83This is a new beginning, one that would doubtlessly spiral into a brilliant adventure. Are any of you interested? Of course you are, you were willing to click on this story! Then I hope I won't disappoint. I'd like to think this is perhaps a different idea than the others on the DxD section, specifically because it focuses on one tool, a phone. Anyway, let's go!
Super hero time!
Shuujin: There is only one man who will answer the call. Issei, you've been given your duty.
Issei: Phantom thief, whose heart are you to steal next? I've got to admit, those friends of yours are rather beautiful!
Shuujin: Hands off! I can only deal with one Issei perving after my friends.
Issei:... Excuse me?
S + I: Break the chains! Phone up the future!
The sight of your own blood can be somewhat more frightening than you could ever expect. The idea that the very essence of your body that keeps every cell functioning is kinda 'not in you' comes across as perhaps disorienting, enough so that there are many documented cases of people fainting at the sight of their own blood. So when Issei Hyoudou found himself staring at a copious pool of the life liquid quickly leaking out of the pretty much overkill of a hole in his stomach, there was an absence of any thought not associated with blood and the ironically beautiful sight it made as it stained the ground.
In actual fact, it wouldn't be too outlandish to admit that the whole scenario leading up to Issei's death was overkill. His murderer didn't need to pretend to be an enchanting young girl who just so happened to have an eye for the irredeemable pervert, nor did she need to give a false name to lure him in with an innocent visage. Going on a full day date wasn't necessary and taking the one example of non-perverted kindness he had shown to a girl and using to kill him seems cruel in hindsight.
Even the actual death might have been too over the top. There wasn't a purpose to graphically display a transformation that stripped the murderer of her clothes into a much more seductive attire and taunting Issei about the fact that the only girl he had dated was here to kill him in cold blood after using him for entertainment? That was just mean at that point.
However, perhaps the most paradoxical act was the murder itself. Not content with such a simple kill as a single stab through the heart or a slash across the neck, yet that apparently wasn't enough for the murderer. Repeated violent stabs through the chest, immediately purely so that his suffering could be prolonged, that was sadistic. But at least it would make his death quicker than just stabbing the boy once in a non-lethal area.
And so it was that list of unfortunate events that meant Issei lay in the night at the park, a fallen angel of all things named Raynare haughtily laughing as she flew away into the distance with a flow of black feathers, where he had his final thoughts, his final speculations on the terrible life he had led so far.
'I never achieved anything…'
It was only natural for people to think they had longer than the time they spent in school to be recognised. There were many famous artists, scientists and personalities that were deemed in consequential or unremarkable during their education and yet still turned out to be perfectly brilliant figures in history's pages, but that didn't mean to the extent Issei had been. Reviled by the female populous for his and his friends' openly perverted hijinks, a bane of teaching staff when he would place aside important assignments and work in favour of the latest porn video or doujinshi release and detested by the males, both for giving them a bad reputation amongst the girls and constantly interrupting classes with stupid outbursts. It was easy to say that Issei Hyoudou was a failure, through and through.
'I could never become anything…'
An obvious follow on from such behaviour would be that no reputable employer would want him in their forces, with both bad grades and derogatory statements from schools. That would mean he would have to take a bad job maybe, live with the basic necessities and spend the rest of his days waiting for the miracle that would allow him to get famous on a fluke like the others. It was rather dismal and pessimistic, but the boy was bleeding out on his first date; perhaps he deserved to be a bit negative about his life. Death did tend to put a dent in any future plans after all, but maybe it would've prevented him living dismally. Now, all he had to do was live a honest and good life wherever they chose to reincarnate him next so that when he became a human once more, he could stay as one – the art of reincarnation meant sinners would be placed in a less than brilliant body: an insect or worm.
But that was enough retrospection apparently, for Issei's eyes finally dropped closed on this world for the final time, the brain's lack of oxygen resulting in it shutting down in a last ditch preservation attempt doomed to fail. Had his last thought as a mortal the first time on this earth been different, if he had allowed his perverted ideals remain even to his deathbed, perhaps he might've been saved in another way, brought into the world of the supernatural with a beginner's view, but that was not to be.
After all, there're procedures to be followed.
"And that means you may take your final phone call."
Issei pushed aside his brown hair, now messed up thanks to his unfortunate death, and gave a dull yawn as he looked around the bright walls. The corridor he stood in shone with an ethereal brilliance, as if a castle had been bathed in a film crew's lights for a shoot. A grey diamond pattern went straight through the centre of the opalescent path, leading up to a phone, where a sight far too great for eyes stood with a pleasant smile.
"Where… am I?" Issei hesitantly probed, taking a few small steps forward towards the blue haired beauty stood, her body near giving off a radiance of her own. Pale glowing skin, paired with a dress of azure and Maya that seemed to continue on for an eternity meant the woman could be mistaken for a goddess. A witch's hat in a similar azure sat upon her head, but entrancing eyes were hidden as she hummed a light tune along with the chords of her grand piano. At first, the idea of a window next to the piano he was seemed quite odd to Issei, considering how well lit the place seemed to be, but it was a second glance that told the truth and the boy darted forward to look out of it, the midnight stars greeting him cheerfully.
"What the heck!?" out of the back of the piano where normally the strings would be, Issei could see a bustling town bursting out of the wood, trains coming over the edges bearing passengers to fly out into the depths through the window. It was as if a door to a completely different place had opened up before Issei as he looked down on the town, apparently in the grips of a cloudless night that gave a fascinating view of the surrounding stars and space, endless and spreading far farther than the sides of the piano would imply, as he moved where he could around the piano without blocking the trains that came to and fro from wherever the trains went outside and the piano town. Throughout his excited analysis though, the woman in blue continued her humming, her tune uninterrupted and fingers still moving along the gilded keys.
utaou, utaou, mahou no youni,
shobokureta ashita ga hanikamu kurai!
utaou, namida de, satou no youna,
amaku shiroi "kibou" tokasanu youni!
Let's sing for you, let's sing for me, like magic, then maybe,
The melancholy tomorrow seen will blush from the touch it brings.
Let's sing again, the tears you shed may sting, but with a key,
The sugary white hope that grows from them won't fall out of reach…
Watching the people that lived in the town within the piano and with the lilting melody of the woman handling it, Issei could've lost himself in that moment and stay there forever. It was through sheer willpower that he remembered his initial confusion and turned to interrupt the lady.
"Excuse me… excuse me!" it took a few tries before he actually got through, though it appeared more like the woman finished her song and finally noticed the boy's arrival.
"Ah, my apologies. I have a tendency to find myself lost in the music." She apologised with a slight now of her head, her words sounding just as musical as her melody. "But it keeps my people so joyful and they're so adorable when they ask me to continue, I just can't find it in me to stop."
"I see, well it's certainly a beautiful piece miss." Issei honestly praised. He had, on occasion, chanced upon the choir and orchestra clubs when they were rehearsing and while excellent for a school club, which represented the school on a nation-wide scale, there was no way it could ever compare to the majesty of her voice. "But, um… just where are we?"
The lady seemed to be true in her surprise before a melancholic smile grew upon her delicate features.
"This is my home, my stage and performance hall. I didn't think there would ever be a visitor, yet here you are." She remarked, with a soft gesture to the white walls around her, Issei taking note of the overly large sleeves that left a great amount of room around the wrists. "If you are here, then you are my chosen one!"
"CHOSEN ONE!?" Issei exclaimed piercingly, the aqua haired woman showing no response to the volume. The boy's thoughts were sent into a flurry, numerous situations flying in and out about her words. "As in fated lovers!? Destined partners!? Permanent love!?"
Okay, so perhaps he had been a bit enthusiastic in his response, but the woman was definitely not uneasy on the eyes and it was enough to provoke his perverted side even in death. For some inane reason, Issei was perfectly fine with ignoring the lack of noticeable bust, or at least not as large as many of the teenage girls who attended his home school of Kuoh academy; it was as if everything else that was just so ethereal about her was enough to compensate for the fact. The woman didn't seem offended at all though, holding up a dainty hand to hide the giggle that escaped.
"I apologise, but not in that fashion. You were unfortunate enough to meet a premature end, yes?" the woman winced as she mentioned the last part, Issei giving a dumbfounded look as he nodded. "Oh you poor thing. I was lucky enough to snatch you just before the others could and I would like to give you a very important job."
"Whatever you want miss!" Issei stated, with a hand over his heart. There was a part of the boy that wanted to ignore the way it still trembled.
"That's good. Now, I have to follow the procedures and that means you may take your final phone call." She stated, pulling out a flip phone done entirely in gold, save for the elegant script upon the back in black which read 'lucet ut clara futura sit magicae': a bright future shines like magic. The device opened up, slotting into Issei's hands almost as if it had been deliberately made for him, Issei inspecting the buttons. There were numbers, which was to be expected, but there was also a larger centre button at the top of the keypad as well as different colours upon each of the buttons. Thinking about her suggestion, Issei felt a strange thought come to mind before he lifted his head towards the woman once more.
"But don't you make final phone calls in prison or something like that?" he asked in confusion, the sad smile returning to her lips.
"Yes. Before you face your death." She clarified, a shiver going through Issei's back.
"Wait, so I'm gonna die again!?"
"No, no, not at all! You're actually going to return to life once more. This is for someone else actually, well… I suppose you could say it's both." Issei was about to ask for further clarification, but the phone began vibrating slightly and ringing and at the woman's insistence, Issei held the phone up to his ear, pressing the green answer button.
"I… I know you're all gone but please… somebody answer me… Ophis, Please? Onihime? Yurei? Somebody?"
The voice sounded oddly familiar, but it was hard to tell from the wracking sobs and what seemed to be the sound of growing energy, a pulsing or crackling.
"Somebody's here. You don't have to worry." Issei stated soothingly, the words almost flowing from his mouth without effort. The strange familiarity to the voice added to the fact that everything that had happened to him up until this point could be summed up in the word weird meant that he had just given up and decided to go along with the flow.
"Ah, yes… it seems to be coming back now… I guess this is right…"
Despite the melancholy in the voice, Issei could detect a tone of relief and almost dark humour from the way the caller spoke.
"I…I'm dying… I, I don't know w-what to say but… but… I'm scared."
"You don't have to be, I'm sure there's help coming! I'll call someone right away, just promise me you'll hang in there!" Issei blurted out, ready to hang up and call an ambulance as soon as he got the details but a pained cry made him pause in his tracks.
"No! y-you can't… I'm dying. I-I'm not injured, I'm not in pain… I'm dying and I'm… scared… everyone's gone… everyone…"
"They're not gone. Even if it feels that way, they're not gone. Even if they're far away, they'll still be in your heart." What else could a normal boy do but speak the truth from his own, if inexperienced, view?
"But… they're all dead… because… because of m-me… they're all dead and I'm about to die with…. Without avenging them… I couldn't kill them…"
"Did they ask for vengeance? Are you truly dying in vain if they didn't want you to kill whoever it is?" Issei asked and for a moment, there was nought but sobs on the other side. He wouldn't pretend to know what on earth the other person was talking about, but he would at least be there in their final moments, even if none of their friends could be there.
"No… I-I suppose you're right… but I… I'm still scared… dying all alone… failing the people I care most about… not knowing what's going to happen next…"
"I won't lie to you. It's frightening." Issei stated softly, the ironic laughter unable to be held back. "It's absolutely bloody terrifying. But there's a chance that what come's next will be alright. Maybe… maybe there's a beautiful woman waiting. Maybe there's a lovely town view you can watch. There's no way to tell, but it doesn't have to be frightening.
"…That's what I should've… expected you to say. Sound like… you've… been through it all." The voice sadly remarked, almost sounding as if he was reminiscing. "I al… almost forgot about that… Thank you. Maybe death… isn't as bad as it… as it seems."
"Your friends, their deaths have not been in vain as long as you remain strong to the end. Nothing says you won't be able to see them in the next life." Issei was at this point holding the phone limply, the tool threatening to fall from his hand at any moment. A harsher crackle of energy made its way into the phone's mic and Issei heard a laugh, still sad as it was, come through.
"Thank you. Maybe you're right… They didn't die in vain… there's still Generation… Re-volve-lution… even in death their names sound stupid… I didn't fail them… this will be the last time you hear me like this… this is the last time I'll… hear me like this… but still, thank you."
Issei flinched as the crackling in the background grew to unmeasurable levels, the man's final words and thanks being the last thing he heard before the phone hung up. Clicking the mobile shut, Issei turned to the woman with questioning eyes, shocked when he saw the discrete motion of wiping away a tear.
"Now that all of the… mandatory stuff is done with, let me tell you your mission." She declared, her tone even gentler than before.
"But who w-" a single hand raised stopped Issei's words, a shake of the head detailing how delicate the matter was.
"I want you to return to the world and help my daughter. She is an innocent child, masquerading as a stronger adult. There are many other creatures that will help you along the way and many bonds shall be forged. I hope you will make them strong." She explained. "You're duty is a flexible one and it should not interrupt your normal life in too great a manner. Just help my daughter, grow your bonds and they will become your strength as well."
"But, how?" was all that Issei could ask, lest he make himself appear more the fool.
"That phone will be your weapon, your tool and the mic in which you speak to the hearts of people. Each button will correspond to a bond – press the centre one, the person or people you desire, then the centre again and they shall answer your call, or press their visage and then the answer button to speak with them. There is no time for further explanation, you must go now!"
At the other end of the expansive corridor, the doors opened wide to reveal a blinding light that seemed to suck Issei in, the boy letting out a startle gasp as his feet began to move of their own accord. He reached out a hand towards the lady, her final smile burnt onto his mind and the tail of her farewell lost to the winds of time and space, before his world became white.
"Issei Hyoudou. Remember my name..."
With a great gasp of air, Issei awoke within his bed. It seemed far more warm than usual though, the boy shifting until the weight in his arms was a little more comfortable.
Wait…
"Who the heck are you!?"
A head of black hair poked itself out of the covers with bleary grey eyes, rubbing them before turning to Issei with a stoic face and a monotone voice.
"You, don't remember me father?"
Well this is the time for you to review, tell me your thoughts on this whole idea. It may be a bit confusing for now, but as soon as things pick up a bit, maybe we can get a bit more intricate! I won't lie, there may be quite a wait before the truly intriguing stuff begins, but just bear with me for now. As for the song, don't take the second half as just a translation, they're translyrics. Imagine she sings those too. I call that version, 'the lullaby for Orchest Town.'
