Stronger Than Fire

By: Aviantei

Chapter Ten

Again, Renzo found himself in Lucifer's sick room, the demon reduced to a human body hooked on IV drips and heart monitors. The main difference was that this was the King of Light's room in the Illuminati's base, making it much more equipped than the temporary safe room at Inari. It probably would have been more impressive if Renzo didn't feel like he was on the verge of sweating out the entire liquid concentration of his breakfast.

The confidence he had managed to find in Britain hadn't vanished—it was just dulled in the current situation. Just as Arlie had predicted, Renzo had returned to base feeling much better about himself, even though he couldn't really tell why. It didn't matter, though, because the confidence booster was really all he wanted—even if it could only do so much when coming face to face with the commander of the Illuminati.

"You've done well, Emília, Shima," Lucifer praised, and Renzo decided it was better not to spend time interpreting his jumble of feelings at the moment. "I know this won't completely halt their counter research, but it does show us how to advance."

Emília nodded, and Renzo wished she would establish eye contact, anything to let him know that she would cover for him. Then again, reporting to a superior was probably nothing to her, regardless of her own rank. She had probably waltzed up to Lucifer at the age of fifteen, exuding the same confidence as she did today. "If you want, we can send groups out to dispatch the similar research facilities. The total operation would take less than a month if we moved before they realized that their data has been compromised."

"It is a difficult thing to consider." Lucifer sat up a bit more, adjusting his pillows to give better support. A nurse on the side of the room went to help, but the demon held up a hand to stop him. "I'm sure that our taking counter-actions will do nothing to deter them from trying again, and they will be able to recover some progress merely through the power of memory. Not to mention this isn't the True Cross Knights we're discussing, so our actions will only do so much to hinder a counter-measure to the gates."

"Mephisto Pheles has held contact and amicable relations with Patiti for years. We've known this." Renzo jumped at the headmaster's name. Hearing him talked about as someone in direct opposition seemed preposterous when Renzo could easily call the demon on his cellphone. "If you don't want to waste the manpower, we could only eliminate a fraction of the research facilities—half at most. It will be a threat, and we can send internal viruses to corrupt their data. Regardless of if they realize the mercy is intentional, we'll still have the edge."

Lucifer fell into silence. Renzo looked between his own boss and the bedridden Commander. There wasn't anything Renzo could contribute to the point that he was wondering why he had actually been asked for—unless that too was another of Emília's whims.

"I approve such an operation," Lucifer finally said. "You may set up the details as you wish, and I will approve the resources." Emília placed a hand on her chest and gave a short dip of the head as a bow. "Moving on, though, there is something I wished to discuss—your reports read that there were sixteen agents at the facility. However, Rios reported to me that they were only able to secure fifteen of them."

There it was. Renzo had been afraid of this. He had noticed the same exact thing when the preliminary status report came in, and one visit to the hostages transport had confirmed it—Jevrem Marin had managed to escape. He swallowed his apprehension, knowing that the best thing was just to own up to it.

"I'm sorry," he managed, speaking for the first time the meeting. "I overextended myself too much. I passed out before the operation even got close to finishing, so I probably left an opening." Renzo could feel both of their gazes in him. In a moment of panic, Renzo sent up a desperate prayer to make it out alive. At least he knew death would be quick if Lucifer was the one to do it.

But the King of Light only shook his head, leaving Renzo confused. "It is not only you that could take the blame," Lucifer said. "There were several other agents as part of the raid team; any of them could have made the capture as well. While it does give Patiti a little more information than they would have had otherwise, I'm sure that Emília has made more than enough preparations to cover the information leak. I'll be having my meeting with Rios about the results today as well, so I'm sure subsequent missions will be more efficient."

Renzo could have sworn that Emília snickered. She covered it up by delivering a hard smack to his back instead. "See?" she said, smiling at him. "You did just fine, Kid, like I told you. We'll figure out what to do about Jevrem as we go along with the operations and monitor their data, safe and cozy in the office."

"Okay." Renzo nodded, trying to relax as much as he could if that was the case. "Although, I was wondering…" He looked at Emília then Lucifer, wondering if this sort of thing was really alright to say. "About the hostages we captured. What's going to happen to them?" Without meaning to, he remembered the base at Inari, the dazed citizens of the town, Izumo, restrained as an experimental plaything.

"They will be interrogated," Lucifer said plainly, and Renzo wasn't sure if he wanted the details spared or not. Part of him recognized that, if caught, he may be subjected to the same thing. In that case, he really didn't want to know. "We have been developing several hypnotizing and truth-inducing elixirs that cause minimal damage. We will use those to gain our information. Afterwards, they will be given the option to remain with us or be set free—with any knowledge about us missing from memory of course."

That was a lot kinder than Renzo had been expecting. But then again, the goal of the Illuminati was to unite the worlds. It didn't do much good to completely eliminate humans, as they were a critical part of Assiah.

He was a lot more relieved than he should have been, but Renzo let it buoy his spirits anyway.

"Thanks," he awkwardly added, wondering of it was necessary. No one made a big deal, though, so he decided that it was probably better to play on the side of caution around the Commander.

"And thank both of you for your time," Lucifer said in turn. "If there are any further questions, we'll forward them through the usual channels." Emília nodded, so Renzo guessed that he didn't need to worry about that sort of thing. "Again, an excellent job. May the world be united in light."

"May the world be united in light," Emília and Renzo echoed, though he couldn't tell which one of them sounded less convinced by the words.

One and a half bows later, they exited the room. A few long strides down the hallway, Emília practically threw her arms up in the air, then set into stretching her shoulders. "Man, I'm glad that's just over for," she said. "Talking to the Commander just stresses me out. I feel like I say the wrong thing and Miss Glasses is going to jump down my throat—even if she has to rush over from the other side of the damn building." Emília had openly criticized others before, but this was the first time she sounded so worn out by it. "Eh, whatever. Let's go to lunch, Kid."

"Okay." Renzo had formed a sort of autopilot about lunchtime—either he followed Emília or he didn't. His memorized layout of the building let him settle into step without thinking, so when she took an unexpected turn, he had to pause to think. "Um, the cafeteria's this way…" he attempted, pointing down the opposite hall.

"You can't just eat that cafeteria stuff all the time." Emília's beads rattled softly with an admonishing shake of the head. "Sure, they serve all kinds of things, and I know they add new stuff on a regular basis. But you eat in the same environment all the time, and you're bound to get bored. It's good to try new things every now and then."

"By chance, we're not going outside, are we?" If that was the case, Renzo would have to decline, or at least make a run for it and change out of his uniform. He wasn't going to let his first excursion out of the base have a giant Illuminati! sticker hanging over it. Besides, that was practically a date. You didn't wear work clothes on dates!

Emília only grabbed his arm instead, dragging him along the hallway. "Sheesh, you've been here how long again? There's a couple of side shops run by external sources. They're meant to be close sources of food for members that don't want to trek away from their work station all the way to the cafeteria."

"Oh, yeah." Renzo did, in fact, remember that. He just never considered going to them since they actually had prices on them, whereas the whole cafeteria was free. Then again, he hadn't touched his notifications of his pay that were stacking up on his dresser back in the dorm; the bonus from the recent mission sitting on top. He didn't even know how much money was in his account now, but he did at least keep the card the Illuminati had issued on him, just in case. At least he wouldn't have to ask Emília to pay for him like an idiot. "I guess I just don't get out much," he joked, though it really was an understatement. "Judging by this path, we're heading to the one upstairs?"

"You know it. It's a bit too cold to use the roof for my tastes, but the indoor area will be just fine."

Renzo tried to remember exactly what the café was supposed to hold, but that turned out not to be necessary. They made it there in no time, Renzo pausing for a moment to take it all in. There was a startling difference between seeing schematics and the real thing: The pale blues and yellows and whites created an illusion close to the sky stretching out along the entire wall, perched along the corner of the building. He got the sudden urge to walk up to the window and press his face against the glass, but held it in as Emília secured them a table right next to the view.

The horizon stretched out, and Renzo could see everything about the town and, if he craned his neck enough, some of the other buildings and roofs that were part of the base. It looked like one of those panoramic shots in the movies, except the glass window was the screen.

"It's almost pretty, huh?" Emília said, looking out the window. Renzo followed the curve of her neck down to the bundle of hoods, then refocused to her eyes. "It's kind of impressive just how easy something dazzling can cover up something so cruel."

Renzo blinked, then shot a few discrete glances around the room. "Um, are you sure you should be saying stuff like that?" he asked. To him, it seemed like those words could get easily turned around into treason if the wrong person was listening.

"Why not?" Emilia retorted, not missing a beat. "It's not like we don't know it. There are plenty of people here who are only around to satisfy sick desires and the like. Sure, some people really do want to good for the world, but it doesn't change the fact that some pretty terrible people exist in our midst."

Renzo couldn't deny that. He had been in Inari, seen firsthand what Gedouin had done, was trying to do with Izumo. He had watched Lucifer utterly destroy the man for pushing the limits of the Commander's patience. But that didn't mean there were people that the King of Light couldn't tolerate and allowed to keep their positions.

Lucifer was, in fact, a demon, a King of Hell.

"But whatcha think of the big boss?" Emília asked, the light tone back in her voice. A waiter passed by and she ordered a few drinks, not even bothering to ask Renzo for his opinion on that matter. "I know you haven't really had the chance to see him in action much."

He thought about it, not sure what to say. Some part of him still viewed Lucifer as his enemy—the big enemy of the True Cross and Assiah, right beneath Satan. But another part of him recognized the King of Light's capabilities as a leader, as Renzo's own leader.

"If I'm being totally honest," it was a rhetorical add-on, as he didn't have enough confidence to try and slip a really big lie past Emília, "then he scares me a little." Emília watched on with her usual smirk, enjoying herself. "I've never really come so close to a major demon before, besides Amaimon, really, so he's kind of overwhelming."

"The King of Earth, huh?" she mused. The waiter returned with their drinks, and Emilia immediately took to it with a straw. Renzo looked to his own concoction, the colored glass making it impossible to tell what it was. Giving it his best shot, he took a drink, and wasn't really able to tell what it was anyway, let alone if it was good or bad. "I'd say you're pretty popular with the Baal, but I know that's just 'cause of how close you were to Satan's brat."

A weird protective urge for Rin's sake kicked in, but Renzo didn't want to push the conversation any farther. "Yeah, I know," he said instead. "We went through a lot of trouble, but it's not really his fault, I'd say. Besides, I can probably say I'm one of the few lucky humans that's encountered two of the Hell Kings and lived to tell about it."

"Three, actually," Emília corrected, and Renzo wondered if this was the day his life got even more ridiculous as it already was. After all, she couldn't be saying that she… "Ugh, get that look off your face; what kind of lame conclusion is that! I was talking about Samael, King of Time. You know, your headmaster?"

"But… I thought…" Renzo tripped over his own words. Mephisto Pheles, Johan Faust… He thought he had figured out the trick to those words a long time ago—the Headmaster's demonhood was an open secret, and you had to be someone like Okumura not to figure it out. But more and more it made sense that the names were just a ruse, that something else more powerful was lurking under them. Taking care not to knock over his mystery drink, Renzo dropped his head to the table. "I'm such a moron."

Emília tugged on his shoulder in an attempt to lift him up. "Come on, I was trying to praise you, not bum you out," she chastised. Renzo tilted his head up to look at his boss, but didn't lift it any further. "Three of the Baal, plus the twin sons of Satan… No one can say that you lived a quiet or boring life."

Part of Renzo started to wish that that could be the case. He could have been a nice, quiet kid, living a nice, normal life of hitting on girls and enjoying being last in line to his family. He wouldn't have the responsibility of the Black Flame on him, and maybe he could have dated Izumo, retreated to a nice quiet life.

"Oh, I almost forgot—about that familiar of yours."

Renzo blinked back into reality. He sat up and started to flip through the menu, determined to order his own meal this time. The conversation they had had in Britain already seemed far away, like the physical distance managed to increase the amount of time that had passed. "Yeah, you mentioned something about the Science Division. Are we doing that today?"

"No, we've got too much other stuff going on for me to be out of the office this afternoon. I need to be on standby in case something comes up, plus I'm going to take advantage of the Commander's generous offer about the budget for the next operation." Emília grinned a little, and Renzo wondered just what extras the Intelligence Division would be getting soon. "No, we'll go ahead and check in tomorrow."

Renzo nodded. "Got it." Looking the menu over, he realized most of it was the same as what was in the cafeteria—you were essentially just paying for the view. Maybe he could experiment with the drinks and figure out what was even in his glass at the moment. "Wait a minute," he said, sitting up a bit from his lazy slouch. "I distinctly remember you saying that the Science Division were a bunch of perverts. Please tell me we'll be visiting the exception…"

Emília chuckled. "What, Cy?" she asked with too much innocence plastered onto the words. "He is a pervert. That's why I'll be going with you for the first couple of checkups, so don't worry your head off, okay, Kid?"

Renzo was suddenly assaulted with the imagery of a Department full of Gedouins. He swallowed the thought and forced out a nervous laugh as the waiter passed by their table, hoping the food would turn the conversation into something that didn't ruin his appetite.

The rest of the Cram School Kids were easily convinced that asking Mephisto about Shima was the right call. Even Takara, who didn't seem to have the actual slightest interest (Rin had long gotten over his aversion to the Tamer, but the action still put him on the verge of a light growl), had nodded in support, despite the fact that his hand puppet had berated them the whole time. At this point, the only one missing from their conversation was Yukio, and Rin was glad to have all the backup when it came to convincing his brother.

Rin wasn't sure when he had realized, but the fact was that he had Yukio had grown apart again. It was similar to the gap that had grown between them as exorcist and unawakened demon, except now Rin was completely aware of it. How Yukio had dealt with the knowledge since he was little was beyond Rin—to the elder brother, it felt like an indistinguishable weight that stretched his heart to its limits.

"Rin," Shiemi's soft voice said, "it's okay. We're here with you." They had chosen to talk to Yukio at the dorm instead of the Cram School, mainly because it was much less crowded. Rin personally hoped it would make it easier for them to act as brothers, and not teacher and student. The presence of the rest of his friends bolstering his confidence, Rin opened the door.

"Yukio," Rin started, fighting the urge to raise his voice. The last time he had gotten angry, he had unleashed a horde of hobgoblins on the whole classroom; while less than likely, he didn't want a similar situation to happen again. "We should talk," he settled on, trying to keep things as cool as possible. "Please?"

Yukio hardly budged from where he was hunched over his desk, lost in what seemed to be mounds of paperwork. It was all he did since coming back from Inari; it was a wonder he even had the time to teach class. "Can it wait until later, Rin?" he asked, sounding beyond tired. Rin wouldn't be surprised to watch his brother take a nosedive straight into his own workload. "Things have been busy lately, so I really need to grade these papers before I run out of time to do it…"

Rin could already feel his annoyance level starting to break through his politeness. He was about to unleash a heated retort, but Shiemi was the one to step forward. "Yuki-chan," she said, looking the strongest Rin had ever seen her, "we really should talk. All of us."

Yukio turned around in his chair, fiddling with his glasses. The sight of the entire Cram School class must have thrown him off, because his eyes widened a bit before replaced with usual calm. "I assume this is important, then," he said. "Alright, what is it?"

Bon pretty much ascended to the front of the room, a formidable presence. "We're going to talk to Mephisto about Shima," he declared. Bon's fists clenched, but he didn't show his worry. "We deserve to know more about what's going on. We'd like your support."

"We're not backing down," Izumo chimed in. "So whether you come or not, the old clown's getting an earful."

Shiemi's head pivoted in several directions, before she seemed to decide that she should speak, too. "Please, Yuki-chan! I'd feel a lot better if we had you around, too…" Rin wasn't sure if the pang in his chest was jealousy or not, but he knew this wasn't the time to bring that up.

"We're all just worried," Konekomaru added. "If we had your support, Okumura-sensei, then maybe we'd be taken more seriously."

Before Yukio could get a word in edgewise, Rin added, "He's our friend, Yukio. Please?"

There was a silence—if Rin didn't know any better, we would have expected Takara to join in on the request, but that was unlikely. Instead, everyone just stared at Yukio, whose brow was furrowed, the way he did when he was thinking too hard. Finally, Rin's brother dropped his shoulders, adjusting his posture with a smile.

"Well, with all of you asking like this, I can't really say no. I'll come with you, then," Yukio agreed, setting off a wave of soft cheers and reassured smiled. Rin grinned, feeling better.

For the first time since they had come back from Inari, the Cram School's feeling of sadness had lifted just a little.

The desire for knowledge was fundamental, primal even. If you were a practitioner to such beliefs, you could easily trace the desire back to Adam and Eve. Of course, following that train of logic, desire for knowledge was also a sin. The Tower of Babel could also be cited for this argument.

It was almost unfair, though. Some people couldn't help the amount of knowledge they possessed—were capable of possessing. Others were susceptible to lacking knowledge but still wanting to achieve it. People couldn't get over a curiosity to know more, to understand.

Because the alternative was to be ignorant, to be afraid. To not know what to expect or how to handle it. That was the sort of fate that awaited those without knowledge or flexibility.

All actions could be said to be taken for the sake of eliminating fear.

[NOTES] Chapter ten, huh? The story's moving right along.

Not gonna lie, I had a long and crazy day. And tomorrow I get on a plane for a long and crazy weekend. If anyone happens to be attending Shumatsucon in Columbus, I'll be there.

Gah, I seriously need to go to bed, though...

[POST] 030916