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Game of Monsters - 203
🕑 Added 2025-08-26 17:52:48 +0000 UTCA Handful of Moments
[Raynare]
“Yeah, class went fine. There're idiots, but when aren’t there?” one of Davis’ apprentices commented. Raynare wasn’t sure what her name was, but she was the Alpheca Tyrant holder. Miriam? Something with M, or so she thought. The point was that she’d taken some of Davis’ precious little time with her report of how the classes at House of Water were going now that Davis wasn’t there to teach them.
‘Can you be done with it already?’ Raynare wondered to herself.
Obviously, she didn’t voice that thought, nor did she display it on her face. She was a soldier and nothing more. If Davis could make time for her, she’d be happy. If he couldn’t, she’d wait. Nothing more, nothing less. What else could she do? Complain? That’d achieve nothing but annoy her chosen leader and she’d never risk that.
So, she stood there, occasionally glancing towards Georg, to make sure he didn’t decide to do something stupid. The man struck her as smart though… and Nagini had her eyes almost glued to the guy too. Raynare wasn’t sure what the story was there, but the snake familiar seemed to have it out for the Dimension Lost holder. The fallen didn’t concern herself too much with that though. It just meant that she could let her guard down a little bit when it came to guarding him.
Besides, she’d admit that she was a lot less suited for dealing with him than Kuroka and Nagini were. She could make do, of course. Incinerate Anthem could even burn the dimensional mist Georg’s Sacred Gear generated, but it wasn’t easy nor near as effective as the snake’s eyes or the nekoshou’s illusions and life energy were.
“Levi did great, honestly. Everyone’s still talking about you, but he’s shutting mouths,” the girl continued and Raynare idly wondered how long she’d be there. Just because she couldn’t express her annoyance and frustration didn’t mean she couldn’t feel it, after all. “He’ll be fine, so there’s no need for you to worry, Professor Davis.”
“It’s Joshua,” the man said, mostly out of habit, if the smile on his face was anything to go by. “And thanks for the report. You can go now, I’m sure you have more productive things to do,” Davis added and Raynare wondered if that was a subtle way to say he had more productive things to do, like making her stronger… Or more likely working on the Gap project he seemed to have picked up.
“If you’re sure, Professor Davis. You know to call us if you need us,” the girl said, smiling widely at the man. It took a few more words being exchanged before she truly left, but Raynare wasn’t too bothered. She knew it was unlikely that the man would work with her, considering how ridiculously focused he was in his latest work.
Which made sense, but still.
“Do pay a visit to Rias or Sona, yeah? Even if you guys are still thinking it over, can’t hurt to know them better. Bring some of the others with you if they are free,” Joshua told the girl – Meredith, as it turned out. Raynare would probably forget again. – as they moved towards the door. At least that was almost at the end of it before Davis was left alone, sighing.
“You could just tell them not to come,” she pointed out, finding herself voicing an opinion without being asked, which was a rarity those days. There was no need to risk annoying the man that could give her wings, after all. “They would listen.”
“They would,” Davis agreed, but Raynare could almost hear the “but” before it came. “But I like them,” he said. A statement that was somewhat at odds with the weary sigh that followed. “I need longer days in my life,” he added, cracking his neck and then turning to look at her. His eyes barely seemed to register Raynare, however. That is, until she saw his eyes move to the side, towards her wings. “Remind me, in a month, to get back on track to give you another pair of those, yeah? I can’t spare the time right now, but I think you’ve done well enough so far.”
“I will remind you,” she replied flatly, because she would and she felt like saying more than that would likely be asking for trouble. As it was, maybe it wasn’t very smart to say it so bluntly, but she couldn’t not do that. Raynare would be damned if she missed the chance just because she tried to play coy.
“Have I told you that I like how straightforward you are?” Davis asked and she nodded slowly.
“A few times.”
“I should say it more,” the man commented with a chuckle before sighing once more and running his fingers through his hair. “I know you don’t like it, but could you train with Jeanne and Kunou later?” he asked, glancing her way.
He was right, she didn’t like it. The man’s adopted sister was… not as motivated as Davis himself, but she was alright, all things considered. The child though? That was the one that bothered her, because Raynare had to hold back a lot, she had to be patient and careful… And she really didn’t want to bother doing any of that. Very little of it helped her get any stronger, but needs must.
Her main priority was keeping Davis happy with her, after all.
“I will,” she replied, obviously and the man nodded.
“Thank you,” the man told her before dragging his feet back to work.
For all that Raynare envied the man his strength, she didn’t envy how busy he always seemed to be. At least her only concern was training and doing as she was told, usually simple or slightly annoying tasks. So, yeah, Raynare was pretty sure she was the one that had it best between the two, ironically.
[}-o-{]
[Ravel Phenex]
“I hope things weren’t too complicated on your end?” was the question that greeted her when she teleported. Joshua looked more like a mess than any other time she’d seen him before. Not only tired, but there were signs of frustration too. His hair was a mess, his posture was stiff and his voice clipped. ‘Hope things went better than here,’ she thought, translating his words in her mind.
“We’ve already got some things and we did some preparations to get more,” she said, waving her hand and making books, scrolls and notebooks appear on the table. All of them had information on different planes and, most importantly, the Dimensional Gap.
She’d spend quite a few hours discussing and planning with Agnes Waterhouse and Elizabeth Báthory. Not everything could be found right away, after all, and there were negotiations to be had too. So, they’d gotten what they could and they’d get the rest over time. Hopefully at a quick enough pace, considering the very serious deadline they had.
“Thank you, Ravel,” the man in question said, giving her a weak, but meaningful smile. “And sorry for giving you so much work.”
“Think nothing of it, Mr. Davis,” she said and when he shot her a look because of the formal speech, she grinned sheepishly at him. It’d been a bit of a joke, but she also slipped sometimes. She’d rather that than call him Joshua when they were in front of people who it was important to appear professional to though. He understood that, since he’d more or less stopped his demands to call him by his name, instead simply rolling his eyes at her.
“You can take a vacation after this is all done. You’ve been doing a lot of work lately,” he said and Ravel wondered if he was aware of how hypocritical he was being. Then again, he couldn’t take a break, since there was always something to be done. Although, admittedly, some of his issues were brought onto him by… Well, himself.
Beyond that though, Ravel couldn’t help but feel the smallest knot forming in her throat.
“Are you trying to get rid of me, Joshua?” she asked, masking a serious question with a playful, shy smile. The same one she’d just used when calling his name formally. Because…
What would she even do with a vacation? Go back home? Go back to doing what she’d been doing before? Roaming around? Spending time with her family’s peerages because nobody could really be bothered to spend time with her? Visiting other devils for gatherings that now seemed incredibly dull and fake?
She couldn’t do that anymore, it’d drive her crazy.
Ravel couldn’t go back to that. Not after having seen what it was like to move with purpose, with goals. Not when she’d spend time with people that enjoyed her company, that invited her to do things, that organized things for her. Not when she’d gone through meals in warm and honest company.
She didn’t want to feel alone surrounded by people again.
She must not have been acting well enough, because Joshua – even with as out of it as he likely was and being Joshua – stared at her. She could see him trying to piece together the puzzle she’d presented to him. The same way she’d seen him do so with other things a number of times already. In the spirit of not seeming as desperate and foolish as she was, Ravel tried to play things off, tilting her head, raising her eyebrows questioningly, as if confused by his silence.
Joshua wasn’t fooled though, not at all.
“Of course I’m not,” he said with utmost seriousness and Ravel wondered if he’d actually read her or if he’d just decided to play things seriously just in case. She wasn’t sure which one would have moved her more, but it didn’t really matter, ultimately, because it still meant a lot to her. “I just thought you’d want some more time to do things… not work related. I know Kunou would like to play more than she already does.”
“Kunou always wants to play more, Joshua,” she said, but instead of the exasperated tone she’d been going for, all Ravel managed was fondness and a smile.
“True, but that doesn’t change the fact that you should have more free time. You’re a kid,” the man told her and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself from arguing. Not only would that just prove his point, but it would also be useless. She knew how that song and dance went. “I know you don’t like being called that, but you are,” Joshua told her, apparently guessing or reading her again. Sometimes Ravel hoped he’d be as socially inept as he thought he was. “Let me spoil you once in a while, will you?” he asked.
“You do that plenty, Joshua,” she mumbled, fidgeting with the notepad in her hands as she shifted in place. She wasn’t even lying or exaggerating. He made sure to do things for her every so often and he was the reason she’d been able to meet the stars of Levia-tan’s show, nevermind actually being part of it. And those were just some examples.
Admittedly, much of that spoiling happened everyday, in much smaller but no less meaningful ways.
“I think I could do better,” Joshua said with a grin. “Now do you mind keeping Margalo and Friday company for a bit? I want to check this stuff,” he asked her and she rolled her eyes. He was basically telling her to take a break in an elaborate way, but she nodded all the same. “Thanks,” the man told her and it was a good thing she’d already turned away. That way he couldn’t see her smile.
He’d be insufferable if he did, after all.
[}-o-{]
[Valerie Tepes]
“Thank you,” she repeated.
She must have said that… a lot of times, probably. At least, she thought she might have. She’d said it more than once, for sure. Yet, despite that, it didn’t feel like enough. Nowhere near enough, actually.
How do you thank someone from saving your mind? Your soul?
She didn’t know, but maybe once she recovered more, she would. Valerie hoped she did, at least, because she could feel it. She didn’t feel as smart as she’d been once. She didn’t feel as… whole. But she did feel a lot better than before she was given the gold piece that felt a lot like her cups, but not really.
“Don’t mention it, Valerie,” the man told her softly, kindly. He was nice like that. She liked the man. He’d let her out and made the bad people go away. He’d given her warmth, and safety and… and niceness that she didn’t remember getting in… She didn’t know how long.
Valerie felt like she didn’t remember a lot of things. Just like she didn’t know a lot of things. Just like sometimes it was difficult to speak, or understand, or think.
She was getting better though!
And it was all thanks to the man.
“Thank you, Joshua.”
Joshua! That was his name!
Valerie was doing her best to remember it, she really was, but sometimes it was difficult. At least she could remember that she was Valerie. It hadn’t been easy before, but she’d gotten the hang of it! Maybe she’d do the same in regards to… to the man? Josh?
Joshua! That was it!
“Illusion?” she asked when the man turned to look at her from the weird things he stared at all the time. She remembered staring at similar things before, but why? There was some kind of… meaning in them? Like she got thoughts from them? She didn’t remember well.
Illusions were nice though!
And she was proven correct when Joshua made the shiny, colorful and pretty illusions appear. They were so beautiful and funny and nice. She really had the best ideas, honestly. She didn’t know why Joshua didn’t always cast spells. After all, what was better than that?
“Always illusions,” she told Joshua and the man chuckled. She liked when he did, or when he laughed, or when he smiled. He was nice. He should do those things more often. He’d be twice as nice if he did.
“I can’t be casting illusions all the time, Valerie,” Joshua replied and she pouted at him. Why couldn’t he? Illusions were the nicest, prettiest things! “I don’t have infinite energy, you know? Besides, the real thing is… better,” the man said, his voice changing oddly towards the end. His eyes drifted away and his expression fell flat… and Valerie didn’t like that.
“Joshua?” she called and the man turned towards her again, but his expression still looked odd. “Joshua?”
“Sorry, you just made me think of something,” he told her and she blinked at him. Sometimes it was still difficult to understand. That was annoying, but at least Joshua was there and there were pretty illusions to look at. “I’ll have to make a mental note to give you a proper thanks once you feel better.” She understood all that even less, but she did understand one thing there.
“Thank you, Joshua,” Valerie replied, smiling widely. She’d almost forgotten to thank the man and that wouldn’t do. How many times had she thanked him? A few, she’d bet. Nowhere near enough though, that was for sure. “Thank Joshua,” she said then, tilting her head.
Was there some other way she could thank Joshua instead of just with words? She was pretty sure there was some way, but she couldn’t remember at the time. Was it like… giving things? She didn’t have anything to give him though, except maybe the clothes she was wearing? But Joshua already had clothes and he’d given her the clothes she had, right?
She thought he had.
She could be remembering that wrong…
Had it been one of the nice ladies? Both? All? None?
Well, there was another thing she had.
‘Yes, great idea!’ she celebrated to herself, bringing her hands up and making her pretty cup appear. The golden thing floated over her hands. It was small and a little cracked… and she remembered it being prettier, but it was still her cup and it was still pretty, so it’d do! She turned towards Joshua, who was now staring at her because her cup was pretty, and she pushed it closer to him.
“That’s a very nice cup, Valerie,” the man said, proving he had great taste and that her cup was pretty.
“Thank you, Joshua,” she said, pushing it a little more.
“It’s your cup, Valerie, but I appreciate it,” he said with a nice smile as he pushed the cup back to her. That made her pout. Did he not like her cup? He’d said it was pretty- No, wait. He’d said it was nice. Why didn’t he-? “It’s your cup. I can’t have it. But thank you anyway. I appreciate the sentiment.”
Valerie was left confused, mostly because she didn’t understand most of that. Still, Joshua had said thank you, so that meant he was happy, right? She thought that was what it meant. And he was smiling, so that meant he was happy, right?
“Thank you, Joshua.”
“You’re welcome.”
[}-o-{]
[Serafall Leviathan]
She should have been excited, really, but all she could feel was dread.
Because this was the first time Joshua met Ajuka for the purpose of working together. Great minds like theirs were bound to do so at some point, really. The most surprising thing was that it had taken them so long, but that probably had something to do with the fact that they mostly focused on their own projects and none of them overlapped enough for the two loners to really go out of their way to talk, let alone cooperate.
Now that they were about to finally gather properly, Serafall felt like she should be worried. Because Joshua didn’t have great impulse control, not really, and Ajuka… Well, there was a reason why the man had limited himself to mostly harmless entertainment projects after the Evil Pieces. Most of his “research” would cause their people to rebel, nevermind the issues it’d have brought back from other factions.
The only reasons the man had gotten away with it was because of the Civil War and a lot of political maneuvering on Sirzechs’ and her part.
Serafall wasn’t looking forward to having to deal with such a situation again, but needs must. She could only hope that Joshua would be able to pull back on the crazier ideas… if they could manage without them. If not, then she’d just have to go without sleeping like she had back in the day. ‘Then again, this is Joshua…’ she thought, her hopes getting crushed before she could even fully appreciate them.
Joshua wasn’t one for half-measures either, even if he’d mostly kept things under control. His research “experiments” were tame in comparison to Ajuka’s, but that might be because he’d never really pushed things. And he was definitely in the right state of mind to push the limits of his morality.
“You’re staring,” the human in question commented, not looking up from his work, which he’d arranged on the table of the cafe they had gone to in the Underworld. There were plenty of spells arranged around them, as usual, and he’d gone the extra mile by not having anything too specific on him while they were in public.
“Can’t I stare at the man I love?” Serafall asked playfully, but she knew she’d been had when all Joshua did was look up and raise an eyebrow. He was getting worryingly good at reading her. Although, that might also be just her letting her guard down more and more as time passed.
She could only hope it was the former though, because the latter could cause issues in public settings such as that one.
For a moment, Serafall lamented the fact that she couldn’t, in fact, just be admiring the man she loved. Instead, she had to worry about the future, Ophis and Khaos Brigade. They couldn’t be dealt with soon enough, truly. She’d waited too long to find someone like Joshua for it to be all ruined like that.
“I’m just thinking about how difficult this will be for you two,” she said, keeping the important parts out of that, since those could be offensive. She wasn’t lying and she wasn’t getting in trouble. She was good at those, after so many years working in her trade… nevermind the political job.
Joshua didn’t reply to that for a long moment, simply staring at her. It all but confirmed to Serafall that the man knew she was leaving stuff out. Yet, even with that, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he nodded slowly and turned back to whatever it was that he was doing with all his notes.
“... Very, probably,” he replied after another long moment. “It’s kind of a long shot to come ask him for help, but I’m hoping that at least he’ll give me a few extra thoughts to work with,” Joshua said, reminding Serafall the other reason why she was worried.
Because her partner was a lot of things, but slow wasn’t one of them
Serafall had seen him struggle and she’d seen him frustrated… but she’d never seen Joshua stumped. Not until the Dimensional Gap problem had been brought to the table. It wasn’t that Joshua had problems cracking it, like he did the Phoenix Spell or the Angel Ascension or bringing Friday to life. No, he genuinely seemed to not even be able to find an approach, let alone progress in his pursuit of bringing Ophis’ Silence to life.
If Serafall were honest, she, along with Yasaka and Gabriel, were kind of hoping his guess was wrong and that there was something simpler, easier for him to work out. Yet, the more they looked into things, the more Joshua’s idea made sense… and that was worrying. Because if they couldn’t solve this issue, then they were done.
Any other problem, they could have tried to circumvent or avoid, but how were any of them supposed to fight Ophis if she came for them? There was a reason she was out and about after she left the Dimensional Gap despite how much of a walking danger she was. There was no guarantee that even a pantheon alliance would do something to the dragon. No, they needed a solution… except of course it wasn’t that simple. Not even Joshua, the miracle maker himself, seemed to have the slightest idea how to go about giving the Ouroboros Dragon what she wanted. So, they were kind of grasping at straws.
“Serafall, Joshua,” Ajuka said, appearing at that very moment. Serafall didn’t need to check the time to know it was exactly the time they’d given the man for the meeting. He was like that, after all. Never a minute too soon nor a minute too late. “I have to admit, your request was intriguing,” her fellow Satan said and that by itself was very telling of Joshua’s capabilities.
Ajuka was hardly ever interested in anything but his own projects.
“I think I know what you want to do,” he added and Joshua’s gaze focused even more than it already was. “I have a few ideas to share with you in regards to that on top of this,” the devil commented, snapping his fingers and making a few books appear on the table. With a flick of Joshua’s hand, his own notes disappeared immediately. “First of all though, just to confirm, are you trying to replicate the Gap in a smaller scale or are you trying to take a piece of the gap and put it in a pocket dimension?”
“The first is what I was considering, the latter is what prompted me to call you,” Joshua replied, but it was obvious even to Ajuka that he wasn’t done. “What I have in mind right now is a little different though. I’m thinking about isolating a spot in the Gap, disconnected from the rest of it.”
Serafall leaned back then and there, taking her cup of coffee and sipping from it.
She knew very well what the glint in Ajuka’s eyes meant, after all.
[} Chapter End {]
Hey guys! How’s it going?
Guess I’m having a lot of fun with the alternative PoVs lately or something. Of this bunch, the Valerie one is the one that makes me nervous. Personally, I liked it plenty, but I’m not sure if it might be a little irritating for some.
Really hoping that’s not the case though, that’d make me sad.
Really hoping you guys enjoyed the chapter too, of course.
Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ
Random Question: How’s your day been? I did the editing of this chapter today and held a TTRPG session too. I’m feeling great. Here’s hoping the good day continues and I get to write a full chapter before it’s over. That’d make this a great Monday, ngl.
See you.
