"Announcing his Lordship. The Lamb of God, the new Adam, Light of the World, the Bread of Life, Alpha & Omega, the-!"
"Alexis, please. Just his Lordship is enough." The embarrassed Christ interrupted his announcer before he could go further, Rias giggling and Sona looking amused as the confused announcer just slowly nodded before turning back to the waiting cardinals seated in the assembly hall.
"Announcing his Lord: Lord Jesus of Nazareth. His attendees, former Executioner Irina Shidou & former Paladin Xenovia Quarta & his honoured guests, Heiress Gremory with her Queen Akeno Himejima and Heiress Sitri with her Queen Tsubaki Shinra."
"Thank you, Alexis." Christ thanked the announcer, who nodded as he stood the side while he & his entourage began walking towards the only open seats at the front of the room.
'Oh, yeah. They definitely hate us.' Rias thought with a frown as she sat down next to the left of Christ, with Sona sitting down on her right while their respective Queens stood behind them and Xenovia & Irina stood behind their leader.
Even as she sat with a peaceful smile, she couldn't help her nerves as bloodlust stained the atmosphere, most of it exuded from the younger Cardinals in the room and some of the older ones while the others looked disapproving to have 'evil' creatures in the centre of all holiness in the world.
However, there was one that completely stood out from the rest of the group and she meant that both literally & figuratively.
Nearly towering over the rest of the Cardinals even as he sat right next to a stoic Pope, Vasco Strada was a behemoth as his Cardinal Priest garb was stretched tight on his muscular body and even as a benevolent & peaceful smile was on his face, the sheer amount of Holy Aura the man exuded easily surpassed that which Kokabiel had.
'Isn't he supposed to be a human? Why the hell is it that powerful?' Rias thought while slowly glancing at her friend to see Sona looking just as nervous as she looked at her as well.
"His Holiness Benedict XVI shall now open the meeting with a prayer." The announcer spoke, to which Sona frowned in concern before turning to Christ as he spoke.
"Do not worry. I have casted a spell that removes your weaknesses for all things Holy while you four are in this meeting."
"Thank you, Lord Christ." Sona said with a smile, to which he simply smiled & nodded before turning back to face the Pope as he stood up with a slight groan.
"Signore di tutti, mentre ci riuniamo per adorarti, ti chiediamo cuori aperti alla tua presenza. Riempi questo luogo con il tuo Spirito e le nostre anime con la tua pace. Lascia che ogni canzone, preghiera e parola pronunciata ti glorifichino e ci avvicinino in comunione con te e gli uni con gli altri. Nel tuo santo nome, adoriamo. Amen.(Lord of all, as we gather to worship You, we ask for our hearts to open to Your presence. Fill this place with Your Spirit and our souls with Your peace. Let every song, prayer, and word spoken glorify You and draw us closer in communion with You and each other. In Your holy name, we worship. Amen.)."
'So, this is what people feel when they pray? I can see why they like it.' Rias thought with a smile as she felt a sense of contentment & security rushing over her as the Pope finished praying, a blush appearing on her face as she saw Christ giving her an amused smile.
"Firstly, I would like to welcome all of you, my friends, to our annual meeting. It is wonderful to see you all in good health after the chaotic chain of events that happened in the past year."
"We are glad to see you in good health as well, your Holiness. Truly, it is a blessed year for the church to continue to have you at its leadership." Vasco's voice travelled throughout the assembly hall as he spoke, the other Cardinals nodding & smiling in agreement as the Pope smiled.
"Thank you, Strada. Next, I would like to welcome his Lordship Lord Yeshua, the Son of Our Lord, as well as his attendants, the young Xenovia & Irina. Truly, it is an honour to have you in our presence."
"And it is an honour to be in yours, Pope Benedict." Christ spoke with a smile & a nod, to which the Pope chuckled as he nodded in thanks.
"This old man thanks you for the praise, Lord Yeshua. Finally, despite how much this violates our rules & regulations, it is a new era of peace & prosperity as I would like to welcome the first devils in history to Basilica di San Pietro."
"We thank you for the honour, your Holiness." Rias spoke with a head bow, Sona & their Queens doing the same before she sat up as the Pope smiled & nodded back.
"Truly, the times are changing and if we don't, it might cause our downfall. Now, to start off this meeting, I open the floor to our Regional Manager Sister Quarta to please give a summary of the work our exorcists have done in our beloved city." The Pope spoke as he turned to the only other woman in the room other than the exorcists & the devils seated to his left, to which the room grew quiet while Rias raised an eyebrow as she glanced back at Xenovia.
Covered in head to toe in her Nun garb, the outfit did its best to hide her body as only hints of her curvaceous figure could be seen, but even with just that, Rias had to admit that the woman could put most female devils to shame as she stood up, her voice delicate yet powerful as she cleared her throat before speaking.
"Thank you, your Holiness. As of today 16th November 2008, a 78% decrease in devil attacks were noted by the exorcists at our borders, which stems from both our alliance with our former enemy but also with his Eminence Strada's threat made years ago."
'The other percentage is probably the Old Satan Faction that are still trying to fight a war that's already over.' Rias thought with a frown as she watched a few Cardinals glancing in their direction while others hummed & frowned as Quarta continued.
"Our recruitment numbers have also increased by 31%, but unfortunately, the number of exorcists that were killed on duty increased by 12% while the number of rogue exorcists has grown by 32%."
"Hah, misguided souls that were tempted by lust, greed & desire. Truly, it is a tragedy." One of the older Cardinals near Strada spoke with a regretful sigh and Rias frowned as she noted the three Light sword handles lying on the table in front of him.
"It is indeed, Your Eminence Cristaldi. However, there is a silver lining as our alchemists have finally managed to find a way to finally combine the six Excalibur fragments that we have in our possession."
"Truly, Sister Quarta? Oh, blessed be this day as the Lord's divine love shines upon us once again."
"Could you not have done it?" Rias whispered to Christ as she leaned over, to which he smiled & nodded.
"I could, but what good would my help do if the newly forged blade simply breaks later down the line? Better to have them learn to reforge it than to do it for them."
"I see."
"Tell the Alchemists they have my approval. With this, we shall now have it along with the two Durandal blades, Hauteclere, Galatine and Ascalon. Truly, this is a wonderful day for our faction."
"I shall be sure to do so, your Holiness. Now, for the funding allocation for the following year…" As soon as Quarta began talking about money, a sigh escaped Rias' lips as she looked over to Sona, who looked intrigued before shaking her head as she tried her best to focus.
'Oh, this is going to be a long day.'
"Are you sure you don't want to come along? I'm sure Sera won't mind having you along." Isaiah asked as he tied the obi of his yukata, to which Bardou snorted as he continued to lie on his bed.
"Hell no. I'm at peace and we got room service coming in five minutes. You go and fornicate with the fourth female of your little harem."
"Not a har-Actually, yeah, it's a harem. …Fuck you. Save some steak for me."
"I'll leave you the scraps." Isaiah just rolled his eyes with a smirk as he opened the door, nodding at the Tengu guards standing in front of his door before blinking as he heard a familiar voice humming as it got closer.
"Huh, and here I thought I would…you know, it's kind of weird to see you like…this." He spoke as he watched Serafall turning the corner, her cherry blossom pink kimono making her luscious black hair & violet eyes stand out as she rosed an eyebrow at Isaiah's words.
"And what does 'like this' mean?"
"Beautiful. What else would it mean?" He asked with a smirk, chuckling as she smirked while giving him a narrowed stare.
"You survive this round, Mr. Azathoth."
"I thank you for sparing me, Ms. Leviathan. Now then, shall we?" He asked while holding his arm out, smirking as Serafall huffed while linking her arm with his.
"If I must. Now, I hope you brought your wallet because I have been told I have a big appetite."
"Ah, music to my ears~"
"Why did we need to hear fifty different people talking about how good the budget is? Also, do you guys always have five different budgets for everything?" Rias asked with a grumble as the four devils. Irina & Xenovia sat in a separate break room after the Pope had asked for a small break, to which Irina gave a sheepish giggle while Xenovia sighed.
"To answer your first question, that's mostly five people that are placed in charge of the different budgets while the others are just yes-man that are part of their facts which ties into the answer for your second question. The five different budgets are for the five different factions in the Church: The Civilians, the Exorcists, the Executioners, the Paladins and the Brave Saints, which is a new faction made out of those that were turned into Angels by one of the Four Great Seraphim." Xenovia explained and Sona raised an eyebrow from where she was seated.
"From that last faction, I can assume that Lord Ajuka has helped Heaven in making their own version of the Evil Pieces?" She asked, humming as Xenovia smirked & nodded.
"Indeed, he did. That is also why we are now former exorcists." She spoke with a proud smile as she flexed her fist, to which the devils' eyes widened slightly at the heart that appeared on the back of her hand with a scarlet 'J' in the middle while Irina's hand had a spade with a black 'A' in its centre.
"I see. Based on playing cards?" Tsubaki asked, humming as Xenovia nodded while the mark faded away.
"It is. I am the Jack of Lady Gabriel while Irina is the Ace of Lord Michael."
"I see. Well, let us be the first to welcome you to your new life as a servant. Get ready to be the clean-up crew for all of their mistakes." Akeno spoke with a smile, giggling as Rias gave her a pointed glare while Tsubaki simply smirked as Sona looked at her.
"Aren't you going to add anything?"
"I believe that Akeno has already said enough, Lady Sona." She spoke with a smile, to which Sona simply rolled her eyes before they turned as the door opened.
As it did, Rias raised an eyebrow as Xenovia flew to her feet the moment Sister Quarta walked into the room, a bit amused at the nervous look on the girl's face before frowning as she saw Cristaldi walking in behind her.
"Any problems?" Quarta asked with a frown, humming as Xenovia shook her head.
"None at all, Sister Quarta. They have been peaceful & to be truthful, a bit delightful to be around."
"Aw~ We like you too." Rias spoke with a smile, giggling as Xenovia turned to give her a glare before the girl squeaked as Quarta slapped her upside the head.
"Do not glare at our Lord's guests, Via."
"A-Apologies, mother."
"Mother?" Sona asked with a raised eyebrow, watching as Quarta smiled & nodded.
"Adopted. Where are my manners? Griselda Quarta." Griselda introduced herself with a curtsey, the devils' eyes widening as Griselda stood up with an amused smile.
"The She-Demon of Vatican? It's an honour to meet you, my lady."
"Please, Griselda or Sister Quarta is quite enough and it is a pleasure to meet you as well, Heiress Gremory, Heiress Sitri. Although, I have to admit that I had wish to meet the one known as Isaiah Azathoth. From the tales Xenovia has told me of him, he sounds like quite the amusing figure."
"More like a handful, Sister Quarta." Rias spoke with a sigh, to which Griselda smiled as Sona nodded in agreement before turning as Akeno giggled.
"Oh, Isa isn't that bad."
"You must be the fiancée, correct?"
"Akeno Himejima, soon to be Azathoth, Sister Quarta. This is Tsubaki Shinra, Heiress Sitri's Queen and my fellow sister-wife."
"A harem? To be expected from a creature of sin." Cristaldi chimed in, to which Griselda shook her head as Akeno's smile disappeared and a frown took its place.
"Do you have something to add to our conversation, Your Eminence Cristaldi?"
"I said that a harem is to be expected from a creature of sin."
"David and Solomon." Tsubaki spoke with a raised eyebrow, Akeno smirking while Sona let out a soft chuckle as Cristaldi frowned.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Those are just two of the men in the Old Testament that are said to have had multiple wives and yet, I do not see you calling them creatures of sin."
"That is because the Lord had deemed them worthy, unlike Azathoth who had decided he needed a harem to stroke his ego."
"Ha! Isa didn't even want a harem, but he made one because he couldn't force himself to choose one of them and leave the others heartbroken."
"Then, he has let himself fall to temptation. Hah, and here I thought the stories of his impressive willpower were the truth. I suppose you can't believe everything you hear from the mouths of others."
"Those words were spoken by my daughter, Cristaldi." Griselda spoke with a frown as she turned to stare at Cristaldi, who simply looked at her before bowing his head.
"Apologies if I offended you, Sister Quarta. Now, I must be leaving lest I stain my garb with the presence of these devils. Good day." He spoke as he turned and left, Griselda sighing as Rias just watched him leave with a frown.
"Quite the gentleman, isn't he?" Akeno spoke sarcastically, to which Griselda gave her an amused smile before answering.
"Forgive his Eminence Cristaldi. His wife & unborn child were killed by devils and then he had to watch most of his students being killed by stray and/ or rogue devils, so you can say he doesn't like the new alliance."
"…At least he can justify it." Rias muttered with a shake of her head, to which Griselda nodded before clearing her throat as she turned to Xenovia.
"I wish I could stay, but the Regional Manager cannot stay away from her duties for long."
"Of course, it was nice seeing you." Xenovia muttered as she held out a hand, Rias giggling and Sona looking amused as Griselda rolled her eyes while hugging her daughter.
"Stay safe."
"I will." Xenovia whispered and Griselda smiled as she gave her daughter a quick kiss to the forehead before nodding to the devils in goodbye, Akeno smiling teasingly as she turned to the blushing Xenovia.
"So…Via, huh?"
"I will kill you."
"So, what do you wanna do next?" Isaiah asked as he carried three sticks of takoyaki in his free hand, smiling as Serafall looked up while biting down on her 12th strawberry chocolate-covered banana.
"Um, well, the starter meal was quite good so time for a game, maybe?" She asked and Isaiah hummed as he cleaned a stick of Takoyaki in one bite, looking around before grinning as he saw a small group of people gathered in front of a stall that had a large goldfish on its front.
"Wanna see who can fish the most goldfish?" He asked while gesturing towards the store, to which she looked before smirking as she nodded.
"Let's see if you can keep up."She said as she walked over, a challenging smirk on her face as Isaiah followed after her with a chuckle.
"Azathoth-sama, the saviour of Kyoto! You fancy a little game?" The Tengu attendant asked as his wings twitched in anticipation, Isaiah chuckling as he nodded while gesturing towards Serafall.
"Yeah, a little challenge between the two of us."
"Ah, I see. A battle of love, hm? Then, here you go." He spoke as he handed both of them a fan net, to which they nodded in thanks before kneeling on the pillows placed in front of the tank while the other Youkai looked on in excitement.
"The rules are simple. No magic, no Touki, no Senjutsu. Just a battle of skill & precision. Now…begin." As soon as the round started, Isaiah waited until a fish drew closer before swiftly scooping out one, the fish landing neatly in the bowl next to him before it was joined moments later by another.
Glancing over to Serafall as he took out his fifth one, Isaiah chuckled as he saw her biting on her lip while struggling to pick up her second, quickly reaching in before cursing as her net broke.
"And that's game! Five for Azathoth-sama and one for his date."
"Aw~ I thought I had that." Serafall grumbled and Isaiah chuckled as he stood up, helping her up before rolling her eyes as she gave him a pouty look.
"Isa~ Can I have your prize?"
"Will you hit me if I don't?"
"Maybe~"
"Do I get anything for winning?" Isaiah asked as he turned to the attendant, who chuckled as he reached onto the wall behind him before raising an eyebrow at the Isaiah plushie handed to him.
"It's perfect!" Serafall exclaimed in joy as she took it and hugged it tightly, Isaiah simply looking at her before back at the grinning Tengu.
"You knew that would happen, didn't you?"
"I have no idea what you mean."
"Sure, you don't."
"Come on! I want to try out the other games!" Serafall spoke as she turned & pulled them both away, Isaiah smirking as he watched her humming happily while holding her plushie before shaking his head as he searched for a new game stall.
'Wait, did I ever go on a date with Tsubaki? …Damn, I'm a shitty boyfriend.'
A/N: A quick chapter this week to show not only Isaiah's little date with Serafall but also the conflicted feelings of those allied with the Church as they have to deal with devils walking in their sacred halls.
How this will turn out, well, you all will have to wait & find out.
Anyway & like always, you can go to my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories. If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.
So, yeah, if you want, come on over to the Pat-reon and come read it at your expense.
As always, read, enjoy, review and until next week...
Ba-Bye~!