"Ha…"

A little girl lay helplessly under the collapsed remains of the orphanage. The place where she spent the last 9 years of her life living off scraps donated by the other villagers.

After all, no one else would ever take notice of some orphans wasting away in a village in the middle of nowhere. Even the other villagers were hesitant to give their meager earnings when they've got their own family to feed.

Though none of that would matter anymore, due to the actions of two strangers that arrived in town earlier that morning.

"What a mess. It'll be difficult to gather the materials when you've buried them in their own homes." A tall man in a black robe spoke, picking at a pile of rubble.

"You asked for my strongest spell, you get my strongest spell. If you want to nitpick go back to reading your musty old books, old man." A young man with wild messy hair dusted off his leather jacket.

"So how does this spell of yours work anyway. It took us months to find a place with just the right amount of people nobody would ever miss. They don't build bars in the weird ass places you've brought us to, you know?"

"If you show your face in public there's a chance we could be tracked. I've already discovered traces of scrying magic used on us. And yet you still insist on fooling around."

"Don't get your robe in a twist old man, if anyone's following us they'll show themselves eventually. And when that happens-" The young man grinned and waved his hand.

A blast of magic shot towards the pile of rubble the robed man was next to. The other magician barely had enough time to leap out of the way before the pile exploded in a cloud of dust.

"You-"

"Ahahahaha, isn't that the reason you hired me, gramps? To get rid of trash?" The young man laughed.

"Ack."

A high pitched fit of coughs interrupted the young man's laughter.

"Huh?" He wandered towards the source of the sound. Only to find a little girl with curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes trapped under a wooden beam.

"Looks like your so called strongest spell couldn't even kill a malnourished little girl. How pathetic." The older mage didn't hesitate to take the opportunity to make a verbal jab at his unruly companion.

"Shut it. She'll be dead soon enough." The young man growled, his right hand readying another blast of magic. "Kid, if only you kept your little mouth shut. But you just had to make me look bad."

The girl in question looked up at them. She, like the rest of the villagers, was caught completely off guard back the attack and could only guess what happened. However, there was no fear in the girl's eyes, only a quizzical scan of the two magicians as the gears turned in her brain.

"ha... aha… ahahahahaha!"

To the pair's surprise, the little girl started laughing. Her eye wide and her mouth twisted in a manic expression.

"So this is it! This is how I die again? Because of the irrational actions of a mad man? Just what lesson did you want me to learn in this world? Tell me Being X!"

It was a common occurrence. When faced with a dire situation many would get lost in their thoughts and turn to God.

Why was it me? What did I do? How could you let this happen to me?

What made this situation different from all the rest, however.

Was that God answered.

And the world stopped.

x

Tanya Degurechaff was a nine old German girl, found on the entrance of the orphanage as a baby with only a blanket with her name sewn on it. An intelligent child, though one who kept to herself. She never talked to the other children her age and seemed to actively avoid them. She never played games and only spent her time glaring at the clouds and writing diaries in a language no one can understand. Not that she would let anyone so much as peek at them.

Tanya has also experienced far more than the average nine year old. She's experienced a world of towering skyscrapers. She's experienced a full college education and a climb on the corporate ladder. She's experienced death.

That's what brought her to the present situation. Glaring hatefully at a completely still world.

"So after nine years you finally show your face. Should I be rejoicing? Sing hymns celebrating your descent to the mortal realm?"

All seemed silent. Until the man in the leather jacket, the one with magic still ready at his fingertips, spasmed suddenly before straightening.

"And after all these years I see you haven't repented at all."

The young man spoke. However, his face was a mask of indifference, instead of the heated expression he had on moments before. A voice came from him yet his lips didn't move at all.

"And why would I Did you think I would come crawling to you after a few years as an orphan?"

"You seem much more agitated than the last time we met." the voice said almost smugly in tone.

Tanya gritted her teeth. Maybe the last six boring years in the middle of nowhere had got to her, as much as she didn't want to admit it.

"So why now. You told me if I couldn't pass my trials then I would die without any third chances. Did you change your mind? Are those two here to send me to hell?"

"They've nothing to do with me. You should've been exposed to the other side much later."

The voice sounded frustrated. And Tanya almost thought of thanking the two men once time resumed. And maybe she should, it didn't matter since she was about to die anyway.

"Something that even you couldn't predict? That's rich. Aren't you supposed to be omnipotent?" She laughed.

"In this peculiar world, there are things that are even out of God's reach."

Tanya's laughter stopped. Being X admitting their faults should be a happy occasion. Something about their tone. That tone she's heard only heard once before, right before things went to shit.

"Indeed in this universe, there are forces that oppose my faith and will."

The puppet held by the immaterial being moved for the first time. And the young man's mouth widened in a twisted grin.

"That's why you will devote your life to spreading my name!"

The world resumed.

x

"See ya creepy kid." The magician released his magic.

"Your light is like the morning sun."

The spell hit its mark and an explosion of dust from the decimated concrete covered the area.

"Let's move on. We've wasted too much time here already."

"Yeah yeah, don't get your-"

A ray of light whizzed past the young man, instantly vaporizing the upper body of the robed magician.

The only thing he could do was gape at his dead partner's charred remains.

"What the fuck-"

"Praise the Lord,"

He turned and faced the source of the magic that ended the elder magician's life.

A little girl stood in the rubble before him. Her face, which was warped from insanity moments earlier, was now full of innocence. Her eyes were full of doting devotion that was too genuine to be false.

Around her was a barrier of light. The man wasn't an expert on defensive spells, but even he could see the massive amount of magic powering the shield. He couldn't produce that much magic at once even if he squeezed himself dry.

"W-what the hell are you!" The young man could do nothing but panic.

"For his glory and radiance,"

"Hey! Tell me who you are! Announce your magic name dammit!"

The little girl only smiled sweetly in response, as an array of symbols shimmered into existence before her.

"S-spell circles!?"

"Is now born unto us!"

The last thing the magician saw was a pure little girl shrouded in holy light. With her hands clasped together in prayer.

x

"Now that wasn't something you see everyday nya."

Two figures walked into the now empty clearing. They had been tracking the rogue mages for weeks. And when they finally got themselves a clear lead on their location, they found themselves a step too late.

The village was already destroyed, and its sole survivor had been executed before their eyes. It took all of Tsuchimikado's strength and a few binding spells to force his ponytailed partner from charging at the magicians in anger. An ambush was much more efficient and provided the possibility of a much longer 'questioning' at the mercy of his spells.

'More than these lunatics deserve,' Tsuchimikado thought.

However, to their complete surprise, things turned out very differently.

"How's the girl?" His stoic companion asked.

"She's fine nya," Tsuchimikado answered, checking the girl's pulse. "She's just unconscious, casting those spells simultaneously couldn't have been easy. Or even possible."

He paused and raised his head. His face rid of the carefree attitude he just had.

"Say… she wouldn't be one of you, right?"

Kanzaki didn't respond. She just looked at the small girl with a complicated expression on her face.

x

Many obstacles hinder your path to salvation, but my will is absolute. And the one who will impart my will to the unfaithful will be you.

So go forth my chosen. My Saint.

Deus lo Vult.