Chapter 72: Chapter 69 – Painful Memories

“...Why didn’t you tell us?”

Yuuji faced Leona head-on, but she dejectedly turned away. After the confrontation at the church, she had been taken inside alone while the others were left waiting for well over an hour, and without a word, upon her return they immediately set off to face the vampire. The other girl, Fiorella, seemed to be following them in another car alongside what seemed to be a group of vampire hunters working with the church, but no further explanation had been given as to what was going on.

This ‘investigation’ was clearly plaguing Leona’s thoughts, but even when the four of them had been alone together she hadn’t mentioned anything to them. The outspoken and fiery girl was a shadow of her past self, quietly sitting in the car as she avoided eye contact and watched the buildings pass outside until she mumbled faintly.

“I… didn’t want it to come to this.”
“But you knew it would, right? That’s why you’ve been so distant recently - ever since you went home a few days ago.”
“...”
“If you had said something, we could have helped.”
“Yuuji…”

Hibiki touched his leg slightly, and he bit his tongue. He knew he was being too hard on the girl, but seeing her look so defeated wore heavily on his heart, as the Leona he had befriended would never give up a fight before the battle was over.

“...Fiorella won’t stop until I have lost everything. That’s how she is.”

Finally, Leona spoke. Her harsh tone was nowhere to be found, and her voice was soft and croaky, but the three of them listened nonetheless.

“What do you mean?”
“Every little misstep and every ambiguous fact will be spun in her favour. Half-truths are her speciality.”
“But why-”
“-She will use our friendship against me.”

Before he could finish his question, she turned to look at him. Her eyes were misty and distant, but as he looked around at the others, the reality of her words dawned on him.

“...Fuck…”

A self-proclaimed satanist, a half-demon girl, and him, who was known to the church as someone with bloodstained hands. If the purpose of the investigation was to look into whether or not she was firmly dedicated to her religion, being close friends with any of them would be suspicious to say the least, and that wasn’t even including the fact that the examiner held an unvarnished grudge against Leona. If they made moves to try and counter the church’s inquiry, they would only be making matters worse, and playing into Fiorella’s hand.

“Why would she do this to you? Why would someone be so mean?”

Seeing the pain on Leona’s face, Hibiki spoke up. How much of the situation she understood wasn’t clear, but she dearly wanted to help her friend in any way she could and finding out the reason for this hatred was a good place to begin.

“...We’ve known each other for as long as I can remember.”

As Leona reminisced, sad memories began to resurface. They were difficult to bear, but with the situation that had come to light, there was no use holding them back any further.

“Fiorella only ever wanted to be the best - and she was. She was the smartest, the most popular, and by far the prettiest of everyone our age. Throughout our schooling together, countless boys would approach her, and she would leave each of them hanging on a thread to move to her every whim.”
“...Aren’t they expected to take a vow of celibacy?”

Leona smiled wryly at Yuuji’s question.

“Since the Cataclysm, the vows have been unofficially softened to increase the number of people who could be taken into the fold. For those who wish to progress to become bishops, they are supposed to still follow the vows they have taken.”

Despite spending plenty of time studying and worshipping as part of Catholic sects, Yuuji was always a special case, so while he wouldn’t be able to proceed particularly high in the ranks of any one religion, he was allowed to take part in rituals and routines without adhering to strict oaths. Where possible, he still stuck to the rules of those he was helping so as to fully embrace their culture and strengthen his spirit, but ultimately his vows were to himself, and the strength he would gain from his insight was honed for one purpose - fighting demons.

“Fiorella and I never got along well, but at the time it was only bickering and competitive natures. As we grew up… things changed.”

It was only recently that Yuuji had come to experience school life, but he had already long passed the age where it began for most people. As a result, he never knew just how harsh school social hierarchy could be when trying to navigate the struggles of teenage years, and this was his first true glance at that reality.

“Our spirits awoke, but mine did before hers. That was the first time I felt real malice in how she felt towards me as we spoke, and she only became more and more bitter. When she finally managed to call out her spirit… she gave it the name ‘Jophiel’.”

Uriel and Jophiel.

Spirits were a reflection of the inner self and could take any form. Even for two girls deeply rooted in their Christian beliefs, both of them having spirits related to archangels for unrelated reasons was extremely unlikely and seemed more than just some coincidence.

“Jophiel… the angel of beauty and wisdom.”
“From that day onwards, she was different. Whether she was always that way and simply chose not to hide it any longer, or if the last part of her sympathetic self was locked away behind her newfound power… I do not know.”

The strength that spirits held was immeasurable. They were a key weapon in the fight against demons, but to truly be used they needed to be honed, and giving such a dangerous ability to a misguided youth was extremely risky.

Many schools would avoid the topics of spirits to try and prevent them from becoming a threat. It wasn’t unreasonable for them to do so, as even when the argument of needing to deal with the demons arose, most people pointed towards Invicta or other military groups as the ‘solution’. Generally, those who trained their spirits from a young age were either doing so to help whatever organisation they were part of or in rare cases, they were particularly stubborn children who stuck firmly to their personal beliefs and were a perfect fit for a place like Phoenix Academy.

“It wasn’t just playful charm anymore. She openly flirted with anyone she wanted, especially going out of her way to target the partners of those she felt enmity towards, and with her spirit emboldening her charm, she always succeeded.”
“Even if the vows were softened… isn’t that still flouting what they stood for?”

Leona’s brow furrowed, and her face twisted in disgust.

“Every time she would be investigated… the matter would be dealt with. Privately.”

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Yuuji’s stomach turned, and he began to feel the powerlessness that Leona held within her. She knew that this injustice was happening, but couldn’t do anything as she watched those that should have upheld the rules be corrupted by their desires again and again.

The thought made him feel sick, so he did his best to move on to the initial issue once more.

“So… why you? Just because your spirit awoke before hers?”
“...At first, yes. But I was never one for romance, so other than a few friends who came and went, there was nobody she could hold over me.”

He got on with Leona well, but she had a very strong combative personality. Perhaps that was part of the cause for her past struggles, or possibly it was a result of being isolated amongst her peers, but whatever the case he wanted to see the return of that Leona as soon as possible.

“Everything came to a head one day… when a boy confessed to me.”
“!?”
“Oh!”
“...”

Her story took an unexpected turn which caught the listeners by surprise. Yuuji’s eyebrows shot up while Hibiki let out an interested gasp, and even though Claire had been listening silently the entire time, her eyes still widened. Leona was by all means very attractive with her athletic build and handsome face, but anyone who would confess to her out of the blue must have had a death wish.

“Naturally, I turned him down. I didn’t even know his name, nor he mine, but he was annoyingly persistent.”
“...”

The group stayed quiet, enraptured by their curiosity as she continued.

“That stubbornness was what caught my attention more than anything. Fiorella went out of her way to speak to him in front of me, or in places where she knew I’d find them, but he ignored her advances every time. She acted more and more brazenly as she grew impatient, and while I do not dare think of the lengths that she went to, I only know he still refused.”
“Where is he now?”

Hibiki leaned forward as her inquisitive mind raced, but Yuuji gently laid his hand on her arm as a quiet reminder not to pry too deeply.

“...He’s dead.”
“...”
“...”
“...”

As he suspected, there was no happy ending to this story. Life was complicated, and the situation they had found themselves in was even more so. Hibiki had no bad intentions with her question - if anything, she likely wanted to focus on what seemed like a silver lining within the pain, but kindness could hurt sometimes.

“He worked to help supply the frontlines against the lesser demons, and there was a sudden outbreak. One day he was alive, and the next he wasn’t. There was no foul play - if anything, Fiorella seemed to take the news harder than I did.”

Despite her words, Leona’s voice became croaky once more. She had regained some confidence as she recalled the past, but even her fierce demeanour couldn’t hide the emotion that welled up inside of her.

Suddenly, there was a shuffle beside them, and before anyone could react, Claire had moved over to Leona’s side and grasped her hand.

“Wh-”
“Keep going with your story.”

The petite girl averted her eyes, but she squeezed Leona’s hand to give whatever comfort she could offer. Leona’s gaze softened, and as her hand trembled slightly, she slowly turned it over to hold Claire’s palm in turn.

It was a small gesture, but for a brief moment, Leona seemed to return to her strong, unyielding self once more. As she prepared to speak again, her voice still quivered, but she had improved considerably.

“After that, I didn’t see her for a while. But it wasn’t long before rumours began spreading that I was some kind of lecherous woman trying to seduce any man who got near now that the one who had been around me was gone, and the way people looked at me changed. Whether they stared with lustful glances or hate-filled glares, everyone seemed to believe it was true without a doubt, and I knew she was behind it.”

All along, the malice that had been directed at her had been unwarranted. It was possible that she’d made some bad decisions or mistakes along the way that had been glossed over, but even just the parts she had mentioned were clearly very impactful for her, and Yuuji didn’t doubt a single word she said.

“In the end, I was forced to make a decision: renounce my faith, or relocate somewhere else. I chose the latter, and picked the one place I thought she would never follow me - Phoenix Academy.”

From there, they knew the rest. It was unlikely that the two had met at all since their time apart, but judging from the way things were now, Fiorella had never let go of the bitterness she held, and had jumped at the chance to act upon it. Exactly how much influence she held in the church now was unclear, but they knew it was at least enough to not only force an investigation of a church member who wasn’t even present in the country they inhabited, but to be unjustly granted the role of the investigator as well.

“And now she’s here. Did she ever use her spirit on you directly?”
“I… Yes. It wasn’t so strong that it compelled me to become her slave, but in an instant, I felt an indescribable hotness in my chest when I looked at her, which I knew immediately was unnatural. She was frustrated when it didn’t work, and never tried again.”

Thankfully, the girl hadn’t tried anything when they first spoke, and simply flaunted the position she’d been granted. Being aware of the ability she held made it far less threatening, as Leona’s words proved that it wasn’t infallible - if they worked to resist it, they could do so.

“If she’s willing to go this far, wouldn’t she just lie on the report?”
“Should she be caught, there would be severe consequences, so with you and the other hunters around I doubt she would risk it. Even so, she will twist the truth any way she can… so until this is over, I will need to keep an appropriate distance from you all. I’m sorry.”

Leona gave Claire’s hand one last squeeze, and let go. The car began to slow as they neared their destination, so Claire shuffled back to her original position in silence, and when the door opened Leona stepped out and coldly took her distance.

The investigation was a serious concern, but it wasn’t life-threatening. Right now there was still a vampire on the loose, and they would need to clear their heads of all unnecessary thoughts to focus on the task at hand.

Once more, Charlie team prepared for another hunt.

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