Chapter Text
Having Kyrie on missions was… stressful.
Nero looked back from his spot in the van to look back at her. She sat innocently looking out the window as they drove, paying no attention to his nervous peeping.
Since the Savior incident, he and Kyrie had made some considerable changes. They had to practically start from scratch, so pretty much everything in their lives was subject to change. Most noticeably, their personal styles. Free from the clutches of the Order, the couple had the freedom to express and change themselves however they saw fit. Though He truly hadn't changed much, he'd always rebelled against the strict form of the Order's ways. Their freedom only allowed for that much more punk to seep into his style.
However… looking at Kyrie, it was clear who she took her style pointers from. Lady and Trish were not only instrumental in helping the both of them integrate into society after the Order's fall, but also became good friends with Kyrie. Almost instantly they took her under their wing after being introduced. They doted on her like two older sisters, taking her shopping and helping her with her hair and makeup. Nero was grateful for their help, it made him happy to know she had friends to help her learn so much about the life both of them missed.
….However, he was starting to get the impression that the two older women were taking pride in making him squirm; every outfit seemingly engineered to be just provocative enough to leave him red in the face.
Todays look was no exception. Kyrie was dressed for the comfort of the mission, but was stylish nonetheless. She wore an off-white sweater on top of a pair of tight fitting black shorts. Her sheer ripped nylons underneath complimented the outfit, as well as the borrowed combat boots; courtesy of Lady. Nero noted the dark denim jacket she was wearing as it had become a staple in her wardrobe. She was almost never seen without it. She looked… amazing. He felt a familiar warmth coil in his stomach. He tried to quell the feeling, remembering where he was currently. He could express his appreciation of the outfit later in private after the mission.
Right, the mission. He was on a mission with Kyrie… the warmth within his core quickly turned to dread. He looked back one more time at his partner, noting the last piece of her outfit which he thought frankly did not match her at all.
Strapped to her thigh she had a small, but sizable pistol harnessed. A gift from Nico….
Alongside Trish and Lady, Dante had also been a huge help to the couple. He would regularly train with Nero as well. But when he started to suggest that his other half join them, he had felt conflicted to say the least.
He made a reasonable argument. Kyrie was a smart and kind person. Nero vowed to protect her with his life, but ultimately she would be left vulnerable without him there. He thought back to the incident where a lesser demon was found squatting in the crawlspace of the orphanage. He'd been away fighting the Qlipoth then it happened. Nero's blood ran cold when he found out.
Nevertheless, Kyrie handled the situation fairly well; hiding herself and the kids in the attic of the orphanage. Luckily the demon had been weak and was unable to break through the solid wood door…. But what if next time they weren't so lucky.
Nero had almost turned Dante's offer down. Too risky… he thought. Not wanting to even entertain the idea that she might have to fend for her life.
But he thought it better to run it by his partner first, and to his surprise she was all for trying to learn. She'd apparently felt for a long time that she should pick up some combat lessons echoing the thought that he had been dreading. “...You can't always be there for me, Nero…”
Flash forward to the present; Kyrie was getting pretty damn good with her gun. Dante assured him that he'd only give her the best training, and it showed. She was on par with him when it came to aim and Dante showed her all the techniques in order to have a quick draw and how to assure she landed a killing blow. Feasibly she had everything she needed in order to protect herself.
That still didn't stop him from sitting in on a couple of those sessions. Mostly to see her progress, but also to make sure his Uncle wasn't being too rough with her. He knew from experience how brutal Dante's training sessions could be.
But… she was fine. She passed all his tests with flying colors. Only ever getting a minor injury every now and then. Chuckling inwardly, he still remembers how Kyrie had to essentially tie him to a chair to prevent him from ending the training session early to tend to her nicks and scrapes.
It wasn't that he was worried about Kyrie hurting herself. It was always a possibility with anything in life, not just demons. It was just that he hated the idea that she might be thrown into a situation that would even require her to use those skills to begin with. It stirred something foreign and instinctual in his chest. The demonic side that he had come to know after awakening his devil trigger
Throughout the whole of her training. He had to constantly quell the small voice in the back of his head. His demon that hummed impulses.
“Protect… safe…. Mate is only safe with you….”
Regardless of how much he may or may not agree with the demon's demands. He had to trust his partner and trust Dante's training.
“Hey! Devil Boy! You catch anythin’ I just said?” Nico's voice pierced through his thoughts. He whipped back around to catch her lighting another cigarette “.... Or are you gonna keep staring at her like a lost puppy?”
Kyrie let out a small chuckle, having only just noticed his intense gaze.
“Sorry, just spacin’ out…” He hoped he didn't look that lost, but can you blame him for being a little cautious? This was only their third time out together as a team. Those previous missions were all small fry; just stray lesser demons that were wiped out in an instant.
But this mission? This one was a bit more complicated….
“Spacin out? You were damn near in another galaxy!” Nico took a long drag focusing her attention back on the road. “Look, I'm gonna repeat myself just this once, but if I catch you two makin’ goo-goo eyes at each other again; I'm dropping your asses off at the nearest motel. Because from the looks of it,you two are in desperate need of a ROOM!” The engineer peaked through the rear view mirror to see the couple blushing.
“So I'm gonna drop you two off at the entrance to the townsquare. You'll walk yourselves inside, and investigate that shifty looking Saviour Statue that's got the townsfolk spooked. Then you'll walk your happy asses right on back. Caprice?”
“What and you're just gonna wait outside? Not like a little walk's gonna kill us, but since when have you not been able to hall ass with this thing?” Nero light slapped the dash of the van for good measure.
“Hey! I've still got important work to do; can't just be waiting on hand and foot for you.” She said in a mock offended tone. “Besides, girly here told me that ramming into your home town might not be the best idea right now…”
Nero looked puzzled. Why did they need to be covert? The people of Fortuna are the ones that requested their aid, so surely they knew of the investigation? Maybe something changed and Fortuna was being strict again about outsiders. Being that he and Kyrie located as far away as they could from the town while still remaining within Fortuna. Maybe that made them outsiders?
“You don't remember, do you Nero?” Kyrie popped up from behind his seat. “It used to happen every year? Remember…” then it hit him.
“The tithing festival? But the Order's disbanded? Why would they still try to put it on?”
He remembers the tithing festival. A yearly tradition held by the Order as a way of giving back to the Sanctus and the other order officials. As if they weren't giving them enough as it was already… Families were encouraged to bring their finest goods made that year; almost like a giant harvest festival. Then they would all head down to the town center and place their tithings before the Saviour statue at the stroke of midnight.
As odd and shifty as the practice was, Nero couldn't help but look back at those festivals somewhat fondly. Since he had nothing to truly offer most years, he was often recruited by Credo for security work. Kyrie would perform in front of the statue with others, providing music for the otherwise silent event. Then once all was said and done, the townspeople would uncharacteristically break out into a wild party. It was one of the few times he'd ever seen the community act so wildly, and one of the few times the order ever allowed the consumption of alcohol. Not that it did much to him anyways. His quarter demon heritage would always burn through any alcohol in his system just when he felt a buzz, but still fun nonetheless.
Kyrie's voice pulled him back from his thoughts “I'm not too sure actually. I asked and they said something about it being good morale? Good for the community too, apparently. The harvest is going to be distributed right back to the town after tonight.” Kyrie said
She had more connection to the townsfolk than he had, being that she still volunteered with the orphanage in the town center. Nero's work unfortunately pulled him away to Redgrave, more often than not. So he only got the highlights from her about the town's progress.
From what she told him. He knew the townspeople were having a bit of a rough time adjusting on their own after Sanctus. Lots of in-fighting and poor leadership. They eventually did form a small town council, but they had a hard time controlling the restless crowd. So it made sense that they might need a little festivities to loosen up. It was an added plus that their hard work wouldn't go to ungrateful leaders this time as well.
“... Hmmmm, so there's likely a bunch of people and carts crowding the streets right now.” Nero winced, hating the idea of there being too many people around when there's a possibility of demons. “So why call us out when this is going on? Couldn't they have waited, I dunno, like a day or somethin?”
Kyrie just shrugged.
“Not totally sure, but they did specifically mention discretion about our true purpose there. The council just wants us to blend in while we investigate.” She put emphasis on the ‘blending in’ part with a huge grin on her face. Nero was beginning to think she was more stoked for the festival rather than the mission itself.
“Well if that ain't the most cryptic shit…” Nico tossed her cigarette butt out the window as the van came to a halt. “You two just be careful out there, okay?” Her expression was somewhat genuine as she turned to fully face the couple.
“Awww and here I thought you didn't care.” Nero jested, but Nico's expression didn't let up
“It ain't this so-called ‘Boogeyman’ hiding around the statue that's got me worried. I don't trust these folks. Especially if they thought working with my deadbeat daddy was a good idea…” She said bluntly.
There was a second of silence that followed, the two registered her words, feeling the same sense of unease about the mission. They all knew that they had to tread carefully here no matter how safe the town might look now. There were still those that wished to see the return of the Order, and with it, their shifty practices.
“Anyhoo, you two better get out there and raise some hell, or you'll miss the party. She flopped back down in the driver's seat, kicking her feet up, clearly trying to lighten the mood.
“You ready?” Nero moved to open the door, holding it for the former singer.
“Yeah! Let's do this!” Kyrie said with rapt determination in her voice.
As the door to the van shut harshly, he couldn't help but wince. Dread coiling up inside him again.
“Missions with Kyrie were stressful, but I'll do everything in my power to make sure she doesn't get hurt… “
The couple trudged forward along the road leading into the town square.