Falling Through a Blue Sky
Chapter One
He was the worst priest-in-training he'd ever met in his life, he thought as he sat outside that fine morning, having a cigarette. He'd snuck back in the dorms from another one of his late night visits to the convent next door and had almost been caught.
He blew out smoke.
Marian Cross was never one to follow rules. He'd been surrounded with them, smothered by them growing up. His father a gunsmith with certain unchangeable ideas about what a man should look like and how he should act, and his mother a housewife who loved nothing more than indulging her little boy. It had been a strange household to grow up in, crushed by his father's stupid rules yet spoiled by his mother. He'd been at odds with his father constantly, with issues ranging from the fact that his father never let him grow his hair, to him wanting to become a priest. His father had been furious, his mother happy for him and encouraging.
Yes, a strange household indeed. Cross would be going back for a visit in a few days, right after he graduated seminary school. He couldn't wait to see his mother again.
His father…well... he didn't know.
Cross put out his cigarette and kicked some dirt over it to hide it. He then walked to his first class to prepare for finals.
--
"Tiedoll." The artist with the wondering mind looked up from his drawing.
"Yes, General Yeegar?"
"There's been a report of an Innocence somewhere in South England. I need you to investigate it for me."
"Yes, General Yeegar." The middle aged man packed away his supplies and ran a hand though his graying hair.
"I'll leave right away." He began to walk away nonchalantly.
"Oh, and Tiedoll?"
"Yes?" He blinked behind his large rimmed glasses.
"Take a few shards with you also. We're in desperate need of new Exorcists."
"Okay, yes, yes. I'll remember to get some before I leave," he mumbled.
"See that you do," General Yeegar replied.
"Sometimes I wonder if that man's really all there," he said to himself after Tiedoll had left.
--
Cross took a deep breath, glad to finally be free. He walked to the train station after saying a few regretful goodbyes to the nuns (most of them weren't nuns anymore, he mused to himself). He boarded the train for London and spent most of the long journey looking out the window, wondering what it was going to be like once he was home.
He arrived to the house in a state of chaos, the shop below the same way. Cross had to step over anvils and tools to get to the stairs that led to the house.
"Mom? Dad? I'm home." Silence except for the clattering of dishes. He walked to the kitchen to find his neighbor, Elaine, doing them.
"Oh! Marian, you scared me! I thought you weren't supposed to be back for a few more days.
"I caught an early train. Where are my parents?" Elaine continued to wash the dishes, though more somberly now.
"Elaine? What aren't you telling me? What's going on?" Cross grabbed her by the shoulders hard.
"Your mother…she is…sick. She didn't want to tell you and make you leave school…" Cross was already taking the stairs three at a time when Elaine finished her sentence. He burst in the door. He looked over at his father, who was sitting by her bedside.
"How bad is it?" His father shook his head.
"She has consumption, son. The doctor doesn't know how long she has left to live."
"So I'm going to live the little life I do have left," his mother said defiantly, sitting up in her bed. She coughed numerous times, so much that Cross thought her lungs might come out at any minute.
"Welcome home, son. I've missed you so much," she held out her arms for a hug. Though Cross wasn't terribly affectionate, he always made an exception for his mother.
"My, you've grown so much since Christmas! You're taller than your father now! Oh, and your hair! I like it this length." If his father had any objections, he didn't voice them out of respect for his wife. He simply got up and went down the stairs, leaving the two alone.
--
The train came to a grinding halt, and Tiedoll looked up from his drawing. It was the middle of the night, and he was the only one awake. General Yeeger had told him to get off at this stop, so he grabbed his things and stepped onto the platform. He watched the train leave before walking out of the station.
Tiedoll searched the area, looking for an inn to stay at. He finally found one and settled down in his room.
"Now if I were an Innocence in this town, where would I be?" he mused to himself before falling asleep…
--
Cross waited until his mother had fallen asleep before heading downstairs. It was terribly late at night and the house was dark and shadowy. However, he could hear clanging coming from the shop downstairs. His father, Adrian, often worked late into the night, especially when he was upset over something. Cross decided to go downstairs and visit with his father.
His father looked up from the piece of metal he was working with.
"Hello, son," he said simply before returning to his work. Cross sat down in a chair, pulling a cigarette from his pocket and lighting it.
"Smoking? That's hardly good behavior for a priest." He took a long drag and blew out smoke.
"They don't care if you smoke, just so long as you don't do it in church."
His father grunted in reply and went back to his work. Cross watched him, noticing the gray streaked throughout his short cropped black hair. His father was finally beginning to age despite the fact he was only thirty-eight years old.
"I'm going to ask you something, and I want you to tell me the truth."
"Anything within reason, son." Cross ground out his cigarette with his boot and turned around in his chair.
"How long?" he asked bluntly. Adrian put down the hammer and sighed.
"The doctors aren't exactly sure. They said anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. They've only given her five more months at the most." Cross nodded, processing the news slowly. His father had always been a man who told the truth, who didn't mince words or try to sugar coat anything. He'd given it to him point blank, and for that, Cross was thankful.
"Well, thanks for telling me the truth. Now I'm off to get some sleep." He got up off the chair and was about to walk out the door when his father stopped him.
"Hold on a minute son. I have something to show you." Adrian pulled a black box out from under the counter and set it down heavily.
"A man brought this to me a couple of days ago. Said he found it lying in his backyard one day, but couldn't use it He said that it was worthless. I can't use it myself, can barely pick the thing up. But the design of it is different from any gun I've ever seen. I thought you might be interested in it." He opened the case and revealed a silver handgun, though judging by the size of it you could hardly call it that. It had a cross emblazoned on the side of its large barrel.
"Thing is, though, I couldn't find any bullets to fit it. All I know is this is the strangest gun I've ever seen." Cross looked at it before carefully touching the surface.
Warm. He expected it to be cold, or at least cool, because that's how metal usually felt. It pulsed underneath his fingertips.
His father was right. This was no normal gun.
Cross picked it up carefully, expecting it to feel like a piece of lead in his hand. It didn't. It felt no different in his hand that a pencil. The pulse was stronger now, resounding through his body. His father looked at him with wide eyes.
"This isn't heavy," Cross said. "It feels lighter than any gun I've ever held." That wasn't the only reason his father was staring, though.
It was glowing, a pale blue aura swirling around it. Then it moved up Cross' arm, moving until it surrounded his entire body. He panicked, wanting to drop the gun, but found himself unable to. It spoke to him, softly, only heard by him.
'Yes, you are my accommodator. You are the one I have been searching for all these years. My name is…Judgment. I am an Innocence, and now you are my wielder.'
"Apparently it's supposed to be mine," Cross said finally. His father simply nodded.
"Then you may have it. I had a feeling when I first got it that it was meant for you."
--
The Millennium Earl looked down at the city from the rooftops, ever present grin on his face. Tonight had been a good night.
But tomorrow would be better.
"Yes, tomorrow will be a good night to come back here" he said happily as he left for better places…
--