The next time I can feel again, I realize I'm wrapped in a different kind of softness.
My eyes shoot open, my upper body rapidly sitting up to take in my surroundings.
I am now in a fairly sizable red-bricked room, laid out among one of many white beds in the room. Light pours in through the multicolored stained glass windows that are so numerous, that they may as well be the walls.
Quickly, I cast two cantrips, Detect Magic and Read Aura. Only when my senses return an overload of holy, sacred, and positive energies from the area do I let myself relax, and slowly lay down.
Well.
That was an experience.
Still can't believe I thought some of those things when Gabriel showed up,
Anyhow, I believe I have a quest to turn in. I'll check that out, then see about finding out where exactly I am,
So. Quests?
…
Uh. Journal?
…
Uhhh. Menu?
A glowing white box appears in my vision, with four white words glowing within.
-Menu-
[Chronicle]
[Status]
[Contacts]
Kinda bare. But I guess that makes sense since I lost a couple of functions with the difficulty. I guess Chronicle is my quests tab, then?
The text in the box shifts, displaying this,
[Campaign Quest Completed!]
Thru Fire And Flame
Quest Difficulty: Nightmare
"Survive the coming attack on your home."
Main Objective: Survive Until Help Arrives [X]
-Bonus Objectives-
Kill Low-Class Devils (0/24) [-]
Kill Middle-Class Devils (0/12)[-]
Kill High-Class Devils (3/3) [X]
Kill Ichabod Satanachia (1/1 [X]
-Misc Objectives-
Keep Allied Exorcists Alive (4/29)
Reward: 400 EXP, Archetype Dedication, +1 Hero Point.
Bonus Rewards: +1 Level, 620 EXP, +1 Hero Point.
I groan both inwardly and outwardly.
More. Feats.
Thought I was done with those for a while?
Oh. Also.
Level 7 (220/800)
Two levels for one quest right off the bat is, eh, acceptable.
For those who aren't aware, Archetypes in Pathfinder 2e are practically bastardized versions of multi-classing.
In essence, they took the classes, watered them down, and turned them into a string of feats.
Like I said, feat hell.
That doesn't mean there are just the other core and base class types, there is some unique stuff as well.
Let me show you.
-Archetype Dedication Selection-
[Note: After selection, the User must gain at least two feats within their selected Dedication before they may move on to the next.]
Archer
Exorcist
Dragon Disciple
Bastion
Ritualist
Blessed One
Lich
Marshal
Vampire
… ... …
Yeah, a tad ridiculous. I kind of suspect Nightmare Mode removed any kind of 'sort' functions too.
Anyhow, I'm going to pick up Ritualist. Why? It gives me access to Ritual Spells, which shouldn't take Holy Power, just time, and can do some crazy shit.
If my memory serves, 1st level rituals can do crazy shit, like summon devils, and demons, then bind said fiends to pacts, or just teleport yourself to another plane.
At level 1.
If I ever need to visit Heaven for some reason, there we go!
I wonder what summoning a demon in DxD would look like though?
Shit just takes a whole day to cast. Don't worry though! Further feats in the Dedication should bring that time down.
Once I'm done with this Dedication though, I'm definitely going to go for either Blessed One, or Exorcist next. Probably Exorcist. Or maybe Dragon Disciple, because dragons. But probably Exorcist.
That one lets you shove spirits and ghosts into a jar and purify them or use them as a power source for other things.
Would be useless against everyone, besides maybe Youkai. If the Divine spell list wouldn't eventually give me a spell later on that lets me rip out people's spirits.
Fun times await.
Also, thematic!
With that done and chosen, I am greeted by this screen.
-Heroic Chronicles-
Hero Points (2/12)
Title: N/A
"All myths have to start somewhere."
Campaign Quests [None]
Side Quests [None]
Misc Quests [None]
Huh. Okay. I was wondering what Hero Points are, but it looks like the system doesn't want to reveal its secrets quite yet.
Not going to lie, I get a silly grin wondering just what those Hero Points are building towards.
I hope it's massive, and not just a title or some shit.
Closing that out, I head over to my status with a single thought and start filling in my level-up rewards.
Level 6 gave me a class feat and skill feat.
For my class feat, I picked Divine Weapon, which basically just boosts my melee weapons power after using my Holy Power to cast a spell.
I freeze a bit while looking over my options for skill feats as I see Alchemical Crafting.
Alchemy in Pathfinder isn't just potions, it's a bit more than that. Oils, bombs, items, and of course the good ol' fashioned elixirs.
In DxD, Alchemy is also used in the production and repair of powerful weapons – such as Holy Swords.
The problem? My Intelligence stat is average.
Everything else is important, so I prioritized it. I actually hoped quest rewards might include stat points in them, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
Unless I could maybe train them?
Mysterious ROB specified that the store and gacha functions were abused to make the difficultly worthless, but just because those functions are gone, doesn't necessarily mean that what was in them is as well.
I'm not sure how that could apply to the gacha, but in the store's case, maybe I could 'buy' stuff with time? As in, training and searching the old-fashioned way to get the things I could have bought in the store?
It's worth a shot later.
I swear to Grandfather though, If 'training' intelligence means I have to go to school...I didn't come here for that again damn it!
…
At least I think I went to school in my last life. Judging by my increasing levels of annoyance and malice at the subject.
In the end, I said "Fuck it" and got Alchemical Crafting.
Level 7 gave me a general feat and a skill increase.
I used the skill increase to boost my Crafting Skill to expert and used the general feat to pick up Toughness, which is just a boost to hit points.
Hopefully, with that, I won't roll over as easily as last time.
When I finalize my changes, my body feels sore all of a sudden, my Holy Power becomes about 75% full, and I now have access to all my Holy Fire and Righteous Zeal Domain Spells.
Holy Fire Domain Focus Spells:
Holy Ignition (3 Holy Power Per Use)
Wreathed in Prominence (Cost: 6 Holy Power Per Minute of Use)
Increase and energize the Holy Fire blood in your veins, and let your birthright be made known to all who stand before your radiant inferno.
You become wreathed in Holy Fire, letting out an aura of heat in a 10-foot radius around you that ignites any hostiles who fail to resist as if they were affected by Holy Ignition. Additionally, you are under the effects of a Consecrate Flesh spell while within this state
Should you cast any spells that deal fire damage while within this state, the fire damage becomes Holy Fire damage, adding an additional 6d6 worth of damage on top of the spells base damage, splitting it between holy and fire. Damage is multiplied by 4 against creatures of darkness, such as friends or undead.
Righteous Zeal Domain Focus Spells:
Psalm of Zeal (3 Holy Power Per Use)
You inflame the burning righteous anger and cause within yourself and your allies, letting out a war cry, short quip, or related short phrase that increases their determination and will to fight.
You and allies within a 15-foot radius around you gain +2 on checks to counteract poison, curses, fright, and other negative effects.
Righteous Judgment (6 Holy Power Per Use)
Your inner passion and righteousness threaten to spill over into the outside world, becoming actual fire to burn your enemies, and you let your enemies feel the beginnings of that.
You produce an aura of 15 feet which could be described as biting tension, hostiles within this aura have a -2 on checks against becoming intimidated or frightened. Additionally, they have a -2 to deception checks and may fear lying altogether so as not to inflame your ire more.
Oh yeah. Second Holy Fire focus spell? Looking real good. Won't be able to use it for more than 5 minutes. But! Damn! It would probably look sick!
The Righteous Zeal spells are fine. The second one I could see getting a lot of use off the field for...reasons I will get into soon.
I get up off the bed finally, letting my fluffy white wings out as I stretch my whole body, groaning slightly as the kinks all fallout.
Especially in the wings, I don't get how everyone in the three factions keeps their wings in all the time!
I look down to see myself in a pretty basic white monk robe, apparently, my old mini priest vestments were destroyed after my fight, so it looks like I get new clothes.
Can I just say, much more comfortable than the priest vestments!
After a brief glance around my bed, I find a small table stand with a neatly folded note laying on top of it. Picking it up, and flipping it open, it reads,
"Hello, my adorable little Nephew! I'm sorry for not being able to be there when you woke up, but we may have found a lead as to who sent those Devils to attack you, or rather, who told the Devils about you. I and your Father went to go punish them justly!"
Wait. So my position was given up? I scoff inwardly, of fucking course it was. This is The Church, after all.
"I'll be back once we make sure everything is taken care of to bring you to Vatican City proper! In the meantime, stay put! The Bishop of the cathedral you're in knows of your status, but the nuns and priests don't! Please, do try and be discrete about that."
So about the same as when I was staying at the monastery, whenever there were visitors I was always told to hide my identity, so as to never let who I was get out of the building.
"Love, Gabriel~!"
She drew multiple hearts over that last bit.
She uh, really likes me, huh? Am I seriously that cute? I designed a handsome guy in my head, maybe the Angel Heritage made some slight tweaks? Or maybe it's just my age? Eh.
Suddenly, I hear the door open behind me.
"Ah? H-Hello? Are you-" a small female voice is heard, before abruptly stopping. The sound of something clattering to the floor can be heard after.
I slowly turn my head, my eyes going owlish as I see a small blonde-haired girl, whose dark green eyes look at me and my wings in pure amazement and shock. On the floor looks to be a small board with a cup of water, now freshly dropped and spilled.
[Important Contact Gained!]
Asia Argento
[Contact Affection Increase!]
Asia Argento [20/100]
"A-A-Angel!" the girl full-on squeaks.
Oh. Fuck.
~ Angelfinder 2 ~
"I-I-I'm sorry!" the girl quickly drops to her knees, practically bowing before me, "I-I didn't mean to interrupt a-a-anything!"
Huh. Starting to see why telling everyone who I am might be a bad idea. Not just for the information leak, but also, well, this.
I better get this over with quickly.
I walk over to her, as I start to approach, I can see her stiffen. I grab her hands and gently lift her up to she's looking at me again.
'Don't worry," I start with a smile, "you didn't interrupt anything."
She looks down at our hands, then up at me, then at our hands, then up at me and my wings her face growing redder as the moments tick on.
"U-Uwwwaaahhhh..." and then she passes out. She starts falling back, but I quickly catch her, and then I just kind of stare at her.
She's not even Japanese! Why did she do the thing there!? And more importantly, why did she faint!? Did her mind overload from hand holding!? She's 10!
I just sigh, first time meeting a canon character while not dying and this is what happens? Of course.
I pick her up easily and set her in the bed across from my own.
Did I gain 20 affection with her for apparently just being a Miracle Child? Well, she probably thinks I'm a Pure Angel right now, I'll correct her when she wakes it.
Or was the gain because of Asia just being Asia?
Hnnnghh. We'll see. I might as well check out my other contacts while waiting for Asia to wake up.
-Contacts-
Uriel, General of the Heavenly Host
[100/100]
Michael, Prince of the Heavenly Host
[100/100]
Raphael, Doctor of the Heavenly Host
[100/100]
Gabriel, Messenger of the Heavenly Host
[100/100]
Irina Shidou
[45/100]
Asia Argento, Holy Maiden
[20/100]
Dulio Gesualdo
[15/100]
…
Sorry, my mind just went blank there for a second.
What the hell am I looking at!? The first four, make sense, I get that, but Irina!? What!?
Memories! Answer! Now!
My mind picks up a memory from about..three years or so again. When Irina came with her father to be trained.
I was told, like normal, not to reveal my status to her, but Touji – Irina's father – already knew. Seems like he was high enough rank for it, probably the reason why he was even allowed to come at all.
In any case, that's how we met. We became fast friends, purely because neither one of us ever had friends our...age?
what.
~ Angelfinder 2 ~
It had been a couple of days since those new people arrived, bringing a girl about my age with them.
Truly, I didn't think I would be able to talk with her properly. The last time someone spoke to me normally was a few years ago after all.
I block a downward swing aimed for my shoulder blade from a wooden training sword with my own training sword, slide into her guard, and attempt to elbow her in the nose.
The strawberry blonde leans forwards and ducks under my elbow, continues her momentum forward to get behind me and attempt a second swing on my back, but I turn to her at just the same time to block it and push her back.
"You're getting distracted, Ai-Kun!" the girl calls.
I blink at the honorific, still not used to the way Japanese translates to me.
"Only because you're getting better, Iri-chan!" I respond with a smile. I think I got the honorific right this time?
The girl suddenly stops, blushes horribly, and starts swiveling back and forth, "I-Iri-chan, huh...?" I could barely hear her there.
"Uh, do you not like it? D-Did I use the honorific wrong?" I say, my stance falling slightly as a bout of panic starts to sweep into my voice.
She perks up, "O-Oh! No, no! I love it, and you did, it's just...I've never had a c-cute nickname before."
I lower my sword completely, and look at her intently, "Was it really that lonely back in...Kuoh, right? Where you used to live?" I ask suddenly, she says stuff like that sometimes, usually not so openly though.
She pauses, looking away for a moment before answering, "Y-Yeah, there was never anyone my age around, so I just focused on my future, the Chruch, and becoming an Exorcist as fast as possible, i-it's why we're here, actually..." then, suddenly, her face brightens up, gaining a big smile that I can't help but reflect, "but! I'm glad I did because I got to meet you!"
Silence follows, both of us slowly getting redder at that particular announcement.
Before the door adjacent to us opens suddenly, revealing one Touji Shidou.
At that moment, we both screamed like little girls.
~ Angelfinder 2 ~
…
never anyone?
The words mysterious ROB said to me about nightmare mode blasted through my head at a million miles per hour.
Not a matter of power? No, it's a matter of canon.
I can't count on Issei to help with any of the threats now- no, wait, this could be so much worse because him not being in Kuoh doesn't necessarily mean he was never born, it could mean he got yoinked already by someone, that he was simply born elsewhere, or any other number of factors.
More importantly, though? I now have no fucking clue where the Boosted Gear is. If Issei is dead and not yoinked, then some random guy could have it, or someone much more horrifying could.
But I don't know. And that is quite literally a nightmare scenario!
Fuck, alright, plan rewrite time, lets's go through a couple of arcs, mainly? Marriage Issues, and Holy Swords.
Truthfully? I don't care about Rias enough to even think about helping her with her problems. I wouldn't be able to anyways, being a half-angel and all.
But Kokabiel is now my problem. Without Issei there, Kokabiel could say fuck it and blow the town to hell and back because he isn't entertained enough, which means Irina, Xenovia, and the Satan Sister's all die before Vali get there which means war.
Yeah, I need level 20 before canon starts. That should give me my fifth pair of wings, and the power to fight him.
And Vali, just in case.
I've got six years, it's 2002 right now.
That should be enough time. Then, I get to deal with Loki, the Hero Faction, Razevim, Trihexa, and Hades, and then-
…
Wait a minute.
What about ExE?
For those who aren't aware, the ExE – or one of the E's, the Evie – are the current threats in the DxD Light Novel. They are a machine race that goes around exterminating all life, and they recently just jumped across the Dimensional Gap to come to Earth and continue their spree.
The thing is though, one of their leaders, Regalzeva, causally challenges and no diffs Great fucking Red.
Issei is supposed to gather 'The 12 Heavenly Breasts' and gain the power to beat them, but without him there...
Yeaaahhh...
Now it's my job to handle them eventually.
Bright side? No Issei means part of the catalyst that made the Evie want to come in the first place is gone, all I need to do is off Razevim before he declares war on them and then tells them how to get here.
That'll buy me at least 30 more years before the Evie invade naturally if DxD EX is to be believed.
And all that is assuming Issei is the only thing that suddenly disappeared.
I take a deep breath in and sigh, going to my status to look over one of my abilities, Angelic Form. Here, it mentions going beyond level 20, turning my wings into light after gaining 6 pairs.
My guess is this is some sort of 'Super Angel' thing. The only person I can think of that has wings of light is Michael, but I wouldn't exactly call him a 'Transcendent Angel'.
I think I like that term better than 'Super Angel', actually.
In any case, it's probably a prestige class thing. I wonder what my true max level is?
Guess I'll have to find out, I just hope it's all enough.
Hnngh, okay! Enough of all that! Let's just focus on what I can do within the foreseeable future right now.
The Church is a mess, and I'm going to fix it. Simple as that.
The problem with the Church is all the corruption nesting within, removing that is a priority, but, fixing the reasons by which the corruption was allowed to grow is even more important.
Heavenly oversight would be a good start, but honestly, the main problem is church doctrine.
You see, back in 1962, the Second Vatican Council was held in Vatican City to update doctrine and bring the Church into the growing modern world.
But, it was really a cover for the formation of the way the Church acts and runs now in terms of the supernatural.
It's when Catholicism, Protestantism, Orthodox, and most other major denominations joined together once more, in a vow to purge the world of the creatures of darkness; Devils, Undead, etc.
However, this merge wasn't really smooth.
As in, tons of concessions were made all around, which ended up making everyone united in name only.
Nothing was achieved that day, short of sowing the seeds by which the same men from then still hold the power.
That was also the year they made Harems official in the Church, by the way. For high-class exorcists only really, so as to have stronger and more numerous high-class exorcists.
Also, all of that was just from an expert in Religion, I seriously don't know if I want to know what gets downloaded into my head at master and legendary.
In any case, I think it's time to finally fix all of it for good.
[A New Campaign Quest Has Been Issued!]
Oh? So I decide when those come up? Let's see what we got here!
Let Justice Be Done
Quest Difficulty: Very Hard
"I send my Sword."
Main Objective 1: Rout the Corruption from the Church []
Main Objective 2: Get the Church to rewrite its doctrine []
Bonus Objectives:
Save Isaiah []
Prevent Freed's Madness []
Prevent Asia's Excommunication []
Prevent Xenovia's Excommunication []
Misc Objectives:
Gather New Recruits (0) []
Convert Stray Exorcists back to the Church (0) []
Huh. Well, I was going to do the majority of those bonuses anyways.
I can stop Freed from going mad?
Those miscellaneous objectives though, are the rewards determined by how many I get? There doesn't seem to be a set number there.
Still, wouldn't be a Church's main quest without some good old-fashioned evangelism!
I'm going to need some help with this, though. The Church is way too big to cover it all by myself.
I have a few ideas of people that could help; Dulio, Vasco, Mirana, and Griselda all seem like good people in the higher ranks who would be willing to help.
Well, the former three anyways, Dulio is actually about 15 right now, not quite a high-class Exorcist yet.
I know because he started visiting my little monastery the past year, once or twice a month, I'd say. He'd just come by to tell me about his missions and adventures across the world with his teacher, Ewald.
Ah, right. The only reason I'm not considering that guy for my little project is that the guy is, a bit of a zealot? Is that the right term? He'd need evidence and convincing first, a lot of it before he'd agree to help.
I can gather him later, he isn't necessarily needed right this second.
I close out all my menus and find Asia still out like a light right in front of me.
I hope she wakes up before Gabriel comes to drag me to the Vatican. As soon as I leave, my plans begin to go into motion, so I may not have as much time as I'd like to talk to her from here on.
I mean, I'd still find time to come talk to her regardless. The poor girl needs a friend, desperately, and I don't plan on leaving her hanging like that.
Still don't get why she passed out in the first place.
~ Angelfinder 2 ~
It took half an hour for her eyes to begin to flutter open as she awoke...and the very first thing she saw was, of course, me looming over her as I noticed her waking up.
"E-Eh!?" she quickly sat up, "Mr. A-Angel! I-I'm-" she started.
But I quickly interrupted her with, "Firstly, please, calm down...you don't need to worry. You're fine, you didn't do anything wrong.." as I look at her, I see her visibly relax...slightly.
Eh, it's a start.
"Second. My name is Aidan Marvel! I'm not a Pure Angel, I'm a Miracle Child, a half-angel." I chuckle and rub the back of my head a bit, "Though, that last bit is supposed to be a secret, please don't tell anyone?"
She stares at me for a second, like I'm some sort of foreign creature, then nods slightly, "I-I won't." she says meekly.
"Thank you. So!" I sit down next to her, "What's your name, I didn't catch it before you, eh, fainted."
Her eyes widen a bit, and she looks away, "R-Right, I'm sorry, it's Asia Argento."
"Don't be, Asia, it's my fault for scaring you."
"N-No! It's not!" She sits up, all of a sudden looking at me, "I'm just! I-I don't really" then she slowly simmers back down, "talk, too people."
I frown slightly, and raise an eyebrow, "Do people treat you bad here?"
"W-Well." Now she's back to looking away, "Not really anything like that." She gives a sad smile, though I can barely see it, "They j-just, treat me differently I suppose."
I grimace at that, my body's memories know that feeling fairly well, having been treated as a sacred object most of his life at the monastery, rather than as a person.
"I know the feeling."
"E-Eh?"
"Besides my mother and father, all the priests and nuns at the monastery I used to live at treated me more like an object to keep safe, rather than a person to have fun with. It sucked, but," I shoot her a smile, "I found a couple of people who treated me like people, like...friends, even."
At her shying away from my smile, I turn completely towards her, standing up, "I see...you don't do you? Well!" I grab her hands again, prompting another squeak from the girl as her gaze shoots back to me, "How about I be your first?"
"W-What!?" Her body immediately locks up, "You shouldn't be d-doing that for s-someone like m-me, M-Mr. Marv-"
"Drop the formalities, just call me Aidan."
"A-Aidan."
"Now, why couldn't I have you as a friend?" she squeaks again, "I'm fairly certain I get to decide that."
"B-But you're an a-angel."
"And? Half-angel, remember."
"That's e-even more reason n-not-"
"I still don't see a problem here?"
She stops, and looks away from me, "Do you r-really mean it?"
"Of course. I just met you, and I won't be able to stay here, but, I can always visit." I pull her up so she's standing off the bed, "And I truly don't you to feel alone. To have you continue experiencing what I once felt," I give a slightly sadder smile, "Besides, I only have a couple of friends right now, always looking for more..." I look at her intently, "What do you say?'
She gazes at me, both halfway open like when she first saw me, a moment passes, and soon she responds, "I w-would love to, though I'm unworthy of it." she barely mutters.
"I can assure you, you're not unworthy of anything." I smile back, fully.
She looks back at me and smiles just slightly.
[Contact Affection Increase!]
Asia Argento [35/100]
Honestly can't tell if the girl is that desperate, or my high charisma and diplomacy are doing things already.
It's probably both, really.
~ Angelfinder 2 ~
Sadly, it only took a few hours after Asia woke up for Gabriel to come by, though, not in the way I expected.
As I and Asia were talking in the infirmary, drinking water, and just getting used to each other, the door suddenly swings open to reveal a nun in full habit.
Though the woman inside it certainly wasn't a nun, at least to me, and the clothes fit her...well?
"Oh, Nephew~! There you are Aidan, I see you're up! Sister Gabby is here to pick you up and bring you to your new home!" she smiled sweetly, much too sweetly. Seems like her and father's missions was a success.
But.
Sister Gabby?
Real subtle, aren't you Aunty?
Oh, Asia squeaked again when the door flung open, by the way.
Asia looks at me, sadness clearly creeping onto her face, "Y-You have to go? Already?"
I just sigh, "Yeah, you'll see me again, though! I'll come by and visit!"
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Gabriel flinch just a bit.
They're planning on locking me up in the Vatican, aren't they?
Haha! No.
Asia smiles, though I can see the doubt in her eyes, "O-Okay." and I pat her on the head before hopping off the bed.
"See ya!"
"B-Bye."
"Let's be off then Aunty."
Gabriel nods, takes my hand, and with the other waves to Asia, who waves back shyly.
She walks me out to the cathedral's courtyard, where nobody is present at the moment. Then we both unfurl our wings, and take flight, blasting into the sky.
It only takes a moment of us being in the sky before I start with, "You're not locking me up in the Vatican, Aunty."
For a second, her flight wavers, "T-That isn't exactly the right words, Aidan."
I sigh and look at her intently, "Protecting me by doing the same is still locking me up, you know. If you really wanted to keep me safe, you would just take me up to Heaven."
"Aidan! W-We can't do that-"
"I know, I know, it's because of dad, isn't it? Next time you see him tell him I miss him, alright?"
At that, she drops a full foot and before looking back at me incredulously.
I just stare blankly at her, "Uh, what?"
"You don't blame him?"
"No? Why would I?" This is true of both my body's memories and me personally. I'm not about to be Akeno 2 over here!
Seriously system, why that backstory? Run out of creativity oil?
"He thought you..."
"I don't blame him for anything, and, really he needs to stop comparing himself to Grandpa." I plainly state, "It's only hurting him more."
At Gabriel's sad look, I'm guessing I hit the nail on the head on that one.
She takes a breath to center herself before finally saying, "Aidan. I know it's hard, but there are those that want you, purely because you're you. Many would want to use you to try and get at us the Great Seraphs. This isn't an easy situation here..."
"I think it is. Simply let me defend myself."
"You aren't ready for that."
"Then let me get ready?"
She suddenly stops and looks at me. No more do I see the usual kind or innocent expression across her face, it's now just an intense stare.
"How, then?" She intones.
"Let me become an Exorcist in the Church." before she can instantly reject me, I hastily continued, "I already have the training for it, I can start as a low-class one, then work my way up from there as I gain more experience!"
She frowns slightly, "Aidan, that's-"
"Aunty, please. You guys can't keep locking me up in church buildings expecting everything to be alright!"
Her expression shifts once more, becoming sweet, yet sad once again.
"I know." she mutters, "Alright. I'll need to ask the others first, to see if it's alright." She rubs my cheek a bit, giving me a sweet smile, "Is that okay?"
"That's fine." It's probably the best I can hope for, really.
But, I need at least this freedom if I'm going to get anything done. Also, I suspect that those exorcist missions might become something like side quests for me, and could become a reasonable source of semi-consistent exp for me to level up from.
The rest of the trip was taken in some odd sort of silence, it wasn't exactly tense, more foreboding? I was dropped off quickly in the Vatican City central courtyard, where a small army of exorcists escorted me to my new quarters.
I didn't even get to say goodbye, as the moment I turned around to do so, she was gone. A few white feathers fluttered in the breeze where she once was.
~ Angelfinder 2 ~
Michael has been having a migraine practically the entire day.
When the wards around his little nephew's lodgings were tripped, sending a signal to Heaven that a small army of Devils had shown up there, all hell broke loose.
Figuratively, of course.
Uriel flew into such a rage he was afraid his brother might Fall from sheer wrath, and in the end, it was decided that Gabriel would take a small army to counter the attack.
The Heavenly Host has been in an uproar sense. All three Choirs, and the angels within the highest Choir, have been clamoring at him to declare war against the Devils for the attack.
Even if it was confirmed to have been a...traitor...in the Church. And that the Devils that performed the attack were of the Old Satan Faction.
Officially, the current Satans had washed their hands of them a long time ago, so declaring war over their actions just isn't feasible.
And now, though most of the Heavenly Council has left, he and the other oldest siblings remain, gathered around a round table on the 7th Heaven, trying to figure this mess out.
For them, Aidan was family, and thus a family issue. Not one of politics.
Gabriel had just gotten back from taking Aidan to the Vatican where he would be safe for now, and not even a minute in, Uriel rushed her down.
"Is he alright, Gabriel!?"
Gabriel looked startled, but smiled slightly, and nodded, "He is, don't worry."
At that, everyone lost some tension, especially Uriel.
"He had something he wanted to say to you, however, Uriel."
And it was back!
"He told me to tell you," suddenly, her smile gets brighter, "that he misses you!"
Everyone around the room had a different reaction. Michael just blinked owlishly, Raphael had a knowing smile, and Uriel froze stock still.
"T-Truly? He doesn't...?" Uriel could barely begin.
Raphael is the next one to speak, "I believe we told you that for so long as well, brother."
Uriel sputtered a bit, "But I-I! Truly, sister!? He meant that!?" at her nod, he continues, "But I abandoned him and then his mother, how...?"
"You never did ask how he felt directly, did you, brother?" Michael suddenly speaks, "Maybe it's time you went down and had a chat with him?"
Uriel's breath hitched, "N-Not yet. I'm sorry, but not yet..."
Michael sighed, his brother truly hasn't been the same over the last decade.
But, progress is progress, at least this isn't a flat-out denial and more yelling about how much of a failure he is as a father.
He really needed to hear that, didn't he?
Gabriel suddenly continues, her face looking a lot less bright than before. "Aidan has a request. He wishes to join the Church and become an Exorcist, to fight and such. He doesn't want to be held down any longer."
Now Uriel blinked owlishly, and Michael's breath hitched.
Raphael however said, "That's fine with me." with the same smile on his face as before.
Uriel looked appalled, "Brother! How could you think that's a good idea!?"
"We can't keep him caged up forever, brother. You know this. If he's anything like you, he'll explode out of sheer boredom eventually." Raphael replied with a knowing smirk, causing Uriel to just stand there and pout.
Gabriel spoke, "I agree with Raphael."
"S-Sister!?" now Uriel just looked betrayed.
"Listen, Uriel, the boy needs to get out there and live," she looks at Uriel intently, "When I went by to pick him up, he had already made a new friend of the young girl his age there, and he promised to go see her again whenever he could!" once it dawned on Uriel what exactly Gabriel was saying, he just looked guilty.
"He's lonely then? Isn't he...? Another of my faults upon him." Uriel muttered, then, after a moment, he sighed and hesitantly nodded, and looked on at Michael, who hasn't said anything yet regarding this.
Michael took in all their expressions, and after a moment, he sighed as well. "Very well. But, to calm our brother's mind, let's but some concessions on our nephew's membership based on his age and class. Will that make you feel better, brother?"
Uriel nodded quickly, Raphael just sighed and said, "At least it's a start, let's try not to constrain him so much as to basically just give him a bigger prison, alright?"
At Uriel's appalled expression, Gabriel just smiled at her family's antics.
Outside, Michael smiled. But inwardly, he was nervous. He knows the Church has seen better days, knows they are a pale reflection of what once was, though he doesn't truly understand the full scope of that assessment. Nevertheless, he fears what Aidan might find or be exposed to within.
He hopes his little nephew grows strong enough quick enough to survive.
: Author's Notes :
Hnnnggh. Not a lot really got done in this chapter, which I didn't like, but this one is really just set up for his next campaign quest and future plans.
Also, important canon stuff went 'brrrrr' and will likely continue to do so.
Quite a few chapters coming up will include a bunch of time skips.
I don't want to bomb rush my way to the start of canon...but I also don't want to sit here and have like, 20 chapters be dedicated to Aidan abusing Exhort the Faithful and his high charisma and diplomacy stats to basically make the Church his bitch, but still.
I want this Campaign Quest to be completely finished by the time Aidan turns 14 to 15, so we can have some church harem fluff and power grinding before canon kicks in.
Oh, I would like suggestions! Do you all think Aidan should have a Sacred Gear at all? And if so, should it stay as it is, or should I turn it into his Prestige Class? I have ideas for both, but can't really decide one way or the other.
The thought really comes from my desire to show up all the half-devils, who all seem to have Sacred Gears, for some reason.
Oh, also, Brave Saint suggestions? I've got most of his cards picked, but I need about 4 more to fill the suit. Members of his Brave Saints don't have to be a part of his harem, or vice versa really, but I would prefer them to be all gathered up in one place.
Also, I've got a bunch of stuff for Heaven and their Rating Games System that I would love to use, purely because the thought of an alternate system using a trading card game like mechanics combined with poker and blackjack amuses me.
It won't end up being a core part of the story or anything, just a fun little side activity later down the line for Aidan to do in between arcs.
Or just as a legitimate reason for me to hit Aidan with Holy Lightning. Whatever comes first.
I read all the reviews/replies from the last chapter, by the way. Thank you all for your words and suggestions so far, I'm honestly kind of surprised this received as much attention as it did so fast.
Some real juicy stuff happens next chapter.
Once again, thank you all.
Peace.