Chapter 10

Rin

Rin, what's wrong? The voice of the black cat familiar he just taken in, Kuro, who also once belonged to his father, spoke.

Rin sighed. "Nothing. Just missing… Kureha Kagura…"

Is she your girlfriend?

He blushed and quickly denied. "N-no! She's just my best friend. Sort of." It was already days since Kagura's disappearance, along with the cats' abnormal behaviour. During these days, Rin grew worried and anxious. He wondered what could have happened to the girl he called best friend. Where was she now? Was she doing well? Nonetheless, at least he got someone to accompany him, to fill the empty space in his heart temporary. He met Ukobach, a demon in Mephisto's service specialized to cook for him, Yukio and Kagura ever since they lived in the dorm. It was not until recently he and Yukio realized the little demon cook's presence. They soon become friends since they both had the same passion for cooking. Later, he met the cat sith, Kuro, whom became his familiar after Rin's display of 'defeating' the cat.

Kuro leaned against Rin and purred. I think your so-called best friend will be fine.

Rin glared at the cat. "What do you mean by 'so-called'?"

Nothing… you know your own feelings better than I do.

"Goddamn it. Now a cat knows how I feel than I really do." Kuro purred in agreement.

He sighed. What were his feelings towards Kagura anyway? Just friends? Or… something more than that? He wasn't sure. Always he thought the girl was his best friend but now he doubted himself. Was she more than that? He didn't know. But he hoped he could be certain of the answer when she is back. Which he didn't know when.

After that, he was assigned to a mission with his fellow classmates to a place called Mephy Land, owned by none other than Mephisto. They were to investigate strange happenings in the park that was believed to be caused by a ghost. Yukio had arranged them into teams consisting two. And he was assigned with Shiemi. Both of them remained silent throughout the search.

Shiemi stared at Rin. "Hey, Rin. Do you think Kagura-chan will be fine?"

Rin stared back at her. "Of course she will. She's… tough."

Shiemi played with the end of her hair. "I hope so too. Where do you think she would be? Rin?"

"I don't know!" Rin suddenly yelled, unleashing his anger at her. "I don't care of what that woman is thinking! Can't she see we're all worried of her? She couldn't even bother to give a call! And I am her best friend! What does she think I am? Someone unimportant?!"

Shiemi was taken by surprise by his surge of anger. After realizing what he did, Rin looked down at the ground and tried to calm himself down. "I-I'm sorry, Shiemi. I didn't mean to—"

Shiemi smiled. "It's okay. I know how you feel. She's my friend too. She worries all of us." After the conversation which made Rin sadder than ever, they continued the search, where neither mentioned of Kagura. After a few failed attempts to find the ghost, they decided to take a rest near a roller coaster.

"Rin!"

Rin perked up. Did someone call him? He turned to Shiemi, who was scanning the area. Thinking it was an illusion, he ignored the voice.

"RIN!" the voice was louder now, and much clearer and nearer. It sounded so familiar…

Shiemi gasped and pointed in the air at a blue object that was closing in on them. "Happy!"

"Happy?" Rin didn't get it at first. Then the blue cat appeared before them, covered with sweat and panting. "Happy!"

Happy panted and took in deep breathes of air. He wiped the beads of perspiration from his face. "Thank god I found you…" His voice was feeble with exhaustion.

"What happened? Where's Asteri?" Both Rin and Shiemi were anxious and full of anticipation. They hoped the cat brought good news instead of bad. But they were greatly mistaken.

Happy said the words in a weakened tone but they were clear enough to register in Rin's mind. "Kagura's… in trouble."


Kagura

"You're still here, Kagura-chan?"

The voice made Kagura lift her head from the book. She stared at the old man who was the librarian of the library. Time had made its mark on his body in the form of visible wrinkles. His graying hair was little and he wore a pair of spectacles. They had known each other ever since Kagura visited the library. The old man was very fond of her and treated her like his granddaughter.

The two were now in a disclosed section of the library, where thousands of ancient and priceless books lie in slumber. Some of them dated from the 17th century. Kagura was the first to be here except the librarian since she begged. Of course the man agreed.

The light near her let out shades of orange. "Well, Taroko-san. I am still not satisfied with my findings." Near her were piles of books she read for the past few days and none of them showed promising results. "I hope this book will not be the same." Most of the books were titled Demons, Exorcism, Witchcraft of the 17th Century. But they were not what she expected.

"Maybe I can be of some assistance," Taroko suggested. He took a seat beside her and adjusted his glasses. "So, dear, what are you looking for?"

Kagura hesitated of telling the man everything. But Taroko knew her fears. "It's okay. This old man needs more excitement before he steps into the coffin."

She smiled at the joke he made. Taroko-san was right. She needed help badly and she was desperate, probably. Questions waited for answers rebounded in her skull for countless times, so troubling it was hard for her to sleep at night. Sometimes she would jolt awake too, and the dark circles around her eyes darkened. "Okay Taroko-san." She contemplated on how she will direct her questions at the old man so that he won't be too startled. "What kind of person has the ability of thwarting demons by summoning weapons or power of Light and obtains a white glow over them when they use their powers?" Obviously she was asking about herself.

Taroko had a wide grin spread over his face. The creases on his face deepened. "Angels of course."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Angels? They exist?" And she regretted asking that. Demons, Exorcists, and even talking and flying cats existed. What are the odds of angels not existing?

"In every religions and beliefs, angels exist in all sorts of forms. People believed angels are the messengers, helpers of Gods. And they still do. Angels are the symbol of Light and hope. No one can deny their existence. Some loathed them, like demons."

She remembered when the winged demon tried to kill her when she was little. "So… do you believe in them?"

Taroko smiled. "Well, kind of. I believe in good ones, though." Kagura seemed more perplexed than ever, so he continued. "There are angels that have fallen because they strayed from the path of Light. They are called Fallen Angels, or simply 'Fallens'.

Kagura nodded while her mind tried hard to digest the information. A lot of questions that had not been answered were just answered in simply short sentences. She slowly put the picture in piece by piece like a puzzle and the truth dawned on her. She wasn't normal alright.

She was an angel. And she was positively 100% sure about it. Things just gotten more and more complicated.

Taroko rose from his seat. "I need to go back now to continue my duties. I hope I can help." Kagura thanked him and he retreated out of the room.

Loneliness loomed over the girl. Now she must decide what to do next. Should she tell anyone about her findings? Or keep it to herself? No. She must tell someone about this. Yukio, perhaps. And Rin too, or else the boy will murder her. Happy and Asteri… she don't know what to tell them since she suspected that they knew something before. Mephisto? No way because she disliked him and she had second thoughts about the weird man. Then there's the woman father mentioned: Aoife Barachiel. Whoever she was. Father once said if Mephisto doesn't work, she can find her. But she ddidn't know her. Her name was briefly mentioned when the cats appeared.

As she was still in her world, she heard a scream of agony and pain. She was startled and jumped. Who screamed? Her mind ran through all sorts of possibilities. It was late night and she was alone in the library with no other visitors. Except…

"Taroko-san!" Kagura screamed while her legs started a run. As she burst through the doors to the lobby, blood drained from her face. Taroko-san was there, his neck was held by a hand and his body dangled in mid-air. The alien hand belonged to a woman with golden hair and had a wing ornament over her head. She recognized the woman as the one from her nightmare, but she couldn't care much. Taroko-san was at the edge of dying.

"Leave him alone!" Kagura yelled as she braved herself. The familiar white glow immediately enveloped her and multiple swords materialized in the air, their lethal tips pointing at the woman.

The woman barely raised her eyebrow. The muscles of her arm rippled as she twisted the old man's neck with a hand. The old man stopped struggling and breathing. She let the body drop to the ground, a wide cruel and maleficent grin spread across her face. "Oops."

Shocked. Scared. Sad. Angry. Those were the emotions that mingled into a distasteful concoction in her. She grabbed a sword beside her and lunged forward, couldn't care much of how dangerous and lethal the enemy was. Before she could pierce the woman, sounds of metals clashing ringed in her ears, hinting the woman had a sword to defend herself. Pale light in the lobby glared off both the swords, and coloured an orange shade over the women's faces. Kagura gritted her teeth as the enemy only grinned like the attack was nothing. She decided to launch all her swords at the woman but with a kick in her gut, Kagura recoiled inward and lost her grip on her sword. The enemy then launched another attack directly at her head, causing Kagura's face stuck to the ground.

The woman smiled. "Really? Is that the best you can do, Holy Exorcist?"

Holy Exorcist? What does she mean? Kagura struggled to stand up, but the woman's foot was planted on her back. She ordered her swords to inch closer at the blonde, attempting to scare her off. But the efforts seemed useless as the woman's sword morphed into a huge silvery boomerang-like weapon that also somehow shaped like a crescent. She let it go and the crescent went flying towards all of Kagura's swords, slicing the swords into halves. The swords, now nothing but useless pieces of metals, dropped to the ground and shattered like fragile glass. The woman took back her crescent and it morphed back into a sword.

More shock flooded the girl. Her swords were useless. Her efforts were futile. She couldn't do anything to defend herself or protect Taroko-san. Imminent death approached her. She closed her eyes and waited for the moment. It was a long and torturing wait for death. She hated it. Still, she wondered why she hasn't felt the searing pain that will soon burn throughout her body. Suddenly, the weight on the back of her body was lifted. Curiously, she reopened her eyes. The woman was now away from her, glaring and hissing angrily. What really surprised her was a huge white feline in armor loomed over her protectively, her mocha brown eyes fixated on the hostility. The ribbon on her tail confirmed her as none other than Asteri, Kagura's familiar.

"Asteri, what are you doing—" Kagura was cut off abruptly by the cat.

"Silence, fool," Asteri reproached, though her eyes never left the woman. The anger in her tone was obvious and heavy. Kagura knew if she survived this one, she wouldn't survive Asteri's wrath.

The blonde raised her eyebrow. "A Warrior Guardian… how interesting." She snapped her fingers and a dangerous hissing filled the air. Kagura watched as a greenish brown python slithered from the shadows and coiled itself around the woman's feet. She caressed the snake's head and it hissed back. Kagura felt ill.

Asteri growled at the snake. The snake hissed back and immediately launched itself at her. Its thick and long body coiled the feline, tightening her like how a python would do to suffocate its prey. Although Asteri was large, it seemed like the snake was able to coil itself throughout her body. The cat growled, her talons raking at the snake's scales but it was useless as the snake's scales were as hard as steel. Luckily Asteri had her armor on and the snake was taking a hard time to strangle her.

Kagura had to do something quick. She summoned swords once more and aimed them at the snake, completely forgetting of another enemy lurking nearby. She only realized that when the blonde's sword nearly beheaded her. Immediately Kagura took two swords in her hands and clashed with the blonde. The blonde's strength was overwhelming since Kagura was weakened before. She tried to summon her strength.

"Kagura!" Asteri yelled. Her sharp teeth caught hold of the snake and bite it as hard as she could. The snake hissed and uncoiled itself from the cat. Taking advantage of that, Asteri's wings appeared and they flapped, sending a strong gale that whipped the snake to wall.

The woman was appalled as her snake hit the wall. She glared at the young girl before her. More strength was exerted on the sword, causing the girl to take a few steps back. Asteri lunged at the woman and at the same time, she grabbed Kagura's arm with her remaining hand and blocked Asteri's attack with her. The two rolled across the ground. As they struggled to stand their ground, the blonde's sword which yet again transformed into the boomerang-like weapon. And it headed towards them, eager to mutilate them.

Only inches away from the two, the weapon stopped. Before the two was a golden shield in the shape of a sun with wings spread out on its side. They were not the only ones who were surprised. The blonde was too.

"You should never do that, Iaoth," said a voice. A man stepped out of the shadows. Under the weak light, his long golden hair glinted and shone like the sun, tied into a low ponytail. Azure blue orbs hinted friendliness and kindness. Clad in white the man smiled at Asteri and Kagura, a smile in which warmth radiated like the sun.

"You…" Asteri muttered. However, Kagura felt as if she knew the man for a very long time.

The man turned back to the blonde, this time glaring at her. "Leave, Iaoth, if you know what's good for you. Your sword against my power, well be evenly matched. But if Aoife arrives…" he laughed. "She will obliterate you."

The woman barely looked afraid. "Like I'm afraid of the likes of her. Let her come. I've grown stronger than you can ever think of."

The man smiled. "Knew you would say that." He didn't turn away from her, yet his voice spoke in within Kagura's and Asteri's minds. Grab my hand. We're leaving.

Kagura and Asteri exchanged glances. The cat nodded and reverted to her normal, tinier form. She grabbed Kagura's hand while Kagura hesitated whether if she should grab the man's. Who is he? Kagura couldn't contemplate further when the man's voice rang again in her skull. Quick, before she decides to kill us all.

This time Kagura was puzzled. And she thought the man's power was equal to the enemy. She bet he lied to protect all of them. Without any more delay, the girl grabbed his hand, which was warm. The man glowed in gold and that was when the enemy realized they were escaping. But it was already too late. In a second, the place that used to be the library's lobby transformed. The woman disappeared from their sight in exchange of a new scene. After a blink, Kagura found herself in a dark alley, closed in by two dark and tall buildings. A full moon hung in the air, shedding soothing white light across the place.

We teleported. Kagura realized. She let go of the man's hand but held tightly to Asteri's. This man… he's like me?

Asteri seemed to have read her thoughts and spoke. "Yes. He is like you. But slightly different. Why don't you introduce yourself?"

The man nodded. He stared at Kagura for quite some time, giving her the goosebumps. She resisted the urge to yell at him as she remembered the man saved her life. He wasn't really much older than me, though. He looked like he's 20 or something.

"I know you don't remember me," he spoke. "But we've known each other for a very long time. My name is Grisia Sun, the son of the Holy Exorcist of the archangel, Gabriel. Long time no see, Kagura."

He knew me? And I knew him? But I couldn't remember him at all. Is this a trick? Her thoughts were interrupted when the man suddenly hugged her so tightshe could suffocate. But she let him continue because somehow, she loved the warmth he radiated. It felt so familiar, so nice. Like an old friend's hug.

He whispered, "I have found you, Kagura. Finally." For once, Kagura swore she heard him crying.


This is a long chapter, but I've finish it just for you guys anyway. I'll be leaving from Jan 3 till March 16, and come home for CNY holidays during Feb. I apologize for unable to continue my stories until then. (Sobs… I miss writing stories too…)

Thanks for reading guys! Love ya'! And please review!