"They always have Sacred Gears?" Lucius had asked while Yuzu updated them on the Miracle Children.
"That's right. They can bless people, perform miracles, and are all blessed with Sacred Gears." Yuzu tilted her head "That's kind of why Elijah could shut down your power, even with the snake thing. Or at least, that's my hypothesis."
"But you don't know what Star Seeker's Sacred Gear is, meow." Kuroka had been silent for a while, but decided to add her own voice in that moment "Kind of weird."
"Yuzu-san's friends are from everywhere, Kuroka-shishou." Gen interjected "But I doubt they'd have infiltrated Shiki-chan's circle specifically."
"I know of the Miracle Children because at some point one of them belonged to us." Yuzu explained "She was called Dream Tracer, and left behind enough knowledge of them for us to understand what kind of nonsense we'd get involved into if we tried to recruit another one."
"And where is she now?" Lucius didn't look very convinced with the idea of meeting another Miracle Child, but Yuzu couldn't blame him. His body held enough reasons to hate the idea.
"She's dead." Yuzu stated flatly, which seemed to relieve the Fake Lord a bit "Funny thing with hybrids of long-lived races is that sometimes they last for centuries, and sometimes they get flatlined by natural causes within 5-10 years. Dream Tracer seemingly still looked young around her 80s, but her health had declined enough to start writing about her kind and stuff."
Yuzu shook her head, remembering to get back on track before they could keep asking questions.
"Regardless, I was saying that if it's just Star Seeker, then you don't need to worry." She patted her chest, giving the others a nod "I've spent two years analyzing how her powers work. So there's no need for either Gen or Kuroka to get involved: I am more than enough."
To her credit, Star Seeker didn't start rambling nor did she lose her mind after realizing her powers had stopped working. Instead, she surrounded herself with more holy power, coating herself in some sort of blessing that worked differently enough to not become Worthless.
She let it happen.
"Ready?" Yuzu moved her shoulders, like she was getting ready to do some exercise.
Star Seeker showed her a lopsided smirk.
"No."
The unholy weapon came back from behind, summoned the same way as it had come before. But now appearing somewhere other than Star Seeker's hand. It cut through Yuzu's uniform, drawing a small amount of blood as she spun in the air and swung her own blade to push it away.
It broke down into particles, disappearing back to wherever Sacred Gears get stored away. And in its place another barrage of holy spears rained down on Yuzu.
Yuzu cut through a couple with her blade, making a gap for her to push through.
More spears found their way to her, some twisting into lightning or fire. Some exploded, or broke down into smaller fragments that seeked Yuzu out. The variety was praise-worthy, but at its core all of Star Seeker's attacks came from the same source.
She made them all Worthless, unwilling to become the one being chased down again.
The Sacred Gear amidst the barrage was the sole survivor of the attack, so Yuzu simply dodged it and lunged at Star Seeker to kick her in the face.
She tried to cut Yuzu with a light blade, allowed to keep projecting weapons but not to conjure shields, but Yuzu spun with the swing and thrusted her own projected weapon on the opposite shoulder to Star Seeker's cut arm. She hissed, and her light wings stretched out and blew Yuzu away with great force. But she didn't scream this time.
She was showing her teeth now, eyelids shivering a bit as she held back a snarl. It made Yuzu feel a little bad with herself, but she pushed the feeling down to get to her goal.
"You're stronger than I anticipated." Yuzu stated as her demonic power ceased to function and Star Seeker managed to shield herself again "No wonder you've grown so confident. Even now, if you've known, I might not have managed to break through your defenses."
Star Seeker inhaled sharply, maybe trying to answer with something funny or annoying.
Yuzu created a lightning bolt so big that it hit Star Seeker's whole body. Her shield stood, but she crashed against the woods with such violence that the field flickered out of existence for a moment. As its user tried to make sense of what had happened.
Once weakened, Yuzu allowed herself to fall down and made it Worthless again to keep pummeling the Miracle Child.
She threw out blows that Star Seeker tried to block, parrying by projecting a hand on her missing limb, and aiding her other side with some sort of illusory armor that made Yuzu channel her senjutsu to her hands just so she wouldn't hurt herself.
They traded blows like this, Star Seeker being pinned down to the dirt and roots of the forest. While Yuzu sat comfortably on her stomach, rapidly punching and parrying her victim's blows in an accelerating fashion.
Star Seeker made her holy powers explode around her, and Yuzu answered with an explosion of her demonic power. The two forces ate away at each other, and Star Seeker saw herself a bit further down into the soil. Like she had made a snow angel out of dirt with that last movement.
Star Seeker stopped trading blows, so Yuzu stopped as well.
"That was really, really dumb…" The Miracle Child spoke with some pain in her voice, but the twisted little smile refused to leave her face.
"You don't show despair like other people." Yuzu pointed out, not really changing the subject but making the half angel focus on her again.
"Mama will get angry if I don't smile…"
Yuzu nodded and based her teeth in.
Star Seeker re-summoned her Sacred Gear and aimed for Yuzu's neck. The slash carried over some holy power, and the wave of it forced the Belial girl to move out of the way and give her foe some room.
Star Seeker rolled back and took to the air again, forcing Yuzu to give chase as the air itself became charged with holy power.
The Miracle Child lifted her hand, but Yuzu caught her in time and electrocuted her point blank with a punch to the gut.
"No, no." Yuzu leaned in and whispered, feeling how Star Seeker shook from the electricity and strength both through her whole body "We need your miracle at top strength, you're not allowed to do that."
Star Seeker's smirk gained some strength.
"...?!" Yuzu felt an electric current run through her entire body, seizing her muscles and making her bite her tongue as it pulsed through her whole being.
She was pushed back, and her stomach opened as Star Seeker made a clean cut through Yuzu's stomach. Almost piercing through muscle and getting Yuzu's guts out in the open.
Her senjutsu made Yuzu not have her intestines hanging out, but she had to cover the injury now. Create a small barrier to prevent anything from going in or out.
Star Seeker rushed in, weapon reared back. Yuzu spun vertically to avoid the swing. And used her free hand to parry the next blow. Being pushed down as Star Seeker gained some more strength with each swing.
Yuzu created a demonic spear, cutting straight through the half angel's thigh and only leaving some flesh connected to the rest of her body. It made Star Seeker howl, and in her rage she tried to smite Yuzu again with a full-force strike from Heaven.
Yuzu 'caught' it. Making a part of it Worthless in such a way that it lost focus, making the holy energy pulse outwards in the sky. Like some sort of golden fireworks that rained down mostly harmless holy particles.
"You're so annoying!" Star Seeker screeched, more and more unhinged. It reminded Yuzu to keep breathing, to keep the lifeforce coming. To not get distracted by her injuries.
The Sacred Gear teleported to another random location, cutting through Yuzu's useful shoulder. She maintained functionality through the senjutsu, and answered by projecting more spears to separate Star Seeker's useless limb entirely and cut through her face.
This was quickly devolving into some sort of insane pit fight. Such was the risk of prolonging a battle uselessly.
"You bitch! Ow! What the hell is wrong with you?!" Star Seeker took more distance, using fire and lightning at the same time. Twisting her powers in as many ways as she could while rapidly losing blood "Die already! This has gone too far!"
"This hasn't gone far enough." Yuzu rushed to meet Star Seeker's spells, fighting with blade and thunder while closing the distance. Her barriers didn't last long against the holy power, but they didn't need to. The damage piled up, but her lifeforce kept Yuzu from getting cripplingly close to dying.
She hadn't made her point yet.
She made some of Star Seeker's attacks Worthless, and opened the first injury in Star Seeker's stomach again. Making her fold as she opened her hand to resummon her Sacred Gear to it.
Yuzu made the projected limb Worthless, and the Sacred Gear fell uselessly for a moment. She twisted around and kicked the Miracle Child back to the dirt. Aiming at the exact same spot where they had landed the first time.
She slowly got to the floor, landing on her feet a few meters away from where Star Seeker was getting her bearings.
Star Seeker tried to gather holy power again. Yuzu cut the shoulder that still held a full limb.
"FUCK!"
"At this point we both know what'll happen now." Yuzu jumped to the side, evading the Sacred Gear that erupted from within the ground "There's only one way for you to recover. And it's waiting for you back in the cabin."
Yuzu felt a little lightheaded, nervous. Her whole being screamed at her to finish off Star Seeker. But she couldn't. It'd put a target on the back of her head, and it'd defeat the point of all of this.
"Do you think this'll fly?! You're dead meat if I survive! And if I don't, something worse than death awaits you!" Star Seeker gritted her teeth, an eye closed where one of Yuzu's attacks had made it swell "I'll…! I…"
Star Seeker fell to her knees. She lost too much blood, or so it seemed. Yuzu cradled her open stomach with her right hand, and rushed Star Seeker to grab her face with the left and lift her up like that.
She didn't have the strength to oppose Yuzu, nor could she struggle as lifeforce made the grip stronger around her cranium. All she could do was groan and try to peel Yuzu's fingers off.
"I will not be punished." Yuzu informed her, slowly increasing her strength "In fact, no one will ever know what happened here. Even if you died, we'd simply spin it around to seem like the Khaos Brigade got you. It'd give us some degree of freedom, perhaps even a spot at the forefront when the time comes to snuff them out."
Lucius had originally expressed interest in just getting rid of Star Seeker, use her one time and be done with her. But Gen was having none of it. The Fake Lord compromised and told Gen that he'd be lenient. That he could, indeed, spare Star Seeker's life after thinking a bit more about it.
Lucius lied. He hated Star Seeker, he'd done that weird thing with his own mind the moment she entered the room. And expressly told Yuzu to go as far as she needed to. If Yuzu killed Star Seeker, she had no doubt that Lucius would call it an accident. That battles were hard to control, and that they'd try something different.
But that wouldn't cure the mental injury Star Seeker left them. They'd forever fear the Miracle Children. And even if Yuzu knew that this was extremely stupid to do, she still hoped they'd not be paralyzed by the thought of another Star Seeker popping up at some point in time.
Yuzu pressed harder.
"The miracle, Star Seeker. Wake Valerie Tepes up." Yuzu tilted her head, even if she knew that the Miracle Child couldn't see it "Things will change from now on. You'll never be the same, but that's the beauty of redemption."
She released her, and Star Seeker fell on her feet. Panting, bleeding out of the nose, but still without losing the upward curve in her lips.
Yuzu shook her head.
"You wouldn't…" She stopped when Yuzu's blade pierced her chest, right between her breasts "...Wouldn't…"
"You're on a timer now." Yuzu informed her, letting the projected weapon persist as Star Seeker stared at it dumbly "What will it be?"
"Did… Did you have to go that far…?" Gen refused to look at Star Seeker, he was too nice for his own good.
"I did." Yuzu murmured, feeling weakened by the constant absorption of her power. Lucius wanted to help her stay on her feet, but his body wouldn't be able to handle both of their weights. He had to refrain from approaching, let Gen help her out. And it visibly frustrated him to no end.
He scoffed and looked away, giving Star Seeker a bored look while she struggled to gather her holy power once more.
She did, she had to go this far. Otherwise, nothing would guarantee that Star Seeker wouldn't use her miracle to send them all to oblivion.
Power gathered, the night sky cleared out as Star Seeker bent reality, filled the unconscious half-vampire with vitality and strength that came out right from the heavens.
For a moment, nothing happened. But slowly, the girl's vitality unraveled to Yuzu's perception. Almost like a flower opening its petals to fulfill its final part of life.
Valerie Tepes opened her eyes, groggily sitting up while everyone but Star Seeker made some room for her to gather her thoughts.
Lucius pushed Gen on the back, telling him to break the ice.
It was widely accepted that Licius didn't have the most trustworthy face, or the least punchable one at least. So they came to the conclusion that Gen should be the one to help Valerie understand her situation fast enough that they could save Star Seeker's life. It'd be a difficult thing to do, her soul was damaged and she probably wouldn't have a lot of power to spare. But, again, neither Lucius nor Yuzu cared a whole lot about it. They had the cover, and more and more she understood what Lucius meant by having already won, back behind the barrier.
Stain was in position, almost any story could be spun around that had nothing to do with them.
They could do it, Yuzu had gone through the hardest part of getting to this point. It'd be hard to mess up now.
"H-Hello, Valerie-san." Gen started when the half vampire noticed him, flinching once Star Seeker entered her field of vision "I… You must have a lot of questions and…"
Valerie's gaze fell on Lucius.
"Ah… Hello Cricket…"
Lucius' face ran through a lot of emotions. Confusion, realization, disappointment, fear. He looked as appalled as hopeful, as childishly happy as tragically devasted.
He tilted his head, his face now looking a lot younger by way of how innocent the expression looked.
"...Sis?"
Valerie Tepes grinned, even though she looked really close to passing out.
Yuzu blinked a couple of times, her thoughts halting as the connection between her Fake Lord and the half vampire didn't manage to form.
"Cricket…?" Gen looked really confused too. Turning to Lucius for answers, almost looking like he wanted to shake the devil up.
Lucius' smile broadened.
"Man, we can't stop getting Ws tonight, huh…"
"Cricket…" Valerie repeated, turning to look at Genshirou "Because… He doesn't fucking shut up."
Star Seeker's body gave up and collapsed.
Valerie Tepes blinked a couple of times.
"Is this bitch bleeding on my floor?" She asked with a bit more energy in her voice. She looked around, nodding at Stain and checking the bed as her consciousness slowly regained strength "Cricket, you asshole! You took me out of my mansion!"
Lucius was staring at Star Seeker now.
"Hey, Sis. It's kind of awkward, but please don't let her die. We're gonna be screwed if she does… You have the Sepiroth Graal, right?"
"The chalice thingie? Yeah. I… I don't think I'll be conscious for long. So unless you can hook me up to like a magic power source I…"
"Genshirou, connect me to her. I'll use Ophis' snake to keep her awake." Lucius spoke up immediately.
"See? Shut up, Cricket. I'm the one talking." Valerie put her hands on her hips, annoyed.
"I can probably keep you powered." Lucius rolled his eyes.
"Oh, really? That's nice… Why is this chick dying anyway?"
"Eh, reasons." Lucius shrugged.
"I see, I see… And why you want her alive?"
"She's the grandchild of the God of the Bible." Yuzu replied, making Valerie look at her for the first time.
"Technically, angels are creations of that guy. So she's not that." Lucius motioned with his hand for emphasis, like it was obvious.
"If you didn't use anything that would weaken her soul, I can pull her back from the dead." Valerie nodded to herself "Let me just…"
A golden vessel came to be between her fingers, and Valerie closed her left hand and dug her nails on her flesh. Drawing blood and letting it flow down to the chalice. Turning the liquid crimson red as she turned it around like wine on a cup.
"Okay, bring her here. And you, little man…" Valerie pointed at Lucius while Genshirou's tendrils connected the two "You gotta tell me what the absolute fuck took you so long."
"How should I've known? You even took out a piece of Stain's mind!" Lucius sounded outraged, easily the more annoyed that Yuzu had seen him.
"This thing is called Stain?! Who named it?!"
"The Lord did." Stain replied.
"Shut up! It's a good name!"
"It's a blob of death! I can literally see the bad karma clinging to it like Becky to that asshole in the soccer team! You remember that?! He got her pregnant and changed states!"
"There's a lot happening now I'm not sure I'm following…" Gen shook his head, unable to keep up with the conversation.
"Shut up and revive Star Seeker!" Lucius started yelling too.
"She's not de-! Oh, never mind." Valerie clicked her tongue "Man, I gotta changed the receipt now… Oh, jeez. What the fuck happened to you? Why are you like 40% nothing?!"
Lucius blinked.
"I'm what now?"
Oh god, there's two of them now…
Yuzu felt ready to do as Star Seeker and pass out too.