Exorcists of the Crescent
Chapter 1: "Cage" KAJ
An echo of a sigh was carried by the wind in the autumn sky. Warm hues of yellow, orange, and pink were being overtaken by the darkness. The moonbeams dance upon the rocks and swirling sand giving them almost life like images in this barren land. Several figures cloaked in the oncoming darkness were barely visible against the barren land of sand and stone.
One of the smaller figures had fallen to their knees, panting from loss of breath. All the figures had stopped as two of them helped her up. One of the figures walked up to the one furthest from the fallen one. It took down its hood to reveal fiery red hair. Her eyes were tired and it was revealed in a small yawn when she spoke. "She won't be able to continue on." She paused for a moment, taking a look around the group. "Most of us are at our end. We have to rest."
"No." The figure replied as it turned its head to the taller figure standing beside them. A deeper voice came from the taller one. "If we rest now, danger will arise again." The other figure nodded in agreement before turning to the redhead. "If they cannot go on, tell them to go back and come only when they can make it." It spoke in a soft voice but was underlined with annoyance.
"What but that's-!" "Enough." The figure growled at her. "That is final. Do you dare defy that decision?" The figure challenged the redhead. She stared back in disbelief but gave a small nod and went over to the group. The figure sighed when looking up at the dark sky, littered by glittering lights. "Time is of the essence."
"God dammit Moyashi!" growled a long haired man. He stood in the middle of the room holding a wooden sword. He wore a navy sleeveless top that went up to his neck with black pants. A smaller teenager was wide eyed with his hands in the air. His snow white hair was sticking to his skin as he started to back away from the older male. He wore a vest over a white long-sleeve shirt and black dress pants. His silver eyes were watching the man starting to charge at him.
"Wait, Kanda! I'm sorry, gah-" He was cut off by a wooden sword being swung at him. Allen gave a small sigh of relief as he managed to block it with his own sword. "I will kill you!" snarled Kanda, hatred glowing in his eyes.
During their normal practice session Allen accidentally cut the swordsman's hair-tie turning the practice into an actual fight. Now Kanda is furiously trying to kill Allen while some of the scientist, finders, and an exorcist watched, trying to stifle their laughter.
"BWA HAHA!" A sound of roaring laughter echoed across the giant room. The Japanese man glared at the laughing redhead. The redhead kept laughing, ignoring the stares of awe from the others and a glaring Kanda.
"What's so funny baka usagi?" Kanda growled. The redhead opened his left eye; the other covered by an eye-patch and grinned. "Your hair, Yuu-chan," He said again before bursting into laughter again. "You won't be laughing when I stick my sword up your ass! And don't call me that!" He shouted back.
"Lavi..." A deeper voice came behind the redhead. Lavi gulped and turned around to see a shorter Asian man staring down at him from where he was seated. "Why aren't you finishing the book I told you to memorize?" He said sternly. "But I did Bookman!" whined the exorcist. "Then why aren't you on the next set?" the one-eyed man stop for a second before giving a small smile. "Well, I was here to make sure Yuu-chan doesn't kill Allen."
The white haired teenager walked over with a slowly calming down Kanda. "We have something to do now anyway." A soft voice spoke from the doorway at the end of the training room. Everyone turned their heads to see a green haired girl in pigtails and the female version of the exorcist wardrobe. Her purple eyes gazed over the room until she stopped at the male teenagers. She strode over and proceeded to tell them that Komui wished to see them. Lavi quickly took off, followed by a glaring Bookman. Allen walked beside the green haired girl with Kanda close behind.
"Why does he want to see us?" Allen asked her. "I'm not too sure. A mission I suppose." She replied with a smile. Eventually, after a little chatter and an argument between Allen and Kanda, they reached two large double doors. With a turn of a golden handle they walked into the blinding white office. Everyone gave a funny look as books, papers, and other things, some not even recognizable were scattered throughout the room.
Komui stood at his desk in a long white lab coat. He looked to be in his mid-twenties and wore thin-rimmed glasses. His purple hair curled at the back of his neck, a couple inches out. He wore a white beret, along with a white turtleneck and white dress pants underneath his lab coat.
"Hello everyone! We have something interesting to tell you." He said happily. Another man, Reever, stood beside him also in a white lab coat and started to speak. "We have a few people to help us out on missions." He spoke with an Australian accent. He had very messy spiky blonde hair and wore a dress shirt with a blue vest and tie.
Everyone gave him a clueless look. "What does he mean Nii-san?" said the teen girl. "Oh my precious Lenalee, we don't have enough exorcists so...some help was sent." He ended, while hugging Lenalee. She looked about ready to hit him until he walked over to the doors. "Please come in." He called.
The first person to walk in was a tall teenage male with dark brown mop of curly hair. He had a chestnut brown beard that matched his brown eyes. He was built but not to the point of giant muscles. He wore a black t-shirt with a black jacket, unbuttoned, and dark blue jeans that had been ripped in some parts. There were two belts hanging opposite of each other around his waist in a chequered pattern of white and orange. He walked a few feet and stopped. Then he gave a small smile and shoved a white gloved hand into his pocket. The other gloved hand lightly gripped the edge of his pocket.
Following him was a dark skinned teenage girl that came up to the male's shoulder. Her tanned hand went up and fixed her blue scarf that wrapped around her neck. She wore a black t-shirt with a red long-sleeve underneath and a black skirt. A chain was attached to the skirt that went around to the back. She had fishnet leggings and knee-high boots with big silver buckles. Her midnight black hair was tied back into a messy ponytail. Her bangs, with streaks of purple, covered her left eye though her brown right eye watched, assessing everyone as she stood to the left of the male.
The final person to enter was another teenage female that was about the same height as the other female. Her shoulder length dark brown hair started straight and became wavy as it went down. She wore a white and turquoise blue rimmed, long-sleeve hoodie. She wore black jeans, faded a bit with age, that clung to her figure. Across her right leg was a turquoise blue bandana. She had past ankle high turquoise blue shoes that had black stars on either side of them. Apparently she really liked that colour. Her brown eyes looked toward her teammates before she shoved her pale hands into the pockets of her sweater. She walked over to the right side of the male before stopping.
"Hello there!" Komui chirped before proceeding. "These are some of the exorcists you will be working with. Miranda and Crowley will be back from their missions later." He introduced the group to the newcomers before turning back them. "And you are?"
The group was silent for a moment before the male happily stated, "I am Andrew Kirkonnell, at your service." He gave a small bow along with a smile. The brunette gave a small smile. "I'm Jessie Flauros." The third one reluctantly gave her name. "Kayleen Coventry."
"Ah, nice to meet you all!" Komui beamed again. "All of you will be going on a mission tomorrow. Be nice now." He chirped. With that, the smaller group left without hesitation. The other group slowly left as well except for Lenalee. "Nii-san...Why did they come here?" She asked him once everyone had left. Reever was leaning on the wall, his eyes drifting to the Chief, waiting for a reply. Komui since then walked over to his desk and picked up a manila envelope, his fingers tracing the metallic ink. "That is a very good question Lenalee..." He said gravely as his eyes traced the lines on the envelope plainly marked, "C".
No one saw the new group until the next morning. Allen and Lenalee strolled over to the giant front doors and were surprised to see the three from the day before standing there, waiting for them. All three wore dark cloaks, covering their bodies. Jessie pulled down her hood, "Good morning." Then Andrew turned and smiled. "Good morning!" He chimed. The third one gave a small nod to acknowledge them before walking outside.
"Morning," Allen and Lenalee both replied. Lenalee watched Kayleen leave, but before she could say anything Jessie spoke. "Don't mind her. She's like that." Jessie stated, then turned to white haired male. "Allen, right? Jessie."
Andrew arched an eyebrow and began to talk with Lenalee about the Black Order. She explained their purpose and functions. It didn't take long before Lavi, the Bookman, and Kanda showed up. They began the journey to a small town in England. A number of people have gone missing over the last few months in the small town and one of them being the mayor's eldest son.
Andrew and Lenalee went to talk to the mayor and the others went gather information throughout the city.
"Nobody seems to know anything about the missing people." Allen sighed sadly. "Yup, and there don't seem to be any connections. Nowhere they had gone," stated Lenalee. "What about people?" Jessie asked them. Everyone started shouting anything that could be connected, without luck. During this time Kayleen had walked off toward the clock tower. She stared up with her right eye.
"It feels...strange."She thought as she closed her eyes for a moment before turning around to find herself face to face with the redhead. "Anything interesting?" Lavi asked. She took a moment, noting that the others weren't around. Lavi gave a her funny look before smiling and continuing. "Did ya notice something?"
She stared, not saying anything. Lavi was about to sigh and say something when she spoke. "I have an odd feeling." She paused to look at Lavi, then back at the clock tower. Lavi looked at the tower for a moment and by the time he looked back Kayleen was already heading into the clock tower. "Hey! Wait a minute." Lavi called, running after the dark skinned girl.
Jessie watched from around the corner. She gave a small smile and strolled over to the side of the street opposite the clock tower. "What do you think Kin-chan, show time?" A little figure appeared on her shoulder. It had long purple hair, tied back in a pony-tail and big purple eyes. It wore a white and blue kimono and held an ice white fan in each hand. "Hai Jessie-sama. Ready when you are." It called cheerfully, its eyes glowing.
Lavi ran after the girl, almost losing her a couple of times until they reached the top of the tower. "Couldn't you hold on a moment?" The red haired exorcist asked. He walked toward her until he noticed what she was staring at. In the corner, a young girl stared back at them. Her eyes were white, showing no signs of life, yet she was floating there in a white gown.
"Dev," Kayleen whispered. "Hai, hai. I'm here," an annoyed voice echoed. Lavi looked around for the voice and was surprised to see a scythe in the small teen's hand. The scythe began to glow as the girl slowly and grotesquely changed into a level three akuma. Lavi got his hammer ready to fight. The akuma charged at them, both of them dodging out of the way, and it went through to clock tower wall, exiting to the crowded streets.
Allen and Kanda both arrived then, followed by Andrew, Lenalee and the Bookman. To everyone's astonishment, the akuma created replicas of itself into two, then four, then eight, and finished at sixteen. "Oh great, it knows math." Andrew mumbled. He took off a necklace that had been hidden under his shirt. "Transform." The necklace glowed and changed into a very large rectangular shaped sword. The top part was covered with a red lining and a giant screw was placed at the end of the blade near the hilt. By looking at the sword one would have swore it had teeth.
Half of the akuma charged at them, firing lasers and some with giant claws were swiping down for the kill. Lenalee had no problem getting up and kicking one, crushing its face in. She was surprised however that its claw, still moving, was coming at her. Within a second the claw was cut off. Andrew gave a large grin. "Shouldn't go straight for the kill if you don't know where your kill is." He stated after landing on the ground. "What the hell does that mean?" Kanda growled as he used mugen to cut one in half. "If you have observed, they keep regenerating even if you completely destroy them." Andrew replied, ignoring Kanda's rudeness and dodging another swipe with his blade.
"That means you have to find the real one. The rest are just replicates." A female voice called from atop the buildings. They all looked up to see Jessie staring back at them. She jumped off the roof and landed on an akuma. A chain scythe appeared in her hands. One end the blade was white and oddly similar in shape to a fan while the other end of the silver chain held a largely black spiked mace. She used the mace to knock one of the surrounding "fake" akuma, launching it away and the scythe to cut the one she was standing on.
Lavi and Kayleen had walked out to the edge of the clock tower, watching the battle commencing below them. "You're a Bookman, right?" Lavi was shocked a bit that she had spoken, but still managed to answer. "Yup, why?" "Then you saw how it replicated. You should be able to find the real one." She stared back at him. Lavi had indeed seen the original and exactly where it had gone. The problem was that it was at a higher point in the sky than the others.
He pointed to it. "But we can't reach it." He grumbled and she gave a small smile. "Andrew!" She called down. Andrew slashed another one and looked up. "Launch!" She called back before glancing over at Jessie. Jessie was back on the roof and gave a nod back. "You might want to get to the ground." Kayleen said to Lavi before she jumped off the clock tower. At this moment Jessie had again jumped into the middle of an Akuma. "Dance of the white sakura blossoms!" Within seconds a rapid wind created a white tornado. Mere seconds after that, the tornado exploded in what appeared to be white sakura blossoms before they disappeared. Any akuma near or in the tornado had been shredded into slivers. Jessie landed on the roof again.
Andrew had run over to the tower, his sword glowing a bright red, and swung his blade. The scythe user landed on the flat surface of the sword and was launched back into the sky, aimed at the original akuma. The scythe began to glow white as she passed the akuma and turned around using the weight of the scythe. "Death pendulum!" The blade swung from the sky, becoming a pendulum and slicing the akuma, part of the ground in line with the attack, and the clock tower in half. The akuma deteriorated as well as the "fake" ones that were trying to regenerate from Jessie's attack.
The group stared in awe at the three as the two females joined their teammate on the ground. The moment was lost when parts of concrete from the tower came tumbling down and they had to evacuate the area. "You over did it again." Andrew laughed when all could be heard was a small "whoops" from Kayleen. "'Whoops? Really?" Jessie laughed as they stopped running. "Okay, my bad." The black haired girl re-stated with a small smile.
"What the hell!" Came a shout from the destroyed tower and a figure emerged from the dust storm. Everyone had to stifle a laugh at the redhead who was covered from head to toe in dust and was panting from running. "You could have told me!" He whined, trying to get the dust off his body. "I did warn you." She stated.
Everyone left the area before they got yelled at and headed for the train back to the Black Order.
Allen turned to Jessie. "How did you do that?" She gave a smile and winked. "It's a secret." "Aw," whined Allen. Lenalee asked if they used innocence and was confused when they said no. The Bookman watched the group. It didn't take too long for Kanda and Allen to start fighting with Lavi instigating it. Jessie and Lenalee frantically tried to calm the two down as Andrew sat there laughing and Kayleen sat in her seat watching. The Bookman eyed each of the new 'teammates'. His eyes narrowed.
Lavi sat down beside the small Asian man. His grin disappeared at the grave look of his teacher. "What is it?" The Bookman said nothing for a moment before whispering.
'I don't know how to put it...But these children...Are hiding a far more dangerous secret."
Definitions:
Moyashi: Sprout/ Bean Sprout
Baka: Stupid
Usagi: Rabbit
Nii-san: Elder Brother
Hai: Yes
Sakura: Cherry Blossoms