Chapter Twenty-Five - Epilogue Two: Separate Ways

The last thing Vanessa ever expected to find in her life while on the run was structure. Some semblance of normalcy as she woke up every morning, and went through the motions. Yet, even after just a short amount of time on the run, she and Jafar had already established such.

They had played their hand smart, and by the time anyone truly realized they had defected and ran, they had already made off with a fat load of cash from the Vatican's secret funds, and boarded a plane heading into rural Europe. From there, it was as simple as using some of that cash to purchase a small lodge to stay in, while Jafar began to find work within the small town to continue supporting them in their new life.

It was peaceful, it was serene. Frankly, it was a life that Vanessa would have loved to live in the future, alongside Ethan…

Which was why she truly couldn't stand it. Nothing ever happened, and the happy atmosphere simply contributed to her mounting itch to go out there, and begin exacting her revenge. She couldn't sit idle while millions upon millions of humans were subjected to the domination of a higher power.

But, while she was driven, she also wasn't stupid. She knew first-hand how dangerous certain members of the supernatural races could be, and if she was to be their executioner, the righteous, cleansing hand that would wipe the slate of the world clean of the filthy stains that those supernatural embodied, she would need to grow much stronger.

So, that's what brought her here every day; about a few kilometers out into the thick forests that surrounded the small farming town that they lived in, was a clearing that served perfectly for training. The sun half-shaded by the extending branches of the thick trees made it ideal for training and honing her skills everyday.

Underneath the thick canopy of leaves, all throughout the countless pillars of oak and pine, Vanessa darted back and forth ravenously, striking with a sword that she most certainly didn't steal off of some lesser exorcist schmuck a few months prior. She had been desperately trying to make progress over the past few days, and unfortunately, she wasn't making too much progress.

It infuriated her, being bound to such limitations… She had to grow stronger quickly… As it stood at the moment, her body and skill simply couldn't keep up with her burning, noble ambition.

But today was different…

Because today, her secret training session had a visitor.

Just as she finished her first set of exercises and drills, a figure emerged from the brush of the forest. Letting out a low whistle, a man stepped forward, as Vanessa's eyes widened. The exorcist garbs, the glistening silver hair, and piercing red eyes tugging at her sense of familiarity.

"... Lint?"

"Oh?" The man quirked his brow, "Who is this, Lint? Another like me, I suppose?"

"I don't know what you mean by that, but sure," Vanessa replied, as her eyes trailed down the man's waist, which was armed to the teeth with multiple scabbards for swords, very, very dangerous swords, who's aura reeked of something foul, "Who are you, and what do you want?"

The man hummed, "My name is Siegfried, I've come here because I heard that there were some swordsmen who wield quite the famous swords… Excalibur's, to be exact."

"So what?" Vanessa played it cool, somehow, in some way, this man knew about her and Jafar's past at the church, "Are you a part of the church? Someone sent to bring us home?"

"On the contrary," Siegfried replied, "However, I must say, I've been travelling around a lot, and haven't gotten much of a chance to stretch. Would you care for a spar? I'm interested in gauging your skill myself."

Vanessa thought about it for a moment, was it a smart idea to go at it like this? Everything about the man before her reeked of danger. It was practically suicide to try and fight this guy-!

Vanessa didn't get a chance to respond, as she was forced to leap to the side, while a thick blade whistled through the air, missing her head by a hair's breadth. Igniting her light sword, Vanessa took up a defensive position.

"Sorry," Siegfried smirked, two swords already drawn in his hands, "But that wasn't an offer."

Quickly Vanessa ran towards Siegfried, remaining low to the ground as she dashed along. When finally reaching the swordsman, she was forced to dart off to the side to avoid another slash. As soon as she found stable ground, Vanessa stabbed her blade upward, and towards the man's exposed side, hoping to score a decisive blow.

However, as she thrust, Siegfried simply pivoted on his heel, effortlessly pirouetting around Vanessa's arm and to her right side, as he prepared his arms to deal a devastating counter. Wide-eyed and panicked, Vanessa hastily put up her sword to guard, as she was sent rocketing back once the blades made contact.

Vanessa hacked up blood, feeling her vision swim when she slammed into the thick trunk of a tree. Across the clearing, Siegfried smirked condescendingly.

"Was this really all you had to offer? Geez, what has the church been training you? I've seen beginners act more skilled!"

Vanessa grit her teeth as she pushed herself off the tree, and back to her feet, spitting a blob of blood to the floor as she reentered a stance.

Siegfried grinned, "Points for tenacity, though. Now, come: show me your resolve!"

… And come she did. Vanessa kept attacking, over and over, each strike either parried or evaded effortlessly, and with each simple counter, Siegfried sent Vanessa sprawling, only for the vengeful runaway to stand once more, and continue her brazen assaults.

With a roar, Vanessa ran right back towards Siegfried, her left arm running along the ground, scooping up a bit of dirt in her hand. As soon as she reached the silver-haired swordsman, Vanessa leapt backwards, letting a sword narrowly miss her, while with a flick of her wrist, she let the dirt fly right into Siegfried's blood-red eyes.

"Argh!" Siegfried quickly brought up his left wrist to wipe at his face, which Vanessa used as an opportunity to nail him in the face with a kick, her leg snapping like a viper. Dazed from the blow, Vanessa used the chance to silently fall behind the man's back, and thrust her blade to impale him through the back of the skull.

In a flash of white light, much to Vanessa's shock, a third arm, of all things, wielding another sword from Siegfried's massive worn armory. As it twirled it's blade upward with a flick of the wrist, Vanessa's fatal attack was deflected, and instead of a brutal finishing move, Vanessa's sword merely passed along the side of Siegfried's face, leaving a hairline cut to his left cheek.

Immediately, Vanessa was countered; the man stepped back into her, pinning her sword arm, before judo-flipping her over head, disarming her as she fell.

Vanessa spat more blood as she slammed hard against the forest's floor. Slowly, she began to try to stand, but froze as a blade aligned with her throat.

"That was quite the trick," Siegfried wiped the last of the dirt from his eyes, "If I didn't have my Twice Critical, you would have killed me, handedly."

"...Thanks?" Vanessa hesitantly responded.

"I can see something in you, you know," Siegfried observed, "You fight with a ferocity that I rarely see in people… Penny for your thoughts?"

"... I need to save humanity from the shackles that bind them," Vanessa spoke with slow deliberation, "I… I recently had an epiphany; humans… We can no longer remain as simple pawns… What has the supernatural added to our lives!"

Siegfried looked down at Vanessa in interest, "Huh, you'd fit right in with us, it seems."

Vanessa looked on, confused as Siegfried retracted his blade from her throat, "Excuse me?"

"You see, I'm a part of a group called the Hero Faction. We're composed of people like you, humans of all walks of life, all with the goal of proving humanity is a force that deserves to be treated as not just equals, but superior to any other."

"And what does this have to do with me?" Vanessa asked, her curiosity mounting.

"Well, what if I told you we could help you? You know, you have the spirit and fire to contend with the best of us, I know that Cao Cao would love you… Plus, you can grow stronger, work together with us, and hey," Siegfried grabbed Vanessa's arm, hand hoisted her to her feet, "Maybe you can become strong enough to accomplish your goals."

Vanessa stood stunned. This was the chance that she had been waiting for all this time… A way she could grow stronger, a place where she would have allies… It was all that she wished for, on a silver platter.

"I'm meeting back up with the rest of my group at nightfall," Siegfried informed, "If you wish to join us, then pack your belongings, and meet with us back here by then."

As Siegfried turned to leave, Vanessa spoke up, "Wait!"

The swordsman paused, as Vanessa swallowed a dry breath, "Why… Why are you telling me all this… Offering me this opportunity?"

"Didn't I already tell you? You intrigue me," Siegfried looked over his shoulder, "But also, we're both humans… We have to stick together, no?"

And with that, Siegfried walked back into the forest, and out of sight, leaving Vanessa alone with her thoughts; her brain coming to one final conclusion.

It was time to take the next step. For her parents, for Ethan… For all of humanity…


By the time Jafar returned home, it was already dusk. A long work day down in town, simply busking tables at a local café for a sustainable income. He smelt of coffee grounds, but it was preferable to any other smell that he could stink of in a construction job, or whatever other job opportunity he could secure with his essentially non-existent resume.

As Jafar approached the house, he noticed that a note was taped to the door. Approaching it absent-mindedly, Jafar picked it up, and began to read.

Jafar,

I have been granted a great opportunity to grow stronger. A group of humans came to recruit me to join their team, the Hero Faction. It's a group dedicated to proving that humans are superior to the supernatural…

I felt powerless when we lost Ethan, Jafar. I really did. But on that night we ran away, I came to realize something: what are we to the supernatural? Pawns? Simple expendable tools to be thrown to the fires at the earliest possible convenience? My parents died because of them, Ethan died because of them… What have the supernatural done to benefit any of us? Nothing, that's what.

I intend to grow stronger in this group. I know this may be sad to you, but know that every second I spent in this quiet life, my soul was screaming for me to act. It's time that I make the world right again, for everyone.

~ Vanessa

Jafar's eyes went wide as the note dropped from his shaking fingers.

"No…"

Not caring to deal with a locked door, Jafar simply kicked it off its hinges, as he stormed into the house, "VANESSA! Are you there!?"

Upon hearing nothing but silence, Jafar swore under his breath, as he spun on his heel, and took off, using his trained stamina to begin running at full speed, all the way back down to the city below.


Jafar ran around the small town below for hours, running into every shop, asking each and every person if they had seen a girl matching her description, yet alas, nothing.

His panic was slowly giving way to despair, but he still ran around the city like a madman. He tried everything, even her cell phone's line was dead…

At this point, Jafar was sure he had asked nearly every single person in the town, to no avail. But that's when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement coming down an empty side-street.

Deciding to pursue it, Jafar ran down the street, tailing the figure who seemed to be running from him. But unfortunately for them, basic free-running was well-ingrained into him from his years of time spent as an exorcist.

The two ran down street after street, alleyways, and then, at long last, Jafar figured he had the figure cornered. Turning around to what he remembered being a dead end, he balked when he saw the black-clad person scaling the wall rapidly.

Mumbling another curse under his breath, Jafar, sprinted forward, before leaping towards one of the walls, and then leaping to the other, then the other, then the other, as he scaled the wall at a much slower, but still rather speedy pace.

By the time he reached the roof of the building, he found the figure waiting for him. Panting with exertion as he stood up, Jafar got a better look at the person before him. An odd woman, her black hair done up in two wide loops at the back of her head. Her curvy, hourglass body was pressed tightly into a pair of jeans and a white-fur lined jacket that dipped low to show off her healthy amount of cleavage. But that's not what drew Jafar's gaze the most, no.

Rather, it was the twitching pair of cat ears that sat atop her head, and the narrow-irises of a pair of golden, cat-like eyes. Those traits reminded Jafar of a lesson in supernatural creatures from long ago… A nekomata, if his memory served.

"Nyah-hah-hah~, you run fast mister," The nekomata teased, "You've been causing a real ruckus, y'know. What's the big fuss?"

"You, you're a nekomata, right?" Jafar asked, "I need to ask you something, right now!"

"Oh? What is it?"

"I… Someone I really care about, someone who's like a younger sister to me… She ran away from home. She said she's going to join the 'Hero Faction', whatever that means…"

The look on the nekomata's face sobered, "Nyah… That's rough, buddy. Do… Do you want to talk about it?"

"She… She's been through a lot recently, we both have… But, she hasn't been dealing with it in the best way, and I'm just afraid I might lose her forever to these people."

The nekomata nodded her head, "I see…"

"Yeah…" Jafar sighed, "And I suppose you haven't got any idea of where she is either, huh?"

"Well… I wouldn't say that exactly."

Jafar's gaze instantly snapped back to the woman, "What do you know?"

"The Hero Faction is a sect of something called the Khaos Brigade. A group of international-terrorists, nyah."

"And you know all of this because..?"

"Nyah, we never exchanged names, huh?" The nekomata posed herself alluringly, "The names Kuroka, nyah."

Instantly, Jafar's blood turned to ice, "Kuroka? As in, the infamous super-criminal… That Kuroka?"

Kuroka nodded her head, giving him a wink, "The very same!"

"Uh-huh…" Jafar tried to play it cool, even as his nerves began to fire on all cylinders, "Well, my name's Jafar… Pleasure to meet you?"

Kuroka giggled, "Nyah~ I like you already. Oh, I know! How about you come with me!"

Jafar paused, "I…I beg your pardon?"

"Well, what if I told you I'm a part of the Khaos Brigade too! Not part of the Hero Faction, per say, but hey, I could get you an in, at the very least!"

The offer gave Jafar pause. It was true that joining up with Kuroka would help him get closer to wherever the hell Vanessa went… But was he willing to become a terrorist just to have a chance at getting her back? What if Kuroka was lying? What if she intended to trick him?

But at the same time, Jafar had already lost Ethan, someone he viewed as his little brother in all but blood… And he would be damned if he was about to lose a little sister figure either. Come hell or high water, Jafar would throw his life down to make sure that she was safe…

"Alright then," Jafar nodded, more resolute than ever, "I'll join you, if you'll have me."

"Good to hear, nyah~. You'll fit right in with the others!" Kuroka grinned, before yawning and stretching her back in a very feline movement, "Now, let's go back to your place. I'm hungry, and we all were going to meet up in a day or two anyway."

"Wait, you're just going to eat all my food and crash in my house?"

Kuroka fixed him with a teasing look, "Well sure, it's called repaying the favor. Now c'mon, the night isn't getting any younger here…"

With a wave of her hand, Kuroka began to take off, dexterously leaping off the roof back down into the alleyway below, leaving a stunned and very worn-out Jafar to slowly follow suit, as the two headed back towards the house…


I know this is a really quick update time for me, being literally the next day and all that, but I had free time this weekend, and I had this idea sitting around in my head for a while, so here it is! The last epilogue for the Holy Sword arc! The next chapter will likely take a bit longer to come out, just keep that in mind.

Now, you may all be asking a lot of questions, but allow me to preface things a bit more… I told you all before that I had ideas on how to have a subplot to sort of replace the Gaspar sub-plot now that Vin can't really interact with that storyline in a meaningful way, and this epilogue is a bit of a teaser for that.

At long last, we get to see the return of Jafar and Vanessa, which means that technically, we've touched on every surviving member of the Exorcist gang from the very first arc. I feel it was nice to do this, kind of set things up that will come into play much later in the series…

It's really crazy that this chapter marks a whole twenty-five chapters in at this point. It seems like it all went by in a flash, and I honestly wonder what arc we would be on when we reach fifty chapters, seventy-five chapters, one-hundred chapters… It's kinda nuts, but yeah, I plan on keeping up with this story for the long haul, everyone.

I want to thank everyone once again for all the favorites, follows, and especially reviews that you leave on this story. It always brings a great dose of extra joy to my day to see people enjoying and talking about the stuff that I've written. On top of that, we hit over 400 followers on this story recently, and I just wanted to say, thank you so much to every single person who's been sticking with this story, you all are absolutely incredible, seriously.

If you genuinely enjoyed what you read, please do consider leaving a favorite, follow, and especially review. How about this time, you all let me know what kinds of things you're looking forward to seeing in the future of this story? Not just in the upcoming Peace Summit arc, but beyond that!

Anyway, until next time, where we'll be officially into the next arc, I hope that you all have a great day, and rock on!