Prologue 3: Remaining Sense of Opprobrium
The town of Kuoh was a relatively recent settlement, all things considered - but the woods which surrounded it were ancient. Older still were the hills the dense foliage carpeted, and much younger than both but older than living memory was the church hidden by the branches and trunks.
It was an old, weathered thing, worn down by time and disuse as the populace grew further apart from both God and his house. It was about as far as one could be from Kuoh Academy while remaining, technically, within Kuoh's boundaries - and that made it a perfect place for a group of Fallen Angels to set up shop.
Three pairs of black wings cut through the air before vanishing without a trace as their owners set down at the edge of the church grounds. Though the Church wasn't officially sanctioned by the Vatican, the Scriptures warding its grounds were made perfectly real by the Faith behind them, and they felt its touch as they stepped onto the hallowed grounds.
The four Fallen arrived back together, Kalawarner immediately setting off towards the altar at the church's rear with Raynare being half-carried along with her. The other two members of their party each broke off to slump on a pew, Dohnaseek leaving his trench-coat on a hook by the door as he passed it. Mittelt pulled a book from nowhere, fumbling a bit with the cover as her fingers shook, while Dohnaseek propped his feet up on the back of the pew in front of him and pulled his fedora down over his eyes to shut the world away.
None of them had had nearly enough time to start settling down when a soft male voice rang out from the shadows behind the altar. "You're back."
A young man with shoulder-length silver hair, styled with shaggy bangs that hung to just above his eyes, stepped forward from the shadows at the church's rear and almost immediately fixed rusty-red irides on Raynare. "What the hell happened to you?"
"Some
abomination interfered when I was about to kill the brat with the Sacred Gear!
That's 'what the hell happened' to me, Freed!" Raynare snapped back, glaring through the tears that were still dripping down her scorched cheeks.
Freed's face, which had been concerned, hardened. "Kill him?
Nobody said
anything about killing the boy; you led me to believe we were going to
recruit him!"
Raynare snorted as best she could, biting down a whimper as it irritated her injuries. "What's the brat's life matter? He's just some perverted ape; he's not even strong like you are." Through her pain, the Fallen gave Freed a disdainful glare. "It's not like it's any of
your business, anyways. The order came directly from Lord Azazel; you're just some Stray Exorcist that the Devils tolerate because you're too much of a pussy to let out your bloodlust. Know your place,
Sellzen."
Kalawarner inched away from the duo, leaving Raynare standing somewhat lop-sidedly under her own power. She alone among this group of Fallen was young, barely thirty years outside Heaven compared to Raynare and Mittelt's two millennia or Dohnaseek's one and a half. If Light started flying, she wanted to be nowhere near it.
Freed Sellzen, for his part, remained undaunted by Raynare's vitriol or disdain. "'Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind.' Genesis 9:6."
Raynare flinched back, half-raising her hands, then stopped and flushed in embarrassed anger as she realised Freed had been merely quoting Scripture, rather than Invoking it. Ignoring her agitation, Freed continued. "I've ignored your hatred of humans, your disrespect of me, and even your blasphemy. I've suffered it all with a smile, as He would want me to. But
this…"
Freed's knuckles turned white as he clenched his fists, an unearthly light gleaming in his eyes. "You'd better be glad that you
didn't manage to kill that innocent boy, Raynare. Because if you had I'd be delivering your head, caustic tongue and all, to the Sitri heiress and
orders be damned."
Raynare's face twisted in snarling rage even as a spear of pinkish Light formed in her hand. Before it had finished appearing the hilt of a Light Blade had already fallen from Freed' sleeve into his grip, while his off-hand darted into his cassock for the Light Pistol he kept there. Before they could actually come to blows, though, Dohnaseek and Mittelt cleared the lines of pews with twin leaps and landed between them.
"Enough!" Dohnaseek declared, his voice raised. Kalawarner, now several feet away from the scene, raised her eyebrows at the man's shout.
"Raynare, you're not thinking straight. That...
thing did a number on you." He turned his blue eyes on Freed. "Father Sellzen, I apologise for our leader's conduct; I'm sure you felt that...
malice, even from across town?"
Freed, whose weapons had vanished with all the evidence of a morning dew, nodded seriously. "Yes, I did. The Hell
was that? You called it an abomination - why?"
Mittelt chose that moment to cut in. "Because not even Donny knew what it was, and he used to be one of the Big Man's bookworms. Whatever it was, it made Rayray scream like i haven't heard since she first-"
"Mittelt!"
The blonde gave a cutesy giggle despite the sharp tone of Dohnaseek's reprimand, knuckling her head and poking out her tongue. The other Fallen knew better than to take the airheaded act at all seriously - their spymistress revealed painful secrets with the same habitual sadism that Raynare showed when she seduced then murdered men. Sometimes, Dohnaseek and Kalawarner wondered which one was more cruel.
Privately, of course. If the two ever got it into their heads to
compete, they might as well restart the Great War.
Freed began to pace, a troubled look on his face. "And it came out of nowhere?"
Raynare winced. "...No. Some
other ape woke up from being passed out in a bush, so I went to kill the witness first." Not noticing that Freed's pacing had stopped dead, leaving his countenance cast inshadow, she continued. "I impaled him easily; he went down while the perverted monkey froze up. Then…" The Fallen's body shook with the memory. "Then
it took control of the body. It said something about making me suffer for trying to kill its host. After that...everything is a blur."
Silence. Absolute, dead silence was all that existed for several moments, as the very air around Freed seemed to press outwards and down, strangling all that might disturb it.
Then, came two simple words. "Get. Out."
Raynare looked up at the Stray Exorcist in shock.
"What?!"
Freed turned around, his eyes free of the shadow and icy with rage. "I will not allow
my church to be cluttered by trash like you.
I allowed you to stay here, and by my will I'll not suffer your presence any longer."
The shadows Freed had been standing in began to lighten and peel away, driven back by coruscating white energy that began to rise from his skin. He reached up to his throat, gripping the cross that rested there, and the arcs of Light grew ever larger. The energy's pulse quickened, and in seconds the aura had become strong enough that, combined with her wounds, Raynare couldn't move even an inch towards the silveret.
"The cities of the Negev have been locked up,
And there is no one to open them;
All Judah has been carried into exile,
Wholly carried into exile.
Banishing Scripture - Jeramiah 13:19."
Freed's words echoed and eddied in the closed space, carrying a far greater weight than any earthly voice could muster alone. That was only appropriate - after all, Invoking the Word of God was an unearthly act indeed.
From a standing start, Raynare was bodily thrown from the church, passing its doors and steps before coming to a tumbling halt at the border of its grounds where the wards hissed and spat at her. Standing shakily, she slammed a fist into the golden-white barrier that now rose up to resist her, her hand recoiling from the bite of Faith that was no longer held in check. "Y-you three!" She shouted, internally cursing the quiver in her voice. "Get out here. We'll find somewhere else to stay while I plan our next move."
The three Fallen still in the church looked at one another, then at Freed. The younger Father regarded them in turn, then spoke, traces of White still crackling between strands of his hair. "Go or stay; I don't care which. If you leave, though, don't come back." He paused, and his stern countenance split slowly into a manic, unstable grin.
"Or do. After all, I could use some new decorations, and I'm sure it'd be fun to cut your fucking heads off!"
Kalawarner darted for the door just as soon as Freed's voice tilted into a strange, lilting register that shrieked across her soul like a violin bow made of glass and nails. Mittelt scoffed, but followed quickly after, flipping her hair as she passed through the doorway.
Dohnaseek sighed, and ran a gloved hand through his hair while his other held his fedora by his side. "She's going to get them killed, I just
know it." He looked up, meeting Freed's eyes. "I'm loyal to the Grigori - but something's fishy here."
With that, the tall Fallen flopped back down on a pew. "Now, if you'll excuse me Father, I'm going to take a nap. Today has been...a hassle."
Freed's twisted smile disappeared, replaced with a smaller, much more genuine expression as he nodded to the other man. Then he turned away, violently shoving
that part of himself back into the depths of his subconscious.
Dohnaseek always was the one he got along best with.
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I shifted a bit in the chair I'd been offered in front of Rias' desk, hands intertwined in my lap as I thought. Rias had just completed her explanation of the Abrahamic Factions' current state, as well as a brief history of how they got there. She had made an off-handed mention of Sacred Gears, referring to them as 'metaphysical artifacts of great power placed into the souls of humans by Him', and Issei had apparently recalled Raynare saying something about him having one.
Rias seemed mildly curious, but when Issei told her that our attacker hadn't said much beyond that she tabled the subject.
Then, Issei posed the big question.
What were our hosts?
Rias, a slight smile on her face, stood. Her Peerage followed suit. "Well, Issei-kun, other than you and Lewis-san, everyone in this room…" There was the distinct
thoom sound of a rather large amount of air being suddenly displaced, while the shadows in the room abruptly changed as four pairs of large, jet-black bat's wings spread to their fullest span. "Is a Devil."
Issei's jaw dropped, and I internally applauded Rias' dramatics. Avenger, however, didn't seem as entertained.
How incredibly dull. Hellspawn or not, they are but children. A shame; I'd have no hesitation killing adult Demons, but these...Hmph. It's almost sad; my pitch-black flames of Vengeance will sputter and die if there is nothing to kindle their rage.
I frowned.
'I don't know about you, Avenger, but I prefer to judge people by who
they are, rather than what
they are.'
The only response I received was a noncommittal hum.
As my attention returned to my senses, I met Rias' eyes as she looked at me with an odd expression. "You don't seem very surprised, Lewis-san."
I laughed awkwardly. "Well, the spirit
did call you hellspawn back in the park." I sobered, my expression falling. "That'd make the
bitch who impaled me a Fallen Angel, then…" I half-asked, suppressing part of a shudder but not managing to stop the rest as I laid my hand over the part of my stomach where Light had torn a hole.
Rias blanched. "She
impaled you? How are you uninjured?"
I went to respond - then, I realised I couldn't. My tongue wasn't working, nor was my mouth. Then both
did begin to work...but not at
my command.
"That is none of your concern, Demon child. Do not presume that my host's soft heart will afflict me; I am not so inclined to reveal more than we must."
I could feel the tension in the room take an abrupt upward lurch as Avenger spoke, the degree only worsening with every word. The atmosphere crackled with it - or, that might have been the lightning sparking around Akeno's hands.
"It's worse than I thought." Rias said grimly. "Whatever spirit resides in his Sacred Gear already has so much control over him...Akeno, rest-"
I felt a bit more control of my body disappear Avenger cocking my head at the heiress and speaking once more, cutting off her command.
"What nonsense are you spewing now, Demon child? I am no mere pitiful spirit, shackled by the artifact of an impotent God. I am the pitch-black flames of resentment that will encompass the world! I am Servant Avenger, and this boy is what keeps me bound to the world!" He snorted.
"Though I'd not have wished for my earthly partner to be so white-hearted, nor so easy to bend, we are decreed partners - for better or for worse."
Koneko, for the first time since I'd arrived in the club room, spoke up. "...Not lying. Doesn't feel like a Gear. Power's too...free."
"At least one of your number has eyes with which to see." Avenger remarked, before the Servant (and wasn't that a troubling surprise; I had totally forgotten that the Avenger Class was a thing) returned control of my body, leaving me to flop back in my chair and press a hand to my head. "Ugh, fucking hell...
warn me next time, won't you? Actually, never mind - just don't
do that, ass…"
Rias glanced at Koneko, who gave a simple, small nod...then glanced at Issei, who was trying to surreptitiously wipe drool away from his lip. I guessed Rias and Akeno getting to their feet so quickly had caught his attention. While I sighed internally, Koneko gave an annoyed sniff. "Pervert."
Issei turned to her, his mouth dropping open in horror as a distraught expression pulled at his features. Meanwhile, Rias ignored the byplay, sighing in relief as she gestured to Akeno. The sadistic Queen let the lightning fade from her hands, then returned demurely to her seat.
"...So." I said, making an attempt to break the silence. "That was a thing."
I heard a soft chuckle from behind me, accompanied by a sound like cracking glass. When I turned around, I found that Kiba had come up behind me at some point, and was just in time to catch sight of a hilt fading from sight as his hand pulled away from the back of my neck.
Oho! The little prince has fangs, does he? Not bad, not bad at all! Perhaps there will be opportunities for your hate and rage to sharpen here after all.
Rias shot me a tired look. "This state of affairs is...concerning, to say the least. This...
Avenger, seems to take control of your body at a moment's notice. And he doesn't seem the trusting sort."
I sighed, nodding. Couldn't argue there.
"That being said," Rias continued, "I think it would benefit us to be peaceful with one another, if not actively allied." She clasped her hands before her, and I caught a certain hint of anticipation in her demeanour. "What do you say, Lewis-san?"
Even as I told her aloud that I'd be fine entering a cooperative relationship with her, my mind reached the logical conclusion as to what she was anticipating. At the same time, so did Avenger.
Peerage? I think not! I'll not shackle myself to another again, least of all a child of the Pit, no matter how well mannered. I'd sooner walk freely into the Château d'If with arms wide open.
'What about me?' Interjected.
'Aren't I a shackle?'
Foolish boy. Need I say it again? Very well. Listen, for this is our contract, written in vengeance and binding beyond even Love and Hate!
Your bone is my bone! Your flesh is my flesh! Your blood is my blood!
Soft hearted and naïve though you may be, you are no shackle. We are partners, boy! And just you wait - with time, I shall forge you into an instrument of perfect vengeance!
Avenger's voice trailed off into manic laughter, and I blinked. Did...Avenger just tell me he had my back?
Well, I wasn't going to figure that out in a minute or two. I shook my head, then started paying attention to Rias once more, finding she was speaking with Issei. "Well, if you
do have a Sacred Gear, you should try to awaken it."
She had him stand up, then began giving instructions. "Alright, Issei-kun. Picture something powerful - something
invincible."
Issei, eyes squeezed shut, considered only for a moment before adopting a familiar pose. Side on, hands cupped at his hip, knees bent.
Rias looked torn between laughter and a squee.
A moment passed. Then several. "Ah…Rias-sempai....nothing's happening…"
I coughed lightly. "Uh...maybe try deep, even breaths?"
Rias nodded. "As good an idea as any. Try it, Issei-kun."
The dormant Red Dragon Emperor did as he was bade, the quiet room beginning to echo with the sound of respiration - then, a minute later, there was an abrupt flash around the teen's left arm that dissipated to reveal a crimson bracer on his wrist. Two yellowish spikes sprouted from its sides, and a dull green gem was set over the area of the knuckles.
Issei turned to look excitedly at Rias, only for his face to fall as he saw the clear disappointment on her face. "Twice Critical, huh?" The heiress mused, before giving Issei an apologetic look. "Issei-kun...I'm sorry, but your Sacred Gear isn't that powerful. It's called Twice Critical, and what it does is double your strength for a limited period of time."
Issei looked like the entire world was coming crashing down around his ears, and for all his flaws I couldn't quite stand to see the boy so disheartened. So, I spoke up. "Don't feel bad, Issei - this just means you'll have to get stronger. After all, if you're already stronger than normal
before you use your Gear, then the result once you use it will be a lot more impressive."
The teen looked thoughtfully at the bracer, and I decided to add the coup de grace. "Plus, I hear some girls are attracted to strong guys…"
Even if nothing else had,
that reached him. Or at least, I guessed so, judging from the way he leapt to his feet and yelled that he'd "become so strong that he'd drown in breasts".
The smack of my palm hitting my face echoed through the club room.
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After that, Rias directed Kiba to escort Issei home. Then, when she learned that I didn't have anywhere to stay, she immediately offered me a room in the old schoolhouse. It was a few doors down from a room covered in magical seals and caution tape; in other words, Crossdressing DIO's room.
When I asked, Rias just told me that one of her 'family' didn't like to go out and that his Sacred Gear was difficult to control, so he'd volunteered to be sealed away.
A minute or so later, Rias left me to get acquainted with my new room - though not before telling me that we'd need to talk with someone about my staying on school grounds. If I had to guess, I assumed that 'someone' would be Sona.
The room was decently sized, though sparsely furnished. There was a single chest of drawers, a writing desk with a chair and lamp and a smallish bed in one corner of the room. A door off to one side led into a Western-style bathroom.
I sat down heavily on the bed, though somewhat less heavily than I would have done that morning, and was preparing to disrobe for bed when the day's events hit me all at once like a dump track at terminal velocity. I leapt from the bed and practically sprinted into the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet before the first wave of panicked nausea forced my acidic, half-digested lunch from my throat.
I kept vomiting for longer than I cared to consider or remember, until my stomach was empty and my abdomen was burning like I'd done a thousand crunches. I struggled to my feet and tottered to the sink, then proceeded to rinse my mouth out with water and scrub my hands until they were raw.
My panic attack over, I flushed the toilet, shambled back to the bed and collapsed onto it without bothering to disrobe at all. My clothes were a good bit looser on me now, after whatever had happened to my body when Avenger first took over, so there was that at least.
Even as I almost immediately began to drift off into an exhausted sleep, I could faintly hear Avenger's voice.
I'll warn you now, fool boy, as I wish I had once been told. To vent one's heart is not to weaken it, nor to cheapen it - rather, it is to let it grow stronger, and cloak itself in the darkness that can withstand all the ills that a white heart cannot bear.
Remember that. For both our sakes.
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AN: Well, laddies and germs, here's the third part of the prologue. As always, I have Teninshigen to thank for making it all nice and shiny, and Magery for offering oodles of useful advice.
