D&devils 3: Celestial Artistry: Chapter 12

"Wait wait wait... she really shouted 'Woah! Hot nun mommy please step on me!' The second Griselda showed up?" I question, an amused grin on my face. "Wow! What did Griselda do after? What was her face like?" 

Lint quietly snickers. "Griselda almost tripped over the coffee table! The look on her face was hilarious! The sheer disappointment on it. Legendary." 

"Pffft-" I snort. "I wish I could have seen it." 

"So, like. What's your deal? You're all paint right now? What's that like?" 

"Uh... well, this body doesn't really need to breathe, I'm just doing it because of habit... also my other body is also kind of breathing and it'd probably be bad if that stopped. Uhhh Oh. I can't feel any blood rushing through this body. It also feels relatively weaker than I am as it was designed on a past iteration of myself." 

"How has your training been going?" Irina finds herself asking. 

"Sariel is kind of a slave driver." I admit, shoulders slumping. "She's just so intense, y'know? And, well, I mean. It's probably a good thing. I definitely feel stronger than when I started. I've only been going for a little under a month. Tomorrow will make a month exactly. After all, there was a good four weeks there where I was indisposed." 

"So, wanna fight?" Lint asks, a small glint in her eye. 

"Not... particularly?" I weakly begin. "This body can't heal naturally. So any cuts and bruises I'd get would more or less remain because healing magic doesn't work on paint." 

"Awww..." Lint sighs. "So... what's it like being trained by the Seraph?" 

"You ever get punched through a brick wall under the guise of training?" 

"..." 

"..." 

"..." 

"At least pretty much every angel ever has healing magic so meh. It's not that bad." 

I blink twice, glancing over my shoulder. 

"Oh. One second... Gabriel's trying to get my attention. Let me just go..." 

I stand up, walk over to a nearby painting, touch it, then suddenly I'm sat within the garden I was in moments before, touching the crystal ball. 

I stand, quickly making my way over to a large rectangular rift in the world. 

It looks like a flat screen showing a simple room, a stunning blonde woman is stood there. 

I reach out, and suddenly I am no longer in that grassy field, I blink twice, eyes flicking to my hand which is cupping one of Gabriel's breasts. 

I recoil slightly. "S-Sorry!" 

"Oh! Don't worry about it, Luce!" She smiles angelically. "Anyways, I'm sorry I dragged you away from your friends, but upon looking into the young Asia Argento's situation more, I've found something worrisome and I was hoping that you might have something for me." 

"Yes?" I tilt my head. 

The woman taps her chin. "I've noticed an uptick in holy women and saintesses being excommunicated from the church and I'd like to know if it is just a bad decade or if there's actually something going on." 

"Oh I can help let me just-" I pause, lips turning downwards. 

"..." 

"Diodora Astaroth. He has constantly been going from church to church, cutting deals with the higherups, gets the girls excommunicated then proceeds to forcibly revive them- more often than not staging an accident where he can swoop in like a knight in shining armor... then he tortures and rapes them. Trading them out to others when he grows bored of them. He was going after Asia as well, but got spooked by Gariel's sudden appearance." 

Unfortunate name, that angel. to have a name just one letter away from a Seraph.

As I continue to speak, I can see Gabriel's smile fall more and more. 

"So. If you can. Please deal with him. That'd be... greaaaaat. Maybe even see if you can get ALL seventeen holy maidens back... and perhaps I'll see if I can figure out a way to transform them back into humans. Or at the very least save their souls because... they're more or less husks of people now after suffering at his hands." 

"I see." The woman's eyes narrow minutely. "May I have a list?" 

"Got any pap-" 

She hands me a clipboard and a pen, allowing me to quickly jot down the numerous names. 

She looks over the list, glaring at a few names. "I see. Thank you Luce~ I'll let you get back to your friends, then." 

"Thank you! Please obliterate Diodora for me!" I reply with a bright smile that rapidly dies. "Merely... knowing... what he has been doing has left me feeling unclean." 

I reach out and step back into the painting, walking back over to the gazebo with a crystal ball, and placing my hand back upon it as I take my seat back in the comfy chair I had painted. 

Suddenly I'm within another painting, this one of the last supper. 

I turn and promptly step out of it, stopping right in front of the trio of girls who were looking inquisitively at the painting. 

"Sorry about that. Anyways. If you three ever see a blue haired devil guy named Diodora Astaroth creeping around, keep him away from Asia." 

"Is this an order from Seraph Gabriel?" Irina gasps. 

"Well, technically no... it's an order from me... as Gabriel's currently dealing with an issue involving said devil. Don't kill him. That'd cause us to lose the leverage we have over the devils. But if he's around, don't let him try and..." I rotate my wrist. "Tempt anybody. His words are hollow, and he would only want her so he could taint her innocence." 

Xenovia's eyes narrow. "I see." 

I notice the doors on the far side of the room creak open.

"Xenovia. Irina. Lint." Griselda Quarta herself steps into the room, arms holding paper bags of groceries, at her side is a blonde girl who looks mildly frazzled and a white haired girl. 

"Luce?!" The nun flinches back. 

"Hey hey!" I wave. "How's it going." 

"Are- are you supposed to be here?!" 

"Well... technically speaking... I'm NOT here. This is just a body double made of paint that I'm manipulating from heaven." I gesture to myself. "So on that note. If anything dangerous ever happens here, please sacrifice this painted form without hesitation. It'll be back at no additional cost in two to eight days." 

"Also! Hello, Miss Argento!" I smile brightly as I quickly step over and lift the bags she's carrying out of her hands.  

"M-Mr Angel!" The girl gasps "Y-You don't need to help, I-I've got it!" 

"Nonsense. I like helping people." I remark. "It's wonderful to finally meet you." 

I help take their groceries into the kitchen as Griselda looks over to Irina, Lint, and Xenovia. 

"I have something important to tell you." 

"Yes?" Xenovia blinks. 

"You are going to be meeting with the two devil overseers of this town to announce your presence. This is to ensure that there's no... complications in the future." 

Xenovia seems displeased by this knowledge, letting out a low whine. "Do we have to?" 

"Yes." Griselda deadpans. "It is important for your future as exorcists to know how to deal with devils." 

"I DO know how to deal with them... Durandal." The blue haired girl grumbles under her breath. 

"No. You need to learn how to not cause a political incident." Griselda frowns, crossing her arms. "There are times when violence isn't the answer, Xenovia. This is one of these times." 

"Xenovia. You need to understand that most devils are just... people... their society is... quite ancient in how it is designed. With nobility, clans, and houses." I begin, walking around her. "The vast majority of contact we have with the devil race- aside from the strays who have killed or abandoned their masters- are these devil nobility... that is the issue. Being in a noble house gives them this... pride... this arrogance." 

"Some devil nobility... are GENUINELY the worst. Others, like the two we will be meeting today, are quite nice. Rias Gremory treats her peerage members like family, while some other devil nobility treat them like simple servants or slaves. Sona Sitri is similar, a bit harsher on her peerage, perhaps, but in the manner that Griselda is harsh on you at times. Tough love. She still deeply cares for her peerage and seeks what's best for them."  

"Now. Xenovia. When we get there. The peerage of Rias' is probably going to have some... snappy remarks at us. The boy among them. Isaiah. Though he has changed his name. Do not rise to his provocations... he... loathes the church. Hates it. But for a very good reason." 

"Why would he hate the church?!" Irina frowns. 

"Oh. The church experimented on him then proceeded to execute all but one of his friends-" 

"W-WHAT?!" The brown haired girl shrieks. 

"-who only survived because her locked sacred gear promptly awakened then balance broke thus locking her in stasis. Isaiah also died shortly after from the poison they used in the gas chamber, but he came across Rias Gremory shortly before that, thus she revived him." 

"That- that couldn't-" Xenovia sputters. 

Griselda lets out a quiet sigh, grimacing. 

"Holy Sword Project. It was done to try and figure out a method to produce people who could wield Excalibur. The sick thing is, the church only excommunicated the man who did it... by all means he should have been executed for his crimes, but no. We just simply sent him into our enemies' hands." I frown. "So. Should he say anything. Do not rise to the comment. Please just... allow me to do the talking, okay?" 

"Wait... you're going as well?" Irina mutters. 

"Well, I'm going to be here pretty often. It'd probably be for the best that they know who I am so nobody jumps the shark." 

Heheh this is going to be GREAT! 

[Split] 

I make my way up to a large decrepit looking school building. It frankly looks haunted. My eyes briefly stray to my friends, Irina doesn't look very enthused to meet devils, Xenovia has a frown on her lips. 

After a moment, two women open the schoolhouse's double doors. The first a black haired girl with purple eyes, long black hair tied up into a ponytail with an orange ribbon. The next is a second black haired girl, however this one leaves her hair down, she also wears glasses and has heterochromia. 

They both wear school uniforms, black shirts, white blouses, and purple skirts. 

"Please come with us." The glasses wearing one slowly begins. "We will take you to our ladies." 

"Okay~" I hum, folding my arms behind my head as I follow after the two. 

"So, like... what's it like being devils?" I ponder. "I heard you've got magic based off imagination. Can you do a bunch of cool stuff like 'I imagine my power is doubled' or is it only boring stuff like 'I imagine that I'm shooting a ball of fire at someone'?" 

"..." 

"..." 

"Haah. This is going to be a long day." I sigh.  

"I am not looking to fraternize with the church." The girl with her hair tied up in a ponytail scoffs. 

"Shame. Life would be a lot better if we could all just be friends. But I can understand why you'd be disgusted by the church. Crusades. Sick experiments. Heck, even I myself don't have the best experience. Did you know I spent the first fourteen years of my life being berated and demeaned by a priest of the church? 'oh. Don't paint Luce. Art is the work of the devil'. 'you filthy brat, Luce, I never should have taken you in'. 'how dare you save that nun's life by killing that stray devil'. It was always such a thing... eugh. Maybe I have issues." 

"Oh, and I was maybe paraphrasing a bit there, but I was being totally truthful. You could not believe the number of times I've had bibles thrown at my head." I hum as we continue walking. "Oh. I've got another question. Do reincarnated devils grow additional pairs of wings as they grow stronger?" 

The other girl who was gazing at me calculatingly speaks up. "No. We do not." 

"Laaame." I sigh.  

"Lord Ajuka Beelzebub made it this way intentionally. The only devils who have additional pairs of wings would be the descendants of the original satans." 

"..." 

"Huh. So even when Lucifer made the devils he wanted to demean them. That sucks. You'd think that a guy making an entire race to spite the angels would have put in a little effort. I put tons of effort into the things I make for spite." 

My chatterbox-like self and cheerful persona has almost immediately caught them off guard. 

Irina is looking at me with surprise, Xenovia is giving me a contemplative stare, Lint is grinning likely seeing me do this as an attempt to annoy these two, Sagume is silently pondering, and Asia tilts her head cutely. 

"Oh hey. Spooky door." I note as we pass by a door blocked off by police tape.  

"We're here." The glasses wearing girl announces. 

"Oh! Thank you! You know, I never actually got your names?" 

"You don't need it." The unnamed Akeno frowns. 

"Tsubaki."  

"I see! Thank you, Miss 'You don't need it', Miss Tsubaki." I smile as the door opens. 

Within are several people. The more notable of which being the gorgeous red head and the black haired girl with purple glasses. They sit in the center of the room, on a large sofa. Around the room are several others. A small white haired girl, a tall white haired girl, a blue haired girl, and a blonde boy who is glaring hatefully. 

"Hey! Xenovia look!" I gesture to the blue haired girl. "It's your devil doppelganger. Isn't this fun?" 

"..." 

"Nooo?" She quietly states, idly wondering if that was a rhetorical question that she shouldn't be answering. 

"I thought there was only supposed to be five of you." The red haired woman sniffs. 

"Oh. I apologize." I smile brightly. "I kind of dropped in unannounced. I'm technically not supposed to be here, but I'll be around so I thought it'd be prudent to meet you all to avoid any misunderstandings as I will be here occasionally. Now I have something vitally important to say." 

I turn to the only boy amongst them and bow my head. "Isaiah. I'm sorry. The church has done something truly monstrous to you. We... we failed you. I am sorry that you had to suffer... that never should have happened to you." 

"Sorry won't bring my family back." He growls. 

"It will not." Sigh. "However... all thirty one children who died that day are in heaven now. I sought them out. Here. They've written to you. Oh. And Tosca Lived. She had a sacred gear that entered balance breaker and locked her in stasis... we are still waiting for it to end even after healing her." 

"Wh-" He flinches back. "What is." 

With a bored wave of my hand, the sealed envelopes flutter down onto a large table. 

Sona's eyes narrow slightly, Rias' eyes widen. 

"Heaven?" Sona frowns. 

"Oh! How terribly rude of me. Hello! My name is Luce! I don't really have a last name. My family doesn't exactly do those." 

Vmm 

My halo appears above my head. "I'm an angel." 

I gesture to the five girls behind me. "This is Asia Argento, Irina Shidou, Xenovia Quarta, Lint Sellzen, and Sagume Kishin. Human, Human, Human, Sigurd Descendant, Miricle Child." 

"Why is... an angel here?" 

"Oh! I was cast out of heaven because my mother fell during child birth. Turns out I have talent and they wanted me back." I wave off. "I've been to heaven recently. It's... really white. Oh, except Second Heaven which is sort of a black void- but- BUT- it's got a bunch of stars... it's really beautiful. Like what you'd be able to see in the night sky with no light pollution." 

"So, who are you? Out of politeness sake, at least." 

The red haired girl seems to cup her chin. 

"I am Sona Sitri." The glasses wearing devil begins, gesturing to the black haired woman who had crossed the room and stopped behind her. 

"This is my queen, Tsubaki Shinra. My rook, Tsubasa Yura, and my bishop, Momo Hanakai." 

The redhead takes this time to speak. "My name is Rias Gremory, Heiress to the clan Gremory. This is my queen, Akeno Himejima, my knight, Yuuto Kiba, and my rook, Koneko Toujou." 

"And if you hate heaven and the church so much, I have some spare pieces? Would you mind-" 

"Rias!" Sona hisses, elbowing the red haired girl. 

Xenovia opens her mouth, I wordlessly reach over as she does so and place my hand on her chin, closing it before she can say anything truly damning. 

"As generous and kind as that offer is- and I do truly mean this, if I had to pick any devil to become a peerage member of, it'd be you as you truly love and care for your pieces- but I am quite happy with where I am right now. So I will have to decline. Also. Please do not put words in my mouth." 

"Hate... hrm. No. I suppose I do hate the corruption of the church. But I don't hate heaven." I shake my head. "Mild dislike at how they have allowed the church to run out of control, yes, but not hate." 

"A-ny-waaays. It's a pleasure to meet you all. It is my hope that we can keep the peace between our sides. So. I believe we should talk about how we handle external threats to our little town. Should we set boundaries? Like 'this side of the town is ours, this side is yours'? Hm... that won't work. The others need to go to school. And Kuoh only has one school, which you all seem keen on remaining at." 

"Communication is needed." Sona speaks, a serious frown on her lips as she steeples her hands in front of her face. 

"Oh, of course." I agree. "This is neutral territory. Communication is needed so we aren't always at each other's throats. The previous overseers of this town had a good working relationship... at least until your great king faction and the church's higherups saw that peace was being achieved and they preferred the normal cold war status quo, and they put a stop to it." 

"I'm going to be completely and totally honest here." I continue as I point to the blue haired girl. "Xenovia hates you all." 

Rias sputters. 

Xenovia nods slowly, a satisfied smirk on her lips. 

"And I can tell, in some ways, the hate is mutual." I continue with a long sigh. "However... I don't hate you. I don't think Asia could bring herself to hate anything. And, well... I think Lint kind of just wants to fight you." 

"Hells yeah!" The girl confirms. 

"It is my hope... that we can move beyond our prejudices and work together. This goes... for us..." 

I turn, giving Xenovia a half-lidded stare.  

Then I look back to the devils. "And for yours as well." 

"So now I believe we should hash out the finer details of our tense truce." 

[Split] 

"I can't believe her!" Xenovia growls. "The audacity! To ask an angel of the lord to become a devil!" 

"Meh. I don't really care." I shrug. "I was being truthful. If I was ever going to join a devil, it'd probably be Rias Gremory. You could see how her peerage really cares for her." 

After speaking for around an hour on procedure, we left, Asia and Sagume heading back to the church while the rest of us decide to go visit Irina's friend.  

Xenovia is still fuming over Rias asking me if I wanted to join her peerage. 

From what I could hear as we left the building, Sona was really giving her an earful. Shouting about 'tense peace' and 'potential wars'. 

I kind of feel bad, honestly. But eh. Rias is honestly lucky she got me instead of some other angel who'd actually be offended... or just Irina, Xenovia, and Lint. 

"I don't think an angel of the lord should ever say they're considering becoming a devil!" Irina gasps. "Even if the church hasn't been the best to you!" 

"Oh, I never said I was considering it. Just. it was the best option among devil peerages. Which is a correct statement. The girl's kind of a pushover as long as you agree to watch anime with her." 

"How... do you know this?" Lint blinks twice. 

"I know a lot of things, Linty~" I smile brightly. 

"Don't call me that." She deadpans. 

"So, what do you know?" Irina questions. 

"I know that Miss Sitri is not going to mention me to her sister despite the fact that I said 'Say hi to your sister for me' before we left." I shrug. 

"Anything that's... I don't know... actually important?" Lint continues. 

"I know there's four fallen angels in town." I shrug. "They've been here since before you all showed up." 

"We should destroy them." Xenovia nods sagely before pausing. "Unless... are these... good fallen or bad fallen?" 

I'm... genuinely shocked that she paused to ask that. Plus there's the fact that she's no longer grouping them under the same banner. 

A warm smile crosses my lips. 

Ah... Xenovia's growing up. 

Or merely learning how to not be as blunt as a hammer. 

I'm being a positive influence... good. 

"Two among them are original fallen, one's about four hundred years old, and the final one is sixteen." I blandly announce. 

"So..." Xenovia mutters under her breath, the cogs in her head turning. "The... sixteen year old is... salvageable?" 

"Age doesn't denote kindness or purity, Xenovia. But in this case, it does... but don't use the word 'Salvageable'. It's terrible impolite. Please use 'Redeemed' or 'Saved'. Saved is good. Like a human accepting the holy spirit into their hearts before being baptized." I clasp my hands together with a bright smile. 

"So... we should... crush the others and save the youngest?" The blue haired girl decides, causing me to let out a long sigh.  

"The fact you are asking this is already an improvement from how you were almost a year ago." 

There's a tinge of red on her cheeks as I decide to move on. "So. Blue haired girl... 'Tsubasa Yura'. She really looked quite a lot like Xenovia, right?" 

"She doesn't!" Xenovia instantly protests. 

"Mnn. I don't know." Irina comments. "The hair's kind of off a few shades." 

"No no. I see it." Lint cuts in. "Both have blue hair styled in roughly the same way, that girl was a 'Rook', so they have increased strength, right? And Xenovia's Physically the strongest out of all of us." 

"No! Her hair is TEAL. Mine is ROYAL BLUE!" Xenovia exclaims. 

"They seem to be pretty close in age." I agree with a small grin as the three of us light-heartedly bully the wielder of Durandal. "Think they might be twins?" 

"W-We look nothing alike!" Xenovia protests. 

"Hrm... Maybe Cousins?" Irina tilts her head. 

"Xenovia's clearly a clone of that girl created by the church to mirror the peerage of some random heiress devil." 

"If anything, I'm the original!" Xenovia growls. 

"Oh! We're here!" Irina suddenly points. 

A brown-haired girl is sitting on the steps of her house, looking quite bored. 

Upon hearing voices she looks up. "Irina?! WOAH! He's cute!" 

I smile brightly. 

"I wonder what he'd look like without a shirt." She drools. 

My eyebrow twitches slightly. "Like this?" 

I raise my shirt, showing off my stomach for a split second before allowing my shirt to fall. 

Blood shoots from the girl's nose, a goofy grin on her face as she flops backwards, eyes rolling black. 

She... uh... 

Just came? 

"Wait! Do it again!" Xenovia demands. "I wasn't looking." 

"What the hell is WRONG with you two!" 

"W-Well-" Xenovia sputters. 

"Nudity wouldn't be a sin if Eve didn't eat that apple." I smile brightly.  

"EXACTLY!" Xenovia leaps upon my excuse. "I blame women!" 

I begin cackling.