In spite of the doom and gloom, the past few days had offered some peace for Sona and her peerage.
"K-Kaichou... Help..."
Well, more her than anyone else.
Sona looked from her desk, raising an eyebrow when she saw her Pawn Saji buried beneath his own paperwork, weakly struggling to pull himself out and reach for someone. "Please stop fooling around, Saji-kun." she chided the teen. "If you continue this antic, I will add more to your workload."
"B-But… my back..."
"That's what you get for slacking off." Momo called from her seat, placing another signed document on the finished pile before getting to work on the next one. "You should always work off all the paperwork you have right off the bat, otherwise it'll pile up into what's on top of you now."
"I had important stuff to do!" He tried to grab some traction on the floor, but failed.
Reya shook her head. "Like what?"
"W-Well..."
"There's no shame in admitting you were procrastinating, Saji-kun." Sona told him. "However, do know that I only accept so much of it." As she was about to write off another document regarding the budget for the school's Baseball Club, she felt a warmth spread in the air. She blinked in surprise, but then smiled somewhat. "Tsubaki, would you mind fixing me and our guest a cup of tea?"
Her Queen nodded. "Of course, Sona."
"Eh? Guest? We have a guest?"
"H-Help..."
"Given how our last meeting went, I thought that you wouldn't want to face us again." Sona said, keeping her tone as polite as possible. Tamamo's face was stiff, looking as if she wanted to be anywhere but here, clearly showing that she still had some discomfort around the Devils. "I sincerely hope you haven't come to kill us."
Tamamo wrinkled her nose. "I don't dislike you enough to do that. Yet. Unless you give me a reason to." Well, at least she was honest. "And to be frank... I think I prefer you over that floozy friend of yours. Gremory or whatever her name is."
"Ah, yes. Rias. I admit, she can be… difficult, at times." Sona said in agreement. "Her handling of Namikaze-kun's situation is certainly not what I would call stellar. But she does have her good qualities. But I don't believe you came here to discuss Rias. I assume this is about Argento's condition?" Tamamo nodded. The girl sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Unfortunately, the only thing that could possibly save her life is, quite literally, divine intervention. And sadly, I am not well acquainted or friends with a god."
"Because her soul is too damaged?"
"Yes. And even then, a god would have trouble healing such an extensive injury."
Tamamo bit her lip. "And what about this Reincarnation business?" she asked, surprising Sona. "Your kind can convert her into a Devil, isn't that right?"
I see... So that's why she came here. Sona thought to herself. "Yes, it is true. However... I feel as though there are some things I should tell you." Tamamo frowned at that. Explain a few things? What did she have to explain? "First, there is the matter of Reincarnation in the first place. By inserting an Evil Piece into a person's body, regardless of race, they can become a Devil. More accurately, they become a Reincarnated Devil. However, there are conditions. The most important of them being that they must consent to become Reincarnated. It is possible for a person to be Reincarnated even if they refuse, but there's a high probability that the conversion process will cause their mana to run wild, warping their mental state to the point where they become little more than a beast. The most common way of Reincarnation these days, as much as I hate to admit it, is by converting those who have passed from this world."
In other words, they Reincarnated people who had already died. Tamamo couldn't help but note the slight hint of anger in Sona's voice as she said that. It was clear that she detested such actions. From what little she could paint so far, Tamamo saw that Sona, despite being a Devil, had some good qualities. She wasn't what she assumed she was, a scheming little bat and such. There was honor. There was a person beneath all that.
"Secondly, there are Argento's own circumstances to take into account."
Tamamo tilted her head. "Her circumstances?" she asked in confusion. "If I remember right, she was cast out from the church when she healed a Devil. I fail to understand what all of this has to do with Reincarnation."
"Jeanne d'Arc." At the vixen's confused expression, Sona began to explain. "When she was put on trial, in spite of her contributions to the French cause, she was treated as a witch and burned at the stake. Yet historians later proclaimed her to be a saint. Asia Argento was excommunicated by the church and branded a heretic, but it would still be possible for her reputation to be restored. A chance for her to be accepted once again into Heaven's graces. However, if she was to become a Reincarnated Devil..."
"Then she would lose any and all possibility of that happening..." Tamamo realized. If Asia accepted Devilhood, the light of God will forever be beyond her reach. "She'd forever be labeled a heretic."
"Worse, the Church would see her as an enemy." Sona nodded, a grim smile. "In the end... The only person who can make that choice is Asia Argento herself."
"Fou..."
Haru stirred, his body slightly chilly. No doubt because of his decision to walk through the rain without any sort of protection whatsoever. He wasn't as cold as he was when he walked through the front door, probably due to Tamamo being part sun and all that. Opening his eyes, he found the little white creature sitting on the coffee table, looking utterly adorable.
"Hey..." he greeted lamely as he pulled himself up, rubbing his neck. "Man... Was I out like a light? I don't remember falling asleep."
"Fou!" the creature chirped as it tapped its paw against something on the table, causing it to thump. "Fou fou!"
Haru looked down at whatever the critter was messing around with. His eyes widened considerably when he did, having not seen it since his date with Raynare. "The deck?!" He hastily sat up from his resting position and grabbed the stack of cards. "Where… where did these come from? I thought I lost them!" He hadn't been able to find them since the incident with Raynare. His gaze shifted to the small beast. "Did… did you find them?"
"Kyu kyu!" It chirped in confirmation.
"Wow… thanks a lot..." Haru trailed off. Even after a week, he hadn't really thought of what to call the cute critter. "... Now that I think about it, I don't know what to call you. I know you're an adorable animal… but do you have a name per chance?"
"Fou."
"You do know I can't understand you, right? Actually, since you say 'fou' a lot, maybe it'd be better if I called you that?"
"Fou~!"
"Guess that settles the question." Haru joked. "Nice to meet ya, Fou."
"Fou fou fou! Kyu kyuuuu~" Fou leaped in joy before jumping onto Haru's face and climbing to the top of his head.
"H-Hey..." Haru sweatdropped before he laughed. He was still a bit depressed, but the newly named Fou just seemed to find a way to cheer him up, if only a little. Now that he was wide awake, he remembered what he was told earlier today and his mood instantly plummeted. His face gave way to bitter frustration as he stared at his hand. The same hand that brought Tamamo-no-Mae back to life. The same hand that somehow brought him back to life. "Dammit... I have this amazing power to literally bring the dead back to life, and I don't even know how to use it. And even if I did, would it really help Asia?"
He still didn't quite understand this whole Heaven's Feel thing quite yet. He was still dreading seeing Asia not waking up the next time he saw her. He wasn't sure what terrified him more. The fact that he knew Asia was going to die, or that he was going to one day go to school and find her fresh corpse. He couldn't stomach it. He refused to accept it. He didn't want her to die. She has already been through so much. She didn't deserve death. She deserved a happy life.
His hands balled into tight fists. If only he knew how to use Heaven's Feel to save her life. She could live freely as a human being. She could make friends, and go to school and...
Seeing Haru's distress, Fou prodded his head. "Fou, fou..."
"H-Luh?" Looking up, he found Fou looking at him in concern. "Oh. Sorry, little guy. I'm just… worried about a friend."
What Haru wasn't aware of was that Fou, or rather Primate Murder, wasn't quite like an animal. Only those who were not human and could sense it for what it was. It was also intelligent, enough so that it understood the boy's plight. He was partially the reason why it was here. Zelretch had pulled a lot of strings to get it here, if only out of curiosity to see how things would deviate. From what it understood, Namikaze Haru was the holder of a Sacred Gear that would have died at the hands of the Fallen Angel called Raynare, and then become a Reincarnated Devil.
Due to the events that surrounded Chaldea from its world, the boundaries between universes had become cracked, with one world's influence seeping into another. One such irregularity that was born from it was Namikaze Haru 's change of fate. Rather than being the holder of a Sacred Gear, he was born with the Heaven's Feel. Something that should only exist in its world.
Its role was to more or less act as guide and act as an observer. To see how things would go. While it had no intention of stepping in, it couldn't help but become quickly attached to Haru, as he reminded Fou greatly of the red-haired human that it befriended so long ago.
Seeing his obvious distress, Fou decided to act. It bounced off his head and snatched the Catalyst from his hands. "What the—hey!" Haru cried, not understanding what was going on. Fou landed on the ground and looked at Haru from over its shoulder, nudging its head. Haru stared in wonder. "You, uh… want me to follow?" Fou nodded. "Um, okay..."
It had stopped raining, and the night sky was a thing of beauty. There was no rainbow, unfortunately, but the shimmering moonlight and the parting clouds more than made up for it.
Had anyone seen Haru being led around by Fou, they would have thought he was strange and maybe questioned if he was okay. Haru wasn't entirely sure what the little fuzzball was thinking, but he had a feeling that wherever Fou was leading him, it probably had something to do with the deck, or maybe it wanted a walk. Perhaps a way to help Haru clear his head. It was working somewhat, but not nearly enough.
Eventually, though, Fou had led them to their destination. One that Haru didn't expect. "The church?" he said in surprise, looking at Fou questionably. "Why'd you bring me here?"
Fou gave a muffled yip, the deck still in its mouth before it darted towards the church, slipping through a large hole at the bottom of the door.
"Hey!"
Haru followed after it. He opened the door and stepped inside the Church, which had been long since cleaned up after their escapades the previous week.
And by cleaned up, he meant the disposal of the corpses of the battle.
The interior still looked disheveled and run down. But Haru's attention was focused on Fou, who stood in a patch of moonlight that shone down from a hole in the roof. Strangely, for a moment, he could faintly see what looked like a silvery-blue aura around the tiny white fuzzball. For a moment, he thought he also saw something behind Fou. Something huge, far bigger than the church, radiating power and—
*bzt*
A film of static ran through his mind, causing him to draw a blank. The heck was that? he questioned himself before chalking it up to the stress. Shaking his head, he approached Fou. "I have no idea why you brought me here, Fou, but I guess it's for more than a walk?" Fou grunted as it put the deck on the floor. He kneeled down and grabbed it before he looked back up, finding the half-ruined statue of the Virgin Mary in front of him.
"I remember back when this place used to be up and running," he recalled wistfully, a memory playing out in his mind. Back then, the church looked quite decent, with rows of benches still in pristine state and the statue still intact. There were few people in attendance, and two children were running around. "Shidou and I used to play here all the time when there was hardly anyone around. I remember Shidou-san getting pretty angry at us for interrupting mass, but he always managed to find time to mess around with us."
Those had been fun times...
… Yet being here brought little to no warmth. Thinking back on it now, this was where everything had started to go downhill. His run-in with Raynare, Asia being kidnapped. Everything all started, and ended here. For Asia, though, it must have started far longer than that. The church was where she grew up. Where the priests taught her everything they knew and raised her. All her life, she lived by the bible and was taught not to fall under the sway of evil and all that crap.
Yet, when she healed a Devil, all simply for the sake of kindness, they threw her out and left her to whatever cruel fate the world might have had planned for her.
Staring at the statue, and remembering that all gods existed in this world, Haru felt a surge of anger bubble in his chest. His free hand balled tightly into a fist, nails digging into his palm.
"I don't know if you're listening or not, God, but..." he swallowed the dry lump in his throat as he glared up at the night sky, visible through the hole and envisioning he was talking to God face-to-face. If he could, he would have also spat in his face also. "I really want to punch you right now. Asia prayed for you, day in and day out. Your stupid 'holy house' was her home for nearly all her life. She was nothing but kind to everyone, and what did you do? You didn't do a goddamn thing when your stupid fucking priests decided to make her a witch and toss her out!"
{{Trigger Recognized. Awaiting Key Word.}}
Though the statue was not God, Haru thought it made for a good substitute and punched it. His knuckles burned and ached from smashing into stone.
"She didn't ask for this, god dammit! She never asked to be put on a damned pedestal!" He punched it again and again, ignoring the pain in favor of his rage. "She never asked to be your 'Holy Maiden'! All she wanted was a normal life and to have friends! And now you're taking even a chance for that all away by leaving her to die?! The hell is wrong with you?!" His frustrations went unanswered. He fell to his knees while keeping a tight grip on the statue. His forehead slammed against the stone, tears welled up in his eyes. "Dammit… why won't you save her...? Just… save her..."
{{Triggers Received. Key Words Accepted. Awaiting HS Approval.}}
"I don't care how you do it." he whispered, praying that someone—anyone—would just answer his prayers. "Just… save her. Please"
{{Approval Acquired. Identified as Jeanne d'Arc. Designated as "Ruler-type" Heroic Spirit. Opening up HF Circuits...}}
As if a switch had been flipped, Haru's mind suddenly turned blank and filled with white noise. A rush of power suddenly raced through his body. A mix of blue lights began to flood the circuits that crawled up his body, spreading and encroaching every inch of his form until they dived into his pupils. His body stiffened and stood up, as if he were a puppet being tugged along by his strings. The deck in hand trembled before it snapped apart, breaking into segments. Like before when he called on Tamamo-no-Mae, the front and back of the vessel were hovering over the back of his hand and palm while its sides floated next to his thumb and pinky finger. A golden band of light wrapped around his wrist.
Cards danced around his form, spinning like a roulette. Like a puppet, obeying the will of the master, Haru's hand rose forward to the spinning cards. While the cards continued to spin around him in a ring, one card rose up from the ring and spun around in front of his hand. It showed a woman in white robes, one hand cradling a sword and in the other a scale.
The golden markings on the pieces of the vessel began to glow in tandem with the band around his wrist. The circuits on his arm then began to extend outward, forming into branches that touched the card, which began to glow with light.
The magical power exuding from Haru grew intense with each passing second. As it happened, Fou watched on with vigilance.