Tiamat's Punishment

Dimensional Gap, Team DxD Base.

In James' master suite, half an hour after Tiamat burst in, James, Ophis, and Aislynn were seated on the foot of the bed while Tiamat was seated on the floor in the seiza position hanging her head. If one were to look closely, both Tiamat's eyes were swollen shut and a trickle of blood was leaking from her nose.

While Aslynn was still glaring daggers at Tiamat for disturbing the best sleep she had ever experienced, James could not help but chuckle at what just happened.

===Flashback===

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" Tiamat, who should have been in the Human World guarding the estate, roared. "You're not trying to go back on our deal, are you?"

This roar also woke up Aislynn, who was still sleeping on James' right. And James could feel the irritation she was emitting. So, instead of answering Tiamat's question, James simply looked at her with pity.

"What's with that look!?" Tiamat asked, getting even angrier after seeing the expression on James face.

What James found hilarious was that Tiamat's greed had clouded her judgement that she failed to recognize the draconic auras coming from the two women sharing the bed with him.

"Fine, if you're gonna go back on your---" Tiamat said, starting an angry tirade.

However, before she could finish her sentence, a spike in aura so powerful that the entire sub-dimension shook was released from Aislynn, immediately silencing the angry Chaos Karma Dragon.

"Would you shut the hell up?" Aislynn roared, causing the sub-dimension to shake even harder. "How dare you wake this dragon god from her sleep? Have you been living for too long and wish for suicide by the Red Dragon God Emperor's claws!?"

After hearing that title, Tiamat paled instantly. Having finally awakened from her greed induced rampage, Tiamat finally noticed the aura's lying on either side of James.

"No way..." Tiamat muttered, feeling that her life would be ending soon. "Why are they here? And why are they sleeping with James. Don't tell me they both took him as their mate..."

A moment later, Aislynn was standing in front of Tiamat with her nearly nude body on full display. Naturally, James admired the view for a few moments before looking at Tiamat with schadenfreude. Then, for the next twenty-eight minutes, exactly, James and Ophis watched Aislynn beat up Tiamat viciously.

Meanwhile, Ophis had crawled into James' lap and placed his right hand on the top of her head, letting him know that she wanted her head patted while they watched the show.

===Flashback End===

'How did things end up like this?' Tiamat asked herself while Aislynn lectured her about how foul an act it was to wake people up while they were sleeping soundly. 'Today started off so good, too.'

===Flashback===

Tiamat, who was sleeping while hugging the necklace James had bought her last month, woke up with a happy smile on her face. She knew today was the day for her second shopping trip with James.

She was looking forward to seeing all those treasures again. Not to mention all the new treasures they would have surely received over the last month. On top of that, she had come up with some new ways to sneak some treasures into her personal storage that James hopefully would not detect.

The day prior, James had given her and Crom Cruach their first order as his familiars. Which was to protect the house. Naturally, not stealing any of the treasures in the estate fell under the umbrella of protecting it. However, she did not mind all that much. Stealing from the one who provides for you is at the height of stupidity, anyway.

While Crom Cruach spent the entire day in the gym, improving his strength, Tiamat spent the day eating and watching daytime TV. Something she had grown to enjoy over the weeks since her arrival in the Alaverus Estate. Then, when night fell, she curled up in her bed and enjoyed a good sleep and a nice dream about all the treasures she would see tomorrow.

However, she did not expect to wake up two and a half hours earlier than their scheduled departure time. So, after spending an hour and a half getting herself ready for the trip, she ended up bored and impatient waiting for James to come back. After another half an hour, her patience finally ran out and she decided that she would get James moving a little earlier than planned.

So, using the connection she gained thanks to the [Familiar Pact], she locked onto James location. Then, she created a teleportation magic circle that would take her directly to his side. Unfortunately, built into each bedroom in the Team DxD Base, was a barrier that did not allow direct teleportation into the bedrooms.

Already annoyed from having to wait, Tiamat kicked in the bedroom door and began to shout at James at the top of her lungs. After that, well... everyone knew what happened.

===Flashback End===

*Clap!*

"Little blue dragon, are you listening?" Aislynn asked in an annoyed tone.

'I wonder if she picked that up from watching mine or Auntie Venelana's dreams?' James asked himself amusedly.

"Yes ma'am, I'm listening." Tiamat replied dejectedly.

"Good!" Aislynn exclaimed with a satisfied nod. "Now that you understand what you've done wrong, it's time for punishment."

Stopping to think for a moment, Aislynn then looked at James with a smile. Seeing that smile, James could only pity Tiamat even more. For some reason, he knew things weren't going to end well for her.

"For the next hundred years, you will fulfill your end of the [Familiar Pact] without receiving any of the monthly exchanges with James. So, in other words, no jewelry shopping for a hundred years."

Immediately after Aislynn's sentence fell, Tiamat tried to open her eyes wide, which James found hilarious due to the swelling, and let her mouth hang open in complete and utter shock.

"No, you can't===!" Tiamat began to shout before a glare from Aislynn shut her up.

"Oh, so a hundred years isn't long enough for you?" Aislynn asked with both malice and mischief in her tone. "Should I make it two hundred?"

"I'm sorry!" Tiamat replied, bowing her head to the floor so forcefully that it cracked the reinforced floor.

"Good." Aislynn said, once again nodding in satisfaction. "Then, let me see the magic circle that signifies your pact. Oh, you too, James."

Hesitantly, Tiamat stood up and approached Aislynn. Then, when she was only an arm's length away, she turned around and moved her hair from behind her. When she did, a small magic circle at the base of her neck became visible. Meanwhile, James, who was seated right next to Aislynn, simply extended his right hand toward her.

A moment later, Aislynn simultaneously tapped both pact symbols with the nail on each of her index fingers.

*Flash!*

After a short flash of light, both of their magic circles changed slightly.

"There." Aislynn said, nodding in satisfaction for a third time. "Now, that new clause has been written into your pact."

Immediately afterward, Tiamat's shoulders slumped, as she could feel the changes to the pact. At the same time, James examined his pact circle with interest.

"Okay, little blue dragon, you can go back now." Aislynn said, shooing Tiamat away.

Without a word, Tiamat walked out of the room in a daze. Then, once she was past the room's threshold, she teleported back to the Alaverus Estate in the Human World.

Once Tiamat was gone, James waved his hand and repaired the broken door and wall that Tiamat had destroyed. Although he was not good at using devil magic, he was skilled enough to fix something of this level with it.

As soon as James was done, Aislynn wrapped her arms around him and pulled him back toward their previous location on the bed.

"Now that your schedule is freed up, you can cuddle with me in bed all day, right?" Aislyn said with a smile.

"This was your plan all along after Tiamat burst in here, right?' James asked with a deadpan. "You weren't even that mad about her waking you up, right? It's not like you even need sleep, after all."

"Tee-Hee." Aislynn giggled before sticking out her tongue cutely.

Instead of being drawn in by Aislynn's cute gesture, James simply rolled his eyes while obediently letting himself be dragged back to bed. Not like there was anything he could do about it anyway. Besides, he was grateful that he didn't have to go shopping with Tiamat for the next hundred years.

'Over the next hundred years, I think I should find a way to buy all of the Human World's jewelry businesses.' James thought to himself. 'That way, I won't have to go anywhere. I can just have her look at a website or something and make a selection from there.'

While Aislynn and Ophis used James as their personal hug pillow, James considered as many ways as possible to get out of going shopping with the greedy dragon.

Lying in bed with Aislynn and Ophis, the day quickly passed, and it was time for the members of Team DxD to return to wherever they were before yesterday. However, during the day, they were put through some of the most rigorous training they had ever experienced with both Scathach and Chiron seeing to their training simultaneously.

Luckily, since James was scheduled to be away, no one found his absence out of the ordinary. However, this would be the last time for the next hundred years that he was able to laze around during one of Scathach's training sessions.

"My team will win next time." Vali said, just after the Slash/Dog Team teleported away.

"Good luck, I believe in you." James replied with a smile. "Go, you!"

James teasing made Vali almost challenge him to another duel on the spot. However, before he could, Arthur activated Caliburn's space manipulation and Team Vali, along with Elaine, vanished from the sub-dimension.

James then looked at Valerie, who decided that she wanted to stay with Gasper.

"Are you sure about this?" James asked. "Weren't you comfortable with them?"

"I was." Valerie replied with a smile and a nod. "But now that I can be with Gasper, I don't wanna be separated ever again."

After saying that, Valerie wrapped her arms around Gasper and smiled happily.

'Why does it feel like she just found her favorite toy and doesn't want to lose it again?' Everyone left in the sub-dimension thought simultaneously.

After that, Aislynn approached James with a seductive sway in her hips. Then, like she had done twice before, she placed her right hand on his left cheek and smiled.

"Don't forget to come and see me." Aislynn said in a sultry tone.

"I won't..." James began to say.

'I can't afford the consequences of pissing you off, after all.' James thought while he spoke.

"I plan to come here every weekend to train with the team, after all." James said, finishing his sentence with a smile.

"I'll hold you to that." Aislynn replied with a smile. "I wouldn't want to accidentally destroy this sub-dimension due to loneliness and boredom."

Not only James, but everyone else present, other than Scathach, sweat dropped at that blatant threat.

"Anyway, it's about time we got going." James said, surprising Aislynn by taking the initiative to give her a goodbye hug.

Although she was surprised, Aislynn did not freeze up for long. Instead, she wrapped her arms around James and returned the hug.

"See you soon." Aislynn said, releasing the hug and waving at the group.

"Bye." Most of the group returned the goodbye before they were teleported back to the Human World.

A moment later, Aislynn smiled before turning around and returning to the dormitory building.

"Feeling the warmth of another is much nicer than I expected." Aislynn said to herself while she walked. Then with a sweet smile, she continued. "I'm looking forward to the next time you come here."

Human World, Japan, Kuoh.

A moment later, everyone found themselves in the living room of the Alaverus Estate. From there, everyone, except for James, either went home or to their rooms to get some rest after a long day of grueling training.

Along the way, Leona, Venelana, and Grayfia found Tiamat in the bar, drinking her sorrows away. She then told the trio, who headed straight for the bar after arriving in the mansion, that the monthly shopping trips with James had come to an end for the next hundred years. However, she refused to tell them why.

James, on the other hand, looked for Genkai and Yusuke, who also stayed at the mansion, since they were not members of Team DxD. He had an idea for a fun time in the near future.

"Yo, Master Genkai, Yusuke." James said with a smile when he found them in the training room. "How were things without us here?"

"Quiet." Genkai replied. "Now get to the point, don't waste my time with small talk."

'She will forever be one of my favorite anime characters of all time.' James thought to himself with a smile.

"I'll get to the point then." James said. "I've asked you about this Dark Martial Arts Tournament before, right? I know that you need five members on your team. And I was hoping I could join if you don't have enough members."

Immediately, Genkai started glaring at James.

"Now, now, don't look at me like that." James said, raising his hands disarmingly. "First of all, I would wear a seal that would suppress my power to somewhere in the high-rank. I'm sure that no one there will be stronger than the peak of high-rank, anyway."

Hearing that, Genkai's glare softened a bit. However, it had yet to disappear completely.

"And second, being suppressed that much would help me gain greater control of my body." James continued. "On top of that, the seal to suppress my physical strength will be a gravity seal. That way, I can improve my body's power as well. I almost destroyed my body when I used my Super Devil form and the [Tyrant Dragon Domination Drive] when I fought Acnologia."

"So, you intend to strengthen your body so that doesn't happen again?" Genkai asked.

"that's right." James replied with a nod.

"I'll talk to Master Scathach about it." Genkai said, thinking if it might be possible to change her plans. "Then, I'll let you know when we've decided."

"Thanks for considering it." James said with a smile. "Then, I won't disturb your training anymore."

Then, just like that, James returned to the elevator and left the training room.

"Wouldn't having him on the team be a good thing?" Yusuke asked, finally speaking up.

"Shut up, Dimwit." Genkai scolded. "Get back to your training. Don't worry about things that are above your pay grade."

As Genkai ordered, Yusuke returned to his training. However, he couldn't help but grumble.

"Pay Grade, huh? I'm a freakin' Spirit Detective and I've never been paid for any of the cases I've solved. So, what is this crap about pay grade?"