A Single Touch of the Divine
[Agnes Waterhouse]
"So, you're saying that you can't teach any of the classes outside the Valkyries?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at the man across her desk. It wasn't like she could stop him, but she was far from pleased by this sudden development and expressing otherwise would be a blatant lie. "Can I ask why?" she tried, but she had a feeling that it wouldn't be that easy.
Joshua looked concerningly out of it. Similarly to how he looked after big fights he was in and that almost made Agnes think that she didn't want to know. She had to ask though, because anything related to Joshua was a big deal for her association. She couldn't afford not to know something about him if he would deign to tell her. Alas…
"You can," he said, a weary half-smile on his face. "But I won't answer," he added, predictably. Then the man took a deep breath in and leaned back on his seat. "I'm not leaving you or House of Water out to dry though," he reassured after that pause, and damn was that effective all by itself. "Ravel…" he encouraged then, gesturing to his pet devil, who straightened in her seat and glanced at the notepad in her hands before staring straight at Agnes.
A lot could be said about the Phenex, but the fact that she basically managed all of Joshua's business made her powerful. Calling her Joshua's pet devil might seem like an insult, but it wasn't really one. That little girl could ruin the organization that Agnes and her family had created through generations. It made her nervous and it also annoyed her to no end. So, she contented herself calling the girl names in her head, because she'd basically lucked out with her position, the little shit.
Not that she had a lot of ground to stand on, considering it was fortune alone that had seen Joshua in her association and not in one of her competitors'.
"Right," the devil started, clearing her through and then locking eyes with Agnes. "We believe that Eliphas Levi is capable of teaching Mr. Davis' classes on his own to an adequate degree. If there are any issues, Mr. Davis is more than willing to help Mr. Levi with any problems. However, he won't take kindly to fabricated issues, which some of his students are more than capable of."
'I will work, but if you bother me for nothing, we'll have a problem,' was the clear message Agnes got after that, and she nodded her agreement. What else could she do? Besides, Joshua had already talked to her about setting Levi as his replacement for his classes some time ago. Evidently, whatever had come up had sped up those plans. Still, her associates and her would have to keep a close eye on that class, just to make sure any concerns were valid and that no one caused too much trouble for Levi.
"As he said, he'll keep working on the classes with the Valkyries, but he won't be able to make the schedule as fluid as he has so far. He'll stick to the timetable that's stated in the agreement that was made," Phenex continued and that was hardly a problem for Agnes. Sure, the possibility of longer class hours was something that was considered once they realized how Joshua taught, but it was hardly a problem if he decided not to teach like that anyway, so long as the quality of his classes didn't go down with the time. "I don't foresee that will be a problem."
'That better not be a problem,' was what Agnes heard, and she nodded. It wouldn't be. The Norse might take issue with that a little bit, since they likely had heard about how Joshua taught and could have different expectations. However, the fact of the matter was that Joshua was pulling away from classes altogether other than theirs, so that was bound to help ease things plenty.
"The last point is addressed to both Ms. Waterhouse and Ms. Báthory," the Phenex child continued and Agnes straightened, sharing a look with her associate. She had an idea of where the conversation was going. If he wanted something from both her and Báthory, then it was likely- "Mr. Davis requires information." Exactly that. "More specifically information on the Dimensional Gap," Phenex added and this time it gave Agnes pause. What could Joshua possibly want with that particular hellspace? "This also takes priority over the efforts to procure rune magic knowledge."
Ok… Something big was going on, much bigger than Agnes had initially guessed. She didn't know what Joshua had gotten into, but she knew that he wouldn't give up runes that easily, not after what she'd seen since the topic came up. No, something huge was happening and she was really doubting if she wanted to know about it or not.
"That's all for now," the Phenex child finished with, nodding as if pleased with herself. The expression became ten times more obvious when Joshua reached out to pet her head, even if the devil tried really hard not to act that way. Was it any wonder that Agnes called her Joshua's pet devil in her head?
"I'm sorry if this is inconvenient, I really am, but I can do nothing about this," Joshua told them before locking eyes rather intently with Agnes. "If anyone gives you trouble over this, feel free to tell them that once I'm done with what I have to do, I'll make sure they know how displeased I'll be," he added and Agnes felt a shiver run down her spine. She expected that threat would be plenty effective, considering it scared her when she had no intentions of causing any issues herself. "Also, whatever it is that you think the information is worth for me? Double it, maybe triple it. That's how much you can take off your debts with me if you can find me plenty of info. Maybe more, if I find any of it particularly useful."
Oh, was she going to find information for him. If there was a piece of paper anywhere in the world with the words Dimensional Gap in them, then Agnes would turn the world over to find it. And she'd get plenty of people to do just that for her too.
"I'm also raising the value of runes knowledge, but not as much," he added and Agnes nodded firmly.
She'd have a lot of work to do.
[}-o-{]
[Ravel Phenex]
It had been a hectic morning, but at least there wasn't that much to deal with that very day other than House of Water.
Most of Joshua's other appointments could be found on other days and he could more or less schedule his own spellcrafting time on his own, really. That and other things were dealt with in a matter of minutes. More complicated things like his services for Heaven, Grigori and Hell were a tad trickier, but the fact that he was on such good terms – if it could even be called that – with Heaven and Hell helped plenty. As far as any of them were concerned, Grigori's opinion on the matter was irrelevant, but it was nice that Joshua had built some rapport with Penemue.
It'd make things a little simpler.
Azazel could throw a tantrum, but he didn't have a leg to stand on, not unless he wanted to cause issues between his faction and everyone else. Ravel might even be able to drag the Norse into the fold if she really needed to, but she doubted it'd come to that. Grigori was unlikely to decide to burn bridges with all the factions that were connected to Joshua. Not unless they were tired of living.
"You're thinking too deeply," she heard, a sudden poke to her cheek making her frown as she turned towards Joshua. "And that's coming from me," the man said. At least he was aware of the irony there, but Ravel wasn't sure if she liked the implication. "I called you in earlier than usual and with more work than usual. Take a break, alright? I'll feel bad if I make you work too much," he told her and she pouted. She wasn't dumb. She could tell what he wasn't saying.
"I'm not a child," she mumbled, pouting and turning stubbornly to the schedule she was still working on. She'd have to check with Serafall about the show shootings. Those would likely cause some trouble, but the entire ordeal they were dealing with was more important than the air tight continuity of Levia-tan's episodes.
Just a little bit.
"I know," Joshua commented, planting a hand on top of her head and Ravel knew it didn't help her case to just let him. Just like Kunou's giggles didn't help her mood. However, would it be any better to huff and puff about it?... Besides, she kind of liked it. "But you're entirely too young to be dealing with what you do. So, take it easy, alright? I can make that an order, if it'll help."
He was such a silly man.
And yet…
"Fine," she mumbled, finishing off the notes she was making and then pushing her notepad away. "I still don't like being treated like a child though," she added. Although, she wondered if she was fooling literally anyone.
"Of course." He could at least act like he believed her. Was that too much to ask? She huffed, and her annoyance turned a little more real when a new person walked into the room. "Hey, Koneko," Joshua greeted and Ravel just turned a glare towards the nekoshou, who stared rather intently back at her. "I'm sorry, but I won't be very fun today. Stuff happened and I'm kinda busy and out of sorts."
"Again?" was the flat response from the girl. No tact at all.
"Sort of," Joshua answered with a shrug. "I didn't get into a fight, not really. I just… something very urgent and worrying came up and now I'll have to be working a whole lot. Won't be fun to hang around for around a month, I'm afraid. Kunou, Ravel and you can play in another room though, so I won't ruin the mood," the man rambled and this time Ravel shared a long-suffering look with Koneko. They knew there was no point in arguing though, so, instead, they just decided to let their actions speak louder.
Ravel didn't see the way the nekoshou walked around the table and then draped herself over Joshua's back coming though. She narrowed her eyes at the girl. A moment later though, she blinked as she saw the man's body relax as if a weight had been taken off his back instead of added. Was she doing something?
"You don't have to do that," Joshua said, unknowingly answering Ravel's unasked question.
"I want to," Koneko replied, voice just as flat as usual, but Ravel thought she heard a hint of stubbornness. "You're tired, and tense, and off," she added, hugging the man closer.
"I don't know how to do that yet," Ravel heard Kunou grumble from the side.
"And you don't need to, not really. I'd rather you focus on how to defend yourself," Joshua said. Apparently, there was some kind of senjutsu shenanigans going on. It made Ravel wish she knew anything about the art. Or, at least, that she could tell something of the sort was going on without being told. It wasn't even the first time something like that happened without her having a clue. "Same for you, Koneko."
"Kuroka insisted," was all the nekoshou said and Joshua just shook his head.
"I guess I can't complain too much," Joshua mumbled then, cracking his neck and then focusing back on whatever he was doing. "I gotta send that one to Raynare some more, evidently. Maybe for Incinerate Anthem train-" he grumbled under his breath, probably not meaning a single word. However, he seemed to cut himself off at the end there, blinking and straightening where he sat a little, making Koneko almost jump.
Ravel almost wanted to ask what was the matter, but she knew one of Joshua's inspiration moments when she saw one.
Then he leaned down, writing at twice the normal speed on his notebook. Ravel was fairly sure she caught mutterings under his breath too, with how close she was. Whispers such as "gotta ask Yasaka" and "might be a bit risky, but it could-" reached her ears and some of those were very concerning.
She could only hope that Yasaka and the others would be able to talk him out of anything too dangerous though.
As it was, she didn't want to ruin the moment for the man.
It could be important.
[}-o-{]
[Kuroka]
She had to make a conscious effort not to laugh at the sight before her.
Although, to be fair, it wasn't that hard, considering there was a very big mood dampener in the shape of Joshua's worries. If a man that could defeat Longinus and cause miracles on a whim was worried, the Kuroka knew she had good reason to be terrified. She was actually kind of glad that she didn't know what was going on so far.
She also knew that it was a matter of time until she was told, but she was enjoying the blissful ignorance while it lasted.
Back to her amusement though – much more preferable topic, if anyone asked her –, Kuroka felt her lips twitch at the sight of her little sister draped over Joshua's back and using her senjutsu freely and eagerly. On each side of the man were Kunou and Ravel, adorable little things that she was very grateful for. They gave Shirone – she didn't think she'd ever be able to call her sister Koneko, not in her mind – much needed support that the Gremory peerage had evidently struggled to.
At that moment though, they had formed a team to support Joshua though. The adorable part came from the fact that they clearly couldn't do much to help, but they still tried. The Phenex child was doing her best to do her job, more diligent than ever, while Shirone was using what little mastery of senjutsu she had to try and soothe the man's body and mind. She wasn't that practiced in the branch, but she was giving it her all anyway.
Then there was poor little Kunou, probably the one that wanted to do the most and just… didn't have anything to do. Ironically though-
"I want to do something too," the little fox whined, apparently unable to take it anymore. She turned away from the homework she wasn't doing anyway and widened her eyes pleadingly at her father. "Dad, can I do anything?" she asked, which would have been hilariously counterproductive if the situation were any other… or if Joshua wasn't so completely wrapped around her little finger.
"You're doing plenty, Kunou," the man replied, kindly, softly, warmly, but also wearily. Then again, ever since that fateful morning, Joshua had never not looked tired. "I know you want to help, but it helps to just have you here," the man said, reaching over and patting the girl's head. She didn't seem very reassured, but she did settle some. "I know it doesn't feel like it, but I like having you here. It helps."
"Koneko and Ravel have things to do though," the little girl mumbled and Kuroka wondered if she – or any of the other three, for that matter – noticed how she seemed to put the other two on the same level as she was. Did any of them realize the implications of that kind of behavior? Kuroka doubted it, considering how often they all said stuff like that without ever actually addressing the matter. "I want to do something too," the girl whispered, looking down and fidgeting with her clothes on her lap.
Kuroka could almost see Joshua going for the same kind of reassurance he'd used before and then reconsidering. Maybe he wasn't as socially inept as he liked to think. Then again, he had his moments, both the good and the bad.
"How about this?" he asked then, making the little fox perk up. "Friday is still a little shaken and could use some help herself, you know? Someone to play with and comfort her," Joshua explained and Kunou perked up even more. "You can go with the others and help her. I'll get your mother to forgive the undone homework," the man said, smiling a little when his daughter beamed at him. Not even a minute later, the homework had been thoroughly pushed aside and Kunou had rushed off.
Kuroka wished she had popcorn sometimes while she spent time in that house.
"Thanks for the help," Joshua commented, giving her an annoyed look.
"You had that under control~" she replied with a wide smile that the man didn't seem to appreciate. "Your other children will get jealous though, you know~?" she added, glancing meaningfully at Ravel and Shirone, who both did their best not to look at her or at Joshua. She didn't miss the tinge of pink in their cheeks though.
Honestly, Kuroka wondered if she should be surprised anymore. Joshua had a way of getting himself in that kind of situation and just never addressing it until it hit him in the face. The social awkwardness, she supposed. However, the way he seemed to rub that trait off on other people was kind of impressive and hilarious.
"I'll make it up to them," Joshua replied with that indulgent smile and tone that he used when he couldn't be bothered to deal with her personality. Kuroka almost burst into laughter at that response. He really was an oblivious bastard at times, but she rather liked that about him.
Not enough to face down three faction leaders though, not at all.
It was still very fun to witness.
Kuroka felt like taking as much of that good mood as she could. She was fairly certain that things wouldn't be nice and cheerful for much longer, considering Joshua's state after that one night. Something big was happening, and the chances of it being bad were… not small. So, she'd just have to make the most of it while she could still enjoy it, just in case.
Then she saw the man tilt his head, in a way that told her he'd picked up something from a spell somewhere.
"Raynare needs a spar partner, Kuroka."
"Do I have to~?"
"Yes."
"You suck."
"Thanks."
Joshua could be a real buzzkill at times.
She was also sure that was just bullshit too.
She had no proof, but neither did she have any doubt.
[}-o-{]
[Kokabiel]
"You do look so good, oh illustrious torturer," he greeted.
Was he being flippant, definitely.
However, there was only so much fear he could feel, no matter how great the pain Davis could unleash on them was. Pain was, if Kokabiel could be excused from the cliche, an old friend of his. He'd lived through wars that he had no business surviving. He'd been a soldier more, really. He wasn't the strongest of his siblings, nor was he the smartest, nor the fastest, or the most skilled. However, he had just the right skillset to survive the Great War and that had counted for a lot, when those greater than him kept dying and he kept fighting.
All the same, the experience had been far from pleasant, and he'd gotten plenty out of that. One such thing was the capability to just… shrug off things that would have made others go crazy. Sure, Davis' spells were bad, probably the worst thing he'd ever felt. Even for someone as old as him, he didn't think he'd ever had his soul poked and prodded quite like Davis did. However, in the face of all the pain and suffering that he'd experienced through the Great War? He fell a little short.
There was also the fact that as Davis' collection of text subjects grew, he had less time to divide between them all. That kind of helped Kokabiel, giving him time to recover and calm down. Didn't really help him be any closer to get out, but oh well. If he lived, he lived; if he died, he died. 'Just like the old days,' he thought, reminiscing bitterly.
Back to the present though, Davis looked like an exhausted mess. He looked paler than usual and there were bags under his eyes. His steps looked ever so slightly slower than usual and there was an invisible weight that hung over him. He reminded Kokabiel of some of his more expressive siblings when there was a battle that they knew they'd die in right around the corner.
"You can say that again," was the response he got, a dejected smile on the man's expression. "Fortunately for most of you, I won't be coming around for a bit, since I'll be busy," the man added then, stretching his back a little as if trying to shake off whatever he was carrying on his shoulders. It didn't help any, predictably.
"Most?" Beelzebub asked, cowardly little shit that he was. His ancestor was probably rolling in his non-existent grave, Kokabiel would bet. "What do you mean most?"
"Don't shit yourself, Shalba. You're safe," Davis answered, rolling his eyes in a very similar way to how Kokabiel did, which made the fallen smile. For a human and an enemy, he was remarkably alright. Shame that they were on opposite sides of things… and that he liked angels and devils so much. "I'm here for two of you," the human continued, cracking his neck and looking off to the side. "Georg," Davis called, the man in question stiffened. "You're coming with me," he said and with a wave of his hand, the door of the man that had been there the longest opened. "Don't try anything, because I'm really not in a mood that you want to test," he added, as if there was any question.
If there was anyone that'd be too scared of him to do anything, that was Georg.
"Cao Cao," Davis continued as if nothing had happened, while the magician wielder of Dimension Lost stumbled out of the cell, looking like he could hardly believe what was happening. Kokabiel didn't blame him. The human magician wasn't done, however, eyes locked on the ex-leader of the Hero Faction. "How've you been?" he asked, almost casually.
"Imagining sticking my spear right through you," the hero answered boldly… or foolishly, in Kokabiel's opinion. However, he noticed that Davis smiled at that, as if he was pleased with that answer. He'd have understood amusement, or annoyance, or some other reaction, but that one struck him as odd.
"Wanna give that a try?" Davis asked and Kokabiel could feel how everyone froze at those words, turning to look at the man. The human in question however, simply stepped closer to Cao Cao's cell and now everyone in those dungeons rushed forward to watch. "Go for it, hero," the man said mockingly, waving his hand and Kokabiel felt some of the spells around the place pull back. If he had to guess, those were the ones preventing Cao Cao from using his Sacred Gear, but why-?
Before he could even wonder, the hero had already summoned True Longinus and lunged forward.
"Slow," Davis said, dodging to the side. "And sloppy," he added for good measure, taking a hold of the spear's shaft. "Thanks for being so eager though," the man commented.
"What are you-?" Cao Cao asked before letting out a sound that was somewhere between a whimper and an exclamation as the spear was torn from his hands. However, that was nothing compared to the sound that followed after that, when they all watched the spear remain in Davis' hand, without disappearing or in any way answering to Cao Cao's likely orders.
The sound the Hero Faction's ex-leader made a moment later was definitely a whimper and it was then Kokabiel realized that True Longinus wasn't coming back to the hero. Instead, it was staying with Davis. That was something that only Incinerate Anthem was supposed to do, but that was far from the part that shocked Kokabiel the most.
No, that part was the knowledge of what True Longinus contained, what it represented.
'The Dying Will of our Father,' his mind told him, reminding him of Azazel's words from a lifetime ago and Kokabiel stared at the spear and the man now holding it. 'The Will of God chose Joshua Davis.
Far from the Sun
"Should I bring the holder of the Shroud of Turin so that you can have the whole collection?" Gabriel asked him with a raised eyebrow.
In response, Joshua could only shrug, still unable to believe that he'd actually gotten True Longinus from Cao Cao.
Joshua wouldn't be so bold as to say that he expected the spear to stick with him, but he'd certainly hoped for it when he went to challenge Cao Cao. He remembered that the spear had, in canon, chosen to forsake its wielder to spare Issei. Which, no offense to the guy – he was a lot better than he remembered him being in canon, those days –, but told him that the supposed Will of God, wasn't that picky.
Granted, there had been a chance of failure, which was why he hadn't gone for that from the beginning. He didn't fancy having the strongest spear in the world through his guts in case his assumption was wrong. He didn't particularly want to find out what'd happen in that situation.
Alas, the situation had become plenty desperate and so had his measures.
Back on topic though, maybe it was the fact that they were fighting – unknowingly in Issei's case, but still – against the freeing of Trihexa? It could also be any number of things that caused that, but the fact of the matter was that there was a chance that something would happen if he interacted with the spear. Sure enough, something had, indeed, happened.
[Quest Complete: Become the Wielder of the Spear of Destiny
Reward:
+ New Perk: True Longinus
+ Skill Updated: ###te# o# #e##en
+ 10 levels to Light Resistance
+ 10 levels to Light Magic]
Joshua wasn't complaining, not really, but at the same time, it'd be very tempting to use Light Magic if the need arose. Especially if it kept getting leveled up, which he didn't think was too likely. The skill only went up through Quests, but he already had the thing at level 40 even with that limitation.
'Back on topic though…'
[True Longinus
The true Holy Spear which pierces through God.]
He didn't know why he'd expected Sacred Gears to be skills, but they were not. Apparently, they were Perks. On a different note, he didn't know why he'd expected the screen to not show him something vague, cryptic and ultimately useless. He already knew the spear was Holy and he also already knew the thing could pierce gods. It was the Sacred Gear that gave name to the Longinus tier in its entirety, the tier specifically supposed to be able to take down gods.
"Is that a problem?" Joshua asked out loud after a moment, focusing his attention back on Gabriel. The angel had sounded weird before, or so he thought. He could be wrong, of course, or maybe just projecting what he thought. Because he could easily see Gabriel – or anyone from the Church or Heaven – taking issue to the fact that he'd somehow gotten his hands on most of the important Holy Sacred Gears. Incinerate Anthem was in Raynare's hands, who was his subordinate. Alphecca Tyrant was in the hands of Meredith, his "main" apprentice. He'd recently rescued Sephiroth Graal. And not only did he have the holder of True Longinus prisoner, but now he had taken the Sacred Gear. So…
"... No," Gabriel answered, but the hesitation and slowness of her response was a different answer of its own. Evidently, she realized that, because she continued speaking almost right after. "It's odd, I'll admit, to see them being gathered like this, especially by a third party. The Church has always put emphasis on them, after all, so it hasn't been odd for them to end up on our side. However… you've got most of them almost by accident and very quickly."
Half of the credit was to be given to his canon knowledge, which had led him to Walburga and Valerie, but he couldn't really explain that to her, could he? At least not yet. It did make him wonder when he'd feel confident enough to reveal his most important secrets to his partners though. Maybe when everything was over and he could finally relax?
He'd have felt worse about that if it weren't for the fact that he knew they had their own secrets too.
"If I or any of us had a real problem with this though, I wouldn't have gotten this for you though," she continued, making him blink as she pulled out a piece of… something made of what looked like gold. He was pretty sure she'd taken that out of a pocket space, but he hadn't actually seen it happen. She was weirdly good at being discreet with her magic usage. "In light of recent… events, I sped up some things," she added, placing the object in his hand. It looked like some kind of object made of gold had been broken into pieces and that was one of them. "This is a piece of the original Grail."
Joshua's eyes widened dramatically at that, because he hadn't even known there were originals of the Sacred Gears. He'd thought the artifacts had been turned into Gears, actually. It seemed his assumption was wrong though, and that prompted him to take a more thorough look at the piece of gold. Interestingly though, he felt nothing coming from it, not Holy energy nor anything else.
Far as his senses and spells could tell, the thing was a normal piece of gold.
Yet, holding it in his hand and actually paying attention, he knew it was most definitely not. He couldn't quite place why, but it felt special, even if he couldn't point at anything as a reason to think so. 'Might need to come up with more sensing spells,' Joshua thought, even though it was a shame that he didn't have the time for that at the moment.
"We were hoping that it might help Valerie," Gabriel explained then, making him look up, back at her. "At least, if our guess is correct and she's like she is because Khaos did something to her Sacred Gear," she added and he nodded slowly. That made sense, at least a bit. And they lost nothing trying too, so there was no real reason to say no.
"Here's hoping it'll work, I guess," Joshua replied softly, considering that.
He really hoped it'd work.
"You want to try now?" Gabriel asked and he looked up with wide eyes. "We can continue this conversation later. Although I think we've said all that needed to be said. I'll just have to make peace with the fact that you're not normal and you might never be," she added, and he thought he caught a hint of dryness there at the end.
"Once everything's said and done, I can try to give you True Longinus, but I kind of-"
"You can keep it, if you think you'll need it, or for as long as you want," Gabriel interrupted and she sounded strangely firm. "It chose you and I will not get in the way of that. Nor will my siblings. And if the Church knows what's good for them, they won't make an issue of it either."
"... Thank you," he said, trying to put as much weight as he could behind those two simple words. Because he knew the Sacred Gears were a big deal, and yet they were just letting him keep them around. He was actually rather surprised nobody had tried to talk about Alphecca Tyrant or Incinerate Anthem with him before.
"Don't mention it," she told him, leaning forward and giving him a peck on the lips. "Now, Valerie?"
So, in a few minutes, both of them were sitting with Valerie. He'd offered to give Gabriel back the piece of the Grail so that she could give the dhampir the thing herself. Alas, she'd insisted that he do so, since he'd been the one mostly caring for the girl and also the one she'd interacted with the most. So…
"Warm!" the dhampir called when he approached her, beaming like a child on Christmas. A second later though, she seemed to be a little confused by his actions when he walked right up to her, took her hand and placed the piece of the Grail in it. After that, Valerie looked like she wanted to say something else, but her eyes fixed on the golden object and she remained silent afterwards for a long moment, maybe even a few minutes. Until, eventually, she spoke again. "This is nice."
That was two more words than she'd ever managed to string together by herself, Joshua noted immediately. Not only that, but he could see a change in her expression, in her eyes. No longer were they misty and unfocused. No longer was her expression half-vacant and half-delirious. There was a newfound sharpness to it, even if it was very subtle.
"Thank you," she said, turning towards him and giving him a smile she'd given him a lot before. This time it was more soft, less toddler-like and more… meaningful. "Thank you," she repeated, her voice almost raw and her eyes a little watery.
"You're welcome, Valerie," he replied, smiling and giving her hand – still wrapped around the Grail piece – a light squeeze. "I'm happy you're feeling better."
"I'm Valerie Tepes," she said, sounding happy to be able to do that much.
"I'm Joshua Davis," he replied and her even wider grin made him return the gesture himself.
"Thank you, Joshua Davis," she said and he chuckled. He had a feeling that she'd be saying that a lot. However, looking at her and checking her soul, he realized that her situation had changed, almost like there was a shadow of something in the spaces where her soul had been torn apart. Not quite replacements, but certainly better than the gaping holes they had been before.
And that was incredibly reassuring, in a time where the world seemed to hang by a thread that he had to hold.
[}-o-{]
Joshua stabbed forward and he felt how good the spear was.
It was similar to the feeling of casting a new spell that worked exactly as intended, but with every single motion. Slashes, thrusts and even strikes with the shaft of it gave the same feeling, every single time. It also reminded him of Carnwennan, not only in general feeling of the weapon, but also filling him with that confidence the dagger did when going for a sneak attack at the target's weakness.
Using True Longinus was proving to be an experience, that was for sure.
[Spear Mastery has gone up a level.]
He paused his motions as the screen popped up and took a deep breath in.
'Using a spear is a lot different than using daggers or swords though,' he mused, pointing the weapon down and taking a moment to recover his breath. He'd just gotten the spear, but he already was adding it to his schedule, because he couldn't not to. Besides, he'd gotten the thing for a reason.
With a deep breath in, Joshua glanced to the side at another screen, the one he'd actually been working on.
[Spear Mastery – Lvl 15/100
Determines the user's ability to fight with a spear.
Increases damage output when fighting with a spear by 15%.
Increases Dexterity when fighting with a spear by 7.5%.]
Nothing too impressive, but Joshua was actually rather interested in how the skill could possibly increase the damage of something which's damage was already absolute. Maybe it'd just boost the Holy damage? All the same, the skill also doubled as a way to, potentially, help him achieve the primary goal he had when he tried to get his hands on the weapon.
Well, that and having a surefire way to kill the people that had made his life become as complicated as it had. He'd actually be kind of pissed if he couldn't manage to get True Longinus through at least one top member of Khaos Brigade. The ones that were still around, that is.
Speaking of goals and Khaos members though.
'Time to address the elephant in the room and stop being a coward,' he thought to himself, getting some agreements and encouragement from the Egyptians. 'You better not be lying to me, by the way,' he projected, getting plenty of reassurances. Even more of the gods and goddesses seemed to take offence to his doubts though, but he thought he could be excused.
Ignoring the now kind of angry deities, Joshua turned to the side, where a very scared Georg was currently being basically surrounded by people. Raynare stood to his side, while Kuroka sat on the bench next to his, looking as comfortable as could be. His familiars had spread themselves around and Nagini in particular seemed to make the Dimension Lost holder tense.
"Georg," he called, making the magician stiffen. "You said you can do it, go ahead," he ordered and the man gulped and nodded. Off to the side, Joshua saw Yasaka, Serafall and Gabriel appear almost immediately after he sent a quick message. They had all wanted to be there for his next "bout of madness", as they called it.
Not that he blamed them.
Regardless, he turned to Georg, who had made his way to where he was, and gripped True Longinus a little more tightly as he prepared himself. As he did, he was more reassured by the fact that the Egyptians seemed to strengthen the connection they shared with him even more, at the same time that several of them coursed through it towards him. It wasn't quite the same as channeling them, but they were no longer communicating through the hook they'd placed on him.
No, instead, they had moved their presences to where he was, almost like guardian angels peeking over his shoulder.
"Go for it," he told Georg and the man nodded, extending his hand and producing the purple mist of Dimension Lost. The thing covered both of them in no time at all…
And in the blink of an eye, he was in a place that he could not comprehend. Like being dropped in space, with nothing around at all. Except, instead of the blackness of the void, the whole place was of a color that he couldn't name, a color he was seeing for the first time and could not describe. Unnerving as that was, however, it was nothing when compared to the hostility that permeated that space, eating away at his magic, reinforced by the gods and goddesses with him, like he was surrounded by energy consuming fire that he couldn't see.
'So… this is the Dimensional Gap,' Joshua thought, gulping.
Still, pushing aside his unease, he closed his eyes and pushed out with his other senses, especially Magic and Life Sense. What he got was… confusing, to a horrifying degree. He understood absolutely nothing from what he was picking up in either sense. Furthermore, when the gods and goddesses that had hitched a ride on him decided to help him a little more than just protecting him from the Dimensional Gap, he got a whole lot more… that told him absolutely nothing.
It was like trying to read Chinese when all you knew was English, except that instead of only being confusing, it was also unnerving, frightening and aggressive. All the same, Joshua persisted as much as he could, bashing his head against that wall while trying to understand something. Any progress would be better than no progress.
Seconds passed and then minutes, and with the passage of time, his reserves of magic kept depleting. There was no escaping that, unfortunately. The Dimensional Gap was not only strange and disturbing, but also hostile. The place seemed to actively be dangerous and very much damaging, eating away at his presence there like a body fighting off a disease.
"... Mr. Davis," he heard and he turned to see Georg sweating bullets, floating by his side. He'd almost forgotten the guy was there, if he was entirely honest. Almost, but definitely not. The man was his passage into the Dimensional Gap and out of it. So, he couldn't afford to let him do anything other than staying by his side while he tried to gather data.
"Let's go back," he replied, acknowledging the unspoken plea. Credit were credit was due, even while running out of magic and likely risking plenty, Georg hadn't demanded to go back, nor had he been obnoxious about it. Maybe all those research sessions had been worth something other than the information Joshua gathered.
Who'd have thought?
A moment later, and after being covered in purple mist again, they appeared almost in the same spot where they'd disappeared. There, Joshua took a deep breath in, savoring the down right cozy nature of his world. It was like coming inside the warm house after walking through the streets in winter, but a thousand times better.
"That was unpleasant," he said, steading his breath as best he could. It wasn't saying much though, considering how shaken he'd been left. Georg didn't look any better than Joshua felt either, so he imagined it was normal. "And this is going to be difficult," he added, lips pursed.
The Dimensional Gap was a lot of things, but silent wasn't one of them.
Joshua had a feeling that, first, he'd have to figure out what the hell Ophis even meant by Silence. Easier said than done, but he had to do it anyway. There were no ifs or buts when it came to that matter. He had a feeling that Ophis wouldn't care for excuses. That meant that he had to succeed, no matter what.
"Did you expect something different?" Yasaka asked him, somewhat dry and somewhat sad.
"No," he answered wryly. "But I hoped so."
"No such luck~" Serafall chimed in, skipping around him and then draping herself on his back and peeking over his shoulder. He was pretty sure she just wanted to touch him though. Looking at all three of them, they looked like they'd been uneasy, which he knew was reasonable. He'd have felt the same if they were the ones going to the Dimensional Gap, especially after being there himself.
The place felt like a death trap, even with all the precautions he had in place.
"Now what?" the Satan asked him and he took another deep breath in and then let it out in a long sigh. That was the question, wasn't it? He didn't even know where to begin, if he was honest. Alas, nobody was going to wait for him to figure things out…
"Now I need to think," he mumbled, running his fingers through his hair and trying to order his thoughts. "Anyone wants to join me for some tea?" he asked and he received three raised eyebrows and intent stares. "Well, let's go then. Raynare, Kuroka, keep an eye on him, will you?!"
"Of course!"
"Sure thing~"
For good measure, apparently Nagini had found it amusing to torture Georg and she wanted to continue to do so. That's what Joshua gathered through her hiss and what she sent through their bond. He almost felt bad for the poor bastard.
Almost, but not really.
[}-o-{]
'First order of business is to make a void,' he noted to himself, already starting to write down ideas in his notebook for that. It wouldn't even be difficult, to make a perfectly silent space. Blocking out any other sense would be similarly simple, really, if a little tricky in regards to those that he didn't often make illusions for.
Although, maybe he wouldn't have to use illusions.
It might actually be better not to.
'Gotta block energies too, magic, life and anything else,' he added afterwards, and that would be a little more difficult, especially all together and with plenty of more magic that'd be necessary later. By itself, none of that was complicated or hard, but all at the same time? That's when things got problematic. He'd deal with that though.
'Third step… profit?' Joshua thought, somewhat frustrated. He still had no ideas about how to start replicating the Dimensional Gap. It was so unnatural that he couldn't even comprehend it, nevermind emulate it. 'How am I supposed to do that?' he wondered, picking up his cup of tea and taking a sip.
When that didn't help him at all, he leaned back, huffed and looked up at the ceiling as if it'd give him answers.
It didn't, but it brought attention to him though.
"Having trouble?" Gabriel asked.
"Yes," he admitted freely with a helpless chuckle. "I think the fact that I have to be quick about this isn't helping," he added, and that was nothing but the truth. It'd have been difficult enough without a deadline. Nevermind the fact that the destiny of his family hanged on him succeeding, at least partially, before that deadline. "Barely can get my thoughts going, honestly."
"I haven't been to the Dimensional Gap a lot, believe it or not," Serafall commented, joining the conversation, leaning to one side and then the other on her chair like an upside down pendulum. He didn't have a hard time believing that though, despite her words. He had a very easy time believing that everyone stayed the fuck away from that place, actually. "But I do get the issue. Like, how do you even begin to mimic one of the things there? Even the color of the place is… one would think it'd be black, right? But nope."
"Yeah, I mean, I thought it'd be a void worse than space, so it'd be some flavor of black. You know, absence of light, but it's…" Joshua said, struggling to explain. That was the crux of the matter, right? He couldn't understand, let alone explain. "It's like there is something there, the place is filled with something, just not anything we have over here, so…" he continued, before pausing.
What if the Gap was filled with something? He'd just assumed it was empty, like a void, because he imagined it like it was space. Just like there was void in space between planets, the Gap was a void between dimensions. But what if that wasn't it? What if there was something there, filling up the space, like… like insulation, sort of? What if there was something there, aggressively corrosive – for lack of a better term – to everything that was not itself?
What then?
'What if that's the Silence Ophis wants?' Joshua thought, blinking and considering that for a long moment. He didn't feel like he was closer to a solution or anything, but he had something which was more than he had before.
'So, I have to find a way to replicate an element that doesn't exist anywhere but in the Gap, as far as I know,' he wrote down, eyes narrowed and lips pursed. 'Or I need to create more void than the absence of everything, somehow.'
Neither option sounded possible, not even remotely. They sounded like nonsense, plain and simple. Yet, they were all that Joshua had to work with, at that very moment, so… So they'd have to do.
"Well… now I have something, at least," he mused out loud, looking at his ideas and considering them. On the one hand, he'd need to investigate for any clues of the "mystery element" that filled the Gap. On the other, he'd need to see how to deprive something of everything and then push it past that. "How do I do this though?" he mumbled to himself, leaning down once more and starting to note down things, random ideas that hopefully would develop into something usable at some point.
Then, at some point, Joshua paused and looked up.
"Uh… sorry," he whispered, looking at the three pairs of very amused eyes. Serafall burst into giggles and Gabriel's smile widened. Yasaka, for her part, just raised an eyebrow at him from where she sat across from him. "I got… a little carried away."
"Business as usual then," the youkai replied, her lips twitching up. "Don't worry about it, Joshua. We get it."
"It's kind of endearing, actually," the angel commented, running her fingers through his hair over his ear as if tucking back non-existent strands of hair.
"The focused look is hot," Serafall said bluntly, catching him off guard. But then Yasaka nodded and Gabriel remained suspiciously silent, which was all he needed to know their opinions on the matter. "Feel free to get back to it," the Satan added with a wide grin. "We'll be here when your magnificent brain gets tired, yeah?"
"Don't you have work?" he asked with a half-smile.
"One of us will stay," Gabriel answered firmly.
"We have to make sure you don't fry that, as Serafall put it, magnificent brain," Yasaka added. "We kind of need you capable of thinking after all is said and done."
"I'll do my best," he replied with an amused snort.
"You do that, magic man~" Serafall told him, twisting where she sat beside him and then dropping her head on his lap. "Don't mind me. Go on."
With a chuckle and a shake of his head, Joshua turned back to his notebook.
[} Chapter End {]
Hey guys! How's it going?
The Dimensional Gap will, understandably, be a struggle for Joshua. This is something that kind of bothers me in other series when it comes to Ophis. The way they take the Silence thing literally. If it were just about making a place not have any sound, she'd make that happen herself, or just go out to space, where there's literally no sound.
So, Joshua will have to struggle with that for a bit.