CHAPTER FOUR
Grigori Headquarters, Underworld
A glamorous woman garbed in a black and sexy secretary outfit walked in the hallway in a fast-paced manner while holding a pile of papers in her hands, her long purple hair tied in a ponytail fashion swung left and right in each step her high-heels made as her green eyes radiated a hardened yet somewhat bewildered gaze, especially when her rondures saw a very familiar door in front of her.
Arriving at the doorway, she stood in front of the entrance for a moment before knocking softly on it.
"Who is it?" came a voice on the other side of the door.
"Azazel, it's me."
"Oh, Penemue? Come in."
Hearing the invitation from the owner of the chamber, the woman now named Penemue slowly opened the door and entered the said room. The room, or should we say office, was quite elegant and high-class judging from the pieces of furniture and utensils displayed within. At the center of the room where a beautifully carved office desk was situated, a tall man appearing to be in his twenties with an average build, black hair, golden bangs and black goatee sitting on his chair while doing some paperwork.
"I hope I'm not troubling you." The purple haired woman said as she approached the man who was flipping some papers before stamping them here and there.
"Nah, I'm just doing my job as the Governor-General of the Fallen Angels though I hate paperwork." The man replied, still impressing the papers before him with a hint of disgust before glancing towards the female. "So how's your search for that man going, Chief Secretary? Any development yet?"
Penemue discerned the underlying tone from that inquiry coming from her fellow researcher and portrayed a frown when she saw the grin on Azazel's face.
"It's not like what you think Azazel," Penemue replied with emphasis. "I'm just curious about his sickness as a researcher."
The woman refers to a certain brown man that was diagnosed with an incurable brain disease called Amnesia Syndrome - a disease that eats away the victim's memories eventually leading to his death - which got her intrigue. It was her first time hearing such illness and yet, what surprised her the most was that the patient who was guaranteed to die did recover miraculously.
In this regard, Penemue outlined this turn of events to Azazel who was also intrigued by this development. However, there were some facts that she kept only to herself.
First of this was the information that she had met the said man in one of her nightly escapades in the human world ten years ago. Penemue was genuinely surprised when she learned that the man who was suffering a deadly mental disease was no other than the man she met in a bar.
Another fact that she kept under her lip was the odd and unfamiliar presence that the patient was exuding the moment he woke up from his 10-year coma. If there was one word she could describe that feeling, it was like the brunette male had undergone some form of transcendence. It was as if the man himself had reached some kind of enlightenment that his energy was too pure to be labeled as a human.
Then the last thing that she had kept from her comrades was the fact that Hakuno Kishinami was someone she had connections with. It might be aptly to say that both Hakuno and her had some close connection with a certain individual.
"Hoh?" The man with golden bangs retorted, his brow raised in mischief. "Is that all there is to it?"
In his query, the purple-haired woman just nods her head in response while trying to keep a stoic expression on her face.
"I see," Azazel said with understanding, his attention now back at the pile of papers in front of his desk before continuing his work. "I'm pretty sure that Gaius would be delighted that you finally found what he was looking for all of this years."
As soon as he said those words, the purple haired Fallen Angel could only blink her eyes at the abruptness of Azazel's spoken words that instantly captured her ears.
"How did you..."
"How did I know?" The Governor-General retorted with a knowing smile, his hands still busy on work at hand. "I've known you for a long time, sis. When someone or something caught your interest you get so fixated. When you get so fixated, you make this subtle facial expression on your face that is so hard to discern for others, as if your mind is always pre-occupied with something."
There was a soft thud on the desk, the stamp resting on the paper's surface as Azazel's violet-colored eyes look straight at Penemue who was now a mild frown on her visage.
"You only get in such state when one: you are focusing on your research that you would almost skip meals, or two: when it concerns Gaius. All I did was to trust my hunch and placed a bet that it was the latter. Seeing your annoyed face right now pretty much confirms that I was right."
Azazel ended his statement with a teasing sneer on his face.
As much as Penemue wanted to deny it, she did not voiced out any objections but rather let out a defeated sigh. Her soft yet delicate fingertips flicked the oval-shaped glasses that adorned her green eyes. The elegant office was then surrounded by silence, only the tickling of the clock could be heard inside the room.
"You know me too well, Governor-General." The woman stated with a soft smile yet her eyes were contrary of that. "Then there's no need for me to tell you what I want with this information."
A chilling sensation slowly rose within the room the moment those words left from Penemue's mouth. It was very clear that she intentionally created such tension in the air for the purpose of making her intentions crisp and clear to her leader. There was a reason for this.
As the most beautiful woman in Grigori, Penemue has been sought out by many of her male Fallen brethren to capture her heart. But she rejected them knowing that most of them only wanted her to be their partner in bed. They would spout the words of love and affection to her but having many experiences with men in her liftime as a Fallen Angel, Penemue learned to discern the truth from lies, distinguished honest words from sugar-coated ones.
When the entire organization found out about her "accidental" pregnancy, it somehow made most of her suitors to be dissuade on their pursue of her. For a year, her pregnancy was the talk of the entire Grigori with most of topics centered around the "lucky guy" who managed to knock her up. Around that time, no one attempted to make a move on her which something Penemue enjoyed, focusing more of her attention on making sure that the bundle of joy in her womb was healthy and the hows of proper and good parenting.
Though the respite she had enjoyed did not last long.
When Penemue gave birth to her child Gaius, the entire Fallen Angel population who were anticipating of her child's birth were having mixed reactions, mostly when they found out that child of the most beautiful woman in Grigori was a halfling; a Human-Fallen Angel hybrid. Most of the Fallen Angels who were still firm believers of the old traditions of the importance of pure blood within the hierarchy and the society as a whole did not welcome this news very well. There have been a few attempts on her child from the radicals and fanatic members of their organization and if these people got a hold of the information she had, then that man's life will also be in danger.
"Chill, sis. I'll never disclose this information to anyone." The Governor-General said in a carefree manner. "We are talking about my protege's biological dad here. You have my word, this piece of information won't leave the four corners of this room. Though I'm cur-"
Whatever words that the man with golden bangs had in his throat stayed in his vocal chords when a very familiar presence touched his soul. His entire body froze instantly, his eyes widened in stupefaction, and his visage was marred with an expression as if a ghost from a distant past had haunt him. He was not alone in this plight however, because like him, the female Cadre Penemue had the same expression.
"A-Azazel this is...!"
Hearing Penemue's words, the Governor-General of Grigori immediately rose up from his chair without uttering a single word and immediately headed towards the office's exit.
"Where are you going?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Azazel retorted, facing towards Penemue with a clear distress emanating from his physiognomy. "I'm trying to locate the source of this feeling... which should be gone in this current era."
With that being said, Azazel hurriedly left his office. The female Cadre followed suit despite her very existence shook not out of fear but out recognition and obedience brought by the presence that assaulted not just her but the entire Grigori itself.
"This can't be real..." The purple-haired woman muttered to herself as she walked out from the Governor's office, a magic communication circle manifested right next to her ear as she tried to call her son. "She's supposed to be dead..."
Kyoto, Japan
When Penemue and her two other Cadre Fallen Angel comrades arrived at the location where the presence was emitted through a teleportation spell, she could not help herself but be surprised to see herself standing on the rooftop of a hospital. The hospital were Hakuno Kishinami was confined in. A playful snort resounded, and the Chief Secretary of the Grigori shot a glare at the perpetrator who only playfully whistled in response.
Of course, their actions were left unnoticed by their comrade.
"What was that all about?" The man with a bulky frame and black-colored hair asked, somewhat confused about Penemue and Azazel's interaction.
"Don't mind it Baraquiel. Azazel is just doing his own antics as usual."
The male Fallen now introduced as Baraquiel stared at Azazel.
"Penemue's right my old friend. I'm just doing my own thing." The man with golden bangs assured to his long-time friend, before his violet eyes glanced towards a certain spot. "And it seems to be that our brothers and sister from Heaven are also here."
Penemue and Baraquiel's eyes followed to where their esteemed leader was gazing, and true to Azazel's words, three figures with white feathered wings and garbed in Heaven's attire appeared out from a golden magic circle. They were Michael, Gabriel, and Metatron, the Seraphs of Heaven Faction.
"Brothers and sister." Michael greeted to the Grigori's Cadres with his usual smile.
"Yo, brother." Azazel greeted back with a grin, his right hand raised in a casual wave. "It seems that you still have that perfect teeth of yours."
"I take it that you also felt her presence, brother?" Metatron asked as he approached Baraquiel.
"No kidding brother." Baraquiel replied to the white feathered bulky version of himself as he crossed his arms. "It literally grabbed our souls and demanded our obedience."
Metatron only nodded his head in confirmation. After all, all of the Angels back in Heaven did experience what Baraquiel had described which still lingered inside his conscious.
"Sister!" Gabriel's cheery voice echoed as she hugged Penemue. "You feel it too, right?"
"Yes, sister. I felt it too." Penemue gently replied as she brushed Gabriel's golden locks. "There was no mistaking that it was hers."
Seeing the blonde almost to tear up, the purple haired woman truly understood why Gabriel was affected. To the best of her knowledge, Gabriel and the Messiah's mother were the best of friends and knowing that she was alive through the manifestation of her presence both in Heaven and Grigori through unknown means pretty much meant something important to her sister Gabriel.
Both angelic beings from two different factions were expecting to see a very familiar face. Someone who they knew was the owner of the presence that assaulted them at their time of work back at the Grigori Headquarters.
The woman that their Father favored the most, the female human who was given the task to conceive His son. The woman that the Church referred to as the most meritorious Saint among many Saints.
Mary of Nazareth.
But it seems to be that the source of the presence was already gone the moment they arrived.
"It's strange..." Metatron began as he studied the lingering aura in the air by just feeling it. "There is so much divinity in it."
Penemue silently agreed with Metatron's observation and she wasn't the only one who had the same realization. The Mary they knew of did not emit such highly condensed divine aura so it was quite a puzzle how the Messiah's mother could exude such extreme levels of divinity.
"Not only that, there is also another divine aura in the air." Baraquiel added as he put his right hand forward as if he was cupping something invisible in the air. "Which is something I'm not very familiar with."
True to the black-haired man, there was another divine presence lingering in the air and it was different. To Penemue's assessment, the divinity did not originate from other deities of another pantheon. If anything, it felt like it came from an unknown pantheon which they haven't met yet in their lifetime.
"Do you think that something did happen in this place before we arrived?"
"Possibly." Azazel responded while cupping his chin. "Though what intrigues me are the two divine presences that still lingers in the surroundings..."
"Mary..." Gabriel muttered sadly, perturbed on how her friend, if she was indeed alive, attained such high-leveled Divinity when to the best of Gabriel's memory was something that her friend didn't have in the first place.
While everyone was pondering on the unexplained dilemma of two kinds of divine aura floating in the atmosphere around the entire hospital area, Penemue on the other hand was thinking another crucial thing.
"Why in this place?" The bespectacled Fallen mused as she paced towards the rooftop's ledge. "Certainly, two different divine auras on a single location should obviously points out towards confrontation. But from the look of things, it seems that something like that did not...occur..."
Then her body immediately went stiff as her eyes caught the view of the hospital's open parking area from where she currently stood.
"No..."
On a certain spot of the parking space were burnt marks on the pavement, with a kneeling black charcoal corpse.
"No..."
Several meters away from the burnt corpse, was a brown-haired man lying on the cold pavement unconscious. His hospital gown were in tatters and Penemue's heart was immediately filled with fear.
"No...!"
With an anguished shout, the bespectacled woman leaped from the building.
Earlier...
The Fallen Angel Eeno could only gaped as he witness how his light spears were being swallowed by the big dome made of golden light that encapsulated not just the hospital but also the entire area around it.
He watched as his attack were vacuumed by the golden light dome before said dome of light vanished out of existence in a blink of an eye.
"Haha... This is not real..." The Fallen said in disbelief, his left hand grasping the side of his head in clear frustration.
"RAAGGHHH! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!"
"He had already fallen to insanity..."
A voice resounded in the air and the Blessed Virgin frowned as he saw the black-winged man already losing a grip of his mind.
"I already have Penemue-sama's in my fingertips and yet..." The Fallen' eyes darted towards the holy woman filled with nothing but pure desperation. "It's that man's fault! It certainly is!"
With an insane cry, the man conjured another batch of light spears around him.
"His mind is already been clouded by his intense jealousy."
"Get out of my way, you Faker!"
Mary did not react, she did not even try to defend herself from another volley of light spears aiming at her for the assault was thwarted by another presence that held a high amount of Divinity like hers.
The Fallen's bloodshot eyes widened when his light spears remained in the air as if they have a will of their own.
"If you allow me."
As the owner of the presence, another female Heroic Spirit with ties to Divinity manifest herself in reality, Mary retreated back inside the Regalia ring in a stream of Spiritron Particles. The newcomer who had red burning hair, glowing eyes, and whose womanly figure was covered in a flaming aura in a shape of a legendary bird hovered in midair as she watched the man who tried to attack her Master and disrespect his own Queen struggled to take control over the spears of light that she hijacked.
"Oh Cheyarafim who fell from grace..." The woman in fire spoke, gaining the attention ofEeno who was surprised to see another entity with Divinity appear in place of Mary. "You mistook obsession with love."
The volley of light spears faded out of existence.
"You allow yourself to be consumed by your jealousy and desire that you disrespected your own Queen."
The male Fallen grunted in bewilderment as he was forced to kneel. He tried to move his body with all hs might but it refused to obey his mind.
"Your mind has been clouded." The divine figure said as she stretched her hand forward. "Allow me to cleanse it for you."
And when those words brushed Eeno's ears, he could only shout in pain as his mind was roasted with intense heat from within.
Author's Note:
I apologized if I posted this chapter a day behind its intended schedule. In this chapter another Heroic Spirit had made herself known. And to those asking if Mary is gonna be a potential romance candidate, I will say it clearly that she won't.
Please read and review! Until the next update!