A New Motivation: Chapter 2

The rigid mattress underneath me squeaked as I shifted my weight on it, staring down at my right hand. I absentmindedly clenched and unclenched my fingers, more akin to claws than anything, lost in thought.

It had been a few days or so since I had arrived in Kuoh, and in that time I had somewhat managed to figure things out. Japan apparently treated their homeless much better than most places, at least in their facilities and programs, their attitude was much worse. It only took an hour or two of asking around to find a homeless shelter, relatively empty since Kuoh didn’t have a large homeless population, and it soon became my home for the foreseeable future.

The first day had been especially rough, the unfamiliar mattress combined with the knowledge of just how far from home I was leading to a somewhat sleepless night as I tossed and turned underneath my blanket. The next was marginally better, mostly because I had spent the day focusing on figuring out exactly what I could do.

My memories, while still completely gone for the few days before my transmigration, had pretty much completely come back otherwise. That of course, included the memories of my character sheet and more importantly, my new abilities. I had spent a while figuring out exactly how to use said abilities, but I had mostly gotten it down.

With a small flex of my will, a bright blue flash of light appeared in my demonic hand, dying down to reveal a large, dual-barrel revolver with intricate engravings on the side, including one of its namesake. Blue Rose, Nero’s go-to ranged weapon, and now mine.

I turned the weapon over in my grip, taking in the engravings on its surface as I thought to myself. Just as I had thought, Seemingly everything that I had written on my character sheet had come true, including the specifications of my possessions. I still had my phone, favorite blanket, game system and games (though I had a feeling it would be a while before I got the chance to use it) and a ton of energy drinks that had practically gotten me through my old life and were already helping me in this one.

And all of it was stored in my right arm, along with the three most important things in my possession. My weapons.

Red Queen, Blue Rose, and Yamato were now all items I possessed. In a world like Highschool DxD, Red Queen alone would be more powerful than most non-Sacred Gears or Excaliburs, while Yamato was strong enough to contend with most Longinus class Gears. It was a bit overwhelming to realize I had such powerful items in my possession.

Along with the weapons came the basic knowledge on how to utilize them, which was extremely helpful due to the fact that both Red Queen and Blue Rose were both weapons designed by Nero himself, tailor made to his fighting style while being able to withstand both his inhuman strength and being infused with demonic power without breaking. They were extremely dangerous for almost anyone else to use, as the Order of the Sword had found out during testing with Red Queen. 

I mean really, who had ever heard of using a fuel injector to light your sword on fire? That just sounded like a good way to burn yourself alive. I guess being part demon really gave one a flare for the dramatic, just look at Dante and Vergil.

Still, despite the fact that I had the knowledge on how to utilize the weapons didn't mean I was going to be near Nero's skill level any time soon. Knowledge and experience were completely different things, and just because I theoretically knew how to swing the sword and shoot the gun didn't mean I wasn't still a complete novice when it came to fighting. I would need to actually use the thing in battle to gain any experience with it

As I placed Blue Rose back into my storage space, I couldn't help but muse to myself that that was probably one of the most useful of my abilities. I couldn't imagine the panic it would cause if I had dropped into this world with two massive swords and a gun on my person.

Of course, the storage space came with downsides, namely where it was located.

I sighed as I clenched my right hand, scaly skin sliding together as my fingers closed together. So far I had been able to keep it hidden during my stay at the shelter, though I had few close calls. It seemed so long as you kept your head down and didn't do anything too overly strange, people were willing to forgive a few oddities here and there, like having a scarf perpetually wrapped around your arm for example.

Luckily for me, the shelter had a lost-and-found, a place where they put any spare clothing that they happened to find or someone donated to the shelter itself. It was there I found the baggy hoodie that I had taken to wearing, using the large sleeves to somewhat hide my demon arm. Combined with a medical sling that I had found, most people didn’t give my arm a second glance, a far cry from the odd looks I had received with my scarf.

Still, even if I was careful, it was simply a matter of time before I screwed up somehow and revealed my secret. I needed a way to permanently hide my arm. The only issue was, I had no idea how to go about that. In the games, Nero had simply lived with his arm until it was forcefully torn from him by Vergil, at which point he used demon-enhanced prosthetics until he activated his Devil Trigger and regenerated his original hand.

I wasn’t looking to get my arm ripped off any time soon and I didn’t even know what the requirements were to even unlock a Devil Trigger or even if I had one in the first place. I would need to look for my answers elsewhere.

“Maybe magic?” I muttered to myself as I stared at my hand. DxD had an extensive magic system, with practically every race having its own system to use; there had to be some sort of illusion magic I could learn somewhere.

“Though, if that didn’t work, I doubt any spell would fare much better…” I said aloud, frowning slightly as I recalled my recent attempt and subsequent failure to get rid of the arm at least temporarily.

One of the last, and probably most useful, abilities that I had added to my character sheet was a little skill called Degenerate. It was an ability that, while simple, had the potential to be a gamechanger if used properly.

It was split into two distinct abilities: Synthesis, and Separation. They were mostly self-explanatory, though the finer details made them more complex than they originally appeared.

Synthesis allowed the user to combine two targets into a single object with both of the original targets’ properties. It wasn’t limited to only physical items either. As long as it was two distinct things, Synthesis would be able to combine them, barring a few caveats. You could even combine spells to make a much more powerful version that would require much less effort to cast than if you had done so originally.

The other half of the power was Separation, and it did exactly what it said on the tin. I could target an object or person and separate something from them, be it a foreign toxin or even possession, I could get rid of it. The biggest limitation of this power was that I wouldn’t be able to touch anything that was explicitly bound to a person’s souls, ie, limbs or a Sacred Gear…

Or my arm. Any attempt at using my powers to make the limb normal again had failed spectacularly. It seemed that I was stuck with it for now.

I was broken from my thoughts by the doorknob to my room clicking as it was turned. I hurriedly shoved my right arm behind my back, just managing to hide it from view as the door swung open and admitted the person outside. 

The person, a man around twice my age, gave a suspicious look at my hidden limb, but didn’t say anything as he turned to address me, “Curfew is in an hour, miss. make sure you get anything you need done out of the way before the doors lock.”

“Oh, alright.” I said, keeping my arm behind my back as I thought to the flier currently inside of my pocket, “Then I suppose I should hurry then. I have something I need to take care of tonight.”

I could tell the man disapproved, “If you aren’t back soon, the shelter will close until morning, no exceptions. I understand that you may have important business to take care of, but are you sure it cannot wait until morning?”

I waved them off with a reassuring smile, “It’s fine. If everything goes well, I won’t be back until morning anyway, if I need to come back at all.”

I got an odd look for that, but he didn’t say anything, simply giving me a nod before turning to exit the room, clicking the door shut softly behind him as he likely went to inform the rest of the building’s residents of the curfew.

I breathed a small sigh of relief, removing my arm from behind my back. I gave the demonic limb an annoyed glare. That had been way too close, I needed a way to hide the damn thing, and fast. For now though, I had more pressing things to take care of.

I made my preparations quickly, not wanting to be locked inside the shelter and have to wait another day. I pulled my hoodie over my head, made sure my sling was in position on my arm and the sleeve was hiding my hand, and set off to my destination, making walking to 

There was a relatively small park near the shelter and it was near there I had chosen to utilize the contract. It only took a few minutes to walk there, and given how late it was the park was pretty much completely empty.

I continued walking, making my way into the small section of woods nearby just in case anybody happened upon me. It was late so that was unlikely, but I still didn’t want to take any chances.

Once I was far enough into the woods that I was sure nobody would be able to easily locate me, I stopped in a small clearing, the trees and foliage around me thick enough that little light leaked through. Deciding that it was good enough, I pulled the crumpled piece of paper from my hoodie pocket, marked with the crest of the Gremory family.

It was only once I had actually retrieved it that I realized that I had no idea how to actually use the flier. My knowledge of this world's magic was limited to what I had seen and as such, I had absolutely zero experience in actually utilizing it.

“Issei just really wanted to motorboat Rias even though he was dying…” I thought aloud as I stared down at the sigil on the paper, “Is it a desire thing? Do I just need to want something really badly?”

Deciding to at least try it out, I closed my eyes, focusing on how much I needed to meet Rias, to prevent the events that were no doubt already in motion. I focused on the desire, the want and need clear in my mind, and hoped for the best.

There was a long moment of nothing before I heard a noise coming from the paper. I looked down as the flier began glowing bright red. Startled, I dropped it to the ground, stepping back slightly as a magic sigil appeared on its surface,shining brightly in the dark forest and casting its glow on the surrounding trees.

I brought my hand up to shield my eyes as the glow grew to be blinding, a silhouette taking shape above the flier itself as someone was transported to my location.

‘Well I guess it worked. That was much easier than I thought it would be.’ I thought wryly as the glow began to die down, allowing me to remove my hand from in front of my face and actually look at the person to answer my call.

To my surprise, the person who appeared from the glowing summoning circle wasn't Rias like I expected nor was it Akeno. Instead, as the glow cleared, I was met with the sight of a petite, white-haired haired girl with a somewhat bored look on her face. It was Koneko.

She looked around at the dark forest, posture becoming more tense as she took in the remote location, before her entire body stiffened and her gaze shot to me, yellow eyes narrowing as they took me in, specifically my still-hidden arm.

I was suddenly hit with just how odd this all must look to her. A girl with an apparently broken arm uses a devil contract to summon her in the middle of a forest, far away from civilization. I had no idea whether or not she could sense my arm, but given the way she had looked at the sling, I had a feeling she could at least feel something from it. Hopefully she wouldn’t be too suspicious of it.

Deciding that Koneko likely wasn't going to speak first, I decided to take the initiative. I gave a short bow at the waist, doing my best to seem non-hostile as I gave a gentle smile to the disguised Nekoshou.

“Hello, I’m Nero Okita. I’m sorry for calling you here so late at night.” I gave her the name I had chosen. Souji Okita was a member of Sirzechs’ peerage if I recalled correctly, and it wouldn't be a good idea to steal the name of a member of the strongest Satan’s family, “I know this may seem strange but I have a request for you.”

Seemingly not finding anything wrong in my words, yet still keeping her wary expression, Koneko gave me a shallow nod.

I took a small breath to prepare myself, “I need to speak to Rias Gremory. I have some extremely important information that she needs to hear. In person.”

There was a small moment of silence as she took in my request, before she opened her mouth to speak.

“Why?” Koneko 's voice was serious, and I gulped at the intensity of her gaze.

This was an issue, I had no idea whether or not Koneko would dismiss my request out of hand and just disappear in a teleportation circle if I didn’t tell her, but I also knew if I did tell her, she was liable to think I was insane and leave anyway. 

“I can’t tell you.” I said finally, wincing at the way her eyes narrowed, “I mean no disrespect, but you likely wouldn’t believe me even if I tried to. Nonetheless, what I have to say is extremely important and it is even more important that only the right people hear it.”

I looked down at my hidden arm, “In all truth, the information concerns your entire peerage. Yourself, Kiba, and Gasper especially.”

At the Dhampir’s name, Koneko’s gaze sharpened even further and she scowled lightly, “How do you know about Gasper?” She demanded, a bit of heat entering her voice.

I winced. I had completely forgotten that most people outside of Devils didn’t even know of Gasper's existence. Rias had sealed the boy away at his request when they had first come to Japan, and as such there should have been no reason for me to know about him.

I thought of some way to explain myself, before giving up, “... I can’t say, not here. I need to meet with Rias first.”

There was a moment of silence after my words, before Koneko's face suddenly twisted into an expression I couldn't identify and, before I could open my mouth to continue speaking, she lunged forward at blinding speeds.

As a tiny fist with an incredible amount of power behind it approached my surprised face, and every fiber of my being screamed at me to dodge the attack, I couldn't help but wonder if this was a bad idea.