Author Note:READ THIS! Ok, this chapter didn't exist: I tried many different beginnings until that once I was listening "Key to Twilight" by "Yuki Kajiura" and this idea crossed my mind. I decided to update it because if I go on with some ideas that I have, this chapter will be quite useful. Besides write about Alma was interesting (Warning to major Kanlena fans: Don't worry: there will be no KandaxAlma romantic scenes). This is an attempt but I actually even like of how this came out... Anyway: I based myself on the movie from 2004 but "The Phantom of the Opera" has many versions so I will follow mine without get out of the original sense. My apologies for any mistake, so if you read any, send me a PM if you want but don't use reviews to do it (that is the worst thing you can do to a writer). Bear this chapter with me, ok? Read and review but please don't be harsh.
PS: A never ending thanks to CrystalAmethyst! She helped me so much with this: especially in future chapters! Thank you!
Disclaimer:I do not own D. Gray-Man or The phantom of the Opera.
The Phantom of the Opera
Chapter I - Prologue the First: Hevlaska's prophecy
Alma Karma couldn't walk anymore: Libya's desert was killing him! Bloody wrong instincts! Three weeks of walking through the middle of literally nothing, to find literally nothing! A waste of precious time! And now here he was: furious and exhausted to the precise point of fainting in the middle of the bloody Libyan Desert!
His fury only grew when he stopped to look around: right sand – checked; left sand – checked; back sand – checked; front sand – checked and oh yes; horizon sand – double checked. Why? Oh why couldn't he simply accept maps that would have been really useful now? Bloody pride! In his mind he cursed the desert for never ending, his pride for not accepting the maps, his metallic boots for being so heavy and his priest's clothes for being so hot. He took a look on the golden rose-cross on his dark cloak that was shining softly. He took off his hood, raising his head to watch the source of the light high in the skies: the full moon singing together with stars in the dark night sky trying to chase away the darkness, giving hope to lost travellers like himself – a nostalgic vision even for someone who doesn't have anything to long for.
Alma stood there staring at the sky for a good time before adjusting his cloak and moving forward again dragging himself and his dirty beige bag through the desert, until his legs finally gave up under him and he fell face down on the sandy hill he was climbing totally exhausted, not even capable of moving a muscle in his body. The wind was carrying the sand slowly burying him under it, but when he was almost totally buried, a sudden scream rang through the night bringing his body to life. He raised his head confused trying to find the source. Then another scream came followed by others and Alma was on his feet running up the hill just to see a small Libyan village after reaching the top. He stopped abruptly: a Libyan village? Halleluiah! His eyes were shining with pure happiness. He still couldn't believe that he nearly gave up so close to salvation. If not for that scream… Wait: no time for party, he still needed to discover what was going on. He clenched his hands around his bag's handle and quickly ran to the village.
Meanwhile in the village, an old religious man was trying to exorcise some demons in form of shadows that were haunting him on the square. The shadows didn't have any exact form; they were only flashes. In the darkness of the night, he could barely see where they were.
"Go back to Light! Follow the Light of God!" He screamed raising his hand in front of him frenetically trying to drive them away. "I order you to follow the light! Now!"
The shadows didn't seem to be concern with the exorcism that didn't look to have any effect on them. Instead they were whispering to each other with weird and demonic voices.
"He is not here... maybe in other village..."
"I can't feel any presence too... But and this old man over here? He saw us..."
"He doesn't need to live to tell..." With this the shadows released a loud laugh and closed in on the old man.
"What do you think you're doing? Go away! Now! Follow... follow... follow the Light of God!"
His legs gave up and he fell on the floor looking at the shadows with fear as they surrounded him, singing a childish song with many laughs. They stopped and opened their red eyes. With a monstrous smile covered in blood they threw themselves to the old man with starve and he screamed as loud as he could, in despair: he was going to die tonight...
"Innocence Activate!"
With these demanding words, a fluorescent green light circle full of symbols appeared under the shadows imprisoning them in a bind of the same colour. While they were trying the break free, the old man saw another shadow slowly walking out of the darkness. This one had a form: he was human, a man dressed in weird priest's clothes. The older one couldn't even breathe: he just hoped that this was a nightmare. The younger man took his hood off. As his face came into the light, the other man saw that the newcomer was young, with short brown hair and a visible scar across his nose.
"I'm Alma Karma, one of the ten Dark priests of the blessed Dark Order!" He claimed with determination. "With the power entrusted to me by God himself, I will destroy you!"
The binds were suffocating the demons who were strangely bleeding. Alma did some signs with his hands and a couple minuscule balls got out of the circles, reaping the shadows with their velocity. One by one, all of them turned into compact purple puzzle pieces that quickly become a giant figure. Yet, their voices still were divided.
"He is one of the ten sacred Dark Priests! Let's get out of here!"
"You go to pay us for this, Guardian!"
"You don't go anywhere, tonight..." He said to himself. "I'm Alma Karma and with my name... I exorcise you!"
The circles came to life under the giant purple figure and started to rotate very fast until they explode. The explosion could be seen miles away from the village but it didn't make any sound: it was completely silent.
When the priest finally opened his eyes, a green fluorescent snow was falling on the square. Alma was standing in front of him with a kind smile, extending his hand to help him get up. He accepted the younger man's help, but his eyes were confused and he was still very nervous. He took a good time studying Alma.
"Who are you? What were those things? How did you..."
"Everything is alright now. That is what matters, right? Maybe it is better if you get some rest: where do you live? I can take you home, if you want."
"But... I need to know who you are. How did you do that? I tried to exorcise them, but it didn't work. But then you came and they obeyed you! You're a man of god, like me! Alma, is that your name right? Alma, how can I thank you for saving me?"
"There is no need, really. I only did my job. And..." Then he saw it: his heaven. His face became the most childish one the world has ever seen when he eyes landed on the big fountain of crystalline water right in the centre of the square. "Water! Water! Water!" His ridiculous excessive happy grin and his never ending tears were making him look like a big happy idiot. He ran to the fountain and hugged it.
"What do you think you're doing?" The older man grabbed Alma's arm with the intent of pull him away from the fountain.
"I'm trying to drink water: a very common activity on the society to keep living with some decent health."
"But you can't drink from that fountain: it's exclusively for the soldiers! They will cut your neck off if you drank it!"
"But I'm super thirsty! It is calling me! Can you hear it? It is saying: Alma... Come to me... Alma... Come drink me..." He was using a hypnotic voice in a dumb way.
"Hum? Listen: come to my home and I give you something to eat and drink. Besides I want you to answer my questions. Let's go..." He didn't wait for Alma's reply and dragged him until they reached his home, which in fact was behind the mosque. Alma was starving, so he didn't refuse.
The house was quite small and simple but strange in some sense too. It didn't look like a Muslim's house. There were a quantity of saints' and other religious images spread over the place: Christian, Muslim, Buddhist… The owner of the house was indeed a man of faith. After a while, they finally sat to eat the simple meal that the man had quickly cooked.
"Thank you God, for this meal." With that they began to eat.
"Eat slowly, boy: if you continue eating so fast your stomach will hurt later."
"Ah… My apologies! I didn't mean to be rude!" Alma blushed a bit: his composure wasn't very worthy for a priest. "It's just... I haven't eaten for three weeks so... I'm sorry I just couldn't help myself..."
"Three weeks? But you're too young for those things!"
"Oh, I'm not that young! I'm seven thousand and twenty five years old."
"What?" The poor man almost fell off the chair: Alma looked almost like a child. "That is impossible! No one is so old!"
"Well, what did you saw today, those demons I mean... is that impossible too?"
"Well... indeed... After all what were those things, anyway? I have been studying different religions and exorcise demons for almost fifty years and until today I met none like those. Nothing worked on them."
"You couldn't exorcise them, because they weren't normal demons. They are not spirits. They are finders: creatures of the Devil that came from hell to found the right soul to become the future Demon's Maker."
"Demon's maker?"
"Yes: Devil's servant, who will take advantage of the sadness of the people who lost their loved ones, to transform them into demons: they will call them, with the hope to bring them back to life, but they will be wrong. They will be doomed and their souls will be trapped with the ones that they called back to life and they will become one: a demon. At least this was Hevlaska's prophecy."
"Hevlaska? I'm lost: who is that Hevlaska? "
"Let me see if I can explain you better. Seven thousand years ago, a creature descended from the heavens: Hevlaska. She appeared in front of ten priests, saying that she was the messenger of God and that they were chosen by Him to guard the Guardian of Innocence, who happens to be her. That innocence would be a substance that would belong to exorcists: people chosen by God too, to destroy the "Demon's Maker" that would come. So those ten priests became the Dark Priests, the Guardians of the Guardian of Innocence and the own Innocence makers, doomed to live until the final judgment for it. They built an Order where Hevlaska could hide with them and after many years, Innocence was finally made. Unfortunately, a miscalculation made Innocence brake and spread all over the world. Only the ones that were with the Dark priests remained: as mine for example. Now the only thing that they can do, is wait for that time to come, so when the "Demon's maker" comes, Innocence will start to activate and find their users."
"So you are one of those Dark Priests. This is too much for my mind... But if you are one of them, what are you doing here? Are you not supposed to be with them, waiting?"
"Well, apparently the first exorcist already exists. About seven years ago, Hevlaska prophesied that he already existed. We wouldn't be so worried, if it was not for her words. She said that he would look for death: for him and as well for others. And that isn't right for someone who is supposed to save and not kill. She said that we must curse him to restrain him and bring him with us as soon as possible, for safety."
"But if he is evil, why he is an exorcist? And what kind of curse is that one?"
"Why is he chosen, I don't know: no one does. And about the curse..."
Alma grabbed his dirty bag and took out an hourglass with a gorgeous pink lotus inside from it.
"It's beautiful! Is that crystal or glass?"
"Crystal. So: if Hevlaska is right, that soul wants and search for death, but he wants it to reach the biggest perfection of the world: eternity."
"So is he a perfectionist? Do you mean that he wants to die because life is too imperfect? And that death is exciting for him? But that is..."
"Sickness, we know. We need to leave a physical mark in him: the curse mark. It's like when God marked Cain. That curse will be connected to this lotus: every time he tries to kill himself or death comes to him, one petal will fall and save him. But if all the petals fall, God will not give him eternity. This lotus is called "The Sign of God". This life as exorcist will be his last chance to get eternity; after all, he had many chances to get it on other incarnations."
"In other words: that lotus is his lifeline. Who goes to understand God's choices... But anyway, so you are after him, right?
"Right. I'm the one chosen to find him and curse him. That power was only given to me. I'm on this journey for seven years by now."
"And how are you going to find him? Did Hevlaska give you some direction?"
"Not really. I'm basically following my instincts. Hevlaska told me to look for weird phenomena: it seems that Innocence creates them in some situations."
"Phenomena? What kind of phenomena?"
It seemed like the man was remembering something.
"I don't know exactly. But why are you asking? Do you know something about?"
"Well... You see, I came here from Japan about a year ago. Before I came I have heard that there was a small village that was being tormented by a strange blue thunderstorm: it seems that it comes every night for three years by now: I received a letter from my familiars a couple days ago, saying that that thunderstorm was still haunting them."
"Three years! So there is a big chance! What is that blue thunderstorm like?"
"I'm sorry, but I really don't know. Yet, I heard that it was stunning: there are wonderful descriptions of it. It seems to be violent too: apparently the villagers believe that it's God who is punishing them and that it's a warning that the end of the world is coming. Honestly, I would think that too since there is no convincing explanation for it."
"A punishment of God... Tell me one thing: the thunderstorm only affects the village or affects other places too?"
"No, is just on the village, what makes things even more awkward."
"In seven years travelling around the world I never found a clue. I'm pretty sure that it was God who put you on my path to help me! I don't have words to thank you enough! Can you tell me how can I go to that village?"
"Sure! And you don't need to thank me, we are all sons of God: if we don't help each other, who will?"
"Indeed..." Suddenly, a realization struck Alma's thoughts like a lightning. "Wait a second: I wasn't supposed to tell this to anyone! What kind of priest I am? I'm a failure, I'm a disaster! It's supposed to be a secret!" Now he was hitting his own head on the wall in panic. Tears were running down his face. "Why I must be so dumb? Why my God? Why?"
For some reason, the oldest one still didn't believe that Alma was a priest, less with such an important mission: he was so overly childish...
Alma slept on the couch that night. The man didn't let him leave until the morning. His mind was lost in thoughts about how he did start this journey, seven years ago.
Flashback
Winter... the unwanted unknown...
Winter... the beauty and the perfection of the dead...
Winter... the conquest of the mortals and the own soul of the immortals...
... And winter was clearly hugging the Dark Order. The night and the religious gothic tower was fully covered by a frozen snow blanket and the cold even burned. The dark skies were blessing it in pure silence. The wind was dancing a deaf waltz; the naked trees could prove it. No sound could be heard if not the snow falling on the tower melodically, as if the angels were crying: maybe they were sad or God was only singing to the emptiness of the hated human soul. Darkness was crossing the Dark Order in pure love and dedication, embracing it as a sweet lover does. The night was dying into the heart or the soul of winter's writers: an angelic and musical winter, blessed by God's own loved solitude.
Alma Karma was in one of the outside corridors, watching that death. His dark eyes were focused on the horizon, between the snow white mountains and the God's skies. His thoughts were confused and dependent for answers, waiting for them in despair, crushing the pain of the waiting's acknowledgement. He was lost in solved puzzles and that could be seen inside of his "search eyes". His dark and heavy priest cloak protected him from the cold, but his pale skin said the otherwise. His breath was serene and released gray mists that danced the same deaf waltz through the air. His metallic boots were buried in the same snow that was burying all the outside corridors: softly and fiercely. The weight of the winter seemed as heavy and untold as the weight of the golden rose-cross on his cloak. Alma's nocturne loneliness was interrupted by an old man's silhouette, emerging from the corridors' darkness, calling his name with some comprehension and kindness.
"Alma... You seem to be on the edge, today..."
The old man got out of the shadows, dressed in equal clothes, yet his cloak was longer, which meant that he was Alma's superior: the highest priest of the Dark Order. He had gray hair tied in a long braid and a warm expression on his face. His light blue eyes reflected a peaceful personality.
"Your highness..." Alma bowed and kept his head down: he knew his place. He also kept silence: he didn't know what to say. The oldest one got closer to him with a slow step and rested the palm of his hand on Alma's face.
"Your mind is forcibly tranquil, but your heart is full of contrariety, my son... What concerns does your heart keep? Why does your heart scream with such pain? What labyrinth are you walking? Hum? Tell me... Let me help you to appease your soul..."
"Your highness..." Alma took a deep breath before continue the sentence. "I don't know how to explain... but I'm having a feeling that the wheel of fate going to start moving soon."
"Is that good or bad?"
"I don't know... Is just a sensation..."
"Alma, you have always been a person with a strong sense of prediction. Your instincts always proved to be right, but you can't give yourself totally to it. Sometimes sensations are no more than that: sensations. So don't fill your head with it, please..."
"Thank you, your highness..." With this he kissed his hand in respect and gratitude. "You always have wise words for me. I never will be able to thank you for all your support. Thank you..."
"Don't. You are all brothers and sons of God." He gave Alma a tender smile, after all, Alma could be a very old soul, but the truth was that he was pretty much an over-sentimental child. "Now go and rest: tomorrow morning we have our peregrination around the Order to bless it and everyone is sleeping for a long time already. Only you are left."
"Right. Thank you once again, your highness. Have a goodnight."
"Have a goodnight too. God bless you."
"God bless you too."
With that Alma left, leaving his superior in the outside corridor, watching the darkness of night being covered by the frozen snow: as covered as their fate...
The sun didn't come next morning. Winter was definitely firm on its decision to haunt the skies and the earth. Not even seemed that it was morning already: everything kept drawn under the darkness as if it was still night. Deep down on the Order's cave, Hevlaska was sleeping tranquilly. Her giant form was well shrunken as if she had cold and her breath was perfect and silent. There was no light, except the one coming from her body. The confined cave was in a meditation state: nothing moved and nothing could be heard except Hevlaska's peaceful and soft breath. Some other priests were sitting around her: watching her in silence, while her Guardians were on their peregrination. Their eyes were totally focused on her and their heads were covered by dark hoods in respect to her. Suddenly her breath started to get anxious as if she was having a nightmare. Then she started making indecipherable sounds and movements: it seemed that she was being exorcized – the silence was broken. The priests only watched not knowing what to do and kept on their sits until her screams started to get louder and her movements began to destroy the cave. Panic was invading the cave and some priests ran away.
"What in heaven is going on? It seems that she is getting crazy! Let's get out of here before the cave is completely destroyed!"
One screamed in fear.
"Maybe it is better if we chain her!"
"Are you all mad? We can't touch her: we are normal priests! Her body is made of Innocence: only Dark Priests are allowed to touch her!"
Hevlaska was screaming with more intensity now: she was in pain. Some priests fell on the floor from their sitting places because of her destructive moves. Then she stopped to breath, to scream and to move. Her body emitted a strong blinding blue light for some seemingly never ending moments. When the light faded, Hevlaska collided with the stone floor harshly. The remaining priests waited statically, until they were sure that they could breathe in relief. One of them finally got closer to check Hevlaska: she was exhausted and her tired and deep breath could show it.
"Someone call the Dark Priests! Quick!"
They barely could give one single step: their metallic boots were getting stuck in the frozen snow faster than their prayers - their heavy cloaks didn't help either. Slowly they blessed all the Order's gardens and surroundings: the smell of the thurible proved their visit. Lowy they were singing celestial songs that echoed across the naked trees. After their morning's peregrination, they returned to the tower. The iron gates opened majestically and they entered one by one. Their quite steps also echoed through the stone walls. Right after they entered, a man came running in their direction with a desperate face.
"Your highness! Your highness!" The man was waving to make sure that they heard him. The ten priests stood there, waiting for him to reach them. "Your highness, it's Hevlaska..."
"What happened to Hevlaska, my son?" He didn't like the other's concerned tone. "Speak!"
"Hevlaska, your highness... She was sleeping quietly and suddenly she got mad!"
"Mad? How mad?"
"I don't know! She started moving and screaming: the cave received a large amount of damage; there are even some injured people! Then a blue light radiated from her body, or her body illuminated... I don't know! Anyway, she collapsed and now she is exhausted. They send me call you immediately."
The supreme priest stood in silence, thinking for a moment while the others were entering on an over-curious and noisy state. Alma couldn't stop thinking on his precious sensations: after all they were right.
"Silence!" Highness ordered sternly. "Now, that isn't a worthy reaction for a Dark Priest! Get some posture!" They quickly returned to their serious positions. "Take us to Hevlaska, now."
They entered on the dark room as quietly as possible. Their heads were covered too, in respect to her. Silence remained and a deep breeze could be heard from her breathing.
"Over here, your highness..."
One finally called them. They got closer to find an exhausted Hevlaska, extended all over the cave. The supreme priest went downstairs to meet her, resting one of his hands on her head, caressing her
"Hevlaska, my friend, what's wrong?"
"God spoke to me... He told me about the first exorcist..." She finally said with some effort. The room immediately filled with curious voices.
"Silence! Be quite, all of you! What did God told you? Tell us…"
"He told that... that... that..."
Hevlaska illuminated again with a light blue colour and rose up majestically. Millions of pink petals started to appear out of nowhere, dancing around her until they became one single cube that shattered into pieces, to show a crystal hourglass with a pink lotus on the inside. Then Hevlaska prophesied:
"A cursed soul, he will be... Doomed to be cursed for all of his incarnations and deaths ... Cursed for his hidden desire to murder and find death, when his destiny is to save the poor demons that will come... Restricted his lifeline must be, so no one will have to be judged by his cruelty: fear of his own eternal death will restrain him... If all the petals of the Blessed Lotus fall, there will be no eternity for him, God will not embrace him in His infinite mercy and glory... A cursed soul, he will be... the first exorcist..."
All the priests of the Order met to discuss the issue. The circumstances weren't easy for them.
"My opinion doesn't change: we can't go after him. He is a cursed soul, for God's sake! You have heard Hevlaska: he has wrong desires! He can't be an exorcist!"
"But if it's God's choice we can't do anything! We must accept His choices!"
"Gentleman, I think he's right: you're here to obey, not to argue."
"Never, I will accept someone with suicide and murdering tendencies as an exorcist! Never!"
"You don't even know him..."
"I don't need! Did you hear Hevlaska or not?"
"Silence! Can it be possible that you don't know how to discuss anything without create a riot!" The supreme finally spoke. "I agree with the majority: we need to go after him. We are God's servants; we must do what is asked from us. We must trust in God's options: for some reason He chose that person. All we can do is find him, curse him as Hevlaska told us to and bring him here to turn him into an exorcist."
"I refuse to!"
"Is not your place to refuse or not! It's decided: We will go after him!"
"We? With all the respect, your highness: we can't go all... Who is going to take care of the Order?"
"We don't need to go all, of course. One of us is enough..."
"Who?"
All of them asked. None of them wanted to go: Hevlaska said to follow a strange phenomenon which is not an easy task and looking after a murder or a suicidal wasn't the best thing in the world.
"I recommend Alma Karma!"
Alma got up from his sit with a blank expression on his face. All the audience was shocked: Alma was so... so... so childish...
"What? Alma? But..."
"But nothing. Alma has strong instincts. He felt Hevlaska's prophecy coming. Alma is the right person..."
Days after the reunion, Alma was ready to leave the Order for an undetermined time. The iron gates were open to let him go out of the tower and he was saying goodbye to the remaining nine Dark Priests.
"Remember: follow strange phenomena, they will guide you."
"Thank you for trust me, your highness. I will not disappoint you."
"I know, but Alma..." The supreme got closer to him, so only he could hear. "The Order is counting on you, so don't disappoint them. Innocence's failure was already too much for them. If you don't succeed, they will not forgive you and there will be nothing that I can do about it. So don't fail, I don't want to lose you. Understood?"
"Understood. Everything will be fine, I promise."
With this, Alma left the tower and his journey began...
End of the flashback
The next morning, he woke up early, grabbed his dirty bag and started his way to Japan, in search of the blue thunderstorm. His instincts were whispering in his ear that the blue thunderstorm would guide him to the cursed soul... once for all...