As the light of the magic circle faded, I could begin to see the room to which I had been summoned. I could feel my lips curl into a grimace of disgust. A deal with a Devil always comes with a catch, and mine was no exception. The world of the Valkyrie is bright and beautiful, full of color and shine. The world of the Devil is very similar. The world of the Devils' clients, however, is not.

A human who has become open to the idea of a deal with a Devil is rarely in a good emotional or financial position. These deals are made out of desperation, a last gamble to dodge the approach of oblivion. At least, that is how it appears to me because those are the ones that I am presented with.

My eyes having adjusted to the dimness of the room, I can see the small man sitting at the edge of a mattress which sets directly on the floor. He appears to be in his mid-forties, thin, with a wispy mustache. He is wearing a light colored shirt that has been worn too many times and washed too few. He is looking up at me expectantly, not moving from the position he must have been in when he activated the summoning card. It is better for us both if I ignore him for the moment.

The apartment is small, about fifteen square meters. It is not modern construction and there has been no effort made to maximize space. It is essentially a box. A table is stacked with newspapers and takeout food containers. The chair is draped with unwashed clothes. A small television stands on a board placed over the sink.

The first thing that needs to be addressed is the air. I draw the Mistilteinn wand halfway out of the sleeve of my suit jacket, but decide that it isn't necessary, and push it back. I raise my right arm parallel to the floor and take the wrist with an overhand grip of my left hand. I move my right hand down, up, then rotate my wrist palm-up and curl my fingers. I flick my fingers out from the fist with a throwing motion and a globe of clear air expands to fill the room. Now that I can breathe without the reek of cigarettes and stale food, I can concentrate on the reason for my summoning.

I turn back to the man in front of me and he cringes as our eyes meet. This display of weakness furthers my disgust. If Asia were in my place, she would try to comfort the man. If Rias were here, she would try to put the man at ease. I want to slap him. I know that this is wrong. I mustn't do anything that would reflect poorly on my King or his business.

After a deep breath, I ask the man the reason that he has summoned me. What followed was a story of bad luck and poor choices, of no connections and not having the personality to stand out. The only way to say it was his fault was because it was his life.

I stood there and listened to him. When he stopped talking and I made no reaction, he took it to mean that he should continue talking. He told me about the woman he loved but could not marry because her father did not like him. He told me about the work colleague promoted ahead of him and how he was blamed for the colleague's poor performance as manager. He told me about having to take a job far beneath his abilities when the company ultimately failed, because that was the only thing available to him due to his age.

When he had told all he could tell, he stared at the floor. I stared at him. There was nothing here for me. There was nothing I could do.

"I can't help you," I said and turned away from him. From the corner of my eye, I could see the look of shock on his face. I paused in my turn, waiting to see whether he would choose despair or rage.

"Stop!" he shouted. I felt the corners of my mouth turn slightly upward. "You can't just walk away—I summoned you! You haven't even listened to what it is that I desire!"

I turned back to look at him squarely. "I already know what you desire. At least, I know the theme." As I spoke, I saw his posture straighten and his hands curl into fists. "You desire to be given the power to correct the injustices committed towards you. You wish for the opportunity to prove yourself, an opportunity you feel you've never had. You want the best revenge, the revenge that is success."

"What's wrong with that?" he asked.

"Nothing," I said, "if you have the strength to do something with a second chance. And I'm not sure that you do."

"You're wrong," he said through gritted teeth.

"If you're sure, there is a program that may be what you're looking for. It's difficult and dangerous. There is no early exit—you complete the program successfully or you die trying."

"You don't scare me," he said as he crooked his chin at me defiantly.

"I'm sure I don't. However, I will be taking payment in advance."

"What is the payment?"

"Two years of your life. The life force equivalent to the next two years of your life." I reached into my inside jacket pocket and withdrew the two magical crystals that are used as containers for the life force. Then I held them out in my open hand for him to take.

He reached his hand halfway towards mine, paused, and looked from the crystals to me. I curled my fingers around the crystals. "You hesitated. You don't have the strength for this." And I tucked the crystals back into my jacket pocket.

"No!" he cried out and lunged for the place where the crystals rested. "No, you can't take this away from me!"

I stepped aside and gave him a light slap across his cheek as he passed me. He spun towards me with his hand on his cheek where I had struck it. His eyes were blazing with rage.

"Give them to me." And he thrust his other hand out to me.

"No. I told you. You don't have the strength for this. If I send you and you die in the first week, my ability to evaluate candidates will be called into question. I don't need to have your failure tainting my reputation. Stay where you are, where it's safe, and forget that this meeting ever happened."

He lowered his hand from his reddening cheek and approached me in a confrontational fashion. "Give them to me or I don't care who you are, I will take them."

"Very well," I said and extracted them again. "Hold these in your hand, one at a time, until they grow cool."

Without blinking or averting his stare, he took the first crystal and gripped it so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Then he handed it back to me and while continuing to stare defiantly at me, took the second crystal.

"There," I said as I put the energized crystals back into my pocket. "Your payment is accepted. A car will be sent for you in the morning. What you choose to bring along makes no difference. All of your needs will be provided for during your conscription."

The man appeared to be struggling with the weight of the decision he had made and he sat back onto his mattress. I drew a summoning circle in the air with my finger.

"You are in need of immediate training." I told him after I had finished. "My colleague will be arriving shortly to provide that training."

A summoning circle began to glow in the space in front of the apartment's sink. "Before the car arrives in the morning, your body will become familiar with the sensation of pain so that what lies in front of you will be easy by comparison."

A figure dressed like a shrine maiden appeared from the summoning circle. "Ara, ara! Is this my entertainment for this evening?" She smiled a broad smile and squinted her eyes adorably.

"With your permission, I shall be on my way," I said and turned to walk towards the apartment's door. I heard a giggle, what sounded like the crack of a whip, and an exclamation of pain and surprise.

I returned to the office of the Hyoudou Issei Company. Ravel was at the end of the office's couch reading a list of numbers out loud. Issei was seated behind his desk obviously struggling to stay awake. Both of them looked to me as I closed the door behind me. Issei gave me a huge smile as if I had just rescued him from a desert island. I felt my cheeks flush as I smiled back.

Ravel stood up and greeted me warmly, "Rossweisse! I wasn't expecting to see you this early. Was your meeting productive?"

I nodded my head and produced the crystals. Ravel let out an exhalation of surprise and put her book down on the room's conference table as she approached me with her eyes open wide.

"Issei, come and look at these," she said, and Issei got up from his seat and came towards us.

"What are they?" Issei asked and Ravel explained excitedly what they were and how they were used.

"The house of Phoenix uses these—they are a critical component in the creation of Phoenix Tears! But look at the color!" Issei leaned forward to examine them and wrinkled his brow as he struggled to understand what he was looking at. I had only recently started using these crystals and I wasn't aware that the color was significant.

Ravel explained, "The color of the mature crystal indicates the manner by which the life force was absorbed. It's possible to take it by force or duress, in which case the color will be a deep, dark green, like an emerald. The more willingly the life force is given, the lighter the shade and the brighter the glow. Rossweisse, these crystals are almost white!"

Ravel looked at me admiringly, "Yields of this quality are extremely uncommon." She looked back and forth between Issei and myself. "I don't know if it was ever explained to you, but Phoenix Tears come in different grades. It's not possible to refine the ingredients, so great care is taken to match their quality in order to produce the proper grade."

"The Tears I gave to you as a gift," she said to Issei, "were of a particularly high grade." She looked down at the table and smiled as her cheeks began to turn red. "I was trying very hard to get your attention." She took a deep breath and raised her chin back into the more confident pose I had come to associate with her. "But these crystals can be used to make a batch of even higher grade."

She brought out her book, flipped the pages until she found the one she wanted, and made an entry. Then she slapped the book closed and set the crystals on top of it.

"If this something you can do again, Rossweisse," she said looking at me with a fire in her eyes, "you may have found a very lucrative trade!"

She gathered the crystals and her book, and turned to Issei. She raised herself on her toes and moved her face to Issei's ear and whispered to him. Then she looked into his eyes for a moment, and raised herself again to kiss him on his cheek. Ravel gave me another big smile as she left the office.

Issei turned and stepped over to the couch and sat down. I stood and looked at him, holding my clasped hands in front of my waist. He smiled and patted the seat next to him and lay his arm along the back of the couch. I walked over and sat down next to him, our hips touching. Issei put his arm around my shoulder and I leaned my head on his.

For a moment, we were silent. I tried to breathe as gently as possible so that I could feel his chest rising and falling with his own breath. I closed my eyes and tried to carve this moment into my memory. These quiet, personal times were far more rare than any green crystal.

"She said," Issei spoke, revealing what Ravel had whispered, "that I should tell you." After a couple of cycles of breath moving in and out, he continued, "but she didn't say what I should tell you."

I sat up a little straighter and turned so that I could look directly into his face. "I guess the obvious thing," he said, "would be to tell you that I'm happy with the work you did tonight." He looked at me with a gentle smile. "But that shouldn't be something that I should need to be reminded of."

"So it has to be something more important." He leaned his head back on the couch and stared up at the ceiling. I settled back down with my head on his shoulder to wait to hear what he would say. After a while, I started to worry that he had fallen asleep. As if he had read my mind, he gave me a gentle squeeze.

"I just don't know," he said. "The only thing I can think of is how happy I am that you are here with me."

My eyes suddenly filled with emotional tears. I twisted my shoulders so that I could reach behind his head and I pulled his face towards mine. I gave him a kiss so strong that I hope it hurt, and then I buried my face into the space between his shoulder and jaw. As his arm wrapped around me to wrap me in a full hug, I was very thankful that I had made my Deal.