The Sun Sets
A/N: Don't know if anyone would want to read this. I kind of just came up with this concept. I have about 14,000 words written for it, but I want to see what people think of it before I consider really investing time into it. Please tell me what you think so far. Thank you for reading the first chapter
"Dialogue"
Thoughts, emphasis, etc.
/ Flashbacks /
*sounds, actions*
Formal attack names "Akuma (in their true forms) speech"
[Time passing]
- The Black Order -
On top of desolate mountain looms a black tower. A full moon shines down on it. Suddenly, a shadow flits through the sky, a bird-like form illuminated against the pale face. The figure silently soars down, dropping a much larger form just before landing.
The taller figure leans over the edge of the cliff.
"That would not have been a pleasant climb," he remarks. "Are you okay, Raven?" The winged form inclines its head.
Raven grins cheerfully at Allen's concerned look. The young man stood at 5'5''. The young man wears a simple black vest and pants. A black shawl drapes over the man's shoulders, slightly parted against the black wings emerging from the shoulders. A simple white mask hides everything above the mouth from view. Silvery white hair frames the face while curly blue-black hair with purple highlights is held back by a ribbon. Moonlight flashes silver against a small raven pendant around the exorcist's neck.
"A little thing like you? Not a problem." The wings shrink from their 14 feet span to just 2 feet, disappearing underneath the shawl. "You know, I'm a whole lot stronger than I look, big brother."
The other young man has a shock of white hair uncovered and a much more formal dress. His face is marred by a crimson scar beginning with an upside star above the left eye and ending along the cheek in a slightly jagged line crossed by another line just below the eye.
They had traveled quite a ways, but the two Walker brothers have finally arrived at the Black Order Headquarters. Allen nudges his foster brother with his elbow.
"Not little. I'm two year older and taller!" scowled the scarred boy in good humor. Raven just laughed. Allen was taller by an inch, perhaps. Raven looks over in the direction of the tower.
"Wow. This place has an intimidating feel to it, don't you think so?"
"Yeah," agreed Allen, sweat dropping a bit.
The two begin to walk toward the gates. Timcanpy, their master's golem, flutters by them.
From the corner of his eye, Raven spots a black golem. Hmm, must be part of their surveillance.
The gates are ridiculously large and have some sort of face carved in-between them.
They stopped, neither sure of what to do. Allen decided the more direct approach. He turned around and began to speak.
"Hello? My brother and I were sent by General Cross Marian. I'm Allen Walker. I have some things to discuss with the black priests."
"Same with me, I'm Raven Walker," added the younger boy.
"The two of you must be examined by the gatekeeper behind you" calls out a voice from seemingly nowhere.
"Hi, nice to meet you." I kind of wish I was more like Allen, thought Raven as his brother boldly greets the face.
The face in the wall suddenly lunges at them. Raven nearly took a step back at the sudden movement. Light shoots from its eyes as it performs an "x-ray examination" to determine their humanity. Unfortunately, the gatekeeper found them…wanting.
"THESE GUYS ARE OUTTA HERE! THEY'RE NO GOOD! ONE HAS A CURSED PENTACLE ON HIS FOREHEAD, AND THE OTHER ONE BEARS ONE ON EACH OF HIS PALMS! Out, OUT! Since the mark of an akuma is a pentacle, these people must be friends of the Earl of the Millennium!"
Both exorcists nervously sweat.
"Ummm, I think we have a bit of a misund-" Raven's eyes flit to above them where he can detect a wave of killing intent. Someone had landed on top of the gates.
The next thing he knows, some sort of samurai guy nearly slices Allen in two. His sword even rips a tear through Allen's anti-akuma weapon.
"Allen!" Raven hisses. Wings once more flare out from under his shawl. A battle breaks out despite Allen and his pleas.
The sword activates. Raven silently scolds Allen as he deactivates his own weapon. He darts in between the two, wings stopping the blade inches from Allen's face.
"Quit it, already! We are not your enemies," snaps Raven.
"You should have received a letter of recommendation from Master Cross!" adds Allen.
Several intense minutes pass. Finally, they're let into the tower.
Raven appreciated their new guide a lot better than the security detail with attitude named Kanda. Lenalee Lee, a green-haired girl with purple eyes, greeted them cheerfully (and not with a sword). Raven mentally made a note to get back at the samurai later. He had an idea (or six).
Supervisor Komui was a nice guy. Maybe a little nutty, but nice enough. Raven flinched and had several thoughts on running off when Komui performed surgery to repair the large crack running down Allen's hand. The giant drill was a tad daunting. Then the man turned to him.
"Raven Walker? Nice to meet you. Are you his younger brother?"
Raven gives a tentative smile, "Yes, sir."
"Good, good. I don't think I've met too many siblings who were exorcists" commented Komui. "Now, I do believe I saw several feathers torn from those wings. May I see your anti-akuma weapon?"
"Sure. Will Night Soul be okay?"
They find out a few things about his anti-akuma weapon. One, it's a parasitic-type since the wings are actually a part of his body. Two, standard anesthesia has little effect on Raven, or disastrous effects.
/ "OOOOOOWWWW! IT BURNS!" /
Komui finally discovered a combination of herbs to numb his wings, but the delicate structure of his tiny raven wings require finer and smaller tools (thank God for that, Raven did not forget the horrible racket Allen made earlier).
Then they go down to have their anti-akuma weapons checked over. Raven never suspected they had a giant spectral lady down this deep. Her tentacles reached down and plucked Allen off the ground.
Komui watched from the stands. Most accommodators and potential accommodators had this kind of reaction when meeting the ancient keeper of the Innocence. Strangely, the newest apostle's younger brother only silently stood there. Komui would have thought he would be panicking until he saw him lower mask. White pentacles form a ring within startlingly yellow irises. The eyes seem to glow faintly. On the left side of his face, the younger exorcist has the black outline of a raven curled against each eye. Ah, yes. Young Raven did mention about his natural "gift" maybe being linked to his unusual features. Pentacles in his palms, black birds by his eyes, and eyes as bright as a cat's. I don't blame him for concealing them.
"Allen, calm down before you hurt yourself! She's has an anti-akuma weapon – well, kind of. Alongside a bunch of others, but she doesn't have any ill intentions!"
Allen hesitated, but slowly deactivated his Innocence. Raven draws his mask back down, satisfied. Komui notes everything down but says nothing.
"17%...33…45…59…75…83%! You're maximum synchronization percentage with your weapon is 83%," she whispered.
"Synchronization percentage?"
"To fully operate your anti-akuma weapon, you need a high enough synchronization rate. It measures the compatibility between the accommodator and the Innocence. The lower the number, the harder it is to activate the weapon, and too low of a number would endanger the life of the exorcist." Hevlaska gently sat the young man down. "I am sorry to startle you. I was trying to get to know your Innocence."
Allen looks in askance, but Hevlaska only continues. "Also, in the dark future, your Innocence will one day form a great "Time Destroyer." That is what I have felt for that is my power."
Raven eyes widened underneath his mask. "Time Destroyer" How ominous.
*Clap, clap*. Raven turned to Komui who had finally deigned to speak up.
"Wow~ Hevlaska's predictions are usually right, you know. A "Time Destroyer," huh? I think we can expect excellent things from you then. "
Allen attempted to punch the supervisor, making an impressive dent into his clipboard.
"Allen!" reprimands the younger boy. Hevlaska also goes to lift the other accommodator up. Raven does not struggle even when the weird touches and squirming sensation incited a single shudder to run through his body.
"…10%...23…39…52…74…87…95. Your synchro rate is 95%. When all hope seems lost, you will unleash an "Unmaker of Fate"."
Allen slaps a hand on Raven's back. "Wow, you have an even higher rate than me!" complimented whitenette.
"Amazing," lauds Komui. "A little more, and you will reach Critical Point."
"Critical Point?"
"100% synchronization. All generals such as your master have broken past that point and received a higher level of power as a result. The two of you have great expectations ahead of you, especially after what the two of you told me about your abilities. A curse to let you see the souls of the akuma, and your gift of sight and psychometry which lets you see the "truths" of this world. Fascinating."
The man went on to explain the history of the war with the Millennium Earl, the Innocence and the Cube, and the founding of the Black Order.
Raven and Allen got rooms next to each other. They were a bit haggard, but the two have seen worse accommodations. Raven leaned against the wall and peered out the window. Behind him, a painting hung with a cloaked figure standing at a crossroad.
- First Morning –
Raven finished up his morning exercises and walked over to his brother's room. As he thought, his brother performing his own exercises – namely pushups while balancing on a chair set on a single leg.
"Hurry up and finish. The sun's up and breakfast is awaiting~"
Allen perked up at the last part. Raven turned toward the opened door, as if he was about to leave without him.
"Hey! Please, wait for me, Raven!"
The younger boy hid a smile. Got ya.
Raven made sure to take the lead. Knowing Allen, the older teen would just end up wandering the halls. Then again, he might make it there himself if he followed his stomach.
Behind an open window stood a dark man with cornrow styled hair and two ponytails.
"Oh? New recruits? Aren't the two of you cute?!"
*Sweat drop*
"Nice to meet you…" greeted Allen.
"Good morning."
"So precious! So, darlings, what would you want to eat? I can make practically anything!"
Raven tilted his head in interest. "…Anything?"
Allen gave an entire monologue of different foods. Raven nearly laughed at the sweat drops this invoked. He just said to the chef, Jerry, to make the same for himself.
"Hehe," chuckled Raven apologetically, "sorry about our orders. Apparently, parasitic-types like ourselves eat quite a bit. I'm Raven Walker, and this is my younger brother Allen."
A look of comprehension dawned on the chef's face. "Aha! That would explain things. Well, don't hesitate to ask for something different to eat than your brother. I'll have them out in a jiffy, so just go, and sit yourselves down."
Suddenly shouting drew the brothers' attention to the dining area.
The longhaired girly boy from last night had a much large man held up in the air. Allen was first to respond.
"Enough," he said to…Kanda, was it? "I am sorry to step in on something that has nothing to do with myself, but there are better ways to resolve this than fighting."
Raven didn't like that cold look in Kanda's eyes.
"Step back, Moyashi, if you don't want to get hurt."
"Moyash…I'm Allen!" corrected the whitenette. Raven went to stand next to his brother.
"And I'm Raven, pleasure to see you once more, Kanda."
The blue haired teen took one look at Raven and said, "Shut it, Naichingeru."
A tick mark developed on Raven's forehead. "Pardon? It's RAVEN! Are you implying something by calling me a nightingale?!"
"Che, you're shorter than the Moyashi, but at least you have a more pleasant voice. Maybe if either of you last more than a month, I'll bother to remember your names. Lots of people die here, just like those guys there."
Allen tightened his grip on Kanda's wrist. "As I said before, that is not a nice thing to say."
Kanda's glare tried to chill them to the bone. "The two of you are going to die soon. That's why I hate your type."
"Well, thank you," retorted Allen. Raven's eyebrows arched high. Ahaha, this is starting to escalate. Before Raven could say something, one of the people from the Science Division yelled for the three of them.
BWAHAHA. Raven could barely suppress his laughter after Reever woke Komui up by whispering to him about Lenalee's upcoming nuptial. Two words: Sister-complex.
"Okay. Time is of the essence!"
"So why were you sleeping," muttered the disgruntled Science Division member.
Komui ignored the comment. "I'll give you the summary, then you guys got to go. Read the reports on the way there. The three of you are going as a team."
And no one was happy about that.
"What? Why do I have to go with the Moyashi and Naichingeru?!"
"No way is this a good idea," agreed Raven. Allen and Kanda were already at each other's throats.
"Hmm, aren't you guys getting along yet? Regardless, I will brook no arguments. The Innocence is in Southern Italy, but the finders report akuma activity in the vicinity. The mission objectives are to destroy the enemy and secure the Innocence."
His gaze darted back and forth between his simmering partners. Raven sighed. Hope this doesn't reflect how the rest of the mission will play out.