Asia was cleaning the church. One step at a time. The building was covered in dust and other stuff, it was barely hospitable. Once she is done sweeping the floor, she will see if they have something to wipe the long bench with. Something something chemical.
But maybe she should stick with good old water.
She didn't have enough money to buy stuff.
And… she can't… speak this country's language…
For a brief moment, she was thinking of asking for help from the Priests. She was not the only one assigned to this church but the others… are scary…
Especially Father Freed.
It was bad of her to harbor this thought, to suspect fellow believers, but something about him made her skin crawl.
Maybe because his smile is… um… is really something?
"Good morning."
Asia almost dropped the broom in surprise.
"M-morning!"
Entering the church was a pair of women.
To say Asia wasn't in awe would be a lie. And lying is bad.
Both women are beautiful. The taller one has silver hair and matching eyes. Something about her presence made Asia stand at attention. The shorter one has curly blonde hair and green eyes, with a smile on her face that makes her feel approachable.
"Hello." The shorter woman greets her. "You are Asia Argento, correct?"
"Y-yes?" Asia blinked. "May… may I ask who is speaking?"
"Please call me Gabriel." The taller woman introduces herself.
Gabriel. Like one of the Rebelling Angels.
Rebelling Angels are... unique and sensitive topic... as they are similar to Fallen and yet... they are vastly different... because technically, they, somehow, never considered Fallen to begin with. Some even call them Wandering Angels or Piglimary Angels.
"We are here to talk about your living conditions."
"Uh?"
"Before that, I think we should talk somewhere comfier? Talking and standing here doesn't feel right." The blonde woman suggested.
Asia then remember where they are.
"R-right. Please follow me."
There's a room from the former overseer. It was not in the best condition, but at least it was not too bad compared to the most of rooms. She had cleaned the room the night prior when she couldn't sleep.
"Please sit." She pulled the folded chairs out. "Is there anything you want to drink? We have tea. Oh, should I call—"
"There's no need." Ms. Gabriel shook her head. "Please sit, Miss Argento. It's important to you."
Apprehensive and wary, Asia tentatively sat across them.
"What… do you want to talk about?" She asks.
"First, your situation." Do they…?! "Before you ask, yes. We do know of you, Asia Argento."
Asia twists her fingers under the table. Sweat coated her neck.
"What do you want…?" She whispered.
"As I said," Ms. Gabriel took something out of her bag. "It's related to your situation. The Church of Vatican had exiled you, rather unjustly if I may add, as they never try to find out how a Devil can enter a Holy Palace without triggering all sorts of alarm."
That… sounds like Issei.
"Therefore, you are left without protection. In our Supernatural World, such a thing is unacceptable as your allegiance is unclear. Anyone can lay their hands on you and it will be considered technically legal, as you have no protection. For example, if a Devil were to attack you, the Church is not duty-bound to protect you as you are not one of theirs. This results in you being put in a great deal of danger, regardless of whether there is actual danger around you or not. One may argue that as for now, you belong to Fallen Angels, which is the only reason why no scrupulous being of Supernatural Origin laid their hand on you yet."
Blood drains from Asia's face.
She knows being exiled from Church is bad… she knows it… but she didn't expect it to be this bad.
"Secondly, your status in Japan. You may not know it, but your visa is not a legal one. You are neither a visitor nor an immigrant. And if the Law Enforcer of this country finds out, you will be deported out of the country. Best case scenario, you will return to Italy, as it was your birth country. However, due to your status as Holy Maiden all these years, and the Church's insistence to shield you from public influence, you don't… exactly have Italian Citizenship either."
"To sum it up, you have no certificate of origin. So your citizenship is in the air. You don't have the right for education, health rights, employment, or other stuff that require citizenship."
Asia pales further.
"I…"
"And so, we come to this." Gabriel slid out a form for her to read. In Italian, thankfully. "We come to arrange for your official membership to the Fraction. In additionally, if you don't have anything against the LGBT community, which I hope you don't, seeing as you are amenable enough to heal the devil, my wife and I would adopt you as our daughters. We can arrange some things to ensure you will have citizenship and protection, be it in the eye of mundane laws, or in the Supernatural Side."
Asia blinked, staring at the form.
"Adopt… me?" She asks dumbfounded. "I… why?"
"You remind us of someone we know." The still-unnamed woman smiles sadly. "He… he was once in your shoes. He didn't take well of being accused of a crime he never committed due to misunderstanding… and getting exiled from home."
Asia gripped her skirts.
Someone… someone out there was in the same position as her?
"What happened to him?"
"He snapped." Miss Gabriel whispers. (Miss? Missus? She is married, right?) "He eventually found a new home and his footing back, but he had snapped and was never the same again."
The former Holy Maiden looked down.
It was terrifying but
But she can imagine it as her future.
"You don't have to answer us right now." Mrs. Gabriel told her gently. "Take your time. We will be in the town."
"…how do I contact you?"
"We are staying in this hotel." They gave her a pamphlet of a nice-looking hotel. Oh. She thinks she knows where it is. "Room 999. The Receptionist can speak English. You can ask them to call our room, so we can go down and meet you."
"Thank you. May God's Blessing be With You."
Is it just her eyes or were they looking amused?
"Please take care of yourself." Mrs. Gabriel replied. "Let's go, Uriel."
"Yah!"
Asia blinked.
Uriel is another name of Rebel Angel, isn't it?
.
Ice pack pressed against the bruise on her face.
"Stop picking fights."
The blonde Angel shook her head.
"No." She refused. "I won't."
"Uriel."
"It's Your Name!" She insisted. "Yours! I won't let that blonde bimbo take it away from you. I don't care who I have to fight. You will keep your name."
"…you do realize you can be called a bimbo, right?"
"Bah! Unlike that dimwit, I do have brains between my ears and nerves of steel to stand against whatever the world threw at me. That tramp on the other hand won't realize sarcasm and word trap until it bites her in the ass and even then she won't connect the dots, and her spine is like cooked noodle!"
The silver-haired Angel sighed.
"You do remember this is not the world we know, right?"
Their old world had… gone.
And no. The Dreamer and His Company were not at fault. Either version of them.
It just…
"All the more reason I have to protect what I had left." Uriel insisted. "This Lord… is not mine. And this is not my Heaven. I'll fight each and every single one of them."
"They will exile you."
"Hard to exile someone who was never truly part of them to begin with. I can leave right now and my wings stay the same."
"They can still declare you a Traitor. Tell the world You Fall from Grace."
"Don't care."
Her companion sighed, and put her head on her lap.
"Guess then we fall together."
Green eyes blinked.
"What?"
"You said it. This Heaven is not yours. Not only that, it wasn't mine either. We don't belong here. We are too different. And… loathsome as I admit it, you are the only reason I haven't thrown hands or screaming tantrums. There are so many rights I could have done if only they were willing to bend the rule a little. If you are gone… I won't be far behind."
A smile formed on Uriel's face.
"Thank you." She beamed. "I love you."
"I love you too. We are companions, remember?"
A secret kiss was shared under a tree.
Only stars present as witnesses
