The Chaos that consumes the world
VI
What the fuck was that supposed to have been?
His mind did little more than form expletives as he continued to stumble down the street all but throwing himself into an alleyway to avoid being seen and pressing a hand over his ribs, a painful and hoarse cough erupted from the back of his throat, spitting out a spray of irony red liquid from his mouth as he did so.
After all that effort - all that patience - and he finally got to wield and Excalibur by himself, he felt like he was on top of the world and it had been an absolute treat to find out where that Devil slut and that damn bitch had been living, he was going to do things to them that would have made God himself turn away in disgust and he would have enjoyed every moment of them.
That was how it should have gone, that was how it was supposed to go. After everything that Valper went through and all the assurances he made, it felt as though he had gotten scammed. Worse than scammed, he was personally cheated out of his rightfully deserved revenge. It had all been so simple, he was just going to go to where those Devils lived and done his moral duty to turn them into wall decorations, just like he'd been asked to.
Well, they didn't even have to ask him to do it, he would have done it for free. Getting given an Excalibur was just a bonus.
And then it all came tumbling down-
A hiss bubbled out, he fell back and slumped against the wall as he took in another wheezing breath, his throat burned and he was still blinking spots out of his eyes, staying away now was the real test at this point. He hadn't just gotten his ass kicked, he'd been absolutely ruined…they definitely cheated somehow, there must have been something about them. Maybe they were some high level church goon that he had just never heard of before.
That would have explained it.
Still, the fact they found him that quickly was downright absurd. He'd covered his tracks and everything so the fact they were able to find him…
Pulling himself up, his free hand pressed against the brickwork and dragged him up, he'd been barely aware of what happened beyond the literal knight in shining armour getting jumped by someone else, he didn't stick around to find out and just opted to get the hell out of there before either of them noticed, he didn't even bother to try and recover the Excalibur, he probably wouldn't have been able to get far anyway.
A faint rustle caught his ears, his head whipped around and glared into the darkness, then he watched a small can roll across the alleyway. His eyes narrowed as a small black shape skittered past, only stopping to raise it's head and stare at him, giving a single squeak before it rushed away without paying him any further thought.
His lip curled in disgust.
Damn rats or mice or whatever the hell vermin it was.
He could feel another wheezing cough building up deep inside him, his expression twisted into a grimace as he fought it back. A muffled sound was the only noise to be heard from him, a small gap between his lips allowed for a trail of blood to seep out and down his chin like drool, he spat to the side, spraying the wall with a glob of blood and wiping his sleeve against himself.
Leaning on the wall for support, he continued to hobble himself further and further into the alleyway. He'd have to get back to the others and let them know what had happened here, he'd definitely need to tell his boss about what happened to the fragment as well as the knight who jumped him. It wasn't like they could be pissed at him for losing it, especially if they had been some big church crazy.
They weren't a Devil, that was for sure.
He sensed the lingering holy power around them and that dumbass looking fake arm of theirs had been strong enough to block an Excalibur without looking as though it suffered a single scratch, also that weird spear of theirs…basically of it pointed towards someone of importance coming to Kuoh to get the shards.
Sure, his boss would be pleased that his plan looked as though it was working but that was neither here nor there. He slumped at the side of the alley, sticking his hand into his pocket and pulling out his phone, then his expression thinned as he instead pulled out an electronic jigsaw puzzle, the pieces of his mobile clattered to the ground from between his fingers in a dozen pieces of varying sizes.
His jaw twitched and he snarled, clenching his hand into a fist and hurling the remains that still lay in his palm, they bounced off the side of the adject wall and sent an echo around him, he devolved into a coughing fit not long after, falling forwards and catching himself just before he fell to the ground, bracing his hand against his knee. His teeth grit against one another as he realised he was probably going to have to walk the rest of the way in secret and somehow avoid people seeing him.
Because they'd call the hospital and he could guarentee the Devils all had those in their pockets in this backwater fucking country. He hated this fucking place so damn much and would be glad when it was gone, at least if what Valper had to say about his weirdo methods was any inidication but it was clear he wasn't getting those Excalibur's back by himself.
Not if someone like that guy was protecting them or whatever, he leaned against the wall, taking in another breath before he pushed himself forwards. The long and slow walk back to the headquarters was going to suck and he was going to hate every single second of doing it, that was for sure.
A squeak from behind him, he paused and rolled his eyes, turning back around and scowling down at the rat now perched on the dumpster, its beady little red eyes staring at him with a rather disturbing intensity.
He didn't like it.
"Fuck off." He growled at it, turning back around and dragging himself onwards.
Last thing he needed was getting followed by an actual shit eater.
Issei just stared, there was nothing else that he could have done in the moment.
It looked as though a tornado had come down on the street and specifically onto a single building just utterly demolished it. His eyes remained on the devastation, watching as the only thing that kept the house actually standing was nothing more than a couple of stray walls and even then, it was probably a miracle - no pun intended - that those were even upright.
A single gust of wind would probably send the whole thing tumbling down like a pack of cards.
Turning his eyes from the ruin and to the person at his left, he fought back a wince at the utterly blank look on Romani's face, staring at the ruins of his house, then he finally took in the state that the man was in. His pale green shirt was now marred with tears and rips through it which were similarly covered with dry smears of blood, even if he didn't have so much as a single scratch on him.
His hair was a frazzled mess, no longer done up in his usual ponytail and instead just flopping around freely, at the mercy of the wind.
Mrs Archaman didn't look much better either, her face was more or less a perfect mask as well with her clothes in just as bad a state if not worse than Romani's.
Issei opened his mouth to say anything, then closed it again as he lowered his hand down and turned his eyes onto Asia with a wince, she looked utterly devastated but probably not for the house, he saw the way her eyes were moving between Romani and Mrs Archaman, she was more worried for the state of them.
"Well…" Mrs Archaman suddenly spoke up, bringing her hands around and clapping them in front of herself, turning to face them with a smile that didn't look as though it reached her eyes but it probably wasn't that bad. At least he hoped it wasn't.
There was probably something they could do, there had to be.
"Probably can't use mine and Roman's house as a little meeting at the moment so…" She trailed off, then gestured towards the direction of Buchou with an almost expectant look in her eyes. "Might be best that we hold it around your club house…I don't think we would have enough room for anyone anyway so at least it makes getting an extension a little easier."
He was sure that was a joke, he offered a weak chuckle and a slow nod of the head up and down, but he could see that he wasn't the intended audience for that. Romani just remained silent, not pulling his focus from the ruins of the house, arms slumped by his side.
She moved closer to him, whispering in a low tone of voice. "Roman…" her hands moved and encircled around his own, pulling on them lightly.
"Hmm?" Romani made a small noise, blinking and turning to Mrs Archaman and then blinking again as though he was surprised she was there. He turned back around, sweeping his eyes over everyone else before he let out a low hum and nodded towards his wife once, then turned his focus to the house with only a couple of words. "Yeah…like Leo said…"
Issei pulled a face at the almost lethargic response the man gave and then turned his eyes elsewhere. Buchou looked rather strained at the whole thing, a rather deeply troubled expression as well although he could see she was still wary about the exorcists stood not far from her, her focus shifting between them and not at all looking comforted by the fact that the Vlov guy was stood in between the two of them.
"Of course, as you say, Leona." Buchou agreed with Mrs Archaman in a rather sudden and almost high tone of voice, cracking right at the start before clearing her throat. Wetting her lips, she inched a little bit further away from Vlov and in the direction of himself and the rest of the peerage, not that Kiba seemed to notice, he'd spent most of his time just glaring without end. "W-we can meet up in the Old School House, it's large enough for all of us and the-then we can work out what everyone is going to do."
She all but snapped her eyes onto the lead woman of the exorcists "Do you find that agreeable?"
He hated seeing Buchou like this, he didn't much enjoy hearing her sound as though she was moments away from being terrified. Everyone looked as though they were either walking on eggshells or standing next to a lion or some shit. Nevermind the fact they had been jumped by the entire population of a damn zoo less than ten minutes ago and no one had even addressed it.
Gritting his teeth, he suppressed what he actually wanted to say in favour of keeping quiet. Speaking his mind now would probably end up getting everyone into trouble, especially as they were all trying to keep things calm when around the exorcists and the super exorcist or whatever the hell they were actually called. He saw the distance that Asia was keeping.
Turning and looking around, he found another question burning in his mind. "Uhm-"
His voice cut off, a sensation like being doused with a cold shower washed over him and he clamped his mouth shut. Unable to so much as even turn, breathing was the best he could manage, all he was able to do was just stare ahead and keep his gaze focused on the rubble that was in front of him.
It took all the willpower he had to force his eyes to turn, finding that the blue haired woman was now regarding him with what looked like an utterly bored look. Like she wasn't even seeing him as a person and was just glancing at something for a moment. The dullness in her eyes brought his own swerving away from her before he risked making eye contact, instead lowering his gaze to the ground in the hope she would stop looking at him.
"Agent Bow?" It was almost a mercy when one of the other exorcists spoke up in a low tone of voice. He didn't look but he recognised the higher pitch as belonging to the one with twintails. "Forgive me for asking, but what shall we do about the damages? The bounded field isn't going to last forever, is it?"
A sniff.
"This is a town under the authority of the devils." The woman remarked with a voice which he considered rather uncaring, to the point of being without emotion in the least, like she was just casually pointing out a fact. "It is their responsibility. Not ours."
Something flickered right at the bottom of his heart when she said that, not only because of what they were talking about - the town he grew up in as though it didn't matter to them in the least - but also the fact that they played a role in all the damages. Sure, they did sort of help but he was certain that Romani's house didn't look like a jumbled up jigsaw before they showed up.
Yet the moment he went to speak, the memory of the woman's stare cowed his mind instantly, his hands balled into fists and trembled but he otherwise kept silent.
"If we are done here, I would prefer we conclude this meeting as soon as possible." She all but ordered this time, but he wasn't so stupid that he couldn't read between the lines.
She just didn't have an ounce of sympathy for them.
"They just lost their house."
It took him a second to realise he had spoken and it took him a second later to realise it wasn't so much speaking as it was snarling, his eyes darting towards her and his breath catching in his throat.
She was staring at him again.
It seemed as though she was staring at him forever.
"And they could have lost more." Her next sentence was delivered in a way that matched her mouth movements. He would have blinked in surprise if he had control over his own eyelids, the fact she had just spoken in perfect Japanese was otherwise lost on him as she turned her head from him. "A house can be rebuilt. A life cannot…irrespective of what they choose to do with it."
She made it sound like what they were doing was disgusting or something, the fact she didn't even bother to know who they were pissed him off. He tensed himself up, preparing to open his mouth yet again but never quite got the chance, a hand slammed down onto his shoulder and he was abruptly yanked backwards before he even got the chance to let out a gasp of surprise.
His indignation died as he realised that it was Buchou who had grabbed him, staring deep into his eyes with a look that all but screamed at him to stop speaking or otherwise do nothing. It wasn't just that, but he could see the genuine fear in her eyes.
Guilt flooded through him immediately, he glanced to the ground and lowered his head ever so slightly. There was no way of knowing how close he might have come to screwing things up but he really hoped that he didn't cause more trouble for Buchou and everyone else. If he said something wrong, then it was a surefire guarantee that everyone else would probably end up suffering because of it.
"He's new." Buchou's voice interrupted his thoughts, giving only that thin excuse to somehow make amends for his outburst. That was all she said.
"Hmph." A single grunt and then nothing else, the clack of heels along the stone floor was all that followed.
He kept his head down as Buchou pulled him back and then flipped him around, not finding the strength to look her in the eyes. Her breathing was somewhat laboured and erratic, eventually finding some small measure of pace but little else was involved in the matter. "Issei…I understand that she will say some things you disagree with but I would very much like for you to greet your teeth and bare it. We will all have to do the same, just…"
A sharp breath, then she exhaled and turned from him. "Sona, the street-"
"I shall assign some of my more capable members to do what they can to repair the damage and keep the locals uninformed of anything that happened, though the matter of the Archman house…" The trailing off mixed with the slightly hesitant tone of voice told him all he needed to know, he cast a final look towards the ruins of the house and grimaced at the state of it. "...We could make efforts to repair it but given that it is the home of a Magus, I believe that you would prefer that we avoid touching it as much as possible."
A short sniff from the direction of Mrs Archaman. His eyes turned on the brunette, the woman placing one hand on her hip while the other was still clasped with Roman's. Turning her head towards Kaichou and nodding once. "If you would…I'd rather keep a lot of my affairs private for the sake of past clients. I'll be along to finish up the rest of it when the meeting is over…could you just stay and watch over them, Roma-"
"I'd…" Romani abruptly spoke up, then visibly tightened his grip on his wife's hand, Issei saw the strain his fingers put around her, as though letting her go would mean she'd fly away. "I'd rather stay with you…" his voice came out as a low mutter, stepping a little closer to her until they were nearly shoulder to shoulder.
Mrs Archaman took in a sharp breath, her eyes briefly darted in their direction before they fell back to her husband, she took a single step towards him and pulled him lower towards her. "Roman-"
"Please."
Issei watched the way she all but collapsed after that, her eyes closed and her head hung low. "...Okay." she turned towards them once more and offered a small and somewhat strained smile. "The perception filter will keep people from looking at the house and seeing the damages until I can get to it, most of the damage is to the road so that should be fairly minor. I'll leave you all to it then."
He spared a glance to Asia, then turned to Buchou "I think that it would be better if Asia remains with Kaichou's peerage." he whispered to her, then sent a glance - only a glance - in the direction of the exorcists. Being near them was enough to send her into a panic attack, he very much doubted that being in the same room as them would do anything more than terrify her.
Buchou nodded her head up and down. "Of course, Asia? Please remain with Sona's peerage. I am certain they will do their utmost to keep you safe."
Asia looked a little surprised, then nodded her head up and down. Her agreement made him feel no small amount of relief, but there was still the matter of the zoo that was currently running around. That was still playing upon his mind but he was sure they had run them off or killed whatever those things were.
"If we are finished here." Vlov interrupted them all, the tall man standing a short distance but still in between them and the exorcists with a blank look on his face. "Then I would strongly urge that we start to move, Lady Gremory. It would be best not to drain our…guests' patience any further than it has been already."
He rolled his neck until he heard a crack.
His hand remained flat on the ground as the last of the oily black liquid seeped into his fingers and danced across the surface of his skin and underneath his coat, the sleeve rippled ever so slightly as the mass passed beneath and then faded away.
It worked better than he could have intended, the small force managed to draw out all of the expected attackers as well as some surprise guests which he hadn't been expecting. Those divine constructs of theirs, different abilities with a rather potent feeling to each of them and yet they all felt so similar with one another.
Excaliburs.
Now that he recalled, it seemed as though the rogue exorcist had been similarly armed with an Excalibur until he was accosted by the human in bronze armour who - once again - was armed with what was certainly an excalibur but perhaps not the sort that could be seen?
Or he was disguising it.
That arm of his was rather curious.
Pulling his hand from the ground, he flicked it a couple of times to remove the faint grime that was now clung to it. He'd measured the relative strengths and weaknesses of the devils in question and concluded rather accurately, their difficulty in battling the elephant had been rather telling for the most part, but the weakness to the Excaliburs was something he hadn't accounted for.
Not that it changed much.
There seemed to be four different players at work here.
Devils, Grigori, Church and the bronze armed man.
Regardless, he had his sights on the exorcist while the man had fled with the Excalibur. There was no reason to account for them interfering but there was never a zero-percent chance of it happening. He would need to keep an eye open for them if they ever appeared again.
It seemed as though the exorcist was sticking to the shadows as they moved further into the town, heading south and into the inner district. Their trail was laughably easy to follow but he was only entertaining it until they led him to whomever they were employed by or until he could determine they were alone. Turning this town into a den of multiple factions was hardly something he had an interest in, far too much attention.
Fortunately the hold of Ddraig had remained somewhat unchanged since their display at the rating game, as with the rest of the peerage. Overwhelming them with pure force would keep them off balance and so long as he did so when they were not among the Church - which was practically childs play, they would likely part ways by nightfall - he had nothing to delay the inevitable.
Folding his arms behind his back, he turned on his heel with a faint dragging noise and resumed his advance through the darkness.
Remove one player at a time.
No common exorcist could steal an Excalibur, nor would they so easily hand it to one of such low skill without their being someone else nearby who could watch over them. You never let a dog off its leash unless the owner could still call it back and it appeared this dog was going to limp all the way home.
His lip pulled upwards ever so slightly.
It would be rude if he did not speak with the owner of this mutt and ensure they were all doing well.
He wasn't sure why he said it, he knew right away that it was basically just going to be walking right into more danger.
He said what he felt.
And now he was here, sitting in the old school house with a bunch of devils and exorcists.
His eyes danced across the assembled faces of the room, most of the student council was clearing up the street or at least that was what he had inferred. Truthfully, he hadn't been paying all that much attention on the way there and had just been focusing on keeping hold of Leona's hand.
Looking down, he realised that he was still holding onto it even as the two of them sat down, or rather he had sat down on one of the recliner chairs while she had perched herself on the arm of it. He internally winced at what must have been a rather uncomfortable position for her, leaning forwards and then reaching around behind himself and taking hold of the cushion he'd been resting on, pulling it back around and then handing it towards her.
A couple of taps on the arm were all it took for her to realise what he was doing, she stared first at the cushion and then towards him, a ghost of a smile graced her lips. She didn't say anything but she didn't really need to. Her smiling was just all he really wanted at the time because it felt just like her.
She kept hold of his hand even as she placed the cushion beneath herself and then adjusted her sitting posture.
Just like that, he was brought back into the room by a loud slam of the door.
He flinched rather suddenly and the grip on his hand tightened immensely, not just with Leona but everyone else in the room looked seconds away from leaping up and through the ceiling with the loud bang, as one they all snapped their heads towards the door and stared.
Romani waited a moment and then turned his head towards the direction it had originated, the twin tailed girl stood with a petrified look as she glanced from the door and then to the rest of the room, a rather awkward chuckle came out from her as she tapped the tips of her fingers together.
"Sorry. Didn't realise it was so loud-"
"Do not apologise to them, Irina." The blue and green haired teen cut her off with a low hiss and a sharp look, but he saw the way her hand was now resting by her side for all of a second before she drew it away with a sharp motion. His eyes lingered on the fact she had been going to draw her sword and then glanced up towards her with furrowed brows.
She must have sensed him staring as she turned and looked at him a moment later, narrowing her eyes into a glare that was virtually daring him to say something. His lips rolled inwards as he turned his head away from the direction of the girl and back towards the room itself, otherwise keeping silent.
Footsteps came next, heeled and echoing across the floor, he glanced to the side as he watched the woman - Agent Bow, he believed he heard her call herself but he might have been mistaken on that front. He wasn't really in the best place mentally at the time to be recalling names - made her way around the chairs and sofa without even sparing a glance to any of the people who were seated or otherwise standing around them.
The woman eventually came to a halt, then turned on her heel and brought her focus to all of them. It was only a passing sweep but he could swear that, if only for a moment, her eyes lingered upon himself for a bit longer than everyone else but he was sure that was a mistake. Either way, it was too short for anyone to notice it but that was neither here nor there.
"This meeting is nothing more than a courtesy for you to be aware of in the immediate future." She announced without any sort of fanfare. "Until we are finished here, conduct your business in such a way that it does not interfere with our assignment. If you should see us for whatever reason, or if your colleagues or…contractors should see us, then inform them to keep their distance if they wish to continue living."
Romani blinked at her tone of voice, how completely unbothered she was about the fact she could just kill someone. Like it was just as simple as doing a chore.
"There is a target of interest in Kuoh that has recently stolen several relics of value from the Church. Myself and my colleagues are here to recover those relics and deal with the individual in question." He could probably guess precisely what she meant when she said they would 'deal' with them. Maybe they were just being more flowery about it because they didn't want to say kill but it probably meant the same thing.
She stopped speaking, arms still folded behind her back.
Romani waited for her to elaborate further, but it seemed as though that was the extent of what she was going to say. Cemented by the fact she started to turn away and raise her leg up as though to walk away.
"What target?" Vlov questioned before she could get a foot off the ground, she paused for only a moment and then lowered the foot back to earth silently, her eyes turned and stared at the man. "I am acting with the full authority of Lord Lucifer and Lady Leviathan. A question from me is a question from the Satan's themselves."
"And is this supposed to incentivise me to answer?" The woman remarked with a cold tone of voice, narrowing her eyes ever so slightly. "I am here only in the interest of keeping your presence as far from my objective as possible. All else is more than you are entitled to. It is the ceasefire which has granted you this leniency. Nothing more."
Vlov remained undaunted. "It is that leniency which even allows you to walk here while drawing breath, Burial Agent." Romani gulped, he wasn't sure when but it felt as though the room was starting to get colder. "You are here uninvited and unwelcome as it stands. Not to mention the manner of weapons that your junior colleagues have so blatantly wielded. This is no small matter."
"It's someone from the Grigori."
His eyes snapped up as he realised that it was Leona who answered, the brunette swallowed as she briefly looked down at him and then towards the direction of the blue haired woman, who had turned in their direction with a slow blink.
"Because Freed just burst through my front door less than half an hour ago and he was swinging around another Excalibur within his hands." She continued onwards, drumming her fingers along her thighs at a steady pace. He kept his own expression even and tightened his hold on her. "And the lack of surprise you show at this probable nobody in the hierarchy of the Church being able to wield an Excalibur is rather telling to me…which means you already knew or suspected he would be able to, if you knew he was here at all."
She paused for a moment, then continued onwards. "Which leads back to the matter of the Fallen Angels, and those four who were here with a certain excommunicated monk…because within their possession - before it was reallocated elsewhere - was a Sacred Gear extractor, certainly not something that such low level Fallen could get their hands on, nor does someone like Freed just stumble across an Excalibur lying on the side of the street."
Wetting her lips, Leona glanced around the room for a brief moment before she continued onwards, the lack of a response seemingly being enough to push her forwards. "And then there is you, the final little piece of the puzzle. A Burial Agent accompanied by two probably freshly minted exorcists but both of whom are wielding Excaliburs as well, if that potent holy aura leaking from the swords is any indication."
She waved a hand towards the two teens "But you're here for something dangerous that even they couldn't fight because those two could probably handle someone like Freed easily enough but you're not here for Freed, you're here for whoever is his boss and whoever stole the Excalibur's from the Church."
Silence.
Romani turned from his wife and then looked towards the woman, her face was still betraying nothing. Instead she raised a small eyebrow after a few seconds of saying nothing. "Excalibur's plural?"
"You mentioned relics. That implies more than one." She implied rather sweetly with an innocent smile, she was starting to squeeze his hand right back, he felt the tremble in her palm. "So then…probably a rogue agent of the Grigori, I'd say very high up within the order to pull out something like an extractor and warrant you being here rather than another Executor…I'd say someone of Cadre class, at least."
Once more, the silence returned, but it felt louder than ever before.
"...Suppose this is indeed your own conclusions and not merely you filtering information you know from your association with them." Agent Bow replied slowly, tilting her head ever so slightly. "And that you have guessed what our purpose for being here is, why then are you speaking of it so openly to me?"
Romani felt a little bit insulted on behalf of Leona that she was all but calling her some sort of cheat or something.
"You assume we would work with the Grigori?" Vlov asked slowly, not taking his eyes off the direction of Leona and instead giving her what he thought might have been a scrutinising gaze. "Truly?"
"You are all enemies of the Church." Agent Bow replied without even hesitating. "The hatred between the Grigori and the Devils only applies to the wider context. There is no proof that individual families and groups would not be more willing to work with one another."
"Wi-with all due respect-" Sona took a step forward, pushing up her glasses with a trembling hand, barely managing to get the words out before someone cut her off.
"Devils do not understand the meaning of the word." The blue and green haired woman scoffed, which was clearly the wrong thing to do as the student he dimly recognised as Genshirou Saji whirled around with an outright scowl on his face and pointed right towards the teenager who made the comment.
"What the hell did you just say about Kaichou!?"
"Saji!"
"Like you'd know anything about respect, dog." That comment came from Kiba, the dark words muttered as though he was close to spitting in the direction of the exorcists. The curl of his lips was close enough to a snarl with his arms tightly folded over. "How many children did you kill to let you swing that sword around?"
"I don't need to rise to such a childish provocation. Besides, dooming souls is the domain of Devils and Heathens."
"And when you just feel like it, right?" Kiba spat, unfolding his arms and taking a step towards them. His eyes turned downwards and onto the sword by their hips, he turned in such a way that seeing his eyes was impossible but the tremble of his shoulders was anything but unclear. "And you feel like it if it can all work out in the end, right? Because nevermind how much blood you have to spill if you can just get away with it-"
"Kiba!" The sharp voice of Rias cut through the room, she shot up from her seated position and turned to him with a pleading expression. "Don't-"
That was when Agent Bow spoke again. "Isaiah of the Holy Sword Project, headed by Valper Galilei."
Romani blinked, then looked between the two of them and noticed that Kiba had frozen up, gradually turning his head in the direction of the woman but otherwise keeping silent.
"Your past is known." She took in a short breath before she continued. "What was done unto you and your peers was a sin and it is a failing of the Church that Valper was not killed for his actions when they were brought to light-"
"I don't want your apology." Kiba's voice cracked with a bitter smile. "I-"
"I wasn't offering an apology." The woman cut him off. "I was telling you to keep a level head. If your personal feelings should drive you into action then I will look upon you as an obstacle to be eliminated. The glare you have aimed at my colleagues has been far from subtle, it is the only reason I doubt you are actively working with the Grigori at the moment."
Kiba opened his mouth, then stopped and furrowed his brows ever so slightly, taking a half step backwards and giving the woman a different look this time, almost searching. "...Why?"
"Agent Bow." Xenovia spoke up rather suddenly, moving forwards and aiming a surprised look at the woman. "Is it wise to-"
"Are you questioning me?" And was promptly cut short with those simple words.
"...Of course not, Agent Bow." Lowering her head, she took her place by the side of the twin tailed girl and said nothing further.
"Because there is indeed a Fallen Angel present." The woman revealed, though it wasn't much of a revelation as much as it was a confirmation, evidenced by her nod of the head in the direction of Leona. "And they are of Cadre class. Kokabiel of the Grigori is currently located in Kuoh after making an effort with the assistance of one Valper Galilei to steal relics of importance to the Church and then have converged here."
She paused, only for a moment, sweeping her gaze over the room and then continued on. "There is no call for assistance from the Church, you are to maintain your distance from us and ensure that if you should stumble across any information related to Kokabiel or the new secondary target of the man with the bronze arm, then you are to contact us and relay that information immediately or be considered as associates of theirs."
He thinned his lips, then slowly rose up from the chair, the movement from him drew the eyes of everyone in the room and he became rather aware of Leona trying to pull him back, but he kept his ground as best he could as he stared at the woman. "What about Asia?"
"The witch?" The blue haired girl muttered in a low tone of voice to her partner.
Romani bristled ever so slightly at the derogatory name and sent a small look towards them. "Her name is Asia." He kept his response short and polite, but did earn a couple of odd looks from the duo, likely because he just replied to them in Italian but he didn't much care for that.
Xenovia remained silent for all of a second, then she straightened herself out. "I will not dignify the witch by calling her by her name."
"Man, fuck you!" Issei spat, rising up and pointing a finger towards the blue and green haired girl. "Where do you get off calling someone like that a witch?! You ain't even met her and suddenly you're acting like you know everything?" he brought his hand down and glared. "All she's ever wanted to do is help people and then you lot throw a hissy fit because she healed the wrong guy!? Make up your damn minds!"
"Her sins are apparent! She did not heal a 'person', she willingly healed a Devil with the gifts granted to her by the Lord himself-"
"Why would they make something that can heal Devils in the first place if they didn't think it would be used to heal Devils?" Issei threw his hands up, looking at the woman as though she was an idiot and taking a half step backwards. "Hell, maybe if you guys kept a better eye on your own damn churches, there wouldn't have been a Devil there in the first place!"
Xenovia's eyes narrowed, her hand dropped to her side. "You-"
"Enough." A single word echoed through the room as the temperature plummeted, Romani watched the air dart out from his mouth as cold vapour as a creaking sound by the windows showed a thin layer of frost forming over them.
Vlov sent a cold look towards the direction of Issei and Kiba. "The two of you. Keep silent." he waited until the two teens stepped back, then turned on Agent Bow. "Asia Argento is under the protection of the Gremory Family. Her status as a Heretic within the Church will remain inconsequential for the duration of your visit here. This is not a matter for discussion."
Agent Bow said nothing, then nodded her head a single time. "I am not here to hunt heretics. She may remain." Then she turned her eyes in the direction of Issei for only a second before glancing towards Rias. "If any member of your peerage should ever speak such blaspheme in my presence again, then their lives will be forfeit."
Rias gave a mute nod of the head, but not before offering a single comment. "And I would ask you not to threaten the lives of my peerage so candidly."
A single grunt and then nothing more from the woman, who turned her eyes towards the pair of Exorcists and then jerked her head towards the door. "Our business is concluded. I sincerely hope this is the last time that we ever encounter one another." she moved before anyone could say anything else, though Romani himself was rather relieved that the conversation ended there.
Keeping his eyes on the woman as she moved towards the door, the other two having already opened it, she paused and then cast one final look over her shoulder towards him. Narrowing her eyes ever so slightly and giving him a stare that was intense enough to warrant him glancing away from her. As though she was trying to look right the way through him.
The thud of the door closing was a welcome breath of fresh air.
A single glance around the room revealed that he wasn't alone in thinking-
"Ouch!" He jerked his right hand back and then glanced at the skin between his finger and his thumb, widening his eyes as he double taked between it and the person who was responsible for his pain. "D-did you just pinch me?"
Leona was giving him a rather stern look, one that made him feel a bit small all of a sudden. Like he was back in school and standing in front of a teacher, her hands on her hips didn't change the matter either. "You-! You're damn right I pinched you! What on earth were you thinking!? Standing up and making demands of a Burial Agent to her face like that!"
Rubbing his hand, he felt a little indignant "Well, I had to make sure that Asia was-"
"The fact she didn't decide to just cut down Asia in the street within seconds of meeting her was proof enough that she wasn't going to-" Leona cut herself short, closing her eyes and moving her hands up to cover her face. When he did hear her breath, it was a jerked and stuttering noise. Dragging her hands down and staring up at him with those same terrified eyes. "I understand you were trying to look out for her Roman but that was…that was stupidly reckless of you and I just…please stop doing this sort of thing. My heart isn't very good at it."
He winced. "Sorry but…" he couldn't finish the sentence because they both knew what he would have said. He just had to be absolutely sure for peace of mind and now he got it. "...Sorry."
A loud slap rang out behind him, he jerked and whipped around to see Issei hunched forwards with his hands clasped over the back of his head, rubbing it gingerly as he stepped away from his attacker, that being a rather aggrieved looking Rias, the teenager wasn't long in whipping her head around to face Kiba with the clearly same intention on her face.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" He moved before she could get close, bringing up his hands and stepping in front of her. Getting involved in Devil business or not and those two definitely hadn't helped ease the situation, he wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of them going around slapping people. Keeping his eyes on her, the two of them stared for a moment before Rias slowly lowered her hand back down to her side and broke contact with him first.
A sigh left him, he turned towards Issei and looked at the boy with a cringing expression, it certainly sounded like it hurt. "You alright there, Issei-kun?"
"It stings…" Issei groaned as he pulled his head back, still with one hand rubbing at the back of it. "Wha-"
"What act of stupidity could have possessed you to-" Rias started, only to cut herself short and close her eyes. Holding a hand in front of her face and exhaling into it. She lowered her hand and then opened her eyes. "You feel strongly for the sake of Asia and I understand that - I am thrilled with that - but there are certain times where it is best that you not speak, they were disrespectful towards Asia and her circumstances but politics between these factions is never simple…but I suppose you are still a new devil so it is wrong of me to expect you to understand that so quickly."
She excused, giving him a sympathetic look and then turned her eyes like lasers onto Kiba who was just over his shoulder. "But you, Yuuto. That was beyond reckless and you do know better, antagonising them as you did was uncalled for."
Romani turned, looking towards the blonde teen and the dark scowl that was still upon his face.
The teen folded his arms once again, maybe to hide his trembling fists, but he otherwise kept silent and maintained a neutral look towards the direction of Rias. Briefly glancing towards the direction of the door before he looked back towards the red haired girl. "If you say so, Buchou."
"...We'll speak more later." Rias remarked rather coldly as she stared at him and then turned her focus to the others in the room. "For the meantime, we should address the other glaring issue."
Romani figured he knew what she was talking about. "The elephant in the room…well, street but yeah…" he tried for a laugh and was rewarded with silent stares, the bland expressions made him lower his head and bring his hand up to rub the back of his neck, just wishing that the earth would open up beneath him and swallow him whole.
A faint stifle.
He glanced towards the noise as Sona coughed into her fist a couple of times and then lowered her hand back down. "Yes…a concentrated attack against us which occurred at a rather pointed time. Then there is the matter of the man with the bronze arm who seemingly made off with one of the Excaliburs, though where that came from…" she turned her head towards Leona. "You said it was in the possession of Freed Sellezen? The exorcist who was in league with the others Grigori from several weeks past?"
"Couldn't mistake him for anyone else." Leona informed her with a nod of the head. "Came charging in right through my front door…faster than my protective spells could react to and with a bit more power behind him than I was accounting for." a sigh as she closed her eyes. "It was Devil territory so I modelled them after stray devils, not for Holy Relics…anyway, then the man came in after him and I'll assume at some point he engaged the Burial Agent before retreating."
She paused for a moment, then glanced in the direction of Kiba with a newfound look. "Though his ability to wield an Excalibur suddenly makes a great deal more sense, if what was spoken was true-"
"Tch." Kiba loudly clicked his tongue, looking as though he was just waiting to get out of the room. The fact he kept glancing at Vlov as the man stood within a couple feet of him was telling enough.
Issei continued to rub the back of his head as he looked around. "Is there something special about the sword? Did he need to pull it from a stone or something?"
"You're thinking of Caliburn." Rias offered a light smile towards Issei with a shake of the head. "And the Excalibur's - like all Holy Swords - can only be wielded by humans who have an affinity for them. Natural born wielders of the swords are exceedingly rare so the Church has taken up granting the ability for the swords to be wielded…" she trailed off, shooting a small look at Kiba before continuing onwards. "...with some success, it seems."
Romani was sure there was something going on that he didn't know about. "Okay…but that aside, what is actually going on with the whole…zoo thing?"
"Kokabiel is a Cadre and Veteran of the Great War, serving on the front lines during the night of drowning suns and surviving the siege of the Second Heaven." Vlov remarked rather candidly, Romani blinked and turned on him with a raised eyebrow as he spoke about things which didn't mean a lot to him beyond sounding ominous. "His presence befits a Burial Agent, if only partly…it is not unreasonable to assume that through his long life he has assembled a collection of familiars to work beneath him and the experimentations of the Grigori are not irregular."
They turned towards him and Leona. "As I understand the timing, during the period in which you were attacked by the exorcist, the peerages of Ladies Sitri and Gremory were attacked by the horde. To that end, I would suppose they are linked with Kokabiel as a two pronged effort…likely offset by my presence and this elusive knight."
Pausing for a moment, then swept their gaze across the room. "For the time being, I would advise that we comply with the demands of the Burial Agent and avoid interactions with them and their quarry until such a time as they depart or threaten to bring their conflict into the open."
Rias slowly nodded her head, then paused and glanced towards the man. "...Advise?"
"This is your territory." Vlov replied evenly, lowering his head ever so slightly. "I am merely here to carry forth the messages of Lord Lucifer. It comes with his strongest possible urgence to ensure your safety…but this is your territory. Whether you will allow them to remain or not is your choice."
"R-remain?" Rias gave a rather squeaked noise, turning and looking at Sona who looked equally thunderstruck and then back to the man. "W-we can't just kick them out…can we?"
Vlov remained silent for a moment, then slowly nodded his head. "There is cause for keeping their actions restricted. They did not enter Kuoh through official channels as no request was forwarded to the office of any of the Satans…Though given the nature of their assignment - which remains speculation beyond finding Kokabiel - it would likely only succeed in receiving an order to allow them entry…and serve to vex the agents with the delay."
"And would give Kokabiel time to achieve whatever it is he is after in Kuoh." Leona remarked from where she was standing, closing her eyes and rolling her jaw from side to side, opening them up again. "...Better to just let them fight it out amongst themselves and try to keep it contained, not a lot else that we can do."
Rias let out an empty scoff. "And what? Allow a Cadre of the Grigori and a Burial Agent to run roughshod right over all our heads in the middle of our territory?" bringing her hands up, she nursed her temples with a low groan. "I'd be made into a complete laughing stock…Just letting whomever stroll right through the front door without doing anything to stop them. It got bad enough with you and those rogue fallen but this is something else entirely."
Leona shrugged. "That's life." she paused, giving them a not-unkind look. "Listen, we're talking about two major players here who have shown up for some reason which include the Excaliburs and possibly their big collection of pets. They have a Cadre Class Fallen and Veteran of one of the biggest supernatural conflicts since the Mahabharata on one side and a religious zealot who is so devout she could now trade blows with said Cadre Class and probably win…" she gestured towards Rias. "And then on our side we have a single win for an unofficial rating game and one member of the current Lucifiers peerage."
"Throwing yourself into that encounter would be foolhardy." Vlov remarked with a shake of the head, supporting Leona. "There is nothing that can be done beyond what this one suggests. I am here to ensure your safety. Not to wage war on the Church and Fallen at the same time."
Romani slowly raised his hand, then flinched a little when they looked towards him. "T-the problem is the…uhm…Cadre guy, right? So…why don't you just find him and then tell the Church people where he is?" he lowered his hand, then scratched the side of his head. "The sooner they find him, the sooner they leave, right?"
Rias opened her mouth, then paused and closed it again, giving him a single slow blink before she turned around and looked towards Sona. The teenager similarly looked at him oddly before she turned towards Rias, the two of them stepped to the side and started to whisper to one another for a few moments, seemingly coming to some sort of conclusion before they nodded to one another.
"...Not a bad idea." The red head eventually remarked with a shrug of the shoulders. "Keeps us proactive and avoids a direct encounter between the Church and the Grigori and gets the Burial Agent out as soon as possible." moving her hand up, she rubbed her chin. "And they did demand information from us if we should stumble upon it…Yes, that could work."
"Buchou." Akeno stepped forwards. "Much as it would please me to track down vermin." he found it a little jarring how easily she spoke of them so brutally. "We do not have any idea where we might begin. If there was a trail to be followed with Freed, it would be cold by now or already picked up by the Church."
"...Supposing Freed even survived his encounter with both this bronze armed knight and the Burial Agent." Rias remarked with a shrug of the shoulders, "But we haven't been informed of a body being discovered by your peerage yet, have we? Either he was disintegrated or he was able to escape…perhaps the arrival of the Burial Agent took the focus away from him and he ran. It would fall in line with previous encounters."
"I'll see what I can do then." Leona remarked, taking hold of his wrist and then pulling him along with her as they departed from the room. "Keep me informed as best you can…I've got the world's biggest flat back to try and put back together again." she muttered in a low tone of voice which beget something like annoyance rather than any real grief.
Romani blinked, then leaned towards her. "Can you actually repair the house?"
"Well, yes." Leona simply replied as though the question had been silly. "Though I'm not overly keen on going back to a place which has already been compromised once…it's better than nothing and now I know what to look for…" she paused for a moment, then glanced to him out of the corner of her eye with a touch of a smile. "...That was a very nice idea you had there, Roman."
He shrugged. "I don't know about that but…just seemed easier for everyone if it was over and done with quickly and Rias-san looked as though not doing anything was weighing heavily on her…" his mind lingered back towards Kiba, his unease grew as he recalled the expression and tone of the young man. A deep foreboding, as though they were going to end up doing something reckless.
