57Summary: He woke up in a place he did not recognize, no memories of who he was or his past, only that he received a strange ability. Given both a blessing and a curse, he will use his new powers to find those whom he is destined to face and he will retrieve that which was taken from him and protect those close to him (Contains elements from Kingdom Hearts).
I have had this story brewing in my head for a while since finishing season 2 of Highschool DxD awhile back. I am really glad I finally go to start this story and I hope you all enjoy it. So enjoy reading chapter 1 of Null and Void.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Highschool DxD or any Kingdom Hearts elements that appear in this story as they belong to their respective owners.
Null and Void
Chapter 1
On the outskirts of a small town was an old abandoned church that closed down years ago due to its poor infrastructure. However, now it was anything but abandoned as a dim glow illuminated the interior. Inside a large congregation of men wearing black cloaks gathered in front of a large stone altar covered in magic runes drawn with what appeared to be blood and on the altar itself were large traces of fresh blood.
Standing at the front of the altar was a man dressed in the robes of a priest. The man was old, appearing to be in his fifties, he had short grey hair, his gut was slightly bloated and he had a very eerie smile on his lips that showed his teeth. The smile to any normal person would have alerted that the man was possibly insane. It also did not help the man held in his grip a bloody ceremonial dagger in his left hand.
He stood proudly in front of the congregation as he addressed them, "My brethren, I welcome thee on this most festive occasion. We gather here today to carry out the will of our lord and saviour, God. Though the Church believes we have strayed due to our methods, I am here to tell you that they are wrong!"
His words earned shouts of approval from the cloaked men as they cheered him on. "In this day and age the Church is overrun by the villainous plague that are devils. All thanks to the aid of their human servants to increase their power and influence. The Church claims that it is forbidden for us to kill humans, but I am here to tell you otherwise. Humans that have dealt with devils are no longer human and have been plagued by their greedy and lustful desires. So to purify the devils influence we must purify the humans who serve them!"
The cheering was thunderous as the men eagerly awaited their leader to start his gruesome show. The priest smiled with a vile grin as he waved his arm to a door next to him. "BRING FORTH THE HEATHANS!"
The door opened and two guards came forward dragging behind them five young women who were bound in chains. These women were very pale, clad in rags and had their mouths gagged and their ankles shackled so tightly to their hands and feet that their skin was bleeding. The five women were crying out of fear as they were brought to their knees by their captors.
"My brothers these vile harlots you see before you have sold their souls and bodies to serve our enemies." He went closer to them and he grabbed a blonde women by her hair and began to grope her, eliciting muffled screams from the terrified women and her fellow prisoners. The priest eagerly licked her cheek and then spat at her feet, which did nothing to calm her down.
"By being under the influence of demonic magic, they have turned from the teaching's of God and must be saved my brethren. So I say let us purge the dark magic from their souls by cleansing their bodies."
He grabbed the same girl and forcibly dragged her to the altar where he began to chain her up, despite her squirming and muffled pleas of protest. As he was doing this the priest's grin never faltered, not even once.
"Oh God , we ask that you guide this poor lost lamb back on the path of righteousness and to accept her in your loving embrace as we absolve her and her companions of their sins."
The girl's eyes were wide with panic as she screamed in futile attempt for help. The priest raised the knife overhead, "Now my child, be joyous as I cleanse you of your sins"
The girl closed her eyes just as the priest brought the weapon down on her. Suddenly just as the blade was about to stab her body, the ceiling above the altar collapsed as a bright white light filled the church forcing the rogue priest and the exorcists in attendance to shield their eyes. Finally, the light died down to show a new figure. He was a young man wearing black combat pants with a sleeveless white hoodie, which showed of his muscular arms. His hoodie was decorated with black flame motifs that covered the hems of his hoodie. The boy stood up and looked at everyone present with cold blue eyes from the confines of his hood.
The head priest was startled by his sudden appearance, "Who dares to disturb the sacred ritual?"
The young man looked to the girl on the altar who stared at him with a pleading expression, then his gaze travelled over the crowd of stray exorcists that glared at him with hate and to the chained up girls who gazed at him with pleading looks on their faces.
"Sacred ritual? All I see are a bunch of lunatics justifying their actions by claiming it is in the name of some deity."
"How dare you refer to the all father as such? In his righteous name you will…!"
The priests rambling was silenced as the hooded man suddenly appeared behind the priest and gripped his neck with both hands. With a quick twist a loud snap echoed through the church as the priest fell to the ground in a heap with a shocked expression permanently etched on his face.
"You talk too much." He turned to face crowd stray exorcists as they cried out in outrage for their leader's demise and charged at him welding holy weapons of every kind imaginable. Several took out guns and began firing a barrage of light bullets towards him, yet he did nothing as the bullets rained down on him kicking up a giant cloud of debris, temporarily blinding their view of him.
"Over there!" a random exorcist pointing towards where their prisoners were located and the two guards jumped back in surprise as the mysterious figure appeared from nowhere with the woman who had been chained to the altar. He gently set her down and returned his attention towards the stray exorcists.
The two guards quickly got over their shock of him appearing in front of them and went to attack him with their spears. He watched as the guards foolishly charged forward before he back flipped over one guard and then kicked him in the back sending him flying into the spear of his comrade. Taking advantage of the guard's surprise over stabbing his own ally, he grabbed the fallen exorcists' staff and speared it through the limp body and pierced the shocked guard right through his heart. He turned towards the silent mob of stray exorcists as his whole body began to glow and radiate large amounts of power.
"Time to end this little game."
Play 'Kingdom Hearts II: Tension Rising (Extended)'
His body was enveloped in a bright light forcing the stray exorcists to shield their eyes. When the light finally died down they were greeted to a surprising sight. The intruder's arms had gone through a radical transformation. His arms up until the elbows were now covered in strange black and white gauntlets. The fingers of the gauntlet were very sharp and looked draconian in appearance, the hands of the gauntlets were black and on the back of each hand was a white insignia with the design of a splintered heart with a cross growing out from the lower half. At the center of each insignia was a nine pointed star-shaped jewel that fluxed from a dark color to a white one. From his fingers to his wrists his gauntlets were black, decorated with a flame motif where it broke off into a pure white armor plating extending up to his elbows where they broke off into diamond-shaped elbow guards.
Many of the stray exorcists had mixed reactions of both fear, arrogance and rage.
"Shit! That brat wielding a sacred gear!"
"Why is that heretic wielding one of the chosen weapons of God!"
The last comment made him clench his hand with rage. How dare these killers who took the teachings of their own God's name in vain and call him a heretic when they were the ones who went against their own beliefs. He began advancing towards the group of stray exorcists. At first it was a small walk but soon turned into a run and the stray exorcists began their assault.
Many brought their blades down on him, but they passed through as if he were a specter. After he phased through every attack, he stabbed his enemies with lightning fast precision with his gauntlets in many vital areas. Upon emerging from the crowd, dozens of exorcists began to convulse in pain and coughed up blood before falling limply to the floor. He then jumped and landed in the center of the crowd and opened his hands as two large white double-edged swords materialized from thin air. He gripped them tightly as he began to slash at the rogue group of exorcists. They tried to counter with their own weapons, however their blades were no match for his as they cut through their holy weapons, reducing them to nothing. The stray exorcists fear grew when they saw as every member that was struck down froze in mid-air before turning grey and crumbled to ash. The exorcists soon found themselves overwhelmed by the intruder and some even thought of using the women as hostages. However he took notice of this and before they could even lay a hand on the girls, he suddenly reappeared in between them and he spun around the exorcists, cutting them down and turning their bodies to ash.
He looked up to see several exorcists chanting as they aimed their guns and other projectile based weapons at him. Large amounts of holy light energy gathered at the tips of the weapons until they fired as one and fused together into a giant beam of light heading straight towards him. He released his blades as they transformed into two spheres of black and white energy. He brought his hands together fusing the spheres into a much bigger orb. He aimed his hands at the beam of light and fired his own beam towards that of the exorcists. The beam of dark light tore through the beam of holy energy with ease and the exorcists watched as several of their own fighters were caught up in the beam, disintegrating them to nothing. Several exorcists began to panic, many of them did the sensible thing and hightailed it out of the church. Those who had no sense, however, remained to fight him.
"You should follow your friends' example and leave." he added emphasis by grinding his armored fingers together generating white sparks. The exorcists raised their weapons and jumped at him.
"That's fine… I wasn't going to let you leave any way." He jumped forward and punched the nearest exorcist in the face. A satisfying crunch was heard as the exorcist was sent flying into a wall leaving a noticeably deep human shaped indent. A second exorcist brought his sword down on him, forcing him to block the blow with his gauntlet. He pushed forward sending his opponent tumbling backwards and then delivered a devastating uppercut sending his opponent into the ceiling, where he remained with his body hanging down limply. Three exorcists closed in on him cutting off any means from escape as they jumped down towards him. He smirked beneath his hood as he allowed them stab him with their weapons, only for them to go right through him. He then jumped, delivering a powerful spin kick with enough force to break all three of their necks.
By now only a handful of exorcists were left, raising both of his hands he focused energy into one spot as a black orb the size of a basketball began to form. He began to push his hands together decreasing the size of the black sphere to that of a small marble. He then vanished again, reappearing in front of the nearest exorcist and he thrusted his arm forward into the exorcists gut. He then retracted his arm and kicked the man in the stomach sending him into the remaining exorcists.
They all watched with confused expressions as he waved goodbye to them. Suddenly the exorcist he kicked screamed and they all watched blood started to leak from his eyes, ears, mouth and nose and watched as his stomach started to look as if it was being sucked in from the inside. They attempted to get some distance from him, but it was too late as the man's body burst in a shower of blood as a giant black hole appeared. The exorcists started to panic and tried to run away but this failed as they were caught in the holes gravitational pull. They cried out in fear as they disappeared into the infinite void of the black hole as it started to shrink and then disappeared.
End 'Tension Rising'
With his job done the cloaked man turned his attention towards the chained women who were huddled in a corner at the end of the church. He vanished reappearing in front of them causing them to retreat and shrink in fear at his sudden appearance. He watched as they looked at him with tears in their eyes, not surprising since they did see him kill a whole group of people by himself. He raised his hands causing the girls to scream behind their gags, but they calmed down when he removed his hood showing his face to them, earning a few blushes from them.
Their savior was young, around 18 years of age, with wild and spiky blond hair, he had stunning blue eyes that held a reassuring light to them that put the women's fear at ease. The most distinct trait about him were the three whisker marks on each cheek, giving him a fox-like appearance.
He began to talk to them with a calm and soothing tone. "You guys just went through quite an experience. But rest assured you're safe now. I can promise that after tonight…"
He began raising his right hand and opened his palm towards them, the women at first seemed frightened but relaxed when he gave them an honest reassuring smile.
"You will have no recollection of this event" the jewel on the back of his palm shone with a brilliant light as waves of light washed over the women.
"Now…. Forget"
The women's eyes soon glazed over and they quickly slumped down as they lost consciousness. Naruto stood back up and let his arms rest to his side and glanced over in the direction where the beam of light he fired blasted through the wall of the church leading to the outside. He pulled out a small pair of binoculars from his coat and looked through them. After a few seconds of silent musing he put them away and raised his hands. His gauntlets glowed with a grey light that encompassed him and the women. They all glowed for a second before the group reappeared about one hundred yards from the church. The blond exhaled and allowed his gauntlets to disappear from his arms in a flash of light.
A loud scream caught his attention and he glanced to his right to see one of the exorcists he let escape earlier run right by him. The man was in a terrible state, covered in burns and cuts all over his body and he was even missing his left arm. He did not get far however as something flew from the trees, cutting him in half and setting his body ablaze.
"Done already? That was barely a workout!"
A loud voice boasted from behind him and he glanced to see a man wearing a black cloak with a zipper running down the middle, his hood was down exposing the individual's identity. He was a man who looked to be about twenty-one years of age. He had spiky red hair similar to the blonds except his was longer, reaching past his shoulders and was slicked back. Like the blond he also had distinct facial markings in the form of two reverse tear drop insignia, one under each eye. He raised his hand and caught the thrown object that had killed the exorcist revealing it to be a type of chakram. It was a giant circle that had two black handles in the center shaped like a cross which he used to grip the weapon. There were four smaller circles around the bigger one's circumference. The four small circles each had one kunai shaped spike, while four more were placed perpendicularly on the large circle. The charkram was covered in fire, further illuminating its red and white outlines.
The stranger finally took notice of the blond next to him and smirked. "Well, well look who finally managed to join us; mister high and mighty himself." He laughed giving a loud clap to the blonds back, sending him falling to the ground from the unexpected hit. The red-haired man looked to the forms of the unconscious girls and donned a serious expression.
"So I take it our little rat was right, huh Naruto?" he looked towards the now identified Naruto who was sitting cross-legged on the floor, his eyes closed in deep thought.
"Yes, this was indeed a hideout for a group of stray exorcists. They were going around and gathering up women who had made contracts with devils. These guys were completely lost in their own delusions."
The blonde's eyes snapped open, "However, it looks as though none of the exorcists we interrogated know of anyone with connections to the Khaos Brigade."
The red-head gave a tired sigh resting his chkram lazily on his shoulder, "Are you kidding me? After all the hard work we did? Oh well at least the obstacles we faced were interesting."
Naruto looked to his friend, "You consider tracking and interrogating monsters and rogue exorcists interesting? Just how bored are you Axel?"
Axel blinked in surprise before he shrugged, "Can you blame me? We have not had the opportunity to let loose since that fight with that Kokabiel guy... Still can't believe he had the nerve to leave our fight Just as things were getting good. Ever since all we've had to deal with are low-class thugs and stray devils. I'll take any action I can get my hands on."
The blond then stood back up, "Well then what I have to tell you next should peak your interest. However we should wait for the others to get here. While we wait, are you certain that none of the stray exorcists escaped from you?" Axel looked a little insulted that Naruto doubted him, but confirmed that they were all dead.
Naruto nodded to his partner and looked towards the red-head, "You know what to do."
"I am all over it" he smiled as he suddenly jumped into the sky soaring above the trees earning him a good view of the church. He extended his other hand outwards and a second chakram materialised in his grip. He began to spin the chakrams at intense speeds that they burst into flames. When the flames were at double their original size, Axel threw them with surprising strength and watch as the chakrams smashed through the windows of the church. A few seconds' later large tongues of flames blew out the doors and windows as the building was set on fire. The chakrams came flying out of the buildings where they returned to Axel's open hands and dissipated in a shower of sparks.
Axel landed back among the group his hands behind his head, "There we go, another job well done."
No sooner had he said that two figures dropped from the sky and landed right in front of him. Both figures were wearing the same cloak as Axel however their hoods were up masking their faces.
"So guys anything new to report?"
The taller figure spoke up first, revealing he was male, "We did a through check and no one escaped the area or spying on it. However, we did see something that caught our attention."
"What is it?"
"It's those two exorcists from the Vatican that recently began to tail us. It would seem that they did not follow our false lead as long as we would have liked. They'll be here soon."
"In that case we should leave as soon as possible. We cannot show ourselves to them yet. It is still too early for that." Naruto raised his arms, summoning his gauntlets and prepared to teleport away when he was interrupted by the second cloaked figure.
"What of them?" the figure, now identified as female, gestured towards the passed out girls next to them.
"Aren't we going to do something for them? We can't just leave them here."
Naruto sighed he cracked his neck getting some kinks out, "Well I was going to bring them safely to the nearest town, but now that we know that those real exorcists are on their way we can let them handle it. Besides when they see that those women are safe they are more likely to assume that we have some good intentions."
The female figure looked at him with a deadpanned expression, "Are you serious?" The look the blond was giving showed her that he was, forcing her to sigh in defeat.
"So now that that's over and done with, what is this piece of news that you wanted to go over?" Axel demanded with impatience.
"Do you remember the last group we interrogated before coming here?"
Axel hummed in thought and then a light bulb lit up above his red hair, "Oh yeah those two exorcist we caught while investigating those kidnappings. So what about them?"
"Well after you left me to handle them, I thoroughly interrogated them and found an insightful piece of information. I learned that the leader of the fallen angels, Azazel has settled in a city not too far from here."
This got the group's attention as both cloaked figures perked up at this while Axel grinned, "The leader of the fallen angels huh? Looks like I might just get my fun after all."
"It might be harder than you think. I also learned that the place Azazel is hiding in happens to be in devil territory."
The cloaked male sounded surprised, "Are you sure about that? I mean the leader of the fallen angels hiding in devil territory? I mean no matter how you look at it, it kind of sounds pretty farfetched."
"This Azazel guy is either completely insane or a total genius. Exactly which group of devils does this territory belong to?" Axel inquired curiously.
Naruto walked by him, "Does it matter? Either way if they get in our way we will simply deal with them."
Axel smiled while the two cloaked figures nodded. Once their discussion was over and their destination set, all four of them moved the group of women to a spot where they would more likely be seen. The group quickly gathered near Naruto as he did a few hand signs and all four of their bodies warped as they vanished into thin air.
Not too long after they vanished, two people wearing white travel cloaks arrived in time to witness the dying flames of the fire that destroyed the church.
The two were girls, around seventeen years of age. One of them had violet eyes and long, light brown hair tied into two pigtails that hung on the side of her head. Her companion's hair was shorter reaching her chin and was blue with a green fringe. She also carried a wrapped package, which was larger than her, on her back.
The auburn haired girl appeared visibly upset as she gazed at the remains of the church, "How terrible. How could someone possibly think of doing this to the house of our Lord?" She then clasped her hands together and began whispering a silent prayer, ending it with the sign of the cross. Her companion walked next to her mimicking her actions, and then pulling out a map.
"It would seem that this place, like a few of the others we have been to, were possible base of operations where stray exorcists were reported to have been seen."
"Stupid blasphemers how dare they use the house of God to carry out their sinister desires." The brown-haired girl shouted in anger.
Suddenly both girls heard loud groans from nearby, both were immediately on guard upon hearing said sound. They ran to the side of the church were they looked in shock as they came face to face with an unconscious group of girls around their age wearing rags. They were quickly by their side were the auburn haired girl gently nudged one of them awake.
One of the girls who had long blond hair slowly opened her eye, "Miss are you all right? Can you tell us what happened here?"
The blond women looked at the two of them with a confused expression before it turned to one of surprise and she quickly backed up in shock.
"It's all right, we are with the Church. Can you please tell us what happened to you?"
The women still visibly shaken relaxed as little when the girls showed no direct hostility towards her.
"I…I can't remember." She said surprising the two. "The last thing I remember was walking him from work…. And then I felt someone put a cloth over my mouth and I lost consciousness."
The women began to cry, as she hugged her body, "I… I want to go home."
The auburn haired girl started to reassure the trouble women, reassuring her that all would be okay as she pulled her into a hug. "Xenovia…" she whispered to her partner.
"Yes Irina?"
"What is the closest settlement near here?"
Her partner looked at the map, "It would seem that whoever saved these women are going to the same place that we are."
The girl, Irina nodded, "As soon as we get these girls to safety, we head there immediately!"
Xenovia nodded to her partner, "Understood."
Chapter end!
So here ends my first chapter of Null and Void. To those who are wondering what the pairing is, I have not yet finalised what the pairing will be so I will be putting up a poll on my profile. Be sure to check it out and vote for what the pairing should be.
Till next time!