Non Serviam: Chapter 23

Chapter 23: The Valley of the Shadow of Death

The wind rushed through Asia’s hair.

She pressed her face into Mittelt’s neck, entire body clenched tight. Her legs dangled in the air beneath her, flailing uselessly as Mittelt carried her away from Taylor. She couldn’t even find the strength to ask where they were going, or why they had fled.

If God had wanted humans to fly, he would have made them with wings.

“Tch.” Mittelt shifted, causing Asia to stiffen. “Whatever jammer they’re using, I still can’t get through to Rias.”

“T-to Miss Rias?” Asia asked.

“What?” Mittelt scoffed. “Did you think I would switch sides so easily?”

Asia shook her head against Mittelt’s neck.

“Then you think better of me than I deserve,” Mittelt replied. “But like hell I’m going to cash out on my cushiest job in centuries because of a piss stain like Freed fucking Sellzen!”

“O-oh?”

Mittelt shifted her wings, curving through the air. “We’ll have to—” Then she paused, hands tightening on Asia. “I need you to struggle for me.”

“What?” Asia asked.

“Kick, scream, try and throw yourself out of the sky.” When Asia didn’t move, Mittelt hissed. “Now! I promise I won’t drop you.”

Asia found it wasn’t very hard to scream. She just looked down at the ground rushing by, and one tore its way out of her throat. Her legs kicked almost unbidden, and for a moment, she didn’t even see the figure standing on the nearest rooftop. A nun, in a strange habit and wimple, waving up at them.

Mittelt pointed, up ahead and away.

The nun turned.

Then, Mittelt drew back her hand and hurled a spear of God’s own judgement down upon the woman.

It took her through the back of her head, and down, pinning her to the rooftop like a butterfly. Asia’s scream cut off in a choked gurgle.

Mittelt pressed Asia’s face back into the crook of her neck. “I’m sorry, Little Faithful. But worse was in store for you if I did not.” She dove, and Asia was jerked blindly through the air as Mittelt turned down another street and poured on the speed. “We need to—”

But whatever they needed to do was lost as something hit Mittelt hard enough for Asia to feel it. They plummeted. Mittelt screamed. Asia screamed. The world spun like a wheel beyond her clenched eyes. The last thought she had time for was that at least Mittelt hadn’t dropped her.

Then a force plucked Asia from Mittelt’s grasp, and she screamed again.

“Oh dear!” A voice came. “Good thing I made it in time.”

It was about then that Asia realized that she wasn’t falling.

Slowly, she opened her eyes. She was hanging in the air, held up by unfamiliar hands. A cloak billowed at the edges of her vision, and down below…

Asia gasped at the sight of Mittelt’s broken form. One wing was shorn clean off; the other lay twisted and broken beneath Mittelt’s body. And her eyes, clean and blue and so like Asia’s own, stared unseeing up into the sky.

Another nun, habit soaked with blood, removed her halberd from Mittelt’s chest.

“Oh no…”

“You truly are a saint, Miss Asia,” said the man holding her. “To weep such for a fallen angel and a kidnapper.”

Kidnapping? Asia shook her head. Mittelt—Mittelt had been keeping her safe! She turned her head to say as much, only for the breath to leave her body once again.

“Y-you!”

The familiar devil smiled at her, eyes curving into sharp crescents. “Me.” He flapped his wings, gently taking them back down to the ground, away from Mittelt. “It’s good to see you again, Asia. I never did thank you for healing me.”

“…You got me excommunicated,” Asia managed. Her voice rang weakly in her own ears as if coming from a great distance. “I…I…”

“Yes.” His face collapsed into a contrite frown. “My deepest apologies. I’m glad I was here at least. Now I finally have a chance to pay you back.”

“Pay me back?” Asia asked. His words weren’t making any sense.

“Yes. The fallen were planning to steal you away from Kuoh.” He shook his head. “Fortunately, my peerage happened to be nearby to put a stop to it!”

“Oh…” Asia blinked slowly, trying to fit the pieces together in her head. She remembered this devil; he’d been gravely wounded, and she’d healed him with her Sacred Gear. It wasn’t bad to see him again, but at the same time…she thought he was lying about Miss Mittelt.

Mittelt said bad things were waiting for her.

Asia swallowed. “So, you’ll take me back to Kuoh, won’t you?”

“Of course!” The man said. “Ah, but where are my manners? Diodora Astoroth, at your service.” He bowed his head, because he still had not set Asia down. “We’ll return to Kuoh shortly, but first we really should return to the underworld, otherwise the Fallen might attack again.”

“The Fallen?” Asia shook her head. “The only member of the Grigori was…that awful priest. The rest were all—”

“Asia, darling,” Diodora began.

A whistling cut through the air.

Diodora’s head jerked up, and he fired a spear of ice skyward. Asia followed its path just in time to see a dark figure swerve around the attack before crashing into Mittelt’s killer and slamming her into the pavement.

Asia’s heart leapt as Taylor raised her head.

“I’ll give you one chance.” Taylor pressed the blade of her holy sword against the devil’s neck, where the light hissed and burbled against pale skin. “Give Asia back, and I’ll let you go.”

“Go, with you?” Diodora took a step back, pressing Asia against his chest. “You must be in league with the Fallen as well.”

“No!” Asia shook her head. “Mr.—Mr. Diodora! Thank you so much for…saving me, and I’m glad you’re okay, but please, sir. Please let me go home with Taylor. I’m sure Miss Rias will reward you for helping against the—the fallen angel attack!”

Diodora paused, looking down at her. His eyes seemed to open for the first time, dark pits that pinned Asia in place.

“Is that truly what you want?” He asked.

Asia nodded.

He sighed, heavily. “Well, there really is no helping it then.” Asia felt a moment of relief, just in time for him to add: “Let the record show I tried to be nice. Lucrezia.”

There was a ruffle, then a gasp. Asia’s head whipped around, and Lucrezia’s head rolled across the street. The nun’s blank eyes met Asia’s

Taylor stood in the growing pool of blood. She kicked away a limp hand holding a tiny dagger.

“Did you think I wouldn’t kill her?” Taylor asked. Her hair drank in the light, reflecting a field of stars swirling around her face. “Do you think I won’t kill every single one of you?”

“Oh dear me.” Diodora sighed. “It seems a spot has opened up in my peerage. Asia will be staying with me, as remuneration for your unprovoked attack.”

“I will kill you.” Taylor didn’t even look as the rest of the nuns, at least a dozen, fanned out across the street and drew their weapons. “And after I’m done, Rias will dig up your corpse and slaughter you again.”

“Such language,” Diodora replied. “You’re scaring poor Asia!”

“…Please.” Asia didn’t know what she was going to ask for. For them to stop, for her to go home.

For God to help her.

Then Diodora said, “Make this quick.”

His peerage attacked.

Asia could only watch as three different bolts of magic flew towards Taylor. They curved wide, missing.

Taylor darted forward to meet the first attacker, catching a thrust with her light sword. The blades locked, then Taylor’s blade crackled with red light before shearing through the steel sword and taking a hand.

Asia cried out.

Taylor leapt forward, wings exploding out of her back. She twisted, form stretching through the air as she closed with the mages. Another scream, another cut. Asia didn’t want to watch, but she couldn’t look away.

Taylor darted away, leaving two halves of one person to fall to the ground behind. The rest of the peerage followed right into a trail of butterflies. They exploded into puffs of mist, drawing cries of alarm, until it expanded into shadows that covered the street.

“How vexing.” Diodora raised a hand. A circle glowed beneath his feet, and icy winds ripped across the street. They tore away the growing veil of darkness, revealing Taylor once again.

“You should surrender while you still can.” Diodora waved his hand once again. This time, the remaining nuns advanced in lockstep, covering each other. Asia swallowed convulsively. “It would be less painful, for you.”

Taylor leveled the glowing blade of light at him. “I got this sword from Freed,” she said.

“Truly, he could not have met a better end.” Diodora nodded solemnly.

Asia was beginning to think he never told the truth.

“I got something else from him, though, the last time we fought. A prayer I’d never heard before, I had to look it up.”

Asia blinked.

Diodora waved his hands. “Girls, the one to end her prattling will get a reward.”

The peerage lunged forward.

“Saint Michael the Archangel!” Taylor’s voice rang out. “Defend us in battle! Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the Devil!”

Diodora winced, hand going to his ears. Asia blinked in shock as the nuns stumbled, crying out in pain. Taylor did not let them recover.

“May god rebuke him!” She lunged forward, sword piercing through a woman’s chest. “We humbly pray.”

Another nun gathered herself, bringing her hands together in an explosive wave of force. It hit Taylor, cracking pavement and shattering windows.

Taylor did not move.

“And do thou, oh Prince of the heavenly hosts!” Taylor’s wings flapped. She batted aside a mace, kicking the devil hard enough in the face to snap her head back. “By the power of God!”

The blade of light caught on armor. Taylor’s crown of stars flared, red and crimson and gold, and the blade cut through. The women fell, silent.

“Thrust into hell Satan!”

Diodora roared in pain.

“And all the evil spirits!” Taylor twisted, taking a deep cut on her wounded arm, and returned it in kind. “Who prowl—”

She took a punch that rocked her to the side.

“The world!” Taylor came back up blade-first. Another woman fell to the ground, gasping at her ruined neck. “Seeking the ruin of souls!”

Taylor took a halberd to the stomach. She sliced through the haft, sword sweeping up and then down.

The devil darted back with inhuman speed, but the distance between them vanished in a twisting of space, and the sword of light took the woman’s leg.

Taylor coughed. Spitting blood to the asphalt. “Amen.”

Diodora growled.

“Saint Michael the Archangel,” Taylor began again.

“Enough.” Diodora twisted his hand, and the metal blade embedded in her stomach exploded.

Asia screamed.

The smoke cleared, revealing Taylor on her back, a charred wound where her stomach should be.

“Interesting.” Diodora walked forward, ignoring Asia’s desperate struggles. “I wondered if your defenses were always active. They stopped Elizabeth’s punch from harming you, but not the blade.”

He stepped over two members of his peerage without care, shaking off a grasping hand without slowing down.

“Normally, I would make you pay for the trouble you caused me,” he said. “But you seem far too tricky for that, so I will simply kill you instead.” He reached under his furred cloak and drew a darkly-glimmering blade.

Taylor looked up at him, blood burbling from her lips. She coughed once, struggling to form words.

“A pity we could not come to a more equitable arrangement.” Diodora lifted his sword. “But not much of one.”

Asia wrenched herself from his grip with bruising force and threw herself over Taylor’s body.

Diodora wrenched her back by the hair, and Asia screamed again, tears forming in her eyes.

“None of that, dear.” Diodora tutted. “You’ll have plenty of time for displays of emotion after I break you.”

“Don’t kill her!” Asia collapsed to her knees, ignoring the pain in her scalp. “Please! I’ll do anything you want, just don’t kill her!”

Diodora paused, lowering his blade. “Oh? Well, if you wanted to make a bargain…”

“…Asia,” Taylor rasped. Her voice was so weak, the golden stars in her hair flickered with each pulse of her heart. “No…”

Asia looked behind her and did her best to smile. “It’s okay, Miss Taylor,” she said. “I’m glad…I’m glad we got to spend so much time together. I wish it could have been more.”

Then she turned to make a deal with the devil.