Chapter 84: Evolve

An angel?

No way.

For a second Mairu was decently confused. Of course she was aware that incubi were real and that their curse stemmed from some sort of demon. But somehow the idea that the opposite might exist as well had not occurred to her yet.

Looking at the expectant expression on Kars' face she figured now was the perfect time to ask him to spill everything he had seen, and so she quickly showed an astonished face.

"Hehhh? What did it look like? Did it have wings?" Compared to Izaya she was nowhere close to as knowledgeable as him, but she had seen enough chubby babies drawn upon the inside of churches to know that whatever appearance this angel had chosen, it had probably born a set of wings.

Funnily enough it seemed that single secure fact was in fact not secure.

"I don't remember seeing wings," Maya smiled brightly, "But she had the clearest eyes. Green, but like a green you never see, and her dress-"

"Yeah, she was covered in black and gold!" Ketil blurted out quickly and seemed as though he also was a fan of this entity's appearance.

"She was very pretty," even Aldith agreed quietly and Mairu hummed.

An angel? Was it really one?

Whatever it was that had appeared was obviously of magical nature, but if she had to decide between a demon's appearance and that of an angel, then the former seemed more likely to have come with a disguise.

"How?" Kururi asked quietly and Mairu quickly followed up. "Yeah, how did she help you?"

Black and gold didn't exactly sound like a holy entity either. More like something demonic. Green eyes and the missing set of wings also seemed rather suspicious but of course Mairu didn't voice her doubt.

"She touched us," Kars answered while pointing to his forehead. "Just for a moment and suddenly the pain disappeared. And the heat too," he quickly announced.

"It felt amazing, like sleeping an entire day!" Ketil agreed and suddenly Aldith spoke too.

Quite loudly even.

"Or like dying."

Surprised by the little girl's perception of what appeared to be their salvation from the chicken pox Mairu laughed.

"I don't think death is that peaceful," she snorted- and an odd quiet followed her response.

"Huh, of course it's not, what are you talking about?" Kars suddenly asked and for a second Mairu was left to blink.

Left to look at the girl that had not moved her lips once, wearing an expression of having been caught doing something taboo.

"Why do you say that?" Maya suddenly questioned and the kids looked at her.

Confused. Almost as if they hadn't heard-

And suddenly Mairu realized what she had failed to understand earlier.

Aldith.

The girl with the flower. Standing there so quietly and shy-

And suddenly Mairu jumped to her feet.

"Sorry, I forgot to tell my lady something!" she blurted out of nowhere and even Kururi seemed slightly confused by her outburst as she quickly followed her sister.

Confused expressions and laundry that had yet to be completed was left behind in a rush as the door to the monastery was pushed open.

The kitchen they had passed earlier was quickly abandoned and Mairu headed straight for the hall. The place where her brother was most likely loitering around in search of intel.

But pushing the door open she only met the faces of strangers.

Old ladies, praying at the front, middle aged man, enjoying a breakfast graciously donated by the church and a couple old men rested in the very corner of the room.

Izaya was nowhere to be found.

But Namie was.

Sitting at the geezers' table she seemed to be entertaining them with her presence. Only upon spotting the twins did her expression light up and the smile on her lips added a bit more honesty.

"Good morning," the pretending lady greeted from a distance as Maiur quickly rushed to her side. But no words of greeting were wasted as all she had was a simple question.

"Where is Izaya?" she asked without skipping a beat, surprising not only Namie, but also the very happy geezers relishing in her presence.

"So young and eager," one of them laughed and Mairu paused as she realized her behavior was probably not that of a proper servant.

No matter her discovery, she needed to make sure she didn't reveal their true identities.

But gladly Namie was quick to understand and even quicker to act.

"Did something happen?" she questioned, and for a brief moment Mairu bit her tongue.

No.

Not here.

Not when those old guys were listening.

And despite panting because of her speed that had carried her through the hall she quickly shook her head and swallowed the news she was holding onto with a smile.

"Not really."

Bullshit.

Namie recognized a lie when it was told with the same goddamn smirk that Izaya always wore.

Turning towards her elder counterparts she quickly cast a gentle smile before raising from the table. "If you would excuse me for a second I need to speak to my knights for a moment," she announced curtly- and just the way she conducted herself seemed to please the geezers all the more.

"Of course, my lady," they quickly followed up. "It was a pleasure having you." A mug was risen into the air as if meant to speak a toast to her noble presence and she smiled.

"So was talking to you, gentlemen."

Mairu wasn't sure what to think of these guys. Drinking in the morning? But then again no beverage she had seen so far seemed to contain anything but alcohol.

Was it a precaution maybe? To prevent stomach bugs from unfiltered water? Not like these people would know what germs were. Or microscopic lifeforms living in various bodies of water.

But the smiles they cast and the attitude they had towards Namie and even Mairu and her sister somehow caused her to think that they were decent men despite the stench that accompanied them.

Moving away from the table Namie quickly cast a glance towards the hall leading to their room and Mairu understood. Without another word she did what a servant would do and followed her lady quietly.

The second the door to the hallway closed Namie turned and faced the sisters with her usual professionalism.

"So? What happened?"

A good question. One that she most likely wouldn't understand.

She had seen it back in the modern church. The abilities Shizuo and Leo possessed. Izaya probably had one too. But Namie was no incubus.

"Do you know about incubi abilities?" she asked, in hope to meet understanding but as expected all she received was a mildly confused expression.

It was then, perfectly on time, that the opposite door of the corridor opened, revealing exactly who she had sought.

"So next is the village?" Shizuo asked before Izaya's eyes fell onto the small gathering inside the hallway.

Fire serving as the only lightsource flickered from the gush of air and only enhanced Mairu's excited expression as she spoke.

"Izaya! I can read minds!"

Izaya had expected a lot. From the twins having found traces leading to the demon, to the priest's personal diary or something equally useful, but this was something even he had not seen coming.

Left to blink for a second of perplexion he merely looked at the two and the way Kururi looked at her sister in equal astonishment.

Right.

Izaya liked to forget because it was hard to think about his siblings' fate, but they were incubi as well.

And seeing how he had developed an ability, these two-

"Can?" Kururi suddenly asked what none of the present adults were ready to question and Mairu quickly nodded.

"When we were outside, that girl, Aldith, I was wondering why she spoke so much, but then I realized she never did, I just heard her!"

"The death." Kururi repeated, and Mairu nodded, "Exactly!" When she talked about the angel she said the touch felt like dying, but she didn't actually say it, you know what I mean?"

Unfreezing from his mild stupor and the question of how Mairu had even developed this power, Izaya frowned as he finally raised his voice.

"Wait, what angel?"

"The kids," Mairu spoke quickly, "I asked them about the night they were healed from their disease and they said an angel saved them," quickly correcting her own words she shook her head, "Or not an angel, but rather an entity clothed in black and gold with green eyes appeared out of nowhere, touched them and then-" she explained while struggling to find the right words to describe what the kids had seen.

"Healthy again," Kururi jumped in, perfectly summarizing the essence of that entity's deeds.

"An angel?" Izaya repeated and his eyes narrowed. Shizuo seemed equally distrusting and glanced towards him. "Is that bad?"

A good question. Izaya wasn't quite sure himself what to make of this development.

"Not necessarily. I doubt it truly was an angel, but it would make sense for priest Marcius to mistakenly forge a deal with a demon that way," he hesitated, "As holistic and genuine as he seems to be from what we heard I have been wondering what motives led him to deal with a demon, but if the demon came in a disguise-" fading out he looked towards Namie instead. "Do you think he already noticed his mistake?"

Hand raising to her face, Namie seemed equally in thoughts as she contemplated what Izaya was trying to say.

It made sense.

For a priest as devoted as he was rumored to be, it hadn't made sense to forge a deal with a demon. But like this-

"Probably," she nodded slowly after a couple seconds of contemplation, "That might be the reason he is not inside his beloved church right now," she concluded and Izaya agreed with a quick nod.

Certainly.

If Izaya were a priest dedicated to one god, the people believing in him and the church, then finding out that he had accidentally entered a contract with a demon must have dealt quite the blow to his character.

"Then we need to ask the others," Mairu suddenly threw in, forcing Izaya out of his thoughts.

"Who?" Shizuo asked, "Wasn't he alone? The kids think it was an angel so talking to them won't help."

True. But not entirely.

"But talking to sister Monica might." Izaya corrected and his gaze met Namie's once more. "Right?"

The flame in the corridor flickered for a second, dousing the mood to something that almost seemed threatening.

"And this guy called Balthasar," Namie whispered as though she was afraid the very guy might be listening in on them.

Izaya wholeheartedly agreed. "From everyone present those two seem to be hiding the most."

"What about the village?" Shizuo asked. Before running into Namie and Izaya's siblings they had contemplated visiting the village in order to find out what they knew about the miraculous night that saved the kids.

After all, they had set the church on fire out of pure conviction and even tried to do so again. Their efforts were a bit too grand and persistent to stem from sole superstition.

Someone must have seen something, that's what Izaya had concluded.

"Did you plan to question the lunatics?" Namie asked and Izaya sighed. "It was an option in order to get a better grasp onto the situation, but now-" Looking at Mairu he reevaluated their current situation.

"Can you control this ability?"

Blinking softly, Mairu hesitated. It was quite obvious that she hadn't wasted a lot of thoughts on the usage of her ability. Which made sense. Discovering she had one in the first place had been too exciting to consider anything beyond that.

A short glance was cast towards Kururi in what Izaya suspected to be an attempt to use her ability, but it seemed she failed as her expression fell.

"I don't know," she replied truthfully but Izaya wasn't set back. He had expected as much.

"What did you do when it first happened?" Namie asked and Mairu tilted her head thinking.

"I just looked at Aldith. I just wanted to know more about her and suddenly I heard her speak."

A single glance was all that was needed for Shizuo to know what Izaya was about to ask. His ability.

Apart from his high speed regeneration and strength he had also read Izaya's mind on rare occasions. Why, or how was a riddle to him, but now that Mairu seemed to be able to do the same he saw a connection.

The desire to know someone. Maybe that's why it only worked on Izaya.

"It's the same," he agreed quietly, and that hint was enough for Izaya to start coming up with a theory.

"So it might be connected to a craving," he mumbled aloud, "Or curiosity."

"Can you read ours?" Namie suddenly asked and Mairu looked at her. Intently. Long. But her expression spoke tales of failure as she sighed. "... not right now at least."

"Because she already knows you well enough," Izaya quickly concluded, raising Mairu's spirits again.

"We need a guinea pig." Izaya continued while crossing his arms and thinking about every single soul they met so far. "One that won't draw too much suspicion."

And one that Mairu would be interested enough to hear.

And suddenly it was as though Izaya's and Namie's mind aligned.

A glimpse.

A smile.

And they spoke in unison, having found the perfect sample.

"Leo."

to be continued~

Yo xD Sorry for updating a day late haha There is an anime convention this week and between cosplaying and having my brother over to spontaneously visit I simply forgot to be honest xDDD

But anyway here we are! xD

Now what kind of revelations are we going to get with Mairu's ability? C:

See you next friday when we find out xD