Hello again!
I know, I took a longer time with this tidbit of a chapter, and the excu –I mean, reason, for that is at the bottom AN. At least I got this out before the year's end, which would've sucked if I didn't.
Well, how about that? The stats counter still hasn't been fixed after it broke in mid September. I actually just gave up on the thing; no point in worrying too much about it if everything else here works fine. A satisfied reader's feedback is more meaningful than views, anyway. It would be nice to have it back after so long, though, because then I might have a chance to see how Chapter 18 did on its release day. Rule #32: Enjoy the little things. (Treat yourself to a twinkie if you get the reference.)
Now then, let's begin.
Disclaimer: I do not own High School DxD, nor do I own Type Moon, any of its intellectual properties, or any other property used in this work.
Published: December 21, 2023
Updated: TBD
…
Chapter 19 – Intercession
Assassin traversed the forest for about one and a half kilometers, leaping from tree to tree before coming to a stop at the foot of an enormous old elm. The exorcist in her arms had fallen unconscious by this point, overwhelmed by the pain of her wounds.
Originally, she had been in silent pursuit of the Fallen Angel, keeping her distance and moving to try and intercept his next target. Upon hearing a scream emanating from another part of the forest, though, Assassin abandoned the chase and doubled back. She arrived in time to see the hostile exorcist impale the girl's leg with a sword that her memory recognized as an Excalibur fragment.
Relaying the situation to her Master, he revised his orders to her. Now, her objective was to retrieve both the sword and the exorcist, Irina Shidou.
In a strange way, it reminded her of the time she was tasked by Nagao Kagetora to steal a prized weapon belonging to one of the daimyō's rivals. Infiltrating a heavily fortified castle undetected, she not only succeeded in stealing the weapon, but also abducted a servant girl and sent most of the guarding force into a blind panic on her way out. Some of Kagetora's retainers would later speculate that she did this to show off her skills to the aspiring lord, but the truth was much simpler, and far more damaging to her swiftly growing reputation at the time.
Tonight, though, there was no hidden agenda or motivation. The job at hand was strictly to save a life.
Throwing the first set of projectiles at the hostile had been a test of his reflexes. He responded quickly and left no gaps in his guard while simultaneously searching for his attacker and keeping within visual range of his bleeding hostage. There was little time for her to engage him any further, especially considering the girl's injuries.
Cognizant of the girl's blood loss, Assassin opted to use overwhelming firepower as a distraction. In the few brief seconds that the man took to recover from the missile blast, she had quietly secured her objectives and escaped.
Now that she had gotten far enough away from any potential hostile, she could immediately render the first aid that the girl so desperately needed.
Setting her down gently, she lightly rolled Shidou onto her left side and assessed the damage. The wound was dire, and the skin around it was slowly turning purple from subcutaneous hemorrhaging. Fortunately, it appeared as if the majority of the bleeding had been staunched, largely by the sword itself, so a tourniquet around the thigh was not necessary. All that would be needed for the moment was to stabilize the blade for the rest of the trip to the apartment.
'Master, I must take measures to secure the wound,' she reported.
'Do what you have to do, Assassin. We're ready here.'
Assassin took a dagger from her forearm and carefully cut away the girl's long boot down to the knee. She then removed the scarf from around her own neck and began weaving it around and across the leg. After making at least four loops, she slowly pulled the scarf's ends together in order to create pressure; then she tied them into a secure knot. Blood seeped from the wound and into the cloth, but remained controlled.
Her work complete, she picked up the girl, being careful to hold the weapon as steady as possible, and took off back to her Master's apartment.
Connor stood in the living room, anxiously awaiting the arrival of his Servant and her rescue target.
Assassin's initial report stated that Irina would need immediate medical attention, but taking her to the local hospital was absolutely not happening. Too many people, both doctors and police, would ask too many questions about why such a young girl was maimed using something that belonged in a museum. Connor had no desire to hypnotize every single person involved into forgetting about the whole affair.
They had to perform the treatment themselves.
To that end, Asia was sitting down beside him with her head bowed in prayer. She had been getting ready for bed when Connor knocked on her door and informed her of the situation that would require her aid. The plan was to get Irina inside, get the sword out of her, and get her patched up as quickly as possible.
Hopefully, they weren't already too late to act.
"She's here," Caster alerted.
Assassin crossed the Bounded Field and came into view before Connor could react. In one arm, she was cradling the exorcist with no apparent difficulty, and in the other hand, she held the instrument of Irina's misery.
No words left the magus' mouth, but some bile did almost come up his throat. While Connor was able to hold himself from vomiting, Asia could not. The former nun immediately spun for a corner of the living room and started retching her dinner into a trash can.
Irina herself was unconscious. Considering her current condition, that was a good thing.
Her black bodysuit was torn in several places, with small cuts dotting the underlying skin. A long gash almost completely bisected the bridge of Irina's nose and ran across the lower eyelids on either side, angling up slightly on the left. The blood that came out of the grisly cut painted the lower half of her face in streaks of red.
By far, the most egregious among her injuries was the massive sword lodged in her right leg. The tip jutted from the top of her thigh by several centimeters, while the majority of the weapon hung from behind her knee. Due to its size and the awkward positioning, Assassin had to turn and walk sideways simply to get herself and Irina through the narrow passage beyond the door.
Assassin sidestepped into the living room, passing Asia, while Connor pushed the chair and coffee table aside to make what space he could. Caster approached and took the sword's grip from Assassin's hand to let her move more freely. The two Servants then wordlessly coordinated to carry the girl and set her down on her left side.
"Hold her still," Connor commanded. Bringing his hands to rest on Irina's face and leg, he closed his eyes and initiated a Structural Grasp to assess the damage.
The damage to her eyes wasn't as bad as he'd first feared. The corneas were lacerated, but the eyeballs hadn't lost any of the vitreous fluid that kept them inflated. Asia could fix them and the nose without much trouble.
There were large cracks in three ribs along her left side, and a fourth rib right above those was broken in half. Breathing wasn't compromised, but it was very labored. In addition, there seemed to be something in the center of her chest, right beneath her sternum, and it was so small that Connor almost missed it. However, it didn't seem to be doing anything or show any kind of reaction to his prodding or Irina's trauma, so he made a note of it for later.
Further down, the great saphenous vein in the right leg had been cleanly severed by the large blade, which was where the majority of the blood seemed to be coming from. There was also a number of cut muscles and tendons around the knee, undoubtedly making any kind of movement excruciating. To Connor's amazement, though, there was no damage to any of the deep veins in her leg, and the blade's edge had stopped within millimeters of the femoral artery.
'Someone's lookin' out for you,' he silently commented. It could still cause a problem on the way out but, even if the artery was accidentally cut, Asia would be able to heal her before she bled to death.
"How's it look?" Caster asked.
"Bad, but could be worse, by a lot. Still gotta move fast, so let's go ahead and get this thing outta here."
Connor took his position beside Irina, supporting her head and keeping a grip on her shoulders just in case she snapped awake and struggled. Assassin wrapped an arm around Irina's thigh and began unbinding the scarf from around the wound. As she did this, Caster adjusted his grip on the sword's handle with his right hand and held the blade loosely with his left.
"Everyone ready? Asia?"
The former nun, having somewhat recovered from her vomiting fit, stood behind Assassin and cast anxious glances toward everyone.
"U-uh– I… y-yes, I-I'm ready," she managed to get out through her shaking.
"You sure? We can't do this without you." He didn't want to pile on the pressure for her, but it was the absolute truth; Irina would die without her help.
Asia stopped and looked down to Irina again, before slamming her eyes shut. A full body shudder took hold, and she clasped her hands tightly with one another. For a little over ten seconds, she remained in place, rapidly muttering prayer after prayer in Italian. Finally, she made the sign of the cross and knelt down beside Assassin, then looked to Connor and nodded.
This was as good as she would get, with what was to come.
"You got her, kid?"
Connor's jaw tightened. "Yeah, do it quickly!"
"On three… One, two, three!"
The druid tugged the sword free from its confinement, opening up the wound once more and allowing for blood to be released again.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHH!"
No sooner had the blade begun to leave her flesh than Irina let out the most agonized, ear-piercing shriek the magus ever had the displeasure of hearing. Being so close to her as she did so made his ears ring. Immediately following her scream, the exorcist coughed and writhed as she inhaled too deeply and aggravated the injured ribs. Her arms came up to claw at her chest, but only dug into Connor's arm. Connor glanced up and saw Asia about to scream as well, unable to look away from the blood now freely running out of Irina's leg.
"Heal, hurry!" Connor said loudly, making the nun jump.
Asia crawled forward and had only just started when Irina stopped coughing and thrashing. She turned to Connor, her eyes wide with renewed horror as he checked the girl's neck for a pulse.
"C-C-Connor?" she whimpered.
"It's okay, she just passed out again. Stay calm and focus."
Asia put her hands around the leg and desperately invoked the Gear's power. Step by step, the skin and tissue torn apart by the sword began pulling itself back together. The blood that had leaked into Irina's leg and caused the discoloration actively reversed its flow, going back into the blood vessels from whence it came before the vessels sealed shut. With movement reminiscent of alien worms, the severed tendons stretched and inched their way back toward each other, fusing together at the ends.
All eyes were on the wound as it closed completely, leaving the exorcist free from the life-threatening trauma that existed mere minutes ago.
"Incredible…" Assassin muttered in genuine shock.
"Isn't it, though?" Caster added.
Connor didn't stop. "Okay, now come fix the eyes!"
Asia quickly crawled toward him and brought her hands up to Irina's face, the luminescent green aura of Twilight Healing quickly encompassing the exorcist's entire head. As the Sacred Gear worked to reverse the damage and return her eyes and nose to their previous state, Connor could've sworn he saw her expression relax slightly, even though her whole body was already completely limp.
"The ribs next, she broke a few. C'mon, keep it goin'!"
Turning her attention to Irina's torso, Asia willed the green glow to fall over the girl once again. The effect was almost immediate, much like it had been with Connor. Irina's pain was gone, which let her breathing even out, and the cuts all along her upper body quickly disappeared.
Once the glow stopped and the process was complete, Asia sat back on the floor in a daze. Connor was about to roll Irina onto her back and take a seat himself.
"Don't relax, Master." Assassin knelt beside him and put her hands to Irina's neck and wrist. "Her temperature and blood pressure are falling, she's going into shock!"
'Shit!'
"Kid, bring her here!" Caster called from the bedroom.
Connor hurriedly pulled the exorcist up and looped his arms under her body, carrying her bridal-style and rushing to the bedroom. Upon entering, he took note of Caster drawing some runes onto the floor at the head of the futon. The bed itself was now bare of any covering, so Connor set her down in the center. He stepped back just as Caster stood to his feet.
"Ansuz, Isa, Nauthiz, Ehwaz, Uruz!"
The runic sequence activated, and a bright orange circle appeared beneath the futon. Connor felt an odd heat coming from the walls, and the room's air pressure seemed to change. It wasn't crushing or stifling, but it was denser than before. Offhandedly, he wondered if this was similar to being in a incubator.
"This'll keep her steady, but it's only temporary," Caster warned. "She's got to get new blood to replace what she's lost and stabilize everything. Get her out of that suit and get something to keep her warm."
Connor moved to grab the sheets that had been thrown to the corner of the room in previous haste. Gathering them up in a bundle, he turned back to look at Irina and suddenly froze. Assassin had come in behind him and taken a dagger to start cutting away what remained of Irina's outfit. He had stopped because he turned around just in time to see the chest and abdomen area of the suit come apart, and Irina's bare breasts to almost pop free from their restraints.
Caught completely off guard despite the situation, the magus reacted like anyone his age, with his eyes fixed on the twin mounds of feminine flesh. Assassin, too focused on her task to pay much heed to Connor's sudden stop, continued removing the suit, drawing alarmingly close to Irina's pelvi–
"QUIT STARING AND MOVE, IDIOT!"
Like taking a bucketful of ice water down his back, Connor jumped and got back to work.
He tossed the cotton sheets on first, then took a couple of wool blankets from the closet and spread them on top of that. By this time, Assassin had finished her cutting and stepped back. Her hands, arms and the front of her suit were now tinted in a shade of dark red that made her appear far more intimidating with the stoic expression she continued to wear.
"Assassin, can you perform a transfusion?" he asked to the mechanical Servant. It hadn't seemed like it at first, but only after the words had left him did he realize what a stupid question that was to ask a professional killer. She answered without reproach, though.
"Yes. Careful administration of poisons and truth serums is an essential skill for interrogations, therefore a knowledge of human anatomy and basic medical procedures is included in my database."
"Oh, good… Alright, here's your next task: Get yourself cleaned up, then head for the hospital and grab whatever supplies are needed for this; catheters, saline solution, IV setups, all that. Look for blood bags labeled type 'O negative' – that's the universal donor type, anyone can receive it. And while you're there, get doubles of everything and a lot of hydrogen peroxide."
"Understood," the automaton acknowledged before vanishing with a flicker.
Connor heard a hiccup, and turned to see Asia standing in the doorway. She was looking down at Irina, tears falling from her eyes in panic. Standing to his feet, he approached the distraught nun and put his arms around her, moving himself between her and the others in the room. He couldn't help but notice her flinch as he embraced her; it probably didn't help that there was still some blood on his hands.
"It's gonna be okay, Asia, it's gonna be okay," he whispered. "You did good, and the worst is over. We've got it under control now, she'll make it."
She didn't respond verbally, but merely put her head into her hands and continued crying. Connor pulled her into his chest and rubbed her back in circles while rocking her slightly, which drew some heavier sobs from the girl. The two stayed like that for more than a minute before Connor pulled away to tilt her head up at him.
"Asia, listen." He wiped a tear coming down her cheek. "I know I've asked a lot of you tonight, but there's another thing I need you to do for me. I need you to take a break while we wait for Assassin to come back with supplies."
"A-Assassin?" she trembled.
Connor almost cursed, having forgotten that Asia was never introduced to the new Servant. "Don't worry, she's just like Caster. She's a friend."
"I – ah…" Her eyes began to drift back to the bloody scene behind her, but Connor pulled her slightly to keep her focused on him.
"Mm-mm, don't look at that, don't even think about it. I'll deal with all that, so put it as far from your mind as you can. You've done your part, now it's my turn. Just keep your eyes up, clean up, have a seat, and relax, okay?"
She took a long moment to stop and collect herself as best she could.
"…O-okay."
Keeping himself between Asia and the rest of the scene, he guided her to the restroom so she could get her hands and face washed. While she did that, Connor went back to the living room to pick up the discarded sword and scarf and move them to the bedroom. He would have to clean up the rest of the mess later.
He propped the sword up in the corner, his mind wandering as he looked down at the blade which was still sticky with blood.
'I shouldn't have sprung all that on her at once,' he lamented. 'She wasn't ready for any of that.'
'Didn't have much choice, kid. We couldn't help the girlie the way Little Lady can, and time wasn't on our side. You know that.'
'…Yeah… still… Assassin, what's your status?'
'Accumulating the last of the supplies, Master. Exfiltrating in five seconds.'
The magus quietly exhaled, thankful to the Root that someone so damn fast had answered his summon.
No less than a minute later, a spotless Assassin returned with everything that was needed. In one hand, she held two medical bags filled to the zippers with equipment, while the other hand carried a transport tote with several pouches of blood and saline inside.
Connor gave a quick inspection of the blood, then nodded to the automaton, confirming his next order.
With only a very small amount of aid from Connor, she put together the equipment and started the IV line in Irina's left arm. From there, she spiked and primed the first blood bag to begin a slow drip of the life-fluid into the exorcist's system. After a time with no negative reactions, the trickle was increased to a more steady flow, and Assassin leaned back to sit in seiza.
"We should see results soon enough, but she cannot be left unattended," the Servant instructed. "She must be monitored for a minimum of twenty-four hours to ensure that her body does not incur side effects."
Connor figured as much; he was expecting this to be a long night, anyway.
Issei flopped onto his bed and flinched as his hands involuntarily twitched and clenched again. They'd been doing it ever since receiving his 'sentence.' Turning his head to look out the window, Issei could see the moon barely peeking around the left hand side of the window frame while the stars gleamed like they did any other night.
This would've been like any other night of searching, too, if it hadn't gone to hell so fast.
Freed Sellzen had come back, and now he was armed with Excalibur fragments. Multiple. As if that psychopath wasn't dangerous enough already, it turned out he was fully capable of wielding the fragments' powers, just like Irina and Xenovia.
The sudden appearance of the bishop to the fight –Valper Galilei, as he heard Kiba hiss– had confirmed the theory put forth at the group's secret meeting on Sunday. Apparently, the twisted fan of Josef Mengele hadn't given up on his insane desire to reforge Excalibur, the same one that led him to experimenting on Kiba and his friends; he just changed benefactors. The way the man had eyed all the fragments there like they were slabs of meat was one of the creepiest expressions Issei had ever seen someone wear.
And Freed… well, his reasons for being there didn't require much debate, and the less said about that guy, the better.
Shortly after the exorcist duo ran off after Freed and the bishop, with Kiba following them, Buchou, Kaichou and their respective Queens showed up. Neither of the two Kings looked very happy, which was somewhat understandable. For their servants to go behind their backs and get involved in a situation that they themselves promised to remain neutral toward, it would be considered a mark on their records.
Saji had been right; Kaichō did beat his ass, with a wooden paddle enhanced by magic! And she had to have whacked him at least twenty times, even after cutting his punishment down due to technicalities. No wonder he was so worried about getting caught. Poor guy wasn't going to sit right for the whole semester.
Issei and Koneko didn't exactly get off easy themselves. Both were lightly tased by Akeno once for each day that they had acted on their own –five in total– which left Issei fighting off muscle spasms in his arms and legs, more than likely for the rest of the night.
That aside, there was still the unanswered question of where Kiba, Irina or Xenovia actually were. Everyone in the ORC had tried to call Kiba multiple times, but the calls went straight to voicemail. Likewise, the girls weren't answering their phones. With no other leads to their locations, Rias, Akeno and Koneko sent out their familiars to look for the trio individually. Given the size of the forest they disappeared into, a search like that would take hours.
All that could be done from there was to wait for someone to either call in or for them to be found. Preferably not by the enemy.
'I just hope they're okay.'
As the morning sun began peeking through the living room window, Asia stirred from her place of rest. Slowly, her eyes cracked open, allowing the light to seep in and rouse her further.
She felt something covering her body, surrounding her in warmth. Looking down, she realized it was a wool blanket that had been tucked in around her. It was so nice and cozy – maybe that was why she was dreaming about swimming in tropical waters and searching for manta rays.
She groaned and closed her eyes again, then nestled back into the cushions, ready to go back to looking for the majestic creatures–
Until a sound coming from somewhere in the apartment made her open her eyes again, and her breath hitched as she suddenly remembered where she was. This wasn't her apartment, it was Connor's! And she was on the couch because a badly injured Irina was taking the bed!
The former nun moved the blanket off and sat up, shielding her eyes from the sun. With everything that happened last night, it took a long time for her to relax enough to fall asleep. It was a wonder that she was able to sleep at all.
She looked down at herself and grimaced slightly. While she had lived most of her childhood not putting much importance on her appearance, her convent had instilled in her some very stringent rules regarding personal hygiene. At the moment, her hair was probably a tangled mess, and she would need to brush her teeth again and take a long shower once she got to her apartment.
Further thoughts on the matter were interrupted by the noise again. It sounded like someone whispering, and it was coming from the kitchen. She stood and began moving closer to the source until coming to a stop at the corner. From here, she was able to make out what was being said.
"Remember what I said about overcomplicating solutions?" the deep voice belonging to Caster asked. "With what we know now, you'd have a better time dealing with the problem directly, none of this cloak and dagger crap."
"Yeah, I get that, and if he's not down for it, then we go to Plan B," Connor replied quietly. "It'll just be a bit trickier if it comes to that."
"Not the way I see it."
Asia peeked her head around the corner, and saw Connor leaning against the kitchen counter with his arms crossed and his face set in a hard stare at Caster. The taller man seemed concerned with something, perhaps even frustrated, based on the crease in his brow. Caster glanced up from Connor's gaze to meet Asia's eyes and gave a small nod her way.
"Morning, Little Lady."
The younger magus turned to look at her while his expression softened.
"Hey, Asia. Sorry, did we wake you?"
"No, it's alright. I was…" she paused to yawn and rub her eyes, "…excuse me, I was just waking up. How is Miss Shidō?"
"Sleeping peacefully, finally," Caster said. "We'll have to wait and see how her eyes are doing once she wakes up again, but the prognosis looks good. And her body's accepting the new blood pretty well, so she's got that going right."
Asia nodded in relief. "Thank goodness…"
"She'll be fine," Connor assured. "And what about you? Are you feeling alright after all… that?"
Asia looked away briefly. She had healed injuries countless times in the Vatican during her tenure. Be they citizens of the city-state, church workers or returning exorcists, she saw to everyone who needed her aid. That was what God had given her Twilight Healing for, after all. Some injuries were minor and some were worse, but in all of them, she'd never seen someone come as close to death as Irina did.
"I… I'll be alright." she finally said. "Miss Shidō is alive, and that's… that's what matters."
"That's good to hear." Connor smiled before sharing a look with the Heroic Spirit. "Listen, Asia, Caster and I have to go in a few minutes. There are some people we need to get in contact with, so I want you to stay here in the meantime. Go check with Assassin for right now and see if there's anything she needs you to do."
"Okay. Oh, but what about school? What time is it? We need to get ready."
"Take your time with that. I'll tell Sona that we had a maintenance problem at home that kept us from leaving early. We'll just be coming in late today."
"Oh..."
She nodded and left for the bedroom, a bit disconcerted. Not simply because she would be missing out on school, but because of how Connor was going to get into trouble again. She knew that look in his eye; he was planning something that would be potentially dangerous for him, while she would be left to wait and hope for his safe return.
She wished she could do more for him than just heal him when he was hurt, but she didn't know how. Caster's lessons were helpful beyond measure in learning to use her Sacred Gear more effectively, but there had to be something more she could do.
Knocking lightly on the door before entering, she observed the bedroom to be in a far different state than last night. The biggest differences were the IV bag that hung by a long wire from the ceiling and led into Irina's arm, the tranquil look on Irina's sleeping face, and the room itself had been thoroughly cleaned of blood and used medical equipment. Her wandering gaze stopped as her eyes landed on Assassin, who was looking back at her curiously.
Asia wasn't sure what to make of the mechanical-looking woman upon seeing her. Their first meeting wasn't as calm or controlled as when she'd met Caster, and it all happened so quickly that she didn't even have time to ask who this new person was. Her focus had been just to ensure that Miss Shidō didn't die. She did hear what it was that Connor called the woman, though, and unlike with Caster, she knew exactly what the word 'Assassin' entailed.
They were killers. They took lives, many times in unspeakable ways. Their very existence centered around murder, and they inspired fear at their very mention.
This woman, however, didn't act like a killer at all. Asia didn't even feel a sense of danger from this person, either. If anything, it was almost… calming to be around her.
"Lady Argento? Is something wrong?" The woman's soft voice broke Asia from her thoughts.
"Oh, n-no, nothing's wrong. I'm just checking on her. I-Is she alright?"
Assassin nodded. "Yes, her body is adjusting well to the infused blood, but she needs time to recover from shock."
"Oh, okay." It seemed to Asia that she was saying that a lot lately. "Would it be alright if I just… talked to her, then?"
"Of course." Assassin braced herself with her arms and moved over, still kneeling in seiza.
Asia knelt down beside the woman and smiled gratefully, then looked to Irina. With considerable effort, Asia kept her gaze averted from the blankets around Irina's legs and focused solely on the girl's face. She clasped both of her hands around Irina's left hand and lightly squeezed.
"Shidou-san, I… I know that you're scared right now… I am, too…" she paused to take a breath. "But, you're going to be okay. I promise."
She watched Irina's chest rise and fall steadily, the sleeping girl heedless of her encouragement. Maybe it was just wishful thinking that she could hear it while unconscious. Taking another calming breath and wetting her lips, Asia closed her eyes and bowed her head, bringing up Irina's hand to let the fingers touch her forehead.
"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want…" she spoke slowly, almost meditatively. "He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake… Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil,… for you are with me;… your rod and your staff,… they comfort me…" (1)
While she recited her favorite psalm, Asia felt a peace that surpassed understanding descend upon her, draping over her like a warm coat. This feeling of security was what had helped her persevere through the lowest point of her life mere months ago, before she found a new home. Before she met Connor.
She hoped that Irina, even in her current state, might feel some of that same peace now.
At Nomura's, Tobio was busying himself behind the bar with washing and scrubbing sake glasses, taking inventory on the shelves behind him as he worked. The day shift would ordinarily come in around 6:00 A.M. to clean up after the night crew and get the place ready to open by 9:00. This morning, though, it had been tasked with helping to deal with an issue that arose late in the night.
Apparently, toward the end of the previous shift, someone had slipped in the kitchen and nearly gave themselves a head-to-toe bath in piping hot chicken broth. Luckily for him, when the worker lost the load, he dumped it all over a bunch of counter tops and some equipment. Now, the smell of souring broth permeated the kitchen, and everything had to be thoroughly cleaned and inspected before the day's service could even start.
The agent could've sworn he saw contrails left by the worker at the speed Oyaji kicked him out. He didn't mind one bit that he was the only one up front at the moment, and not having to deal with the military veteran on a tear.
Tobio stopped when he heard someone loudly knocking on the entryway's frame. He looked up and blinked in surprise at the new arrival that quickly walked in and sat down at the counter, taking a cursory glance around as he did. The two locked eyes, and Tobio's curiosity quickly turned to suspicion.
"Well, hey there," he greeted, slowly getting back to work. "You're a little early to be popping in for business. Shouldn't you be getting ready for school right now?"
"No point in going if the whole town and everybody in it gets vaporized by a warmongering Cadre."
The curt reply from the magus made Tobio stop his scrubbing and stand still. So that's what it was.
"Yeah, true… if ever a good reason to ditch school existed, there it is." He set down the glass and rag he was holding onto the counter, then thinned his lips against his teeth. "You being here must mean that you know enough already to let us skip to the present. Kokabiel went AWOL yesterday and, considering what's been happening around here, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that he's thrown discretion to the wind. The whole rest of the Grigori has been put on full lockdown. Nobody leaving or coming in."
"Right, was this before or after one of your top brass managed to slip away?" Connor cynically asked. "And what does your boss plan on doing about it, besides sitting on his hands again?"
"There isn't much he can do, I'm afraid. He can get in touch with a couple of people, maybe call in a favor, but beyond that, his hands are tied. Tensions between the biblical factions are still dangerously high. It's bad enough that Kokabiel finally jumped ship, but sending any other Fallen or other operatives after him may end up setting off his war by proxy. We'd be finishing what he tried to start."
Connor seemed to understand the unspoken meaning: other Fallen sent to fetch Kokabiel could suddenly turn around and try to kill the local Devils out of principle. Scars of war never faded, and grudges always festered. Even centuries of armistice would do nothing to abate the desire to destroy a hated enemy.
"So you, and by extension we, are on our own here…" the magus seethed. "Fuckin' hell, you're all just wishing for an excuse to kill each other, aren't you?!"
"Not everyone, just the ones that have no patience for more sensible solutions."
"Then those must be a rare breed." Connor wiped a hand across his face and sighed heavily. "Well, anyway, I need you to take the day off. I've got a plan for how we can deal with this ourselves –you and me– but we can't discuss it here. I need your full, undivided attention."
Tobio arched an eyebrow and made to reply before Connor cut him off in a low tone.
"And if it helps, I've already put something of a kink into Kokabiel's plan. You know what they say about forestalling your opponent by seizing what he holds dear?"
Tobio stared at the magus for a few seconds, before his eyes widened.
'He couldn't have… could he?'
Tobio's logical sense called it unlikely, but if Connor really had found a way to impede Kokabiel's progress, then this was a lead worth following, at least. The agent turned to the kitchen while reaching behind his back to undo his work apron. He would just have to pay the price for his decision in due time.
"Oyaji! Something's come up at home, I need to go!"
"Yer bailing on me, brat?! Ya just got here!" the crabby old man yelled as he emerged from the back. He took one look at Connor and frowned, stretching the lines on his aged forehead. "Fine, but I'm docking yer pay, and when ya come back, yer scrubbing the bathrooms till ya see yer reflection in the floors and the walls! Now scram!"
Tobio was quick to gather up his things and leave; Oyaji was already angry enough about the accident and the cleanup that he might do something drastic if the agent stuck around for too long.
Once the two left the premises, Connor was the first to speak. "He took that pretty well."
"He who lives directly above his place of work understands that life exists outside its walls," was the agent's equally sarcastic reply. "It's only been in the last year, though, that he even tolerated employees leaving early; he used to throw things at them."
"How gracious of him."
The walk out of town was quiet; uncomfortably so, for anyone other than the unlikely duo. After passing the last building on the outer edge of the business district, Tobio finally turned to the magus.
"Now, when you say 'seize,'" he ventured dubiously, "do you mean to tell me that you–"
Connor gave a very small smile.
"Lemme show you something."
…
(1): Psalm 23: 1-4, according to the NRSV bible.
…
There you go.
I have to admit, I really struggled with this chapter. The planning and execution for it kicked my ass more than it had any right to do. Mostly, it was because I was bumbling around with the second scene and had to rewrite it a couple times.
Then, there was what I had been planning to do for the upcoming chapters, which I hadn't had anything more than a few snippets even written down. Those plans reworked several times as well because that played a part in how this chapter was supposed to go. So yeah, I done goofed and made things harder for myself on multiple fronts.
That said, I hope that what I had to give for now was satisfactory. Stay safe, have a Merry Christmas, and a happy new year.
If you enjoyed what you read, leave a favorite, a follow or a review to let me know. Any advice, support or simple good wishes that you feel like giving would be greatly appreciated.
As always, thank you for reading!