Life 5-2

Having beelined right for his house, when Noé saw the front door was not in fact the normal one, he paid little mind as he barged through it. Papers suddenly flew about as Noé stormed into his father's office, Van flinching as Noé strode in.

"N-Noé?!" Van spluttered as he caught some of the papers that went flying. "You're… back a bit sooner than expected. So how did…" the man slowed when he saw that Noé had not entered in anything resembling a good mood. "Did the contract not go well or something?"

"It went fine, actually… but that's not the problem," Noé leaned forward on Van's desk, raising one arm, which then flickered with crimson light that remained until he forcefully snuffed it out. "This. The hell is this?"

"… what happened while you were out?" Van's air shifted to a far more serious one, Noé grumbling as he turned around.

"One of those Fallen Angels showed up again tonight. I was trying to pull my punches to avoid killing her outright but then this…" another flare of that crimson energy sparked across his hand. "Appeared out of nowhere and finished the job. So, what I want to know is what the hell it is!"

"I was wondering when it would awaken…"

"So, it is part of me being a Devil! Does mom have this power too?!"

"Slow down, and calm down," Van said, Noé taking a few breaths. "I know you're a bit frazzled. I understand you're upset because you killed someone against your whims. But you won't get anywhere by losing control… especially since that power of yours is clearly acting up as a result."

"Can you at least tell me what it is?!" Noé grabbed his forearm as that light flared again. Van reached across the desk and grabbed Noé's arm, not at all perturbed by the sparks of light arcing across the limb.

"Like I said, calm yourself first," At the urging, Noé took another deep, long breath. As he repeated the process, the sparks long his arm faded and finally stopped. As Noé drew his arm back, Van leaned back himself. "Now to answer it, yes, this power is the one tied to your heritage as a Devil. As for what it is… have you ever wondered why you're so oddly resistant to light, even for a Devil?"

"I just figured I got lucky," Noé muttered. "I know a powerful enough Devil can resist it entirely, but I figured I just lucky and had a good natural resistance."

"You're half correct," Van said. Noé raised a brow in confusion. "To correct the first statement, the only Devils who can resist light are those with the proper amounts of power to develop resistance to it. Your resistance, however, is an entirely natural phenomenon tied to your bloodline. Tell me, what usually happens when you encounter light based weaponry?"

"Well… the stuff tends to darken first, then the weapons usually shatter," Noé put a hand to his chin and mulled it over. He felt a light bulb ding in his head as things suddenly began to line up. "Wait… is this weird… light or whatever it is part of that? Does it negate holy power or something?"

"In a manner… to be more precise, it absorbs it and then converts it for your own use. Light constructs dim when they come into contact with you because even passively, this power of yours sucks the power from it, effectively vampirizing Holy power itself. As for its name… it's known simply as Darklight."

"You mean like… inverted holy power or something?"

"In essence, yes," Van nodded. "If it were 'reverse' that would simply be Darkness. Instead, this is something borne out of a 'negative'. Something that is neither holy nor unholy… simply put, Darklight is the 'null' that exists between the two."

"… if that's true… then are mom and I really Devils? Or are we something else?" Noé said, looking at his hand with wide eyes. "That doesn't sound like a power any Devil would have."

"Those are answers I don't have the right to give you," Van said, leaning on a hand. "The only one who has the right to that is Luna herself."

"How am I supposed to get them when Mom is always Satans know where?!" Noé slammed his hands on the desk, Van looking to the side. "She only ever comes home a few times a year, and you're telling me now not only do I have some weird power, I may not even be a real Devil, and you can't even tell me what you mean by that?!"

"Noé, why do you think we stay in Japan, and not some other country?" Van cut in, Noé flinching. "It has more to do than simply the work I do with Zeoticus in line with our contract. What you are… what you and your mother are, isn't something a simple Sorcerer like me has a right to drag you into. When Luna is home again, she'll tell you… after this long you deserve to know that much."

"And when is 'again' going to be?" Noé growled, "You know as well as I do Mom only comes back on a whim. We can't just predict that."

"Correct… but you know it never takes long once she decides on doing so," Van said. Noé clicked his tongue, folding his arms as he leaned on the desk. "Hagh, look, I understand you're frustrated. But for now, you just have to wait. Who knows, maybe those Fallen Angels will wizen up and leave you alone now that one of their allies is dead. For now, just keep focusing on work with Rias and our contracts. I'll do what I can to help you gain control of the Darklight as well. I know enough about it to do that much at the least."

"Ugh… fine," Noé grumbled. As he began to head for the door, he stopped for a second. "Ah, right. You left this door attached to the front door again. If you want me to make dinner, you'll need to move it back."

"C-Crap, I did? Always slips my mind sometimes…" Van chuckled as he scratched the back of his head, Noé rolling his eyes. "I'll shift it so you don't need to go in and out… hmm, you cool making some karage tonight?"

"Do we even have the ingredients?"

"I bought some stuff this afternoon before work."

"Well okay then, guess I'll get started on that… then I'm going to bed. Today's been exhausting."

Van rolled his fingers along the desk as Noé strode out, the soft light from inside their house. As the door shut, Van leaned back with a sigh, staring at the ceiling with its array of magical runes and symbols scrawled across it. [Luna, please come back soon… even if Noé still can't be told the WHOLE truth, he deserves to know why we've kept him hidden here for so long. We already know one day he would be dragged into this world because of his bloodline… but include the Sacred Gear, and I almost fear what fate has in store for our son. And all we can do is prepare him for it… how frustrating.]