D&devils 3: Celestial Artistry: Chapter 11

I gaze down at the keyboard with a frown, fingers hovering over the keys.  I'm preparing to unleash a proverbial can of word-fu on Serafall,

I gaze down at the keyboard with a frown, fingers hovering over the keys. 

I'm preparing to unleash a proverbial can of word-fu on Serafall, but... the words just aren't wording. 

"Greetings Leviathan-" 

Too wordy and formal. The last one started that way as well and that served as an introduction. I quickly erase the opening statement. 

"Hey Sera-tan!" 

That's... fine, I guess. 

"Hey Hey Sera-tan! It's me! Luce! It's been a while!" 

I nod slowly, cupping my chin. 'alright. That's good.' 

"Luuuuce~" a voice hums behind me causing me to flinch. 

"Oh! Gabriel! Hello!" I smile brightly. 

"What are you doing?" She tilts her head. 

"Preparing to taunt Serafall over my new series?" I blink twice. "Why? Is something going on?" 

"Oh! So you're doing something important, then." The woman nods sagely. "I was wondering if you'd like to go and try some food with me, but this is absolutely more important." 

She's not being sarcastic at all. She fully believes the words coming out of her mouth. 

I turn back to the screen. "Yeah, I'd like to find a way to point out some of the things she'd be REALLY irritated by... but not in a way that makes it seem like I'm drawing attention to them. But I don't really want to play all my cards right off the bat. That might cause her to rampage. I'd like to keep an ace or... two... for a... rainy... day..." 

I gaze down at the floor, eyes darting back and forth as a plan begins steadily forming in my brain. 

I rocket to my feet. "I'VE GOT IT!" 

You have been given divine inspiration. Natural 20 Ensured. 

[Split] 

Gabriel gazes at the blonde boy as he lays curled up on the floor sleeping peacefully. 

The past month has worried her. 

It started with him rising from the computer desk and shouting that he's 'got it'. 

Then... his eyes... 

They changed from blue to gold. He began looking distant... like he was viewing something only he could see. Staring through her at times. 

It was kind of eerie. 

She was terrified something had happened to him, but then... she remembered a little tidbit that she was told all those months ago. 

He's done this before. 

The first time he ever painted anything. He got what Xenovia said he called 'Divine Inspiration'. 

Clearly he's gotten it again. 

She looks up to a large crystal sat on the floor, intricate runes are carved on it. She can see eight symbols in roughly the shape of a circle, those symbols are each surrounded by a magic circle of their own. 

Lines of runic script and calculations line the whitish blue crystal. Some of which she can barely comprehend. 

The holy crystals from her father's workshop. He wanted it, so she and Michael got it for him. 

He worked tirelessly this past month. Her and the other seraphs occasionally checked up on him, but he'd work and work and work... then he'd pass out, tossing and turning in his sleep restlessly. 

He ate what was provided. Drank what was given. Didn't even utter a single word, eyes trained on the crystal in absolute focus. 

But now... he seems almost eerily peaceful... asleep on the floor. 

He must have finished it. 

Whatever it is. 

The door behind her opens revealing Michael walking inside.  

"Ah, Gabriel." He greets as he comes to a stop beside her in gazing down at the boy. "He must be finished, then." 

"Yes. Now we only need to wait for him to awaken." Gabriel nods. 

"I'll prevent anyone else from coming in while we wait. We wouldn't want anyone to mess up his work." Michael notes. 

Gabriel finds her eyes trailing back down to the boy.  

Little Luce. She wonders what else he is capable of? 

[Split] 

"Wah-" I sit up with a gasp, looking around blearily. 

I rub my eyes. 

Oh. I'm in Gabriel's bed again. 

What was I... doing again? 

I rise to my feet, letting out a low hiss of pain. 

My back hurts. 

My everything hurts, frankly. 

I let out a long yawn, stumbling briefly as I peer around. 

I seem to have triggered an alarm spell so Gabriel is probably- 

The door swings open. "Luuuuce~" 

Her melodic voice carries across the room. 

"Hello Gabriel." I wave. "What time is it?" 

"Morning!" 

"oh... okay... maybe I should be a little specific. What day is it?" I correct with a small groan, rubbing my face. 

"Tuesday." She supplies. 

"So four days then-" I gaze to the side, completely unblinking. 

An achievement has been unlocked: 

Evil Pieces!: 
Congratulations! You've managed to make your OWN Evil pieces! This could change EVERYTHING! A method for angels to repopulate. A way to convert Longinus to the angelic side! 

Rewards: 50000 Exp, +5 Mythic Trials 

You have ascended to Mythic Rank 5 

"..." 

That's an instant level up... and almost a second one... once I finish up that fourth week of training with Sariel. 

"Alright there's no way I would be able to make our heavenly pieces in just four days. How long has it ACTUALLY been?" 

"Four weeks." The woman hums. 

"Gnnnnnnn." I groan, rubbing my face again. "Gabriel, did my friends call?" 

"They did." She confirms. "But we told them that you had another bout of 'divine inspiration' and was unavailable. They were understanding." 

I wave my hands over my body, cleaning it with prestidigitation. "Well... let's go see what I made this time, then." 

We walk through sixth heaven quickly making our way towards a large double door. Magical runes cross-cross the door, showing that it has been locked some fairly impressive magic. 

"Michael and I locked this room because we were unsure if looking around would mess up what you had been working on." The woman supplies. 

She waves a hand, the barrier lessening and eventually breaking completely. 

We step inside. At the center of the room is a large crystal the size of a boulder. It comes up to roughly my head and is about five feet wide and long. Intricate runes coil around its surface. On the front I can see eight symbols, each surrounded by magical circles that feed into the rest of the runes at large. 

I lean forwards slightly eyes widening as I can see criss-crossing lines deep within the crystal. "How the heck did I manage to inscribe the insides?" 

I shake my head. 

"Alright. Good news and bad news, Aunty." I smile brightly. "Good news. I know what this is. Our version of Evil Pieces. More good news, I know how it functions... mostly... bad news. There's a good twenty to thirty percent of it that's kind of illuding me at the moment." 

"Which, I suppose I could fix by- oh. There we go. We're all good." I give her a bright grin and a thumbs up. 

I step forwards towards the crystal, cupping my chin. 

I look over the eight symbols. 

Clubs. Diamonds. Hearts. Spades. 

Card suits... 

Beyond that... Cups. Coins. Swords. And Shields 

I look between all eight of the card suits, a low hum leaving my lips. "Hey... Gabriel, can you call the other Great Seraph? It's about time I get our heavenly suits working." 

"heavenly suits?" The woman echoes. 

"Yes, like suits of cards. I'm going to hold off on explaining the intricacies of the system until the others arrive so I only have to do it once." 

It doesn't take long. Michael enters the room barely even a minute after I had finished saying that, the other three are quick to arrive as well, I ponder over the crystal, looking between two of the card suits. 

"What is it?" Michael asks slowly.  

"This is our version of evil pieces. Our Heavenly Suits." I smile brightly. "And I... am deciding if I want to be cups or coins..." 

My eyes flick back and forth. 

"Meh. Coins it is." I reach out and touch the rock's surface. It's slightly cold to the touch, smooth barring the grooves in it that magical energy seem to pass through. 

The magic circle around the coin symbol begins to glow. A second appears underneath me. 

A bright white glow envelopes me, a magic circle with a coin in it briefly flickering over the back of my hand. 

"Alright." I turn to the others. "There are currently eight suits. Each of you should pick one... in the future I hope to allow others to also enter the suits after you, but at the moment we don't have enough of this heavenly crystal." 

My eyes glint with excitement. "Let me show you it's features!" 

With a flash, a stack of crystalline cards appear in my hand which I offer to the seraphs. "This. Is my suit. A set of twelve cards numbered two through ten, then with a Jack, Queen, excluding King- which is you yourself-, and Ace. Their level of strength, as in the strength they both offer and can revive- excluding king- ascends in that manner as well." 

"Now. Let me just say. First things first. The two. Deuces. It is roughly equal to the Evil Piece's pawn. A three is only minorly better... by six it is worth two pawns, with ten being a little over three and a half. A Jack is worth about six pawns, a queen, eight, and finally ace is worth twelve. Meaning it surpasses a standard queen." 

"Downsides to this system." I raise my hand. "You cannot compile cards to resurrect someone stronger than normal. A devil can use all eight of their pawns to revive a Longinus wielder if they really needed. You cannot do this. You'll be forced to use your queen, or ace." 

They eventually hand the cards back to me after examining them. I continue speaking. "But, the overall 'resurrection power' of a heavenly suit is higher than that of a set of evil pieces... not taking into account mutation pieces. BUT we have our own variant of mutations, called a Joker card, but I'll get into that in a second." 

"Now. These would be a pale imitation of evil pieces if they didn't have any special traits. After all, Rooks can swap places with their 'king'. Pawns can promote, and then there's the enhancements each piece gives the user. I went in a different route! Teamwork!" 

"Teamwork?" Uriel echoes. "Teamwork how?" 

"Tell me, Uriel. What do you know of poker? Or blackjack." 

He blinks twice. 

"..." 

"Nothing? Really?" I mutter. 

"Gambling... you made our heavenly pieces based on... gambling?" Uriel slowly speaks. 

"Well, to be fair. The devils took chess. I couldn't exactly made this checkers, now could I? Besides! Is it really gambling when you're not betting on anything? It's just a card game, then." 

Raphiel shrugs. "He has a point there. So how does teamwork help your system here?" 

"Alright.  In a traditional game of Poker, you bet against others with the cards in your hand. The type of cards in your hand having a set value. After four of you with differing card suits create a 'deck', you can unlock tremendous power-boosting effects. The true power of the system requires you to more or less create a 'deck' by joining forces. But there are some effects you can gain on your own which I'll mention later." 

"Firstly, each of you would draft a 'hand' out of your collective suits, in which each of you randomly connect with five of the cards." 

"Randomly?"  Michael frowns. 

"Yes, but that was added to make the effects vastly more powerful. And like poker you can swap out cards you don't want once." I admit. "These suits absolutely blow evil pieces out of the water in potential power, though." 

I hold out my Ace. "First, is 'High Card'. The system makes it so your other cards- aside from your highest card- are given strength. It's not a lot, but this is the least powerful ability of the cards. You will ALWAYS get this effect, say for instance you got a two, a three, a six, and a seven alongside your ace. Now, the numbered cards will gain five percent of the Ace's original strength while they fight in tandem." 

"That is the weakest?!" Michael's eyes widen slightly. 

"Mhmmm." I smile brightly, clasping my hands together. "After that, is one pair, in which you get two of the same card type, so two aces. Two threes. Two jacks, etcetera. In that scenario. The pair in question get a two-times boost in strength and all the others get ten percent of the pair's original strengths." 

"Then there's two pair, in which you get, well, two pairs. The effects stack. The pairs are doubled but they also are given ten percent of the strength of the other pair... which is then doubled by their pair bonus." 

"That is- you're saying that you've given our heavenly pieces the ability to boost their strength like a twice critical? Casually?" Michael continues. 

"Yep!" I hum. "Oh, and I should specify, for the rest of the hand, it's the added power of the pair. So for example, if you, Michael, were an ace, and Gabriel was an ace, and the other three here were merely other cards in the 'hand'... you and Gabriel would double your strength, yet the rest of the cards would gain ten percent of your original power... and then ten percent of Gabriel's for a total of ten percent of your combined power. But if it were two random two winged angels, you wouldn't see much of an increase at all." 

"After that... three of a kind. In which the pair bonus is doubled so all of them get times four strength and the rest of the hand get twenty percent of the original combined strength of the pairs. 

"And four pair would double this again, correct?" Raphiel gasps.  

"Yes indeed! Times eight. Forty percent, but you've skipped over Straight, Flush, and Full House." 

I take a deep breath. "A straight is an ascending string of cards. Ace-two-three-four-five or something like eight-nine-ten-jack-queen. This gives a two times boost to the entire group. After that is a 'Flush' which is when you have cards that are all of the same suit. So, two of hearts, three of hearts, queen of hearts, ace of hearts, and nine of hearts. This grants the entire group a four times boost." 

"Then there's full house, when you have a one pair and a three of a kind. The boosts of the pairs will stack much like two-pair. Then your get to four pair, which I previously mentioned... after that, there's just two hands that could possibly be better... the first? Straight flush. You get an ascending number of cards that are ALL the same suit. In this case, it's a flat ten times boost all around." 

"Then... comes the strongest hand... one only possible thanks to our mutation piece... the Joker! Five of a kind! A sixteen times boost to strength all around!" 

"Now." I take a breath, gesturing to the crystal. "Allow me to talk about Jokers... they are pretty much free cards. They don't belong to a suit and they can count as ANY suit and ANY number from ace to queen. In a hand, they'll always be treated as the best-case scenario, and because of their shifting nature, if you manage to get one in your hand, at minimum you'll have a two-pair as they match one of your other cards. They are also by far the most powerful card that I am able to create being worth roughly twenty pawns. 

"That being said, they can't be counted as two cards at once. They will always be treated as the best case scenario. So for instance if you have one ace and two twos, it'll be treated as an additional two, granting you three of a kind." 

I take a deep breath and exhale. "Thank you for listening to me ramble on for a bit. Please select a suit. I've made eight sets of cards so far." 

"How are jokers made?" Uriel questions. 

"Oh. Two are created for every set of four suits I make. As such, only two jokers may be added to a 'deck' though it's possible to play without them in fact, it's possible to play cards you might not have reincarnated yet, at which point, they just boost the cards that you do have. So if you have a three pair, but one of you haven't reincarnated your... let's say ace, the other two aces will be treated as if you had gotten a tree pair, but the unused ace won't be of any true help in battle. 

"These heavenly pieces could change heaven completely." Michael smiles gently. 

"I'm not entirely certain on the name." I shrug. "it's either 'Heavenly Pieces', 'Good Pieces', 'Heavenly Suits' or 'Brave Saints'. 

"OOOH! I like the last one!" Gabriel hops twice, causing her bust to jiggle slightly. "Can we call them brave saints?" 

"It does have a better ring to it than 'Heaven's Pieces'." Raphiel cocks his head to the side, cupping his chin.  

"Meh, Brave saints it is." I shrug before letting out a small yawn. "So. Let's get you all connected. Pick a suit if you would." 

I watch Uriel and Raphiel fight over who gets to be the 'Sword'. Gabriel walks forwards and places her hand on the heart, the bright glowing lightshow happens once more. 

Her eyes shine slightly as she gazes over to a nearby table where a small stack of cards gleams. 

She zooms over, looking over her new prize. 

Michael chooses spades, Sariel looks slightly proud of herself as she takes the Sword suit, causing the other two seraph who were bickering to pout and sulk. 

They eventually pick other suits, Uriel taking Shield, and Raphiel taking Clubs leaving Diamonds and Cups unused for now. 

"Well. I'm glad that this has worked." I clasp my hands together. "Truly I thank you all for allowing me the resources to build this masterpiece." 

"Luce, you do not need to thank us. This... this changes everything." Michael whispers, gazing at the glowing crystal. 

"Noooow. I'm going to go finish up a certain painting I was working on." I nod once. "Good luck finding your cards." 

I turn and walk away with a single wave. 

[Split] 

I gaze down at my body, looking over it slowly. 

This is... trippy... 

Like I'm in two places at once. 

One of me is sat peacefully in a green meadow resting at a small gazebo, hands touching a crystal ball. 

The other... is walking through a town, quickly making their way to the outskirts. 

A bright smile rests on my lips as I begin making my way up a winding path. 

A quiet hum leaves my lips as I spy a simple building in the distance. 

I step forwards, throwing the doors open. "I have arrived!" 

The figures inside of the room pause, one dusting a bench, the other corrected a tilted painting. 

"Luce?!" Xenovia gasps. 

"Hey Hey Xenovia, Irina. It's been a while!" 

I am almost tackled by the blue haired girl as she lunges forwards and wraps me in a hug. 

"LUCE! How- you're here! You're really here!" The girl gasps. 

"Mhmmm." I nod slowly gently wrapping my own arms around her. "Well, not necessarily. But technically!" 

"What are you talking about?" Irina whispers. 

"Oh. This body is a painting I'm controlling from heaven. SO." I turn and point at Xenovia. "If there ever comes a time where we are outmatched and I tell you to run. Do it. This body regenerates after it's destroyed. Nothing of value will be lost. Unless, of course, you decide to throw your life away for a vaguely me-shaped pile of ink." 

I eventually slip from Xenovia's grasp. "So. Were's the others?" 

"Griselda went to buy groceries with Asia and Sagume, Lint is probably down in the basement training." Irina explains. "They're probably going to be so surprised to see you!" 

"I'm looking forwards to meeting Asia in person." I agree with a slow nod, crossing my arms. "How has your mission been going?" 

"Oh! We have reinstated the church!" Irina beams. 

"..." 

She wasn't told them, hm? 

"What about your friend?" I ask. "That... Issane girl? You meet up with her yet?" 

The brown haired girl lets out a weary sigh, rubbing her face with her hands. "She... yes... yes I have." 

"The girl is an unrepentant pervert and sinner." Xenovia blandly accuses. 

"This is coming from the girl who asked to bare my children?" I lazily deflect. "Isn't there a saying about throwing stones in glass houses?" 

"WHAT?!" Irina shrieks. 

"W-We were going to get married first!" Xenovia defends. "T-There's nothing wrong with a wife wanting a child! I-It's normal! What isn't normal is wanting to have a harem!" 

"Well, actually a lot of people in the bible had a harem." I point out. "And considering how low the supernatural birth rates are it's not that bad of an idea. Frankly I'm in the mind of 'if you marry all of them it's fine'."  

Irina's face is completely red, looking between me and the blushing Xenovia. 

"So your pervert sinner friend. Have you hung out much? Tried to 'bring her into the light'? Showed her your cool lightsabers yet?" 

"W-Well... we hung out s-some..." The brown haired girl mutters. "But..." 

There's a frown on her lips. "I've been thinking about it for a while, but... why are you so focused on her?" 

"There's a reason. But I shouldn't say it. Who knows might be listening. Nor do I want you to drive her away by being too pushy. Some people in the church want her to join, but as long as she's not hostile towards us, I don't really care." 

"Hos...tile?" Irina squeaks. "But-" 

Xenovia's eyes sharpen slightly. She's always quite quick on the uptake for these battle and tactical things. "I see. She has a sacred gear, then... a longinus." 

A long sigh leaves my lips. "Yes. Yes. Since you've gone out and said it. Yes she does. And she's quite an important one. The red dragon empress... which is vital to the church as the White Dragon Emperor is someone named Vali Lucifer." 

"What?" Xenovia whispers, stiffening. 

"I'd prefer it if you wouldn't repeat what I said, nor would you try and push her into a decision." I cross my arms. "I feel that you, Irina, as her childhood friend deserves to know this." 

"Even still, I would like to meet her sometime. Maybe I could convince her. Though I'm kind of unsure how I'd do it." I shake my head good naturedly. "But sometimes... that's just the way people are." 

"Oh! And Irina, I absolutely painted your face the moment you figured it out!" I smile brightly. "Your face is hanging on one of the walls in Sixth heaven!"  

I quietly snicker behind my hand at the girl's groan. "Your look of disgust has brought me great joy and I thank you for that." 

"So what were you painting, Luce?" Xenovia asks, tilting her head slightly. "Lady Gabriel said that you had another bout of divine inspiration... and this one lasted an entire month." 

"Ah." I mutter. "Well, it wasn't quite a painting this time. More of a statue. But the Seraphs kind of want me to keep it on the downlow. Buuuuut it's relevant to you two! With it we'll be able to see more of each other after this and that makes me happy!" 

"I'll tell you both soon..." I announce with a sole nod. "But first, why don't we go sit down and wait for Miss Griselda to return. I'd like to let her know that I'm in town." 

"So, have you met the devil overseers for this town yet? What about any youkai?" I question as we walk deeper into the church.