Chapter 11

The girl in the maid dress turned, looking toward the small back door that connected to one of the storerooms. She had heard footsteps.

Although her flaming wings and sword disappeared into thin air, she didn't think she would need them. After all, the young man who had just entered was not an intruder.

It was just a partner with whom she had been working on a small project.

"Oh, Charlie-san," said the boy, looking at her. "I didn't know you were here."

"You took less time than I thought. You missed something quite interesting," the girl replied, alternating her gaze between the young man and the hole she had made in the stone wall. "And I've already told you not to call me 'Charlie'. I was considerate enough to let you call me by any name other than 'Ignis124', so stick to the name I gave you permission to use."

"Ah, that's right. My apologies, Charlotte-san..."

The girl waved her right hand slightly as if to dismiss the useless conversation.

"Were you able to accomplish the task I assigned you?", asked Charlotte, looking at the young man in the eye. "Will I be able to do it tonight?"

The young man smiled. Pulling the curtain of black hair away from his face, he held out a curved, blood-soaked knife to the girl. The blade, of a whitish silver color, was stained with crimson, though part of it already had the brownish color of dried blood. The hilt, of gold and silver, had four inlaid curtains, each with a small carved cross, very similar to the symbol used by followers of Crossism.

Charlotte approached him, took the knife off his hand, which seemed intended for some sort of ritual, and raised it to her eyes, inspecting it.

"Blood of ten people, all with special talents. One sacrifice for each Sephira" she murmured.

"I beg your pardon," asked the young man. He didn't understand English very well, and he hated that this strange girl decided to speak in that language randomly. He felt as if she did it on purpose, with the intention that he could not understand what she was saying.

"Do you still have the Jewel of Yesod?", asked Charlotte, not taking her eyes off the knife.

The young man nodded. From his left earlobe hung a navy blue earring. With every movement of his head, the small gem emitted a strange and unnatural glow, since it did not seem to be reflected light, but produced directly from the center of the jewel.

"Perfect. Don't lose it, I went through a lot of trouble to steal it. Just don't forget our agreement: I give you power, but you help me take the lives needed for the Ritual of the Gate of Eden."

"Don't worry. Even a Skill-Out like me knows how to keep a promise. Is there anything else I have to do?", asked the boy, looking at her with curiosity.

Charlotte walked through the abandoned lab, looking at the giant broken beakers.

"I'm sorry you had to search all over the city for those... what did they call them? 'Ability Users,'" she said, not taking her eyes off the broken glass of the cylinders, so large that an adult human could fit inside. "I understand your gang used to work for an old research team that was trying to create artificial ones, didn't they?"

"Exactly. But unfortunately, the cloning process didn't work out... We had the necessary funds, but the investor walked away as soon as he learned that the first two clones were a failure.

"It's a real shame because had we been able to successfully create Ability Users artificially we would have had an infinite supply of lives to take, and the authorities wouldn't even have known about it."

"I remember you mentioning it. Science doesn't interest me at all, but I have to admit that the creation of artificial humans is something that this research shared with magic. What went wrong in the experiment?"

The young man swallowed hard. He was not used to hearing the word "magic", even though he had been working with Charlotte for the past two weeks or so. However, having seen what she was capable of, and what she made him capable of, he couldn't help but believe in the existence of that world that had so far remained hidden from him.

"I must say that I don't know all the details... After all, I'm not too well-versed in the whole experimentation thing. As you might expect from Skill-Out, we were just obeying the orders of the scientist in charge of everything.

"A-although you could say it's my fault it didn't work out...", the young man continued, scratching his head nervously. "But I'm glad that at least things are working out better now, with this whole magic thing."

Charlotte smiled, turning her cold eyes to the boy before speaking again, ending the conversation about science that, by that point, had already begun to bore her.

"I will take care of the preparations. No one has better knowledge of the Ritual of the Gate of Eden than I do, thanks to this book," the girl took out a small volume, the size of a notebook and covered in red leather. It had some strange symbols on the cover, which definitely did not belong to the Japanese syllabary, nor to the Roman alphabet. "I just need you to cover for me in case someone decides to come. There's a guy who seems to be looking for the person responsible for the murders, and if he finds out it was you it's very likely he'll come back."

"Ah, I know who it is. There are ads all over town. It's that Kurumizawa's Level 4 who called himself the 'Magician of Academy City'. As a hero name, I think it's average, to be honest."

Charlotte smirked. Wizard? Idiot boy. If you knew the true weight that title carries you wouldn't be using it to play vigilante.

Well, it's not like that guy could stop the ritual on his own without the proper knowledge, and I highly doubt anyone in the authorities is going to believe him now that they're looking to arrest him, the girl thought.

"Charlotte-san. I will be able to keep this power if everything goes well, right?", asked the boy, gently touching the pendant. Using it usually caused him an immense sense of uneasiness, but finally having an ability, after so many years, was intoxicating for him. Like a drug, addictive but tremendously damaging to his body, much more than his mind, accustomed to a world without magic, could even conceive.

"Exactly. After all, if it weren't for you this wouldn't have worked out. We will both benefit greatly from this. You will get your revenge, and I will be able to accomplish the first of many purges this world needs."

"So my only job is to get rid of the Kurumizawa guy if he shows up here, right?"

"You could say that," Charlotte replied, opening the book in the middle and inspecting the contents of the pages. With her free hand, she pulled a scarlet-colored chalk from the front pocket of her apron. Without looking at the boy, she began to trace a gigantic circle on the ground, about ten meters in diameter, constantly consulting her book.

After finishing drawing the figure, the girl began to write something on the edges of the circle in a language that appeared to be Greek. Four words that were unknown to her companion, but with which she seemed to be familiar with.

"Camael..." she murmured, as she wrote down each word. "Milchamah... Athanatos... Sabaoth..."

Camael... Warrior of the immortal army of the Lord..., thought Charlotte, mentally translating what she had written.

Next, the blonde girl drew some symbols inside the circle. Numerous small Celtic crosses, the symbol of the fifth sephira, Gevurah, in the center of it, and finally the character representing Mars, at the bottom left and pointing upwards to the right.

After finishing drawing the Seal, Charlotte closed the book and, together with the chalk, put both objects back in her pocket. She brought her right hand to her forehead, touching it with her fingertips and then lowering it to the level of her diaphragm. She then raised it to her left shoulder and finished by bringing it up to his right shoulder.

"Amen", she finally murmured in English. It all seemed very strange to the young man, who had been watching her with interest. Even he, who was an atheist, knew that the moment when people signed themselves with the cross was a solemn thing, so he did not interrupt her.

"The Seal of Gevurah is finished," said the girl, turning her blue eyes to her assistant. "If it is to be done properly, we must let the ground absorb some of the chalk lime so that the Seal will be forged into a sacred mark. It will take a few hours, but I think it will be ready by evening."

"It's too much time... Don't you think it would be better if I go straight to that Level 4 and finish him off?", asked the boy.

Charlotte simply shook her head.

"I don't think it's necessary. If you want to, warn the rest of your gang to keep him busy if they find him. Although, as I said, without the proper knowledge, he won't be able to stop the ritual."