"… What shall you eat for dinner?" The Knight asked, as it looked around.
"Umm… do you have anything you would like to eat?" Asia asked.
"… No, don't need to, never needed to," The Knight replied.
"Eh…? Wait, you don't need to eat?" The Knight nodded. "What about sleeping? Drinking?"
"… I need neither of those things, buy yourself something to eat, only for you," The Knight replied.
"I see… wait, what about the snacks?" She asked.
"… Like sweets, don't do anything for me," The Knight replied.
"Well, that's not good for you, you shouldn't eat only sweets," She protested.
"… I shouldn't eat at all," The Knight replied, it's head tilted to the side.
"That's… I… suppose," Asia said, before giving up. "How about some meat and vegetables for dinner?"
"… As long as you know how to cook them," The Knight replied.
"You… don't know how to cook?" She asked, while the Knight nodded.
"… Never needed to," It replied.
Asia could only look in pity at it, before she began picking all kinds of stuff, more than the Knight expected, probably because she was hungry. This in turn left both the Knight and Ophis alone, the two standing next to each other, neither saying a word.
"… There was a devil close by, watching you fight," Ophis.
"… The ones that came later?" It asked.
"… No, somebody else, young male," She replied.
"… How much did he see?" It asked.
"… Most of the fight, except for the humans below," She explained.
"… Why didn't you tell?" The Knight asked.
"… Didn't seem relevant at the time, different from the devils you met before," She explained.
"… Dangerous?" It asked.
"… A bit, not much of a threat to you," Ophis replied. "… Want me to take care of him?"
"… Alter memory?" It asked.
"… I can, would you like me to?" She asked, while the Knight nodded. "… Three answers."
"… One question, one target," It argued.
"… Okay, would you like to hear the question?" She asked. "… What is the Void?"
"… Acceptable, memory alteration, remove all that happened today," The Knight said.
"… Okay," Ophis said and walked away. That made it curious, who was watching them?
A handsome young man with blond hair with fancy clothing was walking through the streets of Kuoh. His name was Diodora Astaroth, an heir to the Astaroth clan and a devil. He was fuming in anger as he walked away from the church, where his plan to save Asia was demolished by that… thing. It definitely wasn't a human, not after it changed, or at least it didn't seem to.
The plan was simple, wait for Raynare and others to take Asia inside, kill them all, rescue her and paint himself as her rescuer. However, it was all thrown into a trash can, when that thing got involved. At first, it seemed rather weak, but it was able to unleash an attack that decimated the fallen angels. Well, worst case scenario, he would blackmail the thing, not like anyone could stop him.
"… Stop," Ophis ordered, Diodora turning around, his eyes spread wide open.
"Lady Ophis…?" The man greeted with a bow. "Is there something wrong? Can I help you somehow?"
"… Forget what happened today," She ordered and walked up to him.
"With all due respect, it doesn't involve your problem, does it, Lady Ophis?" The man argued.
"… Don't care," She replied, grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him downward, inches away from them. "… Forget."
"Wait!" Diodora protested.
However, it was too late, as the dragon put her hand on his head and forcefully altered his memory, removing all that transpired today. When she let go off the man, the man was barely standing, which meant the procedure worked, with that in mind, Ophis turned around and disappeared as soon as she came. Diodora looking around sheepishly.
"What… is going?" He asked, as he looked around, before checking the time. "Oh no! Asia! If those useless angels killed her, I am going to tear them to shreds." He then scowled, before making his wings appear and quickly flew towards the church, where he expected the nun to arrive.
"...Done," Ophis said, as she walked up to the Knight. "Answer?"
"… Void… a substance, black liquid, shapeless, hostile to anything that comes close to it," The Knight replied.
"… Everything? You as well?" She asked, her head titled to the side.
"… Indeed," The Knight replied.
"… Made out of the Void, but attacked by the Void?" She asked, while the Knight. "… Odd."
"… It is," The Knight agreed.
"I am back!" Asia said, a cart full of different supplies.
"… That's a lot," The Knight summarized, the girl acting sheepishly.
"Should I… leave some stuff behind?" She asked, while the Knight shook it's head.
"...No need, is that everything?" It asked.
"Yes, we can go to the cash register," She confirmed, before turning towards Ophis. "Miss Ophis, are you… a vessel?"
"… No, a dragon," Ophis replied, making the girl blink. "… Why?"
"Oh, it's just… you two are very similar. You don't talk too much, you're both very stoic," She replied.
"… I see," Ophis replied.
"… Similar, indeed," The Knight said. "… Shall we leave?"
"… Let's," Ophis agreed, the trio walking to the cash register.
"So, Miss Gremory, Miss Sitri, I suppose it is important that you brought me here?" Azazel asked.
He was a tall man appearing to be in his twenties with an average build, black hair, golden banks and black goatee. In front of him, Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri were standing, their peerages at their side, Mittelt sitting on the couch in the Student Council, looking as pale as a ghost.
"It is, Mister Azazel," Sona began. "Your fallen angels have trespassed upon our territory leading to the death of a sacred gear user. They also intended the same to another person, but it seems that was avoided."
"Mittelt?" Azazel, asked, while the angel nodded frantically.
"Raynare killed Hyodou Issei, she intended to extract a sacred gear of Asia Argento," The girl confirmed, the boy in question clenching his fists.
"Alright, that's… what I didn't expect to happen. I thought that thing was disposed off, but it turns out, it wasn't," Azazel began. "So, what exactly happened, since I don't see Raynare here, what happened to her?"
"I don't know… Lord Azazel," She admitted honestly.
"We believe that her memory was altered," Sona said.
"Altered? That could explain it. Tell me, Mittelt, were you and Raynare the only members of this event?" He asked.
"No, there was also Dohnaseek, Kalawarner and sixty exorcist," Mittelt replied.
"What happened to them?" The man asked.
"Dohnaseek was found yesterday, dead, his body full of holes, like it was pierced by spears or something similar. As for everyone else…," She began.
"They probably died during a fight with whoever assaulted them," Rias said.
Azazel sighed in response, as he massaged his temple. "Alright, then, that explains part of it. Do we know who killed the other three fallen angels?"
"I am afraid not, Mister Azazel," Sona said. "We did find some clues and while neither me nor Rias could get a good look, we did spot some kind of magic being used in the church."
"Magic? How did it look?" The man asked.
"Black and White shapes like those ghosts in the cartoons for the children that screamed in the air," Akeno said.
"Ghosts?" Azazel asked, while Rias nodded. "I have never heard of magic like this."
"Neither have we," Sona said.
"Well, was there anything else?" The man asked.
"Bodies of the exorcists, cut into pieces, same as the extractor," Sona replied.
"So, magic and sword proficiency?" The man asked. "Interesting. Whoever it was, he or she must have been pretty strong to defeat not one, but three fallen angels by themselves."
"Indeed, now, as for the second part of this meeting, reparations for the harm your fallen angels have caused us," Sona said, while Azazel chuckled.
"I expected as much, don't suppose simple sorry will be enough?" He asked, while Sona shook her head.
"I am afraid not, monetary compensation along with making sure nothing like this happens again are a good starting point," Sona replied.
"That's fair, although, I was hoping for a condition of mine," The man began. "See, I am curious about the person who killed members of my kind and was hoping I could have a single fallen angel keeping an eye on the city. Of course, they wouldn't do anything but watch, no hunting stray devils, no messing anything up. Otherwise… an eternity of cleaning latrines as a punishment." Mittelt shivered, as the Azazel glanced towards her, the message obvious.
"How long would it last?" Rias asked.
"Until they found out the one responsible for the death of my angels," Azazel replied.
"I suppose that's acceptable, although, that will cost you," Sona said.
"I expected that, so what will it be?" He asked.
"First of all, that Asia Argento, what kind of sacred gear has she got?" Rias asked.
"Is that part of the price?" Azazel asked,
"Only if you allow me to invite her to my peerage, after all, your faction made contact with her," Rias replied.
"I see, that explains it. Very well, you have got my permission for that," Azazel replied. "Alright, since you asked, it's a rare sacred gear, but not unique, called Twilight Healing. It allows to restore wounds of anyone, but not missing limbs, even the devils."
"I see," Rias replied with the tiniest bit of a smile.
"Now, for the second condition, fifty million yen sounds reasonable, doesn't it?" Sona asked.
"Of course, Miss Sitri," Azazel replied. "Now, I would like to thank you for cooperation on this matter."
"The pleasure is our, Mister Azazel," Sona replied. "Now then, I believe that settles the matter we have just discussed."
"That seems to be the case, Miss Sitri," Azazel said and stood up. "Everyone, Miss Gremory, Miss Sitri, have a nice day. Mittelt, please come with me."
"Yes, Lord Azazel," The girl said, the duo leaving the devils behind.
"Rias? What is the meaning of this?" Sona asked.
"A sacred gear user, Sona. I am not going to simply pass somebody like that up," She replied.
"Didn't it cross your mind that I could be interested as well?" Sona pointed out.
"You already have got quite big peerage, don't you?" Rias protested.
"Perhaps. That doesn't mean you can simply lay claim to somebody and expect me to turn a blind eye to it," Sona replied. "But I digress, we don't even know where Asia is."
"We don't know, but there is no reason to not be prepared," Rias said. "Besides, after the fallen angels, she might be more welcoming to the devils, no?"
Sona sighed in response, before shaking her head. "I should have expected that. In any event, for the time being, let's keep an eye out for the nun and anything suspicious, shall we?"
"Agreed," Rias replied, already thinking of a new potential peerage member.
"Mittelt, your wings, please show them to me," Azazel requested, the duo sitting in a private room.
"Yes, Lord Azazel," She said and her wings unfurled. "Is there something wrong with them?"
"No, but please stay still, I want to check something," Azazel said and looked closer at her wings. "Interesting… Some kind of lingering energy seems to be located in your wings, a very small amount, the energy barely registered to my senses, that's how subtle it is."
"What kind of energy, Lord Azazel?" She asked.
"That's the most interesting part about it, I don't know, it's different from anything I have felt before. I don't recognize it," He admitted. "Mittelt, I don't have to tell you what I expect you to do in Kuoh?"
"… Find the one who killed Raynare and others?" She guessed.
"With your memory altered?" He pointed out. "No, I want you to find Asia and then see who she hangs out with. Then, I want you to ask them if they knew anything about Raynare."
"What if they decline?" She asked.
"Then say that you know that your memory was altered and give them this," He said and gave her a calling card. "It's my contact info. Tell them to contact me, can you do that for me?"
"Yes, Lord Azazel," She said, her posture straight.
"Thank you, Mittelt, I am counting on you," Azazel said.
"… Here we are," The Knight said, Ophis and Asia arriving with it. "… Ophis, do you want to come in?"
To it's surprise, the girl shook her head. "… Not today, I need to think, learned a lot. Tomorrow."
"… I see, I will wait then," The Knight said, before the girl nodded and left, the duo watching as she did so.
"Um… are you sure she will be fine?" Asia asked.
"… Definitely, come inside," The Knight ordered. It was carrying all the groceries by itself. Asia tried to help, but it adamantly refused.
"Okay," The girl said and the duo entered the apartment.
"… Make yourself comfortable, bed is yours," The Knight said as it began unpacking the stuff.
"Bed?" Asia asked and looked to a single bed located in the apartment. "But… that's your bed, isn't it?"
"… It is, you sleep in it today," It replied.
"I can't accept that, that's too much!" She protested.
"… You should, I don't use it myself," It replied, making the girl blink. "… Don't need to sleep either."
"That's…," She began not sure how to respond. "… Um… are you really okay with that?"
"… I am fine, I will learn during the night," It replied, while the girl helped it.
"I see…," Asia replied, confused more than ever. "… Are you happy like that?"
"… What do you mean?" It asked.
"You don't need to sleep, so you don't dream, you don't need to eat, so you don't know the pleasures of homemade cooking," Asia explained. "… Are you okay with all that?"
"… Don't mind it, used to, been for sixteen years," It replied.
"I… okay," Asia settled on. "I will make dinner."
"… I will help," The Knight said.
"You don't have to," Asia protested.
"… Want to," The Knight replied, the girl smiling weakly.
"Okay, let's work together then," The girl said, while the Knight nodded.
Turns out that cooking was harder than it expected. The amount of spices, steps, all kinds of things that needed to be done. It was simply too much. The Knight much preferred eating some lifeblood, all it had to do was smash them and absorb the precious liquid. The cooking took so much time that could be spent otherwise, no wonder, it never got into cooking.
"And we're done!" Asia said, proud of herself. In front of her two plates of spaghetti. "Shall we eat?"
"… Why two?" The Knight asked.
"Well… it's the least I can do to thank you," She replied.
"… No need for that," The Knight replied.
"But I wanted to!" Asia protested with a pout.
"… Cute," The Knight said, making the girl blink, before it realized what it said.
"Cute…?" The girl said, before she blushed. "I… um…"
"… Sorry, didn't mean to embarrass you," The Knight said.
The girl was adorable, she reminded it of grubs, just like Koneko did and Ophis did, if a bit less. It was weird, for the best part of its life, it didn't even consider calling a human female cute, much less admitting to one in front of it. Why was that? It looked back at Asia, who looked a bit red, as it tried to understand why the girl in front of it was cute. However, it couldn't say.
"It's okay, I don't mind," Asia said, a radiant smile on her face. "I am happy, really."
"… If you say so," The Knight said. "… Shall we eat?"
"Let's," Asia agreed, the two eating in silence. "How is it?"
"… Okay," The Knight replied. It could sense the taste of it, but didn't really care about it.
"I see," She replied and the two finished her meal. "So, what do we do now?"
"… Want to play games?" The Knight asked.
"Games? What kind of games? Chess? Checkers?" Asia asked.
"… Video games, console," It replied, while the girl titled her head to the side. "… Have you ever played video games before?"
"I haven't, how do you do it?" She asked.
"… I will show you, but first cleaning," The Knight said, the girl nodding in response.
"I will handle it!" Asia said and before the Knight could protest, she scooped up the dishes and began cleaning them.
"… Okay, I will turn on the console," The Knight said.
"I'm finished," Asia said and walked up to it.
"… Good, have a seat, I will teach you," The Knight said.
"Okay," Asia said and sat next to the Knight.
After that, the vessel began teaching Asia how to play, which helped her ease up a bit. The events of the day were still lingering, so it was the least it could do. This continued until the evening, though, it had to play portal 2 again, since it wanted the girl to have fun and not make it into a rivalry of sorts. Once it was about eight pm, the Knight decided to end it.
"… That's enough for today," The Knight said.
"Aww…," Asia pouted, she was having a lot of fun thus far.
"… You should take a shower and go to sleep," Knight said.
"Why don't you go first, Knight, it's your home, I would hate to impose," Asia said.
"… Okay," The Knight said.
It didn't really need to shower, due to it's nature of a vessel, it's clothes needed to be cleaned rarely, but it supposed it it's hair was getting dirty and could use a wash. So, it went, entered the shower, locked the door behind it and stripped. Just like the rest of the Knight's body, it's skin was pale, free of blemishes, similar to a stone statue. It put it's clothes on the toilet, before it entered the shower and let cold water flow on it.
After all, it used to bath in acid and even dived into sewers of the city of tears. Though, now it remembered, it didn't have a pajama, now did it? Meh, it didn't care, it was it's home, the only reason it wore clothes in the first place was human norms, nothing more, nothing else. It really did not understand why people got so bothered by it, most bugs didn't wear clothes either. The cloak being the sole exception, that thing looked better than the pitch black body of it.
"Done al...ready…?" Asia began, only to turn red as a tomato and yelp, covering her eyes in the process. "Why... are you naked?"
"… Is that a problem?" It asked, while Asia nodded her head.
"It is…," She said weakly, doing her best to not look. "I can't sleep like this."
"… Understood," The Knight said and put on the pants and the rest of the outfit. "… Done." Asia peeked from behind her fingers and sighed in relief, still a bit red.
"Why did… come out naked out of the shower?" She asked, trying to understand the reason for it.
"… Clothes, bothersome, wouldn't use them, but necessary," It replied.
"That's… I… am not sure how to respond to that," She admitted honestly.
"… Don't then," It replied and turned towards the girl. "… Won't make the same mistake again."
"Oh, okay," Asia replied.
Truth to be told, she was mostly surprised by the act and actually got worried for a second there. However, it seemed like Knight simply didn't care about human norms, which made sense considering he wasn't one. Having said that, the view she saw was burnt into her mind and even now she had trouble looking at the Knight.
"… You should go to sleep," The Knight said.
"What about you?" She asked, while the Knight gestured to a stack of books on the table.
"… Things to do," It replied.
"Okay, then I will take shower first," She said, while the Knight nodded.
This didn't take long, Asia coming out fully clothed out of the shower, pajamas on her lean body, modest one, that didn't reveal anything. After that, the girl went into the bed, while the Knight turned off the light, before it turned to the books. As it sat there in darkness, it's eyes not bothered by it in the slightest, the sound of writing echoing around the room.
This in turn, gave it plenty of time to ponder about certain issues. Asia was safe, which was great. However, she couldn't stay here in it's room for the rest of her life. Not only would it be bad for the girl, it wouldn't solve anything. Housing, amenities, basic necessities could all be provided. However, that wasn't the way to go about it. The Knight wanted the girl to learn on her own, just as it did itself. It would protect her, but it wouldn't guide her, not that it was good at it to begin with.
One of the problems was the fact that Asia had nowhere else to go, no other faction to turn to. Fallen Angels turned to be a threat, the Church threw her out and the devils? Well, they would probably try to convince her to give up her humanity, in order to obtain the sacred gear she possessed, Rias most likely. However, Sona accepted the fact that it didn't want to become a devil and the things turned out reasonably well, all things considered. If there was one person, well devil, the Knight could turn to, it was Sona. However, it would ask Asia first, just in case.
Asia woke up with a blink and stretched herself. Yesterday… she went to the church and then… all that happened? That couldn't be right, she was in a comfortable bed, wasn't she? She wiped her eyes, her vision clearing and then noticed the Knight sitting at the desk reading in silence, before it glanced towards her.
"… Good Morning," It greeted her.
"Good Morning," Asia greeted back. So it wasn't a dream after all?
"… How are you feeling?" It asked.
"I am fine, I guess, thank you for asking," She replied and left the house. "Did you… spend an entire night at the table?"
"… I did," The Knight confirmed, not stopping the reading.
Asia could only smile weakly, before she took her head and went to change herself, but first a shower. She didn't want to be seen naked after all, not that the Knight had the same problem, which in turn made her blush, the memories coming back immediately. That was wrong, she shouldn't be thinking like that! Shaking her head, she let the water clean her body, before she wrung her hair and left the shower.
"… How was your sleep?" The Knight asked.
"It went well, I think," Asia confirmed.
"… Good, eat something, we need to talk," The Knight said.
The girl blinked in response. "What about?"
"… Patience, after breakfast," The Knight said, while the girl nodded.
"Would you… like me to make something for you?" She asked, while the Knight shook it's head.
"… No, no need for that," It replied.
Asia simply smiled weakly once again, before she went and began making herself something to eat. Bread, butter, ham, tomatoes combined together made a good sandwich, while a hot cup of tea would wake her up. She sat in front of the Knight, glancing at complicated formulas she couldn't understand, before she focused on the breakfast, taking slow controlled bites.
"… Your stay here," The Knight began, the girl turning towards it. "… It's not optimal, not a way to live."
"What do you mean by that?" She asked, not sure what the boy was getting at.
"… Staying here, stuck, not able to see the world, would you like to live like that, forever hiding?" It asked, while Asia shook her head.
"No… I wouldn't want to," She replied. "But, why are you asking?"
"… Had a plan, letting you study at Kuoh, the school I attend," The Knight replied. "However, devils there, supernatural."
"Devils? Are they… evil?" She asked, while the Knight shook its head.
"… No, not bad devils, decent sort, acquaintances," It replied. "… But, won't force you, would like to hear your opinion."
"I… need to think about it," She said. "It's… a lot to take in, things went… so fast, I am still getting over it."
"… Understandable, won't press it further," The Knight said, while the girl nodded.
Well, at least for now, it had an idea what to do. Now, all it had to do is go to school and act like an ordinary student, although, for some reason, it felt like it was forgetting about something.