A harsh sense of numbness echoing through every part of her body. The angels of Grigori had employed their cruelest methods to take her will to live, to take away any joyful spark that she could possibly have. Their goal was her sacred Gear, Twilight Healing, the only items she had left to her name in this world.
To extract it from her they needed her to break, give up on any pretense of survival and let go of the idea of a better tomorrow.
Effectively, the needed her to feel dead inside.
They accomplished their task well.
To be granted the sweet release of death was Asia Argento's dearest wish.
The very concept of giving up on life would have baffled her not too long ago. This life granted to her was a gift from God. What ingrate would disregard God's most profound form of grace?
Yet still. Yet now…
What had she done to deserve such a fate?
Her life started out in ruin, parents she never knew leaving her on the steps of a nunnery. They hadn't so much as put forth the effort of finding the proper orphanage to give her away to before gallivanting away.
The nuns had raised her still. It wasn't a good life, but she never complained. Even when the higher ups refused to increase the nunnery's stipend to accommodate for her presence or when she was forced to stay inside to avoid being tainted by 'the heathens' that played in the streets just beyond her window.
She was given a short stint of happiness when the Church – that is to say the Vatican – took notice of her abilities. Her uncanny ability to magically seamlessly stitch any wound back together through the enchanting might of Twilight Healing saw to her being labeled a valued asset.
She healed a great many people during her time in the limelight. She'd been dubbed a saint, not in any official capacity mind you, but the compliment still managed to endear her.
It all came to an end half a year ago, when she healed him, a kindly young devil that just happened to wander to close to Vatican City for the Church's like.
Asia hadn't known his origin, though.
Not at all.
How could she when the church functioned as an ever-secret organization?
She'd lived under the belief that the devil was some singular being; a big, crimson-colored, muscular man with hooves, horns, and a wicked trident. She had never imagined him to actually be one of many or to be so human… so deceivingly cute in his appearance.
Even still they Vatican deemed her deed an unforgivable sin. She's been excommunicated for it. Banished from ever rejoining a Catholic Church. Shunned by everyone under the order of the Pope, even those she once knew as her doting mothers.
A goalless vagabond, forced to begs for change and sleep wherever her tired feet lead her.
Though she hadn't given up hope there. The scripture spoke of trials and tribulations; great tests passed down from the heavens to measure the resolve of humanity. She thought, at first, that her circumstances equated to just that. That she needed only to pray to God and all would be made right in time.
Then the Fallen came, promising sweet nothings about how there was a way that she could carry on spreading the Lord's word even without the Catholics. She saw that as a sign from heaven. In her great naivety, she saw their offer as legitimate.
What followed…
What followed…
What followed…
Could it have been merely a trial?
No.
Ever part of her felt that this transcended a mere test of faith.
She'd served the church well.
She studied the scripture endlessly, reading through every written word passed down from the lord twice and thrice over.
She prayed tirelessly, full days spent on her knees.
She dedicated her life towards charity and the spreading of good will, never asking to go out in play or a gift even on Christmas or her birthday.
She had been holy in all her ways!
She had not sinned in any way that should warrant the faith she'd been dealt!
Tricked by the devils and denounced as less than trash by the church. Her life was bad enough before they came along.
Torture did not appropriately verbalize what they had done to her. Their actions were unspeakable, unforgivable even for someone such as herself. She remembered it all. She lived through it all; their insomnia spells they'd cast depriving her of sleep. They wanted her to be awake through everything, every bit of the hell that they wrought down on her body and mind.
And where had God been?
Where was the 'benevolent' deity that she would once pray to for nearly two decades?
She pled for him to show his mercy all throughout the first week. By the second, her pleas were reduced to just begging him to forgive her for whatever she'd done to insight his wrath. In the third week, she just cried for someone, anyone to save her.
It had all fallen on the ears of the deaf, the words she spoke only earning her a few extra strikes to the face by her tormentors.
She gave up on looking for the help of some neglectful higher power. She gave up on living. All she attempted to do now was wait. Wait for the fallen angels and disgraced priests to come and restart their foul deeds; hoping that the next time would be the last time. She welcomed death. That sweet nothingness was the only thing that she desired. Being able to just fade into the void was what she most wished for.
Hell?
How could it surpass what she currently experienced?
Heaven?
She disdained the very thought of being in the presence of those that had so thoroughly shunned her existence.
No.
Forget the heavens above.
Forget the devils below.
Fuck the fallen.
She could say with total certainty that she had enough.
She was at the point where she just wished to be consigned to oblivion.
Free of the machinations of beings that truly gave zero shits about humanity.
000-000
Her mind was roused as she heard some noise just beyond her cell, the hard click and clack of boots against hard cobblestone.
She used the last vestiges of her strength to raise her head and regard her approaching tormentor. Her eyes, black and bruised, were too swollen to make out the appearance of the man standing in front of her. All she could truly see through her blurred vision was that he was, indeed, a man, a tall one.
"Tsk. Damned Fallen." The man verbalized his annoyance. "Hey, chica. You alive in there?"
"Pl-pl-pl…" Asia attempted and failed to speak. Her throat was dry and sore, making her incapable of fully verbalizing her plead for help.
"Alright. Alright. Give me a minute."
Asia watched on as the man ripped the cage door clear off its hinges. His approach was swift, his hands reaching out and clasping the cuffs that bound her. "Here we go." He ripped them apart like they were tinfoil and not the magically reinforced metal alloy she knew them to be.
Being that she was no longer dangling off the ground by chains, her body collapsed, but he caught her.
"Alright. Take it easy." He slowly lowered her to the ground, allowing her to lay down for the first time in weeks.
"Th-th-" she couldn't voice appreciation before he shoved the side of his wrist into her mouth.
"Bite." He commanded. The order confused her. The nature of it was so baffling that all she could do was comply, attempting to sink her half-missing, broken teeth into flesh. She gasped as a burning energy flooded her body from his wrist, equal parts scolding and soothing. She felt the aches and pains of her body vanish, new strength flooding into her muscles.
Her eyes cleared up just enough to see his rugged, tan skinned face and his vermillion eyes, partially concealed by long golden bangs, staring down at her.
His silky lips moved, Asia's sleep deprived ears working overtime to pick up on the words he mouthed.
"Better?"
She nodded numbly, she was far from okay, but at least her body felt fine.
"Good now sleep." Those words carried some sort of enchantment to them, vanquishing the insomnia spell the kept her aware. Her eyelids became impossibly heavy. Her mind quickly slipped into darkness.
She uttered a single phrase before giving into slumber. "Thanks."
000IWR000
Asia stared at the blank, undecorated wall that was in front of her bed as she had been for the last ten or so minutes. Her thoughts laying inward, introspectively recounting the events that led her to this room, Spartanly free of anything save for a bed and a bedside table that once held a plate of cold curry rice and watered down juice atop it. She'd eaten the bedside meal, of course, her empty stomach willing her to do so without regard for the poison that may or may not be concealed within its depth.
But when the meal was done, all that she was left to do was wallow in her thoughts.
She was alive. The knowledge of that was a bittersweet victory. She'd been saved from the edge of death, but what did that mean for her really?
Had it been the lord that showed his 'grace' or was it some other deity that sent help to her?
Was she, perchance, giving too much credit to the divine? Maybe it had just been wild luck that one of the Fallen's enemies would track them down to that specific base, slaughtered them, and then free her in a show of pity.
What did it matter? She was alive, for better or worse, and she would do well to make something of it, but what?
"Oh, you're awake!"
Asia instinctively flinched back as someone entered the room, her brilliant blond hair and exuberant blue costume – resembling a witch's garb, pointy hat and all – bringing a new, unwelcomed shine to the dull room.
"W-who are you?" She asked.
"Le Fay Pendragon! Nice to meet ya!" The high-spirited girl chirped. "Or rather it's nice to see that you're awake. I met you weeks ago, while you were unconscious and all that."
"I… um… where am I?"
"Well… I could tell ya, but I'd have to kill ya."
The way Asia's face contorted into horror had Le Fay quickly backpedaling. "I jest! I jest!" She quickly tried to wave away Asia's worry, laughing nervously. "We're in Istanbul. This is one of Naru-tan's estates."
"Naru-tan?"
"Yeah, you meet him right!? He said he found you in that church 'those crow-winged shits' were held up in." The way Le Fay deepened her voice when uttering the colorful nickname for the fallen angels leading Asia to assume that the insult had come from the lips of this Naru-tan.
"So… um… Naru-tan was the one to save me?"
"Yelp, he brought you back here and left you to my care. Probably to fix the few bits of you that he couldn't."
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, Naru-tan's healing revolves around stitching the body back together, de-stressing the flesh, reversing malnutrition, etcetera. He can pretty much bring you back to full health for the most part, but not really make you look better. There's where I come in. creating new enamel and dentine was a pain and the pulp cavity was an outright trial, but after some work, your teeth now look fine. Your hair was a harder task, I only know spells to accelerate growth, not wholly restore it."
"My hair?" Asia reached up to grab her hair. Her once long hair was in shambles, not so much as reaching past her neck. It wasn't really a surprise, though. The priests had shaved her bald once they grew tired of yanking at her tresses.
"I can help you grow it out further if you'd like."
"No, I'm fine." Asia had no intention of allowing the girl to work her magic on her while she could prevent it. "Can I go outside?" She desperately needed some fresh air.
"Ummmm. I guess. I'll have to show you the way. Nii-san would have my head on his sword if you happened to stumble where you shouldn't."
"Ah, right." Asia pulled herself out of bed, eyeing and then slipping into the bunny slippers by her bed.
"You don't want to change?" Le Fay asked.
"N-no. I'm fine." Asia assured. She found the fluffy pajama ensemble to be comforting.
"Okay." The witch shrugged, turning around and walking out. Asia followed, keeping a comfortable distance between them.
Asia soon realized that it wasn't just her room that was empty. The entire estate seemed to read bare minimum. The expensive house seeming off without needlessly expensive art pieces or ancient family portraits hanging from the walls.
"OI! FAY!" The magician came to a stop as she passed an open frame that was alight with the sheen of a… TV screen?
Indeed, the opening in the wall led to a den that held a large tv on a side wall, the bright fluctuating shine of the screen and light flowing in from the hall working in tandem to illuminate the otherwise dark room.
"What do you want, monkey?" Le Fay sighed, regarding Bikou with unfiltered annoyance.
"Come take your brother's place, he's shit." Bikou laughed while Arthur mutter whispered obscenities. Arthur Pendragon was a master of the sword… and little else. Video games – or any form of recreational activity for that matter – were beyond him.
Le Fay knew as much as anyone how much of a dullard her brother was, yet she couldn't pull her to care for the monkey demigod's plight at the moment. "I'm busy! Have Naru-tan play you."
"Yeah, because Mr. Temper Tantrum would be tots fun to play with."
"Why are you assuming that I'd even accept, flea bottom?" A lazy drawled reach across the verbally slap Bikou.
Asia, who had been standing back so to avoid unneeded conversation, perked up on hearing the voice of her alleged savior. She peaked just past the door frame and saw him sitting there. Black jeans, orange shirt, cheek lazily resting against his arm which was, in turn, resting on the arm of the couch, but most important was that face, that hair, and those cold, almost glowing, violet eyes. Without a doubt, the man sitting only feet away from her was the same man that saved her from her living damnation.
She didn't speak up, though, allowing the conversation to carry on with her as a silent spectator.
"Well, you must want something if you're spending time with us, oh great anti-social leader."
"I have a right to be in my own house. Also, got a right to kick you out."
"Oh poo, would you really do that to your childhood friend? Even after we promised to marry each other when we're grown!?"
"Bah, I wouldn't marry you even if you were a Latina woman with big tits, a perky ass, and a tight, hot-"
"Ah-hm. Impressionable minor here." Le Fay spoke up.
"Aaaand why are you here?" Naruto's feral, violet eyes trained in on Le Fay, catching a glimpse of Asia admiring him from the side of the entrance. "Oi! Chica, I don't like stalkers!"
"Eep!" Asia jumped, rushing out of sight.
"We can still see you!" Bikou chided playfully, his eyes picking on the mass of chakra that she, being a living creature, exuded.
"Come out, Asia Argento." Naruto voiced resounded with absolute authority. Asia peaked her head back into the room, slowly pulling herself into full view as she saw no one poised to strike her down.
"Ah, the defamed Holy Priestess of the Church. I figured heaven would have you killed by now, though allowing you to be captured by the fallen does scream of the 'intentional ignorance' the angels so favor when wishing to offed someone without staining their pristine image amongst the other pantheons. Even better, the sacrifice of you grants their ally a useful tool. Or perhaps the fallen planned to return your gear to the angels as a gift minus one impudent little nun girls that can't follow their ever-strict regulations. Hm. I wonder which it truly is. Both are possible, perhaps they were in cahoots from th-" Arthur was nailed in the head with a softball sized metal orb, slightly jarring him.
"Shaddup." Naruto scowled whilst calling his sphere back to him. The hard, spherical steel relaxing into a fluid stream that wrapped around Naruto's hand to reform into something of a knight's gauntlet, shiny and black. "Sorry for him." Naruto leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. "I hope Arthur's asinine rambling did disrupt your mood."
"It's fine," Asia said meekly. "I-I thank you for saving me." She fumbled between a curtsy and a bow, unsure of which he would prefer.
"Don't think much of it."
"Nay! It was the divine guidance of so or so, that lead our gallant young hero to your side! Where he slew the foul fallen angels to rescue you from a plight worse than death itself!" Bikou dramatically jumped about, throwing his arms every which way. "Yours is a tale foretold in legends: the disowned maiden and the insufferable asshat!"
"Arthur, bring out Bikou's kennel."
"Not the cage!" Bikou screeched, leaping away into… nothingness?
"Dimensional travel." Le Fay spoke, seeing Asia's gobsmacked expression. They each had their own method of teleportation, but Bikou's ability to travel from location to location or even through the realms was the most seamless.
"Now that he's gone…" Naruto trailed off turning his eyes on Asia. "…You seem well. Are you?"
"I… yes... You… um… thank you!" Asia again bowed, deeply this time. Her mind a mess of emotions. The weirdness of this merry little band worsening her shaky mental stability.
"Good, now get dressed. Be prepared to leave within the hour." Naruto ordered.
"E-excuse me!?"
"No way! You can't just kick her out on the street!" Le Fay rebelled.
"Did I say that was what I was doing." Naruto's sharp glare bore down on Le Fay, making her step back in fear. "This is what you will do, Miss Argento. You will meet with a woman named Hande. Don't look for her. She'll find you. She will teach you how to speak English, how to drive a car, and how to hide in plain sight. From there she'll take you to whatever country you want, give you a new identity and enough cash to get on your feet with. As long as you keep your head low, you should be fine. Do be sure to get out of Europe and avoid Asia. In general, try to avoid places with strong religious foundations."
"I um… I um…"
"Do you have an issue."
Asia collapsed, falling to her knees and bowing her head low, fully prostrating herself. "Please don't abandon me!"
Naruto gritted his teeth. Asia Argento wasn't a special case, being broken down and stripped of everything that once secured you was an experience that millions of people suffered through throughout the ages. The most common thread that was the same throughout was that those people would desperately cling to the things that they felt yielded the most security, physically or mentally. It was just his poor luck that he happened to be that 'security blanket' for this young lass.
"What do you expect of me, Argento." He sighed. "I not some knighting in shining armor nor am I a hero that will always save you in the nick of time. The fact that I saved you at all was only because it was convenient. What we do here is hardly fun and games. We do things and make enemies that will see to the death of a girl like you."
"Then I'll change! I'll become stronger!" Asia desperately argued.
"And who here will waste their time training you?"
"I will!" Le Fay stepped up. "And you will too!"
"Oh, I don't think so."
"But Moscow."
"That is of no relevance."
"Moscow."
"Le Fay!"
"Moscow! Moscow! Moscow!"
"Fine." Three months! I'll give her three months!" Naruto sighed. He gave Asia a hard look. "Since ditzy do wants it so badly, I'll let you hang around for three months. Prove yourself in that time frame, got it."
"R-right."
"Good now get lost." Naruto waved the girls away. "Do something that isn't covering my floor in snot and tears."
"Will do!" Le Fay mockingly saluted. "Come on, Asia!" she grabbed Asia's hand, dragging the exiled nun to her feet and down the hall. They could take a dip in the pool to celebrate their small victory.
"So, what's the real play, boss?" Bikou asked, falling out of nowhere onto the seat beside Naruto.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"It's not your way to bring home pets, Naruto-sama." Arthur pushed on the rim of his glasses. "In fact, it's not your way to care at all."
"I am… attempting… to be more human."
"Oh really?" Bikou's voiced dripped with skepticism. "Not that I'm against you take a turn from 'death, death, pillage, and destroy', but I don't think that's it. You see bits of yourself in her, don't you?"
"Not at all."
"Tricked by fallen angels, kidnapped, help in captivity, tortured. None of that hitting on any emotional baggage."
"You really don't know when to shut up." Naruto sighed, he left no room for discussion, standing up and walking away, wandering off into the deeper parts of his home.
"Do you ever wonder where he goes?" Arthur asked. In any given one of Naruto's estates, there were areas that they were forbidden from entering. Naruto was not someone to cross, so it was a great mystery as to what he so desperately wished to keep secret.
"Naruto and me have been bros since forever, so I've seen some stuff. Once, he flayed a man, skewer him on a pike, and roasted him alive, all in broad daylight. I don't what to see what he feels he needs to go behind closed doors to do."
"Touché."
000IWR000
Asia is the central protagonist.
Naruto is the mentor.
Naruto's group will make up the remaining main characters.
Expect character death's throughout.
Now then, I'm tired so,
Ja Ne!