"Humans are naturally purists. They resent having to live with other species. In fact, they're among the most contentious, bigoted, self-centered... I never understood how my wife tolerated them." -Ur-Didact
"Is something wrong, Asia." Xenovia Quarta inquires of her best friend, whose attention is turned away from the current conversation about next week's math quiz as she stares vacantly into space with dull eyes and a stoic facial expression. "Asia." She calls again and managing to snap her out of her current thoughts. For a moment, Asia forgot she was walking to school with Xenovia. Looking around, she sees more people wearing the school uniform also going in the same direction. She is lucky Xenovia is with her and got her attention or she could have cross into ongoing traffic during a red light.
"W-what? Oh, y-yes, we are going to school." She confirms for herself before making eye contact with Xenovia. "I'm fine. I was just spacing out is all." Asia answers with a weak smile. However, her attempt to feign normalcy is ineffective as Xenovia's concerned expression remains mixed in with a bit of disappointment for Asia lying to her.
"You know, you've been spacing out a lot recently. That not all. You sometimes don't eat your food, you've been getting up from bed a bit latter than usual, and you've shown up to class late a few times. Are you sure you are alright?" Asia's weak smile weaken into a blank, somber expression. Xenovia has been watching her all this time and has noticed her changes while other haven't. It is not that her friends haven't noticed, but they did ask Asia about her well-being. Asia would put up her weak smile and reassure them she's fine. That answer is enough for the rest of her friends to accept and carry on with their day, but this marks the first time Xenovia inquiring of Asia's wellbeing, and she saw right through her charade.
"Is it really that noticeable? I was trying to be strong so that none of you would worry over me?" Asia admits, breaking eye contact with her blue-haired friend.
"Why were you trying to hide it? We're friends, aren't we. If you are not doing well, then of course people would worry. You don't have to shoulder the burden alone. It makes us worry if you do so." At this point, Xenovia closed the distance between her and Asia as she wrapped her arms around her, bringing her close as her head rest on her breast. The warmth from her embrace is nourishing for Asia as she slowly wraps her hand around Xenovia to return the favor. They stay like that for a minute before both pull away.
"Thank you for sharing that with me, Xenovia. I feel a bit better knowing how much you guys care for me." Her weak smile makes a return for only a moment. She takes in a deep breath, and opens her mouth, but right at the zenith, words are unable to formulate as only small stutters escaped. This continues for 20 seconds with no progress made. Xenovia just raised her hand to stop Asia from retrying again for she doesn't have to say anything for her to know what is bothering her.
"Asia, are you still thinking about what Derision Solace said?" Asia instinctively flinched upon Xenovia saying.
Two weeks have pass since Derision Solace's revelations regarding the Forerunners and the Halo Array. Thanks to Issei and Xenovia, they manage to calm Asia down after what Derision revealed and promptly took her home to help her forgot about his accusations. While the rest of Rias's peerage returned home, Rias and Sona gathered the remains of Derision Solace towards the center of the room.
"You wouldn't know from looking at it, but he's heavy." Sona comments as she lungs the remains."
"I should have asked one of the men to move it for us. I apologize." Rias moves towards Sona to help her.
"Don't worry about it." Eventually, a magic teleportation circle is created and teleports both Rias and Sona directly to Sirzechs' mansion. There, the two acquaint themselves with his wife and explain their sudden visitation. Upon Sirzechs hearing about the valuable information they acquired, Sirzechs called upon Lady Leviathan, the Governor-Angel Azazel, and Arch Angel Michael to hold an impromptu meeting. As the major figures took their seat with Sirzechs already sitting with his wife standing off to the side, Rias and Sona hoisted Derision's remains onto the table where a large *thud* noise echoes throughout the chamber as glass shards and metal parts fall off with a few wires spewing out of the lifeless husk of metal.
"So where do we start?" Rias inquires.
Later…
Each one of them sat silently as Rias and Sona revealed to them all about the existence of the Forerunners. They were, at first, intrigued about the existence of an technologically advanced-alien race that lived 100,000 years ago seeing there are no records in any database available both human and supernatural.
"And what about this Halo Array?" Azazel brings up as Rias briefly mentioned it without going tin too much detail. Rias and Sona both looked at each other, and eventually Sona stepped forward to answer the Governor-General.
"To put it simply, it is a galaxy-destroying superweapon." Everyone remained silent. In fact, it was so silent, the occupants in the room could hear their own heart beats. "In a more complex way, it is a set of seven rings scattered across the galaxy each with a 25,000-light-year radius; however, it all of them are fired simultaneously, the overlapping harmonics of the waves would increase exponentially, covering every known star system, wiping out this mysterious parasite previously mention while also wiping out all sentient life." Sona finished, sharing the information almost the same way any monitor would while also boasting about her exceptional memory.
"Well that sounds pleasant." Azazel breaks the silence, and from then there, the occupants discussed in detail the information they have learned. Seeing that they have a monitor's highly, technologically-advance corpse lying on the table, they have little reason to doubt their claims. Despite their talking back and forth, all conceded that by the current level of magic and technology, they are inadequate to find any ring in the upcoming future, so whether the Halos pose the threat all depends on who reaches them first. However, Rias also shared that only the Reclaimers can activate the rings. She shared that Derision called the devil race as meddlers, and that these reclaimers could possibly be humanity.
In the end, they decided to withhold the information from the public seeing that they don't need to know about giant death rings floating around in space. Plus, there are no methods to search the stars currently. Basically, the information is currently useless to them, but at least they have learned something important that will shape future decision in progressing magic and technology. With that settled, each occupant left the chamber. First Michael, then Serefall—to which she clung to her sister afterwards because she was worried about her after learning of the Halo Array—then Azazel, taking Derision's body with him to see if he can learn anything more about the Forerunners and possibly apply the technology on Derision to his machines. Sona soon returned home, leaving only Rias and Sirzechs in the chamber. Rias breathes in.
"Is there something else you want to share with me?" the elder sibling ask, seeing her younger sister decided to stay behind until everybody left.
"There is." She replies, explaining Derision's claim about Asia's presence during the firing of the Halo Array.
"Interesting, and you believe what Derision has shared?"
"I believe he believes Asia was there, despite his malfunctioning state."
"It sounds impossible since Asia is only 16, but after learning about the Halo Array, I can't say I am skeptical about his claim."
"So you believe Asia may have some sort of connection to the Forerunners?" The tone in her voice is apparent to the elder her sister is not too pleased.
"Maybe, but maybe not. I doubt Asia is 100,000 years old, but if there does exist some connection, and Derision believed Asia was there, it is something we cannot ignore."
"What are you trying to say?"
"I'm saying you should keep a close eye on your bishop." He advises.
"You suspect her of having some sort of affiliation with these Forerunners?"
"I know this is difficult seeing how close you are to her, but if what you have told me is true, then we need to explore every avenue available." He explains, leaving Rias with a less-than-thrilled expression.
Asia remains motionless upon hearing Xenovia brings up Derision Solace's claim. As a matter of fact, his claim has caused her more problems in the past two weeks. For starters, Asia isn't sleeping well, always waking up around the hours of 2 to 4 a.m., leaving the devil to stare at the ceiling until the break of morning. As Xenovia stated, Asia's has been distracted lately as she finds herself staring out the window, ignoring the lecturer and failing to respond to people initially when they attempt to grab her attention, which she would profusely apologize. She knows her friends believe her when she denies what Derision revealed; however, what bothered her more is the way Derision spoke to her for it sounded genuine—meaning he did not lie and believes she was there. As a former servant of God, she can tell when people are sincere, and she felt no malice in his claim. The more she thought about it, the melancholier she became. There are times when she can just lock herself in her room and cry her pains away, but she always managed to hold back, but that cannot be said for this moment as Asia feels her eyes becoming watery.
Compose yourself, Manipular…
A still, small voice murmurs. The young devil immediately snaps out of her delusion as she hastily looks at her surroundings. However, nothing out of the ordinary stood out of the street filled with students all heading to school. What made this experience more unnerving is that fact the voice sounded as if the person was right next to her, being able to pick apart details such as the voice being male and having a deep tone, making the voice sound knowledgeable.
"Is something wrong?" Xenovia asks. Asia looks towards her friend. The expression Xenovia has is one of worry, but the worry is focused on Asia. This is enough for the blonde devil to know Xenovia did not hear the voice, despite sounding extremely audible.
"It nothing. I thought I heard something." She concludes, more so for herself than for Xenovia.
"If you say so. C'mon, we are going to be late for class." Xenovia offers as she leads the way.
"Right behind you." Asia acquiesces.
"So You finally decide to show yourself." Rias declares at the lone, cloaked individual standing several feet away. Currently, Rias, Asia, Xenovia, and Issei find themselves in an abandoned warehouse with the reason being the lone individual because he is a member of the terrorist organization known as the Khaos Brigade. Apparently, the individual wanted to lure Rias and company out to deal with them and seeing he has them right where he wants him, his plan have succeeded thus far. He is not the only member for there is another member, but the other half of Rias' peerage have gone to deal with him with Akeno leading the attack.
"Boost!" Issei's sacred gear roars as his entire body is covered in the Red Dragon Emperor's armor, followed by Xenovia holding her broad sword in a fighting stance, Rias having her Power of Destruction swirling around her. This only leaves Asia for support as she stands behind her friends—directly behind Rias to be more exact. Though incapable of using any offensive magic, it does not mean she is of no use for her Twilight Healing provide healing support in the case one of her friends becomes injured.
Tread carefully. His target is not only your allies…
Asia flinches slightly as she looks around. The voice is here again, but there are no signs of anybody around except for the lone individual. Again, looking at her friends and the enemy, it clear to her they did not, or could not, hear the voice. Her curiosity is peaked, but now is not the time for she and her friends are about to engage in battle, so without alerting her allies, she whispers,
"Who are you?" No response. She already convinced herself earlier the voice was in her head, and as much as she wants to continue in believing that, she can't believe hearing the voice a second time during unstable moments is mere coincidence.
"Take this!" Rias extends her hand as her magic homes in on the cloaked individual, but her attack is too slow as the individual effortlessly dodges it to his right, losing his cloak in the process. But that is what Rias wanted as Xenovia closes to distance between them as they engage in close-quarters combat, forcing the cloaked individual to reveal his weapon, two magic swords imbedded with holy magic, effective for exterminating devils. Luckily, Xenovia is skilled enough to block his two-sword attacks.
"Xenovia, get back!" Issei yells. She pushes the two swords off her blades and jumps backwards. Meanwhile, Issei has his fist cocked back and punches forwards, releasing a bullet of energy, striking the individual as the whole area explodes up in dust.
"On your toes, everybody." Rias advises as the three slow inch forward towards the dust cloud, none of them dropping their guard. "Stay close to me Asia."
"Yes." She acquiesces, scurrying towards her crimsoned-haired leader.
The blue-haired devil is in danger…
"Huh." Asia gasp, looking hastily at the dust cloud then towards Xenovia.
*WOOOOOSHHH*
"Xenovia, look out!"
A magical wave slices through the dust cloud, tearing the floor and heading towards Xenovia. Her reflexes kicking in, the blue-haired devil assumes a defensive stance with her broad sword parallel to the ground.
"GHHHHHH!" Magic energy clashes with holy sword. Xenovia struggles to stand her ground as the friction holding her in place in giving away until…
"GAHHH!" she screams as she flies, smashing through a wall and into the next room.
"Xenovia! You're going to pay for that!" Issei growls.
"BOOST!" Issei's sacred gear roars as the Red Dragon Emperor charges.
"Issei, keep him busy while Asia goes to heal Xenovia." Rias request.
"Got it. I'll make sure this douche doesn't lay a finger on you guys." Issei proclaims as the two females hurry towards their fallen comrade.
"Heh…"
"What so funny?"
"Oh… I just find your chivalry amusing. Do you honestly think you can protect those two from me?" A malevolent grin slowly curls into existence. Issei is keeping the individual at bay, but that is exactly what he wanted. Though his focus is on the individual, Issei notices something wrong with his shadow. The light source that is illuminating the abandoned warehouse is sunlight seeping through windows near the roof right behind Issei, so any shadows formed should be in front of him, but the individual's shadow is facing the wrong direction. As a matter of fact, his shadow is in between his legs. Issei looks back and is shocked to see the individual's shadow elongating towards Rias and Asia.
"Rias, Asia, look out!" he cries out. Both devils look back and witness a speeding, black shadow heading towards them. Once it got close enough, the shadow lifts itself off the ground, materializing into a large, samurai-armored warrior with a large sword already raised to the zenith.
"Watch out!" The shadow warrior swings down, striking the floor in between Asia and Rias, sending Rias flying to the left and Asia towards the right. Rias, being combat experienced, lands on both her feet, sustain minimal damage, but Asia tumbles and rolls, scraping her arms and legs and landing flat on her stomach.
"Damn you! You'll pay for that." The Red Dragon Emperor seethes.
"Don't damn me just yet." The individual parries Issei off his swords. Right as he recovered and about go in for another attack, the individual's shadow materializes to the left of Issei and smacks him away, crashing into the concrete wall but not going through it. "If you want to defeat your enemies, first you take out the healers." He proclaims, taking an offensive stance with his sword behind him before dashing at incredible speed towards the now-risen Asia.
"It's over for you, girl." None of her friends can reach her. Rias is too slow, Xenovia is injured, and Issei is recovering from the attack. With no options left, All Asia can do is shield her head with her arms, shutting her eyes to prepare for the worst.
Move!
"I… I can't!" The young devil wails as her executioner advances.
"Quickdraw Slash!" the individual yells as his blades glow with a white radiance as his two swords' weight becomes that of a feather, increasing into blinding speeds.
"ASIA!" Issei screeches.
…
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…
…
…
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…
The individual stares out to the wall as his blades impale nothing but the air in front of him. He made is a priority to study each and every member of the Gremory household: king, queen, rook, knights, pawn, and bishops. Out of all of them, Asia Argento is the least-combat experience because she no offensive capabilities; she is purely healing support. Following this logic, it would make sense that her reflexes are not as conditioned as her friends like the Princess of Ruin or The Red Dragon Warrior with her tumbling about after his attack as evidence. And yet, despite the individual charging full speed at an opponent whose reflexes are not at her peak, his swords pierce nothing but the air as Asia sidesteps to the right, effortlessly the individual might add. The moment individual and Asia are right next to each other, both make eye contact with each other.
During his investigations of Asia Argento, he found her to be whole-hearted as her eyes express a vigor and kindness only known to the former nun and everybody who has contact with her. Naïve and caring, she would make friends with everybody. However, that naïve, kind demeanor is nowhere to be found on the former nun. Instead, a hardened, scrupulous glare is directed at the individual, facial features contorted into a tempered scowl. Her eyes express, what the individual could describe, a direct coldness as if nun is looking down at him, much like how a superior person would look down on those who are inferior. But there is also something else hidden in her glare. Past the glare, past the coldness lies an ancient malice and enmity hidden in the depths of her eyes the likes the individual has never seen before. If looks could kill, the individual would have already been dead. How can someone as innocent and pure as Asia Argento express such a refined malice and enmity? That kind of expression and glare are forged in the depths of time, and yet a 16-year-old is giving such an experienced look at him.
Eventually, the individual does pass her as he stops short a few feet from the wall. Immediately after stopping, he is put on the defensive as the Red Dragon Emperor lunges towards him, gathering magic and energy to finish the fight and make him pay for attacking Asia. Following right behind him is Rias, quickly approaches Asia as her back is turned.
"Asia, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?" Rias inquires of the blonde devil. She stands there looking at the ensuing fight between Issei and the individual before finally turning to face the crimson-haired devil.
"I think I'm fine." She reveals, smiling at Rias as to not make her worry. "But enough about me. I need to go and heal Xenovia." Asia declares, moving past Rias and towards the large whole in the wall with an urgency to her stride and demeanor, but ultimately returning to who she is.
The rhythmic drips of a water droplets echo in the large, misty bathroom as Asia sits in the bathtub filled with warm water, easing away the aches and pain after today's battle. Unfortunately, the individual and his ally who engaged Akeno and the others escaped. However, all Asia cared about was the health of her friends, and after administering first aid towards Xenovia and Issei, relief overcame her. Currently, all of her friends are downstairs, enjoying their time of relaxation. After Asia scrubbed away the accumulated filth, she is left alone to ponder on today's events. She knows she has no super strength and speed, and yet she managed to dodge the individual's attack. She should have been dead, but here she is, still alive. She remembers everything, and yet, it almost felt like she was not the one in control despite her feeling her body move at such speeds. Asia's head sinks deeper into the water as her frustration builds due to her not knowing.
You have much to learn, Manipular…
She continues to keep her lower head submerged into the water as her eyes slowly open. She eventually rises one more into a sitting position where the water is at level with her lower ribs.
"Who are you?" she begins, not bothering to look around.
…
No response, typical.
"Why are you helping me?
…
"How come I am the only one who can hear you?"
All will come in due time, Manipular. But for now, all you need to know is you are destined for a grand purpose.
"A grand purpose?"
Though you may be a hybrid of human and devil, it does not change what you are destined for. You will come to learn who I am, who you are, and the gift you have been bestowed so long ago.
"Gift? What kind of gift?" Asia repeats, not sure what the voice is referring to.
The same another individual received. You will learn everything I know: my wisdom, my experiences, and my leadership. You may be an adolescent, but you will become the greatest Warrior this world has ever seen...
…Young Promethean…