DxD : A New Hero : Chapter 79

No… no, No! No-no-no-no-no-no-no no. No, no! Just no. This can't be possibly happening. There is no way this is real. How? How could this happen? What could have possibly possessed Ilya into becoming a magical girl! She sure as hell wasn't like that when I left her with-

-Oh.

"Woman." I growled out as I turned to Serafall, the only one who could possibly be responsible for this. "What-did-you-do?"

Serafall, showing not even the slightest hint of remorse, shot me a wicked grin, "The Will of the Serafall conquers all."

"What does that even mean?" I asked in frustration. "When I left her with you Ilya was completely normal. And now, and now she's a…a…" I couldn't even say it.

"A magical girl." Sirzechs added helpfully from where he stood off to one side. He clearly intend on staying out of the way and just watching how things unfolded. And going by the amused smile he was wearing, he was enjoying himself immensely.

"Yes, that." Too out of it to even spare Sirzechs a glare as I began to deal with the revelation of my sister becoming a magical girl. I swayed back on my feet as the realization finally began to truly dawn on me. "Oh my dead God, my sister is a magical girl."

A comforting hand on my shoulder helped steady me as my mind reeled from the shock. I turned to find Sona giving me a look that was filled with just as much compassion as it was pity.

"Welcome to the club brother." Her voice was as solemn as I had ever heard it before, as she gave my shoulder a supportive squeeze.

"Being related to a magical girl is no easy thing and it is a life full of hardships. It is not a burden we asked to carry but it is one that we must nevertheless bear for there is no running away from it. Trust me I tried.

And while I wish I could tell you things will turn out ok, that things will get better with time that would be a lie. The only advice I can give is to abandon all your dignity now, before she takes it away from you and forces you to watch as she sets it on fire."

The hallowed and haunted eyes she look out at me with, something that I had only seen on the faces of veterans from the bloodiest of wars, told me that she meant every word she said. And not for the first time since I arrived in this world, I began to genuinely fear for my future sanity.

Would I end up looking like that in time?

"Onii-chan!" Whatever other morbid thoughts I might have had was put to an abrupt end when a pink and white missile tackled me from the side. I reflexively wrapped my arms around Ilya as I fought to stay on my feet, having almost been knocked onto the floor by the force of her charge.

"Onii-chan~, found you!" She cheered as she nuzzled her face into my side.

For the first time, I found myself drawing a blank when I tried to think of what to say to Ilya. Or is it magical girl Ilya now? Oh hell, please someone tell me she isn't going to start her own show too?

"Ilya," gently pushing her away by her shoulder until she stood before me, "what are you wearing?"

"Can't you tell Onii-chan?" She tilted her head up at me while flashing me something that was a cross between an innocent smile and a knowing smirk. A part of me began to suspect that she was enjoying my reactions just a bit too much. "It's a magical girl costume of course."

She took a step back before spinning in place to better show it off, her skirt flaring as she did so, before ending her spin in a curtsey. She rose up and held her arms wide open, giving me a clear look at her costume, "Onee-chan gave it to me. Isn't it great?"

"…Yes." No matter how hard I tried to hide it, the edge of my smile wouldn't stop twitching. "It's…wonderful."

"…Onee-chan?" I turned to find Sona with an indecipherable expression on her face. She was standing up a little bit too straight to be casual, her posture far more rigid than normal. She turned to Illya, her movements rather stiff, almost mechanically, before asking, "Did you just say Onee-chan gave it to you?"

"Hmm?" Ilya cocked her head at her, "Yes, Serafall-Onee-chan gave it to me. Why, is that a problem?"

"…No, not at all." Sona stood oddly still for a long while, staring blankly at Illya who stared back in turn while wearing a smile that was a little too innocent for me to completely trust.

My eyes kept jumping from one to the other as I sensed that something was going on between the two of them that I was entirely missing but for the life of me I had no idea what it was. And when they continued to silently stare at each other, one with a blank face and the other with an unrelenting smile, and did nothing else I began to get worried.

Just as I decided to intervene, Sona acted.

"It seems that our sisters are getting along well together." She turned to me, with a wide and jubilant smile on her face. "Isn't that great Shirou-Nii-chan?"

….what the hell?

The wide and clearly unnatural smile on Sona's normal stern visage was so disturbing that I'm not ashamed to admit that I took an involuntary step back away from her. Sona ignored my reaction and actually took a step forward as she continued to smile up at me.

*Snap*

A loud, resounding crack reverberated throughout the hallway as the red and star-tipped wand that Ilya held was crushed, snapped in two like a pencil in her grip.

At first I was surprised, I knew how durable those wands were and I didn't know that Ilya had anywhere close to enough strength to even dent one, but when her smile began to turn into something far sharper my surprise turned to alarm as bells began ringing in the back of my brain, screaming at me to do something now.

Fortunately someone decided to step in.

"Could it be," Serafall stepped forward, the hand she held in front of her mouth did nothing to hide the utterly delighted smile she was wearing, "is my little So-tan by any chance jealous?"

"What! No!" Sona's face flushed a bright red as she turned to face Serafall, frantically waving her hands before her in denial as she did so, "Why would I be jealous of her calling you Onee-chan-"

Her hands quickly clamped over her mouth, cutting off the rest of her words, while her eyes widened as the realization of what she just said sunk in but it was already too late. The damage was done.

Serafall's eyes practically twinkled likes stars while her smile grew so large that it seemed to take half of her face. "Oh So-tan, you never need to be jealous. You'll always be number one in my heart. I promise."

"That's not what I meant!" She wailed. Sona quickly began looking around in panic as she felt the eyes of everyone in the hallway, Devils and humans alike, on her. "I swear I didn't, I'm not jealous."

"Geez, there is no need to be shy." Serafall walked towards her with her arms held open, her smile not diminishing in the slightest. "Now come, jump into your beloved Onee-sama's arms."

Sona's eyes kept frantically jumping all around the room, her face flushing even redder and tears were building up in her eyes when she realized that none of us believed her denials. That and the slight snickering of the gathered crowd was the final straw that broke the last of her composure.

"I-I-I…" her eyes were filled with tears as turned and ran away sprinting down the corridor. "Onee-chan I hate you!"

"No wait, come back. Onee-chan's Sorry."

I watched, not for the first time, as Sona ran away in tears while an apologetic magical girl chased after–huh? Wait a second, where did Serafall go?

Two arms appeared from behind, wrapping around my waist and pulling me into a tight hug. I could feel a face press itself into the middle of my back as I was embraced from behind.

"Serafall?" I asked, cranking my head around to try and get a better view.

"Just give me a second." A muffled voice responded. So I stopped my struggling and let her be. And as promised not a few seconds later she let me go.

"There, recharge complete!" She clenched her hands and cheered. She brandished her wand before pointing it straight down the corridor like a lance. "Now, let the hunt begin. Charge~~~! Kayahahahaha."

Serafall began cackling like a maniac as she ran down the corridor after her sister and soon started yelling out to her. "Sona wait! I'm sorry, Onee-chan won't do it again. Please come back!"

I watched in complete bemusement as Serafall disappeared around the corner, yelling out apologies all the while. The sound of her footsteps kept receding until they disappeared entirely only a few seconds later, leaving the corridor feeling oddly empty now that they were gone.

Realizing that the show was now over the crowd started to disperse, and not a minute later I found myself alone with Ilya, a thoroughly entertained Sirzechs and a shell-shocked Saji who didn't looked like he would be snapping back to normal anytime soon.

"Neh, neh Onii-chan." Ilya said as she insistently tugged on my sleeve. I turned to look, only to find her wearing a smile so sincere and open that I was immediately on my guard. "So, tell me about all these girls I've heard you've started living with."

…Oh Shit.

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