NMHA Ch. 44 - The Swing of the Pendulum
A/N - We're so close now. Just gotta shift a couple more things around, and then we can move on.
Like I said before, this is the last chapter before canon. So enjoy the last bits of 'pre-canon', I know I have, because I'm hyped for what comes after this!
"I'm sorry. For snapping like that."
"It's alright."
"...Just like that?"
"Of course. I've been there; I know what it's like to lose those you consider family."
"I didn't... exactly lose her though."
"You lost your chance to see her grow, lost the ideal you'd built up when you raised her."
"Six years, seeing her mature into a young woman..." The voice on the other end breathed out a sigh. "But six years isn't a lifetime."
"It can certainly feel like it, though."
"I know, which is why I was so... angry. Angry at you for snapping, angry at the world for forcing this situation on all of us, angry at..."
There was silence.
"I take it you were able to find her?"
"Yeah. In the middle of trying to defend a couple other girls. A daughter and a mother. It was dicey for a while, but were I not worried sick about what could have happened I couldn't have been more proud. Then the Fallen Angels showed up."
A low purr of contentment. "Oh, if only I could have seen for myself what you did to the bastard who took our parents. If that Baraqiel guy was that angry at the humans for threatening his wife and daughter, I can only imagine the torture you put the Naberius through."
"...It was even more brutal."
A dark, satisfied sigh. "Good."
Then, another pause as the Youkai on the other end of the line got back on track. "Right. So... after everything was said and done, I was able to talk to her. She goes by a new name now. I think you know what it is."
Curiosity, with a touch of suspicion. "What do you mean?"
"Shirone said you were the same as her, from what she could tell. Things not being the same, people having more favorable outcomes compared to what she'd learned. You not being in the picture at all in the visions that your... Gear's conception forced on her. She knew that the Himejima family was in danger when there was no way she should have."
"...Oh shit." Another pause. "Yeah. I know exactly what her name is. So, Koneko knows?"
A deep breath, an inhale and exhale. "Insofar as you've changed the course of history. Certainly sounds like some things are the same though, nya!"
"Are you two estranged again?"
"Eh? No, and thank all that's good and right for that!" A beat passed. "Thank you, for that. For taking on that burden in my place."
"That Naberius deserved it."
"Totally did, nya. I just didn't realize that it should have - would have - been me in your place. And what it would do to my sister." More silence, then... "I... I'd like to spend time with her. To make up for the time we lost."
"Done. Just let me know where to mail you some clothes and a new phone."
"Eh? Just like that?! And how did you know I needed a new phone?!"
"You calling from an unknown number's pretty telling. Besides, I thought I'd made it clear, hadn't I? I want you and your sister to be happy; if that means not seeing you again for a while, well... just means I'll need to dust off your room every now and again, to make sure it's ready for when you do come back."
"Luna..."
"Speaking of which, that reminds me. We'll be moving again pretty soon here. I've finally managed to gain some traction in gathering other factions, so it's time to move on to bigger housing, at least for the most part. I'll be sure to leave a key hidden for you at the old place, though."
"...I... I don't know what to say."
"Then a 'thank you' will be just fine. Or nothing at all. Just know that you're welcome."
An audible swallow. "T-thank you. I'll... be home soon. Before too long."
"Take your time. Enjoy it with Koneko, alright?"
"I will."
"Old man! I'm here!" Issei shouted, stepping through the doors to the worship hall, shivering as that feeling of being watched resurfaced as he entered the church. He never had gotten used to it; rather, it had only grown stronger every time he visited.
It irked him, especially since when he pointed it out to Masaomi, he just blinked stupidly at the brunet pre-adolescent.
Speaking of whom, he was sitting in one of the many seats of the hall, smiling warmly at the child as he closed his bible and gestured for Issei to come over. Issei obliged, sitting in the row in front of Masaomi, knees on the seat so he could lean on the back of the bench.
"Welcome, Issei. Sorry for asking your parents to send you my way on such short notice. I wanted to speak with you about something important."
"Yeah, I heard." He pouted. "So what was so important that you asked kaa-san and tou-san to drop me off? Asia and I were gonna play again in just a couple days anyway."
Issei's eyes widened. "Did something happen to Asia?"
"Not at all, though your concern for someone else's well-being is commendable." Masaomi closed his eyes and lifted a hand. "She is just fine; I just wanted to speak with you in particular."
"Oh. Okay." He tilted his head. "Then what's the problem? Kaa-san and Tou-san sounded almost worried?"
"A couple things." Masaomi lifted a hand to his chin and gently stroked it. "Firstly, I wanted to inform you that Asia and I will be leaving for Australia for a few days. There's been a big fire down there, and Asia asked if we could go and help the people whose houses burned down. I figured it was about time to go on another trip anyway."
"When do you two leave?"
"The day after you and Asia have your playdate." Masaomi hummed. "I also wanted to know if you wanted to come with us."
"Eh?" He blinked. "But- I have school the next day, don't I? How long will I be gone?"
"About a week. I've already spoken with your parents, and they with your teachers. They all agree that going to volunteer down there would make for an excellent experience."
"Oh. So I wouldn't be getting days off?" Issei pouted. "Then what's the point?"
"So you can see just how blessed your life is, of course. Seeing how others are struggling puts your own life into perspective, and it lets you appreciate what you have all the more."
"...Spare me the sermon, you crazy old coot," he muttered, his pout shifting into a scowl.
"Plus you'd get to see the sort of thing Asia likes to do, and why we travel all the time."
Issei perked up immediately, then glowered at a lightly chuckling Masaomi. He wanted to punch the priest now.
"Honestly, I wouldn't be against you two spending more time together," Masaomi admitted. "I had my initial doubts, but I'm happy with how you two bonded so quickly."
"Is this your way of telling me something?" Issei asked bluntly.
"It's my way of telling you that she'd be really happy if you joined us," the priest shamelessly confessed. "I'll leave the final choice to you, but I figured I'd give you the offer."
The pre-adolescent nodded, before looking around. "Where is Asia anyway?"
"Back at our apartment. She wanted to try her hand making dinner, said I was working too hard and she wanted to pitch in." He gave a single laugh. "Honestly, if anything I would say she's the one who works too hard!"
Issei snorted. "You don't have to tell me. How does she not enjoy video games? They're way cooler than building some dumb chair!"
The exorcist's laughs intensified. "She does have rather... time-consuming hobbies, doesn't she? If I didn't stop her, she'd end up running a whole animal shelter or soup kitchen by herself!"
"She needs to learn to enjoy other things, like comics, and games! There's so much she's missing!"
"Funnily enough, I just said the same thing to you, didn't I?"
"Well, yeah, but-" He scowled. "Hey! There's a difference between me and her!"
"Of course. I'm just saying, maybe by having someone her age to talk things over with come the end, maybe she'll mellow out a little bit. Only God knows."
Masaomi's last comment caused Issei's nose to twitch, as though he were about to sneeze, but he forced it down. "Can I at least bring something with me?"
"Only if you're okay with losing it."
The pre-adolescent paled. "Uh, er- nevermind, then."
Masaomi stared at the fidgeting Issei, before slowly lifting a brow. "Is this something I should be made aware of?"
"No," he lied. Masaomi just stared at him, brow rising higher as the kid began to sweat.
"Really, now?" the priest drawled, completely disbelieving. "And what, pray tell, did you want to bring?"
"Ah... n-nothing big. Just a... manga I like to read."
That explained it. Masaomi pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. "...It's a hentai of some sort, isn't it?"
"No!"
He reopened an eye to stare at Issei, and the brunet looked away fish-eyed, sinking below the back of the seat so the adult only saw the upper half of the kid's face.
"...No..."
"It's nothing to be ashamed of, I hope you're aware," the exorcist soothed. "It's natural for someone your age to start experiencing certain feelings when they start entering their adolescence."
"Er, it's not that, at least I don't think it is like kaa-san and tou-san spoke with me about. It's just..." he worked his mouth for a second, before perking up, resolving himself to his next words, eyes shining as he leaned fully on the back of the seat. "It's just... oppai, yeah? Big, bouncy oppai that capture the eye, and heart, and even dreams of every warm-blooded man!"
That... didn't sit quite right with the long, black-haired exorcist, even if he didn't technically disagree. He had gotten an eyeful of the whole package to the very thing Issei was talking about, after all. Even if he did technically get sucker-punched for the indulgence later.
'Years later and I can still remember that day like it happened five minutes ago.'
...Still worth the punch.
"Did you hear that from someone?" he asked, dispelling the brief reminiscence.
"...An old geezer at the park talked about girls with us, and how they hold the dreams of every man," the child admitted. "But, he's absolutely right! Me, Matsuda, and Motohama all agree! Er. About the girls part. Not where exactly the hopes and dreams of men are held, but I know it's in the oppai!"
Masaomi filed those names away as he lifted a hand and set it on the pre-adolescent's shoulder.
"Be that as it may," the black-haired man divulged slowly, imparting what he felt would be very important knowledge to an impressionable child. "There is a big, big difference between silently appreciating a person's beauty, and publicly indulging in said appreciation."
"Eh?" Issei tilted his head, blinking confusedly. "Why's that? Isn't it more important to be honest?"
"It is, but there is also such a thing as tact," Masaomi held up a finger. "If you're not careful, you could end up pushing others away. There is nothing wrong with wearing your heart on your sleeve, but is something so base as the pleasures of the flesh worth losing everyone you could call a friend?"
"That doesn't matter though." Issei's head tilted in the opposite direction now. "The only people whose opinions matter are those that I consider my friends and family, right? And even then, I shouldn't change myself to fit them?"
"Just because someone is a friend doesn't mean they always will be; and how will you have friends at all if the only thing you're willing to go on about is something so... singular? And even if you do, how would that be in any way a meaningful friendship?"
Issei made to speak, but stilled as his gaze shifted downward, lowering himself from the top of the seat's back back onto the seat.
"...Then what about Asia?" he asked, voice small.
"I can't speak for her; even if she is my daughter, it is her choice who she is friends with." Masaomi smiled as he spread his free hand to the side. At least Issei was thinking. "But that's why I think it's important for you to think about what's important to you. There's nothing wrong with liking other peoples' bodies, or in your case oppai, as you put it. I see our ability to appreciate beauty as a gift from God; if we weren't supposed to do so, then why would we as his creations see such things? Appreciation is no sin; excess is. It's when you let it consume you, define who you are, that you have a problem."
Issei swallowed, and nodded, taking in the exorcist's words.
His smile widened faintly, and he gently shook Issei's shoulder before removing his hand. The hand went back into his robe pocket. "I understand this may be a lot to think about, especially since you also have to think about joining Asia and I on our missionary work. You're a good kid though; I have every belief that you'll make the most of the detour this chat took."
The pre-adolescent nodded once more. "I... maybe it'd help clear up some stuff if I came along. Maybe."
"Then if you still want to come along by the time you and Asia have your get-together, just let us know, your parents and I. If you don't decide to come along, then I promise that Asia will know nothing about this meeting."
A slow smile rose to Issei's face. "...For an old fart, you're not too bad."
The exorcist's smile fell for a fake glare. "I'm not that old yet, brat."
"When the skies turn dark and the world is on the brink of destruction from the forces of evil, all hope may seem lost..."
A certain twin-tailed Maou laid in bed on her stomach, propped up on a pillow and kicking her legs as her head tilted from side-to-side, eyes locked on the TV and the
"But in the dead of the night, a shining star of love and justice will always shine forth! Sparkle on, Magical Girl Le-"
As the phone in her pocket started ringing the tune of her favorite show, the cheery jingle representing one of the more well-known titles of the genre she was so fond of, Serafall pulled it out to stare at an unfamiliar number.
Her brow drew together, and she flipped it open, lifting it to her ear.
"Hello-hello?" she sang. "You've reached the number of the one and only Maou Shoujo. This number's kept private, so what can Magical Girl Levia-tan do for you before she hunts you down?"
There was an intake of breath on the other side. Someone who recognized her, then? But... wasn't expecting her to actually pick up.
"Ah." The male on the other side coughed. "My apologies. I received this number from Lord Beelzebub. I did not realize that it would bring me directly to your personal phone."
'Ajuka? What for?'
"Well now you've got me, so fess up buster!" she chirped, projecting a beam through her voice. "What can Magical Girl Levia-tan do for the one who got her number from my fellow Maou?"
"...Is this call recorded?"
"I would hope not, Levi-tan is best experienced live or on screen, not spied on from her own phone!"
"Really now? I apologize for the interruption then, but I had to get in contact with you all the same. I wanted to speak of this whole place's current state."
Serafall lifted a brow. 'Whole place'? Did he mean the Underworld, or...?
"Really? I don't understand what you're talking about. Everything's hunky-dory over here~"
Irritation tinged the voice on the other side of the phone. "Is that so?"
"Oh, that reminds me! I know that you know me, but I don't know you!"
"...Diodora. Diodora Astaroth."
The twintailed Devil blinked. "Really? I'd heard you vanished for years after your fiancee died in an accident. You sound well though, good for you!"
"An accident?" Diodora's voice was tight. "I would prefer if you not mince words; it was a purge. I saw the aftermath."
So that's what this was about. Serafall tilted her head to the side, dropping the bubbly facade in favor of a more serious mien.
"I won't be able to help you if you're digging for information. That happened entirely outside my sphere of influence."
"I know the culprit already, as well as his employer."
"Then why are you calling me about this?"
"Because addressing them means addressing the inequalities in the Underworld, about making a difference."
"Hmm..." Serafall bit her lower lip, thinking over the words for a long moment. "Nope~! Not interested!"
Given the shock in his voice, Diodora wasn't expecting to be denied right off the bat. "What?"
"It sounds like you've got a vendetta against someone pretty high up, but I'm not interested in any revenge missions."
More silence.
"I was given this number by my cousin after he said he couldn't help me," Diodora continued. "He said, however, that the one on the other side of this number might be able to."
The twintailed Devil hummed. "I already said no, though?"
"Fine, I'll accept that you're not interested, but since I'm here I may as well ask that you sate my curiosity. What is your stance on the espoused ideals of my old party, the FFP?"
"A bit of a weird question, don't you think? I've got other things I should be doing."
"I know. But I asked anyway, so clearly it's at least important to me."
That, Serafall could at least answer. "I liked them. They shook up the namby-pamby old traditionalists, and until the whole scandal they were completely above-board. It's a shame how quickly they sank."
"Sank. That's a good way to put it. And if the Underworld was the one to push them out because it didn't want to change?"
"Then it's their problem, and it's up to the remnants to figure out what comes next."
Diodora's tone lightened faintly.
"And there you have the crux of my mission. What comes after, when you offer a message of peace and progress, but are met with violence and stubbornness? What do you do, when they prove you right?"
Well now she was invested. Jerk.
"You can't force people to see the truth," the twintailed woman replied, twisting in place so she was resting on her back rather than stomach, the TV and the show she herself was the main character of now forgotten as she stared at the ceiling. "If you do, they're just going to dig in their heels and stubbornly refuse."
"Even if they know they're being foolish?"
Despite herself, Serafall felt her lips quirk upward. "Especially if they look like fools."
Diodora fell into another silence, before speaking slowly. Thinking over his words carefully before actually voicing them.
"You're right about those who... stubbornly refuse to accept fact, but I disagree about not forcing them to see. Just because they will resist doesn't mean you can't beat it into their skulls. You just need to strip away the layers of the illusion they live in, until they have no choice but to recognize what's actually around them."
"And what does that have to do with your bringing up the ideals of the FFP, and their expulsion from the Underworld?"
"It's a big lie. The big lie. The Great King Faction suggests it's better than the old regime... but they lie. It's all the same, just done behind closed doors and thinly-veiled excuses. One need only look at your mother's birth family and their 'side business' to understand exactly what I speak of."
That pulled Serafall's lips back down. The Dantalions were the subject of many a rumor, some perhaps not even incorrect, but even so... "You're saying this to someone who helped make the GKF into what it is today?"
"I am, and the fact that you didn't immediately deny it outright means you know it to be true." The black-haired Devil could hear Diodora's smile in his voice, even as her own expression tightened. "Considering how you seem to be drifting apart from Sirzechs and Ajuka, I can't help but wonder if you're starting to see the facts beneath the illusions you yourself crafted. Are you feeling enlightened yet, now that you're remembering the ugly truth? Or did you always see it, and choose not to act on it?"
Serafall didn't respond. So the Devil on the other end spoke further. "There's no need to answer. You've been at the forefront of spinning a tapestry for the common rabble, to keep them content, so I know which one it is. Does it chafe, knowing that you're abetting a regime just as horrible as the one that preceded it?"
"Get to the point." The Leviathan Satan's voice had turned arctic.
"My point is, I want to strip away that illusion as I said before," Diodora responded, voice smooth as silk with the concealed edge of a dagger. "I want to show the people that life isn't so different from before, in such a way that it is impossible to ignore. I want to see them wake up and see the truth with their own two eyes. I want them to come to the same realization that I did, that there needs to be change. Because right now the only change has been in the public face of the Old Satans' regime."
The dagger sliced cleanly through the silk. "And it's all. Thanks. To you."
It took far more self-control than Serafall was willing to admit to not flash-freeze her cell phone then and there, and even more still to not end the call.
"...you're doing a very poor job at convincing me to help you," she ground out.
"Why lie when the truth hits harder?" Diodora responded. "Just because I'm slapping you in the face with the facts doesn't mean they aren't the facts, and the fact that they sting is telling of how right you recognize them to be."
"What is it that you want to do, specifically?"
"To make the Underworld a better place. Not just some neo-medieval society where the only difference between now and the previous administration's tyranny is their public image, but a beacon of ambition and progress."
"Most Devils aren't nearly as strong as the Pillars. Like it or not, the Pillars have power and that's not going to change."
"Yet the ones that don't belong, but do have the strength to make it, still get slapped down. One only needs to look at the Dark Moon to see how quickly an upstart is brought to heel."
Diodora sighed. "...It's a real pity. I really did think that Lunarunn would have been able to enact change from within. But it just shows how rotten to the core the current government is. They even shouldered her with a new moniker for her supposed criminality. Their disgrace knows no bounds."
"You really sound as though you are planning to overthrow the government."
"What better way to make Zekram Bael pay for his crimes than by breaking the pretty picture he spent eons carefully crafting?"
"You won't win."
"Not alone, I won't. That's why I'm reaching out to people like you. Those who see just how wrong this place is, but don't feel powerful enough to make a stand against it. No man is an island, and neither can one Devil overthrow a government. But if that one individual starts a revolution... then it's not just the one anymore, is it?"
"I've heard that line of logic before..."
"From Sirzechs, before he became a mouthpiece?"
Now that he mentioned it, her old friend had said something similar way back, but that wasn't who she had been thinking of.
"From Lunarunn, actually."
"Really now? Then perhaps we were even more alike than I had initially anticipated, despite her mistrust towards me. If you would agree with her in that regard... then why not work with me? We may yet make this Underworld a place that our loved ones could be satisfied with."
Serafall knew that Luna was alive and well, but until Diodora proved trustworthy she'd keep the two separate. Even if they did have strikingly similar ideals.
Unlike Luna, though... there was something off about the way Diodora spoke. Serafall couldn't put her finger on it, but it set her nerves on edge.
Even so... he had a point. He made a number of points.
She was already helping Ruval with his side of things anyway, and trying to set an example for Sona. He hadn't said anything wrong, had he, and wasn't the Underworld supposedly about advancing one's ambitions anyway?
'...The worst happenstance notwithstanding.'
Then Luna's mistreatment came back to her, and Serafall pursed her lips as the memory set Diodora's own argument back at the forefront, even more poignant than before.
She shifted again, returning her eyes to the TV show of the heroine she played at for the delight of her viewers every Saturday evening.
Serafall watched herself fire a beam of blue light, a facsimile of the sort of attack she'd use to flash-freeze and shatter countless Devils in the Civil War.
Yet... she couldn't easily agree to the other Devil's request either, simply because there was something dangerous about Diodora. She couldn't tell what, especially since it was over the phone, but she realized she'd be playing with fire if she took his offer.
She'd done so before, but at least with the Civil War, what she had stood to win and lose were pretty apparent.
There was a big difference between then and now, however.
Was this what a 'deal with the devil' felt like to humans?
Serafall Leviathan opened her mouth, closed it, then took a deep breath.
Then she responded.
"How is she?"
"Still stable." the True Child of Beelzebub sighed, removing the lab coat and tossing it aside. "It appears that my previous statement as to her stability holds true."
"That is a relief."
"You mean to say that you are glad that she is like this now?"
"Do you really need to ask that, Shalba?"
The Devil in question lifted a hand to the bridge of his nose and pinched it. "...An imbecilic question, in hindsight."
"Hmh." Katerea sniffed, then adjusted her glasses. "It is no matter. Still, it does make me wonder from time to time, what might be going on up there."
"You could likely ask Diodora if you wanted to know; you have developed some sort of rapport with him, after all, and he is a mentalist of some skill."
"True. But that would ruin the surprise, wouldn't it?"
"Or perhaps you're afraid of what you'll find."
"Please do not insult me."
Shalba said nothing, choosing to bow his head in acquiescence instead.
Katerea hummed. "You have interacted little with Diodora. I am curious, what is your opinion of him? I've heard that his power has started to grow again."
"He is... an anomaly. It is difficult to predict what he will say or do these days beyond the bare minimum, yet there are fleetingly few that I cannot do so with. Lord Lucifer being one of them, and you know how... eccentric he can be, even if there is always some reason behind it."
"...You mean to suggest he has gone mad?"
"Or walks on the edge of insanity like Lord Lucifer appears to do," Shalba confirmed. "Given what he has gone through, I cannot say I am too surprised, especially since he has not been inundated with the horrors of war."
"I do not appreciate how you suggest our leader is a madman."
"Am I wrong?"
Katerea refused to answer the question.
"As I just said, I understand there is a reason behind Lord Lucifer's actions, but you cannot deny that said reasons are... varied. Whether it's for his grand design, or for - as he puts it - 'shits and giggles', it is impossible to tell."
"Treacherous words, Shalba," Katerea's lips quirked upward.
"It is the duty of the Satans to obey our liege, and Rizevim Livan Lucifer has not led us wrong yet despite his peculiarities, so I merely point them out rather than accuse or condemn. I speak not out of treason, but out of perplexity, and to justify my comparison between Diodora and Lord Lucifer." He hummed as a thought occurred. "Perhaps it is a matter of the two being kindred spirits?"
"You have not yet shared your actual opinion of Diodora."
"I don't trust him," Shalba replied bluntly. "He's a wild card, much like our liege, and Diodora's mission varies from ours. I expect that once Zekram Bael's head lies at our feet he will either leave or betray us."
"I expect it as well," Katerea hummed. "But if his own goals are brought to align with ours... at his rate of growth, we may well have another Satan-class Devil to call an ally."
"Is that why you have gone out of your way to visit him every so often?"
"Part of it, at least," the True Child of Leviathan waved her hand flippantly. "It is nice to have someone who understands the loss of a loved one, though."
"You still feel the pangs?"
"When I see her, how can I not?" The white-haired woman gestured to the medical room that currently housed one specific individual. "It is tolerable, but misery does love company."
"Then I take it you two have not gone the full distance?"
"Shalba, I am glad to call you an ally, or even a friend on a good day, but you have an irritating habit of not knowing when to bite your tongue," Katerea replied sweetly. "Of course not. I may have given Diodora reason to willingly work with us, but neither I nor he are interested in the slightest to sleep with one another. He is not up to my standard, and his interests lie elsewhere."
The brown-haired Devil hummed, then nodded. "I see. I will keep that in mind going forward."
"Good. Now, aside from the checkup being the same as usual, have you noticed anything different?"
He shook his head.
"Then if you'll excuse me, I have other places to be." Katerea turned around and strode off down the hall, leaving Shalba alone outside the door to the medical room.
"...As frosty as ever, your mother is," he murmured, eyes shifting back to the room he'd just left, before leaving as well.
A teal-haired Devil walked down the side alleys of Rome, dressed in his usual noble attire and a closed-eye, smiling expression as he surveyed his surroundings.
This was completely Church territory, and he knew it. He could feel the holy presence of the Vatican no matter where he stood in the city, a heavy and hot sensation not unlike the sun in the desert pressing in on the back of his mind at all times. Yet what sane Devil would fly so close to that sun? If they were found, they would be annihilated.
Then again, it was because no sane Devil would visit so close to humanity's most powerful holy stronghold that Diodora knew he could travel undetected.
He was only out for a walk anyway, and a subtle illusion kept him from being interrupted.
And to perhaps meet someone, were his visit to swing in that direction.
Rome was a big city though; this wasn't his first visit.
He stepped aside as some kids ran past, shouting at each other over tag of all things.
Kids would be kids, but they weren't why Diodora had been taking visits to the very capital of the Church itself.
The voice that usually offered his input at times like this was nowhere to be found, a silence that Diodora had come to enjoy while traveling Rome despite the Vatican's brutal aura.
Even that wasn't why he was here, though, however pleasant the quiet might have been.
As he noticed someone huddled in the corner, between a garbage can and the wall, Diodora wondered if it would be his last - at least for a while.
He couldn't see the figure's face, not with the way they were wrapped in a long, tattered cloak.
But he could feel the holy energy emanating from them all the same.
As he got closed, however, he could tell it was... muted. Faint.
As though it were being suppressed by the mighty sun of the Vatican, rather than amplified. Rejected, rather than included.
"Fancy meeting you here," the Devil said aloud, dispelling his illusion as he stood before her. He knew that for an onlooker, it would be as though he'd appeared out of nowhere. Perhaps a bit theatrical, but that was what he intended.
The individual in the cloak shifted, but didn't move, instead huddling closer, arms over knees, clasped as though in prayer.
"No words, Carlamine?"
"...Just go away."
Flat. Hoarse. Cracked, as though it hadn't been used properly in days. But it was the exorcist's voice indeed.
Diodora sighed, getting down on one knee and unceremoniously flipping the woman's hood over to see Carlamine's face, despite her flinch away.
She was a mess. Her hair was matted, unkempt from lack of care, and a face lined with dried tear tracks, eyes glassy and dull, staring at nothing.
The teal-haired Devil pushed away the dark thrill that ran down his spine at seeing the once stubbornly zealous exorcist like this, and instead chose to speak again.
"You were excommunicated, weren't you?"
Silence met his response, then, a single, painfully slow bob of Carlamine's head.
"I see." Diodora stood back up and let out a soft sigh. "I'm not going to ask you how it happened, but I can see that you have been having a... difficult time these past few days, if not weeks."
Carlamine's stomach gurgled, and she shrunk further in on herself.
"It's painful to look at you like this," he said, louder now, nose flaring up briefly. "Huddled on the ground, curled up in a ball in the darkest corner of an alleyway, it's pathetic to be quite frank. Were you really so spoon-fed by the Church that you don't know what to do now that you've been pushed out?"
Her fingers tightened, tensing up briefly.
"Where is the prideful, stubborn bitch that I released? Is this really what you've become after learning the truth? Or was all that just a lie you bought into as well?"
That got her attention, head lifting up to stare at him for a long several seconds.
Then, he saw those dull eyes spark, and as he smoothly sidestepped the sloppily-thrown punch from the rising blonde, slipping his hands into his pockets.
"S-shut up...!" Carlamine hissed. "It's... it's your fault. It's all your fault...!"
"I'm not the one who got themselves thrown out of the Church," he sneered back, ducking beneath a hook
"You d-did something to me. You... you did something to me." the former exorcist's voice rose, more manic and broken by the second as tears began to well in her empty sapphires. "You made me look, you made me ask, it's your fault!"
"Oh, so now you're blaming me for wanting to know more?" Diodora laughed, cold and harsh, heady on the thrill of the argument and the disbelief at her accusation. "No, the only thing I did was give you the push, sparked your curiosity. You could have withstood the urge, but no. Everything else, you did on your own. So how does it feel, to have the truth of your former home thrown in your face? I was trying to break it easily to you, I really was, but you just. Wouldn't! Listen!"
"Shut up!" she howled, tears breaking free and streaming down her face. "Shut up! Shut the fuck up! It's your fault! Your fault for saving those fucking brats, your fault for sparing me, your fucking fault for sending me back with those goddamned reports! Why couldn't you just kill us all and be done with it!?"
"You mean like they had every right to ask me to do?" Diodora chuckled. "They asked me to spare you, and they didn't deserve the treatment they got at the hands of that project."
"Fuck them! Fuck those kids, I don't care about them, I don't care that they didn't deserve their lot, they should have just kept their fucking heads down and died like good little sheep!"
"I think you do care. Otherwise, they wouldn't have asked me to stay my hand."
"And what about me?!" the former exorcist threw another punch. This time, Diodora let it hit him, and though it stung it was a trivial pain, already fleeting. "What did I do to deserve this? I never asked for any of this! Not to be a guard for that horrible, horrible place, not to be thrown out of the house I was raised in my entire life because the shit you spewed refused to leave my head - a house made in service of and for God - and not for some know-it-all prick to find me and rub the fact that he was right in my fucking face!"
"You're aiming your blame in the wrong direction. If you want to be angry for being abandoned, be angry at the ones who abandoned you in the first place."
"Fuck you!" Carlamine screamed, slamming one fist into his chest, followed by another, not so much punching the Devil now, so much as beating on him like one would a door.
She continued, voice shaking and cracking as she continued venting her grief onto Diodora. "Fuck you, fuck you for being right, and fuck you for sending me back! It's your fault! It's all your fault!"
Diodora eventually had enough of letting the blond unload on him and grabbed her oncoming fist. In the same motion he smoothly tripped her using her own momentum, the former exorcist falling unceremoniously to the ground.
Just like that, the fight left Carlamine, leaving her shuddering and sobbing on the ground, arms wrapping around herself as tears began to stain the ground beneath her head.
"I h-hate you!" she hiccuped, true emotions finally shining through. "Everything was g-g-going to be o-okay, until you showed up and ruined it all! W-why can't you just be h-h-happy with that? Why didn't you just k-k-kill me? Why won't you just... just leave me alone!?"
Diodora stood there, watching silently as the broken exorcist cried on the ground. His closed-eye expression was completely unreadable once he finally spoke again.
"If I could offer you a wish, anything within my power... what would you want?"
The Devil's steady, low voice prompted the former exorcist to stare at him from watery eyes. "...What...?"
"Anything in my power," he repeated himself. "If there was one thing you wanted me to provide, what would it be?"
There was a long silence that followed, the blonde's shuddering and crying as her mind latched on to the excuse to think about something, anything else.
He could practically see the indecision warring within the former exorcist, whether or not to deny him out of the stubbornness he knew she had.
"...I want... to stop thinking for a while." Carlamine's head came to rest on the ground again. "It... it hurts. I just want it to.. to stop. I-I don't care what comes after, I don't care what you take. I just want it all to stop."
Diodora's eyes opened faintly, glimmering with satisfaction.
"That, I can certainly oblige."
He extended a hand to the broken, abandoned pawn of the Church.
"All I ask in turn... is that you take my hand, and let me steal you away from this godless place."
The former exorcist's eyes shot back up to Diodora's, flaring briefly at the comment. His eyes opened a little more, challenging her glare with a meaning-laden look of his own.
"Am I wrong?" The wordless question hung heavy between the two.
The way her hand lifted and met his was all the answer the Devil needed.
His eyes closed, and a grin spread across his face, perhaps a touch too wide.
'Don't worry. I'll be sure to fulfill that wish of yours to the fullest. And unlike them, I'm not going to let go of what's mine.'
"It is good to see you up and about again, Michael. I had heard that you collapsed after a session of monitoring Heaven's System."
"Is there someone I need to speak with? That information should have been kept confidential."
"General hearsay, and concerned thoughts among your lower ranks. You just confirmed it for me, however."
"Angels should be above such things as gossip. How in the world-?"
"Wondering what happened to your leader that he would take a two-week unexplained absence isn't exactly a sin. That an entire wing of the Fifth Heaven's hospital was quarantined would only add to the rumors. At least nobody Fell during that time, from the sounds of it. If anything, their shared concern for your sake gave them enough reason to not do so."
"Thank Father for that," Michael sighed. "I'm surprised you would contact me, Falbium. You have not been particularly active as of late."
"Par for the course, I know, but we're leaving these stagnant times. It's unusual, but I feel it necessary to take this step out of inaction in response."
"You have my attention. What brings you here?"
"When you were unconscious, did you end up having... visions, of sorts?"
Michael fell silent, closing his eyes and crossing his arms, as though in thought.
For Falbium, it was a confirmation. "What did you see?"
"Before I answer, I would like to ask in turn. What brings your question to the forefront?"
"I've sources that say a young girl who had also fallen into a coma had visions during her time of unconsciousness. Fifteen years ago, a different girl woke up knowing things she shouldn't have. The three may be linked."
"...And do you know what those visions were about?"
"Unfortunately not. I learned that she had visions, and that the second girl's mental maturity is far higher than it should be for her age as a result, but I was hoping I might learn more from you."
"And how did you come to the conclusion that the two might be linked?"
"Call it a hunch."
Michael stared at Falbium for a long second, a brow lifted, but he let out a sigh and acquiesced.
"...I saw untold destruction. The sundering of the world, and all within it." Michael's lips tugged downward. "The Apocalypse."
The silent ticking of the clock filled the room, each swing of the counterweight increasing the tension.
The tension tipped over and subsided as Falbium spoke. "You mean to say that we may be on the verge of another day of reckoning?"
"Either that, or a War Above the Heavens."
Falbium's eyes flicked down, and noted that Michael's hands were clasped far too tightly together on the table. They were trembling, ever so slightly.
"You believe these visions to be true. Like she does. The circumstances are different, but you both seem assured that they are real."
"I received them after Heaven's System overloaded my faculties."
"Or you were knocked out because it was trying to give you a warning."
"A much better wording, yes," the Archangel agreed, nodding once. "And in either case, we are not strong enough to hold our own. Especially since the Brave Saints system is still in development, our forces are limited."
"And what of the Church?"
"Powerful, but fractured. Even so, if the Pope declares a Crusade, then I'm sure that they could provide a powerful force. That raises its own problems though; they will have to do so with only minor support from Heaven. That in turn would lead to a degradation of trust between us, which..." Michael didn't finish, instead giving Falbium a pained smile.
"Trapped between a rock and a hard place, then."
"Yes. The only reason I share this with you is because I know that you have your own agenda that doesn't involve Heaven. You make for a good outside perspective."
"You are not worried I would bring this to Sirzechs's or Zekram's attention?"
"You have your own agenda," Michael repeated himself. "You are only connected to the face and the shadow of the Seventy-Two Pillars by affiliation."
Falbium stared at Michael. Their gazes met evenly, before Falbium broke out into a smile. Far livelier than the expression he typically held.
"So you're saying you want me to work with you under the table?"
"The wars haven't ended. They just paused for a while." Michael's returning smile was a full grimace at this point. "And even then, if the visions Father's Legacy gave me are true then that will not last much longer. If the Big Three, wounded as we still are, do not stand together, then we all will fall alone... and we have much to do before that can be made wholly true."
"Now you are speaking my language. So let's get down to the brass tacks; the sooner we start the better."
"Even if the ceasefire is moving toward peace as it has been, we must gather our forces for the coming storm," the blond agreed.
The bald Satan paused, glancing directly behind Michael.
"And what about your wings? Are you worried about what might happen if you go down this path?"
"...Everything I do, I do for the Kingdom of God," the archangel replied evenly. "I cannot worry about staining my wings when a crisis of this scale is looming on the horizon. I must dedicate myself to answering it for their sake, or else I truly will be damned."
"You and Azazel are more alike than initially meets the eye."
Michael's closed-eye beam was pained, lending it an ominous air. "Please, please don't insult me like that, Falbium."
Even so, he was unfazed. "It wasn't supposed to be. It's respect for both of you having the determination to protect what you see as important."
The archangel stared at the wing that Falbium had turned his gaze upon, and how the gleaming gold had, at the very tip, began to dull ever so slightly.
The solemn blond shook his head, tearing his gaze away from the wingtip.
"I just pray that my determination will be enough."
A/N -
And with that, the curtains on the interlude section falls. The pieces are in place, every important player has their spot on the set, and we're ready to move on to canon.
After forty-four friggin' chapters. Good lord, this was a long time in the making.
Things are gonna pick up from here on out (ideally), so strap in folks.
Tempura Wizard out.
