Chapter 21: Chapter 21 : "That's… pretty cool actually. Sounds like one hell of a guy."
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Vin shot her a deadpan look, before grumbling, "None taken."
"Vin will be fine. I'll be accompanying you all on this mission, and Vin will be assuming mostly the role of a bystander. He's to stay with me and learn about the exorcism process."
Griselda continued, "I've also come with good news: the Vatican has approved of Excalibur use. Ethan, Xenovia, Vanessa; you three have been given clearance to use your specific Excalibur fragments."
What the- Excalibur?! Like, King Arthur's sword, Excalibur? Vin had so many questions. So King Arthur was real: what's next, they take a trip to Neverland to help out Peter Pan and Tinkerbell take down a stray devil? Also, fragments? Did the sword break or something?
Regardless of Vin's confusion, the news seemed to be met with elation by the three exorcists.
"Woohoo! I got my sweet baby back, finally!" Ethan cheered, sending a fist bump towards Vanessa, who met it with equal fervor.
"I'm so ready to kick some ass," Vanessa added.
Even from her spot at the table, the stone-faced Xenovia had her eyes closed, arms crossed, and an excited little smile stretched across her face.
So, whatever these Excalibur fragments are is a big deal, okay.
"The rest of you will be provided with the usual church-regulation holy weapons. This trip is going to take a few hours, so I want you all to get showered, dressed in uniform, and ready to go back here in the next thirty minutes."
Everyone nodded, before darting out of the common room, and down the halls towards the baths.
Closing his eyes, Vin embraced the feeling of the hot water trickling down his head, it's mild warmth running over his scalp as he continued to work the foaming shampoo throughout his long brown locks. As much as long hair could be a bit of a pair at times, there was a catharsis he found in taking care of his hair.
"So," The deep treble of Jafar's voice called over the sound of the showers, "This will be your first time encountering a Stray devil, right?"
"Oh! Uh...Yeah. Is there anything I should watch out for?"
"Do not hesitate," Ezekiel warned as he stepped out of his shower stall, towel wrapped around his waist.
"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.
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