Life 5-4

"Man, talk about a mess," On his way home from school at least, Noé couldn't help but vocalize his grumbling as he final had some alone time along the roads. "Let's hope Dad and Gremory are right about those fallens getting off my case. Would be way to bothersome if they kept coming back for more after that."

[You're still bellyaching over it?] Ddraig spoke up, Noé grumbling.

"No, I just think it'd be annoying is all. Plus, I dislike people who'd throw their lives away on principal. You have to be a special kind of moron to care that little about yourself."

[Well, I'm not inclined to disagree with that. So, what about this… Darklight, or whatever?]

"Dad said he can help me control it, so not like I have other options to go on with this. But not like this hasn't given me a load of other questions I want answers to now."

If Noé could time it, he would say he first became aware of his Devil heritage when he was about ten years old. It was, perhaps conveniently enough, during one of his mother's surprise returns home. They'd gone on a trip to the mountains, and during it, Noé had quite accidentally blown up a chunk of the woods they were camping in while playing around like a character from a manga. What he had seen as a totally normal, kid-like thing to do at the time had resulted in him quite accidentally managing to do exactly what he was replicating.

After that, he'd been told of his heritage from his parents themselves, and for the past eight years now he'd been continuously training both in his innate abilities with magic as a Devil, and more recently the Boosted Gear since unlocking it a couple of years prior during a job with his father. But, like with this new Darklight power, there was clearly plenty of things he still didn't understand about himself and what kind of Devil he was. [Or I guess now, if I'm even really something you could call a Devil.]

"Ugh… this is the worst."

"Uwhaaa!"

"Huh?"

The sudden thuds of falling objects caught Noé's attention. When he turned, he felt what could only be a kind of mental snap as he saw what the source was. Amid some now scattered luggage bags was a now somewhat unfortunate looking girl face down on the ground, and in a situation that made Noé ponder the universal probabilities of it, considering her rear was also sticking right up with her dress – or maybe it was a habit – hiked down and displaying her white panties to God and everyone.

"How the hell… there wasn't even… ah, geez," Feeling his better nature take a hold, Noé stepped over to the unfortunate individual, holding a hand out as she righted herself. "Hey, you okay?"

"Auu… why do I keep falling over all the time? Oh… I'm sorry, thank you very much."

Noé froze a bit as the girl turned. Now it was absolutely clear she was in a nun's attire, the white veil of the habit shifting to reveal bright blonde hair. Soft green eyes looked up at him, slowly taking the offered hand. Noé had to guess she was a bit younger than him, and she absolutely wasn't Japanese. [European I'd guess,] was his thought.

"Th-Thank you…" she spoke in Japanese despite it, though he noted her pronunciation was a bit stilted. And then a sudden gust of wind blew past, the girl yelping as her veil was sent flying off.

"Got it!" Noé did a slight hop, quickly catching the veil before it could sail off. "Don't these things usually clip on or something? Here."

"Ah, th-thank you…" The girl seemed puzzled as she took the veil back, Noé glancing away. [I forget sometimes Devils have the gift of Tongues. Whatever language she normally speaks in, she must have heard me in that instead.] "You… speak Italian?"

"Ahehe, I guess?" Noé decided it would be safer for him to play along with it. The nun still seemed confused but didn't look like she was about to question it. "Uhm, you okay after that fall?"

"Y-Yes!" The girl nodded, sighing when she looked and saw that her suitcase had been knocked open. "Oh geez… I really am such a klutz. I'm sorry you had to see that. I just trip over myself sometimes."

"Clearly…" Noé looked to the side as the girl gathered her things up, hefting the suitcase up with a bit of effort. "Well, if that's all good then, 'scuse me."

"W-Wait!" Noé turned when the girl grabbed his sleeve. "Can't I at least get your name? S-So that I can thank you properly, you see?"

"Noé. Noé Edelweiss,"

"So then… Noé… san, right? No wait, they use surnames for strangers here…" Noé had to admit, it was kind of cute watching the girl mull over how to address him. "Th-Then Edelweiss-san…"

"You can just use my first name. Too formal if you use my surname."

"N-Noé," The girl cleared her throat. "I'm Asia Argento, nice to meet you. And uhm… if it isn't too much trouble, could you… maybe help me a bit? I'm kind of lost, and I've been looking for where I need to go all day."

[So, clumsy and lacking in sense of direction… oh boy.] Noé sighed, putting a hand to his head as he pondered just what he was even considering doing next. How Asia was even lost in this part of the town was beyond him. It wasn't like the suburbs were that hard to navigate… at least that was his thought.

"Uh… sure, where do you need to go?" He found himself asking that out of perhaps some better impulses.

"Oh uh… just the Church somewhere in this area. I don't know where it is… and I got lost."

"Ah…" I mean I know she's a nun but just what the hell am I even considering?! Noé's mental words weren't at all matching his expression. Remember Noé, remember! You're half-Devil! Even just chatting with a nun could be a bad idea, no matter how cute she is! "You wouldn't happen to mean that old one up on the hill, right?" WHAT AM I DOING?!

"I think so. I remember it being somewhere in this area, but I… haven't been able to find it."

"I see…" [Damn me and my inability to just let someone like her wander around… if she ran into the wrong type of person, I'd actually be worried.] Noé sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "I know which one you're talking about, so I can get you there… but… ah, I'll see when we get there."

"Thank you very much!" Asia bowed her head, then taking her cross necklace into a hand. "This really must be a gift from God, to come across someone more helpful."

[More like the universe just has a fucked up sense of humor…] Noé made sure to keep that little bit of snark to himself. It really must have been a joke, a nun getting help from a half-devil. As they began to walk, Noé took note of the size of Asia's suitcase. Seeing it was better than silence, he decided small talk wouldn't be terrible. "So, what's with the massive suitcase? That doesn't look like the kind of thing a traveling Sister would be keeping with her."

"Ah, well, I'm not really on a trip," Asia replied. "I was actually appointed to the church in this part of town."

"I mean I know there's some in the other parts of the city, but this end of it?" [Last I checked… wasn't that small church here abandoned like, five years ago? Last time I was near it was when I kept getting bugged about going with that old neighbor of mine… I wonder how she's doing, actually.] "Haven't seen anyone go there in ages. At least it explains the look. Some people might've thought you were a cosplayer!"

"Cos… player?"

"… never mind," Noé felt his brow twitch as he let that word drop. Better not to introduce the foreign girl to one of the wilder things done in this country off the bat.

"I'm glad I met such a nice person like you. It must be divine guidance!" That's circumstantial evidence at best. Noé had to look away again as Asia gave a kind smile. He knew his own habits quite well. Nice was not a word he would often use to describe himself, that was for sure. There was also the fact some of his instincts kept firing off, particularly because of Asia's cross. As with any Devil, even looking at holy artifacts was bothersome for him to do. At best, he could compare it to being induced with an annoying pricking at the back of his neck.

"Whaaaa!"

A short way off, the cries of a young boy drew the attention of both. Must have just scraped his knee. Kids have weird pain tolerance. As Noé took a step towards the boy, Asia beat him to it, gently moving the child's hands to look at the ultimately minor injury he had.

"Don't cry; it's just a scrape. A big boy shouldn't cry over something like this," Asia gently rubbed the boys head to get him to calm down a bit, her tone matching the gesture. What followed surprised Noé. A faint, emerald glow grew around Asia's hands, and as that light hummed, the scrape on the boy's knee faded away in short time, soon looking as if it had never even happened. And the source of that light, as Noé caught, were a pair of silver rings with green gems laid into them on Asia's middle fingers, which he definitely knew weren't there before.

And then from that, Noé felt a sudden pulse from his right hand. It was a brief, sharp sense of pain, akin to a quick prick from a needle… or maybe a stab from a knife. But that kind of pulse meant one thing to Noé: That ability Asia used wasn't simply magic. It had to have been a Sacred Gear as well.

[But… if she does have a Sacred Gear, would that explain why she's here?] He thought, covering his right hand as Ddraig's mark appeared on it.

"There, you're all better now." Noé turned back to Asia and the child, the boy looking at his now healed knee with an awed look. And when she looked at him, she took a 'silly me' gesture. "Oops, force of habit!"

The walk from there remained silent for some time, Noé stewing on the knowledge he'd unintentionally gotten a hold of now. The Church considers Sacred Gears to be a pretty big deal. Shouldn't a girl like this be in some big convent using it to help lost lambs or something? What is she doing out in a place like this with a power like that? Something about this doesn't seem right…

"You must have been surprised, right?" Asia spoke up, Noé clearing his throat.

"K-Kind of," [Play it off, play it off.] "Well… I admit it was a bit surprising. Still, that was a pretty neat ability you used."

"It's a wonderful power granted by God," Despite the phrase, Asia's expression suddenly took a more downtrodden look. "Yes, a wonderful power… oh! That must be the place!"

"Hm? Oh… so it really was that one?" Their procession stopped as they reached one of the upward climbs in town. At the top of it and past a short stretch of woods, an old, sterling white church stood out with its spire standing prominently out from the tree line. But even from this distance, the fact it was beginning to dilapidate was clear. "Are you sure this old place is where you had to go? I mean… it is the only one in this town."

"Well, thank goodness we arrived!"

"Ehehe… y-yeah."

Even from this far away, Noé had a feeling of unease rising in him. Just looking at that church was enough to dreg up an uneasy feeling in him, as if his instincts were firing off all at once, telling him to get as far from it as possible. Dammit… sometimes Devil instincts suck.

"I'd like to return the favor. Would you like to accompany me there?" Asia sweetly asked, though Noé shook my head in response.

"I-I'm flattered, but I've got something to take care of. I would if I could, but uh… my boss doesn't like it if I'm late," Noé tried to hide it, but the hand clenching the shoulder strap of his school bag was shaking. His body wanted nothing more than to leave, to turn around and never go near that church again if he could. [Meaning the place has been reclaimed… but by who?]

"I see, that's too bad," Asia said, then chuckling, "Well, thank you, Edel… Noé-san."

"See, you got it right," Noé chuckled as he stepped back, feeling that nauseas feeling start to ebb away.

"Alright then. I'm happy to have met someone as kind as you so quickly after arriving in Japan!"

"Ah, well, y'know…"

"Please visit the church when you find the time. Promise me?"

[That's impossible,] was what he wanted to say to her. But he couldn't just bring himself to outright deny the girl. "I'll… see what I can do. I'm not much of a church goer, but… maybe."

"Yes. I hope so!"

[Sister or no, screw the politics… she's a nice girl, so it isn't bad to be nice back.] Noé waved Asia off as she began up the hill. Once she was out of sight, he sighed and turned. But before he could take another step, he heard a trilling tweet nearby. Looking to the fence of a nearby house, atop it he saw a jay bird that certainly wasn't native to the region. The corvid flitted over to Noé and landed on his shoulder, and he gave a nod as he started back down the road.

"Yeah, I get it, that time again huh? Time for the other side of a Devil's work…"