11 Hunting as a Family (Not Really)

(A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates, my laptop was in the store getting repaired so I couldn't write much. Also I stayed up the past few nights making this chapter 3000 words as an apology for being gone for a while.)

--

Kaya shot awake as sweat clung to her body and her eyes were puffy. She hugged her pillow close to her chest as she tiredly sat up from her bed. "...So it was just a dream." Kaya said relieved.

Lightly slapping herself she walked to the bathroom to clean herself up. She took a quick shower before doing the rest of her morning business.

As she put on her clothes she exited the bathroom she put on a forced smile as she walked into the living room. She saw Dulio sitting on the couch with a frown as he looked at a piece of paper.

"What is it?" Kaya asked as she attempted to put off the topic of her dream until she was more awake.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it." Dulio said nonchalantly as a frown still marred his face.

"Isn't lying also a sin?" Kaya remarked.

Dulio rubbed his forehead, "Yes, but while I appreciate the concern, this situation doesn't require it. I have a urgent mission so I might be gone for a few days. There is food i-" He began before he was cut off.

"Can I come with you?" Kaya asked not wanting to be alone in the apartment with her thoughts.

"No. It's too dangerous." Dulio said as Kaya began to prepare her ultimate offense. Kaya began to do what most adults and parents alike fear from a child, pouting.

"Stop it." Dulio said as Kaya began to pout harder in response.

"No.. you.. will not.. make me.. back.. down." Dulio said as he was beginning to cave on his decision.

Kaya continued to pout as false tears began to well in her eyes. Before she could continue her routine, Dulio spoke.

"Okay okay! Just stop! Please! That combo should be outlawed!" Dulio caved as Kaya smirked victoriously. Kaya held her hand out and made a grabbing motion as Dulio handed her the note.

𝘛𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯,

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭's 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘦.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘌𝘹𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. 𝘈𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘈𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩-𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘶𝘮.

- 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘓𝘶𝘤𝘬, 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭

After scanning through the note Kaya thought for a second before snapping her fingers. "So is this guy a big deal or..?"

"As long as he isn't Ultimate-Class you should be able to take him on. If he is however, I will immediately teleport you away, no exceptions." Dulio stated firmly.

"Hey Dulio?" Kaya questioned.

"Yes?" He responded quickly as he drew a teleportation circle.

"Why'd that blue-haired girl try to kill me yesterday? Are most exorcists I encounter going to be like that?" She asked sadly.

Dulio rubbed his chin thoughtfully before sighing, "I wouldn't say all. Newer exorcists heavily believe in the ideology that ALL devils are bad and NONE can be good. While yes there are some bad devils there are good ones as well. Just like how there are good exorcists, and exorcists that are excommunicated due to... a variety of crimes."

"The only reason I was hard on the 'blue-haired girl' was because she is still young. She needs to be taught that particular lesson before she becomes a full-fledged exorcist." Dulio finished saying as he prepared to set off towards Carthage.

Kaya nodded as they prepared to leave to hunt. A heavy blow of emotional pain struck her heart when thinking of hunting as she remembered her times with her Sacred Gear, but she brushed past it. "Let's get going then." Kaya said.

"Road trip!" Dulio yelled with enthusiasm.

...

Griselda was doing fine. Her student returned a day ago from her assignment involving the blonde-haired dunce that is now, although horrid to think about, a father.

She patiently waited in her office for her student to report to her.

As she sat in her chair the door burst open. Revealing a blue-haired girl with a equally large, blue sword with gold trims.

"Teacher! Dulio is raising a devil!" Xenovia shouted.

Griselda kept her stern face but internally she smirked, 'Well.. I was of the belief he adopted a dragon with how adamant Michael was about letting him raise the child.'

"Xenovia dear? Tell me about the adoptive daughter please." Griselda asked. Perhaps she would have to play an 'aunt' role in the upcoming shenanigans Dulio would no doubt accidentally, or purposefully, drag his daughter into.

Xenovia looked at her teacher hesitantly before nodding, "Uh.. she had red eyes with a clover-ish pupil. Dark brown hair with red streaks and tips. She was definitely devil scum though!" She stated the last part with confidence and ingrained hate.

Griselda rolled her eyes, no matter how many times she tries to talk Xenovia out of her hate she never listens. "Xenovia. You know you can't just say that, she is still technically a child, like you. I am not asking you to rid yourself of your hatred towards devils, you've been through a lot to make that hard, but try to stay objective here."

Xenovia stayed silent as she stared at her mentor.

Rubbing the temple of her forehead slightly, Griselda began to speak. "What did she do for you to appear 'threatened' enough to begin to attack her?"

"She... she.. she didn't do anything." Xenovia admitted with her head hung low in either embarrassment or realization. "I just remember seeing her wrapped in a blanket like an, admittingly, adorable burrito." Xenovia looked somewhat embarrassed for a moment while talking.

Griselda began to rub the temple of her forehead with more force. "Xenovia?" Griselda asked.

"Y-yes?" Xenovia stuttered.

"Go to your room." Griselda tiredly said.

"Yes mam!" She yelled hurriedly as she booked it out of the room.

A few minutes passed in silence as Griselda stared holes into the door.

"Sweet Lord have mercy, my student is an idiot." Griselda said wearily as she grabbed a bottle of wine. "Dulio better not do anything crazy. Like taking his daughter anywhere dangerous."

Griselda paused for a moment, "Nah, he wouldn't be that stupid. Taking a 12-year old girl somewhere she could potentially get fatally wounded...."

The exorcist paused for a few moments before slowly pulling out a handheld phone and pressing the 'Dulio' contact. "Just to be safe."

...

"This place is... dreary." Kaya said simply as she looked at the broken down church in front of them.

It's paint was chipped off from storms and harsh winds, some parts of the roof were collapsed, and the cross symbol decorating the head of the church was cut into two.

"Yes, it always saddens me to see a place of worship desecrated in such a manner." Dulio said tearfully as Kaya rolled her eyes.

"There's already like four other churches in this town. I don't think they care if one was so..." Kaya said as she motioned towards the abandoned church, "broken down."

Dulio's shoulders slumped, "You're no fun." He grumbled.

Kaya shrugged as she began to mold a piece of earth in her hands. It twisted and morphed until it looked exactly like her missing ghost plushie. She hugged the fake earthen ghost before she made it dissolve.

Dulio looked at her with a raised eyebrow before staying silent. He restlessly tapped his fingers against his pants pockets before a phone ring could be heard.

*Brrrring~ Brrrriiing~ Brrrriiing~*

As the phone continued to ring he quickly pulled it out of his pocket before a look of fear appeared on his face.

'Oh no. I didn't do anything wrong did I?' He thought as he looked at who was contacting him.

Panicked, he quickly answered the call before nervously speaking. "Y-yes, Griselda?"

Kaya zoned out for a bit before her eyes caught something. Just to make sure she actively began to use her eye ability to see if what she saw was right and not an illusion.

Her eyes glowed for a bit before she deactivated them. She saw a faded stream of devil energy leaking from inside the church.

"Kaya!" Dulio exclaimed as he tapped her shoulder.

Kaya stopped zoning back as she saw Dulio standing over her with a worried expression. "You alright? You zoned out for a minute there."

"Yeah.. I'm fine." Kaya said as she continued to stare at the church.

Dulio looked at where she was staring as he became even more worried, "Is the church bothering you? I can teleport you back to the house if you're uncomfortable."

Kaya shook her head in response.

"Well.. alright. If you say so, I need to talk to my... colleague before she becomes angrier. Stay here, and do NOT go anywhere!" Dulio said as he emphasized 'not'.

"Alright. Tell me if you need anything!" Kaya exclaimed as she saw Dulio walk next to a tree and began to nervously talk to whomever was on the other side of the phone.

As soon as he turned his back, Kaya began to walk towards the entrance of the church. Choosing to investigate the energy rather than to listen to Dulio.

As she opened the door she noticed the distinct lack of any remotely religious objects. The floor and furniture in the church was also covered in a thick layer of dust. The only place dust free was a path on the floor leading to the room on her left.

"That's odd. You'd think that even an abandoned church would have a cross, crucifix, or at the very least a Bible, or anything else along those lines." Kaya talked to herself. Although she didn't mind the lack of any holy items.

The floorboards creaked as Kaya stepped through the room that looked the most suspicious, the left door. After looking around for a few minutes she spotted a dust-free box sitting in the corner.

"Huh.. weird." She muttered as she walked closer.

The box was nothing special, merely a box constructed of cardboard and cut pieces of tape. After pulling open the lid Kaya inspected the items inside. She found a few random miscellaneous items like a mirror, tape, rope, and bullets.

'Weird assortment of items...' Kaya thought to herself.

After rummaging for a few minutes she found a book. Inspecting the blank cover, her curiosity reigned as she opened the book and began to read.

𝘑𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯: 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 54

𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘈𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘐 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩-𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘖𝘕𝘊𝘌 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘐 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥!

𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭! 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘉𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵!

Kaya immediately prepared for combat as hidden earthen spears appeared in the shadows of the room.

*Creeeeaaak~*

A long creaking noise caused Kaya to jump as she saw a slowly opening attic door. A few seconds later a figure revealed itself from the dark room.

A black haired man with gray eyes walked into the room. His outfit was stained with a dried red liquid. He held a intricately designed saber in his right hand and a modern looking pistol in his left.

"Another one? I swear people come in here thinking they own the place." The man stated with an odd expression. "A child? Why did you wander in here, isn't it a bit creepy for a young girl like yourself? Or are you merely a illusion of a child meant to make me lower me defenses?" The man continued as he speculated in paranoia.

Kaya continued to stare at him as the earthen spears laying in the dark corners of the room began to spin to increase their velocity. A trick she learned form reading some textbooks when she was bored.

"I'll take your silence as an answer that you are indeed an illusion." The man said as he raised his pistol and prepared to fire.

*Bang*

With a deafening bang, a single bullet shot out of the chamber of the gun with intense speed. However before it could hit its intended target, Kaya, a strong side-blast of wind knocked it off course into a wall.

"Huh? I swear it was aimed towards its head." The man muttered lowly.

Kaya's hand began to twitch as adrenaline flooded her veins. She felt invigorated. As if she could finally push past the limits of her reserves and break from middle-class to high-class energy reserves.

Or at least she did until she fell to the floor and fell into unconsciousness. As her eyes closed the stray watched in confusion and slight fascination. He has never seen a illusion pass out before after all.

His fascination quickly died when the 'illusion' reopened her eyes with a completely different expression and her 4-leaf clover pupil changed in shape.

A sadistic yet excited smile formed on Kaya's face as her previously 4-leaf clover shaped pupils changed into white X's. The previous attitude that she demonstrated was gone, replaced by one of bloodlust and cruel enjoyment.

"WOOOO! FIGHT ME!" She screamed as the earthen spears shot towards the man's chest.

The man, who is presumed to be Jared, eyes widened in alarm. Raising his saber he deflected the first few spears as he began to think, 'No chant? How is she even using magic then?'

Six more spears flew towards the stray at high speeds. He could hear the deafening booms of his heartbeat as his body screamed at him to run.

Pushing back any thoughts of running, as it would only lead to his back being skewered, he deflected the first three before the rest swerved downwards and landed in front of his right foot.

"You missed~" The stray decided to taunt the girl -that he was certain wasn't actually a child, but a illusion placed on another person making them look like a child-.

"Hm. Seems so." 'Kaya' said as she watched in mirth.

From the shaft of the earthen spears, roses made entirely of shadows bloomed. The roots and thorns of the shadow roses quickly spread all the way around the spear.

"Now please, die. No one likes a stray sinner." 'Kaya' said while still keeping the same smile on her face.

In seconds, blades began to violently shoot from the roses built of shadow. A swarm of black and red blades flew to skewer the man. He quickly threw some hasty devil energy to protect his most vital spots as he felt the most agonizing pain of his life.

Choking back a scream he protected his gun arm by sacrificing his other limbs in order to shield his left arm. Adrenaline pumping through his veins, he decided to put all of his efforts into one last attempt at ending what he thought of as a demon in disguise.

Spitting out a glob of blood, he raised his gun once more as four magic circles appeared in front of the barrel. They were colored blood red with tinges of orange.

"𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑽𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒚!" He yelled as a bullet sped out of the chamber of his gun. For each magic circle the bullet went through it would multiply twice and catch aflame.

After exiting the last chamber there were 16 bullets heading towards 'Kaya' whom was still smiling.

"KAYA!" Dulio yelled as he slammed open the door before seeing his ,recently, adoptive daughter about to be turned into swiss cheese by the bullets that were about to end her life. The only reason he made it here was due to hearing a gunshot from inside the abandoned building.

The bullets traveled at speeds the human eye couldn't react to. Luckily, while Kaya can't physically react to the speed of bullets her eyes could. A wave of water appeared in order to slow the acceleration of the bullets.

The bullets flew threw the water while losing their fire and half of their speed. As the got close to Kaya's body she smirked victoriously.

Not even a second later, Canis Lykaon's head appeared and ate the extinguished bullets before disappearing. After all the bullets were devoured, the man who shot them collapsed onto the ground due to blood loss.

"S..hit." He muttered as he closed his eyes for what would most likely be the last time.

"Lame, I thought this would be more fu-" Kaya began before she abruptly stopped.

Kaya's eyes turned back to the normal 4-leaf clover pattern as she also collapsed onto the ground. Before she could hit the ground however, Dulio caught her.

...

(A few seconds before the fight began)

Dark. It was really really dark. Kaya was certain that she was about to fight with a stray before she appeared here.

"Is this some sort of trap?" She muttered worriedly as she began to form boulders and throw them seemingly at random.

The boulders would shoot off into the distance before fading completely. She kept attempting to escape for a few minutes before a voice interrupted her.

"Yo. Could you stop? I'm trying to sleep over here *yawn*." A voice remarkably similar to her own said behind her.

Kaya's head swiveled into the direction of the voice only to be astounded by the source. A girl that looked exactly the same as herself, almost down to every detail. The only noticeable difference was the shape her pupil was.

Instead of being a 4-leaf clover it was instead in the shape of a half crescent moon (☽). Instinctively she raised her hand before preparing to shoot out a wave of fire towards the identity thief.

Before she could fire the.. fire, the girl spoke again in a clearly not threatened tone, "Whoa whoa whoa. Don't do that. It would be reallllly nice if you didn't. Plus I don't think you would want to hurt us."

"Us?" Kaya said as her face dropped in confusion.

"Well who the hell else would we be talking about? Us. Me, myself, and you/I." Another voice the exact same as hers said as she appeared next to the crescent shaped one. This one looked exactly like Kaya as well, except with X's for pupils.

"T-t-that didn't a-answer anything!" Kaya said quickly as she felt the urge to scream in confusion.

"Basically what the idiot means," The crescent eyed one said as she shot a glare towards the X eyed one, "We're the same person. Same memories, different personalities living in the same body. You're the original one and we were born off of unconscious thoughts and 'experiences' and all that shazam." She said nonchalantly.

Kaya, still somewhat confused, pointed her finger back and forth between the two before at herself. The other two nodded in response.

"This is fine." Kaya said blankly.

It wasn't fine.

While she was talking the X eyed one elbowed the crescent moon eyed one in the gut with a wide smile.

"Alpha is taking it better than I thought!" The X eyed one started.

"She's going to pass out in 3... 2... 1.." The crescent eyed one said as a thump was heard. Kaya laid in a fetal position on the ground with her eyes closed.

"Well... that's awkward." The X eyed one said.

The crescent moon eyed one rose her eyebrows in response, "Is it healthy for someone to faint so many times in one day? Should we see a doctor?"

The X eyed one shrugged as she suddenly gained a downright mischievous look, "I dunno. I don't make the rules..... Wanna draw on her face with a marker?"

The crescent eyed one rolled her eyes, "You are so childish, Beta. But yes, I would."

'Beta' smile widened further, "You're usually such a stickler, Omega. But I won't deny the help hehe."

And so they began their grand quest to draw on the unconscious Kaya's face with a marker. Where did they get the marker from? Magic.

...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Concept Progress:

Fire: (Expert)

Earth: (Master)

Water: (Expert)

Wind: (Basic)

Shadows (Canis Lykaon): (Master)

Fate: (Basic)

--

Items: Blanket of Endless Warmth (At Home),

Stalker: Raine

Alternate Personalities?: 'Beta' and 'Omega'

--

Sacred Gear Progress:

Canis Lykaon Telumkinesis: (Expert)

Balance Breaker: (Locked)

Further abilities unknown.

--

Devil Progress:

Devil Energy Reserves: High-Class

All-Seeing Eye/Eyes of Providence: Half-Awakened

--

(A/N: Important Note: I made a change that when Kaya masters a Concept completely it no longer requires devil reserves as a fuel source since that makes sense. On an unrelated note, one more week of school before I can write more.)