Solium Excidium or Imagination Magic 101 in the World of DxD

Serafall was unstoppable, like a natural disaster, because for all my attempts to refuse a dubious reward for helping to mend inter-factional relations, she simply waved me off and demolished all of my "don't mind it" and "forget it."

It all started with the fact that we still went - with Serafall, Sona-chan and the teacup maid - to the Ghibli Museum, and then to Akihabara. In the process, by hook or by crook, I refused the questionable honor of receiving the copy of all the souvenir shops for my sole use. Firstly, I read Dead Souls at my first school experience, and I remember Plyushkin very well as a model of greed and avarice. Although I understood the tragicomism of that book much later than I had it at school. Secondly, before staying in Rias's body, I was never particularly happy about anything other than the functional weapons in the collection. And that's why I rightly assumed that this desire to agree with Serafall was superficial.

Sera-chan was annoyed but admired my resilience in this regard. But to be honest, I just didn't want to give in to possible temptations from the start. And it seems to me that Serafall was quite aware of the weaknesses of the previous version of Rias for collectible items. But my tchotchke, at the slightest joy from the possible possession of all sorts of other tchotchkes, began to peck my brain with these threats to re-count my sins from size XXS to size S, or even worse, M. The question is, why were they measured not in numbers or some other form, but by the size of clothes? This bracelet is definitely broken, and Austin - well, I give it 90 percent - decided to troll me with this vacation.

Oh, God in Heaven, blyat, why did this fucker give me this handicraft? And what happens if I give in to the mortal sin in full?

I've already felt the devilish impulsiveness myself, when I almost succumbed to the temptation to kill those geezers. Killing was not an ordinary thing for me, although I knew about reincarnation, so it seems that even if I kill someone, the soul will go on, cus it's immortal.

On the other hand, if there is reincarnation, why not a karmic system or something similar?

To some extent, this sin-meter confirmed something similar - if it can be measured, then it has energy. If it has energy, it means that it somehow affects something. And these moments of calibration, they also fit into such measurements, if you imagine that this former System has a broken tight connection with real world, and there is a connection only with me and what's nearby.

In my home world, all my problems were born of human shit, which could not be solved by ultra-violence, and it would be even harmful to my own well-being. After all, no one abolished the laws just for me, and I was not some notorious scumbag.

The situation was simple and sad - my mother died when I wasn't even ten, my maternal grandmother suffered from cancer, and no one but me turned out to care about her. And my father with his relatives treated me like a freeloader at the suggestion of his sick in the head bitch of a mother... It was definitely impossible to solve this with murders. I've learned to live with it, come to terms with the fact that I either do what I need to do and take responsibility, or I spit on everything and forget about helping someone dear to me. Yes, it broke my plans on life to some extent, worsened the quality of it, but inside I felt the rightness - my own, and the wrongness - of the fucker who arranged such a situation for his own son.

My core of values was formed before the outright betrayal and scum attitude start, so I definitely did not look for a reason in myself when another person, who should seemingly protect and give support, simply spat on me and disowned any proper obligations. The minimum - a roof over my head - was required to be given by society and the state, and he fulfilled this minimum because he really cared only about other people's opinions. But after, I was on my own.

And then I died before I even reached the threshold of thirty, saving someone who, as it turned out, never even needed saving. And she gave me an unsolicited gift in the form of reincarnation with memories of a previous life, because she did not believe that our chance meeting was actually accidental. This, of course, was her stated motivation, and I had an opinion about it - I think she wanted to mock me, or something like that. After all, my whole life, especially from here and now, seemed like some kind of stupid pointless joke, that no less stupidly ended.

In the world of sparkling vamps, my attitude has not changed much, except that for the first few years of my life I simply struggled with the flying off cuckoo feeling. And after I stopped feeling like a wacko, I struggled with the desire to kill myself over something other than the local ghouls. After all, if I got killed in a bad way, they'd also turn me into their rotten clone, and my spiritual connection and development as kitsune - because of that botched saving attempt in the previous life - wouldn't have mattered.

The less I talk about the next world, the better, but then again, moral guidelines were welcome there, especially with the power and responsibility that were thrust onto me. By the way, there were also vampires and demons, much less aesthetically pleasing, all in all, when compared with my current shell. But the world, familiar from the Buffy series, proved once again that my undoing are - the blonde women with symptoms of what some rude Russians might call the cunt-suffering. Very specific term. Has less to do with cunt and everything to do with indecisiveness, honestly. 

The previous world, with dark spirits hunting any glaring emotions in people, especially the ones with the opened Aura, and with odd references to fairy tales and stories from Earth, of course, made me play whack-a-mole with my conscience. But in fact, I only had to dirty my hands a couple of times. And if it wasn't for Salem's way out of the situation - which would never have happened if Austin hadn't been so interested in making another solution to the main problem of that world, and freeing the poor soul of a tortured woman from the eternal struggle for no one knows what - then I would have already been killed in that world, and it would've been Salem who killed me.

Even considering the fact that devils live in this world for a huge amount of time and mostly die for technical reasons rather than old age, it is likely that with my luck these technical reasons will come sooner rather than in tens of thousands of years. Especially since I wasn't going to distort my ideas about how I should behave towards others.

Why didn't Austin explain anything to me about these remnants of the System, which he had redesigned for some seemingly useless bullshit? Oh, well, I wasn't going to distort my moral guidelines too much anyway, I've already seen how it doesn't lead to anything good, especially with such a long life, or rather, quite finite and not very considerable lives that I've been given. Even if everyone around decided to smear themselves with shit, I don't have to be like them, do I? But with that kind of power, those kicks from the bracelet might even come in handy.

Since Rias's body has already influenced my reactions - that strange joy of mindless collecting that I've never really had, then it's quite possible that this body will continue to influence me. Perhaps this tchotchke is not just to correct my own changes, but so that I can see when this body affects me and so that I catch it as early as possible. But what prevented him from explaining it right away!?

The situation with the Fallen, by the way, was resolved quite swiftly, but in the spirit of Serafall. She promised to remove their brains out through their nostrils if there was no adequate compensation, briefly lingered her attention on their Nephilim School - as apparently it's a thing. And she was clearly hinting at something - I didn't understand what exactly. But it was obviously important, because both Baraqiel and Azazel seemingly chewed on a lemon after her alleged change of subject. Alleged, because even I understood that she was hinting at compensation related to this school. Even Sona-chan pricked up her ears, and she's not even that old, so I doubt Serafall was misunderstood on the other side.

It's quite clear that it would have been all kinds of surreal, if Serafall had invited the Fallen to walk with us. Although Akeno clearly didn't mind. If we started whining together, the adults would've definitely given in, but I don't even remember the last time I used this feature of a kid's body.

The girl hugged me one last time very tightly, as if realizing that we were unlikely to see each other at all in the near future. She didn't have a personal phone, Azazel's slimy face was asking for a brick, and Baraqiel's frown had enough power to make people shit enough of those bricks to build a small chapel. Therefore, it was not difficult for me to decide on leaving the continuation of this relationship to fate.

After all, I'm here in this strange world for another reason altogether - I need to learn magic. And not just for fun, but to gain an understanding at some point in this training, of what that asshole Austin did to my soul.

And mister Agrippa is unlikely to just forgive me for this stunt and missed opportunities, because it was he who unknowingly helped me calibrate the sin of Greed, that is, stinginess.

Still, it was definitely not my "sin", the Greed one. Why they were displayed on this gift from Austin in Latin at all, I still don't understand. Perhaps the previous user was kind of a nerd, or perhaps this tchotchke was supposed to connect to the Earth's noosphere. And since I'm not in the Indian or Chinese Supernatural faction here, but in the so-called Biblical one, they give out information in one of the main languages of this religious branch. But if the tchotchke had joined the noosphere properly, then there would also be no problem with understanding ancient languages. Probably. Though if you think about it, devils and angels are just supposed to memorize nothing but writing, all the while spoken language is a completely different story.

I didn't know exactly what to do with Serafall's suggestions during this walk of ours.

But I definitely realized that I shouldn't have irritably told her that if she wanted to pay me back so badly, she could help me get out of the marriage contract.

Serafall's grin seemed to freeze on her face, the maid to her left decided to bow nervously, obviously checking out of any discussions and becoming one fine decoration, and Sona-chan stared at me in surprise, her cute eyes bulging.

"Rias-chan, you know that we, the bearers of the Satan title, cannot directly interfere in the affairs of the Pillars. And I generally deal with the external affairs of our faction, so I don't even really see how I can help as the magical girl Levia-tan, except challenge the Phenex and force them to cancel the contract by the right of the might,"

She sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"You, on your own, Rias, will surely be able, if you really try and find good pieces, to challenge that fiance of yours to a Rating game. Of course, I haven't read your contract, unlike my Sona-chan's, but I suspect that there are no tricks like with the chess game. But all other points should be standard. Maybe they added something else - you need to check it out yourself to make sure."

I just sighed at this and lamented the lack of memories - maybe this Gabrias Gremory had already thought of everything before me, or at least had an approximate plan, but I obviously had to try to get something brewing on my own, even before these possible plans surfaced.

"Sera-chan, thank you for the detailed explanation, of course, but I rather have something else in mind," I hesitated whether to continue, but after Sona-chan's encouraging nod, I spoke out. "I'm not marrying this man, regardless of whether you help me or not. I will leave the Pillar and give up my name and legacy, if I cannot defeat him in a duel."

Sona-chan gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, the maid rose up a bit from her position of humility and narrowed her eyes at me, showing bewilderment with her whole look and pose. Serafall tilted her head to the side, but she didn't change her rather neutral expression.

"What do you mean, Rias-chan?" Serafall said, deceptively impassive, like the calm before a storm.

"It would seem that I have every chance to fight back by learning more magic, strengthening through contracts and contractors, and improving control over my Power. After all, my brother is Satan Lucifer himself, and my mother controls the ability of the Bael family and could teach it to me from an early age."

"Well, yes," Serafall shrugged and frowned. "That's exactly how it usually happens. The power of the lineage does not immediately give, though it manifests early enough, if it is there at all."

"But all I remember from my childhood is a bunch of books, anime you left behind, being lonely, and sometimes a stroll with my brother's pawn, if you remember, he's a Qilin. He let me ride, because I apparently liked his fiery form. Then it stopped, too. Recently, I managed to get at least an instructor in general magic. Agrippa gave me a bookcase in the library, most of which I already know. When I asked him to show me something more complicated, he rudely brushed me off. Do you think these are random actions, Serafall?"

Serafall was silent, and judging by her pursed lips, she was clearly clenching her teeth.

"Anyways, these are affairs... of another Pillar, so to help you... explicitly... I simply cannot, Rias-chan."

"Explicit is not necessary, Sera-chan,"

I reached out and wrapped my fingers around her clenched fist in an awkward attempt to calm her down.

"Just when I ask, give me a place and an excuse, so I could practice. I need to learn more about the contract, if I can even get to it, but what I know for sure is that to increase strength and capabilities, you just need to work very hard. But in order to do this in secret, I would either need on my side my entourage, which is supposedly responsible for my preparedness to resist this engagement. And this is definitely not going to happen, as you can guess from the indirect evidence. Or I need to become a separate being from my Pillar, a combat unit, if you will, and I can't do it alone."

"I'll help you, Rias-sama!"

The maid without a name decided to fervently insert herself into our conversation and for some reason plopped down in front of me in the dogeza pose. And from that position, she glanced sharply at Sera-chan and continued.

"Serafall-sama, I understand that my word is not worth much, but the young mistress is not making things up or exaggerating. It was extremely rare for me to be in the main mansion where Rias-sama usually resides. It's all because of Agrippa-san's experiments. But over the past year, I've had to interact more often with the servants of Zeoticus-sama, and the opinion of the young mistress is extremely disparaging. I even wondered why this is allowed at all, especially among both ordinary servants and reincarnated devils like me."

"I don't doubt it at all, but I can't say that I'm aware of why this is the case at all," I folded my arms and chuckled. "Stop sitting like that, Maid, we are not at the court of the Emperor or this Nurarihyon of yours."

Teapot-chan started to squeak something in response, but I pointed my index finger at her and shook my head, forbidding her to interrupt me until I was done.

"I've already said that I'll ask Zeoticus to let me drink your tea more often. Anyway,"

I frowned and, without letting go of Serafall's hand, which had relaxed in my grasp, and turned to the maid with my whole body.

"What is your favorite tea?"

"My tea?"

The maid blinked rapidly in disbelief and raised her face to me, now also completely, and not from this bent state of submission, still trying to sweep the ground with her nose.

"To be honest, I like Sakurayu..."

"Have no idea what that is, but let's do it like this," I squatted down and smiled at her face. "Your name - if you don't mind, of course, I won't be offended - now Sakura. Alrighty?"

"Wa-a-a-ah!"

Serafall slipped her palm out of mine, just in order to spin her glitter and make it look like we were really in the anime.

"I can't decide on the genre! Is it Shonen with Shojo-ai elements, or is it just that Rias-chan has become so cool in her sudden growing up arc, that things are taking a rather scary turn!"

"What scary turn, big sister?"

Sona-chan said that perplexedly, looking at me, then at the maid, then at her sister, who seemed to have completely lost her roof slate, but this is my personal opinion, of someone, who's already tired of all this nonsense, uh-huh.

"Just a little more, and I'll have to help Rias-chan with the transition of the genre to nekketsu! And this is not maho-shojo at all!" She pirouetted towards me, scattering her magical sparkly stars with each movement, and took my palm in a little boat made of her fingers. "Maybe Rias-chan will come to senses and take the side of magical girls? I've had everything ready for you and Sona-chan for quite some ti..."

"Gabriel!" I barked, cutting off her ramblings and making her shameless face lengthen at my insolence.

"Rias-cha..."

"Gabriel! Gabriel! Gabriel!"

"Why are you saying this terrible?.."

"I'd rather surrender to Big Bee and his whole gang, Serafall!"

"But you love maho-shojo!" one of the most powerful women of the Underworld threw up her hands, spreading the rainbow and stars around her again.

"That doesn't mean I want to wear cosplay! And even if the condition of your help is to wear these skirts and dresses, then I'd rather just give myself up to experiments. All in the hope that I will then be reincarnated somewhere far from this Underworld!"

Serafall sighed theatrically and decided to put her whole body around my shoulders, so that her noticeable breasts rested on top of my head. If I were a few years older, of course, I would undoubtedly be taken out of the equation by this action. But so far, the only impulse was not to scare her off and let me soak up some more in her arms. It felt like this body wasn't hugged very often, because some time ago, with Akeno, and now with Serafall, I was just filled with a soft warmth. As if I came home from the cold, and a cup of tea with raspberries and honey got thrust into my hands, and then got kissed on the forehead and patted on the head. It's like family warmth kind of thing.

"Change your mind, come on..." Serafall muttered and squeezed me even tighter.

"Dream on, Sera-chan," I snorted and put my hands on top of hers. "At your wedding, maybe, I'd cosplay anyone you want. As a gift to the bride."

 "Pf-f-f!" Serafall laughed, and her chest shook pleasantly. "That means never!"

"Hm-m," I decided to continue the joke and turned my face so that I could look up at her. "If you marry me, I will cosplay anyone at all, even in a dress, but with the condition that there are shorts or underpants to the middle of the thigh underneath."

"Rias!" Sera-chan jumped up indignantly and also joined the hug. "I know you're joking, but my sister might misunderstand!"

"No, Sona-chan," I muttered, and then I hugged Sona-chan too. "I'm not kidding, honest."

"Rias!" Sona-chan started slapping me on the shoulder, which made me laugh in turn.

"Ya got it!" Serafall played along and, still hugging me, lowered her sly face to the level with Sona-chan and mine. "Ask me when you grow up!"

"No promises," I denied, remembering in time about my Kitsune nature, where any sincere promise, when the body is filled with magic, can turn into an obligation to fulfill it.

The only thing that's hanging over me right now is the ban on suicide. It sounded like something like "don't try to kill yourself," and it was pulled out of me due to genuine concern, so I couldn't even get really angry at the time. But now I can't even think it in my head, that any kind of training could be dangerous for my life.

"Oh, that's how you are, Rias-chan..." Serafall pouted and decided to rub her face first against mine and then against Sona-chan. "Well, never mind, I always have Sona-chan for my great and radiant yuri-yuri rabu!"

I almost cursed in the name of God at that and pushed her face away from me, twisting out of her clutches.

"Anyway, Sakura-san, I hope that you will keep my plans for improving my situation a secret, and if you are forced to reveal this secret, then you will tell me about it. Alrightey?"

"Rias-sama..." She lowered her face down again and tried to look very humble.

Serafall was amused again and began to squeeze me like a toy, at least not in a perverted way, because her phrases about Yuri-Yuri rabu were extremely suspicious. Ugh, I still think, this civil war of theirs has done something wrong to their minds, of that, I'm sure.

I sighed resignedly, counted to five, and single-handedly decided to fold down this circus.

Lord Almighty, Heavenly Lord, lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil, okay?