Kyrie felt like she was back in her academy days where she often sneak around the hallways, trying to stay out of their instructors' eyes trying to break curfew. The comparison is really silly, since they're not really trying to sneak around, and the library in the Archdiocese is definitely not a forbidden place to go into.
"Would you stop jittering already!" Arthur hissed at her side. "Why are you acting so nervous?!"
"Well!" she hissed back in reply, "It feels like we're trying, or planning, to do some really shady things outside our job description. Shouldn't we, I don't know, ask someone that's higher-ranked for permission?"
Arthur gave her a state, "Yeah, sure. You can go on ahead and tell our supervisors that a priest got kidnapped by a demon who said priest saved and hide, without informing the church. Which is, if you don't know, definitely outside of our job description, which is to eliminate demons. Let's see if it goes well."
Kyrie gave him an unimpressed glare. "Well, you're not expecting that we can cover all this on our own!" She gave the books scattered in their long table a stinking look. "How can we even find where Elan is now, with just the two of us, without any trace left to use?"
"Then maybe the two of you should think twice before pulling another stunt like that," Arthur huffed, not taking his eyes off the boom he's looking. "As for a trace, there's not much we can do about it now. Let's just concentrate and formulate some sort of plan that we can work on."
"You're an angel," Kyrie pointed out, scoffing at the other's look that seemed to say 'duh.' "Don't you have something that we can use to travel Elan's location?"
"What do you take me for, a tracker? We don't work like that!"
"Hey, don't need to sound so offended!" She raised her arms in a placating manner. "It's not like we know much about you guys. I'd say it was a reasonable assumption."
"No, it's not." Arthur sighed, "Our job is mainly as protectors and guides for humans. We sometimes bestow graces as per our Maker's words, but we ourselves does not have the power to do that on our own. We have an advantage in strength and in senses, and some of us even has gifts bestowed to them like prophecy, but unless ordered, we are merely messengers that deliver the mandates of the Heavens."
"Oohhh." Kyrie looked down at the book in her hand for a second then, "Then why are you here, then?"
"Ugh, can you please stay focus on the task at hand?"
"I'm curious! I get the gist that you weren't supposed to tell us--or anyone--thay you're, well, you know." She ignored Arthur's flat look. "But why are you here studying to be a priest? Oooh! Are you some spy sent by the heavens?"
"Seriously, what kind of books do you even read with all these nonsense?" He closed his book and pulled another. "There's always been angels being sent here for centuries. We need some ways to monitor the happenings here."
"Then you're really a spy, then?"
"No," Arthur sighed. "Can we just continue with our job here? We're not supposed to waste any time."
"What are we even looking here, anyway? We've been in here for hours!"
Arthur sighed again and closed his current book. "Well, I was hoping we could find some clues where the locations of the demons' lairs are, or something related to that. The best bet we have to find Elan will be with them, so I figured we could take a look at the reports done by the reconnaissance teams to base our plans on."
reconnaissance reports. . . Wait, is that what we're reading right now?!" Kyrie flipped to the cover of the book and yep, it is the copies of the mission reports done by countless priests. "How did you even get these? We're not supposed to look at them without permission!"
"Like I said earlier, we can't rely on our seniors without revoking Elan's and yours' priesthood so we need to do this under wraps. We need to make sure that we find Elan and that demon girl before anyone else finds out."
"Yeah, but what if someone did find us out? Should we just lie outright and hope they wouldn't pick us up?"
"Well that might have worked, if no one heard you talking like this."
The two practically jumped from their seats at the sound of the voice. Peter turned around on a corner and leaned on a shelf, his arms crossed and face amused. "Now, what could two newly-ordained priests doing on these report copies in a secluded spot in the library? Did you guys receive permission to peruse these?"
Arthur's place was blank while Kyrie's mouth kept flipping open and close like a fish out of water.
"You heard us," Arthur said in a statement. "How much of it?"
"Hmm," Peter tapped his chin as if he was thinking of his answer. "I heard something about my new cute teammate saving and hiding some demon without informing the authorites, a possible kidnapping scenario, and some spy from Heaven posing as a new priest. Oh, and that you two are planning some unauthorized rescue mission without planning to inform those oldies up the ladder."
Arthur twitched at the 'spy' word, heightening the older priest's amusement.
"You're not going to report us, are you?" Kyrie asked. She'd just gotten ordained. Her family will most probably skin her if she got kick out after withhelding crucial information to her superiors.
Peter laughed and dropped his act. "Relax, despite what I look like, I don't go dragging new recruits before listening to their reasons first. A warning, though; you better give me a convincing reason so I don't actually drag you guys for punishment."
Both Arthur and Kyrie looked at each other in question. After a moment of silent communication, Arthur started to explain the situation, with Kyrie supplying the events before Arthur came in the picture.
"A demon girl that wields some mechanical device you say," Peter murmured in thought. "Similar to the ones we use in our huntings. How can you be sure of this?"
Arthur looked him straight in the eye. "I've seen the technology behind the weapons we used in fighting the fallens. Even in a glance, I know what I saw."
"Fallens?" Kyrie looked at him curiously.
"It's what we call them back home." Arthur looked at his two listeners. "I don't know how one of them could have their hands on such technology, when the Angels made sure to never disclose its secrets outside the Heaven's Gate. If it is proven to be the same, then--"
"There might be some inside jobs happening behind our backs," Kyrie breathed. "This. . . This could very well tilt the scales in favor of the demons."
Peter continued to think in silence, his eyes down the tiled floor. He suddenly smirked. "And so, what do you guys hope by combing through these reports?"
The two looked at each other again. "We are hoping to have some idea on where to search. We don't really have anything we can use to trace Elan, but I also want to avoid searching around blindly."
The older priest burst out laughing. "If it's that easy to locate these demons' lairs, then there would be less half of jobs for us." He shook his head. "If you guys don't have any better plans, how about we made a deal?"
"Deal?"
The other nodded. "My team's often sent for reconnaissance job around and out the city, so I might be able to help you hunt around the places where Elan and that demon could probably be. But, in turn of helping you guys, I also want you to lend me your hands for something."
"What kind of job are asking for, exactly?" Arthur narrowed his eyes.
"Ahahaha! You can really look mean if you want to, huh?" Peter crossed his arms. "Just a simple surveillance, really. Something about our last mission bugged me, but the higher-ups are insisting on closing the case despite the huge damaged it caused."
"Maybe they weren't that concern because there wasn't anything useful left? And there wasn't any casualties, too, so they probably want to move on to the next thing," Kyrie gave her thoughts.
"That's what most of the people would think. But cases directly connected to one of the demon hierarchy--and from the first hierarchy, to boot--are quite rare as it is. Those creatures rarely ventures out in the human plane themselves, so what changed now? Are there many more from the hierarchy surfacing our world? It is really puzzling.
"And yet the church doesn't seem to be that concern of any of these. They're not even that bothered that Leviathan, the demonic serpent of the depths, was sighted publicly in the streets, amongst other humans."
"Okay, I can see your point," Kyrie replied. "I mean, a big shot like that could be a sign that some thing's happening or is about to happen, and the church's lack of reaction to this is a bit concerning."
"Something fishy is going on, and I want to know what it is. So, what do you guys think?"
"Not to be a party crasher," Arthur interjected, "But I think I need to make a report to this back home. Part of my job here is to monitor the job in the church and record any problems. If your speculation has some truth in them, in addition with that conclusion regarding the suspicious technology, then we might be overestimating the weight of these jobs."
"Wait! If you do that, then won't we have to tell them what we're doing here, and also about Elan and the runaway demon girl?"
"She's right," Peter supported. "Besides, like you said, this is a really big accusation, so we're going to need some evidence to back it up."
"Come on, Arthur! Besides, we're we supposed tp be doing this quietly so we won't get into trouble?"
Arthur looked at them for a moment then sighed. "Fine. I suppose we need to prove them first; they're all just speculations in our part. And if the possibility of an insider both in Heaven and in the church is proven, we would need to know their identity."
"Perfect!" Peter clapped. "We'll need to take more in details in a much private place. And I think we all know not to talk about this unless we are definitely alone, like now. Because I can tell you now, if Isabel hear a word about any of this, getting kicked out of priesthood will probably a mercy for all of us."
At that warning, both teens swallowed in fear before nodding.