Chapter 7: Lady of the Lake

Three years have passed since we returned home. I'm currently 13, almost 14 years old, and during this time, some things changed. 

First, my mother started training me to defend myself if something happened. 

From what I assume, she doesn't know about what happened in Romania. Uncle Azazel knows, and I'm sure Uncle Michael knows but hasn't told Mom about it.

If she knew, she wouldn't have been teaching me this, but it's not like I don't dislike it. While I could be considered good in combat by humans, in the eyes of the old supernatural beings, I'm nothing.

During the years, I also interacted with Rias and her Peerage. She has two members: a little girl that reminds me of a cat, and the other was a guy with the Sacred Gear Sword Birth, which allows him to create different demonic swords.

We didn't start off on good terms when he saw my swords, and I later learned from Sirzechs about the reason he hates holy swords. 

Considering he is still a kid, I understand he placed the blame on the blades, but he should understand that the person responsible is to be blamed for it.

My mind went back to one day I asked him for a quick spar.

...

..

.

---

We stood in a forest just outside a vacation house the Gremory Family owns in the Human World.

Akeno and I often come over here when Rias stays in the Human World for some time. Over the years, Akeno's almost wanting to kill her attitude disappeared.

At least her hatred for Devils is focused on the Old Satan Faction now instead of the Devil race as a whole.

But the problem I had in front of me was Isaiah, or as he is called now, Yuuto Kiba.

I took out my swords and could see the hatred in his eyes, "Attack me with all you got," I said and saw his eyes widen.

Well, this is a better reaction than the first time he saw them. He went berserk and attacked me.

"What?" He asked.

I sighed, "If you aren't going to attack, then I will." The next moment, I appeared next to him, giving him enough time to make a sword and block.

I was much stronger than him, so I didn't need to augment my body or even reinforce my swords.

Rias will probably be angry about what I'm about to do, but I know while she cares about the people around her, she doesn't know how to deal with it.

While I'm not the person either, maybe I could get through to this guy before things worsen.

Our swords clashed, and I pushed Kiba back. 

After a while, I slashed his leg, giving him a scratch, nothing that would injure him but would be painful because of the holy effects of the sword.

"Argggg..."

I continued to fight him and make more scratches, "Does it hurt?" I asked, not showing any emotions.

"Damn you..." He said with gritted teeth, "Why are you doing this?" 

"Why am I doing this?" I asked him, "Is it me or the sword doing it?" I asked. 

"What do you mean? You are attacking me!?"

"Am I? So it's not my sword's fault you are wounded right now?" 

"What are you talking about!? You are the one attacking me!" He yelled while having a hard time standing up, so he used his sword as a support. 

"If that's the case, then why do you hate Holy Swords?" 

"It's because of them all my friends are dead!" He screamed and mustered more strength to fight me.

I sighed and, with ease, dodged his attacks, "You just said I was the one attacking you, not the blades. So why do you blame the swords for their death and not the person responsible?" I asked.

"It's easy for you to say! You are a natural user and don't know what I went through!" 

"That's true..." I replied, "Do you know what my blades are?" I asked.

"Holy Swords, what else?"

"When I was ten, almost eleven years old, I and Akeno were attacked. We ended up being teleported into a cave filled with mutated stray devils. Unlike all the other angels and fallen angels, I'm not able to create a single light weapon. Without a weapon, I would have died, so do you know what I did?" 

He stopped and looked at me; his anger lessened a bit, "You found the swords there?" He asked after a while.

"No, I didn't..." I paused and looked at my twin swords for a while, "I destroyed the thing that made me an angel, the thing I had due to my mother. I cut off my wings and made the swords out of them. At that time, I didn't care about falling or anything else besides getting Akeno out safe and alive."

When I told him I cut off my wings to create them, his eyes widened, but he didn't say anything, so I continued, "I can't speak for your friends, but if I died that day and Akeno survived. I would want her to live a happy life without being obsessed with revenge."

"But-" He tried to say, but I signaled him to wait.

"I know I can't speak for them, and I can't decide anything for you but listen to this. If you still want to take revenge for them, do it on the people responsible and not on the object that doesn't even have a will. You have people here that will be here for you when you need them. Remember that you aren't alone. Did your friends sacrifice themselves so you could live for the sole purpose of destroying the swords, or did they do it so you could survive and live a happy life?"

After I finished, he didn't say anything. But I saw him thinking over everything I said, so I put back my swords and let him think over it alone. 

I know what I just said most likely won't change his mind, but the way he goes about it at the moment is wrong. 

I left and called someone to heal him.

...

..

.

---

After that day, Kiba still kept his hate for Holy Swords, but it wasn't as big as the one he had before. He wouldn't attack a random person after seeing a Holy Sword, at least, and he started training even more.

Besides that, I finished the infusing process. I never decided on a better name for it.

After I was finished, I got my third set of wings that merged with my blades, and my overall strength would be around the middle to high of high class.

Something I learned from Rias is that every Pure-Blooded Devil from the 72 Pillars or the Extra Demon clans gains the ranking of High-Class without actually having high-rank strength. 

For me, it makes it difficult to actually know how strong someone is. Unlike Angels and Fallen Angels, the devils don't gain extra wings unless you are a descendant of the original Satans.

It's like how Rias is a high-class devil while her strength isn't high-class.

But from what I heard about other devils, they don't train to get stronger. Maybe they are overconfident, or they think that the fact they will live a long life allows them to slack off and naturally grow stronger.

Rias was the same at first. She was overconfident in her Power of Destruction but then got wiped out by Akeno. Yeah, if Rias was ever in a life-and-death fight, she would probably have died.

It was a wake-up call for her to see how weak she actually was, and she started training. 

But speaking of Akeno, she could become a three-winged fallen angel in less than a year.

While I would want to think my current strength is enough for me to sit back and relax, I don't want to be weak if something like the incident three years ago happens again, but this time, the attackers would be stronger.

With the infusing process done, I need to find ways to get stronger. 

I need to train my body and increase my amount of mana even more.

The body training is easy, but what would the best way to increase my reserves quickly be?

How do you grow your mana reserves in this world? That was the question on my mind.

Unlike the system-based growth in my previous life, this is different. How did I grow stronger in this world? 

I grew stronger with every fight, but it wasn't the fight that made me grow stronger. While my mana reserves grow stronger naturally over time, training also increased them.

With this in mind, I started forming a new training form to increase my reserves.

After a few hours of thinking and scribbling down notes in my notepad, I created a way to expand my reserves, and it involved three stages.

The first stage is to gather all the mana I can hold into my core. After that's done, run it through my whole body before finally expending all of my mana out of my body and restarting the process.

This process would need some testing for a few months before I can see if it works.

That's why I continued to do it for the next few months until my 14th birthday. 

...

..

.

After months of repeating the three steps every day for hours, my mana reserves increased more than they would if I let them grow normally.

The only problem with it is the voices. When my mana reserves get lower, they start getting louder and louder. It's not on the same level as during a fight, but still, I need to be careful when doing it. 

I once momentarily lost control, but the only thing that happened was a broken wall.

The voices are something I'm constantly hearing, but when I'm not fighting and my reserves are full, I can control myself without any problems.

While it may not look like a big increase, I should gain my fourth set of wings before I turn eighteen or even faster just by doing this. 

I also continued to train my body during this time, and I can see some results already.

But what I'm about to do would be the hardest fight I've faced in the fourteen years I've been on this earth. "Mom, I want to travel the world," I said.

I heard plates crack as they fell onto the floor, and my mother looked at me with wide eyes. "No, no, no, you are still too young! You just returned home after everything!"

"That was over three years ago, Mom," I replied calmly.

"But you are still too young! You just turned fourteen. Why not wait until you are older?"

And that's how the conversation began. For the next couple of hours, I tried to convince her to let me travel the world. I explained to her how much I wanted to experience different cultures and see the world's beauty. Of course, most of it was a lie, but there was some truth to it.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she agreed to let me travel the world. However, there was one catch. I would have a guardian with me the whole time. At first, I was disappointed. I had hoped to travel alone, but as I thought about it more, I realized that having a guardian with me would have its benefits.

So, I began to plan my trip. I researched different countries and their supernatural parts.

There are a few places I want to visit. 

The purpose of it is to find something to seal my curse. I didn't hear the curse before my fall or the half-fall three years ago, so there should be a way to block it.

My current guess is that the curse is similar to a Sacred Gear. Meaning that it's connected to my soul. Maybe a Cursed Gear would be a better term for it.

I could always ask Uncle Azazel for help, knowing he is obsessed with Sacred Gears, and could tell him I was born with a second Sacred Gear or something, but that's my last choice.

It's not that I don't trust him, but the chances of him telling my mother or telling Uncle Michael, who would tell to her, are too big, and I don't want her to know about it.

She got over the previous incident not so long ago, so I don't want to worry her about it if I don't need to.

I felt my storage ring vibrate, so I took out my phone. It's something I added to the ring so I would know when someone texts me or calls me.

I unlocked the phones and checked my messages.

[Witch Girl: I found the thing you asked for. (File Attachment {5GB})]

[Witch Girl: Are you really fine? You haven't been cursed!?]

I quickly replied to her text.

[You: Thanks, I owe you one, and no, I haven't been cursed. It's just in case I would be in the future. You know, got to be prepared for anything...]

I then pressed on the file to download it. It took some time due to the size of the file, but after a few minutes, it opened.

It had everything I needed about the places and a lot about curses and how to break them.

I started reading about the first supernatural species I wanted to find. 

"Legends portrayed them as mischievous tricksters, benevolent guardians, or even malevolent beings with the power to bestow blessings or inflict curses." I read the text out loud.

As I continued reading, a wry smile formed on my face, "Tales of encounters with fairies were passed down through generations, often cautioning against trespassing into their realms or provoking their ire."

I could end up with more info about how to deal with my curse or end up with another one on top of the one I already have.

At the same time, I wanted to try and find someone else. That person was the mentor of many heroes. She is someone who was cursed with immortality, and while it is a long stretch that she would know anything that could help me, I still want to try and find her.

She is the queen and gatekeeper of the Land of Shadows, a realm of the dead; her name is Scáthach.

So, while the chances of her knowing of a way to break my curse are small, she should know the Primordial Runes, and there could be one that could seal my curse.

---

A week later, I was ready to depart on my short journey. We were just outside of the Vatican, and before me stood my guardian for the duration of the trip and a blue-haired girl around my age.

"El, this is Griselda Quarta. You must listen to her all the time while you are away, and don't get into trouble, okay?" Mom asked.

"Of course, I will listen to her and won't get into trouble, Mom." I lied.

"Hello, I'm Elijah Heart, and I'll be in your care." I then looked at the girl beside Griselda. She looked at me and had a calm expression. 

Griselda pushed her forward a bit, signaling her to introduce herself, "Xenovia Quarta, an exorcist in training."

After my mother continued acting like a mother, seeing their son move out for what felt like an hour, she left, leaving the three of us.

That left us to wait for the plane we would take to the UK. It would have been easier if I could teleport or if we met up there, but I won't complain, seeing as the flight tickets are for first class.

The flight is also only 2-3 hours long.

"Are you really the son of Lady Gabriel?" Xenovia asked.

I thought it was obvious, "Yes, yes I am..." I replied.

"You don't give off the feeling of an Angel. Ow, ow, ow..." She said before Griselda pulled her ear, making her wince in pain.

"I'm sorry, Xenovia can be very blunt sometimes." 

"I was just asking..."

I chuckled awkwardly while scratching the back of my head, "It's okay. Well, I'm her son. As for why I don't feel like an angel-"

Griselda looked at me with sympathy, probably having been told about what happened and being one of the people who was tasked with finding me, "You don't have to talk about it." She said.

I just waved my hand, "It's not like it's a big secret. I was separated from my mother due to an attack, and during the months I was gone, things happened that made me not feel like an Angel anymore." I said, answering her but at the same time not, "Anyways, seeing as you both share the same last name, I'm guessing Xenovia is your daughter." I said.

"Oh no, I'm her swordmaster and legal guardian." 

"Oh, I see..." I didn't know what else to talk about, so I stayed silent as we boarded the plane.

As we waited for the plane to take off, I took out my phone to check any messages.

[Annoying Battle Maniac: Fight me]

[Annoying Battle Maniac: Fight me]

[Annoying Battle Maniac: Fight me]

[Annoying Battle Maniac: Fight me]

[Annoying Battle Maniac: Fight me]

[Annoying Battle Maniac: Fight me]

[Annoying Battle Maniac: Fight me]

[Annoying Battle Maniac: Fight me]

[Annoying Battle Maniac: Fight me]

[Annoying Battle Maniac: Fight me]

[Annoying Battle Maniac: Fight me]

[Annoying Battle Maniac: Fight me]

[Annoying Battle Maniac: Fight me]

[Annoying Battle Maniac: Fight me]

[Annoying Battle Maniac: Fight me]

[Annoying Battle Maniac: Fight me]

[Annoying Battle Maniac: Fight me]

[Annoying Battle Maniac: Fight me]

[Annoying Battle Maniac: Fight me]

[Annoying Battle Maniac: Fight me]

[Annoying Battle Maniac: Fight me]

[Annoying Battle Maniac: Fight me]

"..." I looked at the messages and decided to ignore him.

The person messaging me is Azazel's adopted son. I met him a few times, and we fought each other. He is the wielder of the Sacred Gear, Divine Dividing.

While fighting against him, I found out that his Sacred Gear is an absolute cheat. 

While mine gave me eight lives, his allows him to Divide the power of their opponents by half after coming into physical contact with them every 10 seconds. 

Not only that but the halved power is used to add to his own power.

If we ever were in a real life and death fight, it would be hard for me to win.

To win, I would need to always avoid physical contact with him and try to end the fight quickly.

The only thing that makes the Sacred Gear not an absolute cheat is that contact with my sword doesn't divide my power but the power of my swords.

Thankfully, most of the power of my swords comes from the reinforcing, so even after multiple divides, I can still continue to fight.

Even if we aren't enemies, just in case his battle tendencies go nuts and he starts attacking me, I started devising a plan for how to beat him.

The first is to get rid of his Light Wings. If the added power exceeds the amount that the wielder can safely contain, the excess energy is then expelled through the wings. 

If he doesn't have any way to expel the excess power, then he would be forced to endure the strain. 

The other way is to stall the fight until he exhausts his stamina. Without it, he wouldn't be able to use Divide.

I wanted to cry, knowing how my sacred gear was useless in a fight. I know being revived is good and all, but if a strong opponent kills me and sees me revive, then they will continue to kill me until I run out of lives. 

The last two times, I was lucky that we managed to escape, but next time, I may not have much luck.

---

Two days later, I arrived at the location I wanted. It was already dark outside, and Griselda and Xenovia fell asleep while I sneaked out.

Walking forward through the forest, I arrived near a lake after a couple of minutes. Despite it being night, the lake was illuminated by thousands of fireflies that shone brighter than normal.

According to the text Le Fay sent me, Vivian is Morgan's alternate personality, while the third personality is Nimue.

As I arrived near the lake, I stopped myself and didn't know what to do. Does the Lady of the Lake still reside here? Do I just call out to her? 

Now that I think about it, I didn't think this through.

"Ummm..." I was about to say something before the water from the lake rose up into the air and formed the shape of a woman.

Even if she was completely made out of water, her facial features made her look like a beautiful woman.

"Fufufu, if you continue looking at me like that, I may even blush." She laughed softly, "Or you might even fall angel."

"Ekmm..." After a while, I coughed, trying to hide the blush. Seriously Elijah? Did you blush at seeing a woman made out of water?

"I wanted to ask you a question."

"Oh, you are too young for me, fufu." 

"..." I just deadpanned and looked at her, "That's not it..." I replied in a flat tone.

"Oh, don't be like that. Nowadays, there isn't anyone visiting me here." 

Deciding to just get straight to the point, I asked, "How much do you know about curses, and could you remove one?"

"Hmm, " She hummed and looked at me before getting closer. 

She was next to me the next moment, and her hand went through my clothes and into my body.

After a while, she took her hand out of me and looked at me, "A cursed Angel that isn't something you see every day."

"So, have you seen other Angel being cursed?" I asked.

"Not exactly. You are an interesting case. It's like you are in a state between being a pure and a fallen angel." 

"Do you know how to remove or seal the curse?" 

"The curse is now a part of you. It can't be removed without you dying."

"Oh, great..." I said my thoughts out loud. But then I remembered my Sacred Gear, "What if-" I tried to ask but was interrupted.

"Even with your Sacred Gear, it won't work. The curse is in your soul, and while it can heal your body, it can't heal your soul."

"That's good to know..." 

"Then could I maybe seal the curse away?" 

I saw her smirk, "I could, but that is not my job. You need to figure out how to seal the curse or how to use it yourself."

"Use the curse!?" I asked, but she didn't answer me and returned to the lake, "Wait!" I tried to stop her, but she didn't stop.

The last thing she said was, "It's not my place to tell Child of Darkness and Light, ______ King," After saying it, she paused before doing what looked like a shrug, "I shouldn't have said that. Well, the titles don't have meaning yet, and you shouldn't be able to hear the last one." 

I tried to call her out again, but no matter how long I tried, she didn't come back.

Use the curse? How do I do that? The only way I know how to use it is to let it take over. Is there really a way to control it? 

I sighed and turned around to return before they noticed I was gone, "Instead of making it easier for me, it made everything more difficult."

I need to figure out how to seal the curse or how to use it myself, and why did she call me 'Child of Darkness and Light' or the other one '______ King'?

What stupid title did I just gain or would gain? Is it because I somehow ended up in this half-fallen state?

I guess removing the curse is a no-go, so I'm back to my Cursed Gear idea.

I managed to return to the hotel we were staying in and get a couple of hours of sleep before sunrise. 

Then, I needed to go around the country to different tourist attractions.

I was already done with everything I wanted here, but it would be weird if I arrived here and then the next day wanted to leave for the next place without exploring. 

I miss Akeno...

While the company of Xenovia is nice and all, she is weird. It's like the only thing she knows is the bible and anything church-related.

It's annoying...

During my fourteen years in this world, I have heard less religious stuff altogether than the two days I've been with her, which comes from someone living with an Angel and being around other angels! 

Hell, I'm even missing the battle maniac.

---

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading this chapter.

If you enjoy this story, remember to vote and leave a review if you haven't.