Chapter 32-They Gather Around You

Disclaimer: I don't own Highschool DxD.

They Gather Around You

Joshua smiled indulgently down at Margalo. The bird was almost ready to start flying, they knew. 'Any day now,' He thought to himself as he activated his Storage Spell. This time, he did it without a card, which is to say without a circle. He'd started doing that occasionally. He had enough magic to do that without having to worry too much, so long as he didn't overdo it.

From the spell came out one of the insects Cheshire had brought for little Margalo to eat. As he watched the swift eat in a way befitting of her species name, Joshua smiled softly. 'Wonder what's going on here though,' He mused as he eyed a screen off to the side.

[Margalo - 10/25]

The bird's bond level seemed to have stopped going up at that. More concerning still was the fact that all his familiars had become such at that level but Margalo remained as she'd been all the time, in terms of Status, at least. 'Maybe it's got to do with her being a nestling? As good a guess as any,' He considered with a mental shrug. 'Or maybe I've already got all the familiars I could?' He wondered then, unsure of how he would feel about that. It would be a shame, that's for sure.

Cheshire's meow snapped him from his thoughts before he could spiral a little too much on those ideas. Instead, the cat walked on the table towards him and rubbed her head against his hand. Smiling gratefully, Joshua decided to reward her with some pets that she always loved to get.

"What would I do without you, girl?" He asked, trying to imagine such a scenario. He'd probably have died to the Hunter, he guessed. A pitiful death that would have been too. A death to Morag too, which made it even worse. "Did I ever thank you for all that you did for me? For all that you still do?"

The feline simply meowed again, almost preening under his gaze.

Then he leaned back on his couch.

"This place is pretty silent when Jeanne isn't around," He commented idly. "Maybe I should see about hanging out with Sairaorg and his people. They seem to like their training, so we can definitely do that together. Do you think he'd like that?"

He wasn't very sure, but he thought Cheshire rolled her eyes at him when he asked that. Morag and Margalo stopped moving and just turned towards him. Even Nagini raised her head from his lap to look at him.

"What? It's a valid question! I wouldn't like someone to just butt into our training, you know?" He defended himself, placing a hand over his chest. "Besides, I'm pretty sure they are, like, absurdly out of my league. It might just be annoying for them to have someone weaker than them there."

That earned him a roll of all of his familiars' eyes, even little Margalo.

"I see how it is, huh? Next thing I know Morag won't want me to draw her webs or Margalo will stop wanting to ride on my shoulder," He lamented, his shoulders slumping down. "My own familiars," He sighed.

Little Margalo, the poor thing, seemed to think he was quite serious with all that, because she dropped the look she'd been giving him to concernedly chirp something at him. Smiling reassuringly, he rubbed under her beak with his finger. He still gave the rest of the lot an unimpressed look, even if it seemed to have no effect whatsoever on them.

"Honestly, and you wonder why I spend more time with Margalo," He grumbled to himself. "Besides-"

He was interrupted abruptly by a magic circle that appeared right in front of him. Without a single doubt, Joshua triggered all his wards. He'd cast many around the Hunter's House even before they'd moved there. After having Sairaorg and Kuisha power the wardstones, the two of them had admitted that even they wouldn't be able to do much under those. It had taken him time and lots of work, but his place was a fortress.

Or so he'd thought, at least.

The person that appeared there was almost making a mockery of his defenses, just standing there like he didn't have a care in the world. It was like the several layers of Draining, Weighting, Weakening and Deterring Wards were doing absolutely nothing to him. The man even had the gall to look vaguely amused at most.

"Hm, I'd heard that you were good," The uninvited guest commented, apparently not noticing Nagini's Leer nor her Disable. Instead, the man looked around as if the house was the most fascinating thing ever. "These wards are much better than I'd heard though. Then again, few understand wards as well as a warder, right?"

Joshua's eye twitched at the man's casual tone. His fingers itched to summon a pair of knives. Setan Kober even, since this man seemed to be stronger than anything he'd faced so far. However, he knew, deep down, that he stood no chance of winning that fight.

"Who are you?" He muttered through gritted teeth. He thought he was over feeling this helpless. Ever since the Hunter, he'd always stood a chance. Until that moment, at least. All his training, all his studies, all his work… for nothing.

"I think a better question in this situation would be what I want, don't you?" The man asked back conversationally as he looked at the couch in front of Joshua's armchair. Without a care in the world, the 'guest' took a seat there and proceeded to eye Joshua curiously. "As for the answer to that question, it'd be that I'm intrigued about what I've heard and found out."

Joshua really, really wanted to tell the man to get to the fucking point, but he thought that would be somewhat rude. Maybe. Not that the man could speak, arriving into someone else's home uninvited. Granted, Joshua wasn't going to say that to his face, but he could think it, at least.

"You see, I was rather curious when I heard about a magician that didn't come from any association. They aren't that rare, but a warder with such a situation is," The man explained, as if Joshua had asked him or something. "So, when word reached me about this, I wanted to meet you. I was in no hurry though, so I decided to wait and see if I found anything else. However, someone asked me for a favor and I couldn't say no, you see. So, I came to see how good you were for myself."

"So, you found that I'm a novice and will leave me alone?" Joshua couldn't stop himself from asking, trying not to sound too hopeful. He had his pride in his wards, but if being good would put him in this man's sight, then he'd prefer to be a bad warder.

"Well, as I heard, you are certainly no master," The man admitted with a nod. "However, you are on par with the average warder, which is a great compliment to you, considering your situation."

At any other moment, Joshua would have felt flattered by such words indeed. Not then though, not at all. A pit formed in his stomach as he regarded the man warily.

"You have nothing to fear from me, Joshua Davis," The man said then, doing exactly the opposite of what he was trying to do. Saying his name out loud so casually certainly didn't make him feel less threatening to Joshua, that was for sure. "Some people rather high up wanted to know more about your skill. Now I can tell them that you are certainly competent."

'This is about Rias and Sona, right?' Joshua guessed instantly. It wasn't a huge leap, really, considering that those were the only connections he had to 'high up' people.

"I see you pieced it together," The man commented, sounding approving of all things. 'Is he reading my mind?' "I'm not," He denied, really not convincing Joshua at all, if he was honest. "But people are easy to read when they are surprised and or scared, which I'm pretty sure you are. I apologize for the latter, sincerely."

"As far as I understand…" Joshua started then, trying to remain somewhat calm despite the situation. "You got what you wanted. What are you still doing here?" He asked, trying not to sound too offending.

"Well, for one, some of your wards are rather interesting. I'd really like to talk about those," The man commented. At any other moment, Joshua would have been ecstatic to have someone to talk about wards with. Not then though, and he realized that kind of thing was happening more than he would have expected that day. "However, you are right, I might have overstayed my welcome."

'You didn't have it in the first place, but sure, let's go with that,' Joshua thought, but kept to himself.

"As it is, I'd like to tell you that you are under no risk from either Lord Lucifer nor Lady Leviathan. As long as you treat their sisters right, that is, as I'm sure you will," The man commented, and while it didn't reassure Joshua much, it actually did do it the smallest bit. Anything that improved his situation on that front was welcome. Even this strange guy that had popped inside his home. 'What has my life come to?'

"Well… thanks for that, I guess," Joshua replied awkwardly.

"You are welcome. Now, I'm sure we'll see each other soon. With that said," The man snapped his hand forward and something flew towards Joshua, who almost jumped out of the way. That is, before he realized what it actually was.

'The fuck?' He thought as he snatched the flier out of the air.

"Be sure to call if you feel up to talking about your wards. A few of them have interesting ideas behind them," The man commented as a circle appeared underneath him. A teleportation one, if Joshua's experience and Magic Sense were right.

"I don't even know who you are," Joshua blurted out before he could stop himself.

"Ajuka Astaroth, at your service," The man introduced himself. "But some call me Lord Beelzebub."

And with that, the man disappeared.

"I think I was better off not knowing," Joshua mumbled numbly as he let himself fall against the couch and just… relax. "Why the fuck does this stuff happen to me, girls? Did I do something to deserve this?"

None of his familiars replied to him. None except Cheshire who simply gave him a look he was sure was full of pity. It was slightly insulting, but at that moment he was too… overwhelmed, really.

"I'm so glad Jeanne wasn't here," Joshua said then, taking some comfort in the presence of his familiars. Besides Cheshire, because she was mean. "I really need a cup of tea though," He added, feeling how, with the fear, the energy seemed to leave his body.

Margalo chirped curiously.

"It's fine, girl," He mumbled, wishing he had the energy to sit up and nudge her with his finger, just like she liked. Thankfully, his cat familiar - 'Is it lynx? I'm still getting confused over that.' - did so for him. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all. "Thanks, Cheshire," He said with a weary smile before sighing. "Is it too much to ask for a month without anything crazy happening?"

Both, Cheshire and Nagini gave their own response to that, neither of which was very reassuring for him. Morag, for her part, climbed her way to the back of his hand and gave him a slight, comforting pat with her leg. Margalo though, blew the three of them away with what she did. The little bird chirped something animatedly at him before she charged from where she was on the coffee table. Then she spread her wings, flapped them a little and landed on his lap before pecking his jeans lightly.

"Did Margalo just fly?" Joshua asked, and none of his familiars replied, too busy staring at the bird who seemed pretty proud of herself, preening under their gazes. "Does that count as flying? I'm counting it as flying," He asked and then decided, picking little Margalo up as a grin slowly grew on his face, threatening to split it in two. "You flew, Margalo! You are amazing, you beautiful, beautiful thing!"

[Bond: Margalo has gone up a level.]

[Bond: Margalo has gone up a level.]

[Bond: Margalo has gone up a level.]

Those screens almost surprised the excitement out of him, almost but not quite. Instead, they only made him happier. Instantly, he cast Appraisal on her just to see if anything had changed. Indeed, it had.

[Margalo

Title: Familiar of Joshua Davis

Race: Familiar Bird

Gender: Female

Strength: E

Speed: E

Dexterity: E

Vitality: E

Perception: E

Magic: F

Perks: 1

Skills: 2]

'It happened,' Joshua thought as he nudged the little bird with his finger, still grinning like a loon. 'You are officially my familiar too, Margalo,' He added. 'And that was quite the boost to her stats too. She had barely reached F rank in all her stats before this,' He mused curiously, but never quite getting over his excitement.

"I think this deserves a celebration, yeah?" He asked, receiving a happy chirp from the little bird.

[}-o-{]

"I can't believe I missed it!" Jeanne whined loudly and Joshua could only chuckle as he prepared their meal. The girl had, once she returned from her outing and found out what had happened, refused to leave Margalo's side until she could see the bird fly. Which wouldn't have been a problem if the swift didn't enjoy the attention so much she seemed to be holding out on the teenager.

Joshua could probably have just asked for Margalo to humor Jeanne but… 'Where would be the fun in that?' He thought, holding back a laugh.

"We can just buy something, Joshua. You don't have to cook for all of us," Kuisha tried once more and the man rolled his eyes at her. She'd been going at it ever since he invited her and Coriana to eat with them once they brought Jeanne back home from their outing.

"Kuisha, please. Let me do my brotherly duty-" He started before a smirk formed on his face. "-and embarrass Jeanne in front of her friends."

"What?" Said girl asked from where she sat in the living room. The Devil in front of him, meanwhile, blinked at his 'reason'. Coriana caught on quickly though, letting out a giggle, probably at the face Jeanne was making in front of her.

"Like, you two wouldn't believe the things she tried on when I took her shopping," He started, bringing a plate with some snacks for them to eat while he cooked. "There was this one shirt-"

"Josh!" Jeanne protested, finally recovering from her surprise, face growing increasingly more red by the second. "Please," She whined.

"Ok ok, I won't tell them," He reassured her before chuckling and shaking his head. When he went back to the kitchen and walked behind Jeanne though, he mouthed 'later' to both Devils, who seemed to have a hard time containing their mirth. 'Man, sure makes me wish I'd gotten a sibling before,' He thought, his smile turning the slightest bit sad once he reached the counter with what he was preparing.

'You'd like Jeanne, mum, dad,' He thought, not for the first time. For once though, the memory of his family didn't come with depressing thoughts but only… slightly bitter ones. He'd have loved to have them with him but his life… He was happy with it, he found. His life was a mess, with all the supernatural bullshit being thrown around and problems that he'd much rather not deal with, but over all, he was content.

"Do you need any help?" Kuisha asked, apparently unable to take his hospitality without offering something. Which was funny for Joshua, really, since she was a Devil. He sure wouldn't have expected that attitude from one before meeting them.

In the end, he sighed, resigning himself.

"Well, if you insist," He agreed reluctantly, rolling his eyes as the Devil beamed at him.

"So, is there anything new you are working with? Jeanne says you are always tinkering and as far as I know, you finished the training array project you had going," Kuisha asked, sounding genuinely curious instead of just prodding for information for her King.

"Well, I've been reading through the Spatial Magic books you guys gave me a while back," He told her as he started working, occasionally pointing out something she could do. "I think I found something that could improve both my wards and the ones I'm planning on putting around Rias and Sona."

"Not for us? Should we be jealous?" She teased and he chuckled.

"Nah, it's just that it wouldn't be very useful for your group, if at all," He explained with a shrug.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah," Joshua nodded, as always, happy to tell someone about his projects. "You see, I'm thinking of placing a ward for emergencies that will-"

"Are you flirting with my brother while I'm in the other room?" Jeanne called out, earning a laugh from Coriana and a slight blush from Kuisha.

"Jeanne!" The Devil protested. "I'm just helping to be polite. You could do the same, by the way, Coriana."

"I think you've got it handled, Kuisha," Her fellow peerage member replied, waving the whole thing off.

"As for you," Kuisha hissed, walking towards the passage between the kitchen and the living room to point at Jeanne. The girl seemed to grow nervous all of a sudden from what he could see as he followed her. Almost immediately after, he was caught off guard when Kuisha's finger turned towards him. "You sure you don't want to tell us any stories, Joshua?" She asked with a sweet, but very fake tone.

"Kuisha!" Jeanne protested indignantly. "I was just joking!"

"I'm just joking too," The Devil replied with an innocent smile that fooled absolutely no one.

"So, Joshua, spill," Coriana all but demanded, making him chuckle.

"Cori!" Jeanne whined. "I thought we were friends!"

"Exactly, which is why I have to do this," The Devil defended herself and Joshua could almost hear the shit-eating grin on her face even if she was holding it back fairly well. "So, about those stories?"

Joshua looked on at the scene in front of him with a greatly amused smile on his face. It was nice to see Jeanne enjoying some time with her friends, even if at that moment she probably wished he wasn't there at all. He knew she liked hanging with them, of course, but since they always went by themselves. Thus, he'd never been able to witness it himself.

Now then, as he'd said, it was his duty as her brother to 'help' her, right?

"Well, you see," He started.

"Josh! I'll sick your familiars on you!" She threatened. She sure sounded confident with that statement. Raising an eyebrow, he looked at said animals. All of them regarded him for a moment before giving him the go ahead in their own ways. "Guys?" Jeanne asked, clearly not having seen that betrayal coming.

"I think you didn't give the 'your familiars' part there enough credit, Jeanne," Joshua commented. "So, there was me, waiting for Jeanne who seemed to be super excited about trying on a shirt she'd found on. She hadn't even let me see it. A surprise, I believe she wanted it to be. And oh was it a surprise when she came out and I saw it…"

The sound of Jeanne lamenting her incoming shame was music to his ears.

[}-o-{]

"What do you think?" Joshua asked, looking down at the two cards he'd placed on the table. The circle in them was of the same branch of magic, but nothing like the Storage Spell he'd drawn on most of his. It was time to try a new Spatial spell, finally.

Cheshire and Nagini, who were watching him work at the moment, regarded the cards as if they actually knew how they worked. Then they turned towards him and gave their equivalent of a shrug. Joshua raised an eyebrow at them, unimpressed.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, girls," He deadpanned at them. They replied just as sarcastically with a meow and a hiss respectively. He rolled his eyes at them. "Anyway," He mumbled to himself. "Let's try this out and hope it doesn't explode, yeah?" As calmly as he could manage, he pulled two water bottles from one of his storage cards and placed them over the new circles. He'd made sure they didn't look too similar for this little experiment.

Moving his hand over it, he cast the spell which made the circles shine a dull gray just like his other Spatial one did. He felt the drain on his reserves, but it was exactly what he'd expected, so he tried to keep himself from feeling too nervous. Then, in an instant, there was the slightest flash of light from both circles and then…

The bottles had switched places.

[Spell Unlocked: Switch Spell]

'Good,' Joshua thought, sighing. 'Good,' He repeated, placing a hand on Nagini's head who was peeking over his shoulder. 'It worked well and I got the skill, that's perfect. Now, let's see,' He continued as he called for the specific screen.

[Switch Spell - Lvl 1/50

A Spatial Spell which the user can cast to make similar targets exchange places.

The user can switch up to 1 target.

Consumption with circle – E

Consumption without circle – C]

'Kind of the same principle of the Storage Spell, huh? Increasing number with level. I can work with that. Although… That will be very situational. Can't think of many situations where I would want to switch more than a few things at a time, especially since I need them to be similar,' He considered for a moment, taking the cup of tea he'd almost forgotten about and sipping from it. 'The book did say that 'similar' would get a little more flexible with time. Maybe that means with levels for me? Guess I'll see.'

"Now then," He mumbled, turning a few pages on a notebook to his side. "I just need to find a way to incorporate this into a ward and tweak that so that they can activate it whenever they want. I have to make it kid friendly too. Sona seems capable, but is no warder herself. Have to see if she or someone else can learn to trigger wards at will, I guess. If not, that'll complicate matters a little bit," He continued as his familiars nodded along.

He'd found that saying his thoughts out loud to someone helped him work better. Rubber duck method, he was sure it was called. Or, at least, something along those lines. His familiars had been nice enough to let him do that with them… occasionally.

"Can't wait to get some actual teleportation done, you know," He said then, actually speaking to them this time. "That'll certainly come in handy, don't you think? It's a shame that I'm pretty sure I don't have enough magic for that. Should be able to at least try it soon, I think, even if it leaves me exhausted."

Cheshire meowed at that, both of them looked interested in that too.

"Maybe we can get some traveling done once I get the hang of that. There's places all over the world that have become much more interesting now that I know religion, myths and legends have some truth behind them," Joshua continued talking. "I was always a fan of Greek Mythology. Visiting over there should be fun."

Then his mind reminded himself of some of the myths he knew about.

"On second thought, maybe we should leave that for later," He corrected with a wry smile.

[} 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/)