The room echoed with the frequent moans and sighs. Shrouded in darkness, two bodies melted together in passionate bliss, rocking the bed beneath them over and over.

Red hair flashed, sweat-ridden, as their bodies moved with reckless abandon. Meek, breathless sighs escaped their lips as their lovemaking intensified, turning their congress into a full-blown rut.

They pushed and they pulled; they advanced and retreated. Round and round they wove webs of pleasure around their lover, mutually creating a self-driving bond that kept them surging onward, ever onward, onto the peak. And when the peak came, they screamed each other's names, as a fountain of pleasure exploded in their minds, and in the very depths of their being.

Though they would fade to sleep, cradled snugly in each other's arms, their post-coital bliss lasted for but a short while only. Following an unspoken signal that the two had agreed upon many times already, they unclasped themselves from the other, and then both of them went, bare naked, inside the bathroom.

Sometimes their lusts would return enkindled inside, but today they made do by frenching each other under the shower, while scrubbing each other off. Then, after drying off, they each separated, reclaiming their clothes from the floor. The woman went to the vanity and turned on the light over the mirror there.

When they were nearly done, they glanced at each other, sharing a warm, fond look. No other words needed to be said. This was a strange sort of romance—this arrangement of secretive lovemaking and furtive glances. For a moment, each one seemed to want to speak, to say something meaningful to fill the silence—but, perhaps sensing the other one's words, they remained silent, and were thus denied whatever lay behind that imaginary conversation.

Each had a reason to meet the other, to sneak inside this hotel room and make love for the whole night, until their loins burned and their bodies ached with sweet, blissful agony. Each had a reason to never linger, to be thus dressed and ready to leave before the sunrise. Each knew the other held secrets, just as sure as they themselves did; and therefore respected the silence.

Still, they did avail themselves of a word, or two.

"Goodbye," was simple, but contained a mile full of feelings nonetheless.

"Goodbye, Issei," the red-haired woman said.

"Goodbye, Rias," the man said.

And with that, they left the room, and from there back to their own respective lives.


Outside, "Rias" slipped easily into a dark, abandoned alleyway. Before the stench of human filth could reach her nose, she had slipped further into another plane of existence: the "corridor" leading back to her home. After a few more steps, she was home—in a place so far removed from that which she had left.

"Welcome home, my lady," said the maids awaiting her in that room. The room was luxurious, with sumptuous furnishings that spoke of great wealth.

"Rias" nodded imperiously, shedding the mortal form she had worn as the maids scrambled to wrap her in her ordinary garments. Behind the façade, she was no human, but a fearsome Devil, daughter of Hell, and as such it was but fitting to outfit herself in the appropriate attire. Gone was sweet, sultry Rias—as one mask fell off, another took its place. A veil was placed over her features, shrouding her form in ambiguity, as the maids finished up with the rest of her embroidered, bejeweled attire in royal purple.

To complete the ensemble, as well as underline her identity, she unfurled her great, bat-like wings behind her, proclaiming her identity as a powerful denizen of Hell.

"A message awaits you, my lady," one of the maids said. "If it pleases you."

Rias was quick to slap her. "You dare imply I would ever decide otherwise, whelp."

The maid bowed, apologizing profusely, as the others only looked on silently. She felt sorry for the maid, but she would never appear as if she hated her current status. She did; but she would never reveal it to anyone, least of all some maid.

For there was no room for weakness when one served—and was married—to the Last Dragon.

Long ago, during the War in Heaven when Angels, Devils and the Fallen warred with each other, a great power arose and threw everything in disarray. The mightiest pantheons in creation arose to combat this threat. Not even all the hosts of Heaven and Hell could contain the threat. It seemed only the Great Dragons working together could contain the new threat, and it wasn't even enough.

This threat was an "alien god", a great, overpowering presence that fed on energies that were not of this plane. None of their attacks, steeped in the energies of this world, had any effect, nor could any magic old and new counter it. It washed forward, relentless like a tide, swallowing everything in its path. If it was not stopped, then the mortal world would fade, and everything else along with it.

Rias sat at her desk, and activated the small communications orb. An image of her fellow wife appeared, dressed in the full ornamented armor of one of Odin's valkyries.

"Lady Gremory."

"Lady Rossweise," she greeted in return.

"The arrangements for the new wife's arrival have just about reached completion. Was there anything else you wanted to add?"

A sign to tell everyone else in this damn world to stop sending women here, Rias thought blandly to herself. Nothing she could do now. "No, there is nothing. Can I trust you to oversee the rest?"

"O-of course!" the valkyrie stuttered. It was strange—this one was markedly older in years than Rias, who was newly born Devil in comparison, yet she deferred to her readily as leader of the Last Dragon's harem. They all did, which was so much of a hassle sometimes.

"I shall see to preparing the household on my end," Rias said.

"Yes!" The image of Rossweisse disappeared.

In the end, victory against the Alien God was bought at a steep price. The Dragons of the world had all sacrificed their essences to banish it to the void, and contained the rest of its remaining power through many forbidden rituals into an egg—who would go on to become the Last Dragon. Last of his race, and wielder of a dark and troublesome power: all the surviving pantheons thenceforth agreed to safeguard him.

The Dragons, after all, occupied a certain role in the supernatural cosmos. The wisest among the pantheons feared that should the Last Dragon die, the threads of reality may start breaking down, perhaps bringing an end to the supernatural. Thus, the newly born dragon was given the protection of virtually every interested god and demigod in the cosmos, a vital point of interest for everyone's mutual benefit.

There was also a secondary concern. The Alien God's remaining power had been sealed into the Dragon, and it could easily be turned against them to devastating effect. A malicious individual could exploit the Last Dragon's power for their own ends. The safeguards then, were as much to protect them as the Dragon, ensuring that no one else could misuse the power he represented.

And then, there was another concern. And that led directly to Rias' circumstances: when she was sold by her family to serve the Last Dragon as his broodwife.

The audience chamber was vast and wide, too big a space for just the two of them. Great weddings were held here, on the occasion when another wife was offered to the Last Dragon. But the rest of the time it remained desolate, as the Last Dragon refused to hold court, and remained as aloof and secretive as the day she'd met him. On the far end of the chamber was an empty throne, upon which the Dragon was expected to sit. He wasn't there, just as Rias expected, which meant that he was sleeping. And she didn't want to wake a sleeping dragon.

She sighed behind her veiled mask. After tonight, the room would once more be awash in festivity as delegates from all corners of the world came to witness yet another woman thrown into the Last Dragon's jaws. Yet another sacrifice to ensure the Dragon's compassion, complicity—and something else.

Technically speaking, the "marriage" to the Last Dragon was a series of contracts that would bind her forevermore to him. The Gremory clan had seized the opportunity to plant her in the household as a member of the harem. Thus, at a young age she had been forced to give up her aspirations to become a powerful, influential Devil, in order to become the Dragon's faithful, obedient servant. She had succeeded in fulfilling her family's ambition—becoming head of harem after the previous one had passed.

She was not alone in this. The Dragon had a harem of wives all sold to him for various reasons. And all of them were pushed upon him ostensibly to serve as companionship for an individual as important as the Last Dragon, but also for something else.

Rias had realized it soon after she herself had been married. There had been whispers and rumors from her family, and her friends, but actually being in the harem itself had confirmed it: the dark secret of the Last Dragon's palace.

The divinities, ever looking towards the future, were ever concerned about the Last Dragon's precarious place in the tapestry of the cosmos. Ever they sought for the solution to the Last Dragon's conundrum: to remove that title of "Last" from him by making him breed a new brood.

Without viable females of his own to mate with, the solution then was to attempt it using every other female supernatural entity available, from Devils to Angels to youkai, to gods. But attempting to breed with such a creature, let alone one filled with the Alien God's power, was something that was discovered to be hazardous to one's health—even fatal. Biologically, nothing was wrong, as the Dragon could shapeshift as needed. But there was something in the seed, something that ignited a destructive power when conception occurred. The woman's energies would continue to leak and burn, like a rapidly dying star, and when it ran out so did her life.

Over the centuries, the Last Dragon's harem went through hundreds of wives, with a certain number attributed to dying from the sheer effort of conception. And still, the divinities continued.

Rias was but the latest in the line of Devils sent to attempt what seemed impossible—or die in the process. The only thing that seemed different now than when she'd replaced her predecessor, was the fact that the Last Dragon seemed aloof and distant. He hadn't even taken her, nor anyone else in the new harem, to bed.

And yet still there remained many, especially those in her own family, who continued to press Rias to seduce the Last Dragon, and be the one to succeed. And she was not the only one in the harem who had these expectations.

This only built up a continuous pressure upon their minds, grinding them down relentlessly until something broke. It was even more apparent among the wives, who were completely isolated from former friends and families; and forced to work day after day at a place where one was certain to die. The worst of them grew mad; Rias was glad she hadn't gone too far. Still, arranging an "affair" in the mortal world was definitely something a proper Devil shouldn't do.

As she walked back to her own chambers, she allowed her thoughts to carry her back to the memory of last night, when Issei's strong hands had been wrapped around her, making her feel safe.

It had been an idea spread around the harem. A little morsel, a little glimpse, of an act so bold that in any other arrangement it would have been scandalous. But in their present circumstance, and with the apparent disinterest of their "husband", all of them fell to the temptation. And so, Rias arranged her own little affair, her secret rendezvous with a mortal.

She had not thought much of the mortal she was set to meet at the start. All she knew was that the man was also aware that this was a fabricated situation, and that no other question needed to be asked during the transaction itself. She had been a virgin still, and was determined to shut down the man if he proved unworthy.

He was not. That first night had been something raw and magical, and completely unforgettable. The man had been an able lover, and had also become, in a way, someone who could receive all her pent-up fears and frustrations without complaint, almost like a friend. Hyoudou Issei was a man she knew nothing about, but by last night he seemed to be the only thing that was right with her whole accursed life.

And like someone addicted to a hobby, Rias burned for the day she could meet him again, and daydreamed of a time when they would postpone their fucking for something more substantial. A "date", perhaps, in the mortal world? Mortal diversions seemed trite and petty, but they were like an oasis to her current life, where she didn't know if she was going to die. Just imagining walking around with Issei, wrapping her arms around his and going around mindlessly made her cheeks flush.

No, that should be fine! In fact, she should do that. One day, her husband may just take her. And she might then die, perhaps. So it was important that she live for herself, even for a little.

Next time she should definitely propose that date. She only hoped the mortal understood. No, she knew he would understand. Despite only knowing him mostly through his prick, she could sense he was a kind soul. Giggling to herself like a giddy mortal schoolgirl, she began to plan.


It was a good dream.

"My lord? My lord?"

He opened his eyes. He saw the faithful magician, who had served him well. Her face brightened.

"Ah, you're awake! How was it?"

"It was a good dream," he muttered.

"How are you…" The magician hesitated. "…Are you feeling alright?"

"Ask your first question, conjurer," he grunted. "Feel free; I will not be insulted, I assure you."

"Ah… my apologies!" she cried, blushing. "I-I only meant to ask how you're feeling, my lord! Nothing more!"

"How I'm feeling…?" he muttered. "I felt a lot of things. Happy things. Joyful things. Painful things. Sad things."

"Sad?" the magician repeated. "Are you dissatisfied, my lord?"

"Why should I be? As I said, the dream was good. Altogether, it satisfied me."

The magician closed her eyes. "I… see…" After a pause, she said, "Would you like to hear the news, my lord?"

"No need. I see all. I see everything," he said darkly. "A new one, to fill my court. Another poor sacrifice, to ensure my loyalty to the terms. And another life wasted in service to me."

"Er… yes, my lord."

"Why look uncertain? It is exactly what I expected when you spoke to me of that mortal, and her mysterious powers. Sooner or later they would hear, and arrange all this."

"As you say, my lord." She lingered.

"Speak. You have something on your mind." Although he could have ripped the information straight from her brain, he preferred a lighter touch, especially if he knew the information would come freely.

"Only… have you ever thought of making the dream… bigger? Better?"

"What else would I dream about?"

"Even more happy things… and sad things too."

He considered it. On the surface, there were no downsides—only the promise of an even better dream. And judging by her track record, the magician could be trusted to fulfill her promise. "An intriguing proposition. Will you arrange it?"

"If you will it, my lord, I shall make it so."

If he'd still been Issei Hyoudou, the Last Dragon would have smiled. As it was, he stretched out his power, and plucked the magician from his chambers, as a sort of dismissal. She would be teleported safely back to her home.

His mind went back to matters of state. The Palace was his prison, and the city outside was filled with his jailors. But there were still people there, people genuinely living their lives as much as they could. Perfectly normal. He had to take control over the city's administration, to ensure that they were taken care of.

That was about the only good thing he could do, in this unpleasant life.

Yet ever in the back of his mind was the image lingering from his dream. Of a red-haired woman, dancing beautifully in the dark. He had mated with her many times, but tonight…

Tonight, the dream had been somewhat different. He didn't know why. That he didn't know enraged and delighted him at once. He could not explain the inexplicable feeling that burned in the depths of his body. If he could be but Issei for much longer, be free from the shackles of obligation, from this gilded cage they wrought for him. To become just one face among many, delighting in the pleasures life could bring, instead of all the sadness.

"More…" he repeated the magician's wondrous word. "Yes… I want more."


Apocrypha version (mature content) available below:

P atreon: Shurpuff