Fanfic #106 Boiling Points May Differ by A Firm Refusal of Organics(PercyJacksonXHighSchoolDXD)

This is a crossover between high school dxd and Percy Jackson following Percy in the world of DXD. I really like this fanfic because it really explores the world of dxd, I mean we haven't even seen any of the main characters. Percy is a also a very interesting character to follow mostly because he's more proactive then reactive.

(By the way I want to thank everyone for being so chill about the break, I mean I thought everyone was going to flip out but everyone was so nice, so thanks!)

Synopsis: Michael claimed it was a miracle worked by God's system. Tiamat argued that it was an outside force of fate. Percy wasn't sure which he believed more, but for better or for worse, he was in their reality now. It really was just a matter of perspective...

Rated: T

words: 89k

https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13434175/1/Boiling-Points-May-Differ

Here's the first chapter:

New life being knelled, whether from far above or deep below, often changes everything. Sometimes it comes with a warning, sometimes not; both the change and the new life.

-Quote attributed to Michael, Overseer of Heaven

God's death heralded the end of an era. Civilizations would fall, millions of believers would be killed, and the balance of power between every world religion would be irrevocably altered.

At least, that's what Michael thought would happen.

God had created Michael for a particular reason: to protect the chosen people. As an archangel, that was Michael's most important duty. He knew this much.

Over time, after cataclysms struck and the world changed, God tasked Michael again, this time to protect all of humanity, creating more angels to assist with such a monumental request. And despite Michael and the angels under his command doing their best to keep evil at bay, surely, all of their success was only possible due to God's guidance.

So when God had died one thousand years ago, many angels, Michael and the other seraphs included, feared that they were soon to witness the death of their labors. On top of that, they feared for themselves, for Heaven, and for the mortal souls who had found peace in paradise.

Thankfully, the system God had left behind proved to be far more robust than Michael figured initially. Not only had Heaven remained untouched by violence from her natural enemies, but there was also a substantial increase in believers of the holy scripture over the centuries following God's death.

Michael stood in the uppermost level of Heaven, wondering once more at the system his father had created.

The highest level, Seventh Heaven, was nothing like the other levels. There were no buildings. There was no furniture. There was nothing but darkness and light, an inky black backdrop cut into pieces by rows upon rows upon columns of floating white text.

Information. The white words written in the original angelic language was merely that: information. Names, places, events, whispers, prayers. Trillions upon trillions of words, centuries worth of knowledge, all at his fingertips.

This was about as close to omniscient as anybody could come, Michael thought.

God had made a system to outlast even himself. He had made a system simple enough for any of his angels to use. If not Michael, then another could take his place. Any of the other seraphs would be more than capable of keeping watch over the system.

Perhaps the biggest boon carried by the system was that miracles could still be performed. While they could not be realized as frequently as when God had been alive, miracles were still very much a staple of Heaven's metaphysical system. And though the system wasn't without its problems, the world was currently enjoying a much-deserved era of peace after the global conflicts of the 20th century.

Yes, this is fine. Michael contented himself in knowing that more people were living happily than ever before. Of course, part of that came from human ingenuity. What a wonderful thing it was, too. They have come so far. I'm sure their happiness would make you happy as well, Father. If only…

As Michael lost himself in thought, a new prayer was recognized by the system, its letters burning with a brilliant purple light.

[[Is it ever going to stop?]]

Michael tilted his head and frowned. The prayer pulsed, writhed, blinked, and then finally turned a blinding scarlet color.

The letters grew in size. The letters screeched. The letters burned.

Soon, the only thing visible in the entirety of Seventh Heaven were those words, repeated, sprawling across the infinite room where God once ruled from, their color changing from scarlet to blue.

What is this? Michael winced as the screeching increased. An error? I have never seen the system react so viciously to a prayer before.

And as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. The prayer was gone, lost in the ocean of information, drowned someway, somehow. Everything was as it should have been in Seventh Heaven. The unending darkness of its background continued to stretch for an eternity. The rows of words stretched nearly as far. Information was back in place.

ZEBEL HAS BEEN BREACHED - ZEBEL HAS BEEN BREACHED

A new message made Michael's blood run cold. The words arranged themselves neatly in front of him, forming out of pure white letters. This time it wasn't a prayer. It was a warning from the system. Zebel, the sixth level of Heaven, was where the other nine seraphs resided. Most of them were out on Earth at the moment, except for one. Only his younger sister would be in Zebel at this time.

Gabriel!

He threw his hand out, opening the only passage out of Seventh Heaven like a door. Around the doorway, darkness and prayers gave way to an image of Zebel's northern garden, like looking through the thinnest glass window into an entirely different world.

Michael stepped into the doorway, pushing past the familiar sensation of walking through mud when traveling out of Seventh Heaven.

"Gabriel?" Michael called out to his sister as soon as he was beyond the doorway. The northern garden was silent. He squinted at his surroundings.

Sixth Heaven, unlike Seventh Heaven, was not dark. While each level of Heaven didn't exist in the same realm as Earth and the solar system, there was still enough light to make each day indistinguishable from the last. The ceiling was fashioned to be cloud-like and bright, true for every level of Heaven except the second and seventh.

Michael took to the sky, flying above the low rise of trees in the garden, his wings stretching wide once he was high enough to look over all of Sixth Heaven. From his position, he could see both the east and west gardens, empty, as well as the dormitory compound where the seraphs lived, again empty.

Only when he turned his head to the south did he notice that the gates of Sixth Heaven had been broken.

A jagged hole highlighted the point of entry for whatever had come through.

It shouldn't have been possible, that hole. The walls surrounding Sixth Heaven had been made to withstand the assault of powerful entities such as dragons, devils, and even other gods.

Scanning the paved path leading to the center of Zebel, Michael saw movement, and relief flashed through him when he saw that it was Gabriel. He descended, landing in front of his sister, who had been waving at him from the ground.

Gabriel knelt by a young man Michael had never seen before.

"What happened?"

Gabriel shook her head softly. "I'm… not sure. I was going to visit the lower levels, but the gates shattered in front of me! I didn't even know they were supposed to do that!"

Michael smiled indulgently at Gabriel's rather airheaded observation. "They aren't meant to be broken. Father made them specifically to withstand quite a bit of punishment."

She tilted her head. "Oh. I suppose that does make more sense." Her lips pursed. "But then why did they break?"

"I don't—"

The boy moved, rolled away from Gabriel, and spun to his feet. All this before Michael had even seen his eyes open. It was an impressive showing.

Michael wasn't sure when, but the boy had also drawn a sword, glowing bronze and three feet long, its edge a wicked and gleaming promise. The blade followed the arc of his arms as he twisted from side to side.

Then, just then, as the boy swung around, Michael was able to see his face.

How frightening.

And Michael saw anger. It was anger, warped and godless, seemingly twisted into a singular, blistering hatred. The intruder's expression burned with the kind of anger Michael had seen more times than he could count.

It was an all-consuming kind of anger. It was the kind of anger that could sink a person; anger so hot that it could boil anybody from the inside.

Sea-green eyes darted from Michael to Gabriel, then back again, repeating, repeating, repeating, and it lasted for only a second—two seconds. A moment of hesitation followed; one quick blink. He muttered something too soft to be heard, let go of a long breath, and began to relax his aggressive stance.

"Hi!" Gabriel stood up in one smooth move, gliding a little closer to the boy. "Are you okay? You took a pretty nasty… um… hit, I guess you would call it. I mean, it kind of downplays what actually happened, but I don't really know how else to say it." She smiled at him.

The boy's expression had lost all of its previous causticity as Gabriel spoke, settling on something ambiguous but not unkind. In fact, it was infinitely closer to buoyant than hateful, which, while preferred, also felt oddly out of place.

Michael studied him, taking in the frayed and shredded clothing, the sea-green eyes that had softened around their edges, and the sword that still separated him from the rest of Zebel.

Genuinely frightening, Michael thought. Obviously, the boy had just come from some kind of battle. Despite that, he was able to steady himself when he should have been under a great deal of duress, wiping away most traces of distrust and hostility in the span of two breaths. The only thing that told Michael the boy didn't trust either him or Gabriel was the waiting sword.

"Where… am I?" The young man completely ignored Gabriel's initial attempt to speak with him. "This isn't…"

Michael cleared his throat. "You're currently in Heaven. The sixth level of Heaven to be exact."

"Sixth level of Heaven…" The young man allowed his attention to roam for a brief moment. "Really? That's weird. It's my first time ending up here after dying."

"It certainly is odd," Michael agreed. "I am Michael, archangel of Heaven."

"I'm Gabriel, and you"—she pointed at the boy—"are quite rude."

"Huh?" He looked at the broken walls behind him. "Oh, yeah, uh, sorry about that."

Gabriel shook her head dramatically. "Not that! I mean, you just ignored me when I asked if you were okay. That's pretty rude. I wanted to make sure you hadn't broken anything."

The boy's mouth curled into a placid, lazy smile. "You mean except for the walls, right?"

Gabriel pouted. "Yes, except for the walls."

He bobbed his head a few times, rotating his free arm while the other carried on with its duty of holding up the bronze sword. "Well, you'll be glad to know that I feel just fine. I'm a bit sturdier than the average human. And besides, that wall wasn't so tough."

"That's great… um…" Gabriel tilted her head. "What was your name again?"

With one hand raised, he said, "Percy. Nice to meet you both, I guess."

"Likewise," Michael nodded.

"Same, same," Gabriel gushed.

They didn't move for a few seconds. Percy's quaint smile remained, friendly as could be given the situation. In contrast, his sword also stayed in its defensive position, crossed before his chest, angled in such a way that even a small motion would protect most of his vital organs if they were targeted. His legs were appropriately spaced, left further forward than right, with more weight given to the latter if the bent knee were any sign.

Danger, Michael's intuition kept saying. Danger.

Percy's chosen stance screamed of no attack being met without retaliation. The writing was there in the way he watched them. Beneath the warmth, there was shrewdness. Backing that shrewdness was a willingness to act.

"Well," Michael put his hands together in front of him, "with introductions out of the way, may I ask you a few more questions?"

"Questions? Yeah, I'm sure you have a lot of those." Percy glanced at the hole behind him again. He took his eyes off them for less than a second. His lazy smile faltered. "Okay. I don't have a problem answering a few things. Though, maybe we can have our interrogation over tea or coffee or something?"

"That sounds like a good idea, though I wouldn't call it an interrogation by any means."

"Oh, oh!" Gabriel raised her hand. "I'll go get the tea ready for us. Michael, can I?"

Michael's face split in a fond smile. His sister was excitable about the strangest things. "If you wouldn't mind."

She shook her head. "Nope. I'll be right back, you two." With that, she quickly made her retreat into the dormitories of Zebel, her long blond hair fluttering as she jogged away.

Turning back to their guest, Michael beckoned him forward. "Let's go relax in the eastern garden while Gabriel prepares the tea for us. I'm sure you'd like to sit down for a while, given how you arrived here."

Percy carefully lowered his sword, eyes lingering on Michael's wings for a few seconds. "You just read my mind. What about the…" He jerked his head behind him.

"None may enter Sixth Heaven without permission from us seraphs. While the walls will need to be repaired, they can wait." Michael brought a hand to his chin. "Though maybe a stopgap wouldn't be a bad idea." Muttering a short word and letting his magic flow, Michael pointed at the hole. A barrier of dim, yellow-silver light formed at the jagged edges. It wasn't nearly as sturdy as the wall it was meant to replace, but it worked well enough for the time being.

"If I ever need a repairman, I guess I know who to call," Percy said.

"The Lamb of God was a carpenter," Michael said. "He could build great, wondrous things with his two hands. I'm not much more than a bandage."

"Hey," Percy gave a careless shrug, "bandages save lives. I'm all for it. Now let's go sit down. My legs are killing me."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"And here we are!" Gabriel set down three small cups filled with tea, then put the pitcher in the middle of the table that Michael had chosen.

"Thank you, Gabriel." Michael smiled at his sister.

"Thanks," Percy offered. "Nice place you've got here. I should've known Heaven would look this nice."

The east garden of Zebel was themed to native plant life that grew in Asia. With the help of magic, many species of flowers, trees, mushrooms, and mosses all thrived in the east garden.

Where they sat now was one of many small clearings in the garden. Three circular metal tables had been set up for the sake of resting, the cushioned chairs helping to make sure anybody would be able to relax. Chinese wisteria surrounded them, flowering, dyeing the periphery a clean shade of purple and filling the air with its heady fragrance.

"I love these gardens," Gabriel said.

All three of them sipped their tea. Percy's other hand rested on the pommel of his sword, which he'd leaned against the table. "So, you guys had questions, right?"

"Can I go first?" Gabriel's energetic response made Michael agree. She pumped her fist in victory, then looked at Percy, brimming with curiosity. "Where did you come from? I mean, when you broke through the walls of Zebel, I was super surprised! I was like, 'Did that really just happen?' and 'How is he still breathing?' It was really shocking. I thought you were a god at first… but… um… you really aren't, so sorry for assuming~ Haha~"

"Hmm." Percy sipped his tea. "Like you said, I'm not a god."

"And you aren't a monster." Gabriel tilted her head. "Ah, it's just too confusing."

"Is it safe to assume, then, that you came from Earth?" Michael asked. "I recall you said something about dying, yet I can guarantee that you aren't dead."

A beat. "I'm still alive?" he asked.

Michael nodded cautiously. "Yes. You have a very physical body, I can assure you."

Percy looked away from the table, eyes tracing lines over the vines of wisteria that bloomed around them.

There was something painfully familiar with how he looked. Michael knew that look; he knew those poisonous feelings of exhaustion and indignation. He knew how hard it was to keep those feelings from swallowing him whole.

Silence came to the garden.

Michael and Gabriel shared a glance while Percy kept staring at the purple flowers directly across from him.

A minute passed. Sixty full seconds. In a conversation, minute-long silences were painfully obvious.

But it gave Michael a bit of time to think. During those sixty seconds, he came to understand what had happened earlier in Seventh Heaven.

Percy had been chosen by God's system to receive a miracle; his prayer had been answered.

This was merely the result.

Gabriel reached out, presumably to touch Percy's hand, but froze when his eyes snapped toward her. She withdrew her arm and stowed it in her lap. Worriedly, she asked him, "Are you all right?"

Percy covered his mouth. Slowly, he dragged the hand down, nodding as his face started to clear. "I'm all right. Yeah. I'm all right."

"From your reaction," Michael said carefully, "I assume your last battle ended poorly?"

"Last battle?" Percy looked at his clothes, then at his sword, then at his hands. "Right. Yeah. I, uh… I lost."

"Is that how you ended up here?"

"Pretty much."

Michael hummed. "So, are you from Earth? Are you human?"

"Yes to both questions. Earth, born and raised. Human, born and raised. Good times all around." He grimaced quickly. "Well, for the most part."

"Who were you battling?" Gabriel asked.

Percy's head jerked. "An old friend who isn't an old friend anymore."

A vague answer, but an answer nonetheless. Michael chose to move on. "Earlier, you mentioned that this was the first time arriving in Heaven after dying. I can't help but wonder what you meant by that."

"I meant exactly what I said. This is my first time visiting Heaven. It's… bright."

"About you dying?" Michael prodded.

"Would you believe me if I said it was a slip of the lip?" Percy asked. When Michael only smiled, he sighed magnanimously. "Trust me, that's a can of worms we're better off not opening. Actually, it's a can of worms I'm not planning on opening anytime soon. Sorry."

Michael nodded slowly. "Is there anything you are willing to tell us. Neither Gabriel nor I wish to make you uncomfortable. Clearly, whatever you may have gone through, it was unpleasant."

Percy's tongue ran over the corner of his mouth. His eyes narrowed amusedly. "Unpleasant is putting it mildly. I do appreciate you not pushing when I don't want to share in the first place. You really are an angel, huh?"

"Oh, Michael is the best of us!" Gabriel chirped.

"I only do as the Lord would want," Michael said.

He certainly wasn't the best of them. Gabriel was the best of them. She still held some of her innocence. She'd never been forced to do what Michael had done. And she never would, if he could help it.

"Speaking of the Capital G, is he around? He's not gonna be mad that I busted through the walls of Heaven, right?" Percy glanced skyward. "Is he listening right now? Tell him that I said sorry."

The reminder that God was dead made Michael stiffen in his chair. Despite a thousand years having passed, the sting still remained, though time had lessened its impact. Worst of all was having to keep the general populous from discovering the truth about God's death. If anybody happened to learn of His passing, Michael was in the unfortunate position of discrediting and excommunicating those individuals. In fact, there were many aspects of keeping the system in check that Michael found to be unpleasant.

"I'm sure he isn't upset." Michael finished his own tea, making sure to set the cup down gently. "And I'm sure he is glad for your apology."

"Great. As for what I'm willing to tell you, well, I guess you should know that I'm not from around these parts. See, where I'm from, God doesn't exist. Not the Capital G." Percy held his hand up to stop Gabriel when she leaned forward to ask something. "Now, there were such things as gods, but the Big Guy Upstairs was more of a metaphysical matter than someone like, say, Zeus or Hades. Trust me, I met Hades more than once, so I know what I'm talking about."

Is he implying... Michael was surprised by how easily Percy shared an improbable conclusion.

Gabriel nodded vigorously. "That's so interesting!" She clapped her hands together. "Hey, Hades is pretty creepy, right?"

Percy considered her for a moment, then grinned. "Very creepy. The guy's so oily, even Texas would be jealous of him."

"Oily? Isn't he an actual skeleton?"

"An actual skeleton? Not where I'm from. He had, like, skin… and stuff."

"Wow~" Gabriel breathed out a soft sigh. "Wherever you're from, it sounds amazing."

Percy glanced at his sword. "Not sure I'd call it amazing. Not anymore." He nodded at the wisteria. "This place is pretty neat, though."

"What makes you think so?"

"Well, it's nice to look at." Percy ran a finger over the rim of his cup. "And I've got good company here."

Michael chose that moment to interrupt. "So I take it the Greek gods are alive where you're from."

He avoided using the term that was now eating away at his mind: alternate reality. God had once wondered about the possibilities of there being an infinite number of sidelong timelines running parallel to each other. The more Percy spoke, the more Michael entertained the idea of this being the case here.

"They were," Percy said.

Michael made a note of the tense used but didn't comment on it.

The first time hadn't been a mistake.

Something must have happened to the gods where Percy was from, again fueling the idea of a separate reality.

Of course, the question remains, Michael watched as his sister started another conversation with Percy, how much can I possibly believe? Father would have remained cautious. Heaven's safety is a priority. But the system… must have heard this boy's prayer. This is his miracle, isn't it? What choice do I have, then, except to believe him?

The fact that Heaven's system for maintaining an evil-free environment hadn't yet activated to evict Percy was a testament. Humans—and Michael didn't mean to sound cynical—were a sinful people. They had been for thousands of years, and they would remain for thousands of years to come. It was part of their nature. Original sin could never be overcome.

For that reason, humans were rarely allowed into Heaven before they died and received their halo, should they have lived a life worthy of paradise.

If the system hasn't registered him as a threat to Heaven's purity, then the reason must be miraculous.

Michael made sure to keep his eye on Percy and Gabriel. The boy responded well to Gabriel's curiosity, polite but familiar in his tone, his attention entirely on her as she talked.

And then Michael realized that, no, Percy's attention wasn't fully on Gabriel. The boy's hand hadn't once left the pommel of his sword. His knuckles weren't white with strain anymore, and they moved as his fingers drummed along the sword's handle, but the hand still rested there, vigilant, brimming with suspicion. Every so often, Percy would flit his gaze to Michael. It never lasted for even a second. It never happened when Gabriel was looking at him.

But it happened.

Dangerous, young, and full of anger. Michael recalled his first glimpse of Percy's face. Anger hot enough to boil his innards, hot enough to be a star in its own way. He needed a miracle. He needs a miracle, still.

The system chose Percy's prayer for a reason. There had to be a grand scheme.

A thousand years dead, and God still worked in mysterious ways.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"… and that's when I learned that giraffes were more dangerous than they looked," Percy said, giving Gabriel a knowing smile. "Especially the ones trained by a master martial artist."

"Whaaaat~!" Gabriel laughed as he ended his story. "You've had a lot of fun, haven't you? It sure sounds that way, at least."

"I guess you could say that." Percy looked at Michael. "What do you think? Ever been judo chopped by a giraffe before?"

Michael shook his head. "I can't say I have."

Percy hummed. "Probably best to keep it that way. Just my opinion."

Finally, they settled into silence again. Gabriel and Percy had been bouncing from topic to topic without a care for the better part of an hour. Michael added his own two cents whenever he felt it was appropriate, but mostly, he let the two of them talk between themselves. After he'd come to his own tentative conclusion regarding Percy, there hadn't been much of a point in probing for personal information. Not at the moment.

Time would tell more anyway. Michael liked to think that he was a decent judge of character, and Percy seemed like he was a trusting sort of person.

Michael cleared his throat. "If you don't mind me asking, what will you do next? Considering that you've come quite far from your home…"

Percy ran a thumb over his eyebrow thoughtfully. "That's a good question. Tell you the truth, I don't have plans. It would've been cool to stay here if I were dead and all, but, well, it kinda feels like I'd be cheating. Not that I don't cheat. Still, this would be different from counting cards, wouldn't it? Guess I'll go back to Earth."

"Yes, I see what you mean," Michael said. No miracle could stand alone. Without support, a miracle would be tantamount to earning a fair wage for one day's worth of labor: something nice but ultimately pointless. This was a chance to follow through. "Perhaps, then, I can help."

"Help? Help how?"

"You might need a place to live, right? Not to mention money for the necessities of everyday human life. I'd like to provide you with that much, at the very least."

Percy stared at Michael for a moment. "I can't ask for that."

"Consider it a gift from God." It must have been what God wanted. The system granted Percy a miracle-in-progress, and Michael was bound to see it completed. If the system could trust Percy, so could he.

"Listen… I mean… Uh…" For the first time, Percy seemed to actually struggle with something. "I can't accept that."

"Why not?" Gabriel asked. "Michael is right! Father would have wanted this. For sure~! That's just how he was. You need help, right? Let us help you in the name of Heaven."

Gabriel! For a few terrifying seconds, Michael was forced to hold his breath after his sister inadvertently hinted at God's death. If word of His passing were to spread, well, the system would certainly fail. Faith in the word was all that remained to preserve. Doing so would keep God's work from falling apart.

Percy studied Gabriel with an odd expression. His eyes turned to the bright ceiling ponderously.

Michael's heart thundered in his chest.

"Thanks," Percy said, having brought his attention back to them rather than the empty throne of Heaven. "If that's what he would want, then I won't argue. Tell him I said thanks, will you?"

"I'm sure he'll appreciate that," Michael said. He gave Gabriel a quick look, hoping to convey his disapproval at her performance.

"So…" Percy raised an eyebrow. He seemed at least somewhat less suspicious than earlier. "This might sound rude, but is there any way I can choose where I live?"

"Oh? Do you have a preference? I'm sure we can accommodate you." Michael gratefully took the change in topic for all it was worth.

The wicked bronze sword shifted in tandem with Percy as he leaned forward. "Would New York City be too much to ask for?"