Haruto entered with Asia, she was fidgeting all the way to home. And he couldn't blame her. Haruto let Asia heal those two exorcists although he really didn't want to. He just agreed because he knew that it would make Asia worry less about them.
Sometimes, Asia was just too kind for her own good.
Sakura greeted them with her maid outfit, "Lord Mephisto is here Haruto-sama."
Haruto smiled back and just from that Sakura knew something wasn't right. He patted Asia's head gently and then went to his study room.
Haruto opened the door of the room and saw his guest was reading a book he found. It was about the "Lost City".
"Quite the thing you have found here. Some of the theories here are quite fascinating." Mephisto looked at Haruto, "Hope you don't mind me reading them."
Haruto shook his head and sat opposite of Mephisto. Now he wasn't one of the oldest devils just for show. He knew something was wrong, but knowing Haruto he also knew that he just couldn't outright ask him.
"I met some exorcists." Mephisto nodded lightly hearing that. He closed the book and focused on Haruto, who suddenly groaned and squeezed his armchair, "How could they barge here like nothing happened? Have they no shame?"
"Maybe there was something, something that needed to be done and that is why they are here?" Mephisto replied softly.
"She was pregnant."
And then the silence followed. It seemed like hours before Mephisto spoke up, he knew that it was a very delicate subject for Haruto, "You may feel better if you let it out."
Haruto looked at Mephisto, he knew he was right. Haruto did tell about his past to a handful of people, and it did relieve his pain, even if it was just for a short duration.
"My mother was a few weeks pregnant." Haruto sighed, it was never easy to remember those times, "And on that fateful day, my father and I went fishing. At one point, father knew something was wrong. He hurried back with me but on the way, we got ambushed, and it was his friends. Father tried to reason with them that the devils were tricking them but no one listened. Seeing that it wasn't working, he then made a way for me."
Haruto massaged his temple as his voice became colder, "I ran for a bit and then I flew. And after just a short while, I saw our house and I was happy that I reached there. I thought … I didn't exactly remember what I was thinking; because it was at that moment the house exploded."
Haruto chuckled, his voice hollow and rough, "But when I saw the exorcists that were with my father coming to where I was, it was that moment that I felt my world dying. And in a moment of rage, I activated my sacred gear. Back then, it was "Blade Blacksmith'. I killed one of the exorcists."
Seeing Mephisto quirking an eyebrow, Haruto shook his head, "Because he was an idiot, he let his guard down when he came to me. The rest immediately detained me. And then they took me to one of the institutes. Can you imagine? They tried to brainwash me and wanted me to serve the very fucking organization that took my father's life, destroyed my family." Haruto smiled. To Mephisto, that smile didn't suit Haruto. Because it was the smile of someone broken, someone who lost his sanity. Someone who just wanted to destroy.
"After that, I was sent to the main branch of 'The Holy Sword Project'."
"There were few branches of that project?" Mephisto asked. This was something he was hearing about for the first time.
"Yes, there were two sections. One focused on creating soldiers who could artificially wield holy swords and the second but main section was to find someone who can wield one particular sword." Haruto replied back, he was feeling a bit better now that he was opening up once again. But sometimes he wondered, why exactly did he feel better when he recalled those moments?
"In that whole section, there were only three of us, wielder of 'Sword Birth', wielder of 'Weapon Creation' and then me, wielder of 'Blade Blacksmith'. They wanted to see if somehow any of us could be made into the key that could unlock the mystery of that weapon."
"Did you?"
Haruto chuckled softly, "Why not I give a shorter version of what happened? Me and my friends, yes after staying there imprisoned for like a year we became friends, quite good ones too. We tried to escape, the plan failed and they got injured severely and at their last moment they wanted to stall our pursuers so that I could escape."
"But you didn't."
Haruto looked at Mephisto for some time, and then he shook his head, "Unfortunately, my memories after that are quite blurry. I don't know how I did it but I killed, no I slaughtered everyone in that special section of 'The Holy Sword Project'."
Mephisto nodded his head in understanding. Another round of silence followed before he spoke, "I know this wouldn't make any difference at all, but for what it is worth, you are here, alive and I am sure your loved ones wanted nothing other than that." Mephisto smiled a genuine and reassuring smile.
Haruto nodded back. He felt slightly better but some broken things couldn't be fixed. But, "Thank you for listening to me, I guess it helped."
"Like I said, unofficially I am your guardian. Also, there is something I want you to look at." Mephisto took out a file and gave it to Haruto.
The moment he opened it, his face hardened, "Are you serious?"
"Your uncle is walking down a dangerous path, Haruto. It will destroy the Belial Clan if he is not stopped." Haruto groaned at Mephisto's words. And just when things were starting to look good for him.
"And if you would look at the second page."
When Haruto did, he knew he needed to hasten his plans.
Mephisto sighed sadly, "Watch your back Haruto, Bael clan has set their sights on you. Will you talk to Sirzechs about it?"
Haruto got up and spread his wings. It was the first time of that day that he smiled, for real, when he saw Mephisto almost making the same face as Sirzechs. And who could blame them, he just showed them his true power level,
Because he had twelve wings, and they weren't bat shaped either.
"You are a super devil?" Mephisto blinked.
Haruto smirked and he retracted his wings.
"Lord Mephisto, I want your input on something, something that will change the course of our world."
Mephisto looked at Haruto and saw the confidence and hope shining in his azure eyes.
"Let's hear it."
The girl looked around the church. There were clues that a huge fight broke out but the cleanup after that was spotless. There was no way of telling exactly who was here and fought.
"Lady Melinoe, we couldn't find any clues." One of the grim reapers came and said.
"I can see that, tell me something that I don't know." The said girl sighed, "Father won't be pleased about this."
She again looked around, the whole place was crawling with grim reapers. A week ago, the breakout of the millennium had occurred and Hades was very angry about it. And he was quite vocal about how angry he was. But even now, there was no one to point to regarding the situation.
She went inside the church, "Maybe I should ask Aunt Athena about this."