THWACK!
CLANG!
The sound of footsteps echoed through the Institution as several Exorcists came to the training ground to watch the spectacle that had the older Exorcist trainees in slight awe. Uriel observed the spar from the sidelines alongside Griselda and Touji.
The two girls ran around the sparring ring, trading blows with their wooden swords.
"Look at those kids go!"
"As expected of Lady Uriel's daughter…"
"Don't count the Apostle out yet."
CLAK!
Irina slid backward from the force of Lucia's blow but caught herself by slamming her wooden sword into the dirt. She panted, grimacing as she winced at the pain from Lucia's strike. She met Lucia's dark eyes and smiled.
There was a cold calculated calm in her friend's eyes. It was different from Lucia's normally stoic gaze.
Dad was right. She is strong, Irina thought.
She clenched her jaw and spread her feet apart. She held the wooden sword to her side.
Lucia's eyes widened slightly in surprise before gripping her blade tightly.
The two girls ran toward each other and Irina parried Lucia's blade, sending her arm upward. The force of the blow sent a gust of wind across the arena.
"I'm impressed, Touji," Uriel said as she watched Lucia and Irina lock blades. "You managed to train her from the ground up. And you said she had no prior training before this?"
Touji nodded, a bit proud that his daughter was managing to go toe to toe with a Nephilim. "Yes, Irina has never had any training prior."
"To think that only 10 months of training under you can give her the skills needed to push Lady Lucia like this," Griselda mused. "She must have some latent talent."
Uriel nodded as she turned back to the spar. Red light wrapped around Lucia's wooden sword as she slashed Irina, who blocked the attack. An explosion of dust rocked the battlefield as Irina jumped from the dust cloud and brought her blade down.
Lucia pushed her back and ran forward, performing several sword thrusts that Irina narrowly avoided.
The two locked blades again, pushing back against the other. They were seemingly evenly matched until Lucia let out a gasp.
Irina slammed her fist into Lucia's midsection, knocking the breath out of her and sending her backward.
I got her!
Irina thrust her sword forward as orange light wrapped around her blade at extreme speeds.
As the wooden blade neared Lucia, Lucia's eyes snapped open and she parried all three attacks at rapid speed.
"Haaaaah!" Lucia rushed forward, inflicting a flurry of slashes on Irina.
Irina tightened her jaw as she slid backward. She dropped into a quickdraw stance and met Lucia head-on. Another dust cloud was kicked up as the two girls collided, sending wind billowing in all directions.
"Are you planning to teach Lady Lucia basic Miracles soon, Lady Uriel?" Touji asked as he watched Irina jump out of the dust cloud.
"I am. Her control over her Holy Power and her innate Power of God has been deeply refined over the past 10 months. Since she's determined to make Irina her Apostle, then we will perform the ritual later tonight. She's already been poring over books behind my back after I told her about it," Uriel chuckled.
"By reading, you don't mean she gets into your collection... of boy's love, do you, Lady Uriel?" Griselda asked.
Uriel sputtered and her face turned red from the accusation. "As if I would let a child read something like that!"
Lucia burst from the dust cloud with her sword and pointed it in Irina's face.
"Match!" Griselda called out, stopping the two.
Lucia lowered her wooden sword and panted. "When did you get so good? The last few months, you've been on your butt whenever we sparred."
Irina smiled wryly. "Hah, I asked Dad to help me."
"Lucia."
She turned around at the sound of her name to see her mother approaching. "Mama…? I looked cool out there, right?"
Uriel chuckled and ruffled her hair. "You looked very cool out there, Luci."
"Ehehe," A small smile graced Lucia's lips as she basked in the glow of her mother's praise.
"Now, now. If you don't want to go another round with Irina, I suggest you two get cleaned up and meet me in the classroom so we can start learning about Miracles," Uriel said.
Irina and Lucia's eyes lit up in excitement and the two ran off, chattering excitedly about how cool it would finally be to be summoning meteors from the sky.
As a way to streamline their education, Uriel decided it would be best for Lucia to learn Miracles alongside Irina. Neither girl had any experience with it and it was unanimously agreed upon that it would be better for the two to learn together rather than to have a gap between them. So, while Irina trained with her father for the past couple of months to catch up to Lucia, Lucia was trained by Uriel to further refine her control of her Holy Power.
Of course, Uriel took their past experience into account. With Irina, she would be slightly behind due to not growing up within the Institution and the fact that she won't be able to properly wield Holy Power until she became Lucia's Apostle. However, it would be a good way to provide Irina with base knowledge.
"Mama… can we get started now?" Lucia asked, snapping her mother out of her misery.
"Luci, we can't talk that way to your Mom," Irina said.
Uriel smiled. At least now, Lucia would have someone to keep her somewhat in check.
"Now, now, let's not get too ahead of ourselves, Luci. I still have to explain what we're learning today. Until Irina becomes your Apostle, she won't be able to do any actual practice so I'll just explain what we'll be learning from here and you can get started on something basic," Uriel emphasized the word "basic".
Lucia nodded, ready to absorb every last detail her mother would say. All she cared about right now was the fact that she could learn a new power.
"Now, let's begin by asking what a Miracle is. Does anyone want to answer?" Uriel asked as she wrote the word "Miracle" on the chalkboard.
Lucia's hand immediately shot into the air. "A Miracle is magic that the Church uses! It lets us use floaty letters to rewrite the world around us to make things explode or set things on fire!"
Irina nodded excitedly along with her words.
"That's true. But let me explain it a bit more in detail," Uriel said as she began writing on the chalkboard.
"Miracles are exactly what you say they are, Luci. The system of Miracles is the primary magic of the Church. The power of Saints and Prophets, as well as the powers belonging to God and Angels. With Holy Power, we can rewrite the world around us, turning and weaponizing ideas and metaphors like…," Uriel waved her hand. Several incomprehensible letters of the angelic language swirled around her before forming a torrent of fire that sprung from her hands.
"Creating the pillar of flames from the Book of Exodus. Or…," the letters twisted and changed as a basking shark made of light swam above the palm of Uriel's hand. "Recreate the great fish that swallowed Jonah. We can make things from the Bible real or rewrite the reality around us."
Lucia eagerly began scribbling notes of whatever her mother said. The faster she got this, the more she could do. She glanced out of the corner of her eye to see the star-struck Irina trying to manifest the letters.
"Of course, to cast Miracles, you need Holy Power. For Angels, it's simple," Uriel closed her hand and dispelled the shark. "We can use our innate Holy Power to manifest Miracles around us. However, for a human, it's a bit different, Irina."
Irina stopped waving her hands and looked up at the sound of her name.
"Humans can gain Holy Power by connecting to the Sephirot. Think of it as a giant computer at the top of Heaven that gives power to prayers. Humans normally pray for years in order to channel Holy Power through their bodies but as an Apostle, it will be different for you," Uriel said.
Irina tilted her head, not understanding what she said. "Different?"
"Mama's right! She told me the other night! I have to give you something called a Sacred Factor!" Lucia said.
Uriel nodded. "Tonight, you will receive a Sacred Factor from Lucia to mark your status as an Apostle. A Sacred Factor will allow you to use Holy Power as if it were your own and borrow power from the System without needing prayer to protect you."
"Woooaaah! So cool! Can I get it now? Can I?" Irina practically begged.
"Later, once we finish the lesson. Now, Irina, you don't have a Sacred Factor yet so you can ask Luci how to do this later," Uriel said.
Irina pouted but nodded.
Lucia placed her hand on her shoulder. "We're partners. I'll teach you everything Mama shows me."
"Only one thing Luci."
Lucia nodded.
"The first Miracle I'll teach you is very very simple," Uriel said. She held her hand out and a small circle of letters formed above it. A swirling mist coalesced above the palm of her hand. The mist twisted and churned. "This is a Miracle that allows you to create clouds—"
"Clouds? Mama, that's so lame," Lucia said.
"Luci. It's a safe first Miracle to learn. Besides, you have Leliel already. I want you to—"
"Get the basics down," Lucia repeated.
"That's right," Uriel said.
Irina raised her hand. "Um, is Leliel that thing I see Luci use all the time? The one with the black and red light?"
Uriel nodded before dispersing the cloud. "Right, since you did ask that question, we can go into the different types of Miracles." Uriel split the board into three columns before writing words up at the very top of said columns. She tapped the left side of the board with the chalk.
"The first one we'll talk about is known as Power of Prayer. These Miracles are Miracles everyone can use like the Pillar of Clouds Miracle. Usually, these Miracles can be things you read about in the Bible or other regular things like fire," Uriel explained.
Lucia and Irina nodded.
"Moving on, the second one is one Luci should know. Power of God. These Miracles are special Miracles that belong to certain Angels. For example, Lucia has a Power of God called Leliel, that lets you…?" Uriel said.
"It lets me fuse Light and Dark together!" Lucia said.
"Very good. Other Powers of God are Miracles like mine. Lahat Chereb," Uriel wrote the name on the board.
"It's the strongest fire on the planet! Aunty Sandy told me once that Mom destroyed an entire army of demons with it in one swing!" Lucia said giddily.
"Woaaah!" Irina turned to Uriel with stars in her eyes.
"I need to talk to Sandalphon about the stories she tells you," Uriel said.
"What's the last kind?" Irina asked.
Uriel's face grew more serious. "Forbidden Miracles. I want you two to promise that unless you have no other choices left, you will not cast these. I won't teach you any before you ask but just in case." She directed her stare at her daughter, who stiffened and nodded.
"Good. Forbidden Miracles are Miracles that Heaven controls and monitors. These Miracles are really dangerous and one wrong move and…" Uriel smiled. "You might blow up everything and everyone around you."
Lucia and Irina paled at the sight of her menacing smile.
"Now, let's—"
The door to the classroom opened and Griselda peeked inside.
"Lady Uriel. Lady Sandalphon is here and waiting in your office," she reported.
"I see. Hmm…"
"Mama, no work! You have to show us some cool Miracles!" Lucia begged.
Uriel sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Can you tell Sandy that I have something going on? She can wait in the office. And have Ferdinand and Touji entertain her while I'm teaching the kids."
"I'm afraid she said it's important, Milady. It's regarding a transfer?"
Uriel sighed in slight annoyance at having her lesson interrupted by her older sister. "Can you take over for me, Griselda? Just show Lucia how to cast the Pillar of Clouds Miracle. I'll be back in… however long it takes Sandalphon to talk to me about this transfer."
"Mama," Lucia said, looking downcast as her mother walked to the door.
Uriel smiled and petted her head. "We'll continue after I finish with Aunty Sandy, okay? Selda will show you how to cast Pillar of Clouds. After that, we can work more on Leliel, okay?"
"Promise?" Lucia asked.
"Promise."
Lucia smiled and nodded as Uriel left the room.
"Miss Lucia. Miss Irina. Now, let's begin the lesson," Griselda said.
"Is Mama really going to teach me and Rin how to use clouds?" Lucia asked.
"Yeah, I thought we were going to do cool things like that one time I saw you summoning water and ice to blast that mountain to pieces!" Irina said.
"No, you two. For now, you'll learn how to use this Miracle before Lady Uriel teaches you other Miracles. Besides, making clouds is useful in fighting. Luci, do you remember what that vampire used to chase you and Miss Irina?" Griselda asked.
"Fog?" Lucia tilted her head.
"Yes, and were you able to see?" Griselda said.
"N-No," Lucia said.
"Now, can you imagine using this to make it so the person you're fighting can't see your attacks?"
Lucia's eyes lit up as she thought of the possibilities. She imagined using fog to mask her attacks while Irina went in from the side. The bad guys, especially the Epilogue, would never realize what was happening.
"Rin, I'm going to use clouds!" Lucia said.
"Really? But you said clouds were lame?" Irina said.
"B-But, that was before Selda said we can use it to make sure the bad guys can't see us. Like ninjas and smoke bombs!" Lucia said as she began focusing on her holy power.
"Ohhh! Like we can blind them and stuff! I got it!" Irina agreed.
Lucia closed her eyes as she focused on drawing out her holy power. She had gotten more control over it over the past several months, refining and sharpening her control. A slight red hue appeared between her hands as letters began to spin around.
"Now, just use your Holy Power to create fog. The letters act as guides to let you see the world. Like when you're writing on paper. You can erase and add letters to make new meanings. I'm not sure if your mother got this far in explaining but Enochian scripture appears around us because of our rewriting of the world," Griselda said.
Lucia nodded and Irina watched in amazement as the letters flickered before vanishing. A thick small cloud appeared between Lucia's hands and rapidly grew.
"Selda! Selda! Look!" Lucia said excitedly as the cloud kept growing.
"Okay, Luci. You can stop now," Griselda said as the cloud kept growing.
"I… I can't!"
"Oh dear…," Griselda sighed as the cloud engulfed the entire classroom.
"Wait! Luci! The clouds! The clouds!"
Uriel suppressed a sigh as she heard her daughter and Irina yelling about clouds. She smiled wryly at her older sister, who stood there in her office with an amused smile on her face.
"You've taken up Helel's advice on finally giving Lucia some training?" Sandalphon asked as she brushed some of her blue-silver hair aside.
"I was supposed to be but you picked a wonderful time to visit, Sandalphon," Uriel sighed as she leaned back in her chair. She gestured for her older sister to take a seat.
Sandalphon pulled out one of the chairs but stopped when she felt someone tug her dress from behind. She looked over her shoulder and smiled softly. "It's okay, dear. You can sit down."
"So this is her?" Uriel watched as a small girl crept out warily from behind Sandalphon and took a seat in one of the chairs.
The girl looked terrified. She quivered like a leaf as she gripped the hem of her dress. The girl's blonde hair was slightly messy, a sign of the environment she must have been in before. Her green eyes flicked upward at Uriel and flinched when she met Uriel's green eyes.
"It's okay. You're fine. You'll be okay here. This place is going to be your new home," Sandalphon said as she gently stroked the girl's hair.
The girl's trembling visibly calmed at her touch.
"So? Who is this girl?" Uriel asked.
"Ah, this child. Well, the abbey she used to stay at was closed down due to… several unfortunate circumstances regarding the priest running it," Sandalphon said.
Uriel raised an eyebrow. "Odd for you to get specifically involved with a child."
"I could say the same for you but here we are. This child was labeled as a Saint by the church she lived in," she replied. "Her Sacred Gear awakened when she was overcome with compassion to heal a puppy, or so the town says."
The girl looked meekly at Uriel.
"I see. There's a bit of fluff inserted there," the younger Seraph replied. "But her Sacred Gear is what I think it is?" Uriel turned her gaze to the girl, who yelped and looked away.
"Mmm. It is the [Twilight Healing]," Sandalphon said.
"I see. That's why she was labeled as a Saint," Uriel said.
"Ah. I haven't introduced her yet. This cute child is Asia Argento. I do hope you can take her in," Sandalphon said. "I was trying to find a different place to put her in but putting her in an orphanage in the Vatican doesn't really seem like a good idea. I figured it's better to put her with someone who actually has experience raising children."
Uriel ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "That's your reasoning?"
"Well, I'm not wrong, am I? Would you rather have this child be placed in a political hotzone or would you rather her have a normal life?" Sandalphon said.
Uriel remained silent.
"Besides, wouldn't it be good for Luci to have more friends? I heard she only has one friend for now," Sandalphon added.
"I guess," Uriel replied.
"So…? Is that a yes?"
Uriel sighed and leaned forward in her chair. She looked at Asia and smiled gently. "How about you, child? Would you like to stay here?"
Asia fiddled with her skirt and tried to put on a brave face. "I-I.. um… I-Is it r-really o-okay for me to live here?"
Uriel blinked before nodding. "Of course. I have a daughter about your age. I'm sure she'd be happy to make some friends."
"Mmm. Don't be put off by Luci's stoic face. She's a really cute girl once she warms up to you. She might be a bit cold and odd at first but—"
"What was that?" Uriel's eyes narrowed.
"Eh? Uri?" Sandalphon shrank in her seat as Uriel took a deep breath.
"Lucia is not a cold girl! She is a pure and wonderful child! I'll have you know that the other day at the park, she didn't stare at ants the whole time or play with worms! Irina managed to pull her out of her comfort zone to where she said 3 words! 3 words to other kids! A-And I'm even thinking of putting her in the local elementary school!"
Asia watched as Uriel went off on a tirade on Sandalphon. However, for some reason, she didn't feel afraid of the Archangel anymore. A warm feeling welled up inside her and for the first time since her Church closed down, Asia smiled.
"Eh?"
"Huh?"
Irina and Lucia blinked simultaneously as Uriel walked into the room with a child.
It had been a few hours since the lesson on Miracles ended with Uriel returning to the classroom to wrap up the lesson and caving into Lucia and Irina's incessant demands to teach them another one. Touji walked in behind Uriel and closed the door.
"This is Asia. She'll be living with us starting today," Uriel said. "Luci, be nice to her. Her home got shut down so your Aunty Sandy brought her to live with us."
Lucia tilted her head before gazing at the girl with a stoic expression on her face.
Irina nudged Lucia with her elbow. "Say hi!" she whispered.
Lucia blinked before rubbing the back of her head. "H-Hello, I'm Lucia…"
Asia nodded shyly. "I-I'm A-Asia Argento…"
"Mama, can we do the Apostle ceremony now?" Lucia asked.
"This kid…," Uriel sighed.
Irina broke from Lucia's side and walked over to Asia. She smiled and grabbed both of Asia's hands. "Hello! I'm Irina Shidou! I'm Lucia's friend. I hope we can be friends too!"
Asia's eyes widened and she nodded fervently.
"I-I guess… we can also be friends," Lucia said as she walked over. Her eyes shifted color as she gazed at Asia, scanning her with [Warning System],
[Asia Argento]
[Estimating Combat Level… Strength: 4, Speed: 6, Durability: 5, Magic: 45, Skill: 10. Calculating average combat level: 70]
[Age: 7, Race: Human, Gender: Female, Marital Status: N/A]
[Special Trait: Saint, Dragon Tamer]
[Equipment: Twilight Healing]
Wait… Lucia's eyebrows furrowed as she stared at Asia. This girl looked extremely familiar to the point where she got an extreme sense of deja-vu.
"HOLY MAIDEN!" Lucia pointed her finger at Asia. "You're the Holy Maiden who will marry the Red Dragon Emperor! I saw it in my dreams!"
"E-Eh? D-Dragon…!?" Asia yelped and jumped behind Uriel.
"Luci!" Uriel chopped her forehead, causing her daughter to yelp. "You're scaring her."
Asia peeked out from behind Uriel and looked at Lucia warily.
"B-But I did see her in my dreams," Lucia whined as she looked intently at Asia.
"I know but that doesn't mean you can scare her like that, Luci. You have to say sorry, okay?" Uriel chastised.
Lucia pouted before walking up to Asia and lowering her head. "I'm sorry…"
"It's… okay," Asia said as she slowly crept out from behind Uriel.
"Anyway, I'll let you girls get to know each other better later. Let's begin with the ritual. Asia, go stand by Touji and Griselda, okay?" Uriel said.
Lucia and Irina's eyes lit up at her words. The fated day was finally here.
Asia nodded and walked over to Touji and Griselda. She stood closer to Griselda as she watched on with some apprehension in her eyes.
"Luci! Wait! Irina, stand right there!" Uriel said as she directed the girls on where to stand. "No, no! Lucia, stand over there."
Lucia and Irina moved around the room. After a few seconds of moving, the two got into the positions Uriel wanted them to be in.
"Lady Uriel, is positioning really necessary? Lady Gabriel didn't do it when I became her Apostle," Griselda asked.
"It is for them. Lucia is young. Doing this will significantly drain her of power so I have to have her on a sigil that stabilizes her when it happens," Uriel said.
"Mama! Is this right?" Lucia asked as she stood over a sigil with several Enochian characters inscribed into it.
"Yes, Luci. Just stay there okay? I'll tell you what to do next. Irina, are you ready?" Uriel said as she walked over.
"I-Is it going to hurt?" Irina asked, suddenly feeling a bit nervous. She had seen Lucia train with Uriel before. The word "restraint" was nowhere in the girl's vocabulary.
"A little bit. It will just sting," Uriel reassured her.
Irina nodded and straightened herself.
"Lucia, to create an Apostle, you must do two things. Separate a portion of your Holy Power from your body. This will be different from all the times you've summoned and projected Holy Power as energy blasts," Uriel said. "Now focus. Focus on your power and bring it out. It needs to be a good chunk of your Holy Power. You can use the Warning System to estimate."
Lucia nodded and closed her eyes. She held both hands out as a black and red aura of holy energy surrounded her body. The wind picked up, rustling the curtains in the room and the light above began to flicker.
The black and red aura traveled from Lucia's body to her arms and condensed between her hands as a swirling mass of black and red mist. Her body suddenly felt heavy.
[Warning… energy levels dropping. 65% Holy Power has been removed from body…]
A notification appeared in her vision that vanished a few seconds after it appeared.
"Good. Now condense it. Imagine yourself making a snowball. Roll that swirl of holy power until it becomes a crystal," Uriel said,
Lucia nodded tiredly as she focused on controlling the swirling mass in front of her. She moved her hands, controlling and molding it until it became a small pentagonal mass the size of a chocolate bar. The swirling mist had all but vanished, condensed into a glowing black and red clump of Holy Power.
"Good. Good. Now maintain it. Push it in even more to finish the job," Uriel said as she placed a hand on Lucia's shoulders.
A bead of sweat trickled down Lucia's forehead as she nodded. "Haaaaahhh…," Lucia grunted with effort as she pressed her hands together, making the clump half the size it was when she initially condensed it. The mass grew smaller until it was the size of a ring and emitted a soft red glow.
Lucia collapsed forward, causing the clump to fall. However, before either could hit the ground, Uriel caught the mass and her daughter.
"Did… I do it, Mama?" Lucia asked as Uriel helped her stand.
"You did, Luci. Here it is," Uriel said, holding up the ring-sized crystalline mass. "Sacred Factor. This will let Irina use Holy Power and borrow more from the Sephirot without facing much backlash. Congratulations, Luci."
"Did you see that, Rin?" Lucia gave Irina a weak thumbs up.
Irina nodded and smiled, returning the thumbs up.
"Now, Irina. This part will sting, okay? Luci, one more step. You have to directly implant the Sacred Factor into her body," Uriel said.
Lucia nodded as she got up, using her mother for support. She held her hand out and the Sacred Factor levitated off Uriel's hand. Lucia furrowed her brow in concentration as she telekinetically directed the Sacred Factor toward Irina.
The Sacred Factor flew and stopped right before Irina's chest.
The girl stared at it in slight awe.
"Lucia needs permission for this to happen, Irina," Uriel said. "Apostlehood requires the agreement of both parties in order for you to become a Chosen Vessel."
Irina took a deep breath and stared at Lucia. She began reciting the acceptance prayer, stumbling over a few words she didn't know how to pronounce. "I humbly accept the Divine Grace b-bestowed onto me by an Angel of God. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit…"
"Amen."
Lucia and Irina simultaneously finished. The crystal glowed before it wrenched itself free from Lucia's grasp and flew directly into Irina's chest, sinking underneath her clothes and skin as if it were water.
Almost immediately, Irina felt a surge of power course through her. Red lines etched themselves onto her neck, spreading across her body like veins of fire. Her eyes glowed red for a few seconds before she let out a small whimper as a slight burning sensation burned beneath her flesh.
And then, a burst of red light filled the room. Everyone covered their eyes for a second before opening them to a single pair of red ethereal wings unfurling from Irina's back.
The wings faded after a few seconds and Irina stumbled forward, almost losing her balance. She looked down at her hands before balling them into fists. She looked at Lucia with stars in her eyes.
"Did you see that!? I had wings! And and…" Irina closed her eyes and tried to focus. A black and gold aura surrounded her body before fading away. She jumped up and down, cheering at her newfound powers. "Did you see that Luci? Look! Look!"
Lucia had a small smile as she took a wobbly step forward. "Cool, right! Now we can really fight the Shadow monsters!"
Irina nodded as she tried to summon the aura again. "Aww… I can't do it…"
"It'll be okay. Griselda will take over in this portion of your training to control it. It's only natural that you still need to learn," Uriel said.
Irina nodded excitedly.
"But we can do that tomorrow. For now, you three need to go to bed," Uriel said.
"What?"
"Awww! But Mama—!"
"No buts. Look at you. You're tired from the ritual. You can't stay up the whole night, Luci," Uriel said.
Lucia tried to protest but for once, agreed. Her body felt like lead and every step she took felt like she was walking with weights strapped around her ankles. She puffed her cheeks and nodded silently.
"You can train tomorrow in the morning, okay? And show Asia to her room, Luci."
Uriel called after her daughter as she and Irina ran off. Lucia stopped at the doorway, looking back to the timid blonde girl standing next to Griselda. She hesitated before holding her hand out to Asia. "Um… come on. Mama said we have to go to sleep so I'll show you my and Rin's room."
Asia's eyes widened and she looked to Griselda for reassurance. Griselda smiled and gave her a slight push forward. She stepped forward and took Lucia's hand.
"Come on," Lucia said as she dragged Asia out of the room.
Uriel smiled as the three girls left.
"Is there a particular reason why you accepted Lady Sandalphon's request?" Touji asked.
Uriel shook her head. "No. Not in particular, no. It was appealing though, her having Twilight Healing. But most importantly," she said. "I want Lucia to have a normal life. To grow up like a child for as long as possible and to make as many friends as possible."
"Then might I suggest something? I might be overstepping my bounds but Rikka and I have been looking into schools in the town nearby. We're planning on enrolling Irina in a few days. How about you come with us and enroll Miss Lucia and Miss Asia?" Touji suggested.
"I might as well. I did tell Sandalphon I was considering enrolling Lucia in school so she can interact with more kids her age," Uriel said.
Touji nodded. "Then I'll give you the name of the school so you can come along."
Uriel nodded. "Just hand it to me and I'll address it after I finish something," she said as she walked toward the door.
"Handle what?" Touji asked.
"I'm going to contact Lucia's aunt," Uriel said.
Lucia tossed and turned in her bed. She hugged her cat plushie tightly as she mumbled in her sleep.
A figure clad in white armor zipped around the sky in her dreams. The figure clashed with many foes from a ten-winged Fallen Angel to confronting a powerful Devil and several dragons. The figure fought alongside the being clad in Red Armor, no matter the odds they faced.
"You need to understand. Strength is everything. Become stronger, my rival. One day, I shall fight you…"
No matter the rivalry they displayed.
"I regret being born in this age. A world without God— I wanted to try and defeat God."
However, all in all, all those fights, all those challenges, beyond all of it, her eyes widened as she bore witness to the turmoil in his heart.
She stood in the room, watching as he cried and begged.
The malice of his father's eyes as he stood before his downed mother in some feeble attempt to protect her.
"You worthless brat! Because of you…! Because of you! A worthless existence like yours should have never been born!" The white-haired man raised his hand to strike him.
Lucia acted on instinct and dashed forward to protect the boy, yet…
"Ow!" Lucia groaned as she fell on her head. She rubbed her head and realized it had all been a dream. The faint light of the moon still drifted in through her curtains and she looked to see Irina and Asia still fast asleep.
Yawning, Lucia walked over to her notebook and opened it. She flipped through several pages, all bearing sketches of people she had seen in her dreams and stopped on a blank one. Taking a white crayon, she began scribbling and drawing for a few minutes.
After she was done, Lucia rubbed her eyes drowsily before walking back to bed.
On her open notebook was a childlike drawing of an armored man with blue wings.
Under the drawing were two words.
White Dragon.
RoyalRain20xx: "Hell hath no scorn than a mother's furyProbably butchered that because I didn't Google) Yeah, I feel like burning people to death from the inside out with holy magic might be Uriel's go to when it comes to executions. Honestly, the fact that Balthazar got dunked on by two little girls (one is a normal human girl btw) was pretty hilarious as he literally ended up losing his face from some simple holy water, all that was left was a priest yelling "The power of Christ compels you" XD. Either way, the other vampires sure dodged a bullet that someone reasonable was able to calm down the raging bull that was Uriel, as she sure is within her rights to be scared for her daughter's future, lord only knows what kind of baggage those powers she inherited from her real mother are truly capable of. Not only that, but those dreams Lucia has sure spell major world ending vibes, as if an ancient being is lying in wait to turn everything into nothingness, with a certain red headed as the catalyst, ominous man. Either way, with another timeskip down I can't wait to see what else Lucia has come up with in that year, with Irina by her side, things are sure looking up for in the world… let's see how long that lasts.
It'll be a while before the relative peace for her ends. I do want her to have a normal life for the most part for a couple of chapters. A few things will happen here and there but nothing overall that will disrupt the peace of her life. Her mood will overall change after a certain... chapter, hehe. There are other things I have planned regarding her dreams but for now, just think of her dreams as dreams of the future. As for your question about Togame, Lucia's aunt that was mentioned a few chapters ago, she won't be a thing for a few chapters since Uriel will be in the process of contacting her regarding the death of her brother and the fact that her niece is alive. I will go into more detail about the background of Lucia's biological parents but Lucia won't meet her biological family for a while.
K.M Donovan: The first author's note literally has me saying the MC is a girl.
Anyway, to address a few things. There is are a few things I want to discuss.
Apostles: Apostles wield Holy Power because of something called Sacred Factor in their body. It's basically a clump of Holy Power that acts as source of Holy power and as a filter in the event that the Apostle wants to channel more in case that wasn't too well explained in the story. If you want to think of it in simpler terms, think of it as Witch Factors in Re:Zero because that's where I drew my inspiration from. No, Lucia will not have multiple. It takes too much out of her to make more and she's half-human so it's more straining on her body. At max, I can tell you she'll have at least 2. Moreover, it won't be necessary after the Brave Saints come into existence. If you've read my other story, Beyond That Broken Red Sky and its original, Azure, you'll find that it is very similar to the Contractor System except with Angels.
Miracles: Yes, same deal as it is in the other story, except it will have a heavier focus since this is a story where the MC is from Heaven.
Asia Argento: As you've likely all (hopefully) realized, Asia isn't going to be excommunicated in the future. She still has everything. She'll just be still in the Church this time but with Lucia. But for anyone thinking that Luci is getting people too easily for her little ragtag group of misfits, you're kind of right. All of these people she's going to acquire over the next few chapters are people within her reach so people in the Church or people in the town she lives in so she will have easy access to them. There are only going to be 4 people she gets in this first arc alone so those will form the core members of her team. 3 spots are left open which will be filled... later.
That's all I have to address I believe. See you all in the next chapter. It might not be for a bit since finals and work. Please drop your thoughts and I will try to respond to it.