DXD: Biokinetic Devil

Julius couldn't have been more excited as he stepped through the doors to the Sitri General Hospital. It was the premier hospital in the underworld, and Lord Sitri had set him up to be an apprentice to one of, if not the best medical professional there was; Dr. Pycelle. The man had been reincarnated centuries ago by Lord Sitri and had since spent his nigh-endless lifespan as a devil pursuing medicine.

Making his way to the receptionist, she quickly directed him where he needed to go to meet with the man. Making his way through the hospital, he wasn't surprised to find that it wasn't all that busy for how big it was. Devils were mostly immune to regular illnesses and Rating Games were the primary means of combat, so there weren't all that many injuries.

Knocking lightly on the door to the man's office, he heard the call for him to enter and made his way inside. Dr. Pycelle was a man who looked to be in his 40s, with the hair on the sides of his head having turned grey while the rest was black. He'd been turned into a devil after being in his 50s, but devils did have a minor shapeshifting ability. They never aged past their prime, and those who were reincarnated looked younger than when they were first turned. Dr. Pycelle must have made the conscious decision to keep some of his original age.

"Ah, Julius I've been looking forward to meeting you. It's not often you find a young devil so interested in medicine," Dr. Pycelle said in a jovial tone. The man radiated positive energy, which seemed somewhat contradictory to a devil, but he gave off a warm, comforting vibe.

"Thank you for giving me this opportunity sir," Julius said, bowing lightly as he stood before the man.

Dr. Pycelle waved his hands as he replied. "No, no, it's you I should be thanking. I haven't gotten to teach someone properly in ages, this will be great for the both of us." He stood up from his desk and made his way around to stand in front of Julius.

"So, I was thinking we'd get a handle on what you've managed so far and work from there. I don't have any patients I need to check up on for the next few hours, so how about it?"

Julius was somewhat nervous, never having shown anyone his progress with his demonic power, but still was excited. "Sure, that sounds great sir."

"Great, follow me then, I've got just the thing."

A sigil lit up under their feet as Dr. Pycelle teleported the two of them to a new location. The room Julius found himself in was mostly barren, with what looked like a corpse lying on a table in the middle of the room.

"This here is something we've developed for teaching purposes. It uses magic to replicate different maladies. It's a sort of living doll with an adaptable physiology."

Julius followed the man as he led him towards the doll. From there, Dr. Pycelle would cycle the doll through different diseases and have Julius identify them using the detection spell all doctors made use of. Julius was able to identify most of them from books he'd read, but there were a few that were too esoteric for him to make heads or tails of them.

"Good, good. You're a very well-read boy. You've certainly passed my little test. Now, have you been developing your demonic power to be suited to medicine, or were you planning to learn more general-use spells?" Dr. Pycelle asked.

"I plan to specialize my magic around it. I've already gotten a handle on using it on plants and animals, but I haven't tried it on humanoid beings yet. Would you like me to demonstrate?"

Dr. Pycelle gestured for him to go ahead as he once again changed the doll to produce a new disease. Julius rested his hand on the doll, once again using the scan before he activated his demonic power. He could feel every inch of the doll's biology, allowing him to discern that this disease grew more and more within the body like cancer.

Activating his magic, he modified the disease. He changed it, shrinking it down until it was so small it was negligible, and then erased it.

"Fascinating, how draining was that?" Dr. Pycelle asked, a twinkle in his eye as he looked at Julius.

"It wasn't all that draining, but I had to work slowly and shrink it first before removing it. With more practice, I should be able to just remove it instantly with just a touch."

"Excellent, you've certainly developed your demonic power in an interesting direction. I think you'll do quite well here Julius."

Julius couldn't help the bright smile that appeared on his face. This was his first real step to curing his mother. He'd be reading the notes Lord Sitri had given him over and over, looking at all the different steps they'd taken. He needed practice, but eventually, he'd be able to remove the Sleep Disease just like he did the cancer in the doll.

----

The next two years were devoted to the hospital. Julius would spend almost all of his time there, only returning to his home to check in on his mother, while he would usually sleepover in an on-call room. He still played the occasional game with Sona, but they found less time to play as she had more and more duties as heiress. Her official announcement party as heir was coming up though, and he was set to attend. She'd gotten her evil pieces and already had her queen, who'd he met once or twice when they had their games, and the party was to officially allow her to take a public stage as heiress.

Standing in his house, Julius couldn't help but sigh as he looked at himself in the mirror. He was dressed in a black suit, with a black shirt and tie as well. His hair was well-groomed and he cut a good figure for a thirteen-year-old. The reason he sighed was that he'd have to be on his best behavior at this party. Most of the heirs of the different pillars would be attending, alongside their parents so he would be doing his best to disappear into the background and not have problems start.

Hearing a knock on the door, he was confused for a moment before assuming it was a maid coming to get him for the party. Making his way to the door, he opened it and was surprised to find Sona standing at the door. She was clad in a light blue, over-the-shoulder dress. Her hair was done, and he could smell a light perfume around her.

"Sona? I thought you'd be getting ready for the big day," Julius commented before noting the irritated look on her normally stoic face.

"Can we play a game? I just need, to not be around it all right now," Sona said, being more emotive than he usually saw her. Glancing behind her, he could see Tsubaki Shinra, Sona's queen, standing with a helpless look on her face. The girl was the same age as the two of them, with long black hair and heterochromatic eyes; one was violet while the other was light brown.

"Sure, come on in," Julius said, inviting the two young devils into his house and leading them to the sitting room. As they walked, they eventually came upon the door to his mother's room.

"How is she?" Sona asked, having calmed down a bit as she glanced into the room where his mother could be seen sleeping.

Julius clenched and unclenched his fist lightly at the question. "She's getting worse, I'm not sure how much time I have."

His mother had been losing more and more weight as time passed. Her cheeks were hollow and her hair was starting to grey as her life force ebbed away. He'd been getting antsy as her condition worsened. He'd gotten miles better at using his magic and medicine in general, but he hadn't managed to figure out how to cure the Sleep Disease. 

The hospital cared for patients suffering from the disease, so he had cases to study, but even then it seemed like the disease was completely uncooperative. He and Dr. Pyecelle had done a lot of research and isolated the disease to the patient's demonic power. The disease entwined with their power, making it so the lines between the two blurred. The most frustrating part for Julius was that he was pretty sure his magic would be able to remove it, but he needed such fine control that he could separate the two without killing the devil, and so far he wasn't there yet and it was getting to him.

Sona and Tsubaki wisely stayed silent, knowing that any platitudes they could say wouldn't help, although Sona did rest a comforting hand on his shoulder for a moment before he composed himself.

"This day is about you, so why don't you tell me what's got you so upset while we play," Julius said, leading the two into the sitting room and taking a seat as they summoned a board to play.

"My parents decided that since I was officially becoming heir, it was time to put me in an arranged marriage," Sona said as they began to play.

"Not all that shocking, most heirs end up wed to one pure-blood or another."

"Yes, well they'd found a devil a century older than me for me to marry, and he was as dumb as a brick," Sona commented dryly.

Tsubaki, who was standing behind Sona, coughed lightly in amusement. Julius glanced at her and said "Do you mind if Tsubaki takes a seat, Sona? I'd rather we were all comfortable for the moment."

"I'm comfortable standing behind my king," Tsubaki said, but Sona waved her off. 

"It's fine Tsuabki, take a seat." The girl complied, sitting on the couch next to her king.

"You've certainly found someone who suits your tastes, Sona," Julius said with some amusement. "So are you upset because you're gonna have to marry someone that old and stupid?"

Sona shook her head as she moved another piece. "No, I'm not going to marry him. My parents and I have reached an agreement, I will not marry someone who isn't smarter than me."

"Well, good luck with that. Even after all this time, I still haven't managed to beat you at chess."

Sona was clearly amused by the bitter tone of my comment. "Then you'll simply have to try harder, now won't you."

The game they were playing was quite a bit longer than the ones they had played when they were younger. Julius was much better at the game than he had been back then, but he still eventually lost. 

"You've gotten much better. I have to work much harder for it than I do against Rias."

Julius had never met the girl beyond their brief passing when he'd had his meeting with Lord Sitri, but he figured she wouldn't be happy to hear that little comment.

"Sona," Tsubaki said, gesturing at the clock on the wall that showed the time.

The two stood, as did Julius. "Well Julius, I hope you enjoy the party tonight. I'll look forward to seeing you there," Sona said.

"I'm going to quietly get through the night and enjoy the food, and then I'm disappearing into the hospital for the next week. I am not built for schmoozing with pure-bloods."

"You certainly seem to have done a good job of far today," Sona commented, her tone still amused. "I appreciate the game, it helped take my mind off things."

Julius nodded in response, leading the two to the door and watching as they made their way into the main estate.

'I don't know why, but I get the feeling tonight is going to be a headache.'

----

Julius was in a corner as he watched Sona be officially announced as the Sitri heir. Tsubaki stood right behind her, doing a good job of remaining calm as all eyes were on them. Sona ended up having to make her way through almost the entire party as she began talking to the various devils that came up to her.

"Doesn't look very fun, does it?" A voice commented from behind Julius. Turning around, he found a pair of girls in front of him. They both were his age, and he recognized one of them as Rias Gremory. Her long red hair was a pretty good giveaway, which complemented the red dress she was wearing well. The girl next to her had long black hair and violet eyes and wore a dark, purple dress as she stood at her side.

"Rias Gremory and I'm assuming this is your queen. It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Julius Mercer," Julius replied.

"Yes, this is Akeno, my queen. We've met before, or do you not remember running by me as you sprinted through the Sitri estate when we were younger," Rias commented teasingly.

Julius had the decency to look somewhat abashed. "Yes, well I had just gotten approval for an apprenticeship at the hospital so I had a hard time containing my excitement. Forgive me for my lack of decorum Miss Gremory."

Rias began to pout at his formal tone. "Call me Rias, you call Sona by her name. I had enough of that at my heiress party."

"I'm surprised you remember that. It was just a slip of the tongue at the moment," Julius replied.

"No, Sona has talked about you before and I know for a fact you always call her by her name. So call me by mine," Rias denied instantly.

'What is with these heiresses? I can get away with calling Sona by her name since I grew up with her, but calling Rias by her name could eventually be a problem for lack of decorum.'

"I'd just give in Julius, she can be very stubborn," Akeno commented in a laughing tone.

Julius eventually just sighed. "Very well, Rias then. What brought the two of you my way?"

"Rias saw you skulking in the corner and wanted to talk to Sona's friend," Akeno quickly said before Rias could get a word in.

"Akeno! You didn't have to tell him that," she protested.

Julius snorted in amusement. "Well, nice to know someone was interested in talking to me, but you tend to draw attention Rias." He gestured around the room lightly. Most people were talking or looking at Sona, but there were still a few who were noting their interaction. Mixed-heritage devils didn't tend to get invited to parties like this, and reincarnated devils were much the same way. Queens were typically the exception, as was the case with Akeno, but any of Rias' other peerage members hadn't been allowed to attend.

One such individual was now making his way over to the corner the two of them were in. He looked to be a few years older than them, with blond hair and dark blue eyes. He was wearing a burgundy suit and had a tall woman walking next to him. She had long, wavy purple hair and a voluptuous figure in a light purple dress.

"Hello Rias, lovely to see my dear fiancee," the man said. 

Rias turned towards him, her face quickly shifting to irritation as she looked at the duo.

"Riser, what do you want?"

"I just wanted to meet the young man my fiancee went out of her way to speak to," Riser commented, looking me up and down.

'Yes, I knew tonight was going to be a headache.'