Dispelling doubts

"So you like Käsespätzle?"

`How did I end up in this situation?`

Half an hour ago Griselda Quarta's eyes fixed on his back and he practically froze in the middle of a step, the exorcist asked him if his shoulder hurts and he nodded absently. She proceeded to take him to a private meeting room of the exorcists and brought one of the doctors who work for the Church. The doctor has a Sacred Gear with healing abilities and healed the bruises that Sellzen caused.

Luka already met that doctor a few weeks ago, his name is Nari and he arrived in Stuttgart a few days after Luka started living in the hotel. As soon as he arrived at the hotel, Dulio dragged him to Luka's room so that he could heal his forearms.

While Dr. Nari finished curing him, his stomach began to growl and Griselda proposed to eat with her in a restaurant in the city. Seeing the sparkle in the exorcist's eyes, Luka knew that it wouldn't be easy to say no and he didn't want to offend her either.

In a world full of incredibly powerful beings that would be able to crush him like an ant, he can't afford to make enemies stupidly, especially he can't afford to make enemies with people as powerful and influential as Griselda Quarta.

She is not only one of the most powerful exorcists in the world but also has contacts with the highest ranking people within the Church and even with some angels, Griselda is a very dangerous woman and being on her bad side would be very detrimental.

With that in mind, he agreed to go eat with her, and this is how he found himself in this situation: In a fine-dining restaurant dressed in a pair of jeans and a shirt with a picture of a baby chick looking at a fried egg and screaming "Brother!".

"Yes, I do like Käsespätzle." Luka responded with the same level of discomfort as the exorcist.

`The meals here cost more than one would pay for food in a month, how did she get a table in literally 2 seconds?`

"Good, I'll order the food then."

Griselda called a waiter who, as soon as he arrived, looked at them both skeptically, clearly neither the boy dressed in street clothes nor the woman dressed in the attire of a nun fit in a high class restaurant. The exorcist is unfazed by his stare and calmly orders the food. When she sees that the waiter doesn't write down the order, she raises an eyebrow and hardens her gaze.

The waiter looks like he's about to pee his pants and quickly writes down the orders and leaves almost running.

`Poor guy`

"Mr. Artois, may I ask you a few things?"

"You can call me Luka, Miss Quarta."

"Then you may call me Griselda." She answers. For some reason Luka feels that calling her by her name would be incorrect, he doesn't know why it simply doesn't feel right. "As I understand it, a month ago Dulio saved you from a fallen angel?" At Luka's assent she continues: "And before that you lived on your own?"

The pinkhead nods again.

`Where are you going with this? Do you want to know what I did to survive? It's pretty obvious. Is that why you want to question me? No, if it were about my "sins" you would not have invited me to a restaurant. Is it my past that interests you?`

"I've done some research on your past Luka, and to my surprise I haven't found any information in any French records about you. It's as if Luka Artois doesn't exist." Pale blue eyes scrutinize him and Luka knows the importance of his reaction, he can't allow himself to be caught red-handed.

`I have prepared myself for this. As Damian always taught me the best lies are half-truths, I won't have to fake my reactions, just control and redirect them, thank you mom and dad for being absolutely horrible parents.`

"That doesn't even surprise me." He answers bitterly, Luka makes a contemptuous face and fiddles with his fork.

"Oh?"

"My existence is a mistake." His abrupt response surprised Griselda so much that she momentarily lost her composure. "My parents never wanted to have children, both Damian and I are the result of that 5% of the times that the condom is not effective. If they had discovered the pregnancy earlier, I would have been aborted but after a while no doctor would perform the procedure, well excepting for the sketchy ones. Dear maman did not want to risk her health so I had the `privilege` of being born."

Luka's words are full of resentment and disgust, bitterness and anger, and worst of all, they are completely honest. That's the sad truth, a truth thrown in his face by his parents when he was barely old enough to tie his shoelaces. Fortunately, shortly after, his older brother managed to emancipate himself and win his custody, and he never had to deal with those two pathetic human beings again.

"I- I am so sorry to hear that." Griselda looked at him with pity and sympathy, the hardness disappeared in her gaze and Luka could practically see the gears turning in her head. "Do you know in which hospital you were born?"

Lucas shakes his head.

"I remember an argument between them and my brother when I was younger, they didn't even want to name me, it was my Damian who gave me my name."

The exorcist looked as if someone had shot an arrow into her heart, and that person was definitely not Cupid, she softened her gaze even more and looked at him with such pity that Luka almost looked away.

He never liked being pitied, never.

"Sorry for bringing up these bad memories, if you want we can continue later."

"No." He shakes his head. "Those are things I'd rather forget. But if it's important that you know this, it's better to do it now and not have to talk about it again later."

"I completely understand. It's like ripping off a Band-Aid." Griselda smiles weakly. "You mentioned your brother, what can you tell me about him?"

"Damian was the best brother in the world, he was the one who raised me and taught me everything I know."

"Was?"

Luka doesn't fake the pain in his eyes or the darkening of his expression.

"Was." After a sigh he continues. "Dulio said that most Sacred Gears activate when the user is in a lot of stress, that was my case. I don't remember much, just screaming and a yellowish light and then I woke up alone. I heard a doctor say in an interview that people sometimes suppress memories that they don't want to remember, I think that's my case because even if I don't know what happened, I know I will never see my brother again." Luka's voice breaks and tears fall from his eyes, he wipes his cheeks and rubs his eyes to stop them but he surprises himself when he can't.

To create an even more convincing image he focused on feelings that he has been repressing for the past three months and the dam once broken cannot be rebuilt immediately.

Big tears cloud his vision and all he sees is a blur, Luka suppresses his sobs and continues rubbing his eyes furiously.

"Stop crying." He berates himself.

"Shh." Two warm arms wrap around him. "You've been holding back your feelings for too long, little one. Let it all out." Griselda hugs him against her chest and caresses his back gently.

Luka lets all the feelings he's been repressing come to the surface and he cries in Griselda's arms for a good half hour. During that time the waiter returned with their food, seeing the scene before him, he opened his mouth to say something but Griselda's glare silenced him and he practically ran out with the tray still in hand.

"Sorry." After calming down, Luka spoke with a hoarse and cracked voice.

"Here." She hands him a glass of water and he takes two sips. "You don't have to apologize, in any case I'm the one who should apologize. I brought up those painful memories."

"I'm hungry." Luka says after hearing his stomach growl again.

"Then let's eat, we are in a restaurant after all." Griselda smiled softly.

After enjoying a meal that was absolutely delicious, Griselda asked for his advice on the sweets that Dulio likes the most. She confessed that the other day she said something she shouldn't have and she wants to apologize to Dulio. The two wandered around for a long time looking for the perfect gift and finally found a shop that sells artisanal Russian sweets.

After buying Dulio's gift they ate an ice cream in the park before going back to the hotel, by the time they got there Griselda had warmed up to Luka quite a lot and the pinkhead considered his mission accomplished.

`I lost control of my emotions for a while but in the end everything turned out well, she no longer suspects me or my past and from the look in her eyes I won't have to talk about this again for a long time.`

***

Griselda sat in an armchair in her room and picked up a folder. In the folder there are several sheets with information about different individuals, she looks at one of the papers with a frown.

`Luka Artois. Origin: Unknown (orphan adopted by Dulio Gesualdo). Affiliation: Unknown. Description: He is a calm and respectful boy-`

She picks up a pen and starts to add more.

`Origin: Born in France, abusive and neglectful parents (they forgot to file the birth certificate or simply did not want to). Brother killed before his eyes, the trauma awakened his Sacred Gear (he repressed many of his memories due to the trauma), since then he wandered on his own until meeting Dulio Gesualdo. Affiliation: None (Possible exorcist candidate).

Description: He is calm and respectful, tends to avoid conflict and needs to learn to defend himself. He is pragmatic (he knows how to suppress his feelings to focus on immediate goals like survival. This is a double edged sword, if he is not careful he could lose control of his emotions in a dangerous situation). Notes (Griselda Quarta): Luka is a good boy, he has a kind heart but he knows how to protect it. He has suffered a lot from a young age but he learned to survive despite everything, he will be a great exorcist when he grows up.`

Griselda put the sheet on the table and stretched her back.

"Dulio's age makes him more suitable for the role of older brother but given the pain in Luka's eyes... He won't accept someone taking that role, he will see it as trying to replace Damian and will shut down completely to the idea. Parents on the other hand... Dulio must have realized it, he is better at reading people than he lets on." She sighs and gets up from the armchair, after putting all her papers in the folder she walks to the window and looks at the city.

"Luka Artois and Dulio Gesualdo, both lived lives so similar they are almost a reflection of each other. What will the future hold for these two poor souls? Our Father who is in heaven, uphold the holiness of your name. Bring peace to these two shattered souls and protect them from harm."

***

NOTE: There are advanced chapter in my p@ tre on if you want to support me and read some chapters earlier. Patrons can suggest girls for the harem and I will make a poll in patre on and the most voted one will be added to the harem.

p a t r e o n. com /EdenofKovir

Why hasn't anyone questioned Luka in the last month? Because Dulio is a papa bear and Luka is obviously an eight year old boy. They kept an eye on him but they had no reason to question him openly, doing so without reason would have pissed off the most OP human in the world. After this interaction, Luka managed to clear any suspicion at the same time that he earned the sympathy and favor of one of the most powerful people in the Church.