I haven't actually been to the ORC club room since I met Issei…so it was a bit weird to just walk in. Issei, Koneko, and Kiba were sat on the couch, the air tense, and a red mark on Issei's cheek.
Looks like I was right, Rias got a bit short with him on it as well…might be my fault.
Issei grit his teeth, before turning and heading my way, the door the only thing he could see. "You're going then?" Kiba asked, standing up himself.
"Yeah, and you can't stop me."
"Well, I could." I said monotonously, and Issei glared.
"You'll be killed you know." Kiba said from behind him, arms crossed next to Koneko.
"If that's how it is, fine, but at least I'll save Asia."
"I'd like to say I admire your determination, but this is just reckless." Kiba sighed.
"Shut up Pretty Boy!" Issei growled, before turning on me in the doorway, "I'm going whether you like it or not, get out of my way."
I blinked, before I leaned down and looked him eye to eye at his level, "Oooor…you let me lead."
"What?"
I stood up back up, assuming my full height and crossing my arms, "It's a diplomatic issue if Devils and Fallen fight on turf no? Well…if a Human seemed to be the cause of it, I reckon this matter would be a lot less volatile, wouldn't it?"
"You're putting yourself on the chopping block." Kiba pointed out, "Fallen and Angel factions will want you dead."
"Nothing new there, just a bit sooner than projected." I said with a shrug, "Besides…call it a field run. I want to really see what I can do, and if leaving evidence of my existence will postpone world war three…win win I'd say."
I looked back at Issei, grinning, "So, what do you say? Let me take point?"
Issei looked ready to pop with joy, "Alright! Let's head out!"
I rolled my eyes, ruffling his hair, "I am the one that says that, like the enthusiasm though." I looked up at Kiba and Koneko, "Don't worry, I got him, let Rias know when she gets back-"
"Oh I'm coming too." Kiba said, a sword appearing in it's sheathe on his waist.
"Eh? But you just said-" Issei argued, but Kiba cut him off, "Our president said, "Even with the help of promotion," right?"
"Yeah…" Issei said slowly, not sure where this was going.
"She also recognized the church as enemy lines." Kiba said, spelling it out, and I smirked, clever…I guess I did get through to her.
"Then.." Issei said, the conclusion beginning to show itself to him as well.
"At the same time, she implied we should back you up."
"Koneko as well?" I asked a little surprised.
"I would worry…if you went alone." She said monotonously, standing up. I stared at the three of them, before just huffing in amusement.
"Alone my ass." I muttered, before opening the door for everyone to follow, "Well, let's go then."
Koneko started muttering something, before a red teleportation circle sprung to life underneath her, and Issei hopped on.
Show off.
"Mind dropping me where the Fallen are then? I doubt all of them will be inside if they know Issei will make a play for it. I bet most of them will stand perimeter." I added as Koneko looked at me uncertainly, Kiba vocalizing it, "If we can avoid it, it would be best to let Rias and Akeno handle it."
"Trust me, I'll be back pretty quick." I said with a wink, and Koneko nodded.
"He will be safe with Buchou."
Kiba sighed, but nodded, and the circle flared.
In a flash of light, we were in a darkened forrest, the night giving way as stars shown through the treetops. I stared at the church not too far away, before looking at Kiba.
"Well, where are they?"
Kiba just looked at me like I was silly, "They're standing perimeter aren't they?"
"Yes." I said.
"Then make some noise."
I blinked, before I slapped him across the back, making him wheeze as I didn't bother holding back, "Smart ass! I'll be in behind you in a few, don't die before then."
"Or after." Koneko added slowly, and I just nodded.
"Well, distraction time!" I said with a grin, before I took off my jacket and shirt. I laid them down in the bush we landed next to, and I breathed out, summoning Goliath to the surface.
"We have no weapons, how do you plan on combatting more than one? You know it could be any number from two to a dozen."
'Gotta not break my piece too.' I said cheekily, going through some stretches as white fire ran through my veins. I did a few squats, leaned from side to side, before taking in a deep breath.
"COME AND GET SOME YOU PLUMMAGE PICKING PIDGEONS!"I roared with rage, before I stood with my hands on my hips, and waited.
"Three, incoming."
I turned, and saw the first float down in front of me, keeping just above eye level…which for her was more than a few feet off the ground.
"So boooring." She stared off, "I of all my comrades had to stand guard, and the first thing that appears to present some modicum of entertainment is a human? How dull." She said sadly, a sadistic grin on her features, "I suppose your screams will alleviate some of my boredom, be a good sacrifice and don't die too soon!" she said cheerfully at the end, flying a little higher.
"My name is Mitelt, the Fallen Angel, remember my name in Death!" she called, laughing as she rose higher, and channeled a light spear in her grasp.
"Wow, three of you on guard?" I asked, and she jerked, surprised as she was the only one who showed herself. "Are you that worried a lil o'l human was going to mess up your plans?" I asked in mock sympathy, talking down to her as if she was a child.
For someone to be so high and mighty, their pride will definitely get the better of them. I just have to antagonize her into the first move. I couldn't really attack all too well…but defense was something I practiced frequently.
I will be their shield.
"Hardly!" she said with a fixed expression, "It's just we don't want demons interrupting our important ritual."
"Oh, they'll be here soon too, call it a hunch." I said, "In fact, I bet they might already be inside." I said with a wink, "I wouldn't know though."
There we go, c'mon, lunge.
"Well, how many lackeys you bring doesn't really matter anyway." She said, shrugging it off without much success as a rather sour scowl adorned her features. "It won't be a problem; After all, the only two devils in this area who actually stand a chance of interrupting us are nowhere to be seen."
"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure, at the amount of bravado you have, and the distance you keep making, it's almost like your scared of me."
She was stock still, her stare frozen as if she couldn't compute the statement I just uttered.
Maybe she needs a little push.
A shot of Wrath huh?
My body slowly started to glow, and it grew a little in size to where we were now far closer to eye level. Her wings flared as she darted higher.
I snorted, before my body radiated an orange color as energy began to radiate…Shine!
The air suddenly grew far more tense, and Mitelt was growling, growing more angry by the moment.
"I will tear you limb from limb." She sneered, her apparent "cute" side gone as she snarled like a mountain lion, a spear of light manifesting in her grasp as she prepped to throw it.
"Ah, there you go, backing up more and more, you really are afraid of me." I said with a grin, "Fair enough, a little kid like you really shouldn't mess around with sharp things. Put your spear away, you might stab yourself." I said with false worry, clearly not meaning a word of it as I mocked her.
She screamed at me, and rushed me, her spear tucked in low to her frame as she dived like a falcon. I slid my left foot forward, assuming my practiced stance, and I let some of the Wrath affect me.
Anger is a tonic for fear.
My eyes clouded slighty as I saw her approaching, and I growled, tunnel vision setting in as she made her way. She was fast, incredibly so.
But I was faster.
She aimed straight for my throat, aiming to make a messy, delayed kill as a target for her rage. In an instant, I was moving, Ajax guiding my muscle memory as his own experience mounted on top of mine. We blurred, and in the split second exchange, her charge was stopped. She was pinned against the earth, her spear in my own grip as it was pointed back at its owner, poised to stab downward with my other hand keeping her beneath me. I stared at her, rage pounding behind my eyes, and I felt it.
I could just kill her.
It would be easy.
The first to fall.
She tried to kill me!
This is only right!
I grit my teeth, glaring down at her more fiercely as her own rage had yet to subside. She remained motionless however, her own experience showing through. She knew there was no play here that she could make without her loss of life. I was faster, I had the dominant position, and I had her weapon. In terms of lethality, she possessed none.
"Come on then big bad human." She said with a sneer, "Can't do it?"
I snarled, my teeth bared as my hand added more force while I pressed her down. "Can't do it? You should know damn well I could crush you."
She grunted in pain, before it turned into a restrained scream as her collarbone cracked.
"Tell me what is going on here." I said quietly, and she rasped, remaining silent. I added more pressure, and it cracked even further, starting to creep as she thrashed.
What am I doing? I'm torturing her!
Let her feel pain.
This is her own reckoning.
She tried to end us!
Only HEAVEN can oppose us!
Kill her!
I started blinking rapidly, trying not to just keel over. Wrath, rage, I was pulling it from somewhere, I needed to stop.
I let out a heavy breath, trying to just slow down. I don't need to just run through everything.
Stop.
Think.
"A ritual you said? Maybe it had to do with that nun." I mused, and she tensed. Correct.
"You've made a point of killing off Sacred Gear wielders in this area, it wouldn't be too far of a stretch to assume she had one." I continued, lowering the spear slightly as it hovered centimeters from her shoulder. My mind became clearer as I moved through the mental thought process, bringing a much needed breath of air to my conscious. I shrank back to normal size, kneeling next to her as my hand shrunk to just resting on her throat.
"Perhaps she has something else. You fear our power, and we die, maybe this was different. Maybe you want her to join you? Maybe it isn't fear, but Envy."
She started to jerk around some more, clearly getting angrier despite my aura dispersing. "A ritual hm? Maybe enslavement, or maybe brainwashing." I mused, letting up on her as she gasped for air.
Calm down.
"Well, either way, they should be putting it to a stop now. If Rias was correct about this being unsanctioned, it would hardly lead to war as the Fallen will no doubt disavow you lot."
I grinned like a shark, "Because nobody wants to be the aggressor, right?"
I leaned in closer, staring directly into her eye from inches away, and Goliath surfaced, a white rage burning behind my iris's.
"So, will you leave, or die right here, right now."
She coughed, trying to utter something, but being unable too. She relaxed, and her spear vanished. I nodded, taking that as a sign of surrender. I let up nearly entirely on the pressure, letting her chest re-inflate with air, and I started healing her.
Wondered what affect it would have, sue me.
She blushed lightly, mutely moaned even as her collarbone bent back into place, healing and resealing all its cracks. Energy flushed through her system, and her wings shivered. I smiled.
"Well then, Mitelt was it? I'd imagine your friends are either afraid to help you, or of the same mindset as they have yet to jump out. You can take them and go, keeping your current status being alive and a non-rogue member of the Fallen faction. Or, well, you can run into that church to help whatever friends you had in there, and probably die."
She stared at me, a blush still on her features, and I was starting to get rather uncomfortable being above a child looking girl with a blush. I rose, and leaned back, pondering for a second.
"Why do those bearing Sacred Gears become hunted?...Why did Issei and I have to die?" I asked after a moment, and I heard a sudden flap behind me. I whirled, ready to defend, when my heart stopped.
"Kala" I said, my lungs freezing still as if time constricted me like an unyielding chain. There she was…right there.
"Demons require humans to survive, thriving off their contracts." She said, almost ignoring my presence as she spoke towards the skies. Her dark hair and sharper features seemed almost forlorn as she observed the heavens. "Angels cannot kill humans for a similar reason, being their own power comes from the faith of their followers, the Ten Commandments enable them just as much as enslave them. That leaves us, the Fallen. We kill, to preserve that balance."
I felt fire trace my lungs as my chest burned, "You mean we're killed to prevent a war? Why can't we be left alone to live in peace?"
"None of the factions are united, we are not hive minds." She said somberly, "There are always people looking, thirsting, desiring power to achieve a greater end. To be of use, to use all others, to rule, to slaughter, to reach a desire. We kill Bearers because they will be involved with the world, regardless of their awareness. They will be made to suffer, jeopardizing the stability of the world at the same time."
I didn't move, just listened. What she said made a kind of sense I didn't want to admit. Peace through mutual weakness.
"Why not take all of them?" I asked quietly, "By your logic, the Fallen could just amass power until it was time."
"All the races do. That is why you're still alive, because a Devil took interest in you, just as Asia attracted Raynare's. Some choose not to, many prominent and powerful families lost too much over the last war. Many would rather see it put to rest, to do away with invasion, and just let everyone live their own way in peace."
"…then why not just stop killing them. If nobody did, then we would have no reason to get involved, or even know!"
"Humanity wouldn't operate as it does now." She said simply, and I flinched as I could already tell where this was going, "not all humans are granted a Gear, those whom are stronger, or different from others are ostracized, shunned, condemned, manipulated, killed, even without our presence."
She let out a final sigh, "That is the life of all Sacred Gear Wielders…to suffer."
"…Then why didn't you take me." I asked in almost a whisper, fists clenched, "Why even appear as a friend? Why stab me in the chest after I let my guard down?...Why did you even bother to be nice to me?" I rasped, my fists clenching so hard they were turning white without my power's assistance.
"Because you alone would have threatened everything." She said sadly, "Though if I had known the Gremory Heiress would have taken you regardless…I would have."
I whipped my head up, and caught her eyes as she gazed at me sadly, but she turned away, hiding her face behind a wing.
I remained silent, staring at the group of angels, before I clenched my fists, and turned away.
Away from them, away from the church…I didn't even care where I was going.
Just away from here.
"Get out of here. I won't stop you. If you truly don't want war, then keep this under wraps. Return to whatever posts you occupy…nothing happened here tonight." I said quietly over my shoulder.
They didn't reply, and I walked away, heading deeper into the forestry as I left. They should be fine. By logic, I just removed the three of the four strongest obstacles. I probably wasn't needed anyway.
There was a long silence as I walked, my own thoughts frozen as a numb, black shadow seemed to rob me of thought. I moved mindlessly, just heading further and further away.
"So what will you do know?"
I blinked slowly, the answer appearing nearly instantly, and I knew I just…had too.
"I will free Rias from her engagement…"
"And then?"
I didn't respond, recent memories popping up from the fog of my mind.
…
'That is why you're still alive, because a Devil took interest in you, just as Asia attracted Raynare's.'
…
'Because you alone would have threatened everything.'
…
If I really wanted to be outside all of this…if I wanted to spare everyone I cared about the Fate that will most definitely befall me…then I really only had one option.
"And then I will break my Piece."