Chapter Text
Viper looked outside the window, obscured eyes observing the teenage boy left in his care.
The others went on a mission, leaving him alone with Skull as Luce went to resolve an issue in her Mafia. They felt awkward near the saint, Viper is not the one closest to him. Not for lack of trying but he went in too hard on them the first week. Their persistence in learning about this community who stayed hidden from his sight for so long had tainted his first impression.
But now they had a chance to get closer to the group’s baby.
Skull stood in a cloth akin to a lavender summer dress with long flowy sleeves. The beaded symbols that the arcobaleno now associates with Skull’s cult, and the pattern on the sleeves similar to the one on Skull’s veil was the only clue they had to know it was a probably a summer version of his religious clothes. It did make the kid look more ethereal and ghostly, like a mirage in the corner of your eyes.
Skull had a lot of fun scaring them late at night. The luminescence from his eyes making him look very eerie, like a ghost haunting the mansion. They would enter the room, sense a presence and lift their eyes up to a blurry pale silhouette with two amethyst glowing eyes glaring them down.
The only one not caught was Reborn who upon sensing his kid, put his palm on top of Skull’s eyes and served him the most milky chocolate latte he could tolerate making before sending him back to sleep.
Skull was crouching on the ground, back towards the house and hair frizzy from the humid weather. Viper had half a mind to scream at him to put on some sunscreen but the informant decided to just approach the kid. The sounds of the nearby river soon filled their ears the closer they got to their Cloud.
« Mister Viper, the firebugs are linked together. His papa told Skull that it means they are making babies. Have you ever seen a baby insect, sir ? Skull feel like he only saw caterpillars since he knows they are baby butterflies. »
Skull was crouching in front of a firebug heavy patch of grass, there were at least two or three pairs of linked bugs together. The Cloud just watched them go, his eyes switching from observing the insects to watching the nearby stream of water reflect the sun’s ray.
Viper floated down from his usual centimeters off the ground and stepped down in the grass, misting an illusion of a nap below them. Skull stayed focused on the buzzing of the creatures while scooting over to the Mist.
« I have seen a baby slug, I suppose. I did notice a really small rolly polly once. Though, you could always make Reborn pay me to search for a picture of the smallest insect in the world.
- Wow ! Sir Viper, could you imagine a baby ant ? It would be so small. But no need to make Mister Reborn pay, this saint would not dare bother him in such way.
- It would be, yes. And Reborn would not hesitate to pay in you stead, he did appoint himself as the one to consult regarding your care. »
Viper nearly stopped breathing as his Cloud laid his head down on his lap, eyes lost in thoughts as he fiddled with hem of the Mist’s cloak. Viper breathed shallowly before biting the bullet and running his fingers through the teen’s hair.
Skull hair were a bit curly and the informant theorized that he would look as fluffy as a lamb if the Cloud actually deigned to take care of his hair. Skull simply held them up with purples clips and his veil, finger combing them at breakfast while escaping Luce’s attempts at brushing his hair with a whiny pout on his lips. Bleary eyes not yet outlined with white makeup and dark kohl glaring uselessly at the Donna the rare time she managed to wrangle his hair in more controlled curls brushing down to his shoulders.
They stayed that way for a few hours before the others came back at the mansion.
Skull was in the kitchen, amethyst orbs peering down due to gravity at the packaged kilogram of shrimp before him.
Tonight, they were to have a gala in the Arcobaleno’s honor to officiate them as a group. He feels a bit awkward attending. He had parties thrown in his honor as a Saint but he, he hasn’t done any missions for now. The others always seemed to find them too hard or dangerous for him. As if there existed some beginner appropriate missions in the Mafia.
So he felt a bit undeserving of the cheery atmosphere. Feeling undeserving is not a sensation the saint experienced much, he absolutely hated it. He whispered grateful prayers to experiences the wide and amazing range of the human emotions under his breath to not end up whining to the closest adult about it.
As he was allergic to shellfish, he hesitated on simply… not attending.
Before he could unseal the sea insects, Lal grabbed the bag and put it bag in the freezer.
« I have plans with them. One of my closest soldier expressed a desire for shrimp, recently. Do not touch them. » She hissed in her military voice, still stuck in her leader mindset. She only recently came back from her mission with Fon and had been their duo’s leader.
Collonello also recently blindsided her by appearing at the end of her mission, exposing himself to the Storm who stood beside her. Her recruit’s meaty fingers wrapped around an elegant bouquet of flowers, a stupid smile on his stupid face full of his stupid love. And now she has to explain to the others about him ; joy. Though, judging by Luce’s recent surge in smiles sent her way, it would be a smooth discussion.
She sighed, staring into the beady eyes of the frozen shrimps before shutting the door of the freezer off. She glanced at the pout of the little saint beside her and smiled fondly to herself.
« Come on, Skull. Let’s start preparing for tonight’s gala. You’ll stay beside me and Reborn most of the night, stop pouting about it, I do not suffer idiots for long too. » She brushed his bang out of his face, smiling wider as the saint’s face scrunched at the fluttering touch.
Skull huffed but walked up the stairs to dress for tonight.
This is stupid. This is so foolish and silly and stupid.
Skull held unto the hitman’s suit as Reborn navigated through the ballroom, mingling with these useless Dons and Donnas. They pinched his cheeks and ruffled his hair though the Cloud had to escape two attempts at wiping off his makeup and three Sky trying to touch him with their flames. As was described by the others, Skull simply felt nauseous out of the blue and was quickly extracted out of their grasp’s by one of his mafia guardians.
Reborn laughed at some inane banter he was sharing with a beautiful heiress, one of his arms looped around her waist when his eyes landed on a curious sight.
The little rascal he let wander to the buffet alone was now conversing with some no name mafioso alone. That in itself was not that alarming, multiple people now have been eyeing the youngest of them, eagerly taking any second Skull was left out of their range to intervene. Though they learned to calm down after Verde made an example out of the last Sky who tried to probe the minor with their flames.
What was interesting was the blank faced look on the Cloud’s face. Skull was looking up at the mafioso with an expression bordering on disgust as he glared up at the still chatting man. Lal looked on her way to intervene so Reborn let the situation advance.
He still glanced at Luce to make sure everything would go smooth-
…
Luce looked pissed.
The clairvoyant Donna’s manicured nails left scratches unto the crystal glass she was holding. Venomous eyes glaring at the mafioso talking to Skull. Reborn did not have time to wander why she would react like that that the, until now, festive atmosphere stopped. All could hear the Arcobaleno’s Cloud shouting at the no name cunt who just pissed off Reborn’s protege.
« How dare you speak of them like that ? Do you, worm, not know of respect ? The Gods have been very gracious not smiting you down where you stand yet here you are, bothering your betters by insulting the divine. Do you want to die ? Do you know what lays after death ? Suffering is all that is waiting for you, your balance is askew and cannot hold up against the weight of your sins.
- Who do you think you are speaking to me like that, you brat ?! I am Alfonso Dela Vega and-
- Do not interrupt me again, fool. I shall have to deliver judgment unto your Soul. May your soul be saved. May your life be judged fairly. May you serve the gods without aches. May you burn up in peace. »
Skull’s palms burst into flames, purple licking up the now named idiot’s skin as The Saint held unto this sinner’s skin.
The thing about the Mafia’s flames is that they are, in essence, not similar to fire. You do not get burned the same, do not bare charred marks on your skin after utilization, and even assault made by flames leave traces on the Soul and not the skin. Storm could be seen as an exceptions but look closely to the results and you’ll notice the difference. They do not burn, per say, Flames are not fire, after all.
And yet.
Yet.
Reborn grinned like a madman as the smell of charred meat filled up the space. The other’s invites stood rooted on their feet as the youngest in the room burned a man alive before them. Reborn’s laughter was drowned out by Skull’s victim screams. The heiress in his arm stood impossibly still, breath quickening as she revised her family’s attempts at binding her to the Sun’s besides her to reach their Cloud.
Alfonso felt blinded by light, a purple so bright that it seemed white melted his retina, and humanoid shape, not human, this monster isn’t human, was the last sight blessed unto him by the saint as his soul failed the judgment of fire delivered to him.
Skull looked down at the half melted pile of sinful trash human remains and probably expensive fabric at his feet. The blood sticked to his feet, footprints following him as he walked up to Lal’s side, burrowing his face in her chest while holding her in a loose hug.
« This saint does not like the ball. He said Skull was stupid to believe in the gods, Miss Lal. Why would Skull be stupid to believe in things he saw ? »
He glanced up at her, gaze ever intense as Lal smirked down at him before leading him back to the car, gesturing at the other to hurry up with all this mess.
None of the Arcobaleno looked anything other than proud as the ballroom erupted into chaos.
Gods, Reborn loved this kid.