D&devils 3: Celestial Artistry: Chapter 10

A sigh leaves my lips. "You're right. You're right. I know. Fine. I'll make an angel equivalent to evil pieces." 

"Y-You know?!" Metatron smiles brightly. "You know how that Beelzebub did it?!" 

"They used a crystal in the underworld. Agaresite. Which transforms the body of the reincarnate-e into a devil akin to a philosopher's stone turning lead to gold. In that same vein..." I turn to Gabriel. "I need a Philosopher's stone... and a bunch of other things. The largest issue would be some sort of 'slate' that can bind the Evil Pieces. Ajuka used a large hunk of Agaresite, but it's very nature is more suited to devils. We'd need to find a replacement which- huh... is in god's sacred gear workshop. He had some sort of... strange... holy adjacent Agaresite. A key part of sacred gears." 

Hope is on Uriels face now as he stands up. "Could we not use that, instead of philosopher's stones, then?" 

"Ah... well... I kind of want to leave some behind so in the far future I can finish some of your fathers abandoned projects... it might... be presumptuous of me but... I really can't stand to see something like that unfinished. The sacred gears primarily. But yes... it would technically work. I suppose in the future I could always ask how to get or make more." 

"The true mastery of Ajuka's Evil Pieces are the powers and other secret features of the pieces. Transforming someone into another race is one thing, but blessing them with inherent abilities based on piece? Infusing the rooks with the ability to swap places with their master? Especially promotion! I'd need to think of our very own gimmick... it's no fun to just flat out copy another." 

"Virtues? No. There's only five great Seraph so two of the seven wouldn't be portrayed." I mutter. "Besides, there's no real 'pieces' to the Virtues that we could use to reincarnate others. So it has to be a game of some sort." 

"Luce, you can think about this once you've gotten the things you need, right? Surly it will take time." 

"Yeah..." I nod slowly. "I'll probably also have to make some magical tools to assist me. I can have a list of everything I will need soon enough." 

"Now... is this everything or is there any other questions that need asking?" I ask, looking between the five. 

"We will need to think of things to ask that we would be fine not knowing the answers to... asking about the peerage system was frankly... perhaps a risk we shouldn't have taken but it seems to have worked out. In this case. There are things we've lost. Things we would like to know, but we should think on it before asking." Michael declares. 

"Luce." The six-winged seraph begins. "You seek... training, correct?" 

"Yes." 

"You seek to grow as strong as possible as soon as possible, correct?" 

I nod once. "Yes?" 

"I have a training regime. It will be grueling. It will be painful. You will nearly be broken down and rebuilt but your strength will grow greatly. Do you wish for that?" 

My eyes narrow slightly, offering the Seraph a resolute nod. "Yes." 

There's a faint smile on her lips. "Very well... we will start tomorrow, then. You will of course be given time to paint, build, and even contact your human friends. But during training... you will perhaps not like me very much." 

"That's fine." 

Michael begins to stand so I speak one further time. 

"Michael... before you go can you ensure that nothing happens to my friends? That no one in the church would suddenly decide to send them on a mission that they have no way of completing." I ask. 

"That is- I don't believe-" 

"No. It's a genuine worry. The church doesn't follow the will of the angels. I bet that a large portion of the church uses God as an excuse to justify their hatred." I continue. "If we, at this exact moment made peace with the fallen angels... with devils... TRUE peace, not our tense truce as of this moment... if that were to happen a not so small portion of the church would rebel, and I frankly find that disgusting." 

His face falls slightly. "Yes. I will ensure that they aren't sent on missions like that." 

"Okay!" I smile brightly, turning to Gabriel. "So, anyways Aunty, you wanted to show me around first heaven?" 

[Split] 

Heaven is large. 

The layers kind of remind me of what Yggdrasil of the Norse is supposed to be. 

Gabriel is... energetic... dragging me around first heaven. 

It was kind of fun. 

In addition, I got an... interesting alert. 

Achievement: 

Impress the Five Great Seraph: 
For the first time in hundreds of years things are going heaven's way. The knowledge of the Longinus holders. The potential of an angel equivalent to Evil Pieces? And one little angel standing in the middle of all that. You've got big shoes to fill, but this is absolutely a good start. 

Reward: +2 Mythic Trials 

You have ascended to Mythic Rank 4 

With that, I got the ability to 'bestow' my 'holy sword' ability onto others. One other, that is. I also unlocked another Mythic Ability and an increase to one of my stats. I'm just unsure of what I'd want right now. 

"Luce! You're getting a call!" The Seraph who I suppose I am living with hums, fluttering into the room with a telephone that looks suspiciously like an Iphone with angel wings. 

It soars from her hands and begins floating in front of my face as I slowly sit up from laying on the couch. 

The black screen connects, and suddenly familiar breasts concealed by exorcist garb fills the screen. 

"Xenovia. Tilt it up slightly." I hear Griselda mutter off screen. 

I am shown her stomach. 

"That's down." 

It pans up to her face. "Luce!" 

I watch as the blue haired girl's face lights up, her eyes are practically sparkling. 

"Hello Xenovia." I smile warmly. 

"Are you okay? I got your letter. Are you really staying in heaven?" 

"For now..." I admit with a shrug. "The loss of my abilities would be... genuinely crippling to heaven in its current state. Are the others there with you?" 

I see a brown head of hair poke over Xenovia's shoulder, a peace sign slowly slide into frame from the other side. 

Irina and Lint. 

"Sagume is here as well." Xenovia nods slowly. 

"Well... uh... My wings are gold so apparently I have the potential to become a great seraph and with my painting ability they kind of assume I'll grow to be on par with Michael at the very least, and he's the strongest amongst them." 

I watch shock appear on Xenovia's and Irina's faces. 

"Which is why they'd suggested I stay here... because a lot of people wouldn't want another Great Seraph in the world... and with my painting ability? it's kind of reaching a level I would call 'Faction Leaders would willingly go on a suicide mission to take me down.' which was putting not only myself in danger, but all of you as well." 

"So... you're going to stay in heaven..." Xenovia slowly repeats. 

"For now." I admit with a single nod. "I'll certainly visit you at some point and I have a few potential ideas for solutions, but overall... I'm probably going to be here for a long time." 

"Oh..." The blue haired girl whispers. 

"What's heaven like, Luce?" Irina questions, curiosity in her eyes. 

"Well, it's... white... really white... like to a ludicrous degree. almost blinding at some points. Like. There are other colors, am I right? But in its own way it's... beautiful... golden skies, white clouds, brick roads. The buildings are strange. Some look straight out of the middle ages while others have a more modern aesthetic. Nothing newer than the nineteen forties or so, though. There's coffee shops, restaurants, churches- SO many churches. Like ALL of the churches. Kind of wish there was more grass, though... and trees... First heaven has a park but I'd kind of personally like to see it everywhere instead of just centralized in a single- albeit serene and beautiful place." 

"I haven't been to the Garden of Eden yet, nor third heaven, where the souls of the dead believers rest... uh... Oh! I met some more of the seraphs! You've met Gabriel, Michael looks... similar, kind of just a boy version of her. Uriel is intense and looks a little tired, Metatron is nice and REALLY likes ninjas. To the point where he was wearing a white ninja outfit when I saw him. Raphiel is quite kind and gentle and very pretty and Sariel is... a little scary. But! Tomorrow I'm going to start training with her so I can get strong enough that the seraphs don't necessarily need to hold my hand every time I take a single step outside of heaven." 

"Have you met your father yet?" Xenovia questions. 

I let out a low hiss as I wince. "Ehhh. Not yet. I'm not entirely sure if I'm... ready for that... I'd like to see him, sure and he probably wants to see me. But our meeting will probably be so... so awkward and I'm not that good at meeting new people." 

"Have you met god?" Irina smiles brightly. 

Gabriel looks like she's about to interject.  

"Not yet." I admit with a small shrug. "I probably will eventually, but I've been told he's unavailable for any meetings right now." 

"Okay!" Irina smiles brightly. "You should tell us when you meet him!" 

"I will!" I hum. "So. What about you? Has anything happened in the past couple of days?" 

"We haven't had any adventures yet, Luce." Irina shakes her head. "Unlike you..." 

"We were given some time off after our mission." Xenovia supplies. "I'm not sure how long it'll be, but it'll give us the opportunity to train more." 

"That's good!" I grin. "Getting stronger is always good! I know that Sariel's training is probably going to suck, but in the end I feel like it'll benefit me great-" 

I freeze, eyes widening. 

"Please... please lord just send me a friend... send me anything please! I beg of you! I don't know how much more I can take! I-I'm always alone... so alone... I try to help where I can. To heal who they ask, but they... they just keep me locked up. Why does Father Florenzi keep me locked up?! Please lord, send me a sign! Please... please let me know that you are listening!" 

"..." 

I slowly turn to Gabriel who seems content to watch me talk to my friends. 

"Gabriel... did you hear that?" 

"Hear what? A prayer?" She mutters. 

"What is it, Luce?" Xenovia asks. 

"Oh! Don't worry about it, I just got a slightly worrisome prayer. I can take care of it, though. And speaking of prayers. If any of you wish to reach out to me, you could always pray, you know that right? You can pray to specific angels more closely connected to the lord's system such as the seraph... or me!" 

Xenovia's serious frown slowly turns into a smile. "Yes... I'll do that." 

"Now, Irina, I have a question for you." I turn slightly, looking to the brown haired girl on the screen. 

"Yes?" She asks. 

"What was the name of your childhood friend?" I tilt my head slightly. 

"Oh?" She echoes. "Issane? Why?" 

"What's her last name?" I continue, casting a small glance over to Gabriel. 

"Oh! Hou...dou? I think? It was something like that." 

"Hyoudou?" I suggest. 

"That's it!" She beams only to pause, a small frown appearing on her lips. "Wait... why are you asking?" 

"Angel business and something I don't really want getting out." I casually excuse, looking at the nails on one of my hands. 

"It's getting quite late." A voice in the background observes. Griselda. "You girls should really get to bed soon." 

"Yes, mother." Xenovia replies, glancing to the side before looking back to me. "I suppose this is goodbye for now, Luce. We will miss you and await your return." 

"We'll see each other again." I agree. "After all. I promised you something and angels shouldn't go back on promises!" 

Her face flushes. 

"G-Goodbye!" The blue haired girl sputters. 

with that, the call ends. 

"Your... promise?" Gabriel echoes. 

"Don't worry about it! Nooooow." I begin as I close my eyes, scratching my temple. 

My mythic power flares. "Can you please get an angel to go and break one 'Father Florenzi's kneecaps for me?" 

The woman blinks twice. 

"The prayer I got was from Asia Argento a Holy Maiden. A girl who has twilight healing. She's being abused by Father Florinzi of Barolo who keeps her locked away, using her for her healing ability and taking... donations... that seem to flow into his own pockets." 

"Asia was crying... only praying for a friend. To go outside. To stop being so alone. Sooo uh... maybe introduce her to Xenovia and the others? She isn't suited to be an exorcist, too kind and gentle, but twilight healing is incredibly useful." 

"Of course! I'll have someone deal with it."  

We sit in silence for a long moment before I ask a question that has been quietly bothering me. "Soooo uh... How bad do you think Miss Sariel's training is going to be?"  

"I have complete faith that you'll be fine!" The woman beams. 

[Split] 

My back impacts the ground with a loud crack, air is knocked from my lungs, the hair on the back of my neck raises slightly as I roll as hard as I can, avoiding a stomp from the blue haired woman. 

"Come on! Your light spears are powerful for the number of wings you have, but they won't be enough. You need to grow. Gain more wings. Grow used to your power." 

I swing my weapon upwards, the light sword crackling against the seraph's own. She easily overpowers me, sending me skidding backwards with a small flick of the wrist. 

I hurl my weapon forwards, conjuring a second even as the woman effortlessly steps around the hurled weapon and dispels it with a swipe as it turns and comes back around for another pass. "Your ability to control your light spears after you have thrown them is quite interesting. Your magical capabilities are a step above those of a typical four winged angel, I'll give you that at the very least." 

Golden light explodes from my halo as with a single flap of my wings I dart forwards, swiping my blade at her. all of which she effortlessly parries. 

with a final kick she sends me crashing back to the floor. 

"This is enough." She decides. "I have a decent grasp of your skill level. Good. You'd best most high class almost assuredly. But beyond that? If you want to freely walk around earth without worry you need to be at least as strong as me. That will take some time. Now. Allow me to show you some exercises." 

[Split] 

"nhhhhh" I groan. "Everything hurts." 

"Sariel can be pretty intense." Gabriel smiles. "Oh! And your things for painting arrived." 

I sit up, eyes glinting. "Where?!" 

She leads me across the room to... another door that wasn't here last night. I didn't even notice it. Huh. Supernatural creatures work fast. 

The door creaks open and- holy mother of materials... this- this is a LOT 

Canvasses, wood- for frames- gemstones, and materials to make paints of all sorts such as powdered lapis lazuli, cinnabar, a hue of purple that is from those sea snails. 

I turn to Gabriel. "What should I paint, Gabriel? Maybe... hm... should I continue my idea for the show? Or maybe I could paint a dragon... maybe a swordsman." 

"Just paint whatever your heart desires, Luce." The woman smiles brightly tilting her head to the side. 

"Should I paint angel serafall?" I ponder. 

"As funny as that would be, I believe that your painting that was inspired by her little sister might be pushing it a little bit. let alone creating a copy of her."

"Oh... right." I pout. "That's fair." 

"Luce. I pray that one of these days we might meet once more and that you may bless my womb with your seed." 

I let out a quiet sputtering cough. 

"Are you okay?" Gabriel tilts her head cutely.  

"Choked on my spit." I croak, face slightly flustered. 

[Split] 

"Hello, Irina." I smile brightly. 

"Luce!" She beams. "How have you been?" 

"Oh, you know. Getting beat up under the guise of training, mostly." I smile weakly. "So, not much has changed. I've been painting some. Uhhh oh! The angels are letting me make an animated series, so that's cool! What about all of you? How has the past month been treating all of you?" 

"We've been training..." Irina admits slowly. "Oh! We got a new member! Her name is Asia, she's a holy maiden with a healing sacred gear." 

"Are you being good friends to her?" I ask with a gentle smile. 

"Yep! She's so nice and cute! I just want to pinch her cheek sometimes!" 

"To tell you the truth, Irina... during our last conversation she was the person I heard the prayer of... the prayer for even a single friend. The prayer to not be used as just a tool anymore." 

I watch the girl's eyes widen. 

"Oh..." She whispers, her eyes straying off screen. 

"Mr... angel heard my prayer?" I can hear a quiet voice whisper. 

"Come here, Asia." Irina waves over. 

A blonde girl steps into view, she looks down at the floor. "H-Hello Mr. Angel... I-I'm happy you heard my prayer." 

"Please, just call me Luce." I warmly smile. "I'm not that much older than you... actually I think we may even be the same age. All that 'Mr.' Stuff just makes me sound so... old..." 

"Y-Yes, M-Mr- L-Luce..." The blonde girl fidgets. 

A small sigh leaves my lips as I give the girl a gentle grin, offering a small eye roll. "Alright alright... I suppose you can just call me whatever you feel comfortable with." 

"T-Thank you... t-thank you for listening to my prayer." The girl bows her head, clasping her hands together. 

"You are welcome." I nod once, a satisfied smirk on my lips. 

"Oh! Luce! One more thing! We were given a mission to head back to my home town! Can you believe it!" 

"Oh?" I question. 

My power flares. 

Kuoh town is under the control of the devils however no-one has actually gone to oversee it yet. Sirzechs and Serafall want to give it to their siblings because it's one: relatively out of the way, and two: a good method to teach them responsibility. But as of recently, they've come to accept a... compromise with the church. 

"Ah... I see." I nod slowly. "Your mission's going to be pretty important." 

"You know about our mission?" The girl gasps, a bright smile on her face. "What is it?" 

"A secret." I impishly smirk. "Just know that it is definitely important... and that eventually two devil heiresses will be arriving to that town. Xenovia. If you are lingering in the background. Listen to me. DO NOT PROVOKE THEM. I expect you to be polite with them." 

"Wh- but they're devils! Why do I have to be friendly!?" 

"Polite does not imply friendly." I correct. "But provoking them will be bad for the church. In particular you'd likely die. And then I'd fall. You don't want me to fall, do you? You don't want me to fall from sorrow and rage after my friends got killed because they promptly attacked the two people they REALLY shouldn't?" 

"OF COURSE NOT!" Xenovia shouts. "I-I promise. I'll... I'll restrain my disgust... for you, Luce." 

I give her a kind smile as she comes into view. "Thank you... Xenovia... truly. It means the world to me!" 

Her face flushes slightly. 

"Oh! And if you see a blonde youkai woman with purple eyes wearing a purple dress for ALL that is holy. DO NOT Back sass her. Do not be short with her. Be polite, respectful and make sure to smile and nod. Do not EVER get on her bad side. In fact, I'd suggest not bothering youkai as a whole. But more specifically HER." 

Xenovia blinks. "Why? What could a youkai possibly do?" 

"Because that woman is arguably one of the top ten strongest beings in the world and she is NOT to be messed with. She could fight every SINGLE seraph at once and turn them all into a living jigsaw puzzle. You're going to Japan. Her backyard. Be on your best behavior." 

Turns out this world is connected with FUCKING touhou. 

Should have really caught on with Sagume and Sariel. 

"R-Right..." Irina stutters. "We'll... take your warning to heart." 

[Split] 

"So. Aunt Gabriel." I begin as I drag my paint brush across the canvas. "Have you made any contact with any of the Longinus so far?" 

"Well, you're aware of our attempts at reaching out to this generation's Red Dragon Empress. We will likely need them due to the identity of the white dragon emperor, but beyond that? An envoy has been sent to the Golden Dawn to meet Meredith Ordinton-" 

"An envoy? Oh boy I can't wait to see how the church mucks this one up. Probably going to call her a witch for using human magic" I scoff.  

"Which is why we sent Dulio. He doesn't carry the prejudices of the wider church, allowing us to leave a better impression. We also found young Otello. He was in one of our orphanages. He hasn't awakened his sacred gear yet, though."  

"So, that's four possible Longinus on our side? That's good." I nod once, gazing back to my painting. "Otello will likely join the church for good if he is made Dulio's apprentice, Meredith... is unlikely... she likes her job sealing things for the Golden Dawn. Issane is..." 

I scratch my chin with a thumb, making sure to not get any of the paint from my brush on my face. "She has a... unique... personality." 

"Unique how?" 

"She's a bisexual pervert who wants nothing more than to have a harem of 'hot girls and guys'... so much so that she shouts about it day and night even though she has no idea about the supernatural. It would be laughably easy to turn her into a devil if you just utter the words 'devils more often than not have harems'." 

Gabriel's face is completely flat. "Oh. I see." 

"So... Irina has her work cut out for her." I sigh, shoulders slumping. "Oh how I wish I could see her face when she finds out-" 

I blink twice. 

My mythic power surges. 

"PFFFT- AHAHAHAH Oh my goodness! That's hilarious! Oh I should DEFINITELY paint that! It's absolutely gold!" I let out a low wheeze, wiping a tear from my eye. "Haaah. You know, probably not the best use for my limited daily charges of immense power... but one that definitely needed to happen!" 

Gabriel and the other seraph have been asking me things occasionally such as intel from the past- to clarify things- what weapons the underworld has- they know about the Melbranche now and, FUCK I had forgotten about them. In the past apparently the 'Weakest' amongst them gave a Beelzebub descendant a 'fraction' of its power and promptly made Sirzechs 'THE SUPER DEVIL' Gremory be forced to enter his true form- which is basically clan trait balance breaker- to kill it. 

They did not take that well. 

Ah. I got side-tracked. 

"Anyways, considering how typical female exorcist outfits look, Issane might also be open to becoming an exorcist... maybe... if only to gaze at girls and boys in exorcist garbs." 

"Let's... not dwell on the red dragon emperor." Gabriel weakly smiles. "What are you painting?" 

"Oh? This?" I ask with a small smile. "This is going to be two things. Firstly, her name. This is Flonne, she's going to be Patience in my show. Next... she's... let's call it an experiment. I saw how worried you were about the Melbranche, sooo I thought I'd make something to mildly put you all at ease... the Flugel... the Winged Ones. 

"Flugel?" The woman echoes. 

"You'll see, auntie~" I Hum with a mischievous grin. "But. At the end of the day, Flonne and the multiple other Flonnes I'll paint will be an army in and of themselves! With enough strength that maybe heaven won't be pushed around anymore! And MAYBE we can actually start regulating the church like we SHOULD be!" 

I turn to the seraph. "Hint. Hint." 

"Yes! That'd be wonderful!" Gabriel smiles. 

"Well... once I finish her, I'll have painted all of the girls for my show, Coco has already been filming some and Patience won't really show up until about three-fourths of the way through the first season."