Guardianship
[October 14th DxD/June 7th DBT]
'I was wondering how they would meet with Riko being so much stronger than her canon self...' mused Vahn, relaxing on the sun-facing slope of a flowery hill with Lupheria dozing silently atop his chest. Riko had told him earlier that day that she and Reg were preparing to enter the Fourth Layer of the Abyss, colloquially known as the Goblets of Giants, so he was using his day off to monitor and ensure she didn't end up nearly losing or having her left arm permanently crippled as it had been in canon.
Much to Vahn's relief, Reg and Riko, the latter wearing thigh-length metal greaves that allowed her to hover and wielding a rifle that made use of magical, armor-piercing rounds, made short work of the Fourth Layer's most ferocious predator, a primarily white, spine-wielding, exceptionally venomous monster known as an Orb Piercer. Then, using a pair of green-lens goggles that functioned similarly to a scouter from Dragon Ball, she discovered the adorable and tragic Narehate, Nanachi, secretly spying on them from afar, leading to their inaugural encounter and eventual visiting of the latter's hidden, moss, grass, and mud-formed abode.
'They should be fine from here...' concluded Vahn, closing the display to grant Riko some privacy when she separated from Reg, Nanachi, and the amorphous Mitty to relieve herself. The thought of visiting them to treat the latter's condition briefly crossed his mind, but as he was certain that Riko would request his assistance once she learned of Mitty's origins, he decided to let things play out.
'Let's see what Fran is up to...' thought Vahn, prompting Sis to produce a new display, this time depicting Fran wielding a two-handed sword with a wolf motif that was longer than she was tall, using it to cut down a group of Orcs. She had tracked down the titular sapient sword shortly after the first Tower Cycle, guided there by a System Quest, but since she viewed him as her parental figure and Roxanne as her Master, she named it Fenryl after the monster it was based on.
"Mmn...Chichi...hungy..." groaned Lupheria, rousing from her slumber and tightly gripping the fabric of Vahn's yukata. She had a habit of defaulting to simple speech when they were alone, but since he found it exceedingly precious, Vahn didn't go out of his way to correct her.
"Well, then, we better get you something to eat..." responded Vahn, rising to his feet with a burst of Touki and carrying the still-sleepy Lupheria like a koala toward a cottage identical to the one Jack-O and Dizzy had lived in when they were still inhabitants of the virtual world. Dizzy, in particular, felt a strong sense of attachment toward the structure, so while they were residents of his palace, she and Jack-O had made themselves at home in one of the Eighth Floor's training rooms.
Reacting to Vahn's arrival, Dizzy, absent her wings and wearing an outfit that wouldn't have looked out of place on Miu, consisting of a black, blue-trimmed biketard and a white, qipao-like crop top with blue accents that matched her hair, emerged from the kitchen with a broad smile, greeting, "Welcome back, father. Food has already been prepared. Shall I take Lup-chan to wash up?"
"Please," responded Vahn, nodding affirmingly before handing Lupheria over to the blue-haired half-gear, who now wore her hair in a long, split-braided ponytail, allowing her glossy, black, salamander-like tail to sway behind her as she walked. It took considerable restraint for Vahn to avoid stealing a glance at her very bubbly butt as she departed, but since Dizzy regarded him as both her father figure and Creator, Vahn even went as far as blocking his perception of her through his domain.
"Did you enjoy basking in the sun with Lup-chan...?" asked Jack-O, seated at a small dining table populated with a small mountain of food in a white, collared, western shirt that she regularly kept half-buttoned, stretch-fit white jeans that perfectly conformed to the contours of her immaculate ass, and white, western-style riding boots as she seemed to enjoy cowgirl and biker fashion.
"That girl drools like a faucet, but other than that, it was very enjoyable..." confirmed Vahn, making his way around the table to bend down and give Jack-O a brief peck on the lips before taking his seat.
"You should do something similar with Dizzy," asserted Jack-O, stating, "She may be bigger than the average child, and she absorbs information like a machine, but she still has a heart that yearns for love and affection. Feeling guilty about finding her attractive is no reason not to dote on her."
"That's a remarkably blunt way to put it, but you're right..." affirmed Vahn, offering another nod as he added, "I'll take her out for a father-daughter outing after lunch. She seems to greatly enjoy flying, so we'll play tag or race around the mountains to the north."
"Good boy..." said Jack-O, offering a nod of her own and smiling playfully before she picked up her coffee mug with both hands and took a lengthy, very audible sip. By the time she was finished, Dizzy had returned with a markedly more animated Lupheria who, upon setting her crimson gaze on the mountain of food, most of which was intended for her, issued a happy "Itadakimasu~!" before digging in.
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"Father will have to do much better than that if he wants to catch me~" hummed Dizzy, flying backward through the air with her hands behind her back, casually evading Vahn's attempts to tag her as they flew around at super and even hypersonic speeds. Unfortunately for Vahn, Dizzy was as powerful, if not significantly more so, than Jack-O, allowing her to hum a happy tune and casually weave out of his flight path even when he turned his body into light with the power of the Pika Pika no Mi.
"Father almost got me that time~" hummed Dizzy, floating down to where Vahn had collided with the face of a mountain like a projectile fired from a futuristic MAC gun. The impact crater he produced was nearly a hundred meters wide, causing the face of the mountain to collapse and fall on him, but he managed to free himself from the tens of millions of tons of debris without too much trouble before exasperatedly responding, "You're more mischievous than I realized..."
"It's because this is the first we've played together outside..." said Dizzy, touching down and extending her right hand to help remove the still half-buried Vahn from the mountainous debris with considerable ease, setting him on his feet and brushing him off as she softly appended, "I know I'm not your real daughter, but it means a lot to me that you're willing to treat me as if we're an actual family..."
"As far as I'm concerned, we are..." asserted Vahn, raising his right hand to caress Dizzy's head but hesitating when he noticed how dirty it was. In response, Dizzy grabbed his wrist and guided it the rest of the way, eyes closed as she softly remarked, "I'm not afraid of a little dirt..."
Feeling a prominent and exceedingly pleasant warmth pervade his chest, Vahn couldn't help beaming affectionately as he wondered if the feeling was paternal love. He frequently experienced something similar when he bonded with Kunou, Lupheria, and, to a lesser extent, Riko and Fran, but it was quite a bit stronger at that exact moment, enough to make him think to himself that if anyone hurt or broke Dizzy's heart, he might not be able to stop himself from severely injuring or killing them...
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(Riko is calling for you) informed Sis, causing Vahn to raise his brows slightly, mentally remarking, 'Wow...that's some timing she has...' due to the fact he was currently in a meeting with the executive members of the Dragon's Pavilion, each seated pantiless around a rectangular conference table with one of his proliferated penises nestled within their tight, warm, and throbbing pussies.
To absolutely no one's surprise, the leaders of various factions, families, and organized groups had come forward after the previous Tower cycle, petitioning or outright demanding to have some of their people permitted entry. Thus, while they had previously discussed it as a potentiality, they were now debating their official stance and response on that and several other pressing matters.
Preempting Vahn asking, Sis explained (It's as you suspect. After sharing a meal prepared using ingredients from the Black Tower, Nanachi revealed their and Mitty's tragic past, leading Riko to spiritedly assert that you would be able to help. Then, following a brief and equally spirited explanation of who you were, she blew her whistle.)
With memories of the exchange flooding into his mind along with Sis's explanation, Vahn had a fairly firm grasp of the situation. Fortunately, it wasn't an emergency. However, as he had promised to come to her the moment she called for him, he regrettably had to excuse himself from the conference after apprising everyone of the situation...
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"Hey...is this Vahn person real...?" asked Nanachi, a roughly 130cm tall humanoid with a very rabbit-like appearance, including very long ears that would droop when they were sad. Instead of a fluffy tail, however, they had a long, somewhat thick, and sturdy tail covered in the same beige-brown fur as the rest of their body, carnivorous teeth, distinctive yellow eyes with dash-shaped pupils, and notably human-like hair, cream-white and set in a straight, bobbed hairstyle.
Nodding affirmingly, Reg, matching Nanachi's hushed tone, as Riko was staring off into the distance with her whistle clasped firmly between her hands, responded, "I have met him a few times in the past. I can't speak on his status as a God, but he is definitely an extraordinary individual with equally extraordinary means."
"Hmm...alright, then..." conceded Nanachi, their rabbit-like ears twitching as they raised their gaze to the ceiling and added, "But this is the Fourth Layer of the Abyss. Surely he can't just—"
Before Nanachi could finish speaking, an exceptionally ornate black and gold door with the seven-winged symbol symbolizing Vahn materialized in front of Riko from golden light. Confusion washed over Nanachi like a hot and sticky liquid, but Riko smiled from ear to ear, her green eyes gleaming as she happily exclaimed, "You came~!" in response to Vahn opening and emerging from the door.
"Of course..." responded Vahn, catching and cradling Riko as she leaped into his embrace with open arms, hugged his neck, and took advantage of the situation to plant a protracted kiss on his left cheek.
'She's getting bolder...' noted Vahn, giving Riko several pats on the back before setting her down, ruffling her hair with his left hand, and meeting Nanachi's stupefied gaze as he asked, "And you are...?"
Startling, Nanachi immediately averted their eyes from Vahn, pressed the tips of their tiny fingers together, and nervously responded, "M-Me? My name is Na-na-na-nanachi, Sir."
"Nananananachi. That's quite the name..." teased Vahn, causing the pale, blush-like marks on Nanachi's face to tint a faint shade of pastel pink as Reg calmly corrected, "Their name is Nanachi, Mr. Vahn. And this here is Mitty..."
Seeing Reg hold up what looked like a melting mass of flesh with vague cat-like features, a singular red eye, a verticle split in its near body-length mouth, a pelt of pink fur, and forelimbs bearing long black claws, Vahn's expression gained a hint of severity. He was well aware of the suffering Nanachi and Mitty had endured at the hands of a man named Bondrewd, but while he couldn't change the past without unraveling the present, he could definitely right the wrongs right in front of him.
"Poor girl...you've suffered far more than anyone should..." muttered Vahn, accepting Mitty from Reg's hands and holding her up so their faces were level, allowing him to stare deeply into her pale red eye. The insides of her mouth resembled dried organs on the cusp of slopping out, but all he saw was a brave young girl who yearned for freedom or release.
"Can you help her...?" asked Riko, swallowing nervously as she believed Vahn could do anything but couldn't imagine how he would treat Mitty's condition.
Surprising Nanachi immensely and causing Riko tremendous relief, Vahn didn't hesitate to nod and respond, "There isn't a force in any world that could stop me..." before relaxedly taking a knee, setting the glossy-eyed Mitty down as gently as possible, and producing a small, round-bottom flask with a luminous white liquid that appeared to be mixed with gold and rainbow-hued dust, the original or true form of his blood...
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