Hey there! I'm back (once again) with a new story I hope you enjoy it, any constructive criticism is welcomed.
Disclaimer: I don't own D gray man, just some of the characters you will see here and the plot, the rest goes to Katsura Hoshino!
-Black Order
A long time ago, a war started, one that would alter everything we knew. Akuma started to appear, demons, once someone's loved ones, killing people, starting a vicious circle. Centuries ago, innocence, the only thing capable of destroying the demons, chose warriors to protect humanity, they were called exorcists.
The Black Order was created to recruit and support the mentioned warriors. It was a long and difficult war, many stories have been told about it, we really don't know which ones to believe. The one thing we know for sure, it's that one day, innocence stopped choosing exorcists, and eventually, there were no more left alive to protect humanity.
They ended up having to rely on finders, humans trained to help exorcists during their missions. But there's only so much a finder can do, when faced with an akuma. The Millenium Earl and his Noah family were free to terrorize everyone.
Nowadays, humans are forced to stay behind specially designed force fields, trying to keep away the akuma. The Black Order soon founded an academy, recruiting anyone willing to become a finder, anyone willing to help preserve what was left of human race, hoping and waiting for some miracle to happen, for innocence to awaken once more and bring back exorcists… maybe… maybe that wait is finally over.
-Black Order
The world has faced a lot of changes since the war against akuma began, names of countries were forgotten as their habitants had to leave them and become one community in order to get effective protections against akuma. Each small village received a special academy, coordinated by the Black Order, where finders would be trained. The training to be a finder was hard, they needed to know a lot of stuff, not just about akumas and noahs, but about the different kinds of weapons and shield that could be used, the special care each one of those needed, and many other things.
It took time and effort, but it was all to get them ready to face akuma, so, nothing was useless. Isabel Ramirez, was the best student of the generation in every single subject during her first year at Rose Cross Academy. She became shunned due to her cold and sarcastic attitude towards her classmates, but she never seemed to care, after all, she didn't go there to make friends.
As the bell rang, signaling the end of the first day of classes, she packed her things, ready to go back to the dorms, she dusted her uniform jacket, as though some kind of invisible dirt had gotten on it, and went through the hallways, listening to the meaningless chatter of the other students. When she passed the auditorium, she could hear the speech that was given to her, exactly one year ago, peeking through the doors, she could see the newest recruits, most wearing a happy and excited expression.
"We'll see how long they last…" she thought, without malice.
First year was usually one of the hardest. It was the year most of the recruits left. It consisted mostly on learning about the war with very explicit material, getting to know the different kinds of akuma, the effects of their poison, their classification, and making the newbies understand what they'd just gotten themselves into.
-It's not a game- she remembers her teacher telling them – You're all laying your lives down, you're gonna be facing dangerous missions… and let me be very clear. Some of you might not even be able to complete training…-
Isabel still remembered the first time she was allowed to see an akuma. She could still feel the chills, remembering the smell of rotten flesh, the agony reflected on its face, the creepy image engraved in her mind forever.
"How long are they gonna be able to keep smiling like that…?"- she thought to herself, as she got out of the 'Class Building' walking to the girls dormitories.
The dorms were really big buildings, with rooms for two people each. Every room was divided in two, a portion of the floor was a bit higher than the other, keeping them together using stairs. The students were allowed to decorate their rooms however they wanted for as long as they stayed at the academy. Isabel's side of the room was painted white and gray, her two favorite colors, she kept it as tidy as she could, being careful not to stain the walls or floor.
She let her bag fall down next to her gray desk, breathing in deeply, since she got to the academy, she had the strange feeling of being followed.
-… or maybe I'm just paranoid.- she said to the empty room. Sitting on her chair, she got her books out and started her homework while she ate her snack, a sandwich.
- Let's see what we got today… - checking her agenda, she concentrated on creating an essay about the importance of bookmen through history. A couple of hours later, gentle knocks were heard on her door. Putting her pencil down, with a confused frown, she went to answer, opening the door to reveal a tall girl with childish features, carrying a suitcase on one hand and a backpack at her shoulder.
- Sorry for interrupting you. I'm part of the new students and they assigned me to your dorm, they said you had a free bed…- she stated cheerfully. Isabel said nothing in return, letting her in and pointing to the top part of the room. – Thanks a bunch! – the girl replied.
During the next hour or so, Isabel dearly missed being alone in her room. The new girl hadn't stopped babbling about silly unimportant things, while getting settled. Isabel had decided to ignore her, in favor of her own sanity, trying to immerse herself in her books. The girl, as though noticing her incessant talking was unwelcomed, decided to remain silent, sighing and getting her own books out.
Soon enough, the sun went down, and through their window, both girls could see the shields going up once again, emiting a soft greenish light. After finishing her homework, Isabel decided to go and grab something to eat before the cafeteria closed for the day.
-Hey,- she called her roommate.- The cafeteria will be closed soon. If you're planning to eat today, I highly suggest you go get something now. – And with that, she left, no waiting for a reply, though, she could clearly hear the heavy footsteps of her roommate following her.
-Do you mind if we go together? I don't want to get lost here… - Isabel shrugged and kept walking. - So… my name's Nimah, what's yours? - The newbie asked Isabel. Sighing tiredly, Isabel answered.
- Isabel Ramirez, now please, quit talking. - she continued to walk until she reached the doors to the cafeteria, entering quickly and grabbing a plate this time, going over to one of the food tables, looking at her options. In the end she picked some salad and some orange juice, losing sight of Nimah.
As usual, the cafeteria was being used by other students to work on their assignments in groups, so it was almost full and noisy. The cafeteria was a complete separate building, in the middle of all the dorms, the walls covered in stones, giving it a castle like look, the Rose Cross emblem decorating them, on the further wall, several portraits of fallen exorcists hung. The whole place was illuminated by big silver colored chandeliers.
Isabel looked to her right, and she saw Nimah sitting with a group of people, they seemed like friends, and Isabel wondered why she, wasn't rooming with one of the girls sitting with her. The guys seemed to be telling a story, one of them making big hand gestures and pulling his golden locks of hair from time to time, much to the amusement of a dark skinned boy sitting right next to him, even though he was young, he seemed to have a lot of gray hair mixed with his dark brown curls, he must have noticed her looking their way, because suddenly he stopped talking and turned to look at her with a neutral expression, Isabel returned her attention to her meal immediately, not wanting to give them a reason to call her out.
-Black Order
Days turned to weeks and weeks to months, Nimah and Isabel developed a familiar routine. Nimah, Isabel noticed, was an early riser, all ready to go by the time Isabel woke up. She always greeted her with a cheerful smile and waited for her to go to the cafeteria, even if they never ate together. Isabel would wait for her the first days, to ensure she wouldn't get lost, something in which the tall girl seemed to excel at.
Soon October came, by then, at least half of the new recruits (and some of the older ones) were gone. Isabel thought Nimah would be one of the first ones to go, she didn't look like she could take on reality, always living in some beautiful place where everything was all nice with happy endings, and yet, there she was. Same babbling, cheerful girl. Isabel was often invited to eat with her and her group, but each time, she declined.
Everything seemed to be peaceful for a while, and many thought the Earl had just gotten tired or bored with them. Isabel wasn't so sure about that. She really couldn't say how, but she knew something big was about to happen. During the last week of October, she began having weird dreams where an ancient female voice kept calling her name, showing her some weir humans with evil golden eyes. At first, she thought she was just nervous about Hallow's Eve, but then, the feeling of being watched intensified.
She tried hard to ignore it, but she couldn't deny it was there. She tried keeping it concealed but it was hard, and she could almost swear her roommate knew something was wrong, she could the worry in her eyes, from time to time, masked away by her typical smile.
Isabel lost herself in preparations for the dreaded Hallow's Eve, or Halloween, as it had been know for quite some time now. It was a very dangerous day in which the shields had to be fortified if anyone even hoped to pass the night. Everyone, even the students of the academy, were summoned to help. Isabel was no different, it would be the first time she was allowed on the other side of the shield, to protect the generators.
On October 31st , Isabel was guarding said generators, even though it was still daytime, she felt a little sacared and gripped her bow thightly, weapons were made with the same technology as the shields, so , in theory, she should be able to fight an akuma, even if just to stop it from destroying the generator. It was the first time she was faced with the possibility of fighting and akuma on her own, she knew the chances were slim, but the possibility was still there.
Nimah, meanwhile, was on the other side of the shield preparing the reinforcement, and the signal, in case anything went wrong, for the first time since Isabel had known her, she wasn't smiling, in fact, she looked scared, but as soon as she noticed Isabel looking at her, she smiled at her waving happily, before returning to her duties. Isabel felt kind of bad for her and her classmates, but if she'd signed up for the training she must've known what she was getting into, and the kind of risks they were going to have.
"Please" Isabel begged, looking at the sky, "Please let us get through this unharmed…please…" Most of her generation classmates were given the same responsibility as hers. Guard the generators. Of course fully fledged finders were with them, but that didn't guarantee anything. She was a bit mad at her equals, as she saw them chatting amongst themselves, as though not completely realizing the severity of the situation…
That all changed when the sky began to fill with dark stormy clouds, and the smell of rotten flesh spread itself all along the border, making most of them gag and cover their mouths, eyes watering. Isabel was covering her nose with her hand until she remembered what she was doing there. She grabbed one of her arrows and readied her bow, waiting for the slightest provocation to shoot, she heard the finders readying their weapons as well, and dared to look at them.
All of them, regardless of their gender or age, had serious expressions, looking at the sky, expecting… ready…
"Ready for what?" she couldn't help but ask herself. "Ready to die, perhaps?" looking again at them, she wondered whether she was as ready as they were, but as the first akuma appeared at the horizon, she knew that it didn't really matter if she was ready or not.
"Because… right here, and right now… I'm going to protect my city, my family …" And with that thought in her mind, she fired her first arrow.
-Black Order
It was like a spell was broken, movement began outside and inside the wall, Isabel noticed, between all the mess, how most of her classmates fled from the battle, without second thoughts.
-Cowards…! – she mumbled angrily to herself, shooting at the akumas that got to close, using her arrows carefully. She really didn't want to be left defenseless during the battle, their numbers had lowered quite a bit after some of them fled the scene. Suddenly, she saw the newbies get to her side of the barrier, all of them carrying weapons, looking scared, but displaying far more courage than others, just by deciding to fight when they could hide. Isabel could easily spot Nimah with her group of friends close by, all of them fighting, dodging the poisonous akuma bullets or using the portable shields to cover themselves when they weren't fast enough.
Watching for the first time how quick and dangerous the akuma poison really was, Isabel couldn't help but think, that they were going to lose, sooner or later. This time, there were more akumas than the year before, and some of them looked like they had evolved, becoming facr more powerful and dangerous, than the level ones they were trained to destroy.
Soon, Isabel ran out of arrows, simply dodging the rain of bullets. Then, something that she had hoped never happened to her, occurred. A level two akuma turned her way, and tackled her. The demon took her bow and stepped on it until it broke, laughing all the time at her horror struck face. The akuma grabbed Isabel by the neck, lifting her from the ground, as she struggled, preparing an orb of dark energy on his other hand.
"This is it…" Isabel thought. " I'm going to die…" and, as she said those things on her mind, she realized she was crying, trying to get the akuma to drop her, desperate to escape from its claws, kicking at it as it laughed and mocked her.
She could distantly hear Nimah screaming her name, she, Isabel, expected pain, she expected black star on her pale skin, she thought she'd see her life flashing before her eyes, but instead, of all that, there was a greenish flash of light, traveling at full speed toward both her, and the akuma, coming between them and emiting a bright pulse, repelling the akuma. Falling to her knees, and coughing, she saw a small black cube, surrounded by a sphere of energy.
-It's warm.- Isabel found herself mesmerized by it, forgetting for a moment about the battle going on around her, she reached out to touch it, the akuma trying to get her, but being repelled by the strange cube. Isabel held said cube in her hand, she felt it grow and shift, becoming longer, forming an elegant black bow, with green glowing crosses on the upper and lower limbs, and a third one on a quiver that appeared to be attached. It felt light in her hands, and as she held it, she stood up, looking at the akuma, suddenly, she knew what to do. Touching the cross on the quiver, a handful of arrows appeared there, she picked one and shot at the akuma in front of her. The akuma looked at her and then at the arrow imbedded in its body with fear, before dissolving into the air.
Isabel then knew what this was, what she had become.
-That cube… that cube was innocence… and I'm… I'm an exorcist…- she said, looking at her bow and arrows, and then at the place where the akuma used to be.
-Black Order
To be continued...
well that's chapter one, thanks for reading :D hope you liked it.