Fate: Gremory [Remake] (ENG)

Note: Question, what is 'Junior High School DxD', while searching the DxD wikifandom, I ended up coming across this story. I would like to know if anyone has read this story.

Chapter 5

Europe, 2008

Isaiah never imagined that his life would be marked by the sword. Raised in an orphanage, orphaned from an early age, he was recruited by the church to be part of a secret project. The Sacred Sword Project was something he, along with many other orphans, put his hope in: a chance to belong to something great, to find a reason to live.

Under the supervision of Valper Galilei, they were prepared to wield the Holy Swords in order to achieve unimaginable power. However, the project never lived up to expectations. Young orphans were considered expendable when the project did not demonstrate the expected results.

When Valper Galilei decided to eliminate them, many of the young men were sacrificed. Isaiah witnessed the death of all his friends, and hatred took hold of him. The Holy Swords, especially Excalibur, became the symbol of his tragedy, the reason behind the death of those who were his companions, his brothers.

His escape was the last vestige of hope. With the help of his friends, he managed to flee the facility, but the poison he had inhaled during his escape was taking his life. His body fell exhausted, exhausted by the wounds and the poison that spread through his body.

The air was frozen, and the snow was falling slowly, covering the ground in a white blanket that seemed eternal. Each breath of Isaiah produced a faint mist, almost imperceptible because of how weak he was. His body lay among the trees of a forest, life slipping away from him with every passing second.

He felt no pain, only a cold that enveloped him from within. His blurred vision captured fragments of the landscape around him, but nothing made sense. No matter where he looked, he saw only shadows of what he had lost: the faces of his friends, the screams of agony that had filled the experiment room, and the cruel glow of the Holy Swords that had doomed them.

His fingers closed weakly on the snow. "Is this my end?" he thought, as the poison ran its course, claiming every corner of his body.

But then, a soft, warm voice broke the silence.

"Do you want to live?"

His weary gaze rose and, in the mist of his vision, he saw a figure kneeling beside him.

She was a majestic-looking girl. His long, crimson hair contrasted with the snow around her, and his blue eyes, as deep as the summer sky, looked at him with a mixture of compassion and determination. He was wearing an elegant winter coat, but he did not seem affected by the cold that consumed him.

For a moment, Isaiah thought he was seeing an angel.

"Do you want to live?" she repeated, extending a hand to him.

Isaiah did not respond immediately. His mind, caught between physical pain and emotional devastation, wavered. The girl's words echoed in his head, mingling with the echoes of his friends' screams, the promises they'd made together, and the guilt that consumed him for having been the only one to escape.

"Living..." he murmured in a weak, barely audible voice.

"What for?" he thought. "What's the point if they're not here anymore? If all that remains in my heart is hate..."

But then, a fleeting memory crossed his mind. The words of his best friend, Matthias, before sacrificing himself so that he could escape.

"Isaiah, live for us. Make our existence mean something."

His chest was filled with a mixture of rage and determination. He couldn't let their deaths be in vain. If there was anything left I could do in this world, it would be to avenge them.

He looked up at the girl in front of him. Her lips were pale, but she managed to articulate an answer.

"Yes... I want to live. I still can't... die."

The girl smiled sweetly, although there was a firmness in her expression that showed her character. "So, accept my offer. I'll give you a new chance, a new life. But you will have to walk a new path, far from what you know. Are you willing?"

Isaiah didn't fully understand what his offer meant, but it didn't matter at the time. He could not afford to die, not when the weight of the promises and lives of his friends fell on him.

With what little control he had left, he stretched out his trembling hand toward her. His fingers barely touched the girl's, but that contact was enough.

A warm energy began to flow from the girl into her body, enveloping it in a crimson light that contrasted with the cold snow around her. Isaiah felt that energy fight against the poison that was killing him, repairing his body and filling it with a force he had never felt before.

As the light enveloped him, his mind began to fade. The last image he saw before losing consciousness was the girl's face, her firm and protective gaze.

"Rest. When you wake up, your life will begin again," the girl said, her voice seeming to caress her spirit.

When Isaiah awoke, he was no longer in the forest. His eyes slowly widened, and the first thing he noticed was the ceiling decorated with intricate details. I was in a comfortable bed, surrounded by a warm and luxurious atmosphere.

That's when the door to the room opened, and the same girl who had saved him entered, carrying a small tray of food.

"I'm glad to see you woke up," she said with a smile.

Isaiah looked at her, confused. "Who are you?"

She placed the tray on the table next to the bed and sat down in a nearby chair. "My name is Rias Gremory. I'm the head of a noble demon family, and now... I am your teacher."

Isaiah's eyes widened in surprise. "Demon? What does this mean?"

Rias patiently explained what had happened. He told him about demons, the 'Evil Piece' and the pact he had made with him to save him. He explained that he was now part of his nobility, a [Knight], and that his previous life as a human was over.

"Why did you save me?" asked Isaiah, still trying to process everything I was telling him.

Rias stared at him. "Because I saw in you a potential that I couldn't pass up. But, beyond that, I saw someone who had a reason to keep fighting. You don't have to tell me what you're looking for, but if you decide to stay by my side, I promise I'll help you find it."

In the days that followed, Isaiah began to slowly adjust to his new life. Although he was still carrying the weight of his past, he began to see a new path in front of him.

It was then that Rias offered him a new name.

"The name Isaiah belongs to your past life. But now, as part of my nobility, I'd like to give you a new name, one that reflects your rebirth."

Isaiah looked at her silently, but nodded.

"From now on, you will be Yuuto Kiba," Rias said with a smile.

Yuuto accepted the name, knowing that it was not only a symbol of his new life, but also a way to honor the promise he had made to his friends: to move on, live for them, and someday, avenge them.

❅────✧❃✧────❅•

Northern Europe.

The cold north wind whipped hard, causing even the sturdiest trees to creak under its intensity. Snow covered the entire ground, but the scene was not calm: the echoes of a battle echoed throughout the valley, shaking the peace of the Asgardian lands.

In the middle of a snow-covered clearing, a young teenager stood out for her indomitable energy. Izayoi Saigou, with a wide smile and a gleam of pure emotion in her eyes, dodged the attack of a hammer that could have shattered a mountain.

"Wow, I thought the Norse gods would be faster!" she shouted as she leapt backwards, leaving a trail of snow flying with the impact of her movement.

In front of her, a group of minor gods watched with expressions of frustration. One of them, wielding the huge hammer that had missed, gritted his teeth tightly.

"Insolent girl! Do you really think you can stand against the gods of Asgard?" the god roared, raising his hammer again.

Izayoi put a hand on her waist, pretending to be thoughtful. "Hmm... Well, considering that I'm already winning, I'd say yes."

Explosion!

Lightning fell from the sky, illuminating the battlefield for an instant. In the distance, Senji and Kuroka watched the scene from a snow-covered hill.

Kuroka, hugging herself to protect herself from the cold, sighed. "This girl has a screw loose, nya. Why is she always excited to fight with Gods?"

Senji, sitting on a snow-covered rock, kept his eyes fixed on Izayoi, analyzing his every move. His expression remained calm, but there was a faint gleam of approval in his gaze.

"She likes to prove the veracity of the legends told in books, so she is always interested in fighting with the Gods."

She snorted, letting out a mist into the icy air. "She's a bit extreme."

Senji cocked his head slightly, not taking his eyes off the battlefield. "Izayoi is not like other humans. She has the power, but she still lacks the experience to continue growing. If you don't learn now, it will be too late when you face a real threat."

Kuroka clicked her tongue, she watched as Izayoi dodged a bolt of lightning that snapped a nearby tree. "I hope you're right, because if she gets killed, I'll remind you of it for the rest of your life, nya."

Back on the battlefield, she moved with impressive agility, dodging blows and launching quick attacks. However, the gods were beginning to coordinate better, surrounding her and limiting her movements.

"Well," she said, bending her knees as she raised her hands, "it looks like they're finally acting as a team."

One of the gods hurled his spear at her with breakneck speed. Izayoi leapt backwards, but the spear changed trajectory in mid-air, guided by a spell.

"That's trap!" she shouted as the spear nearly grazed her shoulder.

Another god took advantage of her distraction and charged towards her with a shield held high. Izayoi barely had time to raise her arms to block the impact, which threw her several meters backwards, her body sinking into the snow.

"Are you tired, child?" asked one of the gods, with a smile of superiority.

From the snow, she began to laugh, her laughter echoing in the clearing. Slowly, he got up, wiping the snow from his clothes.

"Not bad," she said, stretching out her arms. "I'm glad they're finally fighting seriously, because now I can show them something new."

A bright flash began to surround the girl's body, illuminating the battlefield. Under the girl's feet, she began to tremble slightly, and her energy was concentrated on her right palm.

"Let's see how they handle this," she said with a defiant smile.

An explosive attack surrounded everyone, the gods forced to retreat and raise their weapons for protection.

On the hill, Senji watched the energy explosion with a neutral expression, but his eyes shone with a mixture of approval and caution.

"She's losing control," he muttered.

Kuroka, who was now standing next to him. "Are you going to intervene or will you let her go on?" She frowned.

Senji slowly got up, shaking the snow from his coat. "Enough is enough for today. She needs to know when to stop."

Without saying more, he began to walk towards the battlefield, letting his footsteps echo through the snow.

Senji appearing on the battlefield, he observed the gods covered in minor wounds, panting from the effort. Izayoi, she was standing where she was breathing from the exhaustion of having used that ability.

"That's enough," Senji said in a firm voice, walking toward Izayoi.

She turned to him, with a tired but proud smile. "Did you see it? I was amazing, wasn't it?"

Senji stopped in front of Izayoi, crossing his arms. "You did well, but you could have ended this fight much sooner if you had used your head."

Izayoi puffed out her cheeks, clearly annoyed. "Come on, at least you could congratulate me a little more! Didn't you see how I pushed them back?"

"Yes, and I also saw how you allowed yourself to be surrounded by your own recklessness," Senji replied. "Strength is not everything, Izayoi. You need to learn how to handle your cards."

The gods, though exhausted, nodded respectfully towards Senji. "Your mentee has potential, but she's still too impulsive."

"I know," Senji said, turning to them. "And that's why I brought her here. Thank you for your time."

One of the gods, holding his hammer over his shoulder, chuckled. "You have the guts to train a human here. But, she's amazing, it's time to resume a training regimen to defeat that girl, no, Izayoi Saigou. In the future I will look for revenge where I will get the victory."

Izayoi raised a fist, where she smiled arrogantly. "When that happens, I'll kick your ass back, Thor!"

Senji sighed and began to walk towards the hill. "Let's go. You have to continue the journey."

Izayoi followed, muttering to herself, while Kuroka, waiting for them on the hill, shook her head.

"We are definitely a troublesome group, nya..."

Side Story: First Fight?

Japan, 1982 - Kyoto High School (A Time Before First Date?)

Sunlight illuminated the Kyoto High School campus as students ran back and forth, busy with their daily activities. The cherry blossoms fell gently in the breeze, giving the atmosphere an idyllic touch that contrasted with the chaos that reigned in the teachers' room on the second floor.

Inside that room, Senji Muramasa and Serafall Leviathan were arguing... once again.

They both worked as teachers, an opportunity Senji had taken in hopes of keeping a low profile while living as a human. However, he didn't count on Serafall eventually following him to this place. Not only did his presence test his daily patience, but it seemed designed to make any attempt at a quiet life impossible.

On this occasion, the discussion revolved around the school event that would take place in two weeks. Each class had to organize something for the cultural festival, and as the coordinators, Senji and Serafall had to decide how they would help their respective groups.

"It's a perfect idea!" she exclaimed excitedly, showing a drawing in which the students in her class were dressed in elaborate costumes of magical girls and wizards. "Look at this, Senji-chan! My class will be doing a cosplay parade of magical girls and magicians. It will be bright, full of colors, and adorable!"

Senji, sitting on a chair with his arms crossed, looked at the drawing for a moment. He had been listening to Serafall's explanations for the past twenty minutes, and every word he said made his patience wear out a little more.

Finally, he sighed deeply and closed his eyes, leaning back in his chair. "Don't you think you're taking this too far, Serafall? It's a school festival, not a TV show."

"Of course it's not too much!" she replied, tapping the table with both hands as she looked at him with her eyes shining. "Cosplay of magical girls is always a success. And it's what students love the most! It's fun, creative, and... magical!"

Senji opened one eye to look at her, assessing whether her inexhaustible energy was worth responding to. In the end, he decided that he should express what he really thought, even though he knew there could be consequences.

"Aren't you too old to cosplay?"

The silence that followed his words was deafening.

For an instant, the world seemed to stop. The students outside stopped running, the birds stopped singing, and the wind stopped blowing. Serafall, her smile froze on his face as a slight twitch began to manifest in his right eyebrow.

Senji barely had time to register the danger before everything exploded.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?"

With a movement faster than any human could perceive, Serafall clenched his fist and threw a direct punch to Senji's face. The impact was so strong that the chair he was sitting on slid backwards and, to his bad luck, crashed into the open window behind him.

The chair tilted back, and with a deafening noise of breaking glass, Senji flew out of the second-floor window, landing in the institute's courtyard with a sharp sound.

The students outside stopped when they saw their teacher lying on the ground, with shards of glass around him. Some looked at him in amazement, others in confusion, and a few more began to whisper among themselves.

From the broken window, Serafall poked his head out, his fist still raised and an expression of pure indignation on his face.

"You should never say that to a young lady!" she shouted, shaking her finger at him as if she were reprimanding a child.

Senji, still lying on the ground, let out a long sigh as he looked up at the sky. He knew he had crossed a line, but he couldn't help but mutter to himself, "I knew... I should have kept quiet."

A group of students quickly approached to help him up. A girl asked with concern, "Is it okay, Muramasa-sensei?"

He nodded slowly as he brushed the dust off his shirt. "I'm fine... I just need a moment."

Meanwhile, Serafall returned to the staff room as if nothing had happened, where she was revisiting her sketches of magical girl costumes and muttering to herself about how wonderful her class's presentation would be.

Several minutes later, Senji returned to the ward, this time with an expression of pure exasperation. He closed the door behind him and folded his arms, looking at Serafall, who was still working on his drawings as if the previous incident had never happened.

"You know that was completely unnecessary, right?" he finally said, breaking the silence.

Serafall looked up, where she blinked innocently. "What do you mean?"

"To fly me out the window."

She smiled and shrugged. "You shouldn't have said something so rude. You never tell a lady that she's too old for anything. It's common sense, Senji-chan."

Senji massaged his temples, trying to stay calm. "You are impossible..."

"And you're a grump!" she replied, sticking out her tongue.

Despite his frustration, Senji couldn't help but notice Serafall's infectious energy. As irritating as it was, its presence had a strange effect on the environment, making it lighter and less monotonous.

Finally, he let out a sigh and sank into a chair. "Do whatever you want with the cosplay parade. Just don't get me into it."

"Done deal!" she exclaimed with a beaming smile, lifting her drawing as if it were a trophy. "And don't worry, Senji-chan, I'm sure even you will find this funny eventually!"

"I doubt it," he murmured, resting his head on the table.

As Serafall talked about colors and designs again, Senji couldn't help but think that although his life was far from peaceful, at least he would never be boring with her around.