File 14: The Morning After

-Vatican-

It was early in the morning and it is already quite busy in the AX main HQ with the recent addition of two new members and they have to be brought up to speed before they are ready to be sent out. Though Haruka had the work cut out for him when it comes to Esther Blanchett.

She is a perfect fit for their group. Her mind and body is flexible and her dedication is admirable. Her intelligence helped her absorbs knowledge more easily and she already has the foundation for everything. The newbie agent is still a bit rough around the edges but she has the making of a powerful exorcist. She did survive on her own for years using her wits and whatever power she has at her disposal and their job is simply to refine her already formidable skill.

That is proven by her ability to keep up with Haruka. Granted he did not go all out or anywhere near the level of speed and power he displayed in his spar against Kaya but even when only armed with standard black keys instead of the customized ones used in his spar and not using touki, Haruka is a cut above the rest simply with his skill alone.

But Esther prove to be a high-class exorcist as she fend him off with everything in her disposal. Haruka dodged and bat away a small blast of holy energy from her sacred gear with his keys. Unlike his spar with Kaya where he uses six keys at once, he is currently wielding only a pair of keys like a normal sword.

While he does not move as fast as when he battled Kaya, Haruka's speed is already faster than an Olympic runner, and he moves as fast as humanly possible without any enhancement through ki or magic. He danced through the barrage of bullets Esther fired from her sacred gear and only get progressively closer.

Once he reached striking distance and dodged a bullet that narrowly missed his ear, Haruka lunged. With no time to switch from rifle to sword mode, Esther throw aside her sacred gear and pivoted to the side. Haruka missed and she tried to knee him with her left leg. The senior agent immediately let go the key in his left hand and block her attack but Esther is not done. She delivered another kick immediately but Haruka dodged, although barely since his position did not give him much room to maneuver.

Esther drew her gun and shot at Haruka. He blocked the bullets with his key and charged at her once again. Esther shot him some more but he dodged them this time and bat away the bullets that he has no time to dodge. It is surprising really. No normal human should be able to dodge or parry bullets so easily like he does. It proves that his strength and reflex had reached supernatural level.

It is Haruka's turn to go on the offensive, his hand moving at a blindingly fast speed, slashing at Esther with his key. Esther lean backward, the blade missing her by an inch. She then flipped backward, almost kicking Haruka on the chin if he had not reacted fast enough.

Her rifle once again appeared in her hand and she quickly charged it mid-flip. Her charge speed had improved by a good amount and in only a brief moment, she had charged enough power to unleash a strong shot, not as strong as the one she used back in Romania but strong enough to kill any stray devil under A-rank in a single shot. She pulled the trigger as soon as she landed and aimed her rifle at Haruka and a powerful blast was unleashed.

Haruka managed to block the blast in time with his key but some got through as his thin key did not manage to cover the attack's diameter though thankfully he managed to block most of the attack so that what hit him was not strong enough to really harm him as it only burn his clothes slightly. Thanks to the defense provided by the runes he etched on his clothing he is relatively unharmed but if he had not blocked most of the blast he wouldn't have gotten away with just a sore hand.

Haruka moved again, increasing the rate of his attack. He swung his single key even faster and Esther met him head on with her sacred gear in sword mode. Their blades clashed, sending sparks flying from the point of contact. Haruka kicked and she blocked. Esther followed up with an uppercut slash parried by Haruka's key. The female agent spun and kicked high. Haruka dodged backward and respond with a slash blocked by Esther's sacred gear. The two lock blades until Haruka pushed her away.

Esther leap back and draw three knives with her free hand from the knife holster strapped on her thigh. She threw the knives. Haruka dodged two and caught the third between his index and middle finger. He sent the knife back only to be caught by Esther. He smirked.

"Not bad. At this level, you should be able to fight a high-class opponent alone. I'd say soloing an A-class stray or the lower end S-class should be possible though it will be dangerous but you still have more untapped potential. You've improved quite a lot in the short time you've been here and will only continue to grow stronger."

Haruka compliment her. Esther felt glad that her improvement is recognized. While she still cannot force Haruka to go all out, she believed she had done well enough. Haruka, while holding back, is still a force to be reckoned with. He is already stronger by far compared to her original trainer when holding back and he had not shown his full capability yet.

Esther get ready for another attack from Haruka. While she is feeling winded after nearly three hours of sparring with him she can still go for at least another hour or two if she needed to. But Haruka did not continue his offensive. Instead, he deactivated his black key, pick up the one he dropped and put them away. This signified that their spar is done, to Esther's slight disappointment. Though she felt more tired than usual since Haruka gradually increase the difficulty level of their spar.

"You're done?"

Valerie questioned from the sideline, looking up from the book she was reading. She closed the book and got up from her sitting position, giving both Esther and Haruka a bottle of water each along with towel to wipe their sweat.

Valerie for the time being was exempt from their physical training session. Because she lost one of her Sephiroth Graal her physical condition is not exactly great. Originally, she shouldn't even be able to move around like she does now but thanks to Haruka, Woodsworth and Asia's effort she could do daily activity without much problem but doing overly taxing physical activity is still beyond her.

Because of that, she doesn't have much to do and she can't be trained or deployed until her missing grail is found. But that doesn't mean she can just laze around and do nothing, not that Valerie would want to do that anyway. She doesn't want to be some kind of freeloader so she took the time to learn about the healing art and magical knowledge.

That means she would train under both Asia and Haruka. Asia is the one with the best medical knowledge among them and is a certified doctor –Haruka was surprised when he found out- while Haruka is the only one among them who knew offensive magic as the rest relies on sacred gears for magical attacks.

Today she has no schedule with either Haruka or Asia so Valerie took the time to relax and read some books while watching Haruka and Esther spar. It ended earlier than usual, to her surprise. Training usually took more time than this. They would usually start at eight and end at twelve or one o'clock. Right now it's not even eleven but they have stopped.

"This is earlier than usual. Do you have a mission after this?"

Valerie inquired. Haruka shook his head.

"No, I have something to do after this."

He answered. He then left for the shower room, leaving the two girls wondering what he was talking about. As far as they know, Haruka has nothing else to do or else they would've been informed since everyone is expected to know what everyone else is doing so they can coordinate with each other on resources and schedule… unless of course if it is something personal.

"Something to do huh? Do you think he's going on a date?"

Valerie questioned Esther whose eyes widened and choked on the water she's drinking. She coughed a few times and then stared at Valerie in disbelief.

"W-w-what?!"

"It could be a date. Maybe his girlfriend just came back from a mission the day before, that's why he missed out on your training, and they planned to meet up today for a date. I think I saw him watching a girl leaving when we found him."

Esther was about to open her mouth to reply but stopped. She did recall Haruka watching a girl leave though she didn't get a good view of any of her features but she is sure that it's a girl. But is it really possible? Exorcists do take the vow of celibacy and despite their rather special situation Esther doesn't think that they are exempt from that. Well, she had not taken hers but she will take it when she reached twenty.

Now she is curious.

Though she decided she could always ask him some other time though and Haruka will probably tell her. It's not a terribly important thing and if it is a personal matter then she would respect his privacy.

Esther head back to her room to wash away her sweat followed by Valerie who shares the same room as her. The two entered their room. It is a moderately sized room that is actually more than twice as large as her old room when she was still a trainee exorcist. Two simple beds occupy each corner of the room with two desks lined up side by side between them and a wardrobe stood in front of each bed. Those are the basic furnish the room has and while Esther doesn't have much more things to add to her side other than important items like equipments, Valerie has a PC on her desk and some boxes.

To the right is another door that lead to their bathroom. Esther fetched a change of clothes and a towel from her wardrobe and head to the bathroom while Valerie leapt onto her bed, swinging her legs up and down thinking on what to do next. Suddenly she had a thought and a sly smile make its way to her lips. It should be interesting and she had always wanted to try something like this. She just need to ask Esther to accompany her.

Esther got out of the shower and put on her uniform. Valerie is already waiting for her outside the shower room with a mischievous grin. Esther looked at Valerie and suddenly got a bad vibe coming from her friend. The dhampir lean closer and with an innocent look, proposed an idea.

"Let's spy on Haruka."

"…what?"

Esther should've known that this is the kind of thing Valerie would be interested in. Even if she had only known the dhampir for a short time, Valerie could have a mischievous streak in her and could act much like the usual teenage schoolgirl when she's in the mood. It's a result of never being allowed outside the Tepes mansion. Being locked up and surrounded by people that dislike did that to her and now that she has a semblance of freedom she began trying out things.

Esther first experienced this when Valerie would dress her up for fun with her own uniform and her old dress. Thankfully right now they don't have other clothes other than their uniform or the clothes they came to Vatican in but that will probably change in the future when Valerie can get her hand on some new clothes.

And right now she is being dragged around to spy on Haruka to find out if he really is going on a date. They saw him leave wearing his usual uniform but without his red holy shroud. Valerie would drag her around while hiding behind the shadows of buildings and objects a distance away from Haruka. Esther had resigned herself to just be dragged around by Valerie who appears like she's having fun.

Haruka in his part know that he's being followed the moment he exited the HQ. He is not the espionage specialist for nothing. While Valerie appears to think that she hasn't been found yet, Esther knows perfectly well that he knew about them and discretely send him an apologizing look when she noticed him glancing at them. Haruka sighs and decided to humor Valerie since it is now clear to him that it was the dhampir's idea, though he can't guess why she's spying on him.

While he did wonder why Valerie is following him around while dragging Esther along, it doesn't bother him much since he's fine with them knowing what he's about to do. He then head towards the Exorcist HQ and entered the building like normal. With the number of exorcists from numerous backgrounds coming and going, nobody paid him much attention, especially since he is not wearing his holy shroud and he is good at sneaking around.

After searching for a while, Haruka finally found the person he's looking for dressed in her white robe with her hood on leaning on a wall near the indoor training ground he used when he sparred with Kaya. The female exorcist noticed him and walked up to him.

"Haruka."

"Xenovia."

They greeted each other curtly and Xenovia went to his side.

"Have you waited long?"

Haruka asked. The blue haired exorcist shook her head.

"I have just finished my training with sister Griselda."

"I see. I have also just finished with my morning training. Well then, shall we begin?"

Xenovia nodded and follow his lead as the two of them head towards the indoor training ground he used in his spar with Kaya.

Not far behind them, looking over from a corner while drawing the looks of other exorcists due to their strange behavior, Esther and Valerie saw Haruka walking together with Xenovia. While Esther recognized the girl as the one she met when she first became acquainted with Haruka's sister, Valerie who had not met Xenovia had another thought.

"I knew it, so he does have a date with someone!"

While Esther doesn't know what they are doing, she is quite sure that it is not a date and proceed to sigh while she's dragged by her friend to follow them… again.

-London-

Irina rubbed her swollen arm courtesy of blocking that assassin girl's strong attacks. In addition to her arm, Irina's back is sore too but it is nothing she cannot handle compared to her arm that had taken much more punishment from blocking the girl's attacks. While she's sure that her bones are not broken, it is still painful. Thankfully, impact absorption spells are a standard feature on every exorcist uniform as they are sure to be thrown around a lot. If not for that, Irina is sure that they would need a doctor to set her back straight.

Brandon and Octavia also nursed their own injuries. They have applied bandages over their own injuries, nothing serious, just some shallow cuts. They were quite lucky that the little girl had more raw power and speed but lacked the true skills of an assassin or they could've died. They only survived because they are more skilled individually even if they were outmatched, though much of their troubles could be attributed to the fact that none of their weapons worked on their enemy, none other than one.

Irina held up the weapon that had saved them last night. The black key she picked up during her brother's match against the head inquisitor. Haruka allowed her to keep it as a souvenir but who would've expected for it to work against an enemy that not even Excalibur Mimic cannot harm.

Right now the team is outside the chief's office. They need to report about the mission's failure. None of them are quite happy with their failure but it should be understandable when their opponent cannot be harmed by their standard weapons. When they heard Carlson's voice telling them to come in, the trio entered his office one by one.

Richard Carlson sat behind his desk with hands folded staring at the three exorcists. Since this is not the first time he is in a debriefing with this team of three, Richard could guess from their somber expression that the mission ended in failure, which is quite surprising. This trio is one of the best teams in the London branch and short of a high A-class or S-class stray he doubted their opponent could survive this team.

"Report."

He ordered simply. The three looked at each other and both Brandon and Octavia urged Irina to speak. The Japanese exorcist sighed and began her report from the beginning starting with their fruitless search when the sun was still up. She could skip those of course but she was taught that it was proper procedure to give the full details in a report from the time the mission officially starts until it ends.

Octavia and Brandon always wondered why someone like Irina actually bothered to report the part where nothing happened when generally everyone skipped straight to the point when giving a verbal report. They didn't know that it was Griselda Quarta who is a complete stickler for rules that had beat this habit into her when Irina was training with Xenovia.

Richard hoped that Irina would skip straight to the point though he knew why Irina include even minor, unimportant details in her report. She is not the first person trained by the infamous Griselda that he had met. When Irina started reporting their encounter with the enemy, Richard finally gave her his full attention. Irina gave a detailed report and description of their opponent, the girl's immense strength and speed, the fog, and what they did and how everything didn't work against the girl.

Richard frowned when he heard that nothing worked against the girl and clearly what the team had faced is not a stray devil at all. Then came the intriguing part where Irina said that she tried using another weapon and it worked. She took out the weapon in question and Richard is surprised that Irina has one in her possession.

Oh, he knew what it is alright. While he had held it before and even swung it once or twice when he was first offered the weapon, he never really used it because it didn't suit his fighting style and he relied more on his sacred gear, though he is surprised that Irina has it, and considering the design, it is a custom-made one which is stronger and more energy-intensive and is imbued with several high-level sacraments.

"Where did you get this?"

Richard questioned the young exorcist.

"At Vatican. It belonged to my brother and he let me have one as a souvenir and a backup weapon."

Richard raised an eyebrow at this claim. Irina's brother, Shidou Haruka he recalled, had gone missing with no news at all for years. Since he had not been declared a stray, missing, or killed, someone must've known where he is. It appeared that he had 'defected' to the Catholic sect and now resides in the Vatican, much to his chagrin. Then again, even if he is not part of the Catholic sect, he might as well be one with the centralized policy of the Church as a whole.

If he is issued a black key, and a custom one to boot, he must be very skilled and the Church policy is to have all people with a certain level of skill to be transferred to the Vatican. This is a show of power as the Vatican is the central seat of power of the Abrahamic religion and will be watched by various factions regardless. The presence of many powerful exorcists in the 'Holy Capital' project an image of power and if each came from a different sect it will also project an image of unity.

Richard shook his head. This is not the time to think of that matter. He has other matters to attend to, mainly about this new insight to their current opponent who is apparently impervious to their usual weaponry, even Excalibur Mimic, though since the black key in Irina's possession seems to work, this meant that their enemy is not invincible.

Now this is quite a conundrum. Since their standard weaponry don't work even if they can hit the girl, he can't just send anyone out on this mission or they will, without a doubt, die. Plus, while there are several people who could use black keys in the London branch, they cannot use it for an extended period of time since those things are draining, that is assuming that all keys would work against this opponent. He can't be sure since the black key Irina showed him is a customized one and he doesn't know if the damage Irina managed to inflict was caused by the black key's standard power or its additional customization.

Richard sighed. They will need to learn some more about this opponent and he will head out there to take care of the problem himself. And just in case, he will take those black keys that are gathering dust in his home with him.

"Good work. The three of you may rest. I will handle this matter personally."

He told them, surprising the trio.

"You will be taking over the mission, chief?"

Richard nodded. It is clear that his team is not equipped for this mission and while Irina has a proper weapon, she had mentioned that it is difficult for her to maintain the key for long. No surprise with the multiple high-level sacraments it has.

"I will. The three of you may leave now. I need to prepare myself."

Richard told them. They nodded and left the chief's office, leaving him to his thoughts. Once they are out of the chief's office, Brandon and Octavia decided to head towards the lounge.

"To think that the chief decide to take over the mission himself. Do you think he'll be fine?"

Brandon asked Octavia who is walking beside him.

"He should be. He is the chief because he is the strongest exorcist in our branch, right?"

"Hmph, I guess you're right."

While her friends are talking, Irina walk behind them still curiously looking at the black key she's carrying. That was the first time she used her brother's key and its power is certainly impressive if it could cut an opponent they couldn't harm before. Maybe she should talk to her brother later and tell him about her mission. She does have his phone number now and if he's unavailable she could always talk to Esther and ask her to leave a message to her brother.

Irina put away the key into her robe and catch up to her friends. While they technically failed their mission, they survived their fight against a strong enemy and for now, Irina is happy for that.

While the exorcists are having their downtime, in the alley where they fought last night now stood Dr. Henry Jekyll staring down at the corpse of the woman who became a victim of his current target. There is no need to do a thorough autopsy. He could immediately recognize the culprit just by spotting the small details on the spot.

"It matched the files kept by Scotland Yard to a tee. There's no doubt this is old boy Jackie's work. Now then, how is that possible? Are you a new person with the same skill and modus operandi or… are you that Jackie from a century ago?"

Jekyll wondered as he gestured at his subordinates to clean up the dead bodies. He left the scene of the crime with only one thought. He will be quite busy tonight hunting down an old friend.

...to be honest, I really don't know what to say about this file because there's simply nothing I could comment on so I'll just leave it at this. Next file will have more action with the Vatican part featuring Haruka vs Xenovia and London part featuring Richard, Irina, and Jekyll vs Jack the Ripper. Seriously, this arc had gone on longer than I thought. But unlike the previous versions of this story, I did invest more time and effort and even the average file for this story has more words than my other stories. There will likely be 4 or 5 more files at least for this arc, I think. We're already halfway through after all and I'm itching to write the Kokabiel arc.

Anyway, credits given to RedWolff in SpaceBattles for fixing several mistakes I made in this file.

Mythic Imagination: I did put more effort in this story out of all my stories... except maybe my Macross Delta stories. I sure hope this is good or else all the migraine I get will be for nothing.

The Last Kenpachi: The ones from Riser's peerage? I wouldn't know since I already forgot them.

FanNasuVerse93: I did think about how a killer would fight. There's a difference between a trained assassins and murderers on the street.