Eight

Zane seemingly materialized from thin air in a striking display of speed. He stood in front of Ranma as she slowly picked herself off the ground. He flicked the release on the heavy revolver he had in his hand exposing the loading chamber. He placed his hand over it and a light flashed within. Now in the empty chambers were rounds that shone a blinding white.

Ranma narrowed her eyes. "Finally found you."

Zane flipped the hand cannon closed. "Looks like it. Though I don't know why you are attacking my friends."

Rama started to grow in size. "You killed my brother." She dove at him swiping with the sharpened talons of her remaining arm.

Zane vanished, appearing behind her kicking her hard to the ground. She swings her tail wildly at him but he avoids it with ease. Ranma picked herself up and dash back up to Zane who was still in the air floating to the ground.

She aimed her deadly claws at his neck but he spins himself out of the way. As she slipped by she hit him with her tail. Zane quickly braced himself but the impact propels him down the block lake a bullet. He crashes through the roof of the old gas station.

Zane pushed the debris off him and stood. Ranma landed through the hole in the ceiling Zane's body had just made. "What's the matter human? Your frail body not holding together?" She taunted.

Zane wiped the blood from his mouth and spit. "Just dropped my guard a bit. Won't happen again."

"Quite confident aren't you. Let's see how long that last." Ranma disappeared just as Zane had done.

She appeared behind just barely missing with her attack. With her tail, she took hold of his ankle and dragged him through the building slamming him into different piles of rubble.

"This tail is getting on my nerves." Zane fired two shots from his gun and severed Ranma's tail.

Zane somersaulted as and landed on his feet then vanished as a beam struck where he was causing a focused explosion. Ranma fired several more beams. Zane running quickly managed to avoid them all. Then he returned fire clipping Ranma's side. The second she took to look down at her wound and back up Zane was already on her, his gun positioned right between her eyes.

"Checkmate." He smiled triumphantly.

Ranma grew a grin of her own. "Not quite."

Before Zane could pull the trigger, Ranma's detached tail wrapped around his throat and dragged him to the ground. He struggled for a brief moment before pulling a knife from the inner pocket of his cassock. With the blade, he freed himself from the tail and tossed it. It melted into sludge.

Zane looked around for the monster but she had successfully fled. He sighed. "I'll never hear the end of this from the old man."

Zane returned to the others and informed Leon the demon escaped. Acknowledging that everyone's attention went to Lena. She was worn out and fast asleep, but overall ok.

***

Lena's eyes popped up suddenly and she sat up just as abruptly. She looked around recognizing the familiar aesthetics of the temple. Her heartbeat started to settle down as the door to the room she was in came open. Zane stepped in carrying a tray with a glass of water and a bowl of soup.

"Oh, you're awake?" He asked with shock in his voice.

"Yeah. Though I fell like I was struck by lightning."

"Not too far from it." He set the tray on the nightstand beside her.

"What happened to Ranma?"

"Who? That fiend? Oh, it got away. Sorry, I let her escape."

Lena's eyes narrowed and she looked at Zane with suspicious eyes. "Say. When were you so much more powerful than me? You managed to face Ranma by yourself and have barely a scratch."

Zane scratched his head and shied away. "Well, it's a long story actually."

"What kind of response is that?" She shot back bluntly.

"If you want to know everything, you should get out of bed and meet me in the study." Leon walked up from behind Zane.

"Father!?" Lena straightened up and threw on her usual good girl facade.

Time passed and everyone found themselves in the back of the temple.

"It's time the both of you learned the truth. Or at least as much of it as I know." Leon began.

"What's going on?" Lena's anxiety was starting to skyrocket as her imagination portrayed all manners of scenarios.

"Simply put it turns out im not exactly human." Zane smiled.

"Not...human?" She responded dumbly.

"I'm not sure I understand it fully yet myself."

"Zane is truly blessed with divinity. What you witnessed earlier was barely a scratch." Leon finished.

"What?" Lena stood to her feet. "Quit kidding around."

"The ability he has displayed is proof of God's grace within him."

"But how?" She looked to Zane who only shrugged.

Leon stood from his seat and paced briefly before stopping cold. "I didn't find you wondering the streets Zane. You were left in my care by someone I've known all of my life. Someone I couldn't deny."

"Wait, someone brought him to us?" Lena couldn't believe what she was hearing. "So the story of his family being massacred..."

"...They were indeed slaughtered. In order to protect Zane, he was secretly left to me and I raised him as my own."

Lena gritted her teeth, everything Mikalia had said to her came rushing to the forefront of her thoughts. "Why is Zane so special?"

"That I do not know. But even then his gifts were present. For a human to be blessed with divinity, its something that hasn't been seen since Jesus himself. With that in mind, it's no wonder he would need protecting."

"From who!? Who does he need protecting from?"

"I'd even like to know the answer to that question." Zane added.

"I cannot be sure I wasn't told at the time I was asked to take you in Zane."

"Have you tried to reach out to this person who brought me to you?

Leon takes a pack of cigarettes from his robe and lights one, taking a long drag from it. "I'm afraid that isn't possible. She disappeared not long after. It's not a stretch to assume she's dead."

There a was an eerie silence that seized the room. Lena clenched her fists. "Why are you telling us this now, father?"

Leon took a long long pull on his cigarette. "You know it's been nearly 17 years since I quit these things. Something big is brewing and it scares the shit out of me. That power of yours that I've kept hidden you, Zane, we are going to need every last bit of it."

"Does it have anything to do with the name Mastema?" Zane question was pointed and served more as an answer than a question.

"There isn't much I can say about it without further investigation."

"Who is he?" Lena cooled herself and began to probe.

"For all intents and purposes, he doesn't exist. Only a handful of us even recognize the name. And it isn't a name the bodes well for any of us."

"Master you are being summoned to the Vatican. We must make haste." The hooded woman stepped up.

"I know. But you will not be going with me, Racheal."

"But..." She attempted to protest.

"I need you here in my stead. They are only infants still and will need a guiding hand. There is no telling how long the church will be needing me. Please introduce yourself properly."

She removed hood showing off the unique bright purple of her hair that was tied into a single ponytail. A jeweled circlet also framed her forehead. But by far her most striking feature where her heterochromatic eyes, one blue and the other green.

"My name is Racheal. A pleasure." She bowed.

"She a bit straight-laced but she should be a good fit for you two. She's been my kouhai for 20 years now though I'm sure she has already mastered all she can learn from me."

"I still have much to learn from you master."

"At any rate, you will be passing on your knowledge to a younger generation."

"I will not let you down master."

"It is your new kouhais that you should not let down."

"I understand."

"I'm sorry I could not provide more for my own knowledge is very limited. I trusted only Racheal with this information. With that being said please be careful with it, it could determine the fate of all."

Zane and Lena didn't budge as they tried to make sense of everything with Leon taking is leave.