Solium Excidium or Imagination Magic 101 in the World of DxD

explicātiō f (latin)

The act of unfolding or unrolling.

(of speech) An explanation, explication, exposition.

As it turned out later, I absolutely cannot provide anyone with any substantial protection.

In the previous world, where the main problems were the Grimm and some aggressive people with Aura, I could make a couple of calls and help would come to me. Plus, I've never gotten into trouble without support and a plan. A sufficient number of people would have come to my aid, starting with my favorite mercenaries from the criminal world, to gather information on the situation, and ending with my Huntsmen friends and sister Winter, to actually strengthen the protection of my ass from the consequences. Even my dad, a cold-blooded sociopathic businessman who was an unapologetic piece of shit to everyone around him, including mother, would have been more helpful in this situation. Much more useful than this half-baked Satan Sirzechs.

Everything went wrong even before my direct contact with him.

I was a human with a fully functioning empathy - now, of course, a devil, and in general, because of my special mark of reincarnation, I underwent a spiritual evolvement into Kitsune, thanks to Tomiko and Inari-kami-sama for this. But my new physical form only complemented the general emotionality and impulsiveness of my character, definitely enhancing my immediate reactions to stimuli. Simply put, I couldn't immediately switch to business conversations and problem solving, especially after I ruined all the clothes of these half-wits. I also accompanied it with advice to get away while I'm still kind. Honestly, my priorities were different, and I wasn't going to kill people who hadn't attacked me yet.

As a result, the sight of their pricks spoiled my mood even more, because even these fuckers had pricks, but I didn't, which couldn't help but be frustrating. I kind of got used to it already, in three lifetimes, but naked men made me retch. In theory, such a joke was quite sobering for opponents, and the power of Destruction itself, apparently, was no more difficult to control than the Schnee glyphs, even more intuitive and did not need any Dust to use. Therefore, it was quite easy to set the parameters and simply delete all clothes and weapons.

This crimson-black fog simply spread to those buggers in two counts, and in one second left nothing of their weapons or clothes on them. Cheat code, no other way to put it! And how to study magic and all that with such a control of reality? Just based on curiosity? These are the approximate questions that occupied my head while I was fighting nausea from the sight of their bare asses. Although the way they ran - someone without hesitation, and someone trying to cover up the private places - it amused me, of course. For just a tiny moment, the giggle of the girl, I wanted to protect, joined my giggle. Our eyes met, and for a moment she was taken aback, but then she smiled timidly and crookedly.

As soon as my escorts stopped wondering at my performance, they immediately tried to separate the girl with the aura of the Fallen from me and interrogate her. Of course, Agrippa was zealous about it, and the maid was simply preparing the teleportation circle at that time. I clung to the girl and flashed my Power, wolfishly tracking Agrippa with my eyes. And his cute nickname in honor of the crocodile Gena goes through the window, because I wasn't going to offend Cheburashka like that, even in my thoughts. Agrippa never stopped looking at the little Fallen girl with an odd gleam in her eyes, which bothered me in a way that was not infantile at all.

The girl and I teleported while embracing, and I also hugged her with my wings. I wasn't going to close them at that moment, because I was ready to immediately shoot towards my room upon arrival.

That power, still following my every move as a mist and seeming to radiate from my entire body, wasn't even touching the girl. Mainly because this force was not intelligent and was completely subordinate to me. It was like the Aura Semblance from my past world, that is, it was a part of the soul. This, by the way, confirmed my theory that Schnee glyphs are an ability tied to blood, not just the soul. For obvious reasons, I did not have the opportunity to prove this theory before I was forced into this body.

Agrippa made the mistake of trying to touch my shoulder again, and the Power responded by devouring his glove and part of his sleeve. To put it mildly, he definitely didn't like losing control of the situation, because he didn't hide it much when looking at me with annoyance.

In general, my emotionality and desire to give comfort to the traumatized girl prevented me from informing Sirzechs about the problem before his own Elephant piece conveyed everything to him in his package. That's why, when Agrippa brought me an oval mirror that made something itch inside my skull with a half-forgotten memory, Sirzechs, who was peeking out of this mirror, was definitely brought up to speed, and not by me.

"Rias-ta-a-an!" he drawled, breaking into a smile, which was in sharp contrast to the seriously frowning Agrippa, who was holding a mirror in his hands. 

As a result, it turned out that there was a brick face on top, and below, in the mirror, there was a face asking for a brick.

"Hello... Onii-chan," I blurted out, surprised at myself, but continued. "No matter what Agrippa-sensei tells you, I'm completely safe. It's kinda like, these Shinto guys killed this girl's mom and then chased her all over the prefecture... Uh-uh... What prefecture was that?"

"Nara, I think," the girl said softly, continuing to hold my hand and at the same time hiding behind my shoulder. "My mother was exiled from the Himejima clan. And papa..."

She squeezed my hand, and I heard her swallow, but she couldn't quite finish it, as if something was in the way.

"I've already informed Lord Sirzechs who your father might be," Agrippa said in a soft voice that did not match his expression at all. "I couldn't help but recognize this power, and you have it, girl. Baraqiel is your father. And I want to know exactly what happened. You will answer all of my questions."

"I don't want.. I don't want anything to do with him! He abandon!.. Left!.. Oh-ok-ka-a-san..." the girl burst into tears and buried her forehead under my shoulder blade.

I sighed and stood in the way, so that she couldn't be seen at all. She put her hands on the shirt on my back and successfully hid behind me. Even if she didn't understand Agrippa's looks, I had already been a girl three times, going through puberty, so I hated the thirsty stares of men with all my soul. To hate something, you need to be able to recognize it on the fly, so I'm hardly mistaken here.

"Brother, we need to spe..."

"Rias-tan, listen to Agrippa-san, he knows what to do," my brother interrupted me and winked. "Maybe you've awakened our Gremory Luck power, little sister! Surely you wanted to try out your pieces! You were talking about it so much, right after you got the set! For sure, you really wanted to!"

"I'm not su..."

"Rias-ta-a-an," he interrupted me again, "you're not going back to the Underworld yet, are you?"

"No, but how is it..."

"That's why I'll send Grayfia-cha-a-an tomorrow, and she'll tell your guest what it's like to be a peer of our Pillar. And if the girl wants to, she can join you! We're not forcing anyone! The Gremory love their servants like a family!"

Agrippa's face at that moment - I quickly shot him a glance and immediately looked away so that he wouldn't notice my close attention to him - was still as stony, but he definitely relaxed after hearing the word "join."

I decided not to argue and nodded, because this guy had clearly been shot in the brain, during this Civil War of theirs, and he compensated for it by pushing his nonsense like this. Sirzechs grinned broadly again and hung up. The mirror went dark, Agrippa stood there for a couple of seconds but decided to leave as well. 

I jumped up to the door and turned the handle so that it could only be opened by force - it was one of those awesome doors that closed from the inside. Yes, it's one finger punch for any demon, but even this Elephant-guy won't break into my room so brazenly.

I made these movements because I remembered exactly what this mirror reminded me of, except for those shards of the communication mirror from the Harry Potter books. Rias and her best friend Sona-chan had this exact way of communicating, because it was too cumbersome to communicate through PDA or PC, in this day and age. It was 2002, after all. Sona-chan was always willing to play chess, and Rias just loved to dilute her loneliness with at least someone's presence. It wasn't normal for a small child to have no friends to run around with and chat with every day. Even for the devil child. Of course, she didn't understand the difference, but it's not the first time I've lived, and it was only the last time, with Weiss Schnee, where Daddy Jacques' control kept tightening, that something like this happened.

Hm-m. And how was she so lonely? All I remembered was the warm back of some fiery unicorn who could speak and turn into a broad, middle-aged Chinese man, some respectful but not overly emotional teachers, a mother who rarely showed anything other than condescending kindness or edifying speeches, and a father who simply rarely appeared near his daughter. Didn't he have this demonic harem of theirs?.. That's all I remembered about Rias's situation, and it was pulled out of oblivion by a very small reminder - that mirror.

And yes, love servants as much as they love family? Well.

Besides, thanks to Austin, I already knew exactly how the Gremory bloodline worked, and my bracelet was quite straightforward about it as well. It was just that exact Felix Felicis type of luck, but less concentrated, although still relying on a wish. That is, you couldn't want to get rich on horse racing and, instead of making a good random choice, run into the love of your life on these very races. Unless, of course, you had an underlying desire to find the love of your life.

I simply didn't have any memories of the original Rias training this power, and I didn't even have anything itch in my brain. But the bracelet vaguely indicated that the power of Luck had the potential to develop. Apparently, the diagnostics from this former System, although of high quality, were not as connected to the surrounding reality as what it was before Austin broke it. If I remembered correctly, the System is just the IMBA for any isekai, and it is precisely due to these connections with reality, plural. But that's in the literature. Realistically, I would be afraid of such deliveries from fate - so you can inadvertently lose your original self. It changed everything about the people who received it, if my memory serves me right.

With this Gremory power, there was nothing like with the power of Destruction. The power of Bael bloodline seemed to caress my soul, flowing from my palms, evaporating with every exhale and inhale. It was enough to get really angry and strain about the same thing that I strained when I used the Aura Semblance in the past. The Destruction was fused to my soul due to the fusion with Rias, and it was no less active than my variation of the Schnee Semblance. Gremory's power, on the other hand, was passive enough, for a girl who hadn't really dealt with it at all, to believe in Sirzech's words.

I was inclined to draw my own conclusions, and I suspected that with my complete lack of desire to turn anyone into servants, no amount of Gremory power could work. And he's unlikely to listen to me, especially if I tell him that his trusted Cursor Daemoniorum stinks of something pedophilic.

Even if this girl wants to become my servant, I won't let her! So you can only get tattoos from the age of eighteen without parental permission, and you can sell yourself into slavery to devils without any age consent, right? Of course, I've never been a father in my life, and I wasn't going to become a mother, none of that shit, but pre-puberty and puberty teenagers are those representatives of humanity who shouldn't be given anything serious to decide on their own!

Hm-m, that's probably why Sirzechs is pushing me to make this girl -obviously strong, judging by Agrippa's words - my servant. He's afraid that I'll find some weaklings, probably just because the former Rias really wanted to use her pieces on someone. It's even odd how I remember it, as if I already had it in my head, but before that it had escaped my attention.

It's been nothing timewise since the door closed, and I've already remembered a lot of things.

"You... Do you want to make me your devil piece?" the girl muttered timidly and raised her eyes to me.

God save me from the temptation to squeeze her like a plush toy, they're purple! Of course, I didn't exhale "Kawaii" like in a B-grade anime, but of course I thought about it.

"It's not about what I want, it's about what you want, and whether you even know what you want," I muttered, and went to my still-unpacked bag and started pulling everything out of it, looking for that mirror. "Here, look, this is my set. It's the height of irresponsibility to give such an opportunity to someone who doesn't deserve it, but that's devil politics to you. They are mine only because of the power of Destruction and the Gremory Pillar. Do you need this kind of shit?"

"I'm not... I don't think I have much choice..." she said softly but clearly. "My father is a Fallen Angel. And I don't want to go back to him. I won't survive on my own, I've already tried, and my mother's relatives have decided... to cleanse..."

She faltered and fell silent. I held out my hand to her and gave her the opportunity to feel at least that kind of support. I didn't have any other ways to encourage her. I still don't even know her name! But is it even important?

After all, when I was googling Sirzechs and Agrippa, I came across these titles of Satan... As it usually happens, hyperlink after hyperlink, and when you search for information about our Lord Jesus Christ, you suddenly find yourself on a page with descriptions of Kabbalah, or even worse, on a Scientology website. Honestly, this is not the first time I have lived, so I managed to stop in time, and just read a summary about the state structure.

And I remember there, in black and white, that in terms of inter-factional relations, we have another, not Sirzechs at all.

That is why my situation may as well be saved, or at least brought out of the impasse, by my little mirror connecting with Sona Sitri, the younger sister of Satan Serafall Leviathan, and at the same time the only woman of the Four Satans leading the Underworld.

I opened the mirror and called Sona-chan.

Instead of being reflected on the surface, the mirror - both parts of it - formed an iridescent prism, purred something and gave out a color hologram familiar to Rias. The only thing that interested me was that this thing was magic, not technology. But of course I wasn't going to think it through right now, and I couldn't. Sona-chan didn't keep me waiting.

"Rias? I can't really play right now, I'm sorry... But we can talk. Not for long?" familiar and unfamiliar face at the same time, how unusual it is.

"Sona, it's urgent, I need Serafall!" I whispered furiously. "This concerns her direct duties as Satan, and in my opinion, that teacher, the one I used to admire, you remember, he is a bit of..."

"Agrippa?".. Her eyes widened in surprise. "A little bit of what?"

"He's a pedophile!" I couldn't contain my emotions and almost shouted it, but I remembered that it was quite possible that we could be overheard. "Or what else to call his desire to collect little girls, I do not know!"

"Pedo... A pedophile?" Sona-chan's eyes began to resemble anime characters. Although it wasn't really much different from her refined European-like features with already big eyes.

"Sona-cha-a-an!" a familiar-unfamiliar voice drawled from somewhere offscreen. "Was it my imagina-a-ation, or are you saying some strange wo-o-ords?"

"It's Rias, big sister!" Sona-chan immediately betrayed me, still continuing to stare and not understand anything.

"Here! Great! Give Serafall the mirror! That's what I need!"

"And what does this have to do with..." Sona began, but Serafall clearly grabbed the communication device faster than Sona-chan could formulate the question. "Hey! Sister! Give it back!"

"How can I help you, Rias-cha-a-an?" she drawled, and now her grinning face was in the range of the mirror, but I could see in her eyes that she was absolutely serious. "It sounded like what I think it sounded like, or..."

"You aren't wrong, Sera... chan."

Her smirk faded from her face, and she tensed.

Yes, it was the same terrible woman who introduced Rias to anime, and she absolutely adored Maho-shojo. Sailor Moon dropped the same year when Rias and Sona were born. Therefore, I am not particularly surprised that a devil-woman, who is at least half a thousand years old, decided to cosplay the magical girl on a permanent basis. It's better to let her have a good time like this, than according to the morals of the Old Satans. Those extracts from the local wiki about the Civil War of the Underworld were enough for me to understand how lucky I am to be here and now, and not half a thousand years ago.

"Let's get this in order, Rias," her voice also became more serious and deeper. "What, where, and why?"

"There were trespassers, I asked to transport with Agrippa, well, you know him for sure."

Serafall nodded and narrowed her eyes.

"So, the intruder was a girl who is half Fallen, half human, her mother was expelled from the Himejima clan, these are some local Shintoists, I haven't delved into it yet," I exhaled, looked at the lowered head of the girl in question and continued. "She was hurt and mocked by these very representatives of Himejima, right in front of my eyes, and if anything, she is the same age as me, but she... more defenseless... And her mom got recently... She's gone, basically. In short, the head Himejima, what was his name?.. He offered Agrippa a deal, give her up as a slave, and... well, to do alll sorts of things with her. Agrippa was in favor of it, I know that for sure, he'd already started to say something positive."

"I can't vouch for his behavior, but... Rias-chan, why are you telling me this instead of Sirzechs?"

"Because this is a matter between factions! This is your job as Satan! I do not know what my brother is thinking, but..." I threw up my hands and clicked my tongue. "Yes, I'm giving you more work, and you won't forget that! But keeping Baraqiel's daughter as a servant? Turning her into a demon while she's so emotional? She was almost killed by her maternal relatives and can hardly make such decisions in principle just based on her young age! Maybe it was her relatives who actually arranged her mother's death, that sounds a lot like them! I do not know what happened to her father, but..."

"Baraqiel is the angel of Holy Lightning," Serafall said thoughtfully and tapped her chin. "Can't kill him that easily. Ask the girl, did they live as a family?"

"Yes... Yes!" the girl rubbed her eyes with her palms and glared at me furiously. "But I don't want to go to him! He abandoned us when we needed him!"

"Yes, I can think of about five reasons why he didn't have time to save your mother!" I couldn't resist answering in the same tone, although I immediately regretted it and relented. "For example, he could've been in the Underworld. His enemies could have deliberately set him up to hurt him, right?"

"Papa..." Her face twisted into a pained grimace, and she buried her face in her hands again.

"You see!" I turned back to Serafall. "Her logic is missing! What kind of decisions could she make? Surely, not the ones that change the rest of her life! Please, Serafall, do a good deed, contact... uh... Again, I don't remember who's in charge..."

"Azazel," Serafall sighed and massaged the bridge of her nose. "But why did you say something about a pedo?.. Well, you know what I mean."

"Sera-chan, it's kind of weird to even describe it, but... Anyway, I have... Let's just say it's a feeling when someone has sinful thoughts... Well, oh, the strong kind. I feel it when I'm near the source. And he... Well, he really wanted her. Maybe not even... but how to... As if, she's something like a collectible? I don't know how to describe it. But the closest comparison is definitely a pedophile! It's just as slimy and disgusting!"

Sera's eyes widened very much like Sona-chan's, but they're not called sisters for nothing.

"Rias-chan! Have you really felt like this somewhere?! That's your nasty fiance, isn't it? I told Sirzechs, it's necessary to check the contract on the loopholes before signing! And he actually found out about the whole thing only after the fact! And he calls himself Lucifer!"

"Fian... ce?"

I felt cold inside, and my temples were pounding again, as they had when I first got into this world.

I didn't even notice how I let go of the mirror, and it rolled across the floor, shouting something in Serafall's voice with alarm. I couldn't tell what it was, because the panic attack was taking up all my attention. It's happened to me a few times, but this time it was more serious. A crimson mist began to spread before my eyes... And there was nothing I could do about it! The magic of Imagination, my ass! Rather, emotional cunt magic!

"What should I do? Serafall-sama!" A voice rang out from directly above me.

" I know! The last time it happened, it helped me to hum the opening from Sailor Moon! Or..."

"I do not know the opening from Sailor Moon!"

"You're Japanese! Even if you're half! How can you not know Sailor Moon?!"

"Who cares?! How can I help?.. Rias, Rias, can you hear me? Breathe, come on, breathe more evenly!"

Humming? I can't even utter a word, but maybe I can imagine it, so I could come out of this state?

Wake up...

Grab the brush

and put a little make-up

Hide the scars

to fade away the shake-up

Why'd you leave the keys upon the table?

Here you go

create another fable,

you wanted to

Grab a brush

and put a little make-up,

you wanted to

Hide the scars

to fade away the shake-up,

you wanted to

Why'd you leave the keys upon the table?

You wanted to

I don't think you trust

In my self-righteous suicide

I cry when angels deserve to die

Father... Father…

"Father, Father... Into your hands I commend my spirit, Father, into your hands. Why have you forsaken me? In your eyes forsaken me, In your thoughts forsaken me, In your heart forsaken me…

My breathing calmed down, and I reached for the mirror. At least I didn't throw up the lunch this time, and that wasn't bad.

"Oof, thanks for the idea, Sera-chan."

"How do you even know the Bible, and why didn't it affect you?" Serafall massaged her temples, speaking with her eyes closed.

"That's not a Bible, but the Chop Suey song by System of a Down?" I said, puzzled. "I just sang the rest inside myself, because I couldn't breathe properly. Is this a quote from the Bible? I didn't know!"

And I pray to God that it works. Again, mentioning Inari-sama in Japan makes me feel uncomfortable, especially in front of a Shinto woman's daughter, no matter how exiled she was.

"Okay, wait for me, I'll be there in five minutes. I need to send a message to Azazel. It's a good thing that I'm Satan and not just a magical girl, isn't that right, Rias-chan?"

"That's why I wanted to get you!" I rolled my eyes and smiled innocently. "By the way, thank you as well... And could you finally tell me your name, Baraqiel's daughter?"

"Akeno... Himejima Akeno..." Akeno muttered in embarrassment and looked at my face again. "You scared me!!! And this is just a mention of that... Man! How monstrous is he to cause such a reaction!"

I didn't say anything to that, but before the silence had settled, Serafall's laughter rang from the mirror.

"You...haha, Rias-tan, all this time you didn't know the name of the girl you're trying to... haha, help out! Rias-chan, you're just something! You, Gremory, always know how to surprise! I almost changed my mind about charging you for such a service!"

"That's your job, Serafall," I looked at her calmly, but couldn't resist remarking caustically. "That's exactly why we're in such a mess, both in domestic and foreign politics! No strategy! Only tactics!"

"Rias-chan! Watch your tongue! Who taught you all that?!" Serafall puffed out her cheeks and immediately burst them. "Okay, just as a thank you, you and Sona-chan will dress up as magical girls!"

"I only consent to fox ears and a tail," I muttered. "Match the color of the hair, if possible. I won't wear any perverted outfits, and don't ask. Ugh."

"Okay, okay, Rias-chan," she approached the mirror closer, which caused the hologram of her face to zoom in and show her purple iris. "I'll be on the surface soon and protect little girls from bad uncles! Or I am not the Magical Girl Levia-tan!"

And she switched it off, thank God.

I turned to Akeno and sighed.

"I'm sorry about this circus. The Satans of the Underworld are all slightly unstable."

She looked at me, then at the still-open mirror, and back at me.

A second later, without speaking, we burst out laughing.

Yeah, what a day. And it's not even close to the finish line yet!