Okay, really sorry for jumping into something different like this. I should've continued from the cliffhanger, but there's a problem: Last chapter was updated while I had a fever, so I didn't plan for the follow up and finished the chapter in an awkward moment. Please understand that I'm buying myself more time to correct this. Sorry and thank you.
Go read Take Me Back to Eden, Nekro's stuff is good!
The darkness of Vritra's soul threatened to drown him, almost getting the better of his judgment as the Evil Dragon King's soul protected him from the worst of the wrath and pain. Leaving only traces that all the same felt too personal, too close to home to ignore. Gen struggled against the maelstrom of feelings, but ultimately had to take Vritra's lead as they both resurfaced from the trance induced by Azazel-sensei. Letting them both out of the remnants of Vritra's final moments.
"Oh? Is this the boy that's been giving Bel so much trouble?" A masculine, creepy voice made Genshirou snap his eyes open.
He sat up, sweating on the floor while he got his bearings. Blinking away the confusion as one of the fallen angels approached the space where Gen had been meditating.
"Kokabiel, this dude is not ready." Azazel-sensei shook his head, pensive. He stood a few meters away from Gen, with Abigail-san standing behind him. Almost hiding and peeking around the fallen angel's shoulder.
The bat-faced fallen angel, on the other hand. Had a big grin with fang-like teeth, and was followed confidently by Bel to his left. The fallen angel, Kokabiel, wore black robes that basically made him look like a single block of a person. Tall and square around his shoulders, he was almost a curtain with how the robes hid even his shoes.
Bel, on the other hand, wore worn down jeans and a black tank top. Probably her favorite choice, to be honest. Because Gen had rarely seen her wear anything besides oversized shirts and a coat that one time. She was barefoot, as they entered the training room and the floor was cushioned, and had no fishnet stockings. The highlights in her hair were nowhere to be seen, while her hair was messily tied up on the back.
If this was her 'at home' getup, it looked rather weird to Gen.
Gen stood up and bowed, facing Kokabiel as the fallen angel kept approaching at a steady pace.
"Kokabiel-san."
"No need for that, boy." The fallen angel lifted a hand in a dismissive motion "Not while training, there's more important matters than etiquette."
"It looked like he was having a stroke." Bel frowned while eyeing Gen up and down.
He stretched his shirt uncomfortably, making sure that it wasn't sticking to his torso due to the sweat.
"He was trying to dwell into the consciousness within his Sacred Gears." Azazel-sensei explained "Vritra's alive now, but we need to investigate what this means when he's still separated into multiple Sacred Gears."
"Ah, so like you." Kokabiel scoffed "Messing with people's growth just to get some data for yourself. You never change, Azazel."
"What can I say? This phenomena is fascinating, if nothing else. Plus, it does remind me a lot of the Juggernaut Drive curse." Azazel-sensei shrugged, eyeing Bel while he kept speaking "Who knows? Maybe we're about to discover something important."
Bel's features hardened, like she had zoned in on Azazel-sensei's words.
Kokabiel placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't be deceived by his honeyed words, Bel. It's not power what he seeks, and your Sacred Gear is nothing but research material to him." The bat-faced fallen angel looked rather displeased, but schooled his features as he continued "Keep training, don't fall for Azazel's easy solutions."
"What's wrong with making things a little easier? Humans do it for their descendants all the time and look where they're now." Azazel-sensei shook his head.
"Humans' lives are like candles. They're snuffed out by even the pettiest of winds. We, strong beings, make our own path." Kokabiel crossed his arms behind his robes.
"Oh, c'mon. Like you haven't perfected the training that helped Bel along the way. That's also making things easier, y'know."
Bel shrugged the hand off her shoulder with a scoff, walking away from the bickering fallen angels and approaching Gen instead.
He took a step back, feeling apprehensive of her closeness. But he remembered not to let the nervousness show. Yuzu-san said that projecting a strong impression helped prevent battles, and that if he showed himself with confidence people would think twice before picking a fight with him. So he did, he stretched his back and stuck out his chest a bit. Correcting his posture from the slightly hunched over one he had.
"So you can soul dive into your Sacred Gears?" Bel asked with more force than needed.
"Umm, not really… I just… It is there, within me." Gen scratched the back of his head "I can't explain it properly."
"What about the snake? Can you explain it to me, Vritra?" Bel crossed her arms, frowning at Gen like he'd be the one to answer the call.
Only silence came back to her.
"I don't think he wants to talk." Gen commented after a few seconds of awkward silence.
"What the…? Are you shitting me?" Bel looked even more pissed off now "What's with that? Do I have to sweep the floor with you to get a damn word in?"
"I-I mean! We did dive into his final moments just now…!" Gen raised his hands placatingly "Even for a dragon, that has to be traumatic…! Right?!"
Bel calmed down a bit.
"I guess Albion doesn't really talk about it either…"
"Right? Plus, it's not like they're available 24/7." Gen laughed awkwardly, letting the nervousness drain out of his system. That felt way too close for comfort.
"No…" Bel looked down, still a bit pissed off but pensive "Not always, no."
"Azazel-sensei always says that understanding our tools and abilities is just as important as getting stronger." Gen pointed out "Especially in my case, since these abilities can get all over the place if I don't channel them properly, haha…"
Bel raised her eyes back to stare at Gen's own.
"That's right, Kuroka's been training you. Hasn't she? I can kind of see the similarities in the style. When she—." Bel looked to the fallen angels arguing and lowered her voice "Back with the Hero Faction, you coordinated rather well. It was a bit of a problem."
She balled a fist and showed it to Gen.
"You can use Touki, right? That's something that's saved Kuroka's skin more than once, but it felt different to you. Is yours stronger?"
"I… Don't think so." Gen didn't like the way this conversation was heading "Yuzu-san and Kuroka-shishou just thought I was naturally tougher. So the training was mostly in how to cope with hits, endurance, and recovery."
"Yes, I noticed that you can take a hit like a champ." Bel grinned and gave him a playful back-handed smack on the shoulder "Those girls were onto something with you."
"Ah, haha… Thank you." Gen looked away, and saw the two fallen angels looking at them. Both with curious expressions, which made Gen a little uncomfortable.
"Why don't you tell us why you're here, Bel?" Azazel-sensei spoke up "I don't think you came to bully Gen right when I'm here."
"I actually wanted to talk to you." Bel reached to the back of her neck with her right hand, stretching that shoulder a bit "What happened with the artificial Sacred Gear you recovered?"
"The Twilight Judgment?" Abigail-san perked up at the question, and Bel seemed to just remember that the blonde was around.
Abigail-san wore clothes that could only be described as scientist-like, if science had turned into fashion. Form-fitting suit with business-like pants, and some sort of cape that also looked like a mix between a lab coat and a raincoat, covering most of her neck as if to also pass for a facemask if she pulled on it.
"It has a name? I thought Azazel would name it something ridiculous and long." Bel pursed her lips, seemingly not believing Abigail-san's words.
"It was inscribed in…" Azazel shook his head "Never mind. It did have a name. Left behind where I could find it."
"Our working theory is that the creator left it behind to mock Azazel." Abigail-san spoke with a low tone, not cold but devoid of the usual confidence she used. Tame.
"Satanael." Kokabiel scoffed "Well then. Seems like you've got a lot on your plate, Azazel."
"Hmm…" Azazel-sensei looked away. He looked way more serious than Gen was used to, and for a moment it felt like all of the centuries that the fallen angel had lived dropped on his face until all Gen could recognize was the expression of a very ancient being pondering something he couldn't understand "It'll be problematic for sure, but I doubt he had that many materials to work with."
"Hey, don't start with all your theories and answer me." Bel placed her hands on her hips "This old man…"
"Right. What about it?" Azazel-sensei came back to them, his expression hiding all that wisdom and going back to his somewhat goofy expression.
"Where is it?" Bel insisted "Don't tell me you gave it away."
Azazel-sensei's brows came close together in an expression similar to worry but mixed in with dejectment.
"It's stored away. Can you still feel it? It might give more trouble than I thought…"
"No. It's just… I don't like not knowing where it is." Bel frowned again, but she didn't look angry. Rather, she looked helpless.
"Ah, well. That's normal. Even Fafnir hates that thing." Azazel-sensei gave Bel an understanding smile "It oozes its anti-dragon properties, so of course you'd be rattled."
"Samael… To think there'd come a day where we're not talking about how he's rotting away in his cage." Kokabiel sounded rather grossed out by the prospect "And there's another Sacred Gear like this, right? That might be more troublesome than anything else."
Abigail-san perked up at the comment.
"Why is that?"
Kokabiel looked at her like he'd seen a small critter scurrying around his kitchen. It made the blonde shrink back and shut up, but the fallen angel stopped giving her his attention soon after.
"Samael is a dragon anti-dragon being, one of our kin too. But the point is this weird mixture that He created." Kokabiel scoffed and looked at Gen from the side "And as you know, dragons can revive with just fractions of their souls."
"Dragon anti-dragon…" Abigail fixed some of her hair "Anything goes, I guess…"
"What is this brat doing here, Azazel?" Kokabiel motioned toward Abigail-san "I've never seen her before. I told you to stop picking up children from the street."
"This lass is the current host of Sephiroth Graal." Azazel-sensei grinned "We're becoming friends really quickly, so I'd like you two to get along."
"Eli." Abigail-san waved shyly from behind Azazel-sensei "Nice to meet you, I want to say… Lord Kokabiel?"
"You may regard me as such." The bat-faced fallen angel gave her a stern look.
"Noted!"
"I suppose I should give you the same warning that I gave Bel, as courtesy." Kokabiel sighed "Beware Azazel's honeyed words. Fallen angels live and die by the obsession that fills the void left by His light's absence. Do not let him sweep you with his search to perfect his Sacred Gears. It won't end well for you."
"Is that so…?" Abigail-san's lips stretched to the side, as if she was trying to stop herself from smiling like her brother does.
"Don't give her weird ideas." Bel interjected "This girl learns fast, way too fast from what I've heard."
"Our three anomalies adapt quite well to their surroundings." Azaze-senseil crossed his arms and nodded sagely "I heard Fate Weaver had a powerful move sealed away by Heaven like a year ago, and these two adapt to their powers in days."
Azazel-sensei gave Kokabiel a cheeky grin.
"I don't like that expression." The other fallen angel frowned even more.
"This crazy old man…" Bel clicked her tongue "Why are you telling me this? I knew that the Red One was too weak to be my…"
Abigail-san made a high pitched sound. Something between a chuckle, a gaggle, and a scream. Gen heard it only for a moment, but everyone turned to her as she covered her face and shrunk back.
"Sorry, sorry… I just…" Abigail-san let a small smile peek between her fingers "We're really nothing alike, me and that guy that is."
Abigail-san…
"Ummm… What were you saying about Samael's Sacred Gear?" Gen raised a hand, trying to get the heat off the blonde girl "I'm also quite worried about it."
"You don't have to. It's really well made, Samael's poison was fused to his dragon flames. But other than that, my read is that it is too complex to replicate en masse." Azazel-sensei waved a finger around.
Light particles erupted in the center of the loose formation that everyone made. With a big sphere made of small particles solidifying right in the middle.
"I think they used the Sephiroth Graal for this, 'scooping' pieces of Samael to use for the Sacred Gears." As Azazel-sensei explained, small particles separated from the big sphere, creating two smaller ones "They were made with care. Twilight Judgment barely has any fallen angel traces in it, so I deduced that the other Sacred Gear will barely have any dragon in them… Though with similar anti-dragon capabilities."
"That white haired guy made light like you guys." Gen nodded to himself "Some more complex than others, but it makes sense. They gave off the same terrifying aura."
"Really? They felt kind of different." Bel gave Gen an odd look.
"That's probably because of their difference in strength. At their root… Yes, I'd say that they were roughly the same. Even then, they felt linked somehow. So it makes sense that their source of power is the same." Gen spoke with a stoic expression, trying to convey as much conviction as he could.
"I'd trust him on this." Abigail-san commented to Azazel-sensei.
"Really? You can tell that much?" The bat-faced fallen angel sounded curious as he asked.
"Yes! I've been training with Kuroka-shishou after all!" Gen stretched his back again, beaming with energy "I'm not as good as her, but I can tell this much!"
"Even if you can't put into words what all that means…" Azazel-sensei scratched his chin "That's still useful data."
"So, in summary?" Kokabiel rolled his eyes.
"In summary, we have two Sacred Gears with Samael's powers, one for each half of him. And the one with the fallen angel side is likely in the possession of one of the Sigurd Institute's creations." Azazel-sensei closed his eyes while touching his forehead "I'm pretty sure that's one of theirs, which also means that one of the Demonic Swords he had is a dragon-slaying one."
Kokabiel gave Bel a look while she dropped her gaze.
"This is why I told you to come ask." The bat-faced fallen angel stated.
"I know." The girl looked away "I'll be careful."
"We also don't know if they have a Balance Breaker." Abigail-san added "And we're not testing that, for now."
"I think I know just the person to ask for advice." Azazel-sensei looked up "One of my Vritra candidates raised one of the children of the Institute."
Gen thought about the swordsman with many arms, then to the people he'd met.
"Lint-san." He murmured "She's from… What? An experiment?"
"You've got it." Azazel-sensei sighed "They're clones from the original legendary hero Sigmund. The Institute tried to replicate him, but I'm unsure if our Khaos Brigade guy is the one that succeeded or not. Still, an anti-dragon Sacred Gear fits right in. So Lint might also have good compatibility with ours."
"I'd rather not have someone play around with a Sacred Gear like that." Bel spoke up, oddly low in tone.
"I know. I remember Samael personally." Azazel nodded at her "I'm not going to mess around."
Bel gave him a long look and ended up nodding back.
"I'll trust you on this."
"We'll keep an eye on him." Gen pointed at the White One, giving her a thumbs up soon after "It creeps me out too, so don't worry about it!"
He didn't know why he felt the need to reassure her, probably an older brother instinct of some kind. Bel looked rather lost after touching the subject, and from Kokabiel's words she hadn't wanted to breach the topic.
The girl made a weird face but nodded.
"We're in this together, huh." She scoffed, but Gen detected no malice or mocking intentions in her tone.
"Yes! Let's do our best, together." Gen gave her his fist to bump.
She did it after considering it for a moment, giving Gen a small grin afterward.
"Won't you stay?" Abigail-san spoke up, and it felt like a special event had just finished. Gen had to blink to center back to the voice of the blonde, and Bel seemed to remember she was there too "We could use another dragon Sacred Gear for data."
"I've been Azazel's labrat enough times." Bel replied, a little annoyed "I'll pass."
"Besides, we need to go screw some rats over their life choices." Kokabiel gave them an evil grin like he could picture it while speaking "Keep them at bay, before they can gather back their forces."
"Ah, please." Azazel-sensei switched mental gears "If you see Gabriel, tell her I said hi."
"Go to hell." Kokabiel waved him off "Let's go."
"Sure." Bel turned around to follow the fallen angel "See you around, Genshirou."
"I… Yeah!" Gen waved, a bit put off.
Abigail-san placed her arm around his shoulders.
"Way to go, Gen! Seems like some bad…" She turned to Azazel-sensei and froze in place "...ass girls are… On the… Menu…"
The fallen angel simply shook his head.
"You'll make this awkward." He scoffed.
"Sorry, didn't think about calling your daughter a bad bitch to your face…" Abigail-san pressed her index fingers together, looking like a beaten up puppy in the process.
Lucius… Luciel-san had said that his sister was smart. Smarter than him, or anyone else for that matter. That these quirks in her personality were all an illusion, a front that she used to make herself look dumber, more vulnerable. Remembering this helped Gen avoid feeling awkward about what she said. She was, indeed, teasing him. But the malice wasn't directed at him. Rather, she was building a facade of just messing around to protect herself.
It made him feel a bit disturbed, to be honest. Because he didn't know whether this was better or worse than normal teasing.
"How many daughters do you think I've had?" Azazel-sensei laughed.
"I don't want to know." Abigail-san dropped her arm "Anyways… Back to this, I guess."
"Right-o." Azazel-sensei clapped his hands together "Are you ready, Gen?"
"Can't we go back to using the Sacred Gears in tandem?" Gen scratched the back of his head awkwardly "That was… Stressful."
Abigail-san gave Azazel-sensei a look.
"Okay. Let's do something completely different, then." Azazel-sensei had dissipated the projection as he stopped talking about Samael, but now he held a bit of his light powers around his hand "Take it."
"Ummm…" Gen frowned, seeing how the fallen angel presented him a diamond made out of his light attribute. The way he said it felt… Dangerous "What?"
"Take it. Take my power." Azazel-sensei repeated "Absorption Line can take more than just energy, and you've learned to use the various Vritra powers together. So… Let's try something else. Take my light, make it yours."
Gen swallowed, hard.
"I… I don't like where this is going…"
"Don't worry." Abigail-san's eyes shone with excitement "I've got you. It'll be fine."
It felt like Gen was crossing a border he shouldn't.
He raised his hand all the same.
"Alright, if you're sure…"
He didn't expect Asia's uncontrollable crying, and neither did anyone else. The blonde hugged Xenovia so tightly that the blue haired exorcist actually looked uncomfortable as the smaller girl used her for emotional support. She awkwardly placed a hand on top of Asia's head, but that only made the girl cry even more while Fate Weaver stood stunned facing Sin Devourer's words.
"Really?" Star looked confused. A bit too serene for her usual self, but Fate Weaver was thankful that she hadn't said anything tactless.
"That is so." Sin Devourer nodded, the darkness in his hood not receding no matter from which side the light shone upon him "I saw it with my own eyes: Diodora Astaroth has died. His soul was reduced to its component parts, his body turned into ashes."
Even Irina looked uncomfortable in that situation. When the call to fight off parts of the Oblex came, they had split. Irina should've followed Fate Weaver closely, but the slime turned out to be more astute than expected. She looked at Asia with pity, not knowing how to console her. Trying to speak, but choosing not to at the last moment. She was too nice and didn't know what to do.
Still, Fate Weaver couldn't stop remembering that expression. The rage, the barely contained venom in his voice. That hadn't been Diodora Astaroth, he'd known his previous name. The one that even Fate Weaver himself had started to forget, and with it came back a lot of ugly feelings he didn't know how to deal with. Opening a gate that should've been sealed down for good.
It made sense, in a twisted sort of way. Fate Weaver always thought that all of his suffering had been rewarded with this chance at life. He'd promised himself to enjoy this world to the fullest, to do things right. To grow in ways he couldn't before, and that the shitty original main character hadn't even considered. And, if all of this was true, then what did it say about his brother? Reincarnated as Diodora, wouldn't it mean that he was being punished for all the shitty things he did? For all the shitty behaviors he allowed their parents to feed him?
Fate Weaver had goosebumps thinking about it. The way that child would tell him awful things like they were absolute truths, the way that boy would scowl at Fate Weaver's retorts. That they obviously were being awful, that parents shouldn't treat their children that way.
He'd ignored them then, and was given this life to try for himself. To test if their so-called education was indeed correct. And where did that land him? Nowhere, that's where.
Fate Weaver's confusion receded, and a cold sort of satisfaction settled in chest. Threatening to make him grin, but not without its fair share of pity. After all, his brother was only a child. He'd obviously never understand, because he'd never matured like Fate Weaver did.
Well, maybe here he did. But still. He didn't have too much faith in the blood of that man. The boy might've been unsalvageable until the end.
"It… Happens." Fate Weaver shook his head, trying to get rid of these useless thoughts "This is what war is. There's never a guarantee that you'll come back."
"Nasu's right. I mean, who knows? This might be a positive thing?" Star winked, making Xenovia look a little angrier. But somehow seemingly reassuring Irina a bit.
"Star Seeker is right… Maybe something good will come out of this." Irina spoke to Asia softly, caressing the blonde's shoulders with a mother's care.
"Are you sure that's what you want to say?" Xenovia glared at the ginger "It mattered to her. Do you really want to tell her this is a good thing?"
"Not for us, but for him." Irina insisted, looking at Star for support.
Star smiled softly and lifted Asia's chin. Forcing the blonde to look at her.
"Relax." Star said softly, almost in a whisper.
Asia's whimpering softened.
"There we go…" Star ran a finger through Asia's hair, separating parts of it while speaking in a soft tone "Please don't be too sad. You didn't do anything wrong."
"I… I could've helped him… If I had convinced more people that he wasn't bad…"
Asia's blabbering made Fate Weaver scoff. She didn't know who she was defending, both in the canon version and this one, that devil had been a piece of shit. Even Star could see that much, and although Fate Weaver didn't really like Irina being so easily swayed by what other Miracle Children said, even she seemed to understand that this was for the best.
"We can't always save everyone." Irina added "That is the burden we carry as His messengers. We're only mortal, after all."
"And yet you said it was good he died." Xenovia interjected, still glaring at Irina.
"He must be in a better place now." The ginger stated full of conviction "Free of suffering, at least. Resting."
"What the Mechanical Angel means to say," Sin Devourer quickly interrupted. Placing a hand on Asia's head, physically getting in the way "Is that we can only have faith that our destinies are fulfilled, and that if the Law is just, we'll get our reward in the end."
"Amen." Irina looked delighted, clapping her hands together in a silent prayer.
"Amen." Xenovia didn't sound too convinced.
"Amen." Fate Weaver scoffed. He, too, thought that all of this was just someone getting what they deserved.
He'd have liked rubbing it in his face a little more but… Well, the emptiness in his stomach told him to stop thinking about it.
"A-Amen…" Asia closed her eyes, the last tears running down her face.
Fate Weaver eyed Star, who had remained silent in this. He bumped her with the elbow, signaling with his eyes to participate.
Star looked annoyed.
"Sorry, didn't mean to talk about her dead crush like that to her face." She whispered coldly, sounding not even a little ashamed of herself.
"How can you be so dense?" Fate Weaver growled in a low voice "You remind me of someone I know."
Star focused her eyes on him.
"Someone smart, I hope."
"A dumbass." Fate Weaver moved away from her, motioning for Sin Devourer to follow him silently.
"Is that so…" Star whispered as the two male Miracle Children left "Funny."
"What is it?" Sin Devourer asked once they were out of earshot, moving to another room in the chapel they were staying in.
The underground usually had rooms for exorcists passing by, so finding safe haven was rarely a problem. Much less with two Miracle Children constantly being together.
"You're hiding something, aren't you?" Something in Fate Weaver's instinct made him return to the topic again and again. Be it because finding someone he despised in his previous life meddling in the new one spoiled things for him, or because he instinctively knew that those with that man's blood were always a pest "You omitted something for Asia's sake."
Fate Weaver couldn't see his cousin's features through the darkness of his hood, not even with blessings. And although using a miracle sounded like a waste of power, at times he wished he could actually bypass that ability of his. Even if he were to use [Penetrate] in his eyes, he doubted that Sin Devourer would stay put and just let him.
This guy always kept secrets to himself, and was a major nuisance more often than not. Add this to the matter at hand, and it was easy to see why Fate Weaver found his cousin so suspicious.
"That is for me to know and for you to wonder." Sin Devourer crossed his arms, planting himself firmly on the ground.
"Don't give me that crap!" Fate Weaver stage-whispered, grabbing the other Miracle Child's collar "You always ruin things with your little mind game! At this point I'm starting to wonder if you're not a traitor to Heaven."
Sin Devourer remained silent.
"Where is that guy's peerage? Where are Kuroka and Yuni?"
"Isn't the Evil Dragon King a priority?" Sin Devourer retorted.
"I don't give a shit about that weak-ass guy." Fate Weaver almost hissed, pulling Sin Devourer closer to his face "Those girls know things, and they're strong. If we're supposed to fight the Khaos Brigade…"
"The nekomata is the weakest member of the Sakura-Babel team." Sin Devourer interrupted, and something in Fate Weaver's face made him tilt his head "What? They have a dragon, a youkai, and an exorcist. But they're all japanese. Isn't that name fitting?"
"I don't give a shit about your stupid names." Fate Weaver gritted his teeth.
"This is so unlike you, it feels like you're a completely different person." Sin Devourer stated without any emotions "What happened? Why are you so ireful?"
Fate Weaver pulled from the other Miracle Children's clothes as he released him, turning around with a scoff.
"Go to hell."
"Very well." Sin Devourer nodded "Shall I tell the devils anything?"
Fate Weaver summoned his Sacred Gear sword, thrusting it with so much speed that Sin Devourer didn't have time to dodge it.
The edgy Miracle Child was impaled across the torso.
"Tell them that I'll protect them all." Fate Weaver spoke coldly.
"Very well." Sin Devourer spoke normally, and the darkness from his hood started leaking.
His clothes oozed darkness, until his whole being became a dark mist.
When he vanished, all that was left behind was the gouge in the wall made by the sword Boosted Gear.
Fate Weaver scoffed as he unsummoned his Sacred Gear.
He was FINE. Nothing was going on. He simply couldn't trust someone like Sin Devourer after seeing someone from his past anymore.