I spend the next week tearing the world apart as thoroughly as I can without leaving Kuoh. I set my little spirit friends looking for any sign of even a royal cat hair. I call anybody who owes me a favor, or might accept one from me. All in an effort to find Cait.

All for naught.

Not even Pua can find her. According to the kahuna, when she tries to find the Queen of Cats it's like she's smothered under so much of something else's power that there's no sign of her. She calls it crude, and wasteful, but effective if you've got more power than sense.

Which Pua also admits, describes most of the supernatural world.

What surprises me, is that Vivain seems at least as worried and pissed off as I am about the whole thing. She muttered something under her breath that doesn't really translate well to English, essentially that she'll pull the vital magic out of whoever is responsible for this, cook it on iron, and serve it to a redcap as a snack. Then she goes stomping off into Faerie, trailing a quickly gathering storm behind her.

I'd be out there looking for Cait myself, except for two things. One, Asia's due to get excommunicated at any moment, at which point she'll hopefully call me. So I want to be available. And on the off chance that she just decides to head here without talking to me first, I don't want her to spend any more time here than necessary. Two, I have no idea where I'd even start looking.

So I have no real choice but to get as much help as I can, and then just... wait.

I hate waiting.

As a result I've been pacing all over the house unable to hold still. Mia is out working her own contacts as a favor to me, leaving me alone in the house. Something I don't think Mia was too upset about. Apparently my constant pacing is annoying, leaving her eager to get out.

I stop pacing with a sigh, and debate going back to testing Script in my workshop, or trying to find something to eat, when I hear the sound of my wards repelling something. Cautiously, I pick up Schlamhaire from where she's resting in her sheath leaned up against the arm of the couch, and head for the front door. I'm almost to it when someone rings the doorbell.

This throws me for a loop. If my wards activated it should be because somebody with hostile intent tried to pass through them. I'd think that anybody with those being repelled would be rejected as well. Not be allowed through to ring my doorbell. More confused than cautious now, I open my front door, and blink at what I find.

Laying on the sidewalk outside my property line is Issei, smoking slightly and twitching from residual charge. Normally this would mean I had missed the first activation of the wards where he would have just been tossed away. Only after being rejected by the wards once, and not taking a hint, would they taze somebody. It only got worse from there, though only if the person attempting to enter didn't have lethal intent. If they did, all bets are off.

I repress a smirk at my anti-Issei wards working so well. I'd started the ward trigger targeted at him at a level higher than the standard. History has shown that he needs a more firm discouragement in order to get the message. Even then it probably won't work.

I keep the smirk off my face though, mostly because standing on my doorstep is an adorable blond teenager clutching the cross around her neck, and looking concerned at where Issei lays on the sidewalk. She wears casual clothing that I'd last seen on video chat so I could give my opinion on them. The girl looks up at me with a cautious smile as the door opens.

A cautious smile that I replied to with a wide grin of my own, "Asia!" I sweep the girl up into a hug, actually lifting her off the ground.

The blond, now ex-nun, giggles and hugs me back, "Hello Ericka." Her accent in English is very slight, something she insisted on practicing with me a lot.

After a moment, I put her down and look her over. She looks good. Not totally miserable from her excommunication, though not really happy at the moment either. Unsurprisingly she looks healthy, and has the feel of a normally happy person.

"Look at you! You've grown a lot." The last time I'd seen her she was still in the single digits of age. Now she's solidly into her teenage years, fourteen or fifteen at a guess.

She looks me up and down incredulously, "I've grown?" Which is fair, she's a little taller now than I used to be, which means the top of her head is even with my collar bone. I'm about to reply when I'm cut off by a groan from the letch picking himself up from the sidewalk. Asia's eyes go wide, "Issei!" She turns around, "Ericka! Something went wrong and when Issei tried to approach your house, he was attacked!"

Oh Asia, you sweet innocent child. She starts to walk back down the steps, but I catch her before she can get too far, "Nothing went wrong. The wards are designed to not let him approach."

The adorable blond looks up at me again, "But why?"

"Because if they didn't, he'd be peaking through my bedroom window." I tell her flatly.

"What? Surely he wouldn't..." She trails off as I point at the boy. He's regained his feet, and has zoned out staring at me while making groping motions with his hands. I hadn't intended on going anywhere today, so I'm only wearing a tank top and a pair of light shorts. Which is what I'd answered the door in. I've shown more skin while on the beach in Hawaii, but it was apparently too much for Issei's brain to handle without starting to fantasize.

Not something I want to think about too hard.

Asia wrings her hands slightly looking at him, "Is he injured? Should I check him? He could be hurt..."

"Asia, he's a devil. It'll take a lot more than what the wards are set to for a first offense to do him any sort of lasting harm." I glance at him and grimace slightly, "If you want to say anything to him now's the time." I really don't want them interacting even that much, but keeping them apart completely is a ship that's obviously already sailed.

Asia smiles at me, which is unfairly cute, and then turns and skips to where Issei is standing just outside the ward line. As soon as she blocks his view of me he seems to mentally reboot, which makes Asia relax slightly.

She bows to him way too deeply, and straightens back up, "Thank you for bringing me here and showing me around the city Mr. Hyudo." Oh god, he gave her a tour.

Issei smiles at her and scratches the back of his head awkwardly... Is that a blush I can see climbing up the back of Asia's neck?

No.

Oohh no.

"That's fine Asia-chan! I had fun!" Issei sounds deceptively like a normal awkward teenager, something enhanced by his very awkward English. If he were anybody else, I might be rooting for him. "Will I... um... Will I see you again?"

No. No you won't.

"Of course!" ...I feel a little bad that I'm about to make a liar out of her... but not bad enough to let her come back.

After another round of goodbyes Asia turns around, and skips back up to me beaming. I put an arm around her shoulders and usher her into the house. "How was your trip? Do you need anything to eat right now?" She shakes her head looking around my house with interest. She's seen pictures of it before, but in person is always different, "In that case why don't I take you to where you'll be staying."

Asia bends down and picks up a large black feather. I haven't had my wings out enough in the house for it to be one of mine... the damn bird is molting again. I'm going to be finding feathers everywhere for weeks. Fishing them out of the shower drain is such a pain.

The little blond looks up at me holding the feather, looking confused, "Where I'm staying? Won't I be staying with you?"

I grimace slightly, "I'd love to have you stay with me, but remember my friend Pua? The healer? I've gotten her to agree to teach you and help you improve. You want to keep healing people right?"

"Of course!" Asia looks a little indignant that it's even a question, "But..."

"And this place isn't exactly safe." I cut off her objection. If I let her get going she'll start pouting at me. It won't change my mind, but I'll feel terrible about it, "Even aside from all the purely physical dangers, there's two devil peerages here. Either one of them would love to get you to join up."

"Devils?" The ex-nun looks up at me thinking hard, "Like Issei?"

"Yes. Exactly like." I nod. I'm really hoping she understands what I'm getting at here.

"Issei seemed nice though! If devils are like him maybe they aren't so bad?" Never mind.

"You mean besides experiencing stabbing pain every time you or anybody else says the word 'god'?" She looks a little sad at this revelation, which leads me to moving on quickly, "Some of them are nice enough. And if you really want to meet one, I can probably work something out eventually. Most aren't though. They're pretty much exactly what you'd expect a devil to be." I hesitate for a moment, then decide to just lay it out for her, "And that boy only wants in your panties."

Asia stares at me thinking hard. After a moment or two her face lights up in realization, "You mean he's a cross-dresser?"

I must be rubbing off on her, I can't tell if she's serious or not.

###

Introducing Asia and Pua to each other went pretty much exactly how I expected it to. Pua, full of skepticism and doubt, that's slowly worn away by Asia's enthusiasm, honesty, and pure untainted goodness and cheer. It helps that Asia actually jumps up and down and squee's at the idea of having somebody who can teach her to use the powers of her Sacred Gear better, or even teach her new abilities. Her genuine determination to help people is so overwhelming, that Pua has been reduced to watching the little blond girl with an expression of incredulous bemusement. She doesn't seem quite capable of anything else as she oversees the ex-nun work though some basic exercise Pua's given her.

Ku and I are sitting in their living room where we can just see the two of them through Pua's workshop door. After watching them a moment or two, and chuckling at his sister's reactions, Ku turns back to me, "She's adorable."

I nod, agreeing. There's no real way or reason to argue with that statement after all, "She is. I'm glad I could help her out."

"I take it she didn't have the best fate in what you saw?" Ku asks carefully. Even here in Pua's house, and behind her wards, we're careful about how blatantly we talk about the future.

I grimace, "I suppose some people might have liked it. I'm not one of them though, and she deserves better. If she decides she wants to end up in a harem still she can do that. Just as long as she's not making the decision after a life of near total social isolation, having just been traumatically killed, and resurrected as a devil. It would have been nearly textbook brainwashing, even if I don't think that's what they meant to do."

Ku nods slowly, and for a few minutes we sit in companionable silence. Eventually though, Ku speaks up again, "Have you managed to find anything about your fuzzy friend?"

Imagining Cait's reaction to that description gets a smile for a moment before I sober, "Nothing. I'm sure I'll find something eventually. It's hard to keep secrets from little spirits for long. They're too pervasive. Still doesn't mean it'll happen fast enough." I'm silent for a moment, "Have you..?"

"No. It's not really my area though. If you had a starting point, I could follow a trail, but as is?" Ku shakes his head, "Finding information or people like this is more Pua's thing than mine."

"And I've already asked her." I slump in my seat on the couch. After a few more moments of thought I sit up again, "That reminds me. I keep forgetting because of what the blood implied, but the note Cait sent me told me to find a way to hide my aura?" I watch Ku out of the corner of my eye, "Would you know how I can do that? Preferably in a manner that doesn't require Pua and her mojo?"

Ku blinks, "Is that what set you off?"

"The note written in blood? Yes, yes it is."

"Fair enough." He makes calming motions at me with his hands, "As it turns out, I do. People who deal with the world's mana actually have access to one of the most effective means of aura camouflage known. Comes fairly easily for most people too." He narrows his eyes at me, "So I guess we'll see how it works out for you." I swat him in the shoulder for his attempt at humor, and move with him when he stands, "Come on, we can work on that, and I can check how you're doing with the strength nullifying defense. I'll check your progress with the hydrostatic shock technique too, while we're at it."

I follow him out the door to wherever we'll end up training for the day. I'm kind of amazed at how much better I feel. Since I knew something had happened to Cait, I've been tearing my hair out trying to find something I can actually do. The realization that there isn't anything?

I almost felt like I had when I'd still been missing bits of my soul.

Once Asia had appeared though, I immediately felt better.

At least her I can help.

###

By the time Ku and I get back to the house the sun has set. I've managed to impress my teacher with my new facility at the strength nullifying defense. Which doesn't happen very often. My progress with the hydrostatic shock technique is... well... I've made progress. Or so Ku tells me. I honestly can't tell myself. Which does make things more difficult. Ku is quick to remind me that it took him years to make any real progress with the technique, so I shouldn't worry too much about mine.

The real achievements, though, are in my new aura camouflage technique. The technique itself is odd. It involves taking in a small amount of a much more complete sample of the world's mana and... not processing it. Normally when feeding myself I take in the portion of the world's mana which is it's life energy, and essentially digest it, turning it into 'mine'. Something I can use freely.

The camouflage technique involves taking in a small bit of the entirety of the mana, and leaving it raw. Then layering it thinly along the interior surface of my mana network. This way I feel to any supernatural senses like the world where I took the mana in, and in that environment I vanish completely. It's actually remarkably easy to do.

Which isn't to say that it doesn't have problems.

Because of my issues with taking mana in, I can't really change my camouflage quickly or easily. So if I disguise myself as a desert, and wander into a city, I'll feel like a bit of desert wandering around a city. Which will attract attention from anybody even slightly aware.

Then the normal resistance to corruption and unpleasant energies that's normally afforded by Mana Breathing is somewhat lessened. Since in order to have an effective disguise, I'll need to take in a bit of everything in the environment. If there's something unpleasant in said environment, I'll either need to stand out with imperfect camouflage, or deal with whatever is so unpleasant like everybody else.

On top of all that, it does absolutely nothing against the mark one eyeball. I'll still stand out slightly less, since I quite literally blend into the background, but I'll be completely visible.

Still, no matter how much I'll stand out as a bit of city in the middle of a forest, the technique still does what I need it to. No matter what environment I disguise myself as, none of my natural aura is detectable. Even better, the technique only requires a small amount of effort to set up when I 'feed'. At which point it can last for months, according to Ku, with no upkeep. With a little touch up every, or even every other, 'meal' the technique will last forever practically.

Which is exactly what I need.

So I'm feeling pretty good about things when we head back into Pua's house. I'm in the midst of telling Ku about a time, when practicing the hydrostatic strike, I managed to hit my practice barrel too hard, and ended up drenching both Mia and myself, when I grind to a halt at what I find in the living room of Pua's house.

Thea is conspicuously absent, and Pua is sitting calmly on the couch sipping at a cup of water. Asia though, is pacing back and forth in front of the couch looking... upset. If this were anybody else I'd say she's angry, but Asia doesn't really do angry. No matter how much the bitter scent of anger fills the air.

I open my mouth to ask what's going on when Asia notices our presence, thanks to Ku demanding to know what's going on behind me. The little blonde's head whips around, and she does her damnedest to glare at me. Then she marches right up to me, well inside my personal space, and slaps me across the face.

Ericka. exe has encountered a fatal error, and shut down. Please wait while reloads.

"How could you?" The former nun demands, not quite shrieking, "You knew and you never said anything!" The smell of salt registers, and confuses me, until I notice that tears are running down Asia's cheeks. I step forward to try and comfort her from whatever's wrong, raising my arms for a hug. "Don't touch me!" But she plants both her hands on my rib cage and tries to shove me away. This moves her more than me, but the message is sent, and I stop moving towards her.

Ericka. exe has finished rebooting. If the problem persists consult your Kahuna, and beat some answers out of her.

"Asia... I'd love to give you some answers, but I have no idea what the problem is. Context? Please?" I'm not begging, and anybody who says otherwise is a dirty liar.

"God is dead!" The nun wails, "God is dead, and you knew! You knew and you never said anything!"

Oh.

This.

Go... that would be in poor taste right now. Just... dammit. At some point, when I was distracted by Asia, Pua and Ku made discrete exits, leaving me and Asia alone in the living room. Despite her earlier objection to my instinctive need to comfort her, I pull her into a hug. No matter how upset she thinks she is with me at the moment, I'm quite literally the only friend she has. I'm not about to abandon her in any sense during this.

Asia thrashes against me slightly, pounding a fist I barely feel against my side as she rages. Eventually though, she burns through her anger, "Why?" She manages to sob out, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Would you have believed me if I had?" For that matter, how had Pua convinced Asia of the truth? ... On second thought I'm not sure I want to know. It's probably a freaky kahuna trick that would give me nightmares, "Not to mention that even if I had told you, and you had believed me, you were still living in Vatican City! The Church does... bad things to keep the truth under wraps. You were safer, I can't believe I'm saying this, not knowing. Ugh, I feel dirty." I shudder dramatically which earns me a watery giggle.

I feel like we've gotten over some sort of hump, and so I pull Aisa over to the couch, take a seat and pull the girl down onto my lap. For a little while we just sit there, and I hold her as she alternately cries, and sits quietly. Eventually she sniffs quietly, "What do I do now?"

"What do you mean?"

"God is dead. I've devoted my entire life to His message and His works. And now He's dead and everything has changed." Asia leans back slightly and looks up at me with watery eyes, "What do I do now?"

I sigh, "Nope."

"What?"

"Nothing has changed. God's death isn't a recent thing. He's been dead for longer than either of us have been alive by a significant margin." I point out, "If His message was something worth following an hour ago, well nothing has changed since then."

"So you think I should just... pretend nothing happened?" The little blond asks incredulously.

"Of course not. You'll grieve, and deal with this new information in whatever way works for you. My point is that the message is no less valid now than it was yesterday. I see no reason that if you found following it fulfilling previously, you shouldn't still. It's not like an idea becomes bad just because the person who came up with it is dead. As to dealing with the knowledge," I shrug, "Pua's a better choice to help you with that."

"Why?" The ex-nun asks tilting her head to the side, a bit of her adorable innocence shining through her emotional miasma.

"She's a trained psychologist."

"Oh." Her mouth rounds and her eyes widen in understanding, "So you'd say she typically gives good advice?"

"There's a trap here, I can tell. But yes, she typically has a good reason for what she recommends." I tell her cautiously.

"She told me I should ask about why we became friends." She fidgets slightly.

I groan. My vengeance will be swift and terrible Pua! I'm sure Ku will have no problem helping me get one over on his sister.

That can come later though, I have to answer a question now, "When I was much younger," Like in a previous life, "I had a vision of the future." If by vision you mean watched some of a bad TV show, "Given how I saw your future pan out, I decided to see if I couldn't change it to something else, something better."

Asia's eyes are locked on her hands where she toys with her fingers, "That's why you came to see me? Because you knew what I'd become?"

"Nooo, I came to see you because my eyeballs exploded in my skull." I poke her in the stomach gently earning myself a slight giggle, "You might remember that. Then I met a sweet lonely girl in dire need of friends. So I stayed in touch, and tried to be that friend. If I could get you a better future while I was at it, well that's a bonus."

"What?" She swallows, "What would have happened to me?"

"You still got excommunicated. The only way that wouldn't have happened is if you didn't heal the injured man in the streets, and that's just not in your nature. In that version though you had no friends, and were instead picked up by a bunch of fallen angels. They would lure you to Kuoh, kill you for Twilight Healing, and then you'd be resurrected as a devil. You'd spend the rest of your life competing for the affection of Issei Hyudou." I keep my explanation as quick as possible. She doesn't need to know about the details of everything she would have been involved in. And honestly after a lifetime since I'd watched the show, I don't remember more than the generalities anyway.

Asia looks thoughtful, putting a finger to her chin as she thought hard, "Well, Issei seemed like a very nice boy. It might not be so bad."

"You'd be one of twelve or so girlfriends competing for his attention." I tell her flatly. She wrinkles her nose cutely. I'm not exactly a feminist, but I am big on not being used. I've tried to instill that in Asia, from the look on her face it's at least sort of worked, "You deserve better than that Asia. You deserve somebody who will make you their priority, not make you compete for a fraction of the attention you deserve."

"What do I deserve?" Asia asks quietly leaning against my chest.

"Good things, Asia. All the good things."