Summary: She once stood with the Noah clan, but the Innocence had intervened during her reincarnation, making her the host and locking up her other self. With this, she forgotten the person she loved most, but as an exorcist, she fell in love. KandaXOCXTyki.
Disclaimer: I do not own D. Gray-Man. Anything off from the original story is not by the series' author/artist.
Note: Cross Marian is involved with the OC.
Update, 2015 August: So the manga resumed, and I'm really stuck and unsure what to do as I had already penned down how I wanted the story to go ): Minor editing has been done.
Update, 2014 May: Hello! I am editing the entire series to make it align more with the current plot, as more background information about Cross and Allen had been given and some plot bunnies have been jumping around too much. Some changes have been made to the plot and the OC as well. Thank you for your continuous support despite my hiatus status!
As Your Lover - Prologue
"Look for the crucified one,
For she will choose her path,
To fight with or against;
The Last Noah "Void",
Of life and death,
Khaos."
"Love?" A young woman of beauty questioned softly as sadness glossed her crimson eyes. A pair of arms encircled her waist from the back as the owner nuzzled his face into her lustrous snowy hair, "This Exorcist isn't as vile as we thought... To allow us to die together. I would suppose this be the only time I accept their sympathy, but our time together seems to be so short in this reincarnation." A soft chuckle came from the handsome man that was embracing her as he raised his bloodied gloved-hand to her chin, his thumb wiping away the blood trickling down her chin.
"Worry not, love. I will find you as before; no matter where you are."
"I will be waiting then." She closed her eyes and leaned back onto her lover, waiting for their time to end as blood seeped from their fatal wounds. A lance pierced through their bodies, imbued with the powers of the Innocence, holding them together while destroying most of their organs. It rendered their regenerative capability useless, as the couple had their last moments in each other's embrace.
Always and forever.
Walking along the streets, he searched through the different faces of the women, but none was the one he loved. He attended parties, he danced, he socialized; all in hope that he could meet his destined one. The time for her reincarnation was long due, and yet, he could not find her. He had promised to be there for her, something he never failed to fulfill. He always arrived like a prince to sweep the princess off her feet, but it was different this time.
Why?
Where could she be?
Ever since his awakening, he had been searching using the Ark, traveling location to location, day after day, but she was never there. He dug into the depths of his memories, hoping for any hints of where she would be, but it was like her existence had been erased. How he longed for her touch, her ivory hair floating in the wind and her silvery eyelashes fluttering ever so softly whenever she sees him, and those red orbs that would look only at him.
When I hold out my hand and call your name
You are always waiting at the same place
I just want to be with you at the same time
Why haven't you returned to my side?
A tall man, clad in a golden-trimmed uniform, with a cracked mask covering the right of his face, emptied the shells from the large revolver in his hand. The creature that was going to attack the young child was gone in an explosion as the said child stared at the red-haired man, or more of, staring at the weapon he had in his hand. He looked at the child with eyes colored like his own hair; her skin was covered with dirt and bruises, while her feet were naked and blistered. The adult touched the head of the abandoned child lightly, "Another child of war, may God be with you."
He turned around to walk away, but the child latched her hand onto his sleeve as a long growl escaped from her stomach. A moment of silence followed while they stared at each other, waiting for either party's submission. He grabbed the child suddenly by her waist, hooked by the length of his forearm as he walked briskly towards his place of lodging. He didn't want any of his potential partners for the night to misinterpret his relation with a small child. He would look like a freaking child abuser.
Few pairs of eyes judged him when he entered the hotel. Stomping to his room, he had the girl wait outside the washroom as he ran the bath. He then returned to the door and grabbed her in the same manner and dumped the girl into the filled bathtub. "You're in the presence of a beautiful being, and I detest filth." With that, he swiped a random bottle of solution from the sink and poured it over her head and into the tub. "Scrub," he commanded as the child rubbed the solution into her hair and skin while he used the shower head to rinse off the bubbles. For his next instruction, he threw her a towel and had her to dry herself. He exited the bathroom and returned with a white shirt of his own for her to change into. Watching her fumble with the row of buttons annoyed him, but at least she wasn't making much noise and abide by his words.
"Sit there and don't move." He instructed the young girl to stay put by the small coffee table as he went to the phone to order room-service. The service crew arrived shortly, pushing a trolley into the room as the red-haired man placed the food on the coffee table and poured himself a cup of wine. Seeing the food placed in front of her, the child looked at the man for permission before digging into the bowl of rice, trying to fill her emptied stomach as quick as possible while attempting not to choke herself from her haste. Cross studied the child from the corner of his eyes as he noticed how intriguing the child actually looked, with snow white cleaned hair, porcelain skin and large unusual red eyes. The usual him would had just left without any regard to the child, but there was just something peculiar about this child. It almost felt like she found him. The way she looked at the AKUMA back then, with those blood-colored eyes, it sent a mild shudder down his core, it was not one of a child, but unfeeling and curiously matured, as though she was confident. Exactly of what, he didn't know then.
"Thank you-"
"Cross Marian."
"Thank you, Cross."
"Brat, calling me by my name directly. What is your name, girl?"
She shook her head.
"How old are you?"
She shook her head again.
"Where did you come from previously?"
She wanted to speak, to tell of how she ran away from the horrible orphanage, but her voice was suddenly choked as she felt her head splitting. Her red orbs were staring at something beyond him, as the subject, his golden golem, fluttered its wings slightly, as though recognizing the strange child. She fell over onto the ground, feeling excruciating pain throughout her body as her breathe quickened with cold sweat running down her paler face; it felt like knifes were craving their way underneath her pale skin. The golden golem landed next to her, nuzzling itself against her cheek a cool dampness covered her skin, from her cold perspiration and shivers.
"The Fourteenth's- Will- You-"
She finished with all of the strength she could muster and grabbed her ankles, feeling her skin being ripped apart as blood sipped out from the front of her ankles in a cross-shaped stigma while she let out a blood-curling scream. Cross watched how the blood painted her ankle scarlet, her lips mumbling out incoherent words, before she blacked out on him.
The Last disciple, "Void" of the Noah clan was her.
"Chaos shall rage once more."
This small child.
Cross thought as he had cleaned up the blood from her ankles and treated them, leaving the child on the couch. To think that the reincarnated Noah would find him, one of the people who had the will of her murderer. What crazy things fate brought? He had been searching for the Fourteenth's vessel, but never had he intended to come upon the phantom Fifteenth Noah. From what he learnt about the Noah clan, the Fifteenth was like a medicine to her family members, although it wasn't very much explained by Nea, any information about her was scarce. It was a subject that his friend never wanted to dwell upon, and Cross now regretted his disinterest in the Last Noah. She was much loved by the Noah members, to be kept safe from danger and contamination from the ugly world outside of her home. They had met once, in her previous incarnation, but the Fifteenth didn't looked as such; she was filled with so much contempt and frankly, she was terrifying for a person so small. The Fifteenth then, gave off the aura of being unworldly. But this child, this was just a child.
Even so, the Last Noah would definitely be a boost to the Dark Order.
No matter how nonchalant he was towards humanity, he didn't like the idea of sending this child to the Headquarters to be a lab rat. It was true that a Noah would do good on their side of the war, provided she swore her loyalty to the Dark Order, but then again, who knows what that sneaky Lvellie would do after gaining such a showpiece. Experiments for cloning would definitely be one of his possible plans. The Dark Order was an old organization, and the things they would do to create fighting power borders on the line of inhumanity. Repulsive. One of the reasons why Cross never really enjoyed being part of the organization.
He exhaled again.
The Last Noah is different from the others in the Noah Clan, she wasn't one of the Originals to protect the Millennium Earl, but instead, she was borne from the desperate cries of the human race, praying for a savior. In exchange for power, the Last Noah had to endure Crucifixion and wear a life of pain and suffering, to repent for the sins of the humankind like how text scribed the life of the son of God, as she carried the memories of pain. Although she was loved, but the deadly sins got better of the humans, forcing her over her limits and damaging her eventually. Her true family reached out to her when darkness fell over her eyes as she allowed humankind to fall into further despair, by being on the side of the Noah clan, dashing their hopes of salvation.
This history was never recorded on any paper or the Bookman clan, but was only passed down through the memories of the Noah clan, generation to generation at the time of their awakening. The current Bookman was probably the only one that was certain that the Last Noah existed, after witnessing her appearance with the family just once. That knowledge infuriated the Millennium Earl that he left Bookman barely alive, allowing him to live on to perform his job of recording history. But the Bookman and his future apprentices were cursed to keep this only to themselves, for death would follow should any word be said about the Last Noah.
What should he do with this child?
He exhaled his breath of the tobacco for the umpteenth time.
He needed to weigh his options.
He could keep her with him, but it would be troublesome.
Or he could just hand her over to the Headquarters that they would either use her or kill her.
But woman likes a soft-hearted man more.
What's more, this child would have the unveiling eyes after the first stigma had surfaced and only regains all her memories with the last stigma. She'd be rather useless in many ways at first, and pretty harmless. She might even be able to lead him to the Fourteenth's vessel.
A smirk crept onto his face as he exhaled the smoke from his cigarette. His choice was made.
"Brat." Cross called when he entered his hotel room, to find the awaken child staring out the window from the couch. She looked at him, then at the side and finally pointed to herself with a tilt of her head. "Yes, you, brat. Come here."
She walked to stand in front of the coffee table as a few pieces of documents were laid on the table. Cross took the stamp pad and used her thumb to stamp on all of the documents as he gave a sly grin again. "What is this, Cross?"
"Just some documents." He had a quill in his hand as he waved it around lazily while having a staring contest with the child; an oriental name that he had already contemplated since his time here in Japan, 'Guren.' Cross wasn't a fool, his brilliance was definitely one of his charms and it wasn't a mere thoughtless name. The Innocence of a child, bonded by blood to the war, to be stained like a red lotus despite rising from the mud. The lotus symbolizes purity and the qualities of the heart, he didn't want the child to stray onto the wrong path, even though her future would be a road of thorns and pain, to grow up with the right principles and to be helpful in his various missions.
Spring time will never come again
The crimson lotus is in bloom
"Guren?"
"Your name."
"I want a longer name, Cross!"
Cross almost glared at the child, couldn't she just be satisfied with the name he chose. "What do you want?"
"I want a pretty name like Cross."
She stared, waiting for an answer. Cross pondered for a while. How can you expect someone to give a name so suddenly? The first one was the best original name he could give. A girl's name. How about x woman's name with y woman's name? What was it again? Crescentius.. Franziscus…? He was totally bullshitting now after his impertinence moment, and sincerely wished for her to accept it. "Guren Kreszenz!"
"Yes!" Guren replied at the call of her name as Cross seemed to heave a sigh of relief and quickly scribbled the name onto the documents before the fussy child changed her mind again. Even if she was a child now, she would be a woman in the future, becoming bothersome and demanding. That's why he don't enjoy a committed relationships. But he had no choice for this. There, adoption was completed. It wasn't easy for him to find a discreet way to do these documentations, it was really important that this whole incident with Guren should be hushed. Her entire existence had to be kept low toned until she was ready, and his relationship for her was like a safeguard for both their futures.
"Cross," Guren leaned forward across the table as her innocent eyes stared into Cross' brown eyes, breaking his train of thoughts. "You won't leave me right?"
"Depends." That one word made Guren's heart sunk, as the older man noticed the dejected look on the little girl. "You need to be clean and helpful." Guren gave a bright smile as Cross just pushed the side of her head, making her fall sideways, wiping the smile off the child's face.
That's why he hated kids.
They were always so easily contented. Like teacup humans with a miniature brain and emotion range.
Damnation.
Will he be able to get proper female company with a kid by his side?
Guren walked behind Cross who was wearing his golden trimmed coat as the golden golem he called "Tim", rested on the top of her head. She followed behind silently, the only sound heard in the dark night was the sound of him smoking and the tapping of her maryjanes on the ground. She was wearing a simple white shirt with a red ribbon around her collar and black shorts with white leggings, that Cross said he 'so kindly gotten for her.' In her small hands was a flora designed suitcase Cross made her carried, and her long wavy white hair tied into curly twintails.
"Do you know what AKUMAs are?"
She shook her head as a girl about her age, carrying a basket of flowers smiled at them.
"They are demons possessing the soul of a human. Like this one." She looked at what the red-haired man was referring to, the girl smiling at them. She didn't understand what was happening, as the sweet little girl morphed into a floating balloon-shaped creature with gun barrels protruding from it. He smiled as a single gunshot was heard, causing the AKUMA to burst into flames. "And I am an exorcist. Not some weird uncle off the streets, Guren," he said to the little girl, who fell to the ground from the impact of the explosion, her knees buckled as she regurgitated the contents from her stomach onto the ground, tears streaming down from her fearful eyes. She saw it, a grotesque image. It was simply too much for the young child to handle. From the depths of the young girl, even after it transformed into that monstrous looking thing, Guren saw a soul bound in chains and mummified, burning in purple flames as a screech pained her ears.
It took her a while to calm herself down, as she voiced her reply to Cross, "Can I become an Exorcist too? To be like Cross?" Her voice was soft and thin. It was scary to face these things, but she wanted to be of help to Cross who took her in. She had been alone, she was tired that she wanted to end it. She was abandoned by her parents after seeing the defect in her physical appearance; life in an orphanage was unbearable with the bullying and the prejudice held in the adults' eyes as she ran away before finally finding her sanctuary in the suave redheaded General that rescued her like a prince. She was finally the princess in a fairytale.
"There's a high possibility. It shouldn't be a coincidence that the Noah is placed at our side of the war." Cross replied with a laugh as he pulled the girl up from the back of her collar with one hand, and set her on her feet again, "Guren, you need to be spunkier if you want to travel with me, I don't like weak little girls."
She nodded her head slowly, "I was scared of myself after I woke up, I could see and hear things. But AKUMAs… They were in agony. Much more than me." Guren held onto his sleeve with one hand, walking beside him, "The only thing I can remember from the dream after the strange cuts appeared on my ankles, was someone smiling asking me to go home together. Do you know where I can find him?"
"There's no need to rush now. We've got time for you to remember. But your sight will definitely be put to good use." Cross smirked as they walked into a casino, "The red eyes of Revelation."
Author's Rant:
Hello again!
The documents were just some legalization documents like travelling pass and adoption for Guren that he prepared when she was still unconscious. And her age is presumed five now, Guren means red lotus in Japanese. And Guren is going to have some major father complex :D