Disclaimer: I'll never be as creative as Kaori Yuki- san, so yeah…
A/N: To Hrist Dark Valkyrie and ayashi44, you guys really make my day. Thanks for your reviews!
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Chapter 9- Twisted
Assiah
"Why…how did you manage to…?"
"Forgive me, my lord, but this is not the place to speak. We will need a place to make sure that we are not being spied on. Although you may have gained the trust of the angels, it will not be wise if you are found speaking to a Sin that is supposed to be dead."
"Then why are you…?"
"I will explain everything later…but for now, this way, my lord."
Lucifer's shoulder slackened slightly, but his eyes narrowed.
"And how would I know that you are really Astarte and not some demon sent by Barbelo to exact revenge upon me?"
"Astarte speaks no lies even in front of her brother, whom she loves…" A sad look crossed over the face of Astarte. Lucifer relaxed slightly.
"And it would seem that you still love him so."
"If I had a choice, my Lord…" Astarte let out a soft 'hmpf', and turned away from Lucifer.
"Time is short, my Lord…we have to hasten."
"Lead the way."
Moments later, the only confirmation that they had been there were the few black feathers that remained on the ground.
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Remants of Eden
# Flashback #
"When you have settled Rosiel's problem, please meet me at Eden's ruins."
Katan frowned. Even though Adam Kadamon had spoken in his usual calm manner, Katan swore he had heard something underneath that tone of voice.
It felt like… pure sorrow.
And it felt weird for that to be heard out of Adam Kadamon.
-It now matters not, for what is important now is to meet up with Adam Kadamon- sama and find out what has aggrieved him greatly. Could it be with regards to…?-
"Katan."
Katan snapped out of his reverie, and immediately knelt on the ground.
"Adam Kadamon- sama. My apologies, was I late?"
Adam Kadamon smiled.
"Fret not. I was just early, that's all. I hope that I did not give any problems to you and Rosiel?"
"None at all, Adam Kadamon- sama. You said you wished to speak to me…" Katan hesitated, then continued. "So I did not reveal to Rosiel- sama that I was going to meet with you…"
Adam Kadamon nodded gravely. "Indeed I had hoped that you would not tell him. But for now, will you accompany me for a little while, before I move to more important issues?"
"I would be glad to, Adam Kadamon- sama."
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Assiah
She opened her eyes.
-Where…am I?-
She was standing on water. The water rippled around her feet, and the faintest of sounds could be heard.
She opened her eyes fully. Her surrounding were dark.
But the blue of the water and the ripples could be seen.
Then she looked up, and…
-Who…are you!?-
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Assiah
The cigarette stick bounced off the wall, only to be thrown against it again. Finally, it was left to slide to the ground, lying in a crumpled heap.
"Che…damn, this matter is kind of getting out of hand…"
-So…it seems that my time is drawing to a close…-
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Heaven
"Fixed?"
"Nope."
After a while…
"Michael, you finished translating the part?"
"For the sixteen time, Gabriel, NO!"
"We should have let Uriel done it then…"
"Earth guy is down at the archives…"
"Speaking of which, where is Raphael?"
"Think he saw Barbiel some time ago, he ran after her in a frenzy."
Gabriel sighed.
"At this rate, we'll never finish this."
"Nope, we won't."
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Hell
"Astarte nee-san…"
Asmodeus tried to hold back a sigh. "He's been like this ever since we came back and he came to…can we put him back to sleep?"
Hatter shook her head. "Leave him be. I'll have Mammon deal with him later. Anyway, we should move on to other issues now."
"Oh, that's a first. I have never seen you willing to discuss issues with me most willingly…have you fallen for my charms at long last?"
"Not a bit." Hatter answered flatly. "I would discuss this with all the Seven Satans, but as you can see with the case of Astharoth, it would be impossible."
"So? We wait for our Lord to return?"
"Has your brain been fried by thinking too much of women? Gather the Satans in the Hall, we need to have a talk. NOW." Asmodeus smirked.
"Fine, fine…what of Wrath?"
Hatter stopped in her tracks.
"Wrath…?"
"Yes, Wrath."
"Leave her out. I would rather our Lord spill the news to her himself. I don't need to deal with a mad woman right now when we already have a pining fool over there…"
Asmodeus watched Hatter walk away, and a sheepish smile spread over his face.
"So she does live up to her name of Pride…"
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Assiah
# Thump #
"OUCH!" Sara let out a sigh.
"What happened, Setsuna?" Her question was soon answered as a pissed- off Setsuna hopped out of the library on one foot while clutching a rather large book in his hands.
"Really, Sara, clean up your books some day!" Sara resisted the urge to laugh as she walked over and took the book from Setsuna's hands.
"Fine, I'll do that…"
"By the way," Setsuna hobbled over as Sara sat down and started to flip the pages, "wasn't this book given to you by Uriel?"
Sara nodded. "He said that this is one of the archives most valuable book, as it contains lots of information not revealed to anyone but the Archangels only."
"Even Adam Kadamon?"
"Yep. This book was written by a teacher of Uriel's, who had it hidden away as he would be accused of heresy if anyone found out. The location of the book is only revealed to Uriel himself, who in turn told the other 3 Archangels."
"Che. All the secrecy. But it couldn't be helped, right? After all, the highest crime an angel can be accused of is heresy, right?"
"That's right. And when we say heresy, it's literally-"
"A massacre. Don't look at me like that, I DID pay attention during history classes."
"Fine, whatever." Sara continued to flip through the pages. "Aren't you gonna ask how come I got this book?"
"…"
"What do you want to find?"
Sara looked up at him. "You are seriously not asking?"
Setsuna shrugged. "Tell me about it, when you think it's the right time."
Sara let out a small laugh, then turned to the next page. Her eyes widened abruptly.
"This is it…!"
"Huh?"
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Gehenna
"Alexiel- sama…Aerial…" Kurai whispered out, then shook her head in sheer frustration.
-Damn, its getting so confusing! First Aerial and Alexiel- sama, then Astarte and Heiwa…what on Gehenna is going on!?-
"Kurai- hime!" Noise ran into the room, panting heavily.
"Not now, Noise, I'm busy…"
"No, you have a visitor!"
"Get him to come back later, I'm thinking!"
"But…but…!"
"But what!?" Kurai said, annoyed.
"I mean, we can't say no to them…"
Kurai let out a frustrated sigh. "Who are these esteemed guests, then?"
"The Lord of Hell, m'lady!"
"W…What?"
-The Lord of Hell…is in Gehenna…?-
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Hell
"Ne…Pride…"
"Yes?"
"May we know the reason why we were called so urgently?"
"Of course. You will have your answer soon, Avarice. But for now, we will have to patiently wait for the others, no?"
Mammon muttered something under his breath and leaned back into his seat. Hatter smiled cheekily at him, the looked up as the door opened once more to reveal the remaining 3 Satans. Hatter stood up.
"You're late, Lust. Greetings to you, Gluttony, Envy." Beelzebub nodded in response, but Leviathan let out a slight growling. Hatter only smiled.
"My, my, Envy. Don't worry; we'll let you go back once we are finished with the issue at hand, alright?"
Leviathan snarled. Asmodeus immediately placed one hand on his shoulder. Leviathan turned his smoldering eyes upon Asmodeus, who did not so much as flinch.
"Please be good, Envy. We wouldn't want to hurt you now, would we?" The other 2 Satans rumbled in response. Leviathan narrowed his eyes at Hatter, then shuffled over to his seat. Asmodeus sighed.
-Really, he's getting out of hand. Note to self: Report back to the Dark Lord about the issue with Envy…-
As Asmodeus settled himself, Beelzebub looked at Hatter. "Pride."
"Yes, Lord Gluttony?"
"You have not called Wrath or Sloth to the meeting." Hatter smiled.
"Sadly, Lord Gluttony, it would be better to leave Wrath out of this matter, and Sloth…is part of this issue that I would be speaking about."
"So why not involve him?"
"Currently, he will not respond to anyone, and we do not wish to agitate him further." Asmodeus answered. "It would be better to let him live in his little dream, for now."
Mammon snorted. "And here I thought he was trying to live up to his title of Sloth ."
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Heaven
"Michael- sama!"
"WHAT NOW!?" Michael roared. Everyone in the room cringed, with the exception of Gabriel, who had gotten used to his sudden mood changes.
"Erm, well…we…" The messenger squeaked, clearly terrified that he would be burnt to death. Gabriel sighed and gently patted Michael's head.
"Michael, you are scaring the poor guy to death. It's his duty to deliver messages, and its not easy on him. Take it easy, okay? I'll finish up the rest of the translation."
"Gabriel…"
"Yes?"
"Next time, leave my head alone."
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Gehenna
The atmosphere was cold.
Kurai's eyes flickered back and forth nervously, before weakly clearing her voice to catch their attention.
"A…Ano…may I know…the purpose for your visit, Lucifer- sama?"
"Kurai-hime, may I request you leave us be?"
"Uh, sure!" Kurai stood up, looked at Astarte, then walked out as fast as she could and…
"Kurai!"
"Mi…Mika…!?"
Michael stopped short in front of Kurai, panting heavily. "Well? I heard that brother of mine was here in Gehenna, gave me quite a decent amount of heart attack…"
"Yea…you want to catch your breath first? I'll bring you to the throne room; that place is a better place for me to talk to you…"
"Yea, sure, lead the way…"
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Earlier on…
"COME AGAIN!?"
For the second time that day, everyone cringed, some even going as far as to duck under tables just to avoid the Archangel's fury.
Only this time, Michael was more shocked than mad.
"That bas…change that, brother of mine is at Gehenna!?"
"Yes, Michael- sama!"
Michael turned to look at Gabriel. "Oi…"
"Best if you go and find the princess and have a word with her…"
Michael nodded his head, and ran out of the room.
There was silence for a while before Gabriel's cheerful voice broke through.
"Now, everyone, let's get back to work, shall we?"
# Flashback ends #
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Assiah
"Prophecy?" Sara nodded.
"Yep. Apparently, the machine thingy; I forgot his name; kind of leaked out information accidentally while rewriting some information, and he didn't even realize it. Uriel's teacher somehow got hold of it, and he kept it a secret ever since."
"But it won't exactly be counted a secret if Uriel already read the book, right?"
"Nope. Uriel got the book, but he didn't open the book because his teacher instructed him not to do so. The book was supposed to be opened by someone else."
"Who? You?"
"Nope."
"Me?"
"You're thinking too highly of yourself."
"Ok, fine, I give up. Who was supposed to get the book?"
"Well…"
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Hell
"Impossible!"
"I agree!"
Hatter rolled her eyes, as Asmodeus snickered.
"Gentlemen, may I remind you that time is short, and that I will need you to stop saying -impossible- at every chance you get? We have a duty to report back to the Lord of Hell himself, and if we don't…"
"…" There was silence for a moment, then there was a knock on the door. All the Satans looked up sharply.
"Enter." Hatter's voice was cool and collected. A demon underling peeked his head in, looking extremely terrified.
"So…sorry…its…just that…"
"What is it?" Mammon said impatiently. "Stop wasting our time!"
"Yes! My apologies, Avarice- sama! The Great Lord has asked that the Seven Satans be assembled in the throne room, now."
The five Satans looked at each other.
"What are we waiting for? It's the Lord's order, right?"
"Impossible." Leviathan rumbled.
"Very funny, Envy. Very funny."
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-Who are you…?-
Silence
-Who am I?-
-Huh?-
A smile crossed over the image's face.
-I am you.-
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A/N: And that's finally done and over with! # starts bawling #
Kira: And as a result, I have been graciously asked to read the author's notes for you.
Setsuna: Not fair, damn it!
# Setsuna gets thrown out #
Kira: # cough # Firstly, I would like to thank the wonderful women…and men, if there are any, who have read the story but did not review. The author is more than pleased with the number of hits she had that she cries into her pillow every night upon the receiving of new reader…
Alexiel: Don't make up stories, you idiot!
Kira: Fine, fine. Anything for my beloved Alexiel. Anyway, the next thanks goes to the 2 wonderful people who cared to drop a review. They are:
ayashi44: Sorry you had to wait so long! I tried to update earlier, but for almost the entire year, I had to deal with my examinations and other personal issues, not to mention my com went and "died" on me. I hope you like this chapter, though! As a side note, I'm working on your request, so you can expect it in the next chapter! )
Hrist Dark Valkyrie: I'm sorry that I couldn't leave a review for your stories, I'll try and do it the next time round I drop by and read. (I'm working now, and my school is slated to start soon in April, so I may be a little…) Anyway, sorry for a short chapter, and I hope to see your review soon in my mailbox! )
Kira: So to the 2 who reviewed, tonight you will dream of me dancing in the rose garden…
Uriel: Keep out of my garden, Sakuya.
Kira: Don't interrupt, you guys!
# AS cast starts bickering #
Sara: There we go again…anyway! The author has a request to make! She's looking for a beta reader, as she's having a rather big writer's block. Interested people don't have to worry about waiting long; the author just needs 3 weeks.
Also, the only 2 conditions of becoming the beta reader:
1) Has to be familiar with the AS world
2) Has a decent amt of language command, and who can discuss freely about the story itself.
Gabriel: Drop a PM if you're interested! Just give 2 reasons why you are willing to be a beta reader for this story, and that's done! The author will contact you through an email! And if possible, better if the B-R is a member of FFnet. See you soon! And don't forget to review, or you won't get to see the "hot" guys in your dreams! # winks #