"GAH!"
Ichika flew across the arena and crashed into the wall. She collapsed among the rubble, falling to her hands and knees. Blood trickled down her forehead. Her chest heaved as she took in large gulps of air. Her muscles burned.
When Bea had told her to show up at 5 AM, Ichika expected something wholly different. She expected exercises. Perhaps some secret that Bea had to unlocking more of her Sacred Gear's powers, or maybe perhaps this Balance Breaker she kept talking about. Even simple exercises and meditation.
However, getting tossed around like a pinball was the last thing she expected out of her morning.
"Get up."
Ichika looked up to see Bea standing in the center of the arena. The woman's red eyes bore into her like drills.
She quickly learned that her new teacher was the type to throw her students into the deep end of a pool if it meant teaching them how to swim. What was that saying Shin said he learned from his mother?
"If you want to teach your kid to swim, throw them off a cliff into the ocean."
The Boosted Gear's gems glowed on her arms.
[To be trained by the White One. This is the peak of irony.]
Shut up… I'm trying to focus, Ichika panted as she got up. She raised her fists and charged again.
[Explosion]
Ichika disappeared in a blur and reappeared above her, coated in a green aura. "Haaah!" Ichika roared as she threw a powerful right hook at Bea's face.
Bea dodged the attack and knocked her off balance, causing her to tumble to the ground. "That's enough."
Ichika heaved as she struggled to get back up.
"Are you even trying to hit me?" Bea asked as she pulled Ichika up with one hand.
Ichika glared tiredly at her teacher.
"I am! Why can't you just stand there and let me hit you, Shishou!?" Ichika protested.
Bea dropped her on the ground, causing her to groan in pain. "Do you think an enemy will just stand still and let you hit them?"
"F-Fair point…," Ichika said.
"But you did good. You almost got me there. The whole point of this training is to get you strong enough to withstand the strain of the Balance Breaker when we get to the point of unlocking it," Bea said as she pulled her up.
"Right. Right. The Balance Breaker," Ichika dusted herself off. She wobbled slightly as she stood on her feet. "That… thing that my Sacred Gear can do."
"You don't remember what I said, do you?"
Ichika blushed in embarrassment. "I-I do! I… just need a refresher on what it is."
Bea sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "A Balance Breaker is the evolved form of a Sacred Gear. It gives you a massive boost in power so unlocking it can help bridge the gap between you and everyone else. I don't expect you to reach their level right now, but the gap between you and everyone else is too large to ignore. You remember what happened a few days ago, right?"
Ichika went silent. She glanced at her teacher's silent face. She opened her mouth to talk but was immediately cut off by Bea.
"But for now, we can take a break on that. You want to learn Miracles, right?"
Ichika's mouth snapped shut.
If Bea was amused, she never showed it. She pulled a book out of her pocket and dropped it on Ichika's lap.
"T- The Bible…?" Ichika asked, a bit surprised.
"Miracles is a semantic magic that stems from the Holy System set up by the God of the Bible. If you want to have a sneak preview of what you're in for, I suggest you read it. Your homework will be to read at least 100 pages or finish Exodus by the time we have our next session," Bea said as she began to walk off.
"Wait… Exodus? Does that mean I get to learn how to shoot lightning out of my hands?" Ichika shot to her feet as she began rapidly skimming through the Bible.
Bea didn't respond and instead left Ichika to her own devices.
The Vatican during the day was a busy place. Tourists from different parts of the world came here for a multitude of reasons. Some marveled at the architecture while others simply came here to pray or publicly denounce God and the Church. Whatever their reasons may be, every site was always packed with people and clergy to the brim.
"Are you sure you should be out?"
Shin looked over his shoulder to see Ichika looking at him. She had a worried look on her face.
"I'm fine. Besides, it's not like we're going out into combat or anything. If anything, we're just touring the place and breaking into a Priest's office," Shin said.
"I mean… you got stabbed and—"
"It's fine. Asia healed me. As good as new, see?" Shin flexed his bicep in an attempt to reassure her.
Irina chuckled. She had a teasing smile on her face as she poked Shin's cheek. "Your wife is worried about you, Shin-chan."
"S-Shut up about that!" Shin bit back. A faint trace of pink dusted his cheeks.
"Aww, is Shin-chan shy?" she said.
"Irina, stop. But seriously though, that's not the issue here," Ichika rubbed her forehead.
"Besides, we're just going to Father Marco's office. It's not like we're doing anything dangerous, right, Sophia?" Shin asked.
Sophia looked over her shoulder. A sly smile spread across her face. "Well, we never know. The man might have bugged his whole office with traps. Like, we never know. Shin might step on a pressure plate and be shot full of arrows or maybe some poison gas. And then there was a rumor that Valper had a bomb—"
Sophia stopped when she saw the increasingly worried look on Ichika's face.
"I think you should stop teasing her," Irina said.
"Shin. I think you need to go back," Ichika said, grabbing his arm.
"H-Hey! Ichi, Sophia was just joking. Right, Sophia? There's no way there's a live bomb in someone's office in the Vatican, right?" Shin asked, feeling Ichika's grip tighten around his arm.
"Well, the Pope has a stash of holy hand grenades under his desk for some reason. We actually don't know what this guy might be hiding—"
"I thought you were on my side!"
Sophia laughed when she saw the look on Shin's face.
The four walked into the Vatican, entering the college where most priests holed up to study scripture whenever they weren't attending a seminar or sermon. Shin gazed up at the aged, yellowing walls of the Vatican College, taking note of the various portraits of figures that lined the walls. His eyes drifted over to an empty spot between two people. The spot seemed to have been empty for years, however, there were signs of the portrait that still occupied it still present.
"That's where Valper's picture used to be," Sophia said.
"Eh?" Irina blinked in surprise. "I didn't know that."
"It was before everything," Sophia said. "You know before he experimented on kids and stuff."
Ichika's eyes drifted and lingered on the portrait of a nun. The nun's eyes were a light shade of violet. Her black hair cascaded down her shoulders in an almost messy fashion like her teacher. The woman wore a stark white habit in contrast to some of the nuns depicted in other portraits who wore black.
"Who's that?" Ichika asked.
"Mmm? Who's who?" Irina followed her gaze. "I dunno. Her name is blurred out of the plaque."
"I can't imagine he was ever respected here. Everyone looks like they'd get mad at me if I decided to show the rest of my legs," Ichika commented, looking at the various priests who were engaged in passionate discussions about the meanings of different passages in the Bible.
"Well, you'd be surprised what people who lived as if they were on the brink of war would respect," Shin said. "The Three Factions of the Abrahamic Faiths are always teetering on the edge of war. One spark can reignite war between Heaven, Hell, and the Grigori."
"Still though," Ichika said.
Irina placed a hand on her shoulder. "If it makes you feel better, a lot of people here don't want a war."
"Yeah, they're too busy plotting to maintain their power or... going after kids," Sophia scoffed.
"Yeah, sadly, that's the current state of the Church. There are a lot of good people but there are also a lot of people that would chain you to the floor of a Vatican jet," Irina said, pointing it out as if it were a matter of fact.
"Hey, won't you get excommunicated for heresy?" Shin hissed.
"It's a playful amount of heresy. Besides… as long as I say one Our Father and three Holy Marys, I'm good." Irina pulled her rosary out from under her shirt.
The four continued deeper into the College. Sophia kept ahead of them as she was the only one who knew where they were going. As they climbed a few flights of stairs and reached the third floor, they noticed considerably fewer people there than there were on the first and second floors.
"Xenovia didn't want to come along?" Ichika asked as they walked down the hall.
"No. She's sleeping in. I swear that girl…," Irina huffed. "I have to drag her out just to go hang out when we're not on missions."
"We're here."
The group stopped outside a door that had a small brass plaque next to it.
Fr. Marco DeGuzman
Sophia kicked the door open, causing the lock to give way and the wood to strain.
"Could've picked a less violent way to open it," Shin said, walking past her.
"I forgot the key," Sophia said, following after him.
Father Marco's office was neater than they expected. Shin half-expected books scattered everywhere, perhaps even some papers and files lying haphazardly across the floor. For a person they lied to and managed to successfully fool with a hastily written last-minute script, the man was far more put together than he had expected. He traced his finger along the edge of an aged wooden desk.
"What are we supposed to be looking for?" Ichika asked as she walked up to a bookshelf. She pulled a book out and opened it.
"Anything. He was our only lead who managed to live that long and give us information. Anything helps," Sophia said as she pulled open a drawer. Her eyes narrowed as she pulled out pieces of yellowing clothes. "Gross."
Irina rubbed her chin as she looked at the glass shelf filled with various objects. "I know he's a priest but how many variations of the crucifix do you need?"
"I don't know but he might not be that priestly," Shin said as he opened the bottom drawer of his desk, only to be met with a… something. He pulled it out of the desk, showing Sophia and Irina.
"Oh." Sophia stared dumbfounded at the red ball gag in Shin's hand.
"I mean… we all have our hobbies, right? Also, should you really be touching that without gloves on," Irina said.
Shin tossed it in the garbage can next to the desk before squirting hand sanitizer into his hand.
As Shin lamented and Irina cackled at Shin's misfortune, Ichika's fingers brushed against a portrait of the Virgin Mary. Her eyes narrowed when the portrait was brushed slightly askew by her movements and the edge of a small hollow was revealed.
"Guys."
The three stopped talking and watched as Ichika removed the portrait. She reached inside and pulled out a moderately thick docket bound in red string. There was a flash drive in her other hand.
"I think this could be it," Ichika said.
"He has a computer here. Let's plug in the flash drive," Shin said.
Ichika handed Shin the flash drive.
Shin booted up the computer. "Um, what's the password?"
"Shin, it's on a sticky note on his monitor," Sophia pointed out.
"Oh. Okay, let's see," Shin typed in the password and logged in. He plug the flash drive into the USB port and opened the files inside. "Hmm, Holy Sword Project details. More Holy Sword Project Details. Stuff about Excalibur… There are some audio logs from him on here. Let's see if we can listen to them…"
Meanwhile, Ichika undid the red strings binding the docket together. She narrowed her eyes as she read the title of the file inside.
Project Daybreak
Ichika pulled out one of the files and began to read it.
It's weird writing a text log instead of making an audio log but this will be the only memo I make. A lot of the details I want to put down are things I cannot properly convey on an audio log so I will write it as sort of an abstract to a research article.
The rest of the information will be in audio logs located in an audio recorder within this docket. I aim to document and record all data in this research through a combination of both. May God bless my endeavors and make them ever more fruitful.
Abbess Maria
Eh… that last name is…? Ichika thought. She began to read the abstract of the documents.
The undertaking we are about to go under is a massive one. The artificial human creation process perfected by my colleagues at the Sigurd Institution shall be perfected even more. We cannot wait for more. Heaven is hiding secrets and no new Angels have been born for years. In addition, Angels cannot reproduce under normal circumstances without the chance of becoming a Fallen Angel. Thus, this project aims to produce Angels, or at least Nephilim in order to bolster the ranks of our soldiers. Exorcists cannot be our sole fighting force, especially against Devils, Fallen Angels, and other Gods.
"Guys," Ichika said.
"Hmm?" Shin looked up from the computer.
"I found something," Ichika said, pulling out the folders inside the docket.
Sophia froze when she saw the words written on the folder.
"Project… Daybreak? Isn't that the thing Father Marco said?" Irina asked.
"Yeah. There's a whole bunch of stuff in here too." Ichika reached into the docket and pulled out a black flash drive.
"So… if that is the Project Daybreak Drive and this is the Holy Sword Project Drive, then this guy… just has all this information here?" Shin asked.
"I doubt Valper needs the information on the Holy Sword Project. He was the leading expert on it," Sophia said, calming her heart rate. "How did… he get this though? The Church has the entire thing locked down. Any project they have should have been locked down in the vaults of the Vatican."
"It says that there are 7 flash drives in here. 2 of them are missing. Here, put this into the computer," Ichika said, handing Shin the flash drive.
Shin nodded and slotted the flash drive into the only other open USB port. "It's not just audio logs. It's video logs too," Shin said as he scoured the folders.
"Woah. This is dated all the way back. How long has the Church been doing this?" Irina asked, looking at the screen.
"It says they're connected to something called the Sigurd Institution?" Ichika said as she read the Abbess Maria's abstract.
"That place. Now it makes sense," Sophia muttered under her breath.
"Wait? Why does that make sense?" Ichika asked, a bit confused.
"The Sigurd Institution is a secret Vatican research facility that aimed to create someone capable of using the Demonic Sword, Gram." Sophia grabbed the mouse from Shin and scrolled through the logs. "It's like the Holy Sword Project except instead of Excalibur, they wanted Gram."
"Okay, I still don't get how that makes sense. What do swords have to do with Angels?" Irina asked.
"The… human creation part, right?" Ichika recalled.
"Yeah. If they're going to make artificial angels… or at least, artificial Miracle Children, then why not use the research from a place that already perfected it as your groundwork," Shin said as he watched Sophia silently scroll through the files.
The scrolling stopped when she got to the first one all the way at the bottom.
09, Feb, 1998
"That's the first log," Sophia said.
"Should we listen to it here?" Irina asked.
"No, people might hear us or whoever was after this might find out we have it. Let's take it back. I have my laptop inside a talisman so we can listen to it there," Shin said as he ejected both drives from the computer.
Ichika sifted through the docket once more, hoping to find more clues about Project Daybreak. "Hmm?" She pulled out an old, worn photo of four people.
There was a woman with black hair, dressed in a white habit and a lab coat. She had a small smile on her face as she sat next to three children. The eldest of these three was a young girl with long messy white hair and red eyes. The other was a young boy with white hair and blue eyes. And there was one more child in the woman's arms. The child in her arms had short, snow-white hair—
Ichika blinked when Sophia pulled the photo from her hands.
"Hey! I was looking at that!" Ichika said.
Sophia said nothing and gazed at the photo. "Come on. Let's get out of here."
Shin stole glances from Sophia as she worked on reading through the files. Her eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she closed the folder and placed it neatly on top of the other stack. There was a seeming reverence with the way she handled these folders. It was almost as if…
Shin shook his head and focused on his own task: Listening through the audio logs.
"I still don't know why they want to trade this. Half the data in here looks to be unreplicable," Sophia said.
Shin placed the headphones on his head and began to listening to the audio recording.
Log-DB-1997-0004
"I believe we have made a new discovery. The human creation methods from the Sigurd Institution have given me a lot of groundwork. The key to all of this was creating angelic haploid DNA from scratch. However, I aim to go further. Mere angel DNA is not enough. Our initial tests have gone well. We managed to reverse engineer angelic haploid cells that can exist within our medium without genetic degradation. Finally, years of hard work have paid off. However, we cannot simply gestate a new angel from scratch. Our roadblock came in the form of… well, form. When introduced, two angelic haploids did fertilize each other, however all our tests did not survive to gestation.
"My current working hypothesis is that it cannot survive out of utero. However, exposing our research can mean the end. What we are doing amounts to anathema. Right now, it is of now concern. With our current progress, we can project to reach the testing phase within 1 year."
"Please tell me you found something useful," Sophia said.
"No. It's just… she's making angels," Shin said. "At least, without the science technobabble, this is what I got."
Sophia scooted over to him and began scrolling through his laptop. "I should've let you do all this. My eyes are tired."
"We can do this tomorrow, you know," Shin said.
"No," Sophia said forcefully. "I can't… We can't stop until we find out why. Two Excalibur Fragments are gone already, Shin," she said.
"I get that but it's just we need to—"
"Then if you get it, shut up and analyze with me," Sophia snapped. She snatched the laptop from his hand and scrolled down. She clicked the log titled: Log-DB-1998-0010.
"Our boon came today in the form of a stranger. He called himself Rae. While we were unable to procure Archangel DNA without being excommunicated, this man provided us with something more. Ancient texts have long since suggested the origins of Devils. Lilith, Adam's First Wife, was converted into a Devil via the power of the Fallen Seraph, Lucifer. If I cannot procure pure angel DNA from a Seraph such as Michael or Gabriel, why not turn to the one that is already dead? The only problem I'll have now is the DNA. I need an Angel, not a Devil. Have I perhaps hit another roadblock?"
Sophia clicked on another file as soon as the recording ended, titled "CM-001". As she was about to hit play, Shin grabbed her wrist.
"Wait. Sophia, we need to take a break. We've been at this for 5 hours," Shin said.
Sophia sighed in frustration. "Fine. If you want to go, then go. I'll finish up here."
"No. One more. This is the last one… or I go get Bea to drag you out of here," Shin said.
Sophia clenched her jaw. The thought of her older sister being here was unappealing at the moment. She sighed and relented to Shin's demand. "Fine. Get her. I don't care. Just, if you're going to go out, bring back some snacks."
Shin sighed and nodded before getting up to leave.
She clicked play on CM-001.
"It took me months to do this. Hours of lost sleep. I've cycled through 10 researchers. However, I believe I have done it. How could I not have realized this sooner? I lacked a stabilizer. Pure Angelic DNA by itself cannot stabilize outside the body of an angel. The lack of sufficient energy to sustain the fetus is not something we currently have access to. Not even Valper's current project can provide me with the energy output I need to synthesize my project.
"But that was where I realized something. Why make Angels? Nephilim currently exist but the process of creating them is lengthy and arduous. So why not make my own? I can utilize the human creation techniques from the Sigurd Institution and intermix Angelic DNA within it. And lo and behold, Rae provided me with an ample amount. Using DNA extracted from his sperm, I was able to find a way to use genetic recombinant techniques and the power of the Holy System in order to recreate Lucifer's DNA from when he was a Pure Angel."
"Without a good reservoir of human DNA, I decided to extract one of my eggs. And… I fused it with the purified DNA of Lucifer's descendant to mine. The child was recently removed from the gestation tube. The DNA of an angel and human artificially intermixed was incredibly unstable so I simulated the environment of a woman's uterus in order to allow for natural development. The child shall be called Chimera-001 or CM-001 for short. We have another one in development which is aptly labeled Chimera-002, or CM-002 for short."
The recording ended there.
Sophia sighed and leaned back against the headboard. Her eyes roamed the room before lingering on a photo of her and her older sister.
It's almost that day too, isn't it?
"Mmmm… Irina, why is the Bible so hard to read?" Ichika yawned as she flipped to another page. She had several grocery bags looped around her arms. The two walked past the entrance to Vatican City, making their way past the crowds.
Irina looked over her shoulder. "Eh? You're still on Genesis?" she asked.
"Yeah," Ichika furrowed her eyebrow. "Shishou wants me to read 100 pages before we move on with training. Can you believe it? I am the Red Dragon Empress. Mine eyes can perceive any magic she chooses to teach me. My connection to the Akashic Records allows me instant mastery of the arcane arts. Surely, the priestly and holy arts are no different from those whose great energy flows from the mystical stars."
"Y- Yeah," Irina chuckled as she tried to keep up with Ichika's antics. Without Shin here, translating Ichika's delusions into plain speech was difficult, if not impossible.
"Mmm… I'll read this later," Ichika sighed as she put the Bible in her jacket pocket. She fished through the grocery bag and handed Irina a granola bar.
Irina accepted it and began to open it. "So, how far are you along with Shin?"
Ichika almost choked on her snack. She coughed violently, spitting up the half-chewed granola. "W- What!? M- Me and Shin! What are you…?"
A sly smile spread across Irina's lips. "Oh, you know. I figured since you two have known each other for a while, you'd be… you know."
"T-That's not what that means!" Ichika sputtered. Her cheeks burned red as she tried to ignore Irina's teasing words.
"Aw, come on. Don't be like that. Think about it. Shin goes out of his way for you. He always has you in mind. Every time he came to visit, he wouldn't stop talking about you. What is that if not love~?" Irina giggled.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Ichika huffed, walking ahead of her.
"Hey! Wait up! My ice cream is in there!" Irina said, speeding up to catch up to her.
The two girls slowed down as they approached the Inquisition's Headquarters.
"You know, we haven't been able to spend time together like this since we were kids," Irina said as she ate her ice cream.
"Yeah. You, me, Shin, and Mio," Ichika said.
"You'll make sure to visit once this all blows over, right?" Irina asked, a hint of vulnerability creeping into her voice.
Ichika blinked. "What kind of question is that?" Ichika laughed. "You think you can just get rid of me? You are my loyal subject. An Empress always makes sure to keep her confidants within arms' reach. It would be hard to govern the ten thousandfold cosmos without such loyal compatriots."
Irina rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. So what am I? If Asia is the Priestess and Shin is the Knight, am I the Paladin?"
Ichika smiled. She was about to respond when she saw Shin sitting on the stairs. "Shin-chan? Aren't you supposed to be inside?"
Shin looked up from his phone to see Irina and Ichika approaching. "I'm taking a break. Sophia's still in there looking through everything. By the way, did you buy it?"
Irina reached into the grocery bag and tossed him a small ice cream bucket. "Häagen Daz. Dulce de Leche. This set me back a good amount. You owe me. Like all the other times."
Shin caught the small ice cream tub and popped it open. A spoon manifested in his hand. "Hah? You're a bit greedy, aren't you? Didn't Jesus teach you to share your wealth?"
Irina crossed her arms. "He said give to the poor not be your best friend's personal wallet. You owe me for the ice cream and for the gift you supposedly bought Ichika."
Shin looked to Ichika for support only to be met with resistance.
"No. Pay her back yourself," Ichika said.
"This is cruel. We're in the Vatican! Isn't this a place of love and almsgiving?" Shin lamented.
"Oh. You three are lively."
They turned their heads to see a man approaching them. The man's black Doc Martin shoes hit the ground audibly as he approached the building. His one-piece suit was covered in faint bloodstains. Yet, even with the blood, the crowd didn't seem to bat an eye at his state. The man smiled as he gazed at them.
"Mmm. Level 25. Level 55 and Level 53," the man said.
"Huh? Levels?" Ichika said.
"Oh, my apologies. It's just something I do when I gauge others," the man apologized.
"Klein."
The three turned to see Bea standing in the doorway. Her red eyes gazed past them and at the man standing at the bottom of the steps.
"Don't waste my time. Come on," Bea said.
"Fine, fine. I never thought I'd get to see Akane's brother here though," Klein said.
Shin's eyes widened slightly at the remark. If this man knew his older sister, then he must be…
"I see the boy's almost as sharp as his older sister," Klein smiled as he walked past Shin.
Bea rolled her eyes and turned to them. "Go get, Sophia. We need to talk."
"Wait! What for?" Ichika asked.
Bea didn't bother to turn around as she addressed Ichika before going back inside.
"Another Excalibur Fragment has gone missing."
Housekeeping
Dante687: Thanks, man. I live for compliments.
Royalrain20xx: Oh man, you don't know the half of it. The fact that he can't detach himself from her will be the thing that will play as his biggest strength and his biggest weakness a lot of the time. There are a lot of moving parts to Shin's past trauma and how he'll interact with Ichika later on. And as for Bea, well, I thought it'd be peak irony for her considering who she is. But for Bea, her reasons for teaching Ichika are a lot more nuanced than having it be ironic on her part. You'll see later on why Bea made those comments and why she wants to bring Ichika up. She almost sees herself in Ichika in how naive Ichika is to all of this at the moment. Don't worry, bro. You don't have dementia. I never gave a hint as to what attacked the facility prior to Freed showing up to take the Excalibur Fragment stored there. You're good.
That's housekeeping out of the way.
Now for the meat of the author's note, Project Daybreak! A supersoldier project like the Sigurd Institution and the Holy Sword Project. As if the Church didn't have enough of those. But yeah, keep paying attention. I'll keep sprinkling audio logs from Abbess Maria for the rest of the arc. I had a lot of fun making this. I didn't think I'd be able to pseudoscience my medical degree into my fanfiction but here it is.
Anyway, as we chug along to our path to breaking free from the canon volumes, I hope you're all ready for what's coming.