Kurama looked back at Kuwabara with a small smile.

"Don't worry. If justice prevails, there should be no reason for them to hold us," he assured lightly. He knew quite well how the system worked, given that he'd been run through it quite a few times.

"So then, shall we?" Abel questioned. "I trust you all well enough that I don't think you'll run off. Don't make me regret that, okay?"

The priest grinned, as if he wasn't escorting a bunch of potentially dangerous people who may well have been Vampires. Still, if they were, he would have thought they'd attack an agent of the Vatican, or at least used haste to disarm him. Besides, the dark red-haired one seemed quite sensible...but clever at the same time. Between him and the two shorter ones, he'd have to keep his eyes peeled. Or at least the shortest one.

He led the way onward, towards the main building. He trusted that Tres had dealt appropriately with the Ifrit and any buddies it might have had.

Kuwabara cheered up due to his immense faith in justice. "Yeah! Justice will prevail! Thanks, Kurama!" Yusuke laughed. Retsu shook her head. "Great, now he's gonna be going on about justice and all that crap..." she muttered with a faint chuckle, and Hiei snorted. "I'm actually amazed he's so good at English," he responded as they all followed Abel.

The fox demon was still smirking as he turned his gaze forward and followed after Abel. Even when they were in a mess like they were now, the others still amused him greatly. Even Hiei with his biting remarks. He was certain it was more out of affection now than actual scorn.

They'd need that unity if they were to figure out what had happened and how to deal with it...

"I imagine Kuwabara takes his studies a fair bit more serious than Yusuke. With a sister like Shizuru on his back at all times, I'm actually not surprised he knows English so well."

"Ohh, right!" Abel said, as if he'd just realized something. "Do any of you happen to know Italian? It's fine if not, but it would be helpful if you did."

The main language of Rome was still Italian, of course, but a lot of the population had taken to learning English. Needless to say, most people nowadays could speak it just as well as they could speak their native tongue, as it had become a universal way of communication. Accents in the way one spoke usually revealed if they were from the Tzara Methuselate, Albion, Italy, Germanicus...pretty much anywhere.

"I can speak it well enough," Kurama responded. He'd dabbled in several language studies, just to keep himself busy, but he didn't want to have to depend on his Italian to get by...

Hiei shrugged. "Not my best language, but yes," he said in a slightly bored tone. Retsu let out a fake gasp. "Hiei spoke a full sentence to someone other than Kurama or me! It's a miracle!" Hiei glared half-heartedly at her, then snorted.

Kuwabara nodded vigorously in response to Kurama. "Yeah, Shizuru can be real scary when I don't study..." he commented with a slight shudder, then shook his head. "Nope. English and Japanese only, sir." Yusuke jerked his head towards Kuwabara. "What he said."

"Well, that's alright. I was just wondering," Abel commented. "Sorry, but Japanese isn't a widely used language around here, and I'd very much like it if you didn't mention to anyone but my superior that you're from Japan, and refrain from using the language as much as you can."

He sighed inwardly. This was gonna be a real mess...Japan hadn't been rebuilt from the Armageddon, there were hardly any surviving Japanese lines...it was going to be enough to see these people, they'd stick out as much as he, a 6'3 silver-haired priest with glasses normally stood out...and if they spoke in their native language...well, that would just be unacceptable. If the Orden had brought them heer, they knew from where they'd brought them.

"Do you think that we were brought here by someone in your time?" Kurama questioned, and Abel was surprised that he had asked such a question, or thought to ask it just from Abel's silence.

"...Perhaps, and perhaps not."

Retsu raised an eyebrow. "Would you mind telling us why? And... I can't speak Italian, either, but I can understand it." Not quite the truth, considering she couldn't really tell Italian from gibberish, but Hiei could translate for her telepathically. There was no need to tell that to this man, though...

Hiei let out a "Hn," and she sighed. "Aand... We're back to 'hn's..." she joked, and Hiei shook his head. "So you think we were brought by someone here. Mind telling us who?" he practically demanded. Hell, even Yusuke had more tact than Hiei, sometimes... But only sometimes.

Kuwabara grinned. "Hey, guys, I just realized something! Finally we're around someone as tall as me! I'm not surrounded by short people anymore!" Hiei and Retsu both glared.

(Mule. Sorry.)

"I'm not disclosing any information right now. I have to verify your current standing before I can. I'm sorry, that's just how things have to be."

Kurama could not keep from feeling slightly frustrated, but he knew why this man had to keep the information from them, and questioning it would not make a difference.

Speaking of the priest...

"Begging your pardon, but isn't your back hurting you?" he questioned. Abel cast him a sideways glance, continuing to walk.

"Yes, actually, but I have a job to do. If I don't do what I have to, my boss will be very displeased. And I must say that her wrath is quite awful, thus I'd rather not invoke it."

Retsu grinned faintly. "'She'? Nice..." she commented. ~I thought Genkai was the only scary human female...~ she told Hiei, who snorted in amusement. ~Indeed...~

Yusuke laughed. "You're afraid of a woman?" he teased. Kuwabara elbowed him in the side roughly. "Oi, what about Keiko?" When Yusuke paled slightly, Kuwabara chuckled. "'Course, Shizuru's pretty scary, too..."

Hiei snorted. "I hate being kept in the dark..." he muttered, but subsided when Retsu nudged him.

"Ohh, you should never underestimate the power of a woman," Abel chided. "My boss is a monster, I swear...always making me do such hard jobs, not letting me get any sleep, and not allowing me enough money to eat! I usually only have four dinars to my name, for Christ's sake!"

The priest sighed, slumping a little as he walked.

"Why me?" he moaned.

Kurama smirked in amusement. This fellow really was quite interesting...even if a bit of a ham.

Kuwabara looked a little confused. "Shouldn't priests get like, a discount, or something?" he inquired, scratching his head. Yusuke, for once, was consistently looking more confused than Kuwabara, due to the fact that he had to keep translating in his head, and everybody talked so fast! It was almost enough to give him a headache...

Hiei's lips were curled in a faint grin. "Tch. He always underestimates the power of a female. He simply doesn't learn," the fire koorime said with a little chuckle. "Kurama and I, however, know better, don't we fo-- friend?" He twitched, ever so slightly. He'd almost called Kurama "fox," like he usually did, and he wasn't sure if the redhead wanted that particular bit of information spouted off in front of the silver-haired priest. Sure, he'd already been told they were demons, but still...

He hated referring to other people as "friends" out loud...

Retsu smothered a chuckle.

"Gender is irrelevant in ascertaining danger," Kurama agreed, not at all acknowledging Hiei's almost-faux pas. He actually thought it was rather funny that Hiei had been forced to use a most unwanted title for him. Teasing could come later however.

"Priests getting a discount? Hardly," Abel replied to Kuwabara, waving a dismissive hand. "We're men of God, apparently we aren't to take more than we receive."

Hiei twitched slightly again. Kurama hadn't even acknowledged his almost slip-up. He knew the fox. That didn't mean anything good... Oh, shit... he thought. I'm definitely going to be in for it later...

Retsu mentally nudged Kurama. ~We'll be getting Hiei about that later, won't we?~ she asked after hopefully gaining the fox's attention. While Hiei might not care, she preferred not to invade others' minds, especially if they were friends. Or, as Hiei would prefer to call them, allies.

Kuwabara shook his head. "But priests serve the people, right? I'd think that the people could show a little appreciation..." he muttered.

"You'd think that," Abel said with a sigh. "That's not the way it works."

Kurama likewise didn't respond physically to Retsu, though of course he did mentally.

<Well, there's really no reason for me to bother him about anything now, though a small warning about tact is in order.>

---

Eventually, Abel had led Kurama and the others into the embassy, and knocked hesitantly on Caterina's door. It opened, and immediately his eyes crossed as one of Tres's Jericho M-13s pointed just between his wintery eyes.

"T-Tres, it's me!" he yelped.

"Acknowledged. Father Nightroad, what has detained you?"

"I told you already, it's these five," Abel commented, pushing Tres's huge handgun aside. "How are things here?"

"A Vampire has attacked, but it was not the Ifrit of earlier. Target has likewise escaped, but the Duchess of Milan is safe."

"...I see."

Abel was relieved to hear that Caterina had come to no harm, but another Vampire? Things in Carthage were becoming very dangerous...very fast.

"May we enter, Tres?"

"Positive."

The shorter priest backed away, holstering his gun and making way for everyone to enter. Abel and Kurama passed the doorway quickly into the Cardinal's quarters, at which point the fox demon's eyes were drawn to whom he assumed was the Cardinal herself.

She was a beautiful woman, clothed in rich reds, whites, and golds. Her steely eyes were narrow and calculating, a monocle on the right one. Even beneath her Cardinal's vestments, the curves of her body could be traced with the eyes, but what drew the eye most was the expanse of large ringlet curls blossoming from beneath her Cardinal's hat, trailing down to her middle back with two large curls at each side of her face.

Beautiful and deadly. That is what Kurama saw. She was the personification of the rose.

"Good evening. It is my assumption that you are Cardinal Caterina Sforza," he greeted politely, bowing slightly to accentuate his politeness. Caterina inclined her head in greeting, then studied Kurama for a moment. She did not speak.

Hiei smothered a snort of amusement when Abel's eyes crossed at the gun, but swiftly grew serious again. I hate guns... he thought as he and Retsu followed Abel and Kurama, Kuwabara and Yusuke trailing along behind them.

Yusuke whistled. "Dang, nice guns..." he commented.

Stopping a little behind Kurama, Hiei gave a curt nod of his head in greeting, not caring that it wasn't particularly polite. It was as polite as you were gonna get from him.

Retsu shook her head and followed Kurama's lead, bowing politely, but not speaking. Kuwabara stared at the Cardinal for a moment, then, seeming to remember Yukina waiting for him back home, snapped out of it and bowed. Yusuke stood there, looking bored. A moment later, though, Kuwabara, without saying anything, reached out and shoved Yusuke into a bow. "Hey, what the hell was that for?" Yusuke yelped, glaring at the orange-haired teen. Kuwabara rolled his eyes.

Tres did not comment on the compliment Yusuke gave to him, or more specifically, his guns. Instead, he turned to Caterina, as if waiting for her verdict on these strangers.

"Father Nightroad...now isn't the time to bring a group of civilians into the embassy. There's too much going on," she chided. Abel opened his mouth, but it was Caterina who once again spoke. "However, these are not civilians, are they?"

Abel was going to speak again, but this time, Kurama cut him off.

"No, your Eminence. We are not civilians. To my understanding, this is in the years of 3000 a.d, is it not? Well...we are not from your time, and I believe your subordinate knows something of it."

"I--"

"DOes he now? Perhaps you'd be willing to explain this to me in more detail, and convince me that what you say is not a pack of lies?"

Retsu raised a hand to cover a smile. Poor guy. Keeps getting cut off... she thought. Out loud, she inquired, "And how might we do that?" The others decided to keep quiet.

"By way of my explanations, as is the norm, it seems," Kurama commented, exhaling softly. "Your Eminence, I cannot rightfully explain this without the information Father Nightroad has withheld. However, based on a deduction made with no background information. I would venture to guess that it was someone on your side, since at the time of our transfer, we were fighting an enemy demon. Before you ask, I would like to inform you that myself, Hiei, and Retsu are demons. Given that you are a Cardinal, this might seem to hold a negative connotation, but I assure you the translation of the word is not...exactly demon."

"He's right," Abel finally got in edgewise. "And Caterina...I do believe them, because of the time they say they are from 2008, I believe it was."

"That was before your time, Father," Caterina responded sharply, but not unkindly. Her attention turned to Kurama. "We don't have time for this, I'm afraid. HOwever, your situation is of interest to me, so for the meantime, I can extend a secretive protection to you. The only stipulation is that you not cause trouble. Abel is correct to withhold information from you, because you are not to be trusted at this point in time. For your benefit, you will not be arrested. Simply under regulation and charge of any members of my Special Service. That included Abel Nightroad and Tres Iqus."

She gestured to each priest in turn.

"Is that understood?"

Kurama kept his silence, deciding to let the others decide first.

Hiei and Retsu exchanged a glance, then Retsu sighed quietly and nodded. "Yes, ma'am," she murmured, and Hiei nodded in agreement.

Kuwabara looked extremely dejected, but agreed. There was a pause of a few moments, while Yusuke translated in his head, then he grumbled, but still agreed. He was used to being the good guy, not having to be under the supervision of others...

(*snorts* He is under supervision of Keiko in school.)

"Good. Now then, tomorrow I will be further interrogating you, but for now, I think you deserve a respite. Most of us do. Father Abel, I've sent Sister Esther to her room. If you would please escort these five to some rooms of their own in the embassy and report back here? I have orders for you."

Kurama's eyes narrowed. Interrogation...he had a feeling she wasa saving the more annoying questions for later...

((Well, aside from that. Lol!))

Retsu raised an eyebrow. Interrogating? she thought. Oh, joy... Despite her thoughts, however, she bowed slightly again and thanked the Cardinal. Hiei simply nodded again, his hands shoved in his pockets.

Yusuke laughed a little. "Hey, at least we get rooms!" Kuwabara nodded in agreement with Yusuke. "Yeah. Still, anybody else feel like we're being treated like glorified prisoners, or somethin'?" he muttered, and Retsu elbowed him in the gut. "Unless you want us to be treated worse, I'd suggest you stop talking now," she hissed, and Kuwabara blushed slightly in embarrassment, rubbing his gut.

"Yes, ma'am."

Kurama rolled his jade-colored eyes, then turned to Abel, who was already heading to the door, and followed him.

The others followed, Hiei shaking his head, and Retsu joining Kurama in the rolling of the eyes. Kuwabara was still rubbing his gut.

"That hurt..."

"Let's look on the positives. At least you don't have third-degree--"

Kurama flinched. Abel's burns...had they...shrunken a bit?

Hmm...seems I'm not the only one that has things to explain, he thought. He was definitely going to question the father about that...

Hiei noticed, as well. What is he? he wondered. For those burns to already be healing, even a little, he can't be human... But he seemed not to know of the existence of demons...

It didn't take long for Abel to lead the group on to a few empty rooms.

"There should be some clothes suited to Carthage in the rooms," Abel told them. "Please help yourself to them, though I'm afraid that some of the sizes may be off."

Mostly, he was thinking about Kuwabara and Hiei when he said that...it was one extreme to the other, and if it was hard enough to fit Abel for clothes, he could only imagine how Kuwabara would do. The others seemed fairly normal though.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to divide you all into three rooms. Miss Retsu in her own, and two of you boys a room, please. Just to minimize the work for the maids, you know?"

"That's fine, but Father, may I ask you something?"

"Mm? Yes, what is it, Mister Kurama?"

"Kurama is fine, but anyway...would you mind telling me exactly why you are healing so quickly?"

Abel tilted his head curiously.

"Uhm...I'm not. But as I said, I had to deal with things. If you don't mind though, I have to go take care of it before it gets infected, so if you'll excuse me..."

Kurama let one hand drift to his pocket.

"I'm not letting it go, Abel." he said flatly. The priest sighed softly.

"There's no need to keep on, it's nothing..."