," Sona interrupted, her voice cold as ice. "Do you think the Phenex or even someone else won't jump at the chance of saying you got help for your fight against Riser? Even if you win, that could make the whole thing worth nothing."

"I just… How am I supposed to beat the 'Immortal Phoenix' then?" She said, her voice turning almost venomous as she said 'Immortal Phoenix'. "I've been training, Sona. My peerage is pushing themselves pretty hard for this but… we don't have the time, the power…"

"Talk about this with your brother, Rias," Sona suggested, calming down somewhat. "It's not a bad idea to look for help, but you need to do it the right way so that you can actually come out winning. If you aren't careful, they will take your victory away from you even if you succeed."

Rias wanted to protest that, saying that she didn't need help from her brother. It was contradictory, that the whole thing had started because she wanted help from Joshua, but a deal with a stranger and a helping hand from her family were different things. Surely…

Then an idea formed in her mind.

"I know that look," Sona pointed out with narrowed eyes. "You thought of something."

"Well, I was just thinking," Rias started, not even trying to deny it. "That we just have to make sure that it doesn't look like it's just help. That it's not something I got from being me or from my brother. An actual deal, business."

"Joshua is already contracted with Sairaorg though," Sona pointed out, and that was a shame. That would have been the best approach for the problem. That or making him part of her peerage, but Sairaorg had left it clear that Joshua wasn't interested in that and not to ask. However, if it was done as just a Deal, then it could be twisted as something done in her favor. "It was a good idea," Sona admitted, giving her a sad smile that she always hated seeing. "But it won't be that simple."

"There has to be a way out of this, there has to," Rias said, refusing to believe there was no hope. She'd avoid marrying Riser if it was the last thing she did, she swore. She just needed to find a way.

[}-o-{]

[Jeanne Davis]

Having friends was… weird.

It was nice, for sure, but it was also… strange. Obviously, it had something to do with it being a somewhat new experience to her, Jeanne supposed. After all, she'd hardly had a friend for a relevant length of time before the voices made her act strangely and things usually went south from there.

Until Joshua, that is.

Her brother - God, she loved being able to think that, let alone say it - didn't count, on the basis that he was family. Some may argue that he hadn't always been so, but Jeanne would disagree. After all, he'd been acting as a sibling together with being a sort-of-parental-figure in her life ever since he took her in. It was just that it had taken them some time to acknowledge their relationship for what it was.

And from there… Well, she hadn't really been that sociable even with a supporting family, she supposed.

"Until the creatures of sin," The voices whispered in her head, making her hum to herself. They weren't very pleased with that, but it wasn't anything bad, Jeanne had already determined.

Until the Devils had come in, the voices meant. Jeanne didn't know what it said about her that she'd needed to make a deal with a Devil to get friends, but she was sure it wasn't very flattering. Then again, said like that it sounded worse than it was… but not by much, sadly.

"Unfortunate circumstances," The voices reassured but Jeanne wondered if it wasn't her own fault, at least a little. She hadn't been precisely a social butterfly or even tried to hide the voices' existence much. It had always felt… too much like a part of her to be hidden. "Unfortunate circumstances and less than ideal encounters," They corrected and she stifled a laugh. Well, if they were blaming the people she met, then she guessed they must be right. They always were, after all.

Still, Kuisha was great and Coriana, once she'd met the other blonde, was nice too. Going out with them had been… liberating, in a way. To be able to do what she'd always only been able to see from the sidelines had been yet another little wake up call that her life wasn't what it was in the past anymore.

She had a family and friends.

She had people that cared.

"The Savior and his familiars are a blessing to celebrate," A lonely voice commented, earning the other's and Jeanne's complete agreement.

Jeanne looked then, as Morag jumped on the counter next to her, carefully staying away from the food. Joshua had decided to go re-set Sairaorg's training array by himself. While she wasn't a fan, Jeanne could understand wanting to bring less people to what was only a short job. At least, that's what she understood. Most of Joshua's ward babble went over her head spectacularly, after all. Besides, with Nagini's change making her so big, it had become a little difficult to move as much as they did before.

Not that the serpent seemed to care that much. Thus, they'd all decided to stay at the house. Cheshire and Nagini were content to do their own thing, occasionally going out to train for a bit. It was like they wanted to prove that they were his familiars, as if it weren't obvious already by how they were almost always present next to him. Then again, they'd been doing that less lately, so there was that.

"Like Mage like partners," Some voices concluded.

Jeanne, for her part, stayed with Margalo on her shoulder as she went about preparing a meal for when Joshua came back. He didn't seem to realize why she'd been so eager to learn how to cook and, to be honest, Jeanne didn't feel inclined to tell him really. It was a little silly, but it was important to her.

That first day, when he'd picked her up, he'd told her that he wouldn't mind if she helped around the house. Desperate, Jeanne had told him that she could cook and clean. Now, that later one had been the truth, but the former? That had been a blatant lie. A stupid one too, in hindsight, but she just couldn't afford him deciding not to take her in at the time.

Fortunately, Joshua seemed to have forgotten that as soon as she said it or something because he never asked her to cook. Neither did he even seem to remember when she'd first started her attempts at the culinary arts. Regardless of that though, Jeanne still wanted to learn, to repay him in some small way for what he'd done for her. Even if it was such a small thing as cooking meals for him, she'd take it.

After all, she had already accepted that she never would be able to actually pay him back for everything.

"The Savior doesn't need nor want payment," The voices disagreed. "Thus, the reason why he keeps on giving."

Her smile widened a little, remembering all the times he'd stop whatever he was doing to teach her how to cook. It worked against the entire purpose of what she'd been trying to accomplish, taking even more from his kindness. However, Jeanne never could bring herself to complain. She enjoyed taking the time to do something with her, be it helping her study something, teaching her something or just accompanying her for shopping.

He also never complained, not really. He could grumble and pull faces, but if he did it, it was because he wanted to. After all, Jeanne had nothing to force him to do anything. Hell, he was the one with that power, she was the one that owed him a debt. And yet, Joshua seemed to be perfectly content with just being her brother.

"Jeanne Davis," The voices said. They seemed almost as fond of saying it as she herself was of hearing it. "A fine name."

'A fine name indeed.'

[}-o-{]

[Joshua Davis]

'Well, it worked alright,' Joshua thought as he re-checked his new training wards. He'd already set them at Sairaorg's place, but the two of them had agreed that it was safer to test them on the Devils than on humans first. However, that left the doubt of if they worked for both or just for the formers. 'Why is using new wards always so stressful?' He asked himself with a grimace.

Especially the ward he was currently starting to use.

[Restorative Ward - Lvl 1/50

An Offensive Ward which the user can cast to boost the regeneration of targets.

Requires a Wardstone of Offensive Typing.

Effectiveness and Area are determined by Skill Level, Wardstone Quality and Magic Quantity.

Consumption with circle - D to ∞

Consumption without circle - B to ∞]

Joshua himself wasn't completely sure why it needed an offensive Wardstone, if he was honest. To be fair, however, none of the books he'd read offered an actual answer to that question either. The most he could gather was that the Offensive Wardstones were used to affect things inside, Defensive ones to affect things outside and Special ones for… well, special purposes that weren't quite covered by the other two. Even then, that theory had holes everywhere, but it was the best guess he'd managed to piece together after reading through more books than he cared to count.

Regardless, the ward worked, at least on Devils. Now, it was time to see if it worked on Joshua and then on the rest of his little band of misfits. It was perfect for his training array too, if he understood how exercising worked, which he was pretty sure he did. The ward would have the side effect of being very draining, since it drew from their own bodies' energy and resources to heal instead of the magic in the Wardstone. That was only used to guide the process, not power it. There was another ward that did that, but it required much more energy to be set up and, really, the one he had worked just fine for Joshua's purposes.

[Restorative Ward has gone up a level.]

He nodded at the screen, as if it confirmed that the ward worked. It didn't, but it was something, he supposed. Joshua took a look at his arm, where he had a small bruise from a fight with Jeanne's dummy swords. He couldn't feel it healing, but Magic Sense picked up on the energies being woven by the ward.

'No immediate unexpected effects,' He wrote down in a notebook as he continued keeping tabs on the ward. After that, he settled and waited while looking at his familiars train.

Morag was currently standing on one of Jeanne's swords. They had decided that, with her change, she was probably ready for some resistance training. They were starting with Cold though, just in case. After all, it was something that she could approach without too much to worry about so long as she didn't go overboard. Considering that the sword drew magic from her to work, he doubted she even could do much to herself. If nothing else, any damage she might incur should be easily repaired.

Nagini, for her part, was currently squeezing the life out of a tree. Sometimes, Joshua was sure he could hear the wood cracking under the pressure. It wouldn't surprise him much, really, since the snake was now magical in nature. Occasionally, Nagini would also look at one of the other people training and hit them either with a Leer or a Disable. Not only did that help her train, but it also keep everyone else on their toes, which was good too.

As for his first familiar, Cheshire had taken a little 'break', as she usually did. It wasn't really such, but she did leave the ward range for that part of her training. Training that consisted of going into the forest and hunting things, either for herself or her fellow familiars. He'd sometimes catch a glimpse of her dashing through the woods on her chases, but such was not the case that day, it seemed.

Eventually, he was distracted by Jeanne's spar against her own sword dummies. His sister was still getting used to numerous opponents, but no longer were they pushing her around, at least. That was progress and it was all that Joshua cared about, even if the girl insisted on pushing herself too far sometimes. 'And she tells me I go overboard with wards, she should see herself trying with her swords,' He thought with a wry smile.

Turning back to his notebook, he noted: '5 Minutes, No Unexpected Effects'. He was about to note that he was feeling the effects already, but he wasn't sure if that was just his imagination or not. After a moment of pause, he decided to write that down too, just in case, with a little mark on the side for further confirmation. 'Hm… Well, might as well do something while I wait.'

"Hey, Jeanne!" He called, making his adopted sister stop her training for a moment to turn towards him. Meanwhile, he stood up, took out a pair of daggers from a card and approached her. Judging by the wide grin that adorned her face at that moment, she knew exactly what he wanted. "Up for a spar?"

"Of course," She replied instantly.

Was it weird that his sister loved to fight so much? Maybe, but considering everything, there were worse hobbies for her to have in the world they lived in. 'And with Kuisha and Coriana in the picture, I don't have to accompany her shopping as much anymore.'

Thank God for small blessings.

[} 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/)