My first -man fic, and I decide to take canon, future-ize it a bit, and just run with it in the weirdest direction possible. Wow.
Still, I truly think this turned out okay, especially since I'm not huge on Lenalee and Miranda's characters to begin with. Don't get me wrong, I like them and all, but I'm sure even my most distant friends expected my first fic to be Lavi-centric.
Critique wanted. :D Please enjoy. Any questions about my stab at future!canon, please ask, too. I don't own -man, by the way, though I'd love to kidnap Lavi sometime. :3
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"Miranda, why are you even here?"
The younger girl's voice was barely audible over the sound of buildings crashing around them. Miranda turned to face her, the one responsible for the destruction. "What?"
"Why are you here?" The other girl's Innocence, swirling around her slender legs like a thousand angry snakes, pulsed red in time with her words. The Heart hadn't consumed her yet, had it? Miranda flinched as a piece of brick flew into her cheek.
"I want to stop this," Miranda said in an almost pleading tone as she wiped blood away, "Lenalee, I'm not leaving, even if my Innocence is powerless now."
Neither woman could look the other in the eye. The wind picked up as Lenalee's legs began to throb more violently. What's even going wrong here? Miranda wondered as another building collapsed with a roar.
Lenalee suddenly walked away, toward the emblem on the ground where the Vatican's main building used to be. It was barely visible among the rubble and surging flames, yet even Miranda had a vague idea of what Lenalee could unleash if she got close enough to that spot. She followed the younger girl. "Lenalee, I..."
Lenalee didn't turn. Miranda ran to catch up. "Wait, can't we just wait for the others to arrive? The Akuma aren't even close; there's enough time--"
"Miranda, don't you understand?" Lenalee stopped and doubled over as her legs pulsed again. "This Innocence is self-destructing now. I don't know why. But I'll be damned if I let it consume me--" she winced as her legs shone brighter, "-- without taking all the Akuma I can with it. And with the power of the Heart and whatever's rumored to be sealed beneath that floor..."
Miranda said nothing. It was true; with both powers' alleged potential, she could cleanse at least an entire hemisphere of Akuma. Including the ones the Finders indicated were coming for the two of them.
But does it have to end like this...? The Heart is supposed to be a power of good, not destruction.
"You leave. Now." Lenalee gasped as she took a few slow steps closer to where the seal should be. "I'm your senior, aren't I? And I... say to leave."
Miranda paused, unwilling to leave but not wanting to sacrifice herself unnecessarily - or hinder Lenalee's final mission. But will this really be her end...? Can't something else be done?
The fragile woman's heart hurt suddenly as Lenalee collapsed in a heap on the glass-riddled ground. The wind blew in furious circles around the last standing building, a stone tower fifty feet to their left. Miranda eyed the tower cautiously as she ran to Lenalee and touched her shoulder.
"Lenalee..." She had to shout over the noise, "Give me your arm."
There was no reply. Miranda seized the other girl's arm and pulled it up around her shoulder. She grabbed Lenalee's waist, and to her relief, the Innocence did not react violently. Miranda knew that with her Time Record destroyed, the Innocence might not even recognize her as an Exorcist, and could tear her to shreds.
She inched forward, dragging a now semi-conscious Lenalee over broken stained glass and dust and rubble. The top of the tower suddenly crumbled and fell with a roar, almost hitting them with debris. Miranda paused for a moment, trying to catch her breath amid the smoke. "Lenalee...?"
Again, there was no reply. The Innocence in Lenalee's legs suddenly flashed white, almost blinding the older woman. She gritted her teeth and dragged Lenalee the final ten feet to the now-buried seal. She knelt down and carefully let go of Lenalee as she frantically shoved bricks and debris away from the spot they needed.
It occurred to her that she didn't even know what this seal looked like; she only knew its approximate location from the page of a top secret report Lenalee had intercepted the other night.
"The room where the Branch Directors meet sometimes...? Like your brother?"
"Yes. At the front of the room, which lies between the east and north towers, there's a large black symbol of some sort on the floor. It's important, according to this; it says something about a vault beneath it..."
"What kind of symbol? A cross?"
"It doesn't say. I think it'd specify if it was the Black Order logo, wouldn't it? Perhaps it's something complicated."
"And what vault?"
"I don't know. The page ends there. What a strange report..."
It was beginning to make some sense to Miranda now. Komui had hinted at that symbol - and the vault beneath - twice before, both times in regard to the Heart. But the second time he'd mentioned it, it was during an overheard conversation, years ago, about Allen possibly having the Heart.
"It all circles back to the 14th, doesn't it...?"
"Why would it, Director?"
"Think about it. Allen's seamless interactions with the piano inside the Ark, despite his Innocence's unstable state."
"But why would the 14th have anything to do with it? This could be a coincidence."
"Perhaps the 14th fled the other Noah with the Heart in the first place, yes? I suppose one way to find out would be to take him to the Vatican's vault, but... That wouldn't be worth the risk. Wouldn't you agree, Klaud?"
"Of course it wouldn't."
Miranda glanced back over at Lenalee, wondering how much she had overheard during her years at Headquarters. Surely as Komui's sister, she'd overheard volumes of confidential information, secrets she'd never wanted to know and never wanted to have to use. As Miranda wiped a stream of sweat from her forehead, Lenalee stirred, prompting another flash of light from her legs.
"Nnnn..." She didn't open her eyes. Miranda shoved some more rubble aside, hoping that she could find the symbol for her comrade before both of their conditions deteriorated further.
"Lenalee, you okay?"
Lenalee's eyes opened slowly, and she nodded in response. "We're close..." she moaned as she sat up.
Miranda eyed the blazing tower nearby as the winds shifted. The ground shook suddenly, and Miranda feared they didn't have long before the area was totally destroyed. "Lenalee, how close do you think we are to the--"
CRACK. The bottom of the tower suddenly gave way, sending a massive shower of bricks and glass toward the two girls.
Lenalee leaned weakly toward Miranda, and the two collided, each in an attempt to protect the other. The last thing Miranda remembered was a faint blue light suddenly seeping through a pile of rubble to her right.
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I think I might like the direction this is going. :3 I hope to clarify a few points in the next chapter, so if you're a tad confused, don't worry... XD Reviews much appreciated!