The Deceiver- The First Night: Serpent's Tale

HEAVY EDITING HAS TAKEN PLACE ON THIS STORY!

Disclaimer: Not mine

Try you achiever...

Lie you deceiver...

Die you believer you fool...

The branding was terrible, painful, excruciating. The pain seeped into her blood, and grasped at her heart. Her body rose and fell with the waves of pain. Still, she did not let death claim her. She endured. She always did...

She showed up one day with her innocence already mastered and a note from a deceased Finder in her hand. She seemed suspicious at first, but everyone was these days. She was asked the usual questions, the note was examined and proved valid. She went through the same tests and was eventually deemed safe. She was sent on small missions at first, nothing major. Get rid of akuma in a town, escort some people from here to there, investigate an innocence lead, the usual. She proved excellent in these jobs, and soon began taking on a larger role within the order. She was a new exorcist, another beacon of hope in the withering world.

She had short, cropped silver hair that she claimed was natural, and icy blue eyes that seemed to see right through you. Her finger nails always bore ice blue nail polish to match her steely eyes and she wore black tights, knee length high heeled boots and a sleeveless Black Order tunic, designed by Johnny. On her right arm swirled a tattoo of a snake that she apparently had because it 'was cool.'

She fit right into the close knit group at the order, hanging around with Lenalee, laughing and eating with Allen, teasing Komui and helping Reever. She was always popping up asking in her smooth voice if she could help in any way with the science division or bring coffee to the late workers or mop the floors or some other sma;; but helpful job. She was perfect in every way, she was an angel in disguise. When not on a mission, she could be seen fluttering to and fro on another errand.

To be frank, it annoyed Lavi. He didn't need her popping up and asking to help with his Bookman duties. First off, they were his and his alone to bear. Second off, she couldn't just 'help' a Bookman, there was whole rule book on the thing. Plus, she had this creepy way of knowing exactly what he was thinking and using it to her advantage. When he questioned her about this, she would just laugh and say his face was like an open book.

Your face couldn't be an open book when you were a Bookman. There were too many disguises, too many facades. Lavi wore layers upon layers of carefully conceived personalities, the more he created, the more his true self was hidden. Yet she saw past the happy obnoxious personality that everyone else readily accepted and into the more sullen persona within.

Yes there was something strange about Valhe Pettää and it wasn't just her ridiculous name. It was her sickly sweet personality, her secretive smile, her unexplained origins. Lavi was determined to get to the bottom of it.

Maybe it was her innocence that caught his attention at first. It was an equipment type innocence, which was...innocent enough. However, there was just something about it that seemed fishy. It was shaped like a fancy Spanish blade or a fencing sword if you like. It was flexible, but still razor sharp. It could conduct electricity in a most peculiar way and was most effective in battles with water based akuma. Valhe was quite proud of her innocence, claiming that it was even better than Kanda's Mugen. The tip of it crackled with electricity even when not activated and a small tap from it could set your hair on end.

The thing was, her innocence was already properly formed when she had come to the Black Order. Usually the science division fashioned the weapon into something usable that matched the wielder. Sure, maybe the innocence would have a rough form already, but it had to be smoothed out. Kanda's sword had been polished to perfection, Lenalee's dark boots had gotten more extravagant over the years and even Lavi's hammer hadn't originally been as flawless as it was now. Valhe's innocence however, had been honed before coming to the order, and Lavi didn't trust the silver blade.

Valhe had 'accidentally' hit almost everyone in the order with it, a hard task to fulfil yet one she had achieved quite effortlessly. She took pleasure in seeing people jump, or stumble, or fall, when tapped. She didn't carry it in a sheath, just sipped it through her belt so it was easy to 'bump' into people with it. Lavi had always been able to dodge it though, so he was yet to experience the shocking sensation himself. She'd even hit the old man and Lenalee, both who were usually quite aware of their surroundings and able to doge easily. She hadn't whacked Kanda yet but Lavi suspected Valhe was afraid of him. She always steered clear when he came marching through with a death glare plastered on his face. Just another strange thing about Valhe. Everyone at the order had gotten used to Kanda and his stony personality, but she seemed reluctant to do so.

Lavi had tried to share his suspicions but everyone laughed. Reever handed him the test pages as proof before staggering off to get more requests approved. Komui told him to stop bothering him with false accusations and find someone else to harass, or perhaps test out a new potion Bak had sent. Lenalee had babbled on about war making people suspicious and overcautious, finishing with a big 'I'm always here if you need to talk,' and Allen had waved him off and said to relax. Even Kanda had dismissed the idea, punching Lavi and skulking off to be a gloomy boy as was typical of the moody exorcist.

Lavi hated it. There was something way too odd about Valhe. Why couldn't they see that there was something very wrong with her? She had a snake on her arms. Snakes were evil! The snuck up on people and BAM, you were dead. Just like the snake that swirled around her arm, she was sneaking up and it was only a matter of time before they all ended up dead.

Lavi stalked the corridors of the order trying to look causal and relaxed. Upon closer inspection however, he was on edge. His hand rested on his innocence and his muscles were tense. He was ready for anything.

"Hiya Lavi!"

Lavi jumped a mile into the air and grabbed his innocence out, ready to smack the akuma or whatever it was that was to blame for scaring him. He spun and came face to face with the snake herself, Valhe. She was decked out in her uniform, her innocence at her side, the blade crackling with it's electricity. Her head titled to the side, a cool smile spreading across her face.

"Valhe you scared me," Lavi complained, forcing a smile and flapping his hand around. The girl shrugged and scratched at her silver hair, brushing aside loose strands.

"Your fault," she retorted and drew her blade, the tip centimetres from Lavi's nose. A spark danced around the tip and Lavi felt the hairs on his arms raise in rpotest.

"Watch where you're pointing that!" Lavi complained, annoyed at the way she swung her powerful weapon around as if it were plastic, merely replaceable. The science division were too hard working to deal with that sort of carelessness.

"Speak for yourself," she smirked though she pulled it away from his face. "Your giant hammer is like, inches above my head." Her smile widened, looking even more eerie in the shadow of the weapon.

Lavi growled as she smiled sweetly at him and shrunk his hammer before shoving it back into its sheath. He turned to leave but she stopped him by casually sticking a foot out to send him sprawling. The cold ground welcomed him eagerly and Lavi could almost feel the bruises clamoring to rise.

"What was that for?" He growled, his cheerful mask dropping at the sudden humiliation. Valhe stoof over him, laughing lightly. He clambered to his feet and raised an eyebrow in question, the one not covered by the eye patch.

"I pulled Hopea Käärme out for a reason." The exorcist said, referring to her innocence's ridiculous name. "I wanna sparring partner and I'm not sparing with Mr Sword up his Ass." She was referring to Kanda, of course. Lavi would have laughed at the nickname, if not for the fact that everything about Valhe rubbed him the wrong way.

"No thanks," Lavi snapped. "I don't trust you. I'm keeping an eye on you." Probably not the wisest thing to say to a suspected villain.

"Oh Lavi," Valhe giggled. "so quick to tell me that you dislike me. That could get someone killed you know."

"Huh?"

"Never mind," Valhe turned and began to skip away, singing a little tune that Lavi could just pick up over the sound of her clacking boots.

"So he doesn't, so she falls,"

Lavi shuddered. Valhe was just plain creepy. All the sweet smiles and giggles were the things associated with demon girls who said they loved you before plunging a blade into your heart. Her icy blue eyes were too spooky to be the stuff of light. Everything about her screamed 'evil!'

With a sigh, Lavi turned to walk in the other direction. The pointless interaction had left him eager for some sort of distraction. As he did so however, Valhe's singing rose in volume.

"And so she falls!"

And just then, a deathly screm echoed through the building.

"LENALEE!"

This is just the beginning, so it's kinda short. Hope you enjoy!