Chapter 67: Broken Home
The night of the party was quiet. Everyone had gone to bed, some sharing rooms. What should've been a nice night was ruined when Vali sensed something in her sleep. With her trained sense for danger, Vali felt something odd in the house. She silently made her way downstairs.
She turned on the lights in the Living Room to find that no one was here. Not a single thing stood out to her. She followed the rattling sound to have been from a tree branch thumping against the window.
'You sense anything?' Vali hoped Albion had an answer.
'Not a thing.'
Vali jumped when she felt another sensation near her again.
'Vali, are you alright?'
'Don't you feel that?'
'Not at all. Maybe you're guards too high. It's only natural with all that's been happening.'
Vali tried to relax but couldn't. She kept sensing that something was near her and it wasn't friendly.
'Maybe.' Vali sighed in disappointment. She wanted to avoid ruining the vacation with paranoia.
When morning came, everyone went outside to go on a walk. That was when Adelaide lagged behind to talk to Vali.
"What happened last night?"
"What do you mean?"
"Something felt off. You were so anxious." Adelaide had to remind her that the two were able to connect on an emotional level to an extent.
"Sorry. I thought something was in the house." Vali sheepishly chuckled.
"We should tell the others. The way you were feeling last night was pretty alarming." Adelaide reassuringly patted her twin on the shoulder.
"You might be right. Still, I don't want to ruin our vacation. I might just be imagining things."
"If it continues, then make sure to speak up. As ironic as I'm being, I've been feeling weird too."
"The question is it because of me or both of us?" Vali wondered.
"Don't know and I kinda don't wanna know."
The gang stopped by a creek to take some photos of the scenery.
"Alright, the mandatory group shot." Kuroka ushered the entire group over.
As Lefay set up the camera, Adelaide noticed something in the distance. Something was moving and it was running towards them fast.
"Look out!" She dove forward, pushing Lefay out the way.
A sharp pain ran across Adelaide's arm as blood was spilled. Everyone immediately went on their guard, Kuroka lighting the invisible enemy on fire after sniffing it out.
Molten metal dripped onto the ground as the invisible enemy revealed itself to be Magitech Armor.
A dozen Magitech Armors descended from the sky, immediately attacking.
"Trash em!" Vali attacked one, tearing its torso from its waist.
Sairaorg punched through another, crushing its reactor.
"I thought there was a barrier around here!"
"There is!" Vali replied as she obliterated another Armor with magic.
"Magitech Armors are good at getting through them if you give them time." Adelaide dodged a laser from one as she sliced it in half with a slash of mana.
"Less talking, more dismantling." Issei fired his remote satellites from his wings, ending the short fight.
Vali surveyed the invisible barrier around the area. Not a single bit of damage was done to it.
"There's no damage to the barrier. The only way to get through my grandfather's barrier is to either break it or have special access." Vali surmised.
"Who'd let the Novella Caelum in here? You're the only one who's got an access circle into the barrier among us." Bikou said.
"Don't know. It's possible someone swiped it from somewhere or…" Vali trailed off, uneager to voice her suspicions.
"Someone let them in." Kuisha decided to answer, regardless.
It was obvious that they were all high-value targets and it was even more obvious why the Novella Caelum would want any of them.
"We need to get back to the Alliance. We might not be the only ones who got attacked." Issei turned to leave.
They all assembled in a meeting room at the Alliance, waiting for Rizevim, who was their direct superior. The moment he entered the room, their disappoint reached a new high. Everyone knew what was coming. Whenever Rizevim had his signature grim look on his face, something major had happened. After closing and locking the door, Rizevim sat everyone in one room. Just before he did, everyone could see the massive scrambling happening behind him.
"You all weren't the only ones attacked. We've experienced attacks all over the world. Even our capital got under fire. Luckily, we managed to fight off several invasions. However, among those losses, was the fall of several of our supply bases. This has forced hands, as much as I wanted to avoid it, you all have been assigned a new mission."
Rizevim irritably snapped his fingers to project information.
"Five hours ago, Greece was attacked. Athena's Parthenon was just bombed from within. We have reason to believe that someone infiltrated the location and planted it there while Athena was present. Several were injured, with many more in critical condition."
"And you want us to go out there and fight?" Vali sounded quite unhappy.
"I didn't want it to come to that. The sad truth is that complacency has made us weaker. So many people these days aren't as powerful as they once were, with the noncombatants outnumbering the battle-ready. To make things worse, Issei is being seen as an ace-in-the-hole."
Issei's mood darkened, something Vali and Adelaide noticed.
"So, the others want to sic me on the enemy, is that right?"
"Enka and I were some of the people who tried to fight it, but Zeus and several others overruled us."
Issei scoffed.
"You won't be going to the front lines. Instead, you're going to help Artemis' Hunters track down information on who left the bombs. Help them in any way they need. You're to leave immediately." Rizevim stood up from his seat.
With a sudden attack on one of the most well-known pantheons in the world, everyone had a sense of wariness and fear struck into them.
The Vali Team arrived at the Parthenon, with the Greek goddess Artemis waiting for them. She wore a silver jacket over a pale blue shirt with grey pants and black boots. Her looks were befitting of a goddess, basically beautiful beyond much comprehension. Her blue eyes and long shimmering silver hair seemed to glow with divine beauty. Standing behind her were several young women of varying species, all armed and dressed similarly to her.
"Hello, Vali. I'm glad to see you healthy."
"Lady Artemis." Vali bowed with a friendly smile.
"And these are your vassals?" Artemis regarded the Vali Team.
"Yes, this is my Peerage."
"Right, we should get to work, follow me."
Artemis led the others inside the ruined Parthenon. Dozens of satyrs and dryads moved rubble away as cyclops got to work reconstructing the ancient site.
"Last night, a bomb went off in here. There were no hints and no known suspects. It literally happened out of thin air. At least, that's what they say." Aretmis picked up some rubble and held it to one of her hunting dogs.
"Any ideas?" Vali asked.
"Too many enemies to count, too many motives to list. Our pantheon isn't known for being nice, so saying we have a few enemies is an understatement." Artemis sighed as she kept rummaging through rubble.
Kuroka started to sniff around.
"My task from Zeus is to hunt down the perpetrator, who could lead us to bigger clues and bigger fish to fry."
"I think I've got something." Kuroka walked over to a pile in the corner.
Picking stone off a piece of torn fabric, Kuroka smelled it before passing it to one of Artemis' hunting dogs.
"It's really faint, but it smells a little like the cloth of those cultists."
"Yeah, it feels like the same material too. Not to mention, the same color."
Issei looked around, trying to think of a reason and possible suspects.
'Let's see…Angry cultists that want their old way of life back. They see gods as a threat. They blew up the Parthenon since it's a valuable location to Athena, a tactical goddess. The thing is, it's gotta be somebody that can go in and out of places undetected. To sneak under the watch of Athena means they've gotta be strong in that department.'
'Ares and Athena are possibilities. Still, I don't think even Ares would go this far to bomb his sister's sacred temple. Arachne, perhaps?'
'If it were, there'd be some sort of evidence. I guess all we can do is follow the scent on that cloth.'
"Now that my dogs have something to go off of, we can follow the trail. Let's get going." Artemis snapped her fingers.
Several elk trotted over with sleighs.
"I've never seen any elk like these." Izalana tried to approach one elk, who retreated from her.
"They're my special elk. They accompany us on hunts and pull our sleighs. Forgive them, they're not fond of strangers." Artemis mounted a sleigh as her huntresses followed suit.
"Why sleighs? We could just teleport." Bikou wondered.
"That defeats the purpose, boy. We're tracking a scent, not predicting it." Artemis replied with a bit of exasperation. Clearly, he wasn't the first to ask this question.
"Enough dilly-dallying, get on the sleighs." Vali sat in the sleigh accompanying Artemis.
"I'll have to ask that the boys sit in their own sleighs. You'll have to excuse us, but my maidens aren't the fondest of sharing space with men for personal reason." Artemis pointed at sleighs in the back.
"Figures." Bikou sighed.
"There's still the fact that continued investigation needs to happen. We'll continue our search for clues here and then meet up later." Arthur adjusted his glasses, taking the Hunters' discomfort into consideration.
"Then so be it." Artemis nodded as the elk took off.
As the elk and hunting dogs raced across city roads, Lianshi couldn't help but question the absurdity.
"Don't they notice us?" Kuroka couldn't help but notice that not a single mortal was reacting to them.
"Lady Artemis' magic keeps mortals unaware of us." One Huntress answered her.
"So, that's your chosen mate?" Artemis turned to Vali.
"Yes."
Artemis merely scoffed playfully.
"I hadn't pegged him for the frivolous type. When I heard the stories of his exploits, I expected him to be more committed."
Vali chuckled nervously. She hoped Artemis wasn't going to turn her boyfriend into an animal.
"When you came to train with me, I'd never expected this in your future."
Vali cast a downward gaze. Artemis didn't hate men, but she didn't respect them much. That was unless they proved themselves.
"He isn't like that." Adelaide spoke up before Vali could.
"Then explain to me why he's seeing two women at the same time?" Artemis calmly asked. It felt less prejudiced and more curious than anything else.
"It's complicated." Vali put a hand on Adelaide's shoulder to calm her down.
"I have time."
Vali groaned. The other Huntresses looked at her. Some looked curious, others were disappointed.
"How much do you know already?"
"You two are dating that man and are connected to him on spiritual level."
"Well, for starters, the three of us reincarnate, but I'm sure you already know that." Vali looked at Artemis, glaring a bit.
"I had a feeling, but I wasn't sure when I met you. You're not the only silver-haired, blue-eyed girl around." Artemis shrugged.
"We were star-crossed lovers, connected through Bahamut. Through song, we can calm Bahamut's rage. To make sure that Bahamut never gets released and to make sure we stay near each other, we reincarnate and get involved in each other's lives. As it so happens, the Void and the Abyss got into a bigger conflict and my soul got split in two. The Void took one and the Abyss took the other. I'm the half that the Abyss saved. Adelaide's the other half that the Void took."
This was old news to Artemis, but she appreciated the recap.
"Because of lingering feelings and getting to know him in this lifetime, we both reached a compromise and chose to accept polygamy. Both of us have the same right to be with him."
"I see. Are you sure there wasn't any manipulation?" One Huntress asked.
"He's not like that." Vali frowned.
"If the stories are true, then I'm willing to believe that."
"Stories?"
"That man slew the seven Aviturs in their beast forms. That alone speaks enough about his character. Anyone who's witnessed them in the past would be wise to turn tail and run. That, and our little Vali is head-over-heels for him." Artemis smirked.
Since Vali wasn't a Huntress, Artemis didn't really care about whether or not she got romantically involved. She even found it amusing.
"Still seems kinda fishy to me." One other Huntress scowled.
"I promise, if you get to know him, you'll understand." Vali smiled to herself.
After some time, the group halted in a field of grass.
"The trail stops here. We'll fan out and look for more clues." Artemis snapped her fingers, using magic to try pick up anything out of the ordinary.
Artemis paired up with Vali and Adelaide, wanting to speak with one of her former charges.
"So, what do you make of the situation?" The Moon goddess asked.
"The bombers probably ran here to teleport a safe distance away from the Alliance so they could reduce the amount of clues they left behind. They might've also come here to avoid as many eyes as possible." Vali guessed.
"And what of you, Adelaide Motoié?"
"This might be a trap."
"Both are plausible. Enki's been developing new spells that can help us track where teleportations go. The more time passes by, the harder it is to trace that travel path. The same could be said for a trap, since the enemy knows someone would track them."
"So we're springing the trap?" Vali looked around, hoping to notice something.
"We'll have to if it'll give us clues. However, what we want to do, ideally, is find as many clues as possible without triggering a trap. Sometimes the biggest chances are in the face of danger. I know Rizevim likes to play everything safe. Likewise, I swear I won't let any harm come to you." Artemis smiled lightly at the two.
Adelaide looked at Vali.
'I thought she was going to be some man-hater.'
'Salty guys make stories up.' Vali returned a look of her own.
"Now, we should get started."
Artemis notched an arrow and shot it into the sky, raining sparks of white light from the sky. It was like a gentle snowfall of sparkles.
"It's a spell that helps reveal hidden traps or tracks." Vali explained when she saw Adelaide's confused expression.
A magic circle appeared from underneath the ground where Vali stepped. Almost instantly, a monstrous creature erupted to life from it, attempting to devour the three of them. Once they got a good look at it, they realized that it was a creature native to the Lucifer region. A serpent of fire with scales of stone and eyes like suns.
"What the hell?!" Vali dodged one of the snake's lunges.
"Isn't that creature from Hell?" Adelaide weaved around a swipe of the serpent's tail.
"An infernal wyrm. It lived in the fiery pits of Hell before the devils migrated to a new home after they broke out." Artemis recalled hearing of a creature like it.
"Use ice magic and anything holy." Vali spread her wings, blasting away at it with freezing blasts of magic.
The Infernal Wyrm spewed lava and flamethrowers from its fanged mouth, incinerating the plains around it with hellfire. With a smash of its tail, stone was flung into the air with laces of fire.
Once Adelaide's vision was obscured, the Infernal Wyrm slithered over to her, attempting to eat her.
Adelaide repelled it, only to have some of her clothes burned by the wyrm's fire.
"Enough of this." Artemis notched an arrow, obliterating the creature's lower body with an empowered shot.
"You could've finished that quite easily, Vali. Don't conserve too much of your strength if you're dealing with something as destructive as fire." Artemis lightly reprimanded her former charge.
"Yes, Ma'am." Vali sighed.
"Still, what's it doing here? I thought your grandfather had them all locked up because they were too wild." Artemis walked over to the dissolving corpse.
"I don't know. My grandfather had a bunch of things locked up after the civil war. Nobody but him and the Four Satans should be able to access them." Vali was troubled by this news.
"Regardless, we've lost trace of-" Artemis stopped as she felt a new sensation.
"On your guards. Something's coming." Artemis readied her shining bow.
That was when they noticed that a light was glowing brighter from the sky.
"Dodge!"
A massive beam struck the ground, shattering the plains into dust. Artemis looked up and fired an arrow back at the source. The ground was greeted by a massive construct of metal. Gears clicked and beeped as the dust settled, revealing a new opponent.
A gigantic mechanical ring with a head and two floating arms was glowering down at them with its red visor. Its body was dark grey with glowing red lights across its body. Needless to say, it was large, standing as tall as a mansion.
"No…" Adelaide gasped as she recognized the construct in front of them.
"Magitech?" Vali could already tell she was going to hate this.
"Yeah. The Star Eater. It can absorb mana and fire it back. It was a superweapon during the Cataclysm War. Because mana was so integral to the supernatural, the human kingdoms developed machines to harness and counter it." Adelaide hated looking at it.
"And it was signed into commission by none other than the Princess."
"Great. More company." Vali groaned as someone floated down from a magic circle.
Adelaide looked dismayed when she saw her.
"Oh, wow, the rumors were true. You really did get split in two." The woman in front of her smirked.
She had long blue hair tied into a ponytail with an orange ribbon. Her eyes were olive-green and her physique was lithe. She wore the standard Novella Caelum robe over her clothes with brown leather boots.
"Italna." Adelaide muttered.
"You know her?" Vali asked.
"We know her. She was our maid and bodyguard when we were Aria."
"What's your purpose here?" Artemis stepped forward, trying to be polite.
"As much as I regret it, you need to die and those two need to be put out of commission for a while." Italna glared at Artemis.
"Italna, what's going on? You're living a new life! What're you doing with those people?" Adelaide demanded.
"This life didn't need to happen in the first place, Aria. I'm sorry, but the life that I'm living now isn't one that I want. I'm sorry about this, but you need to go to sleep for now." Italna gave her an apologetic look before snapping her fingers.
Magitech Armors flew down from above, taking aim at the three.
"If neither of you want to fight, then let's not." Artemis suggested.
"Unfortunately, I don't care what you have to say. It's the fault of gods, angels, demons, and beasts that this happened anyways. I'm not wasting more time on you." Iltana glared at Artemis with so much hatred that it was practically tangible.
The Star Eater turned to Artemis along with all of the Magitech Armors.
"You're taking me too lightly." Artemis fired an arrow into the sky. It split into hundreds more, falling like rain and shredding apart all of the Magitech Armors around her.
"Too slow." Italna scoffed as the Star Eater fired a massive beam from the ring floating behind it.
Artemis dodged, firing an arrow at the machine's head, only for it to be absorbed.
Vali and Adelaide tried to help her but were intercepted by Italna. With one quick kick, she knocked Vali on her back before pointing a purple blade at Adelaide.
(Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core OST - True Motives. Play Song.)
"Don't make me do this, Aria."
"She's Aria too." Adelaide pointed at Vali.
"She doesn't remember me or the past, so I can't say I count her much."
That angered Vali a little as she got back up.
"What was that?"
"You're half of Aria, but you don't have any memories, so by default, you're not exactly Aria to me. You're just a knockoff."
"Italna, what's happened? How did you remember your past? How do you know about all this?" Adelaide pleaded with her former aid.
"I've lived a hell in this lifetime, Aria. The people in this time and world and the complacency of gods…This is all trash compared to how things were before that stupid war. I just want those times back, those times when we were all happy."
"Then stop all this. Let us help you. I know you don't want to fight me and I don't want to fight you." Adelaide stepped closer.
"That's not going to work, Adelaide. You're siding with them and I can't get around that. Retreat and let me finish my work."
"Italna, think about what you're doing. Issei, the current reincarnation of Ardjis, is here too. We can figure this all out."
"I know. I'd have liked to see him too, but that's not going to happen any time soon. Now, go to sleep or leave." Italna stretched her weapon further.
"I'm sorry about this, then." Adelaide stepped back.
Italna knew that Adelaide was going to fight. In response, she breathed a green mist from her mouth.
"Don't breathe it in! It's a sleeping gas!" Adelaide turned to Vali.
"Balance Break!" Vali's white dragon armor then clad her.
"[Rejection Zone]" Adelaide created a magic symbol that sent Italna's sleeping gas back at her.
Italna exposed her sleeve, revealing a strap of needles, darts, and knives. With one quick throw, she flung a needle at Adelaide and then another at Vali. A normal weapon would've broken upon touching Vali's armor but her instincts told her to dodge.
Vali rushed Italna, only for a dart to nearly strike her neck. The former maid's aim and arm strength were impeccable. Then again, Italna had no reservations about trying to hurt her. When Vali tried to hit her, Italna backflipped, cartwheeled, and spun out of the way. Each time, she nearly got stabbed or cut by Italna.
Just as Italna was about to slash Vali's neck, Adelaide pushed her back with magic. In retaliation, Italna threw a metal sphere that was so small that it was barely bigger than a pebble.
"Don't let that thing pop!" Adelaide warned Vali.
"Too late." Italna shot a needle at the sphere, causing it to explode into black smoke.
"Poison?" Vali turned to Adelaide as they retreated to the sky.
"Yeah. Italna's immune to any and all poisons and can actually magically create it. Everything she has takes advantage of her power over it. I'm pretty sure even Artemis would be in trouble if she took a substantial dose." Adelaide turned to see that Artemis was just scrapping apart all of the Armors attacking her without breaking much of a sweat. Even so, Artemis wasn't being given the chance to help them, either.
"Adelaide, I know you don't want to fight Italna, but we can't afford to be soft right now. We need to finish our mission." Vali firmly spoke to her twin, hoping to get through to her.
"You're right. I'll keep her poison off you."
Vali charged in, throwing a punch at Italna.
"Who bombed the Pantheon?"
"Is it a tradition for the Alliance to talk so much in a fight?" Italna backflipped, nearly cutting Vali with a blade popping out of her boot heel.
"No, but it distracts you."
"[Divide]" Albion declared.
Italna threw a poison bomb at Vali as she backflipped away, despite losing some strength. Adelaide managed to redirect the bomb with [Rejection Zone], sending it back Italna. Gripping the bomb, Italna punched Adelaide and crushed the bomb in her hand at point-blank range.
"Adelaide!" Vali flew over to her before Italna could get to her.
When she wasn't looking, Italna struck her in the neck with a needle.
"I have orders not to kill you, but that doesn't mean I'll let you go unscathed. Consider this a warning. Stay out of this fight before you both get killed. This mistake just proved that you're too soft to be in a warzone. You never turn your back to an opponent." Italna then walked away.
"I could say the same." Artemis said as she fired an arrow at Italna.
The Star Eater began spinning the wheel on its back, absorbing the arrow.
"It doesn't matter to me. Your death would've just been a bonus. My job here is already done."
(Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core OST - True Motives. End Song.)
"Hold it!" Artemis tried to hit her again, only for Italna to instantly teleport away.
The Moon goddess cursed. If she'd been allowed to unleash her full power, then she could've easily dealt with all this. However, she wasn't sure if Vali and Adelaide would've ended up as collateral damage.
She ran over to the two to check on them.
Needless to say, the mission had to be paused so that Vali and Adelaide could get proper care and rest.
Vali awoke in a room with Adelaide in a bed next to hers.
"You two okay?"
Sitting by their bedsides was Issei.
"What happened?"
"You both got knocked out with poison. Don't worry, you two will be fine." Issei held her hand.
"What about the mission?" Vali sat up in her bed.
"Artemis is finishing it. It's been two days since you two were knocked out. While you all pursued the trail, the ones that stayed behind found some more clues." Issei then looked grimmer than she'd ever expected.
"What'd you find?"
"A lot's happened while you were out, Vali." Issei reluctantly gave her a crumpled and burned piece of paper. On it was the symbol of the Lucifer house.
"What?!"
"Those have been found all over bombed sites. We managed to restore them with collected evidence from the sites. A lot of evidence and suspicions came funneling in the day we started investigating the situation. Right now, Rizevim and the Four Satans are under investigation by the Alliance."
Vali could feel the warmth of her blood fade away.
"On what grounds?!" She demanded.
"Normally, this wouldn't be enough. However, creatures that were locked up by Rizevim and the Four Satans were found attacking various locations. The only ones that could let them out would be the people mentioned. Just earlier this morning, recent bank transactions show money being withdrawn and transferred to many accounts that are confirmed to belong to the enemy. Then there's the fact that the three of us are mainly associated with Rizevim. It's causing people to doubt him and even suspect him of being up to something. He's currently under imprisonment along with Ezagyra and your parents."
"Then why aren't we under arrest too?" Vali snarled.
"Because your peerage's contributions are protecting you. You've been on the aggressive end of things since the Khaos Brigade started. You helped stop the attack on the Peace Conference. You defeated Shalba Beelzebub, freed Ileana and Rintilr. Issei also defeated the Seven Aviturs. Many people who've been touched by your actions have spoken up on your behalf. That's the only thing that's keeping you kids safe." Sun Wukong puffed his pipe as he entered the room.
"So, what do we do now?"
"For now, you're going to have to stay here. At worst, you'll be monitored but nothing more than questioning."
"Can I see them?" Vali looked at Wukong, hopeful.
"No, that won't be possible. I can pass along a message, at least."
"It's fine, then."
"Issei, a word, please." The Monkey King and said boy walked outside, closing the door behind them.
"As of this moment, your orders will be coming from me or Enki. I don't know what's going to happen, but I want you stay on your toes. I don't want to believe that Rizevim is connected with these attacks." Wukong stowed his pipe away.
"You don't seriously believe all of this, do you?"
"You've died enough times to know that sometimes your most trusted friends could be your worst enemy. Rizevim's sealed his mouth shut since he was arrested. By all pretenses, all of you kids should be detained too. What I want to know is if Rizevim ordered or told you all anything."
Wukong and Issei stared at each other, neither sure if the other was hiding something or if they wanted to hear anything.
"Not at all. We haven't talked about anything significant." Issei finally spoke up.
"I see. So long as you don't know anything dangerous, then you might be safe." Wukong muttered.
"What're you getting at?"
"Rizevim's been working closely with Enki since you came back. Those two might be onto something and someone else might be after it. Watch yourself and watch out for those two. Also, be careful where you talk. Walls can have eyes and ears." Wukong walked away ominously, leaving Issei to feel paranoia slowly creep up his spine.
Issei groaned in frustration. What was he to do now? Not too long after, Enki also came by to visit the three.
"I'm sorry to hear about all that's happened." Enki set his kits and papers down as he began examining Vali and Adelaide.
"So, remind me again what those machines are for?" Issei asked as Enki put headgear on Vali and Adelaide.
"I'm trying to make sure they've got mental balance. From my research, the Abyss and the Void can be a bit unstable. Sometimes, it can mess with your head. Mental health is just as important as physical health."
Issei watched intently as Enki worked.
"I've been told what's happened to Rizevim, I'm sorry."
"Thank you." Vali nodded in recognition.
"For what it's worth, I can be a good listener."
"It's fine, Lord Enki. We just need time to digest everything."
"Sometimes, traveling and little walks can help you. You might meet some people who can help you gain something." Enki gave one of his rare smiles as he put his things away.
Every once in a while, Enki would be friendly with the three. Issei guessed that it was so that they wouldn't feel so alienated and different. Day in and day out, they'd meet with Enki to check up on their conditions, even helping him develop technology that could fight Aviturs.
"Today, I also wanted to show something to you." Enki produced bracelets from his bag.
"What do these do?" Vali inspected the jeweled bracelet.
"It's something I've been developing. With your link to the Abyss, you might be able to track the Aviturs or detect where they've been. I'm hoping that since you three are connected to them, you're the best to give them to." Enki then finished packing up his things.
"You don't know who to trust these days. Fate brought you three together. That means it has to be you three who uncover the truth." Enki put a reassuring hand on Issei's shoulder before leaving.
And that's chapter 3 of the 6 chapter update.