NMHA Ch. 25 - Ripple


Lunarunn hadn't seen Serafall in years. Ever since that call, they had yet to meet again face to face.

She wasn't sure how she'd be able to hold up when they met again.

That wasn't to say that she hadn't figured out a compromise though, to try and maintain some avenue of communication.

Ah, the convenience of 2000-era computer instant messaging. Jabber was no texting, but Luna was very glad she hadn't arrived in this world even further back.


IRLMagicalGirl: omg you finally made it im so proud of you lunataaaaaaan

Moonstroke: Thanks. It's been a lot of work, and a whoooole lot of political bs, but it's worth it.

IRLMagicalGirl: oh i was talking about your actually getting on chat but congrats on high class i guess

Moonstroke: Oh don't be like that. I was only two minutes late; I ended up showering a little too long.

IRLMagicalGirl: oh i see. well i hope it wasnt because of anything... naughty

Moonstroke: ...No comment.

IRLMagicalGirl: o h n o

IRLMagicalGirl: lunatan has been infected by evil thoughts!

IRLMagicalGirl: dont worry lunatan, magical girl levytan is here to purge your brain of all those bad thoughts and leave it all good and clean!

Moonstroke: You done?

IRLMagicalGirl: yep! for realsies tho congrats on getting to high class without joining a peerage

IRLMagicalGirl: that hasnt happened in, like, centuries, so you did a big big thing!

IRLMagicalGirl: have you looked at your new property yet? have you? have you?

IRLMagicalGirl: ooh, maybe i could throw a welcoming party, bake a cake, maybe even a game of twister!

Moonstroke: ...you know how i feel about face-to-face meetups serafall

IRLMagicalGirl: ehehehe... yeah... i may have forgot about that

Moonstroke: That... That really doesn't give me any more warm and fuzzies about meeting up in person again

Moonstroke: I know I'm wishy-washy on fixing this relationship, but you really made me nervous of you when you pulled that shit before my debut. Scared, even.

IRLMagicalGirl: ...Yeah. I know. Which is why I want to try and make it right. Somehow.

Moonstroke: If I can't trust my own thoughts to be unmuddied when we see each other again, then how can I even know what that 'right' would be? Or SHOULD be?

Moonstroke: That's why it's so important to not cross the line you did.

IRLMagicalGirl: I know that. I wouldn't have, if I'd the choice.

Moonstroke: ...You did have a choice. You just decided to ask for forgiveness rather than permission.

IRLMagicalGirl: Then why are you still talking to me, rather than completely shut me out like you did Ajuka?

Moonstroke: Because I do want to try and fix our friendship. Because I know you really do regret what you did; you apologized and explained everything, after all. But at the same time, I'm harsh because I know how easily you'd be able to mess with me again if I just forgave and forgot.

IRLMagicalGirl: ...

IRLMagicalGirl: ...Is part of it because I'm a girl?

Moonstroke: I'd give Ajuka the same chance if he'd been in your shoes and come clean like you did. Don't bring my sexuality into this.

Moonstroke: But yes I am biased and I am trying very hard to not let it affect my way of thinking thank you very much.

Moonstroke: Anyway. Let's get back on track.

IRLMagicalGirl: no wiat levytan wants to hear more about this bias

Moonstroke: I SAID moving on. Did I mention that I already have my first two Peerage members?

IRLMagicalGirl: WAIT YOURE ALREADY COLLECTING PIECES? ooh levytan needs to know more gimmegimmegimme


As much as Luna wanted to keep the smile from spreading on her face as she read the message, already able to practically hear the Leviathan Maou say it, she couldn't help it. Serafall had a way of brightening the mood, even when she wasn't in the room. Probably has something to do with that bubbly side she tends to wear on her sleeve.


Moonstroke: So the first one happens to be another Devil. Higher-ranked than me, funnily enough. Not by much, but she was the one to scout me out and offer friendship, so I figured I might as well return the favor.

IRLMagicalGirl: you mean the valac girl?

Moonstroke: That's the one. Jaspal isn't really cut out for fighting, but she's already impressing me with her bloodline affinity. Being able to get good information out of nearly every foe for the cost of a single Pawn? That sort of cost-effectiveness would get her banned in a card game!

IRLMagicalGirl: ohhhhh! thats really smart! im surprised other devils hadnt thought of that, i knew lunatan was a bright bulb!

Moonstroke: Besides, she and I have already helped each other out of tight spots, it only seems fair that I do something to formalize that sort of relationship.

IRLMagicalGirl: ...That's a lifetime commitment you both made to each other, Luna. I really hope that you two made it as something more than an alliance of convenience.

Moonstroke: Of course it's more than that. Jaspal's a friend, and she wanted this too. Besides, if she does decide one night she wants to be... adventurous... well. I'm not going to complain.

IRLMagicalGirl: naughty naughty lunatan

Moonstroke: Hey, she knows full well my preferences. I think her joining despite that says something.

IRLMagicalGirl: well if smarty lunatan says so then who is levytan to argue

IRLMagicalGirl: so who is the other one that you added to your peerage

Moonstroke: Well, I dunno, I feel like it'd be telling. I almost want to wait for the reveal.

IRLMagicalGirl: no no no enough waiting i wanna know NAOW

Moonstroke: But then where's the suspense? If I just say it then that spoils the fun!

IRLMagicalGirl: why do you do this to me lunatan

IRLMagicalGirl: what did i ever do to you to deserve this?


Oh.

Oh.

'Okay, that is pushing it, Serafall.'

Luna knew that she didn't mean it in any harmful fashion, but it still raised the brunette's hackles. That was a button that she should not have pressed.


Moonstroke: you mean besides brainwash me into acting like a good little pawn on stage without my consent?

IRLMagicalGirl: exactly! this is cruel and unusual punishment!

Moonstroke: well maybe im just feeling a little evil tonight

IRLMagicalGirl: uuuuuuuuuu, lunatan really HAS been infected by bad thoughts!

Moonstroke: Yeah, well you'd fucking know, wouldn't you?


The brunette belted out the venomous reply faster than she could stop it, but at the same time most of Luna really didn't care. If Serafall was going to tease about what happened, then she was going to have to be prepared to deal with the response.


Moonstroke: That was harsh. I'm not apologizing.

IRLMagicalGirl: No, nor should you. I definitely invited that.

IRLMagicalGirl: Sorry.

IRLMagicalGirl: I know it's still probably raw, but I wanted to try and... y'know. Normalize it.

Moonstroke: you mean pretend that it never happened?

IRLMagicalGirl: No. It happened, and it's not something I'm trying to play off like some prank that was crueler than I intended.

IRLMagicalGirl: I screwed up, big time. And it really does warrant your caution toward me, even years after it's happened.

IRLMagicalGirl: It's just...

IRLMagicalGirl: It's happened, nothing I say or do's gonna change that, so the only thing we can do is get mad, or sad, or laugh about it.

IRLMagicalGirl: And I don't mean laugh like it's a joke either

IRLMagicalGirl: I mean laugh because it's just that fucked up, that something like that would happen, that I'd do that.

IRLMagicalGirl: Does that make it alright? Absolutely not.

IRLMagicalGirl: But what good is it to get mad or sad about it?

IRLMagicalGirl: Getting mad just means you'll end up breaking more things for no reason.

IRLMagicalGirl: And getting sad... well. Aside from catharsis, what else are you going to get from it?

IRLMagicalGirl: I'm being cheeky to move on from what happened.

Moonstroke: And what DID happen, exactly?


Luna already knew.

But she wanted Serafall to say it.

Again.

Maybe this time she'd be able to actually follow through with letting it go.


IRLMagicalGirl: I broke your trust. I violated one of your most sacred places. What could have been - should have been - an expression of closeness was instead an act of betrayal.

IRLMagicalGirl: That's why I was trying to be funny, because it's just that messed up, but if we dwell on it any other way, if it's always something to walk on eggshells around, then how are we supposed to move beyond the fact that I did invade your mind, without your knowledge or consent?

Moonstroke: And there's the rub. Real catch-22, ain't it?

Moonstroke: ...The fact that you did it to keep me from getting torn apart immediately doesn't really help matters either, even if I know you did it with... relatively good intentions.

IRLMagicalGirl: You're right.

IRLMagicalGirl: You know that you can ask anything of me, to try and set things straight, right? Short of getting my family involved, anyway.

Moonstroke: I know. This is between the two of us. I'll be holding onto that favor for a long while, I think.

IRLMagicalGirl: It's not a favor. It's a promise.

Moonstroke: I'm not sure I can trust you to keep a promise.

IRLMagicalGirl: ...

IRLMagicalGirl: You really do have a way with words, Luna. That one smarted. That one smarted pretty bad.

Moonstroke: ...You have no idea how much I want to continue being petty right now. But I want to fix this too. I'm sorry for that last remark.

IRLMagicalGirl: I can't exactly blame you for it. Thank you, though. For being willing to put up with my trying to make amends. And for your apology.

Moonstroke: I really, really hope it's worth it.

IRLMagicalGirl: I'll make sure it is.

Moonstroke: ...You said you wanted to know my second Peerage member?

IRLMagicalGirl: oh? id love to!

Moonstroke: A stray cat I picked up off the street

IRLMagicalGirl: ...what


Luna wasn't sure if it was the mood whiplash or the way that she could just hear the deadpan in the last message.

But she laughed anyway.


She had always lived not too far from the city, at least in her old life.

Granted, she wasn't so sheltered as to not have even traveled through such larger places, but even the biggest city she'd lived in was relatively small.

Certainly, she was no New Yorker.

So one would have to forgive her for being awed by the grand Tokyo skyline, even moreso as Luna found herself smack-dab in Akibahara.

Truly, a haven for otaku and weeb culture.

Even now, she couldn't help but stare at one of the massive screens hosting a mecha battle of some sort, trying to sort out all the noise from the people around her. It reminded her of Gundam, but it wasn't quite the same...

Perhaps another anime then, or a derivative of that show due to the alternate universe nature that was the DxD-verse.

Regardless, Lunarunn shifted the strap of her backpack, taking some level of delight in the rustle of manga and games she'd ended up buying so far, and started walking again.

That she'd need to learn to read Japanese to understand them wasn't lost to her, but at the same time she didn't quite care.

Except Kanji. Fuuuuuuuck that noise.

It had already been in her itinerary anyway, thanks to the events of DxD primarily transpiring in the island nation.

The entire visit to Akihabara was all overwhelming. Granted, in a good way, but the vast difference even compared to the downtown of her own home city was nothing compared to the megalopolis that Tokyo seemed to be.

Again, one would have to forgive her head spinning at just how vast it was.

A thought struck her.

'...And to think, someone like Serafall could supposedly wipe this entire country off the map without even trying.'

Was Luna anywhere approaching that level of power?

...Well...

Not yet, anyway. But she knew that she'd been growing rapidly. Perhaps by the time canon rolled around Luna would have that amount of strength. Perhaps.

Still, the thought of such destructive power causing such damage to such a massive city, the result of centuries of development, as to wipe it out in minutes if not seconds, was truly intimidating.

Perhaps she'd be better off sticking with subtler, less destructive ways of taking down her foes.

'Kh. I need to stop focusing on that and enjoy myself. I'm on vacation, dammit, how'd I even become a workaholic to begin with?'

"I would imagine that has something to do with the fact that you've been working on increasing your standing within the Underworld to the point of disregarding your psychological profile."

Luna rolled her eyes. Maybe she had traded off her laziness for an unhealthy obsession with getting everything done that she could, but she didn't exactly have the luxury of being able to faff about these days.

'Rhetorical question, Ulan.'

Ruval had handled matters of getting her set up for a Tokyo tour, seeing as he was the one to suggest she take a break. He hadn't had to, Luna was quite fine on her own, but he'd insisted that he do his part in helping her back onto her feet. As if convincing her to focus on de-stressing wasn't help enough.

It was rather kind of him to go that extra mile, though. She'd have to pay him back somehow.

That being said, she hadn't even arrived in whatever hotel he'd booked for her, so she was also trying to ignore the likely chance that she'd be getting a penthouse suite all to her lonesome.

Yeah, she definitely wasn't paying him back financially. Luna was well-off, especially with her new title, but even so the wealth of the Phenex family absolutely towered over her own holdings.

...Holy shit, she actually had holdings.

What sorcery is this?

Oh, right, old money.

That and she was being courted by the heir to a family with a stranglehold monopoly over one of most valued healing items in the Underworld. If not the most valued.

The same kind that was still concealed in the pendant hanging around her neck.

Yeah, never mind. She should probably not think about the fact that Ruval could probably buy Akihabara if he wanted to-

The brunette bonked the side of her head with the base of her palm, to knock her out of that train of thought.

It was nice, though, that there wasn't quite so much a Christian presence here. Luna knew that there was one, but it was no Chile in its slice of representation.

Thank the dead guy upstairs for that.

So if she was to end up getting ambushed again, chances were more likely that it'd be a territorial youkai than an exorcist.

The branch Bael wouldn't mind seeing Masaomi again though; it had been years since they last met, after all.

Though getting ambushed in Akihabara, of all places? When she came on her own to Japan for a vacation, fully intending to do nothing beyond enjoy herself?

What were the chances of that?

Lunarunn stopped. The world around her went silent, her pupils dilated as she stood ramrod straight.

'Ulan?'

"Yes, Luna?"

'Did I just lather myself in barbeque sauce and put myself on a silver platter right in front of the hungry bear that's Murphy's Law?'

"That is a... very interesting description."

'Ulan... please... please answer the question.'

"Are you sure you want to know?"

'I need to know before I turn around and see a Youkai tailing me and/or fucking Azazel himself looking through anime figures.'

"Yes. Yes, you did."

'Motherfucker.'

"Language."

'Gee, sorry thought police. I didn't realize that my vacation would be ruined by virtue of being an event magnet!'

"Are you okay?"

Luna blinked, the world around her coming back into focus as she looked over at a passerby who'd noticed her standing there sweating profusely.

"Ah, uh, I think so. Sorry, got lost in thought." She laughed lightly, to show she was alright, wiping the sweat off her brow.

"Scary thought, then." The man smiled, then went on his way.

Luna watched him go, before continuing forward to find someplace a little quieter. Or maybe the hotel that Ruval had booked.

"Something like that," the brunette muttered under her breath, pointedly not looking behind her where she'd briefly seen a man with a tuft of blonde hair perusing some of the more... adult, anime figurines.


Surprisingly, Lunarunn didn't get cornered by Azazel, or a Youkai, when she entered one of the many maid cafes, dipping in to get a drink and maybe clear her head with something sweet.

That didn't stop her from being accosted by someone else, though.

"Oh, hey there. Looks like you've got money this time."

Eh?

The brunette blinked as a familiar black-haired figure that sat down across from her, arms crossed and holding a coffee of some sort.

Oh. That was convenient.

Luna watched him with a growing smile, taking a sip of her smoothie before speaking.

"Hey, I take offense to that. Also, you look like a cosplayer with the cloak and gear. Convenient that Akihabara's a big place for that kind of stuff."

"You'd be surprised the number of people that've asked to take pictures with me," Masaomi laughed. "So you're not wrong."

"Not that I'm not happy to see you again, but what brings you here?" Considering how else this could have gone down, she outright welcomed Masaomi's presence. "I'd have thought you would be gallavanting the globe, slaying evil where it's to be found."

"Touji-sensei and I are on break. He's back visiting his family; I decided to make it more of a vacation."

She pursed her lips, eyes narrowing faintly. "By visiting Akihabara, incidentally, the very same day that I end up taking a breather from the pile of steaming bull that is the Underworld?"

"God works in mysterious ways," he replied, closing an eye and grinning. "But it's good to see you too, Luna-san."

"Or maybe I'm just that kind of trouble magnet. I could've sworn I saw Azazel perving out over some figurines not even ten minutes ago..."

Masaomi paused in his drink, closing his eyes and breathing audibly through his nose, before setting the coffee down, bringing his hands together as though praying, and bringing his index fingers to his lips.

"...Really?" Cue the deadpan.

"Yep. Considering my luck, I wouldn't be surprised if that really was the guy." Luna looked away and gave a sharp snort. "At least I ended up meeting you again, rather than something else that would cut into my vacation."

"You do seem more... burdened, than when we last spoke." Masaomi lowered his hands and frowned, tilting his head briefly with drawn brow. "...What happened to you over the past two years?"

"What hasn't happened? I've been making a lot of waves in the Underworld." Lunarunn lifted a hand to count off the major occurrences that had happened. "Pushed a new political faction into the mainstream. Apparently have a bloodline that has half the nobility looking to put me under their thumb and the other half into their sheets to boot. Was abandoned by people I thought I could trust. Got cornered by one of the oldest Devils into basically needing to revive a pillar to keep trying to change the Underworld for the better. Not necessarily in that order, but... yeah, I've got a lot on my plate right now."

"I can hardly imagine. You have my condolences; it sounds like we both have had our challenges. I've mostly been doing what I can to be more loyal to the kinder side of my faith." He grimaced, eyes sliding shut as he gave that pained smile. "It... hasn't been going too well."

"The Church not take kindly to that sort of tolerance?"

His eyes reopened, and the exorcist rested his elbows on the table, leaning into them. "I'm not exactly a well-liked figure in the order right now. Apparently I'm 'toeing the line of apostasy', just because I don't shoot first and ask questions never."

"It almost sounds like you're thinking of leaving."

"Perhaps I am. But then what?" Masaomi lifted a hand in a one-armed shrug. "The more I try to be honest with my beliefs, be the protector rather than hunter, the more pushback I get. I'm pretty sick of it by now. But at the same time, who else is gonna employ a guy whose only real skills are reading holy script and using a lightsaber?"

"Well, I hear stunt doubles are pretty well-received in Hollywood, and you definitely have the prowess for it..."

The exorcist outright chortled at the suggestion. "Yeah, no way in hell that's gonna happen. I think I'll do what I can for however long I can before I get the boot from the exorcists' ranks."

Luna smirked. "I knew you were a good person."

The two of them shared a laugh at the oversimplification, and for a moment Luna felt light again. Masaomi really was a breath of fresh air, especially after two years down under.

Then her senses returned, and her expression fell into a more focused one. "...I also managed to get promoted to High Class."

"I figured that happened; I did hear the news that you hunted down a number of Strays. Not sure the specifics, but apparently it was a big achievement. Congrats, by the way, on your promotion."

She glanced to the side. "Yeah. Thanks. Every active Pillar heir-killer, in the span of a year. I pulled it off, but it was... morally-troubling."

Masaomi lifted a brow, then nodded, leaning back in with an expression of focus.

"There were a few that didn't really deserve to have me hunt them down," the brunette summarized. "Honestly, I'd probably have done the same in their shoes. Yet, I'd made a promise. Had to sacrifice my own personal feelings to complete it. It's... weighed heavily on me."

He nodded with growing understanding. "And on top of everything else..."

"Yeah. I'm not in the greatest of places right now, mentally." Lunarunn sighed, taking another drink of the smoothie. As she set it down the brunette clarified further. "I probably wouldn't even be here in Japan if I hadn't been talked into taking a break from it all by the heir courting me."

"You're courting?" That took Masaomi by surprise.

"Kinda had to, after I got thrown to the wolves. If I hadn't gotten some form of shielding, I'd have been torn apart by the aristocracy."

"I can imagine." The exorcist nodded, wincing sympathetically. "Especially if you do supposedly have a special bloodline. I can hardly believe how cutthroat politics in the Church can be, so I can guess Devils could be even worse."

Luna shrugged, letting her eyes close. "Centuries of social stagnation and millennia of the same children of the same Demons ruling would certainly create an insular, if not xenophobic high society."

"No kidding. So, tell me about this guy courting you. You said he was the one to convince you to take a break? Sounds almost backwards, considering the 'high society' you just mentioned."

She pursed her lips, opening one eye to glance to the side. "I mean... he's basically the poster boy for 'good' nobility. The guy practically lives by noblesse oblige, and he's been nothing but a gentleman towards me."

Masaomi leaned back, arms crossed as he thought over the brunette's words. "Sounds like a good man. Lucky one, too."

"I wouldn't go so far as to call him lucky." Luna smiled self-deprecatingly. "But I can agree with the first bit."

"How so?"

The Worldweaver shrugged, smile turning more conspiratorial. "Let's just say we have a shared interest, but beyond that our goals are quite different. Once that shared interest is finished, chances are we'll split back up."

She knew that Masaomi was a good guy, but she wasn't quite ready to share her orientation toward him just yet. After all, not only was he from the Church, but also from Japan.

The brunette knew better than to go by stereotypes, but she wasn't quite sure how he'd react to her preferences with that double-whammy of stereotypical homophobia.

To say nothing of if it got back to Touji, who was by far the more traditionalist of the two.

'...Fuck, there I go again with the posturing and omissions.'

"A trained instinct, clearly."

The exorcist watched, solemnity casting a shadow across his features as he watched. "You've definitely changed over these two years."

"Well, what can I say? I've had a lot of new experiences." Luna smiled back, just as solemnly. "And to be fair... I'm not exactly proud of the person I've become either."

She paused, then spoke again. "Ever heard of Friedrich Nietzsche?"

"Only in derogatory terms, I'm afraid."

The brunette chuckled. "Considering his famous quote regarding the status of the big guy upstairs, can't say I'm surprised."

She was curious, though, what the reactions of the Seraphs were when the German philosopher ended up discovering that little secret.

Luna would have to ask, if she ever met them.

"He's got another quote though, one I'm finding is a bit more... immediate, to my current situation." She took a sip of her drink, then continued. "'He who fights monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you stare long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.'"

Masaomi picked up on the implications quickly. "You feel as though you're being changed by the mission you've given yourself?"

"I think you said it yourself; I'm not the same girl I was two years ago." The brunette's smile didn't reach her eyes. She then tugged the neck of her shirt away just enough to show off the scar she received fighting one of the more dangerous heir-killers.

"I've already denied my morality multiple times, to deliver on my promise of bringing every heir-killer to the Underworld's 'justice'," she carried on, noting Masaomi's gaze shift briefly to the scar before she covered it again. "Once you cross that line... it just gets easier each time. Uvarys might have deserved it, as did most of those Strays, but there were three others that had done nothing wrong beyond killing those heirs. Even if I know it's wrong, how will I justify the next time I go to kill someone who doesn't deserve it? And what if after that time, I don't look back? It's a damn slippery slope, and I know I'm already sliding on it."

"...I see." Masaomi looked down, in thought.

"I kind of envy you, actually," the brunette confessed. "You've stood by your values, even when your world tells you you're treading a dark path. That's... really admirable. Sticking to my promises is one of mine, admittedly... but at the same time, it's hard to really describe what it's like to have my values battle each other. Kindness versus reliability, morality versus promise."

The exorcist looked back up, face scrunched up in concentration. "Well... then I suppose I have to ask you, why did you follow through?"

"I needed..." Luna swallowed those words. "...no, wanted I suppose... to reach High Class before too much time passed."

"And why is that?"

'To save people like you from the cruel hand of fate.'

She swallowed. "...Have I told you my little secret yet?"

"You mean about having visions?"

So she had. Thank goodness, that made it so much easier. "Yeah, that. I've had visions of people meeting... really bad ends. Getting the short end of the stick, getting completely screwed over through no fault of their own."

Lunarunn pulled out an Evil Piece, a Knight Piece, and set it on the table, one finger pressed against the head of the Knight. "...I figured, as someone with power and influence... I might be able to save them. Save these people that I know so closely of, but not know directly. Be able to make their lives happier, and just... be a force for good."

"What changed?"

"I killed people who didn't deserve it. Like those three Strays that deserved to be free." Her eyes shifted back from the Knight onto Masaomi as the fake smile rose to her face once more. "While I wasn't the one to pull the trigger, I think I'd feel cleaner if I had. But these were people who were screwed over just as badly, if not worse than the ones I've Seen. Why did I not know about them? Why did I not see them, and be able to save them? Why these people, but not them?"

Masaomi couldn't answer. It was mostly rhetorical, anyway. Luna knew full well why.

It still didn't make it any easier.

"Yet, when I look at this Piece, all I can think about is the blood I drew for the opportunity to save another. Life for a life, and not even at a damn one-to-one ratio at that. Yet, what's done is done, I'm now High-class, I have power, and I have the opportunity to do what I set out to. So I feel like I have no other option than to spend the blood money I've made."

The Worldweaver started wobbling the Knight on the table with her finger, closing her eyes and letting out a low sigh.

"Life is sacred, something to be protected from the machinations of others, whether it be that of a girl who was trying to protect her sister, or a father who wanted to bring back his son. I... who am I, to be the arbiter of who lives and who doesn't?"

Luna only wanted to protect others, and make the world a better place.

Yet in doing so, she ended the lives of those just as innocent.

"I have a pure desire, but I stained it with the blood of those I ended to try and achieve it. I feel dirty, but to turn back, to abandon that desire would make me feel even dirtier, because I'd be spitting on the bodies I climbed over to try and achieve it."

She wasn't sure why she was sharing this with Masaomi. Perhaps because he was so ideologically whole. Or perhaps because he was so unflinching with his beliefs, that maybe he would be able to help her make sense of her own.

Or maybe it was because he was a human like she once was, and she was trying to reconcile her humanity with her desires.

She'd been in contact almost wholly with Devils the past two years, after all. That wasn't to say they were all bad: Ruval was one she'd come to trust would give her good advice, but he didn't have the same sort of 'humanity' she did. He never had been fully human to begin with after all.

The brunette couldn't help but laugh. "This was supposed to be a vacation, not a trip to a therapist. Dammit Masaomi, why'd you have to show up?"

She meant it in jest, but at the same time a part of her did wonder why. If she could have just had this time to work through it all on her own, Luna was sure she could have been able to keep going.

Yet now she was sharing her feelings like a faucet that wouldn't turn off, again, and since she didn't exactly have a place to escape to.

Who would want to escape from a vacation, anyway?

"So. Yeah. That's where I'm at right now," she finished lamely, raising a hand to run through her hair. "A bit more context as to why I'm not in a great place. I was hoping to be able to figure it out on my own, or at the very least work something out where I'd be able to keep from being eaten alive by my guilt, but I guess that's not going to work if I'm so shaken as to share it with someone I haven't seen in two years, huh?"

"God works in mysterious ways," the exorcist replied again, quietly.

If only the guy were still alive. It'd be so much easier to either pray or curse him for her plight.

"Hey, Masaomi?" She took the Knight and started rolling it in her hand, staring down at the Evil Piece. "...What if Nietzsche was right?"

"What?" He started.

"...What if God really is dead? What if the Church lied?" She licked her lips briefly, pursing them and shifting them to one side. "Would you still fight for the them? Would you still be a Christian? What would you do, if that was true?"

She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but the fact that the brunette got an answer almost immediately took her aback.

"Of course I would." The black-haired man's voice, while still quiet, was unflinching in its surety. "Even if He was dead, the world He made for us is still alive. We're still alive. We're still breathing. There's still beauty in this place, even if it's more difficult to find the more we come to know the world around us. Even if He was dead, the things He stood for still exist. He made this world, so it's our duty to protect it. All the more so if He passed away."

"Even when you stained your hands red with the blood of people, potentially innocent ones, for a lie?"

A slow nod. "Even then."

Luna swallowed. "How can you be so sure of that?"

"Because I have faith that we can be the good He would want for this world. That the burdens we bear will be lifted from us in the end, whether or not He is there, and we who sought to make the world a better place for others can stand proud, and see that every choice we made was worth it."

"But who would do that?" she insisted. "If Yahweh is dead, then who would be the one to absolve us of the sins we bear?"

"That's a good question." Masaomi smiled. "And one I don't know the answer to. But I'm willing to find out, one way or another. Even if there is nothing waiting for us in the end, then at least I can die knowing that I did everything I could to make the world a better, happier place for the time it does have."

How?

How could someone be so assured in their faith that even faced with the idea that the very thing they believe in is dead and gone, they'd stand by it to the grave?

"You're insane..." Luna breathed out, hardly able to comprehend how someone could stand so resolutely on what could very well be a complete lie.

Especially since she wanted, so desperately, to be able to do the same.

His smile widened slightly. "I think I'll die a madman, then. Sanity's overrated, anyway."

The Worldweaver had nothing to say to that, instead snorting softly and returning her attention to her smoothie.

She knew it was good, but it was hard to derive any pleasure from the taste at that moment, she was so preoccupied.

Some time passed, the two sitting in silence.

"C'mon." The exorcist got out of his seat and extended a hand to help Luna out of her's, which she took since apparently he decided they were going to spend time together.

"Where are we going?"

As the two stepped out of the maid cafe, having finished their drinks, the black-haired man answered: "A church not too far out of Tokyo. It's a small place, but I think a visit would do you some good."

Wait, what?

"I'm a Devil, Masaomi. I can't go into churches."

"You're physically weakened going into them, not completely incapable," he corrected her.

The brunette's eye twitched. "The point still stands. Why are you taking me there?"

"To pray."

To... what?

"How is praying going to help?" she asked, disbelief dripping from her words. "I'm a Devil, that sort of thing causes me physical pain!"

Masaomi's gaze turned back to her, unmistakably solemn. "The way I see it, you're hurting inside far worse."

Luna's mouth shut right away. She couldn't say anything to that, because as much as she didn't want to admit it... he sort of had a point with that one.

The Underworld hadn't been kind to her, for her desire to become something more than she was. And it didn't look like it was going to improve any time soon.

"I'm not saying it will cure you of your doubts, or that everything will become clear after you do. Or that it's even a good idea." Good, because if he thought that then Masaomi really was crazy. "But the God I believe in loves all His children, even those descended from demons. He will listen. Or if not Him, then the Seraphs. And the way I see it... your soul is still human. I think that'll make all the difference."

It still rubbed Luna the wrong way, that he'd suggest that talking to a dead deity would go anywhere. "How can you be so sure of that? And I still don't see how trying to pray my problems away is gonna help!"

The bastard had the audacity to shrug. "You're still worried about your humanity, even years after waking up in the abyss. You still worry about the kind of person you're becoming. If that's not human, then I'm not sure what is."

The brunette frowned, taking in Masaomi's words. If nothing else, it'd give her the chance to try and open dialogue with Heaven.

No. If she thought of it that way, then that was just feeding into her growing doubts about her humanity, or lack thereof.

The exorcist noted her silence, and decided to push the envelope a little more. "And it's easier to share a burden than to bear it alone. As much as I'd like to be that person to help you come to terms with your struggles, I'm only one man. I can only do so much on my own. Them, though?"

He glanced up at the sky. "...Well. Maybe they can do more than I can, to help you find your way."

The fact that she was considering it, despite being a Devil, and someone from another world at that, probably didn't speak kindly of Luna's current frame of mind.

"Well..." she sighed. At the worst, she'd have to deal with some pain of prayer as a species which considers such an action anathema, and then could get on with her previously-planned soul-searching. "Fine. We'll try things your way. But if I end up getting smote to smithereens I am haunting the ever-loving shit out of you."

Masaomi chuckled. "That's the spirit. Now, my car should be around here somewhere. Try not to blow this one up, okay? This one doesn't belong to the Church."

Luna's head snapped up to shoot a glare at the exorcist. "It was one time, Masaomi! And that was after I got fucking shot by the driver! Also, what the fuck was that pun?"

The grin on his face was unrepentant. "Would it help if I stick my gun in the back seat?"

Now her outraged indignation was on full display, leaning over with arms stretched toward the ground, stomping one foot. "No!"


"Hm?"

Heaven's System stirred. It was to be expected; prayers kept coming, yet most went unanswered.

There was only so much that a Seraph or Archangel could do, after all. With God dead, the System saved its power by strictly activating in response to scriptures and preset rules, rather than performing miracles.

It also tended to shift when Devils, typically Reincarnated ones, triggered its feedback effect. Usually when they hadn't yet gotten used to the fact that scripture and holy objects would inflict pain.

Sandalphon had theorized that said feedback effect was in place to ensure that Devils were never to call on the System and subvert it, and it seemed that for the most part his reasoning held true.

It stirred again. And again. As though it were a slumbering beast, being poked at with a stick.

Curious. What could be the cause, Michael wondered. Though to say the System received millions of prayers each day would be an understatement, it had been centuries since it last acted in such a manner.

The archangel stepped forward, lifting an arm to the System to bring up the interface. While the interface that Michael used was vastly inferior compared to the direct link that his father could make with his system, it still provided swathes of information that still made Michael's head spin trying to make sense of it all.

It would take a being on the level of his father to not immediately die from the information overload that the direct link would give, too. Which to this day, just cemented his endless respect for his late parent ever further.

Indeed, even now he was struggling to understand the details of the vast number of messages that blew across the interface, like leaves on the wind.

But there was a pattern here that he managed to pick up. A prayer had received special notice. The words themselves were indistinguishable from the rest, something only an omniscient being would be able to interpret, but the fact of the matter was unlike the white streaks of prayers that went by Michael's vision, these ones stood out in a particular fashion.

They were outlined with red.

Not wholly red, like one would expect from a Devil trying to access Heaven's System and prompting a feedback lash, but it was still most curious.

Especially since, like most messages, this could well have passed by, completely forgotten.

Yet the System stirred to it.

As though bringing this message directly to his attention.

Why?

Was it the way the prayer almost seemed like it was coming from a human wearing the skin of a Devil? Or was it something else?

...Hang on.

Didn't Sirzechs mention something about a young Devil waking up with a human soul, and how he pushed her out of his shadow come her debut to the public?

How likely was it, that the girl Sirzechs talked about, and the prayer he'd been given notice of by the System itself, were one and the same?

Far likelier than he was comfortable with. With God dead, there were so many things that could happen which were impossible when He was still alive. A Devil praying, despite the feedback they'd undoubtedly receive, was certainly in that category.

Or was it a human, in the body of one?

Michael wasn't sure; it was quite the puzzle. Another troubling occurrence.

One thing was certain though: it was all the more telling, that such a prayer would happen and be followed through on despite the feedback.

"...Oh, Sirzechs," he murmured, eyes drifting downward. "Just what did you put the poor girl through...?"

Gabriel had always been the more empathetic of them both, even if he was arguably more insightful.

Perhaps her anger toward the crimson Devil had more merit than he'd initially realized.

No wonder she knocked him out to chase Sirzechs down.

So the question was, what could he do about it?

A visitation was out. If he did that for the girl, then he'd have to do so for everyone else in similar circumstances, and as powerful as Michael was he didn't have the time nor strength to do so.

Yet, the System had intentionally singled her prayer out, among the millions it received. Considering that God's System was not normally one to take independent action, this prayer was important somehow.

Gabriel would be biased; as the protector of the innocent, she'd want to do what she could to help the human/Devil after being abandoned by Sirzechs. She already did, so if Gabriel learned that same girl ended up praying through the feedback, he wasn't sure Father himself would be able to stop her from acting.

She couldn't know, he decided, frowning as the weight of his judgement pressed on the archangel.

It wasn't much different than any other time, Michael thought. As the leader of Heaven, even the smallest choices he made would have major waves.

But that still left the matter of the preferential treatment the System had given that prayer.

And there was the matter of the color of the prayer itself; white, but surrounded in red. He could almost imagine how that could be a representation of the Devil girl's remaining humanity slowly being suffocated.

The implications were alarming, especially since inaction could mean Michael was an accessory to the damnation of a human soul.

He couldn't not act, but the archangel's hands were tied.

"What would You do, Father...?" he asked nobody aloud, already knowing exactly what He would do.

Unfortunately, Michael couldn't be so kind.

He had to look after Heaven first.

So that they could continue to protect the people from those who would seek to exploit them.

As if the Church wasn't already doing plenty of that, the judgmental side of him added.

Michael accepted that such was the case, then moved on from the unfortunate fact.

He was doing all he could. Even if he wished he could do more, he had to take solace in that he was doing his best.

The blond angel breathed out slowly. "If only You were still around. Things were so much simpler back then."

But He wasn't.

So it fell to Michael to fill His shoes as best he could.

Which led back to that annoyingly persistent question.

'What should I do about that prayer?'

The archangel thought on it long and hard.

Finally, after a good while of deep contemplation, Michael the archangel, leader of Heaven, came to a decision.


A/N -

Twenty-five chapters woooooo

Anyway, according to the polls, I am a doofus who didn't remember to make the poll public. Sooooooo, I'm giving it another week before I actually do anything with the prologue. Enjoy it while you can, because it may be gone sooner than later!

As for the chapter. I decided to go with something a little different for the first part. The chat format is, obviously, a chatroom. Long story short, Luna doesn't want to be in close proximity with Serafall until she's able to get over the fact that the Satan placed that compulsion on Luna.

Why? Hoo boy, I could make a small essay going into the details. I even have it in a separate text file because I didn't want to take up too much space here. The result though, is a deliciously tested bond that will take a lot of effort on both sides to fix.

I am also aware of FFnet's rule against chat-type entries. However, I am hoping that the plot relevance behind their dialogue being chat-based is strong enough to warrant it in this scenario. This is not going to be a recurring theme.

Masaomi is back on the scene! And is immediately on Luna's case about her growing crisis of morality. Which then leads to her agreeing to pray despite her better judgement. Uh. Yeah, that happened. And so the ripple effect that is Luna's existence spreads further.

Also, for some strange fucking reason, YouTube decided to put Friedrich Nietzsche's 'God is dead' speech in kawaii-speak on my recommended splash page as I was typing this chapter. On one hand, I'm laughing my ass off because of how cursed it is, especially with the timing, and on the other I'm horrified of the implications.

Hopefully you enjoy the chapter!

Tempura Wizard out.