Chapter 20 : "Gotta agree with Zeke,"

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"Gotta agree with Zeke," Ethan chimed in, already sitting on one of the benches scattered around the bathhouse, "Also, be prepared, they usually look pretty damn ugly. Seriously, first time encounters with these things are not a fun time."

Vin raised an eyebrow, "It...sounds like you're speaking from experience."

Ethan sighed, "I mean, yeah, we've all had at least one run-in with a stray here. But it's different when you know you don't have the skills or training to take one down."

"Alright..?"

"Me and Vanessa have known each other nearly our entire lives, right? We used to have this home that we'd go out to during summer vacation, it bordered an old abandoned farmhouse, it was really cool.

We'd make that our secret base of sorts, but one day when we arrived at the house for the summer…

Well, we didn't know at the time, but a stray devil had made it's lair in that abandoned farmhouse while we were gone," Ethan shivered,

"Our parents went out to check out sounds coming from the place, and they never came back. Me and Vanessa went to go check on them, and we found the stray in the middle of one of it's meals.

Damn thing must have been at least two stories tall. We thought we were going to die, seriously, we were only like, seven or eight at the time;

can you believe that? How would it feel for a seven or eight year old to actually be face-to-face with a real live monster, one that was halfway through eating the corpse of your own mother? It was terrifying, I still get nightmares about it sometimes."

Vin leaned his forearms on the shower screen door, "So, how did you survive then?"

Ethan grew a wistful smile, "An exorcist came and reduced us just in time. He was the coolest dude, he literally just held his hand into the air, and a storm grew overhead, right before a bolt of lightning came and smited the stray devil. It killed the thing in one shot."

"One shot?!" Vin sputtered, "Holy fuck…"

Ethan nodded, "Yeah, holy fuck indeed. Guy came and picked both me and Vanessa up, and took us back to the church. After that, he came back every day for an entire month to give us food.

Apparently, that was the longest amount of time that he'd ever spent in one place. Guy's infamous for being about as hard to keep still as he is hard to beat in a fight."

Vin finished rinsing the shampoo out of his hair, shutting off the shower before looping a towel over his waist and exiting his stall, "That's… pretty cool actually. Sounds like one hell of a guy."

"He is. The main reason I took this path was to be someone like him, y'know?" Ethan stood up, and gazed at the clock, "But enough about that, we gotta get dressed already. The only thing scarier than a stray devil is Griselda."

"Here here," Jafar chuckled, as he finished zipping up his own battle uniform.

Not five minutes later, everyone regrouped in the main hall, before being ushered by Griselda out the doors of their dorms, and into the main elevator. After punching in a new code, the elevator began to shake, before slowly descending down further underground.

Eventually, the doors opened up to reveal a large, almost warehouse-like chamber where church workers ran each and every way, carrying things from bins, clipboards, or cups of coffee.

On the far wall, twelve seemingly ordinary vehicles sat parked. Before Vin could continue to gaze around in wonder, a voice shouting out from the crowd's low buzz snagged his attention.

"Ah, Ms. Quarta!" A somewhat portly man in a smart white suit that looked like a cross between a tuxedo and a military uniform came pacing out of the crowds of workers.

Griselda gave a small bow, "Mr. Harcreutz, a pleasure as always."

"Same to you," The grey-haired man reciprocated the gesture, before his eyes perked up at the sight of Vin.

"Is this the new talent you've recruited?" The man adjusted his bent glasses that rested on his nose, giving Vin a once-over from head to toe, causing Vin to stiffen under his scrutiny.

After a moment, the man gave a soft smile, and an approving nod, "He looks promising," Harcreutz extended his hand to Vin, "I'm looking forward to seeing how you grow, son."

Vin wouldn't confess it to anyone, but even the mention of the word 'son' from the taciturn Mr. Harcreutz set off dull throbs of ache in the back of his chest. But he was in the company of… well, someone important, no doubt. So instead of ruminating on the feeling, Vin smothered it out mercilessly, and shook hands with the man before him.

"Vin, this is Wilhelm Harcreutz: the head director of Supernatural Response within the Vatican. He's the one who organizes missions for all of us exorcists," Griselda helpfully supplied.

Oh shit, someone really important, "Oh, it's nice to meet you, sir…"

Harcreutz bellowed out a small laugh, "HAHA! I like this one already, Ms. Quarta!"

For her part, the exorcist cleared her throat, "Yes, I'm glad you approve of my newest pupil, but unfortunately, we don't quite have the time to chat."

"Of course, of course…" Harcreutz agreed, shifting back into his professional cadence, "Well, the bus in zone F is prepared for you all, and we're just waiting on our workers to deliver the Excalibur's."

Suddenly, a set of steel double doors swung open from nearby, as three workers each wheeled in a platform cart that housed some sort of massive machine, each of their dark steel exteriors teeming with lights, levers, clasps, and vents.

Vin couldn't help himself as his inner mechanical engineer screamed at him with the desire to touch them, analyze them, take them apart…

Catching himself shifting forwards a little, Vin shook his head. Whoa! That hadn't happened before. Guess he should take something apart when he gets home, scratch the itch a little. But that was weird, he never got an impulse that strong before…

There you go, I hope that you're satisfied with these song choices, and I hope you enjoy the chapter! Rock on!

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