Since there were currently no reports of Innocence that needed exorcists, and no hordes of akuma that needed clearing out, the higher ups had decided it was well overdue for an inspection of the Ark. Therefore, they had sent out exorcists currently not on missions into the Ark as a sort of exploration team. There were five of them there now: Kanda Yuu, Allen Walker, Noise Marie, Miranda Lotto, and Lenalee Lee. They were to explore and report what they found in a couple of hours, keeping in touch using their wireless golems. That was the reason why Kanda was walking down empty streets with nothing but doors and buildings in sight. Well, he supposed there might have been a tree in the distance but that could very well have been a figment of his imagination. Kanda kept walking and, realizing that part of his exploration was probably figuring out what was behind some of these doors, decided to open one. He picked the next one that he came across and peeked in. Looking inside, Kanda wasn't surprised to find that behind the door was…nothing. Just empty blackness, the same as the time Allen had tried to walk through a random door and almost fell into nothingness. They had all assumed, for the most part, that those were the doors that could be connected to a place but had yet to do so.
Sighing, Kanda moved on, checking every door he came to, his long, navy hair swishing back and forth in his agitation at finding nothing new. His hand unconsciously reached towards his sword, Mugen, grasping the hilt as he wished for something to fight; at least it would make things more interesting. He walked up and down a grand total of three streets with nothing to show for it besides a lot of empty doors and a body that was itching to do more than just walk with no purpose. He would much rather be training; then again, Kanda would rather train than do a lot of things. Finally, Kanda reached a street that wasn't a mirror image of the last three, the difference being that there was an extra door at the end of it. Aside from that, it looked exactly like the rest of them: brown, solid wood with a brass doorknob. After checking all the others, he approached the last door and was surprised to find that there wasn't just black emptiness beyond it, but that it led to a huge circular room. All around the room were more doors, each with a different tiny symbol marking it, simple shapes filled in with a solid color, and above all the doors were bookshelves that were built into the walls and went all the way up to the high ceiling. With a quick glance he took in doors with a green sun, an orange horseshoe, a lavender mountain, and a black star. He couldn't make out the rest of the shapes since those doors were further away. Che, well maybe I can actually have something to report besides streets full of nothing. Let's see what's behind these doors. If they're empty too, I think I'm going to have to kill someone, Kanda thought. Since none of the symbols on the doors had any particular meaning to him, Kanda just picked one at random and opened it. Inside was a blinding light. Figuring that nothing would come from just staring at the light, he walked through the door.
~~~~break~~~~
We finally get a break! Tear didn't normally relish in not doing anything, but she and the group she was traveling with had been going nonstop for quite a while. It was time they took a break.The group was in a large, airy room as, for once, there was a slight lull in their routine of constant movement and action. They were in Yulia City and they had just decided to make a treaty between the three lands: the Malkuth Empire, Kimlasca-Lanvaldear, and those in the Qliphoth. It wasn't long before bed and they were trying to decide what their next move would be. A large, oval, oaken table stood in the center of the room and Tear and Luke sat at two of the seats surrounding it. Guy leaned against the long side of the table, his sword carefully moved out of the way, and Natalia stood a small distance behind Luke. Jade stood near Guy at ease, but still in his ever proper posture. They hadn't had the chance to rest in quite a while and were taking the opportunity to recharge. Still, they had only three days maximum to rest in Yulia City before going and presenting the idea for a treaty before the rulers of the other two countries.
"So we have decided to stay a few nights here. Everyone should take that time to rest up and gather anything that we are running low on," said Jade.
"It's good that we don't have anything specific to do tomorrow. We can take a day off," said Tear, and they all nodded their heads in agreement, though Natalia had lost some of her usual spunk. They were quite tired, even if it wasn't evident to anyone else they came across. They were all usually so busy that no one had time to contemplate rest. "Well if that's all, we should get to bed." Tear and Luke stood up to join the rest of the group as they made their way to exit the room. Just as Guy was about to reach the door handle, a bright light engulfed the room. Instantly, all of them were on alert, ready for an unexpected fight, the type of fights they were used to. The next thing they knew, a jigsaw puzzle of bright white pieces assembled before them in the room, which suddenly felt a lot smaller.
Where anyone who had used the Ark before would expect there to be a number, was instead a small pictograph of mountains colored in lavender. The group pulled out their respective weapons: Tear drew her spear, Guy and Luke their swords, and Natalia had moved across the room, first arrow knocked, giving her space to shoot her bow. Jade stood at the ready waiting to see what was approaching before figuring out how to deal with it, being that he could summon his lance at will or fight with fonic artes.
One could imagine the group's surprise when what came through the light was a lone, tall, exotic man dressed in black with a high ponytail and a sheathed sword at his side. He wore a long, black and red coat emblazoned with a silver crest, knee high boots peeking out from under it. His hair was a deep navy and he had bangs which were encased in two long strands of hair that had escaped the ponytail, one on each side of his face, as the ponytail itself fell to his mid waist. The swordsman's eyes widened slightly in surprise as he took in the scene before him; his fingers immediately found their way to his still sheathed sword, an ingrained reaction to the fact that there was danger around him.
"What is this?" the strange man seemed to mumble to himself. His sword was out and he stood in a defensive stance. Kanda's eyes scanned the room taking in possible threats other than what was in front of him, as well as searching for exits and entrances. "Who are you people?" he asked the group of fighters in before him who just stared at, taking in the pure black blade of the specially made sword and the fact that, instead of an assault, they were faced with a single, very confused looking man.
Slowly, Guy stood out of his fighting stance. He looked questioningly at the man in front of them. "And you are?" he asked back at the man.
Kanda smirked. He understood the question they were trying to ask him but answered "Yes." anyway. He could see a confused look in all the faces before him. The first to gain a nuance of understanding was the brunette, military man wearing all green who stood closest to him who slid back into a more at ease pose. Seeing Jade relax, the others began to alleviate their stances, trusting his judgment, though they were still very wary of the strange intruder. Kanda didn't relax for an instant.
The brunette placed one arm behind his back and used the other to push up his glasses. "I assume by that statement that your name is You?" he asked.
"Not quite." answered the swordsman, smugly.
"Ah. Then please enlighten me."
"It's Yuu. Kanda Yuu."
After a moment of silence Luke asked, "What's the difference?"
"The spelling." he retorted.
"Riiiiiight. Well Yuu-"
"It's Kanda," he snapped at the redhead's assumption that he could call him by his first name.
"Kanda. What are you doing here?" Luke finally got out, irritated that this man could already be this infuriating. He didn't even answer the question.
"Where am I?" asked Kanda.
"You are in Yulia City, in the Qliphoth. I haven't seen you before so I guess you're from the Outer Lands?" Tear spoke up while everyone else seemed to be trying to take in the situation. Kanda just gave her a blank stare.
It will take forever doing it this way, Jade thought with a sigh. He clapped his gloved hands together with a smile and said, "Okay. Why don't we start by introducing ourselves? I am Colonel Jade Curtiss of the Malkuth Empire. This is Tear Grants, a warrior of the Oracle Knights. Next to her is our bipolar redhead, Luke fon Fabre. Behind him is his servant, Guy Cecil, and behind Tear is our resident princess, Natalia. Now, why don't we all sit down and be civil about this. Come, come. Sit." As he spoke, Jade searched Kanda's eyes for a glimmer of recognition at any of their names. He found none, so either the man was very good at deception, or he truly didn't know of any of them by name or reputation. The group all sat again at the large round table, Kanda reluctantly sheathing Mugen as he moved with them. As soon as he stepped from the vicinity of the Ark door, it disappeared, leaving the room to seem darker without its source of radiance.
Kanda's head whipped around in shock. The Ark door had just closed on its own! How was he supposed to get home now? No one even knew where he had gone. His only hope now was to find out where he was and, if he could, get in contact with headquarters so he could get some transportation.
"Now why don't we begin by asking where you came from and how you got here?" Jade asked Kanda. Kanda glared at him. He had the unsettling feeling that he wasn't going to like this man. The others apparently noticed that the door had closed, but not realizing that it shouldn't have, they just kept moving forward with the conversation. If they didn't already know about the Ark, Kanda was not going to give them information about the Order that they didn't need. He sat down across the oaken table from the rest of the group.
"This is more Moyashi's deal," Kanda said under his breath. He sighed in frustration. "I am from the Black Order, an Exorcist. If you know what that is, you'll help me out," he said bluntly, sitting back in his chair, maintaining his proper posture. The group, however, had no idea what he was talking about.
"Where is this Black Order based and what is it?" Natalia asked. "I've never heard of it." She glanced around the table and the others nodded in her direction to acknowledge the fact that they hadn't heard of it either. She may not have directly dealt with every organization in her used-to-be kingdom, but she had knowledge of them, and this Black Order was unfamiliar to her. Perhaps it was in the Malkuth Empire then? The brown eyed girl glanced at Jade but saw no recognition in his face either.
"Che. I'm not about to tell you that," retorted Kanda with his signature scowl.
"May I ask why?" Tear approached. It seemed strange to her that no one in the room at all would know of this Black Order place. They had quite a few higher-ups from all the countries of Auldrant collected in the room. Kanda was getting fed up with all the questions. It had just about used up his reserve of patience for the day, not that he had started out with much.
"Because that would be just about the stupidest thing I could do. The only people who know how to get to the Order are the people that work there, and if you don't know what it is, it's obvious that you don't fall into that category. I am not about to lead enemies right to headquarters now am I?" It was one of Kanda's longer speeches and he didn't much feel like talking anymore.
"Well that's odd. How do you recruit more people if no one knows about it?" Tear asked, intrigued.
Kanda sighed. These people were not going to let him go until he told them something. "I didn't say no one knows about it. We have supporters. I said no one knows how to get there unless they work there." By this time, Kanda figured if they were going to attack him, they were not going to do it by sitting across from him and talking. Because he wasn't sure, he adjusted his position in his chair to appear more relaxed. Jade, who was always alert and had his guard up, noticed the change in the newcomer; only the man's outward appearance had changed: he was still expecting a battle.
Jade took mental note of the contradicting body language of the exotic stranger, but would much rather not have a fight in the middle of Yulia City; the damages would be terrible. Inspecting the man, Jade could tell he was an experienced fighter. He could see the ripples of muscles under the sleeves of his long, black coat when the man moved. Kanda's eyes still scanned the room, analyzing any way it could be helpful in a brawl. The way he sat, with his chair not too close to the table so he could get up quickly if he needed to. And his posture. He was as close to a defensive stance as he could be in while remaining seated. Seeing all of this, Jade was sure that if a fight were to occur, it would not necessarily be easy on their part, even with the superior numbers.
As Jade was inspecting Kanda from across the table, Kanda was doing the same. He could tell that though the brunette man who called himself Colonel looked relaxed, he would be the first to react should something unexpected happen, probably followed by the blond man or the long haired woman. None of their names had particularly stuck in his head after he had walked through the door, most of his focus still on finding a way out should he need it. He saw red eyes wandering over him but pretended not to. Let the brunette not realize that he knew.
Kanda took in the odd dress that everyone had on. There was quite a variety, though most of them seemed to enjoy a very complex style that baffled him. The most complex thing Kanda wore was his exorcist coat and that was only because it was required. He kept his eyes on the Colonel, the one who appeared to be the most dangerous of the group, as well as one he was sure he would detest, if he didn't already. There weren't many people that Kanda would ever admit to NOT detesting. The only one of the group wearing simple yet flexible clothes was the man with the short, blond hair who Kanda quickly picked up from the mutterings between them as being named Guy. He hadn't been paying much attention to the original introductions. What a strange name, thought Kanda. Why would someone name themselves a noun, much less the noun that described them? It would be like him having named Mugen 'sword'. Aside from the blond, Kanda found the others' clothes all too extravagant. If one were to fight in them, as these people obviously did, then they would just be damaged, so why bother wearing something so high quality?
Finally, after a long, awkward silence, Kanda realize that the woman named Natalia had spoken to him again. "What?"
The girl stood up straighter, miffed that she was just ignored, and took a deep breath. "I asked why you are here. Aside from the fact that you are part of a very secretive group, you haven't explained to us how or why you just appeared in the middle of the room here in Yulia City. You also never answered Tear. Are you from the Outer Lands?" Kanda stared at the woman amazed. He did not think it was possible for a person to say quite so much with as little air as she just did, except maybe a certain one eyed redhead that he knew. He decided to answer her; if he didn't they would get absolutely nowhere.
"I came here on accident. I don't know where the hell here is. As for this Outer Lands business, you've got me."
Hearing this perked the ears of the older colonel. Well I suppose if one were not familiar with the Qliphoth they wouldn't really know the term 'Outer Lands', thought Jade. But really, at this point in time, who hasn't heard of them? Jade had the suspicion that this man was outside of everything they knew. He didn't recognize the Outer Lands in the way anyone from the Qliphoth would. Nor did he seem to know about Yulia City, which everyone in the Qliphoth knew of as well. And had he actually been from the Outer Lands, he should have either been a little more worried or excited than he was, not seeming as if he was tossed into unusual situations all the time and this was just one more to add to the list.
Hearing Kanda's response, everyone's eyes widened. They had all had similar thoughts to Jade's.
"What?" asked Kanda. They were all giving him strange looks now that irritated him. If they have something to say then just freaking say it! Guy leaned forward slowly, hand gliding its way down his side towards the hilt of his sword; an action that Kanda did not miss.
"Where exactly did you say you were from again?"
"Che. Like I said before, I'm with the Black Order. The only thing I will tell you is that we are in England, so just point me in the right direction and I'll be on my way."
Not that long ago, Natalia wouldn't have thought it possible to be this shocked in one day. The only day that compared was a few days ago when she found out she wasn't who she had thought she was in the Kimlascan royal family. They would not say it, but the brown haired girl was sure that part of the reason their group had stopped in the Qliphoth was to give her some time before re-encountering the family she had thought she'd had. "England…" She glanced around the room once more, trying, yet again, for that glimmer of recognition. None. "There is no such place as England."
"What?" Now it was Kanda's turn to be surprised. His face didn't change much but there was a light widening in his narrow eyes. He also didn't like the fact that 'what?' seemed to be becoming his new phrase of the day.
"There is no such place as England." She repeated. Kanda was stunned. What kind of insane place had he walked into? Of course England existed. It had been around since…forever! The others saw the look on his face and began muttering between themselves. Finally Jade stood and clapped his hands together, calling for attention.
"Well now that we have all established mass confusion, why don't we go back to what we actually know and work our way from there?" Tear nodded and the others made noises of agreement. Jade turned to Kanda. "Now, is it just possible that this place called England is just known by a different name? What else has it been called?"
"It's just England. Well, it's also called Britain. People who were born there are either English or British. How can you have not heard of it before?"
Natalia stood from the table, crossing her arms. "Because you knew all about the Outer Lands."
Ouch. She had a point. "What are the countries around here?"
At this Guy piped up. "Well, there are two main countries: Kimlasca-Lanvaldear, which is where Luke and Natalia are from, and Malkuth, where Jade is from. I was born in a country that was destroyed called Hod and now live in Kimlasca. Aside from down here in the Qliphoth where Tear was born, there isn't much else." After hearing this Kanda knew he was in trouble. Nothing the blond swordsman had said rang even a tiny bell in his head.
"I don't guess any of you would have an idea of how I could have gotten here?" he asked knowing that might just be too much to hope for. After all, they had seemed rather surprised that he had appeared there. Obviously people don't just go around appearing places wherever he was.
"I'm sorry. This is a rather peculiar situation. Nothing we know of could have brought you here from…England. Especially with that bright light you came in," Jade responded.
Yes, it was too much to ask.
~~~~break~~~~
A/N: So for everyone, this is my very first fanfiction ever. It's been a work in progress sitting on my computer for a while now and I finally got the nerve to post it and see what happens, so please go easy on me. The story takes place mostly in the Tales world but it's not really relevant if you know the layout of the map, however, if you're not familiar with the characters you may want to google them and get a basic idea of the story. Please review if you have any thoughts on the chapter, good or bad. Any insights or comments would be much appreciated!