Outsider Chronicles: Devil's Advocate

Getting reborn as a Devil was unexpected, but I'm certainly not gonna complain! Between being practically immortal, a noble and having the power to make time my bitch, I wasn't even going to complain about being reincarnated into the DXD world...then again, I also wasn't expecting to get order to investigate another world infested by an oversized space worm. This...could be awkward.

Yep, its another DXD/Worm story. I admit, I've been wanting to do one of these for a while, but haven't been able to figure out how. Now I have an idea! In this world, Aleph is the world of DXD and Zion is strong enough to give some of the really high level players a hard time...but he has no special resistance to Magic, so although hes powerful, hes still beatable for top level players. Oh, and because I like the idea, our hero this time is Seekvaira's younger brother. Mainly because I like her name. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

I like to think I'm a decent person, so when I died, I was understandably a tad confused when I woke up in the Underworld. However, since I woke up as a baby, I wasn't confused for long before I became torn over whether this was a punishment or a reward. Why? Well, I had been reborn as Kervius Agares, the younger brother of Seekvaira. In other words, I'm a high class Devil with the power to control Time. Fuck. The. Hell. Yeah!

Growing up a Devil was incredibly fun. Sure, the schooling wasn't the best thing ever, but learning how to fight, use magic and the 'true' history of the world was amazing for a mythology nut like me. Plus, Seekvaira was a great big sister (especially when I got her on one of her Mecha rants) and I ended up making friends with most of the other young Devils of my generation, from Rias, to Sona, to Sairaorg, who seemed rather surprised that I also regularly got him to spar with me. Sure, my Magic was powerful, but I didn't intend to neglect my physical strength either. Mainly because I wanted to one day be strong enough to do a Dio and drop a steam roller on someone.

Of course, I had to take the good with the bad and, while I was good friends with most of my contemporary's, I also had to spend time with Diodora, the smarmy prick. I really wanted to kill him from day one, both because of what he'd do (and was already doing) and because he was just a generally unlikable fucktard. Oh, and then there was Riser, who was a stuck up, misogynistic prick who made no secret of the fact he really wanted Rias, even when we were kids. Dick.

Anyway, time continued its ever constant march, with the only real interesting things occurring being Rias acquiring her Peerage members and me receiving my own Evil Pieces, although I haven't actually recruited anyone yet. Mainly because I still haven't received a territory of my own. Admittedly, that was mostly my doing since I was currently more interested in honing my own skills rather than working with anyone new.

However, that came to an end when I was 15 and my Father called me to his office. To my surprise, when I arrived, I found my old man talking with Ajuka Beelzebub.

"Father, Lord Beelzebub," I said, bowing politely, "May I ask why you called me here?"

"Actually, I was the one to request you," said the Devil King, "I understand you haven't claimed a territory yet?"

"No, I've been focusing on improving my Magic and skills," I said with a frown, "Why?"

Ajuka reached into his robe and pulled out a sheaf of paper.

"Tell me, have you heard of the incident in America that occurred recently?" he asked.

"You mean the one where a bunch of buildings vanished from Madison?" I asked, "Yes, I have. Its in Sairiorg's territory and he was complaining about it making a mess of his work. Apparently, he lost some useful clients."

"Yes, that one," said Ajuka, "We originally thought that the cause was someone or something playing with Magic that got away from them, but upon closer inspection, it appears that we were wrong."

He dropped a picture in front of me. It wasn't the best quality, but that didn't stop me from realizing exactly what it showed. It looked like it was from a camera phone and clearly showed several buildings vanishing through portals, through one of which I could just make out a female figure with a number of wings. However, she wasn't an Angel. I paled as I suddenly realized where this was likely going.

"Back in 88, a hole was torn in space that led to an alternate world," said Ajuka, "Its a world without Magic, but instead has a large number of superpowered Humans, called Parahumans or Capes by the local populous. The hole was sealed, but a connection remains through which we exchange media like books and films. At the time, I was busy with other projects and dismissed it as unimportant, especially after news of the Tinker responsible was killed. However, this latest incident indicates that we cannot afford to ignore the connection. As such, Lord Lucifer ordered me to develop a method to travel between Earths Bet and Aleph so we can send some people to investigate and, possibly, clean up some of the mess before it really starts to spill over."

He fixed me with an intense look.

"Since you don't have a Territory yet, you are the optimal choice to act as our vanguard."

"I also don't have a Peerage," I said.

"True, however, that simply means that you can recruit from an entirely new crop of powers," said Ajuka, "You also won't be going alone, but you don't need to make arrangements for transferring to a new territory."

I sighed. I could already see that I wasn't getting out of this.

"Alright, fine," I said, "But I get first dibs on territory!"

"Thats acceptable," said Ajuka, "Here, you'll need to read this before you go."

He handed me a package of information.

"Thank you," I said, "May I go?"

Father nodded and I bowed before leaving. I immediately made a beeline for my room and sealed the door with Magic, before stomping over to the punching bag in the corner and punching it hard enough that it went flying, the seam splitting and sending sand everywhere.

"SHIT!" I shouted, not bothering to keep my voice down.

The rooms of all Devil houses were magically soundproofed as standard and a Mansion like the Agrares Family Home had the best spells available. I could set off explosives in here and someone with an ear pressed to the door wouldn't be able to hear it.

Worldbuilding aside, I dropped down into my desk chair with a groan and started rubbing my eyes. This...wasn't good. I mean, I was peripherally aware that some of the stuff I'd watched had two different versions, but I'd mostly brushed it off. That was a mistake apparently. On the up side though, I wouldn't be stuck there and I highly doubt I'd run into anyone truly capable of beating my Magic. On the down side (again) though, once Zion went nuts, my home would be in danger. Then again, that did rely on the fact that he could actually beat the big players over here.

I relaxed my fingers and turned my thoughts away from the problems that came with this revelation and towards the more interesting thoughts. Like what would happen if I were to Reincarnate a Parahuman? Would their power come along for the ride? Or would it disconnect or be destroyed? Would I be visible to Precogs or not? How would my Magic interact with Parahuman Abilities? So many questions I was actually interested in answering. I smiled. Guess I'd be finding out at least some of the answers soon enough. First things first though, I had a briefing to read.

I rolled over to my bed and picked up the package from where I'd dropped it and flipped it open to start reading. It was...actually pretty detailed, with plenty of information about Capes, the Endbringers, the PRT, the general state of the world and some people to watch for, along with a break down of their abilities and theories of how they worked and could be beaten. There was a notation that I should look into possibly taking a look at some of Gray Boy's victims to see if I could do anything about their prisons. Hell, I was interested in having a look anyway to see if I could replicate them. I had to smile when I got onto the information about the PRT and Protectorate and found that whoever had put this together had figured out that Alexandria and the Chief were the same person, although how they got that information I have no idea.

Thanks to my meta knowledge of Worm, it didn't take me long to finish the briefing and I dropped down on my bed, staring up at the ceiling and thinking hard. Technically, I could refuse to go since the current generation of Satan's were an alright lot and will generally not force anyone to do anything. That said, refusing a request from one without a damn good reason was generally considered bad form at best and monumentally stupid at worst. It was less of an issue with Beelzebub than Lucifer, but even so, it generally wasn't worth it for the public scorn. Plus, after my initial panic attack, I was actually warming to the idea rather rapidly. If nothing else, it would be interesting. Plus, I wouldn't have to hide my Magic!

Then there was the extra bonus of being able to help some of the people who really REALLY needed it. I might not be a Gremory, but I was still not the type of person who could leave someone to suffer. If I could improve someones life even a little, I'd do it.

I snorted and sat up. I have a feeling that Ajuka knew very well that I wouldn't say no. The man was incredibly sharp and knew a lot about the movers and shakers of the Underworld and, although I wasn't the Clan Heir, I was still very powerful and someone a lot of Devils kept an eye on. Exactly the sort of person Ajuka would want to know all about.

I reached across and picked up the briefing again and activated the Circle on the cover. It glowed faintly for a moment, before there was the sound of a phone being picked up and Clark Richards, Ajuka's Bishop, appeared over the paper.

"You have made your decision?" he asked.

"I have," I said, "I'm in."

It took a few days to finish finalising things, most of which was spent deciding where I wanted and Ajuka working his magic (literally) to put me in the system with a perfect paper trail that not even Dragon could identify as fake and adding to my Circle so I could transport between dimensions. Naturally, I decided that Brockton Bay was the perfect spot to set up my base, what with the countless desperate people to pray on and it being a good place to be at the centre of things so I could figure out a good way to sort out the worm issue. Plus, I kinda like the idea of having the Queen of Escalation as my Queen and not just because of the irony considering her title or even because she was the MC of Worm.

In addition to being the most powerful member of the Peerage (in theory at least), the Queen was the second in command after the King. As such, they were chosen more for their ability to lead more than power. A good Queen should be able to act as a leader when the King is absent and an advisor for the King when he or she is present. Taylor proved her chops plenty of times over the course of the story and I'd be a fool to ignore that knowledge, even if it meant that I'd have to hold off on recruiting a Queen, which were traditionally the first Piece recruited, although that was mostly due to impatient on the part of the young Devil than anything.

Eventually though, everything was finished and it was time for me to head to Bet. Ajuka was accompanying me on the first jump to make sure I actually made it and make any modifications to the Cross Dimension Teleportation Circle that may be needed. As it turns out, that was probably a good thing considering we appeared in a blizzard.

"Alright, what the fuck?!" I spluttered, rubbing snow out of my eyes as Ajuka put up a barrier, "I didn't think North America got blizzards like this!"

"We're not in America," said Ajuka, reading the screen of a small device he'd pulled from his robes, "We're in...Russia apparently. Hmm, I guess the Circle needs modifying for accuracy."

"Ya think?" I grumbled.

Beelzebubs lips twitched slightly as he looked around, before pointing at a dark blur in the distance.

"Theres a forest over there," he said, "Lets get under some cover and we can make the needed alterations and send you to your new territory."

I trotted after the taller Devil, grumbling under my breath as we went.

"Are we at least on the right world?" I asked.

"We are," said Ajuka.

"Well, thats something," I said, "So what…"

I was cut off by something slamming into the barrier. The impact was so sudden and surprising that Ajuka stumbled slightly and the barrier momentarily faded, likely because he'd only created it to keep out the snow, not attacks. In the brief moment it was down, the attacker was through, lashing out at us with black tendrils.

"Accel up," I muttered and the world slowed down.

The time abilities my Family was known for weren't that powerful when compared with something like Forbidden Balor View. We couldn't freeze time, only slow it or speed it up, but even so, it was still incredibly useful. My sister could create barriers within which she could make time flow faster or slower, a trick I could also do, but I had spent time experimenting with my powers and had managed to replicate Tracers Blink and Kiritsugu's Accel Magecraft, with the added bonus that my Devil body was much tougher than a Humans and thus wasn't affected as badly by the side effects. I couldn't keep it up forever of course, but it was still very handy.

That was proven as I blurred around our attackers tendrils and quickly found the centre. I shot forwards and slammed my palm into its face, slamming it into the ground at high speed as an icicle dagger appeared in my other hand, hovering over its eye. Instantly, the tendrils froze, although a few twitched in my direction. I frowned slightly as the creature shifted under my grip, making wheezing sounds as my palm became damp with...wait, was this thing crying?

I hesitantly moved my hand, not getting rid of the knife yet, and found myself looking at an impossibly pale face with no ears or even a scalp and an Omega symbol tattooed on the cheek. In fact, it looked rather like a Human who's entire body other than their face had been transformed into thin but very strong tentacles. I blinked as I realized I recognized her. It was Garotte, one of the Case 53's. Guess we'd arrived before she was caught.

"Nice work Kervius," said Ajuka, not looking all that ruffled by the sudden attack.

Probably because he was more durable than Alexandria, but whatever. The Devil King approached, ignoring the tendrils as they twitched menacingly, only to go still when I twitched the dagger still in my hand, and knelt down beside the poor girl.

"Fascinating," he muttered, "I've heard of these...Case 53's I believe they are called, but to see one in person…"

He reached out and gently touched her face, his eyes closed. The mutated girl whimpered slightly, before her body went limp and her eyes closed. Then, Ajuka's expression changed to one of cold anger.

"This is…"

He hissed something in a language I didn't recognize.

"We cannot leave this one," he said, "Her powers are...unstable. Her body is so distorted, I'm surprised she's even still alive, although considering she seems to have no control, that might be moot."

"Alright, what do you want to do?" I asked.

Ajuka was silent for a moment, before he looked at me.

"Would you be willing to Reincarnate her?" he asked.

I blinked in surprise.

"Why?" I asked.

"I think that doing so will help bring her powers under control," said Ajuka.

"And if it doesn't, we'll have a Devil with enough strength to casually crush your average joe in a very small space," I said, "You might not be worried about that, but I'm a LOT more squishy than a Super Devil!"

Ajuka just fixed me with a flat look and I sighed. It was an order, not a request and, while the Underworlds R&D expert was normally fairly good humoured and perfectly happy with being treated like anyone else, he did expect to be obeyed when he gave an order.

"Alright fine," I grumbled.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a Pawn. Theres no way in HELL I'm giving an out of control Garotte any more boosts. She might be a nice girl, but at the moment, her body is completely out of her control and I'm not certain this would do much to help. Still, orders were orders, so I pressed the Piece against her forehead and activated it. The Pawn glowed a faint sepia colour as it sank into her body and I felt the connection between Master and Servant snap into place. Then, something...odd happened. Through the connection, I felt another presence momentarily resist the changes brought on by the Evil Piece, before it was overwhelmed. There was the feeling of something snapping, before Garottes body exploded.

Ajuka wasn't even remotely phased by the sudden eruption of light and force, but I was knocked back on my arse in the snow.

"Son of a bitch!" I snarled, wiping snow out of my eyes and hair as I got to my feet, "What...happened?!"

The last word was squeaked in surprise when I saw what had come from the little experiment. Rather than a mass of tendrils with a Human face, Garotte was now, well, Human. She looked about 14, with features that indicated slavic descent, pale skin with large bruises under her eyes and a thin, emaciated body that indicated it had been a very long time since she'd had a good meal or sleep. Her hair was long enough to pool around her feet if she was standing and looked like it was still the same tendrils it had been in her Deviant form. Oh, and she was completely naked. Not surprising I guess, both because DXD and because she'd been stuck out here for who knows how long.

"Hmm, interesting," muttered Ajuka, touching a finger to her forehead and closing his eyes.

"Whats interesting?" I asked.

"Her power...the Evil Piece has...changed it somehow," he said, "I'm not sure how, but she'll have full control over it."

"Great, now can we PLEASE get out of this snowscape?" I asked.

Devils weren't as bothered by extreme temperatures as Humans, but it was COLD here and I wasn't exactly dressed for the weather. Ajuka smiled slightly, conjure a blanket to cover Garotte with and stood. I picked up Garotte in a bridle carry as he summoned a new Circle, absently noting that her 'hair' had a texture similar to snake scales. A moment later, there was a flash of light and the icy wastes of northern Russia were once again Devil free.

The nameless girl groaned softly as consciousness returned to her, burrowing into the soft surface she was laying on. She literally couldn't remember the last time she'd slept that well and had no real desire to let it end. Not only that, but she was warm and dry and she could smell something extremely tasty that made her mouth water and her stomach growl like a dragon. Still, she didn't want to leave her warm, soft cocoon yet. She sighed. Warmth and sleep or find out what that smell was? She curled up further, hugging the soft object in her arms closer.

Wait…

The girls eyes shot open, all thoughts of sleep vanishing as she suddenly realized that her barely controllable body was, not only under her control, but completely different than what she was 'used' to. She sat up and looked down and nearly choked when she found herself looking at an apparently normal, if extremely thin, Human body, clad in an oversized T-shirt and shorts. The only odd thing about it was the fact that her hair was still the same tendrils she remembered, only now she had full control over them. That more than anything was enough to make her break down. She might not have any memories from before she woke up in that snow covered forest, but that didn't mean she didn't feel horrible about the people her body had killed without her control. Well, mostly. A couple of them had attacker her, so she didn't feel as bad about killing them.

It took a while to get it out of her system, but once she'd stopped crying, she wiped her eyes on the pillow she was still holding and, for the first time, looked around. She was in a rather large bed in an equally large room that was decorated with high quality and expensive, but not ostentatious furniture. The walls were a pleasant cream colour, as was the carpet and the wood of the dresser, wardrobe and bedside tables was a cheery reddish colour. A large window with a pair of dark blue curtains dominated one wall. The bed was almost sinfully soft, with well stuffed feather pillows, a thick and very soft comforter and silk sheets.

"Where am I?" she croaked, only slightly surprised she could now speak.

As if in response to her question, there was a knock at the door, before it opened and a teenager walked in. He was tall and looked to be in his mid teens, with messy, pale blonde hair and, strangely enough, light purple eyes. He was wearing jeans and a shirt with a logo she didn't recognize on it and was barefoot.

"Oh good, you're awake," said the teenager as he walked over to the window and threw the curtains open, letting in a large amount of sunlight, "Thats a relief. So, how do you feel?"

The girl frowned slightly.

"Confused," she croaked.

"Understandable I suppose," said the teen, "Amnasia does tend to do that and I doubt your lack of control helped."

He caught her look and elaborated.

"I did some research. The so called 'Monstrous Capes' like you come with the tattoo and a lack of memories and Ajuka concluded that you lacked control by examining your power."

He sighed.

"Look, I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but it would be best if you ate something first," he said, "For now, know that you're completely safe here. No one will hurt you."

At the mention of food, the girls stomach growled loudly, making her blush and the teen smirk. A moment later, the door opened and a young woman in a maid uniform entered pushing a trolly with a plate of bacon, eggs, sausages and fried mushrooms, as well as a glass of orange juice and a few other breakfast food items on it entered the room.

"Thank you Sella," said the teen.

The maid bowed and left.

"Eat and then get dressed," he said, "There are clothes in the wardrobe and Sella will help if you need it. Once your ready, come see me. We have a lot to talk about and I'd rather do it while your comfortable."

He smiled and turned to leave.

"Wait," croaked the girl, "Who are you?"

He paused at the door.

"My name is Kervius Agares," he said.

Then he shut the door. The girl stared at the door for a moment, before turning her attention to the food. Almost immediately, her mouth started watering and her stomach growled. The food smelt delicious and she was starving. She hesitated for barely a moment before digging in, using her hair as well as her hands without thinking about it. Despite everything, she couldn't help but hope that her life would only look up from here.

I dropped into the chair behind the desk in what was now my study with a sigh. It had been 12 hours since I arrived here in this mansion on the outskirts of the Bay (my Parents spared no expense here) and things had been a bit hectic. Magic meant that fixing the place, which had been more than a little run down, a piece of cake and the only thing remaining to do was unpack, which the maids my Parents insisted on having tag along were doing. Frankly, I'd have been happy with an apartment in the city, but my Family were the second highest rank amongst the 72 Pillars, so certain standards had to be kept. According to my Mother at least. Whatever, I could deal with it. Plus, it made a ready made base for my future Peerage.

Speaking of which, it was hard to believe that I'd met someone I had honestly wanted to help so quickly and dramatically. Whats next, I'd end up saving Lisa from Coils thugs? Not impossible now that I think about it considering that I'd be getting Sveta (or whatever name she decided to go by) and my Familiar start handing out Flyers as soon as we were settled in.

Truthfully, I still wasn't sure whether or not I'd end up doing everything I'd like to do, mainly because a good chunk of that was recruiting people into my Peerage who desperately needed help. I wasn't a Gremory, but that didn't mean I couldn't offer a hand to those in need. I wouldn't be forcing any of them to join me though and I was honestly against doing it to Sveta, although I highly doubt she'd be that bothered.

Is something wrong Master?" asked the young woman stood inside the door.

"No, nothing," I said, "Just...thinking."

I sighed.

"Maybe I should have thought this through better," I muttered, "Coming here seemed like a good idea, but now I have no idea where to start."

"Don't worry Master, I'm sure you'll figure it all out," said the maid, "You usually do."

I smiled slightly.

"Thank you Leysritt," I said.

Leysritt bowed.

"Its no trouble Master," she said, "Should I go and put some tea on?"

"Yes, thank you," I said.

The Maid turned and left, leaving me with my thoughts. I smiled despite myself.

"Screw it, I'll do what I can," I muttered, "I already know that the Golden Morning won't be as bad as in canon, if only because there's no way Sirzechs, Azazel and Michal won't let it get that bad. Everything else can be done when the opportunity arises."

I looked down at the chessboard set up on my desk. The black side was lacking a pawn and made of glowing brown crystal. I smiled again.

"I'm looking forwards to when thats empty," I muttered, "Hopefully, it'll mean that 15 people have a better life than they would."

I picked up the Queen and rolled it in my fingers.

"It'll be interesting if nothing else," I mused, "I wonder if I should also play the role of Cape…?"

I smirked. Now THAT sounded fun. Who knows, maybe it'd make recruiting my targets easier? I snorted at the idea and put the Piece down. That was something to consider later. For now, I had a conversation with my first Pawn to have. I had a feeling it was going to be...interesting.

And that'll do. Well, that was actually more interesting than I was expecting. If you're interested, its currently in early January of 2010.

I already have a Peerage planned out, although its not entirely set in stone yet, other than Sveta (for obvious reasons) and Taylor (again, for obvious reasons). If your interested, here it is:

Queen: Taylor Hebert

Rook: Purity

Rook: Dinah

Knight: Rune

Knight: Foil/Fletcher

Bishop: Pairen

Bishop: Panacea

Pawn: Vista

Pawn: Riley

Pawn: Sveta

Pawn: Tattletale

Pawn: Dragon (x2)

Pawn: Noelle (x2)

I made Dinah a Rook because I like the idea of a loli punting idiots across the city and casually shrugging off blows that would worry Glory Girl. I may swap her for Vista though.

Oh, and just to be clear, even though the entire thing are girls, he won't be sleeping with them all. I know its not important, but DXD.

I'll keep the exact nature of the changes to Shards upon Reincarnation to myself for now, but rest assured that they are significant.

Speaking of Shards, in terms of power, Zion is up there with the strongest. However, he has no special resistance to magic like he does physical threats and he lacks the creative abilities that come with true sentence, so he wouldn't actually stand much of a chance against the Leaders. He is a legit threat though

I got Kervius' name from the Silver Tribe's Nodos from Heroic Age. I liked how it sounds and thought it fit in quite well with the other names of the DXD characters.

Yes, his Maids are the two who looked after Illya in Fate. I originally planned to use some of the Pleiades from Overlord, but I like those two better. Their Lower class Devils, although not Reincarnated or part of anyones Peerage, just normal, work-a-day Devils who happen to work for the Agares Clan.

Anyway, this is done, so I'm gonna sign off. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!