NMHA Ch. 38 - Expectations
A/N: It's time, to d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-
Tempura Wizard has crashed unexpectedly. An error report has been generated in the Log folder.
It had been a normal day, until she showed up.
That wasn't to say that her showing up was out of the ordinary. It was her house, after all, and he had been assigned to keep an eye on her.
Indeed, he had been resting in a chair, comfortable in his illusory ward to keep from being seen, when things went sideways.
He wasn't pleased with being nothing more than a set of eyes, but since there was apparently something very off about her, he had agreed to keep watch.
No, what turned the day abnormal was that she found him, and she addressed him. By name, no less.
"Hey, Donny! Dohnaseek! Great to meet you! Got a message for Kokabiel: I wanna meet him. Care to send it his way?"
Considering that there had been no sign of her, no hide nor hair of interest or recognition of his presence, his alarm by her appearing behind him, slinging an arm around his shoulder with a grin on her face like a fox's, was completely justified.
Especially given how the air suddenly became taut with danger, as though the wrong answer would see her arm closing around his neck and crushing it without a second thought.
Such a level of alarm, in fact, that he didn't think to ask questions, like how she found his hiding spot.
Or how she knew who he answered to.
Or even how she knew his name in the first place.
She wasn't what he was expecting.
When he'd received word that she wanted to speak with him, he was taken aback.
Even beyond the fact that she'd managed to find the agent that was supposed to observe her unnoticed.
Even beyond that, she knew Dohnaseek answered to him, which made things all the more suspicious.
The poor Fallen looked like he'd met with death itself and barely walked away; his eyes were bloodshot, and Kokabiel noted his subordinate glancing from side to side, as though worried that someone might slip past his senses.
Considering how she appeared in his post out of the blue and demanded an audience, the cadre could almost understand.
What had the creature done to push him to the brink of stress so quickly?
Kokabiel had promptly given Dohnaseek a vacation, as well as a reassignment, upon the lesser Fallen's completion of his report.
Kuoh was a low-risk area, the other Fallen could certainly take some time to recuperate there.
Which brought him here, and now, with the reason for Dohnaseek's stress in front of him.
Again, she wasn't what he was expecting.
He could kill her, and it was clear by the way she cautiously regarded him as he landed, a hint of fear behind those aquamarine eyes, she recognized that she wouldn't walk away unscathed if he tried to.
So why?
Why go out of her way to reach out to him?
Why did she still stand up straight, and regard him as an... equal?
He was not just any Fallen, after all.
He was a Cadre, a being who had seen countless years both in war and beyond it.
So why were they walking together now? Why did his hand stay still, even after confirming she was exactly the one that had left those damning traces six years ago?
...He supposed he already knew.
She'd managed to stir his curiosity.
Why come to a faction in the same realm as the one that expelled her?
Why come to the very Fallen who she knew wanted her dead the most?
Was she trying to get herself killed?
He'd wanted to hunt her down and had been in the process of doing so on the side, so he could not make sense of why she'd willingly and knowingly put herself in his sights.
Even now, the distant stars represented more than worlds beyond, but of his light, ready to bear down and wipe this stain off the face of existence.
She knew it, too.
Yet still she came to speak with him.
Did she plan to talk him out of his mission?
'Not happening.'
It was still peculiar all the same.
"What is your game, aberration?"
"Outsider," she corrected him, shooting another glance. Her posture was tense, despite the grin on her face.
"I fail to see the difference."
She crossed an arm beneath her bust, resting her other elbow in that hand as she lifted a finger to her chin. "Wow, racist much? I thought that as the Watcher of the Stars you were above such things."
Was her cheek a mechanism to hide her nervousness?
"You are lucky that I haven't killed you already," Kokabiel hissed. "Do not push your luck hellspawn; speak, before you wear my patience thin."
The aberration - Luna, she insisted he call her - laughed sheepishly. "Well, I figured you'd be aware of me and want to do something untoward about a Devil with a unique and alarming power. I figured I'd... well, leverage that to get into contact with the Grigori."
"Leverage the fact that a Cadre, specifically the strongest Fallen Angel currently alive save perhaps Azazel himself, wants to kill you, just so you can talk to the faction he's a part of by meeting face to face with that exact same Cadre?"
"Exactly!"
The way she beamed as she said that almost sent Kokabiel tripping over his own feet. He was better than that, of course, but she nearly sent him stumbling all the same.
"Have you no sense of self-preservation!?"
She paused, as though hearing something else.
"It's worked so far, hasn't it?"
Kokabiel almost gave into the urge to kill Luna then and there, but recognized it as petty spite.
That didn't mean there wasn't a good reason to do so all the same. He held himself to certain standards, and killing out of spite was well beyond them.
Dangerous. He could already tell she was dangerous.
But he stayed his hand all the same.
He still had plenty of time to end the aberration, so Father would have to forgive him his damnable curiosity.
Despite his misgivings, she was proving herself... enigmatic. No, perhaps 'intriguing' was a better word.
Almost human.
No. Not almost.
It was alarming, how she had thrown his expectations of her out the window.
Humans were remarkably mundane, utterly predictable, yet had the fascinating capability of completely catching Kokabiel off-guard all the same.
It appeared she knew how to emulate them well. Perhaps thanks to her past, if Azazel's words on her origins were true.
But she was still a Devil, and one that he knew needed to be removed as well.
"Perhaps, but I doubt it will work when I disintegrate you with Holy Light and scatter your ashes to the wind."
The brunette nodded, though it was with an expression suggesting it was a pained acceptance of the facts.
But she accepted it all the same.
Yet she still reached out to him of all Cadres.
She didn't meet his expectations.
The point still stood that she was a Devil, a crafty species. He could only wonder what her ulterior motives were.
"Out of pique, I will give you one - and only one - chance to convince me why I should not do just that. Make it count."
Luna stayed quiet for an uncomfortably long time, eyes shifting downward as though deep in thought.
Had she really not come with a reason?
Was she trying to get herself killed?
"Trihexa's breaking free."
Nobody save the aberration would see him actually stumble this time, nearly crashing face-first into a tree. She wouldn't live to share the story if she tried.
As he spun around to face and probably skewer her, the brunette's cheery expression had faded, leaving behind one that fit what he expected of her far more cleanly, one of utter seriousness and crossed arms.
"Yeah. I know exactly what I'm suggesting." Luna held up her arms to each side, not to start channeling her aberrant ability but in a gesture of openness. "But given the way you reacted, you already had suspicions, didn't you?"
The Cadre's eyes shifted down to his arm, which had already summoned one spear, ready to hurl it at the brunette. Those eyes shifted back up.
"Explain. Now."
Luna audibly swallowed, then nodded, pointedly not looking at all the other spears that had formed in a sphere formation around her, pointing inward. "Within the next decade, some maniac's gonna figure out how to undo God's final seal. Some douche by the name of Rizevim Livan Lucifer, but even then he only pulled it off because the seal was weakened by the passage of time."
'Rizevim?'
That was a name he hadn't heard in a very long time.
"You mean to suggest the Prince of Demons's son is alive and active?"
"I'm not suggesting it, Kokabiel."
His nose twitched. "You'd better have empirical proof for that claim."
The brunette grinned again, the the tenseness of her body leading to a shakiness of the corners of her lips. "Do you take me for an idiot? Obviously I don't have any proof; we're talking about the Original Son after all. That sumbitch has laid low long enough for most of the Supernatural world to forget the very idea that he's still alive."
"Then how do you expect me to take your words at face value, instead of an excuse to let you live that beggars belief?"
"Same way I know Trihexa's worming its way out of the seal your dad stuck it in. Besides, isn't the fact that I'd use such unbelievable, outright bonkers excuses right off the bat against someone I know can, and has every intention to, kill me reason enough to give them merit?"
It was mad, roundabout logic.
Yet, in a twisted way, it made sense.
She wasn't wrong that he'd had his suspicions either.
Luna was informed. Dangerously so. Her brief encounter with Dohnaseek had been indicative enough of the fact. If others were aware that she had such knowledge, she'd be hunted down, either to be scouted or snuffed.
Was she using that very same information as a shield to survive their encounter?
'Crafty.' She was walking a very fine line.
"Or you're just grasping for straws."
"I wouldn't have reached out to you in the first place if I had any doubt that what I've said is true."
So it would seem.
The desire to fill her with holes still tugged at him, but he chose to ignore it.
His hand twitched, and the holy spears around Luna dissipated into motes.
"You are on thin ice... outsider." It was a more neutral term for the being she admitted to being. "I will stay my hand. For now. Do not expect it to last."
"Better thin ice than none at all," she bowed her head. "I place myself within your astute gaze during my visit, oh Watcher of the Stars... under one condition."
"What?" he ground out.
"Do not inform Azazel of what I've told you so far. He's currently in talks with the Underworld, and in the event that he shares these findings they will seek to recapture me. I believe you know what happens when the Devil government brings someone like me into political or criminal custody."
Luna coughed, politely, and looked away. "I would rather not become known to them once more. Not yet, at least. Not until I become strong enough to fight back."
A single, slim brow lifted. "You expect me to not share the fact that Trihexa is breaking free with one of the few who recognize even a modicum of threat it represents?"
"Only until after I leave," she corrected herself. "Then you can tell him everything. You're absolutely right that he has to know, just... not when he could sell me off to the Devils as a gesture of 'good faith'."
"...Fine." If not sharing the Bael girl's warning would keep them from getting the upper hand, he could allow it for a brief time. "So you see the truth of your people?"
"Not my people, not in spirit, and especially not after what they did to me," she sniped back. "My people are waiting for me back upside."
"Hmph. Let's go, before I change my mind about sparing you for the time being."
As he took flight, he noted a pair of prismatic bat wings following suit, following him to their shared destination.
He still wasn't sure what to make of this turn of events.
Azazel's laughter filled the room.
In the midst of his festiveness, he lifted a bottle of fine wine and poured it down his throat, a scantily-clad woman on each side of him, granting him the pleasure of their bounty upon his body even as he flicked the bottle across the room to Baraqiel. The other Fallen caught it easily, and while he wasn't quite as outgoing with his celebration, the black-haired Cadre had a smile on his face that turned his normally-despondent expression into something solemnly beautiful.
It was little wonder, though. Considering he was going into the start of his second decade with his wife, alongside a daughter going into her eleventh year, Baraqiel had many reasons to be joyful.
"To your family, Baraqiel, may their lives be long and prosperous!"
At Azazel's cheer, his brother held up the wine and took a drink himself, setting it on the table. "I appreciate the well-wishes. It's been busy these past near-eleven years, so I'm glad you've been so willing to work around my familial needs."
"It's no problem, really. You deserve a chance to be happy, so what's a little extra work on my end?" The black-and-blond-haired man chuckled, pointing a finger-gun at the Fallen with a closed eye and a smirk.
"You mean work you pile onto Shemhazai, so you can keep tinkering with your projects."
Azazel didn't bother denying it. "He's a workaholic anyway, he'd get antsy if I didn't keep him busy!"
Baraqiel laughed, actually laughed. He'd been doing so more often lately.
The Governor-General was happy for him.
"Azazel, someone's here to speak with you."
"Ah, speak of the devil - whoops, poor choice of phrasing," Azazel turned his head to see Shemhazai behind him, looking rather harried. "Shem! Hope you're doing well! How's your work coming along?"
"Just fine, sir. However, I really do believe this warrants your direct attention."
"Can't you see I'm celebrating my brother's upcoming anniversary before he spends it with family? They can wait!"
"Sir, it's... it's Kokabiel. And he brings that girl you've been keeping an eye on. Escorted her to the front hall, in fact."
Azazel stared at Shemhazai for several seconds, before he started cackling, head tilted up in uproarious mirth.
He laughed. Then he laughed some more, at the completely flat expression that his secretary was giving him.
"Oh, that's a good one, Shem! Can't believe you'd pull off a joke like that! Man, you had me going for a moment there!"
Shemhazai remained silent.
Eventually, Azazel's laugh died down, and his secretary spoke again, pushing his glasses up his nose.
"I'm serious."
He turned to stare at his secretary again.
"What?"
"As serious as the day Father died," Shem continued.
Azazel blinked. Turned back to Baraqiel, who appeared just as nonplussed as he was. Turned back to Shemhazai. Then blinked again.
"What the fu-"
"Welcome, welcome! Sorry for taking a bit, I was getting myself something to drink, come in, come in!"
Azazel's welcome was forced, Luna lifting a brow as she glanced back at the Fallen she'd somehow managed to convince to not kill her on the spot.
She still wasn't sure how she managed to get away, but she was not going to squander the opportunity it represented.
Kokabiel just stared at her warily in return.
'Yeah, no, he still wants to murderize my guts.'
But at least he seemed to have his priorities in order: dealing with Trihexa and Rizevim obviously came before some girl who was a little too 'special', who knew a little too much.
She was banking on the idea that once his attention turned back onto her, she'd have proven herself not a threat.
Or at the very least, strong enough that she'd be able to beat him.
Certainly, Kokabiel was a more imposing presence than what canon portrayed him to be.
He moved like a predator, eyes like a hawk and reflexes too quick for her to track.
She shivered, thinking back on the danger behind the cadre's eyes.
That was not someone who could be beaten by a ragtag group of high-schoolers.
That was a warrior, soldier, a fighter, a death-dealer to those He deemed unworthy.
Luna felt an urge for sugar, and a lot of it.
"Okay, just what did you say to Kokabiel to convince him to not kill you!?" Azazel snapped the Worldweaver out of her train of thought, turning around once Kokabiel was out of earshot to grab her shoulders. He then began shaking her. "Seriously, he's so single-minded I'm pretty sure murdering your fine ass was the reason he got out of bed these past five years! So how the shit did you get him to bring you here unscathed instead!?"
"My, Lord Azazel, don't you know a woman likes to have her secrets?" She stuck out a tongue, head lolling back and forth from the force of which he was shaking her.
Azazel let go, running a hand through his hair as his harried expression began to fade. "No matter. No matter. I'll see to it that you two don't remain in each others' vicinity any longer than strictly necessary. Hospitality and all that."
Considering their supposed ceasefire was chillier than the Arctic winter and more brittle than a twig, Luna wasn't against leaving the warmongering cadre to his own devices for the time being.
"So what kept you busy? I'm sure that Kokabiel showing up with someone he's claimed to want to gun down would be that much of a shock."
"A cadre of mine is celebrating his anniversary. I needed to clean up from the festivities, that's where most of the wait came from."
Anniversary...?
'Hold on a second...'
Luna swallowed, a memory occurring to her. She hadn't expected this, but it was that point in time, wasn't it? "That cadre wouldn't happen to be... Baraqiel, would it...?"
"Huh. Yeah." Azazel peered at her, curiosity glinting in his gaze "How'd you guess?"
She could play it off.
She couldn't do that to a little girl.
"If I said that he needs to go home now, would you send him back?"
"Do you have an issue with him?"
"Quite the opposite, I'm trying to save him no end of grief."
The scientist's eyes narrowed. "Is something going on with his family?"
The brunette coughed, closing one eye. It was now or never.
"The Himejimas don't take kindly to gaijin, or nonhumans for that matter. That one of their own would marry someone who is both... they aren't going to take that lying down. I didn't realize it was Baraqiel's anniversary, so now I'm worried they might be taking action since he's away."
The cheery facade of the Governor-General had fallen away completely by this point, peering as closely as he could.
"You... don't appear to be lying," he finally said. "But how do you know these things?"
He wouldn't believe her even if she told him. "I'm not going to spill all my secrets just because the leader of a faction I have no ties to asks nicely. Let's just say I know things."
"Then what about to an ally?"
"Don't make me laugh." Luna snorted. "An alliance already? I might be young, Azazel, especially compared to you, but I'm not stupid."
"It was worth a shot," he conceded, grinning faintly before shaking his head. "Still, I can ascribe to the idea of trusting an unknown actor until they prove themselves untrustworthy. Even if there are precious few noteworthy ones these days. There's little time to waste, if your words are true, and little harm in confirming."
The blond-and-black-haired Fallen swiped his hand to the side, a communication array popping into existence.
"We have a guest. I have other matters to attend to right now, but she is to be treated with the respect of a new dignitary. That includes the usual process."
As the array faded away, Azazel turned back to Luna and bowed his head.
"Penemue will meet you here and direct you to a waiting room. Make yourself comfortable; it might be a while before I can get back with you, especially if your information came too late."
The brunette closed her eyes and smiled, accepting the dismissal for what it was. "For your brother's sake, I really hope it's not."
As the purple-haired Fallen that arrived to guide Luna to a waiting room opened the door and gestured for her to enter. As she did, the violette spoke.
"Did you need anything before I return to my post?"
Luna was about to say that she was good, but then a thought occurred.
If she was offering...
"What's your opinion of Kokabiel?"
"Hm?" Penemue leaned against the doorframe, crossing her arms and glancing upward in a brief moment of thought before answering. "What brings this on?"
"Kokabiel was not entirely what I was expecting. I half-expected him to skewer me on sight because I'm a Devil."
"He would have, had you two met by chance."
"Did I catch him off-guard by coming to him, then?"
"You put your head in the lion's maw. It sounds like you know you did, too," Penemue frowned. "It's not often that Kokabiel is taken aback, so the fact that you did so makes you... interesting."
"Good kind of interesting or the bad kind?"
"I suppose that depends: why did you go to Kokabiel of all Cadres?"
"Presentation?" she tried, getting a throaty laugh from the Cadre who escorted her. Seeing and hearing that, Luna felt her chest swell, and decided to press. "After all, how am I going to go straight to the top if I don't do something attention-grabbing to blow his socks off?"
"You mean aside from blowing his socks off?" the Fallen dryly suggested.
That got a snort from the brunette. "Hey, I can tell if someone's hot when I see it; if I didn't swing for the team I do, I probably would have if it got my foot in the door."
She glanced from side to side before leaning forward and lifting one hand to the other side of her face with palm outward, whispering loudly to the Fallen. "Between you and I, I might've gone through with that were you the one in charge."
Then she leaned back. "A shame, that. I imagine it could have been pretty fun too."
Penemue laughed again, lifting an arm to push in a metal bit atop the door, holding it in place. "You flatter me. He already spends too much time philandering and focusing on hobbies, so I also appreciate you sparing me the extra work he'd offload!"
Luna waltzed over to a chair and sat down, clasping her hands behind her head. "What can I say except 'you're welcome'? Oh, 'make yourself comfortable' is a good one."
"Isn't that supposed to be my line?" That didn't stop Penemue from sitting down across from Luna, folding one leg over the other.
The curve-hugging skirt on the cadre and the tantalizing view it offered for a brief moment wasn't lost on the brunette.
It took far more willpower than she was willing to admit to not look down the transient opening in that moment.
"Maybe, but I think it's been established that I tend to defy expectations," Luna cracked a grin, closing one eye and holding a single finger to her lips. "Guess we'll just have to live with that, huh?"
"Hmm. I suppose we will." The Fallen angel hummed, tilting her head from side to side. Her mirthful expression became more thoughtful. "So you said you wanted to know my opinion of Kokabiel?"
At Luna's mellowing and subsequent slow nod, Penemue continued. "I find him to be a brilliantly stubborn son of a bitch, to be quite frank. No offense to Father, but I am not sure what to feel about Him creating an Angel quite as... devoted to what he sees as his mission."
"Diversity, maybe?"
"If that were the case, perhaps he would be more tolerable of other species. As it stands, as far as I can tell Kokabiel's of the opinion that Devils should be tightly controlled, other supernatural species are subhuman, and that our non-Fallen brethren in Heaven are far too forgiving of the sins of others."
Luna's eyes widened, and she made an overdone sound of realization. "Woooow~! So he really is racist~!"
That elicited a chuckle from the violette. "Not the term I would have used, but it is not inaccurate. Which is why I am still amazed that you were able to convince him to let you tag along, especially considering your status as a person of interest to the Grigori."
"I'm hearing a 'but' from your list of character flaws."
"As... distasteful, as I find some of his traits to be, Kokabiel was a general of Heaven, and is still a cadre, for a reason." Penemue lifted her shoulders in a shrug as her hands clasped over her knee, a small, earnest smile coming to her face. "For one, he's smart. Possibly the smartest of us non-researchers, and between him and Azazel, I'm not sure who cares more about the Grigori and our ragtag family."
"Even if he's a known warmonger, and aggressive towards anything that isn't the blood of an angel or human?"
"He's aggressive because he's so passionate about keeping us and them safe. The iron fist to Azazel's velvet glove."
'The iron fist to the velvet glove, huh?' Luna wondered if that was why the Governor-General was always so genial.
"You talk as though he basically co-leads the Grigori with Azazel."
"He may be a Cadre, but Kokabiel does have a significant following; certainly he's an influential figure in the Grigori." Penemue hummed. "Were it not for his stubbornness when it comes to his beliefs, I really do believe he'd make for a good leader."
"Do you think that he'd turn on Azazel if he believes Azazel's gone too far?"
Penemue lifted a brow, before leaning in with suspicion in her gaze. "Why do you ask?"
Luna stared down, at the table between her and Penemue as the weight behind the suddenly-voiced question made itself known.
Memories flashed through her mind.
Her hands, resting in her lap, tightened.
"...Curiosity, I suppose," she finally answered, letting her eyes drift shut. "It's unimportant, though. What about Azazel? What are your thoughts on him, if you're willing to share?"
A moment passed, as though the violette were debating whether or not to press the matter, before she finally replied.
"A genius through and through, and someone who's done his best to fill very large shoes. He's slipped up more than once, and his habits are... frustrating." The exasperation that crept into the cadre's voice was telling of such. "But Azazel has proven a good helmsman for our family all the same."
'Helmsman? Interesting choice of wording.'
"I see." Luna glanced back up, a smile creeping onto her face. "I think I understand the Grigori a little better now. Thanks."
"Mh. I answered your questions, so I think it's fair that you answer some of mine, yes?" Penemue leaned forward. "For instance, why are you here? Why go so far as to speak with Kokabiel of all cadres, why the rush?"
"Well. If you promise not to tell, I suppose I could share..."
"Deal." Luna knew that Penemue would judge for herself if such was a promise worth keeping.
Such was the lot of the Fallen, after all.
"Simply put? I want the Grigori to leave me and mine be."
"A non-aggression pact?" The violette tilted her head. "Seems like a lot of effort for such a meager goal."
"I'm a person of interest, as you yourself put it, and the Grigori's obviously keeping tabs on me. I jumped the Fallen posted at my house, after all." Luna lifted up a hand, palm-out. "That being said, I have no intention of doing harm to the Grigori, so I want to ensure that the same applies in return."
The Fallen hummed, lifting a brow and brushing her hair back before she spoke again.
"That depends on what you plan on doing. The fact that you've done all this to try and secure a non-aggression pact suggests you have plans in the future that might warrant our acting against you and yours."
"That suggests you're doing something right now that I should be worried about, so don't use that line of logic," The brunette retaliated. "I came here with good intentions; the warning I gave Azazel should be telling of such, but if you're looking for the 'why' to my why then I should know the same to yours. There's only so much that I'm comfortable parting with, and I recognize the same applies to you two as well."
Penemue shifted her legs, placing the other over the first now, lifting a brow as a small smirk rose to her face. "You walk into an established faction's headquarters and try to negotiate as a peer, rather than someone with only a sliver of leverage? I'm not sure if you're brave, desperate, or just crazy."
"I don't think my dinky little hovel could host a delegation of Fallen, plus one of us had to open communique and it was clearly not going to be the Grigori. The sentry at my house is telling of that," Luna laughed, but this time there was little humor to it. "Look, I'm trying to play nice here. I come in peace, I came with a peace offering, all I'm looking for is a promise that the Grigori will leave us be. I'll be talking the details over with Azazel, but that's about the most I'll share right off the bat."
"It's clear you know what you want and what you're willing to part with, at least." Penemue leaned forward, the smile across her face widening to something sultrier as she pressed a pinky down on the coffee table. "But the question is, do you have something that we might want in turn? Something to... excite our interest?"
The brunette pointedly kept her aquamarines on the Fallen's. Damn her, if it wasn't tempting to take the plunge. "Well, that depends on what Azazel has to say when he gets back. I'm not going to make any official promises until I've spoken with him."
"Even about not meaning us any harm?"
"I'm a believer of putting one's best foot forward first when it comes to matters such as these," Luna replied primly, before she leaned forward too, languid smile on her face. "But if you or any of the Grigori try to take advantage of us, don't think we won't get our own back. I just prefer to make friends, or at least acquaintances, rather than enemies and corpses."
Penemue hummed, lifting her other hand to her face, highlighting a cheekbone by placing an index and middle finger on either side, and a thumb beneath her jaw. "Hm hm. You certainly talk bold. But can you actually back that up?"
"Maybe I can, maybe I can't," the Worldweaver hedged, tilted her head from side to side. "Question is, do you really want to fuck around and find out?"
"Maybe I do, maybe I don't," the violette echoed, the smile widening as she leaned back, slowly extended her arms to each side, and splayed them outward with palms toward the brunette and slightly upward.
She tilted her head slightly to the side, lifting her brows while letting her eyes half-close. "Question is, do you plan to do that yourself?"
The brunette wasn't always the best at reading body language, but after years of politics, she felt as though she had since shored up that lack of consistency in her skillset.
And if she was reading the signs right...
Luna rose, that smile cracking into a grin as she half-rose from her seat, one hand on the coffee table as if to lunge over it. "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't."
Azazel wasn't quite sure what to expect when he opened the door into the meeting room.
He'd figured Penemue would make a good measure to determine how well Lunarunn Bael would get along with the Grigori in general, even if he knew that she would test Luna's mettle.
He'd asked her to do so. As interesting as the girl was, if she was a pushover it would be safest for everyone if she was assimilated into the Grigori.
He knew what had happened to her in the other Underworld society; at least she'd be treated better under his banner.
Then again, Luna had been part of the Underworld, if even for only a few years. Considering how xenophobic their Assembly was, making it past even a half-decade meant she had promise.
He hadn't heard anything about sounds of combat either, or blood, or a fleeing brunette or an angered violette.
Had they managed to get along?
The blonde-and-black-haired Fallen was very glad, then, that he brought a bottled drink instead of a can or a mug, as his forward motion stopped cold by the sight before him.
That had been a privacy seal he'd just crossed, wasn't it?
'Yeah, it totally was.'
After all, how else would it explain how he saw the Cadre he asked to escort the Devil who had come to him with Kokabiel of all Fallen, and said Devil, on the couch with their hands beneath the other's clothing, reddened and puffy lips crashing against each other as their tongues dueled, the sound of breathy pants and repressed gasps mixing with the smell of...
...Well, perhaps 'escort' was being taken more archaically in this instance.
Azazel watched for a few more moments, drinking in the sight before him.
Then he lifted a fist to his mouth and cleared his throat. Loudly.
Penemue rose first, brushing down her hair and adjusting her clothing to look more presentable. It wasn't perfect, but the steady expression from a less knowledgeable individual would suggest she had just been running late for work.
Luna, however, laid there as though in a daze for several seconds, and Azazel could practically see her confusion as to why the hands and lips had left.
She did recover though, the circumstances finally registering, albeit not nearly as quickly as the Fallen she had previously been heavily making out with. To be expected though, especially from a young Devil; Penemue was experienced, after all.
"You two done having fun?" the two-toned-haired Fallen drolled, lifting his drink to his own lips to take a casual sip.
"Perhaps another minute or five would have been nice, but it will suffice," Penemue replied primly, getting back off the couch to step over to Azazel's side.
So that left the brunette. Azazel took another sip of his drink, before speaking.
"I came to speak with you, as the leader of a faction to what I would imagine is the leader of one in its formative stages," he continued, this time to Luna, a brow rising as he gestured to the violette. "Yet here you are, just shy of banging one of my Cadres. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
Luna adjusted her own clothing, including throwing her duster back on to cover the damp spot on her shorts between her thigh.
Oh, she'd managed to collect some of the juices that had been trailing down a leg as well in that same motion. Smooth.
"Ever heard the saying 'when in Rome, do as the Romans'?" she replied, with a hint of amusement in her voice.
"Do as the Romans, Miss Bael," Azazel pointed out, his other brow rising to join the first. "not do the Romans."
"Considering what the Romans got up to in those bathhouses? Don't even try to deny that it's a mistranslation!"
The Governor-General couldn't help but release a huff of laughter.
Oh, she was going to be a treat.
Luna could have worn a paper bag out of embarrassment.
Especially since the brunette meant to resist Penemue's wiles yet fell into them all the same.
Or did she?
It was kind of hard to tell.
Which proved her point; Luna wasn't sure if it was her taking an opportunity or Penemue honey-trapping her.
'What I would do for some more of that honeypot, holy fuck-'
She shook her head, refocusing on the task at hand.
That was, sitting down with the Governor-General of the Grigori, the big cheese, the head honcho himself.
And he'd caught the Worldweaver with her panties down.
At least she'd managed to play it off fairly well.
Though the point still stood, it was painfully clear that she wasn't exactly in a good position to negotiate.
Granted, Luna had gone into the entire exchange not being in a position of strength, but she'd hoped that saving Baraqiel's family by way of warning would give her enough points with Azazel himself to offset it.
She didn't think it would.
Luna rubbed her finger and thumb together in a brief test, and sure enough the Governor-General's gaze flicked downward to her hand.
That was either a very good thing, or a very bad one.
"What's the verdict of the Himejimas?" she tried.
Azazel tilted his head, before letting it bow forward, eyes sliding shut as he exhaled.
"It was as you said. His family was attacked in his absence."
That got her smiling, until Azazel continued.
"...Unfortunately, your news came too late."
Luna's blood turned cold, but she didn't flinch back, leaning in with narrowed eyes. "How so?"
"By the time Baraqiel and I arrived on the scene, his wife and daughter... We were unable to save them." He reopened one eye to peer at the brunette coolly. "The Himejimas are a twisted bunch. They crucified Shuri and Akeno, then burned them on those crosses. I had to hold Baraqiel back from slaughtering every last Himejima, even if I very much wanted to do the same."
And then he came back to see the very woman who'd warned about it all but fucking Penemue.
No wonder he wasn't going to pull his punches with her in these talks.
'But still…'
Something poked at Luna. Something about the whole situation didn't seem quite right.
She leaned in. "I'd like to speak with him."
"He doesn't wish to be spoken to."
If what Azazel said was true, then she completely understood. But even so...! "And he has nothing to say for the one who tried to warn him of his family being in danger?"
"Your warning is appreciated, but it came too late to stop his wife's family from lynching mother and daughter."
Luna's face pinched up in a small wince, yet Azazel didn't stop. "Moreover, your warning came at a time where he was able to get there while they were in the process of lynching them. Do you know what it's like to hear a little girl screaming at the top of her lungs because she's burning alive? That sound will linger in my ears for weeks, and I doubt Baraqiel will ever be able to stop hearing his daughter's death rattle."
"Are you accusing me of trying to psychologically torture one of your brothers?" Luna breathed, aghast.
"No. Merely laying out the consequences of your 'trying to help' without considering the ramifications," Azazel leaned forward, teeth bared. "Your assistance is appreciated, but you came too late. In fact, it would have been easier for Baraqiel if he'd just seen their corpses, the aftermath of the lynching. Watching the ones you love die breaks you, and I saw the light in his eyes die with them. Thanks to you, I have to put a brother whose ten-year anniversary I had been celebrating with not two hours ago on a watchlist."
He glared her down, as she took in the news with wide eyes, blood frozen in her veins as her mind raced.
Was... was this real?
'Is this for real?'
No, he had to be lying.
Right?
Something about this didn't sit right.
But what was it?
What was she missing?
'Ulan... what am I missing?'
No response. Great, was she on her own for this?
Luna really could have used someone on her side of the ring!
Her mind raced, trying to find a loose end in Azazel's argument.
She racked her mind, racing over every memory until one finally stood out among the rest.
Was this a similar matter?
The brunette dearly hoped she was on the money on what didn't sit quite right with her.
She inhaled...
Gathered the guilt she felt at facilitating the breaking of a father...
And let go.
She felt the inside of her mind grow cold, the mechanical, heartless side always in the background surfacing.
Her eyes slid shut, gripping the seat briefly, before releasing both her grip and her breath.
"With all due respect, Governor-General, I fail to see how my sharing this information is related to your failure to protect them in the first place."
Luna heard a humming, and felt a hot, burning, hostile poison pressed against her nose, just barely not breaking skin. Even now, she could feel her face tingling from the sheer potency of what was obviously a light spear.
"Choose your next words wisely, Lunarunn Bael," the Governor-General whispered, voice more venomous than the holy element threatening to burn through her profane-aligned physical form.
"You're the Grigori. You're the faction whose eyes and ears are always to the ground. Out of the Big Three you have the largest active information and espionage network. Only the Church and Heaven have a bigger one, and that's passive by way of follower hearsay. Certainly you have the most actual, full-time agents." Luna's eyes reopened, meeting Azazel's evenly. Anything less would be an insult and a dire mistake. "When one of your highest operatives, one of your most powerful and closest brothers, gets married, there is no way you wouldn't look into the family of the wife in question. You would know the Himejimas are a zealously traditional clan. You would know that letting Baraqiel's wife and daughter remain in Japan would put their lives at risk."
Azazel's scowl contorted into an outright snarl. "You're suggesting l set them up to die."
"I'm suggesting that had you been keeping up to snuff, you'd have placed at least the same sort of watch on the Himejimas as you have on me as potentially hostile actors." Luna lifted her head, the side of her lips twitching downward, becoming more assured in her deduction as she continued speaking. "In other words, you should have known if the family was on the move. You should have known that they were plotting to kill Shuri and Akeno. You should have been able to act on my warning immediately by activating the watch you should have set over them despite your cadre's insistence that he alone could keep them safe, rather than having to get personally involved."
The Worldweaver lifted a hand gloved in solid airs, grabbing on to the light spear to push it to the side. "Since you're pushing the story that I'm liable for your cadre's onset of violent ideation, then that leads me to one of three logical conclusions. None of them are particularly kind toward the Grigori's operations."
She lifted her index finger. "Firstly, you did have agents in the area and chose not to activate them the moment you heard my warning. That suggests you weren't taking a warning for your brother's - and by extension your - family seriously, which is a major blow to your credibility as a leader who gives a damn about his people. Especially considering that the Grigori sees itself as an organization-sized family."
Her middle finger joined her index. "Secondly, you allowed Baraqiel's family their privacy on the grounds that he himself would be able to protect them, but don't have a safety net in place during his absence, even something as simple as a failsafed alarm ward keyed to Baraqiel's blood. It would take next to nothing for someone as powerful as you to make. That you didn't suggests either negligence, in hoping that the Himejimas wouldn't act on the absence of their errant daughter's sole protection, or outright foolishness."
Luna leaned in. "When it comes to matters of threats to family, just 'hoping' and not putting the effort in to ensure their safety is asking for tragedy. I know this firsthand; it's how I lost my own parents. They were targets by proxy of association, and humans can be Devils in their own right. Shuri and Akeno are human and untrained nephilim respectively: they have no way to protect themselves from a mob already upon them."
Finally, her thumb extended to join her index and middle fingers as she returned to leaning back. "Thirdly, and what I see as most importantly... you may not have the resources to post a guard for Baraqiel's wife and daughter. I know that all three factions were significantly weakened following the Great War, but if you don't have the resources to actively protect your cousin-in-law and niece, then why were you taking the chance to let them live in Japan rather than the Grigori's chunk of the Underworld? Sentiment? Personal request? I might still be young by the standards of supernatural leaders, but even I know that you don't leave a top operative's family in hostile territory without protection! Even if it was a matter of personal request, then you should have still had failsafes in place to keep them safe.
"In other words, Azazel, it doesn't add up." Luna's eyes softened to a cool nonchalance, last two fingers splaying outward as she held that hand to the side. "Unless you're saying that you're derelict in your duties as a leader, and I know that you're not, then there is no way you wouldn't have had tools to ensure their safety in place. Even if your story is true, then you're just shifting the blame out of guilt, pride, or to manipulate me into a position of placation."
Her lips curled into a cold smirk as she tilted her head and crossed her arms, eyelids closing halfway as she crossed one leg over the other. "Long story short... I think you're hiding rather pertinent information."
Azazel leaned forward, cold gaze turning frigid. "You come into my house, sit in my seat, and say to my face after I had to console a grieving brother that I'm bluffing?"
A beat passed.
'Got you.'
Luna tilted her head the other way and put a hand to her cheek, even as the smirk widened.
"Bluffing? Why, I never implied such a thing, Azazel sir. Only that you weren't being wholly truthful. A Freudian Slip, perhaps~?"
Silence, as the Fallen stared at the Worldweaver in disbelief.
'Can't say I'm surprised, to be honest.'
She continued.
"I came here with nothing but good intentions. I even made it worth your while by providing information that would help put a brother's family at risk out of harm's way. But if you're bluffing even after I came in peace and helpfulness..."
The saccharine sweetness faded for something altogether more serious, and Luna didn't have to fake the hint of hurt that 'leaked' into her tone. "...then how can I trust anything about the Grigori?"
More silence, as the Worldweaver stood, slipping her hands into her duster pockets. "You know, I really was hoping that at least one of you three factions wouldn't try to exploit someone 'beneath' you. The Angels won't even bother with me and the Devils abused me, so I was practically praying that you would be the odd man out in a good way."
She smiled, but she could feel the pit in her stomach draining her lips of any warmth. "Guess I got my hopes up for nothing. At least I know now where you stand."
The brunette turned back and started walking out, holding up a hand. "Keep your thanks about sounding the alarm on the Himejimas. We're not friends, nor allies. As far as I'm concerned, we never met. If more of this is what I can expect out of any relationships between us, I'd rather it stay that way."
Luna set one hand on the door, reaching out with her senses to none too kindly shatter the privacy ward and magical lock.
She half expected Azazel to try and save face by trying to play the whole thing off as a 'test' of some sort.
Luna knew better.
'At least, I do now.'
Yet he said nothing.
There was naught more to be said, so she appreciated the silence, if nothing else.
As the Worldweaver left his office, Azazel pressed a button beneath his desk, sending out a disruptive magnetic wave through the room upon the activation of the EMP he'd hidden beneath the floorboards years ago.
He kept with the times; he had no clue whether or not Luna had left a bug, and considering how their meeting went the Governor-General wasn't taking any chances.
Once that field died down, Azazel let his composure slip, pulling out a bottle from the mini-fridge - reinforced like his computer to ensure that it didn't get messed up by his electronic countermeasures - and popping it open to drink straight from the source.
That... had not gone how he'd expected.
Azazel knew that Luna had experience in politics, but all indications had pointed to her being somewhat naive.
He'd been expecting a bleeding heart. Especially after her warning about Baraqiel's family.
She had one, true, but it was also clotted, tempered by betrayal and hardship.
He'd underestimated just how perceptive that made her.
Her stepping out to help Baraqiel also meant that Sirzechs was right; she knew things she shouldn't have been able to. That Baraqiel had a family. The names of his wife and daughter. The fact that the Worldweaver, as Ajuka had taken to calling her, was willing to leverage that information for her own ends, yet remained somewhat naive.
Azazel had been hoping for her to walk out of the office suborned to the Grigori.
Instead, he might have just earned himself an enemy that was quickly growing more dangerous.
"Damn it you two, why didn't I listen?" he groaned, lifting a hand to his head.
Question now was, what to do?
He could try covering his bases and order a hit. But that didn't sit right with him; as much as Kokabiel might think otherwise, Luna hadn't exactly done anything to warrant it. Especially since she had, in fact, come in good faith.
He took another drink, before chuckling to himself.
"Heh. Go figure that I sully that. Just like old times, eh Dad?"
That being said, she was still a significant threat, particularly since she did know so much. If any faction got a hold of her and pried that information from her, the brunette would be a major force multiplier by way of knowledge.
She was right; out of the three biblical factions, the Grigori was - or had been, in her eyes - the least likely to exploit or attack her for her nature.
Azazel could also try reaching back out to offer an opportunity to make amends, and get off on a better foot.
He doubted she'd accept, though.
'Not after this mess of a meeting.'
Or at the very least, any attempt to do so would have to be remarkably slanted in her favor, and even then there'd be quite a bit of suspicion. Rightfully so, but walking out like she did left him with an ultimatum on whether to backtrack or cut any chance of an amicable relationship loose.
In regards to any amicable relationship with the Worldweaver, Azazel was certainly at a severe setback. It would take a significant effort to get back to square one.
How ironic; as it stood, the very person who vocally expressed a desire to kill Luna had a better shot at earning her trust than he did, and where he had been fishing for clout, he was the one who had been reeled in.
'Speaking of my warmongering Cadre...'
He needed to know what Luna had shared, that prevented him from killing her outright.
The Governor-General pressed the call button on his intercom.
"Shemhazai, can you find Kokabiel and tell him to pay me a visit?"
"He just left the building after Miss Bael. She looked incensed; did the talks not go as she expected?"
'Oh brother.'
He supposed that even a ceasefire would only work on the Watcher of the Stars for so long.
"Fine, in that case let him know that I'd like to speak with him when he gets back. May as well prepare a combat response unit in the meantime."
"Kokabiel giving you trouble as usual?"
The finger came off the intercom as his eyes flicked up to the white-haired teen - young adult, really - at the doorway.
"Not now Vali, I'm trying to run damage control."
The young Devil glanced back out, before back inside with a raised brow. "Ah. Something to do with that girl a couple minutes ago, then?"
Azazel didn't answer, instead lifting a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose.
"A lover who found you sleeping with someone else?"
This was one of many reasons why he took Vali under his wing: those sorts of comments lightened his spirit in times like these.
"Hah! I wish!"
"Ah." A moment later, and a spark of interest glinted in the white-haired young adult''s eye. "A diplomat, then?"
"More like a leader of a group in its infancy."
That interest reached his lips, which curled upward. "She strong?"
Azazel paused, thinking it over.
"Strong enough to test her boundaries in the middle of another faction's headquarters."
"Ballsy then, if nothing else." The Devil grinned. "I'll have to try and meet her at some point."
The Governor-General lifted the bottle again, a grimace rising to his face.
He could let Kokabiel deal with her, and all their problems would go away.
But at the same time, it didn't quite sit right with him to stand by.
'Damn our bloodied hearts.'
Her's for putting him in a situation where he owed her...
"...Then you'd better hurry about it."
...and his, for feeling guilty enough to act on it.
"Come to kill me, since I don't have a treaty with the Grigori?"
"..."
She cast a side-eyed glance behind her, returning her gaze from the mountain range in the distance. "C'mon. Don't keep me waiting here. Why'd you follow me, Kokabiel?"
"You can't stand him either, can you?"
"Azazel?" Luna removed her hands from her pockets to cross them under her breasts, looking forward again. "He tried lying to my face to get the upper hand in our discussions. I really don't take kindly to deception in the face of kindness."
"What did you expect? You're a person of interest, offering valuable assistance to the Grigori. As young as you are, you're still malleable. It's only natural that a Fallen as experienced as he would take advantage of the opportunity to pull you into his grand plan."
"Don't give me that rubbish," Luna scoffed. "You talk like you wouldn't do the same."
"I wouldn't." The brunette heard the cadre spit on the ground at the thought.
She wondered whether that was the unfiltered truth, or merely the truth as he saw it.
"Then it's not 'natural', it's learned." She turned back around, swinging around using the momentum of a leg swinging up, a casual motion. "And judging from the way you regard your Governor-General, you resent him for succumbing to that mindset."
Kokabiel stared at Luna long and hard, tilting his chin up.
"He... has grown complacent on peace," he finally said, slowly, though his pace increased as he continued. "He deals with a government that abets atrocities in shadows, and one that places self-preservation over their mission. They are monsters of cowardice and vice, Heaven and Hell respectively. Is it not our job as angels, as the eyes and hands of Father, to slay that which would harm his greatest creation in mankind?"
Kokabiel held a hand to his side, speaking as he normally did once more. "Yet still, Azazel entreats with them, as though they've grown from their wars. As though we have. Yet still, even if times have changed, our sins by and large are the same. Yet still, we stay our hands when we should defend our charges, of the humanity Father left behind."
A spear of light formed in his outstretched hand, fingers clasping around the conjured weapon. She could feel the threat of its holy power even from the dozen meters between them.
"Lunarunn Bael, I will follow that mission, and kill you here and now. The very fact that you still draw breath represents an existential threat to this world. I have not seen a power like yours since Father, yet you are not He."
Oh. That little ceasefire between them really hadn't lasted long, had it?
'Not good.' She'd been really hoping to have convinced Kokabiel otherwise.
Another thought also crossed her mind.
'Since God... is he talking about what Worldweave can do?'
Still no reply. Where had Ulan gone?
Luna closed her eyes as she slowly spread her feet and held her hands out to her sides. "Nor should I try to be."
"No. Nobody should pretend to be what they are not." He adopted a stance, lifting a hand into the sky as spears formed in the air around him, the other in a position reminiscent of a soldier bracing against a charge. "It is in that path that the world becomes so needlessly convoluted, that good becomes indolent and evil thrives."
The brunette's eyes reopened, and she smiled grimly. "Is my existence truly an evil one to you?"
"Not in a personal manner." Luna blinked multiple times. "I know little about you, but what I have seen so far would have been promising. What your power represents however... I cannot sit idly by."
"Even when you spared me before?"
"A temporary ceasefire, and one I have deemed expired. I won't receive another chance like this, and the threat of Trihexa's release can be managed. Even if Rizevim is in fact the culprit, your existence represents a major element in its potential escape." Kokabiel's upward-reaching hand began to glow with light. "Your power is one of unlimited potential, and though you appear reasonable that same power could very well be what frees the Beast. Even now, I can tell that you will not go down without a fight."
"Guilty as charged. On the last part, that is," Luna inhaled, exhaled, then grinned, gleaming eyes flickering through the color spectrum as she readied herself to fight for her life. "But y'know, for someone hell-bent on murdering my ass, you're being surprisingly civil about it. Especially given your prior demeanor."
"I may normally be blunt, but I always treat the dead with respect."
'Holy hell, did he practice that one-liner!?'
If she got a response Luna didn't catch it, instead throwing up an arm for a pillar of wind to block spears-turned-arrows, another fist shooting out to delay Kokabiel's charge long enough to dodge out of the way.
It was enough to push aside the spear.
It was not enough to stop the tackle propelled by five sets of glowing raven wings.
The world blurred, and the brunette felt her body contort as it repeatedly impacted the ground streaking beneath, above, to the side, below.
Her wings spread wide to break her momentum, the land around her curling inward and upward to block the deluge of light, blasting down on her with the force of the waterfalls she'd visited that very morning.
Immediately the land gave way, the brief moment of resistance just enough for Luna to shoot out of the killzone and into the sky with a shout. The force of the light pillar's detonation behind her blew her ponytail forward, even as she threw her own arms the same direction.
As the winds and land had sheltered her from the Watcher of the Stars, so too did fire and water answer her call, ice blazing a brilliant blue streaking out from the ground around Kokabiel in a wide radius to meet a readied barrier in a mighty crash.
That barrier sharpened, speared outward, and dispersed the burning ice in a wide, furiously swift swing. The Cadre hurled the construct in that same motion, contrails streaming behind. Luna weaved around the thrown projectile, yet met with a blinding torrent of spears in doing so.
A feint, Luna would quickly realize. Her side caved inward as a foot met her side, the same moment as the barrier that formed in front of her, sending her crashing back into the ground. Though the earth attempted to welcome her return in a gentle grasp, the brunette found herself back in the air from the force of the impact. Raven hair of the raven-winged angel billowed wildly directly at eye level, a palm glowing with the light of Heaven driving home.
Someone screamed as that light, that horrible, violent light, crashed into her chest and sent the Worldweaver careening back through the air. She smashed into land again a moment later, this time with no gentle loam but harsh crag meeting and giving way to her impact.
It took a long moment to realize it was her scream, and that her body was steaming, raw and burned from the holy payload that Kokabiel delivered with his reverberating strike.
She wouldn't cry, but she could feel tears, frigid against red flesh, streaming down her face as she pulled herself out of the crater.
Kokabiel was already there, another spear winding back and free hand glowing with magical circles as time slowed to a crawl.
Her body shrieked, and she knew she had to move.
But even if her eyes could see the spear crawling forward to impale her, Luna couldn't move.
She couldn't move.
Not fast enough.
She wasn't fast enough.
She was going to die.
She was going to-
No.
'Not here.'
But she wasn't fast enough to get away.
'Not now…!'
She wasn't strong enough to hold Kokabiel back.
'Not yet!'
...Fuck it.
She couldn't die yet. If she had to use it, then she would, damn it!
"Cataclysm Eclipse!"
The rush of black wrongness met that well of potential, and Luna-
moved.
The world became a blur, body twisting and contorting as something in the back of her mind shrieked, two all-too-familiar appendages ripping, twisting outward, shining lights flashing around but never finding purchase.
It was overwhelming, so Luna dove away, weaving through those lights that threatened to end her and retaliating with bursts of stardust, starlight and blacklight intertwining in a spiral of energy that streaked for the cadre.
They found purchase, but once more it was against a barrier of golden light, though unlike her attacks before, this time she could see the barrier shudder.
Though it still held, the impact against Kokabiel's barrier bought the brunette distance as she slid back from the force of her own attack, head pounding with the heavy exertion of Worldweave and Cataclysm Eclipse in tandem.
"...So I was right."
Luna blinked, one hand and both feet digging into the ground, the other at her side as another pair of wings, those weaponized pinions folded back, ready to flex their fell power further.
Kokabiel watched the Worldweaver from the air, having retreated back in the blur of action that followed, though even now she could see his cold glare boring down on her.
"You bear an aberrant taint." He lifted a hand, and stars began spreading outward from where hand met sky. "It was deeply hidden, but apparently the threat of death is enough to draw it forward. I can feel its foul nature from here."
"And you think I asked for this thing?" Luna asked in a raspy tone, glaring at the Cadre as she lifted a hand to the choker pulsing around her throat. Her blood burned hot at the implication, burning even to her burned skin, and she had to keep herself from lunging forward.
She knew she actually felt that way, but with the power of Cataclysm Eclipse running through her veins in tandem with the hum of Worldweave in her mind, controlling her emotions became... difficult. "You think I want to have these extra wings and this choker, jackass!? Do you not see just how fucked-up they are!? You said it yourself; they're disgusting!"
"I do see, and I pity you for being cursed with them." Kokabiel's eyes closed as the innumerable stars in the purple sky gleamed. "But it makes my mission to put you out of your misery all the more justified."
His hand fell.
"So be still, and rest in peace Lunarunn Bael."
And so too did the sky, replaced with endless, overwhelming gold as the stars spread and became one, blotting out the world with their holy light.
Rest in peace?
'Ha... Ha ha...'
Those three words, Luna had said them to her parents, hadn't she? When she'd gone berserk.
She couldn't do the same.
"Not until I do what needs to be done in this crooked shithole of a world," she snarled, pulling on both curse and gift, feeling something hot and metallic run down her face and over her lips as she faced the light. "And set it straight with my own two goddamned hands!"
The brunette threw up an arm and screamed her defiance, a desire to purge and an anger once buried rushing through, down, and out in a singular, translucent pulse.
Light mixed with shadow, holy melding with hellish, gold and violet meeting as the latter extended to meet the rapidly approaching former.
The gold vanished, consumed as though it never existed. The violet curved inward upon devouring the light, motes of fell glow wrapping around both sets of wings. She spun around towards the blur she noted from the corner of her eye and lashed out with one of Cataclysm Eclipse's, the wing shining a brilliant violet that for a brief moment made the aberrant limb seem normal.
Just like she almost cheered when she felt it slam home against Kokabiel's side.
Until she felt resistance, and saw the ground give way, even if the cadre himself did not.
She saw him gripping onto the flat of her wing, face contorted in a snarl of his own as he struggled - struggled - to stand firm against the empowered limb.
But he did.
And in her moment of passion, she'd overextended herself.
Judging by the gleam in the Fallen's eye, she'd done so badly.
Raven hair fell, then lashed backwards as Kokabiel rushed forward.
Luna twisted, but it wasn't enough.
Schlrk!
She gasped, and let out a wet cough as she dared look down.
At the holy spear that had run her through.
It wasn't entirely through the stomach. She'd managed to avoid enough to turn a full impalement through the gut into one out her side. Lethal, but not guaranteed like it would have been.
But it was still holy energy from a Fallen Angel.
As strong as she'd gotten, she knew that without help it would be enough.
The spear remained, even as Kokabiel let go, Luna staggering backward, her limbs all but stone as that burning - that horrible, horrible burning - seared her down to what felt like her very soul.
At least this time, she was prepared for the burning.
It didn't stop her from nearly passing out, though.
She couldn't, not yet, but she knew the sides of her vision greying out was not a good sign.
"W-well... fuck," she coughed out, arms falling uselessly at her sides, one wing of Cataclysm Eclipse stabbing into the ground so she could lean on it as her legs began to give.
Kokabiel said nothing, hand instead glowing with more holy light as he readied what Luna knew would be the coup de grace.
She thought she was ready to face the Watcher of the Stars.
Or at least, ready to fend him off if he tried gunning for her.
She cursed the fact that she hadn't thought to have Georg on standby in case something like this happened.
Luna had figured she was at least as strong as Kokabiel was in canon.
Yet even that strength still paled, in comparison to the real deal.
'Just how strong are you...?'
Strong enough, it seemed, to kill her despite all her training.
Luna closed her eyes.
'...Damn it...'
Was this the end?
'Damn it all!'
"Divide."
The single word, uttered with finality, caused the brunette's eyes to reopen as she saw someone in front of her, catching the blow in a textbook block, and where the holy light had burned her, against gleaming silver armor it did little more than dent the vambraces that had taken the blow. Even so, the figure skidded backwards, argent greaves digging into the ground as the blast of holy light was held back, then dispersed in a burst of motion from the arms and a cloud of debris.
Kokabiel slid back, a scowl etched across his face as the dust lifted by the impact was blown away with a flex and a beat of glowing blue wings.
"You have an infuriating habit of getting in the way, Lucifer."
'Lucifer?'
"Don't blame me, Azazel sent me this way."
"As if you'd do anything Azazel asked you if you weren't interested in the subject matter."
The figure before her deigned to not reply to that.
Luna blinked slowly, legs finally giving way as she slid to the ground, staring up at the silver - draconic, she realized - armor that turned to face her, getting down on one knee to speak closer to on her level.
"Are you alright?"
It was a general question, one that perhaps for another might have elicited images of a knight in shining armor.
For Luna, though?
"Does... it look like I'm alright?" she coughed out, a snarl rising back to her face. "I've got a fucking spear running me through and I'm allergic to its material. The fuck you think?"
"Feisty. You'll be fine, clearly." A gauntleted hand reached out to grasp onto the spear.
"Divide."
The spear diminished in size. Then again. Then again, repeated until it had all but vanished, leaving Luna with a hole in her gut and a dizziness she knew was from moderate to severe holy poisoning.
But she was alive.
The very thought nearly made her burst into tears, or faint.
Yet it didn't; she was sure that would come later, hopefully in the sanctum of her own bedroom.
At that moment, she felt nothing at all.
"...Why hasn't he continued?" the brunette asked instead, placing a hand on her wound to start slowly healing it, choosing to not attempt to heal herself as fast as possible due to said numbness and dizziness. Her gaze shifted over to the cadre not too far away, who stared back with stormy eyes.
"He can't exactly attack Azazel's protege. Not without breaking ties with the Grigori." Vali sent a side-eyed glance in the cadre's direction. "He can't get away with trying for anything more now that I'm here."
'Azazel's cockblocking Kokabiel?'
"More Fallen are on the way too. A medic among them, so get some aid."
'On the bastard's orders too, I imagine.'
"No." Luna growled, lifting an arm to drive a fist into an unresponsive leg. It twitched, and ached from the pain of punching herself in the knee, but to her chagrin it still wouldn't move. "I don't want anything to do with the Grigori."
She couldn't see it beneath the helmet, but judging by the way he lifted one arm and pointed to the dent in his armor, Luna was sure that the white-haired Devil was staring at her with a raised brow.
'Dick.'
Was she being unfair? Maybe she was. But she'd just been impaled by a weapon that was naturally poisonous to her type of blood. He'd have to forgive her for being gruff.
"...Whatever." Luna glanced away. "Thanks for saving me."
"I'm just repaying a debt Azazel owes you."
"So the fucker really did lie." She figured.
"If you say so." Vali stood back up, turning around to Kokabiel. "Speaking of, Azazel wanted to talk to you, by the way."
"Undoubtedly. I will speak with him." The Watcher of the Stars shook his head at the same time, arms crossed. "A shame that I didn't kill you the instant I saw you, aberration. My curiosity got the better of me."
He turned around, lifting into the air. "It won't happen again. I will finish what I started here another time."
And then he was gone, leaving a wounded Lunarunn and an armored White Dragon Emperor.
"I was looking forward to fighting you. Shame." The armor shimmered, and from the vanishing platemail the white-haired Devil appeared, hands in pockets. "Would've enjoyed facing what I did see."
Luna didn't say anything, nose twitching as she continued staring at the place Kokabiel had been in. She half-expected him to come back.
Then a hand patted her shoulder.
"Hey. I want to ask you a couple things too."
Her eyes shifted back up, and she could see Vali's curiosity and minor suspicion.
She was still so dizzy, though.
Wait, was her vision blurring more?
'Crap...'
"Ah. I... might need... a... minute..."
Or was that her vision just fading altogether?
"O... -ey... -eed a medi...!"
A/N:
Fallen. Some fall for pride, some for wrath, some for sloth, some for lust, and so on so forth. In here, Penemue's one of the latter. Thus, a brief tang of lime.
Oh yeah, we've got a bit of posturing as well. Luna's years in the cutthroat Devil's Assembly is proving its worth here, and although Azazel is a character who is (arguably) a decent person in canon, he's also supposedly an insidious individual, which suggests he has a deep-seated desire to be in charge, to be the one calling the shots.
Or at the very least in the loop, which is why he went with the choice he did after things went sideways.
Perhaps this is also part of why he Fell, because when he first slept with a human it was just as much an intentional act of rebellion against God as an act of lust. Thus, when someone with massive potential but a limited experience in the supernatural world comes to talk, he plays for keeps.
It worked for Vali, at least until the Khaos Brigade came and threw a wrench into everything. For Luna, though? Hell no, she's already become too jaded for that shit to work.
That's not to say he doesn't care; I think it's fair to say that he does. Perhaps a bit too much; even good and loving parents can hurt their kids by being too controlling.
In any case, I hope that makes sense and is reasonable to the character in question.
even i got shivers when i made that fucking one-liner holy hell. Do not fuck with a Cadre, especially a warmonger like Kokabiel. Ishibumi did him dirty and I've no intention of following suit.
As a warmonger, a top-ranked Fallen Angel, and a self-proclaimed protector of humanity and family, he should be effectively as powerful as one of the Satans. Luna's definitely stronger, but she's still not able to face one down quite yet, hence why she was curbstomped here.
Work's in full swing. School's being a pain in the ass as usual, though thankfully it's almost over. I'm coping as best I can.
Tempura Wizard out.
