Novels2Search

Ch 8

As the group got ready to teleport back to Grigori, Issei suddenly felt a powerful urge to stay behind for a minute. "Go on without me. I need to check something out before we go here in Kuoh." He said, getting a nod from Azazel at that as the others left. "Ddraig, did you feel that too, or was it just me."

'[I felt something but I couldn't place it outside of being in this area itself so I would stay cautious if you were to look around.]' Ddraig agreed as he couldn't place what he had felt right as the group went to leave.

As Issei carefully walked around the destroyed shrine, he noticed just how much power had to have been used to take it down along with everything else in the area but past that, he couldn't tell what type of magic was done to do it with. As he got closer to the shrine itself, he felt a tug to one corner of the house and went to it, only to find what looked like a Fallen Angel feather, which once he picked it up, he could feel was giving off the presence he had felt earlier. It also felt somewhat familiar. "Ddraig, Red, any ideas?"

'That would be Shuri's soul as I was able to help at the last minute by bringing her soul to me before I put it in the feather you have Issei as I hoped that it would be found by someone, either you, Baraqiel, or anyone else that the Fallen might send to investigate the scene and I can't say that it's a bad thing that you found it first.' Red said, having known how much this event had caused issues in the future and how Issei would want to help Akeno so when he felt Shuri's soul still in the area he had helped them out by putting it into the feather for someone to find. At the look of confusion from Issei, he continued.

'Don't forget, you can 'carry' items in the Boosted Gear just like you do Ascalon so it's likely you could do it with this feather as well. Though in this case, her soul could transfer into the Boosted Gear as another entity living inside of it just like Ddraig does, so you would need to keep that in mind.'

'[You're my first host that tried to add anything to the Boosted Gear like Ascalon so I only have this to go by but I would think that if you wish to add the feather in like you did Ascalon, even if just to store it would work. If Shuri does wake up in the Gear and can talk to us, I don't think it would cause any issues and between all of us and Azazel since he has his memories back, I think we could find a way to fix it if something does go wrong.]' Ddraig said after a moment of thought. If it had been before he'd met Issei, he felt he wouldn't have agreed to do what they were about to try, but he knew he wasn't likely to ever get another host like this one for how interesting things have become and with how things ended before they time traveled, he was willing to try some stuff he otherwise might not.

Issei couldn't help but agree with the two of them and their point. He likely wouldn't have thought about her soul awakening if he put the feather into the Gear for safekeeping but it would make sense that something like that could happen, especially with the Biblical God dead as he could see that causing issues. He also agreed on the fact Azazel would likely be able to help them figure something out if it came to it. "Let's do it then. I would normally not agree to something like this so quickly but since you're ok with it Ddraig let's do it."

After confirming it with Ddraig, he called forth the Boosted Gear and put the feather on top of the gem after Ddraig's words on what to do with it. After he did that, he could feel some of the power from the Gear come out and surround the feather before it was pulled into the gem.

'I don't think we will have to worry about Shuri's soul waking up anytime soon if I had to guess so we should be fine for now but you should warn Azazel now so he can be prepared if something does happen.' Red commented getting a nod from Issei as he thought about what to do next.

Right as he decided to teleport to Grigori, he changed his mind and pulled out his phone to do something he had hoped would happen one day as he sent a text to Kaori and Yui to see if they were free later today to meet someone. He'd thought about taking Yui and Kaori to see Azazel again but was afraid to do it until Azazel regained his memories so it wouldn't cause any issues in this timeline. With that done and the promise to come get them later as he had something else to deal with first, he teleported back to Azazel's office.

Scene Skip

After he got back to Grigori, he learned more about what had happened from Baraqiel than he had known in the previous timeline since he'd only heard Akeno's side of the story.

Baraqiel had been sent on a mission to check on a possible rogue Fallen Angel that was skirting the lines and Azazel knew he had to have someone he could trust check it out, and that's when Shuri's family struck as they had been watching closely to catch him away from the house. They were able to kill Shuri before Baraqiel got back due to the alert system he'd put in place but he couldn't get anything else done due to Akeno trying to keep him away from her mother before he felt more presences outside and when he went to deal with them they had a teleportation trap set up for him and he couldn't stop it in time before he got teleported out. By the time he got himself free and back to the shrine, the three of them had shown up and that was that as he didn't know what had happened when he was teleported out.

Issei sighed in frustration as he heard what had happened as he hadn't been able to help in this situation at all since he hadn't known when the event actually happened last time. He had been secretly hoping to help his peerage mates where he could, even if from the sidelines this time around and he'd missed his first chance now but there wasn't anything he could do for them at the time. "I wish we could have made it in time to help you and you have my sincerest apologies for the loss of your family." He said, hoping that Akeno hadn't died in this timeline and had somehow survived the blast, but he had no way of knowing at the moment.

Baraqiel couldn't help but be thankful that this young boy was acting like he did even if they hadn't much much conversation or interactions between the first time they met and now. "While I thank you for that, I know it wasn't anyone in here's fault as they struck while they had a chance. I knew that they hated Shuri for marrying me but I never expected them to go this far."

"You're right and I wish I had been able to help you out more than this, but this is an order. Take time off, go and see if you can't figure anything out from the remains, and don't worry about your work here. You need time to grieve and you'll have it." Azazel stepped in since he knew that this was something that Baraqiel would need and even if he hadn't gotten his memories back, he would have done this much and more for his friend.

Once Baraqiel left, after trying to say he didn't need the time, but Azazel and Vali finally talking him into it, Vali turned back to the original point of the meeting before they rushed off to the shrine. "Much as I'm sure the two of you would love to keep talking about what just happened and I would normally agree but shouldn't we be getting back to what happened right before that since there isn't a whole lot we can do right now unless Baraqiel asks for help." She suggested, having known Baraqiel long enough to know he won't ask for help, for now, getting a nod from Azazel at that and Issei accepted it since he didn't know Baraqiel all that well to be honest.

Issei though didn't have much left to comment on unless they had any questions. "That's honestly all I have for now though I do have a question Azazel for you since I can now ask someone that was there when it happened." He said, before continuing after he got a confused look from Azazel. "What happened in the isolation field that caused the Beast to break free. If you don't want to talk about it yet I can easily understand but it's something we never knew in the future, or if we did I never heard what it was." But before Azazel could comment either way, Issei had another idea.

"Before that though, I have some people that would love to see you again I'm sure Azazel so let me go grab them real quick." He commented, before heading back home to get the Kendo girls and leaving a confused Azazel on who he might be bringing.

Scene Skip

After meeting up with the two girls and let them know that they were going to meet someone that they knew from the previous timeline that had also regained their memories, Issei teleported the three of them back to Azazel's office. Once the two girls had gotten situated with the teleportation, they looked around before seeing Azazel which shocked them to see him once more. "Azazael?!" They both cried out in shock at seeing their old teacher once more.

Azazel for his part was surprised at who Issei had brought to see him. He had known that two others had remembered as well, but he wasn't expecting two of the girls that he taught while a teacher at Kuoh Academy, since as far as he knew, they didn't know about the supernatural. "Hello, girls. It's been a while." He said, before turning to Issei for some help in this situation.

Issei could only laugh at the group as the girls turned towards him wondering what he was laughing at the group for. "They know about the supernatural Azazel so you don't have to worry about that." He commented getting an oh from Azazel as he turned towards the girls, now understanding why they were here and why they didn't seem worried about the teleportation. "They had a contract with Asia right before Trihexa broke free and learned of it then and had their memories come back the same day I met you at the park." After he commented that he turned towards the two again. "You know Azazel but the other person here you never met in the previous timeline so let me introduce you. This is Vali and she was someone that helped me out in the previous timeline many times, and is also my rival." He said, to the girl's confusion.

"You know how I've told you about my Sacred Gear and it's one of the strongest right," he asked getting a nod. "Well, Ddraig was not the only dragon that was at his level and Vali here is the wielder of the Sacred Gear of the other dragon that was at the level and the two had a rivalry that their hosts normally kept up. I'll go into detail more later but thanks to events that happened in the previous timeline, we ended our rivalry and now work together."

Yui couldn't help but notice one thing about the introductions. "Why didn't you give us her last name?"

"Due to family issues that are not mine to tell, she no longer goes by her last name though she might tell you at some point down the line." He commented, getting an understanding nod from the two before Issei turned towards Vali. "you can trust these two and I'm sure you'll come to agree with me in time but I felt I should say that now and we'll see what happens." He commented, getting a nod from her as Azazel stepped in with a comment.

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"From what I remember in my time as a teacher, I can agree with Issei on that Vali with these two, but does anyone have a comment before I go into what Issei asked before he left?"

Kaori had one, though it was more of a confirmation than a question. Issei had already told the two of them that Azazel had been a part of the supernatural and where he had actually gone when he left but he didn't say that he had met him yet, which while they had been talking back and forth, she'd realized that he hadn't likely told them because if what she guessed was right, it might have caused issues until now. "Just so we're all on the same picture here, everyone in this room has regained their memories from the future timeline, right? I'm guessing Vali and Azazel just recently regained their memories and it would have caused issues if you weren't careful."

"Correct. I first talked to Azazel the day I ran into the two of you actually after our meeting and have been working with both Vali and Azazel in training on stuff that they could help me with while also getting in sword training with the two of you. They just recently got their memories back and after an incident that happened earlier, I decided to go and grab the two of you just so everyone that currently is known to have their memories back is caught up on everything." He commented, getting nods from everyone though Yui and Kaori were going to ask about what he meant by everyone known being here that had their memories back, but then remembered that he said someone else had remembered when he first time traveled that he hadn't run into yet. "We were about to dive into what happened from Azazel's viewpoint as he was in the barrier field where Trihexa was sealed when it broke free when I went to grab you two."

Azazel nodded as everyone found a seat to sit on before looking at him. "Your right Issei and to be honest while I know when it happened, I don't know how it did. We had just received one of our many supply runs we get occasionally when Trihexa let loose with this massive blast of power, stronger than I'd ever seen before, and aimed it at the spot where the supplies come through and it somehow broke the barrier apart. While we had put backup plans in place for this type of situation, Trihexa hit too hard and fast for them to take place and stop it, though the one we had hoped would help actually seemed to have backfired in this case as we had set it up to where the field would collapse and help us out more if he somehow found a way out, but it collapsed too late and killed us in the process and the Beast escaped." He stated, getting it all out before he pulled out some sake to drink to help calm himself down, while the rest of the group sat there stunned at the news.

"A lot of that might be an educated guess, but that's my take since that's all I can remember before I got killed. Whether the barrier had somehow weakened while we were in there fighting enough for it to break out, or just blind luck I couldn't tell you, but we all know where that ended up."

Kaori wasn't sure what to think. While she had heard some of what the supernatural world was about with having trained with Issei these past few months but it didn't stop her wondering just what else had happened that none of the non-supernatural people knew about. "Wow. I honestly don't know what to think about that. Is there anything we can do right now to help stop this beast from being released?"

"At our current status… no. We don't even know where it was sealed by my father, the Biblical God, and due to current situations, we can't ask either." He said, not wanting to open up that wound right now with these girls that his father was dead, but Issei stepped in as he knew what Azazel was thinking.

"I already warned them about that Azazel. I knew it would be harsh and could have ended badly if I wasn't careful but they honestly took it better than I thought they would." He commented, which gave the girls an idea of what they were talking about.

It had been only a month after they had run into each other when he brought them into his room and set up a strong barrier before letting them in on one of the supernatural world's biggest secrets; the death of the Biblical God and the original four Satans. While they were both definitely stunned by the revelation, they were able to understand why when they heard what he had been fighting before his death.

Seeing as they had already been warned about it, Azazel continued. "How about, for now, we call this meeting done since we can always talk more about what's going to happen from here at a later date unless someone else has a comment."

Issei was about to say he didn't when he remembered the feather. "Actually, yes I do though I'm not sure if you'll be able to do anything with it yet." He said, getting confused looks from everyone. "To add a little backstory for you Kaori, Yui, right before I brought the two of you here, we had an incident where Akeno's mother lost her life protecting Akeno, and while we know she lived in the previous timeline, we aren't sure if she's alive right now or not as we weren't able to make it in time to stop the incident in this timeline." He started, getting stunned looks from them as they realized who he was talking about and they hadn't known she'd had that sort of trauma in her past.

"It's not my story to tell past that but right after we got done with that incident, I felt a presence at their shrine and found to my shock a feather with Shuri's soul latched onto it," he finished, knowing that while the two Kendoka might not know the name, it would instantly register with Azazel and he instantly gained a stunned look as those words registered in his head. "I have the feather within the Boosted Gear as I figured you would be able to do something with it Azazel at some point if I saved it."

"Thank you, Issei. I don't know what to say right now but with this, hopefully, this will allow me to atone for this mistake much easier this time around." Azazel said, tears coming to his eyes as he thanked Issei for that save. "While I wouldn't mind trying to do something now to help Baraqiel, the technology of Grigori isn't strong enough to clone a human yet and since the peace treaty is still years away… we'll have to work this out later," Azazel said before they ended the meeting for the time being.

Scene Skip

As the night closed in, Issei couldn't help but look back at what had happened during the day. First, the memories coming back for Vali and Azazel, something he was happy had finally happened as he didn't have to hide anything from them anymore. Then the whole event with Akeno's family, something which he was still kicking himself for not being able to help them with since he had known about it but with everything else going on in his life, it slipped his mind. Thankfully, everyone that had their memories back that he knew of was in the loop now on who knew what and the Kendo girls had been able to get a room for the night in Grigori and they would figure out plans for them tomorrow. But before his mind could go farther down that rabbit hole, a knock came from his door.

"Issei, can I come in?" Vali asked, having come by to talk to him once they were alone.

'Speak of the devil and she shall appear.' Issei thought chuckling at how he'd been thinking about her not long before and now she appears at his door. Walking up to the door to open it, he noticed she hadn't changed her clothes from earlier and seemed to have come here before going to her room. "Come on in. I was just thinking about the day we'd had today. What's up?"

As Vali went to sit on the edge of his bed, Issei decided to pull up his chair from the desk in the room and sat in it backward to look at her more comfortably. "What's on your mind."

Vali wasn't sure where to start honestly so just started with an easy subject. "I'm sure that you've been wondering why I'm a girl in this timeline compared to when you knew me previously."

Issei snorted softly at the way she put it but didn't disagree. "Right before you barged into the office, I had realized that I would run into you at some point in my time I would spend with Azazel but I wasn't expecting you to be a girl I'll admit and Red was the one that told us that you were the real deal but wouldn't tell us what had happened as he had looked into it himself. If you want to tell me or not is up to you as I'm not going to push you to tell me if it's something personal."

Vali couldn't help but laugh at that part of Issei that she remembered from the previous timeline. "It's not anything personal honestly, like my grandfather doing something to me or whatever. You know the gender gun Azazel had but swore to never use?" She asked, getting a snort from Issei as he remembered it alright and how much Azazel seemed to hate that one invention.

"For a little backstory, I only was a boy in the previous timeline due to that gun as it misfired the first time he used it and turned me into the boy you knew me as and nothing he could do would change me back so I was stuck like it and to be honest, once I finally got past the shock and anger of it, I realized it could help me hopefully stay hidden from my family until I was ready to deal with them, though we both know how that ended." She said before looking down at the floor.

Thanks to Albion's help, she was able to keep her emotions in check from the backlash that occurred when she regained her memories and her 'death', but she could still feel it in the back of her head. Thankfully, Albion seemed to have not been affected by it as much and was a big help. What she wasn't expecting was for Issei to get out of his chair to come and sit beside her.

Issei couldn't help but notice it looked like she was still reeling from the effects of regaining her memories and what it might be doing to her. Since he hadn't died in the previous timeline, he didn't have a clue on what it might entail for someone having their memories come back like that. "I'll admit I don't know the pain you might be going through right now with your memories coming back, but I'm here if you want to talk." He commented before she surprised him with a hug.

"Thank you. That means a lot to me." She said as she hugged him tight, thankful that he was here. Now that he had brought that up, she timidly tried to get into the next part of why she was here, though she wasn't sure how it would go. "Now that we got this part done, onto the more embarrassing part." She started before Issei cut her off with a laugh.

"Let me guess, where do we stand between us." He commented, having expected this conversation for some time, and getting a blush from her. He'd admit to thinking about it some but he hadn't made any decisions on his end due to the previous timeline, and until now, not sure what had caused Vali to be a boy in the past.

"I'll admit to giving it some thought and I'm not against it but with everything that's happened in the past and now and I can't give you an answer right now but I won't say I'm against it if we decide to try something out. Just remember about all of the other girls that I had in the previous timeline and hopefully will have again." He said, getting a nod from her as she accepted it and after giving him one more hug, left him alone for the night.

Scene Skip. 1 Week later

Kyoto

Issei was making his way towards Yasaka's shrine as part of a job for Azazel. Azazel had been looking into way's he might could hasten the process of bringing back Shuri and had found out that the Yokai in Kyoto might have a way to do it or speed up the process whenever it came time and had been able to get a meeting set up with Yasaka on getting the ball rolling at least and had sent Issei out as his ambassador and Issei didn't mind as he would love to see the two again.

As he finally reached the stairs to the shrine, he started running up the stairs, but as he finally looked towards the top, he noticed two faces he recognized as Kunou and Yasaka which surprised him that they would be waiting for him.

Kunou was waiting happily for Issei to appear when she finally saw him running up the stairs. Once he finally reached the top, she couldn't contain herself at finally seeing him once again and jumped happily into his arms. "Issei! You finally came to visit." Surprising him as he didn't know what to expect as he caught her and getting a sigh from her mother, but she smiled as well at seeing him.

Issei wasn't sure what to think about what was going on but the way they were acting made him wonder. 'Are they the ones that remembered when I first traveled? But if so, how did I not have two headaches.' He thought to himself as he set Kunou down much to her unhappiness. "Well, this is a surprise. Am I to assume you know what's happened?"

Yasaka was glad to finally see Issei and hopefully get some answers on what was going on and why they were back in time. "If you mean that our memories are back then yes. How about we go inside so we can sit down and talk more comfortably. We have a lot to discuss." She said getting a nod from Issei at that as Kunou grabbed his hand and the three of them walked inside.