The Pieces fall into Place

„How far until we reach Kuoh?" Xenovia asked.

"Uh, I don't know?" Irina sceptically answered.

"Why does that sound like a question? Didn't you say that you lived here for a long time? It was your idea that we walk instead of taking the train." Xenovia replied.

"It has been a while and I was really young back then. Even if we wanted to take the train, we can't. We don't have any money left." Irina said.

The two young exorcists arrived in Japan earlier by plane. After searching for the train station, they encountered a homeless (definitely not homeless) person and bought a ton of junk from him to help him survive.

"The people should be glad to lend their vessel for God's mission." Xenovia said rightfully.

Irina sighed. Hopefully Xenovia would gain some common sense while they were out in the field this time. She was even sceptical of a person in need and protested when Irina was giving him their money! Did she forget the teachings of the church already? Deciding to ignore her ignorant partner for now she returned to their original topic.

"The airport isn't far from Kuoh. When we walk through the towns on the way, we will be there before tomorrow." Irina explained.

"It can't be helped. What do we do when we arrive?" Xenovia asked.

"Griselda said we should contact Jeanne since she is currently in Kuoh with her superior." Irina told Xenovia.

"Jeanne's superior is here? Who was she working for again?" Xenovia questioned curiously.

"I don't think she ever mentioned it and the only thing you did was sparring against her. If you could call it that.." Irina answered with the last part mumbled.

Xenovia however heard her. She considered Jeanne as a rival since they both fought with swords. Jeanne was only slightly older and fit the bill perfectly. The only problem was that she didn't manage to win even once! It still served as motivation, but it was depressing nonetheless.

"But even Griselda seemed respectful when talking about Jeanne's superior. Do you think he is a high-ranking priest?" Irina questioned to no one in particular. A high-ranking priest was after all still a high position for someone like them who only started their work as exorcists. It wasn't rare for priests with many responsibilities to have strong guards and assistants. That would explain why Jeanne picked up on skills necessary for an aide.

"It's no use to think about it, we will know when we meet them. They were rather adamant, that we meet them before talking with the devils. It seems they already gathered information, since they were staying in Kuoh for a while now." Xenovia replied.

Ezekiel and Jeanne indeed gathered information and had a proper overview of the situation in Kuoh. Why they should meet them first though was because Griselda knew how rash the two young exorcists were. If it was Ezekiel, he should be able to keep them in check. If he even decided to reveal himself, there was no chance for them not to follow his commands. They were devout believers after all. But even if Ezekiel didn't show himself, she was sure Jeanne could handle them well enough.

-o-

Freed was ecstatic. Tomorrow he was allowed to kill a few more people and raise a ruckus. If the plan of his boss were successful, he would get one of the strongest swords and could kill even more devils!

It didn't matter for him who he was working with or for, as long as he could be true to his desires. Still with a strong figure behind his back, he would be able to do a lot more damage than alone. He found someone that shared his dislike for devils!

-o-

Kiba was currently in no mood to hang around his friends. The picture he saw in his friend's house reminded him of everything that went wrong in his life. These damned holy swords should just disappear! They were the reason for his friends' demise. If he had the chance, he would take it upon himself to destroy them by himself.

-o-

The next day arrived and Irina and Xenovia finally made it to Kuoh. Since they didn't know where to meet Jeanne, they made their way toward the church.

As they arrived a while later, they came upon a beautifully decorated garden around a tall building. Though part of it seemed to be relatively old, a big part of the building was obviously recently renovated.

While watching the church and its surroundings, they saw a girl with long blonde hair tending to the flowers. Since she was the only person around, they decided to talk to her.

"Hello, my name is Irina. Do you know if Jeanne is here?" Irina asked while Xenovia stayed silent.

"You know Jeanne? I can call her if you want, but I don't know if she is free at the moment." Asia offered. Jeanne already told here that two girls would appear these days and gave described them to her. Though even Asia wouldn't need a detailed description after seeing them herself. They tried to blend in, but stood out even more in the end.

As they nodded, Asia went into the church to use the telephone while Irina and Xenovia waited outside.

-o-

Jeanne just hung up her mobile phone and turned to Ezekiel.

"The two exorcists have arrived. They want to meet me since Griselda told them to." Jeanne sighed while explaining. She liked these two, but they lacked common sense and their belief was a bit extreme for her tastes. She herself was part of the same faction, but when you are around one of its leading members for the most part and said member is rather unique, then your belief becomes less fanatic.

"It's better that way. From what you told me they aren't really suited as some kind of envoy without clear instructions. Make sure to tell them what to do and how to behave when they meet with the devils. Most importantly, tell them to keep quiet about us.

"You aren't coming?" Jeanne asked, as she expected him to make sure they wouldn't do something stupid.

"No, I will meet Abelia and give her a little heads-up. I think it's time to talk about a few things after we dealt with the current threat." Ezekiel answered.

Jeanne nodded and left afterwards.

-o-

It only took a few minutes for Jeanne to arrive at the church. After seeing her, Irina immediately hugged her while Xenovia tensed slightly. She knew that even though Jeanne looked like a normal and sweet young woman, she could be very deadly when necessary. Others might think she overestimated her, but Xenovia witnessed it herself.

The two exorcists on the other hand looked extremely suspicious. They wore cloaks and Xenovia even had a sword on her back. Even if said sword was wrapped up in bandages, it wouldn't be hard to guess what it truly was. The last part of their outfit made her cringe. Whoever thought it would be a good idea to let them wear these skin-tight leotards had to be mental. Did they want to seduce stray devils? Jeanne was glad that her superior didn't have any weird idea of what her uniform should look like and let her wear what she felt comfortable in.

"How are you Jeanne?" Irina asked.

"I'm fine. Let's make this quick, I'm sure you want to start your mission as soon as possible."

"Don't we have to wait for your superior?" Xenovia asked. She was curious who it was that Jeanne was working for. He should be somewhat impressive, right?

"Oh, he is meeting with his painting teacher at the moment." Jeanne revealed, while smirking inside. She wasn't to blame for any misconceptions they formed inside their head.

As Jeanne mentioned her superior was painting, they already created a certain view of him in their mind. He was probably a believer that Jeanne respected and had a high position. Not every member of the church was qualified to get Jeanne as an assistant and guard. As for his strength, they didn't think much of it, if he didn't involve himself in the current situation and let Jeanne handle it.

"Is that so?" Irina replied slightly disappointed.

Jeanne then began to explain them what to look out for. They shouldn't make any problems with the devils if possible and work together. Hopefully they would be able to stay calm and the devils would react level-headed.

-o-

Ezekiel arrived in front of Abelia's house. It was a small but beautiful place that was modelled after her tastes. He went straight to the door and rang the bell. A few moments later he saw Abelia come from the garden behind the house.

"Zeke? What are you doing here?" Abelia asked curiously but at the same time pleasantly surprised.

In the last few weeks, they got closer to each other, even if they didn't share anything too personal.

Ezekiel smiled, when he saw her. He felt really relaxed when he could spend time with her and his ability to feel emotions told him he was not the only one that thought so.

"Do you have a moment?" Ezekiel asked, while gesturing toward her house.

"Of course, please come in. Would you like something to drink?" Abelia questioned after they arrived on the terrace.

"Thank you, I'm good." Ezekiel politely declined and sat down.

"I wanted to have a quick talk with you. You probably could call it a warning as well." Ezekiel replied.

Hearing his intention of giving her a warning, she felt confused. She thought that they hit it off wonderfully, did she do something wrong? Or did she misjudge his character? She didn't think so.

Ezekiel who saw through her complicated expression realized his bad choice of words and spoke up again: "Ah, don't misunderstand me Abelia. It doesn't have anything to do with you. Give me a moment to explain what I am talking about."

Abelia breathed out and indicated that she was listening.

"I'm sure that you know what I am talking about, when I tell you that our school isn't exactly normal and there are quite a lot supernatural beings in this town." Ezekiel started.

Although Abelia stiffened a little, she wasn't too surprised. Of course, she knew about the devils that were governing the town and occasionally she would spot other people connected to the supernatural world. As for Ezekiel? She had a hunch, that he was connected to it, but he felt like a normal human. Still, his whole demeanour was rare for a normal human to have.

"As you might have guessed already, I am part of the supernatural side of the world. I am part of the Christian faction. More specifically with the heaven faction. As for why I am telling you this? An enemy of the church is currently in Kuoh and seems to have bad intentions toward the devils. In your best interest regarding your own safety and not to involve your own faction in another's conflict, you should stay out of this." Ezekiel explained. Although he didn't know which faction she belonged to, if any faction at all, he still wanted to tell her.

Abelia nodded, but internally she was thinking to herself. Finally something exciting is happening and she had to stay out of it? Not happening. The least she would do was observe what was going on. These last months were boring compared to her earlier life and she had a hunch that Ezekiel felt the same. The most that happened were the "governing" devils dealing with other weak devils.

Ezekiel saw her smile and was sure she wouldn't just stay at home. He sighed before talking again: "I warned you, just make sure to stay safe. Let's talk in more detail afterwards. I will have to take my leave, I will be busy soon."

"Okay, take care Zeke." Abelia said while they shared a quick hug.

-o-

"I will have Vali come here and resolve the problem when they are in trouble." Azazel mumbled to himself.

Lately he was really getting a headache. First someone was taunting him and shortly after he had to deal with troublesome subordinates. Now it seems one of their high-ranking members finally couldn't sit still anymore. Though it was an opportunity to get rid of him, he can't just leave him to another faction. Somehow, he had a bad feeling about this and hoped that nothing would go wrong.

-o-

Shiva was currently sitting in his realm and meditated quietly. It was a big room with simple decoration that he wouldn't get distracted easily.

Suddenly he started laughing out loud as he opened his eyes: "Hahaha, not bad son, not bad. That's how a god of destruction should act. It's time that you start your own adventures."