At the Villa that the group were provided hastily by Laterano. They were currently all looking at Ash working on something, grumbling.
"I could be researching in Paradiso right now, I need to learn the mysteries of the seaborne." He mumbled.
"No way, you lost! So you're helping me edit my movies!" Nian refused and she had a smug look on her face.
They fought with rock paper scissors for their bet. But Ling put a dimension shifting mist on them so they won't see or hear anything when they decide on a gesture.
And Nian's luck won over his. "Fine, I'll do it. I promised I'd do a good job on it." Ash rolled his eyes.
"Nian, Ash has better uses for his time than to edit your movies..." Margaret deadpanned at the dragon whose tail was swishing around.
"Hmph, everyone should be honored to work on my movies! I mean, I'm the best director in the world." Nian had a proud smile on her face.
"Hmmm, did you say something?" Dusk cleaner her ears with her finger. And everyone else ignored Nian.
They all knew of her movies, she forced them to watch it. The flicks weren't bad per se, but they were mediocre at best.
"Alright, here. I treated it as a documentary, it doesn't have actors that are playing a role anyways." Ash shrugged.
"Come on, come on! Let's get it on!" Nian immediately transferred the file into a flashdrive and she pulled everyone with her powers to watch it.
Dusk only let herself get dragged because Ash told them it was a documentary, which interested her.
"Woah... Did he do a voice over on it?" Ling got interested as Ash explained the war against Yan and Ursus that happened at the year 1096 that will change the world forever.
Even the airheaded Ceobe listened, because she liked hearing his baritone voice.
"Hah, that should keep them busy... That took a lot out of me." Ash stretched, popping his neck and spine.
"Maybe I should check out Laterano on my own? See if they have anything interesting out here." Ash smiled at the thought of discovering some more institutions like the place where they give citizens their patron guns.
So he left the villa for now, not really needing any bodyguards.
"Hmmm, a cup of coffee should be good?" Ash nodded and he went to the shop from earlier.
Sitting down on his seat, he mulled over the plans needed to bring more allies to the Red Axis.
Ursus is definitely a no go, because they're greedy fucks that want to make Ursus great again.
"Maybe I should design some merch for them, saying make Ursus great again. Ultranationalist bastards." Ash snorted.
Yan is even more pissed at them. They were still embroiled in a civil war that doesn't seem to die down.
The worst of it was they were getting supplies, tons of it. Even their weapons and armors were better than the government's.
"I guess that even the standing armies here are just like Earth's. They have shit gear and military grade means it was the lowest cost bid." Ash smirked as he read reports from his ghosts stationed at Yan.
"Hmm, Victoria is kinda tricky too. We should start gathering Intel there. Vina is starting to shape up, she'll most likely ask help to take the throne in a year or something." He rubbed his chin in thought.
He started making an outline of what is going to happen next. Victoria is a no go, because that's Vina's problem. And he already took responsibility for her.
It won't be fair to people like Enciades and the empresses that rose to power on their own. They would definitely complain that he's biased towards them.
"Not that I would help them much anyways." Ash snorted. An empress instated by Paradiso wouldn't last long anyways. The country would always doubt her if she receives excessive help.
"What about Sargon? There's like tons of desert and forests there. "Maybe round up the tribes? Sargon, Sargon." He looked it up in their database.
"The country is poor and there's tons of resources there waiting to be unearthed. We also need as many soldiers for the army too. Damned seaborne asswipes, why can't they just create a stable ecosystem?" He massaged his temples.
He could feel it, time is not on anybody's side. And Terra's mainland is still fighting all over like idiots. Which humans always do of course.
"I guess beefing up the army would be a good choice. We can also dig up oil rigs there. Dubai's a desert and they had a lot of it. Maybe it would be good to check it out." He wanted some cool cars.
Originium and electric cars suck, they don't have roaring engines. And he could always fix climate change.
"A good long time plan... Cause climate change because people don't give a damn. And then when it affects things, fix it for a price." He nodded sagely.
Planning on squeezing more money from all the nations. Or just make them indebted to Paradiso, ramp up their achievements.
"Uhh, hello. You're mumbling silently with a scary look on your face. Are you okay?" Ash heard a voice from the side and he craned his neck.
He saw a sweet looking girl with long pink hair. Her eyes were also the same color. Though she was in a wheel chair. (pic)
What's weird though, was she is an obvious PWD. Carrying a sniper rifle with her in a shop.
"Guns on Wheels, damn. Laterano sure loves their firearms, if I give her a machine gun. Wouldn't she be a convoy vehicle?" Ash muttered under his breath.
"Um, hello~" The girl waved in front of him and broke him out of his daze.
"Oh, sorry. What was that?" He shook his head and he raised a brow.
"You were mumbling with a scary face sir, are you okay?" She looked at him with concern. But she also felt his anger and annoyance with their empathetic powers.
"Huh? Was I? And I'm being rude, my name is Asmodeus, what's yours?" Ash introduced himself.
She giggled with mirth and hid her mouth using her hand. "What a gentleman, I'm Lemuen. A cardinal of Laterano." She smiled softly and Ash thought she is quite lovely.
The woman reminded him of Adele, if the caprinae was mature. She was soft spoken and has a kind aura.
"Hello, Asmodeus. You're dazing off again." Lemuen chuckled and he blinked.
"Oh, sorry. You just reminded me of someone." Ash couldn't hide his bitter tone.
"Forgive me for reminding you then." Lemuen apologized and he was surprised.
"No, you shouldn't apologize. And can I ask why you did so?" Ash was sure his words didn't warrant one.
"We Sankta actually have a special ability. That's why we don't really talk much with each other. We can feel emotions of others. It makes people that aren't Sankta frustrated sometimes." Lemuen explained with a giggle.
"Ahh, I could see that. Like you're talking through telepathy or something. And others would have no idea of your next action or words." Ash already knew it, but he pretended.
"That's right, I remember when I was on duty. Our friend who wasn't a Sankta would get frustrated that we just spring into action sometimes." Lemuen smiled wryly.
"A good memory that can't be the same now, huh?" Ash smirked at her and Lemuen's eyes widened.
"You... You can do it too?" She was both excited and shocked. Speaking with others who aren't Sankta is quite difficult because they were used to feeling each other's emotions.
"The Sankta's ability isn't that special you know?" Ash looked at her halo, he analyzed it a bit and felt some energy from there that's reaching out.
So he did the same and he could feel Lemuem's regret and sadness.
"Interesting, so you are a special person?" She was more interested than suspicious.
"I guess you can say that, more than you can imagine." Ash smiled at her and she pouted at his cryptic words.
"Hmph, you're teasing me." She huffed at him and he laughed.
Lemuen then smiled, feeling his emotions lighten up. Not in the way that it just disappeared like how Sankta does it to hide them. It genuinely turned into amusement and positive ones.
"Are you okay now?" She put a hand on his and he nodded.
"Hmm, I guess coming here for a small coffee break turned into a nice accidental meeting." He smiled and Lemuen was happy for him.
"There are no accidents." She nodded sagely and he raised a brow. 'Why do I feel like a turtle said that?'
"If you say so. We'll most likely meet again, you did say you're a cardinal." Ash stood up and Lemuen wondered.
"Why? Are you here for business? Is that why you're so stressed?" She tilted her head.
"Maybe, maybe not. See you later Lemuen, it was nice talking to you." He patted her head and she pouted at him.
She watched him go and was curious of his identity. "Hmmm, Father Yvangelista must know of him. Whatever, may he be blessed." She prayed and rolled herself back to her home.
Ash felt a bit lighter after talking about just mundane things with Lemuen. He looked at the fake sky and thought about Kirsten.
"She hasn't contacted me since, she's probably working on a project to go to space? Now that I think about it, there is that translation I haven't received from Kal'tsit yet. Ho'olheyak, who is that woman? She knows a lot about Terra's secrets..." Ash let his thoughts wander.
"Ash?" A woman called out to him and he was quite surprised that another person that he knew is at Laterano.
"Kal'tsit, Amiya, and the Dokutah?" Ash raised a brow. They were a pharmaceutical company. Laterano citizens that are infected are actually banished from the country. So there was no reason for them to be there.
"What are you doing here sir Ash?" Amiya blinked and she started to get nervous. Remembering that they did most of the work to rescue the Dokutah.
"Um, good evening." The Dokutah bowed slightly while Kal'tsit's mind is running a mile a second.
'What should I do? Did he forget about the translation? Would he be angry at us?' Kal'tsit began sweating.
They were supposed to be undercover to check out the treaty. Especially because it concerned all of Terra. And it will result in a huge impact for its inhabitants. Not only the average Joe, but those infected with oripathy as well.
"What are you doing here?" Ash raised a brow and they froze.
"Ummm, just sightseeing?" The Dokutah answered due to his nervousness and Kal'tsit glared daggers at him.
"Alright... Kal'tsit, Amiya, what are you doing here?" He asked again; his tone, steely.
"We... We wanted to check out the meeting between nations. You didn't seem to be alright, so Rhodes island was concerned about it getting into blows." Amiya answered truthfully.
"Amiya." Kal'tsit looked at her for a second, but she decided to leave it to the Cautus. She's the leader of Rhodes island, she can't hold her hand through everything.
"Oh, that? Sorry for almost thrashing Chernobog. But it's basically useless now still. Anyways, watch however you like. But I bet Yvangelista won't give you a seat on the meeting." Ash shrugged.
They won't be able to influence his decision making anyways. Rhodes island might be a famous landship due to them helping infected. But due to Paradiso, more people are flocking to them.
Though their mobile city is always on the move. So they rally them most of the time to Kazimierz and Leithanien. Then pick them up after filtering spies or unruly individuals.
"Ahhh, and Kal'tsit. Can you send me the translation about my kin now? I bet it's done yeah?" Ash gave her a meaningful look.
Kal'tsit cursed inside her mind, she was hoping he would forget. It contained some revelations about his really aggressive behavior. And he might decide to give in to it later if he knows why.
"I... I'll send it to you." She couldn't delay it any further though, he knows it was done. And he gave her plenty of time for it.
"Good, then see you later." Ash was about to leave, but Amiya stopped him.
"Umm, sir. Is Closure alright?" Amiya was concerned about the vampire.
"Closure? Never better, she gets along well with Maria. They build all kinds of stuff in their free time." Ash shrugged.
He could feel them sigh in relief. So he didn't fault them for asking him if he was okay. Ash didn't want them to do so anyways. Blowing up on them isn't worth it.
"Then it was nice meeting you. Until next time, good day." Amiya bowed at him and he waved his hand lazily.
"T-that was nerve wracking." The Dokutah sighed in relief. Kal'tsit nodded with a frown.
"I wish we were strong enough back then to help Adele... It's my fault, I was one of the casters, I should have been able to lead and do more against Talulah." Amiya gritted her teeth.
"Amiya, you can't change it now; or ever for that matter. Just be glad that they aren't making it hard for us. It means he doesn't blame us to be the sole reason for the sudden change in mission parameters." Kal'tsit rubbed her temples in stress.
"Let's go, we need to try and meet up with the pope. Ash seems stable, but we don't know what he's capable of." Kal'tsit gestured for them to follow and they left for the church.
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Thanks for reading everyone, ciao.