180 Chapter 180: The Waves of a Meeting

a/n: sorry for my lateness, I got lost in the ways of life.

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The next month was a chaotic one for the supernatural world. Word quickly got out to the other factions and pantheons about the meeting between the three Biblical factions about a possible permanent peace agreement. Just the fact that there have been no attacks until now between the three factions showed to the other that they were really serious about it, making them all rethink if it was really worth keeping old grudges alive and losing good soldiers with insignificant wars.

Just as people were getting used to the idea of peace between three of the factions that seemed to hate each other the most, news of the incoming judgment and execution of Devils, rogue mages, and rogue exorcists that had been wanted for a long time by the three factions hit the supernatural world with full force. And to put more oil to the fire, a list of names of people that were still in custody but had no crimes committed against the three Biblical factions had been released to the other pantheons while indicating that if they were wanted by them, they would be happy to deliver. This move had been a scheme between the leaders of the three factions and Erik to gain some goodwill points with the other factions. And it worked. A lot of factions claimed rights over some prisoner or other, with the great majority of them being rogue Mages that had committed some crime. But, from all these factions, only two really showed interest in signing a peace treaty together with them. Odin, the God-King of the Nordic pantheon had been, for a long time, after something like this, but since he was the only leader that wanted something like this to happen, he could do nothing while alone. The other pantheon that showed interest was the Shinto. Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi were all for peace but were finding some resistance coming from their stormy brother, Susanoo. The god of storms was, and with reason, suspicious of this move coming from the Biblical pantheon, and since they still had some internal problems to solve on their turf, the Shinto pantheon decided to wait a little more to join the peace agreement. The feeling that Susanoo had was something that was shared by most of the pantheons. In their heads, there was no way that three factions that had been fighting for thousands of years for one day would wake up and decide to make the peace between them official.

In the Underworld, the judgment of the people from the Old Satan's factions generates a lot of chaos. While the populace claimed justice, not wanting to go back to the old regime even for a second, the government officers had to stop six rescues and escape attempts. Luckily for them, Satan Lucifer and Leviathan had made available for guard duty some of their peerage members in a rotation schedule, so, anyone that tried, found themselves dead or arrested together with the prisoners that they were trying to free.

The trials were fast and the sentences were quick to be executed. Not even a month after the Biblical meeting, that was how the meeting was being called, saw the Asmodeus bloodline officially extinct and Ingvild as the last true Leviathan alive with the executions of Creuserey and Katerea.

During that one month, a lot of things changed in Kuoh too. Being the location where the historical meeting happened, the city received some new residents. Azazel, leader of the Grigori, transformed the house that he already had in the city into an embassy of sorts for his faction while employing the 'under punishment' Fallen Angels in the place. Since he had some new developments in the idea that Erik had given to him to punish naughty Fallen Angels, he decided to put it to test by deploying Raynare and her old group to be the workforce for the 'embassy' while being powerless as their punishment. From Heaven's side, Irina Shidou and Xenovia Quarta moved to the city together with Griselda Quarta. The retired exorcist, together with her two wards, would be responsible for reforming the old church and transforming it into Heaven's embassy in Kuoh. The two teenagers were even enrolled in Kuoh High School to learn better how to mingle with old enemies. It seemed that their new politics was 'if it is not hurting anyone, then it does not need to be exorcized'.

The two church girls took a while to acclimatize to their new environment. Since they were used to learning in a very religious environment for a long time, they were not prepared to live in a 'normal' school environment. Asia Argento was a savior for them in that aspect. The ex-communicated nun took for herself the role of being their guide into this new life, just like Issei Hyoudou and Aika Kiryuu had been for her. During some talks about what training they were doing, Asia Argento ended up revealing that he was being trained in the manipulations of holy energy by the legendary saint Joan of Arc, who was one of Teacher Erik's wives. The girls doubted at first, saying that Joan of Arc had been burned on the stake due to a rigged trial, but then Asia Argento went and told the two girls what really had happened on the execution day with Gabriel asking Erik to save Joan from being burned on the stake and how she ended up marrying him later. Initially, the girls didn't believe it, but then Asia Argento pointed out that they had already met the famous 'saint'. It was then that Xenovia Quarta remembered the armored woman during the Kokabiel episode had been addressed as Joan by Erik. She then told Irina Shidou, who was shocked at that. It didn't take long for the two girls to recover and start to 'fangirl' about it, making all kinds of questions to Asia Argento, who replied to all of them with a patience that would impress a lot of people, warning them various times that 'Teacher Joan' didn't like being called a 'Saint'.

On that same day, Erik was bombarded by the two girls to let them meet with 'Saint' Joan. Erik just replied to them that to meet or not with them was Joan's choice, and not his. Asia Argento ended up having to promise the two that she would talk with her teacher about it. When Irina Shidou and Xenovia Quarta arrived at the Church that day, they told Griselda Quarta about 'Saint' Joan and how she was still alive. The older woman had a hard time holding herself together and maintaining her calm facade in the front of her wards. She, like most female exorcists that worked for the Church, had Joan of Arc as their favorite Saint figure.

The next day saw Joan and Alphonse Ravenclaw, Erik and Joan's son, appearing at school to get Asia Argento and the two church's girls on a 'date'. The truth was that Asia Argento had asked Joan about meeting the two church girls, but she was instantly denied by her teacher. Alphonse, who had been training together with them and saw how 'sad' Asia Argento had become with his mother's denial, asked Joan again to meet with the two girls. The knight-woman, seeing what was happening, decided to help her son and accepted the request with some 'reluctance', making Asia Argento happy, which made Alphonse happy. Joan, just like most of the women in the house, had already perceived that her son, Alphonse, was very fond (in love) of (with) the blonde ex-nun since their first meeting, months ago.

Xenovia Quarta and Irina Shidou were in extasis with the meeting and invited them all to visit their church, which was accepted. To say that Griselda Quarta managed to maintain her facade in front of Joan was to ask too much of the retired exorcist. She got shocked when her wards introduced Joan and Alphonse to her, something that frightened Xenovia Quarta and Irina Shidou since they had never seen that happen before. To 'add salt to the injury', a bright light was seen behind the altar of the church that blinded the less prepared teenagers. From it, the bubbly figure of the Great Seraph Gabriel appeared in the middle of motes of light and jumped to engulf her godson, Alphonse, in a suffocating hug. To say that the new arrival shocked the three Church females was the understatement of the decade. Griselda Quarta was not so much shocked per se, since she had already met Gabriel before and was just shocked by the sudden presence of the Great Seraph. But Xenovia Quarta and Irina Shidou were totally different histories. Both girls were in a state that mixed shock and awe in one feeling, with they not really knowing what to feel at the moment. After they recovered, Gabriel explained that she had 'sneaked' from Heaven after she had sensed Joan and Alphonse entering the reformed church in Kuoh, deciding to make an impromptu visit. When asked about the danger of her coming to Earth by Griselda Quarta, Gabriel nonchalantly revealed that Erik had put special protections around the church at Michael's request and that she was perfectly 'safe' since Joan was here too. Her brother, Michael, could not complain too much about her escapade with that. Erik had, indeed, put some special protections around the church, Heaven's 'embassy' in Kuoh, just like he had done the same around Azazel's old house, which now was Grigori's 'embassy' in Kuoh. That day ended with the six women, plus Alphonse, having tea and talking for a long time.

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Soon enough, after a lot of coming and going of paperwork between the three Biblical factions, a final written treaty was agreed upon by the three parts, just to have it redone when Odin, the God-King of the Nordic pantheon, asked to be included in the peace treaty. After a new round of coming and going of paperwork, something that took another week of time, a new treaty was made that now included the Nordic pantheon. With everything ready to be signed, a date was agreed upon for the ceremony that would have the contract signed. Again, Erik received a group call from the leaders of the factions, all four of them, and was asked to host the new meeting since the first one had happened so smoothly. The difference from before was that this time, dignitaries of all four factions would be present for it since it was an important political moment. Erik was inclined to refuse it this time, since it would be too troublesome, but ended up accepting the 'responsibility' under the promise from the four leaders that no one would question what protection he would be putting over the place.

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