The Devil's Checkmate

By Miaka

Miyako wanted to look back over her shoulder, to see if the French maid was still at Minazuki's door. But she was too proud to do that. So what if Minazuki didn't want to help her? She could get just as much done on her own. She unballed her fists as she reached the end of the hall. She was almost at her door when she heard something to her right.

'Maron's door,' Miyako thought, raising her eyebrow. Perhaps Maron and Chiaki were talking? Forgetting the irritation Minazuki had caused her, Miyako approached Maron's door and leaned an ear up to it. A stupid grin came to her face while she thought of all the things she could say to embarrass Maron in the morning. But to Miyako's surprise, she did not hear a deeper, male voice from within the room. The only sound was Maron's murmuring; words too unclear to interest Miyako.

"Is she sleep-talking?" Miyako wondered aloud, having found a new reason to be amused. She lifted her wrist to check her watch's time. It was already going on midnight. If she was going to sneak out in a few hours, she might as well get what sleep she could. And so Miyako moved on to the next door, to her room.

She closed the door behind her and leaned against it, frowning into the black room. She would investigate with or without Minazuki; either way, her gut told her that the falling chandelier had not just been a 'terrible accident'.

Maron tried to grasp everything Fin had just spilled out for her in a calm understanding. The miniature angel had been waiting in her room when she got there. And after another warm reunion, Fin admitted that she had not shown up simply to see Maron again. There was more, a lot more that Maron needed to know. And so Fin had begun with a retelling of her trial in heaven---the procedure she went through to become a full-fledged angel.

"I was so nervous," Fin squeaked, shedding melodramatic tears into Maron's hair. "I thought they might de-rank me completely! It's not easy being in heaven after you've done work for… well, you know…" Fin trailed off, not wanting to bring up her past betrayal. "But it was worse when they told me I'd have to drag Jeanne into this again," she sniffled on, appreciating that Maron did not look the slightest bit annoyed; the only emotion in Maron's big brown eyes was concern.

"I'm not really surprised, Fin," Maron softly smiled.

"You're not?" Fin flew back a little, tilting her head.

"No," Maron answered. "I've been having… odd dreams lately… I wasn't sure what to make of them. At least now they sort of make sense to me."

Fin pursed her lips as she flew to the tea table behind her. She sat comfortably on its edge while considering what Maron had just said. Maron immediately recognized the troubled expression.

"What kind of dreams has Maron been having?" Fin asked before Maron could question the look on Fin's face.

"Nn… just Kaitou-related, I suppose," Maron replied, choosing not to relay the nightmare of Chiaki abandoning her, though now that she thought of it, that too had been troubling.

"Hmm," Finn observed Maron, sensing she had not shared everything. But that was okay. Tonight was more urgent.

"Maron. There's a demon at the opera house you were at today," Finn said quickly, shocking Maron off the bed.

"At the opera house?" Maron repeated, closing in on the tea table for an elaboration. Fin looked up at her with round, fearful green eyes and nodded.

"But Satan's not sending out typical minions anymore," Fin dropped her voice to a near whisper. "The demons he's been letting loose are different."

"Different how?"

"Before, demons would possess one object, affecting one host. You remember," Fin explained. "The victims would always be saved as soon as you sealed the demons away. But now… these demons don't need hosts. They act on their own, taking shapes of all kinds. And they're much stronger than what you've faced before. For one, these demons can't be sealed."

Maron's brow creased as she took in everything with a sense of duty, but also a lot of confusion. If she couldn't seal the demons, what was she going to do?

"How did they get to be stronger?" Maron asked.

"No one knows," Fin answered. "But the head angels think it's because somehow, Satan has gotten more power. The first demons you sealed, the ones I," she paused, "Handed over to him may have given him some strength. But there's a rumor going around in Heaven that Satan has another agent working for him in the human world."

Maron raised her eyebrow. "What, like you or Noin?"

Fin cringed over Maron's bluntness, but nodded and said, "Possibly." She avoided Maron's eyes for a moment, staring off into the farthest corner of the room and frowning. There was more to the rumor that she would not tell Maron; that many angels believed Fin was still working for Maou, the devil.

"Fin," Maron noticed the angel had zoned out. Fin turned her bright little head back to Maron, giving her full attention before Maron asked, "If I can't seal the demons… what am I supposed to do?" Moonlight broke through the balcony window as a cloud that had been in front of it passed on, wrapping Fin in silvery light. The light was filtered by one of the trees just outside; Maron watched twisted shadows wave across the angel's face as a breeze swept by that side of the manor.

"Do you know what demons really are, Maron?" the angel asked. An inexplicable chill crept over Maron's shoulders. The origin of demons…she had never really considered it. All this time, she had assumed the demons were just the devil's creations. But now she could tell, by Fin's frightened face, that there was far more to it.

"Angels," Fin continued, but her voice had become sad. "Every demon… was once an angel; has the same biological makeup, the same powers, the same purpose---"

"Purpose?" Maron interrupted, having trouble picturing God's right hand race working for the devil. "Aren't angels messengers of God?" Fin nodded.

"Demons are messengers too. They deliver souls to Maou and spread his terror into other realms."

Maron wasn't liking the sound of any of this. "How do they become demons?" Maron asked.

"How did the devil become the devil?" Fin asked back. Maron said nothing. She knew the answer easily enough. Fin had told her many a time; that Maou had once been the highest level of angels. He may have even been God's favorite. But a long time ago, when God created man, Maou changed. He didn't like the humans; he thought them inferior because they were powerless. And yet, God loved humankind dearly; even more than the angels. Maou could not fathom it. It drove him mad.

And so the devil was born.

"Angels hate humans?" Maron concluded.

"Not all of them do," Fin corrected her at once. "Most of us love them as much as God does. But… enough angels have turned for the balance between God and Maou to be in danger. More of them are joining Maou every year. Some of them do so willingly. Others are tricked. Times are bad, Maron."

Maron dropped to her knees in front of the tea table and stared at the carpeted floor for a while. The design on it was a vermillion maze on creamy white; Maron herself felt like she was trapped in a maze, being drawn back into the war between Heaven and Hell. Fin watched her silently, wishing the girl could have been given more time to enjoy a normal life. But destiny was Maron's calling.

"What can I do?" Maron asked. "If I can't seal them, what can I do?" Fin winced at her tone, but was prepared with the answer now that Maron knew the truth about demons. The sub-angel closed her eyes and clasped her tiny hands together, whispering a barely audible prayer. Maron straightened herself, listening to the wind start to whistle and then scream against the balcony windows, throwing the doors open. Startled, Maron got to her feet. The moonlight from before intensified around Fin, making her almost too bright to look at. Maron shielded her eyes as the light reached its peak.

And suddenly, the wind stopped. The light dimmed to normal. Maron lowered her arms and looked down to find Fin still standing on the table; or at least, standing on a sword laid out on the table. Maron gaped down at the weapon. Its sheath was made of a glowing silver, laced by intricate designs of vines from top to bottom. Maron looked at it questioningly.

"You can eliminate them," Fin answered. Upon that answer, Maron felt two things.

At first, her heart skipped a beat; but then, she felt it ache.

I'm going to use 'Maou', 'the devil', and 'Satan' interchangably; please deal with it. Anyway, nyaa, that's all for this chapter! Hope you enjoyed.