Game of Monsters - 185

‘Til the Day That We Dreamed Of

[Joshua Davis]

He kept his eyes resolutely on the notebook in front of him.

There was a meeting of their anti-Khaos alliance, but he didn’t participate much in those. Never had, truly, but he kept to himself even more ever since Azazel pulled his stunt, even with the odd moments of involvement he had. Not even Penemue’s attempt to smooth things over would change that, because even if he was giving her – and Grigori – a chance, the governor was still an asshole, as far as he was concerned.

So, he’d leave dealing with them to the much more experienced partners he had. Yasaka, Serafall and Gabriel could get through the meetings without insulting Azazel and that was more than Joshua himself could say for himself. It might have been selfish of him to ask them to be a little kinder, at least to Penemue, but he owed her that for trying to make things better.

It wasn’t like he wanted to hate the fallen faction. He just had a problem with their leader. So, when there was an argument to make things easier for them, he wanted to take it. His partners hadn’t been as magnanimous, but they’d agreed and he’d made sure to show that he was extra grateful.

Serafall was even beaming as she dealt with Azazel, but then again, she was the one he’d shown his gratitude to the most recently.

Besides all that political – and admittedly fairly personal – business, Joshua did have an actual need to focus on what he was doing. It wasn’t just him trying to ignore Azazel and the annoyance he brought with him. He did have a project that needed all his attention, and that was some of the spells he planned on using for the “war” against the Tepes faction.

Although, admittedly, he didn’t expect that to be more than a quick, easy skirmish, to be honest. Maybe arrogant of him, but Joshua didn’t expect for that to take too long, truthfully. His spells were getting better by the day, even if his magic skills weren’t growing in level anymore. Every day, he tweaked the arrays and the spells themselves to improve their effects, make them more efficient or just generally improve their designs, or he’d at least work towards doing so.

There was only so much his self-esteem issues could push back against the overwhelming proof and the opinion of people that couldn’t afford to be too biased.

There was some irony in the fact that he was working with information that he’d gotten from Azazel though. Hell, it was even more ironic that the information had come from prodding Vali with his spells, all the way back to when he’d had the chance. Granted, it wasn’t that much, since he hadn’t been as good back during those days, but it was something he had. Issei had helped fill the voids in that knowledge somewhat, even if Albion and Ddraig were very different, despite being so similar in certain ways.

‘That was annoying to find out,’ he mused, scowling a little at his notebook before relaxing when Yasaka’s life energy washed over him. Right, he couldn’t get too annoyed or the fallen would think it was about them. Couldn’t have that, unfortunately, even if he’d like to make Azazel squirm. Penemue and him had a deal, sort of, so… Yeah. ‘Shame that we can’t get away with kicking the guy out of these meetings.’

Back to his tinkering though, there was also the information he’d gotten from the Youkai, the Underworld, Heaven, House of Water and everyone else he could manage to pull strings from, which turned out to be a lot of people. Agnes had reached for him towards the other magician associations. Ravel had navigated a meeting with the Korean faction too, even if he’d had to actually go to validate her. Yasaka had reached Nurarihyon herself, since they didn’t expect the guy would be happy to see Joshua.

And with all that, he’d gotten a lot of information regarding dragons. Enough that he imagined he’d have enough to make what he needed to, or so he imagined. He was being optimistic about it.

He didn’t remember a lot from deep enough into the DxD story as to remember details like exactly what went down with the vampire factions. However, he remembered Valerie being a thing, the carrier of Sephiroth Graal and childhood friend of Gasper Vladi, or something to that effect. He also remembered something about dragons going down there.

He didn’t remember how they came to be, but he had the somewhat solid idea that someone was turned into dragons. Could be the very Tepes vampires themselves, could be the Carmilla vampires being turned against their will, or it could be someone else entirely. He also didn’t remember if that was when the bunch of dead Evil Dragons would get revived or not.

For all he knew, those could already be around even if that was the case, since the timeline had been fucked up long ago.

He had a feeling that he’d already know if Khaos had access to that kind of power though.

“See you around, ladies, Joshua,” Azazel said at some point, making him glance up and realize that the meeting was over. He really wondered why the fallen governor though acting his usual laidback and friendly self would endear him back with them. Was that his idea of a power move? To show that even if they barely tolerated him for the sake of dealing with a common enemy, he still had not a care in the world? Was that it?

“It’s a pleasure to work with you all,” Penemue said instead, formal, respectful. Joshua would even go as far as saying that she went too far in the other direction, especially with the ninety degree bow she gave them. All the same, it was much better than her faction leader’s attitude, that was for sure.

“See you around,” Joshua replief vaguely, waving in their general direction. When Azazel turned around to leave after everyone else said their goodbyes in their own way though, he locked eyes with Penemue and gave her a nod. She returned the gesture with a very slight, pleased but still professional smile.

And then they were gone.

“So… you guys doing anything now?” he asked, leaning back and stretching his arms over his head with a groan. Then he let his arms and shoulders drop before cracking his neck. Maybe he needed a bit of physical training to really get the stiffness off his muscles. Raynare would love that.

“There’s another meeting with leaders of the Church,” Gabriel commented and he raised his eyebrows at her. It was usually Michael that dealt with the intrafaction matters, after all. Same as Sirzechs with the Devils, really. “I do have to show up at times, especially when we discuss things regarding other factions, such as coordinated raids. We just agreed to do one of those with the fallen,” she informed him, a tinge of amusement bleeding into her voice at the last sentence.

Yeah, he’d only been half hearing in case something truly important was said and that hadn’t really been part of it. Mostly he just listened to the parts that sounded new, unexpected or something along those lines. Most meetings didn’t have a lot of that, which was another reason why he didn’t pay all that much attention.

“Hm, speaking of… I should probably-”

“I think you’ve upgraded our defenses enough, Joshua,” Gabriel interrupted, apparently finding him very predictable. Then again, he’d finished with all the bases they’d wanted him to place defenses on a while back. Since then, he’d done three rounds of updates everywhere, but his defenses were never perfect, so he tried to improve them every time, at his home, at Yasaka’s, at Kuoh, at the Church bases and everywhere else he could. “You have better things to spend your time doing, Joshua,” the angel added, looking at the notebook in his hands.

Not that he disagreed, of course, but he could still juggle doing some other things, and protecting her people was important too-

“Speaking of, anywhere in particular you want to attack?” Serafall asked, looking curiously at him while passing him a few files. The files of Khaos bases they’d located or, at least, whose location they’d narrowed down. “Or are you still feeling awkward?” the devil added and he grimaced, giving her an unimpressed look.

He thought he was fairly justified in feeling awkward about attacking Khaos Brigade bases those days.

It wasn’t that he had suddenly developed a conscience that stopped him from murdering the pieces of shit, not at all. As far as he was concerned, any member of Khaos Brigade deserved to die, or otherwise become useful, like the prisoners. Maybe it was hypocritical of him to think that, when he’d allowed the fallen trio to live and let them go – with Raynare as somewhat of an exception –, but they’d earned the second chance, at the very least.

He wasn’t going to try and give everyone one of those though. He didn’t have the time or the resources to afford doing that. He didn’t care enough to try doing that either. Maybe that made him a terrible person, but that was how he saw the situation. A flawed, selfish view of it, but he was fine with that.

He didn’t think his reason for being awkward about raids those days was selfish though.

The reason was, as it turned out, Morag and her new evolution.

Because it was one thing to go on a raid with his almost adult sister and his magical beast familiars. It was another to take what was basically someone that seemed to be Kunou’s age on one. Hell, she seemed younger than Kunou. So, yeah, Joshua didn’t feel comfortable bringing her along, but he also didn’t want to leave her out of things either, because that’d just make her feel bad.

“Still hesitating, are you?” Yasaka asked, amused and Joshua’s eye twitched. All three of them looked amused, already very aware of his hang ups with going on raids those days. Gabriel seemed to be the only one anywhere close to sympathetic though, and it wasn’t even that much.

“We’ve told you, silly,” Serafall said, a giggle somewhere hidden in her voice. “You’re allowed to treat her differently. Little Mo-tan is a different girl than she was before. She behaves differently, does things differently, thinks differently. She doesn’t just look different,” she explained and he knew, intellectually, that she was right. Just like they had all been when they’d given him similar explanations in the past few days already.

Alas, Joshua was still wrapping his head around it. Morag’s evolution had brought so many new things to the table and changed so many existing ones that… Well, he thought it wasn’t strange or unreasonable for him to be struggling a little bit. He liked to think he was getting there though, maybe, probably.

“I know that, just…”

“Still getting used to the changes?” Gabriel finished for him and he sighed. Resolutely, he kept his eyes away from Cheshire when the feline familiar jumped on top of the table and stared at him in her cat form. Sadly, he couldn’t ignore the reproach of Margalo’s trilling.

At least Morag and Nagini weren’t around, so he thanked his lucky stars for small mercies.

With a sigh, he glanced around without really looking at anyone and then pulled the files on Khaos Brigade bases to skim through them. None of them had anything important, but he could still test things if he was lucky. Who knew? Even if there wasn’t anything about Sacred Gear holders that were pieces of shit written in the documents, that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be one or two anyway.

“No preferences,” he finished, looking up at his amused three partners. “You guys have any?” he asked, looking over his shoulder when Fuyuko entered the room with a cup of tea that he really needed.

[}-o-{]

[Dion Fortune]

She liked to think she’d build a great life for herself.

Dion Fortune was what she’d made for herself. Nothing had been given to her. She’d started from zero and earned everything she had. She found her magic by herself. She’d studied and improved and found connections. She’d joined a magician association on her own merits and on her own merits she’d become one of Joshua Davis’ favored students.

Dion couldn’t be prouder of herself, but she was far from done.

Because she would never be satisfied. She wanted to be great. Her name would be remembered, her name would be great. So much so, that she would be the one people thought of when Dion Fortune was mentioned and not her… predecessor. Her ambition was that, but also a lot more. She didn’t want to be greater than the original Dion Fortune. She wanted to be great in general. She wanted to be up there, next to the likes of Agnes Waterhouse, Elizabeth Báthory and, most importantly, Joshua Davis.

So, she had a lot of work to do, a lot of magic to learn and a lot of power to amass.

She’d never be as magically powerful as those were, obviously. She could never be as skilled as they were, likely. She could definitely, however, try to be as great all the same. And she knew how she’d do it, owing the idea to her master, the one man that had given her the biggest push on her path.

“Thank you for the help, Miss Fortune,” her latest client said and she smiled her kindest smile. The man was a parasite of society the likes of which made her sick to be in the same room as, let alone work with. Alas, her ambition was too great for her own good at times. “We owe you a lot more than you’ve asked for in compensation, however. What you’ve done for us, this spell, it was a lot better than we asked, than we hoped. Surely we can agree on something better to pay you for all this with.”

“That won’t be necessary, at all,” she replied firmly, but still wearing her friendly mask. Because sickening as the man was in all his greedy, selfish and arrogant glory, Dion had use for him. “Besides, you’re a very accomplished magician yourself, I’ve learned,” she said, lying through her teeth. He wasn’t terrible, but he was far from what she’d call “accomplished”. What he was, however, was well connected and she could use that. Dion, better than anyone, understood the power of connections. “I’m sure I might eventually require the help of someone as skilled as you are, sir,” she added, almost grimacing in distaste at having to speak respectfully to the sorry excuse of a man.

Alas, needs must, and not all the people she wanted to collect could be nice.

“You flatter me too much, Miss Fortune,” he replied, probably trying to sound humble, but that was the absolute truth, as far as she was concerned. What she wouldn’t give to tell him that to his face. It’d have been glorious.

‘Patience,’ she told herself, keeping her smile in place like a pro. ‘You’ll get away with that eventually,’ she thought, remembering her goal. Because Joshua, her teacher, her master, could get away with insulting everyone in his classes, be them magical geniuses or sons of important people or… anyone, really. She’d get there eventually.

“I’m afraid I must be going, but don’t be afraid to reach out if you need anything, sir,” Dion said, and then she did her best to run away from the place without actually doing so. Because she needed to make a good impression. She needed to leave her mark and make people owe her. She needed to leave strings wherever she went, just like her master.

Just like her magic helped make webs between magicians to cast better spells, she’d make a web between people to make herself better. That was her goal now, instead of just getting better in general. Because Joshua had shown her that it was possible. Even if he hadn’t been as good with magic as he was, his method worked.

Their culture worked in a cycle of exchanges, equivalent ones. And Dion had never thought of abusing that. Giving more than she received, so that people would feel the need to do things for her. Then, it was a matter of keeping them perpetually in your pocket, maybe even using the curried favor to pull other people into the web.

So far, it was working.

Not as well as it had for her master, but that was hardly surprising. Joshua had a lot going for him besides his method. Dion, for her part, didn’t. She wasn’t as magically talented, nor as lucky or well connected yet. She’d get there, maybe, and that was what mattered.

Besides, if she did a good enough job, maybe she could pay the man back for all that he’d done for her, teaching her, pushing her, inspiring her. Just because she knew the method being used didn’t mean she was immune to it. Because magic worked just like their culture, and Dion would hardly be one to insult the ways magic, or the world, worked.

So, the scales would be balanced, or at least she’d do her best to get close to that.

“Long job?” Levi greeted her with when she came back to House of Water. She was a Golden Dawn magician still, officially. Unofficially, nobody that knew her doubted for even a single second that she was, above all else, a Joshua Davis magician. Not a Golden Dawn one, nor a House of Water one. The only one that held her allegiance was her master, and she knew the same went for all her fellow Stars.

“Long job,” she confirmed with a nod. “Good book?”

“Good book,” Levi replied with an amused smile, looking back at the aforementioned tome in his hands. “Spread more webs?”

“That I did,” she answered, taking a deep breath in as she took a seat in front of him on the table of their “classroom”, which was more of a… living room with a big conference table on one side, really. “Speaking of, I got a call this morning. Someone might need both of us for an experiment.”

“What kind of experiment?” Levi asked, forgetting about the book and eager to get a peek at something new, something exciting.

And maybe people thought she was spreading more webs with her fellow Stars, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Because they weren’t threads she’d weaved, no, far from it. As far as Dion was concerned, they were fellow spiders, and sometimes their webs could overlap.

[}-o-{]

[Jeanne Davis]

“You don’t have to accompany us to school… or pick us up for that matter,” she said, lips pursed as she turned to look at Joshua. In response, he raised an eyebrow at her. “You know that, right?”

“You know, that’d be a lot more effective if I hadn’t seen you be absolutely delighted to have me do those things when you started attending here,” her brother replied and she felt her face burn with embarrassment.

Sure, she’d liked that back then, because it was nice to have a family member that cared. Her parents had never bothered to take her to school or pick her up ever since they could get away with not doing either. Even when they had, it’d been a vocally reluctant affair that left her being glad when they stopped.

She’d been an embarrassment, after all.

“Silly maiden,” the Voices told her.

“Embrace the blessings,” another set of them added. “All good things should be appreciated.”

‘I know that,’ she thought to herself, grimacing as a twinge of guilt tied her insides into knots. She shouldn’t be embarrassed, she knew. It was just… odd. Few others ever were accompanied to or from school, certainly not as often as she was. It made her feel… odd. She didn’t like that. She’d always been odd and she’d hated it.

“Not strange, unique,” the Voices said, almost chastising, but mostly reassuring.

She knew that too, but… She blamed her status as a teenager.

It made her stupid.

“I like these walks,” Asia said, purity incarnate that she was. “Thanks for taking the time to come, Joshua,” she added, beaming in a way that had Jeanne looking for a halo over her head or at least a beam of sunlight focusing on her like a spotlight. “And I know Jeanne likes them too.”

Jeanne grumbled something, but nothing with enough effort to actually work as a denial.

Joshua chuckled and she looked away, her cheeks burning once more.

“I like doing this too,” their brother replied and she could see his infuriatingly warm smile even without looking at him. He was unfair. Why was he so good? It left Jeanne feeling… inadequate, even without her stupid teenager moments. “I know I don’t spend enough time with you, girls, so this makes me feel less guilty.”

“Idiot,” she grumbled, louder this time. “You are allowed to live your life,” she added, and she meant that. Sure, it sucked that her brother was too busy most of the time, but it was what it was. She accepted it and was happy for him… at least when what he was busy with was something he enjoyed, like his tinkering or his relationships.

Although, she did miss the times when it was just the two of them, times in which they’d been all the other had.

Those were some of Jeanne’s fondest memories, even if things had gotten better with time. She missed having her brother all to herself, even if he’d felt less like a brother and more like a weird friend/parent combination at the time. She was optimistic though, that maybe, just maybe, they’d be able to have more times like that once things settled down and Khaos Brigade was no longer in the picture.

“Here we are,” Joshua commented, but when Jeanne turned, she saw him smiling widely. Maybe her comment had helped his mood some. She liked that thought. Alas, he was also right in what he said. They’d reached the school already and despite her previous complaints, Jeanne wished it had taken longer. “Have fun, alright? I’ll try to come pick you up, but-”

““No promises,”” both Jeanne and Asia finished for him, her fondly exasperated and their angelic sister just fondly.

“Look out for one another and if you need someone punched-”

“Tell Yuuto,” she finished at the same time that Asia said “Tell Issei”. She wondered if either Joshua or the nun realized what it meant that the sort-of ex-pervert was Asia’s go to protector the same way her boyfriend was hers.

Then again, for as bad as Issei’s reputation had been, the guy had really shaped up under Joshua’s wing.

“And tell Rias and Sona that they are still welcome if they wanna drop by. It’s been a while since they did so,” Joshua commented and Jeanne rolled her eyes. Gremory had never been quite as comfortable going to their place after she got thoroughly child-zoned. Koneko was downright enthusiastic herself and she often did so on her own, but the devil King had to muster the courage every single time.

As for Sona, well… It was rather awkward to visit your sister’s boyfriend, Jeanne imagined. God knew she was more than a little uncomfortable at times when she was at Yasaka’s… in the past, at least. She’d gotten over it with a lot of exposure and having grown close with the woman. Sona wasn’t quite at that stage with Joshua and seemed in no hurry to cover that distance.

Then again, Jeanne figured having a crush on said sister’s boyfriend kind of made things more complicated.

She would still do as Joshua said though, if only to see the devils squirm. Jeanne would even exaggerate things a little, just to see how they reacted. Maybe she’d tell them that Joshua was hurt or worried by their continued avoidance.

Yeah, that sounded great.

“Will do,” she replied at the same time as Asia hummed and nodded.

She had decidedly less pure intentions than the nun, but who cared about that?

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

A little more world exposure than plot progression, but there was some of that in the chapter too. I swear I’m not making that up, guys! You just gotta look for it! Really look for it.

Ok, so it’s not that much, so what? I’ve written chapters with literally no plot progression before and you’re still here, so you don’t get to complain at this point… Please don’t, I’m fragile.

That aside, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Do you use a watch? I did for a while keep one my godfather gifted me for years and years until it kind of started falling apart. Then I stopped for a good while. And now my family gifted me a smartwatch a few weeks ago, so I guess this thing is going through the same treatment as my old watch.

See you.