The Bonds We Break 8 - (Post-Shinmai Maou no Testament OC-MC)
"How far?"
The soft voice of a desolate child filled the mind of a tired old man wandering towards the pure desert. Nothing around them told them where they were. Were they close to their destination? Could they make it to it?
Despite the determination behind the shivering legs of the elder, the child could, without a doubt, feel that it wasn't going to happen. As hopeless of a youth he could be, the pale blue eyes watching over the weezing grandfather that had taken care of him for most of his short life could see- his end was nigh.
Not even a few minutes of thinking and re-thinking this, praying to be wrong, the child yelped as the casket that held him safe from the scorching sun fell off the back of the broken old man as the elder finally collapsed forward.
Rapidly shifting away from the casket and trying to awake the kind grandfather, the child wept and begged. But the old man remained still in his death, unmoving and fully conceded to the passing of time. The warmth hurt the child's tender skin, reminding him that he couldn't kneel for long by the burning sand as he shifted back within the casket.
He bawled his eyes out, crying and crying until he had starved his voice and his tears to the nothingness that fiercely wrecked his innocence. The child stared at the corpse, ignoring the stench of it as he guarded it until it was night.
Even then, the hot weather fiercely hurt him as he dared to once more leave the casket. It was painful, but he could endure it as he stood vigilant over the dead grandfather of his, thanking him as he truly 'died' to the child, before then shifting his blue-eyed gaze upon the horizon they had braved.
The moon was his witness as the boy persisted into the darkened sand, the shadows being kind of him despite the fears he felt from those. He felt so many of those looking at him as he continued to brave forward. He didn't even think of how long he walked as the night didn't seem to end with the sun rising up. He felt the warmth was manageable, and that his skin, albeit sickly pale, was adapting to the pain since only one thing persisted in him.
The sorrow turned into pain. And the pain had turned into anger. Anger for failing, anger for being weak, anger for an unwanted loss, and anger at everything and yet nothing.
The boy went on and on, until he reached something and yet nothing. A small oasis of pure golden sand that was cool to the touch. He almost tripped once he stepped onto it, shocked by the sight and the feeling, so much that the anger finally released him and he succumbed to what it had held back within him.
Collapsing alike his grandfather, the child saw one last thing before seemingly perishing. Something that shone in the depths of that bizarre environment, slowly approaching as he sank onto the blessed sand and giving him a degree of worry and curiosity.
You, of Wounded Innocence. And of Unrepenting Wrath.
It was... talking to him? The boy was unsure of what was going on, the voice growing distorted due to his faltering senses but... he heard one last thing before he 'died'. Something like a whisper, a soft sigh of pure calm that ruptured any upset left in his body.
You shall be... mine. You shall live... as mine. You shall be... HLMN.
I woke up early in the morning.
Admittedly, this nightmare was unwarranted as far as I could think of as I hadn't done the usual meditation the day before. Maybe it was punishment, or maybe a hint of mockery as it never went so deep or... so intense. The sight was definitely the way Ahriman came to be, but... what did he see in that desert? And how come it felt so... familiar?
It was familiar, but also not. It was something 'pure', but I couldn't say if it was Pure Good or Pure Evil. Hell, I couldn't tell if that was a Deity or even a Demon. Zoroastrianism was such a complex and complicated religion due to its many versions, and how even Zoroaster himself 'failed' to grasp the full scope of the mythology he was a prophet of.
The boy - Ahriman - he should have died in the desert. But he survived long enough to reach something and that something then decided to use him as a representation. He made Ahriman... Ahriman. But how? Could it be the proof of a Primordial God? Shouldn't those have a corporeal form despite their absurd powers?
The amount of questions just didn't end even as I tried to slowly get into control over my actions. I kept by my usual morning schedule in terms of cleaning up, drying up and then get myself in some proper clothes for my usual workday.
The last few weeks had been particularly interesting for the group I was teaching. The Dumas Trio had made serious progress with their unusual antics. It took a while for that bratty boy of Armand to get in line, but Amelie seemed to have ways to coerce her brother to behave. JJ was instead the most reliable, and tended to 'betray' his 'siblings' with ease with enough coaxing.
The children were doing also well when compared to other groups. I had them fighting some of the usual squads lingering the training grounds, and the three kids proved that all the sweat and blood they poured in exercising and working their flaws out was yielding some results.
It wasn't the best, but they were making big jumps compared to the steps I had expected these three to be able to accomplish.
After I was done preparing, I was off to wander through the halls of the school. At this point, only a few teachers and janitors were around. Hercule should be busy 'recovering' from a particularly difficult meeting with some representatives from China. They wanted to shoulder some of the Japanese rookies that had been sent here, but the plan was to keep them to avoid any of those to be sent to one of those 'political camps' they employed for their 'heroes'.
It didn't come out as a surprise that a 'military-like' force was being fiercely indoctrinated to be loyal to the current government rather than act as an independent agency. Dreadful, but for now there were no escalations warranting any worries in that front.
I was still keeping up with my own exercises, bolstering myself in preparation for 'something' as I had the chance to notice the peace we had worked to create was not as perfect as I had thought. It was my fault, admittedly, for ruling a peace for us in Japan to be the same for the rest of the world.
The destruction of the Vatican base in Europe meant that many unsavory groups were engaging in open warfare to obtain bigger slices of the big fat cake in the continent. While several agents had been deployed, the estimated years to see a proper return to pre-Vatican King's death sort of status quo was at least... a decade.
And that was the kindest estimation.
I wasn't going out to help just yet- Hercule wanted me to coach the kids, get them ready and then I would go out in missions with them to 'build up the bond' some more. If that had been told to me from the first few days of knowing the brats, I would have reasonably assumed this was some sort of funny joke but... I couldn't help but feel there was more to it.
The more I interacted with the kids, the more I realized how receptive they were towards me compared to others. They had other classes from time to time, so I could ask 'colleagues' about their behavior and they were tame but 'they were unfocused'.
For some reason I had yet to unravel, the kids behaved more 'actively' around me. They were less prankful, sure, but they were... also less motivated by other aspect of school beyond the lessons they had with me. It was something I further studied and I could tell they were far more accepting of advice from me than others.
Respect? That sounded the easiest option, but I had to rule it out when I realized the kids had other teachers they respected and favored. And even then, they would be less inclined to be active in the classes. Could it be something unique to my training schedule? I tried to see if that was the case, but, even then, it wasn't the case as some stuff I let them do was stuff other teachers allowed their students to do from time to time when handling practical lessons.
The more I looked into it, the more I could tell it was something more specific. The blade? Maybe? I couldn't just rule it out yet, but this felt like a major shot in the dark and I had nothing else to check beyond it. I had a feeling it was tied to what Hercule was hiding from me and the rest of the Clan in regard to the trio, but it didn't seem harmful so... I let it be. For now.
Now, today was meant to be another of those days between personal training, training with the kids and then checking on Hercule after he was done with his shift. Nothing unusual, nothing that would warrant anything to worry about and it was the case until I went to check the cafeteria for the staff.
It was usually quite empty and, with the tired mind I still had before my usual cup of coffee, I didn't notice that someone else was already there. I merely marched up to the coffee machine, loaded up a macchiato and, as I got the steamy cup in my hands and got a nice warming sip out of it, I was given a bit of a 'surprise'.
"I thought you would have gone for something more bitter. But I suppose you haven't changed in that degree."
At first, I just nodded as the female voice was familiar, but none which would have gotten my brain to panic on the spot. No, it took me a moment to glance at the source of the comment to almost drop my nice coffee cup.
"L-Lucia?!"
Despite her disguise involving a secretary formal black outfit that revealed some cleavage, long black socks and pretty dark-blue heels, combined with her hair kept short through some sticks tying up her silver locks, Lucia was still Lucia with her flat but 'expressive' looks.
She was one of those ladies that had me unnerved at first. I blamed my human nature for not seeing through the tough emotional shell she adopted as an aspect of her succubus/demonic nature until a while, but I managed to always keep a warm disposition with the young woman by telling her about the world of eroges and other lewd games online that human made.
She found those to be 'erotically sufficient' and enough of a basis to understand human desires when compared to those of demons'.
"Yes."
"You-"
"I am alone, if that is what worries you. And no one was warned of your current whereabouts."
The sudden 'answers' struck me tense and confused, but as my thoughts rationalized the principal questions behind my concern, I realized that she had hit back at those topics that could make her presence problematic. Her visit was done on her lonesome, and she had not warned anyone from back home of my presence here.
"...When?"
"I arrived yesterday, was given a tour and I saw you training and... you picked up a lot from being gone for a year," Lucia's sudden praise came through her usual plain tone, the same she used to answer my question. "Anything else?"
"W-Why are you here?"
"I may have caused some trouble to a certain acquaintance of ours since... your departure. This may have pushed my 'boss' to see me with a new job for as much as I need."
"Oh-"
"And it may be longer than I had planned since you are here, Joseph," Lucia added curtly as she stepped closer to me, eyes aimed at mine like sharp daggers. "Not as an enemy, trust me. I missed you a lot, but I wish to keep an eye on you."
"...Okay?"
The succubus nodded, a subtle shift in her lips akin to a smile came through briefly before Lucia was off to her own chores but not before pausing by the door for just a moment.
"I will be your assistant during your classes, but I think you will prefer to discuss any 'personal' questions at a more private location. Perhaps at dinner tonight?"
"I suppose that would be fine but-"
"Great," Lucia interjected, almost amused before finally leaving. "See you for classes, Joseph."
I felt my shoulders sagging as she fully left my sight. I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed her energy pattern, but I realized that nothing could have stopped Sheila from creating another amulet akin to the one I still used. I should ask that to Lucia but... maybe not before asking about other 'lesser' things to mollify any resistance to the topic.
Her presence here would have been an unnerving development, but the way she explained it, it almost felt like she had a good reason to not tell others- not even her parents. Which was... well, it was confusing to say the least.
Maybe I wasn't seeing the bigger picture yet, but I then worried on the next issue behind her role as my supposed 'assistant': the fact that I would have to prepare the kids for her renown interest in being ruthless around her 'preys'.
Luckily for us all, the kids would make it alive from that first contact... one way or another.
AN
Next time... Oh boy, next time we have a juicy POV from someone we already seen it from. And she is up to no good with her plotting.
Then in the next chapters we shall involve the first big arc for the original bit that will tie up a lot of unusual clues all at once with the finding of a 'missing key' to it all.