But It Doesn't Mean They're In The Clear
Night descended on the residents of the peaceful town of Kuoh and Alphonse dropped his bag on one of the wooden benches dotted around the small park. He plopped himself next to his sling bag with a white plastic bag hanging on his right hand. He glanced around, a little apprehensive at being on another park just less than an hour after that nearly-fatal incident with the last one.
He reasoned it should be safe here with plenty of people enjoying the night life scenery, and mingling with other people will hopefully deter any sort of attack. He really doubt that members of this so called 'Fallen Angel' will attack suddenly for no reason given they greatly value their secrecy. Judging by her exit monologue, it seems she didn't want her presence to be revealed. The question is: by who? She and, by extension, the rest of her 'whatever they are' view humans as nothing more than insects.
Alphonse set the plastic bag aside and pulled out a white Styrofoam container. As soon as he opened it, the sweet smell of a perfectly cooked pork waft through his nose. Eager to attack his prize, he split apart the provided chopsticks and proceeded to dig in with gusto.
As soon as the meat hit his taste buds, he let out a delighted moan and with his overzealousness, he began to choke. He thumped his chest a couple of times before reaching for a chilled water bottle and hastily twisted the cap then chugged it down.
He sighed in relief and cleared his throat, noticing a pair of children zipping pass him; laughing as they played a game of tag. Alphonse smiled as he watched with reminiscent steel grey eyes as they disappear behind the huge water fountain. His smile, however, quickly turned into a frown. His mind wondering back at the unprovoked attack.
It seems something's lurking beneath the peaceful façade of the town. Something regular folks, like the old couple a few benches down, are not aware of. With one hand clutching the food container, he sat back against the bench, thumb rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Or purposefully kept hidden." He furrowed his brow. Meaning what exactly?
His pensive thought were interrupted by the familiar sound of a girl's voice. "Ah Darcozzi-san, I didn't expect to see you here." He jerked, almost crushing the food container in surprise. He looked around, trying to find the source of the voice.
Standing at a respectful distance, Shitori Souna eyed her fellow classmate as she adjusted the frame of her glasses. She was clearly amused at his overreaction judging by the curl of her lips.
"President Shitori" he acknowledged her presence by replying in flowing English. "Good evening. I'm surprised to find you here as well." He paused, narrowing his gaze ever so slightly at her, "I hope you're not here to drag me into another afterschool project."
She curtly shook her head in denial "No, I'm not here to do that." Alphonse nodded once and sank into the chair as he resumed eating. The Sitri heiress noted that his usually neat, always slicked back, black hair is in a state of disarray. There were numerous wrinkles with his school blazer and the grass stains on his sleeves were absent earlier when he left the school grounds. Something obviously happened to him afterwards.
A simple slip and fall is the easiest and the most likely reason for his disheveled appearance. A ruffian extorting him for his money is the second, less likely, explanation. With him buying takeout food made her throw out that hypothesis entirely. Though, he could have repulse their extortion attempts.
Though, there is something nagging her at the back of the head with the timing of it all. Rias, by courtesy, informed her of the revival of one Issei Hyoudou as a member of her peerage as its singular pawn. The boy in question died by impalement, his wound uncannily similar to those inflicted by Light Projection weapons used by both Angels and their fallen brethren.
So, she did the one thing that would guarantee some kind of response.
"Darcozzi- san" she started, her soft tone belie the seriousness of her inquiry. "What happened to you after you left school?" He stared at her for a second, then his eyes opened by a fraction and had a faraway look to it. She cocked an eyebrow when he took too long to answer and was about to repeat the question when he finally replied.
"I- Well I… accidentally earned the ire of a woman." Sona's face showed a slight surprise at his confession. She was aware of his deficit social skills, choosing only to interact with people if circumstances forced him to. It took almost an entire year's work to tear his walls down for him to at least regularly interact with her and by extension, her peerage. If he earned that anger, then the two must be close. His mother? A sister perhaps? A friend who is also a girl? And dare she say it, a girlfriend who manage to successfully penetrate through all of his defenses?
She nodded, tilting her head slightly, "How did you manage?"
He unrepentantly grinned at her, "By espousing one of the oldest and noblest of pirate traditions." She expectantly waited for his answer, but he stayed silent. Intending for her to actually look it up herself.
"I see." She shifted her weight, "I hope you have a more pleasant evening."
"You also, Miss President" replied Alphonse waving his chopstick in a mock goodbye.
Once she was far enough, Sona pulled out her cellphone and scrolled through to Tsubaki's contact number. It only rang twice before she picked up. "Yes?"
"Search around the area where Issei Hyoudou was found."
"What am I looking for?"
"Anything that we can use to find the culprit."
"Yes, Sona-kaichou." The phone clicked, ending the conversation.
The Sitri heiress continued walking, letting the Kuoh nightlife wash away all the worries for the day. However, the Hyoudou incident kept bugging her and a niggling instinct that Alphonse may have at least encountered the same culprit. If he did, not only did he survive. He escaped relatively unharmed and may at least provide some details on the attacker. Though, if she insist in asking him the details, she also have to wipe his memory.
She didn't take kindly to any threats pointed at the students of the school, much less harmful action. She may be a devil, but she also cared about those under her and by extension the entire Kuoh student body. Especially if one of those victim is a friend of hers.
Though, if he did encounter an Angel or more likely a Fallen Angel and survived; how did he escaped hers and Rias's notice? Especially her, since the two have been 'hanging' out for almost a year. He is no devil and certainly is no offspring of a Fallen Angel like Akeno. He also didn't possess any Sacred Gear as far she's concerned. A magician is perhaps the most logical conclusion she could draw upon on.
Perhaps… She shook her head, stopping that train of thought from ever crossing her mind. Sona didn't want to drag him into her world he might not survive if he doesn't accept her proposition.
Alphonse stared the shrinking figure of the Student Council President, wondering why she was outside of her domain in the first place. Thinking back, it was near impossible for her to not notice his ruffled self. He almost was tempted to tell her everything of what transpired back in the other park. However, he bit his tongue and told her the most basic of explanations he could come up with and distilled what transpired into a single line out of a swashbuckling pirate movie he saw yesterday.
He didn't feel any sort of remorse, after all she did tell her exactly what happened. How she interpreted the message is her business. He continued consuming his well-earned reward. Besides, I don't want to put her in danger by informing her of this 'Fallen Angels' group. Who knows what she might do. Or, they might do if she started poking around for them.
He sighed, knowing what he has to do and the sacrifice he needed make in order to at least deal with the problem. He gulp down the last morsel of food. "Ugh. I'll start tomorrow." Then, he started to mumble under his breath as he threw his trash into the appropriate receptacle, grab his bag, and started walking straight home. School work didn't even register a beep inside the brain his.
Sona sat behind her desk inside the Student Council room. If the Occult Research Club is where Rias situated herself to do her devilry, hers was this. She kept her eyes at the paperwork in front of her, reading the budget reports for various clubs.
Why she is still here and not in her dorm resting? Because this was one of those rare days were the work being done is being overwhelmed by the number of things they need to do in order to keep the clubs from being shut down and various planned events go off without a hitch. Not to mention, the illegal incursion into Gremory owned lands.
Sona felt something in the air and set down the paper. Seconds later, a magic circle appeared which is followed by the appearance of her trusted Queen, Tsubaki.
"Tsubaki. I hope you have news to report?"
"I do." The Vice President stepped off the circle. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "There was sign of another attack. Dozens of trees were damage and some were entirely obliterated. No sign of the attacker or the victim." Tsubaki stared at her King as she leaned back and pondered silently. She wondered how her King had come up with the idea. There was absolutely no evidence before that pointed to a second attack.
Sona removed her glasses, trying to rub the tiredness out of her eyes. "I was afraid of that."
Tsubaki inquired "Why is that?" Sona didn't answer and just heaved a heavy sigh. "Sona-kaichou?"
The President raised a hand, stopping Tsubaki. "Have Alphonse in a constant 24/7 surveillance."
This made Tsubaki rock back, her heterochromatic eyes wide with surprise. "Alphonse?" She couldn't believe it. The quiet boy who rarely talks is involved. "He's the culprit? He attacked Issei?" The perverted second year might get on most of everybody's nerves, but it didn't warrant cold-blooded murder.
Sona shook her head and sent a mild glare towards her Queen for suggesting Alphonse as a closet killer psychopath. "No, but I believe he may be the second victim. The park in question happens to be the route he always takes to go home."
"Oh…" Tsubaki smiled "and you were worried."
"Of course. He's a friend and so are you to him." Sona crossed her arms against her chest. "He already gave us a clue of the culprit. A woman."
"A woman? Sona-kaichou, that's not much."
"I know. But, he's reluctant to tell me anything more than that. And, he was spouting some kind of noble pirate tradition nonsense." She huffed, clearly annoyed by his crude cryptic message.
"Maybe he's just worried about exposing you to danger. I would be too."
She tapped the desk hard with her index finger and replied with a firm voice. "He's the one who should be worried about the danger he just found himself in. He'll be curious. And, as the old human adage goes, 'it killed the cat'."
Tsubaki frowned, "Then let's just take him and alter his memories of the event." It was a simple solution, the Three Biblical Factions constantly used them as a way of preventing normal humans from ever involving themselves into the supernatural. Though, a few skip the memory alteration altogether and go straight to homicide. She noticed Sona avert her gaze, reluctance plastered all over her face. "Sona-kaichou?"
"I'm sorry, but that option is out of the table."
"W-why?" Tsubaki stammered getting caught off-guard yet again.
"I can't tell you. It's personal." Sona steely gazed at her queen, her determined face barred any more inquiries relating to that question.
Tsubaki sighed, clearly her King had grown attached to Alphonse. Maybe she have romantic feeling for him? It was sometimes hard to tell. She cleared her throat "Then, let him join the peerage. He keeps his memories and, at the same time, he gains your protection as a servant of the Sitri heiress."
"I thought of it, but it involves revealing myself and the entire student council as devils. He might even reject my offer by that simple revelation alone."
"He'll listen to you as your friend. You can convince him that even if you're a Devil, you're still you. Alphonse is reasonable enough to see that." Tsubaki could see Sona ponder at her words. Her King might be a certified genius, but she's not omnipotent. She also is prone to doubts and mistakes as most people are, and it also was her job as her Queen to help however she can.
"Yes… I see your point. Alphonse can be reasoned with. But for now, keep an eye on him. I'll see to it that he at least gets a summoning circle." Sona pulled out an empty piece of paper from one of the drawers and started writing something on it. Tsubaki just smiled. Her King really cared for Alphonse. Next time she sees him, she's going to heavily suggest to him into at least rewarding Sona's efforts.
Alphonse stared at the screen right in front of him with furrowed brows. On one of the pictures was an artistic resemblance of the creature in question. A black pair of feathered wings holding a spear. It may not be glowing, but the wings were all he needed to make a connection.
"If Fallen Angels do exist… then Angels exist as well. Which means the Biblical God also exists as well as the Islamic one. The two might even be the same entity. Then, what does it mean for the Devil mentioned in the Bible? Or, for that matter, gods of different religions?
Alphonse sat back, massaging his temple. He thought the gods here were nonexistent. Born from the imaginative minds trying to explain the unknown and the desire to have a being of higher power watch over them. From what he observed so far, prayers of the devout often goes unanswered. There were little to no signs of their unseen hand at work.
Do they simply not care at all?
He forcefully closed the laptop screen. He just found the other end of the spectrum of the debate and didn't like the implications of it all. He whispered to himself "Did we get lucky with ours then?"
Or… are they not the 'gods' as we thought of them as?