Cambrian’s Emporium of Everything (Multiple Settings)

Nightmares – High School DxD

Commission

-x-X-x-

It was just an ordinary day in Kuoh Town, or so Rias Gremory thought. As she makes her way to the Occult Research Club's headquarters with her trusted Queen by her side, there's a pep in her step and a smile on her lips. Akeno is smiling as well, the two of them as content in one another's company as ever.

Entering her peerage's clubhouse, the Gremory Heiress perks up at hearing their voices just down the hall.

"Five… six… seven! Oh hey, nobody owns St. Charles Place yet, so I guess I'll buy it!"

"Hm, it seems we'll have to make a deal later seeing as I have the other two pinks, Issei."

"Haha, maybe Kiba. Depends on if you have what I want!"

"Why you-!"

"Guys, c'mon… let's not fight. Still have to see how the game plays out, right?"

Rias' smile persists as she listens to her boys talking about what seems to be a rousing game of Monopoly. While she would have preferred they wait for her and Akeno to be able to join in, she knew it had taken longer than expected to finish up their meeting with her peer Sona.

However, her smile drops at that last voice because it's not quite so familiar to her… or rather, it's familiar to her in a bad way. That voice… was not the voice of one of her peerage members.

Suddenly very worried, Rias walks a bit quicker down the hall and throws open the doors to the clubroom, stepping inside. A part of her thought she was maybe just mishearing things… but no. He's right there

Riser Phenex, her detested and disliked fiancé. To her shock, dismay, and utter confusion, he's sitting right there with the rest of her peerage around the Monopoly board. Issei, Asia, Koneko, and Kiba are all playing the game with him, the five of them having seemingly started just a little while ago based on the number of properties doled out.

They look up as Rias enters with Akeno on her heels. There's smiles all around, even as Rias stares in disbelief.

"Oh! Hey Buchou, Akeno! You guys finally done with your meeting?"

Slipping past her as Rias stands there with her mouth opening and closing like a damn goldfish, Akeno smiles at Issei's question and nods.

"Indeed we are. And it would seem that you all are in the middle of a game. Don't worry, Rias and I can just watch."

Wha… why wasn't Akeno addressing the elephant in the room?! Why was everyone acting like this was okay?!

Slowly raising a finger in Riser's direction, Rias finally finds her voice.

"What is HE doing here?!"

Riser has the gall to look a little hurt by this, even as everyone else blinks and looks between her fiancé and Rias herself. After a moment, Koneko half-shrugs.

"He's playing Monopoly with us, Buchou."

Asia nods enthusiastically.

"Yes! Riser has been very helpful in teaching us all how to play!"

Issei crosses his arms over his chest and huffs, but even his griping seems entirely too good-natured.

"I still say he's planning to cheat! We shouldn't let him have total control over the bank just because he's the only one who's ever played before! We should take turns controlling the bank!"

Kiba just smirks.

"Why? So that you can have a turn stealing from the bank, Issei?"

As her Pawn sputters at this, Kiba reaches out and takes one of Riser's hands in his own, giving the other man a soft smile.

"I trust Riser with my life. That should be enough for you."

What? Just… WHAT?!

"What the fuck is happening here?! Riser Phenex is my detestable fiancé who has made my life a living hell for YEARS now and wants nothing more than to push up our wedding so that he can add me and my female peerage members to his grotesque excuse for a harem! Why are you all acting so… so FRIENDLY with him?!"

Silence falls as everyone stares at her with wide eyes. Almost like they think she's the crazy one for her outburst. But Rias definitely isn't the crazy one here. This is insanity!

Exchanging looks among themselves; her peerage and Riser all seem to come to a wordless conclusion after a long moment. Looking back to her, Riser sighs.

"I'm sorry if I made you feel that way, Rias. It was never my intention."

What?!

"Yeah Buchou, we thought you knew Riser was our friend!"

EXCUSE HER?!

"And also, Buchou… that he and I were in love."

NANI THE FUCK?!

Rias stares at Kiba in particular for that last one, and then down at where Riser and Kiba are holding hands with one another. There was just no way… right? And yet, they give each other puppy dog eyes after Kiba declares that they're in love, making Rias' stomach do flip flops.

This had to be some sort of scheme on Riser's part. He was turning her peerage against her! But if it was true then…

"F-Fine then. If you two are in love, call off our engagement and I'll happily support you both!"

There! That made perfect sense, right? Except… everyone once again looks at Rias like she's taking crazy pills. Her own Queen, Akeno, Walks over and puts a hand on her forehead as if to check her for temperature.

"Rias… are you feeling alright? You know Riser can't call off your wedding. He needs you and the rest of us to act as his 'beard', just like his peerage does. If his parents or the rest of the Underworld found out he was gay, the backlash would be immense. We need to support him and Kiba to the best of our abilities."

The worst part is, that kind of makes sense. But no! No, that meant Rias was just… a façade while Riser and Kiba got to have their love! What about her?! Akeno was supposed to be on HER side here, for fuck's sake!

Smiling at her, Akeno runs a hand down Rias' back.

"That's also why we're all going to allow Riser to impregnate us, to keep up the cover and so that he and Kiba can raise the children as their own."

-x-X-x-

That's when Rias wakes up in a cold sweat, shooting up from the bed and breathing heavily, her naked body completely drenched from head to toe. Leaping out of the sweat-soaked sheets, she makes for the shower where she turns on the hot water and steps under it, feeling a desperate need to cleanse herself after such a nightmare.

It was just too much. She should have known it wasn't real, to be fair. Monopoly? Riser being nice enough to teach anyone anything? Kiba and him dating? Akeno not having her back against the Phenex bastard? It was just one thing after another and she'd really let herself get drawn into the dream for way too long.

Hell, Issei and Asia didn't even know about Riser's existence yet!

… Fuck! Now she was going to have to tell them, just for her own peace of mind. Groaning, Rias leans forward, lightly banging her forehead against the shower wall. She closes her eyes for a moment, only to snap them open again a moment later as the mental images of the nightmare and… other things threaten to overwhelm her.

No, she did not want to imagine her loyal and dutiful knight in bed with Riser fucking Phenex. God, she felt like she was going to throw up!

-x-X-x-

Later that day, Rias brings her peerage together after class for what's probably a long overdue talk. Issei and Asia have been part of her peerage for weeks now, after all. When she'd told Akeno what she wanted to talk to them about, her Queen hadn't even asked what brought it on, she'd merely raised an eyebrow and mentioned that it 'took Rias long enough'. Which… honestly was fair.

"What's up, Buchou?"

Smiling at Issei and very deliberately NOT looking at Kiba (she hadn't been able to all day), Rias sits down and smooths out her skirt.

"There's something I need to talk to you and Asia about, since you're both members of my peerage. Something I should have probably told you both weeks ago, especially since there's a danger of it affecting the two of you down the line. Basically… I have a fiancé."

Asia gasps, looking happy for Rias since she doesn't know the details yet, as expected. Issei also reacts as expected, shooting to his feet and looking quite aggrieved.

"What?! A fiancé! Buchou, why didn't you say anything before?!"

Rias lets out a short sigh.

"Because… its an arranged marriage and one that I'm not exactly happy with. I've been trying for years to get out of it to no avail though. At this point… things are looking rather grim on that front."

Now Asia gasps and covers her mouth in horror, while Issei just gets angrier.

"Some bastard is trying to force you to marry him?! Tell me who it is and I'll kick his ass, Buchou!"

Rias tries not to smile given the seriousness of the situation, though she has to admit that Issei's willingness to beat Riser up for her goes a long way to scrub the memories of her nightmare from her mind. She opens her mouth to explain that its their parents who are actually forcing them to marry… however, before she gets the chance, something truly improbable happens.

The summoning circle in the center of the room from the Underworld starts to glow with someone's eminent arrival. And seeing as Rias is the owner of said circle and Kuoh Town is her territory, she's immediately alerted to just who is visiting.

Stiffening, her eyes widen and she barely has time to open her mouth before the summoning goes through and Riser Phenex is standing there in the center of the clubroom with Yubelluna, his Queen, slightly behind and to the right of him.

Now it's Rias' turn to shoot to her feet, even as she surreptitiously pinches herself to check that she's not somehow still dreaming. It hurts so she's not… but seriously, what are the odds?!

"Riser! What are you doing here?!"

Smirking at her, Riser just shrugs.

"Do I need a reason to visit my darling fiancé? Besides, I heard you picked up some new peerage members."

At least he's acting more like she would expect compared to Dream Riser from last night. He's exactly the smarmy, arrogant asshole she's come to know and hate.

While Rias is trying to muster up a response, Riser sweeps his gaze across them all, his eyes lingering appreciatively on Asia for a moment as she squeaks at his attention. Then, he looks to Issei… and his eyes widen in shock. Issei is staring back just as shocked; Rias notes in confusion.

And then her new Pawn and the Red Dragon Emperor lifts a shaking finger to point as Riser.

"… Prince? Is that really you?"

What the hell is happening?

Riser swallows thickly.

"Peasant? Truly, this is a small world indeed…"

And then, much to Rias' complete befuddlement and absolute consternation, Issei and Riser move towards one another. But not to fight… and thankfully NOT to kiss. No, the hug they wind up engaging in is… brotherly almost. It's a manly hug with lots of back thumping and laughing.

When they finally pull apart, Issei looks to Rias with a wide, beaming smile.

"Rias! This is Prince, my childhood friend! We used to hang out and go on so many adventures together! All on his dime of course, because he was always rich as balls!"

"Heh. Maybe it's not that I was rich, Peasant, but that you were poor. Still, you were better company than anyone I was forced to interact with down in the Underworld. I even shed a single tear when I was no longer allowed to come up and find you anymore."

"That explains why you disappeared so suddenly one day! Jeez, I always wondered about that! Thought maybe I'd driven you away or something by just being me…"

"Bah! Of course not! You and I are kindred spirits Peasant! I'm just a little faster than you, that's all!"

"You mean…"

"Yes, that's right! I've already accomplished our shared goal and become a Harem King!"

As Issei gasps in delight and happiness for his… his childhood friend, Rias stares on in horror. The fact that everyone else in the room (including Riser's own Queen) look a little horrified as well is small comfort, truth be told. Especially because Rias keeps pinching herself… but she's not waking up. Which means this is all real. This is really happening.

"Buchou! Can you believe it? Your fiancé is my childhood best friend! This is the best!"

"Hmph… I suppose I should be thankful that my fiancé found you and reincarnated you as a Devil, Peasant. This way, you'll have a chance of one day rising through the ranks, gaining a set of Evil Pieces of your own, and forming your own harem of peerage members!"

"That's right!"

Issei, the current bearer of Boosted Gear and perhaps her last and only chance of maybe escaping her engagement with Riser… is Riser Phenex's childhood friend. In the face of this knowledge, along with being forced to witness the exuberance shared by the two men, Rias does the only thing she can do.

She whimpers and faints.

-x-X-x-

A/N: I was commissioned to write this piece for April Fool's. It is not in fact the start of a new series.