Snap! Snap!

The sound of a digicam went off every five seconds as Ichika marveled at the different pieces of architecture that lined the street. Her eyes were wide with culture shock was she trained her camera on the windows that were filled with various things, from people to luxury items. Ichika excitedly darted from one location to another, leaving Shin lagging slightly behind her.

"Shin! Look at this brand! This would cost me almost a million yen back at home!" Ichika marveled, peeking at the black leather purse through the window.

"I never took you for the type," Shin said, walking up next to her.

"I'm a girl too, you know. I occasionally enjoy things like this," she replied.

"Well, you can get that as a souvenir later. We need to meet up with Sophia. And stay close to me! Rome is a big place! I don't want you to get lost," Shin said.

"You're treating me like a little kid," Ichika replied as she ran to catch up to him. "Can't we just let Sophia wait for a few hours? I want to explore Rome! I've never left the country since I was born you know! You, Irina, and Sophia all get to travel to these exciting places…"

Shin sighed and held her hand. "We can go later. Now, let's go."

Ichika puffed her cheeks and allowed herself to be dragged to the destination.

The walk to Vatican City from their location took no longer than 10 minutes. Ten minutes of navigating among the massive swarm of tourists that wanted to see or vandalize the remnants of ancient Rome. Eventually, after pushing through the sea of people, the two arrived at the gates of Vatican City.

The gates of the Holy See were something Ichika never imagined she'd ever see in her life. Even if she wasn't a Christian, seeing the city was still mesmerizing in its own way. From the gates, she could glimpse the numerous beautifully designed cathedrals and buildings that held the seat of power and religious authority of the world's largest religion. Her eyes darted to the two guards standing at the gates. Their eyes appeared to not care about the numerous tourists that came and went with one even yawning into his hand. Still, the sight of them unnerved her slightly.

"Wait. I don't have a passport," Ichika said.

"It's fine. You don't need a passport to enter Vatican City as a tourist. Besides," Shin scanned the crowd. "She's supposed to pick us up." His eyes narrowed as he tried to spot her among the sea of faces.

"I think I see her," Ichika called out.

Shin followed her gaze and lo and behold, there was a mop of familiar white hair. The two made their way over there.

"Sophia!" Ichika yelled, waving her arms to get Sophia to notice.

Her eyes lit up when she heard her name being called. Sophia looked up from her phone and smiled, waving over to them. "Shin! And… Ichika? Holy…! You brought her with you!?" Sophia exclaimed, surprised to see the brunette.

"Well, she's my partner. I'd be an idiot not to bring her alone," Shin said.

"As if I'd let him leave me to rot in Kuoh alone," she said, punching his arm.

"Ow, what the hell was that for?" Shin winced.

Sophia smiled. "I'm glad to see that nothing's changed then—"

"Why would anything change? You left like two weeks ago," he said, cutting her off.

"It's a figure of speech," Sophia retorted. She shook her head. "Anyway, you two must be tired. Let me show you where you're going to stay."

"Sophia, about the job," Ichika said.

"We can talk about it after you two get settled. This is something I really can't say out in public. Too many eyes and ears watching. If the Traditionalist Faction gets wind that outside help's being involved, then it might complicate things a bit," Sophia said.

"Well? Come on." Sophia waved her hand and beckoned for them to follow her into the Holy See.

Shin and Ichika exchanged glances before following after her.

The three blended into the swarm of people who made their way in and out of Vatican City. Ichika marveled at the architecture upon entering the city. The city was so much more beautiful on the inside than it was looking through the gates. She pulled out her digicam and began snapping pictures.

"Oh! Oh! That's St. Peter's Basilica! And the Sistine Chapel!" Ichika yelled, snapping picture after picture.

"You're going to fill up your SD card before we finish our job here," Shin said, looking at the pictures on her camera.

"If you two want, we can go on a tour around the Vatican after we're done doing what we need to do," Sophia said as they walked down a street in the city.

"How is… Asia?" Ichika asked, lowering her camera after taking another picture.

"Asia? Oh, she's doing great. We're still hiding her with us since her status in the Church is still a bit iffy. Once everything's arranged, Mom said she's going to handle everything," Sophia said as they approached a large building.

Unlike the other buildings, which had Roman-based architectural design, the building that the three were heading to was Gothic in nature. There were two large spires that towered over the other buildings around it. Gargoyles were stationed at the front of the building, glaring down at the crowd that passed by menacingly. At the front, there was large stained glass mosaic of Christ.

"Woah. Is this new?" Ichika asked. "This design is so different from the other buildings. It might as well stand out."

"This building was installed in the 1900s. Mom differentiated it from the other buildings by making it gothic instead of Roman like the other buildings," Sophia said as she walked up to the pair of large double doors.

"Your mom is… Uriel, right?"

Sophia nodded. "Yeah, she's my mom. She took me and my sister in after a… few incidents that took place a couple of years back."

"Oh."

Sophia stopped walking as she placed her hand on the double doors. "This is still the church, by the way. No flash photography inside here. Some of the frescos are sensitive to light," she said as she pushed the doors open.

The interior of the building looked far larger than it did on the outside. The two were immediately greeted by a large foyer. There was a literal red carpet leading from the entrance further into the building. A chandelier hung down from the ceiling with lights that resembled lit candles. On the walls, the portraits of various saints stared down at them. By the archway that formed the entryway into the main chamber of the building, there were two stairs that led to the second floor.

"Your rooms are on the second floor. I had to pull some strings to get you so close to where me and Asia are staying," Sophia said as she made her way to the stairs.

Shin fell in step behind her, almost leaving behind Ichika, who was in the process of pulling her digicam out of her pocket once more.

"So, about the job," Shin said.

"Look, I wouldn't be calling you if I didn't need it," Sophia said.

"That's fine. What's the job?" Shin asked.

Ichika hurried over to Shin's side, eager to find out what their mission was. Her mind was already concocting a myriad of scenarios. Perhaps the Pope had been kidnapped by some stray devils and they needed to rescue him. Or perhaps the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch had been stolen and needed to be retrieved. Whatever it was, Ichika was more than excited for it.

"What do you know about Holy Swords?" Sophia asked as she pulled a key out of her pocket. She stopped outside a door.

"Holy Swords? What did the Church lose a holy sword or something?" Shin asked, watching as she tapped the key on the lock.

A golden circle flashed into existence before a click was heard.

"Holy swords? Like… wait, like the one the legendary hero uses to defeat the evil king? One forged from the heart of the planet in order to defeat an inestimable foe?" Ichika said, quivering with excitement.

"What?" Sophia looked at her strangely as she pushed the door to their room open.

"She's recently gotten into Fate," Shin said.

"Ah. Well, the real Excalibur isn't like that—"

"EXCALIBUR IS REAL!?"

Sophia smiled as she led them in. The room was cozy and quaint. It had two beds inside with a nightstand sitting in the space between the two. There was a small bookshelf with various books and a bible against the wall, in addition to a small table and a chair. By one of the windows, there was a door leading into the bathroom.

"Let me explain the mission. We'll be doing it together so don't think you're in this alone. This is going to be off the books," she said.

"Like always?" Shin said as he sat down on one of the beds.

"Wait, the Church doesn't know we're here?" Ichika asked as she sat on the other bed.

"They do. They just don't want it to be connected to them in any way. But to preface, this, let me give you details on what exactly you're here for," Sophia said. She closed the door behind her. A soft whisper came from her mouth and several golden characters appeared around the room.

"Sancta Francisco. A miracle that manipulates sound. For privacy. You don't know who could be listening," she winked.

She pulled a small crystal from her pocket and tossed it into the air. The crystal hummed and levitated in the middle of the room for a few seconds before projecting the holographic image of a portly old man dressed in priestly garb.

"This is Valper Gallilei. A couple of years ago, he and a few others were involved in several heinous projects. The Holy Sword Project where he tried to create a wielder for the Holy Sword Excalibur. Project Daybreak. The works. He was excommunicated from the Church after his projects were discovered and he tried to gas several kids," she said.

"Wait… what?" Ichika's eyes widened in horror.

"Yup. This fat old fart almost succeeded in killing off the entire batch of kids from the Holy Sword Project… but there is one official survivor and one missing. One of them actually works here in the Inquisition but that's for later. The other one… well, we never found them," she explained.

"So what? You want me and Ichika to take out Valper? Last I checked, he was part of the Grigori," Shin said.

"No. Not exactly. We can't start a war here," Sophia replied.

Ichika furrowed her brow. "So what was the point of introducing him?" she asked.

"I'm getting there." Sophia swiped her finger, revealing several images of Valper located in different areas both outside and inside the Vatican. "These were taken over the course of a few weeks, even before I left for Kuoh. Valper's been spotted here and so have a gathering of rogue exorcists. Of course, even if he was from here, there's no way in hell he could have done this alone."

"Which means he has a backer," Shin concluded.

Sophia snapped her fingers and smiled. "Bingo."

"And our job is…?" Ichika asked.

"We need to find out what he's here for and nip it in the bud before he can do anything. My sources tell me he has help within the Church," Sophia said.

"And do we know who this help is?" Shin said.

Sophia turned to Shin and gave him a sheepish smile. "We do not. Or rather, we did. But…" Sophia swiped the air and showed a picture of a priest with his throat slit. "Well, as you can see, it's going to be a little hard for us to get anything out of him."

"Great…," Shin sighed. "You want us to find out who the others are."

"Nope. We got them. We just can't get them without tipping off the others. Fortunately, that's where you come in!" she chirped. Sophia waved her hands and the image changed to one of an elegant ballroom. "This Friday, there's a charity event being held in the Ritz Ballroom at the St. Regis Rome. Members of the clergy are invited there every year and it acts as a sort of philanthropy event for the Cardinals and some Archbishops. We're going to infiltrate it and squeeze everything we can out of the mole who's tipping off Valper and… Valper's co-conspirator."

"And then?" Shin asked.

"Well, of course, we do what we do best," Sophia ran a line across her throat with her thumb.

"Oh." Ichika gulped. The thought of taking the life of another person hit her harder than taking the life of a devil.

Shin stroked his chin. "Do we have a target?"

"Well, I'm glad you asked. This…" Sophia clicked her fingers. The image of a bespectacled young man appeared on the screen. He was dressed in the black attire that priests wore. There was a skittish look in his eyes. "Is Father Marco. Age 36. Took his vow of celibacy a bit later than most priests. We caught him a few days ago coming into contact with Valper. We don't know what was said but a few days later, a research facility in the Alps was attacked by an unknown individual and…"

"And?" Ichika asked.

"One of the fragments was stolen."

"What?"

Shin almost jumped when he heard Vivi's voice. He frowned. By fragments, Sophia meant…

"Excalibur."

"Wait wait, is it real or are you guys fucking with me?" Ichika said. The shock and amazement in her voice was evident.

Vivi manifested in the air next to Shin. She narrowed her eyes at Sophia. Her fists clenched and she tried to contain her anger. "The fragments were…?"

"Just Excalibur Rapidly," Sophia said.

"Wait, wait. Again, Excalibur is real?" Ichika turned to Shin.

Shin nodded. He glanced at Vivi, who was still stunned by the information.

"Excalibur is real. It's a legendary sword forged by Vivi. It's the first actual original weapon she created using the combined knowledge copied by her abilities. Unfortunately, it was broken after King Arthur died—"

"I broke it." Vivi's voice cut through the air.

Shin closed his eyes. "Yeah…"

Ichika wanted to press the topic but the sight of Vivi's blank and hollow face made her back down. She briefly looked at Shin, whose expression promised her an explanation at a later date. Nodding, she turned back to Sophia.

"Ahem, right. The facility at the Alps had the wielder of Excalibur Rapidly. We still don't know who the assailant is but all we know is that this incident occurred mere hours after Father Marco came into contact with Valper Gallilei," Sophia explained.

"Alright. This seems pretty straightforward," Shin said.

"It is. This should be done by the end of the week and you two can return to Kuoh," she replied. "First, we get our information. After that, well, we take out Valper and his co-conspirator."

"Do we know who his co-conspirator is?" Ichika asked.

"Mmm. Not really. They're doing a better job at hiding themselves than Valper does. All we know is that… this person might be a fallen angel."

Fallen Angel. Ichika frowned. It seemed that all her problems were currently originating from them. She sighed, wondering if she would ever meet a Fallen Angel who didn't want to kill her.

Sophia grabbed the crystal, causing the images to disappear. She pocketed the crystal and walked toward the door. "Oh right, there are two members of the Stars here. Well, one so far. The Onyx Star is here."

Ichika raised an eyebrow. "Stars? Shin said something about Stars."

"You'll meet them soon enough— well, I don't know just how much you'll want to meet them, considering your…" Sophia gestured to Ichika.

"My what?" Ichika asked.

"Well, you know. You being the Red Dragon Empress and all. I don't know how much you'll want to meet them."

"What…? What are you talking about?"

"My older sister…, well, you'll know it when you see her," Sophia said as she opened the door.

"Bea's not back yet?" Shin asked.

"She will be in a day or so."

It hadn't taken Asia long to find out where they were, which resulted in a quick but tearful reunion between her and Ichika. The two had grown close in the week Asia had stayed with them. Deciding that they weren't keen on being cooped up all day, the three decided to go out and explore the city.

Shin lagged behind, holding Ran in his arms as he followed the two girls as they caught up.

"Ehh? You were offered to become an Angel? Wait, humans can become angels?" Ichika asked.

Asia nodded. "Sophia's mom, Lady Uriel, asked me if I wanted to become an Angel. She said that after everything was prepared, she'd let me know when she would come pick me up. I… I never thought my life would turn out like this," she said tearfully.

Shin smiled. "Well, I think out of everyone we know, you're the one who deserves to be an angel the most."

Asia nodded, wiping some stray tears from her eyes.

"But I can imagine that…the people from the other side aren't too happy that you're back," Shin said.

Asia's smile faltered. "It's… been a challenge. There are still people who firmly believe I'm evil. But… Sophia said that motherfuckers like them won't change."

Ichika almost choked on her spit. Her eyes went wide. The innocent Asia just cursed right in front of her. Hearing such a word come out of her innocent mouth was almost akin to sacrilege.

"Pfft… ahahahaha!" Shin cackled.

"What? What did I say?" Asia asked innocently.

"N- No, nothing, it's just Ichika's face… ahahaha!" Shin laughed.

"You… You— I was just surprised!" Ichika said.

"Man, but I'd never thought I'd hear you cuss someone out, Asia," Shin said, wiping a stray tear using Ran's tail.

"Was what I said… cussing?" Asia asked, getting used to the word.

"Yes."

"Oh dear, then please excuse my rudeness," Asia said.

"No, no, it's fine. Keep cursing. It's good to vent," Shin said.

"Oh, well then."

"In return, I'll show you how to do a gesture of thanks—" Shin began to put up his middle finger. He ducked as Ichika's left hook came swinging toward his head. He smiled and raised his fingers in defeat.

Ichika glared at Shin and covered Asia's ears. "Don't listen to this idiot. Let me tell you one thing. A piece of divine knowledge from the Red Dragon Empress who has conquered 10,000 worlds. This knight here is an oaf whose influence and advice are akin to an incurable corruption of one's own morality."

"Ok, bitch," Shin said.

"Whatever, jerk," Ichika replied. She huffed and turned her gaze back to the sights before her. Her eyes widened when she saw a large church with several people lined up at the entrance. Its large dome room towered over the surrounding buildings.

"Oh! Ohhhh! That's the Sistine Chapel! Come on! Let's go before the line gets too long! I want to see if I can sneak some photos without getting caught," Ichika exclaimed.

"Oi! Ichi, wait—"

Ichika paid Shin no mind as she sprinted ahead of the two. She expertly weaved through a crowd of people that were heading in the same direction, no doubt having the same thoughts as she did. However, as she ran, Ichika didn't notice a pair of cloaked figures discreetly making their way through the crowd and inadvertently stepping onto her path.

"Eh? Woah!"

"Huh!?"

Ichika collided with one of the cloaked figures, causing them both to tumble to the ground. The two rolled a few feet before stopping. Their bodies were entangled and the other person's cloak was draped over Ichika's face.

"Ow… what the heck?" the girl said in Italian.

Ichika blinked, trying to find the words to apologize. It took her a few minutes to untangle herself from the other person. She got up and dusted herself off. "Um… I… sorry. Here, let me help you up." Ichika extended her hand out to the cloaked girl.

"Next time, can you watch where you're going? Running like that through a crowded area is… dangerous…" the woman's voice slowly died in her mouth as she caught a glimpse of Ichika. Her lips parted but no words came out. Instead, the girl slowly reached toward Ichika with shaky hands.

"Ichika!"

Ichika and the cloaked girl turned in the direction of the voice. The other cloaked person turned, her hands twitching as if she were about to summon something. A portion of her blue hair flashed out from underneath her hood.

"Sheesh! I told you not to run so fast," Shin said, jogging up to them with Asia and Ran in tow. "Besides, I— eh?" His eyes went wide with surprise when he saw the cloaked figure next to Ichika.

"Shin-chan? You're here too?" the cloaked girl said.

"Shin… chan?" Ichika turned to the cloaked girl, who suddenly began to speak fluent Japanese.

"I didn't think we'd run into you out here… Irina," Shin said.

Ichika gawked at his words, turning from him to the cloaked girl who was supposedly their childhood friend.

The cloaked girl took off her hood, revealing a mop of auburn brown hair, styled in twin tails. Her bangs framed her face and an ahoge stood prominently on her head. However, the feature that stood out most to Ichika was her eyes. A pair of violet eyes stared into her own, instilling a deep sense of nostalgia in her.

"Rin-chan?" Ichika asked.

Irina nodded, her smile almost blinding. She hugged Ichika tightly.

Ichika was taken aback for a few seconds before her lips curled upward slightly into a small smile. She returned the hug with equal intensity. "I missed you, Rin-chan."

The heels of her boots clacked as they made contact with the two thousand-year-old cobblestone streets of Rome. She let out a tired sigh as she stretched her neck. Her red eyes opened, staring straight ahead as she approached the Gates of the Vatican. The guards stiffened upon seeing her. Her name was pretty well known in the Vatican and they let her through without much issue.

Or at least, she would have crossed through the gates had she not spotted someone staring at her.

"You're a day late, Bea." The annoying voice of her neatly dressed co-worker echoed from her left. How he hadn't baked or had heat stroke dressed in a black suit and tie with a similarly colored overcoat was beyond her. Klein smiled as he made his way toward her.

"That's not normal. The White Dragon Empress is never late to a job," Klein said, walking with her into the Vatican.

"There was an issue coming here. It could be related to the Praetor incident in China except… it might also not be," Bea said.

His eyes caught a glimpse of a black feather on her coat. His slit eyes narrowed slightly. The feather was different from the feathers on her wings. "I assume that it was Fallen Angel related. It seems that there's been a lot of those popping up lately," Klein remarked, taking in the sight of the Holy City.

Bea raised an eyebrow. It was the most expressive her normally stoic face had been since their conversation began. "And what's been happening over here?"

"Excalibur Rapidly went missing over at a Church facility in the Alps," he said.

"It seems there's one incident on top of another. All our foes seem to be using Fallen Angels. It's like they have some sort of grudge against crows," she said.

Klein hummed in response. "I did find something odd too."

"And?"

"Do you remember the Genocide Archbishop?"

Beatrix froze midstep. Klein's expression didn't change as a violet aura manifested around the white-haired girl. A black halo appeared above her head and winds began to pick up. The ground trembled slightly. "What about him?"

"It seems he's been snooping around Rome. He can't enter the Holy See because of some magic preventing him from doing so so the man's had a few moles planted in here," Klein said.

"So then he's responsible for Rapidly going missing. I don't understand how this is our problem. We have bigger issues to deal with right now than some madman who's obsessed with holy swords," she said, taking a deep breath and calming down.

"Ah, but au contraire. This might be related to our little problem. You see… one of his moles ended up dead."

Bea stared at him questioningly.

"It was pretty good work. I can see why people on both sides of the Church deemed it a suicide but…"

"I see. Then I guess this has become our problem now."

"And one more thing. Shin's here."

"What?" Bea's eyes widened considerably. "Does Akane know her brother is here?"

"I just let her know. He should be expecting a very angry phone call in a few hours once Akane is done in China," Klein smiled.

"Is… Are you done giving me bad news or is this it?" Bea said hesitantly.

"Right, there is one thing to this," he replied.

"And that is?" she said.

"It seems like Shin's brought your counterpart over here."

Again, thanks guys for all your support. Please continue to support the story and leave a review. Until then, see you next time.