A/N: To clear something up all the Personas have synced with their DxD memories up till the end of the Great War, and yes Zeus and Hades will eventually find out about Minato once they bother to talk to each other.
Thanks for all the support! Also, just for fun, I'm adding some stuff from the future in the quotes on the front.
~O~
A gaze filled with disdain and pity, looked at the fallen soldier, "Is this your faith? Is this devotion of the heir of this blade?! Tell me if you collapse at the whispers of a Fallen, just how did you ever expect to wield this blade?"
~O~
While the Messiah and his party rescued Samael, the duo of Merlin and Roland were still investigating Kuoh. It was a relatively small town that had only recently popped up having very little to speak about other than the massive hub of activities it seemed to represent for the Devils.
Merlin returned his thoughts to Tokyo, it had been impossible to not notice the overbearing presence of the Shinto Pantheon, always ready to intervene on the ground. That wasn't even mentioning the vast Youkai population of Tokyo.
Looking at another devil acting as a shopkeep, Merlin's eyes narrowed at the man before he let out a sigh and kept walking with clenched fists. Kuoh was 'Devil Territory'. He was sure of that conclusion, thus it wasn't a surprise that the gods were absent from the city.
"Thank you," The archmage murmured as he took a flyer from a familiar dressed up as a teenage girl, flipping it over he analyzed the pattern once more, and then was disappointed at the result again.
As it stood he noticed no malicious intent in the flyer's composition, it's magic was entirely, so, so pathetically innocuous. This just made his worries rise as his suspicions of the devils were already high, but the spell did not lie to him.
All the flyers did was drain a minute amount of energy proportional to the effort exerted on the task the summoned devil accomplished with checks in place to ensure that no death occurred and nothing even pertained to the soul of the contractor.
"If it were the old days we'd have run them over by now," Roland deadpanned with a blank stare at the fifth devil they'd noticed.
Merlin raised an eyebrow with a soft snort at Roland's deadpan statement, "It doesn't seem like they're evil, Roland," He patted the paladin's head with a soft smile whilst looking at the uncomfortable paladin, "Your past is showing again, old friend. Should we not offer them some rope? After all, it would be remiss for us to be close-minded to the possibility of these devils not being evil," Merlin said with a bright smile, as unreal as the thought seemed to him, as well.
The Paladin sighed, "My apologies, there are times when my...previous life makes it hard to maintain objectivity," The Paladin smiled wryly, "But should be glad that I haven't unleashed upon them the full wrath of a jolly good man!"
The Archmage of Camelot chuckled at his friend and shook his head amusedly, "Yes, yes, come along my dear, the jolly wrath of heaven can fall on them later, let's do something actually touristy now that we're here."
"Why waste an opportunity?" Merlin flashed a roguish smile at the Paladin as they walked through the city visiting any spot a curious foreigner would go to, from the smallest of shops, to the relatively large library, they checked the various sites and scouted the town for any undue influence, any more of it, that is.
By the end of their visit, both of the heroes were having worried thoughts about the city. A hive of vice and villainy territory, openly controlled by the hellspawn on the surface.
Once again Merlin cursed the Angels. It was their job to ensure such an event never happened, and not only had they failed but they hadn't even bothered to try and prevent the incursion. And yet, the views of the town irked the Archmage to no end, the town was so pathetically... normal?
As Merlin and Roland continued their watchful trip through Kuoh, they were growing warier by the second at the relatively high amount of demons present in the small town that slowly became easier to spot once Merlin had begun to seriously search for them. In Tokyo even though the Shinto and the Youkai had a vigilant eye, they did not seem to interact with the human population.
It was different here, Merlin thought as he tore the latest summoning flyer he had been handed, tossing it into the bin. The flyer had a minor compulsion spell to seem attractive, while also combined with a summoning spell.
Extremely innocuous, like all the other flyers he had taken care of, all things considered. And most certainly not the sort of stuff that could steal a person's soul.
More surprising was the lack of the Youkai in the town. The Youkai were absolutely absent from the town, the further Merlin's senses spread the more he found silent dread creep in his heart, he could only sense Fallen Angels and Demons in the town, with Humans who he was now almost certain, were under the influence of the Underworld, or worse, Kuoh was considered a part of the Underworld in effect.
Without a gesture or a word, Merlin's magic began to spread around him and Roland, reinforcing the ward that protected their true conversations. "Something is wrong," he said, his eyes looking around in faked fascination, "The town must be a demonic outpost, nay, by all means, it looks like a demonic domain. Though it certainly doesn't feel like it, Bael mentioned a lot more torture and a lot less vegetable selling."
Roland just nodded his hand was twitching slightly, eager to cut down the demons with Durandal for the last hour, "What I do not understand is why both the Heavenly hosts sit idle when the Demons take over an entire town of innocents," he said, his mind was still affixed to the Nun the Messiah was intrigued by, "And why do they let a pious one enter this den of scavengers?" As a Paladin, he was anointed by the clergy, and he was raised as a faithful Catholic in Frankia.
The church was not invincible, nor was it infallible, but it did real tangible good to the world far more often than not, he would be the first to go against the corrupt members of the church, as he had many times under his Emperor.
His own experiences had only led him to be heavily biased against the demons even as he stayed his hand, he could kill them all but the Messiah had forbidden killing unless necessary, and unfortunately, it was still under control.
Until information about the factions was gathered, he had to calm both himself and his blade, he still remembered the devils from his mortal life, cunning and treacherous and yet oddly mischievous in this world, rather than outright malicious.
"You know why..." Merlin muttered, one hour of scouting in this town had already stoked his paranoia to the extent where he was casting wards of strength that would shock beings that were divine if they would be able to find the wards in the first place.
He had not thought, even in his wildest dreams that a small scouting mission in a tiny Japanese town would require such finesse but things were clearly not what they seemed to be like.
The lack of information played a big part in that, both his and Roland's memories of this world were limited but clear, the demons they had encountered were different and yet those who met them were still disdainful of Humanity, but that was a long time ago, time changes most things and thus it ran Merlin's paranoia wild to roam in a land filled with demons that, he had no way to judge their intent.
"You just don't like the reason," Merlin sighed, his eyes slightly downcast, "I don't like it either, besides I don't think the Nun is here with the assent of those in Heaven," No angel would send a nun to this town, well, no Angel would remain an Angel if they did so.
The Paladin just frowned, his disdain for the situation slipping into his eyes. Though he had nothing against the reformed Demons in the Messiah's service he loathed the ones that weren't under his lord's banner as they were usually the degenerate ones that stole souls, or at least that was what his memories told him, treachery had cost the first too much, if the Demons even dared to do it again they would find an early end to their combined existence.
He himself had no real memories of the Great War he knew well enough due not being alive for it but the more ancient Persona had memories of the great war, and how the Angels had only declined since the ceasefire.
How could the heavenly host make no sortie since the loss of God as their leader? It had been their complacency that had allowed the Demons and the Fallen to rise in power, how could they let the temptations of hell run wild in such an obscene manner?
For Peter's sake, he was also a target of an attempt to recruit him to one of their 'peerages' on his deathbed. Not that he agreed, he had sworn his sword to one lord in life, and he kept his word till he drew his last breath.
Roland pursed his lips and his sight once more rested on the Nun, peace coming back to his thoughts with practiced ease, nodding in agreement, "Tis true, the host would not allow for the nun to leave for such an unsafe town," His eyes roamed the sights but his attention was focused mostly at the nun they were subtly trailing, "At least the Nun is safe," Merlin's eye twitched. Those were forbidden words.
"You idiot," Merlin hissed, lamenting the fact his partner uttered the forbidden words, then narrowing his eyes as a black-haired girl tugging a brown-haired man, no a boy no older than sixteen summers, went past them his eyes flashed as he turned to the Paladin, "That was-" his pupils shined blue, promising pain and straining his disguise spell.
"A Fallen!" Roland roared, for once anger actually reared itself on the Paladin's face as his mask of indifference broke. His hand was already preparing to unleash the Durandal on the offending presence of the Fallen more specifically at his rage was imbued further by the clear corruption of youth not even in his prime before another hand rested on his sword arm, preventing him from drawing Durandal.
"Another Fallen approaches the nun," Merlin said, a dark undertone in his voice sending a chill down Roland's spine, harming children was an easy way to earn Merlin's wrath, to be fair the cord was there to be struck in most heroes. True to Merlin's word a blue-haired woman, very clearly not a human and definitely not an angel, approached the Nun and after a short word with her, the nun departed following the Fallen.
He released a deep breath, calming himself, his face settled in his mask as he nodded at Merlin, "This is unacceptable, we must act now before the children's lives are threatened!"
Merlin shook his head, in principle he agreed with the Paladin wishing to do nothing but let go of his careful control over his magic, but years of being in the court of many Pendragon kings had granted him a keen eye for deception, he could sense the corruption ran deeper than the surface they had seen, both the demons and the Fallen seemed to be unaware of each other's presence.
They needed to be cautious, the air stank of a conspiracy "We should split up, go and follow the nun without an intervention," his own eyes were locked in the direction the brown-haired boy was tugged away to, "We are to observe as our Lord said, but it is for the best we avoid undue attention till the Messiah returns from Underworld."
He put his hand on the Paladin's armor, making a sizzling noise as rune appeared on the armor under his hand, "I'll call for you if I need your help," He said, a smile on his face, "If you require my attention then all you need to do is merely think of me while holding the rune. The illusion and the translation spell should hold unless you do something crazy, like unleashing the full might of Durandal," Merlin said, a bit pointedly at the man who had now withdrawn his hand from the hilt of Durandal.
Merlin snapped his fingers, summoning a small marble cross and casting another spell on it for an emergency war linked to him and the Messiah, "Give this to the nun, it'll call for the Messiah or me if she is in danger," His eyes were calm again, and he smiled lazily, "Don't worry, friend, I have a plan."
Roland's eyes were focused on Merlin's eyes, he could see his calm, yes, and he was in no uncertain terms anywhere near the level of Arthur when it came to interpreting the mage and yet even he could see the terrible promise under the calm. Underneath his kind smile and wise advice, the Archmagus of Camelot was capable of unleashing punishment that would make gods quiver.
And it was this promise he could see in Merlin's eyes, "Very well, my friend, I shall stay my hand, as long as I must," He waved his hand in goodbye as he left with the cross in his hand and a fire in his eyes. He would not let a hair on her head be harmed, even if his disguise had to be a sacrifice.
As he departed he couldn't help but hope that the Messiah wouldn't take too much time, there was much to do and quite a bit of history to find out. Knowing just what in Messiah's name were the factions doing in some small town far outside the realm of Christendom would be gratifying to start, "Well then, my dear Fallen. Let's have a conversation..." Merlin grinned as he dropped a solid illusion of him behind to maintain his appearance as a tourist and disappeared into thin air as he trailed the Fallen with an eerie blue flash in his eyes.
~o~o~o~o~o~
"Oops."
Hades's eyes flared up as he stared at the supposedly dead leader of the rebellion against God.
"You should be dead. You were dead!" The Greek God yelled heatedly.
"I got better," Helel chuckled at the twitching god, getting a short bark of laughter from Samael and Metatron to sigh, "We don't need to fight, Hades."
"You're actually satan! Of course, we need to fight!"
"You're totally overreacting~," Helel said, stretching his sentence, "Honestly, you do one rebellion and it's like you're some sort of pariah."
Hades released a deep breath, "My apologies it seems I was unclear about something."
He pointed at himself, "I am a decent god who despises the Fallen."
Pointing at Helel his flames rose again, "You. Are. Literally. Satan."
Helel opened his mouth again but was stopped by a hand tugging his wing.
"Stop antagonizing the god," The blue-haired man who looked more akin to a child next to the angel, and yet the twelve winged Seraphim, in all likelihood the strongest of the Angels bowed his head in deference near instantaneously.
"My apologies, my lord," The angel truly did look apologetic, and Minato sighed before rubbing his wing.
"It's fine, but don't start a fight. It's too troublesome," Hearing that the Angel chuckled,
"Metatron, explain."
"If I may, Hades, what my brother meant to say was that he and I have both been given an opportunity to correct the wrongs that were committed in the past. We thank you for your aid in getting our siblings back but we're urgently needed somewhere else at the moment."
"You can redeem yourself?" The god asked before shaking his head, "You can't leave just yet, I have quite a few questions to ask, especially you, lucy. You too, human."
"Yeah screw you too," Helel murmured under his breath before raising an eye confrontationally at the god.
"Unless you've forgotten, you're facing four Seraphs," With a small snort of disdain the angel finally got up and abandoned all hints of mischief, "Know this, god, I alone am enough to raze this place to the ground."
Hades stiffened as Helel raised an eyebrow and continued with a lazy grin, "I know you must be thinking a great many thoughts, that I would be weaker than I once was. The thing you should know, the thing you forgot to think about in your hurry to condemn me."
Helel finally unleashed his true power, letting the waves of light slam into the walls and created cracks on the floor by his mere presence, "Thrice I have fought God, Thrice I have held him to a standstill. You presume to order the Messiah," Turning his overbearing pressure fully at the god and snuffed his fire out. Forcefully.
Hades grunted, ignoring the sheer pain ravaging his body at being forcibly attacked right at the source of his soul, "You overreach!"
"Stop."
The Spears of light that had been growing suddenly popped, the angry
Helel instantly stopped, stepping behind the boy, Messiah, Hades registered through the pain, seeing the Messiah walked up to him, Hades tried to stand but his legs had already given way to the ground, "I see," Hades laughed sardonically.
The Messiah's hair had turned fully white, a white crown alongside his clothes changing into a pure white plate, with a soft sigh he poked Hades' cheek, "How troublesome."
Hades would have said something but within an instant his wounds vanished, the feeling of tiredness was replaced with strength and new vigor filled him, "You're the Messiah?"
The Messiah looked around, first at Zeus who had been stony through the incident, then at the four angels looking at him, well. Three of them, the fourth was still dreaming.
"So I'm told," He murmured with a wry smile on his face.
Hades nodded before looking at Zeus, "You're meant to be taking my side, brother, I understand why-"
"I'm a projection, dear brother, a part of the Messiah's soul materialized into the material world."
Hades looked at him, then at the Messiah who had yet to abandon his new form, still radiating power comparable to God and he chose to walk over to his throne, and then slumped down.
"If it's not too much of a bother, we should still have a word, Messiah," His gaze lingered at Helel before he steeled himself and uttered the words he didn't want to, "My apologies, it seems I acted rashly, and in bad faith."
Helel shrugged, "I stopped caring about what everyone said a long time ago, say what you wish about me," His eyes then narrowed, "But leave the Messiah out of it."
The white-haired Messiah stepped forward again, and nodded at the god, "Zeus will debrief you, whilst I would love to talk with you I have an urgent situation that needs to be dealt with."
With his piece said a swirling portal opened in front of him, moans of pain leaking through and he walked through, followed by the four seraphs closely. Leaving Zeus and Hades to engage in a lengthy conversation about the truths of the world and just how a new Messiah had risen without knowledge of anyone.
~O~
As the Messiah headed to the depths of hell Merlin continued following the brown-haired youth under a spell of invisibility, he had a solid illusion go around and rent a house as their base of operations in the meantime.
Looking at the 'couple' he wondered why he had to be the one following two teenagers -well one teenager and one sadist- on a date, it made him feel like that damned pervert! A shiver ran down his spine, bloody pervert giving him chills even after he was long gone.
Unfortunately, his sense of duty eventually prevailed against the will to just set up and intent ward and abandon his post.
Thus that was how he had begun following the 'couple' from shop to shop, noticing her scarcely hidden distaste and weakly hidden power it was shocking none of the demons had acted out, it was hard to not sense the Fallen.
Then again, perhaps they were just weaklings, the demons around him did not show the sort of power a demon was supposed to have, especially for ones apparently on guard duty.
And he could only sigh in disappointment as the boy let his lust agree to the girl leading him to a secluded park, do Humans really have some intrinsic want to die in every universe? How was this not suspicious? He counted nineteen sneers and no lesser than nine instances barely disguised sarcasm!
Stepping closer without taking cover, he really wasn't bothering to hide behind a bush, though to be honest the thought that he, as a fully grown adult, could ever hide behind a bush and he was the archwizard of Camelot!
He refused to suffer the shame of hiding behind a bush like an amateur. He had magic and he was proud of it! So he summoned a chair within his invisibility charm and took a seat right in front of the Fallen and the youth, he looked into the distance for a moment, "This feels like I'm a voyeur."
His eye twitched before he resumed staring at the couple, "The things I do due to duty."
"Would you do something for me Issei?" The Fallen whispered into the boy's ear, Merlin shook his head as the boy, his name revealed to be Issei, nodded fervently totally falling for the simpering fool of the Angel.
The Fallen got up, turning around with a twisted smile on her face, "Would you die for me?" The Fallen smirked at the frozen expression on Issei's face as he fell off the bench.
"Yuu-ma what did you say?" His hesitant question was only answered by the two black wings that came out of her shoulders and the sadistic smile on her face.
"I said" She whispered, a spear of light taking shape in her hands, "Would you die for me?" She smiled, the smile most definitely looking ugly despite her apparent beauty as she launched the spear at Issei, at the same time Merlin started laughing, not noticing the spell fading.
Merlin's invisibility spell broke as he continued roaring with laughter, the Spear was blocked by Merlin's bright blue shield as he stood up dismissing the chair and enlarging his spell covering the area, he continued laughing before wiping some tears as he looked at the BDSM Angel. And promptly broke out into laughter again. "O-OH LOR-D you're actually serious, Oh ISSEI WOULD YOU DIE FOR MEE~"
Issei stared at the back of the man who saved him, still in shock from his near-death experience.
"What are you doing here wizard?" The Fallen asked, looking at the blue barrier with worry in her eyes it was easy to see the disparity of strength. Originally she had expected the wizard to be weaker than her, it was only after a moment of clear thought she recognized the effortless magic for the show of strength it was.
Now escape was the only thought on her mind, if only to tell her beloved Kobakiel about a new participant in his plans, a human participant,
Merlin snorted again, "I've seen mewling kittens that have been more threatening than you," Was it a lie by omission that they were Nemean cubs? Probably. Did he care if a would-be murderer BDSM Angel was angry at him? Probably not.
In a second Merlin's face changed from amused to serious, his eyes swirling blue as he stared at the Fallen.
"I don't like murderers, but that's okay, really is, because you're not one," With a snap of his fingers chains of magic surrounded her, "But we humans have a special place in our hearts for those who harm children."
The chains started heating up now, slowly making red welts on her skin.
"For unlike Michael I have no mercy to those who harm the innocent so wantonly," His chains swiped again, and this time Yuuma wasn't able to dodge, shellshocked by the familial reference to the current leader of Heaven, the chains as they wrapped around her pulling her to the ground.
"Tell me, what is your name Fallen?" Merlin was also keeping an eye on the boy who had scrambled back till he hit the edge of the field wall he had put up, "There is no point resisting me, you'll find I have learned very well from my past. Monsters like you get no mercy from me" The chains tightened momentarily causing Yuuma to gasp in pain, the smell of burning flesh hung in the air as Issei's mouth opened in horror.
"I'll speak!" The chains finally loosened marginally and the sound of sizzling skin faded away, "I am Raynare of the Grigori," She flinched as Merlin gained an enlightened glint in his eyes, the Fallen -as they knew due to the first one they met in Italy- were in two groups.
There were those who used Azazel's Grigori to hide under the veneer of false benevolence and those who had gone out on their own way, usually, he would kill the Fallen, well, not really due to his orders he'd have just imprisoned her until the Messiah came back, unfortunately now a more intelligent capture was a more preferred outcome.
"Well speak then, I don't have all day," Merlin huffed in annoyance summoning two chairs, "Sit down lad" his eyes softened a little, "It must be a hard day for you, it's not every day you get nearly murdered by the Fallen," Issei looked at the chair before nodding dumbly and taking his seat.
"As I was saying we were sent here on behalf of the Grigori to watch over the devils and make sure they're not breaching the peace and attacking the humans!" It was a weak lie, to anyone who knew anything about the current status of the three factions would automatically know it was a lie, but Merlin didn't know anything about the three factions after the great war, but he was Merlin the strongest wizard and his years at the royal court had made him proficient at reading people.
Yet he ignored her, those same years of intrigue had also taught him a lesson about gathering information, she would be his spy within her group and everything would be clear soon enough anyway, mostly due to her generous help.
'Grigori, the watchers…' Merlin pointed towards Issei, "And you were trying to kill a human while protecting him from demons? Why with protectors like you there'd be no need for the demons to attack" he said dryly, he was mentally already digging as much as he could before she could find out about him messing with her mind.
Raynare tensed before committing to another lie, though this one was far closer to the truth, "He wields a sacred gear a gift by him I was irrational in my hatred of him, I beg for clemency, it will not occur again."
"Oh, Sacred Gears? Tell me more about these sacred gears, my dear Fallen, it seems you'll live after all," he said, before the chains suddenly tightened, "And try to lie less, I haven't got all of eternity to interrogate a low ranking Fallen," she gasped before nodding frantically at his cross voice at her frivolous lies, he had no time for them, not when a topic that seemed this important was to be discussed.
As Raynare begun to speak hope sparking within her Issei interrupted her again, his fear of her being released rising above his shock of the situation, "She tried to kill me, you can't let her go!"
Merlin looked at the boy, before nodding in affirmation, "She tried and she failed, trust me boy I won't let the Fallen or the Demon slaughter the innocent of this town, you have my word," he was serious, already he was preparing plans to neuter anyone with hostile intent towards humans, or mortals.
Issei huffed, "You can't forgive her just because she has a good bust!"
Raynare looked at the boy with disbelief in her eyes whilst Merlin just looked at him wondering if he should talk some sense into him before ignoring the boy's outburst and asking a more important question, "You're not shocked about wizards, fallen angels, and demons?"
Issei nodded slowly, "If there are bad guys like them then there have to be good guys like you, right?"
Merlin just shook his head, had the Messiah not played intervention he'd be dead and the nun would be in a position only God knows, but then again it was the job description of the Messiah to turn the tides in favor of Humanity. Well not exactly, but he digressed, "Tis true, continue your tale Grigori, do not tempt me to send your remains to Azazel"
His barb finally got Raynare to focus back on their conversation, as she began her lies, or at least truth for this topic, once more, "Sacred Gears" She pursed her lips, "They are weapons made by father given to humanity, not that they control any, the devils control the highest amount then the Church" followed by the Grigori remained an unspoken though picked up by Merlin.
Merlin nodded, loosening his chains further, "Explain better will you?" Inside a torrent of emotions woke up clashing with each other, the demons controlled weapons forged by god, that was not good news, not at all. He didn't know of a single Persona that would like such news, Bael would sneer in disgust for using weapons forged by the enemy of hell and the usually composed Metatron would rage in fury at demons usurping his father's will. The Messiah himself, much like himself, would be worried why weapons meant to protect humanity from the supernatural were not in the possession of humanity in the first place.
He looked at the brown-haired boy -Issei- and secretly let a magical tether port out the demonic flier that was with him into his possession, and behind the bush, discarded. The Demons would not get their hands on a child whilst he was present. "You should leave now," He said, standing up and opening his barrier partially, "Your family must be worried for your safety child."
He saw Issei give a hesitant glance at Raynare, "It's okay Issei, I won't let any harm come to you or your family," he promised, a charm to calm him laced in his voice.
Issei tried to protest, "But what about-"
Merlin cut him off, "Just don't tell anyone about this," He said, adding a weak compulsion spell to keep the supernatural secret on Issei, "I'll talk to you later, you've been given a responsibility and I won't abandon you to face it without training."
Issei looked uncertain but still left, slightly urged by his weak compulsion charm and calmed by the previous spell, him with his mind conflicted, thinking about the mage and the supernatural and his usual perverse thoughts, never noticing his flier no longer being in his pocket due to the chaos surrounding his thoughts as he left.
Merlin watched the boy leaving and then closed his barrier again, a spellbound page already rising with a pen writing furiously. His eyes centered on the Fallen Angel, a grin gracing his face causing her to flinch, "Now then my dear Fallen, let's have a chat eh?" Unfortunately for her, out of the two of them only he knew he wouldn't actually kill her.
Fortunately for her at that very moment, a loud roar echoed across the town with a blast of light that could rival the strongest angels, by the time Merlin had hidden it he was sure the devils near the church knew, "Damnit Roland," Merlin hissed under his breath before looking at the wide-eyed angel.
"Guess it's your lucky day, you get to see an angry paladin beat the living snot out of your brats."
~O~
Usually, it would be tremendously hard for a warrior to do a job befitting a rogue, or someone not as bulky as him.
Thankfully Roland was a fully trained Paladin, the wielder of the peerless blade. As Merlin had chased after his charge Roland had made sure to follow the nun, as discreetly as he could thankfully Merlin's spell went a long way in helping him stay hidden.
Sneaking about was easy and though he was not a wizard and couldn't just barge in without ruining the purpose of his mission.
It was par for the course that infiltration was one of the many skills he picked up in his life as a Paladin of Charlemagne
Swiftly following them, his feet barely evoking any noise Roland followed the Fallen and the nun far better than any man of his size had a right to, his mind solely focused on his task and so he followed his trained eyes making easy progress, as the nun and the Fallen went into a church, an abandoned one with most of its heraldry vandalized in the foulest way. Despite ignoring the act of heresy the Paladin's hold tightened around Durandal, as he walked through the hallowed halls of the church with quiet steps and remaining in the shadows to stay out of sight of the various exorcists before he finally found the nun again, conversing with the Fallen, silently he thanked Merlin's spell for saving him from certain discovery.
"Why does the church need me here? It was a pleasant surprise they took me back but why all the way in Japan?" Roland's eyes shot up, the church? The church would never want her with the Fallen! He almost drew Durandal right there, anger almost boiling over. First, they desecrate his faith, then they entrap the innocent and now they coerce an innocent into their schemes. It was clear the Fallen had not changed at all since the time he had lived, he forced his hand to leave Durandal's hilt, letting deep breaths leave his lungs as he calmed himself before he revealed himself due to his wroth at the Fallen.
"We need you to heal our exorcists as we protect the humans from corruption, the Devils have quite a hold on the territory here, it is hard to heal the faithful especially as we work to eliminate the evil influence on humans here," the blue-haired Fallen said, quickly waving her concerns away and soon she was off leaving the nun to her own devices, clearly not believing the nun was capable of escaping on her own.
She left and Asia's tears began spilling, sobs shaking her shoulders. Roland paused, the sobs irked him, something deep inside of him was intensely disappointed by those desperate sobs.
Roland opened the door, walking up to her, watching her scramble to her feet and wipe her face furiously, "I-Who are you?"
"You know, don't you?"
She gulped, "I don't know what you're talking about," She nervously glanced at the walls before mouthing stop to him.
"This hive of villainy. Filled with Fallen and Heretics," He barred the door and took her hand in his hands, cupping them gently, "You do not deserve this."
"B-But I-c," Hiccupping Asia let out another sob as she hugged him, "I'm not strong enough."
Roland stared at her, sobbing into his plate, he patted her head before smiling, "Do you know who I am?"
"I'm Roland, the original wielder of Durandal," Looking at her look his smile turned brighter, he slid his sword out of its sheath, it looked innocent enough but the blade radiated an aura that had practically oozed holy energy.
"Truly?" Asia wanted to deny him, snap out of her dream about the strongest Paladin coming to save her, but within her she still held hope. Clutching the white feather hanging from her neck.
The door broke open, exorcists and a Fallen rushing in, Roland smiled wryly, before winking at her, "You're stronger than you think you are. Trust me."
The Fallen tensed, the exorcists looked at his sword with unparalleled fear, the Paladin grinned at their expressions.
"Unleash yourself, DURANDAL!"
Then the world turned white.
~O~
Stepping out of the portal the Messiah could only sigh as he looked at the scene in front of him.
Merlin had erected two barriers around the old church and was standing in front of Asia, who'd been holding onto his shoulders tightly as she stared at the carnage in front of her, he'd made sure to hide the upcoming carnage from her, it was the least he could do.
To be honest, the Messiah knew it was risky to send Roland on the mission, the man knew how to be stealthy but he had little patience for the unjust, even lesser for those like the Fallen.
It showed the Paladin threw Durandal at the offending angel in question, as soon as she dodged his blade returned to his hand and he speared her to the ground with the peerless blade.
Two exorcists were brave enough to approach but he caught one of their blades in his hand and blocked the other's gun with his armored hand, smiling as the gunshot into his hand to no effect, raising a brow the usually cheery Paladin sneered at the exorcists, "Is that all?"
Not giving them a moment of respite the Paladin ripped the sword out of the exorcist's hand and speared it through the Fallen's stomach, calling Durandal back to his hand, turning around he snatched the gun out of the other one's hand and throwing it at a third one trying to run away, snapping the man's spine with a well-placed throw.
His other hand locked onto the exorcist's head, throwing him at a Fallen trying to fly away from the venue like a bullet, forcing both to crash on to the broken ground.
As he finally turned his sight on the remaining fallen and her cohort of exorcists he quirked an eyebrow, smiling at them despite blood covering most of his formerly pristine armor, "Are you afraid?"
He was fast, fast enough that only a blur was seen as he appeared behind an exorcist, with his hand through the exorcist's chest, "I'm sure your victims were also afraid."
None of them could let off the smallest of noises in front of his glare, "But don't worry."
With a blur of speed, he sprung up behind the tiny fallen, and speared two exorcists to the ground with their own blades before lifting the fallen by her neck, and leaning near her ear, "I'm just getting started."
And then he slammed her on the other fallen, impaling her on the same sword her comrade had been impaled on, and then again. And again. Before disappearing in a burst of speed, and landing on the former librarian of heaven.
Pulling at the two-winged angel by his wing he used him like a whip, slamming the running exorcists with the fallen angel, and using him to tank any bullets or blades coming his way before he finally swung the fallen around and tossed him at the cross he had… vandalized… which was followed by four more swords that impaled the fallen to the cross.
Sparking another short burst of speed the Paladin appeared in the front of the sixteen exorcists trying to run, the last of the forty that had survived his onslaught.
Running at them at a far more human speed he dodged the first swing directed at him and redirected it to the neck of an exorcist with his own swords removed both arms of the exorcist, as he was then kicked into the third one.
A bullet slammed into his head, the force not even bothering him before he cocked his head with an inquisitive look directed at the gunman.
"Mercy."
Roland stepped forward, taking his gun away from him and throwing it through the exorcist's head, and the man behind him, before looking dispassionately at the remaining exorcists.
"I give you the same mercy you gave unto the innocent."
Another exorcist fell, his head cracked open with an overpowered punch.
"Noo-fplea-" And another fell with his legs slashed off and neck snapped.
"And where was this mercy," Roland said with his boot ending the life of another exorcist as he severed his head from his body.
With a flash Durandal had ended the lives of three more exorcists, their bodies sliced in half in a manner that should have been impossible by any modern means.
His fists lashed out and reduced two more exorcists into smears as he slammed them against each other with the entirety of his strength.
One of the exorcists looking at him raised his hand shakingly, with wide eyes and an open mouth, his own gun was slammed down his throat. And through his body.
The last exorcist died as the Paladin impaled him upon the same cross they had violated, and the battle ended with a roar.
"When you raped and murdered in the name of the Lord!"
"Ah," Minato said, taking in the carnage unleashed by the paladin. The Angels following him had muted reactions, with war being an accepted reality by all of them.
Minato turned his gaze from the silent Paladin who was walking back from the remains of the church towards him with his head downcast, looking somber at his battle frenzy.
Merlin meanwhilst moved forward and waved his hand to clear the field, and quickly buried the bodies, with blank headstones, looking at their graves he could only sigh.
"May you find peace in your next life," He said somberly.
"Mister wizard," Asia asked in a small voice, still shaking slightly from the sudden deaths of so many people in front of her, "Why did you-?" She cut herself off, looking a little n
The Archmage stood still for a moment, before answering, "I have lived a long life, and yet it always disappoints me when I see these sort of people."
"Most of them started off as defenders of humanity, and somewhere along the line they broke. Maybe they lost faith, became disillusioned with humanity, lord knows the balance of power rests heavily against humans. Maybe they saw something so horrible, so twisted their mind shattered. And just like that all that potential for good, for change is gone forever," Merlin spoke somberly, clearly remembering something from his own time.
"Above all, these people represent our failure. As heroes, we are meant to inspire, to stoke the flame of hope, to kindle the flame of humanity in the harshest storms. When soldiers of humanity defect to cause such pain and suffering…it is our failure more than theirs."
Asia was staring at Merlin's hunched shoulders, it was odd to see the young man seemingly age a hundred years in front of her eyes, his eyes reflected a lot of hidden pain, masked behind a jovial face that shouldered the weight of the world with a smile on his face.
"You still try." A softer voice said from behind them, as Asia swiveled around, her eyes widening at the same man she met in Italy, followed by four angels, something that made her eyes go wide, Roland was further behind with his head still down.
"Sometimes that's all that matters," Minato said, "To continue trying regardless of the odds."
Within a second Merlin's switch seemed to have flipped, a jovial smile on his face as he squared his shoulders, "As you say, sire, to try against the odds! For a better future," He boisterously proclaimed, getting a smile out of Minato, who nodded before turning to Asia with a serious look.
The angels had split up at this point, with the metallic one and his roguish looking brother tending to the fallen, chaining them with shackled made of his light. The one with a hue of red in his eyes continued standing behind Minato stoically with his sister in his arms.
"Do you have somewhere safe to stay?"
Asia didn't reply still looking at the four Seraphs briefly stopping her gaze on the one carrying his sister. He flashed her a brief smile, causing her to blush, but was finally shook out of her awe by Minato, who poked her shoulder and repeated his question.
Looking at the ruined church she nervously rubbed the back of her head, "I...don't."
Minato nodded, "You can stay with us for the time being," he sighed at looking at her teary eyes, "You're not a drain, Asia."
"How did you know?" She asked with a surprised yelp.
"I have a knack for understanding humans," He said, raising an eye at the snort from Helel who was leading the three captured fallen, "Are you done?"
"They were alive, barely, despite Roland's attempt, and their powers are sealed," Metatron was one to reply, his voice rumbling through the ruined church.
Roland winced at the reminder of his failure to carry out the simple order, battle frenzy may have served him well when he had to cover his former lord's retreat, but it became the reason he failed.
Minao fixed his eyes on the Paladin for a while, before sighing, "It's alright Roland, It was my fault for sending you to scout a town filled with your historical enemies, take some solace, at the least, all of them had committed offenses worthy of their fate."
Roland mulled over the words before nodding gratefully at his lord, "I shall not fail you again, my lord!"
"Yes, yes, now that we've all had a good cry together I suggest you move on and get some rest before discussing our finds for the day," Merlin said with a smile, trying to ease the air, as he opened a portal to their house, "On you go, I'll come with our lord once I'm done fixing the place, and removing any residual energy from Durandal."
One by one, everyone entered, with Asia and Helel being the last ones to enter as the angel was enthusiastically telling her of the time Metatron crashed into the moon.
"Why lie, sire?" Merlin asked the Messiah, "More than a few were merely small-time offenders, easily reformable."
Minato just looked ahead after getting one last gaze at the gravestones, "Just one more burden to shoulder," He shrugged, "I'd rather carry it than hoik it onto his shoulders."
Merlin was silent for a while looking at the Messiah's back as he entered the portal, before sighing, and moving forward to follow him, not before murmuring one last thing sorrowfully, "When will you learn, my lord, not all burdens should be borne by a single man."
~O~
Soon after they had finally got to the house Merlin had acquired for them, Metatron had been sent back to the sea of souls with Helel sticking around with Samael, Roland and Azrael joining them at the dining table, with Asia resting for the night.
Minato looked imploringly at Merlin, telling him to start the talks, who gave an exaggerated sigh at their sitting arrangements, "Delegated from the Round table to the dining table," he said, his tone overly dramatic, winking at the Messiah earning a small laugh from Azrael.
"It is crucial that we share information that we have learned," Minato said, before frowning as he looked at the clock, "Let's finish this briefly."
Merlin nodded, and firmed his posture, abandoning his jovial attitude for the moment, and produced a notebook from his pocket, "From what I've observed, the demons control this town with the heirs of Gremory as Sitri controlling the town," His face twisting into an odd frown, "with them running a school of all things"
Minato's nose wrinkled in distaste as Bael's usual mocking filled his ears to inform him who exactly were these two clans, "Both the seducer clans in the Human world?"
Merlin nodded, "And running a school, furthermore, it seems as if they had intended to let a human wielding a sacred gear die so that they'd be able to recruit him into their peerage."
This did encounter outcries as Samael and Azrael both detested the death of innocents and devils in general due to them only having memories of the devils from the war.
"Now, now, whilst it looks suspect, it might actually be a coincidence," Merlin said calmly, "It would be rash to jump to conclusions."
"But it's a devil?" Samael questioned with a frown.
Merlin raised an eye at him, "You do know I'm half demon, right?"
Samael scoffed, "We all know you're the glaring exception due to your mother's sacrifice-" Seeing Merlin's eyes he paused, lowering his eyes, "I'm sorry, I spoke out of turn.."
Merlin glared at him for a moment, before looking at the impatient Messiah and sighing, "Yes, you did."
"Moving on from our prejudice about things we don't know, I captured a fallen that tried to murder one of these sacred gear wielders, she's stored safely in the prison in our basement-" Ignoring questions of how the house could have a prison in the basement, the mage continued unabashedly with a small smirk, "And I've sent their three comrades to the same place."
Minato raised his eye at the mention of the fallen looking at the mage and urging him to continue, Merlin shrugged, "Their powers are already bound by Metatron, we'll think about what to do with them in the morning," He paused briefly to make sure everyone was keeping up before railroading on, "I've also found summoning posters the demons wave around to gain power through contracts, though after I summoned one."
Noticing the looks of alarmed incredulity he rolled his eyes, "Yes I did make sure to cloak everything properly, I'm not a fool, as I was saying they do rather mundane tasks and take mundane payment instead of souls, I even offered my own and the demon -sorry- devil laughed and shrugged it off."
Waiting for that to sink in, Merlin nodded at the astounded angels, "It is truly shocking they have actually changed but I'd still ask you to dwell cautiously, Messiah, the change might as well revert should they know who it is they're dealing with."
Minato motioned for Helel to start their side of the story, "We found two twelve winged angels and that Hades is a real swell person for those who don't have bat wings or are flying cows, I might have scared him though~" He stopped as Merlin flicked his head, "About the demons Helel, about the demons." Merlin said with a wry smile.
"No~No, tell me just what you did to scare the God of the dead?" Asked a curious Azrael.
"Are you sure it's that you want to know of? I was just about to get to Persephone?" Helel asked with a smirk letting his wings turn slightly dark as he squiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"Loathe I say it, stay on the topic before you revert to -as you eloquently put it- a flying cow," Merin said, shaking his head at Helel's antics.
Helel smiled impishly, "Well all the demons died," the silence was deafening, before a resounding crack as the table broke in two from Samael pounding his hand on it.
"Explain brother!" Samael asked loudly, ignoring the mumble from the Messiah about troublesome angels.
A blue hue enveloped the table and repaired it, leaving no mark, as Merlin sighed, "Explain, please, preferably before causing more damage to our house."
"So apparently, by the end of the great war only watered down descendants like the modern devil continue to live on, whilst not so bad when compared to demons, in fact, they're positively angelic compared to their ancestors," He made a slightly disgusted face, his demonic form was something he himself had grown distant from during their stay in the seal, "They are still abhorrent by any decent moral standard, Hades told us plenty about the peerage system and I just have one question, if you are employed under a certain contract and not told the full extent of it and then told should you desire to not follow an order you are liable for execution or horrid mutation, is it not slavery? To be tricked into a contract that says follow the orders or be executed or mutated."
"Very Troubling," Minato agreed, before turning to Merlin, "Consult with others if you must, but I need you to come up with a way to turn willing devils back to their former state."
Merlin's eyes glittered with promise, and pain if any the implied consequences actually took place, "I shall not fail you, my lord, but I must request leave to return to Albion, there are certain relics there that may allow me to make the process of turning reincarnated devils back to their own race," He paused, before continuing with a more hopeful tone, "I have...friends as well, those who might still live and offer us aid."
Minato's eyes softened as he looked at Merlin, he understood why Merlin wished to go to Britain so eagerly, the creation of a united Albion was a constant dream Merlin and Arthur pined for, and the mere threat of their people to once more be enslaved would certainly have earned such a reaction, "Leave after the current situation is dealt with, I'll send Arthur with you, he would want to see what his progeny has been up to.."
Merlin nodded, "Then I'll be off, my lord, I'll check the wards around Camelot, and start my project. Though I suspect I might need these 'evil pieces' to truly make progress."
Roland was next to get up, "Messiah, I request permission to go to the sea of souls and deliberate on my failure today."
"Don't dwell on it for too long, learn from it and move on," Minato said, and with a slight direction of his thoughts, Roland vanished back to the sea of souls.
He brought Metatron back to the front of his mind, He smiled at the Angels, "I will be going to bed, however, you all can converse with Metatron and Helel, Persona."
His metallic wings as radiant as ever, face once more stoic, authority leaked out of him and his holy aura though concealed still managed to leak out a little, not even he could conceal his light, no doubt they would be found if not for the wards on the house, he was, after all, another former lord of the sixth level of heaven.
Minato yawned, "I'll leave you four to catch up," he said, as he left for his own room. Much had been done but immense tasks still remained to be done tomorrow.
Metatron looked at his siblings, for the first time having the chance to converse properly with them, he pulled out a chair for himself, nodding at his siblings, "Come let us Convene brothers and sister, it has been too long since I have been stuck with Helel and his mug," Metatron said, a smile on his face even as Helel pouted while the jaws of Samael and Azrael dropped.
"D-Did you just joke brother?" Samael asked, forgetting his irrational apprehension of the voice of God in favor of gaping at the humor that the angel had apparently developed after his disappearance.
Helel snorted, "I object to that, I can say without falling my mug is a divine artifact of beauty," grinning toothily he pointed to his white wings, "Angels do not lie."
By now Samael had overcome his shock and the prankster in him somehow slipped through letting out a gale of laughter overshadowing Azrael's softer laughter at their brother's antics, it reminded them of the good days, when Father still stood like a towering titan they frolicked around the cosmos united under the silver banner.
Helel sighed sadly before poking Azrael's nose, "Cherish the past, sister, but do not allow it to consume your present."
Azrael wiped her eyes, "I know, my divine artifact of beauty," A smiled on her face as she ended with fake snideness in her voice.
Helel clutched his heart dramatically, "Betrayed by my little sister! Woe is me!"
The future may have held many things for the four angels, but that night they truly enjoyed themselves like days long past.
~o~o~o~o~o~
"Messiah, wake up Messiah," Minato opened his sleepy eyes, wiping them reflexively as he looked at Merlin, his eyes screaming murder at the wizard for waking him up so early in the day after their late night.
Merlin gulped before smiling with forced cheer, "You're late for school Messiah!"
Minato's eyes shot open, "What?"
Merlin smiled sheepishly, "Well, you see I thought it best that to truly determine a way to scout the school and demons in it," He said with a helpless shrug, "Not just that, but to protect the humans in that school and to look over the boy destined to be a hero."
"Though I watch over him through magic, I did promise either I or someone else would talk to him, to clear up the new surroundings he has found himself in, and if possible, offer him training to be a hero."
Minato groaned, he thought he didn't need further schooling after fighting off the apocalypse and having literal wise men in his soul, but it seemed like Merlin had a different ideal, he stood up and looked at Merlin, conveying his will through a glare alone, "You just want me to suffer for not letting you have the flashy entrance."
Merlin winked and with a snap of fingers Minato was dressed in a black blazer with white accents over a white, long-sleeved button-down shirt with vertical linings, a black ribbon on the collar, matching black pants, and brown dress shoes, "Why can't someone else go, maybe Galahad or Arthur?"
Merlin gave a blinding smile, "Oh you'll have company, my lord, loathe as I admit it, it would be remiss to not take any protection for the students if you battle in the school. To that extent, Roland will join you alongside Perseus."
"...do I have to?" He asked with silent resignation, seeing the look in Merlin's eyes he sighed, "Is it even wise to go with Roland after his volatile reaction?"
Merlin shook his head, "Ideally we would not do such a thing, but Perseus has the strength to stop him, so it stands to reason we use this situation as a learning lesson."
Minato nodded at the wizard before calling the two Persona to the forefront of his mind, and closing his eyes, and evoking, "Persona."
Roland stood firm, his armor replaced with the same uniform he wore, it was the other person who was also looking at Merlin that was a new addition to their entourage, "I swear no harm shall come to thy body till I exist Messiah!"
Whilst Roland was bombastic, Perseus was a more sober personality, he didn't announce his presence bombastically, though his calm smile was reassuring and his blue eyes looked like they were shining.
"I stand ready to serve, my liege."
Minato just nodded and walked downstairs to grab breakfast, before going to school. He sighed, sometimes he wondered if Merlin was the part of his soul that thrived on trolling him. Roland and Perseus, on the other hand, chose to stay back and familiarise each other with their tactics before following him.
Merlin headed back to his room to continue his research after giving them a quick and cheeky good luck to Minato and reminding them to carry their stationary.
As Minato entered the dining room he was impressed by the array of food on the table, with Azrael setting the last plate down, "You can cook?"
Azrael blushed in embarrassment, "No Messiah, whilst basic cooking is within my reach it was Samael and Helel that made this meal."
Metatron nodded in empathy, "I too feel inferior to Helel sometimes sister," Metatron lamented, he was jesting. In part.
Azrael looked at him, so did Minato who was beginning his meal already abandoning the dream of arriving on time, "And how do you feel better?"
Metatron smirked, "By remembering he crashed into Mars instead of landing on the Moon whilst we were racing."
Helel clicked his tongue, as Samael looked at him as if actually having trouble imagining the same Morning Star who could have fought Father, albeit whilst he was weakened, somehow miss the Moon?!
Minato too looked at him and Helel only rolled his eyes before saying one thing, "Mistakes were made."
He huffed in the ensuing laughter, enduring the chuckling that accompanied the byplay between Metatron and Helel, as even Minato cracked a smile at the former Fallen angel.
~O~
Minato, Perseus, and Roland stared back at the student council president of the school, both had encountered a large lack of orgies according to Bael, and had been thankful for the seemingly restrained devils.
Then again she was glaring at them for being late, "You are late on our first day Minato-san."
Minato only nodded in agreement, "We apologize president." He said nonchalantly, letting the matter drop no need to fight them at the moment, his judgment was to be based on their behavior, not his perception of their kin.
Sona was tempted to deny their applications but considering the rather nice man that had enrolled them (if only she knew it was Merlin) she decided to give them a pass for this once, "Be on time next time Roland-san, Minato-san, Percy-San," Her eyes narrowed at the backs of the hidden heroes, suspicious about the foreigners showing up just after the display of fireworks on the derelict church.
As the first bell rang and understanding dawned on the Messiah about him needing to wake up early, his regrets were born anew,
~fin~
Betaed by Chris4th.
A little late, but time is an unfortunately scarce resource for me at the moment, I'll try to continue updates regularly though.