"Here's your new mission, Lenalee"
Komui handed the pigtailed girl a file with the details of the mission inside.
"In a forest in Germany, people seem to be going missing. There's been a report from a person who was with one of the missing people that there was a strange mansion. But when they went to look for it, no mansion was found. We're thinking it might be Innocence."
The Chinese man sighed.
"I really don't want you to go alone, but all other Exorcists are on other missions or are injured, so…"
"I'll be fine, nii-san. Don't worry!"
The curtain call beeps and the never ending clapping…
"Lenalee!"
Lenalee turned around and smiled to the voice.
"Hey, Allen-kun. What's the matter?"
"Well, I heard you're going on a mission alone. I could've gone with you if I hadn't gotten injured…"
The boy looked slightly sheepish, but worried at the same time.
"Be careful, okay?"
"I'll be fine, Allen-kun! You know I always come home!"
Allen nodded to her with a smile, but Lenalee missed the strange flash of emotion in his eyes. It was there just for a millisecond, and was gone before the girl could see it.
"Well, I have to go now! Bye, Allen-kun!"
"Good luck, Lenalee"
As Lenalee ran down the hall with her back to him, Allen sang in a small voice enough to sound like a whisper,
'With a faded letter in her hand, she arrives at a mansion in the night…'
Say one, two, three, four…Shall we begin now?
On the train to the German town near the forest, Lenalee was looking through the file. There wasn't much on it. Just a few descriptions and information of what the witnesses said, and pretty much most of it was white paper.
Suddenly, there was a lurch and the train suddenly came to a sudden stop.
"Huh?"
Lenalee looked out of the window, and realised it was at a forest. She looked at the finder sitting opposite her questioningly. The man shrugged back, and went to talk to the driver. A few minutes later he came back.
"It seems like the train broke down, but luckily we're at the forest"
"Oh, already?"
Lenalee grabbed her suitcase, and thanked the driver who had his hat on way too low for her liking. She hopped off the train, the finder close behind her. It was already dark, and she thought,
'Is it night already? I'm pretty sure I wasn't on the train for such a long time…'
But she just decided to shrug it off.
"Let's look around, Exorcist-sama"
"Oh, yes!"
They started to walk through the little path that was going through the trees, and Lenalee couldn't help but feel creeped out. It felt like she had been walking for hours, and she realised that she could no longer see the sky because the trees had become so thick.
"Should we finish for today, Mr-"
She froze as she turned around and the finder that was supposed to be behind her. She looked around, but there was only darkness, and mist was starting to creep in. But for some reason, the path ahead her seemed to be glowing.
Lenalee gulped, and took a few more steps.
"Mr Finder? Where did you go?"
She tried shouting, but it sounded like her voice was reaching nowhere.
"This is strange…"
As she whispered, she gasped as the path suddenly ended. She looked up, and realised there was a giant mansion looming above her.
"What…"
The mansion looked pretty beaten up, glasses broken and some of the windows hanging from its hinges, ripped curtains poking out. Lenalee could tell the front door was broken as well, and there was growing wildly around the mansion, coming up to her knees.
All in all, it was like a haunted house.
"Could this be that mansion…that people have disappeared in?"
She whispered to herself, and gulped. But the mansion seemed deserted. It was in no condition for people to live in. But as she thought that, her eyes spotted a small movement in one of the windows. The curtain had moved, and what made Lenalee sure there was habitat in the mansion was a little girl's laughter.
Lenalee gripped the folder of the mission she still had in her hands. She walked to the front porch of the house, and knocked on the door that looked like it was going to fall apart any moment.
"Is there…anyone home?"
She didn't expect the door to open so quickly, and was also quite shocked that it opened without a creak. There, stood a man with long black hair, who had a Latin look. Portuguese, maybe? He was dressed like a butler, so he must be the butler here, she thought.
"Oh my, what can I do for you?"
The man said in a mellow voice, smiling at the girl. Behind him, two heads popped. One blond, one black.
"Welcome, welcome~!"
"Hihiee, to the house of mysteries!"
Lenalee was creeped out by the two boys, who had black makeup around their eyes and was grinning at her. The two grabbed her arms, and pulled her into the house.
"Come in!"
'Um, I-"
Lenalee's voice stopped as she saw the inside of the house. It was all beautifully furnished, and there was a fire burning warmly in front of the large red sofa. It was unexpected, seeing the house looked so beaten up from the outside.
"Ooh, guests?"
A little girl with spiky hair squealed, running over to Lenalee. She realised, that there was a whole group of people in what seemed to be the living room.
"Umm, sorry…I got lost…"
She didn't see the golden glint in all of their eyes. Lenalee jumped as someone tapped her on the shoulders. She turned around and found a boy with a turban, holding a tray of tea towards her.
"Tea?"
"Oh, thank you…"
Surprised that she hadn't heard or sensed him come towards her, she took a cup.
The man who seemed to be the oldest out of all of them smiled. He looked quite similar to the butler who had greeted her at the front door.
"Well, it must have been some kind of fate that brought you here on a cold night like this!"
"It's a party!" "Party!"
The two boys whooped.
"Should we introduce ourselves?"
A woman with black hair in a ponytail said in a monotone voice, and they all nodded.
"I'm Sheryl Camelot, the master of this mansion. Nice to meet you"
"Lulubelle"
The woman said after the man, and she disappeared into one of the corridors leading from the living room.
"I'm Jasdero!" "And I'm Devit!"
"Together, we're JasDevi!"
The two boys sang, running around Lenalee.
"I'm Road! You're Lenalee, right?"
"E-eh? How do you-"
The little girl lifted the folder that Lenalee was sure she had a few seconds ago.
"My name is Wisely"
"And I'm Tyki Mikk. Nice to meet you, young lady"
The boy with the turban and the butler both smiled at her, bowing gracefully.
"W-well, I'm Lena-"
"The party's ready"
Lenalee's shaky introduction was cut off by Lulubelle coming back into the room.
"Well then, come on!"
Sheryl got up from the sofa, and Road grabbed Lenalee's hand.
"Enjoy yourself!"
"Oh no, it's okay…"
"Tonight's highlight, let's start!"
Road sang, and giggled.
Here's a crazy nighT! The curtain has risen…
Part 1 End