Highschool DxD: The Beast Hunter

S2, C18: Angels in Hell

Aiden jolts up, dust staining his body. His hands clasp at his face, gripping his mask. He breathes a sigh of relief and collapses back down onto the floor. Lazily waving a hand, he lays there. A second flies by. Then another. Then another. In a midst of confusion, the boy sits up. He takes in his surroundings and he realizes.

He's not in Emerald Forest. In fact, no where close to a forest. He sits in a bayou, on an island, water softly splashing up it. His eyes dart around before stopping on someone wading their way through the water.

Aiden: "Hey! Hey, you! Where am I?" He yells out.

The person turns and faces him, his body was something Aiden wasn't expecting. It was someone donned in clothing from the early 1800's farming gear. Their skin was falling off and decaying, the sight familiar to Aiden.

Aiden: "Oh shit.." Aiden jumps to his feet.

The zombie grasps a large cleaver, and with a yell, it runs at Aiden. In a panic, Aiden grasps at his jacket, tossing it back and grabbing his revolver before putting multiple rounds into the undead. With a thud, its body falls. Aiden flicks the cylinder out and quickly interchanges the spent casings, loading in fresh bullets. During his reload, his eyes glare at a beetle flying past him. Flicking the cylinder closed, he jumps into the water and wades through it. The water, despite not being that deep, goes almost up to his stomach. With a small gag, he begins to trudge his way through the dirty green water.

More bugs, cockroaches and beetles fly around Aiden, and in a panic, he swats at the bugs.

Aiden: "Ew, ew, ew!"

In an instant, the bugs fly around and form into a person. Pale, cracked skin revealed by their open cloak, a mask and hood covering their face as the hold multiple knives.

Aiden: "Who the hell are you?" Aiden asks as he grasps his revolver in his hands.

The figure stands there, staring. He adjusts the knives in his hands.

???: "Mr. O'Malley. How lovely to meet you." A voice cuts through the fog of bugs, all buzzing past.

Aiden: "How do you know my name?!" Aiden yells. "Why do so many people know my name!?!"

???: "Because my boss told me about you. I am Lucason Ford, better known as The Cowl by my enemies."

Aiden: "Lucason Ford? What kind of name is that?"

Ford: "A name my family gave me, just like the name your family gave you." Aiden scoffs.

Aiden: "You don't know my family!"

Ford: "Aiden O'Malley, wanted for the crime of parricide. Father and Mother found with multiple stab wounds, and sister found with a broken neck and shot execution style in the backyard." Aidens eyes widen under his mask.

Aiden: "You do not talk about my past like you know me, you don't know what they did to me! What they did to her. I'm not a monster!"

Ford: "That's not what the world thinks, Necro. The ability to raise the dead is a wondrous semblance. On top of that, the power of the Void Walker, controlled by the one and only Djall Arisaka. You are a wonderful subject."

Aiden: "And who's telling you to say that, huh? Because these words seem forced."

Ford: "My boss.. is going to love you.." Bugs begin to swarm Aiden again. Aiden screams out as the bugs burrow into his skin, he swats them away, slapping them out of the air, and stomping on those beneath him. In a burst of fear, he grabs his revolver and fires wildly into the air. Bullets whiz past, or through the bugs until a snap was heard. Like a bone snapping out of place. Lucason falls to his knees, his body twitching, almost like he was a puppet on strings.