NMHA Ch. 35 - Fractal
A/N:
I'm busier nowadays; school and work, both near full-time simultaneously, is one hell of a time sink.
"Again!"
At the barked command - more a request, really - a brunette lifted her hand, a sphere of bludgeoning winds forming in front of her upturned palm before it blasted forward, tearing the ground along its path from the force of that compressed air expanding outward, held in check by an expansion limitation imposed by the one who fired said sphere of wind - now more like a wispy white, translucent border rolling in the direction of the one who had barked that single word.
A blond braid fluttered to and fro as a blade of purest steel flashed, the glint almost like a line of light that split the brunette's view of him in twain for a brief moment, before the sphere itself split much the same, that field of limitation broken by the brief vacuum left from the speed of his slash.
Brown hair and blue eyes met blond and emerald as emerald flickered to the side, one hand rising to the brunette's side to create a pointed magical barrier, both to potentially impale as well as to force her foe's sword off its path, unable to cut through the spike-shaped barrier that she had created for this particular scenario as he struck at her flank. It was followed by several more, forcing the brunette to shift the barrier again and again to prevent a perpendicular slice with the surface.
One of the flaws of a sword was its relative inability to pierce a space of near-infinitesimally small area, perhaps the sole weakness of the brunette's shield. If he'd had a hammer she'd have used something else. As it was, hers was almost as good a barrier as she could make against a fighter of his caliber, forcing him back as the translucent blue energy that comprised her magical shield expanded and shot forward courtesy of a Worldweave-induced expansion, almost knocking him flat on his back.
Yet all it did was force the blond to disengage, returning to a medium distance and holding his blade flat against his shoulder.
His bespectacled face was drenched in sweat from long hours of action, chest heaving from the exertion of their rounds, but there had been an almost bloodthirsty smile on his face as he pressured her with all the swordplay he could muster. A moment later, and it was back, as were the glints that marked the only warning from which way that sword of his would swing, or jab, or scythe.
Even after over a decade of fighting in total she could still barely keep up.
She dodged, she weaved, and when she couldn't she deflected. When she couldn't do that, she parried.
It was only thanks to the versatility of her barrier that Luna hadn't been hit already, and the offensive pressure she was under was from but a single sword.
To think, this was the speed and skill of a human.
Granted, he also had the blood of one of the most well-known mythical heroes of all time, but the family bloodline didn't matter in the grand scheme of things; he was still human through and through.
It was terrifying.
It was infuriating.
It was exhilarating.
Lunarunn Bael felt that exhilaration and frustration bubble upward and outward in a bout of laughter as she forced Arthur Pendragon back again, this time deigning to go on the offensive, gouts of flame and blasts of hoarfrost the blond's way cut to the wayside as he approached, before she managed to catch him with a pillar of stone to his back and launch him into the air.
In the brief moment Arthur stilled, focusing on casting flight magic to regain his balance, Luna struck, a sheet of solidified air slamming down from the sky to bring low the descendant of the Once and Future King.
Even unbalanced though he was, the blond deflected the attack admirably, contorting his body in a feat of incredible flexibility to flick his sword once more and cut that solid sheet in two, to fall to each side.
Which was why the earth rose from beneath to clap into him on both flanks in that same moment, the crunch of stone giving way indicating Luna's successful hit.
She knew it wouldn't hold him forever, so she capitalized by directing that earth to slam back into its usual form with the force found directly at the epicenter of a tectonic shift. She saw the ground at the center of the impact split open, creating cracks in the dirt that spread nearly all the way back to her.
As the dust settled, Arthur was flat on his back, sword embedded in the earth a few meters to his side.
Had this been an actual fight, he'd have died then and there, and they both knew it.
Luna wiped the sweat from her forehead, one eye closed as she bore the beginnings of a migraine from continuous exertion of Worldweave as she walked up to the half-buried Pendragon and held out a hand.
"Heh. All those AoE's, and you still nearly got out from being knocked airborne scot-free. You are one slippery son of a bitch, you know that?" Even as she said it though, Luna could feel her lips pulled upward from side to side.
Arthur stared up at the sky, before meeting her open eye and letting out a small laugh as he took her hand to help him back to his feet. Even with chest heaving and body slicked with sweat to the point of his clothes sticking to him, he spoke evenly. "You forget, Luna, that I am a human. I will never, nor should I try to, be as strong nor as durable as most of the supernatural. So skill and speed are to be my domain."
"No, I know full well you're human," she pulled, and lifted Arthur back up. "It's just nuts, is all. I could barely keep track of you."
"It certainly helps that you have power to spare," he commented lightly. "Where you could not keep up, you let that barrier of yours cover the rest."
"I can kill way easier than I can fight, so it's important that I know how to fight too. And since I have what I have... may as well learn to use it to defend myself." she shrugged, admitting to it easily.
There were almost too many ways to kill someone without actually fighting them. Flooding their veins with oxygen bubbles, displacing vitals, turning the air in their lungs to pure chlorine... to name a few. To say nothing of the amount of outright destruction she could create if she so chose. "But I won't lie, I enjoy the thrill combat much more over the other."
"I know, which is why I want to break that defense as swiftly as possible. It's good training, both for my offense and your defense." Arthur smiled, prim and polite. "After all, how can you seek to kill if you have already lost your ability to move?"
The one who strikes first, wins. Clearly Arthur believed in that, even if she could tell he was something of a fight maniac too.
"It's good practice either way," Luna demurred, lifting one arm in a shrug as her closed eye reopened. "You wanna go again?"
The look in Arthur's eyes said 'yes', but he shook his head all the same. "No - we've pushed each other to the limits of our ability to remain simply sparring. If we were to continue, we'd both go all-out, and inevitably end up injured. Perhaps you might be able to shake it off afterward, but I would be bedridden for days."
"Kuroka would probably help you back on your feet with Senjutsu," Luna pointed out, tilting her head with a faint smile.
The offer, innocent enough as it was considering Senjutsu's healing potential, sent a shiver down Arthur's spine that Luna could all but see.
His voice was blunt, and eyes distant. "No. I know she would use the opportunity to attempt to seduce me, and I am already spoken for."
"Hm. Good point." She hadn't known that before meeting Arthur Pendragon in person. It explained why he left the House of Pendragon though. Hah. Forbidden love, a tale as old as time. "Maybe if I drugged her beforehand...?"
"I doubt you should be talking about drugging your own Bishop, Luna," he drolled, walking over to the sword on the ground and picking it up. With a quick flick he shook off the contaminants on it, before pulling out a cloth to finish cleaning his weapon.
"Hey, we all know that as a rule of thing if she's not lazing, she's horny," the Worldweaver laughed lightly. "My Bishop could definitely use something to settle down."
That got Arthur to pause his cleaning, tilting his head back up to stare at the sky.
Luna's face dropped into a deadpan. "Wait, you're not actually considering it, are you?"
"It would be nice to not have to worry about being propositioned practically every time she and I speak..." Arthur trailed off. "It is starting to get to the point where I might start becoming... violent."
"Don't. She'd probably become a masochist just to spite you."
"Damnation." he exhaled sharply. "You're right. Thank you, for preventing me from going down a dark path."
Luna waved him off, cracking a grin. "Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. So let me say 'any time', because it's absolutely not worth the trouble."
He gave a short laugh. "Perhaps. All the same, we should return. My sister's probably getting worried that we got carried away. Again."
"I'm not that bad, am I?"
"Oh, you are."
Luna turned to see her first Pawn standing there, tapping her arm with a lifted brow, as though challenging the brunette to argue her words.
"Oh, hi Jaspal," she then drawled, lifting a pillar of stone to lean on with one hand while smiling languidly the Valac's way. "Did Le Fay send you our way?"
"Yes." The tapping stopped as she nodded, though it was with a brief smirk at her King's evasion. "Yes she did. Though I am very glad that the two of you decided to be reasonable with your sparring today. At least I will not have to drag your sorry carcasses back to Kuroka to patch back up."
"...I forgot about that." Arthur shuddered, gaze turning flat and dead. "Suddenly my desire to keep fighting is gone."
"Hey, speak for yourself." Luna pushed herself off of the Pillar to turn partway toward the swordsman with a grinning shrug. "I could really go for some alone time with my pussy right now."
The reactions from the two of them were everything she'd hoped for.
"Luna!" Widened ruby eyes really topped off the Valac's scandalized expression while Arthur bowed his head to groan into his free hand.
"I meant Kuroka, Jaspal! Geez, I say one thing and your mind immediately goes to the gutter."
"Alone time with Kuroka Toujou," the blond deadpanned as he lifted his head from his hand, sliding his sword into his scabbard to cross his arms. "That's hardly any better an implication."
Luna rolled her eyes, but she was grinning all the same. "Perverts, the both of you."
"You only have yourself to blame." Jaspal's face was red.
'Aw, she's blushing now! Man, that worked out well~'
"At least I wear mine on my sleeve unlike you two prudes!"
"I am loyal, not prudish." Arthur lifted a brow, as though that explained everything. Though to be fair, it sort of did.
"T-there's a difference between being prudish and being discreet," the ravenette sputtered. "You're absolutely shameless!"
'Adorable. What happens if I just push a little more~?'
"Nah, if I was shameless I'd bend you over here and now." The grin on the Worldweaver's face turned into an all-too-sweet smile, a closed-eye beam that she knew screamed a perversion of innocence. "Of course, I'll go as far as my partners want, so if you're saying that you want to try out a bit of exhibitionism..."
The Pendragon just stared blankly, and the ravenette was at a loss for words.
"I- Y-you- w-w-wha...! Agh, you're insufferable!" Jaspal ran off, and Luna could imagine how steam might be pouring from the Valac's ears if the world really were a manga.
Naturally, an Arthur that had yet to stop deadpanning interjected. "You really are shameless."
Luna turned back to her sparring partner with that same beam.
"It's way too fun to tease Jaspal when she makes reactions like that, though!" The beam fell away as the brunette shrugged. "Ah well. I'll make it up to her later anyway. For now, let's head back to the house."
It was a modest place, certainly more up Luna's alley than the house she had lived in during her stay in the Underworld. Two stories, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a decent amount of floor space.
Luna would have went even smaller if she could have, but considering that there were several people that roomed in the building - even she was starting to feel a little crowded. The brunette didn't mind overmuch, though. It was nice having someplace to stay.
As she stepped into the patio overlooking the North American forests, she noted three people through the window.
Normally Kuroka tended to stay up later than most, though, and considering that Arthur was very much a 'train early' sort of person...
She stepped inside, gaze shifting between the three girls there; Jaspal, Kuroka, and Le Fay.
Kuroka was staring at the phone, expression unreadable as Luna approached, though the other black-haired woman was busy poring through papers and the young blonde was busy doing the same with a grimoire across the coffee table. The same one Luna had gotten as a gift from Diodora those years ago, in fact.
"Something up, Kuroka?"
The Nekoshou's ears perked up, and she turned to her King. She opened her mouth, then closed it, before turning to stare at the phone again.
There weren't many things that would render Kuroka speechless. So Luna decided to hazard a guess.
"Does it have to do with your sister?"
Finally, she spoke, voice trembling with joy and relief as she uttered out four words.
"Serafall called. Shirone's awake."
"Your sister?" Arthur guessed, stepping into the house to overhear that declaration before nodding his greeting to his own.
Le Fay smiled back to Arthur, but returned to the grimoire, satisfied enough with their return to return to her reading.
Luna's eyes, in the meantime, widened, heart swelling at the words from the black-haired Nekoshou.
"Thank goodness," the brunette murmured, a smile breaking across her own face as she heard the news, sitting down on the other seat to pull Kuroka in close, to provide her some additional level of stability in such a big shift to her world. "Did she say anything else?"
"Y-yeah." The black-haired young woman swallowed, resting her head on Luna's shoulder. "It wasn't pretty when Shirone woke up; from what I heard she was screaming, bawling herself hoarse for hours. She's resting again now, but... but she's awake. She's alive again. She's... she's safe. After all these years."
Jaspal looked back up, the fluster from Luna's teasing long gone. "Congratulations, Kuroka. I know it means a lot to you."
"I'm glad your sister's finally back up too." Luna patted Kuroka's back. "She's been asleep for far, far too long."
"Mh." Her tails drooped. "I... should have been there for her."
The brunette's smile dropped slightly. "I know... but we couldn't have."
The Nekoshou shook her head. "I know that, but even so..."
"You did what you could." Arthur added, walking over to the kitchen to begin procuring plates. "I know that you care about your sister, I understand what you might be feeling now. You stepped away so you could make sure she doesn't suffer like this again. At least you can still speak with her from a distance, right?"
The miracle of modern technology.
"Right." The nekoshou swallowed. "I guess... I guess I could call her, couldn't I?"
"You've definitely got a lot of stories to share," the brunette offered. "Shirone might not have a phone in whatever hospital room she's in, but if nothing else I could get into contact with Serafall and have her hand her own off."
"Please do." Kuroka asked, tongue flicking out to lick her lips nervously. "But... what am I going to say? Where will I start? It's been six years, but for her I'm sure it was just yesterday."
"From the beginning would probably work." Luna added. "It worked for me when I had a lot to talk through."
"You're not like most people, Luna." Despite those words, Arthur's face was not unfriendly, serene even.
"And damn proud of it." She stuck her tongue out at him, even as she felt her Bishop rumble lightly with laughter.
"Okay." She still didn't sound wholly sure, but Kuroka pulled away with a firm nod and a shaky smile. "Then if you could talk to Serafall about getting her a phone, I'd love to be able to talk to my darling sister again, nya."
Kuroka put the phone up to her ear, on the roof of the house and left alone at her own request.
She wasn't sure how she'd react to Shirone's voice again after six years of a coma. Maybe it was silly, but she wanted some privacy to reconnect with her sister, along with all the various emotions that might come from it.
Luna, Arthur, Jaspal, and Le Fay all gave her that, and she couldn't thank them enough for that.
She heard the phone start to ring, and had to fight down the urge to hang up, a wriggling of guilt in her gut coiling rather unpleasantly at the thought of talking with Shirone over the phone.
The Nekoshou fought it off with a twist of her face. Was that guilt, really? Or was it anxiety? Excitement maybe? She wasn't sure, but whatever it was she wouldn't turn away from the talk she had ahead of her.
It was perhaps the fifth ring, and a growing concern that she would get voicemail before someone picked up on the other end.
"Hello~?"
"Hey Serafall. It's Kuroka."
"Hi Kuro-chan! What's got you calling?"
"I... I'd like to talk with Shirone."
"Right, Luna told me you'd be calling pretty soon. Uh, one moment. She's got a couple visitors right now."
"Visitors?" Hadn't her sister been hidden away so nobody would know where she was?
"Mhm. Ria-tan wanted to introduce Shiro-chan to Sona-tan, so right now the two of them are in the hospital room with her. From the looks of it, they're getting along well."
Right, she'd went along with Luna's suggestion to let Rias visit Shirone, hadn't she?
So they were getting along?
Her chest felt like it was on fire for a moment. But Kuroka recognized what it was. "A-ah. Then should I call back, or...?"
"I'll step in and shoo the two of them out so you two can talk in private. I know she'd want to talk to her sister."
She wasn't sure how she felt, about feeling so relieved. "T-thank you."
"Hang on just a moment." Through the speaker, Kuroka heard some muffled words, too muffled to make sense of. But she could at least hear Serafall saying something, with the voices of two young girls answering.
She heard the twintailed maou say something else, before shifting as Serafall's phone was likely handed over.
Her breath caught as she heard a voice, raspy with disuse, misuse, and deeper than when she'd last heard it, but a voice she recognized all the same.
"Kuroka?"
"Ah... hi, Shiro-chan." Any thoughts of what else she could say flew out the window.
Her sister was awake.
She was talking again.
They could be together again.
She could hear the soft breath of the Nekoshou on the other side of the line, and as the silence wore on Kuroka forced out more words.
"So..." she trailed off briefly, before rallying. "How are you feeling? You've been asleep for a long time."
"...Weak." Kuroka's sister replied, blunt. "I feel weak. I can hardly get out of bed and stand without falling. It sucks."
"I..." Kuroka swallowed the lump in her throat, the guilt from before rising back in full force. "I can imagine. Shirone, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you'd go berserk like you did. Or that you'd be trapped in your own mind for years."
"It's not your fault."
Shirone sounded so sure saying that. But... she'd been asleep for years, trapped in a nightmare. How could she say so with such conviction?
"What do you remember?" the black-haired cat tried. "If you don't want to talk about it, then-"
"Everything." Again the blunt tone cut Kuroka off. "I remember everything. Practicing Senjutsu with you. That surge of... evil natural energy. Going crazy. Nearly killing you both, then..."
She trailed off again, but Luna's Bishop could tell her sister did so because of what she could remember. "...Are you okay?"
"I'm all but trapped in a bed, my sister is on the run, and I lost the past six years of my life." Kuroka winced at how Shirone's voice could be both so dull and so scathing, especially since she was still... young, mentally. Or, at least, she hoped. "It is going to be a while before I'm 'okay'."
Then the white-haired Nekoshou's voice softened. "But... I am getting better. Those... nightmares... were painful. Like you wouldn't believe. Waking up from them no less so. But I don't blame you for wanting to be stronger like Serafall-sama said, so it doesn't happen again. Even if it meant leaving..."
Once more, Shirone trailed off.
"But we're able to talk now, aren't we? Since you've been hidden, I'm sure there wouldn't be a problem for Serafall to help us reunite!"
The silence on the other side of the line turned the Bishop's stomach to lead.
"...Is something wrong?"
More silence, and then...
"I'm joining a Peerage."
Alarm flooded Kuroka's veins, before rage took its place. "What? Are you being threatened by someone down there?"
If she was, Kuroka would go down and tear whoever was threatening her sister apart herself!
"I was offered the opportunity to join one, by Rias Gremory. No coercion. Nothing like that."
"You hardly even know her, how will you know that you aren't being exploited?"
Shirone's voice grew hard, almost... protective? "I do know. Bu- Rias, she's a good person."
It sounded like she'd caught herself before she'd said something else. Kuroka's suspicions were far from alleviated. "And how do you know that, exactly?"
More silence. Was someone coaching her? Coercing her? But who? And why? How?
'Is someone trying to take my sister away from me again?!'
"Shirone?"
"Do you trust me?"
'What?'
What kind of question was that?
"What are you talking about?"
"Do. You. Trust me?" She said it slowly, deliberately... but even so, Kuroka could hear a flicker of unease in her sister's voice.
Did she?
Wait, when was this about trust? Hadn't it just been about reconnecting?
What sort of question was that?
"I..." The Bishop's throat refused to work.
Something that her sister had apparently noticed. "...I think I understand."
'Understand what?'
There was a soft sigh on the other end of the phone, and Kuroka was worried that she'd hurt her sister again.
Wait, had she voiced that thought aloud?
"Don't worry about it." With the way Shirone's voice went flat, there was no way the black-haired Nekoshou wouldn't! "But I'm going to join Rias's Peerage. I'll do well there."
"And how do you know that!"
"I just do." The cold steel that her sister fired back forced Kuroka's mouth shut. She'd never heard such disdain from Shirone before, much less directed at her. "And I'll show you that I know what I'm talking about."
"But do you? Do you really?"
The words once more came out without thought, and her sister's voice somehow grew even more stiff, even more cold. "I do. And if you come to try and take me away in a misguided attempt to try and protect me... I'll stop you."
What...
What was she talking about?
She wasn't making sense.
She'd been unconscious all those years, hadn't she?
Had her sister gone insane?
Then Shirone's voice grew softer again. "...It's time to let me make my own choices, and my own place in this messed up world. Thank you for keeping me safe all those years, Kuroka. I can never thank you enough for that. Never."
"W-wait." Kuroka hated how she felt like her world was falling away. Nothing about this was right, nothing. It was supposed to be a happy reunion, and here she was just shy of tears, berated by her own little sister for... what? Not understanding her? But she'd been in a coma for years, shouldn't she be the same!? "Is... is this you saying goodbye?"
"Of course not. We can talk like this all the time. Every night if you want. I'm sure you have stories you want to share." The black-haired Nekoshou's head was spinning. What happened? "You're my sister. I want to talk to you. To be close. But I also want to set boundaries. I hope you can accept that."
Had Shirone been experiencing torment in real time those past six years...?
Had she grown up, and Kuroka hadn't been there to watch her?
What happened to the little girl who fell into a coma?
What happened to her sister?
"I..." she swallowed. "We'll, we'll need to talk more. This is... my head's spinning right now. Since... since when did you grow up?"
It was partway teasing, partway pleading, all the way through confused.
Silence on the other end, before... "I saw things in those nightmares. Lived them. It's... difficult to explain. But I had to grow up. To toughen up. To survive."
To toughen up. To survive.
Those words echoed in the older sister's head, over and over.
She failed Shirone. She tried to protect her innocence, but failed.
Another black mark.
Another reason to blame her King.
Kuroka's hand around the phone tightened, as had her voice.
"I see."
"I don't think you do." Her sister's words were blunt, but her tone was kind. "But that's okay. I will be okay. Maybe not for a while. But I will be. I promise."
As Kuroka landed on the patio and stepped inside, she was welcomed back by warm smiles from a ravenette and a brunette. The two blond-haired siblings had since gone out for the day, probably so the older could get the younger some more books.
Those smiles died when they saw the way her eyes were glued to the ground, and her posture slumped.
Particularly in the brunette.
She stared at her Bishop, scanning her before speaking carefully.
"...Did something happen between you two?"
Kuroka didn't speak for a long several seconds, though given the way her fists clenched, and the ears atop her head flattened further, it was clear she'd heard.
"...That wasn't the sister I know."
"Hm? What do you mean?" Jaspal peered up from the table, though Luna wanted to know as well.
It took a moment for the black-haired Nekoshou to answer.
"She lived through those nightmares, apparently. Every single one." Kuroka drew in a shuddering, almost pained breath, lifting a hand to her head. "Six years. Six years, she was trapped in an inescapable hell. For six years, she had to grow up, to sacrifice her innocence, to give up her childhood, so that those nightmares wouldn't break her."
Her gaze lifted, hollow yet hateful, on her King. Kuroka was visibly holding herself back, tails now angrily lashing from side to side, but she spat the next words out all the same. "Because of you."
That stung. That stung something fierce.
"Kuroka-" Luna tried, but her Bishop was having none of it and cut her off with a swipe of her hand from her head to her side.
"I told you a year ago, back on that train to London, that I'd never forgive you if my sister never woke up." She swallowed again, before turning around to stalk out. "The sister I know died in there; what's left is someone I don't even know any more. She's dead because of you, Shirone is fucking dead!"
The brunette made for the Nekoshou, but she wasn't sure if that was because she had gotten defensive, if she wanted to comfort her Bishop, or if it was to try and try and reason with her. "Kuroka!"
"No!" The barked shout stopped the brunette, as did the hard amber orbs that met her gaze. Hard, but brittle. Fragile, even. "You killed her, Luna! I promised I'd protect her, you promised to look after her, and both those promises are broken. It's only because I can still talk to the girl she's become that I'm not trying to kill you right now."
Luna paused, then swallowed, before bowing her head. Seeing as she had nothing to say, Kuroka let out a derisive snort and kept walking.
"I'm leaving."
"...To where?" the once-heiress at the table tentatively asked.
"...I don't know." Kuroka's admission in the doorframe was stilted, harsh and cold. "But anywhere would be better than here. I can't stand to see your face right now, Luna. I'm sure you understand."
The brunete could only keep her head bowed.
"I do." She hated that she did, that she had once been in the same place Kuroka was now, where she struggled to not lash out at someone, anyone, related to the tragedy of her family.
She'd even failed to not lash out.
So the brunette absolutely understood. "Just... be safe out there. Okay?"
By the time Luna looked back up, Kuroka was already gone.
She turned to Jaspal, who was simply watching the doorframe.
"...Do you have any issues with what I've done?"
The Valac shook her head. "Not like she does. I have already aired my grievances. Just give her time. I am sure she will come around soon."
Luna wasn't so sure. Wasn't Kuroka the type to hold grudges?
She just hoped that wasn't the case.
She also hoped that Shirone would be able to talk sense into her.
Luna would have to put her faith in the younger sister of the two.
"I... really hope so." It still took Luna aback, just how Kuroka had lashed out at her, because Shirone had remembered those nightmares. Though, it sort of figured too. She'd long since learned that little was as easy as it seemed. "Thanks, Jasp."
She didn't see, with her eyes glued to the doorway, but Luna knew that her Pawn was smiling back. "You're welcome."
Shirone swallowed, staring at the phone as she ended the call with her sister.
She wished she hadn't needed to be so harsh.
But it was necessary.
Yet, when she cast a sidelong glance at Rias as the redhead stepped back in, there was only concern in her gaze. There was a not insignificant amount on Sona's face as well.
"I'm not hiding it well, am I?" she asked them both, schooling her expression and turning her eyes firmly downward to the sheets.
"No. It sounds like your meeting with your sister was... not a nice one." Sona Sitri replied, adjusting her glasses as she turned to glance at her own. Serafall watched from behind the window, but she'd seen everything just like them, and she looked conflicted as well.
"You could say that." The Nekoshou shook her head. "But it had to be done. I had to make sure I set boundaries."
"Why? She's your sister? Shouldn't there be some unspoken agreement between you two?" Rias pressed.
"Because I'm worried that she'd put people I... hold in high regard, at risk," the white-haired pre-adolescent spoke carefully. "She's... protective of me. Extremely so. So I had to let her know that I need some space to grow."
To say nothing of what she'd seen in those nightmares. Shirone shuddered just thinking about it.
'So much blood. So much death. So much darkness.'
That got Sona nodding thoughtfully, even if Rias seemed somewhat confused.
"Bu-" Shirone caught herself. "Rias. Would it be possible for me to speak with your brother?"
It was clear that Rias had picked up on the white-haired girl's slip, but she wasn't quite sure what the Nekoshou had been about to say, so she dropped the matter. "I... probably? I could introduce you to my family once you become my Rook. Why? Is it important?"
"Very. Those nightmares... They... I think they were more than just nightmares." The Nekoshou admitted, though the way her expression darkened suggested she more than simply 'thought' such a thing.
Sona and Rias exchanged looks, before the latter leaned in, curiosity ignited in the eyes of both the cool Sitri and the passionate Gremory.
At the unspoken question, Shirone licked her lips, and gripped the sheets, once more cursing the weakness of her body. If she Reincarnated as Rias's Rook, she'd be able to heal faster, and even a minute was starting to feel like an hour trapped in this bed. Rias wanted to give her another couple days to recover a little more before Reincarnating her, though.
Not that Shirone could blame her, but it was frustrating nonetheless. Senjutsu could only go so far, after all, and restoring muscle mass after years of disuse took far too long with traditional methods.
Seeing as the Nekoshou wouldn't answer, Rias leaned back, face expressing frustration at a question she'd have simmering in her mind until Shirone explained, but that look passed quickly.
"Sure! I'll go ask Daddy and Brother if they'd like to meet you. I'm sure they'd be delighted! But I wanna know what you mean too, okay?" Considering that she was about to become Rias's first Peerage member, Shirone didn't doubt it. At least, once she showed what she was capable of.
She couldn't quite do that yet, though. Especially given she'd been bedbound for six years.
But she would.
"Sure. After I talk to them?"
That got a pout from Rias, but she acquiesced all the same.
Sona glanced between the two, lifting a brow querulously, but said nothing. It seemed as though she had nothing to say on the matter.
Shirone would prove herself.
She'd save them.
...After she learned how to walk again.
Morningstar damn it. Pathetic.
"Spare me! Spare m-"
*SQUELCH*
Diodora Astaroth dropped the crushed head of the cowardly priest who had tried begging for his life in his final moments, shaking the gore off his hand with a single dispassionate flick.
It wasn't often that he got to kill priests like this. Then again, most priests typically stayed in the light, and the eyes of the church.
There was a reason to fear the shadows; if something happened in them, nobody who heard your screams would care.
His lips quirked upward.
'I certainly don't.'
For some reason Rizevim found it fitting to send him to the middle of nowhere to purge an entire church blacksite of all its priests.
Though he did give a good reason.
How the Prince of Devils had managed to learn this he had no idea, and Diodora had a feeling he didn't want to know. He didn't really care about that detail though, so that was fine.
But Rizevim did mention that the GKF would gain a powerful asset if the blacksite were allowed to continue its experiments.
Was he being manipulated? Absolutely. Diodora knew that all too well.
But, he was willing to be led around for a while if it meant he'd be able to let loose on the Bael family during their day of reckoning.
He looked around at the bodies of the Exorcists he tore through to get to this sorry excuse of a priest, each one with a bullet hole through the side of their head and their guns on the floor.
He felt some odd sense of accomplishment; they'd been nothing to him. All the struggle from his training had been paying off in spades, it appears. After all, he hadn't even had to try.
Then he looked over to one of the papers on the table, lifting it up with a brief gust to float it into his hand.
Diodora read it, before his face dropped in a disdainful sneer.
Holy Sword Project?
'Hah.'
There was nothing holy about this place, or project.
"Valper Galilei." He spat on the corpse before dropping the singular paper on the body. "You certainly earned your execution."
Perhaps a quick death was too easy for him. After he'd found the first papers regarding the 'discarded' test subjects, the teal-haired Devil had found little reason to grant any of the facility members mercy.
He continued walking. By now the entire base was on lockdown, lights replaced by red and doors reinforced with steel.
It would stop humans. But a Devil was a different breed, especially one who had ground himself to the bone over six long years under some of the most skilled and powerful instructors to walk the Underworld.
'Anonymity was this place's strongest defense,' he supposed, punching through a door and prying it open dispassionately, revealing the bodies of more exorcists who had met their deaths at his whim. There had been insurance to dispose of the evidence as well, but Diodora had disabled that before going on the attack.
The teal-haired Devil closed his eyes and lifted a hand, extending his mind and senses to wash over the base. While he couldn't penetrate heavily shielded locations in such a way just yet, a widespread clairvoyance to locate any remaining living individuals happened to be quite effective in blacksites like this one.
One adult, numerous children, heading inward.
The children were probably the test subjects.
The adult... an exorcist.
Easy prey. Just reach out with his mind, infiltrate theirs and proceed to override it...
'You're mine.'
And with it, the rush.
'Ha ha... hahaha...'
The ecstasy that came from forcing the absolute obedience of another, a shadow of the sensation he'd shared with another years ago, threatened to send him into paroxysms of laughter. It was with discipline, practice, and familiarity that he refrained from doing such.
Yet even that shadow was... all too fulfilling.
Yet never enough.
It was never enough.
No matter what he tried.
'Kh. Focus.'
He took a shuddering breath and steadied himself, forcing himself away from that intoxicating, yet all-too-shallow high.
Now that he was in, he could turn to other matters as well.
Diodora continued his search, infiltrating the minds of more priests that he hadn't caught in his first psychic sweep, and proceeded to direct them into that very room that the children had previously been walking to.
'Hmmm... Interesting.'
They'd been preparing to dispose of the test subjects.
He'd give the bastard priests a suitably ironic death.
Perhaps inhaling their own poison gas would suffice.
That sounded like a good option.
Now, to lead the little brats away from the clutches of the Church...
A young Isaiah blinked as the exorcist leading them further inside the facility stopped, before turning around to wave them to follow them down a branching path.
This wasn't like the drills, he almost immediately realized.
So he figured he'd say something about it.
"Mother," he started. "Aren't we supposed to go to the shelter?"
"There has been a change of plans," the exorcist replied, though Isaiah could tell something wasn't quite right. Her voice didn't sound quite right, but he couldn't put his finger on it. "The shelter is compromised - we will escape the compound after a brief detour."
"Compromised?" the boy echoed. "Who could have gotten down there?"
"I am only sharing what I know." Blonde locks swayed from side to side before one hand lifted to gesture them to follow her down another passageway.
"Isaiah..." One of the girls at his side tugged on his sleeve and whispered toward him. "I don't like this..."
"I don't either, Tosca," he whispered back. "But what other option do we have? If the facility's under attack..."
As much as he didn't want to admit it, he wasn't strong enough to protect them yet. They'd have to rely on the exorcist, lest they end up having to run from some sort of monster.
But there was something off there, too.
Something was wrong.
He glanced over to the others, kids like him, young and scared, and smiled at them. "Stay close, everyone. We need to stick together."
In case the worst happened, they could help each other get as many away as possible.
They continued trudging along in deafening silence. The red lights remained on, but the only ones moving were them.
"Mother," Tosca started again.
"We are getting close," she cut the girl off, continuing along until they stepped outside. Immediately, Isaiah was struck by a late night chill, prompting him to wrap his arms around himself for warmth, with the other kids huddled together. He joined them in doing so.
Yet they continued walking, the exorcist continuing on with their trek through the wilderness until someone ended up setting their foot in the wrong place.
"Ow!" One of the kids started hopping on a foot, a small trickle of blood leaking from where he'd accidentally stepped on a branch.
That caused the exorcist to stop, remaining still as a statue for several seconds before speaking once more.
"My apologies. We will stop here and wait."
The alarm bells in Isaiah's mind kept going off. "For what?"
"Assistance."
In the middle of the wild, away from the compound and the priests that had promised they would become something more?
Something was very wrong, and judging from the worried glance that met his, Tosca was aware as well.
After several minutes, someone stepped through the foliage.
This was no priest or exorcist, Isaiah realized.
He smiled, but it was largely an empty one. A mask for whatever belied the majority of his true emotions, as teal hair turned downward in a bow.
"Had I realized you were barefoot, I wouldn't have had you trek this far." The one before them spoke. "I'm sorry about that. I'll take responsibility for that."
"...Are you the one who triggered the alarms?" the blond asked, slowly, glancing between the exorcist and the teal-haired young man who'd stepped into view.
"I am."
"...What happened to Father Valper and everyone else in there?"
"I killed them."
That sent ripples of shock through the children, and even if the test subject's first instinct was to run - much, everyone remained rooted in place. All of them realized it, deep down; if he wished it, they would be dead. He had, apparently, killed an entire compound of exorcists and priests.
"W-why?" Isaiah breathed, eyes wide as he turned his head back to the compound.
There really had been nobody else alive in there, had there? Just them and their guide, who even now stood stock-still.
"Why indeed? I didn't quite know why at first either. But after I ended up reading some of this, I figured it out." One eye opened as a magical circle flared to life, a sheaf of papers falling into an outstretched hand before it reached out to the children. "Are any of you able to read?"
As Isaiah turned forward and saw the circle, he recognized it. He knew several of the others did too.
Astaroth.
Ars Goetia.
'Devil.'
The blond took multiple steps, swallowing hard but putting himself between the other kids and the Devil. He couldn't fight, but perhaps the Devil would be satisfied with him as an offering for their safety. "I am. What's your game, Devil?"
That got the other kids shifting, as though preparing to run.
He stared at the papers hard, as though he were to be signing away his soul if he so much as laid a finger on them.
The Devil's head tilted to the side, and his mask became a little more genuine as a huff of laughter escaped him. "They're just reports. No magic, no curses, no games, just ink on paper. Would it help if I swore that my reasons for coming here have nothing to do with inflicting death, injury, or damnation on any of you kids?"
"Then why did you kill everyone else?"
The smile dropped, and his voice, polite before, became one filled to the brim with disdain. "They deserved to die. They were a mockery, a twisted caricature, of what a true man or woman of God should be."
His gaze, something Isaiah more felt than saw, turned to their guide, who still remained unnaturally motionless. "As for this one... I have not yet decided."
The acid in the Devil's tone... there was no way that it could have been faked.
Could it?
Isaiah wasn't sure.
But those papers were still outstretched, offering Isaiah a look into... what? Falsified documents? The truth?
"If I read those reports," Isaiah started, slowly, choosing his words as carefully as he could. "Will you make a pact with me and promise on it that what you have is actually from the compound, as accurate to the original reports as possible, and let my brothers and sisters go?"
"Isaiah!" Tosca yanked at his shoulder, forcing him to face her, eyes wide. "You'd make a deal with a Devil just like that?"
"I want to know the truth!" he shot back. "Don't you all want to know what happened to Johnathan, or Caras, or Wendy or any of the others?"
Hadn't she admitted the letters they'd gotten from their 'graduated' brothers and sisters didn't sit right with her too?
His sister shivered. "But... but he's a Devil. And Devils lie, they cheat, they're not nice!"
"I like to think I'm better than the standard, at least." Said Devil's free hand rose to run through his hair, the polite amusement from before slid onto his face again. "But you've got quite the guts, brat, to ask for a pact like that. Kids generally don't have very much realized essence to draw payment from since they're still growing; are you sure you could withstand the price you're offering for those assurances?"
"That's fine." Isaiah stood his ground. "If I need to give up a part of my soul to make sure that we're not being lied to. We're special, right? That's why we're part of the Holy Sword Project."
"There is nothing holy about that project," for some reason, the teal-haired being in front of them sighed. "I said it already; this place is a mockery of true worship."
"And why should you care?" One of the other kids shot back. "You're a Devil, worship is something things like you hate!"
The Devil tilted his head from side to side, humming thoughtfully before finally speaking. "A... friend of mine from a while back liked to use the term 'Devils are Devils are Devils'. At least I own up to it. But I'll accept part of your essence in exchange, Isaiah Noname. In exchange, I promise upon my life, body, and essence that the terms you set forth will be fulfilled to the best of my ability."
He extended a hand. "If you agree to these terms, then shake my hand."
Without hesitation, the blond did just that. Better him than his brothers or sisters if this were some trick.
A wave of fatigue washed over Isaiah, and he sagged, nearly staggering in place as the teal-haired being claimed his payment, but the hand of the Devil in question remained firm, keeping him upright. Eventually, the wave subsided, and he rose back up, taking the papers from the Devil's other grasp into his own hands.
He was tired, a sleepiness deeper than bone having taken hold, but it just proved that the pact was true.
He didn't pass out though. He still had to learn the truth.
There were mutters from the other children, but they were a mixture of curious and suspicious.
He'd made a pact with a Devil.
Yet it was so they all could get closure.
But he'd blasphemed in one of the most dire fashions.
Yet it was for their sake.
What were they to make of that?
"Honestly, you brats are proving to be quite the headache..." It wasn't said unfondly though, judging from the smile from the Devil. "Go ahead and read at your own pace. Just be aware that the contents will be... disturbing."
He tuned the Devil out, making as much sense as he could of the reports. There were plenty of scientific terms he didn't understand, but he could get the general gist of what he was reading.
Isaiah didn't like it one bit.
Then he turned the page, and his blood went cold.
"What... the fuck is this?" he breathed, having learned the curse from one of the fouler-mouthed researchers. It sounded severe back then, and it had earned him a mean paddling when he'd uttered it in front of one of their handlers.
It felt fitting though, given the images laid bare before him right now.
He turned the page.
And again.
Each one was worse than the last, especially since the last one...
He felt his eyes widen and his stomach turn completely inside-out.
'That's... that's John-!'
Something vile bubbled up from the back of his throat, and Isaiah shoved those reports - those damning images - back in the hands of the Devil as he dropped to his knees and started coughing up his dinner.
"Isaiah!" someone - Tosca - came up and helped him remain upright by the shoulders, glaring up at the teal-haired Devil. "What did you do to him!?"
"W-wait," he croaked. "It's... it's not his fault."
"Like hell it isn't!" Another kid raised his voice. "Don't defend the Devil, Isaiah!"
"Enough!" Apparently Isaiah's raising his voice despite having thrown up was enough to stop the brewing anger, but only for a moment. "If... if you want to see it yourself, then... then go ahead. But... we..."
Tosca caught on to what he was saying, and her own face went pale. "Y-you mean..."
The brimming anger settled once more as they saw the blond trembling.
"...Everything we were going through those... experiments for. They lied. They all lied."
Isaiah's teeth grit, and his eyes felt hot, hot enough that he felt a need to raise his forearm to cover them. "Johnathan... Caras... Wendy... everyone else. They... they killed them. Those experiments killed them. Those priests killed them."
He wouldn't break down.
He couldn't.
Not in front of everyone.
He needed to be strong, for their sake.
He could cry later for them.
But for now...
"...I think I get it now." Isaiah's arm lowered as he stared back up, eyes brimming with unshed tears but a steady gaze. "But why save us? You're a Devil."
There was no reason for him to do so.
One of the Devil's squinted eyes opened slightly, staring down at Isaiah with a speculative glint behind it.
Then it closed, and the smile returned. "Hmh. Maybe I'm just sentimental."
What did he mean by that?
"So you know the truth now," the Devil spoke aloud, focus shifting from child to child, across their group. "And I will uphold my end of the bargain. You're all free to go if you so choose."
Glances exchanged among the group, as one of them spoke up. "...Just like that?"
"Just like that," the smiling Devil confirmed. I'll even bring some food and a map so you can make your way to one of the nearby towns. You're free to use them at your convenience. Or not. It doesn't really matter to me."
That was... awfully kind.
"And what about her?"
The Devil's eyes opened again, the warmth from his tone falling away for frostiness as he stared at the exorcist in question, still held bound by what Isaiah could only guess was his magic.
"Like I said; I have yet to decide what to do with her."
"...She was one of the nice ones," Tosca offered, almost tentatively. "And she only showed up... maybe a week ago? I don't think she was the same as the others there."
"I'll be the judge of that," he replied in a noncommittal tone, summoning a teleportation circle, a round gateway to whence the Devil came. "I did what I came here for. I have someone to ply for information, and I have the reports of what was being studied in that poison pit."
He turned to walk away.
'But then what?'
A thought rose unbidden, but it was a meaningful one all the same. Isaiah's gaze turned to the other kids, then back to the teal-haired Devil.
"Wait."
Said Devil paused, glancing backward. "You have something you'd like to say?"
The blond nodded. "What happens after this?"
"After this, you all go back to where you came from, or try to eke out a living in one of the nearby towns."
"Most of us... we were homeless, orphans, or both." Isaiah frowned. "But if there's some reason we were picked out to be experiments, that means we have something special in us, right?"
The Devil was silent as the blond mulled over what to say next, before deciding to get right to the point.
"...Then let me work for you!"
"Isaiah!" more than one of the children exclaimed, while others joined in.
"What are you thinking!?"
"Have you gone insane?"
"You're saying that to a Devil!?"
"You want to... work for me?" he asked, voice disbelieving. "After I murdered that entire facility minus you brats and your guide?"
"After seeing those pictures for myself, they deserved it," Isaiah held a hand to his chest, stepping forward. "I know I'm young, and that I don't have any real skills, but if there's anything I can do to help the others with food or a place to stay then please, put me to work!"
"I'm a Devil. I'd be dragging you down to Hell with me."
Isaiah took another step forward. "If it means protecting my family, then I'll gladly accept that."
There was silence.
"Are you expecting me to teach you to fight so you can follow through on 'protecting' them?"
"...Only if you expect me to do so. But... I wouldn't be against learning."
Once more silence reigned, with the teal-haired figure standing in front of the portal unmoving for several seconds.
"Astaroth."
He turned around, and at Isaiah's confused blink the Devil spoke again. "My name is Diodora Astaroth. If working for me to aid your siblings is your prerogative, then I'll take you under my wing. However much that is worth."
His head tilted again, back toward the gateway he'd created. "I'll keep the portal open, so you can say your goodbyes, and so I can ensure each of you has enough food to get to the next town over. I would hurry with your farewells though; who knows who else might show up in the interim."
Then Diodora stepped through the portal, followed by the exorcist, leaving the kids alone.
Immediately they broke into chatter and shouts. Insults and accusations. Now that the danger was gone, it was as though all that pressure was given an outlet.
Isaiah bore them without turning around for half a minute before finally, he snapped out. "Everyone shut up!"
Once the kids did as such he finally turned around, gazing at each and every one of them. "I... I didn't know what else to do. What happens after we get to a town?"
The teal-haired Astaroth all but said that his support would only go so far as getting them to safety. After that, they'd be on their own.
"If one of us isn't trying to support the others, won't we go back to the orphanages? If we aren't, then we might be stuck without a warm bed, or we might get sold off to an experiment like this one again, and I- I can't let you all just disappear like that! Not after what we've been through!"
Tosca just stared back with watery eyes. "But... what about you?"
The blond glanced back at the portal. "I'll just have to deal with whatever happens. I think I can do it, though."
Then his gaze returned. "One of us has to step up to the plate, right? I'll do it. You all deserve a chance to make something for yourselves."
"But what about you?" his sister repeated herself, stepping forward as if to drive the question home.
"Well. I made a deal with the Devil, Tosca." Isaiah smiled. "Two actually. It's okay, though. Like I said, I'll deal with it."
Still. Going from the test subject of a secret experiment to the... servant(?) of the Devil that butchered the ones who were performing the aforementioned experiment? Even twenty-four hours ago, he wouldn't have ever expected something like this to occur.
But he wasn't going to complain. They were out. They were free. They were alive.
From the sounds of it, they wouldn't have been, were it not for Diodora.
Regardless of what happened, he wanted to live up to that example.
A pair of hands clutched at his arms.
"Did you... not think we wanted the same for you?"
He had realized that. They were brothers and sisters, bound by their shared experiences, if not their blood. "It's my choice to make, though."
Isaiah gave a small laugh, shifting his gaze from the girl at his arm to the rest of his family. "Maybe if you all stick together and lend each other a hand, I might be able to take it easy."
"B-but-"
"No buts. I'm doing this for you. For everyone here." He glanced at the others. "Just promise me that you'll take care of yourselves while I'm gone, okay? Be safe."
Tosca opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out, but another child did, stepping forward.
"I don't like this. You'll be working with a Devil. There's no telling what you'll have to do," the kid in question, a thin one with black hair turning white from experiment-induced stress, muttered. "But if you're doing this for us, then... then I guess I can try and help everyone out."
The blond's smile widened. "Thank you, Gil."
"Don't thank me. Just come back to us like you are now." He got a glare in return, but that softened as Gil's mouth wobbled slightly. "I... I believe you. About the truth of the projects. So... we- we already lost enough brothers and sisters."
'You guys...'
"Pinky promise that you'll come back!" Tosca jumped in, holding out a closed fist with extended pinky. "That way we know you aren't just sacrificing yourself for us!
"Pinky promise?" Isaiah's hand lifted, in the same way Tosca's was, and wrapped his around her's.
He raised his arm, hers with him, and both fell in a shake. "Cross my heart."
At that same moment, Diodora stepped back through, carrying a number of backpacks in each hand before setting them on the ground. "Each of you takes one. This one here has a map. Take a bit of time to study it, figure out where you are, then clear out."
As the kids started to grab, each one of them said a short goodbye to Isaiah as they gathered the offerings provided by the Devil - and wasn't that just ironic considering they were a part of the Church - as Diodora turned to Isaiah.
"Now for you." His squinted gaze bore down on the small blond. "You said you wanted to learn to fight?"
Isaiah nodded, eliciting a raised brow from the Astaroth.
"Are you willing to die for your cause? What you will fight are those that would kill you given half the opportunity."
"...You saved my life. You saved the lives of my brothers and sisters. I want to live up to that somehow."
The teal-haired Devil tilted his head again.
"Interesting choice of role model."
Isaiah couldn't place the tone of Diodora's voice, but nodded all the same. "I can't rely on others like you to protect the ones I care about. I have to do it myself, because if not me, then who? You saved us. That's reason enough for me to risk my own life to protect them."
The Astaroth nodded again, before turning around to begin walking through the portal. As he did, though, Isaiah heard him mutter something under his breath.
"If only there had been more like you..."
What did he mean by that?
The blond wasn't sure, but it didn't matter. He'd made his choice, and he'd stand by it.
He walked up to the portal, and turned around to see his brothers and sisters, his family, poring over the map that Diodora had given them.
He was sure they'd be fine.
Tosca looked back over to him, and he gave her a wave and a smile, before turning around to step through the portal.
He'd see them again.
He'd make sure of it.
(A week later…)
"What is it that you wanted to bring me out here for?"
The Nekoshou in question didn't reply, instead stepping forward and feeling the snap of a twig beneath her foot.
She trained her ears, but heard only silence.
"Just follow me."
Shirone weaved her way through the foliage, her King behind her as the Nekoshou carved a shaky path in the Italian wilderness.
Once more she cursed her weakness. Still young as she was, and her body taking longer than expected to recover, the white-haired girl could only scowl and bear the aches she was already accumulating.
They'd be worth it when they found him.
Though as time passed, the Nekoshou's escort started growing more and more uncomfortable, until finally she spoke again after what felt like an hour.
"Koneko? What's going on?" Ah, Rias was putting on that stern tone she used when she was digging for answers.
"Someone should be here," she replied, conceding the point. "Someone important."
"I... see." She didn't, but Shirone still appreciated the show of support. "How do you know?"
"Those nightmares. I saw someone lying in this area." Only, that person hadn't exactly been lying...
"You did say those nightmares might have been more than such..." the redheaded heiress trailed off. She then gave a faint harrumph. "Very well. If you wish to keep looking then you are welcome to. I will give you a paper with my seal on it; just channel some of your energy into it when you're ready for me; I have shows to watch."
"Okay." Shirone glanced back, and gave a nod. "Thanks."
That got her a smile, before Rias summoned another teleportation circle and vanished behind the Gremory seal.
As the seal faded, Shirone was alone once more.
Finally, she could...
'Breathe in.'
Her chest rose.
'Breathe out.'
Her chest fell.
'And let the world speak to you.'
Her eyes slid shut, and the Nekoshou felt her senses expand, accepted into the earth as its own while she focused, the feeling of channeling that pure power revitalizing her body in an even more complete sense than when she'd been Reincarnated, if only temporarily.
It was pure and beautiful, and everything those nightmarish shadows were not.
She searched for life beyond the wildlife, yet found nothing.
But she wouldn't give up. If there was a glimmer left, then she would find it.
Shirone continued onward, wandering for what felt like hours as she searched for the person she came here for.
Finally, she felt something, albeit physical rather than spiritual, and opened her eyes to see naught but ruins before her.
Rubble, from a building torn down and left to languish.
This... this had been the facility he'd been kept in, wasn't it? That was what she'd learned from those tormenting shadows she had been trapped with for six years.
Why was it destroyed?
Had he escaped?
'What happened?'
What changed?
'Wait.'
There was a whiff of something there.
Magic, trace amounts of it, small remnants of a tightly-controlled spell long since expired. It was from an unfamiliar source, but of a familiar origin.
Devil Magic. Not from someone she was able to recognize, though.
Had someone else already been here?
Had they been the one to destroy the facility?
But who?
And why?
Most importantly...
Where was their Knight?
'Where… where is Kiba?'
A/N:
So more plot unfolds - Arthur and Le Fay joined the party, courtesy of Luna's visit to the Golden Dawn. More details to come. Interestingly enough, Arthur has reason to join with Luna, both because they have similar stories and because she is an individual who could exert a lot of change. Le Fay's along for the ride because she's a protective sister to Arthur and stuck with him even in canon. She'll have more of a spotlight later, but since the focus wasn't on her she didn't get much of the limelight this chapter.
We're seeing some of the... aftereffects of Shirone's six-year nap.
Also, young Kiba's path may also be seeing some... changes. For one, not all his siblings are dead - a good number of them are still alive, thanks to Diodora's intervention on Rizevim's behalf.
Naturally, he'd feel indebted toward Diodora specifically. Hence his joining Diodora to help provide for his family.
Confused as to why Rizevim and Dio would do such things? It'll make more sense as time goes on.
And so the ripples continue to expand outward!
This one was a pain to do. Between work taking up a lot more of my time (long-term project, woo) plus school getting more intense, my free time's been getting more limited, but there's also a general sense of tiredness because I'm not getting enough sleep over the week.
There's just too many things I need to do, man. And I've hit a dry spell for pre-planned content for NMHA again too, so I need time to brainstorm up things to go into this next arc, which in turn means even less time for me to actually write...
Do work. Do more work.
Do school. Do more schoolwork.
Do planning for future chapters.
Try and maintain some decent chunk of free time.
Get a halfway decent amount of sleep each night because 5-6 (or less) ain't enough.
Yes, sleep is not for the weak at all, but for the strong - you must be strong to have so much on your plate that sleep is a luxury.
And boy, do I feel like I could take Doomguy's place in Doom Eternal right now!
Maybe my beta's got a point when he suggested I try regimenting my days. Hmm...
Next one's gonna focus a bit more on the day-to-day of certain characters.
Tempura Wizard out.
