"I found the Longinus" Rigal said as he laid out the charts and reports across the coffee table, and though it was large- by coffee table standards- it still fell short of an actual table, with some portion of the charts hanging limply off the sides, a few reports sliding off onto the ground, and papers flying everywhere.
"Took you long enough." I teased, picking up the stray sheets from the floor near me.
It had been worrying me for the past year and half too. I wondered briefly, almost too often if I would miss this chance, or worse, had already missed it.
But it seems it was not in vain, these past four years spent scrawling the world for it, countless hours spent scraping through news reports, poring over satellite data, searching mass casualty events and natural disaster, warfronts and civil crises.
It was here at last.
"My man in the Pentagon sent me these reports from a Senate Committee meeting last week." Rigal spoke, while I looked over the documents, "It came up in a discussion regarding foreign aid to Africa."
'Mugabe's stance on unity- justice or revenge.'
'Farmland Reclamation Proposal'
'Aid reduction …'
'Severe droughts wipe out yields, third year in a row'
'Flash floods block highway…'
'White Genocide : The real truth behind …'
"The newly formed nation of Zimbabwe. Droughts in the same region, three years in a row. Flash floods in the same area five times in the last ten years. Rogue thunderstorms out of season. And now, this…"
He lifted a news report of a local gang boss getting struck by lightning in the middle of a clear day.
"Right in the middle of the genocide happening in the country." Rigal continued, "And watch this cloud pattern analysis." He showed a line of photographs, showing cloud cover spread across the nation. "This is just the past month. See those accumulations there. Check this out." He laid out a series of maps showing roadways, waterways, and even remote trails.
"See the pattern?" He asked with barely contained excitement.
"Refugee camps, escape routes, offroad trails through the countryside." I noted.
"Exactly. White farmers fleeing the genocide in the countryside, and this…" He revealed a final set of satellite images. A city overlaid with cloud cover and winds sheer charts.
"This…" He pointed to one part, "is New Mother Mary Convent School, and (temporary) orphanage. Can you spot the difference?"
I looked over the satellite images detailing a week's worth of weather in long exposure shots.
"I don't see what-"
"Sunlight." My father realized.
Rigal nodded.
"Where the rest of the city has been downcast in various amounts of cloud cover, this place alone has had sunshine, bright and right, all day, everyday for the past week." He pulled out another photograph, this time closer to the ground. Children playing, awards being handed out, snacks and lunches, little picnics.
"Sports week." He announced with a proud and satisfied grin. The logic wasn't lost on us.
"We really found a Longinus. Just with the power of science…heh." I chuckled.
"Now we need to capitalize on that and get it before the church realizes the treasure they have on their hands." He said, digging out one last report from beneath the pile, "These are the readings from one our specialists sent there. He couldn't get in, because hallowed ground, but he camped out long enough to get these."
"It's about to awaken." He said, "Any day now. We need to act fast."
"But if we can't go in…" I wondered, "Can we draw them out?"
"Already tried. I bribed an army official to take a squad there and request relocation for all orphans to a state facility. The church refused. I tried getting him to storm the premises but…"
"Yeah. Army troops raiding orphanages is not a good look." I nodded.
"I did however manage to get a register on all of the orphans admitted there." He pulled out a xerox copy and laid it out on the table.
"They are sheltering 43 children. Taking into account the age differential, Caucasian, 9 to 12 years old, that narrows it down to four children. Adrianna Marikova, Reggie Bertenelli, Joseph Parsons and…" He flipped the page to the last one, "Dulio Gesualdo."
The wielder of the Longinus, Zenith Tempest. Of course, I couldn't just point him out, again, because I had no way to explain how I knew him. So I'd have to take the long way around.
"What are we waiting for?" Ruval asked, "Lets mobilize the troops and smash through them. Burn the place down, force them out and do a clean sweep of the survivors."
"And draw all eyes to us? No. We do this clean and quiet." My father turned to Rigal, "Are they allowing adoptions?"
"Only to good, white Christian families." Rigal answered, "I can arrange some 'prospective parents', but…the time it would take to forge paperwork…"
"We have a charity arm there, right?" My mother asked.
"Phoenix Relief, 'Rebuilding love and community, from the ashes~'; love that jingle." Rigal said in a singsong voice, "How do you propose we get in though? They are suspicious of everyone right now, and the church knows it's our charity."
"Can I just…" I interrupted, "Even if we can send prospective parents in, they might not allow immediate adoption. There's likely a vetting process. If they awaken before it goes through…No way they'll allow it then."
"What are you suggesting then?" Rigal asked.
"Who will they trust immediately enough to allow into the facility? And more importantly, get out of it quick enough if need be?"
"Another orphan." My father spoke.
"Bingo!" I grinned, "All we need to do is get our troops into the charity and have them wait around as both plan B and emergency extraction. From there it's a 20 minute job, go in, check the kids, grab the right one and get out."
"It'll be suspicious if a new orphan gets in and out the same day." Ruval said.
"They won't have time for suspicions before we get them out. And after? Will they really care if one normal child goes missing?" I pointed out.
"But who will go in?" Ruval asked, "They can't be a devil and they have to be both, someone that can recognize the Longinus user, grab them and teleport out, while simultaneously being young enough to be admitted in. What's the oldest they'll take?"
"16 years old. Preferably someone that doesn't raise suspicions…a girl likely." Rigal went over it in his head, "There is someone like that we know…I was actually going to introduce you to her, today, and it seems like it's fated to be. Wait, let me get her."
He disappeared and reappeared a few minutes later with a teenage girl, about 15 years old, with long, wavy purple hair and matching purple eyes, and a voluptuous figure for her age, but then again, this was DXD, so it was hardly out of the ordinary.
"Everybody, meet Yubelluna. She is the daughter of one my magic specialists. She knows teleportation, identification and of course, bomb magic, in case we need to cover our tracks."
The girl bowed, shyly.
"I'm Yubelluna. I'm honored to meet you all. Please allow me the chance to serve."
"The most important question is, can she act?"
The girl looked at me seductively, her expression changing in a flash as she moaned.
"Oh~ Master Riser, I can be whatever you want~"
Creepy. Way creepy.
"You know me?" I raised an eyebrow in concern.
"Master Rigal told me about you. I have been dying to meet you." She replied, her expression polite again.
"She wants to become a devil and I figured, you'd be looking for peerage members. So how about it?" Rigal asked.
"What do you think about child murder?"
"You show them, I blow them!" She raised a hand, with miniature explosions popping up on it.
"And what is your opinion on churches?"
"I think they look very beautiful when they explode." She replied, cupping her face happily.
I smiled.
"I think you and I are going to get along swimmingly."
"Come, let us discuss the script." My father said, inviting her to take a seat.
I smiled.
Time to steal away the future trump card of heaven.
----------x----------
"Oh you poor, poor child." The matron consoled her, as she wiped her tears, "Of course you can stay here for as long as you like. But you must follow the rules of the convent and help around a little, here and there. And attend service."
"Ys, ma'am."
"Call me mother." The matron said, guiding her to her lodgings, "We are unfortunately short on rooms, so you will have to stay in the classrooms with the rest of the children."
"That is no problem, mother. It is just a matter of a few days. My father will come get me. I'm sure of it." Yubelluna spoke with a mixture of hesitance and innocence, and the Matron gave her a sad, sympathetic look.
"Of course, dear. Don't worry, he will."
She led her into the hall of the parish and through the maze of corridors till they reached the very back of the school, to an old, classroom that looked more like a train station waiting room with over 15 girls crammed into it. The desks had been partly pushed against the wall and partly moved out into the hallway blocking the emergency exit.
A fire hazard, she noted, but it didn't matter to her.
"There are toilets down the hallway there, with buckets for bathing, but we only get water from 5 am to 7.30 am in the morning so be sure to use the time well. Girls bathe early, from 5 to 6 am and boys from 6 to 7 am."
With that she clapped her hands and alerted the kids.
"Children, we have a new friend with us today. This is big sister Yubelluna. She will be staying with us for a few days. Everyone say 'Hello big sister Yubelluna'."
The kids chimed in after her as Yubelluna scanned the room for her targets. The girl, Adrianna Marikova was here and she could tell with a glance that she was not it. The boys were probably kept in another room.
"Do you only allow girls in?" She asked, hesitantly.
"No. But don't worry, they aren't allowed to come here. Their rooms are on the other side of the school." The matron pointed out the corridor window, across an indoor courtyard to another room where she could see the boys staring out the window at her.
"They're all very eager to meet you and you will meet them at supper." The matron smiled, and gestured at the corner, "Put your bags there and get some rest. We will start you off tomorrow."
Yubelluna smiled politely.
"Thank you, again, mother. Without you, I don't know what would have happened out there…"
"Oh, don't mention it dear. It is as the Lord wills it. This too shall pass and His light shall light your path to a better tomorrow."
"Amen."
Come supper, Yubelluna sat on one side of the hall, scanning the room from the corner of her eyes darting through the crowd as she identified the three boys. First one, Joseph Parsons. Not it.
They said their prayers. The food was served.
Next- she avoided the matron's gaze and pretended to stare at the food.
"Today, we have with us a new child. Yubelluna." She introduced her to the rest of the orphans and staff, "She will be staying with us for a few days. Please everyone, make her feel comfortable, and get along with her."
The hall started to clap, and she pretended to sheepishly look away and down at her food as the Matron laughed.
"No need to be shy, dear. Treat it as if it were your own home. Consider us family."
"Thank you, everyone." Yubelluna nodded and bowed slightly, and at the same time, looking over the Bertenelli kid with her enchanted senses.
Not it.
That left the blonde one.
Dulio Gesualdo.
She'd have to find a way to meet him secretly.
But before she could look away, his eyes met hers, for the barest fraction of a second. Lackadaisical at first glance but there was something about him that made her uncomfortable.
She smiled politely and returned back to her food.
Soon, supper was over, they had cleaned the tables and washed the dishes, and everyone made their way to bed. Yubelluna waited till after everyone was asleep and the staff had finished their rounds to quietly get out of her bed, casting silence and non-detection on herself.
With a wave of her hand, she cast a spell and her luggage disappeared into a storage dimension. She looked out of the open window of the classroom and double checked to see if anyone was around.
No one.
Good.
She slipped out the window, the chill of the cool night air and the smell of musty old corridors her only company crossing the courtyard. But just when she was about to enter the corridor leading to the boys' room a voice cut her off, soft and whispered.
"You're looking for me, right?"
She whipped around in alarm as she spotted the blonde haired boy staring up at her .
"Don't lie. I know."
A chill crept up Yubelluna's spine as she looked at him now, there was something about his aura that had changed, become something that scared her.
"…yes." She decided to be truthful.
"Is it because I caused the floods? It wasn't my fault. I don't-" She placed a hand over his mouth.
"Why didn't you report me to the matron?" She asked softly, after a moment of thought.
"I don't want to bother her. She has helped me so much. I don't want her to get hurt, Ms. Spy."
"I'm not a- yes. I'm a spy." She said, playing into his delusion, "And if you don't want anyone to get hurt, come with me quietly."
"Will you kill me, like my parents?"
He gulped, asking innocently and the frightening aura around him became even scarier. Something felt wrong about this.
"No-" She went to reply when she noticed it.
He's removing the air from around us!
Her eyes widened in fear. Clever brat!
She tried to get closer to him, but he just walked backwards.
She couldn't get into a confrontation here, and teleporting took time, so she played her final card. The kid was clever enough for it.
She took a step forward, and he took a step back when she said.
"If you come with me, you can talk to your parents again."
That stopped him in his tracks.
"Really?" The all too clever blonde asked, his eyes cold and distant, yet it felt as if there was a certain warmth lingering deep within.
"I promise."
"I will come with you." He said finally, and looked back at the other boys sleeping in the room, then at the girls' room across the courtyard.
"But only if you help them too."
"How?" She asked, trying to hide her surprise at his request.
"Food. Clothes. Beds." He said and for the first time, she felt like she had really seen the boy, the real him.
"Deal." She replied softly.
He reached out both hands towards her as if expecting handcuffs.
"Let's go."
She smiled, and grabbed him by the hands, teleporting him away.
....................................................................
Yubelluna thinks she is in James Bond, Dulio thinks he is an SCP.
A first look into Dulio's personality.
Calm, quiet, easygoing yet frighteningly perceptive, if about the wrong thing. And most of all, kind and considerate.
Tell me what you thought about the chapter.
Don't forget to donate your powerstones.
And add this to your library while youre at it. you can always remove it later!