This is actually an older story I'd written a while ago, and it was just sitting there on my hard drive. I swear it was glaring at me every time I looked at it.
It takes place about a month after Mater.
Behind sealed eyes, a scene unfolds. A crimson sky. Barren trees so few and scattered across this wretched plane. The shadow of a young child, sitting on the edge of a dry river. Corpses are piled high around him. His arms are bloodstained as he sifts frantically through the bodies of the faceless dead. He searching for something, a treasure perhaps?
No.
He searches for the precious thing he has lost.
It was cold again. She was cold again. How many days had it been since the last time this bitter sensation stole over her body? How many hours since her situation made her shiver? The child stood slowly from her cramped position, dark hair tousled and overly large clothes tattered. A pair of goggles hanging around her neck glinted in the dim light as the seven-year-old gripped her upper arms tightly with small, pale hands.
Wie das alte Sprichwort sagt…
A crowd had gathered in the main street. Quite a few people sat on the roofs of nearby buildings to watch the spectacle below, seeing as it was impossible to maneuver through the multitude of densely packed bodies. The scene that had so bewitched the townsfolk was actually a common enough, albeit sporadic one. A mannequin, with movements so life like that it could've been mistaken for a person at a distance, was dancing and performing feats impossible for any human. Made only of wooden limbs and with no puppeteer to be found, the entire thing seemed rather magical in the eyes of the citizens.
Among those sitting far above the main group was the girl. Behind her bangs, nearly white eyes followed every movement of the doll. The finale was coming up, she knew. Tossing its head into the air, the artificial part rejoined with the body. The thing gave one final bow before it did something it had never done before. It raised its head, locking the child in a lifeless gaze. An artificial grin coated the contraption's wooden face.
Then, without warning, it began to sing.
"Hoppe, Hoppe, Reiter...Wenn er fällt, dann schreiter. Fällt er in den Graben, Fressen ihn die Raben. Fällt er in de Sumpf...Macht der Reiter PLUMPS!" The crowd began to murmur quietly among themselves once the thing had collapsed, many wondering what had just occurred. With the population of the town being comprised of those who spoke only English, no one had the ability to understand what the doll had sung.
No one, except the girl.
A chill of terror ran up her spine as the crowd dispersed. What was going on? The child's gaze flitted fearfully around the area, searching for anything, anything out of the ordinary. Something must've changed for the marionette to deviate from its standard performance like it had. A pair in strange black robes garnered her attention. From the angle of her perch on the roof, she could only make out the white hair of the one inspecting the wooden carcass and the long ponytail and sword of the other.
The girl quickly left the site, missing the gaze of the watching blonde and her monkey.
"Oi, Moyashi. Hurry up." The younger boy bit back a snide remark as he finished examining the wooden remains. Why he had to be stuck with BaKanda again, he didn't know.
"Stop calling me that. I have a name." The samurai sneered.
"Che. Like I care."
"Enough you two. Our mission is to find the innocence, not kill each other." Both teens turned to face the general that Komui had asked to keep an eye on them. Kanda's seemingly permanent scowl only deepened as he looked away. Despite his protests against "having a baby-sitter", as he put it, General Klaud Nine had been assigned to the mission as well.
Allen stood up and turned to the scarred woman.
"The mannequin is only made of solid wood. It shouldn't have been able to move at all." An unspoken agreement passed between the members of the group.
There was Innocence here.
Ein Unglück kommt selten allein.
It was Wednesday. For the town, that meant market day. For the girl, it meant a greater chance of eating. She had pushed yesterday's incident to the back of her mind in order to focus on her current goal. Erst kommt das Fressen, dann kommt die Moral, she remembered silently. First comes the food. The child stuck to the edge of the crowds, watching for a chance to swipe something from one of the many vendors. No one seemed to notice her as she snuck about. Someone caught her eye then.
The freckled male with dark brown hair was beckoning for her to come over. He was well known to the girl, a twenty-five year old apprentice to a carver. She quickly maneuvered her way towards the one she knew as Conri. A grin was on his face as he stepped away from the stall he was helping to run. He knelt as the child approached.
"Hey kiddo. It's been a while." She merely quirked her head at this, knowing they had seen each other just last week. Conri chuckled. "Yeah, I know I'm exaggerating Zwei. Anyway, I managed to convince my boss to hand over a few goodies. Thought you might want them." He reached behind him and removed a cloth sack from his belt before handing it to the small girl now known as Zwei. "Take care now." The male returned to his post with a wave as she seemed to disappear into the crowd once more.
He hadn't noticed the white monkey leap from the top of the stall to follow the child.
Zwei quickly traversed the many alleyways throughout the town, clutching the small sack she'd been given. It s contents were still warm, something that she wasn't used to. The food she normally obtained was cold.
For once the child let her guard down, her usual perception dulled by the prospect of a full meal. Perhaps this is why she wasn't prepared for the sudden blow to her side.
The girl was sent crashing into the wall of the alley, a large forearm pinning her in place. It seemed to be covered in some sort of crimson armor that chilled her skin.
"Oh, look what I found~" the creature crowed. "A stray kitten running about by itself." Zwei shifted her gaze to the humanoid's face. A row of grinning teeth were set in the face of a knight-like being taller than any adult she'd seen. However, it was a faint white mist coming out of its shoulder that garnered her attention. If the orphan looked closely enough, she could almost make out the details of a person.
The pressure on her windpipe suddenly increased, making each breath a struggle. Instincts that had helped her for so long encouraged her to get away from this monster. Zwei listened. She thrashed and flailed in an attempt to free herself, her sight quickly blurring. The creature only laughed.
"Such a pitiful, weak little thing. I think I've slacked off long enough." It pulled its other hand back, ready to crush her skull, when two things happened simultaneously. The first was the sudden green glow from the top of girl's right arm; the second was a tri-clawed hand the color of volcanic ash protruding through the demon's chest.
Zwei broke into a coughing fit the moment she hit the ground. The creature had dispersed into atomic particles to be scattered by the four winds, leaving her to regain herself amidst the shadowed back ways of the rapidly darkening town. As her gaze began to refocus, the first thing she noticed was her arm. It had grown, now larger and long enough to reach halfway down her shin, with barbed spikes protruding irregularly from it yet able to lay flat like a hedgehog's quills. A frightened whimper escaped the child as she noticed faint silvery-green veins interweaving in a delicate pattern of seemingly fragile cracks along the dark surface. White eyes followed them up to the now pulsating green cross embedded in her body.
What was this?
Despite her exhaustion, the girl forced herself to sit up. She did her best to ignore the state of her body and grabbed the parcel that had been dropped in the attack. The fingers of her left hand worked to undo the knot with some difficulty, finally managing to loosen the cloth. Almost immediately the scent of freshly baked bread and cooked meat wafted out with a wave of warm air. Zwei's mouth began to water at the smell.
When the bag opened fully, a loaf of bread stared back at her almost tauntingly alongside several slices of ham. Those weren't the only things in there though. A glowing green crystal was nestled in the cloth as well, a note lying next to it. The child shoved the meat in her mouth first before turning her attention to the note.
Zwei,
I don't know if you can read, but I hope you can. This crystal is known as innocence. I found it lying in the shop one day when I was cleaning up. It was Monday. When I neared the mannequins in the back, one of them began to glow. Green lines appeared on the head and proceeded to form eyes and a mouth. It started to move on its own after that and dashed out the door. I was too shocked to try to stop it. Looking behind the wooden dolls, I saw this Innocence in the corner underneath an old rag. The only reason I knew what it was because I've been a supporter of a group called the Black Order for some time now.
At first I thought about contacting one of their members, but then I started thinking. The "living Puppets" only started showing up after you did. I thought that maybe the innocence was using the bodies of my mannequins to search for you, perhaps having sensed that you might be its accommodator or that you have a piece of Innocence yourself. Probably put on the shows in order to gain your attention. I'm sorry if this causes you any trouble.
Conri Sylvan
Zwei bit into the bread, her hidden gaze shifting between the crystal and her arm. So she was the reason the puppets showed up? And the cross she was born with embedded in her shoulder was also this so-called Innocence?
The thought scared the stray somewhat. That meant that the Innocence was what caused her arm to transform into what could only be called a weapon. Perhaps she could change it back...
"So it really was looking for you." Zwei jumped at the new voice, twisting around to see a tall blonde woman wearing the same type of cloak as the ones from yesterday had. The white monkey on her shoulder chittered anxiously as the girl moved her mutated limb. The woman only crouched down, allowing a faint smile on her face to comfort the child. "Relax, I won't hurt you. I'm General Klaud Nine, of the Black Order. We were contacted by your friend Conri a couple weeks ago about there possibly being Innocence here. It looks like he was right. What's your name?"
The child lifted up the note and pointed.
"Zwei, huh? Why don't you come with me? I'm staying at an Inn here in town along with some...partners." Zwei noted the hesitance at the end but ignored it for now. She canted her head slightly, asking a silent question that the General seemed to understand. "There are a few things we need to explain to you, like the purpose of the Black Order and Innocence. After that, you'll have to come with us to headquarters. I'm afraid you have no choice in the matter." The girl swallowed nervously and grabbed the glowing green crystal on the ground. She stood on wobbly legs, silently willing her arm to return to normal, almost yelping in surprise when it worked.
Klaud Nine noted the ease with which the child seemed to be adapting to her Innocence, making sure to add that in her report for later. Zwei followed behind her submissively as she began walking away.
Both Allen and Kanda blinked when the General strode in through the door with a six year old girl behind her. The green crystal in the child's hands and their superior's look kept them from asking any questions though.
Klaud motioned for her to sit on the unoccupied bed pushed against the far wall before sitting down as well in the nearby chair.
"Allen, Kanda, meet Zwei. Zwei, this is Allen Walker and Kanda Yuu." Allen approached with a soft smile and extended his hand. Zwei hesitated for a moment before lightly grabbing it in a brief handshake. The Japanese samurai sneered at the young newcomer only to shift his gaze to the older woman.
"Don't tell me she's an Accommodator." In response he received a look that would leave him a pile of ash if it were possible.
"She is. You and I both know that age isn't a factor for wielding Innocence." Kanda growled slightly, but relented and leaned against the wall. Even he wasn't so arrogant as to try and dispute with the female general known as Klaud Nine.
Said woman turned her attention back to the girl. The sight greeting her was nearly enough to make her laugh. Allen had apparently decided to introduce the child to Timcampy, and now the golden golem was trying to pull the Innocence from her hands in some oddly comedic version of tug-of-war. Lau Jimin had decided to join in as well in an attempt to help Tim. It seemed the girl just didn't want to let go.
"Walker," the woman said grabbing his attention. "Why don't you try teaching her about the Black Order? After all, you two will probably be going on quite a few missions together." The boy nodded and proceeded to break apart the small game.
Zwei frowned slightly when her miniscule fun was disrupted, but gave Allen her full attention. Timcampy decided to nest in her hair for the time being, effectively messing it up further. The white-haired boy chuckled slightly.
"I suppose I should start with what the Black Order actually is..."
The child had turned out to be an attentive listener as Allen gave what was quite possibly the longest explanation he'd ever had to say. By the end of it, he was nearly gasping for air. Klaud chuckled slightly.
"That was good Walker." A faint scoff from the Japanese exorcist could be heard. The General ignored it."We'll be leaving in the morning. Get some rest."
As a side note, the people in the story are constantly pronouncing her name as ZWAY instead of the proper German TSVIGH. This is due to a reason already mentioned within the passage itself; THEY CAN'T SPEAK GERMAN.
I'm actually not sure if I'll continue this, but I'll try to if you want.