What did he-

Not knowing where Dulio is or when he will return, Luka almost decided to leave but in the end he decided to wait for the exorcist. There are many questions that at this moment only the blonde could answer, also the food at the hotel is delicious!

While he was waiting for Dulio, he took advantage of the hotel's laundry service to wash all his clothes, ate a lot of snacks and watched several movies. Curiously, when it comes to western entertainment, many of the series and movies from his past life still exist, but when it comes to Asian entertainment, none of the anime that he knows exist in this world.

He saw the Superman movie trilogy with Christopher Reeve and an old black and white movie about vampires.

Just as a ridiculously comical looking Dracula was about to bite the neck of a woman who seemed to be torn between screaming and moaning, the room door opened and the teen exorcist entered.

"It's late." Luka woke up at nine in the morning and now it's almost seven in the evening, he's been waiting for the exorcist for hours.

"Eh?" Dulio looked at him in confusion for a moment before smiling widely. "You look good Luka! How are your arms? Do they hurt?"

"A bit." The pinkhead recognizes.

"In a few days you will be all healed!" Dulio assures him. "What are you watching? A vampire movie? Aren't you a little young to see these things?"

"It's an old movie from the 30s, more than terrifying it's hilarious." Luka gets up from the bed and stretches his back. "Anyway, what took you so long? I've been waiting all day. You didn't even leave a note, if the receptionist hadn't told me that 'my big brother' is running some errands and will be back later, I would have left hours ago. "

"Sorry, sorry." Dulio scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. "I forgot to leave a note. I thought I was going to finish my mission before noon and the hospital nurses said you'd be sleeping for a while since the painkillers they gave you have that effect on children."

"I am not an ordinary child."

"Of course not! No ordinary child could have hurt a fallen angel! By the way, how did you do it? Did you use your Sacred Gear?"

`My Sacred Gear?` Luka quickly recalled God's creations, his gift to humanity. `A gift for them to protect themselves from the supernatural yet it ended up with humans being hunted for th- Not now. Dulio thinks I have one, and technically my system could count as one so-`

"Don't you know what a Sacred Gear is?" Dulio assumed that his silence was due to a lack of knowledge about the term. "Of course not! You're a kid, what was I thinking?" The exorcist slapped his palm against his forehead, the sound of the slap echoing through the room.

`That slap, that was way too hard. Is he okay? `Luka watched as the teenager shook his head and sat on the bed completely okay. `His endurance is quite monstrous, that slap would have left a regular human being unconscious.`

"Sacred Gear, also known as God's Artifacts, are powerful gifts bestowed upon chosen humans by God. These gifts are very varied and can create wonderful miracles. Mine is called Zenith Tempest and it allows me to control the weather and elements." Dulio explains.

Luka nods and pretends to digest that information.

"So that's what it is." He says thoughtful "Then God is real and so are angels, and fallen angels. What about Hell and demons, are they real too?"

"You didn't know that? I assumed you were from a family of magicians since you have quite a lot of mana." Dulio mutters the last thing in a low voice and the pinkhead barely hears him.

"No, my family was ordinary."

"Was?" Dulio stares at him with a look of recognition, as if he had just confirmed something that he already knew.

"Was." Luka's expression darkens as he remembers how far he is from his brother and how unlikely it is that he will ever see him again. `Even if I master space magic and manage to travel back to my world, nothing assures me that I will find him. Time between worlds could pass differently and by the time I return home to Earth it could have been centuries.`

Dulio looks at him with concern and nervousness, not really knowing what to do with the increasingly gloomy atmosphere.

"Hell!" He snaps. "Hell, better known as the Underworld, is very real. And so are demons, but their race is better known as devils."

"God, angels, fallen angels and devils. Are all the things from the Bible real?"

"Yes, and not only from the Bible! The stories told in other mythologies are also real!"

"As in the Greek Gods, the Egyptian Gods and such?"

"Yeah!" Dulio relaxes when he sees that the atmosphere in the room lightens up again and Luka doesn't seem so gloomy anymore. He starts giving a whole speech about various supernatural beings, one a little too complicated for an eight-year-old to understand.

`Dulio is not very good at explaining things, he is constantly switching between babysplaining and using words and terms no way a kid would understand.`

"So you are an exorcist who works for the Church, who are God's hands on Earth?"

"Exactly! My job is to protect humanity from any being that tries to harm them!"

`What happens when the threat to humanity is humans themselves?` Luka thinks of the Hero Faction, whose objective, if his theory is correct, would end up destroying the very world they are trying to protect. `Not my problem, I will stay away from anything plot related.`

"Before you said you had a mission, what was it?" Luka remembers that Dulio is Russian, so his presence in Germany is a bit strange.

Dulio thinks about it for a moment before answering.

"I guess it's okay if I tell you. A devil clan is trying to turn Stuttgart into their territory, they're moving their forces around the city. I'm one of the exorcists sent here to stop them"

That did surprise Luka, he thought it was something like a hunt for some stray devil or fallen angel.

"Make Stuttgart their territory?" He remembers the beautiful woman handing out strange pamphlets. "How can they do that? Is it like a military occupation? Is there going to be a war in Stuttgart?"

"No no!" Dulio quickly shakes his head. "It's not like a traditional war. It's a bit more complicated- how do I put it? You know that in some countries there is a law that if someone inhabits a house illegally for a certain period of time they get a legal right to that place?"

"Yes, I've heard of that." In his past life, during a vacation, he met a girl who had a problem because of those absurd laws. Her family went on a cruise around the world to celebrate her graduation, they were sailing for half a year and when they came home they found some squatters who had been living there for months. Throwing them out was quite a hassle that required several court visits and took nearly two years.

"That's one of the ways a devil clan can claim a territory, if their influence within a city reaches a certain level they can claim that territory as their own if that territory doesn't belong to any other faction. To prevent the influence of the Devils within Stuttgart reach that level the Church and other factions have sent in their own forces to increase their own influence and prevent the Devils from succeeding." Dulio explains.

"So it's a different kind of war." Luka concludes. `Various factions trying to increase their influence within Stuttgart... I was lucky I only encountered a fallen angel! This place is very dangerous, this guys won't "fight" fair and square, there will be sabotage and all sorts of ticks. I need to leave Stuttgart before I get caught in the crossfire!`

"Yes, in a way it's a war. Most of the civilians are safe but special people like you are in danger. All the factions are fighting to recruit Sacred Gear users, if you stay in the city you will be in great danger." Dulio's expression darkens and he looks at him seriously. "You are an orphan, right? I have noticed you are living on the streets."

Luka doesn't answer, but it's not necessary. Dulio is smart enough to have noticed all the signs.

"That is why you are in even more danger than any other Sacred Gear user. Luka, I know how I could protect you."

The pinkhead looks at the unreadable expression on the blonde's face with curiosity and some fear, he feels that he won't like what Dulio is going to say.

"Become my family!"

"EH?!"

"Be my son and I will protect you!" Dulio looks at him intensely and takes his hands in his. "Like you I don't have a blood family either. My parents abandoned me when I was still a baby and I grew up on the streets until a priest adopted me when I was a little older than you are now. Father Otto taught me a lot of things, about family and the world. I learned that family is not something blood decides, but the bonds we create. Father Otto became my dad and the children in the orphanage he sponsored became my brothers and sisters."

The exorcist took a deep breath and looked at Luka with eyes shining brightly.

"When I first saw you it was like seeing the reflection of the child I used to be eight years ago. You have the same look, I can see in your eyes the same mistrust and caution, those qualities help you survive living on your own but also ensure your life is lonely and cold. I want to help you like Father Otto helped me, I want to be your father."

"You're a teenager! You're barely fourteen! How could you become my dad?" Luka looked at him in utter disbelief.

What Dulio just said is the most absurd thing he'd heard in- well, a few hours. He started the day with the shocking news that the world he finds himself in is considered fictional in his home universe, and that it is likely in another universe there are people who watch his life on television as if it were an anime, which for them it is.

"I'm actually seventeen years old." Dulio says, as if that would make it all make more sense.

"That does not help at all!" Luka yells at him. "How can you say something so absurd with a straight face!"

"My face is not straight, I am pansexual." Dulio smiles carefree with an amused glint in his green eyes.

`A fucking Dad joke?! This guy- He is nuts!`

"Being pansexual means I don't care about the biological sex, gender, gender identity, or race of my romantic partner."

"I know what pansexual means!"

"Really? You are very smart, Luka!"

Dulio looks at him with paternal pride, which only puzzles Luka even more.

"Are you serious?"

"I am D-"

"Not a dad joke!" Luka interrupts him and the blonde pouts."Look, Dulio, I am not interested in your- err, offer. Thanks but no, I don't need a father."

***

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There are advanced chapter in my p@ tre on if you want to support me and read some chapters earlier.

p a t r e o n. com /EdenofKovir

Did you expect that? Luka did not!