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Story Update 22
Author: oooh, I may just cry with happiness.....
Lavi: Author-sweety?
Lenalee: She's probably just excited about the new update.
Kanda: I guess someone has to be...
Allen: What's wrong Bakanda? Feeling a little... crazy?
Lenalee: That wasn't very subtle Allen-kun...
Lavi: he was trying to be subtle?
Kanda: You're looking DEAD tired there moyashi. *sneer*
Allen: Oh har har. At least I'm not talking to people who AREN'T THERE.
Kanda: Of course not.
Author: Boo hoo... boo hoo hoo... so happy...
Kanda: That was last week.
Allen: *Pulls out Crowned Clown*
Kanda: *Unsheeths Mugen*
Author: STOP RUINING MY HAPPY! *bangs heads together*
Boys: *out cold*
Lenalee: Glad someone finally did it.
Lavi: I'm so happy for you Author-babe!
Author: I know right! I'm totally feeling the love today, so lets see if I can pull something out of this rusty old brain of mine. I've been mulling some of this stuff over a little, but it might be a bit fuzzy this entry, so I humbly ask my reader to bear with me for a while. *bows*
Lenalee: Shall we begin again then?
Lavi: Aw, Author-chan can I PLEEEEEASE do the disclaimer?!
Lenalee: Oh god NO. Don't you remember what happened LAST time?!
Author: uhh.... *blinks*
Lenalee: *facepalm*
Lavi: PLEEEEEEEEEE-
Lenalee: Author-chan... for sanity's sake say no.
Author: uhhhhh....
Lavi: -EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-
Lenalee: Noooo....
Author: Uhhhh....
Allen: rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Everyone: *stops and blinks*
Allen: What? I thought we were making weird noises. Is that not what we were doing...?
Author: Uh. No.
Allen: Oh. Carry on then.
Lavi: *inhales* -EEEEEEEEEEEE-
Lenalee: Author-chan... he has to run out of air at some point. Just wait.
Author: uhhhhh...
Lavi: -EEEEEEE-
Lenalee: DON'T. BAD AUTHOR. STAY.
Author: uhhhhhhhhhhhkay.
Lavi: -EEEEEEEEEEEYES! *Fist pump*
Kanda: I don't know what's happening here, but my stupid senses are tingling.
Allen: Blimey! Are you like... the Japanese spider man or something!?
Kanda: No.
Allen: You ARE, aren't you! I knew it!
Lenalee: You thought he was Japanese Spider man?
Allen: No. But I knew he had a thing for spandex. *sneers*
Kanda: Oh, You are so dead. You had better start running ten seconds ago because when I get a hold of you I'm going to cut you SO HARD-MUMPH.
Lavi: *hand over Kanda's mouth* Quiet Yuu-chan! I'm about to do the disclaimer!
Kanda: *death glare*
Lavi: Okay... so... Author-chan doesn't own D.Gray Man or any of its characters! If she did... well... lets just say things would be quite different.
Lenalee: ... that's it?
Allen: wait for it...
Lavi: And the boys would have to wear maid uniforms at least once an episode. *nods*
Allen: Oh come on... That's just creepy.
Author: Uh... I dig it. That... might have to happen at some point.
Kanda: *Pulls out Mugen* Mumph mmmrph mmmph mm.
Lavi: What was that Yuu-chan? You like the idea too?
Lenalle: and THAAAAT is our que to start the update.
Lavi: *screams like a girl in the background*
Author: Uh. Yeah. I agree. Now everyone, stop killing Lavi and get to your places! Kanda! Let him go! I said Let. Go. No! Bad Kanda! Go to your place!
-*-*-
Pieces of the Heart Part 22 (oh bejeezus!)
Komoui walked down the darkened hallway, anxiety heavy in his chest. In front of him, Alteara's golden hair seemed to almost glow in the dim light as the light curls bounced with each step.
"Komoui-san."
The science head jumped, red dusting his cheeks when he realized that he had been staring at the back of the blonde for almost two corridors.
"Yes, Alteara-san?"
"Ah," The blonde smiled back "Please, Alteara is fine. I'm really not one for formalities."
"Oh. Alright." Komoui smiled back, albeit a bit shakily. "Alteara then."
The blonde smiled for another moment, before realizing she had been the one to start the conversation.
"Right. Um. I just wanted to tell you... Or, well, fill you in on what you're about to see."
Komoui swallowed thickly, his throat suddenly feeling much tighter, cutting off his air supply. "He's... dead right?
"Yes... and no." The blue eyed girl looked away, tracing the cracks in the walls with her fingers. "He's currently in a state in between. The darkness is trying to take his body and... well.. he doesn't need to be in it for it to succeed. So even though he might move, and talk, please remember that this is NOT Walker-san. We tell you when you may believe his words." She stopped, and turned to stare the dark haired man in the eyes. "You have to be strong Komoui-san. With the way you have behaved up till now, I believe you will be okay, but I've seen stronger men crumble in the face the darkness, and we will not belittle you for knowing when enough is enough." She gave him a grim smile that did little to raise his spirits.
They walked in silence for a few more moments, before Komoui raised the question that had been chewing on his mind.
"So... He will be able to talk?"
"Not through his body. Anything that he may say or do cannot be trusted. Luna will take care of that though. She can tell you when the Darkness is speaking, or when it is Walker-san truly speaking to you."
"... Truthfully, I'm a little nervous to be around Luna-san. She's... She has a strange feeling around her."
Alteara's smile dimmed a bit, a slight furrow creasing her brow. "She's just a bit nervous. It takes her a while to get used to new environments."
Komoui blinked. "Nervous? She certainly didn't seem so..."
Alteara smiled as if she knew a great secret. "You have to get to know her first. Then you'll be able to see what she's feeling. She's actually really nice! And she's funny too. She always knows how to leave me rolling..." Alteara giggled a little, obviously remembering something funny.
Komoui hummed in thought, crossing his arms and thinking back. He did remember when the red head attacked Leverier with a chair in his office. That was kinda funny...
"We're here." Alteara said softly. She turned to komoui one last time. "Be prepared. The Darkness will try to use you to it's benefit. Don't be fooled. If you're confused, look to Luna. She will help."
Komoui nodded, steeling his features. With a nod in reply, Alteara raised up a gentle fist and knocked three times on the door.
As if it were a signal, the screaming started immediately.
"A-Allen-kun!" Komoui choked. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end at the animistic cries from inside the room. He turned to Alteara, panic in his eyes. The girl returned his gaze with a firm shake of her head. Komoui backed down a bit, but he was already shaken. He wasn't sure how much of this he was going to be able to handle...
Komoui wasn't sure if he really heard the gentle "Enter" spoken underneath the screaming, but Alteara seemed to be sure, and opened the door a moment later.
The room was dark, lit only by a few candles arranged around the head of the solitary bed centered on the far wall. In the bed, Allen was thrashing about, brown hair flipping wildly from side to side as he strained at the restraints holding him down. Both arms, from the wrist to the elbow, were encircled by thick padded cuffs, sickeningly familiar to the supervisor. Around his waist were three thick belts, all straining from one side of the bed to the other and barely holding the boy in place. Both legs had similar cuffs, reaching from ankle to mid calf. The rest of the boy was sparc-ly clad in a standard order black sparing uniform that komoui had seen him wear before while training with Kanda. The restraints were held in place by thick silver chains, which clinked violently with each movement, sending chills up Komoui's spine.
Allen seemed inconsolable. He thrashed his head from side to side, arching his back and straining against his bonds. He growled deep in his throat, screaming as he tried to free himself. Komoui's attention immediately fell on Allen's left arm, which, instead of being it's normal black color, was a deep red, almost reminiscent of his innocence's original form. But this red was not quite the quiet port-wine stain that he remembered. It was almost an angry red, looking infected and inflamed. The worst part was the dark stain just barley visible on the shoulder of his black shirt. He really hoped that wasn't blood, but he wasn't too optimistic about it.
Komoui was already uncomfortable, staring as if frozen at the boy across from him who, if he remembered correctly, was definitely supposed to be dead. It just made it so much worse when he realize that Allen was screaming his name, as if pleading with him to release him. Before he even realized it, he was back-peddling right out of the room.
"Stop."
And Komoui froze, one foot at the threshold, as if the word itself had chained him in place. (And the irony of that thought was not lost on him.) It was then that he noticed a simple chair, the only other piece of furniture in the room, sitting in the corner, opposite the bed. On the chair sat Luna, staring him down with bright green eyes that seemed to glow, even in the darkness of the room. For a moment, he wondered if she had done something to freeze him in place, but that though dissipated when she spoke.
"If you leave, you won't be able to come back."
Komoui blinked, before uttering an intelligent "What?" His gaze flickered back and forth between Allen (Or what was left of him) and the red head in the corner.
"There is a time limit." Alteara answered from Allen's bedside. She was staring down at the struggling boy, as if he wasn't screaming and snarling and spitting at her. Komoui though he must have been going crazy.
"Wh-what do you mean 'time limit'?" he asked.
"What is about to happen needs to happen soon. Or else you'll miss your chance to speak with Walker." Luna returned. "His time will be up soon, so we must act quickly. We've already let much too much time slip past."
"What's about to happen?" Komoui struggled to keep up with the conversation. "What is going on here?! What do you mean 'speak with Allen-kun'?"
"Listen closely Komoui-san." Luna stood from her seat, walking over to the bed. After a moment of hesitation, Komoui followed her.
"I will connect you to Walker's mind. Once you're there, I want you to ask him if he will give us permission to perform the ceremony to return his soul to it's rightful owner."
"Wait." Komoui held up his hands, hoping to stop the flow of information for just a moment. "What ceremony? I already told you that i'm not going to approve either of the options-"
"Those options were only for your test Komoui-san." Alteara cut in. "We are not planning to follow through with either of those plans."
"What we have in store will save Walker-san's mind and body, without bringing harm to anyone else." The blonde continued.
"And that is...?" The science head prompted.
Luna sighed. "The explanation will take away from precious time we need to get Allen's permission. Are you going to be okay if you're too slow and can't save him?"
Komoui paused, looking torn. "I can't... I can't very well agree to something that I don't know about yet. For Allen-kun's best interest..."
"Alright." Luna nodded, seeming a little less disapproving. "I'll try to make this brief. The darkness has tangled itself with his psyche, and ventured deep into his soul. You must travel through his mind to find the purest part of Allen, and secure that he does, in fact, still exist somewhere in his mind. This operation can not continue if he has given up completely. Once we've confirmed his existence, Alteara and I will perform a ceremony that will pull Walker's soul from his body in a solid, visible state. Then we will proceed to pull the soul apart piece by piece until we've isolated the darkness. Once that's done, we will replace the pieces of soul in the proper order, and after a bit of recovery time under Alteara and my care, the boy will be good as new."
Komoui had nodded along to the whole speech, and now looked a little more comforted. "Probability of success?"
"75%." Luna answered, and Komoui looked surprised.
"That's a bit better than I thought it would be..."
"It's actually rather generous." Alteara said. "But we must get started soon."
She turned to the bed where Allen's body had stopped struggling, but was now watching the trio with wild eyes. Quickly, she placed a hand over the amber orbs, sealing the boy in place.
"If you'll take my hand Komoui-san, and close your eyes please?"
The science head took a quick glance at Luna, who nodded curtly, and reached out for the blondes hand. After a reassuring look at Alteara, Komoui closed his eyes.
"You will feel a pull" Alteara's voice softly cut through the darkness. "Don't fight it. Let it guide you."
And he did feel it. Somewhere behind his navel, it suddenly felt like a vacuum had opened, dragging him first softly, then with much more force, down into the stone floors of the order. The material molded and pressed against him, taking him down... down...
The pressure kept getting worse, and soon wit was a struggle to breathe. The science head tried to remain calm, but his body was beginning to panic, limbs twitching and flailing against his will. Even that was sluggish at best, as he felt like he was moving through gelatin, unable to gather any speed. His inability to move raised his panic, and suddenly his mind was screaming that he couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't breathe!
In his panic, his eyes rolled searching for any way out, anything that could help him. His mouth opened to yell, and he was surprised by a cloud of bubbles bursting forth and floating upward, and no air filling his mouth, his lungs, but only water, deep and murky. His eyes followed the bubbles, and latched on to a sparkle of light above him.
Without even a moment's though, the dark haired man began swimming toward the light, desperate to reach the surface. The world started getting black around the edges, and the pressure on his chest was immense from inside and out. All he could think of was air, AIR, AIR.
And then he broke the surface.
With a massive heave, and strength from a reserve he didn't know he had, he hauled himself half-way onto the shore, ejecting water from his lungs and bringing in precious precious air. He landed on his chest, arms too week to support him any longer. Fisting the grass between shaking fingers, he tried to stop the spinning of the earth for just a moment, desperate to get his bearings. He coughed violently, gasping when he could. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears, fast and frightened. That had been so close.
So close.
Deciding the he probably shouldn't stay waist deep in the water, the water-logged science head raised himself onto shaking arms and pulled himself further onto the shore. Once he had gotten most of the way out, he sloppily rolled onto his side, curling as he still tried to regain his breath. After several grueling moments, he could feel his body finally returning to normal. His tired heart slowed and his breaths evened, but the energy lost while fighting for his life would not return. He was exhausted.
But even though he would have liked nothing better than to lay in the grass and let his eyes close, he knew he had to keep going. He had to find Allen.
Wait...
"Grass?" The tired boy mumbled, cracking open his eyes. Sure enough dark green blades of grass tickled at the side of his face, and crunched under his heavy coat.
He pushed himself up with a bit of difficulty, getting himself into a seated position, but still leaning on shaking arms. Looking around, his jaw dropped in awe.
"This is..."
He couldn't really find the words for it. He wasn't sure if what he was looking at was really real or not. In front of him was a large expanse of water, presumably what he had just escaped from. It was smooth, like a glass sheet, reflecting the dark sky filled with stars. Jutting from the center of the water was a massive black tower. It looked like stone, blackened from age and ware, and was crumbling in most places. It shot upward in jagged peaks and towers, to where the top of the tallest tower came just beneath the bottom of a mechanical moon, made of metal plates and rivets, dripping with gears and wires.
Komoui could feel his heart constricting with recognition.
"the Order..."
And it was. Underneath the grime, carnage, and age, the science head could almost make out some larger features of the current Order building in which his section resided. But this, most certainly, could not have been that building.
"What... what happened...?" He gazed around. Around the lake was a line of obsidian trees which held no leaves. Their black twisted forms mimicked the destroyed building on a much smaller scale. Other than the trees, the background faded into black. Komoui was unable to find any recognizable features of the normal clifftop building.
He slowly spun in place, looking for anything that may help him figure out what he was supposed to do. Allen-kun had to be in here somewhere... but where?
"Well" he mumbled to himself after a few minutes of fruitless searching. "Just standing here isn't really going to get me anywhere... Guess I'll look around."
He took a few steps, wincing uncomfortably at the water sloshing in his shoes. His clothes were heavily soaked, even after wringing them with his hands several times, but he refused to leave his jacket behind. He could feel the cold chill in the air on his face and hands, and even though his jacket was soaked, it was at least keeping him warmer than he would have been without it. Still, he wrapped his arms around his middle as a shiver climbed his spine. Hopefully walking would warm him up a bit, and help him dry.
Deciding to head to the right, ("Right has to be right, right?" wink the boy set off, walking a bit slower than normal. He was still tired, and the water was weighing him down. He also didn't want to miss anything, no matter how small. He needed to find Allen-kun, so he had to keep his eyes sharp.
As he circled the black tower, slowly making his way around the edge of the lake, he began to notice something strange. No matter how far he circled, the moon always stayed at the top of the tower. It was as if it wasn't even in the sky, but was actually hanging in the air, much closer than anticipated.
He wasn't sure why the thought made him nervous, but it did.
After a circling a bit longer, he started to grow impatient.
'Wasn't I supposed to be on a time limit?' He growled to himself. 'If only there were some sort of sign..'.
And as if someone had been listening, a light appeared in the forest.
The science head spun in place, startled by the sudden illumination. All he could see was a bright yellow orb, hanging around the treetops. Curious, and spurred onward by the change, he walked toward the treeline, trying to get a better look. A few trees into the forest, he froze in place.
'Is it really a good idea to wander into a dark forest after something strange?' he wondered. Gnawing on his lower lip, he turned and looked at the tower he was leaving behind.
'Well... If all else fails, I can always follow the moon back to the tower...' Somewhere in his mind, he wondered if that was the moons purpose. A beacon of sorts for the lost traveler? But just how many travelers could be lost in Allen-kun's mind?
Returning to the object of his focus, Komoui, once more, sought out the source of the yellow light.
The trees weren't very close together, but they're deep black color succeeded in snatching away as much light as possible, so a few more paces in and he was practically feeling his way through the forest. But he kept catching glimpses of the light through the branches, and knew he was on the right path. And very suddenly, he was out of the trees, standing on a small stone pathway.
He glanced around. A black pole stood off to one side, with the yellow light sitting atop it. It was a lamp post.
'huh' Komoui blinked in surprise. 'wonder why this is here?'
A short distance away, another lamp post ignited into existence. The science head was startled a little less this time, but still managed to jump. He looked over, following the light, and realized the stone path was connecting the lamps.
'whoever you are...' Komoui whispered to himself 'Do you want me to follow...?
And another lamp ignited a few yards further.
Making up his mind, Komoui began to follow the lights. The stone path twisted and winded through the obsidian trees, and the dark haired boy desperately tried not to acknowledge the twisting in the gut, warning him about how he could no longer see the dark tower, or the mechanical moon hanging above it.
Far behind him, the first lamp post extinguished.
***
Lenalee stalked the corridors of the order, unable to grace the passing finders and scientists with her usual smile. She felt like she was being left out of everything! All she wanted was to see Allen again! The edges of her mouth tugged downward a bit more, increasing her unusual frown. And now it she felt like something was wrong with her brother. He was with Luna and Alteara (and Allen her mind stressed) so he should have been safe, but he was her only family, her Nii-san, and she could just feel him. And right now he felt... scared. Nervous. Alone? She didn't know what exactly but it certainly wasn't helping her ever-failing mood.
She was passing by Allen's room again when she was stopped in her tracks by a loud 'Thunk' on one of the doors she was passing. After blinking for a moment - 'don't you usually knock from OUTSIDE of the door?' - she suddenly realized that it was Kanda's room.
"Kanda-ku-"
"STOP!"
She practically leapt backwards from the door at Kanda's strangled cry, unsure of what to do. Was he yelling at her?"
"Don't TOUCH that!"
Well now she was certain he wasn't talking to her, because she was only touching the floor.
"Kanda?" She called again, knocking on the door. There was a rather pregnant pause before she heard some rough scuffling and a few muffled curses before the door was wrenched open, revealing a rather disheveled looking Kanda.
"What?" He growled, which lenalee knew was a nicer version of kanda for 'Shut up, I don't care, leave me alone.' But really she would take what she could get at this point. She wasn't up for negotiation.
"Who's in there with you?" She asked, noticing the way he was bodily blocking the portal into his room. "I heard you yelling."
"I'm always yelling." He grumbled. She raised a brow at this.
"Yes well, you're always yelling AT someone." She returned.
"I yell at things too." Kanda pulled a rebound.
"To tell them not to touch things?" Lenalee drives one far to the outside.
"Things can touch things too." He saves it at the last second, but lenalee's already at the net!
"Kanda. Stop lying." She smashes for the ace!
"..." And kanda lets the ball slip by! The audience cheers! Lenalee 1 : Kanda 0.
"Let me in." She sighs, elbowing her way past the boy. She takes blatant advantage of the fact the he refuses to hurt her bodily, out of respect for her kicks or fear of her brother, she didn't really care which.
"Lenalee wait-"
She pauses at his doorway, and looks around. The room is obviously empty. She even takes a few steps and peeks under his bed for good measure, but there is really no one there. She tilts her head in confusion, then turns to the boy, who looks too relieved to have not been hiding something.
"Soo..." She offers. "You were yelling at something?"
"Che." The boy scoffs, turning his head slightly, long hair swinging awkwardly behind him.
"Kanda, you hair is all messed up. Come here and let me fix it." She sighes, as if she's his mother. She notices the red dusting his cheeks, since he probably came to the same conclusion, but she doesn't give any indication that she has. And then to her utter surprise, the boy walks up to stand face to face with her, and abruptly turns around, offering her his hair.
"Thank you." She mumbles, at a loss at what else to do, and takes her time gently gathering the black strands together, back into their collective ribbon. She reminisces of a time a few years ago, when he would always come to her to fix his hair. It gave her a reason to interact with him, a connection between them, and was practically the basis of their budding friendship. She was suddenly very grateful that the man had such nice long hair.
"Done." She chirped, feeling a smile tug across her face. Something about visiting Kanda always made her a bit more cheerful. Maybe it was that the boy's home country was close to hers? A kind of 'foreign kinship' maybe? Or maybe it was just that he was her stubborn samurinja friend, who never failed to make her laugh with his antics. Whatever the reason, she felt worlds better.
"Thanks." Kanda grumbled, not looking at the girl. Instead he kept his eyes fixed on the empty side table in the corner.
"Where's your hourglass?" She asked, coming around to stand next to him. She could almost feel how rigid he went at the question, and was seriously hoping she hadn't overstepped her boundaries.
Kanda stood stock still for a moment, before he melted a bit. "Komoui has it somewhere. I think in the infirmary maybe?"
"My brother wanted your incense burner?" She wondered. "I thought they didn't let things like that into the infirmary."
"... maybe he wanted me to feel more at home in there."
It wasn't really a question between them. She could feel him trying to end the conversation, and she wasn't really sure why.
"Why do you keep an empty hourglass as an incense burner anyway?" she asked, looking back at the table.
Kanda didn't even try to answer that time. He just shrugged, and Lenalee knew when she was out-stubborned.
"Well, would you like me to ask him to give it back, next time I see him?"
Kanda didn't even shrug this time, just stood in place.
"Fine." she sighed, raising her hands in defeat. "I'll leave you to whatever moping you're currently doing. Just... take it easy with the 'yelling at things' thing. People might come snooping you know? and I know you like your personal space."
"Thanks." he grumbled at practically a whisper.
"Remember to eat lunch today." she nagged. "I didn't see you at breakfast during your usual time, and I KNOW you're too skinny to be missing meals." She began to back up toward the door.
"Mmm." He noised.
"I'll ask brother about your hourglass." She smiled again, before closing the door to the room, leaving Kanda in dark silence.
"Empty glass..." He mumbled, turning and falling back onto his bed, hoping to ignore the red head that had quietly been standing in the corner the whole time.
On the table in the corner, a lush Lotus practically glowed.
***
He wasn’t sure when the obsidian trees had blured together into a massive wall of darkness, but he was certain that it must have happened while he was pondering the mysteries of the lamp posts. Komoui’s arms wrapped a little tighter around his midsection, desperatly trying to brush the chill from his body. He didn’t know why Allen-kun’s mind was so cold, but still being soaking wet wasn’t helping at all. No matter how he tried, he couldn’t still the shivers racing up and down his spine.
Pausing in the pathway again, he turned and counted the little glowing orbs that he could see behind him.
“…18… 19… still 20…” He murmured to himself, a gentle frown tugging at his lips. His eyes moved upward into the dark sky, and settled on the iron moon. At least he could see it again. It had taken a bit of travel, but once he was far enough down the path, the moon had risen above the tree line. He also thought that he could almost make out the very top of the ruined tower beneith it, but it really could have just been a tree. Shrugging, he turned in back toward the way he was traveling. No matter how far he went, there were always two new lamps in front of him, and twenty behind him. In the beginning, when he had first turned around to glance behind him, he was startled to realize he had only traveled twenty lamps. They weren’t too far apart, maybe ten yards, but he had still thought that he had traveled farther than that. If felt like he had been walking forever. His watch, which he had been wearing since the beginning, was no longer working, and he wasn’t sure if it was due to his impromptu swim or just a part of Allen-kun’s mind. Probably thirty minutes later, he had turned around again, and was startled to find only twenty lamps behind him again. In a moment of panic, he had doubled back, but when no more lamps lit up behind him, he stopped. The path disappeared into darkness, and he wasn’t sure if his mind was imagining what looked like squirming shapes and writhing creatures just beyond his line of site, but he didn’t want to find out. So he had turned once more, and continued in his original direction. Whoever was guiding him only wanted him moving in one direction, and he couldn’t really find the courage to object in this dark forest.
All of that had been almost an hour ago, and the science head was really starting to worry about how long he was taking. Hadn’t Luna and Alteara explained that there was a time limit? How much time did he actually have? Surely they had accounted for navigation time through Allen-kun’s mind right?
Komoui was ripped from his musings when he realized that he had traveled past a lamppost, and the next one had not ignited. Glancing down at his feet, he toed the edges of the ring of light, teetering on the darkness. Looking back up, he could see the stone path traveling deeper and deeper into the forest, and disappearing into the dark. He squinted, adjusting his glasses, but no matter how he looked, he could not see any light.
He mused how to continue, when suddenly a loud crack sounded from his left. He jumped, backing away instinctually. Something was crashing through the dark forest, and from the sounds of it, it was large, and it was angry.
He immediately backpedaled, moving under the lamp-post, but realized that all this accomplished was making him a bigger target. As quickly as he could, trying not to panic as the thrashing and cracking became louder, he slipped just outside of the ring of light on the opposite side of the path, reaching the tree line and crouching down, trying to hide in the shadows. For a moment, he cursed whoever had designed the supervisors outfit to be a startling white. Really, it just made him an obvious target regardless of the circumstances.
The crashing grew ever closer, but something felt odd. Through all of the cracking of tree limbs and frantic rustling, he couldn’t hear any noises that an animal might make. No odd gruntings or cries of pain. Whatever it was, was perfectly silent.
With a resounding crash that pulled him straight out of his thoughts, Komoui flinched at the splinters of obsidian that flew from the tree-line. A large black bundle, around the size of a small komorin, surged forth and crashed into the path, shaking the ground. The dark haired boy flailed for a moment before falling out of his crouch and onto his backside. He stared in horror as the dark creature surged and writhed, expanding and collapsing on itself in the middle of the path. As far from the light post as it was, he could still recognize it for what it was.
A mass of pure Darkness.
It squirmed on the tile, thrashing from side to side, rising and flattening on the ground. It kept stretching in directions, as if something inside were pushing out, before it would crash in on itself. And in a moment of horrified clarity, Komoui realized what was happening.
It was eating something.
He clasped a shaking hand over his mouth, trying the stifle the gasp he knew was coming. His mind filled with the terror he felt when being chased by the ‘dark’ Allen across the Order’s grounds, facing his own death under the full moon. He had been too occupied with restoring Allen to realize just how frightened he was of the enemy they were facing. His whole body was shaking, and the arm that wasn’t silencing himself was wrapped contrastingly around his torso in a desperate attempt to hold himself in place. If he bolted now, the creature would definitely see him.
He watched in silence, praying to any god that might be listening that the creature would simply move on, disappear into the dark forest and as far away from him as possible. He wanted to help Allen, desperately so, but he was not an exorcist. He was not an accommodator. He had no weapons on him, and no way to fight. He was mortal, and he was pretty sure that in this game, that was a fatal flaw.
And then he was shaking for a whole new reason. An intense feeling of anger and frustration swept over him, and he glared hatefully at the thing that was destroying one of his exorcists from the inside out. There had to be some way he could be helpful, something he could do to help Allen.
And then he saw it.
The darkness parted, for a split second, under the intense struggle of whatever it was consuming. In the gap, a patch of silver hair shown through, before the creature closed in on itself once more.
Komoui was up before he even realized it.
If Allen was inside of that thing, then Komoui was going to get him out, or die trying.
“LEAVE HIM ALONE!” he yelled, rushing forward.
For a moment the darkness stalled, and Allen took that chance to attack from the inside. The Darkness began writhing, splitting open everywhere and revealing more and more silver.
Komoui grabbed at it with his gloved hands, and was surprised when the creature came back solid. He pulled, ripping away tendrils as if the darkness were an overgrown plant. In the back of his mind, he registered an intense burning in his palms, and hissed through his teeth, but he didn’t stop tearing at the creature.
He sank to his knees, pulling and prying, and once he could see a large chunk of silver hair, he murmured an apology in his head before reaching in and grabbing a handful. He pulled gently, but firmly, trying to bring the boy closer to him and out of the darkness. He was surprised when something wrapped around his arm and pulled with him. He recognized it as one of crowned clowns silver ribbons that Allen-kun often used as impromptu ropes. With new determination, he surged to his feet, and with a final yank, pulled the boy from the mass of darkness.
With the loss of it’s target, the darkness shrank in size, consolidating back into a medium sized lump. It squirmed and seemed to size up it’s prey. A silver flash burst from behind komoui and shot into the shadows past the darkness. He turned around, expecting to see Allen-kun, with that determined yet optimistic look on his face, maybe a soft smile, but there was nothing. That silver flash… Had Allen left him!?
Turning back to the darkness that was bearing down on him, Komoui shivered and began backing away. Throbbing pain shot up his arms from his hands, and he wasn’t really sure he could use them anymore. He felt something slide against his leg, and his head shot downward to see thick tendrils curving around him, inching ever closer to his body. He braced himself, steeling his nerves for one last offensive before a blinding light filled the area.
The darkness screamed, and smoke instantly began to rise as it struggled to escape. Komoui looked up, blinded by the sudden light, but recognizing the golden glow of a lamp post. Somehow in his struggle, he had ended up right next to an unlit one on the path. He felt something curling around him again, and struggled for a moment until he registered the soft brush of cloth. Turning, he came face to mask with crowned clown, which was wrapped around his back and peering over his shoulder at the struggling darkness. Komoui turned as well just in time to see the creature liquidate into a puddle and slip through the cracks in the stones, gliding out of the pool of light and into the shadows of the obsidian forest.
He stared for a moment, listening for any sounds indicating another struggle, before heaving a shuddering sigh and collapsing on the ground.
Under the protective light of the lamp post, Komoui raised his shaking hands to observe the damage. Deep bruises covered his palms and fingers, trailing onto the backs of his hands and up his arms. The gloves he had been wearing had dissolved right off of his skin, and most of his sleeves up to his elbows were gone as well, torn to bits as if he had dunked his arms in an acid bath. His hands were in so much pain that he could barely extend his fingers from their tense claw shape. He was shaking badly, and suddenly doubting whether he could even finish his mission with his hands in this condition. The light from the lamp post was not making the bruising recede, so either they weren’t sun lamps, or this wasn’t the darkness marking his skin at all, but actual bruising.
With a sigh, he inspected the bottom of his coat and pants, which were also eaten away. His shoes were destroyed, there was barely anything left of them, but luckily the bruising on his feet was very minimal, and only on the tops. He could still walk. There were several marks up his legs as well.
“Well…” he sighed. “At least I still have my glasses.”
From behind him, a rustle of cloth sounded before a silvery cloak billowed into his view. Soft feather like fur surrounded a silver mask that sparkled in the lamp light. The mask tilted, as if in question, as the cloak gently floated around it.
“Crowned Clown…” Komoui whispered, watching the creature in front of him. What he had mistaken for Allen’s hair must have been the soft fur of the cloak’s hood. Allen was not here, it was just his innocence.
The mask tilted in the other direction, re-capturing his attention. He watched it, wondering what it was thinking, before the eyes on the mask raised in what he assumed was a smile.
The innocence gently moved forward, making a close circle around the science head and brushing against his arms and back like a cat.
‘Komoui…’
The dark haired boy snapped to attention at that.
“Who… Who’s there?” He asked, looking around.
‘I am right here…’
He looked down at the mask that was so close to his chest, looking up at him with an almost loving expression.
“Crowned…Clown?” He gaped. Was Allen’s innocence… TALKING with him!?
‘That is the name my Allen gave me, yes…’ The voice carried softly. Komoui noted that while Allen was definitely male, Crowned Clown’s voice was rather androgynous, neither male nor female, but somewhere softly in between.
“But how… you… can speak?” There were so many thoughts and ideas running through Komoui’s head at this new discovery that his mind was left reeling. Innocence could communicate? Did that mean it was alive? That it was sentient? What did that mean about their treatment of it? Could this be used to help with the war? Could they find new exorcists simply by speaking with innocence?
There were so many new possibilities…
‘You’re mind is clouded…’ The soft voice and slight admonishment stopped his racing mind, and he looked back down at the mask. ‘We are here in our host’s mind, but that does not mean that we speak to our hosts. We speak, and if they listen, then they listen.’
And suddenly Komoui understood that he was probably not going to get too much information out of this new discovery. Crowned Clown had an odd listing way of speaking, as if everything were of the same importance, in the same tone. It spoke slowly, with emphasis to each word that ended up giving no emphasis overall. In the end, it was just soft, soothing noise.
“I apologize for my distraction.” Komoui spoke softly, hands reaching up to gently cup the mask floating in front of him. He winced, but didn’t stop his actions. He wanted to connect to the innocence, to explain his purpose and leave no hard feelings behind. “I’m searching for Allen-kun, and it’s quite urgent. Oh.. you’re not harmed are you?” He began looking the innocence over for any signs of damage from the fight.
‘Do not fret.’ Crowned Clown answered softly. In gently nuzzled against his fingers and he relished the feeling of cool metal against his burning bruises. ‘That one cannot harm me no matter how hard he tries. Instead, he has taken me from my Allen, locking me away in the darkness. My Allen could not search for me there. My Allen could not find me there.’
It almost sounded sad, and komoui felt like his heart was breaking.
“Then why don’t you come with me to find Allen-kun? I’m sure you miss him.”
The mask looked up at him, eyes no longer sparkling with joy, but blank and vacant. It was silent for a long moment, and just when Komoui was starting to wonder if he had said something wrong, Crowned Clown spoke again.
‘I will travel with you.’
And as simply as that, the cloak wrapped itself around the dark haired boy, furry hood nuzzling into his neck while the mask landed on his collar, just under his chin. A sudden feeling of warmth filled Komoui’s body, and he almost melted in its caress. He hadn’t noticed the chill still surrounding his body in the post-fight adrenalin haze, but now he could certainly feel the warmth around him, and that combined with the adrenaline seeping out of his system was enough to leave him in a sleepy haze. He shook his head, trying to regain his senses, before struggling to his feet. He stumbled a bit to the side, but he could feel a pull from the cloak around him as it kept him upright. The silver cloak closed on his front, leaving him fully wrapped in its warm embrace, and it almost seemed to grow longer, reaching down to his feet and hanging just above the ground. He was geared to travel.
As if the gods knew he was prepared, another lamp post ignited in the distance.
***
Lavi kept his emerald eye anywhere but on the floor as he struggled to make his way back to his room. His shoes sloshed through another puddle, sticking to the stone with a wet squelch, but he kept moving, ignoring it with every part of his mind.
‘You don’t see it… you don’t see it... you don’t see anything…’
The chant had been running through his mind for the past few hallways in a last desperate attempt to make it back to his room with some type of normalcy. No one else saw the sickly red puddles decorating the orders corridor. When he had asked Reevers if the science department had spilled something, the man had quirked a brow and asked where he had seen the mess. So either he was completely oblivious to the inch deep puddle staining the bottoms of his sneakers, or the man didn’t see the rivulets of… whatever it was, all over the floor.
blood. His mind supplied, and he desperately tried to block it out with his chanting of ‘you don’t see it. You don’t see anything. You DEFFINITLY don’t see anything on the floor!’
The strong scent of iron wasn’t doing anything to calm his racing mind. How could he be seeing things and smelling things? That wasn’t normal at all! Could he have some kind of brain damage? What if it effected his memory?!
He raced into the library, ignoring the odd looks cast his way by several finders standing by the doors. A shiver climbed his spine as he stepped into a particularly deep puddle, and it splashed up his legs. He paused for a fraction of a second, eye closed in disgust, before moving on with even greater urgency. If he could just get to his room… maybe all of this would go away! He must have been dreaming or something!!
Finally reaching the book-case that housed the door to his chambers, Lavi froze. Blood was actively running in thick streams across the floor, and seeping out from behind the rows of books. And the books… none of them were the one’s Lavi remembered having on this shelf. All of them looked exactly the same: a thick black tome with swirly gold lettering.
“Your… Guide?” Lavi murmured the text, brows raising in confusion. “Guide to what?”
He reached out to touch on of the books, but the second his fingertips brushed the thick leather binding, the book dissolved away like ashes, scattered in the wind. He watched as tome after tome of the same book dissolved into dust and mixed with the thick, sticky puddles on the floor. His head snapped upward at a loud popping noise, and just managed to avoided one of the taller shelves falling and smashing into the ground, spraying blood and splinters and book ashes everywhere. Peeking out from the arms he had used to shield his face, he stared at the carnage. As if it were being eaten by termites in fast forward, the shelf was dissolving along with the books.
“Sir, exorcist!” A call from behind him caught his attention, and he swiveled around, shocked look still in place on his face. “Are you alright?”
The finder looked genuinely concerned, or so he thought. It was a bit hard to tell with all that blood dripping down his face.
What on earth was going on?!
“Sir exorcist?” The finder approached at Lavi’s hesitation, and the red-head instinctively stepped back a pace in tandem.
“I… I-I’m fine.” He tried to wave the man away, since he couldn’t back up anymore without stepping on the dying remains of the bookshelf.
“Did the shelf harm you?” The finder asked, leaning over to look behind Lavi.
“You… you can see it?” Lavi whispered sharply, leaning in a bit.
“Well… of course!” The finder replied, looking a bit confused and a slight suspicious. “A whole bunch of us heard it fall! It made quite the racket. You must be in God’s grace that it didn’t hit you!”
“Y-yeah…” Lavi laughed a bit, squirming in place. He glanced behind him again, looking at what used to be the doorway to his room, but was now a bloody ash-covered mess. He most certainly couldn’t get in there now. But where could he go…?
“Sir exorcist… are you sure you’re alright? You didn’t hit your head? It looks like you’re bleeding a bit…”
“EVERYTHING looks like it’s bleeding a bit!” burst out of his mouth before Lavi could control himself. The finder reeled back, as if the words had physically snapped at him, but before he could say anything else, Lavi was doing damage control.
“You know what, Hayoto-san” Lavi’s mind supplied the name as if he had known the man his whole life. “I think maybe I might need to go lay down for a while. Maybe I did hit my head or something. I’ll be sure to stop by the nurses station and then maybe I’ll go for a walk or lay down. Yeah. I’ll find a nice spot and lay down. Maybe outside. Outside is nice today. Have you been outside today? It’s really nice. You should go out there. But not with me. I need to lay down. Outside. So I’m going to go do that. Outside. Lay down, I mean. So I’ll see you later? Would you mind cleaning up this shelf for me? Cuz I think I need to go lay down. Outside. Or something.”
He gave a weak grin at the finder who simply nodded hesitantly, before he dashed off and out of the library. If he really was going crazy, there was only one place, no, one person he could turn to…
* * *
They travelled in relative silence.
At first, Komoui was a bit disturbed by the quiet that hung between himself and Crowned Clown. He had tried to fill the void by thanking the Innocence for providing him with warmth. He hadn’t really realized just how frozen he had been until the feeling started to return to his arms and legs. A muted, bone-deep, throbbing pain had come with it, but it was a bit more comforting than no feeling at all. At least he could confirm that he was definitely still alive.
Crowned Clown had returned by calculating Komoui’s exact body temperature at the time of their departure, and how the boy’s health status had been in danger, and that his Allen wouldn’t have liked it if someone had died in his mind. The cold, disassociated voice didn’t give Komoui much comfort, and so the science head had returned to silence to ponder what could happen if he died in someone else’s mind.
They were still on the stone path, passing lamp post after lamp post. Crowned Clown had never moved from his place as Komoui’s cape, keeping the boy warm and moving. What had changed was the scenery. An hour ago, maybe, (he still had no way to tell time, and he wasn’t sure he was being quite accurate at it anymore) a soft white dust had begun to fall from the black sky. Slowly, the world around them began to get lighter. The trees turned from obsidian to slate, and were once more lightening into a steel gray. The sky was the same. Where had once been a black sky with oddly twinkling stars was now a stony gray dawn, just teetering on the verge of sunrise, but with none of the beautiful colors. Everything in this world, Komoui had realized, was one of three things. Black, white, or a Gray shade in between.
He kept walking, even as the white dust, which he quickly realized was snow, (which explained the cold temperatures in Allen-kun’s mind) quietly grew into piles along the side of the path. Crowned Clown had curled it’s hood up over Komoui’s head to keep the cold off of the boy, and occasionally gave itself a small shake to dislodge accumulating snow.
The world around them was eerily silent, leaving only the soft crunch of komoui’s footsteps and his gentle inhale and exhale, sending a puff of white into the sky.
“Stop”
Komoui stumbled to a stop, confused by Crowned Clown’s sudden insistence.
“What is-“
“Quiet”
The science head froze, stiffening in place. The soft utterances were urgent, and contained probably the most feeling he had heard from the innocence yet. His eyes darted around curiously, until he realized something.
Even though he had stopped, he could still hear the crunching of footsteps.
He turned in place, seeking out the origin of the sound.
“Allen-kumph?”
He was stopped by Crowned Clown winding around his mouth, and curling into him more tightly, restricting his movement.
“Do not move. Do not speak.” it whispered into his ear, and komoui blinked in confusion. He stood stock still in the middle of the path, still listening to the crunching of soft, slow, footsteps. Crowned Clown curled more tightly around him, spreading to the ground and closing in on his face until only his eyes remained visible, just through the soft fur of the hood.
But even as covered as he was, he could still clearly tell when whatever it was entered the clearing.
It brought with it first, a strong sense of anxiety. Komoui’s heart began to race, pounding at his ribcage, and he felt shudders dance through his limbs, leaving him shaking. As soon as he recognized how quickly he was breathing, the anxiety plunged downward from his chest into his stomach, and turned into an ice cold stone of fear. It radiated outward, and sapped the heat from his body, stealing away the warmth that Crowned Clown had provided him and making his teeth chatter.
And then it walked into his line of sight.
A person, probably as tall as himself, maybe a little bit taller, was walking across the path, heading from one side of the forest to the other. Dressed in a solid white cloak, it’s hunched over form took slow even steps, crunching in the snow but leaving no path behind. It had no hair, only a gray clammy scalp. It’s face was hidden behind the tall collar of the cloak. Gray hands swung at it’s sides lifelessly, and it walked slowly until it reached the center of the path, not even ten yards in front of them.
And then it stopped.
Komoui was desperately trying to get his breathing under control, but he just couldn’t get his heart to stop pounding in his chest, and each breath ended up sounding louder than the last. He grasped at his torso, physically separating himself even further from the thing in front of him. His fear was primal, instinctual, and all he could think of was how he could run away the quickest. This thing was not human. This thing wasn’t even an animal.
It was a monster.
As if sensing his thoughts, the gray head slowly turned, and the creature brought it’s face around to stare straight into komoui’s eyes.
Dark black pits, devoid of any light, started back, and a ghostly grin sneered at him.
He closed his eyes, shying away from the black abyss hidden in those eyes. He felt warm air blowing onto his face, and heard a breathing that wasn’t his own, and opened his eyes once more only to find the creature inches from him.
“Do not ignore me.”
And then he saw nothing.
Crowned Clown had completely shut him away, aggressively closing itself toward the creature.
“Leave Neah.” The soft voice of Crowned Clown had taken on a hard edge, and was muffled as if only directed outward. “There is nothing for you here.”
A soft rumbling laugh was the reply, and it quickly escalated in volume and menace. And just as quickly as it started, it disappeared all together.
Komoui’s ragged breathing was left echoing in his ears, and he tried to focus on calming himself instead of what could still be lurking outside of his innocence shield. After several long moments, the science head was finally able to breathe enough to fight off the black spots on the edges of his vision. Shortly after that, Crowned Clown began to unwind itself from his person.
He almost expected to see the creature there in front of him, silently waiting to strike, but the path was empty, and the world was once again made up of snow and silence and the shades of Gray.
Author: Well, it looks like i'm going to have to stop here. This update is getting too long!
Lavi: Mou... Author-sweety! Why am I crazy now?!
Kanda: Welcome to the club Baka-Usagi.
Allen: I was crazy long before both of you.
Author: You know... now that I look back on it, there is certainly a lot of Komoui in this update...
Komoui: ... hahaha...
Lenalee: *twirls in* Guys... I was in this update too!! TWICE!
Allen: Yeah... that's weird about komoui...
Kanda: Wonder whats up with that baka-science head showing up so much...
Lavi: *grabs Author* I won't let you have her!! *Sticks tongue out at komoui.*
Komoui: Oh nonono! I have my own girl-I mean...
Group: o_o
Lenalee: ... NOOOO NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO HAVE MY NII-SAN BUT ME!!! *pulls out lazer gun.*
Kanda: What the heck is wrong with that family...
Allen: They're so odd...
Lavi: No one can have my Author-sweety but MEEE! *Chases komoui with Hammer*
Komoui: Nooooo... It's not her....!
Author: Well.. this is certainly a mystery I didnt forsee.... Guess we're going to have to find out who Komoui's girl is... Nee hee hee.... *Evil Plotting*
Until Next time everyone!
Ja Ne~
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