Game of Monsters - 194

And as You’re Halfway to Heaven

“Warm!”

Joshua smiled sadly as he walked further into the room and took in the sight of Valerie. The dhampir was doing well, all things considered… but there was only so much that Joshua could do, sadly. Her soul wasn’t recovering like his, after all. The damage was dramatically different. Where his was superficial damage – if still serious –, hers was borderline permanent, maybe even actually permanent.

What he was trying to do was basically the equivalent of trying to regrow a limb with mundane means.

Just… not possible, as far as he was aware.

That wasn’t stopping him, of course, but he had to acknowledge that it was either beyond his capabilities at the moment, or completely beyond the realm of what could be done at all. If it was the latter, then he wasn’t going to admit it. Magic had a way of doing literally anything, as far as he was concerned. So, if he couldn’t heal Valerie, it was because he hadn’t found the way yet.

“Nice!” the dhampir called, all cluelessness and innocence, like a baby smiling at something random. She was barely aware of… anything, from what they could tell. She couldn’t even be considered functioning, not really. All she did was react to what happened around her, sentient more than sapient, as it were. She’d started associating Joshua with the effect of his spells, usually some variation of what she’d just said, warm, nice, great, soft, comfy, safe. It was nice to have that feedback, if vague, but it was also a reminder that she was very out of it.

‘What’s different this time? I’m pretty sure she could somewhat function when she was found in canon,’ he wondered as he took his seat and prepared to tackle Valerie’s soul recovery with Friday’s help once more. Then again, his memories of canon were spotty at best beyond a certain point and he was well past that. So, maybe he was remembering things wrong or maybe this was the effect of the butterfly ripples that he had caused.

“Cozy,” Valerie mumbled, tucking herself inside her clothes – provided by Yasaka and probably put on her by the servants that took care of her – and smiling contently. That didn’t really tell him much in regards to how well his newly cast spell worked. Far as he could see, it had about the same effect as the one he’d replaced with it, but he had to hope and wait for the best, he supposed. Maybe it’d do something different if left in place for a while.

As it was though, Joshua was already considering the possibility that he could be approaching that issue from the wrong angle. He’d been trying to kickstart a recovery from Valerie so far, but maybe he could do something else to help her heal. Neither him nor Friday seemed to be growing any closer to the answer through the path they were following, so maybe another one would work best?

‘Maybe regrowing the limb isn’t what I need to do,’ he mused, following what was a common analogy when he considered the issue. ‘Would there be any chance of re-attaching whatever they took from her?’ he wondered idly. Reattaching limbs was finicky and had to be done fairly fast before the limb was ruined – he assumed –, but that was just an analogy. If Khaos had taken a piece of Valerie’s soul in order to use it, maybe they could recover enough of it to patch her up, enough of it to help her back to normal.

‘Alternatively,’ he paused, leaning back and considering an even crazier idea. ‘Could I put a prosthetic in place?’ he asked himself. That was insane even for him though. He’d basically be playing guesswork with Valerie’s soul. He had no idea what the pieces lost looked like, so trying to replace them with something could end up turning the girl into someone completely different. Hell, it might take away whatever chance at recovery she might have had. Way too much risk, in his opinion.

He was saving that as a possibility if all else failed though, but he really hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

On a somewhat related note though, he decided to try and save “soul records” of himself and everyone he knew of. Maybe he couldn’t read souls as well as he’d need to if he actually had to put down synthetic parts to heal someone, but having something was better than having nothing if he found anyone else in that situation. And they could probably work on getting better in that regard while they were at it, he supposed.

He was pulled from his theories by a mental nudge from Friday, who had an idea of what prototype spell to try next. He’d only had the one spell first on the list, so he followed along with the decision from his familiar. Not much of a difference, but both of them looked on with a good amount of interest, if mostly through spells and more abstract senses.

The subtlest hint of something different they could be missing would help a great deal. As it was, he was pretty sure they weren’t getting a good enough picture of how Valerie’s soul looked like. If his own weren’t still on the mend – if mostly fine –, Joshua would have asked for support from the Egyptian pantheon. Alas, he wasn’t in good enough condition that divinity wouldn’t screw over whatever progress his own recovery had gone through.

Thus, Joshua sat back and tried to decide what to try out next from their list of ideas.

That is, before something happened.

“Father,” Friday communicated through their bond, somehow. The word came to him spotty, almost too messy to be understood, like a radio station with a lot of static. However, it was there, a mix of thoughts, pictures and feelings that somehow shaped a word into his mind. It was so surprising that he blinked, processing that for a long second.

He’d been aware of Friday trying to improve her communication capabilities, but somehow it still managed to catch him off guard all the same.

‘Good job, girl. I’m proud of you,’ he replied back, instantly and accompanied by plenty of his own emotions and thoughts. He felt like it was important that he communicate all that as quickly and as clearly as possible… Which turned out to be a great decision, because Friday was pleased beyond words.

He was pleased himself, he really was, but visiting Valerie and working on her condition was a terrible mood dampener. Because Joshua couldn’t help but feel sad about the state the dhampir had been left in. She was barely a person anymore and one could tell that much without even getting into how horribly damaged her soul had been left. Not even her cheerful exclamations did much when it was evident that she barely could talk, let alone think.

All the same, he tried his best to project as good a set of emotions and thoughts as he could to his spell familiar.

Fortunately, Friday didn’t seem bothered by any lack of enthusiasm she might or might not have noticed at the moment. She just happily floated about in his mental space, checking around the sensory spells in place. If anything, she seemed to have gone right back to work and he could almost picture a child humming contently while doing her homework. Or maybe that was her feeding him that mental image?

Sometimes it was difficult to tell when it came to her vague forms of communication.

Judging by how her mood improved even more, Joshua guessed that it had been, indeed, her who had fed him that vision.

Shaking his head, he focused back on what they were doing. If Friday wasn’t bothered at all, then he’d follow her example and move on. Still, they could make a small celebration out of it later with the rest of his familiars and the family. The living spell seemed to like the sound of that, so he decided that yes, that’d be the way to go about it.

For the moment though… they still had to deal with the sad reality of Valerie’s situation, unfortunately.

‘Plan B… How do we go about Plan B?’ he asked himself after a few more spells were placed and they changed seemingly nothing. He wasn’t quite giving up in helping Valerie’s recovery happen, but he was acknowledging that maybe there was a better way to go about it. If he could put back whatever Khaos had taken from her…

Well, there were several things to work on in that regard.

For one, they’d need to find the soul piece or pieces. Easier said than done, but they were already targeting Khaos Brigade, so that didn’t really change much. He just had to try and make a spell or an array that’d detect Valerie’s soul, or whatever part of it could be found. Again, easier said than done, since those pieces could be different from what he could place in Valerie herself, but it should be somewhat doable. That was a good enough place to start, but he’d look further into that to see if there was an easier way later.

For two, they would need to find a way to re-attach everything where it should be without causing more damage instead of helping. Not something that he imagined would be easy nor simple, but that was definitely something he could work on better. He’d need to smooth the edges of Vaelerie’s damaged soul and get better at sensing soul information. Actually, that’d help with Step One too, so he’d do that regardless.

For three, there was the effect all the process could have on Valerie and her Sacred Gear. Less important than the other two points, admittedly, but still something to keep in mind. There was no telling what could happen and Joshua might need to try and see if he could predict the outcome. Probably the most difficult part of the whole thing though, which was a little concerning. Joshua didn’t like not knowing things, he’d admit.

Sadly, it wasn’t like he could look into a crystal ball and…

‘Well… I can’t,’ he thought, pausing and blinking. He couldn’t, that much was true, but he did know someone that was specializing their whole skillset around information gathering that was… less direct than his. Taking a deep breath in, he considered Aika Kiryuu and the possibilities she could bring to the table.

He knew he could ask and she’d try to help, but she’d been going mostly in a different direction from what he needed. Could they work to bridge that gap in her knowledge in a reasonable amount of time? That remained to be seen, but maybe it was worth giving it a try. The more he thought about it, the more Joshua saw merit in the idea, at least.

‘That’s something to work on later, for now…’ he told himself, making a mental note to look into all that afterwards. For the moment, they needed to make the most of the session with Valerie. Once all their newly tinkered ideas were tested, it was time to improvise a little bit. With a new outlook on things though, Joshua focused more on trying to improve his understanding and sense capabilities in regards to souls.

He needed better sensing spells and to have a better idea of what souls “looked like”, as it were. He’d need that regardless of what path he went down, but especially if he wanted to do more than just nudge a soul into doing something, like recovering or changing, like Project Ascension, for example. Those worked because he was making souls do something that they more or less would “naturally” do. Going against that was another matter entirely and would need him to have a much better idea of what was going on.

It was a good thing that not many people knew that was how it went, or his threat of Project Descension would be a lot less effective. He wasn’t sure, but considering there were no records of Angels or Fallen ever losing wing pairs, Joshua had a feeling that the process was unnatural and thus would need a lot more to make work than its opposite.

‘Not the time to think about that though,’ he reminded himself, sighing and turning his attention back to Valerie once more.

[}-o-{]

“You want me to divine soul information,” Aika asked, and Joshua had a hard time figuring out if she was nervous or flattered or confused by the request. Actually, thinking about it and looking a little deeper with some spells, he thought it might have been all three. “Because you might not be good enough?” she added, and now she was definitely incredulous, he could tell that much.

“Yes,” he answered, deciding not to beat around the bush. All the same though, it wasn’t like he didn’t understand where she was coming from. “Will you try?” he asked, leaning back and raising an eyebrow at her.

He’d decided to make the request at his cafe rather than at his Star class in House of Water. He felt like that might have added pressure on the girl and that was the last thing he wanted. As it was, he knew that he was asking for a lot and he’d be fine if she said no. With more than a moment’s worth of thought, he realized that the request was kind of ridiculous, especially when made to who was essentially a rookie in magic of any kind.

Aika was good, she was casting already and she learned very fast, but she was no Joshua and it showed. Furthermore, she also didn’t have a system to push her even further in her path. His perception wasn’t skewed enough for him not to realize that not everyone could tackle some of the things he could do. Especially when that something was a matter that even he had trouble tackling.

So, if she said no, that’d be fine. He’d just ask Agnes to help him find an expert or three and maybe pull Dion in to add Coven magic to the mix. He felt like that might be enough to get him what he wanted, or at least start on the path there.

Honestly, he’d even considered doing that without asking Aika at all.

However, he felt like he should give the girl a chance to say no rather than assume she would. Sure, if she agreed, then things would go slower, since she’d have to study the matter and prepare spells and so on. Joshua would feel a lot more comfortable with that though.

“I…” Aika started, pulling him back to the present. The poor girl looked very unsure, admittedly. “... I don’t know anything about that. Most of what I’ve been learning is, you know? Silly things, how to tell how people are, who’d be compatible with them, relationship stuff. I’m a magician gossip,” she said, almost in a single breath even if she stumbled upon some words. He could tell that she didn’t necessarily feel bad about what she did and what she “was” as she put it, but there was some self-deprecating humor there, all the same.

“I know,” he replied calmly, taking a sip from his cup of tea. “And I know it doesn’t matter, but I’m fine with that. I’m sure what you do and want to do will be useful and appreciated by people,” he added, just to be sure. Because he knew what people thought about “lesser” magic branches and even “worse” magic applications. Hexes were often considered lesser magic by some, and he knew that many of his spells would be considered an affront to magicians everywhere with how mundane or borderline useless or unnecessary they were.

Magicians were a proud bunch. They liked to feel like they were better than their non-magical counterparts, like they had managed to climb to a league of their own. They liked to feel important. Using magic for “silly” things was, as far as they were concerned, beneath them.

Joshua strongly disagreed with that view.

“I know,” Aika mumbled, looking down, but he could tell that she was pleased. Her previously slightly hunched shoulders relaxed and there was a smile tugging at her lips. Evidently, that bothered her more than she let on, maybe more than she realized. “I don’t know the first thing about what you want me to do. I’d need to start from scratch.”

“I imagine so, yes,” he acknowledged with a nod. “I can and will ask Levi to help you research and Agnes to find any resource she can on the matter, from texts to other magicians and anything else that might be useful.”

“Why not… find someone that’s already good enough?” she asked and he pondered how to best answer that. Ultimately though, after a few seconds, he decided that he might as well be blunt and honest. He couldn’t find a reason not to be, really.

“Because I wanted to give you the chance, if you wanted it,” he said simply, and he could tell that there was an intensity to her gaze as she stared at him. Unbothered, he smiled at the girl. “It’s not what you want to do, I know, but you’re still my apprentice. I feel like it’d be… disrespectful or something if I went straight to someone else on a matter of Divination Magic rather than talking to you first. Does that make any sense?”

“A bit, maybe. It might not. I’m not that knowledgeable in magician etiquette yet. Levi gets all twitchy when that comes up,” Aika replied hesitantly.

“Maybe ask one of the others about that. I’d recommend Dion. She’s all about dealing with other magicians, so she’s more socially inclined,” he suggested, almost getting back on topic. He figured all that needed to be said had been though, so instead he went for another sip from his drink.

“Noted,” Aika mumbled, looking at her own cup, held between her hands. She was silent for a long moment and Joshua was perfectly fine letting her think that over all she wanted. He’d have been fine leaving her alone with her thoughts for some time if she wanted it, actually.

He actually was about to tell her to think it over for a few days, but-

“Ok,” she said, breaking the silence before he could. “Ok,” she repeated, looking up and locking eyes with him. “I’ll try.”

To that, Joshua grinned widely.

[}-o-{]

“I’m sorry.”

Joshua paused drinking from the straw of his drink, blinking as he looked up at his date. That was not the kind of thing he expected to be told out of nowhere in the middle of a date. Least of all from Gabriel, of all three of his partners.

“For what?” he asked, glancing around as if the ruins they were visiting could give him a clue as to what was going through his date’s mind at that moment for her to apologize. If it weren’t the ugly as sin sculptures though, then he had no idea. They were tame when compared to other places they had visited during other dates though.

“I just… I feel like I’m dragging you to all these places,” Gabriel mused, not quite sad, but something similar. Like the emotion was mixed with appreciation somehow. “We always go to places I want to go, to visit. We never go anywhere you want.”

“I like when we visit more natural spaces. The Andes were neat,” he replied, still not quite figuring out what was going on with the angel. Surely that wasn’t it, right? Had something happened?

“Yes, but those are what you like from the options of what I like,” she insisted rather strongly, which wasn’t very like her. Gabriel usually had a very… soft, for lack of a better word, personality. She was always nice, relaxed. She was hardly ever angry or annoyed. Whenever she was feeling even remotely upset, it’d barely show, but it was almost the same with her good moments too. That calmness was something he liked about her, actually.

“So? Gabriel, if it were up to me, I’d say home all the time,” he told her, half amused and half confused. “We do that at times, I’ll remind you, staying home with everyone else,” he explained, as simply as he could.  She had to know he was telling the truth too, right? She was as good at reading people as his other partners, so she definitely should have been able to do that much.

“I know that, but surely we could do something else on our outings, right?” she asked, in a surprising bout of insecurity, if he was reading her right. He could very easily be wrong, but there was a tinge in her voice and subtle shifting of her body that was telling him that.

“Are you getting bored of these kinds of dates?” he asked, his drink long forgotten as he raised an eyebrow at the angel.

“No, but-”

“Then it’s fine,” he told her with a smile. “You are enjoying yourself when we visit places. You smile more, you speak more freely and animatedly and you’re more enthusiastic about things. If nothing else, I like these dates because I get to see that Gabriel,” he told her honestly.

If only the Joshua that he’d once been before the DxD world could see him then and there, he’d likely either be very disbelieving or shocked beyond words. He’d have never dared be that honest and open with a ridiculously beautiful woman such as the angel that stood in front of him. Alas, he’d changed plenty in all that time, and not just in terms of power.

Old insecurities peeked back out onto the world though, when his date remained silent and unreadable after that. All that he got was a blue-eyed stare and persistent nothing else. After a few seconds of that, he was really starting to worry that he’d said something wrong somehow, even though he’d been sure that was fine.

He was even more worried, however, – and very shocked – when he saw her halo flicker and a hint of a shadow wash over Gabriel’s wings. That heart-stopping moment lasted a split second, however, before she returned back to normal. He almost thought he might have seen wrong when the angel beamed at him in a way that made that descriptor very apt.

However, that was before she spoke.

“You say very dangerous things at the most unexpected of times, Joshua,” Gabriel told him, drawing nearer and giving him one of the most intense kisses they had shared up to that point. Safe to say, Joshua had seen that coming about as much as the moment that had just passed, which is to say not at all. “You should be more careful.”

“I’m sorry?” he apologized, unsure and still recovering from that kiss.

Apparently, his date found that exceedingly amusing, if her giggling was anything to go by. Dazed state aside though, Joshua was happy to see her mood go back to normal, or even better than usual. It was never nice to see someone he cared about being upset.

Speaking of though, he wasn’t likely to forget what had happened just then. He imagined it wasn’t as close as he might fear, because Gabriel likely wouldn’t be as calm as she seemed to be if that were the case. However, that was a concern of his all the same, and he’d work on that. Hell, he was already working on that, but he could put some more time on that project, he imagined.

Maybe it wasn’t practical, he imagined, to work on something so unrelated to important matters like Khaos Brigade.

It was important to him though. The same way that it was important that he work on something to let Yasaka get out of Kyoto. The same way that it was important that he made little meaningless spells for Serafall’s show. It might not matter all that much to others, but it was important to them, so it was important to Joshua.

And Gabriel’s issue might just be the most pressing of them all.

‘Something to look into,’ he thought, determination filling him even as he followed after the angel to watch another display of hideous sculpting work. Because awful as the piece was, the fascinated look on Gabriel’s face made it all worth it, even the headaches that he could see in his future.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

Valerie’s thing has kicked off some pseudo-butterflies in Muse-chan’s sandbox, apparently. I had not expected that when I started going down this plotline. Alas, she’s here and now we got another thing to look forward to, I guess?

Here’s hoping you guys like how things are going on that side.

And then we see Date!Joshua and Gabriel and… Yeah… I don’t think I have anything to say on that front, really. Yeah, stuff happened, but I think it’s all addressed in the scene, right?

So, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: When’s the last time you traveled? I went on a trip with my parents this last weekend.

See you.