Chapter Text
In a universe of light and dark, where free will stands stalwart...
Two clans existed, a long 500 years ago, at the heights of supernatural power. Control of time, the summoning of god-like entities were but a few of their storied powers. Yes, the Umbra Witches and Lumen Sages maintained the just balance of power. Overseeing the world with eyes of light and darkness. But that balance wasn't made to last.
A child was born, in violation of ancient creed. A child of witch and sage, named Cereza. A war was sparked between the forces of light and shadow. At the behest of a mad sage known as Balder. A man possessed by a mad god. The war was one of great loss for both Umbra and Lumen, filled with ambush and assassination. But victory smiled upon the Umbra in the end.
Yet the war had left those witches, battle worn and weary. Easy prey for those humans still faithful and pious towards their god. The clan found itself quickly whipped from the earth. All, but two. That outcast and powerful Cereza. And the Platinum Witch, heiress to the clan, Jeanne. While the rest of the world believed the clans wiped from the earth, an new form of watchmen took their place. The Exorcists. Believing that the Mad sage and Umbran Witches had been excised from the world, took power in the shadows. While preaching in the light.
But they were woefully mistaken. Balder had survived, Cereza and Jeanne had remained. And in time they felt it, the resurrection of one called god. Jubileus, and the calling of one whom embodied hell, Sheba. The witches and sages had survived, for 500 long years of silence the'd endured. Cereza, now known as Bayonetta, had torn through heaven and conquered hell. And they were afraid that the witch may finnish what was started during the clan wars. But they had been fools before the signs of the coming resurrection. And attempted to find shelter with demon-kind. The one that came to call himself Satan.
They had made a mistake. And invited the devil into their homes.
>i<-------------------->i<
The Famed Witch walked alone that night. Taking in the sights of a less urban side of Kyoto. She had come to Japan on business, modeling work she'd taken up as a pastime. Being a nun had gotten boring as of late. Jeanne had practically jumped for joy when she'd told the other witch about her plans. Getting back to current events. She'd gone out looking for sake, something close to Rodin's personal favorite vintage. Or something entirely new, Sheba knew that man wasn't particularly picky. But she still wanted to put a bit of effort into the gift. Playing her cards right for a deal on her next commission.
Halos may have never been particularly hard to come by, but that wouldn't stop her from trying. Speaking of halos, it seemed that some of Paradiso's errand boys were up in arms about something. Literally armed. And diving at something like birds of prey. And completely ignoring her, a slight that would not stand. So, the witch took to Purgatorio, a halfway point between the trinity of realities. "Well now, you silly boys seem to be confused. Fly head first into one to many windows?" She announced herself with a few shots into the descending angels. Her trusty Love Is Blue, gleaming dangerously in the moonlight.
Whatever the angels had set their sights upon was small. Too small to fight back. She had jumped up to a higher vantage point before shooting, but still couldn't see their target from her angle. She had time before those naughty little angels collected their ranks. It was time for a little bit of investigation. "Oh, bloody hell," the witch cursed in english. First mini her, then Loki, and now this wet cat of a child. Packed up like he was skipping town. And somehow contracted to a infernal. "Stay there, I'll not be but a moment." Jeanne was right, she's too maternal for her own good. "I mean it, you move and I will break your little legs myself."
Renzo had no idea what was going on. First it was those weird translucent bird things. Then it was a woman, also see through, threatening him. Yeah, this night wasn't going at all like he'd planned. To be fair the whole thing was an act of desperate rebellion. And he was a stupid kid. But at the very least he wasn't about to anger the woman who'd threatened him. So against the common instinct of a boy his age, he parked his butt on the ground. Listening to the sound of gunfire and screeches of pain. Whatever that was, he was glad it wasn't him.
She wasn't from the Myōō Dharani at the very least. But she was probably gonna take him back there when she was done with what she was doing. Meaning he'd get in trouble for trying to run away. Renzo would probably be getting the 'Takezo' speech again. 'Takezo would never have done this!' His dad would shout, like Shima actually cared. "'Live in a way that would make him proud', why can't I just live?" He mocked those words. Hated those words that spat in the face of his individuality. "Like I owe anything to a dead man I never knew."
"What's this about a dead man?" The woman had come back, fully visible this time. She looked to be thinking about something, deeply. She was wearing jeans with flower designs on them. Strange heels with slots in them and a pretty deep blue blouse. Renzo found himself feeling a bit nervous. Kinda like when he'd first met Yamantaka, only ten times worse. "You don't look like an Umbra. Not that any self respecting Umbra would let a clearly untrained child make a contract."
"How'd you know about Yamantaka?" He found himself asking without thinking. "Are you an Exorcist?"
The woman bust out cackling. "Heavens no! I'm a witch, something a tad more respectable." She booped him on the nose. "Can't say I've heard of an Infernal called Yama-whatever. What ever foul pit the beastie crawled out of can't be very reputable." The fact that it decided bestowing it's gifts upon a child of all things was particularly foul. Barely six from what she could tell, and his soul already belonged to Inferno. "Can't say I'd trust you with who ever allowed this in the first place either. At the very least you'd get a better shake as an Umbra."
Renzo had no idea what the woman was on about. She wasn't an Exorcist... that was a good thing, right? At the very least she didn't seem to be willing to take him back to Myō Dha. And he as right about that, if anything she was more likely to take him with her back to New York. In her mind it was better than sending the child off to attract more angels because he was mistaken for a Umbran Witch. Or escort him to whom ever allowed this to happen, she was debating murdering the lot of them. But found it too much of hassle. "Can you get rid of him?" Renzo asked, hoping the answer was yes.
"I'm afraid that wouldn't do much good." Rodin could, but that would require getting the boy to The Dump. Time wasn't exactly on her side at the moment, she had a private flight back to America in a few hours. "You've already been claimed by Inferno, meaning those freathered fellows will keep coming after you regardless." The little one deflated a bit when she told him that. Wet cat indeed. She sat down beside him. "You can still get a fair shake little one."
"How? It kinda sounds like I'm doomed." He tried to chuckle, but it came out more like a scared whimper.
"Well, you could become an Umbran Witch, like me. You'd be strong enough to protect yourself, given you put in the work." She messed up his hair, chuckling at his reaction. "You'd never be alone again. Me and my partner Jeanne would be there for you. Every step of the way, if only in spirit." Her voice was soft, kind to his ear. "Make no mistake little one, I'm not forcing you down this path and the ending will not change if you take it. Only the journey towards that end. This will be your choice and yours alone. For better or worse you will be one of us."
"I'll do it." It wasn't really a hard choice. Especially if it meant he was never compared to Takezo again. He held his backpack close, hugging it at this point. The bag was full of everything he felt should come with him. "Things have to get better at some point. Right?"
>i<-------------------->i<
"OH, WHAT THE HELL CEREZA?!" The white haired woman shouted at the woman he now knew as Cereza. "Where did you find him?! Please tell me he isn't stolen." Cereza had taken him back to her hotel for the night, to let him sleep for a bit. But he was still tired from getting up in time to fly to America with the witch. He'd never been on a plane, let alone a private jet before.
"What do you take me for Jeanne? Just look at the boy." Jeanne did as the other witch asked. Her face contorted into something he couldn't quite read. "That's why I took him back with me. I'll have Enzo come up with some papers for... what's your name again little one?" Jeanne sighed in exasperation.
She never did ask. "Renzo." His voice was small as he spoke. Almost spiteing him, if Renzo was being honest. "Just... just Renzo." He hugged his backpack close again. He'd hardly let it leave his sight. Even when he was assured it would stay were he left it.
"Well alright Renzo. From this day forwards, consider yourself to be an Umbran Witch." Jeanne knew Cereza wasn't going to change her mind about this. The outcast witch could be so sentimental sometimes. That was one of the many reasons Jeanne came to respect Cereza. The woman was strong and unafraid to do what he felt right in the moment. And if she was honest, Jeanne knew something like this was bound to happen eventually.
The Platinum Witch sighed, "Alright Cereza. Let's get the boy to bed, he looks seconds away from passing out." The other witch nodded, silently picking the boy up with no effort at all. A perk of being a Umbra. Jeanne had to stop herself from cooing at the boy's mumbled resistance. Trying desperately to keep his eyes open for more than a few seconds. It would seem that Renzo had the power to endear himself to one as stoic as her. "Sleep well Petite Fleur."
Jeanne set about calling in sick for the day. The child needed to acclimate to her presence in the household before too long. And if she was being honest, Jeanne also needed to adjust. It was good that she didn't have much planned for her students today. She could also make a call to the person who did her identification, being a five centuries old witch wasn't always a good thing. Enzo wasn't someone she personally trusted with this matter, even if Cereza did. "Cereza! I'm going to call my guy about Renzo!"
"Got it." The woman replied, as she entered the living space from the hall leading to the guest room. Well that was Renzo's room now. "What should we do about last names?" Cereza raised a fair question. Renzo Arc was far from rolling off the tongue.
"Cerezajarson?" Jeanne supplied. "One of us has to take credit for the crotch goblin." Now that the child was no longer in the room, Jeanne felt the need to be a tad more frank about things. The ebony haired witch looked a bit gobsmacked. "You're the one that picked him up sweetie. Plus, Arc or Jeannejarson hardly rolls off the tongue as fluidly."
"In that case, Cerezajarson would do well enough." She chuckled at a stray thought. "Luka is going to flip his lid when we tell him."
"Indeed." The ivory haired witch mused with a chuckle. "What do we tell them? I do suppose there's the truth, but what's the fun in that?" Putting the coffee maker together as she spoke. "Rodin's going to laugh his ass off about this. Speaking of, when were you thinking of taking him over?"
"Once he's rested, the little one's hardly slept a wink."
>i<-------------------->i<
Renzo wasn't sure if he was still sleeping. The man before him was terrifying. And the boy had met demons before, but this man was so far from human... closer to the divine if anything. But, Cereza and Jeanne didn't look the slightest bit afraid. Greeting the man like an old friend. "Renzo, you don't need to be scared. And come say hello to Rodin." Cereza said.
"I don't bite kid." The man, Rodin, said calmly. Keeping his hands on the bar counter. "Even if I did, these two would bust a cap in me before I got the chance." That actually made him feel a bit better.
He remembered his manners and bowed before introducing himself. "I'm Renzo. It's nice to meet you sir."
Rodin chuckled ominously. Though Renzo was starting to think that, Rodin was just like that more than anything. "That kid's got an interesting one attached to him. One of Armumahel's." His eyes began to glow menacingly from behind his thick sunglasses. "I'm guessing you want it gone, right kiddo?" Renzo nodded fearfully. The man made his way over to his work station. Looking for the necessary tool. The witches looked on impassively.
"It'll be okay Renzo." Cereza said softly. "It's going to be like when your arm falls asleep. But it won't look very romantic." Renzo nodded, mustering his tiny courage as Rodin found what he was looking for. It looked like a broken K'rik that he sometimes watched the monks use. It was fairly ornate, made of a sleek black metal with golden rings. It's finial looked more like a spear tip, it had a gem that seemed to shine in multiple colors in the right light adorning it. "Jeanne and I will be close at hand, so you needn't worry."
"This'll do." Rodin had a grin on his face. Yamantaka's flames began to flow into the gem on the K'rik. Renzo could hear the demon screaming for him to tell the man to stop. He'd never heard the demon afraid before.
Jeanne rested her head on her hand. "It's certainly loud and fairly pathetic. Pleading with a child it forced into a contract." Jeanne was almost tempted to shoot the damn thing in it's ox face.
"It's certainly got a better mouth than Alraune. Now her mouth was particularly foul." At his point Yamantaka was lashing out at anything nearby. Renzo ducked when one of it's hands almost took his head off, Cereza shot at that arm. The Platinum Witch fired at it's remaining arms with All 4 One. After that the demon seemed to just except it's fate, likely out of fear of Jeanne and Cereza. That had the effect of making things go faster. "Good to see it knows how to behave with women like ourselves."
Once the flow of black flames came to an end, Renzo began to wobble. Thankfully he fell back onto a black panther. He felt a bone deep exhaustion, like he hadn't slept in days. "Don't worry Bayonetta. The kid'll recover soon enough. Though you may wanna wait a day to start his training." Rodin said as he examined his work like the skilled craftsman he was.
"For your sake he'd better." The witch chided returned from her bestial form. "What are you going to do with that?" She asked, tipping her head towards the K'rik.
"Figured it'd be an early birthday present. From his uncle Rodin." The witches rolled their eyes.