Issei Demigod of Olympus

Rose by the River

(Underworld, Gremory Territory)

In the midst of giant bookshelves, under towers of books read from start to finish and back to front twice each, sat Rias feeling miserable and tired from all her self given homework. Part of it was Azazel's fault, since she had insisted on reading the books in her own library and none of his offers, so instead she had to work by his schedule. Reading, taking notes and writing essays on basic strategy from the first sign rays of the sun and until the clock strikes 7 pm, with only a few 15 minute breaks in between.

Once more, she felt connected to her brother, as her own genetic "I hate doing paperwork" gene showed itself again, but duty and her feeling of lacking made her keep going. A part of this feeling came from her recent failures. Her failure to keep Kiba close and not let him go off by himself, to have foreseen the fallen angels plans, to prepare a plan to face Kokabrial. She felt pressured by these events, but more so the look in Issei's eyes each time she failed.

She leaned back on her chair, looking up at the chandelier high above the towering bookshelves, as she thought back to when she last saw him. It had crossed her minds a few times in these moments in between her studying, what she had said to him, what he had said to her, how he looked when he left and the question of why he left. In her mind she could still see the shock and fright he had experienced when she grabbed his hand.

" Hello?" Her day dreaming ended abruptly, as she noticed a slender man hovering in the air, holding a letter and giving her a questioning look." Um.. How can I help you?" She felt a bit embarrassed to get caught off guard like that, even more when she realized she didn't even ask who he was or tried to get away." I came here to give my brother, Issei, a letter. But I can't seem to find him. Do you know where he is, Rias?" It took her second, but she realized she had met this man before.

" You were the announcer at my fight with Issei, and the guy who came to pick him up the day before.. Hermes, right?" She asked, receiving a quick nod." Yes, that's me, I don't really have time for all that, pretty busy and all . Where is Issei?" He brushed off her questions, wanting her to just answer his question." I don't know, he's been gone since this saturday.. I.. we don't when he'll be-"," Too bad, I can't waste anymore time trying to find him, could you hold onto this letter for me?" He practically forced it into her hands before she managed to formulate an answer.

" Sure, but is-"," A good idea? Maybe, I don't really care right now, just give it to him and don't open it or.. I'll curse you later this week, when I have a break. Bye!" And he vanished just like that, leaving her with the letter, which she by some natural sense of curiosity checked out. It was an unusual looking letter, even for her faction's standards, as instead of paper, papyrus or magic, it was made with hardened magma. It had snakes outlined along the mouthpiece, with a semi-active seal of magma. And on the back were the words: From Typhon, to Issei.

She kept looking at the name of the sender, feeling she had heard it somewhere before." I wonder..." It was not a question of if, but more a question of how long, before another monster from Greece's long history of such creatures, would come seeking another fight with Issei. So she had been reading a little bit about them, to get a better sense of them. The Children of Typhon sat on the edge of the table, and her hand reached for it slowly, hoping deeply the shared name was entirely coincidence.

Page for page, she went through the many mythic creatures, some she had only heard of and others who she never knew existed. Giant beasts, continent destroying monsters, near unbeatable humanoids and all of their horrific achievements. Name by name, painting by painting, killer by killer, until she found the page she had been looking for. At the very end of the book, before all of its sources and authors were credited, were five pages dedicated to Typhon alone.