Joshua Davis]
A whole day after the attack on the Tepes territory, Joshua wasn't really feeling any more calm than the day before.
His soul was still on the mend, but his mind wasn't as scrambled anymore, so that was a great plus. Friday and he had been working on spells to help patch himself – and Valerie too, it was important to note – and they'd made… some progress. Spells that affected the soul were hard to make, after all.
He was acutely aware that his success on Project Ascension was because the thing was based on the soul on top of the body, the mind and the magic. His endeavor had leaned heavily on more easily understood parts of the process and the soul had kind of been nudged by everything else. As it was, Joshua had been lucky that had worked, because it could have very easily not.
At the time, it hadn't… it had been a concern, but not a big one. Raynare might be useful and all, but he hadn't quite been what one could call fond of her as he was by then. There was also the fact that he hadn't even understood all the things he had been inadvertently touching on. So, now he'd be wary of trying something new on her. Which was why he wanted to try a third set of wings with someone else that wasn't her.
The point was that he was still a beginner when it came to soul related magic and it was showing. He was progressing at a snail's pace, if that. A whole day and the changes to his spell arrays had been minimal. Thankfully, it wasn't like he had a lot to do other than continue working on that. He'd made sure to clear his schedule just in case and it had very obviously been the right choice.
He could have, but he would rather not deal with stupid students right that moment, for example.
"Dad?" Kunou asked and he blinked, turning towards her. She didn't look like she'd been calling him for long, at least. That had happened a few times already, he wasn't proud to admit. "What do you think of this?" she added, passing him a piece of paper. Those days, it was a fifty-fitfy that such a thing would have either a spell circle prototype or a card idea, really.
Sure enough, there was an illusion project drawn on it.
Blinking as his mind shifted gears, he looked it over. Nothing immediately stood out for him to notice, but that only worked about half the time. Any small detail could screw everything when it came to magic. It didn't take him long to find some such minute details, reaching for a red pen, he started pointing them out. He noticed Kunou wincing a little with every one of those, but that was what learning was all about. Make mistakes and learn from them.
At least she had a teacher in Joshua. For a while, he'd wished he had someone to teach him. Alas, he'd had to make do with copious amounts of book studying and pre-casting proof-reading. By the time he could have managed to get teachers, he was either too used to his methods or there was no one that he could find to teach him. Unfortunate, but maybe that was part of the reason why he was apparently so different from the usual magician, so he wasn't too bothered those days.
"Really good, considering you're trying new things here," he commented, seeing that Kunou was getting kind of discouraged with how many mistakes he found. He wasn't even lying though, because that was the full truth. She was delving into new things, applying illusions to other senses like smell or touch, even though she'd had that idea of using her artificial Sacred Gear for the latter. Considering that, it would have been weirder if she hadn't had a bunch of errors. "Ambitious, by the way," he added with a proud grin.
Adorably, Kunou returned the gesture with a shy smile of her own, shifting where she sat and blushing a little bit.
"Thanks," she mumbled, taking back the sheet and looking it over. Her expression swiftly changed a moment later as she pouted at it like the thing had personally offended her. "I know that one," she grumbled under her breath as she started writing down on a new page.
Peeking over her shoulder, Joshua noticed that she did, indeed figure out the mistake and the solution almost immediately. Some others weren't quite that easily solved for her, but he tried not to hand-feed her all the answers. It'd be better if she figured it out herself, but that was easier said than done. A bit of a balancing act, like everything in life, as far as Joshua was concerned.
"You're doing really well," he commented and she hummed happily, even though she tried not to show it.
"Thanks," she mumbled and he was sure she had that shy smile back on her face even as she hid it with her hair and looking down. "Do you think Fuyuko will take long to get the tea?"
"I'll be very surprised if she doesn't walk through the door in the next minute, don't worry," he reassured her with a chuckle. She'd become a tea addict too, at some point, after all. He wasn't sure if he should be as happy with that as he was, but that was still the case.
"I hope so," Kunou mumbled, but then Joshua saw her pausing and looking at him. Immediately, he sat a little straighter at the concern shining in her eyes. "Are you alright, dad?"
'Oh, that's all.'
"I'm doing better, don't worry," he reassured with a smile and pushing her shoulder with his. "Literally nothing to worry about this time, I promise. I'm just… tired, but I'll be fine in no time," he said, not really lying but also not telling the full truth. That was the case. It was just that his weariness came from his soul rather than his body or his mind.
Saying his soul was exhausted sounded more concerning than it was though, so he hoped he could be excused for that sort-of lie.
[}-o-{]
[Aika Kiryuu]
"I'm starting to see a pattern," she commented dryly as she looked at the even more absentminded than normal Joshua. "And I really don't like it."
"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," the man replied and there was a familiar weariness to the way he spoke, like he had to drag his word all the way from his lungs and out of his mouth. Wasn't the first time Aika saw him like that and she was starting to see that it wouldn't be the last. She didn't even know what had happened and neither did Issei, but that didn't stop either of them from worrying.
She could see her boyfriend – working at the cafe while she studied magic, like was becoming usual – sneaking not at all stealthy, worried glances Joshua's way. The cafe's owner, for his part, seemed intent on acting like he wasn't very obviously more than a little out of sorts. She had to call for his attention more than normal, for one, but he also moved sluggishly. Everything he did seemed to take effort…
And she might have cast some quick divining spells to see if something was wrong with him and the results were worryingly confusing. The man hadn't even noticed, which was already a red flag on its own, but while the results came out sort of fine, there were details here and there that told Aika her suspicions were correct. There was something wrong with Joshua, even though his body was fine.
She also had a feeling that he wasn't going to tell her if she asked.
So, instead, she sighed.
"I'm just gonna say, even if you ignore it, other people are still going to worry, you know?" she was all she offered on the matter, taking some satisfaction in the chagrined expression that showed in Joshua's face. As much of a victory as she was going to get, she was sure. "So, about this spell…" she continued with.
She wasn't going to get much more on the matter from Joshua, she could tell without even using magic. So, she might as well keep picking the man's brain. Out of it like he was, magic still came to him in a way that it did to few, if anyone at all. She'd already known he was a special kind of magician even before meeting the Stars and hearing the kind of absolutely insane pillar of the magical world that he was.
He wasn't even that much older than her and he was already a power that people thousands of years old looked at warily. A faction leader and almost leading part of a solid alliance of factions, that was also part of who Joshua was. The magician associations bended over backwards for his every whim and they did so happily, because any person in his classes seemed to automatically be better than most others that had once been in their same level.
And that was the person that Aika's boyfriend had stumbled into the good graces of.
She liked Issei as he was, perversion and all, but she was sure that even without the things that she liked about him, just the favor of presenting her to Joshua would have earned him lots of points. That was a once in a lifetime opportunity, likely even rarer than that. Aika was sure that she wasn't even capable of understanding how big meeting Joshua and everything that followed was. Maybe she never would. All the same, she was plenty grateful.
Which was part of why the man really needed to start taking better care of himself, honestly.
"I know you guys worry," Joshua commented absently, almost casually as he picked up his cup of tea. "But I really am alright. I'll just take a bit to recover from the last bout of… annoyance I had to deal with." Was that code for a battle like the one Issei had had to help with before? It sounded like it was. Aika didn't know if she should be relieved or annoyed that Joshua hadn't called for her boyfriend that time. "You can tell Issei that. I'll be right as rain in a few days."
"... I imagined," she said, not at all feeling better. "Your current condition is only part of the issue though."
"Oh?"
"We worry that one of these… annoyances will get the better of you one of these days," she explained and he seemed to pause, as if the possibility hadn't occurred to him. What was the unexpected part though, that the chance of failure was there in their minds or that they were worried about him like that? She didn't think she liked either possibility, so hopefully it was something else entirely. "Also, even if you're fine, that doesn't mean we have to be happy that you ended up like this, Joshua."
"... That's… fair," he acknowledged slowly, as if processing what she said. "There's a lot going on that you don't know about, shouldn't know about," he started explaining and while Aika wasn't happy with the vagueness, she was happy that she was getting some sort of explanation. Any information was better than none, right? It was why she delved into the field of magic she did.
Speaking of, maybe she could divine more once she was on her own, so anything Joshua gave her would help her narrow things down.
"The supernatural world is dangerous, as you well know, and I'm kind of dealing with one of the most dangerous parts of it. It's not safe at all, but I'm managing to be as safe as I can and I have very capable people making sure that's actually the case," he told her and she nodded slowly. None of what he said was a lie, as far as she knew, so she'd have to take that at face value.
Aika was still going to cast more than a few spells to see if she could get more though.
[}-o-{]
[Joshua Davis]
Was it odd that he found himself reassured in the middle of so much battle?
Back at his place in Kyoto – not Yasaka's, his –, in the training space, while his familiars, Jeanne and everyone else sparred and trained, Joshua found himself… relaxed, sort of. The same way he'd found some calm in his classroom at House of Water, he found peace in the fact that most people he knew and cared about were getting stronger, which meant that they were safer.
He'd also spent so much time there that the entire chaotic situation was something familiar, he supposed. Those days he didn't train much himself, too busy working on his million magic projects, but just sitting there was nice. That wasn't to say he was leaving his physical training entirely abandoned though. He couldn't, if he didn't want his daggers to rebel against him.
Fortunately, his last battle had very much satisfied those two for the time being.
Speaking of his weapons though, Joshua pulled away from his books and notes. Idly, he had Friday store them away. He could do that with a wave of his hands, but the living spell liked having stuff to do. Especially those days, for some reason. His best bet was that she was also trying to help prove herself, be helpful and generally show off. She couldn't spar like the rest of his familiars, after all, so she had to be a little more roundabout.
As far as Joshau was concerned though, she was the best, because fighting was great, but having someone around to help with smaller stuff was just as good if not better. There was also the fact that she could help him with magic too. Morag had delved a little, making magic circles with web, but she'd never gotten very far with that and now she was too childish to bother. Not Friday though, childish or not, the magic spirit was a great caster all the same.
The living spell liked that thought, he noticed.
Shaking his head to focus himself once more, he pulled out Ascalon from his storage spell. He hadn't returned it to Heaven yet but… He had a feeling he wouldn't. The sword clung to him like an odd mix of Setan Kober and Carnwennan. It hungered for battle and blood like the demonic kris, but there was a righteousness to its fury that was very similar to the holy dagger. There was a desire to set things right, to hunt the monsters of the world.
To help him kill dragons.
Joshua paused, considering that. He likely wouldn't have too much trouble getting Heaven to let him keep the thing, he knew. There was also the fact that there was a non-zero chance that Khaos would bring back to life more Evil Dragons. After all, he didn't know what they had done to Valerie yet, but he was sure they had tried to take her Sacred Gear. Considering the state she was in, there was a chance that they had succeeded and he couldn't risk it.
He could hope that they had failed, of course, but he wouldn't be betting anything on that.
So, he had to assume they had managed it and that Valerie had survived by some miracle, either because she was a dhampir or some difference in the method of taking her Sacred Gear compared to the artifact the Grigori had access to. Actually, Joshua didn't know if the one that had appeared in canon was the only one that existed or the only one canon Raynare had gotten her hands on.
'Either way, I guess you and I are gonna stick together for now,' he thought, admiring the rather impressive holy dragon slayer sword. And wasn't that an imposing array of descriptors for a weapon? Ascalon was no Excalibur, but it was also not some second-rate weapon either. It was famous and it was strong.
The artifact, in turn, replied to his thoughts with a hum of its holy aura. It liked that idea, it seemed, and Joshua was glad for that. He knew that having such weapons on his side was never a bad thing at all. Setan Kober and Carnwenna were discreet, but their effects were outstanding, and the shift in their effectiveness when they were fully behind the fact showed and it showed a lot.
He remembered Setan Kober being a pain to deal with. Its berserker effect had been more of a drawback than an actual help. It had been a good while since that had been the case though and that was because the kris had accepted him as his wielder, he supposed. Then there was Carnwennan, which had been a lot more supportive, but when it was pleased with him? Its effect worked a lot better, searching for weak points in the enemy's defenses.
"That's a fine sword," Jeanne commented, apparently having approached him at some point. "You've been staring at it for a while, did you know?"
No, he did not, in fact, know. He was confused by that realization, but not really all that much. It might be confusing, but he did know that he was rather out of sorts those days. It just didn't help him deal with the effects it had on him, but he did understand that.
He didn't know if that made any sense.
"It is a very good sword, yeah," he agreed, deciding to ignore the other set of words. "And it seems it's gonna stick around for now. So…" he added, before cracking his neck and standing up. "Wanna help me become a better swordsman?" he asked with a smile.
Maybe some physical exercise would help his soul recover faster? Might as well try, he guessed. And if it didn't work out or it was actually detrimental, then Friday would tell him.
"Sure thing," Jeanne said, summoning a sword immediately in her hand. "Always up to kicking your ass."
"Gotta take the chance, right?" he replied, not bothered at all. "While I'm weak and at something I'm not good at," he added and his grin widened when he saw her expression twitch.
That's what she got for acting cocky.
[}-o-{]
[Ravel Phenex]
"Ravel!" a voice called and she blinked and looked up.
Idly, she wondered if she'd just channeled her inner Joshua. Because she'd seen him do something like that a lot. Especially when he was working on something in his notebooks, much like she had with her own at that very moment. Which then made her wonder if his bad habits were rubbing off on her.
That'd be… tragic.
Because Joshua was great, he truly was, but that didn't mean that Ravel wanted to be exactly like him. Everyone had their… eccentricities, to put it mildly, and it seemed like the strongest people had those proportionally noticeable. Just like the Satans were infamous for having plenty of oddities, she supposed.
The point was that Ravel would much rather pick up some of Joshua's good habits instead of the bad ones.
"Are you even listening?"
Right, she was supposed to be paying attention to Riser, right? She really was picking up on Joshua's bad habits, wasn't she? That was… tragic indeed, but also concerning. She'd need to do something about that as soon as possible. She couldn't afford to be that absentminded.
"Sorry, you were saying?" she asked, trying her best to look the picture of innocence. She was no Kunou – she'd grudgingly admit –, but she had always prided herself in having her family wrapped around her little finger. Alas, it seemed like the trick didn't work this time. Riser was in a particularly bad mood, apparently.
"You're still working on the human's stuff?" Riser asked, a tone she didn't like slipping into his voice when he said "human". The expression he directed at her notebook was even worse, truly.
Then again, she wasn't surprised at all. Riser had never quite gotten over the wound to his pride that Joshua had delivered. The rest of the Phenex family… dealt with it, some better than others, but Riser just couldn't. He hated what Joshua had done to them all, even though it wasn't even that bad, in the grand scheme of things and especially considering how things could have gone.
"I am," she replied dryly. Once upon a time, she might have tried to defuse or be polite or generally try not to anger Riser much. Alas, she'd long since ran out of patience. She wasn't wrong for pursuing a path that would lead her to greatness, after all. Ravel didn't even think Joshua was wrong for using the tools available to him as he had. Hell, the man had masterfully accomplished a baffling number of things in just the one move against her family.
Sure, it stung that it was against her family, but again, it hadn't even been as bad as it could have been. Joshua could have crushed them in a number of ways. Instead, he'd been his kind self and just done what amounted to almost nothing with all the power in his hands. Although, to be fair, that by itself was a powermove that was almost more impressive.
Unintentional as it might have been.
"It's not enough that you spend the whole day playing servant to him, you have to bring his presence into our house?" Riser asked, his entire being growing more annoyed, angry. Ravel could have rolled her eyes at him.
"Personal assistant, not servant. I don't cook for him, I don't clean for him, I don't deliver coffee to him. I help organize his schedule and his resources," she explained, like she had a number of times already. Although, there might have been some lying by omission there. She didn't deliver coffee to Joshua, but she had brought him tea a few times.
It wasn't part of her job though, but it helped Joshua work better when she needed his input whether he liked it or not. Besides, it didn't hurt to do something small like that once in a while, right? Joshua did a lot of things for her that he didn't need to do, so doing things outside her job description was fine, right? She was just further affirming her spot by his side, that was all.
She ignored the little voice in the back of his head that whispered how much nicer and warmer it was to be over there than at her own house.
She was not like the stray cat.
…
She wasn't.
"You're not that delusional, are you? Ravel, you're supposed to be smart. Why are you acting like this is good?" Riser asked her and she took a deep breath in. No words left her mouth though, because as she went to speak, a corner of her mind said it was better to just not.
Instead, she stood up, picking up her notebook and resolved to leave.
Her parents weren't even home, her older brothers were busy and Riser…
Yeah, she'd just leave.
"Ravel? Where are you going?!" Riser called behind her but she resolutely ignored him until she reached their teleportation circle. "Ravel!"
"I'll be going to be a servant, if it's all the same to you, brother," she said to a wide-eyed Riser before disappearing. A moment later, she found herself in an empty room, calming herself before sighing. Feeling more annoyed than she thought she ought to, she left through the door and moved through the halls with the same ease she did those in her own home.
"Ravel?" Kunou asked when she entered the room where they usually all worked together, if each with their own things. "Didn't you leave like an hour ago?"
"I…" she started before she found that words failed her. What was she supposed to say? That she was running away from her annoying brother? That her home was ironically cold? That she missed-
"Did you forget something?" Joshua asked, eyes slightly unfocused like they had been ever since the attack on the vampires. "We were about to watch Sera's latest episode, but that can wait a bit if you need to tell me something."
"... Actually, I can wait until that's over," she answered, much to Kunou's evident delight. That was good, she supposed. Not that she cared much for the younger girl, but being nice to her would make Joshua happy. That was also why she indulged the excited chatter about the magical girl show that Ravel had once looked down on and now knew every single trivia detail about.
It was only because of that, honest.
Waiting for the episode to be over would also give her time to come up with an excuse for coming back, so that was convenient too.
[} Chapter End {]
Hey guys! How's it going?
You know how it goes, guys. For every chapter of action, there's gotta be at least ten that are like this, just chilling and progressing things or progressing the preparations for the progress to happen. Or progressing the progress so that other things may progre-
I think you get it.
All the same, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Random Question: If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? I think I'd like to go to Japan, but at the same time… Eh, I'm not all that big on touristing and traveling. I think the best vacation for me would be like, going to a neat fancy hotel or cabin and staying there doing nothing but relaxing for the entirety of the trip.
See you.